WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 48: Ban Yunsaeng (1)

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Gansu, home to the Qilian Mountains, lay within Black Heaven Alliance territory. A considerable number of the martial artists one encountered there belonged to the Black Heaven Alliance.

Of course, while the Black Heaven Alliance exerted its influence and controlled the region through its outposts, that did not mean everyone living there belonged to the unorthodox faction.

The same was true of the Murim Alliance. The person running an inn outside Murim Alliance headquarters might belong to the unorthodox faction. They simply lived while concealing it.

Baek Socheon traveled as inconspicuously as possible. Rather than taking the main roads, he followed narrow paths and crossed mountains, even carrying the heavy leather bag he usually used for training. In other words, he turned the journey itself into training.

Since Baek Socheon had resolved not to cause trouble while traveling, he encountered no problems until he reached the foot of the Qilian Mountains.

What concerned him more was the possibility of being followed. The Black Heaven Alliance or the Alliance Leader's Hall might have assigned someone to watch him.

Fortunately, Baek Socheon possessed an innate sense sharp enough to uncover even Cheon Geuk's concealment. He was certain no one had followed him.

Gwoe Yeo had said Ban Yunsaeng lived in seclusion in the Qilian Mountains. If Ban Yunsaeng was still alive, they had to be living somewhere within these mountains.

Finding someone in the vast Qilian Mountains, which stretched across the land in a massive range, was truly like searching for a needle in a haystack.

'If luck is on my side, I'll find them.'

Baek Socheon slung his leather bag over his shoulder and climbed the mountain. He could scale cliffs with his bare hands, so no matter how rugged the terrain, climbing the mountain posed no difficulty.

At the summit, he surveyed his surroundings. Several peaks rose around the main peak.

'Where in the world are you?'

Five days had passed since Baek Socheon arrived at the Qilian Mountains. He had climbed the summits of several peaks, carefully searching for any sign of human presence.

He met hunters and herb gatherers, but he did not ask them about Ban Yunsaeng. Since he did not know what connection they might have to Ban Yunsaeng, asking carelessly could cause them to disappear without a trace.

After wandering the Qilian Mountains for ten days, Baek Socheon felt discouraged for the first time.

'Perhaps I won't be able to find them.'

If he had enough time, he would search this place for months, even years, but he could not afford to do that.

An inner demon naturally began to take hold.

'Perhaps even trying to find Ban Yunsaeng proves how weak my resolve has become.'

'How could complete transformation possibly be achieved through an artificial method?'

'I should be training my body instead.'

Even when he sank into deep self-reproach, he eventually drove himself onward.

'No. I won't give up until the end.'

One day, while searching every corner of the mountains, he wandered through the forest as usual in search of people when a sharp, pungent scent suddenly stung his nose.

'This smell?'

He had smelled it before. It was the scent of an incredibly potent poison.

Curious, Baek Socheon headed toward its source. Since he possessed the Myriad-Poison-Immunity Body, he had no reason to fear poison.

When he pushed through the grass, he found a plant bearing a flower he had never seen before.

Its petals were as red as blood, while something white bloomed at its center, impossible to tell whether it was a fruit or a flower bud.

A snake was coiled around the plant, and the poisonous scent came from it.

'White-Horned Golden-Line Snake!'

A white protrusion, closer to a lump than a horn, rose from its head, while golden lines ran along its body. The White-Horned Golden-Line Snake's poison pill was something practitioners of poison arts dreamed of acquiring.

'Then that flower is...?'

It was clearly no ordinary plant. Rare flowers and herbs guarded by spiritual creatures were often as precious as the creatures' inner cores. The flower's pleasant fragrance mixed with the snake's poisonous scent, filling the air with an aroma unlike anything Baek Socheon had ever smelled.

The White-Horned Golden-Line Snake raised its head, ready to lunge at Baek Socheon at any moment. Baek Socheon was not particularly tense. He was immune to poison, and even if it was a spiritual creature, he was confident he could avoid a snake's attack.

Then it happened.

Baek Socheon sensed someone approaching from behind.

When the other person drew near, Baek Socheon spun around. Sensing no killing intent, he did not attack. Instead, he subdued them by seizing their wrist and throat.

