Chapter 101: Her Change

“Dog-Beating Dragon!”

“Blood Cult’s mortal enemy!”

“That cowardly scum who murdered our brothers with a Thunderburst Bomb!”

A barrage of insults and epithets exploded at once.

Blood Cult members roared for vengeance, their bloodshot eyes ablaze.

“But that Thunderburst Bomb was yours to begin with.”

I’d merely picked it up, inserted the fuse, and tossed it back. What’s cowardly about that?

“Shut that mouth, lackey of the Murim Alliance!”

“Typical hypocrite of the righteous sects, always full of words!”

So this is what they call hypocrisy.

True to being a group that’s nursed a sense of vengeance for decades in utter defiance of logic, their blame-shifting was truly an art form.

“Still, it’s a good thing we’ve run into you like this.”

“If we bring your head, even the Blood Cult Leader will acknowledge us!”

“So hand over your head quietly, you righteous dog.”

The energy turned sinister as formidable martial artists surrounded me. The air thickened with creeping killing intent.

From all sides, blue sword qi and blade qi — marks of Peak Martial Artists — surged up.

Three from the Blood Cult, one from Poison Valley.

Four Peak Martial Artists, all gunning for me alone.

“Shit, you damn cowardly bastards!”

I jumped, startled by the sheer number of masters.

They tightened their formation, blue sword qi and crimson bloodlust slowly closing in.

I thrust my Dog-Beating Staff forward and shouted, my voice tinged with panic.

“Wait! Four Peak Martial Artists ganging up on one man — have you no shame?!”

If they had any pride, they’d fight me one-on-one.

Even with abundant inner energy, I only had two arms to swing.

And these weren’t average opponents — they were experts who had each transcended human limits once.

If they all came slashing from all directions with sword and blade qi, I wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Silence!”

“With a hypocrite like you, we don’t care!”

As expected. Just doing whatever they want.

All I asked was for Sister Tang Yeo-hye to endure just one shikyeong, but at this rate, I wasn’t sure I could even fulfill that promise.

“Die—!”

Sword light flashed from four directions at once. Crimson arcs traced through the air, too fast to react to.

Amid the red streaks, a white one sliced through. I barely deflected two incoming arcs with the Dog-Beating Staff, twisting my entire body with all I had.

Slash! Thud!

But they seemed to have read my evasion, altering their paths mid-flight and carving into my flesh — Blood Cult experts harvesting my blood and meat.

“Guh!”

They must’ve coated their blades with poison. A burning pain seared through the wounds.

“Again with this crap!”

“It’s like he knows the Blood Cult’s sword techniques…!”

“This slippery bastard!”

Just seeing blood sent the Blood Cult bastards into a frenzy, their breath growing ragged with excitement.

Meanwhile, I had taken two hits in a single clash. I realized just how outmatched I was — counterattacking was out of the question.

“How about we call it a draw…?”

“Your head!”

“Shall be an offering to the Cult Leader!”

Whoosh! Slash!

Blade tips tore through the air. Blades came from every direction, leaving no time to breathe.

The four masters tightened the net, closing off all gaps.

“Guh!”

My wounds deepened and multiplied. This might really be it. That thought flashed across my mind—just as—

KUHWOOONG!

A massive crimson beast shot through the sword light like lightning.

“Blood Bao!”

My personal nickname. This guy had just body-slammed a Blood Cultist with a frame that weighed over a thousand geun. The struck cultist flew far away.

Papapapap!

Then, leading with its massive claws, it unleashed a waterfall of attacks.

Since the battle with the Human-faced Spider, the Panda Divine Fist had undergone relentless training — and now, it shone brightly.

From psychological tactics to forcing binary choices, it pierced through the gaps between blades with flair.

The enemies were stunned by the sight of a beast wielding martial arts for the first time in their lives.

“Guh!”

“This crimson bear… what is it?!”

“Damn it! A beast like that dares interfere with our grand cause…!”

How’s that, Central Plains bastards? A taste of Kung Fu Panda. Completely caught off guard, aren’t you?

