Gongsun Dankyung blinked.
How could the Martial Venerable allow a private audience so easily?
“In the end, there’s something I don’t know about.”
After the person sent by the Martial Venerable left, Gongsun Dankyung let out a sigh and shook her head.
She could sense it instinctively.
There was some kind of matter between Bu Eunseol and the Martial Venerable—something she wasn’t aware of.
“If I ask, you probably won’t tell me, will you?”
Bu Eunseol hesitated for a moment.
‘Should I at least tell her that the Martial Venerable is also the Divine Mountain Sage?’
The thought crossed his mind.
But he soon shook his head.
No matter what, the Martial Venerable was thoroughly protecting his own identity right now.
If he revealed the shadow behind the Martial Venerable to her… then the Martial Venerable might also end up exposing his true identity to her in turn.
“I only realized it after going to the Snow Blossom Sect.”
Instead, he began speaking in a way that Gongsun Dankyung could accept.
If he offered not even the minimum explanation, the solid relationship they had maintained until now might crumble.
“The mission to retrieve the Ice Crystal Jade… it was the Martial Venerable’s test to see whether I was worth meeting in person.”
“A test?”
“Yes. He probably wanted to confirm whether I was worthy of a direct audience.”
Bu Eunseol explained in detail.
The Martial Venerable had informed the Snow Blossom Sect of his visit in advance, and he already knew what kinds of trials were installed there and what kinds of restrictions were in place.
“Then… you’re saying the venerable elder used the Snow Blossom Sect mission to test Captain Seon’s martial arts?”
“I’m not sure if it was specifically to test my martial arts. However, the Heavenly Yin Ice Wall was structured in such a way that one could never pass through unless they had reached a certain level of martial prowess.”
If one wants to tell a perfect lie, all you need to do is add just one spoonful of “prediction” or “speculation” to the truth.
That way, even if the inside story gets exposed later, it can simply be dismissed as a wrong guess.
“But why would the Martial Venerable want to test Captain Seon’s martial arts?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps he wanted to gauge the depth of my martial foundation… or maybe it was a verification for some future mission.”
After thinking quietly for a moment, Gongsun Dankyung nodded.
“That could be possible.”
In the past, she too had separately tested Bu Eunseol before assigning him missions, to see if he was suitable.
There was nothing particularly surprising about the Martial Venerable doing the same.
“Mmm…”
Gongsun Dankyung swallowed a low groan.
But everything was still just speculation—there was no clear conclusion… Her mind felt foggy and uncertain.
“Very well. In any case, once Captain Seon meets the elder, all the reasons will become clear.”
She took a deep breath and continued.
“They said one hour. The elder’s messenger will probably visit Captain Seon’s office within that time. Please deliver this wooden box to him personally as well.”
“Understood.”
“You may go now.”
Bu Eunseol respectfully clasped his hands together.
“Then—”
As he turned to leave, her voice reached him.
“Captain Seon.”
“Yes?”
When Bu Eunseol turned back, a faint glimmer of emotion flickered in Gongsun Dankyung’s large, clear eyes.
“Be careful.”
The words carried genuine concern and worry.
Gongsun Dankyung.
Wasn’t she originally the type of cold-blooded, ruthless woman who would use any means necessary to achieve her goals?
Yet at this moment, various emotions that had never been visible before were peeking through her eyes.
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed the bewilderment rising in his chest and clasped his hands again.
‘I must not waver.’
Gongsun Dankyung was a person whose resourcefulness and cold-headedness were in no way inferior to his own.
It was entirely possible that even this display of emotion had been calculated.
***
When the hour of the Ox (around 1–3 a.m.) arrived, just as Gongsun Dankyung had predicted, someone visited the office.
‘Not Mu Gyeol.’
He had naturally expected Mu Gyeol to be sent.
But the one who came was a young martial artist dressed in the uniform of the Wind Division—the department that handled all miscellaneous affairs.
