Chapter 55

• The Best Way to Remodel a Human

"The method?"

After showing a thoughtful expression for a moment, Bi Ryu-yeon said with a grin.

"Isn't it our task to think about that from now on?"

"In other words, you have no idea. How irresponsible."

Jang Hong rebuked Bi Ryu-yeon for his irresponsible and absurd thought.

"It's not like there's no way!"

In an instant, all eyes were on Hyo-ryong. He had been skeptical earlier, but it seemed his thoughts had suddenly changed.

"When it comes to remodeling, after all, changing the body's reaction through drugs is the most promising. It also has the highest feasibility."

"Ah, that's right. You mean strengthening the body's functions through drug administration?"

As expected, Jang Hong was easy to talk to. Hyo-ryong nodded and continued.

"That's right. We continuously administer various drugs to the human body and observe the body's reaction, changing the concentration, ratio, and composition of the drugs. Of course, in this case, we must be prepared for many trials and errors. And abnormal body symptoms..."

"But, that's a bit scary."

Yun Jun-ho's complexion turned noticeably pale, and cold sweat even formed on his forehead. He also had the discernment to distinguish between a serious statement and a joke. And, right now, his discernment and judgment were painfully and clearly warning him that the words Hyo-ryong and Jang Hong were exchanging were serious.

"Scary? We'll use plenty of anesthesia, so there won't be much pain. You'll just be wandering in a dream, intoxicated by the drug. Of course, we'll have to be careful about the side effects of the drug and drug addiction."

Hyo-ryong was spitting out a terrifying story for the person concerned, Yun Jun-ho, with a serious face, as if it were nothing. His face was filled with the will, 'I'm serious right now, so don't mistake it for a joke.'

"But isn't drug therapy for constitutional improvement a bit dangerous with just our medical knowledge?"

Jang Hong raised a question about the obstacles that were likely to occur in the actual implementation stage.

In fact, it was an absurd story to attempt to improve the human constitution through drug therapy with a medical knowledge level that was so weak as to only apply wound medicine to cuts, lacerations, and wounds, and then roughly wrap a bandage, or apply a plaster to sprains or strains. If something like this went wrong, it would be an act worthy of being called murder.

"Well, the optic nerve might be paralyzed, the sense of taste might be lost, or the hearing might be lost, and two or three of the five senses might become unusable. If things go wrong and we assume the worst-case scenario, one of the four limbs might become disabled, or maybe just paralysis of the lower body. In the worst, worst case, would it be total paralysis and a vegetative state? Surely he wouldn't die. It's no big deal, right?"

Hyo-ryong spoke in a very nonchalant tone, as if he were talking about some ordinary daily routine.

"No, I think it's a pretty big deal. I feel it's very dangerous and scary."

"Hmm, so you're saying you have great doubts about the safety of this method."

"How can I not doubt it?"

Jang Hong said, nodding his head as if he understood.

"Frankly, for that problem, we should ask for the help of an expert. If it's a master of drug therapy, asking for the help of a poison-man manufacturing and development researcher or a jiangshi manufacturing and development researcher is the most reliable and certain. In fact, there are no people as knowledgeable about the correlation between drug administration and human biological changes as them. They are the top authorities in that field. Of course, their number is extremely rare."

"Where can we find such precious people?"

Yun Jun-ho, with a pale complexion, asked cautiously. His current feeling was to desperately hope that they would not be able to find such a rare person and that their plan would be miserably thwarted. But his desperate expectation was miserably shattered, and he had to groan under the pile of debris. The answer did not allow for even a slight gap.

"Here!"

Jang Hong and Hyo-ryong's index fingers pointed to the floor at the same time.

"Here?"

Bi Ryu-yeon and Yun Jun-ho also pointed to the floor in a bewildered state. Then Jang Hong explained confidently.

"Yes, here. We can find them at once here in the Cheonmu Academy. Here, all sorts of strange fields of research and the development of martial arts that are considered bizarre outside are being carried out like grains of sand on a riverbank. We can find them right away here."

Yun Jun-ho shuddered in fear at the glorious fact that he might make a great contribution as an experimental material for the development of poison-man research or jiangshi research.

His head was so full of thoughts on how to escape this extremely dangerous—and for Bi Ryu-yeon's party, very interesting and stimulating—situation that his other thinking functions were on the verge of being completely paralyzed.

