Chapter 746: The Meaning of Purple (1)

“Come in.”

“Yes, sir.”

When I returned to the office with Sua, the first thing that caught my eye was the cocoon in the center of the room—Lady Jeokwol’s cocoon, shimmering with a deep red glow.

The cocoon gleamed like a blood-colored jewel, and the energy flowing within it made it clear that her breakthrough was proceeding safely.

It was as I was looking at it—

Something golden, barely visible behind the cocoon.

A golden horn.

It was Cheong-yu Sojeo.

She peeked her head out from behind the cocoon and spoke.

“Sia. So-ryong, did things go well outside?”

Since I had asked Cheong-yu Sojeo to look after Lady Jeokwol before I left, it seemed she had stayed here the entire time to watch over her.

“Yes, it’s all been settled.

Hmm. Come to think of it, I should inform you as well. Please hear the details from Soto. I’ll let her know.”

“Siaa. Understood, So-ryong.”

Cheong-yu Sojeo was the one who maintained balance between spirit-creatures and humans.

When it came to explaining important matters to spirit-creatures, she was the best suited for it.

That was why I decided to pass this matter along through Soto.

Just as I finished speaking with her, Cheong-yu Sojeo’s gaze shifted—to somewhere behind me.

“Sia? And that person?”

She was asking about Sua, who had followed me in.

“Ah, this is...”

I tried to introduce Sua, but my words suddenly got stuck.

Because earlier, I hadn’t denied it.

Which meant that right now, Sua was technically my concubine.

Trying to suddenly tell Cheong-yu Sojeo that I had gained a concubine left me at a complete loss for words.

'W-What do I even say...'

I knew Cheong-yu Sojeo liked me, so introducing Sua as a concubine would basically be the same as telling her I’d taken another woman.

Just as I hesitated—

Sua’s voice cut in.

“Are you one of his retainers? My name is Sua. As of today, I have become So-ryong’s concubine. I ask for your guidance.”

She introduced herself before I could say anything.

And she did it extremely politely.

A concubine might sound like someone of high status within a household, but that was only when there was no principal wife or legitimate heirs.

In reality, concubines were often not even treated well by the retainers.

There was a reason for that.

A concubine was essentially seen as someone the master had bought or brought in—a lower existence.

So Sua was naturally acting with caution, speaking deferentially.

“Sia? Co-concubine?”

“N-No, it’s not that—well, it is, but there are... circumstances. S-Soto will explain it.”

I pushed the explanation onto Soto and, for now, brought Sua into another room.

“Soto, explain everything that happened today to Cheong-yu Sojeo.

‘From where to where?’

Everything!”

It was awkward to explain it myself, and besides, I still had things to discuss with Sua.

And with Lady Jeokwol’s cocoon glowing so brightly in the office, it wasn’t a place where we could talk properly anyway.

—Click.

As the door shut, I walked inside and dropped onto the bed.

'Whew. That shaved ten years off my life.'

Just as I wiped my forehead—

I heard a swallow from near the door.

—Gulp.

It was Sua, nervously swallowing.

Why was she so tense?

I couldn’t trust her completely yet, but that was only because we hadn’t known each other long.

Her registration was already complete.

A registered spirit-creature couldn’t harm its registrant.

“So, don’t be so nervous and come sit—”

I was about to tell her to sit at the table—

—Srrk.

A very familiar sound reached my ears.

A very familiar sound.

The rustle of clothes sliding off—something I’d heard countless times at night when my wives undressed.

There was no way I could mistake that sound.

Thinking, 'No way...', I turned toward the entrance—

And saw something unbelievable.

Sua had already let her outer robe fall to her feet and was pulling down her undergarments.

“W-What are you doing right—”

Before I could even finish—

Thud.

The undergarments dropped.

If censorship in videos was handled by mosaic blur—

Then in reality, the “mosaic” was clothing.

And now, that “mosaic” had fallen away.

