Rumble rumble rumble rumble.
The destructive power was so overwhelming that most of the ground enclosed within the Absolute Boundary melted away like taffy, parts of the surrounding mountains crumbled and collapsed, and the vortex created by the shockwave raged like a storm.
Crackle crackle crackle.
Bu Eunseol remained floating in midair, enveloped in a massive protective energy that gave rise to blue flames.
The instant he sensed the tremendous power Yuk Jangcheon unleashed, he had leaped into the air and deployed his protective energy barrier.
‘This level…’
Looking down at the ground that had melted like taffy, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
How could human strength possibly produce such might?
“Impressive.”
Yuk Jangcheon, gazing up at Bu Eunseol floating in the air, nodded as though surprised.
“I knew your martial arts were exceptional, but I never imagined your internal energy had reached this depth.”
Even though he had escaped the center of the explosion, the shockwave and heat were at a level no ordinary protective energy could block.
Yet Bu Eunseol had suffered not even a scratch merely by leaping lightly and raising his protective energy.
That meant what appeared on the surface as a simple protective energy barrier was in reality a wall of energy on the legendary level of Form-Condensed Body and Spirit-Protected Form.
“Your internal energy depth surpasses ten jia…”
Hearing those words, Bu Eunseol was somewhat startled.
Energy is merely energy—it is not a standard for measuring internal strength.
Yet Yuk Jangcheon had instantly discerned, merely by looking at the energy, that his internal energy had exceeded ten Jiazi.
‘So it isn’t simply that his martial prowess has increased.’
As Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed, Yuk Jangcheon spoke in a booming voice.
“Do you have the courage to receive my palm technique head-on?”
“Very well.”
Both men landed on the ground at the same time.
After glaring at Bu Eunseol for a moment, Yuk Jangcheon immediately unleashed his palm technique.
It was neither his signature palm art nor any palm technique scattered throughout the martial world that followed orthodox principles.
In name and reality, it carried no power at all.
Thud.
Yet it struck squarely against Bu Eunseol’s chest in an instant.
‘He was even taught the technique itself?’
Bu Eunseol had thought Yuk Jangcheon had merely used some great method or secret art to dramatically increase his internal energy and physical ability but even his palm technique had transformed into something profoundly mysterious and terrifying.
Thud thud thud.
Bu Eunseol was struck repeatedly in the chest.
He had faced countless powerful enemies until now, and none among them had been weaker than Yuk Jangcheon. Yet with a palm technique utterly devoid of any flair or technique, Yuk Jangcheon easily pierced through his defense.
“It’s still too early to be surprised.”
Yuk Jangcheon unleashed another palm technique.
Bu Eunseol fully deployed a righteous sect movement art and instantly escaped the range of the palm force.
Thud.
Yet the palm power struck his chest once again.
It was as though the palm technique had no form, only materializing the moment it touched Bu Eunseol’s body.
‘Similar to Void-Air Palm, yet distinctly different.’
Kwaaang.
In that instant, a violent recoil shook his entire body.
Even though the palm force carried almost no power and had merely grazed him, his whole body trembled as though exploding, and because of that overwhelming might, his body-protecting true energy activated instinctively—waves of internal energy and sparks of true energy burst forth naturally.
Thud thud thud!
Yuk Jangcheon unleashed his palm technique as gently as though stirring a breeze.
Each time, waves of internal energy rippled from Bu Eunseol’s body, and he began to shake violently like a bell.
Boom! Boom!
Yet something was strange.
Had Bu Eunseol judged that there was no way to block Yuk Jangcheon’s palm technique?
He only defended—showing no sign of counterattacking.
“Use that vaunted Heon Won Bright Sword of yours!”
Yuk Jangcheon shaped his palm like a flower bud.
Gradually the power of his palm force intensified, and the technique grew even more profound.
But regardless, Bu Eunseol stubbornly maintained only defense.
‘……’
The eyes with which Bu Eunseol neutralized the palm techniques were sunken low.
In truth, no matter what mysterious palm art Yuk Jangcheon displayed, no matter what level his martial prowess had reached, Bu Eunseol did not consider it particularly important.
No matter how profound the palm technique or how terrifying the martial art’s power, it was still not enough to threaten his life.
