Myriad Immortals Return to Origin
Quite some time had passed since I'd swallowed the Blood Connection Pill and spiritual energy had settled firmly into my dantian.
In that stretch I'd grown fairly close with Dan Ha, and she turned out to have talent of her own—she sensed spiritual energy quickly enough.
And right now I was training alongside her and her peer, So Ryeong.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this dumbass…"
Dan Ha clawed at her hair and glared at me.
"Sorry…"
I couldn't even meet her eyes properly.
"How can you not manage even that one thing? Is your head just decoration?"
"Uh… probably?"
"Kyaaaaah!!"
So Ryeong, standing beside her, quickly held back the exploding Dan Ha.
"Dan Ha, just breathe! Deep breaths! Hoo-ah, hoo-ah."
I was currently learning from her how to convert spiritual energy into true power.
In the xianxia genre all sorts of techniques existed, and the basic principle was absorbing spiritual energy and converting it into true power for use.
Spiritual energy was the rough force that filled heaven and earth; you had to draw it into the body through a cultivation method, filter it according to your constitution, and strip out the impurities.
That refined energy was true power.
Normally you can properly wield true power starting from Foundation Establishment… but they said the Blood Qi Art lets you use true power and techniques even once you reach Qi Condensation.
Of course you couldn't use any strong techniques. Only the Red Blood Sect's exclusive arts were possible, and even those were low-grade techniques that used blood as a medium at the Qi Condensation level.
"Huu… how the hell did a guy like that sense spiritual energy faster than me…?"
"Ahem… I'm confident with my body, but when it comes to the head side of things, the spiritual—"
"Is that something to brag about?!"
Dan Ha heaved a deep sigh and slapped the book shut. Her red eyes fixed on me in a hard stare.
"You know what kind of treatment you get if you can't even use a single technique properly, right?"
"Yeah… so what do I do?"
"Why are you asking me that?!"
Shame and apology kept my head down. So Ryeong beside us shook her head and added a word of her own.
"Dan Ha, just give up. That Lee Seo-jun guy is a lost cause."
I looked at So Ryeong and shot back.
"Brat, you can't use them either."
"I'm not a brat!"
Dan Ha snatched the book up again, grinding her teeth as she barked at me.
"Hey. Try it again. The easiest one—Blood Hand!"
"Got it."
I closed my eyes, recited the technique's verses once more, drew up the spiritual energy gathered in my dantian, and sent it along my arm toward my fingertips.
The moment my fingers prickled, crimson blood began to collect at the tips.
"I did it!"
But the rush of success made me get too excited.
Tendril-like stems of blood moved completely beyond my will and shot off somewhere—
Squelch!
"Kyah!"
"Hieek!"
Blood-red tentacle-like things had seized both Dan Ha's and So Ryeong's breasts at the same time.
Dan Ha's ample flesh overflowed between the fingers, while So Ryeong's rounder chest squished softly out of shape.
"Whoops. My bad."
I casually pulled my hand back as I spoke.
Dan Ha's face flushed scarlet in an instant.
"Lee Seo-jun…!!"
So Ryeong covered her chest with both hands and muttered one word.
"Pervert…"
Then Dan Ha raised a fist and swung it down at my head.
"Dieee!!"
I lightly dodged and grinned.
"But damn, your chests are really soft and springy. They fit right in the hand."
"Just die already, you idiot!"
Dan Ha ground her teeth and charged.
I succeeded with Blood Hand a few times. There were countless failures along the way, though.
Blood would gather at my fingertips only to suddenly veer off and graze Dan Ha's thigh, or tickle the underside of So Ryeong's rear.
Every time, Dan Ha's fiery fist came flying, yet there was still a certain fun in learning something.
And today there was a special class. The education the Red Blood Sect valued most of all.
With every outer disciple gathered in the training grounds, the lowest-ranked inner disciple—and the man who would one day become Red Blood Sect Leader—Wang Tae-ho stepped up onto the platform.
"From this moment we will conduct medical technique education."
You might wonder why medicine all of a sudden, but there was a reason.
One of the reasons the Red Blood Sect, infamous throughout the Mansang Realm for its vicious and cruel nature, had not yet been classified as a demonic faction was because it ran a business based on medical techniques.
Lose an arm or a leg and they reattached it in no time; so long as the heart and neck were still connected, they could heal just about any wound. Other forces cursed the Red Blood Sect even while bringing money and begging for treatment.
They call it medicine, but it's more like playing healer and saving people.
Of course money was part of it, yet the real purpose lay elsewhere. It was so that in real combat you could keep fighting while self-healing the wounds you took.
So that's how Wang Tae-ho ended up with that monstrous regeneration in the original story.
While I was privately reviewing the original plot, Wang Tae-ho unrolled a diagram.
It was densely packed with the locations of the body's acupoints, the flow of meridians, and methods for guiding spiritual energy to each organ.
Which acupoint to seal to stop bleeding, which meridian to stimulate so the lungs would recover, how to circulate spiritual energy when the internal organs had ruptured.
My head already ached.
