Chapter 700: Divine Dragon Martial Arts Festival.

My tongue tingled.

The poison was potent, but perhaps because I’d achieved the ‘Myriad Poison Immunity’ state, my sensitivity to poisons had become incredibly refined.

‘Hmm.’

I swallowed what I was holding in my mouth, then took another sip.

Then, as if savoring it, I swished it around in my mouth a few times.

It certainly wasn’t because it tasted good.

‘What poison is this?’

What was this poison for?

First, I wanted to confirm that.

Immediately after swallowing the tea, I briefly checked my physical condition.

The poison would break down and disappear quickly anyway, but a trace would remain, and I needed to check that moment.

Sssueu.

The poison I swallowed tried to spread slowly but vanished instantly.

Sensing this, I nodded.

I figured it out.

‘It’s the Silver Heat Grass.’

The poison mixed into the plum tea was likely from the Silver Heat Grass (隱熱草).

Perhaps because I identified it instantly, a sense of accomplishment welled up inside me.

‘It paid off studying.’

Over the past few years.

Occasionally, I had studied poisons with the help of Tang Soyeol or the Tang Clan.

Thanks to achieving Myriad Poison Immunity, I didn’t need to know about poisons, but that’s precisely why I tried harder to memorize them.

‘If poison doesn’t affect you, it means you can use it even better.’

Although the Heavenly Demon from my previous life didn’t resort to poisoning…

I wasn’t her.

‘I have to make use of everything I can.’

Poisons and whatnot, if I can use it, I’ll use it.

To do that, I had to study diligently.

Thanks to that, I could identify the poison right away.

Silver Heat Grass (隱熱草) is a poisonous herb that only grows in shady places during hot, summer-like weather.

Its characteristics include…

‘It disrupts the flow of the competition.’

It wasn’t a permanent poison, but consuming it carried the risk of problems for several days.

“Hmm.”

In terms of potency, if one had no resistance, it was strong enough to incapacitate about thirty percent of people.

It had almost no taste, and while it had a pungent vinegar-like scent, it was masked by the plum aroma, so it wasn’t noticeable.

This means…

‘They mixed it that well.’

It meant they had prepared quite thoroughly.

Gulp.

Right after finishing the rest of the plum tea, I casually tossed the teacup.

Thump! Rolll!

Watching the cup fall and roll, I nodded.

‘They didn’t intend to kill me, at least not initially… What could their objective be?’

If they wanted me dead, there were plenty of stronger poisons available.

Even if my high cultivation level made it difficult for poison to work, there were more than enough poisons capable of killing martial artists.

At least, if I hadn’t achieved Myriad Poison Immunity.

“That’s why it’s even more puzzling.”

Ttuduk.

I stretched slightly, loosening my neck.

At that moment.

“Kkeu… heueu… heu…”

The person in front of me burst into sobs.

It was a woman who seemed utterly terrified.

Looking at her, I slowly crouched down to meet her gaze.

And asked.

“Excuse me.”

Hmmmch!

At my words, the woman flinched violently.

“What was your name again?”

“…Bae… Bae… Baek Yeon… I humbly state.”

Right, Baek Yeon.

That was it. That was the name.

“Yes, that’s right. Baek-ssi, the attendant.”

“…Yes… Yes… Young Master-nim…”

Seeing the trembling Baek Yeon, I smiled faintly and spoke.

“This tea had poison in it. The tea you brought, Baek-ssi.”

As I reached out, the fallen teacup flew into my hand and was caught firmly.

“Did you know?”

“I, I didn’t know… I… truly didn’t know…”

Her tone was hurried and desperate.

The woman was denying everything, trying desperately to escape the danger.

Watching her, I tightened my grip on the cup I held.

Jjaeng!

“Hieek!”

The cup split in half, and seeing this, Baek Yeon trembled violently.

Then, I saw her lower clothes become damp. She must have wet herself.

“Right, you didn’t know. You couldn’t have known.”

Watching her tremble, I straightened up slightly.

Although her appearance was somewhat pitiful, the coldness in my eyes wouldn’t return.

And for good reason.

“You might not have known about the poison… but you probably received an order to bring the tea, didn’t you?”

“…”

As I asked, Baek Yeon’s eyes darted nervously.

“Th-that is…”

“Otherwise, the situation doesn’t make much sense, Baek-ssi.”

Appearing at dawn to abruptly give me tea.

Using Madam Mi’s name as an excuse, no less, and it was Mae Hwa-seon’s tea.

There wasn’t just one or two strange things about it.

Yes, it was a situation that screamed ‘suspicious’.

That’s why I let the attendant into my room.

In fact, it was because it was so strange that I wanted to see what they were up to.

