‘That brat.’
Ak Muryeong’s eyes flashed as he watched Bu Eunseol walk away powerlessly with his back hunched like a hunchback.
‘What in the world is that energy lodged in his acupoints?’
Even during that extreme battle, Ak Muryeong had used secret arts akin to the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra to meticulously scan the inside of Bu Eunseol’s body.
Yet right around Bu Eunseol’s cerebral acupoint, there was an overwhelming power embedded—one that even he could not dispel.
Moreover, within his inner force there was a mysteriously mixed energy whose nature he could not identify at all.
If he had known that it was the Primordial Hidden Qi—the absolute secret art of the grandmaster who ascended to the seat of the Western Tibetan Sect and the paramount school of heavenly inner force—he would have fainted from shock.
“That brat… is he not a fake, but truly of Baekri Muha’s bloodline?”
In truth, if he were a fake, there would be no need to seal his memories with such monstrous power.
From the beginning, planting fragmentary memories along with a simple suggestion such as ‘Your memories have been sealed’ would have sufficed.
People would easily believe that the reason no memories surfaced was because they had been sealed.
Yet inside Bu Eunseol’s head, an enormous power that even Ak Muryeong himself could not unravel was tightly blocking his cerebral acupoint.
Truly as though it were sealing away some real memories.
‘Could it be… Bu Zhanyang?’
A bizarre thought flashed through Ak Muryeong’s mind.
Baekri Muha, in order to preserve his bloodline, had instead turned his real son into a shadow.
And Bu Zhanyang, having seen through that intention, had deliberately branded Bu Eunseol as a fake… Such an absurd notion.
‘Hmm…’
In the past, during his clash with the Buddha Venerable, Ak Muryeong had coincidentally heard information about a power possessed only by the blood kin of the Baekri clan.
If he truly wanted to confirm whether Bu Eunseol carried the Baekri bloodline, all he had to do was summon him right now and verify it.
“That’s none of this Pavilion Lord’s concern.”
Ak Muryeong gazed at the distant sky.
“No matter what anyone says, that brat is the successor of this hall.”
Whatever Bu Eunseol’s true origins might be, it did not matter.
All that mattered to Ak Muryeong was that he had finally obtained a true successor capable of inheriting his lineage and to Nangyang Pavilion, a successor who could complete the martial path they had so desperately pursued.
“Now, at last.”
Ak Muryeong narrowed his eyes and from his pupils emanated an aura that seemed to tear the heavens apart.
“I can finally see the end of you lot.”
***
“I’m still so far behind.”
After leaving Nangyang Pavilion, Bu Eunseol was initially so exhausted and ashamed that he could barely lift his head.
“Ten years.”
Ak Muryeong had told him to survive for ten years.
He had interpreted those words to mean that he would need ten more years of training just to survive.
And to Bu Eunseol, that span felt impossibly long and distant.
“Leaving aside the True Demon himself—if even his kin are strong enough to contend with the Pavilion Lord…”
Even though the Fist Man was the lowest among them, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the strongest experts of the current martial world.
Which meant there were still beings he would have to fight with everything he had in the future.
In truth, as a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion, that should have been something to rejoice over.
Without strong opponents, there could be no progress.
Only through fierce battles could one reach endlessly higher realms.
Yet after witnessing Ak Muryeong’s terrifying prowess with his own eyes, his confidence had somewhat crumbled.
In reality, this was a huge misunderstanding on Bu Eunseol’s part.
The reason a full-powered attack had failed to land was because, every time his martial level rose, Ak Muryeong had clashed with him again and again in reality, completely seeing through every martial art and mixed power he possessed as the supreme elder of his sect and the greatest master of Nangyang Pavilion.
He had completely forgotten that fact.
It was also because Bu Eunseol’s fighting spirit was so fierce, and because, true to a Nangyang Pavilion disciple, he regarded even Ak Muryeong as a rival he must one day surpass.
[Soyo, for a while, please handle my whereabouts in my stead.]
When Bu Eunseol sent a thousand-li transmission, Soyo replied in a voice tinged with worry.
[Where are you going?]
[I’ll be taking care of some personal matters for a bit.]
[Come back safely.] Soyo answered energetically.
Ever since he returned from Nangyang Pavilion, he had seemed somehow drained.
