Chapter 242
Chapter 242
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 67
>Chapter Title: Turning Misfortune into Fortune (1)
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‘!!!!!!’
Blood droplets trickling down the fingers of Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin’s left hand.
And about five paces behind her, Mok Kyung-un stood, breathing heavily.
Joo Un-hyang’s expression as she watched the two of them was one of sheer astonishment.
‘This can’t be...’
She had expected to see Mok Kyung-un miserably defeated at the hands of Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin, but the exact opposite had occurred.
The supreme technique unfolding from her hand had been thoroughly dismantled.
One could tell just from how that intense whirlwind of sword intent had vanished in an instant.
Naturally, she wasn’t the only one shocked.
‘...He dismantled my technique.’
Even Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin was so stunned that she was at a loss for words.
There had been people who blocked this Continuous True Pursuing Shadow Return Sword before, but no one had ever dismantled the technique itself.
This was the Pursuing Shadow Return Sword, a move that maximized power through forward and reverse rotations while compensating for its weaknesses.
Yet Mok Kyung-un had shattered it.
And he had done so by unifying all sword intent into a single point.
‘How could this be possible?’
It was something even So Ye-rin herself couldn’t do.
Concentrating sword intent into a single point was a realm beyond her current capabilities.
Yet he had stepped into that supreme realm in an instant?
She couldn’t believe it, even though she had seen it with her own eyes and experienced it firsthand.
‘...To think such talent existed in this world.’
It transcended imagination.
Was this what the talent of her great-grandfather—once called the pinnacle of the old martial world—had been like?
No matter how exceptional one’s martial prowess, surpassing one’s limits mid-battle was one thing, but reaching an unattainable realm in a single moment was utterly incomprehensible.
-Drip!
Cold sweat trickled down her cheek.
Her left hand had already gone numb from Mok Kyung-un’s technique, which had unified into that single point of sword intent.
If he unleashed that limit-transcending technique once more from here, could she even block it? The doubt crept in.
‘No. In times like this, fighting spirit is key.’
He couldn’t perform such a technique again easily.
Having used a move that far exceeded his limits, his body must be under immense strain.
If she targeted that, she could still suppress him.
Moreover, she hadn’t even used her secret technique yet.
-Pat!
Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin shook off the blood droplets from her left sword fingers and gripped her right sword fingers tightly.
She turned her body and said,
“Impressive. But I as well...”
-Thud!
It was then.
Mok Kyung-un, who had been breathing raggedly, suddenly collapsed to the ground.
White steam rose from his fallen body.
-Hiss!
Seeing this, Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin furrowed her brow, unable to hide her bewilderment.
She approached the fallen Mok Kyung-un.
His body temperature had risen sharply; she could even feel the heat.
-Swish!
So Ye-rin pressed a finger to one of his acupoints.
She examined the exposed parts of his body, then clicked her tongue with trembling eyes.
His entire body was covered in bruises as if his muscles had ruptured, severely swollen, and even the strange energy within him was raging wildly, like someone afflicted with qi deviation.
‘It’s beyond overexertion. The price of that one sword that surpassed his capacity and limits.’
His condition was more serious than expected.
But it wasn’t incomprehensible.
That single sword wasn’t something the current Mok Kyung-un could wield.
Having handled a sword beyond what he could endure, this was the natural consequence.
“Haa.”
So Ye-rin let out a sigh.
With this level of internal injuries and damage, participating in the Imperial Guard selection was impossible from the start, and even continuing was a strain.
If he couldn’t regulate his blood vessels, muscle meridians, and internal energy here, he might lose his martial arts forever.
But this was all self-inflicted.
‘This guy tried to kill Un-hyang and Candidate Wi Bu-cheong. He must face the consequences of his own actions.’
There was no reason to help him.
Better to hand him over for disciplinary action in this state...
“Sixth Division Leader!”
At the sound of Joo Un-hyang’s voice, So Ye-rin turned her head.
* * *
-Thud!
The sound of a window opening rang out.
A cold autumn breeze struck her cheek, snapping her back to awareness.
Joo Un-hyang slowly opened her closed eyes.
She couldn’t fathom what had happened.
She remembered losing consciousness midway through telling Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin about what had transpired with Mok Kyung-un.
‘Ugh.’
Her insides ached as if they had been shaken up.
Dizziness came, but regulating her breathing settled it soon enough.
‘Where am I?’
Besides the cold air, the smell of medicine permeated the place.
This didn’t seem like her lodging.
As she wondered, a clear voice reached her ear.
“You’re awake.”
“Sixth Division Leader!”
The owner of the voice was none other than her mentor, Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin.
