novelraw Chapter 138 : Chapter 138
Chapter 138 : Chapter 138
Chapter 138. Well Then, Shall We Begin?
Jureureuk, a nosebleed gushed from Jin Cheon's nose.
“S-Seventh Young Master!”
The startled Yi Seol hastily approached Jin Cheon.
“Ah, it's alright.”
Jin Cheon said as he took out a handkerchief from his bosom and wiped the flowing blood, as if it were nothing.
“This incantation is dangerous. Circulating qi like this will instantly cause the Baihui acupoint to burst, leading to death.”
“What…?”
“It would be best to discard it.”
After saying so, Jin Cheon summoned the True Fire of Samadhi and burned the corresponding incantation.
From Jin Cheon's perspective, such an incantation was trash not even fit for kindling, so he felt it was unnecessary anyway.
“I will continue to examine them.”
“But…”
“You don't have to worry.”
Jin Cheon grinned, reassuring Yi Seol.
“I do not suffer from qi deviation due to demonic qi.”
“Wh-what do you mean by that?”
“It is because of my constitution, so the Master of the Demonic Scripture Pavilion need not worry too much.”
“I can't believe it!”
Yi Seol could not bring herself to trust Jin Cheon's words.
Indeed, where in the world was there a person who did not suffer from qi deviation?
“If you don't believe me, I will show you directly.”
As if he understood, Jin Cheon said so and began to circulate the unverified incantations recorded in the research data one by one.
Of course, Jin Cheon was also human, so when he circulated some of the incantations, he looked slightly pained or coughed up blood.
However, a truly dangerous situation never occurred, and Jin Cheon continued to circulate various incantations, personally verifying the data.
To Yi Seol, the Master of the Demonic Scripture Pavilion, such a sight of Jin Cheon was an enormous shock.
‘N-no way! How can a person…!’
Yi Seol's reaction was perfectly natural.
What Jin Cheon was doing now was something that anyone would be shocked by, calling it a crazy act.
Who in the world would conduct a biological experiment on their own body, an act for which a thousand lives would not be enough?
But Jin Cheon, regardless of whether Yi Seol was surprised or not, continued to experiment on himself with the research data.
“This incantation is quite useful. But this one here will destroy the middle dantian, so it would be best to discard it. I will record the effects of using the demonic qi here.”
Jin Cheon recorded the results of the biological experiment he personally conducted on the brush and ink he had beside him.
A few shichen later.
“I will stop here for today.”
Jin Cheon stood up from his seat, looking tired.
He had had several nosebleeds and suffered some internal injuries due to the boiling demonic qi.
“Are you alright? You don't look well.”
“I'll be fine after a good night's sleep.”
Jin Cheon's words were true.
It might be different elsewhere, but here in the Divine Land, which was full of spiritual energy, the recovery power of the Heavenly Demon’s Physique was nothing short of miraculous.
“I will come again tomorrow after my training ends. Well then, I'll be going.”
“……Take care.”
Yi Seol stood blankly for a while, watching Jin Cheon's retreating back.
‘Seventh Young Master… you truly are a monster.’
Yi Seol had to admit that Jin Cheon was an existence outside the norm, beyond the category of ordinary humans.
***
The next day.
As soon as Jin Cheon finished his morning training, he headed to the Demonic Scripture Pavilion.
Since he had decided to try to overcome the side effects of demonic art practitioners, his intention was to diligently conduct research whenever he had time.
“You've come.”
The Master of the Demonic Scripture Pavilion, Yi Seol, greeted Jin Cheon.
“Yes, I greet the Master of the Demonic Scripture Pavilion. But that over there…”
Jin Cheon tilted his head as he looked at the mountain of books behind Yi Seol.
“I prepared them because I wanted to request a review from you, Seventh Young Master.”
“……Yes?”
“I'll be in your care. Huhu.”
Seeing Yi Seol's smiling eyes full of madness, Jin Cheon realized that something was wrong.
‘I-I'm in deep trouble.’
Jin Cheon regretted underestimating Yi Seol's passion for learning, but it was already too late.
To think she would prepare a mountain of demonic art research materials and wait for him…
Indeed, Yi Seol was famous within the cult as a madman obsessed with demonic art research.
Her passion and obsession were so great that she had read every single demonic art manual that was available for viewing with the permission of the Iron-Blooded Demonic God.
And her goal was only one.
To create the strongest and most evil demonic art of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, surpassing the existing Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
However, creating a divine art was by no means an easy task, so Yi Seol always hit a wall.
Moreover, there was no suitable person to personally test the demonic art incantations she created, so her research had been stagnant for some time.
To such an Yi Seol, Jin Cheon was like a lifeline sent down from the heavens.
If only Jin Cheon helped her, it seemed that creating a new divine art might not be impossible.
“All of this…?”
“You don't want to?”
“It's not that, but…”
“It's fine even if it's slow, so I'm asking you earnestly.”
Yi Seol pleaded with Jin Cheon in an earnest tone.
“You are the only person in the cult who can do this, Seventh Young Master.”
“Yes, well…”
Jin Cheon answered, breaking out in a cold sweat.
“I will do my best to help as much as time allows, but the amount of data is too much…”
“That's why I said it's fine even if it's slow. Well then, shall we begin?”
“……Yes.”
Thus, Jin Cheon was half-forced by Yi Seol to devote himself to demonic art research.
The research was very arduous, and though it was called research, it was closer to physically demanding hard labor.
And with good reason; since Jin Cheon was personally testing unverified, dangerous demonic art incantations on his own body, it would be a lie to say it wasn't hard.
It was fortunate that Jin Cheon had the Heavenly Demon’s Physique; wouldn't it be a research that no one else would dare to attempt?
Thanks to this, Jin Cheon had to live practically half-dead every day, with nosebleeds and coughing up blood.
