If so, had someone used the True Demon, who had lost his memories, to take control of the Baekri Family?
Or had the True Demon finally regained his memories, and used his identity to destroy the Baekri Family?
"What is it? That expression."
Yeom-wi asked as if it were strange, seeing Bu Eunseol suddenly make an expression as if his lower abdomen had been pierced by a sharp blade.
"It is nothing."
Bu Eunseol erased the complex thoughts rising within him and shook his head.
It was not yet certain that the fake was the True Demon, and there was no evidence.
To needlessly say such a thing could instead invite misunderstanding.
"Elder. According to what Lady Baekri said, I heard that one can only become a member of the Baekri Family by passing through the Three Rectitudes."
Regaining his wits, Bu Eunseol asked cautiously.
"However, she said that the fake young master blocked the path that connects with the Three Rectitudes, so blood relatives from the outside can no longer enter the main house."
"That is inevitable."
Yeom-wi wore a bitter expression.
"Because the Baekri Family has suffered enough to be sick of fake Baekri Geomhas."
Bu Eunseol nodded.
"Then what must one do to enter the Baekri Family?"
"Are you saying you still intend to enter even after hearing such things?"
"I do."
Yeom-wi shook his head.
"The reason this old man told you these things is not because I believe you are Baekri Geomha, but because the Lady sent you."
And he spoke incomparably coldly.
"This old man no longer has the right to interfere in the Baekri Family's affairs, nor any intention to divulge what I know."
It was fully understandable.
Yeom-wi had gained a new life because of the Baekri Family, and because of the Baekri Family, that new life had ended.
Since he no longer had any debts or regrets, he must only have the desire to live quietly.
'If it were my personal matter, I would have just gone back.'
He did not wish to shatter Yeom-wi's peace.
But what if they left the fake Baekri Geomha as he was? He would kill Baekri Yeha at any time.
What if he was the True Demon? The Baekri Family would be finished that very day.
"Go."
As Yeom-wi heartlessly turned around,
'There was this.'
Only then did he recall the half-broken bead Baekri Yeha had given him.
"Elder."
Bu Eunseol showed the half-broken bead from his embrace and said.
"If the Elder stubbornly refuses to help, the Lady told me to show this to you."
"The Sacred Heaven Jade?"
Yeom-wi wore a surprised expression.
It was an eternal treasure capable of absorbing any characteristic, the Sacred Heaven Jade.
Originally it was stored in the Sacred Domain in a whole state, but it was known to have disappeared after being split into two pieces.
However, the Baekri Family had acquired one of those halves, and Baekri Yeha had been possessing it.
"Are you saying she gave this to you?"
Yeom-wi looked back and forth between Bu Eunseol's face and the bead, and asked in a trembling voice, as if he couldn't believe it.
"The Lady herself?"
"That is right."
"I see."
Yeom-wi wore a despondent expression.
"It means the Lady has acknowledged you as her true fiancé."
"What do you mean?"
Yeom-wi said something unexpected.
"The Lady's fiancé is precisely Baekri Geomha."
"Fiancé."
At that shocking single word, Bu Eunseol could not close his gaping mouth.
To think that noble and gentle lady of the Baekri Family was actually his fiancée?
To have an arranged marriage at that age usually meant it was a promise made between parents. If so...
'A betrothal before birth.'
There was a high probability that his father Baekri Muha and her father had become in-laws.
"So that was it."
Bu Eunseol wore a blank expression.
Only then did he realize why Baekri Yeha...
had even offered up her own support base to the returned Baekri Geomha and made him a stable successor.
'Because he was my fiancé, she willingly helped with such matters.'
―'If you consider yourself the real Baekri Geomha, there is no need to be so polite.'
Her shyly spoken words came to mind.
Baekri Yeha had acknowledged him as the real Baekri Geomha and handed over the token she had kept all along.
"It means the Lady has truly fallen into danger."
At that moment Yeom-wi wore a pained expression.
To martial artists, an oath is like their very life, and breaking it is considered more disgraceful than dying.
Because he had sworn never to speak of the Baekri Family's secrets, he had tried not to say anything more, but...
"Very well. I will tell you."
To help his benefactor's only daughter, Baekri Yeha, he had resolved to endure that disgrace.
"Give up the thought of finding the Three Rectitudes to enter the Baekri Family. That wicked bastard has already blocked all the paths leading to the Three Rectitudes anyway."
