Chapter 349
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 349
Chapter Title: Proof Must Be Shown
Ha Mu-baek was sipping tea in one of the guest reception hall's rooms, guided there by Dang Ji-yeon.
It was delicious tea, even for Ha Mu-baek, who didn't particularly enjoy it.
He could tell Dang Ji-yeon had put thought into it.
However.
'The atmosphere wasn't great, though...'
Dang Ji-yeon might not have noticed.
But there was no way he could miss the sour mood of the Dang Clan warriors who had come with her.
By the time he had emptied his teacup.
Ha Mu-baek's eyebrow twitched.
He had sensed Dang Ji-yeon encountering the person with the strongest aura in the entire Dang Clan.
'The clan head, as expected.'
She had said his approval was necessary.
It seemed she had gone straight to see the clan head.
He refilled his teacup from the teapot.
He warmed the slightly lukewarm tea using the inner heat from his body.
Then brought it back to his lips.
As he savored the aroma.
A short while later.
He sensed presences heading toward the reception hall.
Dang Ji-yeon, the Dang Clan head, and Dang Ja-cheong.
And with them, the movements of many warriors.
By the time he had slowly finished his second cup.
He felt them entering the reception hall.
Clunk.
The moment Ha Mu-baek set his teacup down on the table.
Bang.
The room's door flew open, and a group entered.
Ha Mu-baek rose calmly from his chair.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Ha Mu-baek, senior instructor of the Dragon Training Pavilion's Fierce Dragon Corps."
Pavilion Lord Pang Do-yul had called him that, so now he was starting to make use of the title outside as well.
"Pleased to meet you. I am Dang Mu-ryeong, head of the Sichuan Dang Clan."
Ha Mu-baek and Dang Mu-ryeong.
Their gazes locked in midair.
As Dang Mu-ryeong had said, it was their first meeting.
During the Martial World Great War, Dang Mu-ryeong had mostly defended the clan or dealt only with the Demonic Cult and Blood Cult near Sichuan Province, so he had never crossed paths with Ha Mu-baek.
'Just as he said.'
A few times on the battlefield, he had run into Dang Ja-cheong, who had boasted to Ha Mu-baek about it.
His son, to whom he had passed the clan head position, was far stronger than him—the strongest warrior in the Dang Clan.
From the aura radiating from his body, or the power Ha Mu-baek sensed he was holding in check.
It was certainly worth the claim.
With a father like this, perhaps that's why Dang Jin-san had become the Chengdu Playboy.
An outstanding father, brothers, and sisters.
Dang Jin-san, the only one without talent among them.
That he had ended up merely as the Chengdu Playboy could be called fortunate.
It was an environment that could have twisted and ruined him far worse.
'The kid's got a good heart, though.'
As Ha Mu-baek recalled Dang Jin-san's true nature beneath his usual bravado and nodded slightly.
"It's been a while. You could have come by sooner."
Dang Ja-cheong, standing beside Dang Mu-ryeong, greeted him with a grin.
"My apologies, elder."
Ha Mu-baek returned the greeting.
"Come on, everyone, sit down and talk."
At Dang Ja-cheong's urging, they all took seats around the large table.
"I've heard from Yeon what Instructor Ha desires."
Dang Mu-ryeong cut straight to the point as soon as they sat.
He was holding back out of respect for his father's dignity.
Otherwise.
He might have kicked down the reception hall door and bellowed, What nonsense is this?
"It's absolutely essential for the Fierce Dragon Corps, who will be fighting stiffened corpses alongside the Demon-Sealing Corps in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest."
Since he had come to make a request, Ha Mu-baek spoke politely.
"Until now, the Fierce Dragon Corps hasn't been supplied with Blood Poison Pills. Suddenly demanding them puts the Dang Clan in a difficult position."
"That's because until now, you've treated the Fierce Dragon Corps as nothing but consumables."
Ha Mu-baek replied calmly.
Consumables.
At that word, Dang Mu-ryeong fell silent for a moment.
There was no rebuttal.
It was the plain truth.
And right now, his own son—his sixth child—was there to be a consumable.
"Does that mean they're not consumables now?"
"Not while I'm around, at least. To ensure that, we absolutely need one Blood Poison Pill per person as a precaution."
"Even so, supplying Blood Poison Pills is solely in response to the Righteous Heaven Alliance's requests. It can't be decided based on an individual's demands."
