Chapter 96

Chapter 96

“Uweeegh!”

Even as he vomited the Stagnant Blood rising from his throat, Youngho’s eyes shone fiercely.

It seemed as though his gaze would never leave Cheon Sangmu, no matter what happened.

In truth, if he failed to do so, he might very well die.

Cheon Sangmu looked at Youngho with an intrigued expression.

“As expected, you are not someone who should be called a mere Junior Disciple.”

“Didn’t you just see me coughing up blood?”

“You still managed to block my attack.”

The moment Cheon Sangmu threw his second punch, Youngho had swiftly wrapped Hardened Force around his hand to reduce the damage as much as possible.

‘And even so, I ended up like this?’

Countless questions arose in his mind, but Youngho decided to prioritize the attack before his eyes.

At Youngho’s overwhelming concentration, Cheon Sangmu gave a slight nod and spoke.

“Do you know what the first attack I launched was?”

“How would I know something like that?”

‘It didn’t even look like a martial art to begin with.’

Right now, he had to conserve even the strength required to speak. When Youngho merely glared at him without replying further, Cheon Sangmu spread his right hand toward Youngho and said,

“I have named this technique Hardened Force Manifestation.”

“Hardened Force Manifestation?”

“Yes. What I used earlier was not a completed form. It was merely a crude version focused solely on speed.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If you can block the Hardened Force Manifestation I created, I will consider you to have blocked all five moves.”

“No thanks. Are you insane?”

Seeing Youngho sneer as he spoke, Cheon Sangmu showed undisguised disappointment.

“I thought you would be different… but in the end, you too are a fake.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Why are you thinking about the future?”

“What?”

What kind of nonsense was that? If anyone else had said it—or at the very least, if it had not come from Cheon Sangmu—it would have been easy to dismiss.

But this was the Heavenly Demon, Cheon Sangmu.

If one did not listen carefully, there was no telling what misfortune might follow.

“Do you not wish to enjoy this fight right now? Do you not wish to use your power in the proper place?”

At that moment, explosive Killing Intent burst forth from Youngho’s body.

Kuuung—!

The Killing Intent was so intense that even the Formation trembled. Even a master in the State of Transformation would have to brace for Internal Injury if struck head-on by this aura.

With blazing eyes, Youngho glared at Cheon Sangmu.

“I hated that kind of ideology of yours.”

“Mm?”

“The way you act as if nothing around you matters, as though you alone are the correct answer—it grates on me.”

“…….”

Cheon Sangmu said nothing, merely gazing at Youngho with a deep, unreadable look.

Had he understood that gaze? Youngho curled one corner of his lips into a sardonic smile.

“You don’t understand sacrifice. You’ve only ever received loyalty and reverence meant solely for you.”

“Are you saying I am wrong?”

“No. You have every right to be that way. You’re monstrously strong. No one can approach your level. And…”

Youngho’s sword emitted a chilling Blade Aura.

“The Martial World was originally that kind of place.”

He raised his sword toward Cheon Sangmu.

“I just find your actions and attitude irritating. That’s why I’m stopping you.”

“Those are words utterly devoid of the righteousness those Orthodox Sect fools speak of.”

“What do you expect from someone of the Unorthodox Faction?”

“Indeed….”

“Stop talking and use that Hardened Force Manifestation or whatever you call it. I’ll prove it.”

“Prove what?”

“That my sword will reach you—and whether, even years from now, you’ll still see me as a mere toy.”

At Youngho’s grin, wicked as a vengeful spirit, Cheon Sangmu smiled in satisfaction.

At the same time, Cheon Sangmu stretched out both arms and opened his palms.

Wuuuuung—!

A resonance far beyond what had been heard earlier began to fill the air.

“……!”

In that instant, bead-sized spheres formed in both of Cheon Sangmu’s palms, only to grow larger and larger.

Every muscle in Youngho’s body tightened. No matter how hard he tried to relax them, they would not loosen.

Instinctively, he felt it—the magnitude of what Cheon Sangmu was about to unleash, and how unimaginably dangerous it would be.

Intense? Fierce? Such trivial words could not describe the power forming in Cheon Sangmu’s hands.

Kwaaaaaa—!

A powerful force of attraction pulled at Youngho’s body as if it would swallow him whole at any moment.

Bang—!

