Chapter 210: In the Middle of the Grand Martial Arts Training Ground

TL: FoodieMonster007

An old man with stark white hair sat at the entrance of the Thousand Poisons Forest. He had an extraordinary aura and wore several poison pouches on his waist. The pouches symbolized the poison masters of the Thousand Poisons Forest.

The old man had nine pouches in total.

A person wears a single pouch when they first learn poison arts, while the Poison King has twelve. The nine pouches on this old man showed he was a great master.

"I am Geom Mugeuk. I've come to see the Poison King."

I greeted him politely, and the old man identified himself.

"This old man is called Sangseon."

He was the Poison King's right-hand man and one of the four great poison masters of the Thousand Poisons Forest.

"A person of high standing has come out to greet me."

"Since a distinguished guest has arrived, it's only right for this old man to greet you personally."

I had sent word in advance that I was coming, but I didn't expect Sangseon himself to come out.

"Follow me carefully."

I followed Sangseon into the truly dense forest.

"Among the territories of the Eight Demon Supremes, this Thousand Poisons Forest is the largest."

It was vast enough for him to boast.

SSSSSS.

I saw a snake with a peculiar appearance on the path.

"That's the White Blood Snake. Its blood is uniquely white. If you're bitten by that thing and don't take an antidote, you won't last even a moment before you die."

A thousand kinds of poisons supposedly existed here. The Thousand Poisons Forest was a place where a single wrong step among the poisonous herbs, insects, and snakes meant your corpse would never be found.

Along the way, I also saw poison masters gathering poisonous herbs. The poison masters here were called Poison Fangs, and the number of pouches on their waists varied.

After passing through the dense forest, I arrived at the Poison King's residence. It was a circular building, low but incredibly spacious.

"I'll wait here. Have your talk and then come out."

"Thank you."

I went inside the building.

The interior was not divided. It was one large, single space.

Everything was there. Dozens of bookshelves and desks, all sorts of contraptions with unknown purposes, a bed and table, a wardrobe, a display cabinet, and even a wooden tub for bathing. Everything a person needed to live was in this space. This was the Poison King's room.

The Poison King squatted in the middle of the room, surrounded by scattered items, reading something.

This was my first meeting with the Poison King.

Before my regression, I had only seen him once or twice from a distance in my youth. When I returned in my old age to find materials for the Great Dharma, he was already dead. So, today was the first time I saw him up close.

My first impression was that he looked youthful and scholarly.

People often imagined the Poison King as a stooped old man, or someone whose face and body were ravaged by poison, with boils, inflammation, and peeling skin. The current Poison King, however, was very neat.

Despite being middle-aged, he looked truly young. If our Cult held a competition for the most youthful-looking face, I'm certain the Poison King would win first place.

He looked so young that people would think we were friends if we walked together. He also exuded an incredibly intelligent aura. Just by his appearance, he looked even smarter than Head Strategist Sama Myeong.

If not for his dark green robes and the twelve pouches on his waist, anyone would have mistaken him for a scholar. No, he looked like a handsome youth who could be a scholar's student.

Ah, so the Poison King was this youthful-looking.

Perhaps his growth stopped at some point because of the poison? The thought was plausible.

With such an innocent face, he committed those acts? He dreamed of becoming the World's Best Poison Master and dominating the murim?

The Poison King had truly lived a life that did not match his appearance.

As I approached him, the Poison King spoke, his eyes still fixed on his book.

"Bring me the blue bottle on the desk over there."

The Poison King's voice was as young as his appearance.

I picked up the blue bottle he mentioned and walked over to him.

"Be careful. If even a single drop of the Blue Poison splashes on you, you'll die."

I won't die! Even if you poured every poison in this room on me, I wouldn't die!

The Poison King mixed the poison I handed him with another poison in front of him.

The moment he mixed it!

BANG! A loud noise erupted as poisonous smoke billowed up. I stepped back and quickly waved my hands. It was a boisterous welcoming ceremony.

WHOOOOSH.

I released my qi, gathering and trapping the billowing poisonous smoke between my hands.

I was about to guide it out the window.

"No! Wait!"

The Poison King ran and brought a large sack.

"Put it in here."

I funneled the poisonous smoke I had gathered into the sack.

The Poison King tied the sack's mouth tightly with a string, then tossed the sack filled with poisonous smoke next to a table.

Then he started rummaging through his books again.

