Bu Eunseol, who had been at the First Patriarch Hermitage located at the foot of the mountain a short distance from the Shaolin Temple,
had imperceptibly infiltrated the temple grounds, passing the Mahavira Hall and reaching the Arhat Hall.
'Where on earth did the Buddha Venerable store the holy relic?'
No matter if Shaolin was akin to a fortress of gold and a wall of iron, they would not store a precious holy relic just anywhere.
'He would have made it so that ordinary martial monks wouldn't even know of the holy relic's existence at all.'
Not only was the Buddha Venerable leading various factions.
There was no way he would store a holy relic of the Outer Realm, something a figure of the Buddhist path should never possess, in a place where Shaolin disciples could discover it.
'If so.'
He must have placed it in a secretive place that absolutely no disciple could access.
'I need to search places where secret mechanisms are installed.'
Bu Eunseol unleashed the Void Heart Command.
Ziiiing.
Instantly, the time of the world began to flow backward with him at the center.
In his field of vision, the traces overlaid with several decades of time appeared as pure white afterimages.
The footprints of someone who had hastily run past.
The figure of an old monk moving with agonizing steps after finishing ascetic practices, down to the faint outlines of two monks standing and sharing a secretive conversation.
All the traces that had sunk within the river of time began to vividly revive before his eyes.
'That direction is strange.'
Unlike pavilions like the Thousand Buddhas Hall where traces of many disciples moving could be seen.
There was a pavilion visible where monks rarely went in and out, much like the Scripture Pavilion or the abbot's room.
Upon entering inside, a bizarre smell, a mixture of incense and something else, pierced the tip of his nose.
As if following an invisible thread, Bu Eunseol moved his feet toward the place where the Void Heart Command's afterimage remained the thickest.
Entering into the pavilion, an old stone pagoda overgrown with weeds came into view, and once again, a small monk's quarters appeared.
On the signboard layered thickly with dust, the characters for White Robe Hall remained faintly.
As he opened the creaking door and stepped in, the scent of ink and the smell of mold pierced his nose.
Inside, there was a worn-out bookshelf with old scriptures slotted into it.
Judging by the shape of the various furnishings, it seemed to be a place for restoring damaged scriptures.
Having followed the threads of the traces shown by the Void Heart Command for a long while, he suddenly looked at a mural hanging deep inside.
'A trace of someone standing there for a long time remains heavily.'
Bu Eunseol reached out his hand following the white afterimage floating in the empty air.
Without realizing it, he moved along the flow of the mural, and the moment he softly pressed a small protruding bump on the wall.
Rumble.
With a heavy yet quiet sound of friction, the wall where the mural had been pushed back, revealing a large entrance.
'I found it.'
From inside, a cold, damp wind blew out like a stifling breath.
Intuiting that something was hidden, Bu Eunseol threw himself into the darkness without a single inch of hesitation.
As he reached the end of the steep passage that seemed like it would continue endlessly, an astonishing sight unfolded.
'What is this now?'
It was a massive underground cavern.
Night Pearls were embedded in the ceiling at regular intervals.
Buddha statues dozens of jang tall, carved entirely out of the bedrock, were looking down below with merciful eyes. (1 jang = 3m)
Hundreds of stone pagodas formed a forest, and stone bridges traversing an underground water vein were exquisitely placed.
Across the bridges, several pavilions were densely erected.
'So it was another passage to Blood Shaolin.'
Bu Eunseol smacked his lips.
This place too was another passage leading into Blood Shaolin.
―'Shaolin is innocent.'
Suddenly, the voice of the dying Blood Shaolin abbot, Dam Jeung, seemed to ring in his ears.
In his youth, he had been Gang Baekseung, and later, he became a martial monk of Blood Shaolin assisting the Absolute Demonic Blade Project.
'He became the abbot of Blood Shaolin and must have realized that Shaolin had committed some grave deed.'
If not.
He wouldn't have committed suicide while leaving words like that to him.
'This seems like the abbot's room.'
Looking around the buildings spread out inside, Bu Eunseol discovered a place that looked like Blood Shaolin's abbot's room.
Searching through the empty abbot's room for a long while, he suddenly discovered a book resting on the table.
It was the Hundred Parables Sutra, a scripture filled with entertaining stories and fables from which various lessons could be gained.
'It's different.'
