“Martial Soul Command Lord!”
Seeing him fall, Yeon Soha tried to rush forward in shock, but Namgung Sea held her back.
“Young Palace Master, you mustn't!”
“But, he fell down there…!”
“He will be fine,” Namgung Sea said calmly. “It seems the Founder of this palace made arrangements so that one could descend below by using the Wild Spirit Banner.”
Just as she said, Bu Eunseol’s body, enveloped in brilliance, was not falling rapidly. Instead, he was descending slowly into the darkness, appearing like a transcendent being.
“Did the Founder of our palace truly want him?” Yeon Jami narrowed her eyes.
It was known that the Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace was the manifestation of Yohee, the daughter of Shennong, into the human world.
In other words, she possessed such mystical abilities that legends claimed a goddess had borrowed a human form. Perhaps she had predicted the distant future and selected a person capable of carrying on her will.
“Indeed, if she had intended this for the disciples of our palace, she would not have mentioned five hundred years of internal power,” Yeon Jami sighed.
As the Palace Master, she had never been able to understand the existence of the Immortal Crane Annex.
No matter how hard one practiced the martial arts of the Divine Maiden Palace, there was simply no way to obtain a terrifying internal reserve of five hundred years from the start. She had thought the Founder placed such a restriction to bar her own disciples from entering, but it turned out the intent was to draw in an outsider who met those specific, extraordinary conditions.
“I suppose all of this is destiny.”
Yeon Jami, the leader of this mysterious sect, had also begun to believe in the existence of fate.
***
‘Did she want someone with the Four Gods’ Energy rather than standard internal power?’
Holding the Wild Spirit Banner, Bu Eunseol felt a sense of doubt. The suction force emanating from the artifact did not crave Original True Qi; was it not incessantly demanding the Two Gods’ Energy?
‘That means she wanted the Four Gods’ Energy from the beginning.’
If so, why did Yohee, the Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace, leave word that only one with five hundred years of internal power could use this divine object?
Furthermore, the Four Gods’ Energy had absolutely nothing to do with the Divine Maiden Palace. Why create an artifact that required such specific energy?
Zing.
Meanwhile, the light poured from the Wild Spirit Banner obscured Bu Eunseol’s vision, and the surrounding scenery gradually vanished. Soon, the entire world was filled with a pure white light.
“…”
When Bu Eunseol opened his eyes again, he was momentarily flustered. He was standing in an empty space where nothing existed.
‘This is no illusion.’
He intuitively felt that he had actually moved somewhere, rather than the scenery being a result of soul-stealing techniques or a mental strike.
“How strange.”
There was nothing in sight; only an endless space stretched out before him. It felt as if everything had disappeared and he had become the sole existing being in the universe.
He moved his feet, but there was no flow of air, nor even the sound of a footstep. This place was so infinitely quiet and desolate that it felt as though it were a projection of his own mental world. However, strange occurrences continued to happen.
Tap. Tap.
With every step he took, his body grew heavier.
It felt as if each step was a walk toward the end of his life. As he moved forward, his body aged, and a strange sense of reminiscence stirred within his heart.
Yet, Bu Eunseol did not stop walking.
Life had been given to him. Humans were beings who, despite feeling joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, and despite undergoing birth, aging, sickness, and death, had no choice but to move forward.
Thump.
Finally, he reached the end of the path. Two doors stood there.
The door on the left was surrounded by light. As he approached it, he felt as if he could see a world filled with boundless dreams and hope. If he entered there, it seemed an abundant and beautiful life—everything a human could experience—would unfold.
‘Hmm.’
Bu Eunseol turned his gaze toward the door on the right. It was stained infinitely black. It felt as though it were filled with trials, despair, and danger.
‘Extreme.’
Neither door represented the true life of a human. A human life is not filled only with dreams and hope, nor does it consist solely of sadness and despair. Life is a mixture of all those things. Depending on how one lives, one can live hopefully even in despair, or fall into despair even in a hopeful situation.
‘Is this asking me to choose the place I wish to observe?’
