According to the knowledge So Okrim had received, the Baekri Family’s secret vaults were scattered all across the Central Plains so the fact that one existed near Wind God Palace wasn’t particularly strange.
“Instructor So. The secret vault we visited before… wasn’t that also a place where some sect once stood?”
“That’s right.”
The sacred land So Okrim had discovered was the former site of the long-vanished mysterious sect, Northern Victory Sect.
“Then the Baekri Family… might have deliberately built some of their secret vaults near sects that extremely restrained their activities in the martial world…”
“Hmm.”
Hae Yeon, who had been deep in thought for a long while, let out a soft nasal sound.
“However, that place has rather peculiar restrictions for it to be called our palace’s secret ground.”
“Peculiar restrictions, you say…”
When Bu Eunseol asked, she gazed into empty space as if recalling old memories and spoke.
“Although a special power surrounds it, it was said that the place will never open unless it is at the time when our palace is facing destruction.”
“You mean it can only be entered when Wind God Palace is on the verge of ruin?”
“Exactly. But as you can see, our palace is currently operating quite well and shows no sign of decline, doesn’t it?”
She gave a playful smile.
Yet the expressions of Bu Eunseol and So Okrim stiffened at the same time.
From their perspective… it was impossible to shake the feeling that the current martial world had already fallen into decline.
Since the Eight Human Heavens had appeared, soon the Four Divine Heavens or the Three Attendants known as the True Demon’s servants would appear as well.
“What’s with those faces?”
Hae Yeon looked bewildered.
“You’re not seriously thinking our palace is going to fall, are you?”
“That’s not it, but… judging from the current state of the martial world, it doesn’t seem like something we can be optimistic about.”
“What do you mean?”
“It feels as though the present martial world has already been tainted with the signs of ruin.”
Bu Eunseol calmly explained about the True Demon and his kin.
Surprisingly, Hae Yeon was quite knowledgeable about the True Demon and didn’t show much surprise at the explanation.
“I see. If the True Demon’s servants have appeared in the martial world, that certainly isn’t a good omen.”
“Palace Lord.”
Bu Eunseol spoke earnestly.
“Would it be possible for us to go there once?”
“Well, you could go, of course. Aren’t we all one family?”
Hae Yeon glanced at So Okrim.
“But outsiders are not permitted.”
It was only natural that a sect’s secret ground could never allow outsiders to enter.
That was an unwritten rule of the martial world.
“Instructor So. It looks like you’ll have no choice but to go alone…”
Just as Bu Eunseol opened his mouth,
“Euuuuh…”
So Okrim let out an extremely low groan.
“Neeeee…”
Bu Eunseol and Hae Yeon frowned and looked at So Okrim when she made the strange noise.
Then So Okrim shouted again in a loud, resonant voice.
“Euuuuh-eon.”
And looking at Hae Yeon, she muttered ominously.
“Neeeeeee…”
“…”
“Euuuuh-eon… neeeeee.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes went wide in realization.
He finally understood what So Okrim was trying to say.
“Palace Lord. It seems Instructor So is accepting your earlier proposal.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen carefully.”
So Okrim, veins bulging on her forehead, now grabbed Hae Yeon’s shoulders and bared her gums widely.
“Euuuuh-eon-neeeeeee.”
“Eon-neu?”
Hae Yeon thought for a long moment before her eyes widened.
“Unni?”
Right now, So Okrim was saying “Unni.”
—Come on, just call me Unni. From now on, whenever you’re in trouble, I’ll help you.
Hae Yeon had clearly said that.
But So Okrim, too proud to clearly and properly say “Unni,” was dragging it out and mumbling ambiguously as if trying to gloss over it.
“Euuuuh…”
When So Okrim opened her mouth again with a grim expression,
“I understand.”
Hae Yeon sighed and shook her head.
“At this age, gaining a little sister isn’t easy, is it?”
Then, as if she had no choice, she nodded.
“Fine. I’ll allow it just this once.”
Hearing that, So Okrim immediately shut her mouth again.
Hae Yeon gave a small chuckle at the sight.
So Okrim looked like a child.
Because of that, this behavior wasn’t annoying and instead, it came across as pure.
“Then shall we go take a look at our palace’s secret ground?”
At Hae Yeon’s words, Bu Eunseol and So Okrim nodded.
If their guess was correct, that place was surely another new secret vault of the Baekri Family.
The journey was extremely short.
