Chapter: 835
After arriving at the Tang Clan Hall, it was already night.
I had taken care of things since the morning and even managed to finish the Dokcheondan, so I thought I was somewhat done with my work. However, research related to Dokcheondan still needed to continue.
That’s just the way it is.
Though it was said to be completed, I had to consider various scenarios.
And, the process had not been as smooth as the positive results suggested.
…Cough…!
Thud! Blood spilled onto the floor, just enough to dampen it a little. It wasn’t my blood.
I approached the man who seemed on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion and placed my hand on his back.
Woohoo-!! As I began to untangle his condition, I checked his insides.
As expected, the negative energy had gathered again.
Although it wasn’t a large amount, if this much had accumulated in a single day, that was considerable. This was evidence that the energy had been overused.
I controlled the energy and cleared out the impurities.
Then the man, the Poison King, suddenly calmed his breathing.
Whew… Whoosh…
“Are you okay?”
…Thank you.
“No, I’m just glad to be of help.”
Staggering, the Poison King got up. His face was filled with deep fatigue.
That’s only natural.
Having extracted that much energy in such a short time, if I had done it carelessly, I could have ended up with a severe backlash.
Hwaruk-!
I shook my hand to eliminate the negative energy lingering around the Poison King. It burned away, releasing a faint, rotten odor.
The Poison King confirmed this and looked at me with a strange expression before asking.
“I was curious about this just before.”
“Yes?”
“How on earth do you catch the negative energy?”
…Yes?
How do you catch it? I had to tilt my head at this somewhat vague question.
“I just grab it because I can see it.”
As I said this, I recalled having a similar conversation not too long ago.
I believe it was with the White Lotus Sword…
She had also asked me about the negative energy as well.
‘The answer was the same as before.’
I must have given the same answer then.
Simply stated, I catch it and remove it because I can see it.
Then, perhaps…. the expression on Baekryeongeom’s face was similar to that of the current Poison King.
…Just grab it.
He had a look on his face that clearly indicated confusion. I decided to pry a little.
…What’s so difficult about this?
It’s just a matter of grabbing the energy, pulling it out, and burning it. Why is it such a challenging task?
For me, it was a bit baffling.
But…
…Is it difficult?
It seems that the confusion was mutual with the Poison King.
“Don’t you realize that the energy inside your body isn’t static but is constantly moving, even if subtly?”
“I know.”
While it can be controlled to some extent, completely stopping it is impossible.
To intentionally stop moving energy is essentially akin to…
‘Attempting to induce a backlash.’
To a martial artist, it sounds like trying to commit suicide.
“In such a moving environment, extracting only the negative energy… do you really think that’s easy? It’s like finding a needle in a flowing stream.”
Hmm.
Finding a needle floating in moving water does sound incredibly difficult when simply stated…
“But it worked.”
…
“Then isn’t that sufficient?”
What more could I say? When I can see it and tear it apart, what else is needed? That was the extent of my argument. After hearing me, the Poison King ultimately had to remain silent.
…That… uh. I see…
Even after a moment, he started to groan as if he had given up.
Looks like he thought further discussion was pointless.
I scratched my head at that reaction.
‘This is something else.’
I recalled a comment made by Paejon in passing. If I had any talent, my greatest skill would be sensing and controlling energy.
I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but now, each time I face such scenarios, my perspective shifts a little.
‘Do I even possess at least that?’
Even if it’s not the talent of an exceptional one, having at least one such skill brings a hint of comfort.
‘It’s strange.’
The Poison King’s reaction mirrored the face I made when I saw geniuses in my past life.
The faces of those who questioned why things wouldn’t work out. The face I made while hearing that was exactly like the Poison King’s.
Hmm…
Though nostalgic, this feels unreal.
Controlling energy well? Sure, it’s better than having none, but it remains ambiguous how to utilize it.
At best, it is only used for clearing negative energy or stabilizing energy, just like how I assisted the Poison King.
