Chapter 73 : Chapter 73

Chapter 73. The Five Great Elixirs of Murim

Gossips like to rank things.

No.

It’s not just a story about a few oddballs called gossips.

Most people like to rank things. It would be right to say that ranking and evaluating is human nature itself.

-Among the Nine Sects, isn't Shaolin undoubtedly the best?

-Hey, this person doesn't know anything. Who is the greatest master of the Nine Sects today? Isn't it the Sword Emperor of Wudang? So Wudang is the best!

-It's just not widely known in the Central Plains, but we can't leave out Kunlun, which is single-handedly blocking the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult at its doorstep.

The ranking of the Nine Sects was always a subject of debate.

-The best of the Five Great Clans is definitely Namgung.

-Hmph, isn't that just because the Tang Clan is holding back on its poison techniques? If they used poison actively, no clan could stand against the Tang Clan of Sichuan.

-Hey. This person doesn't know anything. The martial arts of the secular world inherently value great strength. I have never seen a clan that can overcome the power of the Peng Clan of Great Strength.

The Five Great Clans also could not escape the ranking of the gossips.

-Then, it is my opinion that the strongest martial artist is the Emperor Breaker, Yeom Gi-ha.

-…….

-Do you agree?

-St-still, the Sword Emperor also…….

-The Sword Emperor is stronger than the Emperor Breaker?

-No, what I mean is, not necessarily that, but…….

Of course, there were also rankings where debate was meaningless.

Anyway, why were the gossips always debating such topics?

The reason was that there was nothing better to arouse people’s interest.

The value of ‘strength’ was the topic that the martial artists of Jianghu were most interested in.

In addition, there was a topic to which the comrades of the Jianghu Murim paid as much reverence and interest as the value of ‘strength’.

That was ‘how to become stronger’.

Who was the strongest might be someone else’s problem, but how to become stronger could be my own story, so it was not wrong to say that the interest was even greater.

.

.

.

Excluding clichéd topics like training, effort, and talent, there were about three ways to become stronger.

-Isn't getting a good weapon the answer?

-Ahem. Relying on such external things won't allow you to reach a higher realm.

-Tsk. Senior Brother, were you a purist?

-Then, were you a pragmatist, Senior Brother?

-An incorrigible person.

-The same goes for you.

Although there was room for debate, the first would be divine weapons.

-A divine art.

-A divine art, you say?

-That's right. If only my fortuitous encounter could lead me to obtain a secret martial arts manual…….

-So, if you get it, can you learn it?

-Keheum. In my time, I was once called a prodigy.

-Aren't all your meridians already blocked, making it impossible to even begin?

-…….

The second would be a manual of advanced martial arts.

-It's all useless. Elixirs are the best.

-It's not like everyone who takes an elixir gets stronger, is it?

-When it comes to the Five Great Elixirs of Murim, isn't that a different story?

-Hmm.

Lastly, one could mention elixirs.

Among them, the ones considered the best were the Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

The very same Five Great Elixirs of Murim that the Healing Sage mentioned.

The Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

It was a term that referred to the five pills with the greatest efficacy in the Jianghu Murim.

Natural elixirs were great, but humans were not satisfied with them.

Nature was vast and benevolent, but at the same time, it was fierce and heartless.

To obtain the efficacy of elixirs more easily, the great sects studied the art of pill-making.

And the research accumulated over long periods of hundreds of years yielded significant results.

It meant that the so-called great sects had created secret pills that symbolized their prestige.

Shaolin’s Great Cycle Pill.

Wudang’s Taecheong Pill.

Mount Hua’s Purple Cloud Pill.

Kunlun’s Blue Pine Pill.

Beggar’s Gang’s Emerald Rescue Pill.

This was the list of the Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

Each and every one was a great name, not unworthy of the expression ‘divine object’.

-You must obtain all of the Five Great Elixirs of Murim. It means that the power of one or two types of the Five Great Elixirs of Murim is not enough to match the Fifth Stage you have built up. I trust that the disciple also knows that elixirs usually have resistance, so repeated consumption is meaningless.

To reach the Sixth Stage, the Healing Sage had instructed that I must obtain and consume all of those Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

All of those things that were called rare treasures.

