Chapter 27

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Translated by Seoulbound

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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**

The Changyou-masked man, a subordinate of the Great Sage Who Drives Spirits, swallowed hard as he looked at the two who had burst into the arena.

An attire like a bolt from the blue.

‘Wudang Sect’s True Martial Pavilion!’

He had intended to buy time and wait for the other masks to join, but the plan went awry.

Above all, the first bolt from the blue was different from the Wudang Sect he had heard of.

‘They clearly said Wudang Sect’s martial arts only blossom after one’s thirties!’

The two who had burst into the arena were also exuding an aura that was not inferior to the bolt from the blue. The Changyou-masked man recalled once again the palm technique that had neutralized his short-spear kung fu earlier. His heart ran cold. A deep scar was left on the Yurong Armor, which had been personally bestowed by none other than the Great Sage Who Drives Spirits. He had no confidence in remaining safe if he were to receive that palm force with his body again.

But what if the two who had joined displayed martial arts of a similar level to that bolt from the blue?

Immediate retreat was the answer.

“Block them!”

He issued the command to the third-class masks.

It was to buy even a split second more of time.

As intended, the Green Monkey-masked men blocked the path of the Wudang Sect disciples, and the Changyou-masked man began to deploy his movement skill.

“He is running away!”

“Where do you think you’re going!”

‘Right. Come and chase me!’

If ordering the Constrained Sage masks had been his first trick, this was his second trick.

At the same time he turned his body, the Changyou-masked man threw a pouch from his sleeve behind him. With a popping sound, the powder inside the pouch exploded and scattered.

Both the Wudang Sect disciples and the Green Monkey-masked warriors were covered in the powder.

The reason they, the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest, settled here.

It was to grasp the Tang Family’s poison manufacturing technique.

And the result.

Although it was incomplete, they had manufactured a poison that displayed considerable efficacy.

‘The fourth and fifth classes couldn’t even last for half a quarter-hour.’

Moreover, since the symptoms of poisoning were also immediate.

Predicting that it would be sufficient to buy time for his escape, the Changyou-masked man moved his feet quickly.

‘If I go just a little further, the riverbank will appear. If I just cross the ferry!’

He would be able to shake off any possible pursuit.

Fleeing with such hope, the Changyou-masked man hastily stopped his movement and hid himself in a nearby pit. Then, he exerted the maximum stealth he could muster. This was because people emitting a considerable wave of energy were approaching through the shadows of the trees not far away. Hiding, he widened his eyes to identify the identity of the group.

They were the disciples of Wudang Sect’s True Martial Pavilion, wearing black pine robes.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he drew his breath very thinly and long. It was one of the unorthodox arts of the Great Sage Who Drives Spirits. Following his altered breathing, his heart also began to beat slowly, and even more slowly.

**

While Yeon Baek-jung, Yi Chae-yang, and Myeong-hun confronted the bandits of Juksan, the rest of the Greedy Wolf Unit disciples obtained valuable information through Yoon Sang, the head of the Gyunhyeon Yoon Merchant Guild.

– “Most of the items plundered by the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest this time are raw materials for poison. They are probably used as ingredients to make the Tang Family’s deadly poison. Of course, they wouldn’t have made the poison solely with the materials ordered from the Yoon Merchant Guild. The Tang Family’s poison manufacturing technique is a secret among secrets, and it is an established theory in the merchant world that they hide their poison manufacturing technique by commissioning various escort agencies and merchant guilds.”

In addition, Yoon Sang said.

– “Moreover, there is also a rumor that many of the ordered items include goods that are not actually used in the manufacture of the Tang Family’s deadly poison. It must be a deception to hide the manufacturing technique. Although there are many valuable ingredients, it means that there are very few truly expensive materials among the overall goods.”

In other words, it meant that they had not plundered targeting money. Furthermore, it was even more so because it was extremely rare for bandits to commit such massacres in most cases.

And when an additional clue supporting such a prediction was added.

– “None of the herbs or poisons on the list provided have recently been released on the black market.”

