The Art of Medicine (3)
Seok Geum-ryong had once been a man of skill no less than the Four Honored Guests, and so he had met them all before.
That was why he knew all about them, and why he also knew the end of Im So-gun, the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, whose brilliant life had faded away before it had ever truly had a chance to bloom.
Exactly one year from now, she will fall ill and weaken day by day. When the cause is finally discovered, it will turn out to be Great Yin Severance Meridians, the greatest talent and the cruelest incurable disease.
By then, however, it would already be too late. She would be treated only to prolong her life, and in the end she would die before reaching thirty.
"...And?"
But what was this?
Im So-gun, whom he had expected to shock at the mention of Great Yin Severance Meridians, did not look astonished at all. Instead, she replied in a cold voice.
"And what do you mean? Hurry up and treat it..."
"I know very well that I have Great Yin Severance Meridians."
Seok Geum-ryong could not help but be startled at her words. She knew she had Great Yin Severance Meridians?
He was so taken aback that he almost froze in place, when...
"Miss So-gun has decided that rather than endure painful, futile treatment and live meaninglessly for a long time, she would rather live a short life with some value. Since it is incurable anyway, she chose not treatment, but something brighter."
With a pitying expression, Wol-papa explained the whole story.
In truth, because the Moon Lady Sect pursued and developed martial arts of extreme yin, it had long produced sect mistresses and disciples born with bodies full of extreme yin energy, such as Great Yin Severance Meridians or Nine Yin Severance Meridians.
Those born with such constitutions all possessed dazzling talent, but in the end they could not live long and were forced to die young.
Sometimes, too much talent simply shortened a person’s life.
"Hmph, I thought you had something important to say. So in the end, that was it? I know very well that I have Great Yin Severance Meridians. The reason I placed my body under Seokga Manor’s protection was precisely so I could pour in a tremendous medicinal elixir and cut the suffering of Great Yin Severance Meridians in half."
The situation was rising in a direction completely opposite to Seok Geum-ryong’s expectations.
That only meant how deeply Im So-gun detested Great Yin Severance Meridians, how much she ground her teeth at the mere thought of it.
"Do you think I know nothing about Great Yin Severance Meridians? Ridiculous. I probably know more than you do, Young Master Seok Geum-ryong. It would take an enormous medicinal elixir, and at least two renowned physicians of the highest caliber. More than that, it would require someone impossible to find in this filthy Jianghu martial world. No, someone impossible to exist at all."
"You mean someone whose inner energy is the purest and gentlest under heaven?"
"Exactly! And even then, there’s only a chance if that person is a physician of renowned skill and at least at the Super First-class level, so they can perform pokeong hwagyeol."
Why would the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, Im So-gun, not wish to live longer?
The way she rattled off those words with such force made it clear how much resentment had piled up inside her.
At that, Seok Geum-ryong did not panic. Instead, he smiled meaningfully.
"If it were possible to treat you, what would you do? Would you take that challenge?"
He had not come to see Im So-gun for no reason.
There was a possibility of curing her completely.
A supreme yang medicinal elixir capable of suppressing the extreme yin chill of Great Yin Severance Meridians can be obtained with Seokga Manor’s wealth without much difficulty.
And then there were two physicians of renowned skill.
That too was not difficult.
No matter how rare and precious such masters might be, in the current combination of Seok Geum-ryong and the Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae, they would more than make up for it.
"Lies! There is no one in the world with a more gentle and pure inner energy method than Na Cheon-lip, the hermit. How are you supposed to find him, when he was so elusive he might as well have vanished from the world altogether?"
As if he were feeding her false hope, Seok Geum-ryong was met with an angry, sharp retort from Im So-gun, who looked as though she’d had enough.
Her words were not without reason.
In the past, when he had created the Heaven's Promise Pill, the most famous figure known to possess the purest and gentlest inner energy method in the world was none other than the Heaven-Earth Scholar, Na Cheon-lip.
"There is no need to find him."
Smiling broadly, Seok Geum-ryong spoke with confidence.
Because the owner of an inner energy method even gentler and purer than Na Cheon-lip’s was none other than Seok Geum-ryong himself.
"What did you say?"
"If you continue spouting such nonsense, I will not forgive you!"
Im So-gun exploded at his confidence, and even the usually composed Wol-papa became agitated as well.
They clearly believed Seok Geum-ryong was lying.
Especially since he was still only a young physician; how could he possibly be a renowned healer, let alone a master at the Super First-class level?
But it was no lie, no empty boast.
I am the owner of the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique, the gentlest inner energy method under heaven.
And that was not all.
After taking the Heaven's Promise Pill created by the Heaven-Earth Scholar Na Cheon-lip, that pure and gentle force had become so clear that, in that respect, it was no exaggeration to say he now stood above all others in the world.
"Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times. I shall show you directly."
Since they did not trust him, Seok Geum-ryong decided it would be better to demonstrate than to talk endlessly.
And then...
"Hoo..."
Seok Geum-ryong took a calm breath and, right before their eyes, circulated his inner energy method.
Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique!
The most pure and gentle inner energy method Na Cheon-lip had kept in mind when creating the Heaven's Promise Pill, now fused with that pill’s power and shining out like clear milk-white light. At last, the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique was released.
Whoosh!
The gentle, immaculate yet powerful energy of the Northern Dipper Cultivation Technique flooded over Seok Geum-ryong’s entire body.
With that, it was proved beyond doubt that Seok Geum-ryong had not lied at all, but spoken the truth.
"Oh my goodness!"
"T-this can't be!"
