Murim Login - Chapter 676

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 676
The flames that erupted from the Flame Divine General spread from the entrance of Ai-nao Mountain, consuming everything in all directions within moments.
Whoosh. Roooaarrr!
If the Scorching Hell spoken of in Buddhist teachings existed, I imagined it would look something like this.
Ash scattered ceaselessly, acrid smoke billowing thick, and waves of fire demons that devoured everything in their path.
Thud, crack-crack-crack!
Ancient trees toppled in succession, the earth trembling beneath them as mountain birds took flight in unison.
Had Jeok Cheon-gang, the honorary chairman of the Forest Protection Association, witnessed this sight, his eyes would have bulged from their sockets. Fortunately, the absence of any notable beasts in the vicinity suggested that the animal protection division wouldn’t need to be involved as well.
‘Wild animals have sharp instincts, it seems. Have they all already fled?’
In truth, it mattered little now.
I had no desire to rob some pitiful deer family of their home and lives, but preserving other lives and stopping Dark Heaven’s sinister plot took precedence.
‘If the ominous feeling I sensed is real….’
There was no time for hesitation.
As I sprinted forward, I spotted a wall of flames blocking my path a dozen paces ahead and reached out toward the empty air.
‘Inventory open. Summon.’
Not drawing out White Flame when I surrendered at the Yao Seo Tribe had been the right choice.
Had it been confiscated, I wouldn’t have been able to use it in this critical moment.
Whoosh.
A cool sensation filled my palm. Flames flickered and danced across the translucently white spear blade from all directions.
‘Now.’
With the surroundings already transforming into a sea of fire, I wouldn’t commit the foolish act of firing off a heat-seeking spear.
What I needed now was raw power and speed—coupled with concise, flawless movements and flow.
Shwing!
A sharp cutting sound, and from the tip of the spear blade slashing diagonally downward erupted a violent wind that tore through the flames.
Whoosh, kaboom!
An explosion opened a path.
Crouched low atop the snow-white fur, I whispered into Mu Ya-ho’s ear as he hesitated momentarily, blocked by the inferno.
“Let’s go.”
– Growl.
Baek Ho answered with a low rumble, launching forward like a beam of light.
Waves of flame pursued us relentlessly, yet even amidst this chaos, he knew his destination with absolute certainty.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The landscape blurred past. The moon hung high above, obscured by clouds, and as I pressed forward with my back to the inferno, I found myself muttering at an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
“Could it be….”
And in the next instant, a thought struck me, and I fell silent.
No, perhaps it wasn’t mere coincidence.
The fact that this path and surroundings, which should have felt unfamiliar, felt so recognizable could only mean one thing.
‘Poison Blood Land.’
After the Five Poison Sect’s annihilation that once plunged all of the Southern Wilderness into terror, Ai-nao Mountain became known as a forbidden zone.
And within Ai-nao Mountain, the deepest and most secluded place—the Poison Blood Land.
If my suspicion is correct… we are heading right now toward that Poison Blood Land. Perhaps the most dangerous place in the entire Southern Wilderness.
‘But by now, that place should be guarded by a considerable force.’
The Southern Beast Palace is not some backwater sect filled with riffraff.
When five of the extremely rare Thousand Year Spiders appeared and the Poison Blood Land—which no one had discovered for so long—revealed itself, the Southern Beast Palace dispatched a substantial military force.
It was to root out any lingering remnants and dangers of the Five Poison Sect.
‘Even if they were aiming for the blind spot, they hid in such a place?’
And it didn’t take long for the question I had raised to be answered.
– A low growl echoed.
At some point, the footsteps gradually slowed.
Sensing something and baring its fangs, Mu Ya-ho’s appearance made me instinctively realize something was happening, and soon I recognized the acrid scent seeping through the hazy smoke as the blood-scent of humans.
‘Right. That’s how it is.’
Muttering inwardly, I gazed toward the entrance of the Poison Blood Land. That gaping maw, wide open like the jaws of a colossal beast, appeared filled with an incomprehensible danger, just as it had been the first time I came.
Or perhaps even more so than then.
‘Well, if it were easy, it wouldn’t be an S-rank Quest.’
I had a sense that things were unfolding more smoothly than expected. But unlike Baek Sang, I had come far too far to turn back now.
If I evaded the immediate danger before me, an even greater peril would descend upon me afterward.
Just like the flames sweeping across the forest, approaching from behind even at this very moment.
With a soft motion, I dismounted from Mu Ya-ho’s back.
Gently scratching beneath his chin—a spot he had always favored—I spoke to him.
“It seems this is where our journey together ends. The difference from last time is that you don’t need to come back this time.”
– A questioning growl.
“Go back before it’s too late. You should be able to break through the flames and escape.”
– A low, reluctant rumble.
Mu Ya-ho gazed at me intently with a small whimper.
I could sense the conflict and fear gleaming in the intelligent white tiger’s pale blue eyes.
True to his nature as a being with superior instincts, he seemed to have already grasped it.
That entering was easy, but leaving was difficult.
That he might never see Ya-ryul Mok again.
Yet the reason he couldn’t turn back as easily as last time was surely because a bond had formed between us over this time.
“I’m not going to die either. So don’t worry and leave first. Your master must be waiting.”
As I spoke reassuring words and gently stroked his nape, Mu Ya-ho slowly nodded and launched his body forward from where he had been paused.
– A piercing roar!
A sharp whistle of movement!
Not toward the hillside where the flames had yet to reach, but toward the entrance of the Poison Blood Land.
“Hey! You beast!”
I let out a cry mixed with panic, but it was already too late to stop him.
