Ziiing.
The transparent wall that had been blocking his entry was slowly melting away and disappearing.
At the same time, the pattern engraved on the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword vanished in an instant.
“What? Wasn’t it just an ordinary iron sword?”
So Okrim gaped at the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
No matter how closely she looked, it appeared to be nothing more than a plain long sword—yet it held such power?
“This is…”
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eunseol spoke honestly.
“A kind of God-Killer Artifact. Judging by how it reacted to the Silent Tiger Soul Sword… it seems something was unfolded here with Black Divine Energy not an Absolute Boundary.”
“God-Killer Artifact? There’s such a thing?”
“I’m the one who named it. This sword can shatter Black Divine Energy.”
“What even is Black Divine Energy?”
“You don’t know?”
“Nope.”
When So Okrim blinked innocently, Bu Eunseol rubbed his brow.
She was the successor of the Essence Three Realms, who had lived beyond the central plains. Though she had trained in martial arts without ever knowing the true origins of her sect, there were still far too many things she didn’t know.
“I can’t understand it.”
That was his honest feeling.
No matter how much the Essence Three Realms focused on inheriting the Baekri Family’s will and restoring the power they had passed down, how could they not have explained something as world-shaking as Black Divine Energy?
“I told you already. My youngest grandfather passed away midway, so he couldn’t pass on all the knowledge.”
So Okrim lowered her head with a gloomy expression.
“The grandfathers wanted me to focus solely on training in martial arts without paying attention to anything else. Perhaps… they thought it would be best if the situation continued where I didn’t need to know those things.”
Sorrow shadowed So Okrim’s large eyes.
“The purpose of our sect was, after all, only to restore the original source of that martial art.”
In a way, her situation was similar to Bu Eunseol’s.
The elders of the Essence Three Realms had given So Okrim nothing but love and wished for her to remain ignorant of the filthy side of the martial world as much as possible.
But fate had ultimately led her down the harsh path of vengeance.
“I see.”
Bu Eunseol looked apologetic.
“I said something unnecessary. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. Honestly, even now I still can’t believe our sect is a branch of the Three Realms.”
So Okrim had always fought alongside Bu Eunseol to shatter the schemes of the Three Realms. Yet the home she had always thought of as a righteous orthodox sect had actually stemmed from one of the Three Realms…
It must have been indescribably bewildering.
As the mood sank, Bu Eunseol quickly changed the subject.
“Ah, right—so about Black Divine Energy.”
He calmly explained what Black Divine Energy was.
“Really? There’s something like that in the world?”
After hearing everything, she wiped her nose and smiled brightly.
“My grandfathers were really heartless. If something like that existed, they should’ve told me long ago.”
Though the circumstances of So Okrim and Bu Eunseol were similar, their mindsets were completely different.
Bu Eunseol pursued the martial path driven by sorrow and righteous indignation.
In contrast, So Okrim built her formidable prowess with free-spiritedness.
One was like the moon emitting mysterious light in the deep night; the other was like the blazing sun at high noon.
Despite possessing such completely different qualities and inner worlds, they got along perfectly… it was no ordinary connection.
“Anyway, since we have a weapon that can counter Black Divine Energy, that’s reassuring.”
Waving her hand dismissively, So Okrim stepped inside.
“Now let’s go in and see what’s here.”
The two entered the round building.
The interior of the enormous roofless circular structure was completely empty.
At the center of the ground stood a massive tree, absorbing the light descending from the sky entirely.
“It’s almost like the life force is being poured down here just to grow this tree.” So Okrim opened her mouth wide like a child and let out an exclamation.
The tree seemed to have fully embraced the life force granted from the heavens, bearing a mysterious and beautiful appearance as though it were about to bear fruit.
Hummm.
But once again, a sword hum rang out from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
At the same time, chaotic patterns reappeared on the scabbard.
“What? So is this tree Black Divine Energy too?”
At So Okrim’s question, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Though a strange power flowed through the entire tree, it felt quite different from the ability emanating from Black Divine Energy.
Moreover, although light flowed from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, there was no further reaction.
“Hmm.”
After standing with arms crossed and staring blankly for a while, So Okrim looked at the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and said, “How about lightly testing it? On that branch over there.”
At So Okrim’s suggestion, Bu Eunseol pondered briefly before nodding.
“Fine.”
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword had clearly reacted, and the tree was still monopolizing the light from the sky.
Using the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to uncover its secret didn’t seem like a bad idea.
Flash!
Bu Eunseol channeled energy and sliced at the tip of a branch like lightning.
