Chapter 373
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 373
Chapter Title: Beyond All Poisons
Stepping out of the grand hall, Ha Mu-baek found Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon waiting for him.
"They've set aside a private annex in the guest quarters for you. Let's head there first."
Ha Mu-baek followed Tang Ja-cheong's lead.
The three of them settled into the tearoom of the annex.
"Did everything go well?"
Tang Ja-cheong asked.
"Yes. I got everything I wanted."
"Are you unharmed?"
Tang Ja-cheong glanced up at the top floor of the grand hall as he spoke.
"I just gave him a little warning."
A way of saying he hadn't laid a hand on the man.
"Hmmm. I figured you'd at least lop off an arm or something."
"Lady Tang was right—there wasn't any justification for it."
Tang Ja-cheong nodded at Ha Mu-baek's reply.
"So, what's your plan now?"
He was asking about what came next.
"I should head back to the Dragon Training Pavilion. Truth be told, I never imagined this little outing would drag on like this."
And that was the truth.
He'd only come to request the Blood Poison Pills.
Yet he'd ended up traveling all the way to the Southern Frontier.
And on top of that, battling that monstrous poison entity called Myo Gu-ung.
Tang Ja-cheong's gaze drifted toward the Southern Frontier.
"Come to think of it, both the Righteous Heaven Alliance and the Four Evil Leagues kind of fumbled the ending here."
The Righteous Heaven Alliance had learned of the Southern Frontier incident through the Tang Clan.
The Four Evil Leagues had investigated it via the Poison Fang Cave.
And Lady Yeon had mobilized Heavenly Poison Valley on her own initiative.
The three groups had looked into different villages, but they'd all had a rough idea of each other's movements.
The Poison Fang Cave was no doubt still tearing its hair out over that vicious poison.
Yet the culprit had vanished just like that, and the crisis was resolved.
Of course, it wasn't completely dead.
Ha Mu-baek shrugged.
Their problems were their own.
"So you're planning to leave now?"
As Tang Ja-cheong asked, Ha Mu-baek started to nod—
Only to remember one thing he'd momentarily forgotten.
"What about the Anti-Poison Pearl...?"
At Ha Mu-baek's question, Tang Ji-yeon pulled a single bead from her bosom.
It was a dull, ordinary-looking orb.
The Anti-Poison Pearl had resisted Myo Gu-ung's poison to the bitter end, protecting Tang Ji-yeon's body until it exhausted its power.
Now its abilities were completely gone, reduced to a commonplace bead you could find anywhere.
The lustrous glow it once had was long faded.
Ha Mu-baek gazed at the Anti-Poison Pearl with regret.
It had used up all its power safeguarding Tang Ji-yeon.
But hadn't he benefited from it too?
When he'd lost his internal energy to Yeo Hong-gi's Self-Light Scattering Poison Powder.
When he'd been struck by the intangible poison leaking from Myo Gu-ung's body.
Thanks to the Anti-Poison Pearl and Tang Ja-cheong's help, he'd escaped the poisoning.
He owed the Tang Clan's Anti-Poison Pearl a debt.
That's why seeing it stripped of its light filled him with even greater regret.
But there was no way to restore an artifact that had served its purpose.
"What a shame... It's a treasure of the Tang Clan, after all..."
He could only murmur gravely.
"It's just some exotic trinket at the end of the day. It saved Yeon-ie's life—that's what matters. The family head entrusted it to her with full knowledge of the risks."
Tang Ja-cheong spoke with detached calm, but Tang Ji-yeon bowed her head deeply.
Had she not insisted on tagging along, none of this would have happened.
She felt like the sinner here.
Ha Mu-baek stared quietly at the Anti-Poison Pearl.
Wondering if there might be some way.
Then a sudden idea struck him.
'Could it work?'
No harm in trying, even if it failed.
Ha Mu-baek circulated the energy in his inner core.
The poison qi at the center of his ice and fire energies, along with the tiny seed of Man-hwang.
At his will, it began moving toward his fingertips.
"Mind if I take a closer look for a moment?"
Tang Ji-yeon handed him the Anti-Poison Pearl at his request.
It held no value beyond that of an ordinary bead now.
The seed reached his fingertips holding the pearl, and he tried to push it straight in.
But the seed refused to leave his body.
Even with focused effort, it wouldn't budge.
Examining it carefully, he saw why.
It was linked to his inner core.
'In that case.'
He circulated his internal energy and sliced off a portion of the seed.
The severed fragment tried to rejoin its main body.
