Chapter 829: Ilcheonkyo.

“There’s poison in it.”

These were the words of the Poison King, clutching the mouth of the teacup.

Inside, it was filled with hot tea brought by a servant.

And the Poison King was blocking it with his hand.

It must have been incredibly hot, but the Poison King was a martial artist of the Hwajing-level anyway. This much wouldn’t even make a dent.

What’s important are his eyes.

“Do you know whose doing this is?”

Eyes blazing and boiling. Killing intent was swirling within the Poison King’s pupils.

Seeing that, I also swallowed a bit of surprise.

‘He detected this?’

I only noticed after smelling the scent, but the Poison King seemed to have sensed it even before pouring.

The Poison King certainly hadn’t reached ‘Mandokbulchim’ (immunity to all poisons), yet his senses are faster than mine…

‘Is it a difference in proficiency?’

Purely a difference in poison technique proficiency. I judged that must be it. After all, I don’t get poisoned, but detecting it is a slightly different matter.

However, even so…

‘I didn’t expect his detection ability to be this high.’

I didn’t think he’d figure out the poison inside, too. Especially since the amount of poison in the bottle probably wasn’t that much.

Tuk. The Poison King, setting the teacup upright, stared at me calmly. Recalling the previous question while looking into those eyes.

Did he ask if I knew whose doing it was?

“Yes, I know.”

I admitted it readily. I expected the Poison King to be surprised and flustered, naturally. But his reaction wasn’t that.

“Is that so? Then, I’ll have to go catch and beat that damn bastard starting now. Who is it?”

“…What?”

Actually, I was the one who was flustered. Why is he immediately believing me and trying to catch him? Normally, wouldn’t he ask how I knew? Ask why I wasn’t acting despite knowing?

Because of that, I stared at the Poison King with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

“Just what kind of bastard…”

The Poison King clenched his fists tightly and stood up.

“Trying to make our precious daughter a widow…!”

“…Wait. Just a moment? Clan Head Tang-nim?”

I quickly grabbed the Poison King, whose voice contained killing intent. If I had been even a moment later, I would have definitely missed him.

“Widow out of nowhere, what…? No, and where are you going?”

“Of course, I’m going to catch the culprit and melt him down.”

“Melt him down, what melt him down. Just stop for a moment… Please. First, listen to what I have to say.”

I grabbed the Poison King, who was trying to leave somehow, and made him sit down again. The Poison King still looked filled with rage. I wondered if he was that angry about me trying to drink poison… But from my position, having overheard his words, it wasn’t quite like that.

-Trying to make her a widow-!

Hearing his words, it seemed obvious it was because of Tang Xiaoye. I didn’t particularly want to pick a fight over that. Because picking a fight would only give me a headache.

Anyway, I managed to get the Poison King to sit down, and I sighed and said to him.

“No, how can you just try to leave without a word…”

“Didn’t Young Master Gu already say he knew the culprit?”

“That’s true… but still. Normally, you’d hear the circumstances, right? How I knew, why I was acting this way despite knowing. You should at least hear that much…”

“That’s fine.”

“What?”

The Poison King’s firm reply left me speechless for a moment. It’s fine? What did I even do for it to be fine? As I tilted my head in confusion at the incomprehensible answer.

“Anyway, Young Master Gu must have already thought everything through. That’s why you’re so calm.”

“…”

“I don’t know if this also has Young Master Gu’s intentions mixed in, but I know you have some intention behind it.”

He knows everything. A strange trust entered through his eyes. What kind of trust is this? It was true, but hearing it from the Poison King felt quite strange.

The problem here is.

“…But why are you trying to leave?”

If he knows everything, why is he trying to leave? If he knows I have an intention, shouldn’t he not go? I asked, filled with questions about the strange situation.

“That’s Young Master Gu’s intention, and… what I’m angry about is different, isn’t it?”

“…”

I’m going crazy. So, even if I had some intention, he was saying he needed to vent his anger regardless. …This guy also has quite a temper, if you look at him.

I sighed and said to the Poison King.

“…Uh, could you possibly restrain yourself a bit? I have something I’m preparing.”

This is a very important situation right now. I worked so hard for days to create this situation. I couldn’t let the Poison King step in and ruin it.

At my words, the Poison King frowned and said.

“Are you saying the thing you’re preparing is this assassination attempt?”

“Oh, come on. No way.”

I waved my hand with a smile.

“Clan Head Tang-nim, you know this too, don’t you? You can’t kill someone with this kind of poison.”

This isn’t poison for assassination. The Poison King already knew, and I was certain even if I didn’t know. That’s because…

‘Because I gave it.’

This poison was one I had handed over. Its effect is to slow down the use of internal energy and cause paralysis. It’s quite expensive and hard to obtain, but when mixed with tea, it’s undetectable and has a long duration. It even tended to be maximized when absorbed over several days. If there was a problem, it was that it’s quite difficult to obtain…

“…No way.”

Hearing this, the Poison King seemed to realize something and said to me.

