Chapter 872: Now He Would Carry a Notorious Reputation for Thirty More Years

Insect Doctor was deeply moved.

The meaning behind “now it could be attempted” was that he had been thinking about her illness all along.

On those nights when the pain was too severe to sleep, the Young Cult Leader before her must have been worrying about her somewhere.

A deep sense of gratitude filled Insect Doctor’s gaze as she looked at Geom Mugeuk.

“I appreciate the concern, but my illness cannot be cured.”

She had spent her entire life searching for and studying rare poisonous insects.

In that process, she had been poisoned by extreme toxins multiple times, and her body had been ruined. Ordinary medicine no longer worked on her, so she had barely managed to endure by using poison to counter poison.

“Please leave it to me just once.”

The look in Jin Hagun’s eyes as he gazed at Geom Mugeuk went beyond surprise; it held genuine respect. It was a moment that made him realize once more how deeply Geom Mugeuk valued the bonds he forged.

“There’s no need to trouble yourself trying to treat this old body. It’s already completely ruined anyway.”

At that moment, Pyo Gigwang rushed over and grabbed her.

“Master. At times like this, you’re supposed to say, ‘Alright, this body’s already ruined, so do as you please.’”

“You brat, let go.”

“Being stubborn in old age is what makes the young ones work harder. Now, hurry inside.”

“I said let go.”

Pyo Gigwang forcibly dragged her into the room.

Geom Mugeuk followed behind and said to his companions,

“This will take some time.”

Bih Sa-in nodded.

“Take your time and do it properly.”

He too understood why Geom Mugeuk had come here and thought, ‘As expected!’ It might have seemed like nothing more than coming to keep a promise.

But Bih Sa-in saw it differently. He believed Geom Mugeuk had brought them all the way here because he wanted to say this:

Not for honor, but out of sincere devotion to another. To keep every promise once made, and to live by those promises for the rest of one’s life.

Geom Mugeuk entered the room where the Insect Doctor had gone.

Even inside, the Insect Doctor was still arguing with Pyo Gigwang.

“I told you I’m fine. I know my own body best.”

“Have you ever seen a monk shave his own head? Even a physician must seek another physician when they’re ill. Just sit down first.”

“I said I’m fine.”

Reluctantly, the Insect Doctor sat down on the bed.

After seating her, Pyo Gigwang asked Geom Mugeuk,

“Do you need anything?”

Though he didn’t say it aloud, the desperation of this elderly disciple was evident in his eyes.

“It’s fine.”

“If you need anything at all, call me. I’ll be waiting outside the door.”

Before leaving, he whispered into her ear,

“Don’t be stubborn for no reason. Just do exactly as the Young Cult Leader says!”

Once he left, the Insect Doctor shook her head.

“If you’re going to bring a disciple, you should bring a young one. That one nags more than I do.”

“These days, young ones are terrified of poisonous insects. Think of that old one as the youngest.”

The Insect Doctor smiled faintly, then spoke with a serious expression.

“Young Cult Leader.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“There’s no need to push yourself. I mean that sincerely.”

She said it because she knew how difficult it would be to heal her body.

“As I told you, the poisons inside me are being suppressed by other poisons. Over time, I built resistance, so I had to use even stronger poisons. But those poisons became entangled with each other and turned into a complete mess. I’ve reached a dangerous state where even the slightest disturbance could cause everything to explode. No matter how capable you are, you won’t be able to handle it. So just go out, say you tried but failed, and let’s just talk for a while before you leave.”

It seemed she had been dragged in here against her will from the start.

“If even the slightest touch would make it explode… then I just need to touch it even more lightly.”

Compared to when he had first made the promise to her, Geom Mugeuk’s martial attainment had risen beyond comparison, and the Internal Energy imbued with the profound energy of the Six-Origin Energies had become incomparably pure.

“Yes, I know very well how outstanding you are. But even so, it’s impossible.”

The Insect Doctor explained why.

“Even if my body could somehow endure the treatment process, it cannot be done alone. Separating the clumped poisons is already impossible, but even if you somehow managed it, you would have to expel both poisons from the body instantly. No one can handle both tasks simultaneously on their own.”

In other words, two people were needed.

After a moment of thought, Geom Mugeuk said something unexpected.

“I’ll need to call an assistant.”

Since it sounded like he intended to call one of the companions outside, Insect Doctor shook her head as if it were absurd.

“They cannot withstand the poison within my body. Do you want to see your heart constantly massaging their shoulders and legs at such a young age?”

Geom Mugeuk was immune to all poisons, but others were not.

At that moment, astonishing words left Geom Mugeuk’s mouth.

“There is someone. One more person who can endure that poison.”

“!”

The Insect Doctor’s eyes widened in shock.

“My assistant is unaffected by poison.”

Her eyes grew even wider.

“Is there another person immune to all poisons besides you?”

She had used materials gathered over a lifetime to create someone like that—yet there was another such miraculous encounter?

“You’ll see. Just don’t be too surprised.”

Even with the warning, she could not help but be shocked.

“Gasp!”

The Insect Doctor’s eyes widened. A sight beyond mere surprise unfolded before her.

