Chapter 51: Immortal’s Cripple

Jang Yi charged toward the enemy, recalling memories from before.

Yeo Seon's voice, busily explaining Sewoon's plan, vividly echoed in his ears.

— Operation name! Oath of the Peach Garden!

— ...You mean the Oath of the Peach Garden?

— Yes! You three will now become the sworn brothers who gathered under the peach tree!!

— Huh??

However, the beginning of this plan wasn’t a heartwarming moment of forming brotherhood under a peach tree.

Cheok!

Cheok!

Daewoong nocked a bundle of arrows to his bowstring.

Jang Il raised his shield from his spot.

The Dark Flower Unit warriors had no idea what on earth these men were trying to do.

But just as they were about to intercept the madly charging Jang Yi—

“All units, counterattack!?”

“Uh, wh-what?”

Skreech!

Suddenly, Jang Yi veered in the opposite direction from where he had been running.

“Hyung-nim—!”

“Bring it!”

Out of nowhere, he began sprinting at full speed toward his own brother.

At some point, Jang Il also tilted the edge of his shield diagonally against the ground.

Tap!

Fwoosh!

“-!!”

In a surprising move, Jang Yi stepped onto Jang Il’s shield and leapt high into the air.

— First, the youngest, Zhang Fei, lifts his brother using a shield!

At the same time, Yeo Seon’s voice echoed in Jang Il’s head.

With the shield as a platform, Jang Yi soared to a height far beyond his usual capability.

Swoosh! Swhing!

— Second, the second brother, Guan Yu, throws the ‘items’ he prepared over the enemies’ heads!

Instead of a pair of spears, other items were thrown over the heads of the Dark Flower Unit warriors stationed in the Black Flower Killing Formation.

His massively swollen right arm muscles, on the verge of bursting, whipped like a lash.

Whoosh!

Five small leather pouches zipped through the air like arrows, aiming for the enemies’ heads.

“-!!”

‘N-no way!’

Ha Huyeong and the eight Dark Flower Unit warriors felt chills run down their spines as they recognized the mysterious pouches.

Suddenly, one of Sewoon's statements from ten days ago resurfaced in their minds.

— Starting today, the Tang Clan’s primary martial arts shall return to poison arts.

It was poison!

Sewoon had declared it to them without ambiguity.

They had even prepared for poison arts during training—just in case.

However, the three had fought through the entire duel without once using poison techniques.

They had subdued their opponents purely with their own martial arts.

And so they had thought—how could someone prepare poison arts in just ten days?

They had let their guard down.

‘Even if it's late!’

‘We have to stop them—!!’

Shhhhhh!

Swaaa!

The stunned Dark Flower Unit members hastily broke formation and launched hidden weapons to intercept the pouches.

Fwoop!

Fwoop!!

“?!”

“!!”

But someone had already acted ahead of them by two steps.

It was Daewoong.

Swaaash!

Five long lines traced the air.

— Third! The eldest brother, Liu Bei, hits every target painted in the sky!!

With a roaring sound that tore through the wind—

BOOM!

BANG!

Five arrows infused with force struck the leather pouches with pinpoint accuracy.

The pouches, swollen and tense, all burst upon contact with the arrowheads.

Then—

Shhhhhh!

Whoosh!

Snowflakes scattered like cherry blossoms all around—completely out of place in the blistering summer heat.

But what set these snowflakes apart—

Was that their shimmering color, reflecting the light, was not pure white, but the hue of verdant green.

‘Ahh.’

‘……Beautiful.’

The spectators were mesmerized by the breathtaking sight before their eyes.

But the moment those brilliant green snowflakes filled the air—

‘……That poison—how—!’

For some reason, Tang Muyeol, the Clan Head, shot up from his seat with a horrified expression.

His eyes were laced with unmistakable shock.

A secret technique—so secret it was unjustly lost and left him cursing the heavens—was now in Sewoon’s possession.

One of the most confidential secrets of the Sichuan Tang Clan was in Sewoon’s hands.

“Khgh!”

“Ugh!”

