At the entrance to Cheondok Forest sat an old man with pure white hair. Even at a glance, his presence was extraordinary, and he carried several poison pouches strapped around his waist. These pouches were the symbol of the poison masters of Cheondok Forest.

Counting the pouches on the old man, there were nine in total.

When one first learns poison arts, they carry one pouch; the Poison King carries twelve. So, seeing this old man with nine pouches, it was clear from the number just how formidable a master he was in this place.

“I am Geom Mugeuk. I have come to see the Poison King.”

When I greeted him politely, the old man revealed himself.

“This old man is called Sangseon (相仙).”

He was the Poison King’s right-hand man and one of the Four Great Poisons of Cheondok Forest.

“A precious guest has come out.”

“Since a rare visitor has come, this old man will welcome you personally.”

Although I had sent notice beforehand that I would come, I didn’t expect Sangseon himself to appear.

“Follow me carefully.”

I followed Sangseon into the forest. The woods were truly dense.

“This Cheondok Forest is the largest area within the domain of the Eight Demon Lords.”

It was indeed wide enough to boast about.

Ssss—

On the path, I saw a snake with a peculiar shape.

“That is the Baekhyeol Snake (白血蛇). Uniquely, its blood is white. If bitten by it and you don’t take an antidote, you won’t last even a moment.”

They said there were a thousand kinds of poisons in this place. The forest was filled with all kinds of poisonous plants, venomous insects, and deadly snakes. A single misstep here would make finding your corpse impossible — this was Cheondok Forest.

Along the way, I also met poison masters gathering poisonous herbs. They were called Dok-A (毒牙) — Poison Fangs — and the number of pouches hanging from their waists varied.

After passing through such dense woods, we arrived at the Poison King’s residence. It was a circular building — low but very spacious.

“I will # Nоvеlight # wait here. Talk, then come out.”

“Thank you.”

I entered the building.

Inside, there was one large, undivided space.

Everything was there — dozens of bookshelves and desks, countless devices whose purposes were unclear, a bed, tables, wardrobes, display cabinets, even a wooden tub for bathing. This was the Poison King’s room.

In the center of the room, the Poison King crouched among scattered items, reading something.

This was my first meeting with the Poison King.

Before my regression, in my youth, I had only seen him from afar once or twice. By the time I returned to obtain the Great Law Materials, he had already died. So today was the first time I saw him up close.

If I were to describe his first impression briefly, it would be: youthful and scholarly.

Usually, when people hear “Poison King,” they imagine a hunched old man or someone whose skin is covered with sores, inflammation, and peeling from the effects of poison — a face and body in a terrible state. But the Poison King of this era was very neat and clean.

Though middle-aged, he looked really young. If there were a contest to pick the most youthful face in the main sect, I would be sure the Poison King would win first place.

He looked like a young man you’d call a friend. On top of that, he gave off a very intellectual aura — just by appearance, he looked smarter than General Sima Ming.

If it weren’t for the deep green robe and the twelve pouches strapped to his waist, anyone would have taken him for a scholar. No, he looked like a pretty boy who might be a student learning from a scholar.

“Ah, the Poison King was this youthful.”

Maybe his growth stopped at some point because of poison? That thought crossed my mind.

“Did such a pure face really do those things? Dreamed of becoming the supreme poison master to dominate the martial world?”

He truly led a life that did not fit his looks.

When I approached him, the Poison King, eyes still on his book, said:

“Bring me the blue bottle on the desk there.”

His voice was as young as his appearance.

I took the blue bottle he mentioned and walked over to him.

“Be careful. Even a drop of Cheongdok (靑毒, Blue Poison) spilled can kill.”

I won’t die! Even if you poured all the poisons in this room on me, I wouldn’t die!

The Poison King mixed the poison I handed him with another poison that was on the table.

At the moment they mixed—

Bang! — a sound, and poisonous smoke rose. I stepped back and quickly waved my hands. What a flashy welcome ceremony.

Whooosh—

I condensed the poisonous smoke rising by releasing my inner energy, trapping it between my hands.

I was about to carry it out and throw it out the window when—

“No! Wait!”

The Poison King ran and grabbed a large sack.

“Put it in here.”

