It was just fine until a moment ago, but now it’s completely spoiled and unusable.

“As you can see, this is the situation.”

“…Yes, I see.”

This means I can’t do anything, not even make the Spirit Pill.

Besides, just looking at the amount of dough in the room makes it clear how badly I failed.

‘How much did it cost to make this?’

It’s not like there’s just one or two expensive herbs in it.

‘At this rate, it would have been better to just lump it together and eat it right before.’

I don’t know much about the Spirit Pill, but the dough I just saw was of considerable quality.

Compared to that, the Shaolin’s Daehwan Pill is worse than the Summon Pill.

Even that would be an incredible Spirit Pill, though.

‘Of course, the Poison King wouldn’t be satisfied.’

The Poison King has already seen the Poison Heavenly Pill, which has disappeared.

How could he forget that unbelievable brilliance?

A Spirit Pill at the level of comparison to Daehwan Pill.

Having seen it right before him, there’s no way he would settle for something at this level.

Especially since we were right at the final stage.

In that context…

“Can you truly solve this?”

I unhesitatingly declared that I could handle the situation.

I was in a state where I couldn’t help but feel hopeful. The problem here is…

‘Hmm…’

I’m a bit unsure about asserting my confidence.

‘…Seeing it in person makes it more evident.’

The problem has been identified.

‘Just as I expected.’

The Demon Stone powder carries Demon Energy; as soon as it comes into contact with the dough, it reacts violently.

It spoils fresh ingredients immediately and scatters all the brilliant energy.

As if it cannot acknowledge any energy but its own.

‘What a truly ignorant energy it is.’

How could anything like that lead to the completion of the Spirit Pill? It seems absurd even to imagine the method involved.

‘There must be a reason for needing it.’

I didn’t dismiss it outright, considering that the one who provided the method was none other than Senior Tang.

The manufacturing method is not wrong; rather, it’s the people executing it that are at fault.

With that conviction, it was time to try my proposed method.

“I’m not entirely certain, but… I have a few ideas I’d like to attempt.”

“I’ve already gone through countless possibilities, but they’ve all ended in failure… Finding remaining options isn’t an easy task.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

There had to be some method left. But…

‘I can do what others cannot.’

No matter how many countless attempts had failed, there were certainly methods that had been neglected, and I had one of those.

At least concerning the Demon Stone, I was confident.

‘How many Demon Stones have I consumed?’

Including my past and present life, I couldn’t even count them. I’ve absorbed that many.

So if the last problem is the Demon Stone, then it’s definitely worth a shot.

“Do you have more Demon Stones?”

I asked the Poison King, who pointed to a corner. It was a cart in the room piled with a few Demon Stones.

Not many, perhaps three? Fewer than I expected, but I wasn’t disappointed.

Demon Stones with their original color aren’t easily obtained.

They naturally lose color over time. Especially the Red Demon Stone.

No matter how frequent the appearance of Red Demon Beasts, it wasn’t enough to hunt for the stones.

In fact, it’s quite impressive that the Tang Clan has been able to possess so many Demon Stones for experimentation.

‘Still, I should be able to try everything I can.’

Nodding, I grabbed a Demon Stone and proceeded to use the prepared dough for verification.

“Tang Clan Leader.”

I spoke carefully to the Poison King.

“Please promise me one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That you will not tell anyone about what you’re about to witness now.”

“…”

A flicker of anxiety passed over the Poison King’s face. Asking not to tell anyone is inherently a dangerous request.

Normally, this would be something he would never agree to.

“…I understand. I will promise on my name and clan.”

The Poison King accepted this, as if this moment was more important. However…

“That’s not enough. You must include Young Lady Tang as well.”

That statement was still not sufficient for me. I needed something bigger.

“…!”

Hearing that, the Poison King’s expression twisted. It seemed he was both offended and disbelieving of me mentioning Tang Soyeol.

“Do it.”

I wouldn’t back down, pushing forward knowing that the Poison King had only one option available.

“…Understood.”

“I confirm this. Oh, and…”

Holding the Demon Stone, I added,

“Please stop with the honorifics.”

I distinctly remembered him speaking casually before. Was he still sulking from the ‘incident’ we had last time, showing such childish signs?

“…That…”

At that moment, just as the Poison King was about to mention something.

Woo-oo-oo—!!!

“…Huh?”

He couldn’t finish his sentence. I had already begun the process, preventing him from saying more.

The Poison King’s jaw dropped as he observed.

The Demon Stone I grasped was quickly losing its light.

Thanks to the activation of the Demonic Absorption Technique.

Demon Energy trickled into my heart.

The amount of energy was considerable, but it didn’t take long to absorb it all.

In an instant, all the color bled out. The Demon Stone became clear. I exerted strength on the hand holding it.

Crisp—!

In an instant, the Demon Stone shattered. The transparent stone lacked durability.

The powdered substance was then mixed into the dough as I stirred it several times.

“Hmm.”

Just like before, I touched it, but there was no particular reaction.

Checking the state, I spoke to the Poison King.

