Chapter 60: Chapter 60
Definitely poison arts. But how? Jang I-seo’s mind went blank. The Demon Physician hadn’t defended at all. He hadn’t even watched where the attack would land.
Yet how did he know the back of his hand would be struck and deploy poison arts instantly?
The Demon Physician opened his eyes and asked.
“So. How did it look to you? Did it seem like my will that manifested the poison, or was it the will of my poison qi?”
BOOM! The moment Jang I-seo heard those words, thunder struck his mind.
Was that what he meant by internal energy being a spirit entity?
This was similar to Mao’s situation. Yang qi had seeped into his wounds of its own accord, healing them. Eventually, it had even located the point of impact on its own and defended his body.
Interpreted as the Demon Physician described, it was because his yang qi was that intelligent.
The Demon Physician was the same. The poison qi circulating through his body had acted defensively on its own. Through repeated behavior, it had learned and responded automatically.
‘As expected, teach one thing and he grasps ten.’
As Jang I-seo sank deep into thought, the Demon Physician smiled with satisfaction. Then, clearly relishing the teaching moment, launched into enthusiastic explanation.
“Yes, your thinking is correct. And the internal energy you received is the demonic pinnacle. The Heavenly Demon’s internal energy. Naturally, it would be more intelligent than anything else.”
“Ah…”
A genuine exclamation escaped Jang I-seo.
And a wall crumbled within him. His eyes opened to a new possibility.
‘Perhaps…’
He might have found a way to cure the Nine-Orifice Body.
*
Jang I-seo remained silent for a long time.
Motionless, expressionless, lost in thought.
The Demon Physician watched without interrupting, drinking alone. He too was one of the rare few absolute beings who had reached the supreme realm through his own enlightenment.
He understood full well what an extraordinary moment Jang I-seo was experiencing.
By the time the eighth cup was emptied.
Jang I-seo rose calmly, clasped his hands respectfully, and bowed.
“I’ve received great help from you, Elder. I will remember this debt.”
“Hahaha. I told you, he’s a rare find in this cult. The righteous path would have suited him better.”
Not “suited.” He WAS the righteous path. Jang I-seo hid his inner thoughts, smirked, and sat back down.
The Demon Physician, in a rare good mood, showed his gums-baring smile and poured Jang I-seo a cup.
“Hall Master Ji asked me to examine you. I wondered what kind of fellow you were. Now I understand why everyone treasures you.”
The Hall Master had said that? Jang I-seo’s eyes went round, feeling genuine gratitude toward him.
Reading his expression again, the Demon Physician murmured with a pleased face.
“A young man with both generosity and quick recognition inevitably stirs the hearts of us older fellows. You’re exactly that kind.”
“I’m not that good a person. But I will absolutely complete the task you’ve entrusted. Even if I fail to find a cure and face death, I’ll finish the job.”
“Quite the silver tongue, too.”
What was this? The constant gold-plating of his words felt oddly unsettling. He’d seen a similar reaction somewhere before.
Jang I-seo tilted his head, then asked directly about the task.
“You mentioned the Mad Physician earlier. The one who made the Soul-Befuddling Powder the Slaughterhouse possessed.”
“Yes. A very unusual fellow.”
“Do you know him?”
“His name is Gongsun Jeol. Most don’t know him well, but I do. We studied under the same master.”
The Demon Physician’s fellow disciple. A completely unfamiliar story from any angle. Jang I-seo straightened his posture and listened intently.
“He wasn’t as skilled as I am, but his ability was genuinely outstanding. However, his nature was rotten. He cared less about how to save someone than about how to harm them.”
“Isn’t that the same for you, Sixth Elder?”
“Tsk.”
“If not, I apologize.”
“It is.”
This man was difficult to converse with. Jang I-seo forced a smile and gestured for him to continue.
“If there’s a difference, I’ll fully restore someone when the mood strikes me. But that bastard, even after saving someone, always had to take a perfectly healthy limb as payment. For instance, he’d cure a blind man, then cut off both his legs.”
“Insane…”
The curse slipped out before Jang I-seo could stop it. What kind of mad physician was this?
But the Demon Physician seemed to enjoy the vehement reaction, chuckling warmly.
“Yes. That’s why his alias is the Mad Physician. A thoroughly insane bastard.”
An apt title. A physician who demanded limbs as payment.
“Moreover, he stole a secret manual from the Heavenly Demon Palace over twenty years ago and vanished. For him to resurface now… something doesn’t sit right.”
The Heavenly Demon Palace? Truly, completely insane.
“Are you suggesting he has another motive?”
“That’s what you need to find out.”
Thwack. The Demon Physician struck his cane against the floor and stood. He was done talking. Not a man who enjoyed extended conversation.
Jang I-seo rose with a grave expression and escorted him to the stairs.
“I’ll contact you once I find something.”
“Do that. But…”
The Demon Physician turned slowly at the top of the stairs. Licked his lips and asked.
“Why the Seventh Young Master’s adjutant, specifically?”
“Well…”
Because the mission from the Hidden Pavilion came that way. Jang I-seo smiled brightly and answered.
“Just… it seemed like it wouldn’t be bad if the Seventh Young Master became the master of this cult.”
