The Alchemist's Lesson and the Tang Family's Future
The evening guests of the Murim Alliance were all smiling brightly as they chatted among themselves.
“The effect of the Blood Spirit Pill is truly something worthy of calling an Immortal Pill.”
“Of course. It doesn’t boost internal energy, but the internal energy flow has improved by at least three tenths compared to before. Plus, the turbid energy in the body has decreased sharply. We should say that’s a great harvest.”
The faces of the Murim Alliance guests showed no signs of stopping their wide smiles. An increased internal energy flow rate was the same as a rise in martial strength.
Furthermore, when viewed in the long term, training speed would only increase. With no turbid energy in the qi and blood, the rate of internal energy circulation and meditation would accelerate, and achievements would grow.
That was why the Murim Alliance guests were in such high spirits.
“However, I have no idea how many Blood Spirit Pills they produced.”
Zheng Myeong’s casual remark made Zhuge Jindo shake his head.
“Like we discussed, the Blood Spirit Pill is an Immortal Pill. It’s probably no less effective than the Immortal Pills of the Five Major Clans and the Five Major Sects.”
“That’s right. It doesn’t enhance internal energy, but in the long run, it looks even better than the Blood Spirit Pill.”
Zheng Jindo nodded at Mun Sun’s reply.
“Such an outstanding Immortal Pill would be difficult to mass-produce. Moreover, the Tang Family must now nurture their own experts, so…”
“It would be even harder to obtain.”
“What a pity. If we had taken the Blood Spirit Pill, it would have been a great help in nurturing the high-level experts of the Murim Alliance.”
Though the words were meant to benefit the Murim Alliance, he would have taken it back to his own clan if possible.
“Still, we’ve achieved our original purpose in coming to the Tang Family. We got the Detox Pill and the poisons.”
Zheng Jindo’s words made Mun Sun nod.
“That’s true.”
“Today’s Blood Spirit Pill should be called a spirit pill, I suppose.”
“Spirit pill… Yes, it was a spirit pill.”
Mun Sun and the others exchanged smiles while looking at each other.
“However, what do you think of Young Lady Tang? Could she really be a master who has undergone Rejuvenation?”
“Namu Amitabul.”
Mun Sun’s words made Gyeong Oh Se-tae open his mouth.
“If we take things at face value, then yes, Rejuvenation seems to fit.”
“That’s right. The stories about the owner of the Heavenly Grant Forest exceed one hundred people in this region. After living for that long, how can she look so young? It doesn’t make sense.”
The people’s words made Mun Sun nod as well.
He himself had instinctively sensed that she was genuine. Still… He had a half-belief in the legend of Rejuvenation.
Mun Sun turned his head toward Jeong Myeong.
“Have you spoken with the Family Head about it?”
“Yes.”
At Jeong Myeong’s words, Mun Sun nodded and then looked at Zhuge Mun.
“The Family Head seems to have a very deep bond with Young Master Zhuge and Jeong Myeong.”
“He calls me Jiwon, and Jeong Myeong calls him Saengsa-jigyogyeol.”
Zhuge Mun smiled faintly as he spoke.
Mun Sun nodded and said,
“Publicly, he’s the Family Head of one of the Five Major Clans, the Tang Family. Publicly, that’s only natural, but privately, we should also show a certain level of respect.”
At Mun Sun’s words, Zhuge Jindo nodded.
“Good words. The Family Head may not be concerned, but from the perspective of the Tang Family retainers, if they speak too easily to the Family Head, the young masters might get angry.”
Though it was called retainers, it was precisely Tang Mi-mi. It would be bad to offend a master who had undergone Rejuvenation.
Zhuge Jindo then turned to the elders.
“Since we’re talking about it, you all should treat Young Master Tang as the Family Head of his clan when dealing with him—unless he’s a junior.”
“Of course we should.”
“Namu Amitabul. I’ve been thinking the same.”
The Seongcheon Sect and the Amitabha Sect, who had close ties with the Sichuan Tang Family, had no complaints about treating him as Family Head.
But young disciples could make mistakes, so they were being warned in advance.