Ching.
But only a clear metallic ring echoed.
The branch didn’t even budge.
“It’s this hard?”
He had raised his energy to the fourth level—meaning the internal force infused into the Silent Tiger Soul Sword reached four jia.
Moreover, the sharpness of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword surpassed any divine sword in the world.
Yet a mere branch had blocked it?
Boom. Boom.
But the reaction came from an unexpected place.
Suddenly, a vibration that shook the ground rang out.
The tremor rising from deep underground felt as though something was about to burst upward, gradually drawing closer.
“What? Is the tree angry?”
“No—it’s coming from beneath the ground.”
As Bu Eunseol said, the vibration from underground was spreading from the area right beneath the massive tree.
Boom. Boom.
The vibration grew louder and louder,
Crack.
Suddenly the enormous tree split in two, and from within it, a pitch-black shadow slowly emerged.
In that instant, it felt as though the light descending from the sky had vanished.
Bu Eunseol and So Okrim’s eyes widened. An utterly bizarre form had appeared before them.
“That’s…”
The one who had split the tree and surged from the ground was literally a pitch-black shadow.
No clothes, no face, nothing—just a pure black shape.
The energy pouring from its entire body evaporated the air, unleashing terrifying pressure.
“Ughhh.”
The shadow-like monster, upon meeting Bu Eunseol’s gaze, suddenly clutched its head and let out a groan. Then the hazy black form became clearer, gradually transforming into the appearance of a human drenched in ink.
“What? Is that actually a person?”
As So Okrim tried to approach,
“Don’t go near it.”
Bu Eunseol immediately grabbed her arm.
Sizzle.
At the same time, a red radiance that seemed to divide heaven and earth slashed across the ground at So Okrim’s feet.
If she had approached the monster carelessly, she would have been cleaved in two from head to toe in an instant.
“Are you insane?”
So Okrim shouted at the monster with a furious expression.
“A person was approaching with good intentions to help, and you try to kill them?”
When the monster didn’t respond, So Okrim raised her internal energy and yelled loudly.
“Answer me!”
“Krrrr.”
The monster clutched its head even more painfully.
Though it seemed she had simply shouted in anger, in reality she had unleashed a roar infused with the demon-breaking energy of the Buddhist Lion’s Roar.
Boom!
Unable to endure the pain, the monster slammed the ground face-down.
Crack crack crack.
Dozens of jang-sized fissures began spreading across the ground like an earthquake.
“Ughhh.”
After writhing in agony for a long while, the monster glared at So Okrim, its eyes turning blood-red.
It radiated killing intent as though ready to kill her right then and there.
“Haha.”
Facing the murderous gaze, So Okrim wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at Bu Eunseol.
“Looks like it backfired.”
Boom!
An explosion rang out as a transparent rigid-energy barrier formed around So Okrim’s entire body.
The monster had unleashed a lightning-fast strike at some point, and So Okrim had sensed it and deployed a powerful protective rigid energy.
Sizzle.
Pushed back three steps, So Okrim furrowed her brow as though she had drunk harsh liquor.
The monster’s fist energy was so powerful that even with protective rigid energy, she had suffered a slight internal injury.
“Heart-Correcting Yin doesn’t work?”
What So Okrim had unleashed was Heart-Correcting Yin—the Taoist Lion’s Roar said to dispel all illusions the moment it is heard.
But it had the opposite effect, seemingly worsening the monster’s madness.
“Kaaah!”
With a battle cry, the monster unleashed another fist at So Okrim.
But she had already anticipated the attack and instantly used footwork to evade.
“Hey! You struck first, so don’t regret it!”
Completely forgetting that she had used Heart-Correcting Yin first, So Okrim poured out a terrifying fist.
Whoosh!
But So Okrim’s fist struck nothing but air.
Boom!
Another explosion rang out as So Okrim was forced back five jang.
The monster had unleashed another lightning-fast strike.
“It’s ridiculously strong.” So Okrim gaped.
She couldn’t even properly see what kind of attack the monster had used.
“Stop fighting.”
Bu Eunseol stepped in front of So Okrim.
“We have no intention of fighting.”
Though the monster’s mind was unclear, it had entered a Baekri Family vault that no ordinary person could access. Moreover, it had shattered with a single blow the massive tree that even the Silent Tiger Soul Sword could not scratch.
That meant it possessed tremendous internal energy.
It might even be one of the Baekri Family figures who had completely vanished from the world.
Swish.
As Bu Eunseol stepped forward, the monster’s eyes dimmed.
