Chapter 49
Ban Yun-saeng (2)
Once they decided to attempt the Great Body Reformation Art, the two of them became extremely busy.
“My master discovered a secret manual left behind by an unknown master concerning Body Reformation and devoted his entire life to studying it. That research was then passed down to me.”
The person who had written the original manual had been a poison practitioner.
The research had begun from the perspective of someone who handled poisons, which was why poison lay at the very heart of the Great Art.
That was also why an intensely toxic herb like the Eternal Venomous Deathweed was used as an ingredient rather than some other spiritual herb.
First, they had to purchase the tools and ingredients required for the Great Art.
Fortunately, Ban Yun-saeng had buried the most important ingredients deep underground near the cave. He had always kept the Great Art in mind, even though he had never known when the opportunity to perform it might come.
Now they only needed to purchase the remaining items that were relatively easy to obtain.
Ban Yun-saeng traveled through the nearby villages with Baek So-cheon, gathering everything they needed. They threw out every unnecessary object in the cave.
The Great Art was now their sole priority.
The empty spaces were filled with new equipment: a bed for the procedure, two enormous tubs, and several smaller containers for the medicines.
After four days, Baek So-cheon and Ban Yun-saeng had gathered all the materials.
“Now only the most important task remains.”
“What is it?”
“The Hundred-Horned Golden Immortal Serpent must inject its venom into the Eternal Venomous Deathweed and cause it to bear fruit. If it does not inject its venom, or if the plant fails to produce fruit, we will have to wait another three years.”
Baek So-cheon gave a bitter laugh at the words three years.
A war would certainly break out before then, and by that time, he would most likely already be dead.
Ban Yun-saeng led him to the place where the Eternal Venomous Deathweed grew. They watched from a distance so as not to provoke the Hundred-Horned Golden Immortal Serpent.
One day passed.
Then two.
Yet the serpent did not move.
As they watched the Eternal Venomous Deathweed together, Ban Yun-saeng told him many stories. Most concerned poisonous herbs and venomous creatures.
Baek So-cheon was immune to all poisons, yet he suddenly realized that he knew surprisingly little about poisonous plants or creatures.
He had always assumed they could not harm him, so he had neglected to learn about them.
Ban Yun-saeng freely told him which mountains were rich in certain medicinal herbs and where particular venomous creatures could be found.
Although they had only met here for the first time, perhaps because they were about to undertake the Great Art together, Ban Yun-saeng spoke candidly about many things.
“What do you intend to do if the Great Art succeeds?”
“I intend to prevent the war from breaking out.”
“And after that?”
“I haven’t thought about it.”
“Shouldn’t you normally think first about what you want for yourself?”
Baek So-cheon recalled what the Leader of the Black Heaven Alliance had once told him.
That he had fastened the first button wrong.
The metaphor had been used in a different context, but a thought suddenly came to Baek So-cheon.
At the age of eighteen, when he had known nothing of the world, he had joined the Alliance with a single dream: to protect good people.
From that point onward, he had spent his entire life running forward without pause.
He had not known that the martial art he had inherited through a chance encounter was such an extraordinary sword art.
Nor had he known that he possessed enough talent for battle to someday be called the God of War.
He had simply charged straight ahead without ever having the leisure to care for himself.
Once the war began, he had even less time to think about his own life.
Then again, the same was probably true for every martial artist in the Murim Alliance.
Even after the war ended, he had been unable to care for himself because of the loss of his internal energy and everything that had happened with the Alliance Leader.
That was likely why he had been unable to find an answer when Ga-in told him to quit the Murim Alliance and do something else.
He had never learned how to live his own life.
He had never experienced what it meant to live in a way that made him happy.
Ban Yun-saeng looked at Baek So-cheon and said,
“Do not live a life devoted only to fighting. When you look back, you will find that life has passed you by with empty and startling speed.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps deciding that he had lectured him enough, Ban Yun-saeng turned his gaze toward the distant Hundred-Horned Golden Immortal Serpent.
“Everything depends on that creature now.”
The fate of the two men—and perhaps even the fate of the entire martial world—rested upon a single serpent.
Whoever it was, at least one of those three parties must have been fortunate.
Two days later, the Hundred-Horned Golden Immortal Serpent injected its venom into the Eternal Venomous Deathweed and died.
The Eternal Venomous Deathweed bore fruit.
Ban Yun-saeng plucked the fruit with the utmost care and carried it back to the cave.
At last, every preparation was complete.
All the medicines required for the Great Art were ready, and Baek So-cheon consumed every drug he needed to take beforehand.
He took each one in several carefully measured doses.
Leaving only the fruit of the Eternal Venomous Deathweed, Ban Yun-saeng asked,
“Well? How do you feel?”
Baek So-cheon felt strangely indifferent.