Pausing for a moment and staring into the void, Yeom-wi bit his lip and said.
"There is only one way. Make a new contract with the Primeval Dragon."
"A new contract..."
"That is right. If you do that, the Baekri Family will surely look for you."
Yeom-wi wore a solemn expression.
"However, you must attempt it in absolute secrecy."
And he said something unexpected.
"Because it is said that the previous successor, Baekri Muha, was also branded a traitor when he tried to make a new contract."
It was a shocking story.
To think that the reason his father was branded a traitor in his youth was because he tried to make a new contract with the Primeval Dragon?
"Are you saying that in his youth, my father tried to make a new contract with the Primeval Dragon without consulting the family?"
"That is right."
"Why would he do that?"
"I do not know."
Yeom-wi said with a bitter expression.
"All I know is that the attempt was not successful. I do not know why he tried to make the contract again, nor why he failed."
"Mmm."
"As you may have heard, it is said that Baekri Muha did not stay in the Baekri Family from a young age but constantly wandered the martial world. Saying it was to change the Baekri Family."
Yeom-wi spoke again.
"It was just that he operated with extreme secrecy, so there was no one who knew his tracks."
His father was known to have been active in the martial world for a short period of time.
But in reality, he had been wandering the martial world from a young age, moving with the intention to change the Baekri Family.
"Is this Primeval Dragon a god-like existence that truly existed in the beginning, or is it a dragon?"
"That I do not know either. However..."
Yeom-wi shook his head.
"Since it is said you can make a new contract, whether it is a mythical dragon or a human, it must mean that communication is possible."
It was somewhat comical, but it was the best answer he could give.
Bu Eunseol asked with a careful expression.
"What must I do to make a new contract with the Primeval Dragon?"
And he continued with a serious expression.
"The fake Baekri Geomha wouldn't be unaware that such an attempt could be made."
What if one could enter the Baekri Family by making a new contract with the Primeval Dragon?
The fake Baekri Geomha would absolutely not leave such a risk factor alone.
"Correct. He led the Heavenly Mechanism Law Lord and Heavenly Mechanism Law Envoys of the Sacred Domain to overturn the heavenly secrets and began to take control of the Baekri Family's secret vaults. Presumably he said it was for the safety of the Baekri Family, but perhaps the purpose was to block the contract with the Primeval Dragon."
Yeom-wi wore a somewhat apologetic expression.
"Of course, this is not accurate information. It is merely this old man's speculation at best."
'No, he hit the mark perfectly.'
Because in the Baekri Family's secret vaults, there is a mysterious stone that tells everything.
With the power of that stone, one would be able to find out the truth about the existence known as the Primeval Dragon and...
what making a new contract means, and how to do it.
However, unimaginable secrets were hidden in the Baekri Family's secret vaults, and those stones were not the knowledge of the Baekri Family, but...
Bu Eunseol did not yet know these facts.
"If the heavens protect you, and you find a secret vault he has not taken control of, you will be able to obtain information on the place where you can contract with the Primeval Dragon."
At Yeom-wi's words,
'The Heavenly Emperor.'
Bu Eunseol suddenly remembered the appearance of the Heavenly Emperor.
The maddened Heavenly Emperor had continuously appeared in places like the Baekri Family's secret vaults... could he too be looking for a contract with the Primeval Dragon?
The thought occurred to him: Are the Three Realms aware of all these facts and using him?
"Is there a way to find a secret vault?"
At Bu Eunseol's question, Yeom-wi shook his head.
"There is no way to know. Only the people of the Baekri Family can enter the Baekri Family's secret vaults... if you have the affinity, you will find it."
It seemed Yeom-wi was hiding something, but Bu Eunseol did not ask further.
Even if he asked, he wouldn't answer, and what he had told him so far was already of great help.
"Thank you. Elder. It was truly a great help."
Bu Eunseol politely expressed his respects.
He had clashed with people of the Baekri Family countless times so far, but no one had ever given him as much information as Yeom-wi.
"Do you have anything else to say."
"How can you be so well-versed in the internal affairs when you are not a blood relative of the Baekri Family, Elder?"
It wasn't that he doubted Yeom-wi, but it was an honest question he could ask because he trusted him.
"The elder valued me highly."
Yeom-wi spoke calmly.
