Chapter 175
Chapter 175
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 175
Chapter Title: Hundred Poisons Immunity
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The Tang Clan's long-cherished aspiration was singular: to overhaul their inherited martial arts, shackled as they were by inherent limitations.
Among the myriad challenges to realize this dream, one involved building tolerance to poisons.
'Not quite the constitution immune to myriad poisons, but at the very least, resistance to the poisons we wield.'
Of course, the people of the Tang Clan boasted superior poison resistance compared to ordinary folk.
Flames could incinerate even toxic miasma. This was thanks to the Three Yangs Return to Origin Art, founded on the profound principles of extreme yang.
But.
'It's woefully inadequate.'
No matter what, poison entering the body still led to poisoning, plain and simple.
Even if one burned it away with extreme yang true energy, that merely halted the poisoning—it wasn't detoxification.
Rumor had it that far in the southern wilds' Poison Valley, there existed a secret art allowing one to ingest poison itself without succumbing.
The Tang Clan, with a mere century of history, stood as the foremost authority on poisons among the Hundred Poisons Schools, yet they lacked such a secret.
'Handling poisons yet risking poisoning from the slightest slip—it's downright laughable.'
This had become Dang Yang's latest obsession.
Artificially forging a constitution that could assimilate poison without poisoning.
Whether by fusing with the poison to dismantle the very notion of toxicity, or by elevating resistance to the extreme so that commonplace poisons held no sway.
Yet Dang Yang's research dragged on fruitlessly.
It was only natural. Poisons harmed life and ravaged the body—crafting a constitution that welcomed them unscathed was no simple feat.
Indeed, it shouldn't be...
"P-P-P-Poison... Immunity...!"
Dang Yang's eyes bulged out. His jaw dropped so wide it ached.
Hundred Poisons Immunity. The constitution impervious to every one of the Tang Clan's hundred poisons.
The hypothetical pinnacle, the ideal physique that Dang Yang had set as his research goal.
"It's definitely Hundred Poisons Immunity! Hundred Poisons Immunity!"
A milestone he wasn't sure he could reach even after a decade—or a lifetime—had materialized right before his eyes.
And all from a mere infusion of energy.
"Baek Gongzi! How in the world did you do it! How!"
Overpowered by Dang Yang's fervor, Yang-hui flinched back a step.
His eyes gleamed with unhinged madness.
"Just an emergency measure... applied Reverse Acupoint Stimulation..."
"The energy! That energy! Gongzi's true qi was the key to Hundred Poisons Immunity! Unbelievable!"
Hundred Poisons Immunity. Even from the name alone, it was clearly a monumental milestone—or vital clue—for the Tang Clan.
This might lead to an actual dissection...
"Elder. Please calm down first."
"Gun-ah! How could I possibly calm down!"
Even Dang Gun, trying to intervene, had ecstasy shining in his eyes.
As if that needed saying.
"Hui dongsaeng. I knew your true qi was extraordinary, but to perfect Hundred Poisons Immunity in one shot..."
Her tone was steady, but her eyes were spinning.
Dang Yeon approached another jar, extracted the late-stage disciple inside, and plunged in herself.
"Hui dongsaeng. Me too."
"Huh?"
"We must verify if it's coincidence or consistency. Do me as well."
"J-Just jumping in unprepared like that... is it safe?"
"Of course not. I'll be poisoned to death shortly. Unless dongsaeng assists."
She'd truly lost it. Her tone stayed calm, but her mind had snapped.
Well, Dang Yeon had inherited the gift for purifying poisons among the late-stage disciples.
No matter that she was the young clan leader's sister—without such fanatical resolve, she never could have achieved her current heights.
"Hurry. My limbs are starting to go numb."
"Alright, got it."
Yang-hui pressed his palm to the center of Dang Yeon's back and infused Harmonious Heaven Immortal Qi.
"Ngh..."
Dang Yeon focused her mind, meticulously cataloging and analyzing the transformations wrought by the Harmonious Heaven Immortal Qi within her.
