"That wound."
Bu Eunseol asked urgently.
"Who inflicted that wound?"
After the masked monster of the Eighteen Souls of Light sent by the Martial Alliance, who had ambushed him when he was disguised as the Martial Soul Society Leader, Seolso, in the past.
He had not been able to find any further clues about the culprit.
But not only was the sword art of the culprit carved onto this woman's arm once again.
Its mastery was even similar?
This was a precious clue that he absolutely could not let slip.
"Speak!"
When the woman made no reply, Bu Eunseol shouted angrily.
"Who is the one who severed your arm! An expert of the Eighteen Souls of Light?"
"Kill me."
It was a look without a trace of lingering attachment.
The woman thrust her own neck close against Bu Eunseol's Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Like a general who had been captured by the enemy and resigned herself to everything.
She was displaying an attitude that she would not spit out even a single word, even if it meant her death.
"I am tired."
A pure white flash bloomed in Bu Eunseol's eyes.
"Of your obstinate attitude."
Far from being capable of rational conversation, that woman was full of stubbornness and arrogance.
"There is no more need for conversation."
An eerie yet dismal mist was spreading from his entire body.
He was intending to use the method he had used back when he gave up even the stage of the Poison Saint.
The method to break down the mental barrier of the masked monster dispatched by the Martial Alliance and drag out his memories.
Vwoom, vwoom, vwoom.
Drawing up the power of the poison remaining in his body, Bu Eunseol began to inject its source into the woman's body.
Her mind was already withered, and a massive amount of poison like in the past was not necessary.
'Poison was a power of nature.'
Just in case, he tried unleashing the power of the Realm of Destruction and Extinction at the same time, but the power of the poison did not disappear.
'I must not use the power of the Void Extreme Realm against an expert of the poison arts.'
Poison was a substance that existed in nature, yet was most fatal to the human body.
When the Void Extreme Realm was deployed, the most powerful and dangerous thing was exactly poison.
In the past, during the era when martial arts had not greatly developed.
The very act of smearing poison on weapons or hidden weapons, or secretly poisoning someone.
Had received criticism as being the most base and vicious of methods.
Even if one possessed the greatest martial arts in the world.
It was to the point that they had to be extremely careful of poison and prepare means to defend against it in advance.
"Uuuh."
The woman's body stiffened and convulsed, and white foam bubbled out from her pale mouth.
Thanks to the power of the Void Extreme Realm.
There was no need to sacrifice poison essence like in the past to force the enemy into the stage of a poison person in a single breath.
Even with a small amount of poison, he was bringing the enemy's physical body and mind crumbling down.
As the symptoms of poisoning set in, the light in her eyes gradually grew transparent. A temporary opening had been created in her mind.
Ziiiing.
Not missing that moment, Bu Eunseol deployed Illusion Upon Illusion without hesitation.
'I must find it.'
The smooth surface where the woman's arm had been severed.
It bore a chilling resemblance to the handiwork of the culprit who had killed his grandfather.
It was surely the handiwork of someone from the Eighteen Souls of Light.
Perhaps the one who had killed his grandfather.
Or maybe a decisive clue related to him was inside this woman's head.
If he even considered her status as a combat agent of the Baekri Branch Family... he might be able to obtain unexpected information.
Ziiiing.
As Illusion Upon Illusion began, a sensation like the space of reality twisting spread out.
He had not formally learned Illusion Upon Illusion from Ak Muryeong, but merely had a portion of its practical methods passed down to him.
Like raising a mental barrier or infiltrating the enemy's mind.
Because of that, he could not freely trample or delicately manipulate the minds of others like Ak Muryeong.
But like a battering ram smashing the gates of a fortress.
He was confident in breaking through a sturdy mental barrier.
'Please let proper information come out.'
This method had an inevitable flaw.
Because it forcibly broke the mind and entered it.
It did not scour out all the memories within the mind, but only a portion of the memories within that consciousness.
He could only catch a glimpse of the intense memories related to the caster.
Craaack.
When a tiny crack finally appeared in the woman's mental barrier, Bu Eunseol shoved his consciousness like a blade through that gap.
Flash!
At that moment the whole world was dyed white, and soon the surroundings began to grow dim as if black ink had been mixed in.
