That very night, Xu Ruyuan slipped over to his door.

He circled Bai Mo’s house once before Bai Mo spotted him and called him inside.

"Brother Bai, what did you need me for?"

Xu Ruyuan asked as soon as he entered the shop.

Bai Mo invited him to sit, poured a cup of tea for each of them, and then pushed a list across to Xu Ruyuan.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, take a look. Can you find these herbs for me in the next few days?"

Xu Ruyuan glanced at Bai Mo but didn’t agree right away. Instead, he picked up his teacup, took a light sip, and began to read the list.

He read it carefully. After a moment, he frowned and said:

"I don’t know much about medicinal herbs, but I’ve heard of everything listed here. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find them."

"But, Brother Bai... are you planning to do some Alchemy?"

He recalled something and added a word of caution:

"Buying up herbs on the market like this... it’s very easy for someone to deduce your Pill Formula."

"Things like that have happened plenty of times before!"

Bai Mo scoffed.

"I’ve added some decoys to the list. Fellow Daoist Xu, you can proceed without worry."

’With his mastery of the Alchemy Dao, he was confident no one could see through his ruse.’

Xu Ruyuan nodded, reassured.

"Since you’ve said so, Brother Bai, I’m sure you’re well-prepared."

"Then I’ll get right on it!"

Bai Mo cupped his hands in a salute.

"I’ll have to trouble you, then. You will be handsomely rewarded for your efforts!"

Xu Ruyuan laughed heartily.

"It’s nothing at all. Running errands for a Pill Master... others would consider it a great honor!"

Xu Ruyuan came and went in less than half an hour.

Seeing the pensive look on Xu Ruyuan’s face as he left, Bai Mo knew that procuring these herbs wouldn’t be as simple as he’d made it sound.

After sitting quietly for a moment and tidying up, Bai Mo extinguished the lights in his room.

There wasn’t a glimmer of light from next door. ’Looks like he won’t be back tonight. Another night of revelry for him.’

Bai Mo lay on his bed and closed his eyes, but it wasn’t the Alchemy Dao that filled his thoughts.

Instead, it was the various methods of manipulating Spiritual Qi that Shui Ziming had mentioned.

The secret manual, *Star-Pointing Seven Hands*, was a pure Spiritual Qi manipulation technique.

It didn’t involve tempering one’s qi and blood, so some of Shui Ziming’s lessons were perfectly applicable.

Diagrams of Spiritual Qi pathways through the meridians surfaced in his mind, one after another, only to be rejected by Bai Mo.

Through constant fine-tuning, he eventually filtered them down to three pathways in which he could find no flaws.

Having firmly imprinted the three diagrams in his mind, the mentally exhausted Bai Mo finally fell into a deep sleep.

...

「At the same time.」

Shui Ziming was still on a long journey with his junior brother and sister.

Qin Yu complained, "It’s all this rain’s fault!"

"The Diting has run off to who knows where!"

Shui Ziming shook his head.

"Junior Brother, you still need to work on your composure. The Diting can’t get away."

"But you two, when you see the Diting, do not act rashly. You lack combat techniques and I’m afraid you won’t be able to stop it..."

Hearing this, the young woman’s cheeks puffed out, and she looked a little defiant.

"We’re at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, after all! The pressure from our Spiritual Qi should be more than enough to make the Diting hesitate!"

Shui Ziming sighed, somewhat exasperated.

"It’s all for show. Not to mention that Demon Beasts are born with powerful spiritual senses."

"Even someone with Junior Brother Bai’s perception could easily see through you if you were to truly fight."

The young woman recalled Bai Mo’s cultivation level with a touch of disdain.

"Ugh!"

"Him? Is he really that strong?"

Shui Ziming nodded gravely.

"He absorbed everything I taught him, which shows how sharp and perceptive he is."

"Many disciples in the outer sect would struggle to learn those things, yet he already grasped the basics intuitively."

The young woman was startled and grew worried.

"Ah! Senior Brother, the sect’s secret techniques are not to be shared with outsiders! You..."

Shui Ziming was unconcerned. He lightly brushed the dust from his sleeve and said calmly,

"They are merely principles of combat and methods for mobilizing Spiritual Qi. Their application is a matter of personal understanding, not some exclusive doctrine."

