The Chairman of Pharmaceutical Company is a Poison King - Chapter 43
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 43: To Honweonmusangdokryeongong 7-Star (2) + Side Story
After reaching Honweonmusangdokryeongong 6-star.
Tae-ju made many attempts to reach 7-star.
While engaging in subjugation, he desperately felt the necessity of strong energy.
He needed to pierce through the strong energy barrier to inject poison, didn’t he?
Poison gas emission took quite a bit of time.
Let’s reach 7-star.
So he obtained chemical poisons like pesticides or potassium cyanide from the market and ate them bit by bit to stimulate his poison core.
But the poison core seemed to react then quickly withered away.
Chemical poisons won’t work?
Is it because they’re weaker than enhanced sarin gas?
During the subjugation operation, he also tried eating unfamiliar poisonous plants and venomous insects.
Again, a brief reaction then withering away.
Certainly 7-star is no easy feat.
He thought he had consumed a sufficient amount of poison.
If there was something intense, it seemed like it would burst with a bang!
Actually, Danggumak had also made various efforts to rise from 6-star to 7-star.
Special conditions?
There were none.
He just suddenly advanced while steadily consuming poison.
In the meantime, he found traces of an Elite Venomous Claw Lynx.
Perhaps he could advance to 7-star.
Poisonous Claw Civets are exceptionally cautious, befitting feline magical beasts.
A creature with excessive wariness, and moreover an elite magical beast – how much more so?
That’s probably why it didn’t rashly reveal itself despite humans forming an encirclement.
Tae-ju carefully approached in the direction of the still-sweet fragrance.
A burrow between the jungle undergrowth.
The smell comes from there.
‘To catch the Elite Venomous Claw Lynx, I need to enter the burrow.’
Click.
Tae-ju took out a portable flashlight from his pocket and slowly entered inside.
The smell gradually grows thicker.
He can also hear signs of movement.
Suddenly!
“Kyaak!”
A panting breath filled with the creature’s fear.
A warning not to come?
It felt as if it was afraid of him.
‘For an elite magical beast, it’s too cowardly.’
He could guess the reason.
The Elite Venomous Claw Lynx is a magical beast that relies primarily on poison.
It must have instinctively known.
That the human entering the burrow harbored poison stronger and more vicious than its own.
“Grrrrrrrr…”
Tae-ju shone his flashlight toward where the sound came from.
“Kyak!”
Finally, the creature revealed itself.
First, it was slightly larger than a regular civet.
Elite magical beasts of the same species are usually more than twice the size.
Pointed ears shaped like isosceles triangles, five long whiskers on each side, beautiful white fur with dark black stripes covering its entire body, and pitch-black pupils without any whites.
The creature was afraid of him.
With its tail raised high, belly pressed flat against the ground, it watched Tae-ju warily.
As natural laws always dictate, creatures that depend on poison have weaknesses in other abilities.
For example, body size, or physical capabilities, but their poison-using ability is…
“Ah!”
He knew for certain.
The toxic energy permeating the air.
This creature was also an elite magical beast equipped with poison gas emission ability.
However, it was incomparably weaker than himself.
“You, similar to me…”
Thud!
The Elite Venomous Claw Lynx kicked off the ground.
“This bastard!”
Before he could even finish speaking.
Tae-ju grabbed the creature’s thick flesh under its jaw with his bare hands.
The creature’s gleaming teeth visible before his eyes.
Suddenly!
Rat-a-tat-a-tat!
“Shit!”
Standing upright on its hind legs, its front paw punches struck Tae-ju’s face in rapid succession.
Strong energy was imbued in its claws too.
If he allowed it to continue, his face would be shredded.
He had no choice but to raise both arms and block.
Pap-pap-pap-pap-pat!
His coat sleeves were cut by the claws.
The leather arm guards he wore cracked.
And the claws touched his bare skin.
Scrape!
“Ugh!”
Sticky blood dripping down his hand.
His forearm was cut lengthwise.
So deep that bone was visible.
At least this much was fortunate since the creature’s strong energy was weak.
Terrible pain felt in his arm.
Simultaneously approaching dizziness.
It wasn’t because of the wound.
Poison.
It was because of the Elite Venomous Claw Lynx’s poison.
No, why does a creature with such deadly poison fear me?
Well, his own poison was no joke either.
