Chapter 370
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 370
Chapter Title: Nothing at All
Ha Mu-baek possessed three out of six Primordial Fragments.
Half of them, no less.
There was no reason he couldn't annihilate Myriad Desolation, which was merely one piece out of eight.
Ha Mu-baek's inner energy surged like a raging tsunami.
Like a typhoon, it swept Myriad Desolation away from his meridians.
Thus, Go Hu-rak's energy began to dissipate slowly.
The moment Myriad Desolation realized it couldn't withstand the assault.
It began searching for a way to survive.
Even though Narok had vanished, Myriad Desolation's energy seemed to retain its instincts.
It raced through Ha Mu-baek's meridians, desperate to escape the energy seeking to erase it.
However, this was inside Ha Mu-baek's body.
There was no place to hide.
At that moment.
What Myriad Desolation discovered was the poison energy at the center of the swirling ice and fire vortices.
The energy that had lured it into this body.
A fragment of Myriad Desolation barely managed to take refuge within the poison energy.
However, it was only an minuscule portion of the invading energy.
Ha Mu-baek's inner energy spared the poison energy, which had become part of his inner core.
The tiny remnant of Myriad Desolation's energy that survived by a hair's breadth began to merge with the poison energy of kindred origin.
And in the form of a small seed, it quietly nestled into Ha Mu-baek's inner core, tiny and hidden.
'Is this amount negligible?'
Ha Mu-baek, who had observed everything while gazing inward.
To eradicate it completely, he would have to dismantle the inner core he had painstakingly formed.
No one could predict what backlash that might bring.
In the end.
He decided to leave the small seed of Myriad Desolation's energy alone.
It had been a grueling battle, perilous in every sense.
Having finished it all, Ha Mu-baek.
"Huu."
Let out a deep sigh, opened his eyes, and rose to his feet.
In the end, he had gained nothing.
"No. I learned a new fact..."
Infinite Sword Sect.
Ha Mu-baek's sect.
He had only known the name of the founding patriarch, yet an unexpected truth emerged from an unlikely source.
And.
"Hm."
Ha Mu-baek glanced at his lower dantian.
Myriad Desolation, quietly dormant as a small seed within his inner core.
If this counted as a gain, then it was one.
"Well, the realm of myriad poison immunity seems to have far surpassed its previous bounds."
As Myriad Desolation's energy fused with the poison energy, a subtle change rippled through Ha Mu-baek's body.
Ha Mu-baek did not miss it.
Perhaps owing to its foundation in poison energy.
The realm of myriad poison immunity had shattered its limits, ascending to lofty new heights.
Now.
Even Myo Gu-ung's poisons would likely have no effect on him.
Thus, it held its own significance.
Ha Mu-baek stepped out through the open entrance.
No one was around.
Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon had apparently withdrawn to a distance, avoiding any disturbance.
Emerging along the narrow path.
He reached the fork with ten branching trails.
There, Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon waited for Ha Mu-baek.
"How did it go?"
A question brimming with curiosity.
Tang Ji-yeon's eyes sparkled as she gazed at Ha Mu-baek.
Ha Mu-baek shrugged his shoulders.
"Nothing at all."
The response startled the two.
How could that be?
Hadn't they themselves deciphered the poignant tale etched in the tattoo on Go Hu-rak's body?
"It was a meticulously designed trap."
"A trap?"
Ha Mu-baek gave a concise account of the circumstances.
The pair could only react with greater shock.
How was such a thing possible?
To disseminate a martial art into the world and seize the body of whoever mastered it and came searching.
No—the very existence of such a martial art.
It was beyond belief.
"The world... is full of monsters, it seems. My knowledge falls woefully short."
Tang Ja-cheong muttered in dismay.
"Primordial and Myriad Desolation... myths turned into martial arts lore?"
Tang Ji-yeon asked, her face blank.
She could scarcely accept what she had heard.
Though Ha Mu-baek had summarized briefly, the details were too crucial to gloss over.
Go Hu-rak's tattoo had explicitly referenced Primordial and Myriad Desolation.
"Martial arts born at the world's dawn: Primordial and Myriad Desolation. Two absolute arts in perfect, hostile opposition..."
Tang Ja-cheong echoed Ha Mu-baek's succinct explanation.
"A soul enduring across three millennia... A martial art of that caliber might indeed make it possible."
Tang Ja-cheong nodded, as if conceding the logic in some respects.
"Then you truly gained nothing?"
"My realm of myriad poison immunity has advanced. Likely due to the poison energy reacting amid the clash with Myriad Desolation."
Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon widened their eyes once more at Ha Mu-baek's words.
Faces etched with the sting of deception.
He had plainly claimed nothing gained.
"Th-that's what you call gaining nothing?"
Tang Ji-yeon demanded, incredulous.
"To what extent, then? Can it repel the Poison Lord's toxins?"
Tang Ja-cheong pressed, eager about the new realm.
Ha Mu-baek nodded.
"I believe it can block the Poison Lord's poison."
Ha Mu-baek replied evenly.
Tang Ji-yeon's jaw dropped.
"What... that's total poison immunity. That's... insane."
Her eyes burned with envy.
"Does this qualify as total poison immunity?"
Ha Mu-baek asked Tang Ja-cheong.
"I told our family head as much. To endure the Poison Lord's poison, one must ascend to the new realm of total poison immunity."
"Meaning it blocks all poisons?"
"The Poison Lord's essence embodies all poisons. Blocking that equates to blocking them all."
"You've obtained something extraordinary."
Tang Ji-yeon said, her tone hollow.
When he claimed nothing gained after such peril, she had pitied him.
Total poison immunity.
