“What the—!?”

The Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect martial artists panicked at the sight of flames flaring atop the man’s head.

It seemed most of them here weren’t ranked very high in the Five Venoms Sect.

They must not have realized that my palm strike was imbued with the venomous aura of the Azure Fire Magma Toad.

Before they could shake off their confusion—

I jumped off the cliff, launching repeated Exploding Toad Palms with both hands at their group.

—Boom. Boom!

They scattered in all directions, but once the dust settled from the near misses, another flame burst forth atop one of their heads.

Then, the first man who had caught fire clutched his stomach and shouted urgently:

“Be careful! Your internal energy—it's draining fast!”

“What!?”

It seemed he had only now realized his internal energy was rapidly being consumed.

At his shout, the others looked horrified.

Who among them had ever been hit with a palm strike that applied DOT damage by burning away your inner energy?

“We're done for! The rest of you—get out of here!”

Two of them who had been hit by my palm strikes rushed at me, while the others bolted toward the far side of the house.

But the moment they reached the far corner—

—Whack!

“Guh-heuk!”

A lime-green tail swung into the lead man’s abdomen, flinging him into the sand by the riverside.

Then from behind Yeondu, Hwa-eun leapt out, hurling hidden weapons.

“You won’t be getting past this side!”

While the others turned to look in shock, I was already clashing with the two attackers.

—Boom!

One of them blocked the Exploding Toad Palm, but the flame on his head flared even hotter.

It seemed the stacked DOT effect from burning internal energy was increasing.

The man barely took a few steps before his face turned pale and he collapsed unconscious.

The other man staggered, gasping for breath.

Then the remaining enemies rushed in.

Just before they reached me, Cho dropped from the sky, coiling swiftly around one of them.

—Chrrrrrr!

“Hrrrghh!”

I’d told her not to kill—so she’d restrained him instead.

“Good job, Cho!”

Up front, it was Cho and me.

In the back, Yeondu and Hwa-eun.

With their movements restricted, Hwa-eun’s throwing needles and my palms began striking the enemies.

And soon, only one remained.

This one seemed to be the highest-ranked and most experienced among them.

“Grrrk...”

Eventually, under our joint assault, Hwa-eun’s throwing knife grazed his ankle.

The Five Venoms Sect martial artist quickly pressed his pressure point.

Since he was one of the higher-ups who had been preparing to face the Sichuan Tang Clan, he must’ve known how to counter the Tang Clan’s poisons.

“Tch. Even in this state, you think our Five Venoms Sect would be brought down by mere Tang Clan poisons—huh!?”

But his face twisted in panic.

His right leg, where the knife had struck, began to tremble—then he slumped to the ground.

“H-how could something like a paralysis poison—!”

He looked utterly confused, but that expression didn’t last long.

Soon, even his mouth and eyes stopped moving.

His entire body froze and collapsed to the ground, leaving only the question lingering in his eyes:

—Thud.

That final question in his eyes was: How could someone from the Five Venoms Sect be taken down by mere paralysis poison?

And the answer was simple—it wasn’t an ordinary Tang Clan poison.

It was Yo-hwa’s poison.

At the commander's request, I had laced all of Hwa-eun’s hidden weapons with Yo-hwa’s venom this time.

Normally, Hwa-eun used Tang Clan poisons.

Even masters who’ve refined poison arts and infused venom into their internal energy couldn’t use all poisons during combat.

That kind of mastery only comes with attaining the legendary Ten-Poison Body.

If you use a poison you haven’t built resistance to, you might end up poisoning yourself during battle.

That’s why fighters usually rely on poisons they’ve trained their internal resistance against.

So even if the opponent deflects or reflects your hidden weapons back at you, you won’t be harmed.

But this time, because we expected to encounter Five Venoms Sect bastards, we prepared Yo-hwa’s venom—a special one from the creatures—something that wouldn’t be fatal even if one of the kids got accidentally exposed.

Honestly, poison from venomous beasts isn’t very useful if taken orally or scattered as powder—it’s not versatile. But when introduced through wounds, it’s devastating.

And Yo-hwa’s venom is one of the Ten Great Venomous Beasts of the Central Plains.

It’s a paralysis poison—not extremely lethal, but completely resistant to pressure-point sealing or venom extraction.