Just as my body froze at this unexpected turn, the white tiger charged through the pale poison mist with a thunderous roar and stumbled back out.
– A cough and wheeze.
“…Should I give you the blood antidote?”
The white tiger averted his gaze from me with hesitation, then slowly nodded.
* * *
Mu Ya-ho adapted to the Poison Blood Land far more swiftly than I had anticipated.
The creature that had gulped down the blood poison without hesitation displayed keen reflexes, deftly handling the toxic substances surging from all directions, and with a single leap, crossed a swamp so vast that even peak masters who had mastered the Heavenly Ascension Technique would hesitate—yet as we ventured deeper, his movements and breathing grew increasingly cautious.
The further we descended into the depths, the more guarded his every motion became.
Whoooosh.
The toxic miasma permeating the Poison Blood Land obscured vision beyond easy discernment. Only the occasional sound of something brushing through vegetation and water droplets echoing through the murk—the surroundings were so deathly silent that my skin crawled.
‘Even when I came here with Beast King Miao Wang before, it wasn’t like this.’
I’d sensed it from the moment I caught the scent of blood at the entrance—this was no good omen.
Perhaps… no, with rather high probability, those whom the Southern Beast Palace dispatched to the Poison Blood Land days ago might already be corpses.
‘If that’s the case, it’s definitely that bastard’s doing.’
A supreme master whose name, alias, and face remained shrouded in mystery.
That creature, who had drenched the Yao Seo Tribe in blood in mere moments and abducted Hyuk-ung and Yo-hee, was certainly capable of such atrocities.
Or perhaps it wasn’t a single bastard, but multiple ones.
Dark Heaven.
The forces of those who emerged in the Demon Cult’s wake were formidable beyond measure, judging by what had been revealed thus far.
Especially the Blood Lord and the Western Heavenly Demon Lord whose martial prowess I had personally encountered—even I, having undergone rapid growth through countless trials and battles dancing with death itself, could not dare guarantee victory against them.
‘Though I’ve never faced her, the Nantian Demon Empress would surely possess power rivaling theirs.’
Thus, venturing alone into enemy territory, I could not help but feel the weight of tension.
When I confronted the Blood Lord, the Sword Saint Mae Jong-hak stood beside me, and during my near-death clash with the Western Heavenly Demon Lord, I had Jeok Cheon-gang’s aid.
‘But if the Nantian Demon Empress awaits in this place…’
Would I survive to reunite with my comrades and family?
Drip.
And in that very instant, a bead of cold sweat I hadn’t even noticed forming trickled down the nape of my neck.
Lick.
A sensation rough enough to sting.
Seeing Baek Ho casually lick the back of my neck as if nothing had happened, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
“Don’t be nervous, is that it?”
– Grrrr.
It’s a small thing, yet somehow my heart finds peace in it.
Come to think of it, I’ve faced countless brushes with death until now, yet here I am breaking into cold sweat anew.
If I remain this tense, my body will stiffen and I won’t be able to fight properly.
‘That’s right. What’s one or two more anyway?’
Reminding myself of the essential virtue that the successor of the Yeolhwa Sect and heir of the Fire King must possess—the spirit of unwavering determination—I extended a palm strike toward the toxic miasma.
Boom!
The sound of rupturing air shattered the silence.
The Blazing Yang Qi, supreme counter to poison, and among it the formidable heat of the Flame Divine Palm surged forth, shattering the dense toxic miasma into fragments, staining the dark Poison Blood Land crimson.
Ssshhhhh!
Strange-formed toxins frantically evaded the light and heat.
Observing the labyrinthine passages now clearly revealed, I poured my power into a roar and unleashed it.
“Come out! You bastards!”
– Krraaaaaaagh!
* * *
What in the world had happened?
At some point, Yo-hee suddenly regained consciousness, blinking her eyes in a darkness so complete that she couldn’t see even an inch ahead.
“Ah.”
Her voice, always so enchanting, was hoarse, and her entire body ached from having remained motionless for so long.
And only then did fragments of memory begin to surface slowly.
“…!”
Her heart sank without warning, and her body, which had briefly relaxed, stiffened like stone once more.
In Yo-hee’s trembling eyes, memories too unbelievable to comprehend flickered past.
Screams. Corpses. Blood.
And the face of the one person who had created all of it.
Just as Yo-hee reflexively began to scream, a voice, carefully restrained in the darkness, reached her ears.
“Compose yourself, Yo-hee.”
“Gasp…!”
“There is nothing to fear. It is I, I.”
Yo-hee barely stifled her scream and steadied her racing heart.
As her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, a familiar silhouette came into focus.
“H-Hyuk-ung? Is it really you, Elder Brother?”
“Indeed. Do you not remember?”
It took some time for her memories to return in sequence.
Yo-hee recalled Hyuk-ung’s form as he resisted ‘him’ until the very end and murmured softly.
“I had forgotten for a moment without realizing it. But why does your manner of speech seem so different from usual…?”
In the darkness not far away, Hyuk-ung, who had been waiting for Yo-hee to awaken, wore a bitter smile.
“There were various circumstances. Circumstances I could not easily explain to you.”
His tone was formal and measured.
Yo-hee found this version of Hyuk-ung—who had always laughed cheerfully and called her sister—strange and unfamiliar, but that was not what mattered now.
“Where are we? And where is… that person?”
“I do not know either. When I opened my eyes, I found myself here.”
A body bound by iron chains and spiritual energy that would not budge an inch.
Just as Yo-hee began to grope about in despair, a dull sound echoed, and faint light poured down.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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