The Betrayal (1)
How should I do it?
How can I reject Seo Hyul’s offer in a way that looks completely natural?
‘Ordinary excuses won’t work at all.’
I’ve used Kyuryeon more than once just to charm her, and right now Seo Hyul is moving her against me. Any clumsy lie would only turn her into an enemy along with him.
‘And I can’t just use force to drive them away and flee.’
Even if I reveal everything to the Cheon, Ji, and Simjok, my strength is barely equal to the early stages of the Sachuk realm. Using Uihye Eunsan and Ilmyeol Dochaan would push it a bit higher, but that’s all.
‘Chasing after Seo Hyul and Kyuryeon is impossible.’
So what now?
Tchutssutssut…
I accelerated my thoughts, racking my brain wildly.
‘If I say I’ll accept the blood, Seo Hyul will naturally offer to help with the reincarnation himself in front of Kyuryeon. He won’t have any excuse to refuse with her watching. Besides, being only at the early Sachuk realm, using any law techniques on him would be difficult.’
What a mess.
If I do this, I’ll be forced to swallow his blood with lingering unease, and no matter how hard I look, I can’t find any reason to refuse.
‘Honestly, I feel more uneasy about Seo Hyul’s blood than the Black Dragon’s.’
The Black Dragon is too high a rank; I don’t think he would do anything to me. But what kind of trick might Seo Hyul have prepared in this blood droplet?
‘Stop messing around.’
I cursed at Seo Hyul, spun my head, and finally made my decision.
“Thank you.”
No answer.
Actually, several rather ugly methods had crossed my mind, but they felt too shabby and had low success rates.
‘If it’s come to this, I’ll accept it head-on.’
“Yes, then let’s start the reincarnation right now.”
‘I knew this would happen.’
If that’s the case, I’ll use the Answer Heaven Realm to quickly slice apart the blood droplets entering my body!
‘Anyway, Seo Hyul already knows I’m Simjok through Baeknyeong. Yet he still hasn’t spoken out. That means he must have judged that I’m useful.’
‘Even if I repel the blood droplets with Answer Heaven Realm, he would….’
And what Seo Hyul said next completely blew my expectations away.
“Oh, right. Eunhye will help with the reincarnation.”
“…!?”
Ttok ttok.
He patted my shoulder friendly and said, “Compared to a beginner Sachuk like me, Eunhye-nim, the great Sachuk, helping with the reincarnation will suit you even more as a genius like you.”
“Y-yes, yes. If I help, it should definitely….”
“….”
It worked perfectly.
Now I couldn’t quietly eliminate Seo Hyul’s bloodline inside my body with Answer Heaven Realm in front of Kyuryeon.
‘Of course, it’s far less unsettling than if Seo Hyul himself helped….’
But the unease still came from the blood itself.
“Sit down. I’ll help.”
“…Yes.”
I hesitated briefly, then sat in lotus position.
Kyuryeon spread her fingers, and an identical reincarnation array to the one I’d seen before engraved itself on the ground.
“Your body already has the Black Dragon bloodline flowing, and Seo’s blood is also of the Black Dragon’s collateral lineage, so you won’t need the massive preparations from last time. It’ll be much easier this time.”
“…Yes.”
“Then let’s begin.”
I sighed inwardly, glanced at the jade bottle, clenched my eyes shut, and swallowed Seo Hyul’s bloodline inside it.
Gulp!
And then…
Ziiiiiing!
Seo Hyul’s bloodline surged into my body, and I felt as if a massive Haeryong was swallowing me whole.
Uuwuung!
Golden light swirled around me as Kyuryeon guided the Black Dragon bloodline toward its path.
But I gritted my teeth and started figuring out how to suppress it.
That’s when…
Kureung, kurureureung!
Clouds of internal energy billowed, and the Black Dragon bloodline’s aura inside my veins began pushing back against the Haeryong bloodline.
But Seo Hyul’s blood, being the Black Dragon’s collateral lineage, naturally tried to mix with it.
And right then, Kyuryeon’s voice rang in my ear.
“Don’t force the two bloodlines to mix. Let them overlap naturally. Over time they’ll blend slowly. Forcing it might cause a surge….”
And as I listened, I clenched my teeth inwardly.
‘That’s it!’
Uuwuung!
