The Azure Sky Alliance was visible only as a distant speck.
Atop a dizzyingly high mountain cliff that seemed to reject all human footsteps, a brilliant moon hung so close that it appeared capable of illuminating the entire world.
A vast green forest spread beneath the moonlight.
Like raging waves frozen in a single instant, it formed the magnificent sight of a vast expanse of blue waves.
The cold night wind gently stirred the hems of the two men's robes.
At their feet, a wine jar large enough to hold a child glittered beneath the moonlight.
Bu Eunseol and Bukgung Ryeong.
The two men used the scenery as their drinking fare and raised their cups throughout the night.
Before long, the curtain of night lifted and the cool air of dawn brushed their skin.
Yet their conversation showed no sign of ending during this rare reunion.
The friendship between the two men transcended age.
Even as they bickered, they had bound themselves in a sworn brotherhood close enough to entrust their backs to one another.
After spending the night relieving their pent-up feelings over such an unreserved drinking session, the weariness that had accumulated within them seemed to wash away completely.
By the time sunlight began illuminating the ground, the wine jar had been drained.
A brief silence followed.
"Lately, you see..."
Bukgung Ryeong was the first to break the silence.
He hesitated for a while, fingering his beard.
"This old man created a martial art on his own."
"That is something to celebrate."
"Is it? But..."
His voice carried an inexplicable trace of self-mockery and loneliness.
"Now that I've become Alliance Leader, I no longer have occasions to fight like I did while wandering the martial world."
"Now that you stand at the summit... perhaps it is time to fight your own shadow."
"That is true."
Bukgung Ryeong nodded, yet smacked his lips.
"But how can I know whether this martial art will work against the masters of this age... or whether it's merely something worth boasting about in the corner of a room?"
Hearing that, Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.
'What a relief.'
The dark, profound look that had shadowed Bukgung Ryeong's eyes had weighed on Bu Eunseol's mind.
He had wondered whether it came from the weight and solitude of leading Sichuan's foremost coalition as the Azure Sky Alliance Leader.
Yet the source of Bukgung Ryeong's concern was simply that he had created a new martial art.
"You should have said so sooner."
Bu Eunseol chuckled and rose.
"You were pulling such a long face that I thought some beautiful senior expert had rejected you."
He brushed the dirt from his robes, grinned, and extended a hand into the air.
Float.
The stones around the cliff, large and small, sprang into the air like living creatures.
Pat, pat, pat, pat!
Centered upon the two men, they began forming a transparent wall enclosing an area dozens of jang across.
Vwoom, vwoom, vwoom.
The air trembled faintly.
The clifftop became an independent world completely separated from the outside.
The aftermath of the martial arts unleashed here could cause an entire mountain to collapse.
Bu Eunseol had deployed an ancient formation art resembling a barrier, separating one space from another to contain that destructive power.
"Go ahead. Show me."
"Be careful."
Bukgung Ryeong's gaze changed in an instant.
All playfulness vanished from his face, leaving only the expression of a seeker pursuing martial arts.
He slowly lowered his gaze to his palm and spoke quietly.
"This is not the kind of art whose might can be adjusted through the strength of one's inner power... Even I cannot judge how far its power will reach."
"Stop worrying and unleash it."
Bu Eunseol appeared to be standing at ease.
In truth, he had assumed a stable posture capable of supporting heaven and earth.
Seeing his steadfast figure, Bukgung Ryeong nodded carefully.
"Very well."
Flash!
Every color in the world vanished in an instant. Sound died with it.
Only pure white light, bright enough to blind, filled the space.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol witnessed the ultimate point of the bullet.
What was the bullet?
It was the power to flick and shoot.
Then what was its ultimate essence?
What form did it take at its absolute limit?
Only after the light poured down did he understand.
An instant.
It meant mastering an instant shorter than the blink of an eye.
'So this is the bullet.'
Bukgung Ryeong had reached the ultimate point of the bullet.
He had not merely released the Inner Bullet Technique.
With the single profound principle of the bullet, he had pierced every point in space and every instant in time around the cliff.
