Surviving as the Heavenly Demon’s Concubine - 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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‘This is troublesome.’

The Swordmaster had many disciples.

Her unique sword technique, the Muae Sword Method, could be learned by anyone, but achieving mastery required an enormous amount of training.

So Yeon Soha took in disciples regardless of age or gender as long as they showed even a little sword talent, then trained them relentlessly until they succeeded.

Honestly speaking, it wasn’t that difficult.

With just four phrases – ‘jump’, ‘fight’, ‘like this’, ‘good’ – she could handle most of the training.

On the other hand, the Poison Master had no disciples.

Creating a single poison arts master required a lot of money first.

The more powerful, diverse, and numerous poisons invested, the more outstanding martial artists produced – this was the characteristic of poison arts.

In such situations, it was much more efficient to concentrate all resources on a single genius rather than making distributed investments in several talented individuals.

‘The Mandok Gate, which was the sect of the Little Poison Guest, was also a single-successor sect.’

It was natural that Umun Gwoe was cautious about taking disciples.

Even so, wasn’t it a bit much to hold out without disciples past the age of sixty?

‘Should I have believed his claim about a disciple?’

Even though the child, feeling threatened, had blown a whistle to send a rescue signal to him, and was performing breathing meditation in a dangerous place while poisoned by toxins that were undoubtedly Umun Gwoe’s doing…

“Save my disciple! You witch!”

“Calm down.”

Yeon Soha decided to change her mind.

Sorry to Muk-in Chongkwan, but when it came to priorities for needing disciples, this side was clearly higher, wasn’t it?

There were over thousands of employees in the Chongwanbu, but Dang Ri-seo was the only person Umun Gwoe had called his disciple with his own mouth.

‘The circumstances are still suspicious though.’

That could be investigated again when Dang Ri-seo woke up.

“She’s not dead. Not yet.”

“…!”

At Yeon Soha’s words, Umun Gwoe also snapped to attention.

Logically, if there were problems with the earth veins or dragon veins while performing breathing meditation, qi deviation would be unavoidable.

Breathing meditation itself was a method of receiving nature’s energy through breathing to govern oneself and achieve harmony and stability, but when the earth veins were twisted like now, the natural energy in this area had lost its harmony.

“Not dead… that’s true.”

Nevertheless, as Yeon Soha said, Riser was still alive.

She was continuing hopeless breathing meditation, sitting cross-legged with her eyes tightly shut, determined to survive somehow.

‘Even if she wakes up now, her body won’t be fit to become a successor.’

It was obviously futile effort. She would have suffered deep internal injuries, so as a martial artist she was already finished, and she’d be lucky if she could at least save her life.

“You said to save her?”

“…I did.”

Umun Gwoe let out a long sigh.

‘I hate doing good deeds for others.’

He would need to pour in massive amounts of energy to substitute for nature’s energy just to barely save her.

To endure such a great loss to save a child who couldn’t even become his disciple.

“There’s no choice. If she’s truly useless, I’ll just have to use her as a servant.”

“…?”

‘It seems like the Chongwanbu would gladly take Dang Ri-seo even if she lost her martial arts.’

Before that, Riser was currently a prospective concubine belonging to Cheonryeon Palace, and would enter the Palace of the Concubines upon leaving, so she would hardly need to serve as someone else’s servant.

Yeon Soha wondered if she should point out this fact, but thinking that surely he wouldn’t be unaware that his disciple was a prospective concubine, she let it pass.

“Sister, please stand guard.”

Nod.

Umun Gwoe entrusted the guard duty to Yeon Soha with peace of mind.

Then he sat behind Riser and pressed one hand to the Mingmen acupoint at the center of her spine.

‘If she’s a child of the Sichuan Dang Family, she must have learned poison arts.’

Therefore, the energy filling Dang Ri-seo’s dantian and flowing through her blood channels would also be composed of poison qi.

Occasionally there were eccentrics who learned poison arts but mainly used other energies, but that was a very rare case.