Anyway.
Right now, my talents weren’t really a critical concern.
What’s important here and now isn’t that…
‘…But the outcome of the current situation.’
While settling the Poison King, I looked around. The place we were in was still the manufacturing room for the Dokcheondan.
What differed from this morning was how much more chaotic it was now.
All the remaining magic stones had shattered and were strewn across the floor, while several batches of the dough we had been crafting were scattered about.
It’s painful to think that all of this resulted in monetary loss, but it was all for the sake of experimentation.
The manufacturing of Dokcheondan succeeded; however, the final product was infused with fire energy rather than poison.
I believed my energy had inadvertently seeped into the manufacturing process, causing this result.
Therefore, I repeated several experiments.
The first one was…
‘The issue with magic stones.’
During my initial attempts, I recalled that when I drained the energy and ground the magic stone, it shattered upon hitting the ground.
So my first experiment was focused on this.
I wanted to ascertain whether the magic stone infused with energy broke upon falling from my hand or if it was due to the excessive grinding. Luckily, I quickly discovered the outcome.
‘The magic stone shatters the moment it leaves your hand.’
It did not matter how much I ground it; the instant it slipped from my grasp, it shattered. Besides…
‘If I grind too much, the material can’t handle it.’
If letting go caused issues, I also tried grinding it continuously without releasing it. However, once a certain amount was added, the dough began losing its luster.
This meant that the energy within the magical stone had entirely vanished.
‘This is absurd.’
Seeing that couldn’t help but elicit laughter. It just indicated that too much would result in utter chaos.
In other words…
Add an appropriate amount, control it, but never release your grip.
This was the caution needed when mixing the magic stone into the dough.
This was the realization I had after using a couple of magic stones.
Alright then.
‘So far, so good.’
Even with the two red magic stones I had to use during the testing, I was at least satisfied to have found some solutions.
…The problem is…
‘This is where it gets tricky.’
The next issue regarding the magic stone was how to infuse poison into the Dokcheondan.
If my energy was responsible for the fire being infused into the congenital products, then it’s obvious how I should put in poison.
‘Inject the energy of someone who possesses poison into an empty magic stone.’
If I completed it like that, wouldn’t it become Dokcheondan? That was my initial thought.
So what should I do next?
Of course, I had to attempt it first.
The fortunate factor in this scenario was…
‘Even if I am the only one who can draw out energy, anyone can channel energy into empty stones.’
As long as one doesn’t insert magic into it, anyone else could embed energy into an empty magic stone.
Well then, the solution becomes simple.
All I need to do is suck the energy out of the magic stone and fill it with poison.
And the one capable of doing that was right next to me.
Poison King.
Given that the greatest entity currently in the Central Plains was here, I immediately asked him for assistance.
Having already witnessed the completion of the Dokcheondan, the Poison King didn’t hesitate to offer me his help.
So until that moment, I thought things would proceed smoothly.
I figured I would just fill the magic stone and insert it into the dough to conclude the process.
‘… until the most significant hurdle unexpectedly appeared.’
Throughout this procedure, I identified the critical issue.
‘It turns out injecting energy into an empty magic stone isn’t as straightforward as I expected.’
That was an oversight on my part.
The Poison King was indeed a king-level martial artist. Infusing energy, much like mastering fire arts, demanded considerable reserves of energy.
Consequently, I had thought filling the magic stone wouldn’t be a challenge for the Poison King.
Surprisingly, against my expectations, the Poison King struggled to imbue the stone with energy.
This is odd.
The energy contained within a red magic stone was anything but a small quantity, yet it wasn’t so substantial as to be hard to fill.
At least, I thought the Poison King I knew could easily handle it without any problems.
‘… It was incredibly strenuous.’
Unsurprisingly, the Poison King had considerable difficulty filling even a single magic stone.
How could that happen? Confused, I inquired, and the Poison King spoke while wiping the cold sweat from his brow.
What he said then was clear.
