Chapter 376
Chapter 376
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 385
Chapter Title: Elixir Snacks
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Hye-gong had rushed over in a hurry because of the successive letters flying into Shaolin one after another.
This was almost the first time during his time as Precepts Head that he had received urgent dispatches arriving in rapid succession like this.
On his way to meet Deok-jin, Hye-gong's mind was a tangled mess.
'What the hell is this guy spouting such nonsense for?'
He hadn't managed to retrieve the manual from the Hung-mok Elder as instructed, and far from uncovering the Nangong Family's intentions, he was rambling on with bizarre claims.
'What the Hung-mok Elder left behind in Shaolin is Shaolin's, but it's not Shaolin's?'
What kind of ridiculous nonsense was that?
And that wasn't all.
The Nangong Family's patrons were treating him well?
He was doing fine?
These were the first patrons he'd seen with such pure auras?
That they couldn't possibly have any ulterior motives!
'Deok-jin, you bastard! What the hell are you thinking!'
He had sent him precisely because he figured he was savvy with worldly matters, so did it make any sense for him to claim the Nangong patrons were simple-hearted?
Overly grateful for delivering an item?
Fine, whatever.
All good.
But...
'The Hung-mok Elder's final will passed to the Nangong Family, instructing them to craft spirit pills alongside Shaolin?'
What kind of bolt from the blue was that!
No matter how indebted they were to the Nangong Family, for the Hung-mok Elder to bequeath his final will—Shaolin's own asset—to them?
Did that even make sense!
'And what was that about the Nangong Family eating spirit pills as snacks?'
He had sent the guy to resolve Shaolin's affairs, and instead he was filling his head with this drivel.
On top of that, what the hell was with that absurd list of ingredients!
It was the kind of thing that could turn Shaolin upside down.
'These damn...!'
He flung open the door to the guest hall.
Bang!
Roughly shoving the door open, Hye-gong's eyebrows shot up.
"You bastard, Deok-jin...!"
As he raised his voice, Hye-gong blinked in surprise.
A single ray of light poured out from inside the room.
"...Sent you to handle sect affairs, and this is..."
Deok-jin pressed his palms together in greeting.
"Amitabha! Has the Head arrived?"
Whoosh.
Seeing Deok-jin bathed in golden light amid the fading glow of the sunset, Hye-gong's jaw dropped.
"...Why all the letters..."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two torches ignited to Deok-jin's left and right.
It was Deok-ja and Bae.
Hye-gong and the first-generation disciples gaped at the three figures enveloped in golden light, speechless.
A brief awkward silence settled in.
Hye-gong let out a low sigh.
"By any chance, you lot..."
"..."
"...ate some meat or something?"
Just look at the grease shining on their faces.
Seeing the three wearing smiles that went beyond gentle warmth to radiant benevolence, Hye-gong was at a complete loss for words.
Deok-jin laughed. Even that laughter carried an air of profound emptiness and detachment.
Would a living Buddha look like this?
"No way. It's just that the Nangong Family patrons entertained us so lavishly. I've put on a bit of weight lately. Hehe!"
"...In just a few days?"
"Hehehe! These snacks are just too delicious."
Hye-gong's expression twisted into something indescribable.
Was this really Deok-jin?
Had Deok-jin's voice always been this serene and composed?
"What in the world happened?"
"I spent meaningful time with the Nangong patrons and gained a small enlightenment. Hehe!"
"..."
"Care for some snacks?"
Hye-gong furrowed his brow.
What the hell had this guy been on about since he arrived?
"Didn't I tell you time and again to stay alert and cautious? The Hung-mok Elder's matter is important, but your primary task was to discern the Nangong Family's intentions, and yet..."
Seeing Deok-jin with that Buddha-like smile plastered on his face made it all too absurd.
"You're not babbling nonsense like the Hung-mok Elder instructed them to craft spirit pills together! Without even figuring out their intentions..."
"Hehe."
"You bastard! Stop laughing! Just stop..."
"Anger isn't good for the body."
"I'm not angry right now..."
"Irritation isn't healthy either."
"Deok-jin, you..."
Swish! Tap!
Deok-jin naturally proffered the snacks and tea from the table.
