In the meantime, his techniques slowed, and his movements grew sluggish.
But Seop Jeongwoong never stopped completely—he kept pressing Hyeok Sojin relentlessly.
“Just fall down already!”
Hwaaaaak!
Hyeok Sojin doubled his internal energy and tore Seop Jeongwoong’s meridians to shreds.
Kuuung.
Unable to endure the agony of Dark Current Penetrating Acupoint, Seop Jeongwoong dropped to his knees once again.
Tremble tremble.
After shuddering for a moment, he suddenly sprang to his feet and swung his greatsword once more.
‘It wasn’t about enduring the pain.’
Even as his flesh tore apart in excruciating pain, Seop Jeongwoong displayed a desperate, single-minded determination to cut him down.
Only then did Hyeok Sojin finally realize.
It wasn’t endurance.
It was nothing less than an iron-hard martial spirit that kept forcing his body upright.
‘A true martial artist who has truly devoted his life to the Way?’
Seeing that sight, memories suddenly surfaced—of the days he had wandered the martial world together with Bu Eunseol.
Even while eating, they pondered the principles of martial study. Even while sleeping, they contemplated martial techniques.
And it was never merely to defeat enemies or claim victory.
Even if they lived only a single day, it was all for the sake of burning every last ounce of themselves in that moment.
‘Damn it.’
As the blazing martial spirit of Seop Jeongwoong—who had staked everything—reached him, Hyeok Sojin’s chest burned hot.
“Fine.”
Pat!
In the end, Hyeok Sojin released the Dark Current Penetrating Acupoint energy that had been gnawing away at Seop Jeongwoong’s body.
“...?”
When Seop Jeongwoong made a puzzled face, Hyeok Sojin took a deep breath.
“No more tricks....”
Kwaaaang!
Unleashing his full internal energy, Hyeok Sojin shouted in a bold, hearty voice.
“Let’s do this for real!”
With a deafening explosion, tens of thousands of radiant points burst across his entire body.
He had finally unleashed the ultimate form of the Divine Rift Demon Energy—one he had never revealed until this moment: Void Shatter.
“From now on, I’ll show you exactly why this sect is counted among the ten pillars that uphold the Demonic Path.”
A violet madness flowed in Hyeok Sojin’s eyes.
Even in the long, glorious history of martial arts, where countless schools advanced without end, the Ten Demonic Sects had stood unshaken atop the martial world.
Hyeok Sojin intended to personally demonstrate why the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect had become the very synonym of terror among countless Demonic factions—and how it had earned its place as one of the ten pillars supporting the entire Demonic Path.
Shuuuuu.
Before long, the endlessly spreading Divine Rift Demon Energy was drawn back into his body.
Seeing this, Seop Jeongwoong realized that Hyeok Sojin was about to unleash a technique powerful enough to shake heaven and earth.
“Haaap!”
With a thunderous shout, he executed the ultimate technique of the Iron-Blood Blade: Iron-Blood Dominion of Heaven and Earth.
“Excellent!”
Hyeok Sojin likewise released the energy of Void Shatter that he had drawn inward.
When the pinnacle demonic art of the Demonic Path collided head-on with the legendary blade method of the Orthodox path, for an instant the world fell utterly silent, and dazzling light swallowed every sight.
The power of the two supreme arts was so perfectly matched that neither could be said to hold superiority.
Yet something was strange.
Even though the moment for the next attack had arrived, Hyeok Sojin showed no intention of striking.
Wrapped in Divine Rift Demon Energy, he simply stood still.
Kwarrrrng!
Seop Jeongwoong seized the opening without hesitation and unleashed another storm-like blade energy.
Pushut! Pushut!
Each time he was struck, the Divine Rift Demon Energy cloaking Hyeok Sojin’s body shifted—first from violet radiance to an endlessly cold blue, then to a fierce crimson...
And finally, it turned completely colorless.
Ssak!
At last Seop Jeongwoong created the tiniest crack in the Divine Rift Demon Energy surrounding Hyeok Sojin’s body.
Papapapa!
Through that gap he poured dozens of blade strikes.
Thud thud thud.
Blood streamed from Hyeok Sojin’s body wherever the blades landed.