This was the content confirmed by Myeong-jing and Yo Yeon-myeong. With this, there was one thing that could be predicted.

That the minions of the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest did not have money as their goal.

If so, there was only one remaining possibility.

– A trick to find out the Tang Family’s poison manufacturing technique.

The Great Sage Who Drives Spirits, one of the seven leaders of the Chaotic Heaven Green Forest, was known to be skilled in various tricks of unorthodox paths.

‘If the Tang Family’s poison manufacturing technique truly falls into the hands of the Green Forest!’

It was no ordinary matter.

The disciples of the Greedy Wolf Unit exerted their maximum movement skill and pursued the secret signals left by Yi Chae-yang.

Thus, it was the moment they were heading toward the deep valley, going up the riverbank of Juksan.

They could not have known.

The fact that just a single zhang away from the path they passed, a man in a flamboyant mask lay inside a pit while employing the Turtle Breathing Method.

**

A colorless, odorless powder burst out of the pouch thrown by the Changyou-masked man. At that moment, I could intuitively tell.

‘Poison?!’

The effect was immediate.

“What is this…!”

“Hold your breath!”

Senior Brother Myeong-hun, who had inhaled the poison, immediately sat down and crossed his legs, and Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang tried to face the rushing Green Monkey-masked men with a face turned pale. However, they also fell down one by one before long.

“Even their own comrades!”

Senior Sister Yi tried to employ her movement skill to pursue the Changyou-masked man, but it did not go as she wished. Although she seemed less affected than Senior Brother Myeong-hun, she was also clearly poisoned.

And that was not much different for me either.

‘Is it of the paralysis type?’

The poison that entered through a single breath was stopping the function of my lungs. It was truly paralyzing the lungs. The sensation of the surrounding muscles was also gradually fading.

But even amidst the fading sensation, I recalled that I had already smelled a poison similar to this once before. It was thanks to learning olfactory detection through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition from Tang Baek-seon.

Although the intensity was much weaker.

‘A smell similar to the Tang Family’s Paralysis Powder.’

In addition to the experience of smelling a poison of a similar type, the nature of the poison felt through the Tai Chi Diagram Exposition was…

‘It is heavy. A form that weighs down even a person’s energy together, hindering the connection of essence, qi, and spirit.’

Heavy things sink, and light things float.

Such was the principle of all things.

If so, what did that mean?

‘Could I not precipitate the heavy substance and filter it out?’

As my intent stimulated a part of my Upper Dantian, I materialized the memory of that other place, not here, a bit more concretely.

– “A centrifuge separates substances of different densities in a mixture using centrifugal force…”

The force of a rotating object trying to move away from the center.

It was the content of a talk regarding a mechanical device that utilized centrifugal force.

What was important in that machine?

How was the magnitude of centrifugal force determined?

‘Rotational angular velocity, radius, and weight.’

Among them, since the speed of rotation and the radius in a centrifuge cancel each other out, the centrifugal force is determined by the weight of the substance.

In other words, the heavier the substance, the greater the centrifugal force it receives to be pushed outward. Thus, even a mixture could be separated according to weight or density through a centrifuge.

‘A poison heavier than internal energy. If so.’

Reason and instinct merged into one, and I began to rapidly spin the internal energy of the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art.

Following the mnemonic of Bernoulli of the Netherlands and the qigong of the Blood Selling Cult’s Blood-Exploding Sun-Supplying Gong, I contracted my acupoints. The internal energy, having received force, rapidly spun through my body, and the toxic energy swept up in the internal energy detached from the cell membranes.

However, the moment the rotation of the internal energy stopped, I would be poisoned again by the poison mixed in the internal energy.

I gathered the internal energy containing the toxic energy into my lungs.

The intent of the Upper Dantian’s spirit moved the Middle Dantian’s essence, and the essence controlled the qi.

‘There is still a lot of toxic energy in my lungs that has not been absorbed by the body.’

If I opened my lungs like this, the poisoning would start again.

I began to spin the gathered internal energy around my lungs this time, keeping the inertia of its motion.

