The Martial God Heaven Lord’s long, slit eyes narrowed even further.
He had seen through the fact that not only had Bu Eunseol’s martial arts already reached the Heaven-Shaking Realm, but his mind and spirit had also reached an unshakable level of firmness.
“Well, at that level, I suppose you can flap your mouth boldly in front of this Heavenly Lord.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord looked at Bu Eunseol, who held his sword raised at mid-level, with an extremely cautious expression and a mocking smile.
“There is no need to be so afraid. Because this Heavenly Lord lost nine-tenths of his power the moment he chose a successor.”
“Nine-tenths.”
Bu Eunseol felt beyond absurdity and into utter emptiness.
The aura the Martial God Heaven Lord displayed was so mysterious and boundless that it reminded him of the Heaven's Will Realm.
And yet, that was with only one-tenth of his power remaining?
“I don’t even remember the last time I felt this way.”
He licked his lips as if about to savor a long-awaited delicious meal.
“It has been far too long.”
Whether the Martial God Heaven Lord was bluffing or truly only had one-tenth of his power left, Bu Eunseol could not tell.
What was certain was that there was no escape route here.
He truly had to risk his life in a fight to the death.
Swish!
A red line split the sky and earth.
Bu Eunseol dodged instantly, but the fabric of his clothes near where it grazed burst into flames.
“You split time extremely finely. At this level, it seems you have already surpassed the Supreme Heavenly Realm.”
“Even someone from the Four Divine Heavens obsesses over martial realms?”
“It is not obsession, it is confirmation. All the boundaries of martial arts that you people speak of were defined by this Heaven in the first place.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord was saying that Martial God Heaven had established the realms and systems of martial arts.
“Do you know how all those vast martial arts came to be? It is because this Heaven implanted those very concepts into martial artists.”
Swish!
At the same time, another red line pierced toward Bu Eunseol’s body.
It was neither raw power nor a martial technique.
It was something akin to the integrated principles of all martial arts under heaven, poured out in a way that perfectly matched and could not be avoided according to Bu Eunseol’s movements.
Chut! Chut!
Bu Eunseol used Swift Beyond Shadow to continuously change direction in midair, but it was useless.
The Martial God Heaven Lord predicted all of Bu Eunseol’s movements, seizing the exact instant and angle that could not be dodged, and fired the red lines.
Even if he luckily avoided them, the old man would instantly create and unleash new martial principles that perfectly blocked any evasion.
‘Instead of matching martial arts, I will overwhelm him with power.’
The Martial God Heaven Lord’s mastery of martial theory was incomparably higher than his own.
In that case, he should not fight using the same principles, but crush him with overwhelming force.
Crack. Rumble.
As Bu Eunseol poured out his immense inner energy, cracks began to spread across the ground where the Martial God Heaven Lord stood.
He began channeling all of his inner energy into him.
“You have obtained the powers of both the righteous and demonic paths. Moreover, your inner energy is a mixture of Shaolin, the Western Regions, and the demonic path?”
Surprisingly, the Martial God Heaven Lord instantly identified the origin and nature of Bu Eunseol’s inner energy just from him exerting it.
“So you really are Bu Zhanyang’s grandson.”
Having seen through the various powerful energies mixed within Bu Eunseol’s body, the Martial God Heaven Lord instead laughed heartily with delight.
“Killing you in one strike would be a waste. Show me everything you possess.”
As the Martial God Heaven Lord smiled leisurely, Bu Eunseol’s eyes turned ice-cold.
‘A full-power preemptive strike!’
When facing a strong enemy, he would usually first grasp their martial principles or find weaknesses to bring them down but the Martial God Heaven Lord was not someone such tactics would ever work against.
He was a supreme expert who required Bu Eunseol to unleash everything he had and fight with full force.
Kwa-rung!
Bu Eunseol immediately unleashed the Seven Fist Demon Forms.
What had once been an incomplete fist technique that could only execute up to the fourth form had later been completed by combining it with the Azure Heaven Seven Forms of the Fist King, Seok Chi-haeng, who shared the same origin.
After countless battles with other fist experts, he had finally perfected the latter three forms as well.
The power of the now-complete Seven Fist Demon Forms had risen to a level that even Bu Eunseol found difficult to control.
Kwa-rung!
The fist power shot forward like lightning.
Whiririric!
It spun infinitely before suddenly clinging to the area around the Martial God Heaven Lord’s body.
The fifth form of the Seven Fist Demon Forms—Infinite Beginning, Infinite End—had been unleashed.
‘With this, I will gauge the difference and relationship between the Eight Human Heavens and the Four Divine Heavens.’