But soon blazing red light flared up again…
Merely by directing its gaze, it unleashed pressure capable of collapsing the entire world.
‘Strong.’
Bu Eunseol swallowed hard and clasped his hands together.
“This one is Bu Eunseol, a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion. You seem to be a senior in the martial world…”
Boom!
His words were cut off.
An enormous force grazed right past Bu Eunseol’s cheek.
Sssss.
White smoke rose from the monster’s left hand.
It had unleashed an unbelievably powerful and swift fist.
“…It seems your mind is not clear.”
“Ugh.”
As the monster clutched its head again,
Ziiing. Ziiing.
Faint light flickered once more from its fist.
Because its mind was unstable, it seemed to gather true energy in its fist only to release it again repeatedly.
Boom!
But in the end, the monster unleashed its fist energy at Bu Eunseol.
‘No choice.’
Bu Eunseol had no option but to raise his energy.
Whether the monster’s mind was sound or not, since it showed clear hostility, the only thing left was combat.
“I’ll handle it, so stay back, Instructor So.”
Both Bu Eunseol and So Okrim were young but grand masters of the martial world.
No matter how exceptional the monster’s martial art, attacking it together when its identity was unknown and its mind unstable would wound their pride.
“Ah, then I’ll do it.”
At that moment, So Okrim cracked her knuckles and stepped forward.
“I was attacked first, so it’s my turn.”
“…Understood.”
Boom boom boom!
The battle between So Okrim and the monster began.
Crash!
But less than ten exchanges in, So Okrim was already rolling disgracefully across the ground.
The monster’s martial art was extraordinary; even its casually flung intangible fist energy treated the world-renowned So Okrim like a child.
“You pitch-black bastard!”
So Okrim sprang to her feet and wiped the red blood flowing from her forehead.
“You’ve gone too far!”
Bang!
Blood having been drawn, So Okrim’s hair shot skyward.
“You really want to go all out?!”
Finally raising her full true energy, So Okrim moved like lightning unlike before.
Whirl!
The monster’s attacks began to miss more and more.
Once she used her full true energy, she could now evade the monster’s fist energy that had previously been impossible to see or sense.
Whooosh.
Meanwhile, intense light began to gather in both of So Okrim’s fists.
She was about to fully unleash the martial art of the Celestial Emperor.
“Take this…”
Just as she prepared to unleash her technique with full power, she froze and her eyes widened.
“Huh? Wh-what?”
The fist energies she thought she had completely evaded had now completely surrounded her body without a single gap.
‘I’m going to die!’
Sensing the threat to her life, she began pouring out every last bit of the true secret technique of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars she had learned in this vault.
As one of the most outstanding young grand masters unleashed her full martial art,
Boom! Rumble rumble!
It displayed power as though the heavens were collapsing and the earth splitting.
Bang!
An explosion rang out as dust billowed in all directions.
“Guh!”
So Okrim let out a choked groan and staggered backward.
In the end, the monster’s single fist had pierced straight through all her defenses.
“Damn it.”
She wore a dumbfounded expression.
The monster’s prowess was beyond measuring any realm.
It dissolved any attack in an instant and could pour out unavoidable fist energy infinitely.
“Ughhh.”
So Okrim was furious to the tips of her hair.
She had trained so desperately in martial arts for the sake of revenge yet she couldn’t even block a single fist from a monster whose identity was unknown?
“What the hell is it?”
She shouted toward Bu Eunseol.
“Is that guy the Demon Emperor?”
The monster’s prowess was so overwhelming that it wasn’t unreasonable for So Okrim to shout such a thing.
“No.”
“He could be hiding his identity. Check his eyes once.”
Bu Eunseol spoke firmly. “He is not the Demon Emperor.”
In truth, Bu Eunseol was just as astonished.
He had long ago encountered the Three Demons and Three Venerables, who claimed to have reached the Limitless Realm.
Previously, he had even fought and defeated those who had clashed with them alone.
Yet the monster’s prowess… far surpassed even the Three Demons and Three Venerables.
Because the fist energy the monster was unleashing now was not martial art.
It was simply instinctive movement while having lost all reason.
If the monster had fought with a clear mind and proper martial technique?
So Okrim wouldn’t have lasted more than a few exchanges before collapsing to the ground.
“Guess we have to get serious.”
In that instant, white radiance poured from So Okrim’s entire body as her hair rose.
“Since the person isn’t in their right mind… I won’t kill them!”
As power capable of destroying the world gathered in both hands, her palms turned pure white.
It wasn’t the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike.
