Poison Essence (1)
Poison types are broadly divided into four categories.
Animal venom, plant toxins, mineral poisons, and artificially created chemical poisons.
Snake venom falls under animal venom, possessing powerful neurotoxins or hemorrhagic toxins.
The mutant orb-weaver has both.
Bitten, you either bleed out or suffocate from respiratory paralysis.
What the hell is this.
It was getting worse and worse.
And it wasn't even small.
Due to genetic mutation from mana, its body was as thick as a man's thigh.
Hiss! Hiss!
A massive mutant orb-weaver slithered up the steep cliff, flicking its creepy tongue as it approached slowly.
With perfect Turtle Breath Great Law, it would register him as nothing more than a log and pass by. But his mastery was still incomplete.
Body heat and breathing were the biggest issues.
True mastery of the Great Law would erase even those.
Please just keep going.
He had begun cultivating Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong, the ultimate poison art based on venom.
But in his current state, this thing's poison was far too potent.
As with all things, starting with the strongest venom was taboo.
The mechanism of poison arts was simple: adaptation.
Starting with weak poisons, gradually remodeling the body to withstand stronger toxins. Taking on this mutant orb-weaver's venom right now was impossible.
Taeju kept his eyes narrowed to slits, not twitching a finger.
Just get past this crisis.
Buy him time to form his Poison Essence.
Do that, and if they crossed paths later, he'd spare it.
But the unavoidable heat and breath.
It might already sense him.
Debating whether to eat him or ignore.
Damn it, just pass by... oh shit!
It had decided to eat after all.
Shriiik!
The beast reared its head.
At the same instant, it lunged, sinking its razor fangs into his nape.
Fuck!
Taeju reflexively threw up his arm to block its maw.
Crunch!
Snap!
Gah!
Even his relatively intact right forearm shattered.
But the broken arm wasn't the problem.
It was the sticky liquid pumping from those fangs.
It raced through his veins in seconds, spreading everywhere.
Ugh!
A scream nearly escaped, but he clamped his lips shut.
Any noise could alert the others.
Instead, his organs screamed internally.
The horrific snake venom coursed through his bloodstream, melting his insides.
The mutated spider's mutated venom.
In that brief time, his body was already ravaged.
Taeju's eyes bulged red with burst capillaries.
Unbearable agony—he was on the verge of blacking out.
Die like this?
No chance in hell.
Who was he?
The Absolute Poison Demon.
His flesh might be frail, but his soul was another facet of Dang Gunak, who could melt even the Heavenly Demon.
Taeju circulated Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong.
The risks he faced now: first, ingesting too potent a poison too soon; second, having to circulate the art on a cliffside, not a safe spot—and while enduring a monster's assault.
Extremely dangerous.
One slip, and he'd end up digested in its gut.
It was all or nothing anyway.
High risk meant high reward.
Dang Gunak's lifetime of insights into the art filled his mind perfectly.
Grandmaster of poisons.
He'd snacked on millennium-old imugi venom like it was nothing—how could some orb-weaver take him down?
Kim Taeju drew the spider venom from his veins.
The incantation flowed naturally without thought.
To the dantian...
Open the Jade Hall and Great Mound acupoints, block the Heavenly Pivot, guide it to the Central Venter, then flood the Sea of Qi.
But,
Urk!
The venom resisted fiercely, as if refusing to submit. Pathetic—to struggle against this.
Humiliating.
Shameful enough to go mad.
He had no face left before his other self, the Absolute Poison Demon Dang Gunak.
Fucking hell! Don't embarrass me...
The poison faltered for a moment.
Seize the chance!
Compress the venom in his dantian into the art's foundation: Poison Essence.
The mutant's assault intensified.
This feeble prey dared resist?
The massive orb-weaver coiled around Taeju's body.
Crack!
Something snapped—shoulder blade? Spine?
Then, still wrapped around him, it plummeted from the cliff to the ground below.
Thud!
The venom melted his veins relentlessly.
His heart stiffened; breathing grew labored.
Consciousness faded.
Stay focused...
Yet Taeju didn't stop circulating the art.
He couldn't even if he wanted to.
An ultimate showdown.
One outcome remained: get devoured, or master the poison qi and form Poison Essence.
Taeju endured, and endured more.
Crunch!
The spider's grip tightened.
Sergeant Go Youngho returned empty-handed to the Daechungbong outpost and reported to Lieutenant Jang Indong.
Jang's face twisted in fury at the news—no body recovered.
"Orcs probably got him?"
"It was a cliff where he fell, sir. No way he survived tumbling down. Especially not a mana rejector."
"And if he's alive?"
"Pardon?"
"You taking responsibility?"
"W-Well..."
Best to write it off as accidental death.
Cleanest option.
Even trash mana rejector—he was a general's son.
Suspicion of murder would be trouble.
His superiors would cover, of course.
Handle it quietly?
No.
Desertion or MIA wasn't enough.
Needed proof.
