A-Yeon gazed at Bu Eunseol with icy eyes.
"I didn’t come to fight you. I came to warn you."
"A warning?" Bu Eunseol asked.
"Swear you won’t harm righteous masters," A-Yeon said. "If you do, I won’t raise my hand against you."
"Hah," Bu Eunseol chuckled, unable to contain his incredulity. "A warning. It seems the disciples of the Sword Pavilion are quite merciful."
His words carried a mocking tone toward the proud Sword Pavilion, but A-Yeon responded by pressing her palms together in a prayer gesture. "Even a butcher can become a Buddha if he puts down his knife."
The veiled woman seemed genuinely convinced she could reform Bu Eunseol.
‘Something’s off,’ he thought. A-Yeon, the successor of the Sword Pavilion, had eyes as cold as ice, yet they held no hostility. Looking into them, Bu Eunseol felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
"If I stop killing righteous masters, can I become a Buddha too?" he asked.
A-Yeon’s cold voice sharpened. "Do you think I’m playing word games?"
Her previously emotionless tone and gaze grew fierce. But Bu Eunseol continued calmly, "I said it because the Sword Pavilion’s stance is laughable."
"The Sword Pavilion’s stance is laughable?" A-Yeon repeated.
"I didn’t resort to cowardly ambushes. They were fair duels," Bu Eunseol said, the corner of his mouth curling upward. "Just three victories, and yet the Sword Pavilion steps in for something so trivial… How could that not be amusing?"
The chill in A-Yeon’s eyes grew colder. "You call it ‘just three,’ but from our perspective, the martial world has lost three pillars of talent who would have upheld the righteous sects."
"Righteous masters are the pillars of the righteous sects?" Bu Eunseol asked.
"Are they then the pillars of the demonic path?" A-Yeon shot back.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol realized something.
‘She knows nothing about the situation between the Ten Demon Warriors and the righteous masters.’
The Ten Demon Warriors and righteous masters were mere pawns in a power struggle between the demonic and righteous paths, used to test and balance each other’s strength. But it was clear the Sword Pavilion believed the Ten Demon Warriors were mindlessly assassinating righteous masters without reason.
‘One of three possibilities,’ he thought. Though aligned with the righteous sects, the Sword Pavilion had little interaction with other factions or figures, save for the Martial Alliance Leader.
‘Either they’re ignorant of the other sects’ affairs…’
‘Or the Martial Alliance Leader deliberately concealed the truth.’
The Martial Alliance had created the concept of righteous masters to solidify the foundation of the righteous sects. But when the plan was revealed, it sparked discord among the factions. The Alliance Leader might not have bothered informing the Sword Pavilion, isolated on its remote island in the South Sea, of these details.
‘But the most likely scenario is that she alone is unaware,’ Bu Eunseol concluded.
The Sword Pavilion was a sect deeply rooted in the martial world for generations. Despite its seclusion, its intelligence network was formidable. Thus, it was most probable that the Pavilion had deliberately withheld this information from its successor, A-Yeon.
‘Even so, it’s still strange,’ he thought. She was the legitimate successor, not a righteous master. Why would the Pavilion hide such details and entrust her with confronting him?
‘The only certainty is that she knows nothing,’ he thought.
Exhaling his doubts with a sigh, Bu Eunseol spoke. "Go to the Martial Alliance Leader and ask why the Ten Demon Warriors must fight the righteous masters."
"What do you mean?" A-Yeon asked.
"Or ask your Sect Leader," Bu Eunseol said. "That’s all I’ll say."
"The Sect Leader is in seclusion. I can’t ask her," A-Yeon replied.
"That’s not my concern," Bu Eunseol said firmly.
A cold glint flashed in A-Yeon’s eyes. "So you’ll continue your slaughter?"
"It’s not slaughter—it’s fate," Bu Eunseol said. "You wouldn’t understand."
A-Yeon blinked, clearly unable to comprehend the situation.
"Then there’s no choice," she said, her eyes radiating an icy chill. "I, A-Yeon, disciple of the Sword Pavilion, challenge you."
"I refuse," Bu Eunseol replied.
"What?" A-Yeon said, her eyes flashing.
"I said I refuse," he repeated.
With that, Bu Eunseol walked out of the inn. A-Yeon stood frozen, dumbfounded, like a statue.
Whoosh.
Snapping out of it, she rushed out of the inn and blocked Bu Eunseol’s path as he left the village.
Clang!
Drawing her white sword, she said coldly, "Draw your sword."
"No," Bu Eunseol replied.
He brushed past her as if swatting away an annoying fly.
"How dare you!" A-Yeon shouted, enraged, swinging her sword at his shoulder.
But Bu Eunseol, watching her blade, continued walking unfazed.
Swish.
Her sword stopped a hair’s breadth from his shoulder, grazing his robe.
"Are you giving up on life?" A-Yeon asked.
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol stared into her eyes through her veil. "Is the Sword Pavilion not about protecting the righteous path, but meddling recklessly in the martial world?" Turning away, he said coldly, "If you want to cut me down, do it. You’ll earn the glorious honor of slaughtering a Ten Demon Warrior who didn’t even resist."
Behind her veil, A-Yeon’s eyes brimmed with frosty white energy. Born and raised immersed in the way of the sword, living as solemnly as a monk, she struggled to respond to Bu Eunseol’s unexpected behavior.
"Haa," she exhaled.
As the future Sword Empress tasked with leading the Sword Pavilion, she felt a crack in her spirit. Taking a deep breath, she summoned her Mysterious Art to calm her mind.