I gathered the poisonous smoke I had trapped and pushed it into the sack.

He tied the mouth of the sack tightly with a cord, then tossed the sack filled with poison smoke beside the table.

Then he resumed looking through his books.

“What on earth is wrong?”

He was lost in thought. Still, he did not glance at me even once. He wasn’t deliberately ignoring me; he was deeply immersed in his own world.

I slowly looked around the room. Cabinets lined all walls, filled with countless bottles. I could tell they were all poisons or antidotes. It was like a study filled not with books but with poison.

“Ah! Was this the problem? Hey, bring me the Sadokcho (邪毒草, Evil Poison Grass) over there.”

I picked the Sadokcho from the piles of poisonous herbs on the desk and brought it to him. Even after seeing that I had brought the correct herb among countless others, he showed no reaction.

“Put that here and go get a bucket of water from over there.”

He kept sending me on errands — bring this, bring that. He was busy moving around. Meanwhile, he crushed and ground herbs.

When he added the Cheongdok to the newly prepared poison, this time it did not explode.

“It’s done! It’s done! The Sadokcho was the problem!”

The Poison King was greatly pleased that the combination had finally succeeded.

Then he noticed me beside him.

“By the way, who are you?”

Our Poison King sure asks early questions.

“Did you know who I was and make me run around so much?”

“I thought you were one of our kids. Who are you?”

“Geom Mugeuk.”

“Oh, right. You said you’d come today. So it’s you — the hot topic of the sect, Geom Mugeuk. What brings you here?”

Even knowing my identity, his tone and attitude did not change.

He acted like a distracted eccentric, but the faint green glow that streamed from his eyes remained constant since I entered the room. His emotions were consistently controlled. This alone proved that a Ma Jon (Demon Lord) is, after all, a Ma Jon.

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What favor?”

“Please persuade my father.”

The Poison King suddenly thrust his face close to me. His skin was clear and fair. How could someone who deals with poison have such good skin?

“No.”

The Poison King flatly refused without even hearing the details.

“Is it okay to refuse? This isn’t pressure from the sect leader’s son or something, right?”

“No.”

“Good, a kid shouldn’t learn such nasty behavior. You’re done here, so why aren’t you leaving?”

Though he acted absentminded, he was not to be underestimated.

“No, I’m leaving now. I will see you again.”

I bowed politely and walked out. At the entrance, Sangseon who had guided me earlier was waiting. He did not ask anything about what had happened inside.

“Tell him I will come again tomorrow.”

“I will.”

I left Cheondok Forest with him and memorized the path.

The next day, I returned to Cheondok Forest.

Again, Sangseon guided me to the Poison King’s residence, but by a different path. I understood his intention: to keep the path to the Poison King’s residence secret.

But that was a useless attempt, not knowing how good my memory and sense of direction were. Today, I knew one more path to the Poison King’s residence.

When we arrived, the Poison King was digging the ground near his house.

“I’m sure it was here.”

The ground was dug up in several places. He seemed to be looking for something buried but couldn’t find it.

With dirt smeared on his face and body like a child, he looked adorable. The more adorable he seemed, the stranger it felt compared to the atrocities he would commit in the future.

Thousands of warriors would later die from his poison. He truly caused a massacre.

The Poison King paid no attention to my greeting, focusing solely on digging.

I borrowed a shovel from Sangseon and began digging too.

Sangseon looked at me with a strange expression.

The Poison King cared only whether what he was digging up would appear or not. It was not a pretense — he was fully absorbed in that work. Sometimes, he even laughed alone. To anyone looking, he was clearly crazy.

Now I understood why Ma-ui (the Medicine Lord) said the key was to get the Poison King out of his lab. I also understood why everyone said persuading the Poison King was impossible. This man lived strictly in his own world.

I dug a few spots nearby. Whenever something came out, I piled it next to me. Everything imaginable appeared — boxes, bugs and larvae, snakes, trash, strange tools.

While digging, suddenly—

“Ah! Why is that there?”

The Poison King shouted as he came to where I was digging. It seemed that something he was looking for was among the things I had collected.

He picked up a box that emitted a strong, sticky smell.

“Ah! Well fermented!”

