Ultimate Martial Venerable - Chapter 29

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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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Chapter 29: A Pill Duel for the Dragon Blood
The next day, the floor of the Mak family’s Jeongcheong Hall was covered in shards of a broken table.
It had been a sturdy table, until Mak Cheon’s palm turned it to powder.

“In the two days I was gone, you managed to disgrace this family thoroughly.”

Mak Rim, his chest wrapped in bandages, couldn’t even lift his head.

“You’re at the seventh stage of Inner Gangjing Realm, and you lost to a mere boy. And you were going to hide that?”
“I fell short, Grandfather.”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

Mak Cheon’s gaze shifted to his grandson.

“Un-bi, you tell me. From beginning to end, leave nothing out.”

Mak Un Bi recounted the fight in the alley from the very start. The longer he spoke, the narrower Mak Cheon’s eyes grew.

“Wait.”

A finger shot out, pointing at Mak Rim.

“What fist technique did that brat use?”
“It was the Small Annihilation Fist.”

The air in the hall froze solid.
Mak Cheon looked as though he wanted to shout that he’d heard wrong.

“Say that again.”
“I couldn’t be mistaken. Even though we’d stripped the core from the incomplete manual we handed over… Yuk Beom still brought the Dark Force to life. Blazing Gold Body power was mixed in as well.”

Mak Cheon didn’t press further. Mak Rim would never confuse his own martial arts.

“He built a fist technique from an incomplete manual that outclasses the complete one, and the moment he stepped into Inner Gangjing Realm, he broke a martial artist at the seventh stage. Is that right?”

There was more wariness than anger in the low voice that followed.

“Someone is standing behind that boy.”

Mak Rim nodded as well.

“The heavy sword on his back was no ordinary weapon either. It pressed down on my Gangjing and gnawed at it little by little.”
“If someone taught him martial arts and even handed him a weapon, then he’s no wandering expert who tossed out a few idle pointers for amusement.”

Mak Cheon tapped the armrest of his chair instead of the shattered table.

“He must have taken him on as a disciple.”

Mak Un Bi, listening from the side, found his hand curling into a fist without his realizing it.
Yuk Beom had once been beneath his feet, but then he met a good master and took flight. Even after taking Jo Uk’s pills, Un Bi hadn’t managed to close the gap.

‘If it weren’t for that master, he’d still be beneath me.’

It was then that a commotion broke out outside.
A moment later, Mak Hae was dragged in, blood from his nose already dried on his face.

“Who did you get beaten by this time?”

Mak Cheon’s voice dropped, and Mak Hae’s shoulders hunched in.

“This is Yuk Cheongang.”
“You’re telling me you couldn’t beat that man?”
“It wasn’t only me, Father. Our other brothers were all…”
“Did you treat the pills Jo Uk gave you as decorations?”

At the outburst, Mak Hae waved his hands in a panic.

“It’s not that we’ve gotten weaker. The Yuk Clan’s men suddenly grew stronger, a full step each. Their strength was even greater than ours.”

This time, the color drained from Mak Cheon’s face.

“Did Yuk Beom interfere?”
“No. Yuk Myeong wasn’t there either. Yuk Cheongang came with his own gang.”

Mak Cheon rose from his seat. There was only one answer.

“The Yuk Clan has a Flame Practitioner backing them.”

As if he had been waiting for those words, laughter rang out from beyond the door.

“Fascinating, that there’s another Flame Practitioner in Ganglim Castle besides me.”

Jo Uk stepped inside, a white robe draped over his shoulders.
Mak Cheon could not hide his delight and unease at the same time.

“Young Hero Jo, don’t you have any idea who it might be?”
“I don’t. Then we’ll simply find out for ourselves.”

Jo Uk smoothed his sleeves.

“If the Yuk Clan really is hiding a Flame Practitioner, all we have to do is draw him out.”
“Are you confident you can win?”

At Mak Un Bi’s question, the corner of Jo Uk’s mouth curled upward.

“What are the odds that a place like Ganglim Castle would produce two Second Grade Flame Practitioners?”

Seeing that composure, the tension eased from Mak Cheon’s expression.

“Very well. I’ll see with my own eyes what trick the Yuk Clan is playing.”

At that same moment, a leisurely fragrance of tea drifted through the Rear Garden of the Yuk Clan.
Outside, Yuk Cheongang’s voice carried over the garden wall.

“That bastard Mak Hae took one look at my face and ran off! Next time, I’ll win even with my hands tied behind my back!”

Yuk Beom set down his teacup and smiled faintly.
The effects of the Power Gathering Pill were better than expected. His disciples’ realms had each risen a step, and their medicinal power was purer than what they’d taken before.
Across the table, Yuk Ho listened to the commotion outside for a while before speaking.

“I can’t even remember the last time the two of us sat down and drank tea like this.”
“That’s because I’ve been stuck in the mountains.”
“Then today there’s something I want to ask you.”

