Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: My Lunch
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Namgung San-yeong coldly gazed down at Hyung Sam, who was sprawled flat on the floor before her, her legs crossed elegantly.
“Is this really everything?”
“Y-Yes, it is...!”
Even after offering up every single item that Unhwi had demanded, Hyung Sam trembled under Namgung San-yeong’s unrelentingly icy stare.
How much terror did he have to endure in just one day?
The task Unhwi had given him was exceedingly simple.
‘Bring me everything you have compiled on the current state of the martial world. Especially anything you’ve investigated about the western regions.’
“You never showed the slightest interest in the Tang Clan, let alone the wider martial world. Why the sudden change?”
Namgung San-yeong could still vividly picture Unhwi, who had stopped his beating midway to babble nonsense at her—something about her smelling like an old lady with bad breath.
Had he accidentally ingested the wrong medicine overnight? Or suffered some head injury? He had become an entirely different person.
And normally, by now, he would be weeping and begging for forgiveness. But he was quiet—far too quiet.
On top of that, the errand he’d sent the steward on was downright bizarre.
What did he plan to do with these scraps of paper? They weren’t food.
‘Could it be... he’s preparing to bare his teeth at the upcoming clan head’s visit?’
A certain suspicion flitted through Namgung San-yeong’s mind.
But she soon shook her head.
No matter how drastically Unhwi had changed, there were limits to what he would do.
At the very least, the Unhwi she had observed for the past sixteen years wasn’t clever enough to scheme like that.
If anything, his father would have abandoned him long ago if not for his foolishly honest nature, so uncharacteristic of the Tang Clan.
There had to be something else at play.
‘Has he found some new backer?’
Even in a branch family, factional struggles were inevitable.
There were no small number of clan members scheming to use Unhwi for their bid at the next branch leader position.
“Ma-Madame... what should we... do with these...?”
Hyung Sam gathered up the scattered papers and scrolls from the floor, all the while stealing glances at Namgung San-yeong’s expression.
‘Less than an hour left...!’
He was reminded anew of just how terrifying she was, yet the fear of Unhwi lingering in his chest had only grown, not faded.
“Stop making a fuss and take them to him. Do your best to win his favor. But as I strictly commanded—no food deliveries until he shows genuine remorse.”
“Y-Yes! Understood!”
Fearing she might change her mind, Hyung Sam scooped up the documents and scurried out.
Namgung San-yeong glared at his retreating back.
“Just in case... it wouldn’t hurt to toss out some bait. If anyone’s really scheming through Unhwi, they’ll bite right away.”
She had no intention of forgiving him until he was clinging to her feet, sobbing and begging for his life.
* * *
In this household, where there was nothing remotely to my liking, there was exactly one thing I could look forward to.
The dantian.
The Sea of Qi acupoint. Something my original self had never possessed.
“It’s small... but properly cultivated.”
My voice trembled unwittingly, perfectly conveying my emotions.
It was that exhilarating.
It was what I had dreamed of.
—I want to learn Master’s swordsmanship.
That single desire was all I had ever yearned for!
There exists something called the Divine Heavenly Nine Flow Sword Demon Essentials.
It refers to the supreme manual compiling the nine sword arts that Master had collected wandering the world or created from his own enlightenments.
It was so renowned that people called it the Heavenly Demon Nine Swords for short, even comparing it to the cult leader’s secret art, the Asura Heaven-Shattering Dance.
I wanted to wield it with my own hands.
I wanted to stand side by side with Master, seeing the same world he did.
But the Heavenly Demon Nine Swords were ultimately a technique based on the lower dantian.
It had been nothing but a pipe dream for me—
“...Not anymore.”
Though the lower dantian was tiny and the acupoints underdeveloped, such flaws could be overcome with time.
The fact that I could hold a sword.
The fact that I could cultivate the Heavenly Demon Nine Swords.
That was what mattered most to me.
...And then.
“What if I add my original abilities to this?”
Martial arts and sorcery.
