Baekri Geomha spoke with a more serious expression than ever.
[There is something called the Flower Garland Unity.]
It was a dharma gate that Baekri Muha had handed down in the past, seeking perfect unity of mind and body.
Baekri Geomha calmly informed Bu Eunseol of them.
[It is a secret method that runs parallel to the Transcendental Unity commonly spoken of in spirit secret arts.]
It forces two consciousnesses opposing each other at extreme ends into a single vessel.
It was an extremely mysterious and profound spirit secret art that converted that clash itself into power.
"You haven't tried it before."
[That's right.]
Baekri Geomha obediently admitted it.
[Because this is an attempt akin to a gamble.]
He explained again.
[And it can only be activated when the two personalities perfectly agree and have a common goal.]
"If even one side hesitates or cannot trust the other, inner force will flow in reverse, plunging one into qi deviation, leading to self-destruction."
[Correct.]
And he explained the dharma gate.
[Extreme Yang means Order, and Extreme Yin means Chaos.]
"Hmm."
[By clashing the two energies of yin and yang in the dantian, one prevents chaos and…… merges them in a form where power and personality are amplified.]
"So it was something Father taught."
Bu Eunseol was suddenly envious of Baekri Geomha.
He himself only had memories of his parents in an extremely brief form.
Baekri Geomha, on the other hand, was monopolizing not only the martial arts dharma gates their parents taught them but also the memories of being together with them.
[What a funny guy. My memories only go up to the days at Saha Manor.]
Baekri Geomha spoke coldly.
[But were you not loved by Bu Zhanyang for a very long time.]
Bu Eunseol wore a bitter expression.
In the end, he was living on the memories of his grandfather.
And Baekri Geomha was living on the memories of their parents.
"Can you not share your memories with me."
Bu Eunseol said.
"Since you and I are no different anyway."
[Don't try any foolish tricks.]
Baekri Geomha cold-heartedly refused.
[You say you are the real one, but from my perspective, you are the fake.]
Baekri Geomha acted as though, were Bu Eunseol to learn the memories he possessed.
Something terrible would happen, and he was on guard against it.
Which meant…….
It was clear that Baekri Geomha knew something he didn't know.
[Even if we complete this dharma gate, the unified state is the time it takes to eat a meal at most. Usually, it can only hold out for one quarter of an hour.]
"And beyond that?"
[If that happens, the boundary between the two personalities collapses, and we become a madman who is neither one nor the other.]
"Good. Let's try it."
Taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol began to recite the dharma gate Baekri Geomha taught him.
Pamyeong was still in this area.
If they were discovered before achieving unity by any chance, they could be killed.
They had to unify quickly.
Crack, crackle.
Along with the pain of his head seemingly collapsing, Bu Eunseol's body gradually began to swell.
The unity of personalities was actually an abstract expression, and if expressed according to the principles of martial arts.
It was the act of forcibly placing the qi of two originally different, conflicting extremes onto the path of the same Dao.
This was like forcibly placing entirely different melodies onto a single sheet of music.
If harmony was achieved for a moment, it would display a might that could shake heaven and earth, but the moment it lost its balance, it would head straight for catastrophe.
Koo-koo-koo-koo!
The clash of the two energies blooming from the dantian became a fierce tremor and spread out in all directions.
The earth roared and split like a living beast, and stones began to fall from the cave ceiling.
"Uuuugh."
It felt as if his body would burst.
As two sources that could never mix like water and oil were forced into a single vessel.
His entire body screamed at the fierce repulsive force and expanded as if it would tear apart.
Beneath the skin, along with a terrifying sensation like tens of thousands of bugs crawling along his blood vessels.
Agony as if every single joint of his bones was being crushed and reassembled washed over him like a wave.
"Something…… went wrong."
Crack, crackle, crack!
His pitch-black hair instantly lost its color from the roots, turning into a cool silver light that seemed to hold the moonlight, flowing down to his waist.
