Chapter 221: Anyone Else Want to Say Who They Are?

TL: FoodieMonster007

That evening, I trained my martial arts in the mountains away from my residence. I devoted myself to training whenever I had a spare moment, even after leaving the cult.

The Poison King watched me with a suspicious look at first. He wondered if my training was just for show, but when he saw I didn't waste even the smallest pocket of free time, he shook his head and called me relentless. My training was far from ordinary.

For one's martial arts to change, the person must change first.

This was one of the ultimate martial arts principles I believed in, but it came with a condition. A person striving to change must also train to the point of death. If the will is there but the training isn't, the person may change, but their martial arts will not.

First, I trained in the Thunder Arhat Fist. Then I polished the Four Strides of the Wind God. I didn't neglect the Soaring Sky Sword Art either.

Finally, I trained by mixing all three martial arts. The key to victory against a truly powerful enemy would be how efficiently I could use these three styles.

My inner arts had risen thanks to the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill, and its quality had also changed. My inner arts felt deeper and purer. As a result, the same technique executed with the same amount of inner arts was now much stronger.

To finish, I stood on a high rock and watched the setting sun, concluding my training.

After finishing a round of training, Geom Mugeuk stopped by the marketplace.

He entered the home of an old woman said to have the best craftsmanship in town.

"Is it done?"

"It's all done. What do you think?"

Geom Mugeuk smiled after checking the item the old woman handed him.

"It's absolutely excellent."

Geom Mugeuk paid the promised price and left the house.

He returned to his residence and headed for the Poison King's room.

The Poison King was pacing his room alone, lost in thought. Something occurred to him, and he rushed to his desk to pick up a brush.

He wrote diligently about his thoughts, but when he got stuck again, he stood up and paced. He fell back into deep thought, then suddenly bolted up and wrote something down.

"You're not asleep yet?"

As Geom Mugeuk entered, the Poison King closed the booklet he was writing in.

"It's late. What brings you here?"

"I came because I have something to give you."

Geom Mugeuk held out what he had commissioned from the market.

It was a pair of gloves.

"What is this?"

The gloves exuded an unusual aura even at a glance.

"They are gloves made from the Heavenly Antivenom Silk."

The Poison King was startled.

"The Heavenly Antivenom Silk?"

The Heavenly Antivenom Silk was a cloth that blocked poison incomparably better than ordinary green leather gloves. If Top-Quality Heavenly Silk resisted external impact, then the Heavenly Antivenom Silk was an item that resisted poison.

"Where did you get something so precious?"

"I found it in Jisaeng's secret warehouse. I had the most skilled old woman in the market make them into gloves. Try them on. I had them made in the same size as the gloves you wore in the Thousand Poisons Forest, so they should fit well."

The green cloth wrapped around the fake Top-Quality Phosphorescent Pearl had been the Heavenly Antivenom Silk. It protected the energy of the Myraid Extreme Poison Divine Pill inside. The person who hid the pill must have been a master of poison arts.

"Why are you giving something so precious to me?"

"Because it's precious. It's stranger that you, the Poison King, haven't had something like this until now."

"Have you ever seen a master calligrapher blame his brush?"

"A brush doesn't kill people. From now on, please use these when you handle potent poisons."

He also gave the Poison King the remaining cloth.

"I brought the rest separately, thinking you might have another use for it, Poison King."

After generously handing him the remaining Heavenly Antivenom Silk, Geom Mugeuk turned to leave.

"Well then, get some sleep. We'll be leaving early tomorrow."

Geom Mugeuk said his farewell and left the room.

It all happened so suddenly that the Poison King couldn't even thank him properly.

He stared blankly at the gloves and the cloth. Then, something caught his eye. Words were embroidered on the gloves.

On the back of one glove.

天上天下.

On the other glove.

唯我毒尊.

It was 'Yua Dokjon', but the original character for 'alone' (獨) had been replaced with the character for 'poison' (毒).

A look of deep emotion crossed the Poison King's face.

Becoming the Poison Sovereign was his dream, a dream he had never revealed to anyone. He had never even told Sangseon, who served him so devotedly.

