Chapter 13: Third Stage: Impenetrable

Vermilion Fruit.

This spiritual medicine, called the fruit of the immortals, was a name passed down like a legend in the common folk.

There was no one who didn't know the folk tale that 'if a fruit resembling an apple grows alone on a tree the height of a person, that is the fruit of the immortals'.

The difference between the story of the Vermilion Fruit and other legends was that the Vermilion Fruit was real.

Of course, since it was extremely rare and had a very precious value, most humans would probably never see it even once in their lifetime.

Heaven's Grace.

Because there was the grace of heaven that looked after the Jianghu Murim, countless types of spiritual medicines were born in nature.

Even excluding the Immaculate Pomegranate that I had taken earlier, the spiritual medicines that were considered to be of a similar level were surprisingly diverse.

Those with the modifiers 'supreme' or 'unparalleled'.

The inner cores of ten-thousand-year-old Fire Lizards, ten-thousand-year-old Snow Ginseng, ten-thousand-year-old fo-ti roots, ten-thousand-year-old Earth's Core Blood Treasure, and so on, which had increased their spirituality over a long period of time, were such examples.

The same was true for spiritual medicines with strong characteristics such as Amitabha Holy Water, Yin-Yang Life-and-Death Fruit, Purple Heaven Sweet Dew Water, and Purple Spirit Divine Fruit.

Among those numerous natural spiritual medicines, if I were to choose the most famous and expensive one, I was confident that the Vermilion Fruit would be chosen without a doubt.

Not 'noble', but 'expensive'.

There was a cause and effect for everything in the world, so there was a reason why the Vermilion Fruit became the spiritual medicine with the greatest value.

The Vermilion Fruit was a spiritual medicine that could be consumed by an ordinary person who had not learned any martial arts at all.

For a spiritual medicine with the name 'supreme' or 'unparalleled', this was a truly strange characteristic.

Its efficacy was also great.

Those who consumed the Vermilion Fruit would live a long and healthy life.

Furthermore, it had a special effect on beauty.

Those who consumed the Vermilion Fruit would gain skin as white as jade, and in addition, their facial features would change harmoniously.

Aging was also greatly delayed, and it was known that wrinkles would not appear even when one reached the age of sixty.

In fact, the beauty and anti-aging effects played a large part in the Vermilion Fruit having such enormous value.

Therefore, the Vermilion Fruit was, very rarely for a spiritual medicine, mainly consumed not by those living in the Jianghu Murim, but elsewhere.

That was, the imperial palace and the government.

The spiritual medicine that high-ranking officials or their wives and daughters dreamed of was this very Vermilion Fruit.

Power and wealth were naturally proportional, so the high-ranking officials swept up the Vermilion Fruits at a price that the people of Jianghu could not afford to pay.

From ancient times, a long and healthy life was the dream of all those in power, and a beautiful appearance and not aging was the dream of all women.

“It should be around here.”

I came to find that Vermilion Fruit.

The one that was said to be ten times the value of the Immaculate Pomegranate if valued only by money.

I would make a fortune if I sold it, but it seemed I wouldn't be able to make money this time.

This was because the Vermilion Fruit was characterized by bearing only a single fruit.

Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, Third Stage: Impenetrable.

I would take the Vermilion Fruit and enter the Third Stage.

But.

“Ah, why can't I see it!”

It was a deep valley in the Dabie Mountains where human feet could not reach.

***

-What is the difference between poison and disease? This humble Taoist has realized that, in general, getting sick is not much different from being poisoned.

Healing Sage was a somewhat obsessive person.

He was a person who, after laying a vast foundation to reach the best under the heavens in the First Stage and reaching the Indestructible Diamond Body in the Second Stage, still felt that it was not enough.

The goal he set for achieving the Third Stage was Impenetrable.

-The part that this humble Taoist focused on was the 'disease-free' efficacy of the Vermilion Fruit.

-Overcoming all diseases has the same mechanism as overcoming poison, so my thoughts were indeed correct.

A martial artist who had learned martial arts consumed the Vermilion Fruit, which could allow even an ordinary person to reach a state of being disease-free.

Adding the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art to that, he said that a truly meaningful Impenetrable would be completed.

-Impenetrable must be flawless.

When naming the Third Stage, Healing Sage deliberately did not use the word 'myriad poison immunity'.

By excluding the word 'myriad poison', he added flawlessness to Impenetrable.

-However, successor. You must keep this in mind. It will be practically impossible to buy the Vermilion Fruit with money, so you must go and find it yourself.

-If you find the Vermilion Fruit, there is something you must keep in mind…….

***

The Dabie Mountains were terribly wide.

How could they not be, as they were a mountain located in the middle of a huge mountain range that crossed Henan and Hubei.

During my Myeong-gae days, I tried to collect information in detail and specify the location, but now that I came to find this place, I could not find the Vermilion Fruit right away.

