The sun was bright and the breeze was gentle.
Trees lined the road, offering cool shade. In the distance, Bai Mo could see a mix of simple folk houses and grand manors with white walls and green-tiled roofs.
Faint auras fluctuated around a few of the large manors.
The curtain on the side of his carriage remained drawn back.
Bai Mo surveyed the surroundings, and soon enough, he saw figures leaping toward them.
They had been out of Immortal Arrival City for half a month now. This wasn't the first time they had witnessed such a scene.
"Slow down! Please, slow down!"
A rather old-looking Cultivator chased after them, rushing out from the roadside and waving his left hand to flag down the convoy.
"Whoa~"
The lead driver reined in his horse, and an elderly man stepped out from his carriage.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist. What can we get for you?"
The approaching Cultivator hurriedly cupped his fists in a salute before speaking.
"Do you have anything to assist with cultivation? Pills or an Array will do!"
The elderly merchant leading the caravan smiled faintly.
"An Array is a bit too much to ask of us, but we have plenty of Pills."
"Someone, bring the Qi Absorption Pills!"
The curtain of the second carriage was lifted, revealing stacks of gold-inlaid, lacquered mahogany chests inside.
The driver turned, undid the latch on a wooden chest, and lifted the lid to reveal rows of neatly arranged pill bottles.
The approaching Cultivator's eyes lit up with desire. Seeing the driver deftly pull out a few bottles, he quickly shouted:
"Five bottles! Five bottles is enough!"
The elderly merchant chuckled.
"Market price is three Spirit Stones a bottle. How does that sound?"
Bai Mo's eye twitched slightly when he heard the price, but the Cultivator had a matter-of-fact expression as he nimbly took out Spirit Stones in exchange for the Pills.
"The transaction is complete. Fellow Daoist, we'll part ways here."
The Cultivator left, but the elderly merchant remained, leaning against the carriage. Moments later, another Cultivator hurried over.
"Fellow Daoist, do you have…"
Bai Mo watched with envy.
"Senior Lanshan, is the caravan always this popular on the road?"
Lanshan scratched his head and leaned in to whisper:
"Shopkeeper Bai, if you don't mind, just call me Big Brother. This 'Senior' business… you're just giving people a reason to laugh at me."
It was one thing back in the city's small circles, but out here, Lanshan saw himself as just a minor figure.
Bai Mo nodded and promptly changed his tune.
"Big Brother Lanshan!"
Lanshan finally looked satisfied. "These people are all Cultivators living in the mortal world."
"With their cultivation, they naturally build up large family fortunes, but that comes with all sorts of karmic entanglements."
"For various reasons, it's difficult for them to spend time traveling back and forth to Immortal Arrival City. The mortal world is also lacking in resources, so their hopes for cultivation fall on caravans like us!"
Realization dawned on Bai Mo.
He looked again at the dim auras of those Cultivators, less active even than Lan Ru's, and realized their lives weren't necessarily so glamorous.
After nearly fifteen minutes, the caravan started moving again.
The Cultivators returned to their mundane lives. Watching these people, whose paths of cultivation seemed to have hit a dead end, Bai Mo couldn't decide if they had made the right choice or not.
Although the world outside was a semi-primitive wilderness, no Tier One Demon Beast dared to cause trouble for the caravan.
The mountains, forests, and rivers only blocked the path of mortals.
"In about half a month, we'll reach Celestial Mountain City," Lanshan announced.
Bai Mo drew the curtain closed and took a Qi Absorption Pill. He felt the Spiritual Qi within him stir, flowing rapidly through his meridians.
The surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi also began to surge toward him at an accelerated pace.
The strange phenomenon in the carriage attracted the attention of others in the caravan.
"Lanshan, this little brother you brought along has some real talent. He can even quiet his mind to cultivate on such a bumpy road."
"Yeah, the two you brought are both promising talents. Are you planning to send them both to the Xuandao Sect?"
"Don't tell me they're both your juniors…"
The guards weren't made of wood; there were always a few talkative ones who liked to joke around.
Lanshan glanced at the carriage. Inside, Lan Ru didn't dare to speak loudly, afraid of disturbing Bai Mo.