The Eight Human Heavens were subordinates of the True Demon under the Four Divine Heavens.
Would the Martial God Heaven Lord therefore be well-versed in fist techniques, or would he use ordinary countermeasures?
Even in the middle of this life-or-death battle, he deliberately used the fist arts of the Fist Man to measure the relationship between the Four Divine Heavens and the Eight Human Heavens.
Kwa-rung!
In the meantime, Bu Eunseol repeatedly executed the forms from the first to the eighth in alternation.
However, because the Martial God Heaven Lord’s martial prowess was so high, he did not use the seventh form, Remove the Old, Establish the New, which required large movements that could expose openings.
“So these are the fist arts of the Fist Man.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord instantly recognized them as the Fist Man’s techniques the moment he saw them.
“You have developed killing-intent-filled fist arts into a stable form. Impressive.”
Pshuk.
He then fired red lines one by one, neutralizing the fist powers.
‘He deliberately uses martial principles to neutralize the power, and each line contains energy similar to the Sealed Demon Fragments…’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes sparkled.
It seemed the Four Divine Heavens and Eight Human Heavens had a general understanding of each other’s martial arts and powers.
After all, he had neutralized the Seven Fist Demon Forms using only ordinary martial principles.
That meant he had not fully mastered or learned the Fist Man’s arts.
‘The hierarchy is clear, but they do not share martial arts.’
If the Martial God Heaven Lord knew all of the Fist Man’s techniques, he would not have needed to use red lines to neutralize the power.
‘Then the difference between the Human Heavens and Divine Heavens is likely the use of Mixed Demonic Magic Energy?’
The Fist Man and Spear-Wielder used martial arts and limitless capabilities, while the Dead Man displayed supernatural powers like the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
The Wind Lord used wind-based martial principles, but those too were closer to supernatural powers.
Yet even while using martial arts, the Martial God Heaven Lord gave off a faint trace of Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
Moreover, whether because he had truly lost nine-tenths of his power or not, he was blocking the fist techniques with ordinary attacks like a normal martial artist.
In other words, the difference between the Human Heavens and Divine Heavens was most likely the presence or absence of Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
“Impressive. Even in the middle of this, you’re still trying to analyze me.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord let out an exclamation, having seen through the fact that Bu Eunseol was constantly analyzing him even in this life-or-death fight.
“Very well. Then this Heavenly Lord shall also reveal all of your foundations.”
Pat!
The Martial God Heaven Lord fired another red line with a joyful expression. This time it coiled around Bu Eunseol’s surroundings.
It was a technique that completely blocked all fist paths so that he could not even execute the Seven Fist Demon Forms.
True to the name Martial God Heaven Lord, he instantly grasped the nature of all martial arts and struck at their weaknesses.
‘In the past, I would have been helpless against such a move.’
The more profound martial principles poured forth, the more Bu Eunseol’s fighting spirit rose instead.
Sasasasak.
In that instant, the position of his feet subtly changed. He had created a new fist path to counter the old man’s technique.
“You dare challenge this Heavenly Lord with martial principles…”
The Martial God Heaven Lord wore a strange smile as Bu Eunseol instantly grasped his martial principles and developed his fist arts on the spot.
“You. You are a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion.”
As if recalling old memories, he nodded faintly.
“Fifty-some years ago, I once crossed hands with the Pavilion Master.”
Fifty years ago would have been when Ak Muryeong was around ten years old.
That meant the Martial God Heaven Lord was well over a hundred years old and had exchanged blows with experts of the previous generation.
“Entertain this Heavenly Lord even more.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord fired another red line.
This time it was not a single strike. Matching Bu Eunseol’s movements, it created an identical human silhouette made of red lines.
Just like the Heon Won Bright Sword.
He had instantly created a virtual opponent capable of breaking Bu Eunseol’s martial arts.
Chwaak! Chiiik!
The silhouette made of sharp red lines was as keen as a bladed weapon all over its body, and it moved even more fluidly than Bu Eunseol, pouring out precise attacks.
Whiriric!
In the end, Bu Eunseol swung the Silent Tiger Soul Sword that he had kept drawn and began confronting the red-line silhouette.
Chiiik! Chiiik!
Every time it clashed with the red-line silhouette, bright red sparks flew and the blade grew red-hot.
‘There is no longer any point in holding back.’
The Martial God Heaven Lord’s martial prowess far surpassed his own, and he was freely wielding every principle of martial arts under heaven as if they were his own.
If he did not use his Vacuum, his head would fly off in just a few moves.
Papapapa!
