Happy times

After taking the Dragon-Awakening Pill, Hai Ya drove out the Spirit-Turbid Centipede's poison in just five days. Not only was his body out of danger, but the old man's complexion had also grown rosy and full.

Hai Ya, Hai Ang, and the others were so delighted that Mu Bai had successfully refined such a powerful pill that they could not stop grinning. They all looked much younger.

Seeing the Clan Patriarch drive out the Spirit-Turbid Centipede's poison and recover, Mu Bai was overjoyed, and only then remembered the Compendium of Pills and Herbs. This was something the Clan Patriarch had obtained at the cost of his life. How could he disappoint his expectations?

Unlike his earlier hurried browsing, Mu Bai solemnly opened the first page. What greeted his eyes was a brief introduction to alchemy. Although it was only a general overview, it was still better than the Artifact Spirit Ancestor's hearsay.

The Mysterious Female, medicinal substances, fire control, and cauldrons were the four keys to cultivating the Dao of Alchemy.

The Mysterious Female was the root of heaven and earth, the undying gate through which spirit moved, and the source that gave birth to all things-a metaphor for the Dao. The Great Dao was elusive and intangible; applied to alchemy, it referred to the laws by which plants, metals, and minerals nourished and restrained one another.

As for medicinal substances, everything in the world could serve as medicine. True yin and true yang, true lead and true mercury, fire and water, dragon and tiger, divine crow and jade rabbit, Metal Lord and Wood Mother, and so on-with all the myriad things in existence, what could not be used as medicine?

Fire control encompassed both the heat applied while refining pills and the gentle heat used to nurture them as they shed their old forms and underwent wondrous transformations. It posed the greatest test of an alchemist's divine sense.

Cauldrons were simply the tools used in alchemy, and setting up the furnace and cauldron was the first step in the undertaking of the Dao of Alchemy. According to the conjecture of the Compendium of Pills and Herbs' author, some mighty figures used the Great Void as their cauldron, or even the human body. Their aims were far-reaching, such things were rarely seen in the world, and they existed only in rumor, beyond the designs of ordinary people.

He continued reading. The first half covered the fundamentals of alchemy, introducing herbs, metals, minerals, fire control, and more. After that came the main portion of the Compendium of Pills and Herbs: the thousand pill formulas.

It contained methods for refining the Marrow-Cleansing Pill, Heaven-Melding Pill, Body-Strengthening Pill, Blood Baleful Pill, Thunder-Origin Pill, Wind-Travel Pill, Heavenly Gang Pill, and many others. Although the thousand pills were an exaggeration, there were no fewer than a hundred varieties, all first- or second-grade pills.

Perhaps there were formulas for higher-grade pills as well, but these were all he could see before him. After all, this was only an incomplete copy.

He read for two full days and nights. Even when Ling’er brought food, Mu Bai seemed not to hear her. Seeing him look straight through her, Ling’er walked away in a huff, yet when the next mealtime came, she still arrived at the thatched hut on time. She did not disturb him, only stared at him with puffed cheeks.

Although he still lacked the conditions and ability to refine many of the pills, merely reading their formulas sent Mu Bai's mind soaring beyond the heavens. In his mind, he repeatedly simulated every step of refining them, missing not a single detail.

After reading for two days straight, he raised his head, only to find seven or eight meals already laid out before his bed. Then he saw Ling’er standing with her hands on her hips, her little mouth pouting so far that an oil flask could have hung from it.

"I'd like to see just how long you can go without eating!"

Seeing Ling’er fuss so angrily, Mu Bai knew something was wrong. He hurriedly put down the Compendium of Pills and Herbs, rose, and went over to her.

"I have Grain-Repelling Pills. Taking one lets me go ten days without food!"

Mu Bai grinned slyly, still a child at heart.

"Really?" Ling’er said with a mischievous smile. "Then I'll take all this food away..."

"No, no! Even if I don't need to eat, I still have an appetite."

Mu Bai hastily stopped Ling’er. More embarrassingly still, his stomach chose that very moment to rumble, making Ling’er cover her little mouth and burst into laughter.

No longer caring about his image as the graceful young Xiao Bai, Mu Bai picked up the food and wolfed it down. In no time, he had finished two bowls of rice and a chicken drumstick.

Chicken drumsticks with braised rice tasted best!

"Now that's satisfying..."

Patting his belly, Mu Bai lay back on the bed.

People said lust stirred on a full stomach, but Mu Bai was still young. Although a pretty young girl was right beside him, his thoughts did not stray that way. He also happened to be utterly exhausted and very sleepy. Before long, drowsiness washed over him, and he fell into a deep sleep.

