Chapter 25: Poison Forest-7
Chapter 25: Poison Forest-7
"Ji Gwang-ok!"
Ji Gwang-ok barely managed to deflect the twin palms of old man Seok Gyeong-dal, who had suddenly lunged at him radiating ferocious light.
Boom!
The moment he saw him, the Bloodthirsty Demon Lord Ji Gwang-ok cried out with startled eyes.
"Elder Seok! It really was you, Elder Seok!"
"That's right, it's me! How is Mu Gwang doing?!"
At that, Ji Gwang-ok grinned like a beast and answered.
"The Blood Demon is always well. He always said as a matter of habit that if only Elder Seok hadn't left, the Blood Cult's dominion would have come ten years sooner."
At his answer, Seok Gyeong-dal's expression suddenly darkened.
"Ten years sooner? Then it seems you've already restored the lost materials."
"Heh heh heh, it was quite difficult."
Seok Gyeong-dal, originally a martial scholar and physician, had taken on the role of supplementing and improving the Blood Cult's demonic arts through research rather than exercising direct martial force.
In particular, it was no exaggeration to say that more than eighty percent of the credit for improving the Blood Cult's corpse refinement technique and creating the current undead servants and demons belonged to Seok Gyeong-dal.
But Seok Gyeong-dal had destroyed all of his own research materials when he left the Blood Cult.
Because of that, he had thought the secret methods for creating higher-ranking demons, and even the method to create the ultimate goal—the Blood Demon person—had all been thwarted...
Ji Gwang-ok spoke.
"The Blood Demon gave orders. If by any chance we encountered Elder Seok, we were to send you off comfortably."
That meant he was no longer needed. It meant they had restored all the materials he had destroyed.
Ji Gwang-ok burst into maniacal laughter and charged at him.
"So farewell, Elder Seok! Kwa-ha-ha-ha!"
Seok Gyeong-dal's martial arts level was approximately ninety years of internal energy.
He had always been more of a martial scholar than a martial artist, and had also feared that if he raised his martial arts level any higher, he would not be able to endure the encroachment of demonic arts.
But now Seok Gyeong-dal, with his eyes gleaming red, was clashing with Ji Gwang-ok on nearly equal footing.
"Hwaaaaap!"
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Ji Gwang-ok, who had clashed five palms with Seok Gyeong-dal and retreated to one side, furrowed his brow and spoke.
"You've taken the Blood Burst Pill!"
"Kwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!"
The Blood Burst Pill was a dangerous elixir that triggered a rampage of true qi, momentarily elevating one's martial prowess.
It allowed one to display combat ability beyond their level for a short time, but afterward one became a cripple...
Even for orthodox faction members with pure internal energy, taking the Blood Burst Pill resulted in becoming a cripple nearly eighty percent of the time, so for martial artists who had cultivated demonic arts, it was no different from poison.
Seok Gyeong-dal had taken precisely that Blood Burst Pill.
Seol Pung, who had been briefly catching his breath thanks to Seok Gyeong-dal's intervention, could not help but be horrified at the words "Blood Burst Pill."
He felt he understood what the old man had been thinking when he intervened.
Seol Pung gritted his teeth and dove back toward Ji Gwang-ok.
"Hyaaaap!"
He could not let the opportunity Seok Gyeong-dal was creating with his life go to waste.
While Seok Gyeong-dal clashed with Ji Gwang-ok head-on, Seol Pung was targeting Ji Gwang-ok's rear with beast-like movements.
Neither Seok Gyeong-dal, who was fighting to the death clashing head-on, nor Seol Pung, who was lunging at terrifying speed like a leopard stalking an opening, was easy to handle.
But Ji Gwang-ok had not been exerting his full power until now either.
"You little minnows!"
His twin palms, enveloped in red energetic force, began to stretch out in all directions like a storm.
It was the Thousand Illusion Demon Palm, the ultimate technique of the Blood Cult, optimized for facing multiple enemies.
Pa-ba-ba-ba-ba-bat!
"Urrrgh!"
"Kugh!"
As the red hand shadows filled the entire space like a sunset, Seok Gyeong-dal and Seol Pung, unable to endure, had no choice but to be sent flying backward.
It was a continuous palm technique of truly terrifying power.
