A Ticking Time Bomb
Bang— One of the elders suddenly stomped his foot and shot to his feet.
"Absurd! The Young Sect Leader Cheon Hayeon is not yet of marriageable age!"
"No one is suggesting we hold the wedding today."
"Out of the question! How could we hand Hayeon over to some stray mutt whose origins we know nothing about?"
"Hayeon? The Young Sect Leader is no longer a child! Watch your tongue!"
"You all think the same thing, so why pretend otherwise!"
"Ahem...!"
The surrounding elders rose one by one, each adding their own remark, and the meeting quickly descended into chaos.
"I was trying to hold my tongue out of respect for the Supreme Protector, but the Cult Leader would never permit such madness."
"Everyone, please calm yourselves! Elder Noh Jugwang, sit down."
Bukgung Byeok infused his voice with inner energy and shouted. The noise died down, if only for a moment.
Dan Cheonsang maintained his serene smile. Then, slowly, he spoke.
"I understand the elders' concerns. The marriage is merely a pretext."
"A pretext...?"
"We use the great matter of marriage as justification for the Council of Elders to conduct a thorough investigation. The disciple's background is unclear. Any suspicious points will surface during the verification process."
"Oh... That does make sense. Indeed, there is no better pretext than that."
"Precisely. If anything unsatisfactory is found, we can simply use it as grounds to cancel the marriage altogether."
"As expected of the Supreme Protector. How did you come up with such an idea?"
"Haha, you flatter me."
Everyone nodded with satisfied expressions. The fact that Cheon Hayeon and Kim Mugong were barely twenty—far too young for marriage—had already vanished from their minds.
Vice Hall Master Lee Hyeonman sensed something strange in the way things were unfolding, yet the atmosphere inside had long since been overtaken by a kind of madness. He could not understand why these normally calculating old men turned into reckless children the moment Cheon Hayeon was involved. In the end, he could only let out a quiet sigh and turn away from the Council of Elders, which had become indistinguishable from a neighborhood senior citizens' gathering.
With needles covering my entire body, I could only stare blankly at the clock. There was no pain, but boredom quickly brought drowsiness.
Six hours. Exactly six hours after the procedure began, the Life-and-Death Demonic Physician removed the needles.
If the Divine Physician of Heavenly Hands had possessed a body so solid one might mistake him for a martial artist, the Life-and-Death Demonic Physician resembled a withered old tree. His stern, twisted expression made it easy to guess how he had earned such a fearsome title.
The physician paced back and forth with a deeply furrowed brow. Finally, unable to endure the silence any longer, I spoke first.
"Is there a problem?"
Tap. Ignoring my question, the Life-and-Death Demonic Physician continued pacing before finally stopping and fixing me with a steady gaze.
"One year at the shortest. Five years at the longest."
The words came out abruptly, yet thanks to what I had heard from the Divine Physician of Heavenly Hands, I understood their meaning immediately.
"That's all?"
"That's already more than enough."
"...The Fire Demon Core must be more dangerous than I thought."
"It is something no human should ever touch."
"It remains quiet for now, though."
The Fire Demon Core, spinning proudly near my heart in the middle dantian, showed no reaction whatsoever.
"The Fire Demon Core is formed when demonic energy invades pure fire essence. I never expected to see something I had only heard of in legends. The reason it stays dormant is simple: the fire essence has not yet fully transformed into the Fire Demon Core. A trace of pure fire essence still lingers inside, however faint. That remnant is resisting."
"Even so, it reacts quite violently to external energies."
"The demonic energy forms a thick shell around the fire essence. Naturally, it will respond aggressively to anything from outside. However, there is one strange point. It should react the same way to your energy, yet..."
When I touched it, the core simply hardened and refused to move, as if bracing itself. Even the demonic physician seemed unable to understand why such a difference occurred.
"What do you mean by one to five years?"
"That is my estimate of how long it will take for the remaining demonic energy to completely eliminate the resistance. Once that happens, it will not stay still. It will definitely release a powerful surge of energy."
The Fire Demon Core was located in the middle dantian, right beside the heart. If an energy of that magnitude exploded at such close range, there was no way my body could withstand it. I would either end up as a well-cooked piece of heart meat or, in the worst case, explode entirely.
"The solution is..."
"Forcing it would carry too great a risk. The best option is to expand the vessel."
"...So I really do need to reach the Transformation Realm."
"Most likely. Once the Fire Demon Core begins to stir and merges with the vast yang energy in your lower dantian, even I cannot predict what will happen. The same goes for the upper dantian. Until then, all we can do is enlarge the vessel as much as possible."
Both the Divine Physician of Heavenly Hands and the Life-and-Death Demonic Physician had given the same answer, which meant there was no clear solution. A heavy feeling settled in my chest. One year at the shortest. The Transformation Realm still felt impossibly distant when I had not even crossed the threshold of the Super Peak Realm.
