Divorced Heavenly Demon - Chapter 10

“I will be away for a while. You handle any documents that require approval on my behalf, using your discretion.”
“Yes, I will do that.”
Sama Jin nodded at Heo Mulin’s instructions as he donned his coat. Heo Mulin merely mentioned that he would be away, without specifying where he was going or how long it would take. Yet, Sama Jin accepted this without questioning, as if trust and confidence were gradually building between them, which felt quite satisfying.

“Is there anything you need?”
“If you mean items, are you asking for things?”
“Anything is fine.”

Sama Jin hesitated to speak, contemplating briefly. It was an expected reaction. How many subordinates can freely ask for things when a superior inquires about their needs?

“I am fine. Thanks to the comfortable environment you’ve provided for work, I lack nothing.”
Sama Jin gently declined Heo Mulin’s offer of consideration. However, Heo Mulin had already noticed Sama Jin’s brief glance at the brush on the inkstone.

‘Come to think of it, he came here with nothing.’

Sama Jin had arrived at the palace with nothing. He probably didn’t expect to continue working at Cheonmagung (Heavenly Demon Palace) for long. As martial artists are sensitive about their equipment, a Sama family member like him would be sensitive about brushes. Yet, he was currently using an ordinary brush given to common soldiers, which would naturally not be to his taste. Despite trying to hide his true feelings, Heo Mulin could not be misled.

“Very well.”
“Take care of yourself.”

Leaving behind Sama Jin’s farewell, Heo Mulin stepped outside. His steps were headed towards a familiar place: Cheonmabigo (Heavenly Demon Vault) deep inside Seolhwan Mountain. Entering the vault once more, he threw open a wide door and looked straight ahead, bypassing the armory on the upper floor.

[Yeongyakgo (Vault of Elixirs)]

“It’s been a long time since I came here.”

In his past life, once his hair turned white, he did not set foot in the Vault of Elixirs. At that time, he felt the lack of martial techniques more than internal energy. But in the current situation, with the regular meeting of the elder council approaching, above all, he needed to explosively enhance his internal energy. Having drained most of his vigor suppressing Chun Jungak’s murderous aura, Heo Mulin acutely realized the lack of his internal energy reserves. Despite the high purity of his extremity-infused internal energy, there was a need to increase the fundamental level.

‘And the solution lies here.’

With a determined expression, Heo Mulin opened the doors widely with both hands. Mysterious energy flowed through his entire body as he entered the storage and closed the doors behind him. Heo Mulin walked around inside the Yeongyakgo of Cheonmabigo. Admired as a paradise-like place for martial artists, it was truly a repository of renowned elixirs from around the world.

“One can hardly imagine how they were collected.”

There existed even the legendary Daehwandan (Great Elixir), said not to be found in Shaolin Temple, the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng said to appear once in a while at the ends of the Northern Sea, and the Ten Thousand-Year He Shou Wu, known for absorbing vitality and devastating its surroundings over millennia. Besides these, there were spiritual herbs, elixirs, and pills emitting various energies like Yin, Yang, fire, ice, demonic, and poison energies.

Picking any of these would bestow substantial effects. Yet, Heo Mulin passed by them, heading towards a wall. Once there, his steps stopped. There lay a solitary stone box, marked with the red-lettered warning “Strictly Prohibited.”

Ignoring the warning lightly, Heo Mulin undid the tied string and opened the stone box without hesitation. Inside the stone box was an iron box, and within it, a bronze box. Opening box after box, they progressively decreased in size until only a palm-sized small wooden box remained in Heo Mulin’s hand.

Sniffing, Heo Mulin wrinkled his nose. The more boxes he opened, the stronger the energy within became. In his past life, he wouldn’t have sensed it, but operating the extremity-infused internal energy allowed him to notice. Carefully, he opened the last wooden box, revealing a white jade-colored pill.

Upon seeing it, which could easily be mistaken for a pearl, Heo Mulin nodded in acknowledgment. “It certainly is the Ilsikjeolmyeongdok (One Breath Fatal Poison).” Known as extremely dangerous, he never went near it in his past life. Only after mastering Jeonghonsinmagong could he now delve into it. The creator of this poison was none other than Dongbangseo (Eastern Thief), famed throughout the world a few hundred years ago as the supreme thief.

“The more I read about him, the more peculiar he seems.”

Indeed, he was too inclined towards thievery to simply be called Poison God, yet his obsession with poisons was too intense to label him only as Godly Thief, hence being known as Wan Dok Sin Tu (All-Poison Godly Thief). Dongbangseo roamed freely as a thief possessing a singular quirk: he only stole poisons, not money or weapons. Wherever tales of peerless poisons spread across the central plains, his presence was certain. Even when buried in the ground, dissolved in water, or stored in a bottle, Dongbangseo would inevitably find a way to steal them.

‘It is no wonder the poison-related sects were perturbed.’

Naturally, Dongbangseo was a sworn enemy, especially to all the poison-related sects in central plains, with Sichuan Tang Family offering a hefty bounty while distributing his portrait across the world. Despite that, Dongbangseo was never caught by the central plains martial world. Every time, using bizarre and magical techniques, he outsmarted martial artists and vanished after stealing poisons.