Kyuryeon’s golden light guided the bloodline perfectly, but I secretly tried to forcibly merge the Haeryong and Black Dragon bloodlines.
The moment I did, both bloodlines erupted. My entire body’s qi and blood began to boil.
“Wait, Seo Eun-hyun! What are you doing?! It’s dangerous! Stop!”
Kyuryeon urgently pressed her hand to my back and poured golden energy while shouting.
But I ignored her and focused on crushing the two bloodlines together.
My blood seemed ready to boil and vaporize, yet I didn’t care.
‘Through this opportunity, no matter what trick Seo Hyul planted in his blood, I’ll erase every last trace of it!’
Right as I forcibly merged the two bloodlines…
Chwa-rak, chwararak!
The Black Dragon bloodline began to devour Seo Hyul’s blood.
After all, they shared the same main lineage.
The Black Dragon bloodline touched Seo Hyul’s blood and, just like ink dropped into water, started flooding and wiping out his influence.
‘Good. Keep going!’
But strangely, I felt the Black Dragon bloodline that had already absorbed his blood growing even stronger.
‘What… why is the power still increasing….’
Bubububub!
At the same time, I realized the qi and blood inside my body had been completely devoured by the Black Dragon bloodline.
Waaak!
Blood erupted from my mouth, and tears of blood streamed from my eyes.
‘No… I can’t….’
If this continued, I’d die.
The exploding Black Dragon power would crush my body!
Only then did I realize I had fallen into the trap Seo Hyul had prepared.
‘If I continue devouring Seo Hyul’s blood with the Black Dragon bloodline, I’ll die. If I stop, I can accept his blood and survive. But how can I put blood I don’t even know what trick he used inside my body?’
It was no different from swallowing a knife and living with it.
I hesitated in the moment of crisis.
The hesitation was short.
‘Die or live, will I really let this filthy bastard use me without resistance?’
His danger level was beyond imagination.
Maybe I could have accepted his blood and unknowingly become his puppet.
I simply fed Seo Hyul’s blood into the Black Dragon bloodline.
The next instant, I sensed Seo Hyul’s phantom inside my consciousness world.
His consciousness.
Seo Hyul’s consciousness was being devoured and shattered by the Black Dragon aura.
‘As expected… he did use some trick.’
Actually, the more suspicious it would have been if he hadn’t used any trick at all.
Kuguguguk!
But perhaps because I’d fed his blood into the Black Dragon blood, the Black Dragon blood poured out immense yin energy. I gritted my teeth as I felt my body about to explode.
‘Kyuryeon can’t use Simjok techniques because she’s helping with the reincarnation, but Seo Hyul can use techniques she doesn’t know!’
Tchutssutssut!
I placed my hand on my back and began drawing a circuit inside my body with the golden light Kyuryeon was using to suppress my Black Dragon power.
Pudeuk, ududeuduk!
It hurt as if my body was being crushed, but I clenched my teeth and kept drawing.
Drawing circuits across my entire body had been something I’d done often in my past lives by temporarily removing them with the Invisible Sword.
This time, I went one step further!
Above the Golden Pill…
I drew a fine circuit onto the Golden Pill without touching the already-drawn constellation, carefully avoiding the stars engraved with Seongcheon Do and Taiji.
Gigigigik!
“Kuuuueup!”
As long as the Golden Pill didn’t shatter, a Nascent Soul master wouldn’t die.
But that also meant the Golden Pill was the greatest weakness of Nascent Soul masters.
I guided the exploding Black Dragon power through the circuit I carved into this weakness for the puppet.
Kuguguguk!
The Taeum aura circulated through Goe-gun’s circuit.
But the power was so tyrannical that I felt my Golden Pill about to shatter and trembled.
‘No, if it were my original body, I would have already shattered.’
My current Golden Pill and Nascent Soul were larger, wider, and more solid than any other Nascent Soul thanks to the combined Cheon and Ji methods.
That was why I could barely endure Goe-gun’s circuit and the Taeum power flowing through it.
How much of that terrifying and massive Black Dragon aura had I absorbed?
I finally managed to control the Black Dragon power that had been about to make my body explode.
“…Phew.”
That was when I opened my eyes, covered in cold sweat.
Chwaak!
Kyuryeon’s sharp palm slapped my cheek.
