Returning Immortal

Chapter 6 : Releasing the Acupoints

It was the morning of the next day when the old physician came to Gwi Seongjin's room.

As the old physician entered, he saw Gwi Seongjin sitting at the desk, reading a book.

"To get out of the underground stone chamber so easily, your ability is truly great. Did you use some kind of divine power?"

"I only came up one floor."

Gwi Seongjin said as he closed the book he was reading.

"Only one floor? If the vengeful spirits who lived and died in the basement heard that, they would be greatly enraged. Well, you wouldn't know how difficult it is to come up to the surface. By the way, what book is that?"

At the old physician's curiosity, Gwi Seongjin showed him the cover of the book he was reading.

[Record of Yin-Yang Diagrams and Apocrypha]

It was a book the old physician had never heard of.

"It was on the bookshelf."

When Gwi Seongjin gestured towards the wall with his head, the old physician, who glanced there, made a surprised expression.

It was because the bookshelf on one side of the wall was packed with books.

They were all old and worn-looking booklets.

Judging by the aura they exuded, they were clearly very valuable books.

"To provide such precious booklets to a captive like you... This is truly exceptional treatment. The procedure today is also like that..."

When Gwi Seongjin asked with his eyes what he meant, the old physician turned his head towards the bed instead of answering.

"I'm going to take your pulse, so get on the bed."

Gwi Seongjin tilted his head.

There were two chairs at the desk.

'He can take my pulse while I'm sitting in a chair, so why specifically the bed...'

Though a question arose, Gwi Seongjin went up to the bed without a word.

The old physician, who carefully held Gwi Seongjin's wrist, took more time than usual to meticulously examine his qi and blood.

Next, he examined his eyes and tongue, had him take off his shirt to look at his wounds, and then had Gwi Seongjin lie on his stomach, pressing here and there to carefully observe his skin, flesh, muscles, and bones.

"You've gotten much better. Is there any place that's uncomfortable?"

"My stomach feels bloated and I have trouble digesting. I also don't sleep well at night... Other than that, there's nothing majorly wrong. It's just a little uncomfortable to walk."

"Is that so. It's not an unusual case, so don't worry too much. The wounds on your toes will heal in a few days. The toenails will grow back too..."

As the old physician said, Gwi Seongjin's external injuries were almost healed.

It seemed the ointment the old physician occasionally came to apply was quite effective.

"Not an unusual case... Are there many people who have been poisoned besides me?"

At Gwi Seongjin's words, the old physician glanced back at his face.

"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about the effects of the poison. As you said, your stomach will feel bloated and you won't sleep well for a while, but you will gradually adapt as time passes."

"You know a lot about poisons too, physician."

"Well... think as you please."

Answering with a blank face, the old physician applied ointment to Gwi Seongjin's toes.

Thinking it was almost healed, it wasn't a very large amount.

After finishing the treatment, the physician put the ointment in his medicine box.

Then, he took out a black wooden box and a long, golden needle case from inside.

Seeing that, Gwi Seongjin's brow furrowed slightly.

"What are those things used for?"

The answer came from outside the door.

"What do you think?"

Judging by the voice, it was Academician Yu.

But he wasn't alone.

Beside Academician Yu, who was entering the room, stood an elderly man in his early sixties like a shadow.

Seeing the old man, Gwi Seongjin made a surprised expression.

Everything about the old man was red.

A ruddy face, hair that burned like flames, and a red robe.

Even the Sky-Piercing Halberd that protruded sharply from behind his back was red.

Another characteristic of the red-robed old man was his huge build.

He was over seven feet tall and seemed to weigh twice as much as himself.

Ugh!

Gwi Seongjin, who met the red-robed man's gaze, let out a short scream.

It was because of the fiery light that shot out from the red-robed man's eyes.

The moment he met it, the world instantly turned red and his eyes stung as if they were burning.

'A being that shoots flames from its eyes...'

As expected, the Luminous Cult was overflowing with strange people.

"If you want to live long, don't look at people carelessly. This is a place where just looking can be a crime."

To think that looking at a person could be a crime...

A hot flame suddenly surged in the chest of Gwi Seongjin, who had lowered his head.

'A calm but impulsive personality.'

Among them, the impulsive personality had manifested.

