Chapter 46
Chapter 46: The One Who Eats Poison, Becomes Poison (1)
[Past Life Gangho]
Only after escaping the Sacheondang Family of Sichuan Province did I finally understand.
How vast the world truly was.
Whoooosh—.
A sinister wind was blowing through Demon Wind Manor.
I was young, permitted nothing but a thin, single robe, and was dragged off to the manor.
The Sacheondang Family had been annihilated, and I had barely escaped with my life.
I hadn't even been able to bury my father's body……
Yet this stubborn life of mine was still breathing.
There was much debate over what to do with me, and in the end, I was handed off to Demon Wind Manor.
That I, the eldest son of a prestigious orthodox sect, was delivered to Demon Wind Manor—an evil path sect notorious for its suspicious rituals—meant only one thing.
Someone had sold me for a hefty sum.
A narrow path leading up to the manor.
Just wide enough for a single carriage to pass.
I was eleven years old at the time.
With uneasy eyes, I stared down at the gorge carved deep below the cliff.
A precipice so vast, so bottomless, the eye could not find where it ended.
The sound of wind ceaselessly howling from below and crashing against the rocks struck my ears like a distant, hollow echo.
Whoooosh—.
That sound of wind crashing against stone felt like the screams of my dead family, and a chill ran down my spine.
"Dang Seon, stay right here and don't move."
Clank—.
I was locked inside a small cell fitted with iron bars.
"A cell……"
Could this place even be called a cell.
A hollow carved into the middle of a cliff face, like a cave in stone.
All sides were surrounded by rough stone walls, and the only means of escape on the opposite side of the iron bars was a single narrow window cut horizontally into the wall.
"Calling it a window seems generous."
It was less a space to look outside and more a crack split open in the wall.
Through that crack, a biting wind came howling.
There was no use curling my body up.
The wind drove in like a blade, seeping through the folds of my clothes, numbing my fingertips and toes with cold.
Demon Wind.
That small solitary cell felt like a space built to trap the wind itself.
The ceiling was low, and the walls were damp.
That a place filled with wind could be damp—it was uncanny beyond measure.
In the dark corner I could see a pile of straw that had been tossed there, but it was clearly old, and only the smell of rotting grass stabbed at my nose.
"……"
I pressed only my eyes to the narrow crack and stared out at the endless cliff face spread before me.
I curled my body further inward.
The cold seeped all the way to my bones.
On the floor, I spotted a small shard of broken porcelain.
Scraape—.
I picked it up and scratched a single line into the wall.
"Day one."
How long could I endure in this place……
Would someone come and get me out?
Thirty days in.
Even that hope had frozen over.
"Let me meet the manor master."
I gripped the bars and made my request to the guard.
"You crazy little bastard, is the manor master your friend?"
Thwack!
The guard's spear shaft came crashing across my jaw.
Every other day, something resembling a thin, watery gruel was brought out.
I had always eaten only the finest things, but here, even that was a luxury.
I devoured it ravenously.
I licked the wooden bowl—reeking of a musty odor—clean to the bottom.
No one spoke to me.
I recited and recited again the Sacheondang Family's martial arts that my father had made me learn.
By the time the marks scratched into the wall had exceeded a hundred.
Both my body and my mind had withered to the bone.
Thud—.
A thin, watery gruel shoved through the gap in the iron bars.
Even reaching out my hand was a struggle.
"……I have to find a way."
What I had.
The only option was to prove my worth.
Thump, thump.
The sound of the guard's footsteps came—he was coming to collect the empty gruel bowl.
The moment his hand touched the bowl.
Clang!
I seized the bowl.
"Wha—what?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Me, wild-haired, clinging to the iron bars. Like a small malevolent spirit.
With eyes full of venom, I spoke to him.
"Don't you want to become a great martial artist?"
I passed him one of the Sacheondang Family's martial arts.
It was not the supreme technique my father had made me learn in those final days.
But to the guard, it was something equal to a peerless martial art.
Within a few days, the guard came to find me, his face flushed with excitement.
As though he had fought someone, there was a small scratch beside his eye.
"Excellent! The Sacheondang Family's martial arts."
"……"
"Teach me more."
Slyly.
I held out my hand.
"Food first."
The thin, watery gruel doubled.
One line of martial arts for one bowl of gruel.
"If you want to learn more, bring meat."
Whenever the guard was displeased with my teachings.
