Chapter 24
Chapter 24
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: Yuseon Taoist (2)
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Yuseon Taoist shakily pushed her trembling body upright and looked up at me, her eyes filled with intense doubt.
"...Do I... really have what it takes?"
This was exactly why low self-esteem caused problems. When someone offered you something, you had to snatch it up quick. Of course, that very reluctance was why Yuseon Taoist was so well-liked. Pretending to be solemn, I extended my hand and spoke.
Your days of endurance are proof enough of your worth.
So take this Transformation Pill right now and be reborn as your true self.
She seemed like she had more to say, but I silenced it with the power of the Heavenly Army and quickly handed her the two Transformation Pills.
"Eat it."
"Right... now...?"
"Yes. Right now. Here."
It would only cause heartache if she took it away without any strength and got robbed by someone. Eating a spiritual elixir in front of a strange man was normally the ultimate taboo, but given the circumstances, she couldn't refuse.
Gulp. The Transformation Pill slid down Yuseon Taoist's throat. Then, like a drumbeat, a thud echoed out, and veins bulged sharply across her snow-white skin.
It was somehow fascinating. So this was how the shedding of bones and rebirth worked.
I glanced at the two women standing on either side and said,
"You two don't need any of that?"
Surprisingly, both shook their heads.
"We're close to the Transformation Realm even without elixirs now..."
"I want to do it with my own power."
Seo Yul-hye smiled faintly, while Seo Miryeo spoke matter-of-factly. But more than that, why were they already so close to the Transformation Realm? This was way faster than the game story.
Maybe using Bodhidharma's spiritual energy instead of Demonic Cult alchemy had paid off positively.
Let's keep this momentum going, I thought to myself as I turned my gaze back to Yuseon Taoist.
The sight unfolding before me was quite mystical.
Perhaps because the treefolk were made up of about seventy percent natural qi, their bone-shedding rebirth was markedly different from a human's. Sprouts like new shoots emerged, melted away, and were absorbed, strengthening muscles and bones, lengthening her height, and reshaping her features.
The process must have been intensely painful, as Yuseon Taoist clenched her teeth and balled her fists tight—but the effects seemed definite.
She'd looked like a middle schooler, on the younger side at that, but now she appeared at least two years older.
"Ah..."
But that was it. It looked fine to me, but to her, it must have felt like a failure. Yuseon Taoist sighed as she examined her own body.
With a despairing expression, she haltingly spoke to me.
"I'm... sorry.... My cultivation was... insufficient, so the grace you bestowed upon me, Heavenly Army... I couldn't even absorb... half of it..."
Her face looked ready to crumple into tears. Remorse toward me, self-loathing, regret, pity—all mingled together, casting dark clouds over her features. She'd failed to fully absorb that precious Transformation Pill.
Of course, it meant nothing to me.
I commanded her again.
"Take another one."
In an instant, Yuseon Taoist prostrated herself flat, trembling even harder than before. As if that was the one thing she couldn't accept.
"P-please... take my life instead and spare my master..."
"Lift your head."
"...Please!"
Seo Yul-hye watched Yuseon Taoist's desperate bid to protect the Transformation Pill with pitying eyes. Seo Miryeo, oddly enough, wore a slight smile. She leaned in close and whispered softly into my ear.
"Is this how it felt for you?"
...It was a question too hard to answer. I ignored it and called out to Yuseon Taoist.
"Taoist."
"Y-yes...!"
"You dare defy my words?"
Hik! She curled up like a pill bug. I tossed the pouch of Transformation Pills toward her.
Thud. About ten crimson orbs gleamed together.
Yuseon Taoist stared blankly, as if her mind couldn't process the situation.
I declared solemnly,
"You will not leave this place until your body has fully matured."
"...Cough."
A body trained in martial arts doesn't age easily or die easily. Cheongyeon Taoist of the Huashan Sect was no exception. Thanks to the martial achievements of his youth, he was nearing two hundred years old yet couldn't die and kept on living. Or had he already passed it? His memory was fuzzy.
In a voice as parched and cracked as a desert, he called out toward the door.
Is Yuseon there?
...Normally, she would reply, Yes, I am, and come in. But his foolish disciple gave no answer.
He breathed slowly and deeply, gazing at the ceiling.