“You’re the best, my Mighty Panda. So valiant and reliable!”

“Kuh-huhng?!”

“…And so graceful and elegant! So beautiful, my Blood Bao!”

Kuh-huh-HUNG!!

Satisfied by my quick correction, the Blood Panda snorted proudly and whirled toward the enemies like a typhoon.

Cha-chang!

And then joined by the rough-hewn broadsword of none other than the Palace Head of the Palace of Southern Beasts, Maeng Hogon.

“Mujin, young master! We’ll each take one!”

Like the wind, he entered the fray, each of them pinning down one Peak Martial Artist alongside the Blood Panda.

Now, only two Peak masters from the Blood Cult remained in front of me.

With this, my immense inner energy accumulated through righteous karma and the power of the Heaven-Slaying Star might just make this possible.

“…You bastard. That confident look on your face is infuriating.”

“Normally, we preserve a master’s corpse for blood rituals…”

“But you’ve been named even before the Cult Leader himself as the Blood Cult’s mortal enemy.”

“So I’ll take your skull and present it to the Cult Leader myself!”

Each took turns declaring they’d take my head to the Cult Leader.

Seems my name’s gotten pretty famous within the Blood Cult. To be mentioned even before the Cult Leader.

“Sure, and I’ll salt your heads and ship them straight to the Demon-Slaying Unit.”

Ever since the Dragon-Phoenix Bloodbath incident, all Blood Cult members had bounties on their heads.

Peak Martial Artists must be quite high-ranking even within the Blood Cult. That bounty’s bound to be juicy.

“Ha, just a greenhorn who barely reached the Peak dares…”

“To compare yourself with us, who have reached true mastery?”

The two Blood Cult experts scoffed, releasing sword qi steeped in thick bloodlust.

They began muttering strange incantations — some kind of incomprehensible sorcery — and the blood spilled on the ground began to float in droplets.

Ah, right, I’d forgotten about that.

The droplets began to sharpen, forming into deadly needles like poison darts.

Two Peak Martial Artists, and now unpredictable, troublesome blood sorcery to top it off. Great.

‘Can I pull this off?’

No — I must pull this off.

If I falter here, then the defenseless Tang Yeo-hye will be exposed to them.

“Come at me, you motherfuckers!”

When protecting something, the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method responds most fiercely.

A dazzling white energy surged faintly from my entire body.

I hardened my resolve as I watched the brilliant radiance wrap around my staff.

“You arrogant bastard!”

“Fine, we’ll rip you to pieces!”

Taaat!

Tang Yeo-hye felt the venom she had harbored for half her life begin to writhe.

That very poison that had burrowed deep into her marrow, tainting her behavior and temperament.

Now it was being displaced — pushed out by a far more potent and purer toxin.

“Hoo…”

The Human-faced Spider, a spiritual beast that had absorbed the qi of heaven and earth for centuries, perhaps even a thousand years.

Its essence had begun to take root in her body. Poison qi roared through her system.

As if her entire body was melting then reforging, she felt the limits of her being break open.

Tsssss—

Crrrack, her bones shifted. Her skin, slightly melted and now regenerated, exhaled a dark green mist.

The venom was so intense it withered every surrounding leaf, making onlookers recoil in haste.

‘Joy, anger… sorrow and pleasure.’

Emotions that had once felt out of sync now churned inside her in a storm.

A rush of thoughts flickered through her mind. Sensory perception shifted in wild surges.

“Miss…”

From nearby, she heard Neung Sam’s voice tinged with worry.

Yes, anxiety and concern.

The emotions of others, once distant and muted, now came through clearly.

And the once volcanic surges of her own emotions now felt far calmer and more composed.

Whoooom—

Having completely expelled her former poison, she filled every corner of her being with the essence of the Human-faced Spider.

In full lotus position, she radiated a formidable energy.

Like a dragon twisting, the vast flow of qi roared through the Palace of Beasts. At that moment, a single woman shattered the barrier to the Peak.

And within that chaotic building, Tang Yeo-hye’s venomous gaze gleamed.