Because Bu Eunseol had read the Hundred Parables Sutra before, he knew exactly how thick it should be.
However, the Hundred Parables Sutra placed here was far too thin.
The scriptures preserved by Shaolin were mostly in a worn-out state.
But this Hundred Parables Sutra was so clean that it seemed it had not been made long ago.
Rustle.
Without realizing it, Bu Eunseol opened the book.
Surprisingly, inside were drawings and writings extremely similar to the picture book that had once explained the location of Hyeonjarim.
Bu Eunseol read down the book as if possessed.
Written within it was the story of a certain monk.
* * *
The stone steps of the Shaolin Temple, heavily veiled in dawn fog and covered in white snow.
Upon that cold stone, a single swaddling cloth was placed.
―'Waaah! Waaah!'
As the newborn baby's cries shattered the silence of the mountain temple, the monks sweeping snow inside came running out.
Gazing at the newborn baby, the monks had an intuition.
That this was a connection sent by Buddha.
The Dharma name of Hong Hyeon was bestowed upon the newborn baby.
The broad and deep teachings of the Buddha.
It meant to pursue vast and profound enlightenment.
Hong Hyeon was exceedingly brilliant.
If he heard a scripture once, he memorized it entirely, and if he saw a martial arts technique once, he grasped its profound mysteries.
The Shaolin abbot recognized his radiant talents at once and, circumventing generational rankings, exceptionally accepted him as a disciple.
However, Hong Hyeon's eyes were always directed toward a place further away, a place deeper down.
The sitting meditation and sutra chanting repeated every day felt like an endless emptiness.
―'Isn't enlightenment something that should be sought not in such a serene place, but within a raging storm?'
His vigorous curiosity and his mind craving wisdom eventually led him to Shaolin's most strict taboo.
It led him to the deepest reaches of the Scripture Pavilion.
―'Let's go to that passage I discovered before.'
As the abbot's direct disciple, Hong Hyeon had his brilliance acknowledged.
Because he was entrusted with helping organize transcribed scriptures or delivering rare scriptures.
He could come and go from the Scripture Pavilion day and night.
And he had discovered the mechanism hidden within the Scripture Pavilion in the past, and a place where forbidden books and demonic books that must absolutely never be read were kept.
He found a passage that allowed him to enter Blood Shaolin's bookshelves.
And eventually, he entered Blood Shaolin's library through that secret passage.
In that place, the principles of the world and human nature.
And books containing dangerous knowledge discussing the boundaries between good and evil were scattered about.
Every time he read those books, he received a shock as if his soul was being shaken to its core.
Before he knew it, whenever he had time.
He would come into the Scripture Pavilion every single day to avidly read the forbidden books.
Then one day,
Fwoosh.
The candle flame extinguished, and a presence was felt behind his back.
What entered the eyes of Hong Hyeon as he slowly turned his head was a massive shadow backing the moonlight pouring through the window.
At first, he thought it was the Scripture Pavilion Master, but the shadow was somewhat inexplicably different.
Though it wore a kasaya, its face could not be seen, and an overwhelming yet bizarre aura that seemed to spread darkness expanded outward.
In any case, what was certain was that seeing it frequent the Scripture Pavilion, it was clearly a high monk of the senior Bang-generation.
'It's the end now.'
Hong Hyeon closed his eyes.
Not only had he frequented the Scripture Pavilion without permission, but he had also coveted knowledge that a disciple of Shaolin should never lay a hand on.
He would have nothing to say even if he faced excommunication or had his martial arts crippled.
However, what entered his ears was not a rebuke, but a low and deep voice.
"Even drinking the same water, a cow produces milk and a snake produces venom."
At the unexpected words, Hong Hyeon opened his eyes. Taking a step closer, the shadow continued speaking.
"Everything in all affairs of the world is formed by the mind. If the vessel that holds truth is clean, even if it is poison, will it not become sweet dew?"
Those words struck Hong Hyeon's head like a thunderbolt.
It was not a scolding.
Rather, it was an acknowledgment of his endless inquisitive mind toward knowledge and an encouragement to advance to a higher realm.
"Is it acceptable for a disciple of Buddhism, who must abandon attachment, to hold onto attachment?"
"Is not great attachment the sole path leading toward enlightenment?"
With those words as the end, the shadow disappeared.