His dark, deep pupils lost their light and burned purely white, turning hollow as if his soul had evaporated.
At this rate, in this fiercely raging torrent of power, his physical body had no choice but to be shattered.
Kwa-a-a-a-a-ang!
Eventually, a massive explosion occurred in his dantian.
Simultaneously, Bu Eunseol's figure was shot up into the sky like a brilliant firework embroidering the night sky.
The solid rock walls of the cave were torn away like sheets of paper, and his body soared beyond the distant night sky, drawing a red trajectory.
Kwa-wooo!
As the air wrapping his body compressed, compressed again, and finally crossed the limit……
Swooooosh!
Along with a sharp noise as if the sky was tearing, a transparent shockwave covered his body.
The impact was so strong that it felt as if all his senses were sinking into darkness.
How much time had passed?
The sound of a whirlwind sweeping away sand echoed in his ears.
As Bu Eunseol hastily opened his eyes and raised his body,
"……!"
A golden sand dune stretching endlessly under the moonlight could be seen.
"Jade Gate Pass?"
That place was the desert where he had briefly encountered the Black Leopard in the past.
He had merely lost consciousness for a very brief moment, yet……
He had flown a distance of thousands of ri, from Jenam to the entrance of the Western Regions.
Crack.
Moreover, due to failing the Transcendental Unity, a severe pain that felt as if his entire body would collapse spread out as a backlash.
"Baekri Geomha."
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
"So in the end, to steal the body again, you tampered with the dharma gate."
Though young, he had reached the status of a Great Grandmaster capable of creating martial arts dharma gates in his own way.
If Transcendental Unity had failed, he would suffer a blow to his spirit; such a bizarre event wouldn't occur.
Belatedly savoring and interpreting the dharma gate Baekri Geomha had informed him of, he had seen through that Baekri Geomha had modified something to steal his physical body.
"Afraid I would master the core secrets, you deliberately left out an important dharma gate."
Afraid he might grasp the essence of the dharma gate to unify their personalities.
Baekri Geomha had attempted to cause an explosion of the spirit and push Bu Eunseol's personality into the abyss.
But as Bu Eunseol's spiritual barrier was harder than diamond, ultimately, the repulsive force that seemed ready to burst wrought a disaster upon his physical body.
"I believe I told you not to stab me in the back."
[It wasn't stabbing you in the back, but a dharma gate to make me whole!]
Baekri Geomha spoke shamelessly.
[Do you think I lost to that guy? Don't make me laugh. It's just because I used half-baked power in a state where I wasn't properly unified with the physical body.]
That was true.
Hadn't Pamyeong also seen at a glance that the Heaven-Dark Star's power hadn't properly bloomed?
If Baekri Geomha had perfectly exerted his power, there was no guaranteeing how the showdown with Pamyeong would have turned out.
"No, even if spiritual unity is achieved, you cannot beat Pamyeong."
Bu Eunseol spoke resolutely.
"It is because I know that, that I speak confidently."
[That is just your thought.]
"Can't be helped, I suppose."
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
"The proposal to combine our strength is canceled. I will handle this matter on my own."
[Hmph, do as you please.]
Baekri Geomha didn't disappear but turned his body.
With just that, an uncrossable wall had formed between the two.
* * *
Bu Eunseol returned to Majeon.
In the meantime, he had relentlessly tried to treat his internal injuries, but.
Whether it was due to the repulsive force of the transcendental power called the Heaven-Dark Star, or because Pamyeong's power was contained within it.
He wasn't perfectly recovered.
He had tried taking spiritual medicine to recover his internal injuries, and even received a pulse diagnosis from the Medicine King Hall Master, but.
Like a strange disease, he simply couldn't figure out the reason why it wouldn't perfectly recover.
―Convene a meeting of the Captains.
But there was a matter more important than the recovery of his body.
Pamyeong.
Since he had become the target of that transcendental expert, he had to urgently set up countermeasures for that issue.