Beside me Dan Ha was studying the diagram with a serious face. So Ryeong carefully took notes and nodded along.
I alone half-lowered the bamboo slip and stared up at the sky.
When the hell am I supposed to memorize all this?
Wang Tae-ho's gaze locked precisely onto me.
"Lee Seo-jun."
"Yes."
"Dare you let your mind wander during the education I am conducting?"
"No, sir."
"Then tell me the three cardiopulmonary acupoints I just explained."
Naturally I hadn't been listening, so my mouth closed.
Beside me Dan Ha looked over with pure contempt.
"…My apologies."
Wang Tae-ho smacked his lips and said,
"After class today, every one of you will assemble under me."
Fuck.
A room lit by the faint sway of red lanterns.
The Sect Leader of the Red Blood Sect, Blood Flower Seo Ran, lay reclined on her side, a long smoking pipe between her lips as she slowly exhaled smoke.
"Any useful ones among the kids who came in this time?"
Wang O knelt on one knee, head bowed, and answered.
"There is one worth watching."
"Just one… not bad. Until now nothing but insects kept crawling in."
"More importantly, there is something I must report to you, Sect Leader."
"Speak."
"War is about to break out between the Ghost Soul Sect and the Grand Void Temple."
Ghost Soul Sect and Grand Void Temple were forces of some renown in this region.
"My, the ghost-using bastards and the immortal-playing kids all of a sudden? Why?"
"The Ghost Soul Sect ambushed and killed an inner disciple of the Grand Void Temple, then extracted the soul and turned it into a ghost spirit. Intelligence has come in that the Grand Void Temple side is already preparing a revenge campaign."
Seo Ran took the pipe from her mouth and smiled faintly.
"Interesting. Who do you think will win?"
"The Ghost Soul Sect should crush them. Recent word is that the Ghost Soul Sect Leader has reached the Gold Core stage."
"Dear me, the old geezers at Grand Void must be shitting themselves about now."
"Grand Void Temple is one of our clients. How shall we proceed?"
Seo Ran put the pipe back between her lips and slowly breathed out smoke.
"Huu… if those bastards want to live, they'll come crawling to us on their own."
She half-rose and looked down at Wang O.
"Get the disciples ready in advance. This time… the scent of blood is going to be thick."
"To what degree of force should we prepare?"
"Half. Ah, and include the new blood. Those kids need a taste of blood if they're going to get stronger, don't they?"
Wang O bowed his head.
"Understood, Sect Leader."
And a few hours later, people from the Grand Void Temple arrived.
I, Dan Ha, So Ryeong and the rest of the new blood were forced to kneel in the center of the training grounds and watch in silence while a crowd of outer disciples took their punishment.
"From now on, down on one, up on two. Understood?"
"Yes—!"
They answered with faces gone purple under the massive boulders on their shoulders, glaring at me as if they wanted me dead.
Serves you right.
I didn't feel particularly sorry. Especially the sight of Wi Ho's legs trembling the moment he straightened his back under the rock was pure honey.
But for something that was supposed to be simple punishment, Wang Tae-ho's behavior was downright disgusting.
"Ahem… your body has improved more than I expected."
"Th-thank you!"
The sight of Wang Tae-ho groping the ass of a slender male disciple with his hand sent an instinctive wave of revulsion down my spine and chilled me to the bone.
…Now I get why the original protagonist hated this bastard so much.
He showed not the slightest interest in the women. In fact he handed the women even harsher physical penalties while casually putting his hands on the men. And every so often he glanced my way and licked his lips.
Goosebumps rose.
"Ugh…"
The male peer beside me must have felt that gaze too; he trembled slightly.
That was when it happened.
"What do you think you're doing?"
A cold voice cut across the training grounds. Everyone froze at once.
Heads turned of their own accord toward the sound.
Seo Ran stood with her arms crossed, long purple hair cascading down her back. Behind her, old men in white robes had quietly stopped walking and were looking down at Wang Tae-ho.
"Wang Tae-ho."
"Yes!"
"I just asked you what you were doing."
"The new blood were distracted during class, so I was administering corporal punishment to their senior brothers."
"Yes, if they did wrong they should be punished."
Seo Ran's eyes narrowed.
"So why does it look to me like you're sexually harassing them?"
"Th-that is…"
"I distinctly recall warning you before."
Seo Ran slowly took one step closer. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she swung her hand.
Slash—
Wang Tae-ho's arm was severed cleanly from the shoulder.
"Gyaaaaaah…!"
"Wang O, he's noisy. Take him away."
"Yes."
Wang O moved at once, scooped up the severed arm, and dragged Wang Tae-ho off.
Seo Ran smoothed her expression as if nothing had happened and smiled at the old men behind her.
"You had to witness an unsightly scene."
"Not at all… we too occasionally have disciples who cause trouble… we understand completely."
One of the old men hurriedly shook his head.
Seo Ran lightly dusted her hands and swept her purple hair back.
"Shall we go inside and discuss the details? We will demonstrate our forces again at a later time."
"By all means."
And just like that, Seo Ran, who had appeared so suddenly, vanished together with the old men.