Blood Cult (4)
A hush fell over the room at my words.
“Uwaaaack!”
It wasn’t a perfect silence.
Jang Eok’s screams continued as his energy was sucked into the Pa Cheon Sword.
The moment Pa Cheon decided to absorb it, Jang Eok shriveled up in an instant.
Finally, perfect silence descended.
Thud.
Jang Eok collapsed.
“Heh heung, heh heh heung!”
The silence was broken by Imajon’s nasal snickering. The sound grated like nails on a chalkboard.
“You worm!”
Perhaps triggered by the laughter, Sammajon belatedly bellowed in rage. Soon, his arms began to turn red.
His ordinary-looking hands twisted into something demonic and grotesque, nails elongating sharply.
Blood arts were truly on a different level from martial techniques. To alter the body’s very form like this.
“How dare you!”
Sammajon’s eyes rolled back, poised to charge at me any second.
“Die!”
And sure enough, he lunged.
Boom. The moment his foot slammed down, the power of the Time Wheel Jade activated.
Even in slowed time, Sammajon barreled toward me at terrifying speed.
His arm was pulled back to its limit, like a pitcher about to release, ready to swing at any moment.
Just an ordinary Super Peak level.
Calling a Super Peak “ordinary” was absurd, but given the recent masters I’d seen—like the Dao King or the Divine Monk with their grandiose titles—it made sense.
Best to retreat. But you won’t, will you?
Of course not. Make it seem evenly matched, just enough to fool him in an instant.
You know that’s incredibly difficult, right?
Please. Release the Time Wheel Jade too.
What a cursed fate I have.
Despite the grumbling, our state-of-the-art wuxia AI, Pa Cheon, sprang into action.
Boom!
The intent of Domination activated.
Properly unleashing Domination required vast inner energy.
That’s why I’d never used it in earnest before.
I always needed to reserve some as a last line of defense.
But not now.
I’d already absorbed the energy of dozens back in the mountain village, and just now, Jang Eok’s as well.
And that wasn’t all.
If I steeled my resolve, this place was basically a recharge station for me.
One that never ran dry, no matter how much I used.
Its power was bound to be extraordinary.
Crack.
The ground Sammajon was charging across caved in deeply. The solid altar stone crumbled like rotten wood.
For an ordinary person, mere exposure would crush them—fatal injury at best, death at worst.
Even Sammajon’s stance faltered for a moment.
“Petty tricks! Kack!”
But a Super Peak was a Super Peak.
With a beastly shout, he shook off the pressure of Domination and charged again.
Domination alone couldn’t hold a Super Peak, it seemed.
So I.
“Mad about losing your toy?”
Kept up the madman act, flashing an even thicker smile.
“I’ll kill you!”
One zhang.
About three meters.
For a Super Peak master, that was practically point-blank.
Sammajon closed in.
That instant.
I’ll release the blood energy.
Yeah.
Pa Cheon expelled all the blood energy it had absorbed at once.
Whoosh—!
A fishy stench wrinkled noses as red blood energy spread like mist.
The mist enveloped Sammajon’s space like a cage, forming what looked like a crimson pillar.
“!?”
It was just Pa Cheon releasing absorbed energy into the air, but it would look like blood arts to onlookers.
Ssshhk—!
From within the pillar, only Sammajon’s right hand thrust out. His grotesquely twisted claw halted before me—a few steps more and it would touch.
Dangerous.
If it looks risky, use the Time Wheel Jade. I’ll blink right away too.
What are you planning?
Still building up my madman power.
I stepped forward, forward.
Until Sammajon’s sharp claw nearly grazed my nose.
I channeled the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to its peak.
And with a voice still dripping with amusement, said,
“Arm too short?”
Sammajon’s arm trembled violently.
Snap!
I flicked my fingers.
Bzzzzt—!
In that moment, unrefined Red Dragon lightning spread along the mist.
The crackling thunder rampaged wildly inside the blood pillar trapping Sammajon.
You were gonna ask me anyway—why flick your fingers?
Gotta look the part.
Projecting “I’ve got a move up my sleeve” was wuxia basics.
Powerful technique—too strong to use publicly since it looks like blood arts, but hard to land a solid hit. He’s Super Peak.
I know. That’s why I added one more. Sprinkled my blood with the Blood Burst Jade, actually.
I hadn’t just idled while Pa Cheon fought.
Ah, that explains it. Thought he wouldn’t fall for something like that. Clever.
The combo of blood pillar and Red Dragon lightning was powerful, but weak.
It sounded contradictory, but it was true.
Against a Super Peak, it wouldn’t land cleanly. The lightning was fierce, but they wouldn’t let it hit.
Sammajon’s mistake was mastering blood arts.
My blood, infused with Heavenly Demon Divine Art energy.
To blood art practitioners, it was deadly poison—and irresistible drug.
They’d all felt ecstasy at such blood, losing reason.
So when Pa Cheon spread the blood mist, I secretly laced its core with my blood via the Blood Burst Jade.
Sammajon would be drawn to it. Not just pulled, but tempted—Is this guy really Cult Leader material?
Blood Cult picks leaders by who kills the most—not petty squabbles.
That’s why this performance worked.