Bu Eunseol sensed that the two doors were not mere passages but a test. After a moment of thought, he walked toward the black-stained door on the right.
If both doors were filled with falsehoods? He felt that the place containing despair and sadness was at least more truthful.
As he stepped inside, the scenery he saw was a world slowly announcing its extinction.
The sun shining upon the earth no longer wore its golden raiment. Darkness had swallowed the world, and every time the wind blew, everything that existed turned to dust and scattered.
The traces of humans who had lived prosperous lives had completely vanished, leaving only endless ruins stretching out like a heavy silence.
‘Is this the end of the world?’
Walking slowly, Bu Eunseol calmly observed the world that had reached its end. A ruined world was not as desperate or horrific as he had imagined.
From his perspective, it was merely somewhat quiet and lonely.
“Is it simply that everything returns to nothingness?”
As he walked and observed calmly, a door appeared. Upon opening it, he saw a small village surrounded by grand mountains.
Flowers were in full bloom, trees were lush, and a small waterfall of clear water flowed.
It was a scenery like a peach blossom spring where transcendents might live.
As if possessed, Bu Eunseol entered the village.
When he reached the waterfall, he saw a small cave. Entering the cave, a soft light illuminated the interior.
Directly ahead, a beautiful woman sat solemnly in a lotus position. Upon closer inspection, it was an exquisitely crafted stone statue.
It appeared to be a statue of Yohee, the Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace.
However, her expression and form were so vivid that it was as if one were looking at a living person.
“I have entered the secret grounds of the Divine Maiden Palace without permission.”
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully to the statue. Even though he had used the Wild Spirit Banner to help, he felt it was somewhat rude to be the first person to enter these grounds, which had never been opened, and stand before the Founder's statue.
Rumble.
As Bu Eunseol showed his respect, a low vibration emanated from the statue, and one of the walls turned smooth. Simultaneously, with a rustling sound, characters carved into the stone wall were revealed.
—O Heavenly-Mandate Star, the seeking star of the martial world, protector against the True Demon, and possessor of both the power of the Four Gods and the Great Primordial Energy. I have waited for you for a long time.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes grew wider as he read the characters. Surprisingly, this was a secret cave created by Yohee for the Heavenly-Mandate Star who would appear in the future.
The characters were being carved into the wall very slowly.
Because a descendant of the Divine Maiden Palace might open this residence instead of the Heavenly-Mandate Star, the restriction of five hundred years of internal power had been set.
It was written that, in reality, it would only open for one who possessed both the Four Gods’ Energy and the Great Yeon Energy.
“Is such a thing even possible?”
Bu Eunseol’s mouth hung open.
To leap across hundreds of years of time to predict when the person who would open the residence would appear, what level their power would reach, and to prepare such mechanisms and a cave for them?
Furthermore, he only possessed the Two Gods’ Energy. He didn't even have the Great Primordial Energy. How could the mechanism have reacted?
‘Could it be because of the mixed energies?’
Within Bu Eunseol’s body flowed internal power exceeding five hundred years, the Two Gods’ Energy, and the combined forces of righteous, unorthodox, demonic, and Buddhist paths. Perhaps the mechanism had reacted by chance due to that complex, tangled power.
“She truly might have been a half-deity.”
Born in Mount Mu and settled there, she was said to have made mysterious medicines and treated the common people under the name Goddess of Mount Mu.
To predict the future hundreds of years later, build this residence, and even leave a message on a stone wall for the destined one? Was she truly the manifestation of Yohee, the daughter of Shennong?
—By the time you read these words, the Great Calamity will have arrived, and the end will have begun.
Incredible and shocking sentences continued to be carved into the stone wall.
It spoke of a being who was the pure evil and demon that had conceived the Demon Cult. That Immaculate Evil was constantly reborn even after death, appearing incessantly in the martial world.
‘Was "True Demon" just a symbolic term?’
Except for the first line, the text on the wall referred to the being as Demon and Evil. Reading the words, Bu Eunseol spoke aloud.
“What?”
It said that the being was repeating the cycle of reincarnation while retaining all memories of past lives.
