Free Web NovelChapter 126: Chapter 126: Dispatch
"Do you have any questions?"
After just seven days of seclusion, Bai Mo stood before Wei An once again.
Wei An shook his head.
Bai Mo raised an eyebrow.
"Have you gained any insights?"
Wei An braced himself and said,
"Shopkeeper, the contents of the books are quite abstruse. Even the straightforward descriptions take effort to memorize."
"I haven’t had any time to contemplate them; I could only do my best to commit them to memory..."
Bai Mo was a little disappointed.
"At least you got ’Shopkeeper’ right. You know not to call me ’Immortal Master’ anymore."
"I had someone find a reasonably reliable Medicine Boy. You’ll go and train with him for a while. Remember, no slacking."
Wei An nodded repeatedly.
"I understand!"
"Be sharp," Bai Mo said. "Watching a real professional at work will teach you a great deal."
"He’ll be here at noon to pick you up. Go and get your things ready."
Wei An blinked.
"I have nothing to my name, so there’s nothing to pack. I’ll just bring a few extra flatbreads..."
He had been so terribly starved that his body was in a sorry state.
Now that he had flatbreads to fill his belly, he had recovered some of his old self. At least he was presentable enough to be seen in public.
Expressionless, Bai Mo pointed to the books on the table.
"Your studies must not fall behind!"
Wei An jolted and quickly agreed.
He put the books he was reading into a bag. Just as noon arrived, the Medicine Boy appeared.
He seemed rather anxious and deferential.
"My apologies for keeping you waiting, Alchemist Bai!"
Bai Mo’s expression was gentle.
"You’re right on time. Why say that?"
"I’m going to be tied up for a while, so I’ll be entrusting Wei An to you. Don’t coddle him too much. He needs to see the good and the bad of our line of work."
In the future, he’d be dealing with all sorts of people in the shop. Wei An would have to face it all eventually.
It was better for him to get a taste of it now.
The Medicine Boy nodded repeatedly.
"I understand your meaning, Alchemist Bai!"
Wei An listened from the side, stealing a glance at Bai Mo before immediately looking away.
Since being taken in by Bai Mo, he hadn’t been out in the city. He had no idea what kind of figure his Shopkeeper was.
’He’s probably no ordinary person,’ he thought.
"Go on now. When I have some free time, I’ll come to your place to retrieve him, and I’ll take a look at your condition while I’m there," Bai Mo said nonchalantly.
The Medicine Boy, however, was overcome with gratitude.
"Then I’ll be in your debt, Alchemist Bai."
To have a Pill Master diagnose his cultivation bottleneck—few Medicine Boys in the city were afforded such an honor.
That was why, when the Xuandao Sect disciple had come to his door and mentioned it, he had agreed on the spot.
Last night, he was even tossing and turning, worried it might fall through.
Now that he had Bai Mo’s promise, his heart was instantly at ease.
The Medicine Boy left with Wei An.
Bai Mo, however, sighed.
’It seemed there was no such thing as a free lunch from Brother Guo.’
An errand had come up just like that.
He had even gone out of his way to find a Medicine Boy to watch over Wei An for this.
’It’s bound to be another time-consuming and troublesome affair.’
"Junior Brother Bai, you’ve arrived!"
In the mansion, Guo Lingjun came forward to greet him.
"Oh? Judging by your vigorous and spirited appearance, Junior Brother, it seems your cultivation has progressed quite well?"
Bai Mo bowed.
"It’s all thanks to the Array you gave me, Brother Guo."
Guo Lingjun tutted.
"Even with a breakthrough in your cultivation, it couldn’t possibly account for such a boost."
"Your body and spirit are filled to their absolute limit, practically overflowing..."
He cast an envious glance.
"You Alchemy Cultivators certainly have your means..."
Bai Mo gave a wry smile and didn’t explain.
"I’m still not sure why Brother Guo has summoned me..."
Guo Lingjun had sent a messenger yesterday with a verbal message. It only said it was an urgent matter and that he should come quickly, but gave no specifics.
When it came to business, Guo Lingjun’s expression turned serious.
He cracked his knuckles and rubbed them gently.
"It’s about the refugees again."
