Ji Shuryeon gazed for a long while at Bu Eunseol, whose eyes were filled with determination as he stared at the sky. Soon, she quietly shook her head.
"With me, her mother, right here, you have no right to step forward."
"Do you mean to tell me that just because you found your real daughter, you are going to turn a blind eye to your new daughter?"
"What?"
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol indicated Soyo with his eyes.
After wearing a blank expression for a moment, Ji Shuryeon soon shook her head.
Thanks to Soyo's utmost devotion, she had been able to regain a clear mind.
Soyo's pure and warm nature had completely washed away the loneliness and sorrow that had weighed heavily on Ji Shuryeon's heart for so long. Just as Bu Eunseol said, Soyo was no different from a new daughter she had embraced with her heart.
Just because her lost daughter had returned as a corpse, she could not turn away from that child.
"That goes for you too." Ji Shuryeon shook her head once more. "Do you intend to ruin your life over something like guilt?"
"It is not because of guilt."
Jin Seol had prepared herself for death to deliver the information, and she had loved him until the moment she died. If he did not undo her resentment, then who on earth would undo it?
"This body has slaughtered the secret organization of the Demon Emperor without regret. Therefore, it is a situation where I do not know when the demonic hands will be laid upon my subordinates as well."
Bu Eunseol was going to demand a reason from the Demon Emperor for attacking the Majeon Flower, and at the same time, he was going to bring a conclusion to the unstable situation of Majeon.
Because he could not leave his subordinates in such a perilous place indefinitely.
Soyo, who was listening silently to the conversation between the two, bit her lip tightly.
Although he spoke in a roundabout way, in the end, this was a challenge that risked his life. To call the Demon Emperor to account for his wrongdoing was practically an explicit act of defiance.
"I understand." Ji Shuryeon took a deep breath and nodded.
"I will hold the funeral and go to Majeon with Soyo."
She had wandered in search of her daughter for such a long time, but in the end, she had become a cold corpse. Even so, since she had returned to her mother's embrace, she intended to hold a funeral with care, comfort the years gone by, and then she too would go to Majeon.
Bu Eunseol showed his respect to Ji Shuryeon, and after nodding as he looked at her, he flew upward and took to the sky.
Having returned to Majeon, Bu Eunseol's gaze then lingered on the front gate.
The massive iron gate that towered high as if piercing the sky gave off a mysterious metal like black iron and dark gold from behind, and rather than a strange radiance that made one's heart heavy diminishing, a somewhat eerie energy hovered around it. The gold relief carving covering the door panels seemed to squirm alive, vomiting a dazzling golden light beneath its circumference.
Majeon was just one sect, but it possessed the majesty of the heavens of the Demonic Path of the world, containing an aura that would draw out the soul of the viewer.
"Arrogant."
A true light exploded from Bu Eunseol's eyes.
That was why this was a demon-subduing palace where a fishy scent and those aiming at one's back always ran rampant.
It was just like the Demon Emperor or the Dark King Yeop Hyocheon, whose inner minds could not be known.
If even a small flaw was shown, demons were lurking, waiting to bite into the weakness or cast one away relentlessly.
"Not once until now have I considered this place a home."
Even so, he had stayed in this dangerous den.
To pursue the traces and revenge of his grandfather who had gone missing. To acquire a powerful information organization.
Because he needed a hidden sanctuary where surveillance of the abyss and completely perfect protection alarms were possible.
But those things hindered the truthful matters and his trusted lieutenants. Therefore, he had endeavored to conform to the laws of Majeon as much as possible and not go against the actions of the Demon Emperor.
But now, it was so.
As long as the safety of his subordinates was not broken, there was no one who could make it turn out that way.
Flash!
Bu Eunseol raised his coldly shining eyes above the courtyard.
Now, standing tall at the heart of that arrogant power, he had to settle accounts with the Demon Emperor, who could harm his people at any moment.
But at that moment, a black shadow above Bu Eunseol's head landed on the ground. It was a dazzlingly handsome man dressed in the attire of a civil official, whose under-eyes were dark from exhaustion.
It was none other than Yoo Unryong.
"It was this."
He took out a letter and extended it. It had been retrieved from the vase in the residence where Jin Seol used to stay.
Investigate the vase in the room of Jin Seol.
Yoo Unryong, who had received Bu Eunseol's name in advance from the Death Spirit Corps, ordered a maidservant who would not talk much to find the letter.
He delivered it to Bu Eunseol.
"Is that so?"
Shocking content was written inside, but Bu Eunseol was not particularly surprised.
