Bu Eunseol gazed at the pitifully fallen members of the Thousand Poisons Sect with an apologetic expression.
With a sigh, he turned to look at Jo Seungji.
“That’s why I told you to stop.”
Jo Seungji believed that Bu Eunseol, a man who had mastered a terrifying poison art, was deliberately maintaining a polite and calm demeanor just to mock him. Gritting his teeth tightly, he snarled,
“Are you here to steal our sect’s treasure?”
“Treasure? You mean the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon.” Bu Eunseol waved his hand dismissively. “I didn’t kill it. That thing attacked me first.”
“Attacked you first? Ridiculous. Are you saying the Poison-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core grew legs and ran at you?”
Bu Eunseol gave a wry smile.
Though it had not been intentional, he had, in effect, unintentionally taken another sect’s supreme treasure.
Moreover, since he needed to ask about the antidote to solitude poison, he had no choice but to respond courteously despite Jo Seungji’s arrogant attitude.
“I didn’t steal it. It shot its poison at me.”
Bu Eunseol extended his palm.
“I blocked it, and it got absorbed into my skin.”
“Nonsense. The Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core can pierce even diamond. Yet you’re saying it couldn’t penetrate a mere human palm and got absorbed instead?”
His eyes flashed.
“Hand over the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core right now!”
At his murderous words, a middle-aged man who had been listening silently stepped forward.
“Young sect leader. It appears he has already absorbed the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core.”
He pointed at the mysterious radiant aura rising from Bu Eunseol’s body.
“That is the auspicious qi that manifests when one has absorbed an inner core.” Then, in an extremely low voice, he continued, “This man is an expert our sect cannot possibly handle. We should report this immediately and follow their decision.”
“Nonsense. You say that even knowing their power?” Jo Seungji shook his head as if deeply aggrieved. "Moreover, it wasn’t just anything—it was the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core we failed to protect. No matter what we say, our sect is finished.”
Turning his head, Jo Seungji shouted loudly, “Unless one has reached the pinnacle of poison mastery, it is impossible to absorb an inner core in one go.”
Roaring like thunder, he commanded, “Cut open his stomach! There must still be some unrefined inner core remaining!”
“Waaaaah!”
With a war cry, the Thousand Poisons Sect members who received the order began charging at Bu Eunseol with murderous intent.
Their poison arts and inner force were formidable—strong enough to dominate an entire region.
But unfortunately for them, their opponent was Bu Eunseol.
Bang!
Thanks to his body containing the maximum inner force a human physique could hold, every time he was attacked, a natural protective energy automatically unfolded around him.
Moreover, because the Thousand Poisons Sect members bravely struck that energy with full force, the rebound force caused them to spew blood arrows and collapse.
‘If I leave them like this, they will all be annihilated.’
Watching them fall one after another, Bu Eunseol lightly extended both hands and created a wave of inner force.
‘Without hurting them.’
He gently spread the wave outward.
Paa!
Yet because his overflowing inner force was still too powerful, the charging sect members were all hurled back more than ten zhang.
“Stop it. I have no intention of fighting you!”
Even at Bu Eunseol’s shout, they charged fearlessly.
Each time, a round protective qi formed around his body as hard as diamond and as elastic as a rubber ball.
Boom! Boom!
In the end, half of the roughly three hundred attacking sect members were gravely injured by the rebound force and sent flying dozens of zhang away.
‘They think they can handle it just because I’m standing still.’
Bu Eunseol finally realized why the Thousand Poisons Sect members kept charging despite the overwhelming protective energy.
‘I need to make it so they cannot even approach.’
Since they were only getting hurt by the rebound without him lifting a finger, they must have thought they still had a chance.
If he handled this half-heartedly, they would charge again.
Bu Eunseol raised his inner force once more.
Giiiing.
With a strange vibrating sound, a spherical energy membrane five zhang in diameter unfolded around him.
The problem was that because his inner force overflowed so excessively, the membrane even extended beneath his feet into the ground.
Puuuk.
“……!”
When the energy carved out a massive crater roughly four zhang deep, Bu Eunseol’s gaze turned as cold as the glaciers of the North Sea.
Having unintentionally created such a deep pit… he discovered hundreds of corpses buried deep underground.
“You vile scum.”
Bu Eunseol could no longer contain his rage.
The bodies buried in the earth near this pond had all been torn apart and devoured by something.
Most of the flesh was missing, leaving only bones and internal organ remnants.
“They captured innocent commoners and fed them to it!”
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand why the Thousand Poisons Sect had been rebuilt on this uninhabited island.
They had created a poison pond here and raised the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon, secretly abducting commoners away from the government’s eyes to serve as its food.
Kukukukuku…… Flash!
The ground shook violently from the wave of inner force, and murderous intent that seemed ready to tear the world apart burst from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Until now, he had never once spared those who harmed innocent commoners.
