Jeon Baek-seung snorted derisively.
He was going to wipe out the Human Ghost Party single-handedly?
Even if he was one of Majeon’s famed Captains, wasn’t this confidence beyond arrogance? Practically swollen to the point of bursting?
“More than anything, I need to show them the true level of martial prowess our Death Shadow Corps Captains possess....”
No matter how much Jeon Baek-seung sneered, Yoo Unryong maintained an eerily calm and composed expression.
“The pathetic Black Path Alliance won’t dare step in rashly.”
“Huhuhu!”
Unable to contain his ridicule, Jeon Baek-seung burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
After laughing heartily for a long while, he shook his head.
“Has the great strategist of the Death Shadow Corps eaten something strange today...?”
Though the Human Ghost Party had only about two hundred men, every single one was a warrior capable of facing a hundred opponents. Moreover, thanks to the Blood Cult’s support, they had mastered Descent of the Divine Spirit Technique and Grand Demonic Binding Method, granting them combat power incomparable to ordinary martial artists.
On top of that, Danri Yuhwa had only just recovered after having her dantian suppressed for several days—she could offer no fighting strength in her current state. No matter how exceptional a master Yoo Unryong might be, facing the entire Human Ghost Party alone was impossible.
“I was just regretting that I missed a good chance to send a warning to the Blood Cult.”
Because of the earlier incident with Shin Do-unhwi, Yoo Unryong had failed to deliver a proper warning to the Crimson Yellow Cult. Now was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the true power of the Death Shadow Corps and deliver such a severe warning that the Blood Cult would never dare provoke them again.
Clank.
As he channeled his internal energy, the flexible, snake-like Ten-Section Staff instantly became rigid as wood.
Pssht!
At the same instant, a martial artist of the Human Ghost Party standing three zhang away collapsed with a coin-sized hole pierced clean through his forehead.
The speed was so blinding that no one could tell when, how, or with what technique it had been done.
“He’s got some skill. Everyone, attack at once!”
At Jeon Baek-seung’s shout, the Human Ghost Party warriors charged with full force.
Yoo Unryong spoke in a low voice to Danri Yuhwa, who stood beside him.
“Stay right next to my body.”
“What on earth are you thinking?!” Danri Yuhwa cried out urgently. “Those men have all mastered bizarre great arts—they’re peak experts! What kind of guts....”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
The Human Ghost Party warriors, now resembling vengeful demons, swarmed like a horde of bees and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Thud.
Yet before they could even reach within three zhang of where Yoo Unryong stood, they were sent flying backward as lumps of bloody flesh.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Yoo Unryong was swinging the Ten-Section Staff at ultra-high speed, turning it into a perfect circular wall of forceful energy.
“Heh heh. Using a technique that won’t last even half an hour.”
Watching the scene, Jeon Baek-seung wore a mocking smile.
Creating an impenetrable wall with a weapon was indeed an excellent defensive method but because it consumed an enormous amount of internal energy, it was absolutely not a technique to be used in one-versus-many battles.
Shwaaa! Paat!
With the circular barrier protecting Danri Yuhwa, Yoo Unryong began walking calmly outward.
The Human Ghost Party warriors desperately tried to stop him, but they could not breach the round wall he had created.
“You bastard!”
At that moment, with a roar that split heaven and earth, Deputy Sect Leader Sang Gon leaped into the air and unleashed the Heaven-Earth Splitting Strike.
An attack of that magnitude?
Even the wall formed by the Ten-Section Staff would surely shatter.
Paa!
But blood sprayed like a fountain from Sang Gon’s neck while he was still mid-air.
Yoo Unryong had drawn out a second Ten-Section Staff and hurled it like an arrow.
Swoosh.
The staff that embedded itself in the ground swiftly crawled back like a living serpent across more than ten zhang and coiled itself once again around his left hand.
Thud thud, thud thud thud.
It took less than the time of one incense stick for two hundred men to be reduced by half.
