“Haap!”
Bu Eunseol deliberately let out a thunderous shout.
Seolso was a wandering mercenary and the disciple of the Bullet King.
To perfectly embody that role, he had to become an entirely different person—from head to toe—without revealing even the slightest flaw.
Woooong!
As Bu Eunseol poured out his internal energy to the maximum, Yeon Wol did the same.
Then something astonishing happened.
Swoooosh!
The internal energy Yeon Wol had raised to its peak instantly scattered like mist.
BOOM!
A cannonball-like force slammed straight into Yeon Wol’s brow.
Incredibly, Bu Eunseol had nullified Yeon Wol’s formidable internal energy in a single instant and unleashed a devastating Bullet Inner Qi directly into his face.
BANG!
With a deafening explosion, Yeon Wol was hurled backward in a straight line, crashing into a boulder more than ten zhang away.
Ruuuumble.
The boulder shattered, sending clouds of dust billowing in all directions.
Step, step, step.
Yeon Wol rose from the debris, grasping his twisted body and forcibly snapping it back into place.
“So ‘Inbiin’ had a double meaning.” Bu Eunseol finally understood and gave a faint smile. “It refers not only to your faction, but also to humans who possess bodies like yours.”
Long ago, in the Returning to One Realm, Bu Eunseol had encountered a boy whose insides were completely hollow.
Even when cut open or skinned, he was like an empty doll.
He could neither be killed nor prevented from escaping.
He was hardly human at all.
Bu Eunseol now realized that the term “Inbiin” was deeply connected to that phenomenon.
“How strange.”
Yeon Wol tilted his head, eyes still closed.
“Even if you figured that out, it shouldn’t allow you to nullify my internal energy.”
“Internal energy? There’s no such thing here.”
Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.
“This is a Mental Realm.”
The moment he uttered the words “Mental Realm”…
Rumble.
The entire world suddenly rippled like water, then revealed itself in even sharper clarity.
At the same time, Yeon Wol’s true appearance standing opposite him became visible.
His eyes were no longer closed—he glared at Bu Eunseol with huge golden pupils blazing.
He was not blind at all.
He had constructed the Mental Realm by opening his eyes.
“Amazing. You can escape the Phase.”
“So that’s what you people call a Mental Realm—a Phase.”
At Bu Eunseol’s calm expression, the light in Yeon Wol’s eyes shifted.
Sensing and escaping a Phase was something only masters who had broken through the Supreme Heavenly Realm and entered the Limitless Realm could achieve.
No matter how steadfast one’s spirit, a Phase overlaid an entirely new reality on top of it.
“How did you know?” Yeon Wol blinked his golden eyes in genuine puzzlement. “Unless you were already aware of the existence of a Phase beforehand… no matter how profound your martial arts, you shouldn’t be able to detect it.”
“If you wanted to pretend to be a skilled physician, you should at least have taken a proper pulse.” Bu Eunseol curled the corner of his mouth. “I could overlook diagnosing health through voice and footsteps, but diagnosing internal fire damage just by feeling the pulse? That was too much.”
“…”
“You could have at least checked the Jeonjung acupoint or looked under the tongue.”
To diagnose illnesses caused by internal fire, one must always confirm the patient’s condition through questions and answers.
At the very least, press the Jeonjung acupoint or check the turbidity of the veins beneath the tongue.
Yet Yeon Wol had instantly grasped Bu Eunseol’s inner state with nothing more than pulse diagnosis.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol had felt a strange sensation—the same bizarre feeling he had experienced in the Snow Blossom Sect and the Martial Venerable’s hidden retreat.
It was identical to the feeling of entering a Mental Realm.
‘Everything I see may not be real.’
The moment such doubt arose, Yeon Wol’s Mental Realm trap ceased to work.
Even if it was a power that overlaid the spirit itself, the instant one became aware of the overlay, everything shattered.
“Even if you realized it, without entering the Limitless Realm, you shouldn’t be able to escape on your own.” The golden light in Yeon Wol’s eyes grew denser. “In this case, you must possess power comparable to the Limitless Realm… or have created an entirely new martial path…”
He stared fixedly at Bu Eunseol and continued.
“Or you are of the Baekri bloodline.”
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s eyes wavered like ripples.
Long ago, Yangseol Rin had said that those of the Baekri clan possessed the power to interfere with Mental Realms.
The Supreme Emperor who had commanded a massive theatrical stage of attack had been shocked when Bu Eunseol escaped the layered Mental Realms he had created.
And according to Mu Gyeol, the Heavenly Emperor had declared that his father, Baekri Muha, was of the Baekri bloodline.
