I Became the Death God-Level Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult

Chapter 10: A Shared Fate

Gurgle.

Before the thought that he should hold his breath could even occur, poison permeated through his mouth, ears, eyes, and skin.

His skin instantly began to turn blackish-purple.

He had jumped into the poison bath to learn poison arts.

It was an action that others would consider insane.

However,

'The work of building up a tolerance to poison is also necessary.'

Furthermore.

It was something he had done dozens, even hundreds of times during his days as Am Yeong.

One had to increase their tolerance to poison to lower the probability of death.

The best way to build tolerance was to experience being poisoned.

In other words, it meant that he had to endure the pain at first.

'To survive, I must absorb as many types of poison as possible.'

Dan Woojin focused his nerves on classifying the poisons in the bath and accepting them naturally.

There was someone watching Dan Woojin in that state.

"......It must be incredibly painful."

It was the All-Encompassing Poison Hand, Sa Iljeong.

'The Seventh Young Master, Dan Woojin.'

He thought there was no way a bastard born as the son of the Cult Leader who had lived without ever performing a single difficult task compared to his other siblings, could endure inside a poison puddle.

Gurgle.

He was enduring.

With his head fully submerged in the poison bath, he was struggling to accept the poison.

Setting aside the matter of holding his breath, poison was continuously flowing into Dan Woojin’s body.

In fact, that method was actually the less painful way.

No matter what kind of poison it was, tolerance was bound to develop if one was continuously poisoned.

Since the All-Encompassing Poison Hand also had no intention of killing the guy who came to learn martial arts from the Poison Demon Sect, he had released a combination of poisons into the puddle that made the tolerance to poison stronger the more one was infected.

This was because increasing tolerance to poison was the most important first step to mastering the martial arts of the Poison Demon Sect.

Despite the fact that he could not have known this intention, Dan Woojin was enduring the poison.

A guy with such a strong spirit was a first, with the exception of the Young Sect Leader.

'With that much spirit...'

There was a possibility.

The Poison Demon Sect was also in a situation where they had to choose a person to become the Young Cult Leader candidate.

In such a situation, Dan Woojin was the only one among the seven candidates who approached the Poison Demon Sect with an open heart.

"Hall Master."

At that moment, someone approached Sa Iljeong.

"Young Sect Leader."

It was the Young Sect Leader of the Poison Demon Sect, Sa Hyeongseol.

* * *

Sa Hyeongseol was a guy obsessed with poison.

Handling poison was a daily routine for him.

Most people feared poison, and Sa Hyeongseol, who liked poison, naturally ended up distanced from people.

Simply because he was from the Poison Demon Sect, Sa Hyeongseol was rejected by everyone.

'The Seventh Young Master is... a bit different.'

Sa Hyeongseol was looking at Dan Woojin with curiosity.

The poison bath was a place that even the poison practitioners of the Poison Demon Sect found difficult to enter easily.

His skin was turning blue, but Dan Woojin did not even seem to have the thought that he should go outside.

He could not believe it at all.

A person who did not dislike poison and did not fear it was a first, with the exception of Sa Hyeongseol himself.

'The poison must be infiltrating...'

The time was approaching when it would gradually become difficult to endure for someone who had not mastered poison arts.

Most martial artists could induce their True Qi to expel the Poison Qi that entered their bodies.

However, that was only possible when the path through which the poison entered was clear.

Currently, because Dan Woojin was submerged in a poison puddle, the poison was entering his body through his skin and every hole that was open, such as his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.

Taking this point into account, a warrior who had not mastered poison arts would be poisoned and die in an instant.

The opponent was the youngest son of the Cult Leader.

Sa Hyeongseol knew well that he was a person who must not die in such a place.

He intended to provide help if a dangerous-looking moment arrived.

However,

'He is still enduring?'

His skin was certainly turning blue, but the Seventh Young Master clearly looked peaceful.

