At last, Jaseong cut down one of the great enemies.
But he could not remain lost in reminiscence forever.
Looking around, he took in the scene of devastation.
His master, the Eternal Divine Physician, lay collapsed, drenched in blood, and nearby, Lee Rin, Gu Janghu, and the law enforcers from the Northern Sea were sprawled unconscious.
It was the aftermath of being swept away by the overwhelming might of Zhong Yeob, the sect leader of Zhongnan.
Jaseong quickly approached his master, the Eternal Divine Physician, and his companions.
Just as he had been taught, he swiftly tapped the block acupuncture points—papapap!—to stem the bleeding, stabilize the ridians, and set the blood pathways right.
The first to open their eyes was the Eternal Divine Physician.
"... Jaseong."
"Master! Are you awake?!"
Despite Jaseong's urgent cry, the master's pupils were cloudy.
He painfully turned his head to look down at his own body.
He then saw the body of Zhong Yeob lying not far away, and his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Did you... did you really defeat that old monster...?"
"Let's save the talk for later. Right now, your condition is the most critical."
It was just as Jaseong said.
A massive hole pierced the center of the master's solar plexus—where Zhong Yeob's Seven Stars Sword had gone through.
His blood vessels were already shattered, and even the cardinal vein to the heart was severed.
'... There's no hope.'
The Eternal Divine Physician bitterly smiled, coughing up—ulk!—blood.
Renowned as the finest physician under Heaven, he knew his condition better than anyone.
The spark of his life was already fading.
No dical technique nor elixir could save this body now.
'... Still, the reason I opened my eyes... must be Heaven's will, to let fulfill my last duty as a physician...'
The master's gaze moved to Jaseong's fallen companions.
Lee Rin was coughing up blood—ulk! Gu Janghu had fainted from having his ribs broken in succession.
The law enforcers from the Northern Sea hovered on the verge of death as well.
'... I must save them.'
With fading consciousness, the Eternal Divine Physician clung to awareness.
He summoned every last bit of internal energy left in his body, scraping up even a handful.
Wooooong—
A faint but sacred white glow rose from both hands of the master.
It was not internal energy.
It was his final spark as a physician, created by burning up his own lifespan.
"Master...? What are you trying to do?"
"Don't look away―watch closely. This is the last dical art I will show you as your teacher."
Shushushushu!
Dozens of silver needles shot from the master's hand.
The arcane art of the Heavenly Physician's Needle Technique: All Streams Return to the Source.
This was an acupuncture technique that infused one's vitality into the silver needles, breathing it into others.
Saaaaa—
Where the needles struck, white energy seeped in.
In that instant, Lee Rin's internal injuries healed as if by miracle, Gu Janghu's shattered ribs returned to their places, and the color gradually returned to the law enforcers' waxen faces.
It was indeed a level of dical art worthy of being called divine physician.
But the price was severe.
"Krrhk!"
The Eternal Divine Physician coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
His white hair instantly lost its luster and turned coarse, his wrinkled skin shriveled like a withered skeleton.
To save Jaseong's companions, he had poured out all his remaining lifespan.
"Master...!"
Jaseong's voice trembled.
He reached for the master's case of silver needles, trying to treat him.
But the master raised a feeble hand to stop Jaseong.
"It's fine... It's all over now..."
The master's voice was as precarious as a candle fla in the wind.
"Thank you, disciple. Thanks to you, I managed to erase that hypocrite Zhong Yeob from the martial world, so my old life was not in vain..."
"Please stop talking. The bleeding won't stop."
"Cease... it can't be helped. This body has passed the point of no return... To have awoken and shared these final words with you is a blessing in itself..."
With a feeble smile, he looked up at Jaseong.
His gaze was so peaceful and warm that it was hard to believe he was a man standing at death's door.
"In truth, I saw it... the look in your eyes that day you faced Zhong Yeob."
"......!"
"That ti... there was a ferocious anger and murderous intent swirling in your eyes that you couldn't hide."
Jaseong could not utter a word.
The Eternal Divine Physician lifted his bloodstained hand and caressed Jaseong's cheek.
"Jaseong. Soday you will shake the world as a martial expert. But... never use that strength the way those hypocrites do."
"......"
"Don't beco an villain. Use your sword... not for cutting people down, but to save lives. For those who groan in lowly places... Jaseong. You have a goodness inside you that even you don't know..."
Jaseong felt his chest tighten unexpectedly.
It had only been a few short months, but the Eternal Divine Physician had been the first master he had t since entering the martial world.
Rustle—
For the last ti, the master pulled two items from his robe.
One was the treatise on dicine he had written over a lifeti, the Eternal dical Sutra.
The other was a manual recording the mnemonic formulas of the secret art, the Heavenly Physician's Needle Technique.
"Take them... These are... the last teachings I can give you..."
With trembling hands, Jaseong received these relics.
The heavy weight of the books felt like his master's heart.
"With these... you can prove to the orthodox factions that you are my legitimate successor... Please... bring peace to this troubled martial world..."
With those final words, the Eternal Divine Physician's head slumped down.
He was called the divine physician in the martial world for a hundred years, treating countless people with dicine.
In a martial arts world full of hypocrisy and evil, the only true righteous man now passed from the world.
* * *
Afterward.
The sun was setting in Zhongnan Mountain.
Though the woods were ablaze with red light, the air before the thatched cottage was heavy and cold.
In silence, Jaseong dug the earth.
With his bare hands, he cleared away the rough dirt and stones, preparing a place for his master to rest.
Lee Rin, Gu Janghu, and the Northern Sea law enforcers also helped quietly.
They found the flattest and finest stone in the area and set it up as a tombstone.
Unsheathing his sword, Jaseong carved words into the stone.
