Chapter 342

Finding Mr. Shin in Sichuan had been a Supreme Peak Grade Quest. And with difficulty that vicious, its rewards were bound to be substantial.

Ding. Ding. Ding.

A massive EXP payout and the resulting Level Up. Even an achievement.

I dismissed the incessant System notifications and the holographic windows blocking my view. It was hard to feel nothing but happy when the Divine Physician’s expression looked so grim.

“What’s wrong? You’re not having second thoughts, are you? You’re not about to tell me you can’t treat him after all, right?”

“That is not the case. I may be an old quack, but if I give it my all, there is still plenty of hope.”

“Then why do you look like that…?”

He hesitated for a moment before letting out a shallow sigh. The faint smile that had lingered around his lips had already changed into wrinkles filled with anguish.

“There are too many things we must prepare for the treatment.”

“Oh, if this is about the cost, you don’t need to worry.”

I might not look it, but I was the youngest son of the Jin Family of Taiyuan. It was already common knowledge that the Jin Family of Taiyuan had amassed a fortune through the northern trade routes over the past few years.

“If it’s really urgent, I can borrow some money from his family. Hey, there are Hyuk Family textile shops in Sichuan too, aren’t there?”

Hyuk Mujin nodded with a troubled expression.

“There are. It would be strange if there weren’t, considering Sichuan is famous for its silk.”

“Then let’s borrow some emergency cash. We can sell the shop if things get desperate, right?”

“Of course not.”

“I’ll pay you plenty of interest.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll give you plenty of travel money for the road to the next world.”

“……”

“Just take it all. Go ahead and pull up the very foundations of my family while you’re at it.”

Okay, problem solved.

But for some reason, the Divine Physician’s expression remained dark.

Since his Master could not easily bring himself to speak, Mungyeong opened his mouth in his place.

“Um, Young Master Jin.”

“Yes?”

“That isn’t the biggest problem. Of course, the treatment will require an enormous amount of money, but there are materials that would be difficult to obtain no matter how much gold and silver we had.”

“Materials that are difficult to obtain…? Are you talking about an elixir?”

“Yes. An elixir meeting certain conditions is needed to treat Great Hero Jeok. It is extremely valuable and rare, so if we start looking for one now, we may have to wait several years before finding it.”

Several years?

That was far too long. Jeok Cheongang’s lifespan would run out in only a few months.

Just as I found myself unable to speak, the Divine Physician continued in a subdued voice.

“I believe a detailed explanation is necessary. The reason the patient has not regained consciousness is that his balance has been disrupted.”

“His balance?”

“All things in the world contain the energies of the Five Elements and exist in a proper balance. The human body is no different. But the patient attempted to wield an enormous force and ended up destroying that balance.”

An enormous force?

The Divine Physician’s words suddenly brought something to mind.

Dance of the Fire God and Demon. The Fire Gate Clan’s final secret technique, which drew out and amplified every ounce of power possessed by its user.

So that was the cause.

In the distant past, Jeok Cheongang had earned the name Fire King by using the Dance of the Fire God and Demon against a thousand members of the Demonic Cult. But as the years passed, his old and diseased body could no longer endure that power. It had shattered.

“When a vessel breaks, whatever it held inside will inevitably leak out. Fortunately, there is a way to reverse the damage, but it requires an elixir rarely seen in this world.”

“An elixir rarely seen in this world…”

“And even among those, it must meet certain conditions.”

“Tell me. I’ll obtain it no matter what it takes.”

The Divine Physician sighed and nodded.

“It will be extremely difficult, but what choice do we have? We must place our hopes in you, Young Master. Now listen carefully to what I am about to say.”

“Yes.”

In a grave voice, the Divine Physician explained in detail Jeok Cheongang’s current condition, the method of treatment, and the requirements for the necessary elixir.

“Will you remember all of it?”

“……”

“Young Master?”

“Oh, yes.”

“I asked whether you remember all of it.”