Furthermore, unlike Seol Pung, who immediately regained his balance with animalistic movement, Seok Gyeong-dal was staggering, unable to disperse the force of the blow.
Ji Gwang-ok, having spotted his opening, burst into maniacal laughter and lunged toward Seok Gyeong-dal.
"Kwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! Farewell, Elder Seok!"
Red lightning energy gathered and crackled in Ji Gwang-ok's palm center—the ultimate technique of the Blood Cult, the Explosive Thunder Blood Palm.
As the lightning-like palm force crashed down toward Seok Gyeong-dal's exposed chest, a startled Seol Pung tried to throw himself forward.
"Elder!"
But Seonwoo Jin, who had somehow approached Seol Pung's side, grabbed Seol Pung's arm and would not let go.
A shocked Seol Pung cried out urgently.
"Jin?!"
But what met Seol Pung's eyes was the sight of Seonwoo Jin shaking his head with a somber gaze.
When Seol Pung, sensing something, turned his head back, it was the very moment Ji Gwang-ok's palm strike slammed squarely into Seok Gyeong-dal's chest.
"Die!"
Puoooong!
"Kuaaaargh!"
Seok Gyeong-dal's back, having taken a palm strike to the chest, burst open like a firecracker.
Not just blood, but his spine and internal organs as well.
But the expression of Ji Gwang-ok, who had been laughing ferociously, froze the moment he saw the dying Seok Gyeong-dal's face.
The old man, his back blown open, was smiling brightly without having died yet.
Sensing something was wrong, Ji Gwang-ok hurriedly tried to retreat backward.
But Seok Gyeong-dal's hand, which had somehow seized his arm tightly, would not release him.
The next moment, radiance burst forth from Seok Gyeong-dal's eyes.
At the same time, his body triggered a massive explosion.
Kwaaaaaaang!
It was the Explosive Death Thunder, a secret technique of the Blood Cult that detonated one's own body to achieve mutual destruction with the enemy.
Seol Pung cried out in horror.
"Elder!"
Seonwoo Jin, his expression heavy, suddenly recalled the words the old man had spoken before leaving the thatched hut.
'Even if that little Seol Pung and I combine our attacks after I've taken the Blood Burst Pill, it will be difficult to defeat Ji Gwang-ok. So I will deliberately expose an opening to that bastard and then self-destruct. When that happens, you take responsibility and make sure the little Seol Pung and that child Cheongyeon fall back.'
When the horrified Bi Sa-yeong had asked why he would go that far at his words, the old man had smiled and answered.
He said it was simply something that weighed on his conscience.
His expression as he smiled while saying that had looked extremely relieved.
Because they had not known the exact blast range, they had withdrawn far back, but it seemed old man Seok Gyeong-dal had even controlled the direction of the self-destruction.
His bones and flesh had burst out solely in the direction where Ji Gwang-ok stood.
But when the explosion subsided, Seonwoo Jin's group, who had been watching that direction with somber expressions, once again had to widen their eyes.
Covered in bones and flesh, Ji Gwang-ok was still standing.
"Kuuuuugh, this damned old man!"
His right arm, which had been seized by Seok Gyeong-dal, had vanished without a trace, but the rest of his body appeared completely intact.
Suddenly, the faint red energetic force covering his body caught everyone's eyes.
Seol Pung murmured as if he could not believe it.
"Protective... energetic force?"
Protective energetic force was a technique that shrouded the entire body in energetic force—which even peak-level masters could only emit from specific parts like weapons or hands and feet—to protect the whole body.
Because the control of the energetic force and the consumption of internal power required were at an absurd level, it was said to be a realm only possible for the absolute beings of the current martial world, yet Ji Gwang-ok had just displayed it, albeit imperfectly.
But it seemed even manifesting the protective energetic force and enduring the Explosive Death Thunder had been too much for Ji Gwang-ok.
Soon he vomited blood from his mouth.
"Cough!"
In that moment, Seol Pung's eyes flashed.
This was the opportunity.
The final opportunity that Elder Seok Gyeong-dal had created.
Seol Pung's form shot out like a beam of light.
Red radiance was bursting from his eyes.
Pang!
"Hyaaaap!"
Seol Pung, who had thrown his body like a fierce tiger, put all his body's strength into striking Ji Gwang-ok.
It was his ultimate technique, the Wild Beast Fist.
