Immortal Cultivation: Starting from a Pharmacy Apprentice

The ground rumbled. BOOM. Dark clouds had gathered on the horizon, pressing down as if heaven and earth were in a rage.

The Sky-Blue Great Flower was gone, leaving only dead land in its wake.

The expressions of the cultivators present changed several times, and cold sweat beaded on their brows.

They too had stolen some of the life force that should have flowed back, and now they feared they would have to face the consequences.

But clearly, no one cared about the trivial amount they had managed to scrape together.

After waiting a moment, seeing the commotion move into the distance and the dead land beneath their feet show no further signs of change, the group finally calmed down.

"Let’s go see!"

"Stay back, don’t get caught up in it..."

Liu Tong and the others leaped away.

Bai Mo exchanged a look with his fellow disciples of the Alchemy Dao, and they all followed.

"Come on, let’s go check it out together!"

After some difficulty, the group caught up and climbed a small hill, only to see the Mountain God in the distance, fleeing for its life.

It was in a truly pathetic state.

A full sixty-year cycle’s worth of accumulated Daoist cultivation now bloomed forth from it.

Divine light seemed to crash and splash within its body, illuminating its skin until it was nearly transparent. Its aura was both tragic and majestic.

If not for Bai Mo and the others intervening at the last moment, causing it to emerge prematurely and thus be congenitally deficient, it would likely have been even more fearsome.

The sky was now dark, and fissures in the earth followed in its wake, the terrestrial qi tearing and colliding.

The Mountain God was suffering, too, spitting up blood as its skin cracked.

Bai Mo watched from afar, quite worried for it.

’It was already congenitally weak with poor vitality,’ he thought. ’After spitting up a few more pounds of blood, how can it possibly survive?’

Xin Meng, standing to the side, wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"I have accompanied my master to observe ancient ruins many times. The ancients revered heaven and earth, and there are many records of it."

"For the Mountain God to be in this state, it must have embezzled the life force and terrestrial qi that should have returned to the world, and now it’s facing retribution..."

"You really can’t be too greedy!"

The Mountain God and the flower were symbiotic. This was likely a long-term plan, or perhaps it was instinctual—their tradition.

From this, one could also see the ferocity of this species!

"AHHH!!"

As Bai Mo watched, he suddenly heard an earth-shattering, agonized howl from the Mountain God.

Even from such a great distance, the cry pierced through the rumbling of the earth and reached their ears.

Squinting, he saw a strange object protruding from the Mountain God’s right shoulder.

It looked like a plant. In just a few moments, its leaves and petals had already unfurled.

Qin Yu was aghast.

"It looks like that flower!"

He had often stared at the Sky-Blue Great Flower out of boredom these past few days.

The silhouette on the Mountain God’s shoulder was an exact match!

Bai Mo and the others recognized it even more clearly.

"There’s a seedling!?"

They had never read about this in any texts; they had assumed the flower was a natural creation of heaven and earth.

"It’s our fellow disciples from the sect!"

As Liu Tong and the others watched, they suddenly spotted a group of familiar figures, and a commotion broke out among them.

The Mountain God’s flight was so tumultuous that it had startled countless birds and beasts.

Those that couldn’t escape in time were caught in the chaos, torn into bloody fragments by the raging terrestrial qi.

Amidst the torrent of fleeing creatures, one group heading against the current was extremely conspicuous.

The disciple in the lead tore apart a charging Demon Beast with a single, powerful slash of his saber.

His expression was grim.

"Counting the days, all of our fellow disciples should be at the Sky-Blue Great Flower right now!"

"Now that something’s happened, we have to go take a look!"

A junior brother behind him cried out, "Senior Brother, there are only about ten of us! I’m afraid we won’t be much help!"

The leading senior brother slung his saber over his shoulder.

"Retreating like this isn’t our peak’s style!"

He patted a black cloth pouch hanging at his waist and said confidently:

"Besides, I brought a great treasure from our Martial Uncle. At the very least, I can protect our fellow disciples while they retreat!"

Xin Meng watched from a distance as the group paused briefly before charging forward again with unstoppable momentum.

