CFZ

“It’s poisoned.”
The Poison King spoke as he firmly gripped the mouth of the teapot.

Inside was the steaming hot tea that the attendant had brought, and he was holding it barehanded without hesitation.
It had to be scorching, but as a martial artist at the Hwagyeong level, the Poison King wouldn’t even flinch at such heat.
The more important detail, however, was the look in his eyes.

“Do you know who’s responsible for this?”
His gaze burned with fury, a murderous intent swirling in his eyes.
I swallowed nervously.

‘He sensed it that fast?’
I only noticed the poison after smelling the aroma of the tea. But the Poison King had picked up on it even before it was poured.
Considering he hadn’t reached the Invulnerable to All Poisons level like me, his sensitivity to poison detection was astounding.

‘Is it purely a matter of experience?’
That seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.
While I was immune to poisons, detecting them was another matter entirely.

Still—
‘To think his senses are this sharp.’
I hadn’t expected him to identify the poison so quickly, especially since the amount in the teapot wasn’t even that significant.

Setting the teapot upright again, the Poison King locked eyes with me, repeating his earlier question.
“Do you know who’s behind this?”
“…Yes, I do.”

I answered without hesitation, expecting him to be shocked or demand an explanation.
Instead—
“Is that so? Then we’ll track the bastard down and make them pay immediately. Who is it?”
“…What?”

I was the one caught off guard this time.
Wasn’t he supposed to ask how I knew? Or why I hadn’t done anything about it yet?
Why was he so quick to trust me and jump straight to punishment?

I stared at him in disbelief.
“Who the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ hell dares….”
The Poison King clenched his fist, standing up with a terrifying presence.

“To turn my precious daughter into a widow?!”
“…Wait. Hold on, Clan Leader?”
I hurriedly grabbed his arm before he could storm out.

Had I reacted even a second later, I wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
“A widow? What…? And where are you going?”
“Obviously, I’m going to melt the culprit into nothing.”

“Melt—? No! Please, just stop for a second. At least listen to what I have to say first!”
I forced the Poison King to sit back down, though he still looked ready to explode.
Was he really this furious just because someone tried to poison me?

No—
It was clear his rage was for Tang So-yeol.
‘Turning her into a widow,’ huh?

I decided not to press the issue. Bringing it up would only give me a headache.
At least I’d managed to make him sit down. I let out a sigh and began explaining.
“You can’t just charge off like that….”

“But you already know who did it, don’t you?”
“I do, but still—shouldn’t we at least go over the details first? Like how I know and why I haven’t acted yet?”
“That’s irrelevant.”

“…What?”
His firm response left me momentarily speechless.
What did he mean, irrelevant?

I tilted my head in confusion, and he elaborated.
“You clearly have a plan. That’s why you’re so calm about this.”
“…”

“Maybe this situation is even part of your plan. I don’t know for sure, but it’s obvious you’ve already thought this through.”
What was this unshakable faith?
Hearing such words from the Poison King felt surreal.

But there was still one problem—
“Then why are you still trying to leave?”
If he believed I had everything under control, shouldn’t he just stay put?

I asked the question directly, and he replied without hesitation.
“That’s your plan. My anger is separate.”
“…What?”

Unbelievable.
So even if I had a plan, he still needed to vent his frustration?
‘This man has quite a temper.’

I sighed and pleaded with him.
“…Could you please hold back for now? I’ve put a lot of effort into setting this up.”
This situation was far too important to let him ruin it.

I had spent days preparing for this moment, and I wasn’t about to let the Poison King charge in and wreck it all.
He furrowed his brow.
“So this setup involves getting poisoned?”

“Come on. Of course not.”
I waved my hand dismissively.
“You know as well as I do that this poison can’t kill me.”

This wasn’t even a lethal poison.
I knew it—and so did he.
Because—

‘I gave it to them.’
This poison was one I had personally provided.
It was designed to slow bodily functions and induce temporary paralysis.

Expensive, rare, and difficult to obtain, it could be mixed with tea without leaving any obvious traces.
Its effects were most potent when absorbed over multiple doses.
The Poison King’s eyes narrowed.

“…Wait a second.”
He seemed to realize something and turned to me.
“Is this the one you requested before?”

“…Yeah.”
I answered with a sheepish smile.
It was, in fact, the poison I had secretly requested from Tang So-yeol.

Judging by his reaction, it seemed she hadn’t kept the request hidden.
“…I was wondering what you needed it for, but I didn’t expect you to drink it yourself.”
“I told her to keep it a secret, but I guess that didn’t happen….”

