Bu Eunseol blocked the Life and Death Poison.
The old man nodded slightly and extended his finger once more.
Kwaaaaaang!
An even more terrifying storm of Life and Death Poison, incomparable to the previous one, surged forward again.
Saaaah.
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s eyes turned pitch black as he began absorbing the pouring Life and Death Poison directly. Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun, standing behind him, desperately raised their internal energy to block the aftermath of the poison energy.
But something was strange.
Despite the powerful poison energy spreading out—enough to melt even clothing—their bodies were gradually growing warmer, and a mysterious current began to spread in all directions.
Sensing something within the intense current, Tang Gon’s eyes widened.
The man standing in front of them, using his left hand technique, was converting the pouring Life and Death Poison into a milder form of poison and gently spreading it.
‘Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation?’
Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation.
It was the ultimate secret art that only those who had reached the highest realm of poison arts—the so-called Poison Sovereign—could perform. By precisely injecting an extremely minute amount of powerful poison and circulating it along set pathways, even a newborn child could be reborn with a body immune to ten thousand poisons.
However, this technique was practically impossible to complete with one person’s power alone. It required two Poison Sovereigns to simultaneously risk their lives to execute it.
One had to release poison energy containing all the poisons of the world. The other had to purify it and then disperse it in extremely minute amounts.
The slightest misalignment could kill each other. Especially for the Poison Sovereign in charge of purification—if they failed to finely control the release of the poison, they would die first.
Yet right now, Bu Eunseol was disregarding his own life as he desperately purified the Life and Death Poison unleashed by the old man and channeled that poison toward Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun.
“Ugh…”
At that moment, Zhuge Seoun began to retch.
He had never learned poison arts and had almost no resistance to poison. The only reason he had not collapsed was thanks to the Wind Spirit Energy he had received from Hae Yeon at the Wind God Palace.
“Brother Zhuge, endure it…”
“Don’t worry.”
Zhuge Seoun shed tears and snot as he focused his mind.
He too could feel the energy of the Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation that Bu Eunseol was bestowing upon him. He instinctively realized that if he could not overcome this energy, everything would turn to nothing.
Finally, when the storm of Life and Death Poison disappeared,
Clang!
Black light began to flicker in the eyes of Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun.
The Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation had succeeded. They had safely accepted the Life and Death Poison, which was comparable to the Four Great Poisons of the World.
Zhuge Seoun had reached a poison-resistant body that would not be affected by any poison.
Tang Gon had gained the ability to freely use poison without storing it inside his body—allowing him to employ the Tang Clan’s long-lost practical secret art, Single Poison.
‘What a stroke of fortune.’
The Single White Poison Lotus was the Tang Clan’s greatest poison secret.
However, because it required gathering all of the Four Great Poisons of the World or the help of two masters who had reached the Poison Sovereign realm, the secret had not been passed down properly.
But now, through the power of two Poison Sovereigns, he had obtained the ability to use the Tang Clan’s greatest poison art, Single White Poison Lotus, without absorbing poison into his own body.
‘From now on, I can truly display the Tang Clan’s martial arts.’
Tang Gon’s heart trembled with excitement.
Now, if he mastered the Iron Poison Body, he would gain the Poison Body, and when he unfolded the Tang Clan’s pinnacle, the Tang Pae's Slash of Death, it would become the Tang Pae Poison Slash that released extreme poison together.
The old man lowered his hands, stopped his attack, and silently stared at Bu Eunseol.
Thanks to the secret arts of the dark path, he maintained the perfect appearance of the left hand user with no loss of internal energy from the disguise. Nevertheless, the old man tilted his head as if he had detected something alien in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Crack.
Suddenly, the old man’s hair slowly grew longer, and even his eyes turned pure white.
Soon, a yellowish light began to flow from his hair.
“The real Poison Flame Poison Emperor…”
Zhuge Seoun, standing behind, trembled.