His disciple, whom he'd raised since she was small... still so small... Cheongyeon Taoist smiled faintly. If she returned to find him dead, how heartbroken that little one would be.
So he couldn't die yet.
Coughing up blood-mixed phlegm, he barely exhaled.
I won't last much longer.
At most, ten days.
The moment Yuseon—that child—noticed his condition, she'd run off from the sect to fetch medicine.
The treefolk's sense of time wasn't as precise as humans'. She might not return for years, claiming she'd finally found it.
What a foolish disciple.
Why didn't she understand?
For someone like him, who had lived long enough, the greatest joy wasn't living longer—it was having the face he longed to see at his final moment right by his side.
No matter how he clung to life, death crept ever closer, its form growing clearer by the moment.
So today, too, vomiting blood, Cheongyeon Taoist cried out toward the door.
"Is Yuseon there?"
Then.
"Yes. I'm here."
...What?
Rumble.
The door opened, and Cheongyeon Taoist bolted upright. It happened naturally. The shock made him forget his frailty for a moment.
"...I-I'm here. I brought the medicine, so don't worry about a thing."
Her rapidly grown body strained against her flapping robes, clinging in an almost indecent way.
Her golden hair, which had stopped at her nape, now cascaded nearly to her lower back, shimmering dazzlingly in the light.
Seemingly embarrassed by her own appearance, the disciple shyly twirled a lock of hair around her finger.
Cheongyeon Taoist's eyes widened in disbelief.
In a trembling voice, he spat,
"Wh-what is this? Have you fallen prey to such a bewitching heart demon...!"
...This couldn't be his disciple!
A while later, Cheongyeon Taoist, having taken a Transformation Pill, regained his strength, and Yuseon Taoist changed into clothes that fit her new body.
He stroked his long-grown beard and gazed at his suddenly matured disciple. Who would have thought such a thing possible? At first, when she spoke of the Heavenly Army and fairies, he'd thought it nonsense, but if she could perform such a miracle, they must truly be immortals.
Comparing it to his own prime, the immense energy made an exclamation escape Cheongyeon Taoist's lips.
"Heh, so the Heavenly Army took a liking to you."
"Yes. Because I was lacking, I had to take five Transformation Pills to end up like this."
"Five of them? Well, Transformation Pills are supreme elixirs for us, but even immortals must value them highly. Anyway, it's good. Truly good..."
"Master..."
Calling it a blessing that this old body lasted a bit longer would be wrong. But for his disciple to overcome her suffering and finally stand at the same starting line as others—that was truly a good thing.
Cheongyeon Taoist's eyes reddened.
Because he knew all the heartache she'd endured until now.
After their touching reunion, he suddenly stood up and spoke.
"We can't just keep receiving like this. I don't know what to offer in return, but if we've received grace, it's only proper to express thanks, no? If you remember anything about the place—where it was, what it looked like—tell me. I should go pay my respects in person."
At his words, Yuseon Taoist pondered her memories and opened her mouth.
"...I was prostrated and weeping on the hillside of Hwahyun Valley when a mist like swallowed stars suddenly formed, and two fairies appeared to guide me there."
"That place—where the Heavenly Army is?"
"Yes. The mist was so thick I couldn't tell front from back, so I don't really know where it was..."
"Heh."
This won't be easy to find. Swallowing his regret, Cheongyeon Taoist asked again.
"No other details? Anything at all, even trivial things."
His disciple nodded as if recalling something.
"Come to think of it, I remember the difference between the two fairies standing on either side."
"Difference? What was it?"
"The Heavenly Army sat in the middle, and relative to that, a fairy in white was on one side, a fairy in black on the other. The white fairy interacted with the Heavenly Army comfortably, letting her gaze wander freely, while the black fairy kept staring only at the Heavenly Army, constantly touching their body or speaking to them—that's how I remember it."
"What does that mean?"
"Could it be... that even in the heavenly realm, there's such a thing as love? To me, it looked like the black fairy was constantly seducing the Heavenly Army."
"...My disciple."
At those words, Cheongyeon Taoist quietly closed his eyes.
Her body had grown, but her mind was still that of a child.
"That's just your head being filled with such thoughts, making it look that way. Now that your body's matured, go ahead and try this thing called love."
Yuseon Taoist's face flushed bright red.