“You fool! Didn’t I tell you not to forcibly merge them?! You almost made your Nascent Soul explode along with the Golden Pill and die?! Didn’t you know?!”
“…I’m sorry.”
Kyuryeon looked at me with a furious expression.
“You really thought that because I pampered you as a genius, I’d do anything? Did you think you were so great that you could ignore an elder Sachuk’s words?”
Kuguguguk!
An immense pressure crushed my body.
She was genuinely furious.
I’d forgotten because I’d only ever seen her kind and shy face.
“Hic…!”
‘This is a Sachuk master….’
She was on a completely different level from me, who hadn’t yet reached the Cheonin realm.
Her mere fury made gravity surge and my body feel crushed.
My soul and life force inside me were boiling and about to explode.
That’s when…
“Please stop. I will apologize for Seo Eun-hyun’s mistake.”
“….”
Uuwuung…
Seo Hyul pacified Kyuryeon, and only then did she calm her momentum.
“You also seem to have used your genius to control the Black Dragon power well. Still, it was too reckless. On top of that, you ignored a senior Sachuk’s words….”
Seo Hyul approached with a gentle expression, placed his hand on my shoulder, and met my eyes.
“You and I, and you and Eunhye-nim, aren’t so distant that this will be a big issue. But it’s clearly necessary for you to be careful with the words of a senior from the Capital Realm.”
Swaaaaa…
I felt a chill as I looked into Seo Hyul’s eyes.
His eyes were vertically slit, staring at me with an unfamiliar intensity.
His tone was gentle, but what chilled me more than Kyuryeon’s anger was Seo Hyul’s mocking gaze.
He was unleashing a level of doubt toward me that I’d never seen before.
‘Damn….’
Seo Hyul was staring at me with his vertical pupils, seemingly not even bothering to hide that he suspected me.
‘So I’m being openly suspected after all.’
Honestly, up until now my actions had been suspicious but I hadn’t directly acted against Seo Hyul’s will.
But feeding his blood completely into the Black Dragon bloodline and scattering his consciousness had been a direct defiance of his will.
Of course, he spoke softly as if gently scolding me for not revealing what he’d done to his blood in front of Kyuryeon.
But I read the doubt he was openly emitting and understood.
‘To Seo Hyul, I am now a target that must be completely removed.’
Seven years.
After only seven years…
‘No, it’s still okay.’
If Seo Hyul removes me, he’ll at least try to use me as much as possible.
‘As long as he’s still looking for the materials of the Gichuk Cultivation and hasn’t returned yet, my lifespan is safe.’
And by then…
‘I’ll have enough time to hastily create something for Jang-seon!’
It’s more than enough time to gather strength to oppose Seo Hyul!
Seo Hyul continued his sermon in a gentle voice while staring at me with vertical pupils, and I nodded with a moved expression.
Seo Hyul nodded back with a proud look.
We both played a boring theater in front of Kyuryeon while each carrying a sword.
* * *
“…There were various unpleasant things, but today’s schedule will proceed as planned.”
Kyuryeon glanced at me sharply, then rose into the sky.
Seo Hyul flew into the air with her and said, “You’ll come too.”
“Eh? What happened….”
“Before I leave on this mission, Eunhye-nim invited us to Yeoseonru for a performance. Major figures of the Haeryok race, including yourself, will attend the farewell party for me today.”
“Ah… yes. Understood.”
I followed them after listening to Seo Hyul and flew up.
While flying to Yeoseonru, Seo Hyul taught me how to contact him through his blood in front of Kyuryeon.
Even though it had been devoured by the Black Dragon bloodline, since it came from him, contacting him should be possible.
‘Fortunately, he wiped out the consciousness he was trying to plant into my body through the blood.’
I heard that contact through blood of the same lineage was a law technique Kyuryeon already knew, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Several Haeryok elders and seniors joined us midway, and we headed toward Bongmyeong-ju, the center of the Jinryong-maeng.
A while later, we finally arrived at Yeoseonru.
Yeoseonru was a wine house that sold Seonju to the yojok. The yojok sometimes came to the lower realm and drank Seonju at such places.
But the Seonju they drank here had the effect of increasing cultivation or strengthening the connection with law artifacts, like Baekhongju. So Yeoseonru in the Gwanghan Realm was closer to a law artifact point, pill point, or cultivation technique bookshop than a regular wine house in the lower realm.
