Chapter 74
Tian Ailang's words twisted the Dangga lord's face. In a grave voice, he asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Tian Ailang sneered coldly at the sight.
"Just tell me where Solitude is."
He had entered through a secret passage known only to the direct line of the family lord, alongside Dang Jeonga, to find Solitude—but its location had changed. Because of that, Tian Ailang had slightly altered his plan.
Right now, the Dangga lord's mind was racing through countless possibilities. He weighed the best courses of action amid the unfolding circumstances.
Obo Danjang Poison poured from the Dangga lord's body.
A Poison Human who transcended the Profound Realm through bitter cultivation could achieve Body-Poison Unity. Not only did the poison become their inner energy, but they could wield their inner energy as poison.
Even without any visible movement, Tian Ailang swiftly reacted to the sudden poisonous scent and miasma, shifting his body.
Thud!
"Kuh!"
As Tian Ailang dodged, the Dangga lord took a Red Flower Fist to the back and tumbled forward. In that instant, he felt a numbing jolt in his organs, as if the blow had pierced even into his Penetration Meridian.
The Dangga lord quickly regained his stance. Though struck, he took solace in having resolved the vulnerability at his back.
Tian Ailang swiftly dispelled the pain of the Obo Danjang Poison, which he had trained against extensively. He had grown accustomed to the agony and mastered ways to neutralize it—but it still brought excruciating torment.
'Tch.'
Tian Ailang hadn't anticipated the lord unleashing poison without a single motion.
He immediately unleashed the Phantom Ghost Mirage Step.
Shh.
Watching Tian Ailang vanish silently, the Dangga lord tensed. No matter how rigorously one trained internal poison resistance, he hadn't expected anyone to neutralize Obo Danjang Poison—laced with his own inner energy—so quickly.
And Tian Ailang's realm was higher than he'd imagined.
The Dangga lord vanished into the darkness, spitting needles in all directions toward the presence-less Tian Ailang.
Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain.
From the Dangga lord's hand, a perfected Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain spread like it was filling every crevice of the world.
Tian Ailang didn't dare underestimate the assault in this inescapable space. He deflected it with his inner energy, noting the subtle poison coating each needle's tip.
Clang!
The Dangga lord still couldn't see Tian Ailang. He channeled his inner energy toward the origin of the ricocheting needles.
The needles, scattering wildly in all directions, twisted mid-air and rained down on Tian Ailang's position in unison.
'So this is the Dangga lord of the Five Great Families...'
The volume, speed, and momentum dwarfed the Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain Dang Jeonga had unleashed at the Octagonal Temple.
Tian Ailang, having expended much inner energy, released the now-unnecessary Phantom Ghost Mirage Step.
Red Dragon Ruyi Pearl.
To counter the poisoned needles, he met them with a protective aura infused with fiery energy resistant to poison.
Ting-ting-ting-ting-ting-ting-clang—!
The deafening roar resembled a downpour more than popping corn.
As Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain ended, Tian Ailang fired a Divine Dragon Finger Bullet.
The Dangga lord barely blocked the sonic projectile hurtling like a cannonball.
Crack!
Slipped in amid the echoes of Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain, it caught him off-guard, inflicting heavy damage.
"Hup."
A broken rib threatened to pierce his lung; the Dangga lord urgently seized it with inner energy and fused it with poison.
The Dangga, experts in toxic herbs, had developed bizarre medical arts—and at its pinnacle, the lord could perform such self-treatment. Of course, he couldn't heal irreparable wounds, but emergency measures were within reach.
Accustomed to poison like daily rice, he endured without flinching and completed the treatment in seconds.
But there was no time to relax.
Earth Dragon's Repose.
Energy surged from Tian Ailang's foot, crumbling the ground beneath the Dangga lord and shattering his balance.
Earth Dragon's Vault.
The shattered earth then erupted, compressing around the lord like a grave mound.
Grrrind.
Rough sounds echoed as the soil compacted.
"Grrraaaah!"
The Dangga lord repelled the crushing dirt with pure inner energy. Then a sudden burst of energy hurled him flying.
Tian Ailang pressed the attack relentlessly. Exhaustion gnawed at his dantian from the energy-intensive techniques, but he ignored it.
The thunderous clash blocking Myriad Heaven Drizzling Rain might have alerted someone in the Dangga. Dang Jeonga had promised to control the household if so—but how far her influence extended, and for how long, was uncertain.
Tian Ailang overtook the airborne lord with shrinking-earth steps, seized his wrist, and slammed him down like discarded trash.
Boom!
Amid the brutal impact, the lord's body sank three cheok—about ninety centimeters—into the earth.
Aiming to end it, Tian Ailang thrust his palm toward the lord's dantian.
"Hup?!"
But he withdrew and retreated. An alien energy had invaded his body.
Tian Ailang desperately drew inner energy from his entire dantian, circulating it through his meridians to expel it, gathering it at his left fingertips before blasting it out.
Boom!
The inner energy erupting from his left hand collided with nearby rock and exploded.
Sizzle—!
Smoke rose from the shattered stone.
"Poison?"
Tian Ailang grimaced, his meridians throbbing where the foreign energy had passed. Without poison training or total mastery of his inner energy, he couldn't have reacted at all.
His left hand, used as the expulsion conduit, went numb and dulled.
'No distinctive scent or color of poison.'
As Tian Ailang checked for residual toxins, the Dangga lord staggered to his feet.
His captured arm dangled limply, his body caked in dirt, wounds, and blood.
"To take a direct hit from Formless Finger Poison and emerge unscathed... Kehek!"
Mid-sentence, the Dangga lord vomited blood.
