Chapter 215

청 made his way up the steps leading to the medicinal bath.

Looking down, it felt like looking at lava for the first time—utterly dizzying.

Carefully placing his foot down, 청 was horrified.

“What on earth? Why is this so hard!?”

“Yeah, you could jump on it! Isn’t it amazing? If you jump a few times and then stand still, you’ll start sinking slowly.”

Abiding by that advice, 청 hopped up and down on the bubbling medicinal bath. The sticky sensation under his feet was utterly unpleasant, and standing still was personally intolerable, so he quickly stopped after a few jumps.

Standing on the surface of the medicinal bath, he felt his body slowly start to sink.

He raised his right arm with a thumbs-up.

Regrettably, the water level stopped just below his navel, so he didn’t get the picture he wanted.

Then, reluctantly lowering his upper body into the resistant liquid while sitting down, it reached just below his uvula.

And the feeling of being submerged…

“Ugh. This feels disgusting…”

“Ha ha, right?”

It was almost solid, being a thick, gooey liquid rather than something flowing like water, which enabled him to bounce in place.

It clung to him like he’d smeared glue all over his body, sending chills down his spine and inducing a primal aversion.

Plus, the smell—being right beneath the surface, it stung his nostrils like the sour scent of rotting fish.

“Ugh, what did they put in this? Ugh!”

“It’s best not to know. If you find out, you can never get in there again. Just live in blissful ignorance.”

Horrific words, not knowing what was put in would make it all the more terrifying.

Once he heard that, it was ridiculous and filthy, and he felt as if thousands of bugs were crawling over his submerged body.

“Isn’t it awful? I hear it’s not so bad once you get used to it… or so they say.”

“Didn’t you go in too, Master? Why would you bother?”

“Well, it’s definitely not something you get used to, right?”

“Why do you keep saying that…”

“The name of the medicinal bath alone is ‘Sickening Brew.’ Ahem. Now you need to use your skill. Using the Awakening Skill is best, and later, if your disciple learns what I have, he can just use what he has. However, if you haven’t practiced the Awakening Skill, double the time needed… but I’ll explain this later.”

“So, I just need to use the Awakening Skill now, right?”

“Yes. It might feel a bit ticklish, but that’s just a natural occurrence as the medicinal effect absorbs.”

“Ah, this wasn’t just in my head…”

The skin all over his body tingled, feeling like it was being poked and brushed with feathers. At the same time, it felt hot like he had smeared spiciness all over.

And that tingling was happening all at once, making it nearly impossible for him to stay still.

But his body wouldn’t budge.

He felt as if he were submerged in a quicksand; even 청, with his great strength, could only move at an agonizingly slow pace.

Though he might have had the power to escape, 청 resisted and forcefully channeled his True Energy through his blood vessels.

Then the itching subsided somewhat.

As the medicinal energy flowed throughout his body, his skin felt like it was on fire, making the itch almost non-existent.

Since he had his mouth firmly shut while channeling energy, any cries of agony would surely have escaped otherwise.

“Well, you’re in for quite a bit of suffering from now on. When a person’s body is in pain, time seems to drag on. Once the pain subsides, the itching starts, and if you can endure that, the pain will return. Just hold on for two hours like it’s a whole year.”

Despite the suffering, 천유학 never stopped teasing.

청’s eyebrows twitched.

“Oh, come on, I’m really suffering here, you know!”

“Ah, it’s painful, spicy, and hot.”

It was incredibly malicious of him not to recognize how much pain he was in.

He could endure it as long as it wasn’t excruciatingly unbearable, but it kept teasing him, pricking at his nerves at just the right moments.

And the itching wasn’t so overwhelming that it would drive him into fits, yet it felt like he was on the verge of sneezing endlessly.

It didn’t stem from real struggle, rather it was the persistent nudging that made it so hard to concentrate on channeling energy properly.

From his experience, it felt like having to sit through a notoriously boring four-hour lecture while your stomach is haltingly gurgling.

Ultimately, as 천유학 had said, it truly felt like enduring a year in a frame of mind that drove him to madness.

Being a first-hand experiencer, 천유학 had the gall to share those memories.

Then suddenly…

“Master? What’s wrong? My hands, what’s this?”

“Why, is your body swelling? Well, of course, your body puffed up because you soaked up all that medicinal energy. Don’t worry, it should return to normal by tonight.”

청 looked at his hands.

His fingers had doubled in thickness, feeling squishy and doughy.

Not only his fingers but his palms felt the same, resembling the paws of a bear. Out of curiosity, he looked down and exclaimed, “No way, what on earth? What’s going on?”

If someone from the Han ethnicity had seen this, they would have thought of promotional characters for a wheel-making company.

Below the neck, his body was like that, yet his face remained beautiful, looking absurd in contrast.

But without a mirror, 청 had no idea.

Since it was said he would return to normal by tonight, he shrugged it off and turned his attention back to the medicinal bath.

“Master? Is the bath supposed to look like this?”

