Chapter 16 - Half Immortal Pill
Jeong Gwang headed to Un Hu's quarters alongside the sect leader. Un Yeon, who had been closely monitoring the sleeping Un Hu's condition, shot Jeong Gwang a deliberately stern look.
"Pushing yourself that hard and then holing up in the library again. You need to take better care of your body."
"Yes, sir."
"Sigh. Another half-hearted reply. What am I going to do with you."
Though his words were scolding, his tone was so gentle that even the sect leader cracked a smile.
"Junior brother, how is Grand Martial Uncle doing?"
"He's still only awake for about one hour a day. He mentioned that Jeong Gwang had temporarily patched up his shattered dantian and infused it with qi. I can't believe he can manipulate true qi with that level of precision."
Un Yeon's gaze turned to Jeong Gwang.
It was obvious he was about to unleash a barrage of questions.
Jeong Gwang struck first.
"I found a method while poring over the medical texts."
"A method? You don't mean..."
"Yes. A way to save Grandmaster."
"Hah. Haha."
Un Yeon let out a hollow laugh as he stared at Jeong Gwang. If anyone else had said that, he'd have scolded them for joking around. But not with Jeong Gwang.
"...Fine. What do we need to do?"
"Rare herbs."
"...Rare herbs?"
"Yes."
Was it too obvious an answer?
Un Yeon's expression darkened.
"You mean Shaolin's Great Return Pill, Wudang's Supreme Pure Pill, or Huashan's Purple Minor Pill? But they won't hand over their sect treasures."
"No, not those. Something else."
Un Yeon's brow furrowed.
After a moment of thought, he asked in surprise.
"Surely not something from the Demonic Cult? The Life-Death Sorcerer's miracle pill that reverses life and death, the Life-Death Demonic Pill?"
Jeong Gwang was dumbfounded.
A pill that reversed life and death?
It did reverse them, sure.
By turning the dead into jiangshi.
But who wanted to live as a walking corpse?
The sect leader's follow-up was even more absurd.
"Not the Ten-Deaths-in-One-Life's one-tenth survival rate, I hope? I hear even Demonic Cult leaders can only obtain one when a generation changes."
Jeong Gwang realized just how ridiculously the righteous sects misunderstood the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
The one-tenth wasn't some legendary treasure—it was a crappy drug where ten people took it and barely one survived.
A few greedy old cult leaders had tried it across generations, and only two made it out alive.
Sure, two survivors sounded impressive, but they hadn't just lived.
One went mad, rampaged around, and got beaten to death by his subordinates. The other lost his mind too, caused chaos, and got chased out by his own men.
No one knew what happened after, but it surely wasn't a peaceful end.
Quacks like the Life-Death Sorcerer or Ten-Deaths-in-One-Life weren't making real elixirs, generation after generation.
In short, both were garbage.
Even Jeong Gwang's father, obsessed with clinging to life, had refused it.
That said it all.
As Jeong Gwang shook his head, relief and doubt filled Un Yeon and the sect leader's faces.
"Good thing they won't give it up."
"Then what do you mean?"
What else?
"We make it ourselves."
"...?"
Jeong Gwang turned from their gaping faces to gaze at the sleeping Un Hu.
Even in slumber, his face held a benevolent warmth.
A perfect name came to mind.
"Let's call it the Half Immortal Pill for now."
Excluding Un Hu and his caretaker Un Yeon, every Kunlun disciple gathered in the training grounds.
They wore grim expressions at the thought of the grueling training ahead, but Jeong Gwang declared otherwise.
"No training for the time being."
Before Jeong Gwang arrived at Kunlun, they had been pure and untainted enough to cheer at such news.
But after seventeen years under his influence, they tensed up, swallowing hard, bracing for what came next.
And sure enough.
Jeong Gwang's words were far from ordinary.
"You'll be doing something else instead."
"..."
"No questions?"
As if they could.
They were too scared to ask.
Speaking up first felt like inviting disaster.
