Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 89
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 89
“Of course I do.”
Cheon Hui nodded.
Seong Soo Shin Ui was known as the greatest physician in all of Tianxia today, a figure spoken of as the reincarnation of Hua Tuo himself.
“So this Seong Soo Shin Ui is looking for me, then?”
“That’s right.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Jang Mun In offered a wry smile.
He had asked the Divine Physician multiple times why he wished to meet Cheon Hui, but received no real answer.
Just one phrase in reply.
Simply that he wanted to meet him.
“He simply said he wanted to meet you.”
“Hmm. Is that so?”
Cheon Hui scratched his head as he spoke.
“But did he really need to make such a fuss about finding me?”
He recalled the letter he had received.
The one bearing Jang Mun In’s seal, written as though some grave matter had befallen the Huashan Sect.
“Couldn’t you have just told him to come back later?”
“He was stubborn—said he wouldn’t leave until he saw you.”
“Then just tell him to keep waiting.”
“How could I simply ask a personage of the Divine Physician’s stature to keep waiting?”
Jang Mun In let out another bitter laugh.
The reputation of Seong Soo Shin Ui stretched beyond Kangho, casting its shadow across all of Tianxia.
Not only the martial world, but among the imperial family as well.
Those he had treated were no ordinary people, so even the Sect Leader of Huashan could not help but consider the Divine Physician’s temperament.
“He’s staying at the Medicine Hall. Go and see him.”
“Understood.”
Cheon Hui agreed readily.
‘Having a physician at Huashan would be convenient.’
Physicians were rare treasures.
Especially in Kangho, where physicians who dedicated themselves to the martial world were nearly impossible to find—so to have one come of his own accord was a blessing.
‘And a Divine Physician at that.’
* * *
“It’s a common cold. Rest well for a day, brew these leaves, and drink it—you’ll be fine.”
The first thing Cheon Hui heard upon entering the Medicine Hall was an unfamiliar voice.
“How is the medicine prepared, sir?”
A familiar voice followed.
The Medicine Hall Master’s voice—then whose was the first one?
His pace quickened slightly.
He arrived soon enough at the main hall of the Medicine Hall.
The usually quiet Medicine Hall was bustling with people for some reason.
Daoist priests who had experienced the Divine Physician’s miraculous medical arts had spread word, and they continued to arrive in steady numbers.
Then the sound of conversation reached his ears again.
“How is his condition?”
“Merely depleted vital energy. Rest and some breathing cultivation should be sufficient.”
Cheon Hui’s gaze shifted.
At the center of the commotion were elderly Daoist priests and two figures.
‘Is that him?’
Cheon Hui’s eyes settled on the Medicine Hall Master holding a box containing acupuncture needles, and beside him an elderly man examining the patients.
Was that the Divine Physician?
He studied the old man inserting long needles.
The elderly man, whose long beard held a faint grayish tinge rather than pure white, furrowed his brow as he checked the meridians of his patients.
“Forget martial cultivation. Rest well for several days.”
“Not even breathing cultivation?”
“Rest, as I said.”
“Understood.”
The Daoist priest scratched his head in embarrassment, then rose while brushing off his robes.
“Infinite Buddha. Thank you.”
“The courtesy is noted.”
The Divine Physician straightened, pressing his lower back.
‘This is taking more out of me than I expected.’
He’d only added a touch of medical care while staying at Huashan.
But perhaps because his skill was so extraordinary.
People streamed toward him without pause.
‘I’ve become a prisoner of my own reputation.’
The Divine Physician shook his head.
There was no escaping it now.
He’d already promised the Sect Leader he would demonstrate his medical arts and asked that he be summoned as soon as possible.
“Then the next patient—”
“Hm?”
At that moment, the Medicine Hall Master, who had been trailing after the Divine Physician, spotted Cheon Hui.
“Young Master Cheon Hui!”
The Divine Physician’s thick brows twitched.
“Cheon Hui?”
He turned his gaze and caught sight of Cheon Hui in the distance, his eyes widening.
“So you’re Cheon Hui!”
He sprang up with a shout and waved his hand dismissively.
