[TS] Became a Peach Saint – Chapter 292

“Delicious?”

“Awesome!”

“Great!”

Baekseol and Danpung each hold a piece of fried summoning pill in their hands, munching away eagerly.

The bitter smell wafts through the air, and Danpung’s tail, which had been drooping, slowly starts wagging side to side, brushing against my neck. Luckily, it seems to suit their taste.

As expected, frying makes even the unappetizing stuff edible.

“Can we not fry Jeon Ho’s portion?”

“Yes. I prefer to consume it as is.”

“The kids say it’s tasty.”

“Summoning pills aren’t meant to be eaten for taste.”

Perhaps fearing it might be taken away, Jeon Ho adjusts his clothes once.

“Do as you please.”

“Yep.”

Jeon Ho pulls out a box containing his summoning pill from his pocket, opens it, and carefully puts it back as if it were a treasure.

“Aren’t you going to eat it now?”

“Consuming the summoning pill at my current level could be life-threatening. Without a master to guide me, I should wait until I’ve advanced further before taking it.”

For an inspector, that’s quite a high position. It seems he climbed up to such a rank all by himself without a master.

“Back where I lived, there were friends who liked to do everything on their own too.”

“Who are they?”

“There are some, up north.”

I gesture to Jeon Ho, and he adjusts his collar again before approaching.

“I’ll help you, so eat it.”

“Right now?”

“Yeah. Didn’t you say the summoning pill’s energy is too strong to handle alone?”

Jeon Ho, fiddling with the summoning pill box, nods.

“That’s correct.”

“I’ll regulate it for you, so go ahead.”

“Ah…”

He looks at me, dazed, as if realizing something belatedly.

“Now that I think about it, it’s you, Shin Yi. I almost forgot because you’re always causing trouble.”

“What? When did I ever—”

“Haha. I’ll be in your care then.”

Bang!

Jeon Ho performs a fist greeting and gives a light nod.

“Alright. Eat and sit comfortably.”

“Understood.”

Despite saying it’s life-threatening, he pops the summoning pill into his mouth and swallows without hesitation.

Receiving such absolute trust is quite burdensome.

—Chik, chik.

“Whew—”

He sits down in front of me, facing away, and concentrates with his hands together.

Placing my palm on his back, I can feel the summoning pill’s energy spreading like a tidal wave through his body.

“Ugh…”

A painful groan escapes Jeon Ho’s mouth.

While the energy spreads wildly, there’s also a deliberately directed flow moving towards specific points.

This must be the movement of energy and blood according to martial arts characteristics, as Jeon Ho mentioned.

But his ability to guide it is ridiculously lacking compared to the overall energy.

This must be why it’s dangerous without sufficient ability or a master’s help.

“Are you guys okay?”

“Pii?”

The ones munching on the fried snacks tilt their heads, looking completely fine, unlike Jeon Ho.

“Ugh…!”

Meanwhile, a protesting sound bursts from Jeon Ho’s mouth.

“Got it. Stop exaggerating.”

“Ugh! Ugh!!”

“Not exaggerating?”

“Ugh!!”

I can roughly understand Danpung, but Jeon Ho’s words are completely incomprehensible.

Maybe he’s speaking a language even harder than Danpung’s.

“Does eating it make you unable to speak or something?”

“Ugh!!”

Jeon Ho’s entire face turns red, and veins start popping out.

I wanted to experiment a bit more, but if I continue, I might end up sending an innocent person to the afterlife.

**〈Gluttony〉**

*Crash!*

As Jeon Ho swallows the medicinal energy pouring out of the Summoning Pill, his face instantly relaxes.

“Since I’ll be releasing the medicinal energy bit by bit, guide it in the direction you want.”

Even without saying anything, the guidance of the medicinal energy has already begun. The medicinal energy, unraveled as thin as a thread, is delicately carried by Jeon Ho’s will.

Thanks to this, it’s clear which blood vessels Jeon Ho is using as energy channels and in what order he’s using them.

The medicinal energy, passing through spiderweb-thin energy channels, strongly condenses at certain points along the way. That must be the acupoints.

“Whew— this is fascinating.”

Now I understand why they say you need a master to teach you the energy pathways and that it’s impossible to memorize them in a short time.

Even if you turned the entire Earth into a maze, could it possibly be this complicated?

