―'Woooo!'
As if sensing danger, the giant dragon's colors suddenly began to turn black.
At the same time, was the Soul Demon Dharma Energy, the power standing at the opposite extreme of the Profound Divine Technique Qi, not rising from its maw?
'That is.'
The woman in white wore a stricken expression.
'How could a person of the main family use that power?'
She was in turmoil, as if her mind had gone completely blank.
Paaat!
At that moment, the giant dragon began to pour out dark energy toward the Five-Colored Dragon.
Then, the radiance of the Five-Colored Dragon, which had been emitting a brilliant light, slowly began to fade.
'It's not enough.'
The Genesis Sun and Moon existed in various forms, and the efficacy of its pre-taking of causality varied with its quantity.
In the past, the Genesis Sun and Moon stored in Ratna Fortress had filled a hemispherical vessel to the brim, and could exert an omniscient power that defied the laws of nature.
However, the amount within the black bead given to Bu Eunseol was minuscule.
A short-lived pre-taking of causality.
In other words, it could do no more than briefly draw in power in a moment of crisis.
Limited to an amount that could do little more than open the door to the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave, it could not overcome the Soul Demon Dharma Energy they wielded, and its efficacy was gradually fading away.
'If so...'
As the woman in white raised her body again,
Vwooong.
Responding to her intense will, the Profound Divine Technique Qi once again began to rise from her entire body.
'Please forgive me.'
The light of resolve spread through her eyes.
She was attempting to unfold a secret strictly forbidden in the Baekri Family: the art of transferring the power of the primordial spirit, rooted in one's own life force, to another.
Crack.
As she poured out her power, the woman in white's skin cracked like parched earth.
Bu Eunseol's potential was as vast and deep as the ocean, and it swallowed the primordial-spirit power she passed to him in a single instant.
Rumble!
In an instant, a brilliant light burst out from the Five-Colored Dragon's body as if exploding.
The woman in white's life force had stimulated the power latent within Bu Eunseol's body.
And the Genesis Sun and Moon contained in the bead began to react violently once again.
―'Kaaah!'
The roar let out by Bu Eunseol, who had finally taken on the perfect form of the Five-Colored Dragon, shook the space.
Instinctively sensing an apex predator it could not defy, the giant dragon retreated.
Riiip!
The moment the Five-Colored Dragon's eyes flashed, one of the giant dragon's wings was torn away as if ripped off.
―'Woooo!'
As if in a final desperate struggle, the giant dragon spat out another massive sphere.
Swoosh!
The Five-Colored Dragon opened its mouth and swallowed all of that power in one gulp.
Then, standing in a majestic posture, its eyes flashed once again.
Crackle.
This time, the giant dragon's massive body began to tear apart little by little.
Unable to endure it, the giant dragon flapped its wings with all its might and opened its huge mouth.
If it could not win anyway, it meant to tear the enemy's body apart and inflict at least a fatal wound.
Paaat!
In that moment, brilliant radiance poured out from the Five-Colored Dragon's mouth, instantly obliterating the giant dragon's form.
Thud.
Then, the three masked men fell from the air to the ground in an unsightly heap.
Rumble.
The ceiling collapsed, and massive rocks poured down. Deep cracks spread across the surface of the altar.
What had maintained the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave from the beginning was their wicked power, and as it vanished, the cave began to collapse.
Whoooosh.
Before long, the brilliant Five-Colored Dragon was also returning to Bu Eunseol in the form of a boy.
"How could a blood relative of the main family use the Soul Demon Dharma Energy..."
The woman in white, who had collapsed in exhaustion, shouted at the masked men with a voice full of anger.
"Did he betray the main family and sell his soul to the True Demon Palace?"
Instead of answering, the masked men stretched out their hands as if squeezing out their last bit of strength.
Boom!
As the ink-black stream of energy poured down toward the woman in white,
Pat!
Bu Eunseol instinctively moved like lightning and intercepted that power.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Crack.
Upon being exposed to the Soul Demon Dharma Energy, his body gradually grew larger. Was he not returning to his original form, no longer that of a young boy?
Within Bu Eunseol's body, the Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Soul Demon Dharma Energy had coexisted in perfect balance.
However, the Chains of Samsara had broken that balance, leaving only a faint trace of the Profound Divine Technique Qi.
