“What’s that?” Jeon Ilhon’s eyebrows shot up, poised for a final blow.
Shaping tangible energy through a sword into a new form?
‘He’s dangerous.’ Fortunately, Bu Eunseol’s eyes seemed vacant, not focused on him. ‘I must kill him now.’ If he didn’t, those immense energies might pierce him.
Swish!
Jeon Ilhon vanished from Bu Eunseol’s sight. Ghost Soul Saber’s ultimate technique, Bloodless Crimson End, unfolded.
Slash!
His body reappeared below Bu Eunseol, lunging upward.
Bloodless Crimson End: feigning disappearance, he approached low, piercing vital points with swift scattered strikes.
“Die!” As dozens of light points from the Ghost Saber aimed to pierce Bu Eunseol—
Halt.
The saber stopped half an inch from his forehead. Tangible energy from his body and sword had ensnared it like a spider’s web.
“How…” Jeon Ilhon’s eyes widened. Transcendent Realm masters could materialize energy, but only as weapons or sharp forms, not freely shaped.
Whoosh. A deflating sound followed as the tangible energy vanished.
Thud! His black sword pierced Jeon Ilhon’s chest like a demon’s sweet tongue.
Plop.
Jeon Ilhon knelt, his face vacant.
It appeared as a mere scratch, but the terrifying Ban-geuk Energy had crushed his meridians with immense pressure.
“You’ve surpassed the Transcendent Realm,” Jeon Ilhon said, his expression hollow.
Freely shaping energy and shattering meridians instantly was beyond the Transcendent Realm.
Hiss.
White steam rose from Bu Eunseol’s body as he used Wishful True Binding without the Severance Secret, causing his qi and blood to surge.
“Not surpassed,” he said, shaking his head calmly. “Not yet…”
This was a technique from the Demon Emperor’s Severance Secret, momentarily shaping energy freely. It lasted only briefly, its effect less than half an hour.
“It can only be sustained briefly.” But Jeon Ilhon, dead, didn’t hear, believing he’d been killed by a Supreme Heaven Realm master, his expression free of regret.
“Argh!” Another scream echoed as Go Ryongpung’s neck was severed by Hyeok Sojin’s Blood Silk Rope.
With Jeon Ilhon and Go Ryongpung dead, further resistance was futile. As Hyeok Sojin defeated Go Ryongpung, the Marauder Sect disciples’ morale plummeted.
They couldn’t win against such masters.
Pop! Whoosh!
As their movements slowed, the second squad’s throwing knives shone, led by Wi Cheongyeong. Disrupting their formations, the remaining brigade members swiftly felled them.
“We surrender!” Some Marauder Sect disciples dropped their weapons, but the brigade’s assault didn’t stop.
Bu Eunseol had ordered their erasure, and they executed it faithfully.
Clang.
The last resisting disciple’s weapon fell.
The fierce battle was over.
“Haa, haa.” Despite the victory, the brigade members, gripping their weapons, panted, radiating fighting spirit.
None were unscathed. From light cuts to missing fingers or flesh torn to the bone, all bore wounds. But there were no deaths. All had survived.
A hundred against thirty.
In this impossible fight, they achieved a great victory—over their enemies and themselves.
“It’s over,” a low voice broke their reverie.
Turning, they saw two figures standing shoulder to shoulder, gazing at them. Drenched in blood, they exuded an untouchable majesty, like martial gods descended from heaven.
Bu Eunseol and Hyeok Sojin.
Shiver.
The members trembled. For the first time, they’d poured everything out. Their blood boiled, their souls burned to ash.
And then—the thrill of victory.
“Raaaah!” The brigade roared like beasts, shaking the heavens and earth.
It was the cry of warriors who had fully burned their bodies and souls for the first time.
***
—Mount Hua and Zhongnan drove the Marauder Sect out of Shaanxi!
The Marauder Sect, fearlessly slaughtering disciples and destroying martial halls in their domains, met a tragic end: annihilation.
But a strange rumor followed.
—The ones who killed the Marauder Sect leader and his elite were masters sent by Majeon!
While Mount Hua and Zhongnan razed the sect’s stronghold, Jeon Ilhon and his hundred elite fled north. Though pursued, they were found as mangled corpses in an unknown mountain cave. Their wounds bore the marks of exquisite demonic swordsmanship and hidden weapon techniques.
—When did Majeon send masters?
The martial world was stunned.
Tracking and defeating Jeon Ilhon, a Transcendent Realm master, and his hundred elite required at least two to three hundred masters.
Yet no such force had entered Shaanxi.
—Was this all Majeon’s scheme?
Impossible.
If Majeon had sent a force capable of wiping out Jeon Ilhon and his elite, Mount Hua and Zhongnan’s intelligence networks would’ve noticed.
—Does Majeon have a combat brigade in Shaanxi that can evade their intelligence?
Rumors swirled, but Majeon remained silent.
Mount Hua and Zhongnan lost face.
They had formed punitive brigades to annihilate the Marauder Sect and proclaim their dominance by beheading Jeon Ilhon.
But Majeon’s sudden intervention left them like dogs chasing chickens.
With no evidence of Majeon’s direct involvement, and their only act being to eliminate the fleeing elite, Mount Hua and Zhongnan couldn’t protest, as it appeared Majeon had aided them.
***
Dawn broke in the eastern sky.