“You do not deserve to live.”
In that instant, intense true qi and deadly poison simultaneously erupted from Bu Eunseol’s body.
The Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s poison, fused with the Ban-Geuk Method, began radiating outward once again.
Kwaaa!
Bu Eunseol hurled a massive clump of energy at the Thousand Poisons Sect members.
Their martial arts were not particularly high, and they were already frozen in terror before his overwhelming might. Thus, even when they saw the enormous black energy coming, they could not even think to dodge—they simply stared blankly.
Kurrrrrr.
The pitch-black energy engulfed all the Thousand Poisons Sect members and instantly reshaped the surrounding terrain.
Those struck directly by the energy melted away without a trace.
Even those who avoided direct contact were completely paralyzed by the spreading poison and died slowly.
“So he really did come here to steal the inner core after all.”
Seeing Bu Eunseol kill or poison the sect members with a single massive energy without even lifting a finger, Jo Seungji became convinced he was an expert who had targeted the inner core from the beginning.
“Hmph.”
Bu Eunseol didn’t even feel it was worth replying.
“Think whatever you want.”
He slowly turned around.
Thud.
Jo Seungji also dropped to his knees.
Though his advanced poison art had prevented his body from melting, he could not withstand the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core’s poison.
Shuuuu.
From the corpses of most sect members except Jo Seungji, pale white smoke suddenly rose.
Drip, drip.
At the same time, the bodies began to melt slowly and softly.
Because he was properly unleashing the power gained from the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core, it was as if he had used Hwagolsan—the corpses began melting like taffy.
“How vicious.”
At that moment, Bu Eunseol’s skin began darkening once more.
The power of the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core that had fused with the Ban-Geuk Method was converting back into poison qi.
"Mmm.”
As the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon poison spread, his vision blurred and nausea rose.
‘I still haven’t fully fused with the Ban-Geuk Method.’
If he had perfectly absorbed the poison aura, he could have instantly reached the pinnacle of poison mastery and generated any poison in the world within his body.
“As expected, I need to separate this from my original true qi.” Shaking his head, Bu Eunseol murmured quietly, “If I keep using this poison power now, I’ll end up destroying my own body.”
If he could freely wield the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon poison, he could easily handle countless powerful enemies.
However, he had merely stored the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon poison qi in true qi form using the Ban-Geuk Mind Method. He had not perfectly absorbed it, nor had he mastered a poison art that allowed free control.
If he continued using this power, even Bu Eunseol would not escape death by poisoning.
“No helping it.”
To freely use the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon poison, he would need to master the absolute pinnacle of poison arts in the martial world. Closing his eyes briefly, he began circulating the Five Animal Frolics taoist mind method once taught to him by Gongsun Dana.
As a result, in addition to the inner core made of pure true qi, a second inner core formed from the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon poison aura was neatly stored in one corner of his dantian.
With that, all the poison qi flowing through his body vanished, and even the uncontrollably overflowing inner force finally calmed and stabilized.
“What an astonishing secret art.” Bu Eunseol took a deep breath. "Most likely, this taoist art was created after much painstaking effort by a master who, like me, had accumulated so much inner force that it became uncontrollable.”
This secret combining Hua Tuo and the Quanzhen Sect’s methods stabilizes mixed energies within the body and converts inner force beyond what the physique can contain into inner cores.
In other words, just like Bu Eunseol, some master with unimaginable levels of inner force must have created it to protect his own body.
“In the past as well, outstanding powerhouses existed in the martial world, and thanks to them, martial arts have continuously advanced.”
Bu Eunseol gazed at the distant sky.
Though human potential is said to be limitless, how can it develop so boundlessly?
“If ponds like this remain, another monster like the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon will surely be raised again.”
Bu Eunseol stroked the clear liquid filling the poison pond.
Because he had absorbed the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core, the pond’s poison could no longer invade his body.
“Come to think of it.”
Suddenly, one fact occurred to Bu Eunseol.
Thanks to consuming the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core, the Prajna Great Power—which had previously manifested only in moments of crisis—had finally merged with his original true qi.
‘Would it be possible now?’
Bu Eunseol drew up every ounce of power within him.
Golden light flashed across his entire body, and in an instant, a radiant five-colored aura began swirling fiercely.
“It works.”
A joyful expression spread across Bu Eunseol’s face.
Even though he had not forcibly clashed energies, he had managed to align the powers within his body in a short time and achieve Harmony.
“With this.”
Bu Eunseol clenched his fist tightly.
Though not instantaneous, if he could shorten the time to this extent with Harmony, might he finally be able to have a proper fight against the Fist Man?
‘Could I react instantly to the power of his Infinite Reversal Power?’
Recalling the Fist Man’s strike, Bu Eunseol extended his hand.
Paa!
