Kwaaaaaaaa!
With this level of power, the garden should have been completely flattened, and everything around it should have evaporated into nothingness.
But something miraculous happened.
The energy capable of destroying the entire world suddenly compressed, and instead of scattering everywhere—it coiled solely around the Demon Emperor’s body.
Kwaaaaa!
Yet the Demon Emperor stood completely calm, as if nothing had happened.
Even that terrifying power could not invade his body.
Kwaaaaa!
The colossal force of the Thirteen Guiding Energies, raging like ferocious evil dragons as it devoured him, eventually soared away into the distant sky.
“Hmm.”
Looking in the direction where the Thirteen Guiding Energies had vanished, a faint light of emotion finally appeared in the Demon Emperor’s pupils for the first time.
It seemed like joy… and at the same time, like a trace of regret.
He had realized that within what Bu Eunseol unfolded, there was a faint mixture of orthodox martial principles.
However, because the root was still unraveled through the profound mystery of Nangyang martial purification via the Nangyang Heart Eye, he could not precisely identify the exact origin of that martial art.
Whiiiing.
A death-like silence flowed.
The Demon Emperor was savoring the enormous power Bu Eunseol had created, now flying off into the distant sky.
That power had transcended the principles of martial arts—it was the Heaven-Splitting Desolate Emperor force capable of destroying the world, and at the same time, the power of regeneration capable of restoring a ruined world.
“Did you obtain some kind of fortunate encounter?”
When the Demon Emperor asked, Bu Eunseol steadied his breathing and slowly answered.
“While wandering here and there… I happened to come across it by chance.”
“That is indeed one of the greatest pleasures of walking the martial world.”
Even though just moments ago they had poured out every ounce of their martial essence as if trying to kill each other, the conversation that followed was utterly peaceful.
“I have learned well.”
Bu Eunseol clasped his hands together with the same unchanged expression as before.
“Continue to strive forward.” The Demon Emperor spoke calmly. “Walking a path no one else has taken is somewhat difficult. But if you reach that destination, you may achieve a new era—a miraculous new beginning that no one else has ever reached.”
He had already guessed that Bu Eunseol was carving out an independent martial realm of his own.
“I will keep it in mind.”
“You may go.”
Bu Eunseol politely clasped his hands once more and turned away.
Originally, if he survived, he had planned to ask the Demon Emperor many things.
How much of my life history do you really know?
Are you involved in my father’s death?
How did you come to know my father?
Who was it that killed my grandfather Bu Zhanyang?
Was the fake Great Monk Takma I encountered in the Western Regions… actually you yourself?
But he asked nothing.
Even if he asked, there would be no answer.
And more importantly, he could no longer believe anything the Demon Emperor said.
If he fabricated information about Grandfather or Father?
That would only make discovering the truth take even longer.
All truth must be found by oneself.
Just as he had always taught.
‘As expected…’
And from this incident, he had now become completely certain.
‘He too… is my enemy.’
That the Demon Emperor was also his enemy.
No—in the martial world, everyone you met was either a friend or nothing more than an enemy.
And in the end… the Demon Emperor was also an opponent he would have to defeat.
‘I must climb higher, faster.’
Bu Eunseol looked up at the distant sky.
In truth, he had felt slightly confident this time.
No matter how great the Demon Emperor’s martial arts were, he thought that at the very least, his own spirit could never be broken, and in the worst case, he could at least withdraw his body.
But the Demon Emperor’s martial realm had already surpassed what could be called the Limitless Realm.
It was an indescribable state: “Endlessly continuing, beyond naming.” In other words, endlessly extending onward, reaching a distant realm that could no longer even be given a name.
Grip.
As Bu Eunseol clenched his fist tightly, a searing heat that could melt iron blazed in his pupils.
‘Then I shall possess the power to place restrictions upon such a realm.’
If the Demon Emperor had reached an infinite realm beyond even measurement, then there was no need to chase after him.
He resolved instead to create a power capable of imposing limits upon that immeasurable, distant realm.
