Chapter 147

Whether she was being controlled by blood insects or was a Blood Cult member, it would have been more natural to instill Blood Cult ideology or make him averse to learning and practicing other martial arts.

Perhaps the Blood Cult thought Baek Ri Cheong-ra would be more valuable as a sacrifice if he was moderately strong...

Of course, even so, the reason for making him terribly afraid of insects still didn't make sense. Watching Hwan-hong pour oil into the pit, Dang Ran-yeong crossed his arms.

Could his strangely non-existent competitive spirit, or rather his enjoyment of defeat, truly be considered an innate nature? Seeing how Baek Ri Cheong-ra's skills changed daily after developing an interest in sword dancing, it was clear that he had some psychological restriction placed on him.

The Blood Cult didn't want Baek Ri Cheong-ra to become too strong. The reason was probably because he was the Purple Subtlety Star...

How firmly everyone believed in that Star of Heavenly Killing and Purple Subtlety Star fate. Even he himself was doubting whether that fate truly didn't exist. Dang Ran-yeong smirked and entered the building next to the pavilion.

This time, the smell wasn't just terrible, but an enormous amount of poisonous energy had accumulated, causing Dang Ran-yeong to raise his hand to stop Hwan-hong from entering. As Hwan-hong obediently retreated, the venomous horned serpent poked its head in to look around. It seemed curious. Being resistant to poison, Dang Ran-yeong stroked its smooth scales instead of chasing it away, then checked inside.

Unlike the previous pavilion, the corpses here had decomposed to the point where their shapes were no longer visible. The dozens of corpses had completely disappeared, and artificial blood foam was bubbling up from the floor, condensing the poisonous energy. All the numerous insects had vanished, with only a few still wriggling on the floor.

This was a typical shamanic technique.

First, thousands of highly venomous insects were poured at once onto a pile of fresh livestock carcasses, then a human on the brink of death from severe torture was thrown in. On this evil formation where decay poison and human resentment mixed, the thousands of insects multiplied to tens of thousands.

Then, as the flesh disappeared, they started to devour each other until only one remained, and strangely, it was always a species that wasn't among the insects initially put in. This insect always had the same appearance and characteristics.

This process took a total of ten years, and the insect created this way was called a Demon Soul Insect, the most terrible of all mind-controlling insects.

Once swallowed, it transformed into a part of the body and couldn't be detected until it awakened. And once the mind-controlling insect awakened, the person became a complete slave to the controller, with no way to turn back.

A slave who would commit suicide if ordered, feed mind-controlling insects to those around them if told to, and betray even parents and children without hesitation.

Moreover, from the moment it awakened, it consumed the host's lifespan, preventing them from living out their natural years.

Even Dang Ran-yeong had checked Baek Ri Cheong-ra's pulse several times and even fed him medicine to expand his meridians for a closer look, but couldn't find any trace of a Demon Soul Insect. He had expected it wouldn't be easy due to precedents, but no matter how many times he checked, Baek Ri Cheong-ra's body felt infinitely clean.

It's impossible to eliminate something that can't even be detected. Also, there were many who had died coughing blood from their seven orifices when Demon Soul Insects burst while trying to forcibly remove them with medicine. That's why Dang Ran-yeong chose to confine Cheong-ra. He was confident he could take responsibility and take good care of him, no matter how long it took.

However, even confinement in a formation had its limits.

Whether it was because he grew up pampered in the mountains of Chang'an or because of his nature, Baek Ri Cheong-ra was quite prone to loneliness. He tried not to show it, but Dang Ran-yeong could tell from the way his face lit up with joy whenever he saw him after being away.

He was tempted to leave him alone for a long time to see him desperately clinging to him alone, but...

Anyway, in the end, Wi Je-ho had broken through the formation, which meant the Blood Cult's intrusion was also possible. So he eventually abandoned the confinement plan. Would it have been easier to handle if the other wasn't a martial artist? But just as Baek Ri Cheong-ra was drawn to the strong, wanting to be defeated, so was Dang Ran-yeong the same.

He found more pleasure in tormenting and breaking the strong than in bullying the weak.

Dang Ran-yeong jumped into the pit full of poisonous energy that could easily kill thousands of people. His foot crushed one of the poisonous insects that was still wriggling, on the verge of completion. As he took a deep breath in the middle of the pit, the poisonous energy was sucked into his body.

"Kuk..."

