Chapter 787
Bu Eun-seol had arrived in Hainan.
The Thousand Poisons Sect.
He had obtained information that this once-glorious poison sect had been secretly rebuilt on a deserted island off Hainan.
If he were an ordinary martial artist,
he might have dismissed the rumors of the sect's revival as nonsense.
But Bu Eun-seol had personally witnessed countless factions—ones that had been completely eradicated by the Three Realms—
miraculously restored to their former state.
So even if something greater than the Thousand Poisons Sect had been rebuilt here, it wouldn't have surprised him.
'If the Thousand Poisons Sect has truly been rebuilt, they must be hiding in extreme secrecy.'
Bu Eun-seol began combing through the deserted islands of Hainan one by one.
In truth, finding an island suitable for a sect's base wasn't particularly difficult.
The bare minimum condition for survival—
a source of fresh water—was all that was needed.
"This must be the only possible place."
At last, he discovered a deserted island with an underground water vein and a small spring—the perfect location for the Thousand Poisons Sect.
He began scouring the area meticulously.
But no matter how much he searched, there was no trace of human presence.
"If the Thousand Poisons Sect had been rebuilt on a large scale, could they really remain this well-hidden?"
Bu Eun-seol stroked his chin.
In general, rumors spread by rogue martial artists weren't trustworthy.
But he had believed Heuk-pyo's words because
the martial artists under his command were all exceptional Masters who had mastered their respective fields.
Especially the poison expert—
if he had specifically pinpointed the revival of the Thousand Poisons Sect, it couldn't possibly be baseless gossip.
"This is no mere false rumor."
Bu Eun-seol paused and calmly considered the situation.
If the Thousand Poisons Sect had been resurrected by some faction...
Why would they rebuild it? What purpose could there be in reviving a forgotten poison sect?
'The Poison Pool. The Poisonous Abyss.'
The Thousand Poisons Sect had been the pinnacle of poison arts.
Above all else, they had created pools filled with Extreme Poison—
like the Poison Pool—to cultivate exceptional Poison People.
If someone had revived the sect,
they would have needed the Poison Pool, the pride and essence of the Thousand Poisons Sect.
'The Poison Pool...'
There was no place nearby where such a pool could exist.
Bu Eun-seol heightened his Empty Mind Spirit Communion and began meticulously searching the ruins.
'A location fit for a Poison Pool...'
When he first heard that the Thousand Poisons Sect had been rebuilt on this remote island off Hainan,
he had assumed they had simply chosen an inaccessible, hidden location.
But looking back, that made no sense.
Why would anyone go through the trouble of establishing a sect on a deserted island so far from the mainland?
Building a sect on land would have been far easier and less costly.
So why choose this place?
'That means...'
After a long moment of deep contemplation, Bu Eun-seol's eyes suddenly flashed with realization.
The Thousand Poisons Sect, famed for its Poison Pool, had deliberately chosen this remote island to rebuild—
Either this island was teeming with poisonous substances necessary to create a Poison Pool...
Or perhaps a naturally formed Poison Pool already existed here.
Whoosh—
Activating his Movement Technique, Bu Eun-seol swept across the island, searching for any pond-like formations.
"This must be it."
At last, deep within the forest, he found an enormous pond.
He had actually checked this spot earlier—the water had been so clear and transparent
that he had dismissed it as anything but a Poison Pool.
"Just as I thought."
A faint smile touched Bu Eun-seol's lips.
A forest pond should naturally have slightly murky water.
But this massive pond—
even when he peered into its depths, the bottom was perfectly visible, crystal clear.
No naturally formed pond could possibly be this pristine.
Hmm...
Bu Eun-seol channeled his Internal Power.
Plink—
A single drop of water from the pond landed in his palm.
Hiss—!
The moment it touched his skin, white smoke erupted as the droplet instantly evaporated.
The poison was so potent that before it could even seep into his flesh,
his Reverse Polarity True Qi instinctively activated, incinerating the toxin on contact.