This was because a mountain did not have a proper landmark, so one place looked like another.

Mount Tianzhong, where I could count the number of peaks with my eyes, was more convenient.

The fortunate thing was that the Vermilion Fruit was a fellow in the form of a red fruit.

If it had been a fellow buried in the ground like a fo-ti root, I would have never been able to find it alone even after several years.

After wandering through the mountains for a full half-day using my movement art, I was finally able to bear fruit.

“Found it!”

That red color was definitely the Vermilion Fruit.

I had finally found it.

I couldn't hide my joy and approached the Vermilion Fruit.

This fist-sized red fruit, growing on a tree that was only about the height of a person, had aged for hundreds of years.

“Kiiit!”

And as Healing Sage had predicted, there was a guardian deity protecting the Vermilion Fruit.

-If you find the Vermilion Fruit, there is something you must keep in mind, and that is the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake.

The Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake.

A spiritual beast with a potent poison, known to turn anyone bitten by this snake into a pool of blood.

It was one of the top-ranking poisonous snakes known in the Jianghu Murim.

If the Sichuan Tang Clan or the Five Poisons Sect, who were well-versed in poison, had seen it, they would have drooled, but it was not that attractive a fellow to me.

The Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake was a fellow that particularly loved the Vermilion Fruit among spiritual beasts, so it was known to cherish the Vermilion Fruit as if it were its own egg.

“Chiiit!”

The Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake raised its head and flicked its tongue, keeping me in check.

I could feel its anger towards the invader who was trying to steal its possession.

“Look at this fierce fellow.”

My laughter was brief.

Kwajak.

“Huh?”

Before I knew it, the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake was biting my arm.

My eyes, which had been able to follow even Uncle Yeo Baek's movements, could not follow it at all; it was truly a spiritual beast.

“Chiiit!”

However, wasn't my body comparable to the Indestructible Diamond Body, having achieved the Second Stage: Golden Body?

The poisonous fangs of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake could not pierce my skin.

I was silently watching the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake struggle.

It wasn't because I was flustered.

After a little time passed.

Chiiik.

“Ugh.”

With an unpleasant sound, the fangs of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake pierced my skin.

The poison that spewed out from the fangs of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake had melted and pierced my skin, which had reached the Golden Body.

This was exactly what Healing Sage had been concerned about.

Even if one had achieved imperviousness to swords and blades, one was not protected against poison.

If it was this much just through the skin, it was as clear as day what would happen if it was consumed.

I could feel the poison of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake circulating through my blood.

“Oof. That really hurts.”

Of course, I wasn't crazy or dying to die.

-If you find a Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake, let it bite you.

At first, I wondered what kind of crazy talk this was.

-It is not crazy talk, so I hope the successor will believe in this humble Taoist. If you take the Vermilion Fruit after being bitten by the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake and reach the Third Stage, a more perfect Impenetrable will be completed.

But the misunderstanding was cleared up by the words that followed.

What could I do?

I had to trust Healing Sage.

Ping.

In that short time, my head felt dizzy as if my sense of balance was broken.

“Wow, if I'm not careful, I could really die.”

I almost fell off a cliff and died, almost drowned in Azure Scale Elixir and died, and almost got bitten by a Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake and died.

Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art.

It was truly a martial art that was not easy to learn.

Seogeok.

I drew the Dancheon Sword and separated the face and torso of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake.

Since all its attention was focused on injecting poison into my body, it was not difficult to cut off its neck.

The scales of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake were known to be hard enough to repel ordinary swords, but it was thanks to the fact that they could not overcome the masterpiece of Heavenly Artisan.

I quickly reached out, grabbed the Vermilion Fruit, and took a bite.

Wasak.

It had a texture and taste similar to an apple.

The disappointing part was that I was not given the leisure to savor the taste of the Vermilion Fruit.

Thud.

For a moment, I sat in a cross-legged position and closed my eyes.

The Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, empowered by the Vermilion Fruit, even swallowed the poison of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake and circulated through my body's major circuit.

A moment later, black smoke oxidized and scattered from the crown of my head.

The poison of the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake had been completely discharged.

Following the First Stage: Body Reformation, the Second Stage: Golden Body.

And finally, I had achieved the Third Stage: Impenetrable.

Others might call it an unprecedented achievement, but.

-This is just the beginning.

Healing Sage had evaluated the completion of the Third Stage this way.

He said that I had only just stood at the starting line after taking the unprecedented spiritual medicines, the Immaculate Pomegranate and the Vermilion Fruit.

Healing Sage said that now that I had barely reached the stage of cultivating the self, I now had to move on to putting the house in order.

If there was a silver lining, it was that he had said that the completion of the Fourth Stage was putting the house in order, so that path did not seem so far away.

“This is just the beginning.”

