Bu Eunseol was both astonished and bewildered.
"How do you know that?"
"That man told me."
When the female Taoist pointed at the man who had breathed his last, Bu Eunseol drew his brows together.
He could not decide whether to believe her.
"The Splendid Cloud Merchant House suddenly offered to help them, allowing them to open such a respectable dumpling shop... but in the end, his wife changed, while he spent every day in the warehouse cutting up human flesh and soaking in blood."
Her account was far too detailed to dismiss as nonsense.
Clicking her tongue in pity for the man, she continued.
"In the end, he cut up human flesh. That was no different from killing countless people and accumulating evil karma."
Bu Eunseol's gaze deepened.
When he had unleashed the Seven Blood Tear Forms at the Yangguan Branch, he too had seen people's evil karma take the shape of snakes.
Did that mean she could see such things even without the Seven Blood Tear Forms or the chains?
'Evil... I see.'
He contemplated the words evil karma.
Bu Eunseol soon realized how the female Taoist could possess such an ability.
He also found the answer to what her true identity was.
However, he showed none of it and remained silent.
"In the end, those behind them used the poor to preserve their own secrets."
"Can you communicate with the dead?"
Bu Eunseol asked with a meaningful look.
"Are you saying a Soul-Summoning Art truly exists in this world?"
If she could speak with the dead, could he not summon his grandfather's soul and easily discover his killer?
Even if his grandfather did not reveal anything about the killer, there would still be much Bu Eunseol could ask him.
"How would I know?"
"Then how did you converse with a dead man?"
"I didn't converse with him."
The female Taoist shook her head.
"A person's consciousness lingers briefly even at the moment of death. Once their breath is severed, the barrier around their mind temporarily disappears. I merely use that instant to peer into their Spirit Platform for a moment."
She had not used some miraculous Taoist art or divine ability.
It was much like Bu Eunseol employing Illusion Upon Illusion.
She had used a power closer to a Mind-Seizing Secret Art, founded upon martial logic in its own way.
'That ability would be tremendously useful in resolving this matter.'
Even if they went to the Splendid Cloud Merchant House, that problem would remain.
Its people would most likely be bound by restrictions that killed them if they divulged its secrets. Even if they were not, none would willingly surrender information.
If the female Taoist came with him, she would be of great help.
"Do you intend to keep following me?"
"No."
With perfect composure, the female Taoist began gathering her things and hoisted the bamboo box onto her back again.
"I should be going now."
It was enough to drive him mad.
She had followed him tenaciously before.
Yet the moment he found her ability useful and considered traveling with her, she promptly prepared to leave.
'She has an objective.'
Throughout his travels in the martial world, Bu Eunseol had met all manner of eccentrics and every sort of person imaginable.
He instinctively sensed that this female Taoist had been observing him for some reason and wanted something from him.
"They are killing innocent people to create Human Flowers."
After pondering briefly, Bu Eunseol spoke.
"Let us travel together and uproot them."
"Are you a chivalrous hero of the martial world?"
The female Taoist asked him a meaningful question.
"Are you wandering the martial world like this to help innocent people?"
"I do have the intention of saving people as well."
Bu Eunseol answered honestly.
"But everything I do is for the sake of revenge."
"Revenge?"
"That is right. I am pursuing these people to find the killer who murdered my grandfather."
The female Taoist was a member of the righteous path and carried an aura of goodness. To obtain her help, he ought to have pretended to be a renowned righteous hero.
Why, then, had he mentioned revenge?
Drip.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol briefly turned away.
He released his disguise and restored his original appearance.
Unlike ordinary disguise arts, the secret art of darkness altered his features in rippling waves, so he had hidden the sight from her.
'She not only possesses the power to look into the Spirit Platform of the dead...'
Even if she could not see into his mind, she could at least distinguish good from evil and truth from falsehood.
'She must already know who I am.'
Certain that she already knew his identity, he revealed his true appearance.
"So that is your real face."
"It is."
As he had expected, the female Taoist showed little surprise upon seeing his face and merely nodded.
"Very well."
Seemingly satisfied with his honest answer, she gave a ready nod.
"I will accompany you."
"Good."
Bu Eunseol offered her a courteous salute.
"I am Bu Eunseol, a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion."