And such efforts of Jin Cheon soon bore fruit.
When Jin Cheon, with his Heavenly Demon’s Physique, and Yi Seol, a genius in demonic art research, put their heads together, they obtained a result.
“……This is.”
As Jin Cheon was circulating his qi, his eyes flashed open as if he had realized something.
“What's wrong all of a sudden?”
“I think I've figured it out.”
“What did you figure out.”
Yi Seol's eyes sparkled as she looked at Jin Cheon.
“The correlation between demonic art training and the side effects of aging.”
“……!”
“The reason why demonic art practitioners age faster and their martial arts regress compared to practitioners of righteous arts is…”
Jin Cheon explained his realization to Yi Seol.
According to Jin Cheon's realization, the side effects of aging were due to nothing other than the weakening of the upper dantian.
Originally, demonic arts boldly touch the upper dantian from the early stages of initiation to awaken one's insight and achieve rapid progress, but after reaching a certain level, the principle was to almost not train it.
Why?
Because if the upper dantian, the brain, was frequently exposed to demonic qi, one would go mad.
The problem was that as one aged, the brain also gradually aged, and the balance of the upper, middle, and lower dantians was broken.
It was a side effect that occurred because while the upper dantian was almost not trained, the focus was on the lower and middle dantians.
As a result, the body naturally weakened, and eventually, one lost their grip on reason, and at the same time, the weakened upper dantian was completely dominated by demonic qi, causing demonification.
“Then the solution is…”
“Even if it's late, if we can safely train the upper dantian to match the balance with the middle and lower dantians, it should work.”
“Ah!”
Yi Seol exclaimed in emotion, understanding the meaning of Jin Cheon's words.
“Then, if we create a heart art that can safely train the upper dantian, it will be solved.”
“Yes, it probably will.”
“But…”
Yi Seol's expression darkened again.
And with good reason; for demonic art practitioners to safely train the upper dantian was absurd.
It was unlikely that those who had trained in demonic qi their entire lives would possess pure righteous internal energy, and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had almost no such heart arts.
It was not that there were no martial arts that trained the upper dantian, but most of them were family specialty martial arts of the Seven Demonic Families or divine arts permitted only to the highest-level masters, so it was impossible to widely disseminate them.
“There is a way.”
“Th-there's a way?”
“The Wudang Sect's Two Intents Heart Art. And Shaolin's Marrow-Washing True Classic. If we use these two heart arts appropriately, it will be quite possible.”
The Wudang Sect's Two Intents Heart Art that Jin Cheon mentioned was a divine art that allowed one to simultaneously learn two incompatible types of heart arts, and Shaolin's Marrow-Washing True Classic was the latter of the famous Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic and Marrow-Washing Classic.
Weren't both martial arts the divine arts and secret techniques of the Wudang Sect and Shaolin respectively, and also some of the most advanced martial arts in the world?
“But obtaining the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic is…”
“There's no need for that.”
Jin Cheon grinned.
“I have already memorized all the incantations of the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic, so there is no need to go out of our way to obtain them.”
“Wh-what do you mean by that? That you have memorized all the incantations of the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic?”
“Literally.”
“But Seventh Young Master, you are neither from the Wudang Sect nor the Shaolin Sect, so how do you know those martial arts…”
“I stole and learned them while I was enrolled at the Heavenly Martial Academy.”
“Are you telling me to believe that?”
“How else would I know the incantations of the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic if not by stealing and learning them?”
“……”
Yi Seol was at a loss for words.
There were things to steal and things not to, but to have stolen and learned the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic?
Even a village idiot wouldn't believe it.
It was not so difficult to steal and learn the forms of martial arts.
One just had to secretly watch.
However, to steal and learn the profound incantations of a heart art was nearly impossible.
Didn't advanced martial arts require not only a manual but also a good master to interpret its meaning?
At the very least, one needed a detailed commentary on the manual to learn it even superficially…
“A brush.”
“Here you are.”
Yi Seol handed a brush to Jin Cheon.
Seuk, seueuk.
Soon, Jin Cheon's brush, in one stroke, began to write down the core incantations of the Two Intents Heart Art and the Marrow-Washing True Classic on the spot.
***
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief, who had come to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult with her sister and nephew, was quite satisfied with her new life.
Jin Cheon's new house was a magnificent manor, so there was no shortage of space for the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief, her sister, and her nephew to live.
The Seventh Divine Demon Squad thoroughly guarded the manor, and the servants and maids even attended to their needs, so there was nothing inconvenient.
And what was most satisfying was that here in the Divine Land, they were free from the terrifying Gal Mu-wi and Hegemon Fortress.
How wonderful it was to be able to live comfortably, without worrying about being chased by someone.
Thanks to this, the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief was spending peaceful and comfortable days.
But there were those who bothered such a Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief…
‘A human-skin mask.’
The Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief was quite uncomfortable with the fact that some people within the manor were wearing human-skin masks.
That was not all.
‘It feels like they're watching Jin Cheon.’
She also had a strong feeling that among the passersby outside the manor, there were those who were strangely watching Jin Cheon.
Moreover, what was most bothersome was that she had noticed several places around Jin Cheon's quarters that were suitable for a person to hide.
Such bothersome points would have gone unnoticed by ordinary people even if they died and came back to life, but it was impossible to deceive the eyes of the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief.
Why else would she be called the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief?
The eyes of the greatest thief under heaven were bound to see things that ordinary people failed to notice.
‘No matter how I think about it, they don't seem to be guards. If they're not guards… could it be.’
A thought flashed through the Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief's mind.
Assassins.
The Heavenly Evasion Divine Thief thought that perhaps this unpleasant feeling was due to assassins aiming for Jin Cheon.