Chapter 147
Chapter 147
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 147
Chapter Title: The Mythical Elixir
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“……That Muwagiji Sword is the Blade King’s blade?”
Having heard Namgung Hyeok’s explanation, Namgung Jangcheon let out a hollow laugh.
“How the hell did you get your hands on that?”
“It just sort of happened.”
“You expect me to believe something like that just ‘sort of happens’?”
The Blade King’s blade was something even the Hebei Peng Clan had given up on after searching high and low!
The Hebei Peng Clan, who had turned the world upside down in their desperate hunt, had failed to find even a trace of the Blade King.
And now Namgung Hyeok strolls in, hands it back to its rightful owners like it was nothing?
On top of that, it was his first time ever setting foot in Hebei Province!
Every word sounded utterly absurd.
‘And no matter how much it’s the Blade King’s blade, there’s no way a single sword would change the clan’s attitude like this!’
Just look at that shady expression on Namgung Hyeok’s face.
How could that be the face of someone who handed over a mere sword and earned the Hebei Peng Clan’s favor?
Infuriating…… Oh, right, that’s my son.
“……But the Peng Family Head wouldn’t just swallow his humiliation like that. No matter how amazing the blade is, they wouldn’t send over this much wealth in return.”
The grudge between the Hebei Peng Clan and the Namgung family wasn’t something a single sword could erase.
Namgung Jangcheon, who knew that better than anyone, couldn’t help but grow even more suspicious.
Namgung Hyeok shrugged.
“They gave me a manual, too.”
“……A manual? What manual?”
“The Blade King’s manual.”
“Who…… did you say?”
“Blade. King.”
Watching Namgung Hyeok calmly enunciate each syllable, Namgung Jangcheon felt a vein throb at the back of his head.
“Who?!”
“Blade King!”
“Bl-Blade King?!”
Veins bulged red across Namgung Jangcheon’s forehead.
Deep furrows carved into his brow, and his skin flushed hot.
‘The Blade King’s blade, and now even his manual?’
A blade was just a hunk of metal, but a manual? That was different!
A manual was the key to strengthening a sect.
Why else was Shaolin, with fewer than a thousand monks, hailed as the pillar of the martial world?
Even the old monks sweeping the grounds at Shaolin were said to unleash the Hundred-Step Divine Fist—and that wasn’t just talk.
A sect’s power was determined by the profundity of its secret arts.
For one of the Three Great Bandits of past and present—the Blade King’s manual—to fall into a rival clan’s hands? No matter the intent, it was unsettling.
As Family Head, he couldn’t welcome a rival growing stronger.
His expression grew complicated.
“But Hyeok, how exactly did you even know about those items, let alone find them? A guy who’s never been to Hebei before…… Unless you somehow knew something……”
“Hey, as long as it all worked out, right? Mutual benefit. We both got what we wanted.”
“No, this needs to be……”
“Here, take this.”
Cutting off Namgung Jangcheon mid-sentence, Namgung Hyeok pulled a wooden box from his robe and held it out.
Namgung Jangcheon narrowed his eyes as he accepted the shabby, unremarkable wooden box.
“You think you can just brush this off like that? Whatever this is, you’re answering your father’s questions.”
Click!
The lid popped open, and a golden radiance burst forth, flooding his vision.
Along with the glow came a rich, refreshing aroma that filled the room, making Namgung Jangcheon flinch.
Nestled shyly in the center of the box was a golden spirit pill.
Slam!
Namgung Jangcheon snapped the lid shut and yanked the box close, staring at Namgung Hyeok with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
“Hyeok…… what is this?”
Namgung Hyeok twisted one corner of his mouth upward.
“You gonna eat it or not?”
“I-It’s safe to eat, right?”
“If you don’t want it, give it back.”
“Ahem! Of course I’ll eat it. Hell yeah, it’s from my son—I have to.”
It was too fragrant to refuse.
He’d never smelled anything so heavenly—an elixir of unimaginable caliber.
‘My boy even brought back something like this to nourish my body.’
It wasn’t what he’d expected at first, but this tugged at his heartstrings in its own way.
