The Blood of Love
When I opened my eyes again, the surroundings were drenched in blood.
“Eh…?”
Only the undead remained alive.
Cheon-saek Castle was in ruins, its civilians reduced to mere bones. Their life force had risen into the heavens, pooling there like a thick mist.
The air was soaked with their blood.
The undead, however, looked almost intact. Among the Qi Condensation cultivators, those with weaker foundations began coughing up blood. Their golden cores shattered one after another, and the law power and life force within them shot skyward.
“Enough… stop it…!”
Kulluk, kulluk!
I spat blood and forced myself to my feet.
My entire body screamed in agony.
Glancing around, I saw Kim Young-hoon spitting even more blood than I was, barely able to stand.
“You… you said to stop… didn’t you?!”
I roared and swung my invisible sword. But since my Pure Force and internal dan’s energy had all but run dry, the blade dissolved into nothingness in midair.
Won Rip no longer bothered with me. He continued weaving the Blood Demon Array, gathering the life force of countless mortals and the law power and life force of the cultivators, then absorbed it all into his own blood shadow.
“Kuhk… kuk…”
I vomited a fountain of blood.
‘What… what about the others…?’
The lower-stage cultivators seemed to be succumbing first. Far away, Buk Jung-ho and Buk Hyang-hwa, along with Cheongmun Ryeong, staggered out from behind the rubble of buildings.
But it seemed Won Rip’s stray attack had hit them too. They were covered head to toe in blood.
We gathered at one spot.
“It looks like it’s… over.”
“A Nascent Soul cultivator… haha, there’s no way you can win against that.”
Buk Jung-ho and Cheongmun Ryeong stared blankly at the figure floating in the air.
I gritted my teeth.
“If I stake my life… maybe I can do something.”
The final secret technique of the Danak Sword Art.
If I can at least wound that Nascent Soul monster…!
“Yeah, I’ll stake my life too.”
Kim Young-hoon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spoke with a weary face.
His hands trembled as he touched his abdomen.
Several holes had been torn into his stomach.
Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t have survived wounds like that.
“My life is already over. I’ll take at least one shot at that bastard before I go. If Eun-hyun and I stake our lives…”
At that moment.
Kim Young-hoon suddenly met Buk Hyang-hwa’s eyes.
She seemed to move her lips.
It must have been a private transmission.
Kim Young-hoon looked startled.
‘What did she say?’
I tried reading her lips with the Pure Force reading technique, but blood kept dripping into my eyes and I couldn’t see clearly.
Kim Young-hoon shook his head with a bitter expression, and Buk Hyang-hwa nodded.
‘What did they talk about…?’
At that moment.
Buk Hyang-hwa formed a talisman.
Buzz!
A spirit insect flew toward us from among the rubble.
Clink, clink!
The spirit insect looked battered by the previous shock, swaying unsteadily.
Wooong!
When she formed the talisman again, a protective formation spread around us.
The soundproofing talisman was also active, so Won Rip probably wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop on our conversation.
Won Rip glanced down at us for a moment but paid no attention and kept activating the Blood Demon Array.
It felt like the last desperate struggle of insects.
“Thanks to Senior Cheongmun weakening the formation, we can perform one space transmission with this insect.”
I opened my eyes wide.
“Haha, Hyang-hwa! It’s truly fortunate! Hurry, hurry and board it!”
Yeah, I had left the coordinates of the spirit insect at Neighboring Seong in case of emergencies.
If we reached Neighboring Seong, Won Rip wouldn’t be able to chase us.
Neighboring Seong was a decent-sized city inside Byeokra Kingdom, bordering the Gongmyo Clan’s territory.
But at my words, Hyang-hwa looked around.
Splish, splish!
The power of the Blood Demon Array had grown stronger. Not only the civilians but also the golden cores of mid- and lower-stage Qi Condensation cultivators shattered and shot upward. Even the peak Qi Condensation cultivators coughed blood and died.
“The only ones who seem to be able to survive are us.”
