Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Clash of Black Demonic Energy and Clear Blue Qi
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The clash between black demonic energy and clear blue qi.
Amid the explosion, only black demonic energy lingered on the midpoint of Seodal Mountain where they reappeared.
"Hogun!!!"
The sight of Hogun collapsed on the ground, with Yong-un's foot planted firmly on his chest, was enough to shatter the Poison Witch's composure.
"No!"
Jeongwon, who had been blocking the Poison Witch's path, reached out to grab her as she rushed forward, but the Poison Witch was Hogun's disciple, after all.
Her signature swift movements allowed her to shake off Jeongwon's grasp and stand before Yong-un.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Poison Witch unleashed the poison qi surging within her dantian, spraying it straight at Yong-un.
Whoosh—
"Found you."
The dark blue poison qi—the same that had nearly killed his father and Cheonil—spread around Yong-un.
This deadly toxin could fell even demons resilient enough to survive decapitation, filling the air with lethal fumes that demanded evasion.
Yet Yong-un didn't dodge; instead, he plunged right into the haze and seized the Poison Witch by the throat.
"Gurk!"
Her body lifted effortlessly off the ground.
"Perfect."
But far from despair, a smile crept across the Poison Witch's face as her throat was gripped.
The poison she had unleashed was enough to fill ten vials—the same lethal brew she sold to other hunters.
Already, the surrounding trees began to wither.
The domain of death, fatal to all life, unfurled once more.
She smirked, anticipating Yong-un's imminent agony and vomiting of blood.
"Is this what you mean?"
But that lasted only a moment.
As Yong-un showed no change, her puzzlement grew—until he extended his other hand and conjured his own dark blue poison qi.
"Wh-what...?"
The Poison Witch's expression twisted in horror.
For the poison qi Yong-un displayed was none other than her own.
"How...?"
"Your poison nearly claimed my father and my subordinate."
Yong-un addressed her coldly while glaring down.
At that, Jeongwon—who had held back until now—charged at blinding speed, striking at Yong-un's flank.
"Hup!"
The same clear blue qi as Hogun's erupted forth.
But his opponent was Yong-un.
Crash!
"Argh!"
The blue qi shattered into fragments as demonic energy battered Jeongwon's entire body.
He tumbled across the ground and came to a halt, motionless.
"Ugh..."
The Poison Witch's gaze shifted to the fallen Jeongwon and Hogun.
Both lay still on the dirt.
The thought that they might be dead flashed through her mind.
Her eyes widened, then refocused with a hazy glare.
"Kyaaaa!!"
Did she no longer care what happened to those around her?
The instant she saw Jeongwon fall, the Poison Witch unleashed every dormant trace of poison qi in her body in a frenzied rampage, shrieking as she glared at Yong-un.
Dark blue poison qi billowed outward, dragging everything in its path toward death.
But the Poison Witch's intent was foiled by Yong-un's crimson-glowing eyes.
"Thank them for giving us this chance to talk."
With his blood-red eyes, eerie crimson-black demonic energy surged forth, devouring the spreading dark blue poison qi entirely.
Then, he slammed the gripped Poison Witch straight into the ground.
Thud! ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The clear blue qi.
It was the energy possessed by only a rare few even among the orthodox sects that Yong-un so despised.
He hated the orthodox fools, but he admired those who wielded the clear, pure blue qi known as "Pure Qi."
They lacked the hypocrisy that was Yong-un's chief grievance with the righteous sects.
'Shaolin's Wuliang Elder, Huashan's Fengxian Taoist.'
And lastly, Namgung Cheolhyeon, leader of the Murim Alliance's Blue Dragon Squad.
These were the ones who bore Pure Qi—and the reason Yong-un had come to like them. Their common trait?
Unyielding integrity.
Free of pretense, they strove to protect the weak even at the cost of their lives—rare paragons of true virtue.
Thus, Yong-un respected and favored those with Pure Qi.
But.
'Pure Qi is the energy of those scant few in the martial world who pursue the pinnacle of martial prowess lifelong.'
