Chapter 159: When the Rain of Chaos Falls, the Sleeping Dragon Stirs (3)

Eum Yu-gyeong opened her eyes. Before her stretched a broad back, as wide as a prairie. And she recognized the familiar scent. Someone was carrying her on their back, moving with incredible speed through the air.

The scenery around her was blurring past at tremendous velocity. There should have been a crushing pressure and a howling wind, yet strangely, she felt perfectly at ease.

A faint smile curved Eum Yu-gyeong's lips.

"Yul… cheon."

"I'm late. I'm sorry."

A voice was heard, deep and resonant, carrying an unmistakable weight of trust.

Eum Yu-gyeong gently shook her head while still pressed against the man's back.

"No. More importantly, how did you find me?"

"My woman was in danger. Of course I came."

"Yul-cheon."

"It seems we've bought some time. Let's rest for a while."

The man gradually slowed, and at last came to a complete stop.

He set Eum Yu-gyeong down upon a rock by the riverbank. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirty.

Despite his imposing stature of over seven chi, his face held a gentle, honest quality. But his piercingly bright eyes and firmly set lips spoke to an indomitable will.

At the man's waist hung a massive blade wrapped in linen cloth.

Eum Yu-gyeong's gaze fell upon his hand. The hand that had just been supporting her was drenched in blood.

"Yul-cheon. Your hand…"

"The recoil is a real pain in the ass. I still need a bit more time to control it perfectly."

The man smiled as though it were nothing. But Eum Yu-gyeong could not.

The man's name was Geom Yul-cheon.

He was her lover, and her spiritual anchor.

Without him, she could never have risen this far. She would have remained the Cult Leader's puppet forever.

It was because of him that the present Eum Yu-gyeong could exist.

Geom Yul-cheon stroked Eum Yu-gyeong's hair and spoke.

"There's that look again. Anyone would think you were gravely injured."

"Are you all right?"

"Even if I weren't all right, I'd be all right."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Sure it does."

Geom Yul-cheon's glib retort drew a smile from Eum Yu-gyeong despite herself.

Thinking back, Geom Yul-cheon had always been like this.

He smiled in any situation, and no matter how desperate things became, he never fell to despair. Even when merely surviving was a struggle, he always remained a beacon of hope for others.

That was why they called him by that name.

The Unyielding.

The man who would never bow.

That was why so many had placed their trust in him and walked into the jaws of death. And not one of them had regretted it.

Eum Yu-gyeong gazed at Geom Yul-cheon, her eyes filled with affection and admiration. To receive such a look from a woman like Eum Yu-gyeong was no easy feat.

"You went to find the Thousand-Day Secret Record, didn't you?"

"That's right!"

"Did you find it?"

"Yes! There must be a clue to the sacred relic within."

"Well done."

Geom Yul-cheon smiled.

It was the kind of smile that inspired trust simply by being seen.

It was a smile that only a man who had overcome countless adversities and death itself could wear.

It was at that moment that Geom Yul-cheon's eyes turned sharp.

"It seems we've picked up a tail."

"A tail?"

Eum Yu-gyeong hastily looked back. In the distance, a figure was approaching at tremendous speed using movement technique.

A peculiar light flickered in Eum Yu-gyeong's eyes.

"Do you know him?"

"So-cheon… He is one of the Nine Heavenly Dragons that Shaolin has nurtured."

"I see."

Geom Yul-cheon nodded.

In the meantime, So-cheon had closed the distance. His movement technique was truly extraordinary.

So-cheon performed the Shaolin-specific greeting of palms pressed together.

"Amitabha! This humble monk is So-cheon of Shaolin."

"I know."

"What is your name, Layman?"

"Geom Yul-cheon."

Geom Yul-cheon did not conceal his true name. A flicker of interest crossed So-cheon's face.

Geom Yul-cheon asked.

"What brings you here?"

"She took a text from Shaolin."

"So you've come to retrieve it?"

So-cheon gently shook his head.

