Chapter 228

“You’re really not trying to attempt Thousand-Poison Immunity, right?”

“Nope. I swear—absolutely not. Now you’re getting in the way, so you should go.”

“If you’re lying—!”

“You’re noisy.”

Fwoosh—Chris used dark magic to shove Marisa out of the chamber and immediately locked the door.

“You!!”

“It’s going to take a while, so don’t worry. I’ll be out just in time for the Holy Grail Duel. In the meantime, just focus on developing that alcohol tolerance enhancer I asked for.”

Chris cast layers of dark magic to seal the door completely.

And he didn’t stop there—he reinforced the entire chamber with multiple protective spell formations.

Now, no one from the outside could possibly enter.

‘If I’m interrupted midway, it’ll be disastrous. Even for me, I can’t guarantee survival.’

Contrary to what he had told Marisa, Chris was planning something dangerous.

But it had nothing to do with Thousand-Poison Immunity.

‘I’m aiming for something far beyond that.’

To refer to the legendary Thousand-Poison Immunity as “nothing”…

What exactly was Chris trying to achieve?

‘I have to attain the Heavenly Poison Body.’

Heavenly Poison—literally "Poison of the Heavens."

A different legend whispered within the Venomous Demonic House.

The ultimate poison that poison users of the house sought like an unreachable ideal.

‘The Heavenly Poison Body is the transformation of one’s body into a vessel capable of holding the Poison of the Heavens.’

But this was a concept no one in the Venomous Demonic House had ever even heard of.

Because—

‘It’s a secret technique passed down in the House of the Medical Saint.’

A surprising revelation.

Why would a secret technique related to Heavenly Poison exist in a lineage of healers?

There was a reason.

The Heavenly Poison Body was a secret art developed long ago by a demon from the Venomous Demonic House—who later became known as the Saint of Medicine, the most revered figure in the House of the Medical Saint.

It might seem strange that such a holy title belonged to someone from the Venomous Demonic House, but the House of the Medical Saint accepted disciples from all backgrounds—as long as they genuinely sought to heal others.

‘Most in the Medical Saint lineage don’t even know this secret exists.’

In his previous life, Chris had witnessed the death of the 26th Head of the House of the Medical Saint, and succeeded him as the 27th.

At that time, the former head entrusted him with a confidential manuscript passed down only to heads of the house—and within it was the truth about the Heavenly Poison Body.

‘From a medical standpoint, it’s a theoretically perfect secret technique. The only issue is that no one’s ever managed to realize it.’

That legendary Thousand-Poison Immunity Marisa had mentioned?

It couldn’t even compare.

Even achieving the base foundation of the Heavenly Poison Body granted effects similar to Thousand-Poison Immunity.

But the problem was… it was practically impossible to realize.

‘Because of the nature of Heavenly Poison itself.’

So what exactly was Heavenly Poison?

According to the legends of the Venomous Demonic House, it was “poison imbued with the will of the heavens.”

More precisely, it was poison infused with the divine will to judge the corruption of the world.

Thus, although it was a poison, Heavenly Poison also possessed the nature of light.

In other words, to serve as a vessel for Heavenly Poison, one’s nature had to be both demonic (dark) and radiant (light) at the same time.

‘…There shouldn’t be anyone in the world who fits that requirement. Not normally, anyway.’

And that wasn’t all.

The process of completing the Heavenly Poison Body was divided into multiple stages—and even the foundation was incredibly difficult.

Just like with Thousand-Poison Immunity, one had to personally ingest a thousand different poisons. But it wasn’t enough to simply endure them.

While absorbing those thousand poisons, one had to establish a state of enlightenment—a mental realization capable of housing the will of Heavenly Poison.

This enlightenment refers to the awakening one gains upon reaching 6 stars.

But it wasn’t just about reaching 6 stars. One had to attain a 6-star revelation suitable for containing Heavenly Poison.

An impossible feat—unless one possessed talent beyond the ages.

‘It also requires an extreme will to save lives.’

There shouldn’t be anyone alive who could meet such conditions.

…Except for Chris.

‘I can do it.’

The coexistence of dark and light within him.

Talent beyond compare.