Starting with the Supreme Heavenly Flow Style backed by his immense inner energy,
Flash! Shaaaeek!
He poured out numerous demonic sword styles including the Nine Dragons Flashing Thunder,
Chwaak! Shiiik! Shiiik!
Along with the Wishful True Binding and the Thirteen Guiding Lights, he unleashed the scorching heat of the Yeolha Great True Energy, the Heavenly Glacial Secret, and the Snow Blossom Sect’s Ice Essence Snow Blossom Qi.
Suuuk! Kwa-rung! Paaaaa!
He also unleashed the Thunder Spirit Energy, Crystal Divine Energy, and Wind-Cloud Divine Qi… all three divine energies at once.
Kurrrrr.
He even spread poison thick enough to cover the area within ten zhang in black mist, and finally unleashed Harmony as well.
Yet he still could not erase the red-line silhouettes the Martial God Heaven Lord poured out.
Paat!
When all his attacks were thwarted, Bu Eunseol retreated for a moment.
‘This is not a difference in martial arts.’
Feeling something alien, Bu Eunseol steadied his breathing and observed the Martial God Heaven Lord once more.
“Truly impressive.”
At that moment, the Martial God Heaven Lord let out an exclamation.
“Now I understand why the Wood Buddha sent you.”
He nodded with an impressed expression.
“If we had fought anywhere else, this Heavenly Lord—who has lost his power—would have been defeated by you.”
‘Anywhere else.’
Only then did Bu Eunseol realize one crucial fact.
This place was none other than the domain of Martial God Heaven.
“You were exerting power through the domain, just like the One Hundred and Eight Stars.”
At Bu Eunseol’s mutter, the Martial God Heaven Lord smiled faintly.
“Originally there was no need for that. But since this Heavenly Lord now only has one-tenth of his power left…”
He shrugged.
“Thanks to that greedy successor of mine.”
From those words, Bu Eunseol learned another fact.
The Martial God Heaven Lord had not willingly given his power to the next successor.
He had been forcibly robbed of it against his will.
“What a pitiful thing.”
Bu Eunseol wore a sorrowful expression.
“To be devoured by the very successor you chose.”
“On the other hand, it was also a joyous thing.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord wore a satisfied smile.
“Because he is so tenacious and full of desire. From now on, the martial world will become very entertaining.”
“…….”
“Now, shall we enjoy the remaining entertainment?”
Crack, crunch.
Bones popped throughout his body.
The Martial God Heaven Lord’s old man’s face gradually became firm and taut, and his withered body began to swell.
In the blink of an eye, he had transformed into a muscular middle-aged man.
It seemed he had used a great demonic art to unleash his latent potential.
Shuuuk.
He turned the red-line silhouette back into a long line.
Clang.
He twisted it into the form of a long iron chain, and gripped it in his hand.
“Use that mixed-up martial arts of yours one more time!”
Shaaek!
Bu Eunseol tried to cut the iron-chain shape with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword in a single strike, but-
Clank.
The moment it touched the blade, it lost all sharpness.
The Martial God Heaven Lord could freely manipulate not only martial principles but even the properties of objects themselves.
Shaaek! Whiririric!
Madness flowed in the eyes of the Martial God Heaven Lord as he swung the chain.
“If you are of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade’s bloodline, you cannot fall like this.”
He had lost all his power to the Seven-Finger Demon Blade and had barely survived in the damp underground of Ghost Island. In that endless pain, he had accumulated a deep grudge against the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, yet bitterly realized he did not even have the strength to take revenge and cursed himself.
But now he had found a successor and passed everything on.
And in the middle of that, the self-proclaimed grandson of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade had appeared before him…
All that remained was to pour out his burning grudge and madness to his heart’s content and burn everything away.
“Hehehe.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord let out a bizarre laugh.
“Kahahahaha! Entertain this Heavenly Lord more. More!”
He deliberately avoided vital points while carving up Bu Eunseol’s body.
As if his demonic nature had exploded, drool dripped from his mouth as he let out hideous laughter.
‘Did he really give all his power to his successor?’
All the strong experts Bu Eunseol had met in the martial world, regardless of status, had maintained at least a minimum of dignity and spirit.
But the Martial God Heaven Lord was different.
He clung persistently like a blood-soaked evil ghost, trying to drink his fill of Bu Eunseol’s blood.
‘No, his grudge has simply reached its peak.’
After being cut down by his grandfather’s sword, he must have spent over thirty years grinding his teeth in the darkness, dreaming of revenge.
This frenzied appearance might be only natural.
Chwaak! Chwaak!
As he received the ceaseless barrage of attacks, Bu Eunseol’s eyes gradually grew colder.