This was his first time experiencing such extreme poison.
Even a Master would die instantly if scratched.
But then!
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, his poison core stirred.
‘Oh!’
The poison core reacted.
That meant it was recognizing the elite civet’s poison as something new.
Now he just needed to extract the poison glands from the creature’s body.
He had to catch it.
Tae-ju bent his waist, wrapped his arms around the civet’s waist, and pushed.
Pababaabak!
The creature’s claws tore into his back, but…
“Kuk!”
He stayed close and released his poison.
Kyaaaak!
Tae-ju’s coat was stained with blood.
But he didn’t care.
This was his plan from the beginning.
Since his throwing knives didn’t work anyway.
How perfect.
Even though it hurt a little, the creature’s poison was entering his body directly.
Offering up his arms and back like that.
Tae-ju gripped the civet’s fur tightly, turned his body, and climbed onto its back.
Stay focused.
“Kyaak! Kyaaaaak!”
The Elite Civet jumped around frantically, trying to shake off Tae-ju clinging to its back.
Tae-ju stuck tight like a cowboy on a rodeo bull.
While spewing poison all the while.
Jeoldaedokma Kim Tae-ju.
Human poison dispenser.
Is my poison release stronger, or is yours?
“Kieek? Kieeee!”
It must have felt it too.
That its strength was gradually draining.
The outcome was decided from the start anyway.
A creature with deadly poison but weaker physical abilities and aura power than other elite magical beasts.
Tae-ju stretched out one arm and drew the Death-Stealing Dagger from his waist.
At the same time, he thrust it forcefully into the back of the creature’s neck.
Pak!
The dagger slid off, hitting the aura barrier.
Haven’t fed it enough poison yet?
Tae-ju kept stabbing.
Until the blade would penetrate.
Finally.
Puuk!
It went in.
Puk puk puk puk puk!
It went in easily now.
“Kiiii…”
The Elite Venomous Claw Lynx crawled forward weakly before finally collapsing with a thud!
‘Got it.’
Only then did Tae-ju climb down from the civet’s back.
“Phew.”
Did he lose too much blood?
He felt dizzy.
His coat was ruined too.
He probably couldn’t wear it anymore.
He’d have to buy a new one or get it mended.
His pocket was torn too, and all the throwing knives inside had spilled out across the burrow floor.
Let’s apply some healing ointment.
On his arms, and reaching back to apply it on his back too.
“Ugh.”
It was exhausting, but he had to do what needed to be done.
Tae-ju cut open the Elite Venomous Claw Lynx’s belly.
Unfortunately, no elite mana crystal came out.
Anyway, that wasn’t his purpose.
The poison sac attached next to the gallbladder.
No need to process it.
He’d eat it raw.
‘If I don’t reach 7-star this time, I’ll try eating radioactive poison.’
Tae-ju carefully removed the poison sac.
The rich scent of poison.
His mouth watered.
‘Should I eat it?’
Gulp!
The Elite Venomous Claw Lynx’s poison sac slid down his throat.
‘Come on, react, react…’
And then.
“Urgh!”
Nausea suddenly surged up.
Pain as if his organs were being torn apart.
His knees buckled involuntarily.
Trembling, his whole body began to shake.
“Th-that’s right. Th-this is it.”
This was proper poison.
It had to burden the body like this to be effective.
Naturally, his poison core reacted.
Woong! Woong! Woong! Woong…
It pulsed mercilessly.
He even saw hallucinations.
A technicolor landscape spread before his eyes.
Colorful lights appeared and disappeared.
He could feel it.
His poison core gradually growing larger and rotating.
Suddenly!
Paaaaat!
“Huk!”
It happened!
Poison core explosion.
The first gateway to the Transformation Realm.
Excruciating pain incomparable to anything he’d experienced before struck Tae-ju’s entire body.
His poison core had burst.
All kinds of poison he’d carefully accumulated until now were overflowing from within.
A normal process for transforming into a new poison core.
Mixing together, then scattering, then mixing again.
Repeated condensation and decomposition.
His body changed in sync with this process.
Crack, crack.
Every bone in his body dislocated and then realigned.
Thud thud thud.
Even his hair fell out in clumps, then grew back again.
“Ugh!”
His teeth were pushed out from his gums.
And new teeth sprouted.
His fingernails also fell out.
