Chapter 336: Leaving the Prison

Chapter 336: Chapter 336: Leaving the Prison

Li Wuji’s cultivation realm had been stagnant for a long time.

If not for a mental fortitude far beyond that of ordinary people, his regular cultivation would have long been marred by impatience and turmoil, robbing him of his usual composure.

He immersed his consciousness in his cultivation, once again searching for the crux of his problem, but to no avail.

What brought him back to his senses was Junior Brother Bai’s badger.

Night had fallen. When the time came, the door opened on its own, and the badger came in through it.

Ah Er set down the carrying pole on its shoulders, its furry body quivering as it shook off some dirt and sand.

It was still quite energetic. Living off Bai Mo’s Pills all day, mere farm work was not enough to tire it out.

Without a moment’s rest, it rummaged through a corner, pulled out a pile of clothes, and prepared to wash them.

Just as it was about to start, Ah Er suddenly noticed the clothes discarded next to Li Wuji.

After a moment’s hesitation, it tiptoed over, stealthily reaching out a paw to snag them.

Li Wuji was slightly taken aback, not expecting the creature to make such a move.

By the time he had calmed the Spiritual Qi surging through his body and was about to speak up and stop it...

Ah Er was already squatting in the corner, washing the clothes with water from the Spiritual Spring.

’Well, this makes it hard to leave now,’ he thought. ’Still, this place isn’t bad. I might as well stay the night.’

He sighed and closed his eyes again.

「The moon reached its zenith.」

The sounds from the stone house grew louder.

Bai Mo’s hands were coated in a thick medicinal paste as he listened intently to the subtle sounds within the Pill Furnace.

Before long, he pulled the firewood from the base of the furnace, and the flames gradually died down.

Half an hour later, more than half of the startling heat from the Pill Furnace’s surface had dissipated, and the boiling sound from within faded away.

Only the continuously emitting aura remained, forming a beautiful, pearly white glow on the furnace’s surface.

Bai Mo opened the door to his room, then suddenly froze.

Across from the doorway stood a bare-chested Li Wuji, who looked over in surprise.

"Junior Brother, why have you come out? The Pill you were refining..."

’He said it would take two months. Coming out now... could it have been a failure?’

Bai Mo shook his head.

"I was just about to move the Pill Furnace out to bask it in the moonlight."

Li Wuji was even more astonished.

"The flames are out. Won’t the ingredients inside spoil?"

Bai Mo explained, "Not entirely."

"Haven’t you heard the strange tales of cultivators who have fortuitous encounters, stumbling into an ancient’s abode, reigniting a Pill Furnace, and someone else later obtaining the completed Pill?"

Li Wuji had, of course, heard such stories.

Such tales were common in the taverns and bustling markets of the mortal world.

He had always assumed they were merely expressions of people’s yearning for serendipity, fantasies of great fortune falling into their own laps.

’But now it seems that might not be the whole story?’

"Pills like that are just one step away from completion, waiting for the final push to help them form."

Bai Mo said, "Letting it sit for a long time isn’t a problem."

After speaking, Bai Mo asked another question:

"Senior Brother, why are you still here?"

"Mi Mountain isn’t a comfortable place to be at night. I only feel at ease because I use Pills to calm my mind."

Li Wuji pointed to Ah Er washing clothes in the corner.

"Your Spirit Beast was so hospitable, helping me wash my clothes. It just didn’t feel right to leave."

Bai Mo smiled.

"It means well."

"Perfect. Senior Brother, help me move the Pill Furnace outside."

The two got to work, lifting the Pill Furnace with a wooden pole and carrying it out of the Black Prison, careful not to jostle it too much.

Li Wuji was strong and provided most of the muscle, with Bai Mo merely playing a supporting role.

The white light emanating from the Pill Furnace naturally attracted the attention of the prisoners in the cells.

"What’s that? What a treasure!"

"Tsk tsk, I’ve been locked up for over a hundred years. My mouth’s forgotten what flavor even is. I wonder if that Pill in the furnace is salty or sweet..."

Some, however, were able to deduce Bai Mo’s alchemy technique from these clues and gauge the level of his Alchemy Dao.

"That kid is no simple character. We’d best not provoke him."

"Heh heh, just a Foundation Establishment brat..."

The voices from the cells made no attempt at concealment. It wasn’t that the prisoners had any real intent, but after being locked up for so long, their minds had become unbalanced, and they would just spout nonsense to have something to say.

