Wudang Sacred Scriptures-Chapter 174

Kwak Yeon hurriedly carried Danmok Seong into the cave.

After advancing about three jang inside, a faint glow of firelight appeared.

Ju Yeoryeong, who had been sitting by the campfire, shot to her feet. Her eyes widened when she saw Danmok Seong lying in Kwak Yeon’s arms.

“Ah! Nosa...?”

“Sojeo Ju, prepare a place by the fire first.”

As Ju Yeoryeong quickly cleared a spot beside the campfire, Kwak Yeon carefully laid Danmok Seong down there.

“Where is the Young Lord of the Danmok Clan?”

At Kwak Yeon’s question, Ju Yeoryeong gave a brief glance toward the deeper part of the cave.

“He’s inside, circulating his qi. I’ve released his major acupoints, but since the sealing technique Sajo used was so masterful, it hasn’t been fully undone yet.”

Kwak Yeon nodded.

“For now, Elder Danmok’s treatment takes priority, so let the Young Lord remain focused on his breathing exercise.”

“Did Nosa Danmok receive an injury from my Sajo’s martial arts?”

Ju Yeoryeong immediately thought herself foolish. To ask something so obvious...

Kwak Yeon spoke as he swiftly opened Danmok Seong’s upper garment.

“The elder received your grandmother’s palm strike in my place.”

“What kind of palm strike...?”

Ju Yeoryeong’s eyes widened, and she quickly pressed the question.

“It couldn’t have been Sajo’s Jade Hands, could it? Ah—!”

She let out a sharp cry when she saw the distinct white palm print on Danmok Seong’s chest.

Kwak Yeon looked at her pale face.

“You recognize the technique?”

“...It’s Sajo’s Annihilation Palm.”

Hearing the tremor in her voice, Kwak Yeon asked again.

“Will you tell me more about it?”

“...”

“Sojeo Ju, Elder Danmok’s life hangs by a thread. I’m not asking you to divulge your sect’s martial secrets.”

“Its name is... Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm.”

“My thanks.”

Though the name alone could not reveal its exact mechanics, the nature of its effect could be guessed.

Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm!

To chill the body to icy coldness and burn away the soul—this clearly marked it as a yin-based technique.

He had already suspected as much upon seeing the frost rimmed around the palm mark on Danmok Seong’s chest.

From within his robes, Kwak Yeon drew out a golden case and opened it. Inside was a single lustrous golden pellet.

The refreshing fragrance it emitted was proof that this was no ordinary medicine.

“That is...?”

“The Sokmyeongdan of the Sangwan Clan.”

As he slipped the golden pellet into Danmok Seong’s mouth, Kwak Yeon continued,

“The Clan Head of the Sangwan Clan insisted I take it, saying it might prove useful someday. I had no choice but to accept it—and it has found its use sooner than expected.”

The Sangwan Clan’s Sokmyeongdan was not a life-restoring pill like Shaolin’s Great Revival Pill or Wudang’s Taecheong Divine Pill, but it was an unparalleled treasure for treating internal injuries, a rare medicine beyond price.

For a great clan like the Sangwan to part with such an elixir was extraordinary—something only done for one who had saved the clan from a crisis.

Just what did this hermit Daoist do for the Sangwan Clan...?

Even as that question passed through her mind, Ju Yeoryeong felt a heavier weight of despair.

“Forgive me for saying this, Daoist, but even the Sokmyeongdan won’t be enough. Sajo’s Annihilation Palm is far too venomous...”

Kwak Yeon closed Danmok Seong’s mouth once the pellet had fully dissolved and gone down his throat.

“We do everything possible first.”

“...”

“Sojeo Ju, guard the cave entrance.”

Without waiting for her reply, Kwak Yeon placed his palm over the white mark on Danmok Seong’s chest.

From his movements, Ju Yeoryeong realized he intended to perform qi transference through direct contact.

That’s extremely dangerous...

Even the slightest shock or interference could cause the transferred qi to go berserk, as it was flowing within another person’s body.

Such a technique was many times more dangerous than simple breathing exercises.

“...”

Her chest tightened.

From their time together, she had come to know that he treated people with unfeigned sincerity. Even knowing she had approached him with questionable intentions, he had met her with genuine regard.

Leaving the two men by the campfire, Ju Yeoryeong moved to the cave entrance.

Danmok Cheong deep in his breathing exercise, Kwak Yeon and Danmok Seong linked as one through direct-contact qi transference—all three of their lives now rested in her hands.

Even if her Sajo came, she would stand in the way.

I’ve already committed the crime of betraying my sect. One more offense won’t change the punishment.

She knew she had no chance of stopping her Sajo, but she could at least buy time.

—Crackle, crackle.

Kwak Yeon listened to the campfire as he began circulating the Honwonmusang Technique.

When his primal true qi surged to its peak, he drew up all his internal energy.

Guiding it through the major meridians, he overlaid it with the external spiritual field, until it swelled like a great sea by the time it entered Danmok Seong’s body through his palm.

