The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 352

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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 352. If That’s the Case

 

 

That was correct.

Certainly.

It was indeed the energy of Myeongdokgong.

Similar to the Soul-Stealing White Poison Art he was learning, but different.

However, the energy unique to Myeongdokgong could be faintly felt within the poison.

“You’re saying this poison was collected from Namman?”

“Yes.”

To Yeo Hong-gi’s question, Gong Dok-haeng answered with a serious face.

“Hmm…”

Yeo Hong-gi fell into deep contemplation.

Geuk In-cheong looked at his master with eyes that showed complete bewilderment.

“Master… what exactly is this…”

He asked because he couldn’t understand.

But what returned was Yeo Hong-gi’s cold gaze.

“You fool. You’ve been neglecting your Myeongdokgong cultivation. To think you can’t sense the energy of Myeongdokgong contained within this, even if it’s faint.”

At the reproachful words.

Geuk In-cheong bowed his head deeply.

And avoiding his master’s eyes, he glared at Gong Dok-haeng with fierce eyes.

This whole mess happened because that bastard came here with something like this.

“You two may withdraw now.”

Since Yeo Hong-gi spoke with a serious face, the two men bowed their heads and left the research laboratory.

Fresh air entered their lungs.

“Whew.”

Geuk In-cheong let out a deep sigh.

Not because the air was fresh.

But because he had escaped from his master’s terrifying gaze.

“You bastard. Did you come here to make me look like a fool?”

A fierce voice flowed from Geuk In-cheong’s mouth.

“No, Senior Brother. There was Myeongdokgong energy in the poison. Don’t you know what that means?”

“Myeongdokgong? I didn’t sense any such thing at all?”

At Gong Dok-haeng’s words, Geuk In-cheong spoke with a face that said it was impossible, but.

“Didn’t Master himself say that Myeongdokgong energy was contained in it…”

That was true.

Though he had received such reproach.

Geuk In-cheong was blaming everything on Gong Dok-haeng, so he momentarily forgot that fact.

“…”

Geuk In-cheong couldn’t say anything.

He couldn’t deny his master’s words.

“So. How big of a deal is that… that you came all the way to Muchang? You didn’t do it to embarrass me in front of Master, did you?”

Geuk In-cheong was still fierce.

It was an outburst of his inferiority complex.

Though he was the first and eldest disciple.

The inferiority complex of being less capable than his junior brother right below him.

“No, that’s not it. Myeongdokgong is practiced by only three people in all under heaven. Master, you, and me. You didn’t infuse that poison with Myeongdokgong energy to push me out, did you!”

The inferiority complex soon expanded into suspicion.

Geuk In-cheong seemed to believe his delusion was truth, now even emitting killing intent.

“Senior Brother… I’m sorry. It seems my presence has clouded Senior Brother’s judgment.”

At such behavior from Geuk In-cheong, Gong Dok-haeng bowed deeply at the waist.

An appearance of sincere apology.

He truly had no desire for the position of valley master.

He only sincerely wished for Cheondok Valley to prosper.

Geuk In-cheong still looked at his junior brother with eyes full of killing intent.

His junior brother’s words contained the meaning that he was currently in an angry state and not properly grasping the situation.

Still glaring at Gong Dok-haeng with bulging eyes, Geuk In-cheong organized his thoughts.

No, there wasn’t much to organize.

When he calmed his anger, he could immediately see how absurd his suspicious delusions had been.

“Myeongdokgong, Myeongdokgong, poison containing Myeongdokgong energy… Only Master could reach such a level. How could that… it’s impossible…”

That was correct.

There were three people in all under heaven who practiced Myeongdokgong.

His master and the two of them.

Among these, only Yeo Hong-gi had reached the level to secretly infuse Myeongdokgong energy into administered poison.

Such poison had appeared in Namman.

It was an impossible occurrence.

“That’s why I had no choice but to come personally. I’m sorry, Senior Brother.”

Confirming that reason had returned to Geuk In-cheong’s eyes, Gong Dok-haeng bowed once more and took his leave.

The place he was heading to was outside the Jeongcheon Alliance.

Knowing that staying here would only fuel his senior brother’s anger.

Gong Dok-haeng planned to stay at a suitable inn outside the Jeongcheon Alliance for a few days before returning to Cheondok Valley.

He had conveyed everything he needed to tell Master, so it would be fine to return, but he decided to stay a few days in case Master might look for him.

 

***

 

“Myeongdokgong…”

Yeo Hong-gi muttered lowly.

And he searched his memories.

A fact his two disciples didn’t know.

There were not one but two Myeongdokgong arts.

Though one was lost, so it was essentially one anyway.

“Master…”

Yeo Hong-gi murmured with a voice filled with complex emotions.

“And Senior Brother…”

A voice with even more complex emotions.

“Could it really be Senior Brother?”

Yeo Hong-gi recalled a man from his faded memories.