***
Meanwhile, the Demon Emperor looked at the garden—unchanged from before—and muttered lowly.
“Indeed… it is on a completely different track from the Limitless Realm.”
The power Bu Eunseol had unleashed had already stepped outside the boundaries of the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
Yet it was not the Limitless Realm either.
If it truly were Limitless Realm martial arts, then the moment such power was unleashed, not only the garden but the entire surrounding area should have been utterly devastated.
But the force Bu Eunseol poured out had targeted only him—completely and precisely.
“And moreover, it is an ultimate technique that does not exist in the current martial world.”
The Demon Emperor realized that the martial art Bu Eunseol had used was not something created or practiced in the present era but an absolute martial technique invented in the previous generation, the generation before that, or even further back.
“A martial art that even this seat cannot recognize…”
He was certain: there was no martial art in existence that he could not recognize.
It must have been cleverly concealed through some ingenious method.
Shaking his head, he looked up at the distant sky.
“And yet he is still obsessed only with martial techniques.”
For the first time, a flicker of emotion appeared in the Demon Emperor’s eyes.
“Is the manifestation of the Heavenly-Mandate Star’s power still far away?”
He had waited far too long.
Lowering his gaze back to the water jar, his eyes grew infinitely deep.
“How long and tiresome this is.”
Even a thousand-day dry meditation would not be this agonizing.
“The sooner that power manifests… the sooner this seat can take it for myself.”
The Demon Emperor.
He had long predicted that the Heavenly-Mandate Star’s power lay dormant within Bu Eunseol… and the moment it manifested, he was fully prepared to seize it immediately.
“If I can just obtain the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star, I can sweep away all those damned bastards once and for all.”
The Demon Emperor looked up at the distant sky once more.
“If stimulation is lacking…”
If stimulation was lacking, then perhaps directly poking at it once would be a good method.
***
Yeop Hyocheon, who held the position of Chief Instructor, had always managed the overall affairs of Majeon in place of the Demon Emperor, who was frequently in seclusion.
His main duty was to ensure that the various organizations within Majeon did not clash with one another, to smoothly mediate friction between them, and, in accordance with Majeon’s rules, to resolve all matters fairly and rationally.
Suppressed Demon Pavilion, grand conference room.
The expressions of all the captains—except for Bu Eunseol—were extremely poor.
Because an utterly absurd order had come down from Yeop Hyocheon.
—The Death Shadow Corps is to head to the Eumgyeol Demon Territory and retrieve the head of the Dragon Gate Pavilion, which is in charge of cultivating the Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
It was a somewhat random command.
Until now, Yeop Hyocheon had never once proactively issued missions or interfered in the tasks of the various organizations.
Because his position was not Vice-Sect Lord—it was Chief Instructor.
He existed solely to manage and oversee all organizations within Majeon.
Yet this time, he had issued a direct order and directly to the Death Shadow Corps, no less.
It was practically an order of self-destruction.
The Iron Hammer-Hard Men.
They were demonic humanoids created in the Eumgyeol Demon Territory—one of the Four Great Demonic Regions—and were said to rival the Soul-Returning Golden Corpses once created by the Zhangxiang Sect.
Their number was a full five hundred.
If one wished to deal with them, it would require not only the Death Shadow Corps, but the entire combat force of Majeon.
But if that were all, the Death Shadow Corps would have accepted the mission with a laugh.
Because within the Death Shadow Corps was Bu Eunseol, who had reached the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
With his outstanding mercenary tactics and overwhelming martial prowess, such a numerical disadvantage could be sufficiently overcome—it was not an utterly impossible mission.
But then the Chief Instructor issued yet another absurd command.
—Martial Soul Command Lord. You are to go to the Blood Cult and negotiate terms regarding their advance into the Central Plains.
The Blood Cult was a faction that primarily used sorcery with strong religious coloration.
They had long coveted the Central Plains, and had even established a branch called the Blood Yin Cult near Lake Dongting. However, because the Blood Yin Cult’s scale was not large and its influence on the Central Plains martial world was minimal, they had been left alone.
