Chronicles of the Demonic Cult Conversion-Chapter 17 : Chapter 17

Chapter 17. The Rats of the Body-Fortifying Prescription
“What is it?”
Danmok Cheong asked Jin Yeong-in.
“I think I feel an ominous gaze from over there.”
“Pardon? Isn’t that too far to feel a gaze from?”
Danmok Cheong tilted his head as Jin Yeong-in pointed to the top of the pavilion.
The distance from Jin Yeong-in’s house to the towering pavilion in the opposite manor seemed to be at least twenty jang.
“Yes, well. That is true, but.”
Jin Yeong-in was at a loss, as there was no easy way to explain.
Right now, Jin Yeong-in had almost no internal energy, and his physical condition was not that good.
If a person who was practically a patient claimed to have felt a gaze from such a great distance, how many would believe him?
But Jin Yeong-in trusted his intuition.
‘I definitely felt it. The gaze of a predator eyeing its prey.’
Although he had almost no internal energy left, the characteristics of his Heavenly Demon’s Physique were becoming more and more prominent because of it.
So, it wouldn’t be strange for him to feel a gaze from twenty jang away.
Moreover, even though he was face to face with Danmok Cheong, the back of his head was tingling.
It was proof that the unpleasant gaze was still fixed on Jin Yeong-in.
“Just think of it as your imagination, and do not carelessly look that way.”
“Pardon? Are you saying it’s a place I dare not even look at?”
“That is the main house of the Sacred Blood Clan.”
“The one that is one of the Seven Demonic Families?”
“That is correct.”
The Seven Demonic Families.
The seven clans that currently formed the core ruling class of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Among them, the Sacred Blood Clan was said to be the most mysterious and dangerous clan of the Seven Demonic Families.
“Of course, since you, Young Master Jin, are a defector whose entry was personally approved by the Cult Leader, even the Sacred Blood Clan will not dare to touch you.”
“I see.”
“Still, there is always a one-in-a-million chance, so it would be best if you don’t pay it any mind so as not to get involved.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
Following Danmok Cheong’s advice, Jin Yeong-in decided to ignore the unpleasant gaze for the time being.
‘There’s no harm in being careful.’
Although the people who were indebted to his master had shown goodwill, he still couldn’t let his guard down.
This was the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
Was it not a place where the logic of the law of the jungle and the survival of the fittest strictly applied?
To survive in a place like this and climb to those high places, he would need to be prudent and careful in all matters.
***
The unpleasant gaze continued to follow Jin Yeong-in even after that.
As if he were under surveillance, whenever Jin Yeong-in loitered around his house, he would invariably experience a tingling sensation on the back of his head.
‘If I had my way, I’d like to storm in and ask them.’
Of course, if he did that, not even ten lives would be enough, so Jin Yeong-in tried his best to ignore the unpleasant gaze.
Meanwhile, even after that, the front of Jin Yeong-in’s house was never quiet.
Because the people who were indebted to the Divine Hero of the Azure Sky left gifts every day, Jin Yeong-in had to move the mountain of goods into his house every morning.
“Young Master Jin, we can no longer accept any more gifts. What should we do?”
Danmok Cheong looked troubled as he pointed to the gifts piled up in the courtyard.
So many gifts had come in that the granaries and warehouses were packed to the brim, leaving no choice but to stack them in the courtyard.
“I’ll have to post a notice on the main gate.”
On the spur of the moment, Jin Yeong-in wrote and posted a notice saying he would no longer accept gifts and would only accept their sentiment.
But it was not easy to resolve this situation with just that.
The gifts he had already received were like a mountain, and there was simply no place to put them.
“Are there poor people in the Divine Land as well?”
“Of course, there are.”
“Then let’s distribute the unnecessary goods and grains to the poor people.”
“Pardon?”
“The grain alone looks like it could last for several years, so what’s the point of letting it sit? It will only attract rice weevils and rats.”
“But……”
“There’s no suitable place to store it anyway, and I can’t sell it because it feels like I’m ignoring their sincerity. So, wouldn’t it be better to use it to help those in need?”
“You are truly Great Hero Jang’s disciple, Young Master Jin. Understood. I will do so.”
