“Fast.”
The Ghost King stood at a distance, arms crossed, watching the fight with an intrigued expression.
“I’m quite looking forward to seeing what abilities you possess.”
‘Abilities?’
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow, but he had no time to dwell on it.
Clang!
The Armored Monster remained rooted in place yet it relentlessly created black greatswords in the very space where Bu Eunseol stood as though it were creating matter itself.
A massive greatsword invariably materialized exactly where Bu Eunseol was standing.
Clang! Clang!
Bu Eunseol kept moving ceaselessly, cleverly evading the greatswords conjured by the Armored Monster.
Sizzle!
At the same time, he swiftly closed the distance and slashed at the armor with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
But the armor, forged from some mysterious metal, didn’t even bear a scratch.
“Attack as much as you like.”
The Ghost King wore a sneer.
“The Ghost Armor constantly absorbs evil qi. It will never break.”
‘The evil qi inside Ghost King Valley.’
A glint flashed in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
The Ghost King had likely spoken the truth to emphasize its indestructibility.
But such arrogant words…
To a genius like Bu Eunseol, they were no different from handing over the very method to dismantle it.
‘So it remains unbreakable because it absorbs the evil qi flowing within Ghost King Valley…’
A spark passed through his eyes as he swung his sword.
That meant the armor maintained its form by continuously drawing in the evil qi present in the valley. Conversely, if it could no longer absorb evil qi, all of the armor’s mystical properties would vanish.
Ziiing.
As Bu Eunseol moved swiftly, he slipped his left hand near his chest.
Light began to flow out.
It emanated from the Immeasurable Light Secret tucked inside his robes.
‘The shoulder guards must serve as the channel for absorbing evil qi.’
Through the function of the Immeasurable Light Secret, he could perceive that it wasn’t the entire suit absorbing evil qi uniformly. Rather, the shoulder guards drew it in and distributed it throughout the armor.
‘And the evil qi isn’t supplied across the entire hall. It flows from those pillars embedded deep underground.’
The enormous pillars fixed throughout the grand hall.
They did more than merely support the structure. They were devices that spread the vicious evil qi rising from beneath the earth.
‘This should work.’
Having grasped the full situation through the Immeasurable Light Seal, Bu Eunseol began swinging the Silent Tiger Soul Sword at strange angles.
Clang! Clang clang!
Regardless, the Armored Monster continued relentlessly creating giant blades in the space Bu Eunseol occupied.
Swish! Swish!
Spinning the Silent Tiger Soul Sword without pause, Bu Eunseol gradually began to circle the entire grand hall.
Swish swish swish.
How many times did he revolve around the hall?
Finally, his swordsmanship took on a bizarre shift.
Each time his blade cut through the air, peculiar geometric afterimages lingered, and they began pushing the Armored Monster’s body away.
“Pointless effort.”
The Ghost King, assuming Bu Eunseol was attempting to strike the Armored Monster’s flesh from afar using Striking an Ox Through a Mountain, let out a mocking laugh.
“Even using internal striking techniques won’t work. The armor is perfectly reinforced inside as well…”
But his words trailed off.
As Bu Eunseol spun and poured out sword strikes, faint geometric patterns around him gradually became clear… and they clung to the hall’s pillars, emitting a blue light.
“Zhuge family martial arts?”
The Zhuge family gathered the martial world’s foremost array masters; all their martial learning inherently contained complex formations. Thus, no matter how skilled a master, when struck by an attack infused with the Zhuge family’s profound formations, the body would involuntarily move elsewhere, or the direction of force would be redirected.
Having sensed the source of the evil qi, Bu Eunseol used the mysteries of Zhuge family martial arts to reverse the flow of energy rising from the hall’s pillars.
‘If evil qi truly exists as a substance, then naturally its direction can be altered as well.’
Evil qi cannot be seen or touched, yet it undeniably exists within Ghost King Valley. Having measured and sensed its quantity through the Immeasurable Light Secret, changing its direction was not particularly difficult.
Squelch!
With a grotesque cutting sound, the Armored Monster’s left arm fell through the air.