“Yes. I remember everything. But this is… Whew.”

“……”

“Could you check whether I heard this correctly? I mean, confirm it for me?”

“I was planning to do so anyway. Go ahead.”

I carefully began to speak.

“So, his balance was disrupted by excessive expenditure of power, and in particular, the harmony between Yin and Yang was destroyed?”

“That is correct.”

“And the cause was an enormous amount of Scorching Yang Qi that had gone out of control.”

“Continue.”

“To restore this broken balance and bring it back into harmony, we need an elixir—an incredibly powerful elixir at that—but to do so…”

Mungyeong quickly cut in.

“Among elixirs, it must possess the nature of Yin-Cold Qi. In addition, it must contain at least one jiazi’s worth of energy.”

“Four months. If we cannot find it within four months, everything will be pointless.”

The Divine Physician’s heavy voice brought the conversation to an end.

Ding.

System

• A Chain Quest, Thirty Thousand Li in Search of an Elixir, has been generated.

• This is something you must accomplish. You cannot refuse!

• Find an elixir containing at least one jiazi of energy and possessing the nature of Yin-Cold Qi!

I stared blankly at the holographic window before finally coming to my senses.

“Will that do?”

“Many other materials are necessary, but this is the most important one—the core ingredient. So you must depart immediately and find an elixir…”

“Ah, yes.”

And so I departed.

Two steps forward toward the Divine Physician. Then I pulled something from inside my robe and held it out.

“Here.”

“……?”

“……?”

“Take it.”

Master and Disciple alike stared blankly at me, then reached out at the same time to take the object I held out.

“What is this?”

“Master, why don’t you open it first?”

“W-Well, shall I?”

Click.

The Divine Physician swallowed nervously and carefully opened the wooden box. Along with a pure, clear fragrance that seemed capable of purifying even the coronavirus, it revealed itself.

“Gasp!”

“Good heavens!”

“It’s a Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. It contains at least one jiazi’s worth of energy and possesses the nature of Yin-Cold Qi. Is this enough?”

The Divine Physician’s eyes widened as he looked back and forth between me and the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. Then he nodded vigorously.

“It is enough!”

Ding.

System

• Quest conditions fulfilled!

• Chain Quest, Thirty Thousand Li in Search of an Elixir, successfully completed!

• Achievement, Mountain Herb Gatherer, acquired!

• A substantial amount of EXP acquired!

• Level Up!

As the System notifications rang out, I suddenly thought of Ju Hwaran.

Thank you, Young Lady Ju.

I let out a wry chuckle as I thought of how she had given it to me while passing the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng off as Hundred-Year-Old Snow Ginseng, worried I might feel burdened and refuse it otherwise.

Now I have a reason to stop by Shaanxi on the way back.

And when I did… I hoped I would be with a healthy Jeok Cheongang.

I turned toward the still-dazed Divine Physician.

“All right, then. What do we do next?”

The Divine Physician carefully tucked the wooden box into his robes and began walking.

“Follow me. Gyeong, you stay here and look after the patients.”

“Yes, Master.”

Leaving Mungyeong behind as he answered respectfully, we followed the Divine Physician.

Swish!

A small figure sped along right beside me. Every time he extended one foot, a zhang of distance vanished and the wind swept past.

What was astonishing was that his feet never touched the ground even once.

With a faint tap, the grass beneath his toes bent gently before springing back into its original shape.

I narrowed my eyes at the sight.

Flying Over Grass?

Flying Over Grass was a realm in which one ran as though flying while stepping across blades of grass.

Martial artists who had mastered their movement techniques to the Peak realm could perform feats like this. Treading Snow Without a Trace, which left no footprints even while running across snow, and Rising on Duckweed, Crossing Water, which allowed one to walk across water as though it were solid ground, were similar techniques.

Stepping on Empty Air was a realm attainable only by Supreme Peak masters with internal energy to spare.