"To discern the authenticity of Baekri Geomha, this old man constantly traversed the martial world to obtain and analyze information. Because of that, I came to know the stories related to Baekri Geomha much better than any other Baekri Family individuals."
"I see."
Bu Eunseol nodded.
Ultimately, because Baekri Yeha also knew that fact well, she must have sent him here.
"Go back."
Yeom-wi turned his body again.
"Now this old man must work."
"I thank you for your profound kindness, Elder."
Bu Eunseol bowed his head and expressed his deep respects.
"I will surely seek you out in the future and repay this grace."
When Yeom-wi didn't say anything,
"Elder."
Realizing something, Bu Eunseol spoke earnestly.
"The only one who knows the tracks of the fake Baekri Geomha well is you alone, Elder. Wouldn't that alone be a great strength to Lady Yeha?"
Yeom-wi shook his head.
"Since the Lady has returned to the main house anyway, there is nothing more this old man can do for her. Rather, I would be a burden."
He spoke as if he had made a resolution.
"Or become a piece that can shake the Lady's heart or threaten her."
"Elder."
"Go back."
Yeom-wi spoke firmly, but with a somewhat more tender voice than before.
"Please achieve what you intend. And... take care of the Lady."
Realizing that he could not change his mind, Bu Eunseol clenched his fists.
And he prostrated himself on the floor, bowed his head, and paid his respects.
"How can you perform such a grand courtesy."
Yeom-wi hastily turned his body and spoke solemnly.
"If you are the real Baekri Geomha, you must absolutely never kneel to anyone."
"What is so great about being Baekri Geomha."
Bu Eunseol spoke, suppressing the sorrow surging in his heart.
"If it is a status where one cannot even express respects to a benefactor, it will be a thoroughly useless name."
For a moment, Yeom-wi's eyes wavered greatly. Then, with a faint smile on his lips, he made a nasal sound.
"This old man's eyes... were not wrong after all."
With those words, he went inside the thatched hut.
Bu Eunseol bowed once more toward the thatched hut.
And after hesitating for a long while, he bit his lip and left, unleashing his movement technique in a single breath.
Creak.
When he left, Yeom-wi came back outside and looked at the sky.
"I have lived long enough anyway."
Yeom-wi, having organized all the bundles of medicinal herbs, washed his body and changed into clean white clothes.
Coming back outside, he looked at the brightly shining moonlight.
Just by leaking the Baekri Family's circumstances to an outsider, he had committed a capital offense.
Moreover, since they had maintained a surveillance network all along, there was no way they wouldn't know the traces of someone visiting him.
"I have no regrets."
He could instinctively feel it.
That the young fellow who had visited just before had not lied.
That he was the real Baekri Geomha he had searched for his entire life.
'If so, I have fulfilled my assigned duty.'
Yeom-wi smiled.
Now, he could leave this mundane world without regrets.
Swooosh.
Before he knew it, his body cracked and slowly began to turn to dust and scatter in the wind.
Perhaps because he had been infused with the power of the Profound Divine Technique Qi for a certain period in the past...
His physical body completely disappeared, but its shape remained as light for a while, illuminating the place where Bu Eunseol had disappeared.
After a long while, that light also slowly faded into the darkness.
And a short while later,
White lights descended from the dark sky, and soon formed the shapes of people.
They looked at the traces of Yeom-wi, who had already vanished, and shook their heads.
"Suicide, is it."
One shadow placed a hand on the spot where Yeom-wi had stood and stayed there for a long while.
"He came into contact with someone."
The black shadow sighed deeply and looked at the distant sky. And muttered in a low voice.
"Find that person and make sure to kill him."
At the shadow's low words, those waiting in attendance behind bowed their heads and vanished instantly.
They were all skilled masters capable of going to the Imperial Palace and cutting off the Emperor's head at once.
No matter who it was that Yeom-wi had come into contact with, they would pursue him to the end and execute him.
Ssk.
When the subordinates disappeared, the black shadow stepped out from the ancient tree and revealed his appearance under the moonlight.
Then the face of a beautiful man was lightly reflected in the moonlight.
Although he had long, slit pupils and a somewhat sharp gleam.
His appearance was quite similar to Bu Eunseol. No, to the Baekri Geomha of his childhood, who had now disappeared.
* * *
Bu Eunseol did not return to Majeon.
In fact, he had already read death in Yeom-wi's eyes.
