"So you're saying it's basically fine to eat it?"
"Right."
"Are you certain?"
"...I can't guarantee it, but it's what someone who could be called the world's best regarding poisons said."
"Hmm."
Wei Yan-ho looked at the Green Forest King with a rather reluctant expression. He'd already received some things and agreed to receive others, so he couldn't back out now. Somehow, treating him was the right thing to do. Wei Jeong-han seemed to subtly want that too.
"What kind of father tells his son to eat poison just to save some bandit! This should be passed down through generations as a tragedy."
"Ugh..."
For once, Wei Jeong-han couldn't scold Wei Yan-ho.
'Come to think of it, isn't this a bit too much?'
While Wei Jeong-han was the person in the world who least acknowledged Wei Yan-ho, he was also apparently the person who most acknowledged him. Only a madman would tell his own son to eat poison because he needed to treat someone else.
"Let's think about this again."
"Huh?"
"I really must have been getting senile. Thinking about it logically, this doesn't make sense."
"It's fine. Why are you being dramatic about it now?"
"No, really."
"It's okay."
Wei Jeong-han scratched his head roughly.
'I need to get my head straight.'
No matter how strong his martial arts were, Wei Yan-ho was still at an age where he hadn't perfected himself. He still needed his parents and those around him to guide him properly. But at some point, Wei Jeong-han had started expecting Wei Yan-ho to do something beyond what others could do just because he was martially strong.
'Isn't this the typical process of parents ruining their children?'
It happened in countless martial families.
When a child starts taking their first steps, before parents even praise those first steps, they want their child to run. How many had crumbled under such excessive demands and pressure?
It was only because Wei Yan-ho had such an easygoing personality.
He seemed sharp-tempered because he would snap back whenever something happened, but Wei Yan-ho actually had a personality where he'd do that and then forget about it. So until now, he hadn't particularly noticed...
'What have I been doing?'
Wei Jeong-han found himself reflecting on his actions up to now because of one comment from Wei Yan-ho. No matter how much children needed discipline and education appropriate to their level, expecting a child's attitude to change just because the child's level had changed was the worst attitude for an educator.
"Why are you making such a serious face?"
"Give it back."
"What?"
"Let's return all the wealth and everything we received and leave. This isn't right."
"...Why are you suddenly like this?"
"You're right. I must have gone senile. What insane parent would tell their own child to eat poison just to save some bandit?"
Even if that poison would never harm the child, most parents wouldn't let that poison anywhere near them.
Wei Jeong-han bit his lip hard.
"This time, this father was wro—"
"What did you do wrong?"
"..."
"Are you sick? You're not usually like this?"
When someone is reflecting, the normal human response is to comfort them. But when Wei Yan-ho saw someone reflecting, he would tear open their wounds, sprinkle salt on them, then pour oil and set them on fire.
"Hey, why are you being dramatic all of a sudden? Everyone in the family knows father has been hopeless at education since childhood and has no talent for it."
"I-is that so?"
"Brother turned out great. Really great. How could he grow up so well under such a father? You could call that a triumph of the human spirit."
Wei Jeong-han smiled brightly.
He wasn't the one who was wrong.
That bastard! That bastard was clouding his mind.
"Anyway, I get it. Sigh, I know you can't do it when I set things up for you. Move aside. Let me try it once."
"No, didn't I say you don't have to do it?"
"But then I get strangely curious about trying it."
This guy must live by chewing whole frogs as side dishes or something just as insane.
"It's fine. Master said that poisons are divided into biological poisons and mineral poisons, and most of what's used in the martial world are biological poisons."
"That's true."
"But he said that biological poisons, when you think about it in reverse, are no different from elixirs."
"What?"
Wei Jeong-han's eyes went blank.
What was this about now?
"Originally, elixirs are like that, right? Plants gathering energy in their roots, or animals gathering energy in something like an internal core."
"Right."
"But he said poisonous creatures concentrate all the energy they've gathered into their poison. The stronger this toxicity is, the stronger that energy is."
This seemed to make sense somehow, but also not...
"So he said the stronger the poison, the more it becomes like an elixir. He told me to eat them all if I could."
"...Really? What if you die?"
"I won't die."
"Why?"
"I don't know. He just said I won't die. He said even if he explained it, I wouldn't understand with my brain, so instead of struggling to understand, I should just memorize it."
There was an even worse educator than Wei Jeong-han.
'What the hell did that person do!'
Wei Jeong-han grew more and more curious about that master as time went on.
"So you're going to do it?"
"Yeah, sure."
Wei Yan-ho stuck out his lips.
"Actually, I don't really want to do it, but it's about time to get anxious..."
"Anxious about what?"
"He said I need to experience many new things, but recently I haven't done anything except fighting. Master isn't someone who speaks empty words, so I probably really do need to experience things."
"Hmm..."
Wei Jeong-han nodded.
If Wei Yan-ho was saying that much, he had no grounds to stop him.
"How do you do it?"
Thinking Wei Jeong-han's permission had been granted, Wei Yan-ho asked Jin So-ah. Jin So-ah spoke with a somewhat serious expression.
