Rrrrumble.
Before anyone knew it, along with a thunderous roar that seemed to shake heaven and earth, a light as if bursting poured out from Bu Eunseol's Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl.
At the same time, the surrounding air grew hot like boiling magma, and the earth trembled and screamed.
Brilliance flowed from the forests and trees; everything was collapsing.
If he did not quickly insert the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl into the Dragon-Phoenix Ring, he felt he would be annihilated along with the crumbling world.
Thump.
He retrieved the True Demon's wrist with Void Grasp.
Click.
He quickly opened the Dragon-Phoenix Ring and inserted the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl into it.
Then, a blindingly brilliant golden and crimson radiance swirled and swept in all directions.
Fwaaash!
In the middle of the storm of light, Bu Eunseol's consciousness was sucked far away into a pure white blankness.
How much time had passed?
The ringing in his ears gradually subsided, and the sensation of a dry wind brushing his cheeks returned.
As he struggled to lift his heavy eyelids, his blurry vision found its focus.
The first thing that caught his eye was the wall of a desolate cave, and a wrist as transparent as crystal.
He was tightly gripping the True Demon's remains, the wrist that had become transparent like crystal, with his left hand.
'What is this?'
Everything was unfamiliar and confusing.
His body was stiff like stone, making it hard to move, and his mind was clouded as if foggy.
"Bu Eunseol!"
Clatter.
At that moment, with the sound of a water bucket dropping, a small shadow ran toward him.
It was none other than So Okrim.
Her face was entirely covered in ashen sand dust, and her beautiful hair was messily tangled by the rough wind.
Her chapped lips and hollow eyes hinted at how much she had suffered in the meantime.
"Have you come to your senses?"
Bu Eunseol looked around the unfamiliar cave and moved his dry lips.
"Where is this?"
Instead of answering, So Okrim hugged Bu Eunseol's body.
"Just what on earth happened?"
She spoke as if on the verge of crying, in a voice mixed with relief and worry.
"You, you were stiff just like that for three days and three nights after that light exploded!"
With an expression looking as if she would burst into tears at any moment, she continued.
"Barely clinging to life, like you had become a stone statue. No matter how much I shook and called you, you didn't even budge!"
Three days. At those words, Bu Eunseol's mind rang blankly.
Crinkle.
But at that moment, a sound like very small, dry leaves crumbling was heard.
Spiderweb-like cracks began to form on the True Demon's wrist that was in Bu Eunseol's hand.
Pshhhh.
Eventually, it turned to dust and scattered in the wind.
Whooooosh.
But those transparent dust particles gathered together as if life had been breathed into them, and began to be drawn into Bu Eunseol's left hand.
Instantly, a horrifying sensation spread as if a cold snake was digging into his skin and slithering up his blood vessels.
"Keuk."
Panicking, he urgently grabbed his left wrist.
But the transparent dust particles had already become a black vortex, seeping into the center of the palm.
"How could this enter my body..."
He muttered, captivated by confusion and fear.
"Why?"
But So Okrim widened her eyes as if finding it strange.
In her eyes.
The hideous True Demon's remains that Bu Eunseol had been holding onto just moments ago merely seemed to have turned to dust and disappeared.
"Are you hurting somewhere?"
"Just now, didn't you see it?"
"I saw it. That wrist, whether it was the True Demon's remains or whatever, turning to dust and scattering."
"No, not that..."
At So Okrim's gaze full of pure worry, Bu Eunseol closed his mouth.
In the end, he was the only one who witnessed this bizarre and ominous phenomenon again.
'She will worry.'
If she knew that the power contained in the True Demon's wrist had entered his arm?
She would definitely worry deeply and try to find a way to deal with it somehow.
"No, it's nothing."
Bu Eunseol smiled and shook his head so that So Okrim could be at ease.
"I think I saw an illusion for a moment."
Then, looking at her haggard face, he wore an apologetic expression.
"You watched over me all this time."
"What, it was only natural."
So Okrim rubbed her nose.
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize that not only her, but his own body was also somewhat emaciated.
Although nothing would happen to him even if he starved for a month, for him to have grown this thin in three days...
It was proof that the time experienced through the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl was practically close to ascetic penance.
"What on earth happened?"
So Okrim realized that Bu Eunseol's atmosphere had inexplicably changed significantly from before.
Beyond being ordinary, it was as if he had become a pebble in nature.
Even though he was right beside her, she could not feel the sound of his breathing, no, not even his presence.
