Chapter 37
Episode 37
The Generous Emei (1)
The normally bustling infirmary of the Sichuan Tang Family was eerily silent.
The usual crowd of patients and physicians had vanished without a trace.
There was only one reason for this.
The Sichuan Tang Family had temporarily closed its gates, refusing all patients and visitors.
Thud!
Amidst this silence, the Tang Family's gatekeepers stood guard with sharpened vigilance, their eyes fixed on one particular treatment room.
The very room where Se-woon lay unconscious on a sickbed.
Haaah...
Ha-yeong wiped the sweat from her brow.
Today, she was not dressed as a warrior but as a physician, tending to her patient.
Though her mouth and nose were covered with white cloth, the exhaustion in her eyes was unmistakable.
And for good reason.
She had spent the last two nights without sleep, watching over the patient before her.
Yet she dared not complain—she didn't believe she had the right to.
Her gaze drifted toward the bed.
The patient lying there—no, Se-woon—was the focus of her deep worry and regret.
"I should have stayed behind..."
Her voice was thick with guilt.
Three days had already passed since Se-woon miraculously survived his battle with Poison Demon Yayul Seung.
But he still hadn't regained consciousness.
Every time she saw him writhing in agony, she felt the crushing weight of responsibility—as if this suffering was entirely her fault.
Tang Mu-yeol and Tang Se-rin had reassured her that saving the hostages had been unavoidable, that she shouldn't blame herself.
But she could only bow her head in silence before them.
Swish.
Ha-yeong dipped a clean cloth into a bowl beside her.
The bowl was filled with ice-cold water.
After wringing out the cloth, she turned back to Se-woon.
His upper body was exposed, his skin marred with dark, mottled patches.
With practiced motions, she carefully wiped him down.
This wasn't just about cleanliness.
The moment the chilled cloth touched his skin, it dried instantly—crisp as parchment.
Se-woon's body burned like a furnace, devoid of any moisture, as parched as a desert.
"...His fever still hasn't broken."
His face and torso were covered in grotesque black splotches—the aftermath of Dokma's Ban Gu Blood Poison.
Among the Eight Great Extreme Poisons of the martial world, Ban Gu Blood Poison was infamous for its cruelty.
Though less lethal than other poisons, it was designed for one purpose: torture.
It inflicted unbearable fever and searing pain—the kind that drove even the strongest warriors to madness before death.
Some said even a Pinnacle-level master couldn't endure it without losing their mind.
So, despite the horrific poison energy radiating from Se-woon, Ha-yeong never hesitated to tend to him.
It was far from easy, but she did it without fail, multiple times a day.
"This is the least I can do."
She bitterly regretted not studying poison suppression and detoxification under her master sooner.
What kind of Silver Phoenix was she?
Lost in hollow titles while her skills remained lacking.
Just as she sank deeper into self-reproach—
Creak.
The tightly shut door swung open.
"Ah, Master! And Lord Tang, you're here as well?"
Entering were Abbess Geumhwa, the Abbess of Emei, and Tang Mu-yeol, the family head.
Ha-yeong hurriedly rose to bow, but Tang Mu-yeol waved her off.
"Please, rest."
"How could I—"
"Why trouble someone who has shed so much sweat tending to my child with formalities?"
"...I am deeply grateful for your kindness."
"If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask."
His words carried genuine sincerity.
After surviving the ordeal with Dokma together, the three Emei disciples had grown exceptionally close with the Tang Family.
"Well, how is the boy?"
Abbess Geumhwa's complexion was even paler than Ha-yeong's.
She, too, had spent sleepless nights treating Se-woon—though for a different reason.
"...There's still no sign of improvement."
Ha-yeong shook her head.
Abbess Geumhwa's eyes darkened with sorrow as she gazed at Se-woon.
"This is my failing. To let a boy not yet twenty face Dokma alone... I grew complacent in peacetime, forgetting the duty of a martial artist."
Like Ha-yeong, she softly recited a Buddhist chant over Se-woon.
But only for a moment.
"Haaah... You've done well. I'll take over now."
"Yes, I'll assist you."
Ha-yeong rose at her master's words.
And then—
As Ha-yeong's hands finally left him—
"Phew. Finally, some relief."
To everyone's shock, the supposedly unconscious Se-woon inwardly sighed in relief.
Neither Ha-yeong nor even the Abbess of Emei had realized the truth.
Se-woon wasn't poisoned at all.
"Well, to be precise, I am poisoned—but it's as if I'm not."
It sounded contradictory, but that was exactly the case.
