The Divine And Demonic Doctor [EN]: Chapter 55

Divine Doctor of the Demonic Cult (55)

Neng Somil asked Cho Akryang, trying his best to maintain a calm expression.

“I don’t really have much ambition when it comes to martial arts. What good would it do to learn a new internal energy cultivation technique at my age?”

Cho Akryang earnestly advised him.

“Think carefully. The opportunity to be the first to master the best internal energy cultivation technique in the Murim [martial arts world] is rare. This will be a true stroke of luck for you.”

“But I already have thirty years of accumulated internal energy…”

Han Seolhwa chuckled.

At that moment, Beom Gyewi couldn’t help but interject.

“Forget about that *japgi* [miscellaneous skill]! I’ll cleanly blow it away for you.”

Neng Somil was startled.

“B, blow it away?”

Cho Akryang gave a bitter smile and looked at Neng Somil.

“Thirty years of internal energy isn’t that great. In fact, the quality of internal energy is more important than the quantity.”

Han Seolhwa nodded.

“Making a fuss with only thirty years. I gained that much internal energy in just two years of martial arts training.”

“It took me about a year.”

Beom Gyewi, not wanting to be outdone by Cho Akryang, shouted.

“I did it in six months!”

Cho Akryang frowned and glared at Beom Gyewi.

“Can’t you tell *heopung* [exaggeration] depending on the situation?”

Han Seolhwa also cast a displeased look at Beom Gyewi.

Beom Gyewi suddenly felt wronged.

“It’s true! Ask our master…”

“Didn’t you say he passed away?”

“…”

Neng Somil felt a different level of alienation from the conversation of the three.

However, they were all martial arts geniuses who could be called *huidaeui* [unparalleled], so there was no way to refute them.

However, he couldn’t just stand still since his fate was at stake.

It sounded good to call it the best divine art in the world, but he couldn’t entrust his life to an unverified, pseudo-martial art.

Learning martial arts and creating it are stories of different dimensions.

‘Better to die than suffer!’

How many people had fallen into *pyeini* [ruin] after learning internal energy cultivation techniques created with clumsy efforts?

“I am satisfied enough with my current state.”

At Neng Somil’s words, Cho Akryang continued to persuade him persistently, unlike his usual self.

“Remember when you were defeated by the *Pasadan* [Crushing Sand Unit] bastards? If you had mastered this internal energy cultivation technique, they wouldn’t have been a match for you.”

“Well, isn’t it normal to experience this and that in life?”

“We guarantee it’s the best internal energy cultivation technique!”

“That’s why someone like me with no talent shouldn’t learn it, right? It’s a waste of martial arts.”

As the situation reached this point, Cho Akryang’s eyes gradually turned cold.

He had shown the best patience he could, but it was now reaching its limit.

This was not much different for Beom Gyewi and Han Seolhwa.

At this time, Sa Musim, who was going back and forth to clear the meal, felt the unusual atmosphere and approached.

“If you really need someone, I will learn it.”

At those words, Beom Gyewi exploded.

“What, *inma* [you crazy bastard]? Are you saying you’re going to blow away all the internal energy I made by feeding you *gongcheong seoyu* [a powerful elixir]?”

Cho Akryang and Han Seolhwa also raised their *salgi* [killing intent].

Sa Musim looked at Neng Somil with pitiful eyes.

“Haa—! It’s a shame, but I can’t learn the internal energy cultivation technique created by those people.”

However, Neng Somil was surprised in a different sense.

‘*Gongcheong seoyu*?’

He wondered what kind of medicine he had taken to change so much, but it turned out to be *gongcheong seoyu*!

‘I would be too!’

Of course, the world would feel like a flower garden.

“I’m sorry. I was too greedy.”

At the sight of Sa Musim politely apologizing and stepping back, a line of doubt arose in Neng Somil’s mind.

‘Someone who has taken *gongcheong seoyu* is this regretful?’

Neng Somil’s heart wavered.

‘Could it really be a divine art?’

At that moment.

Neng Somil, who felt a terrifying *gipa* [energy wave] that seemed to cut his whole body into pieces, turned his head.

And he froze.

Eyes that seemed to be able to kill a person a hundred times over if eyes could kill were fixed on him, shining eerily.

“From the beginning, did I not have the right to decide?”

