The outer grounds of the Tang Family estate were utterly devastated.
The meticulously maintained gardens were unrecognizable, the ground a complete mess riddled with deep craters.
The training grounds, where martial artists honed their skills, were completely upturned. Weapons that had once been proudly displayed were shattered and scattered everywhere. Adding to the scene of carnage, Tang Family martial artists lay groaning in pain.
Amidst this chaos stood one man, while a short distance away, others stood frozen, their faces etched with shock, fear, and terror.
“What treasure are you saying I stole?”
“Tang Chun-gi, you stole it!”
“I have been to the Nine Dragons Inn in Shanxi Province, but I never went to the Nine Dragons Stronghold.”
“Yes, after you visited the Nine Dragons Inn, the stronghold’s treasure disappeared. And there are dozens of people who saw you leaving the stronghold in a hurry.”
“That’s because I lost all my money….”
“Do you think I’ll fall for such a lame excuse? Hand it over now, or the Tang Family will disappear from the martial world today.”
Hwa-Rin’s stern warning caused bewildered expressions to spread across the faces of the Tang Family members.
“I really don’t know anything about it.”
Tang Chun-gi vehemently asserted his innocence, but Hwa-Rin remained unmoved.
“Oh, really? Well, then you’ll have to die.”
As Hwa-Rin moved again, the Tang Family elders stepped forward to block his path.
“Do you think you can stop me by blocking me?”
Hwa-Rin’s palms struck the air a dozen times.
It was a type of ranged attack, the Minor Shifting Light Palm technique.
Thwack… Thwack… Thwack… Thwack….
The Tang Family elders did their best to counter Hwa-Rin’s Minor Shifting Light Palm, but they were no match for him.
‘They said he faced two of the Hundred Great Masters and surpassed our expectations,’ one elder thought grimly.
The elders were pushed back by Hwa-Rin’s Minor Shifting Light Palm, and Hwa-Rin immediately rushed towards Tang Chun-gi.
“Stand down!”
Hwa-Rin ignored them and arrived directly in front of Tang Chun-gi, launching his attack.
Tang Chun-gi, who had also trained in martial arts, tried to block Hwa-Rin’s attack, but his efforts were futile.
Hwa-Rin’s right hand darted into Tang Chun-gi’s chest pocket with lightning speed, and then his left palm struck Tang Chun-gi’s chest.
“Kuaaaaak!”
Tang Chun-gi was struck by Hwa-Rin’s palm strike, his body flying through the air before crashing into a wall and falling to the ground.
“Cough!”
Tang Chun-gi spat out blood and lost consciousness.
“Young Master!”
The elders, startled, tried to rush past Hwa-Rin to get to Tang Chun-gi, but Hwa-Rin blocked them and attacked.
“You bastard!”
The elders, enraged by Tang Chun-gi’s collapse, attacked Hwa-Rin, who parried their attacks and then counterattacked.
“Kuh-uhk…, Ugh…, Aaaah……”
Those struck by Hwa-Rin’s attacks were sent flying in all directions, landing in unsightly heaps on the ground.
“You fiend!”
A man past middle age rushed towards Hwa-Rin with a roar. Sensing a different level of strength, Hwa-Rin dodged out of the way.
Kwaaaang!
An explosion erupted where Hwa-Rin had been standing, sending debris flying in all directions. The scorched color of the crater indicated the use of poison.
Seeing Hwa-Rin retreat, the man immediately pursued him and attacked.
“Poison King?”
Hwa-Rin, recognizing his opponent as the Poison King, did not back down and engaged him in combat.
The Poison King, Tang Sa-ok, one of the Ten Great Masters of the Murim [martial arts world], had achieved the Poisonous Body.
In the martial world, he was known as the Poisonous Man among Poisons, and people avoided getting close to him because he could poison his surroundings just by breathing.
As he appeared and attacked Hwa-Rin, the area was filled with poison.
The Tang Family martial artists who had fallen were being poisoned by Tang Sa-ok’s poison, their faces gradually changing color.
“There are injured warriors all around, yet he’s recklessly spewing poison without a second thought. This guy is out of his mind.”
The Poison King paid no attention to Hwa-Rin’s words.
“I’ll just eliminate all the poison after I kill you.”
“They’ll die before that happens.”
“Alright, then let’s see who dies first.”
“That’s why they say those who’ve gained fame only think of themselves. Fine, let me make it clear: you’re the one killing them.”
The Poison King’s poison might be threatening to others, but it was no threat to Hwa-Rin.
If you excluded his poison, the Poison King would be far below the ranks of the Hundred Great Masters of the Murim.
Hwa-Rin had nothing to fear in facing him. He could have ended it in an instant, but he didn’t.
