Bu Eunseol’s prowess had long reached a level to handle two Transcendent Realm masters.
But Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong hadn’t been idle, having honed their skills far beyond their past.
The fight began with Myo Cheonwoo’s Annihilation Palm.
The Annihilation Palace stood tall in the demonic world due to its palm techniques, surpassing even divine weapons.
Boom!
As palm force poured out, holes riddled the rocks around Bu Eunseol.
Slash!
A white whip, like a venomous snake, darted toward Bu Eunseol’s throat, bypassing the palm force.
Swish.
But Bu Eunseol’s form blurred, and the whip sliced through empty air. He had unleashed Swift Beyond Shadow.
Slash! Whoosh!
As Nangyang’s supreme movement art unfolded, their attacks repeatedly missed.
Frustrated, Myo Cheonwoo surged his inner energy fiercely. “You can’t dodge this!”
Whoosh!
Dozens of palm shadows wove through the air, turning into mist that enveloped Bu Eunseol. It was the Annihilation Blade Palm, used to save Seok Woohaeng at Janggeom Mountain Manor.
Whoosh!
Yoo Unryong spun like a top, unleashing thousands of whip shadows toward Bu Eunseol.
It was the White Horse Sect’s ultimate technique, Tiger Whip Song, used at a distance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Annihilation Palm and White Horse Whip filled the air. Facing their overwhelming combined attack, Bu Eunseol reached for his back.
Shing!
With a low sword hum, a sword flower bloomed in the air. Incredibly fast sword techniques poured out, barely discernible to the eye.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
The sword energies from the black sword repelled the Annihilation Palace and White Horse Sect’s supreme techniques.
“Ugh.” As their techniques clashed, Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong recoiled as if shocked, retreating.
The immense inner energy in the black sword pierced their bodies like needles, seeping into their meridians.
Whoosh!
As they retreated, Bu Eunseol’s sword techniques shifted. Black sword energy soared, darkening the sky, then fell like rain.
He had chained Meteor Chasing the Moon and Waning Moon, Dawn Star.
Whoosh!
Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong split left and right. Realizing clashing directly would cause internal injuries, they escaped the sword’s range.
“No chance!” Though pushed back by inner energy, their momentum didn’t waver.
Excited, they unleashed over ten techniques in an instant.
Boom! Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol flicked his left fingers, sending a gust, and swung his sword with his right.
He unleashed Heaven and Earth Severing Sect’s supreme techniques, Mysterious Roar Demon Finger and Ten Thousand Thunder Blood Sword, with each hand.
Slash!
Using Heaven and Earth Severing Sect’s arts instead of Supreme Heavenly Flow, Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong found openings and counterattacked.
Hum!
But it was a feint.
Anticipating their counter, Bu Eunseol closed the distance, entangling the whip with his sword and grabbing Myo Cheonwoo’s wrist, inducing an inner energy clash.
Hum!
Heat rose from their bodies.
‘Impossible.’ Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong’s eyes widened. Despite their combined inner energy, exceeding a jiazi, Bu Eunseol handled it effortlessly.
Whoosh!
Realizing they couldn’t match him, they retreated.
Retreating in an inner energy clash risks meridian damage, but they knew Bu Eunseol would retract his energy. As Yoo Unryong retreated and swung his whip, Bu Eunseol pushed Myo Cheonwoo back and retreated.
Boom!
A black crater formed where Bu Eunseol had stood.
The whip, swung lightly, could cut steel and shatter rock, and Yoo Unryong’s technique could tear the sky and shake the earth.
…
The bamboo forest was silent.
Bu Eunseol and the former Ten Demon Warriors fought like celestial generals clashing with underworld demons.
They exchanged over forty more techniques. If Bu Eunseol used his full power, he could have subdued them easily.
Controlling sword energy freely with Cloud Manipulation, mirroring enemy moves with Ten Thousand Sword Submission, piercing defenses with Revolving Annihilation’s 108 variations, and countering killing intent with Puppet Sword Form.
But Bu Eunseol didn’t seek their defeat.
He aimed to face the Ten Demonic Sects’ supreme techniques to achieve another breakthrough. He waited for Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong to unleash their ultimate arts.
“Fine!” Realizing his intent, they surged their full inner energy.
Yoo Unryong unleashed Destruction of Heaven, and Myo Cheonwoo used Eternal Annihilation Heart-Piercing Technique.
Rumble!
As the Ten Demonic Sects’ supreme arts poured forth, Bu Eunseol’s eyes gleamed with a mysterious light.
Beast Way Insight.
This ability gauged the power of incoming techniques and his body’s strength.
‘Impossible.’ Beast Way Insight told him his current techniques couldn’t counter their combined arts. He needed a new technique to unleash his vast inner energy.
Thrum!
His black sword’s energy drained.
Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong panicked. Facing their devastating techniques, Bu Eunseol lowered his sword slowly, like a defeated man surrendering.
‘What’s this?’ Confused but unable to retract their techniques, as their supreme arts reached Bu Eunseol,
Boom!
With an explosion of energy, golden light radiated from Bu Eunseol, and black sword energy surged from his sword.
Whoosh!
A massive cloud-like sword energy spread, silencing the world and darkening the sky. The Annihilation Palm and White Horse Whip’s techniques vanished.
Thud.
Myo Cheonwoo and Yoo Unryong were thrown dozens of paces back, their sleeves shredded, faces pale from severe internal injuries.
“What sword technique is this?” Myo Cheonwoo asked.
Bu Eunseol, standing dreamily, replied, “Lament of the River.”
“Lament of the River?”
“The eighth form of Supreme Heavenly Flow, established only in theory until now.”
Even if an enemy unleashes ten thousand sword techniques, only one weapon reaches the body. Lament of the River used this principle to anticipate and counter an enemy’s decisive technique—an extreme counterattack form.