“Is this what you were looking for?”

The Poison King looked at me with a surprised expression.

“When did you get here?”

It was both a recognition and a forgetting. He both noticed me and forgot me.

“I came a little while ago. I saw you looking for something, so I dug too.”

“Good job, good job.”

He smiled pleasantly then quickly turned serious.

“I’m pretty sure I refused you yesterday.”

“Today, I came purely to help you. Yesterday, I saw you needed help.”

“Are you trying to steal and learn my poison arts?”

“Is it that easy to steal the Poison King’s poison arts?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then it’s fine.”

The Poison King stared at me intently. The green light in his eyes seemed to pierce into mine. Of course, the light had no effect on me since I had mastered the Shin An Technique.

Instead, I felt something about him. At that moment, I envisioned an image.

The Poison King stepping out steadily from his own world and standing on the boundary with the outside world.

At that moment, he was no longer an eccentric.

I understood then that the man before me was the one who sought to become the supreme poison master of the martial world. He crossed that boundary once — and thousands died.

“Let’s see how well you work.”

His expression revealed his emotions. Even just one day was so tiring I hoped never to come again!

The Poison King gave me work. He was clearly trying to chase me away by giving me real tasks.

“Sort out the poisonous herbs over there by spreading them here.”

Following his orders, I took the poisonous herbs piled in a sack and sorted them.

I gave up on persuading the Poison King. I abandoned any thoughts of impressing him. I only wanted to understand his world by being with him. Without understanding his world, I could never persuade him.

“Now, organize the new poisonous herbs that have come in.”

Every day, Dok-A brought poisonous substances from the Central Plains here. Luckily, it wasn’t just poisonous herbs but all kinds of disgusting poisons.

I handled the herbs and poisons skillfully. After becoming immune to all poisons, I no longer had any aversion to them. Before, poison made me frown and feel reluctant to come close — now those feelings were gone.

He seemed surprised at how well I worked.

“I thought you’d show off how precious your body is, but you actually do some work?”

Originally, I was adept with poisonous herbs. That’s why I easily passed the poisonous herb-related gate at the Sochundong checkpoint.

Of course, the poisonous herbs handled here were far beyond my knowledge. Whenever an unknown herb came in, I asked the Poison King. “What is this? What is that?” Until he finally said, “Stop asking!”

When the day’s work was done, the Poison King asked about the poisonous herbs he had taught me. Unable to find fault with my work, he tested my memory instead.

“What did I say this poisonous herb’s name was?”

“Yaranch’o (野蘭草). It is a poison usually ground and added to spicy food, so there’s no sign of it.”

I repeated his explanation exactly.

“And this herb?”

“Heuksan Baegilcho (黑山百日草). If poisoned, it lasts for a hundred days. The victim wastes away and eventually dies.”

I accurately explained as he had described.

“You brat! Why are you so smart?”

His eyes burned with a look that said he would find fault with me tomorrow. At that moment, he looked like a careless kid my age.

“See you tomorrow!”

I visited him again the next day.

The Poison King’s big mistake was thinking I would come only a few days and stop. He did not know what kind of person I was once I set a goal.

Today, I finished the day’s work doing whatever he asked again.

I did not try to get close or talk to him. I didn’t try to impress him or flatter him. I just silently did the work he assigned.

That must be why he spoke first.

“This won’t change my mind. I never take back my words. If I do, I will stand in the middle of the Great Martial Gathering, shout ‘I am a dog,’ and bark five times.”

He was making a resolution to never yield. It was a way to tell me not to come again, but I made my own resolution.

“Since the Poison King set such a condition, I will set one too. If I fail, I will call everyone to the Great Martial Gathering and shout ‘Tiger father, dog son,’ then bark five times.”

He laughed loudly, surprised at my words.

“I wonder what expression the sect leader will have then.”

When I made the bet, the Poison King got excited and brought paper and brush.

“Now, since you’ll come often, let’s write a memorandum! That you came here of your own free will to Cheondok Forest, and if you get poisoned or have an accident while working, you won’t hold me responsible. How about that? Confident you can sign it?”

Looking at his excited eyes, I provoked him back.

“Only if the Poison King signs one too.”