CHAPTER 383: GAL DONG-TAK, DEMONIC ARTS (1)

Yi-gang and his group entered Sky Shattering Island.

Crossing the Divine Demon Bridge and entering Sky Shattering Island was not as difficult as expected.

There were people checking identification badges, but it was not as strict as the famous soldiers near the border.

Because they showed the identification badges of Death Blade and the wandering martial artists, Yi-gang’s group passed the inspection easily.

The Rectification Gang members who were waiting to intercept the reward were now buried deep underground.

Gal Dong-tak was a prisoner of Yi-gang’s group.

Originally, they would have taken him to High Spirit Palace to receive the reward, but Yi-gang had no need for that.

Yi-gang and his group quickly moved toward the center of Sky Shattering Island.

Various palaces and pavilions where the warriors of the main Demonic Cult were stationed stood atop the high mountains of Sky Shattering Island.

Below, the city formed around the waterfront appeared ordinary at first glance.

An ordinary city naturally had inns.

Although the group was not without money, they entered a very shabby inn.

Simply because it was the closest.

When the door swung open, the innkeeper peeked his head out from the kitchen.

“Who is it? The door’s about to break.”

This was Sky Shattering Island.

The innkeeper, who had run the inn for thirty years in a place where vicious demons roamed, was not afraid even at the sight of sword-wielding martial artists.

Even though one person was being dragged along.

“A room, the biggest one.”

“Our inn requires payment in advance.”

Yi-gang threw the room fee to the suddenly polite innkeeper.

The innkeeper quickly accepted it and smiled broadly. It was a large silver coin.

“Please rest comfortably! Go up the stairs to the room at the far right.”

Yi-gang and his group did not answer and hurried up the stairs.

The innkeeper stared blankly at the group going upstairs.

“…Did I see wrong?”

The faces of the wandering martial artists seemed to be wrinkling and melting away.

The innkeeper shrugged and returned to the kitchen.

“Phew, that was close.”

Dam Hyun collapsed onto the bed.

His face was no longer that of Ghost Sword.

The effect of the Mimicry Disguise Technique had worn off.

The same was true for Yi-gang and Go Yo-ja.

Their faces had now returned to their original state.

While crossing the desert and coming to Sky Shattering Island, they had almost used up all the ingredients for the medicinal decoction they had prepared.

Soon after entering Sky Shattering Island, their faces began to deteriorate rapidly.

As soon as they entered the inn, all three returned to their original faces.

“More importantly, we have a problem…”

They had entered Sky Shattering Island safely, but another problem arose.

The one they were dragging along, Gal Dong-tak, was the problem.

“I’ll go get some cold water.”

Go Yo-ja said so and left the room.

Gal Dong-tak lay in the middle of the room groaning in pain.

It was just yesterday. After dealing with the Rectification Gang warriors and about to leave for Sky Shattering Island, Gal Dong-tak staggered and collapsed.

They thought his legs had given out from long suffering.

Gal Dong-tak’s body was burning with fever.

When asked, it was said he had been in that state for several days already.

They thought he might have caught a cold from the rain.

“Ugh…”

A Supreme Peak Master and a cold. No matter how you look at it, the words didn’t fit.

It was something that shouldn’t happen normally.

Yi-gang wetted a towel with the cold water Go Yo-ja brought and placed it on Gal Dong-tak’s forehead.

Gal Dong-tak’s poor condition had been evident for quite some time.

He originally had an enormous physique, not just big but also well-padded with flesh.

At first, they thought he was a great eater, but even when he couldn’t eat much, his size remained.

But on the way to Sky Shattering Island, he became thin.

Yes, he became thin.

Gal Dong-tak’s weight probably dropped to less than half. It was as if two women had disappeared from his body.

“But he does look much better than before, doesn’t he?”

Gal Dong-tak, who had been called ‘Zhu Bajie’ several times by Tsering, looked much more refined.

“As they say, you have to peel it to know.”

“What do you mean by peeling, to a person?”

“It’s a compliment, a compliment.”

Dam Hyun said that and checked Gal Dong-tak’s pulse.

Then he frowned.

“Anyway, we can’t immediately go in to find your younger sibling and the others who were captured. Let’s wait just one day first.”

Yi-gang nodded at Dam Hyun’s words.

At that moment, Gal Dong-tak painfully opened his eyes.

Then he gave an awkward smile.

“…Sorry, because of me.”

Yi-gang shook his head.

