Chapter 82
“……!”
At that moment, Liyeon clutched his chest.
It was another seizure. His heart pounded as though it would burst, and spasms began in his arms and legs.
‘Of all times, why now…’
The pain came in an instant.
Perhaps because his body had become so weak, or because the seizure had come again after such a short interval.
Unlike before, the pain seized control of his body in an instant and rampaged throughout him. It was an indescribable agony, as though dozens of blades had pierced his entire body simultaneously.
Liyeon could not even manage a groan and could only wheeze helplessly. When he came to his senses, he was collapsed on the ground.
“Child, child.”
Someone’s voice reached him faintly. The person shook Liyeon a few times as they called out to him, then soon picked him up and muttered something.
“Oh dear. It seems suppressing it with my qi had the opposite effect. I did not expect the yin qi to increase this much…”
“Ugh… urgh…”
“This place may be dangerous for now, so it would be better to move elsewhere. Do not lose consciousness. You may never open your eyes again.”
Liyeon could barely understand half of what was being said. The voice kept growing farther and farther away.
For a long while, Liyeon had to endure the pain. An eternity seemed to pass. No, perhaps it had only been a short while. Now that all his senses had disappeared, Liyeon could distinguish nothing.
The only thing he could vaguely feel was that he was going somewhere. Even that was uncertain. As his consciousness gradually faded…
‘……!’
Suddenly, he felt a cold sensation at the crown of his head.
It was a cold yet pure energy, as though snow that had accumulated for ten thousand years had melted and was flowing through him.
The energy flowed from the crown of his head down the back of his skull, through his spine and the end of his cervical vertebrae, his coccyx, and anus, before heading toward the perineum.
The energy lingered at the perineum before moving toward his navel, traveling along the central line of the front of his body. It passed beneath his chest, through his chest, chin, and lower gums, before entering his eyes.
The energy steadily opened his meridians, neither too fast nor too slowly.
As Liyeon felt the cold energy gradually take over his body, he experienced something strange. At one moment, his entire body would become unbearably cold, as though it had frozen solid, only for him to suddenly feel scorching hot, as though he had been thrown into a blazing furnace.
His burning body would become cold again, then hot again……
Just as this phenomenon seemed to repeat itself, the pain gradually began to subside.
‘What on earth is this…?’
The energy began moving through his body once more, starting from beneath his ankle bones and traveling up and down.
After moving like that several times, the energy finally made a complete horizontal circuit around his abdomen before gradually retreating.
By the time the energy had completely disappeared, the pain had also vanished without a trace.
Only then did Liyeon open his eyes.
“…….”
At some point, he had been seated inside a cave.
He was sitting on the stone floor with his legs crossed in meditation when he suddenly sensed another presence behind him.
It was probably the person who had sent that cold energy. That person had definitely…
“Benefactor, you saved me again…”
Liyeon tried to turn around, but his body suddenly staggered. His strength abruptly drained away, and his vision swayed.
Tap.
A white hand caught him. A familiar voice followed.
“Be careful.”
Liyeon raised his head. He saw the Jade Snow Wanderer’s impassive face.
“I opened your Eight Extraordinary Meridians and calmed your qi, but your body’s vital energy has been depleted, so you will be weak for a while. If you rest well for a few days, you will quickly recover your strength, so be careful.”
Liyeon silently caught his breath before lowering his head.
“Thank you so much. You have saved my life not once, but twice. I am ashamed that I have caused you so much trouble, Benefactor…”
“Yes, this time I also expended quite a bit of my qi, so it was troublesome. But did I not tell you before?”
“Pardon?”
“It is because you are lucky.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer suddenly asked as she faced the bewildered Liyeon.
“What do you think is the reason I saved you?”
“That is…”
Liyeon was unable to continue for a moment.
Of course, he had not thought that a master like the Jade Snow Wanderer would save him purely out of goodwill, but he had not expected her to ask so directly.
Unexpectedly, the Jade Snow Wanderer gave him the answer first.
“Your constitution.”
“My constitution…?”
Only then did the Jade Snow Wanderer begin to explain her story.
The Jade Snow Wanderer was not originally from the Central Plains. She lived in the Great Snow Mountain of the Western Regions and was the head of a sect.
At this point, Liyeon was not surprised. Judging from the Jade Snow Wanderer’s abilities, she was certainly capable of standing on equal footing with the head of any sect.
However, he was surprised by what came next.
“You came to find a disciple?”
