Chapter 765: Three Souls (3)

The words were so absurd that my mind went blank.

We had not even held hands, yet apparently we had somehow ended up in the equivalent of consummating a marriage.

“What in the world is this supposed to...”

As I stood there dumbfounded, Soto’s voice followed.

“But honored immortals, what exactly does that mean? You said that when a couple consummates their union, the colors of their Three Souls blend together, but I do not really understand what that means.”

“R-right! What exactly does that mean?”

Yes, Soto was right.

It definitely sounded like something terrible had happened, but I was completely innocent here.

We had not consummated anything. Forget sharing a bed—we had not even held hands.

The Three Souls supposedly colored one another after husband and wife shared bodies, but since we had done absolutely nothing, maybe it did not actually matter.

Had the three of them not said it was only a minor issue?

That thought had just crossed my mind when Soto continued.

“Although... judging by your expressions, it does not seem very minor...”

At those words, my gaze shifted toward the Chaenyeo and Hyeonnyeo.

The two of them were still staring off into the distance.

This incomprehensible situation had appeared completely out of nowhere.

For a moment my mind instinctively attempted emergency reality-avoidance maneuvers, but reality soon caught up with me again.

If it truly were insignificant, there was no way they would be acting like that.

“W-well, you see...”

The celestial maiden Chae-a stumbled awkwardly over her words before forcing out a strained smile.

“W-well... for the colors of the Three Souls to blend together like this, it does not happen after only once. Husband and wife would normally need to share bodies dozens... no, hundreds or even thousands of times.

So from heaven’s perspective, the three of you have already been recognized as... a married couple...”

“What!?”

It sounded like we had somehow registered a marriage without even touching hands.

That was basically what she had just said.

Until now I had been too stunned to even think straight, but the moment I realized this was serious enough to trigger actual danger, my mind abruptly sharpened.

This was one of So-ryong’s special traits—remaining calm during disasters.

“S-so what happens if heaven recognizes us as husband and wife?”

That was the important issue here.

Not the fact that heaven apparently recognized me, Soto, and Gungbong as spouses, but why exactly that was a problem.

Chae-a carefully continued her explanation.

“Once you become husband and wife, the wife gains the duty to respect her husband, while the husband gains the duty to warmly embrace his wife with love. Otherwise... karmic sin begins to accumulate.”

“Karmic sin?”

“It is part of the natural order. Once two people become one body after sharing themselves dozens or hundreds of times, they gain the obligation to care for one another properly.”

It felt like someone had smashed the back of my skull with a giant sledgehammer.

Natural order.

One of the world’s absolute laws.

The kind where good people were rewarded while evil people received punishment.

Back in my previous life—well, my previous previous life, modern society—people freely dated and broke up all the time.

That was simply the era we lived in.

Modern society was permissive regarding sex and freedom, so unless people were legally married, relationships could begin and end freely.

People could even divorce after marrying.

But this cultivation world was basically an upper-tier ancient society.

Apparently, there existed male-female laws that ordinary people simply did not know about, and those laws manifested as part of the natural order itself.

If two people shared bodies enough times, they became a de facto married couple.

Which meant failing to treat one another properly became a sin.

At first it sounded absurdly unfair, but thinking about it calmly, maybe it was not entirely unreasonable.

In ancient societies, once you slept with a woman, you were expected to take responsibility.

Even the Bible said something similar—if you took a woman, you were supposed to go to her father and seek marriage.

Though flustered, I maintained my composure, and suddenly a thought flashed through my mind.

“So as long as we treat each other well, it’ll be fine?”

Even when the heavens collapsed, there was supposedly always a way out.

If all we had to do was treat each other kindly, maybe this would not become a huge problem.

Even if heaven considered us married now, perhaps we could simply maintain the current relationship as it was.

It was not like I treated either of them badly even now.

Well, I bullied Gungbong sometimes, but never without reason.

Only when she said something insane.

Honestly speaking, I already gave them free food, spirit pills, clothing, and even spending money.

I treated them extremely well.

But the next words threw me into shock all over again.

