novelraw Chapter 170 : If You Fail to Save Him, You Will Die (3)
Chapter 170 : If You Fail to Save Him, You Will Die (3)
Chapter 170: If You Fail to Save Him, You Will Die (3)
‘Rather good.’
That was the true thought inside Sewoon, who was absorbing every last trace of Juyudo’s foul qi.
The foul qi was formed from the mingling of the Strange Blood Aberration’s water-qi, the Earth Spirit Grass’s earth-qi, and the baleful qi accumulated within Juyudo’s body.
If anyone else had absorbed it, they would have either lost their life on the spot or lost all the martial arts they had painstakingly cultivated. It was a dreadful energy.
But for Sewoon, it was different.
‘There was no way something of this level could harm my body.’
Once such foul qi entered Sewoon’s body, it simply melted away into his Divine Poison Qi.
Like a toad opening its mouth wide to swallow incoming insects, the energy coiled inside Sewoon’s body devoured the offering with relish.
Sssaaa!
At the same time, it flowed along Sewoon’s qi-blood and meridians, quickly being absorbed into every corner.
‘This will increase my inner strength.’
In truth, among spiritual herbs, Earth Spirit Grass possessed potency and rarity comparable to Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng.
Only the bare minimum amount of such energy had seeped into Juyudo’s body, while the true essence—its precious core—was all flowing back into Sewoon.
It was as if he were shamelessly using the future emperor’s body as a filtering net.
However, neither Oh Gonggong nor Boyeon Shinni, who practiced medicine alongside him, ever imagined such a thing.
‘Ahh, to think such a horrifying energy had been contained inside the Crown Prince’s body. Just looking at it made my heart sink.’
‘He is barely enduring thanks to the strength the Former Emperor left behind. Even I could never have endured it…….’
Because from the outside, Sewoon appeared to be heroically taking on all the suffering alone.
As that misunderstanding continued—
Sssaaa!
More than at least fifteen years’ worth of cultivated inner power was absorbed into Sewoon’s body.
And at last—
Crack! Crack-crackle!
Like a chrysalis shedding its skin to become a butterfly, Juyudo was undergoing Body Reformation.
“Ahhh!”
“B-Body Reformation!!”
Everyone in the room, including Oh Gonggong, let out gasps of astonishment before they realized.
An artificially induced Body Reformation—this was a miraculous event they had never seen once in their entire lives.
‘A Body Reformation said to be possible only through the supreme enlightenment of reaching the Manifestation Realm can be achieved artificially! This is, quite literally, an area impossible without a true Divine Physician!’
Oh Gonggong could not hide the tremor in his heart as he thought so.
Strictly speaking, it was not a perfect Body Reformation. Juyudo’s entire skeletal frame had not been reorganized into the optimal form of a martial artist.
But if judged solely as a pure, spotless physique—a body devoid of any harmful qi—it was undeniably a Body Reformation.
Sss!
Just then, Sewoon slowly removed the hand pressing Juyudo’s pulse.
“Whew, it is done.”
“H-how has it turned out?”
Oh Gonggong asked carefully at Sewoon’s words.
Juyudo had fallen into a gentle sleep.
His pale complexion and the clearly emaciated look from earlier had vanished without a trace.
Anyone could see he looked recovered, but Oh Gonggong wished to hear a definitive answer from Sewoon’s own mouth.
Soon, Sewoon spoke.
“I have removed every grain of foul qi. Right now, he is merely overwhelmed by the sleep he had been unable to take for so long. When he awakes, he will be completely cured.”
“A-ah.”
Oh Gonggong collapsed where he stood as if his strength had drained away, unable to continue speaking out of sheer emotion.
How cruel those years had been.
Even after inviting the Divine Physician of Mount Emei and searching the entire Central Plains for medicinal ingredients, he had shed countless tears watching his master quietly endure the agony alone.
But at last, Juyudo had truly been freed from that terrible illness.
“Krrh, hngh. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“No, Gonggong. Please do not be like this. I merely lent a hand to Boyeon Shinni’s medical arts.”
Despite being the head of the Eastern Depot, Oh Gonggong bowed repeatedly with tears streaming down.
It was the sincere expression of his gratitude.
He had been given the foundation for his master to enjoy a long and healthy life—Oh Gonggong savored a joy too great for words.
Those in the room witnessing that unbelievable sight all came to a single realization.
‘Tang Sewoon……!’
They had just witnessed the moment a new Divine Physician ascended within the jianghu.
After the treatment was finished—
For the Crown Prince’s absolute rest, everyone withdrew from the room.
Except for the guards assigned to watch over him, everyone returned to their own quarters.
‘Hmm, it should be about time.’
Sewoon sat not in his own room, but in a completely different place, waiting alone for someone.
A serene room without a trace of luxury, carrying only the quiet marks of time.
In the empty space, only a single coffin that Sewoon had brought from the Tang Clan was left standing alone.
Creak.
At that moment, the door opened, and a person stepped inside.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”
“It is nothing, Shinni-nim.”
Sewoon bowed his head to Boyeon Shinni.
Yes. This place was none other than Boyeon Shinni’s private chamber.
It was a secret space of a high monk, one that even Geumhwa Satae and the rest of the Emei Sect were forbidden to enter. Sewoon had been summoned here.