In an instant, Dang Ran-yeong's face turned black. Even for him, who had mastered poison techniques to the extreme and had strong resistance to poisons, the poisonous energy of the Demon Soul Insect breeding ground was terrible. The pain felt as if it was melting his bones, and even the beads of sweat forming on his face were black. If he lost consciousness now, he too would become part of the poisonous energy here. However, this wasn't Dang Ran-yeong's first time doing this.

As he continued to take deep breaths, the poisonous energy gradually disappeared, and his blackened face slowly returned to normal. After some time, all that remained was a handful of decayed blood on the floor.

Spitting out the bitter blood that had pooled in his mouth, Dang Ran-yeong came out of the pavilion. While Hwan-hong and Wi Je-ho kept their distance due to the poisonous energy emanating from his body, only the venomous horned serpent liked it, rubbing its head against Dang Ran-yeong's body affectionately. Dang Ran-yeong bit his thumb and let the black blood flow into the spirit beast's mouth.

"...That's right."

Dang Ran-yeong doted on Yong-rin while feeding it the black fresh blood. A considerable amount of the poisonous energy he had just absorbed flowed into the venomous horned serpent's mouth along the blood stream. After feeding it for a while, Dang Ran-yeong was also able to contain the poisonous energy leaking from his body.

After repeating similar actions in the remaining pavilions, he set them on fire. The buildings, which would have become hotbeds of all kinds of terrible diseases if left alone, burned brightly, making the valley glow red. They had finally completely eradicated the Blood Cult members in Broken Cloud Valley. Immediately after, they came down from the mountain and boarded the waiting carriage.

"This place must have been really good for those heretics to live in. Look how they were swarming like ants."

Wi Je-ho muttered with contempt on his usually good-natured face. As he said, Broken Cloud Valley was quite large among the Blood Cult's branches. It took many people to diligently raise and slaughter livestock to make Demon Soul Insects. Everyone expected that the Blood Cult's power would be greatly diminished.

However, Dang Ran-yeong alone was neither pleased nor satisfied, but rather indifferent. He rested his chin on his hand and muttered,

"But for all that, it was too trivial."

"Hey... What part of this was trivial? Don't you see the state we're in?"

Wi Je-ho pointed to himself incredulously. Both he and Hwan-hong were injured in various parts of their bodies. This was because the Blood Cult members had resisted desperately, engaging in fierce battles. Only Dang Ran-yeong was unscathed, except for his blood-soaked clothes.

"I think the place you broke last time has cracked again!"

As Wi Je-ho continued to whine, a smooth smile appeared on Dang Ran-yeong's face. If it weren't for their promise, this guy would still be lying in bed preserving his position. He hadn't paid enough for daring to act behind his back while he was away. In short, he needed more punishment.

"Shall I cut it off so it can't even crack?"

"I just find it absurd that the person who enjoyed slaughtering the Blood Cult members the most is saying it was trivial."

Wi Je-ho immediately backed down when met with a sharp gaze, but grumbled until the end. However, Dang Ran-yeong was serious.

Recently, he had also somewhat curbed the spread of Enlightened Mind Tea in the Central Plains. Behind that were the Golden Flower Merchant Group and the imperial court. If a martial artist consistently consumed Enlightened Mind Tea, they would develop a heart demon within a year. Therefore, the imperial court, wanting to weaken the martial arts world's power, was supplying the poisonous herbs needed to make Enlightened Mind Tea, and the Golden Flower Merchant Group was handling distribution.

But martial artists weren't only in the martial arts world.

Dang Ran-yeong quickly introduced Enlightened Mind Tea to the taverns frequented by the imperial guards, disguising it as a new wine. When addicts and cripples started appearing among the carefully nurtured imperial guards, the imperial court belatedly rushed to ban Enlightened Mind Tea. They were truly laughably stupid.

Then he dealt a big blow at the Phoenix-Qilin-Iris-Orchid Contest and destroyed the Broken Cloud Valley branch. As news of what happened to Hengshan Sect began to spread, even the lazy Martial Arts Alliance was starting to take action, albeit as slowly as a turtle. Everything was going smoothly.

However, he couldn't shake the feeling that things were progressing too easily. It was probably more than just a feeling. These were people who had been lying low for nearly fifty years. What could their true intentions be?

Of course, whatever their intentions were, Dang Ran-yeong was confident he could slaughter them all. The eyes that had been blazing with killing intent and hatred suddenly calmed. But unlike before, there was now something on his mind. His eyes, sinking in thought as he recalled Baek Ri Cheong-ra, turned towards the past.