Chapter 100: Hard to Return

We headed toward the Palace Head’s Room of the Palace of Southern Beasts, where the Neidan of the Human-faced Spider was kept.

On the way, Ilhong and Neung Sam spotted me and let out sighs of relief.

“Seriously, when I heard you suddenly got struck by its fangs… I was so worried!”

It seemed Ilhong had gone through quite the emotional turmoil.

Only after seeing my face did she calm her startled heart.

“Were you worried?”

“Yes! Lady Tang Yeo-hye said with such a frightening face that it was dangerous, and she wouldn’t even let me come look after you… I thought something really terrible had happened.”

Of course, she only did that to protect my secret. But Ilhong, not knowing that, had thought my life was hanging by a thread and had been beside herself with worry.

Well… to be fair, my life had been hanging by a thread.

Anyway, we caught up on what we’d missed while heading toward the Palace Head’s Room.

As we approached, Maeng Hogon, the Palace Head, set down a wooden box with a click, and a sharp poisonous aura spread out.

“Quickly, take it away. The longer I keep it here, the more it feels like it’s shaving off my lifespan.”

Strangely enough, for something that was supposed to be problematic, he handed over the Neidan without resistance.

What was this?

“This is the precious Neidan of the Human-faced Spider. You don’t want it?”

“We’re not the Five Poison Sect or Poison Valley who train in poison arts. Eating it would only put our lives at risk.”

Shaking his head, he pinched his nose and waved for us to take it away, complaining about the stench.

“Even if you gave it to me, I wouldn’t know what to do with it. Honestly, I don’t get why Tang Clan or Poison Valley types love this kind of vile stuff. Tsk tsk.”

I couldn’t agree more. With so many delicious and joyful things in the world, why gather up poison just to cram it down your throat?

Seeing a sane perspective in this poison-filled land, I nodded.

“Besides, wasn’t it you lot who actually killed the Human-faced Spider? It’d be laughable to say I should covet it.”

He explained that he was already satisfied since he had been able to avenge his wife.

“The Blood Panda also played a big part, didn’t it? Oh, right—wasn’t it bitten by the fangs? Is it alright?”

“Of course it is. It struggled for a few days, but then it overcame the poison and grew even stronger.”

Considering its sheer size and weight compared to humans, and the fact it had always eaten poison since young, it seemed it managed to endure through sheer grit.

In fact, he said it absorbed the concentrated venom of the Human-faced Spider into its body and became even more powerful.

“After finally finding a worthy rival, it seems to have taken a real interest in martial training lately. It comes poking at me all the time, asking me to teach it.”

To raise its level and train in martial arts with zeal…

Maybe before long, a terrifying master would be born in Nanman.

I thought of a “Kung Fu Panda” storming into the Central Plains, sweeping through masters.

“Oh.”

That sounded kind of cool.

“Anyway, I’ll leave this box here. Do what you will with it.”

Perhaps he was going to check on the kids.

With that, he pushed the Neidan toward us and left the palace.

“Everyone seems satisfied, don’t you think, Noona?”

I glanced sideways at Tang Yeo-hye.

So what was the problem?

“I can’t accept this.”

It turned out the issue was with her own heart.

“Why not?”

At my question, she bit her lip.

“Truthfully, you were the one who killed the Human-faced Spider. And then you gave up the venom spring so I could save my father… not to mention you threw yourself in the way to save my life…”

In short, she had already received far too much from me, and she couldn’t bring herself to accept this as well.

“I do have a conscience, Mujin. This? You take it. If we help you detoxify it, it’ll boost your internal energy to some extent.”

Tang Yeo-hye slid the box, brimming with poisonous aura, toward me.

If it had been gold, I would’ve just said, “Oh my, how generous,” and slipped it into my pocket.

But…

“Wouldn’t it be inefficient if I ate it without having trained in poison arts, Noona?”

This was the Neidan of the Human-faced Spider, concentrated venom in essence. In other words, a poison pellet.

If I took it only after detoxifying it, the effect would drop to less than half.

