Chapter 799
Bu Eun-seol continued his Qi Circulation even amidst the agony.
The Counter-Polar Internal Art, capable of simultaneously wielding Yin-Yang Dual Qi, could embrace all things—even poison was no exception.
'But it's not converting into True Qi.'
When the Seven Steps Gut-Breaking Poison had seeped in, the venom injected into his body had immediately transformed into True Qi, restoring him.
Yet now, with the venom of the Red-Faced Black Scorpion entering him at the same time, the situation had taken an entirely different turn.
Even the Counter-Polar Internal Art was utterly failing to neutralize these two poisons.
'At the very least, Using Poison to Counter Poison should have worked.'
Now, he could feel his life teetering on the brink.
He had assumed that since two different poisons had mixed, they would produce the effect of counteracting each other.
Instead, they had merged into a new toxin, one that seemed intent on melting his Five Viscera and Six Bowels from within.
Sssss—
Before he knew it, scorching steam began rising from his body.
At this rate, his flesh would soon dissolve entirely.
'Hm?'
In the midst of excruciating pain, Bu Eun-seol, who had been staring blankly at the ceiling, suddenly widened his eyes.
Characters that had been invisible just moments ago—
Now, as the two poisons coursed through him simultaneously, they were beginning to appear one by one.
'Turn Poison into Power, Transform Poison into Qi...'
Unlike the renowned Poison Techniques of Murim,
this was a secret method aimed not just at purifying the absorbed toxins,
but at using their power to develop muscles and activate nerves.
'I don't need to strengthen my physical body.'
Even in the throes of agony, Bu Eun-seol began studying the scripture intently.
'Rather than fortifying the flesh, what if I used that power to purify my body instead?'
Even Ak Mu-ryeong, infamous for his obsession with Martial Arts, would have cursed Bu Eun-seol as a madman had he seen him now.
Here he was, on the verge of death,
yet rather than accepting the scripture on the ceiling as it was, he stubbornly adapted it to his own methods.
'It's working.'
The moment he succeeded in purifying the poison seeping through his body using the scripture—
Oooong—
A sudden tranquility washed over him, as though he were floating weightlessly above the clouds.
By applying the scripture's teachings to cleanse his body with the venom's energy as if scrubbing it clean,
not only was the remaining poison expelled—but in an instant, all his strength vanished as well.
'This is...'
Though all his power, his Extrasensory Perception, even his Internal Energy had disappeared,
his body felt infinitely lighter, as if all the foul energies that had been festering within him had been purged.
'It has pushed out all impure forces and turbid qi, leaving only purity behind.'
Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes.
The deeper he followed the scripture's Qi Circulation, the more he felt as though he were regressing to the state of an unborn fetus.
"Done."
By then, the paralysis gripping his body had faded.
Swiftly rising to his feet, Bu Eun-seol's lips parted slightly as he took in the sight of the scattered vipers and scorpions around him.
"Why would the Wind God Palace breed so many poisonous creatures?
A number like this could never occur naturally.
Moreover, the Wind God Palace is the domain of the Wind God, who wields the most mystical of the Four Divine Energies—the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.
So why would they go so far as to carve out this underground Secret Cave just to cultivate venomous insects?
"Don't tell me... mastering the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi requires training in Poison Techniques?"
After pondering deeply, Bu Eun-seol soon shook his head.
"No, that can't be."
All Four Divine Energies originate from nature itself—pure forces untainted by any impurities.
They would have no need for the power of venomous creatures.
In fact, mixing them with Poison Techniques would only weaken their might.
Crunch... crunch...
Bu Eun-seol slowly made his way toward the passage.
'My Internal Energy has dwindled to the level of a mere sixty-year cycle.'
Though he had barely managed to purify the poison, his Internal Energy had nearly vanished, leaving him devoid of strength.
Yet strangely, his body felt far lighter than it had even before being wounded by the Hardening Force.
Swish!
But then—something shot toward his forehead at blinding speed.
