novelraw Chapter 136 : The Blood Danjeon (1)
Chapter 136 : The Blood Danjeon (1)
Before heading to the headquarters of the Heretic Alliance, there were a few things to prepare first.
The most urgent was information gathering.
If the Heretic Alliance's headquarters was located near the place where the Blood Danjeon was hidden, as Go Won-tae had testified, I needed to find out what the terrain was like, what level of enemies were there, and so on.
Fortunately, thanks to my recent activities, I had quite a bit of money coming in, so I was able to pay a high price to the Hao Mun to obtain limited information.
Of course, the Hao Mun was also a type of unorthodox faction. Naturally, I had to approach them with caution.
That's why I didn't go myself but entrusted Oh Cho-sam, who could use a human-skin mask and ventriloquism, to get the information.
In that process, I went through procedures such as having him pass through a formation I had laid down to avoid any possible pursuit, but as a result, I was able to gather quite a bit of information.
‘The Heretic Alliance’s 2nd headquarters in Henan Province, huh.’
The place we were going now was not the Heretic Alliance's central headquarters. It was a place that served as the 2nd headquarters within the Unorthodox Faction Alliance.
Of course, that didn't mean infiltration would be easy.
Because there was a Hwagyeong-level master who was always residing in the 2nd headquarters.
Seo Chae-gang, the Thousand-Jin-Strength Bear.
And Lee Do-yul, the Swift-Blade-Chaotic-Demon.
As their titles suggested, Seo Chae-gang used a large axe and Lee Do-yul was a Transformation master who used a dao.
‘It’s tricky.’
They were famous guys. Both were counted among the 100 great masters of the central plains.
In fact, it wasn't that the unorthodox faction had few Transformation masters.
On the contrary, there were many.
Thanks to the liberalization of martial arts, the overall level of martial artists had risen, and among all the factions, the unorthodox faction's power had increased the most.
‘I can’t be careless.’
I first focused on the strategy for the Heretic Alliance's 2nd headquarters.
‘I’ve found out most of what I need to know, including the personnel, the general building layout, and the geography. All that’s left is to execute.’
However, in Gu Ja-beom's case, it would take at least a few days to finish his work and get a vacation, so I had to wait a little for the procedure.
In this gap, it seemed I could finish what I had been putting off.
And so, after finishing the morning's hellish training with Mi Tae-eul as usual, I received an exit pass and left the academy.
The place I headed for was the Tang family's building where Tang Surin was.
The reason I had visited so late despite the various incidents was because news had come that Tang Surin's side had only returned two days ago, as they had been supporting the family due to the chaos in Sichuan from the Blood Cult's advance.
When I gently knocked on the door, a voice was heard.
“Gaga!”
With a clear voice, the main gate flew open.
It was Tang Surin, whom I hadn't seen in a long time.
I grabbed her by the head as she tried to quickly embrace me using her footwork.
“Huh?”
Tang Surin, who was momentarily stopped by the Golden Capture Hand that contained subtlety, let out a surprised voice.
However, I was different from before. This body, which had reached the pinnacle of the peak level, had now become a physically respectable man.
“Let’s go inside first.”
“…You’ve gotten stronger, Gaga.”
Tang Surin gave me a somehow strange look, but I took it as a compliment and headed inside.
“You’re here?”
The Poison Doctor, Tang Pung-ok, called me.
“Yes. It seems it’s about time, so I came.”
“Your adaptability is strangely fast. It’s the first time in my life. I’ll prepare the ritual. Come to the medicinal bath chamber in one shichen.”
The ritual Tang Pung-ok mentioned was the Hundred-Poison-Immunity.
In the meantime, my level had risen, I was routinely awakening my demonic blood, and I had been eating poison-resistance medicine, so the foundation was slowly being laid.
‘It’s about time.’
As I waited, undergoing a few tests, the poison bath was finally ready.
A greenish-brown medicinal soup with a purplish hue was boiling vigorously.
“Now, you just have to endure in there and circulate your qi for four days straight.”
It was a truly harsh method. To have to endure in that poison bath for a full four days.
As I was about to enter the medicinal soup with long needles stuck all over my body, I suddenly asked.
“What if I go in with all the acupuncture points, including the soles of my feet, stimulated with long needles?”
“The efficiency would be high. If you stimulate all the blood points without any realistic restrictions, you could finish in three days.”
“Then please do so.”
Tang Pung-ok, who didn't understand my words for a moment, furrowed her brows.
“Then how are you going to endure in the medicinal soup? Your whole body is already stuck with needles.”
She then waved her hands.
