The vast, shadowed grand hall was lined with enormous pillars that rose like ancient guardians.
Their surfaces glimmered faintly, each one carved with the forms of the Four Symbols.
Within the darkness that soaked the chamber, no shapes could be discerned, yet a low, sinister voice
echoed through the void.
[It seems the time has come for him to step down from the Special Divine Rank.]
[Indeed. For far too long he has stood in the Heavenly Deity’s place using nothing but the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words.]
[Moreover, after decades of maintaining his identities, everything has been exposed. He can no longer even be called the Dharma Demon Reverend.]
Though the voices were different, the emotion within them was identical: mockery and contempt.
When the voices ringing through the hall finally quieted, a deep, resounding one spoke.
[Shall I kill him and be done with it?] A sharp killing intent rippled through the hall along with that low voice.
[Speak of that again afterward.]
At the same moment, one of the shadows filling the chamber slipped away and vanished beyond the gates.
Swish.
As the shadow passed through the sect’s main gate, a wide flower garden came into view.
From the blossoms and plants blooming there, a soft radiance flowed.
The shadow gazed at the flowers flickering like stars embroidered across the night sky.
It was none other than Hyeok Ryeon-eung.
“I should have killed that bastard for good back then.”
He had lured Bu Eunseol to the Wei Prince’s Manor because he was certain he could turn him into a puppet. But the plan failed, and he was forced to discard not only his identity as Hyeok Clan Master of Majeon, but also his position as Royal Advisor of the Wei Prince’s Manor.
No matter how mighty the Three Realms were, they could not simply conjure such identities out of thin air again. With no identity left to operate in the martial world, his standing within the Infinite Realm steadily crumbled.
Lately, the Infinite Realm seemed to regard him as nothing more than a tool to be used when the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words was needed.
“They dare revoke the identity of the Dharma Demon Reverend?” Hyeok Ryeon-eung clenched his fists until they trembled.
To him—who had handled the Infinite Realm’s most critical affairs in the Heavenly Deity’s stead for so long—such treatment was utter humiliation.
“I never should have let that bastard live in the first place.”
At first, he had thought the boy would die soon anyway, given his mediocre bone structure. But as the trials continued, Hyeok Ryeon-eung felt it clearly: not only unparalleled martial talent, but extraordinary observation, patience, insight, and an unshakable coldness even before death.
Above all, the disposition of a Great Demonic Being who could one day place the entire martial world beneath his feet.
That boy would surely catch the eye of the Demon Emperor, learn the Emotion-Severing Secret, and rise to become a Great Demon rivaling the golden age of the Three Demons.
Yet every expectation proved wrong.
Even after learning the Emotion-Severing Secret, he did not fall into the demonic path.
He walked an incomprehensible road and repeatedly thwarted the affairs of the Infinite Realm.
Still, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had paid it little mind.
To eyes that had mastered the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words to the tenth level, the boy was still no more than a small fry—someone he could eliminate at any time.
But the incident of giving the artificial inner core to Shim Wol exposed his true identity.
In the end, he boldly lured Bu Eunseol to the Wei Prince’s Manor to make him a puppet, yet the boy withstood the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words and leapt from the cliff.
No corpse was ever found. Even as seasons changed, no trace appeared, nor did he secretly seek his beloved sword.
Only when even Clear River Realm seemed flustered and began frantically yet covertly searching for him did Hyeok Ryeon-eung finally declare Bu Eunseol dead.
A man of such caliber would never lie low for so long, abandoning even his beloved sword, just to scheme.
So he manipulated the Emissaries, provoked Gong Yageuk, and prepared a plan to topple him from the position of Martial Soul Command Lord.
Yet contrary to all calculations, Bu Eunseol was perfectly alive.
He annihilated Daeyun Forest that manufactured puppets and the Jangbaek Merchant Guild that funded them, and reduced Hell's Blood Fortress—who had participated in the affair—to a half-sealed state.
Panicked, Hyeok Ryeon-eung attempted to kill him several times afterward… but the boy had already become someone impossible to touch lightly.
He had steadily seized control of Majeon and now commanded a solid faction and a formidable information division.
In the end, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had only given him suitable trials and even allowed him the chance to counterattack.
Now Bu Eunseol had grown into a powerful figure capable of threatening the very existence of the Infinite Realm. And the responsibility for all of this fell squarely upon Hyeok Ryeon-eung, one of the Infinite Realm’s central pillars.
“Let me kill him at once and see if they still dare speak such words.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung bit his lip until it bled.