“Haha, surprised that the murky water has come out? Originally, the Sickening Brew takes in the medicinal properties and lets out the malice, so once it’s done, it turns into sewage water.”

“Oh wow.”

청 looked down at the bath he was dipped in.

What had been a sticky, sludgy, foul-smelling concoction had transformed into a murky soup.

“Isn’t this just barely acceptable?”

“Haha. Since it came from your body, you probably can’t see how dirty it is. Wash yourself clean and put on tidy clothes.”

It seemed rather absurd to converse through a wall.

청 washed himself in a clean water setup and put on a new outfit.

He had originally been asked to put on looser clothes, and now he realized why.

Then 천유학 checked the medicinal bath, peering into the mixture.

“Let’s take a look at how rotten my disciple’s body got… hmm? What’s this? Why is the color like this?”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, wasn’t it too potent? Wouldn’t it turn poisonous instead? The medicinal properties seep in while the overwhelming parts wash out, along with any stagnant qi in your body.”

Since 청’s constitution rendered all poison ineffective, he absorbed all the medicinal properties while neutralizing the toxic ones, so nothing was coming out.

청 had chosen this constitution for himself, so while he didn’t know the precise workings, he assumed it would be somewhat similar, understanding the reasoning.

“Oh, so there was no stagnant qi?”

“Hmph. Did you somehow have a makeover? Why would there be no stagnant qi? People generally have some from birth—”

“Didn’t you hear me? I already had a makeover, last year.”

“Oh, is that so? Still, it’s strange. Even if there were no stagnant qi, a person can’t absorb all those medicinal properties at once…”

Since no one in the history of Shintu had achieved such a transformation before entering training, it was understandable.

“Phew. That was exhausting. Shouldn’t we go eat?”

“After you’ve gobbled up all the medicinal properties, you’re hungry? How can you think about food? Before this energy is digested into waste, you need to begin proper training.”

At that, 청’s expression shifted.

He looked utterly betrayed, as if asking how he could utter such horrific words in the midst of his sorrow.

“Wait, you mean that’s just preliminary!? What was everything I did until now…?”

“That was just preparation. The key is to twist your joints while covered in medicinal properties. Finally, it’s time to use this.”

천유학 dragged something over from a corner, and it looked more like a torture instrument than a training tool.

It resembled a contraption that would bind a criminal’s limbs.

However, with strange devices attached to each joint, it was clearly not an ordinary item.

“Um… Master?”

“Haven’t I told you before? External training is a combination of four elements: exhaustion, torture, poison, and medicine.”

청 pointed at the device with his finger.

천유학 chuckled and replied.

“It’s a combination of two: exhaustion and torture.”

“Well, considering it, do you really need to make your joints flexible instead of keeping a strong body…?”

천유학 smiled kindly.

“Just joking! It looks terrifying, but it’s really not that horrific of a thing. The training isn’t that complicated, so there’s no need to be scared.”

“What? You startled me!”

Feeling relieved, 청 leaned into the device.

천유학 began adjusting it, commenting on how it was crazy that someone so tall like this could even manage it while feeling around, tightening and inserting clips until metal rings covered almost all of his body.

“Master? It’s too tight, it hurts.”

“It’s due to the medicinal properties swelling you up. Once those properties wear off, it’ll fit perfectly.”

“It’s really quite painful…”

“It’s fine. After all, pain of that level won’t mean much anymore.”

“…? What did you just say?”

“Now, go ahead and scream. If you clench your teeth, they might break.”

As he said that, 천유학 presented a gag.

청 stared at him in disbelief.

“Master? You just said it’s not a horrifying item!”

천유학 was a Shintu, and as soon as 청 opened his mouth to say “ah,” he swiftly fitted the gag into his mouth.

“That was a joke, you idiot. Can’t you see it looks like it could seriously mess you up? You’re so naive, how do you plan to navigate the chaotic martial world?”

“Mmph, mm…!”

“Sorry, but I’m just returning the favor for all those times you made me worry. Didn’t you say something about the inheritance of hatred? If you’re so mad, why not pass it on to your own disciple?”

“Ugh! Mmph…!”

“I’ll wake you up even if you faint, so don’t trouble me, just keep your wits about you. You need to endure the pain while conscious for the medicinal properties to gather.”

The true nature of the Yulryu Yeonryeon external training was about awkwardly bending joints while in a state of swollen medicinal properties.

Because the medicinal properties filled his body, as soon as a joint was forced beyond its limit, it would recover instantly, gradually increasing the range of motion.

However, forcing one’s joints painfully was excruciating. The agony was so severe, it could come close to almost being debilitating, causing hostile reactions from the medicinal properties without anesthesia or fainting.

Against such pain, naturally, family or even masters would disappear from view.

Flailing around wildly, تم caught gold made from strong steel contraptions.

“Just endure for about an hour. If you think of it as achieving a goal, it’ll get a lot easier.”

As 천유학 revealed his true disposition, a sadistic grin appeared on his face.

“Just so you know, I wasn’t able to hold it all in either and cried like a baby. But hey, it’s all right, you won’t die.”