Their father’s finger traced slowly along the rim of his teacup.

“You’ve received the Clan Head Token, so you must have given it some thought. Do you wish to lead the Yuk Clan yourself in the future, or would you rather keep cultivating the Martial Way out in the world?”

The answer had already been decided. Still, knowing his father’s worry, he didn’t want to say it lightly.

“The head seat isn’t your place.”

Yuk Ho’s hand stopped moving.

“Then where is your place?”
“Outside.”

Yuk Beom looked past the wall toward the peaks of Seosan.

“I want to fight stronger opponents and see how far I can go. If I stay within the clan, I’ll end up giving up that path.”

After a long pause, Yuk Ho nodded.

“I can’t quite picture you forcing yourself into the clan head’s seat, I’ll admit.”

A smile edged his words, but the worry lingering in his eyes didn’t fade.

“Still, I can’t guard this house forever. Even after you leave, the Yuk Clan has to endure.”

Yuk Beom glanced down at the black ring on his left hand. As he curled his fingers, a thin thread of Heaven and Earth Force coiled around the ring.

“I won’t become the clan head. But as long as I’m alive, the Yuk Clan won’t be trampled under anyone’s feet.”

Yuk Ho couldn’t tear his gaze away from his son’s face for a long while. His grip on the teacup tightened, then slowly loosened.

“Truth be told, I was more frightened once you grew strong.”

Yuk Beom’s eyes shifted.

“Because I thought that even if you abandoned the Yuk Clan, I’d have no right to hold you back.”

Having said it, Yuk Ho lowered his gaze.

“Still, I’m grateful you said you’d stay.”

Yuk Beom didn’t give a long answer.

“That’s because you’re here, Father.”

The same faint smile spread across both their lips as their eyes met.
Just then, a strange voice rode the wind and shook the Rear Garden.

“I am Jo Uk, Second Grade Flame Practitioner of the Martial Arts Academy! Flame Practitioner of the Yuk Clan, do you have the nerve to face me in a Pill Contest?”

The surface of the tea trembled faintly.
Murmurs rippled beyond the wall, and the Yuk Clan’s young members all dashed toward the front gate.
Yuk Ho pushed back his chair and rose.

“He dares to bellow in front of my house?”

Yuk Beom caught his father’s arm as he moved to head outside.

“Father, you mustn’t lift a fist first.”
“That fellow started the fight, didn’t he?”
“He’s a Flame Practitioner. There’s no guarantee he came alone, and if we use force, rumors will spread that the Yuk Clan obstructed a Flame Practitioner’s lawful challenge.”

Yuk Ho’s jaw went tight.

“So we just stand here and watch him make a fool of us?”
“Please, go on ahead without me.”

Yuk Beom rose from his seat.

“I’ll go look for Iron Mask.”
“Can you summon him now and have him come?”
“A man like him won’t let a challenge like this slide by.”

As Yuk Ho headed for the front gate, Yuk Beom slipped out through the back door on the opposite side.
Once he stepped into an empty alley, he threw on a black robe and the Iron Mask. He shifted his stance and lowered his voice.
The area in front of the main gate was already crowded with Mak Family disciples and onlookers.
Yuk Ho burst out through the gate.

“Mak Cheon! You brought a crowd here and blocked our house. Are you trying to start a war with the Yuk Clan?”

Mak Cheon spread his hands, perfectly at ease.

“You’ve misunderstood. I came only to watch Jo’s Pill Contest. I’ve also warned the children firmly not to cause any trouble.”

The Mak Family disciples answered at the top of their lungs.

“We’ll keep that in mind!”

The windows along the street rattled.
A vein twitched at Yuk Ho’s temple.

“If this isn’t causing trouble, what is?”
“They’re young and full of fire. You can hardly expect me to stop them from answering back.”

Jo Uk stepped forward a pace.
Above his palm hovered a small cauldron engraved with flame patterns.

“Let’s stop the bickering. As long as there are people, a cauldron, and pills, a Pill Contest can be fought anywhere.”

He looked Yuk Ho up and down, smiling.

“Bring out the Yuk Clan’s Flame Practitioner. If he keeps hiding, I’ll have no choice but to assume he’s too frightened to come out.”
“Who told you the Yuk Clan has a Flame Practitioner?”
“Why should I have to explain that to you?”

Jo Uk closed his eyes, as though the question wasn’t even worth answering.
Mak Cheon clicked his tongue beside him.

“Yuk Ho, your standing here won’t change anything. You can’t drive a Flame Practitioner out with your fists, either. Hurry and fetch him.”

Just as Yuk Ho clenched his fist, a low voice came from across the alley.

“That won’t be necessary.”

The black robe stirred in the wind.
A figure wearing a cold iron mask parted the crowd and walked forward.
The smirk vanished from Mak Cheon’s face, and Mak Rim, standing behind him, stepped back a pace without thinking. It was the very same Iron Mask he had seen at the auction house a year ago.
Jo Uk slowly opened his eyes as well.
The Original Qi radiating from his opponent was no weaker than his own.