Puuung!
"Kugh!"
Ji Gwang-ok, having blocked Seol Pung's attack with his remaining hand, was helplessly pushed backward.
But that was only the beginning.
The fearsomeness of the Wild Beast Fist lay in the flurry of strikes—whirling his whole body in midair like a cat and raining down blows. Starting with that first strike, Seol Pung's fists and kicks began to pummel Ji Gwang-ok like a storm.
Pabababababak!
Ji Gwang-ok, his face gone pale as a sheet of white paper, was helplessly pushed back without even being able to counterattack.
"Keueuk, you insolent whelp."
Ji Gwang-ok blocked Seol Pung's Tiger Claw Hand strike with his left arm, a blow swung like a wild beast's.
But Seol Pung, having feigned the strike and seized the left arm, rotated his body along that arm and slammed his opposite elbow directly into Ji Gwang-ok's temple.
Ppeok!
"Keuk!"
It was the first clean hit that had landed.
But it did not end there.
Seol Pung's body continued its fierce rotation, and his knee smashed into Ji Gwang-ok's side.
Ppeo-eok!
Udeuk!
"Eueueuk!"
Along with the sound of shattering ribs, Seol Pung launched his body into the air, his foot soaring high into the sky.
And then in an instant, it came crashing down like a thunderbolt.
Kwaaaaang!
"Kyaaaaak!"
Finally struck squarely by Seol Pung's leg technique, Ji Gwang-ok screamed and was sent tumbling, rolling across the ground.
The watching group clenched their fists and let out cheers.
"He got him!"
"Finish him, Group Leader!"
Seol Pung, too, prepared to launch the final blow at Ji Gwang-ok, who was completely knocked flat.
But he could not.
"Kulleok!"
Seol Pung also suddenly collapsed to his knees, coughing up blood.
The startled group cried out in alarm.
"Group Leader!"
"Are you alright?!"
Only Seonwoo Jin, who had guessed the circumstances, let out a regretful sigh.
Through the memories of his past life, Seonwoo Jin knew.
That ultimate technique which had allowed Seol Pung, a mere peak-level master with eighty years of internal energy, to overwhelm Ji Gwang-ok, a transcendent peak master with over a hundred years of internal energy — it was a martial art with a time limit.
He knew it was roughly a quarter-hour at most, and of all moments, the time had just run out.
No, seeing him cough up blood, it looked like he had been forcibly sustaining it even after the time had already expired.
While the startled Hae Cheong-yeon and Bi Sa-yeong rushed to Seol Pung to support him, Seonwoo Jin was looking at Ji Gwang-ok with a regretful expression.
Staggering, Ji Gwang-ok was getting back up.
Coldly speaking, no matter how injured he was, the only person here who could face him, a transcendent peak master, was Seol Pung.
The others, who had not even stepped onto the peak realm, could not withstand his energetic force.
If only there were just one more, just one more peak master...
Just then, Seonwoo Jin's gaze abruptly shifted toward the baggage positioned behind Ji Gwang-ok.
It was the baggage the Blood Cultists had brought.
When he saw that, Seonwoo Jin's eyes flashed sharply.
Then, immediately firming his resolve, he drew his sword and began charging straight at Ji Gwang-ok.
It was a gale-force charge, deploying the Bi Sect's Divine Movement Technique at its utmost limit.
"Ji Gwang-ok!"
Ji Gwang-ok, stumbling as he rose, looked at the whelp charging toward him and smiled a bloody grin.
No matter how injured he was, for a brat who hadn't even reached the peak to come at him — it was simply laughable.
From his one remaining left hand, the crimson lightning energy of the Explosive Thunder Blood Palm began to crackle.
"Euaaaaap!"
But Seonwoo Jin, having shouted his martial cry, did not leap at him. Using the momentum of his charge, he simply and suddenly shaved a kick at the ground beneath his feet.
Pa-aak!
From the impact, dirt and sand billowed up fiercely, blanketing Ji Gwang-ok like a volley of throwing weapons.
It likely meant to obscure his vision.
But this kind of trick was far more familiar to the Blood Cultist Ji Gwang-ok than it was to the orthodox faction.
Simply shielding his eyes with his left arm as he prepared a counterattack, Ji Gwang-ok sneered at Seonwoo Jin.
