Sichuan's Mad Dragon (Novel) - Chapter 69 - That Damned Non-Interference Between State and Martial World

Chapter 69 – That Damned Non-Interference Between State and Martial World

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After completing one round of Samadhi Body Refinement, the Divine Physician approached Ju-seong.

He reminded him to do it outside next time and handed him a sturdy wine jar that came up to about shin height.

Ju-seong tilted his head and accepted the wine jar, then spoke.

“If you mean for me to forget the pain of training through drink, it’s fine. This disciple has realized the true joy of training and will get drunk on getting stronger day by day…”

The Divine Physician cut off his disciple’s idle chatter and spoke.

“Drink one cup after each training session. It’s a type of elixir… it will help with the regeneration of your muscles and bones.”

“Doesn’t the Samadhi True Fire handle the body’s recovery?”

The Divine Physician nodded.

“Right. The Samadhi True Fire ignited by a martial artist has wondrous properties, but only for that person. This is because true energy is the source of life, and the Samadhi True Fire, being made by burning that true energy, carries the power of life. But ultimately Samadhi True Fire is still fire, meaning its destructive power is stronger than its regenerative power.”

“Hmm…”

When Ju-seong listened to the Divine Physician’s words and briefly contemplated his body, indeed his body’s condition was a mess.

The degree of damage was more severe than the degree of regeneration, but these damaged parts would eventually heal tougher and stronger than before… this was the core of Samadhi Body Refinement.

This was an extremely unique training method found only in the Flame Crow Six-Stage Art, noticeably different from typical Central Plains martial arts.

Considering how great the risk of qi deviation was during this process, it could well have been called an evil art or demonic art without complaint.

The Divine Physician tapped the wine jar and spoke.

“When I reached the peak realm and did the Samadhi Body Refinement, I trained once and rested four days, trained once and rested four days, repeatedly. My body’s recovery couldn’t keep up with the training pace.”

“That must have been very slow.”

The Divine Physician nodded.

“Yes. But if you use this elixir, you can greatly accelerate that speed. Daily training is possible. As long as your willpower holds out.”

“When it comes to willpower, leave it to me, Master.”

“Right, right. Got it. Go wash up. The waste is oozing out of you so much that it’s hard to have a conversation.”

Ju-seong had spoken with bravado, but it was impossible. The pain was such that his mind wore down, making it impossible to endure training every single day.

In the end, he had no choice but to train every other day with one day of rest.

Through this process, he felt his body transforming into something a level higher.

-Whoosh!

Ju-seong looked down at his own body, wrapped in the mystical red flames.

The Samadhi Body Refinement began from the middle dantian, circulated through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and then passed through the body’s fine meridians, scorching the muscles before finally exiting through the pores to temper the skin. It was a thorough refinement of the body, inside and out, without missing a spot. By now, the explosive discharge of waste wasn’t happening like the first time, but the tremendous searing pain remained.

This pain probably wouldn’t become tolerable no matter how many times he repeated it.

But at least the feeling of getting stronger day by day was good.

Ju-seong poured himself a cup from the wine jar beside him after finishing his training.

“Ahh… Delicious.”

He poured another cup and raised it toward the half-moon hanging in the sky.

“Moon, have a drink too.”

The sharp wine fragrance, along with the pungent medicinal smell and the refreshing fruit aroma, warmed Ju-seong’s insides.

“My, whatever elixir this is, it’s quite effective.”

It was probably a precious medicinal wine his master had concocted by mixing this and that.

He noticed something unusual two months after starting the Samadhi Body Refinement.

“Hm?”

While contemplating his body, he felt… though hard to put into words… that his bones had become denser and harder.

The Samadhi Body Refinement was the only technique that couldn’t temper a person’s bones. Of course, human bones were quite hard to begin with, and a martial artist’s bones were about twice as strong as a commoner’s, so it wasn’t a major issue.

But now, Ju-seong’s skeleton had hardened as if tempered by Samadhi True Fire.

The blood pumping from his bone marrow was also cleaner and more abundant than before.

“What is this…?”

Ju-seong tilted his head.

If the Samadhi Body Refinement had such properties, his master the Divine Physician wouldn’t have been unaware of it. So this must be…

Ju-seong’s eyes widened, and he immediately ran to his master.

-BANG! BANG!

“Master! Master!”

Having apparently just lain down to sleep, the Divine Physician emerged from his room with his lustrous white hair loose, looking irritated.

“This punk has no qualms about waking his master, pounding on the door so boldly. What is it?”

“It’s about that wine you gave me, Master.”

“Ah, that elixir? What about it?”

“What is the name of that wine, by any chance…”

The Divine Physician looked down at Ju-seong as if he were pathetic and spoke.