Though he narrowly avoided instant death, the wounds were so severe that his flesh hung in tatters.
“Arrogance was your downfall.”
Seop Jeongwoong looked down coldly at Hyeok Sojin, who stood there struggling in a wretched state.
“Or perhaps you simply overestimated your own power.”
Flash!
Yet from the eyes of Hyeok Sojin—still dripping blood—emerged a thick, viscous crimson glow.
Szzzt.
In an instant, every torn wound sealed itself shut.
In truth, the Divine Rift Demon Energy had not merely coated his surface; it had permeated deep inside his body.
The blade strikes had only ripped skin and flesh, and even those gashes he stitched closed in a single breath using finely twisted strands of Divine Rift Demon Energy.
“It still isn’t hot enough yet.”
“What?”
“I need to spill a lot more blood before I can climb to an even higher stage.”
Back when he wandered the martial world risking his life alongside Bu Eunseol, suffering wounds that tore his whole body apart had been nothing more than an everyday routine.
No—if he didn’t taste blood at least once, he couldn’t even call it a real fight that day.
“Now it’s finally getting fun.”
Hyeok Sojin looked at Seop Jeongwoong and smiled.
Siiik.
That madness-tinged grin was eerily similar to the smile Bu Eunseol wore whenever he reveled in battles where flesh burned and blood evaporated.
He had already surpassed the realm of Entering Demonic Wandering the Way and was stepping into the stage of Mad Demon.
“Die!”
Feeling a chill, Seop Jeongwoong unleashed Iron-Blood Dominion of Heaven and Earth once more.
Perhaps because he had over-relied on the Divine Rift Demon Energy?
Hyeok Sojin simply stood tall again.
Just as the Iron-Blood Blade was about to split his skull,
Ziiing.
Hundreds of thread-like strands of Divine Rift Demon Energy extended from Hyeok Sojin’s body, completely entangling the blade energy of the Iron-Blood Blade.
BOOM!
With an earth-shaking explosion, Seop Jeongwoong’s body was hurled more than thirty meters backward into a giant tree.
“You shouldn’t use the same technique twice in the same fight.”
Hyeok Sojin flicked his red tongue and tilted his head.
“Add variation and variation.”
He had trained in the Wind God Energy at Wind God Palace, and afterward his internal energy had surged dramatically thanks to Hae Yeon’s healing and grand restoration method.
Moreover, though overshadowed by Bu Eunseol, from the very beginning he had been an unparalleled martial genius—even acknowledged by the Phantom Demon Hyeok Gongbaek himself.
Even if Seop Jeongwoong had mastered the Iron-Blood Blade to the level of Great Completion, he still could not defeat Hyeok Sojin.
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Yet Seop Jeongwoong could not accept that reality.
He had nearly died dozens of times just to learn the Iron-Blood Blade.
Without heaven’s protection, he would have become a wandering soul long ago.
After enduring those years of pain and perseverance, he had finally perfected the Iron-Blood Blade and even mastered the Iron-Blood Energy that no one except its creator, the Iron-Blood Guest, had ever achieved. And yet he was being utterly crushed by the young lord of the Heaven and Earth Severing Sect—a mere overseer of decrepit old men?
“Don’t look down on me!”
Kwaaaang!
An explosion of true energy erupted from Seop Jeongwoong’s body, sending a three-foot-tall azure sword aura soaring.
He was channeling his energy to unleash the Iron-Blood Blade once more.
Shuuuk!
As he executed the blade art, the three-foot sword aura stretched out to the length of ten meters.
But Hyeok Sojin blocked each strike one by one with an expression of boredom.
“You’re putting too much force into it. You need to stay calm.”
Seop Jeongwoong’s eyes widened.
Now Hyeok Sojin was blocking his blade art with a single finger and sneering at him?
“Uwaaaaah!”
As the furious Seop Jeongwoong screamed and prepared another technique,
“Who screams pointlessly in the middle of combat?”
BANG!
Once again struck by Hyeok Sojin’s Divine Rift Demon Energy, Seop Jeongwoong flew dozens of meters and crashed wretchedly into a boulder.
Emerging from the shattered rock and dust, his face was hideously twisted.
‘I can’t even see his techniques anymore....’