Her turmoil subsided instantly, and her thoughts sharpened.
"You said the Sword Pavilion knows nothing?" A-Yeon said, staring at Bu Eunseol coldly. "Then I’ll watch and see what you mean to say."
Bu Eunseol felt no need to continue the conversation.
Tap.
Stepping out of the inn, he used his movement technique to swiftly leave the village.
Boom!
With a sound like the air splitting, A-Yeon followed closely behind him.
"Impressive movement technique," she said. "But you won’t shake me off."
Whoosh.
Doubling his energy, Bu Eunseol sped through a valley and into a forest. Yet A-Yeon relentlessly pursued him with her own swift qinggong.
‘Not bad,’ Bu Eunseol thought.
His movement technique, already at its peak, had allowed him to outrun pursuers even when injured. Though the Changsin Unit’s sacrifices had played a role, his supreme movement art, Swift Beyond Shadow, was unmatched. Yet A-Yeon kept pace effortlessly.
Whoosh.
Though not at full effort, her qinggong was clearly among the best in the martial world.
Rustle. Tap.
Deep in the forest, Bu Eunseol halted his movement technique. A-Yeon stopped close beside him.
"Given up on fleeing?" she asked.
"Fleeing?" Bu Eunseol said, a cold smile on his lips. "Running blindly in a place like this invites ambush." He closed his eyes, gazing at the distant sky.
Swish.
Suddenly, heavy raindrops began falling from the darkening sky.
Whoosh!
Among the rain, hundreds of sharp objects shot downward.
Crack, crack, crack!
Each glowing projectile left small, precise holes in the ground upon impact.
Whoosh.
Deploying Swift Beyond Shadow again, Bu Eunseol dodged the glowing projectiles and took cover behind a tree trunk.
Slash!
Hundreds of long, slender forms pierced through the trees, aiming for his body.
‘White Horse Whip?’ Bu Eunseol’s pupils dilated. The white, gleaming whips, weaving through the forest like a spider’s web, were none other than the White Horse Whips of the White Horse Temple.
Crack, crack!
The whips sliced through sturdy trees like tofu, relentlessly targeting Bu Eunseol like living snakes.
Swish.
Spinning through the air like a dragon, Bu Eunseol evaded the attacks, and the whips vanished as if washed away.
Tap.
A-Yeon landed beside him and asked, "Why is the White Horse Temple attacking you?"
"Leave," Bu Eunseol said, his eyes now glowing with red energy. "The path ahead will be stained with blood." With that brief remark, he used his movement technique to charge toward the center of the whip barrage.
Whoosh.
As Bu Eunseol stealthily reached the area where the tree-shattering attackers were hiding, dark figures emerged from the dense trees surrounding him.
They wore dark gray robes, with gleaming whips at their waists.
"From the White Horse Temple," Bu Eunseol said.
A middle-aged man with a mustache stepped forward. "I am Eum Wi, Master of the Dark Jade Hall."
Bu Eunseol raised an eyebrow.
The Dark Jade Hall was part of the White Horse Temple’s martial forces, one of the Six Halls and Eight Pavilions, composed of ruthless assassins tasked with eliminating the temple’s greatest enemies.
"On your way to Majeon?" Eum Wi asked.
"Yes," Bu Eunseol replied.
"Pity, but you won’t make it," Eum Wi said, his expression like a fisherman reeling in a catch. "You’ll die here."
"You can no longer able to pursue Kang Mureon’s death, so you’ll deal with me this way instead?" Bu Eunseol said.
Eum Wi didn’t respond directly, instead saying, "Killing you on your way to Majeon? Even the Demon Emperor won’t object."
The path to Majeon—was it not a test set by the Demon Emperor himself? The onslaught of enemies seemed to suggest as much.
"Quite a crowd," Bu Eunseol said, frowning as he surveyed the forest.
Only a few dozen were visible, but the entire forest was saturated with sharp killing intent.
"Did you bring the entire Dark Jade Hall?" he asked.
"Heh heh," Eum Wi chuckled, baring his white teeth. "You’re the first we’ve mobilized this many for."
"They don’t seem much different from the rabble I saw in Guizhou," Bu Eunseol remarked.
"Comparing the poison-drenched fools of Hell's Blood Fortress’s Blood Demon Hall to our masters?" Eum Wi sneered coldly, gripping his White Horse Whip. "We know you’re skilled, but you were born at the wrong time."
Tap, tap, tap.
The Dark Jade Hall assassins behind Eum Wi formed a circular formation around Bu Eunseol. The rain-soaked forest was instantly enveloped in sharp killing intent. As the life-or-death battle between Bu Eunseol and the White Horse Temple’s Dark Jade Hall masters was about to begin—
"Who’s that woman?" a shout came from the rear of the formation.
Whip! Clang!
The sounds of whips and swords clashing echoed. It seemed a fight had broken out between A-Yeon and the Dark Jade Hall assassins at the rear.
‘So it comes to this,’ Bu Eunseol thought, clicking his tongue as he recalled A-Yeon. Having followed him relentlessly, she was now caught in the White Horse Temple’s ambush.
"You had an ally?" Eum Wi asked, frowning.
Despite tracking Bu Eunseol’s movements, they hadn’t detected any reinforcements.
"No matter," Eum Wi said, narrowing his eyes. "We only need to deal with you."
Flash!
At that moment, brilliant beams of light erupted from both of Bu Eunseol’s sleeves. He had unleashed daggers using a technique from the Hidden Blade Treasury.
*The Hidden Blade Treasury was a book given by Tang Pae (Patriarch of the Tang Clan) to Bu Eunseol
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