Chapter 763: Three Souls (1)

I was curious why the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo wanted to summon Soto, but I would find out soon enough.

For now, I called her through the group mind-link.

『“Soto, where are you?”』

『“Yes, So-ryong. Were you looking for me?”』

The reply came immediately.

Soto’s sharp, energetic voice rang briskly through the group mind-link.

‘Looks like Gungbong is asleep. Thank god.’

Fortunately, it seemed Soto currently held control of the mind.

Since both of them had been registered, I had assumed they could both appear in the group mind-link simultaneously, but apparently that was not the case.

Whoever held mental dominance was the only one capable of speaking through the link.

The conversation itself was mental, but the body served as the medium, so apparently only the dominant side could communicate.

Relieved that Gungbong was nowhere to be seen, I spoke.

『“Yeah. Can you come to the altar right now?”』

『“Right now?”』

『“Yeah. It sounds like the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo wants to talk with you.”』

『“Me?”』

『“Yeah. Your scheme worked really well this time, didn’t it? Sounds like they want to discuss something else with you.”』

『“Understood. Now I’m curious what it’s about.”』

『“Me too.”』

I stood up and spoke to Huiyang, who had been waiting nearby.

“I told Soto to come to the altar. Let’s go.”

“Huh? The altar? Ah, no, So-ryong.”

Huiyang waved both hands at my words.

I tilted my head, and she explained why she was shaking her hands like that.

“We won’t be speaking through the altar.”

“Not through the altar? Then how?”

“First, could you call Lady Soto here instead?”

“All right.”

Was there some other communication method I did not know about?

Tilting my head in confusion, I changed Soto’s destination.

『“Soto, come to my office.”』

『“Not the altar?”』

『“Huiyang says we’re meeting here.”』

『“Understood.”』

The communication methods I knew about were either divine possession or offering sacrifices at an altar to communicate.

But divine possession could not be used right now.

Because Ji-ryeon, whose body could withstand possession, was currently recovering.

It might look like all I had to do afterward was cool down the heat inside her body and everything would end there, but that absolutely was not the case.

Once someone experienced divine possession, they needed at least a month of recuperation.

Apparently, it placed an enormous burden on both body and soul, and repeated use could even leave someone crippled.

‘Surely they’re not planning to forcibly descend like that white dragon did last time? No... probably not.’

There was a method where they could force divine possession even if the energies were incompatible, like with the white dragon before.

But the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo was a benevolent immortal. It did not seem like she would use a method that heavily burdened the cultivator serving as the vessel.

After waiting a little longer, the office door opened.

Soto briskly darted inside.

“So-ryong, I’m here.”

“Good.”

The moment Soto entered, Huiyang spoke.

“Elder, may we speak privately among ourselves?”

Huiyang’s gaze moved toward the dragons.

The dragon girls standing beside the wives.

After finishing the registrations earlier, I had brought all of them into the office to introduce them to the wives.

Apparently, because they were dragons, Huiyang was worried about security.

After all, she did not know I had already registered them into the Beast-Heart Technique.

“It’s fine even if those girls stay. They won’t betray us anymore.”

The moment I said it confidently, the dragons nodded as well.

Their expressions clearly said that betrayal was absolutely impossible.

I was the one who had freed them after they unknowingly lived as slaves under the dragons’ covenant, so how could they betray me?

And now, my success was their success too.

We were all on the same boat.

A concubine’s fate followed her husband’s fate.

Huiyang cautiously asked again,

“Do you have a basis for that confidence?”

“It’s related to my martial art...”

I had decided to accept Huiyang as one of our people, but I still could not reveal the true foundation of my martial arts.

So when I showed a troubled expression, Huiyang also looked troubled.

“The Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo specifically told me to be extremely careful about security...”

Apparently, she had received direct instructions.

Ji-ryeon, who had been listening quietly, asked Huiyang,

“Should we leave as well?”

“No. Ji-ryeon, you need to stay. It’s just that these girls only recently became part of the family... and the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo also mentioned it...”

