So Jeongnak was dumbfounded.
He had truly never imagined that he would be driven into a corner as a liar at today's gathering.
But that wasn't what mattered right now.
'The poison isn't working?'
So Jeongnak was flustered. If it had been any other matter, he would never have panicked in this situation. How could he not know that showing agitation would only invite more suspicion?
But the fact that the poison wasn't working was a tremendous shock to him.
At the sight of So Jeongnak's flustered state, Mayeomgun and Baekgolhonma exchanged glances. The way So Jeongnak looked now seemed like the reaction of someone hiding something.
Suppressing his startled heart, So Jeongnak administered another poison.
This time, it was the Frenzy Poison.
This poison didn't directly harm the body.
It was a poison that made one lose control of their emotions, causing them to explode with rage and madness.
It was a poison that only masters of the highest level of poison arts could handle, completely different in nature from the White Snake Powder he had administered earlier.
'Lose it! Explode with all the rage you've built up toward them!'
The moment he did, it would be over. Those two prideful old demons would never let such an affront slide.
It didn't matter if they vented their anger on him. As always, the one who lost their cool first was the loser.
He had expected Geom Mugeuk to scream and explode with rage, but.
Geom Mugeuk instead smiled even more broadly and spoke to the two old demons.
"How fortunate that you two are such cautious and wise individuals."
He laughed? He laughed? So Jeongnak was even more shocked by Geom Mugeuk's reaction.
'The poison didn't work again!'
Geom Mugeuk was perfectly fine. He even pressed the attack again with that irksome face.
"Just look at how he can't say a word. It's clear he's aiming for mutual destruction. If I were you two, I would have already lost my temper, hurled every curse I know, and beaten that man senseless."
So Jeongnak forcibly held back the urge to scream. He was so furious that he wondered if the poison he had administered had actually poisoned himself.
But no. If the poison had affected him instead, he definitely would have been the one shouting.
'Why on earth isn't the poison working?'
Then a person flashed through So Jeongnak's mind.
'Could it be? Did the Poison King give him an antidote to take beforehand?'
It was possible to take an antidote in advance against a specific poison. Of course, one had to know exactly what poison the opponent would administer.
Could the Poison King have predicted that he would administer White Snake Powder and Frenzy Poison?
Even if he generously assumed that the Poison King had predicted his poisons and given an antidote in advance, there was no way to block two poisons of such completely different natures perfectly. Moreover, the antidote had to be taken in the exact correct sequence.
Ah, come to think of it, there weren't just two poisons. Hadn't there been the first poison he administered? Even the poison that made one's qi and blood expand and burst the moment they used internal energy hadn't worked.
'Is the Poison King on that level?'
So Jeongnak fell into deep thought. Should he administer his hidden trump card poison and kill him? Or should he let him die by these two's hands as originally planned?
'I have to kill him while I have the chance!'
If Geom Mugeuk tried to kill him, he would die helplessly. His life was on the line, so he had to kill him first and worry about the rest later.
In the end, So Jeongnak administered the hidden trump card poison he possessed. The ingredients were so precious that it was a poison he wouldn't use except in truly dire situations.
Lifeless True Poison.
It was a lethal poison that killed the target instantly—a poison he had crafted himself. Because death was instantaneous upon administration, there was no antidote.
'He can't block this.'
He should have rolled his eyes back and collapsed on the spot.
But this time too, Geom Mugeuk was perfectly fine. He even sowed discord again.
"Be honest. You never intended to perform the great ritual to break the taboo in the first place, did you?"
So Jeongnak's eyes went wide. He was shocked that even his own unique poison hadn't worked.
But his appearance made it look as though Geom Mugeuk's words had struck a nerve.
He needed to say something to escape suspicion, but he couldn't overcome the shock that the Lifeless True Poison hadn't worked.
'No matter how capable the Poison King is, he couldn't create an antidote to prepare for the Lifeless True Poison in advance. If such an antidote existed, it would make a person virtually invulnerable to all poisons. Such an antidote couldn't possibly exist.'
At that very moment, So Jeongnak flinched, his eyes growing wider and wider.
'Could it be?'
So Jeongnak's body trembled. It couldn't be.
'Yes, there's no way.'
So Jeongnak looked at Geom Mugeuk with trembling eyes.
Despite being hit with poison continuously, he was completely unharmed. He should have felt at least some discomfort or dizziness, but instead he was smiling at him.
In that relaxed demeanor, four characters came to So Jeongnak's mind.
Four characters that those who had mastered the poison arts hated to see even in their dreams.
Invulnerable to all poisons!
Even as this happened, Geom Mugeuk's sowing of discord continued.
