“Lord Seon.”
From outside the door came Gongsun Dankyung’s soft, gentle voice.
“Are you asleep?”
“No… I’m awake.”
Flustered, Bu Eunseol hurriedly straightened his clothes and opened the door.
There stood Gongsun Dankyung, holding a small tray.
On it were arranged simple snacks—rice cakes, fruits, and the like.
“I brought some refreshments.” Her expression carried a faint trace of apology. “You must have suffered greatly spending the whole night in the Unique Heavenly Star Section.”
‘She recognizes it… I’m so grateful it almost brings tears.’
Bu Eunseol swallowed a quiet sigh inwardly.
He had not forgotten Gongsun Dankyung’s request and willingly subjected himself to the trials meant to identify a prospective son-in-law.
But the place was far beyond what the word “suffer” could describe.
Had anyone other than Bu Eunseol entered, they would have turned to white bones in an instant—the gates were that merciless and lethal.
‘Did she perhaps participate in the design as well?’
Seeing the guilt and pity in her eyes, she seemed to understand exactly how grueling it had been.
Considering Gongsun Dankyung’s meticulous and thorough personality…
It wasn’t impossible that she had helped her father design the Unique Heavenly Star Section since childhood.
“What parent wouldn’t seek an outstanding match for their child?”
“It’s a bit extreme to call it ‘seeking a match.’ The gates that Lord Seon accidentally entered and broke through… are at a level only someone destined to become the foremost righteous master in the future could pass.”
Gongsun Dankyung even knew he had entered the wrong path.
But more than that fact, Bu Eunseol was startled by the words she chose.
“The foremost righteous master, you say?”
“Yes. Father poured every ounce of his skill and formation mastery into that place. He guaranteed that only a person who could one day become the supreme leader of the righteous sects would be able to pass.”
Bu Eunseol wore a dazed expression.
“Then… my survival was pure luck.”
“Not at all.”
Gongsun Dankyung smiled beautifully.
“From the moment I heard the Unique Heavenly Star Section had collapsed and that there was a chance someone might enter… I believed. I was certain that Lord Seon would pass without issue.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed his astonishment.
She had been confident he could overcome a trap designed with the future foremost righteous master in mind.
“I told you already. I believe in Lord Seon’s potential.”
As if reading his thoughts, Gongsun Dankyung spoke calmly.
“If I didn’t have at least that much faith…”
Bu Eunseol naturally expected her to repeat what she had said before: “I wouldn’t have chosen Lord Seon over Hall Leader Baek.”
But instead, in a sweet voice, she said, “I wouldn’t have even considered bringing Lord Seon to my family home.”
Her eyes and tone were exactly like those of a woman speaking to her true betrothed.
‘A dream.’
She was dreaming.
A sweet dream in which she brought home an outstanding lover destined to become the next supreme master of the world and received her father’s blessing.
And Bu Eunseol had made that dream come true for her.
‘But it’s time to wake up.’
With utmost composure, Bu Eunseol spoke.
“I see. The Inspector once said that people can betray you, but ability never will.”
She had said she trusted not Seon Woojin the person, but Seon Woojin’s ability. Bu Eunseol deliberately turned the conversation harsh to bring her back to reality.
“You must think I’m a cold, heartless woman, don’t you?”
As if seeing through his intention, Gongsun Dankyung gave a somewhat bitter smile.
“But anyone who had lived the life I have would come to hold the same belief.”
‘Now that I think about it… what kind of story could make her become an enemy of the Martial Alliance?’
Before coming to the Gongsun family, he had assumed there must be some issue with her family as well.
After all, it was strange for a genius like Gongsun Dankyung to fear her own family.
But upon seeing them in person…
Gongsun Hwa-uk and his wife were kind, learned, and of impeccable character.
They were absolutely not the sort of people who would mistreat a child or earn anyone’s grudge.
Moreover, looking at the household…
Gongsun Dankyung was loved not only by her parents but by the servants as well. She had grown up in an environment of perfect abundance, lacking nothing.