The realization that I might fuse these two worlds, long kept separate, filled me with elation.
It meant the birth of a ‘complete being,’ a legend whispered only in tales of the martial world.
In truth, I believed—no, I was certain—this was the only way to defeat the shadowy force that had toppled both Master and me.
They had moved so insidiously, fooling even the Heavenly Demon Cult and the entire martial world.
I couldn’t even guess at the secrets they hid.
There had to be something surpassing even the Heavenly Demon Cult at its thousand-year peak.
The problem was that the Tang Clan’s foundational art rooted in this body was orthodox in nature, incompatible with the Heavenly Demon Nine Swords.
I needed a bridge to connect them.
“Let’s give it a try.”
I sat cross-legged and closed my eyes.
Plunging my consciousness deep into the subconscious, a vast library of endlessly shelved books materialized.
Whoosh!
—The Heavenly Demon Library.
Thanks to my extraordinarily developed upper dantian since childhood, I possessed perfect recall, allowing me to store specific domains as virtual spaces in my mind.
One such space was this archive, accessible only to the cult leader and his successor in the cult.
It was the grand repository of tens of thousands of manuals the Heavenly Demon Cult had amassed over a millennium, traversing the central plains and western regions.
“Still, it’s a relief. Not much seems lost... and what’s gone is mostly junk anyway. Phew!”
I’d worried that much of my memory might vanish during the soul reincarnation cycle, but the damage appeared minimal.
Scanning the shelves, my eyes locked onto one volume.
A grin spread across my face.
“Found it.”
—Poison Dragon Heart Formula.
Pulling out the manual, a pungent, acrid stench assaulted my nose—the lingering poison scent left by its original owner.
“They really don’t need to recreate smells like this. But I have to remember ‘everything’ perfectly, so it’s a hassle.”
Of course, being mere illusion, I could ignore it.
Brushing aside the stinging at my fingertips, I opened the book, and long-forgotten contents resurfaced naturally one by one.
A poison and demonic art born from a poison expert who, framed unjustly despite his Sacheon Tang origins, fled to the Heavenly Mountains.
This would serve as the perfect bridge.
—The Poison Dragon Heart Formula was created based on the Tang Clan’s proud Dual Flame Three Yang Return Art, incorporating the Five Poison Sect’s Poison Kill Hundred Veins and the Beast Forest’s Hundred White Lily Demonic Art, solely to counter all poisons and hidden weapons.
It could rightfully claim to be the consummate art for any poison master.
“If I rebuild this body on this foundation and lay the groundwork for the Heavenly Demon Black Heart Art... it’ll be enough.”
The Poison Dragon Heart Formula handled poison qi without directly manipulating demonic qi.
Meaning it could be safely cultivated within the Tang Clan without issue.
And it was a demonic art to boot, with top efficiency? Oh, I can’t resist that.
—However, mastering the Poison Dragon Heart Formula is no easy feat. One must cease viewing the body as one’s own and see it merely as a testing ground for poisons. The path is a thorny road of unrelenting agony.
Of course, that convenience came at the price of excruciating pain.
The kind that made your teeth chatter.
But when had I ever feared such things?
The sooner I regained my past life’s power, the better for me.
The sooner I could rush to Master’s side.
Thud!
I meticulously reviewed the manual to the end before quietly closing it.
Now, its contents and insights were etched crystal-clear in my mind, no further reading needed.
At the same moment.
Twitch!
My lower dantian stirred, inner energy flowing for the first time. It began bubbling vigorously.
A sensation both unfamiliar and thrilling to me.
* * *
The foundation of the Poison Dragon Heart Formula lay in body reconstruction.
Regularly ingesting specially refined extreme poison pills to intoxicate the body, then toughening the muscles and bones in overcoming it.
The ultimate goal: achieving a wasp waist and slender hands, along with immunity to myriad poisons.
“The problem is, I don’t have the ingredients to make those extreme poison pills.”
I couldn’t even leave the White Chamber, and Namgung San-yeong certainly wouldn’t provide support.
