A strange space filled with towering red hexagonal pillars entered my vision as I regained consciousness.
The ground was densely covered with similar stones, making the entire world appear red.
Only the blue sky stood out even more against this bizarre scenery.
“What the hell is this situation now?”
I had definitely been on my way to confirm the Beast Heart Art ability that my sister had verified alongside Cho, but then my consciousness faded, and suddenly, I found myself in this strange vision.
Though bewildered, I clung to one of the nearby pillars and examined it closely from various angles.
I needed to confirm whether these red pillars making up this world were what I thought they were.
Once I identified them, I could determine the cause of this situation.
I had my suspicions, but sothing about them still felt off.
As I clung to the pillar and inspected it, familiar characteristics entered my view.
A sharp, hexagonal crystalline structure rising to a peak.
The inside seed to contain sothing, aligning with what I recalled.
Fire Crystal.
No matter how I looked at it, this was definitely Fire Crystal.
‘As expected, it’s Hyang!’
Among the creatures under my care, those who had evolved or reached maturity included Seol, Bini’s offspring—Dong, Moji, Soji—and Yeondu, who had shrunk.
Dong was still far from reaching adulthood and had an entirely opposite attribute.
Moji and Soji were only about to receive their nas, so they needed to reach the Tri-Horn stage first.
Yeondu wouldn’t react to this at all.
Moreover, none of the four had even been registered in the Beast Heart Art, aning they weren’t relevant.
That left only Hyang.
Hyang was the only one who reacted to Fire Crystal and was registered in the Beast Heart Art, making it certain that Hyang had evolved.
It was great that Hyang had evolved, but sothing about it felt strange.
This situation made no sense.
‘Wait, why so suddenly? Hyang was adamant about not growing bigger! No matter how much I coaxed, there was no reaction at all!’
This was the sa Hyang who had firmly refused to touch Fire Crystal.
Yet now, an abrupt evolution?
It was a baffling situation.
Hyang had always been a creature that clung to , expressing the desire to stay with forever.
So why the sudden change of heart?
‘No way...’
As I pondered deeply, a sudden thought struck —
Could it be that Hyang had found a mate?
My daughter suddenly becoming a woman?
That would most likely an she had fallen in love.
A mory from my past life surfaced—when my uncle had to send my cousin off to get married.
She had always insisted she’d stay with her father forever, yet the mont she t a good man, she begged to be married off, crying and wailing.
He had been utterly heartbroken.
‘Well, I never really believed that lie, but still, this is too much!’
Back then, I had thought my uncle was just overreacting.
But now that I was in the sa situation, I understood his feelings.
‘Just who the hell dares to take my second daughter!? I’ll inspect every antenna and tail of whatever centipede it is!’
Wait.
Hyang was still too young!
‘No... no way, it can’t be... this bastard...!’
But my flare of anger quickly subsided.
Thinking about it, this probably wasn’t about a male.
‘No, no. Unlike humans, animals don’t show interest in immature mates, right? And the timing....’
The timing was far too perfect.
It was as if this had happened just to stop from checking Cho’s ability...
‘...’
Suddenly, I felt like a hamr had struck my head.
‘Was I caught?’
‘No... did I really get caught?’
Hyang must have seen Cho and leaving together so affectionately and, in a fit of jealousy, evolved out of spite.
This was exactly the kind of absurd thought a father might have.
Otherwise, this abrupt evolution was too strange to understand.
And when sothing feels off, isn’t it usually right to trust that instinct?
At that mont, a red jungle flickered in my mind, overlapping with the crimson crystals around .
‘This is bad!’
I had promised Hyang that I would help her grow stronger, but I had only been looking for ways to make her sister even stronger.
How upset must she have been when she realized that?
I recalled the ti when I had gotten caught in the crossfire during the fight over Bi-cheon Shinsa’s inner core.
Cho, Hyang, and Bini had all fought over it, and I had been the one to take all the bla.
The mory sent shivers down my spine.
How much emotional turmoil had she gone through back then?
