Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Section 7. There Is a Will Stronger than Poison (2)
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The protective poison aura surrounding Sa Woo-yeon surged violently.
Cracks formed on its surface, as if fissures were spreading across a glass wall. Cracks appeared on Sa Woo-yeon's face as well.
"Insolent fool!"
Enraged, Sa Woo-yeon spread his palm wide.
Kwaaa!
Layered Blood Poison Hand.
It was a palm technique that channeled the accumulated poison within his body.
Even before the palm force reached, a powerful poison qi assaulted the senses. The poison coursing through his blood was more potent than any toxin in the world. A single drop could kill dozens of grown men.
It was a strike laden with that deadly poison. No ordinary method could block it. Even Damho couldn't. So he unleashed Severing Air Wall.
A technique that struck the seams of the air to generate ultrasonic waves inaudible to the human ear.
Jjeeeeng!
The shockwave from the rupturing air seams instantly dispersed the poison qi within the Layered Blood Poison Hand.
As the shockwave crashed over him, Sa Woo-yeon's face rippled violently. But Sa Woo-yeon was a supreme master who had reached the absolute realm. His reaction was dazzling.
After blocking Damho's fist with the ultimate technique of Layered Blood Poison Hand, Poison King Rules All the World, he opened his mouth wide.
Hooa!
The poison qi lingering in his mouth rode his breath and enveloped Damho's face.
Damho had blocked his mouth and nose to completely shut out the poison qi, but his eyes stung. If exposed any longer, even with internal energy protection, he would go blind. It was poison qi beyond imagination.
Damho closed his eyes.
Light vanished, and darkness descended. Yet Damho did not panic.
He had lived in darkness for a full twelve years. Darkness was more familiar than light, and he could grasp the surroundings just by sensing the air's movement.
Peong!
Damho's powerful strike exploded forth.
Striking Empty Palm, a technique for hitting enemies through empty space. It was a common method known to any self-proclaimed expert in the martial world, but in Damho's hands, its power was extraordinary.
Sa Woo-yeon staggered back as if struck by a massive hammer. Damho pressed the attack.
Black hair fluttering in the wind, fierce glint flashing between strands. And an overwhelming killing intent permeating the area.
An ordinary person would have collapsed in terror just facing Damho, but Sa Woo-yeon was no ordinary man.
A green glow flickered around his retreating body.
Heavenly Poison Gang.
He forged qi from poison.
Heavenly Poison Gang rushed in. There was no escape. In this desperate moment, Damho chose a shield.
His body, in a state of ultra-vibration, collided with the Heavenly Poison Gang.
Kwaang!
A thunderous roar erupted, and Damho's body jolted violently. A faint trace of blood appeared at his lips. His complexion turned black.
He had neutralized the gang's power itself, but the poison qi blanketed his entire body.
The poison that infiltrated through his pores and into his bloodstream rapidly expanded, threatening to poison his internal organs at any moment. At that instant, a powerful energy surged within Damho, swirling through his body.
Dark Soul Heart Technique activated. The energy from the Dark Soul Heart Technique incinerated the invading poison qi.
Previously poisoned, Damho had found a way to counter it and applied it in practice.
Sa Woo-yeon's poison qi was incomparably more vicious than before. But at its root, it was identical, like cast from the same mold.
Sa Woo-yeon's expression flickered slightly. Damho was enduring his poison arts far better than expected.
'Is this guy immune to poison?'
Such people existed occasionally. Those versed in poison arts or whose cultivated internal techniques inherently countered poisons.
They naturally resisted poisons. Practitioners of mediocre poison arts were doomed against them. But Sa Woo-yeon was no mediocre poison practitioner.
"I'll show you exactly why I'm called the Heavenly Poison Lord."
Kuuu!
In an instant, the power of the Heavenly Poison Gang emanating from Sa Woo-yeon's body amplified further. The ground began to melt, and the surrounding air turned black.
A radius of twenty-odd zhang around Sa Woo-yeon became a land of death. The very air transformed into poison, where no life could survive.
Damho stood at its center.
No matter how skilled Damho was, he couldn't hold his breath forever. The poison-filled air pressed on him like quicksand.
Then Sa Woo-yeon unleashed Heavenly Poison Gang at Damho once more.
Ppudeuduk!
Damho's feet sank deep into the ground softened to mush by poison. His calves swelled visibly, thick veins bulging on his neck and the backs of his hands.
Teoreong!
He kicked off the ground.
Sa Woo-yeon sneered at Damho's flailing-like movement.
"Hmph! A final struggle? It's futile."
Sa Woo-yeon drew up even more poison qi.
The most primal poison within him, Hell Blood Poison, erupted like a storm.
Hell Blood Poison was the crystallization of countless toxins he had absorbed. It was the foundation of Sa Woo-yeon's being and the world's deadliest absolute poison.
To eliminate Damho for certain, he played his trump card.
The moment Hell Blood Poison stormed toward Damho.
Kuuu!
Damho's entire body trembled, and a vortex of qi swirled around him.
A ferocious qi storm exploded, tearing into everything like a beast's fangs.
Exploding Demon Energy.
An offensive-defensive unity technique fusing Severing Air Wall, Five Fingers Rebounding Shock, and Shield.
His battle against the Nangong family's elites and Sword King Nangong Cheon had left Damho with a great challenge and insights.
A martial art that dominated hordes of foes with overwhelming might and unleashed absolute power against supreme masters. The result was Exploding Demon Energy.
Kwakwakwa!
The internal energy accumulated through Dark Soul Heart Technique formed a vortex, raging through Damho's body and clashing with the Hell Blood Poison-laden airflow.
