The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 479

Sajongak ground his teeth involuntarily.

Even if he was the best in the world, there was no solution at this rate.

As expected.

“The problem is the government offices. Troops dispatched from government offices and military camps have begun to be massively deployed in areas occupied by the Orthodox sects.”

“Ha.”

A dry laugh escaped Sajongak’s lips at the series of misfortunes.

As expected, as soon as the money dried up, the corrupt officials who had been receiving bribes and turning a blind eye began to put pressure on him first.

They were partners when things were good, but once the relationship soured, they would not hesitate to switch sides for their own benefit, which was only natural.

“The problem isn’t just that.”

Sajongak finally exploded at the sight of his subordinate cautiously trying to continue the report while watching his reaction.

“What else could be a problem in this situation!”

The subordinate who was reporting became stiff-necked at Sajongak’s rebuke and prostrated himself on the floor.

Then, in a barely audible voice, he continued the report.

“The Hainan Sword Sect is continuing to buy ships.”

“Ships?”

“Yes. It seems they are being converted into warships.”

Sajongak smiled bitterly at the subordinate’s report that they were reinforcing the keel [the main structural beam running lengthwise along the bottom of a ship] and installing battering rams with iron plating on the bow.

The keel was the central axis of the ship that ran lengthwise along the bottom.

The battering ram was attached to the bow and used to destroy enemy ships upon collision.

“It’s the method of the Wokou pirates [Japanese pirates who raided the coasts of China and Korea].”

Unlike the local pirates who threw hooked ropes to capture enemy ships, the Wokou pirates at sea enjoyed ramming the sides of enemy ships with the battering rams on their sterns before boarding them.

“What is the scale?”

“As far as we have confirmed, it is at least fifty ships. However, they continue to buy ships and have seized the ships of the captured pirate dens, so there is a high possibility that it will increase to about a hundred ships over time.”

At those words, groans flowed from the mouths of the heads of the commanderies gathered in the conference room.

One of them, all with dark expressions, opened his mouth.

“The elites of each sect have already flocked to the Yangtze River. We should prepare for a decisive battle before it’s too late.”

“What are the chances of winning?”

No one readily opened their mouth at Sajongak’s question.

Sajongak clicked his tongue briefly at the sight of them looking at each other and delaying their answers.

When the situation was good, they were subordinates who would give him their liver and gallbladder and be loyal, but when a crisis was imminent, they were only thinking about their own survival. Seeing that, he couldn’t stand the heat.

“You’re all useless.”

Sajongak, glaring at the heads of the commanderies with annoyed eyes, jumped up from his chair.

Then he left the conference room as it was.

A chaotic situation where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

In the end, he had no one to trust but himself.

He headed to a shabby thatched house located on the outskirts of the pirate den, far from the office used as a conference room.

Sajongak opened the door of the thatched house without hesitation and stepped inside.

The man who had been bound to a pillar with his blood points sealed [pressure points that restrict the flow of qi] paled when he discovered Sajongak.

Sajongak grinned as he looked at him.

His name was Habulbeom.

He was one of the key figures who followed Cheon-ui, and he was an arrogant guy who had dared to stand up to him not long ago.

Sajongak’s ominous smile.

Habulbeom gritted his teeth, foreseeing the desperate situation that would soon befall him.

At the same time, he glared at Sajongak with cold, fiery eyes.

“You bastard! Sa Ga-ya! Do you think you’ll be safe after doing this? Heaven will never forgive you!”

“Forgive?”

Sajongak, who smirked, approached the man with a terrifying glint in his eyes.

“Don’t worry. I will become heaven.”

Thud.

Sajongak’s hand gripped Habulbeom’s head.

“After all, the Murim world [martial arts world] is governed by the principle of the survival of the fittest. Don’t grieve for your disappearance. At least your Jinyuan Zhenqi [a powerful internal energy] will continue to remain within me and greatly contribute to rewriting the history of this Kangho [the martial world].”

The moment he tried to draw up the Northern Darkness Divine Art to absorb Jinyuan Zhenqi.

A sense of bewilderment arose in Sajongak’s eyes.

It was because a bitter smile was on Habulbeom’s face, which should have been filled with despair.

“You underestimate Cheon-ui too much.”

Sajongak also smiled slightly at Habulbeom’s mocking words.

“That can’t be. I have nothing to fear in the world, but she is an exception. Even if it’s other things, I don’t want to be on her bad side. That’s why I’m preparing for this great undertaking without her knowing, right?”

“A great undertaking? Is it to plunder the Jinyuan Zhenqi of others? Hahaha! Well, what can you expect from a lowly pirate from the beginning?”

Habulbeom, who had ridiculed Sajongak to the fullest, grinned.

“Okay. Take it all you want.”

Sajongak’s eyes twitched at his confident tone and eyes.

‘Could it be that this guy too?’

He also knew that Cheon-ui had recently made the trash who followed her take a terrible poison to protect them.

But then.

A strange light flickered over Sajongak’s eyes.

It was because he had detected signs of someone approaching this way in a hurry with the energy sense he had laid around just in case.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the identity of the other person.

The owner of the familiar energy was someone who had been with him for longer than anyone else.

As expected.

Bang.

There was a small figure rushing in, roughly opening the door of the thatched house.

The woman called Cheon-ui.

It was Tak Yeosang.

She was panting heavily, unable to speak for a while, as if she had rushed over in a hurry.

Sajongak grinned at her, staring at him with a pale face covered in sweat.

“Oh, you came?”

“……”

“It’s embarrassing, but I’ve been caught.”

Sajongak shamelessly continued, not caring about the stinging gaze flying towards his face.

