SWNOVELXO Chapter 179
Chapter 179: A 102-Year-Old Baby
“Ugh… My head…”
Thud.
Sosumahu fell to the ground and held her forehead, having absorbed a tremendous amount of magic in an instant. The residual magic in the corpse of the Mysterious Blood Network was almost gone.
“W-What’s wrong?! Our daughter?”
Upon seeing her, Heuksaryong quickly approached and hugged Sosumahu like a real daughter. Sosumahu, who was already petite, looked like a mother-daughter duo with the tall and graceful Heuksaryong.
But wait, did she just call her our daughter?
Is this some kind of act?
Heuksaryong wore a worried expression, one I had never seen before. A maternal gaze. Could Heuksaryong really have such a face?
“Ugh, let go! Who are you to call me your daughter?! Ugh…”
Sosumahu squirmed and muttered in a muffled voice. Pat pat.
Heuksaryong gently stroked Sosumahu’s grayish-white hair and patted her back.
“Hehe. Don’t worry. Mommy will protect you. Everything will be alright. Just believe in Mommy.”
Heuksaryong naturally wore a maternal smile while petting her head.
“Uuhhhh…”
Sosumahu whined as she dug into Heuksaryong’s embrace.
“Mommy… I was so scared… My snake friend…”
Returning to her original speech pattern, Sosumahu complained. Did she briefly regain her memory just to revert back to her original state?
“Okay, it’s alright now.”
Heuksaryong comforted Sosumahu. If someone saw this, they might genuinely mistake them for a mother and daughter.
It seemed like things were settling down, but an ominous feeling crawled up my spine.
Sosumahu was the core of the Heavenly Demon Zombie being manufactured by the Blood Sect.
If it had been completed, it would be a final weapon capable of facing both Hwakyung’s Mastery and Hyeongyeong’s Mastery. But I had just hijacked that final weapon.
Naturally, the Blood Sect must be furious about it.
That perverted Blood Lord is probably enraged right now about not being able to call for “Papa.”
Assuming I were the Blood Lord, the only countermeasures available in this situation were two: send a master to the Demon Realm to wipe them all out and retrieve the Heavenly Demon Zombie, or dispose of the Heavenly Demon Zombie itself.
‘I would prefer to retrieve it, but depending on the circumstances, disposal might also be possible.’
The Blood Lord is, in any case, immobilized.
Thus, it’s highly likely a high-ranking master representing him from the Blood Sect will come here soon.
According to the information I received from the Heavenly Alliance, the organization structure of the Blood Sect is as follows:
Regular Blood Sect members,
Bishops held by masters between the Pinnacle and Supreme stages,
An Apostle, who is a master of Hwakyung guiding those Bishops,
And finally, the Four Great Kings serving directly beneath the Apostle, the representatives of the Blood Lord, holding the position of Vice Superintendents, being Hyeongyeong masters.
‘If an Apostle appears, I can handle it, but…’
The problem lies with the Vice Superintendent level. If just one of the Four Great Kings shows up, I wouldn’t have any way other than to stall for time while calling for Jeoksawol.
I fiddled with the trinket in my pocket.
Sinseung said that if I break this trinket, reinforcements from the Heavenly Alliance will arrive anytime, anywhere.
From my perspective, those reinforcements likely refer to Jeoksawol.
Otherwise, there would be no reason for Jeoksawol to disguise herself as a Post-Stimulation Indicator.
Being forced to masquerade as a junior who is over 40 years younger would be a bitter pill for Jeoksawol to swallow.
Yeah, it must be. If not, I would arrive at a horrifying conclusion.
Thinking this, I drew my sword and dismantled the core of the Mysterious Blood Network according to the Demon Sword Technique.
Thanks to Sosumahu having absorbed a significant amount of magic already, the disassembly was quite easy.
“This is the core.”
While extracting the insides, I found something hard and round, like a rock, near the heart area.
It was the core of the Mysterious Blood Network, a mass of condensed and dreadful magic.
Magic, huh.
