Learning Martial Arts 2
"Oh? Really?"
Seok Ji-sung was genuinely taken aback. Even after seeing him, Seok Geum-ryong had not wilted; instead, he had boldly said there was something he wanted.
The reason Seok Ji-sung did not visit Seok Geum-ryong often was partly because the boy had little influence, but more than that, because Geum-ryong, so much like his late mother, had always been timid, awkward around him, and easily frightened.
And yet now he was unexpectedly personable.
"What is it?"
At the manor lord's question, Seok Geum-ryong replied as if he had been waiting for it.
"It is Heaven's Promise Pill."
"...What? That is all you want?"
Seok Ji-sung had been expecting some grand request, so when Geum-ryong picked something so seemingly insignificant, he was at a loss.
The Heaven's Promise Pill was an item Seok Ji-sung had acquired long ago, a divine elixir gifted to him by the famed eccentric of the martial world, the Heaven-Earth Scholar.
Na Cheon-lip, the Heaven-Earth Scholar.
He was a remarkable man gifted in many fields, from martial arts to medicine and pill refinement, but he had one fatal flaw: if gambling was mentioned, he would wake from sleep in an instant.
In the end, Na Cheon-lip had run up an enormous debt at the gambling hall operated by Seokga Manor, a debt so large he could no longer bear it.
Seok Ji-sung, moved by pity, had stepped in and forgiven the debt. Grateful, the eccentric Na Cheon-lip had offered two Heaven's Promise Pills without a word, hoping in some small way to repay what he owed.
"Indeed, I received two Heaven's Promise Pills from the Heaven-Earth Scholar. But I tried one, and it didn't seem to have much effect."
For a moment Seok Ji-sung only stared.
He could not understand why the boy would ask for such a thing. He, too, knew the reputation of the Heaven-Earth Scholar, and so he had tried one of the two pills at once.
He had expected a surge of inner force the moment he swallowed it, or perhaps some miraculous effect that would make him younger. But no.
His body, which had felt dull and heavy, simply became a little more refreshed, and the next morning his head felt somewhat clearer. That was all. It had been neither useful enough to consume eagerly nor worthless enough to throw away, so it had remained a troublesome burden in his possession.
"If it's medicine for the body you want, I can give you other elixirs or herbs. This isn't an opportunity that comes often, so you may ask for something more impressive."
Rather than refuse, Seok Ji-sung offered him something even better.
A normal person might have accepted at once, but Seok Geum-ryong was thinking differently.
He knew the hidden story behind the Heaven's Promise Pill.
Na Cheon-lip, the Heaven-Earth Scholar, was a capricious eccentric who hated owing debts to others more than he hated death itself. That was why, in repayment to Seok Ji-sung for having cleared his debt, he gave him two Heaven's Promise Pills, but he did not explain how they were meant to be properly taken.
That was because, along with his strange temperament, gratitude and resentment toward Seokga Manor coexisted within him.
The gratitude was for Seok Ji-sung, who had let him indulge in gambling and yet still forgiven the debt. The resentment was toward the gambling hall of Seokga Manor, which had driven him into such a monstrous debt in the first place.
So Na Cheon-lip had simply handed over the two Heaven's Promise Pills in silence, paid back every last coin, and departed without ever explaining how to take them properly.
Swallowing a Heaven's Promise Pill as it is would be like smearing a good medicinal balm on the body without letting it sink in.
Medicine only works when it is taken by the right method.
And Seok Geum-ryong, who knew that method well, needed the Heaven's Promise Pill more than any other elixir or restorative medicine in the world.
"No. I don't need anything so expensive. I will be satisfied with the Heaven's Promise Pill."
"You little rascal, so modest. Still, if I were to hand over only the Heaven's Promise Pill, the family would call me stingy behind my back. I will have other rare tonics and herbs sent as well, so... don't be like this old man and be especially careful with your health."
At Seok Ji-sung's station, it was only natural that rare elixirs and herbs would come in from all directions.
Moreover, Seok Ji-sung had realized that his life would not last much longer, and before it was too late, he wanted to do one last thing for Seok Geum-ryong, the child who had always been his sore spot.