Barely managing to stab his sword into the Sparring Stage, Youngho resisted the force dragging him forward with all his might.

Just as he gripped the sword hilt even tighter to brace himself—

The pulling force vanished without warning. As the sudden attraction disappeared, Youngho immediately corrected his stance and glared sharply at Cheon Sangmu.

“…….”

For a brief moment, Youngho could not think at all. The sphere Cheon Sangmu had created—about the size of a Night Pearl—was enough to steal his soul for an instant.

“This is the true Hardened Force Manifestation.”

With Cheon Sangmu’s words, Youngho’s eyes sank deeply.

‘No wonder you can’t use it often….’

Though the time Cheon Sangmu took to create the Hardened Force Manifestation was not excessively long, neither was it short. No matter how powerful he was, he could not help but be defenseless during that time.

Even a master in the State of Transformation would have died hundreds of times over in such an interval.

If someone attempted to unleash such a technique in the midst of war, Youngho was confident he could charge forward and prevent Cheon Sangmu from completing it.

As proof, before his Regression, Youngho had never once seen Cheon Sangmu prepare to use Hardened Force Manifestation.

‘The efficiency is absolutely terrible.’

Cheon Sangmu must have been aware of its glaring flaw as well, which was likely why he had refrained from using it.

With the completed Hardened Force Manifestation before him, Youngho lowered his stance.

Firm and steady—ensuring his center of balance was more stable than ever.

Seeing Youngho’s deeply sunken gaze, Cheon Sangmu grinned and said,

“Do try to prove your worth.”

KWAANG—!

The moment a thunderous boom erupted from Cheon Sangmu’s hand, an incomparably violent explosion of Qi engulfed Youngho.

As he watched the wave of energy shooting toward him at terrifying speed, Youngho spoke.

“……Open the Gate.”

Kwaaaaaaaa—!

The moment the Flame Venerable Opening Technique was unleashed, Youngho’s aura began to amplify five or sixfold.

Even Cheon Sangmu was startled by the surge of Youngho’s strength, and in the end, the Formation could not withstand it and burst apart.

But it did not matter. Though he had exhausted all his Internal Energy to open the Flame Venerable Opening Technique, his sword would grow stronger in proportion to the Internal Power he had lost.

Less than the span of a single breath.

Youngho’s sword traced a graceful arc.

Bang—!

With a short thunderous crash, Youngho’s Body Silhouette was sent flying beyond the Sparring Stage.

He flew so fast that even Cheonung’s eyes could not follow him.

At last, Youngho’s body hurtled toward the wall of the spectator stands, crashing straight through it.

Before Han Yonghu could even speak, Cheonung vomited Stagnant Blood and sprinted toward where Youngho had been thrown.

Horyeung desperately wanted to run as well, but the aftershock of the Hardened Force Manifestation Cheon Sangmu had created had left him with severe Internal Injury, making even the slightest movement impossible.

Soon, Cheonung returned, carrying Youngho on his back to where Horyeung was.

“Alliance Lord, is the Young Master…?”

“He is conscious.”

Horyeung’s face brightened for a moment, only to crumple at Cheonung’s next words.

“But if he is not treated immediately, he will die.”

“How could this…!”

“Clear Sky Stone Milk.”

“Pardon?”

“We need Clear Sky Stone Milk. I distinctly remember that a single drop remained.”

Horyeung hurriedly unfastened the Water Flask tied at his waist and handed it to Cheonung.

“It is here.”

“Well done. Now hurry and fetch a Physician.”

Though dark red blood continued soaking both his and Youngho’s clothes, Cheonung paid it no mind and quickly poured the Clear Sky Stone Milk into Youngho’s mouth.

“Youngho, can you hear me?”

“…Mas…ter.”

“Yes. Begin circulating your Qi at once. At your level, you should be able to do so even lying down.”

“…….”

Saving his strength for speech, Youngho focused on the immense energy that had entered his body.

The torn meridians grew sturdier and wider. The Internal Energy he had thought could grow no purer began, ever so slightly, to refine further.

Ordinarily, such a thing would be impossible. But perhaps his body had realized that his life was in danger.

To enhance his healing, his Internal Energy began refining itself little by little.

Hyeon-gang arrived in haste and grasped Youngho’s wrist to examine his pulse.

After closing his eyes in concentration for a moment, he wiped the beads of sweat from his brow and spoke.