“The elder has sent this letter.”
However, the eyes and aura of the man handing over the letter were absolutely not those of an ordinary Wind Division member.
“Mmm.”
When Bu Eunseol opened the letter, it contained only a brief instruction: come to a certain small village far from the Martial Alliance as quickly as possible.
“Thank you.”
After receiving the letter, Bu Eunseol immediately left the Martial Alliance and headed toward the village written on it.
Yet when he arrived at the village entrance, the same young Wind Division member from before was standing there waiting for him.
“Please receive this letter.”
Opening the new letter, this time it showed the location of a lake far from this village.
“Hm.”
Bu Eunseol unfolded his qinggong once more and headed toward the lake.
When he arrived at the lakeside after a long journey, yet another man dressed in Wind Division clothes was standing there holding a letter.
After that, the same thing happened three or four more times.
‘Why go through all this trouble?’
In any case, with Bu Eunseol’s information network, tracking the Martial Venerable’s movements or whereabouts was impossible.
So why bother with such a complicated procedure when it ultimately meant nothing?
‘I see.’
But he soon understood the Martial Venerable’s intention.
He had seen a Wind Division man moving with a movement technique while disguised in clothing similar to his own.
‘He’s trying to shake off any tails following me.’
The Martial Venerable wasn’t trying to toy with Bu Eunseol.
There was always the possibility that someone within the Martial Alliance—or from the Three Realms side—might try to track Seon Woojin’s movements.
If that happened, the Martial Venerable’s own actions could be exposed… so he was eliminating any potential tails that might have attached themselves.
Whoosh—
After continuously using qinggong, Bu Eunseol had already left Henan Province and entered Hubei.
When he finally arrived at a waterfall deep in the mountains, once again he found a young man in Wind Division attire.
‘Go through the underground secret passage beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall?’
Looking down at the letter, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
‘Chief Gongsun…’
Only now did he realize that even Chief Gongsun was among those tails.
‘Of course she would be.’
Gongsun Dankyung was in the Martial Alliance.
Among everyone, she was probably the one who most desperately wanted to know the Martial Venerable’s whereabouts.
Despite having followed his orders for so long, she still didn’t even know where he was.
The moment she heard that Bu Eunseol was meeting the Martial Venerable, she could have immediately mobilized her intelligence network to track his movements.
No—she definitely had.
That was precisely why the Martial Venerable was shaking off the tails of every intelligence organization—including Gongsun Dankyung.
Whoosh—
Bu Eunseol returned to the Martial Alliance.
The night had deepened; the third watch (around 11 p.m.–1 a.m.) had already passed.
He immediately entered the western storage warehouse of the Martial Alliance and used the secret passage to head underground beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall.
‘As expected, nothing is here.’
Unlike before, the stone chamber where the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse had been stored was nowhere to be seen in the passage beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall.
What Gongsun Dankyung said—that she saw nothing here—was not a lie.
‘So unless you enter through Solitary Enlightenment Hall’s secret passage, you can’t see the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin.’
Previously, Bu Eunseol had discovered the hidden secret passage on the first floor of Solitary Enlightenment Hall and had seen the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin containing the Heavenly Emperor’s body.
But entering through the storage warehouse like this…
Not even a trace of the stone chamber where the Heavenly Emperor had been hidden could be found.
‘So this is the final test.’
The Martial Venerable had clearly said he was waiting in the underground mechanism beneath Solitary Enlightenment Hall.
But he was not in this passage.
That meant he was surely waiting in the stone chamber where the Heavenly Emperor’s corpse was kept.
‘Going back up to the first floor of Solitary Enlightenment Hall is impossible.’
The security level of Solitary Enlightenment Hall was beyond imagination, and above all, the terrifying master Mok Do-in, the Pavilion Lord of the Hidden Forest, was always stationed there.
No matter how skilled Bu Eunseol was, he could not deceive Mok Do-in’s super-senses and infiltrate secretly.
