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TL: ALT
Chapter 44 – Random Effects of the Five-Colored Root
The Five-Colored Root is obtained by handing over a portion of the Wood Skin Fungus.
This Five-Colored Root is no ordinary herb.
[Herb Information]
▶Name: Five-Colored Root
▶Grade: Legendary
▶Effect 1: Can acquire one of five random effects.
▶Effect 2: Inner Qi increases by half.
▶Effect 3: Restores a missing body part.Seeing the effects of the Five-Colored Root, I was amazed.
“As expected of a legendary item. All of these effects are incredibly reliable.”
“Indeed! Acquiring the Five-Colored Root is pure luck!”
“But it looks disgusting.”
Hyangdan grimaced at the sight of the Five-Colored Root.
Honestly, it did look a bit off.
After all, it was a root bearing five distinct colors.
To anyone, it clearly looked deadly poisonous.
“Anyway, this thing… Can I even eat it?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I’m worried about the third effect.”
The one that restores missing body parts.
Someone else needs that effect, not me.
I can live without eating it.
But what about those with missing body parts?
“This Five-Colored Root must be more important to them than to anyone else.”
That’s why I hesitated to eat it.
Just then:
“Divine Doctor, did your field treatment go well?”
Nak-yong asked.
“You’re just in time, Mr. Nak-yong.”
“What do you mean? Divine Doctor?”
“I obtained a miraculous herb called the Five-Colored Root, but…”
I spoke honestly to Nak-yong.
“This Five-Colored Root restores physical deficiencies.”
“Oh ho, a remarkable herb indeed.”
“For that reason, it seems more necessary for someone else than for me.”
That was my honest thought.
If there’s a better use for it, then it should be used for that purpose.
And right in front of me was that better use.
“So, what if you took this, Mr. Nak-yong?”
Nak-yong had lost sensation in his fingers.
My treatment is restoring that sensation, but it’s not perfect yet. It would be better for Nak-yong to take this and regain full feeling in his fingers. But when Nak-yong heard that…
“Divine Doctor, are you an idiot?”
He shook his head.
“Huh?”
“Why should I take the Five-Colored Root? It’s yours.”
“But it would be better if you ate it than me, Mr. Nak-yong…”
“Did I ever say I needed it?”
That shut me up.
“Good grief! That’s the problem with you. Why are you so desperate to give things away?”
“Right! The Five-Colored Root was obtained by the young master! Then you should have some yourself!”
“Wh-why are you both acting like this?”
“Because it’s infuriating! No matter how kind you are, Young Master, this is going too far!”
Nureongi frowned at me.
It was unusual for the gentle Nureongi to act this way.
That’s why I definitely felt alarmed.
“It’s a legendary-grade herb! You’re just handing it out to others like that? That’s ridiculous!”
“Nureongi is right. I understand your feelings, Divine Doctor, but sometimes you need to invest in yourself.”
I couldn’t argue with them.
Honestly, they were right.
I had almost given away a legendary-grade herb to someone else without a second thought.
It was an herb that could benefit me.
“If I were in Nureongi’s shoes, I’d be furious, too.”
I simply nodded to them both.
“I was a little short-sighted.”
“Divine Doctor, from now on, put yourself first.”
“Exactly! Young Master, you need to be a little selfish!”
“I don’t know much, but I hope Master Divine Doctor doesn’t get sick!”
I reflected.
I realized that I had invested too much in others until now.
I have my own problems, too.
My body is in such a state that I could die at any moment.
“Greed.”
I decided to be greedy, too.
If I die, Nureongi, Nak-yong, and Hyangdan will all be sad.
My brothers and Nero will be sad too.
Maybe even Jin Yeongseok will grieve.
Thinking about that, I realized I had to take care of my own body.
“Understood. Then I will use this Five-Colored Root.”
“Good thinking! You should take care of yourself, too, young master!”
“Thank you for eating it so willingly!”
“It’ll be hard for you to properly absorb the Five-Colored Root alone. So…”
With that, Nak-yong approached me.
“I’ll help you myself.”
* * *
Somehow, I ended up consuming the Five-Colored Root directly.
Moreover, Nak-yong said this.
“It’s best to take the herb in a safe place.”
So, we went to the lake, a secluded area within the Yakseon herb garden.
[You have entered the field - the Clear Lake.]Nak-yong had visited this lake several times.
He would sit in the lotus position and train his inner qi there.
I often trained my own inner qi beside him.
“This place should be fine.”
“Young Master, do your best!”
“I’ll cheer you on!”
After taking charge of Nak-yong’s inspection, I sat down in front of the clear lake.
The pristine lake felt healing just to look at.
Then—
Twinkle!
Something sparkled within the lake.
“What was that?”
The sparkle vanished quickly.
I thought I must have mistaken it for sunlight reflecting off the water.
Then, I held the Five-Colored Root in my hand.
“I’ll eat it.”
When I said that, Nak-yong nodded.
I put the Five-Colored Root in my mouth.
The moment I swallowed it,
[Herb: You have consumed the Five-Colored Root.]
[You have consumed a legendary-grade herb.]
[The potent energy of the herb spreads throughout your body.]That message appeared.
And that wasn’t all.
“Guh!”
Intense pain spread throughout my entire body!
It was because the herb’s energy was far too powerful.
Nak-yong shouted,
“Grit your teeth and endure the pain!”
At the same time, I felt Nak-yong’s hand reach out toward me.
Then, something astonishing happened.
“It doesn’t hurt?”
