Jin Cheonhee had unleashed a poison upon the martial world.
No, this is insane… It sold more than all the previous Blue Jade games combined?
This Red Jade game, with its scandalous cable drama flavor, recorded the highest sales ever. The entire profit was funneled directly back into the Martial Force Hall, which protected the physicians’ quarters and their families. A virtuous cycle created from trashy drama. Jin Cheonhee felt a little happier.
As expected, when it comes to trashy drama, palace intrigue is the best.
In households everywhere, a scene was unfolding where mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa would take out the Red Jade game and create their own wholesome, over-the-top drama. Later, he pursued price diversification by splitting it into a budget version and a premium version, and both sold like hotcakes.
—Benefactor. We have acquired three additional workshops. We are going into mass production.
Gongsun Hyeon, having gotten a taste of the capital generated by scandalous dramas, began to row while the tide was in. She intended to see this through to the end with the Gongsun Merchant Guild.
—Brother, I made a knock-off of Red Jade. I’ll send you a 30% cut of the royalties. It’s a secret from the Black Ice Poison Dragon.
Sama Hyeon, who may not have adhered to business ethics but was loyal to his brother, began using the back channels of the Golden Blood Chamber to produce and sell counterfeit versions of Red Jade.
Those two are going to be grabbing each other by the scruff of the neck soon.
Jin Cheonhee decided he would be satisfied as long as someone sent him the money.
Red Jade really hit the jackpot.
Jin Cheonhee gazed at the streaks of rain falling outside his window. Since the White Dragon Medical Pavilion was located at the foot of a mountain, it tended to rain often.
How many months has it been since then?
He opened the next letter.
—Minor Pavilion Master, the treasure has been delivered to the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. With this, all the ultimate treasures and elixirs stolen by Thieving Phantom have been returned to their owners.
It was a letter from Dokgo Junghu. Since becoming Jin Cheonhee’s retainer, Thieving Phantom had returned all the items she had stolen. Of course, returning them with her own hands would have led to bloodshed, so they were delivered through the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. Naturally, there were some who tried to cause a ruckus, but the matter was settled at the level of Vice Leader Wang Chae-baek without Jin Cheonhee even needing to step in.
—By the way, Minor Pavilion Master. I would like you to finally allow me to retire this time.
“…”
The desire for retirement continued to burn brightly within the Martial Force Hall Head, Dokgo Junghu. However, neither Zhuge Rin nor Jin Cheonhee would permit it. Dokgo Junghu himself had now reached the Transformation Realm. It was unthinkable for such an absolute master to retire, and besides, his true talent lay not in his martial prowess but in his leadership.
From my master’s perspective, he’s also a connection that goes way back to his time with the Zhuge Clan.
And so, Jin Cheonhee spent his time working, training in martial arts, conducting medical research, and even getting started on developing new medicines. As for the new medicine he was developing…
It has to be Aspirin. That’s next.
A drug that could be called the precursor to aspirin was recorded as having been made and consumed even in ancient Egypt. Its main component was salicylic acid, extracted from willow bark. The problem was that extracting and refining salicylic acid only became possible in the modern era, and that was precisely what the research at the Pavilion was focused on now.
Because if you try to use this salicylic acid as medicine directly, the side effects are no joke.
Therefore, to create the form of aspirin, the challenge of synthesizing this salicylic acid with something else remained. The manufacturing process Jin Cheonhee remembered was simple.
- Extract salicylic acid.
- Synthesize it with acetic acid.
- Tada, it’s done!
Dammit, I should have studied more!
Since all his knowledge was based on modern technology, he was at a loss as to how to implement this in the current era. He didn’t know the intermediate steps between steps 1 and 2. No, he was getting stuck at step 1 to begin with.
Extracting salicylic acid is one thing, but making acetic acid requires ethanol, which I can get from medical-grade ethyl alcohol. But what’s the synthesis ratio? And how do I make it into pill form?
Furthermore, in the modern era, it was impossible to use willow bark on a case-by-case basis. To cut down enough willow trees for medicinal use would create both environmental and capital problems. So, it was just synthesized chemically.
Still, this is better than the first two projects.
The first was heading into the unknown, and the second was the infinite cultivation of mushrooms. Back then, he had no idea if they would even work. He didn’t know if he was on the right track or not; there was no answer but to just try. However, this aspirin research was, at least, easier to get a handle on than before, so the Pavilion’s researchers were working with enthusiasm.
Mass production in this era was out of the question anyway. The unit cost would be shit regardless. Let’s just make it first and think about that later.
Of course, that’s not all.
Thanks to having ground the Pavilion’s researchers into dust in the past, he was now making them work while ensuring they took all their days off. It was a night-and-day difference from before. On top of that, it had now been several years since he started running the White Dragon Foundation. Talented individuals from the White Dragon Foundation were slowly beginning to be employed by the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. It wasn’t just martial artists to protect the Pavilion; people who wished to become medical personnel like Sama Hye, or work for merchant guilds and escort agencies, began to emerge.
On the other hand, I’m making a lot of enemies, too.
The fact that the future had changed meant that unforeseen enemies were also beginning to appear. Zhuge Rin’s survival, the growth of the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. Added to that, Sama Hyeon’s change and Cheon Woo’s survival, which prevented the bloodbath at the Wudang Sect. He had prevented a large-scale bloodbath in the treasure vault, and this time, he had saved Thieving Phantom.
