Martial King's Retired Life

In a contest for power among Tang Clan’s members many years ago, an eight year old heir had to tearfully listen to how she lost her kind father to traitors in the clan. The traitors didn’t care her brother and her were at home when they stormed the property to steal her leadership seal; within fifteen minutes of entry, they had massacred those present and burnt her late father’s tablet.

For the next twenty years, she dedicated herself to learning and training for revenge. Under her leadership, her and her loyalists made sure to behead every one of those traitors. Following her successful revenge, she became Ancient Wine’s new leader.

In spite of the constant conflicts and absence of a leader, Tang Clan didn’t become just another name in history. Their matriarch had it all – martial prowess, beauty and their clan’s renowned apothecary, smithing as well as contraption knowledge. In a matter of years subsequent to her taking up the mantle, Tang Clan crawled to its feet and surpassed its former self.

Those in her time said of her, “Craftsmanship on par with gods. Unrivalled beauty and talent in Shuzhong.” If she was still alive, there would be two women among the Supreme Ten Saints.

There was a rumour that her success wasn’t attributed to her exceptional talent or vast knowledge but a specific drug. In the past, the drug didn’t have a name. Be it medicine or poison, nobody in the world would ever be surprised if Tang Clan had formulated some unthinkable drug, but this particular drug was more famous than many other drugs they manufactured.

Whether it was learning literacy or training martial arts, people couldn’t concentrate because of their other desires. As a consequence, they’d also reap half the results for twice the amount of effort. This particular Tang Clan drug could block out unnecessary emotions and thoughts, thereby raising productivity. The drug wasn’t magical; it was just extremely potent.

Once ingested, whenever one harboured a thought unconducive to their goal, they’d experience pain, which scaled according to how much they tended toward said unconducive thought. For this reason, Tang Clan ancestors who took the drug either went on to become monks or recluses. Similarly, their matriarch became a chilly individual until she lost to her heart.

Tang Clan successfully barred their women from marrying men outside the sect through peer pressure and drugs. Unfortunately, they couldn’t stop love from flourishing in the maidens’ hearts, and their prodigious matriarch was no exception.

Nobody knew where Tang Clan’s matriarch spent her last moments or how she spent them, leading to numerous rumours being spread for generations. Mount Daluo claimed that she rose after a flash of lightning, then rode a flame to fight Sun Wukong for three hundred rounds in heaven. Needless to say, it was a story that impelled disciples to spit.

Upon taking up his sister’s mantle, her younger brother named the drug “Love is Pain” out of sentimentality, locked it away and prohibited its creation within the clan. Nevertheless, the formula ended up in the pugilistic world some time later, with one vial eventually ending up in Su Li’s possession.

Su Li didn’t know the first thing when it came drugs, nor did she have the slightest interest in them. She bought the drug purely because its background story enamoured her.

Strictly speaking, “Love is Pain” didn’t qualify as a toxin. Unfortunately for Kongcang, he could let go of everything except for his hatred directed at his junior brother. If anything, he hated his senior even more than before due to the fact that he couldn’t surpass his brother at his old age.

“If… If you don’t give this old one the antidote, you can forget asking for his help!” Kongcang brayed.

“Take your time so that ‘Love is Pain’ works better,” Su Li responded.

“How do you except this old one to help when his accupoints are sealed?”

“You’re not fooling anyone. You just said you won’t help unless you have the antidote. What do you think that implies? You exposed your own lie.”

Zhuo Fengru winced as his body began to convulse and chest began to puff up owing to true qi overload. Given he was connected to the relic that Hua Qing was also linked up to, it shouldn’t have been a surprise for Hua Qing’s face to be as red as a ripe tomato. The difference was, Zhuo Fengru had physically honed his meridians to endure more than Hua Qing could possibly withstand.

“Keep stalling and I’ll destroy the antidote so that you can apologise to them in hell!” Su Li exclaimed.

Cornered, Kongcang replied, “Help this old one over.”

Although Kongcang’s sealed accupoints limited his mobility and ability to mould internal energy, the limitations didn’t apply to his knowledge or analytical abilities. Plus, he knew more about the relic than Zhuo Fengru and Hua Qing combined. Watching the two grimace and struggle, Kongcang decided he could make use of the relic’s stored true qi to unlock his accupoints, allowing him to then kill the two. As a matter of fact, that was his plan from the beginning. He just never thought his provocation would prompt Su Li to feed him poison.

Neither Hua Qing nor Zhuo Fengru were aware of Kongcang’s presence as their ears were rumbling and vision was but a blur of lines. Kongcang shakily set a hand onto the relic. Upon picking up a new connector, the relic rushed toward Kongcang, acutely reducing the load on Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru. In turn, Zhuo Fengru was afforded with time to manipulate his true qi to the site of his injuries. Because Wugou’s internal energy was in the mix, meaning Miguo’s energy from the punch was also in said mix, Zhuo Fengru recovered faster than he estimated.

Similarly to Zhuo Fengru, the remaining energies in Hua Qing’s body eased off until reaching uniform speed. Every lap the energy did, his meridians, especially those that formed his foundation for martial arts training, would expand a bit more. For Hua Qing, having two systems calibrate his meridians simultaneously was shaving off two decades of work for him.

Kongcang couldn’t ask for anything more than for the three of them to share the same body – technically, the relic was their shared body. The mass of potent energy unsealed his meridians the moment it entered his body in addition to repairing the damage he suffered. If he could just get rid of the two, he could even overpower Miguo with the enormous store of energy. He, in fact, could take Miguo’s place. Zhuo Fengru was occupied with recovery, while Hua Qing was barely trained. No matter how Kongcang looked at it, he held the power to control the storage of energy and their fates. He was overcome with joy until he felt a painful sensation that almost had him curl up.

“Love is Pain”! Damn it, must it hit not of all times?!

Kongcang’s fit of internal rage sparked a searing pain coursed through his body. Both times he was hurt were between intervals of moulding qi.

Why is it always me who has to deal these uncanny situat-?!

This time, Kongcang felt winded and lightheaded as if he was struck with a solid mace.

What the hell is this?

It was beyond Kongcang to now even shadow box, let alone kill anyone.

Kongcang managed to find a painless window, only to see anger, then confusion, then understanding, then danger topped off with a dash smugness in the eyes of Hua Qing and Zhuo Fengru.

Wait. What are you two plotting? What are you doing?! This is my energy, you c-, argh! This bloody poison! Stop! Stop!

***

Zhuo Fengru finished up at night with an extended exhale. “You’re too kind for your own good. I wanted you to take my energy, yet you ended up expending energy for my sake. Why would you do that?”

Hua Qing solemnly conveyed, “I was not the one who cultivated the energy. What is done is done. Had you not taken the initiative to shoulder most of the burden, I would not be alive right now. If anything, I owe you for saving my life.”

“Don’t say that. From now on, call me Uncle Zhuo as Yanran does.”

“Thank you, Uncle Zhuo!”

From his back on the ground, Kongcang thundered, “You two twats are really pushing that narrative like it’s real! You two stole my energy! My internal energy saved you two! Argh, not this again!”