"The True Demon's remains combined with this treasure, allowing me to see past memories."
The words that, through the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl, he had inherited the blood karma of the True Demon, who could be considered his ancestor, and attained enlightenment...
They did not easily come out of his mouth.
Because of that, he merely intended to talk about it to the extent of experiencing what happened in Cheonchuk a thousand years ago due to the combination of the remains and the treasure.
'No, Instructor So must also know.'
But soon he steeled his heart.
'Let us hide it no longer.'
Had he not learned of So Okrim's true feelings through the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission?
Having steeled his heart, Bu Eunseol told her everything.
That he was a blood relative of the True Demon.
And that not only had he grasped Pahon's life story through these three treasures, but he had also entered a new realm.
"That's fascinating!"
So Okrim let out an exclamation.
She paid no mind at all to the fact that he was a blood relative of the True Demon.
She was simply smacking her lips as she looked at the Dragon-Phoenix Ring on Bu Eunseol's wrist.
"Then I wonder what would have happened if I touched it."
So Okrim joked with her eyes curved like half-moons.
'She is attentive.'
Bu Eunseol could feel it.
For his sake, for sharing such difficult things, she was purposely being playful.
"Of course, it wouldn't have worked. The Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl is a treasure that inherits power through blood."
"Then do I have to find my ancestors too? Or what about other remains?"
Knowing full well it was a joke, Bu Eunseol spoke firmly.
"If you discover such demonic creatures in the future, it would be best if you absolutely never touch them."
Because he had the Dragon-Phoenix Ring and the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl, he was not encroached upon by the True Demon's evil power.
And he was able to enhance his martial prowess through the karma of that bloodline.
But what if someone who was not even a blood relative of the True Demon touched the remains without such treasures?
They would have no choice but to become a demonic creature assimilated with evil like the last time.
"I know, it's a joke, a joke."
Seeing Bu Eunseol's serious expression, So Okrim smiled and let out a sigh of relief.
"Anyway, it's a relief you're safe."
For three days, hardship was evident on her face, as if there was nothing she had not tried.
Around the cave, there were traces of all sorts of medicines and physicians having visited.
How anxious must she have been, fearing that something might go wrong with him?
He could feel anew just how much supreme devotion she had poured into him.
"Okrim."
Bu Eunseol expressed his gratitude with utmost politeness.
"Thank you."
"Don't say that."
So Okrim shook her head.
"Why are you saying thank you between us?"
Then she looked at Bu Eunseol with an incredibly serious gaze.
"Aren't you the destined mate chosen by our sect?"
She took a step closer and spoke with a solemn expression.
"Since we shared and refined the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission, we've become halves of a soul that cannot be separated. The heavens have acknowledged us too."
"Okrim."
Bu Eunseol wore a troubled expression.
"Do you hate it?"
So Okrim looked straight into his eyes and spoke in a whisper, with an incredibly profound yet serious expression.
"Speak clearly. If you hate me, say clearly that you hate me."
"..."
"Tell me for sure. Now, shouldn't you?"
Was it because she had returned to her perfect appearance?
Normally, she would have clearly thrown a punch or yelled, but now she was speaking in an extremely soft voice.
'I don't hate her. No, I have favorable feelings for her. But.'
―'You must form a family.'
This was what the senior masters who had ties with his grandfather always said when looking at Bu Eunseol.
Because they hoped the grandson would achieve the happiness his grandfather could not fulfill.
But Bu Eunseol could intuitively feel it.
That the path he walked was a blood path. That a happy and quiet ending could never be reached.
Just as his grandfather had not formed a family, that he too was destined to be unable to take responsibility for someone.
"Alright. I will be honest. I..."
Bu Eunseol made his resolution and was about to speak firmly.
"You have to speak clearly so I can decide whether to acknowledge you as a thief who stole the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission, or cleave your body in half, right?"
"What do you mean?"
"Since an outsider carelessly learned the secret transmission of another sect, I naturally have to take it back."
So Okrim came close to Bu Eunseol with an incredibly sullen expression and met his eyes.
"That's the way of the martial world. Isn't it?"
Bu Eunseol swallowed dryly.
He had forgotten for a moment.
Even if her appearance had changed into a heavenly beauty that any man would dream of.
So Okrim was So Okrim.
She was a radical woman who would undoubtedly use her fists even for things that could be settled with words.
Had Yu Cheongrim not gotten needlessly tangled with her and ended up half-paralyzed for months?
A change in the outer appearance did not mean the substance inside had changed.
