‘Sizzle.’
As the moisture in his body evaporated, Bu Eunseol’s skin instantly turned as dry as a wooden log.
Yet he did not stop and continued injecting the Heavenly Glacial Secret without pause.
Ziiiing.
At that moment, the majestic Buddhist light flowing from his body transformed into a sacred and noble golden wave.
Prajna Great Power.
This supreme art of Shaolin could only be comprehended by those who had mastered the Muscle-Changing Sutra, and it could only display its full power when one possessed a heart of great compassion and mercy.
Bu Eunseol had learned the Muscle-Changing Sutra through his grandfather Bu Zhanyang, and during his fierce battle with the former Shaolin disciple who led the Sahyang, he had received this supreme Buddhist ability.
With this, he now possessed the powers of the righteous path, the demonic path, the evil path, and Buddhism.
However, until now he had never properly displayed Buddhist power; it had only been used to align his energies before executing the Harmony.
But because he pitied the white-clad woman and exerted his power solely to save her, the mysterious efficacy of Shaolin’s highest secret art was finally displayed to its fullest.
Ziiiing.
When the Prajna Great Power combined with the Heavenly Glacial Secret was injected, a mysterious radiance spread, and vitality immediately began returning to the woman’s body.
The Prajna Great Power.
Although known as the highest martial art of Buddhism, in reality, it was a divine healing art that instantly restored another person’s injuries.
‘Grandfather gave me this power so that I could save many people….’
Bu Zhanyang’s teachings and compassion had enabled him to comprehend a divine art capable of saving countless lives in the future.
‘But I still cannot heal my own body.’
Because he could not yet perfectly control Buddhist power, and above all, because it required a heart that pitied others, he could not treat his own injuries.
Tap.
Bu Eunseol removed his hand from her vital acupoint and let out a heavy breath.
It had been a situation where both could have died if things went wrong, but fortunately, they had both survived.
Wuuuung.
While still standing, Bu Eunseol began circulating his energy, slowly drawing up the inner energy that had sunk to the bottom.
As a result, the Heavenly Glacial Secret was also gradually recovering.
Because it possessed the property of trying to maintain its original level, it could restore its previous level as long as it had not been completely depleted.
‘If it had been completely exhausted, recovery would have been impossible.’
“Mm….”
At that moment, the white-clad woman slowly began to open her eyes.
“Are you awake?”
She wore a dazed expression for a moment.
But soon she realized that Bu Eunseol had injected his inner energy and mysterious power into her body and frowned.
“Why did you help me?”
Bu Eunseol wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke calmly.
“Anyone would naturally help a person in need.”
“Naturally….”
She wore a dazed look for a moment, then frowned deeply and spoke in a sharp voice.
“If this were a world where such things are natural, would I have ended up like this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind.”
The white-clad woman stood up and turned away coldly.
“Let’s stop here.”
She shook her head.
“Since you saved me, I won’t attack you anymore.”
Her attitude was extremely arrogant, as if she were bestowing a great favor.
But Bu Eunseol paid it no mind and asked, “Why did you enter the Ancient Sword Forest and destroy that place?”
Judging by the situation alone, it would not have been excessive to slap her cheek.
Because she had destroyed the interior, he could not hear the Ancient Sword Forest Lord’s story, and the arrangement had collapsed.
However, perhaps because he had manifested Buddhist power, or because there was much he needed to hear from her, his mind was now filled with broad patience and serenity.
“I had been searching for that place for a long time. But I could not find it.”
The white-clad woman answered obediently.
“Then suddenly a gate appeared in the gorge, so I entered. But soon a strange power blocked me, so I destroyed its source.”
It turned out she had been searching for the Ancient Sword Forest for a long time, and it seemed she had been able to enter thanks to Bu Eunseol opening the gate.
However, when an unauthorized person entered, the mechanisms activated, and she had been forced to destroy them.
“So the Dark God Heavenly Lord came for the same reason.”
“Probably, yes.”
She had tried to kill Bu Eunseol without question the moment she saw him.