To Yong-un, who had left the martial world for the modern one, Pure Qi was something he thought lost forever.
Yet here it was.
He had come to Seodal Mountain to eliminate the Poison Witch, the threat that endangered his father Jung-hwan and subordinate Cheonil.
And now, he beheld with his own eyes the Pure Qi he believed gone.
In that moment, Yong-un eased his grip slightly on the Poison Witch—not out of mercy, but to verify her precisely.
In the end, Seodal Mountain was left with only the fallen Hogun, Jeongwon, and Poison Witch—no one else remained.
"I know you're awake. Stop scheming and get up."
"......"
No response came.
Yong-un rose from the rock he lounged on and tossed out casually,
"Get up now. Otherwise, I'll revoke the mercy I've shown so far."
Mercy revoked?
What else could that mean for the fallen?
"I-I'm up! Please don't kill me!"
Jeongwon sprang to his feet, grasping Yong-un's intent.
He bit his lip, glancing at Hogun and the Poison Witch, who hadn't risen yet.
"Don't worry. If I meant to kill you, you'd be dead already."
"Yes..."
Jeongwon scanned the surroundings, stealing glances at Yong-un.
Yong-un chuckled softly at the sight.
"The bearers of Pure Qi never change. Even now, you're ready to throw your life away to save your junior."
Jeongwon flinched, body trembling once.
Indeed.
He had been plotting how to whisk the Poison Witch away.
Moving might end the fragile mercy and cost his life.
Yet life meant nothing; even foreseeing death, he calculated every way to save her.
'This is why I spared the Poison Witch.'
The master-disciple bonds among Pure Qi bearers.
And the Poison Witch's genuine loyalty toward them.
That had been the main reason Yong-un's lethal intent wavered.
"Urk..."
His scheme pierced, Jeongwon readied for battle.
He pulled back his rear foot, lowering into a stance for explosive power.
"As expected, Pure Qi bearers don't change."
"What do you plan to do with us?"
His formal speech—was it to lower Yong-un's guard?
Yong-un smirked and placed his hand behind the Poison Witch's neck.
"No!"
Recalling the killing intent from when she was first mentioned, Jeongwon recalled.
Believing death imminent, he charged Yong-un without hesitation.
Crash!
With a flick of Yong-un's wrist, the Pure Qi gathered in Jeongwon's hand exploded.
"Kuh!"
The shock reeled him back; he bit his lip against the numbing pain in his grip.
Undeterred, ignoring the agony, he swung at Yong-un once more.
Thwack!
Jeongwon's hand strike hit midway up Yong-un's arm on the Poison Witch's neck.
But even his full-force blow left Yong-un's arm unmoved.
"Damn it!"
Yong-un's fingers pressed firmly into the back of the Poison Witch's neck.
Jeongwon's eyes bulged; he hastily raised his foot to smash Yong-un's face.
Thud!
In that instant, Yong-un's hand rose, halting the qi-clad foot before his eyes.
Yong-un's fingers finished their work and withdrew from the Poison Witch.
"Ugh!"
Then, gripping Jeongwon's leg, he shoved it aside.
Jeongwon staggered and rolled across the dirt.
"No!"
Thinking the Poison Witch doomed, Jeongwon rose caked in filth and bellowed.
Belching rage, he summoned vast Pure Qi and hurled killing intent at Yong-un.
"Huh...?"
But only for a moment.
"Mm..."
Contrary to Jeongwon's dread, the Poison Witch—whom he thought dead—let out a faint groan and stirred.
Jeongwon's assault halted; he stared at Yong-un.
"If I wanted her dead, I wouldn't have bothered waking her."
With the rising Poison Witch behind him, Yong-un used void grasp to drag the fallen Hogun over.
He pressed the acupoint at Hogun's neck, rousing him as well.
As both Poison Witch and Hogun fixed their gazes on him, they summoned poison qi and Pure Qi.
"There won't be a third mercy."
To counter their energies, Yong-un unleashed his demonic qi.
A colossal wave dwarfing theirs poured from his body.
