‘It’s coming out.

It’s coming out again.

Blood just keeps coming out.’

“Cough.”

‘Am I going to die from blood loss?’

“H, human! Choi Han, I, if the human d, dies after coughing blood like this, I’m going to destroy the world! I’m going to destroy the Central Plains!”

Raon’s voice could be heard.

“Oh, my goodness-. W, what kind of existence-”

He heard Elder Ho’s shaking voice as well.

“Cale-nim, Cale-nim!”

Just as he heard Choi Han’s anxious voice, Cale had no choice but to make another noise.

“Cough!”

Blood was coming out again.

‘This is driving me nuts.’

His body swayed and curled forward even more. His body that had been plopped down on the ground bent forward as if he was kowtowing.

He tried to extend his arms to touch the ground but his body’s reaction was not quick enough.

However, his body did not fall forward.

“Do not lose consciousness.”

Cale nodded his head as Sui Khan supported him.

“Breathe properly.”

Cale just closed his eyes instead of responding.

He was going crazy because he was bleeding.

He was wondering if it was okay to bleed like this… Whether a person would die after bleeding like this, however…

‘…It feels refreshing.’

His inside was slowly feeling better and felt cool as if he had taken a deep breath of refreshing air.

His mind cleared up as well and he felt warmth throughout his body.

– T, this is hard!

He heard the crybaby’s teary voice but Cale ignored it.

He could feel it. His body was healing quicker than ever before.

‘I feel better now.’

Boom. Boom. Blood did not come out anymore once he could feel his heart beating normally.

“Something to wipe.”

He could talk now.

Cale opened his palm. His hand was not shaking either.

“Yes, Cale-nim.”

Choi Han definitely said yes.

‘Hmm?’

However, nothing was placed in Cale’s hand. Instead, Choi Han and Raon used a large towel that came from who knows where to wipe Cale’s mouth, face, and neck. Choi Han wiped the blood on Cale’s clothes as well.

“Human, are you okay now?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

Cale answered honestly.

“My condition is better now than the last few days.”

“…Cale-nim!”

“Hmm?”

Cale hesitated after hearing Choi Han’s voice that sounded as if he was scolding him.

‘Why is he acting like this? He seems to have even forgotten to call me young master Kim.’

Choi Han’s face was scary.

‘!’

However, Cale then saw something even scarier.

He could see Ron quietly standing there behind Choi Han’s shoulder.

The person who would normally be the first to wipe the blood off of Cale was just standing there looking at him.

He was not smiling at all.

‘What the hell?’

He looked very scary.

Cale subconsciously looked away after seeing Ron’s cold gaze.

“Ha!”

He could hear Ron scoff in disbelief at that moment.

Cale’s shoulders flinched. Sui Khan chuckled in response but nobody noticed.

It was because of what Cale said next.

“Move over.”

He looked toward a certain spot.

“I need to see Namgung Tae Wi’s condition.”

Cale stood up.

‘Very nice.’

He could easily get up unlike when he plopped down earlier.

He pushed Sui Khan aside and headed toward Namgung Tae Wi.

“…Young master Kim.”

The Sword Saint’s pupils were shaking. Cale peeked at him before inspecting Namgung Tae Wi first.

Namgung Tae Wi was silently laying there on the floor.

Cale crouched down next to him and looked at the area around his heart.

In the spot where the grotesque black heart had been sticking out…

The black heart was no longer visible.

However, it wasn’t that new skin had appeared in the spot.

‘What is that?’

A red cover was over that area.

The red cover was the same color as Cale’s Fire of Destruction.

That was currently taking the spot of the black heart.

He subconsciously extended his hand.

The red cover…

Between skin and metal… It felt like something in the middle.

However, it was warm.

It was a bit hotter than normal human temperature.

Boom. Boom.

He could feel a heart beating underneath it.

Cale lifted his head up.

Namgung Tae Wi was calmly breathing with his eyes closed, as if he was sleeping.

He was alive.

There were no traces of black threads around his body anymore.

The only trace that was left was the red cover.

Cale turned his gaze.

The Sword Saint.

He was looking at Cale with shaking pupils.

It was at that moment.

“Oh esteemed purifier, I do not feel any traces of dead mana at all!”

Cale nodded his head at Durst’s voice that was full of admiration. He then looked toward Chief Eunuch Wi.

“Chief Eunuch Wi, will you please take a look?”

“Y, yes sir!”

Chief Eunuch Wi flinched after making eye contact but he quickly grabbed Namgung Tae Wi’s wrist. He then closed his eyes as if he was checking his pulse.

“Raon, you check him out too.”

“…Alright, human.”

Raon looked at Cale with a disgruntled look but he still inspected Namgung Tae Wi. His gaze was quite serious. Cale petted Raon’s back.

Chief Eunuch Wi opened his eyes at that moment.

“…His pulse is normal.”

However, his face did not look very good despite the positive comment.

Chief Eunuch Wi looked toward the Sword Saint.

“Tell me.”

Chief Eunuch Wi clenched his eyes shut and responded after hearing the Sword Saint’s calm voice.

“…All of his internal ki has disappeared. His dantian is completely destroyed.”

“Ho.”

Elder Ho gasped.

“I will check him out one more time.”

The Fist King came over and checked the pulse that Chief Eunuch Wi had checked.

“…It’s true.”

Internal ki.

That was something even more important than life for a martial artist.

Most martial arts required internal ki in order to be effective.

Furthermore, martial artists spent their whole lives to build up that internal ki.

That was why martial artists had no choice but to be quite shocked when the internal ki they had built up throughout their life disappeared.

“His dantian is destroyed.”

The dantian was the spot in the body where the internal ki was stored.

