Chapter 515: Give it to me just once.

The small park behind the Tang Clan.

It’s a space painstakingly decorated with a large sum of money by the previous-previous Clan Head, Dokgun (Poison Lord).

It’s beautiful enough to feel out of place as a Tang Clan park.

There wasn’t a single poisonous plant in the park; it was literally a resting place designed with beautiful flowers and flowing water for every season.

Towards that place, Dokwang (Poison King) was walking, his brow deeply furrowed.

As Dokwang brushed past a path lined with flowers, countless martial artists followed behind him.

Unlike the beautiful scenery, their expressions were exceedingly grim.

Dokwang’s expression at the front was no different.

-Finished. Come.

While in his quarters, a voice reached Dokwang’s ears.

At those simple words, Dokwang immediately got up.

As he did, his back was drenched in sweat.

‘Barely a day has passed.’

It’s been barely a day since Gu Cheol-un arrived.

Gu Cheol-un, having heard the situation, said he would listen to the rest of the story after finishing the job.

So, one day.

Dokwang was in a situation where he had no idea what to do.

Does that mean he finished everything in just a day?

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

How on earth did he do it?

Although it was a matter he himself had called for, Dokwang couldn’t understand how it was possible.

Thinking thus, Dokwang raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sky above, spread with blue light in the center of the night sky.

A brightly shining sphere, seemingly creating that.

It’s truly tremendous. Just looking at it makes cold sweat break out.

‘Truly terrifying….’

It was a power so fearsome it could provoke fear even in Dokwang, the head of one of the Four Great Families.

Is that all?

The martial artists already within the Tang Clan were suppressed by fear, witnessing that bizarre situation.

A situation created by, at most, one person. Yet, it was no exaggeration to say the entire Tang Clan was being crushed.

Confirming that, Dokwang burst into laughter without realizing it.

“Haha….”

“Clan Head-nim…?”

A martial artist behind him reacted with concern to Dokwang’s laughter, so Dokwang gestured.

“It’s nothing. I just had a funny thought…”

Yes, it’s a funny thought.

How could it not be funny?

Dokwang was a martial artist before he was a Clan Head.

It was something he, as such, couldn’t possibly not know, yet he had forgotten it for a moment.

That this place was not somewhere else, but the Central Plains.

‘A world where martial power is everything.’

It’s a world full of people who worship martial arts and hone themselves.

If he thought about what made Gu Cheol-un different from himself, it wasn’t difficult at all.

It’s such a simple answer.

‘…He is stronger than me.’

Martial power cannot solve everything. That’s the way of the world.

However.

Most things can be solved, and the reason most situations cannot be solved is usually…

‘Lack of martial power.’

It’s when one lacks the strength to handle the task.

Only then do people seek power other than martial strength.

He himself was the same.

It’s purely that.

Because his martial power was insufficient, he called someone stronger.

Because his martial power was greater than his own, he could finish the job easily.

Strength enough to overturn an entire clan.

That’s simply what he possessed.

‘I don’t have that kind of strength….’

Only that difference.

That is truly bitter and hot.

It heats up sharply, as if searing a wound with flame.

He had never thought of himself as incompetent his entire life, but now, he could only stare blankly.

In this state, Dokwang gritted his teeth, trying hard to regain his composure.

He had to regain his composure.

If he collapses here, the Tang Clan collapses.

That damn reality forcibly propped Dokwang up.

‘Damn it.’

He just walks.

Now is the time to endure. As always, that’s what a Clan Head is.

Gu Cheol-un only sent a telepathic message telling him to come, so it shouldn’t be difficult to know the location.

Finding the destination wasn’t that difficult.

‘It’s hot.’

The hotter the steps he took, the more he felt a particularly strong energy.

From the moment Dokwang left his quarters, he could tell this energy belonged to Gu Cheol-un.

He was letting him know.

Telling him to come here, kindly at that.

Even though it’s a park within the Tang Clan, the distance is quite far, yet he sent a telepathic message all the way here, and on top of that, he’s emitting energy to mark the path.

Now, it was simply absurd.

‘As time passes, you only become more surprising, Sir.’

When everyone else is stagnant.

Only Gu Cheol-un changes.

It was always like that.

It was the same even during Dokwang’s days as a late-stage disciple, when he was called the Poison Dragon.

Gu Cheol-un is a being who lives in a different world, alone.

One cannot look up to him. One cannot dare to feel inferior.

It wasn’t a distance close enough to feel petty jealousy.

It was only when he stopped appearing that Dokwang barely remembered this fact.