Once the mystical protective aura vanished, even the Silent Tiger Soul Sword—which could slice through wrought iron like tofu—could no longer be withstood.
“…”
Even with one arm severed, no blood flowed.
As the evil qi was cut off, the Armored Monster suddenly froze.
Thud.
At the same moment, the mask covering its face fell away on its own.
What was revealed was astonishing.
‘That’s…’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
The Armored Monster was not human.
Beast flesh and entrails, wooden fragments, stone, clumps of blood…
It was a Yin-Soul Killing Man, a grotesque creation molded into human shape from countless disparate materials.
Thud thud thud.
One by one, the various materials that had formed its face began dropping to the floor.
It seemed that once the evil qi was severed, it could no longer maintain its form.
Moreover, the meat-like muscles were swelling, as though they might burst at any moment.
‘A Yin-Soul Killing Man is my brother?’
While Bu Eunseol stared in disbelief, “Impressive technique. Not only in pure martial arts, but you’ve also reached a high level in formations.”
The Ghost King, who had been watching with arms crossed, nodded and drew a line through the air with his index finger.
Splat.
In an instant, the Yin-Soul Killing Man’s head was severed.
Wooooong!
From the headless corpse of the Yin-Soul Killing Man, black mist suddenly billowed in all directions.
Shuuuu—
In the blink of an eye, it was sucked straight into the Ghost King’s nostrils.
Bu Eunseol sensed an eerie malevolent energy emanating from the black mist that had emerged from the Yin-Soul Killing Man’s body.
It contained a power so immense that no human flesh could contain or control it.
“Fufu… Did you not know?”
Seeing Bu Eunseol’s dazed expression, the Ghost King chuckled and spoke.
“The Yin-Soul Killing Man makes an excellent medium for implanting—or absorbing—Sealed Demon Fragments.”
‘Sealed Demon Fragments.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
The Absolute Knowledge possessed by the True Demon, which Han Sangja had spoken of, that was contained in fragments… the Ghost King possessed those Sealed Demon Fragments?
Moreover, the Yin-Soul Killing Man was not merely a combat puppet.
It was a vessel capable of receiving and storing those very Sealed Demon Fragments.
‘The Heavenly Mechanism Star.’
Only now did Bu Eunseol understand why the Ghost King had become the Heavenly Mechanism Star’s subordinate—and why he followed him.
The Heavenly Mechanism Star had provided both knowledge of the Sealed Demon fragments and the Yin-Soul Killing Men as a vessel, allowing the Ghost King to safely and easily obtain the True Demon’s power.
“So you’re gathering Sealed Demon Fragments?”
At Bu Eunseol’s murmur, the Ghost King slightly furrowed his brow.
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Then, spreading both arms proudly, he declared, “As long as I have the Yin-Soul Killing Men, this Valley Lord can obtain the other fragments with perfect ease—no need to risk my life at all.”
Just as Han Sangja had said, those who possessed Sealed Demon Fragments sought to seize one another’s fragments.
The Ghost King, too, was acquiring the True Demon’s power in this manner.
‘That’s why he called me brother.’
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize why the Ghost King had referred to the Armored Monster—and to himself—as brothers.
He had mistakenly believed Bu Eunseol also carried a fragment of the Sealed Demon and had come here to seize the one embedded in the Yin-Soul Killing Man.
“Do you know how many fragment-seekers have infiltrated this valley?”
The Ghost King began to speak at length.
“They, like you, inevitably end up here in the Soul-Seizing Treasure Hall. Because right here is where the Yin-Soul Killing Man—housing the Sealed Demon fragment—is kept.”
Bu Eunseol had come solely to assassinate the Ghost King.
He had gathered various clues, infiltrated, and stumbled into this place by chance.
But the Ghost King was convinced that Bu Eunseol possessed a Sealed Demon fragment of his own and had taken the bait, entering this hall precisely to seize the fragment contained within the Yin-Soul Killing Man.
“Yet something is strange.”
Having absorbed all the black energy, the Ghost King tilted his head.
“I don’t particularly sense any Sealed Demon fragment in your body.”