'To keep the secret...'
If it were individuals of the Baekri Family's caliber.
Looking into the mind of a person without the Profound Divine Technique Qi would be nothing.
Yeom-wi must have unhesitatingly committed suicide to keep the secret.
Bu Eunseol had tried to change Yeom-wi's mind somehow, but seeing his firm resolve, he had bowed and left.
'Because pursuers will descend before long.'
If they were pursuers from the Baekri Family, they would be on a different level from ordinary martial artists.
What if he couldn't stop them?
Bu Eunseol could absolutely not return to Majeon.
What if he was with his subordinates?
Whether it was the Death Shadow Corps or the Martial Soul Society, anywhere.
They would surely suffer damage together from their attacks.
'I must not let his death be in vain.'
The battle of that day, when he was pushed to the threshold of death recently, flashed through his mind.
In an instant, a single ray of light shining in the pitch-black abyss of despair, a brilliant move for revival, came to mind.
'Poison must be subdued with poison.'
Using himself as bait, Bu Eunseol had thought of a way to survive this dangerous checkmate.
―'Leak my tracks.'
Going to the city, he leaked the tracks of an artificially created figure through the information network of the Death Spirit Corps.
―'Extremely coincidentally, with minor mistakes overlapping again and again.'
At an extremely secretive level that only the highest leadership of the martial world could detect.
That order began to spread through the Death Spirit Corps' spiderweb-like information network in an exceedingly subtle and secretive manner.
Bu Eunseol, having finished all preparations.
Headed to Qinghai, home to the Black Alliance, the place where he had once waged a contest against Do Cheonlin over the successor position of Majeon.
Upon arriving there, only a cold wind was howling, circling the desolate ruins.
The traces of the once fierce battle had completely vanished in the winds of a long time, leaving only a lonely emptiness.
'That time was better.'
Inhaling the cold air, Bu Eunseol stared into the void.
Back then, he realized that to achieve his grandfather's revenge, he first and foremost needed his own intelligence organization.
Just in time, the Heavenly Demon Emperor made a public announcement that he would select the next master of Majeon from among the successors of the Ten Demonic Sects, including the Ten Demon Warriors.
He staked everything on that, and that plan succeeded, and before he knew it, he came to command the foremost intelligence organization in the martial world.
'Back then, I only needed to get stronger.'
Before he knew it, he had become the head of a faction, grasping and managing the complex situation of the martial world.
He sometimes missed that passionate and pure time of aspiration when he endlessly polished his martial arts while competing with successors of his age.
'I didn't necessarily want to get involved in the Baekri Family's affairs, but.'
The fake Baekri Geomha who had stolen his place, that person wouldn't be a simple stand-in, and.
Perhaps there wasn't an extraordinary mastermind behind him, but...
'There is a high probability that he is the True Demon.'
What if it was true that he had thrown off the chains himself?
The information that the True Demon had cut the chains of samsara and completely lost his memories must have spread.
He would instinctively ditch even his own kin and.
Try to find an absolute hiding place where no pursuer could discover his traces.
And such a place in the world.
Naturally, could only be the Baekri Family.
Booom.
A massive shadow landed with a deafening roar in front of Bu Eunseol, who was lost in thought.
The shadow revealed as the dust clouds rising in all directions cleared,
was draped in incomparably splendid robes, but possessed a perfectly ordinary face.
Although it was an appearance he was seeing for the first time in his life, Bu Eunseol knew who he was.
"You have come."
Before long, Bu Eunseol, wearing the face of Mok Do-in by unleashing the secret art of darkness, spoke calmly.
"Martial Venerable."
He was none other than the Martial Venerable.
"Did you think you could toy with this body and return alive."
The Martial Venerable's voice was as cold as ice, and his eyes flashed with a murderous intent as if to pierce through everything.
The tracks he had leaked through the information network of the Death Spirit Corps.
That had been the tracks of Mok Do-in, not Bu Eunseol, sneaking out of the Martial Alliance in secret.
"What did you do in Mok Do-in's office?"
The Martial Venerable's eyes flashed.
"Did you retrieve what Mok Do-in possessed?"
The Martial Venerable seemed certain that Bu Eunseol, disguised as Mok Do-in, surely had some sort of relationship with him.
"Speak. What on earth did you intend to do?"
"There is no need to speak of the affairs of this Domain to an outsider."