One who was always kind and benevolent.

A spitting image of Great-Master Yayul Han, who was thought to become the next valley master of Cheondok Valley.

But Senior Brother Myo Gu-eung had disappeared.

By the hand of his own master, Wang Sa-geon.

The reason? The justification?

“It was Master’s greed and ambition…”

Though young at the time, Yeo Hong-gi remembered most of what happened then.

After Great-Master passed away and the mourning was completed.

On the day Senior Brother Myo Gu-eung was to become valley master.

Master Wang Sa-geon mobilized the disciples of the valley.

Should it be called incitement?

The justification was origin.

The fact that Elder Myo Gu-eung was from Saeoe was the justification.

Master Wang Sa-geon abandoned even his own master to become the valley lord.

As soon as Yayul Han’s mourning period ended.

It was an act that would anger both heaven and man.

He incited the forces that had harbored dissatisfaction with the previous valley lord Yayul Han, who was from Saeoe.

If another valley lord from Saeoe were to emerge, it would be like offering Cheondok Valley to Saeoe.

It was an absurd claim.

Cheondok Valley is Cheondok Valley. Only one valley lord happens to be from Saeoe.

Yet they spoke of offering Cheondok Valley to Saeoe.

With just a little thought, it was obvious nonsense.

But Cheondok Valley was moved.

Following those words, to protect Cheondok Valley from Saeoe.

They expelled Myo Gu-eung, the former valley lord’s chief disciple who should have become the new valley lord.

No, they tried to kill him.

But they missed him.

What was lost at that time was another Myeongdokgong.

Ten Thousand Desolations Soul-Stealing Underworld Poison Art.

A Myeongdokgong that Master couldn’t learn because he wasn’t the young valley lord, but whose existence he vaguely knew.

‘A fantastical and absurd poison art like a bizarre illusion.’

That’s what Master said.

So he said it didn’t matter if it was lost.

Because the terrifying poison art Soul-Stealing White Poison Art remained.

But.

Now, in the poison that turned Namman upside down and made the Central Plains tense.

The aura of Myeongdokgong was embedded.

Since it wasn’t Soul-Stealing White Poison Art, only one remained.

“Ten Thousand Desolations Soul-Stealing Underworld Poison Art. He was alive. Elder…”

Yeo Hong-gi muttered quietly.

Now that he knew the identity, it was time to consider countermeasures.

If he were the elder, what would he try to do after obtaining such power?

It was all too obvious.

Revenge.

Revenge against Cheondok Valley that abandoned him, and against the Central Plains.

When his thoughts reached there.

Yeo Hong-gi flinched and looked at the small glass bottle containing poison again.

“Ha. So that’s how it was…”

Yeo Hong-gi realized.

That feeling the aura of Myeongdokgong from that poison was the elder’s intention.

If he could spread such a terrifying poison, he could have erased the traces of Myeongdokgong too.

Yet leaving it faintly behind was.

A warning and notification directed at him.

That he had returned to the Central Plains, to be prepared.

Yeo Hong-gi’s eyes shook, falling into chaos beyond complexity.

The most deeply contained emotion was.

Injustice.

Because the one who caused the tragedy was Master Wang Sa-geon.

Because he was just a young disciple at the time.

“Bearing the master’s faults is also a disciple’s destiny…”

But the injustice soon disappeared, and the emotion that newly appeared was fear.

A poison that even Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity couldn’t block.

Because he clearly recognized where its end was directed.

 

***

 

The three people departed early in the morning.

Only one person came to see them off.

Dang Mu-ryeong.

The Family Head himself came out alone to see the three off.

They departed quietly.

The Tang Family retainers didn’t even know they had left.

It was Dang Ja-cheong’s will to move quietly given the nature of the matter.

Dang Ja-cheong, Ha Mu-baek, Dang Ji-yeon.

The three rode their horses swiftly.

First, they would travel by horse to roads accessible to horses.

After that, on foot.

Dang Ji-yeon, who had already been to Namman, led the way.

Dang Ja-cheong followed behind her.

Ha Mu-baek was last.

The main road to Yunnan was well-paved, so there were no obstacles to riding horses.

But the moment they left Yunnan.

Rough paths appeared before their eyes.

From there, they used lightness skill.

The first place they arrived at was the village Dang Ji-yeon had already visited.

The three entered the village.

Ha Mu-baek frowned.

Though brief, he definitely felt poison qi trying to invade his body slightly.

Even though the poison qi had weakened considerably, it was still this severe.

“Hmm. There’s still poison qi remaining.”

Dang Ja-cheong’s expression was also stiff, as if he felt the same as Ha Mu-baek.

“How is it?”

Despite carrying Blood Poison Pills, Dang Ji-yeon also felt trace amounts of poison qi.

However, it was incomparable to last time.

She was carrying Blood Poison Pills rather than Blood Poison Pills.

Most importantly, more time had passed.

“Let’s go deeper.”

