Evolution (1)
Pa Cheon answered.
[No.]
'What? Why?'
[That weird incantation? What's Taeil? Some Taoist's name?]
'No. He's like the great leader of the chosen holy warriors.'
[...You punk. You think this one will fall for that?]
'Tch.'
Pa Cheon's growth was a good thing, but it was a shame his perceptiveness had sharpened. Back then, he would've fallen for it and recited those lines without question.
'How about this: "I won't obey the commands of those weaker than me"?'
[That's obvious for anyone of the Divine Cult.]
Hmm, what an excellent Black Warrior Pa Cheon.
'Still, the part about you getting significantly stronger is true.'
[From the Muhonjibyeok?]
'Yeah. It seems the First Heavenly Demon was someone who could forge his own power into jades. This Blood Explosion Jade—it's a power the First Heavenly Demon possessed.'
[Hmm. Is that so.]
Pa Cheon wasn't as surprised as I'd expected.
[Of course. The First Heavenly Demon was the supreme under heaven, the greatest through past and present. It's only natural.]
Fair enough. He might not be worshiped as a god like in the Blood Cult, but in the Divine Cult, the First Heavenly Demon was a symbol of ultimate strength. His muted reaction made sense.
'Let's do the enhancement back at base.'
I could've done it here, but there was no need to show Gwang-yeon Pa Cheon's transformation.
I drew back the blood that was changing the Muhonjibyeok through the power of the Blood Explosion Jade.
Before, the Muhonjibyeok would keep changing until the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy in my blood ran out, but once I reclaimed it...
Thud! Thud-thud-thud!
The Muhonjibyeok reassembled, reverting to its original form.
I still had the reclaimed blood droplet. It would come in handy.
"Blood God Sovereign, Blood Lineage Rules All!"
Gwang-yeon prostrated himself again, shouting fervently. I worried his voice might leak beyond the ancestral hall.
"Quiet."
He immediately held his breath. I'd told him to be quiet, not stop breathing.
By now, Gwang-yeon followed me with fanatical devotion.
It made sense. The primary way to judge one's vessel for the Blood God was "how much can you change the Muhonjibyeok?"
Not only had I changed it, but I'd perfectly restored it too.
Whether the Reinforcement Stone had been inside the Muhonjibyeok or was just too small to notice, it showed no trace now that things were back to normal.
Anyway, it wasn't strange for Gwang-yeon to follow me.
I infused my eyes with Heavenly Demon Divine Art energy and spoke.
"Gwang-yeon. Do you still doubt me?"
Thump—!
Gwang-yeon slammed his forehead into the ground, true to Blood Cult fashion.
"How could I? You are the true vessel of the Blood God, the Leader of the Cult."
"Raise your head."
He lifted his head but couldn't meet my eyes directly.
"Report to Imajon. Tell her I'll soon visit the cult."
"I'll do so immediately."
"The others in the cult won't be any different from how you were at first. I'll show them. The true power of the Blood God."
"I shall obey!"
"Gwang-yeon, your role is crucial."
Time for the carrot after the stick.
"Your role is to blend into the Hwasan Sect as you are now and maneuver it according to the cult's will."
"I shall obey."
"But you're still lacking."
I handed him the blood droplet, partially depleted from activating the Muhonjibyeok.
"Drink."
"Gasp!"
Gwang-yeon, with his dual-core dantian, cultivated the Violet Azure Divine Art in one and blood techniques in the other.
To him, this moderately depleted Heavenly Demon Divine Art blood was like an elixir.
He swallowed my blood and shuddered violently.
'At this point, I kinda feel like a vampire.'
[Vam... what?]
'It exists. Something like that.'
Gwang-yeon immediately sat cross-legged and began meditating. Red smoke-like aura rose from his body.
And then.
'I can feel it. As expected.'
With Jin So-cheong, it had been a bit confusing at first.
But now I knew.
The energy of my blood lodged in Gwang-yeon's dantian.
[...So that blood stays in them forever?]
'Probably because of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. They likely don't know. And even if they do, it doesn't matter.'
[Then, don't tell me...]
'Right.'
The power of the Blood Explosion Jade.
I could use it as much as I wanted. From their dantians.
[Even if they've learned blood techniques, damaging the dantian is hard to recover from.]
'They'll gladly drink my blood. Not knowing it's a poisoned chalice.'
It was another means to dominate and control the Blood Cult.
A moment later.
Whether because his realm was higher than Jin So-cheong's or he'd used some trick, he quickly returned to normal.
"I know not how to repay Your boundless grace."
"Then strive harder. When your blade leaves a mark on that wall, on the day that finally arrives, I shall use you greatly."
At my words, Gwang-yeon gazed at the Muhonjibyeok. Soon, with a resolute expression, he said,
"By your command!"
That settled Gwang-yeon.
[As expected, not falling for your silver tongue earlier was the best choice of this one's life.]
What extravagant praise.
"Tell the sect leader and executives that a simple rite was performed."
"Understood."
He'd even brought tools for the ritual. Gwang-yeon roughly burned the paper talismans with Samadhi True Fire.