Because he had merged as one with the Iron-Blood Energy, he avoided fatal injury, but the mental blow was irreparable.
“No, not yet.”
Seeing that, Hyeok Sojin shook his head with a regretful expression.
“You need to burn even hotter....”
Compared to Seop Jeongwoong, Hyeok Sojin’s own body was in far worse shape.
Yet his fighting spirit soared higher, and an untouchable killing intent mixed with madness enveloped him.
“You can’t despair already. There’s still so much more I want to pour out.”
Yellowish madness dripped visibly from Hyeok Sojin’s eyes.
“If an arm gets cut off, fight with your legs. If your legs are gone, ram them with your body and bite!”
BANG!
Another explosion, and Seop Jeongwoong was hurled dozens of meters away once more.
Rumble.
Slamming into rock, Seop Jeongwoong quickly rose and charged again, but he staggered and dropped to one knee.
At last the Iron-Blood Energy shattered completely, and he suffered deep internal injuries.
The Ten Demonic Sects.
The term did not merely refer to ten supporting sects of the Demonic Path.
It also signified the ten supreme martial arts that had reached the pinnacle of the Demonic realm.
“That’s enough.”
At that moment Bu Eunseol—who had silently watched the fight—stepped forward.
“Let’s stop here.”
He knew.
If the fight continued like this, not only would Seop Jeongwoong die horribly, but Hyeok Sojin would break through into the realm of the Mad Demon.
“Brother Bu, the match isn’t over yet.”
Hyeok Sojin said coldly.
“Are you telling me to show cheap mercy?”
“If you kill him now, the Demonic Essence accumulated within the Divine Rift Demon Energy will explode.”
The Divine Rift Demon Energy contained the most vicious demonic qi among all the martial arts of the Ten Demonic Sects. The more it was used, the more Demonic Essence—an inner core of condensed demonic qi—built up inside.
If that were detonated all at once… he would become a Mad Demon, endlessly craving only blood and battle.
“So what?”
Hyeok Sojin grinned.
“If I reach the Mad Demon realm right now, it will be a great help to you, Brother Bu.”
He added, “And it wouldn’t be bad for a new Mad Demon to appear in the current martial world, would it?”
In an era when insane powerhouses were emerging one after another, if Hyeok Sojin reached the Mad Demon realm, he could instantly stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them.
“Settling for the Mad Demon realm wouldn’t be so bad.”
Bu Eunseol replied calmly.
“But Sojin, you can go far beyond even that stage.”
It was the truth.
From the very beginning Hyeok Sojin could have crushed Seop Jeongwoong easily.
But because of that fiery competitive spirit and martial soul, he had discarded his advantages and chosen to face him head-on.
In truth, he was a new-generation master with monstrous potential—worthy of standing beside Bu Eunseol himself.
“I’m fine with becoming a Mad Demon.”
But demonic qi already seemed to have erupted; thick killing intent poured from Hyeok Sojin’s body.
“Fighting wildly like this to the end doesn’t sound bad either.”
Crack crack.
For a moment bone-grinding sounds came from his body.
Saaaa.
A violet killing aura instantly blackened the sky.
In the end, Hyeok Sojin... had reached a point where even Bu Eunseol could no longer control his entry into the Mad Demon realm.
“Haa, haa.”
Feeling the powerful demonic qi flowing from his body, Hyeok Sojin smiled brightly.
“This is... insane, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s not bad either.”
Yet Bu Eunseol spoke nonchalantly even while watching the scene.
“It’s just a shame.”
“....”
“Soon you could have transcended even the Mad Demon realm—and reached a level comparable to mine.”
Powerful enemies would continue pouring in without cease.
Though the gap was currently enormous, judging by Hyeok Sojin’s growth speed, Bu Eunseol firmly believed he would inevitably catch up before long.
“A realm comparable to Brother Bu....”
For an instant, Hyeok Sojin—drenched in blood—trembled.
Bu Eunseol never lied.
No, just looking into his eyes told him everything.
He genuinely, wholeheartedly believed that Hyeok Sojin could ascend to an unimaginably high realm.
‘Ah, no.’
He couldn’t let it slip away.
Hadn’t he sworn—even in his dreams—to stand side by side with that divine being?
“Ughhhhh.”