“Probably, we should also warn the Murim Alliance about this. All the elders are sharp-witted people. Even if he’s the Tang Family Head, there might be young masters who make mistakes when dealing with him.”
At Mun Sun’s words, Zhuge Jindo spoke up.
“Allow me to say a few words as your military advisor.”
“Then let’s do that….”
Zhuge Jindo looked at Mun Sun.
“Then it seems we’ll have to report the matter of Young Lady Tang to the Murim Alliance… How far should we go with it?”
“We should report it as is. Otherwise, those rising sects won’t be able to hold their tails still.”
At the mention of rising sects, Mun Sun slapped his thigh.
“Ha ha ha!”
“Why are you laughing?”
Zheng Jindo asked, and Mun Sun replied with a laugh.
“I’m laughing because the sects at the Murim Alliance came to mind. Those people went all over the place, pouring efforts into the Five Major Sects in place of the Tang Family. Hah! If you see the Tang Family now, you’ll realize how absurd their dreams were.”
“Ha ha ha!”
Zhuge Jindo laughed too, as if the thought had struck him.
“The Jiji Sect and the Dokgo Sect are really troublesome. Those two families seem to have poured in the most effort.”
“That’s not all that’s troublesome. I heard that the Pyengga Sect lent strength to the Jiji Sect, and the Hwangbo Sect lent strength to the Dokgo Sect. So those two families are probably also suffering losses. It’s not that the Tang Family is lacking spirit now, but later, when they find out what really happened, won’t it be deeply regrettable?”
Both Mun Sun and Zhuge Jindo smiled at each other’s misfortune, and Gyeong Oh Se-tae said,
“You two disliked the idea of a new clan entering the Five Major Sects?”
At Gyeong Oh Se-tae’s question, both Mun Sun and Zhuge Jindo nodded.
“We originally support the Tang Family.”
“Even if it weren’t for this incident?”
“Of course. The Tang Family has done us a great favor.”
“You’re talking about the assassins who were with the Zhuge Sect, right?”
“That’s right. The Tang Family, knowing their own danger, would have been unable to spare any leeway. But they sent us a scout to allow us to deal with the assassination. If the Tang Family hadn’t contacted us, the Zhuge Sect would have lost both the Family Head and the elders.”
At Zheng Jindo’s words, both Mun Sun and Gyeong Oh Se-tae nodded.
They both knew about the Zhuge Sect’s affairs.
“Does the Qingcheng Sect support the Tang Family?”
At Gyeong Oh Se-tae’s question, Mun Sun replied with a smile.
“Our sect has always been a steadfast ally and blood brother to the Tang Family. So isn’t that why we sent our disciples to guard the Tang Clan Castle?”
At Mun Sun’s words, Gyeong Oh Se-tae let out a small sigh.
‘We should have sent people from the main sect as well…’
They didn’t know what kind of heart had moved the Qingcheng Sect to send a clan sect to guard the ruins of the Tang Clan Castle, but the Tang Family was deeply grateful for it.
So regardless of whether the Qingcheng Sect had supported them before, they now supported the Tang Family.
Gyeong Oh Se-tae regretted not having supported the Tang Family.
As Gyeong Oh Se-tae rolled his beads in his hand, Zhuge Mun opened his mouth.
“It’s already getting late. How about we rest?”
“Ha ha ha! You wanted to feel the effect of the Blood Spirit Pill, didn’t you, Young Master Zhuge?”
Mun Sun rose from his seat.
“Then let’s all stand up. To feel the effect of the Blood Spirit Pill, we’d probably need to circulate our internal energy and meditate until dawn.”
“Very well.”
The people who had stayed in the rooms of the Zhuge Clan left the room and went outside.
Once the people had left, Zhuge Jindo looked at Zhuge Mun.
[Do you have something to say?]
Zhuge Mun nodded while listening to Zhuge Jindo’s voice transmission. He had asked them to clear the place… because he had something to say to Zhuge Jindo.
Zhuge Mun told him about the things he had discussed with Tang Mi-mi that day. As Zheng Jindo listened quietly, his face filled with shock when he heard that Tang Mi-mi had transcended the Transcendental Peak realm.
