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Chapter 324. Black Forest (4)
The Southern Fist Sect, tasked with safety management for the Great Journey, vehemently opposed the new mission proposed by the instructors.
"The Black Forest is not a place to wander around carelessly......! Do you have any idea how many people have gone in and never come out?"
At Yang Ja-pyeong's words, No Jin-ha sneered.
"Can the Southern Fist Sect not use Grass-Skimming Flight?"
"This bastard, I've been holding my tongue, but......!"
W ёb nо v̀е ĺ Еn̈ ů_m̈ а̊
"......This bastard?"
Just as Yang Ja-pyeong bristled and moved to confront him, No Jin-ha hardened his expression coldly and rose from his seat.
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"Where does some Southern Fist Sect nobody who couldn't even get into the Academy get off acting like this toward me, a Hall Master of the White Tiger Pavilion?"
"......"
As No Jin-ha moved to pick a real fight—
"That's enough."
Ѐ ǹ ǔm а̇
A man who'd accompanied Yang Ja-pyeong stepped in and separated the two.
He then studied No Jin-ha for a moment before asking in a low voice.
"......You will take full responsibility for this. Is that correct?"
"Hmph!"
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Instead of a clear answer, No Jin-ha scoffed.
But the man from the Southern Fist Sect did not back down.
Е̌ ṅ úmа̀ . і̄ ď
"You need to be clear about that. If you won't, we'll withdraw immediately and file a report with the Murim Alliance."
"Hah...... this is absurd."
"Will you take responsibility or not?"
After the repeated questioning, No Jin-ha rolled his eyes for a moment before nodding confidently.
"Fine. I'll take responsibility."
"Understood. Then the Southern Fist Sect will serve as guides for the exploration. However, please impose the condition that the Academy students must follow the guides' directions without exception."
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"And what about wild animal or Demonic Beast attacks encountered during the exploration? Can the Southern Fist Sect handle those too?"
This time, Yang Ja-pyeong stepped forward and shook his head.
"Tigers or bears would be one thing, but we lack the strength to subjugate Demonic Beasts."
No Jin-ha's face turned smug.
"Then why should anyone follow the Southern Fist Sect's lead?"
Yang Ja-pyeong's expression hardened.
Еn ü m̆ а
"Because otherwise, you die."
"......Don't make me laugh. Over mere path-finding."
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But Yang Ja-pyeong held his ground.
"Give us your word."
No Jin-ha glared at him murderously, then finally nodded.
"Fine. And there's no need to guide every single Academy student."
Ѐ n ûm̃ а̇
"......What do you mean by that? Have you arranged another guide, by any chance?"
"That's none of the Southern Fist Sect's concern, is it?"
"Understood."
Once Yang Ja-pyeong had secured the promise and stepped back, No Jin-ha assigned exploration zones to each team leader.
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One by one, territories were designated, and when my turn came last—
TAP—
Еn ŭm̂ ȧ
No Jin-ha pointed to the deepest part of the Black Forest.
"Surely the Academy Representative should be able to handle at least this much exploration?"
The Demonic Reaches—the area within the Black Forest known by that name.
Ha, this man......
"Scared?"
I'd thought he was a completely useless human being, but to show this much consideration?
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Maybe he secretly liked the Taeul Sect after all.
I smiled and expressed my gratitude.
"I'm not a disciple of Qingcheng. What would I have to be scared of?"
"......!"
No Jin-ha seemed so moved that he was rendered speechless.
Truly, what a warm and harmonious bond between master and student.
Е̃ǹ ŭ m̈ а̊ .і̂d
***
The next day, while the teams gathered and prepared for exploration, Il-gak approached me.
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"Benefactor Jin...... please be careful."
Il-gak offered a clasped-hands greeting, his face full of worry.
Why was this man always so anxious? Had all the worrying made him go bald?
"It's not like I'm marching off to die. Why the fuss?"
W̊ĕ b̀n оv́ é l̄ Еn̈um̌а
Il-gak lowered his voice and let out a lament.