It’s an energy detrimental to both vitality and internal energy. It would have been useful if I had cultivated Demon Sect Martial Arts instead of regular martial arts… but…
Wait a minute.
‘Demon Sect Martial Arts?’
As I gazed at the core, black as obsidian, I began to think.
The Gongdong Sect’s internal energy has similar characteristics to Demon Sect Martial Arts because it is cultivated through Reverse Flow Blood Technique.
I had personally verified this through testing my internal energy with Reverse Flow Blood Technique.
If Gongdong’s secret technique differs fundamentally from conventional martial arts, then maybe I could absorb magic too.
‘It’s worth a try.’
My internal energy was utterly useless, but this isn’t a normal situation; we never know when the Blood Sect might launch an assault.
But not yet. Before absorbing the core, I should have a snake soup appetizer first.
After completing the disassembly, I stepped outside the cave briefly to gather straw and firewood.
Finally.
It was time to make snake soup.
Whoosh.
I lit a fire, placed a makeshift pot I carved from rock using my internal energy on top, added the flesh of the Mysterious Blood Network along with water from the lake, and began to boil it when Heuksaryong approached me, cradling Sosumahu.
“Brother, what are you trying to… do right now?”
Boiling meat from the Mysterious Blood Network, bubbling along with the water.
Unlike last time, I secretly sprinkled some homemade herb salt I had hidden in my underwear.
“I’m thinking of making snake soup.”
“Are you really going to eat that?!”
Heuksaryong looked a bit horrified upon hearing my words.
“That? It’s meat from a mythical creature. A rare ingredient. It’s great for vitality. Especially good for increasing stamina for both men and women. Hohohoho…”
I stirred the snake soup with a twig while I laughed.
A snake soup made from a mythical snake. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how good it is for vitality.
“V-Vitality?!”
Heuksaryong turned red.
“Daddy! What’s vitality?!”
Sosumahu looked at me with wide eyes. What is vitality?
A very profound topic.
In fact, the concept of vitality doesn’t have a proper definition.
In a narrow sense, it refers to a man’s sexual ability, but in a broad sense, it’s synonymous with vigor, energy, and vitality.
Men’s sexual ability can be divided into various aspects: thickness, circumference, and length, as well as duration of erection.
It could go on infinitely.
Moreover, to maintain vitality, it’s not enough to just train the lower body. You would need to train heart and lung endurance as well to be considered a true vitality king.
It would be unreasonable to instill such specialized knowledge into a young child.
Still, it’s a piece of knowledge that must be learned at some point. Just as I was about to explain to Sosumahu,
“Uh, I’ll teach you! Vitality means health!”
Heuksaryong interrupted me.
“Health? Then if I eat my snake friend, I’ll become healthy too?”
“Uh, yes. That’s right.”
I nodded absentmindedly.
“Well then, I want to eat snake soup too! Since I made my snake friend hurt… it’s bad…”
Sosumahu, puffing her cheeks, eyed the bubbling snake soup and swallowed.
Her white cheeks turned red from the fire’s heat.
“Ugh… What the heck are you trying to teach a child?!”
Thump thump.
Heuksaryong hit my chest, looking frustrated.
What? Sosumahu is a child? A 102-year-old child doesn’t exist!
This is ridiculous.
As I brushed Heuksaryong off, I said, “What do you mean, ‘you’?! You should be calling me Brother.”
We’re not even married, so why’s she acting like this?
“O-Okay, Brother…”
Heuksaryong flinched, adjusting her address.
Come on, you should keep your promises.
I thought this while stirring the snake soup with the twig. Hot steam was rising vigorously. The meat was softening, and the broth was simmering, so it seemed edible now.
Just before the drool built up in my mouth.
Vitality.
There it was, a chunk of vitality right in front of my eyes. The ultimate snake soup, boiled from a mythical snake, something you couldn’t even buy for money in modern Korea, shocking the landowners and health clinics nationwide!
“Alright, let’s eat.”
I shared spoons I had brought for emergencies with Heuksaryong and Sosumahu.
“Are you really going to eat it?”
“If you don’t want to, you can starve.”
