Heonwon Damcheong’s brows knotted fiercely.
“You… the grandson of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade?”
“Yes.”
He furrowed his brow as though he could not comprehend it. “What nonsense is this? That man never took a wife or had children.”
Heonwon Damcheong gave a scornful snort and stared at Bu Eunseol.
“Surely you do not claim to be his grandson merely because you learned his blade arts.”
“Never.”
“Then how exactly will you prove you are Bu Zhanyang’s grandson?”
“I cannot prove it right now.”
Bu Eunseol answered with unshakable composure.
“Because I myself only recently learned that my grandfather was one of the Seven-Finger Demon Blades.”
There was no flicker in his eyes.
Heonwon Damcheong was an absolute master who had reached the Limitless Realm, a man who had seen every shade of humanity through countless storms.
He could feel instinctively that Bu Eunseol was not lying.
“The grandson of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade…”
A sigh escaped him almost against his will.
‘Even now, am I still unable to escape the debts and grudges of the martial world?’
Few in the martial world knew, but Bu Zhanyang of the Seven-Finger Demon Blades had once saved his life and given him the strength to grip a sword again.
Had he never met Bu Zhanyang in those days, the Heonwon Damcheong of today would not exist.
Now that Bu Eunseol claimed to be that man’s grandson, an indescribable surge of emotion welled up inside him.
“If you had not killed my youngest disciple, I would have given you the Boeun Coin without hesitation.”
Heonwon Damcheong had cherished his final disciple, the Heavenly Sword, like his own son. He could never forgive the man who had taken the boy’s head.
“Do you truly believe that?” Bu Eunseol answered firmly. “Even without me, he would have met an early death in the martial world sooner or later. And that would have been your fault, Elder.”
“What did you say!”
Killing intent flared in Heonwon Damcheong’s eyes; the sky darkened, and it felt as though rain made of sword-blades was falling.
“Say that again.”
A terrifying aura gathered at his fingertips.
If Bu Eunseol dared another insolent word, he would sever the young man’s head on the spot.
“Because you never strictly disciplined your disciple’s faults…”
BOOM!
With an explosive sound, Bu Eunseol was hurled five zhang backward.
Heonwon Damcheong had unleashed his fury, and the sheer momentum alone had lashed out like Formed Intent Wounds the Body, striking Bu Eunseol full force.
Zzzzt.
As he slid backward, a dome of rounded protective true qi enveloped him.
The moment the Formed Intent struck, his Protective Body True Qi had deployed on its own.
Pat, pat.
Bu Eunseol lightly dusted himself off, stepped forward again, and continued calmly.
“…because you never properly taught him fairness.”
An utterly stern light flowed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Seeing that gaze, Heonwon Damcheong remembered the day Bu Zhanyang had once rebuked him in exactly the same way.
“Hrm.” He exhaled a turbid breath.
‘Is this also fate?’ Heonwon Damcheong fell silent for a moment.
If everything was arranged by fate, then perhaps following it was the natural order.
“Very well.” He raised a finger into the air.
Thunk.
A wooden staff flew from somewhere and landed in his hand.
Shaaa!
At the same moment, chaotic traces were carved into the ground in an area roughly three zhang square.
They were the forms of the Natural Sword he had once tried to create—the foundational strokes that had later become Myriad Phenomena Sword Style.
“This old man long sought the Sword Dao, and after endless effort finally completed a sword form that embodied the shapes of nature.”
Heonwon Damcheong stared straight at Bu Eunseol.
“Yet even after completing it, I could not wield it properly. In the end, I gathered the mysteries of the Natural Sword separately and created Myriad Phenomena Sword Style anew.” He continued. “I will give you three days. Break these forms. If you succeed, I will hand over the Boeun Coin.”
With that, he turned and disappeared into the thatched hut.
Bu Eunseol forgot to even bow, entranced as he stared at the sword forms carved into the earth.
Ordinary sword arts exist to subdue the enemy with profound techniques. But the sword art etched here did not seek to subdue—it expressed the mystery of nature itself.
‘Can this even be called a sword art?’
Terrifyingly, the Natural Sword Forms had no “end.” Once begun, they would continue without ceasing until the enemy’s breath was severed.
Swish.
Bu Eunseol picked up a fallen branch from the ground.
