Chapter 141

‘What? Sweet?’

Baek So-gang, the second son of the Outer Master of the Annihilating Poison King Baek Sa-ha, clicked his tongue inwardly as if it was absurd.

Contrary to his appearance, the kid seemed to be full of bravado.

This extreme poison was something that even skilled internal energy masters would find difficult to endure if they didn’t purposely engage in breathing and energy circulation techniques.

Let alone Mok Gyeong-un, who was merely at the early stage of the peak realm, he couldn’t possibly withstand it.

‘I need to prepare.’

The fortunate thing was that this was the Baek family’s estate.

They were prepared to detoxify him if necessary.

At that moment, someone approached.

“Is it enough to drink it and endure for an hour?”

It was Jang Neung-ak, the second disciple of the Society Leader.

Since he had a reputation to uphold, he had wanted to be the first to drink the poisoned cup.

However, Mok Gyeong-un had beaten him to it, and his mood seemed unpleasant, judging from his expression.

“My lord!”

Seo Hye-in, the leader of the Grass Smoke Group and the fourth-ranked member of the Five Mountains Alliance, called out to him with a worried look.

No matter how much he wanted to gain support, drinking the poison that only four people could endure even in the Baek family, where skilled poison masters gathered, was an extremely dangerous act.

-Swish!

At that moment, Ho Jong-hyeok, the Grand Clan Leader of the Destruction Clan and the third-ranked member, shook his head.

“Shouldn’t we stop him? This is too much, no matter what…”

“Are you going to insult our lord?”

“Pardon?”

“What do you think will happen to our lord’s reputation if he backs down in front of other potential successors?”

At Ho Jong-hyeok’s words, Seo Hye-in closed her mouth.

His words made sense.

Although the condition was somewhat absurd, retreating in this situation would be equivalent to taking a step back in the competition for the successor position.

At that moment, Wi So-yeon, the third disciple of the Society Leader, also stepped forward and said,

“I will drink it too.”

She had also made up her mind.

In fact, Wi So-yeon possessed more extensive internal energy than anyone else, so she had some confidence.

However, she had never directly swallowed poison and done such a thing before, so she had hesitated for a moment.

‘… I can’t yield.’

From Wi So-yeon’s perspective, she absolutely needed the support of the Annihilating Poison King Baek Sa-ha.

That’s why she couldn’t back down like this.

As she approached the table with the teapot containing the poison, she glanced at Mok Gyeong-un.

‘Reckless.’

She had felt it from the first time she saw him, but this person was treading between boldness and recklessness.

She had directly confirmed his internal energy level in the Corpse Blood Valley report.

If it were an ordinary poison, he might be able to expel it from his body even with the internal energy of the initial stage of the peak realm if he continuously engaged in breathing and energy circulation techniques.

However, the current poison was on a completely different level.

It was an extreme poison created by the Baek family, one of the top three in the Central Plains when it came to poison arts.

If one didn’t possess supreme-stage internal energy, it might be difficult to endure.

‘Why is he going this far?’

She couldn’t understand Mok Gyeong-un at all.

If he had obtained the first-place tokens from the Corpse Blood Valley entrance, he should have sought guidance from the two people who held the title of Eight Stars, the supreme masters of the Central Plains, among the Five Kings.

But why the Annihilating Poison King, of all people?

‘What exactly does he want to learn?’

The Annihilating Poison King’s main martial art was poison arts.

It was a field that was completely different from ordinary martial artists, so even if he sought guidance, there wouldn’t be much gain. She couldn’t understand why he was doing this.

‘Is he an oddball?’

Anyway, it didn’t matter.

Now that things had turned out this way, she would be able to confirm Mok Gyeong-un’s true skills.

Since her martial brother had mentioned that he was in the realm of the supreme stage, she would be able to see if he had really progressed that much in this short period.

-Gulp!

At that moment, Jang Neung-ak swallowed the poison in the cup in one go.

Since Mok Gyeong-un had done it first, he couldn’t show himself drinking it slowly.

However, because it was an extreme poison, it was difficult to completely hide his expression.

‘Ugh.’

Along with the burning pain in his lips, nausea and extreme disgust surged up.

He felt like vomiting it out, even if he had to retch.

‘shit.’

They wanted him to eat this and endure for an hour?

Rather than an hour, he had to first detoxify the poison that had entered his body.

