It was a shocking answer.
In other words, unlike ordinary people, Bu Eunseol had never been influenced by the heavenly secrets in the first place.
Yet Bu Eunseol showed little surprise, as though he had expected as much, and asked again.
"Until I broke the Covenant, I was there as well."
"Precisely."
The old man regarded Bu Eunseol and spoke in a solemn voice.
"All people live in submission to that flow of heavenly secrets."
At his gesture, every star dimmed its radiance.
Something that had been invisible until now then appeared.
An empty space that belonged nowhere slowly emerged from the pitch-black darkness.
It was neither bound nor predetermined.
It was an absolute void that could become anything, yet could also remain nothing.
"But at times, within that vast firmament, there are beings who shine alone... connected to no star whatsoever."
The old man paused, released a deep sigh, and continued.
"They reject the fate bestowed by Heaven and forge a new path. Unfettered by Heaven's Mandate... they burn solely through their own will."
With that brief explanation alone, the old man made Bu Eunseol understand what the Covenant meant.
He grasped at once how it functioned and how a person came to belong to one of the two great families.
"There are two possible ends for such beings. They may stray from their ordained orbit, burn, and vanish... or erase every bond that fetters them and become the center of a new universe."
At the words "the center of a new universe," the face of the Heavenly Demon Emperor suddenly appeared in Bu Eunseol's mind.
Had he already become a being who had severed every bond? The thought came unbidden.
"Fortunately, the meaning of the Covenant..."
Bu Eunseol drew a deep breath, voiced his admiration, and nodded.
"It is not greatly different from what I expected."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I have found a way to resolve this without making an enemy of the Sacred Domain."
"How?"
"Give me one month."
Bu Eunseol spoke with confidence.
"I will find a way to escape the Covenant without disrupting the flow of the heavenly secrets or interfering with the Sacred Domain's work."
"Do the affairs of this Domain seem like a game to you?"
"I will stake my life upon it."
Bu Eunseol's answer was resolute.
"If I have not resolved this after one month, and I continue to obstruct the Covenant or interfere in the affairs of the Sacred Domain... I will take my own life."
The old man fell silent at that shocking declaration.
He knew full well that Bu Eunseol was not one to speak nonsense or make empty boasts.
But what he had just promised was utterly impossible.
"Are you sincere?"
"I am."
"This is not something a man should promise lightly."
The old man drew a deep breath.
"Not once since ancient times has the Covenant ever been broken."
From the moment of its creation, the Covenant had been an absolute law that had never once been broken.
Yet Bu Eunseol claimed he would escape it within a month without damaging the heavenly secrets.
It was the very definition of an empty boast.
"Think it over again and again."
"Once this is decided, there will be no turning back."
The old man stared directly into Bu Eunseol's eyes.
"If you swear such an oath to this old man, you must keep it for as long as this Domain stands."
"Of course."
Despite that grave warning, Bu Eunseol answered immediately and without hesitation.
"I will keep my promise without fail."
"Very well. I shall give you one month."
The old man nodded as though he had no other choice.
"If, by then, you have failed to find a way to break the Covenants binding those around you without disrupting the course of the heavenly secrets..."
His voice became stern, like a reaper pronouncing a death sentence.
"Not only will you die, but so will everyone you cherish."
"I will remember it."
When Bu Eunseol again answered without hesitation, the old man released a deep sigh.
He slowly shook his head.
Paaat!
A mysterious light spread over his entire body.
Whoosh.
In an instant, he dissolved into millions of motes of light and vanished into the air.
"So he truly did bear me goodwill."
Bu Eunseol stared at the place where the old man had disappeared and breathed a sigh of relief.
The old man had repeatedly emphasized that the Covenant was an absolutely immutable law.
What if he had cared only about preserving the Sacred Domain's authority?
There would have been no negotiation at all, and an all-out war with the Sacred Domain would have begun immediately.
But the old man had given him an opportunity.
There had been no calculation beneath it, only genuine goodwill.
