Chapter 476
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 476
Chapter Title: Because It's Now?
"How did it go?"
So Hwi-woong asked as he faced Ha Mu-baek.
"It's over now. There probably won't be any group called the Blood Cult in the martial world anymore."
A nonchalant reply.
The ripple effect of that answer on those around him was tremendous.
"The, the Blood Cult is gone?"
Yu Gwi-gwang muttered in a daze.
"Hah..."
Pung Geon, his mind blank.
"Hm."
Even Yang Bi-chang, bound and wearing a complicated expression.
After enduring all sorts of trials in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest, day by day, their feelings were a mix of astonishment and profound complexity.
To think it would end so anticlimactically.
What of all the blood and sweat they had poured into this place?
What of the lives of the countless comrades who died here?
"W-Was it really this easy?"
Yu Gwi-gwang's murmur, laden with all sorts of emotions.
Just then.
As a silence born from each person's immersion in their own thoughts settled over them.
Everyone clearly heard Yu Gwi-gwang's murmur.
And naturally, all eyes turned to So Hwi-woong and Ha Mu-baek.
Under the weight of their gazes, So Hwi-woong gave a wry smile.
"So it was this easy after all... I see."
So Hwi-woong echoed Yu Gwi-gwang's exact words.
"Because it's now."
Ha Mu-baek responded curtly to So Hwi-woong's lament-like words.
Having experienced the full might of the Blood Cult.
That was why Ha Mu-baek could answer so.
Back then, when the fate of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest hung in the balance.
Ha Mu-baek had raged, insisting on total annihilation.
But.
If they had attempted it then.
The Righteous Heaven Alliance might have been the ones annihilated instead.
At that time, Ha Mu-baek and So Hwi-woong.
Could not have withstood all of the Blood Cult's Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses.
Thus the question lingered.
A Blood Cult with such power.
Why then.
Had they left the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses dormant and hidden away?
No matter that their cult leader was dead.
With such power at their disposal.
It was due to the limitations of Il-no's abilities at the time.
With Il-no's corpse refinement techniques back then, the most he could do was awaken a single Heaven-Extinguishing Corpse to guard the altar.
After that.
Research to turn Gae Hong-cheon into an Asura Blood Heaven Corpse elevated his realm.
And ultimately, he gained the ability to awaken all the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses.
Ha Mu-baek had no way of knowing that fact.
So he thought that perhaps choosing to preserve the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest back then had been the right call.
"Because it's now?"
"You saw them for yourself. Those monsters."
At Ha Mu-baek's retort.
So Hwi-woong's thoughts turned to the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses.
And he nodded.
Indeed, back then.
He could barely have handled even one Heaven-Extinguishing Corpse.
Moreover, at that time, Ha Mu-baek's master was in seclusion.
"I see. If we had chosen annihilation as you said, Mu-baek... we might have been the ones wiped out."
Acknowledgment.
And then the following question.
"But why did the Blood Cult choose to retreat back then? With power like this?"
He harbored the same doubt as Ha Mu-baek.
A question he couldn't help but ponder, having faced the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses directly.
Ha Mu-baek shrugged.
It was something even he didn't know.
And besides.
What use was dwelling on it now?
In the end, they had erased the Blood Cult's existence.
In So Hwi-woong and Ha Mu-baek's conversation.
Only the voices of those two echoed.
The Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps fell silent.
They hung their heads.
Pondering the content of that exchange.
The Blood Cult had vanished so pointlessly.
Just as they were about to deem their sacrifices here meaningless.
They learned from the two men's words that it was not so.
"More importantly."
Ha Mu-baek looked at So Hwi-woong, then surveyed the others.
"There is work that must be done first."
"Work that must be done?"
So Hwi-woong asked, as if he had no idea.
"Detoxification."
"Detoxification?"
Still full of questions.
"I'm talking about the new breed of poison corpses. The Latent Soul Poison Corpses."
At Ha Mu-baek's words, So Hwi-woong's face hardened.
"Looks like those bastards were here too. Everyone present is poisoned with Latent Soul Poison."
"......"
It grew quiet.
A stillness different from the previous hush that had blanketed the area.
