Looking at the scenery of the cavern, Jeong Jinbang opened his mouth in dumbfoundment.
"Are you saying the spirit creatures that were fiercely attacking people outside are living peacefully in here?"
All the members of the Thunder Strike Team opened their mouths with expressions of disbelief.
"What in the world is this."
Then Geumhwa, with wide eyes, said.
"If so, the spirit creatures weren't living in the forest, but were living in this underground cavern."
No wonder a massive amount of spirit creatures suddenly appeared in a forest where there was absolutely no spiritual energy.
A separate nest for the spirit creatures had been created in a massive underground area overflowing with spiritual energy.
"But it's strange."
Then Beonrang muttered lowly.
"Why are my eyes stinging so much?"
"My eyes..."
Wolyeong, shaking his head as if dizzy, shouted with wide eyes as if he realized something.
"This is a place where a great number of spirit creatures are gathered. It is a poison in itself!"
Because there were too many spirit creatures gathered inside this underground cavern.
The energies and spiritual energy emitted by each spirit creature were intertwining and corrupting the air.
Usually, a poison is something that comes from a specific entity, like the deadly venom of a snake.
But here, the entire environment was in a state of poisonification.
This underground cavern, where the breaths, bodily fluids, energies, and secretions of countless spirit creatures had accumulated over a long period of time,
Had become a living sea of poison in itself.
Bu Eunseol, having reached the realm of the Poison Saint, had no problem at all, but
The people of the Thunder Strike Team were slowly being poisoned without realizing it.
"Young Hero Sword! Poison!"
Jeong Jinbang shouted, but,
Thud!
Bu Eunseol had already rolled his eyes back and collapsed.
"Damn it!"
Beonrang, whose inner energy was relatively profound, ran over to bring Bu Eunseol, but,
Thud.
He too lost consciousness and collapsed.
Thud, thud, thud.
In the end, all the members of the Thunder Strike Team were poisoned by the extreme poison and collapsed.
Rustle.
Then Bu Eunseol, who had been pretending to have lost consciousness, slowly raised his body.
"It might be a peaceful paradise for the spirit creatures, but to humans, it is a nest of poison that brings immediate death."
He carried all the members of the Thunder Strike Team on his back and sent them outside the underground cavern.
And using the power of the Poison Saint, he removed all the poisonous energy that had penetrated their bodies.
"I have removed all the poisonous energy, so they will wake up within an hour."
Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed for a moment as he examined the group.
However, he soon corrected his expression and entered the underground cavern with a lighthearted look.
Swoosh.
Returning to the nest where the spirit creatures were, Bu Eunseol began to pass through it.
The deeper he went, the more severe the poisonous and spiritual energies became, but they couldn't even approach within a jang of Bu Eunseol's body.
The low cries of the peacefully playing spirit creatures gradually died down, and the surroundings were submerged in a heavy silence.
As he slowly moved his steps, a massive great cavern, unimaginable in size, finally revealed itself at the end of the narrow passage.
If the previous space was a natural cave, this place was like a massive temple built for a god.
The high arched ceiling was densely embedded with ores emitting blue light like the Milky Way, pouring cold and mysterious light downward.
Receiving that light, a massive obsidian altar situated in the center of the cave flashed its smooth surface like a ghost.
Around the altar, a vast underground lake spread out like a mirror, perfectly reflecting the starlight of the ceiling and the majesty of the altar.
'It's too quiet.'
This space, completely undisturbed and quiet, created the illusion that time had stopped forever.
But there was a large shadow at the highest point of the obsidian altar.
'That is.'
The pitch-black fur absorbed even the blue light of the ceiling, and the scales trailing down the spine to the nape of the neck reflected a radiant five-colored light.
A massive black shadow crouched like a small mountain.
Was there not an entity crouching there with a body so overwhelmingly huge that even a house-sized wild boar would look like a child in front of it?
It was the form of a strange figure that could not be called human.
Thump.
As it raised its crouched body, a lion's majestic mane was revealed on the sharp jawline of a wolf.
Atop its head, a pair of massive horns twisted like lightning sprouted, reaching threateningly toward the ceiling.
Just by its standing posture, a power dominating the space could be felt.
Every time it exhaled, the minute vibration of the atmosphere was transmitted to the skin.
'It's as if the strengths of all the spirit creatures inhabiting the underground cavern have been combined.'
Just as Bu Eunseol observed the strange figure with twinkling eyes,
"You have some nerve."
