CLS-Chapter 485

Chapter 485:

The brief moment of waiting for change felt incredibly long.

Everyone kept their eyes fixed on Tang Yun-geol, waiting.

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

“It’s not changing?”

As Wei Yan-ho spoke with a listless voice, everyone’s gaze turned toward Tang Cheon-gun.

“Ah, no, why are you all looking at me with those eyes?”

Wei Yan-ho said in a sulky voice.

“Isn’t the dilution wrong? There’s no noticeable change.”

“Are you doubting my skills!”

Tang Cheon-gun replied, seeming slightly offended, but his authority didn’t work right now.

“Well, it’s not changing, that’s why we’re saying this. Look. There’s no significant change.”

“Just wait a little longer.”

“I think we’ve waited plenty.”

“Groan.”

Tang Cheon-gun grimaced.

“Why isn’t there any change? If Crane Crimson entered, it should definitely turn red. Why is this… Could it be that the skin turned black so the change isn’t visible?”

Tang Cheon-gun quietly approached Tang Yun-geol and gently pressed his abdomen.

“That’s not it.”

He had thought that perhaps the red aura wasn’t visible because of the blackened skin, but that didn’t seem to be the case. At the very least, he should be able to feel some poison energy, but he couldn’t sense any poison energy either.

Tang Cheon-gun began to agonize.

“This shouldn’t be happening.”

“Uh, wait a moment.”

Wei Yan-ho raised his hand.

“Permission to speak granted.”

“You prepared the poison assuming this person’s body has no energy at all, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then did you consider the demonic energy remaining in his body?”

“Huh?”

Tang Cheon-gun tilted his head.

“Demonic energy? Do I need to consider such things?”

“Of course. Back when we fought against the Demonic Cult, I heard we had trouble because poison didn’t work well on those Demonic Cult bastards.”

“That’s true.”

“Then doesn’t that mean demonic energy has some resistance to poison?”

“Hmm…”

Tang Cheon-gun nodded as if understanding, then picked up the poison bottle.

He then mixed a bit more Crane Crimson to create the poison solution and poured it into Tang Yun-geol’s mouth.

“This should work now.”

“Are you sure?”

“…It should work, I said.”

“Eh, how can we trust that?”

Tang Cheon-gun couldn’t say anything and raised his head to stare at the ceiling.

‘I should just die.’

What kind of glory was he hoping to enjoy by living this long to see such humiliation?

He wanted to struggle somehow, but since he had just poured poison into Tang Yun-geol, acting rashly might ruin everything. He had no choice but to bite his lips tightly and endure.

“Wait!”

At that moment, the Medicine Hall Master spoke urgently.

“There’s a change.”

“Mm…”

Even Wei Yan-ho couldn’t say anything more.

“Here!”

Tang Yun-geol’s abdomen, which the Medicine Hall Master pointed to, began to turn red.

“Quickly!”

“Block it!”

The Medicine Hall Master’s hands moved like lightning. With a ttak sound, dozens of needles were instantly inserted around Tang Yun-geol’s abdomen. The poison energy that had been spreading rapidly slowed down somewhat.

“Damn!”

The Medicine Hall Master’s face became urgent.

The principle of this treatment was simple.

The problem with Tang Yun-geol’s body—no, not just his, but all the patients showing these mysterious symptoms—was very simple. There was no energy remaining in their bodies.

To be precise, all their energy had drained out, leaving only small amounts of demonic energy. But demonic energy didn’t support the body at all. Rather, it was preventing new energy from entering.

For recovery, they needed to somehow force energy into the body.

However, if they administered regular elixirs or forcibly injected internal energy, the damaged energy channels couldn’t withstand it and would burst. Then it would truly become irreversible.

That’s why they used poison.

Poison contained the energy of elixirs, but unlike elixirs, it didn’t strongly stimulate the energy channels. And regardless of whether the energy channels were damaged or not, it had the nature of spreading throughout the entire body.

By filling the entire body with energy through poison and then removing only the poison energy, they could expect the effect of having forced energy throughout the body. If natural healing power was activated, the damaged energy channels would be restored.

So the key was just one thing.

How accurately could they remove the poison energy at the right moment?

It couldn’t be too fast, and it couldn’t be too slow. That’s why all these people had gathered around Tang Yun-geol, unable to relax their tension.

“Isn’t this too fast?”

“It’s fine.”

As Tang Cheon-gun cried out urgently, Wei Yan-ho answered without even turning his head.

“He can still endure it.”

The red aura that started from the abdomen was now completely coloring the upper body.

“Here!”

As Wei Yan-ho pointed to the neck, the Medicine Hall Master quickly placed needles around the neck area. As the silver needles were densely placed, the poison energy climbing up the neck hesitated.

“The head must be last.”

“I know!”

The Medicine Hall Master’s voice was sharp.

He knew too. If they missed even one moment, just one moment, the person would die. He would be poisoned instantly and lose his breath. They had to delay the poisoning to the limit of what the body could endure.

If it spread too quickly, the poison energy would instantly spread to the bone marrow and lead to death, and if it spread too slowly, the body couldn’t bear the burden. Wasn’t this a patient whose stamina had dropped infinitely? He would lose his breath, unable to overcome the shock of poison energy spreading through his body.

They had to walk a tightrope, finding the limit of what his stamina could endure.

‘Damn it.’

Cold sweat streamed down the Medicine Hall Master’s forehead.

He had been involved in medicine for half a century. How many patients had he treated during that time? Among them were many whose lives hung by a thread, and there were those he ultimately couldn’t save.

But a case with such burden as now was, he swore, his first in his entire life.

It was precarious.

