Chapter 110. Divine Artifact

A divine artifact?

She never imagined this crude bracelet with peeling lacquer could be the Blood Demon's divine artifact.

Haerak's words—that one cannot understand a madman's mind—were true. Even after such a brutal beating, who would've thought he'd steal something like this?

When in the world did he steal the Blood Demon's divine artifact?

The terrified Blood Sect member clung to the railing, gasping for breath. Peeking his head out, he asked in a trembling voice.

"D-did the Blood Demon truly order you to restore the Blood Jade?"

"What would I gain from lying to the likes of you?"

So-hwa, staring at the bracelet, for some reason, felt a surge of irritation and replied coldly. She lifted her head and glared at the Blood Sect member.

"Do you know where the medical texts for making the Blood Jade are?"

"......"

"If you don't, go out and ask again."

"I know! I do! No, no, of course I know! Yes! I definitely know where they are!"

The man, seemingly out of his mind, shouted while his eyes rolled white.

He crawled desperately on his knees in a grotesque manner.

So-hwa had never feared the Blood Demon, but seeing such a robust martial artist grovel like a dog was frightening. What could the Blood Demon have done to him for him to end up like this?

The groveling sect member hastily guided her.

"P-please come this way. The records you're looking for were recently ordered by the Blood Demon to be transcribed into Central Plains script, so they were all moved to my study. I'm personally handling the task, s-so let's go together. I'll show you."

"Study? There's an office in here?"

"Yes! Originally, the Intelligence Hall was not just the secret vault but also a place to gather and categorize information from both Outer Regions and the Central Plains, so we have offices. We used to use the entire floor as a study, but now that no one comes and there isn't much work, we only use half of it."

The man explained quickly, using honorifics.

Though she still felt uneasy, So-hwa followed him downstairs. She couldn't possibly read all those books and pick out the medical texts on her own anyway.

As he said, there was a floor without bookshelves and only desks. But the desks couldn't serve their original purpose. They were piled high with books, no different from shelves.

The man busied himself moving between desks, selecting several volumes as if he remembered all their contents.

"Let's start with this one. It contains the results of recent experiments."

"Experiments?"

So-hwa examined the record the sect member handed her.

It detailed the reactions of those who had taken the medicine made by the Blood Sect.

As she skimmed the pages, So-hwa furrowed her brow.

All the patients had died, and the text described in detail the process by which they died.

"Why are you showing me this first?"

"Did you not say you would create the Blood Jade?"

The man furrowed his brows as if he didn't understand.

"... Did you not hear?"

When So-hwa remained silent, the man gave a hollow laugh.

"There is no method to create the Blood Jade."

So-hwa frowned.

She had assumed, of course, that a formula existed. She thought her role was to fill in the lost parts. But judging from his words, it seemed the entire method had been lost.

So-hwa let out a sigh.

"Even if the formula's gone, surely there must be records of the qi attributes—whether yang or yin—or of the herbs used?"

"There are none. Everything was completely lost. The one who created the Blood Jade came forth and destroyed it himself. Not a single clue remains. Moreover, the Blood Jade was never meant to accumulate qi."

"What do you mean it doesn't accumulate qi?"

"The Blood Jade isn't an elixir that builds internal energy. It's a method to dissolve the qi already stored in the body."

"Dissolve the qi stored in the body?"

Elixirs inherently contain energy. Those who take them absorb that energy and accumulate it in their dantian.

But calling something that dissolves qi an elixir was absurd.

Rather, it was closer to a poison.

Energy-Scattering Poison

A poison that scatters and erases internal energy accumulated in the body.

Yet this man said the Blood Demon was creating the Blood Jade to dissolve the internal energy stored in his own body.

As So-hwa stared at him intently, the Blood Sect member let out a bitter laugh.

"He gave you the divine artifact, but it seems he hasn't told you everything."

He was about to say more, then sighed.

"All the medical texts read by the creator of the Blood Jade are here. If you go through them, perhaps you'll come up with a refining method for the Blood Jade. Starting tomorrow, I'll prepare the records for you to read in order. For now, just read this and return."

He pulled out a chair for her and went back to his seat.

So-hwa sat down and began carefully reading the experimental records he had handed her.

***

Haerak clicked his tongue as he looked out at the garden shrouded in darkness.

"She said to come once I woke up."

I thought it was strange when she asked me to come to her room while heading down to the secret vault — and sure enough, that orthodox sect young lady broke her promise.

"It must've been more than half a day."

Haerak let out a sigh.

He didn't like waiting, but rather than leaving, he sank deeply into the back of his chair.

Well, she did come here risking her life, vowing to kill the Blood Demon. If she had seen the Blood Sect's secret texts, her mind must've spun.

"Ugh."

As Haerak raised his arm to support his neck, a small groan escaped him.

The Blue Blood Hall Lord, in a desperate attempt to keep the divine artifact from being stolen, had bitten into the back of his neck. The torn flesh hadn't healed, and the intense pain flared up again.

"Like a damn dog."

Haerak pressed a hand roughly over the reopened wound and quietly lowered his arm.

Creak.

At that moment, the door opened, and Tang So-hwa walked in.

"You're late."

"I stopped somewhere on the way."

Haerak chuckled at Sohwa's teasing and straightened his posture.

"So, how was the secret vault? Was there a lot to see?"

"There was. Though since I don't know the language of Outer Regions, there wasn't much I could read."

