Chapter 97 How Are You Still Alive?
Drip, drip—
The tea Sa Wol was pouring overflowed from the cup.
Meridian blockage.
A constitution where the acupoints were sealed off, preventing the accumulation of qi.
To a martial artist, it was treated as a curse—a disease so severe it was practically a death sentence.
“Hot, ow!”
“……My apologies.”
Sa Wol belatedly set down the teapot. She must have been as flustered by the mention of meridian blockage as I was.
“Please forgive your subordinate's mistake.”
“That's fine, but you haven't answered my question.”
He'd been like this even when treating Jin Yeong Ryeong earlier. Ma Ui had this obsessive streak. Once he set his mind on something, he wouldn't let it go until he got his way.
“Could you repeat the question?”
“I asked how you cured the meridian blockage. No, let me rephrase. Sado Family Head, did you truly cure your meridian blockage?”
It was a tricky question.
Especially with Sa Wol right there, it was the last thing I should admit to.
If I said yes → I'd have to prove it.
If I denied it → I'd raise suspicions.
Either way, I was screwed.
The real problem was:
'Admitting it would blow everything up.'
Ma Ui had a fanatic obsession with healing. If I said I'd cured meridian blockage, he'd hound me endlessly about how and who did it.
Was meridian blockage called a curse for nothing? It was incurable—that's why it earned the name. Curing it wouldn't just be my personal issue; it'd shake the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult and the entire martial world.
Having my condition exposed to the world? Hard pass.
“I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Don't play dumb. I examined you as a child, remember? You're not saying my diagnosis was wrong, are you?”
Sado Gwang had supposedly eliminated every physician who'd treated Pa Cheon, but Ma Ui must have slipped through the cracks.
“Who knows. You weren't Ma Ui back then, after all.”
“Hah hah hah, Sado Family Head. That's awfully rude. I am Ma Ui. Even if I wasn't back then, my diagnosis couldn't have been wrong.”
“Then how do you explain my mastery of profound martial arts?”
“My guess? One of two things. Either you truly overcame your meridian blockage, or this is all an elaborate act.”
Ma Ui had nailed it. I schooled my expression before replying.
“You're the rude one here.”
At this point, I decided to cut the bullshit short.
“Rude?”
“Barging into my quarters uninvited and testing me like I'm some suspect—what else would you call that?”
“Hah…… You're still young and don't know better—.”
“Watch your mouth, Ma Ui.”
I fixed him with a steely glare.
“I'm the head of the Asura Sado Family, one of the Six Demonic Families. Even Cheol Mu Geuk wouldn't speak to me so casually.”
“That's one fierce glare.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
“Forget the rest. Just let me take your pulse. That's all I ask.”
Utter nonsense, of course.
Taking a pulse for no medical reason was tantamount to probing every detail of my internal energy. No wonder wuxia tales warned against letting anyone near your wrist.
“Sa Wol.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“Ma Ui's leaving. See him out.”
“Sado Family Head!”
Ma Ui barked at me with feigned outrage.
“You think you can treat me like this in the cult and get away with it?”
“You're misunderstanding something. Ma Ui, the only reason I'm not killing you right now is that one fact: you're the Heavenly Demon's appointed physician.”
“W-what?”
“I don't need the likes of you. Didn't you know? The Sado Family shares a near-alliance with Dok Ma.”
“……”
“People fawning over you as 'Ma Ui this, Ma Ui that'—you think that makes you irreplaceable?”
My sharp words left Ma Ui speechless, like a mute covered in honey.
Then.
“Ha! Hahaha!”
Suddenly, Ma Ui burst into laughter.
“Sorry, Sado Family Head. I get paranoid sometimes. Kwak Jeong said you'd changed, but I still had memories from twenty years ago. You've really transformed.”
He turned to Sa Wol.
“I need to speak with your Family Head alone. Could you step out? Take that snoring idiot with you.”
I nodded.
Sa Wol grabbed Tak Horak by the ankle and dragged him out.
Once she was gone, Ma Ui spoke.
“So, how'd you do it?”
“Do what?”
“How does someone with meridian blockage and no internal energy wield such power?”
[Kill him.]
No sooner had the words left Ma Ui's mouth than Pa Cheon slid silently from its sheath, slicing toward his throat.
'Hold.'
I stopped Pa Cheon. Its blade had just nicked Ma Ui's skin.
“……Flying Sword for real. How?”
“How'd you know?”
“Hmph! Who do you think I am? I am Ma Ui.”
Ma Ui snorted.
“Sado Family Head, I could tell just from sitting here that your body hasn't changed at all.”
“And who else knows?”
“Planning a little mass murder?”
“I could.”
“I figured. Just like your dead brother.”
“Any last words?”
Ma Ui smirked and shook his head.