"Look at that anxious expression. Do you really think he's not deceiving you two?"
Mayeomgun and Baekgolhonma silently stared at So Jeongnak. Indeed, ever since his claim of having no internal energy was exposed as a lie, he had been showing suspicious reactions.
So Jeongnak, who had been looking at Geom Mugeuk with a face full of disbelief, finally reached a conclusion.
"The Young Cult Lord is invulnerable to all poisons!"
In the heavy silence that flowed for a moment, Geom Mugeuk responded nonchalantly.
"Is that all the excuse you could come up with?"
Then Mayeomgun shouted irritably.
"Both of you, enough!"
Emotion seeped into Mayeomgun's grating voice, making it even more unpleasant to hear.
"What nonsense are you two spouting?"
His anger was directed at both of them.
So Jeongnak calmly explained the situation.
"I just administered poison to the Young Cult Lord continuously. Yet none of it worked. The reason I couldn't properly respond to the Young Cult Lord's instigation is because of that."
Then this time, Geom Mugeuk asked the two old demons.
"Have you ever seen someone invulnerable to all poisons in your life?"
Mayeomgun had never seen such a thing.
Baekgolhonma was one hundred fifty years old, so he might have seen it once.
But Baekgolhonma was the same. He had never even heard of anyone being called invulnerable to all poisons.
Geom Mugeuk mocked So Jeongnak.
"Then you shall see one today. Here, behold this person invulnerable to all poisons to your heart's content. Why don't you call a painter and have your portrait painted together?"
The two old demons didn't look at Geom Mugeuk; they looked at So Jeongnak with suspicious eyes. The meaning in those eyes was clear.
What was this absurd talk of invulnerability to all poisons?
So Jeongnak felt suffocated.
'Damn it! What proper judgment could these old specters who should have died several times over already possibly have?'
But he couldn't afford to let them slip away like this. Especially not in a situation where poison didn't work on Geom Mugeuk.
"Didn't I tell you? The Young Cult Lord is no ordinary person. Why else would I have suppressed his internal energy and called you two here together to deal with him?"
The two old demons were half-convinced, half-doubtful.
They had come to kill Geom Mugeuk in the first place. The very fact that they were wavering meant that Geom Mugeuk's scheme of sowing discord was working properly.
"Then we can just check."
Geom Mugeuk made an unexpected proposal.
"View the site of the great ritual and confirm the person who will assist with it. After confirming whether that man truly intends to perform the great ritual for you two, then kill me."
Then Mayeomgun asked Geom Mugeuk with suspicious eyes.
"Why would you go so far for us? We are the people trying to kill you."
Baekgolhonma also regarded Geom Mugeuk with similar suspicion.
"The reason is simple. Because that man is utterly contemptible. He looked down on our cult and schemed to cause mutual destruction between you two seniors and me. Though we were active in different eras, are we not all demonic path martial artists?"
So Jeongnak's face hardened. *We?* He could tell Geom Mugeuk was deliberately using such expressions.
Geom Mugeuk's words continued.
"Don't we demonic path martial artists have our own temperament? If we die fighting, so be it, but being used by others and dying is what I hate most! Especially by rats who hide in the shadows and hatch conspiracies!"
As he spoke, Geom Mugeuk looked at So Jeongnak.
Because they fully related to those words, the two old demons glanced at So Jeongnak.
So Jeongnak could tell. Every time Geom Mugeuk spoke, the old demons' trust in the Young Cult Lord grew.
'I can't fight with words. I have to come up with a scheme.'
Geom Mugeuk kept pressing him.
"What's so difficult about showing us the site of the great ritual in advance?"
Then So Jeongnak spoke to the old demons.
"Kill the Young Cult Lord. Then I will immediately escort you there. I will also call the person who will perform the great ritual together."
So Jeongnak glared at Geom Mugeuk.
'No matter what tricks you pull, you won't be able to move them.'
The bloody aura flowing from Mayeomgun's body and the deathly aura emanating from Baekgolhonma's eyes grew even more intense.
No matter what, these two were people filled with hatred toward the Heavenly Demon Cult.
Though So Jeongnak was acting suspiciously, their resolve to kill Geom Mugeuk remained unchanged.
Then Geom Mugeuk calmly raised a question.
"Isn't it strange?"
Thinking he was up to another trick, So Jeongnak shouted.
"Don't listen to him, just kill him!"
But what Geom Mugeuk said was something they couldn't help but hear next.
"What is strange?"
In response to Mayeomgun's question, Geom Mugeuk raised his doubt.
"If his words are true, he called you two here while suppressing even my internal energy. He could have just killed me himself. Why did he insist on having you two kill me?"
