"Nonsense. What on earth are you talking about?"
It was only natural that Weiji Hun could not believe it. He never dreamed that Bu Eunseol possessed a dual personality, nor that he had ever summoned that dual personality into reality.
"You have never experienced frustration, I see."
Bu Eunseol sighed as he watched Weiji Hun with a sharp gaze.
"Spreading a mental technique is akin to inviting an enemy into one's own soul." The foundation of a mental technique is, after all, within the caster's soul.
From the moment the exchange began.
He realized this place was Weiji Hun's soul, and Bu Eunseol possessed the ability to construct a mental world himself.
Furthermore, because he could deploy the Illusion Upon Illusion of Ak Muryeong—which could be called the greatest soul-absorbing demonic art in the martial world—he was able to glimpse into the deep abyss within Weiji Hun inside such a sophisticated and meticulous mental world.
Tighten.
Weiji Hun clenched his fists tightly. As the exchange continued, his mind became extremely complicated. He had been wondering why the power of the Mind-Eye Life-Extinguishing Sword was gradually diminishing.
To think that all of this was intended by that fellow?
"Even if this is my mental world, you shouldn't have been able to look into the abyss."
As Weiji Hun muttered in disbelief, Bu Eunseol spoke. "Fear."
"The fear inherent in your heart was brightly illuminating the abyss of the mental world like a lantern."
In an instant, Weiji Hun's face contorted. As people age, they tend to let go of their lingering attachments to life.
However, because Weiji Hun dreamed of eternal life and had accepted even wicked great methods under the pretext of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect and the perfection of martial arts, his obsession with life was stronger than anyone else's.
Moreover, from a certain point, he grew confused as to whether he was the real Weiji Hun or merely a being who had inherited his memories and personality. Whenever that happened, he was seized by a deep fear that he might vanish like a bubble.
And that fear manifested as a fatal weakness the moment he displayed his mental world.
With a vibration that seemed to shake the earth's axis, everything began to shatter.
The power of the sixth stage of the Phase Essence was not to pull the enemy into a mental world, but rather a power to transform the appearance of the real world.
However, as Weiji Hun's solid mental world was destroyed by Bu Eunseol, that power began to shake even the current life.
"Perhaps your personality, Weiji Hun, is real," Bu Eunseol said calmly. "Because you are properly showing the appearance of an old man fallen into greed."
Slash!
Along with a cold flash of light, blood burst from Weiji Hun's shoulder. Bu Eunseol had unleashed a swift sword like a bolt of lightning.
"As expected, you cannot properly display your skills if it is not the mental world."
Weiji Hun could not give any answer. Although his personality had changed and even his body had been readjusted through the great method, there were clear limits.
The profound martial arts he had mastered in the past could only be unleashed in the mental world, the realm of the mind.
Weiji Hyesang’s body was not the original physical body that had trained with the sword for decades.
Slash! Sh-sh-sh-sh!
Sparkling droplets began to pour from Bu Eunseol's Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Slash! Slash!
Weiji Hun tried to block by deploying the Hwa Wu Sword, but in just a few seconds, dozens of wounds appeared on his body. The Hwa Wu Sword mastered by Bu Eunseol was overwhelming Weiji Hun's Hwa Wu Sword.
"You're holding out well."
The eyes of Bu Eunseol, which looked like the glowing red eyes of a death god, gradually narrowed. "But death is already at your throat."
"Not a chance!"
Weiji Hun shouted and counterattacked as if he still had strength left. However, every time Bu Eunseol poured out the killing forms of the Hwa Wu Sword, openings kept appearing for unknown reasons.
In the end, even with a slight slip, the sword grazed dangerously close to his vital points several times.
Tremble.
Weiji Hun's soul began to fall into fear. He finally realized that he could never defeat Bu Eunseol.
"I don't want to die."
He did not want to savor death.
From the moment he performed the great method of transferring his consciousness, he dreamed of eternal life.
If life continued like this?
He thought he could even surpass the True Demon. He could not die miserably in this place.
"I absolutely do not want to hold the hand of death."
Crack.
At that moment, Weiji Hun's head twisted strangely. At the same time, his skin color and gaze began to change.
As death approached, Weiji Hun finally could not overcome his fear and, cowardly, swapped personalities with Weiji Hyesang.
"The pain must continue."
Watching that scene, a sharp radiance flickered in Bu Eunseol's eyes. "Who gave you permission to change!"
Boom!