Baek Socheon flinched.

The other person was an elder. He did not know why, but the moment he saw them, he knew by instinct.

This was the very person he had been searching for.

'Ban Yunsaeng!'

At that moment, the White-Horned Golden-Line Snake lunged at them from behind.

Swoosh!

"Move! Don't let it bite you!"

At the elder's shout, Baek Socheon leaped back with them, avoiding the White-Horned Golden-Line Snake's attack.

Baek Socheon and the elder ran together, fleeing far away. The White-Horned Golden-Line Snake pursued them for a time before returning to its original spot.

"Whew. That's a relief. If it had bitten you, the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass wouldn't have borne fruit this year."

Come to think of it, the elder had not shouted because they were worried about Baek Socheon being bitten. They had been worried about the snake and the plant called the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass.

Even so, Baek Socheon respectfully asked, "Could you be Elder Ban?"

"Did you come looking for me? That's right. I'm Yunsaeng. Who are you?"

Baek Socheon had expected someone who seemed mad, but Ban Yunsaeng was perfectly normal. They did not even seem particularly intent on hiding themself.

"My name is Baek Socheon."

"Baek Socheon?"

Seeing Ban Yunsaeng's doubtful expression, Baek Socheon clarified his identity.

"If hearing my name made you think of the Murim Alliance's War God, then yes, that's me."

"Is it really you? How am I supposed to believe that?"

"If I tell you how I found this place, you'll believe me."

"How did you find out?"

"Elder Gwoe told me."

"Ah!"

At those words, Ban Yunsaeng believed the other person was Baek Socheon. Gwoe Yeo was the only person who knew their whereabouts. Gwoe Yeo would not have revealed them to just anyone, but if this person was Baek Socheon, Ban Yunsaeng could understand why Gwoe Yeo had done so. Moreover, Gwoe Yeo was imprisoned in the Murim Alliance's martial prison, and someone of Baek Socheon's standing would have been able to meet Gwoe Yeo.

"Let's not stand around here. Come to my home."

"All right."

Thanks to an unexpected spiritual herb and spiritual creature, Baek Socheon had found Ban Yunsaeng.

* * *

Ban Yunsaeng's dwelling was a cave.

Its entrance was difficult to find among the jutting rocks and vines. Baek Socheon felt that if he had not met Ban Yunsaeng today, he might never have found them.

The interior was remarkably spacious compared to the entrance. There was a wooden bed, a cabinet, and even a dining table. Books were piled up everywhere, all related to poisons, spiritual herbs, the human body, meridians, rare medicinal ingredients, and similar subjects.

"Here. This is wine I brewed myself from fruit. Would you like a cup?"

"Yes, please."

Baek Socheon drank the wine Ban Yunsaeng handed him. It was sweet and excellent.

"Is Gwoe still alive?"

"Gwoe Yeo is locked in the martial prison. Still as full of life as ever."

"That person would go mad for this wine if they saw it."

The two had once formed a friendship through wine. Ban Yunsaeng enjoyed brewing it, while Gwoe Yeo enjoyed drinking it, and that was how they had become acquainted.

Though Ban Yunsaeng had associated with one of the Ten Great Evildoers, it was a pure friendship formed through wine. Ban Yunsaeng was a physician and scholar who had devoted their entire life to researching complete transformation.

"You don't need to worry about Gwoe Yeo's wine. In exchange for telling me where you were, Gwoe Yeo is probably drinking every day now."

"Ah, is that so? Well done. Well done."

"When I return, I'll tell Gwoe Yeo what a good person you are."

"What do you mean?"

"Gwoe Yeo told me you were spouting mad nonsense and asked whether I believed it."

Baek Socheon naturally steered the conversation toward complete transformation.

Since Ban Yunsaeng had heard Gwoe Yeo call it mad nonsense several times in the past, they smiled and asked, "What about you? Do you believe complete transformation can be achieved through the method?"

To be honest, Baek Socheon did not believe it. He did not think a person's bones could truly be remade or their skin recreated. Even if such a thing were possible, he believed it would require an extraordinary stroke of fortune, not an artificial method.

