The Same Soul from Another World (2)
Absolute Poison Demon, Dang Gunak.
When the Demonic Cult invaded the martial world from distant Xinjiang, he was the young lord of the Sichuan Dang Clan.
The Demonic Cult's massive uprising.
Their leader, the Heavenly Demon.
The martial world was sliced apart by the Demonic Cult like bamboo.
The Dang Clan was no exception.
As the clan faced annihilation, the family members fled eastward, and amid the chaos, the clan head—Dang Gunak's father—lost his life.
Dang Gunak, who had retreated to the outskirts of the Central Plains, gritted his teeth and devoted himself to revenge.
He slept on a bed of nails and chewed on the deadly Dangjangcho grass.
Thus, he attained the realm of the Poison Demon.
In the end, he melted the Heavenly Demon into a puddle of toxic water, succeeding in his revenge and saving the martial world.
That was when he earned the moniker Absolute Poison Demon.
Dang Gunak led his retainers back to their homeland.
Finally, the Sichuan Dang Clan overcame destruction and rose to become the martial world's greatest family.
He had achieved everything.
Handing the clan head position to his child, he retired to the rear chambers.
What was left now?
Transcending the Poison Demon's realm.
The Sichuan Dang Clan, famed for hidden weapons and poison arts.
Even as an orthodox sect, martial artists looked down on them.
Especially the Taoist sects like Wudang and Huashan, who treated them as something akin to unorthodox scum.
They walk the noble path of the Dao, comprehending the world's truths to become immortals and ascend?
Fine.
Then I'll ascend to immortality myself.
What makes those damned Taoists any better than me?
He scoured Taoist scriptures, delved into Buddhist incantations, studied Western Tantric sutras, and even referenced secret arts from the Western Regions.
Dang Gunak pondered deeply, again and again.
What is the principle of the world?
How was it formed, and how does it operate?
But it was all in vain.
Honestly, Dang Gunak knew it too.
All he knew were poisons and hidden weapons.
Ways to kill as many people as efficiently and quickly as possible.
How could that have anything to do with the Dao?
Was ascension truly the exclusive domain of Zen monks and Taoists?
Still, he pressed on to the end.
The Poison Demon Dang Gunak never abandoned his training.
In his secluded training chamber, he fasted, faced the wall in meditation, pushing his body to the brink—
'Hm?'
Dang Gunak felt it.
A sensation like his body floating upward.
Dizziness from fatigue? Or an illusion born of his desperate longing for ascension?
One thing was certain: something was happening.
His mind felt like it was being sucked away somewhere.
And then he realized.
Someone was watching him.
A young man in strange attire.
Not an immortal, surely.
Their eyes met.
In that instant, he understood.
The other young version of himself from a distant world.
'You're me.'
A connection of souls.
Finally facing soul to soul.
Their experiences and knowledge began to flow between them.
A laugh escaped him naturally.
Near the cliffs of Seoraksan Mountain's Jungcheong Peak.
Kim Taeju, caught on a protruding tree.
His body wouldn't move, but his mind was sharp.
The elderly version of himself from another world.
Multiverse? Parallel worlds?
He looked exactly like what Taeju might become in old age.
The moment he recognized that, a flood of memories poured into his consciousness.
The connection formed in an instant, but it was more than enough to vividly experience the entire life of the Absolute Poison Demon.
The martial world's strongest, who melted the Heavenly Demon with poison.
The achievements of his poison arts.
Refining poison essence to evolve into the ultimate realm, the Poison Spirit, via Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong.
Blood Seal Poison Palm, Soul-Stealing Finger, Poison-Breaking Hand, Soul-Severing Blade, Blood Butterfly, Flying Waterfall Flash, Formless Poison, Myriad Heavenly Rain, and countless other hidden weapon and poison techniques.
Illusory footwork like Phantom Bewilderment Step, Dark Fragrance Soul Chase, Golden Cauldron Body Technique, Turtle Breath Great Law, stealth arts, and more movement skills.
Martial forms and usage, poison crafting, hidden weapon handling and creation—even Dang Gunak's latest insights.
He absorbed it all.
It etched perfectly into his mind.
'Whoa...'
This wasn't his intention.
It happened automatically the moment their souls connected.
Was this okay?
It was basically intellectual property theft.
He should at least ask first.
But as if reading Taeju's thoughts, the Absolute Poison Demon smiled and nodded.
'Ah!'
Permission granted.
Sichuan Dang Clan secluded training chamber in the martial world.
Dang Gunak felt great.
'Of course it's fine!'
We're the same person, aren't we?
If I could, I'd give everything I have.
Nearly a century of inner energy, the poisons he's collected, divine weapons, treasures of gold and silver—if he could, he'd hand them all over.
'Haha, he's taking even my foundation. Go on, take it all.'
Still, Dang Gunak couldn't help being astonished.
His insights were being sucked up like water into parched cotton.
To think identical souls would yield such results!
So the Absolute Poison Demon Dang Gunak was pleased.
He even enjoyed passing on his secrets.
And peering into the novelties from his younger self's world—unseen artifacts, culture, scholarship, new knowledge—was endlessly entertaining.
'Earth, so utterly different from the martial world.'
A world that underwent massive change yet miraculously survived.
'An omnipotent, divine being intervened.'
Awakening, and the System.
There were martial artists there too.
'Mana beasts... like yokai.'
A world with an entirely different path of development.
'Fascinating. Isn't it for you too?'
Seemed like it from the other side.
His younger self found the martial world just as wondrous.
Dang Gunak gently closed his eyes.
A lifetime devoted solely to poison and hidden weapons.
He slew the Heavenly Demon and claimed the throne as the world's greatest.
He thought that was the pinnacle.
But he was a frog in a well.