"No. The Thousand-Day Secret Record is a book I have read myself. It contained nothing of particular importance."

"Then why?"

"Because of you."

"Me?"

Geom Yul-cheon pointed at himself.

"That is correct. The strength of your presence makes my blood boil."

"Ha!"

"I wish to cross blades with you."

"A monk with quite the fighting spirit. You might end up with a broken nose."

"Before being a monk, I am a martial artist."

Geom Yul-cheon drew upon his internal energy. His gray robes billowed outward.

The terrifying presence that spread through the area was such that it seemed the very surroundings had been trapped within So-cheon's shadow.

Geom Yul-cheon smiled.

"The Supreme Great Ability, is it?"

"Your eye for detail is remarkable, Layman. That is correct. It is the Supreme Great Ability."

The Supreme Great Ability was one of Shaolin's legends.

It was said that upon achieving great completion, one would gain infinite power, and with the strength of a single individual, could bring peace to the world.

But in all of history, no one had ever mastered the Supreme Great Ability beyond the eighth stage. That was why it was also called an incomplete martial art.

So-cheon's level was the eighth stage.

Like the patriarchs before him, he had reached his limit. But the difference was that So-cheon was incomparably younger than any of the patriarchs who had come before.

No one in history had ever reached the eighth stage of the Supreme Great Ability at So-cheon's age. If a few more years passed, he would surely break through the barrier, and completion was well within reach.

"If it is the Supreme Great Ability, it might be worth indulging."

Geom Yul-cheon smiled and tilted his head. The sound of cracking bones echoed.

Whoosh!

So-cheon's Supreme Great Ability was growing in intensity. The energy swelled like a snowball, pressing down upon Geom Yul-cheon's shoulders. But Geom Yul-cheon paid it no mind and walked toward So-cheon.

The blade hanging at his waist swung loosely.

Eum Yu-gyeong watched the scene in silence.

Though the aura emanating from So-cheon was formidable, she was not the least bit worried.

So-cheon was undeniably strong. Perhaps the strongest of all the Nine Heavenly Dragons.

But such worldly strength did not work on Geom Yul-cheon.

Geom Yul-cheon was one who walked upon a plane beyond the human.

He was an existence that could not lose.

As long as the souls of the one hundred and two men who had willingly died for him were watching over him, he could never be broken.

"Prajna Palm!"

So-cheon deployed the Prajna Palm, one of Shaolin's supreme secret techniques.

Backed by the Supreme Great Ability, the Prajna Palm possessed truly cataclysmic power.

Geom Yul-cheon drew the loosely hanging blade.

"If you don't want to be swept away by the current of the age and vanish without a trace, break through the wall, monk."

Whoosh!

Geom Yul-cheon's blade parted the Prajna Palm and advanced toward So-cheon.

Eum Yu-gyeong turned her head.

She did not need to confirm the outcome with her eyes.

Geom Yul-cheon, the Unyielding Martial Artist.

A young man who had sacrificed his own life to save Geom Yul-cheon once called him this:

Geom Yul-cheon of the Demonic Path.

Geom Yul-cheon himself was the Demonic Path.

'So-cheon can never be his match. If there is anyone in the current world who could stand against him, there is only one.'

Eum Yu-gyeong recalled a man.

A man who limped on one leg, yet with a single fist could send the world trembling with fear.

'The Fist Demon.'

***

Dam Ho raised his head and looked up at the sky.

The sun was setting. The western sky was dyed entirely red, and twilight crept steadily toward where he stood.

It was time to make camp for the night.

Dam Ho gathered branches and lit a campfire.

In the past, this would have been Bang Jin-bo's task. But without him, Dam Ho had to do it himself.

Tonight's meal was dried jerky.

The jerky that he would have eaten without complaint in the past somehow felt tough today. But Dam Ho did not complain and simply chewed the meat in silence.

Neigh!

Beside him, the Dark Horse grazed on grass and snorted. Without Bang Jin-bo, it too seemed to feel a sense of emptiness.

