Chapter Seventy-Seven: The Final Furnace
By the time Su Bailu and the others leisurely made their way back to Little Green Mountain, the sky was already beginning to lighten.
“All right, you just focus on your cultivation. I’ll find a solution to everything else,” she said reassuringly to Xiao Bao and Wang Yao.
Though the Green Mountain had fallen on hard times, it lacked for nothing essential.
In truth, Wang Yao hadn’t considered these matters at all, but he still nodded gratefully in her direction.
They separated, each preparing to return to their rooms and rest.
About a quarter of an hour later, they all, by some unspoken agreement, returned, their expressions exceedingly peculiar.
Yang Mu was the first to reach into his robe.
He placed a series of worn porcelain bottles on the ground—seventeen or eighteen in total. Once he’d finished, he looked up and took a deep breath. “Am I the only one who received these?”
Su Bailu produced her hands from behind her back.
Wang Yao did the same.
Xiao Bao blinked—he’d been carrying a large cloth bag the entire time.
“I’m guessing it’s full of candy beans,” Yang Mu said, pretending to be calm.
These porcelain bottles were usually used for storing elixirs, but the ones before them were clearly much older and more battered. Besides, when the sect distributed elixirs, it was always by the pill, never in such bulk.
Wang Yao subconsciously touched the cloth pouch at his waist that held his Foundation Establishment Pills. He had a feeling things wouldn’t be that simple.
“Let’s open them and see,” Yang Mu suggested, grabbing three bottles and tipping each one out to reveal a single pill.
“Spirit Nourishing Pill, Jade Dragon Pill, Qi Fostering Pellet,” Su Bailu identified them instantly, her knowledge surpassing that of the other disciples.
These pills calmed the mind, stabilized the core, and fostered qi. Though all were first-grade, used together they were highly effective for cultivators at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement.
As for their value, a single spirit stone could buy three bottles.
Yang Mu glanced at the dozen-odd bottles at his feet, suddenly feeling a strange sense of satisfaction.
He opened three more, curious to see what it felt like to hold a handful of pills. This time, though, the pills were different.
“Three-Leaf Fragrant Blossom Pill… Yellowstone Pill… Minor Meridian Unblocking Pill,” Su Bailu’s voice trembled.
The effects were similar, but these were second-grade.
She spoke before he could ask, “In the Southern Hall, these go for about fifty merit points a bottle… but regular disciples can usually only exchange for them one pill at a time.”
“Wait, let me process this,” Yang Mu interrupted, clutching his chest and carefully returning the pills to their bottles.
The others stared at him in silent agreement.
“Why are you all looking at me? Surely there aren’t any third-grade pills?” Yang Mu rolled his eyes but obediently picked up the remaining bottles one by one.
He’d found these on his table when he returned to his room. His master hadn’t even said a word, so he’d assumed they were nothing valuable and hadn’t hesitated to set them out. Now he wished he could hide them all under his pillow.
After opening a few more, Yang Mu let out a breath of relief—just the same old pills.
“All right, enough staring—my goodness!”
He opened the smallest bottle and, with a start, fell to the ground. After a long moment, he stretched out a trembling hand.
“Let’s be clear, you can look but not touch. These are from Master,” he said.
Three pills lay quietly in his palm—two green, one yellow.
The apricot-yellow one was a third-grade Dragon Bone Pill, the green ones were Foundation Establishment Pills.
The others stood there, expressionless, then began rummaging through their own bottles.
Soon, Su Bailu had three green pills and one yellow.
Wang Yao had even more: four Foundation Establishment Pills and one Dragon Bone Pill.
They exchanged glances.
Yang Mu realized, to his dismay, that he had the fewest. Scratching his head, he ventured, “Yao, do you think Master made a mistake? Maybe one of those is meant for me?”
The group was left in stunned silence.
After a long while, Wang Yao glanced at Yang Mu with envy.
The truth was obvious now: the number of pills corresponded to their aptitude. The more one received, the harder their breakthrough would be in their master’s eyes.
Su Bailu had just come to this realization herself and couldn’t help but look at Xiao Bao.
The little fellow, unaware of their astonishment, happily opened his cloth bag, pulled out a candy drop, and popped it into his mouth.
The entire bag was filled with colorful candy beans.
Even Yang Mu sensed something was amiss, a look of shock in his eyes.
As the first disciple of Little Green Mountain, Senior Brother Xiao would never be neglected by Master. Yet his bag was filled with candy beans…
This meant, in Master’s eyes, he didn’t need such things as elixirs at all.
So—did this mean his own aptitude was next only to Senior Brother Xiao’s?
Recalling how easily the boy had broken through, Yang Mu broke into a broad grin.
“Five hundred…” Su Bailu suddenly murmured.
“What?” Yang Mu looked up in confusion.
Her pretty face was pale with shock. “All these are worth at least five hundred spirit stones.”
The entire mountain’s monthly merit requirement was only sixty points—equivalent to six spirit stones, or seventy-two per year.
What they now held would allow Little Green Mountain to continue for seven years.
And Master had simply left these on each of their tables.
A moment earlier, their only feeling had been shock. Now, realizing the true value, their hearts raced. If these spirit stones were to fall into the wrong hands, even Foundation Establishment cultivators might kill for them.
“Come with me,” Su Bailu said, steadying herself as she headed toward the central wooden hut.
She knocked softly.
After a moment, Lin Ze, bleary-eyed and stretching, opened the door. “What is it?”
Before anyone could speak, his gaze fell on the cloth pouch at Wang Yao’s waist.
When he looked up again, his eyes were tinged with pity.
Wang Yao immediately understood what his master meant, his expression turning bitter as he tried to explain that things weren’t as his master imagined.
“Ah,” Lin Ze sighed.
This disciple, though not as handsome as himself, was at least decent and upright, with a good temperament. How could he return empty-handed with Foundation Establishment Pills in hand? Was he truly so undesired by women?
Su Bailu and Yang Mu were utterly baffled, seeing only that Master seemed disappointed in Wang Yao.
“Master… we’re here about something else,” Wang Yao quickly interjected, seeing the misunderstanding deepen. “It’s about these.”
He handed over several porcelain bottles.
Lin Ze glanced at them, then at Wang Yao, realization dawning. He clicked his tongue. No wonder the boy had returned empty-handed—he didn’t even know how to use pills to advance. So it was a matter of intelligence.
He had already sorted the various elixirs, carefully selecting them from the Longevity Pill Manual and the Creation Pill Manual, choosing only the most suitable for Qi Refinement disciples, with complementary effects, minimizing the risks of pill-induced breakthroughs to almost nothing.
What was there to ask?
As for the pills themselves, they were sourced from Xiao Bao’s legendary character card.
Lin Ze had intended to use the card to simulate both pill manuals, but the child’s aptitude seemed to offer no bonus to the art of alchemy, making progress agonizingly slow.
However, he had a unique talent for finding medicinal herbs. A couple of strolls in the mountains yielded a trove of rare treasures. Lin Ze had drawn from this pool forty or fifty times and hadn’t even emptied it. If not for the fear of danger, he’d have gone out personally to collect more.
With herbs in hand and his own alchemical skills, the cost of these pills was negligible—only a bit of extra effort.
Lin Ze shook his head ruefully. A master could afford to work a little harder for his disciples’ sake.
Once he was rested, he would fire up three more furnaces.
No, five!