And now, it was happening again.
My body trembled at the thought.
A father’s greatest fear was when his daughters got upset.
‘I was so careful!’
And then—
Rumble.
A massive hexagonal pillar rose before .
Seeing that giant red pillar surge upward, I imdiately understood.
Ah!
This must be the manifestation of Hyang’s imnse fury!
The hexagonal pillar was truly enormous.
Gulp.
***
I had no choice but to find a way out of this ntal space.
Even as I stood before this massive, overwhelming fury, I had to take steps forward.
‘What the hell am I supposed to say...?’
Was this what it felt like to be a cow dragged to the slaughterhouse?
Each step felt unbearably heavy.
And just as I finally reached the hexagonal pillar—
At first, I had thought it was just one massive column.
But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a single pillar at all—it was a dense cluster of thin, elongated crystal-like structures fused together.
At its center, there was a hollowed-out space.
‘Looks like I have to go inside...’
I didn’t particularly want to, but I forced myself to move forward.
As I reached what seed to be an entrance to the crystal structure, I saw countless other pillars filling the interior.
When I placed my hand on one of the crystalline doors, its shimring surface flickered, revealing the faint outline of a human figure.
As the image gradually sharpened, I realized that every surrounding pillar was reflecting the form of a woman with strikingly red, luscious hair.
Side profile, back view, front-facing—her reflections appeared on all the crystals, scattered in every direction.
It seed like the hexagonal surfaces of the crystal pillars were naturally reflecting her image, but...
With both hands planted firmly on her waist, her stance scread, ‘I’m pissed off.’
“H-Hyang...?”
The mont I called out her na, her reflections shifted, moving in unison across the surfaces of the pillars.
Then, appearing directly in front of , stood Hyang.
Hands on her waist, lips jutted out in a pout.
Her round, wide eyes made her look adorable, but the sheer sulkiness radiating from her sent a chill down my spine.
If I cowered here, things would only get worse.
I needed to act fast.
I quickly pulled myself together and launched into an all-out flurry of complints.
“W-wow! M-my daughter! You look stunning! No, seriously, how can you be this beautiful?! That red hair, oh my god—”
I moved closer to her, circling her like an excited puppy, showering her with endless praise.
“C-Cho and Bini are pretty too, sure, but let’s be real, Hyang is on a whole different level, right?”
Yes, this was the Blank Check Unlimited Strategy.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
An ergency issuance of infinite blank checks to neutralize the sudden Hyang Crisis.
Sure, those debts might co crashing down on all at once later, but for now, I just had to survive this mont.
“C-cute! So cute, absolutely adorable.”
Just as I was desperately throwing out more praise, doing my best to keep the crisis under control, I noticed sothing odd.
Hyang glanced down at the ground.
And there—her foot was tapping ever so slightly.
When I looked up again, she had her arms crossed, staring down at with a cold, unreadable expression.
This... this was bad.
This was the equivalent of a high-end departnt store refusing to accept my credit card during a rciless shopping spree.
Oh no. So-ryong Bankruptcy Crisis.
I had no choice. If it had co to this, I had to declare financial insolvency.
I clung desperately to Hyang’s leg and wailed.
“Hyang! Daddy was wrong! Please forgive !”
I could only pray for leniency from the financial authorities.
***
At the foot of Mount Kunlun, just before the ascent to the peak, the presence of an assassin from the Five Venoms Sect lurked unseen in the thickets, quietly observing the passersby.
The mont he spotted his target, he revealed himself.
A small figure, moving with a lightness that didn’t quite match a martial artist of Murim.
And the purpose of his presence here was clear—the young son-in-law of the Tang Clan, So-ryong, had appeared before his eyes.
How long had he been waiting here?
‘So, he really survived...’
Back in the desert, a massive Bloodscale had suddenly appeared, wiping out half of the forces that Oh Cheong-yu had brought along. Faced with such overwhelming power, Um Yeong-ju had no choice but to order a retreat.
