112. Seungdeok Manor (7)
Seungdeok Manor (7)
112. Seungdeok Manor (7)
The sect-opening ceremony and investiture weren't the only reasons we delayed our departure and stayed at Seungdeok Manor. A sudden windfall of six hundred taels of gold had come into our hands. Yeongsan Sect needed money more desperately than anyone, but the Liaoning Branch was already contributing six hundred taels toward rebuilding the sect grounds, and we still had the enormous sum of eight hundred taels in hand. Adding this fortune on top of that only made it harder to decide how to use the money.
An ordinary sect with this kind of money would buy a new manor, renovate an existing building, try to acquire some secret manual that money could buy, or purchase quality weapons. But we numbered only six. As with Seungdeok Manor, we had no real need for a manor.
Renovating a building? We were already pouring eight hundred taels of gold into a complete rebuild.
Secret manuals? Yeongsan now possessed the Four Heroes' arts, the Medicine Immortal's art, and the Ice Soul Divine Art—six top-tier martial arts in total.
Weapons went without saying: with the exception of cold-iron and meteorite-iron swords, ours were already the highest grade, refined to their very limits.
After much agonizing, in the end my master simply decided to use this opportunity to produce a second spirit pill. There was no other choice left, after all. Lee Eun-ha wrote down the necessary ingredients and instructed Hong Seon-hwa, who was strongly connected to the Hebei commercial network, to go out and buy them. The purchases turned out to be staggering: century-old fleeceflower root, fifty-year-old Joseon wild ginseng, a hundred-and-thirty-year-old reishi mushroom. She cleaned out not only Hebei but the largest medicinal wholesalers in Beijing as well, until unheard-of ingredients piled up like a mountain in front of the medicine hall. We were all struck speechless by the staggering quality and sheer quantity. Hong Seon-hwa looked at us and smiled proudly.
And she had every right to be proud. In my past life or this one, goods like these weren't the sort of thing you could easily obtain just by having a lot of money.
"Medicine Immortal, these are items the medicinal merchants recommended. Because the buyer was spending so freely, they said they were showing them as a special favor."
She held out several wooden boxes.
"What are they?"
Lee Eun-ha picked up a red orb and asked.
"They said this is the inner core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Flower Carp. And this one is the inner core of a Twin-Headed Blood Snake. If you're interested, they offered to let them go cheap."
Wow. Once you reach the level of a VIP customer, they even send legendary items like this as recommendations.
"Send all of these back."
But Lee Eun-ha cut them off flatly.
"Pardon? These are genuinely precious items. They said they wouldn't even have shown them to us if we hadn't purchased goods worth several hundred taels of gold all at once."
"Madam Hong. An animal can never live for ten thousand years. Even immortals and Buddhas must cast off their fleshly bodies through immortal ascension or nirvana to abide eternally, do they not? If such is the case for the great beings of heaven, then for a mere fish, a tiny creature, to live ten thousand years is a tale utterly without foundation."
There was no such thing as a Ten-Thousand-Year Flower Carp, Lee Eun-ha declared flatly.
"Moreover, even if it did exist, there is no way it could possess efficacy. Unlike plants, which accumulate energy and grow with the passage of time like a great tree, animals are made to age and weaken as the years pass, are they not? Think of a healthy young calf versus an old ox on the verge of death. The calf is obviously superior in taste, and certainly better for the body as well, isn't it?"
Ah... Now that I heard it, that made sense. Even if I were a vampire, I'd want to drink a young virgin's blood, not the blood of some grandmother over a hundred years old.
"Then what about this inner core of the Twin-Headed Blood Snake? The medicinal merchant clearly showed us the shed skin of a snake with two heads and one body. He said that by its very birth, it is a mysterious, legendary spirit creature."
"A Twin-Headed Blood Snake certainly exists. But despite its mysterious appearance, it possesses no special spiritual energy. It is simply a deformed snake born with misfortune, nothing more."
