How Could You Be So Generous? (5)
"Is this going to be all right?"
"What are you talking about?"
"...Is it really okay for him to be like that?"
Following Hyun Sang’s gaze, Hyun Jong turned his head and saw Chung Myung, radiating multicolored light as he stirred the cauldron.
"How should I know?"
No one could even get close.
They couldn’t simply leave or calmly circulate their energy, worried as they were, but they also didn’t dare approach.
Even those who knew nothing of martial arts could tell that something extraordinary was happening over there.
As a result, the three men, though completely exhausted, couldn’t bring themselves to leave and had stayed there through the setting and rising of the sun.
"It’s already been nearly a full day."
"...Indeed."
Hyun Jong stared at Chung Myung with faintly trembling eyes.
This was supposed to be work for three people.
How is he doing that?
It was complicated and delicate enough that two elders had to pour in their internal energy while a single member of the Un Generation carefully regulated his own to stir it properly.
And yet Chung Myung was using both hands to draw up different amounts of internal energy at once, heating and stirring simultaneously.
And he had been at it for a full day already!
That alone was enough to make anyone click their tongue, but what in the world was that unending radiance pouring out of him?
"Un-gak... no, Hall Leader of Medicine."
"Yes, Sect Leader."
"Did Yak Seon’s alchemical methods mention anything like that? That the one refining the pill would emit light?"
"...I’ve never heard of such a thing."
"Right?"
Then what on earth was this situation?
Still dazed as he watched Chung Myung, Hyun Jong unconsciously spoke again.
"How much longer?"
"Pardon?"
"I mean, how much longer does he have to stir it?"
"Ah! It... it shouldn’t be much longer. We began at noon, so there should be about another two hours."
"Is there any way to tell when it’s completely finished?"
"That much, I’m not really sure..."
Hyun Jong clenched his fist tightly and stared at Chung Myung with pleading eyes.
He has to succeed.
One thing was clear.
Chung Myung was probably now in a realm they couldn’t even begin to understand. That was obvious enough from the half-lidded eyes in serene concentration and the rainbow glow pouring from his body.
Chung Myung! Just a little longer...! Hang in there...!
As Hyun Jong silently sent his desperate encouragement, Un-gak suddenly widened his eyes.
"Huh?"
"W-what is it?"
"Look at that! That!"
"Hm?"
Un-gak raised a hand and pointed at the cauldron.
"Huh?"
"W-what is that?"
The elders all gasped in unison, their eyes flying wide.
Where their gaze landed was the cauldron Chung Myung had been stirring.
Fwoooosh!
A faint multicolored light began to spill from the cauldron. It grew stronger and stronger, until at last it became a blinding brilliance that filled the Hall of Medicine.
"Urk!"
Hyun Jong squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and when he slowly opened them again...
That scent?
A dense fragrance.
So thick that it stabbed straight into his nose.
It was unmistakably the same scent he had smelled when he opened the box containing the Honwon Dan!
"No way!"
"Already?"
The three of them shot to their feet at the same time.
Their relentless eyes would not leave the glowing cauldron or Chung Myung.
Meanwhile, Chung Myung had no idea what was happening behind him.
All of his senses were focused entirely on the inside of the cauldron.
Harmony.
Yak Seon was an incredible man.
He hadn’t merely made Honwon Dan from ordinary ingredients.
These ingredients were in perfect harmony with one another. Among the countless medicinal ingredients in the world, Yak Seon had found the combination that could produce the most perfect accord.
The internal energy he poured into the cauldron and ladle merely encouraged the qi contained within those herbs.
What the one making Honwon Dan had to do was bring out that perfect harmony.
So...
[Pour in your internal energy and stir it for ten days.]
There had been no other way to write it.
How many people in the world would understand a phrase like "make the energy perfectly harmonious" if it were written out that way?
It was far too difficult to convey meaning in writing alone. And if you didn’t know the level of the person receiving that meaning, it became even more difficult.
In the end, this must have been the simplest method Yak Seon could come up with after much thought, one that would allow anyone inheriting the Honwon Scriptures to make Honwon Dan.
Even if the result fell a little short of the original Honwon Dan he had once created, it would still be valuable enough.
But fortunately—or unfortunately—the one who obtained the Honwon Scriptures was Chung Myung.
A man whose sense of qi surpassed even his former self in his past life.
