Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

When Zihwa finished her explanation, the air in the room subtly heated up.

The eyes of my three wives shimmered with a faint blush.

Those looks carried curiosity, anticipation, and just a hint of shyness—sweet, yet dangerous.

Hwa-eun spoke first.

Her voice was calm, but she couldn’t hide the tremor at the end.

“So then... how exactly do you do it?”

“You said just... just doing it isn’t enough. If that’s all, then it isn’t proper dual cultivation, right?”

Ji-ryeon quickly chimed in.

Her usual aloof composure was nowhere to be found; her cheeks were flushed.

“R-right. If you just do it... then that’s just... th-that... co, copulation, isn’t it?”

After barely forcing out the last word, Gun Hye-rin lowered her head deeply.

Even the tips of her ears were red—she really was cute.

Zihwa simply nodded in silence, then looked at me and smiled sweetly.

“Of course.”

At that smile, everyone’s gaze ignited.

’Hurry up and tell us.’

They looked like hungry beasts staring at prey.

—Gulp.

Faced with my wives’ eyes, I swallowed.

We were newlyweds, and whenever there was an opening, my wives pounced on me with the vigor of martial artists.

And now they’d heard that you grew stronger every time you did it, so what lay ahead was obvious without even looking.

Honestly, the cultivation method itself was ridiculously good.

Where else was there a more fraudulent cultivation method than this?

It was a dream art that would make every man in the world lose his mind and rush for it.

The only thing slightly worrying was that it felt like it might turn into an obligation.

My realm was higher than my wives’, and I could replenish my yang energy endlessly, so even if the number increased by one, I wasn’t worried about running out of yang energy.

But hadn’t my life before that—no, the one before that—had a term called “mandatory defense duty”?

Once anything became an obligation, it inevitably became troublesome.

’It feels like it might start feeling like work.’

While I was worrying inwardly, Zihwa looked at me and explained the secret to everyone.

“To properly form dual cultivation, you must obtain a cultivation art.”

A cultivation art.

At those words, the room fell silent for a moment.

I had thought we would understand it right away, but she said we needed to obtain an art.

I tilted my head.

Zihwa was clearly a being who had reached an extremely high realm.

I naturally assumed she would already know at least one cultivation art suitable for dual cultivation—but apparently not.

“Zihwa, you don’t know one?”

At that question, Zihwa’s eyebrow twitched.

She lifted one arm and placed it over her chest, deliberately casting me a wounded look.

Every single movement was so bewitching and beautiful that my heart jerked reflexively.

“Of course. Because you are... my first man.”

She deliberately exhaled slowly and continued in a whisper.

“Naturally, before this, I have never once practiced dual cultivation with anyone.”

In an instant, the gazes of my three wives stabbed into me sharply.

They were looks asking how I could dare ask a woman something like that.

I hurriedly waved my hands.

“N-no! That’s not what I meant...! I just thought that since your realm is so high, you’d know at least some lower-level arts!”

Strictly speaking, I wasn’t actually Zihwa’s “first man” yet.

Why?

Because we hadn’t really done it yet.

More like... the confirmed winner of the first man position?

No, maybe “reserved” would be more accurate.

Zihwa snorted softly and tilted her head with a seductive smile.

Her purple hair flowed smoothly over her shoulders.

It seemed she was done teasing, because the truth spilled from her mouth.

“My dear, I am a demonic beast. I never needed dual cultivation. Killing the weak and stealing and devouring their energy was enough.

There was no reason for me to trouble myself with matching breaths with a man, circulating qi together, balancing yin and yang, or learning such cumbersome things.”

In short, she was strong enough that she didn’t need to rely on men for that sort of thing.

She could just eat them.

It was a very simple reason.

When Zihwa finished speaking, silence fell briefly, and then Hwa-eun cautiously raised her hand.

“Then... what exactly is a demonic beast? Is it a type of spirit creature?”

It seemed she was curious about the term that had come up at the end of Zihwa’s words.

I’d heard a bit about it, but this was the first time my wives were hearing it.

At the question, Zihwa nodded and began explaining.

“You all need to know this now. Listen carefully. In this cultivation world, there are three ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) major races. Humans, spirit creatures, and the Demon race.

Humans are the humans you know. There are also some unusual humanoid races, but they are generally called humans.

Spirit creatures are those that begin as beasts or insects rather than humans, or are born inheriting such bloodlines. And then there is the Demon race, which is judged by the kind of energy they use, as well as features like horns, tails, or wings.”

“Humans, spirit creatures, and the Demon race.”

“However, race is not fixed. You can change races.”

“You can change?”

“Yes. Appearance is an important criterion, but the more absolute standard for determining race is energy. Depending on the energy one uses, even the race itself can change.

The representative energies humans use—Dao energy—and among spirit creatures, demonic energy, and also demonic qi, are the main energies that change one’s race.”

It was fascinating—changing race just by cultivating energy.

Divine energy or spiritual energy didn’t change one’s race, but those three representative energies did.

As we listened, none of us realized it yet, but a shocking statement followed.

“Oh! Gun Hye-rin will most likely become part of the Demon race as well.”

“What!? I’ll become part of the Demon race?”

“Of course. By the standards of this cultivation world, you will transform into a humanoid Demon race. Because you use demonic qi.”

Gun Hye-rin was going to become part of the Demon race.

We were all stunned, but Zihwa simply nodded calmly.

Gun Hye-rin froze with her mouth slightly open.

She had lived her entire life believing she was human, and now she was suddenly being told she was Demon race.

The shock was vividly written across her face.

Zihwa continued, gently but firmly.

“You probably won’t understand now, but once you reach that realm, you will. I have heard that those who use demonic qi change their appearance when they ascend.

Demon race members vary greatly in form, but they share similar traits.”

