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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: One Breath Absolute Death Poison
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"I'll step out for a bit. Handle the documents awaiting my approval on the desk at your discretion."
"Understood. I will do so."
Sama Jin nodded at Hyeok Mulin's instruction as he draped his outer robe over his shoulders.
Hyeok Mulin simply said he was stepping out.
He didn't mention where he was going or how long it would take, but Sama Jin neither asked nor probed—he simply accepted it.
It felt as though a layer of trust and faith was gradually building between them, which was quite satisfying.
"Is there anything you need?"
"When you say something needed, do you mean an object?"
"Anything will do."
"Hm..."
Sama Jin pondered for a moment but couldn't easily voice it.
It was only natural, in a way.
How many subordinates would dare to eagerly demand this or that when their superior asked what they wanted?
"I'm fine. You've provided me with a proper place to work, so I lack for nothing."
Sama Jin politely declined Hyeok Mulin's consideration.
But Hyeok Mulin had already noticed.
He had caught Sama Jin's gaze lingering briefly on the brush in the inkstone.
'Come to think of it, he arrived at the palace empty-handed.'
Sama Jin had come to the Heavenly Demon Palace without possessing a single item.
He probably hadn't anticipated he'd end up working here indefinitely.
Just as a warrior is sensitive about their weapons, someone from the Sama Clan would be particular about their brush.
Yet right now, he was using the standard-issue brush provided to ordinary strategists.
It was only natural that it didn't suit him.
Even so, Sama Jin tried to hide his true feelings, but he couldn't evade Hyeok Mulin's eyes.
"Heh. Got it."
"Yes. Please take care of your precious health."
Leaving Sama Jin's bow behind, Hyeok Mulin stepped outside.
His footsteps led to a familiar destination.
The depths of Snow Dissolving Peak—the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
Entering once more, Hyeok Mulin flung open the doors wide.
He passed by the arsenal before him and descended another level.
Arriving at the second underground floor, Hyeok Mulin gazed straight ahead.
[Elixir Vault]
"It's been ages since I last came here."
Even in his previous life, he hadn't set foot in the Elixir Vault after his hair turned white.
Back then, he had felt the lack of martial knowledge more acutely than internal energy.
But in the current situation, with the Elder Council meeting looming, he needed to explosively boost his internal energy above all else.
Having expended most of his energy blocking Cheon Jungak's killing intent, Hyeok Mulin had keenly realized the insufficiency of his total internal energy reserves.
No matter how pure his Extreme Demonic Energy was, he needed to raise his base capacity.
'And the solution lies within here.'
Clunk—
Hyeok Mulin pushed open the doors with both hands.
A profound energy flowed out from within, coursing over his entire body.
Wrapping himself in Extreme Demonic Energy to deflect it, Hyeok Mulin closed the doors and walked inside.
The Elixir Vault of the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
This place, regarded by martial artists as a paradise unto itself, was filled to the brim with renowned elixirs from across the world.
"I can't even imagine how they gathered all these."
Not only did it house the famous Great Return Pill, said to no longer exist even in Shaolin, but also the Millennium Snow Ginseng that only appeared once in a blue moon at the northernmost edges, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Corpse Mushroom that absorbed ambient essence for millennia, laying waste to its mountain habitat.
Beyond those, elixirs like spirit herbs, pills, and inner cores emanated diverse energies—yin, yang, fire, ice, demonic, poison, and more—lined up in rows.
Even picking any at random would yield tremendous effects.
But Hyeok Mulin leisurely passed them by, heading toward the wall.
Step— Step—
Finally reaching the end, Hyeok Mulin halted.
In that remote corner stood a lone stone box.
The stone box bore the word "Strictly Forbidden" in red, as if warning others to stay away.
Snap—
Ignoring the inscription, Hyeok Mulin untied the cords without hesitation and opened the stone box.
Inside was an iron box. Opening that revealed a bronze box within.
Opening, opening, opening—the boxes grew smaller with each layer, until Hyeok Mulin was left with a single palm-sized wooden box.
Sniff—
Hyeok Mulin wrinkled his nose.
With each box peeled away, the energy contained within grew more intense.
In his previous life, he wouldn't have sensed it at all, but wielding Extreme Demonic Energy now, he could detect it.
Cautiously opening the final wooden box, Hyeok Mulin's pupils reflected a jade-white pill.
At a glance, it could be mistaken for a pearl. Nodding at the sight, Hyeok Mulin murmured,
"One Breath Absolute Death Poison, confirmed."
Known to be exceedingly dangerous, he hadn't even approached it in his previous life.
Only now, having mastered the Pure Soul Divine Demonic Art, could he delve into it.
The creator of this poison was Dongbangsseo, the Myriad Poisons Divine Thief renowned centuries ago as the world's greatest thief.
"The records paint him as a truly bizarre figure."
Too thieving to be called merely the Poison God, yet too obsessed with poisons to be just the Divine Thief—hence his moniker, Myriad Poisons Divine Thief.
Dongbangsseo was a thief who roamed the world, but he had one peculiar trait.
He stole only poisons—not money, not weapons.
Whenever rumors spread of a supreme poison anywhere in the Central Plains, his footsteps inevitably followed.
Buried in the earth, dissolved in water, or even swallowed whole in jars to hide them—Dongbangsseo stole them by any means necessary.
