Return of the Blossoming Blade — Chapter 182

I-ILL TIDINGS?

BUT HOW CAN A FAILED ATTEMPT YIELD THIS ETHEREAL GLOW?

SUCCESS IS THE ONLY BLOSSOM-LOVING OPTION, FAILURE'S NOT!

BROTHER, I LOVE YOU, BUT THIS PESSIMISM'S GOT TO GO--

ENOUGH.

TO FALL SHORT IN ONE'S MOST ARDENT ENDEAVOR CAN BE DISHEARTENING, INDEED...

...EXCEPT IT NEED NOT MEAN THAT OUR SPIRITS SHOULD FALTER FOR GOOD.

AFTER ALL, OUR VERY JOURNEY HERE WAS MOLDED BY MYRIAD DELAYS AND DETOURS, WAS IT NOT? LET US ALLOW OURSELVES A MEASURE OF PATIENCE.

YOU DID WELL TO GET US TO THIS POINT, CHEONGMYEONG. WE OWE YOU OUR GRATITUDE.

AT A TIME WHEN DISAPPOINTMENT ABOUNDS, HE IS NONETHELESS THE FIRST TO COMPOSE HIMSELF AND OFFER HIS DISCIPLES SOLACE.

ONCE AGAIN... I CANNOT HELP BUT ADMIRE HIM.

WHAT A RELIEF IT IS TO HAVE MY BELOVED SECT BE LED BY A GRACEFUL SOUL LIKE HIM, TRULY.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE PRIMORDIAL PANACEA WAS A FAILURE.

ALL IS WELL, MY BOY. WE SHALL MOVE ON AND--

THAT BEING SAID...

WE NOW SEEM TO HAVE A WHOLE BATCH OF VIOLET SKY PELLETS, SECT LEADER.

HMM?

I DON'T BELIEVE I HEARD YOU CORRECTLY, CHEONGMYEONG. VIOLET SKY PELLETS?

OUR SECT'S MOST REVERED PANACEA OF ALL TIME?

THE ONE THAT WAS LOST TO HISTORY SINCE THE INVASION OF THE DEMONIC CULT...?

WELL, I CAN HARDLY CLAIM THAT WE'VE REPRODUCED THE VIOLET SKY PELLETS OF LEGENDS DOWN TO A T...

BUT NOR WOULD I SAY THAT WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS THE PRIMORDIAL PANACEA.

IF ANYTHING, THIS MIXTURE IS EVEN GREATER IN ITS POTENCY.

TRANSCEND THE PRIMORDIAL PANACEA...?

ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT WE HAVE SOMEHOW IMPROVED UPON THE FORMULA LEFT BEHIND BY THE IMMORTAL PHYSICIAN HIMSELF?

EXACTLY.

BUT THAT WOULD MEAN...!

THE CRAFTING PROCESS WAS A RESOUNDING SUCCESS.

PRAISE THE PLUM BLOSSOMS!!!

BWAHAHAHA! YOU HAD US FOR A MOMENT, YOU TRICKSTER GOBLIN!

FIRST, YOU MAKE US MONEY, AND NOW YOU MAKE US FABLED MEDICINE! IS THERE ANYTHING YOU CANNOT DO?!

A FEAST! WE SHALL HAVE A FEAST IN YOUR HONOR, YOU LITTLE MIRACLE WORKER!

A QI-INFUSED MEDICINE THAT EMITS A GLOW LIKE THIS... WHY, I'VE NEVER SEEN SUCH A THING, LORD SECT LEADER! IF THIS IS NOT A PANACEA OF OTHERWORLDLY EFFICACY, THEN I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS!

OUR ANCESTORS SMILE UPON US...!

BEHOLD, FOREBEARS OF OUR SECT... AT LONG LAST, WE STAND ON THE VERGE OF GREATNESS!

ARE YOU WATCHING OVER US STILL?

ENOUGH! ENOUGH WITH THE SOPPY MELODRAMA ALREADY!

SAVE THE FEAST FOR LATER AND GET TO WORK MOLDING THE MIXTURE INTO PELLETS!

WE CANNOT AFFORD TO LET OUR GUARD DOWN UNTIL WE SHOVE THE ENTIRE LOT DOWN OUR SECT SIBLINGS' THROATS!

R-RIGHT YOU ARE!

LET US GET TO IT! HURRY!

TO WORK!

Episode 176

THE CRAFTING PROCESS IS FINALLY AT AN END, THEN?