Transcendent Blade Origin.
A supreme realm where no one below that level could even inflict a scratch.
Had Yoo Unryong finally reached it?
“No—that is not the Transcendent Blade Origin realm.”
Watching Yoo Unryong’s staff technique from afar, Jeon Baek-seung bit his lip.
“He has mastered the Essence and Energy Circulation—the highest realm of staff arts!”
Within staff techniques exists a profound principle called Essence and Energy Circulation, which allows the weapon to rotate endlessly without consuming internal energy. Jeon Baek-seung realized that Yoo Unryong was using that very principle to create an unending wall of weaponry.
“But… is that even possible?”
Even if one could rotate the weapon endlessly using Essence and Energy Circulation, it should still be impossible to repel enemies indefinitely like this. Because every time the weapon clashed with an opponent’s weapon or severed their body, internal energy consumption was inevitable.
Yet Yoo Unryong was turning wave after wave of attackers into bloody pulp as if his internal energy were an inexhaustible spring.
Thud thud.
Blood fell like rain.
The bodies of Human Ghost Party warriors who had mastered Descent of the Divine Spirit Technique were scattered in all directions.
Those unleashing the Grand Demonic Binding Method lost both arms.
“That bastard has entered the Supreme Heavenly Realm?”
Even while rotating the Ten-Section Staff at extreme speed without pause, even while receiving the attacks of countless martial artists, Yoo Unryong did not suffer a single scratch.
That meant he was moving—and thinking—two to three times faster than ordinary martial artists.
“This can’t be real.”
It was well known that the Martial Soul Command Lord possessed astonishing martial prowess.
But for a mere second-grade Captain of Majeon to display such a level?
“The Martial Soul Command Lord—that lunatic must have pulled some strings.” Jeon Baek-seung gritted his teeth.
Since Majeon was a Demonic Path alliance, promotions were strictly based on martial achievement.
Yet even though one of his subordinates possessed such skill and had reached such a realm, the Martial Soul Command Lord had deliberately kept him from being promoted and had deliberately left him at this rank.
Thud thud.
By now, even the remaining third of the force blocking Yoo Unryong’s path had been completely annihilated.
All that remained were Jeon Baek-seung and the thirty-odd warriors guarding him.
Tremble tremble.
Sect Leader Jeon Baek-seung’s body shook.
In truth, he had never been a great master from the beginning.
He had risen rapidly only after receiving the Blood Cult’s support and learning their great arts, entering the Transcendent Extreme realm.
A man like him—who had never crossed life-and-death lines alongside Bu Eunseol, who had never spent even mealtimes or sleeping hours researching military strategy and Ten-Section Staff techniques, who lacked both innate martial talent and bone-grinding effort, was not even qualified to cross blades with a transcendent genius from the Ten Demon Warriors.
Thud. Thud.
Yoo Unryong walked past Jeon Baek-seung without attacking, his expression utterly calm.
Even seeing this, Jeon Baek-seung could only tremble.
If he so much as twitched a finger, his head would roll instantly.
“You’re not going to kill him?”
At Danri Yuhwa’s question, Yoo Unryong answered indifferently.
“He will be executed by the Blood Cult anyway for failing his mission.” He continued. “Above all, we need someone to report the situation to the Blood Cult.”
Only if he remained alive could a vivid warning be delivered to them.
And because he knew full well that he would be killed for his failure, Yoo Unryong had spared him.
“I see.”
With a dazed expression, Danri Yuhwa stepped out of the Human Ghost Party.
The battle she had just witnessed felt like a dream.
No—the entire situation felt far too unreal.
‘I always thought he was just a frail scholar....’
She had believed him to be a sickly civil official who buried himself in books every day.
She had thought him rigid, inflexible, and narrow-minded.
Yet his true martial prowess had already reached a realm even higher than that of Majeon’s Blood Crow Hall Leader—who her own father admitted was superior to him.
