The blade form of the Returning to One Realm Lord was interrupted.
Swoooosh.
The round energy that had rippled and spread around Bu Eunseol's body also gradually disappeared.
By understanding the subtleties of force and utilizing the attributes of the incoming external force, he had created his own absolute space, deflecting the unblockable blade energy.
When Bu Eunseol blocked the Seven Blood Tear Forms in an entirely unexpected manner,
Clamp.
The Returning to One Realm Lord slowly stepped back and assumed a stance.
He had realized that Bu Eunseol was not prey.
He was a threatening beast, capable of severing his very lifeline.
For the first time, he had taken a defensive posture.
Clamp.
The stance he took was bizarre.
He did not point the tip of his blade at Bu Eunseol.
Instead, he lightly gripped the hilt and let his arm hang down, leaving the tip of the blade barely touching the ground.
At a glance, it looked as if a commoner who had never learned martial arts had taken a stance, with no strength put into his whole body.
The massive great blade swung very slightly next to his leg like a pendulum.
'Incredible.'
Bu Eunseol exclaimed in admiration inwardly.
Normally, a stance taken with a weapon in hand gives its intent away.
It inevitably allows the opponent to predict what kind of technique will be used, what kind of attack will unfold, and what trajectory it will draw.
However, the Returning to One Realm Lord's great blade hung straight down.
It was capable of immediate strikes in all directions, up, down, left, right, and diagonally, making it impossible to even predict where he would slash from.
Pat!
Bu Eunseol suddenly twisted his body quickly.
Then, along with a whooshing sound, a sharp blade energy brushed past his shoulder.
The Returning to One Realm Lord had deployed a lightning-like single slash.
Drip.
Blood flowed from the area where the blade energy had brushed past.
It was not because he had accurately sensed the attack.
It was an instinctive movement born from having continuously experienced battles crossing the line of death.
'It is a stance capable of obtaining perfect explosive power.'
Muscles do not generate their greatest force while they are tense.
When they contract from a completely relaxed state, they generate far greater explosive power.
The Returning to One Realm Lord had reached the realm of the Way of the Blade.
Regardless of whether he was lying down or sitting, he could deploy blade forms at the same speed.
Furthermore, he had drained every trace of strength from his body and entrusted the weight of the blade to gravity.
With that, he had once again deployed a fast blade form that transcended the limits of reflexes.
Screeeech!
In an instant, a ghostly wail-like sound spread from Bu Eunseol's Silent Tiger Soul Sword, and then,
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish.
Sharp blade energy spread across the floor, soon surging up toward the Returning to One Realm Lord's neck.
It was a variant of the fourth form of the Seven Blood Tear Forms, Desiring Death, No Place Found.
The Returning to One Realm Lord did not move.
He merely lifted the hanging blade and struck away the blade energy with only the movement of his wrist.
The blade form had surged from the bottom up.
Such an attack is extremely difficult to defend against, because it rises from below the chin, a blind spot in one's vision.
However, as if playing a boring game, he was nonchalantly blocking the pouring blade energy.
'He has already broken through my technique.'
Advancing while fighting was not a privilege exclusive to Bu Eunseol.
He had been soft as a feather, yet turned hard as a wall the moment force touched him.
He used the subtlety of force that flows naturally, like entrusting the body to the clouds, to disperse every external force and power.
With it he created the absolute space that could deflect the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
The Returning to One Realm Lord then shifted to the technique of the Gentle Harmony Dao, which completely concealed his killing intent and the path of his blade.
With it he shattered the technique Bu Eunseol had newly created.
[Haaah.]
From the eyes within the pitch-black iron mask, a heat like a blast furnace rose along with a low breathing sound.
Even the new technique had been blocked.
He was intending to deploy the Seven Blood Tear Forms once again to sever Bu Eunseol's lifeline.
Clamp.
As the Returning to One Realm Lord raised the great blade once again,
Vwoosh!
Fierce energy began to spread out like a maddened whirlwind.
At the same time a fierce gale that seemed as if it would collapse the whole world raged,
Flash!
In the blink of an eye, the Returning to One Realm Lord closed the distance and split Bu Eunseol's head.
However, a bizarre thing occurred.
It was clearly a lightning-like blade form that could not even be sensed by human vision and senses.
And yet, in Bu Eunseol's vision, the trajectory of the great blade appeared distinct and slow.
'I see.'
His grandfather's Seven Blood Tear Forms was death itself.
But the Returning to One Realm Lord's Seven Blood Tear Forms was something else.
All along, it had been pursuing the Heaven Destroying Tyrant Way, which denied even death itself.