"Internal injuries too... Haah..."
Seeing chunks of organ amid the blood, he realized the damage was severe—beyond self-treatment.
"What happened to Dang Gashib?"
In a feeble voice, he asked Tian Ailang.
"What do you think?"
The Dangga lord's expression hardened powerlessly at Tian Ailang's reply.
"He's dead, then..."
Tian Ailang offered no further answer, but the lord took it as confirmation. Silently, he lamented not verifying every possibility.
As family head, he hadn't neglected intelligence—but one couldn't know everything in the martial world.
He'd heard vague rumors of Qi Clan lord Tian Ailang but dismissed them. Just another talented latecomer.
When the young man arrived with a Shaolin abbot's letter of recommendation from his youth, it surprised him. A realm far beyond latecomer stage and a favor to Shaolin were unexpected—but that was it.
Declaring intent to capture the Octagonal Temple seemed suicidal, like a moth to flame. Even if not, he might fail the internal poison training.
Yet he'd completed it impossibly fast and demanded to bring his daughter as guide. Regret for that misjudgment hit now.
"Where is my daughter?"
The term from the lord's lips felt like a rotten maggot bursting in Tian Ailang's mouth—disgusting and cloying.
"No need to worry. She's fine."
At news of Dang Jeonga’s well-being, raw greed flashed in the lord's eyes.
Slash!
A small dagger flew from Tian Ailang's hand, stabbing the lord's thigh—the one Dang Jeonga had provided before infiltration.
"Krrk!"
"Keep your eyes open. So the Poison Maiden rumor was true."
The words from Tian Ailang's mouth wildly shook the lord's gaze.
Seeing it, Tian Ailang said icily, "I held faint doubt anyone would commit such a heaven-defying abomination—but your reaction confirms it."
"You bastard... what do you know to spout such nonsense?!"
The Dangga lord gnashed his teeth. Tensing triggered his injuries; he coughed, blood trickling from his mouth.
Tian Ailang unleashed the Divine Dragon Overawing Protection with cold eyes.
Rumble-rumble-rumble—
The pressure of inner energy bore down; the lord vomited blood again and dropped to his knees.
"Grrrugh!"
Tian Ailang approached slowly.
"I don't know. But I do know family comes first."
Writhing in pain, the lord smirked up at him.
"Heh-heh. Family? In this heartless world where the strong devour the weak, do we quibble over such pure bonds and sentiments? You're young. Naive too. And if it's family, one must know to sacrifice for the clan."
Tian Ailang leaned in, meeting the kneeling lord's eyes. He couldn't say what the man was like in youth—but now, those eyes brimmed with ugly greed, muddily reflecting moonlight.
"No. That's just the arrogance and delusion of someone too weak to protect even one of his own. And sacrifice—a noble resolve—isn't dictated by others."
As he spoke, Tian Ailang recalled his grandfather and Qi Clan retainers who sacrificed to save him and the family. Song Sogeol, fallen unprotected, came to mind too.
His mouth tasted bitter. And why he'd come here burned fiercely.
"Enough prattle. Where is Solitude?"
"Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh."
The Dangga lord laughed lowly instead of answering.
Tian Ailang slashed the dangling arm with an energy-charged hand blade.
Thud.
Even watching his arm roll away pathetically, the lord laughed like a beast.
"Heh-heh-heh. To dare touch the Dangga and..."
"You'll live. Don't worry. Solitude's location?"
Tian Ailang dismissed the ravings and asked again.
The Dangga lord gazed at the full moon shining brilliantly in the dark night. A bit more, and his martial arts and schemes would have filled the night sky like that moon—brimming with success.
"To think I'd end up like this..."
Murmuring wistfully at the moon, he suddenly barked beastly laughter and glared at Tian Ailang.
"Heh-heh-heh. If you need it, come find it yourself. And the end of my life? I decide that!"
Suddenly, veins bulged on the Dangga lord's body. Every visible part turned green.
Soon, his entire form swelled uncontrollably.
His face ballooned, eyeballs protruding. Unknown colored pus oozed from nose, ears, and orifices.
Sensing the dire change, Tian Ailang urgently slashed the lord's neck with palm energy.
Slash!
With razor sharpness, the head flew; toxic blood sprayed from the stump.
But the body kept swelling. In moments, it ballooned to the size of two grown men. Ready to burst any second.
Tian Ailang distanced himself, contemplating outcomes.
He expanded his energy sense. Fortunately, no presences stirred around the deep inner hall's lord's chambers. The fact that only Dang Gashib guarded it normally proved helpful now.
Feeling slight relief, Tian Ailang sealed the body with Earth Dragon's Vault and compressed it further with Divine Dragon Overawing Protection's Pressure.
But these only delayed; the body pierced the earth prison and pressure, growing house-sized.
Unbelievable.
"Damn!"
Tian Ailang hastily gathered his remaining inner energy, unfolding a full-power protective aura.
The body had finally ruptured.
Boooom—!
With explosive force came a vast toxic mist billowing from the remains.
It blanketed the night sky, spreading from the lord's chambers to the inner hall's edge in an instant—an unidentified poisonous fog.
Its momentum suggested it would overrun the outer hall and nearby markets.
Tian Ailang pierced the aura-corroding deadly mist with his protective energy, fleeing the chambers toward beyond the outer hall.
Dangga folk in inner and outer halls could handle this poison, he trusted—but civilians outside were defenseless.
And this was Sichuan's capital, densely populated. Tonight, under the full moon, the markets hosted all-night festivals, he'd heard.
Tian Ailang raced from the heavily miasmic chambers.