Who Are You? (3)
“What a shame. This is the first time I’ve met a worthy opponent like you, and the first time I’ve felt regret watching an enemy melt away...”
Cheon Dok stared at Han Bin for a long while, genuinely regretful.
But only for a moment. He turned his head.
His gaze fell on the group that had been cheering Han Bin on, stomping their feet.
Of course, their noisy swords had fallen silent.
In an instant, his eyes filled with thick killing intent.
Cheon Dok decided to erase them from the world.
Now that he had achieved the Myriad Poisons Physique, the plague was no longer an obstacle.
The poison coating his skin would melt away the plague's energy, after all.
Without hesitation, Cheon Dok strode toward the inn.
In other words, the Heuksa Gate warriors infected with the fake plague were no longer shields.
The Aekhyeolmaengho-dae and Heuksa Gate warriors alike gaped at the sight of Han Bin succumbing to Cheon Dok's blood.
Cheon Dok's footsteps snapped them out of their daze.
Boom!
Rumble!
Each step, infused with inner power, exuded the momentum of a mountain on the move.
Panic lasted only a moment. So Daeseop came to his senses and shouted.
“For our lord!”
Sim Miho followed suit.
“For the Paeng Family!”
With So Daeseop and Sim Miho at the lead, the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae charged toward Cheon Dok.
Jo Ho, trailing behind Sim Miho, gritted his teeth.
He had no illusions of victory against Cheon Dok, who spewed green poison qi that would melt anything it touched.
But he couldn't fathom a life for the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae without their lord—or for himself.
Jo Ho had known the moment Han Bin vanished that his life as a warrior was over.
Who had turned a third-rate warrior like him into a first-rate one?
Who had helped him rekindle his love with Hiang-i from the village below?
Who had given him dreams of becoming a master?
To Jo Ho and the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae, Han Bin was more than a lord—they were his very existence.
Tears welled in Jo Ho's eyes.
He clenched his teeth tighter.
It was like tossing pebbles into the Yangtze River.
But if he didn't do something, he'd go mad.
That was when they tried to plunge into the aura Cheon Dok emanated.
Someone blocked the path of the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae, who had squeezed their eyes shut to leap into the vortex of poison.
Swish.
The one who silently stepped in front was a woman in white martial robes.
She spoke curtly.
“Stop!”
Any onlooker could see she was a master far beyond the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae.
The aura she radiated was thick killing intent.
Clearly an ally of Cheon Dok.
Jo Ho thought, We're done for, and closed his eyes.
Suddenly, a deafening clash tore through the air.
Clang!
Jo Ho instinctively opened his eyes.
An incomprehensible scene unfolded.
The woman in white robes, whom he'd taken for an enemy, had struck at Cheon Dok.
Cheon Dok was baffled.
A freakishly resilient blue-haired punk had already given him endless grief, and now another master popped out of nowhere.
What were the odds of encountering such experts in a backwater village like this?
No matter how he calculated, the probability was zero.
If he lined up every warrior in the Central Plains, that young pulp of blood earlier and this new woman would rank within the top hundred masters.
A hundred might sound like a lot, but divide the Central Plains into a hundred parts, and the chances of them crossing paths were negligible.
Moreover, most of the top hundred were tied to the Ten Great Clans or massive sects.
Running into them like this was like napping on a pavilion in summer and getting struck by lightning.
So...?
A chill ran down Cheon Dok's spine.
Coincidences piling up like this meant someone knew his plans.
An inside job?
The Justice Alliance?
Or the Demonic Cult? The unorthodox factions?
Questions swirled in Cheon Dok's mind.
Then the white-clad woman's gujeolpyeon thrust toward him.
Whoosh!
Slicing through his poison qi, the incoming gujeolpyeon carried a chill.
Cheon Dok tilted his head.
He'd heard of that technique before.
Could it be...?
Ami Sect?
And a woman wielding gujeolpyeon at that...?
Cheon Dok ramped his poison qi to its peak.
He'd realized his opponent was Baek Seon.
One of the Eight Immortals meant ally, not enemy.
The only reason an ally would attack was betrayal.
Cheon Dok bellowed.
“So you're the traitor! That's how they knew all our plans. Wait there—I'll turn you into a puddle of poison!”
“...”
Baek Seon swung her gujeolpyeon wordlessly.
Her Myeongyeon Gujeolpyeon was Cheon Dok's perfect counter.
She could strike from beyond the gaps in his spewing poison qi.
And her weapon, forged from eternal cold iron, wouldn't melt in the poison.
Slash slash slash!
The gujeolpyeon whipped up a whirlwind, trapping the poison qi and charging at Cheon Dok.
The moment it neared his chest—
His figure vanished from the spot.
Swish swish swish.
He reappeared behind Baek Seon.
In an instant, he spewed more poison qi, creating a toxic domain.
Cheon Dok's variant of ilhyanghwanwi had trapped Baek Seon in poison.
Baek Seon responded in kind, swinging her gujeolpyeon in a small arc.
Not at Cheon Dok, but at the space itself.
The gujeolpyeon spun like a top around her.
This carved out a space for Baek Seon amid the poison-filled domain.
But in a realm brimming with green toxic blood, she had no room to maneuver.
She could only endure.
That was when—
Crack!
A strange sound rang out as the green toxic blood encasing Han Bin shattered and crumbled.
The sight was enough to draw Cheon Dok's eyes.
