Just before his hand finally touched the darkness—
—Seol-ah.
His grandfather Bu Zhanyang’s low voice echoed in his mind.
—How was your day today?
Before sleeping, Bu Zhanyang always asked Bu Eunseol about his day.
How it had been, what thoughts had crossed his mind, what feelings he had experienced.
—I was angry.
In the early days when he first helped with the embalming work, he always answered this way.
—I wish everyone in the world would just disappear.
People had scorned and ignored his grandfather without reason, or exploited his kind nature to work him to the bone for nothing.
—I see.
Looking at the small, furious Bu Eunseol, his grandfather gave a warm, loving smile.
Even afterward, when kind words rarely came out, his grandfather kept asking earnestly about each day’s thoughts and emotions.
And to help those negative feelings change, to help him see the world with a wider perspective, he gave him affectionate touches and gazes, taught him various kinds of knowledge, and let him experience new things.
How much time passed like that?
—I was happy.
The answer changed.
The boy who had always been filled with negativity and darkness now wore hopeful, bright expressions and eyes.
—Today was a happy day.
From that day onward, Bu Eunseol always gave the same reply: that he was always happy.
—Grandfather.
Awakening from the memory, even as his consciousness faded, Bu Eunseol wore a radiant smile.
—I was happy. Always.
Ever since stepping into the martial world, Bu Eunseol’s mind had been filled with nothing but vengeance.
He had never once forgotten revenge.
Yet merely recalling those days spent with his grandfather brought happy feelings back to life in his heart.
‘Happiness.’
After his grandfather died so cruelly, the word “happiness” had become something that no longer suited Bu Eunseol.
But now he finally realized:
Life in the martial world had not been filled only with bad things.
While living day by day for revenge, he had formed bonds with good people, parted from them, felt many things, and grown little by little.
It had seemed so far away, yet happiness had always been within arm’s reach.
And the great teachings and knowledge his grandfather had passed down… had flowed steadily into him all along.
Ziiing.
Then something strange happened.
As the resentment and thirst for vengeance in his heart melted away, the mind method left behind by the Martial Emperor rose to the surface.
Martial Emperor Tranquil Awakening.
It was a mind method that amplified the power of martial arts by drawing on intense emotions born from happy memories.
But its true essence lay elsewhere.
It was a secret art for leading the tangled, chaotic, impossible-to-order human heart—that most complex and stubborn thing—toward an extremely solid and lofty realm, using emotions like happiness as a compass, cleaving through raging seas of obstacles, until one reached the ultimate pinnacle of the spirit.
—What? He can stretch time this far?
At that moment, a delighted-sounding voice rang from the shadow extending its hand in the darkness.
—You’re using my power properly, aren’t you?
The shadow continued to speak.
But Bu Eunseol’s consciousness had already reached Utmost Emptiness, dwelling in a state of boundless void.
From then on, he could no longer hear the black shadow’s voice.
‘When the old is worn out, it becomes new.’
When Bu Eunseol opened his eyes again, brilliant light flashed in his pupils.
Instead of resisting the inner force pouring from the Star Guard Division martial artists, he began to flow naturally with it.
‘With little, one gains…’
Hummm!
As consciousness returned from the abyss and Bu Eunseol opened his eyes,
Rumble rumble.
The inner force unleashed by the Star Guard martial artists began to be naturally stored in his eight extraordinary meridians.
It was the act of absorbing the external power flooding in, dispersing it inside his body in a form that could later generate counterforce.
‘Therefore, never fill it to the brim.’
Crack!
In that instant, the inner energy of the thirty-one men that Bu Eunseol had accepted into his meridians exploded outward again.
Empty Reflection.
Among the secrets of Martial Emperor Tranquil Awakening, he had awakened the art of reflection—absorbing and returning a massive external force.
BOOM!
All thirty-one members hurled outward crashed against trees and boulders, vomiting bright red blood.
“Urk.”
Not only that, the rebound force inflicted severe internal injuries, and every bone in their bodies shattered to the point that not a single one remained intact.
“Aaah! My leg!”
“Arghhh, my arm!”
Thud. Thud.
In the end, all the members fainted from the excruciating pain.
“You wicked bastard!”
But Seo Muk, whose inner force ran deep, fortunately escaped the full brunt of the rebound explosion quickly enough to avoid fatal wounds.
