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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Bobt
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“Master had just brushed it off as having a slightly weak body since childhood, but thinking about it, it was strange.”
It was odd for a martial artist to be sickly in the first place.
An internal cultivation technique was meant to train the body and mind.
It was unnatural for a martial artist who practiced it to frequently suffer from minor illnesses similar to an ordinary person.
It wasn’t that he was starving or unable to maintain cleanliness by not bathing properly.
With a regular lifestyle, eating habits, and sleep schedule while breathing the Qi of the great nature, there was no way he wouldn’t be healthy.
Even if he had been born with a weak body, that constitution should have been fixed and resolved long ago.
Of course, there were exceptions if he had nearly exhausted his natural lifespan with age or had suffered a severe internal injury in the past.
However, Yu Jeong-mok didn’t fall into any of those cases.
Then why?
It was simple.
“It wasn’t a constitution, but he had contracted a disease.”
It was unknown how long the disease had been dormant.
The identity of the disease was also unknown.
It was even unclear whether this disease was congenital or acquired.
However, this disease slowly devoured his master’s body bit by bit, and five years later, it would eventually claim his life.
Joo Seo-cheon learned of the fact that Yu Jeong-mok had contracted a serious illness only after his health had greatly deteriorated.
“I still can’t forget that helplessness back then.”
One day, his master collapsed with a high fever.
A doctor was urgently summoned, but he gave a grim prognosis.
“I’m not sure of the details, but it seems the disease has been dormant for quite some time. He had never shown these symptoms until now…”
By the way, since Yu Jeong-mok had lived with frequent minor illnesses from a young age, he had relied on doctors a great deal.
He had regular checkups, but no symptoms were discovered until he collapsed.
In the end, a few days later, Yu Jeong-mok passed away without leaving a will, losing consciousness.
“I must stop it at all costs!”
After regressing, Joo Seo-cheon burst into tears as soon as he saw his master.
That’s how special and precious Yu Jeong-mok’s existence was to Joo Seo-cheon.
He vowed and repeated to himself countless times after regressing that he would not let Yu Jeong-mok die.
Saving his master. That was the first thing to do.
“The next is about six years later. Was it when I was fifteen?”
And a year after Yu Jeong-mok’s passing…
An event that marked a turning point in the history of the Central Plains’ martial arts world occurred.
“The secret treasury of the Three-Eyed Divine Thief!”
Three hundred years ago, there was a legendary thief who had gained fame not only in the murim martial arts world but throughout the entire Central Plains.
Whenever that thief stole something, he always left behind an emblem with three eyes drawn on it. That’s why he came to be called the Three-Eyed Divine Thief.
The Three-Eyed Divine Thief was active for nearly a hundred years after his appearance, but no one could find anything other than the three-eyed emblem.
Later, when the Three-Eyed Divine Thief’s activities stopped less than a hundred years later, the authorities declared that they had captured him.
But no one believed that declaration.
For nearly a hundred years, the Three-Eyed Divine Thief had been pursued by numerous forces, including the authorities and various martial arts sects.
However, orthodox sects, unorthodox sects, demon sects, and blood sects… Even the imperial palace couldn’t track down the Three-Eyed Divine Thief.
People thought that the Three-Eyed Divine Thief had hidden what he had stolen somewhere and died of natural causes.
Afterward, people continued to search for that secret treasury, but no one could find it.
And six years later, that legendary secret treasury was discovered and revealed itself to the world.
“Before that time comes, I need to go and raid it first!”
In the future, as soon as the Three-Eyed Divine Thief’s secret treasury was discovered, all sorts of people swarmed like bees, aiming for the treasure.
Although the age of war didn’t begin, a bloody battle broke out that was on par with it, turning everything into a mess.
And in the end, before all the treasures could be recovered, someone accidentally triggered a mechanism, causing the secret treasury to collapse, ending it all.
It had to be done before that happened.
“But the problem is, even six years later, I couldn’t go out.”
In the Central Plains, the age of fifteen was considered an adult, but in the Mount Hua Sect, becoming an adult didn’t mean freedom.
To venture out into the murim from the Mount Hua Sect, unless one was truly exceptional, permission was only granted around the age of twenty.