The legendary Poison Flame Poison Emperor was said to emit a yellowish light from his hair because his scalp and pores were filled with poison energy due to the Poison Flame Poison Art. And now this unidentified old monster was producing the exact same phenomenon.
“Die!”
When the old man extended his hand, the purified essence of poison—obtained only by those who had absorbed all poisons—and the destructive energy that killed all life and decayed all things spread out like flames.
In response, a black wall formed in front of Bu Eunseol and began blocking the flame-like poison energy.
Although he had not learned poison arts, when he tried to counter the old man’s poison arts, he naturally created the Poison River Heavenly Wall, which only a Poison Sovereign could unfold. As he created the Poison River Heavenly Wall, not only Bu Eunseol’s eyes but his entire body turned pitch black.
However, the old man whose eyes had turned white bared his fangs and smiled.
Even if the Poison River Heavenly Wall could block all poisons, the Poison Flame was not poison. Eventually, the energy of the Poison Flame slowly split the Poison River Heavenly Wall apart, and yellowish flames began to spread across Bu Eunseol’s body.
Although their strength as Poison Sovereigns was equal, he could not block the Poison Flame energy.
[Now.]
At that moment, a sound transmission rang in Tang Gon’s mind.
…!
He instinctively threw a single hidden marker from his chest into the gap that had formed in the Poison River Heavenly Wall.
Even though poison energy rose from Tang Gon’s fingertips, it was not absorbed into his body. The trajectory of the hidden marker gliding through the air was soft and flexible, as if pulling a thread.
The moment the hidden marker embedded itself in the old man’s body, the old man’s eyes widened.
Single White Poison Lotus.
It contained poison energy, yet it was not actually poison.
It was just like the Poison Flame energy that had pierced through Bu Eunseol’s Poison River Heavenly Wall.
“Kaah!”
As the old man writhed in pain and scattered his poison energy,
Slash!
A mysterious light that seemed to split the entire world in two exploded forth.
A bizarre cutting sound shattered the silence.
Splat!
A fountain of blood erupted from the old man’s neck, and his severed head fell to the floor.
Using his massive inner energy to create a steel blade, he had cut off the old man’s head with the Soul-Stealing Bloodless Claw.
The old man’s body melted like water in an instant, just as was always the case with the end of poison users.
Having harbored far too much poison in his body, when his life was severed, the poison instead devoured its owner and instantly consumed his flesh.
When Bu Eunseol extended his hand, the liquid spreading in all directions turned into pale smoke and disappeared.
The poison from the old man’s body was so vicious that he instantly absorbed it into himself to prevent it from harming Tang Gon and the others.
Yet within that liquid, a small bead was visible.
Poison Avoidance Pearl.
It was a treasure that, when held in the mouth, granted immunity to ten thousand poisons.
“Since Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun have now transformed into bodies that no longer fear poison…”
Bu Eunseol unfolded his empty palm technique and placed the bead into his chest pocket.
Tang Gon swallowed dryly as he watched the sight.
The poison user in front of him was displaying the dignity of the Poison Ruler who dominated all poisons.
In contrast, Zhuge Seoun’s fingertips trembled.
‘I thought I would soon stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest experts under heaven.’
During this time, Zhuge Seoun had trained and trained in political and military arts, repeatedly succeeding in breakthroughs.
But the realm beyond the heavens was still there.
The martial world was filled with masters beyond his imagination, experts from outside the heavens.
“So he really was the Poison Flame Poison Emperor himself.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath as he looked at the traces of the old man who had turned into liquid.
The old man’s poison energy had surpassed even his own, who had created the Poison Essence.
The origin of the waves.
Only now could Bu Eunseol truly understand why the Vajra Demon Sect was considered one of the origins of the demonic path.
‘Take and devour.’
The Demon Emperor had told him to endlessly devour the strong, and this Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship imprisoned and took from martial artists.
In a way, it was the very embodiment of living demonic thought.
“Which sect’s senior are you?”