"I am called Heo Ju."
The name Heo Ju came from a story in the Zhuangzi and meant an empty boat with no one aboard.
The expression came from the idea that no one grew angry if an empty boat drifted over and struck their own.
In other words, the name seemed to tell others to regard her as an empty boat, a being of no consequence that merely drifted past like flowing water.
"That is an unusual Taoist name."
With an enigmatic smile on his lips, Bu Eunseol concealed his thoughts and smiled.
"Then I shall simply call you Taoist Heo Ju."
"As you please."
"Then let us go."
Bu Eunseol employed the sky-treading flight art and soared into the air in a single bound.
Yet Taoist Heo Ju merely stared blankly up at him.
"Why are you not coming?"
"I cannot fly."
She had mastered astonishing secret arts, but unfortunately, her internal energy was not deep enough to employ the sky-treading flight art.
"Which sect's master are you?"
Although he had a vague idea of her identity, he asked deliberately.
It would have been far too unnatural not to ask about her identity and origins under the circumstances.
"You appear to be the successor of a lost sect."
"I belong nowhere. I simply cultivate my body and mind while following the mountains and streams, and that brought me into communion with the spirits."
"I see."
Bu Eunseol asked no more.
Float.
He lifted Taoist Heo Ju into the air and shot eastward at full speed.
Before long, the darkness slowly began to recede.
The eastern sky changed from deep indigo to pale blue, and crimson light began spreading beyond the horizon.
Just then, an enormous manor appeared before them.
The Splendid Cloud Merchant House.
It was a vast merchant house that dominated the area around Ji'an Prefecture.
An antique three-story pavilion towered at its center. Dozens of warehouses and servants' quarters stood in orderly rows to either side.
The walls appeared at least one jang high, while the main gate was made from sturdy timber lacquered vermilion.
A pair of stone lions stood imposingly before the gate.
Beyond it stretched a broad courtyard that seemed capable of accommodating several hundred servants with ease.
Tap.
Bu Eunseol had been looking down at the Splendid Cloud Merchant House from the sky, but did not enter from above.
Instead, he deliberately descended before the main gate and knocked.
"Who is it?"
A servant guarding the gate emerged, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
Bu Eunseol regarded him impassively. Instead of answering, he produced an ancient medallion.
The Martial Soul Command Lord medallion.
In the past, it had been nothing more than a token proving his status as Majeon's successor...
Now, it was a symbol of absolute authority equal to that of the Heavenly Demon Emperor, who was called the greatest person of the current generation.
"What is that?"
How could a merchant-house servant ever have seen the Martial Soul Command Lord's medallion?
The man blinked as he asked.
"Deliver this medallion to your Merchant House Master."
Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
"Tell him the Martial Soul Command Lord wishes to see him."
"The M-Martial Soul Command Lord?"
Only then did the servant look back and forth between Bu Eunseol and the medallion. He leaped in fright as though he had seen a ghost.
"P-Please wait a moment!"
When the Martial Soul Command Lord presented his medallion, factions of the demonic path had to prostrate themselves, while even elders of righteous sects showed respect and refrained from rash behavior.
A mere servant of a merchant house went without saying.
Clatter.
His legs tangled beneath him, and he fell. He immediately scrambled back up and ran inside in a frantic rush.
Less than half a quarter-hour later, the main gate opened and a middle-aged man came hurrying out.
He appeared to be in his mid-fifties.
He wore a deep indigo robe with a silk sash wrapped around his waist.
His face was round and fleshy, and beads of sweat dotted his brow.
He looked every inch the stereotypical merchant, his face practically gleaming with oil.
"I am Yang Gwon, Chief Steward of the Splendid Cloud Merchant House."
The moment Yang Gwon reached Bu Eunseol, he bowed deeply.
In fact, his posture was so low that he was practically prostrating himself.
"It is the honor of three lifetimes to behold the peerless countenance of the Martial Soul Command Lord in person."
His voice trembled.
Fear and reverence mingled within it.
Rumors of the martial world generally tended to become several times more exaggerated than the truth.
The recent incident at the Yangguan Branch had likewise become distorted...
It was now said that more than fifty thousand experts from both the righteous and demonic paths had gathered at the Yangguan Branch.
