Chapter 345
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 345
Chapter Title: This Bastard
The wind had become quite cool now.
The lush trees in the Dragon Training Pavilion were turning vibrant colors with their leaves.
On the grand training ground, Fierce Dragon Corps cadets were still sweating profusely as they trained.
Bam!
Dang Jin-san went flying backward, shield and all, from Instructor Ha Mu-baek's sword strike.
"Weak, too weak. You have to withstand a blow from the bloodsteel corpses."
Was it because autumn was deepening so rapidly?
Whenever Ha Mu-baek sparred with these second-year cadets, he kept comparing them to the reinforced corpses of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
The cadets' faces grew tenser with every comparison.
They knew it too.
Time was running out.
The reason they had come here.
Their deployment to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
"Ha Mu-baek!!"
At that moment.
A man burst onto the scene with a booming shout.
It was Un Gyo-tak.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at him.
"What?"
"Fight me!"
He raised his saber, pointing it straight at Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek smirked.
Last time, he'd only humored him for evaluation purposes.
But now they were both instructors.
There was no reason to oblige.
"No. I'm busy."
He turned back to the cadets and focused on the sparring.
Bam! Bam!
One strike per cadet.
They flew back, shields and all.
Thus, the seventh squad of the Fierce Dragon Corps crumbled under the overwhelming swordsmanship.
"Hm, not bad. You should hold out against the bloodsteel corpses at least."
A moment ago.
A different evaluation from Dang Jin-san's.
Only then.
The faces of the other second-year cadets, who had been tense, finally relaxed a bit.
They had thought the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest's bloodsteel corpses were monstrous.
"I-Instructor!"
Dang Jin-san, the first to be sent flying, shouted as if he felt wronged.
The strike that flung him and the ones that flung the others.
They didn't seem all that different in power.
Ha Mu-baek glanced at Dang Jin-san.
"What? You weren't bad either."
In truth.
They were all at a level where they could withstand a single blow from the bloodsteel corpses.
Ha Mu-baek had adjusted his strikes to match the cadets' abilities.
But he didn't want them getting complacent, thinking they could just endure on their own.
However.
Perhaps because of that one comment after sending Dang Jin-san flying.
Seeing despair creep into the other cadets' eyes, Ha Mu-baek had no choice but to praise them afterward.
Otherwise, they'd head to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest already defeated in spirit, before even facing the corpses.
"Next."
At Ha Mu-baek's call, the next group approached hesitantly.
They were second-years too.
The eighth squad of second-years.
Fear of sparring with Ha Mu-baek began to fill their eyes.
'Hm.'
A dilemma struck him.
If he sent these kids to the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest like this.
Despite all the teaching and training.
The moment they encountered the corpses, terror would consume most of them, leading to their deaths.
What good was training and skill?
If they froze up and couldn't use it, it was all for nothing.
That's why he'd drilled them to react instinctively.
But if overwhelming fear surpassed that, their bodies would lock up.
He was thinking he needed to do something about it.
"Hm?"
Ha Mu-baek's gaze shifted to where Un Gyo-tak stood.
The man was still aiming his saber at him.
The difference now.
His saber was emanating a red sword aura.
The moment their eyes met.
"Taaah!"
Un Gyo-tak kicked off the ground.
As if rejecting Ha Mu-baek's refusal outright.
He charged in recklessly.
Un Gyo-tak closed the distance in an instant.
He was unleashing the Vast Heaven Demon-Slaying Saber he'd newly comprehended.
His focus was incomparable to last time.
In his mind, his realm had deepened, and so had his concentration.
An enormous saber strike was plummeting down toward Ha Mu-baek's head.
The problem was.
The eighth squad cadets approaching for their spar would get caught in the aftermath.
"This bastard."
That's why the curse flew from Ha Mu-baek's mouth.
He poured internal energy into the wooden sword in his hand.
Clearly.
The saber strike's power had changed.
A saber art that had faced a wall and struggled to surpass it.
Just one month.
A month of recovery from internal injuries.
In that time.