But Yuk Jangcheon, completely unaware of this fact, believed Bu Eunseol was helplessly taking the hits and spoke in a ringing voice.
“So this was the extent of your level?”
Despite Yuk Jangcheon’s provocation, Bu Eunseol continued to take a passive stance while observing him with a sharp gaze.
Thud thud.
Even in that moment, the profound palm techniques continued to strike Bu Eunseol’s body without cease.
‘Something feels off.’
Yuk Jangcheon had deployed the Absolute Boundary to trap him and kill him without fail.
He had been consumed by such rage—yet now that he held the advantage, he was leisurely displaying his martial arts as though it were a simple spar?
‘So that’s it.’
At last Bu Eunseol understood.
Yuk Jangcheon’s true scheme.
‘This Absolute Boundary is not completely severed from the outside.’
When one first encounters something like an Absolute Boundary, they naturally believe it is utterly disconnected from the world.
Yuk Jangcheon’s plot was perfect in that regard, but there was one thing he could never have known…
Bu Eunseol had encountered numerous Absolute Boundaries in the past, and they were not all identical. Depending on the caster or the unique methods of the Three Families, each possessed different functions and properties.
‘He induced a vacuum to force my true identity to be revealed to the entire world.’
After stepping down from his high position in the Martial Alliance, Yuk Jangcheon must have coldly reviewed his own actions.
He would have belatedly realized that the man called Seon Woojin was a demonic spy.
The reason he had fallen so deeply into heart demons was surely because he realized a spy had infiltrated the Martial Alliance while concealing his identity.
But he had no way to expose that truth to the world, nor any power to stop it—the despair must have crushed him.
In that case, what he would want most… would not be to win through martial arts, but to openly declare that Seon Woojin was a demonic spy, thereby restoring the honor and reputation he had lost.
‘Some boundaries separate space but remain transparent to inside and outside.’
In the past, when Song Ok used an Absolute Boundary to infiltrate the Wudang Sect with Black Divine Energy, the space was perfectly isolated, yet those outside could still clearly see Song Ok within.
Yuk Jangcheon had likely deployed something similar.
From his perspective, rather than killing with martial arts in one stroke, exposing Bu Eunseol’s true identity and making it impossible for him to set foot in the martial world again would be far sweeter revenge.
Swish! Swish swish!
Bu Eunseol deliberately deployed the advanced sword techniques of the Peerless Sword Manual.
Boom! Boom boom!
Yet his body, continuously struck by palm force, was relentlessly pushed backward.
Still, he suffered no real damage.
Thanks to the mysteries of his various powers and his powerful internal energy, he simply deflected the force.
Having completely seen through Yuk Jangcheon’s intention, Bu Eunseol refused to reveal even the slightest hint of his true martial arts—not the Vacuum that would expose him as the Martial Soul Command Lord, nor his exclusive techniques such as Heon Won Bright Sword or Thirteen Guiding Energies.
Thud.
Seeing Bu Eunseol’s leisurely expression, Yuk Jangcheon’s face stiffened.
Only now did he realize that Bu Eunseol had seen through his entire scheme and was deliberately refusing to reveal his true martial arts in response.
“Fine. Even the honor that would come to the victor—you abandon that as well.”
Creak.
Yuk Jangcheon abruptly halted the palm technique he had been unfolding and spoke calmly.
“In the end, once you’re dead, everything ends anyway.”
No matter how many schemes he prepared, they would all be seen through—he could never outwit this man with strategy.
“Now I will fight for real.”
Yuk Jangcheon’s expression turned solemn.
What remained now was a true life-and-death contest.
He would kill this man, vent all his accumulated rage, and depart the world without regret.
Sssss. Paaa!
With a wave of his hand, the light of the Absolute Boundary spread around them changed.
The once-transparent boundary space was dyed pitch-black, completely blocking any view from outside.
“With this, even if you show your true power, it won’t be exposed.”
Yuk Jangcheon spoke frankly.
“So feel free to use your real strength.”
And he smiled.
“Because from now on, I will do the same.”
Ziiing.
At the same time, the sword-dark energy that had circulated over Yuk Jangcheon’s skin turned snow-white like frost flowers, and a bizarre radiance swirled in his eyes.
Sssss.
Simultaneously, his black hair began to turn pure white.
Yuk Jangcheon’s skin emitted an even more transparent and radiant white light, and soon even his hair was completely white.