Behind Geom Mugeuk stood a presence. It had appeared soundlessly at some point. It was none other than the Heavenly Demon Spirit, descended in human-sized form.

“Relax your eyes! He’s someone important!”

Geom Mugeuk lightened the mood with a joke. Even reduced to human size, the presence emitted by the Heavenly Demon Spirit was not something a person could easily endure.

“This is the Heavenly Demon Spirit manifested from my martial art. It’s a being that no poison can affect.”

It was the Heavenly Demon Spirit she had only heard about in stories.

“I heard it was enormous.”

“It usually is, but looking up at it to chat gives me a sore neck.”

Geom Mugeuk turned to the Heavenly Demon Spirit.

“My friend, I need your help.”

The Heavenly Demon Spirit, who had been staring at Geom Mugeuk, gave a slight nod.

Seeing that, Insect Doctor was even more astonished. He was communicating with a being born from martial arts.

Geom Mugeuk spoke honestly.

“To be honest, this is my first time attempting this kind of treatment with the Heavenly Demon Spirit, so I cannot be completely certain.”

He looked at his Heavenly Demon Spirit.

“But with my Heavenly Demon Spirit, I think we can succeed.”

From time to time, Geom Mugeuk would use the Heavenly Time Secret Art and spend time with the Heavenly Demon Spirit by the seaside.

They would simply sit and watch the waves, feeling the sea breeze, but he gradually felt himself growing closer to it. He could clearly sense its emotions and its potential.

“What do you think? Will you entrust it to me... or rather, to us?”

The Insect Doctor did not hesitate long.

He had even summoned the Heavenly Demon Spirit to treat her. If her connection with this Young Cult Leader truly ran this deep...

Looking at Geom Mugeuk, the Insect Doctor gave her permission.

“Very well. Even a physician must seek another physician when they’re ill.”

Delighted, Geom Mugeuk seated her in the center of the bed.

“Now, please sit comfortably here.”

Insect Doctor sat cross-legged.

“It will be difficult if you remain conscious. Please take a short rest.”

She nodded and followed his instructions. Even if she were to die like this, the last thing she would see would be the very being she had long yearned for, someone immune to all poisons.

Yes, there could be nothing better.

Geom Mugeuk pressed her acupoint and put her to sleep, then said to the Heavenly Demon Spirit,

“Now, the two of us will extract every bit of poison from her body. Do exactly as I say.”

The Heavenly Demon Spirit gave a reassuring look. With it, he felt confident he could succeed.

Geom Mugeuk sat behind Insect Doctor and placed his palm on her back.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit sat in front of her and placed its palm on her chest.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

First, a strand of Geom Mugeuk’s internal force flowed into her body. Slowly, he examined her interior. As expected, her meridians were severely damaged.

‘This won’t do.’

His internal force gently wrapped around the meridians, protecting and stabilizing them first. Like reinforcing a collapsing dam, he layered his energy over her meridians.

As he carefully soothed her internal state, he was able to locate the poison deep within her meridians.

‘Here it is.’

The poison was clumped together. Just as she had said, multiple poisons had accumulated and tangled together into a single massive mass.

Geom Mugeuk cautiously approached the poison. If he disturbed it incorrectly and triggered a reaction, it would all be over.

Slowly, very slowly, he examined it.

As she had said, the poison was divided into two major parts.

However, they were tangled together like a spider’s web, making separation far from easy.

They were too large to be moved as they were.

‘We have to untangle them and split them into two pieces.’

Geom Mugeuk sent a signal to the Heavenly Demon Spirit waiting on standby.

—Now it’s your turn to help.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit infused a strand of internal force. He had only recently discovered that it could even use internal force. Whether it had always been capable of it or his Heavenly Demon Spirit was special, he did not know, but just like him, it could manipulate its internal force with precision.

As the Heavenly Demon Spirit’s energy reached the poison, Geom Mugeuk began in earnest to separate the entangled toxins. His internal force moved like the hands of a living person.

To untangle poisons intertwined solely through internal qi was something that could never be achieved without a level of martial attainment comparable to Geom Mugeuk’s.

The Heavenly Demon Spirit assisted in the process. Born from Geom Mugeuk himself, it instinctively understood what its master wanted without needing words. At this moment, it was the finest assistant in the world.

Just as only true masters could embody the art of patience, Geom Mugeuk worked so slowly that one might question when he even intended to finish the treatment.

Whenever poison tried to burst into the meridians during the process, the Heavenly Demon Spirit’s energy wrapped around it and calmed it again.

Geom Mugeuk was truly the physician, and the Heavenly Demon Spirit fulfilled the role of his assistant.

He could now understand why the Insect Doctor had been unable to remove the poison. Countless unknown toxins were tangled together, making it impossible to even determine where to begin.

Yet Geom Mugeuk calmly unraveled each knot, one by one. He had spent an entire lifetime searching for the materials needed for the Great Regression Technique. No matter how tangled it might be, could it truly be more difficult to unravel than the life he had lived before his regression?