Simultaneously, the vibration of true qi exploding from his entire body soared as if to pierce the sky. Breaking the composure he had thoroughly suppressed for the sake of victory, he finally unleashed his desperate desire for revenge. The sharp blade energy emitting madly from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword swept toward Weiji Hun's entire body.
He quickly avoided it, but the sharp energy eventually grazed between his eyebrows.
"Not a chance."
Weiji Hun, touching the blood dripping from between his eyebrows, laughed. "I will disappear soon anyway."
But he could not continue his words and twisted his head strangely. The personality had not changed, and was it not that the place where the wound opened was throbbing as if it were burning?
"How..."
Bu Eunseol had not thrown a simple sword strike. Since the mental world had not yet completely collapsed, he poured out a power that distorted the soul structure of Weiji Hun, causing a crack in the laws of the constructed mental world.
"Hiding like a rat until now..." A bloodthirsty ghostly light dwelled in Bu Eunseol's eyes. "You brutally murdered my masters."
He did not know at all what principles the Weiji family's great method operated on, how they stored personalities in the mental world, or its structure and system.
Heart Mirror Reverse Reflection, Shock the Enemy's Heart and Soul.
He simply discovered a minute wave in Weiji Hun's soul and, by reflecting the mirror of the mind in reverse, returned the darkness of the abyss to the enemy and shook his soul.
"This is for Master Dan Cheonyang."
Bu Eunseol drove the Silent Tiger Soul Sword deep into Weiji Hun's dantian. He didn't just stab it; he twisted it violently and even infused it with the Yeolha Great True Energy.
Tremble.
Weiji Hun could not even let out a groan.
As his energy flow tangled, his internal power was scattered haphazardly, and he suffered the pain of his entire body's nerves burning due to the Yeolha Great True Energy.
"This is for Master Cheon Un-gwang."
Bu Eunseol stabbed the Silent Tiger Soul Sword deep into the abdomen again. Avoiding the large blood vessels that could cause instant death, he ruptured various organs in a complex manner.
Tremble.
Feeling a sharp, burning pain as if it were wrapping around his entire body, Weiji Hun began to shake his limbs regardless of his will.
He could not even breathe properly and puffed his mouth desperately.
"And this is..."
Bu Eunseol created a red horizontal line on Weiji Hun's neck. In an instant, Weiji Hun's entire body was paralyzed as if frozen. Along with a terrible thirst, blood tasting of iron flowed back into his mouth, and he soon felt a boundless sense of despair. His pulse slowed, but his consciousness was clear, so he was vividly perceiving that he was slowly dying.
"This is for Master Jingak."
Crack.
Weiji Hun's neck moved out of place.
Until now, he had never used his hands so cruelly. In fact, this was a method he had resolved to surely use on the enemy who killed his grandfather.
However, as the resentment of Jingak and the two masters who vanished in screams came to mind, he unconsciously put that method into practice in the real world.
Perhaps this was an unconscious rehearsal for the time he would one day execute his true revenge.
Finally, Weiji Hun's life ended in the mental world.
The surrounding scenery began to flow down as if melting. At the same time, the surrounding landscape gradually began to appear clearly, and before long, Weiji Hyesang was standing at the cliff.
At that moment, his cold face, which had been crafted with cunning and cruelty, collapsed in an instant. The corners of his mouth, which had been hanging blankly, trembled and twisted at will. As if a clown wearing a misfit mask was having a seizure inside the mask, the entire facial muscles twitched, unable to find their place.
After the pupils repeatedly contracted to the extreme and then dilated uncontrollably, the sound of the hundred joints that had been forced open returning to their places echoed continuously. The skin near the cervical vertebrae at the back of the neck swelled strangely, and then something like a faint haze slipped out like smoke.
Finally, very slowly, a clear and transparent light began to fill the empty eyes.
"Haah."
Like a person just pulled out of deep water, Weiji Hyesang inhaled confusingly. He had finally returned to his original form. Weiji Hyesang, who was breathing heavily, looked at Bu Eunseol and wore a smile.
"It’s been a long time."
"Weiji Hyesang."
"It seems quite a long time has passed, but you haven't changed."
At the same time, fresh blood flowed from Weiji Hyesang's mouth.
The mental world spread by Weiji Hun was a Phase that overlaid the mental world onto reality. In the end, Weiji Hyesang also could not escape that death.
Blood flowed continuously from his neck.
It was enough to create a puddle on the ground, but Weiji Hyesang continued his words as if it were no big deal.
"I wanted to try and win at least once." He spoke with an embarrassed expression. "In the end, it seems no one from our gate could defeat you."