"Literally poisonous."
Bu Eun-seol's body overflowed with Reverse Polarity True Qi, making him impervious to most poisons.
Yet even after burning away the toxin,
a nauseating, fishy stench rose from his stomach, making him feel as though his insides were twisting.
"With toxicity like this, it's definitely a Poison Pool."
Just as Bu Eun-seol confirmed that this transparent liquid was an insidious poison and peered into the pond once more—
Splash—!
Suddenly, the pond rippled violently.
As if something deep within had stirred.
Splash, splash—!
The water began churning as though something were rising from the depths.
Bu Eun-seol, sensing something amiss, sharpened his Enhanced Vision and stared into the transparent pond—
Swish—!
Suddenly, something sharp and pitch-black shot toward his forehead.
It was so abrupt, so impossibly fast, that not even Bu Eun-seol could evade it.
Thwip.
In the end, he managed to snatch the thing that had nearly pierced his forehead with a movement swift as lightning.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Blood trickled from his palm—a palm that wouldn't even scratch under ordinary blades.
What he held in his grip was a tail, ridged with jagged, blade-like protrusions, sharp as a spearhead.
Swish!
The moment it was caught, the tail thrashed violently.
Bu Eun-seol released it.
With a sinister hiss, the tail vanished back into the pond.
Bubble. Bubble.
For a moment, the pond seethed like boiling water—
Splaaash!
Then, with the sound of water parting, a massive, ink-black shadow slowly emerged from the surface.
Its dragon-like head gleamed like dark metal, a single golden horn jutting from its brow. Its body resembled a colossal crocodile, but with five bladed tails writhing like serpents—a grotesque, monstrous creature.
"The Black-Scaled One-Horned Flood Dragon?"
Bu Eun-seol's lips parted in disbelief.
A legendary spirit beast said to live for millennia—why had it suddenly appeared in this pond?
Moreover, it was said that only after ten years would a single scale darken, yet this one's entire body was pitch black. It must have lived for at least several thousand years.
'Could the Thousand Poisons Sect have rebuilt itself just for this flood dragon?'
But there was no time to ponder.
The Black-Scaled One-Horned Flood Dragon, as if enraged by Bu Eun-seol's intrusion—
Swiish!
—lashed out with its five razor-sharp tails.
'Fast.'
Bu Eun-seol evaded with his movement technique, but the creature's speed was lightning itself.
Worse, it wasn't just attacking—it was sealing off his escape.
Its long tails whirled around him in a rapid, encircling motion, cutting off any retreat.
Schlick.
Seeing Bu Eun-seol effortlessly dodge, the flood dragon suddenly gaped its maw wide—
Hiiisssss.
—and exhaled a billowing cloud of black poison mist.
'Tch.'
Bu Eun-seol stifled a groan.
The poison was so potent that a single whiff would knock a man unconscious instantly.
Had this been an ordinary martial artist, they'd already be crossing the River of Three Crossings.
"A mere insect."
Killing intent flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
If a demonic beast like this appeared not on some deserted island, but in the heart of the Central Plains—
It would bring about nothing less than the Great Blood Calamity.
Flash!
A bloody light surged in his pupils—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion sent the flood dragon crashing back into the pond.
He had used the First Appearance of the Fist Demon.
—Screeeech!
The flood dragon resurfaced, shrieking in fury.
At the same time, it spewed another wave of poison mist.
"Spit that poison again, and you die for real."
Bu Eun-seol's calm warning echoed through the mist. The flood dragon, intelligent enough to understand, faltered in shock.
Its poison could drop an elephant in an instant—
Yet this mere human stood unharmed within its lethal fog.
—Kiiieee!
Pride wounded, the beast's pitch-black eyes gleamed with malice.
It glared at Bu Eun-seol, clearly seething with the desire to kill him but unable to find a way.
Then, as if reaching a decision, it opened its maw wide again.
Flash!
