Bu Eunseol frowned.
‘Could a rebellion have broken out inside the Blood God Heaven?’
“Then you are the next Heaven Lord?”
“You could say that.”
Myeong Myeol licked his lips and stroked his chin.
“But becoming the official Heaven Lord brings a lot of headaches. You saw it too, didn’t you? Even if I control those dog-like blood spirits and Blood Divine warriors, I’d only be called the Evil Spirit Valley Lord.”
It was impossible to tell whether he was joking or serious. Moreover, his expression was far too relaxed and his tone too friendly to be the Lord of the Blood God Heaven.
‘If what he said is true...’
This grotesquely built giant old man, Myeong Myeol, was a terrifying expert who surpassed even the Blood God Heaven Lord.
“There is no need to be afraid.”
Myeong Myeol smiled as if he had sensed Bu Eunseol’s tension.
“It will end soon anyway.”
Kwaang!
With a loud explosion, Bu Eunseol suddenly leaped more than ten zhang into the air from his spot and landed back on the ground.
“Not bad.”
Myeong Myeol nodded with his hands behind his back.
“You must be quite capable to have overturned this entire Valley of Immortals alone.”
Myeong Myeol extended his palm again.
A red orb slowly rose.
Shaaak!
Bu Eunseol launched a preemptive attack without hesitation. But the moment he thrust out the Demon-Killer Sword, the red orb clung to the blade like a magnet.
Ziiing.
The Demon-Killer Sword instantly heated up bright red.
Chiik.
At the same time, Bu Eunseol was forced back three steps.
A line of fresh blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
He had suffered internal injuries from a single move by Myeong Myeol.
“Huh? Look at this. You survived one move from this old one?”
Myeong Myeol clapped his hands, his wide eyes flashing.
“The demonic path has produced quite a talent. Truly the greatest genius in the world!”
He kept giving thumbs up as he spoke.
“Martial Soul Command Lord, Bu Eunseol. You truly possess the skill to kill the Human Heaven Lords.”
Having instantly identified Bu Eunseol’s identity, he laughed heartily.
“A precious toy has appeared. I cannot carelessly break it.”
“Toy?”
“That’s right.”
Myeong Myeol licked his lips.
“There are so many things that shatter from a single move of mine. Where else would I find a toy like you?”
His expression and tone were so bright and innocent that he looked like a child who had obtained a treasured new toy.
‘Could his martial prowess have broken through even the Limitless Realm and reached the Heaven’s Will Realm?’
Bu Eunseol felt as if he had returned to the beginning of his journey in the martial world, facing an overwhelming expert who encompassed the entire world.
‘That old man once said so.’
When Bu Eunseol first stepped into the martial world as a disciple of the Demonic Path, he had met the Blood Demon Jeok Bung in Majeon.
At that time, an expert who had risen to the position of one of the Three Demons was like a star floating in the night sky—so distant that meeting their gaze felt impossible. Time had passed, and he had grown confident that he could now stand shoulder to shoulder with the strongest under heaven.
Yet this man called Myeong Myeol was showing him another realm of power that he had never encountered before.
“If I use my real hand, you will die boringly, won’t you?”
Myeong Myeol bit his thumb like a child and clapped.
“Fine. Let’s do it this way.”
He snapped his fingers, and a masked figure holding a chain sickle, short in stature, appeared before Myeong Myeol, knelt, and bowed.
“Elder.”
“Play with him.”
Myeong Myeol pointed at Bu Eunseol with a grin.
“Not only has he mastered the essence of the Nangyang Pavilion’s martial arts, but he has also reached the Limitless Realm at a young age.”
He smiled wickedly.
“If you can kill him, I will entrust you with the Blood God Heaven’s sound.”
“Understood.”
The masked man bowed respectfully to Myeong Myeol and approached Bu Eunseol.
Shuk.
With a faint sound that was barely audible, a sharp flash dug into Bu Eunseol’s neck. The chain sickle had pierced in at a speed that surpassed super senses.
Shuuk.
Bu Eunseol unfolded his extreme speed movement and instantly avoided the ambush, then unleashed the Meteor Chasing the Moon Form with a powerful red flash.
But something strange happened.
With a metallic clang, the Meteor Chasing the Moon Form was interrupted. The chain sickle had clung to the Demon-Killer Sword like a magnet.
At the same time, blood sprayed from Bu Eunseol’s shoulder and back.
