That was both the prerequisite to reaching the true pinnacle of poison mastery and a monumental hurdle to transcending the limits of a poison user.
Ever since the art of poison cultivation was first created, countless individuals had reached the realm of the Poison Saint. Yet almost none had ever broken past that final wall—for this very reason.
However, Bu Eunseol had effortlessly overcome the greatest difficulty that poison experts who had climbed to the Poison Supreme feared most, without even realizing it.
The black radiance flowing from Bu Eunseol’s body merged with the poison essence within him. The poison essence then slowly fused with his own innate true qi, reaching a state where the two could no longer be distinguished.
He had now reached a realm where he could neutralize poison without storing it in his body and could freely generate poison in any space with mere intent. However, because he had little interest in poison, freely wielding this level of poison art would remain a story for the distant future.
Saaaaah.
As the poison was injected into them, color slowly returned to their previously pale faces. Yet they still did not regain consciousness.
‘Wasn’t there one more problem?’
Thinking back, the time they had spent being simmered in the steamer was extremely short. Then why had those people tried to boil humans alive in the first place?
—It seems properly steamed, so it’s time to put the contents inside…
Bu Eunseol’s eyes sparkled as he recalled the old man’s mutterings upon their arrival.
‘Something inside their bodies becomes activated.’
He placed his hand on their foreheads.
They were scorching hot, like balls of fire.
Their skin showed no visible change, yet their body temperature was abnormally high.
‘At this rate, their brains should have been cooked.’
Nevertheless, they were still alive, having only lost consciousness. That meant whatever had been absorbed into their bodies had activated upon entering the steamer.
‘They are harboring intense heat inside their bodies due to some grand technique, and that heat must be removed in one go.’
Jiim.
Bu Eunseol raised the Heavenly Glacial Secret.
Chiiiiii.
The moment he lowered their body temperature in an instant, they began to wake with languid expressions, as if rousing from a deep sleep.
“Here is…”
Having regained their senses, they looked down at their own bodies with bewildered faces. They had fallen asleep pleasantly drunk, yet now they were stark naked inside a steamer.
“You have all been deceived,” Bu Eunseol explained quickly. “This is a den of wicked men who boil people alive and suck out their vitality. If you want to live, get out of here immediately.”
“What do you mean—”
“There is no time for further explanation.” Bu Eunseol spoke firmly. “The martial artists guarding the interior of this Valley of Immortals possess formidable strength. With your level of martial arts, you will never escape safely… I will set this place on fire to draw their attention.”
He slowly turned his body.
“That is all I can do for you. Whether you leave this place alive or die here depends on your own efforts. I wish you good fortune.”
With those final words, Bu Eunseol walked out without looking back.
Bang!
Not long after, a deafening explosion rang out, accompanied by a vibration that shook the earth.
Only then did the martial artists realize that Bu Eunseol’s words were all true—they had stepped into a tiger’s den.
Urrrrr.
They hurriedly rushed outside.
—This…
They stood with their mouths agape.
Dozens of corpses were now strewn across the long passageway leading out.
The time they had hesitated was barely enough for a few deep breaths, yet in that short interval Bu Eunseol had already slain this many martial artists and was causing a commotion outside.
“It seems what that man said was correct,” one of the men spoke.
“If we don’t get out quickly, we will lose our lives.”
This place had partially inherited the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars and had even used a mysterious bead to locate their main base. Judging by its scale and manpower alone, it was clearly a faction possessing immense military and financial power. Escaping amid the chaos was uncertain at best.
“That esteemed person personally ‘handled’ them so we could change clothes…”
Before they knew it, Bu Eunseol had been elevated in their eyes from ‘that man’ to ‘that esteemed person.’ A young man had counted the number of corpses.
“There are fifteen in total.”
The others gaped in shock.
Only then did they realize that the dead martial artists in the passageway were not those who had been waiting inside… but external guards that Bu Eunseol had slain and dragged back here.
—In such a short time… is that even possible?
The martial artists stood with mouths open in disbelief. But there was no time to be astonished.
“Let’s change clothes quickly and get out!”
At someone’s shout, the men swiftly stripped the fallen martial artists of their clothes and put them on.
