[You bastard!]
Eventually, as his hands grew frantic, the Poison King puffed up his cheeks like a toad.
Then, from behind him, black mist spread out, turning the entire world pitch black.
—Uweeeek.
The moment the Poison King spewed his poison, even the poison users dozens of zhang away began vomiting or trembling in agony.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
However, Bu Eunseol continued unfolding his sword technique without any concern.
[My poison doesn’t work on him?]
The Poison King widened his eyes in disbelief.
In truth, he had made a fatal mistake.
When he used one of the Four Poisons, Demon Flower, to momentarily knock Bu Eunseol unconscious, he should have immediately cut off his head. Instead, the Poison King kidnapped Hye Myo-eum and Seong-ah once more and leisurely waited for Bu Eunseol to wake up.
He believed he could subdue him anytime.
But Bu Eunseol had already stepped into the initial stage of the Poison Body realm. Once he endured the Demon Flower poison, no other poison art could affect him anymore unless it was even stronger.
[Why isn’t he using any poison arts?]
A strange question suddenly occurred to the Poison King.
Judging by how he had even withstood Demon Flower, Bu Eunseol must have surely completed the Poison Body. Then why was he only using sword techniques and not deploying any poison arts?
Even as his doubts deepened, Bu Eunseol continued relentlessly cutting down the poison users.
Ziiing, ziiing.
The more the Poison King’s poisonous energy was absorbed into Bu Eunseol’s body, the more a faint light repeatedly appeared and disappeared on his skin. At the same time, an enormous amount of internal energy—almost too much to handle—began surging throughout his entire body.
‘Since he can’t release the absorbed poisonous energy as poison arts, it keeps converting into true energy.’
In fact, he had never intended to become a poison user.
When there was no way to detoxify the deadly poisons that the Martial Venerable had planted in the peak experts, he came up with the extremely risky idea of absorbing all the poisons himself and then finding a way to neutralize them.
Using the Return of Power to Truth and Fusion and Nurturing of Qi methods from the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, he began converting the poisonous energy absorbed by his whole body into true energy and accumulating it.
However, the poisons he absorbed included the worst of the worst—the Heavenly Three Poisons, which encompassed the ancient deadly poisons. Through the fusion of these unimaginably extreme poisons, he reached the supreme realm known as the Poison Body.
In other words, despite never having learned or properly trained in any poison arts, he had ascended to the rank of Poison Saint.
It was truly an unprecedented and bizarre event in the history of the martial world.
Flash! Rumble! Chiii!
As the Poison King continuously moved his ten fingers to block Bu Eunseol’s sword techniques, pale smoke gradually rose from his body.
Every time his body came into contact with sword strikes containing Thunder Spirit Energy, the poisonous energy gathered inside him scattered chaotically.
[Ugh…]
A murderous light flickered in the Poison King’s eyes.
Realizing he could no longer handle the young man head-on, he decided to unleash his hidden trump card.
[Fine!]
He activated his ultimate secret technique, created by fusing the essence of the poison arts he had devoted his entire life to with the shamanistic auxiliary studies from the Cheonchuk secret arts.
It was an ultimate power that transcended even the Poison Body realm.
Rumble.
Suddenly, the Poison King’s massive body seemed to be enveloped by a curtain, and then—
Whiiiing!
His entire form began transforming into a whirlwind.
A pitch-black vortex capable of devouring everything spun violently, and at its center, only the Poison King’s face floated like a specter.
The sight resembled a nightmare monster descending upon the collapse of reality.
The constantly spinning vortex with a head floating inside it was utterly grotesque.
It was so horrifying and terrifying that even the bravest person would not dare look directly at it.
“Poison arts don’t work.”
[Did you think I could only use poison arts?]
From the spinning vortex, with only his head poking out, the Poison King spoke in a voice like a massive bell.
[I have unfolded my ultimate. You will never be able to touch my Dharma Body.]
He let out a sinister laugh.
[Go ahead and attack.]
Flash!
Bu Eunseol shot a lightning-fast cross sword energy into the black vortex.
However, the Star Ring Shadow was no ordinary poisonous wind.
It was a living entity with its own will and an absolute defensive sorcery that could not be broken by any martial art.
Between the endlessly rotating fine spiral black flows, red and purple flashes flickered chaotically.
The moment the cross sword energy touched its boundary, a burst of light from the vortex twisted the sword energy and made it vanish without a trace into the black space in the blink of an eye.
Shwaaak! Shwa-shwa-shwa-shwa!
Once again, over a hundred and eighty sword energies poured out.
He had unfolded the Heon Won Bright Sword, which allowed him to release a large number of sword energies at once.
Giiiing.
