Yoo Unryong spoke with eyes full of conviction, "This must certainly be a matter devised by the Heavenly Mechanism Star, that fellow."
Bu Eunseol nodded his head.
In truth, from the moment he heard the report, he had guessed that the one who caused this matter was the Heavenly Mechanism Star. However, the reason he did not give voice to this was because he did not yet wish to tell Yoo Unryong about the affairs of Chu So and Nariya.
Because even now, he could not believe that his mother, Holy Maiden Saha, was the reincarnation of the True Demon's lover born from the very beginning, nor could he believe the details contained within those memories.
"Is something the matter?"
Yoo Unryong had now reached a state where he could guess Bu Eunseol's inner thoughts just by looking at his expression.
"Could it be that those who attacked Seo Jinha this time were..."
"That is correct."
Bu Eunseol had no choice but to tell him everything.
The fact that Nariya was a shrine maiden born as twin stars with Manwol, her relationship with Chu So, and even the story of his mother and the True Demon that he had seen inside her memories.
"I see, so that was it."
Yoo Unryong, who usually did not startle at most matters, seemed to have received a massive shock this time, as he could not continue his words for a long while.
Countless unbelievable celestial legends and strange stories are passed down through the martial arts world. Furthermore, having thoroughly read ten thousand books, he was well-versed in all kinds of mysterious records under heaven. Nevertheless, the stories Bu Eunseol shared with him carried a bizarreness that made it feel as if he were listening to the mythology of an entirely different world rather than this one, delivering a shock that went beyond that.
"So that was it," Yoo Unryong muttered lowly, the light in his eyes repeatedly turning hazy and then sharp again.
It would take a lot of time for him as well to accept this kind of story.
"At any rate, if it is a matter regarding Chu So, you must resolve it even more under the identity of the Martial Soul Society Leader."
Chu So was connected with all kinds of factions.
Although the identity of the Martial Soul Command Lord exerts a powerful authority, it was entangled with various factions to that extent, and as he held the position of the next Great Grandmaster of the Demonic martial world, there were restrictions on his freedom of movement.
However, the Martial Soul Society Leader is the head of the alliance forces between the Orthodox and unconventional factions. No one would restrain him even if he meddled in all sorts of affairs in the martial arts world, and because he holds no particular relationship of resentment or obligation with the various factions, it is the most suitable identity for resolving this matter.
* * *
Secretly departing from Majeon, Bu Eunseol headed toward a mountain village located in Wuhe, once again in his identity as Seolso. That place was the village where, most recently, a cruelly murdered diviner had been discovered.
'As expected, there is nothing.'
He thoroughly investigated the village, but he could find no information of note other than the fact that a diviner had died. Surely, an outstanding information organization had completely erased all traces except for the mark of the murder.
"If it is to this extent..."
Bu Eunseol's face turned grim. Even with the Void Heart Command, which could find traces from several decades ago, he could not discover any clue. Until now, such a thing had never happened even once.
'To think they erased the traces so meticulously that even a technique like the Void Heart Command is rendered useless.'
To mobilize this much manpower and expense just to kill a diviner or a shaman in a village; what on earth is Chu So plotting?
"It is not easy."
Bu Eunseol carefully examined the village once more.
Normally, if traces were completely erased like this, it would either be a ghost village where people do not live, or a fake village that was rebuilt in an instant by pouring in supplies and manpower within a short period. However, this place was certainly a village that had maintained its existence for hundreds of years, and the villagers were also ordinary common people.
"If so, does that mean the ones who were murdered were not mere diviners, and after their deaths, they disguised it as if an ordinary diviner had died?"
This was the only deduction that could be made right now.
If that were the case...
Closing his eyes, he began to spread the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi widely. It was to find any barrier that might possibly exist.
Through his previous encounters with Jeong-yeong and Nariya, he had realized that a barrier is not an invisible, transparent membrane, but rather a form where forces possessing different vibrations overlap with one another layers deep. In a word, a barrier is a secret technique that can create a new space by causing elements such as light, sound, and energy to clash with one another at mismatched angles.
'The Wind-Cloud Divine Qi can enter even if there is only a slight gap.'