In truth, everyone was in for it, so Jeong Gwang kindly explained.
"You know how Grandmaster, who was about to ascend to immortality, woke up recently?"
They all nodded.
Taoists shouldn't cling to life and death, but they were human too.
Gratitude shone in their eyes as they looked at Jeong Gwang.
"But at best, he has a year left."
The Taoists erupted in shock, murmuring. Some glanced at the sect leader, who confirmed it gravely, plunging them into despair.
"To be called the Virtue Saint for his sacrifices for the world."
"And now he can't even live out his natural lifespan because of that vile archdemon?"
"This defies even heaven's will."
Laments rose here and there, but silence fell at Jeong Gwang's next words.
"So I looked into it, and I found a way to treat him."
"...!"
He'd said treat.
Didn't that mean fully saving him?
Even Jeong Gwang could do that?
Sensing their doubt, the sect leader recounted recent events.
How he'd convinced the skeptical Un Yeon.
Even how Kunlun's top healer, Un Yeon, had been stunned into speechlessness by Jeong Gwang's vast medical knowledge.
The training grounds buzzed as he finished.
"Of course!"
"I believed in you, Jeong Gwang!"
"Haha! We'll keep seeing Great Martial Uncle's smile!"
"You did great!"
The Jeong and Heo generation disciples cheered, but the veteran Un generation elders rejoiced warily, steeling themselves.
From experience, nothing Jeong Gwang called a "method" was easy.
And they were right.
"I'm dividing you into teams now."
"...?"
Jeong Gwang assigned them swiftly.
Five teams total.
Team leaders appointed on the spot.
"Team One: Martial Uncle Un Seong. Team Two: Martial Uncle Un Su. Team Three: Martial Uncle Un Bi. Team Four: Martial Uncle Un Jin. Team Five: Martial Uncle Un Hyang."
"..."
The named elders exchanged glances.
The youngest among them, Un Seong, was pushed forward by their stares.
"...Why divide into teams?"
"Lots of places to go."
"...Go? Where?"
"Team One to Qaidam Basin. Team Two to the Yellow River. Team Three to Qinghai Lake. Team Four to the Tanggula Mountains... Huh? Why the faces?"
"...Just surprised how far they are."
"Far? Nah, it'll be quick."
It wouldn't.
Round trips would take months.
But.
If it could save Un Hu, what did distance matter?
Resolve kindled in their eyes.
Team One leader Un Seong, brimming with spirit, asked boldly.
"What do we do when we get there?"
"Gather elixir ingredients."
The mood chilled slightly.
"...Not legends like Pure Sky Stone Milk, Solar Fire Carp, Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng Emperor, or Thousand-Year Polygonum, right?"
"Huh? Haha, no way. How could we get those in a year?"
His eminently reasonable words eased the tension.
"Haha, knew it. So, what for Team One?"
"Azure Blood Flower and Damp Rock Fungus. About a basket each?"
"...Azure Blood Flower? Never heard of it."
"Blue petals, red sap. I'll sketch from the medical texts, so don't worry... Oh. It's so common the picture might not help. Just squeeze any blue flowers you find."
Squeeze every blue flower in the world?
"...And Damp Rock Fungus? Sounds like no ordinary mushroom on damp rocks..."
"Oh, dig at least a zhang into moist soil. Get lucky, and it'll be there."
Did Qaidam Basin even have moist soil? Digging deeper than a man's height?
And it required luck too.
"...Do they even exist?"
Jeong Gwang had gathered them himself in his past life, dragging along the Life-Death Sorcerer and Ten-Deaths-in-One-Life.
They'd picked flowers and dug like mad.
"Of course."
"...Alright. I trust you."
They wanted to believe beans were red beans, and Jeong Gwang's track record helped. Un Seong held his tongue.
The others followed suit.
But as Jeong Gwang listed needs, their jaws dropped.
"Team Two: Catch a male and female Dragon Scale Fish pair. Alive."
"D-Dragon Scale Fish? Ominous name."
"It's just fish."
