Chapter 354
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 354
Chapter Title: I'm Scared...
Ye Hong-gi glanced at Yeon Ja-kyeong for a moment before looking down at the plate in front of him.
The meaning was clear.
He was telling him to test it himself.
It wasn't difficult.
He had personally tested the incomplete version last time, hadn't he?
Last time, he'd inhaled it through his nose, but this time, there was no need for that.
This was the perfect finished product.
He lightly raised his right index finger and dipped it into the white powder on the plate.
At that moment.
'Ugh.'
It was a test he'd run on his own body several times already.
But still, the rough draining sensation raced from his fingertip straight to his dantian in an instant.
And just like that, all the internal energy in his body vanished.
Yeon Ja-kyeong watched the entire scene from start to finish.
Then he checked Ye Hong-gi's pulse and examined his internals before nodding.
The results were incomparably satisfying compared to before.
"One day, right?"
The duration for which the Qi-Dispersing Poison would erase one's internal energy.
"Yes."
As Ye Hong-gi answered.
"Then stay here for eleven double-hours."
With that, Yeon Ja-kyeong grabbed the Qi-Dispersing Poison and its antidote and rose from his seat.
It was an attitude that showed he intended to verify and confirm everything thoroughly.
'Looks like I won't be able to leave until tomorrow...'
Faced with Yeon Ja-kyeong's meticulous demeanor, Ye Hong-gi had no choice but to adjust his plans.
And so, in Yeon Ja-kyeong's audience chamber, Ye Hong-gi spent eleven double-hours immersed in meditation without so much as twitching.
The next day.
Exactly eleven double-hours later, Yeon Ja-kyeong returned.
He checked Ye Hong-gi's pulse and examined his internals once more, then nodded vigorously.
A thick smile spread across his face.
He placed the black powder—the antidote—on a plate and handed it to Ye Hong-gi.
Ye Hong-gi lifted the plate and inhaled it through his nose.
"Unlike the Qi-Dispersing Poison, the antidote must be inhaled or swallowed. If you take it in advance, it can block the poison's effects for a full day."
Yeon Ja-kyeong listened intently to Ye Hong-gi's explanation of the antidote's uses.
Right after inhaling it, Ye Hong-gi extended his wrist toward Yeon Ja-kyeong.
Yeon Ja-kyeong confirmed that his internal energy had returned.
"May you return safely."
With those final words, he left the audience chamber.
Ye Hong-gi also rose and headed to his own laboratory.
"We're leaving for the valley tomorrow. Make your preparations accordingly."
Geuk In-cheong jumped in surprise at his master's words.
"Pardon?"
Ye Hong-gi stared at Geuk In-cheong silently.
'Yes. He's incompetent, but... better him than the other one.'
Geuk In-cheong's talent wasn't bad.
He only seemed inferior by comparison to Gong Dok-haeng.
"You stay here at the Righteous Heaven Alliance. The Thousand Poison Valley is one of the Alliance's sects—it can't be left empty."
Geuk In-cheong forced back a smile that threatened to burst out and bowed his head to reply.
Luoyang, the center of the Central Plains, was practically paradise.
He loved life here so much that he dreaded returning to that valley in Sichuan Province where his sect, the Thousand Poison Valley, was located.
And now, he got to stay behind at the Alliance all by himself? Of course he was thrilled.
But.
The "all by himself" part suddenly made him realize something.
His junior might end up becoming the next Valley Lord.
No matter how tough and inconvenient it was.
He had to be the one to return to the valley.
"Un... No, Master. As your eldest disciple, I should accompany you. It would be better for my junior to stay at the Righteous Heaven Alliance."
He hastily changed the answer that had nearly tumbled out of his mouth.
Ye Hong-gi couldn't help but chuckle at his disciple's antics.
It was the first smile he'd shown since discovering traces of the Deadly Poison Art in the poison Gong Dok-haeng had brought the other day—a smile that had been absent amid his constant gravity.
To think he'd laugh at his disciple's pathetic scheming.
"No. You stay at the Righteous Heaven Alliance. And you will be the next Valley Lord."
To leave this one behind at the Alliance, he had to make such a firm declaration.
"M-M-Master..."
Geuk In-cheong couldn't control the tremor in his voice at his master's sudden words.
"With me gone from the Righteous Heaven Alliance, carry yourself as the Valley Lord of the main valley at all times. Keep your conduct proper and devote yourself to training."
"Y-Yes. Understood."
His voice was still shaking.
Something felt off about his master.
But he didn't have the presence of mind to notice it.
"Take this."
What Ye Hong-gi pulled from his bosom and handed over.
