Poison Forest
"Ji Gwang-ok!"
With a fierce glare, Elder Seok Gyeong-dal's twin palms suddenly struck, and Ji Gwang-ok barely deflected them.
Boooom!
Seeing this, Ji Gwang-ok of the Blood Demon Sect shouted in shock, his eyes wide.
"Elder Seok?! It really was you!"
"Yes, it's me! How has Mu-gwang been doing?!"
Ji Gwang-ok grinned like a wild beast as he replied.
"The Blood Demon Lord is always well. He often says that if Elder Seok had not left, the Blood Sect would have dominated the world ten years earlier."
At those words, Seok Gyeong-dal's expression suddenly darkened.
"Ten years earlier, you say? Then you must have already restored the lost research."
"Hehehe, it was no easy task."
Originally a martial scholar and physician, Seok Gyeong-dal did not focus on direct combat but devoted himself to researching and improving the Blood Sect's demonic arts.
In particular, the innovation of the corpse-refining arts that produced today's living corpses and demons was largely due to Seok Gyeong-dal's work—his contribution was nothing short of monumental.
Yet when he left the sect, he had destroyed all his research.
So he believed that the methods to create higher-level demons, and the ultimate goal of crafting the Blood Demon Human, had all been lost. But now…
Ji Gwang-ok said,
"The Blood Demon Lord instructed me: should I ever encounter Elder Seok, I am to send you off peacefully."
That meant only one thing: Seok was no longer needed. His discarded research had already been restored.
Ji Gwang-ok burst into crazed laughter as he lunged forward.
"So farewell, Elder Seok! Hahahaha!"
Seok Gyeong-dal's martial cultivation was about ninety years of internal energy.
He had always been more scholar than warrior, and raising his level further might have left him unable to resist the demonic arts' corrosion.
Yet now his bloodshot eyes burned as he clashed head-on with Ji Gwang-ok on nearly equal footing.
"Uuuaaah!"
KWA-KWA-KWANG!
After exchanging five palm strikes and both staggering back, Ji Gwang-ok squinted and said,
"You took Mad Blood Pill! "
"Hahahahaha!"
The Mad Blood Pill was a dangerous drug that forced one's qi into overdrive, granting a momentary boost in power—but leaving the user crippled afterward.
Even orthodox martial artists, with pure inner qi, were crippled eight times out of ten after taking it. For those practicing demonic arts, it was little different from poison.
Seok Gyeong-dal had taken exactly that.
Hearing this, Seol Pung, who had been catching his breath, was shocked. He finally understood why the elder had intervened.
Clenching his teeth, Seol Pung charged at Ji Gwang-ok again.
"Haaah!"
He couldn't waste the chance the elder was buying with his life.
While Seok Gyeong-dal battled Ji Gwang-ok head-on, Seol Pung moved like a predator to strike from behind.
Both the elder's desperate frontal assault and Seol Pung's pouncing speed were formidable.
But Ji Gwang-ok had not yet revealed his full strength.
"You little fish!"
His palms erupted in red demonic qi, sweeping out like a storm.
It was the Blood Sect's supreme art, Thousand Ring Demon Palm —optimized for fighting multiple foes.
PABABABABAT!
"Ugh!"
"Kuugh!"
The red palm shadows filled the space like a crimson sunset, blasting Seok Gyeong-dal and Seol Pung back.
A fearsome chained palm technique indeed.
Though Seol Pung landed lightly like a beast, Seok Gyeong-dal staggered, unable to resolve the force.
Spotting the opening, Ji Gwang-ok roared with laughter and lunged at him.
"Kuahahaha! Farewell, Elder Seok!"
Red lightning qi crackled in his palm—it was the Blood Sect's deadly Exploding Thunder Blood Palm .
As the thunderous strike rushed toward Seok's exposed chest, Seol Pung panicked.
"Elder!"
He tried to leap, but Seonu Jin, suddenly at his side, grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Jin?!"
What Seol Pung saw was Seonu Jin, shaking his head with somber eyes.
In that instant, Ji Gwang-ok's palm smashed into Seok Gyeong-dal's chest.
"Die!"
BOOOM!
"Kuuaaagh!"
Seok Gyeong-dal's back burst open like fireworks—blood, bones, even organs spraying out.
But then Ji Gwang-ok's grin froze.