“Interesting.”
Even if the masked man used clone techniques, Bu Eunseol was confident he could block the attacks.
How was this possible?
“Let’s try again.”
Whiik!
Bu Eunseol poured out thirty-six sword strikes at the masked man. It was not a wild swing. Every retreat path was preemptively blocked so that even at extreme speed, evasion would be impossible.
Clang!
But it was useless.
Once again, the chain sickle collided with the Demon-Killer Sword in midair and interrupted the technique.
Chiik.
Moreover, every time the chain sickle struck the Demon-Killer Sword, two strange forces dug in as if melting his meridians.
Bu Eunseol’s internal energy was unmatched under heaven. No matter how profound the masked man’s martial arts were, he should never have been able to inflict internal injuries through pure internal force.
Yet every clash of weapons allowed that force to penetrate deep into his meridians and shake his core.
Pyeong! Clang!
Afterward, Bu Eunseol continuously unleashed the Supreme Heavenly Flow to pressure the masked man, but each time the chain sickle interrupted the techniques. And with every clash, that strange force dug into his meridians or an undetectable chain sickle grazed his body.
More than forty exchanges had already passed.
The technique used by the masked man appeared simple and ordinary at first glance, yet like a dragon revealing itself in a stream, it hid extreme extraordinariness within ordinariness.
Clang!
Weapons collided with every attack yet it was impossible to tell how the defense was unfolding.
If Bu Eunseol had been an ordinary martial artist, he would have thrown away his sword in utter despair and surrendered.
‘I cannot avoid the clash of weapons, and counterattacking is impossible…’
However, Bu Eunseol’s expression remained relaxed, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
The core of the Nangyang Pavilion’s martial arts was to seize the opponent’s essence and make their techniques one’s own. Having guessed that Myeong Myeol’s skill was higher than his own, Bu Eunseol deliberately pretended to be helpless against the masked man’s martial arts. He was thoroughly analyzing their mysteries to secure complete victory in the upcoming fight.
The masked man seemed to notice this and shouted coldly with a wounded pride.
“From now on, use your Infinite Reversal Power.”
He added calmly,
“I am also using Infinite Reversal Power.”
No matter what weapon-based martial art the masked man used, at the moment of release or attack, he employed a technique that forced an unavoidable power into the opponent’s meridians through the instant of collision. And that power was an Infinite Reversal Power that made collision ‘inevitable’ with any attack.
Upon hearing those words, Bu Eunseol suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
When his laughter stopped, the dark yellow light in his eyes gradually faded. He had been activating the Nangyang Heart Eye the entire time. That was how he had seen through not only the masked man’s lie about using Infinite Reversal Power, but also Myeong Myeol’s true intentions.
“You were curious, weren’t you?”
Bu Eunseol looked not at the masked man, but at Myeong Myeol.
“You sent your subordinate first just to find out what kind of Infinite Reversal Power I use?”
Because Infinite Reversal Power was a force that transcended human limits and a kind of will, one had to accurately grasp and understand the opponent’s power to counter it.
For example, if the enemy’s Infinite Reversal Power constantly created hallucinations, no matter how strong one’s destructive Infinite Reversal Power was, it would be useless. One had to use a power capable of breaking hallucinations or one that prevented them from being activated.
Despite possessing overwhelming strength, Myeong Myeol had not underestimated Bu Eunseol’s potential, which had slain the Human Heaven Lords. He had sent the masked man first to confirm what kind of Infinite Reversal Power Bu Eunseol used.
Shik.
Even though his dark scheme had been exposed, Myeong Myeol smiled with a confident expression.
“A lion exerts full strength even when catching a rabbit.”
“Fine. I’ll show you.”
Bu Eunseol smirked, sheathed the Demon-Killer Sword with a click, and clenched his fist.
“My Infinite Reversal Power—”
He then threw a light punch.
A soft fist power, like a gentle breeze, flew toward the masked man’s face. That power too was stopped in midair by the materialized chain sickle.
But this time, Bu Eunseol’s body suffered no damage. Using the profound principles of the Seven Fist Demon Forms, he had simultaneously unleashed the power of release and absorption to block the logic behind the masked man’s technique.
“Hmph. Did you think using fist techniques would change anything?”
The masked man sneered instead.
“Clashing opposing principles is an ancient martial art concept.”
