What I had managed to obtain through a bit of stubborn insistence was a sparring bout with the Demonic Physician.
However, this was, after all, merely a request, so it was contingent on the Beast Palace Lord's mediation and the Demonic Physician's acceptance.
Fortunately, the Demonic Physician accepted my proposal, and before long, a date was set and we gathered at the training ground.
"It's a pleasure. So you're the White Moon Sword Lord who's been making quite a name for yourself lately?"
"…?"
The moment I saw the Demonic Physician standing across from me, I realized something was off.
In my memory, the Demonic Physician was definitely an old man. A white-haired elder to whom the title of a master of the previous generation suited perfectly.
But the Demonic Physician before me was completely different from the one in my memory.
His hunched back had straightened, making him appear nearly as tall as I was. His white hair had regained half its black color, and the beard that once reached his chest had been neatly trimmed.
Unlike his previous gaunt frame, the muscles bulging beneath his clothes made it clear he was a properly trained martial artist.
I wondered if he might be someone else entirely, not the Demonic Physician, and studied him carefully… but the traces of the Demonic Physician were unmistakable in his features.
Of course. I was one of the people who had personally hunted down the Demonic Physician before my regression—how could I fail to recognize him?
Above all, there was the Demonic Physician's unique martial art, which combined demonic arts with medicine. That strange Aura, impossible to forget once experienced, radiated from the man before me.
"Are you… the Demonic Physician?"
"Heh heh. To hear that old alias from a young martial artist like the White Moon Sword Lord—it stirs quite a bit of nostalgia."
The Demonic Physician nodded with a kindly smile.
Only then did my frozen mind begin to turn, piecing together the situation.
His appearance was younger than the one in my memory. Yet his features were unchanged. Above all, his Aura was utterly impossible to gauge, as if he stood on a similar level.
Seeing that he had kept a middle-aged appearance rather than becoming completely young like Seomun Hwa-rin, he must have undergone Bone-Exchange Rebirth rather than Rejuvenation.
And that meant the Demonic Physician had risen beyond Transcendent Peak to the Harmony Realm.
"I'd heard you were a Transcendent Peak martial artist."
"Ah, that was on your mind? I had a small Fortuitous Encounter in my later years. Thanks to it, I've lived a bit longer and been able to treat more patients."
The Demonic Physician wore a benevolent smile that anyone would take for a true healer's. Not a trace of his madness remained.
A Fortuitous Encounter, is it.
Just like the Sword Demon, he must have been raised to the Harmony Realm by the Heavenly Demon's hand.
In that case, his realm was forcibly elevated, so he would fall short of being a true Harmony Realm martial artist.
Yet from the Demonic Physician before me, I felt none of the instability I'd sensed from the Sword Demon.
The Sword Demon had said his realm was raised through a Grand Ritual that ground up human lives. Had a different method been used for the Demonic Physician? Or perhaps the Grand Ritual had been perfected to a greater degree.
My mind was a tangle of questions, but the way to resolve them was simple.
Cross swords with him.
Originally, this was merely a pretext to smear a tracking poison on the Demonic Physician and bide my time for later.
No matter how one puts it, when two martial artists clash, there is bound to be something to learn.
I had meant it sincerely when I said that sparring was the easiest way for martial artists to understand one another.
"I apologize for setting things up like this, but I truly wished to request a sparring bout."
"Hm? Ah, you mean that talk about settling who is the better physician with our swords?"
The Demonic Physician laughed with evident delight at that.
"Heh heh. I am not young by any means, but this is the first time I have heard such a thing in my life, so it piqued my interest instead. Very well. I do not know what curiosity drives you to choose this old man as your sparring partner, but since things have come to this, I shall give it my all. …I, too, have many questions of my own."
"It is fortunate that our intentions align."
I nodded and made my way to the spot, drawing my sword. The Demonic Physician likewise stopped at an appropriate distance and assumed his stance.
One hand was extended with its fingertips sharpened as if grasping something, while the other hand was pulled back at shoulder height with the fist clenched.
It was a peculiar stance that could be seen as full of openings on one hand, yet aggressive on the other, but it was certainly a Fist and Leg Art.
However, having faced the Demonic Physician once before my regression, I knew well. That was no simple Fist and Leg Art.
The Beast Palace Lord, having confirmed that the Demonic Physician and I were both ready, spoke with a face that still showed disbelief.
