―'That man is no human. He is a monster.'
Tremble, tremble.
The surviving martial artists could only shiver. They did not even dare think of resisting.
The corpses of those struck by his blade art had been mangled so horribly that they could scarcely bear to look.
Flop.
They resembled toys shattered into pieces.
The martial artists stared at the broken bodies strewn across the ground and finally threw down their weapons.
Defying a Murder Star like him would only earn them a brutal death.
They had a better chance of surviving if they showed complete submission and begged for mercy.
* * *
Not far away, a beautiful woman dressed in the garb of the Miao people watched everything from the darkness overlooking the Yangguan Branch.
"It is over now."
Bu Eunseol had not used martial arts.
He had employed methods that sliced flesh into pieces and tore out entrails, as though he delighted in slaughter itself.
"Heh heh heh."
She curved her eyes into crescents and smiled coldly, seemingly satisfied.
"The demonic energy sleeping within him must have erupted until he could endure it no longer."
Everything had gone according to plan.
Ever since leaving the Imperial Palace, she had pursued only one objective.
Her goal was to make the nature of the great demon buried deep within Bu Eunseol's mind erupt.
Yet this had never been an easy task.
A man who should have shaken the martial world and dyed it in blood long ago had instead lived his life doing only what was right.
That alone proved his self-control and willpower surpassed all imagination.
But the same thing had happened once before, long ago.
The Empress Dowager had caused the same nature of a great demon to erupt.
This time, she had prepared a trap and scheme far more meticulous and powerful than before...
The result was the eruption of the great demon's nature that had slept within Bu Eunseol's mind.
His nature would be different from now on.
He would rage at everything that stood in his path, unleash his killing intent, and employ cruel methods without hesitation.
"No. Before that, this incident will make him a martial world outlaw."
He might have been protecting the Yangguan Branch, but he had slaughtered experts from the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions without hesitation.
Had he wished, he could easily have halted their offensive.
Nevertheless, he had made no attempt to suppress his murderous impulse. He had mercilessly struck down every last person present.
His methods had been so brutal that the sight was almost unbearable.
After committing such atrocities, the Martial Alliance would surely seek to impose severe sanctions upon him.
Worse still, once demonic energy ran rampant, bringing it back under control was nearly impossible... Before long, he would repeat the same slaughter.
"The martial artists could never tolerate such a blade art."
The conditions for branding someone a martial world outlaw were complicated.
Above all else, what the martial world guarded against most fiercely was an uncontrolled powerhouse.
There was a reason neither the Heavenly Demon Emperor nor the Blood Demon had immediately been branded an outlaw despite slaughtering countless lives.
Their killings had taken place within clearly defined conflicts, with unmistakable targets and purposes.
Rather than being ruled by emotion, they had maintained an almost chilling degree of restraint.
Even their cruelty had therefore been perceived as a kind of order.
Bu Eunseol, by contrast, had chosen wholesale slaughter under the pretext of protecting the Yangguan Branch.
He had killed every expert at the scene without distinguishing between the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions, showing no sign that he had weighed the severity of each enemy or threat.
It could only be understood as the manifestation of murderous impulses gone berserk, rather than the result of rational judgment.
"Those cowardly, despicable martial artists ultimately take issue not with the scale of the slaughter, but with the method and attitude..."
Excessive killing beyond what justification allowed, indiscriminate punishment without regard for faction, and the unmistakable impression that he could not control his emotions or bloodlust.
All these factors would shape the martial world's judgment.
They would no longer see Bu Eunseol as a Great Grandmaster of the demonic path.
They would see him as a calamity that could lose its direction and run rampant at any moment.
In the end, he would meet the same fate as the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang.
He too would be branded a great demon.
Several days later.
The incident at the Yangguan Branch sent great ripples through the martial world.
The leaders of various sects and other martial artists had obtained false information that the Heaven-Severing Demon Blade's treasure map had appeared.
After building a coalition to seize it, they had launched a sudden attack upon Majeon's Yangguan Branch.
The Martial Soul Command Lord had appeared immediately upon hearing the news.
Then he had slaughtered the gathered martial artists without mercy.
―'The Martial Soul Command Lord did that?'
The martial artists could not believe it.
Until now, he had walked a path more righteous than anyone else, earning favor not only among the demonic path but also among the orthodox factions.
Granted, they were martial artists of the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions.
They had been blinded by the lure of the treasure map and attacked Majeon's remote Yangguan Branch.
But how could he possibly have committed such brutal slaughter?
The investigation team dispatched by the Martial Alliance witnessed the carnage firsthand.
Its members were seasoned veterans long accustomed to such affairs.
Even they were said to have vomited ceaselessly at the gruesome, revolting condition of the bodies.
In particular, the traces of flesh being separated from bone...
