Episode 064.
『+99(★★) Formless Poison (Wuxing Zhidu)
Classification: Consumable (Poison)
Rank: Mid-rank Treasure
Durability: None
Unique Effect: Deploys a colorless, tasteless, odorless poison to poison the enemy.
Enhancement Effect (9/99): Slightly increases poison damage.
Enhancement Effect (15/99): Slightly increases poison damage.
Enhancement Effect (20/99): Slightly increases poison damage.
……
Enhancement Effect (99/99): Slightly increases poison range.
Max Enhancement Effect (Max): Moderately increases poison damage and range.
Transcendence Effect (★): When a poisoned enemy dies, their corpse explodes, poisoning all nearby enemies.
Transcendence Effect (★★): Low probability to ignore all poison resistance and cause instant death.
Description: The strongest and deadliest poison developed by the Wandumen (Ten Thousand Poisons Gate). Because it is colorless, tasteless, and odorless, no one can detect it even when the poison is deployed, and its effects are enough to lead tens of thousands to death simultaneously.』
As you can see from the description, it is the ultimate poison.
What makes this poison especially terrifying is that it is colorless, tasteless, and odorless—impossible to see with the eyes, taste on the tongue, or smell in the nose.
Even if you deploy the poison, no one can notice it.
Moreover, its two-star transcendence effect is the ability to ignore poison resistance, so even if someone possessed a Poison-Avoidance Bead or poison-related resistance, they couldn’t block it.
Of course, it activated only at an extremely low probability.
And I had just fed it to Liu Yan.
Enough to kill hundreds of thousands, without leaving a single drop.
“….”
The fellow who had furrowed his brows at the sudden splash and cast a questioning gaze.
“Gurk.”
Suddenly clutched his throat and stomach and collapsed.
And no wonder. It wasn’t any ordinary poison—it was the Formless Poison.
And one enhanced all the way to two-star transcendence.
Even a Poison Demon with powerful resistance to poison couldn’t easily overcome something of that nature.
“Kuaaaaaack!”
Before long, he began screaming terrible screams of pain and rolling around.
It probably felt like his five viscera and six bowels were burning up.
Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do for him.
‘Nothing.’
All I could do was step far away and watch his agony.
“Gurk, kuaaaack!”
A terrible scream burst forth like a wounded beast wailing.
Fortunately, thanks to the soundproofing devices installed around the area, there was no worry of his screams leaking outside.
“…….”
I watched that figure blankly.
In a way, it might seem like an incredibly cruel act, but not at all.
Before the regression, I had committed a tremendous mistake regarding him.
‘Using the Poison-Avoidance Bead to control his poison.’
Liu Yan encountered while escorting Cinderella.
His uncontrolled poison went on a rampage, and to stop it, I inserted the Poison-Avoidance Bead into his body.
Fortunately, the gamble paid off, and his poison weakened, which consequently became a way to control the poison.
However, there was one decisive flaw in this.
‘His potent poison, the Poison Demon trait, had weakened.’
The Poison-Avoidance Bead that entered his body continuously caused detoxification effects, suppressing the Poison Demon’s poison.
Judging by power alone, his full strength had probably decreased by more than ten times.
That was the decisive mistake.
Even though there had been no other way at the time, his overwhelming combat power had weakened significantly because of it.
‘If I had found a way to completely control his poison rather than suppress it, I wouldn’t have gone through what I did back then.’
If that had been the case, even after being drenched in the poison of Leviathan—one of the Five Great Supremes—I wouldn’t have melted away.
Rather, using the poison, I would have surely landed a proper blow on that creature.
‘After swallowing the Poison-Avoidance Bead, he found a way to completely control the poison.’
After long research, he found a way to completely control his power, the Poison Demon.
That was Yidu Zhidu—using poison to control poison.
Literally, a method of governing poison with poison.
A way of drawing in external poison to control the poison that is endlessly generated due to his trait.