If he killed Bu Eunseol, everything could be set right. But the boy now possessed immense forces and an intelligence network; no ordinary troops could kill him instantly.
To eliminate someone like that, one had to first sever the eyes and ears, then cut off the hands and feet.
“Bu Eunseol. In the end, you are already in the palm of my hand.”
As Hyeok Clan Master, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had watched Bu Eunseol for a very long time. He knew exactly how the boy had taken root in Majeon and how he operated his organization.
“First, I will cut away those eyes and ears you have hidden so carefully.”
Murderous intent flashed in Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s fierce eyes.
There was no need to drag things out. He would execute the plan immediately and sever Bu Eunseol’s head in one stroke.
***
For the operatives of information departments, every day was like walking on a blade’s edge.
They monitored hostile movements and gathered intelligence. Sometimes disguised or under false identities, sometimes infiltrating deep into enemy territory to carry out assassinations or sabotage.
In truth, their lives were far more precarious than those of warriors who risked their lives in open sword fights every day.
Having spent long years in the old Nine Deaths Squad, Bu Eunseol understood this well.
He did everything he could to ensure his agents did not die meaningless deaths.
‘Is there no way for them to receive help faster in a crisis?’
Especially since most missions were carried out alone, Bu Eunseol had researched ways to survive when inescapable danger struck.
‘At the very least, shouldn’t we create an emergency contact system that can quickly report a crisis?’
After much thought, he reached that conclusion and sought advice from So Jamyeong.
So Jamyeong, who had led the secret Nine Deaths Squad for many years, possessed more experience in such matters than anyone.
“It is complete.” So Jamyeong had finished an emergency contact network that could instantly relay an operative’s location and situation when they fell into danger.
“I only hope this network is never activated.”
He had said it with a smile.
“Because if it is never used, that means not a single operative has been sacrificed.”
Hearing those words, Bu Eunseol had smiled and nodded.
He, too, fervently wished the emergency system would never trigger.
But that wish did not come true.
While sitting in his office in the Supreme Pavilion, Bu Eunseol received a letter from Tae Muryong.
“A letter addressed to the Captain from the Sunflower Merchant Guild.”
It was indeed from the Sunflower Merchant Guild.
Inside were greetings asking after his health, along with news that they had made a large donation to the Martial Alliance.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes shook violently as he held the letter.
“Captain, is something wrong?” Sensing something odd, Tae Muryong asked. Bu Eunseol erased the stiffness from his face and smiled.
“No, I just realized I’ve been terribly neglectful. I should have visited them at least once to pay my respects.”
Tucking the letter into his inner pocket, Bu Eunseol took a small envelope from his desk drawer.
“Lately there have been no pressing matters or special missions… I think it’s time I finally applied for the long-overdue leave I kept postponing.”
He handed Tae Muryong the leave application with a smile. “I’ve delayed it so long that the moment I submit it, approval will come instantly. Please submit this for me.”
“You’re suddenly taking leave?”
“It’s not sudden—I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. Please explain it well to the others.”
“Understo—” Before Tae Muryong could finish, Bu Eunseol was already out of the office.
“He must be in quite a hurry.”
Shrugging as he looked at the empty spot where Bu Eunseol had stood, Tae Muryong moved to tuck the received letter into his pocket.
“…?”
Something felt off about the letter.
Since the leave form had been prepared in advance, it was natural that the paper and ink were slightly dry.
‘The Eight-Moon Seal?’
But why was there a faint trace of the oil from the creeping fig vine—the kind used by demonic spies when writing secret messages—on the exact spot the Captain had touched?
‘It can’t be.’
The Captain frequently traveled the martial world gathering information.
It would not be strange for a little creeping fig oil to rub off on someone who moved from place to place.
Yet it was strange. The letter said to be from the Sunflower Merchant Guild also bore traces of the same oil where the Captain had touched it.
Swish.
With an endlessly grave expression, Tae Muryong looked at the two letters, then tucked them away.
He picked up the brush and paper on Bu Eunseol’s desk and began writing his own letter.
Whoosh.
Bu Eunseol was already racing away from the Martial Alliance using his qinggong at full speed.
Under the current circumstances, only one person could trigger the emergency network: Soyo.
Only she roamed the martial world freely, carrying out the tasks assigned by Bu Eunseol and Seo Jinha.
‘Even with Soyo’s movement arts, an expert she cannot outrun is chasing her?’
Urgency gripped Bu Eunseol’s heart.
He had trained Soyo rigorously until her qinggong nearly matched his own, so she could preserve her life no matter the danger.
