Chapter 363

KABOOOOOM!

A tremendous roar and shockwave slammed into my entire body.

My vision swam. The ceiling and floor traded places, and my hair whipped around me. My body flew helplessly through the air and crashed into a corner of the treatment room.

Crack!

A sharp current raced up my spine, and something hot surged up from deep within my lungs.

“Ghk!”

Dark red blood spilled across the floor. It was obvious proof that I had suffered a serious Internal Injury.

And I had.

Damn it. How long has it even been since I recovered?

The only consolation was that my injuries weren’t as severe as before and that I had managed to protect the treatment room from the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s Sword Force.

“Are you all right?”

At my question, the Divine Physician lifted his head from where he had curled up in a corner of the treatment room.

He was covered in pale dust, with Jeok Cheongang cradled in his arms. After letting out a quiet groan, he answered.

“Thanks to Young Master Jin blocking the attack, I am safe.”

But despite his answer, the Divine Physician was clearly far from all right.

His beard, white as an immortal’s, was stained with blood. His wrist was bent at an unnatural angle, and through the tatters of his clothes, I could see dark bruises covering his lower abdomen.

That’s…

There was no doubt about it. The Divine Physician’s dantian was ruined. Having lost all the martial arts he possessed, he was now nothing more than an ordinary old man.

No—with his qi-sea acupoint destroyed and his arm broken, his condition was anything but good.

Even after all that, he still protected Old Master…

Not a single scratch marred Jeok Cheongang’s body. The old physician had disregarded his own safety to protect his patient.

“Old Man Dong.”

“This old man is fine, so do not worry.”

The Divine Physician gave me a faint smile, then looked at me with concern.

“More importantly, I am worried about Young Master Jin’s condition. This old man will come to you, so please wait just a moment—”

Instead of answering, I reached out.

Formless internal energy flowed from my fingertips and gently pushed back the Divine Physician as he tried to approach me.

“Y-Young Master Jin?”

Before the Divine Physician could finish speaking, a streak of Finger Qi shot through the air from somewhere beyond us and pierced the wall.

It had passed through the exact spot where the Divine Physician’s head had been only moments ago.

Shhk! Pfft!

Had I been even one second later—no, even a quarter of a second—the Divine Physician would already have been dead.

I gestured for the physician, now frozen like a rock, to take cover. Then I turned and stared straight ahead.

“That’s pretty low, going after a helpless old man.”

Beyond the clouds of dust parting like the Red Sea, the Western Heaven Demon Lord finally appeared.

A chilling voice slipped between his lips.

“Low? You were the one who threw away the opportunity I gave you.”

His usual composure and refined manner of speaking had long since vanished. Concentrated killing intent burned in his eyes as he stared at me.

“You touched something you should never have touched.”

“Fuck, anyone listening to you would think the Myriad-Poison Ring was an erogenous zone. You’re an old bastard who can’t even get it up anymore.”

“……!”

I used White Flame as a cane and pushed myself to my feet.

Every bone in my body throbbed as if it were about to break. Judging by the pain, some of them probably had cracked. On top of that, I had suffered a severe Internal Injury.

Damn it. He was already a monster to begin with.

For a moment, I regretted provoking him.

I had never imagined that a Supreme Peak master like the Western Heaven Demon Lord would resort without hesitation to tactics fit for some Third Rate dark-path thug.

But…

“This must be that important to you. Right?”

I waved the Myriad-Poison Ring I had just taken out of my Inventory.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord, who had seemed impossible to stop, halted abruptly.

“Hand it over at once—”

“You want it back? That won’t be difficult.”

“You intend to negotiate?”

“You catch on fast.”

The Myriad-Poison Ring was nothing more than a strange ring to me—no more and no less.

But it was different for the Western Heaven Demon Lord.

He valued this tiny ring more than the destruction of the Sichuan Tang Clan, Qingcheng, and Emei.

Just like the Blood Lord, who had desperately taken the Green Jade Buddha Staff with him even as his arm was severed.