"The refugees?" Bai Mo recalled Brother Bo’s words from the other day.
"Haven’t they already left?"
That group of refugees was only allowed to stay in Immortal Arrival City for seven days at most.
Which meant they should have been sent away while he was in seclusion.
"The ones outside are gone, but aren’t there still a batch inside the city?" Guo Lingjun said.
"We’ve actually been keeping an eye on the refugees who were taken in. Failing that, we bribed a few people to act as our lookouts."
"And something really did happen."
Bai Mo’s heart sank.
"Has the corpse poison spread?"
Guo Lingjun shook his head.
"The corpse poison is just an inert substance. Even its source, the corpse dragon, was beaten into a stupor by the cultivators from the various sects and forced back into hibernation."
"How could it stir up any trouble?"
"A man-made disaster?" Bai Mo asked in surprise.
Guo Lingjun nodded helplessly.
"Just last night, a wealthy family was wiped out by a few of the refugees they had taken in."
"Upon investigation, the methods used were remarkably similar to those of the dynasty’s rebels!"
A hint of anger colored his face.
The refugees had been wandering for so long. Who would have thought rebels were hiding among them?
Enduring starvation, the elements, and all that suffering... for what?
Bai Mo asked, "You and the other brothers must have come and gone, seeing the refugees many times."
"By what method did they hide themselves so deeply?"
"Corpse poison!" Guo Lingjun said.
"Those rebels consumed the Corpse God Pill. It seems they also have a Cultivation Technique to refine it, so their physiques have long been altered."
"They used the extremely dense corpse poison to mask these differences, allowing them to blend in..."
For some reason, Bai Mo was reminded of the brash, wealthy family he’d seen that day, the one that had picked out several of the largest refugees.
But now there was no way to confirm it.
According to Guo Lingjun, after the family was massacred, the air became thick with corpse qi, and the bodies decomposed at an accelerated rate.
They were already unrecognizable.
"So, why did you summon me, Brother Guo?"
Guo Lingjun rubbed his hands.
"Sect reinforcements won’t arrive for a few days, but a batch of Corpse God Pills has recently appeared on the market. We hear it came from those very refugees."
"They’re said to be defective, and we can’t even be sure if they’re real, but they do have some effect..."
"Some foolish Cultivators, greedy for the Pill’s effects, have been duped without even realizing it. They’ve been unwittingly dragged into this whole mess!"
As Guo Lingjun spoke, he looked at Bai Mo.
"The reason I called you here today, Junior Brother, is to ask if you have a way to drive the Corpse God Pill from the market."
"The costs involved will be covered by the sect!"
Bai Mo was startled and shook his head repeatedly.
What Guo Lingjun was suggesting was something not often discussed among Pill Masters, but it was by no means unheard of.
To ordinary Cultivators, it might seem like a mere business rivalry, something to gossip about.
But in truth, Pill Masters called it a Dao Duel.
It was a fight to the death, a battle of attainments in the Alchemy Dao. A Pill Master would sense the inadequacies in their rival’s foundations and exploit them while avoiding their own weaknesses.
Through pressure tactics involving cost, price, and a Pill’s efficacy, they would do everything in their power to force their opponent’s product from the market.
The exchanges were incredibly fierce.
Bai Mo paced back and forth anxiously.
"Brother Guo! This is absolutely out of the question!"
Guo Lingjun had never seen Bai Mo like this.
"What do you mean by that?"
Bai Mo composed his expression and said:
"Does Brother Guo know how the Corpse God Pill is refined?"
"’Refining qi to enter the Dao, borrowing qi to birth a Pill... a step beyond that is the work of creation itself.’"
It was a realm Bai Mo did not yet comprehend, its inner workings impossible for him to even begin to guess.
"Putting its efficacy aside, how could I dare to challenge the Alchemy Cultivator behind it?"
"That person’s cultivation realm is likely at a level beyond my imagination!"
Pill Masters are extremely sensitive about such Dao Duels.
If I were to anger them and they came to Immortal Arrival City personally, I fear it would require a senior from the Xuandao Sect to intervene.
But Guo Lingjun’s eyes lit up.
"So you really do have a way, Junior Brother!?"