Silver Copper Winery.
A small winery in a remote mountain valley of De’an Prefecture. Surrounded by beautiful forests, it had large stone warehouses.
In front stood an old manor with a plaque reading “Hidden Star Manor,” home to the winery’s owners and servants. But now, the manor was filled with black-clad warriors. Most, heavily injured, were being treated by physicians or resting in beds.
They were the Rootless Brigade, returning from defeating the Marauder Sect. Bu Eunseol stood in the courtyard, silently watching his treated members.
“How did they get so injured?” an old man in a gray robe asked, approaching Bu Eunseol.
He was Jin Yuhwa, the Hidden Star Manor’s master and De’an branch leader of the Nine Deaths Squad. With the brigade’s severe wounds preventing an immediate return to Majeon, Bu Eunseol had sought out the nearest Nine Deaths Squad secret branch, the Silver Copper Winery. Jin Yuhwa had welcomed the brigade into his manor to treat their injuries.
“We fought a hundred masters,” Bu Eunseol said.
“A hundred?” Jin Yuhwa blinked at the sky, then exclaimed, “Were they Majeon masters who recently wiped out the Marauder Sect leader and his elite?”
Bu Eunseol remained expressionless, offering no reply.
But Jin Yuhwa, unable to contain his curiosity, pressed, “Where did you come from? Are you from the Cheonsal Brigade?”
Flinch.
The passing brigade members smiled or looked proud. The Cheonsal Brigade, Majeon’s most ruthless and powerful unit.
That the notorious Rootless Brigade was mistaken for them…
“The Rootless Brigade,” Bu Eunseol said.
“The Rootless Brigade?” Jin Yuhwa asked, bewildered. “The one full of troublemakers?”
Bu Eunseol gave a faint smile.
‘No need to spread rumors.’ Once the Nine Deaths Squad, an intelligence group, learned this, the Rootless Brigade’s fame would soon spread beyond Shaanxi to the martial world. ‘Their name will change soon.’ With thirty members, they’d defeated the Marauder Sect leader and his core forces.
They would no longer be called the Rootless Brigade.
As Bu Eunseol pondered, Jin Yuhwa blinked, recalling something. “Wait, then you’re not with the Nine Deaths Squad…”
“Bu Eunseol of Nangyang Pavilion, now leader of the Rootless Brigade.”
“Ugh!” Jin Yuhwa’s eyes widened, forgetting decorum.
He’d assumed Bu Eunseol was a branch leader due to his Nine Deaths Squad token. But a successor candidate of Nangyang Pavilion, one of the Ten Demonic Warriors stirring Majeon?
“I heard the candidates were sent on missions… Did you behead the Marauder Sect leader?”
As Jin Yuhwa rambled, Bu Eunseol turned coldly. “Thanks to you, we’ve been well-treated. I’ll report your cooperation to De’an branch and ensure ample compensation.”
“Tch, thank you!” Jin Yuhwa stammered.
Bu Eunseol was more than a Ten Demonic Master.
As a legitimate Nangyang Pavilion successor and a candidate Majeon’s demonic sects and Elder Hall feared, a single word from him could elevate Jin Yuhwa’s status.
“Leader, why not return with the deputy leader first?” Won Semun, bandaged, approached. “No need to return with us. Just report to the Demon Emperor.”
The recovering members agreed, chiming in.
“Hmm.” Bu Eunseol crossed his arms, thinking, then shook his head. “We’ll return together.”
“Why?” Won Semun asked.
Bu Eunseol scanned them briefly and said, “Because I’m the Rootless Brigade leader.”
A heavy silence fell.
The members, gazing at him, clenched their teeth or twitched their eyes.
Because I’m the Rootless Brigade leader.
Those words filled the last lingering void in their hearts.
Belonging.
Though he’d called them mere pawns, Bu Eunseol had treated them as his subordinates. Even now, after the mission…
“Damn it,” Won Semun muttered, turning away, his eyes trembling. “Talk about being curt.”
His words were gruff, but he wiped his eyes and nose. That brief statement had swept away their past grievances. The fiercely individualistic Rootless Brigade was no more.
From now on, they were Bu Eunseol’s loyal followers, his brigade.
***
Clink.
Steam rose from warm water filling a large wooden tub.
Swish.
Bu Eunseol, gazing at the tub, disrobed.
His lean body was muscled, covered in dense scars. Hundreds of scars on his honed physique weren’t grotesque but like patterns on a beautiful sculpture.
“Mmm.” As he sank into the warm tub, blood seeped from unhealed wounds, staining the water.
Knock knock knock.
A woman’s soft voice followed a knock. “Excuse me, my lord.”
“What is it?” Bu Eunseol asked.
“I’m here to attend your bath.” Her sweet, gentle voice melted into his ears.
Eyes closed, Bu Eunseol said softly, “No need. Leave.”
“My lord,” the woman said, her voice trembling at the unexpected coldness. “The manor lord said if I don’t serve you, I must leave the manor.”
Jin Yuhwa, the Hidden Star Manor’s master and Nine Deaths Squad branch leader, had moved Bu Eunseol to a new residence upon learning his identity.
The Pavilion of Elegance.
Reserved for esteemed guests, it housed attending maids.
The Pavilion’s name wasn’t for show.
When Bu Eunseol went to bathe, a beautiful maid was promptly sent to assist.
Comments