The strange figure, who naturally seemed like he would only let out a growling bizarre sound, spoke clear Han language.
Looking down at Bu Eunseol with eyes blazing like lava, he spoke in a solemn voice.
"To think you came all the way in here."
The strange figure was pouring out an overwhelming gaze that seemed to pierce through even the soul just by looking at him.
'Is he Pahon?'
Pahon.
To think that the person who almost became one of the Three Attendants was a king controlling spirit creatures?
"Hmph."
The strange figure accurately sensed the energy flowing through Bu Eunseol's entire body and snorted.
"So you are the Poison Saint."
Bu Eunseol didn't beat around the bush and asked straightforwardly.
"Are you Pahon."
In an instant, killing intent gleamed in the strange figure's eyes.
"For the crime of speaking that name, you shall die."
It was a statement that would make one burst into a scoff.
To say he would kill someone just for mentioning the name Pahon?
But he seemed to mean it.
A suffocating killing intent capable of filling the massive great cavern was pouring out of the strange figure's body.
On the other hand, there was no anger or hostility in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
He had an indifferent expression, as if he had no interest even in this current situation.
"You're relaxed."
The strange figure looked at Bu Eunseol's leisurely attitude, then,
―'Wheeeee!'
He let out a sharp whistle.
At that, the great cavern trembled, and the cries of countless spirit creatures echoed simultaneously.
The roars of wolves and tigers, the hissing of venomous snakes, the shrieks of hawks, and even the cries of whales from the sea.
'There's no way he doesn't know that calling the spirit creatures is useless.'
But an unexpected situation occurred.
Swish, swish, swish.
Every time a roar echoed, countless forms erupted from the strange figure's body.
From his back, black mist like what a One-Horned Blood Python would spew.
From beneath his feet, sticky spiderwebs and venom as if he had become a Black-Faced Spider.
In the air, the form of a Golden Blood Roc flapped, pouring out blade-like wind.
Crack, crack.
The ground the strange figure was standing on split open.
And from those cracks, the forms of countless fierce beasts and snakes surged up, filling the space.
The king of spirit creatures.
The strange figure was an entity for whom such a name was more fitting than the Demon of the Forest.
As if to prove it, the forms of spirit creatures continuously spread out from his back covered in red light.
And they were soaring with the momentum to pierce through the distant ceiling.
Boom!
As the strange figure slammed his front paw toward Bu Eunseol,
Paaat! Boom!
A shockwave that seemed like the heavens and earth were collapsing and mountain ranges were crumbling pierced through his body.
Drip, drip, drip.
Fresh blood flowed from the corner of Bu Eunseol's mouth.
He had suffered internal injuries merely from the shockwave of a stomping foot.
'I forgot that I don't have inner energy.'
Because an overflowing amount of inner energy was always circulating within his physical body.
He had always brushed off things like shockwaves as if they were nothing.
But since he only had a little over one cycle of inner energy right now, let alone protective astral energy, even the Protective True Qi wrapped around his body was at a pathetic level.
"Your martial arts are quite impressive."
Nevertheless, the strange figure let out an exclamation.
The moment the shockwave pierced his body.
He had seen through the fact that Bu Eunseol instinctively used the profound principle of Grafting Flowers onto Jade to deflect that force to the side as much as possible.
Ziiiing.
In an instant, Bu Eunseol's eyes turned white.
He didn't bother trying to painstakingly subdue the strange figure.
Because trying to subdue a person with abilities equal to the Three Attendants while his body wasn't intact was impossible in the first place.
There was only one reason he could confidently come here.
It was because the power of the Poison Saint was intact.
Vrrrr.
When Bu Eunseol's eyes completely turned white, the strange figure stopped his movements.
He had generated a paralysis poison to stop the strange figure's movements, a mind-bewitching poison, and a power-scattering poison, injecting them all at once.
But an unexpected sight unfolded.
Ziiiing, ziiiing.
The strange figure's physical body flickered repeatedly, and wasn't he creating a new poison to defend against Bu Eunseol's poison?
The king of spirit creatures.
True to an entity embracing the functional abilities of all spirit creatures, he was creating new poisons to counter Bu Eunseol's poison.
'This much is a given.'
He hadn't expected someone who commanded all kinds of spirit creatures to easily fall to the power of the Poison Saint in the first place.
Nevertheless, there was only one reason he endlessly poured out the power of the Poison Saint.
'Because that guy isn't the Poison Saint.'