‘I really am of the Baekri clan.’
Even Yeon Wol, an Inbiin, was saying it now.
This made it certain.
“What a pity.” Golden currents began flowing from Yeon Wol’s eyes. “It would have been better for you to die peacefully within the Phase.”
He spoke with a playful expression.
“What shall we do about this?”
As the golden currents pouring from Yeon Wol’s eyes intensified, an inexplicable power began coiling around the bamboo grove.
“Did you think everything would end just because you escaped the Phase?”
Yeon Wol smirked.
“I can simply overlay it again.”
In that instant, every ounce of power within Bu Eunseol’s body began to fade.
The power of the Martial Emperor’s arts, the Seven Blood Tear Forms, the Prajna Great Power, the Orthodox-Demonic-Buddhist forces, the extreme yang and extreme yin energies such as the Yeolha Great True Energy and the Heavenly Glacial Secret, even the mysterious Crystal Divine Energy and Thunder Spirit Energy—all of it vanished.
His internal energy had fallen to the level of thirty or forty years.
He had returned to the state he was in when he first entered Nangyang Pavilion—no, to the state he had when he entered Hell Island to become one of the Ten Demon Warriors.
“martial world people often delude themselves.”
Yeon Wol gazed at the wide-eyed Bu Eunseol and smiled faintly.
“They believe the martial arts scattered throughout the martial world are orthodox, and everything else is heretical.”
He smiled continuously, as if thoroughly enjoying himself.
“But from our perspective, the martial arts of the martial world are the heretical ones.”
Yeon Wol’s eyes deepened as he continued.
“After all, none of them are powers inherent to human nature.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand.
All those mysterious factions that had previously reduced internal energy or restricted power—every one of those techniques had originated from the Inbiin.
“I’ve talked too much.”
Rumble.
An immense force swirled around Yeon Wol’s fingers.
It was like Bu Eunseol’s own ‘Harmony’—a convergence of countless powers.
“Let us finish this.”
Bu Eunseol sensed it instinctively.
If the power gathered in Yeon Wol’s hands were released, this entire bamboo grove—and Bu Eunseol along with it—would be obliterated.
Swish!
There was no time to think.
Bu Eunseol closed the distance like lightning and unleashed three sword strikes.
“You’re quick on the uptake.”
Yeon Wol had just manifested a new power that completely suppressed all latent energies within the body.
Unlike before, he could no longer create an indestructible body.
Sensing that, Bu Eunseol had instantly thrust his iron sword toward Yeon Wol’s vital points.
“Well, minor injuries are nothing.”
Yeon Wol ignored the incoming strikes and prepared to unleash his gathered power.
But Bu Eunseol instantly changed his sword technique, simultaneously stabbing at Yeon Wol’s brow and lower abdomen—the exact points needed to disrupt the release of energy.
The strikes were impossibly sharp; if they landed, they would interfere with the release of power.
“Hmph.”
In the end, Yeon Wol snorted coldly and ceased gathering his massive force.
Instead, he raised his nails like claws and struck repeatedly at Bu Eunseol’s face and throat.
‘If he retreats, it’s over.’
Yeon Wol smiled inwardly with satisfaction.
All those claw strikes were feints, meant only to force Bu Eunseol back for a moment.
At such close range, no one could block every strike; he would be forced to retreat.
Then Yeon Wol could obliterate both the grove and Bu Eunseol in one blow.
Swish!
But something bizarre happened.
Instead of dodging, Bu Eunseol charged straight into the claw strikes.
Having instantly read Yeon Wol’s intent, he ignored the tearing of his own skin and closed the distance even further, pressing the attack.
“You cling like an insect!”
Unable to land his killing blow because Bu Eunseol stuck to him like a leech while pouring out endless sword strikes, Yeon Wol could no longer maintain his leisurely expression and tone.
Slash slash slash!
Bu Eunseol paid no heed and pressed even closer—close enough for their noses to touch—continuously unleashing sword techniques.
As an Inbiin, Yeon Wol could nullify any martial power cultivated by martial world warriors.
He possessed a killing technique capable of shattering their bodies.
But he had made one miscalculation.
Even though Bu Eunseol possessed unparalleled internal energy, and the power of multiple forces simultaneously, he had never once relied on the superiority of that power to overwhelm an enemy.
Only martial arts.
Bu Eunseol had always valued the subtleties of martial arts, raising his realm through study and research.
Though his body was now reduced to the level of his Ten Demon Warrior days, his realm of martial arts was now comparable to Dan Cheong, the one who had brought him to Nangyang Pavilion.
Therefore, even with all his power stripped away, blocking Yeon Wol’s movements with nothing but a single sword was child’s play.