"They’re a far cry from being the sect’s secret techniques."

Qin Yu cut in, "Senior Brother, you think that highly of Junior Brother Bai?"

"Aren’t you just being biased?"

Shui Ziming’s expression suddenly grew serious as he scanned the ground around them.

But his tone was casual as he replied, "How could I become biased after just a few short days?"

The young woman quickly asked, "Then what about Junior Brother Bai’s Alchemy Skill?"

"The Pill in Junior Brother Qin’s system is still working, isn’t it?"

"For his very first successful pill to have such potency... even for a new Pill Master, his Alchemy Skill already surpasses many of his peers..."

Hearing this, Qin Yu’s face instantly flushed red.

He turned his head away under the cover of darkness, so no one noticed.

The young woman, however, was very excited.

"We came out on one trip and met a junior brother with incredible Alchemy Skill."

"His Pills taste surprisingly good. We should go to him for more in the future!"

Shui Ziming ignored his juniors as Spiritual Qi suddenly erupted from his body.

The young man and woman were startled and leaped back a few steps, just in time to see earthen spikes rise from the ground all around them, closing in layer by layer.

The ground rumbled, and their faces turned pale.

Shui Ziming snorted coldly, his fingers flashing in a blur.

A wave of Spiritual Qi, so compressed it was nearly tangible, shot out, shearing off all the earthen spikes and scraping away the top layer of the ground.

Shui Ziming pulled the two juniors behind him, his face an icy mask, radiating the aura of the top disciple of the Xuandao Sect’s outer sect.

He let out a breath, and his voice boomed.

"Audacious beast, you’re courting death!!"

...

"AHH!!"

The pained cry of his ’good neighbor’ startled Bai Mo awake.

Opening his eyes, he saw someone shoving at his window.

Bai Mo, still fully clothed, got up and hurried over to open the window.

Light streamed in from outside, and Bai Mo, caught off guard, was startled by Zhang Qinghong’s battered and bruised face.

"Here, Shopkeeper Bai! The order you wanted!"

His ’good neighbor’ tremblingly handed him a yellow sheet of paper. It was covered in names; at a glance, he could see more than ten.

’This rascal has that many shady friends!?’

Bai Mo looked up, taking in the man’s unrecognizable face.

"Friend, what happened to you?"

’He went out drumming up business last night and came back looking like this.’

’It was hard not to jump to some unpleasant conclusions.’

His ’good neighbor’ grimaced.

"It’s nothing. I got impulsive last night and started an argument with some charlatan selling fake medicine."

"I’ve had it with him for a while now. But I never thought the bastard would just call for backup. He pulled out five or six guys and they actually had the nerve to jump me..."

Bai Mo was silent for a moment before taking the list.

"Are you seriously hurt?"

"I’m fine! Once I’m healed, I’m definitely getting my revenge!"

Seeing that the injuries were only superficial, Bai Mo didn’t press the issue. He told his ’good neighbor’ that the goods would be ready for delivery in half a month and then sent him off.

The man left, wincing and trying to laugh through the pain.

Bai Mo looked up at the sky.

’It was about time to open the shop.’

After washing up and having a quick breakfast, Bai Mo took down the wooden planks that served as his shop’s front door.

He then settled in for the day, ready to welcome and serve customers.

After several days of heavy rain, there was an unusual influx of customers.

Most of them were here for the Qi Absorption Pills.

When Xu Ruyuan arrived with several men in tow, he saw Bai Mo tracing patterns in the air with his finger.

The men stopped in their tracks and exchanged a glance. Xu Ruyuan took a few steps forward and called out tentatively.

"Brother Bai?"

Bai Mo’s hand froze. He pulled it back, halting his intermittent practice.

"Thank you for your hard work, Fellow Daoist Xu. And these gentlemen are...?"

Xu Ruyuan quickly explained:

"They’re all veterans of Celestial Barrier Mountain, and they each have a personal stock of herbs at home."

"However, if you’re willing to pay their price, Brother Bai, these men are willing to venture deep into the mountains to find those specific herbs for you!"

’So, they’ve come to negotiate a price.’

But the older Cultivators all looked quite reserved, seeming a bit stiff and uneasy.

Bai Mo smiled faintly.

"Of course."

"Everyone, please come in so we can discuss the details!"