I decided to brush aside my suspicions about how this information had leaked.
“You’re seriously drinking it yourself? Not using it on someone else?”
“It’s better this way, don’t you think?”

“Then what’s the point of poison?”
“…Good question.”
I had no response to that.

He had a point—most people wouldn’t drink poison unless they planned to harm someone.
Still, poisons like this had non-lethal applications.
“…Anyway, I had a use for it.”

“Hmm.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said, this poison won’t kill me.”
Of course, no poison could kill me.

But I wasn’t about to reveal my Invulnerable to All Poisons ability to him.
It was far too useful to let others find out about it.
‘It’s the best bait.’

I could lure out anyone who tried to poison me and turn the tables on them.
Today’s incident was proof of that.
‘Thank you for this gift, Tang Clan predecessors.’

I silently thanked the Tang Clan’s founders, whose legacy had given me such an advantage.
Gone were the days when I had to fear every meal, worrying about poison.
“Seriously, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“…Worry? Who’s worried about you?”
 
“Rather than worrying about me, perhaps you should be concerned about Lady Tang instead… I’m simply saying there won’t be any issues.”

Whatever the case, it seemed there wouldn’t be a problem. I spoke firmly, as if to reassure him. The Poison King let out a slight breath through his nose and then—
“…Is my daughter doing well?”
He abruptly changed the topic to something completely different. It was his way of signaling that he was willing to let the previous matter slide.

“Yes. She’s working very hard.”
“Working hard isn’t what matters. What’s important is whether she’s doing well.”
“She seems satisfied, but… I don’t know the details. You might want to ask her yourself?”

“…”
He averted his gaze at my suggestion to speak to her directly. Judging by his reaction, it seemed he didn’t want her to know he was here.
‘…But she’s going to find out anyway, isn’t she?’

The Poison King hadn’t exactly come in secret. He was standing out in the open like this, so it was only a matter of time before Tang So-yeol heard about his visit. There was no way the Poison King wasn’t aware of that.
‘So he’s fine with being found out later, just not right away?’
That seemed to be the case.

‘Whatever. It doesn’t really matter.’
This wasn’t the time to dwell on that. We’d already moved past the issue of the poison, so it was time to get back to the main topic.
“So, why are you here? I’m not sure if you’ve read the letter, but I was planning to visit you tomorrow.”

I asked about the reason the Poison King had come all the way to the alliance’s branch to see me. After a brief hesitation, he finally spoke.
“I read it. And I already knew.”
“I see.”

“I was going to try to endure it if possible, but… I just couldn’t.”
Even though I’d planned to visit the Tang Clan tomorrow, he had chosen to come today. That meant this was something extremely urgent.
I had a hunch about what it might be.

“So, you’re saying…?”
“The manufacturing of the Dokcheon Pill is nearly complete.”
“…Oh.”

So it was about that after all.
This was something I’d already heard about through letters while I was in Henan.
“Congratulations.”

“…Thank you. It’s all thanks to you, Young Master Gu.”
The Poison King responded to my congratulations with genuine gratitude.
It wasn’t surprising.

The Dokcheon Pill was a part of the Tang Clan’s long-lost history—a legendary pill rivaling Shaolin’s Great Rejuvenation Pill. After losing it for hundreds of years, they had finally managed to recreate it. It must have felt like a dream come true for the Poison King.
Unlike the current state of the Tang Clan, which was far from glorious.
‘I figured it was already finished, but… nearly complete, huh?’

So it wasn’t fully done yet. And yet, he had come here like this.
‘He must have something important to tell me.’
It was clear he had something crucial to discuss.

I waited silently for him to speak. After a brief moment, he continued.
“…Most of the ingredients are prepared. Some were difficult to acquire, but handling them was more troublesome than actually obtaining them.”
I agreed.

From what I’d seen, most of the ingredients weren’t that hard to get.
Even the more challenging ones could be acquired with enough money. Despite their reclusive reputation, the Tang Clan still had considerable wealth.
So I hadn’t expected any major issues.

‘What’s the problem, then?’
I was about to voice my question when—
“However.”

“However?”
“The final ingredient is a problem.”
“The final ingredient….”

I paused mid-sentence. I already had a feeling about what it was.
The recipe I’d provided for the Dokcheon Pill—was he talking about that last ingredient?
“Are you saying the problem is the Mana Stone?”

The Mana Stone—specifically, a red one.
The Dokcheon Pill recipe required powdered red Mana Stone.
“What exactly went wrong?”

“…I don’t know.”
“What?”
“We followed the recipe exactly. But no matter how many times we tried, we couldn’t complete the Dokcheon Pill.”