"The Demonic Reaches...... I've heard it's an especially dangerous place even within the Black Forest. The venerable Monk Taesu of our sect once ventured in and nearly died several times......"
"......"
What's this bald head trying to do? Is this some kind of Buddhist curse?
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Still, since the monk had been there before, curiosity got the better of him.
"Did he obtain any Spiritual Medicine or Spiritual Creatures there?"
Е ñ ǔm̃ a
"No. Absolutely nothing, he said. He even warned us never to think of entering that place."
"......"
What a useless bald head.
Our team's guide was Yang Ja-pyeong once again.
Apparently, he was the only one in the Southern Fist Sect who'd been as far as the Demonic Reaches.
In any case, unlike the travel so far, the denser forest made the pace agonizingly slow.
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Slower than even an ordinary person's walking speed, one might say.
The entire team consisted of martial artists, and the guide was someone who managed the Black Forest—that made it all the harder to believe.
Every few steps, Yang Ja-pyeong carved marks into trees with his knife and retraced his path several times over.
Granted, with the undergrowth this thick and even the sun blocked out, it made sense that directions were unknowable—but this felt excessive, to put it mildly.
"Do we have to keep going at this pace?"
When I finally voiced my frustration, Yang Ja-pyeong nodded as though it were obvious.
Ё n ù mа.. і̂ d̃
"In the Black Forest, securing your way out is more important than getting in. That's why we have to move like this, even if it takes time."
It didn't sit right.
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No matter what, it was still a forest in the end, wasn't it?
The trees grew taller than anything in the Central Plains, certainly, but not so tall that a martial artist couldn't climb them.
And once you climbed above the canopy, you could orient yourself by the sun or the stars.
If you knew your position and direction, you could reach your destination.
Е̃n̆um а. îd
"As I thought...... a very Central Plains way of thinking."
A laugh tinged with something hollow.
He studied me briefly, then began to move.
"......Showing you directly would be better than explaining with words."
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Yang Ja-pyeong gathered dry leaves from the ground.
Then he produced a flint and a wad of cotton from his robes and began striking a spark.
Е̊n u m̀ a.і̃ d
CLICK, CLICK.
Soon the cotton caught fire, and the flame spread to the dry leaves.
As the blaze grew, he suddenly snapped off damp fronds and smothered the fire.
The moisture in the fronds evaporated, the flames weakened, and acrid smoke began to rise.
Yang Ja-pyeong turned to me as I watched with a puzzled expression.
"Why don't you try climbing up now?"
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"......"
I stared at him for a moment, then kicked off the ground and launched myself upward.
Apart from the dense foliage at the very top, the trees had few branches.
Moreover, the gaps between branches were wide enough to make consecutive footholds inconvenient.
That said, climbing wasn't impossible.
FWIP.
Ё n u.mа
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw, embedding it in the trunk, then wound the Heavenly Silkworm Thread and used the tension to kick off the tree and launch myself higher.
After repeating this three times, I was nearly at the canopy.
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'It really is ridiculously tall compared to the Central Plains.'
Nearing the top, the branches grew thick enough that the Flying Dragon Claw was no longer needed.
Just as I kicked off the branches with my bare body and was about to burst above the canopy—
"Wha—?!"
Е n ǔ m а̄
Instead of soaring above the forest and into open sky—
WHOOOOSH.
I was plummeting headfirst toward the ground.
***
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"What the hell!"
Perhaps because I'd kicked off with such force, the speed of my fall was alarming.
Е ǹǔ m̌ а . іd̄
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw to anchor myself to a tree, then looked upward again.
I'd clearly stepped on branches and climbed upward.
Yet somehow, my body had been hurtling toward the ground.
"Eldest Senior Brother! What are you doing up there?!"
What's more, my companions were ten jang away.
'What in the world is happening?'
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I kicked off the tree and climbed again. This time, however, I moved cautiously, bracing for another fall.
Fortunately, this time I made it above the canopy and confirmed the sun's position.
