Chapter 184
Chapter 184
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 184
Chapter Title: Unprecedented Dragon Vein
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“...It might be dangerous. Or it might not.”
Yeo Myeong-ui averted his gaze slightly as he muttered. Wi Seongcheon’s face twisted at the uncertain, ambiguous words.
But the Black Demon King, who had pressured Yeo Myeong-ui earlier, surprisingly did not press sharply. Instead, he gazed at Yeo Myeong-ui with a calm smile.
“Explain.”
“The dragon vein that appeared in that boy’s body is unprecedented, as far as I know. I examined it in various ways after the meridians split, but this much is certain. The factors I initially judged dangerous in that body have been resolved.”
In Yeo Myeong-ui’s view, Wi Seongcheon’s body had been no different from a thunderbolt bomb ready to explode at any moment. Innate qi strengthened by the Yeomyeong Heavenly Divine Pill’s pure qi and some unknown fortune, plus internal energy accumulated through various spirit medicines—all mixed together without harmony. That alone was hugely dangerous, and if he’d swallowed the Extreme Blood Leopard and Millennium Snow Ginseng on top of it, his body would have burst right there.
“Now a meridian flows only with pure qi and innate vital energy, and the boy’s body has been harmonized and stabilized for the time being. It won’t explode as I feared. But... hmm... I can’t honestly guarantee that all danger has vanished.”
“Hmm.”
Wi Seongcheon, sitting cross-legged and examining his inner body, let out a small groan. There wasn’t much change in the power accumulated in his body. If anything, his internal energy had swelled compared to before he lost consciousness.
Wi Seongcheon composed his expression and raised both hands. Internal energy drawn from his dantian flowed through his meridians. Just as he’d hoped, qi energy blazed like flames from both hands.
“...It’s actually better now?”
Reverse flow wasn’t even used, yet qi formed this quickly. He could guess the reason.
“Of course it’s better. You were fed decoctions of spirit medicines while you slept.”
Yeo Myeong-ui grumbled, narrowing his eyes. Extreme Blood Leopard, Millennium Snow Ginseng, Azure Spirit Oil, Humanoid Cattail, Azure Flame Pill. Spirit medicines that even martial artists struggled to obtain one of in a lifetime. While treating Wi Seongcheon, Yeo Myeong-ui had combined those precious five into one and injected it into Wi Seongcheon’s body via renowned acupuncture points.
“I figured out what the danger is.”
Wi Seongcheon furrowed his brows. He whipped around to Yeo Myeong-ui and grumbled.
“What do you mean you can’t guarantee it? Put some spit on your lips before lying.”
Before treatment, he hadn’t realized the danger Yeo Myeong-ui warned of. But now he clearly knew what it was.
Dragon vein.
The newly formed meridian in his body didn’t tangle with the others. Wi Seongcheon understood what Yeo Myeong-ui meant by calling the human body a universe. A new meridian had added complexity inside, yet moving his body felt no different.
“...The treatment we aimed for succeeded, didn’t it?”
“It wasn’t your success, Yeo Myeong-ui. My body’s unique and handled it itself.”
“What? Handled itself? You ungrateful...!”
“Wait a moment.”
Wi Seongcheon cut off the bristling Yeo Myeong-ui. He closed his eyes and focused his mind. As he introspected his body, he felt a chill and goosebumps.
This was definitely dangerous, but
it depended on how it was used.
‘Poison can be medicine depending on usage.’
Wi Seongcheon cautiously touched the dragon vein, independent from his meridians. He’d worried it wouldn’t respond to his will at all, but fortunately, it moved as intended.
“Hey, you madman. What are you doing right now?”
Yeo Myeong-ui, watching with his third eye open, startled and tried to stop him. But he couldn’t rashly approach and intervene. Touching it carelessly might cause disaster.
‘Reverse flow works.’
Just like moving his original meridians with reverse flow. The dragon vein could also be moved with reverse flow. The issue was how to use it. Could he even use it to begin with?
“You made a trash bin inside his body.”
The Black Demon King chuckled and muttered. Yeo Myeong-ui scowled and coughed dryly at the words.
