Chapter 38

Pyo Wol opened his eyes.

He was still stuck in the snake pit.

His body was still grotesquely swollen. The snake venom that had entered his body had not yet been neutralized.

Although his body was still immobile, there was one piece of good news.

Ever since he started imitating the snakes’ breathing, he was no longer being bitten.

The snakes seemed to recognize Pyo Wol as one of their own.

Once he had somewhat mastered the snake breathing, Pyo Wol had another thought.

‘Couldn’t I infuse the snake’s breath into the Thunderclap Mind Method?’

It was an outlandish idea, but he didn’t think it was impossible.

The essence of the Thunderclap Mind Method was Heart Speed.

The speed of the mind increased the body’s reaction speed.

He thought that if he could infuse the snake’s breath into this, he might be able to find some new breakthrough.

Pyo Wol thought.

Since his body couldn’t move anyway, all he could do was think.

Thinking, and thinking again, reasoning, and calculating was all he could do.

Pyo Wol thought about how he could efficiently infuse the snake’s breath into the Thunderclap Mind Method.

He would fall asleep while thinking, and when he opened his eyes, he would think again. This routine repeated. And at some point, Pyo Wol began to slowly mix the snake’s breath into the Thunderclap Mind Method.

With his mind, he operated the Thunderclap Mind Method, and with his body, he performed the snake’s breath.

At first, the two breathing methods clashed, but at some point, they began to mix little by little. It was like dropping a drop of ink into a basin full of clear water.

Pyo Wol did not know how dangerous his current actions were.

He didn’t even know that it was an attempt that went against the common principles of Martial Studies.

If he had been knowledgeable about Martial Arts, he would never have made such an attempt.

If Mujeong Jin-in, who had imprisoned him here, had seen this, he would have immediately raged that it was madness.

That’s how thoroughly what Pyo Wol was doing now deviated from common sense. But paradoxically, because he was not bound by fixed ideas, he was able to make a new attempt.

Pyo Wol had no preconceptions about Martial Arts.

He had no fixed ideas that this was not allowed for this reason, and that was not allowed for that reason.

He thought freely and attempted everything he imagined.

Pyo Wol lost track of time and immersed himself in the breathing he had created.

At some point, Pyo Wol’s swelling began to subside little by little.

The Poison Qi that had filled his body was either neutralized or dissolved into his blood. The reason this was possible was because of the newly created Mind Method.

It was called the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method.

This new Mind Method, which Pyo Wol had created in the snake pit, was effective in controlling the deadly poison that had infiltrated his body.

As the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method deepened, the snake venom naturally fused with his Internal Energy.

Now, snake venom was no longer an object of fear.

As he began to absorb the snake venom, Pyo Wol’s swelling also went down noticeably. When the swelling finally subsided completely, he was able to move his body.

Pyo Wol moved his finger.

Feeling the unfamiliar movement, the snakes went into an uproar.

The nearby snakes immediately bit Pyo Wol with their venomous fangs. Pyo Wol did not resist and accepted the snakes’ venom. Then, feeling hungry, he reached out and snatched a nearby snake.

The small snake, its body caught, bit the back of Pyo Wol’s hand. Pyo Wol bit off the snake’s head with his mouth.

Crunch!

The snake’s head was crushed in Pyo Wol’s mouth.

He chewed on the flesh, a fishy Blood Scent filling his mouth.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he had tasted food.

He didn’t think it was disgusting. He even felt a sense of ecstasy at tasting flesh after so long.

The snakes here had also survived until now by eating each other.

The strong ate the weak, and that was how they had endured for so long. Here, the act of eating another was not a sin.

It was the same for Pyo Wol.

He had survived by imitating snakes, but there was no reason to feel guilty about eating them.

Living with the snakes, Pyo Wol naturally absorbed their survival instincts.

When hungry, he would catch and eat a snake. That was how Pyo Wol lived in the snake pit.

Even though his body had recovered to some extent and he could climb out of the snake pit on his own, Pyo Wol did not.

This was because there was much more to be gained here than by going outside.

The animal called the snake made Pyo Wol feel many things.

Their bodies, specialized for survival without a single frill, and their developed senses were things Pyo Wol had to learn.

