'It's different.'
Grandmasters of martial arts who could create martial arts methodologies like Bu Eunseol could read the essence and profound principles of a martial art just by looking at a single stance.
'It isn't Grandfather's Seven Blood Tear Forms.'
In Bu Eunseol's eyes right now, he could see the path the saber qi had taken, and the trajectory of the saber wind seemed to have stopped in the shape of a whirlwind around the strange rocks.
'It is a variant of the Seven Blood Tear Forms.'
The remaining traces of the saber technique were not those of a grim reaper bringing death, but rather as if an enraged demon had swung its claws in a state of fury.
The killing intent was frozen like ice, and resentment lingered along the trajectory of the saber. It felt as though even one's soul would freeze just by touching it.
'Is the Seven Blood Tear Forms possible in such a form?'
Vmmmm.
Just then, another space emerged around ten jang away.
At the same time, gigantic masked men, over eight cheok tall with burly physiques, appeared.
'They are not artificial demonic creatures like the Two Hundred Yin-Slayers.'
In other words, they were not demonic creatures bound to protect Myriad Phenomena Tomb.
'Did they forcibly meet the conditions?'
Factions or individuals who knew the conditions to enter Myriad Phenomena Tomb sometimes forcibly trained people who could meet the conditions to enter each Myriad Phenomena Tomb.
Perhaps they were individuals brought in by a certain faction, having met the conditions, in order to obtain the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl located here.
Their eyes flashed as they looked back and forth between Bu Eunseol and their surroundings.
Vmmmm. Vmmmm. Vmmmm.
After that, space continued to open up endlessly, and masked men with small builds or carrying weapons appeared one after another.
Rumble.
The earth shook, and the vast space of the plains began to shrink slightly.
Every time the masked men appeared, the space shrank bit by bit.
'So that's how it is.'
Bu Eunseol finally realized the reason why martial arts were engraved here.
They were the remains of those who had fought enemies, been defeated, and perished.
"This means one cannot leave this space without defeating the enemy."
As if to prove it, masked men appeared endlessly along with the vibrations, and the space was shrinking each time.
"There's no way this many masters of the Limitless Realm could suddenly appear."
Bu Eunseol saw through the fact that the masked men were not only quite young, but also possessed supernatural power.
"As expected, in order to forcibly open Myriad Phenomena Tomb, they sent in subordinates with supernatural power."
Supernatural power could not replace the boundless capabilities that transcended the common sense of martial arts.
However, sensing the flow of this Myriad Phenomena Tomb and entering through the crack could likely be substituted with supernatural power. It seemed they had entered this place using such a method.
Step, step, step.
They ran out without delay and surrounded Bu Eunseol in a circle.
Crackle.
Blue sparks flew from the hands of the masked men in the lead.
Boom!
As they waved their hands, dozens of blue spears poured out toward Bu Eunseol.
Thump, thump, thump.
At the same time, the large masked men in the rear charged forward, shaking the earth.
Rumble!
The fingers of the masked men surrounding his left and right emitted finger winds packed with immense power.
"Hmm."
With his upper body slightly tilted, Bu Eunseol took a half step with a soft movement like flowing water.
All the attacks unleashed by the masked men brushed past him.
Although he had lost the enlightenment of Baekri Geomha, he had executed an evasive maneuver applying the Emperor's Step in his own way.
Boom!
When Bu Eunseol dodged all the attacks, the masked men attempting physical charges leapt into the air and unleashed a rain of immense palm force.
It was not a simple palm force.
It contained supernatural power, scattering tens of thousands of sharp fragments every time it poured down from the sky.
Paaat!
Even the attacks unleashed by the masked men seemed to somehow contain profound principles similar to the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Flash!
The numerous points of light instantly filled all the space around Bu Eunseol with light.
Baaang!
Whenever the points of light fell to the ground, black craters formed along with explosions.
Swish.
For some reason, Bu Eunseol did not think to counterattack and only employed Swift Beyond Shadow.
Vmmmm.
At that moment, the space behind his back distorted, and masked men holding sharp swords began pouring out sword techniques.
