Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Medicine King O Gyun-cheon (2)
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The Medicine King elder, who had widened his eyes while taking my pulse, unwittingly released my wrist before asking my permission again.
"Let me check once more."
"Do as you please."
Watching the Medicine King elder and me, Ha Seong spouted some oblivious nonsense.
"To make the Medicine King elder take your pulse twice... As expected, Big Brother is different in every way."
Sigh.
Monk boy.
This isn't exactly a good thing.
Anyway, setting aside Ha Seong, whose humanity remained uncertain.
In truth, I could understand the Medicine King elder's reaction.
'He must have momentarily thought I'd cultivated a demonic art.'
A constitution with an open upper dantian,
Meridians flowing in a reverse heavenly direction due to the Heaven-Splitting Divine Art.
Tang Ok-gi had reacted the exact same way when he first checked my pulse.
'But there's no problem with that.'
The reasons the orthodox martial world despised, feared, and guarded against the Demonic Cult were many.
If narrowed strictly to martial arts, it was because they allowed rapid and easy strengthening, tempting warriors blocked by walls.
'If that were all, it would be something to encourage.'
Demonic arts always came with side effects.
'Madness, thirst, or instability.'
When the demonic energy accumulated in a different dantian from orthodox inner power twisted the meridians in reverse?
'You become a madman who can't even recognize your parents.'
Or crave blood and slaughter, or your body rejects normal inner power, forcing constant supplementation with yin or yang qi.
But those side effects applied to offshoots from Hyeok Ryeon-geum, who had mastered only a fraction of the Heaven-Splitting Divine Art.
'It has nothing to do with pure me.'
My bloodline, inheriting the full proper Heaven-Splitting Divine Art, had developed to withstand its reverse heavenly circulation, far purer and sturdier than later disciples.
Besides, since the founding ancestor was a mendicant monk from Shaolin, the inner power coiled in my dantian resembled Buddhist energy.
And sure enough.
From the Medicine King elder's mouth came words similar to what Tang Ok-gi had said the first day he checked my pulse.
"How peculiar. The origin of the heart method you cultivated feels Buddhist... Was there such a martial art?"
There was no need to respond to that mutter.
In the martial world, questions about a sect's inner power didn't require answers, and it was just the elder talking to himself anyway.
So I merely widened my eyes.
"Pardon?"
The Medicine King then fully released my wrist and said,
"No. Your body's condition is unusual, so I was mistaken for a moment."
Yet those words sounded like there was no medicine suited for me, akin to what Yin Ha-ryeon, Tang Ok-gi, and Namgung Yun had implied.
Because words like 'peculiar' or 'unusual' implied rarity.
And it wasn't just my impression; my master, mentally linked beside me, said something similar.
- My disciple, it seems you don't have one either.
Feeling inexplicably disappointed, my lips pouted unwittingly.
"Then I don't have one either?"
At my words, the Medicine King elder let out a disbelieving chuckle first.
"Did you entrust it to me?"
"I didn't intend that, but..."
- Exactly.
"...However, being human, seeing some of my peers receive gifts from you while others didn't bred a slight expectation."
"You do."
"Ah... No, pardon?"
But behind that chuckle was an affirmative response.
"Not just that you do—plenty match you perfectly. There's a beggar in your belly."
The beggar's over there separately, though?
"It seems you've gobbled up quite a lot in a short time?"
Hmm.
That's true.
Manbak Heart-Protecting Pill, Samcheon Yak-su, Thousand Poison Pill, and three spirit pills to neutralize that Thousand Poison Pill.
Subjectively, I still felt hungry, but objectively, I'd eaten plenty.
"Yet no anomalies in your meridians, bones, skin, or even hair means you could raid the herb warehouse, yank open any drawer, and devour it without issue. First, I'll ponder the spirit medicine that suits you best while performing the Great Method."
I wanted to cheer inwardly.
Given the occasion, I settled for clenching my fist in secret.
"Geum-ah."
"Yes, Elder."
"I still have lectures for these visiting cadets, so go ahead to the infirmary, prepare the Golden Bed Great Method, and notify the pharmacy to ready prescriptions and spirit medicines matching what I wrote for the cadets earlier."
"Understood, Elder."
Meanwhile, having finished taking the pulses of all twenty cadets, the Medicine King elder dismissed the medical lady called 'Geum,' sat properly in the prepared upper seat, and—unlike his earlier straightforward demeanor—grew solemn as he questioned me.
"I hate martial artists. There are degrees—orthodox, unorthodox, demonic—and occasionally I see one I like. Like the current Martial Alliance Leader. But even him, divided simply into like or dislike, I dislike. Eon Yong-un. Can you guess why I hate martial artists so much?"
The Medicine King elder's question.
Having read the original story, it wasn't difficult for me.
"If I may venture a short thought, it's because they don't value their lives."
"...Hm."
"Am I wrong?"
"Correct. But Eon Yong-un, have you ever considered picking up acupuncture needles instead of a sword?"
