The Genius Doctor of the Mount Hua Sect - Chapter 39

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Hwashan School Genius Physician — Episode 39

The Moonlight Yin Herb.
It was a Spiritual Herb said to grow by absorbing the Yin Energy of moonlight.
Its efficacy was nothing less than providing Internal Cultivation of Yin Nature.
‘Wanderers would light fires in their eyes searching for something like that.’
It was a precious Spiritual Medicine that was difficult to obtain even with silver, so naturally finding the Moonlight Yin Herb proved exceedingly difficult.
But Baek Hyeon knew the method of finding the Moonlight Yin Herb well.
During his past life as a Divine Physician and Scholar of Fire and Writing, he had already dug for it several times in different regions.
And so.
“Is it really this way?”
Baek Hyeon was climbing a mountain late at night together with Cho Ujin.
It was a mountain known to be quite treacherous among those nearby. Of course, it could not compare to Hwashan where Baek Hyeon lived, but even so, the mountain path at night was considerably dangerous.
“Fortunately, it seems there are no idiots out here searching for Spiritual Herbs anymore.”
Cho Ujin heightened his perception and examined his surroundings before speaking.
True to his words, there was scarcely a person to be found in the area now.
After all, searching a mountain at such a late hour was dangerous, and besides…….
“Over the past few days, more and more people have become convinced the rumor is false.”
This was because more people had begun dismissing the claim that a Spiritual Herb had been discovered in this location as nothing but a lie.
So quite a number of people had turned back.
“So then, my benefactor — are you certain there is such a thing as the Moonlight Yin Herb in this place?”
“I can’t say I’m certain. Maybe fifty-fifty?”
“Not bad odds.”
“Right? It’s worth a try.”
“But I still have a question. If it really exists here, more than dozens of people should have searched this place by now — so why hasn’t it been found until now?”
Baek Hyeon grinned as though he had been waiting for that question.
“Normally you can’t tell it apart from common weeds.”
“Hmm?”
“You’ll understand once you see it.”
Baek Hyeon spoke thus and led the way forward.
Though the path was dark and steep enough to be difficult, he advanced without hesitation.
Since his physical abilities had improved after reaching the First-class Master level, climbing the mountain now was not particularly hard.
“The Moonlight Yin Herb feeds on Yin Energy, so you need to find the most shadowed place possible. For example, a cave…….”
And where Baek Hyeon stopped speaking was exactly at the mouth of a cave.
Located midway up the mountain, it was pitch black inside — one could not see even a hand’s breadth ahead.
“You’re saying we have to enter a cave in this dark night?”
“Yes. Fortunately, look inside there. It’s not completely without light. Moonlight must be seeping through the cracks in the cave walls.”
“It’s still quite dark though…….”
“A Supreme Master and a First-class Master entering together — what could there possibly be to fear?”
“True enough.”
Cho Ujin looked reluctant, but yielded and led the way inside.
“A cave at night is dangerous. Not only can you not see ahead because of the darkness, but there’s a real chance that hungry beasts are sleeping inside. If we run into a bear, it would be troublesome.”
Troublesome, in his estimation — though in reality, any martial artist below the First-class Master level would almost certainly become a bear’s meal.
But Baek Hyeon advanced without fear.
After all, he had reliable protection at his side.
“Don’t rely too much on sight. Focus on your other senses instead. Release your Qi like fine threads, probing your surroundings first. That way, if you sense anything, you can act before it becomes a problem.”
Cho Ujin continued his instruction even as they went.
It seemed this too was another form of the fighting method he taught.
Baek Hyeon created threads of Qi as Cho Ujin instructed and released them outward, and the structure of the dark cave began to take shape in his mind.
“Wow, this is incredible!”
“Isn’t it?”
“I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Even during his past life as a Divine Physician and Scholar of Fire and Writing, when his Cultivation Level had been higher, he had never managed such a thing.
No one had ever taught him this back then.
Baek Hyeon thought that simply learning this technique made this mountain journey worthwhile. He had more than gained his investment.
‘Of course, the real goal is the Moonlight Yin Herb.’
How long had they been walking like this?
“Please stop for a moment.”
Baek Hyeon, who had been carefully sounding out the cave as he advanced, came to a halt. Cho Ujin likewise stopped at Baek Hyeon’s words without hesitation.
A faint smile played at his lips.
Baek Hyeon’s mouth curled upward as his gaze settled on something.
“Grand Master, look there.”
“……!”
What lay before them were two roots of Spiritual Herbs.
Bathed in moonlight filtering through the cave’s fissures, they glowed with a soft luminescence—so faint it seemed the herbs themselves were the source of the light.
“The Moonlight Yin Herb only shines like this in the dead of night, and only when it receives moonlight. During the day, they’re indistinguishable from common weeds, which is why they’re impossible to spot when the sun is out.”
“I see…….”
Now he understood why the Hwaam Sageom and other wanderers had failed to find this place.
Those of lower cultivation realms would never have ventured into a dangerous cave at night.
And without knowing the herb’s distinctive properties, they wouldn’t have known what to look for in the first place.
“Two roots—we’re fortunate indeed.”
Baek Hyeon approached the Moonlight Yin Herbs with barely contained delight, but in that moment, something strange caught his eye.
“Thread?”
It was a transparent yet remarkably tough silk.
And it bore the same spiritual power that the herbs themselves radiated.
What in the world was this?
As he pondered the question,
“Hm?”
a single silkworm appeared before the crouching Baek Hyeon.
It was small—no thicker than a child’s pinky finger—with a faint blue iridescence.
“So you’ve set your heart on the Moonlight Yin Herb as well.”
Baek Hyeon chuckled softly and placed the silkworm on his fingertip.
Clearly, it had been nibbling on the herb while spinning its thread.
‘Though it doesn’t look very well.’
He noticed one side of the creature’s body had turned black.
It had accumulated Yin poison from greedily consuming the Moonlight Yin Herb’s Yin Energy.
Baek Hyeon drew a small needle from his sleeve and gently pricked the silkworm’s skin to extract the Yin Energy, then opened his Medicine Box and offered it some medicinal scraps.
The blue silkworm nibbled at the scraps, then suddenly crawled into the Medicine Box itself.
“Oh?”
“It seems to have taken a liking to it.”
“It doesn’t look like it plans to come back out. Should I force it out?”
“I’d leave it be. This silkworm is no ordinary creature.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a Spirit Being. Have you ever heard of the Blue Sachet Spirit Silkworm?”
Baek Hyeon hesitated for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully.
“I believe I have heard of it—a Spirit Being silkworm that consumes medicinal herbs and spins special thread, if I recall correctly.”
“The blue exterior, the faint spiritual aura it radiates, and especially the thread the silkworm produced just now—all signs point to it. Why don’t we take it with us and raise it?”
This was an unexpected windfall.
Who would have imagined they’d encounter a Spirit Being silkworm while searching for Spiritual Herbs?
“Of course we should take it.”
Spirit Beings were rare encounters, difficult to come by.
A medicinal silkworm Spirit Being, especially, was rarer still.
‘This turned out far better than I expected.’
Baek Hyeon had come to gather Moonlight Yin Herbs, yet here he was with far more. He tapped the Medicine Box affectionately and smiled faintly.
“Your name is Nang-i.”
“Blue Sachet Spirit Silkworm—so Nang-i? I’m afraid I can’t praise your naming skills, benefactor…….”
“Don’t sigh like that when you speak to me. I know it’s not very inspired either.”
Baek Hyeon grumbled good-naturedly as he harvested the Moonlight Yin Herbs.
The purpose of their visit was accomplished.
It was time to descend.

