“Hwa Wu Sword Sect.”
Bu Eunseol gazed up at the majestic might of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, his eyes wandering aimlessly through the empty air as if lost for a place to settle.
‘Then that boy wasn’t a pure member of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect after all.’
Though the Hwa Wu Sword Sect boasted many outstanding masters, none should have cultivated poison arts to the realm of Poison Peak Mastery.
‘If that’s not the case either…’
Infinite Reversal Power.
If it were that force which transcended the principles of martial arts, then even without cultivating poison arts, it might be possible to wield poison at the level of Poison Peak Mastery.
‘In that case.’
Even if countless unknown masters existed within the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, only one person could possibly wield Infinite Reversal Power at such an extreme realm.
At last, Bu Eunseol realized who the boy’s true body was.
“Weiji Mu-a.”
The one capable of controlling a shell-like body while wielding power bordering on Infinite Reversal Power.
That could only be Hwa Wu Sword Sect Leader, the Profound Demon—Weiji Mu-a.
No one else fit.
‘No, this is absurd.’
If the Profound Demon Weiji Mu-a were the leader of the Inbiin, nothing could be more chilling or preposterous.
‘I’ll confirm it.’
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol strode straight toward the main gate of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
The two guards stationed at the gate changed color the moment they saw his face but as soon as their eyes met his, they bowed politely.
“For what business have you come to our sect?”
“I’ve come to see the Sect Leader.”
The guards were visibly shocked.
Though it wasn’t widely known in the martial world, Bu Eunseol had once severed the flow of funds controlled by Weiji Hyesang.
Yet no major conflict had erupted because Weiji Hyesang’s placement of spies in the Death Shadow Corps had been exposed, and above all, because the Chief Instructor had mediated, allowing the matter to pass quietly.
From the Hwa Wu Sword Sect’s perspective, however, they had every reason to despise Bu Eunseol to the extreme.
Now the very person responsible had arrived unannounced and not only that, but was asking to meet the Sect Leader who had been in secluded training, showing himself to no one like a hidden divine dragon?
“Please wait a moment.”
The guard on the left hurriedly went inside.
It seemed he was reporting the visitor to the guard captain.
After a long wait, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the guard captain emerged from the gate and bowed.
“I am Jeong Uk, Lord of the True Heart Hall.”
As the successor of Majeon, Bu Eunseol held an extremely high status.
That was why, instead of the guard captain, it was the reception overseer—Lord of the True Heart Hall—who had come out to greet him.
“It is an honor to meet you.”
After offering a somewhat dry greeting, Jeong Uk spoke calmly.
“Please follow me. The Sect Leader is waiting.”
An unexpected statement.
Bu Eunseol had been certain the meeting would be avoided by any means possible yet astonishingly, the Profound Demon—who had remained in complete seclusion—had accepted the visit.
Thud, thud.
The Hwa Wu Sword Sect was the foremost among the Ten Demonic Sects, with a full ten thousand disciples. Its scale was equivalent to combining five or six average martial sects. Therefore, when extremely high-status guests visited, they were transported inside by carriage within the sect grounds.
Even on his previous visit that had been the case, and now his position certainly warranted a carriage.
Yet Jeong Uk had not brought one; he simply walked slowly ahead.
‘Only natural treatment, I suppose.’
But Bu Eunseol was not the sort of person who expected hospitality in the first place—nor was this a situation where he should expect any.
To the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, he was someone they would love to tear apart. The fact that he had walked right into their lair meant they must want to mobilize every available force to strike him down.
If anything, he should be grateful that Weiji Mu-a had even permitted the visit.
“My Lord.”
A little deeper inside, a young attendant was waiting.
“From here, this child will guide you.”
The attendant was likely a personal servant who attended Weiji Mu-a.
Weiji Mu-a had completely withdrawn from the administrative affairs of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect and was effectively in seclusion. Thus, no one could enter the place where he resided without permission, and only someone who stayed there permanently could serve as guide.
“Very well.”
With the young attendant leading the way, Bu Eunseol resumed walking.
From time to time, mid-level figures and masters of the sect glared murderously from afar or whispered among themselves in low voices. Bu Eunseol paid them no mind and continued walking calmly.
‘I’m curious about the Sect Leader’s reaction.’
How could the leader of the foremost demonic sect, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, have become involved with the Inbiin?
Did that mean the entire Hwa Wu Sword Sect was the Inbiin’s stronghold?
Or did he possess yet another identity?
‘In any case, for now it’s correct to view him as cooperating with the Inbiin.’
“Please ascend here.”
At that moment the attendant pointed to a tall hermitage.
It was a small hermitage located on the back mountain of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
Likely a place built for cultivating inner energy or for meditation.