He came jabbing at me mercilessly with his long spear shaft.
"Give me stronger martial arts!"
"Meat first."
My venomous eyes would not break under the fool's beatings.
Before long, the guard complied with me.
And in that way, I slowly recovered my strength.
While the guard grew stronger.
The world of martial artists is the same as a world where beasts live.
When one grows strong, one naturally wants to flaunt that power.
I conserved my energy and practiced my breathing exercises.
The guard, using the martial arts he had learned from me, became a Ten-Man Commander, and before long was promoted to Hundred-Man Commander.
But a long tail is bound to get stepped on.
The guard's martial arts caught the eye of the Demon Wind Manor Master, Myo Dan-u.
"That martial art…… It's from the Sacheondang Family! Where did you learn it?"
The guard trembled before Myo Dan-u and confessed that he had learned it from me.
I was dragged before Myo Dan-u.
……It had been my aim from the start.
The day that long tail I had strung out through the guard finally led me to Myo Dan-u was the point when the marks scratched into the wall with the porcelain shard had surpassed two hundred.
Myo Dan-u asked me.
"Was it you who taught the guard?"
"That's right."
At my manner of speaking, Myo Dan-u's bodyguards bristled and thrust their spears forward.
But Myo Dan-u extended his hand and blocked them.
"Ohh—. The young one hasn't lost his spirit."
"……"
"You passed down martial arts for a single bowl of gruel—and you still dare call yourself one of the Five Great Households?"
"Frost Fist."
"What?"
"It's not a remarkable martial art."
"This little—……"
"Think about it, Manor Master. I am a man who sold a martial art called Frost Fist for a single bowl of gruel."
I looked Myo Dan-u straight in the eye.
"If you only pay the right price, would I not also sell you the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art?"
"……!"
Myo Dan-u swallowed hard.
The Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art!
The foundation and the pinnacle of the Sacheondang Family's poison arts.
A peerless technique practiced only by the young master and the family head of the Sacheondang Family.
Though it was a martial art of the orthodox Sacheondang Family, its ferocious poison energy led it to be classified more as an evil path art—indeed, even closer to a demonic technique.
"You…… Are cultivating the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art?"
"I haven't cultivated it. I only know it."
"You hadn't yet been named young master, had you?"
The naming of the young master at the family elder council was done at fifteen. He was pointing that out.
"My younger sibling Seong-a died in childhood. With only branch family members remaining, if I did not become the young master, who would?"
"Hmmm……. Still, something seems off. They say the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art carries such extreme poison energy that even the Sacheondang Family head does not easily cultivate it."
Myo Dan-u narrowed his eyes and looked at me.
"I also know the Ten Thousand Streams Return to Origin Divine Art. However, would that orthodox technique suit a manor master like yourself, who has cultivated an evil path art?"
"You insolent—!"
"Well, if you wish to cultivate it, I could teach it to you. But it would take no fewer than twenty years. You would also have to endure countless near-catastrophic internal energy deviations during cultivation."
Myo Dan-u ground his teeth.
But he could not refute it.
Because everything I had said was correct.
"My conditions are simple. One verse of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art, one benefit in return."
"I could kill you where you stand."
"Then you would be confined for life as well. Within this narrow Demon Wind Manor."
An audacious bargaining proposal.
* * *
Myo Dan-u thought, his eyebrow trembling with fury.
'In real combat, spirit accounts for eighty percent.'
He was being overwhelmed by the spirit of a small child, despite having spent decades rolling through the world of martial artists himself.
Audacious, yet not excessive.
A direct descendant of the prestigious Sacheondang Family.
Could it have been learned from parents who were counted among the strongest in Sichuan Province?
'No……. It's innate temperament!'
Had the family not been annihilated, this was a person with the caliber to look down on all under heaven within decades.
Born a powerful person from the start.
Cornered, yet possessing fangs to bite back with and claws to tear apart.
'Truly, worthy of the Sacheondang Family head.'
The composure in the face of death must have been the pride of one who carried on that bloodline.
'This is a vessel too large to contain.'
……Should he break this one here and now?
Myo Dan-u felt his lips drying out.
"Torture that little wretch and make him cough up the technique manual."
* * *
Seven days.
Not a wink of sleep was permitted, and torture continued day after day.
But I kept my mouth shut tight.
"……What a tenacious one. Not a single groan."
