Chapter 16 – Haaahng

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read more at Nineheavens.org

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Chapter 16 – Haaahng!

Since his middle age, Yeop Hwon had his exceptional martial prowess recognized and earned the title White Mountain Sword Excellence, after which he built his reputation as a sword master representing the sect.

At that time, his martial arts level surpassed Chief Supervisor Hyeop Mu-geuk's and was almost on par with Sect Master Sagong Woon's.

However, an unexpected mysterious illness changed his fate.

One day, the circulation of true energy through his major acupoints suddenly became unstable, and his dantian even contracted, making it difficult to use martial arts at all.

At first, he thought it was fatigue or overwork and took medicine focused on replenishing energy.

But there was no improvement whatsoever.

The physicians' examinations and prescriptions were useless, and the incomprehensible symptoms only worsened as time went on. Eventually, he deteriorated until he was barely more than a living corpse, reduced to spending most of his time bedridden.

It was the regrettable exit of White Peak Sword Sect's second-in-command.

This year, his bodily condition had deteriorated even further.

The death of Sect Master White Gate Sword Gentleman Sagong Woon, who had been the sect's pillar, and the shock from it had greatly affected his body and mind.

It had been nearly eight years.

The years spent helplessly suffering from illness.

And yet… Coming out of nowhere and talking about rejuvenation? How, without any preamble? What, is he some legendary Great Luo Divine Immortal?

For Yeop Hwon, it was an incomprehensible statement.

Why was Cheol Ryu-heun, who knew the situation well, suddenly blurting out such words now of all times?

Of course, his desire to rejuvenate was desperate, but he couldn't even determine the name of the disease, let alone the cause of its occurrence.

Cheol Ryu-heun paid no mind and opened his mouth again.

"It won't take long."

At that, Yeop Hwon replied with a flustered expression.

"Um… So you mean you're going to try to cure my body? Right here on the spot…?"

"Did I come to fix it or break it?"

At Cheol Ryu-heun's indifferent response, Yeop Hwon blinked his eyes for a moment, then slightly shook his head against the pillow.

How was he going to cure a mysterious illness he had suffered from for over eight years in just one day?

"There's no need to go through the trouble for my sake. Please don't. Also… I know my own body best. I'll just gratefully accept your concern."

His phlegmy voice was filled with bitterness.

But Cheol Ryu-heun completely ignored it.

"Know, my foot."

"Pardon?"

"It's Severed Meridian Disease."

"…!"

In that instant, Yeop Hwon's dark brown pupils rippled with transparent waves.

Severed Meridian Disease.

Also called Severed Meridian Disability or Severed Meridian Affliction – a rare illness.

It was a disease that any martial artist, including Yeop Hwon, would know about – practically a heavenly punishment.

The representative symptoms of Severed Meridian Disease were problems in the circulation of blood vessels and energy meridians due to yin or yang energy being too heavily skewed to one side.

As a result, vital energy in the body disappeared while only turbid energy accumulated, leading to death. Nine Yin Severed Meridian, Nine Yang Severed Meridian, Unfinished Water Severed Meridian, Deficient Fire Severed Meridian, and so on, all fell under that category.

There were even extremely severe Severed Meridian Diseases that damaged the five viscera and six bowels or even the brain.

Such as the so-called Organ-Destroying Ghost Severed Meridian, Soul-Severing Demon Severed Meridian, Heaven-Defying Great Severed Meridian, and the like…

There was absolutely no way to prevent Severed Meridian Disease.

Why?

Because it was a congenital constitutional disease with an incubation period, showing no symptoms until the age of five or six.

Still, though there was no prevention, there was a cure.

If one accurately identified the properties of the Severed Meridian Disease and obtained and took the appropriate medicine, complete recovery was possible.

However, there was a major obstacle.

That was the fact that, barring some heaven-sent miracle, obtaining the medicine was as difficult as plucking stars from the sky.

What was needed to cure Severed Meridian Disease was, in fact, a supreme elixir said to cure all ailments and grant eternal youth.

