The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 49

Chapter 49. A First-Rate Warrior Peering into the Darkness (2)

If one were to name the reasons for the defeat in the Great Righteous-Demonic War, there would be countless things to list, but the most fatal among them was Demonic Qi.

Countless Demonic Arts derived from the Heavenly Demon Scripture, the foundation of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

The unique Demonic Qi emitted by those Demonic Arts was even more fatal to those attacked by Demonic Qi than to those who had learned Demonic Arts.

The things that could resist Demonic Qi were high Dao Power or Innate Energy.

However, amid the many changes over five hundred years, the history of the Murim had come to regard deep spiritual cultivation as something akin to the arts of the Unorthodox Side Path, and people had focused only on cultivating forms rather than Dao Power, and inner arts rather than Innate Energy.

And the result was the destruction of the Orthodox Path Murim.

Weak Demonic Qi could be driven out with vast inner arts, but the moment that balance collapsed, Demonic Qi devoured the body in an instant.

Demonic Qi was more fatal than poison.

Because there was no specific antidote, one had no choice but to drive it out through the infected person’s own physical ability.

At this rate, he will die.

Leaving aside the wounds all over his body, he did not have even a shred of strength left to drive out the Demonic Qi.

The best solution I could think of right now would be to go to Wolhyang’s tomb and wash his body with Innate Energy.

But if I moved him even slightly, there was a high chance the internal shock would kill him.

I had the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core right now, but with his strength exhausted, if I fed him the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core, every one of his internal organs would melt.

“Is there no way?”

I wanted to save him somehow.

I wanted to give true comfort to Murong Seol, who had come to me and spoken to me every hardest night.

Though it was a future that had not yet come, to me, it was the past. I thought I wanted this to become a consolation for that time.

“Hm?”

At that moment, the Heavenly Demon Supreme Bracelet I wore on my right wrist—no, the object that had now become the Red Phoenix Bracelet—was trembling faintly.

Because I had not known what effect it possessed all this time, I had merely shaved away the words ‘Heavenly Demon Supreme Bracelet’ carved on the inside and carried it with me.

And strangely, as the Red Phoenix Bracelet trembled faintly, it was drawing Murong Sang-won’s Demonic Qi in little by little.

Only then did I realize what the Red Phoenix Bracelet’s effect was.

The Red Phoenix Bracelet, which had not stirred no matter how much inner arts I had poured into it, reacted only to Demonic Qi.

I slowly pushed inner arts into the Red Phoenix Bracelet.

Then the vibration of the trembling Red Phoenix Bracelet gradually grew stronger, and it began drawing in the Demonic Qi that had been encroaching on Murong Sang-won’s body little by little.

I worried that the Demonic Qi it drew in might corrupt my body, but fortunately, it merely drew in and devoured the Demonic Qi; it did not release it again.

“Phew.”

How much time had passed?

Murong Sang-won vomited dead blood corrupted by Demonic Qi like a fountain.

“Whew.”

Seeing his complexion slowly return, I could finally let out a breath.

Fortunately, all the Demonic Qi that had been encroaching on Murong Sang-won’s entire body had been removed.

However, because his remaining strength was still faint, I could not carelessly move Murong Sang-won.

“He’ll need to recuperate here for a while……. Is there a Spiritual Medicine that can restore his strength right now……?”

I searched through the Murim Compendium of Spiritual Medicines in my head and looked for a Spiritual Medicine that could treat Murong Sang-won, but the closest one was a full six days away.

“It’s still too risky to go visit a Physician too.”

Seeing him open and close his eyes intermittently, he was in a state where it would not be strange if his breath stopped at any moment.

If I left to prepare medicine, I might return only to see a corpse.

At that moment, Murong Sang-won regained a little of his senses.

In a clearer voice than before, he tried to convey his will.

“I, I have a request…….”

Seeing him try to lift his head, I was greatly alarmed and spoke.

“Please stay still for a moment. If you try to move carelessly right now, your condition may worsen.”

“No…… I’m going to…… anyway…….”

I covered the mouth of the patient who would not listen.