After all, ever since the Clan Patriarch, Hai Ya, returned to the tribe, Mu Bai had remained under extreme mental strain. Refining pills aside, he had also matched wits and courage with the Black-Horned Python, leaving him thoroughly worn out. Then he had become so engrossed in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs that he could not put it down, reading for two days and nights straight. Now that he had relaxed, he naturally slipped quickly into dreams.

Ling’er quietly tucked the covers around Mu Bai. She looked tenderly at her Xiao Bai, then could only withdraw silently through the doorway.

Autumn had already arrived.

This year's Soul Awakening day was approaching, and the Clan Patriarch, Hai Ya, was in no worse condition than in years past. The tribespeople's hearts were all the fuller with anticipation.

The children participating in the tribe's Soul Awakening did not disappoint them: two successfully inscribed the ancestral spirit's mark. Even with only two, the Haibei Tribe's people were thrilled and encouraged, and wanted to hold a great feast to celebrate the ancestral spirit's protection.

Producing two Soul Adepts in a single year was a luxury that normally required at least a medium-sized tribe.

Most of the tribespeople, however, did not know that these two children had only managed to inscribe their soul marks thanks to the pills Mu Bai had refined.

That year, laughter and harmony filled the tribe. Everyone put their backs into their work, immersed in sweat and hope. They saw the tribe's children growing, and they saw the tribe becoming stronger day by day. Expending strength and shedding sweat were ordinary things, nothing to trouble them.

Of course, amid the brushstrokes with which the ways of the world recorded all earthly affairs, it would not impartially attend to every child. And so the next year's Soul Awakening day soon arrived.

For by then, Ling’er was nine as well.

Hai Ang became increasingly strict in disciplining Ling’er, and she prepared for her Soul Awakening day and night.

"If you are a tall, straight oak, I must be a silk-cotton tree beside you. Our roots clasp tightly beneath the earth; our leaves touch among the clouds."

Without the Artifact Spirit Ancestor nagging beside his ear, Mu Bai felt somewhat unaccustomed to things. Thinking of the Artifact Spirit Ancestor, who was now asleep, Mu Bai tried many times to wake him, but he never managed to summon that eccentric, half-mad old man again.

"I must become stronger myself. I can't keep burdening my family!"

Mu Bai resolved to make himself stronger. He set himself a fixed cultivation schedule: refining pills at night and practicing the Spirit-Tempering Art in the early morning. During the day, he ventured into the mountains and the sea, both searching for alchemical materials and strengthening his muscles and body.

Over the course of that year, Mu Bai became able to refine more than half the beginner-level pills in the Compendium of Pills and Herbs. So long as he had all the medicinal ingredients, there was almost no pill he could not refine. In addition, his soul power cultivation had reached the middle stage of the beginner level. His single pear-blossom petal mark seemed to give off a delicate fragrance.

The tribespeople once again turned their eyes toward Ling’er’s group of children, hoping that this year would bring an even greater surprise to the tribe.

By now, Ling’er also knew that the sweet pellets she sometimes ate were pills Mu Bai had refined himself. Beyond the sweetness this brought her, she became all the more determined, vowing to imprint the ancestral spirit upon her soul.

The tribe's other children were also putting in all their effort, chasing and overtaking one another as they trained and prepared. The tribespeople waited eagerly. After all, in each of the previous two years, two children had inscribed soul marks, letting them see hope and giving them something to look forward to.

The Haibei Tribe had not seen such a scene of thriving vitality for many years. Barring mishaps, the tribe was heading toward prosperity.

At last, that year's Soul Awakening day arrived. The Clan Patriarch, Hai Ya, was hale and hearty, his face wreathed in smiles. Looking at the twenty-five young children kneeling together before the tribe's ancestral spirit statue, he seemed to see the near future. In that future, these children would grow into powerful figures, defend the tribe, and even lead its people into the wider world.

Perhaps he would not live to see that day. Perhaps that day would soon come.

After more than a year of recuperation, Hai Ya's injuries had healed completely, and his immense spiritual power seemed to have advanced further. He smoothly performed the Soul Awakening ceremony for the tribe's twenty-five young children, inscribing the tribe's ancestral spirit totem patterns upon each child's soul.

What followed would depend on their individual fortunes.

They did not disappoint everyone's hopes. As the new year approached, fully three children inscribed the Ancestor Spirit Divine Crow's soul mark upon their arms, signifying that the Haibei Tribe had gained three more cultivators.