“Was it what you requested last time?”

“…”

I replied with an awkward smile. What he said was correct. This poison was obtained from the Tang Clan. I had secretly asked the Young Master of the Tang Clan, and it seems the Poison King knows about this too.

“…I wondered what you’d use it for, but I never imagined you were looking for it to consume yourself.”

“I asked you to keep it a secret. It seems the Young Master of the Tang Clan is more talkative than I thought…”

No, did he even try to hide it in the first place? Doubts sprouted, but I decided to ignore them.

“You’re going to consume that precious poison yourself, not give it to someone else?”

“Wouldn’t this way be better?”

“If that’s the case, why use poison at all…?”

“…”

My mouth shut at his correct statement. Right… If you’re not harming someone, you usually don’t use poison. They say it’s used for paralyzing poisons or other medicinal purposes… That wasn’t something to consider right now.

“…Anyway, it was useful for something.”

“…Hmm.”

“It won’t be a problem. As I said earlier, you don’t die just by consuming a bit of this.”

It’s the same with any poison, not just this one, but the Poison King doesn’t know I’m immune to all poisons. It was right to keep this hidden if possible.

‘There are so many uses for it.’

It’s the easiest way to catch those attempting poison assassinations. It was easier to stay quiet even for guiding the situation. Look. Because it’s not known, things like this happen so easily, don’t they?

‘…I respect you again today. Senior Tang-nim.’

I bowed my head slightly, like a prayer, recalling her who was called the hero of the Tang Clan. Unlike those damn other guys, she was a senior who gave me a lot. In my past life, I had to be very careful about eating due to poison, so it was great that I didn’t have to worry about that now.

“It’ll really be fine, so don’t worry.”

“…Who am I worrying about?”

“I mean that it will be fine, whether you’re worried about me or Miss Tang… It means nothing will happen.”

Whatever it is, there won’t be a problem. As I stated firmly, as if to give assurance, the Poison King let out a slight snort.

“…Is my daughter doing well?”

He brought up a completely different topic from the one just discussed. It must be a sign that he’s letting it go.

“Yes. She’s working very hard.”

“Working hard isn’t important. What’s important is whether she’s doing well.”

“She seems satisfied herself… but I don’t know the details either, so perhaps you should ask her directly about that?”

“…”

He avoids my eyes at the suggestion to ask her directly. Seeing that, it seemed he didn’t want to be found out that he came now.

‘…But won’t he be found out anyway?’

Since the Poison King didn’t come secretly but appeared so openly, Tang Xiaoye will hear about it soon. The Poison King must know that… yet judging by his reaction.

‘Does it mean as long as he’s not found out right now, it’s fine?’

I thought that seemed to be the case.

‘Well, whatever.’

This wasn’t an important part either, so I moved on. Since we’ve passed the topic of poison, we had to get back to the main point.

“So. Why did you come looking for me? I don’t know if you saw the letter, but I was planning to visit tomorrow if possible.”

The reason the Poison King came all the way to the Maeng’s branch to find me. When I asked about it, the Poison King hesitated for a moment before speaking to me.

“I saw it. I knew it too.”

“I see.”

“So I tried to hold back if possible, but… I couldn’t bear it.”

Even though I was scheduled to visit the Tang Clan tomorrow, he came today specifically. This means it’s quite a significant matter. I already had something I expected.

“So, you mean…?”

“The manufacturing of the Dokcheondan is almost complete.”

“…Oh.”

So it was that matter after all. This was something I had already heard via letter from Hanam.

“Congratulations.”

“…Thank you. It’s all thanks to Young Master Gu.”

The Poison King readily expressed his gratitude for my congratulations. He couldn’t help but feel that way. Dokcheondan is a history lost by the Tang Clan in the distant past. It’s the ultimate Elixir among Elixirs, comparable to Shaolin’s Great Revival Pill. Having recovered it after hundreds of years of being lost, the Poison King must feel like he’s floating on air. Unlike the current situation of the Tang Clan.

‘I predicted it would be completed already, but reaching the end means…’

It seems it’s not completed yet. But still, him coming like this means…

‘He must have something to tell me.’

It meant he had something important to say. So, what is that important thing? I waited until the Poison King spoke first. Thus, moments passed.

“…Most of the ingredients have been prepared. There were items that were hard to obtain, but most were just difficult to handle, not impossible.”

I agree. When I actually saw them, most ingredients weren’t that hard to obtain. Even the ones that seemed a bit difficult could be obtained with money. The Tang Clan had closed its gates due to public perception, but it was still a place with plenty of money. Given that, I thought there wouldn’t be any major problems.

‘What is it?’

What could possibly be the problem? The moment I was about to voice my question.

“However.”

“However?”

“The last part is the problem.”

“If it’s the last part…”

He paused mid-sentence. Because I think I knew what it was. The manufacturing method for Dokcheondan that I taught him. Could the last ingredient possibly be…

“Is the magic stone the problem?”