Hwa-Rin deliberately created precarious situations, deflecting or dodging the Poison King’s attacks, stalling for time.
The Poison King tried to melt Hwa-Rin into a puddle of blood, but it wasn’t working out as he had hoped.
As time passed, it was the Poison King, not Hwa-Rin, who grew anxious.
As Hwa-Rin ran around the courtyard, dodging the Poison King’s attacks, dozens, no, at least a hundred Tang Family martial artists lying in the courtyard were all poisoned, their lives in danger.
Among them were the Young Master, Tang Chun-gi, as well as the elders and key figures of the Tang Family.
If they all died, the Tang Family would suffer a major blow from which they could not recover in the short term.
“You bastard, how long are you going to keep running?”
The Poison King roared, trying to provoke Hwa-Rin, but Hwa-Rin provoked the Poison King instead.
“If I stay still, they’ll all die. Why should I fight you? Even if I fight you after they all die, it won’t be bad for me.”
The Poison King’s palm strikes filled the space Hwa-Rin could evade, pressing in from all directions. Hwa-Rin’s figure blurred and disappeared from the spot.
It was a movement technique slightly different from Shape-Shifting Illusion, but in some ways, it was similar in principle to the Ethereal Step of the Sahwang Baek Mu-gi [a legendary martial artist].
Hwa-Rin escaped from the pressure and swung his hand towards the Poison King.
The gust of wind scattered the poisonous energy around the Poison King in all directions, further accelerating the poisoning of those who had fallen.
The Poison King grew increasingly desperate. At this rate, it seemed they would not escape annihilation.
‘I can’t catch him like this.’
The Poison King came to that conclusion and stood there, circulating his inner energy. Then, the poison spreading in the Tang Family’s courtyard gathered towards the Poison King.
It seemed the title of Poisonous Man among Poisons was not a lie; the Poison King was freely controlling the release and absorption of poison.
“Do you think I’ll just stand by and watch?”
Hwa-Rin drew a sword from thin air and swung it at Tang Sa-ok.
Swoooosh!
The sword energy flew towards Tang Sa-ok with lightning speed, and Tang Sa-ok panicked and dodged out of the way.
Whoosh!
Hwa-Rin, who had been passive until now, began to actively attack the Poison King, forcing the Poison King to move to avoid Hwa-Rin’s attacks without being able to gather the surrounding poison.
“You fiend!”
The Poison King’s blackened hand met Hwa-Rin’s sword.
Clang!
The clash of energy between the two was more powerful than before, and the resulting shockwave spread out in concentric circles, engulfing the Tang Family martial artists who had fallen.
“Th… This……!”
Hwa-Rin retreated again as the Poison King switched to offense, dodging him and attacking whenever he tried to recover his poison, preventing him from doing so.
As the two continued their hit-and-run battle, Tang Family warriors began to lose their lives due to the poison. One by one, they succumbed to death.
The Poison King’s rage reached its peak at the sight, and he went berserk as if he had lost his mind.
Seeing the Poison King attacking recklessly, without regard for his own safety, Hwa-Rin narrowed his eyes.
‘They called him the Poisonous Man among Poisons, but has he not completely conquered poison?’
Hwa-Rin thought as he dodged Tang Sa-ok’s wildly flailing hands.
‘Is that why he needed the Heavenly Jade Treasure?’
Hwa-Rin took out the Heavenly Jade Treasure from thin air, held it in his hand, and moved around, dodging Tang Sa-ok’s attacks. When he reached Tang Chun-gi’s side, he quickly placed the Heavenly Jade Treasure in his chest pocket.
Tang Sa-ok, whose brain was affected by the poison, did not see this and only focused on attacking Hwa-Rin.
Boom!
The collision of two energies caused the Tang Family’s buildings to collapse.
‘This is…….’
While fighting the Poison King, Hwa-Rin could feel the poisonous energy spreading in the Tang Family’s courtyard gathering towards where Tang Chun-gi was.
It was clear that the Heavenly Jade Treasure was absorbing the poison spreading in the courtyard.
Despite having completely removed the Poison Demon’s poison, the Heavenly Jade Treasure had not lost its anti-poisoning effect and was absorbing and eliminating the poison.
The Poison King, who had been rampaging mindlessly, also noticed the existence of the Heavenly Jade Treasure. His head turned towards Tang Chun-gi, and he rushed towards him like an arrow, taking the Heavenly Jade Treasure from his chest pocket.
“How can this…….”
As the Heavenly Jade Treasure absorbed Tang Sa-ok’s poison, it restored his lost reason. Seeing this, Hwa-Rin discovered the Poison King’s fatal flaw.