Pyo Wol observed their behavior while living with the snakes.

As a result, he noticed that the snakes’ vision was different from that of other animals.

The snakes’ vertically slit eyes could see into realms that humans and other animals could not.

One of the facts Pyo Wol discovered was that snakes were particularly adept at sensing body temperature with their exceptionally sensitive senses.

Their eyes were not perceiving the shape of a living creature, but sensing and distinguishing it by its temperature. Pyo Wol learned this fact while mastering the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method.

When he looked at things while operating the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method, he could see the body temperature of living creatures with his eyes. At first, he didn’t know what it meant, but after some time, he realized that this was how a snake’s vision worked.

The world seen through a snake’s vision was different from just looking.

Pyo Wol had already adapted to the darkness and could see as if it were broad daylight in a place without a single point of light, but with Serpent Eyes, he could see even more.

The expansion of vision was the expansion of senses.

Pyo Wol opened his Serpent Eyes and became one with the snakes.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

In a place where not a single ray of light entered, capturing the flow of time was next to impossible.

Because of this, Pyo Wol also did not know how long he had been trapped in the snake pit.

He could only guess that he had spent quite a long time with the snakes, as his hair and beard had grown considerably long.

“Hoo!”

Pyo Wol let out a low breath and moved his body. The snakes went into an uproar. But Pyo Wol paid them no mind and writhed his body.

His physical condition was perfect.

Power was fully transmitted to his arms and legs.

The swelling in his body was completely gone, and even the severe wounds had all healed.

Pyo Wol slowly moved his body. At first, his movements were awkward, but soon he was naturally swimming among the snakes.

His appearance, moving without using his arms and legs, was similar to a water snake moving in the water.

Even though Pyo Wol was weaving through them, the snakes did not attack him. They mistook Pyo Wol for their own kind.

After swimming for a long time, Pyo Wol poked his head out of the snake pit.

“Haa!”

Pyo Wol briefly breathed in the outside air.

Inside the snake pit, he had never once been able to breathe freely. Not only was the air thin, but to survive, he could not stop operating the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method for even a moment.

Thud!

Pyo Wol used his arms as support and struggled to pull himself out of the snake pit.

Standing on the ground with two feet after a long time felt strange.

They were definitely his legs, but it felt like they weren’t. However, that sense of incongruity soon disappeared.

Pyo Wol briefly looked around.

Im Sayeol’s residence, visible beyond the wall, had not changed at all from when he was thrown into the snake pit.

Pyo Wol came out into the underground cavern.

The underground cavern, with its torches extinguished, was darkness itself.

The cavern was so quiet that not even the sound of a crawling insect could be heard, let alone any sign of human presence.

Neither the Martial Artists of the Qingcheng Sect nor the Disciples of the Emei Sect were to be seen.

They had all abandoned this place and left.

“Alone again.”

Pyo Wol’s voice echoed in the darkness.

He was alone again, but Pyo Wol did not feel lonely.

Perhaps he had lost the emotion of feeling loneliness.

Pyo Wol sat on a large rock and looked up at the empty space.

The rope used to descend here was gone. It seemed they had taken it with them.

Even though the only exit to the outside was blocked, Pyo Wol was not disappointed. He had already expected it.

With the rope gone, it was impossible to get outside.

At least, with his current level of Martial Arts.

“I have to get stronger.”

Clashing with Mujeong Jin-in had made it clear.

Just how insignificant his level of Martial Arts was.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t kill Mujeong Jin-in with an ambush, but the probability was extremely low.

He had to become stronger.

Strong enough to face him head-on without needing to resort to an ambush.

Pyo Wol already knew how to become stronger.

“Utilize and develop everything I have.”

He was the master of this space, completely cut off from the outside world.

He couldn’t expect delicious food, but he could satisfy his hunger by eating snakes.

That was enough.

After pondering something for a moment, Pyo Wol began to move.

The place he headed for was where he had previously ambushed and fought the Emei Sect Disciples.

The Emei Sect had been in such a hurry to Escape that they had not been able to retrieve the bodies of their Disciples. Because of this, the bodies of the Emei Sect Disciples still remained here and there.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but all that was left of the Emei Sect Disciples’ bodies were their clothes and white bones.