“If you’re thinking of fixing yourself with a rope, don’t. It’s a ritual that is effective only when you stand tall with the ground and the sky in an upright posture with all your skin open. The reason I didn’t stimulate the sole blood points is because of that.”
“It’s alright. Because I can do it.”
Simultaneously, my body floated up into the air and slowly came to a stop.
“W-what is this?!”
“Gaga! Is that walking on air?”
At the sight of me floating in the air using psychokinesis, both of their eyes widened. I said to them.
“Then let’s begin.”
And so, I entered the poison bath with long needles stuck in all the necessary blood points of my entire body.
As I floated in the air and submerged myself in the medicinal soup, the two of them let out exclamations of admiration, but I couldn't hear any more than that.
Because my skin was not just tingling, but my bones were aching.
I could feel the poison slowly seeping in along the blood points stimulated by the long needles. And since it was stimulating my whole body with nearly hundreds of them, my vision turned white.
I barely found stability through qi circulation and breathing techniques and endured the intense pain.
‘To think I have to endure this for three days.’
The fact that I had to maintain this state for three days with psychokinesis was a concern, but in the poison bath, which had a higher buoyancy than water, I could endure for much longer with less mana than usual.
Moreover, thanks to intercepting the Blood Cult's grand ritual, my mana pool had also grown quite a bit, so considering the natural recovery rate, it seemed I could maintain it for about three days.
‘Now, all that’s left is to concentrate.’
Just quietly soaking in the poison wasn't the end. I had to endlessly adapt and resist by spreading an appropriate amount of poison along my entire body's blood vessels.
How long had it been since I had fallen into a meditative state in the boiling poison bath and controlled the toxicity? Finally, my body reacted.
The tingling poison was no longer painful. The poison that had been raging as if to burn my blood points was no longer overwhelming.
“How can this be, to achieve the Hundred-Poison-Immunity so quickly…!”
Just then, I heard the astonished voice of Tang Pung-ok, who had come to check on my condition, and after receiving her diagnosis, I came out of the poison bath.
After removing all the long needles in order, my whole body felt light.
A sensation as if a decent poison wouldn't even be a threat.
I had finally achieved the Hundred-Poison-Immunity.
When I checked with Tang Surin later, about two days had passed since I had entered the poison bath. It seemed I had adapted quickly thanks to the talents of [Indestructible Body] and [Transcendent Growth].
Tang Pung-ok, who now seemed to think of me as a strange experimental subject, was packing poison-resistance medicine with extreme poison in it with an interested look.
“Try eating this too, and if you think it’s okay, try the red poison. Don’t open the black box yet. You shouldn’t open it when others are around, unless you intend to kill them.”
What on earth was she giving me? Thinking that I would never open that black box until my safety was guaranteed, I put it in my bosom.
I was planning to handle it well with psychokinesis when entering the academy so as not to be caught at the security check.
And so, after the time for participating in Tang Pung-ok's experiment and checking for side effects passed, it was finally time to return.
As I was being seen off at the main gate, I suddenly felt a not-so-small grip on my sleeve.
“…Gaga, when are you coming next time?”
There was Tang Surin, looking somewhat sad. I was about to comfort her but stopped.
In the future, I would continue to eliminate the risk factors of the original story or continue my training for the clear, and I would be endlessly exposed to danger.
I couldn't make Tang Surin wait every time.
Because there was nothing as cruel as making a well-meaning person have expectations.
“I can’t be sure. As you know, I have many enemies, just like how I fought the Blood Cult this time.”
“Th-then I’ll help too, Gaga.”
“Thank you, but no. The opponents I’ll be fighting from now on are all super-masters, so we’ll both be in danger.”
Although I put it a bit indirectly, it meant she wasn't really needed in battle.
In the first place, since the Thousand-Poison-Immunity would be handled exclusively by the Poison Doctor and peculiar-constitution-experimenter Tang Pung-ok, there was no reason to look for Tang Surin either.
Still, since she was my fiancée in name, we would probably meet someday.
I said goodbye to Tang Surin, who was quietly muttering something.
“Then I’ll see you later.”
And as I turned around, I heard a shout from behind.
“I’ll get stronger! So I can be of help to Gaga!”
At the determined voice, I also turned around and waved back.
***
And so, a few days after returning to the academy, Gu Ja-beom's permission for external activities was finally granted.
“The academy is really strict.”
“It’s a busy time, so it can’t be helped. And I didn’t just come out this time. After the Heretic Alliance matter is over, you’ll have to do a mission with me. There will probably be credits too.”
At the unexpected additional task, I immediately asked back.
“Pardon? What is it?”
“I’ll explain that after we finish your business first. It’s not good to have your head complicated already.”