'I can't evade it.'
Bukgung Ryeong's Inner Bullet Technique had become light.
It recognized Bu Eunseol's body as a single region of space and pierced it without mercy.
'Infinite Reversal Power? No, this is different.'
Using the profound principle of the bullet, Bukgung Ryeong had produced the pinnacle of what martial arts could unleash, a transcendent force that overturned reason itself.
He had released power approaching the Infinite Reversal Power.
Claaang!
The power of the bullet struck Bu Eunseol's body like a hammer crashing against an enormous temple bell.
A bizarre yet solemn metallic resonance rang from his body.
Flash!
At the same time, a dazzling five-colored flash exploded from him.
Bu Eunseol had sensed that Bukgung Ryeong's martial art would transcend all common sense.
He had already wrapped himself in the energy of Harmony like protective astral energy, perfectly shielding his physical body.
Crackle.
Spiderweb-like cracks spread across the transparent formation imprisoning the sky.
It soon shattered like glass and scattered into pieces.
Fwip, fwip, fwip!
At the same time, it seemed as though countless shooting stars had fallen straight down.
Hundreds upon thousands of round holes appeared in the ground around Bu Eunseol.
Sizzle.
Smoke rose from the area near his chest.
Despite the Harmony surrounding him, a single strand of force had burrowed into the hem of his robe.
Fortunately, his treasure-robe prevented any damage to his clothing, though white smoke continued billowing into the air.
"Phew."
Cold sweat ran down Bu Eunseol's spine as he looked at his robe.
What if he had been overconfident in his own martial prowess?
What if he had underestimated Bukgung Ryeong and failed to surround himself with Harmony?
His body would now resemble the ground beneath him.
He would have become a cold corpse riddled with hundreds of holes.
"Congratulations."
Bu Eunseol raised his thumb toward Bukgung Ryeong, his expression joyous.
"You can now unleash the Infinite Reversal Power without entering the Limitless Realm."
Bukgung Ryeong had followed Bu Eunseol's example, abandoning the Infinite Enlightenment to pioneer a new path.
As a result, he had created a martial art comparable to the Infinite Reversal Power wielded by a master of the Limitless Realm.
"What is this martial art called?"
At Bu Eunseol's question, Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
"I haven't named it yet."
"Hmm."
Bu Eunseol rubbed his chin and pondered briefly.
"Chaotic Return Void, Ten Thousand Flowers Return to Nothingness... Everything mingles and merges into an ultimate whole, while even the transformations of martial arts return to a single nothingness..."
He studied the mark left on his robe and murmured softly.
"Between heaven and earth, let only I exist."
Bu Eunseol's eyes gleamed as he surveyed the marks scattered across the ground.
"How does Heaven and Earth Only I sound?"
"Heaven and Earth Only I..."
Bukgung Ryeong repeated it quietly, then smiled.
The name suited his tastes perfectly.
"Excellent."
Heaven and Earth Only I.
It was an Infinite Reversal Power that had reached the ultimate point of the profound principle of the bullet.
Thus was born the martial art that would one day be recorded as the mightiest Finger Bullet Shot in the history of the martial world.
"Well, we have finished our business. You may go now."
Bukgung Ryeong smiled and nodded.
"You must be busy. Thank you for indulging this old man."
The smile vanished from Bu Eunseol's lips.
Paradoxically, one relationship stood apart from all the others.
Among his friends, he was most unreserved with the elderly Bukgung Ryeong.
Like childhood companions who had known each other since their noses ran, each could discern the other's thoughts from a mere expression.
Bukgung Ryeong had not summoned him simply to drink.
Nor had he called Bu Eunseol here merely to test his martial art.
'He wanted to pass down the profound principle of the bullet.'
Bu Eunseol finally understood why Bukgung Ryeong had summoned him.
He intended to pass on the profound principle of the bullet he had recently attained. Bu Eunseol's face hardened.
"What in the world has happened?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do not try to deceive my eyes."
If nothing unusual had happened to Bukgung Ryeong, there was no reason for this urgency.