Yet the emergency signal had activated.
Did that not mean someone stronger than Bu Eunseol himself was pursuing her?
Whoosh!
Leaving the city walls far behind and sprinting through a secluded forest, Bu Eunseol cracked his joints.
In one fluid motion he executed the Face and Bone Shifting Art, returning to his original appearance.
At the same time he spun once in midair, and his white robes instantly turned pitch black.
Tsssss… BOOOOM!
Restored to his true form, Bu Eunseol poured everything into his qinggong.
The rendezvous point written in the secret message was near Shanyang in Shaanxi.
If a message had reached him at the Martial Alliance, one had surely reached Yoo Unryong as well.
Distance-wise, Majeon was far closer, so the captains of the Death Spirit Corps would arrive first.
‘But I must get there before anyone else.’
The enemy was an expert who surpassed his own ability.
Even if the Death Spirit leaders arrived first, they would never be able to handle him.
BOOM! CRASH!
Like rolling thunder, Bu Eunseol’s figure tore through the sky.
Pushing his qinggong to the absolute limit consumed inner energy and stamina at a terrifying rate. Yet Bu Eunseol paid it no heed and continued racing forward like a bolt of lightning.
Shhhk!
Leaping across the earth in great bounds, he spotted crimson smoke rising from a distant mountain.
Paaat!
The moment he saw it, Bu Eunseol changed direction in midair.
As he finally headed toward the mountain where the red smoke rose,
BWOoooo!
This time, the low sound of a conch horn used in naval battles echoed faintly from somewhere.
All of this was part of the signal system So Jamyeong had devised.
Most crises for information operatives involved their movements being exposed and being endlessly pursued. In such urgent situations where every second counted, there was no time to leave secret messages revealing one’s location.
Thus, So Jamyeong created an emergency network that instantly notified the Death Spirit Corps and Bu Eunseol the moment a signal was sent. For the operatives, he established signal stations across every region—not only at Majeon branches—so they could relay their position instantly even while on the move.
It was far faster than having people relay the information manually.
And that system worked perfectly.
Even without a guide, Bu Eunseol could race straight to the site of the emergency.
‘A reed field?’ He realized the reed field far ahead was the original source of the emergency signal. ‘An emergency signal from a wide-open reed field?’
Sending a signal in such an exposed place meant the enemy would notice it first.
Of course, in truly desperate situations one might do so, but an outstanding operative like Soyo would never make such a mistake.
‘A trap.’ In that instant, Bu Eunseol intuitively knew the emergency signal was a trap.
That meant the signal system he and So Jamyeong had painstakingly built had been completely breached by someone.
Tap.
Landing in the center of the reed field, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
‘It can only be the Three Realms.’
They had used the Death Spirit Corps’s covert contact network to lure him here. In other words, an enemy that surpassed both his information web and his forces.
And the only power capable of that was the Three Realms.
Sssss.
As if they had been waiting, black-clad warriors began surrounding the reed field.
Their faces were masked, revealing nothing, yet their eyes felt strangely familiar and brimming with killing intent.
Most likely puppets controlled by the Three Realms.
‘Just this kind of trap?’
They had gone to the trouble of detecting the Death Spirit Corps' emergency network and using it to lure him here, only to try killing him with mere puppets?
Something utterly absurd was happening.
‘No need to overthink it.’
Gathering his inner energy, a crimson glow swirled violently around his left fist.
He would unleash the Seventh Fist of the Fist Demon and break through the encirclement in one strike.
HWAAAA!
As the Mang-A Destruction Step exploded outward, a gale strong enough to blow away the world erupted, and dust billowed in all directions.
WHOOOOSH!
Yet suddenly a massive counter-wind roared in, instantly dispersing the dust created by the Heaven Hand Void Break.
Someone had unleashed tremendous palm force to blow the spreading dust upward in a single blast.
Thud, thud.
At the same time, a massive figure strode out from among the warriors encircling the field.
A sturdy old man with disheveled, lion-mane-like hair and a hulking frame.
KOOOOONG.
The instant their eyes met, it felt as though heaven and earth shook in Bu Eunseol’s ears.
“Hyeok Ryeon-eung!”
Sparks flew from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The one who had sent the dust skyward with a single palm strike was none other than the Hyeok Clan Master of Majeon, the core figure of the Infinite Realm who had once tried to dominate his soul and turn him into a puppet at the Wei Prince’s Manor.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung.
“It has been a while.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung looked at Bu Eunseol and smiled faintly. “You have grown even further. Your aura has become far more ferocious.”