Her eyes were a deep shade of dark green, heavy with depth.

She wrapped the scattered poison and internal energy around her, drawing it inward as she rose with calm dignity — the second daughter of the Tang Clan of Sichuan.

Just now, a martial artist had broken through her shell and stepped into the next world.

Those around her, sensing this, watched in breathless silence.

“Huuuu…”

A long sigh, as if exhaling all the fragments that had lingered inside.

Qi rampaged wildly through her dantian and body. Still rough for now — but in the end, she had succeeded in claiming it as her own.

“Miss Tang Yeo-hye… Have you… perhaps reached that realm…?”

Have you attained it?

Neung Sam couldn’t finish the sentence, but she responded with a smirk.

And then, with a technique that was said to be possible for only a brief moment between Peak and Transformation Realm—

Swaaah!

She channeled it into her hand, extending it briefly in a burst — proving through her actions the level she had reached.

“Ohhh…!”

Neung Sam’s eyes widened in shock, and the onlookers jumped to their feet.

“That… was Qi Projection? Then that just now was Hand Qi (수강, Sugang)?”

“Does that mean she’s reached the Transformation Realm?”

“No, it’s said that even a Peak-level master can briefly use it if they have sufficient qi and realm!”

“Either way, whew. What a rare sight this is…”

The grass around the Palace of Beasts, dried and shriveled from her intense poison qi.

“It feels like something’s been cleared from my mind.”

She opened and closed her now smoother, fairer palm, observing something within.

Her awareness of others’ emotions toward her — and her own feelings toward others — became sharper.

And her feelings toward that arrogant young man…

“Miss… have you truly reached the Peak?”

Neung Sam asked again, his voice trembling with excitement.

She curled a faint smile at the edge of her lips.

“Neung Sam, don’t you think I’ve grown taller?”

The old venom that had blocked her meridians was replaced, resulting in an unintended bit of physical growth.

“Hmm… yes, your fingers look about two joints longer…”

Poison Pellets usually didn’t cause such effects. Neung Sam nodded blankly at this first-time phenomenon.

“Now I finally look like an older sister to that guy.”

Even after reaching Peak, her obsession with seniority hadn’t changed.

“…You’re still shorter than the young master, though.”

Dan Mujin was at the prime of his youth and still growing rapidly.

“What matters isn’t height, but the size of one’s heart.”

“Well, actually, even that is…”

That guy had even handed her a precious neidan without a second thought.

“Shut it, Neung Sam.”

“…Y-yes.”

She’s still the same lady, huh. Neung Sam, her loyal attendant, let out a relieved smile.

Even after getting caught twice for talking back, no fists or profanities flew.

For someone who had served her so long, this was a huge leap forward.

“So, what exactly happened during your breathing meditation?”

She hadn’t just cultivated — it seemed she had gone through physical and emotional changes.

“My mind, once filled with anger, was invaded by another emotion.”

“Another emotion…?”

“Yes. And that one won.”

Tang Yeo-hye gave an answer that felt like grasping at clouds.

Even she didn’t seem entirely sure what had just happened.

“But either way, you achieved Myriad Poison Immunity and reached Peak, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. This body is now a Peak master — I am Tang Yeo-hye of Venom Valley.”

With hands on her hips and a soft, confident smile, the Tang Clan's newest Peak martial artist radiated pride.

Her overflowing confidence made Neung Sam smile automatically.

“But miss, then… there’s one sworn brother out there who still needs your help.”

“…Ah! Right!”

In the high of achieving Peak, she’d briefly forgotten that guy.

She immediately drew up her poison qi and inner strength and entered a battle-ready stance.

Those ominous energies surging from afar — the very ones she had begged to buy just one shikyeong of time from.

“Mujin—!!”

Tang Yeo-hye sliced through the blocking wall and door with a flashing hand and burst out.

“Huff, huff.”

I’d tumbled, run, and made a ruckus, but in the end a round hole had been punched clean through my body.