If escaping the complicated affairs of Majeon and the Martial Alliance for a short while to handle personal business, then from her perspective, it was something to welcome with both hands raised.
[Don’t pretend everything’s fine and try to solve it all by yourself.]
But because Bu Eunseol had already left the area in a single breath… Soyo’s thousand-li transmission did not reach his ears.
Shuuu.
Leaving Iron Staff Mountain, Bu Eunseol unfolded his movement technique endlessly toward the north.
Running and running without rest or pause, before long he arrived at Yumen Pass.
“I wonder if that guy is doing well.”
Passing through Yumen Pass, Bu Eunseol suddenly recalled the face of a young man with pure, clear eyes. His companion on his very first journey through the martial world, and an unparalleled genius with outstanding talent.
Black Leopard.
“He must be training diligently.”
Not only did Black Leopard possess exceptional talent, he was also an effort-type genius who never skipped a single day of relentless training.
Surely even at this very moment, he was ceaselessly honing himself and growing stronger.
“……”
Shuuk.
After sinking into deep thought for a moment, Bu Eunseol, seeming to have made up his mind, he unfolded his movement technique in one swift burst.
After running for a long while, the vast scenery of a desert unfolded before him—golden sands stretching so far that the horizon could no longer be seen.
He ran on without stopping.
By the time the bright blue sky had gradually turned into a night sky pouring with stars, far in the distance, beyond a large rocky mountain, he saw a place where vegetation grew.
There, a spring bubbled up with drinkable water.
Around it stood remnants of stone buildings—broken and weathered—as though it were an ancient ruin, giving off an air of mystery.
Tatatak.
And between them flickered the light of a fire.
Someone had lit a campfire and was resting there.
Normally, he would never have disturbed another person’s rest.
But perhaps because he had wandered the endless vast desert, or perhaps because his heart was so utterly exhausted, Bu Eunseol found himself unconsciously walking toward the campfire.
There, he saw a young man crouched before the flames with a hunched back.
His face was covered with cloth, so his features could not be clearly seen, but from his drooping shoulders and unfocused gaze, he appeared to be sunk in profound despair.
“Huh?”
Yet when their eyes met, the young man let out a startled sound.
“What brings you here?”
“Black Leopard.”
Bu Eunseol blinked in surprise as well.
The hunched young man was none other than Black Leopard.
“You’re unrecognizable.”
It was an honest assessment.
Not merely because Black Leopard had covered his face with cloth, but because the eyes that always sparkled with vitality were now as empty and lifeless as those of a dead fish.
“What happened?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, Black Leopard bowed his head deeply and said, “I’m too ashamed to speak.”
“Ashamed?”
“I’ve been wandering around with the grandiose title of ‘Mercenary King,’ yet in truth I’m just a useless empty husk, aren’t I?”
“You’re being far too hard on yourself.”
When Bu Eunseol frowned, Black Leopard shook his head.
“Not at all.”
He gazed at the strange pauldron attached to his shoulder.
“Not long ago, I chanced upon a strange recluse and obtained an extraordinary weapon.”
Attached to his shoulder was a pauldron that gleamed with an eerie luster.
It was the Black Wing Blood Lord’s One Feather Sky-Piercing Plume—the supreme movement art accessory said to elevate the martial world’s movement techniques to an even higher level.
“One Feather Sky-Piercing Plume.”
“Indeed. You recognized it at a glance, my Lord.”
Black Leopard looked back at the campfire and spoke weakly.
“Even with such a treasure, in the end I had to flee from a bunch of freaks with… two eyeballs.”
Black Leopard had obtained the heavenly treasure, the One Feather Sky-Piercing Plume—no, Black Wing—yet had failed to eliminate all the spy puppets and had been forced to flee, causing his confidence to plummet.
As a result, he had temporarily set aside his work as a mercenary and was wandering the desert aimlessly alone.
“In the end, I was just a frog in a well.”
The legendary demonic scripture, the Evil Calamity Hell-Forging Scripture, had produced spy puppets only once since the martial world began. They were known as living weapons of terrifying power, used to attack the legendary Baekri clan.
The fact that Black Leopard had single-handedly defeated such a monstrous creature and survived was proof that he had already reached the pinnacle of the martial world.