"E-Easy to catch?"
"One or two every decade, they say. We'll manage."
"...Decade?"
"That's with hooks or nets. We're martial artists."
"...Meaning?"
"Dive in and grab 'em."
"...Yellow River?"
"Picked you all from lake- and river-adjacent hometowns. Swimming should be fine."
Team Two leader Un Su and members stared at each other.
Come to think of it, yes.
Amazed at Jeong Gwang's knowledge of their origins, they soon despaired.
The Yellow River's vast and long.
Search it all?
Muddy as hell—can't even see.
By now, Jeong Gwang had passed Team Three and reached Team Four.
Team Four leader Un Jin, paling with each word, forced his stiff lips open.
"...Hundred catty of Jade Bee honey, hundred roots of Snow Ginseng, and... Whew. Lots of kinds aside, why all in hundreds for us? Too much, too time-consuming."
"Don't worry. I picked patient ones for your team."
Team Four's faces twisted.
Patient?
They were about to burst already.
Team Five, last and tense, eyed Jeong Gwang's lips.
"Team Five stays at Kunlun."
The grounds erupted.
Such a sweet task!
But veteran swordsman Un Hyang wasn't fooled.
"...For real?"
"Huh? Of course. Why would I lie?"
Team Five relaxed into smiles, but Un Hyang pressed.
"...What exactly?"
"Guard the sect. Greet guests, perform rites."
Un Hyang finally sighed in relief.
Short-handed for Kunlun's vast grounds, but doable.
Up to there, anyway.
"And find something in the Kunlun Mountains. First..."
There it was.
Kunlun Mountains, not just the peak.
With this manpower?
Ugh, already nauseous...
Team Five—and everyone—went pale.
Sketches and locations given, sure...
But unheard-of stuff to hunt down?
Training sounds easier.
Faces darkened.
Not from laziness, but fear of failure.
Can we do it?
What if we can't find them...?
Ah, Grand Martial Uncle Un Hu.
Jeong Gwang inwardly shook his head at them.
What's the big deal?
Rare, yes, but findable with effort.
They were auxiliaries; the mains were on him.
Mains were harder, naturally.
Good thing he knew exactly where...
Damn it.
Jeong Gwang's brow furrowed.
Memories of his past life visit—and fleeing in disgust.
No choice; no one else to send.
After this, drill them till they foam at the mouth.
His aura flared.
The Taoists misinterpreted.
That intensity!
Yes! If the youngest burns like that, what am I doing?
We'll do it! We must!
Thick resolve blanketed the grounds.
They united as one.
Three days later.
Fully prepared, the Kunlun Taoists departed in teams.
That evening.
"Must you go alone?"
"We're uneasy. Think it over again."
To the worried Un Yeon and sect leader, Jeong Gwang showed why.
His body soared into the air.
Admiration followed from Un Yeon and the sect leader.
"Heavens! Cloud Dragon Great Eight Forms!"
"Such mastery!"
And that was just the start.
Jeong Gwang unleashed Kunlun's ultimate techniques endlessly.
Faster and more dazzling lightness skill than anyone in Kunlun.
Un Yeon and the sect leader watched, dumbfounded.
They understood.
Anyone else would just be baggage.
Jeong Gwang will surely become a dragon.
A dragon too vast and mighty for Kunlun to contain.
Long after, Jeong Gwang landed and spoke.
"Now you're reassured?"
As if.
No matter his prowess, to them he was still their worrisome grand-disciple.
But.
They had to let him go.
"...Be careful."
"...I trust you won't overdo it."
Jeong Gwang averted his eyes.
Such gazes.
Just like Un Hu's.
He scratched his head vigorously, then bowed briefly.
"I'll be back."
He dashed out the sect gates.
Their stares prickled his back, but he didn't turn.
Instead, he unleashed his lightness skill.
His body cleaved the wind, shooting down the mountain.
Quick trip, then rest.
His first outing since reincarnation.
Destination: Xinjiang Province, home of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.