“Medicinal herbs?”
The Sect Leader looked at Cheonhwi, who had suddenly visited, with bewildered eyes.
“Why are you suddenly looking for that?”
“I was thinking of making some spirit pills.”
For a moment, the Sect Leader’s mind went blank.
‘Making spirit pills?’
Where are spirit pills easily made?
Even various sects have devoted a long time to making a single spirit pill.
Even so, there are many sects that cannot make them.
‘But if it’s Cheonhwi...’
The Sect Leader’s complicated expression gradually changed to one filled with anticipation.
It was none other than Cheonhwi.
The one who possessed medical skills that even the Divine Physician coveted.
“Do you know how to make spirit pills?”
“I can just make it roughly.”
Cheonhwi said casually.
What’s the big deal about making spirit pills?
‘Can’t I just throw the medicinal herbs in and extract the energy contained within?’
Meanwhile, the Sect Leader felt let down by the unexpected answer.
“That means you don’t know how to make it right now.”
“If we’re being specific, yes.”
“...Do you have confidence?”
“Yes.”
The Sect Leader gazed at Cheonhwi.
Most of his anticipation had disappeared, but a handful still remained.
‘Right. You never know with Cheonhwi.’
That one thought made him expect.
The one who brought Hyeondo to his current realm.
If it’s Cheonhwi, who transformed the Huashan Sect that was walking the path of ruin.
“I understand.”
The Sect Leader, with a face full of firm determination, nodded and spoke in a low voice.
“It will be difficult to obtain things like Spirit Herbs or Spirit Materials, but I will tell the herb gatherers to try to gather medicinal herbs for you.”
“Tsk. I understand.”
It was a slightly disappointing result.
If possible, he wanted to obtain Spirit Herbs.
‘It can’t be helped.’
What he needed now was a large amount of spirit pills.
To make spirit pills with Spirit Herbs or Spirit Materials, the Huashan Sect’s financial situation was infinitely poor.
‘Should I be satisfied with this for now?’
That evening.
“We brought a full load here.”
“Will this be enough?”
The mountain gate of the Huashan Sect was bustling.
It was because the Sect Leader had told the Lord of the Medicine Hall to gather the herb gatherers.
“Amitabha. I am truly grateful.”
At the bright smile and thanks from the Sect Leader, the herb gatherers who were setting down their baskets were startled and waved their hands.
“Oh my, no.”
“Recently, the Daoists took care of the beasts, so medicinal herbs are plentiful.”
“Thanks to that, my wife and children can now rest easy when I gather herbs.”
The herb gatherers who were speaking smiled brightly.
“Hehe. Is that so.”
In contrast, the Sect Leader smiled bitterly.
‘I didn’t expect that to lead to this.’
In fact, the reason the beasts were dealt with was because Cheonhwi wanted to eat meat.
Yet, such a good result came from it.
‘If I had known they were suffering from the beasts, I should have moved first.’
To them, who had learned martial arts, beasts were existences that could be dealt with at any time, but that wasn’t the case for the herb gatherers.
‘...It is my fault.’
Dealing with the beasts was something that could have been done at any time.
But they didn’t.
No, they didn’t even pay attention to it.
‘I paid too much attention only to our sect.’
The Sect Leader blamed himself as he looked at the herb gatherers who couldn’t hide their joy.
In his desire to make the Huashan Sect strong, he had failed to look around his surroundings too much.
‘Hyunsang, Hyunsang. No matter how strong we become, if we do not help the weak, how can we call ourselves the Huashan Sect?’
The Sect Leader, who was blaming himself, recalled the teachings he had received from his master in the past.
‘The strong have always been meant to help the weak, so how could I have forgotten?’
The Sect Leader closed his eyes tightly.
After that, he respectfully bowed.
“Amitabha. If you ever experience any inconvenience while gathering herbs, please visit our sect and let us know at any time.”
“Really?”
The herb gatherers’ expressions brightened.
They didn’t need help right now, but just hearing those words made them grateful.
It felt even more impactful because it was none other than the Sect Leader of the Huashan Sect.
“Hahaha. Then I will visit and ask for your help later.”
“Thank you just for the words.”
While the Sect Leader was smiling softly.
“It seems they’ve already arrived.”
Cheonhwi appeared right on time.
“Oh my!”
“A g-ghost!”
The herb gatherers, seeing Cheonhwi pop out suddenly as if a ghost had appeared, were terrified and jumped up from their spots.
Cheonhwi passed by the terrified herb gatherers and stared at the baskets.
“Can I look at this?”
As the startled herb gatherers flinched.
“He is a disciple of our sect.”
At the Sect Leader’s words, the herb gatherers came to their senses one by one, confirmed the Daoist robes Cheonhwi was wearing, and breathed a sigh of relief.
“Haha. So you were a young Daoist of the Huashan Sect.”