“But when I talked with Young-hoon just now, he said his death was certain. So among us, only our father, me, Senior Cheongmun, and you can escape on the insect?”
“But looking at the insect’s condition right now, it’ll probably break after one space transmission.”
“Then… what now?”
Hyang-hwa looked at Cheongmun Ryeong.
“What if Senior Cheongmun goes?”
But Cheongmun Ryeong smiled bitterly.
“No. I’m already an old man who has lived enough. My lifespan is almost gone. Am I supposed to spend the rest of it trapped in a nightmare while abandoning my friends?”
“I’ve already completed everything the clan needed me to do. I don’t want to bother the young ones anymore. Let one of the younger fellows go instead.”
With those words, he didn’t wait for a reply and stepped straight out of the protective formation Hyang-hwa had spread.
Kugugugu!
And as if determined to resist to the end, he raised the Supreme Law Technique of the Ten Thousand Scales Tree Ocean and glared at Won Rip.
Greenish-white energy rose around Cheongmun Ryeong as he drew a formation array.
“This old man dies here! But he won’t die easily!”
Kugugugugu!
Around Cheongmun Ryeong, a formation array bloomed, and the green wood shape of the Ten Thousand Scales Tree Ocean surged forth.
The trees grew and intertwined with one another until they formed a single colossal tree that blocked us from Won Rip.
Kim Young-hoon smiled faintly and grabbed his broken blade, then stepped out of the protective formation as well.
“My life is already over. Why should I say anything else! I’m going!”
Thud!
He erupted with his remaining internal energy and leaped onto the colossal tree along with his broken blade.
It looked as if a golden bird had landed on it.
I tried to step out of the protective formation right after Kim Young-hoon.
And.
Boom!
Buk Jung-ho and Buk Hyang-hwa both grabbed me at the same time.
“What are you doing?”
They looked at each other for a moment, then grinned and pulled me in.
“Where do you think you’re going, son-in-law?”
“It would be best if you stayed here.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. If Young-hoon and I don’t stake our lives, Won Rip will at least…”
“I overheard you talking with Young-hoon just now.”
Buk Hyang-hwa looked at me and said.
“He said that even if you and Young-hoon stake your lives, the chance of properly wounding that monster is slim.”
“What does that have to do with anything! Don’t we have to avenge these dead people of Cheon-saek Castle?!”
“Then listen to me, son-in-law.”
Buk Jung-ho spoke to me with a serious face.
“Isn’t it only right that we who have lived here longer than you should do this?”
“This city holds memories of my mother and me. Even if I die today, I won’t leave this place.”
“Old man Buk! Stop Hyang-hwa!”
“Shut up. My strength is already gone anyway. You go. I have no intention of fleeing from this place where I was with my wife… and my daughter…”
After glancing at Buk Hyang-hwa for a moment, he looked at me and said.
“…We’re done talking. I’m saving you!”
Kwaaak!
Buk Jung-ho’s law technique caught me.
I tried to tear it apart with my invisible sword, but my drained energy couldn’t resist it.
Buzz!
“Lie still and live!”
The spirit insect grabbed my body, and I saw the two of them while coughing blood.
“N-no! Don’t do this! Haha, Hyang-hwa! Actually…”
Thud!
Buk Hyang-hwa came close and hugged me tightly. After that, she placed the jade bead that she had called her mother’s heirloom into my arms.
“Thank you so much. And… I’ve already prepared a gift for you at the destination.”
“U… aaaaaah!”
Drip, drip, drip!
I tore apart Buk Jung-ho’s binding technique with all my strength and struggled to switch places with Buk Hyang-hwa.
“I’m okay with dying!! I can die with…”
And Buk Hyang-hwa formed a talisman.
“Goodbye. You.”
Fwaaah!
The protective formation disappeared, and the spirit insect shot upward into the sky at great speed.
In the distance, Won Rip looked startled and began forming a talisman.
The colossal tree from Cheongmun Ryeong and Kim Young-hoon’s blade were swallowed by a sea of blood.
