Chapter 040. Northern Heaven Sword Venerable (3)
The moment Dam Jeok-san placed his hand on Un Wol-hyang's back. A vastly wide universe welcomed him. Un Wol-hyang's blood vessels, dantian, and the inner world formed thereby were so vast that it felt like he would become lost in an instant if he lost focus even for a moment.
Near her heart meridians, he could feel heavy and massive congested blood clotted together. This was the identity of the internal injury tormenting Un Wol-hyang.
Although the Birch Sun Glory Herb possesses yang-strong properties and is excellent for dissolving congested blood and warming the body, the efficacy of the spiritual herb alone cannot dissolve such massive congested blood.
However, Dam Jeok-san was not greatly flustered. Because his own heart meridians were in a much more serious state during the time he lost his dantian. It is something he did every day in those days.
The problem is that he has to guide genuine qi within someone else's body, but even that is not a big obstacle. Since Un Wol-hyang has consumed the Birch Sun Glory Herb.
WHOOOOM!
He started acting without hesitation. Pure genuine qi extends from Dam Jeok-san's palm to Un Wol-hyang's spine. Dam Jeok-san's genuine qi touches her heart meridians warmed by the Birch Sun Glory Herb.
He scraped off the congested blood slowly with sharply raised genuine qi, as if a skilled doctor scraping off pus from an affected area with a small knife. Extremely delicate manipulation of qi. A technique difficult to even imitate unless one is Dam Jeok-san.
Like that, perhaps about one tea-time passed? Sweat poured from Dam Jeok-san's body like rain. Scraping off congested blood from someone else's body, not his own, consumed as much mental energy as the battle with Murong Gang where he traversed the ridge of life and death.
'If I make even a slight mistake, genuine qi will backflow.'
Even if that happens, no significant problem will occur to Un Wol-hyang. Because the blood vessels of her, an absolute master, are extremely sturdy and massive.
'Only my blood vessels will be torn to shreds.'
Because the genuine qi circulating within Un Wol-hyang's body is not something Dam Jeok-san can dare to handle. Even knowing that fact, Dam Jeok-san continued the internal injury treatment with composure.
The congested blood, which seemed excessively massive and unlikely to ever disappear, had now been scraped away more than half. The skill with which he scraped off fragments of the dantian accumulated in his blood vessels every day was still there.
When nearly one double hour had passed like that.
DRIP—
A stream of dead black blood flowed down from the corner of Un Wol-hyang's mouth. Evidence that the internal injury was almost perfectly healed.
Confirming that, Dam Jeok-san let out a long breath and opened his mouth.
"I was worried because my skill is meager, but the Birch Sun Glory Herb was of great help. The merit of the Namgung Young Family Head is great."
"Ha, Birch Sun Glory Herb, you say."
At that answer, Un Wol-hyang let out a hollow laugh.
The Birch Sun Glory Herb is certainly a spiritual herb with excellent efficacy in treating internal injuries. If it were a Peak Realm expert, most internal injuries would be healed just by eating one root. Even for an expert at the extremity of the Peak Realm, it could sufficiently put out an urgent fire.
However, the Entering Transformation Realm is a stage where spirituality fully opens and begins to communicate with heaven and earth.
The size of the vessel itself becomes different from before. A difference of level comparing a small spring to a great ocean. This time, that acted as poison.
A medium-grade spiritual herb like the Birch Sun Glory Herb has almost no efficacy in healing internal injuries even if ten roots are eaten. Because it cannot fill her vessel at all. That's why she judged that a Great Recovering Pill was needed.
"I will express my gratitude to the Namgung Young Family Head. But what needs to be pointed out must be pointed out. This is not the spiritual herb, but Martial Nephew's ability. Is that not so?"
Dam Jeok-san twisted all those predictions.
"Uh, well...... that is true, it is all because I am talented."
Un Wol-hyang quietly watched her Martial Nephew reluctantly smile and nod.
Did she see her Martial Nephew for only a day or two?
That disgustingly reluctant expression. That is just acting.
And acting done because he thinks her reaction would be interesting.
'This side of you hasn't changed at all.'
He must have been confident from the start. Confident that he could cure her internal injuries with just one root of Birch Sun Glory Herb.
'It is understandable.'
Un Wol-hyang thought while still savoring Dam Jeok-san's energy flowing through her acupoints.
Dam Jeok-san's skill in healing internal injuries through qi circulation was truly nothing but marvelous.
To raise one's genuine qi sharply like a sword in another's body and then scrape off congested blood.
This is a mysterious technique that even those called Divine Doctors in the Murim Gangho cannot easily imitate.
'No, it makes me wonder if I should just call Martial Nephew a Divine Doctor.'
Un Wol-hyang felt emotions surging up for a moment.
How many hardships did he go through to obtain such an ability?
The years he must have struggled tooth and nail to restore his dantian completely shattered by qi deviation and his tattered acupoints seemed visible before her eyes. She wondered how on earth he restored his dantian at a speed beyond common sense.
Behind it was effort enough to shed tears of blood.
"You really, really must have suffered a lot."
