CHAPTER: Chapter 35
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Chapter 35.
BANG—! CRASH—!
The thick iron doors of the Demon Physician Hall bent like sticks of taffy and were flung away.
“Yeong-ah! Uncheon! I am here! Are you still safe?!”
Disheveled hair and a silk long robe covered in dirt. It was a wretched appearance far removed from the Life-and-Death Exalted One under heaven.
The way he burst in while raising a thick cloud of dust would have made it believable even if someone called him an old demonic fiend rather than an Exalted One of the cult.
In his hand, he gripped the spiritual medicine under heaven, the Kongqing Stone Marrow, so tightly it seemed it might shatter.
“…Grandfather?”
Beyond the cloud of dust, Seolyeong was looking at him.
His steps, which had stormed in like a tempest, stopped dead.
“…Huh?”
Her complexion was still pale.
However, the shadow of death that had once so viciously squeezed her was nowhere to be found.
Instead, an energy so clear and transparent it was almost cold rose from her entire body like a haze, like a snow lotus that had just bloomed.
And across from her.
Uncheon slowly unfolded his crossed legs and opened his eyes.
“Huu…….”
His face was marked by dark bloodstains on his lips, which he indifferently wiped away with his sleeve.
A terrible exhaustion clung to him, but his eyes alone shone brightly.
“You were a little late, senior.”
A mischievous smile faintly appeared at the corner of Uncheon’s mouth.
“For now… the urgent fire has been put out.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s mouth fell open.
“…Are you saying you controlled the Yin-Cold Qi yourselves in that situation?”
His startled gaze darted busily between Seolyeong, who was emitting clear energy, and Uncheon, who had gathered and contained a cool yin qi.
The children who had gone to the threshold of death had instead changed in aura, as if they had broken through their shells.
He did not need to take their pulses to know.
The crisis had already passed.
“Well, now….”
The strength left the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s legs.
He collapsed to the floor with a thud.
Relief and emptiness had surged over him at the same time.
“I am so dumbfounded that I cannot even speak….”
At that moment, his gaze unconsciously settled on the jade bottle in his hand.
A jade bottle emitting a brilliant blue light.
Kongqing Stone Marrow.
A rare spiritual medicine said to revive even the dying.
At that instant, the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes, which had loosened with relief, sank murkily.
‘Wait. If that boy has already passed the crisis… then do I not need to use even this Kongqing Stone Marrow?’
A sticky desire flashed through the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s aged eyes.
Seolyeong had now regained stability by controlling her Yin-Cold Qi.
‘If she takes the Kongqing Stone Marrow in this state?’
It might slow the progress of the Severed Meridian Affliction that even his medical arts could not improve and buy his granddaughter more time.
‘No, with this Kongqing Stone Marrow, perhaps she could be guaranteed not just a prolonged life, but ten years or more of healthy living….’
The oath he had made in front of the Ilwol Escort Agency flashed through the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s mind.
‘I certainly swore to become his guardian. However, that boy’s life has already been saved… If so, is there any need to feed him this precious treasure?’
Strength entered the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s grasp.
His eyes slowly turned toward Uncheon.
Uncheon instantly understood the meaning of that viscous, clinging gaze.
‘Even an expert called one of the Five Exalted Ones is only an old man indulging aged greed before his own bloodline.’
Uncheon felt an emotion closer to cynicism than bitterness.
In any case, the Kongqing Stone Marrow was not urgently needed right now.
‘Rather… now that I have barely controlled the Yin-Cold Qi and formed a qi center, drinking the Kongqing Stone Marrow would likely become poison.’
While trying to save Seolyeong, he had come to control Yin-Cold Qi through the principles of the Ice Soul Divine Art, so that alone meant he had gained more than if he had drunk the Kongqing Stone Marrow.
‘The Kongqing Stone Marrow was not something I obtained with my own power to begin with. It was an item I intended to use for a deal with the Life-and-Death Exalted One. There is nothing to regret.’
Just as Uncheon finished organizing his thoughts and was about to close his eyes without bothering to argue, a voice as cold as frost blades awakened the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
“Grandfather!”
It was Seolyeong.
Her blue eyes looked straight through her grandfather’s eyes, which were wavering with desire, without the slightest tremor.
“That spiritual medicine is not mine.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One flinched and opened his mouth as if making an excuse.
“Yeong-ah, but… that boy’s condition has improved, and your body is still….”
“I survived because Benefactor risked his life to buy me time.”
Seolyeong’s eyes were firm.
It was not the petulance of a sickly granddaughter, but the gaze of a martial artist trying to protect her pride.
“But if I covet even the spiritual medicine brought for Benefactor… I will become a beast that does not know grace.”
A chilly coldness even settled in her voice.
“Grandfather did not raise me to be so ungrateful and forgetful of grace. don’t make me ashamed before Benefactor.”
At his granddaughter’s rebuke, even the Life-and-Death Exalted One under heaven was struck speechless.
“……!”
His face burned as if he had been slapped.