Something round shot straight for Bu Eun-seol's forehead.
Enraged, the flood dragon had launched its Internal Core at him.
Thwip.
Though the speed was blinding, Bu Eun-seol tilted his head slightly, evading with ease.
But the core didn't stop—it curved midair like a sword controlled by Sword-Flight Art, aiming for the back of his skull.
An Internal Core was the crystallized essence of a spirit beast's accumulated Spiritual Energy, refined over centuries.
A direct hit would be fatal.
Thwip.
Yet Bu Eun-seol didn't even turn. He simply snatched it out of the air with one hand.
Sssss—!
But then, the unexpected happened.
The moment his fingers closed around the core, white smoke billowed—
And the Extreme Poison seeped into his skin through his palm.
Stagger.
A wave of dizziness struck him as the venom surged through his veins.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Worse, his entire hand—then his arm—began turning black at terrifying speed.
"Hngh."
Bu Eun-seol let out a pained breath as the darkness spread across his body.
The poison within the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core was so potent that even Reverse Polarity True Qi couldn't suppress it.
As he swayed, unsteady—
CRASH!
The flood dragon's tail struck him at full force.
BOOM!
The impact sent him flying, smashing through boulders dozens of yards away before he crumpled against the rocks.
Step. Step. Step.
Triumphant, the flood dragon approached, its massive jaws parting—
Schlick.
—preparing to swallow Bu Eun-seol's head whole.
Whoosh!
But Bu Eun-seol's eyes snapped open in an instant.
Thud.
And he seized the One-Horned Flood Dragon's upper and lower fangs just as they were about to clamp down on his skull.
Crreeak.
The Flood Dragon strained with all its might to crush Bu Eun-seol's head between its jaws, but it couldn't overcome his terrifying grip strength.
Swish!
Unable to swallow him whole, the Flood Dragon stabbed its bladed tail into Bu Eun-seol's shoulder instead.
Thunk.
Five razor-sharp tails pierced deep into his body.
Though his thick internal energy prevented them from fully impaling him, the wounds were far from light.
But the moment the tails moved—
The crushing force of the Flood Dragon's jaws weakened just slightly.
"Haaap!"
Bu Eun-seol poured every ounce of his strength into wrenching the beast's jaws apart.
Crack! Riiip!
With a grotesque tearing sound, the Flood Dragon's maw was split clean in half, upper and lower.
Thud. Thud.
Writhing in agony, the creature finally realized it was no match for Bu Eun-seol.
It scrambled desperately to retreat back into the poisonous pond.
But with its jaws torn apart and its internal core—the very source of its life—already lost, the Flood Dragon could only thrash in torment as it tried to drag itself toward the water.
Until finally—
Thud.
It collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.
"Haa... Haa..."
Bu Eun-seol barely managed to rise to his feet, gasping for breath.
The battle against the millennia-old Flood Dragon had been more brutal and perilous than any fight he had ever endured.
And the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core was nothing short of the deadliest poison in the world.
Even now, his skin remained stained black where the core had been absorbed, and with every exhale, his breath carried a lethal poisonous energy, spreading like a noxious fog.
At this rate, he would succumb to the venom and die.
"Haa... Haa..."
As the poison surged through him, even breathing became a struggle.
Bu Eun-seol dropped to the ground, folding his legs into the lotus position.
He would attempt to circulate his qi, forcing the poison out.
Oooom...
Deep in the state of selflessness, the teachings of the Counter-Polar Internal Art, imparted to him by Blood Vajra, echoed relentlessly in his mind.
Every internal energy method in the world contained secrets to expelling or neutralizing poison.
But the Counter-Polar Internal Art had none.
Because "Reverse Extremity" meant—
Overturning and shattering all that existed, while simultaneously embracing everything.
Oooom...
As his qi circulation reached its climax—
His body, still in the lotus position, rose nearly ten feet into the air, and a majestic golden light radiated from his entire being.