He had faced countless opponents who tried to mix conflicting martial principles to block power collisions. He had already seen through what Bu Eunseol was attempting.
“I’ll break it in one go!”
The masked man launched the first attack this time.
Shuik!
The chain sickle he held flew to split Bu Eunseol’s head. Bu Eunseol moved immediately to dodge, but the masked man was already waiting behind him. He barely twisted his body, but a shallow cut appeared near his shoulder.
The masked man’s eyes sharpened.
He had seen through that Bu Eunseol had deliberately offered his shoulder and used an extremely minute movement to let only the skin lightly touch the chain sickle.
“What, is dodging all you can do!”
The masked man, who had looked dazed, quickly regained his senses and deliberately shouted loudly.
“What will you do now?”
“I will do this.”
The moment Bu Eunseol withdrew his hand, a massive fist power poured toward the masked man’s face.
“Ugh!”
Startled, the masked man retreated instantly, but Bu Eunseol had already appeared behind him.
Pat!
The masked man swung his chain sickle.
Clang.
But, the chain sickle and fist tangled in midair.
“Puuu!”
At the same time, the masked man spat a fountain of blood that soaked his mask red and staggered backward.
Tremble.
The masked man shook uncontrollably.
In truth, he had not used Infinite Reversal Power.
Nor had he induced a collision by finding a gap.
He had simply used a mysterious ability to distort space and overlap his attacks in the same timeframe. What appeared as a single attack was actually multiple attacks launched at different times converging on one point.
“Before attacking, hundreds or thousands of chain sickle strikes are already prepared in the surrounding space.”
Bu Eunseol looked around the space as he spoke.
“In short, attacks launched with time gaps all arrive and strike simultaneously at the destination point.”
Hundreds of chain sickle attacks had already been prepared around the space where the masked man stood. When Bu Eunseol attacked, the pre-deployed strikes poured onto the impact point all at once. That was why a seemingly light weapon clash could inflict severe internal injuries.
“How did you know…?”
“Because I’ve faced the One Hundred and Eight Stars until I’m sick of them.”
Bu Eunseol had fought countless battles against those who controlled domains. Having seen through the masked man’s deception of calling domain power Infinite Reversal Power, he had taken a deliberate cut on his shoulder to use the Heavenly Heart Mirror Sutra. That allowed him to sense the hundreds and thousands of attacks spread throughout the space. He then destroyed them all at once and induced the weapon clash.
When the attacks could no longer overlap and truly collided with Bu Eunseol’s fist, the masked man could not withstand the overwhelming internal energy and suffered deep internal injuries.
“Boring.”
Although the ability seemed perfect, it actually contained considerable instability because it was an inborn power that was difficult to train. In contrast, martial arts began with instability but Limitlessly pursued perfection. Because they started imperfect, they had no choice but to pursue perfection. Completing martial arts meant elevating what was already complete to an even more flawless realm.
“Bring out the other mixed breeds as well.”
When Bu Eunseol spoke to Myeong Myeol, the masked man’s eyes turned bizarre as he shouted angrily.
Then, as if struck hard in the lower abdomen, he suddenly dropped his head. Gasping, he tore off his mask. A man’s face with protruding cheekbones and ferocious eyes was revealed.
“Ughhh…”
He suddenly opened his mouth wide and tore his eyes open so fiercely they seemed about to pop out.
“Uwaaaaah!”
Fwoooooosh!
A blood mist exploded from the masked man’s seven orifices. What Bu Eunseol had unleashed looked like a light punch, but it was actually the Seventh Form of the Seven Fist Demon Forms—Remove the Old, Establish the New.
The masked man had achieved a Blood Gold Body comparable to the Dharma Heaven Golden Immortal’s physique, yet without leaving even a final word, all his internal organs burst and he died miserably.
Bu Eunseol had already reached the realm of the Fist Demon that Do Myeong, the Dongpyoseorang Lord, had sought even by betraying the Nangyang Pavilion.
“This is unexpected.”
At that moment, Myeong Myeol walked toward Bu Eunseol with a disappointed expression.
“The problem with the One Hundred and Eight Stars is that once their techniques are exposed or broken, they have nothing else to offer.”
“You said you would treat me as the successor of the Blood God Heaven, yet you don’t seem to regret it.”
“There are plenty of these guys. Besides, I never planned to establish a successor for the Blood God Heaven anyway.”