This was to prevent the disciples they had painstakingly raised from dying absurdly after entering the murim.
So, in order to prepare them more thoroughly, they trained them in martial arts until the age of twenty before letting them out into the murim.
“What should I do?”
* * *
Another two months passed.
During that time, he was able to accumulate another year’s worth of internal energy.
Joo Seo-cheon’s internal energy now totaled two and a half years’ worth.
“I felt it even before regressing, but really…”
He couldn’t help but be amazed at the speed of Qi accumulation several times.
The martial arts of orthodox sects were usually called orthodox techniques.
Orthodox techniques were safe first and foremost. If one practiced correctly (正) and according to the standard, the possibility of Qi deviation was low.
In exchange, the speed at which internal energy accumulated, as well as the training speed, was very slow.
On the other hand, demonic techniques were so fast in all aspects, including Qi accumulation and training, that they could be called cheating.
However, there were pros and cons to everything. Demonic techniques had too many side effects instead. They weren’t called demonic techniques for nothing.
For example, being tainted by demonic energy and becoming a madman, engaging in cannibalism, or having abnormally high sexual desire. There were so many side effects that they were too numerous to count.
However, the Plum Blossom Vitality Technique had the characteristic of having the Qi accumulation speed of demonic techniques despite being an orthodox technique. To be precise, it wasn’t as fast as demonic techniques, but it could still be called a quasi-demonic technique.
“Phew, another fulfilling day.”
After finishing his daily routine, Joo Seo-cheon headed to his master’s residence around the time of the Rooster (酉時: 5 PM – 7 PM).
Standing in front of the door, Joo Seo-cheon dusted off the dirt on his clothes and checked his appearance before entering.
“Cough, cough!”
Flinch.
“…!”
Joo Seo-cheon stopped moving and opened his eyes wide.
The sound that had just come from beyond the door…
It was Yu Jeong-mok’s coughing sound.
“Master…!”
It was a sound he hadn’t heard before regressing, until his death.
The only person he could call family…
The person he had relied on even in old age.
“The ninth year, it’s not time yet.”
Yu Jeong-mok’s remaining lifespan was five years.
But it wasn’t “as much as five years,” but “only five years.”
Diseases should be detected early and treated in the initial stages.
Otherwise, it would be too late to take measures.
Not knowing exactly what kind of disease it was, in the worst-case scenario, he might have to take action right away.
Joo Seo-cheon had been diligently training in martial arts for the past two months while endlessly pondering.
“As expected, I have no choice but to ask a divine physician to examine him.”
Divine Physician
A doctor whose medical skills surpassed that of a famous doctor and was the best of the era. Truly a living legend.
In this age of war, there were truly masters and extraordinary people that were hard to find throughout history.
The Divine Physician was also one of them, and he died during the age of war, leaving his name behind and disappearing.
“But how do I summon the Divine Physician?”
The Divine Physician was not someone who could be ordered around at will.
Above all, the Divine Physician was known to have an eccentric personality, once called the “Strange Doctor,” so it was extremely difficult to win his favor. Even threats wouldn’t work on him.
There were famous anecdotes of him ignoring requests from the Alliance Leader and other elders several times in the past.
“I definitely remember that the Divine Physician was obsessed with rare medical books…”
As someone who stood at the pinnacle of medicine, the Divine Physician collected and read a wide variety of medical books.
The number of books he had was so vast that there were rumors that the Divine Physician possessed all the medical books in the Central Plains.
Fortunately, they were medical books, but if they had been martial arts manuals, there would have probably been a bloodbath centered around the Divine Physician.
Anyway, because of this, the Divine Physician was obsessed with medical books he had never seen before.
In fact, there were quite a few people who sought out medical books to receive treatment from the Divine Physician, and thanks to that, the already expensive medical books skyrocketed in price with the Divine Physician’s appearance.
“Should I spread rumors that there are medical books in the Mount Hua Sect’s library?”
It wasn’t a bad method, but it was still lacking.
The Divine Physician wouldn’t move immediately just by hearing rumors.
“…”
He tried to think of other methods, but no suitable answer came to mind. He had already pondered quite a bit.
