CFZ

By the time I arrived at the Tang Clan, night had already fallen.

I had been working since morning, dealing with tasks, and even succeeded in completing the Dokcheon Pill. While it felt like much had been accomplished, further research on the pill was still necessary.
Naturally, this was expected.
Even though the pill was technically completed, I needed to account for various scenarios.
However, despite the favorable result, the process had not been smooth.

“...Cough!”
Thud, thud! Blood spilled onto the floor. Enough to dampen it slightly. It wasn’t my blood.
I approached the man who had collapsed from exhaustion and placed my hand on his back.

Wuuuuung—! I untangled the knotted energy within him and examined his internal state.
As expected, stagnant tainted energy had gathered again.
Though the amount wasn’t significant, the fact that this much had accumulated in just one day was considerable.
It was proof that he had overused his internal energy.

I stabilized his energy flow and removed the tainted energy.
The Poison King’s breathing immediately calmed down.
“Haaah... Hoooo...”

“Are you all right?”
“...Thank you.”
“It’s nothing. I’m glad I could help.”

The Poison King staggered to his feet. His face was etched with exhaustion.
It was no surprise.
Expelling that much energy in such a short time could easily lead to Qi Deviation if mishandled.
Whoosh—!

I flicked my hand to burn away the tainted energy I had removed from him. The flames crackled as a faint, foul stench wafted into the air.
Seeing this, the Poison King looked at me with a peculiar expression and asked,
“I was curious about this earlier as well.”
“Yes?”
“How exactly do you extract tainted energy?”

“...Pardon?”
How do I extract it? His unexpected question made me tilt my head.
“I simply see it and pull it out.”

As I spoke, I recalled hearing a similar remark before.
If I remembered correctly, it had been from the White Lotus Sword.
She had also asked me about tainted energy.
‘And I gave her the same answer.’

At that time, I had probably replied in the same way:
“I just see it and remove it.”
Back then, the White Lotus Sword had worn the same puzzled expression the Poison King now had.
“...You just remove it.”

His face showed that he didn’t quite understand. I asked in return,
“Is it really that difficult?”
It’s just a matter of spotting the tainted energy, extracting it, and burning it. I couldn’t understand why that would be considered hard.

Apparently, the Poison King felt the same about my lack of comprehension.
“Difficult, you say?”
He sighed and began to explain.

“You’re aware that energy within the body doesn’t remain still, correct? Even at rest, it moves faintly.”
“Yes, of course.”
While one could control its speed, stopping it entirely was impossible.
Intentionally {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} halting the flow of energy would be akin to—

‘Triggering Qi Deviation.’
For a martial artist, it was no different from a death wish.
“Extracting only the tainted energy from such a moving flow... Do you think that’s easy? It’s like searching for a needle floating in a running stream.”

“Hmm.”
Finding a needle in a flowing stream, huh? It certainly sounded difficult when put that way...
“But I can do it.”

“...”
“So, isn’t that all that matters?”
If I can see it and pull it out, why overcomplicate it? That was the only explanation I could offer. Hearing my words, the Poison King fell silent.

“...I see. Well...”
Before long, he let out a defeated sigh, as if giving up on trying to understand.
Watching his reaction, I scratched my head.

‘This is awkward.’
Paejon’s words came to mind: if I had any talent, it was sensing and controlling energy.
At the time, I hadn’t thought much of it. But situations like this made me view it differently.

‘So I do have something, after all.’
Even if I lacked exceptional talent in martial arts, having this ability might offer some comfort.
‘How ironic.’

The Poison King’s reaction reminded me of how I used to look at geniuses in my past life.
Those faces that asked me why I couldn’t do what they could. Now, the Poison King was giving me that same look.
‘Hah...’
Though it stirred some nostalgia, it still didn’t feel entirely real.

Sensing and controlling energy? It was better than nothing, sure, but its practical use was limited.
At most, I could stabilize someone’s energy flow or remove tainted energy, like I had just done for the Poison King.
‘Anyway.’
My talents were irrelevant for now. What mattered was the current situation.

‘...The results of this experiment.’
After helping the Poison King, I glanced around.
We were still in the manufacturing room where the Dokcheon Pill had been created.
The only difference since morning was how much messier it had become.

All the remaining mana stones had shattered and lay scattered on the floor, and several batches of failed mixtures were spread out.
Thinking of the wasted money made my chest ache, but it had all been necessary for experimentation.
While I had successfully crafted the Dokcheon Pill, the result contained fire energy instead of the intended poison energy.
I suspected this was because my own energy had inadvertently mixed into the process.
Thus, I had conducted several experiments.

The first was focused on—
‘The issues with the mana stones.’
I recalled how, during my initial attempts, the mana stones I infused with energy had shattered upon leaving my hands.

So, the first experiment was aimed at understanding whether the destruction occurred because the stones had been infused with energy,
or because the amount ground into the mixture had been excessive.
Thankfully, the results became clear quickly.
‘Mana stones shatter the moment they leave my hands.’
It didn’t matter how much of the stone was used. As long as I let go, it would break.

Additionally—
‘Excessive amounts overwhelm the mixture.’
When I tried infusing a larger quantity without letting go, the mixture lost its glow after a certain point.
This meant the spiritual energy within the pill had completely dissipated.

‘What a hassle.’
That realization made me chuckle dryly. Apparently, adding too much also led to disaster.
In short:

I needed to add the right amount while keeping the stone in my hand.
It was a critical point to consider when working with mana stones.
After using two red mana stones, I had figured this out.
‘This part is fine.’