When he opened his eyes again, the surrounding scenery had completely changed.
A pure white world composed entirely of a sky made of shattered mirror shards and a frosted earth had unfolded.
Within an emptiness and stillness whose end could not be known,
Grrrrr.
Along with a low growl, a massive presence slowly appeared.
It was a white dragon whose form was like a pure white mountain range.
With scales shining transparently like moonlight.
Two eyes like frozen abysses rolled as they looked down at Bu Eunseol.
It was not a simple illusion.
It was a guardian of the mind born from the condensation of the woman's wounded ego and all her anger and sorrow... and another personality.
'You are telling me she is not a figure of the branch family?'
The ones with split personalities were only the figures of the Baekri Family's main family.
If so... you are telling me this woman is not of the Baekri Branch Family but of the main family?
Roooooar!
The moment it saw Bu Eunseol, the white dragon surged forward with an ear-splitting roar and opened its jaws.
What spewed from the dragon's snout was not flame.
It was the power of the void that erased the very existence of everything its breath touched.
Ssssh.
All the earth its breath touched turned to dust and scattered.
Bu Eunseol hurriedly threw his body.
The ground where he had stood was silently erased, transforming into a bottomless hole of boundless abyss.
Craaaash!
Next, as the white dragon's tail swept in.
The space near where Bu Eunseol stood crumpled and distorted like a sheet of paper.
Pat!
Seeing through the movement, Bu Eunseol dodged into the air, but,
Bang!
As if waiting for him, another tail smashed into Bu Eunseol's body.
The tail had clearly been one, but this was the woman's mind. The impossible did not exist.
Craaaash!
Bouncing hundreds of jang away like a cannonball, Bu Eunseol spat out a clump of black blood.
When he picked himself up, the white dragon that had been hundreds of jang away was.
Once again standing right before his eyes, looking down at him.
Crrrack!
The entire earth crumpled like paper and shot toward him as hundreds of ice spears.
It was an attack that was completely impossible to dodge.
'This is her mind.'
Realizing that fact, Bu Eunseol forged his consciousness firm instead of drawing his sword to resist.
A battle between minds could be called a clash of wills of existence.
Bu Eunseol was more adept at fighting within the mind than anyone else.
Had he not been fighting for control of the physical body with Baekri Geomha's personality until just recently?
Asserting a distinct presence within the mind was too easy a task for him, tempered as he was by battles with personalities.
Craaack!
Bu Eunseol did not dodge the white dragon's attack but took it head-on with his body.
He had gathered the pure power of his will to oppose the white dragon's power.
Clang! Boom!
The white dragon ceaselessly battered Bu Eunseol with its breath and its tail.
But his solid mind allowed him to deploy a protective astral energy like diamond.
And whenever the white dragon's massive attacks landed, only shockwaves like white light dust scattered in all directions.
Roooooar!
Enraged, the white dragon now began to change its form.
Trickle.
Its massive body melted down like liquid, then transformed into thousands and tens of thousands of giant blades that began to pour down like hail.
Ziiiing, ziiiing.
Each time a blade touched his body, Bu Eunseol's form was turning transparent.
'So you mean to shatter my existence.'
Those blades did not break the physical body, but contained an intense power that shook one's very existence and fractured the mind.
Ziiiing, ziiiing.
Each time he was touched by a blade, Bu Eunseol's physical body turned transparent as if it would vanish into the sky.
But he stood tall with an expression devoid of fear and stared straight ahead.
In his eyes, the storm of blades was not visible.
All he could see was the woman's essence, like a small candle flame swaying anxiously at the center of all this illusion.
'That white dragon is merely armor to protect a fragile heart.'
Focusing his mind once more, Bu Eunseol walked into the storm of blades without hesitation.
The flesh-cutting blades clove his mind and shattered the existence of his will.
But he did not waver and moved his steps with movements as majestic as Mount Tai.
Finally reaching the core of the storm where the blades poured down, Bu Eunseol discovered the small shadow hidden within.
It was none other than a young girl, her wounded body curled up and her head lowered.
Reach.
Bu Eunseol reached out his hand.
Not to unleash a strike to erase the girl's existence, but to extend a hand filled with pity and sympathy.