IT IS INDEED, SECT LEADER.

CERTAINLY, THESE ARE NOT QUITE THE SAME AS THE PRIMORDIAL PANACEA WE SOUGHT TO MANUFACTURE, BUT REST ASSURED, THEIR EFFECTS ARE UNDOUBTEDLY SUPERIOR!

AND YOU CAN PERSONALLY VOUCH FOR THAT, CAN YOU?

P-PARDON?

I AM ASKING YOU, HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE AT A MERE GLANCE?

AS I RECALL, YOU HAD LITTLE TO DO WITH THE PROCESS DIRECTLY ONCE CHEONGMYEONG TOOK OVER, SO HOW IS IT THAT YOU CAN SPEAK ON THE PELLETS' POTENCY?

E-ELDER HYEONYEONG, I--

SPEAK UP, UN-GAK!

I-I SWEAR IT, ELDER!

I ONLY TRIED A TINY CRUMB THAT FELL FROM A PELLET, NO BIGGER THAN AN ANT DROPPING!

IS IT NOT THE DUTY OF A CHEF TO TASTE THE DISH HE COOKS-- URK!

SPIT IT OUT, YOU MEDICINE THIEF!

HAHA, LEAVE HIM BE, HYEONYEONG! OUR CHIEF PHYSICIAN HAS THE RIGHT OF IT.

LET US NOT DISCOUNT HIS HARD WORK IN PREPARATION FOR THIS ENTIRE PROCESS.

DISCOUNT, YOU SAY?

COME, UN-GAK. TELL US MORE OF THE PELLET'S EFFICACY.

THE AMOUNT I INGESTED WAS MINUTE, LORD SECT LEADER, SO MY ESTIMATE IS FAR FROM PRECISE...

EXCEPT TO SAY IT IS ALL BUT A CERTAINTY THAT ITS EFFECT ABSOLUTELY RIVALS THAT OF THE PRIMORDIAL PANACEA, IF NOT MORE.

I SHOULD THINK TAKING A WHOLE PELLET THIS TIME WOULD GIVE ME A BETTER IDEA...

WELL, SINCE I HAPPENED TO MAKE A SPARE PELLET, PERHAPS I COULD SERVE AS THE TEST SUBJECT--

HA!

HAHAHAHA.

COME, ENOUGH JESTING. WE HAVE AN ENTIRE SECT FULL OF YOUNG DISCIPLES HAND THESE OUT TO, DO WE NOT?

NOT YET, LORD SECT LEADER.

OH?

AS THE LEADERS OF OUR SECT, I THINK THE THREE OF YOU SHOULD HAVE THE HONOR FIRST.

YOU DO...?

YEP.

BONE APPLE TEA.

IT WARMS MY HEART THAT YOU WOULD BE SO THOUGHTFUL, CHEONGMYEONG.

BUT WE ARE ELDERLY MEN WITH LITTLE LEFT TO ACHIEVE.

RATHER THAN WASTE THE PELLETS ON US, I SUGGEST YOU HAND THEM OUT TO AS MANY OF OUR DISCIPLES AS YOU CAN--

UGH, SAVE THE PITY PARTY FOR THE OLD PEOPLE'S HOME, SECT LEADER. THE SECT IS NOT DONE WITH YOU YET.

I'D SAY YOU HAVE AT LEAST ANOTHER CENTURY OR SO LEFT IN YOU!

B-BUT MY RETIREMENT PLANS...

RETIREMENT PLANS? SURELY YOU WON'T ABANDON YOUR DISCIPLES TO GO BIRDWATCHING, GARDENING, AND WHATNOT.

TAKE THIS AND YOU'LL BE RARING TO PUT IN ANOTHER THREE DECADES OF BACK-BREAKING WORK FOR MOUNT HUA!

WHAT IN THE ELDERLY LABOR EXPLOITATION...?

SECT LEADER.

JUST TAKE IT.

IT'S NOTHING YOU HAVE NOT EARNED.

THE MOUNT HUA SECT'S BEST MILESTONES AND ACHIEVEMENTS ARE AHEAD OF US YET.

THERE WILL COME A DAY WHEN A VIOLET SKY PELLET IS AS COMMON TO US AS MEDICINE FOR THE COMMON COLD.

UNTIL THEN, YOU NEEDN'T DENY YOURSELF ON PRINCIPLE.