And that Bu Eunseol had ground them all to powder without leaving even a fragment of bone behind.
"Where is your Merchant House Master?"
At Bu Eunseol's cold question...
"Well..."
Yang Gwon cautiously raised his head.
"The Master is currently away and has yet to return. This humble one is presently responsible for every matter within the merchant house."
"You are responsible for the merchant house's affairs?"
Bu Eunseol's eyes sharpened.
"Yes."
Yang Gwon bowed his head once again.
"Please follow this humble one inside first."
Yang Gwon guided Bu Eunseol deep into the merchant house.
After they crossed the broad courtyard and followed a corridor, a small pond appeared.
An elegant pavilion stood in the middle of the pond, with an octagonal roof, vermilion pillars, and delicately carved railings.
Red carp swam leisurely through the pond, while morning mist lay thick across the water.
"Bring tea."
When Yang Gwon ordered a maid to serve them tea, Taoist Heo Ju waved a hand.
"This humble Taoist does not drink tea."
Only then did the nervous Yang Gwon notice the strange female Taoist accompanying Bu Eunseol.
'Who is that woman?'
Yang Gwon stared at Taoist Heo Ju and the bamboo box on her back, then shook his head.
Since the Martial Soul Command Lord had brought her, he assumed there must be something extraordinary about her.
"May I ask what brings you here?"
His voice was cautious.
"And why you seek our Master?"
Bu Eunseol remained silent for a moment.
He observed Yang Gwon's face with piercing eyes. Then he slowly opened his mouth, his voice heavy.
"Explain why the Splendid Cloud Merchant House is extracting human essence to cultivate Human Flowers."
Yang Gwon's eyes blinked in bewilderment.
"What... is a Human Flower?"
"You do not know?"
"I-I have never heard of such a flower in my life."
Bu Eunseol's pupils instantly turned a murky yellow.
He was reading every physiological response: Yang Gwon's pulse and breathing, the movement of his pupils, the faint trembling of his muscles...
'Hmm.'
Yang Gwon's heartbeat was steady.
Although he was sweating, it came from fear rather than deceit.
'He truly does not know.'
This man was nothing more than an ordinary merchant. He knew nothing whatsoever about Human Flowers.
'He knows nothing at all about the dark affairs taking place within this merchant house...'
Bu Eunseol casually surveyed the grounds.
The broad courtyard, the orderly buildings, the servants coming and going.
He would need to scour the interior to be certain, but for now, there was nothing unusual.
Then, at that moment...
"Wow, what kind of grudge could that old man sweeping the ground possibly have accumulated?"
Taoist Heo Ju's voice came from behind him.
Bu Eunseol turned his head.
Before a shabby annex, an old man held a broom and swept the ground.
His back was bent, and he wore tattered gray clothes. His hair was completely white, and his body so gaunt that he looked ready to collapse at any moment.
"A grudge?"
Bu Eunseol tilted his head.
"That old man?"
No matter how he looked, the man was merely an aged servant with an emaciated body and stick-thin limbs.
Yet Taoist Heo Ju spoke with absolute certainty.
"It looks like he has killed at least several thousand people. No, perhaps tens of thousands."
At Taoist Heo Ju's words, the old man recoiled in shock and waved his hands.
"Do you mean this old servant?"
"Yes."
"This old servant belongs to the merchant house..."
The old man had been lowering his head in confusion when he suddenly thrust the end of his broom at Taoist Heo Ju's throat.
He had clearly been standing on the far side of the courtyard without appearing to move.
Yet somehow, he had already closed the distance and attacked her.
But something else was faster.
Claaang!
Bu Eunseol had already moved in front of Taoist Heo Ju and blocked the broom with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Thrum, thrum, thrum.
Merely colliding with a broom made the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword tremble and sent tremendous force surging through it.
Though the old man appeared gaunt and withered, he had unleashed internal energy as if he had compressed an enormous mountain and fired it forward.
"So the true Merchant House Master was here."
Bu Eunseol's eyes flashed.
This old man was the true power controlling the Splendid Cloud Merchant House from the shadows.
Float. Paaat!
The stones scattered around the courtyard suddenly soared into the sky and spread in every direction.
A life-and-death battle formation unfolded.
"Golden Lock Formation Studies."
The old man snorted as though he found it laughable.
