Chapter 190
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: An Inhuman Path (4)
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A fierce battle with the Sky Fox.
The fight began with a few exchanges over hostages. But it was hard to say that clash was serious. It was more like testing the waters.
However, when Seo Ryang brought down the entire cliff with its weakened foundation, the Sky Fox happened to open its eyes.
*He grazed me.*
Even in that urgent moment, the Sky Fox had unleashed a palm strike at Seo Ryang. It was so destructive that had Seo Ryang not dodged, he would not have escaped death.
But his evasion was half a beat too slow, and the Sky Fox’s powerful palm strike grazed his abdomen.
*That’s when it started, my internal injury.*
To be precise, the internal injury he sustained then was why he was buried under the cascading pile of rubble. If he hadn't frozen the stones with the cold energy of the Great Crimson Lotus of the Blood Nexus and then shattered them one by one to get out, that place would have become his grave.
*I also had the shield of the Tiger King. Anyway, that’s not the issue.*
Seo Ryang thought.
*Why won’t this internal injury heal?*
He had pondered the reason tens of thousands of times on his way here.
But he couldn't find a clear reason. When turbid energy flared, he needed to know why, but his blood vessels were fine, his dantian was strong, and his acupoints were impeccably clear.
And yet, the internal injury would not heal. In particular, turbid energy constantly flowed from between his lungs and heart meridian, to the point where his breathing felt heavy.
*Damn it.*
Seo Ryang scratched his head vigorously.
He could just stop drinking. But this internal injury had to be dealt with properly now. If something similar were to happen later, he couldn't just drag his feet, claiming he didn't know what to do.
Lee Cheonsang’s eyes gleamed as he watched the pondering Seo Ryang.
“You seem troubled.”
“Pardon?”
“...”
“Ah, yes. I’ve tried every method I can think of. But the internal injury still hasn’t healed.”
Seo Ryang said, his voice tinged with anxiety.
“I don’t know the reason. I’ve thought about it from every angle, but I just can’t find an answer.”
“Of course, you can’t.”
“Pardon?”
Lee Cheonsang once again drained his cup.
Seo Ryang’s expression grew serious.
“Do you know the reason?”
“Mastering the martial way naturally leads to mastering the art of medicine.”
As he refilled his cup, Lee Cheonsang spoke in a particularly world-weary tone.
“In this age, there is no one more versed in the martial arts than I. It’s impossible for me not to know the reason why a mere internal injury won’t heal.”
Though it came out of nowhere, Seo Ryang felt an unwarranted chill.
A man who had pierced the limits of martial arts and begun to glimpse the realm of gods. His abilities had long since surpassed the common sense of the mortal world, to the point that the worries of a master who had realized the ultimate demonic realm were a trivial matter to him.
Seo Ryang was reminded of just how incredible a person Lee Cheonsang was.
“The problem is you.”
“Me?”
“With your abilities, there’s no way you can’t heal such an injury.”
“...!”
“Watching you struggle with it is almost amusing. Heal it quickly, before my mood worsens.”
Seo Ryang’s eyes wavered.
*With my abilities, there’s no way I can’t heal it?*
What on earth am I missing?
*The Nine Hells Demonic Art aside, even the Unhindered Arts, which removes turbid energy and restores the body to its optimal state, couldn't heal it. No, in fact, using the Unhindered Arts only made the turbid energy denser.*
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.
Learning Demonic Arts shouldn't render the Unhindered Arts ineffective. It had always been this way, and always would be. The Unhindered Arts was a technique that purified the body of impurities; it had nothing to do with demonic energy.
*Neither of the two arts works. So what am I supposed to do?*
Even with Geumho by his side, he couldn't fix this internal injury.
*Why?*
Seo Ryang sank deeper into his own thoughts.
As his concentration reached its peak, he lost awareness of where he was or who was in front of him.
Lee Cheonsang’s eyes gleamed at the sight.
*His concentration is truly outstanding.*
It was like that of an assassin who defies death to hunt their target.
