“Keek.”
A spider with a vaguely human-like face spewed venom from its mouth.
Chzzzt.
The venom was so toxic that it melted not only the trees but even the hardened soil beneath.
Even with a hood covering my mouth, my head was starting to feel dizzy.
Spirit herbs usually appeared in places where the energy of the heavens and earth converged.
And such spiritual lands didn’t only nurture spirit herbs—they often gave rise to spiritual creatures as well.
However, if the creature in question was horrifying just to look at, people would sometimes call it a demonic beast.
“Disgusting.”
Eight legs, a massive body, and a humanoid face with four eyes—this thing was none other than the demon beast known as the Human-faced Spider.
The Human-faced Spider stood guard in front of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng, wary that I might try to steal its treasure.
“Because of you, I had to go all the way to Mount Hapchi.”
Circling around it, I slashed off one of its legs.
Kieek.
Green blood spurted out as smoke and acidic fluid sprayed in all directions.
For someone like me, whose internal energy was meager, even the smoke alone could be fatal. It had been worth the trip to Mount Hapchi to take the Nine-leaf Deep Root herb beforehand.
“Even if you survive here, in three years you’ll be dragged off to the Tang Clan and squeezed dry of venom until you wither away.”
Kieek.
Despite my attempt to reason with it, the Human-faced Spider had no intention of listening.
Chaak.
Webs shot out from its back, weaving a net in all directions.
In an instant, the web blocked the passage of the cave.
“Foolish creature.”
I lit the web with a torch.
The flame raced along the silk and surged toward the Human-faced Spider.
The fire traveled along its sticky secretions and reached its back in no time.
Kieek.
Just as it panicked and tried to scrape its backside against the ground, I drowned its body in oil and set it ablaze.
Kieeeeeek!
As it screamed, I thrust my sword into its disgusting mouth.
It flailed wildly, spraying green blood from its eyes and mouth—its human-like face now more disgusting than ever.
As I backed away, its movements gradually slowed.
Once the stench filled the entire cave, I was finally able to catch my breath.
“Whew.”
Though I had consumed the Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu and the King Ginseng, I had only managed to absorb the equivalent of eight years of internal energy.
As rare as those spirit herbs were, they didn’t do much to increase my inner power. Plus, the Taeulmun Breathing Technique had a limit to how much it could absorb.
“At this rate, when will I ever catch up to that bastard?”
The Taechung Divine Sword—currently Yong Soa—had internal energy equivalent to three cycles of the sexagenary cycle. *Approximtely 180 years.
Three cycles. Three full cycles.
The sheer scale of it made me feel dizzy.
Still, I couldn’t afford to sit idle.
“If I consume every herb listed in the Manual of Jianghu Spirit Herbs, maybe I’ll at least be able to catch up.”
The Taeulmun Breathing Technique was excellent, yes, but it was only a foundation.
Without an advanced internal energy technique, absorption would remain a challenge.
The energy of the spirit herbs wouldn’t vanish, but how unfair would it be to die with all that unused energy still inside me?
“I need elixirs. Elixirs are what I need.”
To increase internal energy, elixirs were far more efficient than herbs.
And the more prestigious the sect that produced the elixir, the more internal energy it could grant.
“There’s no end to the things I have to do.”
As I mulled over my situation, I stepped past the corpse of the Human-faced Spider and saw the leaves of the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Ginseng basking in the light peeking through a hole.
“Never thought I’d eat something like this in my lifetime.”
For a moment, my worries about elixirs vanished. Just seeing the Fire Ginseng’s leaves made them evaporate.
The Ten-Thousand-Year He Shou Wu and King Ginseng were precious, but the Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Ginseng—like the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng—was an outstanding spirit herb for enhancing both yin-yang energy and internal power.
It even had the effect of rebirth. Someone with no martial potential could become talented, and someone already talented could transcend into a martial deity’s physique.
At the very least, eating this would ensure I wouldn’t be trapped in those frustrating situations where I understood what to do but couldn’t act on it.
