Fabre in Sacheon’s Tang

As I nodded at the same time, Gun Hye-rin tugged at her coat tie and clung to me.

Gun Hye-rin’s body scent rose up thickly between the two of us.

“Master...”

Her eyes looked extremely excited.

Her mouth was also breathing out a sweet, piteous breath in full.

When Gun Hye-rin came up to kiss me with an earnest look, I raised a finger in front of her lips and spoke very solemnly.

“Hye-rin, this is training, so calm down.”

“Ah, th-that’s right.”

I said that on purpose.

To mess with her, that is.

Well, dual cultivation was training, but it wasn’t very different from sex.

Dual cultivation was just taking everything about ordinary sex and sublimating it into a technique.

It even included various positions.

But maybe she took it seriously, because Gun Hye-rin straightened her attitude again and slowly took off her clothes.

With very disciplined movements.

Like a soldier taking off clothes at attention.

‘No, I don’t think even a soldier would take them off like that?’

-Srrrk. Snap. Snap.

After taking off every piece of clothing from the outer garment on down in order, Gun Hye-rin lay down on the bed in a stiff posture like a log and said,

“Master, please.”

I meant to tease her at first, but seeing Gun Hye-rin’s disciplined movements, it somehow felt like I was really doing some kind of training.

Since this kind of different feeling didn’t seem bad, I decided to match the mood.

‘This seems fun.’

I nodded and first took out a mid-grade Spirit Stone from the twilight map Hwangwoo had gifted me and put it in Gun Hye-rin’s mouth.

“Hye-rin, eat one of these.”

“Understood.”

As the round bead-like thing went into her mouth, it slid down and disappeared.

The reason I gave her a Spirit Stone was because I’d heard Spirit Stones played a role like inner pills that raised one’s realm, but they also increased training efficiency.

Low-grade Spirit Stones multiplied training efficiency by a few times, mid-grade by several dozen times, high-grade by several hundred times, like that.

That was why cultivators also used Spirit Stones as currency and went crazy over them.

Even the Nine Heavens of the Lower Heaven had energy about ten times denser than the lower realm.

But if you used a Spirit Stone on top of that, it was plus alpha.

Along with Hye-rin, I also put a Spirit Stone in my mouth, and immediately took the posture for dual cultivation.

It wasn’t anything special—I went in between Gun Hye-rin’s legs.

It was a basic position.

Positions weren’t the issue.

As long as the two of us could achieve union.

Since dual cultivation was also a technique that could achieve union of energy in any position, dual cultivation encouraged various positions.

But for proper wives, various positions were, in any case, high difficulty, so we started with the basic position.

The position I’d used with Zihwa was a high-difficulty position.

This dual cultivation technique had multiple forms (positions), and the position with Gun Hye-rin was a posture from the latter half of the forms.

Like a finishing move.

‘Of course that position is a finishing move.’

“Alright, then we begin.”

“Ah, understood.”

I also unnecessarily announced the start in a disciplined way, and first lightly overlapped my body over Gun Hye-rin.

As I operated energy according to the dual cultivation technique, from the moment skin met skin, an exchange of energy began.

My innate yang energy seeped into Hye-rin’s body, and a woman’s innate yin energy flowed into my meridians, and a natural circulation began like two streams joining together.

“Ah...”

A faint moan leaking from Hye-rin’s mouth, maybe because of each other’s energy.

With other internal cultivation methods, making noise or such could lead to a qi deviation, but dual cultivation was not like that.

Because it even used the energy that flowed out in the breath mixed into moans.

“Haaah...”

At that sound, it felt like my reason was collapsing.

Discipline or whatever—this felt way too good.

Because that sensation of the two becoming one was being felt through my whole body, to my fingertips and toes.

-Chup.

When I stopped teasing and immediately overlapped our lips, the weak flow that had been running along our skin expanded into our breathing.

The flow of energy that had been like a stream now felt like a creek.

“Hngh...”

At this time, when coupling happened, it was like a flow that had been like a parallel connection switched to a series connection, changing into a fierce pulsation.

Energy began to flow greatly, like a river with abundant water.

The subtle flow of energy that had begun from the moment skin touched was turning into waves of spiritual power, and within a deep union, the great circulation of yin and yang was beginning.

Breath entangled, blood vessels resonated, and essence energy began to rotate, riding over each other.

Energy that connected the flow everywhere bodies and breaths overlapped, slowly rotating, advancing to achieve perfect harmony.

The stream became a creek, the creek became a river, the river became a great river.

And it moved toward the great sea.

Gun Hye-rin and I were feeling more elation than ever, but at the same time we were astonished that all of this was not simple pleasure, but noble training toward the Dao.

The words I’d said like a joke earlier were starting to feel sincere.

“A-amazing, Master.”

It was when the yin energy and yang energy that had been rotating quickly, at some point, had their boundary become vague.

This was the stage of moving from the Supreme Ultimate toward creation.

Gun Hye-rin and I perfectly synchronized breath and movement according to the secret method of the technique, so that one side’s energy would not overwhelm the other.

Then a moment came where each other’s dantian felt as if they were connected as one.

Like I was Gun Hye-rin and Gun Hye-rin was me.

A peak elation arrived.

“Haaah. Master.”

“Hye-rin...”

In that instant, the yin and yang that had been rotating while drawing the shape of the Supreme Ultimate reached the realm of a complete circle as what had been lacking filled each other in.

And in the final moment.

Along with an explosive sensation, the energies began to spread through the whole body.

Since I had already gone through it all, there was no big realm increase, but Gun Hye-rin’s remaining meridians were being opened, and her energy was amplifying by leaps and bounds.

***

Gun Hye-rin lay on the bed in a natural posture, feeling elation.

It was because the elation that could be felt through a man and woman’s union, along with a realm increase, was simultaneously striking her whole body.