He moved his feet, which grew heavier, bound by emotion.

Though the flowers and trees were dense, they eventually didn’t register in his sight.

After walking for quite some time like that.

Hooook-!

“…Haa….”

Dokwang exhaled the breath he had been holding.

He could feel the heat that had started to suffocate him disappear.

His gradually blurring senses were reactivated.

As his vision cleared, Dokwang cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

“…!”

He widened his eyes while surveying.

“Where is this…?”

It’s different.

It’s not the park scenery he had been walking through until just now.

The beauty of lined flowers and trees was gone, replaced entirely by dry land and rotten grass.

Dokwang knew immediately.

This land was terrain transformed by poison.

The dryness and rot were likely the reason.

‘There was a place like this in the Tang Clan?’

As a clan that handled poison, he thought they would have managed it meticulously for their public image.

To think such a place was hidden within his own clan.

Dokwang surveyed here and there with a frown.

“Is it a formation…?”

He felt a faint energy.

It was evidence of a high-level formation installed to conceal this terrain.

Feeling that, he clenched his fist tightly.

“…What on earth did you do?”

Dokgun.

What on earth was his grandfather doing?

This is a part of that ugly hidden shame.

As Dokwang looked around, his gaze stopped at a certain point.

It was the path they had entered to get here.

“What’s that…?”

He wondered how they had penetrated such a thick formation.

The reason was seeped into the entrance side.

The entrance was gaping open.

A gap created to isolate it from the outside world. Someone had forcibly torn it open, damaging the formation.

Formations, by nature, should not be touched carelessly.

Because if one tried to force their way through, they would have to bear the backlash contained within the formation.

Knowing that, martial artists bother to painstakingly dismantle the formation’s framework.

They tore this open crudely?

“Huh.”

There was no need to find out who did such a thing.

After all…

“It’s late.”

The culprit was already waiting here.

At the voice from behind, Dokwang shifted his gaze.

There stood the person Dokwang found difficult.

“…Clan Head Gu.”

Gu Cheol-un, his hair dyed red.

Seeing Gu Cheol-un standing far off, looking at him, Dokwang flinched.

He felt nothing at all.

Despite looking so powerful, he felt weaker than when he had grabbed Dokwang’s neck last night.

That tingling sensation sent shivers down Dokwang’s spine.

Dokwang wasn’t an idiot.

He knew perfectly well what it meant to feel absolutely nothing like this.

‘Is the gap in levels this much?’

When there was a gap in levels with the opponent, this phenomenon often occurred.

Dokwang would feel this way when seeing a martial artist who had just reached the peak, or when facing top-tier martial artists, but…

If it were the opposite case, how should this be explained?

Dokwang suppressed the words that came to mind with effort.

“…Is that… the thing you found?”

He pointed to what was behind Gu Cheol-un, changing the subject.

It looked like an entrance leading underground.

Dokwang had no idea that such a space and entrance existed within the Tang Clan.

Dokwang slowly approached the entrance and cautiously expressed his gratitude to Gu Cheol-un.

“…Truly, thank you. Clan Head Gu.”

“…”

Immediately after giving a light fist salute, as he was about to descend underground,

Kkwak-!

“…!”

Gu Cheol-un grabbed Dokwang’s arm, stopping his steps.

Dokwang swallowed hard at the immense pressure felt from his arm.

“…Clan Head Gu?”

-This is the last time. Tang Cheon-gi.

“…”

-You called me to clear your clan’s sins, I will overlook this. But know this clearly.

The energy contained in the telepathic message echoing in his mind penetrated Dokwang’s body, resonating everywhere.

He was on the verge of collapsing and vomiting.

-I did this out of respect for you, who lived more humanely than others, but…

Gu Cheol-un’s crimson eyes turned towards Dokwang.

-If you try to handle things using my child as an excuse even once more.

At the murderous intent contained in the voice, Dokwang felt his legs about to give out.

But they didn’t give out.

Gu Cheol-un was suppressing even that.

He couldn’t even collapse without his permission.

This must be him showing Dokwang.

-There won’t be a next time.

“…I… understand. I will keep that in mind…”

As Dokwang barely managed to speak, Gu Cheol-un released his grip.

Then, as if by magic, the pressure that had been constricting his entire body disappeared.

Whoosh.

As Dokwang staggered and moved, the martial artists behind him immediately placed their hands on their sword hilts.

“…Stop!”

Seeing that, Dokwang roared.

“Take your hands off your swords immediately. This person is a valuable guest of the Tang Clan.”