So-hwa took out a clean cloth from her clothes and approached the desk where Haerak sat.

"By any chance, do you speak both the Central Plains language and the Great Desert's language?"

"Are you curious?"

"No."

"Right. I wondered why you were asking about something you don't even care about. So, did you see something shocking in the secret vault?"

So-hwa didn't answer. She carefully laid the flowers she had picked from the garden onto the cloth.

"You even picked flowers? For me?"

Tang So-hwa gave a small nod.

Haerak, seeming genuinely concerned now, wiped the smile from his face.

"What's wrong with you? What did you see that's making you act like someone suffering from heatstroke?"

Without answering, So-hwa placed a few wildflowers on the cloth, ignored Haerak's words, then folded the cloth over the flowers and began pressing it down firmly.

Haerak flinched.

"What are you doing now?"

"Normally, you'd crush the flowers to get a better effect, but since it's hard to even find tools here, let this suffice."

"What?"

So-hwa opened the cloth and took the crushed flowers. Without asking, she pulled down Haerak's collar and applied the flower paste onto his wound.

"Ah!"

Haerak grimaced in pain, but So-hwa ignored it and spread the remaining paste on his torn ear and cheek.

The plump flowers, thriving in a good spot, were full of sap and sticky.

So-hwa took the cloth stained with flower juice and covered the paste on Haerak's shoulder.

"It will prevent the flesh from necrotizing, and the flower's moisture will speed up healing. This rare herb can even reattach severed limbs; it should recover within half a day at most."

She said calmly and lifted Haerak's collar again to cover the wounds.

"Where did you get this?"

"Picked it up on the way here."

"You said it's a rare herb."

"I find it hard to believe, too, but the Blood Demon's garden is full of herbs and elixirs."

So-hwa wiped her hands on another cloth as she spoke.

Haerak looked at So-hwa and asked,

"Is that why you're late?"

"No."

"Right, that's unlikely."

"Go rest now."

"So that was why you asked me to come?"

So-hwa nodded.

Haerak asked incredulously,

"Aren't you scared?"

"Of what?"

"You came into the Blood Demon's place, and you're not scared? It's full of people who'd die for him. Even the Blue Blood Hall Lord, no matter how well the Blood Demon treats you, might come at dawn to tame you."

"Let him come."

At her blunt tone, Haerak sighed deeply. Then, in a softer voice explained,

"So-hwa, the gate you enter to come into the old geezer's place is called the Middle Gate. Do you know why? Because it lies between the East and West Gates. And do you know what's connected to the East and West Gates? The Red Blood Hall and the Blue Blood Hall, respectively. Yes, the same Blue Blood Hall Lord who just asked me to bring you out of the Blood Demon's quarters. Once I leave, he'll come after you in no time."

"Let him try."

So-hwa seemed completely unconcerned.

She organized the ink and brushes on the desk, then looked at Haerak.

"Not going?"

"If I leave now, other guys might come here."

He said it bluntly again, but So-hwa sighed as if tired.

"I'll handle it, so just go."

Haerak gave up persuading her.

He covered his face with the cloth So-hwa had used to wipe her hands and leaned deep into the chair, as if about to rest.

"I won't watch, I'll sleep quietly, so do your work."

"You worry too much. Go."

"If you die, I'll die too. Do you think I'd be crazy enough to hand you over to those guys? I'm not leaving without my Poison gu antidote, so take care of your business."

So-hwa sighed deeply in response.

But Haerak didn't react as if it didn't concern him.

The Main Blood Hall Lord was as stubborn as she was, maybe the craziest person she had met.

So-hwa gave up on persuasion and ground ink again.

She needed to write down the contents of the secret texts she had just seen before forgetting.

Haerak's words about not disturbing her were true.

He pretended to be asleep, breathing quietly.

And the warning that the Blue Blood Hall Lord would come after her was true as well.

The blood scent came and went repeatedly from the garden.

After sharpening the ink again, So-hwa looked up at Haerak, who was pretending to sleep.

"If you're just pretending to sleep, you can lie down on that bed over there."

Creaaak.

Without a word, Haerak got up and went to the windowsill, lying down on it.

"I said you can lie on the bed."

"I usually like to sleep on the windowsill."

So-hwa watched for a while, but Haerak kept his eyes closed, focused on pretending to sleep.

So-hwa gave up persuading again and ground ink once more.

It was by the window where the blood scent had come in.

Since the Main Blood Hall Lord was lying there as if watching, no more Blue Blood Hall members' scent came.

Thanks to that, So-hwa could concentrate on her work.

In the quiet pavilion where even the sound of insects wasn't heard, only the quiet sounds of So-hwa stealing the Blood Demon's secret texts and her calm breathing echoed intermittently.

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(T/N):

Heluu everyone,

It’s been a while. I know many of you have been wondering why I haven’t posted any updates lately. Honestly, I lost the motivation to translate after facing a string of DMCA takedowns on the projects I was working on. It’s been frustrating—but that’s just how things go sometimes. So, I decided to take a break and focus on freelance testing for a while.

That said, I’m ready to get back into translating and plan to start updating again by next week. I really appreciate your continued support for the novel. And if you haven’t already, please consider leaving a rating on NovelUpdates, it helps a lot. Thank you!

Also, shoutout to Darewin for always dropping comments on the chapters, they genuinely lifted my mood every time I read them. You’ve got no idea how much that meant. Thanks a ton!

Your Translator,

JolyneJoestar

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