Completely inefficient.

Especially when the most efficient choice was right before us.

“I already have plenty of internal energy.”

After all, I had the Heaven-Slaying Star—a portable spiritual elixir—inside me.

On top of that, considering the amount of good karma I had built up this time, I could probably harvest an enormous amount of stellar energy.

What I needed wasn’t more internal energy, but rather comprehension.

Understanding martial arts, grasping the qi of Heaven and Earth, and truly embodying inner energy.

Because some old man had taught me martial arts by pounding it into me with his fists, I was lacking in true study of the Dao of martial arts.

I had to balance that understanding before I could step into the next realm.

“If I don’t eat it, just throw it away.”

I flicked the box as if about to drop it, making Uncle Neung Sam flinch in shock.

He was the only one with his head screwed on straight in this strange tug-of-war of “No, you take it.”

“You’d give up even a Neidan?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Then… then what about me? What do I do?”

What else? Just eat it.

Looking utterly lost, Tang Yeo-hye asked me this odd counter-question.

“No one’s ever done this much for me before. Why are you doing this?”

Finally clutching her head, she pressed me, saying she couldn’t understand at all.

“Well, I mean…”

It seemed she was far more accustomed to malice than to kindness.

While she looked shaken, Uncle Neung Sam stuck to her like a shadow.

“Miss, Miss.”

Clearly, he thought something had to be done about our endless back-and-forth.

“Just shut your eyes and swallow it down.”

As expected of pragmatic Uncle Neung Sam.

That’s why we always got along.

“Hey, damn it. Do you have no sense of honor? I haven’t even repaid the last favor, and now you want me to pile on more debt…?”

“Listen carefully, Miss.”

With an exasperated look, he pressed his mouth to her ear and whispered advice.

“You don’t have to repay it at all… just treat it as… fait accompli!”

“Huh? Fait accompli?”

That old man was definitely teaching her something shady.

To the pure-minded girl who knew nothing but fighting like a battle-cock, he was feeding strange ideas.

When I channeled my qi into my ears to eavesdrop, she raised her internal energy in a thin veil to block me out.

“Seriously, these people…”

Neung Sam pointed at the wooden box containing the poison pellet and continued.

“Community… no debt or anything… one body…”

“So… you mean, if we become each other’s…?”

“That’s it…”

“What the hell are you two even saying.”

A sudden, indescribable ominous thought crept over me, and I reached out to quickly snatch the box.

But like lightning, Tang Yeo-hye’s hand shot out first, and she took the poison pellet away.

“…I’ll be the one to consume this. And this debt—I’ll repay it somehow.”

Somehow, she said?

At the peculiar words between them, I narrowed my eyes.

“Heh.”

From a distance, Uncle Neung Sam gave me a thumbs-up as if to say, “Trust me.”

It was not a sight that inspired confidence.

The Neidan of the Human-faced Spider had already been exposed to the open air for about a week.

If they brought it back to the Tang Clan to refine it, it might have already deteriorated beyond use.

So just as when she had consumed the Blood Boar’s Neidan, Tang Yeo-hye decided to swallow it here, without refinement.

“You’re really eating it?”

She held up the black, marble-like sphere. To an ordinary person, deadly poison—but to one who trained in poison arts, an unrivaled elixir.

“Why are you hesitating? Just take it.”

Honestly, for me, the internal energy I would gain from giving it up would be greater than if I consumed it.

So I just shrugged, as if to say, “Do as you please.”

Then she popped the pitch-black Neidan of the Human-faced Spider into her mouth.

She immediately closed her eyes and sat cross-legged.

“Miss Ilhong, hand me the golden needles.”

“Y-yes!”

Ilhong, having handled Tang Clan items all this time, unwillingly became the assistant, passing over the sharp needles.

“Young Lady, from here on, you must stay absolutely focused.”

To guide the flow of the Neidan’s energy properly, he pricked her back along her meridians with the golden needles.

Tang Yeo-hye grimaced as the spider’s venomous qi began rampaging through her body.