"Amusing. Even Sado Muryeong would not dare face this old man alone."
His words were arrogant.
But Bu Eunseol did not take them as a bluff.
He could not sense the slightest aura from the old man's body.
The man had either attained perfect Harmony with Nature, or possessed an aura that even Bu Eunseol could not detect.
"Are you one of the Eighteen Souls of Light?"
At Bu Eunseol's question, the old man crooked his head.
"Oh dear."
He shook his head with a regretful expression.
"I thought this would end once I killed a single brat."
Clicking his tongue, the old man extended his left palm and shook his head.
"Now I must kill every person connected to you as well."
Paaat!
An endless radiance spread from his palm.
At the same time, everyone inside the manor began coughing up blood and collapsing.
Swooosh!
Bu Eunseol immediately unleashed a quick sword.
Thump.
But everyone in the manor breathed their last.
Or rather, Bu Eunseol thought they had.
Ssssk.
Their breathing had clearly stopped, yet they slowly rose in bizarre postures.
Half-Spirits.
This was true of every member of the Splendid Cloud Merchant House's household.
They were Half-Spirits, suspended at the Ghost Gate, unable either to die or to live.
Tap.
At that moment, Taoist Heo Ju set down her bamboo box on the roof, formed a hand seal, and recited a mantra in a low voice.
Clack, clack.
Countless banner poles covered in talismans sprang from the bamboo box she had been carrying.
"I will stop them! Subdue that man!"
Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat!
At her shout, the talismans fixed to the banner poles flew out and began striking the countless Half-Spirits.
The talismans on those poles seemed incomparably more powerful than the ones she had used before.
Unlike the previous Half-Spirit, these could not move at all.
Vwoom, vwoom, vwoom.
Taoist Heo Ju maintained her posture with the hand seal formed.
It seemed she had to pour power into the talismans on the banner poles without pause to sustain their strength.
"Hurry!"
At her shout, Bu Eunseol immediately drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and attacked the old man.
"Martial Soul Command Lord, you have been shaking the martial world without end of late."
Swoosh!
The old man avoided the strike with ease and snorted.
"Let us see what sort of vaunted realm you have attained."
Like one of the supreme masters of the present age, the old man received Bu Eunseol's attacks with a leisurely air.
'This will not be easy.'
Even Bu Eunseol had yet to completely uncover the true nature of the Eighteen Souls of Light, one of the martial world's deepest mysteries.
And if this was the organization his grandfather had belonged to, its members naturally possessed strength to match.
Paaaaaat!
Crimson radiance once again spread from the old man's left hand.
The light soared to the height of the life-and-death battle formation.
Rumble!
Then it poured down upon not only Bu Eunseol, but Taoist Heo Ju as well.
It was as though the old man could do it all with his palm.
He seemed able to release an infinite torrent of light capable of destroying all things.
'No, this is martial arts.'
But Bu Eunseol instinctively knew that what the old man used was neither a supernatural power nor a magical vessel, but pure martial arts.
Paaat!
Without thinking any further, Bu Eunseol immediately unleashed Harmony and extinguished the radiance pouring down upon him and Taoist Heo Ju.
Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat!
The motes of light released from the old man's hand grew ever more numerous.
Each time they struck the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, they shook Bu Eunseol's body.
Infinite Reversal Power.
The old man had reached the very pinnacle of martial arts.
Even with movements executed at whim, he could freely wield strength surpassing the limits of humanity.
As Bu Eunseol knocked away the cascading streams of light, he spun the Silent Tiger Soul Sword in a circle.
Flash! Flash!
Then he began releasing rays of light that dyed the entire world white.
He unleashed Harmony repeatedly to oppose the old man's Infinite Reversal Power.
"This is..."
The old man's eyes narrowed as he watched his rays vanish into Harmony.
"A coincidence?"
Then he muttered under his breath.
"Well, it is not such an original principle."
This time, the old man extended his right palm.
Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew!
An even greater number of rays poured forth.
They formed a colossal mass of light that even Harmony could not block.
Swoooosh.
Then something strange occurred.
All the cascading crimson radiance disappeared, and the colors of the surrounding scenery suddenly began to fade as though washed away.
Bu Eunseol had unleashed the power of the Realm of Destruction and Extinction.