‘The amount that actually goes in hardly matches the amount given.’
Even if one exerted effort, the most that entered was merely a fraction of the energy exerted.
That was the explanation from the Poison King. Yet upon hearing this, I was left wondering.
‘Why is that?’
The difference lay in my abilities compared to the Poison King.
For me, as soon as I inserted energy, it would fill without issue, while the Poison King only managed to inject a minuscule amount. I couldn’t discern what the problem could be.
‘Could it be linked to whether he possesses the Demonic Absorption?’
The existence of power versus its absence.
I wondered if that might be the source of the problem, but I still needed to conduct more experiments to confirm.
The silver lining is that in this scenario, the Poison King ultimately persevered and managed to fill one magic stone through sheer effort.
The dough containing the completed magic stone also shimmered brilliantly without any abnormalities.
Thanks to this, four Dokcheondan were finally completed.
‘This is the real deal.’
The Dokcheondan, now complete, was imbued with poison just like the potions I had known.
Thus, I gained confidence.
‘It seems the properties of a magic stone depend on the type of energy embedded within it.’
Because I employed fire techniques, it contained fiery energy, and subsequently, the Poison King’s poison infused it, thereby becoming Dokcheondan.
If I incorporated something different, it would likely harmonize with that as well.
And…
‘If my theory holds true.’
The recipe I possessed carried tremendous value.
‘This means any type of energy can be acquired.’
Whether it be frigid or fiery energy, achieving hard-to-come-by energy or immunity would become notably easier.
There exists a risk of backlash when conflicting energies mix, but ultimately, one needs to forge ahead to unveil the truth.
Right now, finding it feasible to acquire alternate energies felt like sheer lunacy.
‘Hmm.’
I gazed at the Poison King, observing the completed Dokcheondan.
Though he barely managed to restore his energy, he still seemed quite tired.
‘If that gentleman ended up this way…
It resulted in such a state merely from inserting a single magic stone. It would be foolish to assume that anyone lower than the Poison King could manage it.
‘No wonder this felt a bit too easy.’
Is this the final hurdle?
‘If I intend to commercialize it, this predicament must be resolved quickly.’
I had to discover a solution somehow.
To do that…
“Please go back and take some rest. You must be very tired.”
…Phew…
“I suppose I can alleviate some of my concerns now that I’ve found a way.”
…Yes, that’s true too.
The expression on the Poison King’s face was tinged with regret, yet he also felt a sense of relief for finally succeeding in the production of the Dokcheondan.
“Let’s hold off for today… I’ll see you tomorrow. And.”
Glancing at the weary Poison King, I felt compelled to add:
“I may have some questions regarding Lady Tang. Is that okay?”
…
Upon mentioning Tang Xiaoyeol, the Poison King swallowed quietly. He appeared to have a vague idea of what I was going to ask.
…Let’s discuss it tomorrow.
“Yes. Rest well.”
The Poison King seemed to prefer evading my question, and I decided to respect his choice.
For now.
After a light bow, the Poison King exited the manufacturing room first.
I followed right behind and suddenly glanced down.
…Hmm…
There was something on my mind.
I spotted the broken magic stone fragments crumbling on the ground and started to ponder.
‘Everything’s fine, but…’
There was a lingering feeling of unease.
‘Ultimately, unless the energy is infused into the magic stone, it can’t qualify as Dokcheondan.’
The final ingredient of Dokcheondan—the magic stone brimming with energy.
This notion made me feel uneasy, like a hook had lodged itself within me.
The reason for this was…
‘If that’s the case… how was it crafted in the past?’
How exactly did they acquire that final ingredient?
If it meant that the energy had to be drained from the magic stone and then reinserted…
This implies that someone had to have eliminated the energy from the magic stone entirely for it to be feasible.
This leads me to ponder…
‘Back in the days of crafting Dokcheondan…’
Did someone exist who could extract the energy from the magic stone, just as I could now?
That thought continued to linger in my mind.
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