Red Lotus and Red Flower (2)
Red Lotus and Red Flower (2)
Did she like my bold answer?
The corner of Jeokhwa's straight-lined lips twitched subtly.
"I apologize for interrupting your precious time, unnamed lover-isiyeo."
"Mu Jayeon."
"......?"
"I'm saying that's my name. Mu Jayeon."
Mu Jayeon (Without Nature)—translated literally, it means having no nature.
Understanding the meaning of the name, Jeokhwa's smile deepened.
"Could this also be the guidance of the Heavenly Dao? It is truly an arrogant name."
"I got this name at quite a high price, you know."
It was a name my omma paid one million won to a red-haired female immortal to get for me.
It's just that my surname happens to be Mu (Without), which made the meaning turn out weird.
"Perhaps really......"
"I'm going to succeed, though?"
Honestly, I don't really care what kind of secret the Ghost Realm holds.
I have no intention of stopping in the Mortal Realm anyway, since escaping this place is what vastly opens up the game's content.
'Because the Mortal Realm is single-player only.'
Unless it's an event hosted by the game company or a special method, Mortal Realm players are extremely restricted from meeting each other.
Only by reaching the Middle Realm can one get a taste of multiplayer.
'It's a kind of newbie retention measure.'
The game is utterly unfriendly, with a difficulty where dying alone in a foreign land is all too easy. If other players were entangled in this on top of that, how could a newbie survive?
The calculation was that users who want to dig deep into the game will ascend anyway, while casual users will be satisfied at the Mortal Realm level.
'If left like that, there'd be no motivation, which is why the game company put up prize money, though.'
Upon the game's release, the game company made a groundbreaking pledge.
They declared that the first player among all to reach a certain realm would be awarded a massive prize.
Ten million won was paid out to the first person to reach the Qi Refining Stage.
Twenty million won for Foundation Establishment, thirty million for Golden Core, fifty million for Nascent Soul, and a staggering one hundred million won for the Dao Entry Stage.
When the game company actually fulfilled their pledge, Middle Realm users went all out, fiercely focused on raising their realms.
'Since breakthrough difficulty ramps up from the Middle Realm, the amounts are huge too.'
The baseline is in the hundreds of millions. There were even people risking their entire lives to challenge it.
I didn't intend to go that far.
However, if I could try, wouldn't it be an enjoyable challenge to give it a shot?
'Well, not that it's something I, who haven't even reached the Qi Refining Stage yet, should be talking about.'
With my resurrected body, I will recover my realm and ascend.
Rise to the Middle Realm and compete with NPCs and players.
How could this not be a heart-pounding prospect?
Is it because I already completed a challenge that was once impossible? I'm overflowing with confidence.
'And we have to go up together.'
If I ascend, I won't be alone this time.
An obstacle in the way? Even if it turns out to be a True Immortal, I'll beat them to death.
"By the way, where are we? What happened outside? And how did I get my body back?"
"I shall hand those matters over to Jeokryeon. I have preparations to make, so I will take my leave."
Jeokhwa silently departed, leaving only me and Jeokryeon in the grand hall.
She puffed out her cheeks and poked me with her finger.
"Ouch."
"You told omma your name without telling me first?"
"Ah-ah, don't poke me. Apeong."
"I don't care. I'm not calling you gaga anymore."
"...Just for a reason like that?"
The moment I said it, I knew I fucked up.
The pure and devoted look in Jeokryeon's eyes reverted back to how it was on the very first day.
"Just? Juuuust?! Do you know how much time you and I have spent together?"
"I'm sorry. My mistake."
"What did you do wrong?"
"Everything was my fault."
"Hmph."
Jeokryeon coldly turned her back on me.
That it took a long time to change her mind was an added bonus.
The next day, sitting side by side in the garden pavilion, Jeokryeon explained the situation that had transpired.
To summarize briefly:
Q. Where are we?
A. This place is the Grotto-Heaven Spirit Bead, one of the countless treasures possessed by the original Jeokhwa.
It is a portable cave-dwelling and a treasure that produces spiritual qi on its own. Cultivating here yields the same effect as cultivating in an ordinary realm.
Q. What happened to Blood Lotus Palace?
A. Thanks to Mu-gaga blowing it away so refreshingly, the entire southern continent of the Ghost Realm where Blood Lotus Palace was located has been obliterated.
Where we are now is Jungju, the central continent of the Ghost Realm, and we are hiding in a safe house prepared by the original Jeokhwa.
Q. How was I brought back to life?
A. After the explosion occurred, gaga's soul fell to the core nucleus where we were.
Omma used treasures and natural treasures of heaven and earth to revive your soul and perfectly reconstruct your body.
However, since you were revived almost by force, your body is identical to how it was before.
Q. Just how many treasures does Jeokhwa have?
A. I don't know either. Omma doesn't really know either. Since the original Jeokhwa was an old monster of the Dao Entry Realm and the palace master of a great sect, her hidden assets must be considerable.
It's a pity that omma's memories aren't complete, so we can't recover all of those assets.
Q. Leave my thighs alone.
A. Hehehe.
"I hope we start cultivating soon. Do you know? The combination of Yin and Yang has been a topic of cultivation research for a very long time."
"You reek of being a beginner so much that it doesn't excite me."
".........."
Explicit temptations only have adverse effects.
The corner of Jeokryeon's eye twitched slightly.
'No way. Honestly, I'm fucking turned on.'
But I'm an eunuch until the 19+ DLC gets approved.
What is the 19+ DLC, you ask?
Due to the nature of full-dive virtual reality games, it's a sensitive matter that inevitably requires caution.
