I Possessed a Cultivator Destined to Die at the Hands of the Protagonist - Chapter 1

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————

01.
My eyes opened.
Every inch of my body throbbed with pain.
It would have been easier to find the parts of me that weren’t injured than those that were.
The metallic stench of blood hung thick in the air, and a crimson haze consumed my vision, making it impossible to see even what lay directly before me.
“I… I am…”
My body lay motionless on the ground, unable to move even a fraction.
My head began to throb, and with the pain came a torrent of unfamiliar memories crashing over me like waves.
The memories of Lee Seo-hee, a graduate student from the modern world.
And the memories of the person whose body I now inhabited.
‘The barrier can no longer hold!’
‘We must decide quickly! We have little time left!’
Beyond the crimson haze, a sound like a beast’s roar echoed through the space.
The earth trembled, and the seal patterns carved into it began to crack one by one.
‘At this rate, the seal on the Blood Soul Demon will break!’
‘This barrier… cannot be closed unless someone remains behind.’
‘We must choose now who will stay.’
The people’s gazes darted rapidly between the crimson patterns and the stirring presence of the awakening Blood Soul Demon.
Their eyes fell upon Yoo Yeon-seo and Yang Ja-han.
‘I will stay.’
‘…Yeon-seo.’
‘Ja-han. Please, live for both of us.’
As Yoo Yeon-seo’s hand touched the core of the seal, light erupted, and a vibration that seemed to tear the very soul engulfed the entire space.
‘I will never forget this choice. I will survive—for both of us, I swear it.’
With Yoo Yeon-seo’s sacrifice, the Soul-Sealing Heaven Formation activated, and the seal on the Blood Soul Demon succeeded.
But this story…
was merely the opening of a xianxia novel called “Records of Celestial Cultivation.”
“Records of Celestial Cultivation” follows Yang Ja-han, the protagonist, as he becomes a cultivator and grows in power.
Cultivators were beings who pursued immortality and the Way, undergoing endless cultivation to become celestial immortals.
Yoo Yeon-seo is sacrificed as a seal offering to the Blood Soul Demon, a calamity, and loses her life before Yang Ja-han becomes a cultivator.
After Yoo Yeon-seo’s sacrifice, Yang Ja-han barely manages to escape and is rescued by a cultivator from Moo Geuk Hyeon Mun, a prestigious cultivator clan, becoming a cultivator himself.
‘Why! Why of all people!’
Even when I possessed someone’s body, it had to be a character dying like this.
I hate this.
I want to live.
I don’t want to die like this.
Why? Why me out of so many people?
Why Yoo Yeon-seo?
“I don’t want to die!”
I could feel my body dying, every sensation of it crystal clear.
I crawled across the blood-soaked earth.
A sharp, piercing sound echoed through the air.
‘What is that…?’
Something crimson gleamed between the dark canyon walls.
Drenched in blood, I stumbled toward it as though entranced by some invisible force.
Red moss.
Driven by pure instinct, I shoved it into my mouth and chewed ravenously.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!”
I collapsed, tears of blood streaming down my face as my soul felt torn asunder by unbearable agony.
That was my first memory as Yoo Yeon-seo after the possession.
***
Saryeong Jigok.
It was a forbidden zone located at the edge of the Hyeon Empire.
Long ago, during the Immortal-Demon War, a divine demon had breathed its essence into this land, transforming it into a realm of death where no human could survive.
Baek Un-jin, the youngest elder of Cheong Woo Seon Mun, heard that the spiritual energy in Saryeong Jigok had spiraled out of control and rushed here with his fellow disciples.
The land was so saturated with yin energy that vengeful spirits occasionally manifested within it.
“The Blood Soul Asura has awakened!”
By reading the earth’s spiritual imprint, Baek Un-jin could discern what had transpired in this place.
At the location where the vengeful spirit—the Blood Soul Asura—was sealed, countless monks lay slaughtered in brutal fashion.
When he concluded that no one had survived.
“That is…?”
In the distance, he spotted a child, who appeared not yet to have reached adulthood, collapsed on the ground.
“Elder Baek, what troubles you?”
“This child is alive.”
“What?”
“That child is alive!”
Baek Un-jin rushed urgently to the child and examined their condition.
Yet the child’s state was dire.
Their entire body’s vital energy was in complete disarray, and yin energy ravaged their meridians, tearing them to shreds.
It would have been no surprise if they had breathed their last at any moment.
Baek Un-jin gazed down at the child with sorrowful eyes.
Had he arrived even slightly sooner—mere moments earlier—the child might not have been sacrificed so meaninglessly as a ritual offering.
Just as he was about to channel his spiritual power to ease their passing.
A small grip tightened.
The bloodied child seized the hem of Baek Un-jin’s robe with surprising force.
The strength was almost impossible to believe from a child on the verge of death.
“I… want to… live.”
With those words, the child’s body went limp.
Their breathing grew increasingly faint.
Another disciple who had returned from inspecting the seal clicked his tongue in dismay.