“You pretended to have no inner force on purpose!”
Seo Muk trembled with rage.
To think that someone who possessed terrifying inner power capable of repelling the combined force of thirty-one men at once had deliberately shown weakness, only to unleash it all in one burst?
Could it be that, at such a young age, he had inherited the entire essence of the Demon Emperor’s divine techniques?
“Wicked, you say.” Bu Eunseol looked down at Seo Muk with a smile full of contempt. “You judged that my inner force had vanished, called your men in droves for an ambush… and now you call me wicked?”
“You demonic-path scum always resort to filthy tricks!” Seo Muk wore an aggrieved expression. “Why did you deliberately pretend to have no inner force and lure us into lowering our guard?!”
Seo Muk was convinced that Bu Eunseol had intentionally feigned weakness to induce carelessness and then delivered a fatal blow.
“Is that the trademark of the orthodox sects—making such absurd claims?” Bu Eunseol gazed down at Seo Muk with scornful eyes. “Even if I had pretended to have no inner force, you could have simply not attacked.”
“…”
“Yet you launched a surprise assault to earn merit, and now you blame me?”
Seo Muk’s face flushed crimson.
No matter how thick his skin, he had no retort against such a pointed accusation.
“I’m not afraid of you!”
Shing!
As if to erase his shame, Seo Muk drew his sword with a roar.
“Die!”
He immediately unleashed razor-sharp killing techniques.
It was the Infinite Imperfection sword form taught to him by Baekri Mujo.
When Bu Eunseol saw that Seo Muk’s moves were so sudden and flawless, leaving no openings, he immediately thrust the Silent Tiger Soul Sword straight toward Seo Muk’s eyes.
“Ugh!”
Startled, Seo Muk halted his technique.
Infinite Imperfection was a vicious move designed for ultra-close range—catching the enemy defenseless and stabbing the throat, chest, and lower abdomen simultaneously.
Because it targeted three vital points at once in close quarters, even a high-level sword master would have to retreat first before counterattacking.
Yet Bu Eunseol—acting like someone who craved death—did not evade but instead thrust straight for Seo Muk’s eyes at the same time.
In shock, Seo Muk leaped backward.
“What kind of swordsmanship is that?!”
When Bu Eunseol’s seemingly absurd single thrust disrupted Infinite Imperfection, Seo Muk roared and unleashed a continuous barrage of Seven Swords.
Boom!
Every swing of Seo Muk’s treasured sword carried thunderous inner force that echoed softly.
Swish.
Instead of meeting the attacks head-on, Bu Eunseol extended the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to preempt the points where Seo Muk’s techniques shifted.
As a result, Seo Muk could never complete a single form—his moves were constantly interrupted.
“You’ve studied our division’s swordsmanship!”
Believing Bu Eunseol had analyzed his techniques in advance, Seo Muk began mixing up the order of his forms chaotically.
“Try blocking this too!”
While Seo Muk grew increasingly furious, Bu Eunseol’s face remained utterly expressionless.
In truth, he knew nothing of the Star Guard Division’s sword forms.
His body was simply in such poor condition that he had no choice but to read the flow of sword paths and interrupt them.
Shunk. Shunk.
Because the Silent Tiger Soul Sword kept severing the flow midway, Seo Muk could never finish a technique and was forced to stop short.
‘I closed the distance too hastily!’
Seo Muk ground his teeth.
He wanted to retreat and regain range, but Bu Eunseol relentlessly sealed off his escape routes.
Whoosh!
After agonizing deliberation, Seo Muk tried to clash weapons to force distance.
Yet no matter how fiercely he swung, his blade met only empty air—never touching Bu Eunseol’s long sword.
“Argh!”
The more Seo Muk swung, the more it felt as though he were fighting in a dream.
‘Is his swordsmanship really this high?’
Cold sweat ran down Seo Muk’s back.
‘The martial world’s understanding of his prowess was completely wrong.’
Since the Heavenly Sword, Bu Eunseol had rarely fought publicly.
Many assumed he barely clung to the lower ranks of the Four Gods and Seven Kings yet merely by reading paths and severing momentum, he was toying with the vice-leader of the Star Guard Division?
‘And he isn’t even raising his inner force.’
Seo Muk mistakenly believed Bu Eunseol was deliberately refraining from channeling energy, merely using sword forms to humiliate him.
