"Are humans bound to fall into corruption?"
Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh without realizing it.
Even the Baekri Family, who were said to have inherited the mandate of the heavens to carry out justice, had ultimately become buried in power.
If he had not experienced Pahon's life story a short while ago?
He too would have been filled with distrust toward humanity.
"If only the descendants of the Baekri Family had not harbored such blind greed..."
What if they had instead enriched the world with the knowledge of the True Demon?
Even if it was knowledge forbidden by the heavens, from the perspective of humans, it would have been a salvation that could reduce suffering and save lives.
"I do not know."
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
"Because I have not yet been to the Baekri Family."
But there was one thing that was certain.
It was that his father had opposed the family monopolizing knowledge.
Srrrk.
At last every letter and picture vanished.
Thud.
A shriveled arm fell to the ground.
"Great Master."
Bu Eunseol's eyes wavered.
It had all been to tell him this truth.
The Wooden Buddha had sacrificed one of his arms, engraving the writings and pictures onto the rock wall with his blood and dharma power.
"I will never let the Great Master's sacrifice be in vain."
Bu Eunseol knelt down and bowed to the shriveled arm of the Wooden Buddha.
Until now, the Wooden Buddha had endlessly sacrificed his own body to help him.
This was not because he expected any price in return or had an ulterior motive, but because he believed it to be the right path.
Rrrrumble.
Suddenly, the interior began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
As the dharma power of the Wooden Buddha engraved on the rock wall ran out, the cave was collapsing.
* * *
Emerging from the entrance of Jade Dragon Pool, Bu Eunseol kicked off the ground and flew upward.
The full moon floating in the night sky dyed the hem of his black clothes silver.
'Hmm.'
As he flew swiftly across the open sky, his eyes were dark, and a long, heavy sigh leaked from his mouth.
Knowing the truth was not entirely a good thing.
There are things one does not have to carry if one does not know them.
The things he had learned this time felt like a massive burden pressing down on his shoulders.
'They must have fallen into corruption in the end.'
He felt like he understood why his father thought the Baekri Family was walking the wrong path.
What if the Baekri Family intended to benefit the world?
They should have shared the astonishing knowledge they had acquired with all people.
But the Baekri Family was monopolizing that astonishing knowledge.
That alone meant they were committing a great sin.
―'The martial arts of the martial world were limited to the Limitless Realm.'
This was something the kin of the True Demon had said multiple times in the past.
At the time, he thought that limiting the development of martial arts merely meant exterminating those who were outstanding.
But now, he could clearly understand the meaning behind it.
The Baekri Family and the True Demon Palace.
They had been releasing parts of the True Demon's knowledge to manipulate the development of the world.
It was as if they had become gods, steering the fates of humans.
'Who should I tell this truth to?'
Bu Eunseol soon shook his head.
It was a truth that was better off unknown to the majority of people.
Because nothing would change even if he spoke of it, nor was it a matter worth speaking about.
Ziiiing.
But suddenly, a chilling sensation wrapped around his entire body, and his super senses began to sound an alarm.
It was as if a giant net were slowly tightening.
Presences rapidly approaching from all directions were detected.
Turning his head to check behind him, he saw faintly moving shadows in the darkness far away.
Maintaining a formation like a swarm of bees, they were pursuing him at a ferocious speed.
'To think experts of this caliber are traveling in swarms... I see.'
The Swift Beyond Shadow he was unfolding now had been deployed with only the internal power of Three Stars.
Even so, it was a speed that a great master of qinggong would find hard to match.
Yet, they were slowly and leisurely narrowing the gap.
'Is it the Three Realms?'
Only so many forces could nurture large numbers of people able to keep pace with his qinggong.
Excluding massive alliances like Majeon, the Martial Alliance, and the Martial Soul Society, there were only abyssal forces such as the Three Realms and the United Heart Society.
'I must check.'
He saw a clearing in the forest revealed by the moonlight far away.