It was as though an ordinary human had transformed into a snow spirit from a fairy tale.
“Now I have become an invincible existence.”
Yuk Jangcheon’s voice carried a strange resonance.
“From this moment, you will taste hell.”
“Did you sell your soul to a demon?”
“Demon? Well, perhaps.”
Yuk Jangcheon gave a faint smile.
“It is the price I paid with all my remaining life force.”
‘It’s not a lie.’
Though the words were absurd, Bu Eunseol instinctively knew they were true.
He could feel just how much stronger Yuk Jangcheon had become from the aura flowing from him alone, and he could also sense that vitality was slowly draining from Yuk Jangcheon’s body.
Paaa! Paaa!
Radiating white light, Yuk Jangcheon floated in midair and poured overwhelming beams of light toward Bu Eunseol.
He had become an entirely different person, and what he unleashed could no longer be called martial arts—each carried an extremely unique and alien energy.
Ziiing. Ziiing.
The snow-white Yuk Jangcheon remained floating without moving his limbs, continuously unleashing beams of light.
And those beams were murderous rays that pierced the body upon contact.
Every time his body sparkled, countless beams poured down like rain.
Paaat!
Bu Eunseol instantly leaped into the air, blocking the beams and slashing toward Yuk Jangcheon’s body.
Swoosh.
Yet Yuk Jangcheon was like an illusion made of light—untouched by the sword.
Moreover, the moment Bu Eunseol’s sword energy passed through his body, the radiance flowing from him intensified, and now an uncountable number of massive light orbs poured down.
‘I cannot block them.’
Tss tss tss!
Bu Eunseol deployed Thunder Spirit Energy along with Swift Beyond Shadow and instantly retreated more than twenty zhang.
Flash!
But the enormous light covered so wide an area that Bu Eunseol could not possibly evade it.
Woooong!
He immediately created a protective energy barrier, yet the light easily passed through and penetrated his body.
Pat!
Even though he twisted his body instantly, the sharp radiance half-pierced through him.
A body capable of deflecting all attacks.
Murderous rays that could neither be blocked nor avoided.
Just as Yuk Jangcheon boasted, he had truly become an invincible existence.
Bu Eunseol swung the Silent Tiger Soul Sword again and again, attempting to reflect the rays and counterattack but no martial art he knew could block the light.
And that light harmed nothing else but him.
It existed solely to destroy Bu Eunseol’s flesh.
‘No choice.’
If he continued to be pushed back endlessly like this, he would collapse without even managing a counterattack.
Whoooosh!
From Bu Eunseol’s body, five-colored radiant light began to rise.
He began to manifest Harmony by pouring all the power within him to annihilate the enemy.
Flash!
It was a completely unexpected counterattack.
In a silence as though the entire world had vanished, the light of Harmony poured down and instantly enveloped Yuk Jangcheon.
In that moment, the expression of Yuk Jangcheon floating in midair twisted strangely.
Swoosh!
Yet the light of Harmony merely lingered briefly around his body before passing straight through without annihilating Yuk Jangcheon’s flesh.
‘Impossible.’
Bu Eunseol was greatly shocked.
Until now, Harmony had never once failed.
Only the old man of the Sacred Domain had ever withstood its overwhelming power.
Yet Yuk Jangcheon had completely let the power of Harmony pass through him?
Crackle crackle!
No—it had not passed completely untouched.
As Harmony passed through his body, the murderous rays that had surrounded him like the sun slowly faded away.
“You… just who are you?”
Yuk Jangcheon was equally astonished.
The power he had displayed until now had been taught to him by an immortal-like old man, who had guaranteed that not even the strongest expert in the current martial world could possibly block it. Yet because of the radiance Bu Eunseol unleashed, the destructive rays capable of annihilating anything and everything had been blocked?
This was completely beyond expectation.
“Who the hell are you?!”
What Seon Woojin had just displayed was a bizarre form in which multiple kinds of power—completely unlike any existing martial art in the world—were intermixed.
No matter how much he racked his brain, Yuk Jangcheon could not fathom his true identity.
“I am Seon Woojin.”
Bu Eunseol said calmly.
“Are you still clinging to such vain delusions?”
At those words, Yuk Jangcheon wore a dazed expression for a moment, then
Ziiing.