Basically, the fact that the dantian was broken meant that internal ki could not be gathered anymore. It meant that he could no longer live as a martial artist.

“…It seems as if the aura that Namgung Tae Wi channeled before he self-destructed earlier was from destroying his dantian.”

Cale nodded his head at Mok Hyeon’s words before peeking at the Sword Saint

A martial artist with a broken dantian whose internal ki had disappeared…

That person’s life would now be full of hardship.

‘He shouldn’t have a grudge against me since I at least saved him, right?’

As Cale thought about how he should act if the Sword Saint showed a different demeanor than before…

“…I see.”

The Sword Saint was calm.

He observed Namgung Tae Wi’s peaceful look.

“As long as he is alive, that is enough.”

He meant it.

His gaze slowly headed down.

He saw the red cover.

The warm and clear aura that was coming out of it…

That should be the power that was keeping Namgung Tae Wi alive.

Namgung Tae Wi had tried to kill him as a living jiangshi of the Blood Cult.

This child, no, he was a young man now, but…

Seeing him sleeping so peacefully like when he was a child made a lot of thoughts go through his mind.

‘…I thought that expanding the family and our strength was for the family.’

That was why he never bent his pride and always held his head up high.

It was fine for him to do that.

He was the Sword Saint, one of the Orthodox faction’s top five experts.

He was the Great Namgung Clan’s Ancestral Patriarch.

However, had his choices been the right ones?

‘…Young master Kim.’

His gaze headed toward young master Kim. Despite wiping the blood, his clothes were already a mess from the dried blood.

He ended up like this trying to save Namgung Tae Wi.

‘That black aura-’

That had truly been evil.

He even wondered how a human could possess such an aura.

But the way this young master Kim purified that evil without anybody dying or even getting hurt…

‘No, he was the only one who got hurt.’

Purification was probably so hard that even a person who has reached the noble and pure level of Nature Realm coughed up so much blood.

This Eldest senior of the Imperial Palace had done that for Namgung Tae Wi, someone who he could have just watched as he died.

‘…Oh Sword Saint, oh Sword Saint.

That name of Sword Saint is so embarrassing.

The Sword Saint was feeling embarrassed.

This was the first time he wanted to say the following to someone in his life.

‘Thank you.’

He truly was thankful.

“Young master Kim-”

He felt as if he needed to say that right now.

The Sword Saint brought forth courage that he had not had throughout his life.

The act of thanking someone…

Not just a surface level show of gratitude but one that he truly meant.

My bloodline.

My family.

No, thank you for saving me.

If something had happened to Namgung Tae Wi, the family and the Sword Saint himself would have crumbled.

You truly are our benefactor.

“Ugh!”

It was at that moment.

“!”

He could not show his gratitude.

Young master Kim suddenly clutched his stomach with both hands and his body curled forward.

“H, human! What is going on? I’ve never seen you do this before!”

“Ugggh.”

Cale was anxious.

– …Sorry.

The old man sounded teary.

– You coughed up so much blood… You’re probably very hungry, right?

‘This is not just very hungry!’

His insides were hurting. It felt as if something really bad would happen because he was so hungry.

Still, he did not feel as if he would fall over or faint.

However…

‘Food!’

This insane hunger he could not control filled his mind.

“Human!”

“Cale-nim!”

Cale managed to see Raon’s chubby cheeks through the multiple voices. He barely managed to open his mouth.

“A, apple-”

Apple pie.

‘I’ll even take some of that-’

“Hmm?”

As Raon tilted his head, he heard Ron’s voice.

“Raon-nim, do you have any apple pies?”

“Ah!”

Raon immediately opened his spatial dimension and pulled out an apple pie.

“Human! Eat this! Hurry up and eat it!”

Then as he was about to shove the whole apple pie without even cutting it…

As Choi Han gasped at that and pulled out his sword to slice up the apple pie…

“Hmm?”

“Hmm?”

“!”

The Fist King, Sui Khan, and Ron all looked toward one spot.

The ceiling of the deserted house…

Crack!

That place crumbled.

“Human! E, eat it! You need to eat to live!”

Cale took a big bite of the apple pie being shoved into his mouth.

‘What the hell?’

He then blankly looked at the part of the ceiling that was crumbling.

The ceiling had fallen and…

There was a lot of dust.

‘What happened all of a sudden?

Why did that break?’

“As I expected.”

He heard Ron’s quiet voice at that moment.

It sounded a bit vicious.

As Cale was about to get the chills from that…

“Die!”

Two people fell down from the ceiling.

‘What the hell? When did they start hiding there?’

Cale’s eyes opened wide in shock.

However, the person who shouted die appeared first through the dust.

‘The Carnage Demon?!’

The Carnage Demon was one of the Five Demons.

She was the leader of the School of Carnage.

She threw the numerous daggers in her hands into the air.

The daggers flew through the dust clouds.

Clang!

They heard the sound of a sword being pulled out.

C, c, c, c, claaaaaang, clang!

All of the daggers fell to the ground.

Cale then saw the second person who fell down from the ceiling.

“Huh?”

Cale subconsciously let out that foolish noise.

He then blankly continued.

“It’s Choi Jung Soo.”

Choi Jung Soo appeared through the dust, smiled awkwardly, and waved at Cale.

“Long time no see.”

Cale saw team leader Sui Khan scowl and push his temples with his hands for the first time in a long while.

Choi Jung Soo didn’t care and asked Cale awkwardly, almost embarrassedly… And cautiously.

“Are you okay?”

Munch munch.

Cale first chewed the apple pie in his mouth.

“Human, eat slowly!”

He felt Raon patting his back and thought to himself.

‘Unbelievable.

What the hell is going on all of a sudden?’