Chapter 213
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: Quite the Funny Affair
Sunlight poured down, yet the place remained dimly shrouded in gloom.
Lush trees everywhere.
Occasional rays of sunlight filtered through the branches, but even those beams seemed eerie in this place.
Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
It was the first day Gwan Ha-kyeong, assigned to the Demon-Sealing Corps, set foot here for his mission.
Tension coursed through his entire body, muscles taut.
"Hey, newbie. Loosen up. Just follow orders, and nothing'll go wrong. Worst case, those guys up front buy us time anyway."
The Demon-Sealing Corps member who had entered alongside Gwan Ha-kyeong glanced at the Fierce Dragon Corps and spoke.
Gwan Ha-kyeong's gaze shifted to the backs of the Fierce Dragon Corps members.
They strode ahead, massive shields thrust forward, eyes scanning every direction. They looked like elite veterans who had honed their skills to the limit in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
And that was exactly what they were.
The ones accompanying Gwan Ha-kyeong's squad were fifth-year Fierce Dragon Corps warriors.
Veterans with little time left on their tour of duty here.
'I heard the survival rate was only fifty percent...'
Yet there were more fifth-year warriors than expected.
This was the change brought by the shields.
As shield techniques passed down among Fierce Dragon Corps members, the survival rate had steadily climbed.
By now, so many survived that the old fifty percent figure seemed laughable.
It was the small seed planted by Jegal Myeong finally sprouting.
These fifth-year warriors were its embodiment.
Once their terms ended, the Fierce Dragon Corps' survival rate would soar dramatically.
And it would climb even higher after that.
"Kraaaargh."
A jiangshi's cry echoed from somewhere.
The Fierce Dragon Corps warriors instantly assumed alert stances.
The Demon-Sealing Corps members' eyes sharpened too.
Gwan Ha-kyeong swallowed dryly, hand on his saber hilt, and slowly followed his seniors.
"Kraaaang!"
Two blood ghouls burst out suddenly.
But they slammed into the shields of ten Fierce Dragon Corps warriors.
At the same moment, four Demon-Sealing Corps members circled behind and severed the blood ghouls' necks.
The heads thudded limply to the ground.
Gwan Ha-kyeong stared blankly at the sight.
Ten from the Fierce Dragon Corps, five from the Demon-Sealing Corps.
This was the standard squad formation.
"Hey, newbie. Snap out of it. What're you gonna do staring like that? Over something this minor."
Gwan Ha-kyeong jolted to attention at his senior's words as the man sheathed his sword and approached.
"We've still got a long way to the target point. Can't have you spacing out like this."
"Yes, sir. I'll correct it."
Gwan Ha-kyeong replied firmly, if quietly.
He vowed never to zone out like that again.
"Alright, let's get to work then."
Gwan Ha-kyeong's eyes widened at the word "work."
What did that mean?
They'd eliminated the ghouls. Wasn't that it?
No.
A Demon-Sealing Corps member drew a short dagger from his waist, sliced open a blood ghoul's belly, and rummaged inside with a hooked tool.
The guts were rotted to mush.
He was searching for something in there.
"What is it?"
"No training on this? Gotta rack up results. These ghoul bastards have inner cores despite being demonic beasts. Useless trash, but recovering them counts toward our record."
Sure enough, two inner cores emerged from the two blood ghoul corpses.
"Now, let's sweep the area."
While Fierce Dragon Corps warriors stood guard with shields, the Demon-Sealing Corps members scoured the surroundings thoroughly.
"Funny thing, huh? In this hellhole, not just toxic herbs—medicinal and spiritual herbs pop up plenty too."
Yang Yeop-myeong, the Demon-Sealing Corps member assigned as Gwan Ha-kyeong's mentor, chuckled incredulously.
Gwan Ha-kyeong nodded slightly as he scanned the area.
He never imagined he'd be foraging herbs in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
"It's all about the money. The big shots grind through people for that. Official excuse is rooting out Blood Cult remnants, but..."
"Aren't they doing that?"
Yang Yeop-myeong shook his head at Gwan Ha-kyeong's question.
"They are. But it's dragging. 'Prioritize safety' and all that... I dunno."
Gwan Ha-kyeong had no response.
He simply searched for the herbs he'd memorized during training.
Righteous Heaven Alliance.
A secret chamber in the Elder Council.
Three people had gathered there.