"Rest now."
When his hand reached out to the curled-up girl, a pure white light began to spread.
At that, the rain of blades shattering his existence stopped, and light began to flow from the lowered head of the girl as well.
Ssk.
When the girl raised her head, eyes like boundlessly deep lakes could be seen.
In their depths, a boundless sorrow was gathered full.
Paaat!
Before long the girl's body turned into light and began to scatter in all directions.
Starting from the earth, it was slowly spreading all the way to the distant sky whose end could not be seen.
Ziiiing.
Before long the girl was gone, and a large door appeared where she had stood.
'Why is it familiar?'
It was surely a door he was seeing for the first time in his life.
But its shape and patterns looked very familiar.
Was it the door to Saha Manor where he had lived with his parents when he was young? Or was it the door of the True Demon Palace he had entered holding his father's hand?
If not that either... was it the door of the Baekri Family, which was not in his memories?
He clearly had a memory of seeing it somewhere, but it was blurred as if veiled in fog.
Bu Eunseol approached the door as if possessed and grabbed the handle.
As the door opened, bizarre memories poured out.
There was a girl.
Born to the direct line of the Baekri Family, not only were her memory and comprehension exceptional, but she possessed a tremendous talent for the ancient secret arts of sorcery.
"You must learn martial arts, not sorcery."
But her father forced her to learn a variety of martial arts like the people of the martial world.
No, not just martial arts, but things like the Hundred Killing Secret Techniques and the Selfless Killing Method.
He even taught her vicious secret assassination arts and extreme survival skills.
Without knowing why, the girl had relentlessly and harshly tempered her martial arts under her cold father's guidance, come rain or snow.
Before long, she had become a martial arts expert capable of facing the experts of the Baekri Family even without the Profound Divine Technique Qi.
She had become a coldhearted martial artist who could fight using her body as a weapon like professional assassins and survive in any situation.
Then one day, misfortune came.
Just as she finished her training as usual and was about to leave the cave in the deep mountains and valleys, a dreamlike space where pitch-black darkness and a cool blue light mingled unfolded beneath the moonlight.
At its center stood a black shadow that seemed to have swallowed all the light in the world.
The hems of the clothes wrapped around its entire body flowed down like a living shadow, and above them, currents of blue internal power that seemed to hold the cold moonlight ceaselessly rippled.
Veiled in dense darkness, it was impossible to distinguish whether it was male or female, young or old.
Only the eerie halo seeping from the darkness made one instinctively feel that the killing intent harbored by the shadow had reached near infinity.
[Even a small ember, once it spreads.]
The shadow's voice rang directly inside the girl's head like Wisdom Light Mind Speech.
[...Eventually becomes a great disaster.]
The moment those words ended, what unfolded before the girl's eyes was a transcendent yet wicked demonic sword art of a level she had never once imagined before, one she could not reach even if she tempered herself for a lifetime.
Thud.
At the same time, her left wrist fell to the ground.
But she did not even have the time to be surprised.
Because the sword move that had changed mid-course was already piercing her brow.
Slice.
The moment the sharp blade dug into her skin like the tongue of a viper with a bizarre slicing sound.
Craaash.
Along with pure white lightning, a massive white dragon appeared from the distant sky.
When she regained her senses, she saw her father covered in blood.
The black shadow was gone.
But the energy of her father's immense Profound Divine Technique Qi, which had been counted among the best in the Baekri Family, had completely vanished.
"The time has come."
Her father spoke words she could not understand.
"Extend your left arm."
The girl asked nothing.
And extended her left hand, which was severed up to the wrist.
Because until now, that was how she had been trained.
Thud.
Her left arm was severed again, down to below the elbow.
The girl merely watched numbly as her arm fell away.
Tap, tap.
Her father swiftly pressed her pressure points to staunch the bleeding from her severed arm.
Then he carefully treated the arm with medicine and bandages he had prepared in advance.
As if he had guessed this entire situation would happen.
Once the wound was perfectly healed, her father brought out a large iron box.
Inside it lay a delicate prosthetic arm, as if human nerves had been directly connected to it.
"Extend your arm."
When the girl extended her arm,
Clack.
A cold metal arm that fit perfectly as if it had been there from the start was attached to her forearm.