Finally, the Poison King shook his head and said, "So this is why everyone falls for it, even when they know. Truly, a poison with no antidote."

However, he couldn't hide the pleasant emotion that touched the corners of his eyes.

A snake tattoo etched on the man's chest extended to his neck, its long tail wrapped once around it.

The man with the snake wrapped around his neck.

He was Aecha, one of Yayul Han's four key members. He had chosen a snake for a reason. He possessed the eyes of a snake. Seen alone, his eyes could be mistaken for a snake's. His cold and ferocious aura made him seem even more like a serpent.

Aecha spoke as he read the messenger pigeon.

"It says Jisaeng is dead."

The person who looked startled was the True Venom Sage.

"……"

The True Venom Sage was dressed neatly like a scholar, but his dark, wrinkled skin ruined the scholarly appearance he desired. His voice was also a grating, unpleasant rasp.

"As you know, that man used a fake as his front for a long time. It seems that fake bastard killed Jisaeng and ran off with his fortune."

Aecha delivered the news calmly, with no trace of mourning in his voice. He conveyed only facts, not emotions.

"That man was so cautious. He wasn't someone who would die easily."

Jisaeng's death was truly unexpected. He was the kind of person who wouldn't die easily, even if everyone else did.

The alliance's investigation, however, concluded that it was definitely the fake's work. They must have investigated thoroughly since the deceased was Jisaeng.

The True Venom Sage, who had been listening quietly, said something unexpected.

"Perhaps it was only natural."

He had said what Aecha wanted to say.

"That man pretended to be a stableman, acting like some great, mysterious figure, but in my eyes, he was nothing but a coward. A coward's end is never a good one."

A strange smile formed on Aecha's lips.

"Now that he's dead, the overdue evaluations are coming out."

It was a taunt, a rebuke for only saying this now.

For a moment, the True Venom Sage's irritation flared.

If I say what you wanted to say, you should at least not spit on it, even if you don't agree.

It was always like this. Aecha always said something unpleasant in these situations.

The True Venom Sage considered it a twisted desire for dominance. Aecha was a man who gained the upper hand by ensnaring others with negative words. This was how he handled his subordinates.

The True Venom Sage hid his discomfort and said with a smile, "Isn't that why they say only the dead are pitiful?"

Aecha had a cruel nature. The True Venom Sage had seen many times how those who fell out of Aecha's favor ended up dead. However, he had no intention of being intimidated.

HWAREUREUK. Aecha burned the messenger pigeon in the lamp's flame. He uttered no word of condolence.

When the pigeon had turned to ash, Aecha abruptly asked, "Have you still not dealt with the side effects?"

The corner of the True Venom Sage's eye twitched. This bastard must live as if he has three lives. It wasn't easy to consistently put someone in a bad mood like this.

"I'm working on it."

"You need to handle it quickly. An incident occurred on the Demonic Cult's side the other day. It will become a headache if the family of a key figure in the Demonic Cult or the Murim Alliance is affected."

In truth, Aecha feared neither the Demonic Cult nor the Murim Alliance. He feared the reprimand that would follow from Yayul Han. Yayul Han was the only person in the world he feared.

"I will resolve it as quickly as possible."

"By when can you do it?"

"Just give me six months."

"I'll give you one month."

The True Venom Sage's expression hardened.

He had asked for six months, anticipating the deadline would be shortened. He thought he would be told to finish within three months, but one month? This was blatant disrespect.

A tense atmosphere flowed between the two men.

The True Venom Sage felt the urge to unleash poison on that face. For some reason, Aecha did not fear his poison. It was probably because of this that Yayul Han had assigned Aecha to keep him in check.

"I will resolve it as quickly as possible."

"Let's do that."

The True Venom Sage backed down for now, but Aecha needed to know. He was backing down because of Yayul Han, not because he was afraid of Aecha.

"Then I will take my leave."

"I'm counting on you."

Aecha glared with his snake-like eyes at the True Venom Sage's departing back.

So needlessly proud.

If he couldn't fix the Berserk Pill's side effects, they would have to give up on it, but they could never give it up, since most of their income came from the pill.

