Chapter 37
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Dog-Like Demise
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Martial God Gallery.
The users active in this place shared one common flaw.
Everything they said was ridiculously hard to understand!
For a high school dropout like me with a short bag strap, their wording was brutally harsh.
But their learning wasn't so shallow that they could only explain what they'd studied in their own convoluted terms.
No matter how different the listener's language was from theirs, they could easily adapt their expressions to match the other person's level.
Master Elixir was no different.
Realizing I wasn't fully grasping her words, she added an easy explanation.
"In short, you can think of it as being reborn as a noble spirit beast. I'm not trying to make any speciesist remarks, but from a racial perspective, humans are a lower species. On the other hand, auspicious beasts like qilins, haetae, or dragons are called spirit beasts and ranked as higher species. They're born with physical abilities far beyond those of lower races."
"Oh ho. So I've become one of those? Sounds good to me!"
"Right. But think about it. Becoming a dragon is great and all, but you can't fly. You don't have a yeouiju to wield divine powers, and you can't even read the stars to draw in energy. What do you think happens then?"
"Uh... is that really a dragon?"
"It's a dragon, alright. Even a hundred humans charging at a newborn dragon would get swept away with a single tail swipe."
"Well... then it's still kinda lacking."
"Exactly, it's lacking. That's precisely your situation."
"Ah."
Only then did it start to make sense.
"Becoming a dragon is cool, but it feels like a lot is missing."
"Can't be helped. You didn't ascend through your own gate or cultivate for a thousand years. Someone artificially made you this way, so you lack the innate abilities you'd naturally gain during that process. Think of it as paying the price for forcing the end result ahead of time."
"Then... I can never use those functions?"
"No, that's not quite right. Do you think the gallery users would be that sloppy? As your realm advances and you progress through stages, you'll naturally acquire what you should. Right now, it looks like you're missing functions you should've already gotten, but in truth, you've actually gained performance ahead of schedule that you wouldn't have had otherwise."
"Ah, I see."
Phew, what a relief.
I thought I'd become some half-assed Raichu-Unyielding Magic Sword that couldn't even master its techniques properly.
"Anyway, that should cover the performance check. Good. As I said, your body is exceptionally sturdy because you've gained advanced performance early. Surely you're feeling it yourself?"
"Yeah, definitely."
I'd already noticed that, actually.
The injuries I sustained from those raiders and yakshas the other day had vanished into thin air before I knew it.
In the old days, I'd have been trembling with tetanus or something awful, but now it felt like as long as I survived, I'd grow super strong—like becoming an ultra Saiyan Unyielding Magic Sword.
"Then let's get straight to passing down the martial art. First, what you need to learn is the Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method that I personally created."
"The name alone reeks of pharmaceuticals."
"Exactly. While other users' martial arts each have their purposes, this one was purely invented for pill refining. Oh, it'll be very helpful for you too. You can make Purple Dawn Divine Pellets but not ordinary Wall Valley Pills, right? That's because you can't control the medicine qi properly. As I mentioned earlier, it's a symptom of having superior performance but lacking functions."
What.
So that was due to my functional defect?
"You're pouring in latent power along with everything else when only a portion is needed, causing the medicinal power to overflow. But don't worry. Mastering the Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method will fix that issue."
"Ooh, how so?"
"First, you need to empty yourself."
"Pardon?"
"Exactly as it sounds. The Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method turns your body into a vessel for pill refining. It purely accepts medicine qi, refines it, and reverts it. To do that, you must first empty out any existing energy. Like this."
With a whoosh, Master Elixir exhaled pipe smoke while drawing up her inner power.
Now that I was a martial artist too, I could sense the flow of inner power centered on her.
But the result was truly bizarre.
'What is this?'
A massive flow of inner power swirled around her,
yet at the very center, she felt utterly empty.
Yes.
It was like a gigantic vessel, hollow inside, had been placed there.
"How's that?"
"Amazing..."
Could there really be a martial art so focused on being a 'vessel'?
That vessel looked the sturdiest and toughest under heaven, yet it held no color or tint whatsoever.
It seemed like it could hold anything without distorting its essence even slightly.
"That's the foundation. You must first understand the principle of emptiness. To fill, you must first empty."
