Chapter 25
—
“…Do you not even know where the pressure point is?”
If it had been accurately struck, there was no way she could have regained consciousness so quickly.
“…Mount Hua disciples are known for their resilience.”
What an absurd excuse.
Even Hyeonjo seemed embarrassed by his own words and avoided her gaze.
“What exactly did you feed me?”
Ga-jin demanded, her voice filled with suspicion.
Lee Seon answered honestly.
“Just some random herbs lying around.”
Sching!
Ga-jin immediately drew her sword.
Lee Seon gestured toward Hyeonjo with his eyes.
‘Say something to calm her down.’
‘…You’re the one who stirred this mess. It’s not my concern.’
Hyeonjo pretended not to notice, looking off into the distance.
Left with no choice, Lee Seon stepped forward.
Awkwardly smiling, he extended his hands in a placating gesture.
“At least it wasn’t poison, right? How about we end this peacefully?”
Ga-jin spat out a curse.
“You bastard.”
She was furious, her rage stemming from the needle in her wrist preventing her from using martial arts and the herbs she had been forced to ingest.
What if the so-called antidote didn’t work?
What if she could never use martial arts again?
More than anything, what tormented her was the fact that she had knelt before the fear of death.
Even if her opponent was stronger than her, she should have resisted to the end, as a proud disciple of Mount Hua.
Her inability to do so filled her with self-reproach and regret.
She had been terrified of losing her life and frightened of never being able to use martial arts again.
She despised her powerless self and despaired over her weakness in the face of fear.
In just a few days, her body and mind had become utterly exhausted.
But now, to learn that the entire ordeal had been a farce was infuriating.
It felt like a cruel joke.
“Was it fun, playing with me?”
Her eyes were void of emotion.
At this point, it didn’t matter if it had been poison or not.
Her inner composure, which should have been as calm as a still lake, had been shattered.
A surge of intense anger consumed her.
A voice in her mind whispered persistently.
‘Kill him.’
Her eyes gleamed with a murderous intent that was impossible to hide.
“Die.”
Her sword traced elegant arcs through the air.
The movements overlapped, forming shapes in the empty space.
Though their colours and forms weren’t distinct, they resembled a flower.
Countless sword energies scattered like flower petals.
To an observer, it might have looked beautiful.
But for the one facing it, it was utterly terrifying.
Each petal was made of sharp, lethal sword energy.
There was a reason Mount Hua’s plum blossom swordsmanship was famous.
‘I can’t see clearly.’
Even as he tried to focus on defending, the fluttering petals distracted his vision.
Blades continued to slice through the gaps in his obscured sight.
Barely avoiding the strikes by the width of a sheet of paper, Lee Seon couldn’t help but admire her skill.
So this is Mount Hua.
She relentlessly targeted his vital points.
Her strikes, sharp and precise, exploited every opening with incredible speed.
He was experiencing firsthand how terrifyingly effective a sword combining speed and illusion could be.
Moreover, the chilling killing intent radiating from her sword kept constricting his body.
“This… is a Daoist disciple?”
If her sword wasn’t so refined and graceful, it wouldn’t have been strange to mistake her for someone from an unorthodox sect.
Hyeonjo, observing from the sidelines, looked awkward.
“…Ahem.”
Though Mount Hua’s sword techniques were known for their intensity, this was a bit much.
“Die, die.”
Ga-jin, her eyes bloodshot, swung her sword recklessly.
A true Daoist was supposed to maintain inner peace and tranquillity.
But her emotional turmoil was vividly reflected in her swordsmanship.
The evidence was clear: her breathing had grown ragged at some point.
She had completely abandoned the proper breathing techniques she had learned.
In this state, it was impossible for her to properly utilize her mental techniques.
“Are you just going to keep watching?”
Lee Seon shouted in frustration.
She was charging at him like a madwoman, and evading her attacks was becoming increasingly difficult.
Her bloodshot eyes, dishevelled hair, and wild movements made it clear.
This was Qi Deviation.
If Lee Seon could recognize it, there was no way Hyeonjo couldn’t.
If Hyeonjo stepped in, he could resolve this situation instantly.
But Hyeonjo merely observed, occasionally sipping his drink.
It was infuriating to watch.
He wants me to handle this, doesn’t he?
Lee Seon gritted his teeth.
The easiest way to subdue her would be to use poison.
But even for him, openly using poison on a disciple in front of an elder from a prestigious sect felt wrong.
Ga-jin didn’t even know the truth behind the artifact.
She was simply following orders from her sect.
Though she had shown hostility toward him, it had been within reason.
She might have disliked him, but she had never actively tried to harm him.
He had been the one to cross the line first.
Though his actions had yielded results, knowing the full story now, he couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty.