*But that very concentration will one day be your undoing. Just like now.*
How much time had passed?
Seo Ryang gritted his teeth.
“Damn it all.”
He spat the words out, even with Lee Cheonsang before him. The skin under his eyes had instantly darkened, a testament to how fiercely he had been concentrating.
“Why isn’t it working? What could be the reason?”
Seo Ryang muttered to himself.
Watching him intently, Lee Cheonsang raised his cup and spoke.
“You’ve forgotten the fundamentals.”
Fundamentals?
Seo Ryang tilted his head.
“Fundamentals? What fundamentals? What are fundamentals?”
He heard the words, but he didn't seem to register who had said them. His eyes quickly became bloodshot.
“Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals...”
*Fwoosh!*
In that instant, demonic energy erupted from Seo Ryang’s body.
The crimson, flaring demonic energy took the form of flames characteristic of the Nine Hells Demonic Art. It was the calamitous fire of the Nine Hells, a world nestled deep within the earth, capable of incinerating the heavens.
The Demonic Art, unleashed at full power, ignoring the internal injury.
*FWOOSH!*
The torrent of energy, spreading without end, instantly transformed the celestial paradise of rare flowers and plants into a living hell. The sky was stained red, and it seemed as if flames were erupting from the cracked earth.
*Drip.*
Blood flowed from Seo Ryang’s lips.
But he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop, even though it was clear his internal injury would worsen if he continued.
He knew instinctively that he must not stop.
*Tremble.*
His entire body began to shake, as if an earthquake had struck the very ground that was Seo Ryang.
His pupils dilated, and his skin turned as pale as a sheet of paper. His internal injury was getting worse.
Lee Cheonsang waved his hand.
*Whooosh.*
At his gesture, the pavilion and the table stopped shaking. Controlling Seo Ryang’s inhuman energy with a single hand—it was a display of martial skill truly befitting the emperor of all demons.
A quarter-hour, then another, and finally, an hour passed.
“Ah!”
A gasp escaped Seo Ryang’s lips.
*Hiss...*
A translucent smoke seeped out from his nose and mouth. The turbid energy that had been stubbornly crystallized in his heart meridian was being expelled.
*Sssss...*
His injured lungs began to heal. The minutely twisted heart meridian shifted back into place.
And after another quarter-hour.
*Rustle.*
The Nine Hells Demonic Energy, which had been boiling like lava, vanished as if washed away.
“Hooo.”
Seo Ryang let out a deep breath.
Wiping his blood-stained lips, he looked at Lee Cheonsang with a complex expression.
Lee Cheonsang gestured toward the cup with his chin.
“Drink.”
“...Yes.”
Seo Ryang drained the cup in one go. The elegant fragrance of the Six Heavens Heart Wine cleared his head.
“I hope you won’t show me such a pathetic sight again.”
“...”
“Will you have another?”
“Please.”
Lee Cheonsang poured wine into Seo Ryang’s cup.
Watching the cup fill, Seo Ryang berated himself.
*I had forgotten the fundamentals... Good heavens, it’s like a swordsman who can conjure sword energy forgetting how to hold a sword.*
The reason his internal injury hadn't healed was because the Nine Hells Demonic Art was mixed with Buddhist martial arts.
Do all arts, regardless of the internal method, become one at their peak?
It was a valid statement. But throughout history, among all who had practiced martial arts, none had ever truly reached the state of all rivers returning to the sea. There were only true masters who pursued it.
Seo Ryang was one of those true masters.
In that respect, his ability to combine the incompatible arts of Buddhism and the demonic path was truly remarkable. The Nine Hells Demonic Art could be called the pinnacle of all rivers returning to the sea.
And that was precisely why he had been mistaken.
*I’ve wielded the Nine Hells Demonic Art perfectly, but I was never a true demonic practitioner.*
If the peak of divine arts lies in mastering the upper dantian, the peak of demonic arts lies in liberating the middle dantian.