He paused, then exclaimed in surprise:

"That foolhardy energy... they must be disciples from Broken Blade Peak!"

"Didn’t they say they had something to do and couldn’t come!?"

He looked around at his fellow disciples and asked urgently:

"Everyone, does anyone have a communication Talisman?"

A disciple immediately replied.

"I do, but the terrestrial qi is in chaos. The Talisman won’t work..."

He fumbled with the Talisman in his hand, trying to activate it repeatedly, but got no response.

Liu Tong drew his sword with a CLANG.

"Those with the highest cultivation, follow me to provide support!"

He charged forward, and several disciples with impressive bearings followed close behind.

"Look at the Mountain God!" Qin Yu’s gaze had never left it.

The Mountain God’s body had already shrunk by a full size. With a roar of fury, it reached up and tore at its right shoulder.

The infant Sky-Blue Great Flower was ripped away, taking bits of flesh and blood with it.

THUMP!

It slammed the seedling onto the ground without a second glance and immediately fled.

The fissures in the earth followed close behind, forcing it to dodge and weave constantly.

A moment later, it finally vanished from everyone’s sight.

The Sky-Blue Great Flower’s seedling landed on the ground, completely unharmed.

The portly youths exclaimed in pleasant surprise, "Ah!"

"With this seedling, given enough time, couldn’t we cultivate another main plant!?"

Bai Mo nodded.

"It seems the seedling either doesn’t contain any terrestrial qi or is tacitly permitted to exist. In any case, it doesn’t fear the wrath of heaven and earth..."

They were very excited.

Li Dao grabbed Bi Ming, rolled up his sleeves, his face flushed with eagerness.

"There’s no time to lose, let’s..."

Before he could finish, the motionless seedling suddenly stirred.

Its soft petals pushed against the ground, and it rose like a person. Its roots, having absorbed the Mountain God’s flesh and blood, had grown long and slender.

After a slight pause, the seedling strode forward on its roots and dashed into the nearby woods.

"This..."

Bai Mo and the other disciples stared at each other in dismay.

The portly youths were even more blunt: "Well, I’ve seen everything now!"

"We’re too late! We can only count on the senior brothers from Broken Blade Peak!"

At this moment, Liu Tong and his group were already closing in on the disciples who had come to provide support.

They were only about ten li apart.

Their momentum unabated, a senior brother next to Liu Tong said joyfully:

"The Talisman connected!"

...

The disciples of Broken Blade Peak were incredibly annoyed.

They were facing numerous Demon Beasts, as well as panicked, mindless creatures that charged at them.

Several disciples worked together to heavily wound a Demon Beast, which then fled out of sight.

"Senior Brother, we have a message from the disciples ahead!"

The leading senior brother turned and sighed in relief.

"Looks like the situation isn’t so bad..."

"What did they say?"

The disciple holding the Talisman was just about to answer when he heard a RUSTLING sound from the woods beside them.

He had just turned his head when the Sky-Blue Great Flower, walking on its roots, made its appearance.

It immediately took off, running back the way they had come.

The disciples were overjoyed and quickly moved to surround it.

"It must be a precious medicinal herb from the mountains!"

THUD!

The disciple at the very front took a solid punch to the face.

His entire body flew into the air, spun a dozen times, and slammed into a tree trunk with a BANG, nearly knocking him unconscious.

The leading senior brother was shocked to see that the blow had been delivered by the plant, which had curled its leaves into a fist.

It was both fast and vicious.

He hurriedly held back his junior brothers.

Taking advantage of the brief delay, the plant ran off and disappeared.

"Junior Brother, are you alright?"

The disciple who had been hit, his face swollen and puffy, was helped to his feet, looking a bit dazed.

"I’m fine... what happened...?"

Seeing this, the others relaxed.

The faint shouts of Liu Tong and his group were now drawing near.

They didn’t have time to think too much about it and quickly got themselves together to greet the approaching party.

From a distance, Bai Mo and his group took in the whole scene, their hearts filled with trepidation.

"Good thing we didn’t go..."

"Exactly. That flower seed must have retained some of the previous generation’s power to be that capable."

"These precious plants really have their own ways of ensuring their lineage!"