Cheon Seong was sitting on the bed with his upper body bare.
Although it was still a little uncomfortable to sit in a cross-legged position due to the wound on his leg, it was not to the extent that he could not bear it.
"How's your leg?"
At that moment, Cheon Myeong asked from behind Cheon Seong.
Cheon Myeong was also sitting on the same bed as Cheon Seong.
Of course, he had not completely taken off his upper garment like Cheon Seong, but he had taken off his outer garment so that it would not be cumbersome.
"Uh... I think it's okay."
"Can you stay like that for a few hours?"
"Yes, no problem."
"If you think it's going to be hard, tell me now. Once you enter a state of energy circulation, you can't quit anymore."
"It's really okay. Please proceed as it is."
Seeing him say that, it seemed that he could bear it to some extent.
If there had been a problem with his leg, he had been thinking of delaying it a little more, but just in case, Cheon Myeong checked one last time.
"There's no need to rush, so you can proceed after your wound is completely healed. But is it still okay to proceed now?"
"Yes. Please do."
"..."
It seems there is no need to ask any more.
Cheon Myeong said in a low voice, turning his hands towards Cheon Seong's back.
"Get ready."
As Cheon Myeong said that, Cheon Seong's gaze turned to the front again.
And as he looked down, a single elixir was placed on the bed.
It would start from the moment he picked that up with his hand and ate it.
Gulp-.
This was his first time encountering an elixir as a martial artist.
Moreover, since he was trying to take the elixir in a rather dangerous way... Cheon Seong couldn't help but be more nervous.
'Let's trust hyung-nim.'
Cheon Seong thought so and picked up the elixir. And at the moment he was about to slowly bring it to his mouth, Cheon Myeong suddenly spoke from behind.
"Wait a minute."
"..."
As he suddenly spoke in the midst of his tension, Cheon Seong was startled and dropped the elixir he was holding.
Thanks to that, the elixir escaped from Cheon Seong's grasp and was about to fall to the floor, but Cheon Seong threw his body and caught the falling elixir.
Crash-!
Cheon Seong, who had his face buried in the floor. But his right hand, which had caught the elixir, was held up high.
Even if his own face were to be shattered, he would protect the elixir.
Such a will seemed to be strongly revealed in Cheon Seong's appearance.
"A-are you okay?"
"I've protected the elixir..."
"No, not that, I mean you. And it doesn't matter if you drop it on the floor."
"How can I drop this precious thing on the floor? I'd rather get hurt myself."
"..."
Why does my heart ache so much when I hear those words?
How much did the kid want to eat the elixir that he would go that far?
If an opportunity arose in the future, Cheon Myeong thought that he would have to get some spiritual medicine and feed it to Cheon Seong.
"Are you not hurt? It seems like you hit it hard."
"Haha... I'm fine."
The appearance of Cheon Seong, who was wiping his nosebleed while saying that, did not look fine at all.
But fortunately, it seemed that there was no impact on the injured leg when he had fallen.
Cheon Myeong said to Cheon Seong, who was sitting on the bed again.
"So..."
He had been about to say something to Cheon Seong, but because he had suddenly acted like a clown by himself, he could not remember it right away.
"Ah... yes, I was going to say this."
"...?"
"Even if you feel a little pain during the energy circulation, you have to keep the energy circulation at a constant breathing."
"...Does it hurt?"
"Basically, it shouldn't, but just in case."
"I understand. But what happens if I stop the energy circulation on my own in the middle?"
"What do you mean, what happens? You and I will both die."
"..."
I must never stop on my own. Cheon Seong vowed so to himself.
"If you're ready, eat it and start."
Cheon Myeong said again, stretching out his hands.
Anyway, since Soyeonsang was guarding outside the hospital room, there would be no one coming in in the middle.
He had also told him everything to be careful about. Now, from the moment Cheon Seong ate the elixir, it was really the beginning.
"..."
Cheon Seong held the elixir and looked at it without a word for a while.
And as if he had made up his mind, he put the elixir in his mouth at once, and immediately took a stance and entered a state of energy circulation.
'It has begun.'
At the same time, Cheon Myeong, who brought his hands to Cheon Seong's back.
It was similar to when he had treated Jong Shingeon, but it was different.
If at that time it was at the level of just dipping his feet, this time it was the same as putting his whole body into the water.
'Cheon Seong's internal energy shouldn't reject mine.'
It probably wouldn't rebel so much.
Because his and Cheon Seong's internal energy would have similar properties.
If the properties of the internal energy were too different, the act of connecting like this could be said to be suicide itself.
However, since his and Cheon Seong's internal energy were both based on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, he could be sure that there would be almost no rebellion.
That's why he was doing this, and if the opponent was not Cheon Seong, who had learned the Heavenly Demon Divine Art just like him, he would not have even tried.
'...It's done.'
As expected, Cheon Myeong's internal energy was able to naturally enter Cheon Seong's blood vessels without much rebellion.
At the same time, a powerful energy was felt from somewhere.
That was probably the energy flowing from the elixir.
"..."
Cheon Myeong could now feel the flow of ki in Cheon Seong's body.
Slowly, Cheon Seong's internal energy was leading the ki of the elixir into his blood vessels.
The most basic method when taking an elixir was to slowly make the ki of the elixir into one's own internal energy through energy circulation like that.
Although Cheon Seong had said that he was taking an elixir for the first time, he was doing very well now.
'There is no problem now.'