“Judging by the fact that they sealed a vengeful spirit using that child’s soul as a sacrifice, they must have been low-rank practitioners.”
When not only the practitioner who spoke but also the members of the same sect told me to give up.
Still, the child refused to release my grip on Baek Un-jin’s robes.
Baek Un-jin withdrew the Essence Restoration Elixir from his bosom.
“W-wait. Practitioner Baek! Are you in your right mind?”
“Why would you waste something so precious on a child who’s already dying!”
“If you’re going to use it on that child, sell it to me instead!”
The practitioners who witnessed the Essence Restoration Elixir—one of the twelve supreme spiritual medicines, something most would never see in a lifetime—gasped in shock.
“Silence. This is mine, and I decide how it’s used.”
Baek Un-jin brushed aside the monks and crushed the Essence Restoration Elixir, which was known to restore damaged souls, pouring it into the child’s mouth.
“If you wish to live, swallow it.”
At those words, the child—who had shown no sign of movement—swallowed the elixir with every last ounce of strength.
As the fading soul recovered, the child’s internal injuries slowly but steadily began to heal.
***
Chirp, chirp.
When I opened my eyes, I was lying in an unfamiliar room.
“Where am I now?”
I was certain I’d been dying just moments ago, but now, regaining consciousness, I found myself wrapped in warm blankets.
Fragments of memory remained—the possession, and just before losing consciousness, I’d heard someone’s voice.
‘Do you wish to live?’
‘Yes, I want to live.’
Something had definitely entered my mouth, and then after that….
No, wait—who was that person?
No matter how hard I tried to recall, the memory remained hazy and indistinct.
Buried under the blankets, I pondered for a long time, but nothing came to mind.
“I can’t remember!”
I irritably kicked off the blankets and bolted upright.
Huh?
Yes—long black hair, blue-green robes, tall stature, and refined features.
“That’s the one!”
“….”
“Huh?”
I was pointing at the handsome man standing in the doorway when I suddenly froze in embarrassment and quickly lowered my hand.
Blink, blink.
Our eyes met.
When he smiled gently at me, I felt my tension melt away, and I found myself sinking to the floor.
‘He’s so handsome.’
Wait, that’s not it!
Who are you, really?
“How is your body feeling?”
“….”
“Is the shock preventing you from speaking?”
“No. Um, who are you?”
My mind was utterly blank, and I had no idea where to begin or what to say.
Since this didn’t feel like a dream, it seemed I had somehow entered the world of 【Heaven’s Chosen Immortal Scripture】….
The man, still wearing that gentle smile, stepped closer to me.
Soft.
His hand touched my head with tenderness.
“If you wish to ask someone who they are, it’s only proper to introduce yourself first.”
“I’m, well, Yoo Yeon-seo.”
“Do you remember anything else?”
As his hand withdrew from my head, I shook it vigorously.
In truth, it wasn’t that I couldn’t remember.
‘The memories of a modern person are useless.’
Even the memories belonging to Yoo Yeon-seo amounted to nothing more than entering a third-rate cultivation sect, nearly dying as a sacrificial offering when the Bloodbound Demon awakened while passing through Saryeong Jigok.
I grasped the man’s sleeve tightly and continued shaking my head earnestly.
“No.”
“….”
“I can’t remember anything except my name.”
【Heaven’s Chosen Immortal Scripture】 was, quite literally, a ruthless novel where aspiring cultivators would stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
Yang Ja-han, the protagonist, became a person devoid of blood and tears after awakening following Yoo Yeon-seo’s death.
I was truly grateful that he had saved my life, but I couldn’t fully trust him yet.
It was true that I had read the novel because the plot was thrilling as the protagonist grew stronger and defeated everyone in his path—but when it became my reality, the situation was entirely different.
“I see.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Why would you apologize for that? Given the severity of the shock, it’s only natural.”
“It seems you saved me, but who are you?”
“My name is Baek Un-jin.”
Baek Un-jin.
That name sounded familiar somehow…. Wait, did you say Baek Un-jin?!
In 【Heaven’s Chosen Immortal Scripture】, there existed eight major cultivation sects known as the Eight Great Sects.
Baek Un-jin was a Sect Master of Cheong Woo Seon Mun, one of those major sects, and a prodigy who had reached the rank of Enlightened Immortal at the youngest age possible.
Compared to Cheong Woo Seon Mun, Hong Hwa Mun, the sect Yoo Yeon-seo had belonged to, was like a dilapidated neighborhood convenience store, and even within Cheong Woo Seon Mun, having a private audience with Baek Un-jin was no simple matter.
In short, I had been saved by someone truly extraordinary.
As I stood there with my mouth agape, unable to form words, Baek Un-jin smiled warmly and lowered himself to meet my gaze.
‘I thought he was portrayed as quite cold-blooded in the novel.’
The Baek Un-jin before me didn’t seem to be quite that way.
While I was silently admiring his face.
“Since you still seem confused, I’ll be direct: would you have any interest in becoming my disciple and cultivating as a member of Cheong Woo Seon Mun?”

—————

This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

—————