Outwardly, he appeared to be dying from Ban Gu Blood Poison—yet he felt no pain whatsoever.
Not because Dokma's poison was defective or incomplete.
But because Se-woon had mutated its properties, reducing it to harmless fever and black splotches.
Manipulating poison inside his own body?
By martial world standards, such a thing was impossible.
"Unless, of course, you've reached the legendary realm of a Poison Human."
After fully absorbing Angsinru's roots and merging its poison with his own power, Se-woon had created something new—Divine Poison Energy.
And in doing so, he realized he had naturally ascended to the threshold of what Dokma had so desperately sought: the state just before becoming a Poison Human.
"Since there's no existing term for it... perhaps 'Divine Poison Unity'?"
Though falling short of becoming a true Poison Human—one said to dissolve all creation into poison—was disappointing, achieving a state akin to Body-Sword Unity was no small feat.
Especially since Divine Poison Unity granted him the ability of Ten Thousand Poisons Unfettered.
"Exactly as it sounds—the power to freely control any poison within my body."
Before gaining this ability, he couldn't fully expel absorbed poisons in their original form.
In hindsight, it made sense.
While he could adjust potency and volume, altering a poison's fundamental nature was akin to creating an entirely new toxin.
But now—
After escaping Dokma's Concealment Formation and reuniting with the rescue party, Se-woon had fully awakened this power.
Poison's intensity.
Poison's nature.
Poison's form.
He could manipulate any extreme poison he absorbed at will—even merging different poisons to create entirely new ones unknown to the world.
Yet despite gaining such a formidable ability—
"Ghhh!"
He was now blatantly faking his condition.
Though having the future Sword Empress wipe his bare body was mortifyingly awkward, he endured it for one reason alone.
"Huuu... Young Master, please hold on a little longer."
Yes—if the reward was receiving the Abbess of Emei's full-powered Energy Pushing Technique, then faking it was worth it.
Thwap!
Tap!
Abbess Geumhwa's palms, infused with the Golden Summit Divine Energy, moved across Se-woon's body.
Whooosh!
Simultaneously, the overwhelming Mystic Qi unique to orthodox martial arts radiated around them.
The reason for her haggard appearance?
She had been performing this exhausting technique nonstop for three days.
The true horror of Ban Gu Blood Poison was the near-impossibility of crafting an antidote.
The sole known antidote required Snowflake Herb, exclusively produced by the Northern Ice Palace.
But the Ice Palace was an extremely reclusive sect beyond the Central Plains, refusing all contact with outsiders.
Unless one carried Ice Palace blood, obtaining Snowflake Herb was impossible.
Thus, only one method remained:
Maximizing the patient's natural resistance to fight the poison.
This required a Pinnacle-level master trained in orthodox martial arts to spend days reinforcing the patient's meridians and vitality through energy transfer—forcing the body to resist the poison on its own.
It was the only way.
"Honestly, this treatment is nearly impossible too."
Only the leaders of the Nine Sects and Seven Great Families met the criteria.
And having such a master dedicate days to energy transfer was akin to the rare Bone Marrow Cleansing ritual—something reserved only for a sect's heir.
"Haaah... haah..."
Abbess Geumhwa continued the technique, her breath labored.
No wonder she was exhausted.
Even Bone Marrow Cleansing required at least three masters rotating shifts.
Seeing her weariness, Se-woon felt a pang of guilt—
Whooosh!
—but as the overwhelming mystic energy surged through him, his overstrained body—wrecked from abusing Invisible Rain and battling Dokma—rapidly healed.
Even his damaged meridians were restored.
He clenched his eyes shut tighter.
"Forgive me. I'll repay you by crushing the Blood Cult and saving Emei."
But just then—
Thud-thud-thud!
Urgent footsteps echoed outside the treatment room.
"Huh?"
Had something else happened?
As Se-woon focused his attention—
Creak.
The door swung open.
"Huff... huff... Master! Disciple Cheong Yeon has finally arrived!"
Cheong Yeon burst in, drenched in sweat as if she had sprinted nonstop.
For some reason, Abbess Geumhwa's face brightened at the sight of her.
"Did you bring it?"
"Yes!"
"Amitabha."
As Cheong Yeon nodded with a radiant smile, Abbess Geumhwa softly recited a Buddhist chant.
Swish.
Then—Cheong Yeon pulled out a small wooden case from her robes.
Whooosh.
"—?!"
Everyone except the three Emei disciples gasped.
Even before opening the case, an inexplicably divine fragrance filled the room.
"Wait—don't tell me?!"
Se-woon's heart pounded as he guessed what lay inside.