The Yellow River Fifteen Swords was, as the name suggested, composed of fifteen forms—but in truth, it could hardly be called a sword art.
That was because all fifteen forms consisted of nothing more than basic movements: horizontal slashes, vertical slashes, thrusts, and the like, mixed together with the Butterfly Step that even street thugs and lowlifes used.
Swish, swish.
As Bu Eunseol slowly executed the Yellow River Fifteen Swords with languid movements, Wi Hyeok-gun roared furiously.
“I’ll do more than just cut off your head!”
Clang!
Countless sparkling fragments burst from the Red Advantage in every direction. Sword qi resembling droplets of water shot forth and enveloped Bu Eunseol’s body.
Shiiik!
Yet even as Bu Eunseol moved sluggishly through the Yellow River Fifteen Swords, an immense surge of energy—like a mountain range—erupted once again from his body: the Thirteen Guiding Energies.
Papapap!
Fresh wounds appeared across Bu Eunseol’s body once more, but none were fatal.
In the end, he had blocked the opponent using the Eight Flowing Swordsmanship style.
“Hahaha!”
Loud laughter exploded from all sides.
Bu Eunseol’s hideous swordsmanship had blocked Wi Hyeok-gun’s peerless technique, and the gathered martial artists could no longer hold back their amusement.
‘I never intended to win with swordsmanship in the first place.’
Bu Eunseol inwardly sneered.
Back when he was one of the Ten Demon Warriors, he had personally witnessed that his own swordsmanship had reached the pinnacle, rivaling even the Vice-Pavilion Lord of Nangyang Pavilion, Dan Cheong.
That was why he knew all too well: unless it was True Vacuum or Seven Blood Tear Forms, someone of Seon Woojin’s identity had no sword art capable of facing the Sword Demon—except for the Heon Won Bright Sword.
‘That’s why I trained the Thirteen Guiding Energies to death in the form of a defensive battle style.’
Ultimately, the only way for Seon Woojin to block Wi Hyeok-gun’s Hwa Wu Sword was not the incomplete Heon Won Bright Sword, but the Thirteen Guiding Energies of Martial Emperor.
‘Moreover, you revere the Hwa Wu Sword Sect to the point of madness.’
Merely because someone chose Nangyang Pavilion over the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, Wi Hyeok-gun had once poured formless energy into a Ten Demon Warrior of Nangyang Pavilion and tried to sever his heart veins.
That was how fanatically he worshiped the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
Bu Eunseol had taken advantage of exactly that trait.
Instead of overpowering the Hwa Wu Sword Sect’s prestige, he had devised a plan to shatter Wi Hyeok-gun’s otherwise unbreakable spirit.
‘There was no need to win.’
For Seon Woojin, who had only recently taken his place as an aide to the Four Gods and Seven Kings, achieving complete victory over the Sword Demon was absurd from the start.
All Bu Eunseol needed to do was show the Demon Emperor—and every martial artist under heaven—that Seon Woojin had forged a level of martial prowess worthy of standing beside the Four Gods and Seven Kings.
‘All I have to do is slam that vaunted reputation of yours straight into the gutter.’
Shiiik! Shiiik!
This time Bu Eunseol unfolded the Fire Clarity Single Clear Sword of the third-rate Hansu Sword Sect on Kunlun, while once again raising the Thirteen Guiding Energies.
For the sake of today, Bu Eunseol had relentlessly trained Martial Emperor’s supreme secret art—which he had rarely used before—not only to drag the Sword Demon’s reputation into the dirt, but also to follow the teachings of his first sword instructor, Jingak, and defeat Wi Hyeok-gun.
—What do you think it means to compete in swordsmanship?
In the past, when Jingak had asked that question, Bu Eunseol, who knew little about sword arts at the time, had answered:
—Isn’t it just using swordsmanship faster than your opponent, or fighting desperately to win?
Jingak had given a wry laugh.
—Black-market ruffians might fight that way.
Then he spoke gravely:
—But true swordsmen of the martial world who have mastered supreme sword learning are different. They elevate wisdom and mental strength to the extreme, then shatter the opponent’s spirit to seize victory. Do you know why?
Bu Eunseol pondered, then shook his head.