Still, both orthodox and demonic factions were extremely sensitive to their movements.
And yet Yeop Hyocheon had ordered the Martial Soul Command Lord, Bu Eunseol himself, to personally go to the Blood Cult, negotiate with the Blood Cult Leader, and obtain a promise that they would not advance into the Central Plains.
—Tomorrow. Execute immediately.
Without even time to gather information on the Blood Cult’s movements through intelligence organizations or study methods for smooth negotiation, he was to depart immediately tomorrow, at the same time as the Death Shadow Corps?
What kind of absurd command was this?
Even more shocking was the notice that followed.
—If either of these two missions fails, maintaining the position of Martial Soul Command Lord will require re-approval.
To put it extremely bluntly: Half of the martial artists belonging to Majeon were affiliated with the Ten Demonic Sects, and Bu Eunseol was on extremely bad terms with them.
If a re-approval process for the Martial Soul Command Lord position were to take place again?
Except for Nangyang, the Affectionate Blossom Sect, and the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect, the rest of the Ten Demonic Sects would roll up their sleeves and do everything in their power to drive him out.
Because such consecutive orders had been issued, an emergency captains’ meeting was urgently convened in the Suppressed Demon Pavilion.
Inside the conference room were not only the captains of the Death Shadow Corps, but also Soyo, the Protector Tak Ilhon, the Death Spirit Corps Lord Mu Heon, and even Seo Jinha, who had been wandering the martial world under the identity of Seon Woojin.
“This is an utterly nonsensical order.”
The first to break the heavy silence was Yoo Unryong.
“Ordering the Death Shadow Corps’s warriors alone to handle the Eumgyeol Demon Territory is already absurd—and then telling the Lord to go alone to the Blood Cult Leader outside the Central Plains to negotiate by himself in the meantime?”
He shook his head repeatedly, “There is something wrong with this command.”
Then Wi Cheongyeong spoke up.
“He’s right. Moreover, hasn’t the Chief Instructor never once issued a direct order before? He doesn’t even have the authority to do so.”
The captains of the Death Shadow Corps had already clearly understood the limitations of the Chief Instructor position through Bu Eunseol.
How could he issue such an unreasonable command?
Now that the Demon Emperor had returned, they could even restrain him for overstepping his authority.
“Command Lord, you must request a private audience with the Demon Emperor. That is the only way.”
At Wi Cheongyeong’s words, Bu Eunseol spoke.
“It is not a mistake. It is the Demon Emperor’s command.”
“The Demon Emperor’s command? What do you mean by that?”
“The Demon Emperor issued the order through the Chief Instructor.”
After taking a deep breath, he continued, “Since I challenged the Demon Emperor, naturally I must bear the consequences.”
In that instant, it felt as though a freezing cold wind swept through the conference room.
“A challenge… to the Demon Emperor…?”
After a long silence, Yoo Unryong was the one to speak again.
“What in the world does that mean?”
When he asked in a trembling voice, Bu Eunseol answered as if it were no big deal.
“The moment I returned to Majeon, I went straight to the Sacred Demon Hall. And I asked the Demon Emperor to teach me a single bout.”
“Teach you… a single bout.”
A heavy silence fell over the conference room.
The Demon Emperor’s authority was absolute.
So absolute that one must never offend his mood, and one could not even show an irreverent expression in his presence.
Yet right in front of that absolute being, he had casually demanded—like some black street thug—“teach me a single bout”?
That was literally nothing less than a direct frontal challenge to the Demon Emperor’s authority.
“So… did you actually receive a single bout of instruction?”
“Yes.” After taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol’s gaze darkened infinitely. “The Demon Emperor’s martial realm has already stepped outside the boundaries of what we call the Limitless Realm. Perhaps… he has reached an entirely new realm beyond the Limitless Realm.”
It was a shocking statement.
