The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 100

Shinmaeuiseon (100)

Gwak-eon opened his mouth toward Ban Yeo-hae.

“At least……”

As their eyes met, Gwak-eon smirked.

Even as he vomited black blood, poisoned by the venomous salt, he wore a triumphant smile.

“……the journey won’t be lonely.”

With those words, Gwak-eon’s figure seemed to slowly tilt, before collapsing like a rotten tree trunk.

“Ah……”

A sigh involuntarily escaped from Ban Yeo-hae’s lips.

He was the only one left alive and breathing in the arena.

He was in a daze when he heard a voice.

“How did you learn that sword technique?”

“……!”

Ban Yeo-hae was startled by the sudden, cold voice that pierced his ears, and he turned around.

About ten feet away.

A figure stood there like a ghost; he didn’t know since when.

“Who are you……?”

A cold glint flashed in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.

In that instant, Cho Ak-ryang was already before Ban Yeo-hae.

“Gasp!”

Sensing the threatening aura, Ban Yeo-hae instinctively swung his broken sword.

A streak of red sword energy seemed to surge from his broken sword, flying straight towards Cho Ak-ryang’s chest.

However, Cho Ak-ryang was a master of a different caliber than Gwak-eon.

Clang!

With a light gesture, Cho Ak-ryang dissipated the sword energy and reached out to grab Ban Yeo-hae’s sword-wielding hand.

Crack.

“Agh!”

A scream erupted from Ban Yeo-hae’s mouth.

His hand was instantly mangled and crushed!

Seeing this, Ban Yeo-hae’s heart sank.

He had momentarily forgotten in the heat of the life-or-death battle, but he belatedly realized that Cho Ak-ryang was the master who had thrown the Sword Armor [a protective barrier or technique].

Even though the world of Jianghu [the martial arts world] was full of extraordinary people like grains of sand on a beach, a master of this caliber was rare.

At least someone of the level of the Heavenly Five Wonders….

‘Could it be?’

Ban Yeo-hae’s eyes widened even further.

“H-Blood Demon Lord!”

A desperate cry of astonishment burst from his lips.

Newer disciples might not know, but he, who had been with Cheongseong for so long, recognized Cho Ak-ryang at once.

The Blood Calamity that had shaken the very foundation of Cheongseong!

The core masters of the Cheongseong sect, those of the Cheong generation, had all met their end because of that incident.

“I heard you were dead……?”

Another chilling voice flew towards Ban Yeo-hae, who was questioning with surprised eyes.

“I asked how you learned that sword technique.”

Overwhelmed by an indescribable aura, Ban Yeo-hae was completely intimidated.

“T-The Sect Leader bestowed it upon me.”

“What is his Taoist name?”

“Cheongmyeong. Cheongmyeong Sanin.”

“Cheongmyeong……? Sanin?”

A look of doubt appeared in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.

It was definitely familiar, but there was no name that exactly matched his memory.

“What is the name of that sword technique?”

Ban Yeo-hae shook his head at Cho Ak-ryang’s question.

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“It never had a name from the beginning.”

Ban Yeo-hae gestured with his eyes towards the secret manual that had fallen in front of the main hall’s door.

“It’s the sword technique recorded inside there.”

Cho Ak-ryang released Ban Yeo-hae’s hand and moved towards the main hall.

He picked up the secret manual lying on the floor and checked its contents.

“……!”

Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes shook uncontrollably.

‘Danunjeokha Eight Forms!’

This was by no means an unknown sword technique.

How could he not recognize it, even after all this time? This was his master’s unique sword technique.

Moreover…….

The familiar handwriting was definitely his master’s.

Blue flames began to drip from Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.

He could finally guess what had happened.

The Cheongseong sect had taken his master’s life.

“So, this was it?”

Why had the Cheongseong sect colluded with the government to chase after his master back then?

The long-standing question was resolved in that moment.