“Take your lackeys outside and withdraw at once. Otherwise, you’ll never see the Myriad-Poison Ring again.”

“Never see it again…”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord brushed back his hair, stiff with blood.

After a brief silence, a low voice slipped from his lips.

“Ridiculous.”

“What?”

“How could it not be ridiculous? I need only kill you all and take it.”

“……”

“Nothing will change. Not for you, your master, or the Divine Physician. None of you can escape death.”

Even if I explained it, the Western Heaven Demon Lord wouldn’t properly understand the concepts of subspace or the Inventory.

Maybe he was right. Perhaps killing me really would cause everything inside my Inventory to spill out.

But the Western Heaven Demon Lord had overlooked one thing.

“Well, that sounds plausible enough. But you should’ve considered the possibility that I might destroy the Myriad-Poison Ring first.”

My grip was strong enough to crumple steel like paper. Even without circulating internal energy, reducing this little ring to powder would be easy.

“So don’t get any bright ideas. Back off. If you take even one more step—”

Step.

I could not finish my sentence as I stared at the Western Heaven Demon Lord. He took a step forward without hesitation and smiled.

“What? Are you flustered?”

He didn’t wait for my answer. Looking delighted beyond measure, he continued.

“It is truly amusing. You call it a sacred treasure, yet you do not actually believe it is one.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“My mistake. I thought you would understand after hearing that much.”

The smile vanished from the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s lips. His eyes bored into me, filled with scorn and contempt.

“Did you really think a mere human made of flesh and blood could do anything to a sacred treasure imbued with such great power?”

“……!”

I looked down at the Myriad-Poison Ring resting in my palm.

A sacred treasure passed down through the generations of the Sichuan Tang Clan. One of the old legends of the Murim. A strange ring said to detoxify and absorb any poison under heaven.

And…

The Myriad-Poison Ring can’t even be appraised by the System.

A sacred treasure.

The single word flashed through my mind, and my heart seemed to drop into my stomach. Something ran down my back—whether it was blood or cold sweat, I could not tell.

Drip. Drip.

My fist clenched reflexively, and drops of blood fell from it.

Even beneath my terrifying grip, the Myriad-Poison Ring didn’t so much as bend. Instead, it dug into my palm like a thorn.

“Damn it.”

I muttered under my breath.

There could be no more compromise. No retreat.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord advanced toward me with a jaunty step.

“I regret what this means for the Blood Lord, but…”

Tss-tss-tss-tss!

“I will have to kill you.”

Black mist poured from his entire body and swallowed the treatment room.

Pa-pa-pat!

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s figure vanished.

He erased the distance of several zhang¹ in a single step and swung his ink-black Sword Force. Solid rock split apart like tofu.

I ducked beneath the attack and thrust my spear forward like an arrow.

Bang!

The spearhead stabbed into empty air, and compressed air exploded.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord caught the shaft with a hand wreathed in Force and clicked his tongue.

“You still cannot let go.”

At the same time, the tip of his foot struck my wrist.

The blow targeted not the bone but an acupoint. Pain like a massive needle stabbing into my veins shot through me, and the spear fell from my grip.

But I didn’t give up.

I’d been ready to take him down with me from the very beginning.

I could not fall from something like this.

Either he died, or I did.

And if even that was impossible, I would throw my life away to make sure we died together.

Without the help of the others, it would not have been strange if I had already died several times.

Now it was time to repay that debt—with interest.

“Hngh!”

With a shout that was almost a groan, I grabbed the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s ankle.

He let out a roar and drove a palm into me.

Boom!

A small explosion went off inside my body.

The foul internal energy penetrated through bone and flesh, tearing my heart meridian to shreds.

My vision blurred, and the strength drained from my legs.

But the hand locked around the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s ankle like a shackle kept moving, driven by the will and instinct carved into my mind.

Krrrk!

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes widened in pain.

His Body-Protecting Qi could block my Spear Energy, but it couldn’t stop his ankle from breaking beneath raw physical strength.