‘It reacted to Harmony before.’
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol remembered.
When he had drawn upon the power of Harmony to escape the stone chamber, a new mechanism had opened because of it.
‘I’ll try.’
Oooong—
Bu Eunseol gathered every ounce of strength in his body.
Just as his body felt like it would collapse,
Ziiing—
Finally, the Great Prajna Power flowed out, aligning the energy within him.
Clunk.
Then, on the opposite wall, a hidden door silently appeared.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol stepped inside.
‘As expected.’
Before Bu Eunseol’s eyes appeared the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Jade Coffin radiating cold air.
And on the darkened wall where the jade coffin stood, the shadow of one person could be seen.
His face was obscured by darkness so his features couldn’t be made out, but he wore plain, worn gray robes.
“Are you the Divine Sage himself?”
Then a pair of eyes flashed in the darkness, and the figure slowly walked into the light.
He exuded a sharpness like the edge of a blade, yet at the same time was covered in boundless emptiness like an empty sky. His eyes gleamed with mysterious brilliance, and every inch of exposed skin was covered in spiderweb-like scars.
“Right now, I am the Martial Venerable.”
The one called the greatest sage of the martial world, the Divine Mountain Sage, the one currently standing in place of the supreme righteous master the Heavenly Emperor Shin Domubi…
The strongest among the Three Demons and Three Venerables—Martial Venerable Dan Mok-gi—finally revealed his true appearance.
‘They said he has fought more life-and-death duels than anyone else in the world, enough to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Pavilion Lord…’
Bu Eunseol carefully examined the Martial Venerable’s appearance.
Like the Human Demon Ak Muryeong, it was said that he had risked his life in countless death matches since his youth.
As proof, there was not a single spot on his body that was unscathed.
His shoulders and forearms had protruding bones—clearly broken ones that had healed crookedly without proper treatment.
‘But why does he say he is the Martial Venerable now?’
At that moment, as if reading Bu Eunseol’s inner thoughts, the Martial Venerable murmured softly.
“Because in a seat like this… a mere wandering sage has no place.”
Thump thump thump thump.
His heart was pounding wildly on its own.
Bu Eunseol was clearly looking at the Martial Venerable.
Yet his senses were detecting completely different things.
He couldn’t sense the Martial Venerable’s martial prowess at all, and every time he blinked, it felt as though an entire hour passed in an instant.
Moreover, the appearance he had seen earlier had vanished—now it felt as if an unknown being stood towering before him.
‘Is this the man said to be almost on par with the Demon Emperor?’
The Demon Emperor hid extraordinariness within ordinariness, able to shake or shatter a person’s soul with a single sentence.
And sometimes, from the appearance of an ordinary old man, he would suddenly radiate the terrifying majesty of a demon god descending into the world.
But the Martial Venerable was different.
Merely facing him had neutralized Bu Eunseol’s five senses and even his super-senses.
What he was looking at was not the Martial Venerable—but an empty world, empty nature. After a little more time passed… it transformed into something that could no longer be named.
‘Will I really let my mind be taken like this?’
Fortunately, Bu Eunseol had already experienced the martial might of the supreme demon lord Demon Emperor.
To escape the attack that had instantly plunged his soul into the abyss, he had used the ability of the Nangyang Heart Eye to convert that power into a physical attack, and had received the Demon Emperor’s assault through the Martial Emperor’s True Awakening.
And this time, to reclaim the senses the Martial Venerable had stolen, he deliberately sank his own soul into an endless abyss, deploying the principle of the Emotion-Severing Secret that erases all feelings.
Saaaaah—
A black mist rose around Bu Eunseol’s entire body.
With his physical senses blocked, he unfolded the Wishful True Binding.
Surprisingly, that mist began to replace all the senses he had lost.
The Martial Venerable’s face became clear again, and he could even sense what kind of power the other man was exerting.
Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
Now he understood—the Martial Venerable had applied the Heavenly Emperor’s Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra, disrupting all the energy inside Bu Eunseol’s body and causing him to lose every sense.
“Huh.”
At that moment, a gasp of admiration escaped the Martial Venerable.
“Incredible… I can hardly believe it.”
Shuuuk—
At the same time, the energy that had blocked Bu Eunseol’s senses slowly began to dissipate.
The Martial Venerable had withdrawn the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
“Sado Muryeong… wasn’t he supposed to be a heartless man?” The Martial Venerable’s voice was mixed with various emotions. “If he truly intended to cut off all sprouts… how could he have poured in such deep affection…”
His voice grew so faint that eventually Bu Eunseol could no longer hear what he was saying.
While Bu Eunseol stood dazed, the Martial Venerable spoke in a calm voice.
“If you have something to say, then speak. You came looking for me for that purpose, after all.”
Hearing those words, Bu Eunseol hesitated.
‘Why did you use the identity of the Divine Mountain Sage to manipulate certain sects and individuals?’
‘Did the Heavenly Emperor really kill my parents?’
‘If the Heavenly Emperor is alive, where is he?’
‘Your ultimate goal cannot be protecting the righteous sects, so why are you playing the role of the Heavenly Emperor?’
Thousands of questions flooded his mind, but he couldn’t recklessly voice them.
The man had used his position as the greatest sage of the martial world to manipulate countless sects and people.
If such a person opened his mouth and spoke lies or twisted the truth…
the process of finding answers would only become longer and more complicated.
“You’re cautious.”
The Martial Venerable nodded while looking at Bu Eunseol, who remained silent with a heavy air.
“It’s rare to have such patience and caution at that age.”
Then, with eyes that seemed to see through everything, he spoke.
“If you have nothing to say, then I’ll take my leave.”
Bu Eunseol felt a strange sensation.
The image he had built of the Martial Venerable until now was of a cunning, extremely selfish man with hidden motives who used the identity of the Divine Mountain Sage to manipulate people.
But right now, he gave off the atmosphere of someone completely detached from worldly affairs—almost like the greatest chivalrous hero of the age.
“If I ask, will you answer?” Bu Eunseol spoke in a calm voice. “I no longer have any Boeun Coins left to repay you with.”
“Hohoho.”
The Martial Venerable let out a low chuckle, seemingly finding Bu Eunseol’s words quite amusing.
“Didn’t I tell you? I came here as the Martial Venerable.” In other words—there was no need for any debt of gratitude. “You brought the Ice Crystal Jade, so in return, I shall answer your questions.”
After pausing briefly, he spoke in a low voice.
“As the Martial Venerable.”
Bu Eunseol showed a subtle expression.
He would answer as the Martial Venerable.
Which ultimately meant… he would not answer anything he knew through the identity of the Divine Mountain Sage?
But Bu Eunseol had no choice.
“Then shouldn’t you properly verify who I am first?”
In today’s martial world, many hid their true identities and infiltrated various sects.
The Martial Venerable must have known this fact for a long time and dealt with such people.
Naturally, he should verify Bu Eunseol’s identity properly as well.
“There’s no need for verification.” The Martial Venerable shook his head. “By the fact that you entered this place, your identity is already proven.”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Only those who have stepped into the Limitless Realm can enter this mechanism.”
Once again, a profoundly mysterious light flashed in his eyes.
“Because it reacts only to Infinite Reversal Power.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes sparkled.
He had suppressed the manifestation of Infinite Step Awakening, and the stage of walking the path of the Limitless Realm had disappeared.
But the power of ‘Harmony’… was ultimately closer to the Infinite Reversal Power that masters of the Limitless Realm could wield.
‘If I could use Harmony freely at any time…’
Bu Eunseol forcibly calmed his excited heart.
‘That would mean I could immediately stand shoulder-to-shoulder and compete with the Limitless Realm masters who currently dominate the world.’
