Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

Chapter 318: Chapter 318: Planning

Mi Mountain was covered in rocks and stones.

Some of the rocks, battered by wind and rain, had not been worn smooth. Instead, their edges had only grown sharper.

This alone was enough to show that the mountain was anything but ordinary.

Bai Mo found a withered branch of indeterminate age. He peeled back the rotting bark and gave it a wipe.

Clean and tidy, it made for a fine walking stick.

Grasping the stick, Bai Mo spent half the day climbing the mountain, exploring many nooks and crannies and checking any place that could hold water.

By sunset, he had only managed to survey a corner of Mi Mountain. The mountain wind was surprisingly cold, forcing Bai Mo to head back down.

’Hm, the night wind is unusually frigid. I’ll have to keep that in mind.’

It was a good thing he’d made this trip. If he had discovered this later, he would have wasted who knows how much effort.

It wasn’t that Bai Mo absolutely had to plant a medicinal field. It was just that the foundation of his own Foundation Establishment, the key to manifesting his cultivation, was based on three scripture platforms, each holding a Daoist tome.

One of these tomes recorded all things between heaven and earth—the plants, minerals, and energies used in Alchemy.

Creating a medicinal field, analyzing the properties of the herbs, and understanding their medicinal nature would presumably enrich this tome by more than thirty percent.

As Bai Mo mulled this over, he thought again of Mi Mountain’s unusual nature and couldn’t help but wonder if there were any plants that grew by consuming spiritual energy.

Lost in thought, he arrived back at his own gate. Opening the tall stone door, Bai Mo went inside.

"Ah... er..."

A weak cry came from the entrance of the stone house.

"Hm?"

Bai Mo looked up to see that the badger hanging upside down from the doorframe had awakened.

The ground was littered with shed fur. Its once dense, silk-like coat now looked somewhat thin and fluffy.

He reached out and touched it, discovering that the Badger Beast’s temperature had already gone down.

"Can you understand what I’m saying?"

Bai Mo patted the Badger Beast’s back and asked calmly.

Seeing the Badger Beast let out a cry and slowly nod, Bai Mo was satisfied and set it down.

’It’s an intelligent one.’

He tested it several more times.

The Badger Beast cowered on the ground, able to understand some of what Bai Mo said and respond accordingly.

It had likely either encountered sect disciples before or had been secretly observing them for some time, which saved Bai Mo a great deal of effort.

"From now on, you’ll be with me."

Bai Mo took out a piece of Demon Beast meat, placed it in front of the Badger Beast, and patted its head as he spoke.

...

Ah Er didn’t actually want to follow Bai Mo all that much.

But being with this person meant an endless supply of all kinds of Demon Beast meat. It was such a luxurious life that the badger forgot all about wanting to leave.

It now knew that its name was Ah Er, a name derived from its cry.

However, Bai Mo wouldn’t let it cry out whenever it pleased, because the sound was unpleasant.

Bai Mo also discovered, to his surprise, that this badger couldn’t control its claws and was always digging at the ground.

Of course, it was impossible for it to make a dent in the cleared-out, hollowed-out stone area beneath Mi Mountain.

However, this habit of its would probably be very useful when he built his medicinal field.

Bai Mo swept the entrance, then had Ah Er learn by copying him.

Seeing it holding a broom made of what looked like horsetail stems, its posture proper and its sweeping earnest, Bai Mo’s appreciation for it grew.

"Do you have any family? Brothers, sisters, that sort of thing..."

Bai Mo looked at it calmly. Ah Er seemed confused; it couldn’t quite understand longer sentences yet.

"Never mind. Even if they had potential, they might not be as good as you."

Bai Mo pulled down a strip of Demon Beast meat hanging outside the stone house and offered it to Ah Er’s mouth.

The latter was clearly delighted, grabbing it with both paws and starting to gnaw on it.

Bai Mo pointed to the area in front of the stone house and said with a smile:

"Sweep it clean."

Ah Er froze for a moment. Then, seeing Bai Mo point to its broom, it quickly nodded.

Bai Mo stretched, straightened his clothes, and popped a mind-clearing Pill into his mouth. He then opened the bars of the Black Prison and went inside.