The unobstructed view made everything... painfully clear.

I learned one important fact.

In a dragon’s half-human, half-beast form, they had horns and a tail, and scales along their arms and legs.

And as for the important parts—

They were exactly the same as a human woman’s.

Smooth.

Sua dropped to the floor and bowed deeply.

“M-My body is lowly, b-but I ask for your favor from now on.”

So that was it.

She thought I had brought her here to sleep with her.

I waved my hands.

“N-No, that’s not what I—”

I was about to tell her to get dressed—

—Knock knock.

“Sia. So-ryong, I’ll come in for a moment. I just finished talking with Soto. I need to tell the others—”

The door opened.

Cheong-yu Sojeo stepped inside—

And froze.

Her eyes moved back and forth between Sua’s bare backside and me sitting on the bed, as if that was the only proof time was still moving.

Then—

—Bang!

The door slammed shut.

And her voice rang out from outside.

“S-Siaaa! I-I’m sorry! P-Please enjoy your time!”

“That’s not what this is...”

A complete misunderstanding.

For a moment, I even considered just making it a reality since she already misunderstood—but Cheong-yu Sojeo was guarding Lady Jeokwol outside, so I decided to think about that later.

Besides, the walls here were thin.

If I wanted to do anything, I’d have to set up a qi barrier—and the moment I did, it would be announcing exactly what I was about to do.

***

After calling Cheong-yu Sojeo back in and explaining the misunderstanding, I began questioning Sua.

“You don’t know why this was distributed, or who it belongs to?”

“That is correct.”

“Do dragons have any spirit-creatures they fear?”

“Spirit-creatures dragons fear? That shouldn’t exist...”

“You were afraid of Jayo.”

“Th-that was just instinct...”

I tried pressing her for more information, but couldn’t get anything beyond what she had already told us earlier.

She didn’t know why she felt fear toward Jayo, nor the meaning behind the orders she had received.

It seemed she truly knew nothing beyond what she had already said.

Probably because she was just a low-ranking dragon.

For now, I decided to wait for Ji-ryeon’s findings and handle something else in the meantime.

Her assets.

Sua’s assets.

Earlier, when clearing up the misunderstanding with Cheong-yu Sojeo, Soto had mentioned something.

“So-ryong, since Sua has decided to serve you, ask her what she plans to do with what she owns.

‘What she owns?’

Yes. Everything a concubine has belongs to the one she serves.

‘Ah... is that how it works?’”

I hadn’t intended any of this—but she was the one who insisted on becoming my concubine.

And apparently, everything she had now belonged to me.

That was why I was told to sort it out.

“By the way, now that you say you belong to me, what do you plan to do about the Jet-Black Sea?”

'Why do I feel like such a scumbag...'

Feeling like I’d somehow become a complete bastard, I asked.

Sua, sitting in her chair, answered without hesitation.

“O-Of course, I will offer the Jet-Black Sea to you. From now on, both the Six Heavens’ Jet-Black Sea and Blackwater Sea belong to you.”

“And the cultivators there? Will they be alright?”

“O-Of course. If I say it, they will obey. How could they possibly argue?”

Well, if the ruler of the Jet-Black Sea said so, that was that.

I decided to leave the complicated matters to Sua and focus on selecting useful spirit-creatures to register.

Honestly, I’d prefer to register only venomous creatures—but marine life was necessary to some extent.

There was a reason for that.

Right now, our Dokmul-hyang was basically shaped like what flat-earthers from my previous life believed the Earth looked like.

A flat expanse, expanded and stitched together from terrain added by various spirit-creatures.

If you kept going, you’d eventually reach the edge.

And there, it felt like hitting a wall.

I had already been thinking that I would need to fix this once the population grew.

Because in a structure like this, living beings couldn’t properly thrive.

You might think, 'But there are mountains, seas, plains, sky, stars, moon, clouds—what’s the problem?'

There was a reason.