Due to the meeting with the mysterious high monk in the Scripture Pavilion, Hong Hyeon, having gained justification, completely changed.
A disciple possessing the talents to become a high monk whose name would resonate through the ages had turned into a phantom of knowledge unable to control his desires.
Every night, he waged a fierce war with knowledge.
The tens of thousands of scriptures he had absorbed until then could no longer provide answers.
Rather, they only fanned his thirst.
Ultimately, he even laid his hands on the secret books of demonic arts kept covertly even within Blood Shaolin's Scripture Pavilion.
Secret books of demonic arts that must never emerge into the world.
As time flowed and flowed like that, he emerged into the martial world as a disciple of Shaolin.
Before he knew it, the Dharma name Hong Hyeon resonated throughout the world.
The Buddhist martial arts he utilized were evaluated as the manifestation of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, and his sermons were extolled as the teachings of a Living Buddha.
At last, he obtained the honor of being the Buddha Venerable, one of the world's Three Venerables.
However, the higher he climbed toward the summit, the deeper his thirst for knowledge became.
He had absorbed all the scriptures in the world, yet the end of knowledge was still nowhere in sight.
Amidst that, he came to hear a primeval legend.
An entity that had accumulated all knowledge since the universe began by repeatedly undergoing reincarnation, True Demon.
If he could just obtain its knowledge? He could escape this terrible thirst.
And the opportunity came.
One day, Cheol Muhon, the Martial Alliance Leader who was advancing various plans to protect the martial world, came looking for Hong Hyeon reeking of the thick scent of blood.
In his hand was held a box exuding an ominous aura.
"Buddha Venerable, I dare to come seeking your assistance."
He spoke while pointing to the box engraved with bizarre patterns.
"By chance, I have obtained a portion of the True Demon's remains."
The Martial Alliance Leader, Cheol Muhon, believed that only the Buddha Venerable, possessing the highest Buddhist power and Dharma power in the world.
Would be able to purify this item suffused with demonic energy.
"If this falls into the hands of villains, it will bring disaster upon the world."
He spoke desperately.
"I beseech you, please thoroughly eradicate it with your Dharma power, Great Master."
Hong Hyeon looked down at the box with serene eyes.
A merciful smile was hung upon his face, but within his heart, an uncontrollable storm of desire was raging.
"Of course."
His mind was filled with a single thought.
Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor.
A holy artifact that reads the memories and karma inscribed in blood, the source of life.
A legendary treasure capable of completely inheriting the joys and sorrows, the experiences, and even the martial arts senses learned by one's ancestors.
If he could gather all of them?
Through those remains.
He could scale the tower of limitless knowledge that the True Demon had built up over hundreds of millions of kalpas in a single breath.
He could also break off the shackles known as the curse of knowledge.
"This old monk will lend my strength."
As the Buddha Venerable promised once again with a benevolent voice, Cheol Muhon smiled.
A deep trust had formed toward the Buddha Venerable, who remained unshaken even by the True Demon's remains and stated he would eliminate them.
However, as soon as Cheol Muhon left, his eyes transformed into blazing greed.
Was it the Martial Alliance Leader's mistake to have trusted the Shaolin saint monk?
By showing the True Demon's remains to the Buddha Venerable, he ultimately met the worst outcome of completely drawing out the darkness possessed by him.
Since that day.
Hong Hyeon, who made the decision to obtain all the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor.
"If I cannot stain my own blood, I need a sword that will willingly create a sea of blood in my stead."
By mixing the knowledge gained from the demonic arts secret books with his own sacred Buddhist power, he created ten gateways that twisted the laws of this world.
The disciples who entered those gateways regurgitated death-throes screams instead of chanting sutras.
What was born from within them.
Were not enlightened beings, but asuras existing solely for destruction and slaughter.
The face of him conducting this horrific ritual was not that of a seeker of truth, but rather one inscribed only with ghastly madness.
The disciples he had cultivated were powerful, but they lacked the justification to shake the world.
Then, once again, a perfect stage was prepared.
The Absolute Demonic Blade Project covertly advanced by Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Muhon.
The massive scheme attempting to birth the supreme master of the demonic path, thereby splitting factions and causing their self-destruction.
In reality, it was something the mastermind factions behind the scenes.
It was closer to an experiment practically related to the chains of reincarnation, utilizing Cheol Muhon who burned with a sense of justice.