There were countless ways to discuss the mysteries of nature.
Why had the Sword Venerable chosen to express nature through such a vicious, poisonous sword art?
‘Because it is infinite.’
All life is born, ages, sickens, and dies.
And that cycle repeats without limit.
The Sword Venerable had equated nature’s infinite principle with samsara—the endless wheel of life and death.
‘Even if one comprehends the principles of the sword… knowing and doing are different things.’
Grandmasters of martial learning study countless divine arts to create their own.
Bu Eunseol himself possessed cultivation and talent enough to be called a young grandmaster, yet because he had run forward without pause, he had never had the leisure to systematize what he had learned or slowly digest it.
That was why even his brilliant mind could not easily grasp the Natural Sword drawn only in diagrams and lines.
‘But I must do it.’
A full day passed.
Bu Eunseol stood motionless as stone, gazing down at the forms.
He had forgotten time itself, lost in a trance as he contemplated the strokes.
Trying to unravel sword forms with the mind alone…
For Bu Eunseol, who had always advanced his martial arts through real combat, this was utterly unfamiliar. Yet if he looked at it differently, this was another chance to raise his realm.
Chirp chirp.
Two dawns had come and gone.
The third morning finally arrived.
Creak.
The hut door opened, and Heonwon Damcheong stepped out.
“You failed.”
Bu Eunseol still held the branch in the exact same posture as three days ago.
He had not broken the forms.
“Leave.”
Heonwon Damcheong’s voice was ice.
“Do not disturb this old man’s peace any further.”
Thud.
Yet Bu Eunseol slowly raised the branch to chest height.
“What are you doing?”
“If I cannot establish the counter-form in my mind, I must try it with my body.”
Heonwon Damcheong’s eyes turned vicious. “Do you think I drew those forms on the ground for no reason?”
“I know. It was out of consideration for me.”
Though incomplete, had Heonwon Damcheong unleashed the Natural Sword directly at him, Bu Eunseol would have been gravely wounded before he could even study it calmly.
“And knowing that, you still intend to act recklessly?”
“Thanks to your consideration, I have studied the forms for three full days. Now I must awaken them with my body.”
“Heh heh heh.” Heonwon Damcheong let out a hollow laugh.
It was not one of admiration—it was filled with killing intent.
“So I indulged you, and now you would pluck my beard?” The laughter vanished as murderous light filled his eyes.
“Did this old man seem that easy to you?”
Whish! Thunk.
He stretched out his palm, and a branch from a tree ten zhang away flew into his hand as though summoned.
“Good. I will show you the forms. But expect no mercy.”
Crackle.
At the same moment, the branch in Bu Eunseol’s hand turned to dust.
“Draw your sword. No excuses.”
Though a man of the orthodox sects, the Sword Venerable was hot-tempered and never showed mercy once his hand moved. He was truly enraged that Bu Eunseol had thrown his kindness back in his face and dared to cross swords.
“Understood.”
Shiiing.
As Bu Eunseol drew the Demon-Killer Sword,
Pat!
Heonwon Damcheong thrust the branch forward instantly.
Though they were two zhang apart, Bu Eunseol felt his throat would be severed any moment.
Thwack.
Unable to break the form, Bu Eunseol immediately unleashed sword qi from the Demon-Killer Sword to smash the branch aside.
Wuuung!
Yet the seemingly fragile branch did not break even when struck by razor-sharp sword qi.
Instead, hundreds of incomprehensible strands of energy poured from the slowly advancing branch and coiled around Bu Eunseol’s body.
Thump-thump-thump!
The Demon-Killer Sword began leaping like a living fish. The absolute defensive form—Fish-Shaped Sword—had activated in response to killing intent.
Shhhk!
When the strange energies were repelled by the Fish-Shaped Sword, they were absorbed back into the branch Heonwon Damcheong held.
And still, the branch continued its slow advance toward Bu Eunseol.
A single stroke.
The one stroke Heonwon Damcheong had aimed at Bu Eunseol’s chest was still in progress.
Ziiing!
In that instant, frozen ice crystals formed and blocked the path of the slowly moving branch.
He had combined Crystal Divine Energy with the Heavenly Glacial Secret to halt the sword form.
Clang!
Yet the solid ice shattered into pieces the moment it touched the branch.
Flash!
