Chapter 484: Monster (2)

After getting approval from the Tang Clan, Woo Hyuk and I were able to go outside.

I would’ve liked to stay with the girls more, but I decided to finish all my planned businesses as fast as I could, as I knew that I didn’t have that much time.

I really had no time to rest.

What a shitty life this truly was.

“Ugh, my neck…”

All of a sudden, as we were walking, Woo Hyuk started groaning in pain.

The bastard was rubbing his neck with his hand.

I frowned at the sight.

“You shouldn’t have said such a thing then.”

“…I didn’t actually think you were going to bite me. Do you think you are a dog or something?”

“If you treat me like one, then I shall act like it.”

He was the one who treated me like a dog first, so what was the problem?

I couldn’t understand.

[Even so, it’s crazy for you to actually bite him.]

Elder Shin spoke in a disappointed tone, but I ignored him.

I turned away from Woo Hyuk and looked forward.

How long have we walked through this forest packed with trees?

He told me that it would take around a couple of hours traveling on foot, but it felt longer than that.

I continued to think as I continued to run without a break.

I gave her a few orders… I wonder what the result will be.

Before leaving the Tang Clan, I called Nahee and gave her some orders.

I was curious about the outcome.

Moreover.

I have to see what kind of answer the Poison King will give.

I had to learn that first so that I could decide what to do next.

[Child.]

Yes?

[Are you really going to kill every single one of them?]

I thought to myself after hearing Elder Shin.

After a moment of thought, I gave him a short answer.

Yes.

Honestly, there was no need for me to think.

It was right for me to get rid of everyone who was involved in such a matter.

Even if Tang Jaemoon didn’t make this request, I would’ve done it myself.

Since I found out that they’ll become a problem in the future, I can’t just let them be.

[…]

Plus, this was about Tang Soyeol.

I was always curious about how Tang Soyeol managed to achieve Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

Now, I was finally getting an answer slowly but surely.

The thought of it made me angry, which made me grind my teeth.

Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

It was truly a mystery how she managed to achieve such a high level.

It seemed practically impossible for skilled martial artists to achieve such a state, let alone ordinary humans.

I didn’t think much about this topic before, but now I couldn’t help but not to.

It gave one immunity to ten thousand poisons, and it was a realm that one could achieve after truly mastering Poison Arts.

But did Tang Soyeol really achieve such a state in an honest way?

At the very least, it doesn’t seem that way.

I was sorry to Tang Soyeol, but objectively speaking, she wasn’t a genius.

The Water Dragon who was right next to me was obviously one of them, but there were also Wi Seol-Ah, Namgung Bi-ah, Yung Pung, who was the greatest prodigy of Mount Hua, Peng Woojin of Peng Clan, and…

…A monstrous bastard who’ll appear in a few years.

Compared to them and the miracle of Shaolin, who’ll become the next Heavenly Dragon, Tang Soyeol had much less presence.

At best, she was just a blood relative of a noble clan and nothing more.

At worst, it was even hard to call her a prodigy.

That was how I saw Tang Soyeol, and I was certain that she didn’t have enough talent to reach the Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity state with her own strength.

However, in the end, she became the Poison Queen after reaching that level. This was a mystery to me for a while.

But considering how the Celestial Martial Body Plan was suspected to be still active and how Tang Jaemoon warned me that this had the chance to involve Tang Soyeol, I believed that Tang Soyeol experienced something in the process of reaching the Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity state.

Honestly, this part didn’t matter to me too much.

It might have been a different story if I were a martial artist who did things fairly.

Instead, I didn’t hesitate with my methods of becoming stronger, no matter how bad it was.

Therefore, even if Tang Soyeol chose an unethical path to reach that state, I wasn’t going to see her in a bad light.

However, I did find one thing important.

Did Tang Soyeol want that?

That was the only thing that mattered to me.

If that was the case, then I was honestly willing to let her do what she wanted.

It wasn’t Tang Clan or Tang Jaemoon’s request that mattered to me, but Tang Soyeol’s will instead.

But if that isn’t the case,

I will tear and burn everything apart.

I was even considering burning down the Tang Clan as a whole.

Was that going to be difficult?

It might have been before.

But now, I didn’t really think that to be the case.

How strange it was.

Was it because I became more powerful?

I’m still too weak to be arrogant.