“Why did you rush over so quickly? What if you fall? Above all, nothing will change even if you do that.”

In an instant, Sajongak’s atmosphere changed in an instant.

Tak Yeosang shouted seriously as she witnessed the energy that began to ripple like a mist from his whole body.

“If you absorb his Jinyuan Zhenqi, you will also die.”

Sajongak smirked.

“Did you take action in advance for this guy too?”

Tak Yeosang’s eyes wavered at the same time.

It was because Sajongak did not stop using the Northern Darkness Divine Art even though he had already warned him.

“Stop it! You’ll absorb the poison along with the Jinyuan Zhenqi!”

“Isn’t that what you want?”

“What?”

“I think you’d be happier than anyone else if I, who is like a thorn in your side, die and disappear?”

As soon as those words were finished, Sajongak’s eyes turned blood red.

At the same time, a thick bloody light poured from his eyes.

“Kuaaa!”

It was right after that that a desperate scream erupted from Habulbeom’s mouth, whose head was grabbed by Sajongak.

Sajongak began to use the Northern Darkness Divine Art to absorb his Jinyuan Zhenqi.

Life rapidly disappeared from Habulbeom’s face, which had turned as pale as wax in an instant.

And almost at the same time, Sajongak’s lips also began to turn purple.

Tak Yeosang could only bite her lip and watch the scene.

After a while.

“Wah!”

Habulbeom, who was held in Sajongak’s hand, suddenly vomited black blood.

“Ah ah!”

Tak Yeosang let out a pitiful sigh at the sight of him trembling with intermittent convulsions.

Even though the poison and internal energy were mixed together, the internal energy was usually controlling the poison, so he could be free from the toxicity.

However, when the internal energy that had been suppressing the poison disappeared, the balance was broken and the poison began to run wild.

“Stop it! Please stop!”

Sajongak slowly withdrew his hand at her desperate cry.

Then, after staggering greatly, he began to stagger.

“Keuh……. To think that even a master like me would have a hard time enduring this poison……. As expected, my So-sang (小像) [term of endearment]……. Ugh!”

Sajongak, who was struggling to continue speaking, suddenly bent over and began to vomit dark red blood from his mouth.

But soon he slowly raised his head and gave a terrifying smile.

“Now it’s your turn.”

“You crazy bastard……”

“I guess he’ll die before me, right?”

Sajongak smiled brightly with a confident expression.

“So choose. If you save him, I will live, and if you kill me, he will die too. I will gladly follow whatever decision you make.”

So Sajongak deliberately absorbed only half of the other person’s internal energy.

It was only for a moment that she glared at Sajongak with angry eyes.

When Habulbeom in front of her suddenly stopped convulsing and drooped powerlessly, Tak Yeosang could no longer delay.

Tak Yeosang hurriedly approached Habulbeom and took out three bean-sized pills from her bosom.

They were pills with green, yellow, and red colors, respectively.

Tak Yeosang gave Habulbeom the red pill first.

After waiting for a while, she put the green and yellow pills into Habulbeom’s mouth in that order and tapped Cheondolhyeol [acupoint near the Adam’s apple] near his Adam’s apple.

And after a while.

Gradually, blood began to return to Habulbeom’s face, which had been dying black.

Sajongak grinned.

It was a detoxification pill that had no detoxification effect unless taken in the correct order from the beginning.

She used her head quite a bit, but it was still a long way off.

Her indecisive and weak nature was holding her back.

“Did I tell you? I really like that consistent look.”

Sajongak reached out his hand towards Tak Yeosang, who had confirmed the detoxification effect.

Then, the antidote in her hand flew towards his hand as if being sucked in.

Sajongak, who had obtained the antidote with the power of telekinesis, took the pills in the order she had just done.

Then he closed his eyes and began to circulate his energy.

As the energy of the antidote spread through his blood vessels, he felt the raging poison disappear without a trace.

Soon, Sajongak slowly opened his eyes and let out a low exclamation.

“This feeling…… It’s been a long time.”

Sajongak, who was enjoying the enormous internal energy running along his energy channels, met Tak Yeosang’s gaze as she glared at him.

“Remember, So-sang. I clearly gave you a chance.”

The term of endearment for himself that Sajongak put in his mouth.

Tak Yeosang shuddered as it was terrible and creepy.

Sajongak’s eyes flashed with complex emotions for a moment at Tak Yeosang’s silence.

But it disappeared even faster than it appeared.

Sajongak grabbed Tak Yeosang’s chin and forced her to meet his gaze.

“Don’t look away, So-sang. Look at me straight.”

Sajongak opened his mouth with an extremely cold sneer.

“Keep in mind. You’re the one who made me like this. So……”

Tak Yeosang’s eyes wavered at Sajongak’s words that followed.

“Don’t even dream of being comfortable alone.”

Sajongak turned away, leaving Tak Yeosang with a blank expression.

He headed straight to his hideout.

But something unexpected happened.

There was someone waiting for him in the hideout that only he knew about.

“The Orthodox Murim is united and cutting off the hands and feet of the Suro Alliance, so what are you going to do in the future?”

The man who had previously identified himself as Jwaja raised a meaningful smile.

“I’ll just fight and take it back. It’s not something for a eunuch of Dongchang [Ming dynasty secret police] to worry about.”

Jwaja exclaimed at Sajongak’s cold reply.

“That spirit of not backing down even though a difficult and arduous thorny path is foreseen! As expected, you are worthy of being the Great Grandmaster who unified the Demonic Path.”

Sajongak’s face crumpled at Jwaja’s meaningful smile that followed.

“But it will be a very difficult and lonely fight.”