Sichuan Dang Clan (4)
“Hah! How can this be?!”
Dang Bijan cried out in shock, trying to move again, but Hyeon Yucheon had already claimed the space in front of him.
Truly… it feels like I’ve been possessed by a ghost!
He had clearly leaped forward faster than Hyeon Yucheon, yet the young man was already there ahead of him. Not a single sound or whisper of movement had reached his ears.
It gave Dang Bijan the eerie sensation of being trapped in a summer nightmare.
“Did you think my steps were slow?”
Hyeon Yucheon looked down at Dang Bijan’s twisted, astonished face and smiled with satisfaction.
The efforts I put in while descending Ami Mountain have paid off.
The truth was this.
After receiving the manual for the Soundless Illusion Divine Art from Biyeon Sinn-i, Yeo Unsa-tae, Hyeon Yucheon had trained in it nonstop during their entire journey.
Whether eating, sleeping, or even riding in the carriage—he had devoted every moment to it.
Some might argue that no matter how genius Hyeon Yucheon was, mastering a movement technique to the point of matching Dang Bijan in such a short time was impossible.
It was a reasonable point.
But the key lay in Hyeon Yucheon’s upper dantian.
Not long ago, by absorbing the inner core of the Sun Golden Frog, he had unlocked his upper dantian.
The upper dantian connected to the brain, and its effect was to sharpen an already brilliant mind even further, turning those with exceptional martial talent into true prodigies.
What a wondrous experience. Reciting the incantations made them manifest perfectly!
Since opening his upper dantian, Hyeon Yucheon had been reveling in its benefits.
At first, the complex incantations of the Soundless Illusion Divine Art had flustered him, but by the second day, he vaguely grasped its essence. Three days later, he was soaring freely.
“Damn it! You’re nothing like the rumors!”
As Hyeon Yucheon’s speed proved overwhelming, Dang Bijan pounded the ground in frustration.
Everything had gone wrong today.
Still, he hadn’t given up completely.
Do you know why I’m obsessed with poison arts? Because they’re the only way for the weak to fell the strong!
Dang Bijan wasn’t one to surrender before the fight even began.
On the contrary, ever since Namgung Ungwang’s defeat to Hyeon Yucheon, he had fantasized about being the one to crush him and claim the glory.
Fine, since it’s come to this, let’s give it a go.
Upon reflection, there was no real need to flee.
This was Sacheon Province’s capital, practically his front yard. Running away here would ruin his reputation.
Besides, he didn’t even need to win—just stall with his poison arts, and reinforcements from the Murim Alliance’s Sacheon branch and Qingcheng Sect would arrive.
“You dare mock me?!”
Having calculated everything in an instant, Dang Bijan thrust out his hand as if he’d been waiting for this.
The Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow, a technique only the head of the Dang Clan could learn, was near completion, infusing every attack with deadly venom.
Fierce Poison Strike
Paired with a hidden weapon dagger crafted by the Sacheon Dang Clan themselves—famed for their covert arts—it shot forth like a bolt of toxic lightning.
A sly grin crept across Dang Bijan’s face as he unleashed it.
Even a graze would fell a peak expert foaming at the mouth—taste my Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow!
He was confident.
Not in landing the dagger, but in poisoning his foe.
Truly cunning.
The dagger he’d thrown wasn’t ordinary—it was a poison art projectile from the Dang Clan.
What did that imply?
Kwachik!
An irregular assault.
The dagger shattered mid-flight, fragments scattering in all directions, and the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow venom mixed within dispersed like mist.
This was Dang Bijan’s specialty, his trump card.
How many absolute experts had fallen to this insidious, piercing method?
“Hm?”
Hyeon Yucheon retreated slightly in surprise, covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve.
Achrid smoke already choked the air around him.
Startled, aren’t you?
Dang Bijan smirked, delighted by Hyeon Yucheon’s alarmed retreat.
This was the source of his confidence.
Even if it misses, one breath—one single breath—and victory is mine!
Was this ordinary poison?
No, it was the venom of the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow.
Not even the world’s renowned physicians could antidote it; only the Sacheon Dang Clan held the cure.
“Kehhehe, you’re already poisoned.”
Dang Bijan savored the moment.
Even with Gong Jin, the owner of Yeokdang Pharmacy, caught in the poison mist he’d created, he paid it no mind.
His mind swirled with blissful delusions.
Your monstrous inner power means you won’t die outright. But you’ll beg me for the antidote, desperate.
In his imagination, he was already the victor, while Hyeon Yucheon writhed in poisoned agony as a loser.
“Come now! Beg me! If you grovel nicely, I might give you the antidote—in exchange for the Sun Golden Frog’s gall bladder and that Transformation Pill.”
Deluded to the hilt, oblivious that such bravado invited doom.
And sure enough?
“Who said I’m poisoned?”