The Tang Clan tried all kinds of tests and research on it—even Grandfather Mandok Shingun couldn’t withstand it for long.

“So the Tang Clan’s poisons seemed like child’s play to you, huh?”

Hwa-eun stared coldly down at the collapsed man.

It may have been Yo-hwa’s venom, but Yo-hwa was mine, and I was Hwa-eun’s—and Hwa-eun was of the Tang Clan.

So calling it Tang Clan poison wasn’t wrong.

Still, that expression of disdain—

Wow.

I carefully gathered the men I had defeated and tossed them beside the ones Hwa-eun had taken down.

“Hey kids, bring over the ones you caught too.”

—Chrrrr.

—Shhhhaa!

The commander taken down by Hwa-eun.

Two men bound by Yeondu and Cho.

Four I had defeated.

Soon, all the enemies we’d taken down were neatly laid out by the riverside.

—Fweeee!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

As we finished lining up the captured ones, Hwa-eun fired a signaling needle to alert the commander.

Then she came over to me and asked:

“So-ryong, how was it using Exploding Toad Palm and Lizard Wall Gecko Step in real combat?”

“Uh... the Exploding Toad Palm doesn’t seem to hit as hard as Hwayang himself. The Lizard Wall Gecko Step lets me cling to walls, but it uses a lot of internal energy.”

I hadn’t been able to confirm these techniques’ abilities since advancing past the Third Venom.

But now I could.

The Exploding Toad Palm could now carry Hwayang’s venom.

The Lizard Wall Gecko Step let me cling to cliffs.

I hadn’t discovered anything from Venomous Snake Life-Seizing Hand yet, and I hadn’t fully learned Scorpion Tail Swift Kick, so it was unclear what I had gained from the Fifth Venom.

The abilities from the Palm and the Step seemed to be added traits gained after advancing to the Third and Fourth Venom stages.

Since each gate had opened one by one.

Still, there was one small letdown.

Though it was great that I could infuse Hwayang’s venom into my palm strikes—

The effect was a bit weak.

Just like when I first infused Cho’s venom into Centipede Poison Fang Claw—

The venom felt slightly underwhelming.

If I could use Hwayang’s venomous energy directly, one palm strike should make a torch-like flame erupt over the opponent’s head and make them explode immediately.

But when I used Exploding Toad Palm, all it did was cause a fist-sized flame to flare up and drain the opponent’s internal energy quickly.

Of course, if I landed two strikes, the flames would stack and grow larger, and the internal energy would seem to deplete faster—but no one exploded.

They just collapsed from exhaustion as their internal energy drained faster.

“But even that’s impressive.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And Grandfather said he’d try to find a way to amplify the venom’s energy using Blood-Water Venom Claw. So its power should gradually improve. Oh! Shouldn’t we ask Miss Cheong-yu as well? Maybe she knows a method.”

Hwa-eun smiled as she slipped her arm around mine.

These days, she’d been a lot more physically affectionate. It started after I told her I’d be the one to come find her next time.

The cold expression she had earlier was precious in its own way, but this kind, affectionate version of Hwa-eun was lovely too, and I was smiling contentedly when—

Suddenly, she quickly pulled away from me.

There was no one else here but us and the kids, and they didn’t react much to this level of skinship, so I wondered what was wrong.

But then I heard the clinking sound of armor coming from the slope leading down to the riverside where Hwa-eun was looking.

—Clank. Clatter.

And from beyond the slope appeared a familiar face.

It was the commander.

“Ah! There you are! Are both of you alright?”

He had looked angry at first, but as soon as he spotted us, his expression brightened.

Sliding down the slope with his soldiers, the commander rushed to where we had laid out the captured Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect warriors—

And immediately delivered soccer kicks to them.

—Wham! Wham!

“So there really was a back exit! You bastards dared to try and run?”

It must’ve pissed him off that he had to sprint after fleeing enemies.

Sweat poured down his forehead.

“Bind them all!”

“Yes, sir! Commander! What are you waiting for? I’ll seal their meridians—secure them tight!”

“Understood, sir!”

One of the lieutenants, who seemed to have martial arts training, went around sealing the pressure points of the captured Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect warriors.

Then came the restraints.

Once they were bound, the commander ordered them to be awakened.

“Wake them up!”