He twisted his body aside in evasion, but the object still grazed his skin.
Upon closer inspection, it was an extremely sharp scale.
Rumble...
As he passed through the tunnel into a vast stone chamber, a monstrous serpent the size of a house emerged, spewing scales—a Blood Python,
a legendary Spirit Beast in the form of an lesser dragon, a serpent yet to become a dragon.
"Now I understand why that Heartless Shadow bastard dropped me here."
A hollow smile touched Bu Eun-seol's lips.
He had wondered why a seemingly unremarkable young figure from the Returning Sun Sect had dared to confront him so boldly.
But this Secret Cave was teeming with venomous creatures and Spirit Beasts beyond imagination.
"Alright then. Let's do this."
Shwaaak! Crack!
Bu Eun-seol swung the Ink Soul Sword with fluid grace, slashing toward the Blood Python.
Clang!
Yet despite the sparks flying, the blade failed to cut through.
'This tough?'
Outwardly, the Ink Soul Sword might resemble an ordinary iron blade, but it was forged from a mysterious metal with strength beyond comprehension.
To put it into perspective—
it was durable enough to withstand even the Power of Harmony, said to erase all things from existence, without shattering.
Crack!
Yet the Blood Python's body was so absurdly resilient that even the Ink Soul Sword couldn't cleave it.
Whipp!
Then—the serpent's tail lashed out, striking Bu Eun-seol's body with brutal force.
CRASH!
Unable to dodge, he was sent flying over a hundred feet before slamming into the wall.
An ordinary person would have been crushed to pulp by the impact—
But Bu Eun-seol utilized the Soft Body Deflection, one of the Langya Pavilion Martial Arts' profound principles, to disperse the shock and narrowly escape instant death.
Yet, with his Internal Energy still depleted, he couldn't generate the Sword Qi needed to cleave through the Blood Python.
"Fine."
A crimson light flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"Even in this powerless state, I refuse to lose to a mere beast."
SHAAK!
As the Blood Python lunged, Bu Eun-seol didn't evade. Instead, he mustered every ounce of strength and brought his full weight down upon it.
CLANG!
Only a Metallic Sound reverberated—the creature didn't even flinch.
Still, Bu Eun-seol didn't relent. He struck again and again without pause.
CLANG! CLANG!
After relentless, concentrated blows on the same spot—
SQUELCH.
Finally, a scale split open, and a geyser of blood erupted from the fissure.
WHOOSH!
The Blood Python lashed its tail again, but Bu Eun-seol swiftly dodged.
Yet—it was a feint.
THUD-THUD-THUD.
In an instant, the serpent coiled around him, its massive maw gaping wide.
But at that moment, Bu Eun-seol spotted something beneath its jaw—a patch of white fur.
Unlike the rest of its body, which gleamed with a dark, metallic sheen, this spot alone seemed to sprout pale, downy strands.
SHLUCK.
He drove Ink Soul Sword deep into it—like skewering tofu—until even the hilt was buried.
Then, a torrent of crimson blood cascaded over Bu Eun-seol's body.
GRROOAN! GRROOAN!
The Blood Python writhed in agony, its body convulsing violently.
That spot must have been its Weakness.
"Ghk—"
Gritting his teeth, Bu Eun-seol clung to the sword's hilt, refusing to let go.
HISS! GRROOAN!
After a prolonged struggle, the Blood Python finally shuddered and collapsed.
Drenched from head to toe in the creature's blood, Bu Eun-seol was utterly drenched in gore.
"Hah..."
Exhausted, he slumped to the ground.
Despite being soaked in blood, his body felt oddly lighter.
SSSSS—
Then, the blood touching his skin began absorbing into him—like poison.
"What the hell is this?"
As the blood seeped in, his skin grew smoother, gleaming with an eerie luster.
It was as if he had shed his old Physical Body and emerged anew.
"Something keeps changing inside me..."
Lying sprawled on the ground, Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes.
His body felt feather-light, as though floating on clouds—yet his strength hadn't returned.