That didn’t mean he was willing to take her strikes without defending himself.
“Fine. So you don’t want to settle this with words.”
As martial artists, resolving things with fists was often their way of communication.
Ga-jin’s figure shot forward with incredible speed.
Lee Seon steadied his stance.
He spread his legs wide and firmly planted his feet on the ground.
Twisting his waist, he extended his arm naturally.
Clang!
Her fierce sword collided with his palm.
At some point, Lee Seon had donned a pair of black gloves.
These gloves were made from the hide of the Human-Faced Spider.
The hide had been soaked in a special solution, processed, and meticulously crafted.
It not only resisted poison but was also impervious to most blades.
Ga-jin’s expression faltered, shaken by the realization that her sword had been stopped so easily.
“You underestimated me.”
Handling poison and hidden weapons is an intriguing art.
It allows for various responses depending on the opponent and poses a threat to anyone.
But Lee Seon understood this all too well.
In the end, the effectiveness and strength of poison techniques depend entirely on the user.
Poison may be menacing, but it is not absolute.
No matter how potent the poison is, it’s meaningless if it doesn’t reach the opponent.
His battle with Wi Yu-gi had taught him this lesson painfully.
I need to change.
He realized the necessity of evolving.
In martial arts, what truly matters is one’s foundational technique.
He couldn’t rely on poison forever if he wanted to progress.
Heat surged from Lee Seon’s body, stirring the surrounding air.
It was the manifestation of the Flame Emperor’s Thousand Poisons Art.
***
The Flame Emperor’s Thousand Poisons Art, a martial technique of extreme Yang energy, has poison conversion as a secondary feature.
Its true strength lies in its mastery of fire energy.
As if his hands were engulfed in flames, intense heat began to swirl around them.
The swirling petals in the air were consumed by fire and vanished.
The petals that had decorated the area were now engulfed by flames.
“What kind of martial art is that?”
Lee Seon calmly recited the name of the technique.
“Flame Emperor’s Thousand Poisons Art.”
Hyeonjo was startled by both the heat radiating from the young man and the unfamiliar name.
The fact that such a powerful martial art had remained unknown in the martial world was shocking.
“I’ve never heard of such a technique before.”
The aura emanating from Lee Seon was overwhelmingly domineering.
He looked as though he wore an armour of flames, like a god descending from the heavens.
“Just sit back and watch.”
Lee Seon replied curtly.
Perhaps due to the extreme Yang energy he was drawing upon, his emotions were intensifying.
If he wasn’t careful, he could easily be consumed by these flames.
But that moment wasn’t now.
Wearing an armour of searing heat that dared no one to approach, he took a step forward.
“Hsss…”
The moisture in the surroundings began to evaporate.
As Lee Seon closed the distance, the rising heat caused Ga-jin to recoil.
“Why don’t you charge at me like before?”
Lee Seon beckoned with a flick of his finger.
The Flame Emperor’s Thousand Poisons Art had one catastrophic flaw.
It consumed internal energy at an alarming rate, as though pouring water into a bottomless pit.
It hadn’t been long since he activated the technique, but his dantian was already nearing depletion.
‘I need to finish this quickly, or I might collapse from exhaustion.’
The reason he hadn’t used this technique before was clear.
Its energy consumption was simply unsustainable.
Without his recent breakthroughs or if the technique hadn’t reached the Eighth Star Stage, he wouldn’t have been able to wield this power.
“Haah… Haah…”
Ga-jin, too, was visibly fatigued after her relentless attacks.
On one side, internal energy was depleted; on the other, physical strength was drained.
Their gazes locked, and an unspoken agreement formed.
As if rehearsed, they both launched their final moves simultaneously.
“Bloom.”
Ga-jin’s sword painted the image of a flower bud in the air.
Among all the plum blossoms she had conjured so far, this one was the most vivid.
Only now could its intended shape be fully discerned.
“…That’s grotesque.”
The plum blossom, which should have been pure white, was stained crimson.
Moreover, its stamens writhed like tongues, as though thirsting for blood.
It was a demonic flower in every sense.
Rather than emanating killing intent, it seemed consumed by malice.
How grotesque.
Lee Seon spread his palm wide.
“The holy flame shall purify the impure.”
His hand glowed red, emitting an otherworldly light.
“Crimson Jade Divine Palm.”
The moment his palm clashed with the sword, a deafening explosion echoed.
The outcome was decided in an instant.
The fire demon mercilessly devoured the demonic flower.
Despite its desperate attempts to resist the flames, it was reduced to ashes under the righteous fire.
Clang.
Ga-jin’s sword fell from her hand and clattered to the ground.
She collapsed, sitting in defeat, as Lee Seon stood towering over her.
This was the moment when a long-lost, legendary martial art once again displayed its majesty to the world.
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