Dam Ho too felt the absence of Bang Jin-bo. But he did not feel it as a loss.

Bang Jin-bo would also need to stand on his own someday. That time had simply come a little sooner. With Hwang Gyeong-mun and Hwang Hye-ryeong, Bang Jin-bo would surely be well cared for.

The only regret was that he had not been able to create a martial art suited for Bang Jin-bo. But a new martial art could not be created overnight.

It required time. If he continued to work at it without forgetting, someday he would be able to create a martial art for Bang Jin-bo.

Dam Ho organized his thoughts in this manner and gazed at the campfire.

In the deep darkness, a single flame cast a faint light upon the world. The sight stirred something in Dam Ho.

'No matter how thick the darkness, a single small flame can never be completely swallowed.'

Time flowed on.

For a long while, Dam Ho sat motionless, watching the campfire.

When dawn approached, the fire had died out, and only white smoke rose into the air. Still, Dam Ho did not move.

He moved only when the sun appeared on the eastern horizon.

With a small piece of jerky clenched between his teeth, he mounted the Dark Horse.

"Let's go."

The Dark Horse surged forward as though it had been waiting.

Dam Ho let the Dark Horse carry him. After riding for half a day, a great river appeared. Dam Ho followed the river on horseback.

After riding for some time, a ferry landing came into view. A fairly large boat was moored there.

Though not as massive as the Sky-Treading Ship, it was large enough to accommodate the Dark Horse without issue.

Quite a few people were waiting at the landing to board. Among them, the most conspicuous was an enormous carriage.

Drawn by four horses, the massive carriage was completely sealed, without so much as a window.

Around the carriage, over a dozen warriors stood guard. The people waiting to board were intimidated by the warriors' menacing atmosphere.

Dam Ho dismounted the Dark Horse and walked toward the landing. The warriors guarding the carriage regarded him with wary eyes.

Dam Ho paid them no mind and purchased a ticket. He stood at a distance, giving the impression of complete indifference, but the warriors' guarded stares did not waver.

At that moment, a crewman called out.

"Everyone, please board. We depart in one quarter of an hour."

The people handed their tickets to the crewman and boarded.

Once a reasonable number of passengers had boarded, the warriors hauled the carriage onto the boat.

"Be careful not to damage the cargo."

The man who appeared to be their leader shouted. The warriors responded and carefully loaded the carriage.

Dam Ho was the last to board. The moment he stepped onto the deck with the Dark Horse's reins in hand, the boat set off.

Dam Ho found a spot on the deck with the Dark Horse.

This was not a journey upstream like aboard the Sky-Treading Ship. The purpose was to cross to the other side of the river.

If he endured for half an hour, they would reach the opposite bank. Then he would be rid of the warriors with their menacing atmosphere. Perhaps that was why the people quickly regained their composure.

Dam Ho too gave the carriage no further thought.

His mind was filled only with the thought of how he could reach Mount Hua in the shortest time possible.

'Master.'

While Dam Ho was thinking of Sage Hyeon-so, the boat suddenly lurched. It had encountered a strong current.

Crack!

As the deck tilted, the carriage, which had stood firm until now, began to slide. The warriors desperately seized the four corners of the carriage and held on. But its immense weight caused it to slide toward where Dam Ho stood.

Thanks to the warriors' desperate efforts, the carriage came to a stop.

Dam Ho raised his head. Through a crack in the carriage, he could see a large, dark eye.

Eyes filled only with despair and anguish, they were quickly obscured by the warriors and disappeared from view.

Recently, Jin Ja-gang had been changing his own bandages, so neither Bian Bu nor Soso had seen Jin Ja-gang’s condition. They had only thought he was getting better since there wasn’t as much blood or pus seeping through as before.

However, when Jin Ja-gang unwrapped the bandages from his face, Bian Bu and Soso couldn’t close their mouths.

“Huh? What… hmm.”