His toenails also fell out.
And they grew back again.
His skin also itched unbearably.
Like shedding skin, it became a shell and flowed down.
Complete transformation.
Tae-ju fell into a state of selflessness.
A panoramic view of his life.
Reflection on the life he had lived so far.
His mother whose face he didn’t know, his father whom he loved and hated, and his hellish early twenties.
However, meeting his other-world self, the Jeoldaedokma Danggumak, had changed him.
Are you watching?
I have grown this much.
Don’t I deserve the title of Jeoldaedokma on Earth too?
That’s when it happened.
His consciousness being sucked somewhere
This was what he had experienced at Seorak Mountain back then…
‘Huh?’
Suddenly he saw someone’s back.
A man dressed in flowing robes.
‘Who is that again?’
But something was a bit strange.
It felt like facing a massive wall.
He seemed human but wasn’t human.
A sacred and divine being that couldn’t be approached carelessly.
He slowly turned his head.
Their eyes met.
‘…Wh, what!’
It was me.
No, it was Danggumak.
Upon reaching the 7th level of Honweonmusangdokryeongong, he faced Danggumak once again.
‘He’s changed?’
He had become more massive.
To the point where he didn’t feel like the same human.
Was that why?
Though they faced each other in the mental realm, the soul connection wasn’t forming like before.
What on earth had happened?
* * *
A world completely different from Earth.
Gangho Murim.
The world’s greatest Jeoldaedokma Danggumak, who had even killed the fearsome Heavenly Demon and saved Gangho, suddenly disappeared.
If he had died, at least a corpse would have remained, but there was no trace.
The family members were confused by the sudden absence of the Grand Family Head.
An investigation team composed of elders, the family head, and direct descendants was formed at the Sichuan Dang Clan, and a conclusion was reached.
The words he always repeated like a mantra before disappearing.
Ascension to immortality.
The Grand Family Head had become an immortal and ascended to the celestial realm.
It was certain.
There was evidence to support it.
So invitations were sent throughout all of Gangho.
That the Grand Family Head of the Sichuan Dang Clan, Jeoldaedokma Danggumak, had ascended to immortality.
Gangho Murim, Sichuan Dang Clan Village.
The entire village was bustling with a festive atmosphere.
Martial artists known to have some reputation were continuously visiting the Dang Family Compound, the base of the Sichuan Dang Clan.
Many people were invited.
Excluding the annihilated Jegal Clan, Grand Family Head Namgung Hun of the Namgung Clan, Paeng Do-jung of the Paeng Clan, Eon Jin-myeong of the Eon Clan, and distinguished guests from the Nine Sects and One Alliance.
Namgung Hun, Paeng Do-jung, and Eon Jin-myeong were of the same generation as Danggumak and had fought together against the Demonic Cult. They were friends if you could call them friends, rivals if you could call them rivals.
Namgung Hun snorted as if displeased and said.
“What bullshit. If he’s dead, he’s dead. What ascension to immortality?”
Paeng Do-jung also chimed in.
“We all know who among us killed the most people. It was Guneak. I still haven’t forgotten. How many did that bastard kill alone in the great battle at Muhan?”
Paeng Do-jung shook his head as if the thought was horrifying.
The realm of Jeoldaedokma, the poison energy emanating from his body, jumping alone into the middle of the enemy camp and rampaging, but the Demonic Cult members were too busy running away, let alone approaching.
And the rain of ten thousand flowers.
Hidden weapons falling like rain.
Peak masters, Transformation realm masters, they all collapsed with just a graze.
“Right. They say we defeated the Demonic Cult because of Guneak, but karma is karma. How could that suit ascension to immortality?”
Then Eon Jin-myeong of the Eon Clan shot back with an unpleasant expression.
“Stop it. You bastards, without Guneak you wouldn’t even be alive to hold chopsticks, and now that he’s gone you’re badmouthing him. That’s too petty.”
“…What? Did you say everything?”
“I still have a lot more to say, but if you want, I can show you with actions too.”
“Damn!”
“Bastards who even received elixirs from Guneak, instead of being grateful, you have no shame.”
Paeng Do-jung’s face just turned red, but he couldn’t even think of attacking.
With Danggumak gone, Eon Jin-myeong was one of the people mentioned as Gangho’s greatest master.
Suddenly.
“Elders.”
