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A boy was standing by a well, surrounded by numerous martial artists with bewildered expressions.
Zhao Yiguang found the scene unfolding before him quite unusual.
He had never imagined that there would come a day when someone would be daring enough to oppose him in Lake Tai, much less a boy this young.
Zhao Yiguang glared at Do Yeonsan.
Even in the face of Zhao Yiguang’s frightening gaze, Do Yeonsan continued to chuckle and  smirk. He was not intimidated at all, rather, there was even a hint of madness in his appearance.
‘This bastard has truly gone insane.’
Zhao Yiguang felt the urgency to resolve the situation quickly.
If the fact that he had sexually assaulted and killed Do Yeonsan’s sister became known, he would not be able to escape the wrath of Jianghu. Furthermore, his past deeds could be exposed, and he could be condemned for it.
So, before all of that could happen, he needed to capture Do Yeonsan and silence him.
“Get that bastard!”
“Yes!”
His subordinates responded and approached Do Yeonsan.
Even as Do Yeonsan watched Zhao Yiguang’s subordinate rush towards him, he didn’t stop laughing.
“Hehehe! Hehe!”
In fact, his laughter grew even louder.
There was desperate madness in his laughter, which sent shivers down the spines of Zhao Yiguang’s men.
“Bastard! It’s better for you to surrender peacefully.”
“If you obediently follow us, we’ll kill you painlessly!”
Upon hearing their words, Do Yeonsan abruptly stopped laughing and spoke,
“You guys are truly stupid.”
“What?”
“You’re just a bunch of fools relying on brute strength. You didn’t even consider why your comrades fell down like that and approached me like this.”
Only then did the martial artists look at the lifeless bodies of their fallen comrades.
Their comrades had died, without any visible wounds.
Under normal circumstances, this would never happen.
It was then.
Poof!
Suddenly, a sharp noise echoed through the air.
“Hiik!”
“Keugh!”
At the same time, the screams of the martial artists erupted.
Once again, two of Zhao Yiguang’s men fell to the ground.
There were tiny silver needles embedded in their chests. The silver needles melted into their veins in an instant.
Only then did the warriors realize why there were no visible wounds on the bodies of their fallen comrades. The punctured wounds from the silver needles were too small to be easily noticeable.
Furthermore, since the silver needle also disappeared into the bloodstream, it was only natural that the cause of death could not be determined from a cursory glance.
The martial artists struck by the silver needles convulsed and then died.
“This is crazy!”
“Holy shit!”
The martial artists who witnessed the scene were stunned. They couldn’t close their mouths.
They had never imagined that a young boy like Do Yeonsan would be able to utilize such a wicked hidden projectile.
Do Yeonsan held a small cylinder in his hand.
The cylinder seemed to be some kind of firing device for the needles.
Zhao Yiguang shouted,
“Take that cylinder away from him!”
However, his men act immediately at his command.
They had seen the power of the needles right in front of them.
An invisible silver needle is hard to defend against, and once it pierces them, they have no time to do something about it since it immediately brings death.
No matter how loyal they were to Zhao Yiguang, they couldn’t help but hesitate when their lives were at stake.
“You fools!”
As his subordinates hesitated, Zhao Yiguang took matters into his own hands.
Swish!
As he swung, qi was released from the tip of his sword.
Clang!
Zhao Yiguang’s sword qi struck Do Yeonsan’s body directly.
Do Yeonsan couldn’t even scream and fell to the ground.
Only then did Zhao Yiguang’s subordinates rush forward and retrieve the cylinder from Do Yeonsan’s hands.
“He’s still breathing!”
They grabbed Do Yeon’s arms and pulled him to his feet.
Zhao Yiguang then approached Do Yeonsan.
Rip!
Zhao Yiguang hurriedly grabbed and ripped off Do Yeonsan’s clothes. And there revealed an steel plate armor covering Do Yeonsan’s chest.
Do Yeonsan managed to stay alive even after being struck by Zhao Yiguang’s sword qi because of the steel plate armor protecting his chest. The steel plate managed to offset the power of the sword qi.
“I’ve heard you were just an apprentice, yet you’ve used your head quite well.”
“Do… Suyeon.”
At that moment, Do Yeonsan struggled to open his mouth.
“What?”