And a will to save lives, forged from healing countless patients over the years.

Chris possessed all of it.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy for me either.’

Even he had to be prepared to risk his life to complete the Heavenly Poison Body.

Because he had to withstand the intake of a thousand poisons.

But it had to be done.

‘If I complete the Heavenly Poison Body, I might be able to stop the Jinrok Calamity.’

Before long, the Demon King of Blueflow would bring about a catastrophic disaster in the Venomous Demonic House.

And the only way to stop that disaster was by perfecting the Heavenly Poison Body.

‘And beyond that, completing it would give me countless advantages.’

First, in poison arts.

To win the upcoming Holy Grail Duel, Chris absolutely had to reach 6 stars in poison.

To defeat a 6-star poison user with poison, he needed, at minimum, to wield Will-infused Poison.

But even for someone like Chris, reaching 6 stars in a month was nearly impossible.

Achieving that level required accumulated experience and a deep conceptual understanding of poison—one could not shortcut enlightenment.

However, training the Heavenly Poison Body would drastically condense that process.

‘By taking in a thousand poisons as attributes, I’ll be forced to achieve enlightenment.’

In other words, if he succeeded in laying the foundation of the Heavenly Poison Body, he would naturally ascend to 6 stars in poison arts.

And not just any 6-star enlightenment—one capable of housing Heavenly Poison.

It was the most perfect 6-star revelation a poison user could possibly reach.

‘It’s also essential for completing my first goal—the Painted World.’

In truth, Chris could already reach 6 stars in Dark Magic at any moment.

He had the vessel. He had the conceptual clarity needed for enlightenment.

But he had deliberately remained at 5 stars—because the ordinary path to 6 stars wasn’t what he was after.

His goal was the Painted World—a world drawn in darkness.

A legendary state of enlightenment said to have been achieved by the Demon King of Annihilation.

‘No, I have to go beyond even that. Simply following in his footsteps isn’t enough.’

The Heavenly Poison Body would serve as the foundation for everything.

Chris sat down at the very center of the circular chamber.

He strapped countless artifacts and relics around his body—ones designed to bolster life force and resilience.

Even for someone like Chris, there was no surviving the ingestion of one thousand poisons without assistance. This was the best support he could muster.

‘Even so, there’s still a limit.’

He began drawing a magic circle around him.

A sealing formation so tight that not even a speck of dust could escape.

With a flick of his finger, one of the poison vials lining the chamber walls flew toward him and burst open in front of him.

Because of the sealing formation, not a single wisp of the toxic smoke leaked out. It swirled tightly around Chris.

Chris accepted the poison through his skin, his breath, his mouth, and his entire body—thinking to himself:

‘Now it begins.’

For the next fifteen days…

Chris would have to absorb all one thousand types of poison—while at the same time forging the state of enlightenment worthy of containing the Heavenly Poison.

It was an unimaginably dangerous endeavor.

With every poison he took in, his body would break down further and further.

Though the artifacts and relics helped, they had their limits.

Even surviving the entire ordeal would be a miracle.

But if he endured it all—if he shaped the perfect vessel—Chris would undergo yet another massive transformation.

He continued to take in the poisons.

Darkness and poison. Light and healing.

The will of the heavens.

The darkness of domination. The poison of death. The light of justice. The healing of life.

Countless concepts clashed and swirled in his body—chaotic, yet fusing.

Chris slowly closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the depths of his inner world, and time passed.

* * *

Fifteen days later.

“!!”

Chris’s eyes shot open.

‘How long has it been?’

Had he reached the 700th poison? Or maybe the 800th?

He had completely lost consciousness.

But not in the sense of collapsing—rather, he had continued the secret cultivation technique unconsciously, deep within his mind.

‘…Did I succeed?’

It felt like it.

His body felt incredibly light.

‘My body was completely ruined by the poisons...’

After ingesting the 300th poison, all of his artifacts and relics had failed completely.

But he hadn’t stopped.

He had continued to absorb poison while simultaneously channeling the Medical Saint’s Energy Technique.

After the 500th poison, he had completely run out of internal energy to fuel that technique.