“Appearance? Th-then... surely not—?”

Gun Hye-rin’s face turned deathly pale.

She seemed worried she might turn into some kind of monster.

Zihwa brushed it off casually.

“You might grow a tail, sprout wings, your ears might sharpen, or horns may grow. You will otherwise retain your appearance.”

“Th-that...”

Gun Hye-rin stared at her own hips with genuine shock.

To Zihwa it might be nothing more than decoration, but to Gun Hye-rin, it meant her lifelong appearance changing.

I quietly walked over and softly stroked her trembling back, whispering.

“It’s okay. I’ll love you no matter what you look like.”

“M-Master...”

Horns and a tail, huh.

Wasn’t that kind of appealing?

What sort of horns and tail would it be?

Small, cute devil horns? Or elegant dragon horns sweeping back?

And the tail—what shape would it take?

A dragon tail covered in smooth scales? Or a serpent’s tail?

It’d be a bonus even during dual cultivation.

’Heh. Feels like it’d boost the energy even more.’

While my imagination ran wild, the explanation continued.

“Anyway, among spirit creatures, those who use demonic power are called demonic beasts. Depending on the energy they use, there are also spirit beasts, divine beasts, demonic beasts, and a separate category called phantasmal beasts.”

So, spirit creatures that used demonic energy were called demonic beasts.

All that aside, the important issue was still dual cultivation arts.

Where were we supposed to get one?

“By the way, where do we get a dual cultivation art?”

“That would be—”

“I-I know!”

When I turned my head, the man we had forced to kneel spoke up frantically.

That was the guy who had appeared last.

The one who had noticed my realm.

“If you lie, I will seize your soul so you can never enter reincarnation and suffer eternal agony.”

“O-of course, mighty one.”

The man blanched at Zihwa’s words.

But there was no need to worry.

There was no way he could lie.

“Wait. Then where is Cheong-yu Sojeo?”

I naturally assumed they would have brought Cheong-yu Sojeo if they were going to interrogate someone.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

At my words, my wives flinched and spoke hesitantly.

“He, he attacked So-ryong, so we were just... going to sc, scold his soul a little.”

“He attacked our master, after all...”

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

It seemed that instead of interrogating him, they had been torturing him.

I’d come in specifically to stop that.

“Next time, don’t do anything so harsh. Okay?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Understood, So-ryong.”

After gently calming my wives, I called Cheong-yu Sojeo.

『“Cheong-yu Sojeo, could you come here for a moment?”』

—Sia. 『Yes, So-ryong.』

After Cheong-yu Sojeo appeared, I had her bite the man and began the interrogation.

I was worried that if his realm was high, it might not work, but he had completely abandoned any will to resist, so the poison took easily and the interrogation started smoothly.

“Affiliation?”

“We belong to the Blood Market Tower, one of the top three dark forces in the Nine Heavens of the lower realm.”

“Blood Market Tower?”

“The name means trading in blood. We capture newly ascended cultivators and sell them. Worthless ones are ground down into spirit stones or spirit pills, while the talented ones are handed over to sects or organizations. Many places want gifted disciples.”

As expected, Blood Market Tower was a dark faction—like the underworld in the martial world.

They captured freshly ascended newbies, butchered the useless ones, and sold the rest to sects or organizations for spirit stones.

Human trafficking was their main business.

Human trafficking and human auctions were their core trade.

“How do you judge who’s talented?”

“There is someone at the main tower of Blood Market Tower who can examine spiritual roots.”

“Spiritual roots?”

“It’s like aptitude. Aptitude determines how far one can cultivate, so many people are willing to pay a great deal of spirit stones to obtain disciples with good roots.”

“Ah.”

I’d assumed that once you ascended, everyone was considered outstanding.

But in this cultivation world, spiritual roots mattered—a bit like aptitude in the martial world.

Since aptitude set the upper limit of cultivation, people would pay heavily for those with superior roots.

“So where exactly is this dual cultivation art?”

“At the main tower of Blood Market Tower...”

The main tower—meaning their headquarters.

Going there could be a trap meant to endanger me, but given the current state, that didn’t seem to be the case.

I tapped my foot and asked,

“So you want us to go to your headquarters?”

“Yes, elder. Since we trade in people, we also trade in cultivation arts. There should be a fine dual cultivation art at the main tower.”

It meant we’d need to buy it.

The problem was that we didn’t have money.

We’d stripped some spirit stones from him and his subordinates, but it clearly wouldn’t be enough to buy an art.

“We don’t have spirit stones...”

“If a higher existence were to make an issue of the fact that we attacked you—”

“No. That would be a problem.”

He was suggesting that we demand compensation by making an issue of the attack, using Zihwa as leverage.

But Zihwa had said she needed to hide herself as much as possible until she fully recovered her realm.

So revealing her wasn’t an option.

At my response, he hastily continued.

“Then—ah! Something like the law treasure you’re wearing would be more than enough!”

“A law treasure?”

At his words, I looked down at myself and saw the clothes woven from Yo-hwa’s silk.

“Oh!?”

Could Yo-hwa’s silk actually be valuable in this cultivation world?

I called Yo-hwa, pulled on a thread, and asked. The man exclaimed in amazement.

“Top-grade spirit silk! This could earn an enormous amount of spirit stones at auction!”

“Reeally?”

We decided to head straight to the city where the Blood Market Tower’s main base was located.

We needed to obtain a dual cultivation art to raise my wives’ realms.

And only then would I get to see Gun Hye-rin’s horns and tail.

A wife equipped with safety mechanisms for conducting dual cultivation.

I couldn’t endure that thought.

“Alright. Then where exactly is the main tower?”

“A city where humans, Demons, and spirit creatures alike must never fight... White Night City.”