Danmok Cheong clicked his tongue at Jin Yeong-in’s words and nodded.
In the end, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult was also a place where people lived, so helping those in need was by no means something to be faulted for.
Especially if it was helping ordinary people who had not learned martial arts, unlike warriors.
The problem was that the number of gifts coming in did not decrease even after that day.
Far from decreasing, it actually increased day by day.
As time passed, the rumor that Jin Yeong-in had defected spread even wider, and the number of people bringing gifts increased.
Thanks to this, Danmok Cheong had to spend his days busy, running here and there all day long to distribute the gifts on Jin Yeong-in’s behalf.
Thanks to Danmok Cheong’s efforts, Jin Yeong-in was able to begin his training in earnest.
The first step was to visit Gongson Chaek and receive treatment.
‘Young Master Jin is now under my command, so do your best to recover your body.’
There was also an ‘order’ from Outer Affairs Manager Yi Ja-yeong to receive treatment from Gongson Chaek until his body was fully recovered.
Crack, crackle!
S-p-l-i-t!
Every time Gongson Chaek bent Jin Yeong-in’s limbs and applied force, his bones and muscles screamed.
Yet Jin Yeong-in himself only broke into a bit of a cold sweat and did not even utter a sound.
“Does it not hurt?”
“It is bearable.”
“Bearable? Ho.”
Gongson Chaek let out a hollow laugh.
“Do you know that this is a type of Tendon-Severing and Bone-Dislocating Technique?”
“Is that so?”
“You, you are truly a stubborn one.”
Gongson Chaek clicked his tongue.
The treatment Jin Yeong-in was currently receiving, the Hellish Chuna Technique, was a secret art of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult that exerted an excellent effect in correcting twisted muscles and bones and regaining body balance.
However, the pain was comparable to separating the muscles and dislocating the bones, so it was no different from torture that was difficult to endure for even fifteen minutes with a clear mind.
It was so bad that even the strong warriors of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would often faint or scream and twist their bodies while receiving this treatment.
“Are you normally insensitive to pain, or do you just endure it well?”
“I think I am good at enduring it.”
Jin Yeong-in replied with a bitter smile.
Compared to the pain of his dantian being torn apart, the Hellish Chuna Technique was nothing.
It seemed he had developed a tolerance to pain after being subjected to all sorts of torture and biological experiments in the Demonic Prison in the past.
“Thanks to that, the treatment will be easy. But that’s not a good thing, so don’t think of acting tough for no reason. People like you who endure pain well only seek a physician when they are on the verge of death.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Today’s treatment is over. Take your herbal medicine well, and I will see you again in three days. Oh, and don’t forget to move your body moderately.”
“Yes, Elder.”
After receiving treatment from Gongson Chaek, Jin Yeong-in immediately returned home, sat cross-legged, and began to meditate.
‘Thanks to the Three Lives Stimulation Powder, there isn’t much left.’
Every day, Jin Yeong-in scattered the internal energy of the Clear Mind Heart Art little by little, just enough not to strain his dantian.
That was the first step to learning a demonic art.
This was because to learn the Heaven-Defying Heart Art, there had to be no pure internal energy left in the dantian.
‘I should be able to scatter it completely in about a month.’
After scattering just enough internal energy not to strain his dantian, Jin Yeong-in trained in outer arts.
Gongson Chaek had provided the fundamental treatment, but the rehabilitation would be solely Jin Yeong-in’s own responsibility.
“Y-Young Master.”
Baek A-rin handed a towel and water to Jin Yeong-in, who had finished his morning training.
She had not been able to completely shake off her fear.
Having grown up hearing bad things about the righteous faction until her ears were sore, the fear was clearly ingrained in her instincts.
“Thank you. It must be troublesome to take care of me every time.”
“N-no, it’s not. But, Young Master.”
“Yes?”
“If you are thinking of training in outer arts, why don’t you try going to the Body-Fortifying Prescription?”
“Body-Fortifying Prescription?”
“It’s a physical training hall created by the cult with the intention of strengthening the basic physical strength of the followers.”
Baek A-rin said in a barely audible voice, her head bowed low.
“I-I thought it would surely be helpful to you, Young Master…… I apologize if I overstepped my bounds.”
“What do you mean, overstepped.”
