Chapter 33 : Even If I Leave

Chapter 33: Even If I Leave

One side of the cave wall shattered to pieces.

It looked like the impact site of a meteorite.

And inside that crater, the Poison Demon was embedded.

Covered in fragments and dirt, the Poison Demon’s appearance was utterly wretched.

Along with dark red blood, shards of broken teeth clattered to the ground.

Holding his breath, the Poison Demon hastily straightened his battered body, his expression filled not with rage but with bewilderment.

‘……How is this possible?’

‘Kihihi, this is absurd.’

The Poison Demon could not comprehend the situation before him.

His body, strengthened with the True Blood Steel Body, was only a paper-thin difference away from reaching complete mastery of the Transformation Realm.

Yet his opponent, no matter how generously judged, was only at the very entry point of the Supreme Peak Master Level.

It was an overwhelming gap.

So even if some unknown evil arts had stolen a portion of his poisonous qi and internal strength, it was nothing more than an irritation—hardly a true threat.

After all, someone without the proper vessel could never wield the stolen power properly.

When the brat threw a punch, he too countered with a punch.

Their attacks perfectly crossed paths, each blow landing directly on the other’s face.

But the difference lay in the power and insight contained within each technique.

Naturally, his own was vastly superior.

Then why…

“Dead? No, that won’t do. It’s still far too early for you to die.”

The brat stood unscathed, despite taking his strike head-on.

And yet, he himself had suffered such devastating damage.

No matter how he retraced the exchange, he simply could not find the reason.

But his thoughts did not last long.

“So. You were just pretending to be dead.”

Pabat!

At the sound of footsteps tearing across the ground, the Poison Demon urgently reentered combat stance.

When his senses—hearing, smell, and touch—aligned once more, Sewoon’s form came into focus.

The boy charged with the ferocity of a Yaksha.

‘You! This time will be different!’

But the Poison Demon did not retreat in the slightest.

Tadat!

He too hurled himself forward with ferocity.

Sssaaa!

From his body erupted demonic qi and terrifying poisonous qi far stronger than before.

‘Kihit, if I lacked strength before, then I’ll simply unleash it all to the extreme!’

Just like the day he fought his lifelong nemesis, Tang Eui-tae of the Tang Clan.

The Poison Demon now fought with the resolve of a life-or-death duel.

Paaat!

‘He’s coming—!’

At that moment, the Black Threads connected to Sewoon’s fingers surged like a crashing wave and rushed toward the Poison Demon.

Chwarara!

Though it was originally a single thread, the Black Threads extended like countless phantoms, spreading out to envelop all directions.

Chwat!

The Poison Demon suddenly leapt into the air.

In midair, he spun his body like a top.

The Black Threads lunged at him like a swarm of venomous snakes sinking fangs into prey.

Titing!

‘Got him—!’

Yet every Black Thread that touched his body bounced off helplessly.

They could not pierce through his fierce defensive qi.

Cheocheok!

Blocking all the incoming attacks with movements resembling a whirlwind, the Poison Demon had already closed the distance, appearing right before Sewoon’s eyes.

“Kihihi, I’ll smash your face to pieces too!”

“Die!”

Swaeeek!

A chilling sound of tearing air rang out.

The Poison Demon’s right hand, wreathed in horrific poisonous qi, thrust toward Sewoon’s face.

Even if the brat could absorb poison, this one he would never contain.

It was the Divine Poison—a venom he himself could barely control.

The Angshin Tears blazed fiercely, ominous and malevolent.

But at that moment—

Sewoon curved his lips into a chilling smile.

“I almost grew tired of waiting.”

Paat!

Like lightning, Sewoon easily snatched the Poison Demon’s deadly strike.

“Keuhp!”

Sensing danger, the Poison Demon tried to yank his hand free.

But what?

The hand Sewoon had grabbed did not budge in the slightest, as though it had been hooked deep into an iron claw.

This was dangerous!

The instant that ominous premonition crossed the Poison Demon’s mind—

Sssaaa!

Through his seized right hand, the poisonous qi of the Angshin Tears was being sucked into Sewoon.

Not only that, but all the qi he had wrapped around his hand was being drained as well, as though he had been struck by Qi Dispersing Poison.

In that moment, the Poison Demon felt his blood run cold.

‘Could this be the reason all my attacks failed until now?!’

He finally realized Sewoon’s secret.

The moment he made contact, the effect of the Absorption Great Art multiplied immensely.