He shouted with conviction, and the martial artists cautiously composed themselves.

Dokwang knew.

The reason Gu Cheol-un had specifically warned him telepathically was, in the end, out of consideration for Dokwang’s honor in front of all these martial artists.

Furthermore, he could be certain that even if they charged with the intent to kill, they couldn’t defeat Gu Cheol-un.

Just the pressure from moments ago proved it.

“I apologize…”

“Proceed.”

Gu Cheol-un nodded slightly at Dokwang’s apology and walked towards the underground first.

Dokwang followed behind him.

---

Looking at the underground they had descended into, Dokwang couldn’t say anything.

From what he could confirm while descending, it seemed connected to the Tang Clan’s torture chamber, but…

Even that was managed secretly, mixed with spells, formations, and mechanisms.

It was a delicate combination, the cost of which was unknown.

To the point that even the Tang Clan Head didn’t know…

“…How could this be….”

The time it took to descend underground was longer than the time it took to get from his quarters to the park.

That meant it was unbelievably deep.

The scene they saw after descending for so long was…

“…Asura.”

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it hell.

The blood water felt from the middle of the stairs and the pungent smell of blood.

Even the miasma covering the air.

Most of this was demonic beast blood.

As they reached the bottom, it became visible.

The corpses of demonic beasts piled up everywhere.

They were piled up indiscriminately, from Green grade to Azure grade.

Upon checking, they were all demonic beasts known to use poison.

Some were dismantled, with hides and innards separated.

Bones were also collected.

Or there were traces of only the blood being drained.

What were they trying to do with this?

Dokwang had to squeeze his eyes shut.

Towards Dokwang, Gu Cheol-un asked.

“Are you scared?”

Scared? Dokwang nodded at this.

“…Very much so.”

How could he not be?

He had tried so hard to clear all sins to be counted among the righteous sects, yet…

He hadn’t cleared even a little.

Perhaps it was only deepening even more.

Dokwang was afraid of that.

Regarding this, Gu Cheol-un said.

“Then endure it.”

He simply stated it plainly.

There would be no other way.

“If you’re going to be shaken by something like this. I wouldn’t even look.”

“…”

If he was shaken by demonic beast corpses, he wouldn’t be able to endure.

At Gu Cheol-un’s words, Dokwang bit his lip.

He knew that too. Within the pools of demonic beast blood spread so intensely.

It wasn’t just ‘demonic beast’ blood.

Human blood was definitely mixed in. And a considerable amount at that.

It wasn’t just demonic beasts; a significant number of humans also met their deaths here. That’s what it means, isn’t it?

All without the Clan Head himself knowing.

“I’m curious.”

Looking at this, Gu Cheol-un said.

“Even like this, are you still a righteous sect?”

“…”

It truly felt like simple curiosity.

Even after doing such things, are they still a righteous sect?

It wasn’t a sarcastic tone, nor was it a mocking tone.

Because it was clearly a question asked out of pure curiosity, it hurt even more.

The space didn’t end.

Now, at most, the entrance.

Dokwang soothed his weary mind and body and continued to walk.

After walking a few more steps, the moment they arrived at what seemed to be the central area.

“You’ve arrived?”

Someone was inside. Dokwang’s eyes widened as he saw him.

“…Young Master Gu?”

An appearance with a face resembling Gu Cheol-un, yet lacking.

A young man with a fierce face and a small build for a male martial artist.

Gu Yangcheon was waiting for Dokwang.

“How did you….”

Dokwang was about to wonder how that brat was here too,

when he saw someone in front of Gu Yangcheon.

Trembling, they were prostrate on the ground.

Dokwang could guess who it was by looking at the clothes he wore and his demeanor.

Could that be…

“…First Elder…?”

Thump-!

As Dokwang was about to call out to him, the old man suddenly started banging his head on the floor.

And then.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorr…y. I am… trash of the world… I’m sorry. Please forgive me… I’m sorr….”

“…”

Thump-! Thump-!

He began to express his sins violently.

What could possibly be the reason for this?

Not to mention Dokwang and the martial artists behind him.

“…”

Even Gu Cheol-un was watching the situation uncomfortably.

“Ah, about that…”

Gu Yangcheon, standing in front, said with a somewhat embarrassed expression.

“I was bored waiting… so I thought I’d try to get a confession…”

As he spoke, his gaze was elsewhere.

“It seems the process was a bit intense. Haha…! Funny, isn’t it?”

Gu Yangcheon forced a smile, but…

Naturally, no one joined him in laughter.