"Though the very fact that he entered the Absolute Domain means he is not my enemy."
No one who failed to resonate with Bu Eunseol's spirit, or who bore him hostility, could ever enter the Absolute Domain.
He had deliberately awaited the Sacred Domain's representative in the Absolute Domain, the most secret place within the Martial Soul Society.
That was because this negotiation absolutely could not be allowed to fail.
The old man had entered without difficulty, and the negotiation had ended successfully.
"There truly is no other way."
After pondering deeply for a time, Bu Eunseol left the Martial Soul Society and soared into the distant sky.
He now had one month.
Within that time, he had to break in a single stroke the Covenant that had never once been broken in the history of the martial world.
He could not afford to waste a single moment.
* * *
Deep in the night, the Palace of Heavenly Purity lay immersed in tranquil darkness.
In the outer courtyard, only the faint rustling of pagoda-tree leaves could be heard.
There was no trace of another presence.
Heavy curtains enclosed the secret chamber on every side.
Golden candlelight flickered low, casting rippling shadows along the grain of the silk drapes.
Delicate incense rose from a dragon-horn brazier, while the air within the chamber hung heavy and still.
The Emperor sat upon the throne with the ties of his dragon robe loosened.
Below him stood a man in plain martial robes.
They were the Emperor and Bu Eunseol.
"I wish to enter the Imperial Palace Secret Vault."
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully and carefully voiced his request.
The Emperor looked thoroughly puzzled.
"At your level of martial prowess, I doubt it would be of much use."
"I wish to enter the Secret Vault, not the Armory."
Bu Eunseol had long sought a power that could replace the Heaven and Earth Divine Energy.
He had sensed that the clue lay within the Imperial Palace martial arts, but after reaching the Void Extreme Realm, he no longer placed much importance upon it.
More importantly, what he desperately needed now was not an increase in martial prowess.
"It seems you require a treasure."
"That is correct."
"Hmm."
The Emperor stroked his chin.
Never in history had a mere martial artist been allowed into the Imperial Palace Secret Vault.
But Bu Eunseol's present situation was different.
Although he had not formally entered his name upon the rolls, he was unquestionably the Commander of the Dragon Scale Guard.
His request to enter the Secret Vault was not impossible to grant.
"If I followed my heart, I would tell you to enter at once."
The Emperor smiled as he spoke.
"But has it not been said since ancient times that one who has rendered no service should not eat the stipend?"
His expression seemed intended to put the tense Bu Eunseol at ease.
But the words that followed were no jest.
"The Empress Dowager commands many formidable experts."
"Among them is one who ruthlessly kills the agents I have secretly dispatched throughout the martial world."
The Empress Dowager was believed to belong to the True Demon Palace.
Beneath her were masters whom even Bu Eunseol could not dispose of easily.
If one of them could casually cut down the elite warriors the Emperor had painstakingly cultivated, that person could never be taken lightly.
"Not only is his martial art formidable, but he comes and goes like a phantom."
"We have been utterly unable to catch his trail."
"Who is he?"
"The Poison Hand Demonic Sword."
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow at the unexpected name.
The Poison Hand Demonic Sword was a rising newcomer who had recently appeared in the martial world like a comet.
"Every expert he has killed while roaming the martial world was a warrior carrying out my commands under a concealed identity."
The Poison Hand Demonic Sword was known merely as a solitary wanderer who crossed the martial world, defeating powerful opponents wherever he went.
Yet he was actually the Empress Dowager's subordinate.
And every expert he had killed until now had belonged to the Imperial Palace's secret elite.
"With your intelligence network, you should find him soon enough."
'This will not be easy.'
To locate an unidentified master such as the Poison Hand Demonic Sword, Bu Eunseol would have to mobilize every intelligence operative of the Death Spirit Corps.
More troubling than that was another fact.
The moment he touched that man, it would be tantamount to openly declaring that he was entering a full confrontation with the Empress Dowager.
Instead of refusing Bu Eunseol's request, the Emperor intended to draw him fully into the struggle against her.