“You’re like a leech!”
Yeon Wol could no longer hide his irritated expression as he continuously failed to shake off Bu Eunseol’s attacks.
Moreover, according to intelligence reports, Seolso—the disciple of the Bullet King—was known for overwhelming foes with powerful internal energy and aggressive assaults.
Yeon Wol had believed that sealing all internal power would render him utterly helpless, like a fool. Yet here he was, wielding only half a jiazi of internal energy and a rusty iron sword, unleashing terrifying sword techniques.
“Did you think I couldn’t wield martial arts?”
Finally, Yeon Wol began unleashing frenzied assaults of his own.
The martial arts he displayed were peerless arts that had once shaken the world, possessing power enough to tear the heavens and split the earth.
But it was useless.
Before he could even execute them, Bu Eunseol was already upon him, stabbing at his vital points with the iron sword.
It was as if a master painter, seized by inspiration, was about to paint, only for a mischievous grandchild to rush in and shake the brush wildly.
“Urgh.”
Groans began escaping Yeon Wol’s lips.
The Pacheonhwang technique he used required not only enormous internal energy but perfect unity of mind and body—an otherworldly absolute art.
Yet every time Bu Eunseol interrupted midway, his energy flow reversed, bringing indescribable agony.
‘Could I actually lose to him?’
For the first time, fear crept into Yeon Wol’s heart.
From his perspective, martial world warriors were nothing more than flies.
He could strip their power at will; once their internal energy vanished, they were helpless insects waiting to die.
Yet the insect before him refused to die and was now threatening his life.
‘How is this possible?’
Cold sweat began trickling down his spine.
All that remained in the man’s body was barely half a jiazi of internal energy.
Yet he was relentlessly targeting vital points with profound techniques that even grandmasters would struggle to block.
Splat! Papapapapa!
In the end, Yeon Wol manifested tangible true energy like the Wishful True Binding to defend against Bu Eunseol’s sword strikes.
But the rusty sword slipped through like a salmon swimming upstream, evading every defense and piercing toward vital points.
“Fine!”
Driven into a corner, Yeon Wol roared in fury and spread both hands wide.
BWOOOOOM!
From his ten fingernails erupted a massive storm of energy that engulfed Bu Eunseol.
It was the long-lost supreme demonic sword art of the martial world—the Heavenly Tyrant Ghost Charm Sword—unleashed through claw techniques.
Tststst! Swish!
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s body floated slightly into the air, shifting position forty-nine times.
He had executed Swift Beyond Shadow and instantly deflected every strike of the Heavenly Tyrant Ghost Charm Sword.
Swish!
Because his internal energy had been stripped by Yeon Wol’s technique, he could not execute it perfectly, leaving countless superficial wounds on his body—but no fatal injuries.
Shshshk!
Far from retreating, he closed the distance even further, forcing Yeon Wol to frantically move his body.
Tremble.
Yeon Wol’s golden pupils quivered.
Gradually, the battle turned bizarre.
Despite holding every advantage, Yeon Wol was forced into defense.
Despite holding no advantage at all, Bu Eunseol attacked like a mad dog.
Momentum.
It is one of the most critical factors in determining victory or defeat.
When momentum is lost, fear and hesitation arise, dulling precision and speed in technique.
It can even induce unpredictable mistakes.
Combat is ultimately about seizing the flow.
Having lost momentum, Yeon Wol had already lost to Bu Eunseol.
Swish swish swish!
Close-quarters exchanges surpassed three hundred moves, and gradually wounds began appearing on Yeon Wol’s body.
His inhuman flesh did not bleed but with each wound, cracks formed in his previously rock-solid spirit.
“To think the Bullet King’s disciple is stronger than the Bullet King himself!”
At Yeon Wol’s shout, Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
Those words implied that Yeon Wol had fought the Bullet King himself.
‘Is Inbiin connected to the Returning to One Realm?’
Long ago, the Returning to One Realm had tried to capture the Bullet King to obtain his body.
Though that plan was foiled by Bu Eunseol, one thing had always been strange.
Among the forces that had surrounded the Bullet King at Ghost Island, there had been no true leader. Although there were those who inherited the power of the Three Saints, they were merely experimental subjects—not the leadership of the Returning to One Realm.
Then who had been the mastermind behind the attempt to capture the Bullet King?
Who had commanded them?
That question had remained.
But watching Yeon Wol now, it seemed possible that he had been the one directing the capture of the Bullet King.
Inbiin and the Returning to One Realm… they might be in cooperation—or even the same entity.
‘So that’s why Manwol said she knew the Returning to One Realm Lord.’