Usually, it would be right to answer that it was impossible.

But…….

“I’ll have to do it.”

I might have come to resemble the Healing Sage’s disposition without realizing it.

I, who have obtained the Immaculate Pomegranate, the Vermilion Fruit, and the ten-thousand-year-old spiritual medicines, which everyone would say are impossible to obtain, have no reason to grumble that something else is impossible now.

There was also the reason that considering possibilities was only meaningful when there were other options.

Having encountered the Heavenly Demon, I realized it like fate.

The fact that in order to completely stop the Great War of Righteousness and Evil, I must reach the Sixth Stage.

Since there would be no other way to stop the recurrence of the hellscape that was the Great War of Righteousness and Evil.

In the end, I had to do it.

It was not difficult to guess the reason why the Healing Sage had not reached the Sixth Stage.

The Healing Sage had not been able to obtain the Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

He had completed an excellent blueprint but could not obtain the appropriate materials, so he was like a carpenter who ultimately could not complete the house.

Since the deficiency was not within himself but in external conditions, it was a problem that even the great Healing Sage could not overcome.

In fact, this was inevitable.

The Healing Sage was born with spiritual eyes.

To him, spirituality was a part of daily life, and finding a supreme elixir that held great spirituality was, with a little exaggeration, like turning over his hand.

The Healing Sage, who wished to resemble nature, took countless spiritual medicines and reached the Fifth Stage of the Mind Cultivation Art.

The Healing Sage wanted to become nature, and finally, he came to resemble nature.

To put it differently, it meant that the Healing Sage had not blended well into the Jianghu Murim.

The reason was that the Healing Sage had wanted to become a divine immortal, not a human, and wanted to become nature.

People did not understand the Healing Sage, and the Healing Sage did not understand people.

-Humans are truly difficult…….

One day, a single line of message, like a lament, proved that fact.

The Healing Sage had not blended well into the Jianghu Murim, that is, the society of humans where dog-eat-dog struggles were rampant.

His martial arts, which were premised on spiritual medicines, could not be a subject of exchange, and his temperament would not have been easy to get along with others.

It was because nature itself was lofty.

It was also the reason why the footsteps of the great master, the Healing Sage, who had left behind great achievements, were rare in the Jianghu Murim.

Sadly, the journey of the Sixth Stage was a very different direction from the path of nature that the Healing Sage had pursued.

-This humble Daoist may have become too old.

The Healing Sage, who found it difficult to change himself, lamented so.

I understood such a Healing Sage.

Nature was benevolent, so it gave everything to the one who discovered it.

But human society could not be like that.

Especially, in the world, there was no cause and effect for the great sects, which had firmly established their foundations, to readily give their secret treasures to the Healing Sage without any compensation.

There was one thing that nature and the Jianghu Murim had in common.

The law of the jungle.

It was one of the few values shared by nature and human society.

The Healing Sage, who had reached a realm that could encompass the world with just the Fifth Stage, had no choice but to contemplate.

Whether to pioneer the path of the Sixth Stage with force.

The sad point was that the Healing Sage, who resembled nature but pursued the Dao, could not choose the path of the law of the jungle either.

-……I found the path, but it was a path that this humble Daoist could not walk.

The Healing Sage did not walk the path of the law of the jungle. No, he could not walk it.

It was because he wanted to ascend to godhood, not become a ferocious nature.

The Healing Sage remained in this world as a peripheral figure who could neither be a complete human nor become a complete nature, nor could he ascend to godhood.

That was why the Healing Sage left behind the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

-I entrust the future of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art to the disciple.

Thus, the Healing Sage’s message ended with regret.

He gave everything of his to his future successor, so perhaps this too was an aspect of the Healing Sage who resembled nature.

What was the right thing to do?

I did not know.

There was only one clear fact.

That I was different from the Healing Sage.

It also meant that what was impossible for the Healing Sage was possible for me.

It was because if the Healing Sage had the weapon of spiritual eyes, I had the weapon of information.

It was also because the Healing Sage wanted to become nature, and I wanted to become a person.

The biggest difference was that, thanks to the guidance of the master called the Healing Sage, I was walking a prearranged path without trial and error.