“Trash bin? What...!”
“You crammed unusable stuff in one place—what else would you call it? Ah, maybe trash bin’s too good. Normal bins don’t hold poison and thunder bombs.”
“...That wasn’t my intention. If that body had been ordinary, I could’ve safely harmonized it by extracting the pure qi and reducing the innate vital energy...”
None of the methods tried had worked properly, and the body stabilized only after new meridians formed. But the root problem remained unsolved. The dragon vein still held innate vital energy and pure qi.
Where did that dragon vein connect?
Normal meridians linked to the dantian. The lowest lower dantian at the navel, the middle dantian at the heart, and the upper dantian at the head. But connection didn’t mean open passages.
Unless one consistently cultivated internal energy from very young. In other words, most ordinary people had their body’s three meridians mostly blocked during growth.
Wi Seongcheon had cultivated since childhood, keeping his entire body’s three meridians intact via Cheonhwa Sect’s meridian methods like reverse flow and spirit opening. But not all were fully open.
Life-Death Mysterious Pass.
The acupoint piercing the lower, middle, and upper dantian. Piercing the Life-Death Mysterious Pass meant fully opening the upper dantian—entering the gateway to the divine realm the Ten Calamities spoke of.
Wi Seongcheon had opened all acupoints up to the middle dantian, but not the Life-Death Mysterious Pass to the upper dantian. Unusually, though, his wasn’t completely blocked. He could use the Vessel Form imperfectly because his Life-Death Mysterious Pass wasn’t fully sealed.
The dragon vein
took root beyond the Life-Death Mysterious Pass, in the upper dantian. Meaning the pure qi and innate vital energy that posed a potential threat had coiled there.
“The result hasn’t changed.”
“It has a bit. From ‘might explode anytime unknown’ to ‘know when it might explode.’”
The White Flame Witch picked up the Black Demon King’s mutter with a sneer. She glared fiercely at Yeo Myeong-ui.
“If the kid pierces the Life-Death Mysterious Pass and fully opens the upper dantian, worst case, the accumulated pure qi and innate vital energy reverse flow.”
“That’s... something we’ll know when it happens...”
“It doesn’t have to reverse after the upper dantian opens. What if it does right now? You know how dangerous tampering with the upper dantian is. We’ve all opened ours.”
The Black Demon King snapped coldly. Yeo Myeong-ui felt insanely wronged.
“You think I wanted it like this? That body went rogue...!”
“It’s fine.”
Wi Seongcheon suddenly spoke up.
“It’s not dangerous right now. We just don’t know what happens when the upper dantian opens... but there’s no guarantee I can even open it, right? If I do, it’ll take years.”
“Arrogant brat. At your level, opening the upper dantian takes years? Decades!”
Yeo Myeong-ui spat as if he’d been waiting. He whipped his head to the Black Demon King and White Flame Witch.
“That means! He’s safe for decades. Maybe we find a full solution in between...”
“Or I use it up first.”
Yeo Myeong-ui’s head snapped back at Wi Seongcheon’s mutter. His three eyes widened as he stared at Wi Seongcheon’s body. He was using reverse flow on the dragon vein right now. Carefully, not rushing into something insane.
“Stop!”
He couldn’t just watch this. Yeo Myeong-ui bellowed and lunged at Wi Seongcheon. Startled by the momentum, Wi Seongcheon flinched and halted.
“Why are you like this?”
“What are you trying to do?!”
“Trying to connect the dragon vein to the lower and middle dantian.”
“You’ve lost your mind and want to die!”
“Isn’t it pretty ingenious? The danger’s because pure qi and innate vital energy don’t mix with my internal energy, and you couldn’t harmonize them. So why not use them up myself?”
“You think it’s that easy? Do you even understand what innate vital energy and pure qi are?”
“Innate vital energy’s life force. And pure qi... never heard it, but isn’t it immortals’ power?”
“Right. Immortals’ power.”
“There are no immortals in the world...”
