Junggyeongjin (4)
The Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor.
It was a wine brewed from five strange herbs, including the Bowel-Severing Herb.
The Bowel-Severing Herb was the legendary poison said to have killed Shennong, the Flame Emperor who had tasted and verified every medicinal and venomous plant in the world.
But medicine and poison were, by nature, two faces of the same coin. The Bowel-Severing Herb also carried properties that dispelled the malignant energies of rheumatism and opened the body's blood vessels.
The Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor was a spirit wine conceived from precisely that paradox, made from five potent, venomous herbs.
For one capable of properly digesting its toxicity, it was a tremendous boon. For anyone who could not, a single sip could sever their intestines and kill them outright.
And Gong U, a Qilin race cultivator of the Core Formation Realm, was cheerfully offering this lethal drink around.
"Hey, Cheon Woo-jin."
It was Na Chwi-ryang who spoke up.
"Don't go pulling some reckless stunt for nothing. One slip and you'll be paying a visit to King Yama himself."
Even as he said it, Na Chwi-ryang lowered himself into a deferential posture before Gong U.
"Master Gong, this fellow here only just climbed up to the 6th Layer — he's Foundation Establishment. His body isn't built to endure liquor this vicious, so I'd be much obliged if you'd show him some leniency."
"Cultivator Na, do be quiet for a moment."
But Gong U spared Na Chwi-ryang not so much as a glance, his eyes fixed solely on Cheon Woo-jin.
"What will you do, young friend?"
"……"
"Will you show me your courage?"
Cheon Woo-jin kept his mouth shut and looked down at the cup.
The liquid trembling in the small vessel was colorless and transparent.
Yet a vicious aroma rose from it and stung his nose, and something even more intense than that prodded at his sensory organs.
Having lived through the battle with the Myriad Poison Six Deaths Sect, Cheon Woo-jin could grasp at a glance just how dangerous this liquor was.
And knowing full well what it was—
Cheon Woo-jin reached for the cup.
"Hey, you—"
Na Chwi-ryang started to say something.
But Cheon Woo-jin paid him no mind and tipped the entire contents of the cup into his mouth.
"Hey!"
The taste itself was less bracing than he had expected.
But the moment it slid down his throat and into his stomach, he could feel a fierce poison being absorbed at once.
"Damn it, the man really is a lunatic!"
Na Chwi-ryang hastily balled his fist and drove it toward Cheon Woo-jin's solar plexus — intending to force him to vomit the liquor back up before the poison could be absorbed.
But a sword-qi, formed from Gong U's bare hand, was faster, and it blocked Na Chwi-ryang's punch.
"Quiet now, Cultivator Na."
"……!"
Only moments ago, Na Chwi-ryang had displayed reaction speed that surpassed Gal Wi, a rogue cultivator of the same realm.
Yet Gong U had just shown a swiftness that outstripped even Na Chwi-ryang.
It was the instant the gap between them was laid bare — Gong U stood on a level far above him.
"Let's simply watch. This is an interesting situation."
"What the—"
Before the eyes of the two men—
Cheon Woo-jin began to manipulate the poison qi absorbed through his stomach.
Using precisely the same method he had employed when accepting the demonic qi of Eokhae Majon not long ago.
Harmonize this poison qi with my spirit qi…… and circulate it through the spirit meridians of my entire body.
The poison of the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs was undeniably a perilous thing.
But compared to the demonic qi of Eokhae Majon — a transcendent being of the Upper Realm — it was no more than mildly stimulating.
The spirit meridians of Cheon Woo-jin, now a Foundation Establishment cultivator at the Great Circle, could endure poison of this degree without difficulty.
This way, there's no need for any complicated detoxification process.
Ordinarily, one would have to analyze the poison's composition and neutralize each component one by one.
Only then was detoxification possible without an antidote.
But with this method, none of that was necessary.
Blend the poison qi with his spirit qi, circulate it through his whole body, and simply acclimate his flesh to it.
Do that, and control over the poison qi would come gradually, on its own.
It was exactly the same as taking in the spirit qi of a spirit pill through circulation training and making it one's own.
Once he reached this point, nothing remained that was genuinely difficult.
All that was left was to separate the truly venomous energy from the energy that carried medicinal virtue, and expel the venom outright.
"Hoo……"
Cheon Woo-jin exhaled a soft breath.
That breath carried the poison qi of the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor within it.
When he stirred it with his hand, the poison scattered in all directions.
But its components could not sustain their toxicity in open air, so it merely released a pungent stench before dissipating into nothing.
"Well drunk."
"Heh heh……"
Gong U smiled as he watched Cheon Woo-jin drain the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor so splendidly.
"Drained in a single gulp! Truly magnificent."
Having offered that praise, Gong U turned his gaze toward Na Chwi-ryang.
"Cultivator Na — since your junior here has performed such a fine one-gulp drain, you needn't drink at all."