Because there was a Sealed Demon Fragment inside his body that resembled the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
But now there was no longer any hostility in her eyes.
“Do you trust me now?”
“There is no question of trust or distrust.” The white-clad woman spoke coldly. “If you were a subordinate of the True Demon… you could not possibly possess something like the Heavenly Glacial Secret.”
She had sensed that Bu Eunseol had injected the Heavenly Glacial Secret and realized he was unrelated to the True Demon.
“Subordinates of the True Demon cannot possess the Four Divine Energies?”
Bu Eunseol asked this question as a stepping stone to obtain various pieces of information from her.
If he asked something that seemed too obvious, people would instinctively answer.
“I answered only because I owed you for saving me.”
She spoke coldly, as if she had seen through his intention.
“Anything more than that....”
She immediately turned to leave but when she saw Bu Eunseol’s haggard face drenched in sweat, she could not bring herself to turn away heartlessly.
‘He seems to have exerted all his strength to save me... so answering a few questions should be fine.’
Having finished her thought, the woman said, “It is obvious. Because the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy is the most impure power in the world... is that answer enough?”
In truth, Bu Eunseol had many questions for her.
How she had obtained the fake Baekri Family power?
To which faction did she belong, that she had come to the Ancient Sword Forest in Gumo canyon and what she intended to do?
And information about the Baekri Family as well.
“Now we owe each other nothing.”
At that moment, she turned her body coldly again, as if she had finished what she needed to do.
Thud.
But she could not take more than a few steps before collapsing to the floor.
She had fainted on the spot.
“Miss.”
Bu Eunseol checked the pulse of the fallen woman once more.
“You received too much Heavenly Glacial Secret at once and it has caused side effects.”
Although her injuries had been cleanly healed by the Prajna Great Power, a problem remained.
Her appearance looked young, but internally her aging had progressed severely. Because of this, she could not accept the massive amount of Heavenly Glacial Secret at once, and her yin energy had surged instead.
“There was hidden energy as well.”
Moreover, when she collapsed, a vicious energy began rising faintly from her body.
When the Heavenly Glacial Secret and Prajna Great Power were injected, the energy resembling the black liquid shot by the Dark God Heavenly Lord had hidden in her dormant acupoints like a living creature, and when she lost consciousness, it emerged again and began attacking her meridians.
Sizzle.
Bu Eunseol raised the Ban-Geuk Method to burn away the vicious energy once more and shook his head as he muttered,
“Dark God Heavenly Lord.”
Just what kind of martial arts did a Four Divine Heaven Lords cultivate to accumulate such martial prowess?
What kind of process had they undergone to be able to display such terrifying power?
“He is a mountain that must be overcome.”
The existing strong experts of the martial world displayed the ability to transcend all power through the Infinite Reversal Power. But the martial prowess of those from the Eight Human Heavens or a Four Divine Heaven could not necessarily be opposed with the power of martial arts.
Tap tap tap.
Meanwhile, the woman’s body curled up and her muscles twisted as if cramping.
“There is no choice.”
With a sigh, Bu Eunseol this time spread the pure true energy of the Ban-Geuk Method throughout her entire body.
It was not the true energy that martial world practitioners usually used when showing goodwill, but one with a nature similar to Primordial Energy. He infused the primordial true energy that he had accumulated since childhood.
―Why go this far?
An ordinary martial world practitioner would never have understood Bu Eunseol’s actions. Why help a woman who had tried to kill him and had not even properly thanked him?
But Bu Eunseol’s stance had been the same from the beginning until now.
If there was someone in front of him who needed help, he would extend his hand without hesitation, just as his grandfather had done.
And above all… because this was the first time he had encountered someone with a connection to the Baekri Family.
Whether she was fake or a variant, if she knew well about a Four Divine Heaven Lord whom he himself did not know, she would surely know about the Baekri Family as well.
‘I absolutely want to hear about my family, the Baekri Family.’
Wuuuung.
When the pure Ban-Geuk true energy close to Origin True Energy was injected, the surging yin energy in her body stabilized.
