Chapter 485: Chapter 485: Heavenly Calamity

Blood Essence Pill.

Chen Qing had learned about this item from Bai Mo.

"A Pill like this was almost lost to the world?"

He marveled, somewhat baffled, and wanted to get his hands on a few.

"Some of the Demon Beasts that Beast Taming Peak has been tinkering with are extremely valuable. It’s worth keeping them alive. Once they produce offspring, there might be a chance for a breakthrough."

A Demon Beast with congenital defects might not necessarily produce offspring with the same issues.

This was how many of the herds on Beast Taming Peak had been developed.

Bai Mo was not surprised that Chen Qing was thinking this way.

The problem was, Bai Mo hadn’t refined many Blood Essence Pills in the first place, and now he had given them all to Zhang Sheng, leaving not a single one for Ah Er.

Chen Qing was a little disappointed. Before he left, he earnestly advised:

"Junior Brother, when you have time, you should prepare more Blood Essence Pills. My Beast Taming Peak will buy as many as you can make."

Bai Mo’s hands had been tied lately, so he wasn’t sure if he would have any free time. Out of kindness, he offered:

"The Pill Formula for the Blood Essence Pill is recorded in several obscure Pill Books."

"When you get back, Senior Brother, you can have someone look them up. The books are..."

Chen Qing didn’t listen, dismissing the idea entirely.

"If those bunglers from my Beast Taming Peak who mess around with Pill Furnaces could actually refine this Pill, that would be a true miracle."

"It’s just a matter of spending some Spirit Stones, after all. No need to waste so much effort..."

It was clear he had absolutely no faith in his own peak’s alchemists.

After seeing him off, Bai Mo went back to tinkering with his Divine Technique Outer Pill.

He hadn’t expected it, but after less than four hours of sitting quietly with a book, someone was at his door again, pounding away.

It was a disciple from Divine Dao Mountain, delivering two stiff-bodied Cultivators who kept their heads bowed and their eyes downcast.

When Bai Mo opened the door, the two Cultivators were given a forceful shove from behind before they stumbled inside.

Bai Mo looked down at their lowered heads and saw two pairs of vacant, unfocused eyes.

This state was only broken after they were locked in their cells.

"Wh-where is this...?"

"Who are you people? Do you have any idea who my master is!?"

Bai Mo tilted his head and glanced at the unremarkable-looking disciple from Divine Ability Mountain.

They were also at the Core Formation realm, but these two prisoners had likely been subdued and sent here before they even understood what was happening.

The disciple from Divine Ability Mountain beamed.

"It’s all thanks to the Dharma Protector we venerate. The Protector’s Divine Techniques are incredibly effective."

Bai Mo started walking out with him and asked:

"What did these two do?"

The command token only stated that the two had committed countless evil deeds, without going into specifics.

This made it difficult for Bai Mo to make the entry in his register.

"They took advantage of the disaster to murder people, harvesting a great number of lives for their vile arts. Over five hundred people were involved."

"And that’s only because we caught them early."

Bai Mo nodded slightly as he listened, then added a reminder:

"They mentioned a master..."

"A fake."

The Divine Ability Mountain disciple said, "I asked around where they were staying. Their so-called master does, in fact, exist."

"It’s just that he was captured by our sect long ago. Disciples from my own Divine Dao Mountain made the arrest. I’d wager he was even locked up right here in the black prison."

"The two of them just don’t have the guts, so they’re using a dead man’s name to bluff their way around."

As Bai Mo conversed with him during the short walk, he learned more details.

For instance, the two men in the cells had long been on the Sect’s wanted list, but they had hidden so well that no one had ever managed to capture them.

They had only resurfaced now to take advantage of the chaos, hoping to profit from the river floods and the Aquatic Race coming ashore.

However, their luck was poor, and they ran right into the Sect Disciples sent to hold back the Aquatic Race.

After Bai Mo returned the command token, the disciple departed in a hurry.

The Aquatic Race was coming ashore. This matter wouldn’t be resolved peacefully...

’I thought the heavy snows promised a bountiful year, but I guess this one won’t be peaceful either.’

Bai Mo sighed to himself as he picked up his brush and recorded the new inmates’ information in the prisoner register.

It was as if his words were an omen.