It was a terrain that was easy to be surrounded in because the surroundings were open, but at the same time, it was a place where he could grasp the movements of the enemies at a glance.
Tap.
Stepping on the fallen leaves and landing in the middle of the clearing, Bu Eunseol slowly turned around.
Before his feet even touched the ground, the pursuing group scattered and surrounded him.
Along with a bleak wind, over forty masked men revealed themselves.
Dark, ominous energy was rising like a haze from their entire bodies, and there was no emotion in their eyes.
'Thorough.'
Discerning the energy flowing from their bodies, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
They were none other than martial artists affiliated with the Imperial Family.
'Then again, there's no way a figure like the Empress Dowager wouldn't have placed double and triple traps in the secret vault.'
Should anything go wrong at Jade Dragon Pool, the Empress Dowager would know of it at once.
She had clearly stationed troops here who could detect it immediately and eliminate any intruder.
Swoosh!
Without a single word, the forty-plus masked men charged toward Bu Eunseol all at once as one body.
Blade and Sword as Words, where blades and swords serve as words and will...
They were showing their determination to kill Bu Eunseol no matter what.
'Unique.'
They were precisely wielding strangely shaped swords that looked as if scales were sprouting all over the blade body.
Their movement arts as well, moving like one person... used a technique quite different from the existing movement arts of the martial world.
'...Even so, they are fast.'
Even though over forty people were moving as one person, their movements were abnormally fast.
Thoom!
At that moment, internal energy exploded from Bu Eunseol's left fist, rotating and spreading out in all directions.
He did not immediately strike them to death.
He had unfolded the Infinite Beginning, Infinite End to observe the profundity of their martial arts.
Paaat!
Due to its immense power, the masked men were instantly pushed back like fallen leaves caught in a strong gale.
"..."
Having seen a fist technique of this power, they should have approached quite cautiously.
But as if nothing had happened, they charged again without fear.
Swoosh!
Instead of attacking Bu Eunseol directly, the masked men endlessly swung their weapons toward his surroundings.
Naturally, the attacks did not connect.
But every time they slashed their weapons down, his internal breathing became uncomfortable and he felt a pain as if his bones were twisting.
Thrum.
Bu Eunseol raised his internal power to create a protective astral energy, but his body still grew heavier every time they slashed their weapons in the air.
'It is not a martial art.'
Shaaa.
Before he knew it, the dark energy spewing from the bodies of the masked men grew even denser, and the air became heavy.
Even though not a single attack had landed, it became difficult to even breathe.
'So that was it.'
Only then did Bu Eunseol grasp the true nature of the martial arts the masked men were unfolding.
'They have mixed the Soul Demon Dharma Energy with martial arts.'
By combining their unique martial arts with the Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
They were unfolding an extremely unique and profound technique that inflicted damage on the enemy's physical body without even landing an attack.
'They are not affiliated with the Imperial Palace, but the True Demon Palace.'
A bizarre thing happened as he grasped the attribute of the power the masked men were pouring out.
It was the Soul Demon Dharma Energy they were pouring out.
It began to be sucked into Bu Eunseol's body as if drawn by a magnet.
'Hmm.'
This kind of phenomenon had occurred a few times in the past as well.
The total amount of Soul Demon Dharma Energy was predetermined.
And one of lower standing could never oppose the Soul Demon Dharma Energy of one above him.
Therefore, he initially thought this phenomenon occurred because their Soul Demon Dharma Energy was weaker than his...
'It is because of the new martial realm.'
Now he could clearly understand the reason.
The Void Extreme Realm.
Bu Eunseol had chosen a martial path that others did not tread, and finally stepped into the new realm called the Void Extreme Realm.
The Void Extreme Realm could not only unfold the power of the Realm of Destruction and Extinction to erase supernatural powers.
It could also take a lesser power into the body and naturally offset it.