When living beings realize their world is enclosed, they start behaving strangely.

You could see it just by looking at animals in zoos in my past life.

They’d pace in circles, stare blankly into space, lick or bite themselves—exhibiting abnormal behaviors.

It was called stereotypic behavior.

A symptom commonly observed in animals raised in captivity, believed to result from confined spaces and monotonous environments.

Once a creature realizes it’s trapped, it can’t endure it.

And if that was true for ordinary animals—

What about spirit-creatures?

At the very least, I couldn’t let them feel like their world was closed off.

Otherwise, I might end up with insane spirit-creatures.

That was why I liked the concept of the universe.

A space that kept expanding endlessly—it gave people the sense that they weren’t confined, that they could keep moving outward into infinity.

If a god truly existed and created the universe, then I thought—

The universe wasn’t just a space where celestial bodies existed.

It was a space made for humans, so they wouldn’t feel trapped.

So my plan had been to fill the surroundings of Dokmul-hyang with an ocean, to prevent land creatures from realizing they were enclosed.

And now, it worked out perfectly.

If I registered marine creatures, filling that ocean wouldn’t be difficult.

“Pick out some spirit-creatures that haven’t been influenced by dragons and are highly loyal.”

“Why— Ah, n-never mind. Understood.”

She had been about to ask why, but quickly stopped herself.

As I looked over the items she had laid out—

Ji-ryeon entered the room.

“So-ryong, I just spoke with the three of them...”

***

After So-ryong left for the office, Ji-ryeon immediately went to find the master of the Nine-Heaven Demon Tower.

Within White Night City, a building had been set up for the Nine-Heaven Demon Tower cultivators, and that was where she headed.

A short distance from Blood Market Tower, near a small stream.

A courtyard house surrounded by peach trees came into view.

“W-Welcome, Lady Ji-ryeon.”

“Welcome.”

The cultivators stationed at the entrance greeted her with cupped fists.

One of them rushed inside, and soon Huiyang, the master of the Nine-Heaven Demon Tower, came out to greet her.

“Lady Ji-ryeon, you’ve come?”

“Can you prepare the ritual?”

“Understood.”

To Ji-ryeon, the Nine-Heaven Demon Tower was like a secular branch.

If she was a disciple of the main sect, then they were in that position.

So when she requested a ritual to reduce the strain on her body, Huiyang and the others moved swiftly.

They opened the shrine doors wide, placed spirit stones, spirit pills, and spirit pearls on the altar.

As the incantation was recited, the space above the altar began to ripple—

And a familiar voice echoed out.

[Ji-ryeon. What is it? Do you have questions about dual cultivation?]

Just hearing the voice made Ji-ryeon’s body warm slightly.

Her Heavenly Yin Yao-Bone Physique resonated naturally with her masters’ energy.

Suppressing the rising sensation, she spoke.

“No. My cultivation is progressing smoothly. I came to ask about something related to Zihwa.”

[Zihwa? What is it? Has she failed to fully absorb the energy?]

Nine Heavens Hyeonnyeo sounded concerned, but Ji-ryeon shook her head.

“No. It’s not that. It seems the dragons are searching for her while carrying her down feathers.”

[The dragons have her down feathers?]

There was a pause.

Ji-ryeon waited, then called out.

“Lady Hyeonnyeo?”

Then—

Voices burst forth.

[Could it be?]

[Is it that?]

[It seems so.]

Not one voice—but three.

At the same time, the offerings on the altar began to burn rapidly.

The spirit stones and pills ignited in an instant, and a final message came through.

[Ji-ryeon, I will investigate further and return with the full truth. Until then, absolutely do not let Zihwa or her child be discovered by the dragons. Do you understand!?]

“W-What? Why?”

[I cannot explain in detail yet, but under no circumstances must they be discovered. If anything happens—protect them, even at the cost of your life!]

A warning—

To protect them, even if it meant risking everything.