“Huh… huhuhu.”
Only then did Nak Gucheon truly realize just how profound Bu Eunseol’s martial achievement was and how utterly insignificant his own level truly was.
“This body… never had the qualification to take revenge on Bu Zhanyang.”
Crack!
With a wretched expression, he poured inner force into his beloved sword and shattered it.
If Bu Eunseol so wished, he could annihilate everyone present in an instant.
Yet he had endured every insult and simply extended his finger…
Nak Gucheon felt both shame and powerlessness at once.
“I will leave. And I will never again set foot in the martial world.”
Gazing at the distant sky with a miserable face, he turned without hesitation and walked out of the ruined palace grounds.
He was the descendant of the Great Star Gate, a hero of the martial world.
Because he understood shame and honor, he did not force the issue and simply departed.
‘He truly was a victim of my grandfather.’
As Nak Gucheon left dejectedly,
“Martial Soul Command Lord.”
Wan Suwol bit her lip and spoke in a low voice.
“You have already inherited the blood of that demonic grandfather.”
Swoosh.
Suddenly, she severed her own little finger in one clean stroke.
Thud.
Wan Suwol tossed the bleeding, severed finger at Bu Eunseol’s feet.
“God, why have You granted such monstrous power to that demon?”
She knew Nak Gucheon’s skill well.
If even his New Moon Sword could not cut through, then she realized her own nails would not even scratch him… and so she gave up on revenge.
Crack.
She broke the dagger she had used to cut her finger and turned to leave.
In the end, of the five, two had abandoned their quest for vengeance.
In other words, those two were absolute proof that they were not colluding with any external force, nor were they pawns of such a force.
“You deliberately displayed the difference in strength to make them give up revenge.”
The masked Taoist looked at Bu Eunseol with sharp eyes.
“Not because you truly mastered Dark Jade Blood Qi, but by using terrifying inner force and the subtleties of martial principles to make it appear as external arts.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyebrow twitched slightly.
As the Taoist said, with inner force reaching the level of ten jia and the aid of the Nangyang Heart Eye, he had completely nullified the power pouring toward him, ensuring the blade touched only the surface of his finger skin.
It had been a near-divine feat.
Yet astonishingly, the masked Taoist had instantly seen through the subtlety of Bu Eunseol’s martial art and pointed it out.
“Why didn’t you tell them?”
At Bu Eunseol’s question, the masked Taoist answered in a low voice.
“Because those two are descendants of fools who charged at Bu Zhanyang without knowing their place and brought ruin upon themselves.” He continued coldly, “But we are the descendants of those whose families and sects were annihilated by Bu Zhanyang without any reason. From the beginning, the nature of our grudge is different from theirs.”
‘Then the rest of them are also genuine victims of my grandfather.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
It did not matter either way.
If there was a debt to repay, it must be repaid.
He had simply come to investigate his grandfather’s past once more.
Sring.
The masked Taoist drew a large long sword from his waist.
“No matter how great your martial prowess, I have no intention of giving up.”
The sword he drew was ancient and majestic, its blade faintly glowing with a mysterious light.
Even at a glance, it was clearly a blade of extraordinary heritage.
“With this Giant Que Sword, I will surely be able to sever your finger.”
The Giant Que Sword.
Was this not the legendary divine sword said to rival even the Radiant Sword Control?
Moreover, judging by the masked man’s aura, he possessed terrifying skill.
Severing a finger would be entirely within his capability.
“I ask again. Will you still extend your hand?”
“Of course.”
Bu Eunseol calmly extended his finger once more.
“It was not out of stinginess for my finger that I used martial subtlety—it was to avoid tarnishing my grandfather’s name.”
He believed that only someone with sufficient skill and stature had the right to take revenge on his grandfather.
In other words, not just anyone worthless could sever his finger.
Only a person capable of truly avenging themselves against his grandfather had the qualification to cut it.
And Nak Gucheon and Wan Suwol, having understood that intent, had swallowed their fury and withdrawn of their own accord.
