Hyeok Ryeon-eung unleashed palm strikes like a raging storm, one after another.
Bu Eunseol countered with successive bursts of the Seven Fist Demon Forms, hammering into Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body, yet the man’s flesh did not yield even slightly, as though it had become adamantine.
“Die!”
Not only that, Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s palm force perfectly fused the martial principles of Flame Emperor and Blood Emperor. It neutralized not only the raw power of Bu Eunseol’s Seven Fist Demon Forms, but even his superiority in inner energy.
‘I cannot use the Dual Spirit Energy yet.’
When he had earlier deployed the Heavenly Glacial Secret and Yeolha Great True Energy simultaneously, Bu Eunseol had deliberately refrained from merging the Crystal Divine Energy and Thunder Divine Energy within his body.
He wanted to gauge exactly how profound Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s martial attainment was—especially since the man held a high position among the Infinite Realm’s special divine guards.
“You still have the leisure to hold back.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung smiled ferociously, as if he had seen straight through Bu Eunseol’s thoughts. “Do you truly believe you can leave this place alive?”
Abruptly changing tactics, he began charging forward recklessly.
Bu Eunseol remained unflustered and landed repeated strikes of the Seven Fist Demon Forms, yet Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body was now as unyielding as if he had mastered the Diamond Indestructible Body. No damage reached him.
“At least tell me why you suddenly changed your mind before we fight.”
To Bu Eunseol’s question, Hyeok Ryeon-eung answered coldly, “There is nothing you need to know. You simply have to die.”
His voice and eyes were so resolute that further words seemed pointless.
‘Subduing him… is impossible.’
Hyeok Ryeon-eung was a grandmaster of mind-reading arts and a veteran of real combat who had terrorized the martial world for decades under the title Golden-Armed Blood Eyes. On top of that, he was currently wielding two of the Eight Emperors Three Stars arts simultaneously while cloaked in an external martial technique rivaling Shaolin’s Diamond Indestructible Body.
If Bu Eunseol did not fight with full power—if he attempted half-hearted suppression—he would only invite a fatal counterattack.
‘No choice left.’
Shiiing!
Drawing the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol instantly executed the Meteor Chasing the Moon Form.
For a moment, time itself seemed to freeze.
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword, having found an opening, slashed upward across Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body from below.
Screeech!
Yet Hyeok Ryeon-eung remained unharmed.
Instead, the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword glowed red-hot.
Could his flesh truly be harder than the black divine steel of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword?
‘No—he has fused the Flame Emperor arts into his external defense.’
Shockingly, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had woven the world-evaporating Flame Emperor Energy into his external martial technique and wrapped it around his body. Thus, even against a body as indestructible as diamond, the majority of incoming external force was first annihilated by the Flame Emperor Energy, allowing him to withstand even the Meteor Chasing the Moon Form.
This was an attempt that transcended conventional martial theory—a testament to how extraordinary the Infinite Realm’s martial studies were.
‘This is absurd.’
Even without infusing Dual Spirit Energy, how could a human body reach such hardness?
The external martial art Hyeok Ryeon-eung wore was, like the Eight Emperors Three Stars techniques, on a level that surpassed ordinary martial realms.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Bu Eunseol unleashed the Supreme Heavenly Flow repeatedly, yet he could not pierce the external technique fused with Flame Emperor Energy.
Splaash!
He tried the Wishful True Binding next, but it too was instantly extinguished by the Flame Emperor Energy.
“No matter what you do, it is useless!”
Boom! Boom!
Hyeok Ryeon-eung nullified every one of Bu Eunseol’s attacks, protecting only his eyes while relentlessly hammering with the Overlord’s Golden Wall Fist.
Like a maddened bull, he charged and attacked without restraint, forcing Bu Eunseol to retreat step after step.
The problem was that this cavern was not very wide.
BAM!
Finally, a single strike landed on Bu Eunseol’s shoulder, hurling him backward once more.
It felt exactly like being trapped in a narrow, confined space while an unbreakable monster lunged at him.
“Even if you could fly through the heavens, you cannot escape my grasp.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung smiled with absolute confidence.
With a diamond-hard body blocking the cavern entrance and both Flame Emperor and Blood Emperor arts cloaking him, Bu Eunseol had nowhere to run—he could only await death.
Sizzle… sizzle…
With every step, the ground melted, leaving deep, steaming footprints.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung advanced, his metallic-sheened skin gleaming, resembling some unknowable calamity given form.
Clang!
Even when struck by the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, only a dull metallic ring resounded.
From his left hand poured Flame Emperor ultimate techniques rivaling Yeolha Great True Energy and from his right, Blood Emperor techniques that could evaporate blood itself.
An indestructible body combined with the ultimate arts of the Eight Emperors Three Stars that could melt or shatter anything.