Dang Ja-cheong took the lead.

Thus they traced back through the village affected by poison qi, going deeper and deeper into Namman.

The poison qi in the villages they discovered became increasingly fainter.

It was natural since more time had passed in those places.

However, the surrounding environment became increasingly harsh.

The increasingly terrible poisonous creatures.

Informed them that they were approaching even deeper into Namman.

“Are you alright?”

Dang Ja-cheong looked at Dang Ji-yeon with a worried expression and asked.

Even though she dealt with poisons, she had a woman’s body.

Staying in this place full of disgusting insects, snakes, toads and such would be an ordeal.

“I… I can endure it…”

Dang Ji-yeon answered with a slightly pale face.

For her, the insects were more difficult than the poison, but she couldn’t show weakness.

Since this was a journey she had stubbornly insisted on following.

Above all, since Dang Ja-cheong and Ha Mu-baek seemed completely fine, she couldn’t show any signs of discomfort even more so.

The land they arrived at like that.

“Th, this is….”

Dang Ja-cheong muttered with disbelieving eyes.

“Urgh.”

Dang Ji-yeon’s face turned pale white, then darkened to a dusky color.

Just as she was about to retch.

The Poison-Repelling Bead in her bosom emitted light.

Only then did her complexion return to normal.

Dang Ja-cheong drew up his internal energy to prevent poisoning.

Ha Mu-baek did the same.

The three people wore dazed expressions at the scene before their eyes.

Land of Death.

No, land stained with poison.

It was different from the villages they had seen so far.

Though they couldn’t tell what had existed in this place, terrible poison still lingered here.

If there was any fortune in this misfortune.

It was that the poison could barely be blocked with Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.

“Going further in from here will require some preparation.”

Dang Ja-cheong said with a serious expression.

Ha Mu-baek nodded.

“It seems we’ll have to do that.”

The day was already getting late.

They retreated a little from the Land of Death and prepared to camp outdoors.

One strange thing was.

Perhaps because of that land.

There were no poisonous creatures.

No disgusting insects, no snakes, no toads….

There was nothing.

Since there were no insect sounds either, only silence pervaded.

After spending the night like that, morning came.

Dang Ja-cheong had been busily looking around the area since dawn before returning.

“How is it? Grandfather?”

Dang Ji-yeon asked as she greeted Dang Ja-cheong.

“Hmm. Should I say it’s two types of poison…?”

Dang Ja-cheong said with a troubled expression.

Ha Mu-baek and Dang Ji-yeon’s gazes turned toward him.

“One poison is the one we’ve been chasing. Presumed to be the poison of Poison Essence.”

This was an obvious statement.

Since they had been following its traces.

But what was puzzling was.

Until now, the poison had been continuously weakening, but here it suddenly became terrible.

“And that poison is still in a weakened state. However.”

Dang Ja-cheong said with a serious face.

“It seems the poisonous creatures that were in this place fell victim to that poison. Poisonous insects, poisonous snakes, poisonous toads, poisonous centipedes, poison herbs—everything melted away after encountering an even more terrible poison.”

“Ah….”

At that explanation, Dang Ji-yeon let out an exclamation as if the subsequent situation was being drawn in her mind.

“Then, the poisons left behind by those poisonous creatures….”

“Right. They became entangled and mixed together… creating an enormous Poison Lands. On top of that, influenced by the faintly remaining poison of Poison Essence, it became so terrible that it could momentarily break through even Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity….”

At the grandfather and granddaughter’s words, Ha Mu-baek tilted his head.

“Then shouldn’t the poison of that Poison Essence become more terrible? The poisons of other poisonous creatures are terribly rampant.”

At that question, Dang Ja-cheong shook his head.

“If it were poison of a similar level, that would be natural. But this is Poison Essence. The essence and purification of poison. Though the poison spread there is terrible poison, Poison Essence isn’t affected by it. Rather, those poisons are influenced by the poison of Poison Essence. The level is different. That’s why it can only momentarily break through Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity but can’t completely destroy it. Because the poison of Poison Essence has weakened.”

At Dang Ja-cheong’s long explanation, Ha Mu-baek nodded.

“Then what should we do?”

“That’s the problem.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s question, Dang Ja-cheong wore a troubled expression.

“We need to cross that land… but even though it’s momentary breakthrough, if it continues to accumulate, we could also be poisoned.”

Dang Ja-cheong looked at the Land Across.

They couldn’t tell how far that place extended.

If it was short, they would be safe; if it was long, it would be dangerous.

Such were his eyes.

Ha Mu-baek looked at the same place.

And asked.

“So. Most of the poison spread in that place is different from the poison of Poison Essence, right? The poison of Poison Essence is still in a faded state.”

Dang Ja-cheong nodded at Ha Mu-baek’s question.

“If that’s the case.”

Ha Mu-baek raised his right hand with the palm facing upward.

A small flame rose above that palm.

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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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