“Growl!” The little leopard was noticeably dissatisfied with the name and began to struggle, waving his four furry paws around.
The ears of the big tiger lying on the ground twitched, then he rose with a stretch and came close to Master to look at the little leopard. Finally, someone else got saddled with a name just as stupid as his, haha.
The big tiger was very happy, and the more he looked at the little leopard, the more he liked him.
Qingtong put the little leopard on the big tiger’s head and had them play by themselves. The little wolf cub observed them coldly for a moment, then he turned to happily follow them.
Yan Lie had told Qingtong about the various arrangements needed to be made for the trip to the Mo Palace, including his attendants, matters needing special attention, etc., and had told Mo Tianliao to remember to go to Hua Qing to get some pills before leaving.
Under normal circumstances, it was impossible to see whether a Demonic Beast had made a blood pact or not. However, there was something called a Blood Spirit Monkey that could sense this very quickly. Meng Hu had been discovered because someone at the Liuyun Sect kept one of these. Hua Qing had pills to guard against this type of monkey.
“This time, there will not only be people from the Righteous Path, but the ten major Demonic Sects will also send people. Master asked me to tell shishu to not be impulsive.” Yan Lie passed one final anxious message.
Qingtong waved his hand to signal that he knew.
There was nothing to be taken cared during the afternoon, so Mo Tianliao went to Woxuan Abode to ask Hua Qing for the pills.
Hua Qing was in his workroom, looking at his furnace intently.
Blood Spirit Monkeys could recognize Demonic Beasts thanks to their sensitive beast souls. These monkeys were not born naturally, they only appeared in places where a large number of Demonic Beasts had died; they were evil beings that lived by devouring the souls of Beasts. A blood pact would turn a Demonic Beast’s soul’s less energetic, making them not particularly enticing to Blood Spirit Monkeys, but unbound Demonic Beasts were quite a feast, so Blood Spirit Monkeys could not help screaming when they saw an unbound Demonic Beast.
These monkeys were very rare, there were less than five in the whole cultivation world.
“I tried to mix this medicine before, but I could never manage it.” Hua Qing stared at the flickering furnace then he said to Mo Tianliao, “The reason was because I lacked one ingredient.”
“Which one?” Mo Tianliao was now curious. When he was a Demonic Lord, he had also encountered a Blood Spirit Monkey. The thing had looked really ugly, its body had been full of bald patches. When it had seen the kitten in his arms, it had screeched. It had annoyed him so much that he had thrown a hidden weapon at it and killed it directly.
The demonic cultivator whose monkey he had killed had not dared to say a word, instead apologizing again and again for disturbing Milord.
It was known throughout the whole Demonic Path that Lord Duantian kept an unbound cat, whom he spoiled every day and whom he loved dearly. That monkey had actually dared to want to eat the kitten’s soul, Duantian had been downright merciful by not having killed the demonic cultivator along with his monkey.
But now, Mo Tianliao had not yet returned to his peak strength, and he had also not yet regained his influence over the Demonic Path. For the time being, he could not go around directly killing the monkeys and causing trouble, so medicine needed to be prepared.
Hua Qing took out a jade box, it was the one Mo Tianliao had won during the Three Sects Conference and which contained the branches of the Wenyu tree. Now, a third of the branches in the jade box were gone.
“This is what was missing.” Hua Qing peeled a bit of branch to reveal the white gelatinous substance under the bark.
Mo Tianliao understood now. He received the small bottle of medicine, apparently, one pill could last for three days, it would be enough. He threw the jade bottle into his storage bracelet, then Mo Tianliao stood there and continued to hold out his hand. “And the liquid Soul Condensation Pills we talked about last time?”
“They’re not easy to refine, I haven’t succeeded so far.” Hua Qing squatted on the ground feeling vexed. When the fire burned in the furnace, it would evaporate all the water, leaving a solid pill. If he tried to control the temperature and prevent the water from evaporating, the process would not be completed at all.
Mo Tianliao pondered for a moment and said, “I do have an idea. I just don’t know if it is feasible or not.”
“What idea?” Hua Qing looked up at him, his eyes were full of anticipation. He had also recently found that refining pills and crafting equipment were indeed interlinked, so some of the insights that Mo Tianliao occasionally had were very useful to him.
“Well…” Mo Tianliao touched his chin, indicating that his knowledge would not come for free.
“You swindler, what do you want?” Hua Qing asked, pursing his lips.
Mo Tianliao laughed, leaned close and whispered, “Heavenly grade Silk Tree Nectar.”
