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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 piled up on my desk at your discretion."
"Understood. I'll take care of it."
Sima Jin nodded at Hyeok Mulin's instruction as he draped his robe over his shoulders.
Hyeok Mulin simply said he was leaving his post.
He didn't mention where he was going or how long he'd be gone, but Sima Jin accepted it without question or protest.
It felt like a sign that trust and faith were gradually building between them, which was quite satisfying.
"Is there anything you need?"
"When you say something needed, do you mean an object?"
"Anything at all."
"Hmm..."
Sima Jin pondered for a moment but couldn't easily speak up.
It was only natural, in a way.
How many subordinates would boldly demand things from their superior, even when asked what they wanted?
"I'm fine. You've already provided me with a proper place to work, so I lack for nothing."
Sima Jin politely declined Hyeok Mulin's consideration.
But Hyeok Mulin had already noticed.
He'd caught Sima Jin's gaze lingering briefly on the brush in the inkstone.
'Come to think of it, he arrived at the palace empty-handed.'
Sima Jin had shown up at the Heavenly Demon Palace without a single possession.
He probably hadn't anticipated staying on to work here indefinitely.
Just as warriors were sensitive about their weapons, someone from the Sima Clan would be particular about his brush.
Yet right now, he was making do with the standard-issue brush given to regular military strategists.
It was only natural that it didn't suit him.
Even so, Sima Jin tried to hide his true feelings, but he couldn't escape Hyeok Mulin's sharp eyes.
"Heh. I see."
"Yes. Please take care of yourself."
Leaving Sima 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 the doors wide open.
Passing by the arsenal before him, he descended yet 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'd felt a greater lack in his martial arts knowledge than in his internal energy.
But now, with the elders' council meeting looming, he needed to explosively boost his internal energy above all else.
Having expended most of his energy fending off Cheon Jungak's killing intent, Hyeok Mulin acutely realized his total internal energy reserves were insufficient.
No matter how pure and high-grade his Extreme Demon Qi was, he needed to raise his fundamental capacity.
'And the solution lies in here.'
Clunk—
Hyeok Mulin pushed the doors open with both hands.
A mysterious energy flowed out, washing over his entire body.
Enveloping himself in Extreme Demon Qi to deflect it, Hyeok Mulin closed the doors and stepped inside.
The Elixir Vault of the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault.
This place, revered by martial artists as a hidden paradise, was packed floor to ceiling with the world's most renowned elixirs.
"I can't even imagine how they gathered all these."
Not only did it house the legendary Great Return Pill, said to no longer exist even in Shaolin, but also the Millennium Snow Ginseng that rarely appeared even at the northernmost edges of the North Sea, and the Century-Old Parasitic Vine that absorbed ambient spiritual energy for ten thousand years, laying waste to its surroundings.
Beyond those, elixirs like spirit herbs, pills, and inner cores emanated diverse energies—yin, yang, fire, ice, demonic, and poison—lined up in rows.
Even grabbing 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 sat a lone stone box.
Engraved in red on the box was a stark warning: 'Strictly Prohibited'.
Drip—
Ignoring the inscription, Hyeok Mulin untied the cord without hesitation and opened the stone box.
Inside was an iron box. Opening that revealed a bronze box within.
Box after box, each smaller than the last, until only a palm-sized wooden box remained in Hyeok Mulin's hands.
Sniff—
Hyeok Mulin wrinkled his nose.
With each layer peeled away, the contained energy grew more intense.
In his previous life, he wouldn't have sensed it at all, but wielding Extreme Demon Qi now, he could detect it clearly.
Cautiously opening the final wooden box, Hyeok Mulin's eyes reflected a pearl-white pill.
It was so lustrous one might mistake it for a pearl. Nodding, he confirmed it.
"Definitely the One Breath Absolute Death Poison."
Known to be exceedingly dangerous, he hadn't dared approach it even in his past life.
Only now, having mastered the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art, could he unravel its secrets.
The creator of this poison was Dongbangsuh, the Myriad Poisons Divine Thief who terrorized the world as the greatest thief centuries ago.
"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.
Dongbangsuh was a thief who roamed the world, but he had one unique trait.
He stole only poisons—not money or weapons.
Whenever rumors spread of peerless poisons 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—Dongbangsuh stole them by any means necessary.
'No wonder the poison sects were in an 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 likeness across the world 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 one time he left no trace, Dongbangsuh made a fatal mistake.
