Myriad Immortals Return to Origin

"Hand over your heart."

"What the hell are you—"

Before the man could finish, Kang Tae-ho's hand punched straight through his chest and tore free again, slick with blood.

"Warm."

Blood fountained from the center of the man's chest. Kang Tae-ho studied the still-beating heart resting on his palm, then bit into it in a single savage mouthful. His throat worked hard as he swallowed; hot blood ran in long trails from the corners of his mouth.

Crazy bastard.

Kang Tae-ho slowly licked his blood-smeared hand clean, then turned his head. His gaze locked onto me with perfect precision.

"You… look unappetizing."

He paused a beat. Then his mouth stretched into a wide, jagged grin.

"I'll eat you anyway."

There was no time to react. The instant Kang Tae-ho's hand shot toward my heart, death closed in to the tip of my nose.

KRAAAAAANG—!

A massive explosion rocked the battlefield. Right before Kang Tae-ho's fingertips could graze my chest, a surge of dark-crimson energy detonated between us and hurled us both several jang apart.

Kang Tae-ho landed hard, skidding across the ground in a long furrow before he finally stopped. He flared his nostrils and muttered in a voice thick with excitement.

"Seo Ran…!"

In the next breath his body vanished. I caught a glimpse of him tearing madly toward the heart of the clash between Seo Ran and Sa Yeo-myeong.

I'm alive…

Relief flickered through me, but there was no time ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to savor it. I spun around, ready to get the hell out of there—only for a translucent window to materialize right in front of my eyes.

"…Now?"

I held my breath and opened the window.

…Might as well just tell me to die.

The quest itself was an insane difficulty spike. I couldn't begin to guess what the Infinite Library was thinking, dumping a lunatic mission like this on me.

More than that… stop Seo Ran's crisis?

How the hell was that even possible? Seo Ran was a late-stage Gold Core master. Sa Yeo-myeong of the Ghost Soul Sect was Gold Core as well, but the gap between someone who had only just stepped into the realm and someone deep into its later stages was enormous.

And Kang Tae-ho is only Foundation Establishment.

He might be hiding his true realm… but I still didn't believe he had reached Gold Core.

Which means there's some decisive factor that will make Seo Ran lose.

I clenched my teeth and stared hard at the distant heart of the battle where Seo Ran and Sa Yeo-myeong were clashing. Exactly as expected, Sa Yeo-myeong was no match for her. While he could only defend by manipulating souls, Seo Ran toyed with him completely using her blood arts.

No matter how I look at it, she doesn't seem like she's going to lose…

That was when Kang Tae-ho appeared.

His blood-soaked body cut through the air and slammed in from behind Seo Ran. His hand was already stretched toward her heart, dark-crimson spiritual energy gleaming on his fingertips like a predator's fangs.

The instant Seo Ran half-turned, Kang Tae-ho's hand was about to touch her back—

KWAANG—!

Seo Ran's hand moved like lightning. A burst of red energy exploded outward and hurled Kang Tae-ho far away. She bared her teeth in a smile that was beautiful and terrifying all at once.

"Kang Tae-ho… so you've finally gone completely mad."

Kang Tae-ho licked his lips and righted himself.

"Heh heh… as expected, it won't be easy."

Behind him, Sa Yeo-myeong looked over with open relief.

"Kang Tae-ho, you're late. Did the technique succeed properly?"

"Thanks to you it's incomplete, but I reached Gold Core."

Seo Ran's gaze swept between the Ghost Soul Sect Leader and Kang Tae-ho. Her violet eyes narrowed; the smile at her lips slowly faded.

"…When did the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠two of you join hands?"

"Quite some time ago, Seo Ran. It's time you stepped down from the seat of Red Blood Sect Master."

"Keh keh. From today onward, Kang Tae-ho and I will reign as the overlords of this region."

Seo Ran took one step forward and laughed, cold as winter steel.

"Sa Yeo-myeong. Kang Tae-ho. Do you truly believe the likes of you can stand against Blood Flower Seo Ran?"

She slowly raised her hand. Dark-crimson energy bloomed from her fingertips and began crushing the air itself.

"Even if you join forces… in the end you are nothing but a worm and a decrepit ghost."

Her crimson lips parted slightly, revealing white teeth.

From a distance I watched them and forced myself to decide, fast, what I had to do in this situation. The moment a weakling like me charged in yelling that I would help Seo Ran, I would be obliterated.