“Yes, sir!”

—Splash!

Two soldiers took off their helmets, scooped up water, and splashed it onto the faces of the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect martial artists.

The prisoners came to.

The commander barked questions at them.

“Are all of you here!? Did any others escape? Speak up if there were any errand boys or those who weren’t at the pavilion at the time!”

They’d said they had watched the place for days before the raid, but he was being thorough—just in case they missed someone.

To be honest, although I’d gotten help from him before, I didn’t know what kind of man he really was.

But apparently, he was surprisingly meticulous.

Still, the awakened martial artists from the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect turned their heads and shut their mouths.

“You dare keep silent, you bastards!”

—Wham! Wham!

The commander started kicking again, but one of the Five Venoms Sect warriors smirked and said:

“If you think a few kicks will make us talk, you’re gravely mistaken. Just kill us.”

“You—bastard!”

The commander gave him a few more kicks, but none of the prisoners opened their mouths.

Eventually, winded and furious, the commander stopped kicking.

“Tough bastards, huh? Fine—let’s see how long you can keep your mouths shut. Beat them!”

“Yes, sir!”

At his order, the soldiers reversed their spear shafts, spat on their hands, and stepped forward.

They herded the prisoners together and started delivering a brutal beating.

Like the sound of a torrential summer rainstorm, clubs rained down on heads, arms, bodies—nothing was spared.

But the prisoners endured it without a word.

Probably thanks to their martial arts training and internal energy, they could take the punishment.

Except for the one wearing the fanciest robes—he passed out right away, maybe because he didn’t know martial arts.

“Huff... huff... Tough sons of bitches.”

“Persistent bastards.”

Eventually, the soldiers grew exhausted quickly.

Smiling, I stepped forward.

It looked like it was time for a specialist.

“Sir, shall I lend a hand?”

“Huh? You? No, no... this is too rough for you to be handling...”

As the commander looked at me apologetically, several centipedes crawled out from the house the prisoners had emerged from and began climbing up my leg.

“Hmph! You think you can make us talk with those weak bugs you’ve gathered? Do you really think we’d open our mouths from your clumsy kicks?”

As one of the prisoners sneered at me, I held up the centipede now crawling up my finger and said:

“Everyone always says that at first, but who knows?”

Before long, the martial artists began spilling everything they knew.

***

As the time of truth progressed, the riverside was filled with people trembling—though not from peeing themselves.

Probably imagining what would’ve happened if it were their own bodies instead.

After all, they’d seen centipedes crawl into people’s ears.

Naturally, they’d be horrified.

“Bro, brother... y-you’re incredible. What was it again... Heaven... poison... no, bug... Ah, sorry...”

The commander trembled once, scratched his head, and looked at me.

My temple twitched at the fact that he couldn’t remember my nickname, but I answered with a smile.

“You mean my nickname: Hea. Ven. Ven. O. Mous. Fa. Fa?”

“Ah! That’s right, Heavenly Venomous Fa-fa! You really live up to it.”

I wasn’t thrilled, but I smiled anyway.

“It’s just a small trick.”

And just then, figures rushed into the area with loud shouts.

“So-ryong!”

“Brother!”

It was Gwiseong and Cheong-ryong.

Behind them, Ji-ryong and Gung-bong appeared atop the riverbank, along °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° with the rest of the Dragon Fangs—

Dragging captured martial artists behind them.

Hyung-nim asked with a shocked expression:

“I thought I heard a Tang Clan sound signal, so I ran over—but what’s going on here? And you’re both together?”

“Oh, right. Beijing is where your house is, isn’t it, hyung-nim?”

“Nice to see you, Peng brother.”

Now that I thought about it, this was hyung-nim’s hometown.

If I’d known, I could’ve asked for his help with this.

I explained everything that had happened and asked him:

“...And that’s how it all turned out. You could say we’re tormenting the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect. Want to join us?”

It had been about a month since I last saw hyung-nim—

Now it was time for him to return.

And since we were planning to stir up trouble across the Central Plains, I offered the idea.

Hyung-nim responded with an intrigued expression:

“Tormenting the Blood Cult and Five Venoms Sect? Sounds fun. So—where to next?”

“Yeongcheon Prefecture.”

Next stop: the capital city of the nation.