But just now the woman in white had poured in the intense primordial-spirit force of the Profound Divine Technique Qi, and as intense Soul Demon Dharma Energy poured in on top of it, the balance of his body was finally restored, and he began to return to his original form.
Crackle.
In contrast, the masked men's skin began to crack like a parched desert.
"Uuugh."
They screamed with pained expressions.
Bu Eunseol had begun to absorb every trace of the Soul Demon Dharma Energy they were pouring out.
"Uuugh."
The masked men shrieked, their entire bodies bizarrely twisted,
Fwoosh.
And in the end, they turned to dust and scattered in all directions.
Vwooong.
A faint light rose from Bu Eunseol's body. He had finally returned to his complete state.
Thump.
Meanwhile, the woman in white at last lost consciousness and collapsed.
Ziiiing.
He reached out his hand toward the fallen woman in white, her skin cracked and her life force drained.
Brilliant golden motes of light and a blue stream of energy swirled up, and slowly began to be absorbed into her body.
Unfolding the Prajna Great Power, which could be called the greatest life-saving technique in the martial world, he was at the same time returning the primordial-spirit power he had received from her, restoring her body.
These were not actions he took deliberately, with full grasp of the situation.
Rather, the power of his grandfather, the Heavenly-Mandate Star power inherent in Baekri Geomha, was gradually settling into his body as well; he simply was not yet aware of it.
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol's internal energy was truly boundless, and once the woman in white's life force had recovered, he went so far as to suspend her in midair, pouring in the Prajna Great Power until her strength was perfectly restored.
Flash.
When the woman finally opened her eyes, Bu Eunseol stopped his hand.
He had remained all the while in the form of a peerlessly handsome man, a mysterious golden light lingering in his snowflake-white hair,
Fwoo.
But before long, his hair turned black again, and a red tint began to circulate in his eyes.
Just as before, he had completely gathered the Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Soul Demon Dharma Energy within his body.
"How."
Upon seeing Bu Eunseol's appearance, the woman in white wore an expression of disbelief.
It was miraculous enough that he, who had worn the face of a young boy, had become an adult in an instant.
But how could he use the power of the technique qi that only the legitimate line of the main family could command?
"Are you truly of the legitimate line of the main family?"
"What do you mean?"
"Divine Transformation Manifestation, Heavenly Lord Dragon Descent."
The woman in white spoke as if astonished.
"You used techniques that only the legitimate line of the main family can use."
Bu Eunseol wore an awkward expression.
It had merely been the authority of the Heavenly-Mandate Star gathering all his power and unleashing it on its own.
He had been all but unconscious only moments ago, and knew nothing whatsoever of techniques called Divine Transformation or Heavenly Lord.
"And a Heavenly Lord Dragon Descent holding countless radiances, no less."
When the Divine Transformation Manifestation and the Heavenly Lord Dragon Descent were unfolded, two or three radiances usually flowed in alternation.
But he had transformed into a dragon wrapped in five brilliant colors, something recorded nowhere in the history of the Baekri Family.
"The only ones who can use the Divine Transformation Manifestation at a young age are a few elders and the young master."
"And the Baekri young master would be."
"Baekri Geomha."
The woman in white spoke shocking words.
"Among the younger generation, he is the only one who can properly manifest the Divine Transformation."
Bu Eunseol felt dizzy.
There was a Baekri Geomha in the Baekri Family?
What on earth did this mean?
―'A fake is playing the part of the real one.'
As the words the old man of the Sacred Domain had once spoken suddenly came to mind, sparks flew in his eyes.
'So that was what it meant?'
It made absolutely no sense.
The figures of the Baekri Family would naturally know all about the blood calamity at Saha Manor.
No, there was a high probability they had been involved in the blood calamity itself.
Yet a figure named Baekri Geomha stood perfectly fine within the Baekri Family?
'If so, does that mean they put forth a fake even while knowing the truth?'
It was possible.
There must have been many twists and turns in the course of his father marrying the Holy Maiden of the House of the True Demon.
And the fact that he had built Saha Manor and lived there, never involving himself in the affairs of the martial world, ultimately meant he had severed ties with the Baekri Family.
"Just who are you."
The woman in white spoke in a voice astonished and yet somewhat cold.
"Why did you approach me in the body of a young child?"
"I..."
Bu Eunseol pressed a hand to his forehead in confusion.
Then his eyes met the woman in white's.
It was an impeccably clear gaze, like freshly formed morning dew, untouched by any of the world's grime. It was a gaze innocent of falsehood, in which a childlike purity dwelled.