Joo Un-hyang urgently tried to sit up from the bed.
But due to her internal injuries, she couldn’t even raise herself halfway.
To him like that, So Ye-rin said,
“Don’t push yourself. Your injuries were quite severe. Fortunately, I regulated your energy, so with a couple days of meditative breathing, you’ll recover.”
“You treated me, Sixth Division Leader?”
“...You’re the only one I can treat.”
“Aaah.”
An exclamation escaped Joo Un-hyang’s lips at her words.
It was because they shared the same innate true energy that she could regulate and heal his.
Joo Un-hyang slowly circulated his innate true energy and examined his body.
‘!?’
In an instant, Joo Un-hyang furrowed his brow.
The innate true energy in his body had increased far beyond its usual amount.
With this quantity, if enlightenment came, he could reach the fourth star.
Joo Un-hyang looked at her with shocked eyes.
“Sixth Division Leader. How is this...”
To the flustered him, So Ye-rin shook her head and said,
“You practice innate true energy too, so you know it’s different from regular internal energy.”
Of course he knew.
Ordinary internal energy experts couldn’t handle innate true energy.
Only she could assist in healing his injuries.
“I injected more innate true energy than I intended for the treatment. This injury turned into a fortune for you, that’s all.”
Joo Un-hyang inwardly clicked his tongue at her calm explanation.
She said it nonchalantly, but it was a considerable amount of innate true energy.
Though for her level, it might not be much.
-Pat!
Enduring the pain, Joo Un-hyang clasped his fists energetically and said,
“Thank you, Sixth Division Leader. How can I ever repay this grace...”
Before he could finish, So Ye-rin shook her head again.
She let out a faint sigh and said,
“Enough. More importantly, you were right.”
“My words?”
“As you said, it seems Candidate Wi Bu-cheong had hidden a poison needle in your pillow. The poison investigation team already confirmed it.”
“Ah!”
He had defended Mok Kyung-un as much as possible before passing out.
In truth, he didn’t need to defend him.
Even though Mok Kyung-un had changed his mind midway, it was a fact that he had tried to kill him.
But he felt indebted, and strangely didn’t want to do so.
That’s why he had worked to clear up So Ye-rin’s misunderstanding.
“As a result, Candidate Mok Kyung-un was given deferred prosecution, taking into account that he saved your life and your testimony.”
While he was defending Mok Kyung-un, the Imperial Guards had arrived on the scene.
No matter that he had struck the acupoints of the surrounding Escort Division warriors to knock them out, fighting that intensely—it would have been stranger if the on-duty Imperial Guards nearby hadn’t noticed.
Regardless of the circumstances, Mok Kyung-un, who had escalated the incident, was referred to the disciplinary office, but ultimately received deferred prosecution.
“Thank you, Sixth Division Leader.”
“No need. However, even with deferred prosecution, Candidate Mok Kyung-un may have to voluntarily withdraw from the Imperial Guard selection.”
“Yes?”
What was this about?
Surely it wasn’t because of Mok Kyung-un’s injuries?
He had already guessed that collapsing suddenly after dismantling Sixth Division Leader So Ye-rin’s technique had strained his body.
Thus, Joo Un-hyang asked,
“Are his injuries that severe?”
“Yes. He drew out power beyond his own capacity.”
She recalled the conversation she had last night with the Imperial Guard’s exclusive palace physician.
[What do you think? Even if I wanted to regulate his energy, it’s completely opposite to mine, so I couldn’t do anything.]
[...Heavens. I don’t know how to put this.]
[What do you mean?]
[As a physician without martial arts training, I can’t speak much on energy, but his muscles and blood vessels are ruptured in too many places throughout his body.]
[I know that. I just want to know if he’ll recover...]
[With this extent, recovery in the short term is absolutely impossible.]
[Then with time?]
[I can’t say for sure. Even if he recovers, since key muscle meridians are torn and ruptured in places, it might be hard to move like before.]
[Ah...]
It was regrettable, but serious.
His internal energy circulation was a mess too, and since it wasn’t ordinary internal energy but something completely opposite to innate true energy, she couldn’t regulate it like she had for Joo Un-hyang.
Continuing the Imperial Guard selection in this body was practically impossible.
She might have to advise him to withdraw voluntarily as soon as he woke.
* * *
The next day, late at night.
The palace inner medical office had various ranks.
Among them, the lowest, Rank 9 Ninth Grade Attendant Officer, wasn’t quite an apprentice but had to stay on duty at all times to check patients’ conditions.
Jo Cham-bong, an attendant officer from the Imperial Guard inner medical office, clicked his tongue as he looked at the patient covered in acupuncture needles all over his body.
