Chapter 358
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 358
Chapter Title: Is This All?
Whoooong.
The air trembled.
A pitch-black poison spear aura was swinging down to smash into Ha Mu-baek.
Whoooong.
In response, Ha Mu-baek's sword fiercely unleashed a pure white sword aura.
Kwaang!
Sssizzle...
Two contrasting sounds rang out.
And the two men staggered back.
Myo Gu-ung stared at Ha Mu-baek with eyes full of disbelief.
The trickle of blood at the corner of Ha Mu-baek's mouth had thickened a bit more.
"Who the hell are you? I've never left the Sichuan martial world... but I've never seen a powerhouse like you before."
Myo Gu-ung asked, gazing at Ha Mu-baek.
This was the first time Myo Gu-ung had ever left Sichuan Province for the Central Plains.
To him, southern barbarians, Yunnan, and Sichuan were the entire world.
Back in his youth,
he had seen the great sects and masters of Sichuan martial world with his own eyes.
But none had reached the level of the man before him now.
And at such a young age, no less.
So Myo Gu-ung couldn't help but be genuinely shocked.
He had absorbed the Millennia Poison Crystal into his poison virgin body.
Yet this man had blocked that strike powered by it—and even sent rebound force back at him.
More than that,
he was enduring the poisonous aura that subtly emanated whenever Myo Gu-ung unleashed his martial arts.
It was a venom even those with complete poison immunity couldn't fully block without going all out.
Tang Ja-cheong, Yeo Hong-gi, and the others were resisting it with everything they had right now, weren't they?
All their faces were deathly pale.
But the guy in front of him,
though he seemed slightly poisoned with blood trickling from his mouth,
was exchanging blows on equal footing.
"Ha Mu-baek."
He answered shortly in a voice laced with killing intent.
"Is this all you've got?"
Ha Mu-baek asked, tilting his head at Myo Gu-ung, who was furrowing his brow at the unfamiliar name.
The moment Myo Gu-ung's gaze focused on Ha Mu-baek,
"Then die."
Ha Mu-baek's sword cleaved through space.
Danha.
A swift strike transcending human perception flew toward Myo Gu-ung's throat.
In that instant,
Ha Mu-baek's sword had completely escaped Myo Gu-ung's awareness.
It reached his neck,
poised to sever it in one go.
Kwang!
But black energy pouring from his body formed an iron wall, blocking Danha.
Myo Gu-ung staggered back from the impact.
He looked up at Ha Mu-baek with eyes wide in shock.
Ha Mu-baek was just as stunned.
He had surpassed the enemy's perceptual realm completely, yet that energy had instinctively blocked it—what the hell was it?
A repulsive black glow clung stickily to it.
"S-Strong... you're strong."
Myo Gu-ung said in a trembling voice.
When it first scratched his neck,
he'd thought the kid was decent.
When it unleashed that killing intent just moments ago,
he'd figured it might be a nuisance.
But now,
this guy's presence was
dangerous.
Just as he entered the Central Plains to finally exact his long-cherished revenge,
his first opponent was a monster like this.
How the hell had Yeo Hong-gi summoned a powerhouse like him?
Myo Gu-ung
was the Sub-Valley Lord of Thousand Poison Valley.
He had delved more into poison research than martial arts.
Thus, he hadn't mastered many techniques.
A spear method he'd been forced to learn on his master's orders.
And his poison arts.
That was it.
He had immersed himself in the poison arts,
but his only martial art was Wind Thunder Thousand Poison Spear Method.
And nowhere in the manual did it mention pulling off a strike like that.
What was he supposed to do?
This was his first opponent with such formidable martial prowess.
His experience amounted to spars and matches back in Thousand Poison Valley.
Real combat?
That day,
when he'd fled for his life—that was it.
His poison arts were unrivaled in the world, but his martial arts...
His thoughts stopped there.
"Kekeke. Kuhuhuhu."
Laughter leaked from Myo Gu-ung's mouth.
He had realized.
Martial arts weren't just swinging weapons.
His poison arts were martial arts too.
He, who had mastered the world's greatest poison arts,
had felt fear, even briefly, over mere weapon clashes.
"I'm still far from perfect. It's because I gained this power but never truly tested it."
Myo Gu-ung stared at Ha Mu-baek.
Their eyes met.
"This is the real show now. I'll show you everything."
It was his answer to Ha Mu-baek's question.