Bu Eunseol’s qinggong had reached a level that could be called the best under heaven without exaggeration and So Okrim, who had studied the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars and restored the power of the Celestial Emperor, moved like a single streak of meteor. Moreover, the movement technique of the current era’s Wind God, Hae Yeon, was truly like an immortal soaring through the sky—utterly free and effortless.
‘The current martial world… something is seriously wrong.’
Hae Yeon sighed inwardly as she watched Bu Eunseol and So Okrim moving ahead of her.
Even just over a hundred years ago, when she had still been the little palace lord, experts capable of displaying this level of qinggong had been exceedingly rare in the martial world.
But in the intervening time, the martial world’s martial arts had advanced brilliantly.
Now, any martial artist with a decent amount of internal energy and qinggong skill could—depending on effort—cross a thousand li in a single day without much difficulty.
And behind this astonishing development in martial arts lay the hands of the Baekri Family, the True Demon, or perhaps the Three Realms who sought the original sources of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Kwaaaaa.
Finally arriving at the Wind God Palace, Hae Yeon took the lead from that point and guided them toward the Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground.
It was located in a canyon quite far from Wind God Palace, and curiously, the place only became visible when the wind blew in a specific direction.
“Follow me.”
In the canyon was a transparent bridge leading to the opposite cliff, and a powerful gale was blowing.
Every time the wind surged, Hae Yeon shifted her position in midair and advanced.
Sometimes the bridge would suddenly disappear after walking for a while, or the fierce wind would push their bodies backward.
Each time, Hae Yeon continuously changed her footing in the air.
Thanks to their exceptional memory, Bu Eunseol and So Okrim were able to perfectly imitate Hae Yeon’s ever-changing movements and slowly advance.
Finally, after crossing the transparent bridge, a door enveloped in mysterious light appeared.
That was the entrance to the Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground.
“It’s exactly the same as back then.”
Hae Yeon murmured softly.
She had visited this place over a hundred years ago, led by the hand of the palace lord at that time. Because she had been asleep in the frozen coffin, she remembered the events of a hundred years ago as clearly as if they had happened yesterday.
“This is as far as it goes. No one can enter beyond here.”
“No way.”
So Okrim tilted her head and tried to step through the door.
But a mysterious power flowed out and instantly pushed her back.
“I told you. Unless it is the time when our palace faces destruction, it will never open.”
“This is fascinating.”
Ignoring Hae Yeon’s words entirely, So Okrim pointed at the light-shrouded door with an expression of wonder.
“It feels like trying to enter the house where the wind god lives, but being pushed away because permission wasn’t granted.”
“Permission…”
Hearing that, Bu Eunseol wore a strange expression as if he had realized something.
Then, without hesitation, he slowly walked toward the light-covered door.
The door, which had poured out wind strong enough to push people away just by approaching, showed no reaction at all as he drew near.
Knock knock.
Bu Eunseol reached out and lightly tapped the door made of light.
Kiiiiiik.
Astonishingly, the door swung wide open as if someone inside had opened it for him.
“What? How did you do that?”
When So Okrim asked in surprise, Bu Eunseol answered in a low voice.
“I didn’t try to open the door.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I had to put it into words… I suppose I asked it to be opened.”
Bu Eunseol shrugged.
“The light flowing from this door felt like a subtle wind to me. So I simply entrusted my body to its flow as it blew.”
After hearing So Okrim’s earlier words, Bu Eunseol suddenly realized that the light pouring from the door also carried the attribute of wind.
Freeing himself from the obsession that he had to open the door, and approaching it with an empty, wind-like mind, the door did not push him away.
And when he tested whether he could enter through the wind, the door naturally opened.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Hae Yeon nodded as if she had realized something from Bu Eunseol’s words.
“There is no obstacle that the power of wind cannot pass through. This was a door that only those free and unbound—those who could deeply understand the nature of the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi without being trapped by preconceptions—could enter.”
Then she sighed and said, “How shameful. Even though I have not yet ascended to the Wind God Pavilion, I had forgotten the very root of our palace’s martial teachings.”
“What is the Wind God Pavilion?”
When So Okrim asked, Hae Yeon shook her head.
“It is the place where the true insights and purifications left behind by successive palace lords are kept. Because of various matters, I have not yet held the official enthronement ceremony, so I have not been able to enter.”
Her expression as she gazed at the wide-open door looked complicated.
“But it seems I must hold the enthronement ceremony as soon as possible.”
