Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 311: Chapter 311: Promotion

In the Spiritual Aperture, the flame of the ever-burning lamp flickered.

At a certain moment, the flame gave a violent twist and, with a PUFF, went out.

The Spiritual Aperture was plunged into darkness.

So too was Bai Mo’s Sea of Consciousness: abyssal and boundless.

Three sutra platforms stood within.

The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian had outlined the nascent forms of the sutra platforms, which were then drawn into his Sea of Consciousness.

With a thought from Bai Mo, countless Xiaozhuan characters materialized, landing on the pages of the Daoist texts on the platforms, each a manifestation of his cultivation.

One book detailed herbs, minerals, and the qi of heaven and earth. A second covered tempering with water and fire, technique, and timing. The third was filled with page after page of Pill Formulas, each word precious as gold.

As the three Daoist texts on the platforms stabilized, the aura around Bai Mo suddenly settled, becoming tranquil.

Opening his eyes, Bai Mo felt an indescribable sense of well-being throughout his body.

It was as if he had laid a foundation in the world, a foothold to call his own, and his heart felt grounded.

Suppressing his excitement, he meditated for half a day, replenishing his Spiritual Qi until his reserves were full. Only then did Bai Mo slowly rise to his feet.

With a casual wave of his hand, he relit the ever-burning lamp.

Bai Mo surveyed the cave. The Spiritual Qi was still dense, but now there was an added hint of cold gloom.

This was his own residual aura.

’It must be a remnant from my Foundation Establishment. My soul fell into some unknown realm, and since the soul is yin by nature, this is to be expected.’

Breathing a sigh of relief, Bai Mo walked to the entrance, took out his Token, and opened the door.

’I wonder how many days have passed. I hope there’s some of my deposit left.’

’In any case, the gains from this session are more than enough to be happy about.’

The sunlight streaming in from outside was blindingly bright, but it was a perfect time of day.

"Junior Brother!"

An Caiwei’s cheerful voice called out.

Bai Mo walked out, squinting as he adjusted to the light. He then saw An Caiwei roasting fish with a disheveled male Cultivator.

"Did you succeed, Junior Brother?"

An Caiwei had great confidence in Bai Mo, but his calm expression made her unable to resist asking.

A glint appeared in Bai Mo’s eyes. He glanced at her and the other Cultivator before finally breaking into a smile.

"Of course I did. And congratulations to you, Senior Sister, for finally achieving your heart’s desire."

As he spoke, he turned and saluted the disheveled male Cultivator by cupping his fists.

"Greetings, Senior."

The disheveled male Cultivator took a roasted fish from the fire, looked Bai Mo over for a moment, and gave a slight nod.

"A truly excellent foundation. Much better than this little girl’s here."

Seeing An Caiwei’s confused look, he explained:

"Junior Brother Bai just reached Foundation Establishment, yet his Divine Thought is far sharper than an ordinary Cultivator’s. He saw through your cultivation at a glance, which shows how remarkable he is."

"Combine that with the mastery of the Alchemy Dao you mentioned, and he could easily make a name for himself."

Hearing this, An Caiwei couldn’t help but look ashamed.

"I’m the one who’s lacking..."

Seeing how familiar the two of them seemed, Bai Mo grew curious.

Upon asking, he learned that they had met by chance while waiting for him to come out of seclusion.

"How long have you been waiting, Senior Sister?"

"Only four days."

Mindful of the deposit, the two didn’t linger. After finishing the roasted fish, they set off to retrieve it.

The disheveled male Cultivator saw them off.

"Now that you’ve reached Foundation Establishment, don’t delay. Head to the inner sect as soon as possible."

"Coincidentally, the Internal Affairs Hall is taking in disciples to fill vacancies in the coming days. You two shouldn’t miss it."

"Good assignments are hard to come by, but try to find a decent one. Don’t end up like me, sent to watch birds in a place like this."

He said this, but Bai Mo detected no resentment in his voice.

After thanking the man for his advice, the pair departed.

They arrived at the pavilion at the foot of the mountain.

The place was under the jurisdiction of the inner sect’s Internal Affairs Hall. Its furnishings were simple: just a counter and a bookshelf for documents.

A dozing disciple saw them enter, roused himself with an effort, and forced a smile.

"Ah, another junior brother and sister for the inner sect."

Bai Mo returned the greeting and made an inquiry, only to learn that five whole months had passed.

"Here we go," the disciple said casually as he flipped through a ledger. "You two each deposited thirty thousand Spirit Stones. As of today, five months and seven days have passed."

"We’re all from the same sect, so I’ll round it down for you. Let’s just call it five months. That leaves five thousand Spirit Stones to refund."

Bai Mo accepted the Spirit Stones, returned the Token used to open the cave entrance, and left the pavilion.