Though slightly less powerful, it was the Celestial Emperor’s exclusive supreme technique that perfectly sealed the enemy’s movements: Starlight Strike.
“Crush!”
Floating in midair, So Okrim roared and thrust both hands toward the monster.
“Eat this!”
Boom!
A white storm that enveloped heaven and earth raged as white meteors poured onto the monster’s body.
Whoooosh!
The rain-like meteors turned into white dragons that instantly swallowed the monster whole.
But something astonishing happened.
Shuuuuu.
When the monster spread one arm, the power of the Starlight Strike halted right in front of its palm?
As the overwhelming Starlight Strike bored into the palm, cracks spread up the monster’s black forearm, revealing a hidden pure-white arm beneath.
But that was all.
Even the Celestial Emperor’s world-overturning martial art had only driven away the darkness covering the monster’s forearm.
Thud.
Landing back on the ground, So Okrim gaped in disbelief.
“You blocked the Starlight Strike with one hand? Is that even human?”
“I’ll take a turn.”
“R-really?”
As So Okrim quickly stepped back as though she had been waiting, Bu Eunseol advanced while raising his energy.
“Be careful!”
A fierce storm of true energy exploded from his fist.
Since the monster had consistently used fist techniques, he too unleashed Seven Fist Demon Forms.
Boom! Boom!
But the result was the same.
Each time the monster casually waved its hand, the fist energy of Seven Fist Demon Forms melted away like snow and with every clash of power, Bu Eunseol’s body was gradually pushed backward.
Though he hadn’t poured out his full true energy, even Seven Fist Demon Forms—the supreme fist art of the martial world that had once subdued even the Fist Man—had no effect on the monster.
‘Unbelievable.’
Flustered, Bu Eunseol refocused his mind.
Raising the Nangyang Heart Eye, he tried to discern exactly how the monster blocked attacks, how its power dispersed each time it waved its arm.
‘Nothing?’
But it was useless.
The monster fought as though it were a new life form fallen from the heavens—it used no profound principles of any martial art.
He couldn’t even guess what technique it employed.
Boom! Boom boom!
In the end, Bu Eunseol was helplessly pushed back by the monster’s fist energy once again—five jang this time.
“Kaaah!”
As though unsatisfied, the monster charged at Bu Eunseol with a guttural roar.
It was strange.
When So Okrim retreated, the monster had stopped attacking.
Yet even though Bu Eunseol had retreated, it continued pouring out fist energy without pause?
Crackle crackle. Sss!
Panicked, Bu Eunseol unleashed Swift Beyond Shadow at full power; Thunder Spirit Energy activated on its own, creating hundreds of afterimages.
When the monster saw Bu Eunseol perfectly evade its attack, it paused in surprise for a moment, then—
Swish!
A whip-like energy curved in at a razor-sharp angle.
For the first time, it wasn’t an instinctive attack.
It had used the profound principles of martial art to strike at Bu Eunseol.
“Good!”
Finally, as the monster employed martial technique, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Srrrng.
A sword hum that shook heaven and earth rang out as chilling sword energy rose from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Each time he unleashed sword techniques, dozens-of-jang-tall chilling sword waves swept across the world.
But the monster showed no fear; instead, it tore through the sword energy with both hands and closed the distance.
The two clashed so closely their noses nearly touched at times, then moved in opposite directions at others.
They continued exchanging blows endlessly.
Swish.
In the end, Bu Eunseol was forced to retreat far back to create distance.
The monster’s hands were sharper than any divine sword, and even simple attacks concentrated dozens of martial profundities.
In close-quarters supreme-technique exchanges, even Bu Eunseol couldn’t keep up.
Slash!
Finally, Bu Eunseol unleashed Wishful True Binding.
A razor-sharp net-like sword energy dozens of jang wide instantly enveloped the monster’s body.
Or it should have.
Rustle rustle.
Something astonishing happened.
The monster instantly saw through the weakness of Wishful True Binding and unleashed a bizarre wave that prevented Bu Eunseol from materializing his true energy.
‘This isn’t just spotting a weakness.’
The wave the monster unleashed wasn’t improvised on the spot.
It was a brand-new martial art, created long ago by combining profound principles specifically to counter Wishful True Binding.
‘He has fought the Demon Emperor.’
Bu Eunseol was certain.
This monster had clearly clashed one-on-one with the Demon Emperor in the past—enough to create a technique specifically to counter Wishful True Binding.
But aside from the Three Demons and Three Venerables, was there really an absolute master who could survive against the Demon Emperor?
In the martial world, there was only one such person… wasn’t there?
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