The most certain method was the secret treasury of the Three-Eyed Divine Thief.
Six years later, the existence of the secret treasury would even move the Divine Physician, who wasn’t that interested in the martial arts world.
If there were medical books hidden in the secret treasury, he could not only request an examination but also treatment.
However, he was too young now, with restrictions on his actions, unable to leave the sect as he pleased.
The location of the secret treasury was quite a distance from Mount Hwa, and above all, his martial arts were still weak, which posed many problems.
If he were to venture out into the murim now, he might absurdly lose his life to bandits or wanderers.
No, in the first place, the Mount Hua Sect was keeping a close eye on him to prevent such cases, so it was impossible.
“How many times have I pondered on how to summon the Divine Physician… Is there no other way?”
Given the situation, even using future events, there was nothing he could do. He was angry at his own powerlessness.
Joo Seo-cheon composed himself, suppressed his anger, and then desperately racked his brain again to find another way.
“Aren’t there any elixirs made by the Divine Physician?”
The Divine Physician was at the pinnacle of everything related to medicine. His pharmaceutical skills were also included in that.
Moreover, naturally, those medicines were traded at jaw-droppingly high prices. It was only natural since they were the Divine Physician’s medicines.
It was one of the things that couldn’t be obtained even with money.
He didn’t have a lot of money on hand, so this was also impossible.
“Wait a minute, it doesn’t have to be the Divine Physician’s elixir!”
Joo Seo-cheon slapped his knee and abruptly stood up.
“There are spiritual medicines!”
Spiritual medicines referred to medicines that contained the essence or energy of nature, usually providing internal energy enhancement to martial artists.
However, since they were fundamentally “medicines,” they were used for the purpose of treatment, not as a means to become stronger by increasing one’s realm.
“Why didn’t I think of this before!”
Joo Seo-cheon hit his head, rebuking his own stupidity. He had been taking the long way around while ignoring the shortcut.
“Let’s see, there were a few spiritual medicines that were discovered…”
He tried to recall while organizing his memories of the past.
He could remember about three or four.
And fortunately, one of them was near Mount Hwa.
“Water Spirit Divine Fruit!”
It was discovered about twenty years later.
During the age of war.
A wanderer who had suffered a fatal injury during the war and was on the run ended up falling into a river and getting caught in the rapids.
However, that wanderer was lucky enough to be carried by the rapids to an underwater cave that no one knew about, experiencing a fateful encounter.
Strangely, inside the underwater cave, there was a tree growing, and the fruit that grew on that tree was none other than the Water Spirit Divine Fruit.
The wanderer consumed the Water Spirit Divine Fruit, and afterward, his internal energy greatly increased, allowing him to join the ranks of the top hundred experts in the world.
It was truly a fateful encounter.
“Fortunately, it’s geographically close too!”
The underwater cave was located in a village called Huayin, which could be reached by going a bit further north from Mount Hwa.
Near that area, there was a river that served as the boundary between Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi, where Mount Hwa was located.
It was a good thing that it was located within a distance that could be reached in less than a day by consistently traveling on horseback or using lightness skills.
This wanderer had such a talkative personality that the location became so famous that it would become a tourist attraction in the future.
Above all, the Mount Hua Sect had also thoroughly searched the caves near the river, wondering if there were any more Water Spirit Divine Fruits. Thanks to that, Joo Seo-cheon was also relatively well-informed.
Needless to say, after the investigation, a few caves were discovered, but neither the Water Spirit Divine Fruit nor the tree was found.
“It’s a spiritual medicine that instantly raised a third-rate wanderer to the ranks of the top hundred experts. The possibility is sufficient.”
In particular, it was said that the wanderer had gained tremendous internal energy after consuming the spiritual medicine.
He had no doubt that if the Qi was that strong, it could also resolve Yu Jeong-mok’s illness by suppressing it with internal energy.
“Ha, I was so fixated on the Three-Eyed Divine Thief’s secret treasury. I should have a more diverse perspective.”
Joo Seo-cheon reflected on his actions.
“Master definitely said he would attend the regular meeting a week later, so that’s the opportunity.”
The regular meeting lasted about three to five days. That much time was enough. This was the chance.
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