The Ten Poisons Breakthrough
“There’s definitely something here. I can feel it in my bones.”
In the Guya-rim Chronicles, the center of the forest was repeatedly warned against, yet curiosity and the burning desire to grow stronger kept urging Tang Sanlong to step inside.
So this is why martial artists lose their minds over spiritual herbs and hidden treasures.
Having already tasted the miraculous poison of a hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa, Sanlong’s craving had only grown fiercer.
“If only I’d never known!”
Once you’ve sampled true fortune, it’s impossible to turn back. It didn’t take long for Sanlong to make up his mind.
“A man’s gotta charge straight ahead, even if it kills him.”
It was the classic line of every fool who ends up ruined, but if he left the forest now, he would simply end up dancing on Eon Jungmi’s carefully laid trap.
There had been no particular news yet, but that old fox Eon Jungmi was not the type to sit still.
She dotes on her son like he’s the only thing in the world.
Sanlong picked up a pebble from the ground and rolled it between his fingers as he thought. It was his own little effort to sharpen the sensitivity of his hands even during rest.
She probably expected me to run out of here quickly.
After all, the wastrel Tang Sanlong lasting even a month in Guya-rim would have been considered a miracle. Even the clan leader, Tang Munseong, had originally planned to change his punishment to solitary confinement.
But I’ve been holding up better than expected, so things got complicated.
Touching someone from the Tang Clan was already burdensome. Having to personally enter Guya-rim to deal with him? Both insiders and outsiders would have found it awkward to move.
They might have even tried to pull me out of the forest.
But there was no way Tang Munseong would accept such a request. In a place crawling with collateral branches and elders, a man who had risen purely through strength wouldn’t miss such obvious scheming.
“Still, Eon Jungmi is crazier than I thought.”
She was the kind of woman whose wicked mind could rival Zhuge Liang. There was no chance she would stay quiet.
“Stay on guard at all times, Tang Sanlong.”
That was why, if he wanted to survive, he had to become even a little bit stronger.
“Who knows? Maybe I’ll find something like ten-thousand-year stone mushrooms or azure stone oil.”
The Guya-rim Chronicles did mention that the environment here could produce such treasures. But just because the conditions were right didn’t mean they were guaranteed to exist.
With so many creatures and plants living here, they might have been eaten before fully maturing, or they could be growing in places completely inaccessible to humans. That was precisely why they were considered spiritual herbs and precious treasures.
“Whatever. Time to head down. Only two months left!”
Since he needed to prepare for exploring the center of Guya-rim, he had to start moving busily from today.
Tap! Thud!
The moment he descended the cliff and set foot back in Guya-rim, swarms of poisonous insects and creatures bit into him.
“Ow, that stings!”
He had built up some resistance to this level of poison by now, but the sharp stingers and fangs piercing his skin still brought pain.
No matter how much he trained, unless he learned an external arts technique on the level of the Diamond Indestructible Body, getting stabbed and bitten would always draw blood.
“My body’s not going to last at this rate.”
When he thought about it, discovering the mint colony on his first day really had been heavenly luck. Thanks to it, he had obtained the poison of a hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa and was even able to drive away the most dangerous poisonous insects in the early stages.
“Cozy. So cozy.”
The small hut built between two massive boulders had now become Sanlong’s warm sanctuary.
“It actually feels like a place where people live.”
There were crudely made wooden furniture and even bowls formed from baked clay. It had everything he needed.
“Should I take some of these with me?”
The vine-woven basket was filled with daggers made from obsidian.
After using up all the hidden weapons Tang Oryong had given him in the beginning, Sanlong had searched for replacements and luckily discovered a large deposit of obsidian.
Obsidian wasn’t particularly durable, but its sharpness was comparable to the razor blades from his previous life. Perfect for one-time-use hidden weapons.
“Load them in here first… and let’s go.”
He filled the now-empty hidden weapon pouch with obsidian daggers, bit down on a strip of smoked snake jerky hanging on the wall, and strode forward without hesitation.
“Hoo…”
Guya-rim.
It was so hot and humid that just breathing felt like it was draining his stamina.
“When will I finally reach the level where I’m unaffected by heat or cold?”
