Chapter 30 : Master and Disciple (2)

Chapter 30: Master and Disciple (2)

‘He must be killed in a single strike.’

Sewoon concentrated again and again.

There was only one chance.

With his current level, using the Invisible Dagger to pierce through defensive Qi at the Transformation Realm or higher was limited to once a day.

‘The growth rate of the Golden Bridle Movement Technique is incomparably faster than before, but the Reverse Heaven Qi is still lacking.’

But the slow growth of Reverse Heaven Qi was not a matter of Sewoon’s effort.

If he had truly lacked effort, he wouldn’t have been able to break through the barrier of first attainment and reach second attainment in such a short time.

‘Unlike the second attainment, which was possible through enlightenment, to reach the third attainment requires an enormous amount of external Demonic Qi.’

The Blood Demon had broken through the wall of the third attainment by killing countless enemies and absorbing their strength.

In his previous life, Sewoon had received Demonic Pills, monster inner cores, and strange spiritual herbs from the Blood Cult under the excuse that he needed them as materials for divine artifacts, and had broken through the wall that way.

But if someone in the Orthodox Murim tried to obtain such sinister items, they would immediately be branded a public enemy of Murim and executed.

Anyway, it was a situation where he absolutely had to kill in a single strike.

Yet, Sewoon was not trembling in the least.

‘In the martial world, there is no such thing as meeting an opponent in a perfectly prepared state.’

That was why the Poison Demon was also in an abnormal state.

He aimed at the parts of the body where a single strike could claim his opponent’s life.

The head or the heart.

He had to hit one of the two.

“Kuuaaaah!”

Even in that moment, Yelü Sheng let out a scream.

The man was writhing and convulsing, as though he had fallen into Qi Deviation.

Like a hawk circling in the air, searching for a prey’s opening, Sewoon fixed his gaze on the enemy.

‘Now—!’

He clenched the fist he had kept open.

Pah!

No sound of breaking air rang out.

But in Sewoon’s vision, a mysterious beam of light was clearly cutting across the horizon of the void.

The soundless dagger pierced through the air quietly, true to its name.

A straight trajectory, carving a vertical slash mark upon the Poison Demon’s forehead.

Even when the Invisible Dagger drew within less than a grain of rice’s distance from the space between his brows—

“Ggghhh!”

The Poison Demon continued his pain-filled spasms.

That was why Sewoon was convinced: the enemy is dead.

But—

Whiiish!

Suddenly, the Poison Demon’s head and limbs twisted at grotesque angles.

Whoosh!

Sewoon’s Invisible Dagger pierced only empty air.

Sewoon instantly realized the plan had gone wrong.

‘The Poison Demon recognized the Invisible Dagger!’

Before the attack, the man clearly had been unaware of its existence, just like the Sword Emperor had been.

But in that instant of life and death, he suddenly sensed it.

Perhaps it was because the dagger carried killing intent, or maybe it was due to the Poison Demon’s own heightened senses.

What mattered was that he had discovered a flaw in the worst possible situation.

Crack!

Then, with a chilling bone-crunch, the Poison Demon’s neck twisted in an impossible direction.

“There you are.”

The Poison Demon locked eyes with Sewoon and spoke.

Paht!

In an instant, he stomped the ground and charged at Sewoon with ferocity.

His movement was like that of a starving beast.

Swaek!

Within a few steps, the Poison Demon reached right before Sewoon’s eyes and slashed his right hand like a claw.

His blackened fingernails were as sharp and deadly as blades.

Chachang!

At the same time, Sewoon drew daggers into both hands.

But he did not directly clash with the Poison Demon’s attack.

‘I must evade!’

He already knew that the claw strike was not the true danger.

Swish!

Pivoting on his right foot, he spun his body quickly, dodging the attack by a hair’s breadth.

The poisoned claws tore through empty air.

But that was not the end.

Chiiiik!

A burning sound resounded with a stench of acrid smoke.

Where Sewoon had been standing just a moment earlier, a blood-colored poison mist was roiling.

Drip—

Everything touched by the poison mist melted away without a trace.

Sewoon’s expectation had been correct.

Had he been a moment slower, his body too would have dissolved without a trace.