'This is the true form of the Heaven Destroying Tyrant Way.'
When the grim reaper visited, the overlord found a way to avoid death.
That was precisely dominating time.
Even if the grim reaper visited, what if he endlessly stretched out the approaching speed?
What if he made a single step take tens of years?
Even if his remaining lifespan was only a day, the overlord could live for a thousand years.
'A contradiction in time.'
The Returning to One Realm Lord's Seven Blood Tear Forms seemed to unfold rapidly, but in reality, it was unfolding extremely slowly.
In other words, his Seven Blood Tear Forms was not bestowing death upon all enemies, but dominating the enemy by controlling the flow of time.
This was because Bu Eunseol had learned the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission and grasped the method of sublimating external force into reason.
He was able to pierce through the flow of force contained in the technique of the Gentle Harmony Dao deployed by the Returning to One Realm Lord.
And now he could see the trajectory of the Seven Blood Tear Forms that the Returning to One Realm Lord deployed.
Until now, he had not even been able to sense it.
Shaaaa!
He had grasped the principle of the essence.
The great blade was moving so slowly that it made one want to yawn.
However, Bu Eunseol focused all his nerves and stared at the falling great blade.
He could not let his guard down even a little.
That great blade would become an undetectable lightning bolt and immediately split his head.
Sssst.
As time passed, the movement of the great blade became even slower and the pressure grew stronger.
His chest felt so stifled that he wanted to vomit blood.
If it had been an ordinary martial artist, they would have breathed their last without even knowing why.
Sensing the contradiction in time would not have been enough.
Their internal organs would have been crushed because they could not relieve the pressure that seemed to crush the world.
Bu Eunseol was utterly calm.
He offset the pouring pressure with his internal energy.
And he moved the Silent Tiger Soul Sword minutely, to capture the vulnerability of the slowly descending great blade.
This was not a destructive battle pouring out blade energy that split mountains and divided seas like a storm.
This battle was silent and still.
And it was a far more perilous, far more dangerous fight.
Trickle.
Sweat fell from Bu Eunseol's forehead.
In reality, he was using much more true strength and concentration than when pouring out hundreds of sword forms.
If he made even a slight mistake?
Even if his head was not split open, his limbs would immediately be blown off.
Ssk.
At that moment, an astonishing thing occurred.
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword had been moving only minutely.
Now it drew a slow trajectory and thrust, slowly, toward the Returning to One Realm Lord's neck.
In this short time, he had grasped the subtlety of the Phantasmal Speed Still Flow among the Returning to One Realm Lord's blade arts.
And he had mimicked it.
Clench.
So Okrim, who was watching the sight from afar, involuntarily clenched her hands.
Martial artists capable of appreciating a battle this transcendent could be counted on one hand in all the world.
She was the successor of the Essence Three Realms.
She grasped how perilous this battle that merely looked slow truly was.
And she could also vaguely predict how it would end.
'Please.'
She clenched both her hands tightly.
They seemed to be fighting equally, but it was a precarious situation where Bu Eunseol's head seemed ready to fall off at any moment.
If she could, she wanted to jump into the battlefield right now and join forces with him.
However, she held back firmly and watched the fight resolutely.
Because he would be able to do it.
Because he would absolutely not die at the hands of that fiend of a man.
As if proving that.
Even in this extremely dangerous situation, Bu Eunseol's eyes did not waver and rather shone brightly.
He was in the midst of breaking a wall once again in a desperate situation.
If he failed, it was death.
If he succeeded... he would be able to leap to a high realm once again.
Boom!
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol's body was thrown to the ground.
His ribs were cracked and his internal organs were damaged, causing blood to flow from his mouth.
His left shoulder was dangling as if dislocated.
He had continued an equal fight with the Returning to One Realm Lord using the subtlety of the Phantasmal Speed Still Flow.
Due to a difference in proficiency, he had ultimately lost in the exchange of moves.
However, the Returning to One Realm Lord was contorting his eyes within the iron mask.
And Bu Eunseol was smiling.
The Returning to One Realm Lord had shown absolute confidence in this single move, and had guaranteed that he could definitely kill him.
However, having failed despite unleashing his full ability, his momentum had decreased by about thirty percent.
'I can block it.'
On the other hand, even though his whole body was torn and he vomited blood, Bu Eunseol's momentum surged as if he had won.
He had gained the confidence that he could block all of the Returning to One Realm Lord's attacks.
Booom!
As he raised the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, a brilliant vibration wave spread from his entire body.
This time he struck first, opening an ultra-high-speed close-quarters battle, the opposite of the Phantasmal Speed Still Flow.