That was why he could go one step beyond the Honwon Dan Yak Seon had originally created.
He let his energy flow into the cauldron.
The purest energy in the world, carrying the qi of the Dao, mixed together with the harmonized flow of Honwon energy swirling within it.
So that’s why it’s called Honwon Dan.
Honwon.
Heaven and earth. And the universe.
Under the sky, different things come together to make the world, and beyond that, the universe.
Inside this cauldron was the one world Yak Seon had dreamed of.
A world where everyone lived in harmony.
A world where no one fought, where all were intertwined and lived together.
He didn’t agree with Yak Seon’s philosophy, but he couldn’t help admiring the man’s obsession and will, the way he had projected even his own convictions into his spiritual pill.
Yak Seon and Honwon.
Sweat trickled down from Chung Myung’s brow.
The fire qi boiling within the cauldron slowly began to settle.
The lumped-together cold qi gradually shed its chill and transformed into water qi.
The earth qi flowing from the things grown in the soil settled the bottom, while the wood qi, the root of all things, embraced everything generously.
And then there was the metal qi flowing in from the midautumn world.
Water, fire, wood, metal, earth.
The Five Elements.
Here lay the foundation of the world.
The perfectly harmonious world Yak Seon had pursued.
Chung Myung would only add one more thing to it.
Dao.
He would carve a road into the world Yak Seon had created. A world is something that exists; a road is something one walks.
A road is will.
In the end, it was the human heart.
He added Dao qi to the Five Elements, and then added the heart.
The Dao qi he poured in began to swirl together with the world of the Five Elements. The energies that had pushed, resisted, and contended with one another gradually accepted the new energy and began circling together.
That was what the world was.
Accepting, understanding, and living together.
The world was here.
The world Yak Seon had dreamed of was transformed into the world Chung Myung dreamed of.
Will it be all right?
Yes. It would be fine.
That was the nature of the world. Even if it changed, it was still the world. Even if it did not change, it was still the world.
No matter what form it took, the world was simply the world.
Chung Myung slowly opened his eyes.
Having poured in every last trace of energy, he let go of the cauldron and grasped the iron ladle.
The energies melted.
The Five Elements and Chung Myung’s own energy no longer seemed to matter; they melted together and merged into one.
And then, at last—
Fwoooosh!
The multicolored brilliance that had been spilling outward gathered into a single mass and took on a faint violet hue. Not a dazzling radiance, but a soft, embracing purple glow.
Chung Myung, who had been staring at the cauldron as if entranced, finally took a step back while still holding the iron ladle.
"..."
Clatter.
The ladle slipped from his loosened grip. Chung Myung did not even notice; he only stared blankly at what he had made.
"Chung Myung?"
"..."
"...Chung Myung?"
When he finally turned his head, Chung Myung’s face was still dazed.
Behind him, the elders and Un-gak stared at him as if they had forgotten how to breathe.
Hyun Jong swallowed hard, then spoke in a voice that trembled slightly.
"S-so, how did it go?"
"Um..."
Chung Myung looked back and forth between them and the cauldron.
He should tell the truth, shouldn’t he?
"Well, making Honwon Dan failed."
"..."
Darkness seemed to fall across Hyun Jong’s eyes.
Hyun Sang, who had been silent, widened his eyes and asked,
"F-failed?"
"..."
"Th-then why is there light coming out of it if it failed?"
Hyun Young also spoke up anxiously, clearly unable to make sense of what he was seeing.
"What in the world is going on? Explain this—"
"Quiet."
But soon Hyun Jong cut off their rashness with a low, weighty voice. The elders who had been about to raise a ruckus all shut their mouths at once.
Hyun Jong looked at Chung Myung in silence for a moment, then smiled gently.
"That is regrettable. But there is nothing to be done but try again. It may take a little time, but let us not rush. You have worked so very hard. Do not worry."
Looking at him, Chung Myung let out a crooked grin.
He really is something else.
Failure.
Before that word, no one in the world could avoid disappointment. And yet Hyun Jong had regained his composure in that short span of time.
And rather than worry about their own toil having come to nothing, he was more concerned that Chung Myung might be disappointed.
That’s a Sect Leader for you.
And that’s how a Daoist should be.
Honestly, it was a relief that this man was the Sect Leader.
With a faintly amused expression, Chung Myung continued,
"The Honwon Dan failed, though."
"Yes. It’s all right. Don’t pay it any mind..."