The black energy that had wrapped around his neck now oozed stickily from his entire body.
The energy spread slowly, corroding the ground beneath his feet.
Sssizzle. Ssssizzle.
Smoke rose as the earth burned from the poison.
Poison mist.
It rode the wind toward Ha Mu-baek.
"Hm."
Ha Mu-baek grimaced.
His face flushed red.
This energy dwarfed the casual poison aura from their earlier exchange.
It was as if he were turning Thousand Poison Valley's soil into a poisoned domain of his own.
The black energy kept expanding its reach.
Ha Mu-baek raised his sword again.
Danha followed by Bunrae.
Consecutive sword strikes unfolded.
But
Danha was blocked by the black energy that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Bunrae followed.
The lightning aura
Szzzzz! Szzzzzzzz!
burned the black energy,
but far more surged in.
The innate energy turned to poison mist, spreading faster and wider.
"Urk."
A groan came from Tang Ja-cheong behind Ha Mu-baek.
His face was now faintly tinged with the black energy.
'The Millennia Poison Crystal's venom after all?'
Even Ha Mu-baek
was burning through a massive amount of internal energy just to resist the poison aura.
Yeo Hong-gi and Gong Dok-haeng were in similar straits.
Tang Ji-yeon had retreated farther than the others, so she was faring a bit better.
But truthfully, she was the most vulnerable here.
Ha Mu-baek glared at Myo Gu-ung, who was emanating the black energy.
The black glow was growing even darker.
Pure black.
And with it, the poison aura intensified.
"Let's see you handle everything I've got."
Myo Gu-ung said as he unleashed his poison art.
Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art.
The black energy writhed like waves on the ground,
forming a massive tsunami that crashed toward Ha Mu-baek.
The enormous poison aura bore down on him.
'If it hits, I'll be poisoned.'
He knew it the moment he saw it.
Even he couldn't handle that venom.
The instant he was poisoned,
he might not be able to endure it.
In that case,
he had to eradicate the poison aura before it reached him.
How?
'Fire counters poison.'
In Ha Mu-baek's dantian,
a small flame flickered,
then erupted into fierce flames that poured from his entire body.
A storm of fiery blossoms surged toward the poison tsunami.
Myo Gu-ung was slightly surprised by Ha Mu-baek's sudden counter,
but that was all.
He had already unleashed the full power of the Millennia Poison Crystal.
Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art, born from absorbing the Millennia Poison Crystal.
The original creator had declared it so.
A divine art nothing in the world could block or withstand.
Provided one absorbed the Millennia Poison Crystal.
Kuuaaaang!
Poison and flame collided.
Szzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!
Acrid smoke filled the air before them.
The fiery storm whipped up winds, trying to blow all the smoke toward Myo Gu-ung.
Yet some poison aura still leaked behind Ha Mu-baek.
Tang Ja-cheong poured even more internal energy into his resistance
against the poison aura surging at him again.
Retreating farther would have been best,
but he couldn't move.
Any disruption in his energy flow might let the infiltrated poison run rampant inside him.
'What a waste of the Poison Emperor title...'
It was heartbreaking.
He'd prided himself as the Central Plains' top poison expert,
yet here he was, doing nothing but resisting poison.
Ha Mu-baek's flames spread wider,
trying to fully envelop Myo Gu-ung's tsunami.
Thanks to that,
the leaking poison weakened,
giving Tang Ja-cheong and the others a slight breather.
As time passed, that margin grew bit by bit.
Ha Mu-baek's flames had completely wrapped around Myo Gu-ung's poison aura.
In that brief respite,
Yeo Hong-gi watched the two with complicated eyes.
'How the hell does he have such intense fire energy...'
It wasn't some trifling samadhi true flame conjured from internal energy.
No mere samadhi flame could hold back Famous Poison Art like that.
He knew because he practiced Famous Poison Art himself.
And one more thing he realized.
'Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art... insane martial art...'
It made his own Soul Shedding White Famous Poison Art look like a joke.
His version was firefly light to the moon compared to Myo Gu-ung's.
Their poison auras were merely similar in type.
That was all.
He, a practitioner of Famous Poison Art, had to go all out just to resist Famous Poison Art venom.
Thus,
he watched their standoff with conflicted eyes.
'Ha Mu-baek. Impressive, but...'
Having mastered Soul Shedding White Famous Poison Art to near perfection,
Yeo Hong-gi could see it.