Still, since it was a place to enjoy the arts, the wine house prepared performances to delight the eyes and ears of high-level masters who came to find rare Seonju.
‘This is Yeoseonru….’
The Yeoseonru that Kyuryeon had led us to was a building made from a giant turtle’s shell.
Legend said that a monkey yojok with the Parasite Yuan bloodline and a turtle yojok with the Umkwi-hyeonmu bloodline became friends while drinking and playing, and when the turtle died, the monkey made a shell into a wine house from grief.
‘…A wine house made from a friend’s corpse….’
I couldn’t understand the monkey yojok’s sentiment, but I simply followed Kyuryeon inside.
The wine house was empty except for Kyuryeon and the Haeryok members.
“I rented the entire Yeoseonru today to see off Seo Daegun. Everyone, please enjoy the Seonju you like.”
Kyuryeon looked at the Haeryok elders and seniors, then took Seo Hyul to the upper floor. The Haeryok elders thanked her and scattered to sit at various places in the wine house.
I, being alert, didn’t follow Kyuryeon and instead sat near the entrance of Yeoseonru.
Yeoseonru had four floors total. On the fourth floor, Seo Hyul and Kyuryeon sat alone. On the third floor were the Cheonin-level Haeryok elders. On the first and second floors sat the Nascent Soul-level Haeryok elders, including myself.
In the center of the first floor was a huge stage where performers would appear and show something.
Everyone ordered the Seonju they wanted from the attendants.
I ordered Baekhongju, which I knew well.
Once everyone placed their orders, the lights in the entire wine house suddenly went out.
‘The performance must be starting.’
I sipped my Baekhongju and looked up at the stage.
Uuwuung!
For some reason, a powerful gold formation activated across the entire Yeoseonru and restrained our consciousness.
There was a brief commotion among the Haeryok elders and seniors.
“Don’t worry. Yeoseonru restrains consciousness for the performance’s completion before it starts. Eunhye-nim and Seo Daegun are also not stretching their techniques, so don’t be surprised.”
Only then did the noise subside, and the performance at Yeoseonru began.
Paaat!
Fire lit up in the center of the stage, and several beautiful dancers and musicians entered.
The dancers resembled humans, and the musicians had extremely varied appearances.
One musician who looked like a monkey held a pipa.
Another with a human upper body and spider lower body held a guqin.
One with a fish face and human lower body played a flute. Another with a clam shell but four limbs held a drum.
A while later, the dancers began their dance, and the musicians played their instruments.
And the melody made me genuinely surprised.
‘Surprisingly excellent.’
The monkey holding the pipa played with a serious expression, expressing emotions through the instrument.
The spider woman closed her eyes and played the guqin, creating a beautiful melody.
The fish yojok sucked in air through his gills and blew the flute with his mouth, never stopping to breathe and showing incredible skill.
The clam shell played the drum skillfully.
And because they were all yoojin, they each filled their soul qi into the melody and created even more beautiful waves.
Of course I was amazed, and so were the Haeryok elders and seniors. They watched the waves created by the musicians’ melodies and, seeing them match the flow of yin and yang, erupted in admiration.
It was truly magnificent art.
The dancers also danced in harmony with the melody, their sleeves fluttering like the sky. The Haeryok elders and seniors who came to Yeoseonru couldn’t take their eyes off the performance.
‘The level is incredibly high.’
I listened to the music with sincere admiration for the musicians.
While listening to the melodies, I was finally able to calm the tension that had built up inside me thanks to Seo Hyul.
Glancing up, I saw that the fourth floor where Seo Hyul and Kyuryeon sat was completely sealed off—not even the flow of yin and yang could enter.
‘…I don’t know. I don’t need to worry about it.’
Whatever they were doing inside, it was their affair.
I stopped caring and focused only on the music.
While listening, I felt I could sense the skill difference among the musicians.
‘The spider woman playing the guqin with her eyes closed is the best.’
Next was the monkey playing the pipa with the face of a master. Next was the fish-headed musician playing the flute.
The clam shell… was working hard.
‘The music is gradually building toward its peak, centered around the guqin.’
Finally, the melody reached its peak, and as the emotions it contained exploded…
Paaat!
The lights of the wine house turned on, releasing all the restrained consciousness.
“Ah…!”