"…Then let us begin the sparring bout to determine which of the Demonic Physician and Flying Butterfly Poison Peak is the more skilled physician worthy of treating me."
Tang So-wol was not a physician, and it was I, not Tang So-wol, who had come to this place, and in the first place, medical skill and martial art had nothing to do with each other.
His expression seemed to be itching to say such things, and the Beast Palace Lord's children who were observing this sparring bout, as well as my companions, wore similar expressions.
The Beast Palace Lord set aside his doubts and, with the help of Black Panther, took a large step backward as he spoke.
"Then… let us begin."
The moment the Beast Palace Lord finished speaking, I stomped hard against the ground.
Kwa-rung!
Energy burst explosively through Yongcheonhyeol. Using that force to propel my body forward, I closed the distance to the Sword Demon in an instant.
I did not mix in Gwiyeongbo, nor did I leave even the slightest leeway to change direction at any moment… it was a full-power Thunder Step meant solely to close the distance in the shortest possible time.
Yet the Sword Demon tracked my movements with his gaze to the very end, holding his ground without moving.
And then, the moment my sword, wrapped in white Aura, was swung.
"Hm."
With a short grunt, the Sword Demon's arm began to move.
Not toward my sword, but toward his own body.
Thump, thud-thud.
As if sealing acupoints, he rapidly stabbed his fingers into various spots on his own body, injecting his Aura.
At the same time, Protective Qi began erupting wildly from the Sword Demon's body.
What should have maintained a human form began to overflow like sodden mud.
It was a rather grotesque sight, but it was enough to push back my sword, which had been a mere moment away from carving into his chest.
KWA-GAGAGAK—!
I was pushed back a step by that immense surge of energy.
It was true that my sword strike had been relatively weak, focused as it was on speed, but I hadn't expected it to be blocked so cleanly.
Still, the demonic energy wasn't that of the Heavenly Demon himself, and inflating an already inefficient Protective Qi to such a degree would naturally consume a massive amount of Intent and internal energy.
It was a shame that my first move had returned without effect, but if I had forced that much expenditure, then the battle of attrition was in my favor.
This time, I properly focused my Intent into the sword. The compressed energy dyed the Black Iron sword white.
A white blade.
If this sword had been able to cut through even a sliver of the Heavenly Demon's energy, then it should easily pierce through that much.
It was the moment I swung my sword toward the mass of energy that had lost its human form and was flowing downward.
Whoosh!
The Aura that had suddenly burst forth began to contract into a single point.
What emerged from within was a demonic being wrapped in black Aura that clung to its entire body like mist.
It was common sense that energy released from the body could be maintained for a short while but would soon scatter.
Yet this demonic being was repeatedly absorbing most of the Aura it had released, returning it to its Dantian, and then releasing it again.
The current appearance, as if buried in clouds, must have been created by an endless cycle of Aura flowing into itself.
"Startlingly fast. Very well, then this time I shall show you something from my side."
With those words, a darkly shadowed fingertip swung toward my forearm.
A technique resembling a grappling art. But since I had seen this technique before my regression, I knew it well. That was not a grappling art meant to tear through flesh and split bone.
It was meant to shred the meridians hidden within, invisible to the eye, rather than the flesh itself.
Though she had reached the Harmony Realm, her fundamental martial art had not changed, it seemed.
Unlike the circulation of Aura that took place outside the body, this was a trajectory I was familiar with, so it was not difficult to deal with.
"Hup!"
Because its purpose was different, the fingers flew in a trajectory completely unlike most martial arts. I twisted my body solely to avoid it, widening the distance between us.
My stance collapsed in an instant. If I continued like this, I would fail to dodge the ensuing attack and allow an even more fatal blow.
Well. That was only if I were an ordinary person, of course.
A trace of disappointment flickered in the demon's eyes as he threw a punch with his other fist.
He seemed to have no intention of drawing blood in this sparring bout, for the fist shot toward a spot right beside my heart.
This too was not meant to shatter bones or burst flesh, but a type of penetrating force meant to turn the internal organs into pulp.
I had allowed only a single hit, yet recalling a former comrade who had collapsed vomiting blood from just one blow, I steadied my center of gravity… and thrust my sword straight out.
Pahang!
The sword tip and fist met. Yet there was no clash. The blazing white sword gently pierced through the demon's Aura and left a wound across his fingers.
The energy wave burst out belatedly from the impact. The dust that had lightly risen from the violent movement scattered in an instant, revealing the demon's startled expression.