If one carelessly got addicted to sexual pleasure, wouldn't that become a societal issue?
Therefore, adult content is only unlocked after strictly verifying the user's mental health.
'This takes quite a long time.'
Even in Korea, where 'ppalli-ppalli' is the default for everything, it takes more than a month.
I haven't even been playing for a month since buying the game yet!
'Heavens!!!'
Why is it that even though I can do it! I can't do it?!
"Ah, omma says to come."
"Rehu?"
"Stop using those weird expressions."
"Depupu."
Leaving behind Jeokryeon's spicy knuckle sandwich, I headed toward the Demon King's castle.
There, Jeokhwa could be seen standing politely, having finished a series of preparations.
"Lover, you will remain in this grotto-heaven together with Jeokryeon and focus on your cultivation until you reach the Golden Core Stage."
As soon as I arrived, she cut straight to the chase and laid out the future plans.
"This grotto-heaven holds abundant resources. Even if they are mere junk to a cultivator of the Dao Entry Realm, they are reasonably useful resources for low-tier cultivators. I will utilize these to assist Jeokryeon and you, my lover, to the utmost."
"What's the reason for stopping at the Golden Core Stage?"
"The heavenly tribulation that occurs when breaking through a major realm—the Nascent Soul Stage heavenly tribulation—is something this grotto-heaven cannot withstand. Furthermore, the resources stockpiled here are only sufficient to support cultivation up to the Golden Core level; beyond that is difficult."
So it's secluded cultivation until the Golden Core Stage without a way out.
It looks like it will be an arduous process.
"I have confirmed your talent through Jeokryeon, my lover. I have prepared suitable cultivation methods, divine abilities, and dharma treasures accordingly. I am not confident whether I can guide your talent well, but I will do my absolute best."
Jeokhwa feigned humility and gently stepped back.
The coffin hidden behind her back revealed itself.
The coffin twitched as if human blood vessels were squirming through it, exuding fluctuations that made one's mind dizzy just looking at it.
"It is called the Myriad Blood Dao-Nurturing Coffin. It is a treasure that will reconstruct your constitution into the Mystery-Penetrating Dao Physique. The Mystery-Penetrating Dao Physique is a Dao physique that makes one extremely sensitive to the qi of heaven, earth, and nature, allowing one to sense it better. As an acquired Dao physique, its limits are clear, but with your talent, my lover, you will be able to develop it further."
Jeokhwa then pulled out a medicinal pill from her sleeve.
The pill was emitting an extraordinary aura, to the extent that illusions of the Five Elements were visible on its surface.
"This is the Five Elements Evolution Pill. It is one of the top five most useful items in this Grotto-Heaven Spirit Bead. It will evolve your Four-Element Spiritual Roots into mutated spiritual roots known as Five-Evolution Spiritual Roots."
Five-Evolution Spiritual Roots are mutated spiritual roots that rarely manifest among Five-Element Spiritual Roots.
It is said that the sample size is extremely small and rare, to the point that almost no cultivators know of it.
That is because these Five-Evolution Spiritual Roots were spiritual roots that could transform at any time according to the cultivator's will.
For example, if one were a fire cultivator who mainly cultivated fire-attribute methods, they could train their Five-Evolution Spiritual Roots to transform them into a fire-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root.
To refine such efficacy into a pill, I couldn't even imagine its worth.
Jeokhwa's offensive didn't end here.
A pill that greatly expands dantian reserves and spiritual qi, the Foundation-Solidifying and Qi-Stabilizing Pill.
A pill that purifies the soul and divine sense, the Soul-Cleansing and Spirit-Nurturing Pill.
A flame that burns away impurities inside the physical body, the Red Heart Lotus Fire.
Besides those, there were the Flowing Flame Qi-Observing Cup, the Red Silk Pill, the Fire-Tongue Vein-Probing Wine, the Red Rain Blood-Generating Wine, and so on.
Items whose prices would cause anyone to gasp piled up neatly into a massive mountain.
"Is this really okay?"
"Is it insufficient?"
"The problem is that it's way too much!"
Common-sensically speaking, can I even absorb all of that? Her expectations are so overwhelming that my shoulders feel heavy.
I was also concerned about Jeokryeon. She's a person too, so wouldn't she feel jealous over this much?
Sure enough, Jeokryeon also had a flustered expression.
"Omma, I'm pretty sure it was less than this when you discussed it with me?"
"I am giving this to my one and only lover. If anything, it is lacking, not excessive."
"One and only lover...?"
She wasn't calling me that because I was Jeokryeon's lover.
She said it because I was her lover.
"Since when did gaga become omma's lover?"
As the corner of Jeokryeon's eyes twitched, Jeokhwa asked back in puzzlement.
"Jeokryeon, I am not only your mother, daughter, and sister, but also another you. 'Jeokryeon loves Mu Jayeon.' 'Jeokhwa loves Mu Jayeon.' Aren't those the exact same statement?"
"How on earth is that the same?!"
Regardless of whether Jeokryeon yelled or not, Jeokhwa rested her head on my chest.
"Uh-oh?"
"As expected, it feels wonderful. I've wanted to do this from the very beginning."
"Omma?!"
"U-Uhyo!"
"Hey!"
What happened next is difficult to put into words, so it will be omitted.
However, it took a lengthy discussion before I could become a cultivator once more.
Thus, after going through twists and turns, several years passed since I entered the path.
"Why is your progress in the cultivation method so slow?"
"I don't know."
"Why is your practice only at this level?"
"I don't know."
"Do not even think about returning until you achieve your goal."
"Kyaang!"
For various reasons, I was kicked out of the bead.