Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Bone Transformation
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Straight talk.
This was completely unexpected.
No, even so—chopping someone up like a slab of meat without even hearing them out first? Is that really human thinking?
Truth be told, that's probably exactly why he reached the absolute realm.
To obtain power beyond human limits, you have to shed something human in the process.
So right now, I'm thinking...
'This is...'
In other words, I'm fucked.
"Would you be fine with your daughter dying?"
[The master of the Demonic Heaven does not negotiate with snot-nosed brats from the Nine Great Sects.]
Petty old hag.
Looks like he'd overheard what I said to the Mountain King.
But if I stop talking here, I'm really dead.
Not content with housing his own divine spirit in his upper dantian, this madman had contemplated an entire world. The moment his interest piqued, I'd be reduced to a puddle of blood.
That's why I pressed on with my utterly shameless attitude.
"What exactly is the problem? I'm not saying I'll kill her—I'm saying I'll save her."
[I already told you. The very fact that you're offering to save my daughter implies you could just as easily choose to let her die.]
True to form for a leader of the unorthodox paths, he had a knack for twisting words at a masterful level.
Assuming everyone else acts as viciously as he does—that's the unavoidable trait of demonic paths, shared by street thugs and absolute masters alike.
"Your behavior makes no sense to me. If you doubt my intentions, just peek into my mind with that fancy upper dantian intent of yours."
[I did consider it once. But why bother peering into the mind of a lunatic who's crammed it full of all sorts of bizarre nonsense? I'd just ruin my eyes.]
A fitting response from the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor, who had reached the pinnacle of the absolute sword realm.
His tongue was as sharp as a blade, casually condemning a man's inner world as grotesque and cluttered.
[Insolent old hag? You dare refer to this seat in such a manner?]
"Nine Yin Severed Meridians."
I ignored the hallucination echoing in my head and cut straight to the point.
Absolute meridians, as the name suggests, were a condition where the body's qi-flowing channels were congenitally or acquiredly severed.
Meridians were pathways for circulating true qi within the body and channels for projecting internal energy outward.
The Nine Yin Severed Meridians occurred when the nine major meridians responsible for expelling yin qi—one of the two vital energies humans possess—were blocked, trapping yin qi inside.
If yin qi couldn't be expelled, it wreaked havoc on the human body, which was as intricately precise as a microcosm.
Just as greasy food clogs arteries and blocks blood flow, clumps of yin qi frost over the meridians like ice, obstructing other channels and hindering vital energy circulation.
Vital energy was life force itself. When it couldn't flow through the body, life ebbed away bit by bit.
And this wasn't just any absolute meridian affliction—the Nine Yin variety caused those yin qi clumps to form sharp ice shards that lacerated meridian walls.
This wasn't from some book; it was knowledge I'd gleaned by contemplating Dugu Yuyeon's body.
When meridian walls were pierced by yin qi fragments, internal bleeding occurred—what was simply called an internal injury.
Most internal injuries came with vomiting blood.
Coughing up a bowlful morning and night naturally depleted the blood supply, and no anemic person could be healthy.
Her unbelievably frail constitution. The faint metallic tang of blood on her breath, no matter how she tried to hide it.
Hair turned prematurely white from yin qi saturation.
The movements of the world's top expert's daughter, showing no trace of martial training. Meridians devoid of even a scrap of internal energy.
Yet a body flooded with an absurd amount of natural qi.
Proof that she'd ingested spirit medicines to suppress the steadily accumulating yin cold qi.
Every clue pointed to Nine Yin Severed Meridians.
And it struck right at the heart of our conversation. The Black Mysterious Sword Emperor's eyes widened, and the sword-formed world trembled faintly.
I kept up my feigned composure.
"I was shocked too. I had no idea something like that actually existed. Thought it was just some made-up disease from knight-errant tales."
[...I didn't expect you'd figure it out so quickly. The Divine Physician wouldn't have let it slip. Are you versed in medicine as well?]