So why did she harbor such deep resentment?
“I’m sorry. Coming all the way here and bringing up complicated matters.” With an apologetic expression, Gongsun Dankyung picked up a piece of fruit. “Please try one. It’s quite sweet and delicious.”
“I’ll help myself.”
“Please don’t refuse.” Gongsun Dankyung said shyly. “It’s because I’m grateful.”
Seeing that smile, Bu Eunseol felt a pang in his heart.
Since arriving at the Gongsun estate, Gongsun Dankyung had transformed—no longer the cold, calculating commander, but a shy young girl.
Perhaps this was the true self she had always hidden.
‘It’s none of my business.’
Whatever story Gongsun Dankyung carried, it was her personal affair.
It was not something Bu Eunseol should concern himself with, nor had the right to.
“This ends today.” Gongsun Dankyung spoke in a reassuring tone. “Tomorrow, when we return to the Martial Alliance, I’ll go back to how I was before. Exactly the same.”
“Understood.”
“And I’ll make the promise once more.”
Gongsun Dankyung said, “When Lord Seon is in danger, I will never turn a blind eye. Because you helped me when I was in a crisis.”
“There’s no need.” Bu Eunseol shook his head firmly. “Even if I fall into danger, you must never think of helping me.”
A foreboding feeling rose in him—that in the future, because of this promise, she might take danger upon herself for his sake.
“You must promise me.”
When Bu Eunseol spoke with such seriousness, Gongsun Dankyung nodded blankly.
“Very well. No matter how much danger Lord Seon falls into, this commander will never step forward.”
But finding the words amusing, she giggled softly.
“Lord Seon… you can be surprisingly quirky at times.”
Unable to hold back her laughter, Gongsun Dankyung smiled brightly, showing her teeth.
It was a pure, uncalculated smile—one she had never shown before.
Sssstretch.
She stretched her arms wide.
It looked just like someone waking from a long sleep.
“It was a sweet respite.”
For a moment, Bu Eunseol stared blankly. And for the first time, he realized how beautiful Gongsun Dankyung truly was.
***
The journey back to the Martial Alliance was not simple.
It was as if Bu Eunseol had truly become the Gongsun family’s son-in-law.
Not only Gongsun Hwa-uk and his wife, but every single household member came out to see them off.
Their faces were all filled with happy smiles.
Because the Unique Heavenly Star Section—built over ten years specifically to select a son-in-law—had been shut down.
The fact that it was closed upon Seon Woojin’s visit could only mean one thing:
A match had been decided.
In truth, it had been destroyed by Bu Eunseol’s power, but the household members, unaware of that, could only be overjoyed.
Once the carriage departed, Gongsun Dankyung returned to her cold demeanor.
The two said nothing to each other.
It had been only a brief, sweet dream.
Upon returning to the Martial Alliance, Gongsun Dankyung immersed herself in work.
And Bu Eunseol, after switching identities with Seo Jinha, immediately set out for the Western Regions.
Kwaaaa!
Without even drinking a sip of water, Bu Eunseol unfolded his qinggong relentlessly, heading straight for Red Mountain where Kwangyang Temple lay.
The map Gongsun Hwa-uk gave was highly detailed, but the terrain seemed to have changed slightly over time, with occasional discrepancies. With his Void Heart Command raised, Bu Eunseol had no trouble following the map precisely and locating the deep valley within Red Mountain.
“Hm.”
At the entrance to the valley, a massive boulder bore chaotic characters in Western script.
It likely meant something like “Danger. Do not enter; turn back.”
Ziiing.
As he stepped inside, mist rose everywhere, and a dizzying sensation of heaven and earth inverting assaulted him.
‘It’s a formation derived from Zhuge Wuhou’s Eight Formations Diagram.’
Following the diagrams on the map, Bu Eunseol unraveled the formations one by one.
Yet occasionally, forward progress became impossible.
It felt as though someone had deliberately altered the formation.
‘Has the formation changed on its own?’