After a moment's hesitation, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and spoke honestly.
"I am Baekri Geomha."
Silence flowed for a while.
The woman in white, who had stood blank-faced for a moment, suddenly shook her head with a look of disappointment.
"In the end... so that is how it is."
"What do you mean by that."
Bu Eunseol asked again, but the woman in white only held her disappointed expression and said nothing.
"Young lady."
Unable to hide his frustration and bewilderment, Bu Eunseol sighed deeply.
"I am absolutely not a bad person."
He spoke earnestly, but she remained silent.
'Wandering the martial world without even knowing my own origins... and now I must be treated as a fake on top of it?'
Sorrow and grief surged up.
Only fragments of lost memories remained, drifting faintly. The heavens were simply toying with his fate.
"I see."
Bu Eunseol soon steadied his heart.
'What does it matter whether it is the Baekri Family or not?'
"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me."
He squared his shoulders and spoke with dignity.
"I am merely my grandfather's grandson. I have no desire to become blood kin of the Baekri Family anyway."
Meeting Bu Eunseol's boundlessly lonely and desolate eyes, the woman in white felt her thoughts tangle.
'He used the Divine Transformation Manifestation.'
The numinous energy and techniques that had flowed from his body moments ago were things that could never be unfolded by anyone outside the main family's legitimate line.
After agonizing over it, she finally, slowly, opened her mouth.
"There were many. In the past as well."
"What do you mean."
Looking straight at Bu Eunseol, the woman in white spoke as if sighing.
"The figures who claimed to be Baekri Geomha."
In an instant, the focus drained from Bu Eunseol's eyes.
Having heard there was someone playing Baekri Geomha, he had simply assumed there was a fake.
Yet countless people had claimed to be Baekri Geomha all this time?
"Is that even possible?"
"After the blood calamity at Saha Manor, all trace of the young master vanished completely."
The woman in white explained calmly.
"Since then, figures claiming to be Baekri Geomha have knocked on the main family's doors without end."
Shocking words burst from her mouth one after another.
"Some were found by chance among bands of beggars; others were recognized for extraordinary aptitude and taken in as disciples by masters of the martial world. Most of them claimed to have lost their memories."
Bu Eunseol asked with an uncomprehending expression.
"But to be recognized as a blood relative of the Baekri Family, surely... one would need the constitution and power to match?"
Claiming to be Baekri Geomha should have been virtually impossible.
The Baekri Family could not possibly be unaware that he was of the mixed blood of Baekri Muha and Holy Maiden Saha.
At the very least, one would have to hold the Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Soul Demon Dharma Energy blended together, as he did, or perfectly prove the power of one of the two.
"There were such people."
The woman in white spoke again.
"Every one of them held the Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Soul Demon Dharma Energy coexisting within their bodies."
And she added.
"Even the circumstances of their discovery as Baekri Geomha were coincidence layered upon coincidence, to the point where no one could ever suspect it had been artificially arranged."
Hearing those words, Bu Eunseol finally realized a single fact.
'Because implanting the two great powers has become possible.'
In the current martial world, secret arts existed that let one temporarily acquire the Profound Divine Technique Qi or the Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
Chu So had once brought in orphans and created figures who wielded the Profound Divine Technique Qi drawn from their life force.
There were also the Holy Ones, beings in whom the two great powers of the two families coexisted.
Let alone imitating the son of Baekri Muha, whose abilities and powers were not properly known to anyone.
Feigning to be Baekri Geomha... was not so difficult a task after all.
"I see now."
Bu Eunseol wore a hollow expression.
Only then did he understand why, even while marveling that he had unfolded a secret art reserved for the Baekri legitimate line, she still did not believe him.
"So countless factions have been creating Baekri Geomhas all this time, and under the guise of coincidence... maneuvering the branch-family figures scattered across the martial world into escorting them to the main family."
The woman in white let out a deep sigh.
"Exactly. And because of it, the main family has been plagued by fake Baekri Geomhas without rest for nearly ten years."
According to her explanation, after the blood calamity at Saha Manor, fake Baekri Geomhas had appeared in the martial world without end, and their methods had grown ever more cunning.
So much so that the Baekri Family had even created an organization specializing in discerning fake Baekri Geomhas and disposing of them.
"Mmm."
Bu Eunseol swallowed a groan.
He could not even tell where or how to begin.