“I see. That is also reasonable.”
As the masked Taoist raised his inner force, a bone-chilling cold spread from the Giant Que Sword, sharp enough to scrape bone.
“Then this poor monk, who is qualified, shall take your finger!”
Flash!
With light embroidering heaven and earth in all directions, the masked Taoist unleashed his sword art with full power.
He was certain.
Even if Bu Eunseol were the greatest master under heaven, with the Giant Que Sword and this sword art, he could definitely sever the finger.
Clang!
Yet at that moment, something astonishing occurred.
The Giant Que Sword thrust forward by the masked man was blocked—not by anything else, but by a seemingly ordinary, worn iron sword?
Bu Eunseol had drawn the Silent Tiger Soul Sword like lightning and parried his blade.
“Heh heh heh.”
The masked man pointed at Bu Eunseol with his finger and burst into loud laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
After roaring with laughter for a long while, he looked at Bu Eunseol and spoke coldly.
“You talked so big and acted so proud. In the end, you were just afraid of losing a single finger.”
Yet something was strange.
Bu Eunseol showed no sign of shame.
Crimson light blazed in his pupils, and waves of true energy poured visibly from his entire body.
“A Taoist of the Profound Gate possesses a fragment of the True Demon?”
Bu Eunseol had sensed it.
Among the aura spread across the masked Taoist’s body as he swung the Giant Que Sword, the energy of a Sealed Demon Fragment was embedded within.
Had he not encountered the male and female assassins sent by the United Heart Society at the inn earlier, he would never have been able to detect it.
In that sense, Dong Wolhyeon’s attack had conversely been of great help to Bu Eunseol.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
The masked Taoist shouted in confusion.
“This poor monk knows nothing of any Sealed Demon Fragment.”
“You claim ignorance of the True Demon’s fragment, yet you fluently speak the words ‘Sealed Demon Fragment.’”
In that instant, the Taoist shut his mouth.
Because a fragment of the True Demon was called a Sealed Demon Fragment, he had spoken carelessly without realizing the slip.
“Don’t tell me—you possess one as well?”
The Taoist sensed something amiss.
“But why, even when using inner force, do I sense no such aura from you?”
“What is there to explain at length?”
At that moment, Hyeon Jeong stepped forward and unleashed her inner force.
Crack, crack.
With the sound of bones shifting, Hyeon Jeong’s face slowly transformed.
Her formerly plump, round face suddenly became triangular and serpentine, like that of a viper.
It was not due to any martial art or great technique, but a transcendental supernatural power that had altered even her flesh.
“So that’s how it is.”
Bu Eunseol finally understood.
Why his grandfather had sought out hidden sects and families and annihilated them.
Why he had acted as though hunting down specific individuals.
‘He was exterminating everyone who possessed Sealed Demon Fragments?’
Even Yoo Unryong, while investigating his grandfather’s past, had never been able to comprehend that part.
Exactly who had his grandfather sought out to kill, that he would even disturb sects and families unknown to the martial world?
The answer had just revealed itself.
‘But why?’
His grandfather had been invincible even without Sealed Demon Fragments.
So why, right up until his retirement, had he continued hunting down those who possessed them?
Could it have been to prevent the True Demon’s resurrection by taking that power for himself?
“The annihilation of your sects and families was because you possessed Sealed Demon Fragments.”
“So what? What does that matter?”
At that moment Maeng So spoke in a sharp voice.
“In the end, isn’t Bu Zhanyang himself the one who craved power and sought to obtain Sealed Demon Fragments?”
When those who possess Sealed Demon Fragments kill one another, the energy is absorbed.
Even if his grandfather had not originally possessed a fragment, in the process of eliminating them, he would have absorbed a considerable amount.
Shriek!
At that instant, with a sharp tearing sound, something razor-sharp flew toward Bu Eunseol’s forehead.
Having sensed he was lost in thought, Hyeon Jeong had immediately fired a finger wind.
Boom!
Instinctively dodging the finger wind, an enormous explosion erupted from the rock behind him.
