Chapter 19

Ch. 19

The King of Fist Chews and Swallows Elixir

Gu Bon-hyeon, who had been leading the West Wind Escort Agency with all his heart and soul, handed his son a letter.

"Read this."

Qiu Xiong wondered what it was about and read the letter. It was a letter sent by the owner of the Galaxy Merchant Group, who was also his friend's father.

The letter's content was brief.

"Hmm, I've finished reading it."

"What is this about? From what the messenger said, it seems the Galaxy Merchant Group will refuse to provide protection for the Gu Family in the future. Though it's not written in the letter, it appears the Great Young Master killed Gu Yanghu during a match."

Qiu Xiong was also shocked.

"Really? He's become incredibly strong."

"They say the Great Young Master has changed."

"Yes. When we gathered after a long time, we just drank four cups of alcohol and disbanded. He said he would devote himself solely to martial arts training from now on."

Gu Bon-hyeon was also surprised and stroked his chin. This was the moment when the reason why his son, who had been secretly wandering around every night, was staying home became clear. It seemed the starting point was the Great Young Master of the Galaxy Merchant Group.

Qiu Xiong asked.

"By any chance, are there any decent elixirs within the escort agency?"

"There are."

Qiu Xiong asked with a smile.

"You won't give me any?"

"Of course I should give them to you. If you're going to learn martial arts."

"That means you won't give me any."

"No. The elixir is yours. If you're going to learn martial arts, that is."

"There's no way I'd learn martial arts at this point."

"Then let's send it."

Qiu Xiong held his forehead for a moment. He had never learned martial arts and had no intention of learning. Although he felt regretful, no matter how much he thought about it, he didn't think he would learn martial arts. Qiu Xiong observed his father's expression and said.

"Father."

"Yes."

"I'd rather deliver it myself. I don't know how expensive that elixir is, but it won't be more expensive than the cost of alcohol my friend has bought so far."

Gu Bon-hyeon handed over the warehouse seal and said.

"It would be right to deliver it personally. It's in the high-value lost property warehouse."

"Ah, it was lost property?"

Gu Bon-hyeon said with a stern expression.

"It's lost property of a martial artist. Both the one who tried to steal it and the one who tried not to lose it all died. Still, someone who claimed it was theirs could have come looking for it, so we've been quietly keeping it for a long time."

"What if they come looking?"

"Then we won't reveal its whereabouts and we'll have to handle it ourselves. But that won't happen. Fifteen years have passed. The storage period set by our merchant laws has long passed too."

"Then I'll deliver it with peace of mind."

Gu Bon-hyeon held Qiu Xiong's hand and said.

"Son."

"Yes."

"We are merchants. Lee Seongmin, the merchant group leader, is too, and so are you. If there's something to give, there should be something to receive. I'm not saying to take money. As much as we're giving something expensive and precious... think about what would be good to receive from the Galaxy Merchant Group before you go. Keep this in mind. It's not necessarily about taking money..."

Qiu Xiong looked at Gu Bon-hyeon's serious expression and nodded.

"I understand. But for something like this, it would be better to give it without expecting anything in return. What kind of compensation would you expect when giving a gift? Let's say I'm giving it because we're friends. Wouldn't that be enough?"

Gu Bon-hyeon crossed his arms and stared blankly at his son as if he had been struck, then replied.

"Hmm, that would be enough."

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"They say it's Hundred-Year Rehmannia. Actually, I wouldn't know even if I looked at it. How this thing lived for a hundred years..."

Right after lunch, Qiu Xiong visited the Galaxy Merchant Group and handed Dan Wooseong a box of Hundred-Year Rehmannia that his father had been secretly keeping.

Dan Wooseong said.

"Shall we open it?"

Qiu Xiong gestured as if telling him to open it himself. Dan Wooseong opened the box.