The insects had gnawed away all the flesh.

Without so much as a frown, Pyo Wol searched their belongings. After searching through dozens of bodies, Pyo Wol was able to find a booklet.

It was a Secret Manual called Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm.

It was a handwritten copy, not the original.

The Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm was a powerful Palm Technique that the Emei Sect prided itself on.

The one who had carried the Secret Manual in his bosom was a Martial Artist named Gong Wun, who had lost his life to Pyo Wol.

Gong Wun, as a second-generation Disciple of the Emei Sect, had been permitted to learn the Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm and had a copy.

Normally, he should have left the copy at the Emei Sect, but because he had departed in such a hurry, he had brought it with him.

Until the moment he died at Pyo Wol’s hands, Gong Wun had not thought that he would never be able to return to the Emei Sect.

The Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm was a Supreme Art that proudly ranked among the top Martial Arts of the Emei Sect. It was a Martial Art that was never to be leaked to the outside.

“I’m lucky.”

Pyo Wol muttered.

Although he had not learned it formally, he had mastered the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves of the Qingcheng Sect. And now, he had obtained the Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm of the Emei Sect. On top of that, there was the Killing Method he had learned from the Bloody Shadows Guild.

With this much, he wasn’t starting from scratch.

Pyo Wol intended to see it through to the end here.

The end of the Seventy-Two Cutting Waves and the Drifting Snow Piercing Cloud Palm.

And he would infuse the essence of both Martial Arts into his Killing Method.

It might be an impossible task.

Fusing three Martial Arts of completely different natures was something only a grandmaster could do.

But Pyo Wol didn’t think it was completely impossible either.

He had already created a new kind of internal art called the Thunderbolt Soul Severing Mind Method. Although luck had played a part, it would have been impossible if Pyo Wol’s talent and effort had not supported it in the first place.

Pyo Wol sat down and began to examine the contents of the Secret Manual.

He lost track of time and became engrossed in the Martial Arts.

Something entered the darkness.

The creature, with wings too large for its small body, was a bat.

The bat hung from the ceiling for a moment and looked around.

It was a pitch-black space without a single point of light. The bat perceived the space, which human Eye Power could never see, using other senses.

After twitching its ears for a moment, the bat began to fly in a certain direction.

Neither the jutting stalactites nor the soaring roofs of the pavilions could hinder the bat.

The bat avoided all those obstacles and flew into a dark corridor.

Without giving a glance to the rooms on either side of the corridor, the bat headed for the room in the deepest part.

As it entered through the gap in the broken door, a strange sound was heard.

Shhhhk!

It was a sound that would make anyone in their right mind feel fear. But the bat was not human.

The bat knew that the sound it heard was the characteristic hissing sound that snakes make when they move.

The bat flew through the rectangular underground space and looked down. Where the bat’s gaze was directed, there was a large snake pit.

Countless snakes were writhing together in a tangled mass.

Snakes were good prey for bats.

Especially small ones like thread snakes were a staple of the bat’s diet. Such small snakes were mixed in among the large ones.

The bat descended towards the snake pit without a sound.

It intended to snatch just one thread snake and leave.

It was when the bat had almost approached the top of the snake pit.

A white hand shot out from among the snakes. But the bat did not notice this at all.

Not only was the bat’s attention focused on the snakes, but more importantly, the hand’s movement was so stealthy that the bat could not detect it.

Bats were particularly sensitive to changes in the air.

Because they used sound to perceive their surroundings, they would immediately detect even the slightest change in the air and flee. But this time, it felt no such change at all.

The pure white hand snatched the bat without a sound.

Only then did the bat realize the hand’s existence and struggle frantically, but it was useless. The pure white hand held the bat tightly and did not let go.

In that moment, the owner of the hand appeared, parting the countless snakes.

The snakes writhed, desperately trying to get away from the owner of the hand, as if they had encountered a fearsome being.

A man with long hair that came down to his waist and a beard that covered his chest.

He was completely naked, without a single thread on him.

His naked body was sleek, as if he had no muscles at all.

It was a body that looked as if it might be the final form of a snake after shedding all its skin.

The man with eyes that glowed red even in the darkness was Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol looked at the flapping bat in his hand and muttered.

“Has a path to the outside opened?”