Returning Immortal

Chapter 1 : The Luminous Cult

Prologue

A chaotic barrier where even time and space had collapsed.

After slaughtering all the demonic beings that had escaped from the endless abyss, Gwi Seongjin emerged from the barrier and stared at his own body in despair.

The physical form that had comprehended the great Dao of heaven and earth, earning him the title of Heavenly Venerable, was disintegrating from the tips of his toes, gradually vanishing.

In a little while, he would return to complete nothingness...

Judging by the remnant soul left in his spiritual altar, even reincarnation was now impossible.

"Poisonous Heavenly Demonic Venerable! If only I had seen through that bastard's vile intentions a little sooner..."

He let out a sigh of regret, but it was too late.

As his feet disappeared and the dissolution reached his waist, Heavenly Venerable Gwi Seongjin bit his lip.

It was too unfair to perish like this without avenging himself.

Whoosh!

As Gwi Seongjin formed a hand seal, the spectral image of a nine-armed Asura faintly appeared behind his head.

It was a spectral form a thousand feet tall.

Moving his consciousness, Gwi Seongjin's remnant soul entered the Asura's forehead and shattered the Bead of Time within his spiritual altar.

Then, exhausting all his remaining spiritual power, he pushed the spectral form into the rift of time.

As time passed, Gwi Seongjin's physical body in the Celestial Realm completely vanished.

But his remnant soul, contained within the spectral form, traveled back through time and space, flying ceaselessly toward his past self.

A bright light appeared in the distance.

Desperately hoping it was his own past soul, Gwi Seongjin gathered all his remaining soul power.

Because he had performed a heaven-defying great art, his remnant soul was now as small and weak as a strand of hair.

All the divine abilities and memories he had learned in the past had vanished, and even his sense of existence had faded.

Thus, the remnant soul that was once a Heavenly Venerable entered the soul of the past Gwi Seongjin.

Chapter 1: The Luminous Cult

"Aaaargh!"

Gwi Seongjin screamed as he woke from his sleep.

It was the same dream again today.

The dream of evil men invading the Ghost Valley Sect, killing his parents and fellow disciples.

Gwi Seongjin's face was drenched in a cold sweat from the brutal atrocities committed by the fiends.

But he couldn't wipe the sweat away.

Clank, clank.

It was because of the chains binding his hands.

Creeeak.

Just then, the rusty iron door opened and a man walked in.

He was a man with a sharp chin and piercing eyes.

"Good morning. Isn't it?"

"..."

The man offered a greeting, but Gwi Seongjin didn't reply.

He just stared blankly into the air.

Pfft!

The man let out a dry laugh.

It wasn't the first or second time he'd seen that expression.

The man's gaze, which had been scanning the torture instruments displayed on the wall, stopped at a dark red whip.

"The smell of blood is tempting this morning. Hehehehe..."

Letting out a grotesque laugh, the man picked up the whip and cracked it through the air.

Whoooosh!

The sound of the air tearing echoed eerily.

When the man flicked his wrist again, the whip shot up like a spirit snake, then coiled and twisted as it fell.

Crack!

With a sharp noise, the stone slab on the floor shattered, sending black stone fragments flying upwards.

"As expected... for the feel of a good swing, the whip is the best. Well! Let's get started for today."

At the man's words, Gwi Seongjin didn't even turn his head.

It was a sign for him to do as he pleased.

Was it because he didn't like Gwi Seongjin's reaction?

The whip that had been lying on the ground shot up and wrapped around Gwi Seongjin's bare torso.

Slaaash!

A long line of blood was drawn across Gwi Seongjin's chest.

The mark was deeper and more vivid than the previous scars.

A scream from the pain of his flesh tearing swirled in his mouth, but Gwi Seongjin did not open it.

He didn't want to show weakness to a mere guard.

Whoooosh!

Slaaash!

The man relentlessly swung the whip.

Blood flowed, soaking the floor, and mangled flesh burst out.

Still, Gwi Seongjin's mouth did not open.

After a while, when Gwi Seongjin's body went limp, the man finally put down the whip.

"Tough bastard. He looks as gentle as a scholar, but his personality is as stubborn as an ox."

The man, who had been clicking his tongue softly, suddenly had a drastic change in his expression.

It was because Gwi Seongjin was hanging his head, motionless.

"Is... is he dead?"

The man approached with a flustered face, tilted Gwi Seongjin's head back, and placed his fingers under his nose.

Fortunately, he could feel a faint breath between his fingers.