White radiance spread from his pupils once more.
“Fine. Whoever you are, I just need to kill you.”
Thud. Kwa-rung!
Yuk Jangcheon landed on the ground again, and unleashed a lightning-like palm technique.
It was his exclusive palm art.
Yet its power had multiplied several times over, and its range now stretched more than twenty zhang.
Having transcended human limits in body and strength, the might of his martial arts had grown correspondingly stronger.
“Very well!”
As Yuk Jangcheon unfolded his overwhelming yet profound palm technique, Bu Eunseol also unleashed all of Seon Woojin’s exclusive martial arts without reserve.
Heon Won Bright Sword, Thirteen Guiding Energies, and the Bullet King’s Inner Bullet Qi.
He poured out every technique he could use under the identity of Seon Woojin.
Kwa-rung! Kwaaang!
Each exchange of offense and defense caused the sky to lose its light and the ground to cave in.
The precision of their martial exchanges was so tight that not even a drop of water could slip through, and they traded more than thirty moves in the blink of an eye.
After roughly three hundred exchanges, the tide of battle gradually became clear.
Yuk Jangcheon was overwhelming Bu Eunseol.
The white-radiant body absorbed all of Bu Eunseol’s attacks and used that very power to counterattack.
When Thirteen Guiding Energies was fired, Thirteen Guiding Energies returned; when the Heon Won Bright Sword was used, a Heon Won Bright Sword returned.
He had truly become an invincible existence that ignored all the laws of the world.
“Invincible existence.”
Bu Eunseol murmured lowly.
‘There is no such thing in this world.’
Even if such a thing did exist, Bu Eunseol possessed the means to kill it.
Namely, the absolute blade learning that bestows fair death upon all things.
“I will now resolve your curiosity about who I really am.”
Kiiiiii!
Slowly raising the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to center guard, a wretched, mournful wail echoed in all directions.
He had unfolded Seven Blood Tear Forms.
“That is…”
Yuk Jangcheon, who had been continuing his attack, widened his eyes.
The blade art that shook the world with death.
There was no way he could fail to recognize it.
“Hahahaha!”
Finally understanding everything, Yuk Jangcheon pointed at Bu Eunseol.
“You… you’re not Seon Woojin—you’re the successor of Majeon!”
That Bu Zhanyang’s grandson was the Martial Soul Command Lord Bu Eunseol, and that he had learned Bu Zhanyang’s blade art, Seven Blood Tear Forms, was already known to a few of the highest echelons of the Martial Alliance.
“So that’s why.”
With all secrets unraveled, a smile spread across Yuk Jangcheon’s lips.
He now understood why Seon Woojin had been suspected of being a demonic spy and why he had been so overwhelmingly strong.
‘I was merely victimized by a wicked demonic spy. I never lived a wrong life.’
Yuk Jangcheon wore a proud smile.
Now, if he killed this wicked bastard, he could reclaim his honor once more.
“Haaap!”
Yuk Jangcheon unleashed to the maximum the mysterious power the old man had implanted within him.
Seven Blood Tear Forms was said to be the supreme blade art of the martial world, from which no one could escape death.
Could the power the old man had granted possibly block that absolute blade learning?
Yuk Jangcheon believed it fully could.
Slaaash!
At that moment, Seven Blood Tear Forms enveloped Yuk Jangcheon’s body. Yet it merely tore the skin—no further reaction occurred.
‘As expected!’
Yuk Jangcheon inwardly cheered.
Even Seven Blood Tear Forms, which was said to bring death to all things, could not destroy this mysterious body.
“Hahaha!”
Yuk Jangcheon laughed with exhilaration.
Even after using the Seven Blood Tear Forms, he could not be killed.
That meant he himself had become the reaper capable of bestowing death upon Bu Eunseol.
He was so overjoyed he felt like dancing.
“You ruined my life and yet continued to prosper!”
Yuk Jangcheon unleashed a fierce single palm strike toward Bu Eunseol.
Boom!
With an explosive sound, Bu Eunseol was flung five zhang away yet it was not a fatal wound—he rose to his feet again almost immediately.
Before long, the blade energy of Seven Blood Tear Forms had wrapped around his body like armor.
This was the Death Without Closing Eyes form of the Seven Blood Tear Forms, which he had comprehended while facing three people who possessed Sealed Demon Fragments.