“Look if you want to. Despite how I look, I only brought the highest quality among what we have.”
Cheonhwi, hearing the words, picked up a medicinal herb.
And then.
Crunch—
He bit into the medicinal herb right away.
A bitter taste spread across his tongue.
‘Hmm. This isn’t great.’
He tossed the herb he was chewing aside and picked up another one to chew.
“...What is he doing?”
“Isn’t he trying to figure out its efficacy?”
“Just by chewing?”
“He is a Daoist, isn’t he?”
It was only for a moment that the clamoring herb gatherers watched Cheonhwi’s sudden behavior.
“Huh?!”
“W-wait a minute!”
“W-why is that in the basket?!”
The herb gatherers panicked and shouted when they saw the grass Cheonhwi was holding.
Meanwhile, Cheonhwi looked at the grass.
‘This is a bit different from the others?’
The grass in his hand was different from the medicinal herbs.
However, if asked what it was, it was ambiguous to pinpoint exactly.
‘Well, I’ll know if I eat it.’
As Cheonhwi tried to put the grass in his mouth.
“N-no! Don’t eat that!”
“That is a poisonous herb!”
The herb gatherers desperately tried to stop Cheonhwi, but it had already entered his mouth.
“Hmm?”
A stinging pain was felt on his tongue.
Poisonous energy flowed from the swallowed poisonous herb and slowly seeped into his body.
Cheonhwi’s face turned purple.
“Cheonhwi!”
Seeing his appearance as if he was poisoned, the Sect Leader panicked and approached Cheonhwi.
At that moment.
Whoooosh—
Cheonhwi drew up his inner energy.
The Meihua Shengong spread throughout his body, emitting a faint plum blossom scent, and drove the remaining poisonous energy in his body to one place.
And he stretched his index finger straight forward.
A drop of black poison welled up at the tip of his index finger and dropped to the ground with a plop.
Sizzle—
As the poison smoke that tickled their noses spread, the herb gatherers, who had come to their senses, covered their noses.
“Gasp!”
Meanwhile, the Sect Leader approached Cheonhwi.
“A-are you alright?”
Phew—
Instead of answering, Cheonhwi spat out the poisonous energy from his mouth.
Along with a vile stench, the poisonous energy scattered in the air and was swept away by the wind.
Soon, Cheonhwi opened his mouth.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Cheonhwi smacked his lips.
Although it was a powerful poison enough to paralyze the tongue, it contained much more energy than the medicinal herbs he had swallowed so far.
‘If done well, this might be useful.’
Cheonhwi’s eyes flashed.
Even during his days in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, there was a spirit pill that was made using poisonous herbs.
It was the Guiquan Dan, a spirit pill that was also famous in the Central Plains at the time.
‘If you ate it, you would complain of pain for days, but your inner energy definitely accumulated.’
He recalled the demonic practitioners who writhed in agony, vomiting and having diarrhea after eating the Guiquan Dan.
‘Still, no one died.’
Meanwhile, the herb gatherers were horrified to see Cheonhwi perfectly fine despite eating a poisonous herb.
What was the poisonous herb just now?
It was a poisonous herb called Shan Pishuang, where just chewing it would rot the insides so much that one couldn’t even speak.
It was a grass that no one would buy unless it was for the purpose of assassinating someone.
Yet he was so fine!
Soon, without needing to say who went first, they shivered simultaneously.
“Ah! You were the Little Immortal!”
“We made a mistake and offered the Little Immortal a poisonous herb!”
At that moment, Cheonhwi approached them.
“Gasp!”
“Gasp!”
“......!”
As the herb gatherers were already frightened that the Little Immortal would bring down divine punishment.
“What was the poisonous herb I just ate?”
An unexpected question came.
“Hmm, you don’t know?”
At Cheonhwi’s repeated question, one of the herb gatherers snapped back to his senses.
“I-It’s Shan Pishuang!”
“Is there a lot of this?”
The herb gatherers panicked.
“Th-There is a little, but...”
“I-I don’t have any.”
“Hmm, I need this.”
Hearing Cheonhwi’s murmur, the herb gatherers glanced at each other, exchanged looks, and then nodded simultaneously and shouted.
“I-I will try to get some!”
“If the Little Immortal wants it, I can give it to you anytime!”
“I will gather it somehow!”
“I’d be glad if you did.”
At their words, Cheonhwi held a satisfied smile on his lips.
“Phew.”
“He isn’t angry.”
The moment the herb gatherers breathed a sigh of relief, sweeping their chests.
“Then next...”
Cheonhwi threw the Shan Pishuang into the basket on the left and took out another medicinal herb to chew.
Might this be usable?
Hmm. This one’s no good.
This one is necessary.
How many times did he chew and swallow like that?