Bu Eunseol went further and even organized the chaotically mixed energies inside her body.
Psssss.
After a long while, the white-clad woman opened her eyes again as if awakening from a deep sleep.
She realized that a very warm yet powerful true energy had been injected into her body from outside, and that Bu Eunseol’s face had become even more severely haggard, and she immediately understood the entire situation.
“Just what are you thinking?”
She spoke coldly as she looked at Bu Eunseol, who was once again dripping with beads of sweat on his forehead.
“Do you want to hear words of thanks?”
“If there is something given, there should naturally be something received, shouldn’t there?”
For a moment, her eyes shook greatly.
The look in her eyes was filled with fear, like a cat facing a ferocious wild dog.
“I meant that thanks alone is too meager a repayment.”
Seeing her put on a cold expression to hide her embarrassment, Bu Eunseol had made a light joke in his own way.
But her complexion changed drastically and she clutched her collar.
“Men are all the same.”
The white-clad woman bit her lip.
“It’s always like this.”
They pretend to be gentlemanly, pretend to be generous and kind… but the only thing that always fills their heads is one thing.
In the end, life is nothing but the endless repetition of a dark and sticky past.
‘I see.’
From the look in the white-clad woman’s eyes, Bu Eunseol instantly guessed her miserable past and wounds.
Because during his days as a vagrant, he had seen countless adult women with those same eyes.
“You think that just because you helped me a little, you can...!”
She raised her inner energy to attack but closed her mouth.
Because there was no lust in Bu Eunseol’s face; instead, his complexion was extremely pale and cold sweat flowed down his forehead.
“You....”
She had momentarily forgotten.
That this man had been severely injured by the Dark God Heavenly Lord while trying to save her, and that despite this, he had disregarded his own injuries and exhausted his strength to treat her.
Right now, it was strange that he had not already collapsed.
The white-clad woman wore an expression of incomprehension.
If he had simply wanted information?
He could have injected just enough strength for her to be able to speak.
There was no need to risk his life injecting energy until he was on the verge of collapse.
“Just what do you want from me?”
Bu Eunseol wore a resigned expression.
He could not interrogate a woman who was even afraid of being alone with a man about news of the Baekri Family or her affiliation.
“I want nothing. Now let us each go our own way.”
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he spoke indifferently.
“I hope you return safely without being caught by the Dark God Heavenly Lord.”
After he finished speaking, white steam rose from his body.
Because he had lost a massive amount of the Heavenly Glacial Secret and true energy, he could no longer endure and began circulating and healing his energy while still standing.
But his injuries were severe.
While helping her, he had failed to block the power shot by the Dark God Heavenly Lord in time, and that vicious energy had eventually penetrated his meridians.
Sizzle.
It must have been excruciatingly painful, yet Bu Eunseol’s expression did not change as he silently continued circulating his energy.
However, because that power could neither be expelled nor extinguished, the more he circulated, the more cold sweat flowed instead.
“You.”
The woman bit her lip.
No matter how cold-blooded she was, she could not turn a blind eye to someone who disregarded his own injuries to help others.
“That is the Dark God Heavenly Lord’s Soul-Severing Energy.”
She spoke after spotting the black veins rising on Bu Eunseol’s neck.
“It cannot be recovered through circulation and healing. It must be pushed out with sorcery.”
“I am not a sorcerer.”
“You don’t know sorcery?”
The woman wore a strange expression.
“Then you faced the Dark God Heavenly Lord with martial arts alone?”
When Bu Eunseol nodded, she opened her mouth in shock.
She had thought that since he had safely escaped the Dark God Heavenly Lord’s hands, he must have learned powerful sorcery or exorcism arts.
But he had opposed him with martial arts alone? Just how was that possible?
“Don’t worry about it and go. I can recover soon.”
Instead of answering, the woman approached Bu Eunseol. She reached out toward his vital acupoint.
Flinch.
But because she had never voluntarily touched a man’s body before, she hesitated several times.
Tap.
Finally mustering courage, she placed her hand on Bu Eunseol’s vital acupoint.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol’s body twitched.