Jin Yeong-in shook his head.
“From now on, if you have something to say or any advice that might be helpful to me, I want you to say it with confidence. I won’t scold you.”
“O-okay.”
“Body-Fortifying Prescription, huh……”
That afternoon.
Jin Yeong-in decided to visit the place called Body-Fortifying Prescription as Baek A-rin had told him.
“I don’t see Young Master Jin?”
Danmok Cheong, who had returned after finishing his work, asked Baek A-rin.
“What? Young Master Jin went to the Body-Fortifying Prescription?”
“Yes.”
“Why on earth did you tell him about that place!”
Danmok Cheong shouted furiously after hearing from Baek A-rin that Jin Yeong-in had gone to the Body-Fortifying Prescription.
“Pardon? Did I make some kind of mistake……”
Baek A-rin was very flustered when Danmok Cheong got angry.
She had only told Jin Yeong-in about the Body-Fortifying Prescription because he was training in outer arts, so why was he reacting so sharply?
“Damn it! Have you forgotten about the ‘Manual of Formulas’ that infest the Body-Fortifying Prescription!”
“Huk!”
Only then did Baek A-rin realize her mistake.
Manual of Formulas.
Meaning the rats that live in the Body-Fortifying Prescription, it was a term used to refer to those who sat around in the Body-Fortifying Prescription all day, obsessed only with outer arts training.
Strictly speaking, they were not those who walked the path of martial arts.
The interest of the Manual of Formulas was solely in the development of their muscles and bones through outer arts training and the resulting improvement in their physique.
Rather than strengthening their inner substance as warriors, they only pursued their outward appearance.
“Right now, Young Master Jin should be focusing solely on treating his qi deviation! What were you thinking, what if the Body-Fortifying Prescription rats bother Young Master Jin or recommend some dangerous pill!”
“Th-that is.”
“Damn it all!”
Danmok Cheong stopped scolding Baek A-rin and hastily ran out, heading for the nearest Body-Fortifying Prescription.
‘I should have stayed with him.’
If anything happened to Jin Yeong-in, Danmok Cheong’s life would be over that day.
Jin Yeong-in was a defector whose entry was personally approved by the Heavenly Demon, the Iron-Blooded Demonic God, and was being personally managed by the Outer Affairs Manager, Yi Ja-yeong.
To fail in escorting such a person was something that could never be forgiven in the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.
It was a grave crime for which he would have nothing to say even if his head were to be cut off a hundred, a thousand times.
***
“Th-this place.”
Jin Yeong-in was startled by the unfamiliar scenery.
“Hiss, ha! Hiss, ha!”
“Urrrrrrgh!”
Men with their tops off, drenched in sweat, were training their bodies by repeatedly lifting and lowering heavy equipment.
The women were also conducting high-intensity outer arts training, no less than the men.
They were all dressed in clothes that revealed their bare skin and highlighted the curves of their bodies, which was a bit embarrassing, but it didn’t seem to be a problem since they were in the middle of outer arts training.
Besides, this was not the land of the Central Plains, so weren’t the culture and customs different?
“……”
While Jin Yeong-in was fidgeting, unable to adapt to the unfamiliar scenery.
Shudder!
Jin Yeong-in suddenly realized that the gazes of those training in outer arts in the Body-Fortifying Prescription were directed at him.
‘Did I make a mistake?’
Just then.
Shhk, shhhk.
Men with huge builds began to approach Jin Yeong-in.
“Hey, you there. First time at the Body-Fortifying Prescription?”
A man with a wicked smile.
A man whose forearms were as thick as a grown man’s thigh approached Jin Yeong-in and asked.
“Y-yes, I am.”
Jin Yeong-in answered, breaking out in a cold sweat.
‘Damn it. I think something has gone terribly wrong.’
Jin Yeong-in secretly clenched his fists and prepared for a fight.
And Jin Yeong-in’s judgment was correct.
Shhk, shhhk.
The men who were training in outer arts in the Body-Fortifying Prescription began to approach one by one and surround Jin Yeong-in.
“Huuu. A newbie.”
“Oh-ho.”
“Khehehe! He looks very tender!”
A sinister smile appeared on the lips of the men surrounding Jin Yeong-in.