The Third Elder, Gu Jae-yang’s face became stiff.
After a few moments, his face calmed slightly, and he began fiddling with the skull on his staff.
“I do not know what you are talking about, Young Lord. What do you mean by Blood Leader?”
He was putting on a fake mask.
Well, I did call him out in such a public face, so there was no way he would admit to it. His eyes stared at me as his fingers continued to fiddle around with the skull.
I aimed Iron Sword at him and said,
“Get your hands off that staff.”
He smiled at my warning and then spoke with a serious expression.
“I don’t know why the Young Lord is being this hostile, but I have yet to recognize you as the Blood Demon. If this continues, even I would have no choice but to act.”
Shhhh!
A purple haze appeared from the eye sockets of the skull on the old man’s staff. Its disgusting smell clearly showed that it was poison.
At the same moment, a sound came into my ears.
[Why are you doing this? That bastard Gu Jae-yang is more dangerous than anyone here.]
Hae Ack-chun was concerned about me.
Come to think of it, Hae Ack-chun had mentioned something about this before. He had said that Gu Jae-yang was the most difficult among the Blood Sect to deal with.
He said that if he had to pick three people in the Central Plains, then this person was dangerous enough to kill hundreds with just a gesture.
In a sense, he was one who was in the realm of the Eight Great Warriors.
“Young Lord. Lower the sword.”
Gu Jae-yang asked me to stop. In response, I pointed to Baek Ryeon-ha, who lowered the sword in her hand.
“What did you do?”
“What did I do? What nonsense is this? Ah… can it be that this is because I am supporting the lady who inherited the proper blood?”
This man had a sly way of escaping things. He didn’t even betray a hint of excitement.
Instead, he was trying to frame me as a person with a narrow mind.
“I understand your feelings, Young Lord. The only way for you, who isn’t of the proper bloodline, to surpass Lady Baek Ryeon-ha is to be recognized by the Blood Demon Sword. However, that is now no longer the case. This…”
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
I interrupted him with a laugh. He was now looking at me as if he couldn’t understand me.
I stopped and turned to Baek Hye-hyang.
“Do you remember that fake?”
She frowned at my question and asked,
“Why are you talking about him now?”
She was thinking about what had happened and was becoming upset.
“Because this guy is on the same side as that fake.”
“What?”
Baek Hye-hyang looked sharply at Gu Jae-yang as the old man lifted his staff and said.
“Young Lord. You are crossing a line.”
“You won’t say you don’t know Mu Ack, right?”
The hand holding his staff stopped for a moment at my words. He must not have expected that I would speak of this.
Gu Jae-yang’s eyes trembled, but he didn’t express anything else.
“… who is this Mu Ack?”
I raised my qi and shouted.
“If you are going to pretend that you don’t know of Mu Ack, who was one of the Five Great Evils, then at least do it plausibly.”
Our surroundings turned into an uproar at my words. There was no way that one of the Venerable Dignitaries didn’t know of the White Face Ghost, Mu Ack.
This man must have lost his mind. Normally you’d ask why we’d be talking about the Five Great Evils suddenly.
Gu Jae-yang raised his voice as he realized the attention was gathering on him.
“What do you mean I don’t know about him? There must be other people with the name of Mu Ack. Why would I think about someone who had died long ago?”
“He is a member of the same Gold Eye Troops as you. Tsk, look at you being heartless.”
His expression became steadily worse as I spoke with sarcasm. The more I pushed, the better it was becoming.
At that moment, the First Elder, who was also there, suddenly spoke up.
“Did you just say Gold Eye?”
What?
I was trying to rile up this old man, but now someone else was acting strangely at the mention of the Gold Eye.
First Blood Star, Jang Ryong, holding onto his bleeding and severed arm, was also showing interest.
“What is this… Gold Eye Troops?”
They didn’t seem to know. This time, I raised my voice so that everyone could hear.
“Mu Ack, rumored to have died years ago, tried to cause chaos by infiltrating the Dual Martial Troops by acting as a fake Chun Mu-seong, one of the leaders of the major orders there. Unfortunately for him, Lady Baek Hye-hyang and I became entangled with him, and his plan failed.”
