Overlord of Sichuan

Chapter 42: Siblings (3)

The deeper they went inside, the thicker the poison qi became.

If it had been an ordinary martial artist, just inhaling once would have been enough to make them collapse and hover between life and death.

And that meant—

For Tang Serin, it was nothing short of a festival.

‘Ahhh, so sweet.’

At that moment, she felt the supreme sweetness as if her mouth had been stuffed full of Tang Clan’s candy.

Sssaaa!

In an instant, the poison qi that rippled like heat haze and filled the tunnel was sucked into her body.

The Poison Heart Formula, transformed by Sewoon.

No—now it had to be called the Poison Cloud Formula (毒雲決), named after her younger brother. Its power was drawing all the foreign poison qi into her dantian.

Tang Serin strolled through the dreadful miasma, yet instead of weakening, she was growing stronger by the moment.

‘It feels like I’m swallowing the roots of Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng one after another.’

The capabilities of the Poison Cloud Formula were extraordinary.

Not only was the amount of poison qi it could absorb immeasurable—

It stored half of it for later use as a weapon, while transforming the other half into usable qi that could fuel other martial arts. An absurd ability.

‘At this pace…!’

Suddenly, a gleam flickered in Tang Serin’s eyes.

She had the premonition that she could finally break past the boundary that had long stagnated her.

She had turned thirty this year, yet she remained stalled at the entry point of the Peak Level.

Compared to her peers, she was not lacking.

But when she recalled that, in the previous generation, she had stood at the very pinnacle of the young prodigies, a member of the Nine Dragons Four Phoenixes, she could not help but feel regret.

Not because she lacked effort.

On the contrary, Tang Serin had trained with such brutal diligence that others who witnessed it were left in shock.

But poison arts, once they reached a bottleneck, were notoriously difficult to break through.

And her clan lacked the wealth to obtain the rare poisons and higher poison arts required to shatter that stagnation.

So she had reluctantly given up, consoling herself with the thought of preparing for the future, and instead devoted herself to the development of hidden weapons.

‘It’s right there…!’

Now, she could see it. The summit that surpassed mastery, the very Supreme Peak Master Level, was within arm’s reach.

Cheocheok.

All of a sudden, she stopped walking.

Her eyes closed of their own accord, and she fell into a state of Selflessness (忘我).

Selflessness—a state of ultimate concentration, where one even forgot oneself.

Noticing the change, Sewoon quickly set down the torch that had been in her hand.

Sssaaa!

A deep green light surged from Tang Serin’s entire body.

All the enlightenment befitting the apex of Peak Level had already filled her.

Only the total amount of poison qi and inner qi was insufficient.

Cheoeok.

Sewoon placed a hand on her back.

A stream of Golden Bridle Qi flowed from his meridians into Tang Serin.

At the warmth that seeped into her, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

‘…Warm.’

Like her younger brother’s heart, warm as a spring day, the qi gently coursed through her channels.

Just as Geum Hwa Sa-tae had once aided Sewoon, Sewoon was now guiding his sister with True Qi Guidance.

Chwaaa!

The Golden Bridle Qi, encompassing the energy of all living things, spread through her body, aiding her in breaking through the wall.

Kwooong!

Kwooong!

Roars like a battering ram smashing into a fortress wall resounded in her ears.

Each thunderous strike contorted her face in pain—

‘Just a little more, just a little more—!’

—but she never stopped.

It was her younger brother who had created this opportunity.

This golden moment could not be wasted.

Gritting her teeth, Tang Serin endured the pain.

And at last—

Peeoong!

It was as though a dam had burst, water gushing out all at once.

Chwaaa!

At the same time, the dark green radiance engulfing her body shone brilliantly.

The overwhelming poison qi swirling within Tang Serin had undeniably surpassed mastery and reached the Supreme Peak Master Level.

Realizing her breakthrough before anyone else, Tang Serin could not hold back the surge of emotion.

‘Father and Mother will be so happy.’

Always burdened with guilt, as though it were their fault that they could never help, the image of their parents surfaced in her mind.

“Phew.”

“Congratulations, Noona!”

As Tang Serin opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Sewoon’s bright smile.

Sewoon looked as though he were the one who had achieved the breakthrough, rejoicing more than anyone.

“Haha, now the strongest in the Tang Clan is you, Noona.”

“…Thank you, Sewoon. This was all thanks to you.”

“Ah, there’s no need to thank me. It was purely your own effort, wasn’t it?”

At Sewoon’s words, Tang Serin shook her head firmly.

“No. There is no way I could have done this alone. I truly am grateful.”

“Ugh, if you keep saying that, it’s embarrassing.”

In her heart, she wanted to thank him a hundred, a thousand times.

But Sewoon kept waving his hands, begging her to stop, saying it was only natural as family.

His adorable flustered face even made her chuckle.

Even after Tang Serin’s breakthrough, the two did not leave the abandoned mine.

‘There’s still more to gain.’

That was because Sewoon insisted on continuing the search.

Before reaching the Supreme Peak Master Level, Tang Serin would have convinced him to leave at once.

But now her thoughts had changed completely.

‘There’s something at the end of this tunnel.’

With her cultivation realm having risen, she could sense it.

Something ahead, scattering an overwhelming poison qi, as though it were the culmination of all the miasma they had faced so far.

And surely, that was the true reason Sewoon had received this abandoned mine as a reward.

Tang Serin’s face hardened unconsciously.

Around the tunnel there was nothing but ore.

So then, from where was this poison qi leaking?

It was impossible for ordinary poisonous plants or flowers to release such toxicity.

To spread poison qi of this magnitude, it could only mean—

‘…There must be a Poison Beast coiled there.’

Poison Beast.

A spiritual beast that either possessed or wielded poison by will.