The burden that one moment of distraction could instantly result in death was tremendously draining on one’s mental strength.

“Agh!”

Wei Yan-ho let out a battle cry and grabbed Tang Yun-geol’s neck. The acupuncture couldn’t completely block the poison energy’s penetration.

“If you inject energy, all the meridians in his neck will burst!”

“I know!”

Their voices were getting louder.

“Then just don’t inject it!”

Wei Yan-ho’s hands emitted brilliant radiance. He didn’t push energy into the neck. But just gathering energy at his fingertips could make the poison energy hesitate.

“Damn, it’s so bright I can barely see! Dim the light a bit!”

“Hey, that’s not something I can control!”

“Someone block that area!”

Jang-il rushed over, took off his upper garment, and covered around Wei Yan-ho’s hands.

“Geez, unnecessarily emitting light!”

“…”

This was the result of learning as he was taught, so what was he supposed to do about it?

Wei Yan-ho felt wronged and sad, but now wasn’t the time to complain.

“It’s reached his feet!”

Red.

His entire body had turned red.

Tang Yun-geol’s entire body except above his neck had turned red. Even while they were speaking, it kept getting redder, and soon his entire body was dyed blood-red.

“Huff, huff!”

The Medicine Hall Master exhaled rough breaths and nodded.

“Let’s do it.”

“Yes.”

Wei Yan-ho couldn’t hide his tension either. If he withdrew his energy now, the poison energy would instantly surge up to his head. If they couldn’t capture that moment and neutralize the poison energy, Tang Yun-geol would die.

‘Getting this far was already difficult.’

Now was the real thing.

Wei Yan-ho took a deep breath.

“Removing!”

As soon as the words ended, Wei Yan-ho’s hands fell away from Tang Yun-geol’s neck. Then the red aura climbed up the neck, rushing toward his head.

‘Just a little more.’

Everyone looked at Tang Yun-geol with anxious faces.

This wasn’t just about one person, Tang Yun-geol’s life. Everyone knew. Depending on how this treatment went, whether the remaining people could live or die was at stake.

And perhaps the fate of the entire martial world might be hanging in the balance.

“Family Head!”

“I know!”

As the Crane Crimson’s energy was pushed to his head, the Medicine Hall Master urgently called Tang Cheon-gun. Then Tang Cheon-gun approached right in front of Tang Yun-geol.

‘Damn it, my heart is trembling…’

Tang Cheon-gun clenched and unclenched his fist.

Recovering the spread of poison energy was his role. The moment the entire body was perfectly dyed red, he had to filter and recover only the poison energy as quickly as possible.

The red aura invaded Tang Yun-geol’s head.

‘A little more, just a little…’

As Tang Yun-geol’s head was dyed a complete blood-red like his body, the Medicine Hall Master shouted.

“Now!”

Tang Cheon-gun didn’t even answer and extended his hand.

“Kuk!”

His fingertips tingled.

Even though it was diluted, the poison energy of Crane Crimson was so vicious that even he, the Poison King, felt burdened. Even if Tang Yun-geol had been in perfect condition, he wouldn’t have been able to avoid death without the Poison King’s help.

Such poison energy had spread through the patient’s body.

If they delayed just a little more, he would die. Not just die, but melt into a handful of bloody water.

Tang Cheon-gun exercised his Absorption Technique, sucking in the poison energy from the entire body. He could feel the stinging and tingling poison energy being drawn in through his fingertips.

‘Got it!’

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

‘This… maybe I could use this as a new cultivation method?’

Since it was a new idea, if he could control it, the applications might be infinite. If he could create a new internal energy mental method utilizing poison, the Tang Family’s martial arts would advance another level.

It wasn’t a bad thought.

But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. The price for turning his attention elsewhere even slightly came back immediately.

Thud!

Tang Yun-geol’s body, which had been lying like a corpse until now, sprang up as if struck by lightning.

“Wha, what!”

At that moment, Tang Cheon-gun’s eyes widened as if they would tear.

Dark demonic energy flowed out in clumps from Tang Yun-geol’s body. It wasn’t just black energy. If the existing demonic energy had a black feeling that seemed to draw you in, the demonic energy now gushing from Tang Yun-geol’s body showed a slightly reddish tint.

That meant.

“It’s, it’s Poison Smoke!”

“Get back! Don’t breathe! You’ll be poisoned!”

Perhaps sensing that something was escaping from inside the body, the demonic energies began to rage. They grabbed the escaping poison energy and thrust their heads into Tang Cheon-gun’s body.

Some demonic energies gushed out toward the outside of Tang Yun-geol’s body with tremendous force, as if they were finally liberated.

Thud! Thud!

From the reaction, Tang Yun-geol’s body was thrashing like a carp.

‘No, this can’t be.’

The demonic energy and poison energy began to rage mixed together. At this rate, Tang Yun-geol’s body couldn’t possibly endure.

It was swelling up.

Tang Yun-geol’s body, unable to overcome the rampage of energies, began to slowly swell up. At a glance, it seemed to have swollen more than half again its original size.

“Damn!”

The Medicine Hall Master instantly inserted needles into Tang Yun-geol’s 108 vital points, but there was no sign of calming. At this rate, his body would burst.

‘No, this can’t be.’

If his body burst, Tang Yun-geol would die. The problem was that this place was the Medicine Hall, and there were numerous patients around. If his body burst, flesh pieces containing Crane Crimson would scatter in all directions, and then everything would be finished.

“Somehow…!”

“Agh, seriously!”

At that moment, Wei Yan-ho climbed on top of Tang Yun-geol and placed his hands on his abdomen.

Soon, blinding light poured out from Wei Yan-ho’s body.