Within this narrow, confined cavern, Hyeok Ryeon-eung had become truly invincible.
“Are you ready to die now?”
“A fine strategy.”
Bu Eunseol had learned something new.
Indeed, the realm of martial arts was never absolute.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung, who had boasted certain victory, was using two of the Eight Emperors Three Stars arts simultaneously, fusing them with external techniques to produce unique destructive power.
Despite already possessing overwhelming might and influence, the Infinite Realm continually experimented with ways to transcend the very boundaries of martial attainment.
Bu Eunseol muttered bitterly, “In the end, it was I who was bound by the principles of martial arts.”
“Hmph. You strutted around believing you had mastered every technique under heaven.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung laughed savagely. “But this faction has long been researching secret methods capable of shattering the limits of martial attainment.”
“One last time.” Bu Eunseol asked earnestly, “Why did you suddenly decide to kill me?”
Now he truly had to kill Hyeok Ryeon-eung.
He sought an answer to the mystery before the end.
“Heh heh heh.” Hyeok Ryeon-eung smiled hollowly, as though he had seen through everything.
“You still believe you can defeat me.”
“Frankly, yes.” Bu Eunseol replied calmly. “I am not confident I can subdue you, but I am confident I can kill you. So answer me now.”
“Wah ha ha ha!”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung laughed with exhilaration.
“Very well. If you can kill me, I will tell you why I must kill you.”
“Then we have a deal.”
Craaaack.
Bu Eunseol once again unleashed the Heavenly Glacial Secret.
“No different from before.”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung snorted and blocked it with Flame Emperor Energy.
“…?”
Yet something felt wrong.
It was not merely freezing cold energy—rather, it felt as though tangible hands of ice were clogging his meridians.
At last, Bu Eunseol had fused Crystal Divine Energy into the Heavenly Glacial Secret.
Ssssss!
In an instant, all the Flame Emperor Energy gathered in Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s hand vanished.
“You bastard!” Greatly startled, Hyeok Ryeon-eung poured forth Blood Emperor Energy instead.
Crackle! Fwoooosh!
But this time Bu Eunseol deployed Yeolha Great True Energy infused with Thunder Divine Energy.
The Blood Emperor Energy melted away like snow, and beyond those flames, a world-scorching Thunder Divine Force pierced straight into Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s blood channels.
“How…?” Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes flashed.
It was clearly the same extreme yin and extreme yang arts as before—how could they now annihilate both Flame Emperor and Blood Emperor energies?
“No chance!” Shaking his head in disbelief, Hyeok Ryeon-eung roared and unleashed the Overlord’s Golden Wall Fist with full power.
Even if Bu Eunseol’s mysterious force rendered Flame Emperor and Blood Emperor arts useless, the horizontal training etched into his body would never collapse.
“Show me that strange power once more!”
He charged again, relying on his diamond-hard frame.
Whoooosh!
Yet now a crimson storm swirled around Bu Eunseol’s left fist.
He had raised the Heaven Hand Void Break—the mightiest strike among the Seven Fist Demon Forms.
Craaaack!
Blue light swirled from his fist, forming gauntlets studded with sharp crystalline spikes.
He had infused Crystal Divine Energy into the Heaven Hand Void Break and was unleashing the Heavenly Glacial Secret alongside it.
BOOM!
A single punch sent Hyeok Ryeon-eung sliding three zhang backward amid a thunderous explosion.
Struck by the Heaven Hand Void Break containing both Crystal Divine Energy and Heavenly Glacial Secret, he looked like a man who had emerged from an ice cave—drenched, white frost rising from his entire body.
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Yet Hyeok Ryeon-eung charged again, undeterred, unleashing another fist strike.
Crrrrackle!
This time, a violet fireball blazed in Bu Eunseol’s right hand.
He had raised the Heaven Hand Void Break, infused with Yeolha Great True Energy carrying Thunder Divine Energy.
KWAAAAA! BOOM!
Hyeok Ryeon-eung was hurled three zhang away once more.
“Urgh…”
Stagger.
For the first time, he let out a deep groan and struggled to rise.
‘Have I… miscalculated?’
Focus vanished from Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes.
He had believed that once martial arts transcending normal boundaries were implanted into his body, defeating Bu Eunseol would be child’s play.
Luring him into this mountain cavern under the pretext of a trial had also been part of the plan—if the spirit examination went wrong, he would trap and kill Bu Eunseol here.
Yet the result was the exact opposite.
Bu Eunseol’s martial arts likewise transcended convention, layered with unknowable power.
And that power was effortlessly shattering every technique Hyeok Ryeon-eung had mastered.
