Chapter 260
Chapter 260
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 260
Chapter Title: The Millennium Red Crane's Fate
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Nangong Hyeok trudged into the warehouse.
The Thunder Dragon Squad members scattered around jumped to their feet to greet him.
"You're here, Second Young Master!"
"You've arrived!"
"We've been guarding it well!"
The Thunder Dragon Squad split apart with fierce glares, eyes straining.
Through the gap, the fallen Millennium Red Crane came into view.
It had been cleaned up in the meantime, its dust-covered body restored to pristine white.
Flap! Flutter! Flap!
The utterly exhausted Millennium Red Crane spasmed the moment it spotted Nangong Hyeok.
"Whoa, whoa!"
Prrrp! Prrrp!
Boiling-pot noises bubbled from its bound beak.
The Thunder Dragon Squad panicked.
"What the hell? Why's it freaking out all of a sudden?"
"Grab it!"
"This damn bird's got a temper! Is this really a spirit beast?"
The Thunder Dragon Squad swarmed it, calming the thrashing Millennium Red Crane.
Nangong Hyeok watched with keen interest.
Well, to it, he was no different from an arch-enemy.
He had ruined a millennium of cultivation, after all.
"Hey, let's all live together. You can cultivate again."
Flutterflutterflutter!
"Does it understand people?"
A spirit beast was a spirit beast, indeed.
Shedding its black husk to emerge pure white—it had truly looked otherworldly.
'The moment a venomous creature becomes a spirit beast.'
Casting off its vicious poison after a millennium of training to ascend as an immortal crane.
Damn, that's cool.
Wasn't it like saying nothing in the world is truly useless?
He could see why Geom-mok had wanted to use venomous creatures for Golden Immortal Pills.
'But what's the point? The immortals will just chase it away anyway.'
Or it'd end up as a carriage for the immortals.
Ascension ain't easy, that's for sure.
If humans can't do it, how could a mere beast?
Even without him, the Millennium Red Crane's belly was fated to be sliced open.
Not that there was just one or two eyeing it.
Just looking at the Sacheon Tang Clan folks drooling the whole way back showed how alluring this spirit beast was.
Nangong Hyeok clicked his tongue.
"Hmm, what to do with this thing?"
He'd come all this way to catch it, but he'd eaten the Crane Spirit Red.
'Hah, it tasted like honey going down.'
With the Crane Spirit Red's essence gone, what now?
He'd eaten it to survive.
Thanks to that, he'd cleared his meridians and crushed Ma Yeong, so the results were good.
The problem was no more materials for Golden Immortal Pills.
As Nangong Hyeok rubbed his chin, Geon Cheon-hwi sidled up, drooling.
"Young Master, when do we catch it? Gulp."
Tak Hyeok-dong smoothly drew his axe, and Jang Woong pulled his twin blades.
"Graahaha! Chop the neck first!"
"How about gutting it and stuffing it full of herbs?"
"Is this samgyetang? Drain the blood and roast it!"
"It's a spirit beast. The blood's a spirit medicine too. You gotta split the belly and stuff it with herbs!"
Tak Hyeok-dong and Jang Woong bickered, drooling nonstop.
Having tasted Golden Immortal Pills once, they couldn't stay sane seeing the ingredients.
The difference between those who'd tasted and those who hadn't was stark.
While the three drooled at the mere sight of the Millennium Red Crane, Paeng Jung-hyeok and the others stood far off, looking baffled.
Nangong Hyeok clicked his tongue again.
"This is ingredient material, you idiots."
Shing! Shing!
Hm?
Nangong Hyeok turned at the sound of a blade being whetted.
Nangong Ryong was quietly sharpening his sword on a whetstone.
"What're you doing?"
"......Spirit medicine. Eat."
"It's material."
"Material, kill. Grind and add."
"......"
This guy's lost it too?
Nangong Hyeok shook his head, clicking his tongue once more.
So Geol-gae scratched his head furiously. He chewed on the antidote from the Poison Pill Hall, tilting his head repeatedly.