He started to mutter carelessly but shut his mouth. Considering Ananna who lived centuries as a Buddha statue, the Sea Dragon, and the Blood Cult Leader’s ghost the White Flame Witch saw. The cursed pond. Immortals could exist.
“Immortals exist. Though it’s fine to say none now.”
Yeo Myeong-ui muttered, scowling.
“Unless born with immortal bones or a heavenly being, you can’t freely wield pure qi. How would you wield it without knowing how? Pure qi and internal energy follow different paths.”
Yeo Myeong-ui thrust out his hand and shook Wi Seongcheon’s shoulder.
“Same with innate vital energy. Yours is unbelievably vast, but don’t assume you can handle it easily. Drawing out innate vital energy means abandoning life for mutual destruction. Once ignited, you can’t extinguish it midway.”
“No need to call it impossible.”
Wi Seongcheon smirked. Even his father, the Cheonhwa Sect Leader, wielded innate vital energy freely. Of course, not by ‘burning’ it as Yeo Myeong-ui said, but by ‘using’ it.
“No need to consume innate vital energy.”
The Black Demon King spoke.
“It’s not poison. It’s greatly aiding the Latent Dragon right now. Isn’t it?”
“...Well...”
Yeo Myeong-ui trailed off.
“I’m benefiting a lot. Senses sharpened, barely feel fatigue.”
“...Having that much innate vital energy and only feeling that much. Pearl necklace on a pig.”
Yeo Myeong-ui grumbled softly.
“Good.”
The Black Demon King spoke as if waiting. He slowly turned to stare at Yeo Myeong-ui.
“Jinchung. My old friend, I felt bitter about killing or crippling you, but no need now.”
“...Black Demon King. What are you saying?”
“Depends on you. The Latent Dragon didn’t die, so I don’t need to kill you. But he’s not fully cured.”
“I did my best. And that body turning like that is...”
“It wouldn’t have if you hadn’t started. No more excuses.”
The Black Demon King cut off Yeo Myeong-ui.
“Before treatment began, we made a promise. I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Painful, but first I’ll lay you down and tear your meridians in two.”
Yeo Myeong-ui’s mouth gaped.
“It’ll be tough for both. I’ve never tortured like that. Jinchung, you’re a human body expert. If possible, advise while I tear your meridians in two. If you stay conscious.”
“W-Wait, Black Demon King.”
“Don’t fear yet. Didn’t I say at first? No need to kill or cripple you.”
The Black Demon King grinned, baring teeth.
“The answer’s close and simple. No need to consume innate vital energy since it’s not poison. But hoarding it’s wasteful, so advise on usage if possible. And the poisonous pure qi.”
The Black Demon King’s raised hand pointed at Yeo Myeong-ui.
“You just teach him how to use it. Why avoid such an easy way?”
Yeo Myeong-ui’s face hardened.
“You’re telling me to teach that boy immortal arts?”
“No other way.”
“I won’t.”
“Then I must do what I don’t want. Jinchung. Really okay?”
“No matter how you threaten, Black Demon King, my mind won’t change.”
“Think wisely. In this world now, only two immortals left who can use immortal arts. Chilheukyo won’t teach the Latent Dragon, so you must.”
“I... I’m unqualified. I’m not a true immortal to begin with. Just half-baked half-immortal who couldn’t even become earth immortal... and now...”
“With your master Qinghe Zhenren and all other immortals gone, who’d blame you?”
Yeo Myeong-ui trembled, speechless. The Black Demon King chuckled and rose.
“I respect your choice. If you uphold your immortal pride, I won’t test or shame it further. Then, first your arms...”
“I get it.”
As killing intent rose, Yeo Myeong-ui immediately relented. The Black Demon King sat as if expected, and the White Flame Witch looked at Yeo Myeong-ui pitifully.
‘...Immortal? Chilheukyo? Half-immortal? What the hell?’
The atmosphere wasn’t right to voice questions, so Wi Seongcheon kept quiet. But he couldn’t compose his shock. Wi Seongcheon stared wide-eyed, alternating between the Black Demon King, Yeo Myeong-ui, and White Flame Witch.
The world was full of unknowns.