At Huiyang’s explanation, Hwa-eun rose from her seat.

“I’ll take the concubines elsewhere for now. Come along. I’ll introduce you to the other children.”

“Understood, Lady Tang.”

“Let’s go. We shouldn’t make the elder uncomfortable. Follow Lady Tang.”

“Yes, yes.”

Once Hwa-eun led the dragons away, Huiyang spread a barrier and then pulled something out from her robes.

Clack.

It was a small human-shaped doll made of glazed ceramic.

The smooth glaze covered the entire figure, and it was slightly larger than a fist.

The glaze itself was divided into two colors.

Split down the middle, the left side was painted red while the right side was painted blue.

‘Why does that thing look like some kind of curse doll?’

It was humanoid, but the overall feeling resembled the cursed dolls used in voodoo rituals.

Huiyang explained,

“This is something the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo bestowed upon me. She said it’s used for the Great Soul-Seizing Art.”

“The Great Soul-Seizing Art?”

Just from the name alone, it sounded like something that ripped souls out of people.

Apparently, I was right.

“Yes. She said this doll can contain the Three Souls.”

The Three Souls were one of the Daoist theories regarding the human soul.

Usually referred to as the Three Souls and Seven Spirits.

The belief that the human soul was composed of three souls and seven spirits.

I had brushed over the theory slightly while learning martial arts.

The Three Souls referred to invisible spiritual aspects like consciousness, awareness, and spirituality, while the Seven Spirits referred to bodily aspects like senses, desires, emotions, and physical reactions.

The Three Souls were sometimes interpreted as Taegwang, Sangryeong, and Yujeong, but in simple terms, they were basically the soul.

Which meant what Huiyang was saying was that our souls could be stored inside that doll.

“If it stores the Three Souls... don’t tell me you mean my soul and Soto’s?”

“Yes, elder. Once your Three Souls are stored here, the Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo can temporarily transfer you into bodies she prepared in the Upper Heavens.”

Listening to the explanation, it seemed they planned to bring us directly into the Upper Heavens for security purposes.

After all, the highest form of security was face-to-face conversation.

‘Just how important is this conversation?’

Until now, they had always used divine possession or altars.

So just how important was this matter that they were resorting to something this dangerous?

Having my soul separated from my body basically sounded like temporarily experiencing death itself, and I unconsciously swallowed.

Gulp.

“Isn’t this dangerous?”

Naturally, I had to ask whether this was dangerous or not.

Apparently, I was not the only one thinking that.

“Isn’t it dangerous?”

Ji-ryeon asked the same thing beside me, eyes wide.

She even came over and pulled my head against her chest.

Her worried gaze was filled with concern.

Ji-ryeon had previously extracted something white and soul-like from my body before, but at least that process did not kill me.

“No. The Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo said it is completely safe.”

Considering all the help we had already received from her, it was difficult to refuse.

She had saved me through Ji-ryeon, and had even passed a mother’s energy onto Zihwa.

I could not truly verify whether it was safe, but it felt like the kind of risk I had to accept.

“Well, then I guess we’re going.”

“But So-ryong...”

“She’s helped us a lot. Even if there’s some danger, we should accept it.”

Ji-ryeon hesitated for a moment at my words, then nodded.

Because I was not wrong.

And on top of that, the people asking for help were Ji-ryeon’s own masters.

“Understood, So-ryong.”

Nodding, I turned to Huiyang and asked.

Since the saying was to strike while the iron was hot, I planned to go immediately.

“All right then, what do we do now?”

“First, please lie down here.”

Huiyang pointed at the floor.

Ah, so this had to be done lying down.

Since I had no idea how long it would take, I decided to move to my room first.

The wives handled work here in the office, so if Soto and I suddenly lay down side-by-side in the middle of the room, things would obviously become awkward.

“If we need to lie down, let’s move to my chambers.”

“Understood.”

I led Ji-ryeon, Huiyang, and Soto into my room.

The moment I lay down on the bed as instructed, Soto immediately lay down beside me at Huiyang’s direction.

