Chapter 61
Chapter 61
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 61
Chapter Title: Are There Any More?
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Byeok Taesan scowled the moment he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Why are there so many half-dead bastards?"
The first thing Byeok Taesan saw was the man who had unleashed his latent power.
Even at a glance, he looked the most dangerous. He was also the only one among the black-masked men inside who was fully alive.
Byeok Taesan strode toward him.
The black-masked men swarmed him.
But they collapsed, one by one, before they could even lay a hand on him.
Simply getting near Byeok Taesan was enough for them to lose their strength, fall, and never rise again.
Seeing this, the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric's jaws dropped.
They were utterly astonished to see the men they had struggled so hard against fall so easily.
Before they knew it, Byeok Taesan stood right in front of the man who had unleashed his latent power.
"Kuaaaargh!"
The man let out a monstrous scream and swung his sword at Byeok Taesan. The strike was incredibly fast and powerful.
But Byeok Taesan dodged the attack with a hair's breadth to spare, simply by leaning back slightly.
The moment the sword's tip passed his nose, Byeok Taesan shot forward, closing the distance between them.
Then, as if flicking his hand, he lightly struck the man's solar plexus.
Thud.
"Kweeegh!"
A gush of black blood poured from the man's mouth.
Byeok Taesan had already stepped back. There was no reason to stand there and be sprayed with blood.
The man who had vomited blood staggered backward, his eyes darting around frantically.
Realizing he was no match for Byeok Taesan, he tried to figure out how to escape.
But he had no time to think further. Byeok Taesan had approached again.
He hadn't even seen him move, but in the blink of an eye, Byeok Taesan was standing before him.
How could he not be shocked?
Startled, he reflexively swung his sword, but Byeok Taesan reached out and gently pressed down on the hand gripping the blade.
As the man's swing came to an abrupt halt, the back of Byeok Taesan's hand brushed against his chin.
Thump.
Byeok Taesan lightly stepped on the back of the man, who had collapsed forward onto his knees.
Crack.
Now, the man could no longer move.
Byeok Taesan looked around.
He saw the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric fighting the black-masked men, sticking close together under the protection of the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors.
It seemed there would be no problem leaving them be. They were fighting quite well.
Next, he checked on Cheon Gyeongwan and Yu Seoyeon.
The two were unleashing a barrage of ferocious attacks.
It was as if they were spewing out some deeply pent-up frustration.
With every move of their swords, the black-masked men fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
"Not bad."
Compared to when he first saw them, the difference was like a child growing into an adult.
Moreover, their coordination was so exquisitely perfect that it had the effect of three or four people fighting together, not just two.
This side, too, seemed to need no worrying about.
Byeok Taesan decided to clean up the area around the physicians first.
He casually approached the black-masked men attacking them. As soon as he drew near, they invariably collapsed.
With some breathing room, the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors spread out and began to press the attack on the black-masked men.
And the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric no longer needed to fight.
Byeok Taesan stood before the two and gestured with his chin toward a fallen black-masked man. It was the one who had unleashed his latent power.
"You can save him, right?"
At Byeok Taesan's words, the corners of the One-Needle Eccentric's and the Divine Doctor's mouths twisted into a smirk.
"You ask the obvious. If you tell us to save him, he will live."
The two quickly approached the man lying on the ground.
First, they removed his mask.
"Look at all these wrinkles."
He looked extremely old. His voice earlier hadn't sounded this aged.
The two began treating him immediately.
Since he had unleashed his latent power, they had to prevent his qi and blood from rupturing. They also had to stop his leaking innate energy.
With both the One-Needle Eccentric and the Divine Doctor of the Ages working together, the treatment was finished in an instant.
"By the way, I think this fellow is younger than he looks."
"His body looks like it's over seventy, no exaggeration, but his teeth and bones suggest he's not even thirty."
"Unleashing latent power doesn't age you this much in an instant."