—I don’t know.
With an utterly serious expression, Jingak said:
—A swordsman who has reached a high level has almost no physical weak point to exploit. Therefore, when facing a peerless swordsman, you must inevitably materialize the intangible—the spirit itself.
Bu Eunseol had never forgotten that lesson for even a single day.
And when the fight against Wi Hyeok-gun drew near, rather than training to break his Hwa Wu Sword, he studied ways to shake and shatter Wi Hyeok-gun’s spirit.
If he could make the ironclad spirit of such a supreme swordsman waver like waves…
Even if the Hwa Wu Sword had reached the realm of divine entry and transformation, he would surely find the flaw and break it.
“Good!”
At that moment, Wi Hyeok-gun let out a furious shout.
Ziiing.
At the same time, vivid crimson sword qi surged densely from the Red Advantage.
No longer hiding the true Hwa Wu Sword Art he had mastered, he intended to unleash a life-and-death sword technique that would sever Bu Eunseol’s neck in one stroke.
‘Is this the end?’
Sensing that Wi Hyeok-gun was about to use his genuine supreme sword art, Bu Eunseol raised his internal energy to the maximum.
Ziiing.
In response, brilliant radiance bloomed from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword as well.
In truth, the Heon Won Bright Sword he had shown earlier had not been unleashed at full power. From the beginning he had deliberately presented it as his trump card, making Wi Hyeok-gun believe he had no stronger technique left—then unfolded mediocre sword forms on purpose.
The moment Wi Hyeok-gun finally unleashed the real Hwa Wu Sword and poured out his killing strike… Bu Eunseol planned to counter with the true Heon Won Bright Sword, crush the attack, and use the rebounding force from the abruptly interrupted swordsmanship to cripple Wi Hyeok-gun’s right arm.
Creak crunch.
A grotesque sound of breaking bones echoed from Wi Hyeok-gun’s arm. The Red Advantage he held began to bend like a bow.
As the earth embraces all things, he was about to unfold the tenth and final form of the Hwa Wu Sword—Embrace Like the Earth—personally refined and advanced by Chang-an himself.
Flash!
A light that illuminated the entire world burst forth.
A point of light that could no longer be called “swift” shot straight toward Bu Eunseol.
In that instant, the minds of the surrounding martial artists went completely white.
If they imagined themselves in Bu Eunseol’s position… how could anyone possibly evade such a sword form?
What kind of martial art could allow survival?
The earlier contempt they had felt toward Wi Hyeok-gun vanished.
Their minds filled only with the inescapable emotion of terror.
Woooong!
At that moment, Bu Eunseol’s Silent Tiger Soul Sword moved at ultra-high speed.
Shwaaak! Shwa-shwa-shwa-shwa!
A sword form that added yet another layer of speed to what was already impossibly fast instantly enveloped and seized that light.
“It’s the Heon Won Bright Sword!”
Someone among the Martial Alliance higher-ups shouted.
As planned, Bu Eunseol unfolded the Heon Won Bright Sword once more.
But this time it was not drawn against his opponent’s body…
It was drawn to interrupt Wi Hyeok-gun’s sword form in mid-execution.
Woooong!
In the space between Bu Eunseol and Wi Hyeok-gun, an intangible current suddenly arose.
Both men shuddered as if struck by lightning.
When the supreme sword art of the demonic path collided head-on with the legendary orthodox sword art, those sword forms shattered into hundreds, thousands of strands that coiled around the two men’s bodies.
Chara-rara-rang!
Within the storm of pure-white sword qi, they continued their unrelenting mortal exchange.
‘Why?’
But then something unexpected happened.
Just as the Heon Won Bright Sword was about to perfectly block Wi Hyeok-gun’s technique midway, for some reason, the power bound within the Boundary Prosperity Jade blocked the power that originally belonged to Bu Eunseol himself.
‘So it doesn’t just conceal temperament… it completely changes it.’
In that instant, the blood drained from Bu Eunseol’s face as he poured out sword qi, and a suffocating pressure gripped his chest.
The words the Demonic Sword Master had once spoken resurfaced.
“This can alter not only the natural power bestowed by heaven, but every inherent property within.”
The Boundary Prosperity Jade.
