Childhood Friend of the Zenith Chapter 1235

Wheeeeeeeing-!

A vibration continued to ring from my left ear. The sound stopped. Silence followed, and then came the pain.

“Cough!!”

My temples and cheekbone throbbed. Instinctively, I raised my hand and saw my fingertips trembling.

Did I get hit? When exactly? How?

Moreover.

‘The poison must be spreading.’

The internal arts of the Dang Clan are nurtured by absorbing countless toxins since childhood. It’s about how well one can use poison.

This was the key to bloodline inheritance.

Among them, Dang Cheon-gi had little resistance to extreme poison but was reasonably confident regarding paralysis.

Even though his grandfather found him lacking by the standards of the Dang Clan, nonetheless, confidence was confidence.

‘Why.’

That guy seems perfectly fine?

Drip. Drip.

Blood drips onto the floor. I can’t tell if it’s from my mouth or from Baekyangcheon’s hand.

My mind started to spin. My vision became blurry. This signified a bad condition.

“What are you doing?”

“……!”

At Baekyangcheon’s words, Dang Cheon-gi’s knees tightened.

Instinctively, he swung the dagger again.

Whoosh-!

The thrown dagger brushed through the air.

Baekyangcheon twisted his upper body to evade it.

However.

Thud, thud.

Seeing that, Dang Cheon-gi tightened the grip with his index and thumb. The thread attached to the dagger was pulled taut.

The spinning dagger shot towards Baekyangcheon again.

“……Tsk.”

Swish-!

Baekyangcheon swatted away the dagger with his hand. Despite some strength in it, the dagger rolled uselessly on the ground.

‘What the hell.’

Why is he fine? He shouldn’t be unaffected by paralysis, not after that last move. If he had been paralyzed, it should have been Baekyangcheon who fell.

He merely continued to look down at me.

“……What’s going on?”

I could hear the sound.

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“What are you trying to do?”

His voice was filled with disappointment for some reason.

That unfamiliar tone churned something inside Dang Cheon-gi.

* * *

My hand tingled. The poisoned dagger, no matter how tough the skin, was sufficient to pierce through.

I felt a numbness as it burrowed into the bone, but that was all.

“What are you trying to do?”

I squinted and asked Dang Cheon-gi in front of me. He merely looked at me with a surprised expression.

‘What the?’

This isn’t a joke.

I was getting sick of this pathetic duel.

‘No matter how much he can use his internal sight.’

I had already grasped Dang Cheon-gi’s movements and idle tricks. It was a level that didn’t require the use of internal sight.

‘They call him Dokryong?’

What’s so pathetic about him?

Using a dagger instead of a short sword was laughable. The technique he used had already been seen from Dang So-yeol.

To my knowledge, that had to be a martial art using a short sword. The dagger was too weak and lacked enough force to be a weapon for this purpose.

Yet he chose to use a dagger, which made me think there was something advantageous to it.

‘……Why is he using it?’

I didn’t understand the reason. There was no strength, and the movements were feeble. It felt like a level of merely following along superficially.

‘What the hell.’

Is this the level of the young Poison King?

How did he even become the Clan Head with such a performance? Questions arose.

At least one thing was better.

‘His stealth technique was decent.’

I lost track of him for a moment. If I hadn’t had internal sight, I would have caught a hit.

Since I was prepared for a surprise attack, my hand was imbued with fighting intent, which was detected by my internal sight.

Thanks to that, I was able to block it, sustaining only injuries.

‘……The immunity to myriad poisons hasn’t disappeared yet.’

Since my body had already reached the level of immunity to myriad poisons, Dang Cheon-gi’s poison wouldn’t permeate.

The distance was close. My fist was even closer, so I successfully landed a hit on Dang Cheon-gi.

The problem was.

“Try doing something more.”

It was that Dang Cheon-gi, who had been hit, couldn’t regain his senses.

“This can’t be all you’ve got.”