[Is there another realm above the Transcendental Peak realm?]
[That’s what Grandmother said. But did your uncle expect Grandmother to reach the Transcendental Peak realm?]
[The main family had Gang Qi Materialization experts. But they hadn’t undergone Rejuvenation either… so I thought they had transcended the Gang Qi Materialization realm. What is Grandmother’s realm, exactly?]
[She didn’t speak of it. And Tang Myeong seems to be keeping it a secret as well.]
[That makes sense. It’s a secret that could shake the Murim…]
And such conversations were also being carried on through voice transmission in the rooms where the Qingcheng Sect experts were staying.
Meanwhile, the only things Jang Cheong and Amitabha were doing was circulating their internal energy and meditating.
***
Early in the morning, Tang Myeong and the core experts of the Tang Family were inside the large jars placed beside the pond.
The Tang Family experts inside the jars were cultivating while circulating the Samyang Divine Art.
The cold water that had been swirling around gradually began to boil as time passed, sending up steam.
The Tang Family experts watching it opened the lid at the bottom of the jars.
Sizzle!
Warm water flowed out and began to flow along the bamboo channel at the bottom toward one side.
When Tang Myeung trained alone, the water had flowed straight into the ground, but as more people trained, they connected the bamboo channels to divert the water farther away.
As the water drained out, cold water began to refill the jars.
Tang Mi-mi watched the retainers training from one side, palm resting on the lid of a jar.
Hua aak! Hua aak!
The jar was boiling red hot and spewing out hot energy.
Holding the jar in her hand, Tang Mi-mi spoke.
“Tang Myeong, stop and come out.”
At Tang Mi-mi’s words, Tang Myeong gathered his internal energy into his dantian and finished circulating and meditating.
“Hoohoo!”
Tang Myeong exhaled a long breath, and hot air like mist came out from his mouth.
When he rose from the jar, the Tang Family warriors raised cloths to cover his body.
Tang Myeong, who had come out of the jar, wiped his body with a dry cloth and then walked over to Tang Mi-mi.
Tang Mi-mi briefly looked at him and shook her head slightly.
“There’s no progress in the three talents.”
Tang Myeong had been spinning in place for several months without making any progress after learning the composition of the Samyang Divine Art.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. If the Samyang Divine Art were an easy technique, it wouldn’t be called a divine art.”
While speaking, Tang Mi-mi looked at the jar in her hand and lightly tapped her side.
Pung!
With a loud explosion, the lid shot upward.
Hua aak!
Blue energy flowed out from the jar.
Shaking her palm to disperse the energy, Tang Mi-mi looked inside and turned the jar upside down into a box.
Thud thud!
Red spheres poured into the box. The spheres that entered the box were the Blood Spirit Pills.
Tang Mi-mi turned the jar over and shook out the dregs, then put medicinal herbs into it.
Tang Mi-mi filled the jar with medicinal herbs, covered the lid, and blew internal energy into it.
Hua aak!
Seeing the jar boiling red hot, Tang Myeong said,
“Grandmother, can I learn your pill-making art from the main family?”
At Tang Myeong’s question, Tang Mi-mi nodded.
“I can teach you. But it would be difficult for you to do it like I do.”
“Is it because of the difference in realms?”
“Yes.”
Tang Mi-mi looked at the jar for a long moment and then spoke.
“The Family Head doesn’t need to do everything well. We just need to nurture those who do well.”
“I understand.”
While they were talking, a sudden Hua aak sound came.
Tang Myeong saw that steam was spurting out of the jar like crazy.
“Tang Jang has an excellent aptitude for martial arts. He’s only been training for a short time, yet his Samyang Divine Art has already reached ten-tenths.”
“I’m sorry…”
Tang Jang had trained longer than Tang Myeong and even longer if including his past life. Yet Tang Myeong couldn’t even cross the three talents, while Tang Jang had reached ten-tenths.
But Tang Myeong’s eyes were filled with pride. If he couldn’t do it, what of it? If the Tang Family retainers became stronger and better, that was the path for the Tang Family.