It was a Blood Poison Pearl.
One of the rarest treasures under heaven.
As far as Ye Hong-gi knew, only the Tang Clan, Thousand Poison Valley, the Four Evils Alliance Leader, and the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader possessed one of this caliber.
'The Yeon family head might have one too.'
Geuk In-cheong startled at the sight of the Blood Poison Pearl.
Partly because it was an ancient treasure, but more so because.
This Blood Poison Pearl was the mark of the Thousand Poison Valley Lord.
"Your cultivation is still lacking, so return it once you reach the state of Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons."
It was a way of saying he was entrusting it temporarily.
But that didn't matter.
It meant his master had officially recognized him as the next Valley Lord.
"U-Understood."
Geuk In-cheong prostrated himself on the ground.
A disciple's bow to his master.
He was performing the same rite he'd done on the day he first taken his master as his teacher.
Ye Hong-gi chuckled again at his disciple's overly earnest display.
"Have Dok-haeng prepare to depart."
"Yes, Master."
Ye Hong-gi headed not to the laboratory, but to his own room.
Even for a master like him, spending eleven double-hours in Yeon Ja-kyeong's audience chamber in meditation had drained a tremendous amount of mental energy.
He needed to rest first.
Once he returned to the valley, he wouldn't have the luxury of rest like this.
This was probably his last chance.
Ye Hong-gi lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and sought sleep.
He had already tidied up his affairs before seeking out Yeon Ja-kyeong, so he could leave as soon as he woke.
The next day.
Not long after waking.
Ye Hong-gi departed the Righteous Heaven Alliance with his valley subordinates.
They moved swiftly, leaving Henan Province where Luoyang lay and entering Shaanxi Province.
There, he turned to his subordinates and said,
"All of you, head to places other than Sichuan Province. Then, return to the Righteous Heaven Alliance in one year."
His subordinates were bewildered by the incomprehensible order.
But Ye Hong-gi's gaze was resolute.
In the end, knowing nothing, all the subordinates dispatched to the Righteous Heaven Alliance had no choice but to scatter.
Now, only Ye Hong-gi and Gong Dok-haeng remained.
"Let's go."
"Yes, Master."
Gong Dok-haeng quietly followed behind Ye Hong-gi, who urged his horse onward slowly.
"You're not asking anything."
How far had they traveled?
Ye Hong-gi asked Gong Dok-haeng.
"I have a rough idea."
Ye Hong-gi's expression showed no particular change at Gong Dok-haeng's reply.
"That's why I'm taking you with me."
"I figured as much. I gave Eldest Brother a heads-up last night."
"That explains it."
When they had left the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
He murmured to himself, recalling Geuk In-cheong's unusual demeanor.
He had seemed resolute and determined, more than usual.
"What did you tell him?"
"That something might happen at the valley, so you're going yourself. And to prepare for the worst, you've entrusted the aftermath to your most trusted Eldest Brother."
"That should be enough for him to piece together the situation."
Ye Hong-gi nodded.
"Don't you resent me?"
He posed the question to Gong Dok-haeng once more.
"I was born and raised in the Thousand Poison Valley. If the valley vanishes, so do I."
At his disciple's response, Ye Hong-gi said calmly,
"I'm scared..."
"...To be honest, I'm scared too..."
Silence fell between master and disciple for a moment.
"Who is it?"
Gong Dok-haeng was the one to break the quiet.
A master possessing a poison art that even Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons couldn't withstand was targeting the Thousand Poison Valley.
If they tried to defend it, they'd likely die at that master's hands.
That was why Gong Dok-haeng voiced his curiosity.
"My martial uncle."
Ye Hong-gi calmly recounted the ugly past he had witnessed to Gong Dok-haeng.
Gong Dok-haeng said nothing after hearing the full story.
"Poisonous Solitary Poison Physique. I thought it was impossible, but it seems my uncle achieved it. I do have one countermeasure... but I'm not sure."
With those words from Ye Hong-gi, their conversation ended.
They simply urged their horses diligently toward Sichuan Province.
A day passed.
The heat of the ground had completely dissipated.
And most of the poison miasma had cleared as well.
Only the faint, lingering traces of the Poison Crystal's miasma remained.
"Let's go."
Early in the morning.
Dang Ja-cheong took the first step forward.
The three pressed straight ahead.
It was a wide canyon, so the path was clear.
Forward.
The end they reached was blocked.
But there was a cave whose entrance was sealed by a massive boulder.
Ha Mu-baek spotted it first.
The cave was sealed so tightly that not even air could pass through.
"Hmm."
Dang Ja-cheong peered gravely into the crevices of the boulder.