“What a shame.”
Hyeon Jeong—her face now viper-like—flicked her thin tongue.
Thanks to the Sealed Demon Fragment, she had gained a unique ability: the power to unleash Inner Force Energy endlessly without limit.
“No matter how great your martial arts, it is useless against us.”
At Hyeon Jeong’s words, Maeng So stepped forward.
“Let us finish him together.”
Crack, crack.
The sound of bones came from his body as well, and a bizarre luster flowed over his skin.
It looked as though molten black iron had been poured over his flesh.
“Die!”
Whoosh!
Maeng So charged straight at Bu Eunseol.
His speed gradually increased until he became a black streak.
Thanks to the Sealed Demon Fragment, he had gained tremendous leg strength, transcending human limits in movement speed.
Slaaaash!
Moving at ultra-high speed until he became a single line of black light, yet Bu Eunseol instantly tracked the motion and severed his leg.
Sizzle.
But only sparks flew; not even a scratch appeared on his skin.
‘So this is the power of a Sealed Demon Fragment.’
Just as Han Sangja had said, those who possessed Sealed Demon Fragments gained bizarre abilities.
Boom!
Meanwhile, Hyeon Jeong continued firing cannonball-like waves from afar without cease, while Maeng So—now a black streak—circled around Bu Eunseol.
Truly attacks so swift that one could not even draw a single breath came without pause.
Moreover, as their assault continued, the energy of the Three Divine Energies within Bu Eunseol’s body became disrupted, preventing him from raising Harmony.
‘Is this ability also included in the Sealed Demon Fragment?’
The United Heart Society assassins he had faced earlier had not possessed such power.
Not only did the abilities granted by Sealed Demon Fragments differ from person to person, but the attributes of those powers also seemed to carry distinct essences and characteristics, or perhaps reflected the nature and intent of the one wielding them.
Crack.
Suddenly a grotesque sound rang out, and Bu Eunseol’s two legs sank deep into the ground.
Turning his head, he saw the masked Taoist forming strange hand seals and smiling at him.
“Once caught in this power, you cannot move.”
Pop.
When Bu Eunseol doubled his inner force, he instantly freed himself from the embedded earth.
In doing so, however, he took deep wounds from Hyeon Jeong’s finger wind and Maeng So’s sword.
In a battle between masters, victory or defeat is decided in an instant.
Merely slowing his movement speed was enough to gain a decisive advantage.
Bu Eunseol swiftly unfolded footwork, yet from time to time invisible, sticky hands reached up from the ground to seize his legs.
As a result, his wounds steadily increased.
Without his thick protective true energy and the razor-sharp senses of the Beast Way, it would not have been mere wounds—his neck or limbs would already have been severed.
‘This is not an impromptu joint attack.’
These three had likely known each other for a long time and had trained this combination art using Sealed Demon Fragments.
Otherwise, three people whose individual martial arts were not particularly outstanding could never have executed such a flawless, seamless joint assault on the spur of the moment.
‘They belong to the same force.’
If they possessed Sealed Demon Fragments yet did not fight each other and instead combined their strength, they were clearly members of the same organization.
Shriek! Slaaash!
With another sharp tearing sound, a long wound opened on Bu Eunseol’s shoulder.
The finger wind fired by Hyeon Jeong rivaled the full-power of the Bullet King’s Inner Bullet Qi, and it could freely curve through the air, even possessing the ability to block evasion maneuvers.
Maeng So—now a streak of black—moved so fast it was difficult to follow, stabbing at vital points with his long sword whenever an opening appeared.
Whenever Bu Eunseol tried to counter, the masked Taoist’s power seized his legs, disrupting the flow of techniques or halting his movements entirely.
A strange thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘Then is the Sacred Domain also using Sealed Demon Fragments in the same way?’
Even in this life-and-death battle, Bu Eunseol’s mind spun like lightning.