"That… isn't that the Mystery of the Zhongnan Sect? And this sword, just what…"
"So it worked. I did hold back on the thrust… do you want to go again?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Since I've seen something good, I should show you something in return."
"By all means."
I answered casually, then widened the distance between us and swung my sword toward the empty air.
The space split apart, and a forced slash flew toward the demon, who had yet to fully regain his stance. Its power wasn't as great as cutting directly with the white sword, but it would be more than enough to keep him on the defensive.
But instead of retreating, the demon closed the distance.
The Aura that had been circulating around his body gathered to the front, taking the form of a melted iron plate.
Kraaack!
The demonic energy, oddly soft for something called Aura, split horizontally. In exchange, the sword strike I had unleashed also scattered with all its force spent.
This wasn't my first time seeing a Force Qi Skill, but among all the ones I had witnessed and experienced, this was a uniquely peculiar method of application.
And it didn't end there. The torn cross-section of the Aura bulged, then shot out dozens… perhaps even hundreds of needles.
Each one flew aimed at my acupoints. And because the Aura carried Intent, they twisted mid-air, correcting their trajectories slightly as they came.
Having lived in the Tang Clan and grown accustomed to hidden weapons, I could tell. This was an attack that could neither be fully dodged nor completely deflected.
Of course, that didn't mean I would simply take it lying down. This was a sparring bout, and none of the needles targeted vital points, but you never knew.
Even if that weren't the case, I had no desire to be hit.
"Haaah!"
I loosened the tightly compressed Sword Force, letting it stretch out long.
Like a brushstroke, the scenery along the arc of my swing turned white. The white ink covered most of my vision in the blink of an eye.
A sword barrier formed from Aura.
I had to squeeze it out in a hurry, costing me a great deal of Intent, but with my Protective Qi not being all that solid, I had no other choice.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The black needles didn't bounce off the sword barrier—they embedded themselves right into it. Just when I thought that was the end of it, the needles suddenly spun, burrowing deeper into the barrier before erupting in small explosions.
Boom!
The power was weak—it couldn't pierce through the barrier entirely, nor could the explosions shake it. But if I'd taken those hits with my body, the story would have been different.
Even with Protective Qi, I couldn't block it completely—if even a small explosion of energy occurred inside my body, my meridians would have been utterly ruined.
A martial art where each individual strike was weak, yet lethal if allowed through.
A chill ran down my spine, but I had blocked it, so it was fine. Just as I was about to continue with my next move—
Tap.
A faint footstep reached my ears. My body reacted before my mind. It was instinct honed through countless brushes with life and death.
Sure enough, through the scattered sword barrier, I saw a demonic martial artist closing in with Lightness Skill.
The demonic martial artist's hands—which had been using some technique I couldn't identify as either acupoint sealing or pressure-point strikes—began rapidly tapping their own acupoints.
What kind of signal was that? The Protective Qi that had started around their body, and the mist of energy that had been circulating around them like fog, now all began to converge into their fists.
It was a brutish output, as if all of his Aura had been concentrated into a single fist.
That couldn't be blocked carelessly.
My senses expanded in an instant. A clarity that began in the hand gripping the sword spread past my entire body and reached every place my energy touched.
And so, a heat haze rose above the White Moon Sword, which had been dyed so white it could no longer find its original form.
Formless Sword.
A formless enlightenment, gained from a place with no substance, was added to the blade.
At the same moment that my excessively focused Intent made it seem as if the scenery around me was distorting—
Swerk.
The demonic aura, which had swollen to the size of a house, was cleaved cleanly in two.
And the severed half, unlike before, was not reabsorbed by the demonic being—it dissolved into the air and vanished.
Staring blankly at his dispersing aura and at the sword once again pressed against the wound on his fist, the demonic being lowered his fist.
"I concede."
"It was a good sparring bout."
I sheathed my sword and offered a light fist-and-palm salute.
Leaving the dejected demonic being behind, I descended from the training ground, where my companions with sparkling eyes and Maeng Yu-baek came into view.
But despite the victory, my mind was anything but at ease.
That was only natural.
Despite being called demonic arts, no matter how many times we clashed, I couldn't sense even a hint of madness or vengeance from the demonic being.
The demonic being had… cast off the Simma on its own and ascended to the Harmony Realm.
Something had changed—too much, in fact.
So much so that I wondered if it had deviated from the Heavenly Demon's intentions.