HAHA... AS COMMON AS COLD MEDICINE, YOU SAY?

I SUPPOSE YOU ARE QUITE RIGHT.

THE DAY MUST SURELY COME.

YOU'LL HAVE TO EXCUSE OUR MISERLY WAYS, CHEONGMYEONG.

WE CAME UP IN SUCH A TIME OF POVERTY FOR THE SECT THAT A GIFT OF THIS MAGNITUDE FEELS LIKE AN EXTRAVAGANCE, IF NOT DOWNRIGHT EMBEZZLEMENT.

IN FACT, AFTER A LIFETIME OF NOT EVEN HAVING A ROOT OF GINSENG TO MYSELF, I CAN BARELY CLOSE MY HAND AROUND A PRICELESS PANACEA SUCH AS THIS.

DID YOU NOT HEAR THE BOY SAY NO MORE PITY PARTIES, BROTHER?

AM I NOT ALLOWED A MOMENT, YOU HAIRY BRUTE?!

I FEEL A STING, SOMEWHERE DEEP WITHIN.

A MIX OF PITY AND COMPASSION.

PITY FOR THE CONSTANT HARDSHIPS THESE STOUT BELIEVERS OF MOUNT HUA ENDURED...

AND COMPASSION FOR THEIR UNWAVERING LOYALTY IN STANDING BY THE SECT THROUGH MANY YEARS, AS THE MORE SHREWD AMONG THEIR PEERS DEPARTED ONE BY ONE.

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT, ELDERS.

EITHER YOU TAKE THE PELLETS OR I STOMP THEM RIGHT INTO THE DIRT.

SOMETHING WRONG, ELDER HYEONYEONG?

NO, BUT THERE IS SOMETHING I MUST TELL YOU FIRST.

YES?

THANK YOU.

WE OWE YOU A DEBT THAT WE MAY NEVER BE ABLE TO REPAY.

WHY, THAT HARDLY SOUNDS LIKE YOU AT ALL. A MOUTHFUL OF THAT PELLET AND YOU'LL BE BUSTING OPEN EVERY DEBTOR'S HEAD IN NO TIME!

I MEAN IT.

THERE ARE SOME WORDS OF GRATITUDE IN THIS WORLD THAT SHOULD NOT BE LEFT UNSAID.

GRATITUDE OF SUCH HEARTFELT SINCERITY THAT IT WOULD BE AN INJUSTICE TO KEEP THEM BOTTLED UP.

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN, CHEONGMYEONG.

YOU HAVE GIVEN US MORE THAN ANY MOUNTAIN OF GOLD CAN WEIGH.

I OUGHT TO BE THE ONE THANKING YOU, JUNIOR BROTHER.

HMM?

WHAT WAS THAT NOW?

IT IS ALSO AN APOLOGY I OWE YOU, ALONGSIDE MY GRATITUDE.

I FAILED IN MY DUTY TO PROTECT OUR SECT TO THE VERY LAST.

BY MY SACRIFICE, IT WAS THE MARTIAL ARTS REALM I SAVED, NOT THE SECT THAT RAISED ME.

THE THREE OF YOU SUCCEEDED WHERE I FELL SHORT, KEEPING YOUR PREDECESSORS' LEGACY ALIVE AGAINST ALL ODDS.

THE DECADES YOU DEVOTED TO YOUR DWINDLING SECT WRINKLED YOUR SWORD HAND AND LACED YOUR HAIR WITH STRANDS OF GRAY.

THE HEARTS THAT USED TO BEAT WITH WILD AMBITION FELL SILENT IN THE COLD FACE OF REALITY AND YOUR ONCE-SOARING DREAMS BECAME BURIED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF DUTY AND OBLIGATION.

YOU OBSTINATE FOOLS... OF WHAT WORTH WAS MOUNT HUA'S NAME THAT YOU LINGERED HERE AND GAVE YOUR ENTIRE LIVES TO IT?

HAD YOU LEFT FOR YOUR OWN SAKE AS COUNTLESS OTHERS DID, YOU MIGHT HAVE LIVED A LIFE OF COMFORT.

FORGIVE ME... IN TRUTH, IT WAS I WHO FAILED YOU ALL.

IT WAS I WHO TOOK YOUR BEST YEARS AWAY...

NO ONE ELSE...

BUT I PROMISE YOU... I WILL MAKE AMENDS.

YOU WILL ONCE AGAIN HARBOR DREAMS THAT HAD FALLEN BY THE WAYSIDE.