Zhuge Seoun asked carefully.
There was no way the left hand user known as the Death Severing Elder could have reached such a level of martial arts. It was clear that an incredible expert was impersonating him.
“From the looks of it, this place doesn’t seem like a simple secret realm.”
At that moment, Tang Gon cut in, interrupting Zhuge Seoun.
“You seem to know something. Please explain.”
An old man using the martial arts of the Poison Flame Poison Emperor.
An abnormal form of secret realm.
Even the mechanisms that seemed to absorb people.
To anyone, this place was clearly not a simple secret realm.
“Clan Leader Tang, still, the Grandmaster has saved us and shown us grace.”
When Tang Gon asked in a somewhat rude manner, Zhuge Seoun anxiously stopped him with an uneasy expression.
The person impersonating the left handed user was an enormous expert who had reached the Poison Sovereign realm.
With just a flick of his finger, he could turn them into bloody water.
“Vajra Demon Sect.”
Bu Eunseol answered honestly.
“The Ten-Thousand-Li Treasure Ship is a death trap created by the Vajra Demon Sect.”
Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun looked shocked. Bu Eunseol continued.
“No, perhaps this place itself is the main body of the Vajra Demon Sect.”
Tang Gon and Zhuge Seoun looked at each other again.
The Vajra Demon Sect had been nothing more than a legend passed down through the generations in the martial world.
But it actually existed, and this interior was created by the Vajra Demon Sect?
“I see.”
Tang Gon easily accepted it.
He had not been able to understand the supernatural phenomena inside this place at all, but if it was created by the legendary Vajra Demon Sect, it made some sense.
“But Grand Brother…”
When the frightening-looking left hand user answered Tang Gon’s question so readily, Zhuge Seoun gathered his courage and spoke.
“How did you know that this place was created by the Vajra Demon Sect?”
The Zhuge Clan operated the largest information network among the Eight Great Clans, yet they had been unable to obtain any information about this secret realm.
How could someone disguising himself as the left hand user know about it?
“No need to say more.”
A cold answer came back.
But Zhuge Seoun let out a sound as if he had realized something.
“Then the Vajra Demon Sect might be from the Western Demon Cult.”
He continued with a serious expression.
“If they use techniques like the Ten Thousand Blood Flesh Creation Art, they can blur the boundary between living and non-living things and transform massive natural objects themselves into living organisms.”
The Western Demon Cult possessed grand techniques that sacrificed animals to extract their essence, souls, and flesh.
They also had secret arts that controlled the spiritual energy of mountains and rivers to transform them into biological tissue.
With such techniques, it would be possible to create a massive living maze the size of a mountain and a predatory organ.
Tang Gon nodded.
“Then the Vajra Demon Sect’s goal is probably not simply to harm martial artists.”
When one used transcendent sorcery like the Ten Thousand Blood Jade Creation Art, one could no longer live an ordinary life and would receive punishment like that of a sinner.
“The fact that someone carrying the bloodline of the demonic path’s origin is using such techniques means there is a purpose of equal weight.”
Bu Eunseol stared intently at Tang Gon as he continued his explanation.
The man who had once been bright and somewhat indecisive had now become a reliable great master with shoulders and a back reminiscent of Mount Tai.
‘He has seen through my identity.’
Moreover, Tang Gon was already conveying everything with his eyes.
—This place is bizarre, so do not reveal your identity yet.
But it was not because Bu Eunseol had risked his life to perform the Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation for them.
It was because Bu Eunseol had sent the sound transmission ‘Now.’
Only his one true close friend, Bu Eunseol, could understand his technique from such a short phrase.
He wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, but since he did not know what would happen here, he seemed to be holding back without sending any sound transmissions and without revealing the truth.
“Whatever the purpose is, it doesn’t matter.”
Bu Eunseol spoke coldly on purpose.
“As long as the Vajra Demon Sect continues to create elixirs and treasures in this secret realm.”