Hearing this, First Elder Dan Wei-Kang looked at Baek Hye-hyang. It seemed that she hadn’t told them of what had happened there.
Well, she hadn’t only been captured and endangered her life. Telling her subordinates of being cornered like that probably wasn’t right either.
“That’s right. We both infiltrated the Dual martial Troops.”
Baek Hye-hyang was siding with me, so I didn’t bother to reveal anything more. Thanks to her, the credibility of words increased.
As I observed Gu Jae-yang, he was clearly attempting to not show his nervousness. However, the fact that his fingers kept straying to the head of his staff betrayed his uneasiness.
Perhaps because of this, Gu Jae-yang was at a loss, and when he spoke, his voice came out oddly.
“What do the two of you infiltrating the Dual Martial Troops have to do with me!? If you keep acting like this, then I will…”
For the benefit of everyone listening, I interrupted him.
“When he was captured, Mu Ack confessed one thing.”
“You rude man!”
Gu Jae-yang was about to step forward, but Hae Ack-chun moved forward and slammed the ground.
Bang!
“If there is no problem, then there is no problem with hearing what the Blood Demon is saying, right? Gu Jae-yang?”
“Ghastly Monster! Weren’t you on his side to begin with? And now you are trying to tarnish my reputation and honor! Are you saying I should let this pass?!”
The old man tried to lift his staff. At that moment, a sharp sword-like feeling swept through the crowd.
The sharpness of the qi was so intense that it made everyone turn their eyes to the center.
‘First Elder.’
The one who did this was the First Elder, Dan Wei-kang. The intensity of his qi intimidated everyone.
-He seems strong?
‘… he crossed the wall.’
I have already guessed that to an extent. The qi I saw through my gold eye was fully wrapped around him.
The volume of it made it seem as if it wasn’t qi but tendrils of light wrapped around his body. I hadn’t seen it on anyone other than my father and Sima Chak.
“… First Elder.”
Gu Jae-yang cautiously opened his mouth as he was unable to step forward. Dan Wei-kang responded to him bluntly.
“I want to hear the full story the Young Lord wishes to tell. If I do so, will you try to poison me?”
“….”
Gu Jae-yang’s eyes shook, and he lowered his staff, perhaps realizing this wasn’t the right time.
And I was also warned.
“If you lie and reveal falsehoods about me, be prepared.”
“You should be the one to be prepared.”
“What!”
“Why, want me to cover that mouth?”
Clench!
Gu Jae-yang was about to burst out in anger, but he gritted his teeth as he was conscious of everyone around us.
I wasn’t sure, but he might be able to defeat me when it came to skills using the mouth. However, I don’t think anyone could do it now…
I raised my voice again.
“At that time, Mu Ack said that he had failed to steal the Blood Demon Sword because the Blood Leader had sent both candidates for the successor to retrieve the sword instead of just Lady Baek Hye-hyang.”
“…!!!”
After hearing what I said, the expressions of many people there changed.
Both the Baek Ryeon-ha and the Baek Hye-hyang factions had made an effort to get the sword. It was because the sword was what justified unifying both sides.
The starting point of this was Gu Jae-yang and Yu Baek.
‘I will recognize the person who retrieves the Blood Demon Sword as the Blood Demon.’
This statement made both factions move once the information was given. The eyes of the public were divided into two and turned towards them.
At this, I shook my head.
“It isn’t the Second Blood Star.”
Hearing this, the First Elder asked.
“How are you sure of that, Young Lord?”
“Instinct.”
“Instinct? Do you think it is right to come to a conclusion based on that?”
“No, but it is important. When Lady Baek Hye-hyang could not lift the Blood Demon Sword, the Second Blood Star was disappointed but had given up and showed signs of acceptance.”
That was the first reason why I thought Yu Baek wasn’t the culprit. He had shown regret when Baek Hye-hyang had failed to be recognized by the Blood Demon Sword.