Lee Eun-ha dismissed even the Twin-Headed Blood Snake as nothing but an animal with a congenital deformity. It was knowledge I should have known too, having studied twenty-first-century biology, so why had I believed that the inner cores of spirit creatures were real, my heart pounding as I gazed at these supposed inner-core orbs? Hearing the correct answer and thinking it over, I was genuinely embarrassed. I was lucky I'd kept my mouth shut.
The spirit pill being manufactured this time had a genuinely complex production method, and for seven days and seven nights Lee Eun-ha neither ate nor slept, stirring with her rice paddle in the medicine hall. I was worried about her, but just as a practitioner of the Yin-Yang Art could never die of overexertion in bed, her Shennong Art wrapped her in an ever-mightier aura. By the time the medicinal pill was finally complete and she emerged from the medicine hall, she had already become a mature second-rate master, nearly at my father's level.
"This is the Medicine Immortal Pill. It is my master's greatest pill, worthy of bearing her name. It contains fully half a gapja of internal energy. The more elixirs one consumes, the more sharply their efficacy drops. Since we have already taken a spirit pill of extremely high potency, ordinarily we would absorb at best five years of internal energy from half a gapja. But the Medicine Immortal Pill, my master's pride, is absorbed little by little over the course of three years, allowing one to ultimately take in the full half-gapja of internal energy. The only thing is, we will have now gained nearly fifty years of internal energy through elixirs alone, so from now on no elixir whatsoever will be able to increase our internal energy further."
An explanation that left me speechless. Fifty years from spirit pills alone? Even the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill, taken as one's very first elixir with no resistance, would yield at most half a gapja. Add private tutoring in a top-tier internal art and fifty years from elixirs, and in three years even the person with the weakest internal energy in Yeongsan Sect would have at least one full gapja. There was no record of the Medical Immortal and the Medicine Immortal having been active in the same era, but even if the Medical Immortal's healing abilities were vastly superior, the Medicine Immortal possessed the secret of an internal-energy-enhancing pill method—the thing of greatest value to a martial artist. In terms of worth to the Martial World, she would be a cut above the Medical Immortal.
"In Junior Brother's case, however, because of the elixir you took at the Baek Clan Estate, an increase of ten years is your limit."
Lee Eun-ha spoke regretfully. Even the last time, when everyone else gained twenty years from the spirit pill, I had gained only five. I'd already given up on further gains from spirit pills after that last elixir, yet this one would still give me another ten years. It wasn't the Four Heroes' secret manuals—the Medicine Immortal Hall itself was Yeongsan Sect's true secret, something that must never be revealed to the world.
In my case, I had the cheat of being able to invoke the Flame Emperor even without a spirit pill, so I had nothing to feel disappointed about, but it was still pleasant to gain, for free, internal energy that someone else would have to painstakingly accumulate through ten years of bone-grinding effort. Now ten years of internal energy seemed trivial, but during my twenty-odd years at the Baek Clan Estate, I'd built up barely ten years' worth of internal energy even with the help of elixirs. In terms of my past life, it was no different from winning a lottery worth ten years of annual salary.
Before putting the pill in my mouth, I invoked the Flame Emperor outright and absorbed it in an optimal state. The spirit pill was of the slow-release type, so there was no particular sensation, and as for the taste... Hmm... Just your basic herbal-medicine taste, I suppose? Considering the ingredients, there was no way it would be cool and refreshing. It irritated me a little that this world, for all its crude, third-rate-martial-novel world-building, was weirdly realistic about things like this.
Lee Eun-ha tactfully gathered the remaining ingredients and produced spirit pills containing roughly five years of internal energy, which she gave to Peng Seok, Peng So, Peng Gang, and Hong Seon-hwa. She entrusted Peng Gang with the shares for Byeok-geum and Ban Ho-jeong, who had returned to Yeongsan. Even though five years seemed laughably small, the members of the Peng Clan at Seungdeok Manor had already consumed more elixirs than I had, and even the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill no longer worked on their bodies. When they were handed spirit pills that were effective even for them, even the dignified Peng Seok went around smiling all day in an exceedingly elated mood.