An energy that unified all into harmony, guiding it toward smooth flow.
Harmonious Heaven Immortal Qi.
Not all poisons were created equal.
Their myriad properties made them increasingly treacherous when mixed, and when the hundred poisons combined, they became a monstrous, ever-mutating abomination beyond control.
But.
'Ah...'
The over hundred invading strands of poison qi began to blend together.
Differing natures merging until they appeared as one.
Yes, not merely felt—seen.
Harmonious Heaven Immortal Qi. An energy that unified into one, leading to smooth flow.
In other words, perfect harmony.
The hundred poisons had become one. Both a hundred and the sole unity.
The reason it could be seen was...
'Poison. Even if different, their essence is poison. One. I see it. The path is clear.'
Unlike Dang Gun, Dang Yeon had yet to reach the pinnacle realm.
Dang Gun had vaulted the pinnacle wall through covert techniques—that is, martial arts.
Dang Yeon sought to erode that wall with poison arts.
As obvious as it was, this was an arduous path.
A martial artist could ascend to the pinnacle human limit through martial arts because martial contained the Dao.
The Dao. The path refined to reach the heavens.
Poison arts were compounding techniques and poisoning methods.
Merely mixing poisons to create new ones and dispersing them easily.
Could poison arts truly harbor a Dao?
'They do. Poison has its Dao.'
A swordmaster ascends to pinnacle and gains sword qi.
Sword qi: slicing all with qi.
A sound practitioner reaches pinnacle and acquires tone transformation.
Tone transformation: freely wielding all sounds with qi.
Then, what of the poison master's pinnacle?
'Qi. Wielding poison with qi. Grasping poison qi.'
Poison qi. Qi poison.
Transmuting material poison into qi form.
The gasification of poison.
"Ah. Aaaah."
Yang-hui's eyebrows twitched upward.
Opening one's mouth mid-infusion was folly.
It could invite qi deviation.
'What's this? I infused as requested, but why...?'
She was clearly in a trance.
Enlightenment striking so abruptly?
'Dangerous.'
The poison liquid was clearing, so no major issues seemed imminent.
'What insight did she gain?'
To reach pinnacle, one needed mind-qi-body unity, the insight of mind birthing wondrous qi, intent rising to man, and sword qi to man.
In Yang-hui's view, Dang Yeon had yet to unify mind-qi-body or gain a substitute for sword qi to man.
'It's not just the Harmonious Heaven Immortal Qi infusion granting enlightenment. I've let her feel it countless times before.'
During years together in Baek Clan Manor, they'd trained side by side hundreds of times.
Thus, it wasn't a sudden revelation from the qi itself.
Yang-hui concentrated, peering into Dang Yeon's internals.
'I see. The insight of unity.'
The ever-shifting energies of the hundred poisons were harmonizing into one.
Not truly unified, but resembling it enough to appear as such.
All pinnacle conditions converged on one truth.
Unity.
Unifying mind-qi-body, harmonizing the three insights.
Becoming one with qi.
Grasping qi's essence.
That was the pinnacle wall.
'And advancing further from oneness with qi...'
He closed his eyes. Scattered his will.
Yet the qi still moved.
Vital Intent Qi. Qi merging with intent to gain life.
Until now, he'd forcibly manifested it via the Seongcheol Sword's power...
'The reason a realm I'd ascended to in my past life was so hard to embody this time, despite knowing it. I get it now.'
He'd known it intellectually, but now it was internalized.
The qi came alive, writhing like a dragon.
Vital Intent Qi—one of the three insights required for super pinnacle.
He had firmly grasped it.
"Fuuu..."
"Fuuu..."
When Yang-hui opened his eyes, the lab had transformed dramatically.
The clan leader and elders now encircled them.
"Gaju-nim? Elders?"
"......"
"......"
No one answered. He scanned the surroundings to assess.
'Yeon noona must've recovered her enlightenment before me.'