He absolutely must not be deceived by that beautiful appearance.
"You are right."
Bu Eunseol, who had intended to be honest, smoothly began to spout lies.
"If one is a man, no one could refuse you."
"That feels like an answer that dodges the core point."
"I meant that I am a man too."
"So you mean it's a positive response?"
"If it sounded negative, I apologize."
"Mmm..."
It feels like he's dodging this way and that.
So Okrim, who had been glaring with narrowed eyes, clenched her fists tightly.
Bu Eunseol did not let his guard down in case she unleashed a lightning-fast punch.
"It can't be helped."
With a flash in her eyes, So Okrim came close to Bu Eunseol's face.
Then she opened both her arms.
'Is it the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike.'
Judging that his ambiguous answer had twisted her insides and that she was making a move, he hurriedly tried to raise his internal energy.
Squeeze.
She tightly hugged Bu Eunseol with both arms.
"Today... I will be satisfied with that answer."
And she whispered into his ear.
"Because for a person who was always like a block of wood to give an answer like this means he's improved a lot."
After being tightly hugged in Bu Eunseol's embrace for a long time, she pulled her body away and said.
"Next time we meet, you'll have improved more, right?"
And she smiled radiantly.
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize.
That from the moment they first met, the power to decide was never his.
That So Okrim would never give up.
While he might be able to shake off the women he had met previously, she would absolutely never let go.
Nod.
Bu Eunseol nodded his head without realizing it.
"Good."
As if satisfied, So Okrim smiled brightly, revealing her white teeth.
―'Let's meet again. I'll train the Sacred Fire Secret Transmission even harder too.'
So Okrim laughed and left.
In the midst of that, she hugged him one more time and did not forget a solemn request.
―'I requested this before, but don't increase the number anymore. You know what I mean, right?'
Now her attitude was as if she was certain Bu Eunseol was her lover entirely.
"Is it unavoidable."
Bu Eunseol shook his head from side to side.
All the experts of the Essence Three Realms were So Okrim's grandfathers and family.
He was the person of destiny they so desperately wished for, and in the end, he had refined the secret arts of the Essence Three Realms together with So Okrim.
Even considering these ties, he could not simply feign ignorance of her.
"If this is a blessing, then it is a blessing."
So Okrim's appearance had returned to its original state.
Not to mention Gongsun Dana or Yeon Soha.
Surpassing the Young Sect Leader of the Seolhwa Sect, who boasted the most splendid beauty...
A beauty that Bu Eunseol had set his mind on.
She was at a level comparable even to the True Demon's attendant Pasun, no, Dali.
Especially the bright smile revealing her teeth.
It had an innocent and unique charm like a child that no beauty in the Central Plains could imitate.
"What am I thinking."
He was unaware that So Okrim's broadly smiling face had been engraved in his heart like a brand.
He shook his head and immediately launched his body toward the Central Plains.
* * *
Returning to Majeon, Bu Eunseol immediately held a meeting with the captains.
It was to inform them that the bizarre event in the desert was the appearance of the True Demon's remains, and that he had dealt with it.
The air in the meeting room of the Suppressed Demon Pavilion sank heavier than ever.
The captains all gathered at the massive round table made of black jade, dark as pitch.
Their gazes were directed solely at Bu Eunseol sitting in the seat of honor.
"The bizarre bloody incident that occurred in the desert was caused by the True Demon's remains."
Bu Eunseol explained in detail what had happened so far.
The monster with the True Demon's wrist, the coincidental meeting with So Okrim, and the Returning to One Realm Lord who came looking for him.
However, there were things he left out: the abilities of the Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor Pearl, and the sudden enhancement of his martial prowess achieved through the blood karma.
Nor did he talk about the events of Cheonchuk a thousand years ago that he had experienced there.
Because even he, who had intervened in all sorts of myths in the martial world and had even seen and experienced them firsthand.
Found this matter so absurd as to be unbelievable.
'Besides, didn't I absorb the True Demon's remains?'
To be exact, the remains disappeared into his body.
What kind of events this would cause later, what kind of influence it would exert.
Even he could not gauge it.
'Perhaps the True Demon is...'
Through this incident with the remains, Bu Eunseol had understood something.
He could intuitively feel that the being called the True Demon was not simply someone who felt the joys and sorrows of humans and lived among them.
'Furthermore, the timeline somewhat doesn't match the memories I saw in the mind of the woman from the True Demon Palace previously.'