But perfecting it required a technique to block any attack.
Using Wishful True Binding to shape energy freely, Bu Eunseol had completed it.
Sizzle.
Steam rose from his body.
Unleashing Wishful True Binding caused his blood vessels to boil and meridians to twist painfully, but he smiled brightly.
‘The path is becoming clearer.’
If he mastered Wishful True Binding to perfect Lament of the River, he could face Geul Wang in a decisive battle.
***
Seolhyangwon was the most famous pleasure house in Buzhong.
Its drinks were exorbitantly priced, and its singers and dancers were exceptionally talented and stunningly beautiful. Moreover, the women here didn’t sell their bodies unless willing, barring rowdy pleasure-seekers. Thus, Seolhyangwon was renowned as a venue for nobles, officials, and wealthy elites.
“Come out now!” a shout disrupted Seolhyangwon’s calm, followed by murmurs.
Click.
Guests in the pavilions opened windows to look down. A drunken man and a group of attendants were arguing in the courtyard.
“Jinwon! Where are you hiding?” the man bellowed.
Jinwon was Seolhyangwon’s most renowned courtesan, breathtakingly beautiful with unmatched zither skills.
“Bring her out! Now!”
As the man shouted, an attendant grabbed his sleeve. “She’s entertaining a distinguished guest at Seoleum Pavilion. How can we bring her out suddenly?”
“Do you know who I am?” the man said, shaking off the attendant. “I came here with precious time, and you say I can’t see Jinwon?”
“Young Master.”
“Hmph, think I lack money?” He threw a stack of banknotes at the attendant’s face. “Bring her out!”
The scattered notes, hitting the attendant, were worth over ten thousand taels. He seemed a profligate son of a prominent family.
“Bring her out! Now!”
Tap.
As the man caused a commotion, a window on the third floor of Seohyang Pavilion opened, and a low voice echoed. “Young man, Seolhyangwon hosts many dignitaries. Stop making a scene and leave.”
“Haha! Dignitaries? In a pleasure house?” the man laughed, scanning the surroundings. “Men come here to bed pretty courtesans!”
“If you keep this up, we’ll have no choice,” the attendants warned, moving to drag him out.
“No choice? Haha!” The man, trained in martial arts, easily threw off the strong attendants, laughing. “Dare touch me?”
“Ugh,” a voice groaned from the third floor. “What a scoundrel. I’m in an important discussion. Remove him.”
Seohyang Pavilion’s door opened, and a robust middle-aged man, built like a bear with a tiger’s waist, stepped out. His fine, clean clothes curiously had patched sleeves.
“What, even beggars visit pleasure houses?” the man sneered.
The middle-aged man’s thick eyebrows twitched. “Young friend, you’re drunk. Go home.”
“I’ll leave when I want. Mind your business.”
“Words won’t do,” the middle-aged man said, reaching for the man’s shoulder.
It seemed a simple restraint, but his fingers held enough force to break an ox’s bones, aiming to dislocate the shoulder and sober him.
Crack!
A dull sound rang out. Strangely, the middle-aged man grimaced and stepped back, clutching his hand.
“Ugh,” he groaned in pain.
Attempting to dislocate the man’s shoulder, his own fingers had broken instead.
“His body is that tough…” he muttered.
The shoulder point, even for an untrained person, is sensitive. To harden it against such force suggested training in external arts like Iron Cloth.
“Like a beggar, your hands are rough and smelly,” the man said, pointing to a tear in his silk robe. “You filthy beggar, ruining my fine clothes. Can you pay for this?”
“Think you’re something with some external art?” the middle-aged man said.
Crack.
Strengthening his fingers, a powerful aura emanated.
“I’ll show you there’s a sky above the sky.”
Thud! Boom! Crash!
Dull strikes echoed in Seohyang Pavilion’s courtyard.
Indeed, there was a sky above the sky. Unfortunately, it was the drunken man, not the middle-aged man, who was the sky.
“You ignorant beggar!” the man shouted, kicking repeatedly.
Each kick forced the middle-aged man to curl up like a pill bug, his bones aching and strength draining.
‘How is this possible?’ The middle-aged man, collapsed, lost focus in his eyes.
He was Jeno Sam, a Beggar Sect township leader, nicknamed Eagle Sky Peak, a master of close combat with the Mysterious Silk True Fist, trained to the eighth level. Yet, he was being beaten like a dog by a drunken ruffian?
“Stop!” Jeno Sam shouted, unable to endure the pain.
The man paused. “Then bring her out.”
“Who?”
“Jinwon.”
“What nonsense…” Jeno Sam’s words cut off as the kicking resumed.
“Well, a young master, I see,” a deep sigh came from the third floor, and an old man descended before Jeno Sam. “To render my township leader, trained in Mysterious Silk True Fist, helpless with a kick,” the old man said, narrowing his long eyes. “Which sect are you from?”
“Funny beggars,” the man said, pointing at the white-haired old man. “If you’re a beggar, beg outside. Coming to a place charging three hundred taels for a drink?”
“Watch your tongue,” the old man said, eyes flashing. “Though our sect walks the righteous path, we’re not lenient with vermin.”
“Righteous path, huh?” the man sneered. “Selling high-grade information across the martial world for pleasure and profit is what righteous sects do?”
“…”
“Even the Eight Paths’ Homin Hall Leader, sorting critical information for the Beggar Sect’s headquarters?” Murmurs spread through the pavilions.
Seolhyangwon was a hub for elites and officials.
That the Beggar Sect’s Homin Hall Leader was selling information for favors was shocking.
“Who are you?” the old man asked, his expression as cold as a glacier, realizing the man wasn’t drunk but deliberately provoking.
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