“You are about to die. Answer me.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Hyeok Ryeon-eung glared venomously and shouted,
“Hmph! A disciple of Nangyang Pavilion dares to claim victory just because he gained a slight upper hand!”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung too was a grandmaster who had survived countless life-or-death battles.
Broken techniques did not mean defeat; even in crisis he was ready to exploit any opening and deliver a killing blow.
“Haaap!” He unleashed the Overlord’s Golden Wall Fist once more.
The once-mysterious fist technique had transformed into pure slaughter-born combat martial arts. Bu Eunseol met it without hesitation, unleashing the Seven Fist Demon Forms in rapid succession.
BOOM!
After forty exchanges, Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body flew in a straight line and was hurled out of the cavern.
Step… step…
As Bu Eunseol emerged, Hyeok Ryeon-eung was struggling to his feet.
The power of the Seven Fist Demon Forms—infused with both extreme yin and yang forces and Dual Spirit Energy—had completely shattered Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s supposedly invincible horizontal training.
“Blegh.” His body, having taken dozens of blows that could split mountains, was ruined and his eyes had lost focus.
Yet the instinct of a martial artist remained.
“Come again.”
Even with unfocused eyes and a mouth full of blood, Hyeok Ryeon-eung glared at Bu Eunseol and assumed an attacking stance.
“…So you have not forgotten the soul of a warrior.” Bu Eunseol’s expression grew solemn.
Though they were enemies now,
Hyeok Ryeon-eung was a grandmaster of real combat who had survived countless battles throughout his life.
Even on the verge of death, he still readied himself for a counterattack.
It was only right to grant him a fitting end.
Whoooosh.
Bu Eunseol began gathering every ounce of power at once.
His body trembled violently as conflicting energies collided within.
Whoooosh.
Then the Great Prajna Power manifested.
The clashing forces aligned into one, and five-colored radiance began to rise.
Harmony.
Bu Eunseol intended to unleash his ultimate secret art—still unusable in real combat, a transcendent technique beyond the heavens—upon Hyeok Ryeon-eung.
Though they now walked opposing paths as mortal enemies, this man had once saved him and had been a great master of the demonic path.
Pak.
Yet something astonishing happened.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung, who had been standing with head bowed and unfocused eyes, suddenly shot forward like lightning and appeared before Bu Eunseol.
Crack.
A moment’s carelessness produced an unforeseen result.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung, now towering upright, seized Bu Eunseol’s throat with a thick hand.
“At last—I have you! Ha ha ha!”
Hyeok Ryeon-eung burst into triumphant, mad laughter.
Among the martial world’s masters, some could deliver a final killing strike even in near-death, or temporarily recover their body through the Heaven-Revolving martial art.
And Hyeok Ryeon-eung had mastered the Black Jade Secret Art among the Heaven-Revolving martial art—an art that explosively unleashed all latent power and life force in an instant.
Drip, drip, drip.
Squeezing Bu Eunseol’s throat with all his might, Hyeok Ryeon-eung wore an expression of ecstatic joy.
“No matter how strong you are, the difference in experience is insurmountable.”
His face, having ignited both latent power and life force through the Black Jade Secret Art, was covered with bulging black veins.
“A pity. Had you joined this Realm, our great work would have been completed much sooner.”
KWAAANG!
Even then, Bu Eunseol managed to land a punch.
But with his throat seized, his inner energy could not fully manifest.
Moreover, Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body, now burning with latent power, had grown even harder than before.
“I will tell you why you must die.”
Crack, crack.
Gripping Bu Eunseol’s neck bones with both hands, Hyeok Ryeon-eung curled his lips.
And then he uttered the most shocking words imaginable.
“You are the son of Baekri Muha.”
“…!”
“That is why you must die.”
Murderous venom blazed in Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s eyes as he snapped Bu Eunseol’s neck in one motion.
Crack.
Yet the neck did not break.
Instead, Bu Eunseol looked down at him with gleaming eyes.
“So I am the son of Baekri Muha…”
Bu Eunseol had known that even if Hyeok Ryeon-eung were defeated, he would never reveal the reason.
He had also guessed the man possessed a final trump card.
Moreover, this was the same man who had once brazenly lied that the Illusion King Sa Okcheong was his disciple.
Even if he did give a reason, there was a high chance it would not be the truth.
But if Bu Eunseol himself stood at death’s door?
Then perhaps he would speak the truth…
That mad thought had driven him.
Thus, Bu Eunseol had deliberately driven Hyeok Ryeon-eung to the brink of death, forcing him to unleash his final measure.
He had even intentionally gathered energy to bait the counterattack.
And Hyeok Ryeon-eung had swallowed the bait without hesitation.
“Answer me, Hyeok Ryeon-eung.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes burned like charcoal, his voice frozen like a glacier.
“On what basis do you claim I am Baekri Muha’s son?”