They had already confird the disaster in Windblood, and with the appearance of such a colossal spirit beast, the only logical move was to report back and focus on restoring Oh Cheong-yu’s Venomous Burst Palm Technique.
But before they could even escape halfway across Qinghai, the pursuit had begun.
Disciples of the Kunlun Sect and nomads had persistently hunted the Five Venoms Sect down.
After several skirmishes in the wastelands, by the ti they reached the border of the plains, they had lost another third of their forces.
Barely managing to shake off the pursuers, they captured a lone nomad—only to hear sothing beyond belief.
This entire chase had started with information leaked by the Tang Clan’s young son-in-law, aning he was still alive.
A massive, boulder-like Bloodscale had appeared, but the wind had failed to sever his lifeline—he had sohow survived.
That brat had interfered with their plans multiple tis already.
Now, with the amount {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} of information he had on the Five Venoms Sect, leaving him alive would only bring disaster in the future.
Um Yeong-ju had given his order and set off alone toward the base of Mount Kunlun.
He would eliminate the Tang Clan’s son-in-law.
Losing three-tenths of the Centipede Squad, nearly watching Oh Cheong-yu’s swordplay collapse completely—if that brat was still alive, it was his responsibility to clean up the ss.
“The Centipede Squad Leader, take the young mistress and return to the Five Venoms Sect. Report the information about the spirit beast to the sect leader. I’ll handle this one myself.”
“Will you be alright alone?”
“The Kunlun Sect has already spread their forces thin chasing us. Even if not, I’ll take my chance when they leave Kunlun.”
“...Understood, Um Yeong-ju.”
Believing that the others had safely escaped Qinghai, Um Yeong-ju concealed his killing intent and lay in wait.
That foolish brat was walking straight into his trap.
A little more patience, and the mont would co.
“So, we’re all alone now. Just the two of us, far away from ho.”
-Chorut!
“If we go any further, it’ll be a pain getting back later...”
-Chorurut!
“Alright, alright, I get it. I did promise, after all. A hundred favors for Hyang...”
The mont Um Yeong-ju heard the sound of a Green Jewel Centipede, a twisted smile crept onto his lips.
It seed like only one of those creatures was with him.
Just like before, it wouldn’t be able to protect its young.
‘Today, you die.’
A little more waiting.
And then—finally, the Tang Clan’s young son-in-law passed right in front of him.
His clothes were slightly loose-fitting, likely due to Kunlun’s influence, but it didn’t matter.
Hiding his bloodlust, Um Yeong-ju erged from the brush, channeling his internal energy into his palm.
Last ti, things hadn’t gone as planned.
But this ti, he was going to pierce through that bastard’s heart.
As a lethal aura gathered at his fingertips, Um Yeong-ju stealthily closed the distance.
Then, without hesitation—
He thrust his hand toward the brat’s back.
“Die!”
-Crack!
He had been certain that his hand would sink in to the wrist.
But instead—
Pain exploded through his fingers.
‘W-what the hell!?’
Sensing that sothing was terribly wrong, Um Yeong-ju flung himself backward and glanced at his hand.
His fingers were bent in unnatural directions, as if they had smashed into sothing impossibly hard.
Even as he tried to retreat, his body barely moved away from the brat.
His ankle was caught on sothing.
And in that instant, the brat finally turned around.
His eyes widened in shock.
“You... YOU!?”
“D-die!?”
Panic overtook Um Yeong-ju.
It was clear now—the brat had foreseen this attack.
In desperation, he struck out with his palm technique—but before his strike could even reach the brat’s body—
Sothing shot out from the brat’s wrist.
Before Um Yeong-ju’s attack could even land, it wrapped around his throat.
-Crack!
An unbelievable speed.
And then—
A furious shriek.
-Chorurut!
A burning light erupted from the Seventh Orifice, dyeing his vision red.
And in the final monts before the flas swallowed him whole—
Um Yeong-ju saw a massive, gleaming red centipede coiled tightly around the brat’s body.
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