Dang Mu-ryeong was firm.
No matter what Ha Mu-baek said, he clearly expressed his refusal.
Ha Mu-baek stared straight at Dang Mu-ryeong, but the man met his gaze with his fierce eyes, showing no sign of backing down.
Ha Mu-baek had no further moves.
Dang Mu-ryeong held the justification, and his words were procedurally correct.
Ha Mu-baek looked away from Dang Mu-ryeong and glanced up at the ceiling for a moment.
'Sigh. Should I go beat up Elder Gong Son...'
But going all the way back to Luoyang would be a hassle.
"Now, now, let's all calm down a bit. Let this old man interject for a moment."
At Dang Ja-cheong's words, both men's gazes turned to him.
"First, Instructor Ha. Do you know how precious Blood Poison Pills are?"
"I know they temporarily grant even someone without any martial arts a level of immunity to myriad poisons."
Dang Ja-cheong nodded at Ha Mu-baek's answer.
"Yes, you understand their value. Even as the Sichuan Dang Clan, do you think we can produce them easily?"
Ha Mu-baek paused briefly at the returned question.
"I know such high-grade pills are difficult to manufacture. But I believe the Dang Clan's resources make it possible."
Ha Mu-baek answered with a calm expression.
Even during his time as Hocheon Corps Leader, the supply of Blood Poison Pills had never been cut off.
Dang Ja-cheong gazed steadily at Ha Mu-baek.
"We currently produce roughly 150 to 200 per year."
"Hm..."
Ha Mu-baek let out a low hum at Dang Ja-cheong's response.
He had expected difficulty, but it was even worse than he thought.
That must have been why Dang Mu-ryeong was so adamant.
This wouldn't work.
It was more than half of what the Dang Clan produced in an entire year.
"My apologies. I've made an unreasonable request."
Ha Mu-baek admitted it cleanly and apologized.
If he couldn't get Blood Poison Pills from the Dang Clan, he needed to find another way.
'Guess I have to go to Luoyang after all...'
If the Dang Clan wouldn't provide them, he would have to get whatever the Righteous Heaven Alliance had stockpiled.
"Well, you've only known easy access from your Hocheon Corps Leader days, so it's understandable."
Dang Ja-cheong spoke as if he comprehended.
"How was it possible back then?"
Ha Mu-baek suddenly asked out of curiosity.
"We had stockpiles from years past, and it was an emergency. We produced them desperately. Of course, the Hocheon Corps' help was crucial."
Ha Mu-baek tilted his head briefly before recalling a certain operation.
An operation to recapture a place that wasn't even a strategic stronghold.
Even the Hocheon Corps, tasked with protecting the alliance leader, had moved separately on So Hwi-woong's orders.
Such things happened frequently during the Martial World Great War.
The Hocheon Corps had effectively become less of an alliance leader's guard unit and more of an independent strike force under his direct command.
In the intense war, many battlefields were short on hands, so the alliance leader had sacrificed his own protection to deploy the guards everywhere.
Gansu Province's Wudu.
It was an operation to recapture that area near Sichuan Province.
Only after fierce fighting and reclaiming it did they learn the reason.
The Dang Clan's request for herbs from the surrounding mountains.
Tactically meaningless, but strategically significant.
After reclaiming it, the supply of various Dang Clan pills increased.
"Wudu."
At Ha Mu-baek's short utterance, Dang Ja-cheong nodded.
Dang Mu-ryeong averted his gaze slightly at that.
The Dang Clan was still sourcing medicine from there even now.
A precious land abundant in rare herbs.
Though based in Sichuan, the Dang Clan had gained influence over that Gansu location because of the Martial World Great War.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance had recaptured it and entrusted management to the Dang Clan.
Among the many who bled in that fierce battle were the Hocheon Corps.
And they had earned the greatest merits.
Of course.
Ha Mu-baek had been there.
"We received great help. And now my grandson is in the Fierce Dragon Corps. Surely one of those Blood Poison Pills you're seeking is for him?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
Only in that regard did Dang Mu-ryeong acknowledge Ha Mu-baek.
He could have used Dang Jin-san as an excuse, demanding pills for his son.
But Ha Mu-baek hadn't mentioned Dang Jin-san's name from start to finish.
How could a true man not respect such conduct?