No matter how much he created new poisons to counter Bu Eunseol's poison.
It would consume a massive amount of power.
On the other hand, Bu Eunseol didn't store poison in his body, but borrowed the power of the surrounding environment to endlessly spew out poison.
He could exert poison infinitely without expending any power.
"It is a novel method."
But the strange figure snorted as if he had seen through Bu Eunseol's plan.
"But even if I'm not a poison practitioner, I can spew poison without issue for half a day."
Boom!
And he stomped his foot once again, spreading a shockwave that would fill the underground cavern.
"...!"
In an instant, the strange figure's eyes widened.
Because unlike before, his movements had slowed down as if he were underwater.
"You control spirit creatures, so..."
Watching that sight, Bu Eunseol snorted.
"Did you think I wouldn't know you would surely have poisons to counter mine."
Only then did the strange figure grasp the situation and glare with wide eyes.
Bu Eunseol hadn't exerted the power of the Poison Saint to poison him.
Rather, he had dramatically heightened his resistance to poison, deploying a Reverse Bestowal Poison that ruined the physical body.
"There's a reason the Poison Saint is the pinnacle of poison practitioners."
From the beginning, Bu Eunseol had noticed that the strange figure possessed all the characteristics of spirit creatures.
In other words, he guessed that he would have the resistance ability to withstand any poison.
But being able to perfectly detoxify poison oneself was only possible if one possessed the abilities of the Poison Saint.
Unless that was the case, he ultimately had no choice but to use the method of fighting poison with poison.
He had used exactly that point in reverse.
He had spread a poison that forcefully amplified the strange figure's poison resistance abilities hundreds, thousands of times.
In the end, because of a minute amount of poison that wasn't even threatening, the strange figure had to draw out all of his resistance to the limit.
This was like drawing all the water in the world to put out a single small ember.
Eventually, as the strange figure's movements slowed and his power weakened, Bu Eunseol's sword techniques began to strike home.
Slash! Slash!
The meridians in his arms and legs were severed.
The strange figure poured out shockwaves to counterattack again, but because his body had slowed down, he couldn't land them properly.
Slash! Shwick!
Every time the Silent Tiger Soul Sword sliced through the air, green blood shot up.
Slash! Thud.
The strange figure, who seemed like he would never fall because he possessed the power of immortality.
Ultimately fell beneath Bu Eunseol's sword.
Although his breath wasn't completely severed.
Because all his meridians had been severed, the strange figure writhed in pain.
"Now come out."
Bu Eunseol said in a low voice.
"That should have been enough of a spectacle."
But his voice merely echoed in the empty air, and no one came out.
In the end, Bu Eunseol said in a low voice.
"Wolyeong."
As soon as those words ended,
Clap, clap, clap.
Along with the sound of applause, a white shadow slowly appeared from the opposite vicinity.
It was Wolyeong, the youngest of the Thunder Strike Team.
"Amazing."
He let out an exclamation.
"No matter how much I think about it, I didn't make any mistakes. How on earth did you know?"
"If I were Pahon..."
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
"I would have definitely wanted to squeeze in among the wanderers and watch it directly."
"Hmm."
"You created a forest with spirit creatures, gathered wanderers... and created rules and a world as if you had become a god."
Disdain flowed from his eyes.
"Instead of looking down from above, wouldn't it be much more fun to go inside and watch together."
If he was a creator who artificially filled the forest with spirit creatures and gathered the wanderers?
He would have wanted to watch the wanderers in the forest making choices at the crossroads of pain, hope, and survival day by day.
And if possible.
Rather than watching from afar, he would have wanted to vividly observe what those emotions were like by mingling among them.
"But you shouldn't have been able to figure out my identity just from that?"
Wolyeong crossed his arms.
"Could it be that saying we were catching the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede to make medicine to cure severed meridians was a bit awkward?"
"It's none of my business knowing others' circumstances."
"Then..."
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
"When poisoned, the bodily reaction was simply different."
"I can't believe that. I perfectly controlled the reactions within my body."
Wolyeong shook his head.
"To the point where even the Poison Saint couldn't feel the difference."
"I am the Poison Saint, but I have no poison in my body."
Bu Eunseol said calmly.
"I draw poison from the outside."
Wolyeong's eyes widened in surprise.
To think the Poison Saint doesn't hold poison but draws it from the outside?
Experts in poison arts figure out poison by observing its symptoms, color, smell, or changes in the poisoned person's Qi.
