Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: The Taiyin Lowly Constitution
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"You there!"
Cheonhwi grimaced at Damok Jingang's voice, which pierced his ears like a needle.
"Do you know why Lin's condition is like this?!"
"It's the Taiyin Lowly Constitution."
"R-Right. What is that?"
"Pardon? You don't even know that...? Ah!"
He paused mid-sentence.
'Ah, no wonder he doesn't. If I hadn't read the World's Best Book, I would've dismissed it as some illness too.'
It was only natural.
For someone living normally to suddenly lose their internal energy one day out of the blue?
Who would think it was a problem with their body?
Most people would assume it was some mysterious illness, just like those two.
The physicians must have thought the same.
Damok Jingang, sensing Cheonhwi's sudden silence and growing impatient, urged him on before he could even finish answering.
"Can you tell me about this Tai... Taiyin Lowly Constitution thing? It's a matter connected to Lin's very life..."
His voice, steadfast no matter the circumstance, grew louder and louder.
Grab―
The skeletal fingers of Damok Rin grabbed his sleeve.
"Uncle, calm down."
Damok Rin restrained the excited Damok Jingang. Then, she slightly lifted her chin to stare straight at Cheonhwi.
"Young hero. So, you're saying my body doesn't have an illness, but a physical issue?"
Unable to hide her excitement, her voice trembled faintly.
"Technically, yes."
In that instant, pitch-black silk cloth rushed toward him.
The dense silk veil, which had been at a distance, now swayed right before his nose, hot breath leaking through the gaps.
As Cheonhwi peered beyond the veil, which seemed to gaze back at him, her voice flowed out.
"Can you... tell me in detail about the Taiyin Lowly Constitution?"
Her pleading voice, desperate and earnest, cracked like parched earth in a drought.
"Is that what you were about to ask?"
"Not exactly, but..."
"Fine, whatever."
"Really?"
Cheonhwi nodded.
'I still have a few questions left anyway.'
His gaze shifted to the girl's abdomen—her lower dantian.
"The Taiyin Lowly Constitution is a physique that gathers yin qi just by breathing."
"...!"
Damok Rin's eyes widened.
Just as he said, she had accumulated yin qi simply by breathing since long ago.
"Thanks to that, you've had exceptional qi sense since childhood, and you've built up internal energy faster than others when cultivating techniques, right?"
"Y-Yes, that's right."
She answered dazedly, his words hitting too precisely, as if he knew her intimately.
"But that's exactly what causes the problem."
"...Problem?"
Cheonhwi stared at her lower dantian as she flinched.
"As you build internal energy, the yin qi grows stronger too. And that yin qi slowly freezes your meridians and steals your life away. You probably know the changes better than anyone."
Damok Rin's veil shook violently.
'So that's what it was.'
It all fit perfectly now.
Her exceptional qi sense, her achievements far surpassing other disciples.
And the cold qi that the physicians said was freezing her body from within.
"Then, young hero, do you know a way to treat this physical issue?"
Damok Jingang, who had been watching, asked Cheonhwi desperately, grasping at straws.
"Normally, for a Taiyin Lowly Constitution, you should start cultivating internal techniques only after your muscles, bones, and meridians have fully matured... but it looks like it's already too late."
"B-Because she cultivated the technique?"
"The yin qi has accumulated to an unbearable level."
"Aah..."
Damok Jingang looked at Damok Rin with a devastated expression, as if the sky had fallen, then powerlessly dropped his head.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't pushed her to learn martial arts at a younger age..."
Damok Jingang sank into regret.
'I made a mistake.'
He was the one who had recognized Damok Rin's talent and insisted to the family head that she start learning martial arts young.
"No, Uncle."
Damok Rin took Damok Jingang's hand.
"I was the one who wanted to learn martial arts."
She consoled him.
Soon, she turned to Cheonhwi.
"...Is there no other way?"
"Not guaranteed, but if we remove all the yin qi that's infiltrated her body, it might work."
Cheonhwi didn't speak definitively.
He knew about the Taiyin Lowly Constitution, but not how to treat it.
'The Life and Death Mysteries wasn't written for treatment purposes.'
"Just the yin qi?"
"...That's impossible."
Both showed skeptical reactions.
Manipulating only the infiltrated yin qi in the body was absurd.
It was nearly impossible without reaching the divine realm of internal energy control.
But they didn't know.
That someone capable of it was right in front of them.
Crackle, crackle.
The sound of the campfire spread.
As day retreated and night fell, the group settled in a quiet plain.
Five blankets on the empty ground.
But one was empty.
As everyone fell asleep, Cheonhwi wandered to a nearby empty lot.
Crunch― crunch―
He stepped forward, accompanied by the chirps of insects from all directions.
Under the faint moonlight, the world brimmed with a different vitality and vigor than midday.
