Chapter 190. Besieged on All Sides (10)
Cheon Dok's eyes bulged as he scanned his surroundings.
Veins writhed like snakes across his temples.
The poison experts of the Cheon-in Cheon-dok Squad, clad in their green uniforms, lay scattered everywhere.
Some groaned with their bodies twisted backward unnaturally, while others had faces melting away.
Cheon Dok focused on the lower abdomens of the fallen poison experts.
As he suspected, blood was oozing from each one's dantian.
"So that's how it is."
Cheon Dok muttered to himself with a hollow expression.
His opponent knew exactly how to deal with poison experts.
What was the principle behind controlling poison?
The foundation was tempering the body against toxins, but even more crucial was using inner power to block them first.
What if there was no inner power?
In other words, their melting bodies meant their dantians had been destroyed.
A poison expert with a shattered dantian couldn't even control their own toxins anymore.
That was why they'd turned into bloody messes.
Witnessing the brutal spectacle, Cheon Dok ground his teeth.
These were the poison experts he had painstakingly trained.
Among them were promising talents who might one day inherit his title of Cheon Dok.
Cheon Dok blamed himself for it all.
He'd anticipated a tough fight and used the Heuk-su Squad as bait, only for both the Heuk-su Squad and the Cheon-in Cheon-dok Squad to be annihilated.
What if he'd gone alone?
He might not have caught the slippery bastard, but there wouldn't have been such losses.
This wasn't a defeat in raw power.
Cheon Dok bellowed, his rage exploding.
"You bastard!"
It stung even more because he'd lost in strategy, not strength.
He'd thought he'd trapped him perfectly, only for the loach to slip free and tear into his men like a shark.
Unable to contain his emotions, Cheon Dok unleashed his toxic energy.
Whether it was poison qi or sheer fury, the grass around him withered, losing its life.
In his wrath, Cheon Dok revealed his true form as a poison master.
But Han Bin was nowhere to be seen.
Cheon Dok gripped the black scabbard at his waist.
He'd decided to crush Han Bin with raw power, not poison.
Shing.
As he drew the sword, a blade darker than pitch blackness emerged.
Infusing it with inner power, Cheon Dok shouted,
"My sword is called Dok-a, the Poison Fang! It absorbs the world's light and turns it to venom. If you're a man, show yourself! Face my blade head-on!"
Despite Cheon Dok's taunt, silence reigned.
He wove through his fallen subordinates, searching for Han Bin.
A furrow creased Cheon Dok's brow.
Even the ones who'd been gasping had stopped moving.
Not a single subordinate was left alive.
Cheon Dok's fury pierced the heavens.
"You scum!"
As Cheon Dok spun, radiating his aura—
Suddenly, an odd breeze stirred from behind.
An ominous sensation he hadn't felt in ages prickled his mind.
Cheon Dok dodged swiftly.
Pfbt.
But a strange sound grazed his ear.
Puk!
Turning after leaping away, he saw Han Bin there in a green uniform, grinning.
Han Bin smirked, a dagger in hand.
Seeing him, Cheon Dok pieced it together.
He'd slain the poison experts amid the toxic fog, stolen their clothes, played dead, and ambushed him.
Even for a coward who relied on poison, Han Bin's cheap trick was intolerable.
Cheon Dok blurted out,
"You despicable cur!"
"That's rich coming from the guy who tried to massacre innocents."
Han Bin shot back with a grin, prompting Cheon Dok to demand,
"Are you truly a martial artist?"
"Nah, not really."
Han Bin shrugged nonchalantly, and Cheon Dok roared in outrage,
"Not a martial artist...? Then what the hell are you?!"
"Garbage collector."
"You...!"
Before Cheon Dok could finish, Han Bin cut in swiftly.
"And you? Martial artist? Use that brain—if you've got one. Is it cowardly for thirty guys to gang up on one, or for that one to play dead against thirty terrifying poison experts just to survive?"
Han Bin jerked his chin at the surroundings.
Cheon Dok was dumbfounded.
But he had no retort.
It was true—they'd all ganged up to kill him.
Of course, Han Bin's logic had a glaring flaw.
He was strong enough to rampage through toxic fog and wipe out the entire Cheon-in Cheon-dok Squad.
For such a monster to play dead for survival? Absurd from Cheon Dok's view.
He wanted to snap, "Is that something you should say, you powerhouse?" But he couldn't admit the enemy's strength.
Cheon Dok eyed Han Bin coldly.
If I can just catch him...
He meant it.
What made Han Bin scary wasn't his sword, but his speed and meticulous counters to poison.
Letting him escape here would breed endless trouble, Cheon Dok judged.
Resolved, he bellowed,
"I'll stake everything to turn this place into your grave!"
Cheon Dok's aura shifted again.
Not just his aura.
His white hair began turning green.
Poison qi erupted from his crown, forming three small flowers around his head like a samhwa chwijung.
This was the dok-hwa, Poison Flower—only achievable by poison experts in the Hwa Gyeong realm!
He'd fully revealed his cultivation level.
The changes didn't stop. His skin turned green too.
He was transforming into a true poison master.
This was the ultimate man-dok jiche he pursued: converting all power to poison qi.
