Chapter 238
Chapter 238
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: Human Gu
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Dang Mujin checked Mok Wan-ah's condition.
In just a few days, her hair had turned completely white, and she wore a ferocious expression he'd never seen before.
Of course, that didn't make her innate demeanor any more intimidating.
Dang Mujin shouted.
"Mok Wan-ah! Run!"
Mok Wan-ah was no stranger to poison.
However, as far as Dang Mujin knew, she didn't know how to fight using poison.
In contrast, Gyo Buhwa could be called a true poison arts expert.
Not only was he accustomed to poison, but he was also adept at wielding it in combat.
He was no opponent Mok Wan-ah could beat.
Yet Mok Wan-ah didn't retreat. She had chosen to fight Gyo Buhwa.
'How can I help her from here?'
With his acupoints sealed, he couldn't move his body, and circulating his internal energy was severely restricted.
The only option that came to mind was offering advice at a critical moment.
Even that might not help much.
Dang Mujin hoped Mok Wan-ah would snap out of it and flee.
But she showed no fear at all. She used a sharp edge on the cave wall to slice open her palm—an action utterly unlike the Mok Wan-ah he'd known.
*
Gyo Buhwa calmly observed Mok Wan-ah's actions.
In martial artists' duels, the one who strikes first usually holds the advantage.
But with poison arts, who moves first matters far less.
If you were confident in countering the opponent's opening attack, yielding the initiative and aiming for a counterstrike was a solid choice.
'Is that snake venom her best shot? I can handle it at my leisure.'
Gyo Buhwa even thought along different lines.
Martial artists were creatures drawn to power. Demonstrating overwhelming strength here might sway Dang Mujin's heart.
Killing Dang Mujin and targeting his descendants was a last resort. The best option was to directly utilize Dang Mujin's proven abilities.
To do that, he needed to show a decisive gap that would captivate him.
Gyo Buhwa's face filled with anticipation.
'Go ahead, try anything. I'll block it all.'
He lightly waved his right hand through the rising poison mist in the air and inhaled a strand of it.
Not all snake venoms were the same. The venom of a common seven-step snake differed from that of a flower snake, and sea snakes from umbrella snakes.
'This venom... it's similar to that of the spoon-headed snake.'
It wasn't a difficult venom to counter.
Gyo Buhwa drew up an energy from within his body with properties opposing the spoon-headed snake's venom, preparing to neutralize the infiltrating poison.
Ordinary martial artists countered poison differently from those trained in poison arts.
When poisoned, a normal martial artist had two choices:
Expel the poison directly from the body or use internal energy to isolate it, suppressing it temporarily to prevent it from rampaging.
But those versed in poison arts had an additional method.
The best was to summon an opposing energy to neutralize the poison immediately.
Even if it couldn't be fully neutralized, most venoms posed no issue. They could endure them with their built-up resistance.
The poison aura leaking from Mok Wan-ah's body enveloped the surroundings like mist.
Gyo Buhwa inhaled a bit more. Sure enough, the venom entering his body was neutralized in an instant.
Gyo Buhwa enjoyed the situation.
'Yes, this is the level of Central Plains poison arts. Dang Mujin is the outlier.'
Clashing evenly with a peer was fun, but Gyo Buhwa preferred overwhelming victories.
Crushing opponents with vast gaps in knowledge and skill.
The method was simple: leisurely block every move they made. Even pure defense let the opponent feel the disparity.
He relished seeing unscathed foes accept defeat and despair. Ending their lives in that moment was even better.
'Now, try your next poison. I'll block it all.'
In poison arts duels, the basic flow was: use one poison, and if the opponent defends, deploy the next.
But Mok Wan-ah didn't switch poisons.
In martial terms, it was like reusing a blocked technique.
Gyo Buhwa grew irritated.
"Is that all you've got? No decent poisons?"
No reply came.
'Crude, as expected.'
Gyo Buhwa was disappointed inwardly.
With only one type of snake venom at her disposal, he couldn't showcase blocking a variety leisurely.
Since defense wouldn't impress, he decided to demonstrate the Five Poisons Sect's prowess with offense instead. He opened a small vial at his waist.
The moment the lid came off, the black liquid inside vaporized instantly, rising as crimson-black mist into the air. A foul stench spread around Gyo Buhwa.
Heavenly Remnant Corpse Rot Poison.
Gathered from the toxic miasma formed as corpses of numerous animals and humans, steeped in seven poisons until death, rotted away.
It took ages to produce and required human corpses as ingredients.
Worst of all, the yield was minuscule.
Hundreds or thousands of times rarer than common snake venom, yet its power was far greater.
Dang Mujin didn't know exactly what Heavenly Remnant Corpse Rot Poison was, but from the smell and miasma density alone, he grasped two things: it was a corpse poison type, and extraordinarily potent.
Dang Mujin yelled.
"Mok Wan-ah! Get out of the cave! Now!"
But Mok Wan-ah didn't retreat; she advanced.
With the cave being a dead end, no wind blew.
Yet the crimson-black mist spreading toward her on the air reversed course toward Gyo Buhwa, as if hitting a headwind.
Gyo Buhwa panicked.
'What? An unprecedented situation...'
No, not unprecedented. He'd heard of it before.
His father, who had explained such phenomena, said he'd only heard tales too. It was that rare, unfolding right before him.
This wasn't about the poison's nature or ferocity.
It was pure volume and density. The overwhelmingly thick poison aura was repelling the Heavenly Remnant Corpse Rot Poison.