"I know that you were expelled from the Sacred Domain."
The Martial Venerable said unexpected words.
"You must have taken over the chains of samsara, right?"
For a moment, one of Bu Eunseol's eyebrows twitched upwards.
'Not only is he mistaking me for someone else.'
In fact, he did not know the principle or structure of how the chains in the iron coffin were transplanted into his body.
'That person knows how to transfer the chains.'
Even if he had learned the Emotion-Severing Secret, that was merely a method to operate the chains, not a method to transfer them to another.
However, he was naturally speaking of having 'taken over' the chains of samsara.
"You."
Discovering Bu Eunseol's changed gaze, the Martial Venerable's eyes turned fierce.
"You bastard. You might not be the successor of the Sacred Domain after all."
Surprisingly, he had read the fluctuations spreading within Bu Eunseol's spirit.
'I must be careful with my thoughts.'
Not only was the Martial Venerable exceptionally resourceful, but he also possessed a terrifyingly sharp intuition.
Moreover, since he had watched him for a long time. He might be able to see through his identity just by trivial speech habits or gazes.
"You lured me here on purpose, didn't you?"
The Martial Venerable raised the corners of his mouth as if he kept in mind the possibility that Bu Eunseol had intentionally leaked the information.
"It matters not what it is."
When Bu Eunseol maintained his silence, the Martial Venerable spoke in a cold voice.
"Because even if you brought hundreds of thousands of troops, you will absolutely not be able to escape this time."
Ziiiing.
A bizarre energy spread out from the Martial Venerable's body, and the sky turned murky as black barriers were formed in all directions.
It was the Golden Lock Formation, possessing a robustness tens of times greater than a life-and-death battle formation deployed by Bu Eunseol.
"Even if you are the successor of the Sacred Domain, you cannot escape death."
The Martial Venerable babbled as if he accurately knew the circumstances of the Sacred Domain to some extent.
"I will give you one last chance. What on earth did you do in our Alliance..."
The Martial Venerable, who had been speaking calmly, suddenly,
Boom!
He reached out his hand and attempted an attack.
Even though he possessed the skill to place the world beneath his feet, he showed no arrogant or relaxed attitude and.
Was using this method of catching the enemy off guard and ambushing them, which he enjoyed using.
Booom!
In an instant, an immensely powerful force capable of twisting space engulfed Bu Eunseol's body.
Pat!
Bu Eunseol stepped back and raised his protective astral energy to receive the attack.
Ziiiing.
The transparent astral energy screamed as it collided with the surging force like a wave. The ground beneath his feet cracked like a spiderweb.
'Was it at this level.'
Bu Eunseol's pupils narrowed.
He had thought that if he used the vacuum, he would absolutely not lose.
However, the power the Martial Venerable exuded far exceeded his expectations.
Going beyond a simple realm of martial arts.
He was displaying an overwhelming destructive power as if he was wielding the laws of heaven and earth themselves.
"Die."
In his two hands, which had tied down Bu Eunseol's feet, pitch-black darkness and a scorching sun.
Two opposing energies began to swirl and clump together.
It was a power of destruction as if it would return everything in the world to nothingness.
'That is.'
Bu Eunseol opened his eyes wide.
That qi art the Martial Venerable was deploying.
Wasn't that the martial art of the Emperor of Death that the maddened Heavenly Emperor had used recently?
'If so.'
It was right at that moment.
Kabooom!
With a deafening roar that shook heaven and earth, three streaks of flashes fell from the sky.
They descended like meteors and caused a massive shockwave between the Martial Venerable and Bu Eunseol.
The three figures were engulfed in a blindingly pure white radiance, and divine energy filled the surroundings,
He couldn't even properly identify their faces.
"Who are you?"
The moment he discovered the three figures.
For the first time, a look of bewilderment crossed the face of the world's Martial Venerable.
How could they shatter the Golden Lock Formation he had created with his life's internal energy in a single blow?
Before he could say anything,
A chilling yet pure white light shot up from the backs of the three shadows into the sky.
Looking at that sight, the Martial Venerable's two eyes widened as if they would tear apart.
"The Baekri Family."
That mysterious energy that seemed to reach the end of the sky.
Wasn't it the Profound Divine Technique Qi of the Baekri Family... the great family that had opposed the True Demon since ancient times and was said to be capable of interfering with the power of creation?
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