Buk Jung-ho used a white tiger-shaped law technique, and Buk Hyang-hwa began pulling out numerous artifacts from her storage ring to fight back.
Kim Young-hoon started using the secret technique of the Supreme Law, and with the final act of the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators burning their life force,
the last thing Buk Hyang-hwa did was look back at me.
The spirit insect leaped across space.
Fwaaah!
* * *
Piiit!
“Kuaaaak!”
Kwa-kwa-kwak!
I fell in front of Neighboring Seong in the Byeokra Kingdom.
During the space jump, the spirit insect had been further damaged and exploded into pieces in midair.
“Kuhk! Kuk…”
I coughed blood, applied first aid to my body, and immediately circulated my inner energy. I poured my internal energy into my golden core.
Kugugugu!
My golden core sucked in the surrounding energy and filled rapidly.
I trembled as I reached into the storage ring Buk Hyang-hwa had made for me and pulled out several spirit stones.
Uuwuung!
I absorbed the spirit energy of the stones and absorbed my internal energy even faster.
After a while, my internal energy recovered enough to make several Healing Pills.
I stood up immediately.
I had to go.
I had to return to Cheon-saek Castle!
At that moment.
Kugugugu!
As I moved, sand erupted around me, and hidden formation arrays appeared.
‘This is…?’
From the center of the formation, something shone and rose.
It was a small wooden box.
Remembering the ‘gift’ Buk Hyang-hwa had mentioned, I quickly stuffed the box into my arms and launched myself into the air, racing madly toward Cheon-saek Castle.
‘Please… please…!’
Neighboring Seong quickly receded behind me, and the scenery blurred past.
I ran forward as if foam were coming out of my mouth.
‘Please…!’
How far had I run?
How much time had passed?
The familiar scent of blood grew stronger, and Cheon-saek Castle appeared in the distance once more.
The Blood Demon Array that had covered Cheon-saek Castle had disappeared.
“Please…!”
I ran toward Cheon-saek Castle.
* * *
Drip, drip…
Cheon-saek Castle was a sea of blood.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere, and I searched the city with my trembling hands.
And suddenly, beyond the rubble of a collapsed building, I found the people I was looking for.
“Ah… aaaa…”
Kim Young-hoon’s body was split into eight pieces, arranged neatly.
Cheongmun Ryeong had died from the Blood Wood technique of the Blood Wood Daoist, blood-red wood sprouting all over his body.
Buk Jung-ho had no neck and a hole in his abdomen.
And Buk Hyang-hwa…
“Ah… aaaa… aaaaa…”
She was still alive.
In a dazed state, I pushed through the rubble and ran to her.
She was breathing.
Her lower half was gone.
From the area where her golden core had been, everything below was completely missing.
“Hya, Hyang-hwa… Hyang-hwa…”
I ran to her in a half-dazed state.
“W-wait… wait just a moment… I’ll… I’ll find your lower half…”
I rambled as if I didn’t even understand what I was saying, and I grabbed her hand.
She was barely breathing, with the last remnants of her Pure Force still in her meridians.
I pressed my fingers to her pulse, made sure she felt no pain, and squeezed my remaining inner energy into her.
“I-I can survive. If… if I find your lower half…”
And she looked at me.
“…Your golden core was ripped out completely. How can you say you can survive?”
Somehow, her voice was cold.
“Elder Seo.”
“Hyang-hwa… don’t give up. I’ll save you…”
“Elder Seo.”
She said in a cold voice.
“Don’t say that. I’m already dead.”
Somehow, because it was her time, she seemed more lucid than ever.
“Please listen to my will.”
“No, it’s not a will. You’re not going to die…”
“Elder Seo, you really are a worthless person.”
>p>“Y-yes…?”
“It’s truly unfortunate. I planned to use your reputation to raise the clan, and even take revenge on the Gongmyo Cheon-saek Elder who treated my mother so poorly.”
“…?”