―We will begin the meeting.
Bu Eunseol called all the Captains of the Death Shadow Corps together and began the meeting.
Having heard all the explanations, it was difficult for the Captains to escape from the shock.
Pamyeong.
That one of the attendants of the True Demon.
Was encroaching upon the body of Wi Cheongun, the Grand Steward of the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild, and roaming about?
"If that's the case, wouldn't he be able to snatch the Emperor's body as well?"
Wi Cheongyeong asked with an expression that he couldn't understand.
If he could manipulate a person without lifting a single finger? Wasn't he practically a transcendental being close to a True Demon?
"No."
Yoo Unryong, who had been stroking his chin while sunk in deep thought, shook his head.
"That is impossible."
And he spoke resolutely.
"To prepare for such situations, the Imperial Family has a training method handed down through generations. No great art or Mind-Seizing Secret Art of the martial world works on it."
He continued his explanation.
"Also, generals who have learned the secret arts of the Imperial Palace Armory are constantly protecting the Emperor."
In the Imperial Family, there existed a secret magic art passed down to block evil mental encroachments.
Above all, the Dragon Qi possessed by the Emperor and those with the Emperor's bloodline serves as the strongest defensive wall.
"If he unreasonably attempts to snatch the physical body, his mind might suffer a reverse flow and be extinguished, and above all, on the day he fails, all blood relatives and factions related to them would suffer the disaster of extermination beyond their nine generations. It means carrying far too great a risk."
The Captains widened their eyes.
Because the fact that such a secret art was passed down in the Imperial Family was something ordinary martial artists didn't know at all.
"Was there such a thing?"
When Jo Namcheon asked in surprise, Yoo Unryong nodded his head.
"The non-encroachment between government and martial world was fundamentally for a similar reason to this. Because encroaching upon each other is nearly impossible."
He looked at Bu Eunseol and said.
"Reaching the present generation, the martial arts of the martial world are evaluated to surpass the Imperial Palace's secret arts. But when looking at the long history of the martial world, they were always just evenly matched."
It was a natural statement.
The world is the law of the jungle.
If the Imperial Palace had the power to control the martial world? The unwritten rule called the non-encroachment between government and martial world would never have been made.
Because the power of both sides was equal, there was a probability of mutual destruction if they clashed.
They were merely appropriately not encroaching upon each other within a line that didn't offend each other.
"If so, Pamyeong taking control of Wi Cheongun's body must be because he met specific conditions."
At Myo Cheonwoo's words, the Captains nodded their heads.
What if Pamyeong could freely manipulate the physical bodies of all humans in the world?
There would have been no need for him to take control of the body of a person like the Grand Steward of the Myriad Gold Merchant Guild for a long time; he would have simply manipulated people he needed at any given time.
"Specific conditions."
The eyes of Bu Eunseol, who had been listening silently, narrowed.
'Come to think of it, Hall Master Sa's body was weak too.'
Sa Woo, the Secret Head of Nangyang Pavilion, had his body heavily damaged in his childhood, so his physical body couldn't develop properly.
But after being encroached upon by Pamyeong, he came to possess a perfect body as a martial artist.
'Perhaps Wi Cheongun's body was also unwell.'
Those encroached upon by Pamyeong might have suffered from incurable illnesses or strange diseases like Sa Woo.
'This is a part that will soon be revealed if we investigate.'
Having finished his thoughts, Bu Eunseol said.
"The problem is that he purposefully revealed himself, and declared that if he can't kill me…… he will twist the power of fate and kill you all."
His expression as he looked around at the personnel in the gathering was dark.
Touching the people around him meant, ultimately, making the targeted person come looking for him on their own.
What if his words were true?
Bu Eunseol had to go directly and challenge him to a showdown before the people around him got hurt.
"Even though he said that, it won't be easy."
At that time, Jo Namcheon tapped his chest and said.
"Because no matter what powerhouses of the world come, they won't be able to recklessly strike us."