Un Wol-hyang said hugging Dam Jeok-san tightly. Her long fingers gently sweep down Dam Jeok-san's back. Just like when she hugged young Dam Jeok-san.
"No......!"
Dam Jeok-san clearly revealed his embarrassment. "Martial Aunt! I am not a child anymore." He shouts, but Un Wol-hyang remained silent.
"If you don't like it, become stronger, Martial Nephew."
She said binding Dam Jeok-san tightly with the strength of a supreme expert who reached the Entering Transformation Realm.
"......."
When did she say he suffered?
But Dam Jeok-san could feel Un Wol-hyang's heart through the touching warmth. She cherishes him more than he imagined. That heart will probably become a great strength when contending for the throne of the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
But Dam Jeok-san shook his head immediately after having that thought.
I don't want to rely on it.
No, I shouldn't do that.
Clearly, her strength will be needed to move towards the goal he desires. However, he didn't want to obtain her sword relying on sympathy and old affection.
I must prove it confidently. That I have the qualification to sit on the throne of the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
Not by me begging her to help, but by making her willingly draw her sword for me.
Without such resolve, there is no way I can beat Eldest Senior Brother.
"Are we going to the gateway now?"
"Yes, I have been away for too long already."
At Dam Jeok-san's question, Un Wol-hyang slightly removed her hands and said.
However, her expression contained only satisfaction, not worry about the Northern front.
"But Martial Nephew, even if you say long, it hasn't even been five days. I thought I had to allot at least a month to treat my internal injuries, but thanks to you, that period has been greatly reduced."
Considering what she alone can achieve on the battlefield, the value Dam Jeok-san created is truly endless.
"This is a really big merit. Tell me if there is anything you want."
"Right now, the right to challenge for the Squad Leader position, that alone is sufficient. I want to put the rest on the tab."
"Ahaha, you have become greedy?"
Un Wol-hyang asks back ambiguously, curving her eyes like half-moons.
Not taking it right now. Is no different from saying he will save it and use it at a moment when it is absolutely necessary.
Arrogant.
But Un Wol-hyang decided to tolerate that arrogance.
Because what is in front of her eyes right now is a young Martial Nephew and simultaneously one of the candidates for the successor of the Martial Sovereign Castle. He had the qualification for that.
"May I also go together to the gateway?"
Namgung Yeon, who volunteered as a guard, looked at the two and said.
Her expression was not very pleasant. Clearly, it is a good thing that a person who became a community of destiny with the Namgung Clan has an ally as great as the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable.
Why does she feel so frustrated?
She swallowed the useless emotion with effort and looked at Un Wol-hyang.
"Of course. From the beginning, Martial Nephew requested your escort, Namgung Young Family Head."
Un Wol-hyang looked at such a Namgung Yeon as if she was quite cute and answered refreshingly.
Thinking thoughts like, my Martial Nephew is truly blessed with people.
Anyway, the request to protect the successor of the Namgung Clan, one of the Five Great Families, from the Yin God Cult was wise. Because there was such a justification, Un Wol-hyang could move without hesitation.
However, as much as she borrowed her strength, she will have to bear the counterpart as well. She will face eyes of suspicion every time. She will suffer quite a lot adapting.
But Dam Jeok-san's thoughts were slightly different from his Martial Aunt.
'It is really fortunate that Martial Aunt came in time.'
Since he came to the North anyway, he intended to do a few initiation ceremonies.
Because the majority of martial artists are ignorant folks who cannot realize the difference in status until they get beaten up.
Like his Senior Brother, Woo Seo-gwang, whom he can no longer see because he is dead.
Then rather than opponents wary of him, it is more comfortable to crush opponents who ignore and look down on him.
'In that sense, obtaining the opportunity to challenge for the Squad Leader position is also quite lucky.'
Hasn't a plausible stage been set up on its own?
Even Un Wol-hyang seems to feel indebted for not being able to grant his request straight away.
It is a good thing in many ways.
Dam Jeok-san felt a quite satisfactory feeling.
Un Wol-hyang looked at such a Dam Jeok-san and said.
"Half-Demons who reached a high realm like Murong Gang were very reluctant to step in front of me, so it was not easy to deal with them, but there was a harvest in its own way."
"That means this matter, killing the Namgung Young Family Head, was that important, right?"
"Martial Nephew is right. Something worth doing even while overexerting like this......."
"It must be to throw the south of the Yangtze River and the Northern Demonic Realm into distress simultaneously."
If the Sword King is tied down in the North, countless Unorthodox factions suppressed by the name of Namgung will begin to run rampant.
Then they will have no choice but to watch the chaos arising north of the Yangtze River, and even in the northernmost Northern Demonic Realm.
"......Then, it means the tricks in the North are just beginning?"
How arrogant. Un Wol-hyang smiled fiercely. A ferocious aura shimmers around her.
Dam Jeok-san's party had no choice but to tremble even though that anger was not directed at them.
"Rather, it worked out well. I should stomp on them at this opportunity."
Un Wol-hyang continued with a cold voice.
Even if the plot against the Namgung Clan failed, the Yin God Cult will not stop their conspiracy in the North.
'Seeing that the Demonic Realm has become chaotic, they must have already played many tricks. They cannot pull out now.'
