Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1278

Seeing the massive, dark black poison wall, Dang Sang-ah knew it was the Dang Clan’s secret poison formation.

It wasn’t a formation made by layering external poisons. It was a human poison formation, shaped by the blood of a poison master, the formation pillars embedded in the earth, and the caster’s inner energy.

Even if three or more Dang Clan elders gathered, it wouldn’t be easy to form such a poison formation. Even if they did, it wouldn’t last half a beat before collapsing.

A monster capable of deploying such a formation alone, one that consumed so much inner energy.

There were only two such monsters in the Dang Clan.

‘Father, Grandfather.’

But she had heard that her grandfather had died a glorious death fighting one of the leaders of the Three Teachings [a powerful group of martial arts sects].

As soon as she heard the news, she tried to return to the family, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. It was because she had received a separate letter from her father.

He had said they would meet after the war was over.

She had kept watch over her grandfather’s final journey, so she had done her duty as a member of the Dang Clan. As it was wartime, a single master was precious, so her father’s letter told her to stay in her position and fulfill her duty.

It was a truly cold-hearted message. The Martial Alliance was functioning perfectly well without Dang Sang-ah.

Although she was filled with sadness and anger, Dang Sang-ah was smart. She knew why her father didn’t want her to return to the family.

It was because he was afraid she would waver.

After a long time of being distant, the family had resolved their misunderstandings and grown closer. The longer they had been apart, the more intense their affection for each other was.

That was why he had kept his daughter in the Martial Alliance. To not waver as the head of the Dang Clan. He was afraid that seeing his daughter might cause him to collapse.

And Dang Sang-ah felt the same way. She didn’t have the confidence to remain calm if she returned to the family.

In the end, they were family. Even if their personalities were different, their roots were the same. Just by understanding her father’s heart, Dang Sang-ah could be called a descendant of the Dang Clan.

And that guess was correct.

The moment she saw the poison formation that she expected her father to have deployed, she had rushed here without looking back. Her father’s insight was chillingly accurate.

“Father!”

A trembling voice came from inside the formation.

“Sang-ah?!”

Shhh!

Several members of the Poison Wind Squad, who were about to advance, unleashed their palm strikes towards Dang Sang-ah.

In that instant, sparks flew from Dang Sang-ah’s eyes.

“How dare you!”

To use poison palms in front of a descendant of the Dang Clan who had mastered the greatest poison arts in the world, they were truly ignorant.

Dang Sang-ah’s left palm swept from left to right.

Pow! Pow!

Five poison palms were shattered, and the Emperor Poison Qi [a powerful form of poison energy], carried by the wind of the palm strikes, instantly engulfed the Poison Wind Squad.

“Cough!”

“Kuaaaak!”

It was a true wind of poison.

The poison released from her delicate hands was the Soul Severing Powder, which only the mid-level masters of the Dang Clan could handle. But she had mixed it with Emperor Poison Qi, amplifying the poison’s density more than threefold.

It was Soul Severing Powder, but not Soul Severing Powder. The Emperor Poison Qi, with its properties of amplifying poison power, amplifying explosive force, and amplifying the speed of poisoning, sent about twenty members of the Poison Wind Squad sprawling to the ground.

Thud! Thump!

Holes appeared all over the bodies of the fallen members. Dark red blood flowed from the holes.

The Soul Severing Powder was a type of neurotoxin, but when combined with the Emperor Poison Qi, it also took on the characteristics of a blood toxin. With the addition of penetrating power, the poison, which had spread to the limbs in an instant, had nowhere else to go and pierced through the skin.

Chiiiik!

The bodies of the members exposed to the Emperor Soul Severing Powder decayed in an instant. They had already died the moment they screamed.

“Kaaat!”

The surviving members of the Poison Wind Squad drew their weapons and charged at Dang Sang-ah.

Dang Sang-ah’s eyes flashed.

‘They’re strong.’

She had thought they were just people who handled poison, but that wasn’t the case. The speed at which they formed a small formation and approached was excellent.

Moreover, their unique martial spirit was considerable. The way they wielded their Northern-style swords was worthy of a top master.

