Martial Artist Lee Gwak Episode 192

Regret is Always Too Late (2)

Madness had taken hold of Cheol Gwang Woo.

Beneath his feet lay the bodies of martial artists, crushed like fish, rolling around pathetically. They were the ones who had attacked the Ji siblings.

Still not satisfied, Cheol Gwang Woo’s eyes gleamed with killing intent.

Lee Gwak hurriedly approached the Ji siblings and asked.

“What happened?”

” He, it suddenly…….”

“Suddenly?”

“After being covered in white powder, he became like that…”

Ji Yeo-wol babbled incoherently.

Lee Gwak looked at the corpses scattered on the ground. One of them was holding a bag containing white powder.

It seemed that before dying at the hands of Cheol Gwang Woo, he had sprinkled the white powder on him.

Putting aside the task of identifying the white powder, they needed to subdue the frenzied Cheol Gwang Woo first.

Lee Gwak approached Cheol Gwang Woo.

“Calm down.”

“Huh!”

Instead of responding, Cheol Gwang Woo let out a bizarre groan. His eyes showed no sign of the pupil, completely rolled back.

Cheol Gwang Woo was utterly dominated by madness.

“Kwaaa!”

After glaring at Lee Gwak for a moment, Cheol Gwang Woo let out a monstrous roar and charged.

Kwaaa!

A storm-like current whirled around Cheol Gwang Woo. Trees and rocks caught in the current scattered in all directions. However, none of it could harm Lee Gwak.

Puff!

Before they even reached Lee Gwak’s body, they were shattered and scattered by an invisible force. But Cheol Gwang Woo, consumed by madness, didn’t notice and lunged at Lee Gwak with his entire body.

Lee Gwak unleashed his Leaf Hand Sword technique in response.

Kakagagang!

A metallic sound continuously erupted from Cheol Gwang Woo’s body, shaking violently, yet he appeared unharmed.

During his travels with Lee Gwak, Cheol Gwang Woo’s Vajra Demon Shadow Technique had become even more solid. Now, not only his muscles but also his internal organs had been trained, making it difficult to harm him with ordinary internal energy techniques. The addition of madness only multiplied his power many times over.

Lee Gwak shouted.

“Come to your senses.”

Bang!

But what returned was a powerful strike.

Lee Gwak blocked Cheol Gwang Woo’s attack with his sword, yet his entire forearm vibrated from the impact.

Lee Gwak’s eyes narrowed.

He realized that conventional methods wouldn’t subdue Cheol Gwang Woo.

Grip!

He gripped his blade tightly.

Kukwakwa!

Cheol Gwang Woo, radiating madness, charged at him.

The sight of a massive bear charging with all its might also put considerable pressure on Lee Gwak. However, Lee Gwak didn’t blink and kept his eyes on him.

In an instant, his blade was unleashed.

The materialized madness split open and the defenseless face of Cheol Gwang Woo was exposed.

Shooo!
＊＊＊
“Kkeung!”

Cheol Gwang Woo opened his eyes.

His head throbbed, and his entire body ached. It felt as though his muscles were sore as if soaked in water.

“What? What happened?”

Cheol Gwang Woo muttered, holding his head.

He remembered fighting the martial artists who had attacked the Ji siblings. But after being covered in white powder, there were gaps in his memory as if they had been cut out with scissors.

“Shit! What’s this?”

Cheol Gwang Woo gritted his teeth and shook his head.

He had never felt so filthy before. It was as if his mind had been stirred with an invisible stick, leaving him in a complete mess.

Then, he heard Lee Gwak’s voice.

“If you’ve regained your senses, come over here.”

Turning towards the voice, Cheol Gwang Woo saw Lee Gwak and Nam Woo Gyeong sitting across a campfire. The Ji siblings were also on one side.

“Brother!”

“Are you okay?”

“I… I don’t know.”

Cheol Gwang Woo answered honestly. But he felt as if he had committed a crime, overwhelmed by guilt as if he had done something terrible.

He walked towards the campfire with his head hung low, like a cow being led to a slaughterhouse. Ji Yeo-wol flinched at his approach.

Her face was filled with fear as she looked at Cheol Gwang Woo. Seeing her face, Cheol Gwang Woo’s mind became even more complicated.

‘What on earth did I do…’

Nam Woo Gyeong clicked his tongue at him.

“Sit down! Don’t be too hard on yourself; you were affected by the Demon Soul Powder.”

“Demon…Soul Powder?”

“Yes! It’s a drug that induces madness. It’s so powerful and leaves such severe after-effects that it was banned in Jianghu and disappeared, only to reappear now”.

Nam Woo Gyeong’s expression was grave.

After Lee Gwak subdued Cheol Gwang Woo, he examined the white powder closely and concluded it was the Demon Soul Powder.

Among the forbidden elixirs of the martial path is the Wild Soul Pill, which literally drives people mad, exploding their latent powers. Once taken, it causes one to go mad until death.

Demon Soul Powder was an ingredient for the Wild Soul Pill, which was not only hard to find but also difficult to refine into powder.

After being banned in the Jianghu, it had disappeared, only to unexpectedly show up here.

Hearing the explanation, Cheol Gwang Woo’s expression became even more self-reproachful.

“I’m sorry… I should have been more careful…”

“It’s okay, sit down.”

“Sorry.”

“Sit.”

“Yes!”

At Lee Gwak’s command, Cheol Gwang Woo sat down powerlessly with his head bowed low. Lee Gwak handed him a piece of deer meat that was roasting over the fire.

“Eat!”

“Yes!”

Cheol Gwang Woo weakly accepted the meat.

Though he was always plagued by hunger, at this moment, he couldn’t feel any hunger.

Nam Woo Gyeong glanced at Lee Gwak.