Protective qi was a method of defending the body by shrouding it in internal energy.

But if that energy was completely absorbed by the Absorption Great Art, then one’s body became no different from that of an ordinary commoner with no martial training.

His opponent’s Absorption Great Art far surpassed the limits of common sense.

Even in the Blood Cult, where all forbidden martial arts and sorceries from across the Central Plains had been gathered, no such absurd demonic art existed.

At most, the absorption arts in the Blood Cult could only drain qi from an enemy already subdued and unable to resist.

‘Ahh.’

Beautiful.

He coveted it—desperately.

For a moment, the Poison Demon nearly forgot he was in battle, entranced by Sewoon’s power.

But only for a moment.

Sssaaa!

The Poison Demon snapped back to his senses.

For he now saw the poisonous qi of the Angshin Tears, perfectly refined, rising faintly from Sewoon’s body.

He could endure even the Angshin Tears?

The very poison he had scoured the Central Plains to find the seed of, and nurtured with a lifetime of effort until it finally bloomed—

Now it was being stolen away so easily.

‘Never!’

To lose everything to the grandson of his nemesis?

He had not devoted his entire life to end in such disgrace.

Uuuuung!

In that instant, ferocious qi surged up from his dantian, flooding into his right hand.

Puhhhng!

A violent explosion erupted immediately after.

For the first time, Sewoon’s expression showed a trace of surprise.

Thud.

The Poison Demon’s shredded right arm dropped to the ground.

He had detonated his own arm, breaking free of Sewoon’s grasp with the recoil.

‘If it comes to this…!’

The moment he created distance, the Poison Demon revealed another method to confront Sewoon.

Chwaaak!

He pulled a talisman from his robes and hurled it into the air.

The talisman radiated an eerie light.

Uuuuung!

The sinister glyphs drawn in blood upon the Huánghuái Paper appeared in the air itself.

A glint of recognition flashed in Sewoon’s eyes.

‘A Storage Talisman!’

A type of sorcery tool, the Storage Talisman could contain objects within.

Sreung!

From the rift in space, wavering like a heat haze—

A demonic weapon emerged.

The Poison Demon drew out a massive jagged blade, its edges sprouting sharp protrusions like centipede legs.

A demonic weapon—Hundred Legs.

It was said to have been forged from the shed husk of the Millennium Centipede, a monstrous calamity.

‘So the Poison Demon possessed Baekjok.’

Sewoon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Even in the memories before his regression, he had never known the Poison Demon to possess this weapon.

It seemed this was the final trump card the Poison Demon had hidden until the end.

“Die—!”

The Poison Demon swung Baekjok mercilessly.

Chwararak!

Its jagged edge extended endlessly, lashing toward Sewoon.

The demonic weapon Baekjok possessed two dreadful abilities:

The endlessly extending blade, and the unstoppable bleeding from any wound it inflicted.

The bleeding, being more akin to sorcery than poison, was something even Sewoon’s Absorption Great Art could not halt.

However.

Cheocheok.

Sewoon did not even think of dodging.

He simply stood his ground, body firm, and assumed a starting stance while glaring at the oncoming demonic weapon.

It was the same stance he used when performing Circular Wing, the second technique of the Flawless Heavenly Garment.

But what followed was entirely different.

Chwarara!

The Black Threads of Heavenly Net, which had been spread wide, gathered toward Sewoon’s right fist.

Unlike Circular Wing, which spread wide like a shield, this time everything condensed and compressed into his right fist.

Sssaaa!

Wiiiing!

At the same time, the Heavenly Net entwined around his right fist began to spin violently, stacking rotation upon rotation like a whirlpool ascending to the heavens.

The manifestation of a shield meant to destroy all.

Swaeeek!

Just as Baekjok’s blade lunged for his throat—

Sssaaa!

Sewoon stepped forward and unleashed his right fist like a lightning strike.

Reverse Flawless Heavenly Garment – Second Technique – Whirlwind.

The hardness of the Millennium Centipede’s shell, from which Baekjok was made, was said to rival Meteorite Iron.

But when Sewoon’s fist, wrapped in Heavenly Net, struck directly against Baekjok—

Sgagaga!

Chijik!

Orange sparks burst in the air as Baekjok’s blade was endlessly shredded by the vortex.

The speed at which Whirlwind destroyed the blade far outpaced the weapon’s ability to regenerate.

“—Kuhhp!”

In an instant, only Baekjok’s handle remained.