When Jin Ja-gang also unwrapped the bandages from his upper body, Bian Bu and Soso’s surprise became even greater.

Jin Ja-gang’s face and right side, where blood vessels had burst, had already healed long ago, and even the places where skin had peeled off from burns had mended. Only red spots here and there remained to indicate that there had been wounds.

“What… what is this…”

There wasn’t a single ugly, distorted scar from the burns. The melted flesh had regenerated cleanly. As if nothing had ever happened, only reddish traces and some scabs remained on the wounds. Even the scabs fell off immediately when Jin Ja-gang rubbed them with his hand.

“You rolled around in such severe fire, yet this is all that’s left?”

When he had arrived, pus had been flowing from his entire body. But looking at the completely healed parts now, his skin even had a lustrous glow!

No, rather, as new flesh had grown, it had become much more transparent and smoother than when Bian Bu had first met him.

Only the chest wound cut by sword energy still hadn’t fully healed. Blood was visible. Looking at the scab that was half-attached and dangling, it seemed like the scab would form but then the wound would open again.

“Sword energy is truly frightening. It seems it will take some time to heal.”

Jin Ja-gang said while pressing the wound on his chest with his hand.

“If I wrap the chest with bandages and cover it with clothes, it won’t be visible.”

Jin Ja-gang tried wrapping a hood around his head. After hiding his short hair, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly strange except for the red spots on his face.

“Ah… ah.”

Soso’s cheeks turned red as she looked at Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang’s face, with the ugly wounds gone, was like that of a young nobleman who had grown up without knowing hardship. Though it might not suit a man, it was pretty enough to make one think so.

Bian Bu was about to speak but looked back and forth between Soso and Jin Ja-gang. Then he said one thing.

“You’ll probably catch people’s attention.”

“Won’t this level be acceptable?”

“I don’t know about men, but you’ll definitely catch young ladies’ eyes.”

“What?”

Bian Bu pointed at Soso with the tip of his beard.

Soso’s face became even redder. Soso covered her face with her hands and ran outside.

When Jin Ja-gang remained still, not knowing what to say, Bian Bu shrugged his shoulders.

“At least when you leave, there will be one person who will be sad. Let me tell you, it’s not me. I still can’t drink a cup of water comfortably these days.”

* * *

Jin Ja-gang could now move about daily life with almost no difficulty.

However, Jin Ja-gang couldn’t leave immediately.

Because Soso desperately held him back.

Soso gestured with her hands and feet, begging him to stay just a few more days. It was almost at the level of pleading.

“She seems to want to do something for you.”

Bian Bu seemed to know but didn’t tell him. Jin Ja-gang had also somewhat noticed recently that Soso was doing something.

So Jin Ja-gang decided to stay a little longer.

It wasn’t Jin Ja-gang’s nature to stay still when he was capable of moving. However, since he couldn’t carelessly go far and catch people’s attention, Jin Ja-gang climbed the mountain right behind the manor.

Most of what Jin Ja-gang needed was in nature.

Mistletoe, styrax tree, oleander…

All plants, large or small, contain poison. Some plants have enough poison in a single root to kill a person, while others have only enough poison to cause a slight tickle.

However, regardless of which type, the story changes when the concentration of that poison becomes dense.

Until now, Jin Ja-gang had used the method of chewing and eating poisonous plants to extract only the poison and concentrate it in his dantian. The poison Jin Ja-gang created this way had an incredibly dense concentration. It was almost pure poison itself.

Naturally, it had much more powerful effects than the artificial methods of extracting poison used by most poison sects.

However, the disadvantage was that he still had to consume a sufficient amount of poisonous plants anyway. It made his stomach full and his jaw hurt.

“Hmm…”

Jin Ja-gang looked around the desolate mountain.

Winter was already approaching. Most of the grasses were so withered and twisted that their forms were hard to recognize, or only roots remained in the soil.

“I’ll have to give up on getting poison from flowers and fruits.”

Jin Ja-gang wandered around the mountain, digging soil in various places to check the roots.