She had only lightly touched him, yet an enormous pain surged through him.
“Don’t act spoiled just because I touched your back once.”
The white-clad woman snorted and injected a mysterious power.
However, this power could only display its full strength when it directly touched bare skin.
After removing her hand again and pondering for a long time, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and said, “Take off your clothes. This power must touch bare skin directly.”
Knowing that she had mustered great courage, Bu Eunseol unhesitatingly removed his upper garment.
Although he looked endlessly thin from the outside, when he took off his clothes, a firm and clearly defined upper body like carved marble was revealed. His back, exposed under the sunlight, rose majestically like a grand mountain range. His shoulders spread wide like an eagle spreading its wings, and beneath them lay rugged muscles covered like solid armor. His long spine was tightly drawn, and even the slightest movement revealed its lines, wriggling as if it were a living creature.
“You....”
Feeling embarrassed, the white-clad woman said something rather odd.
“Your frame is good, so you should recover quickly.”
And she injected her power once more.
Ziiiing.
Then the traces of the vicious palm force engraved on Bu Eunseol’s back began to appear clearly.
“Did you really get hit in the back by the Dark God Heavenly Lord?”
“It just happened that way.”
“How could someone with martial arts as great as yours get hit from behind....”
She stopped speaking mid-sentence.
She had realized why Bu Eunseol had been hit in the back.
Because he had been carrying her and running, he could not avoid the attack.
“I don’t understand. Why does someone dressed like a mercenary act like a follower of Buddhism?”
She grumbled, but realizing that Bu Eunseol had suffered severe wounds because of her, she began pouring out her power extremely carefully and gently.
Ziiiing.
Instantly, the black veins rising on Bu Eunseol’s body began to fade.
The power she was injecting was neither inner energy true qi nor sorcery or supernatural power.
‘So this is the power that imitates the Baekri Family’s power.’
Bu Eunseol could feel it.
The power she was injecting was exactly the power that the Dark God Heavenly Lord had spoken of as imitating the Baekri Family’s power.
Whoosh.
When she injected her power, Bu Eunseol was able to remove a considerable portion of the vicious energy that had penetrated his meridians.
“That’s enough. This much is sufficient. Thank you.”
“Why are you doing this?”
The woman asked as if she could not understand.
“For self-satisfaction? Or do you want something more from me?”
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“I simply learned it.”
“Learned what?”
“My grandfather showed warmth and kindness even to the death of a complete stranger. So how could I just leave someone dying before my eyes?”
Bu Zhanyang had never turned his back on those who needed help and he had never once hesitated to extend his hand to those in need.
Because his grandfather had lived that way, because he respected and constantly followed such a grandfather, Bu Eunseol too helped the woman who had tried to take his life without hesitation.
He had already become something like Bu Zhanyang’s other self.
“It’s strange.”
The woman realized that every word Bu Eunseol said was sincere and truly found it bizarre.
“Just who are you? You don’t seem like an ordinary mercenary.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
Although he did not know the woman’s inner energy or affiliation, he felt that her true nature was not bad.
“My name is Seolso. I wander the martial world, barely making a living.”
“The disciple of the Bullet King?”
The white-clad woman widened her eyes.
The Bullet King, Bukgung Ryeong—the world-renowned hero whose name was recorded on the martial world alliance’s hero monument and who had now risen to the position of leader of the Azure Heaven Alliance, the supreme leader of the righteous path.
It was said that Seolso was his only disciple and a special-grade mercenary who secretly roamed the martial world.
To think that this was that very Seolso?
‘If she knows Seolso’s identity, that means she belongs to a force operating a tremendous information network.’
While Bu Eunseol was lost in thought,
“A mercenary makes it even stranger.”
She spoke coldly with a snort.
“Aren’t mercenaries cold-blooded people who won’t even share a sip of water unless they receive money?”
“Not all mercenaries are misers. There are many who show warmth.”
“Nonsense.”
Although she said that, her expression gradually softened.
Humans are emotional creatures.
The man before her, though disguised with an ordinary face, had a noble spirit flowing through his entire being.