Then why had he come looking for Ban Yunsaeng?

It was because Baek Socheon believed in a different kind of complete transformation.

Even if his bones did not change and his skin remained the same, he wanted his torn dantian to heal so that he could use internal energy again.

That alone would be complete transformation to him.

"I believe that mad nonsense."

Realizing Baek Socheon was sincere, a strange light appeared in Ban Yunsaeng's eyes.

Not once in their life had anyone truly believed in them. Everyone had either pointed fingers at them or pitied them.

"Do you really believe complete transformation is possible?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't have come looking for you."

"What do you mean?"

"Please help me achieve complete transformation."

Ban Yunsaeng was startled. They had considered the possibility, but they had never thought Baek Socheon had truly come to ask for complete transformation.

"Then prove to the world that you were right."

Ban Yunsaeng said nothing for a moment. It was the unfulfilled dream of their entire life. They had not given up, but it was a dream they knew they could never achieve.

"But why you?"

"Examine my body."

Baek Socheon held out his hand.

Ban Yunsaeng grasped his wrist as though taking his pulse.

They sent a thread of internal energy into Baek Socheon and examined his condition.

"I heard rumors that you had lost your internal energy, but... it was true. Still, what happened to your body? This is no ordinary physique."

"I trained."

Ban Yunsaeng's gaze changed.

"Your body itself must be strong to endure the method. In that regard, your body has the ideal conditions."

The harsh training of the past three years felt as though it had been preparation for this day.

This was not the complete transformation that occurred when someone with a dying body fell into a pond where Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp swam, or in a cave where Azure Stone Milk flowed.

This was complete transformation brought about by an artificial method. It required the physical strength to endure a grueling process lasting several days.

"That's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"I read the book you wrote. It said that, for complete transformation, the body must not only be strong, but also have a constitution resistant to poison."

"That's true."

That was why the method they had attempted several times before had failed. None of the subjects had been able to overcome the poison. Using an antidote caused the method to fail, while proceeding without one had cost the subject their life.

"I possess the Myriad-Poison-Immunity Body."

Ban Yunsaeng's eyes trembled. Very few people knew that Baek Socheon possessed the Myriad-Poison-Immunity Body.

"Earlier, you said that if I had been bitten, the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass would have died before it could even bear fruit. Is that Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass one of the ingredients needed for complete transformation?"

"That's right. When the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass is about to bear fruit, the White-Horned Golden-Line Snake injects its poison into it. Only through that process can the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass bear fruit. You have to consume its fruit and endure it."

Baek Socheon now understood that the white bud he had seen earlier was not a flower, but a fruit.

"I can endure the poison of the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass's fruit."

Ban Yunsaeng believed in fate. If they had not, they could never have continued their research for their entire life.

They had spent their life researching, wandering all across the Central Plains in search of spiritual creatures and rare flowers and herbs related to complete transformation.

The reason they had gone into seclusion in the Qilian Mountains long ago was because they had discovered the Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass here.

The Everlasting Poison-Forgetting Grass bore fruit once every three years, but since the White-Horned Golden-Line Snake had not appeared after Ban Yunsaeng found it, it had failed to bear fruit.

This year, at last, the White-Horned Golden-Line Snake had appeared, making it a year when the plant would properly bear fruit.

And now Baek Socheon had come to them. How could they not see it as fate? Especially now, when age had made even climbing the mountain difficult.

Ban Yunsaeng asked with a grave expression, "Can you truly do this? If it fails, you could die. I'll be honest. Every person on whom the method had failed died."

Baek Socheon answered calmly, "Even if I don't try, I'll die anyway."

The Black Heaven Alliance Leader would eventually kill him.

Baek Socheon had blocked the dream the Alliance Leader had pursued his entire life.

Perhaps the man could smile when he looked at Baek Socheon and leave him alive only because his hatred ran too deep.

When war broke out and the moment he considered most dramatic arrived, he would cut off Baek Socheon's head before everyone.

Ban Yunsaeng looked at Baek Socheon, then made their decision.

"Good. Let's give it a try."

Footnotes:

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