“Ahem… I showed an ugly sight. It seems I was briefly lost in delusion.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One let out a loud cough to hide his embarrassment and thrust the jade bottle in his hand toward Uncheon.
“Here, take it. With this… your physical condition should improve greatly as well.”
Uncheon accepted the jade bottle.
The feel of the jade bottle against his fingertips was cool, but the energy of the spiritual medicine surging inside it was clear and pure.
It was a treasure whose rumor alone could shake the world.
However, instead of bringing the jade bottle to his mouth, Uncheon handed it back to the Life-and-Death Exalted One.
“Thank you, but I don’t need it right now.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyebrow twitched.
“What? Why? Are you afraid my mind will change?”
“That is not it. Right now, my qi center is like walking over thin ice.”
Uncheon quietly pressed his lower abdomen.
“I am barely maintaining a precarious balance through the rotational force of the Yin-Cold Qi. If a great wave called the Kongqing Stone Marrow were poured into it….”
Uncheon added with a self-mocking smile.
“It would only go out of control. I would not be able to maintain the qi center I have finally created. Excess is as bad as insufficiency.”
“Hmm… Let me take your pulse.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One checked Uncheon’s pulse.
The qi center he felt inside Uncheon’s body was different from a conventional one.
“…This! Your qi center is rotating? It seems unstable, yet it has formed a strange balance. Furthermore….”
The rotating qi center was not the only astonishing thing.
‘The yin qi and yang qi of the Yin-Yang Great Spirit Severed Meridian Affliction, and on top of that, an unidentified poison qi. What exactly is this boy’s body…?’
It was barely maintaining equilibrium in a peculiar triangular structure.
As the boy had said, pouring Kongqing Stone Marrow over this delicate balance would be like pouring oil into a burning house.
Though the boy did not even know much medicine, he had instinctively seen through the state of his own body.
‘He is not like someone his age. He would normally be blinded by the spiritual medicine before his eyes….’
The restraint to suppress desire and know when to stop with cold reason.
Perhaps that was the true talent this boy possessed.
The Life-and-Death Exalted One inwardly clicked his tongue in admiration.
“Then what do you intend to do? You are even refusing the spiritual medicine.”
“Please save the Kongqing Stone Marrow. There may come a time when it must be used urgently….”
Uncheon’s gaze touched Seolyeong.
“That is right, Grandfather. Both of us have only put out the urgent fire. We could become endangered at any time, so it would be best to prepare for that moment.”
Seolyeong nodded in agreement with Uncheon’s words.
“We have each realized something through this incident, so I think the research will also make more progress.”
The gazes passing between the two of them.
It was not affection between a man and a woman, but the trust of comrades-in-arms who had fought together against an incurable disease and survived.
It was the bond of survivors who had broken through the heavenly punishment called Severed Meridian Affliction.
However, in the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s eyes, that scene looked entirely different.
‘Oh… look at those two?’
The Life-and-Death Exalted One stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes.
It was the first time in his life that his prickly and cold granddaughter had looked at a man with such trust.
At that moment, the Life-and-Death Exalted One looked at Uncheon with different eyes.
‘Now that I look at him… is he not a boy lacking in neither aptitude nor character?’
A boy with a terminal constitution who had carved out his own path to survival, and who had faced a Peak Realm expert even with a body that had no inner arts.
Now that he had come to handle even Yin-Cold Qi with inner arts, he had gained wings.
Even his appearance was handsome, and his only flaw was his background.
‘However… a thing like origin can simply be guaranteed by me, one of the Five Exalted Ones. In any case, I have already sworn to be his guardian….’
The Life-and-Death Exalted One calmly evaluated Uncheon in his mind as a prospective grandson-in-law.
‘If he truly overcomes even the incurable disease called the Severed Meridian Affliction, would it not be all right to entrust my precious granddaughter to him then?’
However, judging by Uncheon’s personality, if he acted too openly, he would most likely make the boy wary instead.
Therefore… he had to bind him naturally, and very secretly.
‘Joint research, is it… That is also a fine pretext to keep the two of them together.’
The Life-and-Death Exalted One laughed heartily and sprang to his feet.
“Good. Very good!”
He strode over to Uncheon and lightly struck his shoulder.
“Since your intentions are commendable, I shall support you wholeheartedly. If there is anything you need for the research, say it.”
He was already in a situation where he had declared himself Uncheon’s guardian before the Ilwol Escort Agency.
There had been more than one or two witnesses, so the rumor would soon spread.
“However… I must clearly express my gratitude for the fact that you saved Yeong-ah even without the Kongqing Stone Marrow. Public and private matters must be kept distinct.”
The Life-and-Death Exalted One took a heavy Black Iron Plaque from his robe.
It was not a simple iron plaque.
Clink.
On the surface of the plaque, over which a dark-red energy lingered, the two characters ‘Life-and-Death’ were engraved.
‘While I am at it, I should firmly keep this boy tied here.’
The plaque Uncheon accepted without much thought was far heavier than he had expected.