"Damn it. This Limitless Power is relentless."
No matter how many toxins surged forth to restore his flesh—
Unless he obtained a force like the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi—
The power sealed within him by the Hardening Force would never awaken.
"Ngh—"
Forcing himself up, Bu Eun-seol scanned his surroundings for an escape.
"This is bad."
Beyond the hole the Blood Python had emerged from stretched a long, winding Passageway.
Judging by the sheer size of this place, there could easily be dozens—if not hundreds—of species of such venomous creatures lurking within.
"I need to get out. Now."
If Elder Hyang had deliberately trapped him here—
She wouldn't have left Hyeok So-jin untouched.
He had to escape and save him.
Gripping the Ink Soul Sword, he strode forward.
But then—something strange.
As he stepped into the vast corridor, a faint breeze brushed against him.
Upon closer inspection, the darkened walls were adorned with intricate murals—
Depicting countless forms of wind.
Mountain winds sweeping through valleys.
The biting gales of winter.
The warm breezes of spring and summer, the sea winds rushing toward land—
Every natural manifestation of wind was illustrated.
"No... these aren't just paintings."
As he studied them—
It felt as though someone was imparting martial secrets directly into his mind, like the Wisdom-Light Mind Speech.
Simultaneously, the breeze grew stronger.
"Strange."
With every whispered insight that echoed in his mind, a peculiar Strange Sensation stirred within him.
Yet, nothing concrete took shape.
It was like grasping at a Mirage—always just out of reach.
"Wind God's Path...?"
At the end of the mural, those words were inscribed.
"The path the Wind God walks? Does the Wind God have a taste for poison?"
A dry laugh escaped him.
What was this place?
The principles flooding his mind—what did they mean?
He still couldn't decipher them.
"For now, I move forward."
Bu Eun-seol pushed open the door at the corridor's end.
WHOOOOM—
A massive Great Hall lay beyond, another door visible on the opposite side.
But then—
From the ceiling, countless fist-sized Demon-Head Blood Flies came pouring down.
It was as if an utterly black cloud had descended upon them.
With nowhere to run, Bu Eun-seol began cutting them down one by one with his Ink Soul Sword.
"Ghk—"
But in the end, the Demon-Head Blood Flies clung to his entire body like a dark shroud.
Without internal energy, no matter how much he shook his body or swung his sword, he couldn't dislodge the flies latched onto him like leeches.
Had he been an ordinary martial artist, he would have been drained of blood in an instant, reduced to a dried-up corpse.
But within Bu Eun-seol's body lay the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core, and having absorbed the venomous energy of countless poisonous creatures until now—
His blood had become the deadliest Extreme Poison in the world.
Plop.
Because of this, the Demon-Head Blood Flies barely managed to suck any blood before dropping dead.
Yet thousands still remained.
If this relentless bloodsucking continued, he would inevitably collapse.
'Wind.'
Suddenly, the strange incantation echoing through the passageway resonated in his mind.
The swarming, buzzing Demon-Head Blood Flies were also a kind of wind—
A viscous, unpleasant wind that clung to people and sucked their blood.
Whether it was poisonous insects slithering or snakes moving—
Everything that moved stirred the wind.
'Is this the martial art of the Wind God Palace?'
At last, Bu Eun-seol could decipher the incantation that had been flooding his mind.
It described the Thousand Changes of wind—
No matter what form it took, its essence remained unchanged.
Even the smallest creature, the moment it moved, created a flow in the air...
It was explaining the profound principles of martial arts.
'It's similar to the Thirteenfold Qi Induction.'
The Thirteenfold Qi Induction could also transform into countless forms while retaining its essence.
It generated force like the wind to attack enemies and defended against attacks with the same wind-like energy.
As the principles of the Thirteenfold Qi Induction merged with the incantation carved into the passage—
Zzzing—
Before he knew it, Bu Eun-seol's body began turning transparent.
The Demon-Head Blood Flies could no longer bite him—they simply passed through his form.