"No need for anyone to tell me. You think I haven't examined your daughter's body a few times by now?"
[That statement alone warrants your head coming off. If I were you, I wouldn't test my patience any further.]
"Give me a break. Would that settle it? Your daughter's inching toward death even now, and I have both the will and the ability to stop it. What more proof do you want?"
'If it bothers you so much, read my mind then.'
I conjured a short, intense burst of intent.
No way the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor missed that.
Sure enough, he smirked crookedly.
[There are easier ways to make you spit out the truth than peering into that abyss coiled in your mindscape.]
The Black Mysterious Sword Emperor's lips moved soundlessly.
Having chanced upon lip-reading skills before, I understood perfectly.
Severing Tendons and Dislocating Bones.
A torture technique favored by absolute masters. I knew a thing or two about it myself.
But I'd rarely been on the receiving end.
I replied with a sour expression.
"Not a great idea. Won't work on me anyway."
[Everyone says that until I apply it personally. It's never failed once, so don't worry.]
His confidence was written all over his face.
In this pitch-black world, it made his mug look even more grotesque. I suddenly wanted to smack him.
"I'll prove it."
Straightening my posture, I muttered through gritted teeth.
I contemplated my body's microcosm and circulated true qi in a familiar pattern.
Meanwhile, my mind replayed the bone transformation experiences from my past life, repeated countless times.
Having two arms and an extra eye this time around? No issue for me.
Crack, crunch—! Tangible true qi within me shattered bones and tore muscles.
Stopping there would make it Severing Tendons and Dislocating Bones. Painful as hell either way, and left alone, it'd cripple you just the same.
But bone transformation was the vague dream of every martial artist for a reason: beyond pain rivaling that technique lay the shedding of the fleshly shell.
True qi permeated the pulverized bones. Shredded muscle fibers stretched long and wove tightly together.
'Can't go over six feet, but at least that. With both arms for balance now, make the legs longer than last time. Arms... planning to keep using dual weapons, so even density throughout.'
The process continued, reassembling my flesh into something bigger, longer, stronger—molded to the ideal form in my mind.
Bone transformation meant breaking free of human species limits.
Thus, transcendent masters were practically a different race from ordinary humans.
Mentally still hairless apes swayed by the seven emotions and six desires, yet physically rivaling the Buddha who lifted an elephant barehanded.
In my past life, I'd done this over and over. What martial artists dreamed of and aimed for was just tedious busywork to me.
Opening the conception and governor vessels, the birth-death passes? Child's play, no explanation needed.
Whoosh!
The meridians to my upper dantian burst open, true qi flooding my brain. Having built internal energy there already sped the process.
Vast power surged into the upper dantian, residual energy pooling in the nearest organ—my eyes—erupting as radiant gaze.
My body, clenched against the agony, swayed, on the verge of toppling into the surrounding forest of fallen swords.
"...You're insane."
With that, the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor withdrew his Sword Thought World.
Light returned to the world. My fully opened upper dantian sensed the lingering massive intent around us.
'What the...'
I wanted to snap that the truly insane one was him.
The aftermath of his briefly deployed Sword Thought World alone would prevent even a peak transcendent master from manifesting their intent here.
His will filled the space at such density that no transcendent master's could externalize.
'How.'
Truly incomprehensible.
Including me, the Three Heavens Seven Absolutes were all peak experts who could claim to be the greatest across history in their fields.
It hadn't started that way.
We'd simply amassed countless battles and experiences compared to the prior absolute masters who invented techniques for killing or cultivating.
Yet among those seven titans, the second strongest—right after the Heavenly Demon—the Black Mysterious Sword Emperor...
'He's even stronger now than back then.'
In other words, unlike me, he hadn't grown through the chaos after Emperor Hyeonhyeon's era.
Yet he was still stronger.
It hit me like defeat.