This time violet lightning struck the branch, and scorching flames erupted.
It was the Yeolha Great True Energy fused with Thunder Spirit Energy.
Hiss!
But the flames lasted only a moment.
The branch returned to perfect condition and, in the next instant, plunged deep toward Bu Eunseol’s chest.
Psssh.
The branch, alternately exposed to the power of extreme yin and extreme yang infused with the Dual Energy, could not withstand it.
The moment it touched Bu Eunseol’s body, it turned to powder.
‘This is not breaking the sword form.’
Bu Eunseol’s expression darkened.
He had failed to stop a single thrust aimed at his chest and could only end the stroke by destroying the branch itself. Had he not reached the Supreme Heavenly Realm that allowed him to prolong time, had he been unable to wield the Dual Energy and extreme yin-yang?
Before he could even try anything else, the branch would already have pierced deep into his heart.
Heonwon Damcheong stared at the powdered remains of the branch, his expression subtly shifting.
Since stepping into the martial world, no one had ever forced something from his hand. Yet this young man had poured forth bizarre powers never seen or heard of before, and reduced to dust a branch clad in Myriad Forms True Qi that nothing should be able to destroy.
Flash.
A completely different light blazed in Heonwon Damcheong’s eyes.
‘This fellow… is truly dangerous.’
He had been able to leave the martial world with a light heart because he believed the orthodox sects far surpassed the demonic.
But if this boy were left alone?
He felt the intuition that a demonic underworld would soon be born.
‘I cannot allow that to happen.’
If a monster growing this rapidly were left unchecked, the balance the martial world had maintained for so long would soon shatter.
To prevent that, he resolved to kill Bu Eunseol.
“You merely used strange inner arts to destroy the branch in this old man’s hand. You did not break the Natural Sword forms.”
“I know.” Bu Eunseol bowed politely and said, “Please allow me one more attempt.”
Heonwon Damcheong narrowed his eyes and stared at Bu Eunseol.
“From now on, this old man will wield Myriad Forms True Qi—not a branch—and unfold the Natural Sword. Do not blame me even if you die.”
In his prime, Heonwon Damcheong had created the Natural Sword, and through it the Infinite Ascension manifested repeatedly. By immersing himself ever deeper in the Sword Dao, he had finally reached the Limitless Realm.
Now, having fully attained that realm, even if the forms were incomplete, if he executed the Natural Sword with Myriad Forms True Qi using only his fingers?
Bu Eunseol’s death was all but certain.
Step.
He extended a finger, and the entire world darkened, a bizarre pressure poured from all directions.
That pressure not only bound Bu Eunseol’s body like ropes, it shattered the firmness of his spirit and summoned waves of unease.
‘He vanished.’
Moreover, Heonwon Damcheong’s figure standing before him had completely disappeared.
When a terrifying swordsman vanished from sight, it was as if unknown terror had blinded his eyes. That terror pierced Bu Eunseol’s iron spirit, filling him with dread that a keen blade could pierce his throat at any moment, from anywhere.
Had he not achieved Spirit Regulation, he would have thrown down his sword and fallen to his knees on the spot.
‘He has decided to kill me.’
Though the forms were incomplete, the one wielding them was none other than the Sword Venerable, Heonwon Damcheong. Now that he had raised Myriad Forms True Qi, even a casual swing could take Bu Eunseol’s head.
‘I threw my life away the day I stepped into the martial world anyway.’
As death drew near, Bu Eunseol instead felt profound peace.
All the emotions that had disturbed his mind vanished, and his spirit became utterly unshakable. In the midst of this extreme battle, he entered a perfect meditative state he had never reached before.
Shaaa!
Then, somewhere, the sound of flowing water rang out.
It was the clear sound of a sharp sword qi pouring toward Bu Eunseol’s body.
The Natural Sword was not yet fully deployed. How could such a light cutting sound already be heard?
Ziiing.
In that moment Bu Eunseol’s vision blurred, and the entire world seemed split in half, then crudely glued back together crookedly.
“Ptew.” In the end, Bu Eunseol spat out a mouthful of blood.
‘A Mind Sword.’
Heonwon Damcheong had shaped the Natural Sword into a Mind Sword and struck directly at his spirit.
‘I nearly died.’