The internal space of a barrier is in a state where it has slipped ever so slightly into a different space from where it originally ought to be. To put it simply, they are in the same space, but that space is subtly distorted. However, because the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi can pass through even if there is a needle-like gap, it is capable of sensing that subtle distortion.
However, an unexpected situation occurred.
Throb.
It was not that he sensed something through the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi. Rather, a certain remnant of power located deep underground was reacting as if resonating with his own energy.
"Mmm."
He could not know whether a barrier had existed. However, what was certain was that a mysterious power had existed here.
Bu Eunseol stared at the distant sky. There was only one person who could solve this riddle: Han Sangja, the sole survivor of the Sage Forest.
* * *
Henan, Heavenly Family Manor.
This place was one of the hiding places created by Han Sangja, who had built safe houses and hideouts all over the Central Plains.
Having received Bu Eunseol's contact, he had investigated this 'diviner murder case' for half a month, and he shared the results.
"Look at this."
Holding a brush, he pointed above a large map, marking the villages where the fortune-tellers had died one by one with round dots. It was nothing more than traces scattered at random, but in Bu Eunseol's eyes, a bizarre formation was revealing itself, as if those dots were being woven together according to a secret rule.
"It seems to signify some special location."
"That is correct."
From the deepest part of the study, Han Sangja unrolled a scroll that looked as if it had been newly made just now. It was the Heaven and Earth Dragon Dwelling Map, which connected the paths along which the energy of the earth wriggled and flowed like a dragon with red dashed lines.
Swish, swish.
Han Sangja marked the locations of the villages containing the recently slaughtered diviners on the dragon pulse map one by one with dots. Red Pine Village at the eastern end, White Snake Village in the west, Bright Fire Village in the south; when those were connected with lines on the Heaven and Earth Dragon Dwelling Map, a perfect triangle was drawn.
"Every village sits above the crown of a dragon pulse," he said toward Bu Eunseol, who was standing opposite him. "The Heaven and Earth Dragon Dwelling Map cannot be verified unless one is of the sages. Because if you exclude the dragon pulse corresponding to the crown, the flow changes with every seasonal solar term."
The reason the scroll had been recently made was because Han Sangja had drawn a new Heaven and Earth Dragon Pulse Map according to the altered dragon pulses.
"In other words, just as the Society Leader said, there is a high probability that this incident was committed by the Heavenly Mechanism Star," Han Sangja spoke as if declaring definitively. "Because he has deployed order amidst disorder."
Deploying order amidst disorder.
The words are easy, but a matter like this is difficult to accomplish even if thousands of scholars rack their brains together. The only one capable of such a thing within a short period of time is the Heavenly Mechanism Star.
As expected, there is a high probability that the killing ghost slaughtering the diviners was Chu So.
"To be built upon the crown of a dragon pulse sounds like a condition for a barrier."
Bu Eunseol had felt a remnant of strange power in the village he investigated earlier. Perhaps that was the aftermath of deploying a barrier.
"However, the information about the barrier that the Society Leader shared with me is slightly different from the conditions of this village," Han Sangja said while looking at the map. "Because this place is not a location that gets crowded only occasionally depending on the season, but a place always bustling with people."
The barriers that have appeared until now were discovered only in locations where people crowded during certain seasons and where human traces were completely sparse at other times. However, because the villages discovered this time all corresponded to the crown of a dragon dwelling, it was completely different from the conditions of the existing barriers.
"Therefore, I am predicting that perhaps it is a barrier created through a new method, different from what we have seen until now."
The barrier could not be broken even if Bu Eunseol exerted his full strength, and though he had repeated analysis countless times, he only faintly guessed the principle while failing to uncover the method of manifestation in the end. And Han Sangja likewise had not yet uncovered the fundamental principle of the technique known as a barrier, which perfectly separates space itself.
"A barrier of a new method..."
"That is correct. To selectively pick out and cruelly kill only the fortune-tellers without causing any damage to the village at all and without killing the people..." He continued his words, "It seems like an event that took place within the village, but in reality, I suspect it might be an event that took place in a different space."
Bu Eunseol nodded his head. If it were that Chu So, he would be fully capable of deploying a new barrier.