“What a mess.”
Bu Eunseol frowned.
“With the True Demon gone and the Three Attendants distracted, the underlings are running wild?”
“Hahaha. You think you can get any information out of this old one’s mouth? Give up.”
Myeong Myeol laughed loudly, clearly seeing through Bu Eunseol’s inner thoughts.
“I never cared about such things in the first place.”
He twisted his naked body, loosened his joints, and slowly approached Bu Eunseol with a satisfied smile.
“Now, shall we start eating deliciously?”
He really licked his lips and drooled as if about to eat a treasured dish he had been saving.
Step.
He took one step forward. Literally just one step.
Sluuurp.
Yet blood flowed from the corner of Bu Eunseol’s mouth. He had suffered internal injuries from the mere pressure of a single step.
It was pressure dozens of times stronger than the formless energy unleashed by a swordsman who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship.
‘He is stronger than the Blood God Heaven Lord.’
The Heaven Lords of the Divine Heavens had already surpassed the known Limitless Realm. Some even suspected they had reached the Heavenly Realm itself. And Myeong Myeol’s martial prowess surpassed even those Heaven Lords.
Step.
Myeong Myeol took another step.
Thick veins bulged on Bu Eunseol’s forehead. An ordinary martial world warrior would have exploded or had their head ripped off without resistance. Yet all it did to Bu Eunseol was cause a single thick vein to appear on his forehead.
Crack.
As if his pride was hurt, Myeong Myeol tilted his head and his eyes flashed. An unimaginable pressure, on a completely different level from before, came crashing down like a massive wave.
Uuuung.
As the fierce pressure poured down, a faint golden energy began to rise from Bu Eunseol’s body. Paradoxically, the overwhelming pressure Myeong Myeol unleashed caused the dormant energy deep within his hidden meridians to surge like a tidal wave.
Whiiiing.
The stronger the pressure, the more brilliantly his entire body shone with mysterious radiance. The Ban-Geuk Method he had learned had already reached the sixth level and stood at the threshold of the seventh level, which achieved unity with nature.
However, the seventh level was originally a legendary realm beyond the human domain that no one had ever reached. Therefore, no secret method or path to break through the sixth and enter the seventh had been passed down.
Yet by enduring the hundreds-fold pressure poured out with all of Myeong Myeol’s transcendent strength, the realm of the Ban-Geuk Mental Method deepened further.
“You bastard!”
When Myeong Myeol saw Bu Eunseol’s internal energy growing fiercer, he took another step. This time, it was not simple pressure but a strange force that could instantly melt the energy channels within the body.
‘He can launch various attacks just by walking.’
Realizing that Myeong Myeol was deploying bizarre attacks through his steps, Bu Eunseol raised the Endless Heavenly Light Art that unified the Three Divine Energies and wrapped his body thickly with Harmony. At the same time, mysterious patterns began rising from the sheath of the Demon-Killer Sword.
Kwaaang!
With thunder, Bu Eunseol shot forward. Myeong Myeol was greatly startled and quickly reached out his hand.
Creak.
With a grotesque sound, the Harmony wrapped around Bu Eunseol’s body was instantly blown away. However, the Harmony infused into the sword still remained. Having realized that Myeong Myeol launched an attack with every step, he had separated the Harmony into layers.
Myeong Myeol was greatly shocked and hurriedly took three steps. Only then did the Harmony within the Demon-Killer Sword finally disappear.
Boom!
With an explosion, Bu Eunseol’s face was thrown back violently. The formless technique launched through Myeong Myeol’s footwork had struck his chin.
Myeong Myeol smiled with satisfaction. He thought that even if Bu Eunseol did not die instantly, his jaw would shatter and leave a hideous appearance.
But Bu Eunseol slowly lowered his head, coldly smiled, and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Even a strike capable of shattering diamond had only left a faint mark under his chin.
Flash!
A mysterious light that shook heaven and earth spread from Bu Eunseol’s eyes as he looked at Myeong Myeol.
‘So that was it.’
In fact, all the exchanges until now had merely been to sense the invisible, formless power whose emission method he could not discern.
‘The power of the Ancient Sword Forest. I need it now.’
The eyes that could instantly see through the nature of the power an enemy poured out. Bu Eunseol had desperately wanted that power, and fortunately, it had activated.
‘Waves.’
