From the moment the Empress Dowager summoned Bu Eunseol to the Imperial Palace, she had prepared more than forty schemes.
No matter what sort of man he was.
No matter what qualities he possessed.
She had ensured that she could strike him on his return journey.
Now that they had openly revealed their complete hostility toward each other... she could no longer summon him as she pleased.
"We will put them into action immediately."
The Empress Dowager nodded, then turned away with a satisfied expression.
Once a person's reputation fell into disgrace, it was difficult to recover.
Once a certain image of them had taken root, it became an established perception.
Restoring or changing it was all but impossible.
The Empress Dowager intended to employ the same method she had used against the Seven-Finger Demon Blade...
And stain his grandson with an infamy that could not be washed away even over the course of a lifetime.
Click, click.
Bu Eunseol was returning to Majeon in a carriage.
"The Empress Dowager is a formidable enemy on an entirely different level from those I have faced until now."
Gazing out the window, he sank deep into thought.
"Was that why their grades were divided?"
That included the half-humans.
Those who had used Mind Worlds until now called them Phases and placed considerable importance on their grades.
But Bu Eunseol possessed the ability to reconstruct Mind Worlds.
The only exception had been the sixth-level Phase that Weiji Hun once used while occupying Weiji Hyesang's body.
Nothing else had posed much of a threat to him.
Yet the Mind World unleashed by the Empress Dowager this time was completely new, on an entirely different level from everything he had experienced before.
"And the palace maids' dance..."
Bu Eunseol already knew.
The Mind World had been unfolded for a particular purpose.
It was ultimately meant to maximize the power contained within the palace maids' dance.
"Whenever I passed one of them, it felt as though she were peering into my abyss."
His eyes narrowed as he pondered.
"She must originally have intended to strike me dead."
He had sensed it the instant he met the Empress Dowager alone.
She had first tried to win him over.
If that failed, she had resolved to invent some pretext and kill him.
But at the final moment, she had changed her mind.
"She must want to take the safer path."
Those who had planned and accumulated as much as the Empress Dowager never took risks.
Even with nine parts confidence, they would never fight if one part of uncertainty remained.
"It is a different sort of caution from the Heavenly Demon Emperor's."
Where the Heavenly Demon Emperor tried to see through everything, the Empress Dowager tried to test everyone.
It was like a mirror reflecting all phenomena, while a flame separated fine jade from common stone.
The Heavenly Demon Emperor sought to reflect things exactly as they were, like a mirror. The Empress Dowager sought to burn them like fire and distinguish the true from the false.
"One who observes, and one who toys with fate. Is that it?"
One merely watched, while the other seemed to twist fate itself.
"I will soon find out."
Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed.
"Attack to your heart's content."
A smile also spread across his lips.
"Once I experience the methods you employ, I, too, will be able to determine what sort of person you are and what abilities you possess."
The Empress Dowager was testing Bu Eunseol.
He, in turn, was testing her.
Know yourself and your enemy, and you will emerge victorious in a hundred battles.
Once that test ended, Bu Eunseol would begin his own grand design to bring down the Empress Dowager.
How long had the carriage traveled?
'...!'
Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed.
He had suddenly detected a faint sound in the distance.
Realizing that they were the screams of common people, his gaze sharpened.
For something like this to happen the moment he left the capital's territory?
It might be a suspicious coincidence, but he could not simply stand by and watch.
Creak.
He flung open the door of the moving carriage.
Whoomph!
In a single bound, he soared into the distant sky and flew toward the source of the screams.
When he finally arrived, fires burned throughout the village.
Hundreds of warriors who appeared to belong to an unorthodox faction were brandishing swords and herding the common people into one place.
'They are disciples of the Red Blade Sect.'
The warriors were harming the villagers without restraint.
They were none other than disciples of the Red Blade Sect, notorious as a den of evil.
―'Do not even think of running!'
―'Where in the world is the Light Severance Sect's secret manual?'
'Was a secret manual discovered in the village?'
At times, treasures left behind by eccentrics of the martial world were found in the villages of herb gatherers who lived among deep mountains and secluded valleys.