He was a rare gentleman in the martial world, unafraid of death, and possessed the altruism to sacrifice himself to help others.
In short, he had qualities that any woman could not help but feel favor toward.
Rumble!
At that moment, along with a sound like lightning striking in the distant sky, dozens of shadows began gathering toward the thatched cottage.
Before they knew it, the subordinates of the Dark God Heaven had tracked Bu Eunseol and arrived.
The white-clad woman’s eyes flashed when she spotted the subordinates wearing crow-beak-shaped masks.
“The Ink-Black Troops?”
“What is that?”
She wore a fearful expression.
“They are subordinates created by the Dark God splitting his own power into hundreds or thousands. Once they find their target, they will chase them all the way to hell.”
And she spoke quickly.
“They must be killed in one strike. Otherwise, the Dark God Heavenly Lord will send the Black Gods again.”
Shuuuuu.
At that moment, the Ink-Black Troops floating in the air spread their arms wide.
Then black feather-shaped hidden weapons shot out like rain, and they transformed into a massive curtain falling toward the cottage.
Slash!
“Haap!”
The white-clad woman spread her hands and poured out white energy.
“While I block those, kill all the Ink-Black Troops.”
The white-clad woman seemed to know the Dark God Heaven’s martial arts and their functions in detail.
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol immediately drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and flew into the air.
Flash!
As soon as he executed the Waning Moon, Dawn Star Form, the wings of the Ink-Black Troops floating in the air began falling one by one.
Rustle.
Realizing that Bu Eunseol’s sword technique was formidable, the Ink-Black Troops scattered in all directions, and shot the metal feathers attached to their black wings.
Pyu pyu pyu pyu! Clang!
Moreover, every time the feather hidden weapons struck the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol’s body shook greatly.
The thin and sharp feathers, like willow leaves, were each emitted with the profound principles of exquisite martial arts, and even Bu Eunseol, well-versed in martial arts, could not instantly guess what principles were contained within them.
Therefore, no matter how much he tried to evade, one out of every ten would graze his body, and no immediate brilliant solution to block them came to mind.
‘To imbue such light hidden weapons with such heavy power.’
The Ink-Black Troops were, just as she had said, not simple subordinates but akin to clones that had received a portion of his power. Although that power had been split into hundreds or thousands of parts, considering the Dark God Heavenly Lord’s power, they were formidable opponents that could not be easily dealt with.
‘If I cannot block or evade, then I will crush them head-on.’
Ziiiing.
Concentrating his inner energy, a one-zhang-high blue sword gang surged from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Bu Eunseol spun the Silent Tiger Soul Sword at high speed, creating a massive sword curtain, and charged forward.
Shatter!
With a loud piercing sound, Bu Eunseol, now a round radiance, began shattering the Ink-Black Troops floating in the air into pieces.
Crack.
As he moved at high speed and used the tactic of defeating them individually, black mist rose from the bodies of the Ink-Black Troops.
Thud. Thud thud.
Soon they began forming a strange formation in the air.
Then the sky darkened for a moment.
One, two...
Eventually, thousands upon tens of thousands of crows surged like an endless wave and swallowed the sun.
As the black curtain spread, the world sank into pitch-black darkness, and the flapping of wings like torn cloth split the air.
Bu Eunseol realized that the darkness was not simple shadow, and a chilling energy ran down his spine.
Riiip.
Slowly cracks formed between the curtains, and from those gaps rose blood-red eyes.
They were not simple eyes.
Burning resentment, formless malice, endless gazes of things that were neither beast nor human.
The ominous pupils flickered and gleamed, emitting a cold madness as if they would tear through flesh and pierce to the bone.
The eyes were not mere shapes but condensations of fear.
There was no place to escape.
The moment their gaze touched, it seemed the soul itself would be sucked into the darkness.
“Black Blood Dark Curtain.”
At that moment, the white-clad woman wore a despairing expression.
The absolute killing formation created by the Dark God Heavenly Lord’s Mixed Demonic Magic Energy was unfolding before their eyes.
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