The nature and principle of the power Myeong Myeol had unleashed flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
‘Then I must create a reverse wave and make it collide exactly in the same space and same instant as that old man’s destructive wave.’
Zzzzt.
Brilliant light spread across Bu Eunseol’s two hands. In that short moment, he had created a new Swift Thunder Annihilation Technique by combining the extreme fire wheel energy that emitted powerful waves with the similar-natured Thunder Spirit Energy.
Analyzing the enemy’s power like this and instantly creating a new martial art that had never existed before was close to a new Infinite Reversal Power that transcended the common sense of martial arts.
But Bu Eunseol had no time to realize that.
Kwaaang!
The moment another vibration spread,
Chiiii.
Myeong Myeol stood completely still, his body dyed black and emitting white smoke. There was no movement or biological reaction. Due to the reverse wave Bu Eunseol had created, even the power he had exerted exploded around his own body.
“Hehehe…”
At that moment, a low laugh burst out. Even though his entire skin had burned black, Myeong Myeol was standing perfectly fine.
“Truly impressive. You instantly created a new martial principle that never existed before.”
Having seen through that Bu Eunseol had instantly invented a new martial art, he instead smiled brightly with joy and licked his large tongue.
“Delicious. So delicious. To block Infinite Reversal Power without using Infinite Reversal Power?”
With abnormally long limbs, full of wrinkles, and emitting white smoke as he laughed, Myeong Myeol looked like a man-eating monster devouring a living person.
“When did such a talent appear again in the martial world?”
He was genuinely impressed.
The wave Myeong Myeol had created was Infinite Reversal Power. Yet Bu Eunseol had responded by instantly adapting and creating a corresponding power without using Infinite Reversal Power. This was effectively a new technique that transcended the very concept of Infinite Reversal Power.
“There was once someone like you in the past as well.”
Myeong Myeol spoke with an expression as if he wanted to dance with joy.
“Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang.”
Surprisingly, even his grandfather had displayed the ability to instantly create martial arts.
“You survived my grandfather’s hands?”
“You can’t really call him grandfather.”
Myeong Myeol said calmly.
“Because he displayed it when he was your age.”
It was a shocking statement. Then this old man called Myeong Myeol was not only over one hundred and fifty years old, but had also seen his grandfather in his youth?
“The Seven-Finger Demon Blade was not only a target of a pact from a young age, but also a figure that countless forces coveted.”
Myeong Myeol muttered lowly and shook his head.
“I have spoken too much.”
He thoroughly wet his thick lower lip and spoke in a low voice.
“From now on, I will eat to my heart’s content.”
Fwaa.
Myeong Myeol rapidly closed the distance.
An incomparably destructive wave poured down along with pressure as if the sky itself was collapsing. It was a footwork similar to the legendary Emperor’s Step that could suppress an enemy simply by walking.
‘If I could use my father’s Emperor’s Step, it would have been a good response.’
Myeong Myeol could inflict infinite pressure on the opponent’s body simply by moving. His father Baekri Muha’s footwork had the ability to flatten all power, but unfortunately he did not know the exact method, and it was a heart technique that could only be used while maintaining a righteous character, so he could not unfold it.
Kwaaang! Kwatang!
In the end, Bu Eunseol once again unleashed the reverse wave combining Thunder Spirit Energy and extreme fire energy while using extreme speed movement to try to escape the area of pressure.
‘I cannot escape.’
However, Myeong Myeol’s attack was incomparably stronger than before. Then—
Bu Eunseol instinctively imitated Myeong Myeol’s gait. Of course, merely copying the steps could not produce the same Infinite Reversal Power. But by doing so, he could quickly analyze the nature of the pouring power with his body.
“You are doing pointless things.”
Myeong Myeol snorted upon seeing this.
“Just watching it doesn’t mean you can copy…”
Giii, giii.
But a strange thing happened. Bu Eunseol’s body sparkled like a star and began to follow Myeong Myeol’s footwork little by little.
Emperor’s Step.
Because he had unconsciously unfolded the completed form of natural will—the most profound and supreme footwork containing the greatest martial principles under heaven—he was able to instantly imitate Myeong Myeol’s bizarre footwork.
Was this fate? Or divine arrangement?
An unknowable great hand seemed to have led him to the Valley of Immortals and driven him into an extreme battle with no room to breathe, as if preparing him to stand equally against the transcendent being that would soon appear before him.
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