They had not moved for the sake of some grand cause like eradicating evil or exterminating demons from the start.

They had been after his master’s secret manual from the beginning.

Cho Ak-ryang, revealing his boiling anger, glared at Ban Yeo-hae.

“I had no intention of getting involved from the start.”

The Cheongseong First Pavilion and the Amryongbang [likely factions or organizations].

It was an easy picture to understand that the two factions clashed over their interests and fought each other.

Even if Gwak-eon had survived, he could have been killed quietly.

There would be no evidence left that he was involved in this situation.

That was the result of his best efforts to endure for Dan Ak-seon, who was trying to obtain the signed agreement.

But at the last moment, everything went wrong.

It was because Ban Yeo-hae had seen the sword technique that had defeated Gwak-eon.

The seventh form of Danhongjeokha Eight Forms, Saye Hwau (Shooting Sharpness into Rain).

How could he forget that form, which he had engraved in his eyes countless times as a child?

Step.

Cho Ak-ryang moved towards Ban Yeo-hae.

Ban Yeo-hae, who met Cho Ak-ryang’s gaze, was rooted to the spot, unable to move.

“Kuh…….”

A suppressed groan escaped from Ban Yeo-hae’s lips.

The murderous intent felt as if his entire body would be torn to shreds.

His mind went blank in the presence of Cho Ak-ryang, who stood there with eyes like an endless abyss.

Seeing him like that, Cho Ak-ryang reached out his hand.

Thud.

The broken sword lying on the floor flew as if sucked towards Cho Ak-ryang’s hand.

Cho Ak-ryang, wielding the sword with psychokinesis, did not stop there and drew up his true energy.

Cho Ak-ryang drew his inner energy to the limit and poured it into the sword.

“This is the real Saye Hwau.”

With those words, Cho Ak-ryang swung his sword.

“……!”

Ban Yeo-hae’s eyes widened.

A rain of terrifying red sword energy was pouring down before his eyes, making him forget even the fear of death.

A formidable divine power that made one wonder if it was a sword technique performed by a human!

The Danunjeokha Eight Forms, fully revealed after decades.

Underneath it, Ban Yeo-hae instantly turned into a mist of blood and scattered.

The fierce sword energy, undiminished in power, swept through the area.

Trees, rocks, and buildings alike were erased in the wave of red sword energy.

Crack.

At that moment, the sword that Cho Ak-ryang was holding shattered into pieces.

From the beginning, an ordinary sword could not withstand the immense power used in the Danunjeokha Eight Forms.

Cho Ak-ryang, gazing at the rain of sword energy that left a red afterimage and scattered before his eyes, murmured quietly.

“Master…….”

Cho Ak-ryang quietly looked down at the secret manual in his hand. Then, he turned away, leaving behind the martial arts center, half of which had been erased without a trace.

Silence descended once more in the arena he had left.

A thick scent of blood lingered in the darkness.

Only the swaying night fog in the death-filled arena comforted the spirits of the dead.

* * *

Cho Ak-ryang was thinking about the Taoist name Ban Yeo-hae had mentioned all the way back to the manor.

‘I’ve definitely heard it somewhere…….’

But he had no memory of the Taoist name Sanin.

As Cho Ak-ryang entered the manor, he suddenly noticed a building with lights on.

Realizing that it was Yeom Sa-in’s residence, Cho Ak-ryang quietly moved towards it.

As he entered through the open door, he saw a neatly decorated altar. And he saw Yeom Sa-in’s back as he burned incense with great respect in front of the altar.

Yeom Sa-in carefully placed three incense sticks and turned around.

Then, he was startled to find Cho Ak-ryang standing silently in a corner of the room.

“You scared me! I told you to make some noise when you walk around!”

“Why are you offering sacrifices to our master?”

Yeom Sa-in smirked at Cho Ak-ryang’s question.

“What’s with us? Your master is as good as my master.”

