Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 30

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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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Chapter 11: Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Fungus (2)

“What do you mean?”

Do Sang-cheon asked, his eyes trembling.

“It’s simple. Let me help you rid your body of the San-gong Poison.”
“Then… why would you do that?”

Do Sang-cheon could not fully trust Dok Go-jin’s goodwill.

“The person who taught me respect for you, and I believe in your innocence. I simply think you should never be held in a place like this, which is why I’m proposing this.”
“That’s… kind of you to say. But for Jeongmumeng, this would be nothing short of treason. If word of this spreads, you’ll suffer greatly. You might even end up locked away here in my stead.”
“As long as you and I hold our silence, there’s nothing to spread. Even if it does come to light, I won’t lose sleep over it.”

At those words, Do Sang-cheon felt not bewilderment but admiration. The confidence emanating from Dok Go-jin’s entire frame was palpable.

“If I recover my martial prowess, what do you think will happen? Are you prepared to handle it?”

Do Sang-cheon asked with a tone of deliberate warning.

“I can’t say. And I don’t intend to prepare for it.”
……

Do Sang-cheon stared at Dok Go-jin for a long moment before speaking again.

“When you’re confined in a place like this, time is all that remains. In that time, I’ve thought—hundreds, thousands of times.”
“About what?”
“About everything that’s happened to me. No—about everything entangled with the Cheong-hwa Trading Company.”

Do Sang-cheon pressed his lips tightly together.

“At first, I couldn’t understand any of it. I could only feel the injustice. I’d simply uncovered corruption and pursued its truth, yet I was branded a murderer and thrown into Geum-ji. But as time passed, I studied the expressions and words of those around me, their actions, all the circumstances—endlessly analyzing, probing deeper—and things I’d never considered before came into view. Jeongmumeng and Madoryeon, and the Cheong-hwa Trading Company!”

A power now shone in Do Sang-cheon’s eyes that had never been there before.

“I began to suspect it wasn’t merely simple corruption—that all these events might be bound together by some invisible thread. There might be someone, perhaps even an organization, that we don’t know about. That’s why I intend to investigate. To quietly verify whether my thoughts are genuine or merely the fantasies of a solitary mind. But why do you look like that?”

As Do Sang-cheon continued speaking, he noticed Dok Go-jin’s unexpected expression.
Dok Go-jin’s face had become rigid.

-I suspected it for a long time, but I confirmed it not long ago. There are those who continuously stoke conflict between Madoryeon and Jeongmumeng, perpetuating this war. So please, be careful yourself.

A memory long buried in the depths of his mind surfaced.
On that day when he, as leader of Milgeomdan, had killed Cheon-ma and ended the prolonged conflict between Madoryeon and Jeongmumeng, those were the words Sa Gong-ye, a strategist of Madoryeon, had spoken before taking her own life.
At the time, he’d thought her words were a ploy to sow doubt in him and incite discord within Jeongmumeng, and he’d dismissed them lightly.
But hearing Do Sang-cheon’s words now, why did her words suddenly echo back to him?

‘The Third Faction.’

The thought struck him that her words might have been the truth. Especially when he considered the sequence of events after Cheon-ma’s removal—how he’d been driven to Hwan-yu Valley without Jeongmumeng’s aid—there were indeed things that made no sense.
Dok Go-jin’s fist clenched tightly as he recalled the moment he’d thrown himself into the valley.

“Are you alright?”

Do Sang-cheon’s voice pulled Dok Go-jin from his reverie.

“Ah, yes, I’m fine. I was simply lost in thought for a moment. My apologies—please, continue.”
“Your expression was so grave that I grew concerned. In any case, much time has passed, but evidence will surely surface. If my thinking proves wrong, that would be a blessing in itself. And Elder Ak Young’s death must be brought to light as well. But tell me—the Cheong-hwa Trading Company hasn’t disappeared, has it?”
“Not at all. I’m still in good health.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I think your idea to reinvestigate what happened back then is sound.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, I believe there’s some vast conspiracy we weren’t aware of. That’s my intuition.”
“Thank you.”

Do Sang-cheon’s voice trembled slightly.
Unlike the way his every word and action had been questioned until now, the fact that Dok Go-jin trusted him and even offered encouragement seemed to move him profoundly.

“To do that, we must first remove the San-gong Poison eating away at your body.”
“You’re right.”

Do Sang-cheon settled into a lotus position, his eyes steady with resolve.

“Forgive my impertinence, but I must ask for your help.”
“Of course.”

