Chapter 420: Suryonggang.

Tududuk-! Udududuk-!

“Ugh…!”

Lying face down, I endure the pain. The Tuapa Cheongong manifested in my body was diligently circulating the malfunctioning energy.

The twisted internal energy began to circulate smoothly, and the internal energy started flowing faintly again through the meridians.

Although my body, ravaged by the battle and the backlash of energy, had not recovered.

At least by the time I could breathe properly, I could exhale the breath I had been holding in succession.

“Hah… hah…”

As I breathed raggedly lying face down on the floor, the person touching my back clicked their tongue repeatedly.

“Tsk tsk… You end up like this because you do all the things you’re told not to, don’t you?”

“…Hoo…”

Normally, it would have taken a long time for my body to return to its original state. Perhaps because someone was helping me recover, it felt at least twice as fast.

Tududuk.

As if to signal that the backlash hadn’t ended, my muscles screamed as I tried to sit up.

I forced myself not to show it and sat up.

Then I looked at the person helping me.

The first thing I saw were eyes clearly showing pity.

“What a sight you are.”

“…How did you get here?”

Wiping the traces of blood with the back of my hand, I asked the question to Paejon.

How on earth did this guy get here?

‘I definitely hid my presence when I came out?’

It was surprising enough that someone was helping me, but I was even more shocked when I realized the helper was Paejon.

Gratitude aside, I had to ask.

I had clearly assessed the surrounding presence and situation while escaping.

Even if someone came out with me, Baekryeon Geom wasn’t a common, low-level martial artist to make such a mistake.

If that’s the case, it’s reasonable to assume Paejon secretly followed me with all his might.

If so.

‘…How on earth did this guy…’

Since when was he following me?

Before he could have possibly followed me, his presence was quite distant.

No matter how much Paejon was one of the Three Venerables, he was currently only at the peak level, so there were limits.

It should have been difficult for him to detect my presence.

‘Or rather, did he not sense me following him?’

It was a situation that only raised questions.

Perhaps sensing my confusion? Paejon grinned and spoke to me.

“Ah-ya. Even if you run, you’re still in the palm of my hand.”

“…”

“I had a feeling you’d cause some trouble… And just as I thought, you come out for a brawl in the middle of the night. Couldn’t contain your vigor, could you?”

Kkulkkul…! Hearing Paejon speak with a chuckle, I had to swallow dryly.

I heard all his teasing and taunts, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

‘How much did he see?’

Just how much of it did Paejon witness?

That’s my only worry.

Paejon knew I possessed some unknown power, but he didn’t know the specifics.

The battle with Dangdeok was observed from a much closer perspective.

Not only did I activate my demonic transformation from the start, but I even showcased martial arts enhanced by applying demonic energy.

I declared my domain with the corrupted Jeokcheon.

My appearance, fighting Dangdeok with blackened flames, needed no other excuse.

A form full of foreignness, too unusual to be called that of an ordinary martial artist.

If Paejon were to ask for a detailed explanation, I would be in quite a predicament.

“…”

Because I had no way to explain it.

While I was worrying about that, Paejon spoke to me.

“Ah-ya.”

“…Yes.”

“We have something to talk about, don’t we?”

“…”

Damn it.

At Paejon’s words, a cold sweat trickled down.

“What was that just now?”

“…”

As expected, he asked. How should I answer this?

“Well…”

Should I talk about how I obtained demonic energy? Or should I explain why I came looking for this guy in the dead of night?

All sorts of random thoughts were racing through my mind.

Furthermore, I was starting to get a headache wondering if I might even have to talk about my regression.

Paejon was looking into my eyes with a very serious expression.

It was the look of someone who wouldn’t let it go easily unless I told him.

Seeing that, just as I decided I had to say something.

“Well, you see…”

“How exactly did you mix and use the energies?”

“Actually… huh?”

Just as I was about to calmly spill the story one by one, I had to widen my eyes at Paejon’s words.

A rather out-of-the-blue question came flying at me.

Mix the energies?

“…What do you mean?”

“When you used the First Form (一式). You clearly mixed the heat from your fire arts into the Tuamu Fist. Am I correct?”

“Yes.”

In the final moments of the battle with Dangdeok, although I had changed somewhat due to demonic transformation, I used the flames of the Guhyeom Hwaryeong Gong simultaneously with the Tuapa Cheonmu.