"Someone sealed it artificially, right?"
There were no such traces.
Any remnants from the fire Ha Mu-baek had lit yesterday would have vanished too.
"Probably. It looks like they blocked it off to seal something inside the cave."
Perhaps it was the Poison Crystal's miasma.
Ha Mu-baek and Dang Ja-cheong both thought as much.
Dang Ji-yeon watched from a step behind.
"What we're chasing is behind there, isn't it?"
Dang Ja-cheong nodded at Ha Mu-baek's confirmation.
"Likely either there now or was there before."
The two stared at the boulder blocking the entrance.
Smashing or moving it wouldn't be hard.
The problem lay beyond.
"Let's shift it a bit first."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, Dang Ja-cheong stepped back. Dang Ji-yeon retreated even further.
Ha Mu-baek gave the boulder a slight push.
A gap opened, revealing part of the cave.
Poison miasma began flowing out as if it had been waiting.
"Th-This is..."
Dang Ja-cheong hurriedly circulated his internal energy to resist the miasma.
Ha Mu-baek did the same.
It was vicious, as expected.
"Having this much is a problem, but not having it would be an even bigger one."
"Still, we have to see it through to the end."
Dang Ja-cheong glanced back at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"You fall back to where we camped. If the miasma starts worsening, head back immediately."
"Yes..."
She wanted to insist on going with them.
But she knew from this brief exposure that she couldn't.
So she obediently retreated.
After Dang Ji-yeon left.
Ha Mu-baek turned to Dang Ja-cheong.
He had already pushed his internal energy to its limits.
Myriad Streams Returning to Origin Poison Art.
The Tang Clan's strongest poison art.
The technique that had elevated Dang Ja-cheong to Immunity to Ten Thousand Poisons.
Dang Ja-cheong circulated the Myriad Streams Returning to Origin Art, bracing for the miasma ahead.
Ha Mu-baek activated his Infinite Free Heart Method as well.
He had experienced it firsthand; the miasma was no ordinary thing.
Rumble.
Ha Mu-baek pushed the boulder further.
Half the cave entrance was now exposed.
And an enormous volume of poison miasma poured out.
"Nngh."
Dang Ja-cheong gritted his teeth and circulated the Myriad Streams Returning to Origin Poison Art.
Ha Mu-baek circulated his energy too.
It was bearable.
The two exchanged looks and nodded.
Step.
Step.
They entered the cave.
The path wound downward in twists and turns.
How deep underground did it go?
The two descended silently.
The miasma grew thicker by the moment.
But for now.
For now, it was tolerable.
The limit of how far the two could descend was.
The instant they allowed the miasma to invade.
So they moved slowly but steadily.
How far had they come down?
Finally, level ground appeared.
The miasma coating the floor was of a different density altogether.
The more virulent it was, the heavier it became, so the miasma that had seeped up through the narrow path had been somewhat diluted.
The moment they set foot on the flat ground.
"Kuh."
Dang Ja-cheong's face briefly turned pitch black before recovering.
His body was drenched in sweat.
Beads of sweat dotted his forehead.
It showed just how much effort he was putting into resisting and blocking the invasion.
Ha Mu-baek's internal energy reserves and depth far surpassed Dang Ja-cheong's.
So he had more leeway, but it still wasn't comfortable.
The cave's end wasn't very spacious.
So the scene was visible at a glance.
The pitch darkness without a speck of light posed no obstacle to them.
[No Poison Crystal...]
Opening his mouth to speak might let the miasma invade, so Dang Ja-cheong sent a transmission.
[Indeed. It was probably there.]
Having seen the Ice Crystal before.
Ha Mu-baek pointed to where the Poison Crystal must have been, recalling that scene.
Dang Ja-cheong's eyes turned there.
He nodded.
It seemed so to him too.
The miasma was thickest there.
If he went there now.
Perhaps.
Dang Ja-cheong might succumb to poisoning and meet his end.
Even without the Poison Crystal.
The remaining miasma was immense.
[This level of miasma means it must have been a ten-thousand-year Poison Crystal.]
[But it's gone. What happened?]
Ha Mu-baek's question made Dang Ja-cheong's expression harden.
They hadn't spotted the Poison Crystal on the way here.
They had found the most likely spot at the final location.
But no Poison Crystal.
That meant.
Someone had taken it or absorbed it.
Impossible.
It couldn't be.
Yet the evidence of the vanished Poison Crystal lay plainly before them.
Dang Ja-cheong ransacked his mind.
Over the years.
All the poison knowledge he had accumulated while earning the title Poison Sovereign.
He searched through it relentlessly.