Leaving aside the masked Taoist, the martial prowess of Maeng So and Hyeon Jeong had not even reached the transcendent realm yet with just one Sealed Demon Fragment each, they were displaying power threatening enough to endanger Bu Eunseol.
The executioners of the Sacred Domain had likewise transformed ordinary commoners into martial masters possessing tremendous inner force and poison arts in an instant.
There could not possibly be many such mysterious powers in the world.
Perhaps the executioners of the Sacred Domain had also wielded such authority by means of Sealed Demon Fragments.
Boom!
Perhaps because his mind had wandered?
Bu Eunseol took a direct hit from Hyeon Jeong’s finger wind and crashed into a rock three zhang behind him.
“Now death is finally in sight.”
As Hyeon Jeong smiled,
Rumble rumble.
With dust and debris, the rock collapsed, and there stood Bu Eunseol, Silent Tiger Soul Sword sheathed, upright and composed.
Despite taking such a powerful finger wind head-on, he appeared utterly calm.
“Still putting on an act of leisure?”
At Hyeon Jeong’s mocking words, Bu Eunseol replied indifferently,
“Yes. I suppose it is time to stop holding back.”
Sring.
Bu Eunseol twisted the Silent Tiger Soul Sword free.
Kiiiiing.
A ghostly wail spread outward as terrifying energy poured from the pitch-black blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
The blade art that extinguished not only life but the very essence of existence.
The Seven Blood Tear Forms had been unfolded.
“It is the Seven Blood Tear Forms!”
At the masked Taoist’s cry, the three immediately surrounded Bu Eunseol in a triangular formation and poured out their power simultaneously.
Astonishingly, they had prepared in advance for the possibility that Bu Eunseol would use the Seven Blood Tear Forms—and had even readied a countermeasure.
Kwaaaang!
When they combined their strength, the air vibrated, and the black blade energy that had been pouring forth slowly began to dissipate.
With a single combined move, the Life Lodges, Death Returns—the one Bu Eunseol wielded with greatest confidence—had been completely nullified.
Whoosh!
Yet the blade art changed once again in midair.
Kwaaaang!
Darkness exploded outward as black waves surged in all directions.
Among the Seven Blood Tear Forms, the one with the widest range of destructive power—Death Without Closing Eyes—had been unfolded.
Saaaa!
As the black waves enveloped them, the skeletal outlines of the three momentarily became visible on the surface. The blade energy that brought death swept through their bodies as though passing straight through.
Yet something astonishing occurred.
“Heh heh heh.”
The three simply laughed as though nothing had happened and continued their assault?
“You thought the Seven Blood Tear Forms were invincible!”
Slaaash!
Maeng So sneered and transformed once more into a black streak.
Hyeon Jeong continued firing intense waves akin to Inner Bullet Qi without pause, while the masked Taoist relentlessly bound Bu Eunseol’s feet with power.
‘They can withstand the blade energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms?’
Bu Eunseol could not believe it.
The Seven Blood Tear Forms was an invincible blade art capable of bringing death to all things.
Until now, no one had ever endured its power.
So how could these three remain unscathed even after being exposed to the blade energy?
Bang!
Bu Eunseol once again exploded with full inner force.
Waves of inner energy soared to the heavens, and spiderweb cracks spread across the ground beneath his feet.
Kiiiiing!
Once more the blade energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms unleashed its ghostly wail.
Yet each time, the three maintained their triangular formation and poured out intense power, ultimately shrugging off the Seven Blood Tear Forms with ease.
‘So this is the power of the True Demon, the Sealed Demon Fragment.’
Those who possessed Sealed Demon Fragments held power that transcended martial principles like the Hundred and Eight Stars, and they were using that power to neutralize the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
‘No. I am missing something.’
In the past, countless masters must have possessed Sealed Demon Fragments.
If all of them could block the Seven Blood Tear Forms so easily, his grandfather could never have been invincible.
‘Then…’
There would have been no need for Harmony, and merely releasing the poison within his body would have sufficed to neutralize them.
Yet he could never accept that his grandfather’s blade art was so casually defended against by them.