At that, the Captains nodded their heads again.
That was not baseless pride.
Even before the appearance of Covenantors, Bu Eunseol made it so that no super powerhouses could easily touch the subordinates of the Death Shadow Corps.
He continuously trained them and prepared safety devices for that.
And the solidity of the ancient secret art called the Mind's Eye was at a level transcending the boundaries of the current martial world's martial arts.
Even an expert of the Limitless Realm couldn't recklessly strike the Death Shadow Corps.
"It might not be a direct attack."
Bu Eunseol, having taken a deep breath,
"But I believe you will be fully capable of blocking it."
Said while looking around the gathering.
"Starting today, I will enter closed-door training."
A hot light flowed from Bu Eunseol's pupils as he looked at the Captains.
"No matter what happens, you must hold out until I come out again."
―Your command.
All the Captains expressed their courtesy with solemn expressions.
Actually, Pamyeong is a super strong enemy Bu Eunseol can absolutely never defeat in a short period of time.
But the Captains nodded their heads with expressions full of trust, without a single inch of doubt.
―The Lord will succeed.
Because he was a figure who always definitely kept the words he spat out, and succeeded in miraculous deeds.
While they somehow held out and held out, he would definitely be able to defeat Pamyeong.
* * *
Bu Eunseol, who secretly slipped out of Majeon, entered closed-door training.
Martial Soul Society, Absolute Domain.
A place where only those who resonated with Bu Eunseol's wave could enter.
He intended to do closed-door training in the most secretive and safe space in the world.
'Right now, the probability of me beating Pamyeong is zero.'
If there was even a shred of hope.
It was that Wi Cheongun was not Pamyeong's true physical body, but merely a puppet being manipulated.
Also, his actual physical body was in an injured state, and caught in some sort of restriction, he wasn't revealing his figure in the martial world.
If Pamyeong had no restrictions whatsoever and could ruthlessly kill martial artists and commoners?
Majeon, no, the entire martial world would have already fallen into his grasp and collapsed.
'But.'
Bu Eunseol, who was continuing his seated meditation there, suddenly had a bizarre question.
'If they are the True Demon's kin, wouldn't that restriction also have been created by the True Demon?'
In fact, even excluding the Three Attendants.
Just with the Four Divine Heavens or the Eight Human Heavens, one could establish a powerful allied faction comparable to the Murim Alliance and Majeon.
But all of the True Demon's kin.
Tied to the shackle of some sort of restriction, did not reveal their figures in the martial world, nor did they cooperate with each other.
As a result, most of the kin excluding the Three Attendants were effectively annihilated by Bu Eunseol.
Why on earth?
Did the True Demon, with such overwhelming kin under his command, purposely invite destruction?
―The True Demon desires for the kin to devour each other.
These were the words the old man of the Sacred Domain, who had handled the covenant in the past, had said.
'But it's strange.'
Even if the True Demon could recreate his kin at any time.
The time and cost to foster super powerhouses who dominate the martial world is immense.
Yet why does the True Demon not look after their safety?
Why doesn't he regret the deaths of subordinates who have accumulated long experience?
'What's even stranger is the existence of the True Demon's blood relatives.'
The True Demon has constantly existed alongside the history of the martial world.
In other words, using his bloodline, he could have accumulated immense power and factions, and even ascended to the position of Emperor.
But in the end, he threw everything away and hid his traces.
Due to that, he even left room for betrayal for the Three Attendants who pledged loyalty generation after generation.
Such a superhuman could not possibly have failed to think of these points.
'These thoughts are for later.'
Now is the time to ponder a method to defeat Pamyeong.
Bu Eunseol closed his eyes.
'I must first find a clue to break Pamyeong's power.'
Inside the secret room where not a single point of light, not a single strand of wind entered, a suffocating pressure was rather exuded.
His consciousness was continuously reviewing the battle from the other day.
He couldn't suddenly increase his martial arts in a short time.