He'd made considerable progress.
Bam!
Ha Mu-baek's wooden sword, cloaked in white sword aura, sent Un Gyo-tak flying back in one blow.
Crack, shatter.
The wooden sword, unable to withstand Ha Mu-baek's energy, splintered into pieces and scattered.
"Tch. Got carried away."
It was because of the surrounding cadets.
Ha Mu-baek could have used a lighter sword aura, enough for the wooden sword to handle, to send Un Gyo-tak flying.
Thud.
Un Gyo-tak, who had charged at Ha Mu-baek, rebounded at double—no, triple—the speed, slamming into the wall.
"Cough."
And he spat blood again.
"Fuck..."
The curse leaked from his mouth.
Step. Step.
"Fuck's my line."
Ha Mu-baek, who had approached unnoticed, glared at Un Gyo-tak with cold eyes.
"I said no. I'm busy. But you charge in anyway? And leaking energy like that? You think the cadets around us are invisible to an instructor like you?"
"Urk."
Ha Mu-baek's fierce presence choked Un Gyo-tak.
Shing.
He drew the sword from his waist.
Pure white sword aura formed again.
Swoosh.
The light thrust of the sword.
Grazed Un Gyo-tak's cheek as he was pinned to the wall and embedded beside his face.
Un Gyo-tak's eyes trembled violently.
Just now.
For real.
He truly thought he'd be run through and die.
"Next time, it goes right through your face. Get lost."
Ha Mu-baek pulled his sword free and turned away.
He went to the weapon rack and picked another suitable wooden sword.
"Alright, let's begin."
As if nothing had happened.
He approached the eighth squad of second-years.
"Y-Yes, sir!"
The five, stunned by what just happened, gripped their swords and shields.
Ha Mu-baek swung his wooden sword lightly and kicked off the ground.
"Here I come. Block well."
Un Gyo-tak stared blankly at the scene.
"Damn it. Then just fight me properly..."
At Ha Mu-baek's shout.
Un Gyo-tak finally came to his senses.
After recovering his internal energy.
He'd gotten too excited checking his training progress.
He'd charged at Ha Mu-baek without a second thought.
And when refused, his excitement boiled over, and he just rushed in.
He hadn't even considered the cadets getting caught in it.
Stupid.
Embarrassing.
That's why, even as the cadets glanced at him embedded in the wall.
He couldn't move an inch.
He just stayed there, dazed, watching Ha Mu-baek train the cadets.
He'd been told to get lost.
But he had no face left to slink away.
"Hm?"
Yeon Ja-kyeong frowned at the report coming through his information network.
"Trouble in the Southern Frontier..."
From the deep jungles of the Southern Frontier to the areas near Yunnan Province.
Deadly poison lands had appeared in various spots.
Villages turned into poisoned wastelands.
A herbalist scouting nearby had entered one out of pity, unaware, and been poisoned.
He tapped the desk.
"What in the world is going on."
If it was poison, it pointed to Heavenly Poison Valley.
Yeon Ja-kyeong summoned Valley Lord Yeo Hong-gi.
At the same time.
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong received a similar report.
The source was the Beggars' Sect.
How their beggars had extended influence to the Southern Frontier was a mystery, but they'd discovered villages vanished into poison in the jungles.
"Hm. Poisoned just by entering a village. Just how potent is that poison aura..."
So Hwi-woong muttered gravely.
This wasn't something to ignore.
You had to respond swiftly when signs appeared.
A lesson from the two wars against the Blood Cult and Demonic Cult.
"Poison..."
So Hwi-woong wrinkled his nose.
Poison was.
Not the orthodox sects' domain.
Mostly handled by unorthodox groups.
The Southern Frontier wasn't orthodox or unorthodox territory.
Just the outer barbarians.
Their own land.
But heading north from the Southern Frontier led to Yunnan Province, then Sichuan and Guangxi Provinces.
Extending straight to Guizhou took you through Hunan and Hubei to Henan.
Distant lands.
But not to be dismissed lightly.