Crunch. Crunch.
The vicious violet demonic qi that had been pouring out vanished in an instant.
“Haha!”
Hyeok Sojin scratched his head and broke into a wide grin.
“Since Brother Bu says so, I guess I have no choice!”
Clearing his throat, Hyeok Sojin turned to Seop Jeongwoong.
“Consider yourself lucky. If it weren’t for Brother Bu, your head would already be rolling.”
With just one sentence from Bu Eunseol, with nothing more than the belief that he could one day stand shoulder-to-shoulder with that divine man… he suppressed in an instant the Mad Demon qi that even a hundred days of bitter training could hardly shake off.
“....”
Seop Jeongwoong had nothing to say.
He had once proudly called himself the strongest under heaven yet he couldn’t even reach the feet of Hyeok Sojin, the young lord of one of the Ten Demonic Sects.
“Yes, I was lucky.”
With a deep sigh, Seop Jeongwoong gazed at the distant sky.
If Hyeok Sojin’s martial art was already this monstrous, just how strong must Bu Eunseol be?
In the end, he had been nothing more than a frog in a well.
He finally understood why the Buddha Venerable held Bu Eunseol in such high regard.
That man was already looking down at him from an unimaginably lofty realm.
“If you have realized your inadequacy, there is no need to take your life.”
When Bu Eunseol spoke quietly, Seop Jeongwoong looked at him strangely.
“You’re really letting me go?”
Bu Eunseol smiled.
“I think you could one day become someone capable of spurring Sojin forward.”
Seop Jeongwoong bit his lip.
In other words, no matter how much he trained from now on, he would never catch up to Bu Eunseol—at best, he might barely qualify as a worthy opponent for Hyeok Sojin.
“The Iron-Blood Blade was merely a martial art of the Seventh Gate.”
To restore his shattered pride, Seop Jeongwoong revealed one secret about the Absolute Demonic Blade Project.
“I will return after passing through the Tenth Gate.”
In short, he was admitting he had only cleared the seventh of the ten stages.
“That works too.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Sojin never avoids a fight. Come find him anytime.”
“What gives you the right to treat our family like the enemy?”
At that moment, Yangseol Rin stepped forward and spoke to Seop Jeongwoong.
“You spoke of our family as if it were some axis of evil earlier.”
Seop Jeongwoong answered as if it were obvious.
“The Yangseol family, just like the Jungson family, disturbs the martial world and manipulates it at will, doesn’t it?”
“Nonsense!” Yangseol Rin shouted coldly. “What exactly has our family done?”
“Are you pretending not to know?” Seop Jeongwoong said sharply. “It hasn’t been completely infiltrated like the Jungson family, but more than half of the Yangseol family is colluding with external forces, and the other half has become mere puppets.”
“What?”
A pure white aura flowed from Yangseol Rin’s eyes.
After hearing strange words from Gongsun Dankyung, she had already thoroughly investigated her family yet she found no one colluding with outside forces.
Every event and action the family undertook was righteous and lawful.
“Are you trying to insult our family and just walk away?”
Kukukuku.
As she fully raised her power, the ground trembled; with cracking sounds, spiderweb fractures spread across the earth.
Yangseol Rin was the Heavenly Grace Star.
The sheer scale of her power was such that—even with just the energy contained in the Boundary Prosperity Jade—Bu Eunseol could cause earthquakes across Poseok Island.
Yet something strange happened.
The moment she unleashed her aura, an alien, eerie energy suddenly began spreading from Seop Jeongwoong’s body as well.
‘There’s something.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed as he looked at Seop Jeongwoong.
According to the Buddha Venerable, the Absolute Demonic Blade Project involved exterminating all one hundred and eight stars. That meant Seop Jeongwoong must possess some effective means of suppressing the one hundred and eight stars.
“Stop.”
At Bu Eunseol’s restraint, Yangseol Rin shook her head.
“It’s fine. I can crush someone like him in one blow.”
Bu Eunseol hesitated for a moment.
If he told her that Seop Jeongwoong had trained in a specialized martial art capable of countering the Three Families or the one hundred and eight stars, it would only provoke her further.
“Since I already promised to spare him, if you cut his head off now, wouldn’t Sojin and I become the despicable ones who break our word?”
