Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 257: Chapter 257: Hitting the Jackpot

Bai Mo fell silent for a moment before finally closing his eyes as instructed.

"Who are you?"

As his consciousness sank, the voice indeed became much clearer.

"Heh! Who am I?"

"Junior, have you ever heard of Kunwu True Monarch?"

His words were filled with extreme pride and self-confidence.

Bai Mo ran the name through his mind before saying flatly:

"Forgive this junior’s ignorance, but I have never heard the True Monarch’s name."

The voice was unconcerned, speaking calmly:

"You were just discussing my life today. It seems my name has not been passed down."

"No matter. Time is short. Junior, I shall pass on to you the *Celestial Mountain Spirit-Seizing Scripture*. Do not let it be lost to time..."

Without waiting for Bai Mo’s response, Kunwu True Monarch began to chant in a strange language.

The syllables were like the roars of beasts and the cries of birds. Though Bai Mo did not understand the words, he understood their meaning.

A good while later, the voice finally faded, a clear exhaustion in its tone.

"This scripture leads all the way to Golden Core and touches upon Nascent Soul. It is a shortcut in cultivation, the one true path."

"You have a talent for Divine Thought and will surely master it. I only hope that after you achieve success in your cultivation, you can save my Beastial Sect from its plight..."

With that, the man’s voice finally faded away and disappeared completely.

Bai Mo sat quietly in meditation. His mind was stable, and with a slight stir of his will, he severed all distracting thoughts.

He carefully examined himself again and immediately realized that many strange and peculiar ideas had taken root in his mind.

’Stumble upon a scripture and cultivate it in secret?’

’A shortcut in cultivation, shocking the world with a single feat, a heaven-sent opportunity, a debt of gratitude...’

Bai Mo shook his head, annihilating these thoughts one by one.

’What a joke. My sect lacks for no profound techniques. Why would I need to cultivate some method of unknown origin?’

’Besides, what Alchemy Cultivator would ever dare claim there are shortcuts in cultivation?’

As he thought this, he couldn’t help but feel that Kunwu True Monarch’s power was terrifying.

’All those ideas in my head were probably tampered with and forced upon me by him.’

’It’s a good thing my Alchemy Dao is established and my Dao heart is developed, allowing me to purge his influence.’

As Bai Mo thought this, his expression suddenly darkened.

He rose and approached the door.

His Divine Thought pierced through the private chamber’s door, and just as he expected, he found a black dog curled up in front, sleeping soundly.

’Just as I thought!’

’Kunwu True Monarch is likely hiding inside it. I don’t know what kind of method he used to escape the detection of my senior brothers in the sect.’

’Xu Ruyuan probably chose this dog because he was under Kunwu True Monarch’s influence as well.’

That ability to silently influence a person’s mind was terrifying, but he figured it wasn’t without a counter.

He just had to be careful.

Back when this fellow was at his peak, he hadn’t even been aware of his own disciple’s malicious intentions and was ambushed through a conspiracy with outsiders.

After so many years of decline, he was likely even more vulnerable.

What truly bothered Bai Mo was the constant, hard-to-defend-against harassment from this entity.

When he performed Alchemy, distractions were a huge taboo. If a single batch failed, the money and energy lost would be gone forever.

BOOM!

The door to the private chamber burst open. Bai Mo grabbed the black dog by the scruff of its neck and examined it from top to bottom.

After a moment’s hesitation, he stuck his hand into the dog’s mouth.

His fingers passed through its throat, but he didn’t feel the wetness he had expected.

’This dog’s innate talent is rare.’

Bai Mo fumbled around for a bit before finally touching something hard. He quickly pulled it out.

PLOP!

It was a painting scroll. Judging by the roller, it was quite old.

Bai Mo already had a good idea of what was going on. He immediately guessed this was the so-called *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting*.

The item the Demonic Cultivators were after.

He unrolled it and saw an ancient, evocative landscape. An old man in a straw cloak and conical hat sat fishing by a winding river.

The landscape was vast, and within it, the old man was but a tiny, insignificant figure.

But his air of tranquil leisure made him seem transcendent, set apart from the deep waters and high mountains.

Even though Bai Mo didn’t understand the intricacies of art, he couldn’t help but praise it as a fine painting upon seeing it.

