Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Gonna Cut It Off If It Starts Rotting?
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Ordering Dang Ok-gi to show me the poison needles she carried was simply a way to immediately verify if I had truly achieved the Thousand Poisons Immunity Body.
'It wasn't a particularly difficult request.'
Was my statement too hard to understand? Or had she been lost in her own thoughts and not heard me properly?
For a moment, Dang Ok-gi fell silent.
"You mean... show you the poison needles?"
To help her grasp it, I spoke in a firm tone.
"We have to test it. See if the poison works or not. Just stab me with the poison needle, and we'll know."
"......"
"What? Got a problem? Or do you have a better way?"
"No, that's the quickest method, but... has something happened to your head? How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two. I'm fine. If anything, has something happened to your head? You can't understand something this simple?"
"Kyaaak! I understood it just fine! I was just floored, and it doesn't match the common sense I know!"
"What doesn't match your common sense? What's so flooring about it?"
"Well...! Hmm. Right! Wasn't absorbing the Thousand Poisons Pill painful? After going through that agony, you immediately suggest stabbing yourself with poison needles. I thought your head must've been damaged. Normally, people would swear off ever messing around again in panic or faint dead away."
"It was bearable."
"Bearable? You went right up to the brink of death!"
"Did I?"
"Yes! I even told you to expel the poison qi if it got tough, but you didn't release any at all! It was this much? No, exaggerating a bit, it was this swollen!"
Come to think of it, Master had said I looked like a massively swollen purple toad.
Anyway.
I opened my mouth again toward Dang Ok-gi, who was gesturing wildly to describe the situation back then.
"Well, there was a bit of swelling. Anyway, it was bearable."
"A bit? I was debating whether to forcibly draw out the poison qi a dozen times over, and you call that bearable... What kind of mental fortitude... You're a total research subject. We should record you in the medical texts for future generations to reference."
At her words calling me a research subject, Master snorted from my waist, transmitting his thoughts.
- Research subject, my foot. Base any research on this guy, and it'll fail immediately. There's no way another freak like him exists in the world.
Master was grumbling in the form of a lecture, insisting he'd been worried, but he was right.
'I'm literally a freak.'
If they used a freak like me as the baseline and added 'Some guy endured it~' to the medical texts, innocent descendants would end up bleeding out.
I pointed that out.
"Maybe not? Using me as the standard might just get innocent people killed for no reason."
That was enough.
Dang Ok-gi, an expert in this field, nodded vigorously in agreement.
"True. It was agony comparable to burning alive, and if a guy calls that 'bearable,' he won't be much help in general research."
I opened my mouth toward her once more.
"Anyway, pull out the poison needles already."
She shook her head side to side, opened her medical kit, and took out a black needle case made of seven thin bamboo tubes bound together, along with two silk cloths. She approached and spoke.
"Since you signed up for Introduction to Poison Studies, you must be interested in poisons, so you know the basics. But poisons are largely divided into seven types."
Of course.
I was the one called the Necromancer King in my previous life. And great poisons were old friends of black magicians.
That's why I'd paid close attention to poison lore whenever it appeared in the original story.
That's why I'd signed up for Introduction to Poison Studies too.
"It depends on where they're harvested from."
"Right. We refine those seven types of poisons in various ways to increase lethality and stealth, creating killing poisons. What our Tang Clan calls the Thousand Poisons Immunity Body doesn't literally mean a body immune to a thousand numbered poisons. It means a body immune to the essences of those seven killing poisons refined by our Tang Clan."
"So if those seven don't work, then lesser refined poisons or ones mixed by amateurs naturally won't either."
"That's right too."
As I'd suspected, it matched the original story's setting perfectly.
Surpassing the limits of those seven poisons and the ones mixed from them led to the so-called Formless Poison. And blocking even that achieved the Myriad Poisons Immunity.
"Those seven tubes contain needles coated with the Tang Clan's Seven Poisons, right?"
"Yep."
There was no way such a basic setting would twist just because I existed, but confirmation was confirmation.
So there was nothing to worry about.
I immediately rolled up one sleeve and said,
"Let's start."
Dang Ok-gi approached, tying the silk cloths from the needle case around my rolled-up arm.
Swish-swish— Swipe—!
Once around the elbow.
Swish-swish— Slooow swipe—!!
Again around the shoulder.
After using both silk cloths, Dang Ok-gi seemed tempted to tease me and smirked as she spoke.
"Know why I tied these?"
"In case something goes wrong and it starts rotting, you're gonna cut it off?"
"...Huh? Y-Yeah?"
"I get it. Slice here, slice there, done."
"Tch. No fun."
"Fun or not, hurry up and pull out the needles to stab me. My blood's not circulating properly already. Not poison, but it'll rot from poor circulation."
"Ugh, you're really no fun. Can't you tense up a little? How can a person be this calm? Did you boil turtles for breakfast every day?"
Hmm.
My personality was like that anyway, and her obvious intent to tease me made me double down. But it might trigger the Tang family's hereditary suspicion.
So I launched into praising the Sichuan Tang Clan once more.
"No way the Thousand Poisons Pill you gave me was fake, and after taking a secret elixir from the world's greatest poison clan, the Tang Clan, why would I be nervous?"
"......"
"Plus, I have you here, Dang Ok-gi, whom even the Tang Clan elders yield to and listen to in medicine and poison studies."
The conversation ended there.
No more flattery needed.
True to the original, weak to praise, her face flushed red as she fumbled to open the needle case.
"Wh-what are you saying!"
Ah, but the fumbling only lasted until she opened it.
Her true nature as a physician kicked in; the moment she gripped the needles, her expression changed.
"Stabbing now?! Rot or not!"