If things had followed the original story, a quarter of the martial artists in the world should have already died and disappeared by now. That meant that among those who had survived, there were now those who would point their swords at the White Dragon Medical Pavilion. In addition, the number of people who had been saved, directly or indirectly, through the distribution of soap or the water purification pipes was considerable.
The snowball effect was steadily growing. In particular, the infant mortality rate in Jiangsu Province had begun to plummet. The population of Jiangsu itself was starting to increase.
They might… actually come to kill me.
According to the Heavenly Demon, he was a ‘disruptor of the heavenly flow,’ and as a doctor, he was disrupting it in a major way. But even so, a doctor simply walks a doctor’s path. Letting people who could be saved die was not his way.
What should I do from now on?
Since good people had survived, an equal number of evil people must have survived as well. Now, with the increased population, if a bloodbath were to break out, the scale of the damage would be much larger.
…The fact that more people are alive means that more people will die.
A hollow laugh escaped him. Jin Cheonhee turned his head to look at the map of the empire. On it were marked the various powers established in each region.
The bloodbath at the Wudang Sect, the battle for the secret manual. Then… perhaps now, to balance the scales, I need to solve the problems of the Unorthodox Faction.
The Unorthodox Faction. The Unorthodox Alliance. That side, too, had a mountain of problems. And surprisingly, it wasn’t the Blood Sect but the Demonic Cult that had meddled quite a lot over there.
I should contact Hyeon. And Ha-ryoon… hmm.
Even within the same Demonic Cult, they weren’t part of Yeo Ha-ryoon’s faction.
As Jin Cheonhee was organizing his thoughts, he received a message from Yoo Ho that his master was summoning him. When he went to see his master, he found him reading through a mountain of letters, rapidly decoding and burning each one.
“You will have to go to the Five Poisons Sect[1].”
“The Five Poisons Sect?”
The Five Poisons Sect and the Sichuan Tang Clan. Although these two were not among the three great medical pavilions of the world, they possessed a considerable level of medical skill. The Sichuan Tang Clan thus operated the Tang Clan Medical Pavilion in Sichuan, and the Five Poisons Sect was known as the Yunnan Five Poisons Sect and operated the Five Poisons Sect Medical Pavilion in Yunnan.
Because of that, even the three great medical pavilions of the world haven’t been able to establish branches in those two regions.
They had local affiliated clinics, but nothing that could be called a branch.
“Normally, we have been holding medical exchanges with the Sichuan Tang Clan and the Five Poisons Sect once every five years.”
“I heard it was just a nominal exchange.”
“That’s right. Which is why you never had to go. Senior physicians from the Department of Medicine would go as a formality. In any case, that side is more skilled when it comes to poison.”
If the Sichuan Tang Clan was considered the master of poison in the Orthodox Faction, then the Unorthodox Faction had the Five Poisons Sect. They were truly the two great pillars when it came to poison.
“However, this time, they have specially and strongly requested that the Minor Pavilion Master come.”
“It’s because my name has become that well-known in the martial world.”
Jin Cheonhee was extremely pleased.
I was already very interested in poison, so this is perfect.
He thought he might be able to find the answer to Aspirin there. Watching his disciple, whose eyes were already shining with the desire to go, his master let out a small sigh. Finally, in the master’s hand was a fan. The one Jin Cheonhee had carved from Lunar Wood, which an artisan had finished, and whose decorative tassel he had braided with his own hands. It was truly a one-of-a-kind Ultimate Treasure[2] in the martial world.
The master, seeming pleased with the fan’s texture, fanned himself gently before speaking. “Yes. Since you are going anyway, it would be good if you could incorporate the Five Poisons Sect into our sphere of influence.”
“I understand.”
“Furthermore, we have decided to officially form an alliance with the Shaolin Temple. A strange triangular relationship between the Shaolin Temple, the White Dragon Medical Pavilion, and the Hao Sect will likely continue.”
The goal was to draw in helpful powers, regardless of whether they were Orthodox or Unorthodox. His master was continuously setting the board. And the disciple was willing to become a Go stone according to his master’s advice.
“So you plan to draw in the Orthodox Faction, then the Unorthodox Faction, and then the Unorthodox Faction again. If we succeed in bringing in the Five Poisons Sect, will it be an Orthodox Faction next?”
“Yes. The more assistance, the better. I intend to utilize the unique position of our Pavilion as much as possible.”
Jin Cheonhee nodded. His master folded the fan again.
Snap—
“However, even so, I have not a shred of intention of sending you alone. As you are going as an official envoy, this time you will go with four of the Twelve Martial Force Battalions that are currently on standby.”
“M… Master, that’s too much.”
“You are now the face of the Pavilion. What will we do if you are slighted in any way while you are there?”
…Currently, there were only a handful of people who could slight Jin Cheonhee, though they might look at him like he was a madman. His master called it maintaining dignity, but in the end, this was…
Ugh, this overprotection is too much, Master!
…Didn’t you say you would raise your disciple like a weed?
For some reason, Jin Cheonhee felt like he wanted to die. In any case, taking this many people was out of the question. He had to reduce the number by at least one. He clenched his fists with determination.