A letter was just a letter.
Just because it was the handwriting of the Demon Emperor did not mean there was a guarantee it could not be imitated. Even if this was written by the Demon Emperor himself, it could have been written intentionally to cause confusion.
In the end, the clear truth could only be heard directly through his mouth.
"You must not return right now. Go back, there is still room to salvage this."
Through the report from the Death Spirit Corps, Yoo Unryong had already been reported that Bu Eunseol had instantly destroyed the secret organization of the Demon Emperor that had tried to punish Jin Seol, and that he had been all the way to Mount Changbai where Ji Shuryeon was located.
And unable to hide his emptiness and grief, he guessed that Bu Eunseol had returned to Majeon to hold the Demon Emperor to account for this matter.
"The Majeon Flower not only shared many ties with you, but she was also a person watched over by the Demon Emperor." Yoo Unryong spoke even more desperately. "Because if it is you, you can certainly receive the consideration of the Majeon loyalists for once."
"Consideration?"
A bloody light rose within Bu Eunseol's eyes.
"Who is going to consider whom?"
"Bu Eunseol. By striking the Hwa Wu Sword Sect and Extinction Palace, the support of the Demonic Path had vanished."
Bu Eunseol also knew that fact very well. However, Yoo Unryong had to say something for the sake of the rampaging Bu Eunseol.
"Did you think that you would recover the support of the Demonic Path again while trying to strike the Vajra Demon Ancestor anyway?"
"If you act like this now, what are we supposed to do?"
"No, it is for your sake."
Bu Eunseol said firmly.
"I can no longer put everyone in danger for the sake of timing."
To fight against time, he could not remain in Majeon while embracing a bomb that did not know when it would explode.
"A while ago, the Lord asked how long I could remain in Majeon. Following the flow of time, the current history of Majeon, which has no meaning to think about, does not hold an answer for a short moment."
Yoo Unryong nodded.
That answer must have meant that any figure in Majeon could be cast away without hesitation.
"I resolved back then. If Majeon touches my people even one more time, I would surely take up the wall."
Yoo Unryong spoke desperately.
"It is fine to seek accounts for the Majeon Flower, and it is fine to feel joy for your subordinates. But right now, Majeon is facing a storm."
And he spoke urgently.
"Though your relationship with the Chief Instructor is distant, draw the line regarding this matter. Go up there and talk to him."
If there was an exception, only the Chief Instructor Yeop Hyocheon could handle him well when there was an urgent cause.
"I will not tolerate the safety of my subordinates who ask nothing being compromised either."
A bloodline appeared in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
"Why must I bow my head to that man in Majeon?"
Bu Eunseol was not a person of the Demonic Path but he could accept it to some extent till now, mostly because he needed a place where he could remain unfazed by the attacks of the abyss.
However, upon witnessing the tyranny of the Demon Emperor who had issued an execution order against Jin Seol without hesitation, he had realized.
Majeon was no longer a safe place.
He realized it was the most dangerous place where his subordinates should not be thrown.
"Furthermore, if I can question the matter of Lady Jin, I can question it even if he kills my subordinates."
Left with nothing to say, Yoo Unryong let out a deep sigh.
Bu Eunseol had been bearing a heavy burden all alone this whole time, and the reason he could catch the grievance was precisely because he had decided on these things.
'If this too is fate...'
Yoo Unryong clenched his fist.
The Demon Emperor, who possessed no freedom in Majeon, did not tolerate anyone who challenged his authority.
That man had exploded upon hearing the report of Bu Eunseol handling the secret organization. There would already be things that could not be turned back.
"I understand."
Having made up his mind, Yoo Unryong nodded.
"Then I will prepare the subordinates."
In truth, the probability of Bu Eunseol winning against the Demon Emperor was nonexistent. However, Yoo Unryong spoke as if saying they could win and liberate all the subordinates from Majeon.
"There is no need for that."
Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
"Because once the fight begins, no one will be able to survive."
Even if the sky were to split, he could not defeat the Demon Emperor as he was now.
He headed toward the Sacred Demon Hall, prepared for mutual destruction.
The Demon Emperor was in closed-door meditation cultivation deep within a chamber of the Sacred Demon Hall.
During the closed-door meditation, no one who was permitted to enter could even come near this vicinity. This was an absolute rule that overrode everything in Majeon. However, ignoring all of that, Bu Eunseol arrived at the entrance of the Sacred Demon Hall with a leisurely expression, as if taking a casual stroll.
And the moment the door of the pavilion was about to open,
Shuuk.