"No good spot, huh."
Finding an empty lot with sparse grass, Cheonhwi plopped down.
"Hoo."
He slowly regulated his breathing.
In the silent empty lot filled only with cricket sounds, inhaling cooled his lungs with chilly night air.
'Good.'
His eyes slowly closed.
The vitality filling the surroundings formed flows, slowly enveloping him.
As Cheonhwi meditated...
Swish―
Damok Rin awoke from sleep.
What roused her from fitful slumber was the faint moonlight caressing her cheek.
'...Taiyin Lowly Constitution.'
Gazing at the moonlight above, she rose from her spot as if entranced.
The moonlight illuminated her standing form.
Her unique hair, half black and half white, blended with the moonlight, exuding a mystical aura.
'Not some mysterious illness, but my meridians frozen by yin qi...'
Learning her presumed illness was actually an innate physical issue troubled her heart.
As she clutched her chest...
Whish―
Her head snapped around instantly.
"That is..."
Far away, she sensed an intense energy.
An ocean-like energy that could swallow her if she didn't focus.
'This is from that time...'
She hurriedly donned the hat she'd left beside her.
Her shimmering black-and-white hair hid within the veil attached to the brim, then covered her face.
Pressing the hat down firmly, she quietly stepped toward the energy.
Crunch― crunch―
As the energy grew stronger, her steps quickened involuntarily.
Moments later, her steps halted.
'Here...'
Cheonhwi was in the empty lot.
And nearby, an astonishing scene like an illusion greeted her.
'Plum blossoms?'
Her breath caught, shivers running through her.
In the once-empty lot stood plum blossoms—no, the rumored Mount Hua itself.
The world seemed divided by him as its boundary, and she stared entranced.
"Aah―"
A hoarse voice escaped her.
Entering the landscape he created, she felt freed from the heavenly punishment binding her.
'She won't come closer.'
During meditation, Cheonhwi sensed the approaching Damok Rin and opened his eyes warily.
Swish―
He slowly unfolded his legs and stood.
In that moment.
"Ah."
Damok Rin let out a regretful sigh.
The dreamlike sweetness melted away like snow.
Regaining her senses, she blinked.
Feeling Cheonhwi's gaze, she flushed, bowed deeply, and apologized.
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
Cheonhwi brushed off the apology breezily.
As long as she didn't touch him during meditation, it was no issue.
As he turned to return to sleep...
"Young hero!"
He turned at the call.
The petite girl, smaller than his shoulder, looked up at him.
"Please help me."
As soon as their eyes met, the words burst from Damok Rin.
The immense energy she'd felt moments ago.
Someone who could wield it should be able to remove the yin qi from her body.
Waiting for Cheonhwi's reply, she peeked up at the ensuing silence.
'Ah...'
Seeing his unchanging, indifferent expression, she clutched her sleeve without realizing.
It was the desperate, instinctive gesture of one facing death, clinging to their potential savior.
"...Please help me."
Damok Rin pleaded once more.
Her voice was so hoarse it might annoy others, but Cheonhwi felt the profound sorrow within.
'Help you?'
But that was it.
Cheonhwi felt no pity for her.
Whether she was on the brink of death or not, what did it have to do with him?
"Why should I?"
"Aah―"
At the cold response, her frail frame swayed violently.
Watching Damok Rin, who seemed about to collapse, Cheonhwi pondered.
Treating her wasn't hard, actually.
But it required raising his internal energy and manipulating it delicately—quite a hassle, so he'd refused.
'Hm, she said she was from the Damok family.'
After a moment's thought, he spoke.
"Hm, alright. I'll help."
Damok Rin's head snapped up.
"Really?"
"But not for free."
Cheonhwi cut her off.
"What can you give me if I treat you?"
Her despairing expression brightened at his words. But soon, she fell into thought.
'What should I offer...'
Her eyes wavered as she thought.
First to come to mind was the Damok family backing and her own value.
But what use was that?
She'd momentarily forgotten, but he was a Mount Hua Sect Taoist.
The Damok family, affiliated with the Bicheon Society, was an enemy to one of the Nine Great Sects.
Even the Damok name she could offer wouldn't appeal much to him.
'Can't just pay with money either. At least millennium fire plum or millennium snow ginseng...'
She bit her lip.
The Damok family's finances couldn't afford millennium fire plums or snow ginseng right now.
But money alone wouldn't do.
Settling her life debt with cash would devalue her worth.
'...If only we hadn't used the spirit medicines.'
Late regret flooded her.
They'd consumed countless spirit medicines and inner cores, leaving none behind.
But what could be done?
It was in the past.
In the end, all she could offer was her family name and herself.
"The price..."
She hesitated to speak.
But shaking her head, she steeled herself and opened her mouth.
"I'll give you everything I have."