A Dragon in the Pond! (2)
"Ah, damn my pride! How could I lose to nothing but a snake? Ptui! Ugh, dirt! Ptui, ptui!"
Chung Myung spat out the dirt that had surged into his mouth.
Each time he spat, blood streamed from his nose in a steady trickle.
"…Wipe your nosebleed, will you?"
"The nosebleed isn't the important part right now…. Huh? Why is everything running? Ah, what the hell? That snake's trying to kill people!"
Yu I-seol, who had been silently watching his pathetic state, shook her head and took a handkerchief from her sleeve before walking up to him.
Ah, she was going to wipe it for him….
Thrust. Shuvv!
"Ow! Ow, ow, ow!"
Yu I-seol shoved the handkerchief straight into Chung Myung's nose.
He resisted, but Yu I-seol grabbed the back of his neck and, her face utterly expressionless, kept jamming the handkerchief farther and farther into his nostril.
….
Was that supposed to be considerate, or was she tormenting him?
…By the look on Chung Myung's face, it seemed more like torment.
Chung Myung ground his teeth as the handkerchief was stuffed up his nose.
"Grrr. Not a single part of me's intact."
The Beast Palace Lord, who had been quietly watching the Mount Hua disciples throw a fit, finally spoke up.
"Ink-Scaled Blood Python is the most dangerous sacred beast among the many spirit beasts of Yunnan. At least its temperament is mild, and as long as no one trespasses into its territory, it does no harm. If it were vicious as well, it would have been a calamity."
"Mild?"
"Yes. It is, by all accounts, relatively mild."
"Hngh."
"However, it shows an almost excessive obsession over its territory. It will not tolerate even a single stone or blade of grass being disturbed. To deceive that Ink-Scaled Blood Python's senses and pull out the Divine Spirit Grass is almost impossible."
You might've mentioned that a bit earlier….
"So in the end, you're saying we have to bring that thing down if we want to take the Purple Wood Grass with us."
"That is correct."
The Beast Palace Lord nodded.
"It pains me to say this to the descendants of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint who have come from the Central Plains, but on this matter, the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace can offer no help. You will have to solve this yourselves."
When the conversation ended, Baek Cheon walked up to Chung Myung with a grave expression.
"Chung Myung, I think we'd better give this one up."
"Give up what, you damn fool?"
"What other choice is there? Our swords can't even pierce it. How are you supposed to fight that thing? You were lucky just now. Had your luck been bad, even you would've ended up as its meal."
"Hngh."
Chung Myung let out a pained groan.
He really had nearly died by the skin of his teeth.
If it had been anyone else, that single tail strike would've sent them straight to the afterlife for a serious sit-down with King Yama.
What the hell kind of monster is that?
Leaving aside the raw force coming from that enormous body, the truly horrifying part was the absurd hardness of those scales.
Even after dragging his sword qi up to its limit, he hadn't managed to leave so much as a scratch.
If current Chung Myung could even cut through Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron, then each of those scales must be harder than that iron itself.
With a look of irritation, Chung Myung scratched the back of his head.
Swordsmanship had originally been created to fight people. It was honed on the premise that a blade would cut flesh when it made contact.
Which meant that if a sword couldn't even get through, then no matter how exquisite the technique, it was worthless.
"So it's my internal energy, then?"
"Exactly. With your current level of internal energy, it's hopeless. We should probably head back to the Central Plains and think of a way to—"
"Got it. Let's go back first!"
"Oh?"
Baek Cheon looked at Chung Myung in surprise. What was this? He was actually listening for once?
"For now, we're going back to the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace!"
"…."
Ah, he'd only heard half of it.
Of course he had.
"If I don't have enough internal energy, I'll just increase it! Who cares about swordsmanship or whatever? I'll smash it apart with brute force!"
Chung Myung ground his teeth.
He'd been beaten down by a snake that, back in the days of the Plum Blossom Sword Saint, he could've skewered with a pair of chopsticks. The humiliation came flooding over him like a tide.
Ah, Sasuk! Sect Leader Sasuk!
Look how I'm living!
He glared once toward the lake and muttered through bared teeth.
"You just wait. I'll be back in a bit."
Then he spun around and took off toward the Beast Palace.
"We'll go with you!"
"Hey, what are you planning to do now?"
The Mount Hua disciples hurried after him at full speed.
Watching them go, the Beast Palace Lord burst into a hearty laugh.
"Interesting bunch."
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"No one come in!"
"Hey, you brat, just what in the world are you—"
Bang!
Chung Myung slammed the door shut and strode into his quarters. Watching that, Baek Cheon let out a long, heavy sigh.
"…What is he up to now?"