"Then even if I go to the Baekri Family now, they will not believe that I am Baekri Geomha."
"It's not that they won't believe you... you will be killed on the spot."
"Because there is already a Baekri Geomha recognized as the real one?"
At Bu Eunseol's tone, tinged with contempt, the woman in white let out a sigh.
"That's right."
"How on earth was he recognized as the real one?"
The woman in white shook her head with a dark expression.
"Even I don't know the details. Only that the main family acknowledged him completely."
Bu Eunseol bit his lip.
In truth, he had never felt any sense of belonging to the Baekri Family, nor any desire to have his bloodline acknowledged by them and become their young master.
But that someone had disguised themselves as him and claimed the place of his father and mother's son: that, he absolutely could not tolerate.
"I will prove it."
Bu Eunseol spoke firmly.
"Please take me to the Baekri Family."
"It's impossible."
The woman in white shook her head.
"Even after the young master recognized as real appeared, fakes kept arriving at the main family through the very same route, again and again."
Bu Eunseol was at a loss for words.
As long as the Baekri Geomha recognized as real sat as young master, anyone who doubted his authenticity or raised an objection would be branded a traitor on the spot and executed.
"What a meticulous plan."
Bu Eunseol realized just how meticulous and terrifying a plan the factions behind the fake Baekri Geomhas had woven.
They had deliberately created fake after fake, drawing the Baekri Family's endless suspicion.
And just when the family was growing weary of fakes, they had delivered a figure who seemed perfectly, unquestionably real.
Even after he was acknowledged, they must have sent in several more fake Baekri Geomhas.
So that even if the real Baekri Geomha appeared, no one would ever again be able to question who was genuine.
"So the real one has appeared, yet can no longer be acknowledged as Baekri Geomha."
He had no choice but to accept it.
The moment anyone questioned the authenticity of Baekri Geomha, they would be killed.
"But I have no intention of leaving the fake be. I will set this right, without fail."
Bu Eunseol smiled bitterly.
"Though of course, you must think me a fake as well, young lady."
"No."
The woman in white said something unexpected.
"I believe you."
Bu Eunseol's eyes went round.
She, who had all this while been presenting the Baekri Family's side of things, believed him?
"If I did not believe you, I would not have told you any of this."
"But by your own account, young lady, I can only be a fake. Could I not have plotted all of this to kill you?"
Bu Eunseol spoke with a skeptical expression.
"By putting those three masked men up to it."
"That cannot be."
The woman in white's face clouded as if she had swallowed poison, and then she forced a smile and said,
"Because this affair at the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave was plotted by that very Baekri Geomha."
She stared blankly for a moment, as if deep in thought, then soon spoke in a low voice.
"The one who insisted the ritual of the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave was needed even though a sixty-year cycle had not yet passed, the one who directed this whole affair... was none other than him."
It was an unexpected fact.
The fake Baekri Geomha was the very mastermind who had tried to kill the woman in white?
"Why would that fake try to kill you, young lady?"
Her nature was gentle and composed; she was not someone to earn anyone's grudge.
The woman in white gave a lonely smile and spoke in a low voice.
"Because I am someone who could become a threat to him at any time."
After Baekri Geomha's disappearance, the woman in white had been building a line of succession with the support of the Baekri Family's senior figures.
Then came the sudden news that Baekri Muha's bloodline had returned, and she gladly yielded her entire foundation and base of support to Baekri Geomha.
Thanks to that, Baekri Geomha steadily established himself, and was finally able to secure the position of young master.
But what if she changed her mind? She could overturn the balance of power again at any moment.
The fake Baekri Geomha had judged her a threat and moved to eliminate her.
"Only with me dead can he keep the succession stable, with nothing left to threaten it."
"I don't understand."
Having heard the whole explanation, Bu Eunseol wore a puzzled expression.
"If the young master they had been so desperately searching for returned, he should have been able to build his own support without your help, young lady. Why did things turn out this way?"
If his father, Baekri Muha, had been a legitimate son with the family's firm support, then naturally Baekri Geomha would not have needed her help either.
"Baekri Muha was of the main family's legitimate line, a bloodline inheriting the power of the Primeval Dragon, but... he was also a traitor."
"A traitor?"
"Yes. They say he gravely wounded the main family's vitality..."
At those unexpected words, Bu Eunseol's eyes shot wide open.
His father... was a traitor to the Baekri Family?
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