In that instant, the Poison King’s face at the center of the vortex disappeared, and darkness like thick storm clouds flowed out, beginning to swallow the sword energies like living tentacles.
It looked as if a transcendent being living at the edge of the universe was devouring the sword energies.
“Limitless Martial Technique.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize that the Star Ring Shadow was the Poison King Garama’s Endless Martial Technique.
“To have reached such incredible martial prowess, why did you become a subordinate of the True Demon?”
[Are you speaking of the Great One?]
When Bu Eunseol deliberately praised the martial arts, the Poison King replied in a voice full of pride.
[I am not his subordinate. I merely assisted a little with his research. After all, poison arts are ultimately a method of perfecting the body through poison.]
In short, he had sought to make the vast knowledge accumulated over generations by the True Demon’s subordinates—and even the powerful bodies of the new bloodline—his own.
‘How do I destroy that technique?’
Bu Eunseol carefully observed the black vortex and the Poison King, who was completely hidden within the Star Ring Shadow.
‘It’s not simply letting attacks pass through. Various forces are swirling inside.’
The Poison King’s Endless Martial Technique operated on principles different from those of the Central Plains martial arts, making it difficult to find a way to counter it.
Having read Bu Eunseol’s thoughts, the Poison King laughed confidently.
[No matter how hard you stare, it’s useless. My Star Ring Shadow cannot be broken.]
He continued.
[In the Central Plains, they say there are the Three Demons and Three Lords besides the Twin Heavenly Emperors, right? But if I had been there, that name would have changed.]
It was not mere arrogance.
Although he could not surpass the Three Demons and Three Venerables, it was true that his level was so outstanding that no one at the Extreme Heavenly realm could match him.
[I have a question for you as well.]
The black vortex floating in the air with the Poison King’s face said,
[How did a child who had been perfectly transformed into a new bloodline by the Soul Reincarnation Spirit return to his original state?]
“Soul Reincarnation Spirit?”
[There’s no need to pretend you don’t know.]
The Poison King spoke in a relaxed voice.
[I’m simply curious how you broke the secret art that the ‘Great One’s’ servants claimed was absolute.]
Soul Reincarnation Spirit.
It seemed to be the name of the sorcery that turned Seong-ah into a new bloodline.
Even Bu Eunseol, who was well-versed in great laws, had never heard the term before, so it was clearly an ancient secret technique.
“There’s nothing for you to know.”
[Is that so.]
The Poison King clicked his tongue in disappointment.
[I suppose I’ll get an answer once I pull out your limbs one by one.]
Snap!
A finger-snapping sound came from the black vortex.
Saaaaah.
At the same time, red mist flowing from the black vortex began to engulf Bu Eunseol in an instant.
—Huuuuuuu.
From within the red mist, sounds like the wailing of the dead spread out.
And every time that sobbing sound reached his ears, the faces of the countless martial artists Bu Eunseol had defeated so far rose in his mind.
Karmic Fire Poison Mist.
One of the four original poisons created by the Poison King, who had reached the final edge of the Poison Body realm, was being unleashed once again.
—Huuuuuuu.
The wailing continued without end.
It was a heart poison that even the impervious to ten thousand poisons could not block, instantly weakening both mind and body by forcibly recalling all the sins and evil deeds one had committed in life.
Clank.
Meanwhile, the martial artists carrying the coffin with Seong-ah began moving again.
[No matter how great your martial arts are, you cannot withstand my poison.]
The Poison King looked at Bu Eunseol, who had frozen stiff without moving a finger, and spoke in a low voice.
[Take that one with you too.]
“Hmph.”
At that moment, along with a snort,
Shwaaak!
Bu Eunseol ignored the sorrowful wailing filled with karma and broke through the Karmic Fire Poison Mist, beginning to cut down the martial artists approaching him.
[No…]
the Poison King, watching the scene, opened his mouth in shock.
[The Karmic Fire Poison Mist doesn’t work…? Does that mean he has nothing weighing on his mind at all?]
The Karmic Fire Poison Mist constantly brought back the evil deeds and sins one had committed, while greatly amplifying any guilt felt during one’s life. Therefore, it was a technique that no martial artist who took slaughter as their karma could possibly endure.
If there were any exceptions, there were only two types:
The greatest evil under heaven who committed atrocities without feeling any guilt whatsoever, and the greatest hero under heaven who had lived without committing any sin and could look up at the sky without a single shred of shame.
[Don’t tell me you’ve never done a single shameful thing in your life?]
“That can’t be.”
Bu Eunseol snorted at the Poison King’s words.
There was no human who had never done anything that caused guilt or shame.