Even if Gal Dong-tak was wasting time, who would blame him?

Gal Dong-tak had suffered the most on this journey.

Because of the kidnapping setup, his arms were tied behind his back as he kept walking.

The Green Blood Demonic Art he had learned caused his complexion to turn blue and hair to stand up when he circulated his energy.

Because of that obvious trait, he couldn’t even circulate his energy.

“No, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

Yi-gang said that sincerely.

Gal Dong-tak looked bitter but closed his eyes again.

Yi-gang sighed quietly so Gal Dong-tak wouldn’t hear.

He had thought of him to just be a foolish son of the Green Forest Alliance leader with a bad temper.

Until they first met, he thought that was true, but now he could never say that.

It was Gal Dong-tak who cared for the sick and dying Divine Monk and also looked after Tsering, the girl with nowhere to go.

It was the same on this trip to the Demon Cult.

Although the kidnapping in Sky Shattering Island was Yi-gang and Go Yo-ja’s problem, Gal Dong-tak headed into the deadly situation.

“Please wait.”

Yi-gang and his group rested for a day and gathered information.

They gave Gal Dong-tak a medicinal decoction to replenish his energy, hoping he would recover after sleep.

But that did not happen.

That dawn, Yi-gang woke up because of screams.

“Aaaah!”

Gal Dong-tak was screaming terribly.

Yi-gang jumped up and lit the lamp using True Samadhi Fire.

Go Yo-ja and Dam Hyun were also up.

Causing a commotion while infiltrating was not good.

Still, Gal Dong-tak screamed like this because the pain was severe.

Indeed, his condition was bad.

Gal Dong-tak’s face was flushed bright red.

His eyes rolled back, and veins bulged on his face and neck.

Dam Hyun’s expression stiffened.

This could not be a simple cold.

Dam Hyun was startled after rechecking the pulse.

“The energy and blood are completely tangled. This is…”

Gal Dong-tak’s symptoms were clear.

Any martial artist would always be wary and afraid of this.

“…It’s Qi Deviation.”

Qi Deviation (走火入魔).

A symptom experienced when one deeply practices internal Qi cultivation and receives external shock or falls to their inner demon..

If lucky, it ends with internal injury, but it often leads to death or becoming a cripple.

“Qi Deviation? How? Suddenly?”

“Why on earth…”

Yi-gang and Go Yo-ja were equally bewildered.

To fall into Qi Deviation while sleeping was absurd.

“How would I know!”

Gal Dong-tak trembled and convulsed.

That seemed more dangerous, so Dam Hyun tried to press his paralyzing and mute acupoints.

But the tangled energy made the acupoints unresponsive.

“Hold his limbs!”

Go Yo-ja grabbed Gal Dong-tak’s feet, and Yi-gang held his arms.

Dam Hyun loosened Gal Dong-tak’s upper garment and placed his palm on the hollow above the sternum.

He attempted to inject energy directly into the Tiantu acupoint above the Ren meridian.

Soon Dam Hyun’s face hardened.

Because Gal Dong-tak’s condition was very serious.

The stored internal energy was rampaging through the eight extraordinary meridians.

Even the medical skills learned from Golden Needle Phantom were helpless.

Though reluctant to admit it, Dam Hyun said reluctantly.

“…He’s going to die soon.”

No matter how you looked at it, that was true.

They couldn’t control the rampaging energy through realigning his energy pathways.

If they tried, the practitioner’s energy would also be disturbed and become dangerous.

“What did you say!”

Go Yo-ja was shocked.

He was going to die? Why would Gal Dong-tak, the son of the Green Forest Alliance leader and a Supreme Master, suddenly die?

If true, it was extremely sudden.

Not dying from a sword wound but from Qi Deviation in his sleep.

“That can’t be, check the pulse again…!”

“I’m checking too…”

Go Yo-ja knew how fragile human life was.

Like the smiling disciple whose head he had patted but was beheaded by a Demon Cult martial artist the next day…

Yi-gang was equally shocked.

He shouted in his heart.

‘Sage!’

Yi-gang sought help from Zhang Sanfeng.

“Oh no… his condition is not good…”

But Zhang Sanfeng could do nothing.

If possession was possible, he could have helped with Qi cultivation, but his and Heavenly Demon’s souls were still trapped inside the Heavenly Demon talisman.

「You must be prepared.」

The only answer was that Gal Dong-tak was about to die.