Hubei Yeon Clan Lord Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Kongdong Sect Leader Cheon Gi-buk.
Thousand Poisons Valley Lord Yeo Hong-gi.
These were the attendees.
Yeon Ja-kyeong led the meeting.
"Valley Lord Yeo, any progress?"
"The poison's potency is verified. I'd say about thirty percent complete."
Yeo Hong-gi answered calmly to Yeon Ja-kyeong's question.
"Will it work on that monster?"
Cheon Gi-buk asked, curiosity piqued.
"It will. No matter how immune to all poisons he claims to be, I'm nearly there myself. Yet when I first encountered it, I felt my qi scatter slightly from the toxin. With this, we can craft a qi-dissolving poison that works on him too."
Yeo Hong-gi replied confidently.
"How much have we gathered?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong's question turned to Kongdong Sect Leader Cheon Gi-buk.
"Still far short. It's rare, and grows deep in remote spots. Even Demon-Sealing Corps members struggle to harvest it."
The current Demon-Sealing Corps Leader hailed from the Kongdong Sect.
That's why Cheon Gi-buk knew the Corps' situation inside out.
"Who'd have thought such a toxic herb lurked in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest. Good thing we built that Great Wall to preserve it."
Cheon Gi-buk added admiringly.
Despite its name, the Demonic Forest held exploitable value.
Of course, it demanded heavy sacrifices—but the Fierce Dragon Corps shouldered most of them.
"Poison can be medicine depending on use."
Yeo Hong-gi smiled contentedly.
"True. We're even using ghoul inner cores. Who first thought of that?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong eyed Yeo Hong-gi.
He was the first to discover inner cores in blood ghouls and higher grades.
A chance find.
He'd originally researched corpse poison.
Blood Cult jiangshi made ideal subjects.
Especially the corpse poison in elite jiangshi fangs.
Bitten, and you became one.
But few knew of his research.
Top secret.
Obviously.
A righteous sect studying Blood Cult jiangshi poison? Scandalous.
Yet Thousand Poisons Valley Lord Yeo Hong-gi sought to surpass the Sichuan Tang Clan through corpse poison.
In that process, he stumbled on the inner cores.
Filthy, turbid things.
Likely the victims' dantians warped into cores upon zombification, he surmised.
Could he extract new poisons? His experiments refined them.
The poison disappointed, but the leftover cores became useful.
Not peerless elixirs, but properly compounded, they yielded qi-boosting pills.
Yeon Ja-kyeong alone knew this.
Yeo Hong-gi was his man from the start.
Yeon Ja-kyeong concealed it, using Orthodox Alliance forces to advocate preserving the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
He publicized its unexpected value and promised the Orthodox Assembly shares.
Even without cores, the forest meant profit.
Yeo Hong-gi had found much while accessing it for corpse poison studies.
Thus, the Orthodox Assembly backed Yeon Ja-kyeong's preservation push.
Of course, he hid the cores' truth.
To secure them for himself.
The Blood Cult likely didn't know either. They'd have altered their jiangshi otherwise.
A golden opportunity for Yeon Ja-kyeong.
He placed the Demon-Sealing Corps under Elder Council oversight and co-opted the Kongdong Sect Leader, the Corps Leader's sect master.
Easy mark.
One of the Nine Great Sects, yet treated as lesser.
Resentments festered.
Thus, Yeon Ja-kyeong kept the forest firmly under Orthodox Assembly control while secretly stockpiling cores.
Even Corps members didn't know why.
Official line: proof of ghoul kills for performance reviews.
Cleaner than lugging heads.
They accepted it unquestioningly.
The cores' foul aura made their purpose baffling anyway.
"Cores take a backseat now. The qi-dissolving poison is priority."
Yeo Hong-gi shook his head.
Core collection was ongoing secretly since the Great Wall.
Now, a new task: harvesting a certain herb—toxic one.
A plant thriving only where piled jiangshi rotted, pooling corpse poison.
White Flower Purple Glow Herb.
Refined and concentrated, it birthed potent qi-dissolving poison.
No lethality, but it perfectly scattered qi during intoxication.
It even pierced poison-repelling treasures or near-immunity physiques.
Yeo Hong-gi discovered it by chance and informed Yeon Ja-kyeong.
His greatest patron.
Yeo Hong-gi served him loyally.
Choosing the Yeon Clan to eclipse the Tangs.