Along with a flash, black shadows soared above the ground, and before long, people wearing black martial robes and masks bowed toward Bu Eunseol's space.
They were none other than the Revered Divine Guards who directly served under the Demon Emperor and guarded the Sacred Demon Hall.
"The Demon Emperor is in closed-door meditation."
"I know."
Bu Eunseol stepped inside the Sacred Demon Hall with a calm stride.
At that moment, the complexions of the Revered Divine Guards froze icily. Although they were guards holding the rank of Guard, their status surpassed that of most loyal officials.
They usually did not reveal themselves, but appeared to guard his side only when the Demon Emperor entered closed-door meditation—literally, the closest confidant guard warriors.
Therefore, during this period when the Demon Emperor was in closed-door meditation, the command of the Revered Divine Guards was no different from the will of the Demon Emperor itself. No one could go against their intent, and if they disobeyed... it was immediately a challenge to the Demon Emperor.
Yet to ignore their words and pass through just like that?
"You cannot enter."
The two Revered Divine Guards restrained him, but Bu Eunseol deployed his Wind and Cloud Divine Qi and passed through them as if bypassing them.
Thud, thud.
Finally, as Bu Eunseol stepped inside the Sacred Demon Hall,
Shuuk.
"Martial Soul Command Lord."
A terrifying aura erupted from the spaces of the masked Revered Divine Guards.
"Does it look like this Guard is making a request to you right now?"
"A total mess."
"What did you say?"
Bu Eunseol spoke with a fierce gaze.
"Do not live secretly in the Palace Master's position and be satisfied; occasionally, go to the Shadow Pavilion, and grasp and understand what is going on in this sect."
The Revered Divine Guards merely guarded the Demon Emperor in the darkness and did not interfere with how the martial world turned out.
Yet Bu Eunseol was scoffing at them for living secretly, knowing nothing.
"Madman."
Bu Eunseol did not reply and walked inside the chamber.
The Revered Divine Guard flashed a dangerous light.
"This is treason."
Clank, rattle.
When the Revered Divine Guard standing on the left stamped his foot, along with a noisy mechanical sound, a low vibration echoed out, and the windows and all passages inside the Sacred Demon Hall began to close. Before long, a thick darkness settled in all directions within the interior, which was completely cut off from the outside.
Regarding Bu Eunseol as an enemy, the Revered Divine Guard had activated the defensive mechanisms inside the Sacred Demon Hall.
Swish!
At the same time, an invisible, sharp sword qi poured down noisily before Bu Eunseol's eyes.
Mysteriously, the sound of tearing through the air was heard from the front, but the sword qi poured from the left and right sides.
As if he had come out for a walk, Bu Eunseol paused his steps for a moment to let the sword qi pass, and then moved his feet again. Then, a chaotic sound of tearing through the air was heard, and the very space where he stood was filled with hundreds of sharp sword qi.
However, not a single one touched Bu Eunseol's body.
The cold snort of the Revered Divine Guard echoed in the air.
At the same time,
Crunch.
A sound of something twisting inside the darkness spread out. Rumble.
Red eyes flashed.
A giant spider possessing a human face appeared.
Had they bizarrely raised a Human-Faced Spider in the Sacred Demon Hall?
Swaaa!
What blanketed the internal space from the mouth of the Human-Faced Spider was a massive spiderweb. The spiderweb was like a blade, splintering everything it touched into hundreds of pieces.
It slowly wrapped around Bu Eunseol.
Pshu!
However, blood spurted out from behind the Revered Divine Guard.
The Revered Divine Guard was trembling, his neck slashed diagonally.
"How..."
"Mind Worlds do not work on this Command Lord."
The defensive formation activated just now was based on a Mind World like the Heart Eye Mirror.
The Human-Faced Spider was an illusionary world; the real one was the Revered Divine Guard who was scattering sword qi from behind.
To the eye, it looked like a trap utilizing a Mind World, an attack that in truth even the most powerful master could not handle. Because mechanisms would soon appear, it caused an illusion that the mechanisms of the Sacred Demon Hall had appeared.
Judging by the Demon Emperor's unusual actions usually, it was not an illusionary spider. Since the Ten-Thousand-Year Black Centipede also sufficiently operated inside the Sacred Demon Hall, it was difficult to perceive that it was the current Mind World.
Also, the Mind World here was not meant to make one feel sensations. Because an illusion indistinguishable from reality was applied, it was extremely difficult to notice it.
However, Bu Eunseol was someone who had been destroying Mind Worlds since long ago. He had reached such a profound state. He had merely fallen into a yawn-inducing trap.