Because he had just reabsorbed a fragment, the Ghost King could detect fragments embedded in another’s flesh.
Yet from Bu Eunseol’s body, he felt nothing at all.
“What exactly is going on?”
At the Ghost King’s shout, Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
‘People from closed-off sects really do talk too much.’
From his experience so far, the leaders of secluded, rarely visited sects—regardless of righteous or demonic alignment—tended to be unusually talkative, blurting out all sorts of things carelessly.
“If something can be revealed, naturally there are also ways to conceal it.”
When Bu Eunseol bluffed with feigned confidence, the Ghost King snorted.
“As if.”
“I also know that you are the Heavenly Mechanism Star’s subordinate.”
The laughter vanished from the Ghost King’s face.
That he served the Heavenly Mechanism Star was a secret unknown to anyone in the martial world.
Only then did the Ghost King realize that Bu Eunseol had not come merely to obtain a Sealed Demon fragment.
“Are you searching for the Society Lord?”
‘Society Lord?’
When Bu Eunseol gave no reply, the Ghost King assumed on his own and continued.
“Foolish. Do you really think killing me would make the Society Lord so much as blink?”
It was not particularly surprising that Chu So had formed some kind of society. Given everything Bu Eunseol had witnessed so far, it would have been stranger if he were not the leader of some faction.
But for the Ghost King—who was very much older—to use an honorific toward Chu So, and to show unmistakable fear in his eyes?
“You fear him.”
“Fear him?”
“It seems you have no idea where he is. Despite the name ‘Ghost King,’ it looks like you’re being treated like a mere foot soldier.”
“Hahaha…”
The Ghost King burst into sinister laughter; killing intent flashed in his eyes.
“Madman.”
He spread evil qi across his entire body and wore a chilling expression.
“Today shall be the anniversary of your death.”
Rumble.
By now, black mist was billowing outward from his body in all directions.
“The moment you revealed yourself before this Valley Lord, you had already stepped into the hall of King Yama”
Ziiing.
For an instant Bu Eunseol’s vision blurred, and he felt the distant sensation of falling from a cliff, as though dreaming.
‘My mind is fading…’
When he regained his senses and opened his eyes,
“…!”
An astonishing sight unfolded.
Drip drip drip.
Somehow, the Ghost King’s log-like hand now gripped Bu Eunseol by the throat, lifting him off the ground.
Considering the level of Bu Eunseol’s martial arts and the resilience of his mind and spirit… what was happening was utterly unbelievable.
“Surprised?”
The Ghost King, holding Bu Eunseol’s throat with one hand, lifted the corner of his mouth.
“Or did you truly think this Valley Lord was nothing but a lowly grunt?”
The ‘King of Ghosts’ who had reigned over the martial world for generations was displaying a power of another dimension entirely from any martial artist Bu Eunseol had encountered before.
“Even the Righteous and Demonic Twin Heavenly Emperors would be powerless inside this valley.”
Black mist flowed from around the eye area of the ghost mask the Ghost King wore.
“From now on, I will tear off your limbs one by one and use Soul-Seizing Mind Arts to uncover who is behind you.”
Pssht! Squelch!
Instead of answering, Bu Eunseol swung the Silent Tiger Soul Sword he still held and severed the Ghost King’s throat.
The artery in his neck was cut, sending blood gushing like a fountain, yet-
Ssssss.
The black mist flowing from within the Ghost King’s mask instantly sealed the wound.
“I told you this Valley Lord is invincible.”
The Ghost King let out a hideous laugh.
“Hahaha. Attack more. Resist harder, I say.”
“You never shut up for even a single sentence.”
Bu Eunseol spoke coldly.
“‘Chatter King’ would suit you far better than ‘Ghost King.’”
Papapap!
Even with his throat gripped, Bu Eunseol unleashed the Thirty-Two Swords once more, shredding the Ghost King’s neck and abdomen.
Ssssss.
But the result was the same.
Black mist rose again and instantly restored the wounds.
Moreover, he seemed to feel no pain at all—his face wore a smile.
The Ghost King possessed a mystical body capable of repairing any injury in an instant.