It was the secret technique of Poison Demon Yelü Sheng’s sect, the Five Poisons Sect.

The poison within his body combined with his Qi to produce a Blood Mist.

“The Tang bloodline’s scent lingers here.”

“Kikik. So Tang Eui-tae’s grandson came to rescue the sacrifices, did he?”

Two completely different tones of voice resounded from the Poison Demon.

He looked at Sewoon with a chilling smile.

Though thrust into the worst danger, Sewoon only calmly adjusted his stance.

“Do not dare to utter my grandfather’s name with that rotten mouth of yours.”

“……Kihihi, who else would say such words but a Tang? Quite the sharp tongue.”

For the first time, the Poison Demon showed surprise at Sewoon’s voice.

Because it sounded far too young.

‘Judging by his voice, he hasn’t even reached twenty yet.’

‘Could such a brat really have evaded my lethal strike?’

Though pretending to be composed outwardly, the Poison Demon’s body was being ravaged by Angshin Tears, his condition at its worst.

If he lost focus for even an instant, he would surely dissolve into a puddle of blood.

The problem was that the opponent who looked like a mere child had unleashed an attack far too dangerous to be dismissed.

‘He nearly killed me.’

There had been no flow of Qi.

Not even the faintest sound of air being split.

If not for Angshin Tears suddenly going berserk at the last moment, unwilling to let its host die, he truly would have perished.

‘But still…….’

What mattered was that he had survived.

‘If I imbue that dagger with Angshin Tears poison—!’

He could hasten the annihilation of orthodox and unorthodox Murim alike.

Perhaps even… the Blood Demon!

“Gghhh—!”

As he gathered Qi, Angshin Tears spread, bringing with it unbearable pain again.

But he did not stop.

Ssshh!

Dense Blood Mist once again arose from his hands.

“Kihihi. Judging by your poor cultivation, it can’t be Sword Levitation Technique.”

“It must be some ability bestowed by your divine artifact.”

“Kihihi. A dagger with the power of levitation. I like it.”

“Hand it over quietly. Then I’ll at least return your corpse intact to Tang Clan’s courtyard.”

At his words, Sewoon’s eyes gleamed.

‘As expected, he still doesn’t know the Invisible Dagger is unseen.’

Since the Poison Demon was blind, he had not realized its transparency.

He simply mistook it for a dagger that possessed levitating powers.

Ssshh.

Right then, the exhausted Invisible Dagger returned to Sewoon’s hand.

It could no longer be used.

Now, he would have to face the Poison Demon head-on with only his own martial arts.

‘No, it’s better this way.’

He quickly forgot the disadvantage, reigniting his battle spirit.

On second thought, for such a man to die by the Invisible Dagger would be far too much of a luxury.

Ssshh!

Sewoon fully unleashed the Golden Bridle Movement Technique.

Innate True Qi flared wildly through all his meridians.

“Kihihi, do you think using Innate True Qi will let you defeat me?”

“Stop pretending to be composed. It’s disgusting.”

“……What?”

“Just moments ago, you were rolling on the ground like a pathetic fool, crying in pain.”

“And shall I tell you one more thing?”

Sewoon twisted the corner of his mouth into a mocking smirk.

“Angshin Tears— you’re using it wrong, you idiot.”

“Well, since you only stole a glance at how my grandfather used poison arts, I suppose it’s natural you wouldn’t know. Isn’t that right?”

At Sewoon’s sudden verbal strike, the Poison Demon’s face contorted with rage beneath the crimson haze.

He ground his teeth furiously.

For Sewoon’s words were not entirely false.

In fact, much of the Poison Demon’s poison arts had been gleaned while contending with Poison Lord Tang Eui-tae.

In other words, many of his arts could be traced back to the Sichuan Tang Clan.

This was nothing less than a lifelong wound of humiliation— a trauma of Yelü Sheng, the Poison Demon, who could never defeat Tang Eui-tae.

The true question was: how could this Tang brat before him possibly know such a secret?

‘The Sichuan Tang Clan truly disgusts me.’

Yes. What did it matter how the brat knew? He would simply tear him apart— no, melt him into a puddle of blood!

A killing intent sharp enough to sting the skin erupted.

Just as the Poison Demon was about to lunge and snap Sewoon’s neck—

Kwaaaa!