The martial world had continued generation after generation, achieving brilliant developments in martial arts and the supreme masters who reached the pinnacle had clearly defined the limits and stages of martial arts.
The Limitless Realm.
That was designated as the farthest edge a human could possibly reach.
In the current martial world, a great number of absolute masters who stood in that rank had appeared.
Yet even so, the term “Limitless Realm” could not fully describe them.
There was a world of difference between merely stepping into that realm and fully mastering it.
The reason the Orthodox and Demonic Dual Emperors became the sky of both orthodox and demonic martial worlds was because they were said to have reached the extreme pinnacle of the Limitless Realm—a limit beyond which no further progress was possible.
And yet… the Demon Emperor had finally broken through even the human limit known as the pinnacle of martial arts?
“Then… are you saying the Demon Emperor has reached the Heaven’s Will Realm?”
At Wi Cheongyeong’s question, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“The Heaven’s Will Realm is a realm that exists only in imagination. Therefore, no one knows what would happen if someone reached it. But one thing is certain…”
After another deep breath, Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
“I poured out every martial technique I possessed and barely managed to convert the Demon Emperor’s mental attack into a materialized physical one. But in the end, my body was dominated… and all I could do was escape that attack.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed a groan.
“In short—the most I could accomplish was barely blocking a single gesture of the Demon Emperor’s hand.”
Once again, a death-like silence filled the conference room.
Bu Eunseol’s martial arts transcended age and generation, allowing him to already stand shoulder to shoulder with the supreme masters who ruled the current age.
Yet he had nearly died from a single move of the Demon Emperor, and had barely clung to life?
The Demon Emperor was the Demon Emperor.
In the end, he was the sky and absolute ruler of the demonic path and no one could defy him. Anyone who challenged his authority was inevitably put to death.
—So the fact that the Command Lord barely survived… means that the Demon Emperor showed him mercy?
While the captains looked at each other with utterly shocked expressions,
“Idiots.”
At that moment, Yoo Unryong sighed and spoke.
“Do you fools really think the Demon Emperor showed mercy and spared the Command Lord’s life?”
His words were met with heavy silence in the room.
Unable to answer, they were essentially affirming it through silence.
“Whether the Demon Emperor held back or not is one thing but he absolutely did not show mercy to the Command Lord.”
At Yoo Unryong’s words, the captains wore dazed expressions before letting out soft realizations.
Mercy.
That word did not exist in the Demon Emperor’s vocabulary.
“And how many people in the martial world do you think could block even a single move from the supreme demonic lord who has reached the extreme limit of the Limitless Realm?”
At Yoo Unryong’s words, the captains’ eyes widened.
—That’s right!
Now that he thought about it, Bu Eunseol had said that he somehow managed to convert the Demon Emperor’s mental attack into a physical one.
Didn’t that mean Bu Eunseol himself had stepped into the Heaven-Human Boundary—reaching the level where he could instantly create new martial principles?
“It was merely that my sect’s Mind’s Eye was activated.”
Though Bu Eunseol shook his head under the heated gazes of the room, the captains wore expressions of pure joy.
Since the birth of the martial world, how many people had ever stepped into the Heaven-Human Boundary?
In effect, Bu Eunseol had already transcended the limits of the human body and mind, reaching the Limitless Realm.
“Congratulations!”
Wi Cheongyeong rose from his seat and clapped his hands; the other captains followed with startled yet reverent expressions, clapping their hands as well.
“Congratulations, Command Lord!”
The captains were so excited they looked ready to dance with joy.
But Bu Eunseol poured cold water over them once again.
“No.”
“...What?”
Bu Eunseol firmly shook his head.
“I have not reached the Limitless Realm.”
“Come on—are you saying the Demon Emperor went easy on you? That doesn’t make any sense!” Won Semun shook his head in disbelief.
Even if the Demon Emperor favored Bu Eunseol to an extreme degree, he was not the type of person to forgive someone who challenged his authority. If he had shown leniency, then he would no longer be the Demon Emperor.