"Inside this prosthetic arm is the key to the secret storehouse hidden by the main family."
Her father continued with shocking words.
"The fact that a delicate prosthetic arm like this, which can be used no differently from a real arm, could be made... is thanks to the knowledge of the True Demon sleeping inside the secret storehouse."
When the girl kept her silence, her father spoke with a terribly serious expression.
"Until this prosthetic falls off, you must protect the key. Do you understand?"
When the girl nodded, her father reached out and offered a faint smile.
"Jaha."
Then he stroked his daughter's head with a warm touch.
"I hope that you alone, at least... will survive."
It was the first time she had felt it.
Her father's gentle smile and warm touch.
The girl, Baekri Jaha, felt warmth.
She only thought how she wished this happiness would last for a long time.
And how she wished her father's injuries and Profound Divine Technique Qi would quickly recover.
―'He betrayed the main family and threw himself into the True Demon Palace!'
But her hopes were shattered into pieces.
Her father was killed in a gruesome manner for the crime of betraying the family.
The laws of the Baekri Family were harsh.
If the parents were sinners, their descendants also became sinners.
Even the descendants of the Baekri Family who became Holy Ones.
Had they not been affiliated with the Baekri Branch Family to handle the affairs of the martial world merely because of the crime of their parents becoming dependents of the True Demon?
Ultimately, she was sent to the Baekri Branch Family too.
The top brass there recognized Baekri Jaha's outstanding martial arts.
And raised her as an assassin to eliminate the Baek-Extinguishers, the combat members of the True Demon Palace, who threatened the Baekri Branch Family from all over the martial world.
Without anyone knowing the fact that her prosthetic arm was the key to opening one of the Baekri Family's secret storehouses.
Regardless of her own will.
Under the pretext of washing away her father's sins, she became a martial artist of the Baekri Branch Family who swung a bloodstained sword.
In the midst of battles, she constantly suffered fatal wounds to her left arm.
But thanks to the fact that she already wore a solid and delicate prosthetic arm, such injuries were not fatal.
Always, even in the crisis of death.
Even in unexpected situations.
She defeated her enemies and was able to save her life.
Flash.
Before long the halo of light vanished, and Bu Eunseol slipped out of the mind of the woman, Baekri Jaha.
The cold air of reality brushed his cheek.
Before the eyes of him who had taken a deep breath lay a woman breathing heavily, having lost consciousness.
Baekri Jaha.
It was a name that suited her fragile body.
If not for the martial arts and venom she had built up since childhood.
Perhaps she would have grown up as elegant and graceful as his fiancée, Baekri Yeha.
But her father had trained Baekri Jaha terribly harshly from her childhood.
Even knowing that her hand would be severed.
And had obtained and attached a prosthetic arm made with the knowledge of the True Demon in advance.
Like the Wooden Buddha, who saw the future.
But that was not what was important.
"I found him."
An absolute killing intent enough to evaporate the air within dozens of jang around him.
An overwhelming martial prowess that dominated space merely by existing, and tightened the opponent's heart merely with a glance.
A pitch-black shadow of death hidden within a brilliant blue light.
He had finally confirmed the appearance of the culprit who had killed his grandfather.
The outline visible in the darkness.
Just by looking at that wraith-like form, he could instinctively feel that the person had reached a majesty like King Yama and an absolute level of martial might.
"He looks familiar somehow."
He could not confirm his features, but.
The dusky shadow-like shape and the build within that blurry outline gave him the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.
"Can it be that someone I know killed my grandfather?"
It was impossible.
To his knowledge, there was no one with the same outline and build in the darkness.
And no one had reached such a level of martial might either.
"But, I can find him."
The outline in the darkness was definitely a shape created by aura.
What if he were to actually see that form submerged in radiance? He would immediately recognize the culprit.
"What is certain is that the Baekri Family is not normal either."
No matter if it was a preparation for the future, or to protect the family, or if there was some holy purpose.
To not tell her anything.
And commit the crazy act of raising one's own daughter as an assassin?
As expected, the Baekri Family was not normal.
She too was nothing but a victim swept up in fate.
Bu Eunseol looked down at the fallen Baekri Jaha.