Now he was frying from the lightning. I knew from experience—it stung like hell.
“There.”
I turned, beaming refreshingly.
“One candidate left.”
A threat.
But Imajon’s candidate, with his gloomy eyes, didn’t avert his gaze.
Not cowed by Heavenly Demon Divine Art energy... Interesting. Could be him.
Wuxia rule #1.
Burly, imposing guys are usually extras—or irrelevant.
Skinny, gaunt ones were the real threats.
The Murim Returner Blood Cult Leader was described as “pale skin, sickly fragile.”
So I suspected Imajon’s candidate was that Leader.
“Oh my.”
Imajon stepped between me and the candidate.
“What do you mean? You’re our only candidate.”
“That means.”
“Yes. We forfeit. Right, Se-ak?”
The man called Se-ak spoke.
“Imajon’s candidate, Dan Se-ak, forfeits.”
Dan Se-ak.
Villain name if I ever heard one.
“Heh heh heh.”
Finally, the observing Ilmajon stepped forward.
“Then only this old man’s candidate remains?”
“No need to worry.”
Imajon continued.
“Gwang-yeon told me. Your candidate already altered the Blood God’s genes.”
This time, I countered.
“You knew and still tested me?”
“Test? More like verification.”
“Grandma wants to die sooner, huh?”
Imajon’s smile froze at my giggling words, but she recovered quickly.
“Sorry if you’re offended.”
“No second chances.”
I turned to Ilmajon as if done talking.
“Shall we begin the ritual?”
“Busy. Hurry.”
“Heh heh heh, understood. First, release Sammajon.”
I snapped my fingers.
The thunderous blood mist enveloping Sammajon swirled toward me.
It came from Pa Cheon, but sucking it straight back would expose Pa Cheon as the source.
The foul stench hit, but I didn’t flinch.
Pa Cheon slowly absorbed it. To onlookers, it looked like I was reeling it in.
As the mist cleared, Sammajon appeared.
Pfft!
Hey, don’t laugh. It’s funny to me too.
A Super Peak wouldn’t die from that lightning.
But Sammajon’s hair was permed like an old lady’s, eyebrows charred to Mona Lisa stubs.
The guy who’d been snarling so fiercely now looked ridiculous. Holding back laughter was torture.
“Puh!”
Couldn’t.
“Puhahaha!”
Good thing I hadn’t been posturing with false dignity here. If I’d acted lofty like at the Divine Cult, I’d be sunk.
“……”
Sammajon clenched his fists, trembling, but didn’t roar like before.
He’d witnessed the blood’s power.
“Haa. Ha. Ha. Haven’t laughed that hard in ages.”
I wiped tears. Thousand Changes Face Mask was amazing—no distortion despite the expressions.
Anyway.
As I calmed, Ilmajon spoke.
“This way, please.”
I stood at the altar’s center.
“We now begin the Blood God ritual.”
Dong—! Dong—! Dong—!
The masters resumed drumming.
Jin So-cheong approached, silver tray gleaming—dagger and empty bowl atop.
“Offer your blood.”
I was in psycho mode.
Making even psychos think I was the psycho.
So.
“Too bothersome.”
I shoved the tray away.
Blood God ritual? Who cares.
Feels kinda good? Peak wuxia right here.
What are you talking about?
In wuxia, the protagonist ignores everyone and does whatever—pure catharsis.
Don’t get cocky from favorable matchups. Without their blood arts, you’d be bones by now.
Just talking. Can’t even enjoy a moment?
Don’t let your guard down.
Always jinxing.
“C-Cult Leader?”
Flustered, Jin So-cheong slipped to her old habit, forgetting I was still a “candidate.”
I ignored her and strode to the Muhonjibyeok.
Ilmajon blocked the impatient Sammajon.
“Change this, right?”
The massive Muhonjibyeok.
Building-sized. Easily sixty meters.
Change it with blood power.
No wonder past Blood Cult Leaders were insane.
I didn’t know blood arts well, but altering it seemed luck-based.
Absorb blood until you luckily get a lineage that mutates Cloud Demon Iron.
Problem: No one knew who had it, so keep absorbing till it works.
Hence Jang Eok’s thousands, and past Leaders being the biggest bloodsuckers.
Irrelevant to me.
My blood, infused with Heavenly Demon Divine Art, was the true symbol.
“Boring.”
Sammajon couldn’t hold back.
“No past Leader changed over ten percent of that massive Blood God gene wall!”
Polite tone, but basically: Don’t bluff.
I didn’t reply. Just smirked and spread my arms.
Blood droplets from the Blood Burst Jade hit the side Muhonjibyeoks beside the central one.
Clack clack clack!
Five side walls transformed completely, perfectly.
“!!!!”
“!?”
That was it. Awe etched in the Blood Cultists’ eyes.
I went for the finisher.
A blood droplet with extra Heavenly Demon Divine Art energy toward the center.
But.
Clack clack clack!
Like a self-assembling Rubik’s Cube, the central Muhonjibyeok shifted—but unlike the others, no text appeared.
Just ornate patterns.
“……A gate.”
The Muhonjibyeok had become a door.
Pretending to Be the Heavenly Demon