The inner power writhing in his dantian took on toxic properties.
Of course, he could maintain the man-dok jiche for only one shichen—an hour.
That was his current limit.
What after an hour?
No need to worry.
Even a moment shorter, and his foe would melt into bloody sludge under his hand.
As Cheon Dok transformed bit by bit, Han Bin drew Wol-a.
The blade half-emerged when—
Han Bin's eyes widened to their limit.
"Hm."
A low groan escaped him.
The physical changes in Cheon Dok barely registered.
Only the rippling formula points that came with them caught his eye.
The problem? They'd never been this color before.
A deep ultramarine formula stood out starkly against the green robes.
What is that?
Doubt flickered briefly, but certainty followed: absorbing this new formula would advance him another step.
Thump, thump.
His heart pounded.
Forgetting he faced one of the top ten poison masters, Han Bin licked his lips.
No need to hesitate.
Gold on the street goes to the first grabber, right?
For Han Bin, formulas were gold.
He had to snatch it before the owner pocketed it again.
Han Bin recalled the Yong-rin Sword Art forms swiftly.
Il-chok-jik-bal.
Hwae-geom Nan-ma.
Jeon-gwang-seok-hwa.
One with Wol-a, Han Bin appeared before Cheon Dok in a blink.
Cheon Dok was speechless at the assault.
Transforming to man-dok jiche took time.
Even in life-or-death duels, there was etiquette between masters.
Interrupting form preparation was rude.
Plus, the poison qi seeping from Cheon Dok's skin exuded a chilling menace.
This was leagues beyond the Cheon-in Cheon-dok Squad's fog.
A mere touch would rot flesh.
And he charges in like this?
Amid converting inner power to poison qi through his meridians, the incoming sword was deadly.
Cheon Dok hadn't yet contained the transformed poison qi.
Simple analogy: imagine lightning striking as a swordsman thrusts.
The victim suffers, but would the swordsman holding the blade stay unscathed?
Right now, Cheon Dok was the one struck by lightning mid-stab.
Han Bin was the stabber.
Mutual destruction was inevitable.
Cheon Dok's thoughts cut short.
A sharp sting raced from his clavicle to his brain.
The worst had happened.
The enemy's sword had pierced a pressure point.
A bit deeper, and it'd seal his acupoint, paralyzing him.
What followed was obvious.
Unable to control it, poison qi would spew wildly.
Both he and the foe would melt, as expected.
Cheon Dok clenched his teeth.
He seized the blade invading his clavicle.
A heart or throat strike might've been repelled by poison qi.
Even a Hwa Gyeong master could fend off attacks that way.
But he'd hit the weakest spot.
How did he know my vulnerability?
No time for questions.
Cheon Dok sent a transmission urgently.
—Cheong Yeon!
But Cheong Yeon hesitated upon receiving it.
Shocked by the Heuk-su Squad's annihilation.
Momentarily, she began moving slowly.
Meanwhile, Seol-hwa, watching from afar, clenched her fists tighter.
Han Bin's orders were simple: if he pulled a thirty-six stratagem retreat, wait by the barrier. That was it.
Preceded by "absolutely," of course.
She knew why.
Interfering would just burden him.
She couldn't handle that monstrous poison.
Seol-hwa was stunned by Han Bin holding his own against such a foe.
Never imagined he'd fight this well.
Now, Han Bin and Cheon Dok stared unblinking, like masters clashing palms in an inner power contest.
Looking closely, black qi flowed between Han Bin's sword in Cheon Dok's clavicle and Cheon Dok's grip on the blade tip.
"Is that... poison qi?"
Seol-hwa ground her teeth.
She wanted to jump in but held back.
But seeing Cheong Yeon approach slowly, Seol-hwa lost control.
She shot to her feet unconsciously.
Then eyed Jang Daechan beside her.
More precisely, the sword at his waist.
"Uncle, mind if I borrow this?"
"What the—"
Before Jang Daechan could respond, Seol-hwa snatched the sword.
Whoosh.
"Wait—"
No time for him to stop her; Seol-hwa vanished.
Sasasak.
Han Bin narrowed his eyes at the bizarre turn.
He'd landed Wol-a with il-chok-jik-bal, but one misstep meant death.
The instant the blade pierced the clavicle—
His body stiffened, electrocuted by the poison qi.
Poison qi flowed along Wol-a into him.
Then, the Yong-rin Sword Art manual appeared in midair.
The basic section unfolded simultaneously.
Recovery-attribute formulas for bok (return) began dwindling one by one.
Han Bin guessed why the basic section activated.
The manual reflected his body's state.
He watched the basic attributes closely.
If all bok vanished, he'd melt from the poison.
He'd need a life-saving form then.
But indifferently, the recovery formulas dropped to ten in a blink.
As Han Bin considered buying time with a revival form—
His eyes caught the deep blue point at the sword tip in the clavicle.
Come to think of it, the formula's still...
Grinding his teeth, Han Bin shoved Wol-a deeper.
Shlick.
Suddenly, the basic section shimmered, new text appearing.
Dragon Eye confirms the formula.
You have acquired the Earth-grade formula Geun (close).
Earth-grade?