Over the next half a month, Bai Mo received four more batches of prisoners, a total of nine people.

According to the disciples who escorted them, all these individuals had made sinister moves during the recent disasters, which led to their being targeted and captured.

The four groups came from four different regions, and each region had been struck by a natural disaster.

This concerned Bai Mo.

So, when Yuan Chu came by one day, Bai Mo pulled him aside.

"What’s with all these frequent natural disasters? Don’t tell me the mortal world’s destiny is boiling over again?"

Yuan Chu shook his head.

"A boiling of destiny? Each one of those takes years of build-up. It’s not something that can just happen on a whim."

Bai Mo pressed, "Are there any rumors coming from Divine Dao Mountain? The masters and elders can’t possibly be unaware."

Yuan Chu hadn’t heard anything of the sort and just shook his head again.

"No one’s said anything, but I’ll ask around when I get back."

"By the way, how’s that Divine Technique of yours coming along?"

This was the real reason he had come.

"After all, you’re not a disciple of my Divine Dao Mountain, nor have you ever formally venerated Dharma Protector She."

"Over time, that Mountain-Penetrating Divine Technique will gradually fade away."

Bai Mo nodded.

"I’m aware of the stakes."

The first thing he had done upon returning was to try and refine the Divine Technique into a Pill, precisely to prevent such an outcome.

Yuan Chu was curious.

"And? Were you successful?"

Bai Mo shook his head.

"The results were mediocre, but I did manage to gain something from it."

"When you get back, Senior Brother, please remember to find out for me what’s really behind all these disasters."

...

According to the divination Bai Mo had requested from Divine Dao Mountain, the auspicious day to begin his Alchemy was not far off.

The only reason he had gone to Divine Dao Mountain to have someone divine the date was because he wanted one that was perfectly aligned with destiny.

But with all these natural disasters, could it be that destiny itself was in flux?

Since it concerned his Core Formation, Bai Mo was naturally worried.

Yuan Chu was reliable; a letter arrived not long after he returned.

During the winter, the mortal world’s destiny had boiled over and disturbed the celestial phenomena. What was happening now was the backlash from the Celestial Dao.

This was the verdict of Shang Wunian of Divine Dao Mountain.

He was an authority on the matter, and though his explanation was shocking, it was difficult to dismiss as untrue.

And because he had been asking around about this matter for Bai Mo, Yuan Chu had been loitering in front of his elders so often that he got drafted to go out and help quell the disasters.

By the time Bai Mo received the letter, Yuan Chu had likely already departed.

However, according to the information he’d gathered, Bai Mo’s plans to begin his refinement shouldn’t be affected.

Although disasters were breaking out everywhere, as long as they were snuffed out in time, they wouldn’t affect the grand scheme of things.

It was like a boil on a person’s body; if excised promptly, it wouldn’t drain too much of one’s vitality.

Slightly reassured, Bai Mo once again immersed himself in his research on the Outer Pill.

But with various disciples constantly showing up at his door to deliver prisoners, it was impossible to fully concentrate.

One batch of prisoners, sent back from Immortal Arrival City, particularly caught Bai Mo’s attention.

The disciple who brought them was an acquaintance of Bai Mo’s; they’d had many dealings back in the city. His face lit up with joy when he saw Bai Mo.

Thanks to the four Demon Cultivators, the man was finally free of his assignment in Immortal Arrival City and could return to the sect to cultivate in peace.

Bai Mo, however, couldn’t share his joy. He grabbed the disciple and asked:

"Did something happen in the city?"

"No."

The disciple’s smile faded as he explained:

"There was a plague among the Demon Beasts in the mountains. These Demon Cultivators fanned the flames, helping people go up into the mountains to hunt the sick beasts."

"But competition in the city market is fierce. The slightly foul-smelling Demon Beast meat wasn’t presentable, so it was kept hidden away."

"It wasn’t until the men who handled the meat fell ill that we uncovered the whole affair..."

The whole affair in Immortal Arrival City had been exposed by sheer luck.

Bai Mo was already planning to send a batch of plague-warding Pills back to the city.

’Hmm, I should also have the shop start collecting herbs and ores,’ he thought.

’But with everyone in the city in a panic, I’m afraid the cost will be much higher...’

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