To achieve proper effects, it was best to consume as much of the same type of poisonous plant as possible.

Then he discovered a colony of false hellebore.

“False hellebore…”

Jin Ja-gang dug up one false hellebore root. Thanks to the dry winter weather, the false hellebore was somewhat dried.

He brushed off the soil from the false hellebore and chewed it. It was spicy and bitter. In such cases, the toxicity often had cold properties.

False hellebore caused side effects such as vomiting, weakness, sweating, and decreased consciousness, but when the amount was properly controlled, it had great therapeutic effects on lung diseases or seizure symptoms.

However, even after eating it and waiting for a while, there was no particular reaction.

His stomach became a little uncomfortable, but considering the toxicity of false hellebore, which was also used as an insecticide to repel pests, this was somewhat strange. Even considering Jin Ja-gang’s constitution where poison manifested quickly, having no reaction like this was peculiar.

Jin Ja-gang wondered why and dug up and ate several more false hellebore roots. Though the cold properties should have made his body cold, he actually felt feverish.

“Ah.”

Only after thinking for a long time did Jin Ja-gang recall why this was happening.

There was something to consider when using false hellebore as medicine.

False hellebore, which resembles scallion roots, is detoxified by hogfennel vegetables, realgar, onions, and pork fat.

The Kunlun Sulfur Jade Poison that Jin Ja-gang had used long ago contained a lot of mineral realgar. The energy of the mineral realgar absorbed at that time had become the foundation of Jin Ja-gang’s current constitution. The regeneration of skin and quick healing of wounds were also thanks to this.

Therefore, while chewing and digesting false hellebore, it was naturally neutralized and detoxified within his body.

“This is troublesome.”

This way, no matter how much false hellebore he ate, it would be difficult to accumulate false hellebore poison in his dantian.

However, it was also difficult to find poison as good as false hellebore in winter.

Jin Ja-gang thought of methods while digging up false hellebore roots.

* * *

Jin Ja-gang made the most of his spare time.

In the mornings, he went early to dig false hellebore roots, and in the afternoons, he asked Bian Bu to teach him about medicinal alcohol and the human body.

“Do you want to learn dark path medicine now? Hmph. This is dark path medicine, so it’ll be somewhat different from orthodox medicine.”

Bian Bu scolded Jin Ja-gang while teaching him everything he could.

Originally, Jin Ja-gang had received advanced transmissions from the Medicine Sect in the mine shafts. So he knew the theories of superior medicine but was very lacking in fundamentals.

Thanks to this, Jin Ja-gang was able to properly learn about the blood channels of the human body through this opportunity.

He knew the blood channels needed for pressure point techniques using the Medicine Sect’s secret methods, but he didn’t really know about the overall blood channels and their flow. It was also a miracle that he had opened his right-side blood channels in such a state.

Bian Bu was often bewildered while teaching.

“No, you know the difficult stuff but don’t know this?”

“Haha.”

Each time, Jin Ja-gang could only deflect with laughter.

Bian Bu’s specialty was alchemy – the art of preparing medicines. Bian Bu taught enthusiastically, at least when it came to alchemy.

Of course, starting from the basics.

In alchemy, internal elixir meant creating a dantian inside the body, while external elixir meant artificially refining and consuming plants and minerals. In a way, Jin Ja-gang had been practicing rudimentary external alchemy until now.

Once he began to understand the basics, Jin Ja-gang’s learning speed became incredibly fast. He could properly organize in his mind the theories he had vaguely known. He was also able to actually perform the Medicine Sect’s secret alchemy methods that he had received but hadn’t understood.

Each day that passed, he made progress equivalent to someone who had studied for several months.

Bian Bu even thought of taking Jin Ja-gang as his disciple.

Of course, there were various constraints to actually doing so.

Jin Ja-gang was too great an existence for Bian Bu to take as a disciple.

As he went to the mountains daily to dig false hellebore, at some point Soso quietly began following along. Soso helped Jin Ja-gang with the work of digging false hellebore roots.