Pshushut!
As the Silent Tiger Soul Sword flashed inside the darkness, another Revered Divine Guard spurted blood and fell.
However, the Mind World did not break.
Swell, swell.
Rather, a black mist rose in front of Bu Eunseol, and a new Revered Divine Guard with eyes dyed pale appeared.
As it turned out, numerous Revered Divine Guards were waiting ahead.
[Martial Soul Command Lord.]
The newly appeared Revered Divine Guard spoke in a low, eerie voice that sounded like scraping iron.
[Go back even now and await the judgment of Majeon. Then you can live.]
Thud, thud.
When Bu Eunseol did not halt his steps, the Revered Divine Guard who had been in front vanished with a popping sound. At the same time, weapons or internal energy...
No, a bizarre wave that could be nothing else began to pour out.
That wave spread rapidly, compressing his internal organs as if it would melt Bu Eunseol's face.
It extended a power like the Yeolha Great True Power.
"You really try everything."
To deploy such a heaven against Bu Eunseol, who had achieved great mastery in extreme Yang martial arts, it was akin to lighting a bonfire three hundred zhang away and wishing for him to burn to death.
With a bored expression, he walked forward through those waves.
Either way, there was a large door leading into the grand hall.
Creak.
Upon entering that door, an incomparably bizarre thought struck him.
The walls and floor of the grand hall, where a dark darkness could be seen far away, squirmed like the internal organs of a massive living creature. It was just like the inside of a giant's mouth.
Thud, thud.
Bu Eunseol took casual steps. However, at some point, his feet stuck to a cracked mucus and halted.
Woong.
As he tried to dissolve the mucus on the floor by executing his Yeolha Great True Energy,
Crunch.
Rather, utilizing the Yeolha Great True Energy that Bu Eunseol unleashed, that mucus began to climb up his ears.
'Ten-Thousand-Year Spider Liquid'
If a king is the most expensive liquid in the world, Ten-Thousand-Year Spider Liquid is called the rarest liquid in the world. It was a mucus inside the body of the Ten-Thousand-Year Spider, a mysterious spider that lived deep underground absorbing earthly energy.
Usually, it kept its eyes closed and sealed with strong viscosity, but when an external energy like internal energy was applied, it absorbed that energy and instead grew explosively, acting as if it were alive, climbing up and tightly binding the target. Also, because it became the essence of the Ten-Thousand-Year Spider, it could not be cut by any divine sword or precious weapon.
If one fell into such a trap, there was nothing to be done.
Thud, thud, thud.
At the same time, forty masked men landed on the ground from the air, surrounding Bu Eunseol.
The Revered Divine Guards existing throughout the entrance of the Sacred Demon Hall had all come out in a swarm.
"You went through a lot of trouble, Martial Soul Command Lord." Their eyes flashed as they looked at Bu Eunseol, who was covered in the trap. "Did you mistake this place for a perfect Mind World because of the Human-Faced Spider?"
In truth, what was thrown here was hardly a Mind World, and the defense he was executing was the Dark Soul Grand Method. By intentionally showing the illusion of the Human-Faced Spider beforehand, it caused an illusion that the mucus spread on the floor was also fake.
But since what was actually spread was the spider liquid, the moment he entered here, he had fallen into a trap where he could not move his body at all.
"The crime of trespassing into the Sacred Demon Hall at will…. pay for it with your death."
Swish.
From the back of the hand of the Revered Divine Guard standing at the very front, a sharp sword blade was formed.
It was the Sword Concealment Art of the unorthodox paths, which was said to have gone extinct long ago.
He was using the Wrist Bone Sword, which allowed one to implant a specially forged sharp sword between the bone and flesh of the back of the hand and control it with internal energy. To implant the Wrist Bone Sword, which fused the sword and the body into one, one had to endure imagination-transcending pain and risk, and if it failed, one could lose their life. But once it succeeded?
Anytime, anywhere, at a moment the opponent completely failed to predict, one could draw the sword and launch a surprise attack, and one could constantly carry a weapon sturdier and sharper than even a divine sword or precious blade on one's body.
Swish.
The Revered Divine Guard created a sharp radiance in the air with his Wrist Bone Sword.
A drop of sweat fell to the floor.
But it did not fall from Bu Eunseol, who was covered in spider liquid, but from the brow of that Revered Divine Guard.
Bu Eunseol had unfolded the Wishful True Binding with his finger, piercing a fine hole in his brow.
Jiing.