I didn’t strike the vital spot. I kept the power regulated, knowing that hitting the temple could easily result in death.

Why is he so unfocused?

‘The attack that he did do.’

Throwing a dagger imbued with fighting intent and aiming for the openings? The method was fine, but that’s all he could muster.

‘Why not utilize the power of his stealth technique instead?’

It was hard to gauge exactly how high Dang Cheon-gi’s level was, but if he had used the stealth technique, it would have been a much better option even if precariously so.

Swoosh-!

“Cough!”

I kicked at Dang Cheon-gi’s upper body. He rolled hard on the ground.

“I thought you were something special with all that noise you kept making.”

I approached him, frowning.

The speed was slow. It was only natural since he had no energy left.

However, Dang Cheon-gi could dodge this.

As he tried to move, my internal sight caught his trajectory.

I kicked at the ankle he was trying to rise with again.

“Cough!”

He stumbled and fell once more. I calculated his fall and punched him squarely.

Thud-!

My fist sunk deep into his solar plexus.

“Guhh……!!!”

He kneeled completely, breathing roughly.

“Cough.”

He repeatedly vomited. That sight annoyed me even further.

‘Why is he like this?’

Weak and lowly in level. How did the Poison King become like this? He was so different from the Poison King I knew.

‘Did he gain some miraculous encounter?’

It was hard to comprehend it otherwise.

“Pathetic. What were you trying to do with this level?”

“…….”

He flinched.

“If you’re going to talk, you should at least know your place. What did you think you could do?”

What exactly was he trying to achieve with something this weak?

Though he could speak nonsense to me, it was forgivable since it was the Poison King. I managed to tolerate it.

But.

“You’re just too weak.”

“…….”

I can’t overlook the fact that you are weak.

“Seriously, get it together. What are you so scared of?”

“……This bastard….”

Did my words sound like simple provocation? Dong Cheon-gi’s eyes sparked with intensity, but.

Swish-!

“Cough!”

I struck Dang Cheon-gi’s cheek hard.

“What are you going to do with those focused eyes?”

Blood trickled from my lips. His upper body wobbled as he couldn’t regain his balance. I seized him by the collar.

“You can’t even manage an ambush. Why the hell use a poorly matched dagger art and weaken yourself? What’s with the poison arts? Paralytic poison? If you’re going to use it, use it properly. How dare you try to teach someone with such a fragile mindset?”

“……!”

Dang Cheon-gi’s eyes widened at my words.

“……You, how….”

How did I know that the poison arts don’t fit him? Or maybe.

“It’s obviously paralytic poison. I could smell it from how it lingered.”

I smelled it and saw it with my internal sight. Hearing that, Dang Cheon-gi blew up.

“Non-sense! Paralytic poison is odorless and tasteless! How could you possibly have detected it mixed with my internal energy?”

“Who said it’s odorless and tasteless?”

“That’s what my predecessor said!”

“Predecessor? Ah.”

I realized who it was.

“The Poison King?”

“……!”

Just mentioning the alias, Dang Cheon-gi shot forward. I could see he was staggering, probably from the ankle I kicked earlier.

So, what should I do now?

Wham-!

“Gah!”

I kicked his ankle again.

Looking at the fallen Dang Cheon-gi, I sighed.

“Isn’t the Poison King great? He could do that.”

What an impressive figure indeed. He was the one who conducted human experiments behind the scenes while leading the Dang Clan as an orthodox sect.

But.

“Not everything about him is right. I definitely smelled it.”

The notion of odorless and tasteless does not exist.

There was definitely a distinct scent with paralytic poison.

“If you say it’s diluted due to being mixed in with your energy? So what? That would mean your energy has changed. Instead, it would stand out more.”

“……!”

Dang Cheon-gi’s body was stiffening as he groaned in pain.

“You see, the poison arts are notoriously difficult to train in but efficiently effective. They can use poison directly on one’s energy, so how could it be weak?”