If left alone, he would have ended up like this eventually, but the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric had treated him at the right time.
This meant his body was already in this state even before he unleashed his latent power.
"It's not like someone sucked all the life force out of him…"
"We can just wake him up later and ask, so let's not waste our energy guessing."
With that, the Divine Doctor of the Ages looked at Byeok Taesan.
Byeok Taesan was already moving throughout the estate, taking down the remaining black-masked men who were still standing.
Strangely, despite the situation, the black-masked men showed no intention of fleeing.
They attacked relentlessly, as if only carrying out a pre-engraved command in their minds.
"It is strange, indeed. Ah, what you said earlier, what did you mean by that?"
"What was that?"
"That they're half-dead. You know something, don't you? You also mentioned jiangshi earlier."
"If you heard that much, you should know. Why bother asking?"
"Is guessing the same as hearing it from someone who knows? Spit it out."
"It's just as it sounds. Those men are half-jiangshi."
"Half-jiangshi? Is that even possible?"
"There are two opposing energies flowing through their bodies, right?"
"Right."
"They've injected corpse energy into a living person. The corpse energy then consumes the life force, expanding its domain and gradually turning the person into a jiangshi."
"What an unforgivable act against heaven and man."
"Of course, you can't just inject it. It requires a special ritual. And a special poison."
"Poison?"
"A poison used when injecting corpse energy. It's similar to a corpse toxin, but rather tricky to make."
The One-Needle Eccentric narrowed his eyes and looked at the Divine Doctor of the Ages.
"You… seem to know too much about this."
The Divine Doctor of the Ages gave a bitter smile and said,
"This was something my master was researching."
"What?"
"He happened upon the poison's recipe, which ignited my master's ambition."
"So you're saying he turned perfectly healthy people into jiangshi?"
Even for the Heavenly Demonic Cult, wasn't that going too far?
The Divine Doctor of the Ages shook his head.
"Heavens, no. When we make jiangshi, we use dead people, not living ones. We just tested it on a few animals before abandoning the research."
"Is that so?"
"About the weakness I mentioned earlier. The more corpse energy that's injected, the more weaknesses appear."
The One-Needle Eccentric tilted his head.
"That's strange. Those men earlier only had one weakness."
"It means they succeeded in their research. Though… frankly, it seems useless. Don't you agree?"
As the Divine Doctor of the Ages said this, looking toward Byeok Taesan, the One-Needle Eccentric couldn't help but nod.
After all, if they all collapse so helplessly, they're of no use whatsoever.
Though, who other than Byeok Taesan could do such a thing?
In truth, if they didn't collapse so easily and if their weaknesses could be eliminated, they would possess considerable power.
While the two physicians were talking back and forth, the battle ended.
The area was filled with corpses.
***
The Hubei Martial Alliance warriors moved busily, gathering the corpses scattered throughout the estate into one place.
Fortunately, none of the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors had died, though some were seriously injured.
The injured were also treated flawlessly by the Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric.
These two were physicians who could reattach severed limbs. No matter how severe the injury, as long as the person was alive, they could be treated.
Especially when it came to external injuries, the Divine Doctor's skills were truly remarkable.
As for internal injuries, the One-Needle Eccentric's abilities were astounding.
The One-Needle Eccentric and the Divine Doctor of the Ages examined the collected corpses one by one.
Since creatures like these were likely to appear often in the future, a proper investigation was necessary to deal with them effectively later.
Of course, for now, they only planned to do a quick check while resting. Later, they would move the bodies to the Hubei Martial Alliance for a full-scale investigation.
"Find anything?"
At Byeok Taesan's question, the ears of the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors who were cleaning up the area perked up.
The damage to the estate was immense, so while the two physicians examined the corpses, the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors were tidying up.
But they were focusing all their attention on what the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric were doing.
"These men are just ordinary people."
"Ordinary people? You mean they haven't learned any martial arts?"
