Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

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Chapter 390

Near Hobak Guesthouse, a multitude of people gathered in the vast, empty wilderness.

With dozens of eyes on him, Yeon-woo lifted his hand from the ground.

“Alright, it’s done.”

“Oh, ohhh…!!”

Upon hearing Yeon-woo’s slightly sullen words, the crowd erupted with astonishment.

The previously purple land, tainted by malevolent energy, had returned to its original color.

Countless martial artists positioned themselves where Yeon-woo had stood. It was undoubtedly unbelievable, but it looked absurdly silly. Yeon-woo thought as he stepped away.

He had anticipated a positive reaction, but this was pushing it a bit too far.

“Thanks to you, we survived, Choi Yeon-woo.”

Dang Sa-ryeon said with a beaming smile. This was quite surprising.

Yeon-woo had seen Dang Sa-ryeon’s wicked grin countless times, but this was the first time he witnessed such a cheerful smile.

“Heh, you must have had a hard time…”

“Yes, truly.”

Although her beauty remained, dark circles under her eyes and sunken cheeks caught Yeon-woo’s attention.

Without realizing it, he remarked on it, and Dang Sa-ryeon confirmed it without a hint of hesitation.

“You should’ve known! The only thing in your head is martial arts, and you were just walking around absentmindedly, lying down in the tainted ground and whining like a baby.”

“That’s a bit harsh! Like stepping on a Lego as a kid!”

The potency of the malevolent energy was beyond terrifying; for an ordinary martial artist, merely touching it could allow it to infiltrate one’s body and begin destruction from within.

Even a master-level demon could slaughter martial artists just by existing.

Of course, such masters were scarce in the malevolent faction, which is why the current front lines held steady.

Yet, the land was gradually being tainted due to demons exploding in their deaths. Yeon-woo’s arrival lessened that worry, at least.

“Throwing civilians or prisoners like bombs, with you here it should be a bit easier to manage. The fact that we can advance deeper is encouraging.”

“Whoops, am I just too capable?”

“Yes, honestly, it feels like I’ve gained an army of heroes.”

As Dang Sa-ryeon straightforwardly agreed, Yeon-woo, who had intended to joke, found himself blushing instead.

Then, a figure stared at them with sharp eyes.

“…So why is that person glaring at us like that?”

“If you think about it, Shar here might feel a bit weird seeing you get super close to a strange boy.”

“No way! Even if that happened, I wouldn’t act like that. No chance.”

“Knowing others well but being blind to yourself—just like you. I can bet you’d be worse than that.”

Poison King Dang Jin-ho. A middle-aged man who wouldn’t fall short even as a leader of the righteous faction hung from the ceiling, glaring daggers at Yeon-woo. To be honest, even Yeon-woo felt a bit pressured.

Dang Sa-ryeon seemingly found Yeon-woo’s worried expression amusing.

As Dang Sa-ryeon cast a resentful glance at Yeon-woo, she chuckled and whispered softly.

“If I step away, he’ll talk to you. Handle the conversation wisely. My father is someone even I can’t predict.”

“Ha….”

Maybe I should have gone to Arkeion…. While watching Dang Sa-ryeon’s side profile as she left, a voice slid into my ear.

[Hey, do you have some time?]

Yes, yes. I’ve got time. Time and more!

*

In the center of the guesthouse undergoing repairs, the Poison King and Choi Yeon-woo sat together. The Poison King poured tea into a cup with an accustomed posture and flicked his finger at it.

The tea cup spun swiftly and zipping toward Yeon-woo, who caught it effortlessly.

In the process, he had to use some aura to release the rotational force caused by the severe intricacy of the moment, though.

Seeing that, Dang Jin-ho huffed, clearly impressed. He was indeed a capable person. He had toned down his lethal intent, yet it was practically like shooting an arrow with nearly perfect precision.

What stood out even more was Yeon-woo downing the questionable tea without hesitation.

Although the times were easing the prejudiced views toward the Tang family, a cup of tea poured with hands stained purple did not exactly stimulate an appetite.

I can’t believe he poisoned it, Yeon-woo thought, feeling a little uneasy human psychology creep in at the sight of those purple hands.

Yet, without a moment’s hesitation, Yeon-woo gulped down the tea. Even the Poison King found himself loosening up a bit at that bold display.

“Yeah, you’re getting close to Sa-ryeon.”

“Yes, I consider her a good friend.”

“A friend, is that all? Don’t you think it’s more than that?”

With that, bursts of laughter erupted from outside. It was a very familiar voice. Dang Sa-ryeon was eavesdropping outside the guesthouse and burst into laughter at his words.

“…Cough, nothing like that. We might be good business partners, but that’s about it.”

“Is that so? Fine then. I can say my daughter is certainly sharp-witted…”

With no hidden ulterior motives and complimenting Dang Sa-ryeon, the Poison King slightly lowered his internal defense.

Of course, he didn’t fully believe those words. He knew very well that men could easily deceive themselves.

“That’s fine. No matter how charming a rogue might be, I can’t let my daughter be with a guy who gains a dragon and all. Don’t even dream about it in the future.”