'He got greedy.'
He'd infiltrated the Heavenly Demon Secret Vault to plunder its poisons.
Not only did it hold various deadly toxins he'd eyed, but rumors said it contained the Three Steps Intestine Melting Poison he'd sought for years.
'He succeeded halfway, at least...'
Dongbangsuh successfully infiltrated the vault.
But sudden misfortune struck.
While rummaging through the Elixir Vault, he came face-to-face with the Heavenly Demon of that era.
Trapped in the sealed Heavenly Demon Secret Vault with no escape, it was the first time in his life he was captured mid-theft.
—Kill me.
Dongbangsuh demanded a clean death without begging pathetically for his life.
The Heavenly Demon, intrigued by his demeanor, made a proposal instead of releasing him outright.
—Create a poison so deadly no one in the world can survive it 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 Dongbangsuh had no choice.
Ten years, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty years passed. When all had forgotten him...
—It's complete.
Dongbangsuh succeeded in crafting the impossible: an instant-kill poison without 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 only one of its kind—it killed the moment even a single breath was exhaled after ingestion.
"No antidote exists, they say."
Not even records remained of its composition, making detoxification impossible.
Without Extreme Demon Qi protecting him, the leaking poison aura alone might have killed him moments ago.
Yet it was worth the risk.
Before leaving the cult, Dongbangsuh left one final remark after offering the poison.
—Unlikely as it is, should you overcome this poison, you'll gain immense internal energy and instantly achieve mastery of Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity, the pinnacle of my lifelong pursuit.
Hoo—
Hyeok Mulin drew a deep breath.
This held the most potent energy in the entire Elixir Vault.
But with the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art, he could assimilate its poison qi.
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 circulating his energy, his pupils flickered wildly for an instant.
Cough!
Hyeok Mulin spewed black blood.
The poison qi was so overwhelming that veins bulged 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 Demon Art.
...
...
...
In that moment, scenes flashed through his mind.
Losing his parents and becoming clan patriarch.
Marrying a woman he barely knew for political reasons and ascending as cult leader.
Training steadfastly amid scorn from elders and seniors, ignored by all.
A white-haired elder, old enough for grandchildren, yet visited by no one in his wretched life...
"...!"
Hyeok Mulin's eyes snapped open.
A life-flashing vision mid-cultivation— he'd nearly lost his mind to the poison.
Regaining his senses, he breathed through his skin instead of his breath, absorbing every trace of poison qi without expelling any.
His body trembled as if surpassing its limits.
His skin cracked like sword gashes, blood seeping out and soaking his clothes bit by bit.
'More, more—I must take it all without leaving a drop.'
With no escape, the One Breath Absolute Death Poison sucked the moisture from his body.
His skin withered like drought-stricken earth, his organs rotting in agony, but Hyeok Mulin endured with patience.
After what felt like hours in an instant, a blue glow bloomed in his eyes.
'Done. I've absorbed every last bit.'
Having fully ingested the poison's energy, Hyeok Mulin moved to the next step.
He meticulously gathered the scattered poison qi throughout his body into his lower dantian.
The process was excruciatingly slow.
Breath halted, time frozen, as if the world itself had stopped.
After an eternity of endurance,
"...Hoo."
Achieving the third star of the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art, Hyeok Mulin slowly opened his eyes and murmured softly.
"An unexpected breakthrough."
The advancement in the Pure Soul Divine Demon Art was an unforeseen gain.
Amazed by the unbelievable progress, Hyeok Mulin's lips curved into a faint smile.
Rising to his feet, he scanned the surroundings.
Spotting something, he moved toward it.
Hyeok Mulin seized the Poison Lake Turtle Gallbladder in his grip.
It was the gall from a turtle that had lived centuries in a poison-polluted lake—classified as a deadly toxin.
"Hm."
Staring at it intently, Hyeok Mulin promptly tossed it into his mouth.
Crunch crunch.
Chewing the foul, fishy, rotten-tasting organ, he swallowed it down.
Closing his eyes briefly, he examined his body.
This time, even without Extreme Demon Qi, the Poison Lake Turtle Gallbladder had no effect on him.
No—more precisely, it couldn't affect him at all.
"It's done!"
Internal energy boosted.
And the hidden objective behind it.
Hyeok Mulin's lips soared toward the heavens as he achieved mastery of Ten Thousand Poisons Immunity.