Even if he died during the Great Art, he did not think he would have many regrets.
For a martial artist, thirty-eight years was not a particularly short life.
And he had lived the life of a hero who had saved the martial world.
After living such a life, what could he possibly regret even if he died today?
Beon Saeng had once said that if he died, no one would be left in such agony that their heart would be torn apart.
Would Baek So-cheon’s case truly be any different?
Several people would grieve deeply, but was there anyone who would suffer so badly they could not endure it?
That was why he could answer brightly.
“I feel good.”
“Good. Then let us begin. Take the fruit of the Eternal Venomous Deathweed.”
Without hesitation, Baek So-cheon bit into the fruit and chewed it.
Perhaps because of the venom injected by the Hundred-Horned Golden Immortal Serpent, it was so bitter that it felt as if his tongue would melt.
The Great Art began at that very moment.
“Urrrgh…”
As the medicinal effects spread throughout his body, Baek So-cheon groaned.
Rather than using internal energy to guide the medicine into his meridians, the drugs Ban Yun-saeng had administered forcibly drove it through every blood vessel in his body.
That made the pain even worse.
Baek So-cheon’s skin began to darken.
Ban Yun-saeng pushed him into a tub filled with medicinal liquid.
Splash!
Baek So-cheon plunged into the full tub.
The moment the liquid enveloped him, his entire body grew languid and the pain disappeared.
A powerful drowsiness rushed over him, and his eyelids became heavy.
Ban Yun-saeng watched with a tense expression as Baek So-cheon sank.
By the time Baek So-cheon reached the bottom of the tub, he had already fallen into a deep sleep.
***
The day everyone’s fate changed.
“Huff… huff… huff…”
Baek So-cheon was gasping for breath.
There was not a single place on his body that did not ache.
It felt as though he would crumble into pieces if anyone so much as touched him.
The sword in his hand felt as heavy as a thousand geun.
Even so, Baek So-cheon tightened his grip around the hilt.
He had to believe.
If he was exhausted, then his opponent must be exhausted as well.
No.
His opponent had to be in even worse condition.
Sure enough, Yeom Hwasin, the Leader of the Cheokcheon Alliance, stood before him with his waist half-bent, breathing even more heavily than Baek So-cheon.
His mountain-like frame heaved with every breath.
This next attack was Baek So-cheon’s final chance to kill him.
Yeom Hwasin’s condition did not matter.
Once Baek So-cheon unleashed this final move, his own internal energy would be completely depleted.
I have to finish it this time.
Yeom Hwasin raised his head and stared at Baek So-cheon.
In his gaze, Baek So-cheon saw an emotion he had never once seen there before.
Fear.
At that instant, Baek So-cheon hurled himself forward.
He staked everything on this single move.
Drawing up every last trace of internal energy within him, Baek So-cheon poured it into his sword.
Yeom Hwasin also launched himself forward.
Perhaps because of his exhaustion, his response was slower than before.
Swaaaaaash!
Their two figures merged into one.
Throughout the battle, they had repeatedly clashed and separated.
They had dodged, blocked, and counterattacked with lightning speed.
This time was different.
A single sound declared the end of the battle.
Squelch!
The instant his sword pierced his opponent’s body, Baek So-cheon became certain of his victory.
I won!
His beloved sword, the Ghost Shadow Sword, had pierced Yeom Hwasin’s heart precisely.
Yet instead of despair and fading life, Baek So-cheon saw joy and opportunity in Yeom Hwasin’s eyes.
In that instant, he realized something had gone wrong.
Boooom!
Even with the sword driven through his chest, Yeom Hwasin’s fist slammed into Baek So-cheon’s chest.
The protective energy around Baek So-cheon, already sustained by only a feeble amount of internal energy, shattered.
A crushing impact spread through his entire body.
He tried desperately to summon his internal energy and defend himself, but the shock raced through him uncontrollably, like cracks spreading across a frozen lake.
“Guh!”
Baek So-cheon vomited a mouthful of blood.
He could not move so much as a finger, but Yeom Hwasin still had strength remaining.
Baek So-cheon felt internal energy gather at Yeom Hwasin’s fingertips.
The moment he sensed that the hand was aiming for his dantian—
“No!”
Baaam!
A shock tore through his entire body.
Riiip!
His flesh split apart.
It felt as though the entire area containing his dantian had been ripped out of him.
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!”
The loudest and most agonized scream Baek So-cheon had uttered since the battle began burst from his mouth.
Blood dripped steadily from his abdomen.
Holding Baek So-cheon’s limp body aloft with one hand, Yeom Hwasin spoke coldly.
“It was not I who killed you. It was your Alliance Leader.”
“…Bullshit.”
“If that is not true, then why are you here? The person who should be standing here is your Alliance Leader, is he not?”