The three nodded simultaneously.

“If I refuse… will I die?”

But an unexpected answer came back.

“No.”

Beom Gyewi took Cho Akryang’s words.

“We won’t kill you.”

And Han Seolhwa drove a wedge.

“We won’t kill you.”

“…”

Neng Somil’s heart grew cold.

Those words were scarier than saying they would kill him outright.

Neng Somil sighed.

“Okay. But let’s make one thing clear.”

Neng Somil asked the three.

“So, you want to check through me whether the martial arts you three created are safe or not?”

“What does that matter? Whether you know it or not, the result won’t change anyway.”

At Beom Gyewi’s question, Neng Somil became serious.

“It’s less unfair to be *danghadeorado* [taken advantage of] knowing.”

“Isn’t it the opposite? It’s stupid to be *danghaneun* [taken advantage of] while knowing.”

“I used to think so too, but not anymore. After being betrayed without knowing why, my values in life have changed.”

At those words, Beom Gyewi nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. But I’m confident that it’s the best internal energy cultivation technique in Murim history!”

Cho Akryang also nodded at Beom Gyewi’s words.

“If I were only twenty years younger, I would have given up my current internal energy to learn this.”

Han Seolhwa added.

“It’s the martial art that Doctor Dan will learn. Do you think we would have made it carelessly?”

Neng Somil felt a bit of trust in the three people’s confident assurances.

“What if there’s a problem? *Juhwa 입ma* [Qi deviation], or other side effects.”

The three laughed simultaneously.

That’s because they had a reliable backer called Dan Akseon.

“I guarantee it. You have encountered a *giyeon* [serendipitous opportunity] here.”

At Cho Akryang’s words, the other two nodded.

In the end, Neng Somil made up his mind.

No matter how talented they were, there was no way to shake them off and run away.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

With this, Neng Somil became the first person to learn the internal energy cultivation technique that the three had put their heart and soul into, the Wihwa Divine Art.

* * *

To build internal energy, one must go through the process of *ungi tona* [circulating and absorbing Qi].

It is the process of circulating *jingi* [true energy] through *iljucheon* [the Microcosmic Orbit] according to the *gugyeol* [key formulas] of the internal energy cultivation technique and storing it in the dantian [energy center].

By repeating *ungi haenggong* [Qi circulation practice] every day without fail, internal energy begins to accumulate in the dantian.

Therefore, internal energy was not just a measure of a martial artist’s strength.

The effort *gyeongjuhaetdeon* [devoted] as much as the years he had lived.

It was like an identity that proved his life as a martial artist.

That’s why martial artists would rather cut off an arm than give up their internal energy.

It was that difficult of a decision.

Cho Akryang said to Neng Somil, who was hesitating until the last moment.

―To fill it with something new, you must first empty it.

As he nodded, determined, Beom Gyewi stepped forward.

The *geukyang’s* [extreme Yang] *jingi* [true energy] that poured in through the *myeongmunhyeol* [Gate of Life acupoint] on his back moved along the meridians and dug into the *gihae hyeol* [Sea of Qi acupoint] where the dantian was located.

Then, it burned and blew away Neng Somil’s internal energy in an instant.

When internal energy of different properties collides directly, they naturally repel each other.

But the difference in level was so great that resistance was impossible.

And what came was emptiness.

It was a pain that seemed to deny his entire life so far.

Suddenly, he remembered when he first learned internal energy.

Around the age of eight.

Neng Somil, who lost his family to a *dolrimbyeong* [epidemic], starved for three days straight.

And on the fourth day.

He sold himself to live.

Neng Somil, who entered the Hao Moon in that way, every day was like hell.

He had to take on all sorts of chores and suffer all kinds of insults and violence.

Then, he was lucky enough to get one *ungi tonapbeop* [Qi circulation and absorption method].

It was a third-rate internal energy cultivation technique with only a few *gugyeol* [key formulas] without a proper name.

Still, at the time, he felt like he had the whole world.

The process of building internal energy was very slow and difficult.

Even after training for more than five years, only about a year’s worth of internal energy had accumulated in his dantian.

But even that was *gamjideokji* [deeply grateful] for Neng Somil.

Then, he caught the eye of the branch leader of the Hao Moon.

Under his guidance, Neng Somil was finally able to learn a proper internal energy cultivation technique.