More precisely, it meant the inner core of mystical creatures that one might barely see once in over a hundred years of living – such as Fire Fish, Blood Eagle, Azure Wolf, White Tiger, Flood Dragon, and so on.

No matter how great one's power or wealth, without heavenly fortune, obtaining the elixir to cure Severed Meridian Disease was impossible.

The reason most people treated it as an incurable disease was because finding it was like searching for a needle hidden in a vast desert.

Therefore, the majority died young before reaching thirty regardless of gender, and even if they somehow overcame several crises, around forty was the maximum lifespan limit.

And yet.

Yeop Hwon was currently a seventy-year-old man.

Furthermore, his symptoms had only started about eight years ago.

In other words, this was completely different from the characteristics of congenital Severed Meridian Disease.

Yeop Hwon naturally had doubts about the Severed Meridian Disease diagnosis itself.

"Um… Aren't you perhaps mistaken somehow…?"

But Cheol Ryu-heun replied as if hammering it in.

"There's also a type of Severed Meridian Disease that manifests in old age. Though Severed Meridian Disease is uncommon in general, Elder Yeop's case is even rarer than that."

"If that's so…"

"Well, you were just born with an unlucky constitution. There's no other reason."

"…"

Yeop Hwon was dumbfounded.

The way he spoke with such certainty made his mind even more confused.

"H-How do you know this?"

"Let's just say it's thanks to gaining new enlightenment over ten days."

At Cheol Ryu-heun's halfhearted answer, Yeop Hwon still looked half-skeptical.

'New enlightenment? Where on earth did he go and come back from… Could he have obtained new martial arts and knowledge through some kind of mystical encounter? If not that…'

Cheol Ryu-heun remained expressionless as he placed the bundle on the table beside the bed.

"Whether you believe it or not is up to you."

Then he suddenly tore apart the other's clothes with rough gestures.

Rip, ri-rip, rip-!

Yeop Hwon was suddenly naked.

That wasn't the end of it.

Cheol Ryu-heun channeled powerful internal force into his fingertips and rapidly pressed several of Yeop Hwon's paralysis points.

Tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap-tap!

Having been subjected to energy acupoint sealing and his body paralyzed, Yeop Hwon was then startled by Cheol Ryu-heun's gaze.

The epitome of indifference, perhaps.

It felt as if no emotion whatsoever was contained in those two eyes.

Yeop Hwon was certain of it now.

That as he had heard before, Cheol Ryu-heun's personality had changed drastically from before.

Setting aside the outward speech and behavior, he couldn't even begin to guess the intentions hidden behind those eyes.

Even he, with all his life experience, couldn't get a feel for it, so imagine how the others must feel.

At that moment, Cheol Ryu-heun opened the bundle and took out a wide cylindrical container.

"Let's begin."

"Wh-What is that?"

"Something needed to cure Severed Meridian Disease."

At those words, a thought suddenly flashed through Yeop Hwon's mind.

'Ah! Could it be a supreme elixir…'

Sure enough, Cheol Ryu-heun said quietly.

"A mystical creature's inner core."

Right after he opened the lid.

Click-

A peculiar fragrance that Yeop Hwon had never smelled once in his seventy years of life spread throughout the room.

Inside the wide cylinder were three pills the size of a child's fist, and that was the smell they were giving off.

Cheol Ryu-heun picked up one of them.

A black-blue pill as smooth and shiny as if carved from jade.

"It's an Ink Softshell Fruit."

At Cheol Ryu-heun's brief words, Yeop Hwon's expression changed completely.

'Ink Softshell Fruit!'

A precious fruit said to be obtainable by cutting open the belly of the legendary mystical creature, the Ink Softshell – in other words, its inner core.

Though he couldn't verify whether it was real since he was seeing such a thing for the first time in his life…

Cheol Ryu-heun soon crushed the Ink Softshell Fruit with both hands and brought it toward the other's mouth.

"Chew and swallow it, leaving nothing behind. That way it'll end quickly."