'Ascension my ass!'
The universe was this vast.
Compared to it, his world was a speck of dust—a speck within a speck, lesser still.
Perhaps there were realms vaster than the Immortal Realm.
The Immortal Realm itself might be just another speck, like the martial world or Earth.
As those thoughts flowed—
Dang Gunak ascended to immortality.
Seoraksan Mountain.
Kim Taeju mulled over the knowledge received from the Absolute Poison Demon Dang Gunak.
He'd taken it all.
A complete soul copy-paste.
It was like transplanting Dang Gunak's soul straight into his head.
'Poison arts and hidden weapons are this incredible.'
Not mere martial arts.
Poison arts equated to chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and medicine combined.
Hidden weapons?
Metal alloys and smelting, engineering design, fluid dynamics...
'Blood Seal Poison Palm is a palm technique?'
He knew exactly how to execute the form.
His body itched to move.
'Blood Butterfly is a hidden weapon.'
The Blood Butterfly fluttered like a butterfly, creating illusions as it homed in on its target.
'Formless Poison is the deadliest, undetectable by anyone.'
The most terrifying poison.
Colorless, odorless.
Even scientific analysis wouldn't detect it.
'Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong...'
The Absolute Poison Demon's core art, encompassing all poison techniques.
He needed to master this first.
'And Myriad Heavenly Rain.'
A technique unleashing a sky full of hidden weapons raining down like petals.
Those "petals" didn't just fall.
Each moved like a living thing, guided by the user's will.
Commanding thousands like guided missiles—though that required mastering Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong to borrow the Poison Spirit's power.
The Absolute Poison Demon's achievements ran deep.
And Taeju had received them effortlessly.
But right then!
'Ah!'
Suddenly, his consciousness snapped back to reality.
'Damn...'
The other's presence was gone.
The soul link had severed.
'Too bad.'
It was just observation and sensation.
A conversation would have been nice.
'Anyway.'
He needed to hurry.
Those who kicked him off might come to confirm his death.
'Ngh.'
But he couldn't move.
He'd fallen from the cliff and caught on the tree, but the impact had wrecked his body.
Only his right arm and left leg were somewhat intact.
Then!
'Hm?'
A sharp, familiar scent tickling his nose.
One he'd smelled plenty.
'...Poisonous deodeok.'
Definite.
He could tell by scent alone.
Not the medicinal, tasty herb, but the mana-mutated variant deadly to humans.
'Lucky me.'
With Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong in hand, poison was food and elixir to him.
Sniff sniff.
Taeju frantically dug toward the poison deodeok's scent.
'Found it.'
A fat one.
'Over a century old, looks like.'
This size could knock out an adult man—though a century wasn't that ancient.
Taeju slowly circulated Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong as he chewed the poison deodeok.
Hiss!
Bitter enough to induce vomiting.
But he forced it down.
'Urk!'
Agonizing pain in his lower abdomen.
And his heart too.
Endure.
Bitter poison bore sweet fruit.
'More?'
Grasses sprouting from cliff cracks.
'Oh!'
Poison deodeok everywhere.
A whole cluster.
He carefully uprooted them, shook off the dirt, and chewed thoroughly.
Poison coursed through his body.
Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong.
Following the incantation's flow, his meridians filled with energy.
Vitality surged.
Muscles tensed with power.
His mood soared, naturally.
'Not enough.'
To form poison essence, he needed at least a hundred roots.
'Try elsewhere?'
Right arm and left leg functional.
Then Wall Gecko Skill.
A common cliff-climbing technique.
No poison essence yet for true inner energy, but he could mimic it.
Taeju scaled sideways along the cliff.
Scanning for nearby toxic plants too.
With the Absolute Poison Demon's full experience and knowledge, spotting poisonous flora was easy.
'Poison bellflower.'
Tons of it.
Huge ones too.
At least two or three centuries old.
'Just one for now...'
Even with poison arts, ingesting this much at once was suicidal—even for the Absolute Poison Demon.
Chew chew, swallow, convert to inner energy via Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong, pocket the rest.
Strength welled up.
Using it, he climbed higher.
Suddenly!
'Hm?'
Voices from somewhere.
"Still haven't found him?"
"He definitely rolled this way, sir."
Sergeant Go Youngho and his squad, who'd tried to kill him.
'What to do?'
Hide.
He couldn't beat them yet.
Taeju pressed flat against the cliff.
Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong produced scant inner energy, but enough strength.
They wouldn't spot him easily.
And simultaneously.
'Turtle Breath Great Law.'
A technique controlling metabolism to erase presence.
Taeju slipped into a shallow trance.
"Where the hell did that bastard go? Orcs drag him off?"
"No, sir. Drone recon shows the orc village undisturbed."
"Should've just killed him outright instead of..."
Fallen from the cliff.
Even a mana compatible wouldn't survive unscathed.
Kim Taeju was a mana rejector.
Worse than a normal human.
Dead or critically injured was normal.
"Perfect for an accident ruling. If only he'd die cleanly."
Best scenario.
Young officer slips during recon, dies honorably.
That's what the higher-ups wanted.
"Search a bit more, then head back."
Taeju heard every word.
Voices fading.
Crisis averted, luckily.
'Fucking bastards!'
Once his body recovered...
'I'll kill them all.'
That was when.
Shh! Shh shh!
An ominous sound, and a fishy smell hitting his nose.
'No way...'
Before the motionless Taeju under Turtle Breath Great Law appeared a long, black something.
Sinister eyes, triangular head, terrifying patterns on its body.
A massive mutant seven-step viper, boa-sized.
Its venom amplified by mana mutation.
The crisis continued.
The Same Soul from Another World (2) End
ⓒ Kkucchi Kkucchi