It did not merely hide essence… it possessed the ability to completely transform inherent nature.
In other words, while Bu Eunseol could conceal his temperament and characteristics through the Boundary Prosperity Jade, as a result he had become not Bu Eunseol—but an entirely different person.
‘This was impossible to predict.’
Because of the energy flowing from the Boundary Prosperity Jade, the Heon Won Bright Sword—which should have been executed perfectly—came out slightly loose.
In the end, he could no longer block the Embrace Like the Earth form that Wi Hyeok-gun had unleashed.
“Kh.”
Bu Eunseol’s face twisted.
He was not the type of person to groan or grimace from pain of this level.
But because the Boundary Prosperity Jade had completely altered his temperament, a pain-filled groan escaped him.
Chiiiik.
Bu Eunseol—who had been madly pouring out sword qi—began to be gradually pushed back.
A trickle of fresh blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
In contrast, Wi Hyeok-gun poured out power without the slightest sign of strain, calm and composed.
Because he had failed to interrupt the sword form midway, he was now inferior both in the perfection of technique and in internal energy.
‘I can’t continue like this.’
Pouring out the Heon Won Bright Sword with frantic intensity, Bu Eunseol had to make a decision.
Should he accept defeat at Wi Hyeok-gun’s sword like this?
Or should he raise his true energy and internal power to reverse the situation?
“Don’t use too much power while carrying the Boundary Prosperity Jade. After all, it’s only temporarily infused with different energy.”
In that moment, Yangseol Rin’s warning resurfaced.
If he revealed his true self here…
Even if he won, his identity might be exposed.
‘No choice.’
Even if his identity were revealed and he fell into an abyss from which he could never recover for ten thousand kalpas… survival came first.
Wuuuung.
Bu Eunseol began raising his internal energy.
From three hundred years of cultivation, he climbed to twenty years, forty years—finally reaching three hundred and fifty years.
At the same time, razor-sharp true waves began condensing across his entire body.
Wishful True Binding.
Hundreds of beam-like sharp true qi shot out like fanned arrows, intending to pierce straight through Wi Hyeok-gun’s body.
Crackle-crackle.
But then something bizarre occurred.
As intense energy spread from Bu Eunseol’s body, the power of the Boundary Prosperity Jade began to rebel against it.
Wuuung. Wuuung.
The vibration from the Boundary Prosperity Jade in his chest grew louder and louder, then suddenly, with a massive tremor, orange-colored energy began spreading outward.
It was the energy of the Heavenly Grace Star, Yangseol Rin, that had been infused into the Boundary Prosperity Jade.
BOOM!
At that instant, a heaven-shaking explosion rang out.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Suddenly the entire island began to shake as if an earthquake had struck.
Clang clang clang clang!
Even amid the chaos, Bu Eunseol and Wi Hyeok-gun continued their relentless exchange.
Neither of their sword arts had yet been fully unfolded.
Kukukuku.
Meanwhile the ground began swaying left and right—
Crackle-crackle
—and soon it was shaking up and down, splitting and collapsing.
“Earthquake!”
Screaming, the martial artists scattered in every direction.
If an earthquake struck this small island, it could sink.
In that case—unless one could fly through the sky—the gathered experts might all end up drowned here.
“Run!”
Terrified crowds madly rushed toward the docked ships.
The problem was the sheer number of people. Too many martial artists had crowded onto Poseok Island to watch the duel.
Rumble rumble
When they all scattered at once, the open ground of Poseok Island turned into pandemonium as martial artists stampeded like a herd of cattle.
“Uwaaak!”
People collided and were flung aside while running; others tripped and fell; still others were trampled by the oncoming mob before they could stand. Some called desperately for comrades or friends; others, in the confusion, stooped to pick up fallen manuals or coins from the ground.
Poseok Island had become a scene straight out of a hellish painting.
Clang!
At that moment the two men clashed swords and simultaneously leaped backward.
Puk.
In the end, Wi Hyeok-gun’s Red Advantage pierced through Bu Eunseol’s shoulder.
Pat!
Bu Eunseol, now bearing a penetrating wound, quickly retreated.
“Hahaha!”
Wi Hyeok-gun did not pursue. Instead he burst into triumphant laughter.