“I was wrong…! Please forgive me, Young Master-nim…!”

Hearing my words, Baek Yeon immediately knelt and bowed deeply.

“I, I really didn’t know… They, they just said I’d get a lot of money if I delivered the tea…”

As expected.

“How much?”

“Yes…?”

“How much did they say they’d give you?”

Upon hearing the question, Baek Yeon stated the amount.

In terms of money, it was slightly less than what the Nine Great Sects pay their attendants every six months.

For her, it was likely a significant amount.

“Truly… I never knew there was poison-!”

As she desperately grabbed my leg and cried out, I asked her in that position.

“But you must have suspected something, right?”

“…”

Hearing my words, Baek Yeon stiffened.

“Bringing tea at the crack of dawn? That alone is suspicious, isn’t it? After hearing that, you must have imagined what could be in the tea at least once.”

“…Young Master-nim…”

“‘What if there’s poison?’ ‘Maybe it contains poison.’ ‘Someone could die after drinking this.’ Things like that.”

Thump.

I pulled my leg away, shaking off Baek Yeon’s hand.

“You thought about it. You definitely thought about it at least once. But you did it anyway. How is that different from doing it knowingly?”

“P-please spare me… It’s just… I never intended anything like this…! I, I have an elderly mother and a young brother back home…! Because of them-!”

“An elderly mother and a brother. I understand.”

“Yes…?”

The moment Baek Yeon expressed confusion.

Pak.

“Kkeureuk.”

I shot Ki into Baek Yeon’s neck, killing her instantly.

Watching Baek Yeon collapse, I stroked my chin.

“As expected, she wasn’t a martial artist.”

She was truly an ordinary person with no Ki whatsoever.

With a nonchalant expression at that fact, I murmured.

“Dispose of her.”

[Understood.]

At my words, someone appeared, opened the door to my quarters, and carried Baek Yeon’s body away.

It was one of the Shadow King’s subordinates.

Since I had assigned a mission to Na-hui, I had another subordinate stationed here.

As the subordinate was carrying Baek Yeon away, he suddenly asked me something.

“Young Master-nim.”

“Yes.”

“Given that there was an assassination attempt, wouldn’t it be wise to strengthen your guard?”

At his words, I waved my hand dismissively.

“No need.”

“However…”

Normally, even an attendant from the Nine Great Sects wouldn’t be able to enter my quarters so carelessly.

This is enemy territory, so security should have been extremely tight at this point.

However.

“I left it open intentionally, so this is actually good.”

On the contrary, I had deliberately lowered the security, almost as if welcoming it.

‘It’s easier to figure things out when they come to me like this.’

From the moment they sent an assassin, it became easier to judge where I was being watched from.

It was also easier to gauge the timing.

Moreover.

‘Besides, I control the best assassination squad in the Zhongyuan region anyway.’

The assassination squad the Shadow King possessed follows my orders.

Even if other assassins moved, they weren’t much of a threat.

“In that case, I will prepare personnel to identify the mastermind who prepared the poison…”

“Please do it as quietly as possible.”

“Understood.”

Baek Yeon mentioned that the person who gave her the order had their face completely covered with black cloth, making them unrecognizable.

Judging by how well the tea was prepared, they probably didn’t leave much of a trace either.

‘Who could it be?’

I wonder who would do such a thing.

Now, I had to ponder that.

First, it was indeed the plum tea given by Mae Hwa-seon.

But it wasn’t Mae Hwa-seon or the Mount Hua Sect.

‘They also have no justifiable reason to do this to me.’

This wasn’t the kind of place that would prepare something so openly.

So, where could it be?

‘Perhaps the Alliance?’

The Murim Alliance.

That’s somewhat plausible.

They are a group with the power to do so.

However.

‘If it were the Murim Alliance, their methods are far too sloppy.’

If it were them, they wouldn’t have used such a clumsy method.

This is more like…

‘It’s more accurate to assume they made it look intentionally sloppy.’

There’s a possibility they never even expected Baek Yeon to succeed.

I leaned towards that possibility.

‘The chance of them thinking sending an attendant at dawn with poisoned tea would succeed is almost nil.’

It would be strange for them to expect that to work.

‘This is a test.’

To gauge my level of vigilance, and perhaps get lucky if it succeeded, but at least learn something even if it failed.

More precisely, there’s a chance they hoped Baek Yeon would be caught and spill the beans.

‘That would raise my guard, you see.’

They tried to approach me using an attendant with poisoned tea.

Just that alone would raise my vigilance, so perhaps that was their goal.

‘Or maybe there’s another motive I’m unaware of.’

I lacked the information to determine it precisely.

Besides.

‘What’s important right now is…’

…not figuring out who did it, but focusing on the fact that a threat has emerged targeting me.

