Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#074

I opened my eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Sunlight seeping through the earthen walls stung my eyes.

“….”

I tried to sit up.

“Ugh.”

My entire body screamed in pain.

It felt as if my limbs had been disassembled separately and roughly reattached.

Every joint felt stiff as if rusted nails had been driven into them. My muscles had no strength, like wet cotton.

Every time I tried to take a deep breath, I felt short of breath.

“You shouldn’t try to force yourself up like that.”

I heard a voice.

When I turned my head, an old man with a white beard was sitting in one corner of the room.

It was Guiryeongseuui.

In his hands was a medicine pot.

His movements as he groped for the table with his hand to set down the medicine pot were both practiced and careful. The room was filled with the vibrating scent of bitter medicinal herbs.

I muttered.

“Did I collapse?”

“It was like watching a wooden puppet crumble in an instant.”

“…How long did I sleep?”

“A full day.”

“A full day…?!”

I bolted upright in surprise.

I frowned at the pain that came rushing in belatedly.

The old man sighed.

“Though it seems useless to stop you, there are needles inserted, so don’t move too much before I remove them.”

Looking down at my body, I saw several needles along with marks where treatment had been applied.

“You… treated me?”

“At least you have some perception. I thought you’d attack me, asking if I was trying to harm you.”

Actually, I almost did.

Especially seeing the Gold Needle stuck in my body… I barely suppressed the urge to jump up.

I said calmly.

“Did you treat me knowing who I am? Even the last words I spoke weren’t particularly impressive.”

Even I find it absurd.

No, rather, I don’t understand it.

Though I had felt short of breath and heavy, I didn’t think it was serious enough to suddenly faint as if hit by a blunt weapon to the head.

But to faint as soon as I spoke my first words….

Guiryeongseuui laughed heartily.

“Haha. It was confusing indeed. You asked me to please cooperate so you could save me, and I doubted my own ears whether that was a threat or a request.”

“That was-.”

“Rather, that’s where my suspicions were cleared. At the very least, someone who came to take revenge on me would never say such words. Much less someone planning to stab me in the back.”

Though it was something I decided after much thought, even if it was somewhat clumsy, that sentiment seemed to have been conveyed.

“Besides, even if you had come to harm me, what physician would leave a patient lying helplessly collapsed before them? Whoever you are, whatever reason brought you here, treatment comes first.”

It was a calm tone.

A manner as if it were only natural.

From that attitude, I could vaguely guess what kind of person this old man was.

“Excuse me, but I’m curious about your name, sir.”

“Leaf Huazi.”

“…Physician Leaf.”

“Heh, physician. That’s a grand title. You can just call me Old Man Leaf.”

“Still, I should maintain proper courtesy.”

“Hehe, what a rare Young Man. What’s your name?”

I hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“…Please call me Hwi.”

Hwi. I understand. Hwi. Then shall we talk about your physical condition first? It’s rather strange.”

“Strange, you say?”

The old man’s eyes became serious.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

I was puzzled.

Hadn’t Sword Master Hwirong almost completely healed my Meridians?

“Is there some problem with my body?”

“Your Meridians seem like someone applied meridian manipulation, appearing ready to break at any moment and fragile, but for now there’s nothing urgent….”

“Yes, I’m aware of that. Then isn’t that fine?”

“As a Physician examining your entire body, you’re completely a mess. Every bone joint has cracks, your muscles are on the verge of tearing from overload, and your internal organs should have been ruined long ago but are miraculously holding on.”

Leaf Huazi spoke in a calm voice.

“What kind of training did you do so desperately?”

“….”

Leaf Huazi set down his teacup.

“What’s even stranger is your Danjeon.”

“My Danjeon?”

“Your body and Meridians being in this state is due to training, but the fundamental problem stems from your Danjeon. A body that should have been slowly healing through meridian manipulation, Meridians, and Danjeon are frantically circulating internal energy as if practicing breathing techniques on their own. Like… endless waves crashing in a vast sea. Even while you were unconscious, you were absorbing natural energy bit by bit, expelling it, and absorbing it again.”

The old man leaned forward.

“Muscles and flesh need recovery to grow, but with such a vast Danjeon, like the abyss of the North Sea, constantly writhing like a heartbeat, your body can only collapse even faster. I’ve lived as a Physician for Fifty years, but this is the first time I’ve seen such a constitution.”

A light of interest appeared in his eyes.

“Do you remember when this Danjeon became like this? Is it innate, or is it acquired from some secret transmission?”

Honestly, I was surprised.

The peculiar nature and form of my Danjeon was something that even the Apothecary, Elder Dang Mutai, and even Sword Master Hwirong who had examined every corner of my body while applying meridian manipulation, had failed to notice.