For him, the greatest regret of his life was not listening to his grandfather’s words to abandon the Hwagolsan.
“All things in the world simply flow according to cause and effect.”
[But you’re a martial artist, so you must have killed people, right?]
In response to the Poison King’s shout, Bu Eunseol replied calmly,
“Was there ever right or wrong in the fights of the martial world?”
While walking the martial world, Bu Eunseol had deeply felt and realized his grandfather’s teachings.
Excluding human scum like bandits, lust demons, and murderers who committed evil from the start, the martial world was not a place where people killed each other over right and wrong.
It was simply that, according to each person’s beliefs or goals, they sometimes became enemies and had to cut each other down.
In the end, every event had a cause, and a result followed.
“It is not the act itself that is evil—only the consequences it brings exist.”
Hadn’t martial artists long called the martial world heartless?
If he had felt guilt over killing enemies, Bu Eunseol would have given up on revenge long ago.
[What an interesting fellow has come.]
Even though the Karmic Fire Poison Mist had no effect, the Poison King instead spoke in a delighted voice.
[Until now, I have never seen anyone endure more than two of my Four Poisons.]
Having reached the highest stage of the Poison Body realm, the Poison King had created four poisons that did not exist in the world… yet he had never met a master worthy of using all of them.
[I hope you will entertain me well.]
Along with the Poison King’s infinitely low voice, a black lotus flower bloomed beneath Bu Eunseol’s feet. At the same time, the energy within Bu Eunseol’s body scattered, and his skin began turning transparent.
Five Aggregates Crystal.
It was a poison art that eroded the body, erased the senses, halted imagination, stopped the workings of the mind, and finally caused one to lose consciousness in a single breath.
[Even if you have entered the Poison Body realm, you cannot block the Five Aggregates Crystal.]
The Poison King’s triumphant voice rang out.
The Five Aggregates Crystal was a poison that was not a poison. Even a Poison Body who was struck by it would inevitably have their body collapse. It was effectively the Poison King’s strongest poison art.
Shuuuuu.
In an instant, pale smoke rose from Bu Eunseol’s body, which had stopped moving.
Then, the Poison King’s subordinates once again drew their sharp poisoned blades and surrounded him.
[There is no need to kill him.]
The Poison King spoke leisurely to his subordinates in the Cheonchuk language.
[He will soon turn into a blood servant anyway…]
But his words did not continue to the end.
Shwaak! Paat!
Bu Eunseol, who had briefly stopped moving, was once again slaughtering the martial artists surrounding him as if nothing had happened.
Thud, thud.
Having once more toppled a large force of poison users, Bu Eunseol wore a mocking smile.
“After all, the only thing you can do is spray poison from inside that black vortex.”
The Poison King was so shocked that he could not even answer.
He had already guessed from the beginning that Bu Eunseol had stepped into the Poison Body realm, not merely possessing the impervious-to-ten-thousand-poisons or Poison Body.
Otherwise, he would have already turned into a handful of blood servant from the strange poisons spreading from the Star Ring Shadow.
But the Five Aggregates Crystal was different.
Poison users who synthesized, generated, or stored poison within their bodies all possessed bodily organs and metabolic systems different from ordinary people.
The Five Aggregates Crystal specifically destroyed the altered metabolism and deformed organs of such poison users.
Therefore, even someone who had reached the Poison Body realm could not possibly survive unscathed.
Yet how was he enduring it so calmly?
[What exactly are you?]
The Poison King could not understand.
[Even a Poison Body cannot block the Five Aggregates Crystal. Why is your poison art not being destroyed?]
“Poison art?”
Bu Eunseol frowned.
“Why would I learn such miscellaneous tricks?”
[What?]
The Poison King, crouched within the Star Ring Shadow, widened his eyes.
[You… didn’t learn poison arts…?]
Only then did he realize.
Even though Bu Eunseol had reached the Poison Body realm and possessed the ability to detoxify or create poisons, he had not learned any poison arts at all.
[A Poison Body who didn’t learn poison arts? What kind of nonsense is that!]
—A person who reached the Poison Body realm without learning poison arts.
This was a bizarre event that had never occurred once in the history of the martial world.
Even the poison master Garama could not comprehend or accept it.
“It seems you have no other methods.”
Bu Eunseol spoke leisurely.
“Why don’t you just keep hiding in that round mist and spraying poison?”
He had already seen through everything.
Just like the Ghost King of the Ghost King Valley in the past, the Poison King was a person who greatly feared getting injured or taking risks in battle against enemies.
That was why the Endless Martial Technique called Star Ring Shadow had manifested.
“I’ll just keep cutting down the poison users here!”
Flash!
