Mu Bai, frantic with worry, tucked away the pill and hurried back toward the tribe, only to meet Hai Chen coming toward him along the way. Since inscribing their first soul marks, both had been busy cultivating and had not seen each other for more than half a year. By now, Hai Chen had fully consolidated his cultivation as a novice soul cultivator.
"Hai Chen!"
"Mu Bai!"
"Hai Chen, take this to Uncle Ang. It's urgent!"
Upon meeting Hai Chen, Mu Bai had no time to say more and handed him the pill.
"I understand. Go!"
The brothers understood each other; their thoughts reached each other's hearts without any need for more words.
Taking the pill, Hai Chen raced toward the tribe in great strides. Mu Bai watched his good brother's retreating back, then, without lingering, turned and ran toward the mountain behind the tribe again.
Mu Bai traveled through the mountain forest for half a day, using the wonders of his divine sense to avoid most of the Fierce Beasts and spare himself much unnecessary trouble. Just then, branches and leaves rustled behind him. Hai Chen had caught up.
"I knew you'd come."
"Of course. It's my tribe too, and the Clan Patriarch is my Clan Patriarch too. More importantly, you're my brother. How could I let you risk your life alone?"
"We'll be facing a third-tier Fierce Beast this time!"
"When brothers stand together, their edge can cut through metal. Even mountains of blades and seas of fire would be better than letting you go alone!"
With that, the two brothers bumped fists, embraced, and exchanged smiles before heading toward the Black-Horned Python's lair.
As the saying went, an herb grower entering the mountains saw medicinal herbs; a hunter entering the mountains saw birds and beasts. Mu Bai and Hai Chen had scrambled through the mountains with their tribe's hunting parties since childhood, so both had ample experience traveling through forests. Running at full speed, they paid attention to nothing else and headed straight for their destination. In less than a day, they crossed mountains and ridges and approached the Black-Horned Python's lair.
"Black-Horned Pythons are nocturnal. Let's spend the night here, then sneak in early tomorrow morning."
Sharpening an axe did not delay the woodcutting. When Mu Bai decided to risk obtaining the dragon saliva grass, he had thoroughly studied the Black-Horned Python's habits.
"Black-Horned Pythons usually lay their eggs between summer and autumn, roughly once every five years. Let's hope we're lucky this time."
"Mu Bai, you really do think things through and cover every angle. That alone is something I need to learn from you!"
Hai Chen gave him a thumbs-up in praise.
"I provide the ideas, you provide the muscle. That makes us the perfect team!" Mu Bai smiled slyly. "After laying its eggs, the Black-Horned Python will be extremely weak and even more sensitive to the scent of my Ma Fruit Pills. Once it swallows them, its movements will slow further. You draw its attention, and I'll take the dragon saliva grass while it's off guard!"
"Good. That's what we'll do!"
Their plan settled, the two passed the night without further conversation.
At dawn, shafts of light spilled into the dense forest, and dew glistened on the tips of the grass. Green mountains linked together in the distance, where a white ribbon of water plunged down, startling a flock of egrets on the shoals into soaring toward the clouds.
Mu Bai and Hai Chen had no time to admire the beautiful morning scenery. With their heads hanging from their belts, they crept cautiously toward the Black-Horned Python's lair. Though their plan had been settled, they were both still half-grown children. Naturally, no one would have believed them if they claimed not to be nervous or afraid.
To eat chilies, one had to plant chili seedlings; to eat carp, one had to travel the Yangtze. Who could help it when that dragon saliva grass insisted on growing beside this dragon's lair?
Just as Mu Bai had expected, the Black-Horned Python returned to its cave at dawn after hunting through the night. It lay coiled around three python eggs, its eyelids lowered, occasionally flicking out its scarlet forked tongue.
Mu Bai and Hai Chen watched from afar, then slowly crept closer to the cave when the Black-Horned Python's vigilance slackened a little. Waves of cold seeped from the pitch-black entrance.
"The Black-Horned Python can sense movement through faint vibrations in the ground. We can't go any farther."
Hai Chen nodded in agreement, and the two lay prone a short distance from the cave entrance, holding their breath.
Mu Bai took out three yellow-brown pills whose fragrance seeped deep into the lungs. Controlling them with his divine sense, he gently lowered them near the Black-Horned Python.
A dozen or so breaths later, sure enough, the Black-Horned Python began flicking its tongue rapidly. It opened its eyes, sending out two beams of icy light.