But Bu Eunseol absorbed or connected with the poison itself using his own body, directly feeling the flow and action of the poison.
For the other members of the Thunder Strike Team, the process of the external poison flowing into their bodies, taking root, and destroying them was clear, but.
Wolyeong had sensed that the interaction between the poison and the body was being exerted in a completely different form.
"The martial arts of the martial world are truly endless. To think there is such a realm of Poison Saint."
"Are you acknowledging it?"
Wolyeong, no, Pahon shrugged his shoulders and changed the subject.
"You heard my story from Dali, didn't you?"
When Bu Eunseol nodded, Pahon made a bitter expression.
"I owed her a great debt. That's why I told her my whereabouts."
He sighed and shook his head.
"In the end, that goodwill is holding me back."
The only person Pahon had exposed his whereabouts to was Dali.
When Bu Eunseol recognized him immediately, he guessed that Dali had informed him.
Pahon shook his head.
"I really don't know what she's thinking. That girl."
And he let out a deep sigh.
"What on earth was that child, who would die without her Soul Demon Dharma Energy, thinking by trying to give up her status as a vassal?"
"What does that mean?"
When Bu Eunseol made a surprised expression, Pahon shook his head.
"She was originally destined to die. But by coincidentally receiving the injection of the Two Great Powers, she was maintaining her balance..."
Pahon pointed at the energy flowing through Bu Eunseol's entire body and sighed.
"Her Soul Demon Dharma Energy is with you."
Clench.
Bu Eunseol clenched his fists tightly.
In the end, his guess was right.
To save him, Dali had injected him with energy that was like her very life.
"Where is she."
"Why ask me that?"
"Because she saved me and left."
"Who are you?"
Trickle.
Bu Eunseol undid the Secret Art of Darkness without hesitation.
Since Dali had laid down everything for him, Pahon would naturally not be an enemy.
"Martial Soul Command Lord."
Pahon, recognizing Bu Eunseol's face, nodded.
"The greatest extraordinary man under heaven. In the end, you stole Dali's heart."
Thwack.
Shaking his head, he reached out his hand toward the strange figure collapsed far away.
At that, the strange figure instantly turned into thousands of spirit creatures and scattered in all directions.
The Demon of the Forest.
It was an entity artificially created by Pahon gathering spirit creatures.
"For the man possessing energy that is like Dali's life to have found me... means that in the end, your body is broken."
Pahon reached out and tried to grasp Bu Eunseol's pulse without hesitation.
"Why aren't you dodging?"
If one's pulse is grasped, no matter how great a martial artist they are, their inner energy is subdued and
The flow of their True Qi circulation can be grasped to some extent.
Because of this, martial artists do not recklessly offer their pulse even to siblings or children.
"Because you're not an enemy."
Pahon looked at Bu Eunseol anew and nodded.
"I see."
Grasping the pulse, he closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded.
"Your body is not normal. Two energies are constantly clashing."
Pahon shrugged his shoulders.
"Certainly, only I can cure something like this."
And he wore a strange smile.
"This time, I was planning to kill all the wanderers who came to catch the Black Centipede. But since you brought the wanderers to the center of the spell, that has become difficult."
Pahon spoke shocking words.
"Make a choice."
"What choice."
"Whether to save those wanderers, or cure your body."
Pahon's eyes curved like half-moons.
"If you save them, I will not cure your body. Conversely, if I cure your body, those wanderers will be annihilated."
Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed.
No matter how good-natured he appeared, he was a vassal of the True Demon.
In the end, he considered human lives as a source of amusement.
"I heard you are quite righteous, but I hope you won't show any half-baked chivalry."
Pahon said as if assuring him.
"I am the only one under heaven who can cure your body. And if you choose the people? I will not cure your body even if my head falls off."
Bu Eunseol is arguably the only person responsible for the safety of the current martial world.
For such a man to give up recovering his own body just to save Jiaozhi's wanderers, most of whom were former criminals?
It was an absolutely impossible matter.
"I've heard your mind is as good as the Heavenly Mechanism Star. You're surely trying to formulate a new plan to shake up my proposal, right?"
Pahon said firmly.
"I will not accept any proposal of yours. You must absolutely choose one of the two."
It was a complete checkmate.
Cure, or massacre.
Whether it was curing his body or annihilating the wanderers, there were only two choices.
Such a proposal was... a devilish idea that blocked every path to solving the problem.
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