Namgung Jangcheon cleared his throat repeatedly, stealing glances at Namgung Hyeok.
“All good things are good, right? It’s good for the body, so take good care of it.”
“Damn right.”
Namgung Hyeok was spot on.
Good was good. What did he need with the Blade King’s manual or blade?
‘And he won the duel, too.’
Word was he’d smashed them utterly—must’ve been a sight on the Peng Family Head’s face.
The corners of Namgung Jangcheon’s mouth began to curl up.
“Heh heh heh heh! Heh heh heh heh heh!”
The low chuckle swelled, growing louder until it filled the study.
Beside him, Namgung Ryong watched Namgung Jangcheon with a pleased smile.
A satisfied grin bloomed on Namgung Hyeok’s face as well.
* * *
“Heh, what a guy.”
Recalling Namgung Jangcheon’s delight over merely winning a duel against the Hebei Peng Clan brought a chuckle from Namgung Hyeok.
Something unimaginable for the Namgung family of old.
‘Well, their finances were worlds apart, after all.’
The Namgung family in an uproar over a hundred thousand silver taels, versus the Hebei Peng Clan calling a million taels “just that”—the gap was like heaven and earth.
‘If the Sword King saw this…… Ugh, whatever. He’d probably be pissed off too.’
Namgung Hyeok shook his head.
What was the point of dredging up the Sword King, buried six feet under?
It’d just turn his stomach.
‘The Namgung family needs to grow from here.’
Ten years of stagnation meant more of the same ahead.
Everyone knew thrift, sharing, reusing, and bartering built wealth.
But knowing it didn’t make a beggar rich.
‘Bad analogy?’
Point was, things wouldn’t change without effort.
Turning around the Namgung family’s decline was no small task for Namgung Jangcheon alone.
Sure, in ten or twenty years it might differ…… No, by then Namgung Ryong would be slamming his head on the floor just like his father.
Ha, that fucking……
“No way that happens. This is my turf.”
Time to lay some groundwork, even now.
‘Worst case, if they go bankrupt, I’ll just start a new Namgung family. I’m loaded anyway! Hahaha!’
The payout from the Hebei Peng Clan was no joke.
A clean million gold taels incoming.
Namgung Hyeok never let go of a mark once hooked.
He unfurled the Huge Tree’s secret manual, safely stowed in his drawer.
The Huge Tree’s pill-refining secrets, explained so simply even a three-year-old could grasp them.
Within were the lifetime insights of the Huge Tree’s pill-refining arts.
“Time to hire someone.”
Was he insane enough to learn pill-refining himself?
Stick to your lane.
Just because he liked weapons didn’t mean he’d become a blacksmith hammering iron.
Better to leave pill-making to a skilled physician.
Finding a trustworthy one was the trick.
Understanding pill-refining and mastering it were two different beasts.
If he could, he’d learn it himself—but he had plenty else on his plate.
‘Pill-refining’s a shortcut, plain and simple.’
The Golden Thread Pill was a tool to hasten overcoming his Blocked Meridians.
Making it mattered, but true power lay in his core martial arts.
Having passed the initial hurdle, he planned to start with Bone Tempering and Body Forging.
He’d harden his muscles and bones, expand his qi and blood, forging a vessel to perfectly absorb the Golden Thread Pill’s energy.
The body demanded endless tempering.
Circulating his qi had revealed just how woefully inadequate his current physique was.
With the Cheoncheon Myeongwang Art advancing and the Golden Thread Pill’s inner energy ahead, body tempering was essential.
‘Time to refine my martial arts, too.’
Namgung Hyeok grinned as he skimmed the pill-refining manual.
“I’ll do what I do, and delegate the rest.”
With the Thunder Dragon Squad and Namgung family at hand, he could summon help as needed.
“No need for me to do it all.”
Namgung Hyeok liked things quick.
So quick he’d created the Myeongwang Chaos Heaven Technique for speed, even devouring demonic qi.
Back then, ascension wasn’t his goal, making it feasible—but fast was his way: handle it swiftly.