Soon, from her pale skin, black droplets began to seep out, like poisonous sweat.

The venom dripped down, soaking the Palace Head’s Room floor.

“That can be cleaned later, but what about Venom Valley’s poison in her system?”

Watching with interest, Palace Head Maeng Hogon tilted his chin toward Tang Yeo-hye.

“It’s fine. The new poison is forcing out the old one, carving out its place inside her. It won’t take long.”

“Aha…”

So it was the act of stabilizing a stronger poison within the body.

The more I heard, the more glad I was that I hadn’t eaten it myself.

Maeng Hogon also wore a disgusted expression, clearly of the same mind.

Drip. Drip.

Tang Yeo-hye, drenched in cold sweat, even bled crimson from her nose as she endured the Human-faced Spider’s venomous qi.

I remembered—when she was younger, this was how she forced poison into her body, and one mistake had twisted her personality ever since.

If the old poison was completely purged and replaced by the new, how would she change this time?

Would her foul mouth and fists-first temper soften even a little?

I watched her with such thoughts, when—

Bang! Bang! Bang!

From afar in the village, the sound of iron bells rang.

At once, Palace Head Maeng Hogon leapt up.

“Palace Head! Palace Head!”

“What is it?!”

“It’s Poison Valley! They’ve sent master-level experts we’ve never seen before, and they’re burning the village!”

I’d heard they were enemies, but I hadn’t thought they’d invade the village itself.

“Evacuate the children! Bring the Blood Panda!”

The people of the Palace of Beasts all grabbed their weapons and rushed out.

They looked as if heading straight into war.

“Damn, I was planning to leave this place tomorrow.”

To attack at such a perfect time, right before my departure—Poison Valley.

But hearing there were multiple peak masters among them, I was also relieved to have stayed.

After all, I owed the lives of Maeng Pyo, Maeng Seol, and those kids. And truth be told, I’d grown attached to the village.

“I suppose I should take a look.”

Several peak masters meant they were determined.

Not first-rate, not second-rate—peak masters. How many could I handle alone?

“Dan Mujin Gongja.”

Just then, Neung Sam’s voice came from behind.

“The Young Lady asks that you hold them off for just one shikyeong.”

Sitting cross-legged, Tang Yeo-hye now had her eyes closed, but one finger raised.

Perhaps the Blood Boar’s Neidan she ate last time had helped—her pace was much faster now.

“She should be focusing solely on digesting the Neidan.”

She was busy enough guiding its qi, yet still heard everything.

But suddenly, I felt an unusual surge within her body.

Her internal energy was rising, overflowing, manifesting outward.

She wasn’t just increasing her internal energy. She was attempting to break through a wall.

“Super-Peak Realm, is it?”

The realm where one truly sets foot as an absolute master.

Poison Valley must not be allowed to ruin such a moment.

“Trust this little brother.”

The clash of weapons echoed from afar.

Gripping my Dog-Beating Staff tightly, I dashed out of the Palace of Beasts.

“It’s Poison Valley! Poison Valley bastards!”

“Protect the village!”

Outside, battle raged. Flames rose all around.

I advanced swiftly with Whirlwind Steps, swinging the Dog-Beating Staff with full force at any enemy who stood in my way.

The chaotic battlefield blurred before my eyes. My Dog-Beating Staff blazed in pure white light, fueled by internal energy that overflowed beyond measure.

“This is surely Heaven’s decree to beat mangy dogs.”

The Heaven-Slaying Star, wielding the Dog-Beating Staff under the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method, standing here in Nanman.

Thwack! Crack!

Poison Pellets flew, but I didn’t even blink. I swung the sacred Dog-Beating Staff, cutting through the foul tide.

But among these distant Nanman enemies, some recognized me at once.

“Could it be…!”

“The Dog-Beating Dragon! Why is he here?!”

“Bastard! How long will you keep interfering with our Blood Cult’s affairs?!”

One shouted in fury.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

They thought I’d come deliberately, and ended up exposing my identity themselves.

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