Yoon Jong, glancing at Baek Cheon's weary face, spoke carefully.
"It's Chung Myung, after all. Whenever there's a problem, he's always managed to find some way to solve it."
"…And when, exactly, has that solution ever ended quietly?"
"Pardon?"
"I'm not worried he'll do something strange. That's only to be expected. What worries me is that the place he's doing something strange in is the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace."
"…Ah. Well, that is…."
He definitely had a point.
Yoon Jong glanced around. Once he noticed the Beast Palace disciples sneaking looks in their direction, an awkward laugh escaped him on its own.
"Surely he isn't that thoughtless, right?"
"I'd like to believe that, too…."
Baek Cheon, who knew better than anyone that ominous feelings were never wrong, let out a deep sigh.
Once inside his quarters, Chung Myung took two wooden cases from his bundle.
One was large. The other was small.
Then, from within his robe, he took out yet another small case and sat cross-legged in front of the three of them.
After that, he drew in a deep breath.
It was something that had to be done sooner or later.
He'd long since known this day would come.
He was growing at a terrifying rate compared to his previous life, but even that wasn't enough.
Of course, if you judged by his old standards, current Chung Myung was still at an age where he should've been quietly training on Mount Hua. But he had more things to do now, and more enemies to face.
He didn't have the luxury of taking decades to grow stronger the way he had in the past.
Even if he did nothing but train from this point onward, he would catch up to his previous level within thirty years….
And who says nothing will happen in those thirty years?
Zhongnan or Wudang might go insane and march on Mount Hua. Or the remnants of the Demonic Sect, hiding somewhere out there, might rise again and sweep into the Central Plains.
And if luck turned bad, he might even get eaten by some absurd spirit beast like that one.
If he wanted to survive whatever came, then Chung Myung himself had to become stronger first. Only then could Mount Hua grow stronger as well.
In the end, it all comes down to internal energy.
He had nearly finished adjusting his martial arts to suit this body. Once he had enough internal energy, he would naturally be able to unleash the martial arts of his former life.
"All right, then…."
Chung Myung clicked his tongue and looked at the three wooden cases laid out before him.
Click.
The first, larger case opened.
Inside was the Honwon Dan he had extorted—more or less—from Hyun Jong. Staring at the brilliantly luminous pill with a solemn gaze, Chung Myung then turned to the second case.
Smaller than the first, but far more refined.
Click.
The instant he opened it, a vicious stench began to seep out and assault his nose.
A black pill, even the sight of which seemed to ooze ominousness.
This was Tang Family's secret pill, the Thousand Poison Pill.
The Thousand Poison Pill was one of the Tang Family's finest elixirs. It was originally not something that could be given to outsiders, but Tang Gun-ak, who owed Chung Myung a debt, had made a special exception.
Unlike its sinister black appearance, the Thousand Poison Pill was a legendary elixir that increased the user's internal energy.
Anyone who took it would become resistant to most poisons, and even if they were poisoned, the damage would be greatly reduced.
Merely swallowing it was enough to build resistance to poison. It was truly a priceless treasure.
"Huuuu."
Chung Myung let out a deep breath.
Then he turned his head and looked at the final case.
The first two elixirs were no problem. For someone at Chung Myung's current level, pills like those were perfectly manageable.
The real problem was the third.
"Hngh."
Even Tang Gun-ak had hesitated to hand it over, saying he couldn't for the life of him figure out how it was meant to be used.
With a slightly reluctant motion, Chung Myung opened the box. Unlike the wooden cases before it, this one contained a small white porcelain bottle.
He took a deep breath and removed the stopper.
Whoooosh.
The moment he opened it, a scent hit him that pricked at his nose. It was faintly sweet, yet cool. By fragrance alone, it actually felt more refined than the Honwon Dan.
But he couldn't let the scent fool him.
What was inside that porcelain bottle was none other than Tang Family poison.
More precisely, it was the deadly toxin known as Beauty's Tears.
"Hah."
Chung Myung stared for a moment at the smooth surface of the bottle, then brought it up to his nose and inhaled the poison's scent.
"Hnggh."
The instant that nose-stinging fragrance reached him, the thought surfaced: did he really have to do something this insane?
Can I really trust that bastard?
Old memories began to rise in Chung Myung's mind.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Hey, Daoist brother."
"What?"
"You know what the greatest elixir in the Central Plains is?"
At the sudden question, Chung Myung narrowed his eyes. Then again, Tang Bo had always been the type to start talking like this.
"Great Return Pill? Or maybe Taechung Pill? No, wait. Honwon Dan, I guess."
"Wrong. Those don't even count as elixirs."
"…What the hell are you talking about now?"
Seeing Chung Myung's expression, Tang Bo chuckled.