I have to find the decisive factor that will make Seo Ran lose.

My job was to find that factor and stop it. I swept my eyes across the surroundings at speed. Then the Taeheo Temple side came into view. They too were flustered and confused by the sudden turn of events.

Is Taeheo Temple going to betray as well?

But looking at their panicked expressions, betrayal didn't seem likely. If anything, they didn't even understand what was happening right now.

So it's some other factor…

I had no clue. The original story never even mentioned this situation, and the blank left me frustrated and uneasy.

Then it happened.

One of the Taeheo Temple elders snapped out of his daze and roared.

"Everyone, aid the Red Blood Sect Master!"

The moment Taeheo Temple moved, the Ghost Soul Sect moved as one as well. From the Red Blood Sect side, an inner disciple stepped forward.

"All of you, support the Sect Master!!"

The instant the order fell, Red Blood Sect disciples surged into motion. In the blink of an eye the battlefield became pure chaos.

But where the hell is Wang O?

Come to think of it, he hadn't shown himself at all since earlier. The very person who should have been restoring order to the Red Blood Sect in this critical moment had simply vanished.

I hunted for him, eyes darting every which way—and found him.

What is that bastard doing right now?

Instead of rushing to support Seo Ran, he was damping his presence and quietly closing in on her. His hand slipped naturally into his robes; his footsteps were the stealthy, predatory steps of a hunter stalking prey from behind.

That sight alone was enough. Certainty hit me.

That bastard's a traitor too.

I sprinted toward him at once. But the distance was still too great. He was already pulling something from inside his robes. I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't know whether whatever he was about to do was the decisive factor—but whatever it was, Seo Ran needed to know.

"Sect Master! Behind you—!"

In the split second Seo Ran whipped her head around, Wang O's hand moved like lightning. What he drew was a talisman. The talisman ignited, and the ground around Seo Ran shuddered as white powder burst upward into the air.

"Hup!"

Seo Ran clamped a hand over her mouth and nose, summoned a gust with her free hand, and leapt backward. Thanks to my warning the powder barely missed her and scattered on the wind.

Wang O's face twisted.

"Damn it."

Seo Ran's violet eyes locked onto him head-on. Her expression did not change. Only something cold and deep settled slowly inside that gaze.

"…Wang O."

Wang O rapidly widened the distance and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Tae-ho! The plan's gone wrong. Switch to the second plan!"

From the far side of the battlefield Kang Tae-ho's voice answered.

"Understood."

With the reply, Kang Tae-ho spun. The same killing momentum that had been charging Seo Ran now drove him straight into Sa Yeo-myeong's back. There was no time to react. Kang Tae-ho's hand punched through Sa Yeo-myeong's back and sank deep.

"W-why…?"

Sa Yeo-myeong's eyes flew wide. His face was pure disbelief.

"Sorry. I need your Gold Core."

"Y-you traitorous dog…!"

"Betrayal? You were a tool from the very beginning."

Kang Tae-ho's hand slowly withdrew. Pinched between his fingers was a Gold Core, faintly luminous with condensed spiritual energy—the core Sa Yeo-myeong had spent a lifetime forging.

"Guh…!"

Sa Yeo-myeong's body crumpled forward. Kang Tae-ho popped the Gold Core into his mouth and began to chew, slow and deliberate. Once he had swallowed every last scrap, he licked the blood from his lips with a long drag of his tongue and turned toward Seo Ran.

"Seo Ran."

"Kang Tae-ho…"

"Don't call me by that name."

His mouth stretched into a jagged tear of a smile.

"My name is Wang Tae-ho."

And then he charged her.

Even after Seo Ran's strikes severed an arm, the flesh writhed and reattached. Blood reversed course and sealed the wounds. He bared his teeth as though savoring the pain and kept coming.

Crazy monster bastard.

Faced with that absurd regeneration, Seo Ran's expression twisted for the first time in genuine seriousness. Even with the realm gap, Wang Tae-ho weathered everything through sheer monstrous recovery and slowly closed the distance.

—KWAANG! KWAANG!

The shockwaves alone from two Gold Cores colliding made the air explode and reduced the surrounding ground to scrap. Even after devouring a Gold Core and growing stronger, Wang Tae-ho was still beneath Seo Ran.

