The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Chapter 49

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If one were to count the causes of the defeat in the Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic Factions, there would be countless reasons, but the most fatal among them was, in fact, ‘Ma-gi’ (Demonic Energy).

It stemmed from the countless Demonic Arts that originated from the Cheon-ma-gyeong (Heavenly Demon Scripture), which was the foundation of the Heavenly Demon Cult.

The unique Ma-gi emitted by those Demonic Arts was far more lethal to those attacked by the Ma-gi than to the people who had mastered the Demonic Arts themselves.

The only things capable of resisting Ma-gi were high levels of Taoist power or Primordial Energy.

However, amidst the many changes over the past 500 years, the Murim history, which had perceived deep spiritual cultivation as the techniques of the left-hand path or heterodox sects, had been focused solely on cultivating techniques over Taoist power, and internal energy over Primordial Energy.

And the result of that was the destruction of the Orthodox Murim.

Weak Ma-gi could be expelled easily with vast internal energy, but the moment that balance collapsed, the Ma-gi swallowed the body in an instant.

Ma-gi was more lethal than poison.

Since there was no specific antidote, there was no choice but to expel it using the physical abilities of the poisoned person themselves.

“At this rate, I will die.”

Setting aside the wounds all over my body, there was not a shred of energy left to expel the Ma-gi immediately.

If I were to think of the best solution right now, it would be to go to the grave of Wol-hyang and wash my body with Primordial Energy.

However, there was a high possibility of death due to internal shock if I moved even a little bit.

I had the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger right now, but if I fed him the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger while his energy was depleted, all of his internal organs would melt away.

“Is there no way?”

I wanted to save him no matter what.

I wanted to give true comfort to Mo-yong Seol, who had sought me out and talked to me during the hardest nights.

It was a future that had not yet come, but I thought it would be nice if it could be a consolation for that time which was the past to me.

“Hmm?”

At that moment, the Cheon-ma-ji-jon-hwan—no, the object that had now become the Jeok-bong-hwan—that I was wearing on my right side was trembling faintly.

Because I did not know what kind of efficacy it had, I had simply kept it after carving away the characters ‘Cheon-ma-ji-jon-hwan’ from the inside.

And strangely, as the Jeok-bong-hwan trembled faintly, it was gradually pulling in the Ma-gi of Mo-yong Sang-won.

Only then could I realize what the efficacy of the Jeok-bong-hwan was.

The Jeok-bong-hwan, which had shown no movement no matter how much internal energy I poured into it, responded only to Ma-gi.

I slowly pushed my internal energy into the Jeok-bong-hwan.

Then, the vibration of the Jeok-bong-hwan, which had been trembling, gradually grew larger, and it began to pull in the Ma-gi that had been encroaching on Mo-yong Sang-won’s body little by little.

I was worried about whether the Ma-gi it pulled in might poison my own body, but fortunately, it only pulled in and swallowed the Ma-gi, and it did not emit it back out.

“Puh-heo.”

How much time had passed?

Mo-yong Sang-won vomited out the dead, blood-tainted water contaminated by the Ma-gi like a fountain.

“Hoo.”

Watching his complexion slowly return, I was able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, all of the Ma-gi that had been encroaching upon Mo-yong Sang-won’s entire body was removed.

However, because of the still-faint energy, I could not let Mo-yong Sang-won move carelessly.

“I will have to recuperate here for a while… I need a medicinal herb to boost my energy right now…”

I searched through the Gangho Medicinal Handbook in my head to find a medicinal herb that could treat Mo-yong Sang-won, but the closest medicinal herb was a distance that would take a full six days to travel.

“It is also still unsettling to visit a physician.”

Seeing him intermittently open and close his eyes, it was a state where it would not be strange if he breathed his last at any moment.

If I left my place to prepare medicine, I might only be able to see a corpse upon my return.

At that moment, Mo-yong Sang-won regained his senses a little.

He was trying to convey his will in a voice clearer than a moment ago.

“I, I have a request…”

Seeing him try to lift his head, I said, startled.

“Please stay still for a moment. If you try to move carelessly right now, your condition could worsen.”

