Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Immunity to All Poisons
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Immunity to All Poisons.
A realm that permits no intrusion by any poison.
It was the ultimate pinnacle and ideal for poison masters who devoted their lives to studying and mastering toxins.
Thus, poison experts across the world trained relentlessly, tempered themselves, and cultivated their arts in pursuit of this state.
Yet even scanning the entire history of the martial world revealed only a scant few who had ever attained it.
Even now, only Thousand-Hand Poison Venerable—one of the Nine Martial Venerables who dominated the world—was known to have reached Immunity to All Poisons.
And yet, Hyeok Mulin had stepped into this mythical realm with bewildering ease.
Typically, one built resistance stage by stage: first to a hundred poisons, then a thousand, and finally all ten thousand.
But Hyeok Mulin had pierced straight through the endgame simply by ingesting the poison and converting it into his own vital energy, without any prior signs.
"Is this truly Immunity to All Poisons?"
Hyeok Mulin could scarcely believe it himself.
But compared to the Thousand Poisons Immunity he had achieved in his previous life, his resistance had clearly advanced by leaps and bounds, confirming it without doubt.
"No more worries about poisons now."
The energy of the One Breath Absolute Death Poison hadn't yet fully merged with his core inner force.
That was just a matter of time; left alone, it would integrate on its own.
'I gained far more than I expected.'
He had aimed only to boost his inner force, but Immunity to All Poisons? That was a double blessing.
And as if that weren't enough, he had even reached the third star of the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art.
Normally, it would have taken a comfortable three years to get there, but he had done it in mere months.
It was growth several times steeper than anticipated.
'The early stages were just the basics after all.'
When he first cultivated the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art, his body had transformed into an Extreme Demon Physique.
Upon reaching the second star, he could circulate his energy automatically without meditative breathing.
And now, at the third star, he felt something beyond mere inner force expansion—something that transcended his five senses had awakened.
The five senses covered what one could touch, sense, and verify directly.
Beyond that lay realms defying human logic.
But in this moment, Hyeok Mulin was certain.
A razor-sharp insight had opened within him, one he had never sensed even once in his previous life.
And this—this was true "sixth sense."
"So all those past sensations were mere illusions."
What he once called a sixth sense paled to mere dust against the erratic insights surging through him now.
It wasn't just heightened perception; his energy sense had grown so acute that he could now react to the subtlest flows of qi in the world.
A genuine sixth sense.
One without limits, with endless applications.
Feeling his advancement, Hyeok Mulin clenched his fist tight.
First star, second, third.
Each brought new processes, but the results always surpassed imagination.
How much grander would the paradise awaiting him be?
He couldn't help but anticipate it.
"Still, no need to rush."
Since returning to the past, everything had gone smoothly so far.
Just keep advancing straight ahead without haste or deviation.
Rising from his spot, Hyeok Mulin returned to the wooden chest.
No one bold enough would take it anyway, but he planned to reseal it so no one could tell he had claimed its contents.
As he moved to close the chest,
"Hm?"
Hyeok Mulin spotted a single sheet of paper lining the bottom.
He pulled it out casually, but his pupils dilated the instant he read it.
'This is...!'
The paper bore a martial art's name, description, and incantation in brief.
Extreme Swift Shadowless.
A phenomenal technique for moving at speeds so extreme that no trace remained visible.
From the description, it was undoubtedly a poison sect art once used by Dongbang Seo, the master thief of the East.
He wondered why such a thing lay in the chest, but flipping it over revealed the reason.
—The one who accepts the One Breath Absolute Death Poison holds the qualification to claim this.
The one who endures a poison forged from a lifetime's essence deserves to master this ultimate technique... or so it seemed to say.
"No reason for me to refuse."
Aside from the misfortune of getting trapped in the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault, it was the signature art of a man who had never been caught his entire life.
No cause to reject or ignore it.
Hyeok Mulin immediately turned to the incantation.
Scanning from top to bottom, he soon smirked.
"Impressive passion."
Extreme Swift Shadowless was a lightness skill Dongbang Seo had devised himself.
Solely to steal poisons, driven by unyielding conviction, he had mastered hundreds of movement arts—yet none satisfied him.
So he resolved to create his own.
'No wonder he was so confident in escapes.'
The focus was on speed, swiftness, rapid motion.