But......
'What is this?'
The smoke—which should have been rising directly below from where Yang Ja-pyeong had lit the fire—was billowing up twenty jang away.
Unless Yang Ja-pyeong had extinguished it and another team had lit one, the situation was impossible to explain.
Е̃n̄ u m̂а̄
I began leaping across the treetops, heading toward the rising smoke.
But now the smoke was growing more distant, not closer.
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"This is maddening."
Just then, Yang Ja-pyeong's Sound Transmission reached me.
—Can you follow the smoke?
It was bizarre.
Еn̊ u m а̄ . іd̊
He could see it clearly and smell it distinctly.
Yet somehow it kept receding.
—I noticed you have an interesting tool. Come back down as you are. I'll come to you.
Following Yang Ja-pyeong's instructions, I released the Flying Dragon Claw and descended.
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By the time I neared the ground, Yang Ja-pyeong had pushed through the undergrowth and reached me.
"How was it?"
W̊е̌ḃn̆ о̌ v́ èl̀ _Е́ n̆ u m̆ á
"......What manner of sorcery is this?"
"The influence of the spiritual vein."
"The spiritual vein?"
Yang Ja-pyeong nodded gravely.
"In the Black Forest, Natural Formations form both on the ground and in the canopy above. This creates a structure akin to a single cave. On top of that, pollen emitted by the insects inhabiting the Black Forest disrupts human senses."
Natural Formations appearing in mountains were nothing unusual in themselves, but the fact that they'd formed even in the treetops above was truly extraordinary.
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And on top of that, they'd been continuously breathing in some disorienting fragrance of unknown origin.
"If you could tread the void and fly high enough to completely escape the spiritual vein's influence, then perhaps you could get out the way you described."
Yang Ja-pyeong continued calmly.
"But the moment you set foot on even a single tree, your sense of direction will be thrown off. Could you...... distinguish direction and navigate under those conditions?"
He spoke so casually about needing to reach at least the level of Void-Stepping or Soaring Void-Crossing.
Moreover, this wasn't merely scrambling one's sense of direction—it actively disrupted the senses themselves.
Е̄ n ùṁа. i d
Now he understood why a mere forest had been designated a Forbidden Zone, and why countless martial artists had swaggered in only to leave as Lonely Ghosts.
"I won't......"
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I conceded without protest.
"......get ahead of myself again."
When I dipped my head lightly, Yang Ja-pyeong wore a look of surprise.
"Is something wrong? Did I say something I shouldn't have?"
Е n_ǔ m̆ а̇
After a moment of choosing his words, Yang Ja-pyeong spoke.
"......No. I simply thought you're a man of many facets."
"......?"
Well, regardless, I was in the wrong for overstepping.
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I bowed properly once more.
"I'll be in your care."
Еnù m ä
And so the march resumed.
Having witnessed firsthand what happened when I got ahead of myself, the team members fell obediently into line behind Yang Ja-pyeong.
I, too, stopped prodding about the pace, though the boredom was unavoidable.
The silver lining was that the deeper we went, the easier it became to find poisons.
"......You're really going to keep doing that?"
"Would you like to try too, Lady Seong?"
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CLANG—!
"Get rid of it this instant! Before I kill you!"
Good grief. I didn't think her temper was always this bad......
"Get rid of it now!"
"Yes ma'am."
At first, since I couldn't gauge the potency of each poison, I asked Yang Ja-pyeong about each one. But after a few repetitions, I started distinguishing toxicity by color and shape on my own.
Web̃ n̂ о v el Е nŭ m̊а̌
By the time I'd gradually neutralized roughly thirty poisons, I could feel my resistance building.
Walking all day, neutralizing poisons, then finding new ones to neutralize—the routine turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable in its own way.
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Once I'd neutralized a poison, repeated exposure to the same one barely registered as toxic.
At this rate, by the time the Great Journey ended, any poison short of a critically lethal one wouldn't pose much of a problem—a strange sort of optimism was even beginning to take hold.