Furthermore, the First Form of Tuapa Cheonmu.

When using the Tuamu Fist. I also mixed in heat using the method Paejon taught me.

As proof, behind where Dangdeok lay fallen, in the traces that looked like a massive demonic beast had swept through, the heat of Guhyeom Hwaryeong Gong was clearly present.

“How is that possible?”

“…”

Paejon continued to question me seriously, but I first needed to understand what this situation was about.

He comes all this way and asks about that first?

“Is that what you’re curious about?”

“Hm? Then what else should I be curious about?”

Paejon’s words, spoken as if it were obvious, made me think differently.

Perhaps he didn’t see everything?

That’s possible.

I thought he had been following me from the start, but maybe Paejon arrived late and couldn’t properly see what I was doing.

As that thought crossed my mind, Paejon spoke to me.

“As I said last time, I don’t interfere with what you’re hiding or what powers you conceal.”

“…”

I bit my lip slightly at Paejon’s words.

Because that meant he had seen everything I did.

Paejon must have seen and realized it when I faced the Heavenly Demon regarding the demonic energy.

He had let it slide, saying he wasn’t interested if I didn’t talk about it.

But now that he’s come this far, you’d think he’d press me.

Does this mean he saw everything but is only asking how I used the energies simultaneously?

“What’s important to me is whether you can reach the end of Tuapa Cheonmu or not. That’s all. I won’t take particular interest in anything else.”

“That’s….”

His obsession with his own martial arts is quite severe.

I couldn’t shake the thought upon seeing Paejon’s reaction.

To be thinking about that even after coming this far.

This is truly absurd.

Whether he knew what I was thinking or not, Paejon continued to question me.

“How was it? Was it a little easier to maintain?”

“It wasn’t particularly easier.”

This statement is true.

Trying to use it together with Guhyeom Hwaryeong Gong made it harder, not easier.

‘The result too.’

Hilkkeum. I glanced at the devastation caused by the Tuamu Fist.

The casting motion was short, and the martial art itself was strong, that’s true. But the problem was that I couldn’t use it twice.

It was only natural, considering my body ended up like this after just one use.

Hearing this, Paejon wore a slightly disappointed expression.

“Hmm…”

Why is he disappointed?

He wouldn’t be able to use more than two anyway.

Not only was he disappointed, but he also retracted the hand he had extended towards me and stood up.

“I thought it wasn’t bad, but if you can’t use more than two energies, it’s meaningless.”

“Are you going to try it yourself?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Do you think everyone in the world is as strange as you?”

“…”

What kind of outrageous statement is that, offending the listener?

My brow furrowed involuntarily, but Paejon, seemingly unconcerned, suddenly turned around.

As if he were about to leave again.

Seeing that, I asked with a surprised expression.

“Elder. Where are you going…?”

“I have to go back. Where else would I be going? What else is there to do on this night?”

“Just like this?”

What is this guy thinking?

Is he really just cleaning up his mess and leaving?

It was fortunate for me that he was leaving without hearing the explanation, but it felt incredibly unsettling that he was actually leaving.

Perhaps Paejon sensed this feeling too.

He looked at me and said.

“You don’t seem to want me here, so why the long face?”

“When did I ever give you that impression?”

“Baekryeon Geom behind you. And that big kid, don’t you have business with him too?”

“…”

He just kept spitting out irrefutable remarks, leaving me speechless.

Just how much does this old man know?

“You don’t want me to see it, so you’ll handle it alone. Knowing that, I won’t pry.”

Hearing that created a slight contradiction.

“Then… why did you follow me this time?”

I asked with a puzzled expression, and Paejon chuckled wryly.

“I explicitly warned you not to use it in combat, but I had a bad feeling, so I followed. I couldn’t believe it. Ah-ya. Don’t you know that words are meant to be listened to?”

“…”

I asked for nothing and got scolded even more.

Seeing me avoid his gaze, Paejon clicked his tongue repeatedly.

“Tsk tsk… If I hadn’t followed, you might have died right here. Don’t you realize that?”

“…I am grateful.”

“You really would be. It’s not like I’m asking for thanks, is it?”

It was true that if Paejon hadn’t appeared, I might have been killed by a recovered Dangdeok.

