Chapter 1

Prologue

After the death of Emperor Taejo, during the most chaotic four years of Jianwen…

 in Jiangxi Province, Nanchang region.

To the north is Mount Gugung, with Mount Yongcheon and Mount Baekun on either side, and to the south is Mount Zhang. Between these towering peaks, the Martial Arts Alliance had made its nest.

[TL Note- Mount Gugung (구궁산), Mount Yongcheon (용천산) and Mount Baekun (백운산) doesn’t seem to exist irl. If anyone has any knowledge about these three terms, please let me know.]

As if to prove it was the most powerful organization in the martial arts world, dozens of flags from member sects fluttered on every wall, and numerous magnificent three and four-story pavilions displayed their grandeur.

The main gate was made of double iron doors that seemed difficult for one person to open, and even after passing through the main gate, one had to go through several more gates to enter the inner courtyard.

Right in front of the inner courtyard.

The great training ground, which could easily accommodate ten thousand people, was filled with the heroes of the age, packed so tightly that there was no room even for a needle to fall.

Dong, dudong!

As the heavy drum beats reverberated through their chests, the crowd’s gaze turned toward the platform at the front.

On the left side of the platform stood the sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects, the pillars of the righteous martial arts world, stroking their white beards as they looked down at those below. On the right side of the platform stood the heads of the Eight Great Martial Families who wielded influence across the “Nine Provinces and Four Seas.”

And in the center stood a middle-aged man with an imposing physique, exuding a particularly intense presence.

His hair was tied in a topknot, and he wore a red robe decorated with gold threads, with an ancient sword emitting a cold light strapped to his waist.

As he looked upon the gathered heroes with a dignified appearance, his gaze was like that of a lion, making even these heroes feel intimidated.

He was Baek Li-jung, known as “Indestructible Heavenly Sword,” the Alliance Chief of the Martial Arts Alliance, considered the greatest martial artist and hero since the Alliance’s founding.

When Baek Li-jung raised his hand, the drum beats stopped.

Everyone’s attention focused on him once more.

Baek Li-jung shouted loudly to the gathered heroes:

“Brothers!”

The crowd responded to the Alliance Head’s opening words with passionate cheers.

“Waaaah!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

Baek Li-jung shouted once more, making a grand fist-palm salute.

“Since my brothers have gathered here with righteous intentions, I, Baek, on behalf of the Martial Arts Alliance, extend my gratitude to you all!”

The crowd returned the salute and shouted:

“Righteousness never travels far, evil and demons shall be destroyed!”

“The martial world shall be peaceful, the great way shall pierce through to the blue heavens!”

Baek Li-jung saluted forcefully again and shouted:

“Today, we have gathered to face perhaps the most unprecedented single enemy in the history of the martial arts world! Though our individual strength may be insignificant, if we all unite our forces, even if he is the greatest harbinger of death since ancient times, we will surely be able to vanquish him!”

“Waaaaaaah!”

Baek Li-jung lowered his salute amid the cheers of the crowd.

He waited for the cheers to subside, then took out three palm-sized flags of three different colors from his sleeve.

“This morning, all brothers should have received three flags like these. These were designed by our Chief Military Advisor to deal with him within our net of heaven and earth, and each flag carries a specific meaning.”

The crowd listened attentively with sharp eyes.

Baek Li-jung held up the blue flag.

“First, the blue flag indicates an area where mild poison has been spread and only martial artists of second rank or higher may enter.”

Next, Baek Li-jung showed the green flag.

“Second, this green flag means that until the flag is retrieved, martial artists of first rank or lower must not approach within ten zhang. And finally…”

Baek Li-jung paused briefly, then held up the red flag.

“The red flag. The meaning of this red flag is ‘poison cannot be removed.’ If you see this red flag, even a special-class martial artist must not approach within one hundred zhang.”

The laughter disappeared from the lips of the crowd.

Baek Li-jung spoke in a solemn tone:

“Even if you are melted into a puddle of poisoned water by his toxins, if you have even the slightest bit of strength left, you must leave this flag for the next person. Otherwise, we cannot guarantee a righteous tomorrow for our martial world.”

A heavy silence swept over the training ground.

So fearsome and powerful was the enemy they were facing.

At that moment.

A flash of light, swift as lightning, flew toward Baek Li-jung on the platform.

Pak!

With a sharp sound, the light embedded itself at Baek Li-jung’s feet.

The sect leaders of the Nine Great Sects and the heads of the Eight Great Martial Families all began to summon their internal energy.

But Baek Li-jung, truly worthy of being the greatest hero of the age, did not move even a single step and roared:

“Who goes there!”

But as soon as he identified the object that had landed in front of him, his eyes widened.

Though he tried to remain calm, he couldn’t hide the twitch in his face.

What had flown toward him was none other than a red flag.

Then came a single sentence:

“There, is that good enough?”

The blood drained from the faces of the crowd when they heard that voice.

A red flag.