The moment they stepped outside, the two looked at each other in dismay.

"Hsss! Has it really been that long?"

An Caiwei was stunned. She had been out of seclusion for a few days but had yet to contact the outside world.

The Jade Plate Secret Realm must have closed by now. She wondered what grand events had unfolded since.

The Spirit Stones they had earned during that grand event were almost completely spent, leaving them with very little.

After a moment of thought, Bai Mo said:

"How about we each go back to report in, and then enter the inner sect with the group from the Internal Affairs Hall?"

He had no intention of fighting over some choice assignment. The black prison on Mi Mountain was still waiting for him to take up his post as a guard.

The disciple previously guarding it was supposed to go on a long journey with the old yellow-robed Daoist. If he didn’t go take over, the other party probably wouldn’t be able to leave.

Given his debt of gratitude to the old yellow-robed Daoist, Bai Mo dared not delay.

An Caiwei, of course, had no objections.

She had been waiting years for this day—the day she reached Foundation Establishment—and she wasn’t willing to delay any further.

Bai Mo hurried back to Broken Blade Peak.

For once, the disciples on the mountain weren’t training. Instead, they were bidding farewell to one another.

Some were even heading down the mountain laden with bags and bundles, carrying stacks of weapons taller than themselves on their backs.

Bai Mo spotted Wei Xianxing.

This senior brother, who managed the miscellaneous affairs on Broken Blade Peak, looked a little wistful. He too was laden with bags and various items.

"Sigh. I broke through without even realizing it. Now I’m getting kicked out to the inner sect."

Wei Xianxing was feeling reluctant to leave, but then he sensed a change in Bai Mo’s aura and his eyes widened in surprise.

"You little rascal, you broke through too!"

"Even better! We can go to the inner sect together."

Bai Mo quickly asked, "I heard there’s a process for entering the inner sect. Do you know how it works?"

Wei Xianxing waved his hand.

"Our Broken Blade Peak has connections in the Internal Affairs Hall. They’re sending someone to pick us up in three days. We just have to wait at the foot of the mountain. You should hurry up and pack your belongings..."

So Bai Mo hurried back to Suspended Blade Cliff.

He hadn’t spent much time in the wooden cabin on the cliff’s edge, so there were only a few personal effects inside.

The valley where he practiced Alchemy, however, still contained much of his equipment.

Bai Mo rented a Spirit Beast-drawn cart from Beast Taming Peak and headed to the valley to pack things up.

He was in the middle of moving his Pill Furnace out when, to his surprise, a few disciples showed up.

"Junior Brother Bai, are you moving out?"

The disciples asked hesitantly:

"We heard you have business in the outside world, Junior Brother. Are you leaving the sect?"

Bai Mo shook his head.

"I’m heading to the inner sect. If any of you need anything in the future, just send a message to the Mi Mountain Black Prison."

The disciples didn’t know what the Mi Mountain Black Prison was, but they were still very surprised.

"Whoa! Junior Brother, you’ve reached Foundation Establishment!?"

"Congratulations!"

They helped Bai Mo finish moving his things.

There were still some assorted medicinal herbs in the Stone Lodge, and packing them up was a painstaking task.

Bai Mo chatted with them and learned about many things that had happened in the Jade Plate Secret Realm after he left.

People like Shui Ziming and Yin Zhen had really stolen the spotlight, reaching Foundation Establishment in only a few days.

They were whisked away by people from the inner sect the moment they stepped out of the Secret Realm.

"Prodigies are ultimately a different breed from the rest of us!"

"We heard you have a good relationship with Brother Yin, is that right?"

One of them brought up Yin Zhen.

"In the Secret Realm, he challenged the top ten outer sect disciples one after another. He lost all ten fights, but his fighting spirit never wavered."

"When he challenged other talented outer sect disciples, their fights were always closely matched. Sure, he was relying on the external power of Pills, but who isn’t?"

"At the very least, Brother Yin got to show what he’s made of, and he even caught the eye of an outer sect elder..."

They all chatted merrily.

Before they left, a thought struck Bai Mo, and he asked:

"You all came here looking for me. What kind of Pill were you after?"

"Heh, we’re asking on behalf of our peak’s lead senior brother. He’s on the verge of Foundation Establishment, but his innate talent is a bit lacking, so he needs some external aid."

Bai Mo asked about their Cultivation Technique and then took out a Pill.

"This is a Pill I had left over from my own Foundation Establishment. It helps attract Spiritual Qi, which is beneficial for the process."

The disciples were both surprised and overjoyed to receive the Pill.

"How much do we owe you for it?"

Bai Mo flicked the reins, and the Spirit Beast pulled the cart away.

"I enjoyed our chat. Just consider it a small token of goodwill."

Bai Mo waved.

"Farewell!"

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