Boom!

He had pushed his internal energy to the twelfth level of intensity because he knew the White-Haired Demon Queen’s palm method was a penetrating palm force.

To suppress the vast qi ravaging Danmok Seong’s meridians, he needed to exceed it in sheer power.

If his energy fell short, he could be counterattacked and endangered himself.

But he was not overly concerned—Danmok Seong still possessed formidable inner strength to resist with, and the Sokmyeongdan’s effect would bolster him.

With a coordinated assault from inside and outside, he was certain they could overcome it—if time allowed.

Time is the problem. Even if Sojeo Ju does her utmost, there’s no telling what danger might come.

Hsssss!

The moment his inner energy entered Danmok Seong’s meridians, an icy force rushed at him like a vengeful spirit.

Bang!

It was as if an explosion went off in his head.

Linked through qi, he felt the full brunt of the collision’s shockwave.

They say inner power duels can damage the meridians—and they weren’t exaggerating.

It was nearly the same as matching inner power against an opponent directly.

This is still a valuable experience.

If he ever had to engage in such a duel in the future, today’s ordeal would be a great lesson.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The repeated shockwaves rattled all his meridians with pain, but he bore it willingly—bit by bit, breaking down the invading qi of the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm.

Then, an unforeseen problem arose.

With each shockwave, Danmok Seong’s body convulsed violently.

Unconscious, he’s taking the full impact on his meridians.

At this rate, even if he removed all of the invading qi, Danmok Seong’s meridians would be destroyed—leaving him either dead or crippled as a martial artist.

Now Kwak Yeon fully understood why Ju Yeoryeong had called it the Annihilation Palm—a strike meant to utterly end an opponent.

And he knew her sect was far from the righteous path.

To use such vicious killing arts... it’s no different from demonic cultivation.

Thinking of demonic arts brought back a certain vow—he had promised to use the Western Master’s three techniques only against magin.

The Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm itself is a heretical demonic art. And I’m not using it against a person, but against the invading qi—it won’t violate my oath.

The decision, once made, brought no hesitation.

The less time wasted, the greater the chance of saving Danmok Seong.

At once, Kwak Yeon recalled the circulation method of the Seama Sunyang Technique and entered the flow.

Though it had no set incantation, he had mastered its intent through the Daoist line.

Reverse the current, turn the world—pure yang subdues demons...

His inner energy within Danmok Seong’s meridians transformed.

Where before it had been like a vast sea, now it became a raging dragon.

The dragon lunged without mercy, devouring the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm’s invading qi.

Shriek!

The last of the enemy qi vanished into the dragon’s maw with a death cry.

Immediately, Kwak Yeon drew back his energy—the raging dragon could just as easily consume Danmok Seong’s own inner power.

Whoosh!

But it wasn’t over yet.

The foreign qi had come back with his own, and without refining it, the two would clash—inviting qi deviation.

Removing his palm from Danmok Seong’s chest, Kwak Yeon sat cross-legged and began the Great [N O V E L I G H T] Circulation.

For a small amount of demonic qi, the Minor Circulation of the Unshifting Movement Art would have sufficed, but the volume here required the Great Circulation.

As he cycled his energy, the resistance of the foreign qi gradually faded, until it was absorbed into his own.

In the process, he realized just how turbid the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm’s qi was.

“...?”

That the inner power of a grandmaster like the White-Haired Demon Queen could be so impure was hard to believe.

Perhaps it was because he had stripped away the turbidity—yet the amount of inner strength he gained from the Seama Sunyang Technique was pitiful.

Maybe I had expected too much. It’s another’s inner power, different in nature, so it must be filtered. Losing most of it is only natural.

A flush of shame passed over him.

Somewhere in his heart, he had harbored a desire to claim another’s inner strength.

It was Heaven’s blessing I swore to use the Seama Sunyang Technique sparingly...

Otherwise, he might have fallen to greed and walked the path of the magin.

Without the insight from the Honwonmusang Technique, the danger would have been greater still.

He now understood that on the road to the Mugeuk Realm lay not only barriers of skill, but countless temptations.

“You will suffer for dreams unfulfilled, and for the illusions you abandoned.”

The voice of Patriarch Jang Sam-bong’s teaching echoed in his mind.

Having completed the Great Circulation, Kwak Yeon pondered the reason for the White-Haired Demon Queen’s turbid qi.

Before she unleashed the Hanbaek Soul-Scattering Palm, her qi had been utterly pure—the Honwonmusang Technique itself responded in resonance. Yet now, it’s this impure...

The contradiction was baffling.

He had descended from the mountains to seek the Mugeuk Realm, and so always examined the martial ways of great masters.

That was why, even with Ju Yeoryeong’s impertinent conduct and the trouble she caused, he had agreed to travel with her—to meet her grandmother.

This was not a mystery he could simply set aside.

While he sank deeper into that sea of questions—

“Daoist Kwak.”