This goes beyond what a human can comprehend. It’s so vast that it’s impossible for the human mind to grasp.

To use martial arts with this, you’d have to memorize the sequence of acupoints, the major points, as a whole.

It’s more about memorization than understanding, and there must have been countless trials and errors. The blood and sweat of our ancestors must have been poured into this.

That must be what people here call the essence of martial arts.

“It’s like the first person who ate pufferfish.”

“Haa! Haa!”

Jeon Ho repeats his breathing. Following his guidance, the medicinal energy moves through the energy channels and seeps into the blood vessels.

Even so, there’s still a lot of medicinal energy left in the Summoning Pill.

The medicinal energy from the Summoning Pill, which I’ve been unraveling like a thread, now gathers below the navel.

That must be the dantian, the place where martial artists gather their energy.

From Hefei to here, I’ve had many conversations with Jeon Ho.

Mostly about alcohol or martial arts.

Back then, I didn’t know much, so I just listened in passing, but now that I’m facing what Jeon Ho was talking about, I’m starting to understand a little.

The blood vessels through which energy flows are called energy pathways, and the midpoints of these pathways are the acupoints.

“Among them, the most important acupoints are grouped together and classified as meridians.”

“Oh-ho.”

“If the well-paved road that the iron horse is running on is called the Three Meridians, then the uncomfortable mountain path next to it is the acupoint.”

“Three Meridians?”

“To put it simply, the eight major cities that serve as intermediate stops are divided into the Eight Meridians, and the road we’re running on now is called the Three Meridians, which connect the meridians.”

The most important acupoints are grouped together and called “meridians,” and the path that moves between meridians is called the Three Meridians.

According to Jeon Ho, as one ages, the meridians and Three Meridians gradually become blocked due to impurities.

That’s why they use breathing techniques to gather internal energy and send it through the meridians to both clean and strengthen them.

This process is called the Lesser Heavenly Cycle, and having a supplement like spiritual medicine makes it even better.

Like now.

“Whew! Whew!”

The internal energy and medicinal energy gathered in Jeon Ho’s dantian move down to his lower body, then slowly rise up along his spine.

The condition of the Three Meridians connecting the meridians doesn’t seem to be very good, as the flow of internal energy isn’t fast.

The energy, rising through the Three Meridians connected to the spine, hesitates and slows down as it passes certain points.

Finally, when it reaches the head, only a thread-like stream of energy flows back down toward the dantian.

The meridians on the front, which include the face and dantian, are called the Conception Vessel, and the meridians on the back, which include the spine and the back of the head, are called the Governing Vessel.

“Together, they’re called the Conception and Governing Vessels. For adults, they’re mostly blocked, so the Lesser Heavenly Cycle takes quite a long time.”

“Even if you’ve been taking spiritual medicine since childhood and have a lot of internal energy, if your meridians are weak, you won’t be able to use it.”

“You’ve understood correctly.”

Of course, the later generations of the Daemun faction have been managed since they were young, so they’re smoother than us.

While focusing, I noticed the cigarette I had been holding in my mouth had already gone out.

Still, I’ve completely released the medicinal energy of the Summoning Pill. Now, all that’s left is to wait for the energy called Sojucheon.

Martial arts are more interesting than I thought. I want to study them a bit more.

—Chik, chik.

“Huu— Hey kids, Jeon Ho seems to be concentrating, so let’s go play over there.”

“Okay!”

“Pit!”

It seems like it’ll take longer than I thought. I should’ve done it inside the room.

Taking Baekseol and Danpung into the garden, I see a chair and a wooden table placed there.

“Here, play here. Jeon Ho is busy, so don’t disturb him, okay?”

“Pit!”

“Okay!”

The rabbit and squirrel are the best at answering.

“Huu—”

Sitting on the chair and lighting a cigarette, Baekseol and Danpung scamper off into the grass.

They sniff the flowers in the garden and jump onto the small, beautifully shaped trees.

No wonder they’re covered in grass. Thankfully, they listen to me and don’t dig any holes.

“They seem to be running around even more after eating fried food…”

It looks like the two of them have leveled up their steel-like stamina.

I’m glad Danpung is part of the family now; otherwise, I’d have to handle the brave rabbit’s stamina all by myself.

Just thinking about it makes me shiver.