Though fatally struck, Seok Gyeong-dal was still smiling—radiantly.
Sensing something wrong, Ji Gwang-ok tried to retreat. But Seok's grip locked tight on his arm.
The next moment, Seok's eyes shone brilliantly.
And then—his body exploded.
KWA-AAAAANG!
It was the Blood Sect's forbidden art: Exploding Thunder Sacrifice —a self-detonation meant to take the enemy with you.
"Elder!" Seol Pung screamed in horror.
Seonu Jin's face hardened as he recalled the old man's words before they left the cottage:
"Even if I take Mad Blood Pill and Seol Pung and I attack together, defeating Ji Gwang-ok will be nearly impossible.
So I'll deliberately show an opening and then self-detonate.
At that moment, you must ensure Seol Pung and the girl Cheong-yeon are pulled back."
When Bi Sa-yeong had demanded why he'd go so far, the old man had only smiled:
"Just something I can't ignore. It's simply for my own peace of mind."
And his smile then had been strangely relieved.
Now, even his self-detonation had been controlled—directing the blast solely at Ji Gwang-ok.
But when the dust cleared, Seonu Jin's group was stunned.
Ji Gwang-ok still stood—his body drenched in bone and gore.
"Ghhrrr… that damned old man!"
His right arm was completely gone, but the rest of him seemed intact.
Then they saw it—the faint red protective aura coating his body.
Seol Pung muttered in disbelief.
"Protective… qi armor? "
A technique only supreme masters could manifest—extending qi to cover the entire body. Normally, even top masters could only project it onto weapons or limbs, as sustaining it consumed impossible amounts of power.
Yet Ji Gwang-ok had manifested it, however imperfectly.
Still, enduring the self-detonation had pushed him beyond his limits. Blood spewed from his mouth.
"Cough!"
Seol Pung's eyes blazed. This was the moment.
The last chance Elder Seok had given him.
His body shot forward like lightning, eyes burning crimson.
PAANG!
"Haaah!"
Launching like a tiger, Seol Pung struck with all his might.
It was his ultimate technique—Beast Fist .
BAM!
"Guugh!"
With only one arm left, Ji Gwang-ok was forced back, unable to stop the blow.
But that was only the beginning.
The terror of Beast Fist lay in its storm of follow-up strikes—twisting in midair like a cat and unleashing a barrage.
BEBEBEBEBEK!
Ji Gwang-ok's face turned ghostly pale, retreating helplessly under the assault.
"Ugh, you brat…"
He barely blocked a vicious claw-strike with his left arm.
But Seol Pung feinted—grabbing the arm, spinning up its length, and smashing his opposite elbow into Ji Gwang-ok's temple.
Thwack!
"Kuugh!"
At last, a clean hit had landed.
But it wasn't over yet.
Spinning his body fiercely, Seol Pung's knee smashed into Ji Gwang-ok's side.
Thwaaack!
Crack!
"Uuugh!"
With the sound of ribs breaking, Seol Pung soared high into the air, his leg kicking upward toward the sky.
Then, in an instant, he came crashing down like a bolt of lightning.
KWAANG!
"Gyaaahhh!"
Struck directly by Seol Pung's leg technique, Ji Gwang-ok was finally sent flying, tumbling across the ground with a scream.
The watching companions clenched their fists and shouted.
"We got him!"
"Finish it, Captain!"
Seol Pung, too, prepared to deliver the final blow to the completely sprawled Ji Gwang-ok.
But he couldn't.
"Cough!"
Suddenly, Seol Pung dropped to one knee and spat blood.
Startled, the group cried out.
"Captain!"
"Are you alright?!"
Only Seonu Jin gave a pained sigh, already knowing the truth.
From memories of his past life, Seonu Jin understood:
That fearsome technique that allowed Seol Pung—an upper master with barely eighty years of internal strength—to overwhelm Ji Gwang-ok, a super-grandmaster with over a hundred years, had a strict time limit.
About a single jikang (roughly thirty minutes). And at this very moment, its time had run out.
No—judging by the blood he coughed, Seol Pung had already surpassed the limit and was forcing himself to continue.
As Hae Cheong-yeon and Bi Sa-yeong rushed to support Seol Pung, Seonu Jin looked grimly toward Ji Gwang-ok.
The man was staggering, but rising again.
