“Damn those things who deserve divine punishment!”
The worst thing to do here is to get angry along with the Drunken Immortal at the heroines.
“Calm down, Elder.”
Baek Woo Jin wiped the flowing tears with his sleeve as he spoke.
“How can I blame them? It all happened because I am incompetent … sob!”
The best strategy was to defend them and take all the blame upon himself.
“How could you be so foolish?”
The angry gaze of the immortal turned into one of compassion that warmly enveloped Baek Woo Jin.
“I always caused trouble for them. Even with this mission, I couldn’t even subdue the bandits properly and ended up in such a deadly situation.”
Waaaah!
As he burst into tears again, the Drunken Immortal grew flustered and didn’t know what to do, but he seemed to have come to a decision. With a resolute expression, he grabbed Baek Woo Jin by both arms and forcibly pulled him up.
“Wipe your tears. I will help you.”
“E-Elder…”
Once an immortal ascended to the heavenly realm, they could no longer exert any influence on the lower realm. The reason was that the first thing an immortal did to become an immortal was to sever all ties with the mortal world.
The Drunken Immortal was no exception. Hundreds of years ago, when he decided to ascend to immortality, he had already severed all ties before rising to the heavenly realm. Yet, a thread of connection from the young man before him was clearly linked to him.
“Originally, immortals sever their ties with the mortal world and cannot help humans.”
Though he was still puzzled and unable to understand why, the Drunken Immortal decided to regard all of this as fate.
He believed that the fact the young man was lying in the clearing where he descended to the lower realm and the inexplicable thread of connection linking them was all arranged by the Primordial Heavenly Father to help this sad young man.
“It seems I am able to help you because of this mysterious thread of face that connects us.”
“Elder…!”
Baek Woo Jin cried out in a voice filled with gratitude, yet he still harbored doubts in his heart.
What could he possibly learn from this Drunken Immortal?
“I will teach you martial arts.”
“Martial arts… you say?”
“Indeed. Although my martial arts may be lacking compared to other immortals, they are unparalleled in the lower realm.”
Baek Woo Jin’s eyes widened in astonishment.
It was a pleasant misunderstanding. He was only considered weak compared to other immortals, not humans.
As Baek Woo Jin looked at him with anticipation, the Drunken Immortal’s closed lips opened.
“I will teach you my ultimate technique, Drinking Wine!”
“…Huh?”
“Drinking Wine.”
“……”
What a strange name for a martial art.
…
The wound on Baek Woo Jin’s side was deeper than he had initially thought. Normally, he would have been bedridden for about ten days, but the immortal’s healing arts were enough to heal him in three days.
Once he was fully recovered, the first thing he learned from the Drunken Immortal was to wander around the mountain, memorize the shapes of medicinal herbs, and carefully extract them without damaging a single hair at their roots.
“Hey, if you dig the soil so carelessly, you’ll damage the herb’s roots!”
“……”
The herb gathering, which was conducted under strict guidance, lasted approximately ten days.
Baek Woo Jin acquired skills rivaling those of a professional herbalist.
Next, he learned how to brew liquor using the herbs he had gathered, and during this process, he witnessed an amazing sight.
The Drunken Immortal took out a small gourd gourd that hung from his waist.
“This is a precious artifact I had another immortal make for me.”
On the surface, this small gourd bottle looked plain, but it hid unbelievable effects. The first was that the gourd was connected to the liquor warehouse created by the Drunken Immortal in the heavenly realm.
In other words, as long as the Drunken Immortal’s liquor warehouse in the heavenly realm did not run dry, the gourd would be endlessly replenished with liquor.
To explain this, the Drunken Immortal opened the stopper of the gourd and poured the liquor onto the ground. Watching the endless amount of alcohol pouring out, Baek Woo Jin rejoiced, realizing he would never have to spend money on liquor again.
The gourd’s second amazing effect was its ability to drastically shorten the time required to brew medicinal liquor.
“Now, watch this. If you cut the herbs you’ve gathered and put them in this gourd and shake it…”
Normally, brewing medicinal liquor takes a considerable amount of time. The essence of the herbs must be extracted into the liquor and allowed to mature, which can take anywhere from three months to almost a year.
When Baek Woo Jin drank the liquor from the gourd, he was just as astonished as before. The liquor which had been clear sake before the herbs were added had turned into medicinal liquor infused with a fresh herbal aroma.
“How is this even possible…?”