Hearing my words, Gu Jae-yang shouted as if I had made no sense.
“Slander! Is that why you say I am the Blood Leader and have something to do with the Gold Eye Troops?”
He raised his voice in anger, but his eyes weren’t showing the same. Those eyes were smiling.
He must think that he couldn’t be pressured by anything like this.
“I, too, would have been disappointed if the sword hadn’t recognized Lady Baek Ryeon-ha. The same is true for Seo Kalma and the other Blood Stars here. However, you are suspecting me after only seeing the reaction of the Second Blood Star?!”
Ignoring his words, I continued to speak to everyone.
“That man, Mu Ack, tried to eliminate the Martial Wind God by wearing a fake mask of Cheon Mu-seong’s face to seize the Dual Martial Forces into his hands. If I were them, how would I choose to influence the Blood Sect?”
First Elder Dan Wei-kang asked.
“How?”
“Since both candidates are women, it would be difficult to put up a fake. Therefore, there is just one way. All you need to do is to make one of them a puppet that would move according to you.”
“Puppet!”
“Especially one that was more powerful, the better.”
Hearing my words, the faces of those in Baek Ryeon-ha’s faction changed. Perhaps it was because they thought that I was insulting her.
Han Baekha glared at me sharply, as if she would tear me into pieces, and said,
“You are too blinded by greed, Young Lord! You cannot say anything you want just because the lady was chosen by the Blood Demon Sword…”
Before she could finish her words, I said,
“Han Baekha! Do you not know that your excessive loyalty is what poisoned her position?”
‘…!!!’
She was speechless at my firm response.
I ignored her and spoke to Seo Kalma and the others under Baek Ryeon-ha.
“Did you not think it was strange that she, who could not hold the Blood Demon Sword in the past, suddenly decided to try to hold it.”
“That…”
Seo Kalma tried to respond to my question but fell silent. He must also think that it was strange.
She hadn’t been chosen and had sworn loyalty to me. Yet, despite my return, she forced herself to touch the sword again.
Despite all their objections.
Gu Jae-yang opened his mouth.
“I guess you are delusional, Young Lord. You aren’t the only one qualified to be the Blood Demon. The sword has a heart of its own. How could she hold the sword just because I wanted her to? Am I wrong, my lady?”
Baek Ryeon-ha responded to his question.
“…Young Lord, is my recognition by the Blood Demon Sword that unbelievable?”
She spoke this in a disappointed voice.
The old man looked as if he had won. I instead wore a mocking smile.
“You and everyone else seem to be mistaken about one thing.”
“What?”
“Do you think being recognized by the sword means you could just hold the sword?”
“What is this now?”
I gestured toward the Blood Demon Sword in Baek Ryeon-ha’s hand.
“Blood Demon Sword, you don’t need to put up with it anymore.”
As soon as I said those words, something happened.
“Ack!”
A groan escaped Baek Ryeon-ha, and black veins soon began bulging out of her hand. It was the condition where her blood flow was becoming reversed.
“Blood veins?”
“Lady!”
Everyone could not hide their shock at this because she had been able to hold the sword until just a moment ago. Gu Jae-yang was especially shocked.
“T-this….”
What was this? Was it?
-I was getting tired of waiting, human.
Following Blood Demon Sword’s words, the black veins at the back of her hand began to burst. As those veins burst, her blood began to drip on the ground. To my surprise, smoke began to rise from those blood drops.
“Poison?”
A foul smell emanated from the dripping drops of blood. It had to be poison.
So this was the reason why she was able to withstand the Blood Demon Sword.
“Did you think that poison could stop her blood vessels from bursting? Gu Jae-yang, no, Blood Leader!”
His expression softened. He couldn’t have predicted that something like this would happen. The Blood Demon Sword had tried to reverse her blood flow immediately, but I asked him to focus on the poison instead. I remembered this and planned to avoid hurting Baek Ryeon-ha immediately.
And at the end of that, Gu Jae-yang was exposed.
Was there anyone other than him skilled enough with poison to make blood that poisonous?