While the man was sighing in relief, Gwi Seongjin's half-closed eyelids slowly lifted.

But his gaze was strange.

It was a look that seemed to be mocking him.

Ptui!

As bloody phlegm flew from Gwi Seongjin's mouth, the man instinctively jerked his head to the side.

But he couldn't avoid it completely.

It was because he had brought his face close to check if Gwi Seongjin was alive.

Slap! Slap!

The enraged man viciously slapped Gwi Seongjin's cheeks.

Even so, Gwi Seongjin didn't look pained.

Heh.

Instead, he raised the corners of his mouth into a smile.

* * *

Half a shichen later.

The man, having unchained Gwi Seongjin, threw the dumplings he had brought onto the floor.

It was the filthiest spot on the floor.

"Eat!"

Despite the man's command, Gwi Seongjin didn't even glance at the dumplings.

It seemed he intended to starve to death.

The man was not one to let that happen.

Forcibly dragging Gwi Seongjin over, the man brought his mouth to the dumplings.

'Son of a bitch! If you don't eat today either, I'll rip your mouth wide open.'

A chillingly venomous glint emanated from the man's eyes.

'Huh! Look at this guy.'

But something unexpected happened.

Gwi Seongjin, who had only vomited every time he was force-fed, picked up and ate the dumplings for the first time.

The dumplings had burst open from the impact of being thrown on the floor, and were even stained with dirty blood.

Even so, Gwi Seongjin kept his head down and shoved the dumplings into his mouth.

Just then, something heavy pressed down on Gwi Seongjin's neck.

It was the foot of the man who had been watching.

"You'll get indigestion eating like that. A little at a time... eat slowly."

"Gack, cough."

With his neck pressed down, the dumplings Gwi Seongjin was eating came spewing out of his mouth.

At that, the man spoke in a voice that sounded pleased.

"You should know not to leave food behind. Lick it all up, including what you vomited, without leaving a single piece!"

His cold voice was laced with killing intent.

After a moment's hesitation, Gwi Seongjin humiliatingly reached out and scraped together the dumpling filling scattered on the floor.

The clumped mass was indescribably filthy.

Not only dust, but even blood scabs stuck to the floor were mixed in.

It was disgusting just to look at, but Gwi Seongjin brought it to his mouth without hesitation.

"Chew, chew."

As Gwi Seongjin chewed the food, a single hot tear rolled down from the corner of his eye.

But deep within his eyes, a coldness like ten-thousand-year-old ice lay dormant.

After the meal, the man chained Gwi Seongjin's wrists again.

Then, after a short rest, he asked.

"You were captured from the Ghost Valley Sect, right?"

"That's right."

It was the first voice he had heard in the four days since he was dragged here.

"If you're from the Ghost Valley Sect, you must be skilled in miscellaneous arts like Yin-Yang and the Five Elements or Qi Men Dun Jia, rather than martial arts. Have you learned any techniques?"

"Techniques?"

"Yes. Secret arts like breathing fire from your mouth or riding the wind to fly through the sky."

"Hmph! I haven't learned any."

"A pity. If you knew Earth Escape or Transformation Arts, I was thinking of learning them..."

It was a common occurrence to extort martial arts secrets from prisoners or captives.

Exchanging techniques or secrets for food or alcohol.

But it seemed this guy was broke.

"Are you saying there's no one here who has learned the Earth Escape Art?"

At Gwi Seongjin's question, the man's eyes turned sharp.

"Here? Where do you think this is?"

"I don't know. But for a sect powerful enough to destroy the Ghost Valley Sect to not have a single person who has learned the Earth Escape Art... I'm saying it's hard to believe."

He had a point.

As Gwi Seongjin said, there were people here who could perform the Earth Escape Art.

But they were all of a status so high that the man couldn't even dare to look up to them.

"Well... there might be some if you look."

The man said with a bitter smile.

It was a self-deprecating laugh.

"Then what are you good at?"

"Good at? Didn't you see for yourself?"

"You're saying I've seen it?"

"Yes. The skill I'm most confident in is..."

Before he could finish his words, Gwi Seongjin spat the saliva pooled in his mouth at the man.

Ptui!

But this time, he failed.

Although he was just a guard, he wasn't one to be fooled by the same trick twice.

Dodging the substance that came from Gwi Seongjin's mouth, the man slapped his cheek without delay.

"Crazy bastard. To think a reckless fool like this is some kind of genius of the ages..."

As if the slap wasn't enough, the man kicked Gwi Seongjin's abdomen twice more.