The problem was that when such rumors spread in secret, nearby unorthodox factions or bands of mounted bandits who monitored the village's movements often arrived first.
"Hand over the secret manual at once!"
The Red Blade Sect Leader's shout shook the village.
Tremble, tremble.
The villagers were terrified and merely glanced at one another. Not one dared to step forward.
At that moment, a woman carrying a young child crawled forward and knelt before the bandits.
"There is no such object in our village."
"There isn't? Heh heh heh."
The Red Blade Sect Leader let out a low and murderous laugh.
"From now on, I will tear off the children's heads one by one until the secret manual appears."
He reached for the head of the child in the woman's arms.
"Wait!"
A trembling old voice rang out from the center of the village.
At the same time, a white-haired old man who appeared to be the village chief staggered forward.
"This old man hid it."
The elder knelt and lowered his head. Tears dripped down his wrinkled face.
"This old man has a son who dreams of becoming a military officer. I hid it away so I could give it to him when he returned."
"You hid it? Explain everything!"
At the Red Blade Sect Leader's order, the village chief began to recount the matter in detail.
Not long ago, while gathering herbs, he had happened upon a split rock beneath a remote cliff.
Beneath that rock lay a secret manual carefully wrapped in oil paper.
―'The Light Severance Sect?'
Realizing that it was a secret manual left behind by an eccentric of the martial world, he had secretly buried it somewhere only he knew.
It was meant for his son, who would return after failing the military examination.
But the elder had made one fatal mistake.
He had confided in a friend of several decades that he had obtained the Light Severance Sect's secret manual.
Words once spoken could never be gathered back up.
The story spread from one person to the next until it finally reached the ears of a Red Blade Sect disciple.
In the end, the Red Blade Sect Leader mobilized every disciple to obtain the manual.
He had descended upon this place intending to wipe out the entire village without leaving even a seed behind.
"...That is what happened."
The moment the old man finished his explanation...
Thud!
A merciless kick sent him sprawling onto his back.
"You have wasted enough of my time!"
The Red Blade Sect Leader shouted irritably.
"Find out where he buried it."
At his glance, a trusted subordinate nodded and headed up the mountain with the old man.
Watching them leave, the Red Blade Sect Leader gave his disciples an ominous smile.
"Now kill them all."
The villagers jumped in alarm and cried out.
"The village chief hid the manual! Why must you kill us?"
"If I do not kill you, will word not spread through the martial world that this Sect Leader obtained the Light Severance Sect's secret manual?"
The Light Severance Sect's manual was a treasure that would make any martial artist salivate.
Since ancient times, the best way to keep a secret perfectly had been to silence every witness through death.
He intended to slaughter the villagers, blame the deed on mounted bandits, and preserve his secret.
'Hmm.'
Watching the scene from the distant sky, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
It did not matter whether they belonged to the unorthodox faction, orthodox faction, or demonic path.
He could understand martial artists shedding one another's blood over a martial arts manual.
But trying to kill innocent common people was absolutely unforgivable.
Tap.
Bu Eunseol descended from the sky and landed on the ground.
"You are...!"
Every warrior, including the Red Blade Sect Leader, instantly stared at him with tense gazes.
Merely seeing him descend from the sky was enough to tell them that he was an extraordinary master.
"..."
Yet Bu Eunseol said nothing. He merely stared for a long while at the infants in the villagers' arms.
Then, ignoring everyone's gazes, he turned around and sat upon a rock at the village entrance.
"Pay me no mind."
When the Red Blade Sect Leader stared at him, Bu Eunseol casually waved one hand.
"I am only watching."
The villagers' eyes instantly widened like saucers.
They were about to be massacred, yet he intended to sit leisurely upon a rock and watch?
"M-Martial Warrior, sir."
At that moment, a filthy man ran over and pleaded with him.
"Please save us! They are trying to kill us for no reason!"
Bu Eunseol nodded.
"Let us watch for now."
"Pardon?"
"If fortune favors you, you may survive."
The man opened his mouth in incomprehension.
In a situation like this, were martial masters not supposed to proclaim righteous words and deal with the villains?
