Immortal Mortal

Mo Wuji opened the paper suspiciously. When he saw the contents on the paper, he immediately lifted his head and asked astoundedly, "The Earthly Soul Protecting Pill Formula? Senior apprentice sister Yan, you chose to concoct this pill in the competition?"

Mo Wuji finally understood why Yan Qianyin had failed. He had concocted the Spirit Strengthening Pill, and he knew that it was far more difficult compared to other Tier 3 Mortal Pills. The Earthly Soul Protecting Pill was a Tier 4 Earth Pill, naturally, it would be exponentially harder. Furthermore, she had to use the low grade red firestone, and was restrained by the time limit of two hours. Her failure was not without reason.

"Senior apprentice sister Yan, with your abilities, if you chose a typical Tier 4 pill, you would have succeeded ah." Mo Wuji said a little doubtfully. Because he needed the Earthly Soul Protecting Pill didn’t mean that Yan Qianyin needed it too.

Yan Qianyin laughed faintly, "I was just taking a gamble. If I succeeded, I would very likely enter the top 10. If I failed, didn’t you already promise me some placings? Also, I thought that you would need this pill formula."

"Many thanks senior apprentice sister Yan. I will gratefully accept this pill formula then. Just tell me how many placings you need, I have many in excess. Also, I have one question: why does senior apprentice sister say that I need this pill formula?" Mo Wuji poured this burning question out from his heart.

Yan Qianyin laughed once more, "Others do not know your cultivation and would definitely think that you’re at the Great Circle of Channel Opening, or even half a step into Spirit Building. However, I’m very cognizant that you are only at Channel Opening Stage Level 4. For a Channel Opening Stage Level 4 cultivator to purify the Iron Core Bodhi Fruit, or to even concoct Tier 3 Mortal Pills, definitely isn’t possible with cultivation alone.

Furthermore, you’re not some experienced old fogey, so I believe that the only possible reason is that you’ve cultivated your spiritual will. With your cultivation, even with your spiritual will, concocting Tier 3 pills would still be difficult, so this pill would definitely be very useful for you. However, I knew that you definitely wouldn’t choose that pill because of Yan’Er. So I decided to simply help you."

Mo Wuji’s heart started pounding; he really had to depend on his spiritual will to concoct pills. It was as Yan Qianyin said, others must definitely think that he was an existence at the Great Circle of Channel Opening or even half a step into Spirit Building. And Yan Qianyin knew that his cultivation back when he was at the Formless Blade Mountain was merely Channel Opening Stage Level 3. According to her logical deduction, with his poor quality spiritual roots, his advancements should not be too fast, and he should at most be at Channel Opening Stage Level 4.

It was precisely because of this deduction that Yan Qianyin inferred that Mo Wuji had trained his spiritual will. It was akin to a shot in the dark, but Yan Qianyin guessed correctly: he really did cultivate his spiritual will. However, his cultivation wasn’t merely in Channel Opening Stage Level 4 but Channel Opening Stage Level 8.

Mo Wuji stood up and took a bow, "I did not have some spiritual will cultivation technique, but I did manage to develop some spiritual will by chance. Senior apprentice sister Yan, please help me keep this a secret."

Mo Wuji truly did not have a spiritual will cultivation method. But he did have the Spirit Strengthening Pill, and he could not easily take that out.

Yan Qianyin smiled, "Have I never helped you keep a secret? You don’t need to worried. You can keep this pill formula. Previously, I underestimated you, but now I’m sure that you would definitely be a Tier 4 Earth Pill Refiner. Regarding the bracelets, I only need three. I need one for myself and the other two are for Sect Head Gu Ran. After this Five Elements Desolate Domain, I will be leaving the Formless Blade Sect, so I need to return his favour he’s given me over the years."

Mo Wuji did not hesitate to take out four bracelets and passed it to Yan Qianyin, "Many thanks senior apprentice sister Yan for helping me again. I have one more bracelet here, I will need to trouble senior apprentice sister to help me pass it to Qin Chen."