Moreover, his wisdom and insight so far surpassed ordinary men that it had instead made him appear ordinary and languid.
‘I was the one who couldn’t see people clearly.’
Her chest swelled with emotion.
This man, possessing unparalleled wisdom and martial skill, had always concealed his excellence behind an ordinary facade and had never once flaunted his power.
Swoosh.
At that moment, a black shadow descended from above and landed before Yoo Unryong’s head.
It was a man with long flowing hair and an extremely sharp silhouette.
It was none other than the Pursuit Soul Unit Captain, Wi Cheongyeong.
“I have released all the women who were imprisoned.”
He had infiltrated the Human Ghost Party together with Yoo Unryong on prior orders, securing evidence of their crimes.
“However, I could not obtain definitive proof. The Blood Cult really does cover their tracks well.”
“That’s enough.” Yoo Unryong said calmly. “The women who were abducted by the Human Ghost Party will serve as excellent evidence themselves.”
“I understand.”
Wi Cheongyeong glanced briefly at Danri Yuhwa, who was trailing closely behind Yoo Unryong, then clasped his hands.
“Then I will return first.”
In an instant, he launched himself into the air and vanished.
“I should head back as well.”
Yoo Unryong turned to Danri Yuhwa.
“Take care on your way.”
The original plan had been to execute everything step by step, but to rescue Danri Yuhwa, he had hastily revised it.
In truth, it had been an extremely dangerous plan that required risking one’s life.
He and Wi Cheongyeong alone had to rescue the abducted women, ensure not even a hair on Danri Yuhwa’s head was harmed, and annihilate the entire Human Ghost Party.
Yet he showed no sign of strain and treated her with perfect calm.
“Thank you.”
Those were the only words Danri Yuhwa could manage.
“Truly.”
“It wasn’t because of you.” Yoo Unryong shook his head. “The Human Ghost Party was nothing more than a puppet of the Blood Cult anyway. Our Death Shadow Corps had long planned to eliminate them.”
He added, “I also needed an opportunity to test my martial prowess.”
In this battle he had finally completed the Ten-Section Staff Manual, and had theoretically mastered the profound principles of Infinite Qi Flow and Endless Qi Transformation—principles that had previously blocked his entry into the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
Knowing something and actually executing it were vastly different.
By risking his life in this moment, Yoo Unryong had tested his martial arts once more and confirmed that he had finally stepped into the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
Whoosh.
At that moment, with the sound of air being cut, more than ten men dressed in black rushed toward them.
It was the sect leader of the Blue Moon Sect and his subordinates.
Yoo Unryong had contacted the Blue Moon Sect near the end of the operation to ensure Danri Yuhwa would be safely escorted.
“Then.”
Clasping his hands, Yoo Unryong immediately executed a movement technique and disappeared.
“W-Wait!”
Danri Yuhwa came to her senses too late and reached out to stop him, but Yoo Unryong’s figure had already vanished like a mirage.
“What in the world happened?”
The Blue Moon Sect Leader hurriedly ran over upon seeing his daughter standing alone.
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
She gazed in the direction Yoo Unryong had disappeared, her eyes distant.
‘Yoo Unryong.’
The image of his weary, languid, yet somehow noble face rose in her mind.
The frail, sickly appearance she had once disliked so much now looked like the demeanor of a crane standing proudly among chickens—quietly concealing his strength.
“I will definitely....”
Clenching her fist tightly, Danri Yuhwa murmured in a low voice.
“…become someone worthy of you.”
But her voice, flushed and trembling, was so soft that no one could hear it.
***
Deep in the mountains where not even moonlight could penetrate. Inside a cave hidden within a crevice of rock drifted a mysterious energy as though all the wisdom of the world had been condensed there.
At the cave entrance stood a bronze iron door intricately engraved with ancient characters.
Around the door were embedded violet crystals that emitted a soft glow, lending the place an almost sacred atmosphere.