"Have some snacks first and calm down a bit."
"Why are you going on about snacks this whole time!"
"Hehe, give them a try."
"What kind of snacks..."
Hye-gong's gaze shifted to the items on the table that resembled snacks(?).
"...Why do these snacks look exactly like spirit pills?"
"Because they are spirit pills."
"So why do your snacks look like spirit pills..."
Blink.
"What did you say?"
"Spirit pills, hehe!"
"Spirit pills?"
"Yes."
"Spirit pills?!"
Hye-gong's mouth fell wide open as he stared at the two pills wafting fragrant, multicolored aromas.
The first-generation disciples standing behind him—Deok-ja and Bae—gasped in shock.
"S-Senior Brother!"
"Is this really spirit pills?"
"What, the Nangong Family hands out spirit pills as snacks?!"
"Wh-what's going on?"
Deok-jin and Dam-myeong smiled warmly at Hye-gong and the others, who were reacting just as they had when they first laid eyes on these absurd elixir candies.
"They say the Nangong Family produced these spirit pills."
"...Th-this?"
"Yes! And this is the lowest grade they've produced so far—eaten as snacks."
"...Wh-what utter nonsense!"
What kind of tale was this from?
Nahandan-grade or higher spirit pills as mere snacks?!
What...
'Are their pill refining skills truly surpassing Shaolin's?'
It wasn't just about their skill in pill refining—their techniques could mass-produce elixirs like these.
"Th-this can't be right. Pill refining is one of Shaolin's crowning achievements. The world's greatest Shaolin's..."
"It seems the Nangong Family has inherited the Hung-mok Elder's final will."
"Wh-what do you mean by that?"
"Take a look at this."
Deok-jin calmly drew out the (?) borrowed document of Hung-mok's final will from Nangong Hyeok in his bosom.
As Hye-gong pored over Hung-mok's pill refining secrets, the corners of his eyes twitched violently.
"Th-this... the Nangong Family patrons deciphered this?"
"Yes. They already have a rather impressive pill refining chamber set up. While I stayed there a few days, I worked with a Nangong patron in the pill refining chamber..."
"They deciphered this?"
Hung-mok's atrocious handwriting.
Shaolin had taken it for encrypted script, yet the Nangong Family patrons had cracked it!
'Beyond any encryption, these diagrams. So simple, yet their pill refining depths immeasurable—did the Nangong Family truly unravel them?'
Pill refining was a profound art.
Intricately complex with no room for the slightest error, an exceedingly delicate pursuit.
Hye-gong himself had once delved deeply into pill refining, enough to oversee Shaolin's elixir chamber.
From the diagrams alone, he could tell Hung-mok's secrets represented the pinnacle of the craft.
For the Nangong Family to unravel such supreme arts in mere days—it was simply unbelievable.
Grab!
"Head?"
"Hold on! I'll verify it with my own eyes!"
"Head!"
Hye-gong snatched up the dish of spirit pills and bolted outside.
His red robes flapping wildly, he vanished in an instant. Deok-ja and Bae glanced back and forth between Deok-jin and the door, then tore off after him.
"Hehe, it's just like how we were a few days ago!"
"Yes, I've never seen the Precepts Head sprint like that before."
"No helping it."
Deok-jin recited a Buddhist invocation as he set off at a leisurely pace, with Deok-ja and Bae following behind.
Radiating golden halos, the three made their way with easygoing steps toward Nangong Hyeok's quarters.
* * *
Ha-baek let out a heavy sigh.
"Fuuuck."
The thick, muscular forearms—hardly fitting for an apothecary—twitched.
"Gonna drop dead."
He was churning out over ten Divine Wood Pills a month, something even the Righteous Heaven Alliance could barely manage fifty of in a year.
"Goddamn it! They said they'd send manpower, stockpile herbs! Even bring in pill refiners!"
Bang bang bang!
Ha-baek slammed the pestle down with force.
The ground rumbled with each strike, the mortar's contents pulverized and blended in seconds.
His skill and power outstripped your average carpenter or woodcutter.
Veins popped on Ha-baek's forehead.
"But how long! Do I have to! Keep making Divine Wood Pills all by my lonesome!"
Bang bang bang!