“For now, the first attempt has failed… Clan Leader?”

I spoke calmly, but the Poison King’s expression was a sight to behold. His eyes wide and mouth agape, as if witnessing something unbelievable.

The Poison King looked at me with a face that seemed to have never seen such a thing before. I had anticipated it, yet his reaction was more extreme than expected.

Indeed, it’s absurd to instantly extract color from a Demon Stone.

“Wh-What have you just done?”

“Nothing special. Remember the promise you made earlier.”

“It can’t possibly be nothing…”

“Next.”

Ignoring the Poison King’s reaction, I pressed on. I didn’t have time to wait for him to react to each step.

‘First one was a dud.’

The Poison King had mentioned previously that he tried the colorless one, but just to be sure, I tested it. The result, unsurprisingly, was failure.

The difference was that the dough didn’t rot this time… but if it did, it was still a failure compared to the original.

‘Then let’s move to the next one.’

Now was the real challenge. I had to attempt something I hadn’t tried before.

Ssss-!

I focused my heart, recalling.

‘Demon Energy causes reactions.’

It completely ruined the ingredients, making them unusable.

‘But, the Demon Stone must enter as an ingredient…’

But if I put in something devoid of energy, it wouldn’t react.

‘If that’s the case, then the Demon Stone must play a crucial role.’

In this perplexing situation, I could feel a strange dissonance.

‘Why specifically the Red Demon Stone?’

Why did Senior Tang mention the Red Demon Stone?

There are green and blue ones too; why specifically red?

What position does the stone occupy in making the Poison Heavenly Pill, anyway?

A ceaseless stream of questions flooded my mind. Yet, I didn’t stop my actions.

Saaaa!!

The energy from the Demon Stone entered my body. Just like before. It was time to remove the color from the stone.

It followed the same procedure. The Poison King’s eyes reflected skepticism as I repeated the previous task. It was likely strange to him, considering it had failed once.

However.

The moment I intended to proceed was once the energy had completely vanished from the Demon Stone.

Once I confirmed the inside was hollow and empty.

Now.

“…Sss.”

Exhaling, I switched methods.

Instead of pulling out the energy, I would push it in this time.

“Absorb.”

Energy flowed from my heart into the stone.

My energy was seeping into the hollow Demon Stone.

The difference here is that I was infusing it with the Technique of the Flame Wheel instead of Demon Energy.

With that, the now transparent Demon Stone began filling with energy once more, soon taking on a brand new color.

Proving itself as a Red Demon Stone, the rock that was once red now took on a light blue hue. At first glance, it could easily be mistaken for a blue stone.

Is it the color of my energy? I cast a fleeting glance, but didn’t dwell on it.

‘What matters right now isn’t the color.’

No matter what happens with the stone’s color, it doesn’t matter.

I could figure that out later; for now, I need to focus on the Poison Heavenly Pill.

With that in mind, I reached out to the Poison King.

Seemingly not understanding the situation, the Poison King still looked perplexed. I indicated what he was holding.

“Please hand over what you’re holding.”

“Ah…”

In a daze, he passed me the tool he had used earlier for grinding the Demon Stones.

Gripping it, I ground the Demon Stone without hesitation.

Creeeek—!!!

Exerting force to grind it, it broke down much faster than last time. The shape remained unchanged.

Powder from the stone fell and mixed into the dough.

Once I’d added a sufficient amount, I set down the tool and stone to mix the dough.

However.

Crack-!!

“Hmm?”

Turning my head, I saw the freshly colored Demon Stone shatter into pieces.

“What the… oh come on.”

I was a bit flustered, but the dough was my priority.

Exerting force, I kneaded the dough to ensure thorough mixing with the powder.

Suddenly, a change was felt in the dough.

Ssss—!!

‘The energy is moving.’

The energy within the dough surged. However, just like when the previous ingredients spoiled, I didn’t let my guard down.

Focusing intently, I gradually kneaded the dough further.

Saaah—!!

The energy continued to swirl. When I confirmed it didn’t emit a foul smell like before, I saw a sudden flash.

Whoosh—!!!

“Oh?”

Out of nowhere, the dough radiated light.

Specifically, a familiar light of light blue.

“Huh…!! Could it be that…?”

The Poison King, startled, rushed over. I too, seeing the light, couldn’t help but smile.

“It worked.”

The light grew stronger the more I stirred. There was no denying this was not a failure; if it wasn’t a failure, then there could only be one answer.

‘It’s a success.’

Right at this moment.

The Tang Clan had successfully resurrected the greatest treasure it had lost in the past.

The legendary Spirit Pill that rivaled the Daehwan Pill. I had revived the Poison Heavenly Pill.

“This can’t be….”

The Poison King approached, disbelieving. I looked at him and said,

“Look, Clan Leader. Didn’t I say I had a method?”

With that much, surely I could expect some praise? As I took a breath, I spoke to the Poison King.

“Son-in-law… did you really do this?”

“You can’t tell just by looking… what?!”

Something quite strange was being said.