“We’re done treating for today!”
At his sudden announcement, the Daoists gasped in bewilderment.
“Y-yes?”
“Just like that, sir?”
As murmurs of protest began to surface.
“Why are you all still standing here? Get moving.”
The Divine Physician narrowed his eyes and began herding the bewildered Daoists out.
“Out! Now!”
Shortly after, Cheon Hui and the Medicine Hall Master sat alone in a chamber of the Medicine Hall.
“I hear you were looking for me.”
The Divine Physician’s gaze fixed on Cheon Hui.
His pupils flickered with agitation.
‘This young man accomplished that?’
He was impossibly young.
‘I thought he’d at least be past thirty…’
As idle thoughts continued to pile up, the Divine Physician gave his head a sharp shake.
“Do you know Dan Mok Rin?”
The Divine Physician’s expression was grave as he asked.
The reason he had dropped everything and come was because he had felt Dan Mok Rin’s meridians and learned of the circumstances surrounding her condition.
Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
‘So that’s why he came.’
Now all his questions were answered.
‘She said she’d seek out the Divine Physician after we parted ways.’
He nodded.
“I do.”
The Divine Physician leaned forward.
“I’m told it was you who informed her about her constitution. Is that true?”
“The Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body, you mean?”
The Divine Physician’s body jolted.
“Yes. That very thing.”
Unable to hide his excitement, the Divine Physician breathed sharply through his nose and pressed on.
“What exactly is the Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body?”
The Divine Physician’s gaze carried a weight that was almost oppressive.
‘That’s the look he had when examining my martial arts.’
His instinct proved correct as the Divine Physician spoke in rapid succession.
“In all my years, I have never once heard of such a constitution.”
Cheon Hui nodded knowingly.
‘Of course he hasn’t.’
The Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body was a physical condition recorded only in the Cheonha Jeil Uiseo, written by a figure so obscure he was scarcely remembered even in historical records.
Thus, if anyone in the present Tianxia knew of it, one could say it was only himself.
The Divine Physician’s pupils hardened.
“Where did you learn of this?”
“It’s from a medical text called the Cheonha Jeil Uiseo.”
“The Cheonha Jeil Uiseo?”
Seong Soo Shin Ui’s brow furrowed.
It was a medical treatise with a title he’d never heard before.
“Could I see it as well?”
“No.”
Cheon Hui answered with finality.
‘How could he see something in the Tianma Divine Sect?’
But he couldn’t say that aloud.
Seong Soo Shin Ui pressed further, his tone cautious but insistent.
“……Do you have to become a disciple of the Huashan Sect to read it?”
His question betrayed a determination to see it no matter what. Cheon Hui shook his head.
“It burned up in a fire.”
“B-burned up, you say?”
Seong Soo Shin Ui’s eyes widened.
“Such a precious medical text, destroyed…….”
Watching the physician accept this, Cheon Hui felt a faint smile cross his face — then swiftly erased it.
Just then, Seong Soo Shin Ui asked one more thing.
“Then the treatment method for the Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body must have been recorded there as well.”
That wasn’t quite true.
Though he had learned what the Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body was, no treatment method had been written there.
‘No need to say anything about that.’
He didn’t press the point.
It seemed easier to let the misunderstanding stand.
Meanwhile, Seong Soo Shin Ui’s expression had grown serious.
He had come here hoping to discover where such knowledge about the Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body came from.
And yet.
‘The Cheonha Jeil Uiseo…….’
Curiosity stirred within him.
But it had already burned away.
“What sort of medical text was it?”
“Just a medical text, really.”
Simple enough.
What more needed to be said?
Yet Seong Soo Shin Ui seemed unconvinced, his face full of suspicion.
“……I understand.”
He spoke with lingering doubt, then released his grip on the boy’s shoulder and opened his mouth again.
“Then could you tell me how you treated the Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body?”
“That’s simple enough.”
Cheon Hui nodded.
“Taegeuk.”
“Taegeuk?”
Seong Soo Shin Ui tilted his head.
Then recognition dawned, and alarm began to bloom across his face.
“Y-you mean you balanced the interaction of Yang and Yin?”