He would not need to pass on, here and now, a profound principle of martial arts attained only after countless hardships.
"Tell me everything."
Anger crossed Bu Eunseol's face.
"If you refuse to speak honestly, I will never see you again, old man."
Bukgung Ryeong felt his heart swell.
Such a threat worked only between friends who treasured each other more than life itself.
"Why are you getting so angry?"
Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
"No matter how close we are, isn't a man allowed at least one secret he cannot share?"
"I don't care if it is a secret meant only to keep you well-fed and comfortable."
"..."
"Whether you are secretly courting someone or planning to run away because you hate being the Azure Sky Alliance Leader."
Bu Eunseol spoke firmly.
"But anything concerning your safety is different."
"You are not a god."
Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
"You cannot protect and help everyone around you."
"Who said I was protecting or helping anyone?"
Bu Eunseol's voice turned cold.
"I merely do my utmost with what is given to me. But heaven denied me even that chance once."
That one lost chance still haunted him.
It concerned his grandfather, Bu Zhanyang.
His grandfather had concealed every personal matter from Bu Eunseol.
Had Bu Eunseol known everything, matters would have been different.
He would never have allowed his grandfather to die so suddenly and miserably.
"I have wandered the martial world for all these years to uncover the truth."
Bu Eunseol spoke quietly.
"And now you intend to inflict that same pain upon me again?"
Bukgung Ryeong could say nothing.
Those words meant that Bu Eunseol treasured him no less than his own grandfather.
"I knew very well that I couldn't fool your eyes."
After a lengthy silence, Bukgung Ryeong finally spoke honestly.
"But as an elder of the martial world, even if I could not protect you or provide you shade... I did not want to burden you."
"Never again."
Bu Eunseol spoke with anger on his face.
"Never say such a thing again."
Something surfaced within Bukgung Ryeong's eyes.
For a moment, the image of a young Bu Eunseol weeping in anguish seemed to overlap the man before him.
'So that was it.'
Only then did Bukgung Ryeong realize that his thinking had been wrong.
Bu Eunseol was a man who gave his utmost to everything.
If the truth were hidden merely to avoid burdening him, the result would be cruel.
It would rob him of the opportunity to do his utmost and plunge him into regret and agony.
"I'm sorry."
Bukgung Ryeong rubbed his nose.
"I prided myself on knowing you well, but it seems I never understood you at all."
Then he spoke in a low voice.
"I am an orthodox cultivator, and I had intended to remain one."
After saying something so out of the blue, Bukgung Ryeong sighed deeply.
"Even if the Baekri Family is righteous, I never thought it was a place where this old man belonged."
"What in the world are you talking about?"
When Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow, Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
"Whether it is the Baekri Family or the True Demon Palace, I have no desire to belong to such places. I intend to leave the alliance."
He smiled calmly.
"I will go somewhere distant where no one lives. As for the alliance's operation, I have arranged for Chief Inspector Gongsun and Jeon Seoeung to discuss it together."
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand.
The Covenantor.
The figures of the Sacred Domain had finally come for Bukgung Ryeong.
"There is no need to leave."
Bu Eunseol answered immediately, without a moment's hesitation.
"I will resolve this matter."
"Leave it be."
Bukgung Ryeong shook his head.
"The Sacred Domain is still the Sacred Domain."
Bu Eunseol had shared a great deal of information with him over the years.
Thanks to that, Bukgung Ryeong knew the Sacred Domain in detail, including the Covenantors.
The Sacred Domain.
They maintained strict neutrality and observed the various factions of the martial world.
If Bu Eunseol intervened on his behalf and matters went awry, the consequences were obvious.
The Sacred Domain would immediately become their enemy.
Considering the tasks that lay ahead, that could not be permitted.
The Sacred Domain was the one entity they absolutely could not afford to antagonize.
"It is fine. This is one of the matters I have prepared for over many years."
It was part of one of the grand designs Bu Eunseol had been pursuing.
He sought a way to extinguish the Covenant imposed by the Sacred Domain.