Because then the pagoda they painstakingly built would collapse in an instant.
That lingering attachment will become a blade piercing the heart of the Yin God Cult.
She truly was convinced so.
"I will take these children to the Northern Branch first, let us all go to the gateway."
Un Wol-hyang looked around the group and said.
* * *
The reason Baek Ri-gwan, the Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad, came out to the Northern gateway was officially for the mission of greeting the Branch Head.
But his true purpose was separate.
Precisely to see the face of the Third Young Master Dam Jeok-san.
And if necessary, to make the bastard realize his place.
Considering he is a direct disciple of the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle and a Martial Nephew cherished by the Sword Venerable, it is an act rude beyond measure.
Baek Ri-gwan knew that too.
But he considered this path to be truly for Dam Jeok-san.
Already, among the martial squad leaders under the Northern Wind Sword Corps, nearly half have broken through the wall of the extremity of the Peak Realm. Baek Ri-gwan belongs to the rookies among them if one were to nitpick.
If the Sword Dragon under heaven cannot overcome even someone like himself.
'It is better to cut him down even now.'
He lost his dantian?
Coming to the Northern land was not voluntary but close to exile?
What is important about such things.
If a man once called the Sword Dragon came to the North, he should show qualification befitting that.
He knows that what he does might incur the hatred of not only the Sword Venerable but also the Lord of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
But Baek Ri-gwan didn't care at all.
Stubbornness close to madness.
Single-minded self-conviction that only he is right.
That is the driving force behind Baek Ri-gwan, from illegitimate birth in the Baek Ri Clan, a family of scholars not martial artists, becoming a Martial Squad Leader of the Martial Sovereign Castle.
'Prove that past glory remains in you, Sword Dragon.'
Of course, Baek Ri-gwan knows.
The dantian is not recovered so easily.
And that Dam Jeok-san is now just a powerless ordinary person, not the Sword Dragon.
While expecting nothing like that.
Dam Jeok-san arrived at the Northern gateway.
In his memory, an appearance much more haggard than when he was the Sword Dragon. No energy wave was felt from the Third Young Master. In other words, he hasn't regained his dantian.
Unless he reached a realm one level higher than himself and perfectly concealed his qi, he cannot hide his energy wave like that.
'That was impossible even in the days he was called the Sword Dragon.'
There is absolutely no probability that Dam Jeok-san achieved such an accomplishment now.
As expected, was it just to survive wretchedly?
Did he move the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable under heaven for private reasons just for that?
Naturally, disappointment dwells in his eyes.
The ugly downfall of one he once respected. He felt like he wanted to lament.
'I must correct it even now.'
Before he becomes more ugly.
Ghost Blade approached him, gripping the sword handle in his hand tightly.
"I am Baek Ri-gwan, Leader of the Monster Repelling Squad. Branch Head, and Third Young Master. I have been waiting."
"Squad Leader?"
Dam Jeok-san asked looking at such a Baek Ri-gwan.
A gaze containing an emotion unknown whether it is a competitive spirit or something else at a glance.
Competitive spirit? A martial artist who lost his dantian?
Baek Ri-gwan felt something strange but nodded slowly.
First, start by sounding him out slightly.
Although he thinks his bottom has been revealed, this is a place where the Northern Heaven Sword Venerable is also present.
To teach the Third Young Master a lesson, a justification befitting it is needed.
The one who gets angry first must be the Third Young Master.
If he doesn't even get angry even if insulted, he is just trash not worth cutting. Baek Ri-gwan judged so.
"Yes, because the Third Young Master arbitrarily called our Branch Head who is busy with public affairs...... I had no choice but to come to escort."
Baek Ri-gwan scratched Dam Jeok-san by spitting out words with thorns.
"Arbitrarily, arbitrarily....... That is true. But isn't that not something you, Squad Leader Baek, should take issue with?"
"......It is Squad Leader 'Baek Ri'. And the Young Master also does not dare to have the authority to tell the Branch Head to come and go."
Grind.
Baek Ri-gwan answered clenching his molars tightly.
Actually, Dam Jeok-san knew too. Because he had encountered Baek Ri-gwan in the Martial Sovereign Castle in the past.
He just said it to scratch him.
'He certainly seems to have concealed his qi well.'
To think even a person like Baek Ri-gwan couldn't notice that he regained his dantian. Although sorry for him, Baek Ri-gwan was not bad to use as his stepping stone.
Because he is a young and promising Squad Leader like Dam Jeok-san.
Following his heart, he wants to challenge for the Squad Leader position right away.
But not here.
A place where there are a little more spectators, and a little more attention is focused.
So a place where his victory can shine a little more.
Dam Jeok-san thought so and opened his mouth.
"Monster Repelling Squad Leader Baek Ri-gwan, the time has come. Keep the promise of that day."
"......Third Young Master, I heard you suffered qi deviation, have you gone completely mad?"
The promise of that day.
Recalling the content, an expression as if facing a bizarre mystery he literally couldn't understand appeared on Baek Ri-gwan's face.
Dam Jeok-san slightly twisted up the corners of his mouth looking at such a Baek Ri-gwan.