A bloody battle where flesh and blood burst out.
Since that had always been the fighting style he pursued.
And right now, he felt that he was stepping one step closer to the realm of martial arts he had pursued all his life.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The Returning to One Realm Lord, who had been watching Bu Eunseol block his blade forms in the end even as he seemed about to collapse,
Clamp.
Raised his great blade to the sky once again.
Boooom!
Along with a bizarre vibration sound, the surroundings were instantly filled with the sound of a fierce wind.
Everything on the ground was swept up in the whirlwind and began to rise into the sky.
Shriiiek!
At the same time, a desperate wailing sound like the mourning of a witch began to echo.
The Returning to One Realm Lord had also deployed a killing form containing a lifetime's worth of cultivation.
'Now is the time.'
Bu Eunseol began to drain away all the mighty power circulating in his body.
And pulled up only that single breath of pure true energy he had trained with a breathing method in his childhood.
'All power shall return to its original source.'
A blue energy began to spread from his whole body as he held the Silent Tiger Soul Sword in a reverse grip.
And maintaining only the state of holding the sword in a reverse grip, he did not deploy a form or take a defensive motion.
Bang!
Along with the roar of the blast, the thirty-odd jang of ground around where he stood collapsed into a black crater.
However, Bu Eunseol was standing intact holding the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
He had blocked the Returning to One Realm Lord's attack even though he just stood still.
'From here on is the real thing.'
If the confident strike had ended in a draw? The subsequent attack unleashing full power would surely follow again.
Bu Eunseol prepared a strike gathering all the purified insights he had attained so far.
'Survive rather than striking down.'
It went back to his days as a Ten Demon Warrior.
He had aimed at one thing only: to survive.
Because he had never properly learned martial arts in the first place.
But survival was another matter.
If he somehow lived through it, he was confident that he could break the enemy's technique without fail and tear it down.
Thrummm!
In an extremely short moment, along with a bizarre vibration, all the power in his body concentrated into the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
And at the moment he was about to launch the final strike, an unexpected situation occurred.
Clamp.
The Returning to One Realm Lord suddenly withdrew his great blade and stepped back.
A death-like silence flowed for a moment.
"...What is the meaning of this?"
As Bu Eunseol asked,
[Only now.]
The Returning to One Realm Lord opened his mouth for the first time.
[Are you ready to fight.]
"Ready to fight?"
The voice flowing from beneath the helmet was cold and sharp like clashing iron.
[The Baekri Family, the True Demon Palace.]
It was an unexpected answer.
Why did he have to fight those two factions?
"Why should I fight them."
[Did you strike down the one possessing the True Demon's remains and still not realize?]
"The True Demon's remains."
Bu Eunseol widened his eyes.
The Blood Shaolin abbot, Dam Jeung, had left behind a picture book.
According to it, the True Demon's remains had been offered directly to the Buddha Venerable by the former Martial Alliance Leader Cheol Muhon with his own two hands, in order to eliminate its evil and extinguish it with dharma power.
But there was the transparent, wrist-shaped demonic creature stored in his bosom.
To think that was none other than the True Demon's remains?
If those words were true...
The True Demon's remains had been fragmented and scattered.
"What exactly do you want from me?"
He could not understand the Returning to One Realm Lord's attitude at all.
The True Demon's remains could arguably be called the greatest treasure in the martial world.
Why didn't he take it even while clearly knowing that he possessed it?
He was known as a madman even in the Three Realms, so why didn't he kill him?
What exactly did he want?
Clamp.
Instead of answering, the Returning to One Realm Lord slowly withdrew his great blade.
[Heh heh heh... Hahahaha!]
And let out an exceedingly low, eerie burst of mad laughter.
Snap.
As the laughter ceased, before he knew it, the Returning to One Realm Lord's body turned into millions of motes of light and scattered in all directions.
He had disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Are you okay?"
At that time, So Okrim, who had been watching, ran to Bu Eunseol.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"I am fine."
As Bu Eunseol stood silently with his head bowed, So Okrim wore a look of incomprehension.
"What exactly is going on? Why did that guy just leave?"
She too was one of the foremost experts who had mastered the martial arts of the Essence Three Realms.
Because she had continuously watched the battle between the two, she could clearly verify who had the upper hand.
Although it hadn't been a complete conclusion, it could not be denied that the Returning to One Realm Lord was superior.
But why did he withdraw his blade at the final moment?
"I don't know."
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
"Not in the slightest."
"You had various things going on with that guy until now, right?"
So Okrim made a worried expression.
"Tell me. Tell it to me."
She wasn't asking out of curiosity, but out of genuine concern.