Then, one day, Dongbangseo made an unforgivable mistake. ‘He became too greedy.’

It was deciding to steal poisons from Cheonmabigo, having learned that various deadly poisons, including the Three Step Intestine-Melting Poison he long sought, existed in Cheonmabigo. ‘He succeeded halfway, though.’

Dongbangseo succeeded in infiltrating Cheonmabigo. However, his misfortune was unavoidable. While rifling through Yeongyakgo, he unexpectedly encountered the then Heavenly Demon master face to face. Trapped within the closed Cheonmabigo, with no escape routes, Dongbangseo was captured for the first time while attempting a theft.

“Kill me.”

Dongbangseo, unwavering in his resolve, refused to plead for his life. The Heavenly Demon found intrigue in his demeanor and promised to release him under one condition: “Create an unsurpassable, fatal poison with no antidote that can kill anyone instantly. All the poisons in Cheonmabigo are at your disposal to achieve this.”

“Understood, but honor your promise.”

Faced with a grievous demand, Dongbangseo had no choice. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, and fifty years passed, and when all had forgotten him…

“I’ve succeeded.”

Dongbangseo created an unreachable, antidote-less instant death poison, defying everyone’s expectations. Surrendering decades of life, he produced the Ilsikjeolmyeongdok pill, the singular one of its kind. Whoever consumed it would die instantly upon exhaling a single breath.

“There truly is no antidote.”

With no records on its making, it was an unmanageable supreme poison. Without using the extremity-infused internal energy for protection, the emanating toxic energy alone could have taken his life earlier. Nevertheless, this offered a risk worth undertaking.

Before departing from the sect after offering the Ilsikjeolmyeongdok, Dongbangseo left one remark: “Although unlikely, should you ever overcome this poison, immense internal energy and the All-Poison Immanence that I cultivated over my lifetime will manifest in an instant.” Breathing deeply, Heo Mulin took in the potent aura surpassing all others within the Vault of Elixirs.

Heartening himself, Heo Mulin assumed a lotus position and placed the pill between his fingers. Then, placing it on his tongue, he swallowed it. Commencing his deep breathing technique, Heo Mulin’s pupils widened abruptly.

Cough! Heo Mulin spat out dark blood. The poison being exceedingly potent, his face flushed with exerted veins. The rampant Ilsikjeolmyeongdok surged destructively throughout his body, yet Heo Mulin merely endured, trusting solely in Jeonghonsinmagong. Around then, within his mind, numerous scenes flashed by. The process of losing his parents and becoming the family head. Marrying a woman he barely knew and ascending as the cult leader. Persevering through training amidst neglect and indifference from the elders. Becoming an old man with no one left to visit him, destined to see grandchildren—even with all the misfortunes…

“……!”

Suddenly, Heo Mulin snapped back. Seeing his life flash by during deep breathing, he nearly succumbed to the poison’s hold. Regaining composure, he breathed through his skin rather than his mouth or nose, retaining all the poison within. His body trembled as though exceeding its limits. His skin, torn as if cut by a blade, oozed fresh blood, soaking his clothes. ‘I need to absorb all of it, leaving nothing behind.’

Without an escape, Ilsikjeolmyeongdok absorbed the body’s moisture. His skin dried up as if in drought, while the torment of organs rotting surged, but Heo Mulin persisted, enduring through patience. What felt like endless hours were only moments, then a vivid blue flame ignited in his eyes.

‘It’s done. Absorbed all of it completely.’

Absorbing all the Ilsikjeolmyeongdok energy, Heo Mulin immediately proceeded to the next step. He meticulously gathered the dispersed poison energy into his Danjeon (instinctual center). The process was exceptionally slow, halting breaths and time itself, rendering the world seemingly still. After immense endurance:

“…Phew.”

Heo Mulin, having reached the third level of Jeonghonsinmagong, quietly opened his eyes and remarked softly. “Unexpectedly, I’ve made achievements beyond what I intended.” Steady improvement in Jeonghonsinmagong was an unforeseen gain. Unbelievably progressing, Heo Mulin subtly lifted the corners of his mouth in a smile.

Rising, he observed his surroundings with a glance. Sighting something, he moved. Heo Mulin grasped the Dok Ho Gui Jang (Poisonous Turtle’s Intestine) in his hand. Known as an extreme poison, it was the kidney of a turtle that had lived in a poisonous lake for hundreds of years. “Hmm.”

Gazing intently at the Dok Ho Gui Jang, Heo Mulin then consumed it. Chewing the malodorous, fishy organ to pieces, he swallowed it. Subsequently, with eyes closed, he contemplated his body. Yet, this time, even without the extremity-infused energy, the Dok Ho Gui Jang held no power over him. Or more precisely, it couldn’t influence him in any way.

“It’s accomplished!”
Internal energy increased.
And the hidden agenda—fully acquiring the All-Poison Immanence—left Heo Mulin grinning widely.