“No…, I am… anyway…”

I blocked the mouth of the patient who would not listen.

Right now, conserving even a little bit of energy was the best course of action.

“Is it fortunate that I at least have this?”

I took out a dagger from my inner pocket.

Since it was an item I sometimes used while camping, the blade was sharpened to a razor’s edge.

And I sliced my palm in one go.

Most of the medicinal herbs I had eaten in the meantime had been converted into internal energy through the Tae-eul-jin-gyeong (Tae-eul True Scripture).

Nevertheless, because the amount I had eaten was so vast, there was still the energy of the medicinal herbs remaining in my body.

Moreover, since it was in a state where I had digested it once and the toxicity had been removed, it was in a state where there was no problem giving it to a patient.

“Please, survive. If you die, that person will have nowhere to lean on when things get hard.”

I squeezed the blood from my hand with a desperate heart.

Mo-yong Sang-won recalled the past days while thinking about his own end.

His son, Mo-yong Jae-hwa, who had talent and enthusiasm for martial arts but was always weaker and lacking compared to his older sister, was a painful finger to him.

He had fed him countless medicinal herbs, but whether it was his innate nature, his internal energy increased, but his constitution itself did not change.

Meanwhile, a famous doctor invited from the Murim Alliance had checked Mo-yong Jae-hwa’s pulse and clicked his tongue, saying that he had eaten medicinal herbs that did not suit his body.

According to the doctor, because he lacked Hwa (Fire) energy for a man’s body, his physical harmony was not in balance, so if he ate a medicinal herb full of Fire energy, he would have an unimaginably strong and fierce physique.

Afterward, he had spread rumors everywhere and spent wealth to obtain Fire-energy medicinal herbs, but before the examination for the Murim Academy was held, the seeds of such medicinal herbs were drying up.

Meanwhile, he heard reliable information that a Fire Tiger had been discovered on Mount Huang, and Mo-yong Sang-won had set out himself.

He entered Mount Huang, where the Fire Tiger was sighted, with two bodyguard warriors, and after the trouble of camping on the mountain for several weeks, he finally discovered the Fire Tiger.

Mo-yong Sang-won, who had succeeded in cornering the Fire Tiger with the two bodyguard warriors, eventually succeeded in obtaining the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger.

The moment he thought all his worries were resolved.

Unidentified people attacked them.

At first, Mo-yong Sang-won did not think much of their attack.

He thought they were small fries aiming for the Fire Tiger’s inner core.

‘Wh, what is this martial art?!’

Their chaotic martial arts, which followed a different path from the martial arts of the Central Plains, and an unidentified energy that ate away at the body as if poisoned.

Seeing the bodyguard warriors who were trying to protect him vomit blood and die instantly, he felt the approach of death for the first time in his life.

He fled to a nameless mountain with a desperate resolve, but eventually, he was surrounded by the attackers with a thousand-foot precipice at his back.

“Who are you people! Do you know who I am, to dare to commit such an act!”

He had tried to speak to them to at least gain information about the opponent, but the attackers simply launched attacks without a word.

Eventually, Mo-yong Sang-won threw his body off the thousand-foot precipice, and he was dying at the bottom of the cliff while having been struck by something the attacker had poisoned him with.

How many days had passed like that?

‘Father, this daughter is anxious. Why don’t you go?’

The mournful face of his daughter, who had worried about his safety while leaving the family estate, came to mind.

He had laughed it off, saying that a child who was all grown up and about to get married was worrying too much.

But now, he thought he would be willing to pay any price if he could see her just one more time.

Amidst his fading consciousness, a human figure was descending the valley on a rope.

And the moment that person, who had descended like that, searched his body and discovered the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger.

Was it because his daughter’s face came to mind?

Mo-yong Sang-won did something he should not have done.

Without realizing it, he revealed his family name.

Mo-yong Sang-won anticipated the end.

‘Ha, how foolish. To invite death like this.’

The Inner Core of the Fire Tiger is a precious medicinal herb, even among the medicinal herbs of the Gangho, ranking within the top ten.