"This is medicine for the two of you. It won't increase internal energy, but I packed it full of things that are beneficial to the body. I told Hwa-ran how to warm the medicine, so if you take it steadily for a month, the effects will manifest right away."
Finally, Lee Eun-ha handed a decoction to Peng Seok's wife and Peng Mu's wife, and her medicinal production was finished.
"Oh my. You're taking care of an old woman like me as well? Thank you. I'll treasure it."
Peng Seok's wife embraced Lee Eun-ha with a kind expression. After hugging Lee Eun-ha, she tightly embraced Jeong-hyang, Son Yeong, Cho-ryeong, and finally even Master as she bade us farewell. Master had suddenly been forced to lead this absurd group, one that not even the Peng Clan Head could treat carelessly anymore, and she rested in the old woman's embrace with a trace of longing as she felt her warmth.
Peng So made Cho-ryeong promise several times that she would come back to visit, then sent us off crying noisily. Hong Seon-hwa looked as though she, too, wanted to sob at parting from me. Only then were we finally able to finish our business at Seungdeok Manor and set out once more on our journey to Henan.
"Taking a spirit pill worth a hundred taels of gold each... Are we really allowed to do this?"
Once we had left Seungdeok Manor and there were no watching eyes, my master dropped her grave and decisive sect-leader mode and spoke worriedly.
"A hundred taels of gold. That's ten thousand taels of silver, is it not?"
Son Yeong was tense and full of concern, though martial arts had been her lifelong highest value and her desperately desired internal energy had just increased.
"In reality, it would be far more expensive. The ingredients alone cost a hundred taels of gold per person, excluding the Medicine Immortal's formula and Senior Sister's labor."
"Then how much would this cost if we bought it on the market?"
Even Jeong-hyang, the one most removed from money and practical affairs, was calculating its monetary value.
"Well. First of all, no amount of money could buy it on the open market. The Spirit Jade Pill costs a hundred taels of gold, so even on the most conservative estimate, this would never sell for less than two thousand taels of gold. I've heard that's roughly the price of the Shaolin Great Rejuvenation Pill."
"T-two thousand taels?! Should we forget Henan, return to Yeongsan, make Spirit Jade Pills, Jeong-hyang Pills, and Son Yeong Pills, sell them for only fifty taels of gold each, and use the proceeds to make more Medicine Immortal Pills?"
My master's eyes had gone wild at the astronomical sum.
"Would the first buyer not wipe us out to prevent anyone else from buying them? Well, they'd spare Senior Sister Lee, drag her somewhere no one knew about, and force her to make elixirs for the rest of her life."
"Yeongmok is strong. Who could possibly attack our Yeongsan now?"
My master said it proudly, with boundless trust in me. I was happy to hear it as a man, but in this case it was simply impossible.
"They wouldn't be sending just one sect, like the Murong Clan or the Peng Clan. The Five Great Clans allied together. Or the Martial Alliance. An alliance of unorthodox factions. Or the Demonic Cult. Those are the sorts who would descend on us. Before I could even fight or do anything, Yeongsan would become the battleground of a great martial war. The Medicine Immortal Pill has that kind of value. So we must keep our mouths shut about this medicine for the rest of our lives—even if Yeongsan someday becomes a sect stronger than Shaolin or Wudang."
"It would, wouldn't it? When we aren't the least bit impoverished anymore, why is it so hard for this Taoist wench to set aside her greed?"
My master spoke dispiritedly, her brief, buoyant dream shattered. By my master's standards, she was truly someone without greed.
"Master. But, is Peng So going to the Peng Clan later?"