Without hesitation, I started with a small root, absorbing as much essence as I could and chewing down even the leaves.
A clear, refreshing aroma filled my mouth, and with every exhale, that pure scent spread outward.
“It’s coming.”
Not long after swallowing the Fire Ginseng, a warm heat rose from my lower abdomen.
I wasted no time—I crossed my legs and began circulating the Taeulmun Breathing Technique.
The warm energy quickly overwhelmed the Taeulmun technique’s energy and surged through my body.
The gentle, disciplined energy of the Taeulmun technique chased after the wild ginseng energy, trying to subdue it, but it refused to be tamed.
“Grrgh.”
It rampaged through my meridians, forcefully breaking through blockages and burning away impurities.
Each burst of pain felt like my body was being torn apart, but bit by bit, the energy began to weaken.
The chase continued endlessly, back and forth.
Who knew how much time had passed?
Flash.
When I opened my eyes, the light filling the cave was so bright that I instinctively frowned.
Bright?
Only a small area of the cave where the Fire Ginseng grew received light—so faint that I had needed a torch just to enter.
But now the light was bright?
Something’s changed.
My body had changed. Vitality surged through every part of me.
Boom.
When I punched the wall, a portion of the sturdy cave wall crumbled.
Yet I felt no pain at all.
I examined my dantian. A lump the size of a fingertip had formed there.
“About fifteen years’ worth, huh?”
Compared to the records from the Nine Great Sects or Five Great Clans, it was nothing. But I had gathered this with the notoriously slow Taeulmun Breathing Technique.
And now that my body had been refined to support martial arts, the speed of my cultivation should increase.
“I guess I can afford to be greedy for a rare elixir now.”
Just in time, I happened to know of one rare elixir not listed in the Manual of Jianghu Spirit Herbs.
“To be exact, it’s an elixir the Gyeryong Merchant Guild lost.”
Gye Yeonseok had purchased Seolmaedan also know as the Snow Plum Elixir from Mount Hua for Gye Cheolyeong.
The Snow Plum Elixir was second only to Mount Hua’s finest elixir, Purple Revitalization Elixir.
Even true disciples rarely got to see it. Gye Yeonseok had poured in his fortune and all of Gyeryong Merchant Guild’s connections to obtain it.
He had nearly succeeded in preparing a brilliant future for Gye Cheolyeong.
But perhaps because the feat was too grand…
Gye Yeonseok’s arrogance ruined everything.
“Or maybe… he placed too much trust in the masters of Mount Hua.”
A master from Mount Hua was visiting the merchant guild.
Gye Yeonseok wasn’t one to let a golden opportunity slip. To promote the close relationship between Mount Hua and his guild, he threw a banquet.
But the day before Gye Cheolyeong was to take the Snow Plum Elixir, it vanished—completely—from the depths of the guild’s most secure vault.
An unidentified being had stolen the Snow Plum Elixir right under the noses of the Mount Hua Sects masters.
Gye Yeonseok, left in the pathetic position of a dog chasing a chicken, clung to the Mount Hua Sect for help, but they merely told him they bore no responsibility since the elixir had been stolen after they had already handed it over. Then they left without further concern.
Later, Gye Yeonseok scraped together a fortune again and managed to obtain another batch of the Plum Blossom Elixir, but the event left a deep scar on his heart. Those around him didn’t dare bring up the Snow Plum Elixir in his presence.
But one man’s tragedy is another man’s tavern tale.
People continued to talk about it for years.
Back then, there were many rumors about who had taken the Snow Plum Elixir, but it never appeared in the world again.
“To think that playing the role of a walking library would prove this useful.”
I began sifting through the information in my head.
First: the monthly report from the Martial Alliance’s Hefei branch.
I needed to analyse all incidents and the movements of major figures in Hefei for a month before and after the day the Snow Plum Elixir was stolen.
Second: the Martial Alliance’s entry and exit records.
Any master capable of evading the eyes of the Mount Hua Sects elites would likely be affiliated with the Martial Alliance.
If I went through the entry logs, I could figure out who had moved where and when.