But how Pamyeong deflected all attacks and even continued to counterattack in that opening.
Unearthing that technique and principle wouldn't be impossible.
'If I can just figure out the technique of returning everything…… I can defeat that guy.'
Bu Eunseol hadn't poured out everything of his in the battle with Pamyeong.
Especially the absolute sword art based on the Dao of Nature, which was the power that saved Sa Woo, who was encroached upon by Pamyeong's power.
He had intentionally hidden the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse.
'Because if I deployed it, it would have failed.'
Because Wi Cheongun's physical body was more closely resonated with Pamyeong's power.
And he possessed a power that wouldn't be touched by any attack.
But what if he could land the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse?
He could definitely defeat him.
'Unless it is a perfect fleeting moment, I must absolutely not use it.'
The Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse was the only martial art that could oppose Pamyeong, and the critical secret technique he had hidden.
If this martial art was clumsily exposed, his identity would be discovered of course, and even the final opportunity to defeat him would disappear.
Pa-ang! Kwa-jik!
Bu Eunseol endlessly reproduced the moment he fought Pamyeong in the past in his head.
Then, even the senses and memories of Baekri Geomha sparring with Pamyeong slowly began to surface.
'Is this possible……?'
The senses he was feeling right now were.
Not from an external perspective, but the movements and situations Baekri Geomha had felt.
'Could it be.'
It merely lacked the core secrets.
The dharma gate Baekri Geomha had passed on was not complete nonsense.
Through the function of that dharma gate, what Baekri Geomha had felt during the battle with Pamyeong was conveyed, albeit faintly.
'If so…….'
What if he could naturally become one with Baekri Geomha? He would be able to obtain power transcending imagination.
"But if that really happens."
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
Could his unified self really be called Bu Eunseol?
Just like how Baek Museong in the past, after achieving Transcendental Unity, became a being who could no longer be called the Baek Museong of the past.
Might he become a completely different person forever?
'No, right now, I must do whatever it takes.'
Pamyeong is manipulating Wi Cheongun, the Grand Steward of the Ten Great Merchant Guilds of the Central Plains, who is considered the top in financial power.
Even without using the power that twists fate, he could mobilize those mighty connections and financial power to strike the Death Shadow Corps.
He had to find a way to defeat him as soon as possible, even a day sooner.
"Using Baekri Geomha's dharma gate……."
Bu Eunseol's pupils flashed.
"I will achieve Transcendental Unity on my own."
Through Pamyeong, it was proven that Baekri Geomha's personality possessed the immense power called the Heaven-Dark Star.
But to absorb that power.
Unifying with Baekri Geomha, who had a selfish personality, was a near-impossible task.
Bu Eunseol, using the dharma gate Baekri Geomha had taught him minus the core secrets previously.
Intended to draw out the Heaven-Dark Star's power inherent in his own physical body.
Bu Eunseol closed his eyes.
His breathing was silent as if cut off, and his existence had seeped in like a part of the scenery.
His consciousness sank into the endless abyss.
Abandoning the familiar river of inner force, he began to follow the bizarre and incomplete waterway of the dharma gate Baekri Geomha left behind.
An energy defying normal flow advanced precariously along his blood vessels.
It was that moment.
Deep within his spirit, in the pitch-black darkness, a very minute crack occurred.
Crack.
Like a well-baked ceramic cracking, an alien fissure opened in his inner world.
Pat!
A colorless wave, neither a ray of light nor darkness, spread out in all directions.
It was an energy of extinction that erased the vision of the beholder, extinguished the hearing of the listener, and erased the basis of all existing senses one by one.
Flash!
When he opened his eyes again, the flickering light was an unadulterated void along with the will of extinction to erase all creation.
His black hair fluttered along with the formless wave, and his pupils no longer held the light of a human.
Those eyes became a being with the silence from before the beginning of time, the will desiring the nothingness from before creation.
The energy of the Heaven-Dark Star, which extinguished all things in the world, was about to be exerted.
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