"But I think I may have..."
"Hm?"
Chung Myung turned his head and looked at the cauldron, which was still emitting a violet glow.
What should he call that?
Yes.
There was only one name for it.
"...I think I ended up making Jaso-dan instead."
"Huh?"
"Jaso-dan?"
Hyun Jong tilted his head.
"What do you mean by that? Jaso-dan?"
Jaso-dan had once been the greatest spiritual pill in Mount Hua’s history. But the method for refining it had been lost when the Demonic Sect invaded.
And now he was suddenly saying Jaso-dan?
Chung Myung grinned and went on.
"I’m not saying I made the original Jaso-dan passed down in Mount Hua. But this isn’t Honwon Dan either."
It was a little different from Yak Seon’s intent.
This was a spiritual pill only Chung Myung could create in all the world.
"Since a spiritual pill that goes one step beyond Honwon Dan was made here in Mount Hua, I suppose Jaso-dan is the only thing to call it."
The corners of Hyun Jong’s eyes twitched violently.
What had that brat just said?
"I-it went further?"
"Yes."
"You mean it surpassed the Honwon Dan you were originally trying to make?"
Chung Myung shrugged.
"That’s what I’m saying."
"Th-then..."
"Yes."
Chung Myung flashed a grin.
"It succeeded!"
The elders looked at one another. Then the Hall Leader of Medicine glanced back and forth between the elders and the cauldron, unable to believe his eyes.
And a moment later—
"Waaaaaah!"
"I-it’s Honwon! No, Jaso-dan!"
"I need to see it with my own eyes! With my own eyes!"
Where they found such strength, no one knew, but the nearly dead elders surged toward the cauldron with tremendous force. Then they craned their necks and peered inside.
"Oh!"
"Ooooooh!"
After confirming with their own eyes that there was something white inside, glowing with a soft violet light, Hyun Young jerked his head around and shouted at the Hall Leader of Medicine.
"That’s not a spiritual pill!"
"I-it is! It really is a spiritual pill!"
"It’s just a lump!"
"I-if you shape it into a sphere and dry it, that becomes a spiritual pill! E-elder, it’s a success!"
"A success?"
"Yes! If it hadn’t succeeded, there’s no way this scent would exist! A spiritual pill that gives off light—I’ve never seen anything like it in my life! If this isn’t a spiritual pill, then what in the world is?"
Hyun Young continued to glance between the cauldron, the Hall Leader of Medicine, and Chung Myung as if he still couldn’t believe it.
And then—
"Bwahahahahahaha! You little goblin!"
Without another thought, he charged forward and wrapped Chung Myung in a crushing hug.
"Agh! That hurts!"
"Endure it, endure it! Hahahahahaha! You precious little lump of fortune, and now you’re even making spiritual pills! What do you want to eat, you brat?"
And that still wasn’t enough; he lifted Chung Myung high and spun him around.
"Aaaah! I’m getting dizzy!"
"You adorable little thing!"
Hyun Sang’s eyes even glistened with tears as he shouted,
"Sect Leader! It’s a success, it’s a success!"
"Yes... yes. So it is."
Hyun Jong himself, as the Sect Leader, could hardly contain the flood of emotion and stumbled over his words. Staring at the cauldron, he lifted his head to look at the ceiling.
Ancestors.
We’ve finally made it here.
All the way here.
Are you watching?
Some indescribable feeling shook Hyun Jong to the core.
It’s all thanks to that boy appearing here.
If the ancestors had not sent Chung Myung to them, he could not even imagine what Mount Hua would look like now.
No.
Perhaps by now there would not even be a Mount Hua left in name.
At the thought, the bridge of his nose kept stinging embarrassingly.
Just as Hyun Jong was about to speak, moved with emotion, someone suddenly cried out.
"No, this is not the time for that yet!"
"Hm?"
Chung Myung hastily shoved Hyun Young aside, his eyes blazing.
"How are we supposed to know what’ll happen? Don’t start throwing a feast yet—hurry up and make the spiritual pill! I’m not going to relax until that pill is actually in our mouths!"
Right!
"Move, move!"
"R-right!"
"We’ll start right away!"
The elders rushed toward the cauldron in a panic, then blinked and tilted their heads.
Huh?
But whose orders were we even listening to just now?
"Hurry!"
"O-okay! Right!"
Well, what did it matter.
What did it matter...
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