Of course, Flying Over Grass isn’t beyond me either if I put my mind to it.

Even so, it felt astonishing because the person currently using it in front of me was the Divine Physician.

I knew he had learned martial arts, but his movement technique is especially impressive.

I had realized that the Divine Physician knew martial arts when we first met.

Although he was small in stature, he possessed vitality and sturdiness comparable to those of a young martial artist. The energy contained in his dantian was considerable as well.

His martial arts are First Rate, and his internal energy is probably around Peak.

Just as I was quietly assessing him, the Divine Physician sensed my gaze, turned his head, and smiled.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I answered honestly.

“Your movement technique is remarkable.”

“Heh heh. No matter how hard this old man tries, how could I compare with you, Young Master? I merely happened to learn it.”

“Honestly, before I met the Divine Physician—or rather, Old Man Dong—I never imagined you had learned martial arts.”

“You must have been surprised. The others are the same.”

I glanced behind me. Everyone except Cheongpung wore an expression of desperate curiosity.

There was no reason to be vague now that things had come this far. It would be better to ask him plainly.

“This may be presumptuous, but may I ask how you came to learn martial arts?”

Martial arts and a physician. It was understandable if the subject made him uncomfortable, but the Divine Physician did not avoid answering.

“When I was around twenty, just after becoming a medical apprentice, my Master personally instructed me.”

“Then was your Master perhaps…?”

“That is correct. My Master was a martial artist.”

The Divine Physician’s Master had been a martial artist. It was an identity I had never expected.

Seeing my expression, he let out a hearty laugh.

“Heh heh. There is no need to be surprised. By the time he accepted me as his Disciple, he had already left the Murim.”

“Oh, I see.”

“My Master had reached the highest realm both as a martial artist and as a physician. He said that he became a physician to wipe away the killing karma he had accumulated.”

For some reason, I felt I understood that feeling.

I had accumulated killing karma too. At first, I swung my spear while thinking only of getting home and believing that this was merely a fictional world created by a game.

But everything was real. They were all living people.

By the time I realized that, it was already too late.

I could not stop, and I did not stop. I killed to survive, and I killed them because they were my enemies.

In the Murim and in the modern world.

At some point, the scent of blood had seeped deep into my body. It was a stench that no amount of washing could remove.

“……I see.”

At my delayed answer, the Divine Physician gave me a gentle smile.

“It was simply each person’s choice. My Master chose the path he believed was right, and I did the same. However, so many people came looking for this old man that I had no choice but to learn martial arts for my own protection. I was naturally a dullard, so I was scolded quite often, heh heh.”

Everyone has memories.

Perhaps remembering the days he had spent with his Master, the Divine Physician suddenly stopped walking in the middle of his laughter.

“Well, we have arrived.”

Crack.

A frozen leaf crumbled beneath someone’s foot.

This was an especially cold valley within the Mystic Gate Formation spread around the Divine Physician’s residence.

“Where exactly are we?”

“I call this place the Cold-Ice Land.”

Cold-Ice Land. It was a fitting name.

Though perhaps Yanggu in Gangwon Province or Moscow would have been better.

I glanced at Hyuk Mujin, who had already begun to shiver violently, then asked the most important question.

“What do we do now?”

“You will have quite a difficult time. We must find and dig up various things, including the medicinal herbs needed for the initial stage of the treatment.”

“That sounds simpler than I expected.”

“Let me see… A hundred roots of each should be enough.”

“Ah, yes. A hundred roots.”

“I said a hundred roots of each.”

“Yes. That’s what you said. A hundred roots.”

I nodded, then froze.

Wait. What had I just heard?

“A hundred roots each? Not a hundred in total?”

“That is correct.”

The Divine Physician continued with a hearty laugh.

“A hundred roots each of twenty-four kinds.”

“……!”

Ding.

System

• A Chain Quest, Herb Slave of Cold-Ice Land, has been generated.

• This is something you must accomplish. You cannot refuse!