A suffocating, oppressive silence.
Latent Soul Poison Corpses?
What was that supposed to mean?
Yang Bi-chang twisted his expression.
Pung Geon and the Black Corps members' faces stiffened as well.
They knew about the new breed of poison corpses.
"Come to think of it..."
In the frenzy of battling the corpses, they seemed to have glimpsed something slightly different mixed among the poison corpses.
But at the time, they hadn't the luxury to pay it any mind.
"It'll take about two days, roughly."
Ha Mu-baek said, examining those around him.
"Actually, Latent Soul Poison has no effect if the dosage is below a certain amount. And with the Blood Cult gone, there's no chance of it appearing in the world again. Still, it's best to detoxify it completely."
So Hwi-woong nodded at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"Everyone here is poisoned?"
"All who fought the corpses. They must have battled fiercely."
Every single one was poisoned.
His master too.
Seol-lan too.
Everyone except himself and Han Seol-bing.
"Then I'll leave it to you."
At So Hwi-woong's words.
"You're last, Alliance Leader."
With that, he approached the Fierce Dragon Corps.
The first whose pulse Ha Mu-baek seized.
"Ugh."
The one who let out a small groan at the sudden grip of Ha Mu-baek's hand on his wrist.
It was Yu Gwi-gwang.
"You survived."
Ha Mu-baek looked at Yu Gwi-gwang and spoke plainly.
"Thanks to you, Instructor."
Yu Gwi-gwang offered a brief thanks.
"You're a Corps Leader now. Fierce Dragon Corps Leader."
With those words, Ha Mu-baek channeled internal energy into him.
Yu Gwi-gwang's detoxification didn't take long.
Ha Mu-baek proceeded to detoxify the Fierce Dragon Corps members one by one first.
After the Fierce Dragon Corps, it was the Demon-Sealing Corps' turn.
However.
In the meantime, the sun had set.
"We'll do the rest tomorrow."
With that, Ha Mu-baek headed to the barracks.
Thick fatigue seemed to cling to his back.
It had been days worthy of such exhaustion.
No one said a word.
No one complained about not being detoxified yet.
Not only did they lack the guts to voice such grievances to the monstrously strong Ha Mu-baek.
No such complaints even arose.
His own sister, his master.
And even the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader.
Were still poisoned.
Dawn broke.
He finished detoxifying the remaining Demon-Sealing Corps members.
And proceeded with the seven from Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven.
Ha Seol-lan was the last among them.
Then he detoxified Wi Ji-gun.
Only after that.
Was it the Hocheon Corps' turn.
Even their vice corps leader, Dam Mu-heun, was last in line.
"This, this is too much, Corps Leader."
"Fierce Dragon Corps Leader."
Ha Mu-baek replied in a cold tone to Dam Mu-heun's whining.
"Urk."
Dam Mu-heun groaned.
Due to the grip strength of Ha Mu-baek's hand on his pulse.
It felt especially tight.
"This..."
"Shut your mouth. Detox begins."
Just as he was about to say something, Dam Mu-heun clamped his mouth shut at Ha Mu-baek's warning.
And finally.
So Hwi-woong's detoxification.
Thus, all detoxifications were complete.
It was already around noon.
After quickly finishing lunch, they packed up the barracks and prepared to depart.
Their destination was, naturally, the Demon-Sealing Corps headquarters.
The headquarters would be a wreck due to the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses that devoured dantians.
But it was the only proper Righteous Heaven Alliance outpost here now.
And they had to recover the Demon-Sealing Corps members sacrificed to the Heaven-Extinguishing Corpses.
So they headed there.
They didn't bother going around the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
They cut straight through the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
No, now it should probably be called the Mountain-Crossing Woods.
They took the shortest path through the forest.
"Kraaaah!"
"Groooar!"
Occasionally, surviving evil corpses appeared.
But they posed no problem to this group.
The evil corpses were dispatched in seconds.
"These guys seem weaker?"
Someone from the Demon-Sealing Corps muttered.
They weren't strong to begin with.
But compared to the previous evil corpses, these ones seemed less than half as powerful.
That allowed them to clear them even faster and press on toward the Demon-Sealing Corps.