The Demon Physician’s eyes went wide. Was he serious? The question in his gaze was unmistakable. Jang I-seo nodded quietly.
Right then, Mao’s voice boomed from below.
“Hahahahaha! I am a genius-!”
Jang I-seo scratched under his eyes. The Demon Physician spoke with serious eyes.
“Don’t waste your time on the impossible. If you want a different position, I’ll arrange one anytime.”
“Haha. Please go.”
“Don’t be late finding the answer.”
The Demon Physician waved and descended the stairs. Jang I-seo exhaled a shallow breath at the unexpected encounter.
He returned to his seat and flopped down.
The Cult Leader, the Guardian Dragon Hall Master, and now the Sixth Elder. What was this? For the first time, he felt himself genuinely seeping into the real Demonic Cult.
The problem was… it didn’t feel entirely unpleasant.
“Hey, Jang I-seo! Did you see that? The Sixth Elder just came down from there! First, don’t eat anything. Anything. High probability of poisoning. No, this is definitely poisoning-!”
Jang I-seo glanced over the railing. Below, Mao was waving both arms frantically. Maeng Hwi was beside him, finger down his throat, retching.
“Huu. Long way to go.”
Jang I-seo shook his head at the belated fuss, raised his cup in a toast of acknowledgement, and drained it in one go.
“Ah, no-! Jang I-seo has been poisoned-!”
A thoroughly raucous day.
And so the second feast came to an end.
*
The next day.
Waking early, Jang I-seo sat cross-legged in his second-floor annex room overlooking the garden.
Because of what he’d learned from the sudden encounter with the Poison-Born Demon Physician Sa Ma-gyun last night.
‘If internal energy modeled itself only on the most supreme essence of nature’s spiritual qi… would that not be a spirit entity?’
Internal energy as a spirit entity with its own will. Meaning, if movement was repeated, the energy would remember the path.
Therefore,
‘If I predetermine the path the Heavenly Demon’s demonic aura travels from the start. In other words, if I create my own qi circulation breathing technique that establishes a route bypassing the nine holes. Then wouldn’t the problem be solved?’
This was it.
The thread of solution Jang I-seo had found yesterday. The demonic aura poisoning occurred because it leaked out in advance through the nine orifices.
In other words, if he could just block that, the life-or-death problem was immediately solved.
Naturally… it was by no means an easy task.
‘My dantian is like a jug with nine holes drilled in a line like a flute. To draw internal energy out, it must pass all nine holes.’
Conversely, if he couldn’t seal all nine, leakage was inevitable. That was why energy couldn’t accumulate and he couldn’t break through to the absolute realm.
‘Moreover, internal energy is a formless luminescence.’
Therefore, even more leaked out, and even small movements consumed far more internal energy than others.
VWOOM!
Jang I-seo gathered both hands at his dantian and began breathing. Dense demonic aura surged from his body.
The Great Heavenly Circuit had begun.
He felt it clearly. The luminescence of rising qi partially escaping through the nine holes, gradually losing control, scattering into mist and vanishing.
Naturally.
The only things that could hold internal energy in place were the dantian and meridians.
‘As expected, simply emitting qi can’t prevent leakage. But… what if another path is created? If, as the Demon Physician said, the Heavenly Demon’s demonic aura remembers and follows my will. Then the path itself becomes the route the qi has traveled.’
VWOOM!
Jang I-seo gathered both hands at his lower abdomen as if forming a seal. Dark radiance pulsed forth. Precisely, it was light emanating from his lower dantian.
Instead of sending qi all the way up, he voluntarily channeled it all out through the first hole.
Reverse thinking.
Once internal energy left the dantian, it would lose cohesion over time and scatter.
But while control remained, if he relentlessly directed the flow in the desired direction.
If he carved the path little by little, very little by little.
Then eventually, the Heavenly Demon’s demonic aura, mimicking the pattern, might create a return channel to the dantian.
An insane theory.
“Mmm…”
Naturally, the side effects were severe. Jang I-seo immediately groaned in agony.
Naturally.
He was voluntarily poisoning his own body with demonic aura.
Thump, thump, thump.
His heart raced uncontrollably as the demonic aura spread through his entire body. His veins darkened steadily.
Trickle. Blood dripped from his lips. His consciousness grew hazy.
But inwardly, Jang I-seo was blooming with joy.
The Heavenly Demon’s demonic aura that had initially scattered in all directions was gradually following the path he’d carved.
‘It’s coming. It’s definitely following.’
Jang I-seo didn’t stop. He kept carving the path further, creating a route from the dantian outward and upward.
‘Just a little more. Just a little more. The ninth hole is almost there…’
Creating a river-of-light path from the first hole, looping back to the ninth and final one.
Then the qi would no longer leak.
This was the cure Jang I-seo had devised!
And finally.
The luminescence outside his dantian reached the ninth hole.
Just enter, and succeed.
A flush colored Jang I-seo’s face. Intense euphoria surged.
At that very moment.
BOOM-!
An explosive sound from within, and a massive earthquake struck his brain.
“Gah!”
Blood erupted from his mouth like a fountain. His upper body curled like a shrimp. His wide eyes filled with vicious killing light.
“Why?”
It had failed.