A middle-aged man had approached and politely greeted them with cupped fists.
It was Dang Cheol-hwi, the current head of the Sichuan Dang Clan and Danggumak’s son.
Eon Jin-myeong welcomed him warmly.
“Cheol-hwi. The more I see you, the more you improve daily.”
“Haha! You flatter me. Please come this way. Everyone is waiting.”
Then Namgung Hun asked in a gruff voice.
“Where are we going?”
“To the small thatched hut where my father stayed until he ascended to immortality. The other distinguished guests are also there.”
“Is that so? Understood, let’s go.”
Even while walking, Namgung Hun just snorted inwardly.
‘Ascension to immortality my ass.’
In the deepest part of the Dang Family Compound, there was a small thatched hut built haphazardly.
People in various robes gathered in front of it.
Among them, a Taoist wearing a long crown and holding a fan spoke.
“It seems everyone who should come has come, so let’s begin.”
It was Cheong-heo Jin-in, the Grand Elder of the Mudang Sect.
Cheong-heo Jin-in had come to verify whether Jeoldaedokma Danggumak had truly ascended to immortality.
Dang Cheol-hwi, head of the Sichuan Dang Clan, had personally visited and escorted him here.
“I will open the door.”
Creak.
The door of the thatched cottage opened.
Then a scene appeared.
In the middle of a room with no furniture at all, a single splendid red robe was placed.
It was the very garment that Danggumak had loved to wear.
Namgung Hun sneered at the sight.
“Tsk tsk, what kind of performance is this? Are you going to claim it’s ascension to immortality just because you left a single piece of clothing behind and disappeared?”
But Dang Cheol-hwi’s expression remained calm.
“Master, please examine it.”
“…Uh, uh, uh.”
Despite Dang Cheol-hwi’s suggestion, Cheong-heo Jin-in couldn’t speak properly.
“Good, good heavens!”
The moment the cottage door opened, he felt it.
The immortal energy filling the interior.
Especially the aura emanating from the red robe made his mind dizzy just looking at it.
“May I touch the robe?”
“Please do so.”
Cheong-heo Jin-in picked up the robe from the floor with his hands and examined it from every angle.
“Immeasurable Buddha, it’s real. Danggumak, you truly became an immortal. And this robe has transformed into a treasure.”
“Yes, I plan to pass it down through generations as a treasure of the Dang Clan.”
People say there’s no evidence of ascension to immortality, but that’s not true.
The noble immortal energy that explodes forth during ascension remains in the daily items or weapons the person used.
Then those objects become the greatest treasures under heaven.
After examining the robe for a long while, Cheong-heo Jin-in’s eyes widened.
“…Could this be?”
He then thrust his hand deep into the robe’s inner pocket.
“Ho ho! Is this a bottomless pocket? It seems like endless items could fit inside.”
“…How did you know?”
“The immortal energy was particularly concentrated in this pocket, so I checked. My apologies. I shouldn’t have spoken carelessly about the treasure’s effects.”
“Haha, it’s fine. It doesn’t matter if it’s known. Who would dare covet the Dang Clan’s treasure?”
Though it was an arrogant statement, everyone agreed.
Because the Sichuan Dang Clan was the strongest family in all of Gangho.
“I’ve heard stories that when ascending to immortality, the immortal’s worldly desires remain in objects…”
“Master’s words are correct. It’s an infinite pocket. This small pocket alone can hold over ten thousand throwing knives.”
“Ho ho. I understand. An infinite pocket, truly befitting Danggumak.”
Dang Cheol-hwi smiled broadly.
Father always used to say:
More hidden weapons, hidden weapons that never run out no matter how much you use them, convenient to carry without being cumbersome… isn’t there something like that somewhere?
“In any case, it’s certain that Danggumak, the Grand Patriarch of the Dang Clan, has ascended to immortality. I guarantee it.”
Ilwon Seonsa, the abbot of Shaolin, also clasped his hands together and agreed with Cheong-heo Jin-in’s words.
“Amitabha, how wonderful, how wonderful indeed.”
Then came the dismayed expressions of Namgung Hun and Paeng Do-jung.
‘That murderous bastard really ascended to immortality? What kind of nonsense…’
But they too were feeling it.
The profound and sacred energy filling this thatched cottage. They couldn’t deny it even if they wanted to.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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