"If my prediction is correct," Han Sangja pointed to a certain location on the map, "he will look for a place containing a diviner among the villages located at the vertices of the dragon pulses... and commit a cruel murder once more."
A hot fervor flowed from his eyes. They had finally caught the tail of that Heavenly Mechanism Star.
* * *
Unheung Town was a village like a piece of a painting. In the morning, grass blades bearing dew sparkled, and in the evening, the cooking smoke rising beneath an old zelkova tree permeated into the sunset.
However, that tranquility was not composed solely of what was visible to the eye.
The three mountain peaks wrapping around the village—Dragon Head Peak in the east, Tiger Tail Mountain in the west, and Tortoise Rock in the north—were not merely towering rocky mountains. They were all three breathing holes through which a massive dragon pulse, which had pierced through the earth since ancient times, poked its head onto the surface.
The energy of the earth pouring forth from the three vertices turned into invisible threads in the empty air, opening, piercing, and overlapping one another to cast down a massive, silk-like curtain.
A barrier.
This mysterious secret of the martial arts world, an advanced study of the three gates that divides space and had remained unrevealed all along, was deployed over this village.
"Perfect, all too perfect."
Beneath a giant tree that completely blocked the sunlight, there was a man standing on a hill that overlooked Unheung Town at a glance. Behind the man stood massive shadows reminiscent of mountains. The shadows were dyed pitch black, looking as if someone had painted a large person from head to toe with ink.
"One must not enter this with strength."
The man in white raised his inner power, then began to draw out his consciousness like a silk thread and mass it in the empty air. Thereupon, his consciousness became a single butterfly moving upon the wind.
The butterfly, quietly flapping its wings, slowly began to fly toward the entrance of Unheung Town. Skimming past grass blades and crossing a stream, it finally reached the edge of the village, where it carefully alighted upon a giant tree located there.
The moment the butterfly sat upon the giant tree, the surrounding scenery instantly melted away like water, and along with a strange vibration, a mysterious light began to descend upon the entire village.
"It takes an awful lot of work."
Opening his eyes again, the man in white descended the hill with a cloud-like movement method and stood before the entrance of the village. Thereupon, beneath the bright sun, a young man bearing an innocent, child-like smile revealed his form.
It was none other than the Heavenly Mechanism Star, Chu So.
He began to walk toward the edge of the village with a confident stride. Thereupon, the pitch-black shadows behind his back also began to walk along.
Yet it was strange. The villagers, who might well have looked at least once at Chu So walking along with the pitch-black shadows, did not look at Chu So at all and were merely doing their own work.
Thud, thud.
Even though Chu So approached the villagers as if colliding with them, he was passing through them like air. Reaching out his hand, a single branch of a large tree located at the edge of the village was grasped in his hand. Holding the branch, Chu So walked along with long strides.
Finally arriving at the well side located in the center of the village, he assumed a serious expression and threw the branch he held in his hand toward the well side, saying, "It is needlessly meticulous. This kind of thing carries no meaning whatsoever."
Even though he had thrown a light branch, a large wave rose as if a massive boulder had fallen.
Splash!
The stream of water leaping out from the well shot up to the end of the sky, then suddenly began to dye the sky with brilliant colors.
Humming.
Thereupon, the scenery of the village turned completely different. The worn-out village had changed into a peach blossom spring where immortals live, and the villagers had also changed into martial artists dressed in white clothing.
"No matter how hard they try, a branch family is merely a branch family." Chu So assumed an extremely disappointed expression as he looked at the people staring at him. "Though I feel it every time, the figures of the branch family possess a vulgar energy, to an extent that makes it hard to believe they are of the Baekri Family."
Swish.
At that moment, the villagers parted, and an old man possessing the air of an immortal sage walked forward. Though his eyebrows and hair were as white as green onion roots, his two eyes were full of essence light and his spine was straight, making it look as if a single dragon had transformed into an old man.
"To break the barrier of the main family and disturb the heavenly secrets..." The old man's eyes narrowed as he looked at Chu So, from whom a deep wickedness flowed that could not be expressed in words, beneath his innocent smile. "Heavenly Mechanism Star, Chu So, were you a demonic creature created by the Sage Forest?"