By the 600th poison, he realized his body had been irreversibly damaged.

After the 700th, he sensed that he had crossed the line of death itself.

And still, he did not stop.

He used the power of will to delay death itself.

It was as if he had channeled the power of Will Manifestation Energy into his own body—extending his life to the very edge of reality’s limit.

Something only Chris could accomplish. An unbelievable feat.

At some point, he lost consciousness. Yet even in that unconscious state, he continued the secret art in complete selflessness.

And when he finally came to… he had succeeded.

‘Rather, my body feels even stronger than before.’

Originally, Chris hadn’t been particularly exceptional in terms of physical ability.

He’d always lacked proper physical training—a chronic weakness of his.

Previously, he had made up for his lacking stamina using a secret art from the Medical Saint’s Family, but even so, compared to others at a similar level, his body was on the frailer side.

Now, that had completely changed.

‘So, my body collapsed and restructured itself through this process… I’ve undergone another physical metamorphosis. Again. How many times is this now?’

He looked at his reflection in a shattered glass vial and let out a whistle.

Thanks to this rebirth-like transformation, he’d gotten even more handsome.

‘…Though I think my face somehow looks more punchable now. I’ve got a kind heart, so why does my appearance keep making me look like a jerk?’

Well, looks didn’t matter much.

There was something far more important.

‘I’ve reached 6-star in Toxic Arts.’

His memories slowly returned.

As he had ingested the thousandth poison—right on the verge of death—a flash of insight had struck him.

A concept born of darkness that sought not just to accept the Heavenly Poison… but to rule over it.

However, this was distinctly different from the standard enlightenment of the Heavenly Poison Body.

Instead of simply harmonizing with the poison, Chris had attained an ideology that aimed to dominate it.

‘Because I’m not just a toxic cultivator—I’m a Dark Magus from the Dark Demonic House.’

Truthfully, it would’ve been much easier for him to attain the enlightenment needed to accept the Heavenly Poison.

He already possessed the essential will to save life that formed the foundation of the Heavenly Poison Body.

But if he had accepted that pure Heavenly Poison enlightenment, it might have started to suppress his Dark Demon Arts.

Chris had no intention of allowing that reversal.

He didn’t want the Heavenly Poison Body to be the core—he wanted it to serve as a foundation for his Dark Demon Arts.

All of his pursuit of toxic cultivation, in the end, was to nourish and elevate his Dark Demon path.

And so, he took the harder route—to obtain an enlightenment that would subjugate the Heavenly Poison.

‘And thanks to that, the dominion of my Dark Demon Arts has grown even stronger.’

And that wasn’t all.

‘With the base vessel of the Heavenly Poison Body complete, I’ve also achieved Thousand Poison Immunity. Could it be… maybe my alcohol tolerance improved too?’

A ridiculous but hopeful thought crossed his mind.

If he was immune to a thousand poisons, it only made sense that he’d be better with alcohol!

Yet a vague unease crept up inside him.

‘…Don’t tell me I’ve somehow achieved Thousand Poison Immunity, and still can’t hold my liquor? That would be such crap. There’s no way something that ridiculous would happen to me…’

Chris shook his head firmly.

‘No. Don’t overthink it. My alcohol tolerance must have improved. I’m ready. Let the world’s wine flow—I’ll drink it all!’

Just then—

BANG! BANG!

A ruckus erupted from above.

“Christian! Christian! What are you doing in there?! Don’t tell me you’re dead?! Answer me, you idiot!!”

It was Marisa.

Since there’d been no sign of life from inside, she must’ve panicked and assumed something had happened to him.

“What the hell kind of security formation did you use?! Why won’t this damn door open?! Hey! Open it right now!!”

Chris shrugged.

His clothes had been corroded by the poisons, so he casually put on a spare set he’d prepared in advance and slowly opened the door with a creak.

“Hey! I said open the doo—wait, huh…?”

Marisa’s face went blank.

She blinked rapidly and stared at him.

“…You’re alive?”

“Perfectly fine. What’s with all the yelling?”

“Well, Alros—that idiot—almost died, and then you just disappeared with no word, so I thought maybe….”

Marisa trailed off, her voice softening.