Dang Sang-ah’s killing intent intensified.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

She passed through them at an incredible speed, her hands holding the bloodied Underworld King Dagger.

The Poison Wind Squad members, who had lost their target in an instant, panicked and then collapsed with their eyes rolled back. There was a small wound, exactly two inches deep, on their chests.

Five strikes of the Heart Piercing Stance, a basic move of the Four Evil Unparalleled Style, had been unleashed like lightning. It was an action that didn’t consume much inner energy, but with it, five masters had lost their lives.

“Capture her!”

“Keep your distance and pressure her!”

The Poison Wind Squad, which had been about to advance, surrounded Dang Sang-ah widely.

But Dang Sang-ah had no intention of fighting them.

She had approached this place quickly and secretly, but she had engaged in combat with the enemy soldiers along the way. Her goal wasn’t to fight, but to break through, so she had even sustained injuries all over her body.

Now that her father was right in front of her, she had no intention of wasting time with these guys.

Whoooosh!

A sharp aura erupted from her body as she held the Underworld King Dagger in her right hand and four ordinary daggers in her left.

Flap! Flap!

The four daggers, thrown using the Soul Chasing Butterfly technique, pierced the necks of three Poison Wind Squad members. One dagger was deflected by a sword and fell to the ground.

That was when it happened.

Pow! Pow! Pow!

The daggers embedded in the necks and the dagger that had fallen to the ground all exploded, turning into hundreds of pieces of hidden weapons.

“Kuaaak!”

“Uaaaaaa!”

It was the Emperor Poison Scripture’s ultimate explosive force, the Exploding Dragon Kill.

It didn’t have the power of the Explosive Rain of Flower Needles, but its lethality was sufficient due to its sudden explosion. And with the addition of Emperor Poison Qi, the thirty or so members who were caught in the explosion of the daggers were torn to pieces and died.

Shock appeared on the faces of the remaining Poison Wind Squad members.

Each of them was a master who had trained in the poison arts of Mount Yeong-eum. They were not only skilled in poison arts but also proficient in various poisons, and they had even mastered swordsmanship, making them dangerous masters.

Even if an average sect sent ten of them, they could turn it into a wasteland. Before their martial prowess, their formation was formidable, and even more formidable than their formation was their poison art.

Yet, nearly sixty of them had been instantly killed. It was something that shouldn’t have happened even if the opponent was a transcendent master. They hadn’t even managed to land a single sword strike or poison attack on their opponent.

Fwaaaang!

Regardless of what they thought, Dang Sang-ah ran towards the Ink Dragon Fusion Formation.

‘Father!’

Whoooosh!

The poison wall, with holes here and there, shook violently.

‘It’s an immense poison. But it’s manageable enough!’

That was when it happened.

Kwaang!

The Ink Dragon Fusion Formation exploded with a loud noise and scattered in all directions.

Puhwaaaak!

The Ink Dragon Fusion Poison, spreading like a flood, melted forty or so members of the Poison Wind Squad into puddles of blood on the spot.

“Evacuate!”

“Keep your distance!”

As the Poison Wind Squad members hurriedly distanced themselves, Dang Sang-ah took the Ink Dragon Fusion Poison head-on.

Chiiiik!

White smoke rose from her entire body.

Dang Sang-ah gritted her teeth. Instinctively, she used the Emperor Poison Art to block the penetration of the Ink Dragon Fusion Poison.

‘It’s immense!’

It was her first time encountering such a strong acidic poison. Even the Emperor Poison Qi, which flowed freely through her entire body, was shaken. Holes were melted into her clothes in various places by the poison.

At that moment, Dang Sang-ah saw it.

Her father, retreating while bleeding.

“Father!!”

Fwaaaak!

The Emperor Poison Qi, ignited by intense emotion, began to absorb the Ink Dragon Fusion Poison instead of pushing it away.

She hadn’t opened the Limitless [a state of heightened power], but she had already passed the eighth peak of the mountain that was the Emperor Poison Scripture. If she wanted to, she had the ability to absorb all poisons.

The Ink Dragon Fusion Poison, which had been attacking her, was being sucked in at a terrifying speed.