Zhuge Seoun did not believe those words either.
It was not the Myriad Gold Blood Hand left hand user, and there was no way such an expert would be obsessed with elixirs and treasures.
“Anyway, I only came here to rescue my younger sibling, so we won’t have any conflicts.”
Tang Gon took the lead and headed toward the flesh wall.
Because if he and Bu Eunseol were together, it would only cause trouble.
“Your observation skills are terrible.”
“What do you mean—”
Bu Eunseol pointed at the flesh wall and said.
“You will understand once you go in.”
Tang Gon entered the flesh wall without hesitation.
Then, as if he had become an organ inside a giant body, the internal structure of the secret realm became clearly perceptible.
“I see.”
Only then did Tang Gon realize there was no longer any retreat.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
Bu Eunseol, Tang Gon, and the others entered through the torn crack in the flesh wall and descended downward.
Occasionally, white-masked figures appeared, but because they carried the same poison, they could no longer attack.
Gurgle.
When they finally emerged from the flesh wall, a large grand hall came into view.
At its center hung a horrific mass of flesh that looked as if hundreds or thousands of living pieces of flesh had been torn out and fused together into one.
It was not a simple lump of muscle.
It boiled like dark red liquid in a furnace.
The passage through which sticky and foul bile-like liquid flowed was filled with a fishy, disgusting smell. Throughout the ceiling were stalactites that looked like crystallized extreme poison.
“It looks exactly like a liver.”
Zhuge Seoun laughed as he looked at the mass of flesh standing in the center.
“Surely a yellow-masked person with jaundice won’t come out from here, right?”
As soon as those words left his mouth, green-masked figures with yellowish-brown skin and bloated bellies appeared. Their eyes were stained yellow as if with jaundice, extremely similar to what Zhuge Seoun had muttered.
“You have a mysterious ability to summon enemies with your mouth.”
At Bu Eunseol’s jab, Zhuge Seoun scratched his head.
“It was just a lucky hit.”
Swish!
At that moment, Tang Gon stepped forward and extended both hands. Over a hundred hidden markers poured into the bodies of the green-masked figures.
He had unfolded the Myriad Heavenly Flower Rain twice in succession with both hands.
“Clan Leader Tang, will hidden markers even work on those kinds of guys?”
Before Zhuge Seoun could finish speaking,
Thud.
The bodies of the green-masked figures stiffened and began to collapse.
“This is…”
Zhuge Seoun was genuinely shocked.
The aura of the green-masked figures had been greater than that of the previous bandaged masked figures, yet they had fallen so easily?
“It’s the Single White Poison Lotus.”
In the past, the greatest experts of the Tang Clan could inject deadly poison into the enemy even by throwing chopsticks.
The Sichuan Tang Clan’s extreme secret technique, which had once chilled the hearts of the heroes of the world, was finally being displayed by Tang Gon.
“Congratulations. Congratulations.”
Zhuge Seoun said with a smile.
“Now the Clan Leader’s name will shake the entire world.”
Tang Gon smiled instead of answering.
He had no intention of gaining fame. He only wanted to grow stronger so that when the time came, he could help Bu Eunseol.
“Let’s go again.”
At Tang Gon’s calm words, Bu Eunseol and Zhuge Seoun followed behind him.
Following the continuing path, this time an organ resembling a spleen appeared—dark, damp, and carrying the smell of old blood. The floor was covered in red and black mud resembling destroyed blood cells like sediment.
When they arrived, gray ghost-like masked figures appeared.
They began attacking without a word.
These ghosts, which could split into multiple entities or merge, carried condensed masses of demonic energy.
“I think I can handle this.”
Having reached the poison-resistant body realm thanks to Bu Eunseol, Zhuge Seoun stepped forward confidently.
“This is the spleen, and those are similar to yin and damp accumulation ghosts, so I should raise yang energy to drive them out.”
He took out his official brush and began vigorously drawing something on the floor.
