Chapter 34: Mysterious Shattering Sword

It hurts.

No joke, it really hurts.

The wound inflicted by Tang Yeom-myeong’s poison was truly painful. It felt as if the injured area was being seared with a hot iron.

There were several reasons why I had to endure this pain.

First, Tang Yeom-myeong’s level was higher than I had anticipated. Since the protagonist fought him several years later, I thought his level would be much lower, but it was not much different from what I had seen in the novel.

Secondly, I think I was a bit careless. Fighting a poison frog without getting bitten even once was impossible.

I was too arrogant to believe I could achieve the impossible.

But that didn’t mean I intended to lose to such a lowly opponent. I had something to rely on.

However…

‘Do not use it when the timing is not right.’

…I was just very reluctant to use it.

But isn’t now the right time to use it?

A skunk is approaching me, spraying its poisonous gas, and I am already poisoned.

My master would understand, right?

…Yes, he would understand.

Believing so, I slowly closed my eyes. Then, I began to slowly swing my blade.

“…I’ll kill you.”

Pababat-!

As I closed my eyes, I could feel Tang Yeom-myeong emitting his poisonous energy towards me. Nevertheless, I calmly swung my blade.

How many years has it been? I don’t remember exactly, but it’s been a very long time since I last used it.

Even so… my hands, which had become very accustomed to it, naturally performed the technique.

Thump-.

My body began to ripple with energy. I accepted it and opened my eyes.

When I opened my eyes, Tang Yeom-myeong’s poisonous energy was right in front of me.

Without panicking, I…

“…Divine Art First Stance: Mysterious Shattering Sword.”

…sliced through it.

**

The final realm of the Melting Poison Sutra, Dark Poison Filling the Sky.

To manifest and maintain this state, most of the poisons deeply embedded in his core must be drawn out.

The poison had become synonymous with Tang Yeom-myeong’s life, so this meant a decrease in his vitality.

That’s why he didn’t want to use it.

Born as the second child of the previous family head, Tang Yeom-myeong always desired a higher position, but he couldn’t achieve it because of his older brother.

So he sought to become a Poison Master and gained power.

If he became a Poison Master, someone no one could easily touch, he could reach a higher place.

‘What a waste.’

The current Dark Poison Filling the Sky is a technique that can land a blow on even the Best in the World.

Tang Yeom-myeong regretted using this once-in-a-lifetime technique on a young master whose name he didn’t even know.

‘As much as it’s a waste, I’ll thoroughly crush him.’

With that thought, Tang Yeom-myeong threw a Fire Poison Bomb at the motionless figure. He planned to melt his arms and legs with poison first, immobilizing him, and then inflict the greatest pain.

But…

Pasaak-!

“…What?”

The Fire Poison Bomb he threw… the figure sliced through it.

If he had merely blocked the attack, he wouldn’t have been so surprised. But the figure literally sliced through the poison.

“…How?”

It’s possible to block poisonous energy. By colliding it with stronger energy and disrupting it.

But it shouldn’t be possible to slice through it. Yet…

“How-!”

What is this scene before his eyes?

A sword slicing through poison-!

A sword can cut through rocks. A sword can cut through mountains.

But a sword cannot cut through the sky.

A sword cannot cut through the intangible.

Yet the figure before him was slicing through the poison as if cutting through flying arrows.

In disbelief, Tang Yeom-myeong stared blankly at the scene. As a martial artist himself, he couldn’t help but be captivated by the unbelievable martial prowess.

Chwaaak-!

He slices.

He slices through the poisonous energy that was slowly enveloping him.

His blade scatters countless Condensed Qi particles, slicing through the poisonous energy.

As the figure slowly approached and was now within reach, Tang Yeom-myeong regained his senses and began his final resistance.

Paat-!!

He emitted poisonous energy towards the figure and threw a dagger imbued with strong energy from his sleeve.

But…

Pasaak-!!

“…How is that possible-!”

He sliced again.

Slicing through the poisonous energy was now expected, but this time he also sliced through the energy-imbued dagger.

He didn’t slice the dagger itself. He sliced the energy.

The dagger, having lost its power, fell to the ground.

With his contingency plan failing, Tang Yeom-myeong, momentarily flustered, calmly observed the figure.

Unless the Martial God had returned, there must be a weakness in that absurd martial art.

And…

“…Ah!”

He quickly noticed something strange.

Swoosh-.

Slow.

The figure, who had moved so quickly that even Tang Yeom-myeong’s eyes couldn’t follow, now seemed as slow as an ordinary person who hadn’t learned martial arts.

To maintain that absurd sword technique… or perhaps the blade was also shattering the user’s energy, he didn’t know the exact reason, but the figure couldn’t move as he originally did while wielding the blade.

Tang Yeom-myeong’s guess was very accurate.

Mysterious Shattering Sword.

It was an absurd technique that could slice through the opponent’s energy and qi, but it also restricted the user’s energy.