The moment he glanced away, Baek Seon slipped beyond the gaps in his poison qi.
From there, a brief stalemate ensued.
But the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae stared at the shattered green husk, minds blank.
It had melted so thoroughly that the inside was hollow.
Sim Miho cried out.
“L-Lord!”
“No!”
Jo Ho echoed her.
In this absurd situation, everyone gripped their swords anew.
Swish, swish.
Fearless now, the Aekhyeolmaengho-dae aimed at Cheon Dok.
But one dashed past them toward the poison master.
Thud thud thud.
It was Se Jaeo of the Volcanic Sect, Plum Blossom Swordsman.
He'd decided to confront Cheon Dok after spotting Ami Sect's Baek Seon.
Ami and Volcanic were close allies.
Seeing an Ami master battle Cheon Dok, he—a bearer of Volcanic's Plum Blossom title—couldn't stand idle.
Unable to approach the poison qi directly, he'd devised a plan.
Se Jaeo unleashed his maeha samgyeong, weaving a thousand silk threads to engage Cheon Dok.
Shing!
“Senior of Ami Sect! Let's strike together!”
“...”
Baek Seon said nothing.
But she coordinated with Se Jaeo, assaulting Cheon Dok from afar.
Attacking beyond the poison qi's reach, they now matched him evenly.
* * *
While they clashed in a deadly duel, someone watched from a distant pavilion, arms crossed.
None other than Han Bin.
How had this come about?
Simple.
Han Bin's final technique had been Geumseon Talgak.
Today, he'd finally grasped its meaning: shedding a husk and relocating.
Like a cicada molting its shell, he'd left the husk behind and shifted here.
His clothes and skin, pinned by poison qi, stayed put, while his true body fled faster than ilhyanghwanwi.
Of course, naked now, he'd scavenged clothes from fallen foes and climbed the pavilion.
There, he'd met Baek Seon rushing to him.
Her reason was straightforward.
Han Bin had whistled for her.
The whistles amid slaughtering his Black Hand Squad weren't for intimidation.
They were signals summoning Baek Seon.
Han Bin smirked invisibly.
He grinned because of an unexpected boon.
Arms crossed, he gazed into the void.
Your core inner power has exceeded one gapja.
You have acquired Cheonji Il Yeon Gong.
Cheonji Il Yeon Gong has been renamed to its original name.
You have acquired Yeoui Simbeop (wishful thinking).
Acquiring your first heart method has brought you one step closer to the Dragon Blood Physique.
Acquiring Yeoui Simbeop has unlocked the Advanced Chapter.
That was what he'd just seen.
How had Han Bin filled one gapja of core inner power to unlock Cheonji Il Yeon Gong?
Truth be told, the elixirs he'd consumed before the duel hadn't sufficed.
Without an ascending heart method, his dantian size was fixed, and unabsorbed inner power had scattered.
But in the clash with Cheon Dok, he'd discovered some of that power dormant in his body.
Skin, organs, muscles.
Scattered and slumbering everywhere, it had been awakened by Cheon Dok's potent poison qi.
After Geumseon Talgak, as he barely survived, that awakened power surged into his fractured dantian.
His dantian cracked under the endless influx.
Yet his infinite recovery trait let it heal and crack repeatedly, fully absorbing the latent power.
Han Bin wanted to thank Cheon Dok.
With his sword, of course.
Then his eyes caught Baek Seon trapped in poison qi.
He swiftly grabbed a small pebble on the pavilion roof.
Baekbal Baekjung!
The pebble he flung flew toward his shed husk.
Splat!
The green husk collapsed simultaneously.
Having saved Baek Seon from peril, Han Bin whipped his gaze forward.
The duel below wasn't important now.
What mattered was the revelation sparkling in his vision.
The Yongrin Sword Art manual began to glow, its pages flipping open.
Advanced Chapter (In-depth compilation)
Yeoui Simbeop—Yeoui Simbeop is the foundational heart method of the Advanced Chapter. Through it, you are reborn as a dragon with a yeouiju in its mouth. You can store Yongrin Sword Art heart methods within the yeouiju.
The first linked heart method of Yeoui Simbeop has been imprinted.
Ilshin U Ilshin has been registered among the linked heart methods in the manual.
Ilshin U Ilshin (New every day) — The master of Yongrin is renewed daily with every breath. Gain perpetual qi circulation effect. Form execution speed halved.
Han Bin's jaw dropped.
From his past life's memories, Cheonji Il Yeon Gong was an untouchable ascending heart method.
But one no one could master.
He'd thought perpetual qi circulation just by existing was its pinnacle.
Yet it was merely the effect of Ilshin U Ilshin, one linked heart method in the Yongrin Sword Art Advanced Chapter.
Who but Yongrin's master could know its true use?
Moreover, if he'd reached one gapja via elixirs or another heart method?
Neither Cheonji Il Yeon Gong nor the Advanced Chapter would have opened.
In a way, it was sheer luck.
Then Seol-hwa slipped up beside him.
“Young master, I'm here.”
She unfurled a bundle, revealing clothes and water.
“Good work, Seol-hwa.”
“Young master, is it okay to just leave things down there?”
“...”
Han Bin glanced silently where she pointed.
Below, Baek Seon whirled her gujeolpyeon while Cheon Dok spewed poison qi like tangled threads.
Unraveling that knot was Han Bin's job.