Damn it, my hand…

Of course, I had to pay the price for my reckless act.

The hand that had seized his Body-Protecting Qi barehanded was blackened as though it had been shocked by high-voltage electricity. On top of that, I had suffered another Internal Injury that worsened my already terrible condition.

At the moment my grip loosened against my will and my body staggered—

“GRAH!”

A belated scream burst from the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s mouth.

His ankle had been wrung out like wet laundry beneath my tremendous grip. White bone showed through the mangled flesh, all of it drenched in blood.

No matter how far someone had advanced into the Supreme Peak realm, everyone had limits.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord had displayed unbelievable martial prowess, but he didn’t possess infinite internal energy or stamina.

And unlike me, he couldn’t recover through Level Ups.

This is my only chance.

I charged at the staggering Western Heaven Demon Lord.

I endured the pain that made it feel as though my limbs were being torn apart and drew up my internal energy. It flowed into both fists, then blazed into flame.

Whoooooosh!

“Jin Taekyung!”

Heat filled the space.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord stood right in front of me, shouting my name through bloodshot eyes.

Pain had made him drop his sword, leaving his hand empty. It was too late for him to block my attack.

If I reached out—if I merely extended my hand—I could deal the Western Heaven Demon Lord a devastating blow.

But then. Then why…

Why did I feel this way?

A strange sensation seized me.

The world had slowed around me.

Everything moving within it was so slow that it made me want to yawn.

It was the same sensation I had felt while facing Hwangbo Eom, the Taeeul Merciless Sword.

But this time, the sensation was incomparably sharper. An alarm rang in my mind, and at the same time, I sensed something chilling digging into the back of my neck from behind.

Ah.

So that was it.

A flash of insight struck me.

I pulled back the hand reaching toward the Western Heaven Demon Lord and twisted my head aside.

At that moment, time—which had briefly seemed to have its pause button pressed—began moving again.

Swoooooosh!

Like a dam bursting, several things happened at once.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s sword, wrapped in ink-black Sword Force, grazed the back of my neck.

When I thrust both palms forward again, the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s fist smashed into my side.

KRAK!

My ribs broke, and blood surged up my throat.

I was hurled away at bullet-like speed. With great difficulty, I raised my head.

Through my distant, hazy vision, I saw the Western Heaven Demon Lord standing upright.

Perhaps it was because of that strange sensation.

Or perhaps it was the pain.

But the face I saw was filled not with joy or satisfaction, but with shock and fury.

“You dodged my Qi-Controlled Sword?”

Right. The Qi-Controlled Sword.

I’d forgotten he could do that too.

I let out a short laugh as I spat up blood.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes trembled as he stared at me.

“Enlightenment, even at a moment like this… You are someone who must never be allowed to live.”

Enlightenment.

So that was what this was.

I flexed my fingers.

The flow of qi and the sensations running through me were clearer than ever.

Along with the pain that already ruled my entire body.

But it’s too late.

Step. Step.

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s approaching footsteps rang like thunder.

I watched him draw closer through hazy eyes.

Amid the darkness, with stone dust and debris raining down around him, the Western Heaven Demon Lord seemed to ripple like a shadow deeper than the night itself.

“Supernatural powers. You truly were such a being.”

I bared my bloodstained teeth and laughed.

My voice stumbled past my lips like a drunkard.

“Fuck off, you… fucking moron.”

“Farewell.”

The Western Heaven Demon Lord’s eyes flashed red in the darkness.

His hand, wrapped in impenetrable darkness, rose high and slowly descended toward the crown of my head.

Whoooooosh.

And then—

“Do not touch a single hair on his head.”

Fwoosh!

Flames bloomed in the darkness as a hoarse voice rang out, as though its owner hadn’t spoken in ages.

Beyond the Western Heaven Demon Lord’s rigid shoulder, someone was rising to his feet.

“Take your hands off what belongs to this old man.”

A small frame.

But a presence as immense as a giant.

I laughed, and the Western Heaven Demon Lord groaned.

“Fire King…!”