Yet Black Leopard, completely unaware of this, simply thought of the spy puppet as a creature similar to a living jiangshi from the Zhang Clan school of sorcery.
Ashamed that he—with the grandiose title of Mercenary King—could not even properly deal with such a creature, he was tormenting himself.
“Hmm.”
Bu Eunseol let out a soft sigh and crouched down beside Black Leopard.
“To call yourself a frog in a well over something like that is an overstatement.”
“Huh?”
“Up until now, I’ve been fortunate enough to directly and indirectly learn the martial arts of the greatest grandmasters of our era—including the Pavilion Lord himself.”
As he continued speaking, Bu Eunseol’s shoulders slumped even more than Black Leopard’s beside him.
“Yet even so, I was told that I would need ten years of bitter training just to barely reach the level where I can survive in the martial world.”
By now his eyes, too, had lost focus like those of a dead fish.
“And that evaluation came from the Pavilion Lord himself.”
“Ah… I see.”
Black Leopard nodded as though in agreement.
“If it’s an assessment from the Human Demon Ak Muryeong—the strongest among the Three Demons—then it must be certain.”
“Exactly.”
“It seems you haven’t made much progress either, My Lord.”
As they spoke, both men’s gazes grew increasingly clouded.
“Now that I think about it, your aura feels rather ordinary too.”
“Everything I do turns out that way, doesn’t it.”
Thump.
As though by prior agreement, both men bowed their heads at the same time.
Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard had trained relentlessly without resting even a single day, advancing their martial arts through battles that crossed the line between life and death.
Yet after this experience, they were now blaming themselves, convinced that their abilities had been grossly overestimated all along.
“So that’s why you came here.”
“So that’s why you were alone in this desert.”
Speaking at the same moment, the two once again stared blankly at the campfire.
The next day arrived, yet the two men were still crouched before the now-extinguished fire.
Having both reached the realm of Six Transformations Golden Origin, even if they went several days without food, it posed no threat to their lives.
Mumble mumble.
Even so, Black Leopard kept murmuring martial formulas under his breath.
Unconsciously, he was still researching methods to wield the Black Wing even more powerfully.
Scritch scritch.
Bu Eunseol, crouched down, was drawing strange diagrams in the sand.
They were new fist techniques of the Seven Fist Demon Forms—variants of Infinite Beginning, Infinite End.
He was researching how to defend against attacks from a master like Ak Muryeong and counterattack immediately.
Dudududu.
Suddenly the ground trembled, and with a sound like a herd of cattle passing, pitch-black silhouettes began arriving one by one.
Turning his head, he saw troops mounted on horses, their faces concealed by bizarre attire, approaching.
Their numbers reached three thousand.
Their eyes gleamed sharply, and razor-like auras emanated from their entire bodies.
“A band of demonic bandits.”
“Looks like demonic bandits.”
They rode horses with only their faces covered.
Yet upon closer inspection, their auras were far too powerful to belong to ordinary bandits.
But after squatting in the desert for days on end, absorbed in their own thoughts, both men were in such a dazed state that they could no longer properly distinguish whether these were bandits or something else.
“Whoa!”
The charging force spotted the two men crouched beside the clear spring.
“We rest here.”
They wore red garments and were completely covered except for their eyes.
The leader dismounted and stared at Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard, his eyes flashing.
Both men exuded ordinary auras, and their gazes were slightly unfocused for some reason.
Their dust-covered clothes and crouched postures made them look somewhat deficient.
“Get lost.”
The leader’s voice was low, resonant, and carried an undeniable authority.
“This is a place where our unit must rest.”
Yet even at his shout, the two merely shook their heads with dazed expressions.
“Not bandits—a heretical cult group.”
“A heretical cult group, huh.”
Then they withdrew their gazes again, scribbled something on the ground, and resumed murmuring.
‘Martial formulas?’
The leader realized that everything the two were mumbling were principles of supreme martial arts.
‘They’re not simple fools.’
Recognizing that the two were martial artists possessing outstanding skills, the leader ordered his men, “Our movements must not be exposed. Kill them at once.”
The battle began.
Three thousand strong.
Under normal circumstances, victory would have been impossible.
Yet Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard remained relaxed.
Having reached some kind of superior realm, as long as the opponents did not reach an equal martial level, no matter how many there were, Bu Eunseol could never be harmed.