"You little—"
Swallowing the curse back into his mouth, Na Chwi-ryang snatched up a cup, his face twisted with fury.
"Don't you dare underestimate me."
So saying, Na Chwi-ryang downed the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor in one swallow.
And then his eyes flooded blood-red…… and he collapsed flat on the spot.
Cheon Woo-jin immediately moved to check his condition, but Gong U held him back.
"No need to worry. If it's Cultivator Na, he can overcome this much well enough on his own."
Gong U was smiling as he looked down at the fallen Na Chwi-ryang.
It seemed he was pleased that the man had gone ahead and drunk the liquor after all.
"Anyone who walks the path of cultivation ought to have at least this much spirit. Wouldn't you agree?"
"I'm not so sure."
Cheon Woo-jin replied as he took his seat.
"I drank because I was confident I could handle it. But from what I could see, Na Chwi-ryang drank purely to protect his pride."
"That too is a virtue required on the path of cultivation."
"Risking danger for the sake of pride is?"
"For the sake of seeing one's own way through."
With those words, Gong U took an unbothered sip of the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor.
"If we weigh gains and losses strictly, refusing the cup here is unquestionably the shrewder choice. But the memory of fleeing like that would remain engraved in Cultivator Na's heart. And such a memory exerts a bad influence on the future one walks toward. In the long run, then, it becomes the greater loss."
"……"
"This is a more important matter in the cultivation world than most realize."
Gong U spoke slowly.
"People commonly say that to reach a high realm as a Daoist, one must cast aside things like conviction and stop at nothing, employing any means whatsoever. But is that really true?"
"……"
"Those who truly live without conviction are most numerous at the very bottom — the Qi Condensation Realm. Yet the vast majority of them never break through that wall and die as Qi Condensation cultivators. Despite having stopped at nothing."
Cheon Woo-jin, who had been listening in silence, opened his mouth to ask.
"Isn't that simply because they lack the resources to ascend to Foundation Establishment? In the end, it seems like a matter decided by luck."
"Then how would one obtain that luck?"
Gong U countered.
"Luck is, by nature, something heaven ordains — but it can be altered by a single human action. One bold step taken without hesitation can sometimes avert a fate of death itself."
"……"
Cheon Woo-jin suddenly found himself thinking of the moment he had first fallen into this world.
It was because he had cast off his fear before Heukha-ryong and attempted the Instant Killing Heavenly Eye that the Cheon Woo-jin of today existed at all.
"To truly ascend to a high realm, what is needed most is not the cunning of a man who stops at nothing…… but the will to press forward along one's own path, no matter what dangers arise, and to see one's own way through. Wouldn't you say?"
"……"
"That is what I believe, Cultivator Cheon."
Hearing those words—
Cheon Woo-jin grasped Gong U's true intent.
"You offered me the Bowel-Severing Five Strange Herbs Liquor in order to confirm whether I possessed such will?"
"Forgive me for testing you, Cultivator Cheon."
Gong U apologized with a smile.
"In truth, I already knew a fair amount about you. I had even looked into the part you played in the affair surrounding the Nine Dragons Mountain-Binding Banner. When a man like that came looking for me, I wanted to understand what sort of person he was — so I indulged in a little mischief."
"That mischief struck me as rather dangerous."
"My apologies. Even so, had drinking the liquor truly put your life in peril, I would have saved you. I bore you no ill will whatsoever."
"I know that much."
Cheon Woo-jin looked into Gong U's eyes.
Despite being a man who had abruptly pressed deadly liquor upon him, those eyes held unmistakable benevolence.
"The nature of the Qilin race is something I've long been aware of, after all."
According to the ancient texts, the qilin was called the beast of benevolence.
The character for benevolence was formed by joining the characters for person and two. Later generations layered many meanings upon it, but its original sense was the affection shared between one person and another.
Perhaps that was why.
The Qilin race always regarded others with an affectionate eye.
They harbored warm fellowship not only for their own kind, but for every sentient race.
It stood in stark contrast to the Dragon race — fellow divine beasts — who carried a sense of superiority over all other species.
Most of the Qilin race characters in the game had shared that temperament.
Gong U was no exception: mischievous in ways that tested people, yes, but in ordinary times he had been an NPC of remarkable goodwill.
Cheon Woo-jin had received his help more than once or twice over the course of the game.
"Master Gong."
Recalling those memories of standing alongside Gong U in the game, Cheon Woo-jin addressed him with the respectful title.
"We came to see you today because we wish to learn the whereabouts of the Iron Calamity Mob."
"The Iron Calamity Mob."
Gong U's expression turned somber.
"Pitiful children, really. They were once loose cultivators with no banner and no master. But once they banded together, they became as vicious as any dark sect organization — and crueler than most."
"Do you know where they're hiding now?"
At Cheon Woo-jin's question, Gong U nodded.
