The Terminally Ill Young Master of the Baek Clan

The fox diligently tried to shake off Yi-gang. Its plan was to make him lose his way in the fog.

However, Yi-gang did not lose his way. Instead, he accurately found the direction to the Three-Element Sacred Flower and headed towards it.

It was uncertain whether a mere human had found the spiritual herb.

The fox was at risk of losing the Three-Element Sacred Flower, its target, to a mere human. And not just any human, but a weirdo who talked to the air.

The fox decided to kill Yi-gang. Thus, it launched a surprise attack.

But the lightning that should have left not even a bone of Yi-gang untouched only slightly burned the hem of his robe.

As the shocked fox tried to flee, a sword flew towards it. Naturally, the fox thought it was the end of its life full of grievances.

Chop, it thought its body would be cleaved in half.

That was when it tightly shut its eyes.

Astonishingly, Yi-gang’s Shooting Star Fang passively passed through the blue fox.

The fox, which had its eyes closed for a while, cautiously opened them.

Looking down at its body, not only was it not cleaved, but its blue fur was also shimmering with luster.

Yi-gang swung his sword like lightning again. Once more, the sword passively passed through the blue fox.

“Hmm… I struck with the blade, but maybe that wasn’t necessary.”

Yi-gang frowned.

The fox suddenly remembered its current state.

It wasn’t in its real body but rather in a semi-spiritual form.

“Keehing!”

The fox bared its small teeth and mocked Yi-gang. It concluded that Yi-gang couldn’t harm it.

Indeed, Yi-gang stood still, holding his sword, deep in thought. The fox alternated its gaze between Yi-gang and the Three-Element Sacred Flower behind him.

The reason for the earlier surprise attack’s failure was that strange sword. But if it could avoid the sword and deliver a lightning strike to the body, it might win.

Or, there was also the option to retreat for now.

“I knew you weren’t just an ordinary beast. You’re not even a normal yokai,” Yi-gang said.

The fox made its decision—

To eliminate this human.

Swoosh—!

It immediately leaped towards Yi-gang. This time, it didn’t plan to dodge the sword.

Yi-gang, realizing the sword was futile, remained silent. It was a look of resignation.

At least that’s what the fox thought.

Until it was suddenly grasped by something invisible and slammed into the ground.

“Kyaaang—!”

The fox struggled on the ground.

A strong grip held the fox’s body down.

“Why didn’t you just run away?”

Yi-gang’s remark left the fox unable to respond, as it too could finally sense it.

Yi-gang wasn’t just a weirdo talking to the air. ‘Someone’ was beside him, and it was this presence that firmly subdued the fox.

The fox regretted not running away earlier.

And in Yi-gang’s case…

「Sloppy, so sloppy! What’s the use of learning if you forget to apply it?」

He was being scolded by the Immortal Divine Sword, who had pinned down the fox.

‘I couldn’t have known this fox was in a spiritual form.’

「Even so, you should have realized it after the first sword strike failed. Doing the same thing twice?」

Yi-gang had no words to respond and simply nodded.

The nature of the fox was close to that of a ghost. It’s impossible to slice a ghost with a sword. An ordinary martial artist wouldn’t have been able to do anything to the fox.

Of course, Yi-gang was not an ordinary martial artist. If he had properly utilized the Great Yin Flow, his sword strikes would have worked.

It was Yi-gang’s delayed response that brought the Immortal Divine Sword into action. Being a ghost himself, he could subdue the spiritual form of the fox.

“But this one… Can’t it see the ancestor? It should be able to see the ancestor like I can.”

「Kid, always trying to change the subject. Well…」

The Immortal Divine Sword spoke with a bit of swagger, 「I haven’t met anyone else who can see me, except for you.」

It implied that he himself did not know.

“Well, let’s assume that’s the case…”

The blue fox was small with rather large eyes. It looked like a newborn cub.

Although its appearance was cute, one couldn’t judge the age of a yokai by its looks.

