[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith":3,"chapter-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-90":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Childhood Friend of the Zenith",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1240066,1667,"Chapter 89: Treatment (2)","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-90",90,"\u003Cp>༺ Treatment (2) ༻\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not long after I decided to take a seat and wait, the Plum Blossom Sword woke and opened her eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I heard you were hurt… but thankfully it seems like you’re healed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Plum Blossom Sword spoke in a dry tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And all I could do was nod my head at her worriedly spoken words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know what to say to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts had grown very complicated after I caught a glimpse of the demonic Qi flowing inside her body, and I was trying my best to hide them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you’d gotten seriously hurt, I would’ve been very sad. Thank goodness…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Thank you for worrying about me.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No… I apologize for making you come all the way here when you must be busy and haven’t fully healed yet.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s no problem. The Immortal Healer told me that I can move around freely now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I spoke, I tried my best to avoid looking at her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘That demonic Qi is too dense.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The energy felt so dense and deep that it was incomparable to the demonic Qi Ya Hyeoljeok had.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was much too similar to the Qi that the Heavenly Demon had…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So similar… that it honestly wouldn’t have been far-fetched to say that they were the same.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was no way I was mistaken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Is that what is responsible for the Sword Master’s declining health?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But… Even if the demonic Qi was what was killing her, why did the Sword Master have that inside her in the first place?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was finding out too many new things, things that I’d never seen or heard about in my previous life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had the Sword Master already met the Heavenly Demon in this current period of time?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not everyone turned into a demonic human the moment demonic Qi was put inside them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ya Hyeoljeok and the guys from the Black Palace were examples.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the Sword Master before me was the most recent proof of that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, The key difference between Ya Hyeoljeok and the Sword Master was that Ya Hyeoljeok had been slowly accepting the demonic Qi and turning into a demonic human,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While the Sword Master was refusing to accept the demonic Qi that was going wild in her body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘For her to look so normal on the outside when that thing is causing a rampage inside her…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the Sword Master came from a taoist clan, the Qi she had inside her was most likely pure,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even that Qi would probably be getting devoured by demonic qi.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just by looking at her, I could tell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fact that the Sword Master had become so weak due to the rampaging demonic Qi made it possible for someone on my level to observe her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master didn’t have much Qi left in her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And even when she’d almost run out of qi, I could see that the Sword Master was still putting up a fight, struggling against the demonic Qi that was going wild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And even while going through such a painful process, the Sword Master never once frowned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though she was suffering heavily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master who had been observing me while I observed her suddenly spoke, disappointment lacing her tone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It would have been really nice if I’d seen you a bit earlier in life, I’m sorry that I can’t even treat you to a meal…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…It’s not a problem at all.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master kept apologizing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know why she felt so apologetic towards me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I understood that she was friends with my mother, but she and I were basically strangers to one other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even still, she’d accepted the responsibility for Gu Ryunghwa and taken her in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was satisfied enough with that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because that meant I just had to endure by myself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Though I wasn’t actually able to endure it.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master looked at me, hesitated slightly, and then spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…Can I hold your hand?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My hand?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was sudden at first, but I reached my hand towards her because it wasn’t a hard request.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As I reached out, I saw the Sword Master’s wrinkly hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m sorry that my hand is wrinkly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…She really doesn’t have to apologize for such little things.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this point, it feels like the Sword Master is just looking for reasons to apologize to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While thinking that to myself, I carefully held the Sword Master’s hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sword Master then spoke while smiling bitterly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I was… a bit healthier, it would’ve been nice.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It felt like she was slowly letting go of her emotions one by one because she was nearing the end of her life…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And I didn’t know what to say in the situation before me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Should I just remain silent?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or could I try to flatter her by saying that it was fine no matter how she looked?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After thinking for a short moment, I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t just remain silent, so I decided to say something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at that moment, just as I’d decided to speak…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Sssss-!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ugh…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was forced to hit the Sword Master’s hand that I had been holding away from my hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And following that, the Sword Master repeatedly looked between the hand that had been holding mine and my hand, surprise visible on her face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, she did, since the same demonic Qi that was inside her, flowed inside my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…This is…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had come to that realization after feeling the demonic Qi inside my body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The demonic Qi I’d had inside my body back then had been similar to Ya Hyeoljeok’s,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the Qi flowing in my body right now wasn’t justsimilarto his… it was his.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…Did I really absorb it?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Could I actually absorb demonic Qi from people and not just demonic stones?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Is this also the power of the demonic absorb ability?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it really that?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Considering how I had never experienced such a thing in my previous life, something must have changed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The very small amount of demonic Qi I’d just absorbed from the Sword Master was quickly being purified by my destructive flame arts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And it seemed that the demonic Qi I had absorbed from Ya Hyeoljeok had also been completely purified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shock at what she had just witnessed left the Sword Master speechless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It seemed like she couldn’t understand what had happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then I thought to myself, that if it was indeed possible to absorb demonic Qi from the Sword Master,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Then I might be able to…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Save the Sword Master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was what I thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And while I was having such a thought, the door of the house burst open.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What are you all doing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was the Immortal Healer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>****\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swish! Slash!