It was time for the patrol, scheduled every three days.

Ah Er quickly devoured the strip of meat Bai Mo had given it, then glanced fearfully at the dark scene behind the bars.

It quickly averted its gaze, turning its attention to the tall stone door behind it.

’There’s no escaping Mi Mountain.’

’No wonder no Demon Beasts ever came this way before. Just as I thought, once you’re here, you can never go back. It’s incredibly dangerous.’

Ah Er sighed, mimicking the two-legged creature, and resignedly picked up its broom.

Meanwhile, inside the passageway.

Bai Mo walked with a composed posture at a steady pace, but he was actually committing the prisoners here to memory.

With his abilities, this wasn’t difficult.

"Well now! What a clean-cut little boy. Come here, let your grandpa have a look..."

"So we’ve got a new warden, eh? Want to hear some secrets? The unspoken rules of the Black Prison? Ways to rake in some cash?"

BAM!

There were also hot-tempered ones who lunged at the bars, their faces filled with impatience.

"Brat! I’m warning you..."

Bai Mo didn’t quite hear what the man said, but he memorized his face.

Continuing on his way, he saw another prisoner who had written out a Pill Formula on the ground. It was only half-complete, and the prisoner was feigning deep thought.

The name of the Pill Formula was also cut off. It was just a few words: ’Exclusive... Core Formation... Secr...’ The rest was hidden by scattered straw.

Bai Mo glanced at it once before looking away.

The refinement method was completely illogical. The Pill Principles were a conflicting mess. It was all just pretentious nonsense.

Utterly worthless.

Bai Mo walked past calmly.

Of the prisoners that followed, some ignored him completely, while others tried all sorts of tricks.

Unfamiliar with the affairs of this place, Bai Mo simply completed one circuit and headed back on his own.

By the time he returned to the entrance, Bai Mo poked the Pill out of his mouth with the tip of his tongue. It had already dissolved by more than half.

’It’s supposed to last for six hours. There’s no way it should dissolve this quickly.’

’Someone in there must have secretly acted against me!’

A chill went down Bai Mo’s spine, but he swallowed the Pill.

Besides clearing the mind and steadying the spirit, this Pill was also excellent for clearing heat and detoxifying the body. It couldn’t be wasted.

When he got back to the stone house, he saw that the ground had been swept clean by Ah Er. The beast itself was dozing against the stone wall.

Bai Mo casually flicked a Pill out. The Pill bounced off Ah Er’s belly and rolled a few times on the ground.

Ah Er’s belly twitched. It blearily opened its eyes and saw the Pill rolling on the ground.

"Ah-er!"

Its nose twitched. It let out an excited cry, and its paw shot out like lightning to snatch the Pill, which it then held and began to gnaw on haphazardly.

Nowadays, refining a Feeding Pill was a trivial matter for Bai Mo.

Because his resources and skills had reached a considerable level, this Feeding Pill had reached a peak of quality that even the Spirit Beasts of Beast Taming Peak had never tasted.

Ah Er only took two bites before it let out a full belch.

The medicinal power had spread through its body, filling it up completely.

’Following this person... seems pretty good after all!!’

The Badger Beast’s eyes darted around. It forced itself to take two more bites, then looked left and right before stuffing the remaining half of the Pill into the fur on its chest.

Bai Mo was confident in his Pills. He considered the reward to be far greater than the Badger Beast’s contribution.

If it was still not satisfied, then it would simply be ungrateful.

’My senior brothers left me with a huge problem...’

Bai Mo rubbed the bridge of his nose and recorded the day’s patrol in the register.

’None of the people in the Black Prison are easy to deal with. I can’t see through their methods. How should I protect myself?’

The stone giants could handle them easily because of their exquisitely perceptive minds, combined with their immense strength.

For Bai Mo, however, it was a completely different story.

’With the restrictive formations of Mi Mountain in place, the effects that fall upon me are, at most, just the echoes of their Divine Techniques.’

’Forget it. I’ll just prepare more Pills and be ready to react. In any case, it’s just a matter of guarding my mind.’

’However, I still don’t understand the abilities of the Golden Core realm, let alone higher levels. I have to find a way to study them...’

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