’Kunwu True Monarch is residing in this painting. Could this be the inheritance those disciples from the Demon Dao are searching for?’

There was certainly an inheritance to be had, but Bai Mo was sure that if he cultivated the Cultivation Technique Kunwu True Monarch offered, he would sooner or later fall into the man’s trap.

Outside of the Alchemy Dao, Bai Mo admitted his worldly knowledge was limited.

’If I try to play mind games with a Nascent Soul Cultivator, I won’t even know what hit me.’

However, the man was a natural treasure trove. It would be a pity to just give up on him like this.

"True Monarch?"

Bai Mo called out softly, but there was no response.

’Perhaps he’s really fallen asleep again. That makes sense. Judging by the old man’s desperate tactics, he clearly doesn’t have the backing of a Sect Leader.’

’Given Kunwu True Monarch’s situation, he probably isn’t in control of his own fate. Otherwise, why would he be in such a precarious state?’

After some thought, Bai Mo went to find Qin Wen.

"Go to Mountain View Tower and find the senior brothers from Divine Dao Mountain for me. They came looking for me to request pills before. You saw them."

"This is extremely urgent. You must have them come as quickly as possible!"

Qin Wen found it a bit strange that Bai Mo had suddenly emerged, but seeing his serious expression, he didn’t dare to delay.

"Alright, I’ll go right away."

Watching Qin Wen depart, Bai Mo returned to his private chamber to wait, the scroll of the *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting* before him.

Less than an hour later, Qin Wen’s voice rang out.

"Shopkeeper, the cultivators have arrived."

Bai Mo confirmed that the Divine Thought he had spread out detected no issues before opening the chamber door.

Only three disciples from Divine Dao Mountain had arrived. They had hurried over and looked a bit travel-worn.

"The three of us happened to be in the city, so when we heard our junior brother needed something, we rushed over."

Bai Mo nodded and said to Qin Wen:

"Brother Qin, you may leave us for now. Don’t let anyone approach the private chamber unless I call for them."

Without another word, Qin Wen acknowledged the order and left.

Seeing Bai Mo’s solemn expression, the leader of the Divine Dao Mountain group, Wu Yong, was very curious.

"Junior Brother, what is the matter?"

Bai Mo invited them into the private chamber. The three of them noticed the chamber was filled with the fragrance of herbs, but without any of the usual bitterness.

Instead, it was like the scent of sandalwood, soothing the mind and spirit. It must have involved some principles of pharmacology.

They marveled internally at Bai Mo’s skill in preparing medicinal ingredients, and then they saw him lift the painting scroll with both hands.

"This painting should be the *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting*. Someone calling himself Kunwu True Monarch spoke to me with his Divine Thought."

The moment he finished speaking, Bai Mo saw Wu Yong’s body jolt, a divine light erupting in his eyes.

"Junior Brother, wait!"

WHOOSH! Wu Yong pulled a Talisman from his sleeve and slapped it onto the scroll, his face turning completely serious.

"Junior Brother Tie, Junior Brother Qiu!"

Hearing this, the other two disciples took a step back, and with a shake of their sleeves, a large number of strange and peculiar objects tumbled out.

Bai Mo glanced over and saw they were all items that had developed some sort of consciousness.

A broken bowl with half its rim missing, long iron nails, and even red-lacquered funerary objects of the kind one would normally only see in tombs.

The three of them fiddled with the items for a while, then poured some incense ash over themselves before getting up with an Eight Trigrams Array Plate and an Inkpot.

"Sorry for the wait, Junior Brother. Come, have some of this on you as well."

With that, he poured a bit of the incense ash on Bai Mo and patted it to spread it around.

"This is..."

Wu Yong smiled. "This is incense ash from the spirit tablet of one of our Divine Dao Mountain elders. He will protect us from being invaded by evil influences."

After speaking, he had Bai Mo unroll the *Distant Mountain Cold Fishing Painting*.

Upon seeing the scenery within, the eyes of the three men lit up once more.

"What masterful brushwork! The person who made this painting was a man of culture!"

They brought out the Eight Trigrams Array Plate and took a series of measurements. Without needing the Inkpot, they then lit a Talisman to probe the painting.

A moment later, the three of them discussed it for a bit, their faces breaking into wide smiles.

"He’s a spent force, a spent force."

"We’ve hit the jackpot today!"

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!