Even the mere fighting intent could seep with poison.

The alien destructiveness merges into the very essence of the energy.

Excluding the fact that I had to endure torturous training since childhood with poison bugs and poisonous plants, it was a remarkably strong martial art.

The problem is.

“It’s too easy to recognize if something alien mixes with one’s energy.”

That’s the downside of being so visible in a martial arts competition like this.

So that’s why one must focus on stealth techniques to conceal such weak points.

But.

“Why can’t you do that?”

Dang Cheon-gi had no answer; he merely stared at me.

He was different from his daughter. That thought crossed my mind.

‘Dang So-yeol.’

At least if he understood his problem, he would try to overcome it somehow.

What the hell is wrong with this guy?

“Where are you running to? What are you fleeing from?”

“……Grit.”

I heard the sound of his teeth grinding. Instead of answering, Dang Cheon-gi lifted his body.

“……What do you know. Why the hell are you talking like you know something?”

“I don’t know anything. That’s why you’re so obvious. You’re desperate to run.”

“What am I fleeing from?”

“Let’s see? Pressure? Or perhaps pride? I don’t know, but you’re clearly scared to death.”

“…….”

“But I don’t understand why you vent that pathetic emotion onto me.”

I smiled broadly.

“Am I that amusing? Am I to be underestimated due to that ridiculous skill?”

Bam-!

Dang Cheon-gi’s body expelled his energy. It seemed that my words had provoked him.

He pulled out the dagger again. The feeling was completely different from before.

‘Extreme poison, huh.’

Not paralytic poison but extreme poison.

As if provoked, Dang Cheon-gi tried to exert all his strength.

“……What do you know…?”

“…….”

He was heavy and unstable.

He was just desperately gathering poison. Though he might appear sufficient as a child of a noble clan.

‘He’s simply trying to thrust directly in.’

It felt like a legitimate strike without any form of stealth technique.

‘Should I call it orthodox?’

I don’t think it’s something I can say to a clan that primarily does ambush.

But that’s not the important part.

“……I won’t let this go.”

“You seem to be showing it.”

Bam-!

The ground shattered as Dang Cheon-gi charged.

The green flash of light shot forward like a giant snake with its mouth wide open.

“How—!”

“Extreme poison……!!!”

The martial artists gasped, realizing that Dang Cheon-gi had expelled extreme poison.

In a martial arts competition like this, extreme poison was forbidden.

Naturally, it was prohibited as one would engage with the intent to kill.

Thump!!

“Huh!?”

“You’re doing it barehanded!?”

While piercing through that energy, I grabbed Dang Cheon-gi’s wrist.

“……!”

Swish-!!!

His sleeve burned by the poison, but his skin remained intact.

This is why immunity to myriad poisons is great, huh?

“I told you.”

I felt the energy and spoke to Dang Cheon-gi.

“You’re too eager to run. Thanks to that, facing you becomes almost a waste of effort.”

Dang Cheon-gi’s lips twitched at my words.

But my fist came first.

I pulled his wrist back with acceleration and put all my strength into my hand.

Bam-!!!

“Gahhh!”

I struck Dang Cheon-gi’s cheek forcefully, using the momentum to slam him into the ground.

Boom—!!

Shards flew everywhere, and Dang Cheon-gi’s body crashed through the martial arts stage.

“…….”

As the internal energy of extreme poison dispersed, it scattered in the air.

“Eek—!”

“Get away!”

Among those avoiding the poison, I looked at the judge.

“Can I go down now?”

“…….”

The judge looked between the half-crushed face of Dang Cheon-gi and me before saying.

“……Blue Dragon’s Baekyangcheon…… wins.”

Only after hearing that did I step down.

‘……Will I finally get to rest?’

Since I had fought consecutively, I should be able to catch a break.

With that thought, I left Dang Cheon-gi behind as I stepped down, but.

“Damn it.”

I had to rack my brain over what happened afterwards.