Bu Eunseol wisely emphasized that Yangseol Rin could kill Seop Jeongwoong anytime she wished, framing it as her showing magnanimity.
“Brother Bu is too merciful.”
Hearing those words, Hyeok Sojin gave a faint smile.
“Willing to give up such a golden opportunity just to keep faith.”
If Bu Eunseol had been the type to care only for himself, he never would have stopped Yangseol Rin from fighting Seop Jeongwoong. It would have been the perfect chance to observe how someone trained in the Absolute Demonic Blade Project dealt with the one hundred and eight stars.
But because he wanted to keep his word—and because Yangseol Rin might get hurt—he restrained her and tried to send Seop Jeongwoong away.
“Then let me ask one thing.”
Yangseol Rin glared at Seop Jeongwoong.
“If you people look down on our family so much, why haven’t you attacked?”
“It’s protected by the Absolute Boundary, isn’t it?”
Seop Jeongwoong answered readily.
“We don’t even know its exact location... and if the Absolute Boundary is broken improperly, the entire army gets annihilated. So we still cannot attempt it.”
Yangseol Rin’s eyebrows twitched.
Not only did Seop Jeongwoong know far too much about the Absolute Boundary, she could infer that they were researching ways to break it.
“Then how did you even find this place?”
“Someone leaked the information.”
Seop Jeongwoong said.
“They even knew I wanted to fight the Martial Soul Command Lord one-on-one. I couldn’t let such a perfect opportunity pass.”
‘Heavenly Mechanism Star?’
Bu Eunseol, deep in thought, narrowed his eyes.
‘But why would someone with his terrifying intellect use such a sloppy plan....’
Seop Jeongwoong’s martial prowess was not enough to guarantee complete victory even against Hyeok Sojin.
For a man of such dreadful wisdom to send only Seop Jeongwoong to strike at him…
It was unthinkable.
‘Then.’
A terrifying intuition ran down his spine.
He turned and looked at Yangseol Rin, who stood there with a calm expression.
The moment their eyes met, Bu Eunseol felt cold sweat threatening to run down his back.
‘Before receiving the Pure Heart Pearl, something was off about her.’
A horrifying hypothesis arose.
The Heavenly Mechanism Star had planted a suggestion in Yangseol Rin and ordered her to attack him with the power of the one hundred and eight stars the instant he showed an opening.
But something Heavenly Mechanism Star had not anticipated… was that Bu Eunseol had decided to give her the Pure Heart Pearl and called Hyeok Sojin here.
In the end, once Yangseol Rin received the Pure Heart Pearl, she forgot the suggestion.
Thus she never ambushed him with the power of the Heavenly Grace Star.
‘The blade Heavenly Mechanism Star sent against me... was Yangseol Rin herself.’
Even Bu Eunseol had not foreseen that.
If Yangseol Rin had unleashed the full power of the Heavenly Grace Star at close range against him, even if he didn’t die, he would surely have suffered wounds nearly impossible to recover from.
“What’s wrong?”
At that moment Yangseol Rin noticed Bu Eunseol’s extremely darkened complexion and approached with a worried look.
“Are you okay?”
“No, I’m fine.”
When Bu Eunseol forced a smile, Seop Jeongwoong spoke.
“If there’s nothing more to say, I’ll take my leave.”
Srrrng.
He turned, then paused. Suddenly he drew his greatsword and swung it several times through empty air.
A hazy smoke immediately scattered in all directions.
“From now on, check your surroundings before fighting an enemy.”
It turned out he had known Bu Eunseol would definitely come here and had already installed an undetectable death trap in advance.
To conceal it, he had deliberately arrived much later—pretending to approach from afar with qinggong.
But because Bu Eunseol had fought honorably and given him a chance despite being able to kill him immediately, he had chosen not to trigger the trap.
“Then.”
Seop Jeongwoong turned and vanished in an instant.
For a long while, a deathly silence hung over the area.
"My Lady.”
Bu Eunseol looked at Yangseol Rin with utmost seriousness.
“May I go to the Yangseol family?”
“What do you mean?”
Bu Eunseol could not bring himself to say outright that Yangseol Rin had a high probability of being brainwashed by Heavenly Mechanism Star’s method and that the Yangseol family might already be in his grasp.