Those details were more than enough to prove that he was no longer a hero or a chivalrous champion, but had become a Great Murder Star of the demonic path.
―'Even if he is Majeon's heir, and even if he possessed justification,
Such brutal slaughter cannot be tolerated!'
Led by the Martial Alliance, the sects that had suffered losses and those connected to the dead joined forces.
They intended to sanction the Martial Soul Command Lord for his cruel methods and needless slaughter.
They might overlook it this time because he had possessed justification, but he could lose his reason and do the same thing again.
Thus, they meant to designate him a martial world outlaw and declare that they could no longer coexist with him.
Yet the Beggars' Sect, which had participated in the investigation, offered an unusual opinion.
―'It seems... the Martial Soul Command Lord deliberately killed them so brutally to make an example of them.'
It had yet to recover the glory of its golden age.
The Beggars' Sect had grown even greater than before as an intelligence organization.
After investigating the Yangguan Branch, it announced an unexpected conclusion.
―'The various orthodox and unorthodox sects should instead be grateful for the Martial Soul Command Lord's decisive judgment in this affair.'
The Martial Alliance could not hide its disbelief at the Beggars' Sect's unexpected announcement.
―'What do you mean by that?'
The Martial Alliance openly showed its displeasure, but the Beggars' Sect calmly continued.
―'We wondered how so many could have converged upon the branch in such a short time...
Apart from the few who were incited, most were spies embedded within their respective sects, or men planted by some unknown faction.
You should investigate again.
Look into the deeds of those the Martial Soul Command Lord executed.'
The Beggars' Sect had heard that the Martial Soul Command Lord committed a massacre.
It had found this exceedingly strange and, by all accounts, investigated the dead thoroughly.
That was how it uncovered an astonishing and wholly unexpected truth.
―'I do not understand what you are saying.'
The Martial Alliance was bewildered.
But it could not disregard the opinion of the Beggars' Sect, which still maintained the greatest intelligence network of any single sect.
It therefore began another meticulous investigation of those killed by the Martial Soul Command Lord.
What it discovered was astonishing.
―'Most of those killed by the Martial Soul Command Lord were vicious criminals, beasts in human skin who had committed abominable evil!'
It was a shocking result.
Most of the martial artists killed by Bu Eunseol shared something in common.
They had committed countless crimes that had either remained hidden until now or had never been solved.
Some had murdered fellow disciples of their own sect, while others had betrayed friends and monopolized elixirs for themselves.
Many had massacred innocent commoners and plundered their wealth, while a great number had betrayed their sects and leaked internal information to outsiders.
―'Even the matter of the treasure map was manipulated by an unknown faction.'
In the meantime, the Beggars' Sect uncovered another truth.
There was a reason the martial artists had flocked to the Yangguan Branch.
Unknown forces had fed every one of them fabricated information and incited them.
In the end, however, no one could determine precisely who those forces were or what purpose they had pursued.
―'This is...'
The Martial Alliance could not hide its embarrassment.
It had hoped to use this incident to curb the Martial Soul Command Lord's authority after his long run of unopposed ascendancy.
It had also sought to restrain him from roaming freely and involving himself in every affair of the martial world.
Yet every person he had killed was a criminal guilty of atrocious sins, while unknown forces had manipulated the treasure-map incident?
Did that not mean he had done the right thing yet again?
―'Could all of this have been the Martial Soul Command Lord's plan?'
The Martial Soul Command Lord was already renowned not only for his meticulous nature, but also for his profound foresight and far-reaching schemes.
Yet he had selected and killed only the criminals among the martial artists who attacked the Yangguan Branch?
Of course, no one could assert that every last one of the dead had been evil.
But since they had attacked Majeon's Yangguan Branch, no one could readily fault the outcome.
With matters having unfolded this way, most martial artists reached the same conclusion.
They believed the Martial Soul Command Lord had already identified every sect and martial artist vulnerable to the unknown faction's incitement.
They believed he had seized this opportunity to eliminate the wicked.
―'How could that possibly be true?'
Most intelligence organizations reacted skeptically to the martial artists' conclusion.
Suppose the Martial Soul Command Lord had known all those facts in advance.
There would have been no need to wait until the Yangguan Branch came under attack.
Nor would the warriors of the Death Shadow Corps, who had been training nearby, have needed to risk their lives defending it.
―'Perhaps the Martial Soul Command Lord
investigated and monitored the deeds of everyone, from those who had won renown in the martial world down to third-rate martial artists.'
Those who worked in intelligence knew how absurd and preposterous this rumor was.
The martial artists, however, thought the Martial Soul Command Lord might well be capable of it, and continued deifying him.
His record until now gave them every reason to believe it.
A superhuman who had turned the impossible into reality.