“Do Suyeon. That’s the name of my younger sibling whom you killed.”
“Tch! So what if I know?”
Zhao Yiguang’s mouth twisted.
Raising his head with great difficulty, Do Yeonsan’s eyes were filled with anger.
His parents and sister had all died so miserably because of Zhao Yiguang’s desires, and the fact  that Zhao Yiguang, the perpetrator himself, didn’t even know his sister’s name enraged him.
“You destroyed my world.”
“Your world?”
“Yes! The place where my father, mother, and younger sibling existed.”
“You idiot! To call that your world with just that? The real world is not like that. Jianghu is the real world. Compared to Jianghu, your family is nothing, No one cares about you or them because you’re not worth anything.”
“You son of a bitch!”
“Ha! You’ve been living in your own delusion. But that ends now. Once I kill you, no one will know that I did such a thing.”
A ferocious glint appeared in Zhao Yiguang’s eyes.
Once he kills Do Yeonsan here, there will be no more evidence to expose his misdeeds.
Zhao Yiguang forcefully removed the steel plate armor covering Do Yeonsan’s chest.
Thud!
The heavy steel plate fell to the ground, exposing Do Yeon-san’s bare chest.
Zhao Yiguang slowly stabbed Do Yeonsan’s heart with his sword.
The flesh and muscles of Do Yeonsan’s chest became torn apart, causing blood to trickle down. But even then, the maniacal smile never left Do Yeonsan’s face.
“Heh heh!”
“You’re crazy. But, let’s see if you can still laugh like that once you’re dead.”
“Why do you think I came out here? Wouldn’t sneaking up on you have a higher chance of killing you?”
“What?”
“Aren’t you wondering why I specifically chose this well? You have no idea at all, do you?”
In that instant, Zhao Yiguang recalled Do Yeon-san putting a stone into the well.
Zhao Yiguang hurriedly commanded his subordinates.
“Hurry up and check the well!”
“Yes!”
After replying, his subordinate hurriedly peered into the well.
It was then.
Whoosh!
An enormous amount of mist suddenly rose from the well.
The subordinate, who got his face directly exposed to the mist, let out a pitiful scream.
“AARGH!”
The subordinate grabbed his face and staggered backward.
Tears and blood flowed between his fingers.
Although he had only been briefly exposed to the mist, his facial skin melted almost instantly.
“What?”
“Huh?”
Zhao Yiguang and the rest of his men stepped back in horror.
Even though they hadn’t been in direct contact with the mist yet, they already felt sick to the stomach, and found their heads spinning.
“It’s poison!”
“He’s crazy! How could he have released poison into the well!”
It was only then that they realized that the stone Do Yeonsan had thrown into the well was a toxic substance.
The stone Do Yeonsan threw in the well was none other than the Luminous Blood Poison. It was a mineral that once dissolved in water would spew out lethal poison like crazy.
Whoosh!
Poisonous mist began to escape the well, and spread at a frightening speed as it was carried by the wind.
“Eek!”
“You crazy bastard!”
Zhao Yiguang and his men visibly panicked.
It was clear that if the poison continued to spread with the wind, the entire area would turn into a living hell.
Do Yeonsan covered his mouth with his sleeve and shouted,
“If this is the so-called Jianghu, then it’s better for it to perish! We’ll all die together!”
Tears of blood streamed down Do Yeonsan’s eyes.
Although he had developed some sort of resistance to the poisonous mineral from handling it, Do Yeonsan could only hold out for so long.
“Geuk!”
“Hik! I… I can’t breathe–”
All those who inhaled the poisonous mist gasped for air, and then collapsed.
Witnessing such a scene, Zhao Yiguang and his men froze in place.
They had never seen such a deadly poison in their lives, let alone see someone directly exposed to it without any fear despite having no protective gear.
“Heuk!”
Zhao Yiguang quickly covered his mouth with his sleeve and looked for an escape route. However, the entire area was already filled with thick poisonous fog. He couldn’t see a place where he could take refuge.
“A-Are you suggesting we die together?”
“I have no desire to live any longer.”
“I, I’ll properly compensate you if you stop spreading the poison. How much do you want?! I’ll give you anything! So just stop the spread of poison!”
“Hehehe! How can I reverse the poison that has already spread? I don’t have the skill for that, and even if I did, I wouldn’t want to.”