Without even looking back, Bu Eunseol raised the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, scabbard and all, and blocked the attacks.
Clang, clang, clang!
Along with the sharp noise of clashing metal, those holding swords instantly retreated about a jang.
Flash!
Suddenly, a bead of pitch-black nothingness formed above his head and flew in, drawing a profound trajectory.
The masked men had used supernatural power again.
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
The strange rocks brushed by the bead were pierced with holes as if melting.
It was truly a relentless barrage of attacks, a feast of diverse supernatural powers he had never experienced before.
Swish!
At that moment, the shadow beneath Bu Eunseol's feet writhed, and a massive, transparent hand surged up as if to snatch his ankle.
The reason they poured down attacks as if falling from the sky, despite being able to use various supernatural powers, was to succeed in a decisive blow surging from below the ground.
Swish.
As Bu Eunseol's figure multiplied into ninety-nine, the transparent hands surging from the ground vainly cut through the air.
He had dodged them all by employing Swift Beyond Shadow, which had reached the extreme realm.
'It was the United Heart Society.'
The reason he had continuously taken evasive maneuvers and not counterattacked was to clearly reveal the identities of those masked men.
'He said one must leave behind a true martial art.'
And the second reason.
It was because of the story Baek Jeoncheon had told him. He was concerned about the saying that those who visited Myriad Phenomena Tomb returned having lost one true martial art.
'What if I have to leave behind a martial art to eliminate them?'
The masked men were displaying incredible martial arts and supernatural power, but from Bu Eunseol's perspective, they were not much of a threat.
He was only worried about one thing: unleashing a martial art to eliminate them, only to truly have one martial art disappear.
Thump, thump, thump!
When their attacks amounted to nothing, the large masked men ground up the earth and charged at Bu Eunseol once again.
Bu Eunseol, who had been continuously dodging attacks, finally made up his mind.
'Poison.'
Even though it was the most convenient and powerful among the powers Bu Eunseol possessed, the only thing unrelated to the development of martial arts was the ability of the Poison Saint.
'I don't like desecrating corpses, either.'
In fact, his reasons for shunning poison were overflowing.
Having continuously worked as a mortician with his grandfather, restoring and treating the bodies of the deceased with care, he couldn't help but instinctively hesitate to use poison that desecrated corpses.
Moreover, his grandfather, too, had his body ruthlessly desecrated, encroached upon by the Rotten and Decaying Poison. Thus, he had unconsciously developed an extreme aversion to poison itself.
Ssssss.
As he drew upon the power of the Poison Saint, Bu Eunseol's eyes turned white.
He had never learned poison arts, yet he had surpassed the limits of the Poison Saint and lacked even a poison essence. Nevertheless, he could freely create poison according to his surroundings.
It was a power that other martial artists would never give up, but to Bu Eunseol, it was merely a cumbersome authority.
Ssssh.
As he used the power of the Poison Saint, a white mist began to spread in all directions behind his back.
Every time the mist brushed past, rocks and trees were pierced with holes, and the ground turned black.
Vmmmm!
When symptoms of poisoning arose, the masked men drew upon their internal energy and supernatural power, beginning to push the poison away.
However, the poison Bu Eunseol created was naturally formed based on the surrounding environment.
Crack.
When he created poison in the environment inside Myriad Phenomena Tomb, a poison was unleashed that petrified their bodies, just like the strange rocks scattered around.
Crunch.
The masked men's legs slowly began to harden like stone.
As they flailed their arms, their arms, too, were hardening stiffly.
Baaam!
However, there were also those who endured the poison.
They broke their petrified bodies themselves and lunged at Bu Eunseol once more.
Whoosh.
In an instant, an energy like a red dragon began to swirl from Bu Eunseol's right arm.
He had unleashed the Heaven Hand Void Break, the fourth form of the Seven Fist Demon Forms.
Baaaam!
As fist force capable of overturning this entire area poured out all at once, the masked men were swept up in the shockwave of that fist force before they even had time to dodge.
Rumble!
Along with the sound of thunder, those exposed to the fist force fell to the ground and could not get up.