‘This is my first time using Poison Source True Qi to guide someone else.’

Umun Gwoe closed his eyes tightly and activated the poison sect mental method, the Ten Thousand Poisons Return to Origin Formula, gathering Poison Source True Qi in his palm.

Poison Source True Qi, as its name suggested, was the energy that became the source of ten thousand poisons, so it could interfere with most poisons existing in the world without resistance.

‘Let’s see. The Reverse Three Yang Return to Origin Technique and the Five Poison Circulation Technique… Hmm. Is this all?’

Umun Gwoe felt slightly disappointed.

Since she was from the Sichuan Dang Family, it would have been nice if she had learned powerful martial arts like the famous Ten Thousand Streams Return to Origin Divine Technique or the Thousand Poison Transformation Technique.

‘No. If the Dang Family blood is too thick, it would be troublesome to imprint the Mandok Gate’s color.’

Umun Gwoe had forgotten the fact that he’d given up on taking Riser as a disciple of Mandok Gate, and unconsciously continued the guidance while happily planning future training.

‘Hmm?’

Umun Gwoe’s eyebrows twitched.

He was about to complete a small circulation following the clearly opened Conception and Governing Vessels when he felt something strangely unsettling.

‘Even if she received the Bee Venom Cleansing, could it be this empty?’

The blood channels through which internal energy flows are not much different from roads people travel.

If few people come and go, the road should be narrow, and if many come and go, even narrow roads naturally widen – this is the logical order.

‘The poison qi amounts to barely over one cycle, so how could… Huh?!?’

Like someone who witnessed something they shouldn’t have suddenly hiding in a nearby alley, Umun Gwoe’s Poison Source True Qi also burrowed into the Chong Mai, one of Riser’s Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

‘What is that supposed to be!’

Umun Gwoe couldn’t believe it.

In Riser’s blood channels, which he had felt were empty, there was surprisingly a prior occupant already performing energy circulation.

‘Vital qi?! It feels exactly like vital qi!’

By Central Plains martial world standards, it was the energy favored by renowned orthodox sects, the so-called ‘pure internal energy.’ It wasn’t very popular among demon practitioners, probably because the utility of demonic energy was overwhelmingly superior.

‘How can this be! Poison qi and vital qi coexisting in one dantian?’

Umun Gwoe stopped thinking and calmed his mind.

‘First… first, stop.’

Just as when practicing energy circulation alone, if the person guiding another became shocked or flustered like this, it would only create danger for both.

Umun Gwoe finished the guidance in the safest way possible for Riser.

“Sister Yeon. I need your help.”

Then he took a deep breath, struggling to organize his confused feelings.

“The child’s condition is unusual. If I’m not mistaken, there are two types of energy… it seems she possesses both poison qi and vital qi in one body. I don’t know what to do.”

Feeling himself rambling, Umun Gwoe closed his mouth briefly to calm down.

“…Sister?”

Only then did Umun Gwoe notice there was no response and raised his head.

Beyond Yeon Soha’s silhouette standing guard, a shadow with a somehow familiar atmosphere was cast.

‘Gyoju?’

No, that couldn’t be!

Umun Gwoe snapped to his senses. There was no reason for the Gyoju, who was in seclusion, to suddenly appear.

“Now you can believe it.”

It was Yeon Soha’s voice.

“Hmm… I wonder.”

The clouds covering the moon slowly moved aside, and moonlight seeped into the shadowed face.

“…!!”

Everyone who remembered the Heavenly Emperor’s youth held their breath.

The arrogant jawline and solemn lips.

The sharp nose bridge. The deeply set eyes.

Delicate eyebrows contrasting with the strong features.

Even the pale skin that conveyed winter’s chill.

Even if one took out an old mirror to look again, could it resemble this closely?

Only one thing.

Only the clear eyes like a lake containing the sky didn’t resemble the father, so Umun Gwoe could barely recognize the identity.

“…Third Prince.”

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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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