It was one of the Zhuge Clan’s secret arts, Soul Pacifying Roar, which emitted powerful waves of qi in all directions.
Whoooosh!
Along with a sound like thunder striking repeatedly, intense extreme yang energy enveloped the bodies of the gray ghost-like figures.
The forms of the gray masked figures repeatedly blurred like mist and then became clear again.
Hiss.
In the end, unable to maintain their forms, the gray masked figures scattered like smoke or seeped into the floor and vanished.
Gurgle.
After eliminating the masked figures, an old man appeared once again without fail.
He held two large beads and seemed to be using the Wind Soul technique known as Phantom Twin Beads.
“I can do this.”
Having assessed the old man’s internal energy, Zhuge Seoun charged forward without fear.
The Phantom Twin Beads were known as the most dizzying and complex technique in the world. However, they were not as ever-changing as the Zhuge Clan’s martial arts and formations, which were based on the movement of heavenly mechanisms.
Moreover, thanks to the Refined Poison Heavenly Transformation, not only had he reached the poison-resistant body realm, but his internal energy had also increased dramatically.
With the reliable left hand user and Tang Gon behind him, Zhuge Seoun was displaying several times his original ability.
—Still too much?
Nevertheless, the Phantom Twin Beads technique was still too much for Zhuge Seoun to handle.
Bu Eunseol and Tang Gon exchanged glances and, without Zhuge Seoun noticing,
Boom! Slash!
They poured out their energy and internal force at the same time to protect him from suffering fatal injuries.
After fighting desperately for about one meal’s time, Zhuge Seoun finally moved in an unpredictable direction, destroyed the Phantom Twin Beads that had persistently clung to him like a swarm of bees, and struck the old man’s vital point with his official brush.
Thud.
He had not learned poison arts, and striking the vital point was not a very serious injury.
Yet the old man stopped breathing right then.
Was it an illusion?
The expression of the dying old man somehow looked relieved, and from the old man’s body fell the Groan Pearl, which was said to contain powerful yin energy.
“There is something here.”
Zhuge Seoun picked up the Groan Pearl with a complicated expression.
This place was clearly not a simple space of the Ten Thousand Blood Flesh Creation Art.
“How was it?”
But he deliberately turned his body and grinned.
“I properly identified the weakness, right?”
While following Tang Gon this time, he had naturally learned how to identify gaps and traces and use them to defeat enemies. Since Tang Gon had also learned such things from Bu Eunseol, in effect both of them had been influenced by him.
“Well done.”
When Tang Gon nodded in praise, Zhuge Seoun looked at Bu Eunseol again.
Bu Eunseol tried to ignore the gaze, but as it persistently followed him, he had no choice but to speak.
“Not bad.”
Then Zhuge Seoun said proudly.
“It seems the Grandmaster won’t need to step forward anymore.”
When they finally reached the end of the passage, there was a large iron door.
Creak.
When they opened the door and entered, an incomprehensibly tall face came into view.
As Bu Eunseol looked around while lifting his head, he could not help but hold his breath.
All the walls of the tall space, which looked like the open mouth of hell, had transparent glass tubes embedded in a spiral pattern, and martial artists stood inside them.
The tubes spiraled up like a whirlwind from below to above, wrapping around the vast blood cave.
It looked as if spiral bookshelves were stretching all the way to the end of the sky.
The people inside the glass tubes had their eyes closed, but they had good complexions and very clean clothes.
They were clearly not corpses but living people.
“Huh.”
And at the center of the distant blood cave, a platform had been built, upon which a splendid throne was placed.
Sitting sideways on that chair was a beautiful woman with sparkling purple eyes.
Tang Cheong.
The woman called the greatest beauty of Sichuan was sitting boldly in the center of the palace as if she were the owner of this place.
As Bu Eunseol looked at Tang Cheong, a cold light flashed in his eyes.
That was not Tang Cheong.
It was undoubtedly the Vajra Demon Ancestor itself.
Comments