Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 236: Chapter 236: A Fruitful Return

「Three days later.」

Bai Mo bade farewell to the two seniors and prepared to leave Celestial Mountain City.

He had made a few friends on his last visit, and he went to pay them his respects.

"Fellow Daoist Bai, you’re a respected Pill Master now. Why coop yourself up in a place like Immortal Arrival City? Wouldn’t it be better to come to Celestial Mountain City?"

someone suggested.

But Bai Mo shook his head.

"I’ve observed that the fellow Daoists in this city are all quite wealthy."

"However, the wealthiest among them have rather lackluster skills, with not much worth praising."

’My mind is made up.’ The competition in the Alchemy Dao within Celestial Mountain City was too fierce. It would surely consume a great deal of his energy, which would be getting his priorities wrong.

After visiting his old friends one by one, Bai Mo left the city and found the Beast Taming Peak’s beast station at the foot of the mountain.

Pedestrians on the mountainside moved like ants, slowly making their way up.

Bai Mo looked at the simple beast station. It was nothing more than a few crude fences.

Even the disciples working there rested under a shed.

Seeing them looking content and enjoying fragrant tea, it was clear they were used to it.

Bai Mo hesitated for a moment before speaking to the disciple leading him.

"This is my first time visiting the Celestial Mountain City beast station. I never imagined it would be this spartan."

The disciple leading the way shook his head with a swagger.

"Junior Brother, don’t overthink it. It’s just that our fellow disciples who control Celestial Mountain City are a pain. They complain that our Beast Taming Peak’s Spirit Beasts are noisy and dirty."

"After chasing us out time and again, they drove us from the halfway point on the mountain down to here."

As he spoke, he led Bai Mo under a shed, extended a hand, and invited him to sit.

Seeing a stranger approach, the other disciples in the shed all turned to look.

The disciple leading him said, "He’s a fellow disciple, and a very good Pill Master."

"The Feeding Pills we had before were from Junior Brother Bai."

Upon hearing this, realization dawned on the crowd. They all cupped their fists and bowed to Bai Mo as a sign of respect.

The thing was, Feeding Pills weren’t exactly a high-class product. Even if they found someone in Celestial Mountain City to refine them, the price would never be too low.

Every one of those Pill Masters was single-mindedly focused on advancing their craft. The fact they were willing to refine such pills at all was already a bonus.

The disciple leading the way had met Bai Mo once before, when he was escorting someone to Immortal Arrival City.

"Don’t be in a rush, Junior Brother. The next departure is still an hour away."

"No problem."

Bai Mo said, looking around. He saw many Cultivators approaching from a distance, asking about the departure time, paying their Spirit Stones in advance, and then leaving on their own.

With all the coming and going, the traffic was already much heavier than at the Immortal Arrival City beast station.

"Business here is quite good."

The disciple brought a kettle, brewed a pot of tea, and looked rather pleased with himself.

"Not bad, right? Because Celestial Mountain City is a holy land for the Alchemy Dao, there’s a constant stream of Cultivators. It’s the biggest source of income for our beast station."

He added, with a hint of regret.

"Unfortunately, our fellow disciples up the mountain are real jerks. Whenever there’s a change in layout and they find us to be an eyesore, they send people to drive us away."

"We’ve had to move again and again. Who knows, the last time you came, we might not have even been in this spot..."

Bai Mo was speechless, just listening to this fellow disciple ramble on.

"You know how it is. Our Beast Taming Peak... tsk tsk... we don’t have a loud enough voice in the sect, and we can’t win a fight either."

"Hey, Junior Brother, what are you spacing out for? Drink your tea!"

The tea was good tea, quite valuable.

’These Beast Taming Peak Cultivators really are rich.’

"Say, Junior Brother, have you heard about the sect’s Jade Plate Secret Realm?"

As he was sipping his tea, the Beast Taming Peak disciple suddenly spoke again.

Bai Mo looked up, paused, and then smiled.

"It’s a major event. There’s no one in the sect who doesn’t know about it."

The disciples of Beast Taming Peak generally had low cultivation levels, so their participation rate in the Jade Plate Secret Realm was the lowest in the sect.

’For him to bring it up now, he must be after something.’

Sure enough, he heard the disciple say with a wide grin:

"Junior Brother, you should know, our peak actually has a bit of money."