Of course, because the poison he emitted was so potent, ordinary poisons couldn’t execute Yidu Zhidu.
‘But with the Formless Poison, the story is different.’
This powerful poison hidden in Qin Shi Huang’s treasury was enough to control the Poison Demon’s poison.
So, regretfully, I used the Red Flame opportunity to get my hands on the Formless Poison.
For the Poison Demon, for his complete control.
“Heuheoheoheng!”
Of course, right now he is writhing in pain, unable to overcome its energy, but.
‘It seems like it will take quite some time.’
Leaving the fellow writhing in agony alone, I took refuge in the next room.
What welcomed me there was.
“Zhanlu.”
A peculiar sword of pure black.
Zhanlu.
The words Renzhe Wudi (The Benevolent Are Invincible) inscribed on the blade above the hilt speak to this sword’s standing.
A treasure that never breaks and saves its wielder when it senses killing intent.
And the swords laid out beside it.
“Chixiao, Tai’a, Qixing Longyuan, Ganjiang, Moye, Yuchang, Chunjun.”
Low-rank, and Mid-rank Treasures.
Before the Apocalypse had even begun, eight Treasures were already spread out before my eyes.
I had swept up a great many spoils of war through the Legion of Death.
If I hadn’t raided Qin Shi Huang’s treasury, possessing this level of Treasures at this point in time would have been impossible.
But I was still hungry.
If I had planned to be satisfied with a mere eight Treasures, I wouldn’t have regressed.
These eight swords were powerful in their own right, but that wasn’t all.
They were ingredients, and keys.
『Fusion』
I fused two swords: Zhanlu and Chixiao.
Flash!
With Great Fortune, and the Holy Grail’s 10% increase in success rate, it was virtually impossible for the fusion to fail.
Ah, of course, there was a 10% failure probability, but Great Fortune isn’t called Great Fortune for nothing.
Since it even corrected failure probabilities above a certain level, practically speaking, there was almost no chance of failure at the moment.
Flash!
Just as expected, the two Treasures became one.
But that wasn’t the end.
Flash, flash!
I fused all eight Treasures in succession, and finally, like a strange belt of sword scabbards, a single sword was completed.
A blue radiance, a blade with only a faint afterimage like a rising shadow.
『Xuanyuan
Classification: Talisman
Rank: High-rank Treasure (Composite)
Durability: 500/500
Unique Effect: Riyue Xingchen (Sun, Moon, and Stars) — Attack power is moderately increased during the day; defense is moderately increased at night.
Shanchuan Caomu (Mountains, Rivers, and Plants) — All stats are moderately increased in non-urban areas.
Nonggong Chuyang (Agriculture and Livestock) — All trait effects increase by 10%.
Sihai Yitong (Unification of the Four Seas) — Underwater breathing is possible, and buoyancy is freely controlled.
Description: Various gods gathered copper from Mount Shoushan to cast it for the Yellow Emperor, and it was later passed down to Xia Yu.
One side of the blade was engraved with Riyue Xingchen; the other side with Shanchuan Caomu.
One side of the hilt was inscribed with the techniques of Nonggong Chuyang; the other side with the strategies of Sihai Yitong.』
What was completed had the form of a sword, but it was not a sword.
A talisman.
Like the exclusive Treasure, the Holy Grail, it demonstrated effects simply by being possessed—arguably the most powerful and useful of all Treasures.
‘Finally!’
This was something even I couldn’t help but cheer for.
I had known the recipe, but it was a High-rank Treasure I hadn’t been able to create because I couldn’t acquire the materials.
Its effects were so powerful that the considerable difficulty in obtaining it became meaningless.
Bonuses according to time, environment, and region.
“Good, very good.”
Since my combat power would simply rise from possessing it, there were few Treasures better than this.
‘Now then, with this, I’ve achieved my goal of recklessly challenging Qin Shi Huang’s treasury, pushing myself to the limit.’
I wasn’t the only one who had grown stronger.