With a sword embedded in his shoulder, Bu Eunseol could no longer use his right hand.
There was no way he had trained left-hand swordsmanship for long.
The outcome was already decided.
“Are you prepared to die?”
Despite Wi Hyeok-gun’s mocking words, Bu Eunseol calmly drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword with his left hand.
Rather than clumsily wielding a one-handed sword, it seemed he intended to block attacks with both hands as if using twin swords.
“Huhuhu. What kind of swordsmanship do you plan to show with that arm?”
Despite Wi Hyeok-gun’s ridicule, Bu Eunseol—seemingly with some plan in mind—calmly unfolded another sword form.
In that instant, Wi Hyeok-gun’s expression changed dramatically.
The technique he had just executed was the Three Essentials Swordsmanship—a style that most of the martial world considered shameful even to perform.
“You lunatic…”
Wi Hyeok-gun’s face drained of color from sheer rage and his eyes rolled upward until only the whites showed.
The fact that Bu Eunseol had used Three Essentials Swordsmanship in this situation meant he had blocked the supreme ultimate form of the Hwa Wu Sword, Embrace Like the Earth, with such a lowly technique.
“How dare you insult my sect?”
With a thunderous roar, a storm-like formless energy erupted around Wi Hyeok-gun’s body.
Dozens of weaker martial artists nearby convulsed as if struck by lightning and collapsed.
Whoooosh.
At the same time, frenzied, murderous sword qi soared skyward from the Red Advantage Sword.
Crackle crackle crackle.
Lightning-like sword qi soon took the shape of an enormous beast.
It was the ultimate annihilating sword form that could cut down any enemy in any situation—Wi Hyeok-gun’s personally created unique technique.
Black Flame Heavenly Thunder.
Crackle crackle.
Once the sword qi fully formed into the shape of a beast, more fleeing martial artists began collapsing one after another.
In truth, using his final ultimate technique here meant revealing his secret killing art to the entire world.
Yet to kill this brat who had insulted him and humiliated the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, Wi Hyeok-gun unhesitatingly displayed his trump card.
‘Found it!’
In that moment, within the pitch-black storm of sword qi that seemed capable of destroying the world, Bu Eunseol discovered a tiny opening.
It was the tiny flaw exposed in the otherwise perfect Black Flame Heavenly Thunder, born from the rage that consumed Wi Hyeok-gun while unleashing his technique.
“No chance!”
Even though he instinctively sensed Bu Eunseol had seen the flaw, Wi Hyeok-gun completed the Black Flame Heavenly Thunder to the end.
With a shoulder pierced through, there was no way Bu Eunseol could execute a proper sword form.
KWAANG!
A tearing, heaven-rending explosion rang out.
The beast-shaped Black Flame Heavenly Thunder devoured the space for dozens of jang around them.
Dust clouds rose in all directions; a fierce gale whipped around the two men.
Yet the shape of the storm blowing through the dust was strange.
It was as though something transparent and clear had turned into wind and was scattering.
Whiiing.
Finally the storm of sword qi subsided, and the figures of the two men slowly emerged.
Wi Hyeok-gun remained frozen in the stance he had held before unleashing Black Flame Heavenly Thunder.
Bu Eunseol had dropped the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to the ground.
“That doesn’t look like Martial Emperor’s martial art.”
Wi Hyeok-gun muttered, frowning.
“That power, I mean.”
Despite the hole through his shoulder, Bu Eunseol had executed a sword form with his right hand, using Crystal Divine Energy to create a transparent hand and overlay it onto his right arm.
It had been an extremely brief instant, but Wi Hyeok-gun seemed to have noticed immediately.
“A secret art I happened to acquire while wandering the martial world.”
“Hm.”
Wi Hyeok-gun let out a low groan.
The rage had vanished from his eyes and he looked as though he had sunk into deep thought.
Rumble rumble. Crack.
Meanwhile the earthquake grew fiercer and the ground continued to split.
Finally, unable to stand by, a young man rushed forward from the Hwa Wu Sword Sect side:
Wi Hyeok-gun’s youngest disciple, Bang Cheon-hoe.
“Master! We must leave this place!”
