Chapter 103
– Kyaaaaaah!
The poison screamed.
It didn’t have a mouth, nor vocal cords.
But to my ears, it was unmistakably a roar.
“Urgh!”
Poison engulfed everything around me.
Any ordinary person would’ve turned to a handful of ash the moment they stepped into this hellish toxicity. The extreme poisons surged toward me all at once.
Rumbleeee!
The sound of the earth collapsing and the sky overturning.
Flutter! Crackle!
The violent beating of wings and buzzing noises scraping against my ears.
I shut my eyes and covered my ears with both hands.
Ugh…
I couldn’t think straight at all.
[Bone Five uses skill, Air Shield (Lv. Max).]
[Bone Five uses skill, Air Shield (Lv. Max).]
[Bone Five uses skill, Air Shield (Lv. Max).]
……
Instinctively, Bone Five cast Air Shield in layers.
Fsssss!
But it liquefied the instant it was summoned.
[Bone Five’s summoning has been canceled.]
‘Crazy.’
Seriously, how is this even possible?
An A-rank summon melts this easily?
I clicked my tongue.
Crack! Crackle!
Even Bone Five’s layered shield fractured instantly.
Well.
Trying to endure a calamity-grade poison with Bone Five’s shield was a flawed plan to begin with.
My entire vision was drowned in green.
I couldn’t tell if my body had sunk into the ground or flown into the sky.
Like drifting helplessly inside a tornado, I could do nothing but be tossed around by overwhelming force.
– “Get a hold of yourself, boy!”
The elder shouted amid the chaos.
– “You expected this the moment you jumped into this damned poison fog! If you braced for it, act like it!”
“You think I don’t know that…?! I know, but…!”
– “Tch, you still have the mind to answer? Focus on the poison invading your body! Now!”
Gulp, gulp!
Veins bulged.
[Poison bonus gained.]
[Noblesse is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[You gain 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison bonus gained.]
[Saint Poison is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[You gain 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison bonus gained.]
[Dark Light is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[You gain 500 Trial Points.]
……
[Poison bonus gained.]
[Poison Spring of Dokgakhwamang is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[You gain 500 Trial Points.]
[Poison bonus gained.]
[Acrid Spirit Herb is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[You gain 500 Trial Points.]
……
My vision filled endlessly with poison bonuses.
Most of them were grade-1 deadly poisons I had never seen before.
I squinted to check them roughly, then shut my eyes again.
I didn’t have the energy to keep them open.
– Kyaaaaaaaaah!
The Toxin Mist hammered me relentlessly, as if I were its enemy from a previous life.
It beat me to the point dust was flying.
“Shit!”
I braced every muscle in my body.
I couldn’t just take the beating.
I had to circulate my energy and expel the poison.
‘But.’
There was too much.
Far too much.
More was flooding in than I could push out.
Was there even a point in circulating energy under conditions like this?
Was expelling poison even meaningful?
– “Don’t you dare give up!”
The elder shouted again.
– “Normally you should avoid this, but you have no choice… Poison arts are also part of the Ten Thousand Arts! Listen well! Poison arts aren’t just about neutralizing or expelling poison!”
“Heuuuup!”
Even as he spoke, poison kept forcing itself into my body.
Like being pushed underwater in a pool as a kid, water pouring down my throat whether I wanted it or not.
I flailed inside a swimming pool made of poison.
– “Do not try to control all the poison directly with your energy! Poison restrains poison— poison should be handled with poison!”
“Groan… handle poison with poison?”
– “One of the poisons you just ingested, Noblesse, was called Gunjasan in our world.”
“Gunjasan…”
– “It’s a type of mountain-air poison that gently disrupts energy, preventing you from using it delicately like a gentleman.”
Huh?
A poison that stops me from using energy gently?
How is that gentle at all?
Is he misunderstanding the word “gentle”?
– “And the Saint Poison you ingested was called Shinsenpye in our world. Unlike Gunjasan which blocks energy, this vile thing scatters it entirely. But do you know what’s funny?”
“Ugh, huuup!”
I could barely breathe now.
My nerves fired uncontrollably, my limbs twitching.
– “When combined, they prevent your energy from scattering while also reinforcing it like a nourishing tonic. So don’t bother expelling those two. Let them clash. Use that time to drive out the others.”
“Kh…!”
Move… move!
I followed the elder’s words while trying to control the poison.
I found the two poisons he mentioned instinctively and let them collide inside me.
– “And the Acrid Spirit Herb you absorbed is a plant-based acid poison.”
The elder continued teaching me.
– “The rich energy of Crane’s True Red is an animal-based alkaline poison. Mix them and they neutralize each other.”
He taught me every poison.
Had he truly ingested every poison in existence to become Immune to All Poison?
Even poisons I had never heard of— he recognized them instantly and explained.
What they did.
How to handle them.
– “Hard at first, because you’re not used to it. But after a bit, you’ll instinctively understand. Your body will naturally realize what movement keeps you alive.”