"Don't talk nonsense. Ru'Er is my little sister, and Shopkeeper Bai is no junior of mine…"
They exchanged a few more words before a cough came from the lead carriage, and everyone instantly fell silent.
The elderly merchant glanced back from his side window.
"He is indeed a promising talent."
The guard on horseback also nodded.
"Yes."
Not everyone had the ability to enter a state of cultivation on a bumpy road.
That required immense mental tranquility.
It wasn't until nightfall that Bai Mo awoke from his cultivation.
Seeing the quiet Lan Ru beside him, Bai Mo felt a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, it seems I…"
Lan Ru smiled faintly and said in a gentle voice:
"Shopkeeper Bai cultivates so diligently. What is there to apologize for?"
Lanshan passed in two greasy, roasted beast legs from outside.
"You two, eating in there or coming out?"
It was too cramped to stretch out in the carriage, so Bai Mo naturally chose to go outside, with Lan Ru following close behind.
The moment he stepped out, several gazes fell upon him.
Bai Mo stiffened. Behind him, Lan Ru chuckled and told him about everyone's reaction during the day.
Fortunately, though there was excitement in their eyes, they forcibly suppressed it and turned their attention back to their food.
Clearly, there were rules here.
Lanshan looked up at the star-filled sky.
"Let's keep our voices down. We're on the road, and the caravan has its rules."
Bai Mo and Lan Ru both nodded.
The group was camped in the woods by the road. A few bonfires were burning, and guards were crouched in the trees and around the camp, standing watch.
Bai Mo took a bite of the beast leg in his hand and paused. The flavor was completely unfamiliar.
"What kind of meat is this?"
"Venison. I hunted it," Lanshan said.
Bai Mo nodded. Out on the road, the roasting was simpler, without much seasoning.
But compared to dry biscuits, it was a world of difference.
After eating and resting for a bit, Bai Mo ducked back into the carriage, popped a Qi Absorption Pill, and began to cultivate again.
This scene once again drew the attention of many.
...
The next few days passed uneventfully.
The carriage continued along the road, doing scattered business just as it had before.
Bai Mo was still in the middle of cultivating. Beside him, Lan Ru had tried to quiet her mind to cultivate as well, but feeling there was little benefit, she had long since given up.
Lanshan poked his head in and called out softly.
"Shopkeeper Bai."
Bai Mo opened his eyes.
"What is it?"
These past few days, the Lanshan siblings had done their best to avoid disturbing him, for which he was very grateful.
'It's not mealtime yet. For him to call me now, something must be up.'
"There's a bit of a tangle outside. I was afraid it might disturb you, Shopkeeper Bai, so I came to get you ahead of time. It would be bad if your Spiritual Qi went astray."
Bai Mo thanked him and poked his head out, looking on with some curiosity.
Outside, a few Cultivators who had received their Pills should have left satisfied, but instead, they were standing around, watching the dispute.
What they wanted were mostly things like Qi Absorption Pills. Combat was not something they were familiar with, so they had little need for Healing Elixirs.
At the center of the commotion, a decrepit old Cultivator's face was flushed red.
"What!? Such a large caravan, and you don't even have any suitable cultivation Pills!?"
The faces of the caravan members also looked grim.
They were merchants traveling the road. Running into trouble like this was not a good omen.
"Fellow Daoist, look, we have some medicines here that extend life and bolster one's qi. Do you think they might work?"
The elderly merchant was trying to resolve the situation with the customer.
"I'm old, my qi and blood are in decline, and my body isn't what it used to be," the old Cultivator said.
"This isn't something your common medicines can solve. I need to cultivate to nourish my spirit so I can live a few more years!"
The elderly merchant's face darkened as he tried to negotiate again.
From the back, Bai Mo asked, "What's going on?"
Lanshan explained, "This old Cultivator is about to die of old age. Who knows how many pills he's taken in his life; the caravan's Qi Absorption Pills have long been ineffective for him."
"Now he's just hoping the caravan has some new stock."
Bai Mo grew even more curious.
"If there's nothing suitable, can't they just refuse the business? Why get into a dispute?"
Lanshan smiled bitterly.
"This man has connections to a small, nearby sect. When something happens, that kind of sect relies on local strongmen like him to enforce its will on the common folk."
"He has some influence, after all. Besides, for the caravan to run into this kind of situation on the road… it's a very bad omen."