Curiosity swirled in Sa Hyeongseol’s eyes at a reaction that was distinctly different from those he had seen until now.

'Hmm?'

Then, Sa Hyeongseol saw that the poisons that had entered Dan Woojin’s body were moving.

'That movement is...'

Having mastered poison arts, Sa Hyeongseol could grasp the movement of the poisons that had entered Dan Woojin’s body.

After confirming that movement, Sa Hyeongseol could not help but be surprised.

'Just what kind of life has he lived?'

Sa Hyeongseol had never seen a person like him in his entire life.

'He is not resisting the poison... he is accepting it.'

One could not show such a reaction unless they were someone who had encountered poison quite a lot.

'He possesses a tolerance to poison?'

It was a blessed body.

If not that, it meant he had encountered a lot of poison since he was young.

— Hyeongseol, this is information on the seven Young Cult Leader candidates. We don't know who will come to our Poison Demon Sect, so familiarize yourself with all of them.

Sa Hyeongseol clearly remembered the information his father had delivered.

— The youngest son of the Cult Leader, the Seventh Young Master Dan Woojin, is a candidate whose probability of becoming the Young Cult Leader is close to zero, possessing a timid personality and a weak body. You must never get involved with that bastard!

The information was wrong.

The Dan Woojin Sa Hyeongseol saw was either someone with experience encountering numerous poisons.

Or, if not that...

'He possesses a unique constitution through which even poison cannot penetrate...'

A genius.

'If it is this person...'

The thought that they could have a talk began to dominate Sa Hyeongseol’s mind.

* * *

"Pu-ha!"

Dan Woojin, who had absorbed as much poison as possible, soon climbed out of the poison bath.

'It was doable.'

Once fifteen minutes had passed since he entered the poison bath, Dan Woojin felt that his body had definitely adapted to the poison.

Since he had already had such experiences, he knew well how to control Poison Qi.

Poison has a characteristic of trying to infiltrate the body more the more one resists it.

Therefore, one does not resist, but accepts it.

This is why experience is important.

Although it was the first poison he had accepted with this body, Dan Woojin’s "brain" recognized the experience of being poisoned.

The signals sent from the brain controlled how the body should move to survive.

Based on those signals, Dan Woojin accepted the poison.

Once tolerance was developed and confidence was gained, he began to control the poison.

In other words, he succeeded in surviving.

'Building up tolerance to poison and learning poison arts.'

Was it not killing two birds with one stone?

'If I grab the Bone Melting Powder here and finish recruiting the Young Sect Leader of the Poison Demon Sect while I am at it.'

He could recruit one of the Seven Great Demon Sects as Dan Woojin’s power base.

It was also part of the first trial given by the Heavenly Demon.

Since he could not face the spies that appeared in Qinghai Province alone, it meant he should cooperate with the Seven Great Demon Sects.

Dan Woojin did not prefer acting alone.

With so many enemies to face, he could not face all those enemies alone.

The Seven Great Demon Sects would become Dan Woojin’s supporting force.

This was the same for the other Young Cult Leader candidates.

'I must make the first move before my brothers and sisters target the Poison Demon Sect.'

The other siblings would each be in a state of having recruited one of the Seven Great Demon Sects.

In that sense, choosing the Poison Demon Sect was a very good choice.

'Currently, they are receiving the worst treatment among the Seven Great Demon Sects, but...'

It would change.

His brothers and sisters would also realize the importance of poison.

If recruiting the Poison Demon Sect was the first step, the second step was to wipe out the forces of the Murim Alliance that had appeared in Qinghai Province.

In this regard, Dan Woojin could also receive much help from the Poison Demon Sect.

'Anyway, I was worried about what to do if I died from poisoning, but...'

There was no problem at all.

It seemed the saying that the body moves based on the head was true.

As he came out of the poison bath, someone else was standing next to the All-Encompassing Poison Hand.

He realized instinctively.

'It is the Young Sect Leader.'

