The Battle for the Heavenly Sword - Chapter 79

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

79
Woo Geom-San’s Struggle for Hegemony
Fortunately, Liu Jiayan’s condition did not deteriorate significantly.
It was thanks to the Yeongbo Vitality Pill, which had restored her Vital Qi to some extent.
Even so, she needed to see a proper doctor to receive treatment for a full recovery. However, instead of stopping by a village for medical care, Liu Jiayan chose to keep moving with the Feiyun Merchant Group.
The cart Liu Jiayan rode in was at the front of the convoy, while Woo Geom-san moved near the rear with Gong Hwapyeong and the others, so they rarely crossed paths except during rest stops.
Although he had made a promise to Niu Jinshu and was worried about the condition of Liu Jiayan and Ning Yunxiao, there was no reason for Woo Geom-san to force his care upon her since she did not desire it herself.
Woo Geom-san stopped worrying about her and read the Bojebang.
Gong Hwapyeong and Zhang Yinu watched with admiration as Woo Geom-san read the book even while walking.
“Ha! Can you actually read a book while walking?”
“Incredible!”
Woo Geom-san wore an embarrassed expression at their admiration, but he did not stop reading while on the move.
For Woo Geom-san, reading a book while walking was not particularly difficult, let alone for a book filled with such fascinating content like the Bojebang.
The medicine inside the Bojebang was truly vast and profound, meaning it could not be mastered all at once.
Acupuncture, in particular, was so varied in its techniques that relentless practice was essential.
Therefore, Woo Geom-san focused on reading the Bojebang multiple times to memorize it perfectly.
His plan was to commit it to memory first and then master it whenever he had free time.
It was an unsophisticated method, but if he could memorize the whole thing, it was also the most efficient way.
Nothing in the world is obtained for free.
If one wished to gain precious knowledge, one had to put in a corresponding amount of effort.
The Bojebang was a treasure worthy of blood, sweat, and tears to master.
Since such a treasure had fallen into his hands naturally, it was only right to make the effort to learn it.
As he read the Bojebang while walking, he lost all track of time.
When he finally snapped out of it and looked around, he saw the people of the Feiyun Merchant Group moving busily to prepare for camping outdoors.
Before he knew it, the day had completely passed and the sun was setting.
The martial artists and merchants of the Feiyun Merchant Group, having finished their preparations for the night, gathered in small groups of three or four to eat.
After all, with a large group of two hundred people moving together, it was impossible for everyone to gather and dine in a single place.
After the meal, Gong Hwapyeong and Zhang Yinu went to take their watch shift, leaving Woo Geom-san alone to rest.
He was reading the Bojebang in front of the campfire when he sensed someone approaching.
“Um… may I sit with you?”
The owner of the voice was none other than Ning Yunxiao.
“Sit down.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as Woo Geom-san’s permission was granted, Ning Yunxiao immediately sat down beside him.
“Have you eaten?”
“The Merchant Group Chief took care of me, so I did. What about you, mister?”
“I ate as well.”
“Did you eat something delicious?”
“The food you eat when camping outdoors is all pretty much the same.”
“This is my first time camping out like this…”
It seemed the food Niu Jinshu had provided did not quite suit Ning Yunxiao’s palate.
It was only natural.
There was no way food prepared while camping out in the wild could be made properly.
Food made under the concept that one merely needed to fill one’s stomach was bound to be unappealing to a child like Ning Yunxiao.
“By the way, what brings you here?”
“I came to apologize.”
“An apology?”
“Yesterday, my mother was rude to you, mister. I’ll apologize on her behalf, so please forgive her.”
“There’s nothing to forgive. I’m fine, so don’t let it bother you either.”
“Thank you.”
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“Tea? Do you have some?”
“Wait right here.”
Woo Geom-san smiled and pulled out various tea utensils and Yunjung Tea from his bundle.
He poured water from a leather canteen into a small kettle, placed it over the campfire, and put a pre-measured portion of Yunjung Tea into the tea vessel.
After a short while, when the water inside the kettle began to boil, he carefully poured it into the vessel to steep the tea.
As the fragrant aroma wafted out, Ning Yunxiao flared his nostrils.
“Wow! It smells wonderful. What kind of tea is it?”