Sewoon struck first, unleashing Reverse Heaven Qi at the second attainment with full power.

Since Ha Yeong was not present, he had no need to conceal his demonic arts, and released his entire strength.

As demonic Qi poured violently from Sewoon’s body, the Poison Demon blinked in shock.

A martial artist of the Sichuan Tang Clan, using demonic arts?

That fact alone was astounding, but what truly shook him was something else.

That demonic Qi—

It possessed both terror and beauty.

Yes, it reminded him of the Angshin Tears he had absorbed.

In his lifetime, he had only once witnessed such pure demonic Qi.

‘The Blood Demon!’

In his eyes, he briefly saw the figure of the absolute sovereign seated upon the Blood Cult’s throne.

The fury faded from Yelü Sheng’s eyes, replaced by the mad curiosity unique to him.

“Kihihi, you’re amusing, very amusing!”

“I’ve decided! I shall not kill you after all!”

The Poison Demon’s eyes now burned with unmistakable desire.

“If you offer me the dagger, I shall specially accept you as my disciple.”

That was pure greed.

Yelü Sheng’s desire raged uncontrollably—he wanted to imprison Sewoon in a blood prison, cut him apart, tear him into pieces, and dissect him to discover the source of his power.

Any ordinary martial artist who saw the madness in his eyes would have been frightened and cowered.

Sring!

But Sewoon calmly gripped his Twin Daggers once again and spat out a single line.

“Sorry, but I’ve no intention of becoming the disciple of a fool who couldn’t even control his own poison and lost both arms.”

“Kihihi. My disciple ought to be disciplined by his master before his initiation—!”

Paht!

The Poison Demon stomped down, his figure shooting forward like a meteor.

In his wake, his body left behind hazy afterimages like drifting shadows.

It was the Shifting Form, Exchanging Position, a movement technique where one’s speed was so great it left afterimages.

Having killed the Divine Thief and taken all his secret techniques, the Poison Demon’s movement arts had reached a level where even martial artists of the Transformation Realm would find it nearly impossible to track with their eyes.

‘I see you.’

In contrast, in Yelü Sheng’s blind eyes, where only darkness remained, Sewoon’s flustered figure was vividly clear.

His scent, carved into memory like a sculpture, guided his sense of smell.

His hearing tracked every sound Sewoon’s body produced.

His sense of touch felt every shift in the air stirred by movement.

All those senses combined produced the result.

It was as if he could clearly see the arrogant brat, who had dared to speak rudely, now panicking helplessly.

The Poison Demon curled his lips into a bloody grin.

Martial artists of the Tang Clan who used hidden weapons rather than poison were, from the beginning, poorly matched against him.

Ssshh!

Suddenly, the wide-spread Blood Mist concentrated in his right hand.

A terrible poisonous force whirled violently.

‘Once I melt your daggers, what will you do then!’

Weapon Destruction.

No matter how much Qi was imbued into a blade, once he gripped it and melted it away, the wielder would inevitably lose all will to fight.

He would completely neutralize his prey and then thoroughly toy with him.

In an instant, the Poison Demon appeared before Sewoon and thrust his right hand like lightning.

Swaek!

With the air splitting, Sewoon’s two daggers fell into the Poison Demon’s hand without any resistance.

No, it was more accurate to say—Sewoon hadn’t resisted at all.

“Got you.”

The Poison Demon was perplexed.

For Sewoon had let go of his daggers without the slightest hesitation.

Drip—

The daggers instantly melted under the Blood Mist.

‘What—?!’

Though the daggers he grasped were gone, countless other sensations wrapped around his right hand.

Threads—innumerable threads bound his hand like a web.

Only then did the Poison Demon realize it.

His opponent had predicted he would destroy the daggers and had set a trap in advance.

Chwarara—!

The web that ensnared its prey began to spin violently.

In his previous life—

After obtaining Heavenly Net, Sewoon had reshaped the Shrine Maiden Sect’s Flawless Heavenly Garment, which was originally only defensive, into something suiting his will.

Something meant solely to cut, shred, and kill the enemy.

Flawless Heavenly Garment (Modified)

First Form

Spider Slash Lock

Seogok!

A chilling slicing sound rang out within the cave.