“That’s not what I mean. What I’m saying is that right now, I have not ascended to the Limitless Realm.”
At that moment, Seo Jinha spoke with a grave expression.
“It’s not that he couldn’t reach it—but that he refused.”
The captains blinked again in confusion.
Who in the world would refuse to ascend to the Limitless Realm when they had the chance?
“What do you mean by that?” Won Semun’s eyes bulged like saucers. “Are you saying… the Command Lord deliberately refused to ascend to the Limitless Realm?”
“Probably.” Seo Jinha looked at Bu Eunseol and asked again. “Isn’t that right?”
Then Tak Ilhon, who had been listening silently, suddenly stood up in disbelief, eyes wide, and asked, “Is that true, Command Lord?”
“Yes, it is.”
Bu Eunseol answered nonchalantly.
“The Infinite Ascension Manifestation appeared several times, but no matter how much I thought about it, it did not feel like my path, so I suppressed it.”
“Uwaaaah!”
“Huuuuh!”
Won Semun and Jo Namcheon, who had been quietly listening, clutched their heads and screamed at the same time.
“What are you saying, Command Lord?!”
“My god—deliberately refusing to ascend to the Limitless Realm? Why in the world would you do such a thing?!”
The manifestation of the Infinite Ascension meant that one had already discovered the path that would inevitably lead to the Limitless Realm someday.
Moreover, Bu Eunseol was not even thirty years old yet.
If the Infinite Ascension had already begun now?
It meant that someday, he might even surpass all the current supreme masters of the martial world.
Yet he had kicked that possibility away himself? What did that even mean?
“Indeed…”
But Tak Ilhon nodded heavily, as if realizing something, then suddenly stood up and clasped his hands.
And in an unexpectedly formal tone, he spoke with utmost respect.
“Command Lord, from now on, I would like you to speak to me informally and treat me as a subordinate.”
“What are you suddenly saying?”
“From the beginning, wasn’t I your old servant? The position of Protector was something I maintained only because of your consideration.” He spoke earnestly. “But now, I would like to serve you properly as a servant.”
Tak Ilhon wore an utterly serious expression.
“Will you please allow it?”
Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh.
To become a servant meant to become a lifelong retainer of one household. And as a retainer… one could learn one or two of the household’s secret martial techniques.
Tak Ilhon’s seniority and position had previously prevented him from receiving martial instruction from Bu Eunseol.
But if he became a servant?
From now on, he would be able to learn martial arts directly from Bu Eunseol.
He was willing to serve for life if it meant receiving martial teachings from him.
“Protector Tak truly is greedy.”
In the end, Bu Eunseol spoke to him informally.
That was his acknowledgment of accepting Tak Ilhon as his retainer.
“Thank you, Command Lord.”
Tak Ilhon joyfully clasped his hands together.
But Won Semun, still unable to understand the situation, blinked in confusion.
“Protector Tak… is becoming the Command Lord’s servant really something to be this happy about?”
“You idiot.” Jo Namcheon scolded him. “Right now, the Protector is thrilled because he’s becoming the Command Lord’s vassal and can finally receive proper teachings.”
“Teachings?”
When Won Semun still looked confused, Wi Cheongyeong explained.
“Right now, the Command Lord has discarded the Limitless Realm and is walking an entirely new path. If this attempt succeeds… the Command Lord will reach a new realm so profound that even the Limitless Realm will seem trivial.”
Only then did Won Semun finally understand the full picture, and his eyes widened.
There were countless strange and marvelous people in the martial world, but those who could reach the Limitless Realm were a chosen few divine beings.
The moment the Infinite Ascension manifested, it was already predestined that Bu Eunseol would soon reach the Limitless Realm.
But now he was deliberately walking an entirely new path from this point forward… and if he succeeded?
He could reach a new realm that would make the existing Limitless Realm look like child’s play.
Gulp.
As Won Semun swallowed hard,
“Eh?”
He suddenly let out a loud exclamation.
If Bu Eunseol truly reached such a realm… something incomparably terrifying would happen.
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