“If you simply shake the gourd, it naturally blends the essence of the herbs with the liquor.”
These were indeed effects befitting a treasure carried by the god of alcohol.
The Drunken Immortal pointed to the gourd filled with medicinal liquor and said,
“This medicinal liquor will be your internal energy from now on.”
“Huh?”
“The Art of Drinking Wine converts the energy contained in the medicinal liquor into internal energy.”
“…So, if I drink the liquor, I accumulate internal energy?”
“That is right.”
“Waa…”
Awesome.
…
“Ugh…”
A month had already passed since the Drunken Immortal came into the lower realm.
During that time, he taught Baek Woo Jin everything he could.
From how to identify good herbs to harvesting them without damage, brewing delicious liquor, practicing the Art of Drinking Wine, and even a sword technique called the “Drunken Immortal Sword Technique” created by the Sword Immortal for him, and a movement technique called the “Drunken Immortal Steps”.
Amazing talent.
Contrary to his claim of being incompetent, Baek Woo Jin possessed talent far beyond the Drunken Immortal’s imagination.
Am I being deceived?’
He even wondered if he had been tricked by this cunning fellow’s silver tongue.
Whatever he was shown once, he quickly learned. He even mastered the difficult Drunken Immortal Steps which was one of the most difficult techniques among the immortals’ movement techniques. This surprised him greatly.
…
“Haha.”
Even if he had been deceived, it didn’t matter. Whatever the reason, it was an undeniable fact that the thread of fate extending from Baek Woo Jin had reached him.
The sight of Baek Woo Jin growing day by day was enough to please the Drunken Immortal, but things between them were not all smooth sailing.
“Old man, haven’t I learned everything now?”
Just half a month ago, the boy had been respectfully calling him “Elder” at every turn, but now he had started calling him “Old man” and his tone had become insolent.
“You rascal, drink moderately.”
It was all because of that damn alcohol.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’m drinking in moderation. Hic!”
“…Oh dear.”
The Drunken Immortal knew very well that among those who claimed they weren’t drunk, there wasn’t a single one who truly wasn’t.
“Take it easy and sit down.”
“Oookay”
Baek Woo Jin staggered over and plopped down, causing a light cloud of dust to rise.
“As you said, I’ve taught you everything I can.”
The basics of martial arts were already mastered. From now on, he could achieve enough through solo training.
“It seems it’s time for me to return to the immortal realm.”
“…Old man.”
Baek Woo Jin looked at the Drunken Immortal with reddened eyes.
“Heh, I thought I had severed all ties hundreds of years ago, but fate is truly cruel.”
Long ago, were the days he spent with his grandchildren like this? He felt a deep sense of nostalgia as he was reminded of old memories that he thought he had forgotten.
“Woo Jin.”
“Yes.”
“Have confidence in yourself. From what I have seen over the past month, you possess martial talent greater than anyone.”
“…Understood.”
He felt the thread of fate extending from Baek Woo Jin gradually loosening. At the same time, the Drunken Immortal’s body began to be enveloped in a radiant light.
“I will be waiting to hear your name in the immortal realm.”
As he finished his final words, the Drunken Immortal’s body was completely engulfed by the light and disappeared without a trace.
“Old man…”
Baek Woo Jin muttered bitterly and bowed his head deeply.
After a moment.
“…Is he gone?”
When he finally lifted his head, his face showed a relieved expression. As if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Whew, it was terribly exhausting for the past month.”
Learning martial arts wasn’t too difficult. However, pretending to be someone he wasn’t has been truly exhausting.
“I should have chosen a different act, hmm.”
Being overly polite because the other party was considered an immortal was an issue, and making the heroines look too evil was also somewhat problematic.
In fact, the Drunken Immortal had even said that if he wanted, he would find a way to deliver divine punishment on them.
“It was dizzying.”
Had that become a reality, he thought he would have felt a lot of guilt.
Baek Woo Jin groaned softly and stood up. He then looked at the clearing filled with signs of human presence.
“It’s about time to leave here.”
The month-long period was also the time the Baek Woo Jin in the novel spent learning martial arts from the sword master Immortal. He hadn’t planned it this way, but the timing was very coincidental.
“I’m curious.”
Yeo Yeon Hwa and Shin Ye Hwa, whom he had only seen through illustrations. And the other heroines too. He was curious about what they actually looked like.
“Then I should go and see.”
The great evil that had been dormant for a month began to move.
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