Starting from the Yugen acupoint at the very bottom of the lungs, the internal energy passed through Yuzhong, Yingchuang, Yuyi, and Gobang acupoints, and then passed through the Qihao acupoint at the upper part of the lungs. From there, starting from the Baihu acupoint at the back of the lungs down to the Hunmen acupoint below, I repeatedly circulated the internal energy from the Hunmen acupoint back to the Yugen acupoint.

‘A little bit faster.’

As the accelerating internal energy flowed more fiercely, my hazy mind and senses gradually returned. In addition, the toxic qi dragged along by the internal energy circulating the lungs slowly began to separate from the flow of internal energy. The separated internal energy leaned toward the outside of the lungs.

It was the action of centrifugal force.

I opened my mouth just like that.

The poison, subjected to centrifugal force, was spat out through my open mouth.

Tang Baek-seon, who had not learned movement skills, arrived at the scene late and gasped in shock.

**

“How dare these bastards use the Immortal Ruiner?!”

The identity of the poison detected by his sensitive sense of smell.

It was the Immortal Ruiner, one of the Eight Ultimate Poisons of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

It was the ultimate poison among ultimate poisons, capable of killing even the immortals who had ascended above the clouds with just a single breath of it.

“What, the Immortal Ruiner?”

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar, who had come escorting Tang Baek-seon, stopped his breath in fright. Tang Jong-hyeok, the third young master of the Tang Clan who came along, covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve and spoke.

“It does not seem to be the perfect Immortal Ruiner.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar’s question, Tang Jong-hyeok scanned the fallen Green Monkey masked bandits and Wudang Sect disciples. Then, after sending a glance to Tang Baek-seon, he carefully opened his mouth.

“Because if it were the real Immortal Ruiner, they would not have been able to delay the poisoning through internal energy. It means it is an imitation that followed it closely. Of course, even so, an ultimate poison is an ultimate poison, so be careful not to inhale it.”

And then Tang Jong-hyeok spoke to Tang Baek-seon.

“Uncle, I will pursue the bastards.”

The reason the Tang Clan had come here.

It was to prevent the Tang Clan’s poison manufacturing methods from leaking. Since a similar imitation had already been used, he judged that preventing further leakage was the most urgent priority.

However, Tang Baek-seon shook his head.

“Stop.”

Tang Baek-seon sat in front of Myeong-hun, who had the worst complexion among the poisoned Wudang Sect disciples, and said,

“No matter how much of an imitation it is, it is a poison made following the Immortal Ruiner. If not the Tang Clan, who else could detoxify it?”

And then he pulled out a small wooden box from his chest.

“Uncle?!”

At the sight of Tang Jong-hyeok shouting in surprise, Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar tilted his head.

‘What on earth is inside that wooden box?’

The doubt did not last long.

“I will detoxify them with the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill.”

“?!”

It was because that Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill was one of the most prominent spiritual medicines even within the Tang Clan. Above all, since consuming the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill had the efficacy of granting immunity to ultimate poisons, it was considered more precious than Shaolin’s Great Returning Pill to those who practiced poison arts.

Therefore, Tang Jong-hyeok tried to open his mouth to stop him. However, Tang Baek-seon calmly asked Tang Jong-hyeok,

“What is the family motto of the Tang Clan?”

“…A favor is repaid double, sir.”

“Indeed. If it were not for Wudang Sect, I would have died today. Is the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill more important than my life?”

Tang Baek-seon had not forgotten how Yeon Baek-jung pulled his sleeve to save his life. Letting his benefactor’s fellow disciples die was something a person of the Tang Clan could not and must not do.

Tang Baek-seon opened the wooden box without hesitation and said,

“Open your mouth. The moment you swallow the pill, you must raise your internal energy and drive the poison out of your lungs.”

When Myeong-hun, who was sitting cross-legged, opened his mouth, Tang Baek-seon took out the Flesh-Generating Tendon-Connecting Pill from the wooden box and put it in his mouth.

Soon, Myeong-hun’s complexion returned to normal, and then,

“Phoo.”