She'd even changed clothes and now stood primly beside Dang Gun.
But why was Elder Dang Yang collapsed?
Dang Gun answered his puzzled glance.
"Overjoyed to the point of fainting. Who knew that was possible."
"...Really?"
In other words, he'd discovered something beyond Hundred Poisons Immunity—something even greater.
A chill ran through him. The anxiety of never escaping the Tang Clan surged.
"Up to five is possible."
"Pardon? What?"
"Your wives."
"......"
His anxiety felt on the verge of reality.
"Hui dongsaeng—no, darling."
"Aaack! Don't call me that, Yeon noona!"
"Ahaha, I hate it too. Anyway, you owe us an explanation. I ascended to the pinnacle realm. Through insight into poison."
"What's that?"
"What's that supposed to mean? Do you know how monumental this is! First in Tang Clan history!"
Eh? No way.
In his past life, Dang Gun had undoubtedly reached the realm of wielding poison through qi.
If Dang Gun, who focused on covert arts and earned the Dark Dragon moniker, had that level of poison mastery, then by now, the Tang Clan should've established a martial doctrine on poison and qi.
"It's not that no one pierced the pinnacle wall via poison insight. But I'm the first to gain such a clear, teachable form of it."
"Really?"
"Even achieving Hundred Poisons Immunity to boot. It's proven. Hui dongsaeng's true qi plays a pivotal role in attaining it."
"I see."
Should he pack his bags and head straight home?
This could spell real disaster.
"W-What, then... what is the path?"
The one who spoke softly was the clan leader, Dang Seong.
"The path is the process of approaching the goal. If there's no path to the summit, how could one ever reach it?"
Yang-hui suddenly reflected on the Tang Clan's martial arts.
They were akin to those bestowed by the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Clans.
Knowing the peak existed, yet bereft of any trail—a heavenly curse.
"So much to say. But the first words were decided long ago."
Dang Seong slowly raised both hands. One extended flat, the other clenched into a fist.
An exceedingly reverent clasped-hands salute, brimming with emotion.
"Our gratitude to the benefactor!"
Following Dang Seong's lead, every Tang clansman around simultaneously offered Yang-hui the clasped-hands salute.
"Our gratitude to the benefactor!"
"Our gratitude to the benefactor!"
"Our gratitude to the benefactor!"
Returning the salute, he mused inwardly.
He'd need the full explanation to grasp the details, but this would forge the Baek-Tang alliance into something as ironclad as a blood pact.
'If I'd known, I should've tried True Qi Reverse Acupoint Stimulation on Dang hyung and Yeon noona ages ago.'
He had performed it on Baek Heon-so and the Baek A Squad members the Baek Clan was grooming as next-gen forces.
Training or not, he couldn't thrash the direct descendants of a prestigious house like stray dogs, so he'd skipped Dang Gun and Dang Yeon.
'Who'd have thought True Qi would play such a massive role in poison arts.'
True Qi, which rectified all things, meeting poison arts rooted in harm.
He'd never dreamed their union could yield such staggering results.
'This should accelerate their overhaul of Tang Clan martial arts.'
Called "benefactor" by the clan leader himself—surely peeking at their arts would be permitted?
Once he accessed them, he could transmit them. The biggest hurdle cleared.
"Let's head inside first. We have much to discuss."
As Yang-hui stepped toward the clan leader, Dang Gun quickly interjected.
"Gaju-nim. As the saying goes, any test requires three trials, no? Hui aw, I beg you too."
Dang Gun's eyes sparkled brightly.
If even Dang hyung was this eager, he truly yearned for it.
But today was impossible.
"Dang hyung. I'm out of inner power."
"I... see..."
Disappointment clouded Dang Gun's face.
Yang-hui felt a twinge of guilt.
Well, anyway.
'Looks like I've bestowed something monumental. Should reap equally immense rewards, right?'
The upcoming conversations promised to be utterly delightful.
His lips curled into an involuntary grin.