“The Sect Leader is staying there?”
In the past Weiji Mu-a had been extremely fond of tea and had even built a small pavilion solely for drinking it.
Yet now he had suddenly moved to this desolate hermitage?
Could he actually be retraining his martial power?
“Yes.”
The attendant bowed politely.
“Then.”
He turned and left.
Bu Eunseol gazed up at the hermitage for a moment. After long deliberation, he finally began walking again.
Thud, thud.
With each step he took, however, a strange thought welled up inside him.
What if the one crouching in that hermitage wasn’t Weiji Mu-a at all, but someone completely different?
What if the person known as the Profound Demon had vanished long ago?
It was a somewhat absurd notion.
But he simply could not accept that the boy leading the Inbiin and Weiji Mu-a were the same person, so it was also an attempt to somehow force reality to fit.
“Come in.”
As Bu Eunseol stood before the hermitage, a low voice came from inside.
Creak.
He pushed open the old door and stepped inside.
There, a man sat bare-shouldered, carving wood with a chisel.
His arm muscles were bronzed, his long hair carelessly tied up. On the small table stood several small gourds—likely he had been drinking while carving.
“Long time no see.”
As the man brushed his hands and turned around, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
From the back, he had thought the man was not Weiji Mu-a but simply some martial artist residing here, because the aura emanating from him felt utterly unfamiliar.
But it really was Weiji Mu-a.
‘He’s changed this much?’
Bu Eunseol could distinguish people not only by face but by body shape.
Weiji Mu-a had once possessed the elegant, slender grace of a divine scholar—a thin frame, and extremely fair skin.
Yet now he was a bronzed, middle-aged man with the fierce eyes of a wild beast?
Moreover, though he had already passed seventy, thanks to profound inner energy he had previously maintained the jade-like appearance of a young scholar.
But now he looked like a blood-soaked swordsman who lived by the blade?
The change in appearance was so drastic that if seen from afar, one might not recognize him at all.
‘He’s cultivating a new martial art.’
Bu Eunseol could sense it.
After reaching the Limitless Realm, Weiji Mu-a had reportedly ceased training the body through physical movement, achieving sword mastery solely through meditation.
But now it seemed he was training a new sword art by moving his body under the blazing sun, which had given him the wild eyes and bronzed skin of a beast.
‘Incredible.’
Weiji Mu-a’s tempered physique was more beautiful than a meticulously crafted jewel, harder than any treasured sword. It was as though a god had poured his entire soul into creating a masterpiece.
And it seemed to prove that Weiji Mu-a was breaking free from the boundaries of the Limitless Realm.
‘No—I’m certain.’
Bu Eunseol intuited it.
He too was transcending the Limitless Realm in his own way.
“I have been rude.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize he had been staring blankly, lost in admiration of Weiji Mu-a’s physique. He bowed deeply.
“This disciple, Bu Eunseol, greets the Sect Leader.”
“It is no easy feat.”
Weiji Mu-a gave a gentle smile.
“Even if human potential is infinite, there are still clear limits.”
Then he offered words of praise.
“How can your latent potential be so boundless, Command Lord…?”
Weiji Mu-a had seen through the fact that Bu Eunseol was admiring the realm he had achieved and had become entranced by his body because of it.
“You flatter me.”
Even in the face of Bu Eunseol’s modesty, Weiji Mu-a nodded as though in genuine admiration.
“If I had not witnessed the battle between Brother Ak and the Demon Emperor in their youth, I might have gladly considered you my rival.”
Ak Muryeong and the Demon Emperor had clashed many times in their younger days; it seemed Weiji Mu-a had witnessed one of those fights.
“You have already surpassed what those brilliant masters achieved in their youth.”
It was both reverence for the martial realms attained by the Demon Emperor and Ak Muryeong, and the highest praise for Bu Eunseol’s prowess that transcended generations and lineages.
“But what brings you here?”
Weiji Mu-a sent over a harmless smile.
“For quite some time no one has dared touch this sect, so things have been rather peaceful.”
Though the words seemed barbed, this kind of jest was closer to consideration—refraining from blaming Bu Eunseol for attacking the Hwa Wu Sword Sect and instead treating him amicably.
“My apologies.”
“Apologies? Any demonic cultivator would naturally want to break any blade that threatens them, wouldn’t they?”
Weiji Mu-a waved his hand dismissively as though it were nothing.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
Such broad-mindedness was something rarely seen even in taoist cultivators who had attained the Way or monks who had practiced asceticism their entire lives.
‘The Profound Demon.’
Bu Eunseol let out a deep inner sigh.
Even though he stood at the pinnacle of the demonic martial world, he was known not to walk the path of tyranny, instead using extremely profound martial arts like a righteous taoist. The reason that was possible was the unfathomable depth of his mind and the vast openness of his heart.