‘This man… only the division leader can face him.’
Having reached that conclusion, Seo Muk clenched his teeth.
Shwaaa!
He poured every ounce of inner force into his blade and began swinging at full power.
Each time Seo Muk’s treasured sword cut the air, his techniques grew faster; the sword winds sweeping in every direction were sharp enough to slice skin on contact.
Bu Eunseol, standing at the center of the storm, resembled a lone boat adrift on a raging sea.
Click.
Then something astonishing occurred.
Even after Seo Muk sheathed his sword, the techniques continued—as though alive—wrapping around Bu Eunseol, poised to sever his vital points.
Raging Tide Single Form.
Seo Muk’s ultimate life-saving technique:
Once unleashed, the sword forms became living entities, creating eighty-one transformations in midair while holding the opponent in place.
Whoosh. Slash!
Even as his body swayed wildly in the sword winds, Bu Eunseol paid it no mind and continued dismantling the techniques.
“Take the injured and retreat!”
Seizing the moment, Seo Muk shouted as he leaped backward.
Swish!
Hidden Star Guard martial artists appeared from nowhere, scooped up their gravely wounded or broken-boned comrades, and vanished in an instant.
Whoosh!
Though Bu Eunseol shattered Raging Tide Single Form, Seo Muk and the rest of the Star Guard Division had already disappeared.
Shunk.
Bu Eunseol planted the Silent Tiger Soul Sword into the ground.
“Haa… haa…”
Only then did ragged breaths escape him.
Soon after, with a wretched sound, thick clots of blood poured from his mouth.
“Haa… haa…”
Leaning on the Silent Tiger Soul Sword like a staff, Bu Eunseol bowed his head.
Awakening the profound aspect of Martial Emperor Tranquil Awakening at the brink of death and mastering a new rebound art was fortunate but unleashing it in his broken state had inflicted yet another deep internal wound.
Trickle… trickle…
Blood flowed without cease.
His organs twisted, his qi and blood knotted, his flesh tore, his stamina bottomed out.
He had endured wound after wound to reach this point… but it felt as though he could endure no more.
Clench.
Yet like a man forged of steel, Bu Eunseol slowly straightened again.
Unless his breath stopped completely, no pain, no trial could ever bend him.
“Rather fortunate that it was the Star Guard Division.”
Gazing at the spot where Seo Muk had fled, Bu Eunseol drew a deep breath.
Baekri Mujo was not the kind of person who would report this incident to the Alliance Leader, the Martial Venerable.
Therefore, the fact that he had clashed with Seo Muk would not reach the Martial Venerable.
“I need to enter quickly.”
Forcing his fading consciousness to hold on, Bu Eunseol stepped into the forest.
Now that Seo Muk had retreated, he would surely summon Baekri Mujo at once. With Baekri Mujo’s movement technique, he could reach this place from the Martial Alliance within two days.
Bu Eunseol had to enter the archive before then.
Swish. Tap.
Arriving before a massive tree in the woods, Bu Eunseol once again repeated the seemingly meaningless actions.
And finally—
Ziiing.
A white current appeared, revealing a new space within the forest.
The door to the Martial Venerable’s archive had opened.
‘Thank goodness.’
Fortunately, the method of entry had not changed.
This was because Baekri Mujo—despite already obtaining the White Lightning Golden Rat—had stationed the Star Guard Division here to confirm the lingering unease he felt about the place.
In short, Baekri Mujo’s perfectionist nature had ironically allowed Bu Eunseol to enter once more.
Stagger… stagger…
With unsteady, dangerous steps, Bu Eunseol entered.
Though his vision blurred, he endured with superhuman willpower.
Finally reaching the cave containing the archive’s secret repository, he began rearranging the vast shelves of books in their proper order once again.
Drip… drip…
Because his body lacked strength and he suffered from severe internal injuries, reorganizing so many books took far longer than before.
Yet Bu Eunseol never paused—he moved ceaselessly.
‘There’s… no time.’
Even if not Baekri Mujo, the Martial Venerable might enter midway.
After all, the Star Guard Division members stationed here had all withdrawn.
If the Martial Venerable learned of this?
He would immediately change the method of entering the archive and seize the opportunity.
Click.
After half an incense stick of effort, every book was finally aligned.
Creak.
The bookshelf moved, revealing another hidden space.
Stepping inside, he saw the two doors he had seen before.