Over long periods, the surrounding terrain changes. When that happens, the laid formation can shift as well.
Observing his surroundings, Bu Eunseol advanced calmly, step by step.
Since he possessed perfect formation-breaking knowledge, even a somewhat altered formation could be adapted to and overcome.
Saaaa…
As the mist began to clear, unease crept in.
It felt as though something that should never appear in the world was slowly revealing itself.
When the mist finally lifted completely, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
Before him stood an enormous boulder, roughly three zhang tall.
And embedded deep in its center was an old monk.
His face was covered in grime and soot as though he hadn’t washed in decades, with wild, jutting beard hairs overtaking his features.
Only the shape of his face remained intact; the rest of his body had almost fused with the rock—it was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.
‘Is he dead?’
Even upon approaching, Bu Eunseol felt no sign of life.
Just as he reached out in confusion to infuse Ban-Geuk Method energy,
Flash!
Suddenly, the old monk slowly opened his eyes.
Profound light flickered constantly within those large eyes.
They bore a striking resemblance to the gaze of the Heavenly Emperor he had seen during the Hero’s Monument ceremony long ago.
‘He’s blind.’
Though mysterious light sparkled, there was no focus in the pupils.
The old monk had long since lost his sight.
Bu Eunseol wanted to speak, but his mouth refused to move.
He had thought of countless things on the way here.
Could this be the Western Region lama who stayed at Saha Manor during his childhood?
If not, should he ask whether he knew Baekri Muha?
But at that moment, the old monk’s lips slowly parted.
“You’ve come.”
Astonishingly, though blind, the old monk seemed to sense and recognize Bu Eunseol.
“Do you know me?”
The old monk embedded in the massive boulder gave a faint smile.
“Seeing that you carry the Primordial Hidden Qi this poor monk once transmitted… are you not Geomha?”
Wuuung!
Suddenly, the old monk unfolded his internal energy, sending a gentle breeze across Bu Eunseol’s body.
He nodded as though scrutinizing him from head to toe.
Remarkably, the old monk possessed a special technique that allowed him to use waves of internal energy in place of sight.
“You resemble my sworn brother greatly.”
“Sworn brother?”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and asked again.
“Do you know who I am?”
“How could I not know you?”
The old monk spoke in a calm voice.
“Are you not Baekri Geomha—the son of my sworn brother, Baekri Muha?”
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s eyes trembled violently.
Baekri Geomha.
That had been his true, original name.
Stagger.
The world spun, and strength drained from his legs.
Barely steadying his reeling mind, Bu Eunseol asked again.
“How can you be so certain that I am Baekri Geomha?”
“Because under heaven, the only one to whom this poor monk ever transmitted the Primordial Hidden Qi… was you.”
Primordial Hidden Qi.
The energy that sometimes surged within his mind—so this was the power the old monk had given him?
“Then… who killed my father?”
“The Heavenly Emperor.”
The old monk spoke in a hoarse voice.
“The Heavenly Emperor, Shin Domubi—he was the one who killed your father.”
Thud.
Bu Eunseol’s head felt as though it had split open.
The Heavenly Emperor. The supreme leader of the righteous sects… killed his father?
Dam Jeung had said that the Heavenly Emperor knew the secret of his father’s death—but never that he was the killer.
Yet he was the true culprit?
What did this mean?
Why would the Heavenly Emperor kill his father?
Baekri Muha, known as the greatest secret of the martial world, had been regarded as a righteous martial artist.
‘The successor of the Three Realms.’
The Divine Sage had said that his father Baekri Muha was the successor of the Three Realms.
Then… had he been killed because his status as a righteous man and successor to the Three Realms was exposed?
“He was framed as the Heaven-Dark Star.”
The words slipped out unconsciously.
The Blood Shaolin abbot Dam Jeung had said his father was framed as Heaven-Dark Star and died.
It was an uncharacteristic slip for Bu Eunseol, but in his confusion, he didn’t realize it.
“Indeed.”