Magic stone. Specifically, the red one. Surprisingly, Dokcheondan required a red magic stone.

“What kind of problem occurred?”

“…I don’t know.”

“What?”

“Clearly, I followed the manufacturing method exactly. But no matter how many times I repeated it, I couldn’t complete the Dokcheondan.”

“…What does that mean?”

Following it correctly but it didn’t work. What could that mean? As I asked with a frown, the Poison King replied.

“According to the method, I obtained a red magic stone before it lost its color and ground it into the ingredients…”

It seemed like a serious matter, as I could see the Poison King’s expression crumpling.

“The moment I ground it in, all the prepared ingredients rotted away.”

“…!”

The elixir rots upon contact with the powder. Hearing this, I immediately recalled the cause. The reason, perhaps…

‘Is it the demonic energy?’

Demonic energy. That must have been the problem. Magic stones contain demonic energy. It seemed that grinding it and adding it to the elixir caused a reaction from the start. Only then did a question arise. If the magic stone causes problems in completing the elixir.

‘If this can’t be solved, shouldn’t they not use the magic stone in the first place?’

It’s still a strange thing to think about. Magic stones, which drop when monsters die, are actually worthless items. At best, a pretty stone. After a few days, even their color disappears, making them nothing more than common rocks. Unless you were someone like me, who possessed the ‘Madocheonheupgong’ (Demonic Heaven Absorption Technique), there was no need to handle them. However, since red monsters hadn’t reappeared for only a few years, I had heard information that some families or sects were taking magic stones to research them.

‘Even if they do that, I doubt they can find out much.’

I couldn’t say anything about them researching it. I just thought, ‘whatever’. This is also like that.

‘I wonder why a magic stone is included in the elixir…’

The manufacturing method said so. Did it say to grind the magic stone slightly? Even though it seemed strange, since that’s what I taught, I didn’t pay much mind. Anyway, an elixir containing a magic stone would ultimately contain demonic energy. If it succeeded, it would be an elixir that ordinary martial artists couldn’t consume. This means.

‘Was there a problem with the manufacturing method from the start?’

I thought following the method would lead to an elixir that neutralized energy or contained poison, so there must be some way. But the fact that the elixir rots means. It was one of two things.

‘Either the elixir’s manufacturing method was wrong from the start, or…’

‘Or the person making it misunderstood the manufacturing method.’

It was one of these two. In my opinion, the answer was the latter.

‘Senior Tang-nim wouldn’t have passed on fake knowledge.’

The great and beautiful Senior Tang-nim wouldn’t have done that. She wouldn’t have misunderstood either, so it’s highly likely the problem lies with the maker. No, it’s certain.

So, what exactly is the problem? I rack my brain.

‘The manufacturing of Dokcheondan cannot be delayed further.’

Somehow, as quickly as possible. To be precise, it must be completed before the end of this year. To do that, I need to find a way.

‘No wonder he rushed over immediately.’

I wondered why the Poison King came in person. Now I understand. Since I was the one who provided the manufacturing method, and a problem arose at the final stage, he probably thought I might know something.

‘Damn it,’

But how would I know that? I made them pretend to return it to the Tang Clan because I couldn’t make it, so shouldn’t this come back to me? If demonic energy is the problem, then what am I supposed to do?

‘It rots when it goes in as powder…?’

Does this mean I have to extract all the demonic energy from the magic stone?

“Clan Head Tang-nim. Perhaps trying it after all the color has drained from the magic stone…?”

“I’ve already tried that.”

“…As expected, right?”

Right, he wouldn’t not have tried it. When demonic energy leaves a magic stone, its color disappears. It becomes no different from a real rock, so adding it wouldn’t have any effect. But if you don’t add the magic stone, it’s different from the manufacturing method, so it won’t be completed, which is like…

‘Maybe the magic stone needs to contain some other energy…’

I froze. I stopped thinking and stiffened. Because something flashed through my mind. Grinding a magic stone containing demonic energy still results in rot. Because of that, you can’t just grind and add it. That means.

‘Perhaps?’

With eyes full of worry, I said to the Poison King.

“Clan Head Tang-nim.”

“What is it?”

“Tomorrow. You remember that I’m going to the Tang Clan, right?”

“I remember you said you’d come. I haven’t given permission yet…”

“I think I’ve thought of one possible way to solve it.”

“…!”

The Poison King, who was subtly trying to find fault, shut his mouth.

“I think I need to go to the Tang Clan tomorrow and watch the manufacturing process directly. Would that be alright?”

Instead of speaking, the Poison King nodded vigorously. He wasn’t the type to stubbornly refuse when Dokcheondan was at stake.

The problem is.

‘Will it work?’

Whether the method I just thought of will actually work. That is the problem. Failure isn’t a big problem. Because I can just find another way. However, if it does succeed. That would indeed be the problem.

‘…If my guess is correct.’

It would mean that the person who first manufactured Dokcheondan in the past was not from the Tang Clan.