Chapter 38
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Spirit Herb Field
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The legal level-up cheat key in the Murim world: spirit medicines.
If I could produce them infinitely, couldn't I reach those lofty realms too?
I once harbored such thoughts...
"Groooan... Groooan..."
"Are you finally coming to your senses?"
"Huff... Huff... Where am I?"
"Where else? The sparring hall. Exactly twelve hours have passed since you passed out this time too."
"Another failure, huh..."
To cut to the chase, my plan to mass-produce cheap yet reliably effective Temusan spirit medicines using the Herb Qi Refining Technique ended in utter disaster.
Truth be told, it wasn't a failure from the start.
In fact, things went pretty well at first.
-Oh ho, you're picking it up quickly.
-Is it because you've already awakened your sense of controlling your body through the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture and the Heavenly Mechanism Calculation Method?
-Well done. Now you've memorized all 361 meridians in the body.
Roughly speaking, the mechanism of the Herb Qi Refining Technique turns the human body into a factory.
It alchemically transforms the body's mysteries, assigning meaning to the meridians within and turning them into valves that can be individually adjusted as needed.
'Open this valve to let it flow through that channel, close that one to block the other path, and the herb qi gets guided into a special form.'
Having already learned from the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture how to turn the body into a microcosm, grasping the concept up to this point wasn't too hard for me.
Plus, getting pummeled in every conceivable scenario while training the Heavenly Mechanism Calculation Method had made subdividing my body second nature.
But,
-Good. Now let's move to practice.
-Shall we start with the simplest? First, open the Curved Pool, circulate through Inner Pass, Union Valley... Huh? What's wrong with you?
-Wait, slow down...
-Gwaaaack!!!
I was definitely trying to make the easiest low-grade spirit medicine, following the recipe to the letter, but the moment I did, my internal energy got sucked straight into the elixir being produced.
Like my qi had come alive, charging in like a mad horse and getting slurped up entirely.
The result? Temusan spirit medicine production failed, knockout ending once more.
But here's the thing.
"Is this really a 'failure'?"
If you asked whether this was a pure 100% failure, the bizarre reality was... no.
Why?
"I tell you to make a low-grade spirit medicine, and somehow you produce one at least two ranks higher."
I passed out every time, sure, but the outcome was always some insanely potent elixir!
"If that's not a talent, I don't know what is. I ask for Flame Flower Pill, you make Crimson Flame True Pill. Blue Water Pill? You birth Mysterious Water Pure Pill. This time, Vital Wood Dew turns into Green Dream Spirit Dew. You've gone beyond all-or-nothing straight to the absolute extreme."
"Heh heh heh."
"Don't laugh."
"Boo hoo hoo."
"...Good grief."
Master Ya-seon pinched his forehead, as if there was no curing me.
Hey, come on, don't be like that.
Truth is, the one who really wants to cry is me.
"Why does this keep happening?"
I was aiming for the simplest beginner sparring, but every time I wake up, it's like full-throttle berserk mode.
The components in the elixir vary depending on which areas you use, but in the process, I pour out every last drop of potential and black out.
At this rate, I'm light-years from my original goal of mass-producing Temusan spirit medicines.
"Indeed. Even when I teach the main disciples how to refine elixirs, I always tell them to pour in full sincerity and effort... but not a single one has gone as all-in as you. Is this a blessing or a curse?"
Even Master Ya-seon clicked his tongue.
No, don't just click your tongue—tell me why!
Fortunately, Master Ya-seon didn't stop at tutting.
"Hmm. It's not that I have zero guesses."
"Gasp. What is it?"
"The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture."
Master Ya-seon lit his pipe.
Thick smoke billowed out, forming the shape of a cosmos.
It's insanely cool every time.
If Smoker the Colonel had learned that technique, he'd have hit emergency summon ages ago.
"This is the mental image of the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture you've cultivated. What does it look like to you?"
"Well, the universe, obviously."
"Good eye. The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture is exactly that—a mental image that manifests the universe. It likens the individual to a microcosm, aspiring to reach the greater cosmos. From a holistic view, it might resemble the Herb Qi Refining Technique, but from a partial perspective, there's a huge difference. Do you get it?"