Flames erupted, briefly dyeing the area red.
Damho advanced wielding Exploding Demon Energy, while Sa Woo-yeon blocked him with erupting Hell Blood Poison.
Their gazes met in midair.
Unlike Sa Woo-yeon, whose eyes wavered visibly, Damho's held no tremor.
Sa Woo-yeon was undoubtedly a supreme master.
Any ordinary warrior would have quailed before even facing him. In truth, none who confronted Sa Woo-yeon had ever performed to their full potential.
But Damho was different. Through countless battles, he had forged unparalleled courage and an unyielding spirit.
That difference showed in their eyes.
The moment Sa Woo-yeon met Damho's gaze, which even death would not faze, a chill ran down his spine.
'Dangerous!'
Kwaaang!
In that instant, they clashed head-on.
A gale of poison qi raged outward, laying waste to a radius of fifty-odd zhang. The ground and rocks melted, and mighty trees rotted from the roots.
Keolkeok!
Damho dropped to one knee, vomiting blood.
His chest and knee stained red with blood. Tears streamed endlessly from his eyes. But Damho felt relieved instead.
The poison qi remaining in his body had been expelled through blood and tears. Calming his ragged breath, Damho gazed ahead.
Three zhang ahead lay someone's arm. Damho knew its owner.
'Sa Woo-yeon.'
He had fled like a lizard, abandoning one arm.
Pususu!
The severed arm melted away in poison qi.
Grinding his teeth, Damho rose. Dragging his leg, he pursued Sa Woo-yeon's trail.
The clash had inflicted severe internal injuries throughout his body. He had expelled most of the invading poison, but proper treatment through energy circulation was needed to avoid aftereffects.
Damho knew this. Yet he ignored his body's cries of pain and moved.
"Halt!"
A group of warriors appeared from somewhere.
Demonic Cult warriors dispatched to secure Sa Woo-yeon's escape route. Their faces were filled with dismay.
Sa Woo-yeon was the one they revered like the heavens. The Demonic Cult had sent them to support him, but they rarely needed to act.
Only poison art practitioners could even approach him. Their role was handling aftermath from afar.
Sa Woo-yeon defeated and fleeing? Unthinkable.
Their foe was the monster who severed the absolute poison master's arm. Bracing for death, they confronted Damho.
Damho hurled his body at them like a battering ram.
Kwaak!
A roar erupted.
Those blocking Damho flew apart as bloody pulps.
Among the rolling corpses on the ground, none retained a proper form.
Leaving the bodies behind, Damho pressed on.
He couldn't run at full speed with his limp, but Damho possessed an unbreakable will and iron endurance.
The wolf named Damho hunted Sa Woo-yeon's trail.
"Kuuh!"
Sa Woo-yeon, lightfoot leaping with one arm lost, wore a mix of shock and fear.
He couldn't believe his situation. Though not among the Four Demon Generals or Seven Great Demons, his prestige in the Demonic Cult matched theirs.
Due to his poison use, the Demonic Cult classed him as more dangerous than the Seven Great Demons.
Yet now, he fled with a severed arm, tail between his legs like a whipped dog. Sa Woo-yeon thought he was trapped in a nightmare, praying it would end soon.
A cliff loomed ahead. A great river flowed below, with a boat waiting.
The cliff was over fifty zhang (150m) high. Heart racing, he had no choice but to detour. Time would be lost, but safety first.
Sa Woo-yeon finally reached the riverbank after a long detour around the cliff.
"Board quickly, Poison Lord."
A Demonic Cult warrior, prepped by prior contact, greeted him. Sa Woo-yeon boarded without a word.
Kkiiik!
As he did, the warrior rowed. The boat slowly pulled away from the riverbank. Only then did Sa Woo-yeon exhale in relief.
"Kreuk!"
Relief passed, shame and rage surged.
"You bastard! I won't forgive you."
He couldn't forgive Damho for reducing him to this. The momentary fear Damho instilled was unbearable.
Pain followed from his severed shoulder.
Pushu!
Blood dripping from the wound splashed into the river and boat bottom.
"Kueee!"
The rower succumbed to the blood's poison qi, and dead fish floated belly-up in the river.
"Damn it!"
Irritation crossed Sa Woo-yeon's face at losing the rower. Now he had to row himself.
He blamed Damho for it all.
"You bastard! You won't sleep soundly anymore. I'll poison every drop of water and food you touch. Everyone connected to you will be poisoned to death. Anyone who so much as touches a finger of yours will meet the most miserable end in the world. Kuhahaha!"
As his mad laughter echoed over the river.
Taat!
Suddenly, a black shadow shot up from the cliff above. Soaring high, it plummeted toward Sa Woo-yeon's boat at terrifying speed.
Swaaaak!
The black shadow falling like a meteor from over fifty zhang was Damho, cloaked in Exploding Demon Energy.
Immense acceleration whipped his clothes wildly, and the colliding space glowed red-hot. No one, no matter how tough, could survive such a fall.
Yet Damho's eyes held no hesitation or doubt. Only the will to kill Sa Woo-yeon.
Seeing that gaze, Sa Woo-yeon muttered blankly.
"Madman..."
Kwaaaang!
In that instant, Damho plunged straight onto Sa Woo-yeon.
The boat shattered to pieces, and a massive water column shot skyward.
The river churned uneasily, black blood spreading like ink.
Death descended on the river that had nurtured countless lives. Myriad fish floated belly-up.
Puhwak!
Moments later, Damho emerged from the blackened waters.
Staggering as if to collapse, his body drenched in blood, but Damho's eyes still burned fierce.
Behind him floated a mangled, crushed corpse.