“How dare you!”
At that moment, Baek Hye-hyang swung her fake Blood Demon Sword before I realized it. This shocked Gu Jae-yang, forcing him to rush back to avoid the blow.
“How dare you mess with that girl!”
I felt a sense of awe.
I thought it would be silent, but when I confirmed that someone had swung their sword, I realized it was done in anger.
He was the one shouting this time.
“Do you think killing that woman, Baek Ryeon-ha, is fine?”
“What?”
“Do you think a person addicted to the Illusion Demon Poison can escape without a cure?”
Hearing these swords, Baek Hye-hyang hesitated slightly before smiling slyly.
“If I cut off the limbs from your body, then we will know if you’ll talk about a cure or not.”
“That’s the same idea as mine.”
At that moment, Sima Young, secretly approaching from the side, aimed toward Gu Jae-yang.
I thought she would have moved slowly, but she aimed directly at him.
“You brats!”
He used an unknown technique to avoid the attack and tried to escape.
But he wasn’t the only person here.
“You rotten piece of shit! I will break you today!”
Hae Ack-chun, who had turned red in anger, threw a large fist at Gu Jae-yang’s head.
“Kuak!”
The man had to turn his body to avoid it. Where Hae Ack-chun’s fist met the floor, a large pit was formed.
Kwang!
Such great power.
In terms of internal qi, it was indeed a skill that only Hae Ack-chun could do. One wrong hit, and then the man could die.
“Abandon the thought of running from here!”
When Gu Jae-yang tried to escape in another direction, Seo Kalma and I moved to block the path. It was as if every escape route had been blocked.
Gu Jae-yang bit his lip, took something out of his sleeve, and shook it. It was something that sounded like a bell.
Tring! Tring!
“Acck!”
Baek Ryeon-ha knelt on the ground while holding her head. The veins on her forehead were swelling up, and her condition didn’t look good.
‘Reacting to sound.’
Did he control her with poison?
I wasn’t sure what this was, but it seemed like he was trying to send Baek Ryeon-ha into insanity. He raised his bell and shouted as if using it as a threat.
“If you get in my way, you will see that girl…”
“Do you think you will be able to leave by doing that?”
“Uh?”
Before I realized it, Dan Wei-kang was standing behind Baek Ryeon-ha. I wondered what he would do, but he grabbed her head with both hands.
And then pushed in his qi.
“Ackkkkk!”
“Hold on.”
Dan Wei-kang’s internal qi began to push out a deep purple liquid which started to flow out of her nose, mouth, and ears.
The First Elder then shouted as he continued to purge the poison.
“Subdue him quickly!”
“Kuahaha! Even that failed!”
Hae Ack-chun jumped for him, followed by the others.
This included me, Baek Hye-hyang, Sima Young, and Seo Kalma.
There seemed to be no escape as all the skilled warriors surrounded him.
At that moment, the old man began to press the blood points near his chest.
Tatata!
“You all seem to be making light of me. I will show you what poison is!”
As soon as he finished this, his face became purple as the clothes on his body melted off, showing the purple-dyed body underneath. The transformation was so extreme to the point of being creepy.
Seeing this, Baek Hye-hyang and Hae Ack-chun shouted,
“Poison Being!”
“Back off now!”
Poison Being.
It was the body that a person who had reached the highest state of poison mastery would have aimed for. It was a secret technique that combined hundreds to thousands of poisons and adapted into one body to allow the poison to flow within and outside the body. However, this also made coming into contact with another person dangerous.
Knowing this, the two backed away.
“Too late. You will regret pushing me this far!
Woong!
A pungent odor and thick smoke gushed out of a poor victim of the poisoning. Judging from the change in color of the floor where the smoke touched it, it must have been incredibly potent.
In an instant, a poisonous mist filled his surroundings and began to spread.
“You! Are you really trying to take us all down with you!”
Hearing Hae Ack-chun’s anger, Gu Jae-yang burst into crazy laughter within the poisonous smoke and said.