It was a personality he had forcibly set up so that others couldn't predict his actions, but as if hypnotized, Gwi Seongjin's mind moved that way.

"Don't look at people straight on, what kind of dog-like situation is this... Aaaargh."

Gwi Seongjin, who had ignored Academician Yu's words and glared at the red-robed man, covered his face with both hands and rolled on the floor.

An extreme pain as if his eyeballs were burning.

His mind went blank from the unbearable pain.

Gaaah.

Let alone speaking, it was hard to even think, but Gwi Seongjin raised his head stiffly with superhuman will.

His face was contorted like a demon.

"I'm looking with my own eyes... who are you to."

Pshhhhh!

Aaaargh!

Gwi Seongjin's body, which had barely raised its head, collapsed.

It was because his chest was pierced by the red energy that shot out from the red-robed man's hand.

The energy, which had unraveled like a thread and pierced Gwi Seongjin's chest, was once again absorbed into the red-robed man's palm.

It was a hand as big as a cauldron lid.

"I heard he was a smart fellow, but he's still a brat. Can we trust someone like this?"

"Although he is young, his knowledge of formations is so outstanding that even the Vice Director of our council was impressed. If we had enough time, we could have re-educated him and made him loyal to our cult... Unfortunately, it seems we have to deploy him in the operation right away."

"It seems his spirit isn't broken yet... How about showing him a hotter taste and then releasing his acupoints?"

"He's more cunning than he looks. Besides, there's someone he has to protect here... He will never be able to act recklessly."

"Can you guarantee that last statement?"

"O-of course."

At the red-robed man's question, Academician Yu answered in a firm voice.

As if nervous, beads of sweat had even formed on his forehead.

"I understand. Then I will release this man's meridians as you wish. By the way, what are those? The Four Spirits Golden Needles are to smooth the qi and blood before unblocking the sealed meridians, so then the Ink Soul Pill?"

When the red-robed man asked, looking at the golden needle case and the black wooden box in the physician's hand, Academician Yu immediately answered.

"It has been a long time since his meridians were sealed, so even if his qi and blood flow, he won't recover to his previous level at once. A considerable amount of his scattered internal energy will have disappeared... So we are trying to replenish his internal energy with the Ink Soul Pill."

"Will it be alright?"

The Ink Soul Pill was a pill for the people of the Luminous Cult who were specialized in demonic qi.

If Gwi Seongjin, who had learned the internal energy cultivation method of the orthodox faction, took it, he could easily suffer from qi deviation.

"Fortunately, I heard that this man's internal energy is not high enough to cause side effects. One pill should not be a problem."

"Then that's a relief. Then let's perform the golden needle treatment first."

As soon as the words were finished, the red-robed man's palm moved.

At that, Gwi Seongjin's collapsed body suddenly jumped up and his eyes shot open as if by a lie.

He had woken from his faint.

But it seemed his eyes were still in pain.

He covered his eyes with both hands, and his ten fingers were trembling.

Seeing that, the old physician carefully approached Gwi Seongjin.

"From now on, I will place needles to release your blocked meridians. First, relax your body."

"Grrrr. Cough... cough."

Although the old physician instructed him, it seemed Gwi Seongjin couldn't hear.

He groaned like a beast and cried out roughly.

As if thinking it wouldn't work, the old physician took out a small, thin needle and first reduced Gwi Seongjin's pain.

Was it because the old physician's skill was not low?

The groaning gradually subsided, and Gwi Seongjin's fingers, which had been raised high, also came down.

Confirming that Gwi Seongjin had calmed down, the old physician took out a thick, long needle from the golden needle case.

Then, without hesitation, he thrust it into the area just above Gwi Seongjin's dantian.

Had the long needle pierced halfway into Gwi Seongjin's abdomen?

"Grrrr."

Gwi Seongjin, whose some of his pain senses had been paralyzed by the thin needle, let out a deep groan.

An extreme pain, enough to make him faint, was felt from the area where the needle was inserted.

It was so painful he was on the verge of fainting.

Even though he must have known that, the old physician pushed the remaining long needle deep into his body with a calm expression.

"Aaaargh! H-hey. Physician! What on earth..."

Seeing the old physician take out another needle, Gwi Seongjin's eyes widened in surprise and he let out a shrill scream.

However, the old physician was relentless.