“That’s true. However, consummation is also included in treating one another properly. Refusing to consummate the marriage and causing suffering to the other party also accumulates karmic sin...”

‘Even sexless marriage is a sin...’

Then again, even modern society from my previous life considered that a major reason for divorce.

Reproductive desire was one of humanity’s basic instincts.

Marriage included the promise of fulfilling those desires with one another, so refusing entirely became socially unacceptable.

Seen from that angle, it was a strangely reasonable law of nature.

The problem was that I was now apparently obligated to do all this despite having done absolutely nothing.

At this rate, I was going to be forced into accepting the two of them as wives and fulfilling a husband’s obligations.

“What happens if karmic sin accumulates?”

“You could become an evil immortal upon ascension... and in severe cases, heavenly punishment may descend. For reference, karmic sin between spouses is considered especially grave.”

“And if you become an evil immortal?”

“Mm... there is a secret normally not revealed to Lower Heaven cultivators. From the moment a cultivator ascends, everything they do is recorded in something called the Ledger of Deeds.

Based on that, when one ascends into the Upper Heavens, the type of Earth Immortal they become is decided. Evil immortals end up blessing criminals and aiding wicked deeds...”

“...”

Silence fell.

No, I genuinely could not say anything.

I had only come here to help the Hyeonnyeo and Chaenyeo, and somehow things had turned into this.

Forget heavenly punishment—if becoming an evil immortal meant spending the rest of my existence helping criminals, swindlers, and murderers, then absolutely not.

I dreamed of living happily with my children.

The head of a household should earn an honorable living. I had no desire to become some shadowy mastermind protecting scum behind the scenes.

With a blank expression, I muttered,

“No, seriously... we didn’t even do anything... so why...”

I was mentally collapsing at the idea that I now apparently had to take responsibility for Soto and Gungbong despite having done absolutely nothing.

Then Gungbong’s voice suddenly chimed in.

“Well, we can just start now, right?”

“Gungbong! Quiet!”

“Why!? Then it won’t feel unfair anymore if we start now. All kinds of things. So-ryong, don’t worry. I’ll make sure you don’t feel cheated. But what exactly are we supposed to do?”

Even Soto could not stop her.

At those words, the Chaenyeo and Hyeonnyeo finally spoke again.

“W-well, you already have six or seven wives, do you not? And I heard you just accepted eight concubines this time.

So adding two more is not really that b-big of a problem.”

“T-that’s right. Emperors normally have many wives and concubines, do they not? So-ryong, we are raising you to become an emperor, so you should be more broad-minded.”

These people were talking far too casually considering it was not their problem.

Clutching my head, I let out a massive scream.

“Gyaaaaaaahhh!”

***

Seeing my horrified expression and shattered mental state, the two immortals hurriedly tried comforting me.

“S-So-ryong, calm down! We will ex-explain everything properly to Ji-ryeon. We will tell her you did nothing wrong and that this was entirely our fault, so please calm down.”

In other words, they were promising to handle the aftermath of this disaster.

Honestly, the chances of the wives truly getting angry were low.

But I had only recently added eight dragon concubines due to my dragon-collecting impulses.

If wives kept increasing every time I moved, people would eventually start talking.

So yes, the two of them absolutely needed to step in here.

The one who tied the knot should untie it too.

I held my head for a while before finally lifting it to ask,

“You really mean that?”

“Of course. W-we were already planning to take responsibility for this much. Do not worry.”

“Yes, So-ryong. Naturally we will step forward, so stop worrying.”

“You really need to explain this properly to Ji-ryeon.”

“Of course. Just trust us.”

“Yes, yes.”

After receiving their assurances, I decided to set aside this horrifying issue for now.

The whole thing had been delayed due to the sudden incident, but we still had business to discuss.

“Then let’s talk about the actual matter.”

“The matter?”

“You said you needed Soto’s help, didn’t you?”

Even while speaking, my mood sank slightly.

Originally they only needed Soto’s assistance, but apparently they could not bring Soto alone into the Upper Heavens, so I had been dragged along as part of the package.

“Ah, right. We should discuss that. Come this way first.”