'I have no choice.'
He had to enter the Imperial Palace Secret Vault if he was to resolve the matter of the Sacred Domain.
"I accept Your Majesty's command."
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol bowed his head and paid his respects.
Only by finding and killing the Poison Hand Demonic Sword within one month could he safely resolve the Sacred Domain's matter.
* * *
Tracking the Poison Hand Demonic Sword proved arduous and anything but easy.
True to his position as the Empress Dowager's subordinate, he was meticulous and cunning, and he left no trace behind, like a ghost.
Even the Death Spirit Corps' elite agents, whose talents surpassed those of any other intelligence organization, could not easily uncover his movements.
What if they failed to find him?
Not only would Bu Eunseol's plan to break the Covenant collapse, but he would also have to surrender his life to the old man of the Sacred Domain.
―'Mobilize every operative and find the Poison Hand Demonic Sword. Even the smallest clue connected to him will suffice.'
The Empress Dowager's confidant could not possibly be an expert who had learned ordinary martial arts.
Rather than trying to locate the elusive Poison Hand Demonic Sword himself, Bu Eunseol ordered the Corps to focus on finding the traces the man had left behind.
Bu Eunseol had mastered the Void Heart Command, which allowed his super senses to detect even ancient traces.
Put another way, he possessed the finest tracking art under heaven.
Furthermore, from the wounds upon a corpse, he could determine its appearance in life, the martial arts involved, and even the cause of death.
Time was short.
Rather than tasking the Death Spirit Corps with completely pinning down the Poison Hand Demonic Sword's movements, he intended to pursue the man personally through whatever minor traces remained.
―'It would be best to find traces of those slain by the Poison Hand Demonic Sword.'
To ensure that he left no evidence, the Poison Hand Demonic Sword had even disposed of the bodies of those he assassinated.
But he had overlooked one fact.
Every one of his victims belonged to the Emperor's secret elite.
They were not ordinary people of the martial world, which made their past movements considerably easier to trace.
―'Exchange intelligence with the Embroidered Uniform Guard through Chiliarch Na as well.'
Bu Eunseol made use of his authority as Commander of the Dragon Scale Guard.
Through Na Baekhu, a squad leader of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he obtained the findings of the imperial intelligence organizations.
He could then cross-check the Poison Hand Demonic Sword's movements against their information network.
At last, they succeeded in finding one of the corpses he had left behind.
"We were fortunate."
The person who discovered the Poison Hand Demonic Sword's victim was none other than Woo Kyung, the Death Spirit Corps' finest operative.
"It was also a stroke of heavenly fortune that the Poison Hand Demonic Sword disposed of corpses with Bone-Melting Powder, just as assassins do."
According to the investigation, after killing one of the Emperor's direct subordinates, the Poison Hand Demonic Sword would always shove the corpse into a cave in some deserted mountain and pour Bone-Melting Powder over it.
But this time, the cave into which he had thrown the body happened to be a limestone cavern.
The limestone neutralized the powder's powerful acidity.
The cold, damp environment inside the cave also helped preserve it.
The corpse had been found hardened like a wax figure, not yet completely dissolved.
"You have done well."
After concluding his private meeting with Woo Kyung, Bu Eunseol went to the limestone cavern and began examining the corpse.
"A master of the sword."
When one closely examined wounds inflicted by ordinary swordsmen, tiny fractures could be seen in the surrounding bones, as though they had been sawed through.
But the corpse here had been severed so cleanly that flesh and bone alike were smooth as mirrors.
The blade had moved faster than sound.
It had also maintained a perfect angle and cut through everything in a single stroke.
"He concealed his sword forms perfectly, but failed to erase the traces left by his weapon."
As Bu Eunseol carefully inspected the corpse, he found minute specks of metal embedded in the smooth cross-sections of bone and deep within the wounds.
"So he is neither a professional killer nor a trained assassin."
For killers and professional assassins, the mission did not end with the enemy's death.