Right now, the best thing was to conserve even the slightest bit of strength.

“It’s a relief I at least have this.”

I took a dagger from inside my robe.

It was something I occasionally used while sleeping rough, so its edge had been sharpened keenly.

And I slashed my palm in one stroke.

Most of the Spiritual Medicines I had eaten so far had been converted into inner arts through the Taeul True Scripture.

Even so, because the amount I had consumed had been so vast, the energy of Spiritual Medicine still remained inside my body.

Moreover, since I had digested it once and removed its toxicity, there would be no problem giving it to a patient.

“Please live. If you die, that person will have no one to lean on when things become difficult.”

With desperate feelings, I squeezed out the blood from my hand.

***

Murong Sang-won thought of his own end and recalled the days gone by.

His son, Murong Jae-hwa, who had talent and zeal for martial arts but had always been weaker and more lacking than his older sister, was an aching finger to him.

He had fed him countless Spiritual Medicines, but perhaps because he had been born that way, even though his inner arts increased, his constitution itself did not change.

Then, a renowned Physician invited by the Murim Alliance felt Murong Jae-hwa’s pulse and clicked his tongue, saying he had eaten Spiritual Medicines that did not suit his body.

According to the renowned Physician, compared to a man’s body, his Fire Qi was lacking, and his body’s harmony was misaligned. If he ate a Spiritual Medicine filled with Fire Qi, he would gain a body so strong and fierce that one would hardly recognize him.

After that, Murong Sang-won spread rumors in every direction and spent wealth in order to find a Spiritual Medicine of Fire Qi, but because the Murim Academy Exam was about to open, Spiritual Medicines were drying up.

Then, when he heard reliable information that a Fire Monkey had been discovered on Mount Huang, Murong Sang-won personally stepped forward.

Together with two guard warriors, he entered Mount Huang, where the Fire Monkey had been seen, and after the trouble of camping in the mountains for several weeks, he finally discovered the Fire Monkey.

After succeeding in driving the Fire Monkey into one side together with his two guard warriors, Murong Sang-won eventually succeeded in obtaining the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core.

The moment he thought all his worries had been resolved,

unknown people attacked them.

At first, Murong Sang-won did not think much of their attack.

He thought they were small fry aiming for the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core.

‘What, what on earth is this martial art?!’

Their dizzying martial arts differed completely from the martial arts of the Central Plains, and there was an unidentified energy that gnawed at his body as though he had been poisoned.

Seeing the guard warriors who had tried to protect him vomit blood and die on the spot, he felt death looming over him for the first time in his life.

With a do-or-die resolve, he fled all the way to an unknown mountain, but in the end, with a cliff a thousand gil deep at his back, he was surrounded by his attackers.

“Who are you bastards?! Do you know who I am, dare to do something like this?!”

He tried speaking to them in order to gain even a little information about his opponent, but the attackers merely launched silent attacks.

In the end, Murong Sang-won threw himself down the cliff a thousand gil deep, and, stricken by whatever the attackers had used to poison him, he was dying below the cliff.

How many days and nights had passed like that?

[Father, this daughter of yours feels uneasy. Why not refrain from going?]

The sorrowful face of his daughter, who had worried for his safety as he left the clan, came to mind.

He had laughed it off, saying that a grown girl who would soon have to get married was worrying about all sorts of needless things.

But now, he came to think he would pay any price if only he could see her one more time.

Through his mind, which was growing faint and distant, a human figure was descending the valley on a rope.

And the moment the person who descended that way searched inside his robe and discovered the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core, Was it because his daughter’s face had come to mind?

Murong Sang-won committed an act he should not have committed.

He revealed his clan without realizing it.

Murong Sang-won sensed the end.

‘Haah, how foolish. To invite my own death like this.’

The Fire Monkey’s Inner Core was a Spiritual Medicine precious enough to rank among the top ten Spiritual Medicines of the Murim World.

There was no way a warrior capable of descending a valley on a rope would not covet a Spiritual Medicine, and the moment he learned Murong Sang-won was a member of the Murong Clan, there was no way he would not kill him to silence him.