If the prophecy of Wind God Palace’s founder was correct, then since the door to the Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground had opened, it meant Wind God Palace was fated to perish in this generation.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol, who had been examining the door, spoke.
“Let’s go inside first.”
Bu Eunseol and the others slowly passed through the door.
A pure white light spread before their eyes, and the sensation of winds swiftly brushing past their ears followed.
When the light faded, a vast forest had unfolded before them.
The Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground.
They had finally arrived at Wind God Palace’s secret ground.
But Bu Eunseol had made one mistake.
He had focused solely on opening the door to the Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground and had not considered closing the now-open door behind them.
Ssssss.
At that moment, the ground around the entrance to the Wind and Cloud Spirit Ground began to be dyed black.
A shadow, as if alive, was slowly creeping toward that spot.
Saaaak.
Wherever the shadow moved, the grass on the ground instantly withered, and the soil turned black… but Bu Eunseol and the others, already inside, had no idea what was happening.
Inside the forest, it was as if day and night existed simultaneously.
Sunlight pouring through the leaves dyed the ground in a soft, moonlit glow.
The air felt transparent yet faintly trembling.
Whenever a gentle breeze brushed the grass blades and branches, it was as though the low whispers of spirits could be heard.
They walked endlessly along a naturally winding path until finally a translucent castle appeared.
“Ah.” Bu Eunseol and So Okrim let out simultaneous gasps.
The exterior of the distant castle closely resembled in style the mysterious building where they had previously encountered the Heavenly Emperor.
Shrrrr.
Moreover, every time the wind blew, the surface rippled like silk fluttering.
It looked exactly like gazing upon a living giant creature.
“Something feels off.”
Bu Eunseol felt an eerie sensation.
It was as though some presence had overtaken them and entered that palace ahead.
“You felt it too.”
At Hae Yeon’s words, So Okrim blinked and looked at Bu Eunseol.
“Felt what?”
“It feels like someone entered that castle before us.”
When Bu Eunseol answered, So Okrim closed her eyes and spread her supersenses.
When she detected nothing unusual, she lowered her head to check the direction in which nearby grass had been bent, occasionally touching trees and soil with her fingers or even licking them.
“There’s nothing.”
So Okrim shook her head.
She possessed outstanding tracking and observation skills comparable to Bu Eunseol’s Void Heart Command yet she could find no trace anywhere of anyone having entered this place.
“That’s why I said it was just a feeling.”
Bu Eunseol murmured in a low voice.
“Perhaps it’s because they possess the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi.”
“Then… could it be him again?”
So Okrim’s expression hardened.
She was recalling the monster they had seen before—the Heavenly Emperor.
If he had entered that castle… they absolutely could not go inside.
The same stroke of luck from before would never come twice.
“It doesn’t feel like him.”
“How can you tell?”
“It’s not the same sensation I felt when he appeared. It could be an expert sent by the Three Realms or some other abyssal force like the Three Families.”
Bu Eunseol spoke as if it were obvious.
“As long as the Baekri Family secret vaults exist, there will always be those searching for them.”
So Okrim nodded.
When she thought about it, it made perfect sense.
If the Essence Three Realms knew that the Baekri Family secret vaults existed, then the abyssal forces, including the other Three Realms and Three Families, would naturally know as well.
They too would have been relentlessly searching for the vaults.
Crack.
Bu Eunseol performed the Face and Bone Shifting Art and transformed into the appearance of Seolso.
“Why?”
When So Okrim asked, Bu Eunseol wore a bitter expression.
“I have many enemies. And this place is Wind God Palace.”
If the Martial Soul Command Lord were to encounter enemies inside Wind God Palace’s secret ground, it could lead to troublesome complications.
Crack.
After completing his disguise, he said to Hae Yeon, “Palace Lord. There may be enemies inside that we cannot handle, so…”
“This is our palace’s secret ground.”
Hae Yeon understood his meaning and firmly shook her head.
“If someone has intruded, then it is not you who should drive them out—it is this palace lord.”
“Very well.”
After taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Then let’s go inside.”
The entrance to the castle was decorated in a very unique style never seen in the Central Plains.
The material of the door was neither metal nor wood—it was a sticky substance with an extremely peculiar luster.
Kiiik.
As they entered, the interior—from ceiling to walls to floor—was all made of the same smooth, mirror-like material.
Strangely, their own reflections in it were all subtly different.
“It seems like an intentionally maze-like formation.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, So Okrim raised her internal energy.
“Then we just break it.”
“No.”
Hae Yeon quickly stopped her.