“Yes. Struggle like that. I can keep killing you until my life force runs out.”
Yuk Jangcheon’s palm technique had become dozens of times stronger than before and no matter what martial art Bu Eunseol used, his body suffered no damage.
It was truly the perfect body every martial artist dreamed of.
Although the strange radiance Bu Eunseol unleashed had blocked his ability to fire murderous rays… even so, he remained an invincible existence.
“I will kill you and reveal your wicked true identity to the entire world.”
He grinned widely, as though in an excellent mood.
“When that happens, I will leave behind an immortal name—as the representative righteous martial artist who sacrificed everything to capture Majeon’s ruthless demonic spy!”
Boom!
Another explosive sound rang out as Bu Eunseol’s body was pushed back three zhang.
The palm force was so powerful that even though he was wrapped in the Death Without Closing Eyes form of Seven Blood Tear Forms’ blade energy, his internal organs were shaken and he suffered internal injuries.
‘A monster that no attack can touch.’
He repeated the thought several times, but nothing like that existed in the world.
He had merely overlooked something or had not yet found the method.
“Die!”
As Yuk Jangcheon’s palm force poured down, Bu Eunseol unfolded Seven Blood Tear Forms once more.
Kiiii! Boom boom boom!
When the black blade energy clashed with his palm force, a sound like tearing eardrums echoed everywhere.
Yet Yuk Jangcheon charged forward relentlessly even after being struck by the blade energy.
‘Ugh.’
But something was strange.
The deeper the internal energy contained within Yuk Jangcheon’s palm force penetrated his meridians, the more excruciating pain tore at the area near his oegwan acupoint on his forearm.
That was precisely where the unassimilated Sealed Demon Fragment—absorbed not long ago—still remained in his dantian region.
‘Could it be…’
A thought flashed through his mind.
Ziiing.
Instinctively, Bu Eunseol channeled the alien energy flowing from his forearm into the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, which was already imbued with the blade energy of Seven Blood Tear Forms.
Woooong!
Then the energy from the Sealed Demon Fragment—which no amount of effort had been able to expel—began to permeate the sword, and a three-zhang-tall black radiance rose up.
At the same time, an unknown power and sense of exhilaration surged within his body.
“Haaap!”
With a shout, Bu Eunseol began to unfold Seven Blood Tear Forms as though pouring out that energy.
Saaaa.
Suddenly the entire world fell into silence, and from somewhere the faint sound of small waves could be heard.
Circular lights reminiscent of the rotation of celestial bodies spread out dozens of zhang around him, and at their center, the brilliantly shining Silent Tiger Soul Sword hung motionless.
Yuk Jangcheon stood frozen like a statue, not moving an inch, wearing an expression as though he had gained enlightenment while gazing at something radiant.
Suuuuu.
At the same time, Yuk Jangcheon’s snow-white appearance slowly began to regain its original colors.
It was as though the mysterious energy condensed within his body was gradually evaporating and disappearing.
“What power is this…?”
“I don’t know either.”
Bu Eunseol answered honestly.
“I simply combined something obtained from outside with everything else.”
He had merely used the true-energy form of the Sealed Demon Fragment—still stubbornly remaining within him despite all attempts to expel it—to unfold Seven Blood Tear Forms.
As a result, Seven Blood Tear Forms destroyed Yuk Jangcheon’s body, which had been dyed in unbreachable white light.
It was as though the power contained within the Sealed Demon Fragment had been transformed through Seven Blood Tear Forms into a force capable of severing an existence hostile to the True Demon.
Suuuuu.
Before long, the Absolute Boundary that had surrounded them began to slowly disappear.
As Yuk Jangcheon’s life force was exhausted, the boundary too was vanishing.
“Hall Lord. Just who was the old man who gave you that power?”
“Didn’t I say? One of the Three Families.”
“Three Families.”
Yuk Jangcheon had displayed a body and power so formidable that even Bu Eunseol had never seen anything like it—he could truly be called invincible.
Yet that terrifying power had been vainly extinguished the moment it clashed with Seven Blood Tear Forms infused with the Sealed Demon Fragment.
‘Baekri Family.’
The old man from the Three Families who had approached Yuk Jangcheon.
He must undoubtedly be someone from the Baekri family.
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