Fortunately, Bu Eunseol had achieved Spirit Regulation and just moments ago his spiritual state had reached its absolute peak. That was the only reason he could endure a direct hit from the Mind Sword.
Heonwon Damcheong, unaware of this, felt as though he were seeing a ghost.
‘He took my Mind Sword and only spat up one mouthful of blood?’
He already knew Bu Eunseol’s inner power and martial prowess transcended generations.
The Natural Sword was an incomplete form. He had thought the boy might break it, so he had converted it into a Mind Sword and cut at his spirit first.
Yet only a single mouthful of blood?
“Then take this!”
Shaaaa!
At last, Heonwon Damcheong fully unleashed the Natural Sword toward Bu Eunseol.
Tststst!
Bu Eunseol immediately deployed his movement art to escape the domain of the sword forms.
‘Damn.’
Only after retreating did he realize.
The range of the sword momentum Heonwon Damcheong unleashed was not limited to Bu Eunseol alone…
It enveloped the entire plateau.
‘If I cannot break it, I will meet it head-on!’
Wuuuung!
In that instant, five-colored radiance poured from Bu Eunseol’s body.
From the moment he resolved to directly counter the Sword Venerable’s art, he had already drawn forth every power within him. Facing the absolute swordsman known as the Sword Venerable in earnest, there was no surviving unless he did this.
From the beginning, his plan had been to invoke harmony and shatter the Natural Sword.
Shaaaaaa!
The unstoppable sword strokes of great nature poured down upon Bu Eunseol.
Wuuuung!
When overwhelming pressure coiled around his entire body, the Great Prajna Power naturally manifested.
Time seemed to freeze.
All the energies within him aligned in perfect stability, and the five-colored radiance flowing from his body grew even denser.
‘No.’ At that moment, a flash of insight passed through Bu Eunseol’s mind. ‘I must not extend it outward.’
When he had escaped the collapsing underground mechanism of the Sword Tomb long ago, facing an unavoidable collapse, instead of unleashing the power of harmony, he had spread it in a circle around himself like a protective qi barrier and survived the crisis of death.
Heonwon Damcheong’s Natural Sword could neither be dodged nor blocked, and it would continue infinitely until the enemy’s breath was cut.
Even if he wrapped himself in a barrier of harmony, he could not hold it forever.
Paaaaaa!
Meanwhile, whirling sword qi enveloped the entire plateau.
Until every living thing here was severed, the Natural Sword would not cease.
Yet perhaps because his Dual Energy and martial attainment had deepened further? When he contained “harmony” within his body, time flowed infinitely slowly.
‘If life and death are an endlessly turning wheel…’
In that instant, lightning-like realization flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
‘In Buddhism, escaping the bonds of that samsara is called liberation, is it not?’
—“The sea of suffering has no end, yet turn your head and the other shore is there…”
Suddenly he recalled Blood Vajra smiling before Master Jeong Yeong and passing away.
Grudges, blood debts, revenge.
Blood Vajra had tried to sever that vicious cycle, and at the very brink of death, he had achieved it by seeking forgiveness from his master.
‘Then all I need is to take one step outside the wheel of samsara?’
No matter how great the Natural Sword, no matter how formidable the forms, all he had to do was step beyond the “phenomenon” created by the Sword Venerable Heonwon Damcheong himself.
Saaaa.
With that realization, the five-colored radiance shining from Bu Eunseol’s body turned into wind and swept through the entire space between him and Heonwon Damcheong.
Saaaaaa.
A vast empty space formed between the two men, and the five-colored light filling it began illuminating the whole world with blinding brilliance.
Hwaaaak.
When the radiance finally vanished, the pure white world returned to its original colors, and Heonwon Damcheong’s figure reappeared before him.
“How…?”
Heonwon Damcheong was utterly shocked.
Through the Natural Sword, Infinite Ascension had manifested repeatedly, allowing him to grasp the thread of the Supreme Sword Dao and immediately enter the Limitless Realm.
From that day onward, he had transcended the framework of martial learning.
Whether Natural Sword, Myriad Phenomena Sword Style, Three Calamities Sword, or Eight Flows Sword, no matter which he used, he could sever any living creature—human or beast—without lifting a finger.
Yet the light that had poured from Bu Eunseol’s body flashed once…
And the Natural Sword he had unleashed had completely vanished?
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