That was the image the martial world held of the Martial Soul Command Lord, Bu Eunseol.
―'Did the Martial Soul Command Lord purge evildoers yet again?'
―'He always appears cold, but he insists on doing only what is right.'
―'As expected of Majeon's next lord.'
Something bizarre, without precedent in the entire history of the martial world, occurred.
Despite his brutal massacre of countless martial artists, the martial world began praising him instead.
―'The Righteous Great Demon.'
He was a demonic path practitioner who remained righteous, yet before the wicked he became a merciless demonic master who destroyed everything.
The martial artists bestowed upon him a strange byname that contained both fear and admiration.
* * *
Majeon, the grand conference hall of the Suppressed Demon Pavilion.
Only faint moonlight filtered through the lattice windows into the darkened hall.
Yoo Unryong stood at its center.
His usual cool expression had vanished, and utter bewilderment now covered his handsome face.
"What in the world happened?"
His voice broke the silence, and a tall figure emerged from the darkness of the conference hall.
Moonlight reflected off the eyes shining in the darkness and the figure's tall, graceful frame.
It was Bu Eunseol.
"The killing intent and demonic energy within you erupted, didn't they? How did you manage to kill only the wicked?"
Yoo Unryong had pursued Bu Eunseol with all his strength at the time, but there was no possibility of matching his qinggong.
Though Yoo Unryong had run for an entire day, he had failed to draw anywhere near the Yangguan Branch.
Meanwhile, Bu Eunseol had resolved everything within half a day and returned to Majeon ahead of him.
"Hmm."
At Yoo Unryong's question, Bu Eunseol slowly raised his head.
His eyes still held a faint crimson tint.
It was proof that his demonic energy had yet to subside completely.
"Did you deceive even me?"
Yoo Unryong remembered the moment before they left Majeon.
Bu Eunseol had displayed a staggering degree of killing intent and demonic energy.
It had reached a level that even Yoo Unryong, who had handled every manner of work at Majeon and met the greatest demonic masters, had never once witnessed.
Though he had never seen the Blood Demon in his prime, he was certain that Bu Eunseol's energy surpassed even his.
And yet he had radiated demonic energy of that magnitude.
Was he truly saying that he had killed only those who betrayed their sects to join some unknown faction, and the most shameless villains under heaven?
"It was not intentional."
Bu Eunseol spoke with a bitter smile.
"My buried killing intent truly erupted at the time. I meant to pour every bit of it upon the martial artists at the Yangguan Branch."
He paused and looked down at his hands.
It felt as though blood still clung to them.
"I never realized it, but it seems I possessed more than an abundance of killing intent. I carried the nature of a great demon. The Empress Dowager must have seen through it and prepared this final trap."
Bu Eunseol calmly recounted everything he had experienced since returning from the Imperial Palace.
"So this was not a plan she prepared in a short time."
Yoo Unryong reached the same conclusion Bu Eunseol had before him.
"She must have attempted something similar in the past and ultimately succeeded. That is why she prepared the same method again."
He spoke with complete certainty.
"So that whenever a person with a demonic nature appeared, she could turn them into an outlaw of the martial world."
"Yes. That was my conclusion as well."
"But how did you manage to strike down only the wicked?"
Bu Eunseol stared into the air and answered proudly.
"I merely walked in Grandfather's footsteps."
"What?"
"The Seven Blood Tear Forms."
Bu Eunseol smiled at Yoo Unryong.
"It seems they can sense evil karma."
He then explained in detail what had happened at the Yangguan Branch.
When he attempted to unfold the Seven Blood Tear Forms, bloody tears had streamed from his eyes, and the Chains within him had suddenly coiled around his sword.
He had then seen certain people wrapped in the shapes of revolting snakes.
Every time he dealt with one of them, the demonic energy and killing intent within him had diminished drastically.
"A blade art possessed such a function..."
Yoo Unryong's mouth fell open.
"So it was not called the Seven Blood Tear Forms without reason."
He had always wondered why such a brutal and powerful blade art contained the words blood tear in its name.
It truly made the wielder shed tears of blood.
Through those tears, the wielder could distinguish those who had accumulated evil karma.
"No. I do not think that was all."
After pondering deeply for a moment, Yoo Unryong's eyes flashed.
"You said the Chains within you coiled around the sword. If you were seeing karma, the chains seem more closely connected to it than the Seven Blood Tear Forms."
"The two may have combined. Grandfather possessed both of them, after all."
"Then was Grandfather unable to perceive evil karma before obtaining the chains?"
At Yoo Unryong's question, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
"I do not know."
He himself did not yet fully understand why this phenomenon had occurred.
"What I know for certain is that it seems to happen only when my demonic energy and killing intent erupt."