“You must have thought we had a good relationship all this time. My father even encouraged you, so you probably thought there was something between us. I had everything arranged with my father in advance so that you would come to me. It feels so good to finally say it.”
“…?”
“The moment I saw your strength, I thought of using charm and a political marriage on you. I figured you were a Foundation Establishment cultivator who was good with artifacts, but you turned out to be more powerful than that. I told my father and…”
Tears welled up in my eyes.
‘Senior Hyang-hwa. Why are you speaking so coldly?’
Why are you calling our time together a false emotion?
‘Why do you sound so cold… while saying that?’
Is your intent really directed at me?
Even in the moment of death, Hyang-hwa’s intent wasn’t clouded by fear.
Her intent was a clear pinkish-purple color, and through that intent, her heart spoke to me.
“A Foundation Establishment cultivator like you is too naïve, Elder Seo.”
―I didn’t want to become a burden to you from now on.
“But since you came anyway, please at least listen to my will.”
―So please forgive me for saying this out loud.
“First, please bury my father next to my mother’s grave. And please bury me under my workshop. If possible, please recover the remains of the people of Cheon-saek Castle as well.”
―I’m going now, but I hope you live a new life without forgetting me.
“The guqin and other artifacts at my workshop are useless to me now since I’m dead, so you can take them. Consider it payment for recovering the remains.”
―I wanted to give you even more.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for using you until now. I didn’t have much feeling for you, but you were still an excellent tool that blocked those flies for me.”
―I’m sorry to say such things. Even if I have to say these things, please forget me and find happiness with a new person.
“…Why are you crying?”
―Don’t cry.
“…There are more than a few things I didn’t like about you. You couldn’t even make artifacts…”
―There were so many things I wanted to do with you…
“You’re dull, your head is bad, and sometimes you get arrogant toward people weaker than you.”
―Because you’re dull, you’re warm. Because your head is bad, you’re gentle. Even if you’re arrogant, you know how to care for others.
“In a weird way, you’re too emotional. Stop whining. I really hate people who aren’t manly enough.”
―I’m sorry for going first. Don’t cry.
“Now… I’ll be able to meet… my mother…”
―In front of my mother, I wanted to make a vow with you.
The pinkish-purple intent bloomed into a single flower and enveloped me.
“Then, goodbye… Elder Seo.”
―I wanted to be with you again. Brother Seo.
Drip, drip, drip…
My vision blurred. I couldn’t see anything.
All I could see was the pinkish-purple intent.
And it gradually grew fainter.
Her body began to cool.
After a while, all of Hyang-hwa’s intent dispersed, and her breathing stopped.
When I wiped away my tears, I saw her spiritual body rising into the sky.
I reached for her, but my hand passed straight through her.
Her spiritual body seemed to fly into the air and then dispersed.
I stared at her with empty eyes.
Around me, pinkish-purple intent still lingered.
It wasn’t Hyang-hwa’s intent. It was mine.
And soon, the pinkish-purple intent began to turn crimson like blood.
Like the blood that filled Cheon-saek Castle, my intent turned crimson and filled the surroundings.
I grabbed Hyang-hwa’s hand and said in a trembling voice.
“Wait… just a little longer.”
Drip, drip…
Somehow, the color of the tears was black.
No, it wasn’t the color of tears.
From my eyes, mouth, nose, ears.
From all seven orifices.
No, from every pore on my body.
The black curse text was leaking out.
The creator of the Yin Soul Ghost Curse supposedly handled all 108 curses at once.
Shiiiii—
But the number of curse texts spurting from my entire body had already surpassed 108.
Huuu—
When I took a breath, the curse texts crumbled into law power and flowed into my body.
In an instant, my golden core filled with law power again.
I converted the law power into internal energy and poured it into my golden core.
Swaaah—
A cold aura spread around me.
I stood up.
With my recovered internal energy, I raised my invisible sword and grabbed it.
“I’m going to rip out that bastard’s heart.”
I turned my back on the city and flew upward, shedding black tears mixed with curse texts.
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