The dream of every poison practitioner, coveted even in slumber.
Nay—a realm they scarcely dared imagine.
To attain it and deem it worthless.
This was outright trickery.
And so.
Tang Ji-yeon found Ha Mu-baek irritating for no good reason.
She shot him a sullen glare.
But.
Ha Mu-baek sank into contemplation.
Regarding the realm he had attained.
"What of the scattering poison that Valley Lord Yeo unleashed? Even Myo Gu-ung fell victim."
Tang Ja-cheong pondered silently at Ha Mu-baek's query.
"Unclear. Scattering poison is poison yet not—much like an aphrodisiac. Only direct exposure would reveal the truth."
He could hardly order Yeo Hong-gi to test it on him.
It would linger as an enigma.
'Yeon Ja-kyeong. He claimed to possess the same scattering poison...'
Ha Mu-baek harbored suspicions bordering on certainty that it had been crafted with him as the target.
"Let's head back now. Considerable time has passed."
"Ah, how much?"
"Two days."
Tang Ji-yeon provided the answer.
This time, Ha Mu-baek was taken aback.
It had felt but a fleeting moment, yet two days had elapsed.
Immersed in the clash of souls, his perception of time had warped.
"You could have returned first..."
Ha Mu-baek said apologetically.
A barren cave.
Meaning these two had endured two days of hunger here.
"Couldn't muster the nerve without you."
Tang Ja-cheong replied, abashed.
Alone, he might have ascended, but with Tang Ji-yeon, impossible.
He had considered climbing first for a rope, yet leaving his granddaughter alone unnerved him.
"My apologies."
Ha Mu-baek said, face contrite.
"No need. Our choice. Now, onward."
Ha Mu-baek drew a dagger from his robe and embedded it in the wall.
As when descending, it carved stairs via the mysteries of Energy Sword Control, moving on its own.
Ha Mu-baek ascended slowly, treading air with Void Steps.
Thus, atop the cliff once more.
The ruins remained unchanged.
Yet a shift had occurred.
Ha Mu-baek's senses detected it.
"Many have returned to Thousand Poisons Valley."
"They couldn't stray far, it seems. As expected—that's their root, their home."
Tang Ja-cheong remarked, gazing toward Thousand Poisons Valley.
"What will you do?"
He then asked Ha Mu-baek.
"About what?"
"Valley Lord Yeo. Though the scattering poison targeted Senior Myo Gu-ung, to my eyes, you were a mark as well."
Ha Mu-baek was aware.
What to do.
By his principles, execution was warranted.
He had targeted him, after all.
Failure demanded accountability.
Yet.
What gnawed at him.
Was evacuating all of Thousand Poisons Valley despite foreseeing death, then facing Myo Gu-ung.
Guarded solely by his disciple.
That demanded respect.
He still knew little of Thousand Poisons Valley's history.
Even so.
"He must answer for his deeds."
Ha Mu-baek stated calmly.
"Though I'll probe the circumstances further. The scattering poison included."
No execution.
His fate hinged on his demeanor in discourse.
A warning to Yeon Ja-kyeong was due as well.
Not to provoke one seeking quiet repose.
With that, the trio set off anew for Thousand Poisons Valley.
Torrential rapids.
The instant he was swept in, consciousness fled.
Having expended all his energy, his hollow shell of a body collided repeatedly.
Water flooding nose and throat choked his airways, stifling breath.
Even hale, none would dare swim free of such currents.
Yet Myo Gu-ung lacked both arms and one leg.
Tossed by the rapids against rocks and logs, he sank ever lower.
Myo Gu-ung had long lost awareness.
Swept away by Ha Mu-baek's final blow.
Myo Gu-ung had embraced death then.
Yet.
Breath came labored.
[Rise. Regain your wits. If you fade, even I am powerless.]
A voice relentlessly rattled his mind.
Thus, Myo Gu-ung stirred awake.
But eyes would not open.
Nor lungs draw air.
Awake, yet drowning was his sole terminus.
[Done! Obey my commands!]
The voice thundered anew in his head.
Despite water-choked throat and lungs.
Myo Gu-ung's curiosity proved inescapable.
Thus.
He pondered.
'What voice is this?'
As if divining the thought.
[I am Narok. The will of Myriad Desolation you cultivated.]
'Myriad Desolation?'
Doubt resurfaced.
[Ignorant of your own power, hence this plight. Follow my lead. Circulate energy.]
But energy was spent.
All poured into that monstrous foe.
Yet.
In his dantian.
A faint energy stirred.
Regenerated amid the torrent.
Myo Gu-ung moved it instinctively.
[Good.]
Narok directed the meridians for circulation.
Myo Gu-ung complied, entranced.
Death by suffocation loomed regardless—what point? In that instant.
His body buoyed from the rapids.
Splash!
Surfacing, it arced from the water, tumbling ashore.
"Kuhak! Kek! Kek! Kek! Kraaak! *cough*! *cough*!"
Fresh air rushed in.
Rough coughs expelled lungfuls of water.
"Hah. Hah. Hah."
Ragged breaths followed.
"Wh-what? Ugh, ugh."
Sensing life.
Agony seared from severed limbs.
Inevitable.
His face blanched ashen.
Thus, he'd bleed out.
Loss already mortal.
Consciousness wavered anew.
[Damn! Worthless cur! How fares Myriad Desolation's master thus? Pitiful!]
Narok's bellow erupted.
[Circulate energy!]
Instinct spurred by Narok's roar, Myo Gu-ung channeled it.
Color returned gradually.
Pain ebbed.
Dantian energy swelled.
Myo Gu-ung lost himself, delving deep into the flow.