Unlike her rambling mouth, her hands moved calmly and precisely, stabbing and withdrawing seven long needles into my forearm in sequence.
Red welts bloomed instantly where the needles pierced, but that was it.
The redness faded in moments, and even after inserting all seven at once, there were no notable abnormalities.
Thousand Poisons Pill.
Great efficacy.
She'd used three spirit pills that each granted thirty years of cultivation, but piling them up like mountain herbs didn't guarantee ninety years total. Factoring in rest periods for maximum efficiency, burning three for thirty years of cultivation and the Thousand Poisons Immunity Body was optimal.
Unhiding my naturally curling lips at the perfect result, I untied the silk cloths binding my arm.
Dang Ok-gi offered congratulations.
"No issues. Congrats."
I returned the sentiment.
"Congrats to you too."
"...?"
"Congrats on clearing your debt."
"Kyaaaaak!"
The cultivation from absorbing the Thousand Poisons Pill had fully integrated into my body, and with no side effects from achieving the immunity body, there was no need to recuperate in the training hall any longer.
Come to think of it, the sun was starting to set.
"Dang Ok-gi, you're gonna be late for roll call."
"Oh right."
"Have some awareness that you're a student of Fragrant Orchid Hall."
"This is your fault!"
I was the student council vice president, and Blue Bamboo Hall's rules were lax, but Fragrant Orchid Hall, her dorm, was infamous for its strictness.
Dang Ok-gi and I left the Blue Bamboo Hall training room immediately. As she saw me off, she tossed out one question I hadn't answered yet.
"By the way, didn't you say you knew where to get it? So where can we find the Blood Phase Myriad Poison Brew?"
Truth be told, I didn't know exactly where a live pair would be available at this point.
In the original, the protagonist's generation went after reaching second year.
'Dang Ok-gi mentioned searching last year around this time, finding stock but lacking funds.'
But no issue.
Recalling the original, it was sold at the herbal market she'd targeted this time, so she essentially had the answer.
"Which herbal market were you planning to check tomorrow? Fragrant Orchid Hall requires detailed outing or overnight permits even on holidays, right?"
"Blue Bamboo doesn't?"
"Forget right or wrong—I'm the one who approves them."
"...Ugh, you're such a jerk. Anyway, this week Luohekou, next week Shiyan."
"It's at one of those two. As you know, I'm interested in poisons too, so a source well-versed in southern affairs tipped me off."
Well, the real source was the original novel.
"Being vice president gets you different intel, huh? Then tomorrow together?"
My student council position roughly dispelled her doubts.
"Yeah. Tomorrow morning at chenshi initial (7 AM) at the main gate."
"Got it..."
"Ah, I might bring one guy who can carry stuff. Don't freak out at two or three people and yank out poison needles in suspicion."
"What do you take me for?!"
After parting with Dang Ok-gi, I headed straight to the Blue Bamboo Hall student council room.
Amid stacks of documents in each department, Gyeong-ryong hyung, sitting at the head seat, peeked out to greet me.
"Our vice president is here. Hard to see your face all day... Hm? Yong-un, bro, your aura feels different."
At his words, other faces popped out from behind document piles.
"Hm? It really is, Young Master Eon!"
"Congratulations, brother Eon!"
"Heh. The idiom 'treat with renewed respect' comes from scholars saying one must rub their eyes when meeting again after three days. But Young Master Eon, you've made us do so after half a day?!"
"Ooh! Did brother sneak off and eat something good alone?!"
"Too long to explain—just think I absorbed the spirit pill I got as a scholarship prize and injury compensation. The same one you all took. And Haseong."
"Yes...? Should I shut up?"
"No, I have a task for you today. Everyone else is working, but you've built a document wall and look like you were lounging or slacking. No work for you?"
"Yes! Give the orders!"
"Loud and clear. Anyway, write up an overnight permit right now."
At my words, Jin Gyeong-ryong asked,
"Got somewhere to go?"
"Yes. Tomorrow after morning training, heading out right away. Might return same day or take one night."
"Got it. The returning student assessment tomorrow—proceed as planned?"
"Yes. It's just a light check for dorm competition prep, so with Jeonghyeon and Sorung, it'll be fine, right?"
"More than enough. I'll make sure it doesn't fall apart without you."
"Jeonghyeon and Sorung, serve the president well."
"Will do."
"Yep!"
"Then, I'll have a private transmission with Miss Eun. It's about my personal finances."
"Sure. Don't mind me."
After handling vice president duties, a transmission came first from Yin Xia Lian.
[How much do you need?]
Yeah, that's what I like about Yin Xia Lian.
Not "what for" or "how much to spend," but "how much do you need."
I answered her question without burden.
[Something around 600 taels of gold, but to account for variance, about 1,000 taels?]
[1,000 gold taels seems like a hefty expense. If it's a day trip round-trip, sounds like a herbal market. For spirit pills or spirit beasts?]
[Something like that.]
[Not prying, just checking if it'll be enough. Those deals often explode beyond expectations with bidding wars. Whatever it is, how important is it?]
[Must buy it.]
[Then like this. I'll give you notes from Manjin Treasury.]
Manjin Treasury was the most trusted exchange in the world, thoroughly hiding fund origins.
Their notes could be cashed anywhere without questions.
I wondered why notes when we had ample cash, but her follow-up made me nod.
[Ten notes of 1,000 gold taels each. Total 10,000. Buy what you need and return the rest. If market price is 1,000, 10,000 should cover it. Need more?]
Ah, 10,000 in notes is lighter, no flashing wealth.
[10,000 is more than enough.]
[Business done then?]
[Yes.]
[Then, to the hall when you return.]