"Thank you, Father."
"Good. If you take them, grow strong, and show good results, then I will support you according to the merits and accomplishments you establish."
Even though Seok Geum-ryong was especially dear to his heart and his one sore spot, that was as far as it went.
There was a reason Seok Ji-sung had become the lord of Seokga Manor.
He never promoted the incompetent merely because they were his own blood.
He was also famous for using rewards and punishments according to merit and achievement, promoting and honoring talent on the basis of ability.
Simply being born of his bloodline did not entitle anyone to lavish support or mountains of gold.
Those who do not work for Seokga Manor, those who are incompetent, do not even deserve a bowl of rice.
That was why the only way Seok Ji-sung could do something for Seok Geum-ryong now was through occasions like this, birthdays every ten years, at which point some justification could be found.
"I will keep that in mind, and keep it in mind again."
"Good. Seeing how humble you are makes this father feel glad as well. Then spend a pleasant time with the household."
With that, Seok Ji-sung departed, and Gong Sang-pil, who had not even been able to breathe properly while he was there, finally let out a breath.
"Huuuu."
After panting for a while and wiping away his cold sweat, he burst out with his usual nagging.
"Young master! You should have asked for books for your studies in the main house's trade business, or for an abacus made of jade. Why on earth would you ask for such useless elixirs? And where did you even hear about some pill like that?"
"Don't worry, Butler Gong."
Seok Geum-ryong listened to Gong Sang-pil's lecturing in one ear and let it out the other, smiling brightly.
"That elixir will become the foundation and pillar of our faction's growth."
***
"Young master! The main house has sent the Heaven's Promise Pill and several tonics!"
A single word from a man was worth a thousand gold coins.
Seok Ji-sung, the lord of Seokga Manor and the greatest merchant under heaven, always kept his word once given.
That held true even when the promise had been made to his own son.
"Wooaah!"
As the servant Deung Chon organized the various items sent from the main house, he cried out in delight.
To everyone's astonishment, along with the Heaven's Promise Pill they had sent dozens of doses of body-strengthening tonics like Ten-Ingredient Great Tonic Soup and Golden Toad Heavenly Treasure Medicine.
"So this is what they mean by the handle being heavier than the blade. The tonics are actually better."
Even the blue-robed scholar Gong Sang-pil, who had earlier scolded him for asking for something so useless, now stared in utter bewilderment.
But that was just nonsense.
Not at all. Even if you add all the Ten-Ingredient Great Tonic Soup and Golden Toad Heavenly Treasure Medicine together, they would not even reach a single scrap of this Heaven's Promise Pill.
With that thought in mind, Seok Geum-ryong, acting generously for once as the master, granted his retainers a favor.
"I only need this pill, so Butler Gong and Deung Chon should divide the Ten-Ingredient Great Tonic Soup and the Golden Toad Heavenly Treasure Medicine among the other servants."
"Y-You what?"
"Oh no, young master. That's not proper."
For a ten-year-old child, it was an astonishingly generous remark, and Gong Sang-pil and Deung Chon both waved their hands in flustered refusal.
"I'm serious, not joking."
"But those were sent by the manor lord because he was thinking of you, young master."
"How could lowly people like us possibly eat something so expensive?"
When the two continued to object to the very end, Seok Geum-ryong drove the point home.
"If you eat them and then support and protect me longer and more diligently, isn't that enough?"
As he said this, Seok Geum-ryong felt his chest tighten with emotion.
After all, Gong Sang-pil and Deung Chon were almost the only family he had.
The two of them would soon die at the hands of assassins.
Servant Deung Chon would lose his life saving Seok Geum-ryong during the events that would soon follow his tenth birthday, and Gong Sang-pil would die on his thirteenth birthday.
In my past life, the young master lost Butler Gong Sang-pil and servant Deung Chon, and he shut his heart tightly. If I had not come here as his bodyguard, that door might never have opened again.
Now that he could change that terrible past, he intended to treat these two men, who in his previous life had given their lives for Seok Geum-ryong, as generously as possible.
"Still..."