"That's right."
Hearing this, the Hubei Martial Alliance warriors stopped their work and stared in astonishment, their gazes shifting between the two physicians and the pile of corpses.
They had just heard something unbelievable.
How hard had they fought against these men? Their swordsmanship seemed lacking, but their strength and speed were immense.
That also meant their internal energy was outstanding.
But to say they had bodies that hadn't learned martial arts... no, more than that, could they tell such a thing just from a corpse?
"Looking at their muscles, it seems they've done some semblance of training… but there are almost no traces of internal energy."
The One-Needle Eccentric continued the Divine Doctor's explanation.
"In other words, they were beings with extremely short lifespans from the start."
"Short lifespans?"
"It produces an effect similar to unleashing latent power by mixing corpse energy with innate energy."
"In that case, they can generate immense power. Plus, it's more sustainable than simply using innate energy."
"However, since they're using up their innate energy and mixing it with corpse energy, their lifespans are bound to be extremely short."
"How long are their lifespans?"
The Divine Doctor of the Ages and the One-Needle Eccentric both stroked their chins, lost in thought.
"Hmm… We'd have to run actual tests to be sure, but judging from the state of the corpses, about two years? They'd probably be spent by then. If they exert themselves a lot in that time, it would be even shorter."
Before long, everyone had stopped what they were doing and was focused on the two physicians' conversation.
If that was true, it was truly astonishing. And also extremely threatening.
If they could take ordinary people, not martial artists, and turn them into such powerful fighters, and use them for a full two years, what couldn't they accomplish?
Byeok Taesan nodded nonchalantly.
"Well, so that's how it is. Alright, let's wrap this up and head back. It's late, time to get some sleep."
Only then did everyone disperse and finish their tasks.
In truth, there was something they really wanted to ask, but no one could bring themselves to do it.
What they were truly curious about was how Byeok Taesan had defeated those men.
But for some reason, no one asked him. No, they couldn't ask.
And so, the night deepened.
***
Byeok Taesan was alone in his room.
He hadn't let anyone in today. There was no need, and in truth, he couldn't.
Earlier, when he went to rescue the Divine Doctor and the One-Needle Eccentric, the half-dead men had released a vast amount of spiritual energy into the surroundings as they fell.
The reason those men had collapsed so helplessly was because of the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts.
The Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts that Byeok Taesan activated had completely burned away their dead energy, shattering the balance of power that sustained their bodies.
Paradoxically, they needed that dead energy to live.
The Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts had shaken that delicate balance.
Anyway, as that balance shattered, all the power of their souls poured out.
In the end, the space within the estate was filled with spiritual energy.
He made no effort to absorb it. To begin with, one should not recklessly absorb spiritual energy that has been released in such a manner.
He only accepted what naturally flowed into his body.
That would be the spiritual energy perfectly suited for his body.
Spiritual energy not obtained by directly burning souls with the Soul-Devouring Demonic Arts should not be taken carelessly.
In any case, there was so much spiritual energy that even by absorbing only a small fraction, the amount was substantial.
Tonight, he had to digest it.
It was more potent spiritual energy than he had expected. Having been filtered and refined from a vast amount, its quality was bound to be high.
And its effects were far greater than Byeok Taesan had anticipated.
It was like consuming a spiritual elixir made of pure spiritual energy.
After fully digesting the absorbed spiritual energy, Byeok Taesan immediately entered meditation.
Through the day's events, he had obtained a small fragment of enlightenment.
It was an enlightenment about balance, harmony, and naturalness.
Of course, the fragment was so small that it wouldn't bring about any major change, but one usually collects these small pieces, and upon looking back later, discovers a surprisingly significant transformation.
After organizing his enlightenment, his thoughts naturally shifted to contemplating ways to deal with the men he had encountered today.
As he did so, the day slowly began to break.
Byeok Taesan murmured softly.
"Are there any more of them?"