The Prajna Great Power, which had only manifested in moments of crisis before, now surged forth to neutralize the Flood Dragon's core.
And his Original True Qi began to merge with it completely.
Oooom...
Slowly descending back to the ground, Bu Eun-seol exhaled—
Whoooosh...
The golden glow surrounding him dimmed, and his blackened skin gradually regained its pale hue.
He hadn't burned away the poison of the Flood Dragon's core.
Instead, through the Counter-Polar Internal Art—which could naturally embrace all things—
He had converted the poisonous energy and spiritual energy of the core into Reverse Polarity True Qi.
Whoooosh...
The One-Horned Flood Dragon was a spirit beast that had lived for millennia.
Its core was the most venomous substance in existence.
Even those who had trained in poison arts their entire lives couldn't absorb it in a short time—they would need a thousand days of grueling refinement just to assimilate a fraction of its power.
But Bu Eun-seol had instantly converted the core's energy into Reverse Polarity True Qi, allowing him to absorb its poison without ever having trained in poison arts.
Whoosh... Whoosh...
Light continued to pour from his body as the core's poison was stored in his dantian in the form of Reverse Polarity True Qi.
Just as he was about to resume his qi circulation—
Rumble...
Hundreds of shadows swarmed around the poison pool.
They were the descendants of the Thousand Poisons Sect, who had been hiding on this deserted island.
Hearing the Flood Dragon's death throes, they had sensed something amiss and rushed here.
"This can't be!"
A young man at the forefront of the hundreds of disciples gaped in horror.
He was Jo Seung-ji, the young sect leader of the restored Thousand Poisons Sect.
"The Flood Dragon!"
Jo Seung-ji clutched his head at the sight of the dead beast.
The Black-Scaled One-Horned Flood Dragon was the very reason the sect had been rebuilt—and a priceless treasure entrusted to them by a certain faction.
Only the poison pool, created through the sect's secret arts, could sustain the Flood Dragon's life.
"Sect Leader! That bastard even stole the core!"
A man beside him shouted, noticing the missing core in the Flood Dragon's corpse.
"Don't tell me he's absorbing it right now?"
Jo Seung-ji shook his head in disbelief.
Was this man some peerless master of poison arts?
Had he come here deliberately, knowing they were raising the Flood Dragon, just to steal its core?
"No!"
With a thunderous roar, Jo Seung-ji unleashed a palm strike at Bu Eun-seol's back.
Bang!
The sound of splitting flesh echoed—
"Ugh!"
Instead, Jo Seung-ji screamed as he clutched his own palm.
"How can his body be this hard?!"
His palm had swollen grotesquely.
And this despite him being a Poison Person—a body impervious to all toxins. Yet the moment his palm struck, an incurable, malignant poison energy had begun seeping into his meridians.
"Use weapons!"
At Jo Seung-ji's shout, Thousand Poisons Sect disciples drew their poison swords and rushed forward, stabbing at Bu Eun-seol's body.
But something bizarre happened.
Even in the midst of his State of Selflessness and Qi Circulation—
It was as if he had activated Vajra Indestructibility. The blades simply would not pierce his skin.
"I'll do it myself!"
Jo Seung-ji drew a razor-sharp treasured saber from his robes.
A relic passed down through generations of the Thousand Poisons Sect, an Ancient Treasure Blade—
Its edge rivaled even the famed Fishgut Sword, and its surface was smeared thick with Blood Jade Poison, reputed to be the most vicious toxin in the world.
Crack!
Gripping the saber, Jo Seung-ji slashed with all his might at Bu Eun-seol's neck.
Yet instead of decapitation, the blade produced only a dull thud.
Crack! Crack!
He struck again and again, pouring his entire strength into each blow—
Only for the saber's edge, capable of slicing stone like tofu, to chip and deform instead.
"Is this bastard a demon?!"
Meanwhile, within the depths of his State of Selflessness, Bu Eun-seol gradually became aware of discomfort.