This was because using the Mysterious Shattering Sword required high-level concentration and extreme inner qi consumption, as it finely divided and controlled Condensed Qi particles.

While it restricted the opponent’s energy, it also restricted the user’s energy.

In such a situation, the only thing left was a Life-or-Death Confrontation fought solely with External Martial Arts, like ordinary people.

And this time, the fight between the two ordinary people…

“Uuuuuu-!!”

…was a fight between a young man in his prime and an old man who had aged.

Having lived as a martial artist for decades, Tang Yeom-myeong was reminded of his childhood before he learned martial arts.

The only difference was that instead of a light, youthful body, he now had an old, frail one.

“…Aaaaaah-!!”

Tang Yeom-myeong shouted in frustration as he pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and threw it at the figure. But his dagger was once again sliced through the energy…

Clang clang-!

…and fell to the ground.

“Huff…”

Seeing this, Tang Yeom-myeong finally began to feel the fear of death. His proud Dark Poison Filling the Sky had already lost its meaning. The figure would just slice through the poison with his blade.

And he had no confidence to face the figure with only External Martial Arts, without inner qi. He was old, while the figure was young and vigorous.

Moreover…

Clang-!!

‘Damn it…!’

The figure was pressing Tang Yeom-myeong with a long blade, while he only had short daggers.

It was clear that facing a blade with daggers was highly disadvantageous.

When he shouted in frustration at this fact…

“I only have a few daggers left…! This is not fair…!”

“Then you should have chosen your weapon better when you were born.”

…the figure had already reached right in front of him.

The figure smirked as if mocking him and continued the words Tang Yeom-myeong had said earlier.

“And… there’s no such thing as dishonorable in a fight? Winning is all that matters.”

“You…”

Tang Yeom-myeong tried to say something, but the figure didn’t wait and swung his blade.

Pasaak-.

Thus, Tang Yeom-myeong was beheaded on the spot, along with the poison he had been so proud of all his life.

**

“Huff… How…”

Even while suffering from the pain of the Gu Poison, the Leader of the Lower Filth Gate, Tang Weolhwa, couldn’t take her eyes off the scene before her.

As one of the people with the most intelligence in the world, she knew many unbelievable truths that were hard to believe even when heard.

But none of them compared to what she was witnessing now. Even though she saw it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it.

The only thing she was certain of was… Tang Yeom-myeong, who had oppressed her all her life, had fallen. Along with the poisonous energy that had always accompanied him.

Step-.

She moved her dizzy body to witness his final moments.

“Young master…”

“Hmm? What? Can you move? Ah, you want to see him die?”

Muyeon spoke nonchalantly, pointing downwards.

“He wasn’t deeply embedded, so he didn’t die instantly. He’ll die soon. You can talk to him if you want.”

At his words, Tang Weolhwa looked down and saw that Tang Yeom-myeong was indeed still alive, writhing.

Muyeon spoke to Tang Weolhwa, who was staring blankly at Tang Yeom-myeong.

“Or do you want to finish him off?”

“…May I?”

“I don’t mind.”

With Muyeon’s permission, she took a step closer to Tang Yeom-myeong. However, even as she approached, Tang Yeom-myeong’s eyes were fixed solely on Muyeon.

He kept calling out to Muyeon with a look that said he had many things he wanted to say.

“What is your name…?”

“……”

“What is the identity of the martial art you just used…?”

“……”

“I… I must have died at the hands of the future Best in the World, right…? That’s how history will remember me, right…? Yes, that would make this death not in vain…”

Even in his dying moments, he was concerned about how he would be remembered.

Yes, this man was always like this.

His family, his wife, his daughter… everything was just a tool for him to climb higher.

With disgust, Tang Weolhwa held back her tears and spoke calmly to him.

“You will never be remembered. You will not be remembered by future generations.”

“W-what…?”

Only then did Tang Yeom-myeong’s gaze shift to Tang Weolhwa. Holding back her anger, Tang Weolhwa whispered in his ear.

“You will be nothing more than a fool who died a meaningless death while indulging in a brothel. I will make sure of it.”

“The family won’t just stand by…”

“This is the Lower Filth Gate. Here, we can make anyone a hero or a mere street thug. I will make sure you are remembered as someone who died a pathetic death.”

Tang Weolhwa looked up at Muyeon. He nodded and even chuckled as he spoke.

“Do as you please. Oh, and let’s say he died from falling into a latrine while drunk. That would be fun.”

“Would you be satisfied with that, father?”

“Ugh…”

Tang Yeom-myeong grimaced as if he hated the idea.

Ah, so this man could make such an expression.

Tang Weolhwa, who had endured years of suffering under Tang Yeom-myeong, clenched her teeth and bid her final farewell to her father.

“No one will remember you. Not me, not mother… no one. So.”

Her final words were the culmination of all her emotions, the last drop of her feelings.

“May you wander the afterlife as a lonely soul, you bastard.”

And those were the last words Tang Yeom-myeong heard before he died.