Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: The Fraudulent Martial God
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“Weren’t you told to be careful, oh so careful?”
The Medicine Hall Master sighed heavily as he placed the acupuncture needles.
“Even if your health seems to have improved, the Nine Yin Severed Meridians aren’t that simple a condition.”
“I know.”
He knew all too well.
If the Nine Yin Severed Meridians were something any quack could cure, he wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
Namgung Hyeok shrugged his shoulders.
“So, how’s the condition?”
“Hmm. There’s damage to the meridians, so you need to rest completely for about a week. If you push yourself, it’ll get worse, so no strenuous activity for a while.”
“Can’t do that.”
“You mustn’t.”
“No can do. Muscles waste away if you skip even a day.”
The Medicine Hall Master looked at Namgung Hyeok with utter disbelief before speaking firmly.
“Isn’t that better than your meridians rupturing and losing use of your hands entirely?”
“You think a little meridian rupture means you can’t use your hands? Isn’t that jumping to conclusions?”
“Is sneezing and breaking a rib an exaggeration or not?”
“It is.”
“That’s your condition, young master.”
“Ah.”
Namgung Hyeok’s mouth fell open as if he’d gained profound enlightenment.
Right. He’d forgotten about that.
“Your condition has definitely improved, young master. But as I said before, it’s the Nine Yin Severed Meridians in a man’s body. No one can predict where it’ll go or how it’ll change.”
“Prescribe some elixirs or medicine. That worked better than a hundred needles.”
“Medicine has its seasons. Using it recklessly turns it into poison.”
The Medicine Hall Master continued the acupuncture as he replied.
Namgung Hyeok’s forearm was covered in needles.
“Having overflowing energy is good, but knowing your body’s exact state and regulating it properly is true wisdom.”
“So, what’s your take?”
“As I said earlier, you’ve improved tremendously. I’ve been doing acupuncture for over twenty years, but I’ve never seen a case like this.”
“I see.”
“Not only is your energy stable, the circulation is smooth. Your complexion is better, and your muscle strength goes without saying.”
Namgung Hyeok smiled in satisfaction.
If it was noticeable enough for others to see, it must have improved even more than that.
The supposedly hopeless leak in his vessel seemed to be patching up nicely.
“It’s all thanks to the Hall Master’s dedicated care. Your acupuncture is the best I’ve seen.”
“Ahem. Well, my skills aren’t quite at that level yet, but at peak...”
Namgung Hyeok nodded and asked.
“By the way, can you change my constitution too?”
“Pardon? Change your constitution?”
“They say acupuncture can redirect energy flow or improve constitution?”
The Medicine Hall Master burst into hearty laughter.
“Young master, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could cure the Nine Yin Severed Meridians that way? But changing constitution is hard enough—curing the Nine Yin Severed Meridians is impossible.”
“I know.”
“I hope I haven’t disappointed you.”
“Why would I be disappointed over that? It’s just difficult, but you can change constitution to some extent, right?”
“Well, with good medicine and acupuncture...”
Namgung Hyeok looked pleased.
“You know the saying—row when the tide comes in, give it your all when you have the strength?”
Before refining his body with the Heart Muscle Internal Art, he needed to strengthen the acupoints in his body further.
Superior acupuncture and prescriptions would be effective for improving his constitution.
It was to boost his training efficiency.
“I’m not sure about after that...”
“That’s why we should try everything.”
“That’s asking for disaster! The Nine Yin Severed Meridians aren’t something to toy with...”
“Do you know the treatment method?”
“Hmm!”
The Medicine Hall Master let out a groan.
“There was a divine healer’s method, but unfortunately, it was lost to history.”
“Divine Healer?”
“Yes. The last one to cure the Nine Yin Severed Meridians.”
“Really? Impressive.”
He meant it. Curing severed meridians wasn’t simple.
If it were easy, how could the number of physicians who’d cured it throughout history not exceed one hand?
“With a systematic treatment and superb medical skill, your condition could be cured too, young master. Though it wouldn’t be simple, of course.”
“So we just sit and watch?”
“I’m doing my utmost.”
“Let’s give it a try.”
“Gasp! That would be disastrous. I’m no Divine Healer—I can’t just experiment!”
“Sheesh, Divine Healer this, Divine Healer that. If you cure my Nine Yin Severed Meridians, won’t you be the Divine Healer?”
“No way. How could I compare to that legend?”
Namgung Hyeok smirked as the Medicine Hall Master shook his head firmly.
“Come on, if I drop dead young anyway, it’s all for nothing, right?”
“Y-Young master!”
Namgung Hyeok patted the flustered Medicine Hall Master’s shoulder.