Dok Go-jin, answering carefully, took his position behind Do Sang-cheon.
There would be no interruptions.
Before speaking with Do Sang-cheon, Dok Go-jin had already suppressed the vital points of every prisoner in Geum-ji and thrown them into the most remote corner of the fortress. He’d even sealed off the acupoints that would allow them to cry out.
Dok Go-jin placed his palm against Do Sang-cheon’s mingmen point and closed his eyes firmly.
A moment later, the pure Jin-gi of the Gui-won Divine Art flowed from Dok Go-jin’s palm, seeping slowly through Do Sang-cheon’s mingmen point.
The calm situation shifted in an instant.

“Ugh!”

Do Sang-cheon’s entire body, which had been sitting peacefully in lotus position, arched like a drawn bow, and a cry of agony slipped between his clenched teeth.
As Dok Go-jin’s pure Jin-gi entered his body, the San-gong Poison that had lodged itself in Do Sang-cheon for ten years—gnawing at his life—suddenly began to writhe as if it were a living creature.
The violent collision happening within Do Sang-cheon’s body caused Dok Go-jin’s brow to furrow.
The sensation transmitted through his fingertips felt like walking into thick, viscous mud.
The San-gong Poison embedded in Do Sang-cheon’s body was not merely blocking his Eight Extraordinary Meridians—it had adhered to every meridian in his entire frame. Moreover, when Dok Go-jin’s Jin-gi drew near, it even attempted to devour that vital force.

‘I anticipated this, but the resistance is stronger than I thought. Gwi-myeon Sashin was right. Had I tried to expel the San-gong Poison in one go with just the Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Fungus, his life would have been forfeit.’

But that was only if he’d attempted it alone, relying solely on an elixir made from the Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Fungus.

‘That won’t happen now.’

Dok Go-jin drew up his Nae-ryeok to an even greater level.
Wherever the pure Jin-gi of the Gui-won Divine Art collided with the San-gong Poison, Do Sang-cheon’s veins swelled as if about to burst, and grotesque black lines spiderwebbed across his skin.
The greatest crisis came at the Dan-jeon.
A massive poison mass—the very core of the San-gong Poison—had clogged the Dan-jeon and bared its sharp fangs toward Dok Go-jin’s Jin-gi.

[Hold on, senior. You must not lose consciousness.]

Dok Go-jin sent a telepathic message as a precaution, then channeled the Gui-won Divine Art with all his might.
A tremendous wave of Jin-gi crashed down upon the poison.
Boom-boom-boom-crash!
An earth-shaking roar—audible only to Do Sang-cheon himself—thundered through him.
The fierce battle occurring within Do Sang-cheon’s body raged on for a long time.
But as Dok Go-jin’s Nae-ryeok gradually seized the upper hand, it finally began to overwhelm the San-gong Poison.
In a final spasm, the poison lunged toward Do Sang-cheon’s heart, but blocking a poison that had already lost most of its strength was easy.
Do Sang-cheon vomited up a basin of black blood.
The stench pouring from the blood was so noxious it filled all of Geum-ji in an instant.

“Gasp!”

Crimson blood streaked with black sprayed from Do Sang-cheon’s mouth.
The dregs of the San-gong Poison that had burrowed into his very marrow for ten years.

“Now it begins.”

Dok Go-jin retrieved three prepared pills of Mannyeon Seokgyun elixir and pressed them into Do Sang-cheon’s mouth.
The medicine was mixed with coarse flour dust, but the vital force contained within it was far from insignificant.
As Dok Go-jin’s Jin-gi and the power of the Mannyeon Seokgyun began to course through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, at last the original vital essence of Do Sang-cheon—dormant and seemingly extinguished by the San-gong Poison—stirred back to life.
The Jin-gi, reborn, drew strength from the Gui-won Divine Art that Dok Go-jin had infused and the power of the Mannyeon Seokgyun, expanding its presence with terrifying force.
Sinking deep into the Mu-a Jigyeong state and sustaining the Yun-gi Breathing for some time, at last azure currents of vital force began to spiral across Do Sang-cheon’s entire body.
It was the moment when Chui-hon-jeok Do Sang-cheon—ten years ago a master counted among the finest of Jeongmumeng—overcame the nightmare that had bound his entire being and achieved perfect resurrection.

* * *

Do Sang-cheon opened his eyes slowly only after completing three full Celestial Cycles without incident.

“Please let this not be a dream…….”

Do Sang-cheon’s voice trembled faintly.
From eyes that had lost their brilliance for more than a decade now blazed a sharpness beyond measure.
The helplessness and exhaustion that had weighed upon his entire frame vanished, replaced by vitality coursing from head to toe.

“I am grateful. I hardly know what words of thanks…….”

Do Sang-cheon turned his head to speak, but stopped, his expression blank.
Not far away, Dok Go-jin sat in lotus position, sustaining the Yun-gi Breathing.