However, if this were to be repeated for a long time, a flaw would inevitably be revealed.
For example, trying to absorb the ki of the elixir all at once, or the breathing becoming too fast or too slow.
The difference in how much of the ki of the elixir could be made into one's own internal energy was created by such a minute difference.
So what Cheon Myeong had to do was, after all, to control such trivial parts.
Although it seemed small, if one were to look at the result, such a statement would never come out.
'It's starting to appear slowly.'
A problem that began to appear as soon as he said it.
Cheon Seong was trying to absorb the ki of the elixir much more forcefully than before.
If he were to be left as he was, not only would he not be able to absorb all the ki properly, but what he could not absorb would be thrown away as it was.
Cheon Myeong could not just stand by and watch that happen with his two eyes open.
Woong-.
Cheon Myeong began to control the amount of ki heading to the blood vessels with the internal energy he was sending.
Although it was easy to say, if one were to actually do it, any martial artist who had experienced even a little internal energy would know that it was by no means easy.
And on top of that, to be interfering with another person's dantian or blood vessels.
If he were to fail even a little in controlling his internal energy, Cheon Seong would suffer a serious internal injury as it was.
Just a single piece of paper's difference.
Because of that difference, this action was divided into whether it was an attack or whether it was helping Cheon Seong's energy circulation.
'...Phew.'
Since he could not open his mouth, Cheon Myeong sighed inwardly.
At some point, the flow of ki had regained its stability.
As if he had untangled a tangled thread one by one, Cheon Myeong had finished the work meticulously.
However, the stable flow that Cheon Myeong had barely set up began to be disturbed right away, and Cheon Myeong had to start the restoration work again without even a moment to catch his breath.
'Is it because it's his first time? He's very clumsy.'
If he had not been helping from the side, it seemed that he would not have been able to absorb even half of the ki of the elixir.
No, not half, but would he have properly absorbed even one-tenth?
The energy circulation was so messy that he had that thought.
'Do it well. Please.'
At some point, the flow of ki had regained its stability again.
Perhaps because it was the second time, he was able to finish the work a little more smoothly than when he had done it for the first time.
But that didn't mean that it was not difficult at all.
He wished that Cheon Seong would find his sense and continue to maintain the flow as it was.
'...Again?'
As soon as he had that thought, the flow became messy again.
This was not at the level of being clumsy.
Since it became messy again less than half an hour after he had fixed it, what was the difference between this and pouring water into a bottomless jar?
Cheon Myeong couldn't help but feel that something was strange.
'I think I'll have to take a look.'
What on earth was the problem?
In order to know that part for sure, it seemed that he would have to look at Cheon Seong's blood vessels himself.
And after a while, Cheon Myeong was able to discover what was presumed to be the cause of the problem.
'What on earth is this?'
A mysterious energy that was discovered in one of Cheon Seong's blood vessels.
An unknown energy existed in the area of the Qihai acupoint, which could be said to be a major blood vessel.
"..."
This was not his own, and it was even less so Cheon Seong's.
An energy that was too heterogeneous to think that it had originally existed here.
It could only be seen as another person having artificially interfered with Cheon Seong's blood vessels.
'This is why the flow of ki has to be messy.'
The heterogeneous energy that existed in the Qihai acupoint.
It was not that it had completely blocked the flow of ki.
If so, Cheon Seong would not have been alive in this place now.
However, although it had not completely blocked it, it was interfering with the smooth passage of ki.
'Perhaps the reason why there was no progress in Cheon Seong's martial arts was because of this.'
Of course, it was only his own guess, but it seemed certain that this was a problem in raising internal energy.
Then, of course, there would be a problem when performing a sword technique, and perhaps he would not have been able to use his internal energy properly as he wished.
Since it was hidden quite cleverly, it seemed highly likely that Cheon Seong would not have even known that there was something like this in his body until now.
'Who on earth did this...'
Was the purpose not to kill, but to cause a problem in Cheon Seong's internal energy?
If not, it was possible that he had tried to kill him and had ended up in this state.
But now, rather than who had done this, he would have to focus on how to remove this.
'I can't just leave it as it is.'
For now, it was just interfering with the flow of internal energy, but he didn't know what would happen if time passed.
Wouldn't it be possible that it would completely block the blood vessels at some point?
Moreover, in order to improve Cheon Seong's skills, it would be better to remove what was interfering with the use of internal energy.
'I'll remove it.'
Since he was in a state where he had taken an elixir, it would be easy to remove it.
Although it would be a rather rough method... besides forcibly tearing off this energy with a powerful ki, no other suitable method came to mind.
However, if there was one problem, it was that this body was not his own.
As the method was rough, the pain that Cheon Seong would feel would probably be considerable.
'Cheon Seong will have to endure it...'
Although he had told him to maintain his energy circulation no matter what, if the pain became greater, he might not be able to bear it even if he had heard those words.
If so, both Cheon Seong and he would be dead.
Thinking so, he couldn't help but hesitate to try it rashly.
'...No.'
Why on earth was he hesitating now?
Cheon Seong was now trusting him and had completely entrusted his body to him.
So this time, it was his turn to trust Cheon Seong.
'Let's do it.'
Somehow, it was a little different from the original purpose, but that's why he had to be more careful.
Woong-!
Cheon Myeong's internal energy, which was flowing into Cheon Seong's body more extensively than before.
'Let the surgery begin.'
The famous doctor, Cheon Myeong, the surgery had begun.
(End of Chapter)