Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 43
>Chapter Title: Repayment (1)
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-Fsssh! Crack! Crunch!
Cracks were forming as his skin peeled away like a shell and his muscles twisted.
Seeing his transformation, Cheong-ryeong clicked her tongue.
"Why did you give him that glimpse of enlightenment?"
Her hope had been for the current Heavenly Earth Society to crumble.
Yet thanks to what Mok Kyung-un had said, Isle Poison King Baek Sa-ha had gained some realization.
Because of this, he had crossed the wall.
It also meant he would become far stronger than before.
"You've done something unnecessary. Tsk tsk."
Cheong-ryeong wasn't pleased about this.
However, there was no response from Mok Kyung-un.
He had mastered sound transmission and usually replied unless in exceptional circumstances, so why wasn't he answering?
Puzzled, she looked at Mok Kyung-un's face.
"......"
'This guy?'
Mok Kyung-un was staring intently at Isle Poison King Baek Sa-ha, who was undergoing marrow cleansing and bone transformation.
It wasn't an expression of surprise or wonder.
He was watching as if observing.
Cheong-ryeong grew curious about what he was thinking as he gazed like this.
'What are you staring at so intently?'
And his thoughts were on a rather unexpected aspect.
Rather than the external process of Baek Sa-ha's body being reconstructed, Mok Kyung-un was closely observing how the inner energy within was changing.
'Is that how it works?'
After watching for a long time, the corner of Mok Kyung-un's mouth twitched.
* * *
For martial artists, marrow cleansing and bone transformation was a realm like a dream.
It was a phenomenon where the body was reconstructed to match the new realm upon crossing the wall, forming the most ideal shape for oneself.
"Hah......"
An exclamation escaped Baek Sa-ha's lips.
Unlike typical marrow cleansing and bone transformation, his clothes had nearly all melted away as he became a complete poison man, leaving him practically naked.
The corner of Baek Sa-ha's lips twitched upward.
The reason was simple.
'I thought I'd never stand again.'
He had stood on his own two legs.
How long had it been since he last felt this sensation?
His heart pounded with excitement and emotion.
Then, Mok Kyung-un's voice reached his ears.
"My congratulations."
Baek Sa-ha turned his head to look at Mok Kyung-un.
"You..."
"I was worried you'd drink my blood and pass away, but instead, you've even undergone marrow cleansing and bone transformation."
Hearing this, Baek Sa-ha truly felt what had happened to him once more.
He had been aware he'd undergone marrow cleansing and bone transformation himself.
But hearing it from someone else felt entirely different.
"Kekeke."
"That's a laugh that doesn't suit you anymore."
"Doesn't suit me?"
"Yes. At a glance, you look like you're in your late forties? No, mid-forties. You've become youthful."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, a glint appeared in Baek Sa-ha's eyes.
Youthful?
Baek Sa-ha unconsciously touched his face.
The wrinkles that had felt etched deeply were almost gone, and his skin was elastic.
"Heh......"
There were no mirrors in the training chamber for a close look, but seeing how the wrinkles on his hands had smoothed out, he truly felt much younger.
Come to think of it, the two who held the title of Eighth Star, the Poison King, had also looked far younger than their actual ages.
'I only hoped to walk again.'
Not only had he become a poison man, but he had crossed the wall.
He could now truly be said to have reached the realm of the Eight Stars.
Unable to contain his emotion, Mok Kyung-un spoke to him.
"It seems you've achieved the results you desired. In that case, my earlier proposal is essentially nullified."
"Proposal?"
"Yes. You seem to have already become a poison man. Or am I wrong?"
At Mok Kyung-un's words, the corner of Baek Sa-ha's mouth rose.
"Kekeke. Are you disappointed?"
"I thought I'd hear that story from you more easily, but it looks like you've obtained what you wanted on your own."
"On my own...... Do you think I'm so shameless?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Perhaps out of long habit, Baek Sa-ha clasped his hands behind his back and spoke.
"If it weren't for you, I would have lost my life today or lived the rest of my days as a half-cripple, unable even to open my eyes."
"Thank you for telling me directly."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, one of Baek Sa-ha's eyebrows arched up.
As expected, this kid had been saying insincere things.
He believed it was thanks to him that he'd gained enlightenment and undergone marrow cleansing and bone transformation.
Of course, that statement wasn't wrong at all.
"You're an insolent one, aren't you?"
"If that's how you feel, I apologize."
"Don't say things you don't mean. I recognize that I owe you a debt I couldn't repay in a lifetime."
"Then you can grant my request."
"Of course."
Baek Sa-ha agreed readily.
He had enabled him to walk on two legs again and ascend to the eighth layer of the Wave Demon Poison Scripture, becoming a poison man—something he'd longed for so desperately.
He was no different from a benefactor; what couldn't he do for him?
"What are you curious about?"
"Promise to answer unconditionally first."
"Promise? I've said I'd tell you; do you think I'd go back on it midway?"
"I'm just saying it in case."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Baek Sa-ha shook his head.
"I promise. I'll answer any question."
"Thank you."
"What are you curious about?"
"Ghost Sword."
'!?'
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Baek Sa-ha momentarily furrowed his brow.
He'd wondered what he'd ask to even demand a promise, but it was an unexpected question.
"......Why are you asking about that?"
"It's hard to explain, but saying I'm curious about who Ghost Sword is should suffice."
"Curious?"
"Yes."
"Heh......"
"To cut to the chase, I heard you clashed with Ghost Sword. Isn't that right?"
"......Correct."
It was such a famous anecdote that everyone knew.
Many had asked about it, but Baek Sa-ha had never given a proper answer.
There were two reasons.
The first was,
'It can't even be called a proper clash.'