His Elder Council seat came via Yeon Ja-kyeong too.
Hearing of the poison, Yeon Ja-kyeong had one thought.
Could it poison Ha Mu-baek? Shatter his qi completely?
Yeo Hong-gi said possibly.
Thus, the Demon-Sealing Corps began harvesting White Flower Purple Glow Herbs too.
They knew nothing of the purpose. Just another spiritual or toxic herb added to the list.
"And the antidote?"
"Tricky. We're stuck there."
Yeon Ja-kyeong nodded faintly at Yeo Hong-gi's reply.
No antidote meant no production. Must prepare for mishaps.
"Keep researching anyway. No rush."
A gentleman's revenge needed not haste, even after ten years.
"We propped up the Alliance Leader as a lightning rod during chaos, but he's grown too big."
Cheon Gi-buk and Yeo Hong-gi nodded at Yeon Ja-kyeong's words.
"His role was mutual destruction with the Demonic Cult Leader—yet he toppled even him. And that was because..."
Yeon Ja-kyeong trailed off, but they knew the rest.
Ha Mu-baek.
They knew the fates of the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult Leaders.
Without Ha Mu-baek, So Hwi-woong would've fallen to the Blood Cult Leader at latest, Demonic Cult Leader earliest.
"The New Eight Sects—what a joke."
Cheon Gi-buk sneered.
Yeon Ja-kyeong nodded.
The righteous martial world belonged to the Orthodox Assembly.
And Yeon Ja-kyeong aimed to hold it underfoot.
Yet eight sects rebelled against that order.
The New Eight Sects.
Some called them the New Eight Great Sects now, their power immense.
All thanks to the war with Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
Meant to crush them in the chaos, but it backfired, swelling their ranks.
"That pebble Ha Mu-baek diverted the river. To straighten it now, remove the pebble."
Yeon Ja-kyeong's eyes gleamed fiercely.
"And the Nine Great Sects' top seat goes to Kongdong Sect."
Cheon Gi-buk smiled faintly and nodded.
The humiliations of bottom rank among the Nine Great Sects in the Orthodox Assembly.
It bred his grudge even as he served.
"Thousand Poisons Valley must become the righteous world's premier poison sect. Can't be treated like unorthodox forever."
Yeo Hong-gi's eyes lit up.
Righteous sects scorned poison inherently.
Only Sichuan Tang Clan got a pass.
Necessity against unorthodox poisons required righteous expertise too.
But two weren't needed.
Thus, Thousand Poisons Valley faced disdain despite righteousness.
Yeon Ja-kyeong extended a hand.
Sichuan Tang Clan was Orthodox Assembly, yet Yeon Ja-kyeong plotted to slot Thousand Poisons Valley in their place.
They slipped control despite membership.
"So perfection over speed. To eradicate that pebble Ha Mu-baek completely."
Their covert meeting ended with Yeon Ja-kyeong's final words.
He returned slowly to his office.
Awaiting him: a secret missive on his desk.
The Fierce Dragon Corps' training continued.
Yet strangely, the intensity dropped from yesterday.
No, they'd expected harsher, but it wasn't.
The cadets gaining minor qi via Ha Mu-baek's aid helped.
Another reason: Ha Mu-baek himself.
Even chaining commands, he kept glancing at someone nervously.
Others missed it.
Only six cadets noticed.
They stifled laughs.
Their gazes fixed on the impassive Ha Seol-ran.
Her seal was ultimately undone by Wi Ji-gun.
Friends offered the Three Talents Heart Method, but with qi sealed, even a basic one was hard to learn anew.
Infusing and guiding qi directly was surest—but their levels fell short.
Stuck, wondering if to visit Ha Mu-baek's quarters.
Wi Ji-gun appeared.
Casually released the seal and taught the Three Talents Heart Method.
"Heh heh. Ran's such a genius I skipped basics, but Mu-baek didn't know."
Wi Ji-gun chuckled heartily.
But Ha Seol-ran sulked at her brother for the first time ever.
Ha Mu-baek learned that morning from Wi Ji-gun, showed up sheepish for afternoon training.
Constantly peeking at Ha Seol-ran, he couldn't ramp up Fierce Dragon Corps drills like yesterday.
Thus, the cadets adapted swiftly.
'What to do about this...'
Ha Mu-baek masked his distress, stealing glances at Ha Seol-ran nonstop.