He had unfolded the Seven Blood Tear Forms several times afterward, but his eyes had not shed bloody tears, nor had the chains emerged by themselves.
It seemed possible only when the killing intent and demonic energy suppressed within him erupted, as they had when he reached the Yangguan Branch.
"It seems Grandfather protected you."
Yoo Unryong smiled faintly.
"I simply have that feeling."
Bu Eunseol stared blankly for a moment.
"Yes."
He gazed into the air, his expression filled with longing.
"Perhaps he did."
There was no possibility that Grandfather had foreseen every event of the distant future and deliberately arranged all this.
But all the knowledge and power Grandfather had left behind remained within Bu Eunseol's body, forever accompanying him.
That was why he wished to believe it.
Even at this very moment, Grandfather was watching over him.
"In any case, this is fortunate."
Yoo Unryong lightly patted his shoulder and changed the subject.
"After this, the Empress Dowager will not even dare think of touching you."
People like the Empress Dowager peered into the human mind and devised meticulous plans to match what they saw.
Such people felt an instinctive fear of anything they could not understand.
Though madness had consumed Bu Eunseol's mind, he had selected and killed only the wicked.
She would never grasp or understand the process by which he had instead gained tremendous fame.
Unless she was prepared to destroy her own foundations, she would never dare touch Bu Eunseol again.
"There is something else."
Yoo Unryong spoke as though a thought had just occurred to him.
"Perhaps the Empress Dowager, or the True Demon Palace, was also behind framing the elder Seven-Finger Demon Blade as the Great Murder Star of the world."
Consider the plan the Empress Dowager had carried out this time.
It had been so meticulous and perfect that it seemed she had long observed the circumstances and minds of those who lived while suppressing killing intent and demonic energy.
"She could not possibly have prepared such an intricate scheme in a short time just to target you."
Perhaps the Empress Dowager had used the same method to drive the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang, into being branded a villain.
And perhaps, building upon that success, she had now applied the same method to Bu Eunseol. That was the thought that had occurred to Yoo Unryong.
"They do not hesitate to use innocent commoners, after all."
"I have long harbored the same suspicion."
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
"I wondered whether this ill-fated relationship had continued from the previous generation."
Yoo Unryong's gaze darkened.
They had laid a trap of affection that even a blade master of the peerless realm of all ages like the Seven-Finger Demon Blade could not escape.
That could only mean their roots had remained strong across generations, and they would not fall easily.
"It is fine. I am different."
At that moment, Bu Eunseol spoke confidently.
"Grandfather tried to bear everything alone. I have no intention of ever doing the same."
The grandfather and grandson were equally vulnerable to affection, and both had cut down countless villains to save others.
Yet one had been judged an unparalleled Great Murder Star.
While the other... had earned the name of Righteous Great Demon.
That difference alone ensured one thing.
The endings of Bu Zhanyang and Bu Eunseol would therefore be different.
"The Righteous Great Demon."
A smile spread across Yoo Unryong's lips.
"It is a rather fitting byname."
In truth, he had known for a long time.
He knew Bu Eunseol had once suppressed the killing intent within him through extreme self-control.
He knew Bu Eunseol had calmed his mind through meditation, ceaselessly fought against himself, and preserved his humanity.
That was because, back when he was a Ten Demon Warrior, Bu Eunseol had been the very embodiment of a demon.
Yoo Unryong had faced him as an enemy back then and felt despair and helplessness before his overwhelming killing intent and destructive power.
It was also why Yoo Unryong had come to like him.
He knew the path Bu Eunseol had walked.
Self-control and righteousness strong enough to defy even the constitution ordained for him by heaven.
He had been born a demonic master, yet possessed the will to choose a human life.
That was the very reason Yoo Unryong respected Bu Eunseol.
Dawn began to brighten beyond the window.
The blood-colored moonlight gradually faded, and warm morning sunlight began illuminating the Suppressed Demon Pavilion. The crimson light vanished completely from Bu Eunseol's eyes as well.
"Are you all right now?"
"Yes."
Bu Eunseol nodded.
"As I always have been."
"Then another grand design will be added to our plans."
"Yes. I came here to discuss it with you."
Bu Eunseol handed Yoo Unryong a booklet.
It detailed what sort of person the Empress Dowager was.
What manner of schemes she employed.
It explained how they could bring her down... and even contained the far-reaching design intended for the future.
"Haa."
After reading everything, Yoo Unryong drew a deep breath.
The Empress Dowager could not have imagined what she had set in motion.
Testing and provoking Bu Eunseol this time had been a fatal mistake.
She could not know that she was already fated to lose everything.
"Understood. I will contact 'him' in advance and make preparations so that this plan can proceed perfectly."
"Good."
The two silently looked out the window.
There, at the boundary between darkness and light...
They stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing toward the same destination.
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