Soon, the two sat facing one another in a seated lotus position.
And for a long time, silence flowed between them without a single exchange of words.
A breeze slipped in through the slightly opened window.
“Thank you. Truly.”
“……!”
Suddenly, Boyeon Shinni lowered her head to Sewoon, offering a formal expression of gratitude.
Seeing that, Sewoon grew flustered and quickly attempted to stop her.
“Shinni-nim, please don’t. How could you bow your head to a junior so far beneath you?”
“This is not the courtesy of a senior of the jianghu, nor of an elder of Emei. It is the gratitude of one physician toward another.”
“!!”
Boyeon Shinni meant every word.
What Sewoon had done was something no one could achieve unless they were willing to risk their life for the sake of a patient.
“No. For an entire year, you suppressed His Highness the Crown Prince’s foul qi and must even have damaged your True Origin Qi. I only added one final touch to your efforts.”
“That is not so. Without you, we could never have saved His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“I truly am fine……”
“As soon as my body recovers, I will examine your condition myself. You must receive treatment and depart together with a Golden Small Pill.”
“!!”
Sewoon genuinely felt fine, not merely out of politeness. His condition was perfect.
But Boyeon Shinni did not believe it and insisted stubbornly.
At first, Sewoon tried to refuse, saying he truly needed no treatment.
But the moment she mentioned Golden Small Pills, equivalent to Great Cycle Pills, he immediately closed his mouth.
There was no need to refuse something offered for free.
However, the warm atmosphere between them did not last long.
“Then from this point on, I shall speak not as an elder of Emei, but as a Murim Alliance elder.”
In that moment, Boyeon Shinni’s gaze toward Sewoon changed.
Sewoon, too, met her eyes without avoidance, his expression solemn.
The Subduing Tiger Divine Physician, said to possess a martial prowess second only to the Sword Emperor Yoo Jinhak within the orthodox murim, looked upon him and slowly opened her mouth.
“What exactly are you?”
That was her first question.
Despite meeting Sewoon in person—
No, precisely because she had met him—Boyeon Shinni’s confusion only deepened.
“The Alliance Leader’s words seem correct in at least this: you are no evildoer. But that is why I cannot understand your current path.”
The Sewoon she had seen was a good man.
Not simply because he risked his life to save Juyudo.
During the treatment, their energies had circulated through Juyudo’s body, intertwining their inner states.
In that process, Boyeon Shinni had confirmed the pure, nearly snow-white qi residing within Sewoon.
“The power left behind by the Former Emperor was a double-edged sword. Though a tremendous strength, if the one who bore it harbored evil intent, the subduing force would instantly manifest and pierce the wielder instead.”
And yet Sewoon was alive and well.
That alone erased all her former prejudice and misunderstanding regarding him.
But the questions still lingered.
“Then why abandon the orthodox path and move toward the unorthodox? Why chase after a formless shadow? Do you truly believe the demonic force you spoke of to the Alliance Leader exists?”
“Shinni-nim.”
At that moment, Sewoon quietly interrupted her.
There was no anger on Boyeon Shinni’s face—only genuine concern and worry.
It was something Sewoon appreciated, but he intended to give her the truth.
“Just because something is unseen does not mean it does not exist. They have already scattered poison across the entire Central Plains and are merely waiting for the harvest.”
“A harvest… what could that possibly mean……”
“Soon, the forces of the Outer Regions who received orders will invade the Central Plains simultaneously.”
“……!”
“The North Sea Ice Palace will attack the Moyong Clan. The Sun Palace will ambush the Hainan Sect. And Gale Sands will invade Kunlun.”
Three of the Outer Four Palaces would move?
Boyeon Shinni could not hide her shock at the utterly unexpected words.
But soon after, she cautiously raised an objection.
“There is not a single piece of evidence. And how could you possibly know their movements?”
“Because I stopped the blood massacre of another place first.”
“Another place……?”
The moment doubt appeared on her face—
Sssaaa!
Sewoon activated Ink Blood, believing that showing her directly would be quicker.
An overwhelming aura of soul-power surged out from his entire body.
The instant Boyeon Shinni saw that power, she recognized its origin from ancient records.
“That power…! It cannot be… the Battle God of Beasts’…!”
“Yes. I am the former Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan—
And the master of Beast Palace.”
“!!”
Boyeon Shinni could not hide her shock.
And understandably so.
How could one easily accept that the master of the Sichuan Tang Clan also possessed a portion of the Outer Four Palaces?
Sewoon continued speaking.
“Had I not gone ahead to stop them, Beast Palace—fallen into ‘their’ hands—would have attacked Diancang.”
“……But even if you truly became the master of Beast Palace, that alone does not prove the demonic entity exists……”
“Shinni-nim. Then will you verify the proof I found in Beast Palace yourself?”
“……!”
Sewoon spoke so, then quietly turned his head.
There lay the coffin he had personally brought all the way from the Tang Clan.
‘Surely the one inside that coffin is……’
Boyeon Shinni instinctively grew tense at the grave expression on Sewoon’s face.
Then she slowly rose to her feet and walked toward the coffin.
Sewoon silently watched her.
And finally, Boyeon Shinni opened the lid.
“Ah, ahh…… Th-this child. Why is this child…….”
A sigh escaped Boyeon Shinni’s lips.