Chapter 134 - Poison King
The forces of the jianghu are said to be divided between the righteous and the demonic.
But in truth, everyone knows better.
The current jianghu is the world of the righteous factions.
The strongest powers in the jianghu were the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families, centered around the Murim Alliance they formed.
Even compared to the demonic factions clustered in the outskirts, the righteous sects held the prime lands—the fat of the land, so to speak.
The reason... is the Heavenly Blood Massacre.
The fourth-generation Heavenly Demon, Cheon Yu-hak, driven mad, had carved a diagonal path of destruction across the jianghu, leaving everything in ruins.
The problem was that his path cut through many demonic territories, ending right in Zhejiang Province, stronghold of the Demonic Emperor Alliance, led by the Sa Hwang-ryeon.
Naturally, to repel this invader from their own backyard, the Sa Hwang-ryeon threw everything they had at him—and just as predictably, they were utterly crushed.
The demonic factions had always struggled to unite, and with the Sa Hwang-ryeon shattered, their decline was inevitable.
If not for the lord of Sa Wang Castle at the time, they might have truly withered away.
Which was why the current lord of Sa Wang Castle was so powerful, charismatic—and at the same time...
He despises the Divine Cult. Intensely.
As the rightful successor to the Sa Hwang-ryeon.
And that lord's grandson, the young castle lord, stood before us now.
[Sa Wang Castle's young castle lord?]
That's right. Blood Rain Sword Venerable, Yeon Ju Dam.
I had no time for further reflection.
Boom!
Crash!
Sa Wol and Yeon Ju Dam continued their clash.
Each strike rang out with destructive force that hardly seemed like mere metal on metal.
Sa Wol probed relentlessly with her signature agility, but Yeon Ju Dam deflected every assault with no more than a flick of his arm.
She's being pushed back. In every way.
Skill, experience—everything.
Sa Wol seemed to sense it too.
Thud!
She leaped back, summoning her simsang. A small sun bloomed in her left hand.
Seeing it, Yeon Ju Dam...
Simply twitched his sword tip in provocation, refusing to reveal his own simsang.
He's hiding his identity.
The easiest way to identify a martial artist was their internal art and energy.
A simsang was their culmination—revealing it was tantamount to exposing oneself.
[In other words, he's confident he can win without showing his.]
Nine Swamps Ghost Step.
Sa Wol vanished from sight in an instant, reappearing behind Yeon Ju Dam—her classic rear ambush.
But...
Shhk—
Yeon Ju Dam merely swept his sword back, blocking her effortlessly.
Kiiing!
Sa Wol gritted her teeth, her dagger's brilliant white light spinning with a metallic screech.
She had unleashed her vortex technique.
Only then did Yeon Ju Dam turn to face her properly.
Not with his sword, though. He slammed it into the ground and met her bare-handed.
Grab—!
Yeon Ju Dam seized Sa Wol's charging arm and hurled her away.
She slammed into the iron gate blocking the ruin's passage.
Unseong Iron Wall...
Thung! With a muted thud, Sa Wol rocketed back toward Yeon Ju Dam, a thin trickle of blood seeping from her mouth.
[Even while fighting Sa Wol, his eyes never leave us.]
Overflowing with leisure.
[At that level, he's at least on par with Yu Il O.]
Not all Super Peak experts were equal.
The rest of the group bit their lips, frozen in helplessness.
They knew it.
Interfering would only burden her, creating fatal openings.
[This is a crisis. She can't win.]
I had beaten Song Yang Geon.
But that was by exploiting his inexperience for a one-shot finish.
Against Yeon Ju Dam?
No chance.
He was a seasoned Super Peak master.
You could tell from how he toyed with Sa Wol.
And it didn't end there.
Dang Si Yul was slyly concealing his sleeves amid the chaos.
For a Tang Clan member who wielded hidden weapons and poison, hiding his sleeves meant he was preparing to strike.
[We have to escape, no matter what. Once we're out, we can ride Mu Geuk Cheon Hwa.]
No.
I stated firmly.
We can't run.
[What?]
We're not running. That 'gate'? It's not a gate.
[...Insane.]
Paeng So So had said an Unseong Iron gate blocked the ruin's center.
But it wasn't a gate.
It was a wall.
We wouldn't have noticed if Sa Wol hadn't kicked it moments ago.
[No way...]
Exactly like the one on Jan Hon Do. It's the Muhonjibyeok.
The wall containing the First Heavenly Demon's muhon.
Pass it up? Right in front of us?
There'd be no second chance.
This fake Yaoxian successor would surely devise something to corrode the Unseong Iron, and even the Muhonjibyeok wouldn't survive it.
The Muhon Wall on Jan Hon Do mentioned Cheon Gi-ja and the ui nyeom. This one might too.
So escape was impossible.
Besides, that was the mindset I'd gained from seriously pursuing martial arts.
[Then what the hell do we do? Soon the Tang Clan warriors will swarm in, tracking the blood trail.]