Watching the two of them bouncing around, I feel sorry for Jeon Ho, who’s struggling alone.

If there were just a bit more energy, I could’ve smoothed out the uneven meridians like an unpaved road. But with only one Summoning Pill, I could only strengthen the wobbly meridians.

“Huu— What a shame.”

While smoking and watching the two play, I sense movement behind me.

Tap, tap.

It seems like they’re deliberately making noise, as the sound of footsteps echoes loudly down the long hallway.

I had set the bait, wondering when they’d come, and it seems like now’s the time.

Rumors tend to get exaggerated.

“I’ve brought someone who was looking for this place.”

“Shin Yi, cough! It’s an honor to meet… cough!”

The man who followed Jeomsae seems to struggle to get his words out.

Every time he speaks, blood mixes with his cough.

“You’ve had a hard time. Can I count on you again next time?”

Handing Jeomsae a silver coin for bringing the guest, a wide, unstoppable smile spreads across his face.

“Oh, great hero. Of course. Just leave it to me.”

Jeomsae, who made a bold promise, quickly disappears.

And with that, I’ve become a great hero too.

“Welcome. You look really unwell. Should we start the treatment right away?”

The pale-faced man barely nods before collapsing to the floor.

It seems even standing was too much for him.

“Cough!”

As I try to touch his body, another cough erupts, and I see pieces of internal organs mixed with blood.

It’s like his insides have been turned to shreds.

“Shin Yi… sir. The Naegajungsu… technique…”

“Oh my, what kind of bastard did this? They really tore up his insides. Should’ve just pulled them out and made sausage.”

Hearing my response, the man’s pupils tremble violently.

「The Naegajungsu technique is an energy manipulation skill that delays the explosion of internal energy. It causes immense pain and shatters internal organs, making it a condemned act when used by a master on a novice.」

The Naegajungsu technique involves flowing explosive energy into the body and deliberately delaying its detonation to destroy internal organs.

I’d only heard of it, but seeing it in person, it’s really…

“That’s something that deserves to be beaten up.”

“Charming. How do you use it?”

“Sh, Shin Yi…?”

“You know that everything has a counter, right? For my counter technique, I use my own mysterious art.”

The man nods his head urgently.

**〈Heal〉**

As I place my hand on his back and slam the healing, the man’s pale face instantly becomes calm.

Still, it seems like he’s having trouble breathing.

“I’ll pat your back, so spit out all the blood stuck in your throat.”

I quickly pull out a bucket from the storage space and place it in front of the man. He grabs it and vomits blood.

“Huff…! Huff…!”

After gasping for breath for a while, the man slowly looks up at me.

“How is this possible! My injuries healed in an instant… Thank you, Divine Healer. This life-saving grace…”

“The treatment fee is three Undefeated in Combat tokens, is that okay?”

“Huh…?”

“If you don’t have them, I’ll restore you to your original state. I was curious how my counter technique works.”

“Gasp! W-wait a moment!”

Seeing my raised fist, the man frantically rummages through his pockets and pulls out two tokens.

“Um… Divine Healer. I only have two right now, but if you let me keep one, I’ll quickly win and bring it back.”

“Hmm.”

“I, Wang Jongyeop! I’m a pretty decent guy! Please trust me.”

Seeing me look like I’m pondering, the man named Wang Jongyeop thumps his chest loudly.

“Should I? But in that case, I’d have to take one more, what should I do?”

“O-one more?”

“If it’s too hard, I can restore you for free.”

I raise my fist and spin it in the air, causing the man to panic.

“Gasp! No, no! Just wait a moment, I’ll win and bring it back quickly.”

“I’ll trust you. If you run away, I’ll chase you to the ends of hell.”

“O-of course… If I run away after being treated by Shin Yi, I wouldn’t be able to live with my honor.”

People who throw their lives away for honor, what can I say?

“Then hurry up and go. And spread the word that there’s a skilled healer here.”

“Yes!”

*Bang!*

The man, after a fist greeting, turns around and walks away with heavy steps.

“Customer, if you get hurt while fighting, come back again!”

I wave at the man, and he lightly bows his head before walking away with a determined expression.

—

Now that the auto mechanism is complete, all I have to do is wait.

“Auto-hunting is great.”

“Great!”

“It’s awesome!”