Qin Xiangyu’s cultivation was too low, so Mo Wuji did not pass a bracelet to her. Thus, he would give the bracelet to Qin Chen instead. After all, he owed her a favour. Even though Qin Chen might have some biases against him, he would still need to repay the favour.

"Rest assured, I will get it done." Yan Qianyin also wasn’t overly courteous. From a certain perspective, she did intentionally pick the Earthly Soul Protecting Pill to help Mo Wuji. This was also because she did not manage to fulfil her previous promise with Mo Wuji which filled her heart with a tinge of guilt.

"Senior apprentice brother Mo, there’s another person outside who wishes to meet you." By the door, Fei Bingzhu called out again.

Yan Qianyin stood up, "The bracelets in your hands will definitely be very popular in the next two days. Remember that the value of this bracelet is very high, so don’t sell it out for a cheap price. I’ll take my leave first. Maybe we might meet again in the Five Elements Desolate Domain."

Mo Wuji sent Yan Qianyin to the door, and he saw who had come to meet him: Qu Wan’Er. Back on the ship, Qu Wan’Er helped him out once. At Chang Luo, Qu Wan’Er helped him again. He believed Qu Wan’Er to be a proud person, if it was for something ordinary, she definitely wouldn’t have taken the initiative to find him.

Now that Qu Wan’Er had come, it meant that entering the Five Elements Desolate Domain was very important to her.

"Mo Wuji greets Senior Qu as well as this senior. Please enter." Mo Wuji recognised Qu Wan’Er but not the black bearded elder by her side. Since he had come together with Qu Wan’Er, he should be someone close to her.

"Pill Master Mo, this is my master. My arrival must have disturbed you, I’m truly..." Qu Wan’Er was speaking awkwardly, she truly did not know what to say. In her eyes, Mo Wuji and her should have been people from two different worlds; worlds which were as different as the gap between Heaven and Earth. Helping Mo Wuji was a natural thing; it was like how immortals bestowed fire onto mortals. However, she - an immortal - was now seeking help from him - a mortal. It would be weird if she wasn’t awkward.

On the other hand, the black bearded elder acted very casually as he laughed and said, "Pill Master Mo, I am the Heavenly Temple’s 16th Elder, Zhan Yuanji. I’m also Wan’Er’s master. I hope that you’re not disturbed by our visit today."

Mo Wuji eagerly said, "Senior Qu had helped me immensely before. Your visit here is my pleasure. Please come take a sit."

Zhan Yuanji’s gaze landed on Qu Wan’Er, but Qu Wan’Er’s eyes were darting around, not meeting her master’s gaze.

Zhan Yuanji helplessly said, "Pill Master Mo is so young, yet your understanding towards the Pill Dao is so profound. Your future is truly limitless."

Mo Wuji chuckled, "Senior exaggerates. I’m limited by my innate talent. For me to advance is far harder than others."

"You’re really in the Channel Opening Stage?" Qu Wan’Er finally retracted her gaze and focused her attention onto Mo Wuji.

Mo Wuji nodded and sighed, "I’m really in the Channel Opening Stage, but my achievements today required me to exert painstaking effort and I had to go through countless life and death experiences."

Mo Wuji wasn’t kidding when he said that. To advance his cultivation, he needed to perforate new meridians, which was an extremely difficult process. He was not wrong about the life and death experiences, he had to constantly get shocked by lightning in order to open his meridians.

Yuan Zhenji’s gaze swept across Mo Wuji before he sighed. Standing so near to Mo Wuji, he could make a clear evaluation. His body did not emanate a hint of spirituality, but an aura of mortality. Mo Wuji truly did not have impressive spiritual roots, much less lightning affinity ones.