But whether he knew Yun Jun-ho's troubled heart or not, or whether he was pretending not to know even though he knew, Hyo-ryong continued to lay out his thoughts. The plan was now crossing the ridge of imagination and becoming more and more concrete.

"Poison-man research is the ultimate goal on earth that anyone who has devoted themselves to the art of poison dreams of. If you were to name the most famous poison-man researchers at present, you could mention Tang Gun-hyeok, the Poison Hand Heartless Doctor of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and Pi Cheol-ha, the Evil Poison of the Poison King Hall. These two are the most famous masters and rivals of poison art and poison-man research in the Jianghu. Since Pi Cheol-ha is from the unorthodox faction, let's leave him out. The place where Tang Gun-hyeok and his followers are currently continuing their poison-man research is right here at the Cheonmu Academy. They say he also helps out with the Medicine King Hall's work sometimes. A master of the art of poison is also a master of the art of medicine. Because poison and medicine are a paper-thin difference, and their origin is the same. If we ask him, constitutional improvement through drugs doesn't seem impossible."

"What about jiangshi research?"

Jang Hong, who felt a question as Hyo-ryong only talked about poison-man research, leaving out jiangshi research, asked. His tone was as if jiangshi research was not even in his consideration.

"Ah, of course, it's not that there are no jiangshi researchers here. If you were to look for a place that does jiangshi research, it would probably be only here at the Cheonmu Academy. If you did that kind of thing anywhere else, you would be immediately branded as unorthodox and beaten up, and that sect would be exterminated or, even if treated leniently, would be sealed."

Yun Jun-ho and Jang Hong nodded their heads as if in agreement with his words. In the Central Plains society, where corpses were considered sacred and holy, there was no way that jiangshi research, which—in the eyes of the general public—played with corpses, would be well-received.

The very idea of developing jiangshi techniques, which had originated in combination with Taoist arts for the smooth transportation of dead bodies, for combat and killing was difficult to be accepted as legitimate. How could the act of desecrating and insulting the bodies of the dead be justified?

But jiangshi techniques were also a field that was being intensively and steadily researched by the unorthodox faction because of their outstanding killing power and combat power compared to the investment, and their cheap maintenance costs. So, even if the orthodox faction didn't want to do jiangshi research, they couldn't help it. Because they couldn't just be beaten up with their eyes wide open. So, under the idea of 'know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles', the only place where jiangshi research was officially tolerated in the entire orthodox Murim was probably here at the Cheonmu Academy.

"Jiangshi research is, of course, proficient in the use of drugs on the human body, but that side is researching on dead bodies, while the poison-man side is a study that is researched on living humans. This difference is as enormous as the distance between heaven and earth. So, unless you plan to turn Yun Jun-ho into a corpse, the poison-man research side has a much higher possibility."

"I see, I hadn't thought of that."

Jang Hong readily agreed with Hyo-ryong's words and nodded his head. They needed a living Yun Jun-ho, not a dead corpse of Yun Jun-ho.

Absurdly, they were trying a method that was unprecedented, ruthless, unclear, and whose success was even uncertain, called Human Remodeling.

• The Mount Hua Disciple Shuddering in Anxiety

As the story, which he had initially thought was absurd,
gradually took on a concrete form and became more plausible,
Yun Jun-ho began to feel more and more anxious inwardly.
Even if he were sitting on a cushion of thorns soaked in poison
and playing with a swarm of poisonous snakes, he would not have been this anxious.

On his dark and pale face, cold sweat was flowing down from his forehead like water. It was a proof of how nervous he was right now.

"E-excuse me..."

Enduring the tension that felt like he was about to suffocate, Yun Jun-ho barely managed to speak. His throat was so choked that he was even doubtful whether he was communicating his intentions properly right now.

"Why? Is there any other worry?"

Of course, he couldn't say it directly, but it was clear that he was engulfed in worries that could fill five carts.

"N-no. I was just wondering if it would be better to devise a... different method..."

"No, why? This method is rarely as certain as this. Fortunately, it's possible because this is the Cheonmu Academy. Do you think it's even possible anywhere else? It's better to push forward with this without regrets."

Hyo-ryong said firmly.