The old monk spoke in a wretched voice.
“He drove my sworn brother into being labeled Heaven-Dark Star.”
Darkness swallowed Bu Eunseol’s vision.
The Heaven-Dark Star.
One of the One Hundred and Eight Stars, said to possess the power to destroy the martial world and bring the world to annihilation.
So in the end, it was true.
His father Baekri Muha had died bearing the false accusation of Heaven-Dark Star.
“How… how could they frame him as Heaven-Dark Star?”
“My sworn brother possessed transcendent power capable of destroying the martial world. And above all…”
Pausing, the old monk sighed and shook his head.
“There was no one in the martial world who would not believe the words of the foremost righteous master.”
“The Heavenly Emperor…”
Bloodlust flared in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
At the same time, pitch-black killing intent roiled upward.
“Then… my mother too… was killed by his hand? My entire family?”
“Yes. Your father fought with all his strength, but traces showed that the Heavenly Emperor used every dirty trick and outnumbered him.”
In response to Bu Eunseol’s cry, the old monk spoke hoarsely.
“The Heavenly Emperor, Shin Domubi. That man is not the foremost of the righteous path—he is a demon. He brutally swept Saha Manor clean.”
Round and round.
His head spun and blood seemed to rush to his feet.
In all his years of martial training, he had never once lost strength and fallen to his knees. Even if he lost consciousness, his body had never collapsed from sheer weakness.
But now… he could not endure.
Thump.
In the end, Bu Eunseol dropped to his knees, hands braced against the ground.
“Father… Mother…”
He could barely recall his father’s face, but his mother’s was lost to him.
Only in faint recovered memories… his mother burned like a flame as she died.
And the culprit behind that atrocity… was the Heavenly Emperor!
Bu Eunseol gritted his teeth fiercely.
‘I must regain control.’
There were still mountains of questions left to ask.
He had no time to lose himself in grief.
“How exactly did you survive?”
The old monk asked then.
“We searched everywhere, but found no one.”
“My father placed me in a secret mechanism… and erased all my memories.”
“If your memories were erased, how do you know that?”
Bu Eunseol explained that he had lost all memories but that fragments occasionally resurfaced.
“I see… so that was why…” The old monk spoke in a low voice. “It must have been an unavoidable choice. To keep you alive.”
Taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol asked, “Saha Manor. Was that estate truly where my parents lived?”
“Yes.”
As expected.
That ruined place, Saha Manor, had been his parents’ home—the very place where he was born.
“When this poor monk heard Saha Manor had been attacked, I went there immediately. But it was already in ruins.”
The old monk continued, “Even so, I searched for you for a very long time. Because you were never fated to die young. The star that symbolizes you shone brightly.”
He spoke with difficulty.
“But even after scouring the entire Central Plains, I could not find you. So I came to this place where fengshui flows.”
Taking a deep breath, the old monk said, “This place is most suitable for completing the Unified Qi Manifestation.”
“Unified Qi Manifestation.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize the old monk’s true identity.
“Great Master… you were the sect leader of the Mu Sect.”
The Mu Sect.
A secretive sect that branched off from Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism, practicing unique cultivation methods that granted profound martial arts and dharma power.
In particular, the Mu Sect’s supreme ultimate art, Unified Qi Manifestation, was known as a form of qigong that transcended the limits of Buddhist martial arts—much like Shaolin’s Prajna Great Ability.
“Indeed. This poor monk is Takma.”
The old monk, Takma, gave a faint smile.
“And at your father’s request, I came to the Central Plains to treat you.”
Takma meant “savior of sentient beings” in the Western language, and indeed, as a living Buddha of the West, he had saved countless lives.
He had formed a bond with Baekri Muha, the greatest secret of the martial world, and came to treat his frail son, Baekri Geomha.
“From now on, I will serve the Great Master.”
Bu Eunseol spoke respectfully.
If Takma had been sworn brothers with his father, then he was Bu Eunseol’s great-uncle.
“You should not remain here now.”