Even flecks of the blood demonic qi—lethal even to the Blade Demon—shimmered, slowly forming a dragon's shape.
A vast power enveloping the entire mountain.
Hogun and the Poison Witch exchanged glances, grimacing.
"Looks like you're ready to talk now."
Their energies faltered, gradually receding.
They realized: if Yong-un willed it, everyone but him would die here.
"From now on, I ask the questions. You just answer."
The blood qi-formed red dragon coiled, glaring at the Hogun group from behind Yong-un. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The boy who spoke with the Poison Witch.
His name was Kim Byung-ho.
Byung-ho was Hogun's first disciple, brimming with genius—earmarked as Hogun's successor.
But that genius proved his downfall.
A secret organization's poison lab, undetectable by any.
Byung-ho's exceptional qi sense located the Poison Witch there.
Youthful curiosity led the boy where he shouldn't go.
That sparked his fateful bond with the Poison Witch.
Yet the flower wilted untimely.
He became fertilizer for the poison plant blooming dark blue toxic fruits, fading like a star.
Hogun razed the poison lab.
As per Byung-ho's dying wish, the poison plant passed to Hogun's hands.
But neither knew.
The Poison Witch's innate deadly poison qi was an uncontrollable bomb, beyond Hogun's teachings.
Despite Hogun's efforts, her poison qi filled her dantian, slowly poisoning her.
An energy that killed its host.
To fulfill his first disciple's wish, Hogun toiled endlessly, but the Poison Witch teetered on death's edge from her own toxin.
"That's when they appeared."
Hogun had no choice but to admit she needed to vent the poison to survive.
Then, somehow knowing, a figure appeared before Hogun.
"I don't know their name. They just said they'd handle the poison qi bottled from the witch, with no harm done."
That was the beginning.
To save the Poison Witch, Hogun used their vials to extract her poison qi.
The near-dead Poison Witch gradually recovered, surviving unscathed to this day.
"They gave us a token. To prevent danger if the poison spread uncontrolled, they asked we sell only to token holders."
The token.
The man at Sadang Station Exit 2 with one came to mind.
'So they didn't make the tokens.'
Yong-un had assumed they sold poison for profit.
But it was for her survival.
Surprised by the unexpected truth, Yong-un chose verification over blind trust.
"Why not just spray it into the air instead of bottling it?"
His eyes held sincerity, but Yong-un's harsh life bred caution.
Faith yielded to testing.
"We tried. The poison killed our cherished Seodal Mountain—birds dropped dead, trees withered, flowers shed petals."
"Bury it?"
"We tried everything. As you see, the soil blackened, barren of life."
Hogun's earnest reply followed.
Yong-un nodded.
'They're sincere.'
He explained his visit: his father Jung-hwan and subordinate Cheonil had nearly died from her poison.
Hogun, perhaps sensing kinship in peril, spilled everything he knew.
Like rain on cracked drought-parched earth, this chance arrived at despair's brink.
Yet it led to the worst choice, dooming many to death.
"I understand your side."
Yong-un unfolded his arms at the self-reproachful Hogun, Poison Witch, and Jeongwon.
'Jung-hwan and Cheonil's peril wasn't their fault.'
Providing poison bore some guilt, survival or not.
But the true villains were those who deceived them, selling or using it.
"With the deal broken by me, they'll send someone soon."
Fully informed, Yong-un smiled faintly, devising two plans.
One: Trace the culprits via the incoming agents.
And finally.
"Poison Witch, I know how to control the poison qi within you."
Recruiting her—ripe for Ghost Slaughter Annihilation Killer arts—into his fold.
The Poison Witch met Yong-un's gaze from below.
Suspicion lingered from her prior defeat, but seeing the dark blue orb hovering over his palm—all her released poison condensed...
Doubt vanished from her eyes.
Swoosh.
Her full poison qi gathered into a single pill.
It seeped harmlessly into Yong-un's body.
She nodded vigorously and cried out,
"I kneel in apology! If possible, teach me!"
Tears streaming, the Poison Witch bowed deeply.
"I want to live... Please tell me!"