‘It’s probably because of yesterday.’

If my performance in the preliminaries caused people to target me like this…

‘Good.’

That was exactly the situation I expected.

‘I can figure out who did it later.’

I cracked my stiff neck side to side as I left the room.

Since there was a faint stench, I’d have to get it cleaned.

“Oh, and one more thing.”

As I walked across the wooden floor, I added.

“The deceased attendant had a brother and mother, apparently.”

As soon as I said that, the person who had disappeared earlier reappeared behind me.

“I will handle it.”

“What the hell, handle what?”

What a terrifying thing to say.

“First, please confirm if they actually exist.”

I asked him to determine if Baek Yeon had said that just to save her own life.

Then, if her words were true.

“I’ll give you a pouch later. Find her family and send it to them.”

I planned to send money through a person.

The amount was exactly what Baek Yeon said she received along with the order.

It was the price for her own life, as she mentioned.

“…Understood.”

After answering my words, the subordinate vanished without another word.

Tuk-tuk.

Afterward, I brushed myself off and walked away.

The sky was clear, without a single cloud.

Sunlight gradually shone down, creating a warm atmosphere.

However, in contrast, my mood was utterly unpleasant.

Was it because I killed someone at the crack of dawn?

No, that wasn’t it.

‘She tried to pull a dirty trick on me, so what does it matter?’

It was just that my dream was unsettling.

But I couldn’t recall the dream itself.

That’s why I felt so damn bad.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I took a step forward.

‘Someone who would pull a stunt like this on me…’

I thought about it briefly earlier.

No matter how I thought about it, the culprit had to be one of two people.

‘One is, Dao King (刀王). It’s highly likely to be that old man.’

And the other is…

‘The Emei Sect (峨嵋派).’

One of the Nine Great Sects, based in Sichuan.

It was a peculiar sect consisting solely of female monks.

I remembered it because I heard some ‘rumors’ about it in my previous life.

‘I should look into it.’

Something fishy was definitely starting to smell.

---

Around the time Gu Yangcheon was racking his brain, trying to figure things out…

The Murim Alliance side had just begun preparations for the first round of the preliminaries.

“White uniforms this way…!”

The situation wasn’t much different from the first day.

The difference, perhaps, was that there seemed to be more people.

Not double, but certainly more people than on the first day were visible.

The reason was simple.

“They’ve arrived…”

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on one spot.

People were walking in through the entrance.

“It’s Shaolin.”

The place established in Henan.

A place that had been rising in prominence recently.

The Shaolin disciples had arrived at the preliminary venue.

And naturally, among the countless Shaolin martial artists, one figure caught everyone’s eye.

“It’s the Divine Dragon (神龍)…”

“So that young man is the Divine Dragon.”

The young man leading the Shaolin participants in the martial arts tournament.

He was a handsome man with clear features, looking just past his coming-of-age.

What was peculiar, though, were his golden eyes (黃眼).

The yellow eyes said to be possessed by the Heavenly Doom Star.

Seeing the Divine Dragon with similar eyes, the surroundings began to buzz with whispers.

“…Golden eyes mean the Heavenly Doom Star, don’t they? That’s what I heard.”

As a bystander muttered this, the person next to him snapped angrily.

“Look at this crazy fool. The Divine Dragon of Shaolin being the Heavenly Doom Star! Do you want to get beaten senseless by them?”

“No… I just thought I heard something like that.”

“Just shut your mouth. It’ll be trouble if they overhear you.”

The youngest Hwagyeong expert certified by the Alliance.

A once-in-a-millennium genius who would go down in history, being the Heavenly Doom Star? It was unthinkable.

“To arrive on the same day as them… I hope we’re in different groups.”

“They seem like mere brats anyway, why are they so scared? Tsk tsk.”

Thirty percent were already scared.

Thirty percent were looking down on them.

And thirty percent were watching with interest.

“…”

The Divine Dragon, aware of their gazes, was calmly observing his surroundings.

“Are you nervous?”

Someone spoke to him.

It was Mu-seong, the Divine Dragon’s senior disciple brother.

“…No.”

“Don’t deny it. It’s natural to be nervous. You haven’t even experienced the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, so it’s understandable.”

“…”

Since the incident had just occurred, the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering wasn’t held, making this the first time the Divine Dragon appeared in public.

“But, you can do it. We are Shaolin, after all.”

His words carried a heavy presence.

His tone conveyed firm pride and faith in Shaolin.

Hearing this, the Divine Dragon nodded heavily.

An uncomfortable feeling rose within him.

Suppressing it firmly, he said.

“…Yes. I can do it.”

No, I must succeed somehow.

The Divine Dragon swallowed those unspoken words.