Over time, his close friends had entered the Supreme Heavenly Realm and stabilized their cultivation.
Nae Bihon in particular had manifested the Infinite Enlightenment, just like Bukgung Ryeong.
A Covenantor could approach them at any time, so Bu Eunseol had to prepare for that moment.
Originally, he had intended to obtain information somehow through Baek Jeoncheon, a figure of the Sacred Domain.
He had informed Manbak Hall that the Martial Alliance's Hidden Forest Pavilion Lord had been secretly replaced, hoping to open a channel for dialogue.
Even so, Baek Jeoncheon had refused a private meeting to the very end.
Only then had Bu Eunseol understood the situation clearly.
Baek Jeoncheon would never pass him any information concerning the Sacred Domain.
He was devising an independent plan separate from the Sacred Domain's movements, and matters concerning the Sacred Domain could not be discussed with him.
"You have prepared for this for years? Why?"
Bu Eunseol answered Bukgung Ryeong's question firmly.
"I came to resent the Sacred Domain's very practice of forcing its Covenant upon others."
Neither the True Demon Palace nor the Baekri Family was good.
Could the Sacred Domain, which mediated between the two, truly be called good?
Above all, those who refused to obey were made to lose their loved ones and leave the martial world.
The Sacred Domain forced cruel and senseless rules upon others.
"In truth, if you had firmly opposed me, I was prepared to make a choice."
Bukgung Ryeong spoke with conviction.
"I would have chosen the Baekri Family."
He smiled and offered a joke.
"Since I would be helping your family, wouldn't that amount to helping you?"
In the past, Bu Eunseol would have agreed.
Submitting to the Baekri Family and doing good would be preferable to becoming kin of the True Demon.
But he could no longer accept that choice.
"The Baekri Family will not do either."
"Hmm? What do you mean?"
"They are not righteous either."
"What?"
"I was planning to share this information with you regardless."
Bu Eunseol calmly relayed everything he had learned about the Baekri Family.
He revealed the truth of the Baekri Family and even the True Demon's knowledge hidden within its secret vault.
After listening in silence, Bukgung Ryeong could only stare with his mouth open.
The things Bu Eunseol had just told him were astonishing.
They were absurdities on an entirely different level from any information Bu Eunseol had shared before.
"So that... is what happened."
Yet Bukgung Ryeong could not refuse to believe him.
The information Bu Eunseol delivered had always proven true.
"Then wait a little longer. We still have some time."
There was time before Bukgung Ryeong had to decide whether to accept the Covenant.
Since a Covenantor had approached him, others would soon receive visits as well.
Bu Eunseol spoke firmly.
"I will discuss it with my companions and ensure that this matter is resolved."
"How?"
"First, I intend to meet the Covenantor."
"Is that possible?"
"I made it possible long ago."
Bukgung Ryeong blinked.
"Then why didn't you use that method on me?"
"You are the head of an orthodox coalition, old man. How could I place you under such surveillance?"
No matter how close they were, certain boundaries remained.
Even if they spoke harshly to one another, respect endured.
Bu Eunseol never forgot that Bukgung Ryeong led an orthodox coalition, and always afforded him the courtesy his position deserved.
'This brat.'
One principle mattered above all when befriending someone.
More than sweet words or any assistance one might offer, respecting the other person came first.
No matter how close two people became, that principle remained.
Only those who upheld such things could preserve a friendship for many years.
"Besides, since it was you... I trusted that you would contact me if something like this happened."
Trust.
It was a magical power that gave rise to the emotion called friendship.
Because trust existed, friendship could be born.
And that friendship gained value beyond any treasure.
"Don't push yourself too hard."
Bukgung Ryeong's shoulders slumped as though he had no choice but to relent.
Rather than expand the Azure Sky Alliance's influence to help Bu Eunseol, he had rigorously trained its forces while preparing for the future.
It was the only thing he could do.
Yet he had failed to provide any help.
He was still the one receiving aid.
"Of course."
Bu Eunseol understood Bukgung Ryeong's heart.
He answered with a relaxed smile.
