Lion's Mane Reborn, Hair Roots Revived (1)
In the midst of the uproar sweeping the world—a tale of one woman cured of the incurable Nine Yin Blocked Meridians, Blocked Meridian Syndrome, and the physician Seok Mu Wol who could treat it—the atmosphere was electric.
"Is the Supreme Family Head still in seclusion?"
"Yes, Family Head."
While the murim world buzzed with excitement, here was a household steeped in solemn silence—the exact opposite.
The Peng Clan of Hebei!
One of the Five Great Families of Murim, just like the Moyong Family, and unrivaled in the world when it came to the blade.
Indeed, the clan's pinnacle master, Supreme Family Head Blade Emperor Peng Wol, was a Manifestation Realm expert whose prestige pierced the heavens.
Though there existed the otherworldly Sword Saint, among those ranked just below him, Peng Wol was always at the top of the list whenever martial artists queued up in the Sword Saint's shadow.
Sword Empress, Blade Emperor, Divine Monk. These three were what murim enthusiasts dubbed the Three Heroes of Murim.
Peng Wol, the Blade Emperor, was—excluding the living legend that was the Sword Saint—the most renowned warrior in all murim.
However.
For several years now, Peng Wol had vanished from public view under the guise of "closed-door training."
He emerged for official clan events perhaps once a year, if that, cutting off all external interactions to hone his martial arts in solitude.
Were it not for the periodic releases of his interpretations of the Peng Clan's hereditary techniques in book form, or his ongoing compilation of secret manuals infused with his personal insights, the Peng Clan might have faced suspicions about his very existence.
Whispers that the Blade Emperor was already dead, and they were just pretending otherwise.
With the current Family Head—a man who wasn't even Manifestation Realm, let alone Fire Transformation Realm—how could they not fear a decline in the prestige of one of the Five Great Families? Surely they were hiding the Blade Emperor's absence.
For Peng Rim, the current Family Head and son of the Blade Emperor, such accusations were utterly unjust.
The rest of the Peng Clan might differ, but he met his father daily and spoke with him.
And only he, as the son, knew why his father had withdrawn from the world to immerse himself in martial cultivation within the clan's secret training grounds.
"My son."
"Yes, Father."
Peng Rim, Family Head of the Peng Clan of Hebei, bowed before the Blade Emperor.
Even in the darkness, his gleaming head shone brilliantly, like a full moon risen upon the earth.
"The Moyong Family truly seems blessed. Perhaps it's heaven's grace bestowed upon the one who saved the Central Plains murim."
"The Sword Saint was simply faster, Father. Had you stepped forward first, the hero who felled the Cheonma and saved Central Plains murim would have been Blade Emperor Peng Wol."
"Indeed. If only I hadn't lost this as the price for opening my upper dantian..."
Peng Wol placed a hand on his head.
"The upper dantian bridges heaven and earth, where man resides—drawing earth's qi through the feet, heaven's qi through the crown. It demands harmony. But I pursued only domineering path, and this is the result."
Flash.
The light from the luminous pearl on the ceiling reflected off Peng Wol's scalp, sparkling brightly.
"Wigs no longer suit my skin. Yet to reveal myself like this would shame the entire Peng Clan of Hebei. 'So your Supreme Family Head is bald.'"
"......."
"Worst of all, none in our Peng Clan were bald before, yet because of complications opening my upper dantian, I've cast suspicion on all of you descendants."
In a lineage spanning generations, one bald ancestor raises the specter of baldness for the progeny.
Peng Wol's condition was merely a minor side effect from excessive Extreme Yang qi surging into his upper dantian during cultivation.
"I'm so envious. Of the Sword Saint."
"Father..."
"And so tragic! To wield the Flying Sword and make blades dance through the skies, to traverse the air with Void Step, to skim across water with Water Strider technique...!"
Peng Wol clutched his head with both hands.
"Why, oh why, has heaven not granted this world even a medicine to regrow hair?!"
"......."
Family Head Peng Rim could only bow his head deeply at the Blade Emperor's lament.
Because he was his father.
From childhood, he'd seen his father's lush mane—wild and thick like a lion's from the distant West—and it broke his heart that this had befallen him.
"Father. What if we consulted the Divine Dragon Physician once?"
"Physician Seok Mu Wol?"
"Yes. Who knows? He developed the Extreme Yang Pill that cured Blocked Meridian Syndrome. Perhaps his next creation will regrow hair."
"Hm..."