Every time the Martial God Heaven Lord’s true energy pierced into his body, pain like his whole body was being torn apart assaulted him.
Even the martial arts he had mastered no longer worked.
Yet his mind became clearer instead, and he became aware of things he had not realized before.
‘The reason my attacks don’t land is not just a matter of martial superiority.’
The Martial God Heaven Lord was not fighting a life-or-death battle. He was deliberately dragging out the fight to inflict pain on Bu Eunseol.
Thanks to that, he realized one fact he had not known until now:
In this place—the domain of the Martial God Heaven Lord—he could not exert his full power, and all his movements were endlessly slowed.
At least six times slower.
Even when exerting full strength, his movements were three times slower than usual.
No matter how explosively he raised his Thunder Spirit Energy or executed the Seven Blood Tear Forms, with his agility reduced to this extreme, he ultimately could not land any attacks.
“Do not even dream of facing this Heavenly Lord with martial arts.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord smiled faintly.
“This Heavenly Lord has already transcended even the martial principles you people speak of.”
Kwaaaaa.
After deep consideration, Bu Eunseol poured out his Wind-Cloud Divine Qi in an attempt to restrict the Martial God Heaven Lord’s movements.
Just as he had done against the Heaven-Killer Star before.
“You still don’t understand.”
Pshut!
But before he knew it, the Martial God Heaven Lord was using the exact same Wind-Cloud Divine Qi.
This domain was not merely a space that restricted physical power.
It was a transcendent place where Martial God Heaven could freely penetrate and use all the accumulated martial principles of generations.
For example, if Bu Eunseol created a new martial art or principle here?
It would instead become the Martial God Heaven Lord’s power.
Kwaang!
With a loud explosion, Bu Eunseol was sent flying backward like a shot arrow.
“At that time, Bu Zhanyang cut apart this Heavenly Lord’s domain from the very beginning.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord spread both arms and leisurely approached him.
“But even if Bu Zhanyang came again now, he could not separate this Heavenly Lord, who has fused with the domain. In this place, this Heavenly Lord has become a god.”
Paat!
In the meantime, Bu Eunseol spun his body fiercely and unleashed the Nine Dragons Flashing Thunder.
But it was useless.
All power within this domain belonged to the Martial God Heaven Lord.
Not only could he absorb the flying force, he could reverse it to send the attack back at will, or change the direction of the power from the start, preventing the attack from being released at all.
―Kukuku. Hehehehe.
Moreover, a bizarre laughter he had never heard before constantly rang in his ears.
The demonic laughter filled with sinister energy sounded as faint as an ant’s footsteps, but was extremely painful for Bu Eunseol, who possessed sharp super senses.
Kiiiiii!
Finally, Bu Eunseol began executing the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
Ink-black blade energy instantly pierced into the Martial God Heaven Lord’s body.
At that moment, complete death should have descended, yet the Martial God Heaven Lord instead stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back.
Like a god who presided over death.
Flash!
Bu Eunseol seized that momentary gap and unleashed Harmony once more.
But even the power of Harmony that extinguished all things… vanished as nothing more than hollow light.
‘It was overlapping domains.’
Only then did he fully realize it.
The reason his attacks could not reach.
It was because of the overlapping domains that could not possibly be destroyed.
Originally, the Seven Blood Tear Forms and Harmony possessed the power to cut even the ambiguously defined space known as a domain.
Nevertheless, the Martial God Heaven Lord had created another layer within the concept of domain, overlapping domains so that attacks could not touch his body in the first place.
‘Like stacking multiple Absolute Boundaries.’
The Martial God Heaven Lord not only ruled this space but also overlapped powers similar to Absolute Boundaries to block attacks.
No matter how powerful the martial art, it was only natural that it could not reach him.
“So this is Martial God Heaven…”
Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, Bu Eunseol finally understood.
Martial God Heaven.
It did not refer to a Martial God who had reached the limits of martial arts.
It meant creating a heavenly domain that even a Martial God could not withstand.
Kwang!
In the meantime, the chain held by the Martial God Heaven Lord broke through Bu Eunseol’s solid defense and struck his body.
Thududuk.
When he slammed into the stone wall, one side of the wall collapsed along with a cloud of dust.
Thud.
Bu Eunseol rose again, but his body was in tatters.
No matter how great the martial art, even if he achieved even higher prowess than now, he could not defeat that man.
Because this space itself was the domain of the Martial God Heaven Lord.
He should never have entered this place to begin with.
“You endure well. I am very satisfied.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord exclaimed in admiration as he looked at Bu Eunseol, who was covered in blood yet still standing.
