Chapter 485

# 485

The brief moment of waiting for the change felt extremely long.

Everyone waited without taking their eyes off Tang Yun-gyeol.

A little more, just a little more… a little…

“Isn’t he changing?”

When Wei Yanho spoke listlessly, all eyes turned to Tang Cheongun.

“Ah, no, why are you looking at me like that?”

Wei Yanho spoke in a monotonous voice.

“Could there have been a mistake in the dilution? There’s not much change.”

“Are you doubting my skills?!”

Tang Cheongun responded with a hint of anger, but his authority no longer carried weight.

“It’s just that he’s not changing. Look, there’s almost no difference.”

“Let’s wait a little longer.”

“We’ve already waited long enough.”

“Grr…”

Tang Cheongun twisted his face.

“Why isn’t there any change? If the Hakjeonghong took effect, he should be turning red. Why…? Could it be that his skin turned black and it’s not noticeable?”

Tang Cheongun crept closer to Tang Yun-gyeol and lightly pressed his abdomen.

“That’s not it.”

He thought that perhaps the red aura wasn’t visible due to the dark skin tone, but that didn’t seem to be the case. At least he should feel the poison, but he couldn’t sense that either.

Tang Cheongun began to fret.

“It doesn’t make sense.”

“Eh, one moment.”

Wei Yanho raised his hand.

“Permission to speak.”

“You assumed that this person has no energy in his body and administered poison, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then did you consider the demonic energy within him?”

“Eh?”

Tang Cheongun tilted his head.

“Demonic energy? Do we have to consider that?”

“Of course. When we fought against the Demon Cult in the past, they complained that poison didn’t have much effect on them.”

“That was the case.”

“That means demonic energy has some resistance to poison.”

“Hmm…”

Tang Cheongun, as if he understood, picked up the vial of poison.

Then, he mixed in a little more Hakjeonghong and poured the poisonous liquid into Tang Yun-gyeol’s mouth.

“Now it should work.”

“Are you sure?”

“…I said it should work.”

“Ugh, if only he were reliable.”

Tang Cheongun couldn’t say anything more and looked up at the ceiling.

‘I’d rather die.’

What have I lived for so long if I have to go through this humiliation?

He wanted to resist, but since he had already administered the poison to Tang Yun-gyeol, any reckless movement could ruin everything. He had no choice but to bite his lips and endure.

“One moment!”

At that instant, the master or leader of the Medical Hall spoke urgently.

“There’s a change.”

“Mmm…”

Even Wei Yanho was left speechless.

“Here!”

Tang Yun-gyeol’s abdomen, pointed out by the leader of the Medical Hall, began to turn red.

“It’s fast!”

“Contain it!”

The hands of the leader of the Medical Hall moved like lightning. With a swift sound, dozens of needles were stuck around Tang Yun-gyeol’s abdomen in an instant. The poison, which was spreading rapidly, slowed down a bit.

“Damn it!”

The face of the leader of the Medical Hall was filled with anxiety.

The principle of this treatment was simple.

The problem of Tang Yun-gyeol, no, of all the patients with unknown symptoms, was very simple: there was no energy left in their bodies.

To be exact, all the energy had been depleted, and only small amounts of demonic energy remained. But demonic energy doesn’t nourish the body at all. On the contrary, it prevented new energy from entering.

To recover, it was necessary to inject energy somehow.

But if conventional spiritual medicines were administered or internal energy was forced in, the damaged meridians wouldn’t withstand it and would burst. Then it would be impossible to save them.

That’s why they used poison.

The poison contained the energy of spiritual medicines, but it didn’t stimulate the meridians as strongly as they did. Moreover, it had the property of spreading throughout the body, regardless of the state of the meridians.

By filling the body with energy through poison and then extracting only the toxin, they could achieve the effect of injecting energy into the entire body. If the natural self-healing ability was activated, the damaged meridians would recover.

So the key was just one.

How accurate and timely the extraction of the toxin would be.

Neither too early nor too late. That’s why so many people were gathered around Tang Yun-gyeol, unable to relax their tension.

“This, isn’t it too fast?”

“It’s okay.”

When Tang Cheongun shouted urgently, Wei Yanho responded without even turning his head.

“He’s still resisting.”

The red aura that started in the abdomen now completely dyed the upper body.

“Here!”

When Wei Yanho pointed to the neck, the leader of the Medical Hall quickly placed needles around it. By densely sticking the silver needles, the poison rising through the neck faltered.

“The head must be the last.”

“I know!”

The voice of the leader of the Medical Hall was sharp.

He knew it too. An instant, just an instant of distraction, and the person would die. In the blink of an eye, they would be poisoned and stop breathing. They had to delay the intoxication to the limit that the body could withstand.

If it spread too quickly, the poison would reach the medulla in an instant and cause death. If it was too slow, the body wouldn’t withstand the burden. After all, it was a patient whose energy was depleted. They wouldn’t withstand the impact of the poison spreading through their body and would stop breathing.

They had to find the limit of their resistance and walk the tightrope.

‘Damn it.’

Cold sweat ran down the forehead of the leader of the Medical Hall.

He had dedicated half a century to medicine. How many patients had he treated in that time? Many were on the verge of death, and some he couldn’t save.

But he swore he had never felt such intense pressure as now.

It was a critical situation.

The pressure that, with just a moment of distraction, the person could die, consumed his mental energy enormously.

“Eh!”