Jin Ja-gang was skilled in poison techniques, but he didn’t have the ability to find false hellebore roots buried in the ground. With Soso’s help, the work of finding and digging false hellebore roots instantly became twice as fast.

Jin Ja-gang wasn’t particularly talkative either, and Soso couldn’t speak.

Therefore, even while digging false hellebore together, there was almost no conversation.

Still, Soso didn’t mind, and Jin Ja-gang didn’t feel much burden either.

When he bent his waist to dig false hellebore roots and raised his head, his eyes would meet with Soso, who was looking at him with a sweat-soaked face. It was a very quiet and peaceful feeling of daily life.

Throb.

When Jin Ja-gang felt an emotion he had once experienced, one side of his chest ached.

The preciousness of daily life that he had tried to stay as far away from as possible, that he thought would never exist again, shook Jin Ja-gang.

Jin Ja-gang took a deep breath. It was to remind himself of his situation.

The situation Jin Ja-gang now faced had become much more complex than before, and revenge had become that much more difficult.

The temptation to give up existed even at this very moment.

But Jin Ja-gang had to move forward.

Even if he couldn’t complete his revenge, this wasn’t the place where Jin Ja-gang should die.

On the blood-soaked, painful path of blood.

Or at its end.

That was the place where Jin Ja-gang would finally breathe his last and kneel.

Jin Ja-gang stuffed a handful of false hellebore roots in his mouth and chewed to avoid thinking other thoughts.

Recently, while learning alchemy and blood channels from Bian Bu, a method had occurred to him.

If he consumed poisonous plants orally, including false hellebore roots, and absorbed the poison in the stomach, there would be loss of poison in that process. False hellebore was even neutralized.

But what if he accepted the poison directly through the blood channels in his mouth rather than the stomach?

He could prevent both the loss of poison and fullness. Less jaw pain would be an additional benefit.

Jin Ja-gang chewed a lot of false hellebore roots and held the saliva and poison in his mouth. Then he curled his tongue tip and pressed it to the roof of his mouth.

This way, the Xuanying point under the tongue would open, connect with the Tiandi point, and open the Ren meridian. He planned to receive poison through the Xuanying point and send it directly to his dantian through the Ren meridian.

Since it was his first time, it wasn’t easy. Jin Ja-gang slightly opened his mouth to spit out unnecessary turbid energy other than poison, and while swallowing saliva, he consciously visualized inhaling poison into the Xuanying point under his tongue.

However, no matter how many times he practiced, it didn’t work easily. Even though his right-side blood channels had opened, most of Jin Ja-gang’s other blood channels were still blocked.

Jin Ja-gang thought for a moment, then took out a needle and placed it under his tongue. He felt around to find the Jinjin point on the left and the Yuye point on the right of the Xuanying point. He planned to pierce these two points to draw blood and open the blood channels.

When dealing with blood channels, one follows the order of first yang then yin. This means treating yang first and yin later.

Also, since the human body is left yang right yin, Jin Ja-gang first pierced the yang blood channel, the left Jinjin point, with a needle to draw blood. Then he also wounded the right Yuye point.

On the left side, due to blocked blood channels, an enormous amount of dark, blackish stagnant blood poured out, while on the right side, some stagnant blood came out briefly before quickly changing to bright red blood.

This was part of the Medicine Sect’s methods that Jin Ja-gang had learned long ago in the mine shafts. At that time, he hadn’t understood it properly, but after learning the basics, he was able to apply it to alchemy.

When he opened the blood channels of Jinjin and Yuye, the breathing passage of the Xuanying point opened much wider.

Jin Ja-gang breathed in and out according to breathing techniques and accepted the poison.

He sensed that some of the poison went directly to his dantian through the Xuanying point via the Ren meridian.

“I did it!”

However, since it was such a small amount, he couldn’t hold it in his dantian and it spread from his dantian throughout his entire body.

Thump!

Suddenly his heart beat loudly.