All Immortals Return to the Origin
Wang O dragged the agonized, groaning Kang Tae-ho into a dark stone chamber behind the training grounds.
“Urgh…”
“Tae-ho, are you all right?”
“Father… that bitch…!”
“Enough. Someone might overhear. Restrain yourself.”
Kang Tae-ho.
His true name was Wang Tae-ho—Wang O’s secret son.
Wang O had thoroughly concealed his son’s identity before smuggling him into the Red Blood Sect.
“Father… just how much longer do we have to wait?!”
“Everything is proceeding according to plan. The Ghost Soul Sect has already made its move. It won’t be long now.”
Wang Tae-ho ground his teeth and laughed. Blood still dripped steadily from his severed shoulder, yet his eyes glittered with naked greed.
“Heh heh heh… so the time has finally come.”
“Enough talking. Treat that wound at once.”
When Wang O brought the severed arm closer, Wang Tae-ho clenched his jaw and circulated his spiritual energy. Crimson qi surged into the spurting wound; flesh writhed and began to knit itself back together.
Wang O swallowed hard as he watched.
Wang Tae-ho had been different from the moment he was born. Even without ordinary cultivation, his body absorbed spiritual energy on its own and regenerated with unnatural speed. That constitution made his combat power twice that of others at the same stage—but it came with a fatal flaw.
Lifespan.
Wang Tae-ho had only about two years left to live. Perhaps less.
At least there’s a way to hold on. Small mercies.
The method of extending his life was to devour the hearts of those who had accumulated spiritual energy.
A cultivator’s body endlessly circulates spiritual energy through the meridians, and at the center of that flow sits the heart. After a lifetime of pumping blood laden with spiritual energy tens of millions of times, the heart muscle itself becomes thickly engraved with residual qi in a way entirely different from the dantian—like a scent soaked into bone and flesh that no amount of washing can erase.
And within that residual qi, traces of life itself were condensed as well.
The most efficient method would be to consume an inner core or a spiritual pill, but…
Spiritual pills more effective than a heart were ruinously expensive, and inner cores were out of the question.
That was why the Blood Master Token in Seo Ran’s possession was indispensable.
The Blood Master Token was a treasure that only successive masters of the Red Blood Sect could own. It was no mere symbol of authority. Sealed within it lay the core secret of the Immortal Blood Art—the technique the founding master had poured his entire life into creating.
It was said that one who completed the Immortal Blood Art would gain formidable vitality and free themselves from the shackles of lifespan.
If that art were added to Wang Tae-ho’s constitution, the regenerative power that currently gnawed away at his life would instead become even stronger.
…I will make Tae-ho the absolute ruler of the Mansang Realm, and I will control everything from the shadows behind him.
It was the lifelong ambition he had dreamed of. And now he looked upon the son who would fulfill it.
“Haa…”
Wang Tae-ho exhaled roughly and swung his arm a few times. Blood still seeped from the wound, but bone and muscle had already fully reattached.
Wang O whispered quietly.
“Endure just a little longer. Soon everything will be in our hands.”
“Heh heh. I’ve waited sixty years. What’s a few more days?”
The lantern inside the stone chamber flickered faintly. The long shadows of father and son stretched across the walls as the true darkness of the Red Blood Sect slowly began to reveal itself.
The next day.
The moment I woke early in the morning, I heard shocking news.
War, huh.
The Ghost Soul Sect had ambushed an inner disciple of the Taiheo Temple, ripped out his soul, and turned him into a ghost soul. In response, the Taiheo Temple had declared a war of vengeance.
Unable to face the Ghost Soul Sect alone, the Taiheo Temple had hired the Red Blood Sect, and Seo Ran had accepted the commission.
Dan Ha, So Ryeong, and I sat clustered in a corner of the training grounds.
So Ryeong clung to Dan Ha’s embrace with a face that looked ready to cry. Her shoulders trembled faintly, and the sound of sniffling escaped now and then.
Lucky her.
“No way… they’re making us go too…”
“At least we’re only rear support. It shouldn’t be that dangerous.”
Dan Ha gently wrapped an arm around So Ryeong’s shoulders and soothed her.
So Ryeong sniffled.
“…I still can’t even sense spiritual energy properly. Can I even fight?”
I tossed a remark at the whining girl.
“You made it through the Poison Cave just fine. What are you so scared of, sniveling like that?”
“But in the Poison Cave I just hid the whole time…”
Dan Ha slowly stroked So Ryeong’s back and glared at me.
“Do you really have to talk to a scared kid like that?”
“She joined the Red Blood Sect and now she’s whining that she doesn’t want to fight. Does that make any sense?”
“Well, you’re not wrong, but…”
“This is a world where you either grow or get left behind. You know that too.”
Dan Ha let out a sigh.
I could have comforted So Ryeong the way Dan Ha did. But coddling wouldn’t keep anyone alive on a battlefield soaked in blood.
Reality was simple: even if you hated fighting, you fought. Even if you were terrified, you endured. If you didn’t want to die, you had no choice but to get stronger.
So Ryeong knew that as well as anyone.
A brief silence settled among us.
So Ryeong slowly lifted her head. The rims of her eyes were still red, but her lips were pressed firmly together.