Of course, the Immortal Divine Sword wouldn’t be swayed by the fox’s cute appearance. But surprisingly, the Immortal Divine Sword started to stroke the fox’s belly.

It seemed like he was tickling the fox, gently caressing its fluffy fur.

“What are you doing?”

「Shh.」

The fox seemed ticklish as it writhed, but he continued to touch its belly.

Then he muttered bitterly, 「It seems there is no internal elixir, huh?」

“Ah…”

Yi-gang looked at the Immortal Divine Sword with respect. He wasn’t just caressing the fox because it was cute; he was searching for the internal elixir.

If the fox could understand the Immortal Divine Sword, it would have been terrified.

Yi-gang wet his lips and looked back at the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

Then he swung his sword.

Swoosh—

The thorny bushes were diagonally sliced and fell. Now, nothing stood in the way of harvesting the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

Yi-gang took out a dagger and placed it against the stem of the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

“I’m wondering whether to eat it or take it with me. I don’t really know its effects…”

Yi-gang looked back at the Immortal Divine Sword and froze.

The fox was watching Yi-gang. That wasn’t much of a concern, but what caught his attention was the fox’s expression.

Yi-gang pondered for a moment. While animals can have expressions, interpreting them was another story.

‘I must have seen it wrong…’

Yi-gang swung his dagger and cut the stem of the Three-Element Sacred Flower. Then he checked the condition of the flower once more.

It was a truly beautiful spiritual herb. The three differently colored petals were emphereal, emitting a soft light.

It exuded a lonely yet intense fragrance. Eating it might bring tremendous internal energy prowess to a martial artist.

Yi-gang carefully held the Three-Element Sacred Flower and returned to where the Immortal Divine Sword was.

「It has such beautiful colors.」

“So, now that I’ve got it… shall we go back?” Yi-gang said, his gaze lingering on the fox’s face for a fleeting moment.

「So, what about this one?」

“…It doesn’t have an internal elixir, you said. Just let it go.”

The Immortal Divine Sword looked at Yi-gang in surprise.

「Really? But shouldn’t we split it open to check just in case?」

Yi-gang shook his head.

The Immortal Divine Sword, wetting his lips, released the fox.

As soon as it was free, the fox didn’t look back and ran away. It was like a wild animal escaping from a trap.

The Immortal Divine Sword, letting go of any lingering thoughts about the fox, examined the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

「It’s obviously a very excellent elixir. Are you going to eat it?」

“I’m not sure.”

「Hmm, but eating such a powerful spiritual herb wrongly could instead harm the body…」

“…”

「What are you thinking so deeply about?」

Yi-gang was staring blankly in the direction where the blue fox had disappeared.

“It definitely had a mocking expression.”

Saying so, he started to walk slowly.

The Immortal Divine Sword tilted its head and followed Yi-gang.

After the Immortal Divine Sword released the fox and some time passed, the day had already progressed, and the sun was descending. Soon, the sky would turn yellow, and the sunset would begin. The end of the trial was approaching.

This meant that the fox did not have much time left. It had used most of its power to escape, all for the sake of finding the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

Now that the Three-Element Sacred Flower had been taken by Yi-gang, one might wonder if the fox felt disappointed.

“Kiing.”

It was not.

The fox laughed, making a giggling sound.

It couldn’t help but laugh whenever it thought of the foolish human, Yi-gang.

When it was overpowered by something guarding the human, it thought it was truly the end. But it survived, demonstrating the cunning typical of a fox.

The human had cut off the stem of the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

The three elements of the Three-Element Sacred Flower represented the sky, water, and earth that constituted the world.

The flower represented the sky. A martial artist who ate it would gain a tremendous amount of internal energy.

The stem represented water. Extracting and consuming its juice would purify the blood and prolong life.

Then what about the last element, earth?

“Kihihing.”

Covering its mouth with its front paws, the fox laughed.