“Yunjung Tea! It’s a famous tea that only grows on Cheonbaeksan.”
Trickle!
Woo Geom-san poured the Yunjung Tea into a teacup and handed it to Ning Yunxiao.
Ning Yunxiao brought the teacup to his nose and savored the aroma.
“This is a really good tea. The scent is truly amazing. You said it’s Yunjung Tea?”
“Yes!”
“Wow! How come I didn’t know about such a great tea?”
“Because only an extremely small amount is released into the world.”
“I’ll have to find some for myself later.”
Ning Yunxiao drank the tea while marveling continuously.
Woo Geom-san also smiled as he savored the Yunjung Tea.
Ning Yunxiao set his teacup down and stared blankly at Woo Geom-san.
The aura of Woo Geom-san drinking tea in front of the campfire seemed incredibly mystical.
Ning Yunxiao had met quite a few people in his life, but he had never met anyone with such an otherworldly atmosphere as Woo Geom-san.
“Mister, you said you were going all the way to the Yangtze River too, right?”
“Yes!”
“Are you planning to board the Cloud River-Crossing Vessel at the Yangtze River by any chance?”
“That’s my intention.”
“If things go well, we might end up on the same ship.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes! We were actually on our way to board a ship when the accident happened. I never imagined the horses would go wild like that…”
“It’s a great relief that it ended with only that much damage.”
“It’s all thanks to you, mister. Thank you so much. I’ll definitely repay this kindness.”
“It’s not much of a kindness, so don’t worry about it.”
Woo Geom-san waved his hand dismissively and sipped his tea.
Ning Yunxiao looked at Woo Geom-san with eyes full of deep admiration.
It was human nature to exaggerate even a small favor to show off, yet Woo Geom-san spoke as if it were a trivial matter. This made Woo Geom-san feel even more incredible to him.
“I learned that if you receive a kindness, you must repay it without fail. I’ll repay you in some way later. Thank you for the tea.”
Ning Yunxiao bowed deeply to greet him and then returned to Liu Jiayan’s side.
Woo Geom-san let out a soft sigh and opened the Bojebang once more.
***
“Mister!”
In the early hours of the morning, someone’s urgent voice shattered Woo Geom-san’s sweet slumber.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Ning Yunxiao running toward him with a face that looked ready to burst into tears.
Woo Geom-san instinctively sensed that something serious had occurred.
“What’s the matter?”
“M-My mother suddenly vomited blood and collapsed.”
“She coughed up blood?”
“Yes! She vomited a lot of blood.”
“Oh dear!”
Woo Geom-san urgently sprang to his feet.
He ran together with Ning Yunxiao to where Liu Jiayan was located.
The Niu brothers, having heard the news, were already present at Liu Jiayan’s location.
Without even having time to exchange nods with them, Woo Geom-san hurriedly checked Liu Jiayan’s condition.
Liu Jiayan’s mouth and chest were stained completely red with bright crimson blood.
Woo Geom-san’s face hardened rigidly.
This was because it was an ominous sign.
Woo Geom-san urgently pressed his fingers to her pulse.
Her pulse was faint, as if it might extinguish at any moment.
“Damn it!”
“Is her condition very bad?”
“She is in a highly critical state.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Sigh!”
Woo Geom-san let out a sigh despite himself.
Honestly, Liu Jiayan had already stepped over the threshold of death.
It would have been insufficient even if she had received treatment from a proper doctor, so this was the natural consequence of pushing forward with a forced march.
The unreasonable schedule had caused her physical strength to plummet rapidly, and as a result, her condition had clearly deteriorated drastically.
It all happened because she had not received fundamental treatment from a doctor.
‘If I had known it would come to this, I should have insisted more strongly…’
Even if he regretted it, it was already too late.
Now was the time to focus entirely on Liu Jiayan.
He could see Ning Yunxiao’s tear-stained face and the bewildered expressions of the Niu brothers.
They too had not expected Liu Jiayan’s health to decline so rapidly.
“Mister! Please save my mother.”
Ning Yunxiao wept bitterly, clinging to Woo Geom-san.
“It can’t be helped! Please set up a screen so that other people cannot see.”
“Understood!”
Niu Jinhong quickly ordered the martial artists to erect a screening barrier around Liu Jiayan.