Looking at me—fingernails and toenails all torn out, my entire body branded with iron searing marks—Myo Dan-u uttered a sound of admiration.
"Now—have you developed the will to bargain?"
Seeing that the eyes in my blood-soaked body still gleamed, Myo Dan-u had no choice but to concede.
I had been certain he would accept the bargain.
Demon Wind Manor was a natural fortress protected by the Treasure Orb of wind.
Because of it, there were not many who would attack, but Myo Dan-u too could not venture beyond Demon Wind Manor.
Demon Wind Ghost King Myo Dan-u was a great martial artist, but not enough of one to look down on all under heaven.
He had been competing with the nearby Ghost Cloud Alliance, but had always failed to win.
While he was among the most formidable in Sichuan Province in the art of sorcery, that alone was not enough to dominate the martial world.
The moment when a powerful poison martial art was more desperately needed than anything else, Myo Dan-u spoke to me.
"Speak the first verse of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art."
"One who desires poison must endure the suffering of poison."
"One who desires poison must endure the suffering of poison. Ohh……. Quite so."
Myo Dan-u nodded.
Now it was my turn.
"I will state my first demand."
Gesturing.
I pointed at the guard who had become Hundred-Man Commander.
"Cut that man's throat for me."
For one verse of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art, the Hundred-Man Commander's head was given to me.
And then a small room and clothing came, and for another verse, quality food.
And for yet another verse, freedom was given—on the condition that I did not leave Demon Wind Manor.
And so the tightrope walk between Demon Wind Manor Master Myo Dan-u and myself began.
He was no easy opponent.
Myo Dan-u's eyes gleamed as he spoke.
"I have conditions of my own."
"State them."
"Dang Seon. You will also cultivate the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art."
"……"
Myo Dan-u had me cultivate the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art alongside him.
He worried that I might teach him incorrect verses.
By having us build our internal energy with the same verses, he ensured I could not entertain any foolish thoughts.
"I appreciate the suggestion, but are you certain it is fine for me to cultivate it as well?"
"Hah. Do you think I fear the likes of you?"
He spoke boldly, but harbored a different thought within.
Which was to mix small amounts of poison into my meals.
He had been afraid that if I grew strong, I might bring him harm.
I understood his intention, yet I ate the food mixed with poison all the same.
Through the pain of vomiting blood and the agony of my organs feeling as though they were dissolving.
Another year passed, and another.
Myo Dan-u did not rush.
He savored the verses of the supreme divine art that I taught him, at times comparing them with my realizations, and proceeded with careful deliberation.
The year I turned fifteen.
"Kuhahahah!"
Myo Dan-u burst into a thunderous laugh as he welcomed me.
Before him lay the alliance leader of the Ghost Cloud Alliance—the one who had been Demon Wind Manor's rival.
White Night Demon lay collapsed, his body turned a ghastly shade of blue from poison.
"Congratulations."
I stood before Myo Dan-u.
From three years of poison eaten every single day.
My appearance had been transforming in a horrifying manner.
An emaciated body. Purple-black veins bulged grotesquely across my face, and my hair and eyebrows had fallen out in patches.
My skin was covered in blisters, and blood and pus were seeping from places all over.
In contrast to my ravaged face, Myo Dan-u's face was sleek and oily with a bright, healthy complexion.
"Kuhahah! The Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art! Truly, a peerless technique under heaven!"
He clasped his hands behind his back and stomped his foot down on White Night Demon's body.
Crunch!
A viscous, toxic fluid oozed from White Night Demon's body.
Myo Dan-u pointed at me.
"Today is the day. The day I learn the final verse from you."
The final verse of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art.
Myo Dan-u's eyes, anticipating this, were dyed with venom.
"Speak the verse."
"There's a bargain to be made."
"Hahahah! That's right. One demand of yours for one verse."
He stroked his chin.
"Let this be your demand."
Myo Dan-u's bloodlit eyes looked at me with contempt and said.
"……I'll let you live."
Clang, clang!
Ten of Demon Wind Manor's finest martial artists surrounding him leveled their spears at me.
"Is this a bargain?"
"I keep my promises. But I'll have to cut off your limbs. Your knowledge of martial arts—I cannot let that loose in the martial world."
"……"
"Hehehe. Did you actually trust me so naively? Perhaps after cultivating the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art together, you came to see me as a senior martial brother?"
He mocked me with a sneer.