Gulp—
Cheonhwi, who chewed and swallowed the last medicinal herb, looked at the herbs divided left and right and spoke.
“I’ll buy everything on the left side.”
The Sect Leader took a step forward.
“You don’t need the ones on the right?”
Cheonhwi answered without even glancing at the medicinal herbs thrown on the right.
“Yes.”
“I see.”
The Sect Leader approached the herb gatherers who were staring at Cheonhwi with blank eyes.
“I would like to buy the medicinal herbs on the left, how much would it be?”
The herb gatherers were startled and waved their hands.
“Oh, my! We don’t need money.”
“W-What do you mean money?”
“Were we not careless enough to include a poisonous herb among the medicinal herbs?”
As the saying goes, it was the herb gatherers’ mistake.
If any other disciple besides Cheonhwi had eaten it, a major accident would have occurred.
‘But that is an event that did not happen.’
The Sect Leader smiled softly.
“Hehe, isn’t that just a mistake?”
“Even if it’s a mistake, a sin is a sin, isn’t it?”
“Please accept the medicinal herbs and forgive the sin we committed against the Little Immortal.”
“But that is a matter of face...”
When the Sect Leader spoke with an embarrassed expression.
“We beg you!”
The herb gatherers said earnestly.
They had almost killed a Daoist of the Huashan Sect.
It was a debt that should be paid with death, yet they were to receive money on top of that?
Even a beast wouldn’t commit such an act.
“P-please, just accept it.”
“We want to be of help to the Little Immortal.”
“Yes, hasn’t the Huashan Sect been taking care of the beasts for a while now? How about accepting these medicinal herbs as a reward for that?”
At the repeated earnest words of the herb gatherers, the Sect Leader smiled awkwardly and accepted.
“...He, hehe. I shall accept it as such.”
“Thank you!”
“Oh my! Thank you!”
“You may stop bowing now.”
As the herb gatherers repeatedly expressed their gratitude and the Sect Leader smiled awkwardly, trying to stop them.
“This is far from enough.”
Cheonhwi looked at the piled-up medicinal herbs.
The medicinal and poisonous herbs, which barely reached his waist, were far from enough to make a large amount of spirit pills, no matter how he looked at it.
‘I’ll have to ask the Bifeng Merchant Guild.’
* * *
When he returned to the thatched hut with the medicinal herbs, Seolran and Jeokgeom were waiting for him.
“You’re back?”
Seolran spoke with a smile, and Jeokgeom, who was next to her, forced a smile.
“H. Haha. We’ve prepared it.”
Jeokgeom hurriedly placed the roasted wild boar on a plate.
“Clear that away.”
Along with his words, he set the basket down on the floor, and Seolran, seeing that, asked.
“What is that?”
“Medicinal herbs.”
“Medicinal herbs?”
At the sudden remark, Seolran, who had been uninterested along with Jeokgeom, harbored doubts.
“What will you use the medicinal herbs for?”
“To make spirit pills.”
Seolran’s eyes widened.
Even she, a layman, knew that making spirit pills was a difficult task.
However.
‘If it’s Fourth Martial Uncle, he might really make it.’
She was the same as the Sect Leader.
“Do you know how to make spirit pills too?”
“No. I’m going to try making it now.”
“What?”
While Seolran stood there with a blank face, Cheonhwi took out the medicinal herbs from the basket.
As Seolran looked at the medicinal herbs with a questioning expression, Cheonhwi looked at Jeokgeom.
“Jeokgeom.”
“Yes? Y-yes, sir!”
At being called, Jeokgeom squeezed his eyes shut.
‘Damn it! Is it today again? I should have trained hard even when Fourth Martial Uncle left.’
He recalled being unilaterally beaten under the guise of training over the past few days.
“Start a fire over there.”
“You mean a fire?”
At the successive command, Jeokgeom was bewildered.
“Are you not going to start it?”
“Ah, I understand!”
“And Seolran, you fill a cauldron with water and bring it here.”
“I got it.”
While the two were carrying out the orders.
“The ingredients are sufficient for now, but the problem is how to make the spirit pill.”
Cheonhwi recalled a book he had read a very long time ago.
Lingdan Zhizaofa.
It was a secret book that described the method of manufacturing a few spirit pills within the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
“Let’s see. What could I make with this first?”
As he was looking at the medicinal herbs, lost in thought.
“I’ve started the fire.”
Jeokgeom, covered in soot, ran over.
When he turned his head, flames were rising fiercely from the dry firewood.
“I brought it too.”
Cheonhwi gently placed the cauldron Seolran brought over the fire.
“That would be best for now, right?”
He recalled a certain spirit pill.
Next, he put the medicinal herbs into the cauldron one by one.
And finally, he grabbed a handful of Shan Pishuang and threw it in.
“Wasn’t the Guangma Zhentian Dan made like this?”