He spat out the toxic qi.

By the time he had done the same thing for Yi Chae-yang.

“Uncle, Young Friend Yeon!”

Tang Jong-hyeok was pointing at Yeon Baek-jung.

Tang Baek-seon hurriedly checked Yeon Baek-jung’s condition. And he could not help but be bewildered.

‘How? If he had swallowed the imitation Immortal Ruiner, his bodily functions should have stopped!’

It was because Yeon Baek-jung’s qi and blood were actually running wild. As evidence, the surrounding true qi of Yeon Baek-jung was fluctuating while the blood vessels and acupoints on his body were bulging.

Originally, the symptom of Immortal Ruiner poisoning was that the qi and blood stiffened hard and the flow of internal energy stopped, but the exact opposite phenomenon was occurring, so he had never seen such a symptom and could not think of a way to deal with it.

And at that time.

“Phoo.”

Yeon Baek-jung opened his eyes while spitting out the toxic qi with a long breath.

When I spat out the toxic qi and opened my eyes, the first thing that came into sight was Tang Baek-seon’s elderly face.

**

‘Mmh?’

I tilted my head at Tang Baek-seon looking at me as if he were seeing something not human. Tang Jong-hyeok, the third young master of the Tang Clan, and Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar beside him were the same.

“Haha. He was a dragon. Not a hidden dragon, but a real dragon.”

Gold-Knot Wandering Beggar again muttered the talk about the imugi and the dragon he had brought up since before.

Since being a dragon or a hidden dragon was not important, I scanned over Tang Baek-seon’s shoulder. Then, he placed his hand on my shoulder and spoke.

“If you are worried about your senior brother and senior sister, they are safe, so do not worry.”

Just as he said, both Senior Brother Myeong-hun and Senior Sister Yi Chae-yang were moving normally, even though they had somewhat pale faces. Reassured by that sight, I slowly raised my body.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, yes.”

Although some remaining poison that had not been fully filtered out remained.

‘It is not for nothing that there is a saying that poison is also used as medicine.’

Rather, my body felt refreshed as if I had just woken up from a sleep.

At my appearance, Tang Baek-seon showed a laugh of disbelief and then handed me something. It was a small pill. The pungent scent felt like it was awakening my mind.

“I originally intended to feed it to you, but there is no need to do so. Keep it and take it if an emergency like today ever arises.”

Although he had shown the appearance of Yuexia Laoren (Matchmaker Old Man under the Moon), what Tang Baek-seon showed me was consistent goodwill. And since I instinctively felt that my fellow disciples, who had been poisoned, returning to normal was also not unrelated to this pill, I bowed my head and accepted it.

“Then, I will accept it without declining.”

Watching me put the pill in my chest, Tang Jong-hyeok spoke to me. It was a polite tone of voice contrasting with the arrogant attitude he had shown to our Wudang Sect in the past.

“Young Friend Yeon, may I ask by any chance how you did it?”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, the method you used to detoxify the Immo… poison just now.”

The moment I was about to answer Tang Jong-hyeok’s question, the expressions of my Senior Brother and Senior Sister, who had looked puzzled when hearing the detailed theory during the training of the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art, came to mind.

‘Will he be able to understand?’

Of course, I was confident in explaining it in a way he could understand.

Because the topic regarding centrifugal separation was not that complex a theory compared to Maxwell’s four equations applied to the Primal Chaos Tai Chi Art.

However, Tang Jong-hyeok’s anxious expression.

His changed, polite tone of voice tickled the mischievous child crouching in a corner of my heart.

I replied briefly.

“Ah, since it is a secret transmission of my sect.”

“I—I see.”

At those words of Tang Jong-hyeok, over Tang Baek-seon’s shoulder, the corners of the mouths of my Senior Brother and Senior Sister, who had pale faces, were trembling minutely. It was an expression very similar to the one I used to see when Master wanted to praise me.

Seeing that sight made me feel good.

I thought to myself that I was doomed to become a great hero.

Well, the thought that it was not bad anyway was a bonus.