"How about this, then?"
Dang Ja-cheong moistened his throat with some tea as he spoke.
Ha Mu-baek and Dang Mu-ryeong's gazes focused on him simultaneously.
"Father, this won't do. Thinking of the clansmen struggling to produce Blood Poison Pills even now..."
"Hoho, Clan Head, hear me out first."
Dang Ja-cheong extended a hand to silence Dang Mu-ryeong.
Then looked back at Ha Mu-baek.
"The Central Plains now faces an enormous calamity right before us. Do you know of it?"
Ha Mu-baek tilted his head at the sudden, out-of-left-field question.
An enormous calamity?
He had never heard of it.
Beyond the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult, what else could there be?
Ha Mu-baek's attention was entirely on the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest right now.
"I don't."
An honest answer.
"It began in the Southern Frontier."
Dang Ja-cheong started from the beginning and explained everything.
There were still many classified details, but he hid nothing.
Dang Mu-ryeong tried to interject midway, but Dang Ja-cheong gave him no chance.
"A poison even Myriad Poison Immunity can't block..."
Ha Mu-baek murmured, lost in thought.
If true, even he wouldn't be safe.
His own poison resistance was at the Myriad Poison Immunity level.
And furthermore.
"Ten-Thousand-Year Poison Crystal..."
A shocking statement.
Dang Mu-ryeong looked uncomfortable at Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
He himself had only just heard it from his father.
Meaning even Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong didn't know yet.
"Do you believe it?"
Ha Mu-baek nodded at Dang Ja-cheong's question.
He had no choice.
Hadn't he seen the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal with his own eyes recently?
'If there's a Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Crystal, there's no reason there can't be a Ten-Thousand-Year Poison Crystal...'
Dang Ja-cheong looked surprised at how readily Ha Mu-baek accepted it.
It was the kind of tale ordinary people would dismiss as fantasy or legend.
Like stories of dragons—spoken of, but never seen.
"So, I'm planning to go to the Southern Frontier this time. Not the village Yeon visited, but tracing back to where this disaster truly began."
Dang Ji-yeon looked startled at Dang Ja-cheong's words.
"That's why I'm asking. Will you come with me? That girl worries about her father and won't let me go alone. Having a reliable man like you along would help greatly."
Dang Ja-cheong's proposal.
"No! Father!"
Before Ha Mu-baek could even think, Dang Mu-ryeong shot to his feet and shouted.
Hocheon Corps Leader Ha Mu-baek.
He knew the man was strong.
But this was insane.
A journey to find a poison that even Myriad Poison Immunity couldn't withstand? Absurd.
No matter how strong one's martial arts, it was useless against such venom.
"Should I go alone, then?"
Dang Ja-cheong asked his son.
"I can't allow that as clan head either!"
Dang Mu-ryeong was resolute.
"Why suddenly ask this of me?"
Ha Mu-baek interjected into the father-son argument.
"It's a tough matter, so let's help each other. If you come with me to the Southern Frontier, I'll prepare 200 Blood Poison Pills for you."
"Father!!!"
Dang Mu-ryeong shouted again.
But Dang Ja-cheong ignored the outcry.
"Former clan head or not, I have that much authority. Don't you agree?"
Dang Ja-cheong asked with a sharp gaze.
"......"
Dang Mu-ryeong had no reply.
It was true.
"Instructor Ha's martial arts are unrivaled under heaven. He'll be a great help to me."
"I can't accept that."
Ha Mu-baek hadn't even answered yet.
The two were quarreling.
'Luoyang or the Southern Frontier...'
Ha Mu-baek weighed the two options.
The less burdensome one was.
Obviously.
'The Southern Frontier.'
Dealing with Elder Gong Son and So Hwi-woong in Luoyang would be exhausting.
"Understood. I'll go with you."
Dang Ja-cheong grinned at Ha Mu-baek's response.
"This is madness!!!"
Dang Mu-ryeong roared.
He absolutely could not allow it.
"Hey now. Better than going with you."
Dang Ja-cheong said firmly.
At that, Dang Mu-ryeong whipped his head around and glared at Ha Mu-baek with fierce eyes.
What had this man done to earn his father's such trust?
Enough to ignore his own son's words.
"In that case. In that case, I suppose proof must be shown."
A savage voice flowed from Dang Mu-ryeong's mouth.