Seok Geum-ryong, whom they had treated as nothing more than an ordinary physician, or at best a rather capable one, now unleashed an inner energy method purer than any medicine. Im So-gun and Wol-papa were shaken to the core and turned to stare at each other.
They were both highly skilled themselves, so they immediately understood what that inner energy method meant.
This is unbelievable! A method this gentle really exists?
This energy is as clear and transparent as Na Cheon-lip’s, no, even more so!
Their judgment was correct.
After taking the Heaven's Promise Pill, Seok Geum-ryong’s inner energy had become even deeper and more formidable, and that would surely be of immense help in treating Great Yin Severance Meridians.
And there was one more thing.
"If Miss Im decides to undergo treatment... Physician Yeo Gwang-rae, the Golden Needle Venerable, has also promised to help wholeheartedly."
If even Yeo Gwang-rae, the man called the physician among physicians, poured his utmost effort into the treatment, the chances of a complete cure would soar.
"R-really..."
A complete cure for the incurable Great Yin Severance Meridians.
That was a word she had never dared to dream of, because it had been impossible.
At the notion that a cure might actually be possible, Im So-gun’s eyes grew wet before she even realized it.
Drip.
Wol-papa, too, was moved to tears. As Im So-gun’s guardian, she had treated her as though she were her own daughter.
So if Im So-gun died, Wol-papa had resolved to take her own life as well. And yet now there was a chance she might be cured.
"Of course, I cannot claim she will be cured without fail. There is a chance that, during treatment, the worst could happen and she may pass away. Even so... will you fight against this uncertain fate?"
As a physician, and as a martial artist, Seok Geum-ryong could not force her decision.
But if the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, Im So-gun, chose to go forward with it, there was one thing he could promise.
I will do everything in my power to save her.
Seok Geum-ryong closed his eyes.
Senior Woo! Why aren’t you one of the Four Honored Guests, when you’re such a remarkable master?
As he closed his eyes, he recalled the sight of Im So-gun from his previous life, when she had been so clean and pure in spirit.
Until just a moment ago, he had assumed she did not even know she had Great Yin Severance Meridians. But no.
Looking back now, she had been showing that pure expression despite suffering from such a painful, incurable disease.
And when he thought that the reason Im So-gun had looked at the Gold-Selling Swordsman Woo Do-min with such gentle eyes was because he had been much the same as her, Seok Geum-ryong felt his chest ache even more.
She was, in a way, just like his son had been in his previous life.
"Please... help me. I... want to live longer."
Drip.
Im So-gun, the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, who seemed as though she would never waver, finally could not hold back her tears and wept, beautiful even in her grief.
* * *
"Young Master! The Heavenly Yang Divine Pill has arrived!"
Scholar in Blue Gong Sang-pil came forward, carefully cradling a golden bundle in his arms.
The youngest of the Four Honored Guests, a master born with Great Yin Severance Meridians, a tragic figure blessed with the greatest talent yet condemned to an early death.
The treatment of the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, Im So-gun, was proceeding with remarkable smoothness.
The first step was to obtain the Heavenly Yang Divine Pill, whose supreme yang power would suppress the yin energy of Great Yin Severance Meridians for a time.
This Heavenly Yang Divine Pill had been requested directly from Seok Ji-sung by Im So-gun and Wol-papa, and Seok Ji-sung, the family head, who cherished Im So-gun’s talent and skill more than anyone else, had spent a fortune to obtain it after great difficulty.
"Good. Next is... the physician."
Once the Heavenly Yang Divine Pill arrived, Seok Geum-ryong looked to the Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae.
As he had said before, curing Great Yin Severance Meridians required at least two renowned physicians.
Frankly speaking, Seok Geum-ryong was a little short of the standard for being called a renowned physician, but Yeo Gwang-rae was more than that, so the two of them together would be enough.
"Very well. Shall we begin at once?"
Yeo Gwang-rae said in a confident voice.
Strictly speaking, even the Golden Needle Venerable had never before cured Great Yin Severance Meridians.
In other words, for Yeo Gwang-rae, curing Great Yin Severance Meridians was a challenge.
"Yes, sir!"
Seok Geum-ryong also clenched his fist with greater resolve than ever before.
I will save her. I will definitely save her.
He looked at the Moon Spirit Sword Lady, Im So-gun, trembling faintly as she lay on the physician’s bed, and his heart hardened with determination.
"Then... everyone else, please leave."
Seok Geum-ryong asked that everyone except himself and Yeo Gwang-rae leave the treatment room.
At that, Wol-papa turned away with heavy steps, worry written all over her face.
"Miss So-gun."
As tears fell across her wrinkled face, Wol-papa moved farther away from the treatment room.
Setting that aside, all the conditions necessary to cure Im So-gun’s Great Yin Severance Meridians were now in place.
"Let's begin."
Whoosh!
The Golden Needle Venerable Yeo Gwang-rae produced a golden needle and, in an instant, pressed it into the proper acupoints.
At that very moment, treatment to cure Great Yin Severance Meridians began.
Fap, fap-fap-fap!
As though he had been waiting for this very day, Yeo Gwang-rae, in the blink of an eye, inserted the golden needles that symbolized him into Im So-gun’s body one after another.
Then he said,
"A supreme yang pill like this will melt or evaporate at the slightest contact with a human breath if one is careless, so there must be no hesitation."
Without ever forgetting that he was also passing on every ounce of his experience and medical knowledge to Seok Geum-ryong, he demonstrated it himself.
Swish...
As the precious Heavenly Yang Divine Pill was brought to Im So-gun’s lips, a tremendous cloud of steam rose, and at the same time hot supreme yang energy began to seethe and overflow through her entire body.
At last, the true battle, the true treatment, would begin now.
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