At the same time, the massive movement of energy felt from Gun Hye-rin’s body.

It was clear she was passing into the next realm.

Since she was right before the Profound Realm, it seemed like she was heading to the Profound Realm.

Even while an elation that felt like it would make her lose consciousness struck her whole body and unbearable moans spilled out, Gun Hye-rin could tell.

That So-ryong was meticulously wrapping up a barrier that could block energy.

Feeling gratitude, she waited as her realm rose and her body adjusted to it, and Gun Hye-rin’s energy began to align with far higher density.

But that wasn’t the end.

Now the energy that should have stabilized was rushing toward the Crown Point.

Her upper dantian was trying to open.

They said that if you were truly a pair in dual cultivation, then in a single union, blocked meridians would be opened, and enlightenment you couldn’t obtain even through decades of lonely meditation could be gained in an instant—so it seemed it had been perfect.

Her realm was passing the Profound Realm and advancing to the next stage.

The hallmark of the Life-and-Death Realm was the stage where the upper dantian opened and you breathed with heaven, earth, and nature.

It was clearly heading there.

‘Ah.’

It seemed dual cultivation had been a huge success.

Joy rose up in Hye-rin’s heart.

It wasn’t because of the realm increase.

This joy was entirely because of So-ryong.

They said that to properly understand and hone the depth of this technique, absolute trust and love toward each other had to be the foundation, and if it was a great success, it meant absolute love and trust toward each other existed in common between the two.

It was an obvious story, but to Hye-rin it wasn’t obvious.

In Hwa-eun’s case, So-ryong was a betrothed partner chosen by the family.

So they had a long period to get to know each other, and in the end reached a wedding.

But Gun Hye-rin herself wasn’t like that.

At first, it started as enemies, Hye-rin received great help, and in the process it ended up starting as something like a subordinate by accident.

Even when she confessed her feelings, hadn’t So-ryong said her feelings were because of the Beast Heart Method?

So there had been a slight thought in one corner of her heart.

So-ryong cherishes and loves her, but isn’t it a bit different from Hwa-eun?

But if the great success of dual cultivation was like proof that So-ryong loved her without holding anything back, how could she not be happy?

It was when the energy that had rushed to the Crown Point passed through a moment that was an instant yet like countless eons, letting her realize the world’s principles and mysterious harmonies.

The demonic energy inside Gun Hye-rin asked her.

「What is it that you want?」

The idea that energy could convey the heart was something she’d never even heard of.

But Gun Hye-rin did not panic.

Because what she wanted was one thing.

[I want to be loved by So-ryong forever.]

***

-Screeech. Clank.

Hwangwoo was dragged and set down in a dark, damp-smelling place underground.

Looking over what came into view, the place Hwangwoo was set down was like an underground prison.

On top of a large wooden table inside it.

Dim light was flowing from a Spirit Stone lamp hanging on the wall, and various weapons were hung on the wall.

No—were they torture tools?

At that sight, Hwangwoo felt like his mind was going to snap.

They told him to talk, then didn’t even give him a chance to talk, and torture?

Mong-a’s cold voice was heard.

“Since you won’t speak right away, I’ll show you a taste.”

Among the various weapons on the wall, Mong-a first took down something like a large awl.

Holding it, Mong-a examined various parts of Hwangwoo’s body.

“This awl is the Deadflesh Awl. A place injured once by this awl can never recover forever. Let’s see... where should I stab. Ah. Right, yes? There was no need to worry about it.”

The place Mong-a’s gaze went was Hwangwoo’s waistband.

Goosebumps rose along Hwangwoo’s spine.

Anywhere else, maybe, but not there.

But even if he wanted to scream, he was not in a state where he could.

It was a moment that was driving him insane.

-Bang.

The door suddenly opened and one person rushed in.

“Mong-a! What is this? Why Castle Lord Hwangwoo?”

It seemed there was someone following behind, and he was even stopping Mong-a.

To Hwangwoo’s eyes, that person looked like a savior.

A savior who would rescue him from this danger.

A thing that had begun as misfortune felt like it was about to turn into fortune again.

Right, even if today’s luck was a bit complicated, it must end as fortune—when he was thinking that, the figure of a woman entered his sight.

What entered Hwangwoo’s view was a precarious, slender woman who looked like she might vanish, with blue and white hair.

Her skin felt pale beyond simply being white.

It was a face Hwangwoo also knew.

It was Tang Cheongcheong, the lord of White-Night Castle.

He hadn’t met her when he came earlier, but she was appearing now.

“Miss, why have you come here!? Hurry and go lie down!”

Mong-a shouted with a startled expression at her barging-in appearance.

But Tang Cheongcheong shook her head and said,

“No. I don’t know what this is about, but there will be people who saw Castle Lord Hwangwoo come in here, and there will be people who know he came. If you handle things this recklessly, what are you going to do about the Castle Lords’ Association?”

At those words, Hwangwoo nodded.

Yes, that was right.

His subordinates also knew he had come here, and there were many who saw him go in.

And if someone went missing, the Castle Lords’ Association would not stay still.

Just when he thought he might be released, it was then.

“But this one asked about Elder’s whereabouts!”

Tang Cheongcheong’s eyes changed in an instant.

Tang Cheongcheong’s hair glittered in blue and white, and with an expression like she couldn’t believe it, she asked,

“My father’s name?”

At that question, Mong-a nodded.

Tang Cheongcheong’s eyes turned cold.

Tang Cheongcheong, who had fallen into thought for a moment.

When she nodded as if she’d made a decision, the awl was driven down without hesitation.

-Crunch.

Instead of a scream, Hwangwoo’s eyes widened endlessly, then dimmed as the light left them.

What remained was a gray gaze in which a man’s dignity had vanished.