“Iron Mask.”

As Yuk Ho drew near, Yuk Beom beneath the mask deliberately kept his reply short.

“Things have gotten noisy.”

Any more and they might hear his voice. Wind wrapped around his body, and in the next moment the black-robed figure stopped in front of Jo Uk.

“Are you the Flame Practitioner of the Yuk Clan?”
“Call me Iron Mask.”
“I am Jo Uk of the Martial Arts Academy. I came to propose a Pill Contest with you—”
“I doubt you came here to trade words. Let’s settle the terms.”

The smile on Jo Uk’s face stiffened for a moment.

“Very well. We’ll hold a Literary Contest. Each of us will refine one pill we’re most confident in, and the victor will be decided by its efficacy.”
“Are you afraid of a Martial Contest?”
“There’s simply no reason to injure each other needlessly.”

Beneath the iron mask, Yuk Beom let out a short laugh.

“So you chose the safer path. Fair enough.”

Low laughter rippled through the onlookers, and Jo Uk’s eyes went cold.

“In return, I’ll put up a proper Stake.”

He drew a translucent five-colored elixir bottle from his robes.
Inside, the pill flickered with five alternating hues of light.

“This is the Five Elements Pill. It greatly enhances one’s original Qi. Even you won’t be able to take this lightly.”

The onlookers had no idea what it was worth, but Yuk Beom’s gaze never left the bottle. It was a pill he could not make for lack of medicinal ingredients, and it was worth more than a hundred Power Gathering Pills.
Jo Uk took the silence behind the mask as a sign of wavering.

“If you have nothing of equal value, you may withdraw now. All that will be said is that the Flame Practitioner of the Yuk Clan could not match my Stake.”

Yuk Beom drew a small vial from inside his robes.
Before he even uncorked it, a thick blood energy spread outward around them.
Jo Uk scoffed.

“Do you intend to wager blood as your Stake?”
“You hold the Five Elements Pill and still can’t tell what this is.”

The stopper came loose.
A heavy vitality pressed down on the air of the street. The composure drained from Jo Uk’s face.

“Dragon Blood…”

Without realizing it, he stepped closer and breathed in the scent. It matched exactly the energy he had only ever read about in books.
Yuk Beom sealed the bottle at once.
He had produced enough Dragon Clan Blood Skin to leave a good amount of Dragon Blood over, but he had no intention of revealing that fact.

“I trust that’s worth enough.”

Jo Uk licked his lips and set the five-colored bottle down between the two of them.

“Good. Let’s begin.”

The small cauldron above his palm rose into the air.

“Grow!”

Whoosh!
The Yeomhwa Cauldron swelled in an instant to the height of a man. The flame patterns wrapping the entire vessel flickered as if alive.
Jo Uk glanced back at Iron Mask, as though to show off its grandeur.
The black sleeve stirred lightly.
Boom!
The Culture Fire Cauldron settled onto the ground and swelled until five people would have needed to link arms to encircle it. Beside it, the Yeomhwa Cauldron looked like a child’s toy.
A gasp rippled through the crowd.
Jo Uk’s mouth tightened, but he quickly produced three red medicinal herbs. He called fire into his left palm and stirred the wind with his right, and the herbs began to spin through the air.
On the opposite side, dozens of herbs poured into the Culture Fire Cauldron like a tide.
Seeing them dumped in whole, without first being made into medicinal portions, Jo Uk’s eyes wavered.

‘A bluff. There’s no way he can handle that many herbs at once.’

He tore his gaze away and pushed Original Qi into his own flame.
Spectators packed the rooftops and the branches of the trees. Hundreds of eyes followed the fire, wind, and flowing water rising from the two cauldrons.
Jo Uk’s medicinal portion slid into the Yeomhwa Cauldron.
What he meant to create was the Crimson Flame Triple Pill, the strongest of the Third Grade pills. With the Yeomhwa Cauldron’s power lending its strength, even he, a Second Grade practitioner, could succeed.

‘I’ve won.’

More Original Qi poured into the flames.
Across from him, the Iron Mask kept his eyes closed, moving only his fingers, slowly. Inside the cauldron, fire and water intertwined, and the herbs dissolved into one another at their own uneven pace.
As time passed, Jo Uk’s breathing grew ragged, yet beneath the mask nothing about him changed at all.
At the moment the last medicinal power fused into one, Jo Uk brought his hand down.

“Pill Congealing!”

Clang!
The lid of the Yeomhwa Cauldron flew open, and a single red pill leapt into the air.
A smile of certain victory spread across Jo Uk’s face.
Just then, a low hum rose from within the Culture Fire Cauldron as well.
Woooong—
Yuk Beom opened his eyes.
The lid of the massive cauldron lifted, and with a thick wave of medicinal fragrance, another pill rose slowly into the air.

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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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