“Reincarnating continuously with all past life memories?”
Bu Eunseol was stunned. If one were born repeatedly with all past memories, how vast would their accumulated knowledge be, and what deep enlightenment and wisdom could they attain?
—But where there is Yin, there must be Yang. When that Demon recovers power and memories from the Heaven-Dark Star, a divine person will also be born to oppose him… That person is you, the Heavenly-Mandate Star.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened to the point of tearing. If the words on the wall were true, the Heaven-Dark Star was another expression for that pure Demon, and he was the Heavenly-Mandate Star born to oppose him.
“Did the Heavenly Deity truly misjudge me?”
The Heavenly Deity had said he was born with the fate of the Heaven-Dark Star.
However, Takma, the lama from the Western Regions whom he suspected to be a fake, had called him the Heavenly-Mandate Star.
If the stone wall was correct, he was definitely not the Heaven-Dark Star. This was because the Heaven-Dark Star was linked to the pure Demon who founded the Demon Cult and was accumulating power and wisdom through continuous reincarnation.
“What a relief.”
Bu Eunseol let out an exclamation mixed with relief and exhaustion.
The Heavenly Deity was wrong.
He was not the Heaven-Dark Star.
—The Demon, having identified the sages who knew this truth and his adversary, the Heavenly-Mandate Star, who could threaten him, framed them as the Heaven-Dark Star who would destroy the martial world, and had them killed.
Instantly, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flared.
If so, did that mean his father, Baekri Muha, was born as the Heavenly-Mandate Star, and that devilish being framed him as the Heaven-Dark Star and killed him?
Did that mean Moryun, the Dharma Seeker and prophet of the previous generation, was also toyed with by that devil?
—I realized that this Immortal Crane Annex is the last hope of the martial world. However, awakening the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star is a very difficult task. Therefore, I have created the Path of Enveloping Light here to immediately awaken that power. But fearing that those who are not the Heavenly-Mandate Star might intrude, I have also created the Shadow Overlap Path beside it. Those who are not the Heavenly-Mandate Star will inevitably choose the Shadow Overlap Path…
‘What?’
More unbelievable sentences were carved into the wall. This residence was an arrangement to immediately awaken the power of one born as the Heavenly-Mandate Star. And in case someone other than the Heavenly-Mandate Star entered, she had created the Shadow Overlap Path. It claimed that anyone who was not the Heavenly-Mandate Star would be unable to avoid choosing the Shadow Overlap Path, and the moment they entered, their spirit would be destroyed, trapping them forever in a prison of the mental world from which they could never escape.
“What on earth does this mean?”
Bu Eunseol felt dizzy.
According to Yohee’s prophecy, the Heavenly-Mandate Star must choose the Path of Enveloping Light, and everyone else would be forced into the Shadow Overlap Path—a prison and overlapping world of imagery that shatters the spirit.
And Bu Eunseol had chosen the Shadow Overlap Path, not the Path of Enveloping Light.
“But…”
Even though he had entered the Shadow Overlap Path, his spirit hadn't suffered a single blow; he had passed through it leisurely, as if watching someone else's dream.
“Those things were nothing to me.”
Unlike the words on the wall, what he saw in the Shadow Overlap Path was merely a quiet and desolate landscape of the end. There had been no particular spiritual damage.
“What is this…”
Bu Eunseol’s head spun. One thing was certain: according to the arrangements of this residence, he was ultimately neither the Heavenly-Mandate Star nor the Heaven-Dark Star.
Scratch, scratch.
Then, more unbelievable words began to be carved.
—Having walked the Path of Enveloping Light, you must have already realized your destiny and awakened all the latent power within your body. Since you are the last hope of this world, please…
Reading the words, Bu Eunseol wore an expression full of futility and confusion.
“It’s wrong.”
The person entering this place was supposed to be the Heavenly-Mandate Star, and their power was supposed to be awakened through the Path of Enveloping Light.
Yohee’s prophecy was entirely wrong, and he had instead broken the arrangement of the residence.