Even though he was protecting his esophagus and stomach walls with internal energy as soon as it entered, it still felt burning, and he was even getting a headache.

It was indeed worthy of being called the Baek family’s extreme poison.

‘I can’t show it.’

Jang Neung-ak tried his best to manage his expression.

His subordinates were also watching, and he couldn’t make a distorted face in front of that damn wench.

‘Sigh.’

Next, Wi So-yeon also swallowed the poison in the cup.

She didn’t even want to taste it, so she wrapped her mouth and tongue with internal energy and swallowed the poison.

Therefore, she could pay more attention to her expression compared to Jang Neung-ak.

However, even though she protected her tongue, she couldn’t help but frown at the stinging smell that passed through her throat and pierced her nose.

“Cough.”

Wi So-yeon, who had unknowingly coughed softly, turned her head with a reddened face.

What kind of unsightly behavior was this?

Coughing because of the nauseating smell.

She felt somewhat embarrassed, but anyway, she had to endure for an hour or quickly dissolve this extreme poison.

-Sizzle!

Not long after, a purple vapor rose from Wi So-yeon’s shoulders.

She wasn’t the only one.

Jang Neung-ak, the second disciple of the Society Leader, also started to have purple vapor rising from his shoulders, although slightly later than Wi So-yeon.

‘As expected!’

Wi So-yeon’s subordinates showed a triumphant expression upon seeing this.

Her profound internal energy was already famous within the Heaven and Earth Society.

‘Damn that wench.’

Jang Neung-ak cursed Wi So-yeon inwardly.

If it weren’t for her bizarre constitution, she would never have caught the Master’s eye.

At this rate, that wench might dissolve the poison first.

Therefore, Jang Neung-ak focused even more on expelling the poison from his body.

-Whoosh!

Perhaps because of that, the purple vapor above Jang Neung-ak’s shoulders became even thicker.

Madam Jang, the wife of the Annihilating Poison King Baek Sa-ha, and Baek So-gang, the second son, couldn’t help but admire this scene inwardly.

That poison was an extreme poison close to the poison qi that filled the detached building.

Being able to dissolve the poison that even the martial artists who had learned the Baek family’s poison arts couldn’t handle rashly was truly remarkable.

‘It’s not ordinary internal energy.’

They had heard that the Society Leader’s disciples all had deep internal energy, and it seemed to be true.

At this rate, it seemed they would be able to completely dissolve the extreme poison within half an hour, not even an hour.

However,

‘What’s this?’

The second son Baek So-gang looked at Mok Gyeong-un with a questioning gaze.

Unlike the Society Leader’s potential successors, Mok Gyeong-un was just standing still.

He thought he might be doing that because he was barely enduring it by raising his internal energy, but there was no sign of distress or anything on his face.

Rather, he even seemed relaxed.

‘… Is he really enduring the poison?’

It didn’t seem that way at all, no matter how he looked at it.

Those two potential successors had not cultivated their internal energy as deeply, so enduring it would be their best option, but why was there no change in his expression at all?

Wasn’t he having any difficulty?

It wasn’t just him who had this question.

‘what the .... is with this bastard?’

Jang Neung-ak also couldn’t hide his bewilderment when he saw Mok Gyeong-un standing still without even dissolving the poison.

Why was he just standing there?

This poison was so strong that if he didn’t quickly dissolve it, it could not only strain his internal organs but also affect his brain.

‘It should be dangerous, right?’

Wi So-yeon also looked at Mok Gyeong-un with concerned eyes.

He was the one who had drunk the poisoned cup first.

Yet, the fact that he still wasn’t raising his internal energy to dissolve the poison seemed extremely dangerous.

Unable to stand it any longer, the second son Baek So-gang approached and spoke in a low voice,

“Young Master Mok, if you’re having trouble expelling the poison qi, please say so.”

Trying too hard to pretend he was fine could lead to trouble.

However,

“It’s alright. But if there’s no problem with drinking the poison, can’t I just go in?”

‘!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Baek So-gang’s eyes narrowed.

If there’s no problem, he can just go in?

Could it be that he was really fine even though he had drunk the poison and hadn’t even expelled it?

“Young Master Mok… Are you really alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

‘How could that be?’

Baek So-gang looked at Mok Gyeong-un’s face.

Then, his eyes soon turned into a gaze of incomprehension.