For thirty years since then, he had never missed a day of internal energy training.

People got closer and farther away, and money came and went, but the internal energy he had built up was entirely his own.

But now, even that had disappeared.

The sense of loss was indescribable.

Ten days passed like that.

The following ten days were very painful.

That’s because Cho Akryang and the other two had forcibly *ttureo imdok yangmaek* [opened his Governing and Conception Vessels].

It was hard to believe, but the *gokju* [esteemed guest] here, whom they called Doctor Dan, had already *tatong imdok yangmaek* [opened his Governing and Conception Vessels].

So, to have the same conditions, he also had to *tatong imdok yangmaek* [open his Governing and Conception Vessels].

It sounded good to call it *tatong* [opening], but the process was incomparable to any torture he had ever received.

The enormous *jingi* [true energy] that rushed in like a tidal wave became a huge pressure and pried and overturned every part of his body.

He lost consciousness several times a day due to the extreme pain of his whole body being torn to pieces.

The pain was so severe that the *jumadeung* [scenes flashing before death] he faced before death flashed before his eyes.

In the year he turned fifteen.

Neng Somil was in charge of errands and chores in the *giru* [brothels] and gambling dens belonging to the Hao Moon.

It was around that time that he became friends with peers who had entered the Hao Moon in similar situations.

One day, an incident occurred in which a disciple of a famous sect died in a gambling den.

The cause of death was poisoning.

Neng Somil and a friend were pointed out as the people who brought him alcohol and food.

The Hao Moon, which he naturally believed would protect him, instead forced him to make false statements.

The Hao Moon superiors showed him a *yongmopagi* [sketch of a face] of a person and instructed him to testify that he had instigated him to put poison in it.

The Hao Moon superiors promised him safety and a higher position in return.

However, Neng Somil was not foolish enough to be deceived by such sweet talk.

He had not forgotten the end of those who were used and discarded in this way.

Pretending to obey the superiors’ instructions, he let them be careless and ran away with his friend, looking for an opportunity.

He ran for days and nights without rest in preparation for a possible pursuit.

It was also from that time that he vowed to become someone that no one could *hamburo* [treat lightly].

And he started a new life disguised with a new identity.

That’s how the New Small Room started with two people.

Since then, he had suffered countless hardships that were hard to explain.

Still, he was able to endure because he had a friend who trusted and entrusted his back to each other.

That’s why Lee Gyu’s betrayal was even more painful.

The only friend who had built the New Small Room together, sharing life and death, was him.

‘What good is it anyway.’

In the end, he was in the same situation as the beginning.

The same goes for this terrible pain now.

It was the price he paid for entrusting himself to Cho Akryang to save his life.

It was no different from when he sold himself to the Hao Moon to avoid starving to death.

However, when the time of pain that seemed to have no end was over, Neng Somil was able to face a changed world.

It was because of the change in his body that he was surprised himself.

Not only had his senses become more sensitive than in the past, but his reaction speed and cognitive abilities had also improved noticeably.

The same was true of his strength.

He didn’t get tired easily, and his stamina recovery was terrifying.

The last ten days were a series of surprises.

It was because of the energy that had begun to take root in the dantian.

*Ungi haenggong* [Qi circulation practice] in the state of *tatong imdok yangmaek* [opened Governing and Conception Vessels] was definitely different.

The time it took to circulate *jingi* [true energy] through *iljucheon* [the Microcosmic Orbit] was shortened by more than a third, and conversely, the amount of internal energy accumulated in the dantian was significantly greater.

Naturally, the speed at which internal energy accumulated was different.

It was truly *cheonyangjicha* [a world of difference].

Moreover, as it was an internal energy cultivation technique created by the three people who were comparable to *ildaejongsa* [grandmasters], internal energy began to take root with tremendous momentum.

Cho Akryang, Beom Gyewi, and Han Seolhwa also did not spare their efforts.

To prevent any possible incidents in advance, at least one person was always watching the state next to Neng Somil whenever he was *ungong* [circulating energy].

Through their conversations in the process, Neng Somil learned how much effort they had put into the Wihwa Divine Art.

On the day of the month since he learned the Wihwa Divine Art.

Neng Somil, who had finished *ungi haenggong* [Qi circulation practice], slowly opened his eyes.

And he unknowingly exclaimed.