Chapter 50
I pushed my inner power upward and sent a sword gale blasting into the sky. The poison mist rode the current and scattered into the air.
Only one man remained in sight, wearing a black snake mask.
"How the hell! Are you able to move!"
"My organs are healthy?"
At my answer, the snake mask sprang upright, looking even more agitated. Then he reached for the poison pouch at his waist and began flinging poison madly in every direction.
I felt the toxin seeping into my body. But it never got past the surface. Instead, it flowed into my dantian and dissolved into my inner power.
"You aren't affected? You bastard!"
"Not really."
There was a saying: poison subdued poison. The instant I absorbed Sodan-hwa, the legendary poison flower, my resistance to lesser toxins had grown stronger.
That didn't mean I could shrug off every poison in the world as if I were truly invulnerable, of course.
"A level of poison like that barely even tickles me."
I thrust my sword out and cleanly severed one of the man's arms. The sharp hiss of steel cutting through flesh rang out crisply.
The instant he lost an arm, his body convulsed like a fish dragged out of water.
"Aaaaagh! It hurts!"
His scream tore through the arena. He dragged himself with one hand, writhing in pain, while blood sprayed from the stump and scattered into the air.
"Y-you. A Dang Family member? No, if not, then how could you...?"
"Maybe I'm just born that way?"
"Don't kill me! If you kill me, no one here will be able to be detoxified! Because of you, everyone in this place will die!"
I paused for a moment.
Taking advantage of that, the bastard struggled back to his feet. His voice turned smug, swollen with triumph.
"That's right, you're one of the righteous sects, aren't you? You wouldn't casually throw away the lives of these people... If you come even one step closer, I'll kill myself on the spot. Then you won't be able to save them."
Groans were already rising from the seated martial artists in the audience. Some were holding out well, depending on their level, while others were already paling by the second.
The snake mask backed away slowly, never taking his eyes off me.
"Snake mask. I'll ask you one thing too. If you run away like this, who's going to detoxify them?"
"I promise. I'll detoxify them before I leave completely."
"And why should I believe that?"
"Believe it or don't. That's your choice. But do you have any other way to save them? If you don't, then you have no choice but to trust me."
He wasn't wrong. If I had a choice, saving the innocent would be the right thing to do, even if it meant not killing him.
I tightened my grip on Bright Destroying Sword.
But if I let this bastard go, something like this would happen again. In that case, even if I had to give these people up, I should probably deal with the snake mask first...
Then Dang Hye's voice rang out.
"Baek Mugeuk! Do what you have to do!"
As she spoke, Dang Hye was already running while moving her hands like mad.
I had no idea what she was doing.
But just after she rushed past the martial artists, black blood began to seep from their mouths.
Poison uses poison...
Then Dang Hye's voice filled the arena.
"Everyone, circulate your inner power! Don't try to force the poison out. Think of it as protecting your dantian!"
A great poison swallows a smaller poison.
What Dang Hye chose to do was also poison using poison.
If you didn't know what kind of poison your opponent would use, then you could simply layer your own poison over it and purge it that way.
"So that's where you ran off to the moment dawn broke..."
Dang Hye had spent the entire day running around. With just my one line about detoxifying the poison, she'd gone and found a solution on her own.
"Once my poison has completely saturated you all, I'll detoxify it. Hold on!"
Seeing that, the snake mask spat out a curse.
"What the hell is that girl...?"
"I don't think I have any reason not to kill you now."
I bared my killing intent and advanced step by step toward him. But the snake mask did not run.
As if he still had a method to protect himself.
"What about the sect leaders? They probably don't have poison stronger than the formless toxin."
"That is...!"
The mask began trembling again. This time, the shaking was far greater than before.
"You must never kill me! You won't be able to save those two if you do! Heh-heh-heh-heh!"
Thud.
He must have been sure of it. Sure that I wouldn't be able to kill him. But unlike his certainty, my sword pierced straight through his abdomen.
"...Ugh."
Blood spilled down the blade. And in his eyes, confusion blossomed.
"W-why?"
"Whether they live or die, I'll handle it myself."
"Fool... Because of you, the sect leaders of Mount Hwa and Jongnam will die."
"No. The only one dying today is you."
"No. Your choice will kill everyone here. No, wait, no...! Only you will survive! Live the rest of your life carrying that guilt!"
The snake mask began shaking violently. And then poison started leaking out between the places where the sword had pierced his skin.
"Spare me the bullshit."
I wrenched Bright Destroying Sword out of his body. Then I shoved my inner power into the blade.
"I told you. The only one dying today is you."