Stroke by stroke, he poured his deepest mourning and respect into each letter.
[The Grave of the Divine Physician, the Eternal Divine Physician]
Standing before the tombstone, Jaseong took out a small gourd from his breast.
It was the cheap bamboo leaf liquor that the Eternal Divine Physician had always enjoyed.
"... May you be at peace there."
Jaseong poured the liquor over the grave.
The sharp scent of the liquor mixed with the sll of earth and scattered into the air.
"Hnghh... Master..."
Lee Rin sobbed beside Jaseong.
She, too, had learned dicine under the Eternal Divine Physician.
And like Jaseong, he had been the first master she had gained since entering the martial world.
That was why parting with him was especially sorrowful.
"... Lee Rin. Let's give our respects and go."
"Sniff... Yes, great hero."
At last, Jaseong and Lee Rin knelt side by side and bowed toward the grave of the Eternal Divine Physician.
Then they began their descent from Zhongnan Mountain.
Gu Janghu and the Northern Sea law enforcers had gone ahead to scout the area.
Perhaps the Zhongnan Taoists would soon be swarming here.
With the sect leader of Zhongnan gone missing, all will soon wonder at his whereabouts.
Before long, they would discover traces of the battle on the mountainside and even find the sect leader's corpse.
This would an waging war against Zhongnan.
With bodies yet to recover from injury.
So they had to get away from Zhongnan Mountain before then.
But while Jaseong and Lee Rin were going down the mountain—
—Executor of Heaven's Mandate, for having vanquished one listed on the Celestial Realm's Kill List, receive your reward....
Suddenly, ti stopped.
An imposing yet familiar voice rang in Jaseong's ears.
It was the voice of the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin.
'... The Kill List?'
Chwarrrrk!
A translucent scroll unfurled before Jaseong's eyes.
It was the Celestial Realm's Kill List, visible only to executors of Heaven's Mandate.
〈Celestial Realm Kill List〉
[Alliance Leader of the Murim Alliance, Namgung Cheon-rui]
[Thirteenth Heavenly Demon, Dokgo Hyun]
[Head of the Murong Clan, Murong Cheolsan]
[Sect leader of Zhongnan, Zhong Yeob]
[Head of the Hebei Peng Clan, Peng Yun-ho]
.
.
.
[Blood Demon, Chu Hyul-gwang]
This was the very list he had seen when he first t the Sword Immortal Lü Dongbin in the cave, before becoming an executor of Heaven's Mandate.
At the sight of this list, Jaseong recalled his conversation with Lü Dongbin.
—These days, there are many immortals in the Celestial Realm who were once human, like myself, having ascended from the mortal realm. Most likely, this is thanks to the shocking developnt of martial arts in the human world...
—Among them are immortals who, just as in the world, continue to pursue strength with boundless greed.
—First Heavenly Demon, four Heavenly Demons, seven Heavenly Demons... There are three just among the Heavenly Demons,
—And besides that, there are countless others: the sect leader of Mount Hua, the abbot of Shaolin Temple, the Sword God of the Namgung Clan, and so on.
—These self-proclaid 'best of the Celestial Realm' have been waging endless battles, plunging the Celestial Realm into chaos.
—So, immortals of like mind and I have reached this decision.
—To keep these greedy mortals, drunk on power, from crossing over to the Celestial Realm, we must cut them down while they are still in the human world.
—The martial experts listed in this register are spirits of evil, who will do anything for power.
—Therefore, take their souls. Leave none behind.
"... That's right. This Kill List is the final Heaven's Mandate that the executor must fulfill."
But the mont Jaseong recalled his conversation with Lü Dongbin, a sudden change rippled through the celestial Kill List.
Saaa—
Among the nas on the list, the words [Sect leader of Zhongnan, Xuanxu Sword Immortal, Zhong Yeob] began to fade and blur.
Just like burning paper, the words turned to ash and vanished completely from the list.
'... Zhong Yeob has disappeared from the Kill List.'
A tremor ran through Jaseong's eyes.
Since becoming an executor of Heaven's Mandate, this was the first ti he had eliminated one of the colossal figures nad on the Kill List.
Accordingly, the reward was unlike before.
Rumble—Boom!
Ti, which had stopped, returned to normal.
Then suddenly thunder rumbled across the clear sky.
The heavens above Zhongnan Mountain split as if being torn open, pouring down a blinding golden radiance.
"Wh-what?! Great hero! What is that?!"
Lee Rin shouted in surprise.
Unlike with the Heaven Evading Way's manuals, this phenonon was visible to everyone, not just Jaseong.
KWAANG!
From amidst the streams of light, a trendous roar echoed forth.
The roar was massive and overpowering, shaking the very earth.
In that instant, Jaseong's eyes trembled.
'This is unlike any ordinary beast's roar. And this energy... Could it be a spirit beast?'
Sensing the mysterious energy within the light, that term leapt unbidden into Jaseong's mind.
Spirit beast.
The mysterious creatures said to serve immortals in the Celestial Realm.
Among them, those of even higher rank—the divine beasts—wielded powers like natural disasters.
The divine beast that Lü Dongbin commanded, the Night Cat Celestial Spirit, was one of these.
'They said I'd be rewarded for vanquishing one listed on the celestial Kill List, but to be greeted by a spirit beast's roar... Could the reward be a spirit beast...?'
Jaseong was dumbstruck.
Up to now, his celestial rewards had always been secrets of the Heaven Evading Way's martial arts.
But never anything other than martial arts.
Saaa—
After a mont, the golden radiance gradually subsided, and a being appeared within.
In that instant—
"...?"
Jaseong's pupils filled with wonder.
The spirit beast that had co to him was both trendously famous, and at the sa ti, wholly unexpected.
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