A chaotic melee had erupted, and after fighting Yeom Hwasin without pause, the two of them had somehow ended up alone in this place.
The Alliance Leader had to be fighting enemies somewhere else.
“Your Alliance Leader is nothing more than a hypocrite who preserved his position by drinking the blood of his own people!”
“Enough with your attempts to sow discord. You know nothing about the Alliance Leader.”
“Foolish man. Three years will be enough. By then, you too will understand that my words were true.”
Yeom Hwasin threw Baek So-cheon to the ground.
He then pulled the sword from his heart and tossed it aside.
Baek So-cheon coughed up another mouthful of blood as he watched Yeom Hwasin stagger away.
Not long after the man disappeared, Baek So-cheon heard someone calling his name while running toward him.
“So-cheon! So-cheon!”
It was the voice of Alliance Leader Ak So-gun.
Alliance Leader.
He had to open his eyes, but they would not move.
“Stay with me! Come to your senses! We won! They have all retreated! Hurry and wake up!”
Ak So-gun’s voice was filled with excitement.
Using the last of his strength, Baek So-cheon opened his eyes.
Through his blurred vision, he saw Ak So-gun’s face.
The Alliance Leader was looking down at him with worry.
At that very moment, Baek So-cheon saw it.
A red dot appeared in the center of Ak So-gun’s black pupil, then vanished.
But Baek So-cheon could not tell whether it had been his own blood flowing down his face, blood dripping from Ak So-gun’s forehead, or merely a reflection he had mistaken for something else.
It had happened far too quickly.
“…Alliance Leader.”
After whispering those words, he lost consciousness.
Splash!
When Ban Yun-saeng activated the pulley mechanism, the bottom of the tub rose, lifting Baek So-cheon out of the medicinal liquid.
Ban Yun-saeng removed him from the tub and laid him on the bed.
After forcing Baek So-cheon’s mouth open and administering more medicine, he began inserting acupuncture needles.
He placed each one with the utmost care.
He could have performed acupuncture with his eyes closed, but perhaps because it had been so long, his hands trembled.
Stay calm.
One needle at a time, Ban Yun-saeng carefully inserted them into every acupoint in Baek So-cheon’s body.
Perhaps Baek So-cheon was dreaming, for his eyes moved restlessly beneath his closed lids.
“You must not open your eyes yet.”
***
Baek So-cheon opened his eyes.
The person watching him was Ban Wol-ryang, the Divine Physician of the Murim Alliance.
“Are you awake now?”
“Where am I?”
“At the main headquarters. The War Between the Righteous and Unorthodox Factions is over.”
At the news that the war had ended, a single tear rolled from Baek So-cheon’s eye.
It was the first tear he had shed since joining the Murim Alliance.
Even after sending countless comrades to their deaths, he had never cried.
He had known that if he began to shed tears, he would never be able to bring the war to an end.
Now, as though every tear he had held back was finally breaking free, they continued to stream down his face.
After silently weeping for a long while, Baek So-cheon asked,
“Is the Alliance Leader safe?”
“Fortunately, he is unharmed.”
Baek So-cheon remembered seeing the Alliance Leader before losing consciousness.
“Is there truly nothing wrong with him?”
“Thanks to you, he is fine.”
“How long have I been unconscious?”
“Twenty days.”
“I was unconscious for twenty days?”
Baek So-cheon tried to sit up, but his body would not move.
“Your internal injuries are too severe. You cannot move yet.”
Instinctively, without even realizing it, Baek So-cheon attempted to circulate his internal energy and stabilize his body.
At that moment, tremendous pain surged from the area of his dantian.
“Urgh!”
Seeing his agony, Ban Wol-ryang hurriedly shouted,
“You must not use your internal energy!”
“Until when?”
Ban Wol-ryang could not bring himself to say the word forever.
The troubled expression on his face summoned a memory.
Riiip!
The horrifying sensation of his dantian being torn out.
Baek So-cheon squeezed his eyes shut.
The moment he realized there was no internal energy within his body, an inexplicable terror overwhelmed him.
“If I’ve been lying here for twenty days, the Alliance Leader must have made many wasted trips.”
“…”
“How many times has he come to see me?”
“He has not come yet.”
“He must have told us to focus on your treatment. And he is surely busy.”
Splash!
Ban Yun-saeng submerged Baek So-cheon in the liquid once more.
Then he mixed in another medicine.
Bubbles began to boil and churn.
The Great Art was now racing toward its final stage.
Ban Yun-saeng stood before the tub, staring at Baek So-cheon.
Amid the bubbles, Baek So-cheon was sinking once again.
Was he dreaming?
It looked as though Baek So-cheon was frowning.
Ban Yun-saeng silently urged him on with desperate sincerity.
Hang in there!