"Remarkable."
The old man instantly confirmed that only one sixty-year cycle of internal energy remained within his body and looked astonished.
"Such a thing is possible?"
The Void Extreme Realm was an entirely new realm in the martial world, one no one else had ever attained.
Even the old man, who had faced all manner of powerful martial artists, could not help staring in utter bewilderment.
"But you are far too arrogant."
The old man saw through the fact that Bu Eunseol's power had been drained as well.
Ping!
With a mocking smile, he sent a keen finger strike flying toward Bu Eunseol's brow.
"Did you think you would win a contest of martial arts?"
Pat!
At the same moment, a sharp sword aura surged upward from beneath Bu Eunseol's chin.
The finger strike had been a feint.
The old man had already closed the distance and unleashed a Demon Sword Technique that swept upward from below.
It was the exact sword technique used by his grandfather's killer.
It was also the same technique used by the mute masked man who had possessed the memories of the Eighteen Souls of Light.
'The Eighteen Souls of Light were taught the same sword techniques and hidden-weapon arts.'
Bu Eunseol unleashed his movement technique with all his strength and retreated in an instant.
Even if he blocked this sword form, the transformations that followed were far more terrifying.
The blade could change course midway and stab him in the eye, or pierce his lower abdomen before he understood what had happened.
Instead, he widened the distance and escaped the sword's range altogether.
"You know this sword form."
The old man's eyes gleamed.
"Then you have faced another of us."
He casually swept his sleeve.
"Perhaps you learned this method as well."
Force spread along his sleeve, much as it would with the Iron Sleeve Art.
The difference was that it did not spread vertically and horizontally. Instead, dozens of sharp points poured forth as though he had unleashed the Pointed Sword.
'Good.'
The old man's martial arts were superb, and Bu Eunseol had already seen through the fact that every move concealed an unending succession of follow-up attacks.
Rather than evade, he calmly waited for the techniques to strike his body.
At last, just as the forces were about to burrow into his vital points...
Shudder, shudder. Pat, pat, pat, pat!
The tip of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword began to quiver, then struck them all down in an instant.
Bu Eunseol had deliberately unleashed the Phantom Ghost Origin Form to compare their strength and draw the old man into a direct contest of force against force.
Paaat!
But something unexpected happened.
The forces touching the tip of his sword writhed like living snakes and began burrowing into his body.
To think the man could perform a marvel resembling a supernatural power even within the space of the Realm of Destruction and Extinction!
'What extraordinary martial arts.'
The old man stood before him.
He was using martial arts more profound than those of any enemy Bu Eunseol had ever faced.
Pew, pew, pew!
The sharp forces burrowing into his body struck the major vital points on his chest, but failed to pierce him.
That was because he was wearing the treasure-robe Yoo Unryong had given him in the past.
Sizzle.
Even so, white smoke rose from the treasure-robe.
Moreover, the force contained five streams of internal energy that surged into his meridians as though trying to melt them.
But the moment they touched the Ban-Geuk Method within his body, they vanished without a trace.
"You have mastered an impressive divine art. To think the purity of your internal energy surpasses even this old man's."
As he spoke, the old man subtly extended his left foot and kicked a stone lying on the ground.
Bu Eunseol leaned aside to evade it. Seizing that opening, the old man once again thrust the broom at his throat.
Claaang.
The sword and broom collided.
Both men shook violently and retreated.
But the old man had been forced back six steps farther than Bu Eunseol.
Even at the same level of internal energy, the purity of the Ban-Geuk Method completely overwhelmed the old man's internal cultivation method.
Clack.
Bu Eunseol raised the Silent Tiger Soul Sword into a middle guard, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
This was exhilarating.
To fight a master of such lofty attainment using martial arts alone and contest the purity of their internal energy?
It reminded him of when he had first entered the martial world as a Ten Demon Warrior.
He felt again the burning ferocity and intensity of facing an opponent one step above him with real-combat martial arts.
Sizzle.
White vapor rose from his body.
His unique temperament and killing intent began to surface, the nature of a man who felt the meaning of his existence only upon a blood-soaked battlefield.
And he knew it instinctively.
Once this battle ended...
The secret of the Eighteen Souls of Light, hidden all this time, would finally be revealed.
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