The path to the Inner Sect was paved with white stone, a stark contrast to the mud and beaten dirt of the servant quarters. To walk here was a privilege. For a servant without a token, it was a death sentence.
But Jin Ryeong had a guide. The azure-robed disciple walked ahead of him, silent and arrogant, acting as a human shield against the patrolling guards.
As they climbed the mountain, the air grew thinner and sweeter. The heavy, humid heat of the lower grounds was replaced by a cool, crisp breeze carrying the scent of pine and medicinal herbs. It smelled like purity. It smelled like immortality.
Jin Ryeong knew better.
'Perfume on a corpse,' he thought, keeping his head lowered. 'The higher you go, the cleaner the floor, but the dirtier the hands.'
They arrived at a massive structure nestled against the cliffside: The Hall of Hundred Herbs. It was a sprawling complex of pagodas connected by wooden bridges. Smoke of various colors—purple, green, black—drifted lazily from the chimneys, staining the pristine sky.
"Wait here," the disciple commanded, stopping at a heavy iron door at the rear of the main building. "Elder Baek is in the Disposal Wing."
Disposal Wing. The name sent a shiver down Jin Ryeong's spine.
The disciple opened the door, and the smell hit Jin Ryeong instantly. It wasn't the sweet scent of jasmine tea from the Viewing Pavilion. It was the stench of sulfur, copper, rotting meat, and strong acidic preservatives. It was the smell of a slaughterhouse disguised as a pharmacy.
Jin Ryeong stepped inside.
The room was vast and dimly lit by glowing moss stones embedded in the walls. Shelves lined the perimeter, filled with jars containing things that should not be preserved—eyes, tongues, fetuses of beasts, and organs pulsating with faint, necrotic Qi.
In the center of the room, standing over a stone slab, was Elder Baek.
He had removed his outer robe, wearing a simple grey apron stained with fluids. He held a scalpel that glowed with a faint blue light.
On the slab, chained down by heavy iron links, was a beast.
It was a Spirit Wolf, but barely. Its fur was matted and falling out in clumps. A massive, pulsating tumor the size of a melon protruded from its flank, throbbing with a sickly purple light. The wolf was conscious, its yellow eyes wide with agony, panting shallow, ragged breaths.
"Close the door," Elder Baek said without looking up.
The disciple bowed and retreated, leaving Jin Ryeong alone with the Elder and the monster.
"You said your father was a veterinarian," Baek said, his voice echoing in the stone chamber. He tapped the scalpel against the wolf's tumor. The beast whined, a sound of pure misery. "Tell me, 'Veterinarian'. What do you see?"
Jin Ryeong stepped forward. He didn't flinch at the smell. He had lived in sewage for the past two days; this was nothing.
[System Activation: Diagnosis Eye]
The red grid overlaid the wolf.
[Target: Corrupted Spirit Wolf (Rank 1)]
[Status: Critical / Toxic Poisoning]
[Affliction: Necrotic Qi Tumor (Artificial)]
[Cause: Ingestion of 'Failed Pill #49'. The chaotic energy is eating the flesh to sustain itself.]
[Pain Level: Extreme.]
Jin Ryeong's eyes narrowed. Artificial.
Baek hadn't found this wolf sick. He had fed it a failed pill to see what would happen. He was testing toxicity levels.
"It is poisoning," Jin Ryeong said calmly. "Specifically, a chaotic energy accumulation in the liver meridian, manifesting as a necrotic growth. It is eating the host alive."
Elder Baek paused. He turned slowly, a small smile playing on his lips. "Sharp eyes. Most disciples would just say 'demon curse'. Yes. I fed it a Yang-Fire Pill with a flaw in the refinement. The energy didn't disperse; it mutated."
Baek gestured to the slab with his bloody scalpel.
"The tumor is filled with volatile Qi. If I cut it out with Qi-infused tools, it explodes. If I leave it, the specimen dies, and I lose the data."
Baek looked at Jin Ryeong. The look was predatory.
"You fixed a shattered ankle in one hour. You rewired a nervous system with dirty needles. Fix this. Extract the tumor without killing the host."
Jin Ryeong looked at the wolf. The beast snarled weakly, snapping its jaws. It was in too much pain to be sedated by normal herbs.
"I need tools," Jin Ryeong said.
"Use mine." Baek pointed to a tray of silver scalpels, forceps, and saws.
Jin Ryeong approached the slab. The wolf thrashed, the chains rattling.
"It is moving too much," Jin Ryeong noted. "If I cut while it thrashes, I will nick an artery."
"Then hold it down," Baek sneered. "Or are you weak?"
Jin Ryeong looked at his hands.
'I can't hold it down. I have Strength: 3. This wolf has Strength: 15 even in this state.'
But he didn't need strength. He had a new weapon.
[Skill Analysis: Anesthetic Touch]
[Cost: 1 Qi per minute.]
[Current Qi: 2/2.]
[Duration Maximum: 2 Minutes.]
Two minutes.