Though not to the extent of Xuanyuan, which was born from a recipe, there had been various Treasures stored in Qin Shi Huang’s treasury as well.
Though they were only the lowest grade, if I had this level of equipment while only the portents had begun to show before the Apocalypse had even truly arrived.
‘This is enough combat power to be counted among the best even if the Apocalypse started right now.’
Moreover, the roster of individuals included the Sword King, the Fist King, the Saintess, and the Guide of Death.
This was downright cheating.
‘Besides….’
I still had one more move left.
“Kuaaaaaack!”
The clear scream of the Poison Demon, Liu Yan, audible beyond the soundproof chamber.
It seemed the time had come.
I immediately entered the site where Liu Yan was writhing.
Sssssss—
But because of the green fog immediately visible.
Boom!
I had to close the door and come back out.
“It’s a poison mist?”
What filled the sealed room was poison mist. I had kept in mind from the start that he was a Poison Demon, so there was no chance of the poison leaking out, but.
‘A terrifying poison that would cause instant death upon even a slight inhalation.’
I could instinctively tell.
That if I set foot in that room right now, even someone like me would be in mortal danger.
On one hand, I was worried, but.
‘If he’s the Poison Demon, he should be able to pull through.’
Though he was currently unreliable, gloomy, and timid.
If he had the mental strength and perseverance to survive until the end of the Apocalypse.
He would endure.
I waited for a long while in front of the room door.
Quite a bit of time passed, and just as I was beginning to grow anxious.
Squeak—
The door opened.
“…You’re here?”
I looked at the fellow who had opened the door with delight.
“….”
Liu Yan looked at me calmly.
‘Oho?’
A pair of eyes like a still lake.
The gaze that had been shaking with anxiety until just moments ago had vanished without a trace.
Such a change indicated one thing.
“How is it? Does it feel like you’ve been reborn?”
The Poison Demon who had been unable to control his own poison in the past had disappeared.
‘It’s not simply that he can now control poison.’
I might fool others, but not my own eyes.
“It was hell…but thank you.”
He expressed his gratitude from the heart.
How could he not be happy, now that the poison control he had so desperately wished for was finally possible.
But the same was true for me.
“Yes. You should be grateful. After all, your trait evolved by two stages at once.”
Amazingly, he had achieved a two-stage trait evolution in an instant.
What now stood before me had become a being worthy of being called the Poison King, one who could fully control poison.
He had become the most powerful Awakened in existence.
*
“Huff, huff!”
Expelling ragged, heavy breaths, he forced his feet forward.
The steep mountain path; exhausted beyond measure, they had to move on while barely holding their staggering bodies together.
Because.
“Capture them!”
“You cannot escape!”
With those cries, a group was hot on their heels.
They were black-cloaked figures with the character for ‘Demon’ engraved on their backs—Awakeners who had awakened the trait of the Heavenly Demon Cult.
“Damn it!”
The three men in black suits who had been escorting the two people turned around.
“We will hold them back!”
“Team Leader, please.”
Team members delivering their final greetings.
“…I’m counting on you.”
He burned with the desire to stay behind, but he could not.
Right now, he was entrusted with a mission secretly given by Chairman Gang—to protect two people.
“This won’t do. Please get on my back. At this rate, we will all die.”
Unable to let his subordinates’ sacrifice be in vain, he hoisted the young man with serious injuries onto his back.
“P-please.”
It was the entreaty of the old man, worried for his wounded son.
Thus, as the team leader carrying the man ran for his life.
Bang, bang—
Several gunshots rang out.
And then.
“Kuuack!”
“Uack!”
The terrible final screams heralding death were heard as well.
He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. But the team leader did not look back.
‘…I’m sorry.’
If it couldn’t be undone anyway, he couldn’t let their deaths be in vain.
Until he safely delivered the old man and the young man to Sin Yunchan per the Chairman’s mission, he absolutely could not stop.