The Blade Emperor crossed his arms, grunting thoughtfully.
"Rumors say the daughter of the Black Sword Sect regained some youth after her cure. Like a partial rejuvenation."
"Rejuvenation might occur. But I'm certain."
The Blade Emperor lifted the brazier before him with his own hands.
"Even if I grew younger here, I'd just be a young bald man."
Compared to Family Head Peng Rim, the Blade Emperor appeared far more youthful.
"I've already undergone partial rejuvenation. If my hair had rejuvenated along with it, back to my younger days, I'd have visited the Moyong Family long ago to console and congratulate the Sword Saint."
"......."
"As I am now, merely a young bald Manifestation Realm master—what use is venturing out? My martial arts would reveal me as a Peng regardless."
"Still, wouldn't it be worth inquiring at least?"
"Inquire..."
Peng Wol smiled bitterly.
"If there's a medicine that can restore departed hair, how could I ever repay such grace?"
[Deepest within the Moyong Family estate, Seongnakwon.]
I'd received a not-quite-assignment from the Sword Saint.
To win over Hebei Peng Clan's Blade Emperor, Peng Wol, to our side, I had to restore his hair.
"Before debating whether to administer the Extreme Yang Pill, we should first test if it can revive hair."
"Shall I cut my hair for the test?"
"No, that won't do."
Moyong Seol pretended to snip at her locks, but I stopped her immediately.
"The Blade Emperor's case, as relayed by the Family Head, isn't something we can resolve just by cutting hair."
Hair is akin to plants. If the roots remain in the scalp's soil, we can nourish them with vitality and revive them somehow. But dead roots mean no growth.
That's why the tip is called the "hair root."
"So I'm thinking of using this."
"What's that...?"
"Extreme Yang Pill mixed into plant sap."
I set down the pre-prepared medicine: hair growth tonic.
"Whether applied to the scalp or ingested, this tonic will tell us if hair can regrow."
"The question is, on whom to test it. That's the issue."
"Exactly."
If I planned to reveal everything to the Blade Emperor, I'd just grab him, slather on the sticky tonic, and rub it gently into his smooth dome until the medicinal qi seeped in. With his desperate wish, hair would sprout.
In theory.
"If it succeeds, the Blade Emperor—as Supreme Family Head of Hebei Peng Clan—will aid the Moyong Family greatly in future crises."
"He's right there beside them, and as Supreme Family Head and Manifestation Realm master, his word will sway the clan."
"Precisely. Which is why we must conduct the experiment properly."
But failure would make gaining his cooperation impossible.
"Promising 'we can regrow your hair,' only for the medicine to do nothing? Unthinkable for a physician."
Physicians must be dispassionate. Even if your heart screams "I want to save them," you give patients hope—"You can recover"—while delivering the cold truth emotionlessly to guardians out of earshot.
There are times for hopeful words, and times not—like when I flatly told the Sword Saint that Blocked Meridian Syndrome was incurable.
"One thing we must keep in mind."
"What?"
"We can't experiment on just any bald man."
I mimed slicing my arm.
"For a one-armed bald man, what would he desperately wish to regrow?"
"...Both?"
"If both regrew, that'd be meaningful enough, but regrettably, it's uncertain."
To reach the Blade Emperor, we need something desperately desired above all.
"Someone perfectly fine otherwise, save for baldness."
"......."
"Or someone who suddenly loses their hair despite wanting nothing else."
"Pardon?"
"The method is simple."
I picked up a hammer and nail.
"Build a coffin, trap someone inside, and position a mirror so they see only their head."
"Uh..."
"That head will be in a horrific state, far worse than imagined."
Not that baldness itself is horrific.
But if someone who wasn't bald suddenly loses their hair, scalp charred and ruined like burn scars—that's shocking enough to roll the eyes back.
"At that precise moment, prescribe the Extreme Yang Pill or hair tonic to regrow it."
"...And if it fails? We'd have unjustly made someone bald."
"Which is why we test on someone less aggrieved."
Magyo's remnants still lurked everywhere.
"Not every Black Sword Sect disciple is Magyo or a poison pawn, but one suspected as the Cheonma's underling remains. We'll use him."
"Ah... Yugiyeon's betrothed."
"Yes."
The man Yugiyeon pitied.
"Dang Yuri has already approached him."
Suspected Cheonma minion and the one who schemed against the Yu family pair.
"If his wits match the Cheonma's, he'll make a perfect test subject."