Not only had his body momentarily harmonized with nature, but his very flesh had become part of it—
A mystical power that rendered him untouchable, allowing all things to pass through him unharmed.
Avoiding the remaining flies, he walked forward until he saw a wall of light.
"Not a door, then."
Bu Eun-seol approached it, but—
It merely shimmered brilliantly, refusing him entry.
'So, if one fails to comprehend the principles of wind, they die to the Demon-Head Blood Flies.'
He let out a bitter smile.
Wind God's Path.
True to its name, it was a path only the Wind God could tread.
And if someone who failed to grasp the Wind God's will entered?
Only death awaited them.
Whoosh.
Bu Eun-seol's body flickered into transparency before being sucked into the door.
Using the wind incantation fused with the Thirteenfold Qi Induction, he passed through the wall of light in an instant.
This place seemed to be protected by a special Boundary Formation or Esoteric Ritual Art, one that only those who wielded the Wind God's power could breach.
Kwoong.
Upon entering, he was met with a silence so profound it felt as though time had stopped.
It was a stone chamber, its ceiling and walls all carved from seamless rock—
Polished so smoothly that not even the smallest crack was visible.
Engraved throughout were patterns resembling wind and ancient emblems, which began emitting a mystical glow the moment Bu Eun-seol stepped inside.
And at the center of the chamber stood a massive Crystal Coffin.
As he drew closer, a radiant light pulsed from within it.
Inside lay a beauty with long, unbound hair, deep in slumber.
"A person?"
At a glance, Bu Eun-seol could tell she wasn't merely asleep.
Her silk robes had yellowed with age, so weathered they looked ancient.
"Don't tell me—"
Bu Eun-seol approached the crystal coffin, examining the woman's features.
Her face was as pale as moonlight, her waist-length hair splayed like scattered flower petals.
Behind eyelids as thin as butterfly wings, long lashes cast delicate shadows.
Between them, the elegant curve of her neck and the graceful slope of her shoulders were exposed—
A beauty so ethereal it felt transcendent, as if time itself had frozen in her presence.
"Poison."
Frowning, Bu Eun-seol took another step forward.
Just approaching her, he could feel a suffocating, Extreme Poison energy radiating from her.
"I see."
She must have been a disciple of the Wind God Palace.
Like him, she had fought through poisonous guardians and endured countless hardships to reach this place.
But unlike him, she lacked the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core—
And so, tragically, she had failed to fully control the poison, inevitably succumbing to fatal poisoning.
In the end, she must have entered this Crystal Coffin in desperation, employing the Turtle Breath Grand Art—
It seemed she had been enduring all this time, hoping someone would come to detoxify her.
"But."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"I don't understand. There are many experts in detoxification within Murim. So why did the Wind God Palace abandon this woman?"
Though faded, the woman's silk robes were still ornate, and her body was adorned with various ornaments.
Though young, she was clearly no ordinary disciple—she must have been a figure of very high status.
How could they have left her trapped inside this hidden underground crystal coffin all this time, neither rescuing her nor letting her die?
"Perhaps it's none of my concern."
This was the Wind God Palace's business, and he had no desire to meddle.
But the poisonous energy emanating from the beauty beyond the crystal coffin was beyond imagination.
To detoxify poison of this magnitude, one would need to have reached the realm of a Sage Among Poisons.
Had Bu Eun-seol not consumed the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core?
He, too, would have been reduced to a mere puddle of blood.
Ah.
Only then did Bu Eun-seol recall the words Jo Baek-san, the former leader of the Thousand Poisons Sect, had once spoken to him.
—If you absorb another poison comparable to the One-Horned Flood Dragon... you will attain the Poison Saint Body, capable of detoxifying any poison.
—And if you absorb two more... you will reach the realm of the Sage Among Poisons, a level unseen in Murim for the past three hundred years.
The poison emanating from her body is as potent as the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core.
Perhaps because she had slept for so long, steeped in poison, it had grown even more lethal.