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound of the wooden sword cutting through the air was sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The sound that had once been blunt and soft had gradually morphed into a sharp sound.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa could feel her growth, but she felt that all of it was pointless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Half a step forward, keep the point of the sword in the upper body area…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Swoosh!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A small amount of Qi was poured into her sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when not actively trying to do so, her movements remained extremely accurate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But, even after seeing her good result, Gu Ryunghwa’s expression didn’t change for the better.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…So what if I can do this?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After that day, she had trained repeatedly, but her mind was never at ease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The image of herself shaking in front of that enemy was a memory that she hadn’t managed to shake from her mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She instinctively knew that she couldn’t win against him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that wasn’t even the important part.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether she could win or not, her master had told her to never throw away her pride and responsibility as a martial artist, but she was ashamed of herself because she had done exactly that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Namgung Bi-ah, meanwhile, had stood in front of her, holding onto her sword to protect her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had known that she couldn’t win against him, she had also felt the fear of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But even so, she hadn’t hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…But I, I…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While thinking of the person that had stood in front of her, holding a sword to protect her,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa clenched her eyes shut as she felt her guilt rising all the way up to her neck.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I only know how to run away, but I dare to make my sword blossom?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa felt that she wasn’t worthy of becoming a martial artist, let alone making her sword blossom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then her thoughts went to Gu Yangcheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She’d heard that Gu Yangcheon was the one who had taken care of the monster who even Namgung Bi-ah had not been able to win against.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wondered how such a thing was possible from a person that used to be so weak and selfish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last time she had seen him was around this time last year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gu Yangcheon she’d seen back then was the same as ever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa clearly remembered him doing nothing while also treating everyone horribly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It had been around that time that she had decided to completely let go of Gu Yangcheon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…So how did such a person…?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wondered… about whether it was doubt or jealousy she was feeling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa started to swing her sword once again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She put more strength into the swings than before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If she didn’t want to become a useless person, she had to focus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She trained to the point when she was about to collapse from exhaustion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To be more specific, she swung her sword until she was forced to stop.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stopped her training only after her arms had started to shake, sweat flowing down her chin.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa had been dedicatedly focused on strengthening herself for the past few days while also sleeping less.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I should… go see my master now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She remembered that her master had come back to Mount Hua for safety.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her master had teared up after hearing that she was able to escape from a life-threatening danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Saying that she was a bad teacher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though Gu Ryunghwa had never once thought that she was a bad teacher.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though she thought that she herself was the bad one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she prepared to leave so that she could wash and change her clothes, she saw someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Yung Pung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And he was someone who Gu Ryunghwa felt uncomfortable around for numerous reasons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung, meanwhile, lowered his head in greeting when he saw Gu Ryunghwa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Gu Ryunghwa was still a second-generation student.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Senior, were you training until now?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa didn’t respond to Yung Pung’s question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She just nodded slightly and walked past him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Too much training isn’t that-”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Mind your own business.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa who had been thinking of just passing by, spoke rudely in the end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even she herself knew that she was in a sensitive mood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m sorry. It isn’t my place to ask…!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yung Pung immediately apologized to Gu Ryunghwa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa after hearing him, continued to walk again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t want to look Yung Pung in the eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was still a brat who never got complimented despite her being a second-generation student,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While Yung Pung was the youngest swordman of Mount Hua unlike her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘…If I was him, then would it have gone differently back then?’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wondered, thinking that he – at the very least – wouldn’t have run away in fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of her wounded pride and her guilt, Gu Ryunghwa quickly upped her gait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reaching her destination and making sure that no one was around, she washed herself and changed into clean clothes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She felt herself getting better when she thought about visiting her master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that, her steps felt light even with her exhausted body.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After climbing the mountain, she arrived at the hut her master was staying in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa calmed down her breath so that her master wouldn’t notice that she was tired, then walked towards the hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– …What did you just say?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when she went up close, she heard the Immortal Healer’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by how loud he was being, it seemed like her master was awake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she was about to knock on the door,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– I… may have a solution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She stopped her hand after hearing Gu Yangcheon’s voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She didn’t want to see him because she felt embarrassed after saying those words to him in the morning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘Out of all the times…’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa put on a complicated face and hesitated in front of the door, unsure of what to do.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>‘I’ll just go inside and pretend I didn’t know he was here.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as she was about to open the door after deciding on that…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– You should know that you shouldn’t even dare to joke around like that!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She heard the Immortal Healer shouting inside the hut and wondered what was going on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– I’m not joking around.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– You aren’t joking around? Do you even understand what you just said?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– Yes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And, even while the Immortal Healer was shouting at him, Gu Yangcheon only responded to him calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When she heard Gu Yangcheon utter those words without hesitation,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>– I may be able to cure the Sword Master.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gu Ryunghwa couldn’t help but barge into the hut.\u003C\u002Fp>",2240,"2026-06-05T15:09:38.751Z",1,"novelbin.me","914055e8fcfda7cc72be4dc89d72ec75b3692a99dacabdfadc70cf303460e92b","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-91","childhood-friend-of-the-zenith-chapter-89",974,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fchildhood-friend-of-the-zenith-cover.jpg"]