"What about using elixirs to raise my realm?"
I asked, grasping at straws. The Life-and-Death Demonic Physician studied the medical chart for a moment before shaking his head.
"Impossible. After consuming the Mita Divine Water and the Origin Pill, any other elixir will have little further effect. The Great Return Pill of the Shaolin might be an exception, but the Shaolin has already been destroyed. The Great Return Pill no longer exists in this world."
The answer was exactly what I had expected. I had not held much hope anyway.
"Thank you for today."
I dressed and offered a respectful fist salute.
"Tsk. I could not even provide proper treatment, so there is no need for thanks. I should not have laughed at that Divine Physician fellow."
"Not at all. At least now I have a clear grasp of the situation."
"...I will support you. If anything feels off, come see me. At the very least, I can examine the symptoms and take measures at the time."
"Understood."
After one final bow, I left the Demonic Physician's Hall. The realization that there were no shortcuts weighed heavily on me.
Watching Kim Mugong's retreating figure, the demonic physician sank into his chair.
'How powerless.'
If he pushed himself, there was a way to forcibly trigger the Fire Demon Core and melt it away. But that would be no different from gambling with fate. Since it was a method that could not guarantee his life, it was best saved until the very end.
Medical progress was built upon countless trials, errors, and statistical refinements. Yet when dealing with something that belonged to legend, there were no precedents at all. No matter how skilled the demonic physician was, the problem remained far too difficult.
Still, he could not simply do nothing. He pulled out every ancient text in the Demonic Physician's Hall and stacked them on his desk.
Footsteps. While the physician had been poring over the books, someone approached with clear presence. Brilliant golden hair and transparent green eyes. It was the Young Sect Leader, Cheon Hayeon.
"What brings the Young Sect Leader here?"
Without lifting his gaze from the page, the demonic physician asked as he turned another leaf.
"Why did Disciple Kim Mugong come to the Demonic Physician's Hall?"
To Cheon Hayeon, who had always been the sole disciple, the word "disciple" still felt awkward. A strange embarrassment made her avoid the topic until, by chance, she spotted Kim Mugong entering and leaving the Demonic Physician's Hall from afar. Combined with the fact that he had previously asked her father for a medical examination, her intuition told her something was wrong.
"Hmm... Even if you are the Young Sect Leader, I cannot disclose that."
The physician dodged the question. That alone confirmed it. There was something being hidden.
"It will not harm Disciple Kim Mugong. Please tell me."
Cheon Hayeon spoke while bowing respectfully. The demonic physician leapt to his feet in alarm.
"Good heavens...! You must not do this, Young Sect Leader."
"I will keep it a secret between us."
Seeing Cheon Hayeon's unwavering expression, the demonic physician finally let out a long sigh.
"Very well. I will tell you. Please, have a seat."
Cheon Hayeon sat down as instructed.
"I knew of the Young Sect Leader's stubbornness, but do you truly wish to hear it?"
Nod. Without a word, Cheon Hayeon simply inclined her head.
"Disciple Kim Mugong's body is no different from a ticking time bomb."
It was an answer she had not expected at all. Cheon Hayeon's eyes widened.
"A ticking time bomb...?"
"There is a high chance the bomb inside his body will detonate and kill him within one year at the shortest, or five years at the longest."
"But... he looks perfectly fine on the outside..."
"The outside is not the issue. His insides are already in ruins. It is only because he was born with an exceptionally strong constitution that he is still holding on. If not for that, it would not have been strange if he had died long ago."
Cheon Hayeon bit down hard on her lip. She had never imagined the situation was this severe. She had known he suffered serious injuries during the Martial Artist Island evaluation, yet now there were no visible external or internal wounds.
"...Is there a way to save Disciple Kim Mugong?"
"That depends entirely on Kim Mugong himself."
"In what way?"
"In the end, the problem stems from his vessel being too small while the power inside is too great. If he enlarges the vessel, that will be enough. However, he must reach the Transformation Realm and undergo body reconstruction before we can consider him safe."
The Transformation Realm. Even Cheon Hayeon had yet to reach it. For Kim Mugong to attain it within one year? It was nearly impossible. Even five years would not make it easy.
As Cheon Hayeon wrestled with the dilemma, one possible solution suddenly flashed through her mind.
Yin-Yang Harmony.
After all, the art of the bedchamber had originally been created for Daoist cultivation. Judging from what she had witnessed on the island, if used correctly, it was undoubtedly the fastest method for both her and Kim Mugong to raise their realms.
...No.
The problem was that this was a path Cheon Hayeon could never choose. Suppressing the heated breath that threatened to escape between her reddened lips, she rose from her seat.