‘This monstrous guy. To think he could sever madness with his bladesmanship.’

Nam Woo Gyeong had seen it with his own eyes.

It was a feat he had never heard of before.

At first, he thought Lee Gwak’s blade had pierced through Cheol Gwang Woo’s head. But that was an illusion.

Lee Gwak’s blade stopped right in front of Cheol Gwang Woo’s forehead. Instead, an invisible force penetrated Cheol Gwang Woo’s head and cut the strands of madness.

It was a shocking sight, and one that Nam Woo Gyeong would never have believed if he had not seen it with his own eyes.

Then Lee Gwak turned to Nam Woo Gyeong.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

Can anyone with Demon Soul Powder easily create the Wild Soul Pill?

“If that were the case, Jianghu would have been in ruins long ago. The effects of the Wild Soul Pill are far more extreme than the Demon Soul Powder. It extracts all latent energy and leaves one crippled. It takes a great deal of medical knowledge to make the Wild Soul Pill. We don’t know why they had the Demon Soul Powder, but it seems they haven’t made the Wild Soul Pills yet. Otherwise, they would have had the Wild Soul Pills, not the Demon Soul Powder.”

“So if they hire an exceptional physician, they will be able to produce the Wild Soul Pill?”

“Presumably. But manufacturing the Wild Soul Pill would require the skills of a ‘Divine Physician,’ which is practically impossible.”

“Divine Physician?”

“A legendary physician who was active during the time of the Great Heavenly Blood War. According to the stories, he could heal any wound as long as one wasn’t dead, as he possessed such miraculous medical skills”.

“Isn’t that an exaggeration?”

“Over the centuries, the world has forgotten and erased many stories. The story of the Divine Physician is one of them, but it’s a real story, and you will eventually come to know it. ”

Nam Woo Gyeong’s voice carried a deep resonance.

Lee Gwak asked no further questions and added a branch to the fire, fanning the flames even more.

Meanwhile, Ji Sang-hwan and Ji Yeo-wol were crumpled on one side, only watching Lee Gwak and the others.

Ji Sang-hwan was surprised, but not as much as Ji Yeo-wol.

Until now, Ji Yeo-wol had acted recklessly, unaware of the world’s dangers. She had heard stories about the many perils of the Jianghu but never expected to experience them firsthand.

When others talked about such dangers, she would scoff. Yet, experiencing the brutality of the Jianghu firsthand far exceeded her imagination.

The martial artists who suddenly attacked her were frightening, but what scared her the most was Cheol Gwang Woo’s frenzy.

His usually gentle face had turned into that of a demon, radiating madness, a sight so terrifying she could only dream of it in nightmares. So much so that she had wet herself with fear.

However, the truly frightening presence was Lee Gwak.

Cheol Gwang Woo might have been large, but Lee Gwak was not. The way this seemingly ordinary man subdued Cheol Gwang Woo shocked her beyond belief.

Only then did she realize how much of a frog in a well she had been and felt ashamed of her previous arrogant behavior.

The thought of how ridiculous she must have appeared in their eyes made her want to crawl into a hole.

She buried her face between her knees, muttering to herself, “I must be crazy.” Yet, her gaze inadvertently followed Lee Gwak.

That’s when Ji Sang-hwan said to her,

“He’s not for you.”

“What’s not?”

“He’s beyond what you can handle.”

“What did I do?”

“Just remember what I said.”

“Tch!”

Ji Yeo-wol snorted and buried her head between her knees again. Ji Sang-hwan looked at her with a pitiful gaze.

Despite her troublesome personality, which often made her the subject of disdain, she was still his sister, born of the same blood. He didn’t want Ji Yeo-wol to end up unhappy.

The heart of a young girl is like a reed, easily swayed, and sometimes her affections might unexpectedly turn towards someone.

Ji Sang-hwan hoped that Ji Yeo-wol’s heart would not turn towards Lee Gwak.

Even though they had only seen him for a day, Lee Gwak was clearly not someone Ji Yeo-wol could harbor feelings for.

‘Where did such a martial artist come from?’

He had heard tales of extraordinary cultivators in the Jianghu, as numerous as grains of sand, but he had never dreamed of meeting one in person.

‘Which sect produced such a master?’

He had a lot of questions. But didn’t dare to ask Lee Gwak directly because of the tense atmosphere around them.

That night, the Ji siblings couldn’t bring themselves to say anything to Lee Gwak and his group and stayed awake all night.

Early in the morning, Lee Gwak and his group got up and prepared to leave. They didn’t know what dangers lay ahead, so they had to stay close to Lee Gwak until they were out of the forest.

They cautiously followed Lee Gwak and his companions, constantly watching their expressions.

Fortunately, no one from Lee Gwak’s group said anything to them, allowing them to feel somewhat relieved.

Then, Lee Gwak suddenly stopped.

Bodies were scattered everywhere.

They were dressed like the martial artists who had attacked the Ji siblings last night.

Throughout their walk in the forest, they saw such bodies, but they couldn’t find the old man they had seen in the carriage of the Shenyang Escort Service.

It seemed he had managed to shake off his pursuers and escape the forest.

Nam Woo Gyeong muttered,

“How many have died just because of that one person…”

Fifty members of the Shenyang Escort Service and dozens of pursuing martial artists had died in the forest. It was proof of the great value of the information the old man possessed.

Nam Woo Gyeong regretted not being able to find out what information the old man had.

‘Well, there will be other opportunities.’

With that thought, he consoled himself and followed Lee Gwak.

They walked diligently and eventually emerged from the forest.

The distant silhouette of a city became faintly visible.

Nam Woo Gyeong said to Lee Gwak,

“Gwak, from here on, it’s the territory of the Jade Heaven Alliance.”

His voice carried an unmistakable tension.