"That is not so." Bu Eunseol shook his head. "Every sword technique I have used since coming here was the Hwa Wu Sword."
"The Hwa Wu Sword..."
"I could find no way to break the Hwa Wu Sword with the sword techniques of the Nangyang Pavilion."
And he said powerfully, "The Hwa Wu Sword has won."
Weiji Hyesang laughed brightly. "I see. In the end, the sword technique of our gate has triumphed."
Weiji Hyesang looked at Bu Eunseol with unfocused eyes as if he could not see and said, "Now show me. The ultimate martial art of our gate. I know. At the very least, to allow me to die as myself, you avoided all fatal vital points."
Although he had deployed cruel sword techniques in the mental world, in reality, he had avoided all vital points to maintain his life. Nodding, Bu Eunseol said in a low voice, "It has already been deployed."
"Formless Sword."
Weiji Hyesang finally realized what Bu Eunseol was pursuing and what he had seen at the edge of the Hwa Wu Sword, and he nodded. And he asked for the secret of the Hwa Wu Sword.
Without depth, forgetting the sword. The mind is sharper than the sword. One must hide the sword in the mind. Expressing the will through the sword. Even an empty hand is like a sword. The obsession and form called a sword disappear. Finally Abandoning the Sword to Gain the Way.
After Bu Eunseol received the sword realm of the Hwa Wu Sword from Jingak and Weiji Mu-a, he realized what kind of path of the sword he desired.
It was precisely the Formless Sword.
A person not holding a sword being able to defeat one who holds a sword.
Perhaps it was the manifestation of his wish for all the super-experts of the martial world to become ordinary.
"Since I fall by the hand of the world's best swordsman," Weiji Hyesang smiled as he looked at Bu Eunseol, "I have no regrets."
Contrary to his words, his expression was full of lingering regret. As the successor of the greatest demonic gate, he possessed sufficient talent and wisdom, but in the end, he could not overcome the wall called Bu Eunseol.
He wanted to fill that gap with more effort, but the current confusing situation of the martial world had become a place where one could not survive unless they were the best. In the end, rather than the status of a successor, he lived a life like a puppet of Weiji Hun and a new fake body.
"But this gate will rise again."
In the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, some disciples are still healthy, and Wi Hyeok-gun has mastered the essence of the Hwa Wu Sword. In the future, he will surely raise a disciple who surpasses Weiji Mu-a.
"It will be so."
Bu Eunseol had already given the Sect Leader's token to Wi Hyeok-gun and left the essence of the sword secret he had mastered.
Perhaps Weiji Mu-a, knowing well Bu Eunseol's personality of always paying back debts, had passed on the final enlightenment of the Hwa Wu Sword to him.
"I want to rest now." Weiji Hyesang slowly closed his eyes. "I will watch you roam the martial world from the nine heavens."
Weiji Hyesang breathed his last as if falling into a deep sleep.
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully to the remains and turned away.
Although he had consistently carried out wicked schemes, he did not lose his pride as the successor of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, and after being awakened by his own vibration, he resisted Weiji Hun's personality. Since he acted with dignity and composure as the successor of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect in the end, there will be no regrets even in the afterlife.
Bu Eunseol finally entered the Demon Sword Pavilion. Here, the bloodline of the True Demon, who had tormented Weiji Mu-a and the Hwa Wu Sword Sect so much, would be crouching.
Unless they were eliminated, such illusory traps would be made again and again.
Creak.
Finding the secret mechanism within the Demon Sword Pavilion, Bu Eunseol slowly walked inside.
In the pitch-black darkness, only the sound of his footsteps broke the silence.
At the end of the passage, a heavy steel door was firmly closed again, but as his hand touched it, it wriggled as if alive and was pushed inward.
Immediately upon passing through the door, what stung his nose was a disgusting fishy smell and a faint scent of burnt flesh. Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed.
The Weiji family, the bloodline of the True Demon who performed forbidden arts within the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
Their main base was a huge underground space, and now it was miserably destroyed.
The walls were hideously pierced as if melted or exploded in places, and complex mechanical devices lay scattered in pieces. On the floor, an unidentified dark red liquid was sticking, and stone slabs engraved with bizarre patterns were cracked or broken and scattered.
"Did they self-destruct?"
A cold remark burst out.
They were puppets of the True Demon anyway. When everything failed, they destroyed all mechanisms and chose self-destruction without hesitation. Turning his body, another surge of disgust rose in Bu Eunseol's heart. They are not the true roots anyway.