"The Iron Calamity Mob will be lying low in Anhui Valley. It's a valley in the Snow Mountain Region, and a place where excellent spiritual springs well up."
"Anhui Valley……"
"Will you go and purge them?"
"I would prefer to settle the matter without spilling blood, but I suspect things are unlikely to go that way."
At Cheon Woo-jin's honest answer, Gong U nodded.
"I see. Then perhaps that is the fate they have earned."
Gong U was a qilin of benevolent disposition.
But he was no extreme paragon of virtue who sought to preserve every life he came across.
Perhaps after living more than a thousand years and witnessing countless scenes of atrocity, he had developed a certain detachment — an ability to accept, as they were, the sight of people killing and being killed.
"Mmhhh……"
Just then, the fallen Na Chwi-ryang let out a groan.
It seemed he was finally overcoming the poison and stirring back toward consciousness.
"Cultivator Cheon."
Watching Na Chwi-ryang awaken, Gong U spoke in a gentle voice.
"When you reach the Core Formation Realm before long, come and visit me again. We shall speak of deeper things then."
It was a remark that sounded almost like a prophecy — as though foretelling that Cheon Woo-jin would soon break through to Core Formation.
"Anhui Valley, is it……. If we're to travel that far, setting out tomorrow morning would be best. Let's each finish our preparations and meet again afterward."
After leaving Wolhongnu, Cheon Woo-jin and Na Chwi-ryang parted ways for the time being.
They already knew where the Iron Calamity Mob was hiding, so they had to complete every preparation before marching out to purge them.
Cheon Woo-jin rested thoroughly in his own quarters, then took stock of his spirit pills, talismans, and the rest of his gear.
And when the next morning arrived, he headed for Seo Seol-ryeong's shop.
That was where he had agreed to meet Na Chwi-ryang.
"Anhui Valley is a genuinely dangerous place."
Seo Seol-ryeong, having heard the information Cheon Woo-jin had gathered yesterday, voiced her concern.
"If you charge in without adequate preparation, even combining your strength with Na Chwi-ryang's will cost you dearly. Carelessness could land you in true peril."
"Honestly, I am a little uneasy."
The Iron Calamity Mob hiding in Anhui Valley was one thing, but the road to the valley itself was fraught with danger.
He was in the middle of exchanging views with Seo Seol-ryeong on how to overcome the route when a knock sounded at the door.
But the face that peeked into the shop was not Na Chwi-ryang's.
"Everyone doing well?"
"Miss Hoyeon, welcome."
It was Hoyeon Rin of Cheonryong Pavilion.
She had been wounded at the hands of Baek Gang-ryeon of the Ten Thousand Nights Ice Palace, but she had since recovered completely.
"A little something for the grand opening."
"Thank you."
Seo Seol-ryeong accepted the packet of sweets Hoyeon Rin handed over and offered her thanks.
"You haven't even decided what kind of shop to run yet, and she's giving you an opening gift?"
"Don't go poking your nose in where it isn't wanted. I'll manage it myself."
"Right, Cultivator Cheon. It's a space you'll be sitting in all day, so of course she'd need time to deliberate."
The moment Cheon Woo-jin made his one remark, Seo Seol-ryeong and Hoyeon Rin rounded on him in perfect unison.
"Ahem. Setting that aside."
Hoyeon Rin cleared her throat and looked at Cheon Woo-jin.
"Cultivator Cheon, about your payment for the last job."
Payment for the last job.
She meant, of course, the reward for the Nine Dragons Mountain-Binding Banner affair.
Cheon Woo-jin had involved himself in that incident because Oh Hwi-seong, the Master of Cheonryong Pavilion, had hired him for it.
But Oh Hwi-seong had still needed to reconcile views with the high elders of the Dragon Clan, and so the payment had not yet come through.
"Only in the small hours this morning did the elders finally grant their approval. That's what's made it possible to deliver your reward at last."
"Now that is welcome news."
Cheon Woo-jin answered evenly.
"I was just thinking I could use one more thing to carry along, as it happens."
"Hm? Were you planning to go somewhere?"
"I am — which means you've arrived at precisely the right moment."
Had Hoyeon Rin come even a little later, he would have had to depart for Anhui Valley without collecting Cheonryong Pavilion's compensation.
Her timing, in other words, could not have been better.
"I'd like you to hand over the items as soon as possible, then."
"No need to rush me. I'll pass them over one at a time, with an explanation for each."
With that, Hoyeon Rin drew a box from her storage pouch.
"First, let's start with the reward we promised at the very beginning — the treasure said to have been crafted by Master Thunder Spirit's own hand."
Master Thunder Spirit — the peerless genius of lightning arts who had created the Thunder Spirit Great Derivation Art.
The treasure he had left behind was none other than the first reward Oh Hwi-seong had promised Cheon Woo-jin.