“Oh dear, why do you decide that for yourself, Lord?”

Dang Jin-ho’s voice interrupted with a firm tone, trying to nip any possible sprout of infatuation.

Yeon-woo wore a fatigued expression while leaning his face on his arm. Things were going smoothly—why butt in now?

At least if it were Baek In-hwa, if she had romantic feelings towards me, I could understand, but while Sa-ryeon might have some affection, it wasn’t love. She probably felt indebted due to how much I had helped her.

The only reason Sa-ryeon was interrupting was for fun and nothing else.

“Sa-ryeon, you can’t! I have no intention of handing over the next head of the family to the third wife of a kid!”

“Lord, what does that matter? Isn’t it okay as long as you have good genes?”

“Hey, that’s a bit off, isn’t it?”

You’d think it’s a gene bank or something. He had no intention of doing that from the beginning—why cultivate seeds of discord?

“Not gonna happen, not while I’m the lord!”

“Oh really, so if I defeat you, it’s all alright then?”

“What the?!”

With Sa-ryeon’s brazen declaration, the Poison King was taken aback. There was no way she’d try to dethrone him, was there? The faint aura of poisonous energy that arose was nothing to scoff at.

Just in case, the Poison King raised his own lethal aura, as it was a sharp, menacing kind.

At that sight, the martial artists observing in the guesthouse started panicking and fleeing.

It surely was a sight to see the leaders of the righteous faction clash.

However, if things got out of hand, there wouldn’t be any insurance either.

As Dang Sa-ryeon chuckled softly, watching the Poison King with a serious face, she burst into soft laughter.

“Just kidding, Father. Well, saying I haven’t thought about it at all would be a lie, but marriage isn’t something you can just decide on your own, right?”

“Glad to hear that! No matter how much of a foolish father I may be, I surely don’t want to fight with my daughter.”

“Are you scared of the Chaotic Flower Realm?”

“Ahem.”

The Poison King, sweating profusely, turned away.

The Chaotic Flower Realm was truly nonsensical, and faced with a clan head capable of handling all poisons, no one could assert dominance.

Even though there was a difference in expertise between a master and an expert, their fight could still be equally matched.

Of course, in pure poison skills, Yeon-woo inevitably would have the upper hand, but with Dou Qi included as a life and death struggle, Sa-ryeon would naturally fall short.

However, with her already having taken control of the people’s sentiments in the Tang clan, even excelling in Poison Mastery could give her the right to succeed as head of the family.

“I’m glad the misunderstanding has been cleared, Poison King…”

Yeon-woo felt utterly wronged, as he had done nothing wrong, yet the situation had turned out this way.

*

“Nice to meet you, great hero Yeon-woo. I am Jin Baek-cheon, the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.”

Some time later, after settling near the Hobak Guesthouse, visitors came to Yeon-woo’s camp.

That name was Jin Baek-cheon, the leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.

“I find it a bit awkward to be called ‘great hero’. I’d appreciate it if you just called me casually.”

“Well, seeing as how the situation is, I’m responsible for this battlefield. I intended to hand it over to the Gong Sun family of the imperial relatives, but they refused, claiming they didn’t qualify.”

It seemed the Gong Sun family, being a branch of the imperial family, was probably more well-versed regarding war matters.

Still, if it’s merely a nominal responsibility, it shouldn’t even matter whether it was Jin Baek-cheon or an inconsequential martial artist. After all, the one actually commanding would be the current head of the Zhuge clan.

“What I wanted to ask… well, you probably already know.”

“Oh, of course. To put it bluntly, the power of the Martial Arts Alliance and Shi Mi-ryeon is not inferior to the malevolent faction, is it? The existence of the Heavenly Demon and the transformation of demonic power it has incurred is the issue.”

“Exactly so. In the last war, we eliminated countless demons. On a simple power scale, the martial world was decisive, and we thought it would be a straightforward victory—if the demonic power had been like what we understood.”

However, the demonic power had transformed. With the emergence of the Heavenly Demon, everything changed color.

Every demon of the malevolent faction was almost a slave to the Heavenly Demon, and its intentions had contaminated the world of the malevolent faction.

Such a trivial change led to utterly absurd developments in the war. Demons no longer feared their own deaths. On the contrary, they willingly forced indiscriminate attrition.

If it had been normal, the Martial Arts Alliance would’ve scoffed at the lunatics and wiped them out. It was only then that they began to hesitate.

Even if they won in fights, they couldn’t hold the most crucial land. No matter how many battles they won, they were losing the war.

Thus, unable to refrain from fighting, they continued to eliminate demons but lost land instead.

The result was the escape of the Martial Arts Alliance from their territories. They decided to retreat until they found some way to resolve the issue.

They saved not just martial artists but also civilians unrelated to the martial world and awaited their next chance.

And now, they had found a way to reclaim their land.

“Will you help us save our homeland?”

This was Jin Baek-cheon’s request, a man who believed that they must resolve their own issues. A statement that shed the pride of a martial artist.

(To be continued in the next chapter)