Fuck, I just want to run.

I had warned Seo Ran of the crisis and received the quest reward, but a new quest had already appeared, leaving me nowhere to flee.

I lightly checked the Hundred-Li Ground-Shrinking Talisman in my hand. The method of use was already etched into my mind as if I had always known it.

Just picture the destination and tear it.

The catch: it could transport only two people, and the range was roughly a hundred li—about forty kilometers. For someone who barely knew the geography, the only places I could realistically go were the Fairy Shrine in Hongyeon Valley… or the spot where Dan Ha and So Ryeong were waiting.

Sorry to those two… but I can't let this chance slip.

The decision came fast. It was a quest I couldn't refuse anyway. If I was stuck doing this, I would save Seo Ran and snatch a secret manual while I was at it. I kept low and approached with extreme care. Even as the shockwaves of two Gold Cores colliding split the earth, I slipped through the gaps.

All I needed was one thing: get my hand on Seo Ran's body.

That was when it happened.

Wang Tae-ho, regenerating his wounds right in Seo Ran's face, suddenly gaped his mouth wide and spat something out.

That's… the white powder from earlier?

Wang Tae-ho had been holding the same poison Wang O had failed to use. White powder sprayed straight at her face. Seo Ran didn't panic; she formed a blade of blood and slashed for Wang Tae-ho's throat. But dodging the powder at the same time meant the cut was shallow.

Blood fountained from Wang Tae-ho's neck, then the flesh writhed and began to close. Because his neck was half-severed, though, his movement faltered for an instant. Seo Ran moved to seize the opening—only for her knees to buckle. She collapsed to the ground.

"Don't tell me… that white powder is Spirit Meridian Powder…?"

I caught her murmur faintly.

Spirit Meridian Powder… that's a poison from the original story…

Spirit Meridian Powder itself wasn't especially potent. What made it terrifying was when it reacted with Stupefying Fragrance.

It's about to react with the Stupefying Fragrance…

Wang O must have been secretly feeding Seo Ran tiny doses of Stupefying Fragrance for a long time. The thought that she was in real danger sent me sprinting like a madman. But the bastard's recovery was faster than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I expected. The moment the wound was nearly closed, Wang O bellowed.

"Tae-ho! Seo Ran inhaled Spirit Meridian Powder! The Stupefying Fragrance already in her body will have reacted—now!"

Wang Tae-ho, still only half-healed, launched himself forward again. Seo Ran's beautiful face twisted as she raised a crimson curtain of blood to shield herself—but it shattered far too easily. The instant the blood curtain exploded into fragments and scattered, Wang Tae-ho's hand clamped brutally around her throat.

"Finally… I've got you!"

His fingers squeezed. A thin breath escaped between Seo Ran's red lips.

"Khh… You cowardly bastard… poison…"

"Cowardly? Hahaha! In this world there's no such thing as cowardice."

Seo Ran poured the last of her strength into her fingertips and slashed Wang Tae-ho's arm free. She managed to tear herself from his grip, but her body no longer obeyed; her knees folded and she dropped to the ground again. Wang Tae-ho regenerated the severed arm and laughed, chillingly soft.

"I'll be taking your heart and the Blood Lord Token."

The moment his fingertips touched her heart—

Now.

I flung the blood thread I had prepared in advance toward Seo Ran.

"Sect Master!"

She must have felt it was her last lifeline. Before the blood thread even reached her she wrenched the final dregs of power from her body, forced herself upright, and settled into stance. Gritting her teeth, she drew dark-crimson energy into both hands. Forcing spiritual energy that was already hardening from the poison made her brow furrow hard—yet the energy never stopped condensing.

And when it reached its limit, the energy erupted outward in an instant.

"Blood Flower in Full Bloom—!"

Wang Tae-ho tried to block with his arms, but this time regeneration couldn't keep up.

KWAANG—!

Dust and blood-colored energy exploded in every direction, blotting out vision. I didn't waste the opening. I wrapped the blood thread around her waist, yanked her toward me, seized her wrist, and tore the Hundred-Li Ground-Shrinking Talisman in the same motion.

"That bitch is mine—!"

Wang Tae-ho burst through the blood mist like a demon, face twisted beyond recognition, thrusting a hand that was still nothing but bone. In the exact instant that skeletal hand shot for my throat—

the talisman ripped, and the world flashed pure white.