'No wonder the poison sects were in uproar.'
Naturally, he became an archenemy to every poison sect in the Central Plains.
The Sacheon Tang Clan, having suffered the greatest losses, plastered his portrait across the land and offered a massive bounty.
Yet the Central Plains martial world never caught him.
He always slipped away with bizarre movement techniques, snatching poisons and vanishing.
The man who was never even tailed finally made a fatal mistake one day.
'Greed got the better of him.'
He had decided to infiltrate the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault to plunder its poisons.
Not only did it house various deadly toxins he coveted, but rumors also spoke of the Three Steps Intestine Melting Poison he had long sought.
'Well, he half-succeeded...'
Dongbangsseo successfully infiltrated the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
But sudden misfortune struck.
While ransacking the Elixir Vault, he ran into the Heavenly Demon of that era face-to-face.
With the vault doors sealed, escape routes gone, Dongbangsseo was captured mid-theft for the first time in his life.
—Kill me.
Without begging pathetically for his life, Dongbangsseo demanded a clean death.
The Heavenly Demon, intrigued by this, made a proposal instead of immediate release.
—Create a supreme poison that kills instantly with no antidote possible. In return, you may use any poison in the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
—Very well. But keep your promise.
It was an outrageous demand, but Dongbangsseo had no choice.
Ten years, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty years passed—until everyone had forgotten him.
—It's complete.
Dongbangsseo ultimately produced the impossible: an instant-kill poison with no antidote.
This poison pill, forged by pouring his entire life into it until he became a frail old man, was the One Breath Absolute Death Poison.
The world's sole specimen killed instantly upon a single exhalation after ingestion.
"No antidote exists, they say."
Not even records remained of its composition, rendering it impossible to counter.
Without Extreme Demonic Energy protecting him, the leaking poison vapors earlier might have killed him outright.
Yet it was worth the risk.
Before leaving the cult, Dongbangsseo left one final remark upon offering the poison.
—Unlikely as it is, should you overcome this poison, you'll achieve immense internal energy and instant mastery of Myriad Poisons Immunity with all I've accomplished in life.
Hoo—
Hyeok Mulin drew a deep breath.
It harbored the most potent energy in the entire Elixir Vault.
But having cultivated the Pure Soul Divine Demonic Art, he could assimilate this poison energy.
Steeling himself, Hyeok Mulin sat cross-legged, pinching the poison pill between his fingers.
He placed it on his tongue and swallowed it down his throat.
As he began to circulate his energy, his pupils suddenly flickered wildly.
*Cough!*
Hyeok Mulin spewed forth pitch-black blood.
The poison was so virulent that veins bulged grotesquely across his face.
The One Breath Absolute Death Poison rampaged destructively through his body.
Yet Hyeok Mulin endured the agony, trusting solely in the Pure Soul Divine Demonic Art.
...
...
...
At that moment, scenes flashed through his mind.
Losing his parents and becoming clan head.
Marrying a woman he met for the first time—a union without heart—to ascend as Cult Leader.
Steadfastly training amid scorn from elders and seniors, yet ignored by all.
A white-haired elder, old enough for grandchildren, with no one visiting his wretched...
"...!"
Hyeok Mulin's eyes snapped open.
A life-flashing vision mid-circulation—he had nearly lost his mind to the poison.
Regaining his senses, Hyeok Mulin breathed through his skin rather than lungs, absorbing every trace of poison without expelling any.
His body trembled as if surpassing its limits.
His skin split like sword cuts, blood seeping out, soaking his clothes bit by bit.
'More, more—I must absorb every last drop.'
With no escape, the One Breath Absolute Death Poison sucked moisture from his entire body.
His skin cracked and withered like drought-stricken earth; his organs rotted in agony—but Hyeok Mulin endured with patience.
After an eternity in an instant, a bluish glow bloomed in his eyes.
'It's done. Absorbed completely.'
Having fully assimilated the poison's energy, Hyeok Mulin moved to the next step.
He meticulously gathered the scattered poison energy throughout his body into his lower dantian.
The process unfolded excruciatingly slowly.
Breath halted, time frozen, as if the world stood still.
After eons of endurance,
"...Hoo."
Hyeok Mulin, having attained the third star of the Pure Soul Divine Demonic Art, slowly opened his eyes and spoke softly.
"An unexpected level of achievement."
The advancement in Pure Soul Divine Demonic Art was an unforeseen gain.
Amazed by the unbelievable growth, Hyeok Mulin's lips curved into a faint smile.
Rising, he scanned his surroundings.
Spotting something, he stepped toward it.
Hyeok Mulin seized the Poison Lake Turtle Gallbladder.
It was the kidney of a turtle that had lived centuries in a lake fouled by poison—classified as a deadly toxin.
"Hm."
Staring plainly at the Poison Lake Turtle Gallbladder, Hyeok Mulin promptly tossed it into his mouth.
Crunch crunch.
Chewing the foul, fishy rot, he swallowed it down.
Closing his eyes briefly, Hyeok Mulin examined his body.
This time, even without Extreme Demonic Energy, the Poison Lake Turtle Gallbladder had no effect.
More precisely, it couldn't affect him at all.
"Success!"
Internal energy boosted.
And the hidden objective beneath it.
Hyeok Mulin's lips soared toward the heavens as he achieved mastery of Myriad Poisons Immunity.