After traversing a few more mountains, Cho Yoon suddenly detected an unfamiliar presence and halted. His weightless body hovered momentarily before settling to the ground, causing his white hem to flutter.
Looking around, Cho Yoon could clearly see a distorted, wave-like force suspended in the air. The warped scenery, strongly resembling the shimmering haze rising off summer asphalt or a concentrated spray of gas, registered vividly before his eyes.
Stopping a beat later than Cho Yoon, Tang Yeom-cho clasped his hands behind his back and chuckled heartily.
“As expected of the esteemed Immortal Healer. To think you perceived the boundary where one must cease using lightness arts and ascend by foot before I even had the chance to warn you.”
Can he not see this? Is this something only ‘Cho Yoon’s’ eyes can perceive?
Judging by how the Clan Head was openly praising him for ‘perceiving’ something that was so blatantly, awkwardly obvious, it certainly seemed that way.
As expected, the original ‘Cho Yoon’s’ specs are no joke.
Nodding silently, Cho Yoon began ascending the mountain on foot. Though there was no discernible path, he somehow inherently knew the way.
Proving Cho Yoon’s instincts correct, Tang Yeom-cho followed closely behind and spoke.
“The Seven Step Soul-Severing Powder and the Five Poisons Life-Seizing Pill, for which you previously provided the antidotes, are also secured here. The Midnight Heart-Rending Poison, the Frost Scale Blue Shadow, the Bone-Melting Powder… all of them were once renowned as part of the Eight Supreme Venoms.”
“…”
“Ever since discovering that the poisons of our predecessors—which we had believed to be absolute perfection—were inherently flawed, the Tang Clan has been relentlessly grinding our teeth in determination. For a faction burdened by isolated geography, sluggish information flow, and limited territory to survive in the Central Plains, we must secure an absolute, unassailable supremacy in the solitary field of poison above all other powers.”
Tang Yeom-cho’s explanations gradually devolved into the earnest complaints and solemn vows of an old man. Cho Yoon briefly debated his response before finally speaking.
“…A poison lacking an antidote is not inherently guaranteed to benefit you.”
“Yes, of course. Even now, during the research process, Myeong-cho is exhibiting symptoms of numbness starting from his fingertips, and Jeong-cho’s bones are actively weakening. We are perpetually aware that this endeavor carries monumental risks.”
No, that’s not the point. Your precious granddaughter is going to end up half-dead…
In the original novel The Returned Hero, the very poison that infects Tang Woon-geum and leaves her hovering at death’s door was actively developed using the “culmination of the Tang Clan’s twenty years of effort.” Within the next few years, the Demonic Cult was fated to completely raid Tang Yeom-cho’s highly classified poison repository.
Utilizing those stolen materials, they would synthesize an extreme toxin named Extreme Poison—a poison that would consistently plague the protagonist and the orthodox factions well into the middle of the novel.
Perhaps because its primary narrative purpose was to infect the heroine, the poison boasted a beautiful name and left delicate, floral-patterned scars on the victim’s body, completely contrasting its agonizingly lethal effects.
Regardless, there was absolutely no way the Sichuan Tang Clan could magically synthesize an antidote when they couldn’t even safely handle the prototype, forcing them to seal it away in this repository.
Ultimately, the protagonist would carry Tang Woon-geum, who was violently feverish, up the Point of No Return Mountain Range range—a place notorious for never allowing anyone to return alive—and desperately seek out the Immortal Healer, Cho Yoon…
Cho Yoon was intimately familiar with this plotline.
Because of Cheon-oh, the original storyline is already bound to deviate massively, but there’s always a ‘just in case’… And it doesn’t necessarily have to be Cheon-oh; the protagonist might end up clashing with the Namgung Clan or the Demonic Cult anyway. If that’s the case, it’s better to just casually nip this in the bud right now.
Cho Yoon approached the matter with that lighthearted intent. However, the words that spilled from his mouth were suffocatingly heavy.
“The very poison you forge will infect the one you hold most dear, agonizing them, and ultimately driving them to their death…”
“…Esteemed Immortal Healer?”
“Do you genuinely believe you will retain your sanity when that reality comes to pass? There is a limit to such fatal arrogance.”
Let’s just stop talking. Let’s drastically reduce the frequency of opening my mouth. If I can’t even manage a simple, ‘But what if your own people get genuinely sick and hurt doing this?’, then it’s better to just not speak at all.
He didn’t even possess the energy to angrily scream Cho Yoon!!!! at his wayward avatar anymore. Yet, he acutely realized he had caused another massive misunderstanding. To make matters worse, as heavy silence stretched from behind him, Cho Yoon began sweating bullets internally.
What do I do? Is he mad? What should I do? Should I apologize even now? Of course he’s angry… Instead of gently scolding the kids for speaking harshly, shouldn’t I be doing something about ‘Cho Yoon’ first? No, seriously, am I insane?
“…My apologies. It appears my reckless babbling has inadvertently dredged up unpleasant memories for you. Forgive me, esteemed Immortal Healer.”