Though I had consumed two valuable mana stones in the process, at least I had a solution.
The problem now was—
‘What comes next.’
The next issue was how to infuse the Dokcheon Pill with poison energy.

If my energy had caused fire energy to seep into the pill, then the solution seemed obvious:
‘Infuse an empty mana stone with the energy of someone who possesses poison energy.’
That was my first thought.
And how should I proceed with that?

Naturally, I had to test it.
Fortunately—
‘While only I can extract energy, anyone can infuse it.’

As long as it wasn’t demonic energy, infusing an empty mana stone was something anyone could do.
The answer was simple.
First, extract the energy from a mana stone, then fill it with poison energy.
And the person who could provide that poison energy was right next to me:

The Poison King.
With the greatest expert in Poison Techniques (Dokgong) of the current martial world right beside me, I immediately asked for his help.
Having already seen the completion of the Dokcheon Pill, the Poison King agreed without hesitation.

At that moment, I thought everything would proceed smoothly.
All we needed to do was infuse the energy, mix it into the dough, and complete the process.
Or so I believed.
‘…But then the biggest problem emerged.’

During this process, I stumbled upon the most significant issue.
‘Infusing energy into an empty mana stone isn’t as simple as I thought.’
This was the part I had overlooked.

The Poison King was undeniably a king-level martial artist, and like fire techniques, poison techniques required substantial internal energy.
Because of this, I assumed that filling the mana stone wouldn’t be difficult for him.
Contrary to my expectations, however, the Poison King struggled immensely to infuse energy into the stone.

It was strange.
While the red mana stone required a considerable amount of energy, it wasn’t an impossible amount.
At least for the Poison King I knew, I believed he’d manage without trouble.

‘…But he struggled far too much.’
To my surprise, the Poison King found it challenging to fill even a single mana stone.
How could that be?
Unable to comprehend, I asked him, and he replied, sweat dripping down his face.

What he said at that time was:
“It’s not about the amount I’m giving; it’s about how little actually goes in.”
Even though he exerted great effort, only a fraction of his energy was absorbed by the stone.
That’s how he explained it. But to me, his words only raised more questions.

‘Why is that?’
This didn’t happen to me.
For me, every bit of energy I infused into the stone entered without issue.
But the Poison King could only manage an insignificant fraction.
I couldn’t identify the problem.

‘Could it be because I possess Magical Energy Absorption Technique (Mado Cheonheupgong)?’
Was the difference simply due to whether one possessed demonic energy techniques or not?
It seemed possible, but more experiments were needed to confirm it.
Thankfully, despite the difficulty, the Poison King managed to grit his teeth and successfully fill a single mana stone.

The dough infused with the completed mana stone glowed without issue.
This marked the creation of four complete Dokcheon Pills.
‘These are the real deal.’

The completed pills carried poison energy, just like the spiritual pills I was familiar with.
This confirmed one thing for certain:
‘The nature of the pill is determined by the type of energy infused into the mana stone.’
Since I used fire techniques, the result carried fire energy.
When the Poison King infused his poison energy, the result became Dokcheon Pills.

It seemed plausible that infusing other types of energy would yield similarly tailored results.
And if my assumption was correct…
‘Then this recipe holds tremendous value.’

It meant that any kind of energy could be harnessed.
Whether it was cold energy, fire energy, or any rare form of energy,
it became easier to acquire through this method.
While there was a risk of conflicting energies causing instability, that was something to address later.
For now, the ability to obtain different energies so easily was already extraordinary.

‘Hmm.’
I glanced at the completed pills before turning to the Poison King.
Though I had restored his energy, he still looked utterly exhausted.
‘If someone like him ends up in this state…’

He struggled just to fill a single mana stone.
This meant that anyone less capable than the Poison King wouldn’t be able to manage it at all.
‘I thought it seemed a bit too easy.’
Was this the final obstacle in the process?

‘If I want to mass-produce these pills, I need to solve this issue quickly.’
I had to find a solution.
To that end…

“For now, you should go rest. You must be exhausted.”
“Hoo….”
“We’ve already found a method, so you can ease your mind a little.”

“…Yes, you’re right.”
Though the Poison King’s face showed lingering regret, he also seemed relieved by the successful creation of the Dokcheon Pills.
“Take the night off. We’ll meet tomorrow. And…”

As I looked at the worn-out Poison King, I casually added,
“I might have some questions regarding Lady Tang. Would you be all right with that?”
“...”

At the mention of Tang So-yeol, the Poison King swallowed lightly.
He seemed to have an inkling of what I intended to ask.
“…Tomorrow, then.”
“Understood. Rest well.”

Rather than answering outright, the Poison King opted to avoid the topic, and I decided to respect that choice—for now.
After a slight bow, the Poison King left the manufacturing room first.
As I prepared to follow, I paused and glanced down.
“...Hmm…”

Something was nagging at me.
Looking at the shattered fragments of mana stones scattered across the floor, a thought crossed my mind.
‘Everything else is fine…’

But one thing felt off.
‘The Dokcheon Pill can’t be completed without energy-infused mana stones.’
The final ingredient for the pill: energy-infused mana stones.
The idea felt like a thorn lodged in my mind.

The reason being:
‘How were they made in the past?’
How did they acquire the final ingredient back then?

If mana stones required energy to be extracted and re-infused,
someone must have completely drained the mana stone’s energy first.
Which meant…
‘During the time when the Dokcheon Pills were first made…’

Someone, like me, must have existed.
Someone capable of extracting energy from mana stones.
The thought lingered in my mind, refusing to leave.