“You learned medicine from this very Divine Physician and you don’t know? Tsk, I taught you for nothing. You don’t know Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine?”

“…Master… Did you say Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine?”

Ju-seong’s voice trembled at the end.

Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine.

In the martial world, the elixir considered the greatest of all was the Vermillion Fruit. Also called the Natural Vermillion Fruit, it was a fruit born in valleys or peaks of spiritual mountains where natural energy was extremely dense.

Since the Vermillion Fruit required perfect balance of yin-yang and five elements as well as abundant natural energy, it was an extremely difficult elixir to produce.

Spirit fruits that fell slightly short of it were actually quite numerous in comparison.

Hence, sometimes they were passed off as Vermillion Fruits and sold, and con artists in the martial world did this occasionally.

Among them, when a fruit born in a place with especially strong metal energy fell into a cave or hollow stone and aged for decades upon decades, a naturally brewed wine was born.

When one very carefully, scooping spoonful by spoonful so that the sediment at the bottom wouldn’t mix and turn the elixir into poison, collected it and added several medicinal ingredients…

That was Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine, an elixir said to grant heaven-sent, sturdy strong bones.

Wasn’t the fight between the Qingcheng Sect and Emei Sect precisely over that damned wine?

Ju-seong, hoping desperately it wasn’t true, cautiously asked.

“Master, where did this elixir come from?”

“Recently I went down to the village to buy provisions, and I caught the scent of a rather fine elixir, quite difficult to encounter normally. Turns out black market traders were passing through this village.”

Black market traders were merchants who sold all sorts of goods in the dark corners of the martial world.

They weren’t a single cohesive group, but rather a collective term for those operating in what was commonly called the black market.

Major merchant associations in the Central Plains also secretly extended their reach into black market activities.

“…You didn’t happen to beat up those people and take it, did you…”

“Ha, even I wouldn’t do something like that. From what I saw, they were just handling elixirs and rare weapons secretly to avoid the authorities… a group that didn’t commit acts against righteousness. I simply offered to pay extra if they’d sell to me.”

“And they sold it?”

“They sold it so easily that even I was suspicious… Looking into it, those fellows don’t know this item’s value. Since Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine isn’t a well-known elixir to begin with… No matter how skilled black market traders are, how much could they recognize if they’re not physicians?”

Ju-seong trembled slightly and scratched his head.

Was it really possible for such a rare elixir to appear twice in such a short span of time, in the same Sichuan Province?

Ju-seong thought absolutely not.

“Master. I have something to tell you. It’s about this Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine…”

Ju-seong told the Divine Physician about the cold war currently engulfing Sichuan Province between the two great factions, and its cause.

His master had known the two factions were growling at each other, but apparently hadn’t known the details.

The Divine Physician stroked his beard and spoke.

“Then there are two questions. First, was this Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine coming to us a coincidence, or wasn’t it? If not coincidence, why did it come to us?”

He narrowed his eyes and continued.

“Second, the sect leader of Emei, Master Jeong-hwa, was apparently quite elderly and barely able to move, as I heard several years ago. How did such a person suddenly rise from her sickbed? Did the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine really appear twice by coincidence at the same time?”

Ju-seong pondered.

He could conveniently think that there simply happened to be two jars of Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine, and their simultaneous appearance in Sichuan was coincidence.

But that was an overly convenient interpretation.

Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine wasn’t a legendary elixir from ancient texts, but it was still something that appeared perhaps once every two or three decades across all of the Central Plains.

In terms of rarity, even the Emperor couldn’t have it just because he wanted it, and it was even harder for martial world folk to obtain while evading government eyes.

Of course, elixirs whose main properties enhanced internal energy were monopolized by martial world folk.

But elixirs like Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine that strengthened the body and rejuvenated old bones were coveted by high officials, nobles, and imperial family members too.

Such a precious item… for two months Ju-seong had been guzzling it despite it being originally meant for the Qingcheng Sect’s young prodigy. If a young child consumed it, their skeleton could at least resemble the Heavenly Martial Body; if an old person consumed it, their bent back would straighten and their porous bones would fill in like a young person’s. Ju-seong, however, had merely used it to make his already sturdy bones even harder.

“No, why did you give it to me instead of drinking it yourself, Master…”

“Why complain about receiving? With your talents, you’ll reach the peak realm quickly anyway. If you do the Samadhi Body Refinement while consuming Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine, your body will arguably be among the best in the entire martial world… I was also curious as a physician, so I fed it to you. What are you going to do about it!”

Ju-seong only then recalled that his master’s public nickname was the Death-Playing Demonic Physician.

