Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: The Tang Elder's Live Experiments
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Tang Clan's elder, Tang Yang. A familiar name.
Not that I'd ever crossed paths with him before, but in my previous life, when I was close with Tang Gun, I remembered hearing his name pop up pretty often.
What was it they called him? The Tang Clan's top weirdo and walking headache?
And yet, his skills were the real deal, making it tough for anyone to rein him in?
"Elder. What exactly do you want to do?"
"Live experiments!"
"Pardon?"
"Live experiments!"
"We're strangers, you know."
"That's why I'll be as gentle as possible and make sure it doesn't hurt! Please, just give me your permission!"
"......"
Yang-hui glanced up at the sky for a moment.
'Typical of the Tang Clan.'
Maybe changing the world's view of the Tang Clan to poison experts had been a mistake after all.
Live experiments? On the young master of another family?
'I knew the Tang Clan took their martial arts development seriously because of the heavenly punishment on them, but...'
All of the Tang Clan's martial arts originated from the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
Of course, those powers hadn't wanted a family specializing in poisons and hidden weapons to threaten their own positions.
So they'd handed down techniques that were inherently limited—martial arts that, to put it bluntly, could never reach the Super Peak realm.
Techniques so fundamentally flawed that without completely overhauling them to create something entirely new, reaching Super Peak was impossible.
That was why the Tang Clan's long-cherished goal was the Super Peak realm—or as they called it, the Intent realm.
It was tradition for the most talented martial artist of each generation to inherit the clan leadership and then enter indefinite seclusion. That was how desperately they pursued it.
'Even so, live experiments? Well, that explains why even the Tang Clan called him a weirdo.'
"So, to sum it up. An elder of the Tang Clan is proposing live experiments on me—a total stranger and the young master of our allied Baek Clan. Is that right?"
Even when Yang-hui dropped hints, Tang Yang remained utterly shameless.
"Your desires are plain as day. Why wrap it up in fancy words? Better to be straightforward!"
Well, he wasn't wrong, technically...
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a sharp thwack echoed through the air.
Thwack!
It wasn't a slap to the face. It was Tang Gun smacking his own forehead with his palm.
"Elder! How many times have I told you to show proper respect when dealing with outsiders...?"
"I am showing respect!"
"Not just your tone—the content too... Please..."
From Tang Gun's reaction, it was clear exactly how the Tang Clan treated Tang Yang.
Basically, he was like an older version of Chui-dal.
The shameless, slippery type who never listened and just gave everyone headaches.
-Bro? Why's your gaze on this little brother suddenly so disrespectful?
-You punk, is 'disrespectful' even the right word to use on your bro?
-Couldn't think of anything better.
See? Tang Yang was basically an older Chui-dal.
It was confirmed.
"Brother Tang."
"Sorry about that, Brother Hui."
"It's fine. But does the Tang Clan really do live experiments?"
Tang Gun looked horrified.
"What kind of demonic nonsense is that? We don't do them on other people! And even if we did, never without consent!"
"......So you get consent through intimidation?"
Tang Gun jumped back, waving his hands frantically.
"No! Absolutely not! Uncle Tang! Look at this! You've planted weird ideas in Hui's head!"
"A true gentleman only needs to be at peace with himself!"
"Uncllle!"
Pushing aside the protesting Tang Gun, Tang Yang fixed him with a blazing gaze.
"I overheard, Young Master. At your age, you've already built up nearly four circuits of inner energy? Even with some stroke of fortune, that's a miracle that couldn't happen without heaven's permission! Hasn't occurred since the Great Sea Dragon King either!"
The Great Sea Dragon King, Peng Ban, was one of the Heavenly Martial Ten Venerables.
Rumor had it his inner energy was so vast it could split the heavens.
"Four circuits at your age and level? Please, let me examine your body!"
'Well, my awesomeness is clearly getting this intense reaction out of him...'
A martial artist's inner energy capacity was proportional to the perfection of their body.
If you could just pop spirit pills and stack up inner energy endlessly, the world's richest guy would be the world's best martial artist, right?
Containing four circuits in a body not yet thirty was thanks to tempering it with memories from his past life, plus actively harnessing the power of his immortal qi.
'Tch. Anyway, he's probably thinking it's some outer sect secret technique for now. Isn't asking me to just spill it outright a bit too casual? Especially while bringing up live experiments as the method.'
"Seems my talent has piqued your curiosity, Elder. I understand."
"Exactly! I knew you'd get it!"
"Still, no live experiments. I've got to turn it into a Baek Clan secret later on."
"......We're allies, aren't we? How could it not be okay?"
Tang Yang deflated in an instant.
"We're allies... In the old tales, allies even formed blood oaths and lived like brothers..."
Good thing he seemed to have some sense of boundaries and didn't just barrel over them recklessly.
Anyone like that, and Tang Gun and Tang Yeon wouldn't treat him with such affectionate exasperation.
"Even so, live experiments feel a bit much."
"Then I'll do them on myself first. That okay? Or how about we experiment on each other?"
"No, what the."
Ah. This guy's dizzying.
As that thought hit, his gaze landed on Tang Yeon.
Come to think of it, unlike Tang Gun, Tang Yeon wasn't actively trying to stop him.
'Wait. Didn't she even say to give us time to recover from the journey when we arrived? She's not stopping him.'
"......"
"Sister Tang?"
"Uh, yeah?"
"Sister, you're not stopping him as fiercely as Brother Tang."
"......Hehe."
"Don't tell me?"
Now that he thought about it, Tang Yeon had been taught the pinnacle of the Tang Clan's medical poison arts.
"Sister. Who did you learn your martial arts from, by any chance?"
"Uh, what?"
Tang Yeon silently glanced at Tang Yang.
Of course.