He'd only held out briefly thanks to his vast experience and poison arts that differed from typical martial arts; if the fight had dragged on, he would have been the one defeated.
Baek Sa-ha opened his mouth.
"Why are you curious about Ghost Sword?"
"I told you."
"You won't reveal the reason?"
"Yes."
At Mok Kyung-un's response, Baek Sa-ha's eyes narrowed.
It was troubling.
What intent did this child have in being curious about Ghost Sword?
If it was pure curiosity, fine—but he worried it might stem from negative emotions.
But a promise was a promise.
"......I've promised to tell, so I'll speak regardless of reason. However, I also have one request of you."
"A request?"
"Yes. It's not difficult."
"May I ask what it is?"
"Don't reveal what you heard from me here."
"Don't reveal it?"
"Yes. As a member of the Heavenly Earth Society yourself, you'll soon understand why I'm saying this."
"......Understood."
Once Mok Kyung-un agreed, Baek Sa-ha answered the question.
"First, as for who Ghost Sword is, I don't know, so I can't answer."
"Pardon?"
What did that mean?
Hadn't he clashed directly, so he should know the face?
To the puzzled Mok Kyung-un, Baek Sa-ha said,
"It's true I clashed with Ghost Sword, but his face was covered by a black mask, so there was no way to confirm."
"He covered his face? Then what's this story about Ghost Sword stopping the fight midway?"
"It's exactly as it sounds."
"So you're saying you just stopped because Ghost Sword suggested halting midway through the fight?"
If that was all, it would be quite futile.
As a sense of emptiness began to set in, Baek Sa-ha shook his head.
"Does that make any sense? No matter how dire things looked for me in that fight, I'm still a martial artist. I wouldn't accept a proposal to spare my life midway."
'Dire straits...... So he was winning?'
Baek Sa-ha casually admitted he'd been pushed back.
He'd never revealed this before, likely due to pride, but had he become detached after his recent enlightenment?
It was puzzling, but that wasn't what he was curious about anyway.
"......Then is that rumor true as well?"
"Rumor?"
"The one saying he might be the Hand-Holding Guard who received the Society Lord's secret order."
"Hah."
At Mok Kyung-un's words, Baek Sa-ha clicked his tongue.
So much time had passed since the incident that it was fading from most people's memories, and it was hard for young later-generation talents to even know, so where had he heard this?
No. As the disciple of Dark Seed, had he heard from the Dark Society Lord?
"You know everything, don't you?"
"Is it true?"
"I don't know."
"Pardon?"
"Whether he's the Hand-Holding Guard or not, even I don't know."
"What do you mean by that?"
At Mok Kyung-un's question, Baek Sa-ha recalled that time seventeen years ago.
* * *
Ghost Sword, who had displayed astonishing prowess in deflecting all his poison arts, suddenly created distance midway and requested to halt the duel.
[What is this? In a life-or-death battle, are you showing mercy?]
To a martial artist, it was rather humiliating.
They were fighting with lives on the line, so what was this when he held the advantage?
Yet,
[Isle Poison King. Do you want to fight an injured man?]
"Injured?"
When Baek Sa-ha questioned back, Ghost Sword ripped open his upper garment to reveal his chest.
Shockingly, there was a palm print about a foot long on his chest, the area blackened and deeply caved in.
Moreover, veins around the wound were bulging black, resembling,
'Poison Palm?'
It looked as if struck by a poison hand.
Had he perhaps clashed with an expert from the Sacheon Tang Clan or the Guyang Clan?
But more absurd was,
'......He fought me in this condition?'
Baek Sa-ha was dumbfounded.
Ghost Sword's state was severe enough to call it a critical injury without exaggeration.
Yet in that condition, he'd deflected all his poison arts and shown near-overwhelming martial prowess?
It was even more humiliating.
His desire to settle things with him vanished.
Baek Sa-ha asked,
[......Who did this to you? Guyang Clan? Sacheon Tang Clan?]
He hadn't expected an answer.
Then, unexpected words came from Ghost Sword's mouth.
[Haeyoung Medicine Immortal.]
'!?'
What was this?
Haeyoung Medicine Immortal—alongside Hwita Myeong-ui, one of the supreme physicians of the era with the greatest medical skills.
He was a physician, not a martial artist.
[What nonsense is...]
To the puzzled Baek Sa-ha, Ghost Sword tossed something.
It was none other than,
[This?]
[Now you know we have no reason to fight.]
[......How do you have this?]
[Deliver this to him. And tell him of my injury and that I was interfered with.]
"What does that mean?"
[Just relay that much.]
With those words, Ghost Sword swiftly vanished with his lightness skill.
He tried to pursue, but his lightness skill was unbelievable for someone supposedly critically injured, making it impossible to catch up.
* * *
"......So you really don't know who that person is."
"Correct. What I learned from clashing with him is..."
"That he was critically injured by Haeyoung Medicine Immortal, the supreme physician of the era. That's all you know?"
"......At first, I couldn't believe it. No one knew Haeyoung Medicine Immortal had practiced martial arts. He was a physician, after all."
"He could have hidden it."
"True, he might have. But one thing is certain: if Haeyoung Medicine Immortal truly inflicted that critical injury on Ghost Sword, his poison arts surpass mine by far."
That humiliated Baek Sa-ha more than the duel itself.
The notion that an old physician famed for medicine had used superior poison arts to overwhelm Ghost Sword—one of the Eight Stars—while he, who'd devoted his life to poison arts, fell short.
'I see.'
Now he understood why Baek Sa-ha had glossed over the incident back then and kept it from everyone.
There was probably his pride as a poison arts master as well.
Mok Kyung-un asked him,
"But what exactly is the item Ghost Sword gave you?"
He'd said there was no reason to fight after giving it.
What had he given?
[Chapter 43 Repayment (1)] End