"What on earth went wrong?"

He was lost in deep thought. He still hadn't given me a single glance. He wasn't deliberately ignoring me. He was completely immersed in his own world.

I slowly looked around the interior. Countless bottles stood on the display cabinets lining the walls. I could tell they were all either poisons or antidotes. It was like a study where poisons were shelved instead of books.

"Ah! Was this the problem? Hey, bring me the Evil Poison Grass over there."

From the countless poisonous herbs scattered on the desk, I brought him the Evil Poison Grass.

He showed no reaction, even when he saw I had correctly brought him the right one from among the numerous herbs.

"Put that here and go get a bucket of water."

He kept sending me on errands. Bring this, bring that. I moved about busily. In the meantime, he pounded and ground the herbs.

When he mixed the Blue Poison into the new combination, it didn't explode this time.

"It worked! It worked! The Evil Poison Grass was the problem!"

The Poison King was overjoyed that the mixture had worked properly.

Then he noticed me standing next to him.

"But who are you?"

Our dear Poison King, asking so soon.

"Did you know who I was when you ordered me around like that?"

"I thought you were one of my boys. Who are you?"

"I'm Geom Mugeuk."

"Ah, right. You said you were coming today. So it's you. The talk of the Cult, Geom Mugeuk. What brings you here?"

His tone and attitude didn't change at all, even after learning my identity.

He acted like a frantic eccentric, but a faint green glow had emanated from his eyes since I entered this room. It meant his emotions were consistently controlled. This alone was a reminder that a Demon Supreme is, after all, a Demon Supreme. One should never forget it.

"I have a favor to ask."

"What favor?"

"Please persuade Father."

The Poison King suddenly thrust his face toward mine. His skin was fair and smooth. How can someone who handles poison have such good skin?

"No."

The Poison King refused flatly without even hearing the details.

"It's okay for me to refuse, right? This isn't some kind of pressure from the Cult Leader's son, is it?"

"It is not."

"Good, a young punk shouldn't learn such nasty tricks. Your business is done, so why are you still here?"

The Poison King was bewildering, but he was no pushover.

"No, I'm leaving. I'll see you again."

I bowed politely and walked out. Sangseon, who had guided me earlier, waited for me at the entrance. He didn't ask a single thing about what had happened inside.

"Please send word that I'll visit again tomorrow."

"I will."

I memorized the path as I followed him out of the Thousand Poisons Forest.

The next day, I went to the Thousand Poisons Forest again.

Sangseon again guided me to the Poison King's residence, but he took a different path from yesterday. I understood his intention. He was trying to prevent me from learning the way.

It was a futile attempt. He didn't know how good my memory and sense of direction were. Today, I learned one more path to the Poison King's residence.

When I arrived, the Poison King was digging in the ground near the house.

"I'm sure it was here?"

The ground was dug up in several places. It seemed he had buried something and couldn't find it.

He looked cute with dirt on his face and body like a child. The cuter he looked, the more bizarre I felt, knowing what he would do in the future.

In the future, thousands of martial artists would die by his poison. He had literally caused a massacre.

The Poison King ignored my greeting, completely absorbed in his digging.

I borrowed a shovel from Sangseon and started digging too.

A peculiar light flickered in Sangseon's eyes as he watched me.

The Poison King, on the other hand, only cared about finding what he was looking for. It wasn't an act. He was genuinely engrossed, even bursting out laughing by himself. At a glance, he looked like a complete madman.

Now I clearly saw why the Demonic Physician said the key was to get the Poison King out of his laboratory. I also understood why everyone said the Poison King would be difficult to persuade. This man lived completely in a world of his own.

I dug in a few spots nearby and gathered whatever I found to the side. All sorts of things came out. A box, bugs and larvae, a snake, trash, and strange tools.

Just as I was digging in another spot.

"Ah! Why is that over there?"

The Poison King shouted and came over to where I was digging. What he was looking for was among the things I had gathered.

The box he picked up contained a sticky, foul-smelling liquid.

"Kyah! It has aged well!"

"Was this what you were looking for?"

The Poison King looked at me and gasped in surprise.

"When did you get here?"

This was both an act and not an act. He had recognized me, and he had also forgotten me.

"I arrived a while ago. It looked like you were searching for something, so I started digging too."

"Good job, good job."

He laughed cheerfully, then his expression suddenly turned serious.

"I'm sure I refused you yesterday."