The poisonous energy flowing from her body was even more virulent than that of the One-Horned Flood Dragon Core.
"I'll try."
Though the woman had been in a suspended state for a long time, her breathing was now faint—she could no longer endure.
Even if he were to leave now and summon the disciples of the Wind God Palace,
there would be no master with the abilities of a Sage Among Poisons nearby.
If he didn't help her, she would die.
"Perhaps this is fate."
Having made his decision, Bu Eun-seol hesitated for a moment before opening the coffin door.
Creak—
As he did, white mist spilled out, carrying with it a sharp, acrid stench that stung his nostrils.
"Her body entered suspended animation due to the collision of accumulated poison within her."
If the crystal coffin's function was to prevent decay,
then the reason she had remained alive all this time was likely due to the unimaginable concentration of poison in her body.
"Forgive my intrusion."
Bu Eun-seol activated the Heavenly Robe Mind Art to assess the circulation of her True Qi.
She truly is on the verge of death.
Then, using the principles of Transmit Qi to Restore Balance and Heal Others with Qi from the Counter-Polar Internal Art,
he began converting the poison within the sleeping woman's body into Reverse Polarity True Qi and absorbing it.
Huuuung—
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's skin turned deathly pale.
The poison that had seeped into her body was now spreading through his own.
Do I have to make direct contact?
Moreover, there was a limit to extracting poison using only internal energy.
To properly draw out that vicious poison, he would have to place his hands directly on the dantian where the poison had accumulated.
"Forgive my discourtesy."
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands together respectfully toward the unconscious woman.
"This is an effort to save your life. Please pardon my impropriety."
Then, he placed his hand on the sleeping beauty's dantian.
As he activated the Counter-Polar Internal Art, a solemn radiance bloomed from his body.
Fsssh—
But the moment Bu Eun-seol touched her robes, the aged silk disintegrated,
revealing the woman's flawless body in an instant.
This—
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol couldn't tear his gaze away.
When he was a child, his grandfather had always been the one to prepare female corpses for burial.
But in the course of his work, Bu Eun-seol had inevitably seen many female corpses himself.
Because of this, he had grown up indifferent to the sight of a woman's naked body.
Yet now, he found himself unable to regain his composure.
Was it because most of his strength had been drained?
No—he knew the truth.
It was because her body was too beautiful.
If I lose focus now, we both die.
If his mind wandered in a situation like this?
Not only would the woman perish, but Bu Eun-seol himself would suffer fatal internal injuries.
Whoooosh—
Steeling himself, Bu Eun-seol poured all his strength into circulating the Counter-Polar Internal Art.
The level of her internal energy—
To his shock, the woman's internal energy was not merely over four hundred years—
it was approaching five hundred.
So that's it.
Her abnormal level of internal energy
hadn't been cultivated through an Internal Energy Method—it had been amplified using poison.
She needed a massive amount of internal energy in a short time.
The reason this gate was teeming with poisonous insects
was to cultivate a body capable of wielding the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi and rapidly nurture internal energy.
While Great Art and elixirs had their limits in enhancing internal energy,
the secret to amplifying it with poison
was that, as long as the poison was potent enough, the level could be raised indefinitely.
Huuuuum—
In a State of No-Self, Bu Eun-seol continuously circulated his internal energy, absorbing the poison from the woman's body.
The Reverse Polarity True Qi not only contained Yin-Yang Dual Qi but could also assimilate any poison.
Zzzzt— Zzzzt—
Once he had absorbed all of her poison, a dark energy erupted violently from Bu Eun-seol's body.
Shuuuu—
Finally, all the black poison was completely absorbed into his system.
He immediately converted it into Reverse Polarity True Qi and stored it in his dantian.
Flash—!
When he opened his eyes, a darkness deeper than the abyss swirled in his pupils.
Not only had absorbing the Extreme Poison accumulated in the woman's body brought him one step closer to the realm of the Sage Among Poisons—
he had finally achieved the Poison Saint Body, capable of absorbing and detoxifying any poison.