“You… monstrous bastard.”
Realizing everything had been a trap, Hyeok Ryeon-eung gnashed his teeth.
In retrospect, the truly terrifying thing about Bu Eunseol was not his peerless martial prowess, but the mind that foresaw and controlled every situation.
“You want the answer?”
Grab.
A faint light began flowing from Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body as he clutched Bu Eunseol’s waist.
“Then you will die with me.”
Having raised all latent power through the Black Jade Secret Art, his body had surpassed the diamond-indestructible state and reached the legendary Heavenly Guardian Physique.
Though he would burn out and die within moments, it was more than enough time to execute the Powerful Dragon Subduing Soul.
“Do not think this is an ordinary Powerful Dragon Subduing Soul.”
Black radiance gleamed across his body as Hyeok Ryeon-eung let out a monstrous laugh.
“It is more than sufficient to drag you down to hell with me.”
Craaaack! Fwoooosh!
Realizing Hyeok Ryeon-eung intended to explode his own body for mutual annihilation, Bu Eunseol rapidly unleashed Heavenly Glacial Secret and Yeolha Great True Energy in succession.
Yet the body did not shatter and instead, the extreme yin and yang forces were absorbed into it.
“Heh heh heh. Hit me harder. The stronger the energy I absorb, the mightier the Chaos Demon Exploding Dragon becomes.”
Thump, thump, thump.
Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body began swelling like a balloon, his eyeballs bulging as though about to burst.
If a man with diamond-hard flesh used the Chaos Demon Exploding Dragon to self-destruct, the fragments of that unbreakable body would fly like shrapnel and pierce Bu Eunseol from every direction.
There would be no escaping by luck.
“Just like your father, you will vanish without a trace, Bu Eunseol!”
The instant Hyeok Ryeon-eung roared with mad laughter,
Flaaare.
Flames ignited in Bu Eunseol’s eyes, and transparent light began rising from his entire body.
―Just like your father, you will vanish without a trace!
The moment those words reached his ears, Bu Eunseol’s reason shattered.
At the same time, he detonated every power of Orthodox, Evil, and Demonic along with both Dual Spirit Energies all at once.
FWOOM!
A light that bleached the world white momentarily blinded Bu Eunseol.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw a shadow crouched in pitch-black space.
It was himself.
[Why have you called me?]
The crouched version of Bu Eunseol sneered at the standing one.
[After locking me away in the darkness all this time and pretending I didn’t exist.]
Bu Eunseol did not answer.
He simply wanted to erase everything.
All of it. Completely.
That was all he thought.
[That’s really easy, you know.]
The crouched Bu Eunseol smiled strangely, as if reading his mind.
At the same moment, mysterious radiance began spreading from Bu Eunseol’s body.
It was an overwhelming power far beyond even the light of ‘Harmony’ that had detonated every force inside him.
Whoooosh!
As the rising radiance grew denser,
RIIIP!
Suddenly his skin split all over, blood spraying out like mist.
Thud.
Bu Eunseol collapsed limply, and the crouched version laughed.
[You’re not ready to face me yet, are you?]
The other Bu Eunseol approached the blood-soaked one, baring white teeth in a cackling laugh.
[A fitting end for a fool who doesn’t even know who he is… or what power he truly possesses.]
Shut up.
Bu Eunseol forced himself up again.
Then slowly reached out a hand—
to erase that chattering version of himself first.
FWOOM!
Raising the power of Harmony once more, the crouched figure vanished.
His consciousness returned to reality, and he saw Hyeok Ryeon-eung swollen like a balloon.
KABOOOOOM!
In that instant, with a thunderous explosion, Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body shattered into tens of thousands of fragments that scattered in all directions.
It happened faster than the blink of an eye.
‘This is bad.’
Bu Eunseol thought inwardly.
When a diamond-hard body exploded, the surroundings would be utterly devastated.
There would probably be a crater ten zhang wide, and the area for a hundred zhang around would be flattened.
That was the technique Hyeok Ryeon-eung had boasted of, after all.
―Yet…
Bu Eunseol unconsciously closed his eyes and whispered,
―I just want to make it all disappear.
Buzzzzz.
At that moment, an endlessly dark radiance spread from Bu Eunseol’s body.
It was the ‘Harmony’ he had always raised until now, yet something else was mixed within.
WHOOSH!
The darkness engulfed the exploding fragments of Hyeok Ryeon-eung’s body, then spread in all directions, turning the entire world into pitch black.
“…”
Bu Eunseol opened his eyes again.
There was no trace left.
Not a single sign remained of Hyeok Ryeon-eung, who had been fighting here moments ago.
Even the massive stone mountain that had stood before him was gone.
As if nothing had ever existed here in the first place.
Every trace of what had been present until now had been completely erased.
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