Bright Destroying Sword began vibrating like mad. I drew the blade down in a diagonal arc. Along that path, a massive sword energy began tearing the bastard apart completely.
"What the hell kind of nonsense is this!"
His death scream burst out, and both his body and his poison were ground to pieces. Not even a shred of flesh remained. Not a single drop of blood.
"I'm tired. I want to rest a bit. No chance of that, though."
I ran straight to Hyeonil Jin-in. His entire body had already turned purple.
"Old man!"
My gaze snapped to Cheonghyeon Jin-in. He, too, was steadily losing color as the purple spread through his face.
If I left the two of them like this, they would definitely die before long.
Holding Hyeonil Jin-in, I leapt toward Cheonghyeon Jin-in.
"Both of you, sit cross-legged. I'm going to force my inner power into your bodies. Don't resist it. Accept it."
At my words, Cheonghyeon Jin-in opened his eyes a fraction. Even that seemed difficult for him.
"I don't know what you're trying to do, but don't. I can feel it. There is no way to detoxify this poison."
"I know what you're worried about, old man. I'm not doing this for the two of you. I'm doing it for myself."
"What does that mean?"
"It's mealtime."
I looked at Cheonghyeon Jin-in and curled the corner of my mouth. Then I called out to Dang Hye.
"I'm counting on you behind me, Dang Hye!"
"Baek Mugeuk, what are you--!"
I couldn't hear the rest clearly. The moment my hands touched the backs of the two sect leaders, every nerve in my body focused on theirs.
I gently pushed my inner power in. Since both were masters of the Hwagyeong realm, their bodies were resisting the formless toxin with fierce force.
I slowly began pulling the formless toxin gathered in their dantians toward me. That poison was vicious indeed.
It had no intention of easily letting go of the inner power it had latched onto, and instead began tugging back at mine.
Look at this thing.
I pulled harder. And soon, I could feel the formless toxin crossing over through my hands.
"W-what are you...!"
"You bastard! Why are you doing this...?"
Once enough of the poison had transferred over, the two sect leaders opened their eyes and shouted in alarm.
They must have thought I was sacrificing myself.
Shock and guilt were plain in their voices.
If I could still speak, I would have told them not to misunderstand, but I didn't have the luxury of that now.
Hoo.
I lifted my hands from their backs and sat down cross-legged as well.
From the beginning, I had intended to absorb the formless toxin clinging to the sect leaders. This toxin would help me in reaching Invulnerable to All Poisons anyway.
But the formless toxin was far more vicious than I had expected. The instant it reached my dantian and met my inner power, the energy began to boil, and my meridians twisted violently out of alignment.
I wrapped the toxin in the inner power stored within my dantian.
And then I began to melt it down.
But the toxin was melting my inner power faster than my inner power was melting the toxin.
The dread that I might actually die chilled my back. My meridians twisted more and more, and a metallic taste of blood began rising in my mouth.
Cough.
The inner power surrounding the formless toxin grew thinner and thinner. My insides exploded with searing pain, my heart pounded like mad, and my blood surged completely out of control.
At this rate, I would die.
So I continuously recited the formula of the Baekcheon Technique, doing my best to stabilize my dantian.
But even that only bought time.
The formless toxin had nearly melted all of my inner power away. Just then, I felt two hands pressing against my back in quick succession.
Then inner power poured in through those hands.
The faint scent of plum blossoms seeped in low and slow. Warm energy settled deep inside my dantian and wrapped around the burning venom.
Then a cool breeze seemed to brush over my skin, flowing through the twisted meridians and opening the blocked paths.
The two currents crossed and mingled within my body, layering themselves over the inner power that was being dissolved by the formless toxin.
I accepted that power. And with it, I began to melt the formless toxin down once again.
How long had passed? Just as the inner power was about to be almost completely consumed, the formless toxin finally dissolved entirely and mixed into my own.
One circulation.
Two circulations.
Three circulations.
As the inner power containing the formless toxin revolved through my body, I could feel my meridians gradually settling.
With a short exhale, I slowly opened my eyes.
The first thing I saw was Dang Hye's face.
Her expression was completely twisted.
"Hey, you're seriously ugly right now."
"You insane bastard, that's the first thing you say after opening your eyes!"
Dang Hye's hand swung toward my back.
Smack!
The sharp pain in my back sent me sprawling.
"Ah, I'm full. I ate so much I feel like I'm going to die."
My eyes began to close again.
"I'm so sleepy."
The last thing I saw was the relieved expressions on the faces of the two sect leaders and Dang Hye.