"The forest has changed."
So Hwi-woong said, looking around.
It was no longer the forest called the Demonic Woods, where they had battled desperately over the years.
Now it was just like any ordinary forest in the Central Plains.
And So Hwi-woong wasn't the only one who sensed it.
Both the Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps felt it.
Having spent time in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
They knew too well what the energy here used to be like.
However.
The new Fierce Dragon Corps recruits who had just arrived at the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest merely followed along.
Without a moment to sense what had changed.
Thus, by dusk.
They finally reached the northern end of the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
And what greeted them was the collapsed wall of the Mountain-Crossing Great Wall.
A sight that evoked the desperation of that time.
Three bodies of Demon-Sealing Corps warriors who had fled this far only to have their dantians devoured and die.
"Recover them."
At So Hwi-woong's order.
Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps members stepped forward to retrieve the corpses.
The path beyond the Demon-Sealing Corps' wall to the headquarters was a scene of devastation.
Bodies strewn everywhere.
Every one with a gaping hole through their dantian.
Knowing the reason.
So Hwi-woong's face was grim.
"Things will get busy once we return to headquarters."
Dam Mu-heun wore a serious expression at that murmur as well.
'A storm is coming.'
It was already decided the moment Yang Bi-chang confessed everything.
But the tragedy laid bare before their eyes.
Would make that storm even fiercer.
They would argue in their defense.
Who could have imagined corpses that devour dantians even existed?
It was true.
But what then?
This many sacrifices had occurred—that was the fact.
Their defenses would only hold water if nothing had happened.
Dam Mu-heun glanced back at Ha Mu-baek, walking with Ha Seol-lan.
'What an extraordinary man...'
The Righteous Heaven Alliance headquarters was quiet.
Beneath the surface, countless power struggles raged.
But only struggles—no tilt in the balance either way.
However.
After Ha Mu-baek left the main headquarters for the Dragon Training Pavilion.
Many things were changing.
In favor of the Orthodox Alliance's forces shrinking.
Those who had driven Ha Mu-baek to the Dragon Training Pavilion were the Orthodox Alliance.
Yet the result was their own forces diminishing.
'Paradoxical.'
Dam Mu-heun shook his head lightly.
They headed for the Demon-Sealing Corps Leader's barracks.
The barracks were a total mess.
The state spoke volumes without needing inspection.
The survivor who came with Yang Bi-chang had said as much.
That the first to flee was Demon-Sealing Corps Leader Do Sim-geuk.
The barracks looked exactly like that.
"That damned bastard."
A curse slipped from So Hwi-woong's lips upon seeing the barracks.
No doubt directed at Do Sim-geuk.
"I'll handle the cleanup around here."
Dam Mu-heun bowed and exited the barracks.
A few other Hocheon Corps members stayed in the barracks to guard So Hwi-woong.
The rest of the members had locked the sinners, including Yang Bi-chang, in empty barracks and were guarding them.
Dam Mu-heun directed the Demon-Sealing Corps and Fierce Dragon Corps to begin cleanup.
Night was already falling, so they had to hurry.
Even the new Fierce Dragon Corps recruits, who had finally arrived at what would become their starting point in the Demon-Sealing Corps headquarters, were put to work.
The first task upon arriving at the Demon-Sealing Corps: recovering their members' bodies.
No, before that, they had fought the corpses in the Mountain-Crossing Demonic Forest.
Everything felt jumbled up.
And the result was the Blood Cult's total extermination.
Their very reason for being had vanished.
One might wonder what came next.
But the scene unfolding before them pushed such thoughts aside.
The seven members of Fierce Dragon Corps Squad Seven also lent their strength to recovering the bodies.
"Do Sim-geuk, that son of a bitch..."
Pung Geon muttered.
He didn't know everything.
But.
He had heard the stories from the Demon-Sealing Corps members who escaped this hell unscathed and reached them.
That the first to flee was Do Sim-geuk.
How could curses not spill out?
Dealing with the aftermath of this Tragedy only fueled their rage toward him more.
At that moment.
"Here's Do Sim-geuk!"
Someone discovered Do Sim-geuk's body.
No one called him Corps Leader anymore.