And the more it grew, so did his greed, and before he knew it, he was eyeing his junior brothers and licking his lips.
'Tsk, they should be doing this too.'
Ŵ ё b n̊ o̊v ĕ l Еn um̄ à
He wanted to put at least the Taeul Sect members through poison-resistance training, even if the other team members were off the table, but Sa-ryeon would not have it.
Neither Geum-pyo nor Eun-ho wanted to, for that matter.
The only one—
"Eldest Senior Brother, can I try eating this?"
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—was the boy who blinked up at him with guileless eyes.
Dong-ryong waved a purple mushroom in his hand.
Wеb̀n оv̇ е l̀ E ńümа
It certainly looked like it harbored dangerous venom, but Dong-ryong had already neutralized over twenty poisons himself.
I smiled at the boy warmly.
"Go ahead and eat it. If it feels dangerous, spit it out immediately."
In a real emergency, I could always purge the toxins with inner arts.
By the third day of this, no one in the party—not even Yang Ja-pyeong—said a word about it anymore.
On the fourth day of heading toward the Demonic Reaches, something interesting happened.
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"......How come Eldest Senior Brother and Dong-ryong never get bitten by bugs?"
Geum-pyo tilted his head, his cheeks swollen from insect bites overnight.
I'd been carrying the Wind Spirit on my person since entering the Black Forest, which had kept the insects away from the start.
Dong-ryong had suffered through the second day but saw a marked decrease in bites by the third.
"......"
Yang Ja-pyeong seemed to waver on whether to speak, then finally opened his mouth.
W̄ е́b ň о́v̇ ѐ l Ê n̈ ü m̀ȧ_
"......Actually, the Tang Clan's people also rarely get bitten by insects inside the Black Forest."
"......!"
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"......"
"......"
He couldn't pinpoint the exact cause, but it was an answer that more or less clicked into place.
While Dong-ryong and I wore triumphant expressions, the rest of the party grimaced, and Seong Mo-ran's face turned as black as a dying woman's.
Еǹ umа.
I turned to Eun-ho.
"Want to give it a try?"
"......"
After deliberating for a long time, Eun-ho finally let out a lengthy sigh.
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Apparently, spending an entire sleepless night getting devoured by insects on the second day had been the deciding factor.
"You're not going to buy us Hundred-Poison Pills anyway, are you?"
Е n ū m̈ а.id
I said nothing.
"Damn it......"
No need to waste breath asking.
Eun-ho approached me with an expression that looked ready to cry.
"That's the spirit, come on."
I caught an insect of appropriate strength from the ones I'd been building resistance with and let it bite Eun-ho's arm.
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"Khhk......!"
Eun-ho's face turned yellow almost instantly.
The moment his body reacted, Eun-ho entered Qi Circulation and Breathing, followed by Geum-pyo, then Jae-hwa, Seol-ran, and the rest.
I gazed at the remaining members.
"Hah...... to think I'd do this of my own free will."
In the end, Sa-ryeon and Namgung Seon-hwa extended their hands to me as well.
W êb̈n̊ о̀v e l_ Е ñ ǔ m ǎ
None of them had been spared from suffering at the hands of the Black Forest's insects.
Meanwhile—
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"Kyaaaaah! No! I don't want to! I'd rather have the snake!"
After forcing even Seong Mo-ran—who violently rejected insects—to take her bite, Yang Ja-pyeong stared at them with a face that said he'd had enough.
"If I told anyone at my sect about this, no one would believe me."
"We can't exactly train External Arts on the spot."
Ẽ ǹŭ m̈ а́
"......"
And poison resistance on top of that.
What a bargain.
Five days after leaving the base camp—
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"Shhh——."
Yang Ja-pyeong, who'd been leading the way, raised his hand and halted the group.
Еnu m̊а..і d
After holding his breath for a long while, Yang Ja-pyeong spoke in a hushed voice.
"Demonic Beast."
At last—the first treasure chest had appeared.
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