The demonic doctor who had subjected countless evildoers to all manner of human experimentation was now experimenting even on his own disciple.

“This disciple, as the esteemed master’s experimental subject, will train diligently and repay you with good results.”

Despite Ju-seong’s sarcasm, the Divine Physician deflected it with the skill of a master performing Flower-Pinching Transfer.

“Good, my disciple. You know gratitude.”

Ju-seong let out a quiet sigh and thought.

His master was right. Two questions remained unsolved.

Had this item rolling in been truly coincidence? That the people who stole it from the black market traders sold it to them, and the lower-tier black market members didn’t know its value so they sold it to the Divine Physician…

But this was too convenient an assumption.

If this was intentional, the master-disciple pair would immediately be branded enemies by both Qingcheng and Emei.

Furthermore, the overheated conflict between the two factions would come to an end.

The two factions would naturally do so once they had a pretext.

Just by spreading the rumor that the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine was here, one could stop the two great factions’ fight whenever desired.

‘I sense malice.’

If this was deliberate, he sensed malice toward the master-disciple pair. A malice to bury them without dirtying one’s own hands.

And there was only one organization that would do such a thing.

“Master, I’m going out for a bit.”

Ju-seong grabbed some medicinal ingredients from the medicine storage and headed down to the Three Yang Tea House, half a day’s distance away.

-CRASH!

“Welcome… Hup!”

The man at the counter gasped upon seeing Ju-seong.

Come to think of it, it was the same man Ju-seong had beaten up last time, still standing at the counter.

“Long time no see. Been well?”

“…Sir, you’re here.”

“Is Cheong-rang here now?”

“The branch chief is always here.”

“Good. Hey! Open the door!”

When Ju-seong pounded the wall and shouted, a small sigh was heard, and the wall planks suddenly flipped inward, creating a passage.

“Why do you insist on having it that way? If other customers barged in and saw that, they’d get suspicious.”

“…That’s true too. It’s just my personal taste getting reflected. Originally it was just a door, but I like secretive things.”

“You’re diversely creepy.”

“…”

“Anyway, setting that aside. Any new orders come down regarding my master?”

“It’s awkward for you to ask about internal secrets like that…”

“Shut up and answer what I ask. I brought medicinal ingredients to feed you… if I don’t get proper answers, I’ll open you up and directly shove the medicine in.”

“Hmm…”

Cheong-rang looked at the large bundle Ju-seong was carrying and slowly spoke.

“There hasn’t been any new word regarding your master, Young Master…”

“Nothing new about the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine either?”

“Yes… But strangely, orders did come down to search for the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine. Wasn’t it concluded that the Emei Sect stole it? Why waste manpower on this…”

“So, are you searching?”

Cheong-rang shrugged and shook his head.

“No? Why would I? I’ll search once it’s confirmed Emei didn’t steal it, but why would I bother looking for something that may not even exist?”

Ju-seong narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.

The lower levels of the Ten Thousand Ears Gang were probably all like this. They took assignments they wanted; if it seemed pointless, they slacked off.

No matter how ruthlessly the upper echelons ran purge squads, if lower branch members colluded and defected, they lacked the capacity to root them out in the first place.

“Then why did the upper echelons bother issuing such orders? To really find the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine?”

If so, did that mean they weren’t behind all this?

Did the Heavenly Bone Fruit Wine end up in the Divine Physician’s hands purely by chance, and the Ten Thousand Ears Gang was also confused about the elixir’s whereabouts and bewildered?

But that damned elixir was known to have been consumed by the Emei sect leader, so why on earth were they trying to find a nonexistent elixir?

When they obviously knew the lower-level members wouldn’t search diligently.

Ju-seong felt like his head would split.

He set aside the complex thoughts for now and spoke.

“…So, how is the conflict between the two factions progressing?”

Cheong-rang brightened slightly when a question he could properly answer came up.

“Ah, that. It’s head-splittingly absurd… In vulgar terms, after the lay disciples started brawling, there was a murder in Chengdu.”

“…Murder?”

“A key figure from an Emei lay school was assassinated, and now it’s escalated to all-out war. The main mountain folks can’t sit around acting dignified anymore. Right now it’s only the first-generation disciples fighting, but once someone gets crippled, the elders will jump in too.”

“And the authorities still aren’t intervening?”

“Well, the officials have received so much from both Qingcheng and Emei that it’s hard to take sides.”

“They could just mediate and tell them not to fight?”

“Since Qingcheng was the one robbed of the elixir, telling them not to fight would just be helping Emei. So in the end, it’s that damned non-interference between state and martial world.”

“Unbelievable.”

Ju-seong muttered hollowly.