If it was now, he could cut her neck and end everything, but he could no longer do so.
With her emotions gouged out by a cruel fate, swinging her sword like a madwoman.
How could he kill... a pitiful girl who had already been broken?
Clack.
Ultimately, he quietly sheathed his sword.
The surging anger had melted away before he knew it, and in its place, only a cold sense of kinship and a deep pity remained.
"Why don't you kill me."
She had already regained her senses.
But because she knew resisting any further was useless, she was quietly waiting for death.
"That stubbornness and arrogance. And how you would not listen to anyone else and tenaciously tried to kill me... Because I can understand it now."
Baekri Jaha said nothing and closed her eyes.
"Take it."
"..."
"You already know everything."
She was the white dragon in her mind.
Namely, thanks to her split personality, not only was she able to survive despite her memories being taken.
She had also grasped that Bu Eunseol had groped through her memories and wanted to take her prosthetic arm.
Because this was a treasure and the key that could open the Baekri Family's secret storehouse.
―'Until this prosthetic falls off, you must protect the key. Do you understand?'
She was still thoroughly keeping her father's words.
"I do not need it."
Bu Eunseol said calmly.
"If I take it, your hand will vanish."
He calmly continued his words.
"And more than anything, you will lose the only keepsake your father left behind."
The light in her eyes shook.
She had seen through that the look in Bu Eunseol's eyes did not hold some flimsy pity, but a sense of kinship.
"Why..."
"Because that is all that is left."
If he were to snatch away that prosthetic arm?
She would lose the only keepsake her father had left behind.
No, everything would disappear.
Because Bu Eunseol had already experienced having such things taken by others.
His grandfather's keepsake, the great saber, and even his remains.
Realizing that a deep sorrow was gathered in Bu Eunseol's eyes, she...
"I am..."
Lowered her head and spoke softly.
"...Sorry."
She had actually known.
That Bu Eunseol was not an expert of the True Demon Palace.
Under the name of her mission.
She had constantly repeated battles mechanically, and within that she had always earnestly longed for death.
But upon realizing that Bu Eunseol had the ability to kill her, she had tenaciously attacked him no matter what he said.
Clatter.
At that moment, an extremely delicate piece of metal fell to the floor from the joint of her detached prosthetic arm.
Because of the shock and vibration caused by the Seven Blood Tear Forms just before, the joint had been broken.
The focus vanished from her eyes as she glanced at that sight from the corner of her eye.
Even when she had suffered wounds where her muscles were gouged out and her bones exposed by the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, she had not been in pain.
But now, she was agonizing as if her very soul had been cut.
"I cannot even fix it."
The woman muttered with a dejected expression.
"This is the only one."
That precious item imbued with the knowledge of the True Demon.
Unless one was a person who possessed that knowledge, one could neither make the same thing nor fix it.
Above all else, it was the only keepsake containing her father's touch.
"I can no longer..."
Thump.
Muttering softly, the woman soon lost consciousness.
Poisoned, caught in Illusion Upon Illusion, and with an opening in her mind, she had been forced to share her memories.
That was the same as putting another person into one's body.
She, who had lived all along carrying deep wounds in her heart and body.
Once her father's keepsake broke, she ultimately let go of all consciousness.
"Hey there."
Startled, Bu Eunseol injected Ban-Geuk true energy into her.
But there was no reaction, and it seemed as though her consciousness itself had vanished into the abyss.
Just like Baekri Geomha.
"You mean to say she has lost the very will to live?"
Bu Eunseol sighed deeply.
He could not leave Baekri Jaha behind like this.
"Perhaps she would open her eyes again if the prosthetic arm is attached?"
She must have considered her very essence to lie in this prosthetic arm.
Since it was the only keepsake her father had given her, and her everything.
"If it is the Iron Master and the elder Demonic Sword Master."
Iron Master Wang Geol possessed metallurgy that had reached the realm of gods.
And the Demonic Sword Master not only had the ability to craft divine swords and precious blades, but could also mend legendary ancient weapons.
What if these two combined their strength?
Even if they could not make a prosthetic arm like this... they might be able to reattach it to her body.
"Let us go."
Bu Eunseol recalled a scenery he missed for the first time in a while.
"To the Nangyang Pavilion."
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