“I hope this is the right one.”
Limping, Bu Eunseol laboriously opened the left door and entered.
Click.
The moment the door closed behind him, Bu Eunseol collapsed.
He could no longer stand.
The floor was made of iron, thus bitterly cold.
As the chill slowly crept upward, Bu Eunseol regained a little clarity.
When he slowly opened his eyes, boundless darkness stretched before him.
But unlike before, no countless stars were visible.
The vast, cosmic scenery that had once filled the space had completely vanished.
“Was it all for nothing?”
No matter how long he lay there, no strength seemed to return.
Just as despair began to settle in—
Ziiing.
A strange vibration came from within his robes.
It was emanating from the Boundary Prosperity Jade he carried.
At the same time, in the darkness, a single transparent star faintly twinkled.
And its size was strikingly similar to the Boundary Prosperity Jade in his possession.
‘Is it telling me to place it there?’
Bu Eunseol took out the Boundary Prosperity Jade.
But something was strange.
Unlike when Yang Seol-rin had refilled it with power before, the jade now was half filled with black light and half with blue.
‘Has it changed nature due to the shock?’
Slowly.
Gathering every ounce of strength, Bu Eunseol rose again.
He reached toward the flickering constellation.
Click.
Though it had seemed impossibly distant, the moment he extended his hand, the Boundary Prosperity Jade flew through the void and settled perfectly into that star position.
Twinkle… twinkle…
Gradually the star began to shine brighter,
Rustle rustle.
Then erupted with tremendous light.
And because of that radiance, the countless stars that had lain dormant in the darkness suddenly began to shine as well.
Flash flash!
As innumerable stars blazed brilliantly, Bu Eunseol’s eyes stung so fiercely he could barely keep them open.
Ziiing. Ziiing.
As the stars pulsed, a faint energy also began to flow from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Clank… clank…
Then, with metallic friction sounds, the hundreds of flickering stars in the darkness began merging into one hundred and eight.
Whoosh!
From the one hundred and eight stars flowed a bizarre, smoke-like energy, then blinding light poured forth.
Flash!
It was as though the star-filled universe had exploded.
“Ugh…”
Bu Eunseol let out a pained groan.
The moment the light touched him, it felt as though his entire body were melting.
He had thought it would heal him yet instead it seemed to be burning away even the faint remaining energy inside him.
Could that mysterious monk have deliberately lured him into a trap?
Roarrrr.
It felt as though his whole body had been plunged into infernal flames.
Ziiing. Ziiing.
Meanwhile the light flowing from his body grew even more intense.
His blood-and-flesh mortal body began to flicker like the stars in the night sky.
Shhh…
From Bu Eunseol’s glowing body, black mist began to rise.
Gurgle… gurgle…
Instead of spreading outward, the mist was reabsorbed into his skin, turning his entire body pitch black.
Sizzle…
White smoke steamed from Bu Eunseol’s blackened form.
Crack… crack…
With the sound of bones shifting, a black radiance began to appear at his brow.
Hummm.
In response, a single thread of heat rose from his dantian, and golden currents began to emerge.
The latent energy of the Muscle-Changing Sutra was merging with the Prajna Great Power.
Hummmm.
As the Prajna Great Power manifested, tremendous heat began to coil through his body from the area near his brain acupoint.
Primordial Chaos Subtle Energy.
The mysterious power said to embrace all things in existence began to envelop his body.
Shuuu…
The blackened skin gradually returned to white, and the searing, burning pain slowly subsided.
‘It’s leaving.’
Regaining clarity, Bu Eunseol blinked.
Something inside him was constantly flowing out, yet his body felt lighter, and an indescribable sense of upliftment rose within him.
‘The things blocking my power are being expelled.’
After pondering for a moment, Bu Eunseol finally understood.
What was leaving him now was the energy that had sealed all the power within his body—in other words, the mass of harmony itself.
‘My own power was the cause.’
To reconstruct Yeon Wol’s dying mindscape, Bu Eunseol had poured out every ounce of power inside him in a kind of forced harmony.
But in that process Yeon Wol had passed away, and the released harmonious power had returned to Bu Eunseol’s body.
In short, the inherited power circulating within him had reversed flow and blocked his meridians.
Yet the energy flowing from this place was slowly expelling that blocked force.
Now all his power—and his inner force—was beginning to return.
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