Manwol had said she had known the Returning to One Realm Lord for a very long time.
That meant the Returning to One Realm and Inbiin had ties stretching far back.
Swish!
In that moment, Bu Eunseol’s rusty iron sword slashed across Yeon Wol’s throat.
Though no blood flowed, the fact that it reached the neck proved that all defenses had been completely pierced.
Yeon Wol was now driven to a point where he could no longer resist.
“This cannot be!”
Yeon Wol’s furious roar echoed through the night sky. At the same time, the golden light pouring from his eyes intensified.
KWAAAAA!
A massive storm erupted around his body, hurling Bu Eunseol several zhang backward.
BOOM! BOOM!
Every time he extended his hand, terrifying palm force turned everything within three zhang into ruin.
Yet it was useless.
No matter how powerful the force, if it does not strike the opponent, it is meaningless.
That is why grandmasters pour immense internal energy into their techniques while weaving profound principles—it was all to ensure that great or small power lands decisively on the enemy.
Yeon Wol was a master who had mastered countless transcendent arts, but unfortunately, he had lost his composure.
No matter how many absolute arts he knew, he lacked the ability to compete with Bu Eunseol’s martial mastery—honed through the true treasures of Nangyang Pavilion and countless battles against heavenly transcendents.
The outcome was already decided.
“Good.”
Swish!
Realizing there was no other way, Yeon Wol instantly soared into the air.
At the same time, a sickly yellow light flared in his eyes.
“I’ll simply erase this entire area…”
But his words did not finish.
Bu Eunseol had already used the bamboo to propel himself high into the air where Yeon Wol floated.
“I told you—there’s no time to gather power.”
Flash!
A streak of light flashed through the sky and grazed Yeon Wol’s neck.
He had risen confidently, believing Bu Eunseol’s internal energy was drained to the bottom.
Yet Bu Eunseol had used the rebound of a bamboo and the wonders of movement arts to leap more than ten zhang high with only thirty or forty years of internal energy.
Slash.
In the end, Yeon Wol’s body fell to the ground.
His neck was more than halfway severed, dangling limply.
“You… you had already ascended to the Limitless Realm.”
Yeon Wol’s eyes were stained with rage and shock.
“To reach that realm at your age…”
“I know nothing of the Limitless Realm.” Bu Eunseol replied calmly. “I never intended to ascend there.”
“What?”
As if sensing something, Yeon Wol stared at Bu Eunseol like he was gazing upon a monster.
“You deliberately did not ascend to the Limitless Realm?”
Only then did he finally understand the source of the indescribable authority that had been emanating from Bu Eunseol all this time.
It was the terror of the unknown.
This young man ignored the known stages of martial world martial arts and walked his own path.
That was why his martial prowess could not be measured, and even techniques that seemed ordinary contained overwhelming power.
Clank.
Bu Eunseol leveled his iron sword and spoke.
“Tell me about Inbiin and the organization you belong to, and I will grant you a swift death.”
“Heh heh heh. Do you think I would speak?” Yeon Wol let out a refreshing laugh. “Even if this body dies, I will be reborn far stronger than I am now.”
Deep longing filled his eyes as he gazed at the distant sky.
“Just like That Person.”
“Are you speaking of the Heaven-Dark Star?”
“The Heaven-Dark Star?”
Yeon Wol frowned, then suddenly pointed at Bu Eunseol and burst into mad laughter.
“You truly know nothing.”
He laughed uproariously.
“How could a mere one of the Hundred and Eight Stars compare to That Person? Besides, the Heaven-Dark Star…”
Then he uttered something utterly bizarre.
“…has been killed by That Person’s hand countless times.”
“What did you say?”
At that moment, the sound of approaching footsteps came from afar.
Because Yeon Wol had drastically reduced the power within Bu Eunseol’s body, the range of his Beast Way had shrunk dramatically, and he had not even noticed someone approaching.
“Huh?”
The person running over in panic was none other than Jang Sam, the manager of the abandoned courtyard.
“Doctor!”
Seeing Yeon Wol with his throat half-severed and Bu Eunseol holding the iron sword, Jang Sam let out a scream-like cry.
“Warrior! Please spare him!”
Jang Sam threw himself in front of Yeon Wol, falling to his knees.
“This man is a physician who travels the Central Plains saving countless lives!”
Bu Eunseol sighed and said, “That man is a murderer who pretends to treat patients while brutally killing them.”
“That cannot be! This lowly one has seen him treat patients every day!”
Bu Eunseol closed his mouth.
No amount of explanation would get through to him.
Just as Bu Eunseol prepared to knock Jang Sam unconscious with a finger wind without further words—
Crack.
