Chapter 351: Arrival

Chapter 351: Chapter 351: Arrival

The violet qi of sunrise was a rare sight, and harder still to capture.

It was an ethereal substance to begin with, so using it for alchemy was all the more difficult.

No wonder Shang Wunian had said it was all down to luck.

Bai Mo stayed out for a night and, early the next morning, went back to the marketplace to search for more Pill Books.

They were all items sold off by disciples, unrelated to the sect. The sellers all acted mysterious, putting on profound airs.

When asked, the answers were always along the lines of "family heirloom," "excerpts from a secret manual," or "a fortuitous find."

The asking price for a few of them was absurdly high.

Bai Mo resisted the urge to slap the books in their faces. He turned to leave, only to be immediately called back.

In the end, Bai Mo didn’t pay more than twenty Spirit Stones for any of them.

He gathered them mainly because they contained some so-called "unconventional formulas."

But at Bai Mo’s level, it didn’t matter if a formula was unconventional or not. A good cat is one that catches mice.

Returning to Mi Mountain.

Li Wuji came to greet him. Seeing that no other sect members were with him, he asked:

"Is everything alright?"

Bai Mo sighed.

"Not exactly."

He then told Li Wuji everything that had happened.

After listening, Li Wuji fell silent in thought for a moment.

"That so-called great power... it sounds like they’re trapped in a state between life and death. No wonder people from both Divine Dao Mountain and the Gold-Jade lineage acted at the same time."

"They’re the ones who are interested in this sort of thing!"

The prisoners in the Black Prison were all figures of considerable origin, so it wasn’t strange for them to have such backgrounds and fortuitous encounters.

"How about I keep watch here at night? If something goes wrong, I can fix it in time."

Li Wuji suggested.

Bai Mo refused.

"The restrictive spells on the Black Prison are still active. The entity can cause trouble in dreams, but it’s highly unlikely it can affect reality."

"None of the sect’s seniors have said anything, so we shouldn’t worry about it either."

"Brother, you should go back and cultivate in peace. I’ll call you if anything happens."

Li Wuji said no more and did as he was told.

For the next few nights, whenever Bai Mo fell asleep, he was pulled into the dream.

The scene in the dream remained the same. Even when Bai Mo tried everything he could, he couldn’t stop the fear from stirring in his heart.

Before that fear, his willpower crumbled like a landslide, at best allowing him to hold on for a few more breaths.

The Mi Mountain in his dream was visibly getting closer and closer.

One day, Bai Mo received a letter.

It was from Immortal Arrival City. After reading its contents, Bai Mo was greatly surprised.

’A senior has already arrived?’

The letter said that Wei An had received a strange customer.

He was an old man, very easy to get along with and mild-mannered. As soon as he entered the shop, he began asking about Pills.

The attendant boy following him, however, was detestable, looking around and scrutinizing everything after entering the shop, the height of rudeness.

Only after asking did Wei An learn that the old man was a fellow Shopkeeper. He had come by invitation and, seeing that Immortal Arrival City was not far from Celestial Mountain City, decided to pay a visit.

Ordinarily, the shop wouldn’t have had any Pills worthy of the old man’s notice.

Fortunately, thanks to Qin Wen’s recent visit, the shop was stocked with enough quality Pills to have something worthy of discussion.

In the end, the old man selected two Pills, bought them, and then departed for Celestial Mountain City.

Wei An immediately wrote and sent the letter.

After reading it, Bai Mo figured the attendant boy must have somehow offended Wei An.

’The previous letters said the seniors who were coming were thousands of miles away. How could someone have arrived already?’

’How strange.’

Regardless, Bai Mo felt the urge to go and meet them.

But with so much going on lately, he couldn’t help but start planning and calculating.

Also, because of the dream affair, Bai Mo’s spirit and energy were low. He was afraid that showing up in his haggard state would be discourteous...

「Three days later.」 The door was struck with a series of deep, resounding THUDS.

The visitor clearly possessed astonishing strength.

Bai Mo opened the door and saw an unexpected guest.

"Brother Shi!?"

"What are you doing back here?"

The visitor was one of the stone giants who had previously guarded the Black Prison.