Dang Sang-ah wanted to vomit right away. The fusion poison that had entered her body felt like it was melting her internal organs.

‘I’ll endure it!’

The Emperor Poison Art was a poison art that one couldn’t even begin to learn without talent. Even if one did begin, they had to risk death every moment to cultivate their poison qi in order to achieve success.

She had a high tolerance for pain as well as a high tolerance for poison. This much was bearable.

Bang! Kwang!

The swordsman’s martial arts were unbelievably destructive.

It was fast and strong. That was all there was to it. But there was no opening to break through.

The vile energy that surged in all directions was like the Ink Dragon Fusion Formation, forming a domain. Her father, fighting within it, looked as if he would collapse at any moment.

‘No!’

Whoosh!

Her dantian [an energy center in the body] expanded, and her inner energy began to increase. The Ink Dragon Fusion Poison was returning to her Emperor Poison Art and turning into inner energy.

Dang Sang-ah instinctively stepped into the True Stance.

Kwaang!

The momentary capacity of her inner energy was comparable to that of the Limitless. That was how powerful the Ink Dragon Fusion Poison was.

As she stepped into the True Stance with that power, the amount of earth qi that rose was also beyond imagination. She endured the power that felt like it would crush all the bones in her body and extended her left palm.

Krrrrrr!

A dark, black cloud-like palm strike poured towards Myeong Hwal.

In that instant, Myeong Hwal’s eyes wavered.

The Ink Dragon Fusion Poison, which was not yet completely mixed, and the Emperor Poison Qi, which amplified the explosive force, made it difficult for even Myeong Hwal to withstand it.

It was the secret technique of the Emperor Poison Scripture, the Pear Blossom Myriad Poison Palm, which contained the amplified power of the fusion poison.

It was the very martial art that Dang Hyeong had used against Cheon Wi-ryong. Although her understanding was low and her power control was immature, so it didn’t spread like a fully bloomed flower, just a graze would cause death from dozens of deadly poisons.

And with the amplified Ink Dragon Fusion Poison.

Kwarururung! Chiiiik!

Some of the land and rocks that the black cloud had swept over were shattered and melted. Myeong Hwal had finally chosen to evade.

She was showing the danger of the Dang Clan with her whole body.

Killing a master with a single dagger, massacring hundreds with a handful of poison. She was a member of the Dang Clan because she could properly wield that dangerous power.

The Poison Wind Squad, who had learned a few clumsy poison arts, were nothing more than a warm-up for her. Even Myeong Hwal, who had endured the poison power of the Ink Dragon Fusion Formation, had made the choice to evade.

Dang Gwan, who had abandoned the Emperor Poison Art and created his own martial path, was also great, but the invincible poison art created by his father was also a supreme art, no less than the Myriad Return Divine Art.

The legendary poison art, which the absolute master had praised as having more talent than himself, was blooming in the hands of his granddaughter.

But, that was all.

Myeong Hwal, who had appeared from Dang Sang-ah’s side, swung his greatsword as if he was annoyed.

Dang Sang-ah’s eyes wavered. She knew that her opponent had appeared from the side, but she couldn’t block the following attack.

That was when it happened.

Kwaang!

Dang Gwan, who had flown in at an incredible speed, punched Myeong Hwal’s greatsword away with his fist.

He was displaying superhuman strength at the moment when his only daughter’s life was in danger. Myeong Hwal glared at Dang Gwan with disbelief.

Fwaaaak!

Dang Gwan’s eyes turned blood red.

The killing intent, which had surpassed the limits of the upper dantian [another energy center] that had been trained to the extreme, was covering a radius of hundreds of feet.

Dang Gwan, who had released his bloodied fist, reached out his hand to Dang Sang-ah.

Dang Sang-ah immediately understood his intention and handed him the Underworld King Dagger.

Dang Gwan, holding the Underworld King Dagger in reverse, growled.

“You, don’t even think about going back alive.”

“As if that’s anything new!”

Fwaaaang!

The two masters charged at each other. They were truly intending to end it.

That was when it happened.

Flash!

The jade containing the Fourteenth King’s Blood Scale was completely dyed red.

Blood Scale shouted.

“The Blood Jade is complete!!”