Meanwhile, groans began to spread through the martial arena.

Clang.

Clatter.

The Dark Flower Unit warriors, unable to retrieve the hidden weapons they had launched, began to collapse one by one onto the ground.

Those covered in the green snowflakes were already succumbing rapidly to a state of irreversible poisoning.

A completely unforeseen situation.

As everyone stood dumbfounded—

“Inner and Outer Hall Leader.”

“Y-yes?”

Sewoon slowly rose to his feet and addressed Son Geon.

At that moment, all eyes turned toward him.

Sewoon spoke calmly.

“It seems the match is over. Would you kindly deliver the verdict?”

“-!!”

Startled by those words, Son Geon belatedly came to his senses and scanned the martial arena.

‘How could this be…….’

There hadn’t even been a single clash between the two sides, yet the outcome of the final match was plain for all to see.

“Ugh, ugh.”

“M-my body won’t mov…”

The once-solid Black Flower Killing Formation had completely collapsed, and the warriors who had formed that Combined Formation were visibly in no condition to fight.

On the other hand, the three members of Sewoon’s group stood completely unharmed, unaffected by the poison.

“T-the final winner is…”

“—Sewoon-ah.”

Interrupting Son Geon’s attempt to declare the winner was none other than the Clan Head, Tang Muyeol.

His face was flushed red.

The outcome against the Dark Flower Unit no longer held any real importance to him.

What mattered more was the green snowflowers Sewoon had just unveiled to the world.

Those were far more significant than anything else.

“Yes, Father.”

“H-how do you have that poison…?”

The tragic forbidden poison that disappeared with the death of his father, Poison Commander Tang Eui-tae.

The very foundational venom that once earned the Sichuan Tang Clan the title First Clan of Sichuan without dispute among the Murim.

“…How do you possess Father’s Immortal’s Cripple?”

One of the Eight Extreme Poisons of the previous generation, known to steal the breath even from immortals.

At the sight of Immortal’s Cripple reappearing, Tang Muyeol’s voice trembled.

“A-all physicians of Celestial Medicine Hall, immediately—!”

Tang Jun, Head of Celestial Medicine Hall, was horrified at hearing the name Immortal’s Cripple and tried to summon all the physicians.

But—

Swish.

Sewoon raised one hand and stopped him.

“It’s alright, Hall Master. That won’t be necessary.”

“B-but the toxicity of Immortal’s Cripple...!”

“I already adjusted its composition in advance. Other than Qi Dispersal, no other toxins remain. Even those effects will vanish completely after half a quarter.”

“A-are you sure?”

“Yes. Would I ever lie about this?”

Hearing this, Tang Jun finally let out a sigh of relief.

Immortal’s Cripple was an extreme poison centered around two effects: paralysis and Qi Dispersal.

Among these, the paralysis compound could gradually worsen to the point of fatality—but if that part had been removed, then the lives of the Dark Flower Unit warriors were not in danger.

“What did he just say? Immortal’s Cripple?”

“Wait, isn’t Immortal’s Cripple the poison that vanished with Elder Tang Eui-tae?”

“…And Young Master Sewoon has that pinnacle of Qi Dispersing Poisons?”

Yet what earned Immortal’s Cripple its place among the Eight Extreme Poisons of the previous generation was the latter property.

Qi Dispersing Poison (산공독).

A deadly venom that temporarily stripped the victim of all internal strength—absolutely fatal to any martial artist.

So infamous was it that anyone who used it would be declared a public enemy by both the Murim Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance alike.

However, the true reason both factions regulated Qi Dispersing Poisons so strictly lay elsewhere.

‘Most of them cause horrific side effects aside from the Qi Dispersal itself.’

Ironically, most Qi Dispersing Poisons harmed ordinary civilians more than martial artists.

The lower-grade the poison, the more toxic the Qi it emitted when dispersing a martial artist’s energy—making it lethally dangerous to those without martial training.

In the past, when martial artists abused Qi Dispersing Poisons indiscriminately and caused massive civilian casualties…

The Imperial Court became furious—breaking the long-standing non-intervention policy on Murim affairs and taking direct action.