When the consciousness restraint that had felt so suffocating was lifted, the Haeryok race members all let out cheers.
‘An excellent performance.’
Releasing the consciousness restraint that had been suppressing the peak of the performance made the emotion even greater.
Finally, the performance ended.
For some reason, drowsiness crept in.
“It was a wonderful performance.”
“I see why Eunhye-nim invited us.”
“Even though their realms are below the Sachuk stage, they really deserve to be called masters.”
Once the performance ended, everyone covered their mouths and yawned, looking a bit drowsy.
At the same time, they praised the dancers and musicians on stage.
After the performance, the musicians and dancers came down from the stage, and Yeoseonru announced a short break before turning the lights back on and providing additional Seonju.
But I asked one of the monkey attendants carrying my Baekhongju.
“The performance was so impressive, but how can I meet the musicians?”
The attendant who was only at the Qi Condensation level looked embarrassed when I spoke to him.
“Ah! The musicians are all resting in the waiting room on the third basement floor. Would you like me to guide you?”
“Please.”
I handed the attendant the spirit stone pouch, and the monkey attendant led me to the third basement floor of Yeoseonru.
“It’s quite spacious.”
In truth, the basement of Yeoseonru was enormous.
The space compression law technique must have been in effect, making the space seem more majestic with each step down.
Hearing my words, the monkey attendant explained with a cheerful laugh.
“Ah, we sometimes hold auctions here on the basement. Among the yoojin masters who come for the auctions, there are many with large sizes, so we compressed the space to avoid any inconvenience.”
“Ho-oh….”
“We have arrived. This is the musicians’ waiting room.”
“Thank you for guiding me.”
I handed the spirit stone to the monkey yojok, then entered the third basement floor.
‘It’s spacious.’
Very spacious.
And since it was a place where auctions were held, there were also gold formations blocking inside and outside at various spots.
When I entered the musicians’ waiting room, the musicians who had been chatting all turned to look at me and greeted me.
“Ah, what brings you here, elder?”
The monkey-looking musician who seemed to be the leader approached and asked, and I answered with a smile.
“Thank you for allowing me to hear such good music. I even came to disturb your rest because I wanted to thank you personally.”
“Ah…! It is an honor. For the dragon race elder to praise us….”
The monkey looked moved, and I handed him the spirit stone pouch.
“I put ten thousand spirit stones inside. Share them.”
“Thank you, elder…!”
“And….”
I looked at the spider woman and said, “Please all leave for a moment except you. I was deeply moved by your guqin playing. I’d like to have a private talk for a bit….”
The monkey looked at me and nodded as if he understood.
“Understood! Everyone, please leave for a moment! Yu-hwa, you take care of the dragon race elder!”
The monkey led the other musicians outside.
Although small, I could hear them chatting outside.
“The dragon race elder seems to have very peculiar tastes….”
Paaat!
I laid Goe-gun’s circuit onto the gold formation and blocked both inside and outside the waiting room.
The voices from outside were cut off, and the sounds from inside wouldn’t escape either.
Uuwuung!
The barrier activated, sealing the inside and outside.
At the same time, I drew out the Invisible Sword and rushed at the spider woman, aiming for her neck.
The next instant.
Tuwoong!
As she flicked the guqin, a scarlet river appeared before my eyes and blocked my Invisible Sword.
“As expected… it’s that one.”
I smiled wickedly at her.
“Long time no see, Simjok bastard.”
I’d recognized her after hearing her melody.
She was the Simjok who had handled the consciousness of the scarlet river from before.
‘Really… bad habits have developed because of Kim Young-hoon.’
Paang!
I pulled away from the scarlet river surrounding her and lifted the Invisible Sword.
‘Seeing a master who has reached the realm of qi and art, my blood boils….’
It had been too long since I properly fought with martial arts.
I didn’t even know if what the Simjok used was true martial arts.
But the moment I faced a Simjok master of the same Dong-gyeong realm level as me…
I unfolded music to the realm of art and met an existence that could contain qi and consciousness in the melody.
I felt my blood boiling to the point where I could no longer hold back.
“Let’s spar.”
I raised my sword and locked onto the technique.
Tuwoong!
And again, the next instant.
She flicked the guqin, the scarlet river moved, and it struck my body.
I was flung backward and my upper body slammed onto the drum that the clam shell had been playing.