The energy is too overwhelming.
His qi vessels felt on the verge of tearing, his internal organs strained to their limits.
The monstrous energy of the flood dragon's core, now converted into internal power, threatened to rupture his body entirely.
Ten Cycles.
Unbeknownst to him, Bu Eun-seol had reached the absolute limit of what a human body could contain in terms of internal energy.
I can't fully contain this within my body.
The true qi surging through him now was not naturally cultivated energy—
It was an overwhelming, foreign force, forcibly injected from the One-Horned Flood Dragon's core.
Already brimming with monstrous internal power, this additional, uncontrollable surge tore through him like a flood bursting through a dam.
His body swelled, his qi vessels stretched to the point of rupture—
BANG!
Then, suddenly, a refreshing impact struck his back.
The rampaging energy, like a furious evil dragon writhing through his meridians, stabilized slightly.
Thud. Crack.
But now, dozens of sharp blades stabbed into his acupoints across his body.
This might actually save me.
As the sharp weapons evenly pierced his pressure points, the energy threatening to burst his body began to settle.
Like receiving an advanced Energy Channeling Technique, his blood and qi circulation smoothed.
Ironically, the Thousand Poisons Sect disciples' frenzied attacks were forcibly unclogging his stagnant energy flow.
If only they'd stab or strike a little harder...
As if hearing his wish, Jo Seung-ji raised the treasured saber and began hacking violently at his neck.
BOOM! BOOM!
With each strike, massive shockwaves reverberated—
And Bu Eun-seol felt his body lighten, his circulation gradually returning to normal.
I can't handle this energy yet. I'll condense it back into an internal core.
Though he called it Ten Cycles, the internal core had already pushed his internal energy far beyond that threshold.
This was power no human body could contain.
So, to reduce the strain, he began compressing the surging energy back into an internal core, storing it within his dantian using the flood dragon's power.
Flash.
Finally, as his Qi Circulation concluded, a sacred aura radiated from his body—
And he floated about a hundred feet into the air.
Sssssss...
Bu Eun-seol slowly opened his eyes, descending gently from midair—
Only to see Jo Seung-ji still gripping his saber, and hundreds of Thousand Poisons Sect disciples surrounding him.
When did they all swarm here?
Rumble—
The moment his feet touched the ground, the disciples drew their weapons and attacked again.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Even after witnessing him float midair during cultivation, they charged without hesitation.
Clang! Shing!
But no matter how they struck—
Their weapons failed to pierce even his skin, merely shredding his robes.
"That's enough."
Bu Eun-seol's low voice cut through the chaos as he swept his hand outward.
He hadn't come here to fight the Thousand Poisons Sect—he sought their knowledge, a cure for the Three Corpse Worms.
WHOOSH!
Yet something strange happened.
A mere flick of his wrist unleashed a storm-like surge of energy, sending disciples tumbling like leaves in a gale.
The true qi he hadn't yet condensed into a core—
Had overflowed from his body through that single motion.
"Not a chance!"
But then, one bold disciple lunged, driving a poison sword deep into Bu Eun-seol's lower abdomen—
Right at the Qi Sea Acupoint, where the dantian resided.
Thud.
The moment the blade pressed into the acupoint—
KABOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted as another shockwave of true qi detonated outward.
RUMBLE—
This wasn't just a shockwave.
It materialized almost like the Willful True Binding, solidifying into a visible force that swept through the area instantly.
Crash! Thud!
Most disciples were sent flying, ribs and limbs shattered—
Those still standing either melted grotesquely or turned pitch-black as their skin necrotized.
And he hadn't even actively channeled his internal energy.
The mere ripple of his True Qi akin to protective astral energy—had wiped them out.
"You...!"
Jo Seung-ji's eyes bulged.
The overwhelming astral energy radiating from Bu Eun-seol—
Wasn't this the Poison Rigid Qi only a poison practitioner who had attained a Poison Saint Body could manifest?!