“Hoo-”

As the Healing Sage’s message concluded, the information I had collected and organized during my Myeong-gae days flooded my mind.

Since I already knew of the existence of the Sixth Stage and recognized the necessity of the Five Great Elixirs of Murim, wasn't it the natural order for me to make arrangements accordingly?

“I’ll have to do it.”

I will form connections with the owners of the Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

To be precise, I will bestow favors upon them. Favors great enough for them to give me their secret treasures.

It would be an absurd thing for a mere individual to bestow favors on those who reside in the Nine Sects One Gang, but now that I have reached the Fifth Stage, it would be a sufficiently possible thing.

It would not be easy, but it was not an impossible path like it was for the Healing Sage.

‘First…….’

It was said that order was important in all things.

Since I had to obtain five pills, I would need five great flows.

The important part was where to start.

“The Beggar’s Gang.”

The answer came easily.

It was because the Beggar’s Gang was included in the forces that possessed the Five Great Elixirs of Murim.

The place where I had once belonged.

Since I could confidently say that I knew more about the Beggar’s Gang than anyone else, it would be the easiest to carry out the plan.

Moreover…….

“The time is right, after all.”

There was also the reason that the time had come to find Chwipung-gae.

After my regression, I had not forgotten Chwipung-gae for a single moment.

It was because I had returned with the favor that the stubborn old beggar had bestowed upon me engraved in my soul.

In any case, the time to find Chwipung-gae had arrived.

The reason was that soon, an opportunity to repay his favor would arise.

Since the time to repay Chwipung-gae’s favor and the time to find the Beggar’s Gang’s Emerald Rescue Pill overlapped, this too must be fate.

Step.

Having decided on my course of action, I stepped outside.

Hwoong-

A familiar face was brandishing a sword in the front yard of my residence.

His momentum was so grand that it was not like training but a real battle, full of dynamism.

It was Senior Brother Chun-baek, who was refining the enlightenment he had gained from the recent battle with the Extreme Demon master with his sword.

Hwoong- Swe-aek, Spat!

For a while, I watched his elegant sword dance.

The spirit of Chun-baek, which had already been opened, was expanding even further.

The reason why a person who had reached the State of Harmony was developing so quickly was due to Senior Brother Chun-baek’s own talent, the experience of fighting a life-and-death battle with an Extreme Demon master, and the shock of witnessing the Heavenly Demon.

An evil omen had ultimately become a good omen, so human affairs were this difficult.

Hwoong-

Undeterred by my presence, Senior Brother Chun-baek freely brandished his sword.

Originally, martial arts training was a confidential matter that others should not see, but both Senior Brother Chun-baek and I were calm.

-May I do some martial arts training?

-I will arrange for a secluded place.

Senior Brother Chun-baek, who had been staring at me intently,…….

-I think it would be fine if it were you.

He had said.

Since I knew that Senior Brother Chun-baek was a disciple of a mysterious sect, I couldn't help but know how deep his heart was.

Sreung- Chak.

“Are you out?”

Senior Brother Chun-baek composed his spirit and sheathed his weapon.

And…….

“Where will you go now?”

He asked as if he had read my mind.

“I’m going to the Beggar’s Gang.”

I had nothing to hide from him.

“Senior Brother Chun-baek, would you like to come with me?”

It would be even better if I could walk this path with him.

At my question, Senior Brother Chun-baek let out a small laugh.

“If I’m with you, that would be fun too.”

There was another thing that made me different from the Healing Sage.

“Thank you.”

The fact that I was not alone.

The first goal was the Beggar’s Gang’s Emerald Rescue Pill.

With that, which was called one of the two great treasures of the Beggar’s Gang along with the Thousand Immortals of the Jianghu, I will begin the journey of the Sixth Stage.

-The Sixth Stage of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art is called Pacifying the World. It is because there is no other way to call it.

It was called Pacifying the World.

With the godhood achieved in the Sixth Stage, I will surpass the Heavenly Demon and pacify the world.

To trample the embers of the Great War of Righteousness and Evil.

And I will have restored peace to the world.

Pacifying the World.

That would be the path of the Sixth Stage that I would walk.

Tip: Tap/click the left or right side of the screen to go to previous/next chapter.