Poison Beasts were almost always ferocious in nature, and any encounter meant preparing for a battle of life and death.

Yet despite the danger, there was one reason she agreed with Sewoon’s decision.

‘With a Poison Beast’s inner core and its poison qi… it might even cure Sewoon’s Heavenly Punishment.’

The Poison Cloud Formula had been powerful enough to break through the wall of Peak Level in one strike.

And if they obtained the inner core of a Poison Beast filled with such potent poison qi, it might sever the lifelong chain of suffering binding her brother.

She even suspected that Sewoon had brought her here precisely with that outcome in mind.

But she never thought him selfish for it.

If he had found a chance to break free of the horrific shackle that had bound him his whole life, of course he could ask.

‘Now, I’m strong enough to make it possible.’

And having reached the Supreme Peak Master Level, her confidence brimmed higher than ever.

Of course, it was nothing more than a perfect misunderstanding.

Cheocheok.

At last, the two arrived at the end of the tunnel.

Tang Serin wrapped poison qi around her iron fan, her weapon of choice, and carefully advanced, her expression tense.

“…Huh?”

Her tension collapsed into bewilderment.

There was no Poison Beast.

No—not just no Poison Beast.

At the tunnel’s end, there was no poisonous plant, no poisonous flower, nothing at all.

The path was blocked by stone walls, leaving no way further in.

“…What is this?”

As Tang Serin blinked in confusion at the unexpected scene—

“Found it.”

“-!”

Sewoon suddenly spoke.

Before she could stop him, he strode forward with brisk steps.

A radiant smile spread across his face.

When she followed her brother’s gaze, at the end there lay—

‘Debris?’

Heaps of scraps and fragments of minerals, piled in one corner.

Byproducts discarded during the miners’ excavation of iron ore.

Sewoon had not asked the Murim Alliance for this place as a reward because of Poison Beasts, nor for rare flowers and herbs.

It was solely to obtain the ore scraps the miners had discarded as trash—

The Black Waste Stone.

Just as its name suggested, the “black trash rock” was a mineral no one had ever paid attention to.

However, before his regression, Sewoon had used this Black Waste Stone to replace half of the Eight Extreme Poisons with new poisons of his own making, which he named New Poisons.

‘At that time, the existence of Mineral Poisons had not yet been revealed.’

It was Sewoon who had first informed the martial world that not only Poison Beasts and poisonous plants, but even minerals could harbor toxins comparable to the Eight Extreme Poisons.

Black Waste Stone, when exposed to the air for more than a decade, or when forcibly infused with qi, would release a deadly poison.

While the toxicity of Black Waste Stone could not surpass any one of the Eight Extreme Poisons in direct potency—

‘When mixed with other poisonous ingredients, its properties change endlessly, transforming into entirely new poisons.’

It was like a blank canvas upon which all new poisons could be created.

That was the essence of Black Waste Stone.

Originally, Sewoon had demanded this abandoned mine from the Murim Alliance in order to develop his poison arts through the Black Waste Stone.

But since he already possessed the strongest poison, Angshin Tears, its value now lay in another purpose.

‘It’s not enough for only me to grow stronger. The entire Sichuan Tang Clan must rise together.’

That was his plan—to elevate the entire clan.

For in the war against the Blood Cult, Sewoon alone could never hope to survive.

And as the first step of that plan, he had already helped his sister reach the Supreme Peak Master Level.

Thus, the Black Waste Stone would become the hidden card to rapidly raise the currently meager poison arts of Tang Clan’s martial artists.

Listening to Sewoon’s explanation, Tang Serin’s eyes gleamed with realization of its worth.

Mineral Poison was the perfect resource for the Tang Clan at present.

Collecting or cultivating poisonous plants required far too much time and money.

Poison Beasts, on the other hand, demanded immense sacrifice and risk to capture or slay.

But Black Waste Stone only needed to be extracted with an ordinary pickaxe.

Tang Serin kept nodding, then spoke in awe.

“Amazing. I never imagined there could be such a thing as Mineral Poison.”

“That’s understandable. Until now, I too only knew of Black Waste Stone through books. This is my first time seeing it in person.”

“But Sewoon. How did you know that Black Waste Stone was hidden in this abandoned mine?”

“That was by chance, thanks to a patient who came to the Heaven’s Medicine Hall.”

“A patient?”

At his sister’s question, Sewoon’s expression did not change in the slightest as he calmly gave the excuse he had already prepared.

Among the patients he examined at Heaven’s Medicine Hall, there had been an elderly miner.

Sewoon had discovered traces of poison built up in the old man’s body long ago.

After studying it, he realized it was the very same poison described in books as belonging to Black Waste Stone.

He had created an antidote, restoring the old miner’s health, and then asked which mine he had worked in.

From the patient’s mouth came the name of this abandoned mine at Wol Mountain.

“Heh, Sewoon, your insight is truly remarkable.”

“I was just fortunate.”

“Just imagine how happy Father will be when he hears of this.”

“Yes, exactly. Then, shall we begin?”

“…?”

Begin what?

As she tilted her head in confusion—

Sseuk.

Sewoon suddenly bent down, picked up a shovel and a sack, and handed them to her.

“…Why this?”

“Because, for now, only you and I in the clan can withstand the poison qi of Black Waste Stone.”

At those words, Tang Serin suddenly had a very bad feeling.

The Black Waste Stones that had been exposed to the air and begun releasing poison qi had to be collected and set aside.

Otherwise, when the Tang Clan martial artists were brought here, they would be poisoned and collapse.

Which left only one possible course of action.

“Come on, Noona, who digs like that? Here, follow my lead.”

“….”

At that moment, she made a firm vow.

From now on, she would never again accompany her younger brother on any so-called outings.