"A-Attack!"
At the Red Blade Sect Leader's shout, the disciples drew their swords and swung at the villagers.
Clack.
But in the end, they could not bring their blades down.
"You cannot do it."
Watching them, Bu Eunseol sneered.
"After all, you filled an empty village with assassins out of nowhere."
The Death Spirit Corps had identified even the villages hidden in remote mountains and secluded valleys.
All that information was contained within his mind.
This herb gatherers' village had, in fact, been a ghost village without residents for a long time.
"But..."
The villagers' eyes wavered.
Just as Bu Eunseol had guessed, they were all assassins of the True Slaughter Sect. They had found an abandoned village and staged this entire performance.
"Our disguise was perfect."
At their murmur, Bu Eunseol nodded.
"Yes, it was perfect. Enough to completely deceive even this Command Lord, who has mastered the Art of Deceptive Enlightenment."
Then he pointed to the infants.
"But infants do not know the Art of Deceptive Enlightenment."
"..."
"No matter how they cry from hunger, would a child held by its parents sound the same as one held by a complete stranger who happens to be an assassin?"
The assassins stood frozen, their mouths agape.
Long ago, they had received the Empress Dowager's orders and settled here while pretending to be villagers.
To portray ordinary common people convincingly, they had deliberately abducted infants too young to speak.
After all, people instinctively did not suspect those who had children with them.
Yet the man before them was a monster.
He had peered into the spirits of infants who could not speak and merely cried from hunger.
Through them, he had instead uncovered the assassins' identities.
Swoop.
In an instant, every child held by the assassins moved into Bu Eunseol's arms.
He had imitated the power to dominate space once wielded by the Hwa Wu Sword Sect Leader, the Profound Demon Weiji Mu-a.
"It was an entertaining farce."
As Bu Eunseol turned to leave, the Red Blade Sect warriors and True Slaughter Sect assassins rushed forward and surrounded him.
"You are not leaving!"
They glared coldly at Bu Eunseol.
"Kill us before you go!"
Vwooong.
At the same time, the sky began to turn transparent. They had constructed a strange formation to prevent Bu Eunseol from escaping.
"Kill you before I go?"
Bu Eunseol repeated the words in a low voice.
Purple radiance began gathering upon his ten fingers.
Paaat!
When he spread his fingers, hundreds of strands of crimson lightning surged through the sky. In an instant, the heavens regained their original color.
He had shattered the formation in a single stroke with Thunder Spirit Energy.
"No. I refuse."
Leaving those words behind, Bu Eunseol moved.
Whisk, whisk.
His figure shot toward the city.
"..."
The Red Blade Sect members and True Slaughter Sect assassins stared blankly after him with their mouths hanging open.
One of the Empress Dowager's long-prepared plans had gone completely awry.
Thoom!
After reaching the city, Bu Eunseol entrusted the kidnapped infants to a relief home operated by the government.
At the very least, the staff there would find nursing mothers rather than allow the infants to starve. Working with the local authorities, they could also locate their parents.
Boom!
He headed toward Majeon once more.
But after traveling for roughly the span of a single meal, another strange event occurred.
Alongside a deafening clash of metal, miserable screams and battle cries once more rang out.
'Those are the sounds of martial artists fighting.'
Moreover, the cries came not from one or two people, but from dozens or even hundreds at once.
―'Urgh!'
―'Kaaagh!'
When he went to investigate, martial artists were indeed fighting as expected.
'The Heavenly Star Sect and True Dragon Pavilion.'
The two factions had been bitter enemies, fighting over influence in the Gihyeon region for generations.
Their strength was evenly matched, so until now, they had merely snarled at one another.
Yet for some reason, they were now waging an all-out war upon which the survival of their factions depended.
'This...'
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
'They are truly fighting.'
The conflict between the Heavenly Star Sect and True Dragon Pavilion had not begun yesterday. Their recent standoff had also been extremely tense.
In truth, it would not have been especially strange for them to wage an all-out war.
'A dispute between martial factions is none of my concern.'
He was neither a god nor the Supreme One of the Martial World.