"J-Just a moment… Is this really an Ink Softshell Fruit? If it's genuine, how did you obtain it…"

"You're being annoying. How much longer do you want me to look at that rotting body? It's hurting my eyes."

Cheol Ryu-heun immediately stuffed plenty of the crushed pill into Yeop Hwon's mouth and blocked it tightly with his palm.

"Mmph!"

"Last warning – eat it while I'm asking nicely."

The startled Yeop Hwon finally began chewing what was in his mouth as he was told.

Eventually.

Gulp.

After Yeop Hwon swallowed all the pill fragments, Cheol Ryu-heun crushed the remaining two in the same manner and had him consume them one after another.

Right after came a scream.

"Aaaaahk!"

It was Yeop Hwon.

He was suddenly assaulted by a pain as if countless iron clubs were flying in and striking every bone in his body.

Cheol Ryu-heun watched him with his arms folded.

"It's a necessary process, so endure it."

His confidence in curing Severed Meridian Disease that manifested in old age was rock solid.

It couldn't be otherwise.

He had directly witnessed a patient like Yeop Hwon being completely cured in the past.

The Celestial Sword Sovereign, who had reached the pinnacle of the martial world about four hundred years ago, was the protagonist of that success story.

At that time, he had not only achieved greatness as a swordsman but also possessed unparalleled skill in medicine.

So much so that rumors even circulated then saying he 'kept someone whose head had been cut off breathing for several days.'

In Cheol Ryu-heun's mind currently remained the Celestial Sword Sovereign's medical expertise and knowledge in their entirety, and he was making full use of them to cure Yeop Hwon.

That was why he naturally didn't even consider failure.

About fifteen minutes later.

Yeop Hwon's screams subsided, and soon his breathing stabilized.

"Whew… Whew…"

The terrible pain had rapidly subsided.

"Surrender to the flow."

The moment Cheol Ryu-heun's brief words ended, Yeop Hwon sensed the major acupoints of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Primary Channels in his body pulsating strongly.

'No, this is…!'

It was truly amazing.

The lower dantian, which had been contracted due to the illness's effects until now, was expanding, and a certain amount of true energy had accumulated in the sea of energy acupoint.

The turbid energy that had accumulated throughout his body had somehow dissipated, and instead, vital energy was filling up and generating vitality.

It felt as if his body was automatically circulating energy and purifying the meridians regardless of his own will.

'Good heavens, I can finally use internal energy! Was what I took really an Ink Softshell Fruit?'

Suddenly, Cheol Ryu-heun's indifferent voice struck Yeop Hwon's ears.

"Tch, he doesn't trust the person who magnificently saved the sect right in front of him."

"Ah! F-Forgive me! I was so flustered… I believe you now!"

"The first stage is done, now for the second stage."

"Pardon?"

Cheol Ryu-heun rolled up his sleeves without replying.

Seized by an ominous premonition, Yeop Hwon asked haltingly.

"Wh-Why are you s-suddenly rolling up your sleeves…?"

"Acupoint pressing."

"Pardon? Again…?"

"This time will be more painful, so clench your teeth and endure it."

Cheol Ryu-heun's fists cut through the air.

Thud, thud-thud, thud-!

His hands struck indiscriminately – chest, stomach, arms, legs, everywhere.

"Aahk! Aaaahk! Aahk!"

Yeop Hwon's piercing cries echoed through the inner chamber.

What acupoint pressing – anyone could see this was just a beating!

At that moment, Cheol Ryu-heun said while busily working his fists.

"I guarantee that once this time passes, you'll have internal energy at the same level as my late Master."

Yeop Hwon couldn't hide his shock despite the agony.

What? On par with Sect Master Sagong's internal energy level? Me? Are you serious?

A thrill arose amid the pain.

If that could really happen, he would be able to contribute greatly to the sect's revival in the future.

Perhaps because of that influence.

While the punching continued without cease, a strange moan instead of a scream escaped from between Yeop Hwon's lips.

"Haaahng!"

As if the pain had transformed into some kind of pleasure.

Cheol Ryu-heun grinned and muttered.

"Good, that's an excellent reaction."