He densely stuck the newly taken out long needles into Gwi Seongjin's major acupoints.

The old physician's strange behavior did not stop there.

The old physician, who had sat up the lying Gwi Seongjin, this time opened the lid of the black wooden box, took out a chestnut-sized pill, and pushed it into Gwi Seongjin's mouth.

"Gack... Ptui, ptui..."

The taste was so bitter and foul that Gwi Seongjin tried to spit it out, but it was no use.

When the old physician, who had covered Gwi Seongjin's mouth, lightly touched his uvula, the pill went down his throat without even being chewed.

"Ugh... ugh, grrr!"

In an instant, Gwi Seongjin's lips parted on their own from a pain like his esophagus was being scraped with a knife.

The pain that followed was the agony of his stomach being torn apart.

In the extreme pain, as if he had swallowed hot charcoal, Gwi Seongjin couldn't even let out a groan.

Just as Gwi Seongjin was about to lose consciousness, crouching his limbs in that rigid posture, this time the red-robed man who was next to Academician Yu moved.

Whoosh.

When the red-robed man raised his left hand, red energies unraveled like threads from the tips of his fingers and began to bind Gwi Seongjin's body.

Then, when he slightly raised his fingertips, Gwi Seongjin's body was pulled upwards and stood straight.

Formidable internal energy.

If an ordinary person had seen it, it would have been a sight to make their eyes widen in surprise, but there was not a single person in the room with such an expression.

Even the old physician, who had stepped aside, had a face that said it was perfectly natural.

The red-robed man was a master belonging to the Elder Council, which one could only join after their martial arts reached the peak of the supreme realm.

The identity of the red-robed man, the Raging Fire Divine Lord, was a master who, when he swung his Fangtian Huaji, was said to turn the entire world, from heaven to earth, into a sea of fire.

It had been twenty years since he joined the Elder Council.

Now, his martial prowess could not even be fathomed.

This was the reason why Academician Yu, who belonged to a completely different organizational system from the Elder Council, treated him with both fear and respect.

Billow, billow.

In an instant, red energy began to rise from the Raging Fire Divine Lord's body like mist.

A blood-red cloud of mist.

The cloud of mist, which had surrounded him and expanded its form like a giant god, eventually stretched out its shape and came out of his body.

Then, it coiled around Gwi Seongjin like a snake and slowly burrowed into his skin.

Bulge, bulge.

Gwi Seongjin's skin twisted like a snake and undulated like waves.

Had about a tea's time passed like that?

A deep furrow formed on the brow of the Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had turned his internal energy into a cloud of mist and was examining the area of Gwi Seongjin's sealed meridians.

The usual acupoint sealing technique was to seal a few vital points with a special method.

But Gwi Seongjin's vital points were sealed over almost the entire range, including the twelve main meridians and the eight extraordinary meridians.

A technique used only when sealing a master of the supreme realm or higher was deployed on a brat who had just barely entered the early stage of the first-rate.

'Crazy!'

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had barely calmed the anger boiling in his chest, swung his hand and instantly withdrew his internal energy that remained in Gwi Seongjin's body.

Then, he let out a long sigh... and extended his right hand towards Gwi Seongjin, striking the air.

Pabababak.

Suddenly, a hot and violent energy dug into Gwi Seongjin's meridians and began to run wild like a mad horse.

Dudududu.

The energy poured out by the Raging Fire Divine Lord became a fierce torrent, inflating Gwi Seongjin's meridians like a balloon, and finally pierced through one of the firmly blocked sealed meridians like a piece of paper.

The momentum did not stop there.

Kururururung.

Gwi Seongjin's blocked sealed meridians burst open one after another in the face of the energy that rushed in like an angry storm.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord's energy, which had penetrated all twelve meridians in an instant, this time headed for Gwi Seongjin's eight extraordinary meridians.

Among the eight meridians of the eight extraordinary meridians, the first place the Raging Fire Divine Lord's energy headed was the Du Mai (Governing Vessel).

The Du Mai was an important qi meridian that started from below the coccyx, went up the back along the spine, passed through the Mingmen and Fengfu acupoints, and continued towards the top of the head, controlling all the yang meridians of the body.

But the Raging Fire Divine Lord's energy, which had pierced through the twelve meridians with the force of splitting bamboo, for some reason was unable to exert its power here.