To them, the true completion of an assassination meant leaving behind no trace of the corpse itself.
Traces provided clues for pursuit, and continued pursuit would eventually expose both their identity and the force behind them.
That was why assassins considered the complete disposal of a corpse part of the killing itself.
The Poison Hand Demonic Sword, by contrast, had meticulously erased the signs of his martial arts.
But he had not removed the minute traces and filings that clung to his sword.
In other words, he was not a professional killer and had only recently begun acting as an assassin.
"A sword forged from Cold Iron, bearing powder from Profound Jade Grass."
Far too many places forged swords from Cold Iron for that clue alone to reveal his movements.
The minute herbal powder clinging to the blade, however, provided a decisive lead.
It was none other than a fragment of Profound Jade Grass.
That herb was said to bloom for only a single season each year, in crevices beneath cliffs where ten-thousand-year snow melted.
"There is almost no chance that so much of this rare herb would cling to the blade after only one or two chance encounters."
That meant the Poison Hand Demonic Sword had established a training ground or hideout where Profound Jade Grass grew naturally.
Or else he visited such a place regularly.
―'Ice Abyss Valley appears the most suspicious.'
According to the Death Spirit Corps' investigation, only Ice Abyss Valley satisfied every condition.
Rooooar!
Using the Land Flying Technique, Bu Eunseol soon reached the Heavenly Altar Mountain Range, which divided the world like a colossal wall.
The air was cold enough to stab his lungs.
Each exhaled breath scattered like white frost.
By the time he reached the rocky region, the landscape resembled winter despite the summer season.
He searched every crevice among the frozen cliffs.
Deep within one narrow fissure, he discovered a faint blue-white glow that seemed to shine by itself.
It came from Profound Jade Grass, a plant imbued with a cool radiance like moonlight even beneath the midday sun.
Ziiiing.
Bu Eunseol raised the Void Heart Command and examined his surroundings.
He soon discerned that the light along one portion of the frozen wall bore a subtly different hue from the rest.
Fwoooosh.
He circulated the Yeolha Great True Energy.
His body became a blazing mass of tremendous heat.
Sssssizzle.
He passed through the ice wall in an instant as though melting through it, and an utterly different landscape unfolded before him like a lie.
Cliffs cut sheer as if by blades enclosed the place on every side, sealing it completely from the outside world.
Within them lay a vast basin whose floor was formed from solid bedrock.
'Sword marks.'
Countless sword marks had been carved chaotically throughout the area.
Some places had been sliced through like tofu, while others bore marks that looked deeply gouged out.
'What extraordinary swordsmanship.'
The traces alone revealed just how formidable a sword art the Poison Hand Demonic Sword had cultivated.
When Bu Eunseol turned his head, he saw a stone house in the distance.
Inside were a hard bed, an old brazier, and a stone mortar used for grinding herbs.
"He has recently been cultivating a new internal power."
Judging from the scene, the man was cultivating a new martial art and appeared to be making medicinal pills for himself.
At a glance, it was the dwelling of an ascetic who had left the secular world behind to pursue martial arts alone.
Ingredients needed to refine those pills remained scattered throughout the room.
"As I thought, he was not trained as an assassin."
"He is a master of orthodox martial arts."
Bu Eunseol's expression turned grave as he studied the remaining medicinal ingredients.
"He is cultivating an ultimate secret art forbidden in the martial world, one capable of surpassing human limitations and transforming both spirit and flesh."
Here, in Ice Abyss Valley, a lonely place cut off from the world and closer to the heavens than any other, the Poison Hand Demonic Sword had been training.
He drank water melted from ten-thousand-year snow and refined medicinal pills from Profound Jade Grass.
"Hmm."
When a strange odor reached his nose, Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
Many scents mingled in the air.
There was the smell of damp stone and the metallic tang of old blood dried into iron.
A cool, sharp fragrance of medicinal and poisonous herbs pricked his nose.
Beneath them lingered the thick residue of killing intent, suppressed for years until it had festered within, never once released.