Kiiiing!
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword drew arcs through the air, unleashing torrents of black blade energy like pouring rain, yet they either blocked the Seven Blood Tear Forms or endured direct hits without issue.
Drip, drip.
Before long, Bu Eunseol’s body had become drenched in blood.
Was his stubbornness something even death could not break?
He could have dealt with them easily using only the power of the Poison Saint or Harmony.
So why did he stubbornly insist on using the Seven Blood Tear Forms?
“Now die!”
At the masked Taoist’s shout, Bu Eunseol’s feet became completely embedded in the ground.
In that moment, Hyeon Jeong and Maeng So began pouring fatal attacks upon him without cease.
Ssssslash!
Suddenly the Silent Tiger Soul Sword began forming a thin, azure sword curtain.
With his legs immobilized, he unfolded the mystery of the Scattered Sword, creating an impenetrably dense sword membrane that not even a drop of water could pass through.
Siiii.
At that instant, smoke rose from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword as it executed the Scattered Sword, and the blade began glowing red-hot.
The force and vibration of their attacks were heating the sword itself.
“The end is in sight!”
As Bu Eunseol assumed a purely defensive stance, the three cheered and moved with full power to deliver the decisive blow.
Maeng So spun rapidly, creating thousands of black streaks that circled the grounded Bu Eunseol.
Hyeon Jeong completely dominated the attack paths, relentlessly pounding the sword curtain to prevent any disruption in the flow of offense.
The masked Taoist exerted tremendous force to ensure Bu Eunseol could not move at all, binding both his legs.
Kwaaaang! Kwaaaang!
In the meantime, Hyeon Jeong’s finger wind pierced into the sword curtain Bu Eunseol had created.
Each glancing hit tore skin, and unpleasant energy constantly invaded his mind.
Taking advantage of the openings, Bu Eunseol landed the Seven Blood Tear Forms on the three in rapid succession… yet they shrugged off the blade energy as though they were immortal.
“Hahahaha!”
Having perfectly blocked the Seven Blood Tear Forms and driven Bu Eunseol to his limit, they burst into victorious laughter.
“In the end, this is as far as you go!”
At Maeng So’s cry, Hyeon Jeong smiled.
“Do not kill him—capture him alive. That way we can obtain far greater power.”
Listening silently to their words, Bu Eunseol nodded.
“So that was it after all.”
In truth, the reason Bu Eunseol had assumed a defensive stance while using the Seven Blood Tear Forms was not only because their power was formidable, but also to confirm exactly which force they belonged to, and what attributes their Sealed Demon Fragments possessed.
‘Again, the United Heart Society.’
The only place that desired his body so desperately was the United Heart Society.
‘Moreover, their power is also dominating space.’
Sealed Demon Fragments not only granted overwhelming strength, but also carried the ability to dominate a certain range of space.
Just like the domains of the Hundred and Eight Stars.
‘In other words, a Sealed Demon Fragment is something akin to forcibly creating a Hundred and Eight Stars domain within the body.’
‘Could it be…’
A flash of realization struck Bu Eunseol’s mind.
‘Boundary Prosperity Jade.’
In Ghost King Valley, they were mass-producing artificial Boundary Prosperity Jade.
And Boundary Prosperity Jades possessed a divine ability: it could temporarily contain the power of a Hundred and Eight Stars.
‘Sealed Demon Fragments… Hundred and Eight Stars.’
The power of the Hundred and Eight Stars was tied to specific domains.
If his reasoning was correct, then Sealed Demon Fragments could implant a power equivalent to a Hundred and Eight Stars domain into the body after the fact.
“You call yourself the grandson of Bu Zhanyang.”
At that moment the masked Taoist glared with murderous light in his eyes and said,
“Yet your skill does not even reach one-tenth of his.”
“Hahahaha!”
“Heh heh heh heh!”
Then Maeng So and Hyeon Jeong also burst into mocking laughter.
The razor-sharp blade of the death god was poised at their throats—yet they remained utterly unaware.
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