Black Leopard—who had lived the mercenary life crossing lines of death—after obtaining the Black Wing, had more than doubled his movement technique and evasion ability.
Back to back, the two leisurely dealt with the pouring troops.
—Huh?
But as the battle continued, the expressions of Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard began to change.
They had thought they could handle bandits or a heretical group without difficulty, yet these bizarre masked men possessed considerable skill and had mastered strange great arts that suppressed the power of their techniques and even slowed their movements.
—Has my martial arts truly declined?
—Could my martial arts have really declined?
Thinking the exact same thought, Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard stared at each other; their gazes darkened endlessly.
They had reached supreme realms and continued to advance without cease, yet now they had hit a wall.
Even against unknown experts from some nameless heretical cult or bandit group, they could no longer win easily?
Krrrang!
In the end, Bu Eunseol began unleashing the Supreme Heavenly Flow accompanied by Thunder Spirit Energy.
The enemies’ techniques were so bizarre, and their strange great arts slowed his movements so much that unless he raised Thunder Spirit Energy, his body felt as sluggish as if he were underwater.
Swaaaa!
At the same time, a tremendous current began pouring from Black Leopard’s shoulder.
When ordinary movement techniques could no longer produce speed, he began using the Black Wing at full power.
Pssht! Slaaash!
In an instant, the area within thirty zhang became a sea of blood.
Bu Eunseol leaped like a madman with Silent Tiger Soul Sword in hand, alternating between Supreme Heavenly Flow and Seven Fist Demon Forms.
Kwaaaang!
Each time, with an explosive roar, Black Leopard—now a streak of black—circled around them, using the Black Wing to unleash blade-like streams of energy.
“How is this possible…?”
The leader’s voice trembled as he watched the battlefield; disbelief shone in his eyes.
These three thousand were a secret unit never revealed to the world.
In terms of combat power alone, their might was equivalent to ten mid-to-small sects combined—an utterly terrifying force. Yet their elite troops were being mercilessly cut down by two young martial artists like common bandits.
“This is impossible…”
In truth, they were the secret vanguard of one of the most powerful forces among the outer regions.
Under the influence of a mysterious great art, their bodies were like indestructible adamant, and each possessed the strength of one against a thousand.
Even if an average sect mobilized entirely against them, they could win.
Yet they could not defeat two young men whose faces were caked in dust and whose appearances were shabby?
Moreover, even after half a day, they fought on tirelessly like machines gone mad?
How could such a dreamlike thing be happening?
“Retreat!”
In the end, the leader ordered a retreat.
Even if they held on a little longer, the result would be total annihilation.
No matter how desperately they fought, they could not defeat those two monsters.
Urrrr.
The retreat was swift.
Of the original three thousand, only about a thousand remained.
And even those survivors had merely kept their lives—few retained intact limbs.
Urrrrrrr.
As they kicked up dust clouds in retreat, Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard’s movements finally stopped.
Despite achieving a great victory, both men’s expressions were deeply distorted.
“My Lord.”
Black Leopard spoke to Bu Eunseol with an exhausted face.
“I think I’m done for.”
Even after using every last ounce of strength he had, he had failed to wipe out those three thousand?
“Same here.”
Watching the enemy recede like an ebbing tide, Bu Eunseol let out a bitter sigh as well.
Even accounting for the sluggishness caused by their bizarre great art, to fail to cut down all three thousand of a heretical group after half a day of battle?
This was the most humiliating experience in Bu Eunseol’s entire martial journey.
For a long while, the two savored their bitter victory with bowed heads.
How much time passed?
“Mental shock can temporarily cause martial arts to regress.”
Suddenly Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and gazed at the distant sky.
“One can fall into despair and frustration. But one must use that as a stepping stone to climb even higher.”
Those words were not only for Black Leopard—they were a vow to himself as well.
“You’re right.”
Black Leopard clenched his fist tightly.
“I’ve been far too complacent. I need to return to the beginner’s mind and start training the basics all over again.”
At Black Leopard’s words, Bu Eunseol gave a faint smile.
Thinking back, when he first met Black Leopard and taught him, Bu Eunseol himself had learned a great deal.
Teaching was not merely transmitting something to another.
The act of teaching could also become an opportunity to develop oneself.
“Are you heading back to the Central Plains now?”
