When he arrived at Li Hu’s home, he saw several large bundles lying in the main hall.

Li Hu hurried over.

"Ah, Shopkeeper Bai! I’m glad you’re here."

"Huh! You’ve had a breakthrough. Your spiritual aura is so active!"

Bai Mo nodded.

"I’ve made some minor progress."

"Fellow Cultivator Li, what’s all this...?"

Li Hu waved his hand dismissively. "Ah, well."

"I have to go. My old man is rushing me."

He rubbed his hands together and asked eagerly, "Shopkeeper Bai, were you able to gather the Spirit Stones?"

Bai Mo lifted the heavy cloth bag.

"It took quite some effort, but I finally got them all."

"Excellent!" Li Hu exclaimed.

He immediately pulled a thick document from his sleeve.

"There’s no time to lose. Let’s do the handover now."

Bai Mo took the document and looked it over. All the paperwork inside was complete. They just needed to add their handprints to finalize the transaction.

In a flash, the two of them pressed their handprints onto the transfer document.

They used their own blood instead of an ink pad.

This would eliminate any possibility of forgery.

Li Hu glanced at the empty hall, casually stuffed the Spirit Stones from Bai Mo into a bundle, and pressed them down firmly.

"Well, Shopkeeper Bai, you’ll probably have to buy some furniture before this place is usable."

"The old man was very concerned with appearances, so the tables and chairs were all made of fine materials. I’ve since sold every last one of them."

Bai Mo nodded.

"It’s no matter. The storage of Pills has its own specific requirements. I was going to have to replace everything inside sooner or later anyway."

Li Hu picked up a large bundle under each arm, with two more slung over his front and back, and headed for the door.

"The handover is complete. From this moment on, this place is your territory, Shopkeeper Bai."

"I’ll be taking my leave now."

The bundles were clearly filled with heavy objects. It was obvious Li Hu was strong, but he still nearly tripped over the threshold on his way out.

Bai Mo darted over and helped him steady the bundles.

Grateful, Li Hu reminded him, "Shopkeeper Bai, you should probably go register this with the Law Enforcement Team later."

"It’s better to have a copy on file in the city."

Bai Mo nodded, watching him walk a good distance before getting into a waiting horse-drawn carriage.

Bai Mo looked around the place and patted the door twice.

Hearing the crisp BANG BANG sound, Bai Mo nodded silently.

’From this day forward, this place is mine.’

He did a walkthrough and found that, just as Li Hu had said, the place had been truly emptied out.

The inner rooms had even been specially swept clean, without a speck of dust to be found.

Bai Mo stepped over the threshold, took out the key Li Hu had given him, locked the door from the outside, and turned to head back to his own shop.

"Shopkeeper Bai!? Why are you coming back from this direction?"

A familiar voice called out.

Bai Mo looked up and saw Lanshan with several other Cultivators, staring at him in surprise.

They still bore the marks of scrambling through the mountains.

Lanshan was carrying a beast’s leg covered in black fur. Its claws hadn’t been removed and, like daggers, were gleaming as they stuck out brazenly.

The others were also carrying beast meat and herbs, the bloody smell attracting the gazes of many passersby.

They were familiar faces—Ma Bozi and the others who had entered the mountains with him.

Bai Mo held up the key in his hand.

"As of now, this place is also mine."

It dawned on Lanshan and the others, and they followed Bai Mo to his residence.

"Shopkeeper Bai, your status is different now."

"That small place you had before is no longer enough."

Once inside, Lanshan set down the beast’s leg.

"Shopkeeper Bai, here’s some Demon Beast meat. You can prepare it as you see fit."

Ma Bozi and the others also put down the meat and herbs they were carrying.

What they had was less impressive, but it was still choice cuts from wild game.

Bai Mo looked at the herbs and saw some Climbing Vines, as well as several other strange and peculiar herbs.

It seemed Han Meng had passed on his message, and Lanshan and the others had specifically searched for these.

"Shopkeeper Bai, you’ve taken good care of the Demon Hunting Team. You’re a Pill Master, so we can’t skimp on the proper tribute," Ma Bozi and the others said.