Even at the exceedingly insulting words, Chu So smiled thinly, "To think you recognize this insignificant small person and even remember my name; it is an overwhelming honor."
"A wicked existence must return to the eternity of nothingness." As the old man knitted his brows and reached out his hand, a mysterious brilliance was created from his palm.
Whoosh, whoosh.
However, an unexpected event occurred. The shadows standing behind Chu So's back began to greedily absorb that light.
Humming.
At the same time, the forms that had been black shadows became masked individuals emitting a white brilliance.
"The Dark Eclipsing Power?" The old man's eyes widened as he discerned the identity of the shadows behind Chu So. "To think you have created the Night Silkworms?"
From the entire bodies of the masked individuals who had completely absorbed the light flowing from the old man's palm, a strange light was flowing.
The Night Silkworm.
Unlike its tranquil name meaning a silkworm of the night, it is a transcendent demonic creature that quietly encroaches upon an opponent's strength in the darkness to make it its own. It is known to have been created by the True Demon in the past to strike the Baekri Family, but because of its characteristic of being unable to distinguish between ally and enemy, it is known to have ultimately vanished quietly without being completed.
However, the Night Silkworms brought by Chu So this time were perfectly distinguishing between ally and enemy, and furthermore, wasn't their ability exceeding what was previously known?
"How quick-witted you are," Chu So said playfully. "Since they have absorbed energy of the same nature, they will not stop until they have killed those who possess that power."
Chu So smiled coldly and said, "Old sir, was your name Geum Mungun?"
The old man's eyebrows, which hung down like willow branches, twitched. To think he had not only found the most secretly hidden branch family under heaven, but even grasped the members of the household in detail?
"I hope you enjoy yourself properly." As Chu So stepped backward, the Night Silkworms that suddenly soared into the sky turned into massive white dragons and began to bite the villagers.
The Manifestation Divine Technique.
They were emitting a mimicry of that most mysterious and subtle power under heaven.
Humming.
The bodies of the villagers also turned hazy, and becoming identical white dragons, they soared into the sky.
Boom!
The sky was filled with white flashes. The breath of light spat out from the open mouths of hundreds of white dragons crossed one another, tearing the atmosphere. The dragon scales struck by that light shattered along with a screeching sound, scattering as a dazzling fragmentation, and a mere brush of it bored holes into massive wings.
As the baptism of light subsided, a melee where flesh masses clashed began immediately.
Crunch!
A single Night Silkworm that had turned into a dragon bit and hung onto the nape of another dragon. The bitten dragon writhed in pain and tangled in the sky while bearing the opponent on its back. Sharp claws dug into silver scales, making a horrible friction sound, and beneath the torn scales, blood lines shot up like fountains. The bitten dragon likewise desperately twisted its body to bite and tear at the enemy's wing joint.
Along with a bone-crushing sound, the two dragons turned into massive masses of blood and began to fall.
"An evenly matched situation," Geum Mungun, who was watching the fight, smiled.
"There is no way that is the case."
Thud!
Suddenly, the tails of the white dragons into which the villagers had transformed grew massive, and they began to slice through the empty air like whips breaking through the sound barrier.
Boom!
Along with a thunderous roar, the Night Silkworms struck squarely by that blow lost their balance and fell in a spiral without even a single cry.
Rumble!
The Night Silkworms instinctively formed a white shield by touching their wings together while drawing a massive circle. However, every time the tail swung by the people of the branch family passed by, a long trail of red blood spread across the sky, and reverting to their original human forms, they plummeted to the ground.
"Until now, numerous factions wanted the power of our main family and mimicked it." The old man, Geum Mungun, clicked his tongue as he looked at Chu So. "But they could not contain the true Manifestation Divine Technique. From the very beginning, it is a power that only the legitimate lineage of our main family can use."
Crack, rip.
The villagers who had turned into white dragons tore all the Night Silkworms apart and began to swallow them into their mouths.
"Now it is your turn." As Geum Mungun assumed a solemn expression while looking at Chu So, Chu So pointed his finger at Geum Mungun's face and suddenly burst into a wild laughter.
After laughing for a long while, Chu So held his forehead and shook his head, saying, "This is the problem with the people of the branch family. Even though they themselves are not the legitimate lineage, they pretend to be the legitimate lineage."