* * *

The Moonlight Yin Herbs would remain entirely in Baek Hyeon’s possession.
Though he had initially intended to share one root with Cho Ujin, Cho Ujin had refused adamantly.
“I’ve already received countless kindnesses from you. To take anything more would be shameless.”
“But…….”
“Use one root for your own growth. Keep the other—exchange it for money if you wish, or refine it into medicine and use it yourself.”
Cho Ujin’s voice was resolute.
Baek Hyeon realized that arguing would never break his resolve.
But still, he’d never expected such utter indifference to gain.
Truly, this was a remarkable person. Most would struggle to relinquish a Spiritual Medicine right before their eyes, yet he had handed it over without a shred of hesitation.
In any case.
“For now, we should preserve both roots. It hasn’t been long since I obtained the Spiritual Medicine.”
He’d only recently consumed the Detoxification Vitality Pill.
Though he’d absorbed most of its essence, some of it remained unabsorbed in his body as residual energy.
Such things could only be digested slowly over time. To consume a new Spiritual Medicine before then risked squandering this energy entirely.
“Very well. I won’t interfere further,” Cho Ujin said, shrugging his shoulders.
Baek Hyeon set about crafting a storage chest and carefully preserved the Moonlight Yin Herb inside.
“Aren’t you concerned someone might steal it?”
“If they knew its value, there’d be some risk. But to the untrained eye, it’s just a weed. If someone were going to steal anything, they’d target the more expensive herbs scattered about here.”
“That’s a fair point.”
“But there’s something I’d like to experiment with using Nang-i…….”
“An experiment?”
“I once read some notes on the characteristics of the Blue Sachet Spirit Silkworm. I want to verify if they’re accurate.”
Baek Hyeon promptly set up a simple dwelling for Nang-i and began feeding her various medicinal ingredients to test.
Several days later.
“Hmm.”
The results exceeded his expectations, and he could hardly contain his surprise.
“Master Cho, look at this.”
“What is it?”
“This is the silk that Nang-i produced after consuming the Hemostatic Herb. It has hemostatic properties.”
“What…….”
“And this is the silk that came out when she consumed the Detoxification Herb. It has mild detoxifying effects.”
“Could it be that the properties of what she consumes are transferred into the silk she produces?”
“It does appear to be the case. And this here—I fed her an ordinary leaf, and she produced Spirit Silk that’s remarkably tough and resilient. Don’t you think it would serve well for closing wounds?”
“It could do more than close wounds—it could be woven into inner garments. Not quite equal to the legendary Heavenly Silkworm Silk, but this is nearly as strong. It should stop a dull blade without trouble.”
Baek Hyeon and Cho Ujin’s eyes met.
“It seems we’ve stumbled upon something far more valuable than we realized.”
“Indeed.”
The Moonlight Yin Herb was remarkable in its own right, but the Blue Sachet Spirit Silkworm’s value proved far greater than anticipated.
It could be put to use in so many different ways.
The problem was simply finding a place to keep her…….
“There’s no helping that.”
“Is there some solution?”
“I was already thinking of crafting another Medicine Box anyway. We could carve out a space for Nang-i inside it, couldn’t we?”
“The size would grow considerably. Are you certain?”
“That’s no concern. What matters is dividing the compartments properly so that Nang-i doesn’t consume the other medicinal ingredients.”
If she were to somehow devour every herb stored within the box, it would be ruinous.
“Hmm, then we’d need to search for a skilled craftsman.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“No?”
“Among the friends we know, there’s one with quite talented hands, isn’t there?”
Baek Hyeon withdrew the Bodhisattva Statue he’d been carrying in his breast and smiled broadly.
“Song Ha could craft a magnificent Medicine Box for us.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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