Two longtime enemies were fighting with their survival at stake. There was no reason for him to interfere.
Moreover, the battle had already reached its final stage.
The Heavenly Star Sect was overwhelming True Dragon Pavilion's masters, and the fighting was drawing to a close.
But the Heavenly Star Sect had also suffered grievous losses, with more than half its disciples fallen.
In any event, the Heavenly Star Sect had won.
True Dragon Pavilion would disappear into the history of the martial world.
Rumble.
But another unexpected event occurred.
Hundreds of masked men of unknown identity suddenly rushed forward.
They began attacking the Heavenly Star Sect disciples who had just defeated True Dragon Pavilion.
―'Aaargh!'
―'Urgh!'
Screams rang out once more.
The Heavenly Star Sect had defeated True Dragon Pavilion, but its disciples were exhausted from the long battle, and almost none remained uninjured.
Under such circumstances, they could not respond properly to the sudden ambush. Their disciples began dying in moments.
'The Black Slaughter Sect.'
Watching the situation from above, Bu Eunseol clicked his tongue.
They had likely learned that the two factions would wage an all-out war.
The Black Slaughter Sect, which had long sought an opportunity to expand its influence into the Gihyeon region, had clearly launched a surprise attack.
―'Run!'
The Heavenly Star Sect disciples retreated in bitter anguish.
But as if determined not to let a single one escape, the Black Slaughter Sect disciples killed them with their sharp poisoned swords.
Crackle! Thud!
Flesh scattered, and blood sprayed in every direction.
Their methods grew increasingly cruel.
They were not simply killing their victims.
As if torturing them, they severed limbs and repeatedly plunged their weapons into the disciples' stomachs.
'Did they bear some grudge against the Heavenly Star Sect?'
This was closer to slaughter than battle.
No matter how vicious an unorthodox faction might be, why go to such lengths to kill them with deliberate cruelty that would inspire rage?
"Stop!"
Bu Eunseol immediately shouted at the Black Slaughter Sect disciples.
"I will not permit this ambush. If you wish to destroy the Heavenly Star Sect, formally declare war and return to fight them honorably!"
The Black Slaughter Sect disciples stared for a long while at Bu Eunseol, who had suddenly appeared in midair.
"Heh heh heh."
They let out strange laughter.
At the same time, something peculiar occurred.
The instant Bu Eunseol landed, the internal energy within his body vanished.
When he looked puzzled, the Black Slaughter Sect disciples gave sinister smiles.
"We caught you, Martial Soul Command Lord."
They were not true Black Slaughter Sect disciples after all, but the Empress Dowager's subordinates in disguise.
"Yes, I thought something was strange."
Curl.
Moving only one finger, Bu Eunseol spoke coldly.
"Enough talk. Come at me."
There was no need to use the Three Divine Energies or unfold the power of the Void Extreme Realm.
Against rabble like them, it made no difference whether he possessed internal energy.
He could tear out their throats in an instant.
"Attack!"
The Empress Dowager's subordinates, disguised as Black Slaughter Sect disciples, charged at Bu Eunseol.
Shhing.
With the cry of a dragon, the Silent Tiger Soul Sword revealed itself.
Crack! Paaat!
When hidden weapons shot toward him, they shattered. When poisoned swords flew at him, they broke apart.
There was no mercy in Bu Eunseol's hands.
Not every subordinate of the Empress Dowager was evil.
These men had sought merely to draw him out.
Yet to accomplish that, the villains had brutally murdered the Heavenly Star Sect disciples without hesitation.
They held no worth that justified their continued lives.
Shhhhh...
As though it had been waiting for the battle to end, a sudden shower began falling from the sky.
Drip, drip, drip.
To the sound of the rain, drops of blood fell from Bu Eunseol's blood-soaked hands.
"U-Ughhh."
"Blech."
The Heavenly Star Sect disciples who had watched in silence began trembling and retching.
They had waged an all-out war against True Dragon Pavilion due to the Empress Dowager's machinations, but they were still disciples of the orthodox faction.
They had never witnessed such a murderous, brutal, and one-sided slaughter.