Rather than saving the Murong Clan and returning the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core, eating the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core and making himself stronger would bring him greater profit.

‘With my own foolishness, I have invited my death. I am sorry, Seol-ah…… It seems it will be difficult for me to see you again.’

Just as he sensed his end and closed his eyes, that bastard began doing something strange.

He began taking off all his clothes.

‘At least let my end be dignified! What use could these clothes, already turned to rags, be to you, bastard?!’

He tried shouting with all his might, but the only sounds that came from his mouth were ‘Ngh- ngh-.’

And then, when the young man placed his hand on Murong Sang-won’s Middle Qi Center, he began to feel the stifling energies that had been eating away at his body slowly drain away.

The Poisonous Qi that had spread throughout his whole body flowed out through his pores, and the Poisonous Qi that had remained in his organs burst out through his mouth.

HURK!

After spitting out all the Poisonous Qi, his mind returned clearly.

‘Wh-What on earth is this?’

Murong Sang-won looked at the face of the suspicious bastard before his eyes…… no, the face of a righteous Chivalrous Hero burning with a sense of justice, who cared nothing for such a thing as the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core.

Though youth still remained on his face, he was a striking young man with clear, masculine features and a harmonious feminine grace.

The young man looked at the Fire Monkey’s Inner Core, then looked back and forth at Murong Sang-won’s face.

Murong Sang-won realized the young man’s intention and was horrified.

Some of the Poisonous Qi had been removed, but his body’s interior had already absorbed the Poisonous Qi. If he ate a Spiritual Pill filled with Fire Qi while in that state, it would be no different from pouring oil onto a fire.

Fortunately, the young man set the wooden box back down.

The young man looked back and forth up the cliff, judging whether he could climb back up.

The hope that he might live lasted only for a moment. Murong Sang-won did not think the young man could climb up this high cliff while carrying him as well.

Moreover, treating him while making round trips from this place was an even more distant prospect.

Once he thought that, his heart became peaceful.

‘I end here. If only he will convey my last words to my daughter, and to my son…….’

With the strength that had returned to him, he barely opened his mouth and spoke.

“I, I, have a request…….”

Before Murong Sang-won could finish speaking, the young man shook his head.

“Please stay still for a moment. If you try to move carelessly right now, your condition may worsen.”

“No, I’m going to…… anyway…….”

The young man eventually covered Murong Sang-won’s mouth with his hand, then placed a finger to his own lips, showing him to be quiet.

‘I am asking you to convey my last words!’

Murong Sang-won felt frustrated, but he had no strength to express it.

The young man took out a dagger and wounded his own palm.

Then he brought his palm, from which red blood flowed, to Murong Sang-won’s lips.

‘Who on earth is this man? For a stranger he has never even met…….’

Among the stories passed down among the common people, there was one in which, when an aged and sickly father reached the brink of death, his child cut a finger and fed him blood to buy time until the Physician arrived.

Murong Sang-won also knew that story.

As with all such stories, he had thought it was fabricated to emphasize filial piety, so the truth was that it had not moved him much.

But when the blood that flowed over his lips spread into his stomach, did warmth not fill his entire body as strength rose in him?

‘Was the legend true?’

At that moment, the young man’s voice reached Murong Sang-won’s ears.

“Please live. If you die, that person will have no one to lean on when things become difficult.”

He could not guess what the young man was talking about, but he could feel well enough that the young man was desperately clinging to the task of saving him.

***

While shedding blood and giving it to Murong Sang-won, Jin So-un realized he had made one mistake.

‘I should have pressed his Numbing Acupoint.’

Those who learned martial arts were obsessed with Spiritual Medicines.

In the past, there had even been fiends who caught those who had eaten Spiritual Medicine, boiled them alive, and ate them.

If Murong Sang-won learned that Jin So-un’s blood was filled with the energy of Spiritual Medicine…….

‘Come on, surely not… He is still the Young Clan Head of the Murong Clan…….’

Jin So-un had to work to drive away the useless thoughts that kept rising in his mind.