"Today, I came purely to help you, Poison King. After seeing you yesterday, it seemed you needed someone to help."

"Is this a scheme to steal and learn my poison arts?"

"Can one steal and learn the Poison King's arts that easily?"

"Not a chance."

"Then it should be fine."

The Poison King stared at me intently. The green glow in his eyes felt like it was digging into my own. Of course, that light had no effect on me, as I had mastered the Divine Eye Technique.

Instead, I sensed something about him. In that moment, I pictured an image in my mind.

The Poison King strode out of his own world and stood on the borderline with the outside world.

In this moment, he was not an eccentric.

I could tell. The man before me now was the one who sought to become the sole poison master of the murim. He had crossed that borderline only once, and thousands of people died at that time.

"Let's see how well you work."

His feelings showed on his face. I'll make it so hard for him that after just one day, he'll never want to come back!

The Poison King gave me work. He gave me real work with the intention of chasing me away.

"Unpack the poisonous herbs over there and sort them here."

I did as he ordered. I brought the poisonous herbs piled in sacks and sorted them.

I abandoned my intention to persuade the Poison King. I also discarded any desire to make a good impression on him. My only thought was to stay with him and figure out what kind of world he lived in. I would never be able to persuade him if I couldn't understand his world.

"Now, organize the newly arrived poisonous herbs over there too."

Once a day, poisons procured by the Poison Fangs from the Central Plains were brought here. It would have been fine if it were just poisonous herbs, but there were also many kinds of disgusting poisonous creatures.

I handled the poisonous herbs and creatures skillfully. After achieving Myriad Poison Immunity, my aversion to poison had completely disappeared. Before, just the thought of poison would make me frown and want to stay away, but I no longer felt that way.

He seemed surprised that I was so good at the tasks he gave me.

"I thought you'd act all high and mighty since you were raised in luxury, but you can actually work, huh?"

I was originally well-versed in poisonous herbs. That is why I easily passed the gate related to poisonous herbs at the Little Heaven Cave trial in the past.

Of course, the poisonous herbs handled here were so vast that they far surpassed my knowledge. Whenever an unfamiliar poisonous herb came in, I asked the Poison King. What is this? What is that? I kept asking until he was about to say, "Stop asking!"

When the day's work was done, the Poison King asked me about the poisonous herbs he had taught me. Since he couldn't find fault with my work, he attacked my memory.

"What did I say the name of this poisonous herb was?"

"It's the Wild Orchid. It's a poison that's usually ground up and added to spicy food. That way, it's completely unnoticeable."

I even repeated the explanation he had given me exactly.

"Then what about this poisonous herb?"

"That is the Black Mountain Hundred Days Grass. Once poisoned, the effect lasts for a hundred days, causing the victim to slowly sicken and eventually die."

I explained it exactly as he had told me.

"You brat! Why are you so smart?"

His eyes blazed with the determination to find fault with me tomorrow for sure. In that moment, he looked just like a childish brat my own age.

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

I visited him again the next day.

'He'll probably come for a few days and then stop,' was the Poison King's great miscalculation. He would never know what kind of person I am when I set a goal, and what efforts I make to achieve it.

Today, too, I finished the day's work by doing what the Poison King ordered.

I made no effort to deliberately get closer to him. I didn't start conversations, nor did I try to make a good impression. I didn't even use my flattery skills.

That must have been why the Poison King was the first to bring this up.

"Doing this won't change my mind. I never go back on my word. If I were to go back on it, I'll shout 'I am a dog' in the middle of the grand martial arts training ground in front of everyone and bark five times."

It was a moment of him steeling his resolve to never give in. He said it to make me stop coming, but I also steeled my own resolve.

"Since you've set such a condition, Poison King, I must set one too. If I fail, I'll also gather everyone in the grand martial arts training ground and shout. I'll shout 'A tiger father has a dog son' and bark five times."

Perhaps because it was an unexpected response, the Poison King laughed out loud.

"I look forward to seeing the Cult Leader's expression then."

As I made the bet, the Poison King, perhaps excited, brought out paper and a brush.

"Alright, since you'll be coming often, let's write a pledge first! A pledge stating that you came to the Thousand Poisons Forest of your own free will, and that you won't hold me responsible even if you get into an accident and are poisoned while working. How about it? Do you have the guts to write it?"

Looking into his excited eyes, I provoked him back.

"Only if you write one too, Poison King."