"Senior martial brother, you say. I was the one who knew the verses first."
"Kuhahahah! What an impudent little creature. Well then, I can show you mercy yet. I'll simply kill you instead. Living out your days looking like that—it would only be suffering anyway."
I answered with an unbothered expression.
"This is different from what I expected."
"That spirit of yours ends today."
Swooosh—!
Myo Dan-u untied the poison sack at his waist and scattered it through the air.
Then the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art resonated, and black poison energy rose from beneath his feet.
The poison energy of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art transformed into a death aura and spread across the corridor floor.
The aura was so powerful that even Myo Dan-u's own bodyguards quickly covered their noses and mouths and moved away.
"Farewell, Dang Seon!"
Myo Dan-u shook his sleeve.
A torrent of dark crimson energy poured down like a deluge.
I unleashed my movement technique and dodged behind a pillar in the corridor.
Sizzzzle—!
The corridor pillar that was touched by Myo Dan-u's poison energy turned dark crimson and began to burn away.
Crunch!
I bit into the Joining Valley point on my left hand, drew the blood into my mouth.
Pfff—!
And spat a mist of blood into the air.
My poison energy spread through the air like a fog.
Blood Poison Breath.
My blood mist and Myo Dan-u's poison energy collided.
The flesh-dissolving poison and the blood poison tangled together, and a dark crimson smoke spread through the air.
"Khuuugh!"
"Kreeaaaagh!"
The martial artists of Demon Wind Manor who had inhaled that smoke convulsed and collapsed.
Myo Dan-u laughed.
"Kuhahah! You fool! A scrawny wretch with barely any internal energy dares to contend with my poison energy?!"
Even more powerful poison energy radiated from him.
The poison energy that filled the corridor began to dissolve even White Night Demon's corpse.
I unleashed Blood Poison Breath once more.
My blood mist struggled against the fool's poison energy.
Caugh—!
In that instant, black blood spilled from my mouth.
Myo Dan-u burst into a thunderous laugh.
"Uwahahahah! It has been three years since I've been mixing poison into your food! Your innate energy appears damaged too—hurry up and offer your neck."
Boom!
He stamped down with a vibrating step and pressed in at me even harder.
My lips and tongue were already stained dark crimson by his poison energy.
Thud—.
I was forced down onto one knee.
He came to stand before me, dragging the shadow of death with him.
"You've held on surprisingly well, Dang Seon."
"……"
"Now, give it to me. The final verse of the Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art."
He pressed the index finger of his hand to my forehead.
Sizzzzle—.
My forehead grew scorching hot as if on fire.
"Say it quickly! The method to become the legendary Poison Demon!"
I slowly raised my head, looked up at him, and opened my mouth.
"One who drinks poison becomes one of poison."
"What?"
"One who drinks poison is made of poison."
"……!"
"That is the Poison Demon."
In that instant, Myo Dan-u's eyes went wide.
He had grasped the meaning of the verse.
I rose to my feet.
Sluuurp—.
The poison energy Myo Dan-u had been pouring into my forehead slowly seeped back into me.
The blood mist I had scattered through Blood Poison Breath was also stealthily devouring Myo Dan-u's poison energy.
Life returned even to my grotesque appearance.
Myo Dan-u's eyes filled with shock.
"You, you…… Right now!"
"Thank you, Myo Dan-u. I ate well for three years."
"You insolent—!"
"You've grown strong. Thanks to you."
Roaarrr—!
In that instant, the poison energy that burst from me like wings swallowed Myo Dan-u whole.
Crack! Crack, crack, crack!
My poison energy began to chew Myo Dan-u apart entirely.
When I spread both hands open, all the poison energy Myo Dan-u had scattered was sucked into me.
As if returning to where it had always belonged from the very beginning.
The Heavenly Poison Blood Divine Art.
The moment the peerless poison technique, having reached its ultimate stage, revealed itself to the world!
"Kreeaaaagh!"
I seized with both hands the head of Myo Dan-u, screaming in agony.
"I gave you the verse, so you must also fulfill my demand."
"……!"
"From the very beginning, there was only one thing I wanted."
The two eyes of Myo Dan-u, filling with blood, stared directly at me.
"Your head."
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
I twisted his skull off.
The moment Myo Dan-u's life was extinguished, regret flickered in his eyes.
And a portion of the spine still attached below his neck dangled limply, like his tongue drawn out long and powerless.