But gazing at the distant sky, Takma’s large eyes flashed.
“You must leave this place quickly.”
“What do you mean?”
“This poor monk stayed here to cultivate Unified Qi Manifestation while concealing heavenly secrets. If you remain, my identity will be exposed.”
“If my presence exposes you…”
“Because you are the head of the One Hundred and Eight Stars—the Heavenly-Mandate Star.”
“I… am the head of the One Hundred and Eight Stars?”
Bu Eunseol had always wondered if he himself might be Heaven-Dark Star.
But the head— the Heavenly-Mandate Star?
“Build your strength. And seek out the Heavenly Emperor. He has hidden his true identity and remained concealed within the Central Plains martial world all this time.”
“The Heavenly Emperor is said to be dead. I have seen his corpse.”
Takma’s gaze turned strange.
“How did you confirm that?”
Only then did Bu Eunseol snap back to his senses.
He remembered that he must never reveal he was affiliated with the Martial Alliance.
“While wandering Cheonsan in the past, I discovered a hidden cave with unique mechanisms installed. Inside, I saw the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse.”
“That is a fake.”
Takma said firmly.
“The Heavenly Emperor is alive.”
He gazed at the sky, eyes flashing.
“Go now. If you delay, not only this poor monk but you too will be in danger.”
“Why would I be in danger?”
“Your power as one of the One Hundred and Eight Stars has not yet manifested. But if you remain exposed to the qi here, your tracks will eventually be revealed.”
This place flowed with Great Natural Qi.
If one of the One Hundred and Eight Stars stayed here, it would immediately affect the flow of heavenly secrets.
“It doesn’t matter.” Bu Eunseol said confidently. “I have trained diligently in martial arts. If the Great Master and I join hands, we can repel any enemy.”
“Now is not the time.” Takma’s expression was extremely urgent. “Their forces are unimaginably vast. With your current martial arts, you cannot face them.”
“Who are ‘they’?”
“I do not know. What is certain is that the Three Realms faction and the Heavenly Emperor are one and the same.”
“The Three Realms… and the Heavenly Emperor…”
“Yes. Within three years, I will complete Unified Qi Manifestation and come find you. Until then, build your strength and wait.”
“Great Master.”
“Go. There is no time.”
Takma’s gaze, fixed on the distant sky, was filled with urgency.
With no choice, Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Understood.”
He bowed deeply.
“Please take care of yourself until we meet again.”
“Yes. Let us meet in three years.”
Takma rolled the massive boulder back into place.
Bu Eunseol stared blankly for a moment, then left the valley and swiftly exited Red Mountain.
Boom! Paaaa!
Fearing danger might befall him, Bu Eunseol ran without rest for the time it takes to burn one incense stick.
Szzzzt.
But suddenly, Bu Eunseol halted his movement.
A strange thought had flashed through his mind.
‘Father clearly said he had discarded his power of his own will.’
According to Bu Eunseol’s memories, his father had voluntarily abandoned his power and even cast aside his sword.
So how could he have fought the Heavenly Emperor?
‘Moreover, the Primordial Hidden Qi was not transmitted—it was injected.’
The energy residing near his Baihui point had not been cultivated through any technique.
It had been forcibly injected from outside by someone.
Takma, as sect leader of the Mu Sect and a grandmaster of martial arts, would never confuse the terms “transmitted” and “injected.”
Furthermore, the energy injected into his body was so perfectly concealed that even Bu Eunseol could not detect its traces.
Even when using disharmony, the Primordial Hidden Qi remained completely dormant and unmanifested.
Yet he sensed it immediately?
Even if Takma were the greatest master under heaven, that would be impossible—it simply made no sense.
‘Then he did not identify me through the Primordial Hidden Qi—he already knew who I was.’
In the end, Takma had known in advance that Bu Eunseol would come here.
And that he was the son of Baekri Muha.
‘Fake.’
In that moment, Bu Eunseol realized.
Because he had failed to control his emotions, he had overlooked that Takma was a fake.
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