In fact, Yeom Sa-in had been burning incense every day without fail.

Feeling embarrassed for no reason, Yeom Sa-in threw a reproach at Cho Ak-ryang.

“My friend is getting old and frail, but you’re still young. What wind blew you out here for a lonely night out?”

“Just because.”

Yeom Sa-in swallowed the words he was about to say at Cho Ak-ryang’s vague reply.

Cho Ak-ryang walked to the altar and looked at the memorial tablet with his master’s name engraved on it.

Then, he burned incense and bowed his head.

At that moment, he found a palm-sized wooden statue rolling around carelessly at the bottom of the altar.

There were originally seven, but now they had all returned to their owners, leaving only one.

Cho Ak-ryang suddenly felt strange.

Cho Ak-ryang picked up the wooden statue and checked the letters engraved on the back.

“……!”

Cheongmyeongja (淸明子).

Cold flames sparked in Cho Ak-ryang’s eyes.

It was him.

One of the seven who killed his master.

The youngest of the Cheongseong Seven, the elite of the Cheongseong sect at the time, was Cheongmyeongja.

“Ha…….”

Cho Ak-ryang let out a dry laugh.

“No wonder it sounded familiar.”

The Cheongmyeongja of that time was now called Cheongmyeong Sanin.

Crack.

Cho Ak-ryang gritted his teeth.

A memory he could never forget.

His eyes had already returned to decades ago.

Shuaaaaa.

A young boy was carving a wooden statue, soaking wet in the pouring rain.

It was a cold rain announcing the end of winter.

His whole body trembled from the bitter cold.

Nevertheless, the boy did not rest his frozen hands.

Then, he dropped the wooden statue, which slipped in the rain.

Rip.

The small knife, losing its target, tore a long gash in the palm of his hand.

In an instant, the boy’s hand was covered in blood.

But the boy picked up the wooden statue again.

His face was pale and his lips were dying purple, but the boy began to carve the wooden statue again.

The villains who killed his master.

He had to transfer the faces of the seven people he had engraved in his eyes to the wooden statue before they became even slightly blurred in his memory.

To not forget even as time passed.

How deeply rooted was that resentment in his bones?

Thud.

The corners of the boy’s wide-open eyes burst.

But the boy did not even realize this.

He did not know whether what was flowing down his cheeks was rainwater, blood, or tears…….

Instead, he was focusing all his attention on carving the wooden statue, pouring out a madman-like gaze.

How much time had passed like that?

Eventually, the boy was able to complete seven wooden statues.

It was a wooden statue engraved with the faces of the Cheongseong Seven.

The boy, staring at each of their faces, collapsed onto the rain from exhaustion.

And ten years later.

The boy who carved the wooden statue began his revenge.

He began to write a history of blood, unprecedented in the history of the Murim [martial arts world], later called the Cheongseong Bloodshed.

Every time Cho Ak-ryang killed one of the Cheongseong Seven, he threw a wooden statue with his face and Taoist name engraved on it next to his body.

When he had only one left.

Cho Ak-ryang was in a difficult situation.

There was no way to find Cheongmyeongja’s whereabouts.

Later, he learned from rumors that he was already dead.

How empty he felt at that time.

At least he wanted to see the look in the guy’s eyes, filled with fear, before he died.

Although he could not help but feel regret, Cho Ak-ryang finished his revenge with that.

And that was the reason why only Cheongmyeong’s wooden statue remained in front of his master’s memorial tablet.

Yeom Sa-in swallowed a groan at Cho Ak-ryang’s sudden change.

He was more than unfamiliar with Cho Ak-ryang’s appearance, which exuded a terrible murderous intent like a demon crawling out of hell.

Moreover…….

Cho Ak-ryang was smiling.

He had a terrifying smile on his face that he had never seen before, as if he was so happy about something.

How much time had passed like that?

Cho Ak-ryang turned his head towards Yeom Sa-in.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”