After a moment of thought, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“Since I’ve already come outside the border, I’m thinking of visiting several poison sects.”
“Poison sects?”
“I’m looking for a way to eliminate the Three Corpse Worm.”
All the Supreme Corps members had been poisoned with the Three Corpse Worm by the Martial Venerable’s hidden scheme.
Before leaving the Martial Alliance, he absolutely had to detoxify that poison.
“Three Corpse Worm.”
After pondering deeply for a moment, Black Leopard spoke.
“Among the mercenary band I lead, there is one person extremely knowledgeable about poisons. He is also an expert in gu.”
“An expert in gu.”
“Indeed.” Black Leopard continued calmly. “He said that if there is any place capable of detoxifying an extreme gu like the Three Corpse Worm, it would only be the Thousand Poisons Sect on Hainan.”
“Thousand Poisons Sect?”
Bu Eunseol blinked.
The Thousand Poisons Sect was the sect that first gave birth to the Poison Body realm in the martial world.
It was also the root of the Black Tower—the paramount poison sect of Yunnan.
But the Black Tower had become a ruined sect, and naturally the lineage of the Thousand Poisons Sect had long been severed, leaving no trace.
Yet suddenly the Thousand Poisons Sect?
“It is said that the Thousand Poisons Sect has been rebuilt on Wunin Island in Hainan.”
Black Leopard spoke in a low voice.
“They found a treasure map claiming gold was buried on Wunin Island in Hainan. While searching for the treasure, they supposedly came across the rebuilt Thousand Poisons Sect by chance.”
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
He had already witnessed countless ruined sects wiped out by the Three Realms being rebuilt.
“Then is it related to the Three Realms?”
“I don’t know that far. But if you’re seeking to detoxify the Three Corpse Worm, it might be worth looking into.”
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol replied calmly.
“From now on, try not to travel alone as much as possible. The situation in the martial world has completely changed.”
Recently Black Leopard had left his mercenary band behind and wandered the desert alone.
But this incident must have taught him a painful lesson.
Traveling alone like this meant he could be ambushed by other forces at any time.
“Understood.”
“Train hard.”
“Yes.”
After exchanging farewells, the two simultaneously leaped in opposite directions.
Unaware of the rumor that would soon spread because of them—
—The Martial Soul Command Lord and the Mercenary King single-handedly stopped an invasion by the Blood Cult!
A shocking rumor suddenly swept through the martial world.
The Blood Cult had broken its agreement with Majeon and was once again attempting to establish a branch like the Blood Death Cult in the Central Plains.
They had secretly led troops across Yumen Pass to infiltrate the Central Plains.
And not just any troops—the Rakshasa Unit composed entirely of Soul-Slaying Men.
Soul-Slaying Men.
The strongest warriors created through the Blood Cult’s supreme great art.
Their bodies were like indestructible adamant, and each possessed the power of one against a thousand.
Their number: a full three thousand.
In short, the Blood Cult had seen through the chaos in the Central Plains martial world and was leading elite force on the scale of a great sect to break through Yumen Pass.
Yet somehow, the Martial Soul Command Lord and the Mercenary King had known in advance.
They had been waiting at Yumen Pass, and the two of them alone had repelled three thousand troops.
—Just what kind of intelligence network does the Martial Soul Command Lord possess?
Among the outer sects, the Blood Cult boasted the most powerful military force—and an intelligence network to match.
No intelligence organization in the Central Plains had detected the secret movement of the Rakshasa Unit across Yumen Pass.
Yet the two had been openly waiting right on their infiltration route?
—The intelligence networks and martial prowess of the Martial Soul Command Lord and the Mercenary King have been gravely underestimated until now.
Bu Eunseol, the Martial Soul Command Lord, had long refrained from overt martial activities.
Black Leopard, the Mercenary King, had traveled between the outer regions and built exceptional martial arts.
Contrary to what had been known, the two commanded intelligence networks of unimaginable scale, and their martial prowess had already surpassed the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
—As long as the Martial Soul Command Lord and the Mercenary King exist, the outer forces will have to abandon their ambitions toward the Central Plains.
As such rumors shook the martial world,
—Hm?
—Huh?
Bu Eunseol, heading toward Hainan, and Black Leopard, returning to his mercenary band, both blinked and opened their mouths wide at the same time.
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