“That’s more worrying.”
I said, showing my reluctance.
In fact, in this case, it was an infiltration mission planned solely by me.
Since I couldn't refer to the cases in the original story, I was contemplating to reduce the variables, but with the addition of Gu Ja-beom's task, I couldn't help but be more curious.
If I had my way, I would have wanted to refuse, but.
‘I guess I have no choice.’
Still, if it was a dispatch mission from Gu Ja-beom's superiors, Cheon Mu-jin must be involved.
Since I had received psychokinesis through the Heaven-Shattering Demon's book before, and there would be many things to receive from them in the future, it was better to listen to them if possible.
“By the way, what happened to Master Mi Tae-eul? Isn’t he coming?”
Just then, Baek Hasin asked from the side. I gently shook my head.
In fact, I had also asked Mi Tae-eul. It would have been much easier if a Transformation master was added.
However, he refused, saying that he was old and had a long way to go.
I had also tried to persuade him with a half-threat, saying that his disciple might die, but in the end, I had to give up on persuading him at the old man's threat that he would rather break my legs so I couldn't go.
‘Still, the forces are gathered.’
One Transformation master and two super-peak level masters. Although there were only three, they possessed tremendous power.
Although in my case, my martial arts were not at the super-peak level, I was an existence who had defeated Baek Hasin. If I included magic, it could be considered that I was sufficiently on par with him.
“Then let’s depart.”
We, who had finally come out of the academy, got on the carriage.
And so, we headed for the Heretic Alliance's 2nd headquarters in Hunan Province.
***
The location of the headquarters exquisitely overlapped with the point on the map that Go Won-tae had entrusted to me.
A terrain with rough mountains, good for hiding. However, it had a feng shui-wise exquisite part, so it was a difficult area to easily find or specify.
‘A formation is laid out. Though it’s only at the level of a 1st-grade formation master.’
I secretly made a gap in the formation so that everyone could enter.
And so, we moved, taking advantage of the dark dawn.
‘Today, Lee Do-yul, the Swift-Blade-Chaotic-Demon, is not here.’
One of the pieces of information I had obtained by paying a high price.
Lee Do-yul always goes on a long outing on the last week of every month.
No matter how much they considered it their own castle, it must be boring to just go back and forth in this vicinity.
And so, when Lee Do-yul goes out for a long time once, he doesn't come back for a few days.
Now, the only Transformation master left in the Heretic Alliance's headquarters was Seo Chae-gang alone.
Even if the worst-case scenario unfolded, it was a force that could be dealt with at Gu Ja-beom's level.
Of course, the real problem was the hundreds of unorthodox faction martial artists laid out in the headquarters.
In fact, fighting all of them was too risky.
That's why, by all means, the best was to infiltrate without being caught.
But that was difficult. Because the laboratory where the Blood Danjeon was located was in the basement of the 2nd headquarters.
We climbed over the outer wall, avoiding the yawning guards, and entered.
The secret place where the Blood Danjeon was located was an area close to the innermost part of the headquarters.
That's why we had to infiltrate all the way to the innermost part.
- From now on, it’s practically the center of the enemy camp. Hide your presence and be on guard.
With the experienced Gu Ja-beom in the lead, we hid our presence. I wrapped myself in shadow, and Gu Ja-beom familiarly erased his qi sense.
Baek Hasin, who was behind him, followed his example and completely erased his presence.
The level of the guys on guard duty at this dawn was shabby. At best, around the first-rate level.
We moved between the buildings, avoiding their surveillance, and headed further inside.
- Two inside the 1st floor of the building, none on the street. If we go on like this, it should be smooth.
Just then, Baek Hasin, who was checking the right side, added a useless word and sent a telepathic message.
Since the patrol personnel were returning on the left side that Gu Ja-beom had checked, we turned in the direction Baek Hasin had mentioned.
And so, as we turned the corner and were about to enter the innermost part of the headquarters, the door in front suddenly flew open.
“Damn, going to the bathroom in the middle of the night is the most annoying thing. Huh? Hey, what are you guys?!”
The reddened eyes of the unorthodox faction martial artist who had suddenly opened the door and come out turn this way.
In an instant, the flown First Blade pierces the guy's neck and kills him.
Thud-
The unorthodox faction martial artist collapses without even being able to leave a death rattle.
He had a flushed face, as if he was drunk.
If he had come out after drinking in the innermost part, he was a pretty high-ranking person. If such a person disappeared, it could be a problem.
‘This is trouble.’
We hid the guy's body and hurried our steps.
It can't be helped. From now on, it's a speedrun.
(End of Chapter)