Chapter 73: Testing Medicine
There was a time when Yao Shifeng's greatest desire was to rise from a mere servant disciple to an inner disciple, but in the end, he failed.
However, Gu Mo followed that very path and succeeded, advancing from a servant disciple to an outer disciple. At that moment, Yao Shifeng's heart was filled with jealousy.
But he quickly suppressed his emotions and turned his gaze toward the cave dwelling behind him. It was only after becoming He Shaogang's attendant that Yao Shifeng realized what it meant to be a true prodigy.
He Shaogang was the very embodiment of a legendary genius. Yao Shifeng believed that as long as he stayed by He Shaogang's side, his future achievements wouldn't be inferior to Gu Mo's—in fact, they might even surpass them.
Once his emotions had fully settled, Yao Shifeng took the intelligence he had gathered that day and headed toward the cave dwelling. Gathering information for He Shaogang was one of his duties as an attendant.
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Formation Peak
"Gu Mo became an outer disciple?" When Chu Feifei heard this news, her eyes reflected both surprise and a sense of inevitability.
"Sister Chu, we're about to head out!" At that moment, a young servant disciple from Formation Peak called out to Chu Feifei.
"Coming!"
Chu Feifei responded and quickly ran over.
Gu Mo's advancement to an outer disciple meant that she was also getting closer to that goal. Currently, Chu Feifei had already started participating in Formation Peak's maintenance of formation arrays across various peaks.
This was a clear testament to the rapid progress she had made in her understanding of formations. In just a few years, she would officially become a formation master and, with that status, be promoted to an outer disciple of Formation Peak.
This time, Chu Feifei was accompanying her senior brothers and sisters from Formation Peak to repair the formations on Pill Peak. Perhaps she could find time to share the news of Gu Mo's promotion with Hu Hai.
And maybe, she could even gather everyone again to celebrate Gu Mo's achievement.
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Spirit Field Cottage
Gu Mo gazed at the second Tier 2 Sunflower, a smile spreading across his face. After six long months of cultivation, the second Tier 2 Sunflower had finally advanced successfully.
Of course, Gu Mo's ultimate goal was to have five Tier 2 Sunflowers. Achieving that would take just another six months.
The more Tier 2 Sunflowers he had, the less time it would take to cultivate new ones. Over the next six months, Gu Mo was confident he could cultivate three more.
With five Tier 2 Sunflowers aiding his cultivation, Gu Mo could quickly reach the peak of the Qi Refining stage.
Today also marked Gu Mo's fourth year as a member of the Spirit Plant Hall. Including his year as a servant disciple, he had been with the Qinglu Sect for five years. If Yao Shifeng hadn't disbanded their team, Gu Mo would've gone to the market today to meet with everyone. But, alas…
"Hm?"
As Gu Mo was lost in thought, a transmission talisman appeared outside the spirit field formation. He took out the formation control token and allowed the talisman to enter the field.
"Could it be that there's news about the concealment array?"
Upon grabbing the talisman, he saw that it was from Chu Feifei, and Gu Mo couldn't help but wonder. He had previously asked Chu Feifei to help him set up a concealment array.
"Hmm!"
Injecting his spiritual energy, Gu Mo read the message on the talisman. His expression immediately shifted. He quickly stored the Sunflower in his Black Mist Space and then flew his sword towards Pill Peak.
Indeed, the talisman was from Chu Feifei, but Gu Mo's destination wasn't Formation Peak—it was Pill Peak. The message wasn't about progress on the concealment array; it was about an incident involving Hu Hai at Pill Peak.
Though their small team had disbanded, the bonds forged over the years remained. With Hu Hai in trouble, there was no way Gu Mo would stand idly by.
---
After about half an hour, Gu Mo arrived at Pill Peak. If he were still a servant disciple, visiting another peak would've been troublesome. But now, as an outer disciple and a spirit plant master, moving between peaks posed no issues.
Especially at Pill Peak, where they eagerly welcomed him. After all, spirit plant masters were vital partners for alchemists. Spirit plant masters cultivated high-quality spiritual herbs, while alchemists used those herbs to refine superior-grade pills.
Gu Mo arrived without any obstacles at the outskirts of the servant disciples' area on Pill Peak, where he saw Chu Feifei waiting anxiously.
"What's the situation? Tell me."
Gu Mo asked directly. Chu Feifei's transmission hadn't detailed the cause, so he needed to understand exactly what had happened to Hu Hai.
"It's like this…"
As Chu Feifei led Gu Mo to Hu Hai's residence, she explained what she knew.
The situation wasn't complicated. During a break from her formation maintenance work, Chu Feifei had wanted to talk to Hu Hai about Gu Mo's recent promotion to outer disciple.
After asking a few servant disciples, she found Hu Hai's residence, but the door was tightly shut. She called out a few times but received no response. Since she wasn't sure if Hu Hai was in seclusion, she didn't want to disturb him further.
However, just as she was about to leave, she overheard from other servant disciples that Hu Hai had recently taken on a medicine-testing task at Pill Peak.
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The alchemists at Pill Peak not only refined established pills using known recipes but also experimented with creating new ones. Successfully developing a brand-new pill could bring immense wealth to an alchemist.
But everything about new pills was untested, and understanding their effects required someone to try them. Testing new medicine was highly risky, but the rewards were substantial. Many servant disciples, tempted by the generous compensation, chose to take on these dangerous tasks.
Upon hearing that Hu Hai had taken a medicine-testing task, Gu Mo immediately understood the situation. It was clear that something had gone wrong during one of Hu Hai's tests, though the specifics were unknown.
But if it wasn't serious, Hu Hai wouldn't be avoiding people.
---
While talking, Gu Mo and Chu Feifei arrived at Hu Hai's residence. The protective formation around his residence was now deactivated, something that hadn't been the case when Chu Feifei visited earlier. It was clear Hu Hai knew Chu Feifei had come.
With the formation deactivated, there were only two ways for outsiders to enter: either forcefully breaking the formation, which would violate sect rules and likely lead to a trip to the Discipline Hall, or having someone with higher authority disable it.
Obviously, force wasn't an option. So the only choice was to ask the Pill Peak steward in charge of servant disciple affairs to intervene.
The process of requesting the steward's help went smoothly. After all, Gu Mo was now one of the only three spirit plant masters in the entire Qinglu Sect. If he were still a servant disciple, he might not have even gotten an audience with the steward.
With the steward's intervention, Hu Hai's protective formation was quickly lifted. The steward immediately entered the residence, and upon seeing Hu Hai lying inside, his face pale and ashen, he let out a sigh of relief. After nodding to Gu Mo, he left.
He was responsible for the servant disciples, and if one of them died mysteriously in their own home, it would've been a headache for him. But since Hu Hai was still alive, it was no longer his concern. As for Hu Hai's terrible condition, that was a consequence of the medicine-testing task, and it had nothing to do with him.
"Thank you, Brother Zhang!" Gu Mo cupped his fists and expressed his gratitude to the departing steward. Then, he turned his attention to Hu Hai in front of him.
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