In an instant, part of the poison pond vanished.
Paa! Paa!
Afterward, Bu Eunseol used Harmony three more times.
Sometimes he spread it wide across a large area while other times he concentrated it into a single line and released it.
Kurrrrrr.
Finally, after completely erasing the poison pond, Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh.
“It still isn’t as fast as I want, and I cannot use it continuously.”
Thick sweat drenched his forehead.
Even when using Harmony, the maximum consecutive uses were about three times.
If converted into a form that wrapped around his body, he might sustain it for the duration of one incense stick.
Since he had not yet obtained all Four Divine Energies, going beyond that would destroy his body.
“In the end, I must obtain the Four Divine Energies.”
Bu Eunseol looked up at the distant sky.
No matter how well the Prajna Great Power aligned the energies within his body, with only Two Divine Energies he could not perfectly harmonize them.
Ultimately, to freely use all the powers he had gained, he needed every one of the Four Divine Energies.
Giiiing.
After the poison pond vanished, a strange mechanical sound came from nearby.
Examining the area closely, Bu Eunseol used his inner force to clear away the piled earth.
A large iron door was revealed.
It turned out the Thousand Poisons Sect had secretly built an underground mechanism near the poison pond.
‘A place where the person managing the Poison-Horn Flood Dragon resided.’
Giiiing.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol entered.
“This is…”
Opening the iron door, a massive underground facility connected to the pond was revealed.
They had invested enormous funds to systematically build a structure inside the poison pond capable of raising the Poison-Horn Flood Dragon.
‘A prison?’
Yet something was odd.
Near the facility stood a small prison cell overlapped with extremely sturdy formations.
Crack.
When Bu Eunseol shattered the formation and tore open the prison door, inside sat a middle-aged man with graying hair, looking haggard and filthy.
“Get lost.”
The man appeared to have been starved and severely tortured for a long time.
Wounds covered his body, and his original qi was badly damaged.
Yet his eyes shone with sharp dignity, making it clear he was no ordinary person.
“I will never reveal the Heavenly Poison Secret Art.”
Bu Eunseol looked puzzled.
The Heavenly Poison Secret Art was the sect’s supreme poison technique, one only the sect leader could learn.
So why was an old man who appeared to be the sect leader imprisoned near the poison pond in this rebuilt Thousand Poisons Sect?
‘In that case.’
A suspicion arose, and Bu Eunseol asked,
“Are you the Thousand Poisons Sect leader?”
“You already know, so why ask?”
Surprisingly, the man locked in this prison was Jo Baeksan, the sect leader of the rebuilt Thousand Poisons Sect.
“All your sect members are dead. You can come out now.”
“What?”
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol grabbed the chains and lock binding him tightly and ripped them apart with his bare hands.
Crack.
Sparks flew as Bu Eunseol tore them off in one go. Jo Baeksan’s eyes widened.
“You tore apart chains made of dark iron with bare hands?”
With a fearful expression, he asked, “Are you from the Three Realms?”
“No.”
Bu Eunseol gave a hollow laugh.
“I am actually on hostile terms with the Three Realms, so you can rest easy.”
“Then are you from the Poison Heaven?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
“Are you referring to the Eight Human Heavens among the True Demon’s kin?”
“Was that not it?”
“No.” Frowning, Bu Eunseol asked, “Then how does the sect leader know about the Eight Human Heavens?”
“In the Three Realms, they said they were raising the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon to crush them.”
Jo Baeksan shook his head.
“They called them the main culprits destroying the martial world.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand.
The Three Realms—still considered kin to the Baekri Clan—were clashing with the Eight Human Heavens. To counter their formidable power, they had been conducting various researches and preparations.
‘Even if they have fallen, are they still the Three Realms?’
After pondering quietly, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“I have no connection to them. I simply…”
With a deep sigh, he continued, “I heard the Thousand Poisons Sect had been rebuilt, so I came to ask something.”
“Ask something?”
“I am looking for a way to detoxify the Three Corpse Worm Poison.”
“Three Corpse Worm Poison?”
Jo Baeksan’s expression turned strange.
He realized Bu Eunseol truly had no ties to the Three Realms or the Human Heavens.
“To possess such martial prowess without being from the Three Realms or Human Heavens?”
“There is no shortage of strong experts in the world.”
“It’s really true, then.”
When Bu Eunseol opened the prison door, Jo Baeksan stepped out with a dazed look.
But when he saw the completely vanished prison entrance, he blinked in shock.
“There used to be an iron door made of tempered steel here.”
Looking around with an odd expression, his eyes widened.
A massive iron door—five feet thick and over five zhang tall, like a mountain—that even treasured swords could not break, had disappeared without a trace.
‘An unimaginable master.’
Jo Baeksan felt fear upon realizing Bu Eunseol’s martial prowess had reached an incomprehensible level.