‘He is not a complete poison master. That’s why he needed the Heavenly Jade Treasure, the anti-poisoning artifact.’
To confirm, Hwa-Rin attacked Tang Sa-ok. The Poison King blocked Hwa-Rin’s attacks with the Heavenly Jade Treasure in one hand and even counterattacked. There was definitely a big difference from his reckless behavior a moment ago.
Furthermore, he was freely using the Heavenly Jade Treasure to release and absorb the poison he had absorbed.
The Heavenly Jade Treasure not only served as an anti-poisoning artifact but also as a weapon for the Poison King, Tang Sa-ok.
Hwa-Rin had finished assessing the Poison King, Tang Sa-ok, and made his move to eliminate the source of the problem.
“Let’s end this now.”
Hwa-Rin reached out his hand towards the Heavenly Jade Treasure held in Tang Sa-ok’s hand.
The Poison King also intended to finish Hwa-Rin in one fell swoop, pushing the Heavenly Jade Treasure forward and unleashing poison at Hwa-Rin.
Black smoke covered Hwa-Rin, and within it, a pure white hand strongly struck the Heavenly Jade Treasure.
Crack!
As the Heavenly Jade Treasure cracked, Tang Sa-ok’s eyes widened endlessly.
“Minor Hand Divine Art… How did you!”
Instead of answering, Hwa-Rin placed his left hand on Tang Sa-ok’s heart.
Boom!
Using the Internal Crushing Hand Technique, he crushed Tang Sa-ok’s heart.
“Kuh-uhk!”
Blood poured from his mouth, and he knelt down.
“How can you withstand poison…….”
“I am immune to all poisons. From the beginning, you were no match for me.”
Tang Sa-ok narrowed his eyes.
“From now on, the Tang Family will have to live like mice in Sichuan. I’ll make the remaining ones like that too.”
Tang Sa-ok trembled. Then, his head tilted to the side, and he collapsed.
At that moment.
Thump, thump, thump…….
The sound of many people running could be heard, and armed soldiers entered the Tang Family estate.
They were startled and taken aback by the sight, which was more horrific than a battlefield.
“Nine Emperor…….”
-Call me Nine Dragons Stronghold Lord.
General Chun Sang-cheon of the Thousand Guard tried to call Hwa-Rin by his alias but changed his words abruptly after hearing the telepathic message.
“Did the Nine Dragons Stronghold Lord do this?”
“Yes, they stole the treasures of this stronghold and denied it to the end, even trying to kill me, so I took action.”
“Hmm…….”
“But why has General Chun of the Thousand Guard brought soldiers to a martial arts family?”
At Hwa-Rin’s question, Chun Sang-cheon said it was a diplomatic issue and ordered the soldiers to bring Tang Mun-soo, the head of the Tang Family.
After the soldiers entered the inner courtyard, people came out a short while later, but Tang Mun-soo was not among them; only others came out.
They frowned at the horrific sight of the outer courtyard and widened their eyes in surprise at the sight of the fallen Tang Family martial artists and the Poison King.
“Uncle!”
Tang Young-gi ran to the Poison King and hugged him, feeling the coldness of Tang Sa-ok, and his head turned towards Hwa-Rin in an instant.
“Where is Tang Mun-soo?”
“He went to the Righteous Heaven Alliance.”
“Oh, really? Then who is the highest-ranking person here?”
Tang Young-gi looked at Chun Sang-cheon, the General of the Thousand Guard.
“It’s me.”
“Oh, really? Then tell Tang Mun-soo, who is now at the Righteous Heaven Alliance, that you killed the Ferghanese envoys, causing a serious diplomatic problem, so he must come immediately to explain and apologize.”
“What? What are you talking about?”
“I heard that you mistakenly believed they stole your treasures and killed them. I heard that they clearly stated it was a misunderstanding, but you didn’t listen and tried to kill them.”
Tang Young-gi realized that the people Chun Sang-cheon was talking about were the ones who had stolen the Heavenly Jade Treasure.
“They stole our family’s Heavenly Jade Treasure.”
“Heavenly Jade Treasure? Are you talking about this?”
Hwa-Rin pointed to the shattered pieces of the Heavenly Jade Treasure.
“This is…….”
“It was in Tang Chun-gi’s chest pocket.”
Tang Young-gi was at a loss for words at Hwa-Rin’s words.
“The princess of the Ferghanese Kingdom is now at our royal palace, so tell him to come quickly and apologize. Otherwise, our royal palace will not let this matter pass. All disadvantages resulting from this will be the Tang Family’s responsibility.”
Tang Chun-gi trembled as he listened to Chun Sang-cheon’s words.
‘This… this must be a dream.’