The human left behind the most essential part of the Three-Element Sacred Flower. It was a perspective inherently human. They didn’t realize the greatness of the earth because it’s what they always tread upon.

The fox was after the most important component of the Three-Element Sacred Flower: the root.

She went to the place where Yi-gang had cut the Three-Element Sacred Flower and began to dig earnestly.

Spiritual herbs grew by absorbing the energy of the land over a long time. Naturally, the roots were deep and widespread.

The fox dug into the soil with its small front paws.

Just when its face became dirty and the remaining time was running critically low, “it” appeared.

Reflected in the sparkling eyes of the fox—

It was a bulbous root, a corm, about the size of a chestnut.

A corm was found in the roots of certain plants, storing the plant’s nutrients in a size as small as a chestnut.

The thought of the human who left without knowing such a thing brought an involuntary smile.

The blue fox opened its mouth as wide as it could, intending to devour the precious corm in one bite.

Crunch—

But what it bit was not the corm but thin air.

Only then did she realize she was being held by the nape by someone.

And someone else had picked up the corm lying on the ground.

“So, this was the real deal.”

Yi-gang, who had clearly left earlier, had returned to her side.

The blue fox screamed.

“Kieeeeng!”

“You, you understand my words, don’t you?”

Yi-gang asked this up close. The blue fox hastily shook its head.

“Indeed, you did understand.”

“…!”

“Your expression was suspicious.”

The fox, hanging from the Immortal Divine Sword, felt as if its heart had sunk.

Yi-gang carefully examined the corm.

“It looks ordinary compared to the flower, but it seems to be more important.”

“Kyyaang!”

The blue fox cried out in anger.

It seemed bitter about having something of value taken away by Yi-gang, who couldn’t recognize its worth.

But, the time allotted for her had already ended.

Fizz!

She vanished into thin air, leaving only a blue flash of light.

Both Yi-gang and the Immortal Divine Sword were surprised, their eyes wide open.

“Stars…”

「Such a mystical event.」

Anyway, the chestnut-sized corm remained in Yi-gang’s hand. Yi-gang put the corm in his pocket.

As time passed, the sunset began.

“Shall we go back now?”

Although his bag was still light, Yi-gang, having secured the Three-Element Sacred Flower, had no worries.

As the sunset began, the fog in Spirit Spring Valley also lifted. This started happening right after Yi-gang collected the Three-Element Sacred Flower, but no one knew the cause and effect.

Yeop Su-nam and Grass Flower Hall Head, looking down at Spirit Spring Valley from the cliff, were no exception.

“But, Hall Head.”

“Hmm?”

Grass Flower Hall Head, who was watching the sunset, turned her head.

“About that Three-Element Sacred Flower…”

Yeop Su-nam and Grass Flower Hall Head had a slight hope that the Three-Element Sacred Flower might be discovered in this trial.

“Uhm, do you think it can be discovered this time?”

“Don’t expect too much. Such things are granted by heaven.”

“Right? But…”

“Spit it out quickly if you have something to say.”

Yeop Su-nam smiled awkwardly.

“Well… What are its effects? I know it’s valuable, but I haven’t heard the details.”

Yeop Su-nam, a disciple of Grass Flower Hall Head, also didn’t know much about the Three-Element Sacred Flower.

He had only heard about its appearance.

Grass Flower Hall Head nodded and opened his mouth, “Indeed, you wouldn’t know. It used to be found quite often a very long time ago. I have never seen it in person either.”

He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

“How to explain it… Well, it’s a story from several hundred years ago. Once, the Three-Element Sacred Flower ended up in the hands of a person.”

“Oh, who was that?”

Yeop Su-nam showed interest.

And he was greatly surprised by the name that came out of his master’s mouth.

“The Heavenly Demon.”

“…Pardon?”

“The Heavenly Demon once had the Three-Element Sacred Flower in his possession.”

Yeop Su-nam’s face contorted.

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