'Guuuh...'

Only when Gwi Seongjin writhed in pain did the man stop his foot.

Ptui!

Spitting to one side, the man asked in a murderous voice.

"Do you know why you're being beaten?"

"I don't. But I will soon. You bastards invaded the Ghost Valley Sect, killed my parents and all the disciples, and dragged only me here alive... there must be a reason, right?"

"That's right. If you weren't even worth dragging here, you would have been killed on the spot. Along with that wench..."

At the man's words, Gwi Seongjin's head shot up.

"A... a wench? Who are you talking about?"

"Kekekek. I'm talking about your fiancée. And that wench, she was truly delectable to look at."

The man licked his lips with his tongue and gave a grotesque smile.

Fiancée?

Gwi Seongjin had never been engaged.

But it wasn't hard to guess who the fiancée the man was talking about was.

It was because he had been with her when he was dragged to this place.

"Is... is Baekmae alive?"

"You didn't know?"

Gwi Seongjin slowly shook his head.

His expression was one of utter devastation.

After a long while.

Gwi Seongjin asked in a mournful voice.

"Is she well?"

"Kekekek. How could she be? That wench is probably being tortured just like you right now. Licking her food like a dog, too."

At the man's words, Gwi Seongjin's face filled with despair.

To think that Baekmae was dragged to this harsh place and was being tortured, he felt like he was going crazy.

It felt as if his heart was being torn apart and a part of his chest had collapsed.

Haa!

Gwi Seongjin let out a deep sigh.

* * *

In the afternoon, the man chose a different torture tool.

It was a pair of pliers caked with red blood.

"What are you doing?"

"Heh. Can't you tell by looking?"

Prying open the blood-stained pliers with both hands, the man approached Gwi Seongjin.

Then he spoke in a low, suppressed voice.

"You can scream if it hurts."

Grind, grind.

The man, who had been neurotically opening and closing the pliers, stomped down on the top of Gwi Seongjin's foot.

Then, he inserted the sharp, knife-like part of the pliers under Gwi Seongjin's big toenail.

Gwi Seongjin's eyebrows twitched slightly.

But that was all.

Even when the man twisted the pliers, Gwi Seongjin's mouth did not open.

When he applied force, red blood trickled down from under the toenail.

Despite that, the man pushed the pliers in deeper.

"Stubborn bastard."

The man's brow furrowed.

He had pulled out the toenail raw, but the sound he had expected did not come.

Crunch!

His pride wounded, the man thrust the pliers deep under the toenail of Gwi Seongjin's opposite foot.

Then, shaking it up and down, he roughly pulled out the toenail.

This time, too, no scream was heard.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"Th... th... Grrrr."

A groan escaped instead of an answer.

"Well, you wouldn't be human if it didn't hurt. After the toenails, it'll be the fingernails, and then the teeth."

"What is it you bastards want?"

"I don't know. Tomorrow, I'll be pulling out the rest of your toenails and fingernails, so be aware of that."

After threatening Gwi Seongjin, the man went outside.

Forcibly enduring the pain, Gwi Seongjin carefully organized his thoughts.

Although he hadn't said it, Gwi Seongjin already knew where this place was.

It was from the martial arts displayed by the masked men who had invaded the Ghost Valley Sect.

And from the attire, accent, and way of speaking of the man torturing him.

By fitting those facts with the surrounding situation of the Ghost Valley Sect, it wasn't difficult to guess where this place was.

The Luminous Cult.

It was the very same Luminous Cult that revered the Sacred Flame Order as a divine object and was called the Demonic Cult in the martial world.

'Why would they target the Ghost Valley Sect?'

With a heart that felt like it was shedding tears of blood, Gwi Seongjin deduced the reason.

The Ghost Valley Sect was a sect that had been sealed a thousand years ago and had no grudge with the Luminous Cult.

It didn't possess much wealth, and the immortal arts it cultivated had never been leaked outside.

Distance was also a major obstacle.

The Qilian Mountains, where the Ghost Valley Sect was located, were not very close to the Tian Shan, where the Luminous Cult was located.

Moreover, the Ghost Valley Sect was protected by the Heavenly Gate Golden Lock Formation, said to be an ancient, peerless formation.

For them to devise a way to break it and force their way in meant that the Luminous Cult desperately coveted something the Ghost Valley Sect possessed.

From the Luminous Cult's perspective, there was only one outstanding thing the Ghost Valley Sect possessed.

It was their ability in formations.

(End of Chapter)