Concrete evidence Kim Taeju was dead.
No choice.
He'd have to move personally.
Honda Mitsui.
Second daughter of the Kyushu territory lord in the Samhan Empire, with massive sway in the military.
She demanded ironclad proof of Kim Taeju's death.
If orcs ate him, bring back remains at least.
"Round up the platoon now. Only the tight-lipped ones."
"Yes, sir."
When he was young, his father had been endlessly affectionate.
'I'll cure you no matter what. You have to outlive your old man at least.'
But after remarriage, half-brothers were born, and as he grew,
'Enlist. Seoraksan outpost.'
'How long you gonna mooch like a bum? Talked to my deputy—stick to admin work. No monsters for you.'
His father's cold gaze.
No choice but to obey.
He understood.
Son born a mana rejector, death looming—better cut ties.
And his stepmother Mitsui.
'Taeju, don't worry. Not forever. Discharge and come home. Your place is always here.'
Her kindness was all fake—he'd realized recently.
Of course!
The half-brother they expected dead at twenty clung to life till twenty-nine.
Kyushu lord's daughter.
Plenty of Japanese-origin generals in Army HQ.
Tied tight to her maternal clan.
She'd pulled strings for his Seoraksan assignment.
Suddenly thirsty.
Taeju's eyes snapped open.
Dawn breaking.
I survived.
Blackout resisting the venom with the art.
Thought he was done for.
Unconscious circulation?
Taeju cautiously lifted his right arm.
The mutant orb-weaver's head dangled limply, drained.
Dead snake.
Withered like it'd been sucked dry.
Brushed it off—turned to dust.
And come to think,
My arm's fine.
Wasn't it broken?
Not just the left.
Fallen off the cliff, crushed by coils—bones everywhere shattered.
All healed?
Taeju rose slowly.
Body felt lighter than ever.
Except the stench numbing his nose.
Way better than before the injury.
And he sensed it.
A pea-sized lump of energy in his dantian.
Ah!
Poison Essence.
Small, but undeniably there.
He'd done it.
Hunwon Musang Dokryeong Gong had ten stages total.
Higher realms made the essence denser, larger.
And Poison Spirit?
Realm of enlightenment.
Even at tenth stage, might not reach it.
Tenth was baseline to Poison Spirit.
First step taken.
First stage: barely third-rate martial artist level.
Needed fifth stage minimum for peak prowess.
What next?
Answer obvious.
Survive first.
Someone wanted him dead.
Lieutenant Jang Indong?
Just a contractor.
Mastermind: stepmom Honda Mitsui.
And,
Dad...
No.
Had to be no.
Father wouldn't order his death.
Clinging to basic humanity.
With Poison Essence formed.
Techniques to wield it.
What first?
Blood Seal Poison Palm—must master completely.
Absolute Poison Demon's go-to close combat palm strike.
Emit and retract poison qi—versatile anywhere.
Hidden weapons...
Focus on one.
Flying Waterfall Flash. That.
And Phantom Bewilderment Step.
Footwork to maximize the palm and flash.
Dang Gunak's myriad techniques etched in his mind, but for now: these three.
Let's do it.
Even inheriting the Demon's progress, head knowledge and body mastery were worlds apart.
Taeju started with Phantom Bewilderment Step.
Glide through steps, unleash Blood Seal Poison Palm.
Whoosh!
Acrid venom scent with each swing—emit, retract.
Trees everywhere.
Mana-hardened bark like iron plating.
Perfect to test the palm.
Palm traces a circle.
Poison qi threads from dantian, erupts through palm.
Splat!
Smashed the trunk.
Bark pierced, five clear finger marks.
Not bad.
Full power withers and kills on contact.
First try this strong—thanks to the Demon's buffs, sure.
But poison qi released properly.
Next: Flying Waterfall Flash.
Two forms.
Waterfall: area attack. Flash: single target.
Demon's hidden weapons were never ordinary.
Butterfly darts for Blood Butterfly, thin needles with scales, thorny WhiGeom Stone like hedgehogs, Willow Leaf Needles...
Waterfall needed special projectiles.
Available now: ankle-sheathed military dagger, pocketful of 500-won coins stamped with Samhan's divine beast, the three-headed white tiger.
Only Flash possible.
Needed more projectiles.
Make some later.
After surviving.
Tzwing!
Dagger streaked like lightning, afterimage trailing.
Thunk!
Hilt-deep in the trunk.
Wrist ached.
Key to Flash: speed mattered, but minimize throwing motion.
Overhand toss? Just basic throw.
Pure wrist flick for true Flash.
Enemy dies unknowing whence it came.
Test run done.
Build proficiency.
Yanked dagger from tree, hid in sleeve.
Taeju moved.
Phantom Bewilderment Step into Blood Seal Poison Palm, dagger slips naturally...
Tzwing!
Splat!
Again.
Linkage crucial.
Till body perfected it.
One more!
End of Poison Essence (1)