* * *
Bu Eunseol headed toward the Martial Soul Society to discuss a solution to the Covenantor problem.
In the past, the Four Great Corps Lords had all deployed at once to eradicate the forces that invaded the Beast Palace.
At that time, Nae Bihon and Bing Hanpung had manifested the Infinite Enlightenment.
If so, Do Cheonlin possessed the finest skills among those who came from the Ten Demon Warriors.
He too would reach that realm before long.
The people who first needed protection from the threat of the Covenantors were none other than the Martial Soul Society's Corps Lords.
'It will begin soon.'
Bu Eunseol had known about the Covenant for some time.
Ever since learning of it, he had sought to uncover the Covenantors' mysterious power and the Sacred Domain's secrets.
Still, he could not afford to leave any possibility unexplored.
He had also broached the Covenantor issue with Baek Jeoncheon, and this time they had managed to meet in private.
―'What the Command Lord promised me was the pure demonic path.'
'If you intend to discuss matters unrelated to that... then the trust between us is broken.'
It was the response Bu Eunseol had expected.
In the end, he had continuously devised a system capable of detecting Covenantors in advance.
―'The Martial Soul Society has already been recognized as a sanctuary, so the likelihood of a Covenant taking place inside it is low.'
A Covenantor could approach in one of two ways.
The first was to visit directly.
At such times, silence fell as though time itself had stopped, creating a situation in which no one could detect the Covenantor's presence.
In other words, the warning sign was a presence vanishing without notice.
The second method was to dominate the minds of nearby people and convey the Covenant's will through their mouths.
Bu Eunseol understood this well.
He ordered the Corps Lords' confidants to remain at their sides at all hours of the day and night.
If a Corps Lord's presence or figure suddenly vanished, they were to act.
He instructed them to use an emergency signal immediately.
'Even a slim chance is better than doing nothing.'
Baek Yeon's assistance had made the Death Spirit Corps's intelligence network far more intricate.
The speed at which emergency signals could be relayed across the Central Plains had also increased.
Even so, unless Bu Eunseol remained constantly beside the Four Great Corps Lords, the odds remained abysmal.
Reaching them after the emergency signal sounded but before the Covenantor vanished was all but impossible.
Nevertheless, he neither gave up nor hesitated.
It was still better than sitting idle.
No matter how slim the chance, he continued making the attempt.
Glint!
At that moment, brilliant light burst across the distant sky.
It was invisible to ordinary human sight, but Bu Eunseol saw it clearly.
It was the Death Spirit Corps's emergency signal.
More specifically, it signaled that a Covenantor had appeared before Nae Bihon.
Booom!
Drawing up the Endless Heavenly Light Art, Bu Eunseol became a streak of light and crossed the distant sky.
'Thank goodness!'
Bu Eunseol cried out inwardly.
By extraordinary good fortune, the Covenant had occurred while he was already traveling toward the Martial Soul Society.
Nae Bihon was staying near the Martial Soul Society as well, allowing Bu Eunseol to reach the location indicated by the emergency signal quickly.
Did they not say that heaven helped those who helped themselves?
Because he had continued preparing without abandoning even the slightest possibility, this stroke of fortune had come to him.
'Is this also the will of heaven?'
A Covenantor had appeared before Nae Bihon shortly after one approached Bukgung Ryeong.
'It may be because of the conflict between the Baekri Family and the True Demon Palace.'
Both sides were currently clashing their forces in secret, waging a hidden war.
That conflict might have broken the precarious balance and caused a tectonic shift in the balance of power.
Trickle.
As he employed his movement technique, Bu Eunseol used the secret art of darkness to transform his appearance into that of Seolso, the Martial Soul Society Leader.
'There.'
He arrived in the Nakcheon region.
A short distance from the Swift Thunder Corps's training grounds, he discovered a towering membrane resembling a barrier.
Unlike a transparent barrier, however, it formed a gray hemisphere that prevented anyone from seeing inside.
It was a barrier of the Sacred Domain.
There could be no doubt that a Covenantor had created the barrier.
Comments