Although he had defeated the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, he must completely clear away even these remnants of darkness.
***
—The Extinction Palace and the Hwa Wu Sword Sect have closed their gates.
Shocking rumors spread through the martial world.
Setting aside Extinction Palace, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect was the greatest demonic gate and the largest pillar supporting Majeon.
Moreover, they were a sect that had produced the most masters of Majeon for generations and could be called the pride of demonic martial arts.
For such a Hwa Wu Sword Sect to suddenly close its gates?
—It is the work of the Martial Soul Command Lord.
The Lord of Extinction Palace declared withdrawal from Majeon and was then forced to close the gates by the Martial Soul Command Lord. But not long after, even the Hwa Wu Sword Sect was forced to close.
—It is because something happened at the Hwa Wu Sword Sect that provoked the Martial Soul Command Lord.
The Hwa Wu Sword Sect cut off the head of a hall master related to the Martial Soul Command Lord and sent it. Furthermore, they had provoked him several times in the past, so this eventually happened.
Does this even make sense?
The successor of Majeon becomes the owner of Majeon who will be responsible for the demonic path in the future.
Yet, instead of growing the power of Majeon strongly, he weakened the power of the Ten Demonic Sects to an irreversible extent?
—In the end, it was the decision of the Extinction Palace, right?
The reason Extinction Palace tried to break away from Majeon was none other than the fact that the Martial Soul Command Lord continuously weakened the authority and power of the Ten Demonic Sects.
Even when the withdrawal was declared, people of the demonic path thought the Extinction Palace had made a hasty decision.
But looking back, their thoughts were right after all.
Around the time public opinion within the demonic path was weakening like that, an unbelievable story—though its origin was unknown—was spreading once again.
The Seven Great Demon Ancestors.
They were the source of the demonic martial arts that created the Ten Demonic Sects and were beings who could be called the foundation of the demonic path itself.
Although the history of the Nangyang Pavilion was only seven hundred years, it was recognized as one of the Ten Demonic Sects because it produced so many of the world's best experts.
The Affectionate Blossom Sect was recognized as one of the Ten Demonic Sects due to its necessity as the predecessor of the Hwanhui Sect, a female sect that showed the power of money to the martial world, and as the funding source of Majeon.
The Heaven and Earth Severing Sect, which manages the resting places of great demons and their martial art manuals, shares its origins with Majeon, the demonic alliance, at the beginning of every month.
But the Seven Great Demon Ancestors are different. There is a root called the Seven Great Demon Ancestors that has existed for a long time, and because they exist, the path called the Demonic Way was created.
—The Seven Great Demon Ancestors will appear.
—But wasn't that just a legend?
Just because something is recorded in history books doesn't mean it all existed.
Like the tales that Pangu opened the heavens and earth, Nuwa made humans, or a god came down to earth to pass on the law, the Seven Great Demon Ancestors were stories that anyone in the martial world knew but ultimately dismissed as legend.
It would be a headache.
Whether it is true or not, the fact that they stepped forward borrowing the names of legendary beings means they must possess considerable power.
—The Demon Emperor has returned.
Was it a coincidence?
The Demon Emperor broke his seclusion and returned to Majeon.
The Seven Great Demon Ancestors are the source of the demonic path itself; no matter how much one is the best person in the demonic path, they cannot be ignored.
Martial artists held their breath and watched the trends of Majeon.
—Something else will break out in the martial world.
Because the landscape of the martial world will change again according to the movements of the Demon Emperor and the Martial Soul Command Lord.
But Bu Eunseol was relaxed.
Previously, Shindo Jangcheon of Extinction Palace, Weiji Mu-a of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, and Chief Instructor Wi Hyeok-gun… they had all known it.
Martial artists intuitively felt it.
That the appearance of the Seven Great Demon Ancestors this time would not end as a simple rumor.
Every time they were attacked, they asked Bu Eunseol if he knew what result would follow.
—What I want to say is that the Ten Demonic Sects you know are not all real.
In the past, Jeok Bung said this to Bu Eunseol.
Since then, Bu Eunseol closely investigated the Ten Demonic Sects and was able to know the truth.
Just as the Baekri family and the True Demon have existed since ancient times, there are original sources even in the orthodox and unorthodox paths.
That if the delicately maintained balance of the martial world goes awry, they will appear.
In the end, their appearance is an inevitable fate scheduled like destiny... and Bu Eunseol merely brought that time forward.
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