It contained quite a large amount of Hundred-Year Rehmannia. Even ordinary rehmannia is a medicinal ingredient mentioned in the Yellow Emperor's Classic and has good efficacy. But this was definitely not ordinary rehmannia. Dan Wooseong examined the Hundred-Year Rehmannia and said.

"This must be expensive. But it doesn't seem like Hundred-Year Rehmannia."

"Then?"

"Three to four hundred? Four to five hundred years?"

"Did you come back from being a ginseng digger at Nine Flower Mountain?"

"It's Hundred-Year Rehmannia from not just one root, but from five or six roots. The quantity is quite large."

It meant that if he consumed everything in the box, it would be an elixir with the efficacy of more than two Thousand-Year Rehmannia roots.

Dan Wooseong closed the box again and asked.

"Why did you suddenly bring this?"

Dan Wooseong didn't know the reason. It was something his father and second brother had done.

Qiu Xiong giggled and laughed.

"Did I come here to trade for candy? I brought it to give to you. It seems your father is sending letters everywhere asking for elixirs. Didn't you know?"

"Hmm, I didn't know."

Dan Wooseong had only asked Lee Hwa-eon to buy elixirs. He didn't know his father had stepped in too. Moreover, for Qiu Xiong to personally bring such a precious elixir. The affairs of the world were unknowable even when you thought you knew them. As Dan Wooseong was about to say something, Qiu Xiong stood up and said.

"I'm going. The storage cost for that thing isn't trivial either. Something about the air needing to be cool and so on, I forgot all the details. So eat it quickly."

"What? You're leaving already? What about the elixir cost? Stop right there."

Qiu Xiong walked out quickly as if escaping and casually replied to his friend's words.

"This Qiu Xiong has urgent business."

"Crazy bastard, you don't even have anything to do."

Qiu Xiong turned around.

"Ah, right."

"What? What is it?"

"If someone messes with our escort agency, you'll help us, right?"

"Who's messing with you?"

When Dan Wooseong spoke as if he would smash them right away, Qiu Xiong burst into laughter again.

"Who would mess with us? I was just asking. I'm going."

As Qiu Xiong left the Galaxy Merchant Group, he thought. Somehow the atmosphere at the Galaxy Merchant Group was quite different from before. It felt like it had changed quite positively, and somehow it seemed like his friend, who used to be called a ragamuffin together with him, was at the center of that influence.

Qiu Xiong, who had been walking down the street with a stoic expression, suddenly smiled and headed home.

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For someone without even a handful of inner qi to eat such Hundred-Year Rehmannia, it's better to grind it into powder and mix it with water or alcohol. Even then, it's safe to eat an appropriate amount divided over a long period. This is because a weak body cannot properly accept the inherent power of the elixir.

No wonder even martial artists mostly practice qi cultivation after consuming elixirs. Whether the elixir has yang or yin properties, there's a need to manage them well.

Therefore, from Dan Wooseong's perspective, it wasn't something to give to someone else, nor was it a tonic to grind into powder and consume long-term.

Dan Wooseong immediately brought it to his room and, prepared to skip dinner that evening, chewed and ate it raw.

As he sat on his bedding and chewed and swallowed the Hundred-Year Rehmannia, hot energy spread throughout his entire body as if a brazier had been lit inside him. While he was chewing and swallowing, the Twin Treasure Brothers, who found it strange that he wasn't coming to the training ground, came to his room and asked.

"Elder brother, are you there?"

Dan Wooseong replied while chewing the Hundred-Year Rehmannia.

"Today I think I need to do only qi cultivation. You two train, and if anyone seems likely to come to my room, block them. I'll come out on my own around dinner time."

"Understood. We'll be training nearby."

The Twin Treasure Brothers positioned themselves as if guarding Dan Wooseong's quarters and began training, while Dan Wooseong chewed and swallowed all the Hundred-Year Rehmannia that filled the box. The quantity was large, like eating two meals at once.

The taste was bitter, and there was no fragrance.

So it tasted similar to martial arts.