Perhaps they themselves didn’t even know what they were saying.

Li Wuji glanced into the prison cells.

"Having to associate with people like this... Mi Mountain is truly no place to be."

Bai Mo added:

"It’s more than that. The Mi Mountain Black Prison has been here for a very long time. This place has been steeped in so much Demonic Qi that it has long become a foul land."

"If an ordinary mortal were to come here, they would end up plagued by nightly nightmares, their body growing frail and weak."

As they spoke, they had already carried the Pill Furnace outside the Black Prison.

Under the moonlight, the speed at which the Pill Furnace emitted its white light did indeed slow down.

Ah Er also ran out to watch the spectacle.

Seeing that many bats and flying insects were being attracted, it immediately raised a stick to drive them away.

Li Wuji found it novel.

"What is inside the furnace? It seems to be an extremely pure treasure."

Bai Mo said with feeling.

"It’s a Primordial Beast Egg. Incredibly rare."

It was only because the cultivators of ancient times were so captivated by such naturally occurring treasures that they went so far as to develop this method of moon-bathing.

This method not only slows the loss of the primordial beast’s aura but also has other benefits.

Bai Mo didn’t know the profound mysteries behind it; he was just following the recipe.

By dawn, the moonlight had faded.

Bai Mo moved the Pill Furnace back into the stone house.

That night, he and Li Wuji talked a great deal.

After so many failed attempts, Li Wuji had already come to a realization about his own cultivation path.

"I’m afraid there’s no hope for me to reach Core Formation. Three years have passed. If it was going to happen, it would have by now."

After helping Bai Mo move the Pill Furnace back into the room, Li Wuji said calmly:

"I know of a profoundly skilled elder in the sect who is about to return from a long journey. I will go pay him a visit then."

"If even he has no solution, I will request the sect to station me as a guardian of a city. It would be my way of repaying the sect for raising me."

Bai Mo could only sigh.

"The path of cultivation is fraught with hardship. Take care, Senior Brother."

「...」

A long time passed, but the Pill in the furnace was still not complete.

Instead, people from the Foreign Affairs Hall arrived first.

Thirteen Core Formation disciples arrived together, all wearing identical, indifferent expressions, startling Bai Mo into coming out to greet them.

"By order of the Foreign Affairs Hall, we have come to release Sun Qian from prison."

Bai Mo’s face was solemn as he used a special technique to inspect the contents of the command token.

Li Wuji stood behind him, hands at his sides.

Releasing a great Nascent Soul Cultivator was a major event. No one made idle chit-chat.

After a long moment, Bai Mo nodded.

"The token is authentic. Everyone, please follow me."

The group entered the Black Prison, and the atmosphere within immediately grew tense.

The arrival of so many powerful figures immediately sparked speculation among the inmates. Was this about filling the Sea Eye? How many Nascent Soul cultivators would be sacrificed this time?

Only old man Sun Qian shot up, his eyes filled with excitement.

He had been counting the days on his fingers and knew his release day had come. It was three days late, but that was a trivial matter.

Sure enough, the group stopped in front of his cell, and the gate swung open.

"Sun Qian, your sentence is served. Come with us!"

Old man Sun Qian nodded profusely, tremblingly complying as they fitted him with shackles before following the group out.

"Thank you, gentlemen, thank you so much..."

As the group slowly departed, the various fiends in the prison watched with mixed expressions.

Sun Qian was undeniably thrilled.

The moment he stepped out of the Black Prison, he took a long, deep breath, holding it for five or six full seconds before exhaling.

A vast aura flared for an instant before being suppressed by Mi Mountain’s restrictive formations.

No matter how humbly he acted, he was, after all, a great Nascent Soul Cultivator.

"Heh, the warden’s Pills are quite good. They smell wonderful!"

"I have the warden to thank for helping me regain my freedom..."

The Core Formation disciple escorting him glanced at him but paid him no mind.

But as Bai Mo opened the main gate, one of them paused slightly and asked in a low voice:

"Junior Brother, do you have any more of these Pills? I would like to purchase one. The price is negotiable."

He was someone who knew the details of the Pill.

Bai Mo cupped his hands slightly in a salute.

"This Pill was commissioned by another. Upon completion, there will only be a single one."

The disciple who had spoken nodded, said no more, and left with his companions, taking Sun Qian with them.