I repeated Healing Sage's message as if to reflect on it.

“However.”

However, that starting line was drawn far ahead compared to others.

At the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly, there would be no up-and-coming prodigy who could compare to me.

I was striking a cool pose for a moment.

Gurgle.

I was getting hungry.

Although Healing Sage had arranged the Third Stage, advocating for 'better safe than sorry', there was something he had not considered.

Even upon reaching the great completion of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, starvation could not be prevented.

“Hmm.”

The Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake that I had cut down came into view.

“Wouldn't it be okay to roast and eat it?”

To a beggar of the Beggar's Gang, snake meat was truly a special treat.

Although I was no longer a beggar, how could I not know that taste?

Most beggars avoided poisonous snakes, but for me, who had achieved Impenetrable, there was nothing to fear.

“It'll be delicious, right?”

My mouth watered.

Tadaktadak.

The Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake was cooked deliciously.

To state only the conclusion, the Blood-Melting Poisonous Snake was really delicious.

Even though it was simply roasted over a fire, it had a flavor that surpassed any other delicacy I had eaten so far.

I was reminded of the words of an eccentric in Jianghu who used to claim, 'There is no food in the world that cannot be eaten.

However, there are foods that can only be eaten once.'

You were wrong.

I can eat it multiple times.

***

A small village at the foot of Mount Song in Dengfeng County, Henan Province.

Before arriving at the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly venue, I stopped by a high-class tavern.

Even though I had spent time obtaining the Dancheon Sword and taking the Vermilion Fruit, perhaps thanks to the achievement of reaching the Third Stage, my movement art had gained momentum, and I had arrived earlier than expected.

I had received a generous amount of travel expenses, so there was no burden.

“Kya!”

I was sipping Jiannanchun alone in the tavern and praising the greatness of white liquor for a moment.

Murmur, murmur.

I heard the sound of people in the tavern constantly glancing at me and whispering.

In particular, the whispers of the women who occupied various parts of the tavern accounted for a large portion.

I knew the reason.

It was because of my Dancheon Myeong's appearance.

Appearance was a truly strange thing.

It was true that this appearance was indeed mine, Dancheon Myeong's.

I was confident that if I returned to the Dancheon Clan right now, Uncle Yeo Baek or my father would recognize me.

However, perhaps due to the efficacy of the Vermilion Fruit I had consumed, there was a slight change.

Yes, I couldn't, in all conscience, say that there wasn't.

Unknowingly, my facial features became harmonious, and my skin became as clear as white jade.

That was definitely all.

I was sure.

However, due to that change, neither handsome nor ugly Dancheon Myeong, but the handsome and beautiful Dancheon Myeong was born.

Looking at my reflection in the bronze mirror, I unknowingly thought, 'That guy is quite handsome', so it must be an undeniable truth.

Anyway, I was enjoying the reactions of the crowd, which I had never experienced before or after my regression, while sipping liquor alone for a moment.

“Excuse me, young hero. Would you mind if we shared the table?”

At the sound of a beautiful voice, I turned my head to see a beautiful woman smiling at me.

Her appearance was so beautiful that it was not lacking even when compared to Yang Su-rin, who was called one of the Five Beauties of Anhui.

I looked around and saw that the high-class tavern was already full.

It was to the point where I felt a little sorry for occupying a table all by myself.

“Hmm.”

As I was pondering for a moment, the face of a man with a sullen expression behind the beautiful woman came into my view.

That face, it was familiar.

“Isn't that Brother Namgung?”

That person was definitely Namgung Tan, the eldest son of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Clans of the Murim, which was considered the number one martial clan in Anhui Province.

He must have also come to attend the Dragon and Phoenix Assembly.

“Who is elder brother to know this person?”

He asked, furrowing his brow and staring at me intently.

“Brother Namgung, don't you remember? I am Myeong of the Dancheon Clan.”

Since prestigious clans usually maintained a certain level of friendship, regardless of their inner thoughts, it was natural that the direct descendants of the Namgung Clan and the Dancheon Clan, which were prestigious clans that dominated Anhui, were acquainted.

He, who had been staring at me intently, said.

“Dancheon Myeong? Ah, you mean that bastard?”

Yes. I knew.

That those who grew up like treasured jewels in prestigious clans could grow up a little rude.

However, seeing the smile on that Namgung Tan fellow's face, I also knew that his remark just now was by no means a slip of the tongue.

That fellow, he had attacked me.

In the most childish and despicable way, with my background of birth.

“It's good to see you after a long time.”

I pretended not to hear and greeted him with a smile.

“You two, please sit comfortably.”

“Thank you. Even a bastard has learned his manners towards his elders, I see.”

Namgung Tan sat down, smiling slyly at me.

This was not the life I had returned to in order to endure such rudeness.

It seemed I had to give that bastard a great lesson.