Monochrome Sovereign [EN]: Chapter 1182

Despite the provocative words, Cheon Wi-Ryong showed no sign of anger. He merely wore a faint smile.

“I can feel your desire.”

Tang Hyeong’s eyebrows twitched.

“Even after letting go of everything, you couldn’t let go of that one desire. It seems that is your pride.”

“There’s no need for further talk.”

“Indeed. But it’s a shame. I can see the gap between the severe karma of human affairs and enlightenment in your eyes. In my eighty years of life, it’s the first time I’ve seen eyes that have lived such extreme lives.”

Tang Yu-Gwang frowned.

If he was over eighty, he was of a similar age to himself. Yet, from his appearance, he couldn’t possibly be seen as an octogenarian.

‘He’s a monster, indeed.’

Tang Yu-Gwang took out a long cylinder from his chest.

At that moment, Gyu Hong spoke.

“Don’t try any tricks.”

“Shut up, you bastard.”

“……!”

“Where do you think you are, barking in front of people? I’ll break your jaw.”

Even at over eighty years old, he was spewing out vulgar curses like a back-alley thug.

Gyu Hong, who had never been insulted like this before, was dumbfounded rather than angry.

Tang Yu-Gwang grumbled as he opened the cylinder’s lid.

“I should have just secluded myself and trained in martial arts. I feel like I need to beat someone with my fists to feel better, but it’s truly frustrating.”

He squatted down and took out long needles from the cylinder.

It was like a child playing house. He stuck the needles in all directions, east, west, south, and north, and took out a small glass bottle, dropping a drop of the liquid inside onto each needle tip. It was impossible to tell what he was trying to do.

“Okay, this should be enough for now.”

Tang Yu-Gwang took out more needles from the cylinder and stuck them between the existing ones. He had now covered all eight directions.

Gyu Hong, who had been glaring at Tang Yu-Gwang with cold eyes, spoke politely.

“Church Leader. May I deal with that man first?”

Cheon Wi-Ryong said in a cheerful voice.

“Let’s see what kind of tricks he’s trying to pull.”

Tang Yu-Gwang chuckled.

“It’ll be quite a dangerous trick. Many have died because of this trick.”

Gyu Hong asked again.

“Church Leader. Your divine power is recognized by all under heaven, but is there a need to take such a risk? If you give the order, your subordinate will immediately….”

“Isn’t this also a form of amusement? The Sa Clan will send someone to control the Grand Master’s life anyway, so we should enjoy ourselves until that person enters the continent.”

Tang Hyeong’s eyes sparkled.

‘Sa Clan? Grand Master?’

He couldn’t understand what they were talking about. However, he knew that Cheon Wi-Ryong hadn’t entered the Central Plains without a purpose.

He clearly had a goal. Achieving that goal was likely Cheon Wi-Ryong’s objective.

‘Perhaps I can learn about the secrets of the Three Teachings.’

At the same time, he felt a bit burdened.

Cheon Wi-Ryong’s attitude, speaking in a clear voice as if he didn’t mind being overheard, showed that he was certain he wouldn’t die.

‘At least, I can go with him.’

At that moment, Gyu Hong spoke.

“Then, may I eliminate that impudent Tang Hyeong first?”

“No, you may not.”

It was a clear refusal.

“The reason I stopped you is partly for my amusement, but also for your safety.”

“Yes?”

“The moment you approached that old man sticking needles, you would have been poisoned and rolling on the ground.”

Gyu Hong’s face showed surprise.

Cheon Wi-Ryong smiled and looked at Tang Hyeong.

“Isn’t that right, poison master of the continent?”

Tang Hyeong smiled back and raised his right hand.

There was no flow of energy, but as soon as he raised his right hand, a rather fragrant scent began to spread.

Cheon Wi-Ryong, who had closed his eyes to smell the fragrance, opened them wide.

“I see.”

The smile disappeared from Cheon Wi-Ryong’s face.

“Was it this scent that made Gyu Hong act presumptuously?”

“Is it because you’re quick-witted, or because you’re skilled?”

Cheon Wi-Ryong turned his gaze to Gyu Hong.