―'Chaos. Yes, there couldn't be a better board than this!'
Hong Hyeon participated in the project while donning a merciful smile.
With his overwhelming wisdom, he plugged the loopholes of the project and designed a far more meticulous and perfect board for them.
However, there were no perfect secrets in the world.
The fact that he was keeping the True Demon's remains deep inside his residence without sealing them.
Jigong, the abbot of Blood Shaolin at the time, ended up noticing it.
A night where the moonlight fell chillingly.
The Buddha Venerable and Jigong stood facing each other in Blood Shaolin's meditation room.
"For what reason did you... the True Demon's remains..."
Jigong's voice trembled.
Because if such a matter leaked out, Shaolin would not be able to remain unscathed.
"Venerable. It is not too late yet. The matter must be set right before it's too late."
At that moment, Hong Hyeon's hand moved.
His hand was not the hand of a Buddha pressing his palms together in prayer.
It was the hand of an asura crushing the skulls of sentient beings.
Thwack.
Jigong's eyes faced the empty air, without even recognizing who it was that had killed him.
Thud.
Ultimately, with a dull thud, he vomited blood and collapsed.
"It is a sacrifice for the greater cause."
In the eyes of the Buddha Venerable, who had snapped the giant tree that would brilliantly develop Blood Shaolin with his own hands, there was not a sliver of agitation.
"The root of calamity must be removed down to its very root."
He directly killed all the martial monks of Blood Shaolin.
There was no one who survived.
If there was anyone, it was only Gang Baekseung, Dam Jeung, who had gone outside Shaolin on a certain mission.
However, the Buddha Venerable did not know.
That Jigong had kept the items bearing all these contents deep inside Blood Shaolin's abbot's room.
Stored inside the Hundred Parables Sutra, something a Buddhist disciple would only read during their childhood.
And that later on, Gang Baekseung, who would become the abbot of Blood Shaolin as Dam Jeung, would uncover this.
* * *
―'Shaolin is already hell.'
On the final page, such an inscription was left behind.
The reason Dam Jeung committed suicide at that time.
And the reason he said that Shaolin was innocent.
Was because it was solely the Buddha Venerable's independent evil deed, and those who followed him were all being deceived by the Buddha Venerable.
"Did he ultimately commit the perfect crime?"
Bu Eunseol lamented.
Dam Jeung's suicide was ultimately what the Buddha Venerable intended, and it had been the final period of the perfect crime he had committed.
"Is there no one in Shaolin who can stop him now?"
The Buddha Venerable wore the mask of a saint monk who received the respect of the world.
While trying to find all the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearls to obtain the True Demon's knowledge.
"Someone to stop the demonic monk trapped in the curse known as knowledge."
Bu Eunseol finally grasped all the secrets of the Buddha Venerable.
He had seized Shaolin and had his outstanding disciples create his shadow to carry out activities in the martial world.
While he himself had proceeded with various matters while crouching within the darkness.
"In that case, I made a mistake."
Both the holy relic reportedly obtained from the Land of the Limitless and the True Demon's remains would have been within Shaolin.
However, due to Bu Eunseol's infiltration this time, the Buddha Venerable would have immediately moved them to a secretive location.
That would be exactly the reason... why the Buddha Venerable wasn't coming to find him in Shaolin.
"I thought he would immediately come looking for me with his miraculous Dharma power, knowing that I'm in Shaolin."
Bu Eunseol's final plan.
It was to have the Buddha Venerable come looking for him, who had infiltrated Shaolin.
Because with the Buddha Venerable's abilities, he would undoubtedly be able to track his own traces hidden within the temple grounds.
However, he possessed a terrifying treasure called the True Demon's remains, and it was clear he had vacated his position for the sake of it.
"The only thing the Buddha Venerable desperately searches for must be the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearls."
If the story written here was true, he wouldn't have even an iota of interest in something like the holy relic of Cheonchuk.
Then why had he taken the holy relic of the Land of the Limitless?
"What do the remains look like?"
Regrettably, what Cheol Muhon had purportedly obtained.
The book did not explain what that portion of the True Demon's remains looked like, or what part it was.
Rumble.
However, right then, a vibrating sound akin to numerous troops moving aboveground was heard.
It seemed Baek Jeoncheon, who was playing his role, had concluded the negotiations and was returning.