Flash!
At that moment, blood fountains burst out from the bodies of the white dragons that adorned the sky.
Pitter-patter.
As bright red blood poured down like rain, the villagers who had swallowed the Night Silkworms turned into cold corpses and fell to the ground one by one.
"How can this be..."
As Geum Mungun's eyes widened, Chu So looked at the old man and shook his head, saying, "It is truly simple."
"Don't people usually think to hide their finishing blow? I marched directly inside so openly, so would I have brought along ordinary creatures?" Revealing a wicked smile, he said lowly, "They are not Night Silkworms, but Blood Waves."
"Blood Waves?"
"Because they were created through an ancient secret art, they possess several functions." Chu So shrugged his shoulders. "For example, their blood can break the Solarized Manifestation deployed by the Baekri Family through the Manifestation Divine Technique."
As Geum Mungun's eyes widened, Chu So chuckled, "Or would I be crazy enough to bring along Night Silkworms possessing soul-darkening magical vessels to strike the bloodline of the Baekri Family?"
Upon seeing the shadows that absorbed the Manifestation Divine Technique, the old man naturally thought it was the Night Silkworm, the demonic creature created by the True Demon.
That was reasonable as well, because the technique by which Chu So found the gap in the barrier and destroyed the source of the barrier concentrated in the ancient tree in a single breath was the Demonic Blood Great Creation, a method frequently used by the bloodline of the True Demon. Therefore, he naturally thought Chu So was using the True Demon's secret arts, and he could not help but think that the black masked individuals who absorbed his power were the Night Silkworms if they were created by the True Demon.
Yet in reality, to think it was an ancient demonic soldier specialized in breaking the secret arts of the Baekri Family?
The corners of Geum Mungun's eyes trembled faintly. If he had been just a little more careful, he could have avoided the trap. However, Chu So had boldly deceived him by utilizing a single perception of 'it is only natural.'
"There is no way that is the case," Geum Mungun let out a deep sigh as if realizing something. "There would be no demonic soldier capable of breaking the secret arts of our main family so easily."
Chu So seems to toss out information easily, but in reality, most of the words he spoke were closer to a trap and a deceptive trick that subtly misleads the enemy's perception, much like a heart-capturing secret art.
"You utilized a dragon pulse."
One cannot break the Solarized Manifestation of the Baekri Family simply with a demonic soldier known as a Blood Wave. He had clearly broken the secret art of the Baekri Family by utilizing the dragon pulse deployed over the village. Because while the dragon pulse is an essential element for constructing the barrier of the Baekri Branch Family, it was also a power that blocked the Manifestation Divine Technique from being revealed to the outside.
"The trick of throwing the tree into the well was also not the Demonic Blood Great Creation, but a secret art that reverses the power of the dragon pulse maintaining the barrier to flow inward."
"Oh, you are finally starting to use your brain." Chu So clapped his hands. "If another three hundred years or so pass, perhaps bloodline members who do not carry their heads around as decorations might be born to the Baekri Family as well?"
"Our main family was too complacent." Geum Mungun realized for what reason Chu So had accurately found and destroyed the Baekri Branch Families hidden in various locations. "The diviner deployed to maintain the dragon pulse was the clue."
The barrier of the Baekri Family is a secret art established based on the energy of the dragon. If one deploys a barrier along the energy where a dragon pulse flows, that energy does not cut off, allowing them to live disconnected from the world for hundreds of years. However, because a dragon pulse is an area with large ups and downs and severe fluctuations, a diviner capable of reading and controlling it, a person who can verify the heavenly secrets and the topography of the earth, must manage it from the outside.
Chu So had grasped that blind spot, and by finding and verifying the villages where diviners lived one by one, he had destroyed the Baekri Branch Families.
"So," Geum Mungun asked, "is it revenge?" He assumed a wretched expression. "Against our main family, which tried to artificially birth the Heavenly Mechanism Star?" Geum Mungun assumed a pained expression.
The mastermind that passed down ancient secret arts and knowledge to the Sage Forest to artificially birth the Heavenly Mechanism Star; that was none other than the Baekri Family.
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