"Has he gone to kill someone again?"
Bu Eunseol's gaze settled on a sword stand at one side of the stone house.
The finely carved wooden stand was empty, but its surface bore wear from repeated contact with a scabbard.
Subtle, irregular marks also remained around the base of the stand.
"The posture with which he took up the sword differed every time..."
There were traces of it being snatched up with an irritable sweep, lifted carefully in both hands, and seized in a single motion with Void Grasp.
"In that case..."
Bu Eunseol bent one knee and carefully examined the floor inside the house.
Traces of discharged sword aura remained there.
Some had gouged deep, straight lines.
Others curved like whirlpools, while still others ended abruptly halfway.
"His state of mind was troubled whenever he went out into the martial world."
As if to prove it, several minute fragments of metal remained within the deepest gouge.
"Then he never wished to cut people down in the first place."
Lost in thought, Bu Eunseol approached the worn chair at the center of the stone house and sat with his back against it.
"He truly is a master."
When Bu Eunseol unfolded the Void Heart Command from the chair, he sensed that the Poison Hand Demonic Sword had sat there hundreds, even thousands of times, always in precisely the same posture.
His flesh was under the complete control of his spirit.
Bu Eunseol rose and walked toward the bed.
Only a single sheet of thin, coarse cloth covered the worn sleeping platform.
He bent at the waist and extended a hand.
The surface beneath his fingertips was cold as ice, but other traces remained upon it.
When he leaned closer, he caught the salt scent left by dried sweat and saw several sharp scratches.
"He sat here to master his mind."
The Poison Hand Demonic Sword had not sat upon the bed to circulate his energy or meditate.
He had been suppressing the anguish and heart demon within him.
The faint salt came from fallen beads of sweat, while the sharp scratches had been carved by his fingernails.
"..."
After gathering every piece of information within the stone house, an image of its occupant gradually took form in Bu Eunseol's mind.
The person suffered such terrible anguish and such a powerful heart demon that sweat poured from their body and their nails raked the bed.
They were light enough to sit upon that small chair.
Even in this silent place, they remained wary enough to spread their super senses without pause.
And they carried a clean fragrance like grass and wildflowers, utterly out of place in this desolate dwelling.
'Something about this feels familiar.'
A strange thought crossed Bu Eunseol's mind.
How could a person he had never even seen, whose figure he had constructed from sensation alone, feel so familiar?
This was the Poison Hand Demonic Sword, who secretly roamed the martial world and killed warriors carrying out the Emperor's commands.
Step, step.
At that moment, the sound of slowly approaching footsteps reached his ears.
One of Bu Eunseol's eyebrows rose.
He had focused all his attention inward to read the traces within the house.
Even so, how could he have noticed someone only after they had come this close?
Creeeak.
The door opened, and a bamboo-hat person with a veil covering their face slowly entered.
An icy chill poured from the visible eyes, while blade-like formless energy streamed from the entire body.
'A formidable master indeed.'
Swordsmen who had reached the pinnacle of mastery naturally emitted formless energy from their entire bodies.
But formless energy could also be called killing intent.
If it were released so indiscriminately, that killing intent would instead diminish, weakening the sword's power.
Yet this bamboo-hat person poured out formless energy as naturally as breathing.
'Then they have mastered a special grand method.'
Bu Eunseol understood at a glance that the bamboo-hat person had learned a special grand method that allowed them to emit killing intent without limit.
Shing.
The person drew a sword forged from Cold Iron, then walked back outside the stone house.
The meaning was unmistakable.
"So there is no point in talking."
Bu Eunseol nodded and slowly followed them outside.
He had come here under the Emperor's command, so his present identity was not the Martial Soul Command Lord but the Commander of the Dragon Scale Guard.
Until his grand design was complete, he had resolved to share the Emperor's fate.
The Poison Hand Demonic Sword was the Empress Dowager's blade, an enemy with whom coexistence was impossible.
There was no need to exchange any further words.
They would settle the matter in a life-and-death duel.
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