Along with a low vibration, a transparent radiance was rising from Bu Eunseol's body, which was covered in spider liquid. Because he had wrapped a thin layer of harmony around his body, the spider liquid had been unable to invade.
Slash!
Splitting the hard-hardened lump of spider liquid into two pieces, Bu Eunseol revealed his form once again.
"Deploy the Void White Return Path Formation!"
Swish!
With a brief shout, they turned into a black mist and vanished.
Trickle.
At the same time, throughout the entire space of the passage where Bu Eunseol stood, the faces of humans screaming in agony began to be engraved.
Kyaaaa!
And those faces began to shriek like living humans.
That screaming sound did not only possess the function of cutting off all power circulating within the body. At the same time, humans who were half-burnt before his eyes were approaching with painful faces and grabbing him.
It did not invade the mind, but showed an illusion combined with real enemies.
Slide.
Drawing the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol executed his sword technique. Without a single point of internal energy, along with a flashing radiance, the humans deployed into the Void White Return Path Formation began to turn to dust and be cleared away.
Swish!
But through that gap, a Revered Divine Guard moving like a phantom swung his Wrist Bone Sword toward Bu Eunseol's head.
Swish! Papat!
Every time the swords clashed in the air, a sharp airflow began to blast out.
The skill of the Revered Divine Guards was considerable. Even ordinary experts could not easily withstand a single sword from Bu Eunseol, yet they turned into a black mist, pouring out various sword strikes and preparing against Bu Eunseol's attacks.
"Kaaat!"
As if they had become bizarre beasts, they lunged as if the wings where Bu Eunseol stood were thinning, unleashing sharp sword qi with their Wrist Bone Swords that could flash out and slash.
Clang!
Along with a sharp clanging sound, sparks flew, and their attacks were blocked by the sword path deployed by Bu Eunseol.
Pshushut! Clang.
Every time that happened, a lump of iron intertwined with blood and flesh fell to the floor from their Wrist Bone Swords. Every time that happened, a lump of iron intertwined with trouble, blood, and flesh fell to the floor from their wrists.
"Khuaaat!"
Without yielding, along with a madness-filled battle cry, they kicked off the brief dream and leapt forward. The sharp attacks that looked like executioners in all directions of heaven and earth were unpredictable.
Clang! Slash!
Every time the northern environment and the wind sword collapsed, a goosebump-inducing choking sound burst out. However, even as their bodies were slashed and limbs flew off, they rushed toward Bu Eunseol without a single shred of hesitation.
Swish, thud.
Crunch.
Bu Eunseol unleashed his martial arts. Along with the sound of the weapon driving in, as Bu Eunseol exerted strength, a sound of the observation twisting and the fabric tearing echoed out.
In the meantime, numerous Wrist Bone Swords were driven into Bu Eunseol's body as well, but from an unfazed stance, he endured it and crushed the observation and fabric of the Revered Divine Guard. Heavy thud, boom.
Before long, the forty-odd Revered Divine Guards fell miserably against the collar of the grand hall dyed in darkness.
However, the Revered Divine Guards were laughing even while their heads were dropped.
They had been used as materials for the grand method deployed here all along.
The desperate attacks until now were also a preparatory work for the deployment of the decisive grand method.
Traces.
The sharp Wrist Bone Swords scattered in all directions removed the collars into fine pieces,
Paaaaa!
The collars, which became a black storm, turned into an unprecedented massive desire and blanketed Bu Eunseol from behind.
Swish! Swish!
Unfolding the Flying Sword Art at that moment, he felt the Silent Tiger Soul Sword rise into the air and rotate like a windmill.
Sshhh.
Before long, a circular sword barrier was formed around his body like a whirlwind.
Line Sky Wall.
Bu Eunseol felt himself slowly advancing forward just as he was.
Astonishment was mirrored in the eyes of the Revered Divine Guard watching that sight.
Seven hundred years ago, Jak Hwa-un, a great master of the sword domain who established all the demonic paths scattered throughout the world, unfolded the realm of the Spiral Sky Wall when he struck the mountain scenery, yet to think that it was being displayed from the hands of Bu Eunseol, who was not even thirty years old?
The moment he took a step, the fabric of space twisted, and an illusion was felt as if all the power between heaven and earth was gathering toward his center.
And inside it, they faced a pair of hidden red eyes.
The Revered Divine Guards felt an overwhelming terror, as if peering into the abyss of the First Ancestor.
The authority of a ruler.
An absolute intimidation and worldly power that had been felt from only one person, the sky of the Demonic Path, was now pouring out from someone they had not even imagined.
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