“By heavens… Hah!”

Startled at his own outburst, Do Sang-cheon quickly clamped his mouth shut. Yet his sense of wonder did not diminish.
Do Sang-cheon watched with bated breath as a new master of the Murim emerged before his eyes.
After Do Sang-cheon had consumed the Mannyeon Seokgyun pill and begun his own Yun-gi Breathing, Dok Go-jin had likewise settled into lotus position and taken the elixir.
Though the pill was hastily made from flour and paste without materials to maximize the Mannyeon Seokgyun’s efficacy, its effect was unmistakable.
Slipping swiftly into the Mu-a Jigyeong state, Dok Go-jin applied his full strength to absorbing the power of the Mannyeon Seokgyun.
The Inner Elixir of the Geumgwan Muksah he had consumed before and the power of the Jeok-un Guryeop-cho had already become entirely his own during the journey to Chamhoe-ok, so he faced no impediment.
Some time after Do Sang-cheon had finished his Yun-gi Breathing, a soft luminescence began to emanate from Dok Go-jin’s body.
It was not a single light.
Five distinctly separate lights began to move slowly, rotating in turn.

‘Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water—the lights of the Five Elements!”

Do Sang-cheon, himself a Gosu who had ascended to the Samhwa Chwi-jeong realm, knew precisely what this signified.

‘No—the Five Qi Converging to Origin. He has reached the Five Qi Converging to Origin!’

The turbid Qi within the body completely purged, the Nae-ryeok flowing unobstructed like the waters of the Yangtze.
A realm that every warrior of the Murim dreamed of, even in sleep.
In the present world, those who had reached the Five Qi Converging to Origin could be counted on one’s fingers. And among such masters, there was certainly none who had achieved it at Dok Go-jin’s age.

‘A hero has been born to the Murim!’

Do Sang-cheon gazed with tears of joy at the five-colored vital force that enveloped Dok Go-jin’s entire being.
As time passed, the light that had grown ever more vivid suddenly vanished entirely into Dok Go-jin’s body.
Sensing that Dok Go-jin’s Yun-gi Breathing had ended, Do Sang-cheon rose cautiously to his feet.
Dok Go-jin, who had completely refined his notably strengthened Nae-ryeok, opened his eyes slowly.

“What an honor. To witness such a moment is truly…… Gah!”

As Do Sang-cheon walked forward offering congratulations, an unbearable stench caught him by surprise, and he clutched at his nose in distress.

“What is the matter, I……. Gah!”

Even Dok Go-jin, who had been puzzled, contorted his face at the foul stench seeping into his lungs. It wasn’t merely an unpleasant odor—it was a terrible smell unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.

‘No, wait. I think something similar happened once before.’

Dok Go-jin’s gaze dropped downward.
A mysterious liquid pooled abundantly on the ground.
It was distinctly different from the moisture that permeated Geum-ji.

“Ah!”

An exclamation escaped Dok Go-jin’s lips as he identified the liquid.
The viscous substance was undoubtedly waste matter expelled during the Yun-gi Breathing process.
Dok Go-jin, who had been sensing that the time had come to break through another barrier after fully assimilating the power gained from the inner elixir of Geumgwan Muksah and Jeok-un Guryeop-cho, broke into a smile.

‘I suspected the time had come, but the efficacy of the Mannyeon Seokgyun was better than expected.’

“Remarkable, truly remarkable! I’ve heard tales of renowned masters undergoing Bone Replacement and Fetus Transformation, but I never imagined I’d witness it with my own eyes.”
“Thank you. I’m not certain whether it qualifies as Bone Replacement and Fetus Transformation, but I certainly feel refreshed.”

Dok Go-jin laughed while rotating his arms in all directions.
Upon secretly observing his interior, the volume of Nae-ryeok flowing through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians had increased compared to before, confirming that changes had occurred during the Bone Replacement and Fetus Transformation process.

‘It’s happened before, but this time too I’ve undergone transformation in an unexpected place. And there’s someone here watching, much like last time.’

In the past, in a nameless cave, he had experienced Bone Replacement and Fetus Transformation with Namgung Ho’s assistance.
At the time, despite his injuries, Namgung Ho had protected him to the very end. Of course, the terrible stench of waste matter expelled from his body caused him to collapse the moment the Yun-gi Breathing concluded.

“My congratulations, senior. You’ve overcome the San-gong Poison and completely recovered your former strength.”
“I’ve done more than merely recover it.”

Do Sang-cheon clenched both his fists tightly.

“This power surging through my entire body—I’ve never felt anything like it before.”

Do Sang-cheon was certain that he had surpassed his past capabilities in one bound.

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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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