As if deliberately provoking the Poison King’s pride, Bu Eunseol unleashed tremendous sword energy while cutting down the poison users.
‘They’ve set up a formation.’
However, because their numbers were enormous and they were deploying a powerful formation, he still could not reach the area where those carrying Seong-ah and Hye Myo-eum were.
But it didn’t matter.
It would simply take a little more time.
All he had to do was cut down all the tens of thousands of troops on the plain.
[You bastard!]
In the meantime, the Poison King continuously unfolded the Five Aggregates Crystal, but it had no effect at all.
[Fine.]
Eventually, only the face revealed from the black vortex had its two eyes turn blood-red.
[I will use the Demon Soul Severing immediately.]
The Demon Soul Severing was the greatest poison the Poison King had created.
It rapidly accelerated the time of the body, causing the essence of the power existing within it to rapidly dissipate.
Whether one was impervious to ten thousand poisons or possessed the greatest internal energy under heaven, all power within the body would disappear. Once exposed to this poison, the physical body would instantly become an empty shell.
Rumble.
A black-stained tornado rose around Bu Eunseol, connecting the ground and the sky.
Shuuuk.
At the same time, black mist dug into his nose.
Without any chance to dodge or defend, the Demon Soul Severing poison was forcibly absorbed into his body.
Ziiing, ziiing.
Bu Eunseol’s body repeatedly flickered like a star.
This was because the Demon Soul Severing poison was rapidly extinguishing all the power within his body.
Rumble.
The moment Bu Eunseol briefly stopped moving, the Poison King’s subordinates seized the opportunity and continued their attack, brandishing their weapons.
[Hahaha!]
The Poison King burst into mad laughter.
[Leave him be. I will leisurely watch as he turns into a dried-up shell.]
The subordinates stopped attacking and surrounded Bu Eunseol, carefully observing him.
Flash! Paaa!
But an unexpected situation occurred.
Bu Eunseol, who should have withered and died like a dried mackerel as all the power in his body was extinguished, was instead emitting even more intense sword energy.
Paaa! Shririk!
On the contrary, unlike before, his sword technique now mixed with a strange poison, completely devastating not only the subordinates nearby but also everything within eighty zhang.
Drip.
All the vegetation withered and died, and the rocks turned pitch black.
The poison contained in the sword energy was so vicious that the poison users within eighty zhang melted into a mushy liquid, leaving not even their clothes behind.
[How…?]
The Poison King’s bewildered cry spread from within the Star Ring Shadow vortex.
Regardless of his shock, Bu Eunseol continued indiscriminately cutting down the Poison King’s subordinates.
‘All of the Poison King’s poison arts were actually counterproductive for me.’
Bu Eunseol’s body contained extreme yin and extreme yang energy, the Three Divine Energies, the power of the Baekri Family sealed in the abyss, the unknown power blocking the Baihui acupoint, the Primordial Hidden Qi, and even the power injected by the Ancient Sword Forest Lord…
It was truly the most complex and terrifying mixture of energies in the world.
No matter how much the Demon Soul Severing was the Poison King’s greatest creation, in reality it could only simultaneously extinguish about five types of energy.
Although it was said to be five, there was no one in the martial world who possessed five different energies in their body…
Thus, he could confidently call it a poison that destroyed all power.
However, Bu Eunseol’s body contained more than five—and extremely powerful—energies that were rare to find matches for in the world.
Therefore, no matter how deeply the Demon Soul Severing penetrated, it could not extinguish all the body’s power at once.
Instead, it ended up injecting yet another strange poison into Bu Eunseol, further deepening his Poison Body realm.
Shiiik! Paaaaa!
Unconsciously, Bu Eunseol was incorporating the Demon Soul Severing poison injected into his body into his sword energy and unleashing it.
As a result, the Poison King’s subordinates nearby died without even being able to scream, turning into empty shells.
They tried to resist with their mysterious formation and poison arts, but they could not withstand Bu Eunseol, who emitted a poison that even a Poison Body could not block while simultaneously pouring out sword techniques that had reached the pinnacle.
Thud, thud.
Before long, half of the troops under the Poison King stationed on the plain had been split apart and shattered by the sword energy, or had turned into mushy pools of blood.
Those lucky enough to be outside the range of the sword momentum had their skin melting away to reveal bone, or were kneeling while endlessly vomiting black liquid from their mouths.
By combining the poisonous energy within his body with his sword technique, its power had surpassed imagination.
Tremble.
The surviving poison users had lost all will to resist and were shaking in terror.
Some could not even endure the fear and stabbed themselves in the throat.
Bu Eunseol, wrapped in red radiance while unleashing poison and sword energy, looked like King Yama himself in human form.