Gyo Buhwa covered his nose and mouth with his forearm.
'So she had something to rely on.'
If vaporizing poison to intoxicate the foe was impossible, a more direct method was needed.
Gyo Buhwa opened a small canister. His body carried a scent that repelled blood armor gu, so the twenty blood armor gu inside flew straight at Mok Wan-ah.
Blood armor gu could survive harboring various poisons without issue. Even a large dose of snake venom should be no problem.
But the blood armor gu didn't follow his command to the end. They were pushed back as if hitting an invisible wall, then plopped lifeless to the floor.
The tiny gu twitched their legs upside down on the ground, dying.
'What?'
At this point, Gyo Buhwa realized the situation was far graver than anticipated.
Mok Wan-ah advanced step by step.
Their distance was now less than half a zhang—close enough to touch with outstretched hands.
'It's still just snake venom.'
Gyo Buhwa muttered again.
But this time, without prior confidence. It was more self-reassurance.
Desperately, Gyo Buhwa gathered various energies within to neutralize Mok Wan-ah's poison. On the surface, the snake venom she released seemed no great threat.
But one critical issue remained: the concentration was insanely thick, and the volume immense. He couldn't even gauge how much more she could release. The poison aura pouring from her body showed no sign of stopping.
Even mustering all the poison aura and antidotal properties within him had limits against her poison.
Finally, his internal antidotes ran dry.
His chest stiffened like choking on water, a foreign sensation rising. It meant his body was now directly handling the poison.
Ordinary amounts could be endured with cultivated resistance, but Mok Wan-ah's current output exceeded that.
"You!"
Gyo Buhwa had much to say but couldn't continue easily. Coughs wouldn't stop.
After much hacking, he yelled bitterly.
"You can't even master proper poison arts!"
"You're right. I don't know poison arts well. But I know what poison is."
Mok Wan-ah murmured.
"Senior Dang Jesun said medicine and poison share the same roots."
Of course, Gyo Buhwa had no idea who Dang Jesun was. But Mok Wan-ah pressed on regardless.
"Use anything in moderation, and it's medicine. Overdo it, and it's poison. So an overwhelmingly denser, greater quantity of ordinary poison must be an even stronger poison."
Mok Wan-ah's words pierced the essence of poison arts.
There were limits to the poison a person could harbor, and poison arts were the techniques to wield it rationally.
Before a colossal volume beyond normal handling, the subtleties of poison arts meant little. They were mere tricks to compensate for quantity and quality.
Gyo Buhwa, nearing his limits, lost the leisure to move or speak amid endurance.
No way to turn the tide. He could only struggle to delay death a bit longer.
He felt dragged into deep ocean depths, sinking into inescapable darkness.
Mok Wan-ah seized Gyo Buhwa's trembling face with both hands. Blood from her palm flowed into his ears.
Liquid poison's toxicity far exceeded airborne miasma.
Gyo Buhwa soon felt something crumble in his dantian.
"No...!"
His poison foundation was collapsing. At this stage, external poison was secondary.
All the poisons harbored within leaked out, his body melting from the lower abdomen. A gruesome sight.
When Gyo Buhwa finally dissolved into bloody sludge, Mok Wan-ah staggered and collapsed.
Only then did Dang Mujin shout again.
"Mok Wan-ah! Vomit out all the poison you've taken in and get out of the cave!"
Her body still held an unbearable density of poison aura. Staying would kill her like Gyo Buhwa.
Mok Wan-ah smiled weakly.
"My legs won't move."
"Vomit out the poison at least!"
But Mok Wan-ah strained to hold it in.
"No. This cave has no airflow. If I release it all here, you'll die too..."
"Trust me."
Dang Mujin said just that and met her eyes.
Drawing certainty from his gaze, Mok Wan-ah began expelling all her poison.
Foul miasma filled the cave, and she collapsed unconscious.
'Now it's my turn.'
About six hours since his acupoints were sealed. Two more hours remained before they released naturally; he had to force it.
Dang Mujin contemplated his consciousness, checking each sealed meridian one by one.
He chose a radical method: use the scant movable internal energy to hammer and dislodge Jin Ram's energy anchoring the seals.
Like snapping a nail by hammering beside it, not pulling it out.
Bracing for the pain, Dang Mujin gritted his teeth.
The ensuing clash of energies.
*Cough.*
One collision, and he vomited a bowlful of blood. The metallic scent and agony shook his mind. Paradoxically, it sharpened his focus.
'Again!'
*Thud, thud, thud.* Three consecutive clashes finally unsealed one point. His stiff body loosened slightly. He vomited more blood.
'Just beginning.'
With one seal freed, more internal energy became available. Dang Mujin used it to unseal the second, then the third.
He vomited profusely, head spinning.
Finally, the fourth seal broke, freeing his body.
Weak, but movable.
Dang Mujin hoisted Mok Wan-ah onto his back and traversed the poison-filled cave. Inhaling was perilous with seeping toxins.
'Where did she get so much poison?'
No—more curiously, how had she stored such volume inside her?
On the verge of collapse yet persisting, Dang Mujin reached the cave exit.
Free of miasma. But Mok Wan-ah remained unconscious, and Dang Mujin's vision blurred.
Still, he strained to touch her nape.
Her temperature was slightly low. Losing consciousness here could be fatal.
"Urgh."
Dang Mujin carried her, kicking open the door to her small hut and entering.
His strength ebbed. Clutching Mok Wan-ah tightly, he blacked out.