I was still only at a perfected state of the Fusion Realm.

It was still difficult to take down a clan by myself with only this much strength.

Strangely enough, my confidence was overflowing.

This wasn’t really a good look on my part.

I became different.

My physical body and my Dantian system inside my body may have changed, but it felt like my mentality changed as well.

Was this a change that happened after my vessel shattered?

I should really check on my body when I’m free. Tsk.

It was annoying that I didn’t even have the time to do that.

While suppressing my anger, I glanced over at Woo Hyuk.

“How much more do we have to go? It’s been more than two hours already.”

After hearing my question, Woo Hyuk responded with an awkward expression.

“Um… Hmm. I was told that I just needed to go this way.”

“…?”

I had to scowl after hearing his hesitant response.

“Hey.”

“Mhm?”

“Do you not know your way there?”

“Haha. What kind of absurd question is that?”

Woo Hyuk waved his hand with laughter after hearing my question.

Right? Surely, he wouldn’t take the lead without even knowing the way.

Right as I was about to increase my pace with a sigh of relief,

“How would I know my way when I don’t live in Sichuan? Of course I don’t.”

“What the hell did you just say?”

I almost tripped after hearing Woo Hyuk’s blatant answer.

He doesn’t know the way?

“You fucker? Then why are you even taking the lead!?”

“I just thought that we had to go in this direction.”

“Where is the map! Give it to me right now.”

I snatched the map out of Woo Hyuk’s hand after he sluggishly took it out, and smacked his head after checking the map.

Pow-!

“Agh!”

Woo Hyuk looked back at me with resentment after I hit him, but I was angry as well.

“You bastard! We ran in the opposite direction!”

“Oh… really? I did not know that.”

“‘Oh’ my ass… I’m the dumbass for trusting you.”

I turned around after finishing my sentence.

At the same time, I grabbed Woo Hyuk’s collar.

“Ugh…! Why are you…!”

“Just shut up. I’m going to speed up since we are already late.”

I focused Qi into my feet.

Swoosh-!

“…!”

Woo Hyuk opened his eyes widely after seeing the sight.

Ignoring his reaction, I only looked forward.

Oh, I still gave him a kind warning, though.

“Do your best to endure. You can at least do that much, right?”

“W-Wait!”

Of course, I didn’t let him respond.

Blaze-!

After wrapping my body in blue flames,

Boom-!

I started to leap explosively.

The scenery changed rapidly as I ran.

I was traveling at a speed much faster than I was before.

“Ugahhh…”

Woo Hyuk tried saying something as he was being dragged along at an unexpected speed, but I ignored him and continued to leap forward.

Who knew? That Woo Hyuk was just as bad as Namgung Bi-ah when it came to pathfinding.

“Why are you so useless at times like this… fuck…”

Woo Hyuk became a whole different bastard when wielding a sword, but he was practically retarded when he didn’t.

To be honest, all bastards that were supposedly geniuses felt this way.

At this point, just give me those genetics, then. Damn it.

Swoosh-!

How long has it been?

It had barely been around an hour.

It was around this point, according to the map.

I should’ve just done this from the beginning.

I was honestly speechless myself.

I used my full strength out of anger, but I did not know that I was able to move this fast.

Judging only my speed, I was twice as fast as I was back then.

More so, why do I need to check up on my body?

I thought I was only one and a half times stronger than before, but actually, using the newly acquired strength felt different.

It was probably a good idea for me to go see the Dishonored Venerable at this point.

I should ask him for a spar.

It was only the Dishonored Venerable whom I could make such a request around me.

At the very least, I knew that it wouldn’t end well if I asked the Dark King.

After slowing down a bit, I asked Woo Hyuk.

“Hey, where do we go from here?”

“Ough…?”

“Wake up. The map only tells me this much.”

The map only wrote the name of the mountain and a brief description of it, so I didn’t have the exact location.

It felt like I had come to the right place, but I only saw trees and boulders around me.

Still with a dizzy look on his face, Woo Hyuk responded.

“Put… me down… I think I’m going to die.”

“Hey, I need to know where your master is…”

There was no way that they planned to meet in the middle of the forest.

There had to be a building here somewhere.

Then, where was it exactly? Perhaps I arrived in the wrong place? I didn’t think I was also bad with directions.