Thus, one shijin passed, then two. Time continued to flow, yet Geom Mugeuk’s concentration remained unchanged.

As he began to unravel the final entanglement, he conveyed to the Heavenly Demon Spirit:

—Now, get ready.

They had reached the most critical moment of today’s treatment.

At the end of the delicate manipulation of internal force, the moment the entangled poison was completely separated,

Geom Mugeuk and the Heavenly Demon Spirit instantly wrapped the poisons in their internal force and began moving them along opposite meridians.

—We have to extract them before they run wild.

As soon as the entangled poisons separated, both the suppressing poison and the suppressed poison began to go berserk. The opposing forces of suppression and sudden release activated at once.

Their internal forces enveloped the toxins and carried them as quickly as possible toward the meridians connected to their palms.

“Ugh!”

A short cry escaped from the Insect Doctor’s lips. Even in sleep, she seemed to feel the poison swelling, on the verge of bursting.

—Just a little faster!

The poison expanded within the meridians, moments away from exploding.

Swoosh.

At that instant, the half of the poison reached Geom Mugeuk’s palm and was drawn in.

Just as it tried to spread in all directions,

Fwoosh!

Geom Mugeuk burned it instantly with Samadhi True Fire.

And it was not just one flame.

Fwoosh!

The poison on the Heavenly Demon Spirit’s palm also vanished in flames.

It too had successfully expelled the poison from the body before it could erupt.

“Huu…”

A sigh of relief escaped him. It had truly been a razor-thin success.

Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude.

“I couldn’t have done it without you. Thank you, my friend.”

A faint smile seemed to appear on the Heavenly Demon Spirit’s lips before it vanished silently.

Geom Mugeuk injected internal force once more to examine the Insect Doctor’s body, and only after confirming that not a trace of poison remained did he wake her.

The Insect Doctor slowly opened her eyes. Her gaze was completely different from before the treatment.

“I lived.”

It was not just that she had survived. She could feel that the dreadful poison that had dominated her body was completely gone.

With the poison gone, the agonizing pain that had felt like her entire body was melting away disappeared as well.

She could not even remember the last time her body had been free of such pain.

“You did it.”

Her voice trembled as much as her eyes.

“It wasn’t me. It was the Insect Doctor.”

“Me?”

“If you hadn’t given me the opportunity to become immune to all poisons, this treatment wouldn’t have been possible today.”

Without a word, the Insect Doctor grabbed his hand. This frail hand would no longer need to massage shoulders and legs.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t treat you sooner.”

Her grip tightened, her face overflowing with irrepressible joy and emotion.

“Now, you’ll be able to spread your notorious reputation for another thirty years.”

When the two of them came out, everyone was waiting outside.

The moment Pyo Gigwang saw the Insect Doctor, tears filled his eyes. Just from the way she walked, he could tell the treatment had succeeded.

“Master!”

He burst into tears. The sight of him bowing his head and crying showed just how much he cared for her.

Looking at her disciple, Insect Doctor spoke mischievously.

“You brat, you still have to massage me every morning.”

Pyo Gigwang wiped his tears with his sleeve.

“Then promise me this. You’ll at least drink a cup of water first.”

Jin Hagun, Bih Sa-in, Lee Ahn, Jin Haryeong, and Han Seol all looked at Geom Mugeuk. The fact that it had taken so long meant just how difficult the treatment had been.

Yet as always, Geom Mugeuk had accomplished the impossible.

“I’m starving. You guys didn’t eat without me, did you?”

As always, he made a ridiculous remark, and everyone broke into bright smiles.

“You’re hungry, right?”

The Insect Doctor swung the arm she hadn’t even been able to lift before.

“You shouldn’t be moving like that yet.”

“What do you mean, I shouldn’t? Just wait here. I’ll cook for you myself.”

At that, Geom Mugeuk said something that struck the others like a bolt from the blue.

“Does that mean we finally get to taste your insect cuisine?”

He had tried it once before, back when he received the all-poison immunity.

Grinning at the thought of teasing his friends, he added,

“It looks disgusting, but it tastes pretty good.”

Not only the women, but even Jin Hagun and Bih Sa-in were startled. It had to be a joke… right? If she really served it, they couldn’t refuse out of courtesy!

At that moment, the Insect Doctor shook her head.

“That’s not happening.”

“Huh?”

She had once torn apart poisonous insects and eaten them raw due to her suffering.

“With such honored guests here, why would I make you eat bugs? Gigwang, go and buy every ingredient you can find. Beef, pork, chicken, seafood... buy everything! Today, I’ll prepare a feast of delicacies from both land and sea!”

Everyone felt relieved, except Geom Mugeuk, who shouted in disbelief.

“You fed them to me though!”

“I didn’t think you’d actually eat them just because I told you to.”

Turning to the others, Insect Doctor said,

“Wait here. I’ll make you something delicious.”

“Yes! We’re looking forward to it, Insect Doctor!”

As everyone smiled warmly, Geom Mugeuk shouted,

“You said you can’t understand life unless you’ve eaten poisonous insects!”

The Insect Doctor walked off with a disgusted expression.

“Who even eats bugs these days?”