The destructive power of demonic arts comes from twisting the middle dantian. The middle dantian governs the five desires and seven emotions, and so, intense emotions must be used as sustenance for the demonic arts to function properly.
Seo Ryang was not ignorant of this. However, he had distinctly separated his approach when using martial arts for combat and for healing. This was because he was accustomed to following the natural order of martial arts.
He shouldn't have.
The ultimate demonic realm was, quite literally, the extreme of the demonic. Now that his entire body was filled with demonic energy that bordered on the innate realm, he had to base all his actions on the operational principles of demonic studies. Just because Buddhist arts were mixed in did not mean he should treat his internal injuries as a Buddhist practitioner would.
*It was a blessing in disguise.*
The Sky Fox's palm energy was a martial art specialized in killing. It was a type of penetrating energy that invaded the body and ruptured the heart meridian.
That was also why turbid energy had constantly risen from between his heart meridian and lungs. That area was the domain of the middle dantian, so trying to heal it by focusing on the lower and upper dantians was an impossible task.
“Before becoming a god, you must first become human.”
Startled, Seo Ryang looked at Lee Cheonsang.
Lifting his cup, Lee Cheonsang added in a casual, offhand tone.
“I do not know if you truly seek the realm of the gods. But one who has not fully immersed themselves in the five desires and seven emotions cannot shed their human shell.”
“...!”
“You must rage, laugh, and grieve. Only one who has been faithful to all those emotions can be called a truly human human.”
Lee Cheonsang drained his cup.
“To enter the world of deification, you must first realize what creation is. Your uncharacteristic impatience just now is a sign that you are becoming a true demonic practitioner.”
Deification referred to the Divine Transformation Realm, and creation referred to the Realm of Creation.
In the terms of the demonic martial world, it was the Transcendent Demonic Realm; to transcend the demonic, one must first definitively know what the ultimate demonic realm is.
*How strange.*
He had gained an unexpected enlightenment in the process of healing his injury.
What was surprising was that the martial principle embedded in Lee Cheonsang’s words was remarkably similar to that of the righteous sects.
*Perhaps this man... has truly reached the state of all rivers returning to the sea.*
Lee Cheonsang set down his cup.
“Pour.”
“Ah, yes.”
With an awkward expression, Seo Ryang filled his cup.
“I have shown you a pathetic sight.”
“As long as you know.”
“From now on...”
“I have never raised a disciple who makes the same mistake twice.”
...He really has a way with words.
Lee Cheonsang raised his cup.
Seo Ryang respectfully raised his own.
*Clink.*
The sound of the cups clinking together was exceptionally beautiful.
“I heard you had a bout with the Lord of the Beast Palace.”
“I did.”
“You were lucky to survive.”
“I might have lost if I hadn't managed to fluster him. Master Meow was a cut above me.”
Lee Cheonsang tilted his head.
“Master Meow?”
“Ah, I mean the Lord of the Beast Palace.”
“An interesting moniker.”
Seo Ryang, who had been drinking, almost choked.
Lee Cheonsang spoke calmly.
“The masters of the Four Outer Palaces are on par with the Nine Great Demonic Venerables. It’s possible because the nature of their martial arts is so different. If the Lord of the Beast Palace had learned Demonic Arts, even you would have struggled.”
“I figured as much.”
*Thud.*
Lee Cheonsang set down his cup and leaned his upper body forward.
It was a posture Seo Ryang had never seen before. It hinted at a willingness to engage in an active conversation.
“I want to hear what happened in the Southern Barbarian lands from the beginning. In your own words.”
***
“Hello.”
“...Who are you?”
“My name is Yeo Sangrin.”
Aeng-hwa, who had been staring blankly at Yeo Sangrin, turned to look at Ma Dongpil.
Ma Dongpil cleared his throat and turned his head away. Wi Hongryeon was squatting, scratching at the ground with her Tiger Roar Sword.
*Whoosh.*
A chilly wind blew through Seo Ryang’s residence.