Quiet. Let me think.
To survive this mad world, I needed the mad ideas only a possessor could conjure.
The answer always lay there, as always.
A righteous Tang Clan heir like Dang Si Yul allying with Sa Wang Castle's young castle lord, Yeon Ju Dam.
That's the weirdest part.
No way he didn't know Yeon Ju Dam's identity.
Fine, suppose it was a strategic alliance.
What then, after plundering the ruins for treasure?
Worst case, Yeon Ju Dam slaughters them all and claims it—Tang Clan gets nothing.
Of course. That's it!
[Not 'of course'—dodge!]
Time slowed.
Yeon Ju Dam, having brushed aside Sa Wol, pointed a finger at me. An invisible force streaked along its path toward me.
[Finger Wind!]
Finger Wind.
A technique firing energy from the fingertip like a gunshot.
Not inherently destructive, but from someone inhumanly strong, it could pierce steel plate.
This one targeted my head.
Save your energy, Pa Cheon. I've got the trajectory.
I tilted my head. The Finger Wind grazed past, crumbling the ruin's wall behind me.
Destruction beyond what a mere Finger Wind should manage.
"Sa Wol. Stand down."
At my word, she disengaged instantly and returned to my side.
"Heh, giving up?"
Dang Si Yul sneered. Ignoring him, I addressed Yeon Ju Dam.
"How about we end this pointless war of attrition?"
"......"
Yeon Ju Dam said nothing, as if committed to a silent persona. He merely lifted his veiled face slightly to regard me.
"We both know dragging this out benefits no one. Isn't that right, young castle lord of Sa Wang Castle?"
That moment.
The Time Wheel Jade activated, slowing the world.
Even then, Yeon Ju Dam's sword hurtled toward me at an unignorable speed.
Tong—!
I released the Time Wheel Jade and blinked aside, evading it.
Yeon Ju Dam, sword extended, glanced between my original position and my new one.
Probably thinking, Missed?
"How?"
Yeon Ju Dam spoke for the first time. His voice was gravelly.
"The mark on your hand."
"I see. I thought no one would recognize the fresh scar."
Yeon Ju Dam removed his veiled hat.
A tiger.
Mid-forties, with a face that screamed tiger—coarse beard, piercing eyes that could crush a man with a glare alone.
"You might have lived to leave if you hadn't recognized me. Any of you."
"That includes the Tang Clan warriors here?"
The Tang fighters, subdued but alive, had witnessed everything.
They gaped at the revelation that their companion was from Sa Wang Castle—no less than the young castle lord.
Yeon Ju Dam turned.
Dang Si Yul's face twisted; he hadn't expected the reveal.
"You bastard."
"Yes?! Yes!"
The fake Yaoxian successor, who had claimed to be a "good dog," scampered toward Yeon Ju Dam.
As expected.
The Yaoxian successor was a pawn. And—
Kwaduk—!
His head flew. Yeon Ju Dam's sword had swung unseen.
The fake's eyes remained wide in injustice, unclosed.
Yeon Ju Dam declared casually, as if snapping a weed.
"Not just the Tang warriors. No one here leaves alive."
"I see."
"Who are you?"
"I told you."
I answered Yeon Ju Dam.
"Yaoxian successor, Eastern Sword Dragon Kim Dong Yun."
"Pity. Underrated as a 'dragon,' but you'll never soar— you've met me."
"Hey!"
Dang Si Yul called urgently.
"Kill him, and how do we breach that gate—urk!"
"Keep talking, and you die faster."
Dang Si Yul spewed blood mid-sentence, dropping to his knees.
He'd taken Yeon Ju Dam's killing intent head-on.
"Not a gate. A wall."
"The real Yaoxian successor, then. I'll offer a chance: spare everyone else, and I'll let you live if you open it."
"Pass."
"Figured. Draw your sword. Let's dance one last flourish."
Yeon Ju Dam summoned his simsang.
Blood-red mist flooded the chamber.
True to his moniker, Blood Rain unfolded.
"Wh-what's the plan, Brother Kim? If he's really Sa Wang Castle's young castle lord, we're screwed!"
"We should run now, brother!"
Paeng So So and Dang Si Yul pleaded.
—We'll clear a path, young master!
—I'll hold him off.
Tak Horak and Sa Wol offered.
But I didn't reply.
Instead, I spoke to empty air.
"How long will you just watch?"
Everyone looked puzzled.
Except Dang Si Yul.
As expected.
I said with conviction.
"Will you truly stand by while your despised descendants and clan are slaughtered?"
And that instant.
"Hm!?"
Tension cracked Yeon Ju Dam's leisurely facade.
Wuuuuung!
The Avoid Poison Jade at my neck vibrated wildly.
It had to.
An elder had appeared between me and Yeon Ju Dam.
From the back, he wore pale green robes.
I desperately feigned calm and addressed him.
"Greetings, Poison King."