Third: mission reports.
From those sent on missions by the Martial Alliance, I could filter out anyone who had visited Hefei around the date of the incident.
And then, using the deduction method Jegal Cheongi had taught me, I began to sort through the data.
“Four people.”
Four names floated to the surface of my mind.
- Chu Hon-gaek, the Poison Phantom
- Song Won-gi, one of the Five-Star Gentlemans.
- Gu Il-mu of the Spear and Blade Five
- Jang Han-gi of the Spear and Blade Five
Two of the Spear and Blade Five had visited Hefei three days before the incident, stayed for three days, and then left on another mission.
Song Won-gi.
He had been staying in Hefei for a month before the incident and remained there for two months after it occurred.
Though technically a wanderer, his conduct was so upright that others in the martial world had given him the title of “gentleman.” His skills were near the peak of martial arts, and he had the wealth to buy a hundred Snow Plum Elixirs if he so desired. Yet, like a scholar wholly devoted to his books, he had dedicated himself entirely to the sword.
The last was Chu Hon-gaek.
He was from the Dark Path.
Rather than martial arts, he excelled in poisons and trickery, and he had a deep greed for wealth.
When rumors of the Snow Plum Elixir began to circulate, he showed up in Hefei—and vanished the day the elixir disappeared.
From that day on, there was no mention of him in any Martial Alliance report.
“Chu Hon-gaek…”
As I followed the trail of logic, I hit a wall.
Each branch of the Alliance is required to report the movements of major figures across the land. But there was no trace of Chu Hon-gaek anywhere.
That meant he had likely gone into hiding after the incident.
And especially for thieves like him, assuming multiple identities using human-skin masks wasn’t uncommon.
He might have erased the identity of “Chu Hon-gaek” entirely after stealing the Snow Plum Elixir.
“But no new person showed up around that time.”
I rampaged through the mental archives for any new thieves that had appeared after Chu Hon-gaek vanished, but none matched.
Then, while digging through other mission reports, I let out a laugh.
“Ha!”
So that’s the trick he used.
“No wonder there were no traces.”
If my hunch was right, he wouldn’t even need to worry about being pursued after stealing the elixir.
“This might be easier than I thought.”
Feeling reassured, I stepped over the corpse of the spider, ready to leave the cave—when an overwhelming force suddenly yanked on my left arm.
“?”
I instinctively looked down at my left hand—and was stunned.
Coiled around my wrist was a blue dragon.
The Azure Dragon Ring I had worn in my previous life was glowing beneath my skin.
What in the world is going on?
It was strange enough that the ring I once wore was now embedded in my body—but even more bizarre was the fact that it was clearly pulling toward the corpse of the spider.
“Is it craving the inner core?”
The Human-faced Spider’s inner core was so venomous that even touching it risked severe poisoning. I hadn’t dared go near it.
And yet, the Azure Dragon Ring seemed to be pulling toward it.
Rip!
The stench that burst forth as I cut open the Human-faced Spider’s belly stung my eyes.
The ring, now shining brighter, surged toward the core as if it had found its long-lost meal.
“…What do I do now?”
The Azure Dragon Ring was a relic from one of the Vampire Demon Kings of the Buddhist Guardian Sect.
I had kept it to commemorate a hard-won victory in Sojeongdae, and until the day I died, it had been a symbol of that unit for me.
“Screw it. Whatever.”
As soon as I grasped the Human-faced Spider’s core—
Sizzle!
“Ggh!”
A searing heat surged through my palm, burning as it seeped in.
I tried to let go, fearing the venom might spread through my body—but then…
“Huh?”
A cool, refreshing sensation began to flow up my palm.
What had started as a small trickle like a stream soon grew into a mighty river that coursed through my entire body.
It was a completely different kind of refreshment than when I absorbed the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. A shiver ran through my whole body.
The core that had been in my hand vanished without a trace, and I could feel a slightly larger mass settled in my dantian.
“Heh… this…”
I looked at the dimming Azure Dragon Ring with disbelief.
“Should I be happy about this… or not?”
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