The Jade Snow Wanderer had personally come all the way to the Central Plains in search of a disciple. Her sect traditionally had only a small number of disciples, and she herself had never taken one until now. But as she grew older, she too had come to feel the need to take a disciple.
The Jade Snow Wanderer had wandered throughout the Central Plains for quite some time. But there was no one who met her standards. To inherit the Jade Snow Wanderer’s teachings, one needed to possess a special constitution overflowing with yin qi.
When the Jade Snow Wanderer heard rumors that the Xiao Family’s only daughter was suffering from an excess of yin qi, she headed to Bakrahyeon.
However, the Xiao Family had already suffered the disaster of annihilation. In the end, while traveling through the mountains to go elsewhere, she discovered Liyeon collapsed on the ground.
“You truly have a peculiar constitution. There are countless people in this world who possess a great deal of yin qi, but I have never encountered a case like yours. Your yin qi continues to build up as time passes.”
“…….”
“Such a constitution generally appears in young girls, yet you possess it despite being a boy. It is astonishing that you have endured this long without dying.”
At the word ‘boy,’ Liyeon unconsciously flinched. Even though there was no longer any need for him to hide the fact that he was a man.
The Jade Snow Wanderer paid no attention and continued speaking.
“Of course, when I found you, you were already unconscious. At that time, I infused your body with my qi. I suppressed the turbulent yin qi with it.”
“…….”
“At first, I thought it had worked. But when you collapsed and I examined you again, I realized that was not the case. Almost all of the qi I had used to suppress your yin qi had disappeared, while your own yin qi had increased tremendously.”
“Increased…?”
“Yes. My guess is that your qi and mine have similar properties, so perhaps it was absorbed. Your body could not withstand the sudden increase in yin qi and collapsed.”
Even as the Jade Snow Wanderer muttered to herself, ‘But how could you absorb someone else’s qi?’, Liyeon heard only one thing.
‘The yin qi increased again?’
It felt as though his heart had dropped to the bottom of his chest.
How much suffering had he endured because of that dense yin qi? His father and Master Yeongno had gone through all kinds of hardship trying to draw the yin qi out, and above all, had it not only been resolved after Seodan was injured?
And yet he had returned to the way he was before overnight.
Then did he have to live like he had before again? Would he have to writhe in agony every day, enduring the pain and counting down the days until his death?
‘I don’t want to.’
Liyeon’s hands began to tremble.
“But thanks to that, I was able to treat you.”
“What does that…?”
“I have also mastered an extremely yin martial art.”
The Jade Snow Wanderer continued calmly.
“Originally, I cannot assist another person’s circulation of qi. That is because my qi contains the energy of extreme yin.”
“But I…”
“Yes. If an ordinary person receives my qi, the cold energy freezes their meridians, and they eventually die. In other words, it is no different from an extremely potent poison. But you survived perfectly fine.”
“…….”
“That is because your qi is similar to mine. Since you absorbed my qi, it became even more similar, so your body suffered no problems. Even when I opened your Eight Extraordinary Meridians, I was able to guide your qi as naturally as if it were my own.”
As he listened to the Jade Snow Wanderer’s story, Liyeon suddenly recalled something.
It was shortly before they went to the Namgung Family. While his father had been telling him about their plans for the future, he had heard this.
“When we go to Namgung, I am thinking of finding a master for you.”
“Pardon?”
Liyeon had been inwardly flustered. Although his body was like this now, Liyeon was unquestionably the heir to the Xiao Family. If there were no particular problems, it was only natural that he would inherit the family’s secret techniques. And yet, suddenly being told to learn a different martial art… Liyeon could not understand, so he asked.
“Is it because my body is weak? I’m fine now. I’ve become much healthier than before, and I have no trouble moving around either. If you just wait a little longer, I’ll soon…”
“No, that’s not it.”
His father gently patted Liyeon’s head with the soft smile he always wore.
“You’re already doing well. You don’t have to try to do anything more.”
“…Then why?”
“Because of your illness.”
His father suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“Thanks to that child, your body has improved beyond recognition, but the danger has not yet passed. Even now, the yin qi within your body is gradually increasing. If we leave it as it is, the same thing will happen again.”
“…….”
“Master Yeong-ro said that you need to take as your master someone who has mastered an extremely yin martial art and learn their cultivation method. If you can learn how to circulate the yin qi within you, you will be able to free yourself from your illness to a greater extent…”
His father paused for a moment and smiled bitterly.
“If that means you can live a long life, then this father could ask for nothing more.”
As he retraced the precious memories of the past, Liyeon looked forward once more.
There she was.
‘A master of extreme yin.’
Right there, in front of him.
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