So he changed his words.
“I just feel that what he said wasn’t entirely nonsense.”
Yangseol Rin understood the implication and gave a faint nod.
She too had clearly realized that a dark shadow hung over the Yangseol family.
“So you will become the son-in-law of our family?”
“Son-in-law?”
“No outsider can ever enter our family. The only exception is becoming the son-in-law.”
Bu Eunseol pondered for a moment.
‘Even if it hurts her, I have to enter the Yangseol family and see for myself.’
Human connections were impossible to predict even one step ahead.
Moreover, an engagement could be broken at any time.
To resolve this issue, Bu Eunseol was about to choose a false proposal.
“I....”
As he spoke with utmost seriousness,
“I’ll refuse for now.” Yangseol Rin cut him off, having guessed his intention, and shook her head. “We still don’t know each other that well, do we? We haven’t known each other for long either.”
Her eyes were clearer and calmer than before. It seemed the Pure Heart Pearl was properly displaying its effect.
“The size of fate and feeling is not always proportional to time.”
“I know. But it’s still too sudden.” Yangseol Rin looked into Bu Eunseol’s eyes and gave a sad smile. “...And I don’t really feel any love-like affection from you either.”
‘If she can make the right judgment, that’s not a bad thing.’
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eunseol nodded.
It seemed better to leave the matter of the Yangseol family to Yangseol Rin for the time being.
“Understood. Forget what I said.”
“Sorry.” Yangseol Rin took both of Bu Eunseol’s hands. “I didn’t dislike it. No—I liked it.”
She smiled brightly.
“If you had said it sincerely... I would have accepted.”
That smile was so beautiful that Bu Eunseol unconsciously wore a dazed expression.
“Then I’ll go.”
She bid farewell to Bu Eunseol.
“Thank you for the gift.”
“It’s nothing compared to the kindness you has shown me all this time.”
As Yangseol Rin turned to leave, Bu Eunseol spoke once more.
"My Lady. Please look into whether anyone else in the Yangseol family has been harmed by Soul-Seizing Arts.”
“....”
“The Heavenly Mechanism Star has appeared. Most likely he didn’t act personally but instead recruited another force to control the Yangseol family.”
For a moment Yangseol Rin wore a stunned expression.
Only now did she realize that Bu Eunseol had been worried about her and the Yangseol family—and had tried to propose for that reason.
Moreover, the Pure Heart Pearl wasn’t just a simple gift; he had seen through the possibility that some restriction might have been placed on her and given it to prevent that very restriction.
“Whenever you need help, just say the word. You don’t have to solve everything alone.”
“Thank you.”
But that was Bu Eunseol’s mistake.
Because of that gentle consideration and kindness, Yangseol Rin’s feelings only grew firmer and deeper.
“Alright.”
Turning around once more, Yangseol Rin spoke with utmost seriousness.
“Right now, I’ll make the third request we promised back then.”
“Go ahead.”
“After I receive permission from the family head, I’ll come back. When that time comes, please visit our family together with me.”
“What do you....”
Then she delivered the most shocking words.
“Marry me. That is my third request.”
Bu Eunseol’s body froze like ice.
He never imagined the third request would be a proposal.
“That’s-”
“You said you would definitely grant it, didn’t you?”
"My Lady.”
“That’s right.”
Yangseol Rin winked with one eye.
“I’m the one proposing to you.”
Bu Eunseol swallowed dryly.
His brain was the type that never knew how to respond in situations like this.
“No need to be surprised. Even if you visit our family, the family head might not give permission anyway.”
She turned and gave Hyeok Sojin a nod of farewell as well.
“Then, see you later.”
Hyeok Sojin had been watching this entertaining situation with a wide-open mouth.
When Yangseol Rin greeted him, he grinned broadly and shouted, “Of course, sister-in-law!”
And then he started babbling shamelessly.
“We’ll definitely come eat noodles! Call us anytime!”
“Mm.”
After speaking, she seemed a little embarrassed and vanished in an instant using her divine movement technique.
“Brother Bu.”
At that moment Hyeok Sojin—having wiped the blood from his face—waved both hands with a goofy grin.
“Congratulations! Many felicitations!”
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