Do Yeonsan’s gaze as he looked at Zhao Yiguang was empty.
His heart was already dead. He had persevered and lived until now solely driven by his desire for revenge.
‘I made a mistake. I touched a poisonous flower.’1
For the first time in his life, Zhao Yiguang regretted his actions.
He didn’t regret raping the girl, but he regretted choosing Do Yeonsan’s younger sister as his victim.
With a madman like Do Yeonsan, it would have been better not to make any contact with him at all, but in the case it happens, it would have been better to kill him before any problems arose.
‘Damn it!’
Zhao Yiguang raised his internal energy to protect himself. Thanks to that, he remained relatively unharmed from the poison, but unfortunately, his subordinates’ internal energy was not as strong.
“Hngh!”
“H-Help me!”
His subordinates melted and died as the poison corroded their internal organs.
Witnessing the horrifying sight of blood dripping from their skin and their flesh melting away, Zhao Yiguang clenched his teeth.
He had no desire to help them, nor did he have the ability to do so.
He doesn’t care what happens to his subordinates, his survival comes first before anything else.
‘There must be a way to escape.’
Zhao Yiguang quickly looked around.
However, everywhere he looked, there were poisonous clouds everywhere.
He truly couldn’t see a way out.
And even as he scanned his surroundings, he could hear people screaming from all directions.
People exposed to the poisonous air were dying.
Even Do Yeonsan, who was at the center of the poison cloud, was not in good condition either.
Half of his facial skin had melted away, and blood was dripping from his ears. Nevertheless, he still stood defiantly, glaring at Zhao Yiguang like a demon.
In his heart, Zhao Yiguang wanted nothing more than to swing his sword and behead Do Yeonsan. However, he could’t afford to waste even a single bit of his energy right now.
The slightest lapse in his control of internal energy would allow the poison gas to penetrate his body.
At that moment, someone’s lion roar burst out.
“What’s going on here?!”
Whoosh!
The released power contained in the lion’s roar caused a disturbance in the surrounding air.
It was truly a terrifying power.
Amidst the poisonous mist, the owner of the lion’s roar charged forward with a spear in hand.
“Haaa!”
The owner of the lion’s roar bellowed again as he swung his spear.
Whoosh!
The spear spun fiercely in his hand, creating a powerful pulling force. As a result, the scattered dense poisonous mist began to gather around his spear.
It was an unbelievable sight to behold.
As the poisonous mist gradually dissipated, the identity of the spear-wielding warrior was soon revealed.
He was none other than the Spear King, Zhao Jakyung.
His face was filled with rage as he vigorouisly spun his spear to gather the poisonous mist.
He had only come to Lake Tai a little while ago. Then, he decided to take a walk around the area to clear his mind off the issue about the turbulent energies.
The scenery of Lake Tai was so beautiful it helped ease his mind to some extent.
Then this incident occurred right at that moment.
From a place not far from where he was, the poisonous mist suddenly spread out, engulfing the area.
He had come running due to the unusual atmosphere, but by then, many lives had already been lost due to the poisonous mist.
“Who is responsible for this senseless act?!”
Fierce rage flickered in Zhao Jakyung’s eyes as he furiously swung his spear.
As he gathered poisonous mist through his spear, he scanned his surroundings to find the culprit behind all this chaos.
He quickly found the source of the poison.
It was emanating from a well, and standing beside the well was Do Yeonsan.
Despite having his flesh corroded by the poison, Do Yeonsan still stared at Zhao Yiguang with a crazed look in his eyes.
Zhao Jakyung didn’t know why Do Yeonsan had that kind of look in his eyes, nor did he know why his grandson, Zhao Yiguang was there, but it was clear that Do Yeonsan was the mastermind behind all of this.
“How dare you commit such slaughter. Are you even human?”
“Krghh! I–”
Do Yeonsan tried to explain his self, but his vocal cords had already melted, rendering him unable to speak. His appearance only infuriated Zhao Jakyung even further.
Zhao Jakyung wanted to take care of Do Yeonsan right away, but he had to deal with the poisonous mist that was spreading around the well first.
“Haa! Fire Dragon’s Devastating Flame!”
A fire dragon shot out of his spear and began burning away the poisonous mist.