But in a way, that was for the best.
Confinement was as good as secluded training for me, and I could craft the pills artificially anyway.
A method to produce extreme poison pills more virulent than any other lay right before me.
“How long are you going to keep glaring like that, Martial Uncle? Your eyeballs might pop out.”
Across from the bed where I sat, Cheon Ha-jin jabbed a finger at me, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
「No matter how insane you are! How dare you...! Do you think you’ll get away with turning me—the Vice Leader of the Great Heavenly Demon Divine Cult—into this pathetic state!!」
Of course, Cheon Ha-jin alone wouldn’t do.
「Release us, Young Cult Leader!」
「Aren’t you afraid of our grudge?」
「Turning the Dragon Demon Sword into that disgrace! The founding Heavenly Demon won’t stand for it!」
Even the elders and executives who had perished with him in the Nether Hell Flames surged forth. All had become wrathful spirits clinging to and swirling around me.
They had become visible after I forcibly unlocked the upper dantian of ‘Dang Unhwi’ by opening the Violet Palace.
A sign that my Lion’s Eye ability had fully taken root in this body.
「Young Cult Leader!」
「Young Cult Leadeeer!!」
All they did was wail incessantly. These old ghosts are noisy as hell.
Bang!
A light tap on the floor silenced the old men as if by magic.
I had unleashed spirit power to crush them all.
“If you meant to kill me, shouldn’t you have been prepared for this much, all of you?”
I smirked coldly and drew my right hand inward.
Space blurred, manifesting a clump of iron chains.
Cheon Ha-jin and the elders were dragged powerlessly, tumbling disgracefully to the floor.
Some knelt, lamenting their fate.
I am the Ghost King, sovereign over all wandering spirits and ghosts in the nine heavens, who crowns themselves.
Those who died by my hand—regardless of righteous or demonic—become my slaves. That’s the gist of it.
“Want to be freed?”
Clink, clink—
The chains rattled, and the old men’s gazes shook in sync.
This is more fun than I thought.
“Stay like this, and you’ll wander eternally as ghosts, never reincarnating. Must be frustrating, right?”
The elders clamped their lips shut tight.
「How long will you let this insolent brat prattle on, elders! Before he seduces us with that devilish tongue—Kaaaaah!」
Cheon Ha-jin’s rant cut short as I yanked the chain, dragging him straight to my feet.
Clank, clank!
「Let go! I said let gooo!」
Struggle all you want. It wouldn’t budge.
This was the Banned Spirit Chain, forged by Master and me over three grueling years from a rare divine metal we’d chanced upon.
An artifact of spirit sorcery bound to my soul, usable anytime.
Alive, you boasted as a great demon or whatnot with lackeys fawning over you. Dead, what can you do?
「Whatever you plan for me, you think I’ll cooperate meekly—」
“Yeah. I don’t need you. You can sit this out.”
「...What?」
I smiled faintly and placed my hand on Cheon Ha-jin’s head. Then squeezed with full force.
Crunch!
His head exploded.
No scream—just the wail of his soul.
Kiiiiiaaaaa!
Squish, crunch.
Staring down the elders, I pulverized Cheon Ha-jin’s soul with one hand.
The towering six-foot frame shrank to fist-sized in an instant.
「!!」
「!!」
「!!」
“Know what this is, elders?”
I presented the remnants of what was once Cheon Ha-jin to the stunned elders.
“It’s a Wrath Spirit Pill. Steeped in the dead’s resentment and grudges—far more vicious than any extreme poison. One bite turns you mad. But right now—”
I popped it into my mouth.
Crunch, crunch!
Gulp!
“It’s my lunch.”
「!!!」
「!!!」
「!!!」
What better extreme poison for cultivating the Poison Dragon Heart Formula?
Seeing the elders’ faces grow even paler despite being dead already, I realized negotiations would be a breeze.
A steady supply of premium spirit medicine, and smoother talks.
Two birds with one stone? Heh heh.