“Yes, Hyeonnyeo.”

I followed behind the Hyeonnyeo, Chaenyeo, and the celestial maiden Chae-a.

Leaving the palace where my real body currently lay sleeping, I walked after the three immortals.

Once outside, dazzling palaces spread out before us.

Because of Gungbong, I kept glancing around at the surroundings, eventually speaking aloud.

“Gungbong, stop looking around so much.”

“So-ryong, be nice to me. Speak kindly. You said you have to treat me well now. I want warm words too.”

Apparently, even Gungbong had realized we had somehow become a de facto married couple.

I let out a long sigh before answering.

“Haaah... r-right. Since we agreed that I’d control the body, you can’t suddenly move it around, okay?”

“Okaaay!”

Right. Fine. Let’s just think of this as raising another child.

While I steeled my resolve like that, the Chaenyeo began explaining.

“This place is the Nine Heavens Palace located atop Kunlun Mountain in the Upper Heavens.”

“Ah... so this is it.”

Apparently this was where the three immortals resided.

Following them farther inward, we eventually arrived before a central nine-story palace.

“This nine-story structure is the heart of the Nine Heavens Palace itself—the Hall of Three-Origin Yin Blossoms. It serves as the residence and workplace of my elder sister and us sisters.”

Hall of Three-Origin Yin Blossoms.

That sounded incredibly erotic.

When we stepped inside, the floor and surroundings were covered in soft pink fabric.

Yes.

The atmosphere was aggressively pink.

‘These three are total princesses...’

Back in my previous life, someone once told me during a broadcast that if a girl liked pink, you had to treat her like a princess.

Apparently pink symbolized royalty.

At least now I felt like I vaguely understood their tastes and personalities.

Once we moved farther inward, the two immortals guided me toward the center of a vast first-floor chamber.

Step. Step.

Walking across the soft pink cloth, I eventually reached a central sitting area filled with cushion-like pillows.

Apparently this was where they received guests.

Instead of tables, people simply sat on the floor among the cushions.

The Hyeonnyeo settled herself on one side while embracing a pillow.

“Sit comfortably over here.”

“Yes.”

The Chaenyeo was practically reclining sideways already.

I simply knelt nearby.

No matter how often they told me to relax, these women were still immortals of the Upper Heavens.

If a lowly recruit actually relaxed just because a division commander told him to, then that man’s life was already doomed.

“I told you to sit comfortably.”

“This is comfortable enough.”

Apparently pleased by my attitude, the Chaenyeo smiled faintly.

Then the Hyeonnyeo finally continued.

“As I said before, the reason we summoned Soto here is because we require assistance.”

Straight to the main topic.

I nodded and asked,

“What kind of help could Soto possibly provide?”

“Perhaps it will be easier to explain if we show you this first.”

The Hyeonnyeo waved a hand, and mist suddenly gathered in the air.

Then images began playing across the flat mist like some kind of video screen.

Countless beautifully dressed people were frantically running around working.

They were probably immortals.

“Over here!”

“Are the documents prepared yet? Hurry!”

“Ah! A constellation is already one quarter-hour behind schedule!”

“What!? Who caused the delay!?”

The workload looked utterly insane.

Then suddenly, among the chaos, I spotted a strangely familiar woman.

A somewhat youthful-looking woman stared directly toward the screen with desperate eyes.

“Big sisters, please help me!”

“That person is?”

“That child is Sonyeo.”

“Ahh.”

Apparently Sonyeo was the one requesting help.

The Hyeonnyeo began explaining the situation.

“Originally, once you reached the Middle Heavens, we intended to entrust you to the Ziwei North Pole Emperor of the Middle Heavens.

However, because the Heavenly Emperor has fallen into his current state, the workload on the Ziwei North Pole Emperor’s side has become overwhelming, to the point they cannot spare a single person.

In order for us to help you, the burden on their side must first be reduced. Yet this is the current situation. So could you perhaps devise a more efficient method for handling their work?

You are full of clever tricks, after all. It feels like someone like you might think of a solution.”

From the sound of it, they basically wanted business consulting and labor optimization.