By now most of the martial artists who had crowded Poseok Island had boarded ships and fled.
Only the forces of the Martial Alliance and Hwa Wu Sword Sect remained, along with a few high-level experts watching from afar.
Rumble rumble.
As Poseok Island shook once more,
“Lord Seon.”
Not only the Martial Alliance higher-ups, but even Seo Muk—who had been standing by in case of emergency—rushed forward to stop Bu Eunseol.
“The island is about to collapse!”
With both sides urging him, Wi Hyeok-gun snorted as if he had no choice.
“Let us postpone the duel to another time.”
Then he said calmly,
“If I take your head in a situation like this, people will only say I won by taking advantage of the chaos.”
He had fought Seon Woojin to demonstrate the might of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
But beheading Bu Eunseol amid such pandemonium would not spread the greatness of Hwa Wu Swordsmanship—it would only earn him a dishonorable victory.
“What a shame.”
Bu Eunseol shrugged.
“That so-called divine Hwa Wu Sword of yours doesn’t work on me.”
“What did you say?”
At those words, azure killing intent flared in the eyes of Bang Cheon-hoe, who stood beside Wi Hyeok-gun.
“Is that something you dare say?”
In everyone’s eyes, this duel had clearly been Bu Eunseol’s defeat.
His body was covered in large and small wounds; especially his right shoulder bore a deep penetrating injury.
No one knew how he had blocked Black Flame Heavenly Thunder, but if the fight continued, it was obvious who would lose.
“To think you would spout such arrogant nonsense without realizing how generously the Chief Instructor has spared you!”
Wi Hyeok-gun raised a hand to silence Bang Cheon-hoe, then asked Bu Eunseol, “Shall we call it here?”
“Fine by me.”
Click.
Bu Eunseol sheathed the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and said,
“Let’s end it here.”
‘He never planned to win from the beginning.’
Only then did Wi Hyeok-gun notice—despite the grievous wounds, Bu Eunseol’s eyes remained as still and clear as a serene lake.
‘Everything was planned.’
Though Wi Hyeok-gun maintained a calm expression, he was forcibly suppressing the trembling of his body with internal energy, barely holding back the rage that threatened to explode.
Right now he could feel nothing in his right arm.
The sword form that had pierced through Black Flame Heavenly Thunder had seemed insignificant but the transparent energy that followed had suddenly burrowed into the meridians of his forearm and from the elbow to the fingertips, all sensation had vanished.
‘So even continuously using low-grade swordsmanship was for the sake of that one move.’
Wi Hyeok-gun clenched his left fist until it trembled.
Only now did he understand why Bu Eunseol had relentlessly provoked him with second-rate swordsmanship.
Why he had endured so stubbornly.
It was all for the sake of seizing that single opening and driving that bizarre, transparent energy into his forearm meridians.
If one gave up on victory, such an attack became possible at least once.
‘This bastard…’
Wi Hyeok-gun wanted to draw his sword right then and cut off that wicked neck but the very fact that such a scheme had worked proved that Seon Woojin’s martial prowess was on par with his own.
And if he attacked now? The honor of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect would fall into the dirt.
“As expected, you can’t do it.”
Bu Eunseol smiled faintly, as though he had read Wi Hyeok-gun’s mind.
“If it were me… even if it meant going through Three Lifetimes of Suffering, I would have done it.”
Grind.
Wi Hyeok-gun’s eyes rolled white with barely contained fury yet he forced every ounce of restraint he possessed, sheathed the Red Advantage, and turned away calmly.
“Let us return.”
He turned without hesitation.
Bang Cheon-hoe glared at Bu Eunseol—and at Seo Muk and the Star Guard Division standing behind him—and spat,
“Consider yourself lucky. Next time it absolutely will not end like this.”
Without responding, Bu Eunseol simply stared straight at the departing Wi Hyeok-gun.
‘He must be furious beyond belief.’
A charcoal-like flame blazed in the man’s eyes.
‘He could never have predicted an ending like this.’
Crystal Divine Energy could not be detected from the outside unless deliberately unleashed. Therefore, to anyone watching, this duel would be evaluated as Wi Hyeok-gun’s victory.
But in reality… Wi Hyeok-gun was leaving with his right arm crippled.
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