"My hands are too rough for such delicate work."
"You complained about weak hands when beating the Radiant Prosperity Hall Leader?"
"That was a polite refusal, but if you insist, I must say I have a pact with this sword."
I'd made an implicit promise with my master to become the world's greatest.
Anyway, upon hearing my refusal to become a physician, the Medicine King elder snorted.
"Hmph. What's so great about that hunk of metal? Anyway, human bodies are easy to ruin but incredibly hard to save."
And he expounded on why he disliked martial artists.
"Yet these martial folk ruin ten or a hundred while I save one, so I hate them. And they chase grand causes and principles, throwing away their lives like chaff without valuing even themselves."
I could understand.
Imagining becoming a physician as he suggested, I'd probably break the legs of saved patients who twisted away to their deaths.
"Thus, I hate and despise them. But I acknowledge what merits acknowledgment. Needles can only heal the already injured, but swords, depending on the wielder, can save hundreds or thousands. I watched you lot sweat it out at Hye-min Pavilion today."
Having said that much, the Medicine King elder gazed at us one by one before continuing.
"You offered your medical knowledge without holding back, ensured not a single herb was wasted, sought tasks to help despite clumsy hands, and bowed not to authority."
At the Medicine King elder's words, all my peers wore embarrassed expressions.
Strictly speaking, we'd come at my insistence, some because I ordered it, others out of fear or reluctance to lose to me.
I felt a bit sheepish too.
'Strictly speaking, I did it for the handout.'
Seeming to read our unease, the Medicine King elder smirked and continued.
"Who ordered it or what you sought doesn't matter. You're mere sprouts. What matters is that you acted, and that you feel embarrassed now shows conscience. Thus, this old man will share a bit of his modest skills."
And with his final words, he bowed deeply toward us.
"Please don't forget today's sweat or the emotions you just felt. Become martial artists who wield life-saving swords in the future."
We cadets hurriedly returned bows to the bowing Medicine King elder.
He waved awkwardly in acceptance, then rose.
"Raise your heads. Eon Yong-un, follow me. Pulses from the front, Great Method from the back. Geum will fetch the next after each finishes. And the Tang family girl. Tang Ok-gi, right?"
"Yes? Yes!"
"I need to review that research, so come last."
"Yes!"
Thus began the Medicine King elder's Golden Bed Great Method.
Most great methods scattered across the world required understanding from both caster and recipient.
"Done. Circulate your qi."
The Golden Bed Great Method merely involved dosage-adjusted herbal needles suited to one's constitution, and the elder's experienced hands finished quickly.
"How is it?"
"Refreshing. My blood feels clearer, eyes cooler. Dantian has more capacity too."
"Then take this. Zhongli Pill."
"Zhongli Pill?"
"Spirit pill of fire-natured herbs and carp inner core. Absorb well for thirty years' inner power, and cold resistance. I pondered what suits your gluttonous dantian; this is the most precious I have."
"Is this valuable thing really okay to give?"
- You rascal! Practice what you preach about consistent words! Already pocketed it! My disciple, really...
"Truly grateful, but if still offering? I don't seem suited to medicine?"
That's not happening.
"Deep thanks, but in my humble view, swords are needed more now. Hmm. If I change my mind later, I'll seek learning then."
I chose polite words to refuse once more.
"Hmph. Treating it like leftover liquor at a tavern. Next! Out you go, wretch!"
I bowed to the grumbling Medicine King elder and cautiously exited the medical hall.
Strolling the Medicine King Hall I'd missed amid busyness—as part of the Martial Alliance, it had a modest training ground despite its size.
"No one using it?"
Feeling refreshed, I should loosen up.
That thought barely crossed my mind before I acted.
Warmed up with leg stretches, drew Regret, and began the first three forms of Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship.
Slash, draw, thrust.
Simple motions, but starting in proper stance, simulating scenarios across the training ground in a trance-like state.
Sweat soon poured like rain.
"Hoo."
Satisfied with the workout, I sheathed Regret when applause erupted behind—clap clap clap clap.
Turning, I saw So Neung and Jeong Hyeon.
I wiped sweat and approached.
"Get your Great Methods well?"
"Yes! Brother Eon!!"
"I received mine well too. Truly grateful and humbling."
"Grateful is grateful; what's the humbling part?"
"Ah. From the Medicine King elder's words earlier. Whether I've wielded a sword worthy of them."
Then Jeong Hyeon's soliloquy began.
But not something to brush off.
"Never has the Songmun Sword at my waist felt so heavy as today. I wanted to swing it, so came to the training ground—and Brother Eon was already here, as expected."
Considering Jeong Hyeon's temperament, it risked demonic obsession.
"I just loosened up feeling refreshed. Among the cadets, none are closer to the elder's sword than you, so drop those thoughts."
Thus, while tending Jeong Hyeon lest he fall to heart demons,
The one truly possessed by heart demons arrived.
Peng So-jin came to find me.
"Eon Yong-un. Let's talk, brother-in-law."