Since going out, he had not only acquired a new, even more dazzling, wide silver robe, but also a large, sheathed saber at his waist.

Although the saber was likely just for decoration, it still added an air of Evil Qi.

If you couldn’t see his face, you could almost mistake him for a burly guard.

The stone giant spoke in a rumbling voice:

"We were gone for two months. Along the way, we came across a place ravaged by plague, where the people were plunged into misery."

"My master captured the one who released the plague, but that person couldn’t undo it. So, he had no choice but to send me back to retrieve something to make a cure."

Bai Mo was puzzled.

"Where is the medicine?"

"It’s a type of Stone Heart Marrow. I buried it in the Black Prison."

Bai Mo’s expression immediately became troubled.

"As you know, Brother, you can’t enter without a token. How about I get it for you?"

The stone giant pinched a token with his massive fingers and held it out to Bai Mo.

"Don’t worry. I already stopped by and requested a token on my way back."

The two then entered the Black Prison.

Shang Wunian had brought people to make arrangements that day, but Bai Mo hadn’t noticed any trace of it.

The stone giant, however, was different. As his towering body entered, he couldn’t help but let out a sound of surprise.

"Who’s been messing with the Black Prison!?"

Bai Mo quickly explained.

"It was Elder Shang Wunian from Divine Dao Mountain. He brought some people."

The stone giant had a moment of realization.

"Ah, that man. I’ve heard of him. It seems some interesting things happened in the Black Prison after we left."

"Tell me about it later."

The prison was no place to talk. Bai Mo followed the stone giant into the depths of the Black Prison.

He watched as the giant suddenly crouched, scraped away the loose dirt on the ground, and revealed the stone paving beneath.

The stone giant reached out, applied a bit of force, and inserted his fingers into the stone paving. With a sudden pull, he heaved out a massive stone as tall as Bai Mo himself.

He reached in and dug open the stone’s core, revealing a yellowish-brown piece inside.

Bai Mo was quite curious. He watched the giant pry out the yellowish-brown piece, then take out a lighter-colored one and fit it into place.

The stone giant ran a hand over it, and the marks on the stone’s surface vanished, restored to their original state.

He pushed the massive stone back into place.

"Done."

The stone giant stood up and shook the yellowish-brown stone. Something seemed to slosh inside it like water.

He and Bai Mo started walking out.

"So, tell me what happened."

"It’s a long story. It turns out, there’s a prisoner in our jail with an extraordinary background..."

The stone giant listened quietly until they were standing before the door of the stone house.

"So that’s what happened. I really came back at the right time!"

Bai Mo was startled. "Brother, aren’t you in a hurry to deliver the medicine?"

The stone giant was unconcerned.

"With that old Daoist around, suppressing the plague for a while isn’t difficult. He just can’t cure it completely."

"A delay of a few days won’t be a problem."

"You too. Run faster in your dreams! I bet the Gold-Jade lineage is getting impatient. Who knows how many people are eagerly waiting!"

He headed excitedly for the Foreign Affairs Hall. He still needed their permission to get involved in this matter.

Bai Mo gave a bitter smile.

The stone giant had guarded Mi Mountain for many years. With his race’s unique traits, he could draw power from Mi Mountain itself, so he really could get involved.

That night, and for the nights that followed, Bai Mo went to bed very early.

Following the stone giant’s instructions, Bai Mo let go of his inhibitions in the dream and ran with all his might.

The menacing voice also grew more intense, pressing in on him from all directions, almost making it impossible to breathe.

This continued for four nights.

As Bai Mo’s foot stepped into the domain of the dream’s Mi Mountain, the chewing sound suddenly stopped.

Bai Mo snapped back to his senses. ’I’m here!?’

BOOM!!!

The world-shattering sound rocked the heavens. The dreamscape fractured into pieces and collapsed with a roar.

Bai Mo staggered, unsteady on his feet. But a sudden impulse made him turn his head. Before he could focus his eyes, his form disintegrated.

In that fleeting, dazed moment, he saw a giant. It stood tall enough to touch the sky, bare-chested, with only a beast hide wrapped around its large belly.

The figure was holding a sharpened bone club and striding forward with immense steps.