But before it could,
he wrapped it in internal energy and pushed it out.
The Man-hwang seed emerged from his fingertip.
Encased in his internal energy, it slipped smoothly into the Anti-Poison Pearl, as if that spot had always been its home.
And then.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
The Anti-Poison Pearl began to glow.
"Huh?"
"Oh? Oh..."
The two of them jumped in surprise at the sudden change.
It had clearly lost its shine and turned dull.
Yet now, in Ha Mu-baek's hand, it was glowing.
"What in the world is going on here?"
Tang Ja-cheong demanded in a startled, urgent voice.
"Just on a hunch, I infused it with the energy I picked up this time."
"You said you didn't gain anything... No, you couldn't possibly infuse the state of Total Poison Immunity into the Anti-Poison Pearl, so what..."
Tang Ja-cheong muttered in confusion.
"The poison qi from the Poison Essence that I absorbed from Lady Tang's body mingled with the remnants of Man-hwang energy from Go Hu-rak, forming this tiny seed of strange energy. I figured it was trivial, so I didn't mention it in detail. But I thought what the hell—might as well try putting it in the pearl. No loss if it failed."
Tang Ji-yeon eyed Ha Mu-baek with a strange look.
You said you gained nothing.
Yet you'd achieved Total Poison Immunity.
And bits of the Poison Essence's poison qi and Man-hwang energy had fused inside you?
The size of a tiny seed?
Tiny or not, how could that be trivial!
She wanted to say something.
But the words wouldn't come.
How could they, when Ha Mu-baek was using that energy on the Tang Clan's Anti-Poison Pearl right now?
Trying to revive what was now just a worthless bead.
She could only watch the pearl.
It glowed gradually, but differently from before.
The old Anti-Poison Pearl had shone with brilliant rainbow hues.
Now it emitted a mystical jade-green light.
It had been dyed pure green at first, but blending with the pearl's original material and color, it turned to jade.
Jade.
Tang Ji-yeon had never seen one, but she doubted even the Shaolin's Jade Flame Staff could be more mystical.
"It's like a luminous pearl, yet somehow different. Hmm. The color's changed, so maybe it's gained some new ability beyond poison resistance?"
Tang Ja-cheong murmured his theory as he watched the light grow brighter and richer.
Ha Mu-baek felt his infused internal energy and seed fully settle inside the pearl.
He held it out to Tang Ja-cheong.
"Here you go."
Tang Ja-cheong carefully accepted the pearl from Ha Mu-baek and circulated his internal energy to examine what could no longer be called the Anti-Poison Pearl.
"Hmmm."
Intently studying the pearl.
Then, still seated, he assumed the cross-legged position and closed his eyes.
Cupping the pearl in his palm.
About fifteen minutes passed.
Tang Ja-cheong opened his eyes.
His face was filled with shock.
His entire body trembled faintly, as if he couldn't believe it.
"You... what exactly have you created?"
"Is there a problem? I didn't check it closely myself."
He'd handed it over the moment it felt complete.
"The Anti-Poison Pearl... the Anti-Poison Pearl is back... but this is..."
Tang Ja-cheong couldn't finish his sentence.
"Grandfather. You mean the Anti-Poison Pearl is restored?"
Tang Ji-yeon asked, her face brimming with curiosity.
"Infused with Instructor Ha's energy... its abilities have been enhanced even further."
"Pardon?"
"Total Poison Immunity."
"What?!?"
"That's probably it. The original was a treasure granting immunity to ten thousand poisons. This one seems to grant immunity to all poisons. We'd need to verify, but..."
"Th-that... such a thing..."
Tang Ji-yeon muttered blankly before turning her gaze to Ha Mu-baek.
Her eyes held an unspoken interrogation: What kind of energy do you even have inside you?
"Is that so? Amazing. That seed didn't react to my own energy at all."
That's why, just as he was pondering other options, he'd thought of the spent Anti-Poison Pearl.
"Not just that..."
But Tang Ja-cheong's astonishment didn't end there.
"And...?"
"When I held it and circulated my energy."
He'd assumed the cross-legged position earlier to test it with cultivation.
"I felt my poison resistance improve, even if just slightly. If I keep at it, I might even step beyond ten thousand poison immunity."
Tang Ji-yeon looked at Ha Mu-baek again, her eyes trembling faintly.
You.
What the hell did you just make!
That was her silent demand.
This time,
"Whoa..."
Even Ha Mu-baek himself let out an incredulous sigh.
"Seems like the result of Man-hwang and the Poison Essence's poison qi interacting. Hmm."