“Strange. Judging by your swordsmanship, you seem like an assassin who has mastered both righteous and demonic arts.”
Crack.
The Ghost King tilted his head and tightened the fingers around Bu Eunseol’s throat.
“Yet despite having no inner energy, your body is this tough. Perhaps you’ve trained in the external arts of the demonic path.”
The Ghost King’s endless chatter was enough to make blood leak from Bu Eunseol’s ears but thanks to it, he gained the precious time he needed to execute one of the methods he had pondered ever since Han Sangja entrusted him with assassinating the Ghost King Valley Lord.
Woooong.
Though he had no inner energy, an inexplicable wave began to emanate from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Drip drip.
At the same time, his pupils turned completely black, gleaming with an eerie luster.
He had begun unleashing the power of the Poison Saint.
Whether inner energy or the Three Divine Energies were suppressed, the extreme poison latent within his body remained unchanged.
From the moment Han Sangja warned him that all power within the body would be blocked upon entering Ghost King Valley, Bu Eunseol had contemplated numerous methods to deal with the Ghost King—one of which was utilizing the poison inside his own body.
Ssssss.
As he channeled the extreme poisons stored within him through the hand gripping his throat,
“Gaaah!”
The Ghost King let out an undignified scream.
Within Bu Eunseol’s body lay:
The inner core of the Obsidian Single-Horn Flood Dragon, said to be the most vicious poison under heaven.
The Seven-Step Soul-Severing Snakes, Red-Faced Black Scorpions, and Demonic Head Blood Flies’ poisons he had obtained in the Wind God’s Path.
The hundred-year-old bodily poison that had once plunged Hae Yeon into a death-like state.
And finally—through Un Jeong of the Jade Qilin Sect—he had perfectly absorbed even the world’s ultimate poison, the Three Corpse Worm’s solitary venom that had stagnated inside him.
Thanks to this, though he had never formally trained in poison arts, he had coincidentally stepped into the initial stage of the Poison Saint realm.
He had merely been restraining himself to further develop his practical martial arts.
In truth, if he deliberately unleashed his poison qi alone, very few masters in the martial world could withstand him.
Drip drip.
In an instant, the Ghost King’s pupils turned pitch black.
“Ughhh…”
Moaning, the Ghost King clutched his face with both hands and began writhing in agony.
‘The invincible being is weak to poison?’
Unleashing poison had merely been one prepared method. He had held no real expectation that it would deal a fatal blow to the Ghost King. That was why he had prepared so many alternatives.
Yet with nothing more than poison… the Ghost King—who was called invincible within Ghost King Valley—had been struck?
‘The title “Ghost King” is wasted on him.’
But this was Bu Eunseol’s misjudgment.
Because he had never seriously trained in poison arts, he had not fully realized that his own body had reached the initial stage of the Poison Saint—the pinnacle of poison mastery. Moreover, the poisons he had accumulated within himself were extreme toxins virtually unmatched in the martial world.
To unleash them all at once… even an invincible being could not possibly remain unscathed.
Even if one had reached the realm of immunity to all poisons, it would be impossible to block completely.
Flash!
Seizing the opening, Bu Eunseol once again slashed at the Ghost King’s throat.
Swish!
The Ghost King instinctively twisted his body and barely avoided a fatal wound.
Drip drip.
But unlike before, blood continued to pour endlessly, and the wound showed no sign of recovery.
Merely by injecting the poison, his body had been rendered incapable of absorbing the valley’s evil qi.
‘Poison was the key? That can’t be.’
Now it was Bu Eunseol who wore a dazed expression.
If the Ghost King were truly this vulnerable to poison, he never would have been called invincible within Ghost King Valley.
‘There must be something else.’
“Grrrr…”
Meanwhile, the Ghost King’s pitch-black pupils slowly regained their original color.
His regenerative ability was reasserting itself; if given time, he seemed capable of neutralizing the injected poison.
Swish swish!
When Bu Eunseol poured out another barrage of sword strikes,
“No chance!”
The Ghost King swiftly extended his hand.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Hundreds of martial artists poured into the grand hall.