The True Demon's memories obtained through the memories of Nariya, the Holy Maiden of the True Demon Palace.
In other words, the timeline when he lost his memories and granted the chains of samsara for the woman he loved from the absolute beginning.
Might not have happened in that era.
"...That is what happened."
Hearing the whole story from Bu Eunseol, the blood drained from the captains' faces and they swallowed dryly repeatedly.
The fact that a piece of a corpse whose time of death was unknown became a treasure that allowed one to exert mighty power.
It was a story that ultimately proved the True Demon was a being that transcended humans.
"This is not the end, but the beginning."
Bu Eunseol continued speaking.
"Judging by the words of the Returning to One Realm Lord, using this incident as a starting point, the experts of the Baekri Family or the True Demon Palace who have not shown themselves will reveal their appearances one after another."
The Returning to One Realm Lord was not one to speak nonsense. In the end, before long, a blood storm would rage in the martial world once again.
"You plan to secretly spread this matter to the martial world through the Death Spirit Corps."
At Mu Heon's words, Bu Eunseol nodded.
"That is correct. Once the meeting is over, execute it immediately."
He intended to secretly leak the information about this desert anomaly.
Through various channels, to the secret intelligence organizations of each sect.
Because the martial artists needed to know now too.
The current situation of the martial world.
Just how massive and terrible a threat was approaching.
How long could Bu Eunseol, could the Death Shadow Corps, go on?
They could not carry everything and solve it all forever.
Now they had to sharpen their own swords and cultivate the strength to fight against the coming blood storm themselves.
When the meeting ended, Bu Eunseol returned to his office and fell into deep thought alone in the deep darkness.
Only the moonlight outside the window broke coldly over his cheeks.
Looking down at his wrist, Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
'It is worrying.'
He was still concerned about having absorbed the True Demon's remains.
It had vanished without a trace somewhere inside his body, to the point that he could not even feel its power.
Had it mixed with him entirely?
Or was it crouching somewhere, ready to create a situation no one could predict? He had no way of knowing.
'If this is absorption.'
Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.
If that happened, couldn't he become a second True Demon?
'Did that person leave the remains to create another alter ego?'
He had been repeating samsara until now. If he wanted to, he could have eliminated the remains from the absolute beginning in a single breath.
'The exact purpose cannot be known, but...'
Through the information obtained this time, he could faintly glimpse the essence of the being called True Demon.
That he was absolutely not human.
"Perhaps the True Demon is... a being altered in the distant passing of time over tens of thousands of years, or even before that, interpreted by the standards of humans."
The more information he obtained, the more fundamental and incomprehensible a being the True Demon felt to be.
He was immersed in such deep thoughts.
Knock, knock.
A sound breaking the silence of the quiet office was heard.
The one who opened the door and entered was Yoo Unryong.
For some reason, today, a gaze tinged with resignation was cast deep in his eyes.
"Just why did you do that."
Yoo Unryong spoke with a despairing expression.
"Without any consultation, just why?"
"What are you talking about all of a sudden."
"You changed the contents of the memorial and sent it up, didn't you?"
Yoo Unryong said with a regretful expression.
"Even though you clearly knew that the moment you entered the Imperial Palace, no matter how secretly you met, you would be caught in the Empress Dowager's sight."
Yoo Unryong pulled out a palm-sized scroll.
A red string was wrapped around the rod covered in black silk, and a cicada-shaped jade seal hung at the end.
When the rod was unrolled, brush writing spreading over ochre-colored silk appeared inside.
"In the end, the Emperor summoned you."
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize why he was making such an expression.
Originally, it was to return the Dragon-Phoenix Ring received from Princess Hwijeong.
He had planned to send a memorial to the Emperor, asking him to judge whether he was qualified for it.
But Bu Eunseol had changed the contents of the memorial.
Because he must not return the Dragon-Phoenix Ring.
The problem was that if he did that, he would have to agree to become the Imperial Son-in-law, so he said he would meet the Emperor directly and explain the reason.
―'You want to keep the Imperial treasure the Princess gave you, but you don't want to become the Imperial Son-in-law?'
In the end, the furious Emperor had summoned him.
"Do you not know what will happen if you go to the Imperial Family now?"
At Yoo Unryong's worried words, Bu Eunseol instead smiled.
"Why... are you smiling?"
"No, just."
No one knew yet that he had entered the Void Extreme Realm.
No matter what happened.
The one who would suffer a hard time would not be Bu Eunseol... but the enemies facing him.
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