I was truly grateful for that, but Paejon didn’t seem convinced.

“There won’t be a second time.”

This time, his tone was colder than usual, piercing me.

“This means that saving you after you ignored my warning and faced great peril is the last time. I have many expectations for you, but I have no intention of taking a fool who can’t even distinguish such trivial matters as a disciple.”

The words, delivered coldly as if they were sincere, were particularly harsh.

However, since there was no falsehood in his words, I forced myself to nod and replied.

“I understand.”

Hearing my answer, Paejon immediately leaped without another word and disappeared from my sight.

It was a display of him keeping his word about not interfering further.

One might expect him to ask what happened, but how could he leave so unhesitatingly?

He was a person I couldn’t understand.

Does he truly have no interest in anything other than martial arts?

At that level, it was practically madness.

I quietly watched the direction Paejon disappeared before turning my head.

Towards where Dangdeok lay.

I moved my feet.

Regardless of Paejon, I couldn’t forget my main objective.

Pain surged with every step.

Although Paejon had tried his best to stabilize my condition, the backlash from the martial art hadn’t fully subsided.

Enduring it, I reached Dangdeok.

I looked down at the unconscious Dangdeok and knelt, reaching out my hand to him.

As I reached out, my worry remained.

‘Will this work in this state?’

Even though Dangdeok was on the verge of death and unconscious.

My own condition was precarious, so I wondered if it was possible to corrupt Dangdeok, who seemed resistant to demonic energy.

My worries were immense, but if this didn’t work.

‘If it doesn’t work, I’ll just kill him.’

Thinking that killing him and disposing of the matter would be enough, I didn’t stop reaching out.

Finally, my hand touched Dangdeok’s back.

I immediately injected demonic energy into his heart.

---

Sabak. I moved through the rustling grass.

The crickets, which had been chirping diligently, fell silent the moment I approached.

Was it because the demonic energy or killing intent on my body hadn’t been properly erased?

Or was it because of the presence I felt ahead?

It was probably closer to the latter.

Although it wasn’t very far, as I neared my destination, a pungent scent pierced my nostrils.

Feeling it, I frowned.

‘This is.’

The scent of blood.

The pungent smell of blood could be felt from afar.

I headed towards the source of the blood scent, piercing through the darkness that obscured my vision.

Upon reaching my destination, I finally understood why the scent of blood was so strong.

It was only natural, as the surroundings were soaked in blood.

“Oh. You’re here?”

Someone stood over an artificially created pool of blood, greeting me.

It was Baekryeon Geom.

“…”

Seeing that, I couldn’t say anything.

Unlike her cheerful greeting, her appearance was quite gruesome.

Corpses, seemingly hacked to death, were scattered everywhere.

The blood from them had soaked the surroundings.

Blood dripped from the tip of Baekryeon Geom’s sword, and her once pristine white clothes were stained everywhere.

Baekryeon Geom, smiling with a faint smear of blood on her white cheeks, somehow exuded a sense of madness.

Perhaps seeing her smile at me in that state made it feel even more so.

When I asked her to deal with the bandits.

Baekryeon Geom readily accepted, asking if that was all.

The bandits were from the unorthodox sects, so the justification was sufficient.

Baekryeon Geom seemed to have dealt with all the surrounding bandits according to my request.

Perhaps because my expression wasn’t good.

Baekryeon Geom chuckled sheepishly upon seeing it.

“It’s a bit messy, isn’t it? Does it look that bad?”

It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but that wasn’t why I felt uneasy.

“Not really. I just figured it’ll take a long time to get rid of the blood smell.”

“Aha…?”

It would have been better if she had killed them cleanly; what was she thinking making the cleanup so difficult…

With Baekryeon Geom’s skill, she could have easily done it.

I wondered why she had done it so violently.

Baekryeon Geom answered my question like this.

“Their mouths were foul, so I guess I got a little angry without realizing it?”

“…Mm.”

Does this mean the bandits who faced Baekryeon Geom spoke ill of her?

I had brought Baekryeon Geom precisely to ask her for this, but the result was more brutal than expected.

‘Anyway.’

Should I consider it fortunate that it turned out as I wished?

“But Yangcheon-ah.”

“Yes.”

As I tried to think positively, Baekryeon Geom asked me something with a puzzled look.