There was no way a warrior capable of descending a valley would not have greed for the medicinal herb, and moreover, the moment he knew he was a person of the Mo-yong Clan, there was no way he would not silence him to keep the secret.

Rather than saving the Mo-yong Clan and returning the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger.

Eating the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger and becoming stronger himself would bring a greater profit.

‘I invited my own death with stupidity. I am sorry, Seol… It will be hard to see you again.’

The moment he closed his eyes, sensing the end.

The guy started doing something strange.

He started to take all his clothes off.

‘Send me off gracefully at the end! What use are clothes that are already in rags to you!’

He had shouted earnestly, but the sound coming out of his mouth was only ‘Uh- uh-‘.

And at that time, when the young man placed his hand on his Jung-dan-jeon (Middle Dantian), he began to feel the stifling energy that had been eating away at his body escaping little by little.

The poisonous energy that had spread throughout his entire body came out through his pores, and the poisonous energy that had been lingering in his organs came back out through his mouth.

Puh-heok!

Once he spat out all the poisonous energy, his mind became clear.

‘Th, what is this?’

Mo-yong Sang-won looked at the suspicious guy in front of his eyes… no, he looked at the face of a Hyeop-sa (knightly warrior) who was now burning with a sense of justice and did not care at all about things like the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger.

He was a dignified young man who still had a youthful face but was clear and masculine, while at the same time having a harmonious feminine side.

The young man looked at the Inner Core of the Fire Tiger and then looked at Mo-yong Sang-won’s face alternately.

Mo-yong Sang-won realized the young man’s intention and was struck with great horror.

Although some of the poisonous energy had escaped, the poisonous energy had already been absorbed inside his body, and feeding him a medicinal pill full of fire energy in such a place would be no different from pouring oil onto a fire.

Fortunately, the young man put the wooden box back down.

The young man was looking at the top of the cliff alternately, gauging whether he could go back up.

The hope that he could live was brief; he did not think the young man could carry even him and climb up this high cliff.

Moreover, traveling back and forth here to treat him was an even more distant task.

Thinking that, his heart felt at ease.

‘I am finished here. If only he could at least deliver my last words to my daughter, and then to my son…’

With the energy that had returned, he barely opened his mouth to speak.

“I, I, have a request…”

Before Mo-yong Sang-won could finish his words, the young man shook his head.

“Please stay still for a moment. If you try to move carelessly right now, your condition could worsen.”

“No, I am anyway…”

The young man eventually covered Mo-yong Sang-won’s mouth with his hand, placed a finger to his own lips, and showed him to be quiet.

‘Deliver my last words!’

Mo-yong Sang-won felt frustrated, but he did not have the energy to express it.

The young man took out a dagger and made a wound on his own palm.

Then, he brought his palm, from which red blood was flowing, to Mo-yong Sang-won’s lips.

‘Who on earth is this person…? To do this for a stranger he has never met…’

Among the stories passed down among the people, there was a story that when an elderly and sickly father reached the brink of death, his child cut his finger to bleed and fed it to him to buy time while waiting for a physician.

Mo-yong Sang-won also knew that story.

It was true that he had no great impression of it because he thought it was fabricated to emphasize filial piety, as is the case with all stories.

However, as the blood flowing down his lips spread into his stomach, he began to feel his whole body warm up and his energy filling up.

‘Was the legend true?’

At that moment, the young man’s voice reached Mo-yong Sang-won’s ears.

“Please, survive. If you die, that person will have nowhere to lean on when things get hard.”

He could not gauge what he was talking about, but he could sufficiently feel that he was desperately clinging to saving him.

Jin So-un realized that he had made one mistake while shedding blood and giving it to Mo-yong Sang-won.

‘I should have pressed the blood acupoints.’

Those who have mastered martial arts are obsessed with medicinal herbs.

In the past, there were even demonic monsters who would catch someone who had eaten a medicinal herb and boil them to eat.

If Mo-yong Sang-won were to find out that his blood was full of the energy of medicinal herbs…

‘Aigoo, no way… Still, he is the Sogaju of the Mo-yong Clan…’

Jin So-un had to try to eliminate the useless distracting thoughts that kept coming into his head.

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