"Foolishness!"
But Seonwoo Jin, who he had thought would come charging in while his vision was blocked, did not go toward Ji Gwang-ok.
Rather, he was circling around him, heading toward the rear.
"Huh?"
As Ji Gwang-ok's eyes traced Seonwoo Jin's form with a dubious gaze, they caught sight of Seonwoo Jin's face grinning broadly.
He was lifting the baggage the Blood Cultists had brought.
Realizing what was inside that baggage, Ji Gwang-ok cried out in horror.
"You bastard!"
At that moment, Seonwoo Jin hurled it at Ji Gwang-ok, and simultaneously leaped forward himself, swinging his sword.
Sha-aak!
Then the black panther, the ropes binding it severed, bared its fangs at Ji Gwang-ok.
"Kyaaaang!"
He had caught sight of it earlier — the black panther glaring at Ji Gwang-ok with eyes filled with killing intent, within Seonwoo Jin's field of view.
The black panther, which had fought almost evenly with Seol Pung, had now regained its freedom and was lunging at Ji Gwang-ok.
As its claws raked at Ji Gwang-ok, he swung his single remaining arm and struck it away.
Ppeok!
He managed to knock the black panther back with that, but the beast was indeed a creature worthy of a peak master.
Even in the midst of being knocked back, it twisted its body in midair, aiming for Ji Gwang-ok's opening.
Ji Gwang-ok could not take his eyes off the leopard.
And at that very moment, Seonwoo Jin, leaping in from behind the leopard, once more shaved a kick at the ground, throwing dust into his face.
Puha-ak!
With only one hand, Ji Gwang-ok had no choice but to raise his left arm to shield his eyes.
At that instant, the black panther lunged again.
"Kyaaaang!"
Ji Gwang-ok let out an enraged roar.
"How dare you!"
And it was just as he was about to strike the black panther with his left arm.
Suddenly, he could not help but falter at the sharp, stinging pain he felt in his right shoulder.
It was a faint pain, but something about it felt wrong.
And when he absently turned his eyes to check the source of the pain, he was utterly appalled.
On the wound where his arm had been torn away, two snakes, launched like projectiles, had sunk their venomous fangs in.
They were the Three-Colored Death Adders, snakes that masters of poison arts used even as throwing weapons, possessing a deadly venom that killed instantly upon a bite.
Ji Gwang-ok's eyes went blank with dazed despair.
Entering his vision was the sight of Seonwoo Jin, holding out a leather pouch toward him and grinning fiercely.
"How could... this be...."
At that moment, Ji Gwang-ok could not block the attack of the black panther that pounced on him.
"Kyaaaang!"
Kwajik!
The sound of neck bones snapping reached Seonwoo Jin's ears with vivid clarity.
The black panther was not satisfied with simply breaking the neck.
The beast bit into Ji Gwang-ok's neck and knocked him down, then simply tore it right out.
Jjijijik!
Puha-ak!
Blood spurted from Ji Gwang-ok's neck like a fountain.
No matter how supreme a transcendent peak master was, no one could survive having their throat ripped out.
It was instant death.
"Huuuu."
Seonwoo Jin finally let out a sigh as if all his strength had drained away.
And he looked at Ji Gwang-ok's corpse.
The black panther did not eat Ji Gwang-ok's torn-out throat.
It simply spat it out — ptooi! — and then just stared quietly at Seonwoo Jin.
Seonwoo Jin also looked into the black panther's yellow eyes.
The beast was clearly a dangerous wild animal.
With combat strength nearly equal to a peak master, if it were to turn on them now, with even Seol Pung injured, they might not be able to stop it.
But Seonwoo Jin somehow felt that the beast would not attack them.
The reason was unknown, but he could feel absolutely no hostility in the creature's eyes.
The black panther, which had been watching Seonwoo Jin for a moment, turned its head and glanced briefly toward the injured Seol Pung and the rest of the group, then soon turned its body and ambled leisurely into the Poison Forest, disappearing at ease.
It was just a feeling, but he somehow felt as if he had received a gesture of thanks from the creature.
Seonwoo Jin now carefully put away the two Three-Colored Death Adders still biting into Ji Gwang-ok's shoulder back into the leather pouch, and then ran over to Seol Pung.
Now, it was truly time to return.