Suddenly, Yeon Wol—whose neck was broken—lunged and bit into Jang Sam’s throat.
Glug glug.
He rapidly drank the gushing blood.
Instantly, Yeon Wol’s dim eyes cleared, and the wound on his neck healed in moments.
Just like the former Earth-Killer Star, Yeon Wol also possessed the ability to restore his body through blood absorption.
“D-Doctor…”
Even as blood poured from his torn throat, Jang Sam wore an expression of disbelief.
“Why…?”
Yeon Wol did not answer and simply continued drinking.
“Still… thank you.”
Jang Sam gave a faint, resigned smile.
“For allowing a beggar like me to live as a human being all this time…”
Thud.
With those words, Jang Sam died.
“Phew.”
Having drunk all the blood, Yeon Wol fully restored his body and wore a refreshed expression.
“Thanks to him, I survived.”
He looked at Bu Eunseol and let out a sigh of relief.
“From now on, I will never again underestimate you martial world people. And I will never travel alone…”
Yeon Wol could not finish his sentence.
Because purple currents were now flowing around Bu Eunseol’s bowed head.
The beggar Jang Sam—for the brief happiness he had been given, had thanked the monster who was now brutally murdering him.
Witnessing that scene, an unprecedented fury and killing intent exploded from Bu Eunseol.
“You lot do not deserve to live.”
Crackle.
That fury pierced through the Phase power Yeon Wol had planted, allowing Thunder Spirit Energy to course through his body once more.
Crackle crackle crackle. KWAAAAAAA!
The uncontrollably spreading Thunder Spirit Energy emitted blinding light and poured into Yeon Wol’s body.
“Ughhh! AAAAAH!”
Trapped within the Thunder Spirit Energy, Yeon Wol screamed in agony.
The ultra-high-temperature Thunder Spirit Energy began melting him from the inside in an instant.
“Uwaaah.”
Yeon Wol’s body rapidly turned into a sticky, molten sludge.
Rumble.
Soon, only a puddle of thick liquid remained where he had stood.
And Yeon Wol’s face floated atop that liquid.
“You are neither the disciple of the Bullet King…”
A voice emanated from the floating face.
“Nor the disciple of the Thunder God. His Thunder Spirit Energy was never this violent.”
Bu Eunseol merely looked down with contempt.
Yeon Wol’s mouth moved.
“Do not delude yourself into thinking you have won. You are nothing.”
He spoke in a sinister, low voice, as if cursing.
“In the end, all of you will live your lives in pain, trapped like rats.”
In the past, Bu Eunseol would have extracted every piece of information Yeon Wol knew.
But now, such things were meaningless.
He would simply hunt them all down and kill them.
Stab.
Bu Eunseol drove the iron sword into the floating face.
“Heh heh heh. That won’t kill me.”
Yet the face impaled on the iron sword only smiled.
“Did you think Thunder Spirit Energy could kill me?”
“Ah.”
Whoooosh.
In that moment, five-colored radiance began flowing from Bu Eunseol’s body.
After Yeon Wol had melted into liquid, his numerous powers had all returned and now, to completely annihilate this monstrous being, he raised the power of Harmony to obliterate him in one strike.
Woooom.
But then something strange happened.
Just as Bu Eunseol gathered all his internal power and unleashed Harmony, Yeon Wol—who had been slowly closing his eyes, unable to withstand the force—
Flash!
Suddenly shot an immense light from his eyes.
In that instant, five-colored brilliance flashed before Bu Eunseol’s eyes… and his consciousness began sinking into endless darkness.
Roaring flames.
A beautiful manor was burning fiercely.
Pavilions collapsed, and agonized screams echoed everywhere.
Saha Manor.
Every time he recovered a lost memory, this scene always appeared—the place where his father and mother had been.
He was once again witnessing the beautiful manor being destroyed.
How much time had passed?
The screams gradually faded, and the flames consuming the manor died down.
But something new began to burn.
It was his mother.
‘Mother!’
Bu Eunseol shouted loudly, but the sound did not leave his mouth.
No matter how desperately he called, no matter how he tried to run toward his burning mother… the scene did not change, and he could not approach.
Mumble mumble mumble.
Strange chanting suddenly echoed all around.
Confused, Bu Eunseol looked about.
Surrounding his burning mother, black-robed mages stood in a circle, forming hand seals and muttering strange incantations.
‘Wait.’
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize something was wrong.
The angle from which he was viewing his mother—it was from the perspective of one of the black-robed figures forming the circle and chanting.
‘This memory… is not mine.’
The scene he was witnessing… was not Bu Eunseol’s own memory.
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