"...Not really?"
"The answer's in the explanation. It's whether partial manipulation is possible."
Swirling clouds.
One planet formed from the pipe smoke floated upward.
"The main disciples just plucked a single star from the microcosm they created. But does that look like the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture to you?"
"Hmm... Not quite."
"Why not?"
Why, huh.
I wracked my sluggish brain.
My martial knowledge was shallow as a puddle, but I couldn't just admit ignorance in a Q&A like this.
I had to scrape the dry seabed and dredge up even a droplet of insight myself.
"This might sound crude... but the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture is literally the universe, right? It could contain all sorts of things, but the moment you pluck just one out... ugh, it doesn't feel like Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture anymore."
"Ha ha. That's a splendid answer for someone lacking confidence."
"Huh? Was that right?"
"Exactly. The Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture is a technique that creates harmony encompassing all things by embracing everything. What happens if you remove just one?"
"The balance... gets thrown off."
"Precisely."
Oh ho!
So that's the real answer!
"Of course, at a high enough realm, you could extract just one. But your attainment is still too low to handle that. No matter how you try to draw out only part of the energy, the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture ingrained in your body activates, automatically restoring harmony."
"So that's why it drains all my potential and knocks me out?"
"That's my conjecture."
Got it.
So, when a program error's about to pop, the system hits the reset button itself?
"...Not easy."
"You could call it fortunate. Normally, messing up arts like this tangles your qi and blood, leaving you half-crippled for life. But the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture's superior performance ejects everything inside and reverts you to your original state."
"No, the problem is it resets everything even when it's not that bad!"
"It's a case of performance outpacing functionality."
If you're jealous, you know what to do.
"...This is maddening."
"Ha ha, no need to lose your mind over it."
I sighed in lament, while Master Ya-seon burst into roaring laughter.
Everything seems amusing to my master.
"At any rate, it's not like we gained nothing. You knew how to make Purple Dawn Divine Pellets, and now you can craft other elixirs too."
"Well... true. If only I could take home everything we've made today."
"Ha ha ha, such greed."
For the record, elixirs made in the sparring hall couldn't be taken outside.
The judgment criteria are a bit fuzzy.
The Martial Gods can bring their own weapons here, but they can't provide them to other Martial Gods.
Same with elixirs.
Master Ya-seon could bring his own ingredients, refine them here, and take them back, but if my hands were involved in the process, they'd vanish upon leaving.
'Gallery judgment criteria are unknowable.'
Anyway, I decided not to dwell on that.
Even Martial Gods who'd lived thousands more years than me found the Martial God Gallery mysterious—who was I to figure it out?
Better to focus on the task at hand.
"Sigh. Anyway, combining this refining technique with my unique constitution, I could probably turn weeds from the mountains into usable elixirs, right? If not full spirit medicines, then decent pills at least..."
"Ha ha, I'd call that greedy too, but... surprisingly, it seems quite feasible."
"For real?!"
"Indeed. Tailor the medicinal properties to the ingredients, supplement deficient potency with origin dew, profound secrets via the Herb Qi Refining Technique, and lacking depth with the Yin-Yang Five Elements Scripture. It won't reach spirit medicine level, but usable pellets are within reach."
Ooh!!
I was more shocked than I expected, even saying it myself.
So, permanent stat-boosting items are impossible, but doping items for temporary stat boosts or elemental damage add-ons? Totally doable!
But then,
My master fanned the flames of my inflated expectations even further.
"But now that I think about it, settling for this much feels underwhelming."
"Pardon?"
"I was originally going to teach you low-grade elixir production, but given how things turned out, there's an even better method."
No, he straight-up poured oil on the fire.
"W-what is it?!"
"To create great elixirs, you ultimately need a skilled refiner and good ingredients. Securing a top refiner takes time, so at this point, focusing on sourcing superior ingredients makes more sense."
Hold up.
Which means,
"You wouldn't want to tend your own spirit herb field, would you?"