The internal energy, which had passed through the Huiyin acupoint and crossed the Yaoyangguan, was unable to move at all in front of Gwi Seongjin's Mingmen acupoint.

At the unexpected resistance, the Raging Fire Divine Lord's brow narrowed slightly.

He secretly added more force, but the blocked meridian was still an iron wall.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who was transmitting his true qi through his body, pulled Gwi Seongjin towards him with a surprised face and pressed his palm against his back.

Woooooong.

In an instant, internal energy rushed out from the Raging Fire Divine Lord's palm like a raging tide and coolly pierced through Gwi Seongjin's firmly blocked Mingmen acupoint.

The Raging Fire Divine Lord's momentum, which had gained force and was charging up to the Xuanzhu and Jizhong acupoints, gradually slowed down after passing the Zhongshu acupoint and came to a halt again at the Zhiyang acupoint.

He hadn't even passed half of the Du Mai, but he had met another crisis.

Nod, nod.

As the Raging Fire Divine Lord added more internal energy to pierce the sealed Zhiyang acupoint, the already fainted Gwi Seongjin's body swayed from side to side and shook.

Gwi Seongjin's body, which had begun to swell little by little, had become unmanageably large before he knew it...

His face, which had turned bright red, was also on the verge of bursting.

'How can this be... Was Leng Xuehan's skill this high?'

White energy seeped out from the top of the Raging Fire Divine Lord's head, who was making a disbelieving expression, like smoke.

Leng Xuehan was the leader of the Asura Shadow Guard, the Cult Leader's personal guard, and a master whose level of martial arts could not be fathomed.

There were even rumors that the Cult Leader had personally passed down his ultimate techniques to him.

Even so, the Raging Fire Divine Lord had a very pride-wounded expression.

Hmph!

A cold glint flashed and disappeared from the eyes of the Raging Fire Divine Lord, who snorted forcefully.

And...

The red energies that were pressing Gwi Seongjin's meridians to the point of bursting were instantly sucked into the Raging Fire Divine Lord's palm.

'So this is why the Cult Leader called me...'

Now the Raging Fire Divine Lord understood why the Cult Leader had called him.

Although the truth was unknown, a rumor was circulating that Leng Xuehan, who had personally sealed Gwi Seongjin's acupoints, was dispatched to the outside and was carrying out a top-secret mission.

And now that the head of the Dark Spirit Council, Po Seokcheon, was away, there was no master in this Dark Spirit Council who could release Gwi Seongjin's sealed acupoints.

In that case, he could fully understand why the Cult Leader had chosen a master from the Elder Council, and among them, himself, who had no faction, as the right person to solve this matter.

However, there were still parts he couldn't understand.

If asked whether all the elders residing in the Elder Council had the ability to release Gwi Seongjin's sealed meridians... the Raging Fire Divine Lord could only shake his head.

The elders in the Elder Council who could release Gwi Seongjin's sealed meridians... honestly, it would be less than half of the total.

If it was a master with no faction, it would be about a quarter of that.

That's how difficult it was to release the acupoint sealing technique that Leng Xuehan had deployed.

But the Raging Fire Divine Lord had something else he believed in.

In fact, he had gained a great enlightenment ten years ago and had formed his middle dantian, and now he was looking beyond the end of the supreme realm to the realm of the ultimate demon.

Even at the same realm, the difference between having a middle dantian and not was like heaven and earth.

It was a common saying that the true qi generated from the middle dantian was superior to internal energy.

The problem was the question of whether the Cult Leader knew about his realm, which he had never exposed since his enlightenment.

The conclusion was no.

No matter how high the Cult Leader's martial prowess was, he would not be able to see through the body of a master who had reached the late stage of the supreme realm.

Even so, the Cult Leader's designation of him was, in the end, a divine move.

He didn't know for what reason he had designated him, but it seemed that today he would have to expose his hidden secret technique without reservation.

Of course, the reason the Raging Fire Divine Lord had made this decision was also that even if he deployed his secret technique, there was no one here who would recognize it.

'I was trying not to expose my true body internal energy as much as possible...'

The Raging Fire Divine Lord, who had stored his internal energy in his lower dantian, drew out the pure yang true qi from his middle dantian with a look of helplessness.

(End of Chapter)