But looking at his sparkling eyes, he couldn't erase the question of whether he was proceeding with the matter for the sake of interest. Weren't his eyes sparkling like an innocent child in front of a toy? So Yun Jun-ho became even more anxious and terrified.

"Why? Are you worried that they won't accept you over there?"

"That's also true, but..."

Yun Jun-ho lied like a fool. Why did he do that?

"Don't worry. If there's a researcher who doesn't like a fresh and young body like yours, he's really not in his right mind. He's definitely a madman. It's a one-in-a-thousand chance for a sturdy experimental subject like you to come in on your own feet."

Now that he had heard even this, he felt even more that he could not entrust his body to the hands of a poison-man researcher. A sense of crisis washed over him that he might suffer some kind of misfortune if he just hesitated like a good-natured person.

"I'm fine with regretting it, so how about we devise a different method? I'm deeply grateful for your efforts for me, but I don't want to change my body by relying on things like drugs. I think it's against the orthodox way."

Even while sweating profusely, Yun Jun-ho managed to say everything he had to say. He felt relieved. Then,

"It is against the orthodox way. This is a kind of expedient."

Hyo-ryong answered in a nonchalant tone.

"What did you say?"

Yun Jun-ho asked back with a dumbfounded expression. His short question also included a rebuke of how he could so nonchalantly recommend something that was against the orthodox way to a friend, as if it were someone else's business. He decided to put into words what was included as an appendix in his expression. Because he judged that it would be helpful for communication.

"How can you so nonchalantly recommend something that is against the orthodox way, as if it were someone else's business?"

"But it's the most feasible method. Above all, it's for you. No matter how I think about it, this seems to be the best method. How about you just think of it as taking a restorative medicine and give it a try?"

Hyo-ryong still showed no sign of giving up.

"Please, even if the feasibility is much lower, can't you devise a different method? I won't forget this grace."

As Yun Jun-ho spoke in a pleading tone, blinking his two black eyes that were as gentle as a rabbit's, Hyo-ryong's heart softened. In his heart, he was repeating, 'I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't do this,' but he couldn't force something that the person himself was strongly refusing. Because in a matter like this, the person's own will was the most important.

'The orthodox way? But does such a thing even exist? A way to solve hypersensitivity without relying on drugs...'

Hyo-ryong was lost in deep thought. Jang Hong also began to ponder over another solution. But there was no way such a thing would come to mind so easily. Because even an unconventional plan like Human Remodeling was an opinion that had come out after a long time of deliberation.

It was when they were struggling for a long time, having fallen into the well of contemplation they had dug deep into their consciousness.

"Is there really a need to solve the plum blossom hypersensitivity?"

The owner of the voice that had mercilessly broken their thoughts was none other than Bi Ryu-yeon.

What kind of opinion was he going to astonish people with this time...

"What?"

At the unexpected words, the three focused all their senses and gazes on Bi Ryu-yeon.

"What about the Human Remodeling plan?"

Hyo-ryong, who had already actively jumped into the Human Remodeling problem and overworked his brain, asked with regret.

"Hmm, it's very regrettable, but what can we do if he doesn't want to?"

"That's also true. Then what method this time?"

"What I'm saying is that there's no need to focus on solving Yun Jun-ho's hypersensitivity as the solution to the problem."

"Why? Otherwise, Yun Jun-ho will never be able to perform the Plum Blossom Sword Method. Then he'll be reduced to their laughingstock forever."

"That's it!"

"What is?"

Hyo-ryong said with a puzzled face, still not understanding what he was saying at all.

"What I'm saying is that there's no need to cling to the realm of Sword Scent. The problem is the fragrance, right? If there's no plum blossom fragrance, Yun Jun-ho will have no problem performing the sword method. Right?"

Bi Ryu-yeon asked, as if confirming it by going over it again.

"That's true."

Even while saying that, Hyo-ryong's expression was clearly one of not being convinced yet.

"You still don't get it? You're really slow."

Hyo-ryong's elegant eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"It's sad that you're misinterpreting my intellectual level, but I'll forgive you. So hurry up and tell me."

He was saying that even if he lowered himself to a fool, he would endure it this once, so hurry up and tell him.

"So, we just have to get rid of the fragrance itself from his sword method."

"By what means?"

Hyo-ryong asked back, his eyes wide.