“If you are confident, then come inside! Hahaha”
The smoke was spreading in all directions. If someone went in there, they would have to fight against the person after dealing with the dangerous poison.
But if we left him alone, he would escape.
“Huh!”
Hae Ack-chun’s muscles began to turn red. It seemed like he was trying to enter the poison after strengthening his body to protect it using his hidden technique.
At that moment, I threw myself forward.
“Young Lord!”
“Stop!’
Sima Young and Baek Hye-hyang shouted this at the same time, but I had already moved inside. Once I entered the mist, I couldn’t see in front of me.
Chhhh.
My skin began to sting. The poison was so strong that my skin started to hurt the moment it touched it.
I could hear Gu Jae-yang’s voice.
“Stupid bastard. You stepped into this place on your own to die. I will enjoy your body rotting within the poison!”
He moved quickly in the fog to disturb my sense of direction. Since I couldn’t see, the poison would become more dangerous if I waited.
But there was something he didn’t know.
Shhh!
“Huh?”
I used the Wind Shadow Steps and blocked him immediately. I could still see him clearly, no matter how unclear the vision appeared to me.
“How?”
I felt pity that his hopes were being destroyed, but my eyes could not be fooled. Did he think that he was able to hide? I could see his internal qi shining through the mist.
Gu Jae-yang, who was caught, hurriedly threw out a Poison Hand, but I slashed it with Iron Sword.
Chang!
It seemed like it wasn’t just poison. His skin seemed as tough as iron.
“You look down on a Poison Being. My skin is that of gold. Every time you hurt me, even a tip of my hair wouldn’t be….”
He couldn’t finish it. His purple face frowned as he began to think that something was odd.
“Why are you fine, though?”
He was puzzled that I still looked fine.
“Why? Do you think I would have collapsed from the pain?”
After undergoing body reconstruction, my body’s resilience was markedly different from that of an ordinary person.
In addition, most of the poison could not push through my skin. If someone wanted to poison me, they would need to cut me and inject it directly.
He seemed to have the same conclusion and stabbed at my heart with his poison.
I swung my sword at him.
“I said it is useless….”
Chak!
“Kuak!”
Unfortunately, his wrist was cut as if betraying his confidence.
“It got cut?”
He could not hide his shock as Iron Sword shone through.
“Kuaaak… what is this….”
Body Sword Union.
A state where the sword and I had become one. Unless one was a warrior who had crossed the wall, they could not block my sword.
“Damned bastard! Then!”
Papat!
He rushed toward me with his blood dripping and began to unleash a technique. I felt this poison was even more vicious than before, so I avoided it with footwork. The poison felt immediately more intense.
As Hae Ack-chun said, he wanted to harm more people.
Then, if he was going to act like this…
Pat!
I rushed for him.
‘Chasing Till the End Sword!’
A sword form of the Xing Ming Sword. This form had the highest range of sword techniques excluding the twelve swords.
I spun around my sword and created a whirlwind aimed at my opponent.
“Kuak!”
Gu Jae-yang twisted his form with all his strength and avoided it. But what of it?
This was just the start.
Kwakw!
‘…?!’
As soon as it touched the ground, the whirlwind from the sword that had only been centered around the sword became an insanely pressured typhoon with me in the center.
It looked like an ordinary wind, but this one was infused with qi.
Chachachang!
“Kuaaak!”
Dark purple sword splattered from his body. The whirlwind surged higher when I changed the path and pushed my sword up.
Papapat!
The fog-like poison also surged up with the wind alongside Gu Jae-yang. It was impossible to entirely eliminate the smoke, but most of it had been pushed upwards now.
Wooong!
“No. This…”
Before I realized it, I could see Hae Ack-chun enter the fog. He came in to help me but seemed surprised at how the poison fog was being blown upwards.
“Poison mist…”
Baek Hye-hyang and Sima Young were shocked as well.
Thud!
Gu Jae-yang fell to the ground at that moment after being blown away by the whirlwind.
Everyone was at a loss for words at the sight of his scarred body wriggling in pain.