'There's no time.'
If all of Shaolin's experts came back inside the temple grounds, he might be discovered.
It was a shame he couldn't find the Yona tribe's holy relic, but he had come to grasp the Buddha Venerable's secret that no one else knew.
'I must absolutely find the True Demon's remains and the holy relic.'
However, now was not the time.
He had to be satisfied with just this for this time.
'Although this picture book cannot serve as evidence for the Buddha Venerable's evil deeds... let's keep it for now.'
Putting the picture book Dam Jeung had left behind into his breast, Bu Eunseol,
Bzzzt.
Immediately passed through the passage and emerged outside Shaolin.
'The fact that the Buddha Venerable was a demonic monk is not that surprising of a truth.'
Endless thoughts arose even as he utilized his movement technique.
Shaolin's actions had continuously not been normal, and the Buddha Venerable had led Shaolin for a long time.
Because of that, Shaolin becoming corrupted was not that shocking of a matter.
'What made the Buddha Venerable become a slave to knowledge... must be the True Demon, or perhaps the Three Attendants.'
The Absolute Demonic Blade Project was known to have been planned by the Buddha Venerable and Cheol Muhon, but in reality, it was an experiment for the chains of reincarnation.
If so, then both the shadow in the Scripture Pavilion that corrupted the Buddha Venerable in the first place, and the one who gave the True Demon's remains to Cheol Muhon.
Had a very high probability of being the True Demon or the True Demon's familiars.
Kwang!
However, right then, as the sound of thunder echoed from the distant sky.
Weren't martial artists wearing martial attire emitting a bizarre luster beginning to stick close to Bu Eunseol while utilizing movement techniques akin to squalls?
Vwoom, vwoom, vwoom.
As they stuck close, a disgusting scent of blood spread to the tip of his nose.
Instantly, a red radiance flashed in Bu Eunseol's pupils.
The clothes of bizarre luster they were wearing. Because they were very similar to the masks used by the envoys of the Three Realms.
Kwaaang!
Along with an explosive sound, Bu Eunseol kicked off the ground and touched down like lightning, akin to a falling meteor.
The moment he landed, individuals wearing gleaming masks swarmed from all directions and surrounded him.
Vwoom, vwoom, vwoom.
Instantly, blood-colored killing intent spread out like a wave from Bu Eunseol's entire body.
Returning to One Realm.
That disgusting blood scent and bizarrely glowing pupils were certainly the figures of envoys belonging to the Returning to One Realm.
"You managed to track me well."
The fact that Bu Eunseol had publicly appeared at Shaolin had completely spread among information organizations.
And the Returning to One Realm had immediately sent out envoys and captured Bu Eunseol's traces.
"Muhon Lord."
The envoy possessed a crimson-dyed invitation card that looked as if blood would drip from it.
"What is this?"
"It is the Realm Lord's order."
"An order?"
Instead of answering, the envoy tossed the invitation card over.
'The Baekri Family's secret storehouse?'
Written in detail on it were the location of the place presumed to be the Baekri Family's secret storehouse and the method to enter it.
The place name was one he had never heard of in his life, and the method of entry was severely complex and bizarre.
'Is it truly the Baekri Family's secret storehouse?'
"Make sure to go alone without fail."
The envoy spoke coldly then.
"If you inform anyone of this, everything will go up in smoke."
"Huhuhu."
Bu Eunseol suddenly burst into a roaring laughter while gazing at the sky.
As his laughter going Hahaha! grew louder,
Tremble, tremble.
The envoys' bodies trembled noticeably, and then blood began to flow from their eyes and ears.
"In your eyes, does this Lord look like a deliveryman for an escort agency?"
As Bu Eunseol's pupils heated up boundlessly red,
Crack.
The ground on which the Returning to One Realm envoys stood lowered little by little.
He was mercilessly pressing down on their bodies with terrifying internal energy power.
Ttududuk. Eujeojeojeok.
At last, as the ground they were standing on lowered by about an inch, they even began to spit crimson fresh blood from their mouths.
"Muhon Lord!"
The leader envoy shouted while vomiting blood from his mouth.
"You should have a debt to repay!"
At that desperate shout,
Swoosh.
Bu Eunseol, who had been looking down at them with a gaze heated like charcoal fire, instantly retracted his internal energy.
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