I envied that Samadhi True Fire anew. If I'd had the Flame Fire Jade, I could've used it too.
'Well, investing it in Cheol Mu Geuk turned out way more profitable in the end.'
With that, I left Hwasan's ancestral hall.
After reporting to the sect leader and wrapping up loose ends, I returned to my quarters.
Sa Wol greeted me. She wore an oddly dissatisfied expression.
"Jin So-cheong has been requesting an audience since earlier."
"Tell her to wait. No—Sa Wol, you go and tell her. No more spreading nonsense about your relationship with me."
Sa Wol's expression softened. Easy to read, that one.
[Easy to read?]
'Yeah. Anyone can see she's pissed that Jin So-cheong might interfere with her duties.'
[Sure, whatever you say.]
'I've got Sa Wol TOEIC 900. She's loyalty incarnate.'
Clichés never miss.
"Also, I have a minor insight to contemplate, so let no one disturb me."
Sa Wol's eyes widened. She bowed solemnly.
"Not even an ant will get near."
Overkill much?
With everyone dismissed, I sat cross-legged, placed Pa Cheon before me, and took out the Reinforcement Stone I'd pocketed.
[Reinforcement Stone. It has a strange vibe, different from artifacts or treasures.]
It would. It wasn't made by this world's laws.
Pa Cheon floated around, inspecting the stone from every angle.
I'd thought it was just a round, transparent marble, but depending on the light, it scattered colors mysteriously.
[This'll enhance this one?]
He used to hate being called a sword, but now he referred to himself that way.
"If the First Heavenly Demon was right..."
[It will be.]
"Do it? Or not? Honestly, I don't know what'll happen."
I'd initially planned to enhance the Pa Cheon Sword outright. It was my strongest, most effective card.
But the problem was that the Reinforcement Stone enhanced "everything."
Enhancing the Pa Cheon Sword meant unpredictable changes to any part of it.
What if the sword's own functions grew too strong and crushed Pa Cheon's soul within?
Or if Pa Cheon's soul strengthened too much to reside in the sword anymore?
[What weak nonsense, you yokai.]
Pa Cheon continued.
[For one of the Divine Cult, staking one's life to grow stronger is a given.]
Right. I'd momentarily forgotten amid those deranged Blood Cultists, but Divine Cultists were no less insane.
[Do it. Whatever evolution or whatever.]
"Pfft!"
[You seem tense—not like you—so this one jested.]
"Of course. What would I do without you?"
I'd felt the First Heavenly Demon's profound loneliness in the Muhonjibyeok.
Yeah, in the real world, maybe not. Plenty of entertainment, things to do, and safety above all.
But living detached in this mad world would be unimaginably painful.
That's why he'd left something like the Muhonjibyeok.
'Come to think of it, there were tons of mentally shattering moments.'
Without Pa Cheon, I might've ended up with irreparable trauma.
Pa Cheon himself had become as vital as the Pa Cheon Sword.
[Enough useless talk.]
"What, embarrassed? Tsundere or something?"
[Tsun... whatever that is, this one knows not. Just enhance already.]
"Alright."
I didn't know the exact method, but slapping it on was the standard rule.
"Here goes."
[Yokai.]
"Yeah?"
[Don't worry. This one won't die.]
"Not saying it out of worry for me, right?"
[Naturally.]
"Got it."
I pressed the Reinforcement Stone to Pa Cheon.
In that instant.
Fwaaah—!
Golden light burst forth, obscuring the Pa Cheon Sword's form entirely.
'Gold means success for sure.'
The golden halo enveloping the Pa Cheon Sword rippled and shifted shapes continuously.
"This place..."
Pa Cheon—no, Sado Hwan—looked around.
A white space.
A place he'd been to before.
When he'd unintentionally harmed Dong Yun, his soul had been pulled here.
Was that why?
Sado Hwan looked down at his body.
Like shattered porcelain, it was covered in large and small cracks.
"As expected... the Shen is damaged."
Among the trinity of essence, energy, and spirit, the Shen governed mind and soul—the spirit body, simply put.
Sado Hwan sensed it was damaged.
He'd downplayed it to Dong Yun as something a bit of rest would fix, but he instinctively knew it was serious.
Without a body, he lacked "essence"; "energy" had to be stolen from others.
His imperfect Three Flowers Gather at the Summit had barely maintained the imbalance, but now it was broken.
Physical wounds heal with time, but how to mend a spirit body's wounds?
"If I'd grasped that insight, would it have been different?"
Regret lingered, but Sado Hwan shook his head.
As Dong Yun said, attempting insight here might've shattered his spirit body completely.
Heh.
Sado Hwan chuckled.
"What a amusing guy."
Normally so casual with mad antics, yet fretting endlessly when it involved him.
A sense of debt from stealing his body, probably. Too soft for a warrior.
Well, it suited him.
"Still, why isn't this enhancement working?"
Being in this white space again meant something had activated.
"...No way."
Sado Hwan scowled. Then, quietly,
"...Taeil. Evolve me."
In that moment, golden radiance engulfed Sado Hwan.
"Fuck."
Pretending to Be the Heavenly Demon