"The pearl's own material probably played a role too,"
Ha Mu-baek added his thoughts.
"Even so, what the hell is Man-hwang? You said you only used a fragment of the seed, and it's producing effects like this? Just how powerful is that seed?"
Ha Mu-baek had no answer for Tang Ja-cheong's question.
Not even he knew right now.
"Well, glad it worked out. It's become an even greater treasure. Feels like I've paid my debt and lifted a weight off my mind."
Ha Mu-baek grinned.
Then he rose from his seat.
"Leaving already?"
Tang Ji-yeon picked up on his intent and asked.
"Yes. With this last loose end tied up, it's really time to go."
"My thanks—truly. You saved my life and Yeon-ie's, and now you've passed this treasure back to the Tang Clan."
"It was yours to begin with. Thanks to it, I escaped poisoning. And that let me face down Myo Gu-ung. So please, think nothing of it."
Ha Mu-baek offered a courteous bow.
Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon both stood, clasped their hands in salute, and bid him farewell.
And so Ha Mu-baek left Heavenly Poison Valley, left Sichuan Province, and set off once more for Wu-chang, home of the Dragon Training Pavilion.
The journey he'd begun on a whim had been full of trials.
Having resolved them all, Ha Mu-baek headed back to the pavilion.
'Not much longer now, is it?'
The air had shifted from cool to chilly.
Even a slight bite of cold could be felt.
Autumn was fading, winter approaching.
Ha Mu-baek gazed quietly to the east.
Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong received an express letter from the Tang Clan.
It detailed the entity known as Myo Gu-ung.
And its ultimate fate.
"Ha ha. Ha Mu-baek again? Unbelievable."
Laughter escaped him.
Yet his expression was oddly complex.
This could have.
Been the downfall of the Central Plains martial world.
A poison even ten thousand poison immunity couldn't block.
Poison Sovereign, confirmed by Tang Ja-cheong himself.
No choice but to believe it.
Yet Ha Mu-baek had dealt with the poison master who wielded it freely.
Though they hadn't confirmed the death, both arms and one leg were severed.
Falling into the rapids of No-ryong Falls in that state? Survival was impossible.
"Mu-baek. What the hell are you...?"
But the Tang Clan's letter omitted one fact.
About Go Hu-rak's secret chamber.
And Man-hwang, of course.
This was Tang Ja-cheong and Tang Ji-yeon's decision.
Tang Mu-ryeong had accepted it and kept the information under wraps.
Tang Ja-cheong had packed up again and headed back to the Southern Frontier.
Destination: the site of the Poison Essence.
To test the abilities of the Anti-Poison Pearl Ha Mu-baek had revived—no, what he'd renamed the Infinite Anti-Poison Pearl.
To confirm if it truly surpassed ten thousand poison immunity with total poison immunity, he needed the poison from that cave—one he'd deliberately left intact.
"Ha, haha, hahahaha."
Four Evil Leagues Leader Gong Ya Jang-cheon let out a hollow laugh, clutching the letter.
Scholar White Pine Mun In Baek-song watched his faction leader.
The meeting here was steeped in grave tension.
For one reason.
The nameless absolute earthly poison that had wreaked havoc like a calamity in the Southern Frontier.
This was a strategy session for if it leaked into the Central Plains.
Poison Fang Cave Lord Dok Do-gun offered only grim reports.
No combination yielded an antidote.
The one sliver of hope: a formula that barely slowed its progress, which they were now researching.
Then an urgent letter arrived from the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
Even amid all this exchange of letters.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon handed it to Mun In Baek-song.
Soon he too let out a hollow laugh.
"What does it say?"
Someone at the table asked, frustration and curiosity mingling in their voice.
"Poison Fang Cave Lord."
Gong Ya Jang-cheon called to Dok Do-gun.
"What is it?"
"You said even Ha Mu-baek would die to the nameless absolute earthly poison?"
"Obviously."
Dok Do-gun nodded firmly.
"So Hwi-woong says the perpetrator behind that poison fell to Ha Mu-baek's hands. No need to worry too much."
"Wh-what?!"
Dok Do-gun's eyes bulged in utter disbelief.
Mun In Baek-song shoved the letter into his hands.
"Th-this... this can't be!!!"
After reading it all, Dok Do-gun unleashed a scream like a wail.
The world's foremost poison sect, Poison Fang Cave.
Its pride was wounded.
Gong Ya Jang-cheon sank into thought, his expression complicated.
'Ha Mu-baek. What kind of monster are you trying to become...?'