Just like how the training process is painful and unglamorous.

There's only relentless repetition. As the heat grew increasingly intense and his throat became blocked, Dan Wooseong slowly drank small amounts of water to calm it down.

Perhaps because it was a superior product close to Thousand-Year Rehmannia rather than Hundred-Year Rehmannia, the spiritual energy it possessed was strong. He became curious about how much the elixir he was eating could elevate his White Lightning Ten-Stage Art. Just rapidly rising to the Fourth Stage would be jackpot, and if it had better efficacy than expected and he reached the Fifth Stage, it would mean this elixir was worth at least one million taels.

Qiu Xiong had given him quite an expensive gift.

Of course, to reach the Fifth Stage, not only the power of the elixir but also the skill of the person practicing qi cultivation must support it.

Dan Wooseong chewed and ate all the Hundred-Year Rehmannia that had filled the box, then took a deep breath. Then he quickly assumed the lotus position and concentrated his mind.

Amusingly, this thought occurred to him.

Rather than the elixir being expensive, the fact that his ragamuffin friend had given it to him seemed to make Dan Wooseong nervous.

'I'll absorb every single root with my inner qi.'

He entered the qi cultivation of the White Lightning Ten-Stage Art, which transforms the spiritual energy of the absorbed elixir into extreme yang inner qi.

He steeled his resolve completely.

The goal was the Fifth Stage.

If the elixir's power stopped at the Fourth Stage, he planned to devote himself only to qi cultivation until he reached the Fifth Stage for the time being.

Since the opportunity had come, it was time to push forward.

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"It seems Qiu Xiong brought an elixir during the day."

General Manager Lee Hwa-eon reported to his father. Lee Seongmin smiled.

"Quick. Where's your brother?"

"He's holed up in his room and won't come out. The Twin Treasure Brothers that elder brother brought are blocking anyone from coming."

"To receive a gift from Gu Bon-hyeon before I die, the sun must be rising in the west."

Lee Hwa-eon said.

"What should we do?"

They were merchants. Since they had received something, they were thinking of reciprocating. Lee Seongmin was also troubled.

"Money won't be necessary. Since we're originally their business partners, they won't lack work either."

"Yes."

"Then there's nothing particular to give. Nothing."

"Pardon?"

"Well, if some big trouble happens, we'll have to send all our guard brigades or ask your brother to help us... What else could we give? We're just grateful. We just need to not forget."

"Understood. I'll give a hint to the guard brigades."

After thinking about something for a moment, Lee Seongmin said this.

"About the messenger pigeons that martial artists use. They say they're different from ordinary messenger pigeons. Find out how to use them and where to purchase them, and devise a method to communicate with the West Wind Escort Agency using martial world-style messenger pigeons and implement it immediately. If you're busy, have the third son do it."

"Should the third son do it? He doesn't listen to me well."

He was asking to borrow his father's authority, but Lee Seongmin replied like this.

"He will. If you emphasize that it's 'martial world affairs.'"

Lee Hwa-eon understood immediately.

"Ah, I understand."

For a moment, the father and son stared blankly at each other's faces, then burst into laughter simultaneously. They too knew all too well that their youngest was a Jianghu Hero.

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"Third son, I have a task for you. It's important work."

Lee Ja-eon, who had sheathed his sword with an expression that found everything in the world bothersome, turned to look at his second brother. Before Lee Ja-eon could say anything, Lee Hwa-eon struck first.

"Well, you see, this is martial world affairs."

Lee Ja-eon narrowed his brow and replied in a low tone.

"What kind of work?"

Lee Hwa-eon continued speaking calmly with a serious expression.

"We're planning to establish a close emergency communication network with the West Wind Escort Agency in the future. As you know, our Galaxy Merchant Group has become entangled in martial world affairs. So, what I'm saying is..."

Since Lee Ja-eon was listening with a consistently serious expression throughout, Lee Hwa-eon also put all his effort into maintaining a serious expression.

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