Contrary to his fervent, pipe-dream fantasies, Hyeon Yucheon stood unscathed.
Even more so.
“Kuh, kuhuk! Why try to kill even me, who served you like a dog under your command?!”
Behind Hyeon Yucheon’s sleeve stood the diminutive Gong Jin, sniffling back tears.
Gong Jin had betrayed his pharmacist’s oath for loyalty to the Sacheon Dang Clan, summoning Dang Bijan.
Yet he’d been met with attempted murder—what betrayal could sting more?
“H-how…?”
Dang Bijan stared blankly at the pair, desperate to know why no poisoning had occurred.
Hyeon Yucheon demonstrated once more.
Swipe!
He calmly shook his sleeve—and impossibly, a colossal formless sword gang erupted from his hand, forming a transparent barrier wall.
The reason he’d raised his sleeve wasn’t mere cloth against poison, but to erect this formless sword gang shield around his entire body.
“Impossible! How?!”
Dang Bijan couldn’t accept this unreal defense.
“Even perfect defense—no poison gas should infiltrate everywhere?”
He was right.
One terror of the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow was that it didn’t just spread through breath; a mere touch anywhere poisoned the body.
“Dunno. I’m fine.”
To Dang Bijan’s question, Hyeon Yucheon reached boldly into the lingering poison mist of the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow.
Astoundingly, his near-infinite inner power reacted instinctively, repelling the harmful toxin.
“This is beyond human…”
Dang Bijan trembled on the verge of despair.
No. Don’t break. He was unbeatable anyway.
And he still had more to unleash.
“Huuuup!”
Regaining his composure, Dang Bijan drew a deep breath.
Preparing his strongest Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow assault.
“Be careful, Sect Leader. His final attack unleashes poison like a waterfall—not aimed at you, but to poison your companions.”
But Dang Bijan had overlooked something.
Gong Jin, the pharmacist of Yeokdang Pharmacy.
Gong Jin was no slouch; he’d contributed immensely to Dang Bijan’s accumulation of the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow, supplying everything from rare Heavenly Poison Spider venom to Seven-Star Serpent toxins.
“You cowardly bastard!”
Furious at Gong Jin spilling every detail of his ultimate technique, Dang Bijan exploded.
Normally, one might self-reflect, but that wasn’t the way of the Thousand Blood Poison Maniac.
“You started this! From today, I sever ties with the Sacheon Dang Clan!”
Gong Jin declared, then acted first.
“Take these!”
Before Dang Bijan could poison Hyeon Yucheon’s two seniors and So Jaun, Gong Jin struck preemptively.
Paat, paat, pat!
He tossed a pill toward each of the three.
“Not an antidote for all poisons, but specialized to resist and delay Dang Clan toxins.”
Gong Jin explained.
He’d half-anticipated this day.
I’m no fool to trust a beast-hearted master blindly.
Grateful, the three—who’d been holding off the Dang Clan’s elite guards—swallowed the pills immediately.
They’d done their duty admirably against the clan’s guards.
“Sect Leader, you too.”
At Gong Jin’s urging, Hyeon Yucheon smiled and took one.
But he wasn’t satisfied.
Time to crush this poison-mad lunatic properly.
Reinforcements might come if he stalled longer, but he’d kill Dang Bijan before fleeing if needed.
“Go on, show me your ‘final technique’ or whatever.”
Hyeon Yucheon taunted dismissively.
Perfect for Dang Bijan’s arrogant, prideful nature.
“You worm! I’ll never bow to you!”
Dang Bijan’s pride had been bruised since the Five Great Families meeting.
He loathed his reflexive flinching at Hyeon Yucheon’s sight; this provocation was the last straw.
Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Wave
Though incomplete, Dang Bijan poured everything into his Thousand Blood Poison Maniac Poison Flow.
Gong Jin’s warning was spot-on.
Shuuuuuuk!
Like a waterfall cascade, he spewed pitch-black poison to blanket the entire Yeokdang Pharmacy—
But a far swifter strike came first.
Muheong O-ui: Muheong Seomgwang Geukjin Geom
Srake!
Regrettably, before Dang Bijan could fully unleash, his head flew.
A bizarre turn.
His attack had been faster, yet Hyeon Yucheon’s slightly delayed strike severed it mid-motion.
How?
“…?!”
The blow was so swift and sharp that even Dang Bijan himself felt no death as his head detached.
The reason was simple.
Hyeon Yucheon had leisurely baited the preemptive strike, then used the second Formless Mystery—the fastest technique under heaven, Formless Flash Light Extreme Exhaust Sword—to behead him in one stroke.
“Uh… uh…”
His severed head mumbled.
How did you do it?
“How? With the Formless Flash Quick Sword, obviously.”
Hyeon Yucheon waved casually at the dying man.
“Still don’t get it? If I wanted, I could’ve killed you anytime.”
Kindly explaining even as Dang Bijan headed to hell.