Yet he hid it and slowly exited the underground facility.
“This is…”
Emerging outside, Jo Baeksan gazed at the hundreds of half-melted corpses and his eyes dimmed.
“Fire-Attack Blood Poison… No, this is the body poison scattered by someone who has entered the realm of the Poison Demon.”
Trembling, he turned to Bu Eunseol who had followed.
“You have absorbed the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon’s inner core.”
Only someone who could absorb the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core—the absolute pinnacle of poison mastery, an invincible poison person no one could stop—could achieve what only the pinnacle of poison mastery, such as Poison Saint, could do.
‘I cannot believe it.’
Jo Baeksan’s body shook.
The supreme poison person capable of dyeing the entire world in poison was such a young man?
“I did not seek it out.”
Bu Eunseol calmly explained how the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon had attacked and how he had absorbed its inner core.
Listening silently, Jo Baeksan opened his mouth in disbelief.
“There exists a mind method that can convert poison into inner force without cultivating poison arts?”
“Yes.”
Realizing Bu Eunseol was not lying, Jo Baeksan spoke with a stunned expression.
“If you truly converted the inner core’s poison into inner force… then you have already reached the final threshold of the Poison Demon realm.”
By converting the deadliest poison of the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon into inner force, Bu Eunseol had—without practicing poison arts—surpassed the poison person stage and reached the Poison Demon.
“Seungji-ah…”
Suddenly, while looking around, Jo Baeksan spotted a familiar face among the corpses and ran forward screaming.
There lay the half-melted corpse of his beloved son.
“That’s why I told you to act in moderation, you fool!”
He wailed loudly.
“To obtain the inner core of a monster like the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon, was it worth killing so many innocent commoners?!”
Bu Eunseol vaguely grasped the situation.
Jo Baeksan had rejected the Three Realms’ proposal, but his ambitious son had imprisoned his father in the underground prison and taken control of the Thousand Poisons Sect.
“Did you not realize their proposal would drag our sect into the abyss of hell?”
Jo Baeksan’s wretched cries echoed across the uninhabited island.
Hearing his anguished lament mixed with grief, Bu Eunseol finally understood the full story.
The Three Realms had coincidentally discovered the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon.
Realizing that only the Thousand Poisons Sect’s poison pond could be used to study and tame its poison and inner core, they had provided vast funds along with lost Heavenly Poison Art manuals to rebuild the sect.
The Thousand Poisons Sect was gloriously revived, but the price of reconstruction was managing the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon.
They built the poison pond on this uninhabited island and raised it.
By chance, one sect member was accidentally eaten by the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon, after which it transformed into a monster endlessly craving human flesh.
However, Jo Baeksan was a sect leader with immense pride in the Heavenly Poison Arts.
He could not tolerate the sect becoming a mere puppet of the Three Realms tasked with managing the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon, nor the crime of abducting innocent commoners to feed the spiritual beast.
“In the end, it was self-inflicted retribution.”
As if giving up everything, Jo Baeksan’s tear-streaked face gradually grew calm.
He had failed to properly manage his sect members, failed to preserve the rebuilt sect, and had brutally killed innocent commoners to feed a monster.
For that alone, he had become a sinner unable to raise his head before the spirits of the Thousand Poisons Sect.
The deaths of his son and sect members were simply the rightful price for their sins.
“Sect leader. I have something to ask.”
Bu Eunseol spoke carefully.
“I must detoxify the Three Corpse Worm Poison. How can it be done?”
“Three Corpse Worm Poison?”
Jo Baeksan shook his head.
“That poison cannot be detoxified. It is connected to the user’s very soul.”
“Is there truly no method at all?”
“If I must name one, there is a single way.”
In a low voice, Jo Baeksan said, “If you reach the Poison Saint realm, you will be able to detoxify them.”
He continued,
“Even the Three Corpse Worm Poison that devours the brain is, in the end, still a poison.”
Gazing at Bu Eunseol’s lower abdomen, he said, “Since you have already consumed the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core, you have laid the foundation to reach Poison Saint.”
"Mmm.”
“If you absorb one more extreme poison comparable to the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon… you will have a Poison Body capable of detoxifying any poison.”
A strange fervor shone in Jo Baeksan’s eyes as he continued,
“And if you absorb two more… you will reach the Poison Saint realm, a level that has not appeared in the martial world since three hundred years ago.”
By absorbing the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon inner core in the form of the Ban-Geuk Method, Bu Eunseol had not only gained sixty years of inner force and found a way to detoxify the Three Corpse Worm Poison, but had also opened the path to the legendary poison person realm of Poison Saint—the ability to assimilate all poisons, including fatal extreme poisons and supernatural heart poisons, to strengthen body and force, instantly create any desired poison within the body, and devastate dozens of zhang with poison qi from a mere light breath.
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