The entire tribe erupted with excitement. It was a result they had never even imagined, and it kept all the tribespeople elated for several months.

Having inscribed her soul mark, Ling’er shed her childishness and gained a young maiden's lively grace. With delicate brows, bright eyes, red lips, and white teeth, she stood slender and graceful as a green lotus in May. Holding the Daiqing Crystal Soul Bow, she cut such a valiant, spirited figure that it made people clap in admiration.

After the Soul Awakening came the days blanketed in winter snow. People sheltered in their thatched huts beneath the weight of snow, warming themselves by their fires and chatting about the year's new happenings, while nurturing still greater hopes for the next.

Who did not hope for things to grow better and better, with the hearth fire rising ever higher and life flourishing year after year?

Soon it was the new year, and the Haibei Tribe hung lanterns and colorful decorations, filled with joy and celebration.

Around the bonfire, young women and men danced the long-drum dance, while the tribespeople watching clapped and sang. "On the sunward shore of the Dao Sea lies my homeland; though I roam the four seas, I think of it and never forget. On the sunward shore of the Dao Sea lies my homeland; though my blood spill across the nine heavens, with it I shall live or perish..."

This song had been passed down in the Haibei Tribe for untold years. It was said to record the glory of Ancestor Hai Ze's life, and it also embodied the tribespeople's feelings for their tribe.

Hai Ya sat in the seat of honor. On either side sat Hai Ang, Hai Cang, Hai Zhan, Hai Lin, and the tribe's other young and middle-aged men in order. Even Mu Bai, Hai Chen, Ling’er, and the other children who had inscribed soul marks had places of their own.

Looking back on the year's harvest and freely discussing their plans for what lay ahead, the tribespeople raised their wine bowls and toasted one another. It was a lively scene indeed.

When everyone was pleasantly tipsy, the younger generation present raised their wine bowls as custom dictated and approached the Clan Patriarch together. "We wish the Clan Patriarch everlasting blessings and prosperity, and a life as long as heaven!"

Nearly ten youngsters knelt and bowed together, holding up their wine in salute to the Clan Patriarch.

"Good, good! You are all the tribe's hope..." Hai Ya laughed heartily, raised his bowl, and drained it in one gulp.

"You youngsters, today is a day for drinking. Which of you is passing off water as wine?" Hai Zhan had always loved his drink. Seeing these half-grown youngsters come to offer a toast, he got an idea.

Seeing them all roll their eyes, looking at one another without answering, Hai Zhan simply lifted a wine jar. "Mu Bai, come here and have a bowl with your uncle!"

Seeing some entertainment brewing, everyone turned to look.

"Uncle Hai Zhan, I can't drink..."

"Nonsense! A man who doesn't drink has walked this world in vain. Stop dawdling and bring your bowl!"

Seeing that he could not get out of it, Mu Bai looked toward Hai Ang, seeking help to escape.

"Drink. You're all going to become pillars of the tribe. Go ahead, there's no harm!" Hai Ang's face was full of smiles, and he actually lifted a wine jar too.

Helpless, Mu Bai could only accept a bowl and raise it to Hai Zhan.

Hai Zhan roared with laughter, hugged the wine jar, and tipped his head back to drink deeply. Mu Bai followed his example and raised his bowl. As the strong liquor entered his throat, he felt a tongue of fire flow into his chest.

"Come on, Mu Bai, let's brothers have a bowl too!" Hai Chen seized the chance to step forward and fill Mu Bai's bowl again.

"Me too!" Unexpectedly, Ling’er also poured herself a bowl and walked over.

"Girls drink too?" Mu Bai looked at Ling’er, his face full of surprise.

"With sword in hand and horse beneath me, I'll venture across the world. If men can drink, why can't girls?"

"Good! Well said!" The tribespeople clapped and cheered, admiring Ling’er’s spirit, a woman yielding nothing to men.

"Come on, let's all drink together," someone suggested. The remaining children eagerly responded, filling their bowls and raising them.

"Come on! Today we raise our cups together; tomorrow we'll defend the tribe together and venture across the world!" The oldest of the nine children was only fifteen or sixteen. Their wine bowls clinked together, and the world was already in their hearts.

"Good! Bring more wine! No one's sitting idle tonight!"

Hai Ang brimmed with heroic spirit. In these children, he saw the tribe's future, and he also recalled the boldness and exhilaration of his own youth.

They drained their wine and filled their bowls again. The tribespeople brought over jar after jar of strong liquor, while cattle and sheep roasted one after another over the fires. Raising their cups in celebration, singing and dancing, they savored the night's happy hours to the fullest.