Thankfully, about twenty days in, cracks could be seen on the surface of the meat jelly. Every day, more appeared. Faint signs of life soon became apparent. Meng Hao finally started to feel a bit relieved.
After a few more days passed, there was only one more day until the month-long period was up. The meat jelly was now almost completely covered with cracks, and life force seemed to throb within it. Meng Hao could tell that the meat jelly was still inside, struggling to break out.
Meng Hao sat there quietly, waiting for the moment when the meat jelly would burst out from within the dried husk.
The night passed silently. The next day at dawn, dense cracks completely covered the surface of the meat jelly. Splintering sounds filled the air, and it seemed as if the re-born meat jelly would burst out at any moment.
Meng Hao couldn’t do anything to help, he could only watch. It was at this moment that Bai Yunlai’s excited voice could suddenly be heard from outside the Immortal’s Cave.
“Fang Mu, quick, open the door! I have some good news. Really good news!”
“Sir,” replied Meng Hao immediately, “I’m in the middle of concocting some pills. I can’t really come out. Brother Bai, please wait just a moment. Once this batch is finished, I’ll come out.”
“Aiya! What pills are you concocting?” replied Bai Yunlai, his voice urgent. “Hurry up and finish. I managed to get some business for you from an Inner Sect disciple. He needs some medicinal pills, and I recommended you. If you concoct the pills for him, word will get around, and then more Inner Sect disciples will come to you looking for business.” Bai Yunlai and Meng Hao had developed a very good relationship during the better part of the last year. Now that Meng Hao was a master alchemist, Bai Yunlai had been attempting over and over again to get some Inner Sect disciples to accept a recommendation for him to concoct pills. However, it had been difficult to get anyone to agree. As soon as he had, he’d rushed over to find Meng Hao.
Meng Hao laughed bitterly. Before, he would have jumped eagerly at such an opportunity. This was a very important step in his growth as a master alchemist within the Sect. Having just been promoted, he had to struggle to distinguish himself from the other thousand master alchemists. In the entire past three months, not a single person had come to him looking for pill concocting.
If he didn’t take advantage of the first opportunity, then there would never be a second….
Unfortunately, today….
Meng Hao was just about to open his mouth, when suddenly, his expression flickered. He looked at the meat jelly for the space of a few breaths. Outside, Bai Yunlai suddenly heard a thunderous boom from inside the Immortal’s Cave.
It filled the entire valley, causing the mountains to tremble. Anyone inside the valley would have been able to hear it, and it attracted quite a bit of attention. Bai Yunlai stared in shock. His ears rang, and it took a long moment for him to regain his composure.
He took a deep breath, and stepped back a pace, his heart trembling in fear. He had no idea what pill Meng Hao was concocting to have produced such an uproar. However, not much time passed before the door of the Immortal’s Cave opened. Fang Mu appeared from within, smiling.
“In my haste, I exploded the pill furnace,” he said. “But, that doesn’t matter. I have more. Brother Bai, let’s go!”