“This is a secret ground and holy site passed down through generations in our palace. Not even the slightest damage may be done to it.”
“But if we leave it like this, we’ll be mesmerized by the mirrors and won’t be able to properly explore the interior.”
“Don’t worry. With the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, any maze can be easily escaped.”
If there was an exit, wind would surely flow through it.
With the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, no matter what maze one was trapped in, the exit could always be found.
Step step.
Hae Yeon took the lead and navigated the mirror maze.
‘Do even the Four Divine Energies require proficiency?’
Bu Eunseol also possessed the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, but to find the exit he would have to spread it widely.
Hae Yeon, however, without deliberately raising the divine energy, was instantly locating the exit simply by following the flow of wind.
‘Moreover.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes sharpened.
‘Was it really necessary to install mirror-like walls and floors in a castle like this?’
With the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, one could pass through even extremely narrow spaces and easily escape or bypass any maze or trap. So was there truly a need to install devices that would confuse the mind and induce hallucinations?
Of course, it could be intended to control outsiders.
But hadn’t outsiders already been filtered out at the light-made door that could not be opened without mastering the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi?
Thud thud.
As Bu Eunseol walked at the very back following Hae Yeon and So Okrim, his gaze grew strange.
Because So Okrim and Hae Yeon were masters with exceptional body control, their strides should have been perfectly even—as if measured with a ruler—and their pace regular.
Yet at some point, the rhythm and spacing of their strides had subtly begun to diverge.
‘This is…’
A flash passed through Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Upon closer observation, it wasn’t that So Okrim’s and Hae Yeon’s strides and speed had changed.
The flow of time around them had changed.
Moreover, the smooth walls and floor were moving as though they were living creatures.
The movement was so extremely minute that even supersenses could barely detect it.
Because of this, the distance between the three of them was gradually—as if space itself were being divided—subtly increasing.
“Something’s weird?”
At that moment, So Okrim and Hae Yeon also stopped walking.
They too had sensed the faint movement of the floor and walls.
Bu Eunseol and the others came to a complete halt.
Though the three still appeared close to one another, in reality they were now quite far apart, and their reflections in the smooth walls overlapped in layers, creating a dizzying effect.
—Heh heh heh.
But at some point, a low chuckle began to echo, and the reflections of themselves in the mirrors slowly started to change.
Their eyes burned red, and their mouths tore open all the way to their ears.
Moreover, this was no illusion or hallucination.
It was genuinely reflecting grotesque versions of themselves.
Oooong.
Suddenly a vibration rang out,
Crash!
With a loud shattering sound, the two of them began to be separated into a different space from Bu Eunseol.
“Instructor So!”
Bu Eunseol shouted urgently, but it was already too late by the time they noticed.
Kuoong.
With a low vibration, the two were swallowed into another space in an instant.
The place where Bu Eunseol had been standing—the space once covered entirely in smooth mirrors—had now turned into an empty grand hall shrouded in darkness.
Standing silently, he thought for a long while before nodding and speaking.
“So it was sorcery.”
Flash!
He unleashed the Flying Sword Technique toward the darkness-covered space.
Puk.
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword, which had shot forward rapidly, suddenly stopped in midair.
At the same time, the transparent silhouette of a person with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword embedded in it appeared in the void.
He had detected the presence hiding in the darkness and instantly unleashed the sword-control technique.
[Impressive.]
Thud.
The transparent shadow pierced by the Silent Tiger Soul Sword suddenly vanished.
Glurp glurp.
Black liquid-like substances began to gather in front of Bu Eunseol.
Sluuuuurp.
From the black liquid emerged a masked figure wrapped entirely in black cloth from head to toe. However, from the waist to the back of his clothing, mysterious characters were densely engraved, giving him the feeling not of a martial artist but of an evil sorcerer wielding dark arts.
[To detect this old one.]
The masked man appeared quite young, yet he referred to himself as “this old one.”
[With the martial world’s arts having advanced to this degree… in the end, this Heaven had no choice but to appear.]
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize the masked man’s identity.
“One of the Eight Human Heavens?”
[You know quite a lot.]
The masked man let out an admiring sound and nodded.
[This Heaven Lord is the Dead Man. One who bestows death…]
Dead Man.
Another of the Eight Human Heavens’s Heaven Lords had appeared before Bu Eunseol once again.
“Why have you come to the Baekri Family’s secret vault?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question,
[The Baekri Family’s secret vault?]