“That’s why we should try. I’m trying not to die, you know. Who wants to die? Ah, of course, like you said, no one knows what’ll happen to my body. But lately, my heart’s been stabbing like this—feels like I’ll collapse while walking.”
“Th-There’s no way that’ll happen!”
“Really?”
“W-Well...”
“So let’s start with constitution improvement. That’s not hard, right? You can do that much?”
The Medicine Hall Master unwittingly nodded to Namgung Hyeok’s smooth-talking persuasion.
‘Huh, was this young master always like this?’
It took real skill to have him dancing in the palm of your hand.
“By any chance, do you know any great arts?”
“Great arts like what...?”
“Like Beehive Hair Washing or something.”
“Unfortunately, with a body afflicted by Nine Yin Severed Meridians, such things are too risky. It could be fatal.”
“Nothing works.”
Namgung Hyeok smacked his lips.
In the end, constitution improvement seemed to be the only option.
The Medicine Hall Master chuckled in his characteristic way.
“You never know. If we find the Divine Healer’s medical texts, we might cure your Nine Yin Severed Meridians and succeed in a great art.”
Perk.
Namgung Hyeok’s ears pricked up.
“That guy was that amazing?”
“‘That guy’? He’s the Divine Healer.”
“Ah, right. He was that great?”
“Of course!”
“Weird. The guy I knew whipped up great arts and alchemy elixirs like it was nothing.”
“Pardon?”
“Some guy from back then. Meng Taehyung, that quack—named an elixir after himself and churned them out.”
The Medicine Hall Master’s eyes went wide.
“You know the Divine Healer’s name?”
Huh? Who?
Meng Taehyung?
No, he’d just casually mentioned a guy active nearly a century ago, and he caught it right away. Amazing.
“That guy’s the Divine Healer?”
“Of course! The last Divine Healer revered by all physicians! They say he saved tens of thousands of lives!”
“Tens of thousands?”
Is that different from the one I knew?
Like the saying, shamans kill people—that quack must’ve butchered tens of thousands pretending to treat them.
‘Must be a different guy?’
As Namgung Hyeok smirked, the Medicine Hall Master continued gravely.
“The demonic path rampaged, sweeping the world, corpses strewn everywhere, the ground dyed red...”
‘Yeah, that’s how it was... Wait, is that guy really the Divine Healer?’
The Medicine Hall Master continued passionately, veins bulging in his neck.
He wouldn’t even talk about his own ancestors that fervently—the Hall Master was hawking that quack like a street vendor.
“So that guy saved several of the Ten Great Masters of the time among others...”
“The last one to cure the Nine Yin Severed Meridians!”
“Wow, the quack made it big.”
“Young master!”
“Got it, got it. But then, no medicines or treatments from that guy?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, the Nine Yin Severed Meridians cure and his true arts were lost, and he vanished.”
Bet he got murdered somewhere.
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue.
That’s how swindlers end.
The emptier they are, the louder they boast.
“But ten pills of the Divine Healer’s Taehyeong Pills remain in the jianghu.”
‘Kya, the name Taehyeong Pill never changes.’
If he knew that guy tried to sell him Taehyeong Pills and got beaten to death for it, the Medicine Hall Master would foam at the mouth and grab his neck, right?
Heh heh. Namgung Hyeok chuckled foolishly before tilting his head.
‘That trash as Divine Healer.’
He couldn’t fathom how a quack got such a grandiose title and remained in people’s memories. Bizarre.
“He really struck gold.”
Namgung Hyeok clicked his tongue again.
That’s why you live long and see strange things.
“The only five Divine Healers in history, who saved countless lives during the Demonic Blood Cataclysm—what a great figure.”
“Huh.”
“That’s why his title includes ‘Divine’.”
“His?”
“The one who ended the Demonic Blood Cataclysm.”
Perk.
Ended the Demonic Blood Cataclysm?
I cut off the Demon Lord’s head and ended it.
So that’s me, right?
‘Of course. It’d be weird without me. I drove out the demonic path and saved the world.’
Compared to a physician saving lives, ending the war makes a hero’s achievements top-tier, no?
“An immense feat. The hero who ended the war and a martial artist who truly reached the divine realm.”
Namgung Hyeok’s lips began curling up.
“Reaaally? What a grrrrand figure?”
“Heh heh, even lowly physicians like me know of him—he’s that great.”
“Yeah.”
“I heard he’s the only one truly worthy of ‘Greatest Under Heaven, Past and Present.’”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Heh heh heh. A strange laugh bubbled from Namgung Hyeok’s mouth.
The Medicine Hall Master flinched momentarily but ignored it.