Hua Qing’s eyes widened and he remained frozen for a while. He gave Mo Tianliao a long look up and down. “You actually like men? You don’t look the type.”
“I hadn’t realized it myself,” Mo Tianliao said, spreading his hands. “It wasn’t until one made my heart race that I began liking men.” He liked one man to be exact, one who was both a stunning beauty and a cute furball, all in one package. He did not care whether he was male or female, a man or a Beast.
“Heavenly grade Silk Tree Nectar is very expensive.” Hua Qing would not be swindled.
Alchemists refined things other than pills in order to make money and he was no exception. The extremely profitable Silk Tree Nectar was an indispensable article. At Hua Qing’s level, most of the ones he produced were Heavenly grade.
Mo Tianliao smiled and took out a Wenyu fruit from his storage bracelet.
“Ah! Master, that one’s mine!” Taishi wailed inside his mind. This was the last one it had stolen; the other ones were all in Qingtong’s bracelet. Taishi had only stored this one temporarily with its Master.
Mo Tianliao ignored it and shook the Wenyu fruit in front of Hua Qing. Hua Qing’s eyes could not help but follow the jade-like fruit. “Can I exchange it for this, shixiong?”
“Yes!” Hua Qing readily agreed. Wenyu fruit was extremely rare, one would be enough for him to refine at least three Nascent Soul Pills. Previously, when they had been at the Liuyun Sect, he had seen shishu crunching on one as a snack, it had pained him to the bone.
Hua Qing was generous, he rummaged through his own inventory and grabbed three big white jade bottles of Heavenly grade Silk Tree Nectar.
Mo Tianliao unscrewed a bottle and sniffed it carefully, it had a faint and indistinct fragrance, it was just like the one he had gotten in Bahuang City!
“I had the privilege of buying a bottle at a Demonic Path auction house before, it was very similar to this one.” Mo Tianliao took out the small white jade bottle which still had a little bit of liquid inside.
Hua Qing glanced at it and said, “I made that one too.” To be exact, most of the Heavenly grade Silk Tree Nectar on the market was made by Hua Qing, it was not easy to refine but he was particularly good at making it for some reason.
“What an honour!” Mo Tianliao made a show of cupping his hands in front of his chest with great respect.
“You’re too kind!” Hua Qing smiled and returned the gesture.
Hua Qing happily received the Wenyu fruit and then asked about Mo Tianliao’s thoughts on the liquid Soul Condensation Pills.
“When you can’t figure out something, you need to think backwards.” Mo Tianliao sat in the floor like Hua Qing, took out a pile of exquisitely carved jade bottles and carefully transferred the Silk Tree Nectar from the big bottles into the small bottles for ease of use.
“Think backwards?” Hua Qing scratched his head.
“The objective is to have the pills in a liquid state. So can’t you rehydrate them once you’ve finished refining them?” Mo Tianliao’s movements were very precise, the three big bottles of Silk Tree Nectar were quickly distributed without leaking a drop.
“Why didn’t I think of that!” Hua Qing slapped Mo Tianliao on the shoulder, his face full of excitement. He had been thinking only about how to prevent the water from evaporating while refining, why did it not occur to him to just add moisture after the fact?!
Mo Tianliao who had been holding a jade bottle in his hand almost dropped it. He hurriedly put all of them away.
“It’s just that the Soul Condensation Pills would need to be swallowed immediately once they had been diluted, otherwise, they would lose their effectiveness. In order to maintain it, an ingredient that both preserved moisture and could help nourish the soul would also need to be added.” Hua Qing frowned and glanced around the room, finally, his gaze focused on the jade box containing the Wenyu fruit.
Mo Tianliao pressed a fist to his mouth, hiding his twitching lips, and patted Hua Qing on the shoulder. “Shixiong, you think about it some more, I will go back now.”
When Mo Tianliao slipped away, Hua Qing’s ass still hurt from being screwed over so hard. Wenyu fruit could be boiled into juice which had a gel-like consistency, it would not dry or disperse and it was also good for the soul; it was the ideal choice. However, that meant that the Wenyu fruit he had just gotten would be used to refine medicine for Mo Tianliao. For some reason, he felt like something was wrong with this picture…
The people from Qingyun Sect and Liuyun Sect were arranged to rest in a separate Abode, and they were not allowed to approach any of the three main Abodes so Woqing Abode was very peaceful and quiet.
By the time Mo Tianliao returned, it was getting late. Meng Hu, who had finished leading the disciples’ evening classes, squatted in front of Qingning Palace with the little leopard on his head, he immediately stood up when he saw Mo Tianliao.