Bruises covered his entire body— he’d never seen a patient like this.
[Opportunities to treat a critically ill patient like this don’t come often. Examine and record in detail.]
[Yes, Sir Squad Leader.]
Under Sixth Division Leader of the Imperial Guard’s orders, his senior Rank 7 Seventh Grade Bae Squad Leader, who was taking the pulse and treating the patient, had given him a chance to check as well.
Squad Leader Bae had judged that full recovery for this patient was practically impossible.
He had felt the same when he took the pulse and examined the injuries.
Damage to muscle and blood meridians to this degree could leave him immobile for life if not careful.
‘Tsk tsk. What on earth did he do to end up like this?’
It was beyond comprehension.
Thus, Jo Cham-bong sat beside the patient with the decoction.
He wrung out a cloth into his mouth bit by bit.
For an unconscious patient, pressing a soaked cloth to the tongue allowed gradual absorption of the medicine’s energy.
-Swish!
After pressing the cloth to the tongue, Jo Cham-bong checked by taking the pulse.
But as he did, one of his eyebrows twitched, then shot up.
‘What?’
Something was off.
Just last night, the pulse had been extremely irregular and weak.
Now, it beat steadily.
Finding it strange, Jo Cham-bong checked not just the wrist but the neck and major acupoints.
His expression turned to shock as he stood from his seat.
‘How is this possible? How in one night...’
Deciding he must report to his senior at the lodging, Jo Cham-bong quickly asked another apprentice to feed the medicine and hurried out.
Shortly after he left, the door opened and someone entered.
As the man entered, the apprentice holding the medicine-soaked cloth at the patient’s mouth jumped in surprise, stood, and bowed.
“Why has Senior Physician Beom Jeung come at this late hour?”
An elderly eunuch in red official robes, face powdered.
He was none other than Senior Physician Beom Jeung.
Beom Jeung approached the apprentice and asked,
“I’ve come to check on the patient.”
The apprentice couldn’t hide his inner bewilderment.
This patient was a training candidate from the Escort Division undergoing Imperial Guard selection, as far as he knew.
Why would a palace senior physician come to see such a person?
Bewildered but stepping aside, the apprentice said,
“The patient’s condition isn’t good; it’ll take days for him to wake.”
“That bad?”
“The supervising squad leader said so.”
“Ah, I see. Must be quite serious.”
“From what I heard, even if he’s lucky and wakes, he won’t move for a while, and might never walk properly again.”
At these words, the corner of Beom Jeung’s mouth twitched upward.
Seeing this, the apprentice’s suspicions grew.
The patient’s condition was poor— why did it seem like he was pleased?
Finding it odd, as Beom Jeung said,
“Could you step out for a moment?”
“But the medicine right now...”
“It won’t take long.”
With that, Beom Jeung pulled a bundle of silver coins from his bosom.
Seeing it, the apprentice swallowed hard.
He quietly accepted the silver bundle, bowed his head, and left the room.
Once alone, Beom Jeung approached the patient, eyes closed with needles all over his body.
“Heh heh heh.”
Beom Jeung couldn’t hold back his glee and chuckled.
He hadn’t expected things to work out this well.
Just yesterday, he had broken into a cold sweat pleading with that lord to reconsider, calling this brat the one who targeted the Crown Prince.
But that lord’s judgment differed.
Even if he endangered the Crown Prince and himself, if he was that talented, he wanted to recruit him somehow.
He had even ordered Beom Jeung to make contact and arrange a meeting.
It was an exceedingly awkward command for Beom Jeung.
But heaven had intervened.
‘Mok Kyung-un, was it?’
Beom Jeung looked down at Mok Kyung-un and grinned.
He had thought a monster like this would rarely lose to anyone, but how fortuitous.
This was heaven’s gift.
For the Crown Prince, himself, and that lord, such a guy must never get close.
So definitively,
‘I’ll shatter your dantian.’
Then, any chance of comeback would vanish completely.
Thus, Beom Jeung reached toward Mok Kyung-un’s abdomen.
Just as his palm was about to touch the skin below the navel—
“What are you doing?”
‘!?’
In that instant, Beom Jeung’s body, about to press his palm down, froze stiff.
What was that just now?
Had he misheard?
He had heard the injuries were so severe he wouldn’t wake for days.
What was going on?
‘No way?’
Beom Jeung’s eyes slowly moved from the abdomen, up the chest, to the neck, then the face.
-Thud!
His heart skipped a beat.
The Mok Kyung-un who had his eyes shut like the dead was now glaring at him with both eyes wide open.
[Chapter 67: Turning Misfortune into Fortune (1)] End