"Otherwise, we’d be laughed at by our peers. It’s custom."

Bai Mo smiled. "Alright."

And with that, he accepted the herbs.

"How was the trip?"

Lanshan patted Ma Bozi’s shoulder.

"Not bad. We just don’t have much rapport yet. A couple more runs to grind it out and we’ll be fine."

"Next time, we’ll go fifty li deeper."

Ma Bozi didn’t seem disappointed, only saying:

"It’s good that we came back early. It was the safe play."

"Besides, if we hadn’t come back early, I wouldn’t have known those girls in the city were about to leave. Now I can catch the last batch!"

Lanshan shook his head. "Many of those girls are Cultivators of varying levels. I’m afraid they have powerful backgrounds. You shouldn’t be so reckless..."

Ma Bozi looked impatient, so Lanshan didn’t say any more.

Bai Mo then asked, "When are you all heading into the mountains next?"

Lanshan quickly replied, "We estimate we’ll need to rest for about seven days!"

"Alright."

"I’ll prepare the Pills. Just come and get them then."

Lanshan and his men had just returned to the city, so they couldn’t linger at Bai Mo’s place for long.

They had just come by together to show their respect, and that was enough.

Bai Mo personally saw them out.

One by one, their auras were still unsettled, and their gazes were sharp, revealing a ruthless decisiveness.

Passersby didn’t dare to stare, hurrying past them.

Just before leaving, Lanshan seemed to remember something and turned back to say:

"Shopkeeper Bai, when the time comes, will you need help knocking through a connection?"

"If you need us, just say the word. We’ve got plenty of muscle."

Bai Mo agreed. After seeing them off, he returned inside and hung up all the meat they had brought.

The beast leg Lanshan had left behind looked quite intimidating.

He didn’t know what kind of Demon Beast it was from. The whole leg was barely trimmed, and it was untouched by the Blood Curse, which was very rare.

Also, the fur on it was tough and dense, making it a challenge to deal with.

Lanshan and his men were probably used to handling it and thought nothing of it, but Bai Mo had to be very careful as he hung it up.

He was afraid of getting scraped by the claws.

Just as he was wondering where to start, he heard footsteps approaching.

Bai Mo turned his head and saw the travel-worn figure of Xu Ruyuan.

"Brother Bai..."

"Huh?"

Xu Ruyuan stopped in his tracks. He saw the beast’s leg in front of Bai Mo, and the bloody stench seemed to emanate from right under his nose.

"Where did this Demon Beast meat come from?"

Bai Mo rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "The men from the Demon Hunting Team brought it. It was very thoughtful of them, but I don’t know how to process it."

Xu Ruyuan said casually, "If you don’t have a special technique, Brother Bai, just build a fire to singe off the fur, then strip off the thick hide."

His gaze shifted, and he noticed the fresh herbs piled to the side.

"Brother Bai, you have people from a Demon Hunting Team at your disposal now?"

Bai Mo gave a noncommittal response.

"We’re just cooperating."

Hearing this, Xu Ruyuan’s heart tightened. A sense of crisis suddenly rose in him, and he quickly took a few steps forward.

"My two brothers and I have made contact with a family of Cultivators who run the waterways."

"They’ve agreed that if the price is right, they can give us thirty percent of their herbs from now on."

Bai Mo looked at him. "Is this related to those few fellow Cultivators in the city?"

Xu Ruyuan nodded.

"Yes, they’re all part of the same network."

"Giving us thirty percent is just them being a little selfish, opening up another avenue for themselves as a fallback."

Xu Ruyuan continued, "We’ve been to many places."

"With the guarantee of a Pill Master’s name, many Cultivators are interested."

He had originally wanted to pursue more leads from Celestial Barrier Mountain, but now it seemed Bai Mo also had people from a Demon Hunting Team by his side.

’In that case, it would be better to put more effort into the waterway connections.’

’Also, there are a few families in remote areas with herb fields; those are worth a try, too.’

’They’re said to be living off their old stock, not cultivating many new herbs and just barely scraping by.’

’But if a few of those families are added together, the amount they can offer wouldn’t be small.’