Once the gazes of the crowd were blocked out, Woo Geom-san drew a wooden box containing silver needles from his robe.
“The only thing that can save this woman is the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie. The problem is whether I can execute it perfectly…”
The Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie was the acupuncture technique that had left the deepest impression on Woo Geom-san while reading the Bojebang.
It was recorded as an acupuncture art created by the legendary Hua Tuo, capable of breathing life back into a dying person and making them move again.
In a broad sense, it was similar to the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Acupuncture, but it possessed a much more potent efficacy.
The problem was that executing the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie perfectly consumed an immense amount of internal energy.
Because of that, it was an acupuncture technique that could not be deployed unless one was a peerless master harboring a tremendous amount of internal energy.
How many peerless masters proficient in medicine actually existed under heaven? At most, there would only be one or two in a single era.
And even that was being highly generous with the numbers.
Delving deeply into just one field, whether it be martial arts or medicine, would take an entire lifetime to master properly.
Naturally, mastering both fields thoroughly was close to an impossibility.
The only exceptions were medical sects like Saengsagok, but even for them, rising to the absolute peak of both fields would undoubtedly be a challenge bordering on impossible.
This applied exactly the same to Woo Geom-san.
If it were a matter of martial arts alone, his qualifications were more than enough, but his medical knowledge was not at that level.
The only reason he could even attempt the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie was because he possessed a deep understanding of the human body through the Jeonjin Mugong Chongyo and the Nine Heavens Soul Returning Acupuncture; if he had lacked either one of these, he wouldn’t have dared to dream of performing it.
He understood the principles of the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie with his mind.
The problem lay in accurately inserting the needles to the precise depth at the exact acupoint with his hands, and continuously infusing internal energy without interruption.
Since he was forced to practically apply an acupuncture technique he had never once practiced, even Woo Geom-san could not help but feel tense.
“Phew!”
Woo Geom-san took a deep breath and drew the silver needles.
The core essence of the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie was to load different amounts of internal energy into three hundred and sixty-six needles and insert them to precise depths at each respective acupoint.
Naturally, it could not help but drain a massive amount of internal energy.
As Woo Geom-san gripped the silver needles, everyone watched with tense expressions.
Ning Yunxiao, in particular, trembled with his two small fists clenched tightly.
He also instinctively felt that he must not disturb Woo Geom-san right now. Therefore, he held back his tears with all his might and stared at Woo Geom-san.
At that exact moment, Woo Geom-san swung his hand.
Swish, swish, swish!
The silver needles, pouring down like rain, were instantaneously embedded across Liu Jiayan’s entire body.
It was a spectacle that looked as if the needles were finding their own places by themselves.
At a glance, it appeared similar to deploying the Tang Clan’s legendary hidden weapons technique, the Man Tian Hua Yu.
In truth, the underlying subtle principles of the Man Tian Hua Yu and the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie were quite similar.
If one harbored a killing intent, it became the Man Tian Hua Yu to take human life, and if deployed with the intent to save, it became the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie.
However, just as saving a life was far more difficult than taking one, the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie required much more internal energy and delicate manipulation compared to the Man Tian Hua Yu.
Whoosh!
A tremendous amount of internal energy was sucked into the three hundred and sixty-six silver needles.
A massive amount of internal energy, enough to exhaust an ordinary martial artist to the point of collapse in an instant, was consumed in a flash.
The reason Woo Geom-san could remain perfectly fine despite this was because he drew upon and utilized external Qi rather than his own internal Qi.
It was the very moment where the Choyeon Simgyeol, which allowed him to borrow and use the Qi of nature instead of his own, truly shone.
Relying on the Choyeon Simgyeol, Woo Geom-san flawlessly controlled all three hundred and sixty-six silver needles.
Niu Jinshu and Niu Jinhong, who were watching Woo Geom-san deploy the Sheng Si Yi Xian Jie, widened their eyes in sheer shock.
‘Is such a thing even possible?’
‘How can someone who is not from Saengsagok perform such an acupuncture technique? This is unbelievable.’
A miraculous event completely beyond the comprehension of their common sense was unfolding right before their eyes from Woo Geom-san’s hands.
‘If he isn’t from Saengsagok, then who on earth could have raised such a monster?’

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