"The real elixir is in our Tang Family!"
"As far as I know, your Tang Family's Thousand Poison Pill ranks below the elixirs of other sects. You're great at making poisons and pretty decent at medicine, but you can't even make spirit pills, which is why people laugh at you. That's the Tang Family for you, isn't it?"
"Hngh."
As if he had nothing to say, Tang Bo smacked his lips.
"Anyway, I'm not talking about something like the Thousand Poison Pill. The Tang Family's true elixir is Beauty's Tears."
"Beauty's Tears? Never heard of it."
"You wouldn't have. It's poison. The kind even the Tang Family found extremely difficult to create."
"…Poison as an elixir? Have you gotten so beaten around lately that your brain's gone soft?"
"How did I get beaten around, you idiot? You were the one hitting me, Daoist brother!"
Chung Myung rose slowly from his seat. Tang Bo went pale and backed away at once, pressing himself against the wall.
"T-that's not to say I have any complaints!"
Chung Myung snorted and sat back down.
"Go on."
"Beauty's Tears was made by combining countless poisons from all over the world."
"Some terrifyingly deadly poison?"
"…No, it's not quite that bad, not as deadly as you'd think."
"Hm?"
Tang Bo smiled awkwardly.
"Honestly, they made it thinking that if they gathered every poison they could find, it would become monstrously toxic. But surprisingly, the result wasn't that good. The poisons neutralized one another, and no real synergy was produced, so it was only half a failure."
The Plum Blossom Sword Saint Chung Myung looked at Tang Bo with a dubious expression.
"So what's your point?"
"Daoist brother. What is internal energy?"
"…Vital energy."
"Exactly. Vital energy. But beasts and plants only contain the amount of energy suited to their size. Martial artists, however, can endlessly store that energy within their bodies, can't they?"
"They can."
"And among beasts, there are those that can gather and hold energy. Those are called spirit beasts."
"Skip the obvious and get to the point."
"Come on, I'm almost there. But the thing is, beasts that can hold energy aren't limited to spirit beasts. Poison beasts can also hold energy."
"Hm?"
Tang Bo grinned.
"If a beast with no poison gathers energy, it becomes a spirit beast. If a beast with poison gathers energy, it becomes a poison beast. Spirit beasts gather energy in their inner cores, but poison beasts…."
"They gather it into the poison?"
"Exactly. Otherwise, why would a poison become even more toxic just because the beast got a little bigger? In other words, the poison of a poison beast is no different from a spirit pill made from the energy it has collected over its entire life!"
Chung Myung tilted his head.
This smells like a scam.
"So in our Tang Family, there were a few attempts to absorb Beauty's Tears—the poison made by combining the poisons of all those poison beasts—and use it as internal energy!"
"And what happened?"
"They died, obviously."
"…."
What the hell, you bastard?
As veins bulged in Chung Myung's forearm, Tang Bo waved his hands and backed away.
"N-no! Listen to me till the end! Please, the end!"
"You're still spouting that nonsense?"
"It isn't nonsense, I tell you! It failed, but it worked!"
"How do you know if they died?"
Tang Bo grinned.
"A bunch of Tang Family masters rushed in to subdue the man who went berserk from the poison, and they all got beaten black and blue and sent flying. The sheer amount of internal energy nearly brought the Tang Family down. That was two hundred years ago, though."
"…."
"Of course, because he didn't resist the poison and just accepted everything as it was, he turned into nothing but a tiny puddle of blood and water in the end, but the point is, it works. More than that, the internal energy you can obtain is on a whole different level from ordinary spirit pills! Beauty's Tears may not be the world's deadliest poison, but it can become the world's greatest elixir! If it can be purified!"
Chung Myung let out a long sigh.
"And how exactly are you supposed to purify it?"
"…How should I know?"
"…."
"If I knew that, do you think I'd still be living like this? I'd have swallowed a bowl of Beauty's Tears by now and snapped your waist in half, Daoist brother…. Ah, that was a slip of the tongue."
"Snapped?"
"…."
"My waist?"
Chung Myung rose with a broad smile.
"Hah, haha."
Tang Bo, wearing an awkward expression, slowly backed away.
"Fine. Let's die today!"
Without hesitation, Chung Myung launched himself at Tang Bo.
"Hiiiiiiik! Daoist brother! Ack! No, that's not it! Hey, you horse-nosed bastard! Can a Daoist really beat someone like this? Ack! Please spare me, brother!"
"Die! Die, you bastard! Die!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
….
Recalling the memory, Chung Myung let out a heavy sigh while staring at the porcelain bottle containing Beauty's Tears.
"…I think I'm being sold snake oil."
Should he take it or not?