Watching the physician grasp it immediately, Cheon Hui found himself nodding.
‘So he truly deserves the title Divine Physician — catches on quick when it comes to medicine.’
“Exactly.”
“But Hutian Jiqi — how could you…….”
“I guided it directly.”
“That’s impossible.”
Seong Soo Shin Ui swallowed hard.
When he’d felt Dan Mok Rin’s meridians, the shock had left him reeling for days.
‘He guided that power?’
Dan Mok Rin’s body state was extraordinary.
A sinister, overwhelming force flowed from her entire being — enough to make one’s mind reel.
For such a delicate frame to carry and move about with such power seemed almost unbelievable.
But that wasn’t the only shock.
The energy within her body maintained perfect balance, coexisting in harmony.
So naturally, so effortlessly.
It harmonized with her body and mind as naturally as if she’d been born with it.
Rather, it seemed to be protecting her.
“It’s unreasonable for that child’s body to withstand energy of that magnitude.”
Cheon Hui nodded in agreement.
Just as he said, the Yin Energy accumulated within her was far too intense—genuinely threatening.
One misstep, and her fate would have been sealed.
“So I let it flow according to natural principles, without putting shock on the body.”
“According to natural principles?”
The Divine Physician’s brow furrowed.
“Moving Hutian Jiqi according to natural principles? But for that, you’d need to know every meridian in the entire body… and precise control of internal power, plus the eye to perceive it.”
The Divine Physician fell into thought, murmuring to himself, while Cheon Hui waited patiently.
Meanwhile, the Medicine Hall Master, listening to their exchange, shook his head with an expression of complete bewilderment.
‘Taegeuk? Natural principles? Hutian Jiqi?’
Though their conversation seemed light, the depth of knowledge within it was extraordinary.
‘What in the world are they talking about?’
As the Medicine Hall Master stared at them with unfocused eyes—
“Hah!”
The Divine Physician gasped and shot to his feet.
“Surely you didn’t… perceive Jinyuan Zhenqi and melt it down?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes widened slightly.
‘He figured it out immediately. Impressive.’
The method by which he had corrected Dan Mok Rin’s Great Yin Energy Stagnation Body required not only medical skill but also deep knowledge of martial arts.
“That’s right.”
“Rather than driving out the accumulated energy, you instead infused energy and made it circulate throughout her entire body, allowing it to dissolve completely—is that what you’re saying?”
The Divine Physician let out a low whistle.
‘To conceive of such a method…’
It was truly astounding.
No external energy could harmonize with Jinyuan Zhenqi except for energy one was born with.
From the very beginning, Jinyuan Zhenqi and Hutian Jiqi were meant to remain separate.
‘Yet he broke down the boundary between Jinyuan Zhenqi and Hutian Jiqi and merged them…’
One careless error would drive her to madness, but if the balance of Taegeuk were maintained as he described, it was possible.
Yet the Cheon Hui before him had just stated something that defied those very principles.
Not merely stated it—he had succeeded.
Through Dan Mok Rin’s body.
‘A method unprecedented in all of history.’
And yet—
“It’s hard to believe by words alone.”
“Then don’t believe it.”
Cheon Hui dropped the words carelessly.
The Divine Physician was taken aback.
Had he ever encountered someone who grumbled so casually or dismissed his own words?
“That’s not what I mean—I’m saying you couldn’t have performed such treatment without medical skill. I want to know whether you’ve mastered medicine to that degree.”
“How bothersome.”
Cheon Hui made his annoyance abundantly clear—
“Master.”
The Medicine Hall Master, who had been standing in a daze until now, approached urgently and whispered near his ear.
“I don’t fully understand what’s being said, but please listen to the Divine Physician.”
“Why?”
“The Divine Physician has been providing great help to our sect.”
Cheon Hui fixed his gaze on the Medicine Hall Master.
‘Help?’
He recalled the people who had been at the Medicine Hall.
How they’d suffered from muscle pain, received a few acupuncture treatments from him, and left feeling light and refreshed.
“I suppose I have no choice.”
He looked directly into the Divine Physician’s eyes.
“What would you like me to show you?”