"No, Brother Hui. It's natural to be curious, right? Showing off such extraordinary talent at your age! As a physician, how could I hold back?"
As a physician, my foot.
If she got permission, she'd probably inject all sorts of poisons and observe reactions.
Thwack!
To reiterate, it wasn't a slap. Tang Gun hitting his forehead again.
In the meantime, Tang Yang launched into serious negotiations.
"Alright! How about this? I'm not begging empty-handed. Let's negotiate together."
Negotiate what? No martial artist in the world negotiates terms for experiments on their own body.
......Though a sudden idea did pop up.
'Hmm. Could use this as an excuse to access the Tang Clan's secrets?'
They called it live experiments, but no one's planning dissection, so I can adjust the intensity as needed.
Pretend to reveal some Baek Clan secrets, get their techniques in exchange, and offer improvements.
'Things were looking dark, but now light's pouring in.'
The method was a bit extreme, but for Brother Tang's clan, it was worth the risk.
"To be honest, I've been curious about my own constitution and body from a medical perspective too."
Tang Yang leaped up in place.
A different kind of leap from Tang Gun's earlier one.
"I knew it! Knew you'd say that! I heard Young Master Baek isn't truly of the Baek bloodline, so you couldn't have inherited their generational constitution... Oops. My mistake."
Right in front of the person involved, he'd basically said, 'You're not your dad's real son,' then shrank back, gauging the reaction.
Hmm. At least he wasn't a total boundary-crosser. Silver lining.
"My body has changed a lot through various fortunes. The Tang Clan, top-tier in medicine across the world, might uncover things even I don't know."
Flattery, sure, but half-true too.
He'd learned plenty about his immortal qi through trial and error, but a more expert physician's eye might spot something new.
'Thinking of it that way, it's not a total loss.'
"But I have conditions. My body is, after all, a Baek Clan asset and secret. Do you agree?"
Seeing permission in sight, the ecstatic Tang Yang nodded vigorously.
"Of course! Your body is priceless treasure itself!"
"So in exchange for what I show you, I want to learn about the Tang Clan's martial arts too."
"Deal!"
Tang Yang agreed instantly. Meanwhile, Tang Gun and Tang Yeon were stunned.
"Elder!"
"Uncle!"
"You can't just agree that easily!"
"What's the harm? Our clan's arts are already spread across the Nine Sects and Five Clans' secret annals anyway."
"Even so!"
"Don't you need the clan head's permission at least!"
"Eh, tch."
Tang Yang looked apologetically at Yang-hui.
"That's how it is. Instead, how about I share my personal research?"
Yang-hui hadn't expected instant access to the Tang Clan's core arts anyway.
So he nodded nonchalantly.
"Fine. It's all part of martial exchange between allies, satisfying curiosity, and advancing toward better techniques anyway."
"Hahaha! Young Master, your heart is as vast as they come!"
And so, the group headed to Tang Yang's residence... or rather, his laboratory.
* * *
"......"
"......"
"......"
In the heavy silence, Tang Gun was the first to lose patience.
"Eldeeeer!"
Come to think of it, this was the first time he'd seen Brother Tang so emotional, dragging out his words like that.
Always the easygoing type with his hearty laughs— who knew he had this side?
"What the hell is this? What are you doing in the clan grounds?!"
The vast laboratory. Massive jars—big enough to call vats—held one person each.
Inside, what anyone would recognize as poison liquid filled them to the brim. And beneath? A low fire was burning.
"Beon-ah! Yak-ah! Hu-ya! What the hell are you all doing in there?!"
'Good, all Tang Clan members. Not kidnapping outsiders for experiments.'
As the shocked Tang Gun stared, Tang Yang replied casually.
"Training."
"Training how?!"
"Heh. Young Clan Leader, don't you know 'ten thousand paths lead to one'? It means there are endless roads to the pinnacle."
Was "ten thousand paths" the phrase for this?
"It's training to achieve Invulnerability to Hundred Poisons. Absorbing specially blended poison liquid through every pore to transform them into Poison Humans."
That was the moment.
One of the juniors in the jars started coughing violently.
"Cough!"
Tang Yang rushed over, wiping the junior's mouth with his sleeve, then glanced nervously at Yang-hui.
"Poor ventilation makes the air quality bad. Ha! Ha!"
No, it wasn't. Clearly blood.
"......Your sleeve's red, Elder."
"Hm? Oh, my stomach's been off... Cough! Cough!"
"This isn't the time for acting! Beon-ah! Pull yourself together! Beon-ah!"
The junior who'd vomited blood, Tang Beon, had his face turning deathly blue.
Overwhelmed by excessive poison energy, no doubt.
Yang-hui hurried over too.
"Brother Tang! I'll handle first aid! Call the medical poison experts!"
"Got it!"
Immortal qi guided all things to correctness.
It should work on a body invaded by poison too.
'Hm? Better response than expected? Even drawing in the immortal qi like a magnet.'
Through the hand on Tang Beon's back, Harmonious Heaven qi poured in endlessly.
The Harmonious Heaven qi from the Harmonious Heaven Principle Origin Art, harmonizing all energies under heaven.
And the immortal qi, guiding all things in the world along their natural flow.
"Impossible! The p-poison qi!"
The poison liquid filling the jar was gradually clarifying.
And changes were rippling through Tang Beon's body.
"Young Master Baek! Step aside for a sec!"
Tang Yang dropped to the jar's front, taking pulses all over Tang Beon's body, even applying and feeding him poisons from his own vials.
"Ugh...... Elder? What... happened......"
As Tang Beon regained consciousness and groaned.
Tang Yang's eyes nearly bugged out.
"I-In, in, invulnerability... to Hundred Poisons!"
Yang-hui, shoved aside, scratched his head awkwardly.
'Uh oh. Looks like I accidentally caused a scene.'