“…Seo-jun’s right. The moment I entered the Red Blood Sect, I should have been prepared for something like this…”
“That’s the spirit, little one. Steady yourself and fight properly this time. I’ll watch your back.”
“Hing, I’m not a little kid!”
“Says the little kid.”
So Ryeong puffed her cheeks in a tiny pout, but strength was gradually returning to her voice. Dan Ha stroked her hair once, then stared straight at me.
Her red eyes carried a quiet meaning: Thank you.
“Anyway, let’s go eat.”
“Food!”
“Yeah.”
So Ryeong’s tear-bright face lifted in a flash as she sprang to her feet. She immediately grabbed Dan Ha’s hand and started ahead.
I followed behind them, muttering to myself.
More importantly, I haven’t had sex in forever. My cock feels like it’s about to explode.
Spending every day around beautiful women only made it worse.
Should I just jump them?
Dan Ha might be a problem, but So Ryeong I could probably pin down with raw strength. And with Sperm Addiction, once she got a taste she’d come crawling back on her own.
…No. Not the right time.
I couldn’t risk stirring up pointless trouble and destroying all the progress I’d built.
Maybe I should hop back to reality for a bit and grab some food.
Snacks the girls would like, laced with my semen—that didn’t sound half bad.
I’m curious whether it still works mixed into food, and I can test how they react to a small dose while I’m at it.
Dan Ha, noticing I’d fallen behind, called back to me.
“…What are you doing? Hurry up.”
“Ah, sorry. Got lost in thought.”
“What kind of thought?”
I shrugged and grinned.
“Just… before we head off to war, it might be good to take care of whatever we can in advance.”
“Look at you, being all thoughtful. How admirable.”
Dan Ha said that and walked on again. I followed her in silence.
Not long after, the Red Blood Sect joined forces with the Taiheo Temple and marched toward the vicinity of Hongyeon Valley, where the Ghost Soul Sect had established itself.
Whether by coincidence or not, the Ghost Soul Sect had nested right near Hongyeon Valley.
If I play this right, I might be able to get my hands on that dual-cultivation technique.
The problem of dealing with the beast that had made its nest inside Hongyeon Valley remained, of course.
As we walked, I spent a while turning over possible ways to obtain the dual-cultivation art hidden in Hongyeon Valley.
“Hey, Lee Seo-jun.”
An unwelcome voice from beside me—Wi Ho’s—cut my thoughts short.
“You called for me?”
“Those two girls you hang around with all the time—there are two of them, right?”
“…You mean Dan Ha and So Ryeong?”
“I don’t care about their names. Tell those two to come to Senior Han Gwang’s tent at dawn.”
My expression twisted on its own at his words.
Han Gwang was the third-ranked inner disciple.
Him summoning Dan Ha and So Ryeong in the dead of night could only mean one thing.
Should I just kill him?
Those two were women I’d already marked. I wasn’t about to let anyone else lay a hand on them first.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that.”
Wi Ho’s face contorted as if he had never imagined being refused.
“…Hey, are your ears clogged? Senior Han Gwang is calling for them.”
“My ears work fine. I heard you clearly. But I won’t deliver the message.”
“You little shit, I’ve been putting up with you—”
Wi Ho grabbed me by the collar and hauled me up. I was just about done holding back myself.
“Let go of me, you pathetic little fuck, if you don’t want to die.”
“You… what the hell did you just say?”
“I said you’re a pathetic little fuck.”
“You really want to die, don’t you?”
“Then try killing me.”
“You son of a—”
Wi Ho looked ready to throw a punch, but in the end he lowered his hand and clicked his tongue.
“Don’t regret this later.”
“The only one who should regret anything is your mother for giving birth to you.”
“Wh-what?!”
The spicy mother insult must have been a first for him—Wi Ho’s face went white, then flushed dark red.
“You… you little bastard, what did you just say…?!”
Wi Ho reached for my collar again, but—
“What’s going on over there?”
Someone walking ahead turned toward the commotion.
Wi Ho’s face twisted completely. He clenched his teeth and glared at me for a long moment before finally spinning around.
“…Just you wait.”
I watched his retreating back as he stalked away grinding his teeth, then slowly let out a breath.
I’m going to have to kill him.
Obviously I couldn’t do it with my own hands. Killing a fellow disciple in this situation and getting caught would be the end of me.
I casually checked the small pouch hanging at my waist.
Good thing I pocketed some poison from the Poison Cave.
It was venom I’d extracted myself from a violet viper. Even a small amount, once it entered the bloodstream, would slowly dissolve the heart and kill.
And since we were near the Ghost Soul Sect, people might even suspect it was their handiwork.
The delivery method can be liquor.
The bastard loved to drink. Even the night before a campaign he would inevitably throw a drinking party with his buddies.
He’s definitely going to sneak another drinking session.
Of course, alcohol was strictly forbidden under these circumstances. Get caught and you’d be punished. But if Wi Ho had ever cared about that, he would have cleaned up his act a long time ago.
I’ll just pass the wine along to one of the guys who usually drinks with him.
I’d brought them all sorts of things before, so they wouldn’t be particularly suspicious.