Right as I thought about sharpening my senses,

“…!”

I quickly turned my body.

“Ugh!”

Woo Hyuk shouted in shock when I quickly turned, but I had to.

Swish-!

Something passed by my body.

It was Sword Qi.

Slash-!

After passing by, it struck the ground and cut a boulder in half.

Thud-!

It then fell loudly on the ground.

I quickly made a safe landing and sharpened my senses.

“Agh!”

I didn’t have the time to worry about Woo Hyuk, so he couldn’t even land safely and fell face-first to the dirt ground.

“…Ugh… I’m dying over here…!”

“Pull your sword out.”

I spoke to Woo Hyuk, who was groaning in pain.

I ordered him to pull his sword out this instant.

“…What sword?”

However, the bastard asked in a confused tone as if he didn’t know what situation he was in.

Huh? Woo Hyuk wasn’t the type of person to be this slow at reading the situation.

Rustle.

Someone appeared from behind a tree as we continued to talk.

It was most likely the person who unleashed the Sword Qi in this direction.

I squinted my eyes and focused on the person.

A beggar…?

That was the first thought I had in mind.

Their long hair covered their face, and they wore a rag that looked dirty.

The man walked over in this direction barefoot in a sluggish way.

I tensed up as I stared at him.

Despite having such an appearance,

His sword is sparkly clean.

The sword in his hand seemed to have been used with utmost care.

Moreover, his Combat Qi poked my back and tensed up my body.

Who was he?

As I continued to observe the man who suddenly appeared,

“Haaam- “

The man suddenly yawned loudly and started digging his ear using his finger.

Then, he let out a snort after seeing Woo Hyuk, who was barely managing to get up.

“I was wondering what kind of bastard was coming here at that speed… What the hell happened to you past few years?”

Woo Hyuk let out a cough and awkwardly smiled after hearing the man.

“Haha. Have you been well?”

“Does it look like I have been?”

“I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed one bit.”

“Haha, this piece of shit disciple. That yapper of yours still hasn’t changed, huh?”

“…”

I opened my eyes widely while listening to their conversation.

I was able to know who this man was.

This man is…?

He called Woo Hyuk his disciple, so it was obvious who he was.

That homeless man holding a sword was the Monster of Wudang.

However.

Why?

There was one thing I couldn’t understand.

I was able to figure out who he was by listening to their conversation, but there was one thing I was confused about.

His Qi…

The Qi I felt from this man. That was the problem.

The Monster of Wudang may have had a few strange rumors about him, but it was certain that he was a master martial artist from the Wudang Sect and that he was Woo Hyuk’s master.

But why is it so fierce?

The Qi I felt from that man was way too sharp, despite him being a Taoist, and it was more so the case considering he was from the Wudang Sect.

This was why I wasn’t certain that he was the Monster of Wudang at first.

“Hmm.”

Then, the Monster of Wudang’s gaze went towards me.

I wasn’t able to see his eyes as they were covered by his hair, but I knew that he was looking at me.

“I wondered what flew this way… but you don’t seem like an enemy.”

“It’s a friend of mine.”

Woo Hyuk spoke with a bright smile, and the Monster of Wudang tilted his head.

“Disciple.”

“Yes.”

“…You had a friend?”

“I made one. It wasn’t that bad.”

The Monster of Wudang kept his gaze on me while listening to Woo Hyuk.

Right as I was about to greet him with respect, gathering my fists,

“Your friend you brought here… he’s a monster. Who is this brat?”

After saying those words, the Monster of Wudang used his dirty hand to lift his hair up.

Then, I was able to see his face.

Hmm?

I hid my shock.

Putting aside the fact that he was way more handsome than I expected, he had blue pupils.

Not only that, but he has white hair…?

There was only one clan that had people with such an appearance.

As I scowled after seeing his appearance.

[…Huh?]

Elder Shin also showed a surprised reaction.

Why was this old man reacting like that?

Elder Shin, what’s the matter?

[Wait, why is he…]

His reaction was concerning.

What. Was there something wrong?

I waited for a few seconds.

Then, Elder Shin responded in a speechless tone.

[That bastard, how does he look the same as Myung?]

…Wha?

I gazed at the Monster of Wudang after hearing Elder Shin.

Elder Shin was definitely referring to Namgung Myung, the Thunderous Sword.