Gal Dong-tak’s complexion turned bluish-green.

The blood vessels in his eyes burst and his hair stood on end.

‘Green Blood Demonic Art…’

Gal Dong-tak was said to have inherited the Green Blood Demonic Art from his father. This phenomenon was caused by the rampaging energy.

At that moment, Yi-gang’s face turned pale.

「Hmm.」

The Heavenly Demon, who had been silent until now, spoke.

As often, perhaps to mock Zhang Sanfeng and Yi-gang.

「Priest.」

The Heavenly Demon spoke to Yi-gang, not Zhang Sanfeng.

「Would you make a deal with me?」

‘…What?’

The Heavenly Demon neither mocked nor deceived Yi-gang.

It simply proposed a ‘deal’ in a calm tone.

「I will save that young bandit. But you must pay a price.」

「What are you saying, Zhao Guang!」

「It isn’t you that I’m speaking to. What do you say, Baek Yi-gang?」

The Heavenly Demon demanded an answer from Yi-gang.

Zhang Sanfeng suddenly got angry.

「If you try to deceive young priest with nonsense, I won’t stay silent!」

‘…What price do you want?’

But Yi-gang decided to listen first.

He somehow felt the Heavenly Demon was smiling.

「Nothing special. Just fulfill my request when the time comes.」

‘I cannot guarantee that.’

It was a request not worth considering.

Asking to fulfill a request later.

But the Heavenly Demon explained again.

「I don’t expect you to keep your promise. Just seriously consider my request when the time comes.」

‘Such a thing…’

It was too favorable a story for Yi-gang.

If it was unacceptable, he could refuse.

That made him suspicious and hesitant…

「You don’t have to trust me, but decide for yourself. Will you leave that guy to die because of suspicion?」

Yi-gang looked at Gal Dong-tak.

He was now gasping as if about to die.

‘…Very well.’

Yi-gang accepted the Heavenly Demon’s proposal.

Then the Heavenly Demon immediately gave instructions.

「Tilt his head back and pull out his tongue; it will be blue.」

Yi-gang quickly opened Gal Dong-tak’s mouth and pulled out his tongue.

Dam Hyun looked surprised but let Yi-gang proceed.

Gal Dong-tak’s tongue was indeed blue.

「Cut the tip of the tongue to draw blood. It is poisonous blood, so you must not allow him to swallow it.」

When the tip was cut, blue blood dripped.

The blood dripped onto Gal Dong-tak’s pillowcase.

Sizzle!

The cloth burned black and emitted a foul smell.

“Ah… his complexion is returning!”

Go Yo-ja exclaimed.

Gal Dong-tak’s complexion, once greenish, was turning reddish.

「It’s not over yet. Channel your energy into your fingertips and press the acupoints in the following order. Shaochong, Shaofu, Shenmen…」

The Heavenly Demon spoke continuously, and Yi-gang memorized the sequence perfectly.

But as Yi-gang was about to follow, he suddenly stopped his hand.

The method was strange.

Even when applying internal energy or realigning his energy pathways, it must follow the meridian flow.

But the order the Heavenly Demon gave was completely reversed.

‘Pressing acupoints like this will cause death.’

「Yes, originally, reverse acupoint techniques are used by demons.」

Although Gal Dong-tak belonged to an unorthodox sect and learned the Green Blood Demonic Art, it was not true demonic arts.

When one learns demonic arts, they risk becoming a demon or scattering evil demonic energy even if controlled.

There was no record of those who learned Green Blood Demonic Art becoming like that.

“What this bandit learned is true demonic arts. It’s called the Great Blood Demonic Art.”

The Heavenly Demon said something shocking.

Yi-gang shook his head and denied it.

‘That can’t be. Gal Dong-tak learned the Green Blood Demonic Art.’

“It’s probably a crude modification of the Great Blood Demonic Art. Don’t you know? It was I who created the Great Blood Demonic Art.”

Yi-gang’s eyes widened.

What he was saying was that what Gal Dong-tak learned was an actual demonic art from the Demon Cult, and even more, a great art created by the Heavenly Demon himself.

If true, it would shake the martial world.

“If you don’t hurry, he will die.”

That was true.

Yi-gang first tapped Gal Dong-tak’s acupoints in the reverse order as the Heavenly Demon said.

This was a method that would kill him instantly If he wasn’t a demon who practiced demonic arts.

On the contrary, Gal Dong-tak opened his eyes wide.