“Show me something you’re confident about.”
“Something I’m confident about, then.”
Cheon Hui seized the Divine Physician’s hand in one swift motion.
The Divine Physician was startled by the cunning of the technique, but he concealed his reaction and asked a question.
“Are you trying to read my pulse?”
“Something like that, but not quite.”
As she spoke, she immediately released a wave of qi.
“Hmm?”
Seong Soo Shin Ui’s eyes widened as a warm current of energy flowed from her hands into his arm.
“……You’re examining my meridians?”
“I’m looking at the parts that aren’t abnormal.”
Cheon Hui withdrew her energy and quickly began pressing acupoints along Seong Soo Shin Ui’s arm with her index finger.
“There’s some cold energy here.”
Snap-snap-snap!
In an instant, she struck eight acupoints in rapid succession.
“Agh!”
Seong Soo Shin Ui gasped in surprise.
No needle had pierced his skin, yet he could feel something pressing on his acupoints.
“It’s an acupuncture technique that raises body temperature.”
“You know your craft well?”
“Of course I know that much.”
“Good, then there’s no need for explanations.”
Cheon Hui brushed her hands off lightly.
As she did, Seong Soo Shin Ui felt the pressure on his acupoints vanish, replaced by a spreading warmth.
“Excellent.”
“Is that all?”
Just as Cheon Hui was withdrawing her hand.
Grip!
Seong Soo Shin Ui seized her wrist firmly, his eyes gleaming with sudden intensity.
“Is there something more you want to say?”
“There is.”
His voice took on a note of urgency.
“Will you not become my disciple?”
A disciple? What nonsense is this?
“No.”
Cheon Hui’s tone was blunt, almost incredulous.
Seong Soo Shin Ui had never once imagined being refused, and now he faltered.
“Why? Why not?”
“I’m already a disciple of the Huashan Sect.”
Seong Soo Shin Ui fell silent.
He had been so dazzled by her talent that he’d momentarily forgotten.
That she was a disciple of Huashan.
“If you were to master the medical arts of this sect, even Hua Tuo himself would have much to learn from you. So why would you refuse instruction……”
“I don’t need it.”
Cheon Hui refused outright.
‘Medical arts, what of them.’
Right now, her interests lay entirely in martial arts, not medicine.
She had only studied medicine because, at the time, there were no more martial arts manuals left to read—she’d picked it up by chance.
‘There are so many martial arts in Kangho that I haven’t seen yet.’
Having recently witnessed the martial prowess of Jong Nam Geom Seong, her hunger for martial knowledge had reached a fever pitch. Learning medicine now felt like a distraction from something far more important.
But Seong Soo Shin Ui, unaware of this, mistook her refusal for reluctance born of her status as a Huashan disciple, and he pressed on desperately.
“Then, then I will simply teach you. The medical arts of this sect are truly worthy of being called Divine Supreme Learning—once mastered, even an immortal would……”
It was an unprecedented offer.
And yet.
“No.”
For Cheon Hui, it was not.
“Then, then I’ll simply show you.”
Seeing Seong Soo Shin Ui persist stubbornly, Cheon Hui rose to her feet.
“I’m not learning it.”
“You would surely benefit from it.”
“I don’t want to.”
As the two of them continued their bickering.
Rumble——
A carriage of unmistakably elegant make arrived at the gates of Huashan.
‘Who could this be?’
Jeok Geom, who stood guard at the mountain gate, watched as the carriage door opened and three figures descended in succession.
A beauty with a cool, austere bearing.
A young man who might be called a nobleman.
A girl whose mere presence seemed to kindle laughter.
They were the same group that had been ambushed by assassins mere days before.
“Infinite Buddha.”
Jeok Geom called out the Sect Token and opened his mouth.
“What brings you to our gate?”
“I’ve come to see the Sect Leader.”
“Whom shall I say has arrived?”
Jeok Geom asked in a respectful tone.
The manner in which they sought out none other than the Sect Leader directly suggested these were no ordinary visitors.
And his intuition was precisely correct.
“Tell the Sect Leader that the Laughing Lord has come calling.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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