"What can you make with this?"
"Anything."
Master Elixir flashed a hearty smile.
"By stripping away everything, when you take in something new, you can clearly know exactly what it is and how much. That's why you failed at Wall Valley Pills—once you can calibrate precise amounts, you won't repeat the mistake. Of course, that's not all."
Tap.
Master Elixir lightly tapped out her pipe.
The smoke scattered, then formed a pattern in midair like some array.
"Five Elements Harmony Array. It's an array to aid pill refining, harmonizing the five elements of heaven and earth. But... you probably don't need it."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Don't you already practice a martial art unrivaled in the world for harmony and balance?"
Ah.
Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture!
"Truth be told, you're constantly deploying the Five Elements Harmony Array inside your body, so you don't need this. I'm showing it to you anyway to make the principles and process crystal clear. Watch."
Master Elixir pulled a small pouch from her robes, broke the seal, and scattered a pinch of herbs inside.
The scattered herbs crumbled to powder and rode the array's strange currents.
Watching calmly, Master Elixir swung her pipe lightly, and like an orchestra following a maestro's baton, jade energy swirled forth.
Finally, as she thrust the pipe forward,
Smoothly—
A small pill formed atop it.
"Complete."
"?!?!"
"Why so surprised? A Martial God has to deliver at least this much."
Keh heh heh.
Master Elixir let out her usual booming laugh.
No, Master...
How could I not be shocked...
'Elixirs can be copied now?'
Just a casual wave of the pipe, and an elixir appeared.
The fresh herbal scent and potent aura made it obvious this wasn't some minor heart-clearing pill.
"That one?!"
"Ha ha ha. Nice reaction. This is called a Pure Qi Replenishing Pill—not all that impressive. It grants 30 years' worth of inner power upon consumption and purges impurities from the body."
That's insanely impressive...
I can't keep up...
With the Martial Gods' standards...
At this point, even if they trashed Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays as just a chicken coop formation, I'd believe it...
"No need to be that shocked. I'm used to it, so I can shortcut the process to the result. Since it's your first time, you'll need the full, more complex procedure."
"Yeah, makes sense."
How could a veteran's footwork match a newbie's gait?
I didn't expect to whip up elixirs with a few hand waves either.
"Alright, shall we begin the transmission?"
"Yes! Anything I need to do?"
"Ah, about that. From what I've heard, you've learned martial arts in two main ways so far."
"Two ways?"
"Yes. First, like when Colorless Bird transmitted the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture—you just sat there while she imprinted the completed scripture into your body. Second, like with AlphaGo and the Heavenly Mechanism Calculation Method—you were bombarded with every possible scenario, engraving the formulas into your subconscious. Hmm, both were pretty passive, weren't they?"
"Y... yeah?"
It was inevitable for instantly transmitting high-level arts,
but hearing it laid out like this made me realize how cushy my training had been.
At the same time, a worry hit me.
"So honestly, I feel like my self-study habits and basics are a bit weak."
Put simply, it's like this.
I'm like Unyielding Magic Sword injected with super soldier serum.
Thanks to it, my base specs might surpass some Plum Blossom Sword User stuck on Volcanic Peak grinding Plum Blossom Swordsmanship for 10 years,
but my depth in martial arts is lacking.
So I worried I'd struggle learning new things,
"Oh, no need to worry. This time won't be much different. Truth is, the Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method isn't for complete beginners. It's more for those who've already learned martial arts to remodel their bodies into a more efficient form for medicine qi pill refining."
"Ooooh!!! So this time too?!"
"Relax. I'll imprint it directly into your body myself."
"Kyaa!!! Looking forward to it!!! Master!!!!"
Just you wait,
soon Unyielding Magic Sword will crank out infinite elixirs,
whether Human Gold Worm or Human Golden Bell!
......I used to think that way too.
"Hmm... Newbie, you truly are mysterious."
"Guhhh..."
Day 10 of Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method training.
Number of low-grade elixirs produced, including the Pure Qi Replenishing Pill: a grand total of zero.
"Why haven't you made even one low-grade elixir despite mastering the Medicine Qi Pill Refining Method?"
I utterly perished like a dog.