Alarmed by the unprecedented situation, both orthodox and unorthodox factions rushed to negotiate with the Court—resulting in a dramatic compromise.

Thus was born the Iron Rule of Qi Dispersing Poisons:

—From this day forth, Qi Dispersing Poisons are forbidden to all Murim practitioners.

—However, any Qi Dispersing Poison that causes no harm to untrained civilians when activated is exempt from the ban.

The clause added as a postscript was the product of endless negotiation between the Murim Alliance, the Unorthodox Alliance, and the Imperial Court.

It was intended to save face, preventing the image of the Murim factions bowing to imperial authority.

The Imperial Court, believing no such “harmless” poison could exist, had readily agreed to the compromise.

However…

‘The only poison to ever satisfy that impossible condition was Immortal’s Cripple of the Sichuan Tang Clan.’

As Sewoon had explained earlier, the paralysis compound in Immortal’s Cripple dispersed harmlessly in individuals without martial arts training.

The poison, once a secret technique handed down only to Clan Heads of the Sichuan Tang Clan, was the Murim’s sole “harmless” Qi Dispersing Poison.

If Ten Thousand Blossoms and Fireflies was the peak of the Tang Clan’s hidden weapon arts…

Then Immortal’s Cripple was the very essence of the Tang Clan’s poison arts.

For that reason, regardless of faction, all of Murim feared Immortal’s Cripple.

Qi Dispersal alone was enough to destroy everything they had painstakingly built.

‘…But Grandfather passed away without passing down the formula or usage techniques for Immortal’s Cripple.’

And so, on that fateful day, the Central Plains was freed from the threat of the one and only Qi Dispersing Poison.

Conversely, the Tang Clan began its slow decline.

Shhh…

By now, silence had fallen over the arena.

The noisy clan members quieted down, all eyes fixed on Sewoon.

Cheok.

Sewoon once again bowed formally toward Tang Muyeol and spoke.

“Forgive my delayed response, Clan Head. I thought it best to first quell the clan’s fears, even if it meant being discourteous.”

“It’s fine. But now, tell me quickly—what exactly happened?”

“Yes. I shall.”

Sewoon took a deep breath.

Then, eyes gleaming, he began his explanation.

“First, please understand—I had to keep the entire process hidden until I succeeded in fully restoring it.”

“-!!”

Tang Muyeol’s eyes trembled violently, like an earthquake.

What Sewoon had just said was essentially confirming that the poison he used was, in fact, Immortal’s Cripple.

“Then it’s really…!”

“Yes. The poison I used is indeed Immortal’s Cripple.”

“-!!”

The sound of people gasping filled the room.

The clan members who heard Sewoon’s words felt an electrifying jolt like a lightning bolt had struck.

“…Did you obtain the formula from the Poison Demon?”

Tang Muyeol asked cautiously.

There was no one else in the world who might have possessed that formula—so it was a natural assumption.

And yet, Tang Muyeol was only half right.

The reason Sewoon knew the formula was because—

Before returning to the past, he had collected and compiled every secret poison manual the Poison Demon had pillaged from across the Central Plains—including the secrets of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

‘I recreated it myself.’

Yes. The current version of Immortal’s Cripple was an entirely new “original” he had created on his own.

In his past life, Sewoon had failed to recover the ancestral formula for Immortal’s Cripple.

Upon determining that the recipe was completely lost, he resolved to invent a new one.

—You damned disciple!!

—Aaargh! How in hell did you create Immortal’s Cripple!?

As mentioned before, he had created the new version entirely without help from the Poison Demon.

However—

He could not possibly relay that truth to his father.

“The symbolic weight Immortal’s Cripple holds within our clan…”

“…!”

“And the risk of other powers threatening our family if this information leaked. That’s why I even kept it secret from Lord Geum Hwa… Yes. The poison the Poison Demon was supposedly developing was in fact Immortal’s Cripple.”

“!!”

Sewoon had decided to pin the entire origin of the poison on the Poison Demon.

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