“Not a single bone is broken either. Is that the external arts passed down by Bu Zhanyang?”
In truth, he was just as surprised.
Even though only one-tenth of his power remained, he could not destroy the body of this mere young man inside a domain he completely controlled, and had to launch multiple attacks.
“Good. Very good.”
As if something amusing had occurred to him, the Martial God Heaven Lord smiled brightly.
Kwang!
At the same time, an explosion erupted, and Bu Eunseol’s legs were driven into the glass-like shiny floor up to his ankles.
Drip.
Blood poured endlessly from his forehead.
The Martial God Heaven Lord had used a strange power to strike fiercely near his Heavenly Spirit Point.
Plop, plop.
Red blood fell onto the mirror-like smooth floor.
When Bu Eunseol looked down, he saw his own utterly miserable appearance reflected back at him.
“If I shatter your Heavenly Spirit Point, even if you survive, you will become an idiot.”
The Martial God Heaven Lord bared his fangs and laughed.
“I will get to see the rare sight of Bu Zhanyang’s grandson wandering the martial world as a drooling idiot.”
Since he could not break Bu Eunseol’s body with only one-tenth of his power, he intended to shatter the baihui acupoint so that even if he survived, he would not retain a sound mind, turning him into an idiot.
Whish!
With an explosive sound, the Martial God Heaven Lord swung the iron chain down toward Bu Eunseol’s head once more.
Kwang!
Dust flew in all directions, but Bu Eunseol’s posture remained unchanged.
“I struck with enough force to turn even the Diamond Indestructible Body into powder, yet your skull didn’t crack?”
Clank.
The Martial God Heaven Lord looked at the blood-stained chain and his eyes flashed.
“What a dangerous fellow. To reach this level with purely the power of martial arts alone.”
Even if human potential had no limits, there were still stages.
To create a body with infinite potential at such a young age?
If left alive, something truly troublesome might happen.
Kwang!
The chain struck Bu Eunseol’s head heavily once more.
His legs sank one more inch deeper into the ground.
“Ugh.”
For the first time, Bu Eunseol let out a groan.
As the true-energy chain relentlessly struck his baihui acupoint, it felt as if his noho acupoint was burning, and an extreme pain unlike anything he had ever experienced before spread throughout his entire body.
“Shall we see how long you can endure?”
Clank.
He floated the iron chain he held into the air and laughed viciously.
“Hehehe. Entertain me all night long.”
The iron chain, standing rigidly like a venomous snake, swung.
Kwang!
Along with an earth-shaking explosion, Bu Eunseol finally collapsed to the floor.
The Martial God Heaven Lord had turned the chain into a giant iron hammer and struck his Heavenly Spirit Point once more.
Koo-woong.
The miserably fallen Bu Eunseol had even his face buried in the ground.
Yet his breathing had not stopped.
Instead, it felt as if something was escaping through his noho acupoint, and his mind was filled with rage.
―Is this all I amount to?
―Have I been satisfied with merely this level of skill until now?
Chiiii.
His head felt completely burned out.
And an unprecedented fury enveloped his body.
Disgust rose within him.
He had been a frog in a well.
To think he had tried to take revenge on his grandfather with this level of skill.
“…….”
When he rose again, his face was reflected on the smooth mirror-like floor.
No, it was a miserable and wretched figure he did not even want to acknowledge as himself.
Perhaps his grandfather had known from the beginning.
That with his ability… he could not even achieve revenge.
“Uuuugh.”
He could not breathe, and it felt as if an invisible hand was crushing his heart.
The corner of his mouth reflected on the floor was slowly rising upward.
Bu Eunseol himself was not smiling.
Yet the reflection on the smooth floor was smiling.
“I should cut off his head.”
Seeing Bu Eunseol bleeding profusely, staring at the floor and smiling with white teeth bared, the Martial God Heaven Lord raised the iron chain with a fed-up expression.
The chain spun at high speed and began glowing red-hot.
“With this technique, I can sever your neck no matter how tough you are.”
Whiric.
And the moment it finally wrapped around Bu Eunseol’s neck,
Thud.
The chain stopped dead in midair.
Thickly.
Black mist was now rising from Bu Eunseol’s body.
He was gripping the chain with his jet-black hand.
“Aaah.”
His face as he held the chain while bleeding had completely changed.
His previously lonely eyes now sparkled brilliantly, his skin was even paler, and his lips had turned somewhat red.
On his lips was a cold smile that had never been seen before.
“You’re quite the noisy old man.”
Suddenly, his voice had become thin like a boy’s, and his tone had turned playful.
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