After all, he harbored both the Profound Divine Technique Qi and the Soul Demon Dharma Energy at once.
Swoooosh.
It was like rain sprinkled on a parched desert.
The Soul Demon Dharma Energy exhaled by the masked men was instantly absorbed into Bu Eunseol's body.
As that phenomenon continued, Bu Eunseol's skin was dyed black.
Shhing, clank.
They wrapped around his entire body like metal armor.
By temporarily absorbing a large amount of Soul Demon Dharma Energy, the dharma energy had materialized.
Ziiiiiing.
At that time, a strange thing happened.
The sky in the forest was covered by a transparent veil, and before he knew it, even the moonlight disappeared, submerging the surroundings in darkness.
Someone had unfolded the Golden Lock Formation Studies that completely blocked off the space within for dozens of jang.
Step, step.
Footsteps were heard from afar.
The shadow slowly approaching in the darkness subtly wavered in its center of gravity with every step it took.
The gap between its walking speed and stepping rhythm was extremely abnormal.
Gradually, the shadow drew closer, and its form finally became clear.
The body was precariously thin, with slender limbs that looked as if they would snap in the wind.
The clothes were worn out like rags, and dried bloodstains were smeared here and there.
Furthermore, an iron sword without a scabbard hung at the waist, and the blade body was broken in half.
'A woman?'
The hair was disheveled like a wild mop, making it hard to see the face properly, but judging from the thin body lines, it was definitely a woman.
Ssssk.
When the woman raised her head, two eyes were revealed through her disheveled hair.
In that instant, Bu Eunseol's heart wildly thumped.
There was nothing contained in her eyes.
No emotion, no vitality of a living person.
They were chillingly empty, just like the eyes of a dead fish.
Clack.
The woman gripped the broken sword.
The sight of skeletal, bony fingers wrapping around the sword hilt looked precarious.
But once she settled into her stance, an aura rose from her as if she could hold up the sky.
Shaaaa.
At the same time, there was the Soul Demon Dharma Energy of the masked men, most of which Bu Eunseol had taken.
It slowly began to disappear once again.
Pat!
The woman's shadow blurred as if she were moving at speed.
Spurrrrt!
Before anyone knew it, she had smoothly driven the broken sword into the neck of a masked man.
Spurrrrt!
Hot blood spurted out like a fountain.
But the woman was already moving toward her next target like lightning.
Swoosh! Spurrrrt!
The broken sword sliced through the air again and again.
And each time, the necks or limbs of the masked men flew off.
As if she were using the legendary Ground-Shrinking Step, she folded the shortest distance between herself and her targets.
With sword moves that were neither flashy nor complex, she killed the enemies swiftly and surely.
Pew, pew, pew, pew!
Unable to use the Soul Demon Dharma Energy, the masked men pulled out hidden weapons from their bosoms and poured them out.
They were genuine Sahyang hidden weapon mechanisms.
Sahyang's home base had certainly been uprooted.
Yet the precise hidden weapon mechanisms they had made were still circulating in the martial world.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
The woman did not retreat and repeatedly swung her broken sword.
Pat, pat, pat!
Ultimately, hidden weapons pierced her shoulder, back, and thighs, causing blood to flow, but there was no hesitation in her movements.
As if she did not feel pain at all.
Slash!
At that time, a masked man caught an opening in the woman's movements and cut her forearm.
Spurrrrt!
She suffered a deep wound where the bone could be seen, but she instead used it as an opportunity to counterattack.
Spurrrrt!
As the broken sword drew a vertical line in the air, the mask tore apart and the face inside split along with it.
It was a cruel swordsmanship that would make even a giant of the unorthodox faction click his tongue.
Swooosh! Pat, pat, pat!
She closed the distance without pause.
She used a desperate tactic of making her body itself a shield.
It was to avoid fatal wounds.
She took the attacks with her shoulder or back, or blocked them with her hips if that wasn't possible.