“Lady Soto, over here.”

“Yes, Lady Huiyang.”

As I stared up at the ceiling, Huiyang placed the ceramic doll between us.

More specifically, she positioned it where our hands overlapped.

I had expected there to be another doll, but apparently the two of us were meant to share the single doll painted red and blue.

“You two simply need to pour your energy into the doll in that position. I will assist with the Great Soul-Seizing Art. Wait for my signal, then inject your energy immediately.”

“Understood.”

“All right, Lady Huiyang.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I would ask that you stand guard, wife.”

“Understood.”

Once Huiyang erected another barrier around the room, Ji-ryeon layered her own barriers on top of it.

If my Three Souls left my body, my body would become completely defenseless, so they were obviously trying to make the area as secure as possible.

While the two of them busily scattered talismans and streams of energy throughout the room, a voice reached my ears.

Soto’s nervous voice sounded beside me.

“So-ryong, I’m kind of nervous.”

“Tell me about it.”

Soto looked tense at the idea of having her Three Souls extracted, but soon Huiyang spoke again, apparently having finished the preparations.

“Both of you, quickly inject your energy.”

Black energy fluttered from the talismans floating around the room.

I looked toward Soto and nodded. Since Soto knew Gungbong’s martial arts, she immediately poured energy into the doll.

I matched her timing and injected my own energy as well.

The instant I did, it felt like my consciousness shot upward into the sky, and my vision blurred.

***

Following a path of brilliant light, Soto’s soul and mine rapidly ascended upward.

Or rather, I did not know whether they were truly our souls, but that was what it felt like.

After rising for a long time, our souls finally arrived in a warm and comforting space.

The moment I realized we had reached our destination, light flooded my vision.

“Ugh...”

“Kyaak!”

Two voices echoed through the space.

Apparently, our souls had left our original bodies and entered different prepared bodies.

But the instant I sat up, I could not help being shocked.

Back in the Lower Heavens, Huiyang had definitely said this.

That bodies had been prepared for us.

But there were not two bodies.

Soto and I had arrived inside a single body together.

Even the voices from earlier had come out of the same body.

“W-what is this!?”

“Huh?”

Both Soto and I panicked, but Soto seemed used to situations like this and quickly organized things mentally.

She told me she would assist only with thoughts, so I should take control of the body.

“I’ll support you mentally, so So-ryong should control the body.”

“Ah, right. Got it.”

At her words, I hurriedly stood up.

There was nobody else around.

But as I rose, I was shocked for the second time.

Because this body was a woman’s body.

A slender waist, rounded hips, and large breasts.

“Wait, this is a woman’s body?”

The body Soto and I had entered belonged to a woman wearing clothes that looked like those of some celestial maiden.

Not crossdressing, but actual gender-swapping.

Countless questions immediately sprang to mind, but I was here on business.

Pushing my curiosity aside, I tried to get up from what looked like a bed—

Only for my hand—no, this woman’s hand—to suddenly grab her breast.

“Huaaack!”

Startled out of my mind, I immediately shouted at Soto.

“Soto, what are you doing!?”

It definitely was not me, which only left Soto.

But Soto answered with a serious expression.

“Huh? It wasn’t me either.”

“No, there’s only you and me in here, so if it wasn’t you, then it was me, and if it was me then what the hell does that mean!?”

I did not know whether this body had been artificially created through Dao Techniques or whether it originally belonged to someone, but if it was the latter, then So-ryong’s social reputation was about to be murdered.

Just as I protested in a voice full of injustice, a third voice suddenly slipped between mine and Soto’s.

“Wow, So-ryong, look at these breasts. They’re huge.”

“Gungbong!?”

“Gungbong?”

The owner of the voice was Gungbong.

Both Soto and I practically jumped in shock.

Because neither of us had imagined Gungbong would somehow follow us here.

As we panicked, Gungbong’s voice cheerfully continued beside our ears.

“Come to think of it, So-ryong... we’ve become one body now, haven’t we?”

Anyone hearing that would misunderstand very badly.