Wei Yanho let out a shout and grabbed Tang Yun-gyeol’s neck. Acupuncture couldn’t completely stop the penetration of the poison.

“If we inject energy, the meridians in the neck will burst!”

“I know!”

Their voices rose.

“Then don’t!”

Wei Yanho’s hand emitted a dazzling glow. He didn’t inject energy into the neck. But just by concentrating energy on his fingertips, he managed to slow down the poison.

“Damn it, the radiance isn’t letting me see properly! Lower the light a bit!”

“I can’t control it!”

“Someone cover it!”

Jangil ran quickly, took off his shirt, and used it to block the light around Wei Yanho’s hand.

“Wow, what’s with all that useless light!”

“…”

It was the result of learning as he was taught, what more did they want?

Wei Yanho felt unfairly treated and distressed, but he couldn’t complain at that moment.

“It reached the feet!”

Red.

His whole body was dyed red.

Except for the neck, Tang Yun-gyeol’s entire body turned red. As they spoke, it became even redder, until finally his body was completely dyed a blood color.

“Ugh, ugh!”

The leader of the Medical Hall exhaled with difficulty and nodded his head.

“Now.”

“Yes.”

Wei Yanho couldn’t hide his tension either. If he withdrew the energy now, the poison would shoot towards the head in an instant. If they failed to neutralize it at that moment, Tang Yun-gyeol would die.

‘Getting this far was difficult.’

But now the real thing was beginning.

Wei Yanho took a deep breath.

“Withdrawal!”

As soon as he uttered those words, his hand separated from Tang Yun-gyeol’s neck. Then, the red aura rose through the neck towards the head.

‘Just a little more.’

Everyone looked at Tang Yun-gyeol with anxiety.

It wasn’t just Tang Yun-gyeol’s life at stake. Everyone knew it. Depending on the outcome of this treatment, the other patients could live or die.

And perhaps, even the fate of the entire martial world.

“Lord Tang!”

“I know!”

When the energy of the Hakjeonghong reached the head, the leader of the Medical Hall urgently called out to Tang Cheongun. Then, Tang Cheongun quickly approached Tang Yun-gyeol.

‘Damn it, my heart is beating so fast…’

Tang Cheongun opened and closed his fists.

His role was to extract the dispersed poison. At the exact moment when the body was completely red, he had to filter and extract only the toxin as quickly as possible.

The red aura invaded to the tip of Tang Yun-gyeol’s head.

‘A little more, just a little…’

When Tang Yun-gyeol’s head was dyed the same intense red as his body, the leader of the Medical Hall shouted.

“Now!”

Tang Cheongun reached out without responding.

“Ugh!”

The fingertips of him felt numb.

Although it was diluted, the poison of the Hakjeonghong was so potent that even he, the Poison King, felt its weight. Even if Tang Yun-gyeol had been healthy, without the help of the Poison King, he wouldn’t have escaped death.

That same poison had spread throughout the patient’s body.

A little more time and he would die. And it wouldn’t be just any death, but he would melt into a pool of blood.

Tang Cheongun used his suction technique to absorb the poison from the entire body. He felt the poison, stinging and burning, flowing into his fingertips.

‘It’s working!’

Fortunately, there was no resistance. If no problems arose, he could extract the poison without difficulty.

‘This… perhaps it could be used as a new method of energy circulation.’

It was a new idea. If it could be controlled, its potential would be infinite. If he managed to create a new internal energy technique based on poisons, the martial arts of the Tang Family would advance one step further.

It wasn’t a bad idea.

But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. The price for getting distracted, even a little, came immediately.

It shook!

Tang Yun-gyeol’s body, which had been lying like a corpse until then, rose as if struck by lightning.

“What… what is this!?”

At that moment, Tang Cheongun’s eyes widened sharply.

A thick, black demonic energy gushed out from Tang Yun-gyeol’s body. It wasn’t just dark. Unlike the previous demonic energy, which seemed to want to be absorbed, the one now emanating from Tang Yun-gyeol had a reddish tint.

That meant…

“It’s… demonic poison!”

“Back! Don’t breathe! You’ll get poisoned!”

As if he felt something escaping from his body, the demonic energy began to act wildly. It grabbed the escaping poison and directed it towards Tang Cheongun’s body.

Some demonic energies, as if they had finally been released, gushed out of Tang Yun-gyeol’s body with a terrifying force.

It shook! It shook!

As a reaction, Tang Yun-gyeol’s body shook like a fish.

‘Oh, no.’

The demonic energy and the poison began to mix and rebel. If this continued, Tang Yun-gyeol’s body wouldn’t withstand it.

It swelled.

Unable to withstand the chaos of energy, Tang Yun-gyeol’s body began to swell slowly. To the naked eye, it looked at least twice its original size.

“Damn it!”

The leader of the Medical Hall stuck needles into Tang Yun-gyeol’s 108 vital points in an instant, but there were no signs of calm. If this continued, his body would burst.

‘Oh, no.’

If his body burst, Tang Yun-gyeol would die. The problem was that they were in the Medical Hall, surrounded by numerous patients. If his body exploded, fragments impregnated with Hakjeonghong would be shot in all directions, and everything would be over.

“Do something…!”

“Ugh, seriously!”

At that moment, Wei Yanho climbed onto Tang Yun-gyeol and placed his hand on his abdomen.

Immediately, a blinding radiance emanated from Wei Yanho’s body.