Yet it also allowed vanishing without a trace.
The more Hyeok Mulin pondered the incantation, the more he glimpsed Dongbang Seo's confidence.
Extreme Swift Shadowless was no mere lightness skill.
It encompassed footwork, movement arts, and lightness techniques, divided into three parts.
First, Shadowless Step.
A footwork that concealed one's presence and traces completely, not even leaving a shadow.
Perfect for a thief erasing their trail.
Second, Extreme Swift Step.
A movement art for crossing short distances at ultimate speed.
Ideal for a thief fleeing a botched job on the spot.
Finally, Shadow Swift Step.
A lightness technique for traversing long distances with weightless, shadow-like grace.
Perfect for shaking off pursuers hot on one's heels.
'...To waste these supreme skills on mere thievery.'
Shadowless Step, Extreme Swift Step, Shadow Swift Step—all had infinite uses.
But Dongbang Seo had likely limited them to stealing and fleeing.
Hyeok Mulin silently mourned the techniques for their tormented past master.
"Hmm..."
Stroking his chin, he let out a low hum.
He wanted to polish and master them all right there, but time was short.
One might be feasible on the spot, but more was impossible.
Still, he had memorized the full incantation, so the rest could wait.
"Which to start with, then."
His gaze drifted to the elixir vault.
It wasn't cramped, but hardly spacious either.
Surveying the interior thoughtfully, he nodded to himself.
'Start with Shadowless Step.'
Too confined for movement or lightness arts.
So he decided on footwork first, then began cultivating.
Shadowless Step's core lay in harmonizing light and steps to blend into darkness and mimic surroundings.
Facing a dim wall, Hyeok Mulin rose onto his toes.
He checked the light sources and angles hitting him, adjusting his posture to avoid them.
With preparations complete, he drew a deep breath, then severed it abruptly.
He felt it.
The wall's texture.
He felt it.
The wall's scent.
It faded.
His presence.
Just before fully merging with the wall and erasing his presence,
"Hoo—!"
Exhaling sharply from his lungs, Hyeok Mulin released his stance.
Too many points of focus had shortened his breath-holding compared to usual.
Yet returning to start, he grinned instead.
"Succeeding on the first try would be anticlimactic."
Easy to learn often meant underwhelming power.
Considering that, Hyeok Mulin was glad he hadn't mastered Shadowless Step instantly.
'Alright, let's do this.'
He repeated the process several more times on the spot, gradually getting the feel.
Hoo—
Heup—
Hoo—
Heup—
Hyeok Mulin endlessly repeated the motions dozens, hundreds of times.
Losing track of time as he danced in place, he finally executed Shadowless Step perfectly and raised his lips in satisfaction.
"Fitting for the moniker 'Myriad Poisons Divine Thief'."
Shadowless Step: acquired.
And not even fully perfected yet, but each deployment blurred his presence noticeably.
Master it to hide even one's shadow in broad daylight, and it was no wonder Dongbang Seo evaded everyone save the Heavenly Demon his whole life.
Of course, Hyeok Mulin had no intention of limiting Shadowless Step to mere hiding.
Stealth's applications were countless.
'The rest later.'
Extreme Swift Step and Shadow Swift Step could wait.
Memories in his mind wouldn't flee.
Whoosh!
Burning the paper with Samadhi True Fire, Hyeok Mulin blew away the ashes.
He returned the empty wooden chest to the bronze, iron, and stone ones in sequence.
After tidying up, he headed for the door, pausing to glance back.
'Quite the haul.'
Inner force boosted.
Pure Soul Divine Demon Art advanced.
Immunity to All Poisons.
And Extreme Swift Shadowless to boot.
What started unforeseen had piled up gifts beyond measure—one stone, four birds.
"My thanks, Dongbang Seo."
Murmuring to himself, Hyeok Mulin closed the door and ascended the stairs.
Rumble—
Strolling leisurely, he soon exited the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
Stepping out, a ferocious blizzard assailed him.
The bone-chilling cold and razor-sharp winds seemed almost like the heavens themselves obstructing his path.
But Hyeok Mulin merely stepped forward with a smirk at the sky.
"Come on, then. Try and stop me."
If you can.
Footprints bloomed thickly across the snowy field.
Thus, braving the blizzard, Hyeok Mulin at last confronted the long-awaited regular assembly.