Swaeeek!

Shocked, the Poison Demon hurled Baekjok aside and thrust out his left hand, qi swirling around it.

But—

“That won’t work.”

Swaeeek!

In a flash, Sewoon was before him, unleashing an explosive strike.

This time, not against Baekjok, but directly into the Poison Demon’s abdomen.

Kwaaarrr!

Kwaaang!

At the moment his fist landed, the Poison Demon’s protective qi shattered once more.

At the same time, a violent storm rampaged inside his body.

It felt as if his meridians and blood vessels were being torn apart whole.

“Kkghhh!!”

“Keoughk!”

The Poison Demon coughed dark blood, groaning in agony, but Tang Sewoon did not relent.

Puhhng!

Puhhpuk!

Dozens of flashes erupted in the darkness.

Like a man possessed by madness, Sewoon rained down endless strikes upon the Poison Demon.

The attacks were so ferocious, so brutal, that one might call them torture rather than combat—far too cruel for a disciple of the Orthodox Path.

As the Poison Demon’s body became drenched in blood—

Kwaaarrr!

Kwaaaang—!

His body was smashed once more into the wall by Sewoon’s final strike.

The Poison Demon could not even groan.

His body twitched faintly, like that of a corpse.

If the disciples of the Mount Emei Sect, including Geum Hwa Sa-tae, had witnessed it, they would have considered capturing Sewoon instead for such savagery.

Step, step.

Sewoon absorbed the last of the Angshin Tears and walked forward to finish him off.

His expression held no pity, no compassion.

To a man like the Poison Demon, deserving only death, such feelings were luxuries.

Kwaduk!

Sewoon seized the Poison Demon’s neck and lifted him high.

In a weak voice, the Poison Demon spoke.

“……Keuh, it hurts… my disciple.”

“Is that your last will?”

“Kihihi. As if… that would be all.”

At Sewoon’s words, the Poison Demon gave a ghastly smile.

Through the cracks of his half-shattered red skull, his eyes gleamed with a sinister light.

“See… you… again.”

The moment the Poison Demon finished speaking.

Kill him!

Sewoon, feeling an ominous foreboding, twisted the Poison Demon’s neck.

Uuuuung!

“Kihi, hihi.”

‘Damn it—!’

But an unknown, unprecedented power blocked him, preventing Sewoon’s intent from being realized.

Sssaaa!

In an instant, a sinister mist began to surge and fill the surroundings.

It was as if the space around them had been split in two, divided by the very hands holding his enemy.

Sewoon quickly searched for the source of the change.

The handle of Baekjok, discarded by the Poison Demon, had embedded itself into part of the altar, radiating a baleful light.

‘Qimen Formation!’

The moment the Poison Demon realized the power of Sewoon’s Absorption Great Art, he abandoned the thought of victory.

Instead, he made escape his top priority.

“Kihi… hi, this is your second lesson. When you can kill your enemy, if you fail to do so… this is what happens.”

As the Qimen Formation gradually completed its division of space, holding on to the Poison Demon became increasingly difficult.

Already aware of this, the Poison Demon mocked Sewoon.

But Sewoon did not allow his emotions to cloud his judgment.

Variables could occur in any situation.

What he needed now was composure, and to leave behind the worst possible trap for his opponent.

‘The worst thing I can give him right now.’

Attacking with force was sealed by the Qimen Formation.

If so—

What about pouring energy into him instead?

“Is that so? Then here’s my first gift to Master. Accept it with grace.”

“…What?”

At that instant, Sewoon reversed the flow of Reverse Heaven Qi, which normally absorbed all energy.

Instead of flowing to his upper dantian, his qi surged toward the lower dantian.

Ordinary poisons would only benefit the Poison Demon.

But what about this curse—even the Blood Demon, before Sewoon’s regression, could never cure?

Sssaaa!

A twisted dantian that transformed all absorbed qi into a horrific poisonous Evil Qi.

Kwaduduk!

Kwaga!

‘Kugh!’

Forcing his own qi into the form of the Heavenly Punishment’s Evil Qi, Sewoon poured it directly into the Poison Demon through their joined hands.

Kwaduduk!

Kwaga!

“Kwaaagh! Kkghhh…?!”

For the first time in his life, the Poison Demon felt an energy that made him cry out in excruciating agony.

And at that same moment—

Gugugugugu!

Paaang!

The Qimen Formation fully activated, hurling the Poison Demon into another space.