Cold reality: no matter his injuries, only Seol Pung could match Ji Gwang-ok's level here.
The others, not even at the realm of peak master, could not withstand his qi.
If only they had just one more peak master…
Seonu Jin's eyes suddenly flicked to the baggage behind Ji Gwang-ok.
Supplies carried by the Blood Sect members.
His eyes gleamed sharply, and he made his decision.
Drawing his sword, he charged at Ji Gwang-ok like a gale, unleashing his Flying Step Law to the extreme.
"Ji Gwang-ok!"
The wounded man sneered as he saw the youth charging.
Even injured, an unripe boy below the peak realm daring to attack him? Laughable.
From his remaining left hand, red lightning qi of the Exploding Thunder Blood Palm crackled.
"Uuuaaah!"
But instead of striking at Ji Gwang-ok, Seonu Jin suddenly stamped the ground beneath his feet.
WHAAAM!
A cloud of dirt and sand blasted upward like hidden weapons, surging toward Ji Gwang-ok.
Clearly, he meant to blind him.
But tricks like this were far more familiar to a Blood Sect demon than to orthodox martial artists.
Shielding his eyes with his left arm, Ji Gwang-ok prepared to counter, sneering.
"Cheap tricks!"
But Seonu Jin didn't charge through the dust as Ji Gwang-ok expected.
Instead, he circled swiftly behind.
"Huh?"
Ji Gwang-ok turned, only to see Seonu Jin grinning coldly—holding one of the Blood Sect's bundles.
Realization struck, and Ji Gwang-ok cried out in shock.
"You brat!"
In the same instant, Seonu Jin hurled the bundle at him while leaping forward, sword slashing.
Shhhhk!
The ropes binding the black panther inside snapped.
The beast bared its fangs at Ji Gwang-ok.
"Raaawr!"
It was the same black panther whose killing intent Seonu Jin had glimpsed earlier—fixated on Ji Gwang-ok.
The panther, once nearly equal to Seol Pung in battle, was now freed and lunging straight at him.
Its claws raked his flesh. Ji Gwang-ok struck back with his left arm.
Thud!
The blow knocked the beast aside, but it was no ordinary predator—it fought like a peak master.
Even in midair, it twisted its body, striking again at Ji Gwang-ok's opening.
He couldn't tear his gaze away.
And at that moment, from behind the panther, Seonu Jin once again stomped the ground, sending dirt flying.
Fwoosh!
With only one arm, Ji Gwang-ok was forced to raise it and shield his eyes.
At that instant, the panther pounced again.
"Raaawr!"
Ji Gwang-ok roared in fury.
"You dare!"
He swung his left arm at the panther—
But then felt a sharp sting in his right shoulder stump.
It was faint, but ominous.
Glancing over, he froze.
Two snakes had sunk their fangs into his severed shoulder.
They were the Samchae Sisa—venomous serpents sometimes used as living projectiles by poison masters. A single bite meant instant death.
Ji Gwang-ok's eyes went wide with despair.
And there he saw Seonu Jin, leather pouch in hand, grinning fiercely.
"This… can't be…"
In that instant, the black panther struck.
"Raaawr!"
CRUNCH!
The sound of a neck snapping rang in Seonu Jin's ears.
But the panther didn't stop there.
Pinning Ji Gwang-ok, it tore his throat clean away.
RIP!
Splurt!
Blood gushed like a fountain.
Not even a super-grandmaster could survive having his throat ripped out.
It was instant death.
"Pheew…"
Seonu Jin finally exhaled, drained of strength.
He looked down at Ji Gwang-ok's corpse.
The black panther did not eat the torn throat.
Instead, it spat it out with a snort, then silently fixed its yellow eyes on Seonu Jin.
He stared back.
It was a dangerous beast, nearly as strong as a peak master.
With Seol Pung injured, if it chose to attack them now, they would not be able to resist.
Yet Seonu Jin somehow felt it would not harm them.
For in its gaze, he sensed no hostility at all.
After a long look, the black panther glanced once at Seol Pung and the others, then turned and strolled leisurely into the depths of the Poison Forest.
Somehow, Seonu Jin felt as if it had just thanked him.
Then he gathered the two Samchae Sisa serpents still latched onto Ji Gwang-ok's shoulder back into his leather pouch and rushed to Seol Pung.
It was truly time to leave.