Cho-ryeong had put on a dignified older-sister act in front of Peng So during their tearful farewell, but no sooner had we left Seungdeok Manor than she asked about her.
Senior Sister Cho was lucky, having gained a cute younger sister. I'd ended up with two pervert little brothers. Though, I suppose it made sense: Cho-ryeong was genuinely cute, so she met a cute little sister, and I was a pervert bastard, so birds of a feather flocked together with my younger brothers.
"I wonder? Her grandfather, Manor Head Peng Seok, runs Seungdeok Manor, but I heard that her father, Great Hero Peng Mu, is now an elder of the Peng Clan. So she could probably go wherever the child wishes."
"Can't we bring her to Yeongsan Sect?"
She must have truly taken a liking to the little sister she'd just met. She hadn't been quite this attached to her friend Gang Ji-yeon. Well, the time they'd spent together had been different.
"Ryeong, Master has been having a very hard time lately. I have too many things to worry about, so taking another disciple is out of the question for a while."
My master said it with a weary face, like a mother dealing with a child's insistence.
"If I get a junior sister, I'll look after her well."
"Just look after your junior brother Yeongmok well for me."
The two of them were like an adorable mother and daughter, in age and station alike. They chatted warmly, like the ordinary mothers and daughters you'd find in any household.
"In Liaoning we annihilated the Blacksmith Gang, in Hebei we seized a manor of the Peng Clan. Who will we fight in Beijing?"
Jeong-hyang said it like a joke. Come to think of it, for people just entering the Martial World, our journey really had been spectacular.
"Don't say such terrible things. Words can become seeds."
"I didn't do anything. You're the one who personally cut off the Blacksmith Gang leader's head, Master."
Jeong-hyang wrapped her arms around my master's waist and said it playfully.
"Hyang, if you keep doing that, I might hand the sect-leader position over to you right now and retire into seclusion."
"Then I'll foist it off onto Junior Sister Son and follow you, Master."
At those words, Son Yeong looked at Lee Eun-ha.
"Will you pass it on to Junior Sister Cho too?"
"Of course not. I'm not so irresponsible a senior sister as to leave my young junior sister Cho alone. What do you all mean, 'leaving the mountain'? If I hand everything over to Senior Brother, you'll all be stuck here with no way out anyway."
With a single stroke, Lee Eun-ha neatly defeated my master and her disciples. If the Yeongsan Sect leader's position got foisted on me like this—as if it were some kind of punishment—then my three wives really would be stuck with nowhere to go. Since I had no junior brothers or sisters or disciples myself, I'd have to be a middle-aged uncle before I could pass the sect leader's position on to anyone.
"Oh, honestly. So in the end it's me again. But looking at it now, aren't I the weakest one in our Yeongsan Sect?"
My master grumbled in resignation. I was sorry to say it, but she really was the weakest. The genius Son Yeong and Lee Eun-ha with her massive internal energy weren't even worth discussing, and even Cho-ryeong, the prodigy, had surpassed my master. In the end, her rival was the head disciple Jeong-hyang, and Jeong-hyang, having learned the Ice Soul Divine Art that converted yin energy directly into power, was slightly ahead of my master. The Ice Soul Divine Art would continue to increase in refinement little by little, so in the end the gap would only widen further.
"Master, you should learn the Ice Soul Divine Art too."
When Jeong-hyang, who wanted to do everything together, said this, my master shook her head.
"No. I'm going to learn only the things of the Taoist path. I may not look it, but I am the sect leader of a Taoist sect."
My master spoke stubbornly. According to Heosan, Wudang's martial arts were by nature slow to bear fruit. And yet even now they were extolled as the premier sword of the Martial World. If you doggedly pursued a single path, one day you could soar higher than anyone. Heosan had said that he himself was proof of that. As a non-master myself, I had no way of knowing whether those words were true or not, but I thought that the image of doggedly walking a single path suited my master very well.