“This was a mental world and her arrangement to awaken the sleeping power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star… but in the end, the prophecy is completely wrong.”
Yohee was not a goddess after all; she was just a prophet who had misread the heavenly secrets.
Shhh.
Finally, a request was carved for the destined one, the Heavenly-Mandate Star: to slay the immortal Demon who exists through generations with memories of reincarnation and save the world.
Flash!
As soon as Bu Eunseol finished reading everything, the characters on the wall began to glow like stars in the sky. Soon, they turned into a brilliant light, rose into the air, and vanished into the distant sky. Looking back down, the stone wall had returned to being a smooth surface.
Rumble.
At the same time, two doors were created on the opposite side. One looked like a library filled with martial arts manuals, and the other was an exit. It seemed to mean that since he had awakened the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star, he should now leave.
“Did I ruin everything?”
Yohee’s prophecy had failed, and Bu Eunseol had unwittingly become the person who ruined her arrangement. After a moment of thought, he bowed to the statue of Yohee and said:
“I apologize for unintentionally breaking your arrangement. I will convey these details to various sects of the martial world, including the Divine Maiden Palace.”
Unlike before, the statue of Yohee looked solemn and seemed to hold some dissatisfaction. It was as if she were telling him not to reveal such facts to the outside world.
Gulp.
Swallowing hard, Bu Eunseol folded his hands again.
“…Then only the Divine Maiden Palace and I shall know.”
At those words, her gaze seemed to soften slightly. However, she still didn't seem satisfied, as if her brow were furrowed—as if asking, ‘Do you not have more to say?’
“If I am still alive after completing all my revenge…”
Bu Eunseol had no choice but to say this.
“I will certainly try to stop that being.”
Only then did the statue of Yohee relax its stiff expression and seem to carry a faint smile, as if she had been waiting for those words.
Rumble.
Simultaneously, the mechanism activated, and the statue of Yohee slowly sank into the ground. Bu Eunseol watched the statue disappear before entering the exit on the opposite side. Judging by the slope, it seemed to be a passage leading back up.
“To think she made such a paradise down here.”
As he ascended the passage, Bu Eunseol realized the Immortal Crane Annex was built dozens of feet underground. At the end of the passage, another door appeared.
Rumble.
When he opened the door and stepped out, he saw the bridge where the Wild Spirit Banner was meant to be placed. It turned out the place Bu Eunseol had entered was inside the large door that had been closed across the bridge.
Yeon Jami was gone, but Yeon Soha and Namgung Sea were standing across the bridge.
“My Lord!”
As soon as Yeon Soha saw Bu Eunseol, she burst into tears and ran toward him. With a face full of worry and eyes brimming with tears, she cried out.
“Are you okay? What happened?”
Bu Eunseol looked puzzled. It had been less than half an hour since he descended. Why was Yeon Soha so worried? Why did her face look so haggard in such a short time?
“There is a space like a paradise down there. That is the true body of the Immortal Crane Annex, and this door is merely a passage.”
“So, were you trapped there?”
“Trapped?” Bu Eunseol blinked. “It’s only been about half an hour; isn't it a bit much to say I was trapped?”
“Half an hour?” Yeon Soha said with a trembling voice. “It has already been two days since you disappeared into the mechanism below.”
“Two days have passed?”
Bu Eunseol blinked. Then, he suddenly remembered the time he spent in the Shadow Overlap Path. It meant the path he thought he had walked for only a short moment had actually taken a vast amount of time.
‘I see.’
To Bu Eunseol’s eyes, it was a short path of less than fifteen minutes, but in reality, constant spiritual intrusion and attacks had repeated there for two days. Yohee’s words about creating a mental world prison to guard against intruders were not a lie.
‘What is going on?’
Bu Eunseol was confused. What exactly did the Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace foresee? Why did she open the residence to him, who was not the Heavenly-Mandate Star?
‘Wait…’
In an instant, Bu Eunseol recalled the words written on the stone wall.
—When that Demon recovers power and memories from the Heaven-Dark Star…
His own memories were sealed. If so, did that mean that being called the Demon referred to himself?
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