"Yeah! I loved it once too! Loved Buddhism! I know full well how much the Hung-mok Elder adored Shaolin! But!"
Bang bang bang!
Emotion fueled the pestle, making the mortar wail.
Whine, whine.
"Uwaaaah! Goddamn it! You bald bastards, you really think these are snacks?! Divine Wood Pills as snacks? Quit stuffing your faces already! Got beggars living in your mouths or what!"
He used to make ten a month, but ever since those esteemed(?) Shaolin monks showed up, it jumped to six a day.
He wanted to die.
Each pill demanded meticulous care as it was, and now he was killing himself solo!
The Medicine Hall folks hadn't shown their faces since the war with the unorthodox sects.
At this point, he couldn't tell if he was grinding herbs or his own hands.
The quality of the spirit pills kept dropping, but he couldn't stop.
Not with the monks inhaling Divine Wood Pills like they were actual treats!
Not with Nangong Hyeok—that lunatic Mad Dragon—basically threatening to cut off support if the elixirs ran dry!
Not when genius Ha-baek, who had stormed out of the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Medicine Hall with nowhere else to turn, needed to work just to eat!
'This is! An investment for the Gold Immortal Pill! Forearms, hang in there! Shoulder blades, hold on!'
"Monks! Thanks! Monks! Thanks!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang bang!
"Monks..."
Kwang!
Ha-baek, mid-vigorous pound, froze solid at the sight of the pill refining chamber's doors bursting open.
"Haha! This is the pill refining chamber we're so proud of in the Nangong Family!"
In that instant, a bright and breezy voice rang out as Nangong Hyeok strode in, locking eyes with Ha-baek.
"Ah, I didn't say anyth—"
"And this guy here is the artisan who inherited our Hung-mok Elder's final will—the one and only Ha-baek!"
Wink wink!
Nangong Hyeok winked playfully.
Ha-baek stared at him in a daze.
'What, what do you want me to do.'
Wink! Wink!
What? Eye drops?
Guess he had to brew those now too...
Grab!
"Uwaaak!"
Yanked by the collar and dragged forward, Ha-baek squinted at what loomed before him.
A bald pate thrust out, along with a gray beard that looked familiar.
A spine-chilling red robe came into view.
Ha-baek blinked and shot a glance at Nangong Hyeok.
'...What the hell is this?'
'What else? The sucker I reeled in.'
'Sucker...?'
'Get a good look. This old monk is legit.'
...What kinda bullshit.
To him, old monks and youngish monks alike all looked like demons.
And the Mad Dragon leading those demons was the Devil King incarnate.
'Buddha, Supreme Lord. Where the hell are you? Don't tell me this Mad Dragon ate you all?'
Your disciple's been hooked by this Mad Dragon, beaten down, and scammed!
Aigoo, Buddha, Supreme Lord...
"What're you doing?"
"Yes?"
"Show 'em quick."
"...What. No way."
"What else? Divine Wood Pill. Make it proper, put some real effort in. Clap clap, whip one up."
Ha-baek stared at Nangong Hyeok with utter bewilderment.
"...Right now?"
"When else?"
"My arms are about to fall off. Forearms ripping..."
"You're this close to becoming the greatest pill refiner in history, and you can't crank out one without whining?"
"..."
"The one and only successor to Hung-mok, greatest of all time. The Gold Immortal Pill—even Hung-mok couldn't make it—is right around the corner, and still?"
"No! For real!"
Bang!
Ha-baek slammed down the pestle.
Veins writhed in his tensed grip.
Hye-gong and the Shaolin monks flinched at Ha-baek's sudden frenzy.
Ha-baek grinned.
"What's once? I could do ten more easy."
"Right?"
"Yes. Shall I run you through one to ten?"
Ha-baek quietly moved to a corner and gathered ingredients.
Hye-gong's eyes flew wide.
"Amitabha!"
Focus sharpened in his gaze.
Ha-baek clenched his jaw and raised his hand.
Nangong Hyeok watched as Hye-gong and the others stared, mesmerized by Ha-baek's hands like children at a fireworks show.
'Watch closely and learn. This is what you'll be doing from now on.'
The corner of his mouth twitched.