“Shidi, you are back.” Meng Hu took the leopard off his head and put him in his arms. “Let’s go and have a drink.”
“And Master?” Mo Tianliao reached out and scratched the furry head that rested on da-shixiong‘s chest.
“Master is inside.” Meng Hu made a shushing gesture.
When Mo Tianliao entered the hall, he found Qingtong asleep on the couch again. Fortunately, the maids had known to cover him with a blanket. He picked him up, intending to take him to bed.
Qingtong, who was not yet sleeping deeply, opened his eyes slightly and yawned.
“I’m going for a drink with da-shixiong, Master. You go to sleep first,” Mo Tianliao whispered in his ear.
A burst of white light flashed, and the beauty in his arms disappeared without a trace, in his place, a snow-coloured furball was hanging from his clothes. His meaning was obvious, he wanted to go with him.
Mo Tianliao could not help laughing, he put a hand under the kitten’s butt, helped him climb into his clothes, and went out.
“Did you tuck Master in?” The leopard had climbed on top of Meng Hu’s head again at some time and was staring with his pair of perfectly round eyes.
“Mm-hm,” Mo Tianliao answered vaguely and followed Meng Hu to the back of the mountain.
Meng Hu dug a jar of wine from under a tree and held it like a baby. “This is a wine I hid fifty years ago.”
Mo Tianliao cleaned the deer he had just caught and set it to roast over the fire. Because the deer was too heavy for any branches, he took out Taishi and skewered the meat on it. Taishi could be turned into a long slender fork where several pieces of meat could be skewered side by side so it was very convenient.
“Master’s soul, is it really better?” Meng Hu took a bite of venison and clinked his glass against Mo Tianliao’s.
“Not yet.” Mo Tianliao took a sip, the sweet wine flowed down his throat, it was very good and refreshing. He sighed lightly and said, “Master’s soul was too damaged. Although I learnt a skill that can cure it, it’ll take a long time and constant effort.”
The kitten sleeping in Mo Tianliao’s arms turned over, his deep sleeping breaths pressed his warm belly against Mo Tianliao’s abdomen.
“Then you should persevere on healing Master every day.” Meng Hu fed a piece of meat to the little leopard, looking grave he asked, “Can using this skill hurt you?”
“Not at all.” Mo Tianliao took another sip. “It just decreases my essence a bit, but it does no harm.”
Meng Hu frowned. “Essence is not something to be taken lightly.”
“I’ll just eat some venison to replenish it.” Mo Tianliao said with a mysterious smile.
“Eh?” Meng Hu scratched his head. Essence was the basis of a cultivator’s power. Could eating venison make up for it?
When the kitten in his arms heard this, he extended his claws and scratched him.
The pair of martial brothers ate, drank and talked about recent events, acting very carefree. They played until after midnight, then they rose wobblingly.
“Come on, shidi, back to the courtyard.” Meng Hu put his hand on Mo Tianliao’s shoulder and took him back.
Mo Tianliao accompanied Meng Hu back to his courtyard and turned to Qingning Palace by himself.
“Shidi, where are you going?” Meng Hu looked at the direction he was walking in and pulled at him.
“I’m going to keep Master company,” Mo Tianliao said very frankly, he had no intention to lie.
Meng Hu immediately shook his big head like a rattle, “No, no!” You must never disturb Master while he’s sleeping.
“Lately, Master likes to use me as his mattress,” Mo Tianliao said proudly.
Meng Hu’s eyes widened. Shidi was a tree Beast, he had no fur at all. Why did Master like to use him as a mattress?
“You have no idea,” Mo Tianliao said solemnly. “He also uses me as a quilt, sits on me like a bench and even rides me like a rocking horse. Master likes all of it.”
A rocking horse? Meng Hu’s eyes widened. Master still liked to play with rocking horses? Looking at shidi’s back disappearing into the night, he suddenly felt some pity for him.
Mo Tianliao, who was immensely pleased with himself, did not notice that the kitten nestled in his arms was at that moment silently extending his glinting claws.
“Shocking! Sect’s Court TV”
Reporter Colourful Tiger: The crime scene is full of wood shavings; the situation is really too terrible to look at.
Witness Little Fatty: Growl. Mrow
Reporter Colourful Tiger: Does the victim wish to make a statement?
Carpenter: QAQ A brief moment of gratifying boasting; an eternity of sawdusty torment
Unedited, please point out any mistakes
It’s so hard to find a moment of peace to translate when everyone’s stuck at home I hope everyone is taking care of themselves and being safe