Part 12
Among the martial arts Yugeon had most wanted to recover was the Primordial Chaos Limitless Art.
It was the Inner Arts Cultivation Method that had made him powerful in a ruined world infested with monsters.
The mana released by dying monsters is drawn into my qi center.
In truth, he had created this cultivation method in his previous life by modifying the Star-Absorbing Art.
CLATTER.
CREEEAK.
“Time to replenish my Inner Arts.”
Having finished his business in the safe zone, Yugeon reopened the entrance and left the hidden space.
***
SLASH!
SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!
“SKREE!”
“Human bastard! Die!”
“SKREEEEEE!”
SLICE.
After leaving the safe zone, Yugeon swung his sword and began cutting down the Goblin Spearmen.
Dozens rushed at him and thrust their spears.
However, they couldn’t leave even the smallest scratch on his body.
DING—!
[Your accumulated growth has been reflected in your attributes.]
Inner Arts +1
Inner Arts +1
Inner Arts +1
Inner Arts +1
Inner Arts +1
Inner Arts +1
….
“Hahaha.”
Yugeon burst into laughter as his Inner Arts continued rising.
As he advanced while cutting down Goblins, he continuously circulated the Primordial Chaos Limitless Art.
His Inner Arts accumulated at a tremendous rate.
After roughly five minutes—
THUD. THUD. THUD.
A gigantic Goblin carrying a black spear emerged in the distance.
“Grrrrr, human… How dare you slaughter my kin?”
It was the Heroic Monster found at the end of Floor 7.
Since the floor didn’t have a proper Boss Monster, this creature could essentially be considered its Boss.
“I’ll kill you and appease the souls of my kin!”
BOOM!
WHOOOOOSH—!
The enormous Goblin hurled its spear.
The massive weapon tore through the air with a deafening sound as it flew toward Yugeon.
“Then who will appease the souls of the humans your kind killed?”
SWISH.
Yugeon moved his sword gently.
SLIDE.
CLANG!
“?!”
The sword diverted the enormous spear, causing the Goblin’s eyes to tremble.
DING!
【Supreme Ultimate Wisdom Sword】 has been activated.
It doesn’t display each individual form in detail.
That was actually preferable.
Otherwise, the status window would become far too cluttered.
SWISH.
SLASH!
“Ghk!”
Yugeon surged forward and severed the enormous Goblin’s neck.
“This… can’t… be…”
THUUUD!
DING—!
[Your accumulated growth has been reflected in your attributes.]
Strength +1
Agility +1
Perception +1
[You have leveled up.]
Level +1
“Moving has certainly become easier.”
Yugeon grinned, flicked the blood from his sword, and immediately headed toward the next floor.
***
Zone 2, Floor 11, [Violet Spore Forest].
Every spore floating through the air contained a hallucinogenic poison.
Yugeon circulated the Flawless Great Void, burning away the poison as quickly as possible.
Monsters attacked him, but he ignored them and passed through like the wind.
Floors 12, 13, and 14.
He cut through thorny undergrowth and crossed sticky swamps with his movement arts.
By the time he reached Floor 15, [Queen’s Nest], the Queen Mantis was already dead, apparently having been subjugated by other Awakened.
Yugeon’s destination wasn’t there anyway.
Floors 16 and 17.
Nests filled with spiderwebs and insects.
Yugeon performed the Sword Dance, clearing away the obstacles as he rapidly broke through those floors as well.
And finally—
Floor 18, [Centipede Valley]
RUSTLE.
RUSTLE.
RUSTLE.
A skin-crawling sound echoed through the valley, like something gnawing at flesh.
Tens of thousands of centipedes completely covered the dark valley floor, leaving no soil visible.
The sight was so repulsive that an ordinary person would’ve fainted merely from seeing it.
It was a sea of insects without a single gap between them.
“There are disgustingly many of them.”
Yugeon frowned but stepped forward without hesitation.
CRUNCH.
SQUELCH.
Centipedes were crushed beneath his feet and burst apart with every step.
It’s over there.
Yugeon looked toward a waterfall of black water in the deepest part of the valley.
The conventional strategy was to clear the field before defeating the Boss.
However, Yugeon’s objective wasn’t the Boss hunt itself.
Beside the waterfall stood an enormous rotting tree.
That’s my destination.
SLASH!
CRACK—!
Yugeon swung his sword and split the massive rotten tree in half.
A hidden passage appeared.
It led to a hidden area called the [Thousand-Year Nest].
Upon entering, Yugeon found himself inside a damp and gloomy cavern.
There it is.
Deep inside the cavern, two crimson eyes gleamed within the darkness.
【Lv. 60】 Thousand-Poison Earth King
It was an enormous centipede said to have lived for a thousand years.
Its body alone was as thick as an oil drum, and the monster stretched more than ten meters long.
Its shell glistened with a violet hue, while its hundreds of legs were as sharp as razor blades.
It was the true master of this place.
It was also a Boss Monster that wouldn’t respawn within the Tower.
“SKREEEEE!”
The moment it noticed the intruder, it spewed a dense violet poisonous mist from its mouth.
It was a deadly Poison Breath capable of melting even stone.