“Who is that friend?”

She said, pointing behind me.

Where Baekryeon Geom pointed, there was a large man biting his lip while looking at the blood-stained carnage behind him.

The leader of this bandit group, the man who would later be called the Green King.

It was Dangdeok.

Dangdeok stood there, trembling, unable to utter a word.

He seemed furious seeing that all his companions had been killed.

Of course, even so.

“Say hello.”

“…”

At my command, Dangdeok, unable to show any anger, simply bowed to Baekryeon Geom.

Seeing that, Baekryeon Geom tilted her head.

It seemed she couldn’t understand the situation at all.

Leaving Baekryeon Geom’s confusion aside, I grinned and introduced him.

“He’s my new bodyguard.”

Dangdeok’s shoulders trembled at my words, but he wouldn’t be able to refute them.

Because I had ensured he couldn’t speak until given the order.

This confirmed one thing.

Dangdeok had become a demonized being.

And I had succeeded in the plan I set out to achieve.

---

By the time I returned to the campsite, the sun was just beginning to rise. I hurried back, worried I might be late.

Perhaps because of that, I fortunately arrived without being late.

Upon arrival, I pretended everything was fine and ate breakfast.

Of course, it was just a pretense; my internal condition was far from good.

‘I’m gonna die….’

The backlash hadn’t fully subsided yet, and even though he was weakened and unconscious.

Being immediately after demonizing a martial artist of the Flower Realm (Hwajing) had taken a toll on my body.

Rather, it was on the worse side.

Of course, I couldn’t show it, so I just endured it.

Namgung Bi-ah, upon waking, looked at me strangely, but she didn’t ask any questions about it.

It was unexpected; I thought she would ask something.

While Namgung Bi-ah remained silent, it was someone else who asked me a question.

“Young Master. Who is that person?”

Just past noon, Tang Soyeol appeared and asked, looking at Dangdeok behind me.

Dangdeok was hidden, covered by the blood-red cloak I had prepared.

“A bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard?”

“Yeah. Madam Mi sent one more bodyguard.”

“Ah… Madam Mi.”

Hearing my words, Tang Soyeol nodded repeatedly without any suspicion.

Given the situation with Baekryeon Geom, using Madam Mi as a cover was the best approach.

The only thing I needed to be cautious about… was the reaction of that Dangdeok fellow behind me.

-Stay still.

I mentally warned him, sensing the emotions coming from behind.

I could feel Dangdeok clenching his fists and trembling violently.

It must be because of Tang Soyeol.

Tang Soyeol was a blood relative of the Tang Clan whom Dangdeok most wanted dead.

Seeing that brought a question to mind.

‘I wonder… did the Poison King not know?’

Although Dangdeok’s past, the plan for the birth of the Heavenly Body (Cheonmu Jiche), supposedly ended with the Poison Lord Tang Bi-seong.

I didn’t believe his descendants knew nothing about it now.

Even if the ambition to elevate the Tang Clan was solely Tang Bi-seong’s personal ambition, there was no guarantee his descendants didn’t share the same sentiment.

As I pondered this deeply, a question about Tang Soyeol also arose.

Specifically, the question about Dokbi, Tang Soyeol’s future self.

The current Tang Soyeol was merely a late-blooming disciple with decent talent.

But his future epithet was entirely different.

Dokbi, the Invincible to All Poisons.

The realm of invincibility to all poisons, which even the world’s Poison Lord Tang Bi-seong couldn’t reach.

It was the future Tang Soyeol who achieved it, and now, a question occurred to me.

The Tang Soyeol I saw showed no talent capable of reaching such a realm.

He wasn’t bad, but compared to the monsters around him, he was somewhat lacking.

To be precise, it meant he couldn’t be called a genius.

For Tang Soyeol to have achieved that solely through effort… that realm was too high.

That’s why the doubt arises.

Recalling the ridiculous ‘test’ called the Heavenly Body Birth Plan.

I wondered if the Tang Soyeol before me truly reached it solely through effort…

That unsettling doubt.

I saw Tang Soyeol tilting his head, wondering why I was looking at him like that.

I soon shook my head.

I thought that no matter how corrupt the Tang Clan was, it wasn’t as corrupt as I imagined.

No.

It had to be that way.