What a pity. He was still guessing whether Mo Wuji had unique affinity spiritual roots. If Mo Wuji did, coupled with his talent as a pill refiner, Yuan Zhenji might have tied Qu Wan’Er and Mo Wuji together.

Since Mo Wuji had typical spiritual roots, he was naturally not a match for Qu Wan’Er. He felt such a great pity that his alchemy talent was wasted by his poor innate roots.

Seeing that Qu Wan’Er remained silent for some time, Yuan Zhenji said, "Pill Master Mo, Wan’Er and I are here today because..."

He did not wish to continue wasting anymore time, Yuan Zhenji intended to immediately ask about the jade bracelets and leave as soon as possible.

Mo Wuji had already predicted the reason for Qu Wan’Er’s visit. Before Yuan Zhenji even finished his sentence, Mo Wuji took the initiative to pass a bracelet over to Qu Wan’Er, "Senior Qu, my luck is not bad, and I managed to obtain some placings. I’ll give this one to Senior Qu."

"Many thanks Pill Master Mo. How many spirit stones is this worth? I will give..." Qu Wan’Er carefully accepted the bracelet. She was still unsure of how to pop the question, and she did not expect that Mo Wuji would simply pass it to her.

Mo Wuji laughed lightly, "Senior Qu, you’ve helped me out before, and did not ask for anything in return. If I had to take Senior Qu’s spirit stones for a simple bracelet, I, Mo Wuji, would be far too ungrateful."

Since Mo Wuji had put it that way, Qu Wan’Er no longer mentioned spirit stones, but embarrassedly expressed her gratitude.

Yuan Zhenji understood his own disciple, and knew that she definitely did not wish to stay there. He also did not expect for things to go so smoothly, so he simply stood up and said, "Pill Master Mo, Wan’Er and I did come here for the bracelet. Since Pill Master Mo isn’t willing to accept spirit stones, if you meet with any difficulty, you can find me at the Heavenly Temple. We’ll no longer disturb Pill Master Mo."

After sending Yuan Zhenji and Qu Wan’Er off, Mo Wuji shook his head. If that Yuan Zhenji truly intended to help him, he would not have simply said that sentence. At the very least, he could offer some sort of identification token for Mo Wuji.

However, Mo Wuji did not mind as he had never intended to look for Yuan Zhenji for help.

...

"Master, you said that Pill Master Mo can always look for you, but why didn’t you leave behind your identity token?" After leaving the Nine Moons Pill House encampment, Qu Wan’Er regained her usual countenance.

Yuan Zhenji sighed before saying,"His spiritual roots should indeed be of low grade. It might even be the lowest of low grade spiritual roots. He must have encountered some luck to be able to cultivate to the late levels of the Channel Opening Stage. However, this is where it ends, so he definitely wouldn’t go to the Heavenly Temple."

"Then, you..." Qu Wan’Er gave her master a baffled look.

Yuan Zhenji said directly, "Those were just empty words. Even if he did go to the Heavenly Temple, what would I gain by helping him?

Even though his cultivation talent is horrible, he understands a bit about human relations. Didn’t you see him offer you the bracelet even before I opened my mouth? He is a pill refiner with little hopes of advancing his cultivation, but he was entitled by the Nine Moons Pill House to allocate one or two bracelets. This meant that he must have some capabilities. Naturally, he would understand the intention behind my words. He also offered the bracelet to repay your help. After this, the two of you will be clear from all your ties."

Yuan Zhenji did not know that Mo Wuji did not merely get to allocate one or two bracelets; he could allocate all of his bracelets. If he did, he would not have been in such a rush to leave.

"But the help I offered and the help he returned are not on the same level..." Qu Wan’Er was still a little troubled.

Yuan Zhenji chuckled, "That’s just from your perspective. Let’s stop thinking about such useless matters. Even though we already have a bracelet, we can still get some from the sect."

The Heavenly Temple had a pill refiner who was at 84th place, so there were still 17 available bracelets.