"..."
Bu Eunseol suddenly looked down at his hands.
The rain was gradually washing the blood from them, but hundreds of corpses lay piled like a tower nearby.
'She is trying to shake my heart.'
Having understood the Empress Dowager's intention, Bu Eunseol could not help but exclaim in admiration.
To spend this much wealth and manpower constructing such meticulous traps in so short a time?
"Martial Soul Command Lord, how could you employ such cruel methods?"
In the end, the orthodox faction's peculiar habit revealed itself.
They forgot that Bu Eunseol had just pulled them from the depths of hell and saved their lives.
Instead, they criticized him solely for the cruelty of his methods.
'Grandfather would have simply left.'
His grandfather had accepted infamy to save people and silently walked his own path.
But Bu Eunseol had no intention whatsoever of accepting such infamy.
"Your criticism is correct."
Bu Eunseol politely cupped his hands toward the Heavenly Star Sect Leader.
"In truth, a certain faction targeting me stood behind the Black Slaughter Sect. I feared they would harm the Heavenly Star Sect again in the future unless I dealt with these men brutally enough to imprint fear upon them."
He turned around and added, "But if those behind them attack again, I shall show restraint in accordance with your words. I will also be sure to declare that this enlightenment came from the Heavenly Star Sect Leader's teaching, so that I may help spread your glorious reputation far and wide."
The Heavenly Star Sect Leader's face instantly stiffened.
Now, because of one needless remark, the Heavenly Star Sect's name would circulate among the ears of some terrifying faction.
"This Sect Leader meddled where he should not have."
The Heavenly Star Sect Leader nearly prostrated himself as he apologized.
"Please forget everything I just said."
"Not at all. Your teaching is correct. This Command Lord nearly made a grave mistake."
Bu Eunseol gazed into the distant sky and spoke in a clear, resonant voice.
"Since I acted so viciously, before long, this Command Lord will be called a vicious great demon under heaven..."
"No, no! I misspoke."
The Heavenly Star Sect Leader begged desperately.
"I spoke foolishly, not realizing how thoughtfully the Command Lord had cared for us."
He cupped his hands, bowed at the waist, and pleaded.
"Please forgive my careless words."
"Hmm."
Bu Eunseol nodded as though troubled.
"Since the Sect Leader begs so earnestly, I suppose there is no other choice. I shall do as you ask."
He swept his gaze once over the corpses strewn in every direction and spoke calmly.
"This Hall will deal with their traces. You should return now."
The Heavenly Star Sect Leader had already been worrying that this affair might entangle him with all manner of sinister factions.
Yet the Martial Soul Command Lord was even offering to clean up the scene?
The Heavenly Star Sect Leader repeatedly cupped his hands in gratitude, then hurriedly led his disciples away.
"She set these traps with such precision that I would encounter them regardless of where I went."
Float.
Unleashing the Land Flight Technique, Bu Eunseol leaped dozens of jang (1 jang = 3m) into the air.
"I need only ignore everything else and return."
―'Aaargh!'
At that moment, a piercing scream came from somewhere nearby.
It was a woman's scream.
It sounded so desperate and urgent that he knew what sort of situation she faced without even looking.
"Are you trying to test me?"
He paid it no further attention and immediately used his movement technique to leave.
Fortunately, no further scream followed.
But because of that, Bu Eunseol eventually had to stop.
'If it were staged, she should have screamed at least once more.'
The woman's scream had sounded genuinely desperate, then faded as though someone had covered her mouth.
If the purpose were to draw his attention, she should have screamed longer and more miserably.
'Empress Dowager. You have indeed understood me perfectly.'
Even if he fell into danger a hundred times, that alone would not stop him.
If he could save a single person, he would never hesitate.
The Empress Dowager had seen through that conviction and acted upon it.
'Good.'
Boom!
Purple lightning dozens of jang wide erupted from Bu Eunseol's entire body.
'I will see to the very end how far your power extends and what methods you employ.'
Rrrrumble.
Amid thunder that shook heaven and earth, his figure became a meteor streaking across the sky.
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