"Butler Gong. Stop arguing and eat. If you don't, I'll throw it out and feed it to the dogs."
"...Thank you."
Gong Sang-pil, the blue-robed scholar, knew well that Seok Geum-ryong was stubborn and that if he said he would do something, he truly would.
So he had no choice but to give in, though the corners of his mouth were lifted in a broad smile.
Only after personally confirming that Gong Sang-pil and Deung Chon had gulped down the tonics did Seok Geum-ryong finally say,
"I'm going to work out in the training yard for a bit, so keep the door locked."
He picked up the wooden box holding the Heaven's Promise Pill and moved away.
Now is the time to properly take the Heaven's Promise Pill.
Through the memories of his previous life, Seok Geum-ryong knew the one and only way to take it.
If he could fully absorb the Heaven's Promise Pill, then reaching the first-class realm would not be difficult.
And if he reached first-class and awakened the First Form of the Heaven-Shattering Seven Stars Sword Technique...
Then not many assassins would be able to stand against me.
Seok Geum-ryong believed that without the slightest doubt.
Rustle.
Once he entered the training yard, he took out the wooden box as if he had been waiting for this moment.
Even if the people of the world did not know it, the Heaven's Promise Pill was a masterwork left behind by the Heaven-Earth Scholar, and its fragrance was rich, sharp, and strangely sweet, as one would expect from a superior elixir.
The true nature of the Heaven's Promise Pill was only revealed after the Heaven-Earth Scholar, Na Cheon-lip, had died.
The reason Seok Geum-ryong knew this was simple.
His master, Chilseonggun, had been the only friend and close confidant of Na Cheon-lip, and the man had even played a part in creating the Heaven's Promise Pill himself.
Given that, there was no way the current Seok Geum-ryong would not know how to take it.
That method is simple enough: while circulating the most gentle and pure inner energy technique in the martial world, you take the Heaven's Promise Pill.
The reason the Heaven-Earth Scholar had made the Heaven's Promise Pill that way was because he feared it might fall into the hands of someone who practiced evil martial arts.
Because of that, only three inner energy techniques in the entire martial world, all renowned for their gentleness, were suitable.
And one of them was the Northern Dipper cultivation method, the secret art of a single lineage, and the martial arts of the Big Dipper itself.
Na Cheon-lip had originally created the Heaven's Promise Pill based on the Northern Dipper cultivation method of his close friend, Chilseonggun, so there could be nothing more appropriate.
In other words, if I circulate the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique and take the Heaven's Promise Pill, I can unleash all of its true power.
That was why Seok Geum-ryong had refused to trade it for any other elixir or tonic.
For anyone who had not learned such a gentle and pure inner energy technique, perhaps it would mean nothing, but for Seok Geum-ryong, who had already mastered the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique, there was no superior elixir in existence.
"Huuuu."
Standing before the rare Heaven's Promise Pill, Seok Geum-ryong exhaled a long breath.
All preparations were complete.
Then... here I go.
Having made his decision, Seok Geum-ryong took up the Heaven's Promise Pill as though he had been waiting for this very moment and swallowed it in a single motion, like the breath of a celestial immortal.
Swish.
The moment the Heaven's Promise Pill met Seok Geum-ryong's hot breath, it melted into a warm medicinal stream and began to seep through his entire body.
Now!
Realizing that this was the most perfect moment, Seok Geum-ryong did not hesitate and circulated his inner force at once.
Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique!
If he had been even a moment late in activating the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique, the Heaven's Promise Pill might have vanished in vain, just as it had when Seok Ji-sung, who knew nothing of martial arts, swallowed one.
But Seok Geum-ryong unleashed the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique with all his strength, and the result was astounding.
Whoosh, whooshhh!
The medicinal liquid of the Heaven's Promise Pill, which had been no more than a body-strengthening herbal broth when swallowed without method, now had its power blossom and grow until it mingled throughout Seok Geum-ryong's entire body, emitting a brilliant, powerful light.
Unbelievably, Seok Geum-ryong succeeded in absorbing every last bit of the Heaven's Promise Pill's medicinal power without wasting a single trace.