Within the enclosed space of the cavern, the poisonous mist was truly lethal.
Yugeon, however, wasn’t particularly concerned.
“It was good seeing you again after so long. Now die.”
DING!
【One Sword to Annihilate Heaven】 has been activated.
SLASH!
KABOOOOOM—!
“Sk… Skree…”
THUUUD!
The Thousand-Poison Earth King was bisected before it could offer the slightest resistance.
After twitching several times, it stopped breathing.
“That split it open rather conveniently.”
Yugeon approached and thrust his hand into the Thousand-Poison Earth King’s abdomen.
Between its writhing organs and Poison Sac—
PULL—!
He extracted a pearl that radiated an eerie yet mesmerizing light.
【Item: Five-Colored Poison Pearl】
Grade: Legendary
Category: Consumable Item
A pearl containing five swirling colors.
It is the essence of the poisonous energy accumulated by the Thousand-Poison Earth King over a thousand years—a crystallization of deadly poison said to rot the flesh with a mere touch.
SIZZLE—
The skin on his fingers began turning black.
The smell of burning flesh entered the air.
An ordinary person would’ve panicked and thrown it away, but Yugeon remained composed.
“Poison…”
He would soon have to travel to Japan.
More specifically, to Sapporo.
The very air there had become poisonous, transforming the city into a land of death.
Sapporo had been reduced to ruins during the Second Monster Wave.
The same thing happened to Incheon during the Fourth Monster Wave.
That was why he needed to prepare himself against poison in advance.
“Rather than avoiding poison, I should consume it.”
Yugeon opened his mouth wide.
He tossed the fist-sized mass of deadly poison directly into his mouth.
GULP.
The moment he swallowed it, pain surged through him as though his esophagus were burning.
No—it felt less like it was burning and more like it was melting.
His stomach burned as though boiling lava had been poured into it.
At the same time, frigid poisonous energy spread throughout his body through his blood vessels.
Scorching heat and freezing cold seized his body simultaneously.
***
How much time had passed?
Five-colored smoke began rising from the crown of Yugeon’s head.
At the same time, the blackened, dying skin peeled away like a snake shedding its old hide.
Beneath it, new skin emerged—smooth and white as jade.
“Whew…”
Yugeon slowly opened his eyes.
A five-colored radiance flashed deep within his pupils before settling back into a calm black.
Impervious to All Poisons.
No, to be more precise, his new constitution surpassed even Impervious to All Poisons.
His body hadn’t merely become immune to poison.
When the Primordial Chaos Limitless Art absorbed the Five-Colored Poison Pearl, it transformed his constitution so that consuming deadly poison would increase his Inner Arts.
He had even been reborn with a constitution that allowed him to breathe more comfortably within poisonous mist.
SWOOSH.
Yugeon looked down at his hand.
His skin was so clean that it appeared clear and translucent.
All the minor impurities inside his body had been expelled along with the poison.
He hadn’t yet achieved Marrow Cleansing and Body Reformation, but his physical body had still improved significantly.
“My preparations are complete.”
Yugeon rose to his feet.
His body felt as light as a feather.
Tomorrow. I’ll go there immediately.
Sapporo, the forbidden land.
To Yugeon, it would no longer be a dangerous ruin.
It would become an enormous treasure vault that no one else had been able to touch.
***
CREEEEAK—!
The rusted wire fence screamed as it was torn away.
Signs rattled whenever the wind blew, clearly demonstrating that this was a forbidden zone no human had entered for years.
[DANGER: TOXIC AREA]
[NO ENTRY. SURVIVAL CANNOT BE GUARANTEED BEYOND THIS POINT.]
A red warning sign written in Japanese, English, and Korean lay half-buried in the snow.
The scenery beyond it was bizarre.
The entire world was covered in white snow, yet the mist drifting above it possessed a dreamlike violet hue.
It was beautiful, but carried the color of death—capable of melting a person’s lungs the moment it touched them.
“Boss… There really isn’t anyone here.”
Mincheol looked around as he spoke.
They stood at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Sapporo.
Barricades and guard posts remained, but there wasn’t a single person guarding them.
“Of course not. It would be a waste of manpower.”
When the area had first become like this, people had still guarded it.
However, they had all withdrawn after several years.
No one attempted to enter, and no living creature ever emerged.
“The concentration of poisonous gas here is dozens of times greater than the lethal dose. Immediately after the Second Monster Wave, the Japanese government deployed large numbers of Awakened and attempted to seal off the area. The results were disastrous.”
“What happened?”
“Even when they wore the highest-grade protective suits, the poisonous energy seeped through microscopic gaps. The Awakened couldn’t survive for more than a few hours. They vomited blood and died. The poisonous energy was so severe that their bodies couldn’t even be recovered.”
“Gasp…”
Mincheol’s face turned pale.
That meant the place they were about to enter was essentially an enormous graveyard.
Sapporo hadn’t merely been sealed off.
It had been thoroughly abandoned.
It was a land of death that no one dared to enter.
“Here. Put this on.”
TOSS.
Yugeon removed something from his bag and tossed it to Mincheol.
It was a crude yet unusual-looking mask reinforced with black leather.