Creak.
Bang Il entered the cave.
A wide stone chamber opened up after the passage.
The ceiling was painted with an image that perfectly replicated the movements of the celestial bodies. Astonishingly, the stars depicted there actually glimmered faintly and shifted according to the season and time.
The floor was made of black marble, upon which unique patterns were embroidered with golden thread.
“He is not here.”
Sitting at the table, Bang Il took a deep breath.
“Why hasn’t the plan been carried out?”
He could not understand.
As Chu So’s right-hand man for many years, he had handled countless affairs. He was a strategist with outstanding intellect and insight capable of managing the entire world.
On Chu So’s orders, he had devised an extremely meticulous plan using Yangseol Rin as bait to assassinate Bu Eunseol, the successor of Majeon and Martial Soul Command Lord.
Though he could not compare to the heaven-sent genius Heavenly Mechanism Star, with his help, Bang Il had prepared an airtight Chain of Knives Sleeve trap.
Even in the event of failure, he had crafted it so perfectly that there would be no loss.
—I’m really just going to see him.
Though that was what he had said, he had never once gone anywhere merely to “see” someone.
He had never wasted even a single moment.
Bang Il had been certain that Chu So would return calmly and immediately order the assassination that had been prepared.
So why, all of a sudden, had he halted the plan to kill the Martial Soul Command Lord?
“In the end, meeting him changed his mind.”
Bang Il felt an ominous premonition.
Chu So possessed not only transcendent intelligence and knowledge, but also an insight and intuition that allowed him to predict the future.
Yet even he had one small weakness: he had a great fondness for other transcendent geniuses like himself.
“The Martial Soul Command Lord is famous not only for his martial arts but also for his exceptional intellect.”
Bang Il could sense it intuitively.
Chu So had clearly developed a liking for Bu Eunseol and because of that, he could not bring himself to kill him.
“No.”
According to his own predictions, the single greatest obstacle to Chu So would be none other than Bu Eunseol himself.
Not only did he possess outstanding martial arts and intellect, but was he not also the successor of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade—the one said to have achieved the greatest Daoist learning in hundreds of years?
He was an arch-enemy that could never be underestimated nor coexisted with.
“In any case, the plan is perfect. There is no chance of failure.”
Bang Il made up his mind.
Even if something went wrong, he would take full responsibility.
This time, he would make sure Bu Eunseol was killed and prevent any future problems before they could arise.
***
Bu Eunseol returned to Majeon.
As Manwol had advised, he had taken time alone to calm his mind and now he intended to follow her final piece of advice.
—If there is something weighing on your heart, deal with it first.
He had thought there was nothing of the sort.
Whenever he felt even the slightest debt, he had always repaid it without fail.
Even if he could not resolve the matter of the Executioner, he owed nothing to anyone and could depart with a clear conscience.
‘No… there is one.’
Upon careful reflection, there was indeed one person to whom he had never repaid his debt of gratitude.
‘Lady Yangseol.’
Until now, she had shown him great kindness and provided valuable information on many occasions. In the end, he had even promised to grant her three requests because of it.
He had not yet fulfilled even the third one.
‘Hmm.’
After pondering for a long time how he should repay her, the words of Gongsun Dankyung suddenly came to mind.
—She too was a child kidnapped by the Jungson family under the name Hwa Su.
At that time, Gongsun Dankyung had told Bu Eunseol the detailed story of the Jungson family kidnapping incident.
Yangseol Rin, who remembered nothing of her past, had most likely been subjected to an extremely vicious Soul-Seizing Secret Art or Spirit-Subduing Technique. Especially if she had fallen victim to something as terrifying as the Soul-Sealing Mind-Subduing Great Method, only the caster could undo it.
Even Bu Eunseol himself had once lost his memories and fallen off a cliff due to a similar great art unleashed by Hyeok Ryeon-eung. It was only by an extreme stroke of luck—when the chubby man who saved his life and cared for him was on the verge of death—that his memories had not returned.