That’s because if he had been poisoned, there should have been changes in his lips and complexion first, but there were no such signs at all on Mok Gyeong-un.

‘… Hah.’

What is happened was going on?

He shouldn’t have learned poison arts, so how could he be so unaffected after drinking the extreme poison?

As he was utterly baffled, Mok Gyeong-un said,

“Can I go in?”

“Young Master Mok… By any chance…”

He wanted to ask if he could examine his body with internal energy.

However, that was an act that completely deviated from martial etiquette even among members of the same Heaven and Earth Society.

Therefore, he couldn’t bring himself to say those words.

So,

“Young Master Mok, may I verify something for a moment?”

“Verify?”

“That’s right.”

There was a way to examine the body with internal energy, but there was also another method.

If Mok Gyeong-un’s saliva was dropped into a neutralizing liquid, they could determine whether he had been poisoned or not.

Those who practiced poison arts always carried this with them.

The second son Baek So-gang took out a small bottle the size of two fingers joined together from his waist and soaked a white handkerchief with the liquid.

Then he said to Mok Gyeong-un,

“Please put your saliva on this.”

“It’s not difficult, but is there a need to verify?”

“Pardon?”

“The ingredients seem to be a combination of picrotoxin, aconitine, urushiol, blue softshell turtle intestine poison, jimsonweed, mandrake, white snakeroot, Carassius auratus, Aconitum carmichaelii, red-striped scorpion venom, fire ant venom, poison dart frog venom, wasp venom, yohimbine, tetrodotoxin, and the yellow seeds of the oleander flower. Am I right?”

‘!!!!!!!!’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, the second son Baek So-gang’s eyes widened as if they would pop out.

For a moment, he doubted his own ears.

‘what the .... is this…?’

He was so shocked that he was at a loss for words.

The reason was that the extreme poison was created by condensing all the ingredients Mok Gyeong-un had mentioned.

The only ones who knew the main ingredients of this poison were the Annihilating Poison King Baek Sa-ha and his sons.

It was a combination of ingredients that were extremely difficult to obtain, and if the poison was condensed to this extent, it would be difficult for even skilled poison masters to identify even after a long analysis.

‘… This is unbelievable.’

It was so absurd that he wanted to deny it.

Mok Gyeong-un then said to him,

“Did I miss anything?”

At this question, the subordinates of the Society Leader’s second disciple Jang Neung-ak and third disciple Wi So-yeon looked at him with disbelief.

Was it possible to identify the ingredients after swallowing the poison, as if guessing food ingredients?

No matter what, this was too much.

As they were thinking that,

“… You got everything right.”

A shocking answer came from Baek So-gang’s mouth.

‘He got it right?’

‘Did he just say he got it right?’

‘What is this?’

The subordinates of the two potential successors were all astir.

Was it possible for someone who wasn’t a skilled poison master or a pharmacist to correctly identify the ingredients of a poison right after ingesting it?

They all had expressions of disbelief.

Meanwhile, Madam Jang, who was also surprised by her son Baek So-gang’s words, asked,

“… Young Master Mok, have you learned poison arts by any chance?”

“How could that be?”

“Then how did you know the ingredients of the poison?”

“Ah, I’ve been interested in medicinal herbs and poisonous plants since I was young, so I studied them.”

“Studied? On your own?”

At this question, Mok Gyeong-un thought of his grandfather, but he had no reason to reveal that to them.

And after coming out and experiencing the world, it seemed that some appropriate humility was necessary to a certain extent.

So,

“How could I have learned it on my own? I received help from the physicians and pharmacists around me.”

“Hah…”

Madam Jang was dumbfounded by those words.

It was difficult to fully believe this answer, but if Mok Gyeong-un was really this skilled in identifying poisonous plants or medicinal herbs due to his interest, he could be called a genius.

It wasn’t easy to differentiate the taste of medicinal herbs that were less harmful to the body.

Let alone poisons that were closer to pain than taste.

‘Who the hell is this child?’

If his level of identifying poisons was this high, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he was close to the Young Family Head of the Baek family, no, the Annihilating Poison King Baek Sa-ha.

As they were amazed, Mok Gyeong-un spoke as if it was no big deal,

“If someone is interested in medicinal herbs or poisonous plants or has studied them, anyone can easily guess it. I don’t understand why you’re reacting like this.”

‘!?’