One hundred and twenty seconds to slice through tough spirit-hide, dissect a volatile tumor, and stitch it back up.
If he ran out of Qi mid-surgery, the anesthesia would vanish instantly. The "rebound effect" would hit the wolf with double the pain. It would wake up in a frenzy and likely rip Jin Ryeong's throat out before Baek lifted a finger to help.
"I don't need to hold it down," Jin Ryeong said softly. "I just need it to sleep."
He took a deep breath. He placed his left hand on the wolf's neck, right over the spinal column.
[Skill Activated: Anesthetic Touch.]
Hummmm.
A grey, dull energy flowed from his fingertips.
The effect was instantaneous.
The wolf's thrashing stopped mid-motion. Its eyes didn't close, but the pupils dilated. The tension left its muscles. It slumped against the stone slab, limp as a rag doll.
[Qi: 2 -> 1]
[Time Remaining: 59... 58... seconds.]
Elder Baek's eyes widened slightly. He leaned in, sensing the strange technique. "No acupuncture? Just touch? Is this a Qi-blocking technique?"
Jin Ryeong didn't answer. He couldn't speak. He had to work.
He grabbed a scalpel with his right hand.
Slash.
He cut deep into the flank. Dark, foul-smelling blood oozed out.
45 seconds.
He saw the tumor. It was pulsating, a dark purple mass wrapped around the wolf's intestines.
He needed to separate it without rupturing the sac.
Snip. Slice.
His Agility of 9—bolstered by his recent level up—was the only thing saving him. His hands moved in a blur. He clamped the blood vessels. He severed the connective tissue.
"Careful," Baek whispered, watching intently. "That vein feeds the core."
30 seconds.
Jin Ryeong was sweating. The grey light on his left hand was flickering. His Qi was draining.
He reached deep into the cavity. He grabbed the slippery, hot mass of the tumor.
Pull.
It stuck. Fibrous roots had dug into the muscle.
'Come on, you parasite.'
15 seconds.
He sliced blindly behind the tumor, trusting the Diagnosis Eye's grid.
Snip.
The tumor came free. Jin Ryeong dropped the pulsating mass into a metal tray with a wet plop.
10 seconds.
"It's out," Jin Ryeong gasped. "Needle and thread. Fast."
He didn't wait for Baek. He grabbed a curved needle from the tray.
He stitched the wound closed. Crude, ugly stitches, but functional.
Loop. Pull. Knot.
5... 4... 3...
He tied the final knot.
He pulled his left hand away from the wolf's neck.
[Qi Depleted: 0/2]
[Skill Deactivated.]
The grey light vanished.
Instantly, the wolf's eyes snapped into focus. A low, guttural growl started in its chest. The pain of the incision—suppressed for two minutes—hit the beast all at once.
ROAR!
The wolf lunged up, snapping its jaws inches from Jin Ryeong's face.
Clang!
The chains held. The beast thrashed, biting the air, foam dripping from its mouth.
Jin Ryeong stumbled back, collapsing against a shelf. His vision swam. He was at 0 Qi again. The familiar weakness washed over him.
"It is done," Jin Ryeong whispered, wiping blood from his face.
Elder Baek stood motionless. He looked at the wolf, alive and furious. He looked at the tumor in the tray. Then he looked at Jin Ryeong.
A slow, terrifying smile spread across the Elder's face.
"Two minutes," Baek murmured. "You severed its sensory input completely for exactly two minutes. Precise control. Minimal Qi usage."
Baek picked up the tray with the tumor. He examined it like a jeweler examining a diamond.
"You aren't a veterinarian, boy. You are a butcher with the hands of a ghost."
Baek turned to a cabinet. He unlocked it and pulled out a small wooden token. It was carved from black ironwood, shaped like a skull.
He tossed it to Jin Ryeong.
"This is a Pass Token for the Disposal Wing. It allows you to enter the rear of the Medicine Hall without being questioned by the guards."
Jin Ryeong caught it. It felt heavy. Cold.
"Why?" Jin Ryeong asked, getting to his feet unsteadily.
"Because I generate a lot of waste," Baek gestured to the jars of failed experiments. "Failed pills. Dead beasts. Toxic herbs. Usually, I incinerate them. But you..."
Baek looked Jin Ryeong up and down, seeing the hunger in the boy's eyes.
"You look like a rat who can digest poison. You can have the scraps. Anything in the disposal bin is yours to take. In exchange..."
Baek pointed the bloody scalpel at Jin Ryeong.
"...When I have a patient that needs to scream quietly... I will call you. And you will answer."
[Ding!]
[New Relationship Established: Elder Baek (Patron/Master)]
[Access Unlocked: The Medicine Hall Dumpster (Tier 1 Resource Node)]
[Karma: -50 (You have allied with a cruel master)]
Jin Ryeong clutched the skull token.
He had just sold his soul to a mad scientist.
But in exchange, he had access to the trash of the Inner Sect. And to a man like Jin Ryeong, one man's trash was another man's cultivation base.
"Thank you, Elder," Jin Ryeong bowed deep.