The Dead Man’s eyes gleamed beneath the mask, then he let out a low, mocking laugh.
[Heh heh heh heh. I thought you knew something, but you barged in knowing nothing at all.]
And then he delivered an utterly shocking statement.
[Most of what you call the Baekri Family’s secret vaults scattered across the martial world are merely devices to maintain the Absolute Boundaries laid throughout the land…]
The masked man spoke in a low voice.
[And at the same time, they are research facilities created to eliminate their Heaven’s Punishment while producing bloodlines.]
The unexpected answer left Bu Eunseol with the expression of someone who had just been struck in the back of the head.
‘Then…’
Suddenly, the image of the massive tree at the center of the Baekri Family secret vault where he had previously encountered the Heavenly Emperor came to mind.
A tree that seemed to hold an abundance of life force bestowed by the heavens, on the verge of bearing fruit, brimming with mystery.
‘Could it be that tree was created for the purpose of curing the Baekri Family’s Heaven’s Punishment?’
He had always thought it strange.
Even if the secret vaults left behind by the Eight Emperors and Three Stars solely for the sake of One Hundred and Eight Stars made sense, it had never made sense for the Baekri Family to leave secret vaults containing their own power scattered all across the martial world.
He had thought there must be some other reason…
‘Moreover, producing bloodlines means…’
According to the message left by pond in the Baekri vault, the Baekri Family’s power was called Profound Divine Technique Qi, while the True Demon’s power was Soul Qi.
However, because ordinary humans could not use the Baekri Family’s power, it had been divided into eleven original martial sources and transmitted that way.
‘Does that mean the Baekri Family has reached a level where they can instantly transmit their power even to those who are not bloodline descendants?’
If what the masked man said was true, then ‘most’ of the Baekri Family’s secret vaults were research facilities for their own purposes.
‘The Heavenly Emperor.’
Could it be that the Heavenly Emperor turned into that pitch-black monster because the Baekri Family’s Heaven’s Punishment had activated, and driven by instinct, he wandered the secret vaults searching for a way to heal himself?
‘No, that can’t be.’
If the Heavenly Emperor were of the Baekri Family or one of their kin, they would never stand idly by while he wandered lost in madness.
‘Test subject.’
A flash passed through Bu Eunseol’s pupils.
For now, the most plausible deduction was that the Heavenly Emperor lost his reason because something went wrong while trying to receive the power of the Baekri Family bloodline, and that was why he was instinctively destroying the research facilities.
After forcing down the flood of thoughts, Bu Eunseol said, “So the Baekri Family has been afflicted by a terrible hereditary disease for generations.”
[The rest you can ask Yama.]
The Dead Man snorted.
But Bu Eunseol paid no attention and continued.
“Whether it’s a research facility or whatever, from the True Demon’s perspective, those secret vaults must be destroyed.”
His eyes flashed as he spoke.
“Because only by weakening the Baekri Family’s power can they locate their main base hidden within the Absolute Boundaries and eliminate them.”
[What nonsense.]
The Dead Man raised the corner of his mouth.
[When Baekri bastards are already scattered all across the martial world.]
“What did you say?”
The Dead Man’s statement was a continuous series of shocks.
To think that the Baekri Family—said to have disappeared three hundred years ago—already existed everywhere in the martial world?
[You think that person would merely…]
The Dead Man started to say something but suddenly narrowed his eyes as if sensing something.
[Now that I think about it, this is strange.]
And then he uttered an unexpected remark.
[A man who hasn’t even made a covenant knows this much?]
Previous the Eight Human Heavens had never placed much importance on whether Bu Eunseol was a covenantor or not.
They had never tried to find out or even mentioned it.
Yet the Dead Man had instantly recognized it.
[I spoke too much to a man who’s going to die anyway.]
Swish.
At that moment, the Dead Man raised his gaunt hand.
Srrrrrk.
From the darkness, a shadow wrapped in chains slid forward like a snake.
It was a young man dressed in black, his legs floating about an inch above the ground.
His eyes and mouth had been brutally sewn shut, and his face was covered in scars.
Whenever his lips moved slightly, black malevolent spirits seemed to leak out and coil around the surroundings.
[He is called the Enemy Destroyer. Having died once, he is an invincible existence that cannot die twice.]
Ssssss.
Suddenly the Dead Man’s body began to be swallowed by flowing ink-like darkness.
When he finally vanished without a trace, only an eerie, sinister voice echoed through the interior.
[Even if you possess the Baekri Family’s sorcery… today, you die.]
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