The meaning of the red flag was an area where poison could not be removed.

Hadn’t it been said that even special-class martial artists must not approach within one hundred zhang?

The crowd’s gaze naturally turned to where the red flag had come from.

At the entrance to the training ground, on top of the three-zhang-high wall on either side.

He was standing there.

Somewhat pale, white skin.

An ordinary appearance with nothing particularly striking about him.

He appeared to be a young man who had just passed his coming-of-age, but it was clear that he had spoken that single sentence just now.

The crowd shuddered at the gloomy atmosphere emanating from the young man.

The head of the Namgung family, one of the Eight Great Martial Families, shouted:

“You! Do you dare to know where you are appearing!”

The corner of the young man’s mouth twitched.

The young man looked at the head of the Namgung family with contempt and only answered after a long while:

“Would I have come if I didn’t know?”

“Y-you… evil b*st*rd!”

The head of the Namgung family, his face turning red, pointed his finger accusingly.

But soon he realized.

This training ground was located right in front of the inner courtyard.

To enter from the main gate, one would have to pass through three or four layers of security.

Yet the young man was standing on that wall without any concern.

He must have encountered obstacles on his way here, or more accurately, no one had been able to stop him from entering.

And during the time it took him to come from the main gate to here, no one had noticed!… The crowd soon realized this fact as well.

Silence naturally fell.

The young man took his gaze off the head of the Namgung family and began to scan the people on the platform.

His gaze stopped at Golden Steel Heavenly Sword Baek Li-jung.

“It’s been a while.”

Baek Li-jung did not answer.

But anyone could see that his face had hardened.

“Well then.”

The young man cracked his neck from side to side with a popping sound.

The atmosphere of the training ground, which had been heated with denunciations against the harbinger of death until just now, was now gone.

Only a heavy, cold air remained, settling desolately.

The ten thousand heroes each gripped their weapons tightly with tension as they glared at him.

The young man received the ten thousand pairs of eyes directed at him with a tired face, then put a blade of grass in his mouth and began to chew.

Crunch, crunch.

Except for the sound of chewing grass, not even the sound of wind could be heard in the silent atmosphere.

The young man soon spoke quietly with a murderous expression:

“Since you’ve gathered to kill me anyway, none of you should expect to return alive.”

Soon, a faint blue-green light flowed from deep within the young man’s eyes.

He was the one called the greatest harbinger of death in the current martial world.

The one who had caused the Martial Arts Alliance to host a gathering of ten thousand people just to catch this single person.

Poison Dragon Jin Ja-gang.

Chapter 1

Deep in the mountains, at the end of a winding mountain path, there was a valley blooming with beautiful flowers and herbs.

Even the simple thatched houses built at intervals among the beautiful flowers and grasses created a pastoral and peaceful scene.

But somehow, the atmosphere was deeply subdued.

Clunk.

An adult man came out of one of the thatched houses, opening the door.

But the man was clearly not in a normal state.

Both of his eyelids were swollen black, and blood flowed from his mouth. The skin on his face and neck was also mottled.

“I must… report this to the elder…”

The man, barely managing to speak in a bubbling, boiling voice, could not continue and collapsed.

Soon, a black centipede more than a handspan long crawled out from the doorway.

It wasn’t just that house. Thick, grotesque centipedes continued to crawl out of other houses as well.

“Kuk!”

“Kraak!”

Low, stifled screams also burst out intermittently.

Young Jin Ja-gang’s house was no exception.

A small, single-room thatched house.

Jin Ja-gang, who had just turned ten years old, woke up from his nap with a strange feeling.

But what he saw in the room with his half-sleepy eyes was a sight he could never have imagined.

His mother had collapsed with a blackened face.

Even though he was not yet mature, he instinctively knew that something terrible had happened.

“Mom?”

His mother looked at Jin Ja-gang with eyes so swollen they could barely open. Something dark, either tears or blood, flowed from her eyes.

Her lips, dried to a deep purple, moved slightly.

Run.

That’s what her lip movements were saying.

But Jin Ja-gang could not run away.

“Mom!”

The moment Jin Ja-gang rushed toward his mother’s embrace, he suddenly felt his breath cut off.

The room began to distort as his vision spun.

He collapsed to the floor before he could reach his mother.

He tumbled across the room with a thud.

His face itched and his eyes stung.

“Uh, uah. Uaaah.”

Through the tears streaming down and his blurry vision, he could see his mother reaching out her hand.

He could also see a huge centipede, nearly two handspans long, coiling and spinning above his fallen mother’s head.

‘Poison centipede!’

It was different from the centipedes he occasionally saw normally. The end, whether it was the tail or the head, was glowing with five brilliant colors.

Soon, the five-colored glowing part turned precisely in Jin Ja-gang’s direction. Only then did he realize that the glowing part was the head.

It was the five-colored centipede he had only heard about.

The most poisonous of all poisonous centipedes.

***

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Translated by Nine Heavens!

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