It was a realm only possible after reaching the Harmony Realm. Even if he couldn’t get that far, he wanted to quickly rise to the level of an Absolute Peak expert who was less affected by ambient temperature.
“To reach Absolute Peak, I need to achieve Baekdok Shingong, right?”
Could he really achieve the Hundred Poisons Divine Art before turning thirty?
No, he was worried whether he could even get close.
“Hoo… Is this the place?”
The center of Guya-rim.
An old, weathered signboard with a warning written on it stood at the entrance.
Whoooosh.
The entrance to the center was so thick with fog that he could barely see a foot ahead.
There were no visible threats around him, yet every alarm bell in his head was ringing violently. His instincts were screaming that this place was dangerous.
“I really want to run away.”
But as a former close-range damage dealer who lived by his guts, giving up was never an option.
“Giving up is just a unit for counting cabbages. Hehehe!”
After living alone for so long, his sense of humor had gone a little rotten. With that terrible joke, Sanlong summoned his courage and stepped into the heart of Guya-rim.
“It’s a whole new world.”
Poisonous plants that looked incredibly toxic at first glance filled the area. Having absorbed yin energy for a long time, they made his skin crawl with goosebumps just from touching them.
This kind of reaction!
They would definitely help him achieve Shipdok Shingong.
Grinning from ear to ear, Sanlong stuffed the poisonous herbs into a roughly woven vine bag.
“Ugh! It burns!”
His hands turned bright red and stung fiercely, but when he circulated Odok Shingong, the pain eased a little.
To think he still had this kind of reaction even after absorbing the poison of a hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa. It meant the toxins were incredibly potent, which in turn meant they would be a massive help to the Tang Clan’s Odok Shingong.
“This place isn’t easy. It’s terrifying.”
But did Sanlong know? That to even harvest the poisonous plants here, one needed to be at a realm comparable to Baekdok Shingong?
The hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa he had consumed had raised his poison resistance to a level nearly equal to Baekdok Shingong, even if his inner energy was still lacking.
“Whoa… this is no joke.”
Whether he knew that or not, Sanlong carefully harvested the poisonous herbs with what caution he could manage.
“Ouch, that stings!”
If he got even a small cut from brushing against something, it would be seriously dangerous.
Even so, Sanlong diligently continued gathering the herbs.
After collecting for over half a shichen at the entrance to the center, he stopped himself from going any deeper.
“Not today.”
Just like how he used to clear dungeons in his previous life, Sanlong planned to slowly conquer the center starting from the entrance.
He had two months left. It was neither too long nor too short, but during that remaining time, he intended to give it his absolute all.
And so, one day, two days, four days, one week, fifteen days.
Sanlong steadily worked his way through the entrance area of Guya-rim’s center.
He occasionally encountered poisonous creatures and insects that were difficult to handle, but having learned Dokryong-bo, he was able to overcome many dangers with the help of his obsidian hidden weapons.
And today was the day he would reap the fruits of his fifteen days of exploration in the center.
“Today is the day I step into Shipdok Shingong.”
He had gathered the poisons from countless toxic plants and creatures and created several nameless pills. Sanlong simply decided to call them Dokhwan—Poison Pills.
“Still, I made them pretty scientifically, all things considered.”
That was because some poisons neutralized each other when mixed. Discovering which combinations worked had required throwing away quite a lot of herbs and venom.
If he had brought the organized poison reference books from the Poison Hall, he could have avoided all the trial and error. That part was a bit regrettable.
Going from zero to ten and going from five to ten were worlds apart, after all.
“But it’s fine. I’m Tang Sanlong.”
Because he had learned it by clashing with it directly, the knowledge was etched into him more clearly.
“I have to take them in the correct order.”
They all looked identical, but he had marked their storage locations, so keeping the sequence straight wasn’t difficult.
“The moment one is digested, I have to take the next immediately.”
It was a situation that demanded perfect timing and order.
Sanlong picked up one of the Dokhwan.
“Ugh! The smell…”
The stench nearly made him curse out loud, but he held it in and slowly put it into his mouth.
Odok Shingong!