“You must not engage in this fight. This poison is originally odorless, yet neither you nor I have smelled it until now.”

“Yes?”

“This scent stimulates human nerves. The fact that you kept trying to eliminate them, ignoring my order to act as a servant, was all a trick of the Dark King.”

Gyu Hong’s face turned slightly pale.

‘That’s impossible.’

Upon reaching the Saintly Demon level, one becomes immune to most poisons. Even if poison enters the body, the body, which constantly burns away impurities, instantly initiates detoxification.

Yet, he had used a poison that even such a master couldn’t detect?

“There is a vast amount of knowledge in this world that you ignorant fools do not know.”

Swoosh.

In Tang Hyeong’s right hand, which had been empty, a reddish vial appeared. It was a glass bottle smaller than an adult male’s index finger.

“Unless one becomes a true immortal, there is no poison that cannot intoxicate humans, who are part of nature.”

Tang Hyeong clenched his fist.

With a cracking sound, the glass bottle shattered. Slowly opening his hand, red smoke and glass powder spread in all directions.

Gyu Hong instinctively stopped breathing and raised his demonic energy to cover his entire body. He was preventing the poison from penetrating his body.

Tang Hyeong’s lips curled up.

“Keep doing that.”

He mocked Gyu Hong’s posture of protecting himself with demonic energy. Gyu Hong’s face turned bright red.

“You bastard…!”

It was then.

“Enough.”

Woo-oo-oo-oong!!

The calm voice spread in all directions.

The voice, with its tremendous resonance, was filled with unimaginable demonic energy. It was so heavy that those with weak inner strength would suffer from auditory and visual hallucinations upon hearing it.

Tang Hyeong hesitated, and Tang Yu-Gwang swallowed involuntarily. If he hadn’t been protecting his entire body with inner energy, his mind would have been blown away for a moment.

However, the voice was a great help to Gyu Hong. Gyu Hong’s face, which had been stained with anger, became somewhat relaxed despite his surprise.

Cheon Wi-Ryong let out a wry smile.

“To disrupt the mind of a disciple leader, and with just one poison.”

“That’s what poison is.”

“I admit it. You’re truly amazing.”

Only then did Gyu Hong feel ashamed. He admitted that he had been excessively agitated, and that it was because of a mere master from the continent.

‘He’s dangerous.’

Once he acknowledged the truth, he felt fear.

It wasn’t just about Tang Hyeong, but a fundamental fear of poison.

‘A master who can poison you before you even realize it. This is too dangerous.’

However, he did not doubt his lord’s, his god’s, abilities. He was certain that his lord could turn even this wicked and dangerous poison art into a mere triviality.

Even amidst all this, Tang Yu-Gwang was diligently sticking needles into the ground.

His presence was gradually fading. It was because he was intentionally suppressing his presence.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced such novelty, even after living for so long.”

“The novelties I’ll show you from now on will be quite thrilling.”

“Indeed, the conversation has been long. Now, I’m more interested in you than that great Buddha.”

It was a signal to truly begin.

Tang Hyeong, as if he had been waiting, unleashed the Emperor’s Poison Art.

Whoosh!

With a low sound, an area of about ten yards in radius around Tang Hyeong was covered in a translucent black cloud.

Paang!

Before the cloud could completely engulf the space, Gyu Hong was already retreating.

If he had touched that cloud, he would not have been unscathed. Gyu Hong instinctively realized that.

‘This is!’

Gyu Hong’s eyes, looking at Tang Hyeong, shook as if an earthquake had struck.

‘What kind of absurd martial art is this!’

It was a poison art that made the difference in levels almost non-existent. The moment one touched it, no one would be unscathed.

To break through this poison and attack, one had to attack while being aware that they would be poisoned. The moment that attack failed, defeat was certain.

He was truly a master of poison art who urged an extreme battle.

On the other hand, Cheon Wi-Ryong showed no signs of poisoning despite directly receiving the shockwave of the Emperor’s Poison Art.

Tang Hyeong nodded.

“Indeed, you are impressive.”

Cheon Wi-Ryong smiled.