‘As expected of the legend.’
Namgung Hyeok smiled contentedly.
Even this acupuncturist knows my feats.
From over sixty years ago, no less.
“He’s the true Martial God.”
Martial God?
Martial God!
“Ahahaha! Yeah, yeah!”
“He severed the demonic path, the root of the sea of blood and corpses, beheaded the Demon Lord, ended the war—truly worthy of ‘Greatest Under Heaven, Past and Present.’”
“Uhahahaha, haha! Stop, you’re gilding the lily!”
“What’s gilding? It’s fact. They say flowers revived and trees bore fruit in his path, he reached such profound heights.”
“Hahaha, that was just late-life enlightenment.”
He knows the details. Is he a physician or an informant?
“You know well! He is...”
“Poison Tyrant Ha Hu-yeong!”
“The Martial God, Great Hero Heavenly Righteousness Gold!”
“Uhahaha... Ha? Haha?”
Namgung Hyeok burst into laughter, then it vanished in an instant.
He stared at the Medicine Hall Master before scratching his ear.
Did I hear wrong?
Namgung Hyeok narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“...The Greatest Under Heaven, Past and Present, Poison Tyrant Ha Hu-yeong?”
“The Martial God, I said.”
“Poison Tyrant.”
“Martial God.”
“Poison...”
“Martial God!”
Uh...
Uhhh...
Huh?
“Fuck, no way!”
“Pardon?”
“That bastard...”
His neck cramped fiercely.
Whoa, blood pressure spiking? Head’s spinning.
Namgung Hyeok glared at the Medicine Hall Master with reddened eyes, clutching his nape.
“Th-Then what about Poison Tyrant Ha Hu-yeong?”
“...Who’s that?”
“You don’t... know?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Never heard the name.”
No, I’m the one who took the Demon Lord’s head!
This can’t be!
“Wh-Why is that bastard the Martial God...!”
His breathing grew labored, mind flying away.
Pshut!
Blood vessels bulged on Namgung Hyeok’s crown.
The Medicine Hall Master blankly watched him shout.
Pssshhhhhh!
A vigorous fountain erupted from his crown, the needles in his arm flying off spectacularly.
At the sight, the Medicine Hall Master froze in silent scream.
Namgung Hyeok toppled backward like a rotten tree.
Boom!
“Y-Young master!”
* * *
Regaining consciousness, Namgung Hyeok still couldn’t hide his disbelief.
“Fuck, no way.”
In this world!
That bastard getting a title like Martial God that even his past self hadn’t heard of!
“No matter how degenerate the world is, this is too much, right?”
Back then, it really was the end times.
Demonic scum crawling out everywhere, smashing righteous faction heads.
“No matter how I think— a hundred times—that guy’s not it. Absolutely not.”
A hundred times? Ten thousand times, and he couldn’t accept Heavenly Righteousness Gold stealing his feats as Martial God.
Anyone but that bastard.
“Damn that Orthodox Heaven Alliance Leader bastard—why’s he the world-saving hero!”
The Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families’ kids he seduced to stab him in the back—that was the Alliance Leader.
After he beheaded the Demon Lord and ended the cataclysm, that hero stabbed him from behind.
Thinking of it still made his back ache.
‘Fine, say I concede a hundred times.’
But that guy, barely scraping the bottom of the Ten Great Masters—no, wouldn’t even get that without the Alliance Leader seat—how’d he become Greatest Under Heaven?
His mortal enemy stealing his achievements and hailed as hero.
“That punk did nothing!”
And what’s that.
Leaving Sword King, Blade King aside, why him?
Pondering briefly, Namgung Hyeok realized.
“Ah... I killed them all.”
Right.
After the cataclysm, when the Orthodox Heaven Alliance betrayed him, he killed them first.
Scratch scratch.
Namgung Hyeok scratched his head.
“Anyway! I need to find out what happened.”
But why does no one know me?
Even if achievements were downplayed, his name should remain somewhere.
He’d asked Golden Summit Merchant and Namgung family warriors, but same answer.
- Who’s that?
Me, you idiots.
Fuming with frustration, he suppressed it.
No point doing anything to the Alliance now.
Over sixty years past, he’d transcended such things long ago.
But he wanted to know his own traces.
He was curious.
He needed to know what became of him.
If they knew everything else but him, that’s a problem.
And he had a faster way than asking the Namgung family.
Swish!
Namgung Hyeok donned a mask.
Perfectly blending into the darkness, he leaped away.
Papapap!
Kicked off walls three times, vaulted the wall in one breath.
He vanished into the pitch-black night in an instant.
Namgung Hyeok headed to the outskirts, far from the bustling streets.