The moment he began circulating the technique, Sanlong felt the poison spread faster than expected.
Focus!
He had already consumed the poison of a hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa. There was no way he couldn’t handle this.
His body felt like it was being torn apart and beaten with a club, but it was still far less painful than the Eung-hyeol-sa poison.
“Next!”
Just as planned, Sanlong steadily consumed the poisons one after another, and their potency gradually increased.
When two poisons met, their effects could weaken, but the opposite could also occur. Every single one of these Dokhwan had been created with that principle in mind.
If not for the fact that Sanlong’s body had been tempered by the hundred-year-old Eung-hyeol-sa poison to the point where it could endure most toxins, this would have been an absolutely suicidal act.
Hm? …It’s coming! It’s coming!
The reaction was faster than expected. Sanlong focused with everything he had.
The toxicity is stronger than I thought! It’s exceeding my predictions!
As the poison was converted into inner energy, it circulated rapidly through his body. Finally, all of his energy rushed violently toward the final gate leading to Shipdok Shingong.
After some time passed, the pain faded and was replaced by an insane itching all over his body.
Damn it… the itching is driving me crazier than the pain.
Hives broke out visibly across his skin from the poison. Blood even began to seep slightly from his seven apertures.
Forcing his way through the wall using the energy contained in the poisonous herbs had placed an enormous burden on his body.
Open the damn door!
Like an angry neighbor pounding on the wall demanding it be opened, Sanlong kept hammering at the blockage.
Just a little… more…
Perhaps it was the price of his previously dissipated life. His meridians, clogged with impurities, showed no sign of opening easily.
It’s not even the Conception or Governing Vessels, yet it’s this hard…
The meridian Sanlong was currently trying to open was the Dai Meridian, one of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. It wrapped around the waist and helped stabilize the body’s center.
Once he opened this one, he would gradually open the remaining meridians to achieve Baekdok Shingong. Only when he reached Cheondok Shingong would he need to open the Conception and Governing Vessels.
He still had a long way to go, yet he was already struggling this much from the start.
Even opening one is this difficult… Damn it! But I’m still doing it!
He wanted to give up, but if he stopped here, he had no idea when another opportunity like this would come again.
Hup! Endure it!
As if proving that a tower built solidly over a long time does not collapse easily, the acupoints held firm against the powerful shock, causing cracks to form in the meridian.
Sanlong quickly drove his energy into those gaps.
Good… one final push!
Even while blood flowed from his seven apertures, Sanlong did not lose consciousness. He prepared for the final strike.
Hoo…
His muscles naturally tensed in preparation for the impact.
But Sanlong calmed his mind and body as much as possible and steadied his breathing.
Here we go!
Boom!
A massive big bang erupted inside his body. The solidly blocked meridian finally burst open, and the energy throughout his body began to circulate stably through the new pathway.
“Cough! Blegh!”
Even as he vomited pitch-black dead blood onto the ground, a smile hung on Sanlong’s lips.
“Ha… haha… hahahaha!”
Wiping the blood roughly with his sleeve, uncontrollable laughter burst from Sanlong’s mouth.
“Haha! I’ve entered Shipdok Shingong! Blegh!”
Sssssss~!
The moment the poison he spat out touched the grass on the ground, the plants rapidly withered and died.
“Damn… I couldn’t digest all the poison…”
It was a shame, but the undigested poison had no choice but to be expelled.
However, that vomit contained not only poison but also the accumulated impurities from Sanlong’s body. In fact, the poison had tangled with the impurities and helped expel even more waste from his system.
Every cloud had a silver lining.
“Ugh… I feel like I drank too much and woke up the next day.”
His stomach was churning, his head felt like it would split open, and he had no strength left in his body.
On top of that, the metallic stench coming from his entire body completely killed any appetite.
“The smell… but I’m still hungry.”
Feeling a sudden surge of hunger, Sanlong roughly chopped the jerky hanging on the wall into a bowl of water and placed it over the fireplace.
“Hoo…”
Could he venture a little deeper into the center now?
He decided to wash up before the water boiled, then return and perform energy circulation as a celebration for achieving Shipdok Shingong.
It was time to adapt to his new realm.