“Alright, what goes into the Golden Thread Pill?”
He took up a brush and jotted down the ingredients one by one.
“Thousand-Year Herb, Flame King Salt, Thousand-Year Gold……”
Damn, loaded with premium stuff.
Thousand-year-old basics, huh?
Hell, even wild ginseng.
“Yeah, for a Golden Thread Pill, this is par for the course.”
The finished product far surpassed the Great Reversion Pill.
Compared to its effects, a few thousand-year herbs were downright merciful—peak cost-performance.
Even in this era, they seemed procurable.
“Ten-Thousand-Year Flower Carp inner core, one drop of Azure Stone Oil……”
Namgung Hyeok blinked.
He rubbed his eyes and double-checked the manual.
Ten-Thousand-Year Flower Carp inner core.
One drop of Azure Stone Oil.
The Flower Carp was a spiritual creature—an ordinary carp that lived ten thousand years in lava- or yang-filled waters.
Azure Stone Oil formed one drop every thousand years.
Namgung Hyeok set down the brush and burst into laughter.
“Heh heh. Heh heh heh heh heh!”
Crack!
The brush in his grip snapped in two.
Veins throbbed on Namgung Hyeok’s forehead.
“This crazy bastard must be senile! One Ten-Thousand-Year Flower Carp core could blast open a blocked meridian, you bald lunatic monk fuck!”
I’ve never even seen one, you damn monk!
Grinding a mythical beast into a pill?
“Fuck…… hold on.”
Namgung Hyeok stared incredulously at the half-finished Golden Thread Pill before him.
“……This one has it too?”
This one?
In here……?
Oh……
“Nooooooo!”
Namgung Hyeok bolted up and unleashed Blood Wind God Step toward the Family Head’s quarters.
‘No, fuck! My Flower Carp!’
A gust of wind arrived at the Family Head’s room, where Namgung Hyeok flung open the doors with bloodshot eyes.
The sudden windstorm made Namgung Jangcheon look up.
“Hyeok?”
Namgung Hyeok charged straight at him.
The ferocious momentum even made Namgung Jangcheon flinch.
Clinging to his wits, Namgung Hyeok swallowed his boiling rage and asked,
“……Did you eat it?”
“Eat what?”
“That spirit pill……”
“Oh, the pill?”
“Yes.”
Please, please say no. Please.
I gave it to you less than a day ago.
Namgung Jangcheon smiled warmly.
“Heh heh heh heh heh! Felt amazing. Never tasted an elixir like that in my life! Ahem, got more?”
Son of a……
My Flower Carp……
“Hahahahaha!”
“You come here just to check?”
“Hahahahaha!”
“Hyeok?”
“No, nope. Haha, of course not. Wouldn’t be that easy. That Huge Tree fucker always saves the best for last. Haha!”
Namgung Jangcheon blinked in bewilderment at Namgung Hyeok, who grimaced like a wrathful demon, jaw clenched in a forced grin.
“But why are you reaching like that? Something hurt?”
Namgung Jangcheon wore a puzzled look as Namgung Hyeok’s twitching hand crept toward his neck.
‘Damn it, can’t exactly dig it out of his stomach.’
Namgung Hyeok flinched and pulled back his unconsciously extending hand.
“……Keep up the good work!”
Grit!
His words didn’t match his teeth-grinding glare.
By the time Namgung Jangcheon dazedly shifted his gaze, Namgung Hyeok had already bolted out.
A scream like a beast’s howl echoed from afar.
“Arrrrrgh!”
Namgung Jangcheon blinked toward the sound, chuckling wryly.
“Heh heh, kid’s full of vigor. Looking healthier already.”
Leaving Namgung Jangcheon’s mutter behind, Namgung Hyeok dashed off, grinding his teeth.
‘That damn fish…… I’ll catch and grind it myself if I have to. Saved that monk Huge Tree, didn’t I? What can’t I do?’
Invincible, that’s me.
No matter if he had to flip the entire Yangtze—he’d get that Flower Carp.
That was Namgung Hyeok’s vow.
Stomping heavily, he stormed back to his quarters.