Half wore iron masks and were human; the other half were Yin-Soul Killing Men—beast bodies topped with meat-lump faces.
“Kill him!”
Shouting the order to his subordinates, the Ghost King staggered out of the hall.
—Grrrrraaah!
The Ghost King Valley forces that flooded the hall immediately launched an attack on Bu Eunseol.
Ssssss.
But the moment Bu Eunseol unleashed his full poison qi, the charging Ghost King Valley martial artists collapsed without even a chance to resist.
Normally, without inner energy, one could not spread poison qi over a wide area.
Yet having reached the initial stage of the Poison Saint, Bu Eunseol could turn the space within three jang into a lethal zone merely by exhaling poison breath.
Boom! Crash!
Nevertheless, the Yin-Soul Killing Men charged forward heedless of their bodies melting from the poison. As genuine Yin-Soul Killing Men created from inanimate materials, they were not only resistant to poison, but could continue moving until the sorcery sustaining them was severed.
Crash! Papapak!
Bu Eunseol swiftly swung the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, cutting down the charging Yin-Soul Killing Men.
But it was no easy task.
The human martial artists of Ghost King Valley could be felled easily, yet the Yin-Soul Killing Men—fierce as wild beasts—were difficult to dispatch.
They possessed muscles several times stronger than a human’s, razor-sharp teeth and claws, and moved with bestial, unpredictable instinct, evading every strike Bu Eunseol unleashed and even attempting counters.
Sizzle.
After momentarily retreating from the ferocious assault of the Yin-Soul Killing Men, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
“Good.”
The closer he came to the boundary between life and death, the fiercer his fighting spirit burned.
The more desperate the melee, the more the air reeked of blood, the more often he stood at the razor’s edge between survival and annihilation…
The more Bu Eunseol’s concentration sharpened to its utmost, and his latent potential exploded.
Swish! Slash!
Bu Eunseol poured every ounce of strength into cutting down the Yin-Soul Killing Men.
Even though he could not use the power within his body, his combat ability and superhuman skill remained intact.
Swish! Papapap!
He evaded or deflected most attacks; when that failed, he took them on the shoulder or back.
Countless wounds opened across his body, yet none were fatal.
Boom. Boom.
But the Yin-Soul Killing Men were formidable opponents in their own right.
Their bodies were harder than diamond, and they moved even faster than Bu Eunseol’s swordsmanship.
‘Without inner energy or the Three Divine Energies, I can’t keep up with them…’
Though the Yin-Soul Killing Men imitated wild beasts, they possessed greater intelligence than any beast and displayed mysterious movements that defied human prediction.
Slight smile.
Even as the shadow of death loomed, a faint smile curved Bu Eunseol’s lips.
The metallic clang of weapons clashing.
The sound of blood spraying.
The desperate, frenzied movements and ragged breathing as though racing toward death.
All of it blended together, pounding wildly against Bu Eunseol’s heart.
Ever since he had entered the martial world for revenge, the moments he felt most alive were precisely when he stood on the brink of death.
The longing for death had paradoxically become the drive to keep living.
Only through battle could he reaffirm the purpose of his existence.
“Huu… huu…”
Bu Eunseol exhaled roughly.
Compared to the powerful enemies he had fought so far, the Yin-Soul Killing Men were nothing.
Yet because he could rely on nothing but raw physical strength, this battle was more intense than any before—countless moments of life-or-death crisis repeating endlessly.
Even hunting wild beasts bare-handed would probably feel safer than this.
‘Wild beasts.’
As the life-and-death struggle continued,
Crack. Creak.
Suddenly Bu Eunseol’s body twisted in a bizarre manner; his pupils began to glow red.
Thump thump.
His heart pounded like a war drum. Veins bulged across his entire body, shining crimson.
His muscles writhed and swelled as though they were living creatures.
The terrifying combat power of the formidable Yin-Soul Killing Men—their ability to absorb an enemy’s strengths mid-battle and grow even stronger—instead stimulated the very field in which Bu Eunseol was most specialized.
And because of it, he awakened one long-forgotten supreme martial art.
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