"So the Heavenly Protrusion... No, that's not it. Here, here, here, from here to here, swoosh! Don't damage the blood vessels, swoosh? Do you understand?"
"..."
"You can listen while absorbing energy, right?"
"That much is possible."
"Then I'll just teach you. Let's start by removing the energy from the head area first."
"Mm, got it."
Wei Yan-ho immediately grabbed the Green Forest King's head.
"Wait, aren't you starting from the pulse points?"
"The blood point in the head is the biggest, so why bother going around in circles? I can just start from here."
"..."
Somehow it felt like they were getting further and further away from the realm of medicine.
'Whatever.'
Jin So-ah gave up.
From the start, hoping things would proceed in the direction he wanted while treating someone together with Wei Yan-ho was excessive greed. He had to adapt to Wei Yan-ho.
"Yes. Then let's begin."
"Hmm."
Wei Yan-ho quietly closed his eyes.
Since it was his first time doing this, he was slightly nervous...
Wei Yan-ho removed his hand from the Green Forest King's head and stepped back.
"Why?"
Jin So-ah looked at him with questioning eyes, but Wei Yan-ho didn't even glance at Jin So-ah and looked for the Great General.
"Mister, you won't ask me to spit up what I've eaten just because this old man accidentally dies, right?"
"..."
The Great General looked at Wei Yan-ho with a bewildered face.
"Is that important right now?"
"Of course it's important. If I don't clarify this beforehand and an accident happens, you'll tell me to take responsibility."
"..."
Should this be called thorough, or should it be called lacking in humanity?
"Understood."
What was there to hesitate about when what went in wouldn't come back out anyway?
"Paralysis is off-limits too. I absolutely won't return anything. I won't accept partial returns either."
"Do as you see fit! Just do it!"
"Why are you getting cranky?"
Wei Yan-ho stuck out his lips.
"Grrrr."
The Great General felt like crying.
'Is this really going well?'
Now that the situation had progressed this far, his heart was suddenly racing. Was it really right to entrust the Green Forest King's fate to that guy?
'No, wait. It's not about skill.'
What mattered was trustworthiness.
If the Great General were in a similar situation, would he entrust himself to Wei Yan-ho, or would he entrust himself to a normal person even if their skills were somewhat lacking compared to Wei Yan-ho?
This didn't even need thinking.
"I'm starting."
"Wa—"
Wei Yan-ho closed his eyes and began pushing energy into the Green Forest King's head before the Great General, who had suddenly realized what he'd done, could say anything to stop him.
"Ahh..."
The ship had sailed.
Now no one could stop it.
'Hmm?'
Wei Yan-ho quietly pushed energy into the Green Forest King's body. Although controlling another person's body wasn't something he'd experienced much, Wei Yan-ho felt no hesitation at all.
'There's no way I couldn't do it.'
Who had he trained with?
His master was someone who could create forms with just the energy remaining in his internal core and beat people up with distant object manipulation. When it came to utilizing energy, no one in the world could match him.
This was also why Wei Yan-ho became stronger more easily than others.
So this level of energy manipulation could literally be done while lying down and eating.
As Wei Yan-ho quietly pushed energy into the head, something murky caught at the edge of his senses.
'Is this the turbid energy?'
Sticky and gloomy energy. He could even feel something sour within it. It was fascinating that energy could give such varied sensations.
'I'm supposed to absorb this?'
It wasn't impossible.
Wei Yan-ho quietly pulled at the turbid energy. But the turbid energy that had stuck completely to the blood vessels wouldn't come away easily.
'Huh?'
He'd been told to just absorb and remove the energy that was blocking things, but if he recklessly absorbed energy that was stuck like this, the blood vessels might burst. Considering this was the Hundred Meetings Point, the moment the blood vessels burst would mean clean instant death.
Wei Yan-ho felt his competitive spirit rising.
'How dare you be so arrogant.'
His energy sharply penetrated into the turbid energy. His energy, sharpened like a razor blade, carefully carved away the turbid energy stuck to the blood vessels.
He thought about melting it with fire energy, but if he carelessly applied heat, the old man's brain might end up getting cooked golden brown.
It was work that required time and delicacy, but it wasn't particularly difficult. After perfectly cutting away the energies, Wei Yan-ho used suction to steadily pull at the separated turbid energy.
As the turbid energy separated and fell away, the energies that had been blocked behind the blood vessels surged out like a fountain. Even without trying to absorb them, thanks to the increased pressure, the energies rushed into Wei Yan-ho's body on their own.
If he couldn't properly control this, Wei Yan-ho would also fall victim to qi deviation. He understood why physicians showed reluctance to treat qi deviation and why treatment of masters had to be handled by masters.
Of course, it wouldn't be difficult for Wei Yan-ho.
As soon as the turbid energy entered his body, Baek Mu-han's internal core began to stir before Wei Yan-ho could do anything.
With a feeling of 'How dare these petty things invade my territory,' Baek Mu-han's internal core trembled and began releasing energy. An unprecedented massive force that even Wei Yan-ho couldn't yet control was being unleashed.
'Wh-what?'
Wei Yan-ho began to panic at the completely unexpected situation.
'Th-this is bad!'
The situation was flowing strangely.