In close combat, she tore with her hands, kicked with her feet, and bit with her teeth.
Sometimes, she picked up a piece of a fallen weapon from the ground with her hand and slit the enemy's throat.
She had suffered terrible wounds all over her body.
Even so, the woman cut down the masked men with an expressionless face, without a single moan.
Spurrrrt! Paaat!
The masked men were no different.
Even as a desperate struggle raged in which flesh splattered and bones split, not one of them let out a groan.
They fought tangled together like emotionless dolls.
This battle was bizarre and chilling beyond measure.
It made even Bu Eunseol, who had experienced all sorts of things in the martial world, feel a chill down his spine.
Thump. Thunk.
The forty-plus masked men had already all turned into cold corpses and were tumbling on the ground.
But the woman was not unharmed either.
There were cuts, stab wounds, and raw scrapes like burns from rolling and grazing everywhere.
There was practically no part of her that was fine, and the blood flowing from her wounds dyed her black clothes a dark crimson.
"..."
Bu Eunseol blankly watched that entire process.
The duration of this fierce battle was actually less than half a quarter-hour.
In short, there had been over forty masked men.
And in the time it takes to draw a few deep breaths, every one of them had been slaughtered, pouring out blood.
Ssk.
Then, the wounded woman raised her head and looked at Bu Eunseol.
An expressionless face.
Empty eyes.
But within those eyes, very faintly, something could be seen flickering.
It was precisely killing intent.
Clamp.
The woman gripped the broken half-sword again and aimed it at Bu Eunseol.
"I have nothing to do with them."
When Bu Eunseol shook his head, the woman pointed a finger at him.
"Soul Demon Dharma Energy."
The Soul Demon Dharma Energy poured out by the masked men was still swirling around Bu Eunseol's body.
"You must die."
She conveyed her intention of a life-and-death duel with this short phrase.
"This is not my power."
"If you can absorb the Soul Demon Dharma Energy, you must also be blood kin of the House of the True Demon."
A pure white haze rose from the woman's broken sword.
Any words or conversations were meaningless.
She showed her determination that no matter what Bu Eunseol said, she would absolutely never back down from a life-and-death duel.
"The place called the martial world is..."
They were divided into orthodox and unorthodox factions, nothing more.
And for that alone, martial artists hated and opposed one another.
Worse still were the Baekri Family and the True Demon, the two great forces that had fought without end for generations.
Between them, merely possessing that power was reason enough for a life-and-death duel.
In the end, perhaps this was simply how it was.
The inborn sorrow of those in the martial world, who could never escape the shackles of grudges.
"...It is always like this."
Shaking his head, Bu Eunseol turned his body around.
He wanted to ask her various things, but he would not be able to hear an answer.
Above all, he did not want to hurt a fragile woman who was covered in all sorts of wounds after fighting a desperate struggle.
"Turning your body away in front of a sword, do you not even have the pride of a martial artist?"
Bu Eunseol answered calmly.
"I do not."
As long as it was an action he was not ashamed of as a disciple of the Nangyang Pavilion, he could do anything without hesitation.
"My mission is to eliminate the Baek-Extinguishers."
The woman said in an emotionless voice.
"There is no reason I cannot cut you down just because you turned your body."
In that instant, Bu Eunseol could figure out her identity.
He had heard that the True Demon Palace had entities called the Baek-Extinguishers who wandered the martial world and killed figures of the Baekri Branch Families.
In other words, if the Baek-Extinguishers existed, the Baekri Family would have naturally nurtured experts specializing in dealing with them.
Perhaps that woman belonged to the Baekri Family.
Or she was an assassin of a Branch Family, one who killed those who carried Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
"I am not a Baek-Extinguisher."
Leaving that one sentence behind, Bu Eunseol deployed his movement technique and soared into the midair in one breath.
Seeing the Wooden Buddha's mural had changed things.