In principle, although a third-tier Black-Horned Python still had a long way to go before becoming a demon and taking human form, it already possessed a measure of intelligence and would not be so easily fooled.
But just as Mu Bai had said, after laying its eggs, the Black-Horned Python was extremely weak and had less resistance to the temptation of his Ma Fruit Pills. After hesitating for some time, it straightened its thick body, opened its mouth, and swallowed one of the enticingly fragrant Ma Fruit Pills whole. Without any chewing, the pill was already in its belly.
Having tasted the wonderful flavor of the first Ma Fruit Pill, the Black-Horned Python had absolutely no reason to pass up the other two. Its bloody maw opened, sweeping both pills into its mouth at once. Cold light flickered in its eyes as it flicked its tongue, seemingly wanting more.
With the plan proceeding smoothly, both boys' hearts were now in their throats, pounding as they stared fixedly at the Black-Horned Python, waiting for its next reaction. Success or failure hinged on this!
Sure enough, several dozen breaths later, the Ma Fruit Pills took effect, and the Black-Horned Python grew restless. Before long, its wildly writhing body began to slow.
"Quick! The effects won't last long. We have to hurry!"
No sooner had Mu Bai finished speaking than Hai Chen sprang up and leaped to the cave entrance. At the same time, he channeled his soul power, manifesting a complete Divine Crow that gave a piercing cry and lunged at the Black-Horned Python.
At the sight, the cold light in the Black-Horned Python's eyes blazed. Its head shot forward, jaws open, toward the Divine Crow soul spirit.
Knowing he could not meet a third-tier Fierce Beast head-on, Hai Chen hastily halted the Divine Crow's charge and retreated at once.
Its first strike unsuccessful, the Black-Horned Python opened its gaping, bloody maw, flicking its tongue and releasing an overpowering stench as it chased Hai Chen in fury.
Mu Bai had been waiting for precisely this moment. He leaped straight toward the dragon saliva grass at the cave entrance, reached out, and pulled both stalks free by their roots.
"Hey, boy, those three python eggs are good stuff too!"
"Leave others some leeway, and you can meet again on good terms!"
"Damn, are you planning on 'coming and going' with this big Black-Horned Python...?"
Grabbing the dragon saliva grass, Mu Bai sprinted off in the opposite direction from Hai Chen.
Seeing someone steal its dragon saliva grass, the Black-Horned Python realized it had fallen for a trick to lure the tiger away from its mountain. Rage surged within it. Abandoning Hai Chen, it wheeled its body around and chased straight after Mu Bai.
Although the Black-Horned Python's movements had slowed, it still possessed the might of a third-tier Fierce Beast. Within moments, it was drawing ever closer to Mu Bai.
"Boy, look out!"
The Artifact Spirit Ancestor manifested as the Black-Horned Python's enormous body sprang up, its bloody maw gaping as it bit toward the back of Mu Bai's head.
In a flash of inspiration, Mu Bai controlled the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron and smashed it hard at the Black-Horned Python.
With a tremendous bang, the two collided violently. A sweet taste rose in Mu Bai's throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Yet he used the force of the impact to propel himself straight forward several dozen zhang.
Although that blow could not possibly unleash the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron's power as a top-tier soul treasure, it still left the Black-Horned Python seeing stars and slightly dizzy.
"Hey, big black snake! Aren't you afraid I'll kick apart your doghouse and smash your bird eggs?"
Hai Chen jumped onto a boulder, thumped his chest wildly, and roared with laughter.
What a brat, bringing his bullying right into someone else's home! How could that Black-Horned Python not be furious? Without a second thought, the Black-Horned Python hurriedly twisted around and charged murderously toward Hai Chen in a frenzy...
"Hahaha! Two wet-behind-the-ears brats turning a python's nest upside down. Amusing, truly amusing..."
"If we'd listened to you and taken its eggs, we'd be finished!"
Seeing the Artifact Spirit Ancestor's gleeful expression, Mu Bai retorted.
"I was testing you. Let me tell you, as the ancestor of the Haibei Tribe, with you as one of its descendants, the burden of restoring the tribe rests on our shoulders. My tests for you can come anytime, anywhere, in all kinds of strange and varied forms..."
The Artifact Spirit Ancestor's habit of prattling on was truly more than Mu Bai could bear. Fortunately, he had successfully obtained the dragon saliva grass and was in excellent spirits. Ignoring his injuries, he hurried toward the rendezvous point he and Hai Chen had agreed on.