Even "far off" was just three paces away, and for someone like So Geol-gae, that distance meant he could hear ant footsteps without transmission arts.
Of course, he heard the bickering about making samgyetang too.
'Golden Immortal Pill material?'
What the hell was so special that these guys were foaming at the mouth?
Even the quiet Nangong Ryong's eyes gleamed at the name, sharpening his blade.
'Better than Great Reversion Pill?'
He recalled the Thunder Dragon Squad blabbing as they charged out.
'That make sense?'
Heavenly First was baseline, and across history, Great Reversion Pill ranked in the top five spirit pills.
The Nangong family calling Great Reversion Pill like a neighbor's dog name didn't sit right.
'I'd know if there was a spirit pill better than Great Reversion Pill!'
Even in eras overflowing with spirit pills, Great Reversion Pill was top-tier.
In today's martial world, it was the absolute pinnacle—hell, "pinnacle" didn't do it justice; it was the supreme sovereign.
And one better than that?
Ridiculous.
Plus, the Beggars' Sect not knowing? Even more absurd.
So Geol-gae asked Paeng Jung-hyeok.
"Have you ever heard of Golden Immortal Pill, Brother Paeng?"
"Nope."
"Right? Of course not. If even the Beggars' Sect doesn't know, it must be some fraudulent spirit pill. Heh! As if such a thing exists!"
"But seeing Second Young Master and Eldest Young Master so excited, it doesn't seem entirely made up."
Ah, this guy's a die-hard Nangong Hyeok fanboy now too.
"Hah, material, they say. If that's true, they're trying to make a spirit pill from a Millennium Red Crane? Does that even make sense?"
"Nothing says it can't."
"Is there any spirit pill in the world that uses a venomous creature?"
"You asking me? How should I know?"
Ah, fair point.
Unable to contain his curiosity and doubt, So Geol-gae finally called out to Nangong Hyeok.
"Second Young Master."
"Yeah."
"You're planning to make a spirit pill from the Millennium Red Crane now?"
"So?"
"Do you know something?"
Nangong Hyeok glanced at So Geol-gae.
"You think I'd do it without knowing?"
"But anyone can see it's absurd! Putting a venomous spirit beast into a spirit pill that needs pure, refined energy?"
"......"
"Isn't there some mistake? And better than Great Reversion Pill? No such pill......"
Geon Cheon-hwi, Tak Hyeok-dong, and Jang Woong snorted.
"It exists!"
"Does too."
"Yeah, it does."
Why so confident?
So Geol-gae looked dumbfounded.
"You know Great Reversion Pill boosts internal energy by one cycle and cleanses the qi and blood? That it's one of the top five in history?"
"Of course."
"So, which is better—Golden Immortal Pill or Great Reversion Pill?"
The three eyed each other, then spoke without hesitation.
"Golden Immortal Pill, obviously."
"Golden Immortal Pill, grahaha!"
"Golden Immortal Pill's the best."
These guys serious?
"What? Some unheard-of Golden Immortal Pill better than Great Reversion Pill? I'm from the Beggars' Sect! If it's that good, how haven't I heard?!"
"Better we know than a beggar who's never tasted a single spirit pill."
"Wh-what? The Beggars' Sect has Jade Peach Pills, you know!"
"You were bawling last time 'cause you couldn't get one."
"Wh-when did I bawl? That was me asserting my rights!"
"Grahahaha! Real men cry too. Nothing shameful about it."
"I said no, you bastard! Brother Paeng! Back me up! Does this even make sense?!"
So Geol-gae fumed, shooting Paeng Jung-hyeok a pleading look, but Paeng Jung-hyeok slyly turned away.
Whoa, avoiding eye contact?
So Geol-gae went slack-jawed, then scowled.
"I wouldn't touch that fraudulent spirit pill anyway, so don't worry! Even beggars pass on fakes......"
As he shrieked to wrap up, a ear-splitting screech tore through the air.
Screeeeeech!
"Cough!"
"Wh-what?!"
"Crazy!"
The unguarded group clutched their ears and whipped around.
Nangong Hyeok had shoved his hand into the Millennium Red Crane's gaping beak, which was stretched wide in agony.
