The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 20

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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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The Youngest Son of the Nakhyang Jin Family – Chapter 81

* * *

From the moment I was dragged to the Imperial Palace and presented before the Emperor, my daily life became entirely different from what it had been in the Nakhyang Jin Family.
I rose earlier than anyone else to prepare medicinal broths and acupuncture needles, examined the Emperor’s condition, and administered the treatments.
Afterward, returning to my quarters, I could remove my mask, but only after a brief meal did I have to devote myself earnestly to crafting spirit pills.
Thanks to the countless spirit medicines and rare herbs I had never seen even in the Nakhyang Jin Family, it was no exaggeration to say I had no time for material preparation.
Even when something was lacking, it could be procured within half a day.
I was pouring all my strength into creating spirit pills, forgetting even to rest.
That was why the room was filled with the scent of medicinal herbs.
The problem was…
Though the Emperor’s condition seemed to have improved somewhat thanks to my medical skills, those improvements would not last long.
The medicinal broths were merely for nourishing the body, and acupuncture only temporarily invigorated his innate vital energy to improve his complexion.
Rather, if I made even the slightest mistake and his condition began to deteriorate, it would become uncontrollable.
The accumulated blood stasis would burst forth all at once.
When that time came, he might not even be able to move or speak a single word properly.
Therefore, before that time arrived, I had to either escape the Imperial Palace or create a perfect spirit pill to heal him.
But with the remaining time, even if I devoted all my strength to crafting a spirit pill, I had no confidence in creating something equal to what Jin Cheon-u had consumed.
After all, spirit pills were not something made in a single day.
Creating a spirit pill took a minimum of one year, and could take over a decade.
What Jin Cheon-u had consumed was made by my grandfather through the most devoted effort, and I heard it had taken over seventy years.
That was precisely why the great restoration pills and summoning pills of Shaolin Monastery, despite having the materials, could not be easily created.
Therefore, saying I could treat the Emperor with a spirit pill was merely a temporary measure to buy time.
So why was I spending time creating a spirit pill?
I gazed at the completed spirit pill before me.
It was not made over half a year, a year, or even ten years.
Merely two days.
Looking at the spirit pill created in just two days, I smiled with satisfaction.
“Perfect.”
I placed the spirit pill formed in my mortar and pestle and ground it.
Confirming that the round form was completely crushed, I took a portion and placed it in another vessel, then gazed at the mirror and slowly rubbed it across my face.
“How convenient that they provide anything when I say it’s to heal the Emperor.”
Though the medicinal materials and spirit herbs were provided for the Emperor’s treatment, I could never create a proper spirit pill anyway. Since I could not simply sit idle, I used them to create what I had originally intended to make.
The Chae Family’s wound salve.
A special preparation with ground spirit herbs mixed in.
I could confidently say that no wound salve as effective as this could be found even if one searched the entire Central Plains.
“Phew.”
After applying the wound salve across my entire face, I covered it with a cloth I had prepared beforehand, then placed my mask over it to conceal everything.
The cloth served to prevent the golden wound medicine from dripping, and the mask ensured that those watching me would never see this face.
Soon, I shifted my gaze and my eyes gleamed.
Abundant medicinal herbs and spiritual plants still remained.
If I lacked anything, I need only ask.
Since everything was being supplied as if without limit, she smiled faintly to herself.
Countless methods to protect my body flooded through my mind.
They would prove invaluable in any dire situation.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that very moment.
The Crown Prince, having returned to the Imperial Palace, sat in his quarters with his eyes gently closed.
Only one thought consumed his mind.

Dowon Village.

Though he could not discern all the details, observing how things operated there was sufficient to understand the nature of the place.
A paradise for those who possessed tokens.
A place where those without tokens were not even treated as human.
By donning masks to conceal their faces, they indulged in revealing their base natures without restraint, and once ensnared, none could escape.
“So this is why those who vanished and returned have betrayed me.”
The Crown Prince understood why those who had supported him had changed overnight. He even recalled familiar voices he had heard scattered throughout the place.
For even with a mask, one cannot alter one’s voice.
Unmistakably the voice of one who had supported me not long ago.
Contemplating this, he quietly gazed at the bronze token resting upon the table.
The higher the grade of one’s token, the closer one stood to the Emperor.
Moreover, it signified possessing commensurate power and authority.
“Chungho, what are your thoughts on this?”
“…It is a place that should not exist.”
“Ha, coming from one who once served the righteous path, I understand your sentiment. But that is not what I asked.”
“The Hao Gate?”
“Would that place not be easier to breach than the palace? No, this is a question with an obvious answer.”
“….”
The Crown Prince leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile.
It was a matter of confronting fewer forces than within the palace.
For Chungho, nothing could be simpler.
Then the question became one of troop deployment.
The Crown Prince smiled and gazed at Chungho with his chin tilted, his eyes searching.
The gaze of one desperate to confirm something.
“Would you… lay down your life for me?”
“From that moment onward, my life belongs to you.”
Chungho had been the First Disciple of the Wudang Sect.
The Senior Brother destined to lead the next generation of Wudang.
The most talented and most reliable existence among them.
Yet for reasons unknown, he had been excommunicated, and faced the inevitable fate of having his meridians severed and his dantian destroyed.
It was the Crown Prince who saved him from that doom.
No matter how prestigious the Wudang Sect was, they could not help but yield to the Crown Prince’s command to release Chungho entirely, and what sealed that decision was none other than the Emperor himself, who had been observing the situation from the sidelines.
Even the Wudang Sect—one of the two pillars of the Nine Great Sects alongside the Northern Shaolin—could not refuse the Iron-Blooded Emperor’s solemn imperial decree.
In the end, the Wudang Sect released him on several conditions.
Thus, the fact that he could stand here unscathed was entirely due to the Crown Prince’s grace—how could such a debt ever be repaid?
“I see. So this is what it feels like to have a truly reliable ally. Haha… Then, are you prepared?”
Those piercing eyes fixed upon him, the faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth, and his expression.
The moment Chungho witnessed it, he swallowed hard.
A side of the Crown Prince he had never seen before.
Everything about him felt as though the Iron-Blooded Emperor himself stood before him.
Chungho swallowed hard and lowered his head.
“They have all been in Beijing for quite some time now.”
Though excommunicated and no longer formally connected to the Wudang Sect, the influence he once wielded as a Senior Brother respected by the sect’s disciples had not entirely vanished.
Lay disciples who had been close to him within the Wudang Sect.
Or second and third generation disciples stationed outside the sect.
Though they were disciples of Wudang, they stood distant from the sect’s centers of power, and while they held loyalty to Wudang, they desired their own success far more.
Such individuals now awaited Chungho’s orders in Beijing.
Beyond that, the Crown Prince himself possessed forces he had cultivated over the long years, waiting for this very day.
Not enough to assault the Imperial Palace, but certainly sufficient to overturn Dowon Village.
“I will trust you.”
At those weighty words, Chungho lowered his head.
The moment the Emperor revealed himself in Dowon Village.
That would be the beginning.
The time to welcome a new Emperor.