Bu Eunseol's emotions had become extremely chaotic, and his feelings of respect and admiration for the Baekri Family had also greatly diminished.
He neither wanted to clash with them nor get involved in her affairs.
Boom!
He deployed the Land Flight Technique and escaped the forest in a single breath.
Zzzt.
The transparent veil had already spread out all around him.
The woman had deployed her barrier at some point.
'Figures of the Baekri Family could deploy barriers on their own.'
Bu Eunseol became aware of that fact anew.
Flash!
He unfolded Harmony at once, trying to pierce the barrier in a single stroke.
But the barrier deployed here was different.
Its nature was very tough and peculiar, and it did not yield easily to a single Harmony.
Swooosh!
In the meantime, a giant half-moon of sword aura appeared behind Bu Eunseol and swept across to split his body in two.
Claaang!
Ultimately, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and blocked the blade energy by holding the sword vertically.
"Do not act rashly."
Bu Eunseol spoke sternly.
"Does the Baekri Family not teach you to be careful when taking the lives of others?"
These were words he could say because he had inherited the bloodline of the Baekri Family and knew their circumstances.
But from the woman's side it was another matter.
The words lumped the whole Baekri Family together and cursed it.
They could only sound supremely insulting.
Paaat!
The woman, having thrown her body to where Bu Eunseol was floating, instantly unleashed forty-eight sword strikes.
"Good grief."
Anger arose in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
He had shown a conciliatory attitude because he did not want to fight a pitiful woman wandering the martial world and engaging in gruesome battles.
But her attitude had crossed the line.
Was she not disregarding her life and recklessly pouring out attacks as if facing a sworn enemy?
Boom!
A giant blood dragon was formed in Bu Eunseol's left hand.
He intended to deploy the Heaven Hand Void Break to instantly shatter the woman's sword and render her incapable of combat.
Paaat!
As the Heaven Hand Void Break was deployed, a red dragon form capable of cleaving the whole world dug into her body.
But a sight hard to believe even after seeing it with his own eyes occurred.
Slice!
The woman swung her broken sword.
Was she not pouring out killing moves at Bu Eunseol once again after splitting the fist power of the Heaven Hand Void Break in two?
'That makes no sense.'
The Heaven Hand Void Break had almost no variations, but it could output the maximum power as a single fist move.
The Heaven Hand Void Break carried the internal power of Seven Stars.
Its fist power reached dozens of jang and stood at a level that could collapse a mountain in a single blow.
Yet she cut the fist power with a single broken sword?
Pat!
A bizarre thing happened yet again.
Her swordsmanship unfolded again and again.
And each time, the power Bu Eunseol held inside his body vanished in great chunks.
'Is this the martial art of the Baekri Family?'
They had to fight the experts of the True Demon Palace, who wielded the terrifying Soul Demon Dharma Energy.
The martial arts of the Baekri Family were much the same.
They contained a unique technique, quite similar to the Void Extreme Realm that Bu Eunseol used.
'I cannot shake her off unless I defeat her.'
The barrier was already deployed, and because of the bizarre power the woman was pouring out, he was no longer in a state where he could deploy Harmony.
In the end, he had to suppress or kill that woman to escape this place.
"Fine."
Tap.
Landing on the ground, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and created dozens of sword blossoms.
At the same time, the scenery for dozens of jang around him began to faintly lose its true colors.
It stripped both enemy and self of all power, leaving only about a single sixty-year cycle of internal power.
He had deployed the power of the Realm of Destruction and Extinction.
Shaaaa.
Like quicksilver rolling on a tray, the space for dozens of jang around him was slowly losing its light.
Thooom!
Then, the woman's eyes shook greatly for a moment.
Flop.
At the same time, she fell to one knee while clutching her heart area.
This place was already in a state where the woman had deployed a barrier.
When the domain of the Void Extreme Realm overlapped with it, an unexpected phenomenon of the Dual Formation Realm of Destruction suddenly occurred.
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