But a wondrous thing occurred.
Crunch.
The masked men whose breath had been cut off after taking the Heaven Hand Void Break head-on began to have their bodies harden like stone.
'When the life force is cut off, petrification occurs... I see.'
The reason there were so many strange rocks here.
It was because if one's breath was cut off in Myriad Phenomena Tomb, their body would simply harden like stone.
Vmmmm.
At that time, a bizarre reaction began to occur inside Bu Eunseol's body as well.
Were the strange rocks around him beginning to absorb the poisonous qi he had created?
"Is this what they meant by offering a true martial art?"
Offering a martial art to Myriad Phenomena Tomb did not mean it was entirely taken away. It meant recording one true martial art here and 'delegating' it while inside this place.
"It's a good thing I chose poison."
While he was here, the power of the Poison Saint was a sort of admission fee.
Until he left this place, he became unable to use poison.
'It wouldn't matter even if it could be taken away.'
If Bu Eunseol had harbored a poison essence in his body and remained at the realm of creating poison internally, merely losing the poison essence for a moment would have destroyed his realm as the Poison Saint.
However, because he naturally created poison using the surrounding environment, it could not affect him no matter how endlessly that power was absorbed.
Rumble.
When all the masked men lost their lives, the shrinking space of Myriad Phenomena Tomb returned to its original state, and a forest that had been invisible until now appeared.
'Crystal.'
The trees and grass on the ground were all made of transparent crystal.
The leaves hanging from every branch held light, and with every step he took, countless iridescent fragments twinkled.
However, a fatal threat was hidden within the beauty.
Inside the crystal, where the interior could be clearly seen, bizarre afterimages were repeating endlessly, as if the Mind-Seizing Secret Art had been cast.
Furthermore, the beast-shaped statues standing here and there also gave the illusion of pouncing the moment they caught the light.
If one's spiritual barrier was not thick? They would lose consciousness or have no choice but to wander the forest mindlessly, as if caught in the Mind-Seizing Secret Art the moment they entered the forest.
Clink. Clang.
Every time he walked, the crystal grass blades shattered, and a sound like clinking glass cups echoed.
Going deep inside, at the deepest and quietest center of the forest, a massive crystal tree, incomparably larger than all the other trees, could be seen.
And at the center of that tree, a mysteriously twinkling pearl was embedded.
'The Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl.'
Bu Eunseol intuitively knew that the pearl inside the crystal tree was the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl.
Its size looked slightly smaller than an adult's fist, and its surface was smooth.
A crimson light gathered at the center of the pearl; light akin to blood vessels would spread out and disappear repeatedly.
At times, it expanded, dyeing the entire pearl crimson, and thin golden threads extended from that crimson radiance, spreading out like a skein of thread.
Its appearance was like the chaos of the beginning.
It looked like golden and silver nebulas flowing gracefully like a river.
'This is not a simple pearl.'
Just as Bu Eunseol unconsciously held his breath and peered into it,
Rumble.
The sound of thunder echoed in the distance, and soon, a clinking sound was heard endlessly.
Someone else had entered this place.
Step.
Before long, a man whose face was hidden by a mask shining as if holding the moonlight stood opposite Bu Eunseol.
The broad sleeves and the robe, engraved with patterns of dragons and phoenixes in gold, fluttered like flames with every step.
The eyes behind the mask simultaneously held majesty and indifference, and radiance frequently flashed and disappeared in them.
"That is."
Bu Eunseol's gaze was fixed not on the masked man's face, but on what hung upon him.
He carried a great saber on his back, so large it was almost crude, and its hilt was longer than an ordinary short sword.
Journey.
Wasn't that the hilt of the great saber his grandfather used, which he had lost when he fell from the cliff due to Hyeokryeon Eung's attack in the past?
Moreover, even though it was in its scabbard, a black haze was thickly rising from it.
He had found not only Journey but also the main body of the great saber, and had combined them.
"Are you."
According to Do Myeong, a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion and Rangju of Dongpyoseorang.
Didn't he say the United Heart Society Leader had his grandfather's great saber?