“His body is in complete disarray. It seems he has already absorbed all the Clear Sky Stone Milk, but he is still gravely injured. He must be treated immediately.”

“Can you treat him?”

At Cheonung’s question, Hyeon-gang shook his head.

“I can perform emergency measures, but the External Injury visible on the surface is beyond my ability to repair.”

Cheonung stared at Youngho, his pupils trembling.

Youngho’s chest was caved in, and one of his legs was torn apart like a rag. It was a wonder he was even alive.

“Fortunately, the bone fragments missed the heart.”

As Hyeon-gang continued urgent emergency treatment, Cheonung asked,

“Can you not at least provide emergency care for the External Injury?”

“If I touch it carelessly, it may worsen. Frankly, I was horrified from the moment you carried him here running. Next time, do not act first with such shallow Medical Knowledge.”

Such words were not something a mere Physician should say to the Lord of the Unorthodox Alliance. Yet despite Hyeon-gang’s sharp tone, Cheonung simply gazed silently at Youngho’s face.

Even though he had uttered words that might cost him his head under normal circumstances, Hyeon-gang calmly inserted each needle with utmost care.

Cold sweat trickled down his spine as he concentrated so intensely that he seized the towel Horyeung had been using to wipe his brow and dried his face.

“The emergency treatment is complete.”

“That is fortunate.”

Swish!

Cheonung’s sword shot forth in a beam of light toward the source of the voice.

Despite the killing intent aimed at him, Cheon Sangmu did not even blink and lightly evaded Cheonung’s strike.

Stepping back one pace, Cheon Sangmu watched as Cheonung drew a line across the ground.

Screeech!

Cheonung growled fiercely.

“If you cross this line, I will cut you down.”

He looked like a mother tiger guarding her cub. But Cheon Sangmu merely tilted his head.

“Do you wish for your disciple to die?”

“Shut your mouth.”

“Hm….”

After observing Cheonung for a moment, Cheon Sangmu spoke again.

“Have you no intention of entrusting his treatment to a Physician of Our Cult?”

“What?”

It was an absurd statement. The very man who had reduced Youngho to this state was offering treatment.

Had it been anyone other than Cheon Sangmu, Cheonung would have cursed him as insane. But he refrained for a simple reason.

‘You cannot curse someone who is truly mad.’

At least in Cheonung’s eyes, Cheon Sangmu was madness incarnate.

“In Our Cult, there is a Physician comparable to the Divine Physician. And that Physician will come whenever I summon them.”

“I would rather entrust him to the Divine Physician.”

“The Divine Physician did not attend this Dragon–Phoenix Gathering, did they?”

“…….”

Cheonung said nothing. Or rather, he could not.

At this rate, Youngho might become crippled—or live the rest of his life with lasting damage to his leg.

His disciple’s life, or the pride of the Supreme of the Unorthodox Faction.

Just as Cheonung steeled himself to decide—

“Mas…ter.”

Youngho’s voice rang out.

Cheonung immediately turned, forgetting Cheon Sangmu as he rushed to Youngho’s side.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. These… External Injuries… will heal soon… My Internal Injury is… stabilizing as well.”

Cheonung looked at Hyeon-gang, who shook his head.

—He is absolutely not fine. The leg may heal, but he may suffer pain for the rest of his life.

At Hyeon-gang’s Voice Transmission, Cheonung frowned.

“Please summon the Divine Physician.”

Cheonung looked at Youngho with endless sorrow.

“Youngho, the Divine Physician is not here. We may have no choice but to ask the Heavenly Demon—”

“N…no.”

Youngho gave a faint smile.

“The Divine Physician I know is not someone who would fail to come to a place like this.”

“……!”

At that moment, Cheonung spun around, disbelief written across his face.

“To think there is a child who understands me—how curious indeed.”

“How are you here…?”

“You still have not corrected that habit of speech, Cheonung.”

That wretched old woman—so spoke those close to her. Yet that very wretched old woman had saved tens of thousands of lives and remained active even now.

In the world, she was called the Divine Physician, the one who had established the Medical Pavilion of Hwa Ryeong in Shaanxi.

Hwa Ryeong smiled brilliantly.

“I have lost count of how many debts you owe me.”

She spoke in her usual teasing manner, but Cheonung, feeling a long-forgotten sense of relief, bowed his head without realizing it.