Free Web NovelChapter 144: Chapter 144: Tempted
In a corner, several Green Horses were temporarily corralled.
They huddled together, refusing to lower their heads for even a bite of hay and occasionally swaying toward their companions.
They looked completely listless.
"Green Horses are gentle by nature. They aren’t difficult Spirit Beasts to get along with."
"The Cultivators tending to them just need to be careful not to pet or feed them indiscriminately."
When Liu Ji reached out, the Green Horse remained impassive, allowing him to inspect it.
After a good while, Liu Ji finished and pulled his hand back.
"It’s nothing too serious. Just a simple depletion of their vital essence and blood. They’ll be fine after a period of recuperation."
"These Green Horses certainly had a vigorous... appetite this year!"
Disciple Mo finally finished his work and walked over, saying:
"Thank goodness it’s not some kind of plague."
"But they aren’t eating now. Who knows how long it’ll take for them to recover? Won’t they lose a lot of their manes?"
If their appearance became shabby, the rental price couldn’t be raised.
Disciple Mo didn’t say this out loud, but Liu Ji had already taken it to heart.
"This is indeed a difficult problem..."
Watching the Green Horses finally lower their heads to eat, picking at the hay one listless bite at a time, Liu Ji was deeply troubled.
When it came to propagating their lineage, the Green Horses had truly spared no effort.
But too much of a good thing can be bad. They overdid it, and it ended up damaging their own constitution.
The two of them discussed it in low voices.
They went to check the mares next, but surprisingly, there was no sign of anything.
At least to Liu Ji’s experienced eye, the way they were eating and drinking well didn’t look like they were pregnant.
Disciple Mo was shocked.
"Not a single one?"
"We were hoping to expand the Green Horse herd this year for future delivery to Broken Blade Peak. The deacon already made a drunken boast about it—the word is out!"
Liu Ji shook his head. "Unless we use some special methods, we’ll have to postpone it until next year."
A look of panic finally appeared on Disciple Mo’s face.
’How could this happen on my watch...’
If people found out, they would say it was due to his incompetence!
Given the deacon’s temperament, he would be in for a world of hurt.
Liu Ji comforted him, "The reproduction of Spirit Beasts often depends on opportune timing. It’s not something we can fully control. Junior Brother, you needn’t take it to heart..."
"Seeing how haggard you look, others will know you’ve done your best."
But Disciple Mo knew better.
Given his usual conduct, others wouldn’t necessarily give him the benefit of the doubt.
Bai Mo, standing to the side, had only been listening vaguely, but he understood the general gist of the situation.
Seeing the anxious look on the face of the disciple named Mo, Bai Mo cleared his throat.
"Senior Brothers, how about you take a look at this Feeding Pill of mine..."
A yellowish-green Feeding Pill appeared in his hand, and Bai Mo held it out directly.
Liu Ji paused for a moment before taking the Feeding Pill.
"Junior Brother, you actually dabble in these things?"
"It’s rare among Pill Masters."
Bai Mo said, "Senior Brother jests. The Alchemy Dao has many branches. What’s so strange about me happening to delve into the way of Feeding Pills?"
"Then this Feeding Pill of yours is..."
Bai Mo explained, "I concocted it based on a record in a Pill Book. It’s rumored to have the effect of restoring one’s foundation and consolidating their origin."
"But as for its actual effects, that remains to be seen."
The original record in the Pill Book was just for a widely used Feeding Pill that was somewhat complex to refine.
After reading it, Bai Mo made some slight modifications, adding some flavor-enhancing properties to the Feeding Pill without altering its medicinal effects.
He figured the Spirit Beasts would like it.
Liu Ji rubbed a tiny bit of powder from the Feeding Pill, sniffed it in his palm, then dabbed some into his mouth.
The powder dissolved in his mouth, leaving a warm, gentle sensation.
"Junior Brother Mo, take a look."
The disciple named Mo took it and used a similar method to taste it.
"The flavor isn’t bad. Unlike the popular Feeding Pills on the market. The Green Horses should like this."
They held the Feeding Pill under a Green Horse’s nose, intending to see its reaction, but unexpectedly, the horse’s tongue flicked out and swallowed the Pill in one go.
"NEIGH!"
The Green Horse let out a soft, joyful-sounding whinny.
...
"Heh."
"A Pill refined by a proper Pill Master is truly different. The Green Horse was actually willing to eat it."