“Shall we see the martial arts of the Sichuan Tang Clan, which the world fears?”

In an instant, Tang Hyeong’s eyes flashed with green light.

‘Thousand Poisons, Thousand Exits, Ten Thousand Poisons Return to the Nether.’

The moment an invisible shockwave spread over the black cloud, the thousand types of poison dormant in Tang Hyeong’s poison essence revealed themselves.

‘Ten Thousand Directions, Ten Thousand Walls.’

Kwarururung!

The black cloud met the invisible shockwave and instantly formed a massive hemisphere.

It was a super-giant energy technique that covered even the area in front of Tang Yu-Gwang, who had retreated about thirty yards from the Great Buddha Pavilion. It was the completed form of the Ten Thousand Directions Wall, which Tang Gwan had shown in Qinghai Province in the past, the Ten Thousand Directions, Ten Thousand Walls, created at an incredible speed.

It was truly an energy technique befitting the name of the Emperor of Ten Thousand Poisons.

Tang Gwan had later created the ultimate poison art, the Melting Three Lives Technique, which melted everything, but Tang Hyeong did not use that technique.

Kwarurung!

The Ten Thousand Directions, Ten Thousand Walls, in itself, created an absolute barrier that was no less than the Melting Three Lives Technique. It was a martial art of spatial isolation where one could not go out from the inside, nor could one enter from the outside.

Within the space spanning about thirty yards in radius, only Tang Hyeong and Cheon Wi-Ryong remained.

Cheon Wi-Ryong was purely impressed.

“Is it possible for a single martial artist to unleash such a massive poison formation? Your inner energy is formidable. In terms of inner energy alone, you are comparable to me.”

“Did you want to argue more?”

“Hahaha!”

Tang Hyeong was the first to move.

Flash!

He flew like a streak of light and gently extended his hand.

In that instant, the smile disappeared from Cheon Wi-Ryong’s face. As the old hand approached, it grew so large that it filled his vision, and within it, an unimaginable amount of power was concentrated.

It was the Tang Clan’s Thousand Poison Hand, unleashed by Tang Hyeong, not Tang Gwan. Unlike Tang Gwan, who had laid down poison and mastered the martial arts of object manipulation and hidden weapons, Tang Hyeong was one who had reached the ultimate level in all aspects of poison and hidden weapons. Even with the same Thousand Poison Hand, the power, poison strength, and explosive force were vastly different.

Cheon Wi-Ryong carefully extended his hand.

A human hand and a giant’s hand collided.

Kwarururung!

With a loud explosion, the Ten Thousand Directions, Ten Thousand Walls, trembled.

The poison formation that melted everything in the world was shaking from the shockwave. That meant that the power of the two was immense.

Tang Hyeong, who had retracted his extended hand, immediately rotated and swung his hand like a blade. It was as if a master swordsman was attacking an enemy with a bare-handed sword strike.

In reality, it was closer to a sword technique. Tang Hyeong’s hand, imbued with a deep green blade, was the Soul Severing Poison Sword technique, a martial art from the Emperor’s Poison Scripture that even Tang Gwan had not properly mastered.

Cheon Wi-Ryong extended his hand once more.

It was the same attack, the same martial art as before.

Jjeo-eo-eo-eong!! Kwadudeudeuk!

Hand met hand, creating another powerful shockwave.

The ground, unable to withstand the shockwave, crumbled in various places, raising dust. The dust that spread in all directions was swept away by the poison of the Ten Thousand Directions, Ten Thousand Walls, and returned to nothingness.

Cheon Wi-Ryong realized why Tang Hyeong had formed this formation.

Even if he was pushed back in the fight, Tang Hyeong would be fine. But if he was pushed back and touched the wall, it would be difficult for him to be unscathed.

Cheon Wi-Ryong’s smile deepened.

“You’re going to fight after securing your victory, is that it?”

“Those who handle poison are similar to the generals of the military.”

Whoosh!

Three throwing knives appeared in Tang Hyeong’s hand, which had risen into the air.

“I don’t engage in battles where there is no chance of winning.”

Flash!

Three throwing knives shot out like lightning.