“I happened to be feeling rather bored so this is perfect timing.”
He picked up one of the small gourds on the table.
“I was just worrying how I could find a drinking companion in this remote hermitage.”
Then he tossed the gourd to Bu Eunseol.
Tap.
As Bu Eunseol caught it, Weiji Mu-a flashed his white teeth in a grin.
“It’s not particularly fine liquor, but it should be drinkable enough.”
“Did you brew it yourself?”
“It somehow ended up that way.”
A surprising fact.
Generally, people who are fond of tea do not enjoy alcohol.
Weiji Mu-a, who used to personally cultivate and roast tea leaves to suit his taste, was now brewing liquor himself?
“I’ll enjoy it.”
Bu Eunseol took a sip from the gourd.
The liquor was milder than expected—not strong, calm, soft and pure like the wine offered at ancestral rites.
“How is it? The taste.”
Bu Eunseol almost burst into laughter.
In the past, Weiji Mu-a would insist that others drink the tea he had made himself, then earnestly ask for their evaluation of the flavor—and take the critique very seriously.
And now his eyes held exactly the same look as back then.
“Mild and gentle. It even has a clean aftertaste, almost as though tea were blended in.”
“Hahaha. So I’ve been found out after all.”
“You really mixed tea into it?”
Weiji Mu-a downed the contents of his gourd in one go and said, “I’ve created a way to enjoy delicious liquor and tea at the same time.”
An absurd remark, yet the smile vanished from Bu Eunseol’s lips.
Weiji Mu-a was a master of the Limitless Realm who had gazed upon the martial world his entire life. In other words, like an artisan who revered tradition and stubbornly adhered to one method for decades.
For such a man to unhesitatingly mix liquor and tea?
That meant his current swordsmanship had undoubtedly reached a realm that transcended the limits of martial arts and techniques never before seen in the martial world.
“Here.”
Weiji Mu-a extended his arm toward Bu Eunseol again.
Gulp gulp.
He drank a large amount at once, like a man dying of thirst.
By contrast, Bu Eunseol took only a short sip.
Just from the way they drank, one could tell the two men had completely opposite personalities.
Perhaps the same held true for their martial arts.
“But why the sudden visit?”
Though his skin tone and body lines had completely changed, Weiji Mu-a had become even gentler than before.
Bu Eunseol let out a soft sigh.
That such an easygoing Weiji Mu-a—the Profound Demon who had resumed physical training to refine his sword—could be of the Inbiin, the one experimenting on and controlling human bodies, was simply impossible to believe.
‘Was I mistaken?’
From speech to overall feeling, Weiji Mu-a and the Inbiin boy had nothing in common.
“I came because I had something to ask.”
“Go ahead.”
“Even while leading the foremost demonic sect like the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, have there been parts that long dissatisfied you?”
—Are you dissatisfied with the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, and that’s why you joined hands with such a faction?
It was an indirect way of saying he knew Weiji Mu-a was the boy conducting the Inbiin experiments.
“Dissatisfaction, hm.”
At Bu Eunseol’s subtle question, Weiji Mu-a stroked his chin with a grave expression.
“You have only ever led an alliance. You have never managed an independent, single sect, so perhaps you wouldn’t understand.”
He tilted the gourd again and drank deeply.
Tap.
Setting the gourd down, he smiled and said,
“Leading a sect is not something that can be described as satisfying or dissatisfying.”
Weiji Mu-a’s now sharper gaze sparkled as he continued.
“One must cast aside personal feelings and impressions. The leader of a sect must pour all his effort solely into ensuring the sect prospers.”
He looked at Bu Eunseol with an enigmatic smile.
“That is the fate borne by any Sect Leader. Though, among the Ten Demonic Sects, there are two—including this sect’s leader—who became so fixated on their personal goals that they nearly drove their sects to ruin.”
Amused by his own words, he let out a hearty laugh.
A sect leader fixated solely on personal goals…
That referred to Ak Muryeong, the Human Demon, who left all sect affairs to Dan Cheong and devoted himself to closed-door training, and Weiji Mu-a himself, who had dumped all responsibilities onto Wi Hyeok-gun.
“If a Sect Leader focuses only on prosperity, doesn’t the risk of falling into ruin actually increase?”
“When you look back at the history of the martial world, countless sects have risen, maintained their lineage for a time, and then vanished. That is only natural.”
Weiji Mu-a gave a somewhat hollow smile.
“In other words, a sect is merely a sect—cycles of glory and decline are inevitable. A sect leader can only do his utmost; the rest is up to heaven’s will.”
‘He admits it so easily?’