Old man, shouldn't admitting you were wrong be the first step?

The True Venom Sage had yet to admit his mistake in creating it.

Aecha, for his part, had his own accumulated frustrations.

Outside, the True Venom Sage asked a waiting subordinate.

"How many of those bastards for the experiment are left?"

"Seven are left."

"And the next test subjects?"

"They are on their way."

The Evil Alliance sent martial artists for the True Venom Sage's experiments. They were all individuals from the Evil Alliance's prison, scum of the earth who had crossed the line long ago.

"When are they scheduled to arrive?"

"It will take about twenty days."

"Too slow! You go and bring them as fast as possible. Whatever it takes, get here within ten days!"

"Understood."

The subordinate rushed outside.

The subordinate faithfully carried out his duty. He missed only one thing, that someone was watching him.

Ten days later.

"Uwaaaaaaah!"

A man rampaged madly, blood pouring from his eyes and nose.

Watching this, the True Venom Sage sighed again.

The last of the seven test subjects had also failed. No matter how he varied the combination of medicinal herbs, he couldn't prevent the side effects.

The problem was tolerance.

At first, one pill was enough, but the more one took, the more tolerance they built, requiring larger doses. Side effects appeared as the dosage increased. Right now, this happened to about one in several hundred who overdosed, but it could become one in dozens as more people developed tolerance. If that happened, the murim would become a scene of utter chaos.

Just then, a subordinate came to report.

"The new subjects for the experiment have arrived."

"How many?"

"Twenty."

The True Venom Sage went outside with his subordinate.

Two Big Bro carriages were parked in the courtyard. Prisoners got out. The windowless carriages had transported them like cargo. They also had black sacks over their heads. With their inner arts suppressed, their frustration must have been immense.

Martial artists removed the sacks from their heads. The prisoners looked around. The martial artists surrounding them had an extraordinary aura, but not one prisoner showed any fear.

As always, when about twenty people with dead-end lives gathered, someone fearlessly stepped forward.

"You bastards! I am the Blood Snake, Yang Goeng!"

He was a villain once notorious in the unorthodox sects.

"I know the jianghu has lost its sense of righteousness, but is it right to treat a Senior like this!"

He was furious about being transported like cargo. They had covered a twenty-day journey in just ten days, so their suffering had been immense.

This level of complaint could have been overlooked, since they were short on people for experiments.

However, he was unlucky. In fact, several pieces of bad luck had overlapped.

First, the True Venom Sage was in a bad mood from another failed experiment. Second, Aecha happened to be watching from the other side.

The final piece of bad luck was that his alias included the word 'snake'.

The True Venom Sage walked toward him.

"So, Senior, you are the famous Blood Snake."

"That's right, it's me. Who are you?"

"I am this kind of person."

The True Venom Sage casually waved his hand.

Everyone watched, wondering what he was doing.

"Uwaaaaaaaack!"

Suddenly, the Blood Snake screamed.

He couldn't bear the pain and rolled on the ground. It was not a pain a human could endure.

Most people present had committed all sorts of evil deeds, yet they had never seen someone in so much agony. They couldn't imagine what was happening inside his body.

"Kill me… please!"

The words 'kill me' came from the Blood Snake's mouth.

The True Venom Sage looked down at him coldly.

The Blood Snake begged.

"…Please kill me!"

The True Venom Sage casually waved his hand again.

Then, the Blood Snake's body began to melt. With a single light gesture, a man dissolved into a pool of blood. This was the skill of the greatest poison master in the unorthodox sects.

No one there dared to even breathe loudly.

The True Venom Sage glanced at Aecha in the distance and gave a slight bow. His posture was polite, but the meaning was clear. Mess with me, and you'll end up like this too.

In response, Aecha snorted pointedly and turned back toward his residence.

Watching his retreating back, the True Venom Sage smiled with satisfaction and said, "Is there anyone else who wants to say who they are?"

No one dared to step forward.

However, the True Venom Sage would never know. At this very moment, one person wanted to reveal who he was.

The martial artists led the prisoners into the building.

Among those being led away in fear were Geom Mugeuk and the Poison King.