After bidding farewell to Disciple Mo, Liu Ji, who was walking back with Bai Mo, was filled with a sense of admiration.
He took a Feeding Pill from his robes.
"If I may trouble you, Junior Brother Bai, could you tell me where this Pill falls short?"
Bai Mo took the extremely well-formed Feeding Pill. Its body was perfectly round and light green.
As he rolled the Pill in his hand, Bai Mo immediately knew the reason.
"The fellow cultivator who refined this Pill must have put in a lot of hard work."
Liu Ji nodded in agreement.
"Although that junior brother is a disciple of my Beast Taming Peak, he has quite a talent for the Alchemy Dao."
"He spent a lot of money and effort, and finally made some achievements in the way of Feeding Pills. He usually supplies quite a few of them."
Bai Mo commented, "I imagine this disciple hasn’t been involved in the Alchemy Dao for very long."
"Perhaps for the last two years or so?"
For an ordinary Cultivator to reach this level of Alchemy, that’s about how much time it would take.
Liu Ji was slightly taken aback.
"You can tell just by looking, Junior Brother?"
Bai Mo nodded.
"He’s suffering from a lack of experience."
"He single-mindedly pursued a perfectly formed Pill body but neglected the refinement of the ingredients within. It’s a classic case of chasing the trivial and neglecting the essential."
With that, he forcefully broke the Feeding Pill in half.
Liu Ji leaned in for a look and sure enough, he saw specks of un-integrated powder distributed on the broken surface.
Bai Mo tipped it over, and the powder scattered in the wind.
"Although an ordinary Cultivator wouldn’t notice, a Demon Beast’s sense of smell is keen. It would easily know something is wrong."
"That’s why they’re unwilling to eat it."
Liu Ji hurriedly and quietly asked for advice.
"Then in your opinion, Junior Brother Bai, how should that disciple improve?"
Bai Mo replied casually:
"If it were me, I would abandon the Pill’s external appearance and focus solely on completely refining the medicinal ingredients."
"Someone with insufficient attainment in the Alchemy Dao would end up with a medicinal powder at this stage, since the ratio of ingredients inside isn’t good enough."
Seeing Bai Mo so easily explain the intricate details, Liu Ji was thoroughly convinced.
He said sheepishly, "I’ve never heard anyone put it quite like that..."
Bai Mo simply said, "I don’t follow the orthodox path. Mine is the way of a Loose Cultivator."
"By the way, Senior Brother, are you familiar with that person?"
"Indeed. I was one of the people who encouraged him to start dabbling in Feeding Pills."
"Oh." Realization dawned on Bai Mo, and he continued to instruct:
"Once you have the medicinal powder, add some more ingredients and refine it again. Increasing its viscosity will be enough to form a Pill."
"However, whether this aligns with the sect’s methods is something that fellow cultivator will have to carefully discern for himself. He mustn’t stray onto the wrong path."
After all, the Alchemy Dao techniques passed down in the sect are also a grand path to mastery.
If you follow it, there’s always a way forward.
If a novice were to learn Bai Mo’s methods, they would have to figure out many things on their own.
If they went down the wrong path, it would be very difficult to correct it later.
Liu Ji silently committed Bai Mo’s words to memory.
He led Bai Mo past one herd of beasts after another, during which Bai Mo paid extremely close attention to the scenes of the beasts eating.
He would often walk up close and squat down to observe.
"Junior Brother, you really do intend to put effort into Feeding Pills."
Liu Ji asked:
"By the way, Junior Brother, does that Feeding Pill you gave them just now truly have the effect of restoring one’s foundation and consolidating their origin?"
If it’s true, the Green Horses whose vital essence and blood were depleted might just experience a second spring.
Bai Mo thought for a moment, then said solemnly:
"It should."
"I’ll be frank with you, Senior Brother. When I was refining this Feeding Pill, I referenced the principles behind a Tier Two Pill I have. It should have some effect."
"That day, the giant bird Hengyuan also asked for a Pill. I don’t believe it was really just to satisfy its gluttony."
Liu Ji’s eyelid twitched. He walked to Bai Mo’s side.
"Let’s wait and see the effects. By the way, I heard you have a shop outside the sect, Junior Brother. What would a Pill like this be priced at?"
Hearing this, Bai Mo’s eyes narrowed into a smile as he said thoughtfully:
"I haven’t set an official price yet. Everything is negotiable, and there’s a discount for bulk orders..."