If he could freely use Harmony according to his will, instead of forcibly gathering and aligning power, it would be no different from reaching a level where he could freely spar with Limitless Realm masters.
“But I have not reached the Limitless Realm.”
Even to those words, the Martial Venerable’s expression did not change.
“Of course not.” Then, as if peering into Bu Eunseol’s martial realm, he spoke leisurely. “But the Infinite Step Awakening has manifested sufficiently.”
‘Is this the difference between Demonic and Righteous martial arts?’
The essence of righteous martial arts lies in the single character qi.
Therefore, unlike demonic practitioners, righteous martial artists prioritize cultivating internal energy from the beginning when learning martial arts.
Although the Martial Venerable had not examined Bu Eunseol’s martial realm as closely as the Demon Emperor had, he had sensed from the flow of energy within Bu Eunseol’s body alone that Infinite Step Awakening had already occurred.
‘There’s no need to explain my martial realm in detail.’
Bu Eunseol did not pursue the topic further and changed the subject.
“Why did you give me the identity of Seon Woojin?”
There was a mountain of things he wanted to ask the Martial Venerable.
But first he needed to determine whether the man would give truthful answers—and how far he would go in answering as the Martial Venerable.
So Bu Eunseol began with a relatively light question.
“I’m a demonic practitioner.”
“That’s something you should ask the Divine Mountain Sage, isn’t it?”
The identity of Seon Woojin was given by the Divine Mountain Sage.
Since he was now the Martial Venerable, he could not give answers that belonged to the Divine Mountain Sage.
“Then let me ask again.”
Bu Eunseol said, “Why did you allow—and even enable—this fictional character Seon Woojin to shake up the entire Martial Alliance?”
Bu Eunseol changed his approach.
He rephrased the question so that it could be answered by the Martial Venerable, not the Divine Mountain Sage.
“Hohoho.” The Martial Venerable laughed pleasantly and opened his mouth. “I needed someone who could properly adapt and respond to any situation.”
Raising the corner of his mouth, he flicked an eyebrow.
“That’s why, even when the plan was suddenly changed, I allowed it.”
The Martial Venerable spoke as if he and the Divine Mountain Sage were completely separate, independent individuals.
“So you’re saying I was far more suitable than the original candidate.”
“Indeed.”
“You trusted the Divine Mountain Sage’s decision—who judged me worthy with just two gates?”
Once again, Bu Eunseol changed the question into one the Martial Venerable could answer.
“The Divine Mountain Sage unfolding those two gates was merely to confirm that your spirit had entered the neutral path. It had nothing to do with trust.”
The Martial Venerable’s gaze grew sharper as he continued.
“I was simply confirming something else.”
“If I was the Heaven-Dark Star, you mean?”
“You already knew.”
The Martial Venerable’s eyes narrowed.
With just that one sentence from Bu Eunseol, he had inferred many things.
“You met Dam Jeung.”
‘I must not admit it.’
Dam Jeung had said the Heavenly Emperor was alive.
Which meant the Martial Venerable was hiding something.
Admitting that he had met Dam Jeung right now would be a mistake.
“The one called Heavenly Deity said that.” Bu Eunseol spoke firmly. “He said I was Heaven-Dark Star.”
“The Heavenly Deity… was it.” The Martial Venerable’s eyes shone mysteriously. “Strange. That would mean Heavenly Deity displayed enough power to arouse such suspicion.”
After looking Bu Eunseol up and down, he spoke in a low voice.
“Did he perhaps push your soul into the abyss… and you escaped from it?”
A chill ran down Bu Eunseol’s spine.
Only then did he truly realize:
Even a single word spoken carelessly to this man was dangerous.
If the Demon Emperor could destroy an enemy’s soul without saying a single word…
Then the Martial Venerable could infer hundreds of facts from a single sentence spoken by his enemy.
His shadow was the greatest sage of the martial world.
He absolutely could not afford to make a slip of the tongue.
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