I said firmly, looking at the disgusted Heuksaryong. If she doesn’t eat it, it’s a win for me; I’d get to enjoy more snake soup.
Grrrgghhh.
Just when Heuksaryong looked like she was about to retort, a thunderous rumble came from her stomach.
Heuksaryong’s face turned red.
“Ugh… I-I’ll eat it reluctantly.”
Heuksaryong grumbled as she picked up the spoon. Acting like she didn’t want to eat, yet she would.
“Waaaaah! Snake friend soup!”
Sosumahu was already devouring the soup. I hopped beside her, scooping up broth and ingredients with my spoon and stuffing them into my mouth.
Mmm.
Thanks to the seasoning, it tasted better than the snake soup I had in Gongdong Mountain. This rich meat and broth flavor… this is it!
Hehehe!
“Ugh… This isn’t exactly tasty…”
Heuksaryong mumbled while shoveling the snake soup beside me. Seriously, who eats snake soup for taste? You eat it for vitality!
Originally, true snake soup is just boiled with a snake and seasoned with no flavor whatsoever, extracting the essence of vitality, but I had doctored it up with herb salt.
“Tasteless. Hmph… But it’s made by Dad, so I’ll eat it!”
Even Sosumahu said such things.
Not knowing the greatness of snake soup… Hmph. Fine, I can just indulge on my own.
Thinking that, I devoured the snake soup wildly. Gulp.
The hot energy surged into my body. Yes, this is the stuff! In comparison to the viper I caught on Gongdong Mountain, this is a whole different level of heat energy!
Everything was being absorbed into my body. My vitality was increasing in real-time.
Soaked in sweat, I finished the entire snake soup with glee and put down my spoon.
“Phew. That was delicious.”
“Delicious!”
Sosumahu mimicked my words.
Great, now that the meal is done… it’s time to absorb the core.
I sent a note to Heuksaryong.
[I’m about to absorb the core of the Mysterious Blood Network. Requesting protection.]
[…Understood. Brother.]
Heuksaryong held the now-playing Sosumahu, lifting her up.
Looking at them, I sat in a meditative posture and placed the core of the Mysterious Blood Network into my mouth and closed my eyes.
*
In the darkened chamber.
There sat a figure cloaked in black.
“I can’t believe the Heavenly Demon Zombie was stolen.”
The cloaked figure is the third Apostle of the Blood Sect.
He had been overseeing Lady Gu and was now responsible for the practical affairs of the Demon Sect.
The cloaked figure’s blood-colored gaze gazed at the map of the Demon Sect.
The theft of the Heavenly Demon Zombie was an unimaginable event. His current superior, Gangsimajon, had declared that he would handle it himself, but…
Evil would never prosper, a fundamental principle of the Blood Sect. As a practical agent, he had a duty to prepare backup plans in case of Gangsimajon’s failure.
Just as the cloaked figure was lost in thought.
Swish.
The darkness behind the cloaked figure began to stir. The shadow coalesced into a dark silhouette.
Shing.
A pair of blood-red lights flickered from the head of the dark silhouette, and as the chamber filled with ominous energy.
The cloaked figure knelt and bowed.
“Blood Lord’s Reincarnation! Blood Sect supremacy! Long live! Long live! Long live! I humbly greet you, Lord Blood Lord of the Blood Domain!”
The cloaked figure’s reverence brought forth a smile from the Blood Lord.
With blood-red long hair and pale skin, he was an incredibly handsome man clad in blood.
The sharp fangs of the Blood Lord were bared.
“As a precaution against Gangsimajon’s failure, the Lord has commanded you to head to the Demon Sect. Third Apostle, come assist me.”
In the Blood Lord’s eyes, the red energy swirled with intensity.
“Immediately upon Gangsimajon’s failure, we will cooperate and strike the Demon Sect.”
“With your command!”
The voice of the cloaked figure and the Third Apostle echoed through the chamber.
Maps of Xinjiang entered his dark eyes.
‘It’s time to reclaim my Demon Sect. Cheonma Baek Murang, I will repay the humiliation I faced back then tenfold.’
The Blood Lord smiled alluringly.