“Mind if I move my hands? You won't regret it.”
Before I could respond, he reached into his robe and pulled something out.
“Recognize it?”
“That's—”
“Blood Gu Poison.”
Two small glass vials. Each contained a writhing, dark-red worm.
I knew of Blood Gu Poison from the novel's lore.
Among gu poisons, it was one of the most vicious. These worms had shamanistic powers—they understood human speech and could even control thoughts.
'It doesn't show up until late in the story.'
The user? Sword Saint Maeng Wi-hak, one of the world's top martial artists. The reason so many Murim Alliance elites were loyal to him? Blood Gu Poison.
Anyway.
“Only found in the southern wilds. I won it off Dok Ma in a bet. But that bastard refused to give me the antidote. Said it wasn't part of the wager—then burned it right in front of me. Even I can't make an antidote for gu poison.”
“So?”
As soon as I spoke, Ma Ui uncorked one vial.
“I, Ma Ui, swear never to harm Sado Hwan nor reveal his secrets.”
He whispered the oath and swallowed the smaller worm whole.
Then he handed me the remaining vial—the one with the larger worm.
[……Is he insane?]
“What the hell are you doing?”
“My life's ambition is conquering all diseases. Since ancient times, meridian blockage has been deemed an uncurable curse. Sado Family Head, I want the key from you.”
“So you swallowed gu poison?”
“Now my life is in your hands. As you know, Blood Gu has shamanistic power. If I so much as think disloyal thoughts……”
“Gah!”
Ma Ui vomited blood. He tore open his robe, revealing his left chest—slashed as if by a knife, blood pouring out.
Not from outside. Inside the wound, the worm writhed visibly. Blood Gu Poison.
“It won't let me.”
Through the vial's glass, madness gleamed in Ma Ui's eyes.
“Let me study your body. In return, I offer everything I have.”
This was a wuxia world, sure—but he was straight-up crazy. Risking his own life for his goal?
Was that the kind of obsession it took to be a master in one's field?
“Well? If not, I'll run out, expose your secret, and self-destruct. Gah!”
Another wound bloomed on his chest.
“At this rate, I'll die before leaving your quarters. But if I drop dead here, won't that be trouble for you?”
“……You're truly mad.”
“I'm no martial artist, but aren't they the same? Pushing their bodies to the brink for one goal.”
I wrestled with the decision.
[Monster!]
Pa Cheon called urgently.
[We can't let him know our secret!]
'With Blood Gu's power, he couldn't spill even if he wanted to. But what if he actually fixes this body? Even a one-in-a-million chance?'
[……]
The power sealed in Sado Hwan's body was none other than Heavenly Demon Divine Art qi. Even a tiny amount could drive Jin Yeong Ryeong mad—the aura of the King of Ten Thousand Demons.
In Murim Returner, Mu Jin cures his meridian blockage in the finale.
One swing wrapped in Heavenly Demon Divine Art qi cleaves the Wudang sect leader in half. Though divided into front (internal) and back (external) parts, the core was the internal cultivation.
'Curing meridian blockage is insanely hard, though.'
The only ways: master the back half of Heavenly Demon Divine Art or beat impossible odds.
With Ma Ui dedicated to it full-time, maybe he'd nudge those odds up a bit?
[Seriously? You think this cursed affliction can be cured?]
'Well…… First, ten spirit medicines left by Yakseon, plus spirit pills from spirit beasts holding the Four Directional Gods' power. Gotta consume them all?'
[Simpler than I thought!]
'Then face death six or seven times—not near-death like now, but actual death and revival? That makes the Heavenly Demon Divine Art qi more forgiving to its host?'
[Again?]
'Get hit simultaneously by righteous and demonic peak experts' gang qi at a precisely perfect moment to form a Lesser Supreme Ultimate in your body?'
[……More?]
'In that state, the Shaolin abbot shows up, presses my renowned acupoint, infuses qi—while I've just eaten millennium haresuo and ten-thousand-year snow ginseng for yin-yang harmony—'
[Enough. I can't listen to any more of your fabricated nonsense.]
It's true.
And that's not even the end.
That's why the odds are abysmal.
Thinking about it, the original protagonist really went through hell. I'd never roll that hard. Never. Swear it.
Mastering the back half of Heavenly Demon Divine Art…… required becoming the Heavenly Demon.
Becoming Heavenly Demon with this body? No different from those insane odds. And it's still just a theory.
Anyway.
“How long are you gonna make me wait? My neck's killing me.”
“Fine.”
I extended my hand.
“Take my pulse.”
“Hahaha! Thank you—truly!”
Ma Ui grinned ear-to-ear, seized my wrist, then abruptly sobered, pressing my pulse with a grave expression.
“……Huh?”
He spoke in bewilderment.
“How are you still alive?”