‘In that case... let me repay my debt to her by resolving that matter.’
He had spent only a single day drinking and organizing his thoughts.
There was still plenty of time left.
Bu Eunseol sent a message to Yangseol Rin.
Thanks to her information, he learned that Shin Do-unhwi had undergone bizarre experiments, and that a person named Chu So was using people’s desires in the same way as the Three Realms to manipulate them.
—I would like to hear the story in person.
As expected, a reply came from Yangseol Rin.
Not by letter—she wished to meet face to face and hear it directly.
“My Lord, a reply has come from the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect.”
At that moment, Wi Cheongyeong entered and handed him a letter.
It was from none other than Hyeok Sojin.
—Though we do not possess the precious item Brother Bu desires, fortunately the old madman Destroyer of Orthodoxy happened to have a treasure with similar effects. Things have become a little quieter lately, so I will personally deliver it to Brother Bu.
‘Perfect.’
In the meantime, Bu Eunseol had begun searching through the Death Spirit Corps for any martial arts or treasures capable of breaking Soul-Seizing Techniques.
But no information could be found anywhere.
‘If there is no martial art that can break the Soul-Sealing Mind-Subduing Great Method, perhaps there is a treasure that can?’
After careful thought, Bu Eunseol sought another method.
‘What about the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect?’
It was a place where he had once obtained information about the legendary Wind God Tower.
The former demonic cultivators who had endured countless hardships not only knew countless hidden secrets and circulating rumors, but also possessed or knew the locations of various treasures they had quietly acquired during their martial wanderings.
After much deliberation, Bu Eunseol contacted Hyeok Sojin and began inquiring whether any of the former demonic cultivators possessed such a treasure.
By incredible luck, instead of merely finding information about a treasure that could break Soul-Seizing Techniques, he had located the very person who owned it.
Though it might not completely nullify an art as powerful as the Soul-Sealing Mind-Subduing Great Method, it would surely have considerable effect.
“Good.”
Tap.
Setting the letter down, Bu Eunseol gave a faint nod.
“Then there is no need to delay any longer.”
He was fortunate.
Just in time, Hyeok Sojin’s reply arrived confirming that such a precious item existed in the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect.
Now all that remained was to meet Yangseol Rin in person.
***
At the hour when cool breezes blew and the wine shops were lively, Bu Eunseol headed toward a cliff gently bathed in cold moonlight.
Far below the sheer drop, a fierce river crashed against rocks, sending up veils of mist.
The rustling of leaves in the wind and the winding murmur of the river alternated, breaking the silence that enveloped the cliff.
Whooo.
When he finally reached the summit, a refreshing wind blew strongly from the sky, and a red shadow appeared atop the cliff.
Though scars marked her face and neck, they only added to her strength and mysterious allure.
A woman of breathtaking beauty.
It was Yangseol Rin.
“My Lady.”
“It’s been a while.”
Yangseol Rin smiled warmly.
In truth, she was a person extremely indifferent to the opposite sex. Yet she had fallen for him at first sight—the bitter yet lonely aura that could be felt even with eyes closed, the mysteriously gleaming eyes like sunlight reflected on water, and the inscrutable, cold expression that masked all emotion.
Whenever she looked at him, an unfamiliar fluttering would bloom fully in her chest.
“Of course. Have you been well?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
“I’m glad.”
After exchanging a few polite greetings, Bu Eunseol felt something strange.
In the meantime, Yangseol Rin had become even more beautiful, and her gaze was filled with unmistakable affection—as though she were looking at a lover. Though she had always been kind, this was the first time she had so openly let her feelings show.
‘Something’s off.’
The moment their eyes met, Bu Eunseol was seized by an inexplicable chill that slowly crept up his spine.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what had changed but one thing was certain.
In the time they had not seen each other... Yangseol Rin had subtly, almost imperceptibly, become different.
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