“It is fine.”
Thank God!!!! He’s not mad!!!!
Hearing Tang Yeom-cho’s surprisingly calm and genuinely apologetic voice, Cho Yoon immediately cheered internally. It was only a moment later that he registered the bizarre discrepancy.
Wait, unpleasant memories? Why is the old man apologizing? Shouldn’t he be the one offended by what I said?
“…”
Struck by a sudden realization, Cho Yoon clamped his mouth shut.
Evidently… Tang Yeom-cho was wildly leaping to his own tragic conclusions once again.
However, attempting to desperately clarify—
No, that’s not it, I’ve never experienced anything like that, it’s really a misunderstanding
—felt like he had already crossed the point of no return. Moreover, rather than risking opening his mouth and accidentally causing an even bigger disaster, it seemed infinitely safer to simply let the old man live with his delusions.
Navigating that incredibly awkward silence, Cho Yoon finally arrived at Tang Yeom-cho’s classified location. Although nothing stood before him save for a towering, sheer rock cliff, he intrinsically knew this was the place.
Tang Yeom-cho, who had been following silently behind, stepped forward and withdrew a circular plaque from his robes. He then pressed the plaque firmly against the exact center of a cliff face entirely devoid of overgrowth.
Instantly, a deafening Rumble—! echoed through the air as the earth began to violently tremble. Marveling internally at the high-technology of the martial arts world, Cho Yoon watched the solid cliff face seamlessly slide open like automatic doors.
This is a mechanism formation, right? Basically the martial arts equivalent of mechanical engineering?
It was a fascinating discipline whose basic framework relied on classical mechanical engineering utilizing gears and pulleys, yet it could simultaneously scan internal energy to identify a trespasser’s martial sect, or function as a lethal trap employing detection technology that put modern infrared sensors to shame!
It was a pitiful field that was incredibly difficult to learn and even harder to master, only for the protagonist to invariably slice through it in a single strike or smash it to pieces, rendering it just as useless as traditional mystical formations!
And it was the mandatory, defining characteristic possessed by every ‘genius’ character belonging to the Zhuge Clan!
In almost every martial arts novel, the Zhuge Clan, situated in the central region of Shaanxi Province, was portrayed as an elite collective holding absolute mastery over mechanism formations and mystical arrays. It was a universally accepted trope, exactly like the Sichuan Tang Clan’s absolute association with poison.
And the intellectual female characters hailing from the Zhuge Clan, raised with that immaculate elite education, are always predictably demure, exceptionally polite, and entirely submissive to the protagonist…
Whenever Cho Yoon encountered a Zhuge heroine—who was supposedly a highly rational, analytical genius—yet blindly offered unconditional faith and swooned over the protagonist’s every word without ever questioning him, he felt a profound sense of discomfort.
He didn’t know if the author harbored a deep-seated inferiority complex toward highly educated, intelligent women, or if they simply lacked the writing capability to properly portray a genius, but regardless of the reason, it certainly hadn’t positively impacted the narrative.
While his mind wandered, the heavy stone doors opened completely. The passageway revealed before Cho Yoon was pitch-black, entirely devoid of a single speck of light. Detaching a torch affixed to the passageway wall, Tang Yeom-cho struck a flame and spoke.
“A close confidant from the Zhuge Clan, with whom I share a deep bond, provided their assistance. Without this specific jade plaque in my possession, one can absolutely never enter or exit. Furthermore, if anyone attempts to force the doors open, the jade plaque instantly turns pitch-black, and a mechanism is triggered that permanently buries every single toxin housed within.”
Wow, that’s genuinely incredible technology… I know it ultimately gets breached by the Demonic Cult anyway, but it’s still fascinating. Perhaps because this falls outside the realm of the original ‘Cho Yoon’s’ innate knowledge, it feels even more amazing.
Continuously marveling internally, Cho Yoon followed Tang Yeom-cho into the darkness. The interior was violently uneven and rugged, as if carved directly through solid bedrock, and the floor sloped downwards at a steep incline. While a supreme master at the Profound Realm found their vision entirely unhindered by such darkness, it seemed an ordinary person wouldn’t even be able to take a single step without the torch’s illumination.
After descending deeper and deeper for quite some time, a faint, distinctly nutty aroma began wafting up from below. Cho Yoon tilted his head, briefly analyzing the scent, before abruptly asking a question.
“…Are those castor seeds? You must not apply heat to them, yet you have somehow managed to synthesize this much.”
“Can you smell it? It is strictly forbidden to inhale it through the nose, which is precisely why I stored it down here. It appears my negligence in maintenance over the past few days has allowed a stopper to degrade. I deeply apologize for showing you such an inept display, esteemed Immortal Healer.”
Tang Yeom-cho hastily raised his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth. Unfazed by such a trivial level of toxicity, Cho Yoon remained entirely relaxed.
After descending for another half a gak, Tang Yeom-cho finally extinguished the torch and unlocked one final door, allowing Cho Yoon to finally behold the sprawling subterranean cavern lined with countless preparation platforms.