That fierce, intense energy!
It calmed down instantly!
As if it were caught by a leash!
[The energy of the Five-Colored Root subsides.]
[Caution! Your dantian is far too small to accept this inner qi.]
[The amount of inner qi being accepted decreases.]
[Caution! Your inner qi only accepts pure energy.]
[The amount of inner qi accepted is decreasing.]Just when I thought the energy had finally calmed down, this happened.
“Well, I guess it can’t be helped.”
My dantian is small, after all.
It was hastily constructed by Pung Yeongdo.
On top of that, clear qi is special.
Clear qi is the condensed form of pure inner qi alone.
Therefore, absorbing all the energy of the Five-Colored Root was impossible.
That was impossible.
But that was fine.
“I will only absorb what I can.”
I won’t be greedy.
Only what I can handle.
I’ll only absorb what my body can handle.
I resolved myself to that.
Then, a message appeared.
[The Five-Colored Root's effect activates.]
[One of the five effects will be granted to you at random.]
[List of Granted Effects]
[▶Skill: Concentration]
[▶Skill: Physical Overcoming]
[▶Constitution: Voracious Appetite]
[▶Constitution: Clairvoyance]
[▶Constitution: Strong Bones]These are the five abilities I could obtain.
I examined the names of all the abilities.
A few stood out.
“Physical Overcome really appealed to me.”
Just the name tells me everything.
It’s a skill that could significantly improve my current physical state.
And that’s not all.
The constitution “Strong Bones” also caught my eye.
After all, I was born with a weak constitution.
“Still, what I get is random.”
All of this was up to fate.
So I quietly prayed to the heavens.
[Random ability acquired via the Five-Colored Root's effect.]The moment that message appeared!
[Congratulations!]
[You have acquired the skill "Physical Overcome."]That message appeared.
And that wasn’t all.
[You have absorbed all the inner qi of the Five-Colored Root.]In that instant, I could feel the clear qi in my dantian surge.
Intuitively, it felt like it had increased tenfold.
Even after repeatedly filtering the inner qi, it increased tenfold.
It was astonishing.
“Is it all over?”
Realizing it was finally over, I jumped up from my seat.
Then, Nureongi and Hyangdan approached.
“Young Master! Is it finally over?”
“It was tough waiting for you.”
“Huh? Didn’t it just end?”
“What do you mean? It’s been at least six hours!”
“Six hours?”
I was startled by that.
Had six hours really passed in that fleeting moment?
I hadn’t felt a thing.
That meant I had been concentrating that intensely.
“Young Master, what ability did you gain?”
“Just a moment. I need to check.”
I immediately checked the information as Nureongi said.
[Skill Information]
▶Name: Physical Overcome
▶Grade: Hero
▶Effect 1: For one to five minutes, it strengthens one's body to a hero's physique. (Cooldown: 24 hours)
▶Effect 2: While in a hero's physique, it overcomes any debuff.
▶Effect 3: After the effect ends, the user is invincible for five seconds.Seeing its performance, I was utterly shocked.
“This is… absolutely amazing!”
“Indeed! A hero’s physique! It’s incredibly cool!”
“Plus, it resists any debuffs during that time. This isn’t ordinary.”
“And it grants five seconds of invincibility after activation! It’s not just hero-tier; it’s legendary-tier!”
He was right.
Such a groundbreaking effect!
Considering it’s legendary-tier wouldn’t be strange.
“Shall we try it out?”
I immediately activated the skill.
[Skill: Physical Overcome activated.]
[A hero's physique inhabits your body.]
[The hero's physique transforms your constitution.]
[The hero's physique resists all debuffs.]With that message, vitality began surging through my body.
This felt like…
“My illness seems cured!”
I’m fundamentally frail.
Running and fighting are both difficult for me.
But now…
Thud!
My body feels incredibly light.
It was almost as if it weren’t my own.
Could this be the effect of Physical Overcome?
“It seems Physical Overcome temporarily strengthens the young master’s body!”
“With a body like this, can I fight too?”
“Then you can fight with me in the tower. ppi!”
This was tremendous news.
Even if it wasn’t the tower.
What if a gate suddenly appeared?
I could block it with Physical Overcome.
This skill was incredible.
“Being healthy! Who knew it could be this good!”
“This is truly wonderful!”
“I’m thrilled!”
Nureongi, Hyangdan, and I were so excited that we held hands and danced.
Getting Physical was that good. But that joy was short-lived.
I sensed something strange.
“…Mr. Nak-yong? What’s wrong?”
Nak-yong stood frozen alone.
Then, he swung his arms wide and waved them in a yin-yang pattern. He sat cross-legged.
At that moment—
BOOM!
An intense explosion of energy erupted.
Dust billowed up, obscuring his figure.
“What the…!”
Slowly, the dust began to settle.
Nak-yong’s figure began to emerge from the haze.
There he stood, as if by magic.
He was radiating an aura far more powerful than before.
Then…
Thwack!
Nak-yong began throwing his daggers at the trees.
Thwack!
Once.
Thwack!
Twice.
Thwack!
Three times.
“What the…”
Nak-yong kept throwing his daggers.
As if possessed by a divine frenzy,
He threw the daggers, his eyes brimming with hope.
After throwing every last dagger, Nak-yong stood there.
The daggers he had thrown had turned the tree into something resembling a porcupine.
Then, he looked at me and said,
“Well, it seems my hand has been fully healed after all.”
It was a sudden bombshell declaration.
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