"Are you the United Heart Society Leader?"
"Martial Soul Command Lord."
Because he had not disguised himself, the masked man also recognized Bu Eunseol and nodded.
"I wondered how you were still alive after stirring up all sorts of factions, but it seems you were a dog of the Sacred Domain."
The masked man's voice, let alone his age, was an androgynous resonance that transcended the distinction of male and female.
"Where did you find Grandfather's great saber?"
When the masked man, the United Heart Society Leader, remained silent, Bu Eunseol spoke.
"That is my grandfather's keepsake."
"You speak strange words."
The United Heart Society Leader snorted.
"If I were to say the sword you carry belonged to this Society Leader's grandfather, would you meekly hand it over?"
Martial artists have the perception ingrained in them that the treasures of the martial world have no owner, and finders keepers.
Unless the United Heart Society Leader returned it, there was no choice but to take it by force.
"You coaxed a disciple of this Pavilion and led him down the path of evil."
Figures of the United Heart Society had sniped at him in the past, and had led the Nangyang Pavilion disciple Do Myeong down the path of evil.
Even without the great saber, the reasons to strike down the United Heart Society Leader were overflowing.
"Huhuhu."
The United Heart Society Leader sensed the killing intent rising from Bu Eunseol's body and wore a faint smile.
"If you have the skill, try and take it."
Step.
All along, the United Heart Society Leader's attitude and gaze were very unfamiliar.
However, when he entered a combat stance, it somehow felt familiar.
Clang!
Suddenly, blinding light clashed and shook the space where the crystal tree stood.
The United Heart Society Leader, who had closed the distance in an instant, swung the great saber, scabbard and all, like lightning.
Bu Eunseol had blocked it with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Ch-ch-ch-chk.
Sparks flew endlessly where the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword met the scabbard of the great saber.
Light and darkness clashed, tearing space, and the aftermath of the explosion shook the entirety of Myriad Phenomena Tomb.
Step.
As if by appointment, the two withdrew their weapons and stepped back a jang.
The air grew heavy, as if frozen.
Bu Eunseol closed his eyes.
When he closed his vision, the super-senses of the Beast Way became extremely acute.
The formless air currents emanating from the great saber wielded by the United Heart Society Leader rushed in like a sticky substance, seemingly binding his limbs.
The great saber had not even been drawn yet, but the fierce saber qi, like scraping bone, seemed to cleave his body.
Vmmmm.
As he became one with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, true waves of internal energy naturally bloomed from Bu Eunseol's body.
It soon formed a transparent energy membrane, blocking the formless air currents poured out by the United Heart Society Leader.
Even so, it could not block the sharp energy piercing his skin and seeping in.
'He's strong.'
The formless energy unleashed by the United Heart Society Leader became tens of millions of sharp needles, relentlessly pricking his skin.
Flash.
As the super-senses of the Beast Way reached their peak, the Cheonui Heart Secret spontaneously manifested.
That, in turn, activated the Nangyang Heart Eye.
Then, they stimulated Bu Eunseol's right eye once more, blooming an azure radiance.
The power of Ancient Sword Forest had been manifested.
Then, the world that entered his vision slowed down to an extreme degree.
He could clearly observe the trajectory of the true waves of internal energy unleashed by the United Heart Society Leader.
Not only that, he could vividly see the shape of even a single grain of crystal scattered on the ground.
Even if lightning struck from the sky, lines of light descending sluggishly would have been visible to his eyes.
With transcendent visual acuity, Bu Eunseol began to scan the United Heart Society Leader from the top of his head down to his toes.
Swish.
At that moment, he discovered the United Heart Society Leader's two legs minutely writhing as if gripping the ground.
It was proof that he had completed preparations to kick off the ground and launch forward with explosive power at any moment.
From the eyes behind the mask, an azure radiance like the sea poured out, and soon it turned into a deep abyss, spitting out a bizarre glow.
The mental method of the orthodox path.
Surprisingly, the United Heart Society Leader was operating an internal energy method of the orthodox path.
'Shaolin?'
And none other than the Muscle-Changing Classic of Shaolin.
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