* * *

Dowon Village offered plenty of entertainment beyond mere gambling.
Among these, the Auction House held special significance, for it offered items that couldn’t be found even in Hao Gate’s black market.
There was nothing one couldn’t purchase here.
Objects, divine artifacts, elixirs, treasures—and even people.
With enough wealth to outbid competitors, one could possess anything.
“The secret manual of the Black Blood Sect, which once threatened the Nine Great Sects! Now then—we begin at two silver taels!”
As the auctioneer’s voice rang out loudly, people began raising their hands without hesitation, driving the price upward. The Black Blood Sect’s manual, which had started at two silver taels, quickly surpassed several dozen taels.
“Is the Black Blood Sect really that impressive?”
Chu Hyeongi, who had been watching silently, spoke with a puzzled tone, glancing between me and Gu Gunbaek alternately.
He had never heard of them before.
I was in the same position.
I glanced sideways at Gu Gunbaek, and he let out a soft chuckle.
“They were famous once. They went bankrupt playing both sides—selling Martial Alliance information to the Demonic Sect and Demonic Sect information to the Martial Alliance, that sort of thing.”
“Ah—so why is their manual so expensive?”
“How would I know?”
“It’s simple logic. The perception is that anything appearing here must be no ordinary item. Besides, most people here are satisfied simply enjoying the thrill, even if they end up with worthless goods.”
I smirked as I watched the people cheering.
While not quite at the level of the Nakhyang Jin Family, dozens of silver taels were mere pocket change to these people.
And there was no one here who would complain about losing such trivial amounts.
The manual was sold off to someone, and finally a new item came up for auction.
My gaze fixed upon it and didn’t waver.
“Now, a difficult item to obtain. Who knows when it will appear again—the Soul Restoration Pill from the Shaolin Monastery!”
At the auctioneer’s booming voice, all eyes turned toward the stage.
Even those unfamiliar with the martial world knew the Soul Restoration Pill was an extraordinarily famous elixir.
Everyone’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“The opening bid is…!”
“Ten gold taels.”
“…!”
Before the auctioneer could even finish speaking, I raised my hand. The auctioneer, who hadn’t even mentioned the opening bid yet, stared at me in surprise.
“W-wait, did you say ten gold taels? Ha, haha—quite aggressive from the start! W-well then, does anyone wish to bid higher?”
“…Thirteen!”
“Twenty!”
The crowd couldn’t hide their bewilderment at the sudden turn of events. In the past, the opening bid for the Soul Restoration Pill had been one gold tael.
It was understandable that they were shocked by such a sudden increase.
Yet knowing how rare such an item was, those with considerable wealth began raising their hands.
The price climbed rapidly, surpassing twenty taels in an instant.
One by one, fewer hands went up. It seemed the price was skyrocketing beyond reach.
Then, I quietly raised my hand.
“One gold yuan note.”
“…A gold yuan note has been offered! Does anyone else wish to bid?”
One gold-origin note.
In gold, it’s worth fifty taels.
In silver, its value reaches ten thousand taels.
Considering that even those with considerable wealth couldn’t easily overlook such a sum, I was bound to win this auction.
“…Two taels of gold for one gold-origin note!”
“Then I’ll add one more gold-origin note.”
“Gasp?!”
Despite a single gold-origin note already representing a substantial amount, I added another.
In that instant, I felt the piercing gazes of those who had been raising their hands, now fixed upon me.
They seemed ready to bid again, unwilling to concede, but after a moment’s hesitation—as if the sum exceeded their means—they exhaled in defeat and lowered their hands.
“Three, two, one! Sold! It’s sold!”
As the auctioneer’s cry concluded, someone approached me with the item.
I withdrew the payment without hesitation and handed it over.
After all, I’d earned a considerable sum yesterday.
Yet there remained something I had yet to receive.
With a soft chuckle, I accepted the summoning token, and Gu Gunbaek beside me clicked his tongue while regarding me with an expression of utter disbelief.
“Looking at you makes the money in my pocket seem like dust, you madman.”
“Do you have any funds?”
“I’ve got dust, you bastard.”
“Ha, well, at least you have that much.”
I rose from my seat with a smile.
By chance, I’d obtained what I desired.
While not immediately necessary, this item remained undeniably useful.
Now, it was time to shake Dowon Village to its core.

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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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