I SEE IN YOU THAT LONG-DORMANT DESIRE TO MAKE YOUR MARK UPON THIS WORLD...

AND I SHALL GRANT YOU THAT WISH.

FOR ALL THE YEARS I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE TO GUIDE YOU, ALLOW ME TO MAKE AMENDS BY SHELTERING THE PATH YOU WALK ON NOW.

WALK TALL, BEARERS OF MY LEGACY, AND DO NOT LAMENT YOUR SILVER YEARS YET.

DO NOT DENY YOURSELVES FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR PUPILS...

...FOR I SHALL BRING YOUR DREAMS BACK TO LIFE, THE WAY YOU KEPT MINE ALIVE ALL THIS TIME.

BROTHER...

HEAR ME, BROTHER SECT LEADER...

MY DEBT TO MOUNT HUA SEEMS TO GROW WITH EACH DAWNING REALIZATION.

WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT?

WHO KNOWS?

WAS THERE NO WORD FROM THE GREAT BROTHERS?

NOT THAT I KNOW OF. I WAS MERELY TOLD TO ASSEMBLE IN THE MAIN YARD...

QUIETEN DOWN BACK THERE. WE SHALL KNOW SOON ENOUGH.

ARE ALL THE DISCIPLES GATHERED?

YES, SIR!

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET ME ADDRESS THE PURPOSE OF THIS ASSEMBLY TODAY.

YOU WILL HEREBY EACH BE GRANTED A SACRED PANACEA CRAFTED BY MOUNT HUA!

A PANACEA?

SINCE WHEN DOES MOUNT HUA MAKE PANACEAS?

AS OF NOW, IT SOUNDS LIKE. MUST BE NEW OR SOMETHING.

BUT WHERE DID WE GET THE RECIPE, LET ALONE THE INGREDIENTS?

SENIOR BROTHER, WAS THIS THE PURPOSE BEHIND YOUR MISSION TO YUNNAN...?

INDEED.

WE WERE SENT TO PROCURE INGREDIENTS FOR THE NEW MEDICINE.

TH-THEN, YOU SUCCEED IN NOT ONLY FINDING THE INGREDIENTS, BUT ALSO IN CRAFTING THE PANACEA ITSELF?

INCREDIBLE...!

QUESTION, GREAT BROTHER. MAY I ASK ABOUT THE EXACT NATURE OF THIS NEW PANACEA THAT WE WILL BE GIVEN?

MM.

WE CALL IT THE VIOLET SKY PELLET.

VIOLET...?

TH-THE VIOLET SKY PELLETS OF LEGENDS?!

THE VERY SAME.

AFTER A LONG AND ARDUOUS PROCESS, WE WERE ABLE TO RECREATE THE CRAFTING METHOD FOR THE HALLOWED PANACEA OF OUR SECT. AND THANKFULLY, WE WERE ABLE TO SECURE ALL OF THE NECESSARY COMPONENTS IN ADVANCE.

GREAT BROTHER... DOES THAT MEAN WE WILL ALL BE GIVEN A VIOLET SKY PELLET EACH?

JUST SO.

EACH PELLET WAS MOLDED TO BE SOMEWHAT SMALLER THAN WE HAD EXPECTED, BUT IN DOING SO, EVERYONE FROM THE ELDERS TO THE CHEONG-LINE OF JUNIOR TRAINEES WILL RECEIVE AN EQUAL DOSAGE OF THE PANACEA.

PRAISE BE TO MOUNT HUA!

ARE THESE PELLETS TRULY SAFE TO CONSUME?

OUR SECT HASN'T MADE ANY SORT OF PANACEA IN NIGH A HUNDRED YEARS, SO WHO'S TO SAY THIS ONE WON'T COME WITH SIDE EFFECTS?

I HEARD TAKING A FAULTY PANACEA IS BASICALLY ASKING FOR DEATH BY QI REFLUX...

WELL? IS THE PANACEA FREE OF ALL DEFECTS?

OF COURSE, BROTHER. IT HAS BEEN TESTED ON LIVE SUBJECTS ALREADY.

LIVE SUBJECTS?

WHO MIGHT THAT BE?

YOU'LL SEE FOR YOURSELF IN A MOMENT. IN FACT, HERE THEY COME.

?!

!

UHH, ELDERS...? I-I MEAN...

HUH...

WHAT ELDERS...?