“…What do you mean?”
I frowned at his words and waited for him to explain.
“We prepared a red Mana Stone before it lost its color and ground it into powder, just like the recipe stated….”

The Poison King’s expression darkened, showing just how serious the issue was.
“But as soon as we added the powder to the prepared ingredients, everything rotted away.”
“…!”

The moment the powder touched the other ingredients, the pill began to decay. Hearing this, the cause immediately came to mind.
It had to be—
‘Is it the demonic energy?’

Demonic energy. That must have been the cause.
Mana Stones contained traces of demonic energy. The act of grinding one into powder and adding it to the mixture likely triggered some kind of reaction.
That raised another question. If the Mana Stone was causing this much trouble—

‘Should we even be using Mana Stones in the first place?’
It was strange no matter how I looked at it.
Mana Stones were essentially worthless.

They were pretty to look at, but within a few days, their color would fade, leaving nothing more than an ordinary rock.
Unless someone had a technique like mine, which absorbed demonic energy, there was no real reason to use them.
Still, a few sects and clans had recently begun researching Mana Stones, especially after red Mana Stones had reappeared in recent years.

‘I don’t see what they expect to learn, though.’
I couldn’t fault them for trying, but it felt pointless to me.
And this situation was no different.

‘Why would a Mana Stone even be part of the recipe for the Dokcheon Pill?’
But the recipe clearly stated that it should be lightly ground and added to the mixture. I had thought it was odd, but since the instructions called for it, I hadn’t questioned it too much.
In the end, any pill containing powdered Mana Stone would inevitably contain traces of demonic energy.

If it succeeded, it would mean the pill couldn’t be consumed by ordinary martial artists.
In other words—
‘Was there a flaw in the recipe from the beginning?’

Following the recipe should have neutralized the energy or incorporated the poison into the elixir. But if the elixir was rotting, it could only mean one of two things:
‘Either the recipe itself was wrong, or….’
Or we had misunderstood the instructions. It had to be one of the two.

From what I could tell, the answer was the latter.
‘There’s no way Senior Tang would’ve handed over false information.’
There was no way the great and noble Senior Tang would’ve done something like that.

Nor would they have misunderstood the recipe. That meant the problem most likely—no, definitely—lay with those making the pill.
So what exactly was the issue?
I racked my brain.

‘The Dokcheon Pill can’t be delayed any longer.’
No matter what, it had to be completed as soon as possible—ideally before the year ended.
To make that happen, we needed a solution.

‘Now I see why he came straight to me.’
I finally understood why the Poison King had come personally.
I was the one who provided the recipe, and since the issue arose at the final stage, he must have thought I’d have some insight.

‘Damn it.’
But how was I supposed to know?
I’d only pretended to return the recipe to the Tang Clan because I couldn’t make it myself. Wasn’t that supposed to mean this wasn’t my problem anymore?

If the demonic energy in the Mana Stone was the issue, then what were we supposed to do about it?
‘It rots the ingredients as soon as it’s added…?’
Did that mean we had to remove all the demonic energy from the Mana Stone first?

“Clan Leader Tang, have you tried using a Mana Stone after it lost its color…?”
“We already tried that.”
“…Of course you did.”

Well, obviously they would have.
Once the Mana Stone loses its color, it’s no different from an ordinary rock. Adding it wouldn’t have any effect.
But if the Mana Stone wasn’t included, the recipe wouldn’t be followed correctly, and the pill couldn’t be completed. It was almost as if—

‘The Mana Stone needed to contain something else….’
I froze.
An idea struck me like a bolt of lightning.

Grinding up a Mana Stone filled with demonic energy would cause the ingredients to rot. So adding it as it was wouldn’t work.
Which meant—
‘Could it be…?’

With my mind racing, I turned to the Poison King.
“Clan Leader Tang.”
“What is it?”

“You remember I said I’d be visiting the Tang Clan tomorrow?”
“I remember you saying so. Though I haven’t actually agreed to it yet—”
“I think I might have an idea for a possible solution.”

“…!”
The Poison King, who’d been about to nitpick, fell silent.
“I need to see the manufacturing process in person at the Tang Clan. Would that be all right?”

Instead of answering, the Poison King nodded firmly. He wasn’t the kind of man to let pride get in the way when the Dokcheon Pill was at stake.
The real issue now was—
‘Will it work?’

Would the idea I just came up with actually work? That was the real question.
Failure wouldn’t be a huge problem.
If it didn’t work, we could simply try something else. But if it did work, that would be the real issue.

‘…Because if I’m right.’
It would mean that the first person to successfully create the Dokcheon Pill wasn’t from the Tang Clan.