Though he had phrased it somewhat circuitously, Weiji Mu-a’s words turned Bu Eunseol’s suspicions into certainty.
Considering the easygoing yet meticulous personality Weiji Mu-a had shown so far, this behavior was somewhat incomprehensible.
‘Is he that confident? Or…’
Bu Eunseol never missed even the smallest piece of evidence and possessed the power to expose whether Weiji Mu-a was the Inbiin.
So why would he say something that only strengthened suspicion into conviction?
—The sects of the martial world are merely sects of the martial world. They can change or disappear at any time.
Moreover, the implication of his words was that even the foremost demonic sect, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect, meant nothing to him personally?
‘For the sake of his goal, he would discard even the foremost demonic sect without hesitation?’
Bu Eunseol felt confused.
Yet he showed none of it and simply nodded.
“I see.”
Then he clasped his hands respectfully.
“Thanks to you, my curiosity has been satisfied.”
There was nothing more to ask Weiji Mu-a.
From now on, he only needed to perfectly track his movements and prove he was the Inbiin.
“Thank you for sparing your precious time.”
“No need for thanks.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
As Bu Eunseol bowed once more,
“Martial Soul Command Lord.”
Weiji Mu-a spoke in a low voice.
“The sects of the martial world and their leaders have long moved according to profit.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
As he said, in the past, figures like Gongya Geuk of the Hell’s Blood Fortress and Kang Yangcheon of the White Horse Temple—leaders among the Ten Demonic Sects—had been revealed to have rather close ties or frequent secret contact with the Three Realms.
“Demonic cultivation reveres strength from the beginning. Expectations of loyalty or ideology are probably misplaced to begin with.” Weiji Mu-a sighed. “To gain power, to gain authority—resorting to every kind of scheme or colluding with other factions… such things are commonplace even in Majeon.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed a dry smile and spoke quietly.
“I agree with the Sect Leader’s words. However, if every leader in the martial world were obsessed with profit and power…”
He paused briefly, then shook his head lightly.
“I think that would be rather bitter in its own way.”
“Is that so?”
“The liquor was excellent. Thank you.”
Bu Eunseol bowed once more.
“Then.”
Creak.
As Bu Eunseol left the hermitage, silence enveloped the interior.
The expression on Weiji Mu-a’s face as he stared at the spot where Bu Eunseol had been was strange.
It looked almost as though he were forcibly holding back laughter—or perhaps holding back anger.
Knock knock.
At that moment someone knocked on the hermitage door and spoke in a low voice.
“Are you there?”
The voice belonged to none other than the young Sect Leader of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect—Weiji Hyesang.
“Come in.”
At Weiji Mu-a’s calm reply, a man with jade-like features slowly appeared.
His appearance was incomparably feminine, yet his eyes slanted sharply upward toward the heavens, and a yellowish gleam flashed in his pupils.
No trace remained of his former appearance.
Had Bu Eunseol seen him, he likely would not have recognized Weiji Hyesang.
“What is it?”
Strange.
Why did Weiji Mu-a not speak to his own grandson as an equal?
“I heard that Majeon’s Martial Soul Command Lord came and left.”
At those words, Weiji Mu-a let out a deep sigh. Then, with an utterly grave expression, he spoke.
“Is there still a need to cling to such great methods?”
His gaze burned with an intensity that could melt steel; his voice carried unshakable resolve.
“Our sect is already strong enough as it is.”
A bizarre scene.
Why was he speaking to his own grandson with such deferential politeness, as though addressing an elder?
“Even after seeing that Martial Soul Command Lord, you still say such things?”
Weiji Hyesang sighed and shook his head.
“Life is short, and it is not easy to make up for insufficient talent. Our sect still has far to go… this is absolutely necessary.”
Weiji Hyesang smiled coldly.
“And do not forget the past so easily. It has been a mere three hundred years since the Jeok family left and the Weiji family began managing the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.”
Instead of replying, Weiji Mu-a wore a pained expression.
Weiji Hyesang shook his head again and bowed.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
“…Are you satisfied?”
At Weiji Mu-a’s enigmatic question,
“It is merely a process.”
Turning away, Weiji Hyesang spoke in a low voice.
“Because true strength can shatter all boundaries and merge two into one.”
Weiji Hyesang turned his head, snorted lightly, and gave a faint smile.
“And I believe I have repeatedly asked you not to use honorifics… I hope you will be more careful in the future.”
After adding that one remark, Weiji Hyesang turned and left.
“Even when we are alone.”
At those words, Weiji Mu-a swallowed an utterly wretched smile.
“There is no sect in the world that speaks down to its elders.”
Halt.
At that, Weiji Hyesang paused for a moment.
But as though he hadn’t heard, he slowly continued outside.
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