What was I supposed to do when, in the middle of a fight, a blood-soaked pellet flew at my back — how could I possibly dodge that?

Drip. Drip.

And my blood was flowing out through that hole.

“…Using blood sorcery again.”

It felt like being hit by a bullet.

I glared in fury at the two Peak martial artists who were about as wrecked as I was.

“…Rotten bastards.”

“Monstrous freaks. Why won’t they fall?”

That was what I wanted to say.

The Blood Culters kept taking flesh while I had to give it, exchanging bone for meat in a test of attrition, yet they wouldn’t fall.

I nearly passed out when I watched them reabsorb the blood they’d spilled.

No matter how many strange geniuses the Central Plains had, apparently it still produced pieces of shit like these.

“You look tired too, though.”

“If we take your head, that weird regeneration of yours will end!”

They said that, then exchanged looks.

“Whoever of us dies…”

“Shall find peace in the next life.”

They sounded like kamikaze zealots, ready to sacrifice themselves to cut off my head.

Startled by their grim resolve, I took a step back.

“Blood-Seeded Asura Soul.”

“Descent of the Heavenly Blood God!”

They muttered some chants, then seemed determined that even if one of them had to die, they would take my head for the future of the Blood Cult.

“Wait — a person’s life is precious. Stop that plan!”

“Shut up, enemy of the Blood Cult!”

“This life will be offered to the Blood Heaven—!”

Red trajectories traced the attackers’ moves through the air, warning of their murderous intent.

It looked like a suspiciously ritualistic mutual destruction.

“Damn it!”

I clenched my teeth and unleashed the Whirlwind Steps with everything I had.

At the moment the killing intent from both sides tightened around my neck like a vise—

KWAANG—!

A small humanoid thing pounced like a yaksha and swept over the two men like a storm.

“You bastards who chew people up! You tore a hole in my brother’s body?!”

Thrown by the massive impact, then coughing up blood, the Blood Cult Peak masters barely hauled themselves up.

“Speak! Why did you do it? Why?!”

My shout, laden with deep inner strength, swept over them.

“Well… because you’re the enemy.”

Blood trickled from their ears. Their eyes were dazed.

The Blood Culters answered the stranger who demanded reasons as if it were the most obvious thing.

“You still wrecked the kid like that? Are you even human?”

Cough. “When martial artists fight, things naturally end up a mess…”

“Don’t make excuses, you bastards!”

But logic didn’t reach the master whose anger had flared to the very top.

She plucked a milky, dewy strand of fluid she’d been holding in her hand and drew it out a span long.

“I-Is that… Hand Qi?”

“I’ve never heard of a master like that…!”

They were dumbstruck — first my appearance, then the sudden arrival of another new Peak master.

Panicked and at a loss, they began hunting for the cause and pointed accusingly at me.

“You — Dog-Beating Dragon! Did you set a trap from the start?!”

“What grudge do you have against our Blood Cult? Sending such a Peak master all the way out to the southern barbarians—!”

What trap had I supposedly laid? I was bewildered and just wore an astonished look.

“Shut up! Take the blood debt you like, you sons of—!”

For some reason, Tang Yeo-hye, angrier than usual at seeing me, clenched her hands bundled with inner strength and leapt at them.

She rained down blows with talon-like hands, spraying blood and eliciting screams.

“Oh my, weren’t you supposed to calm down?”

And Neung Sam, arriving late and watching his mistress slice foes into ribbons, scratched his cheek in amazement.

“If Dan Mujin’s involved, their eyes should flip… hmm. So that’s what it was.”

He muttered to himself, nodded as if satisfied with his own deduction.

“What the—”

I felt the hole in my body seal over with regenerative power and flopped down onto the ground.

In the meantime Tang Yeo-hye had already dispatched two and was rampaging like thunder, diving at the rest.

“Die! Die!”

Thanks to that high-level fighter barging in, the tide of battle turned rapidly.

“For now… we’re alive, right?”

Though my sworn sister, now even rougher after reaching Peak, stuck in my mind like a splinter.

Well — I decided it was fine; good things for the good.

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