Unless borrowing the Evil People's Alliance's hand.
"Sichuan Tang Clan and Heavenly Poison Valley..."
The poison experts among the orthodox sects were those two.
If naming one more.
"Medicine King Valley..."
Medicine always bordered poison.
Healing the poisoned was a physician's role.
Three candidates.
Among the New Eight Gates, Medicine King Valley was closest and more convenient.
But too far for the Southern Frontier.
That left Sichuan Tang Clan and Heavenly Poison Valley.
Conveniently both in Sichuan.
But neither sat well with So Hwi-woong.
Sichuan Tang Clan under White Path Society, and Heavenly Poison Valley whose lord was Yeon Ja-kyeong's confidant.
Couldn't afford long deliberation.
Had to identify and counter the cause quickly.
"Sichuan Tang Clan it is."
Still better than Yeon Ja-kyeong's confidant valley.
Sichuan Tang Clan held equal standing with Hubei Yeon Clan.
So Hwi-woong had long sensed Yeon Ja-kyeong's ambitions.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Gong Ya Jang-cheon looked at Mun In Baek-song.
Because of the report he'd hurriedly brought.
"Exactly as it says. Poison lands are appearing across the Southern Frontier. Places that were once villages."
Mun In Baek-song replied gravely.
"Hm."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon's face darkened too.
"Not natural, obviously?"
He knew it wasn't, but asked just in case.
"Of course. The poison aura is concentrated precisely in the villages. Extremely virulent. Even the deepest one, presumed first hit, still has potent poison remaining."
"And it's gradually drawing closer to the Central Plains."
Mun In Baek-song nodded.
Precisely north, toward Yunnan Province.
"We must block it. Poison, then..."
"Leave it to Poison Wild Cave."
The unorthodox's top poison sect was Poison Wild Cave.
Based in a massive cavern deep in Mount Heng, home of the Evil People's Alliance.
"Those shady bastards..."
"Still, one of the eight sects upholding the Evil People's Alliance."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon simply nodded at Mun In Baek-song's words.
"Turning from Yunnan to Guangxi enters our territory. Same if they come to Guizhou."
He knew.
That's why he'd decided on swift action.
Even so.
The poison-poking types never sat right with him.
And Poison Wild Cave was especially insidious.
Why live in a cave when there's perfectly good land?
"Fine, fine. Summon the Poison Wild Cave Lord."
"Yes."
Mun In Baek-song bowed and left the alliance leader's office.
The eyes of both orthodox and unorthodox were slowly turning toward the Southern Frontier.
"Hm?"
Blood Cult Leader.
Gae Se-ak.
His brows twitched as he nurtured his power in the darkness.
He sensed something unusual in the power he was absorbing and refining.
This was a first.
As if the power had emotions.
'What is this?'
As Gae Se-ak tilted his head, the darkness moved with him.
Already one with the shadows.
'Displeasure?'
How could such an emotion arise from the power of darkness?
And why?
He couldn't know.
Only one thing clear.
The displeasure had flashed for just an instant.
As Gae Se-ak tilted his head.
Hummm.
The ground of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest vibrated faintly.
Imperceptible to anyone.
And.
Sprouts of various grasses began poking up here and there.
"Kuhuhuhu."
He tried to hold it in, but couldn't.
He hadn't expected it.
To succeed like this.
No stronger mountain-piercing poison could be made here now.
Yeo Hong-gi gazed at the vial of white powder with eyes hinting at madness.
The perfect mountain-piercing poison.
Beyond his current realm, he couldn't improve it.
No, no need.
This poison.
Even that monster Ha Mu-baek would lose his internal energy.
"Hahaha. Success. Success! Your name is God-Exterminating Poison. Poison that slays even gods. Hahaha!"
Bursting into mad laughter, Yeo Hong-gi dove back into research.
He'd perfected the mountain-piercing poison.
But one thing remained unmade.
The antidote for God-Exterminating Poison.
Now for that.
Once that's complete too.
"The martial world is mine."
Yeo Hong-gi muttered, eyes gleaming with madness.