The one who had detected the Death Spirit Corps' emergency network and turned it into a trap was Hyeok Ryeon-eung himself?
‘If it’s him, he certainly has the ability.’
Bu Eunseol showed little surprise and asked calmly, “Was it you who attacked Deputy Master So?”
“Hmph.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung let out a low grunt. “I thought you were still using the old Nine Deaths Squad leader, but instead you entrusted the entire information division to some stray assassin girl.”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung knew that Bu Eunseol operated the Nine Deaths Squad as his secret intelligence force. So he had hunted So Jamyeong to sever Bu Eunseol’s eyes and ears.
Yet unexpectedly, the one handling the information network around Bu Eunseol was a female assassin who used the martial arts of the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect.
‘He has not fully grasped the Death Spirit Corps.’
Fortunately, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had only discovered Soyo, who traveled the martial world aiding him.
He seemed unaware of the true Death Spirit leader Mu Heon and the corps itself.
“I had planned to cut away your eyes and ears first and finish you slowly… but I realized there was no need.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung gazed at Bu Eunseol with lion-like eyes and flashed a murderous smile.
“Because the moment I see you, I can simply kill you outright.”
“Are you that confident?”
“Last time I was careless. I never imagined you would shake off the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words and leap from the cliff.”
A violet gleam flowed from Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes.
“But there is nowhere to run this time.”
WUUUUUM.
The moment Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes flashed, the sky darkened to pitch black, and black mist seemed to rise from the earth.
The Soul-Seizing Spirit Words.
The terrifying mind-seizing secret art that could steal an opponent’s soul with mere eye contact was unleashed once more.
FLASH!
Yet at that instant, a sharp glint flared before Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Then a crimson, razor-sharp point of light began boring toward Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s throat like a deadly thrust.
The Meteor Chasing the Moon had been executed.
“Urgh.”
But Hyeok Ryeon-eung was no ordinary expert.
Though a master of mind-seizing arts, he was a veteran who had rampaged through the martial world for decades and fought countless bare-handed battles. Realizing it was too late to dodge the incoming sword strike, he instantly raised both arms to block the light.
CLAAAANG!
With a metallic screech, Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s massive frame was pushed back several zhang, and his forearms gleamed golden where they had met the strike.
A unique demonic fist art that rendered the arms adamantine even without circulating energy, glowing gold when struck by external force.
The Overlord’s Golden Wall Fist had manifested.
Golden-Armed Blood Eyes.
He had earned that nickname because of the Overlord’s Golden Wall Fist that turned his arms golden, and because he was born with the Blood-Wheel Demon Eyes that could subdue enemies with a glance.
Sizzle.
Having been pushed nearly four zhang back while guarding his throat with his forearm, Hyeok Ryeon-eung stared at Bu Eunseol in astonishment.
“The Soul-Seizing Spirit Words doesn’t work on you.”
Seeing Bu Eunseol’s eyes remain clear, he widened his own in disbelief.
“Have you mastered the Unmoving Heart Technique?”
Even the Illusion King Sa Okcheong could not withstand it; Hyeok Ryeon-eung had trained the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words to the tenth level.
To block his mind-seizing art required mastering something like Shaolin’s Unmoving Heart Technique to the absolute peak, or reaching the Limitless Realm.
“You have not reached the Limitless Realm.”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung saw that while Bu Eunseol’s swordsmanship was formidable, it still remained within the bounds of technique and artistry.
Had he reached the Limitless Realm, that single strike would have severed both his arms.
“Are you prepared to die?” Bu Eunseol twisted his grip on the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s greatest weapon was the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words. Since it was ineffective, they had no choice but to fight purely with martial prowess.
“I anticipated a situation like this might occur.”
Yet Hyeok Ryeon-eung still wore a relaxed expression.
“Your abilities are simply too unpredictable.”
“You knew that and still chose to fight. How admirable.”
“Will it be?” A cruel smile formed on Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s lips as he raised his hand.
Snap.
At his signal, the puppets who had formed the encirclement slowly stepped forward.
But something was wrong.
Now that he looked closely, weren’t they wearing the uniforms of Majeon warriors?
Step, step.
As they approached, Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed strangely.
The eyes of the approaching puppets were not merely familiar—they were faces he knew all too well.
“Remove your masks.”
At Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s command,
Swish.
The puppets mechanically pulled away their face cloths.
Revealed beneath were shocking faces.
Won Semun, Jo Namcheon, Wi Cheongyeong…
And the warriors under their command.
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