The crane writhed and screamed in torment.
"Whoa, hold still! Just checking if you've got an inner core."
Crazy! You think you can see that like that?!
Rummage rummage!
Screeeeech!
Searching its throat like candy in a pocket, Nangong Hyeok suddenly shoved his whole head in.
As the crane thrashed harder, Geon Cheon-hwi, Tak Hyeok-dong, and Jang Woong rushed to pin it down.
And then.
Shing!
Nangong Ryong, who'd been sharpening his blade, suddenly raised his sword high.
The Millennium Red Crane's eyes bulged like marbles and went still.
Just then, Nangong Hyeok yanked his head out, scowling.
"What spirit beast doesn't have an inner core!"
No matter how much he poured in Heavenly Sky Bright King Art energy or scanned around, nothing.
He'd hoped for an inner core to replace the Crane Spirit Red, but nada.
"Shit, big trouble."
"Pardon? No inner core, then what?"
What else.
Boil the bones for broth.
"Hey, boil some water."
"Yes, sir!"
The Thunder Dragon Squad prepped the cauldron as Nangong Hyeok raised his sword high.
Screech! Screeeeech!
The Millennium Red Crane flipped and flailed for its life.
"Hold still. It'll be quick! I'll send you to the immortal realm!"
Spirit beast abuse right here.
As So Geol-gae blankly watched the rampaging crane and even wilder Nangong Hyeok...
Bang!
The closed door flew open, and Sacheon Tang Family Head Dang Ui-cheon and Poison Pill Hall Lord Dang Seo-gyun stormed in.
"We came to talk......"
"There's something we need to discuss......"
The two, here to negotiate with Nangong Hyeok, gawked at the atrocity(?) unfolding in the warehouse.
They were horrified to see the Thunder Dragon Squad riding the ox-sized Millennium Red Crane while brandishing blades.
Dang Seo-gyun flailed his arms and charged.
"C-calm down! Calm down! You can't kill that thing! Nooooo!"
Dang Seo-gyun leaped in, and Dang Ui-cheon frantically held back Nangong Hyeok.
"H-hey! What are you doing?!"
"Trying to make bone broth? Seems no inner core."
"Y-you already ate the Crane Spirit Red!"
"Yeah. So I'm gonna boil it."
Boil what!
Dang Ui-cheon waved his hands.
"C-calm down!"
"I'm calm, though?"
"No, I mean!"
Dang Ui-cheon's eyes trembled in panic at the blade poised to sever the crane's neck.
This mad bastard was handling a Millennium Red Crane like a chicken—it was infuriating.
"Hang on. Sending it off quick."
As Nangong Hyeok's raised sword plummeted toward the crane's neck, Dang Ui-cheon yelled desperately.
"Th-then sell it to us! Sell it to us!"
Clang!
Nangong Hyeok's blade halted a paper's breadth from the Millennium Red Crane's neck.
Nangong Hyeok glanced back at Dang Ui-cheon.
"Sell it?"
"Y-yes! If you're killing it, sell to us instead! I'll pay whatever!"
To the Sacheon Tang Clan, a Millennium Red Crane was worth more than any treasure in the world.
Wasn't it the pinnacle among all venomous creatures?
They'd pay its weight in gold for even its feathers.
A live one? Say no more.
They'd pay any price to get it.
Nangong Hyeok stared down at the crane.
'No inner core anyway, right?'
The Crane Spirit Red for Golden Immortal Pills was eaten for survival.
He'd checked for a replacement inner core but found none, so he'd planned to nourish himself with the body—but things had changed.
Nangong Hyeok handed his sword smoothly to Geon Cheon-hwi.
Geon Cheon-hwi quietly took it and stepped back.
Screech, screech.
Nangong Hyeok gazed at the crane heaving ragged breaths beneath him and smiled faintly.
"Aigoo, esteemed customer. Guess we need to talk business then?"
Nangong Hyeok added,
"Very closely."
Dang Ui-cheon's shoulders slumped.
It felt like he'd fallen into a pit of vipers.