Anxious to protect its young, the Black-Horned Python found that even a mighty third-tier Fierce Beast could run out of strength after being sent back and forth several times. It could only accept its bad luck and return to its cave with its head lowered and tongue flicking, coil around its three eggs, and give up the chase.
The two half-grown children had made a great uproar in the Black-Horned Python's lair and returned victorious, spending only three days on the round trip. Youth truly had its own wild spirit; at stealing chickens and sneaking off with dogs, these two reigned supreme.
The guan zhong, gui jiu, and stone longevity had long since been prepared. With the dragon saliva grass in hand, Mu Bai returned to the lava fissure, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing in preparation for refining the pill.
This attempt was different from his previous efforts at refining low-tier pills. This was the renowned Dragon-Awakening Pill. The Clan Patriarch's life hung upon it, so Mu Bai had to make every preparation.
Calming his mind, Mu Bai set up the Three-Legged Crow Cauldron. Following the proportions and steps in the pill formula, he added the guan zhong, gui jiu, stone longevity, dragon saliva grass, and other ingredients to the cauldron in sequence. With careful control, he spent nearly the entire night melting and refining all the ingredients into liquid. By then, his expenditure of soul power had already exceeded his usual limits for pill refinement.
Once an arrow left the bow, there was no turning back. Success or failure hinged on this attempt. Mu Bai gritted his teeth, vowing to finish the pill. Veins bulged on his forehead, and beads of sweat covered his skin as he struggled to draw the medicinal liquids together. Before the first pill could take shape, he was already swaying on the verge of collapse.
Only by burning his soul power would he have the slightest chance!
With this boy's soul power, he has no hope of refining this pill. Whether that old Clan Patriarch lives or dies doesn't matter, but looking at this boy, so bent on madness that he can't live without it, he'll probably damage his soul foundation if he keeps going. Oh, well. What a hard life I have. For the tribe's sake, I'll sleep another few decades!
Ordinarily, outsiders could not provide assistance with soul power during pill refinement. But the Artifact Spirit Ancestor was the Crow Cauldron's artifact spirit to begin with. As a soul body, he used a thread of Mu Bai's soul power to attach and channel his own vast soul power into the process. Within moments, the rudimentary shape of a pill had visibly condensed.
At the sight of the forming pill, Mu Bai collapsed unconscious before he could even feel happy. The Artifact Spirit Ancestor's soul body dimmed as well, and he sank into the Crow Cauldron and vanished.
Much of the day had passed, and sunlight beat fiercely upon Mu Bai, bright and dazzling. Feeling as though he had slept for days, his soul weak and scattered, Mu Bai blearily opened his eyes and woke.
Struggling to push himself upright against the ground, Mu Bai opened the Crow Cauldron. His eyes immediately lit up as he saw, to his delighted surprise, a fully formed pill floating inside, radiating a gentle halo as a medicinal fragrance wafted toward him. A layer of charred medicinal residue lay at the bottom of the cauldron. Clearly, the refinement of a large portion of the ingredients had failed. What a waste. It hurts...
Fortunately, he had successfully refined one Dragon-Awakening Pill. Wild with joy, Mu Bai hurriedly called for the Artifact Spirit Ancestor to come out and share his excitement.
He called for a long time, but the Artifact Spirit Ancestor gave no response, quite unlike his usual habits. Mu Bai slowly recalled what had happened as the pill condensed. He had tried to gather the medicinal liquids into a pill, but it had been like a mantis trying to push a cart. Just as he was about to burn his soul power, an immense surge of soul power had arisen from within the cauldron, helping him condense the pill in one stroke.
"The Ancestor used his own soul power..."
After spending these days together, though Mu Bai found the old fellow's endless chatter deeply irritating, he had long since learned that the old man was still only a remnant soul, and the soul power he had recovered was still very weak. "The Ancestor must have fallen asleep again after expending his soul power!"
At this thought, Mu Bai was overcome with shame. It was all because he was too weak that the Ancestor had been dragged down with him.
Once again, a fierce desire to grow stronger arose in Mu Bai's heart. He would not be content merely to become an alchemist. He wanted to become a truly powerful man who could stand tall between heaven and earth!
"I want to become stronger. I want to protect my loved ones, not have them sacrifice themselves for me! Only by becoming stronger can I become a true alchemist! Only by becoming stronger can I defend the tribe, protect the Clan Patriarch, turn the course of these mountains and rivers, and make the sun and moon here shine with a different light!"
Before you continue