“Carry it with you. It is the sacred token that represents me, the Life-and-Death Plaque.”
“……Why would you give this to me?”
“It means that from today onward, I will become your guardian.”
Uncheon’s eyes widened.
This was not simple assistance.
It was a declaration that the Life-and-Death Exalted One, one of the Five Exalted Ones of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, would officially watch his back.
The Life-and-Death Exalted One inwardly laughed sinisterly as he watched the bewildered Uncheon.
‘Take it. The moment you accept it, you are in my palm.’
This was both a symbol of guardianship and a shackle that bound his prospective grandson-in-law.
“…Thank you, senior.”
Even Uncheon could not read the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s true intentions, and he accepted the plaque with a clasped hands greeting.
‘As with the Inspectorate incident last time… if I have the Life-and-Death Exalted One’s guardianship, it will be a great help going forward.’
To treat the Severed Meridian Affliction and detoxify the Latent Venom, his medical arts were absolutely necessary.
Moreover, since he could obtain a stable status within the Demonic Cult, this was by no means a bad offer.
‘Not bad.’
They were sharing the same bed while dreaming different dreams.
However, Uncheon did not know.
He did not know what waves this plaque the Life-and-Death Exalted One had handed him would stir in the power structure of the Demonic Cult, which had briefly grown quiet.
Nor did he know that the yang qi coiled deep within his body was gradually beginning to stir in response to the rotation of the Yin-Cold Qi.
***
At the same time.
Near the Demonic Martial Hall, at Drunken Immortal Pavilion, a tavern often frequented by members of the Demonic Cult.
“Waiter! The wine is empty! Bring more highland barley wine!”
Yuha, a young nobleman wearing a silk long robe as dark as ebony, raised his wine cup high.
Around him, more than ten sturdy escort guards cheered.
“Waaah! Young Guild Master is the best!”
“Kuh, the wine tastes good!”
As if he had been waiting for the heat of the gathering to ripen, Yuha opened the conversation in a subtle voice.
“Do you all have any idea who that person was? They say he is none other than one of the Five Exalted Ones, the Life-and-Death Exalted One.”
“……!”
At that moment, the lively atmosphere of the tavern stopped all at once.
The ears of the Demonic Cult warriors drinking at the nearby tables perked up.
“What is even more surprising is that while receiving our escort cargo, he gave a guarantee. He said he was the guardian of the owner of the cargo!”
“Huuugh!”
Cries of shock burst out from here and there.
The fact that the Life-and-Death Exalted One, who had never belonged to any force and acted like a lone general, had become someone’s backing was an incident that could create cracks in the balance of power within the Demonic Cult.
“Who in the world is the person the Life-and-Death Exalted One is guarding?”
“Is that true? In my whole life, I have never heard of the Life-and-Death Exalted One protecting anyone!”
Cries of astonishment erupted from here and there.
“Well. Since the trust of the Ilwol Escort Agency is on the line, I cannot speak that far… In any case, is it not astonishing news?”
Yuha placed his empty wine cup on the table with a tap and smiled meaningfully.
‘With the Kongqing Stone Marrow, he should have recovered enough.’
Once he finished speaking, noise erupted throughout the tavern.
Some martial artists hurriedly wrapped up the drinking tables they had been at and immediately left.
‘Uncheon. On the board I have laid out, show your ability to your heart’s content. And climb higher, quickly.’
Yuha was fully aware of the ripple effect of the words he had spoken.
By tomorrow morning, the rumor would spread beyond the Demonic Martial Hall and throughout the entire cult.
And Uncheon, standing at the center of that rumor, would now become the core of a massive whirlpool, whether he wanted to or not.
It was then.
At a table submerged in darkness in a corner of the tavern, a man wearing a bamboo hat pulled low slowly raised his head.
“The Life-and-Death Exalted One… took it upon himself to be a guardian, did he.”
The forearms exposed beneath his rolled-up sleeves were covered in bulging muscles, as if they had been made by twisting steel.
His rough, coppery skin looked as though it had been scorched by sparks.
Rather than a martial artist, he had the rough appearance of a blacksmith who hammered iron.
Beside the table leaned an enormous Black Iron Hammer.
On its surface, a pattern of red flames burning as they swallowed black iron was clear.
It was the symbol of the Blazing Flame Exalted One, who was said to handle the most destructive fire arts among the Five Exalted Ones of the Demonic Cult.
The man poured a whole bottle of strong fire liquor down his throat.
“Kuh, interesting. Master clearly said that old man Life-and-Death was not the sort of person who would let anyone near him except his own bloodline….”
The man’s eyes blazed like flames inside a furnace.
“I had planned to slack off a little more since I came out after so long… but now I am too curious to do that.”
When the man rose, the air around him shimmered like a heat haze and instantly grew scorching.
“Let us see whether that rumored ward can withstand my flames.”
A belligerent smile appeared on the lips of Gongya Pae, disciple of the Blazing Flame Exalted One.
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