As So Jeongnak tried to interject, Baekgolhonma raised his hand to stop him.
At the gaze telling him to continue, Geom Mugeuk answered his own question.
"He intends to reveal to the world that you two are the ones who killed me. If that happens, you two will be hunted by our cult's experts for the rest of your lives. Because my father would never let it go."
Then Baekgolhonma, who had been listening, opened his mouth with a child's voice.
"Do you think we haven't prepared ourselves for that?"
Of course, they had been prepared to be hunted.
What Geom Mugeuk wanted to say started from here.
"But you won't be hunted. Because you won't be able to break the taboo."
A dark aura began to surge from Baekgolhonma's eyes and engulf the surroundings, but Geom Mugeuk's words continued.
"I'm sure you know their goal is for our cult and the Martial Alliance to fight until they bleed, resulting in mutual destruction. But if it is revealed that you two killed me, do you think my father would still wage war?"
Geom Mugeuk shook his head firmly.
"He would postpone the war for the sake of revenge. He is someone who would start a war for his son; there's no way he wouldn't seek revenge. Is that truly the situation they want?"
The eyes of Baekgolhonma and Mayeomgun wavered slightly. They could feel them wavering.
"And do you think you two would be caught easily?"
They had no intention of being caught easily. They had said they would kill even the Cult Leader, but they hadn't orchestrated all of this just to die.
Geom Mugeuk pressed them even more forcefully.
"Would they prefer that the war be postponed? Or would they prefer that you two, who killed me and the Demon Annihilation Vice Lord, die failing to break the taboo—all while saving the enormous cost of the great ritual?"
It was truly plausible, so the hearts of Mayeomgun and Baekgolhonma wavered.
Baekgolhonma spoke to So Jeongnak as if giving an order.
"Guide us to the site of the great ritual."
Baekgolhonma's gaze toward him was firm. So Jeongnak could not refuse those words. If even he found himself nodding at Geom Mugeuk's words, how could those two old demons not fall for it?
He had known Geom Mugeuk was no ordinary person, but experiencing it firsthand left him unable to keep his composure.
If he resisted clumsily for no reason, the situation would obviously only become more difficult.
But even if they went, he had to suppress Geom Mugeuk's internal energy.
Saying so outright would clearly offend the prideful old men and cause a backlash, so he spoke circuitously.
"The Young Cult Lord might launch a surprise attack."
Then Mayeomgun answered confidently.
"Don't worry about that. We'll handle it ourselves."
Mayeomgun spoke to Geom Mugeuk.
"You two walk side by side in front. We will follow behind."
He could refuse no longer.
He truly hated such variables, but there was no choice.
"Very well, let us go."
In the end, So Jeongnak took the lead and walked.
'Still, today's ending won't change.'
Geom Mugeuk followed right behind him, and the two old demons followed after that.
The patients, their guardians, and the physicians were still asleep. Geom Mugeuk didn't spare them a single glance, as if they were beneath his notice.
And so So Jeongnak led the three people out of the medical hall.
People they met inside the infirmary politely bowed their heads in greeting to So Jeongnak. He normally accepted such greetings graciously, but now he had no leisure of mind for that.
The place So Jeongnak guided them to was his own residence.
After manipulating hidden mechanisms concealed in the desk, bookshelf, and display cabinet in succession, a secret door leading underground opened.
Going down the stairs, there was a spacious area. Night-luminescent pearls were embedded everywhere, making the surroundings clearly visible, and thanks to air holes, it wasn't stifling.
This was precisely the place where So Jeongnak secretly cultivated his poison arts. The walls on all sides were fully stocked with all manner of poisonous herbs and poisons. Decades of his secrets were all there.
"The great ritual will be performed here."
Now that they had arrived here, the stiff expressions of Mayeomgun and Baekgolhonma eased.
Had he not expected this situation? Inwardly, So Jeongnak was curious about Geom Mugeuk's true intentions.
Why on earth had he insisted on seeing this place? Just to buy time? Was he stalling while waiting for someone to come rescue him?
'If so, you made a misjudgment.'
This underground space, sealed on all four sides by walls, was an impossible place to escape from. Moreover, once the secret entrance was closed, no one could come looking for them here.
So Jeongnak looked at Geom Mugeuk. He was looking around here and there like a person visiting a home.
"You seem to have a very meticulous personality, but your poisonous herb organization is quite lacking. Shall I organize them for you instead? I happen to have been rigorously trained in poisonous herb organization."
The moment he saw his relaxed demeanor, So Jeongnak felt a chill in his chest and realized one fact.
'Come to think of it, it's the same for us—there's nowhere to escape either.'
Absolute Regression, Chapter 647