Yet Guiryeongseuui Leaf Huazi had instantly grasped the core of my Danjeon, which was the source and essence of Bukmyeong Singong.

I swallowed.

His skill is real.

I said carefully.

“…It seems to be innate. I’m sorry I can’t provide more detailed explanation.”

Leaf Huazi waved his hand.

“Of course, if you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to. A Physician’s job isn’t to pry into patients’ circumstances.”

“If there’s a problem with treatment, even drastically-.”

“There’s no problem with treatment. I am Leaf Huazi.”

The old man stroked his beard.

“But let me ask just one thing, did you come looking for me on purpose? You don’t seem unaware of my current situation.”

There’s no need to hide this.

“That’s correct.”

“Then, that was probably a critically good choice in your life.”

Rather, those words left me bewildered.

“…To that extent?”

“What would normally happen if a Physician examined your body.”

Leaf Huazi straightened his chest.

“Though it’s awkward for me to say this myself, for an ordinary Physician to instantly grasp the nature, form, and size of a Danjeon is extremely difficult unless they’re the person themselves. Except during early childhood before the heart wall is formed, that is.”

His calm voice echoes through the room.

“And I happen to be one of those few people.”

Though his tone was matter-of-fact, pride seeped through.

“Usually this wouldn’t be a problem. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people have identical danjeons. But there are seven extremely rare constitutions with different danjeons from the start. Physicians who have experienced this always keep that possibility in mind.”

His cloudy eyes sparkled.

“Through my connection with you, I can now declare that there are eight types of constitutions with different danjeons in this Martial Arts World. When the fundamental perspective is this different, do you think other physicians could properly diagnose and treat what follows?”

“I… see.”

“Nine times out of ten, this is what they’d say. If you don’t want to die immediately, destroy your own danjeon and abstain from martial arts, or you’ll die within thirty days. They’d say your body can’t be restored. They’d have no doubt whatsoever, and you would have originally wandered everywhere in the Martial Arts World searching for a cure before dying miserably.”

“…”

“But not me. I don’t think that way. Rather, knowing the true nature of your danjeon, I think the complete opposite.”

Leaf Huazi raised his finger.

“Your body is collapsing in real time, that’s correct. But there’s no need to destroy your danjeon. No need to abstain from martial arts either.”

I blinked.

“Instead of blocking this rampaging danjeon’s infinite power, you just need to guide and control it properly. Then your body will begin to heal.”

The old man said.

“Into a type of body that no one in this Martial Arts World has ever seen before. You’ll be reborn.”

“Never… seen before?”

“Reconstructed into a body optimized solely for that danjeon.”

Leaf Huazi slapped his knee.

“After examining your pulse and body for over an hour, what I felt was your danjeon desperately struggling to live. Rather than blocking and destroying what such a danjeon leads, I believe we should follow its lead. I can’t be certain, but surely it will ultimately head toward some form. I feel such conviction.”

“How can you be so certain when you’ve never seen it before?”

“…There was a girl. Similar to you, she possessed a massive danjeon I’d truly never seen before, but what was truly impressive was the incomparably intense Primordial Spirit she harbored. Ah, this is hard to express in words, but if you’re like an abyss with constantly crashing waves, breathing with life, that child was more like an abyss resembling a massive lake without a single ripple. Anyway, I saved that child from near death too. She’s healthy now.”

“…You’re saying there’s another person similar to me.”

“No. As I said again, the direction is the same but the nature is different. This explanation should be sufficient for a martial artist like you.”

I nodded.

Leaf Huazi continued with an excited voice.

“Reviewing that experience, what I did for you was simple. I forcibly loosened the meridians that had contracted against your danjeon’s will because your body wanted to live, and prevented necrosis during that process. Right now, your body should be repeatedly collapsing and rebuilding in real time… How is it? A full day has passed.”

Leaf Huazi smiled as he removed the needles from my body.

“At the very least, your body doesn’t feel like it’s worsened at all, does it?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Haha, is that so? Then it might hurt a bit, but try swinging your arm or something.”

“…My arm?”

I tilted my head.

Enduring the pain, I swing my arm through the air with minimal movement.

-Swish.

“…?”

I swing my hand and surprise myself.

Suddenly I notice dust floating in the sunlight streaming through the window.

I move my hand.

Before the dust can be blown away by the wind my approaching arm creates, my hand precisely catches that tiny speck.

“…This can’t be.”

Leaf Huazi let out a satisfied laugh.

“I can’t see well, but even the sound is different. Hehe.”

“How…?”

Speed aside, what surprised me was something else.

As I think,

my body moves exactly as I picture in my mind.

It was a sensation I had never experienced even once throughout my previous and current life.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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