Chapter 176
When I came to, I was back in the secret chamber of the Ghost Shadow Thief—more precisely, the small room where his coffin lay.
As soon as I grasped the situation, I spoke to Sama Yuryeon, who must have brought me here while I was unconscious.
“Sama Yuryeon.”
“Ugh! Why did the Poison Demon have to show up here of all places? Judging by how he left all the luggage we painstakingly carried behind, it seems his only goal was the Flying Butterfly Poison Sealing Cloth... Seriously, how can someone be this unlucky?”
“Can you hear me?”
“Ugh! I just wanted a breather away from that cursed household, and now look at me...!”
Was it shock? Or could she genuinely not hear me? Sama Yuryeon wandered around the small room, muttering to herself.
So, I pulled out the Lotus Token I had received from the Black Lotus Sect Master and held it up to her face.
“Huh?! That’s…???”
Only then did Sama Yuryeon regain her composure, and I continued speaking. “I have a favor to ask.”
“That Lotus Token is tempting, but if it’s that dangerous, I’ll pass. Things are already plenty dangerous as they are.”
“You don’t need to worry about the Poison Demon killing you. He’s only interested in Tang Sowol to begin with. And this isn’t a particularly dangerous task.”
After saying that, I casually tossed the Lotus Token to her. She caught it on reflex and stared blankly. Meanwhile, I quickly checked my physical condition.
I wasn’t at full strength. The poison from the Seven Treasures Soul-Severing Powder had been purged, but the internal injuries remained.
In truth, my wounds were bad enough that I should be recovering for at least a month. But I had a way to speed up the process.
I took out the elixirs I had originally intended to return to their rightful owners and began swallowing them one by one.
Each was from a reputable martial sect and classified at least as mid-tier or higher. Enough to put out the immediate fire.
“A-Are you insane?! Why are you taking all of that by yourself?! You’re wasting their effects, and now we’ve lost our bargaining chips…”
“But I’ll be able to swing a sword again. Hand over the Phantom Spirit Pellet (환령단) too.”
“Ah… So your ‘favor’ was to take the Phantom Spirit Pellet back?”
I swallowed the pellet in one go and shook my head.
“On top of that, I need you to run an errand.”
“An errand…?”
“Go to the Tang Clan. Tell them Tang Sowol was taken by the Poison Demon and that I’m heading to the Heavenly Poison Sect right now.”
“W-Wait a minute. Are you saying you’re going to defeat the Poison Demon alone?”
“There’s no time. After delivering my message and the luggage to the Tang Clan, don’t return to the Sama family—head to the Black Lotus Sect instead.”
“You already lost once in a one-on-one fight with the Poison Demon. What makes you think storming the Heavenly Poison Sect will be any different?! This is suicide!”
“If I say I sent you, the Sect Master won’t turn you away. Whether you end up working as a strategist or a clerk, that’s your call. The Sect Master treasures her people. It’ll be enough to get you out of the grip of the Sama family.”
“Hello? Are you even listening?”
“If you accept, take the token and go to the Tang Clan. If not, return it.”
“You’re really going to die, you know?! Maybe not from the Poison Demon, but from overdosing on all those elixirs!”
“Die, huh…”
What surfaced in my mind was the final scene I witnessed before the regression.
Overwhelming demonic energy engulfed the sky, crushing Tang Sowol’s poison, and then her heart was pierced.
Seol Lihyang, Seo Mun-Hwarin, and Tang Sowol—they all left behind the same words in their final moments: “Live.”
But I didn’t obey. Even knowing it meant death, I swung my sword at the Heavenly Demon.
The reason was simple.
Even if I survived that moment, it meant nothing.
What difference is there between living a hollow life and being dead?
“What I truly fear is not death.”
Words I could only say because I had died once.
Perhaps it was because I had dreamed of Tang Sowol—remembered the moment just before death.
The killing intent I normally kept in check began to leak out uncontrollably.
Sama Yuryeon, no matter how low her martial attainment, couldn’t fail to notice this.
Her gaze weighed heavily.
“Those eyes... You’re serious.”
“I’ve always been serious.”
“Understood. I accept the conditions… but I can’t do any more than this.”
“Anyone hearing you would think you’re desperate to help. Don’t worry—I won’t ask for more.”
“Even if I wanted to help... geez.”
Sama Yuryeon, now carrying my share of the luggage, let out a long sigh.
“I hope we get to meet again. With the Sky-Winged Poison Phoenix too.”
That was the last thing she said as she climbed the stairs and left.
Though she was a little clumsy and overly sentimental now—unlike her pre-regression self—the core of her hadn’t changed.
She always kept her promises. I didn’t need to worry about her stealing supplies and running off.
As the effects of the elixirs began to kick in, I felt my energy rampaging like a wild beast and sat in meditation.
Their nature, purity, and additional functions varied, but I had never been picky about elixirs.
The internal energy cultivated from the Raging Wave Death-Stealing Art was far from pure, and even the coarsest energies weren’t enough to overpower the killing intent embedded in my cultivation.
“Hoo…”
Taking a deep breath, I settled into a seated meditation posture.