Ha Mu-baek's flame aura was holding back Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art,
but the sheer volume differed vastly.
Moreover, it was spread thin and wide to contain the poison aura.
No telling when it'd break.
If it did,
this place would be utterly consumed by even deadlier poison.
Everyone here would melt into puddles of blood.
Yeo Hong-gi smirked as he eyed his master, wildly emanating poison aura.
'Millennia Poison Crystal. Even Master couldn't have foreseen that connection. Master.'
If he'd known,
he'd have chased him to the ends of the southern barbarians somehow.
'And Master, you couldn't have foreseen it either. That there's a scattering poison that nullifies even Famous Poison Art.'
A scattering poison even he, with poison immunity, couldn't escape.
It would work on Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art too.
The Millennia Poison Crystal's venom might cling,
but even Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art wasn't pure poison aura.
It required internal energy to control the venom.
Self-Light Mountain Scattering Poison nullified that internal energy.
For a full day.
In his case, it had even erased his poison arts.
No knowing about his master.
But
if they were to try anything, now was the moment.
"Not bad—you've got some tricks. Fire energy, huh? Planning to resist my poison with that? True, fire counters poison. But poison can counter fire too."
Myo Gu-ung said, staring at Ha Mu-baek.
At the same time, the poison tsunami raged even fiercer.
As if determined to shatter the flame breakwater in one go.
"That puny fire of yours can't match the venom accumulated over ten millennia in the Poison Crystal. Try blocking this. Hahaha."
With Myo Gu-ung's laughter, all the poison aura building his domain surged toward Ha Mu-baek.
A tsunami.
A colossal tsunami.
It roared toward Ha Mu-baek, poised to swallow everything in an instant.
The poison tsunami concentrated on a single point.
'Mm.'
Ha Mu-baek swallowed a groan.
Even pouring out every ounce of his fire energy,
the flame barrier was on the verge of breaking.
He'd aimed to incinerate all the poison and burn Myo Gu-ung himself.
But he was outmatched in raw energy volume.
Dragon Training Pavilion's fire energy thrashed, trying to burn the Poison Crystal's venom,
but it was falling short more and more.
He faltered.
Ha Mu-baek took one step back.
This wouldn't do.
Ha Mu-baek gripped his sword tighter.
Not white aura, but a blade infused with Dragon Training Pavilion fire energy.
With Flame Sword, Ha Mu-baek shook his blade again.
Infinite Bright Wheel Eye's Eight Ultimate Sword, fourth form.
Shaehon.
It wasn't mere Dragon Training Pavilion fire energy.
The profundity of Infinite Bright Wheel Eye's Eight Ultimate Sword was woven in.
The flames spread like a dense net, embracing the tsunami,
then converged on one point to shatter it.
Kuwaaaaaang!
Kwangkwakwangkwang!
With massive explosions, Ha Mu-baek was blasted backward.
Ha Mu-baek's Dragon Training Pavilion fire energy combined with Shaehon's profundity,
but Myo Gu-ung's Poison Crystal venom was backed by Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art's principles.
Outmatched in volume,
Ha Mu-baek took the loss.
He heaved up blood from his shaken internals.
How long had it been since his last internal injury?
Even so, he reignited his flames.
The moment he withdrew them,
he might survive, but everyone behind him would die.
He couldn't retreat.
Hadn't he promised the Tang Clan head?
To protect Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon's safety.
Ha Mu-baek wasn't the only one taking damage.
"Mm."
Myo Gu-ung let out a thin groan and retreated three steps.
His Poison Crystal venom scattered momentarily.
He'd gained a clear advantage,
but not decisively.
Myo Gu-ung wasn't satisfied.
Given their energy disparity, he should have overwhelmed him.
"You bastard!"
Myo Gu-ung moved to unleash the ultimate pinnacle of Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art.
This would surely melt the fool into blood.
In that split-second opening,
Yeo Hong-gi didn't miss it.
Having pushed Soul Shedding White Famous Poison Art to its limit,
he instantly sensed the flow of Myriad Desolate Shedding White Famous Poison Art halt for a fraction of a moment.
A tiny glass vial from his bosom flew between Ha Mu-baek and Myo Gu-ung, shattering on impact.
All the Self-Light Mountain Scattering Poison he had.
Brought just in case.
Enough to scatter the internal energy of fifty experts on Ha Mu-baek's level in one go.
It dispersed into the air like fine powder between the two men.