The All-Encompassing Poison Hand spoke to Dan Woojin, who was still floating in the poison bath.

"You are quite something. Have you had much experience encountering poison?"

"This is the first time I have fallen into such a poison bath."

The eyes of the All-Encompassing Poison Hand flashed at the sight of Dan Woojin, who was not struggling at all even though quite a bit of time had passed.

"Young Sect Leader."

"Yes, Hall Master."

"I wish to hear your judgment regarding the Seventh Young Master."

At the words of the All-Encompassing Poison Hand, Dan Woojin looked back at Sa Hyeongseol.

The Young Sect Leader of the Poison Demon Sect, Sa Hyeongseol, had watched Dan Woojin’s appearance just now.

The Patriarchs of the Seven Great Demon Sects would have the intention of choosing one of the Young Cult Leader candidates to line up for the future.

Naturally, if there was a candidate who reached out first, the Poison Demon Sect was grateful from their perspective.

Although they did not expect that person would be the Seventh Young Master, who seemed to have the least possibility of becoming the Young Cult Leader,

"He is a type of human I am seeing for the first time."

"I agree."

"However, it is quite amusing. To the point where I feel I want to be with the Seventh Young Master."

"Is that true?"

"Yes."

Sa Hyeongseol’s answer was simple.

For some reason, Sa Hyeongseol seemed to have taken a liking to Dan Woojin.

"What is the reason?"

Because he spoke while cutting out the beginning and end, the All-Encompassing Poison Hand asked for the reason behind Sa Hyeongseol’s judgment.

"Because he survived."

At those words from Sa Hyeongseol, the All-Encompassing Poison Hand fell silent.

It was a correct statement.

Survival of the fittest.

Only those who adapted to the environment survived.

This content, which could be called the first principle of the Demonic Cult, was applied just the same to the Poison Demon Sect.

If one could adapt to poison, they survive, and if they could not adapt, they die.

Those who mastered poison arts especially lived with death nearby.

If Dan Woojin did not have tolerance for poison, he could have died young right here.

"And it seems his understanding of poison is high. To the point where I want to have a discussion about poison."

Dan Woojin wore a bitter smile at the sight of Sa Hyeongseol, whose eyes were shining brightly.

As Am Yeong, who was an assassin, he had quite a profound knowledge of poison.

There would be no great problem in having a conversation.

Nevertheless.

'It is somewhat burdensome.'

The Young Sect Leader of the Poison Demon Sect was showing goodwill.

He should think of it as a clearly good thing, and yet.

— The Poison Madman, Sa Hyeongseol. Being with that bastard makes me feel like I am being poisoned just by being next to him.

Why did the words that the Black Shadow Captain Gu Won used to say in passing during the days as Am Yeong come to mind?

"Then I shall ask the Seventh Young Master now. How did you survive? Did you originally have a tolerance to poison?"

At the question from the All-Encompassing Poison Hand, Dan Woojin answered.

"It just happened."

He could not say that he had received a lot of training to build up poison resistance in the past.

In any case, surviving was surviving, and it was a fact that he was poisoned.

He had to quickly circulate his energy to drive out the Poison Qi.

"Haha, it just happened you say. In that case, I shall ask just one more thing. Why was it the Poison Demon Sect?"

He was not talking about survival.

The All-Encompassing Poison Hand was asking why he did not head for another of the Seven Great Demon Sects but came to the Poison Demon Sect and said he would learn poison arts.

The answer came quickly.

"Because we are in the same situation."

He thought the Poison Demon Sect would be able to empathize with the Seventh Young Master, Dan Woojin.

And it seemed that thought hit the mark exactly.

"Please come outside and start circulating your Qi first."

At Sa Hyeongseol’s proposal, Dan Woojin was only then able to come out of the poison bath and begin circulating his energy.

Wooong—

'Hmm?'

The moment he sat in a cross-legged position and began circulating his energy,

He felt a strange energy in his Dantian.