It didn’t take long to recover from my injuries.
Of course, consuming more than a dozen different elixirs all at once is a madman’s act.
Though I had managed to calm the rampaging energy, strictly speaking, I hadn’t absorbed it—I was merely keeping it from exploding.
Normally, I’d need to spend a long time slowly refining it into my Dantian... but I didn’t have that luxury.
So I spread the energy throughout my meridians, using it gradually as I leapt across the land with light footwork, heading straight for Yunnan Province where the Heavenly Poison Sect resided.
Having recovered most of my pre-regression martial prowess, I could run faster and longer than any horse. Without rest, I reached my destination in less than three days.
In the process, I burned off most of the unstable elixir energy that had felt like it might burst my meridians.
Even so, I couldn’t relax.
The Poison Demon surely knew he couldn’t stay in the Central Plains long after abducting Tang Sowol.
He must have rushed back to the Heavenly Poison Sect just as quickly.
After another half-day of running, a massive pavilion appeared in the distance.
Not quite the scale of the Murim Alliance or the Black Lotus Sect’s main compound, but still far beyond what one would expect from an ordinary sect. A five-story building sprawling across a wide area.
Yunnan was far from the imperial reach, allowing them to flaunt their power openly.
Perhaps, having absorbed the remnants of the Five Poisons Sect, they needed to assert their authority and pride.
Either way, I would reduce it all to ashes.
I walked slowly, checking my condition.
Much of the energy used for movement hadn’t been refined into my Dantian, but had instead served as temporary fuel. My body was brimming with strength.
On the other hand, having run nonstop for three days and nights, my nerves were fraying… but that was just right, considering what I was about to do.
I looked up at the sky one last time.
The sky, tinged with gray, looked ready to pour rain at any moment, and even in broad daylight, the sunlight scattered and faded behind the clouds.
Today, the air pressing down on my shoulders felt unusually heavy.
In contrast, the emotions that had been dormant until now began to rise as I stood before the Heavenly Poison Sect.
The boundary between past and present blurred.
Though my regressed body bore no trace, in my memory and in my heartscape, the poison called Tang Sowol had taken root.
The clumsy confession. The desperate gestures. That infuriating pride, the revenge she never abandoned, and even that vague promise we made beneath a dim moon on a day just like today.
No one else might remember—but to me, it was as vivid as if it happened yesterday.
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped me. Was I drunk on the memory, or on my own bloodlust?
My body staggered of its own accord, not from will, but from the weight of emotion.
As past and present overlapped and my vision distorted, only my feelings remained clear.
Love. Regret. Despair. Rage. Longing. And killing intent.
Originally, Tang Sowol and I were like two matching pieces of a puzzle.
We each had wounds, and we could soothe each other’s pain.
Without Tang Sowol, I had no reason to wield a sword. And she, without me, had no reason to live.
We could only be whole with each other.
Even if, through the turn of time, this became a delusion only I remembered—something I could never share.
Even so, Tang Sowol was the piece embedded deepest within me.
Just knowing she wasn’t by my side now… that alone was enough to break me.
So I will take her back.
Even if it means walking the Path of Asura I’ve so long resisted.
Ffwoosh!
The killing intent that had only simmered within me now exploded outward, engulfing the area.
“W-What the...?!”
“Kuhugh!”
Two Heavenly Poison Sect guards clutched their throats and trembled.
Frozen stiff, unable to resist, I cut their necks cleanly.
Ssskuk...
Two heads rolled across the ground. Now alerted, more of their warriors rushed out, but they met the same fate.
Some were struck down unaware. Others died trying to flee.
The unrestrained killing aura spread further and further, intensifying with each breath.
Sensing the danger, Heavenly Poison Sect experts began to appear one after another.
“You bastard! Do you know where you are—?! Wait, he’s no ordinary man! Spread out and focus only on poisoning him!”
They were all masters at the Peak Stage, and yet, the moment they met my gaze, they panicked and released clouds of poison.
As expected of the Poison Demon’s subordinates, the toxins were potent, designed to bypass the resistances commonly developed in the Central Plains—especially in the Tang Clan.
But they would not touch me.
The reason poison masters like Tang Sowol and Tang Jincheon are immune to all poisons is simple—their bodies are already filled with it. There’s no room for more.
Before the regression, Tang Sowol had said: if poison destroys the body, and inner demons destroy the mind, then the two are not fundamentally different.
Though she spoke of her own poison at the Flowering Stage, I took it to mean something else.
If inner demons enveloped not just the mind, but the body as well—if one completely succumbed to madness—then perhaps no other poison could enter.
I stopped resisting the inner demon I had slowly been drawing out.
I gave up control over my killing intent, surrendering to instinct.
My vision narrowed. My mind dulled, as if intoxicated.
But my purpose became even clearer.
“I will cut them down.”
The stench of burning flesh filled my nose.
This place was now the ruins of a shattered wall.
A pavilion in flames.
A moonlit midnight garden where Tang Sowol’s face blocked the full moon.
To reach Tang Sowol—
Four more floors.