Boom!
A poisonous storm raged inside me.
Countless poisons waged war.
Some collided and turned into medicine, some canceled each other out.
The solitary ones were gently expelled using my energy.
There was no time to rest.
I focused every bit of consciousness into observing and controlling my own body.
Still— thanks to the elder’s guidance?
I could breathe slightly easier than before.
Feeling proud of my progress.
“Heh.”
The elder chuckled.
– “Funny, isn’t it? Do you know how so-called poison experts study poison in our world?”
“……”
– “Don’t be shocked. They capture test subjects and experiment on them one by one. Isn’t that ridiculous?”
No.
There’s nothing funny about that.
Or— I guess there’s simply nothing funny right now.
– “Poison must be tasted firsthand to understand it. Trying to learn poison purely through experiments is arrogance.”
“……”
– “Tsk, you barely have room to speak. Anyway— remember this. Don’t forget what you’re learning now. It will become priceless knowledge for understanding poison later.”
Grit!
I clenched my teeth and endured.
Yes.
If all this becomes my asset—
Then I can gladly accept it.
Come on! Toxin Mist! Kill me!
If you can’t kill me, I’ll only grow stronger!
I’ll become a monster that resists every poison and commands every poison!
What? Does that offend you?
Then kill me now!
Strangely—
The more pain I felt, the more stubborn I became.
“Haaah!”
I kept shouting, enduring again and again.
Beside me, the elder continued pouring information into my ear.
Whenever I was about to die, his advice saved me.
How long did that go on?
– “…You’ll endure. I believe in you, boy. But this is as far as I go.”
With his final farewell, the elder faded away.
An hour had passed.
‘Only an hour?’
I was dumbfounded.
It felt like I had endured an entire day.
– Kyaah! Kyaaaaaah!
The Toxin Mist still raged.
It brought even more deadly poisons as if mocking me for only managing to withstand this much.
“Fine, damn it!”
I screamed back at it desperately.
“Let’s go! Bring it on!”
With reckless bravado, I swallowed more poison.
—
The battle with poison continued.
To the point the already dark sky grew even dimmer.
“Ugh!”
My body trembled in pain.
No matter how well I handled the poison, I couldn’t ignore the cumulative damage.
But I had no time to recover.
[Flame-stem Mushroom is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[Rainbow Outer-cap Mushroom is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[Golden Line Silk is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[Kraken Ring Venom is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[Single-Soul Thread is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
……
[Diamond Spider Venom Spring is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
[Yin-Yang Husk is a grade-1 deadly poison.]
……
Were there always this many types of poison in the world?
Even if I absorbed them.
Even if I neutralized or harmonized them.
There was no end.
I purified and purified, yet they came endlessly.
“Gah!”
Blood surged back up my throat.
Pain shot deep into my organs, my vision and senses spinning.
My limbs felt like they were melting.
‘N-no…’
Strength left my body.
My battered frame fluttered like a limp paper airplane.
‘No.’
Still, I ground my teeth.
I forced my mind to hold on.
‘I can’t give up.’
My head swam.
The world spun.
Poison seeped through every pore.
No— through every opening in my body.
“…Ha.”
So this is what wanting to die feels like?
I let out a hollow laugh.
As expected, the elder wasn’t wrong.
This thing was impossible.
The smart choice was to run.
‘Damn it.’
There was really no answer now.
None.
Even if I racked my brain, there was nothing left to try.
I had already used up most of my energy summoning Bone Five for shields.
My energy for cleansing poison was nearly gone.
‘At this rate.’
Death was coming.
‘I didn’t want to use this unless absolutely necessary.’
In the end, I had no choice but to draw my trump card.
The reason I’d dared charge into Toxin Mist despite the elder’s warnings—
‘Bone Seven.’
[Using skill, Summon Skeleton Knights (A-rank).]
[Consumes 10 energy.]
[Bone Seven has appeared.]
Crackle!
He manifested in the air, even though he would soon melt.
[All energy has been depleted.]
[Tip / Want to restore energy? Try resting.]
“Heh.”
With this, my energy was gone.
But that was fine.
Bone Seven still had his own energy.
‘Alright— restore my body.’
It was the first time I used this after obtaining it.
The overpowered skill that resurrected Kang Yujeong’s arm, the Black Sword squad member under Lee Seonah.
[Skill: Recovery]
[Level: Max]
[Description: Reverts the physical body to a previous state.]
[Effect 1: Reverts the body to how it was 24 hours ago. Cannot be used on the dead.]
[Effect 2: Cooldown — 30 days.]
[Effect 3: Consumes 50 energy.]
Ssshhhhk!
As Bone Seven’s body melted, Recovery activated.
My physical state was rewound exactly 24 hours.
Not only my broken body—
But my energy and qi as well.
Vwoooom!
Feeling the warm light and qi wrap around me, I quietly waited for my restoration.