"So, some of our more enterprising senior brothers have been using their connections with other disciples to buy all sorts of information with Spirit Stones."

"Junior Brother, I was wondering if you might have a need for it?"

Bai Mo raised an eyebrow. ’So they’re information brokers.’

But they had approached the wrong person.

"Senior Brother, you’ve misunderstood. I’m just a Pill Master. How would I dare enter such a dangerous place?"

"Huh? Aren’t you a disciple of Broken Blade Peak? Your martial tradition is formidable!"

"It is, but a man’s got to know his own limits. If I went in there, I’d just end up as a puff of smoke."

Bai Mo said, "I’d rather stay outside and refine some Pills for my fellow brothers, helping them solve their problems."

’To be honest,’ Bai Mo thought, ’the Pill Formulas brought to me by those senior and junior brothers are no worse than some so-called fateful encounters.’

After all, it was the sect’s foundation, the accumulation of many years. Any random item from it would be something people on the outside would fight tooth and nail for.

The disciple who had tried to sell him information was astonished.

"Junior Brother, you’re taking commissions from our fellow disciples now?"

"That’s right."

"Such skill!" the disciple exclaimed in admiration.

He knew that the sect’s disciples had very specific demands. Pills specially commissioned to deal with the dangers of a Secret Realm couldn’t possibly be simple.

It was rare to see someone with such confidence.

"My Beast Taming Peak has always been on good terms with you, Junior Brother!"

"How about this, if we run into any interested fellow disciples, we could... refer them to each other..."

The disciple made a few hand gestures and exchanged a look of mutual understanding with Bai Mo.

"We have tons of information: the environment of the dangerous areas, rival disciples, the methods our fellow disciples used in past years, and more!"

"If you put in a good word for us, Junior Brother, we definitely won’t let you lose face."

The disciple leaned forward.

"I assume you have some specialty Pills of your own, Junior Brother?"

"But of course, but of course!" Bai Mo said, his face all smiles.

"I’ve dabbled in all schools of thought..."

The atmosphere was very congenial.

But when it came down to it, the Spirit Stones for the Spirit Beast ride still had to be paid. Not a single one could be shorted.

"Three Spirit Stones."

It was the same disciple who had been hosting Bai Mo who was piloting the Spirit Beast.

Bai Mo looked at him.

"This price isn’t cheap at all. The Spirit Beast business must be good."

"Don’t say that."

The disciple was covered in sweat, sitting astride the Spirit Beast, trying to get the reins on it.

"We’ve always been in the business of small profits and high turnover."

"Think about it, Junior Brother. With all the time you save on one trip, can’t you earn back those three Spirit Stones and then some?"

Bai Mo laughed heartily.

"That’s true. It’s a matter of mutual consent. No one’s losing out!"

The disciple fumbled with the reins, but the Spirit Beast beneath him was not cooperating, twisting its long neck and refusing to submit.

"Um, could I ask you to lend a hand, Junior Brother?"

Bai Mo was taken aback for a second, but he jumped down to help.

"I’ve heard that Beast Taming Peak also has superior riding techniques..."

"Useless," the disciple said casually.

"That stuff’s all moldy by now. If we had the kind of power needed to use those superior techniques and ignore the astral winds, would we still be on Beast Taming Peak?"

After a flurry of activity, the two of them only managed to get the reins on with the lure of a Feeding Pill.

The Spirit Beast took off on schedule.

Bai Mo stood on its back, looking down with great interest at the rivers and mountains below.

The exchanges with his fellow disciples from this trip surfaced in his mind, and his discussion with the two seniors in the main hall of the Pill Pavilion echoed again and again.

Vaguely, Bai Mo felt he had once again found the direction for the path ahead.

He didn’t know if it was the wind rushing into his lungs, but his chest suddenly swelled with a sense of expansiveness that made his spirit soar.

"You seem to be in a good mood, Junior Brother?"

The disciple took a moment to look back and ask.

Bai Mo smiled faintly.

"Ever since becoming a Pill Master, I’ve rarely had a reason to frown."

"No," the disciple shook his head.

"This isn’t your normal state. This is the great joy of someone who’s just had a happy windfall. I can tell."

Bai Mo chuckled.

"I did indeed gain something. It truly is a holy land for the Alchemy Dao. Every time I come, I always benefit immensely..."

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