She hoped she might discover some dangerous element that Bu Eunseol was missing.
"Actually..."
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
And he told her everything that had happened with the Returning to One Realm Lord up until now.
"He could be the blood kin of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade?"
So Okrim felt dizzy after hearing the whole story.
"Does that make sense?"
"Honestly... I don't know either."
The Seven Blood Tear Forms the Returning to One Realm Lord had used this time were something else.
They were closer to a method of countering the essence Bu Zhanyang had created.
To avoid death, there was only one road.
One had no choice but to dominate time.
"Besides."
And he took out the wrist he had kept stored in his bosom.
"According to his words, this is the True Demon's remains."
"The True Demon's remains."
However, a strange thing happened.
Just a moment ago, the wrist had clearly been like a transparent crystal.
Now that it sat inside his bosom.
And it was turning back into a form where blood and flesh seemed to flow again.
"Gross."
So Okrim furrowed her brow.
"Quickly burn it... I guess we can't even do that."
It was a wrist that had not been damaged even by the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike deployed by combining forces with Bu Eunseol through the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission.
Even if put into a blast furnace instead of fire, it would maintain an intact state.
Ziiiiiing.
At that time, a bizarre response flowed from the Dragon-Phoenix Ring worn on Bu Eunseol's left wrist.
'That's right.'
Before the Returning to One Realm Lord came, this demonic creature had been responding with the Dragon-Phoenix Ring, which was combined with the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl.
If that was the case...
Clunk.
Bu Eunseol unconsciously used internal energy and unfastened the Dragon-Phoenix Ring.
And combined it with the wrist that was turning into a form where blood and flesh flowed.
"Huh?"
At that moment, So Okrim's eyes widened and her mouth fell open.
Red energy and blue energy began to swirl and merge from the Dragon-Phoenix Ring.
Even the black energy contained in the demonic creature seeped into it.
Rumble! Boom!
The energy of the three treasures mixed together.
Along with a roaring sound like thunder, a dazzling flash shot out in all directions.
Rrrrumble.
A vibration shook heaven and earth.
The surrounding scenery Bu Eunseol was looking at changed, and everything around him blurred.
Even the ground beneath his feet shook like waves before gradually turning transparent and beginning to disappear.
'It's dangerous.'
He tried to remove the Dragon-Phoenix Ring wrapped around the wrist, but,
Ziiiing.
At that moment, as if the flow of time was twisting, everything around him moved slowly before coming to a stop.
Srrrk.
Before he knew it, the scenery of reality disappeared and a space dyed white unfolded before his eyes.
Trickle.
As he entered this place, a gap in the space split open, and through it, afterimages of the past brushed past his eyes.
Thousands of voices echoed like whispers in his ears before gradually fading away.
'Just what kind of phenomenon is this.'
Even looking around, even running to the opposite side, only a pure white space existed.
Ziiiiiing.
However, far in the distance, a black door formed.
"Is it an exit."
Bu Eunseol ran towards it.
But he drew closer to it.
Memories of the past repeatedly surfaced and disappeared like fragments, and then,
Paaat!
A sensation spread through him, as if part of his body were gradually turning into countless points of light and scattering on the wind.
'My body is disappearing?'
Panicked, Bu Eunseol ran with all his might toward the black door.
Right around the time his entire body turned into complete points of light and disappeared,
Thud.
He managed to enter the space of the black door.
Shaaaa.
Once again the whole world was dyed in white light, so bright he could not open his eyes.
Soon, the scenery of a splendid city was seen.
"This place is."
Bu Eunseol looked around.
At the end of the horizon, at the end of the road where haze rose under the scorching sun, a city looked like a mirage.
In the wilderness, it seemed as if he could hear the rough breathing of camels and horses exhausted from a grueling journey of dozens of days.
Far away, massive golden sandstone walls could be seen.
'What in the world is this?'
Bu Eunseol walked toward the city seen far away.
Murmur, murmur.
As he entered the city, there was the smell of sweat from horses and camels, and the heavy scent of spices.
And it all turned into a vast sea of noise, woven from countless mingling languages.
'Cheonchuk?'
The soldiers guarding the city gates, and the sounds of merchants chatting under the red tents were all dialects of Cheonchuk.
Passing through the place where the cries of camels and the creaking sounds of wagon wheels were tangled together,
Clang, clang.
From somewhere, a loud sound of a hammer chipping stones echoed.
"Napsageukseong?"
Bu Eunseol opened his mouth.
This place was none other than... the Mahasuma Area, the northern region of Napsageukseong in Cheonchuk.
Comments