***
Kwa-tang! Pereong!
Bu Eunseol used the scorching heat of his true qi to set fire to the pavilions and key facilities of Valley of Immortals while continuously slaughtering the martial artists who rushed out.
Everyone here was a lackey of the Blood God Heavenly Lord. Since they had tried to boil innocent martial artists alive, he felt not the slightest emotion or pity in killing them.
-Keuk!
-Kaak!
The more of them he eliminated, the safer the escaping martial artists would be—and the fewer innocent people would suffer in the future.
‘So this was merely a base created by the Blood God Heaven.’
The martial artists leaping out of the pavilions did not possess particularly high-level martial arts. Did that mean the true experts of Valley of Immortals were not direct members of the Blood God Heaven but had been recruited from outside, and there were no masters stronger than the old man who had descended underground earlier?
‘What is certain is that the Blood God Heavenly Lord is not here.’
If the Blood God Heavenly Lord had been present, he would have appeared the instant Bu Eunseol began rampaging and struck immediately.
—Kill that man!
The Valley of Immortals martial artists resisted with all their might. They used mysterious formations and bizarre hidden weapons to try to stop the rampaging Bu Eunseol.
Yet no matter what they tried, they could not block even a single move from him and fell like autumn leaves in the wind.
‘Then their real headquarters must be elsewhere.’
Despite causing such a commotion, no particularly strong expert had appeared. At this rate, he could single-handedly destroy Valley of Immortals within one meal’s time.
‘Or perhaps they are simply buying time.’
Come to think of it, none of the key figures of Valley of Immortals were visible. Even Gakyung, who had delivered news of the Valley Lord in the banquet hall, was nowhere to be seen.
Kwarung!
Ignoring the charging martial artists, Bu Eunseol advanced deep into the heart of Valley of Immortals.
‘How meticulous.’
The pavilions in the deepest part of Valley of Immortals were built in exactly the same shape, enough to send chills down one’s spine. There were no ornate or solemn buildings where high-ranking members might reside—only large, square structures ideal for creating secret passages and hiding places.
Kwa-deung!
Bu Eunseol suddenly used the Land-Flight Technique to soar high into the sky, then landed on the ground with terrifying speed.
Kwaang!
A powerful shockwave spread in all directions, activating his piercing vision. In an instant, he grasped the layout of the pavilions and the underground secret passages beneath them.
‘There.’
Perceiving a secret passage beneath a distant square building, Bu Eunseol unleashed a Heaven Shattering Palm Strike, completely obliterating one pavilion.
A single white shadow that had been fleeing through the underground passage was revealed—Gakyung, the Sohwa Pavilion Leader.
Hwiririk, Taak!
Realizing she had been discovered by Bu Eunseol, Gakyung immediately used a swift movement technique to ascend to the surface.
“What exactly are you doing here?” Bu Eunseol’s voice was as cold as the chill of a ten-thousand-year ice cave. “Why did you use the name of the Essence Three Realms to lure young martial artists here and brutally kill them?”
With outstanding martial learning alone, it would have been enough to lure martial artists. Considering the name of the Blood God Heaven, they possessed enough power to kidnap anyone they wished.
So why had they deliberately invoked the name of the Essence Three Realms—an organization unknown to most in the martial world?
“Simply transmitting martial arts would not be as effective as claiming they were selecting successors for a mysterious sect. That draws people in even more,” Gakyung said, the corners of her mouth rising as she looked at Bu Eunseol without a trace of fear. “Humans are naturally drawn to talk of special destinies. Just the words ‘chosen one’ are enough to make them fall for it.”
It was not wrong.
However, they would not have used the name of the Essence Three Realms—a mysterious faction detached from the Three Realms—for such a trivial reason alone.
“Of course, there is another reason as well.” Gakyung spoke leisurely. “So that rats like you, hiding in the shadows as members of the Essence Three Realms, would reveal yourselves like this.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol understand everything.
If they continuously committed such atrocities under the pretext of selecting successors for the Essence Three Realms, the true hidden successors of the Essence Three Realms would eventually have no choice but to come out and investigate.
The Blood God Heaven had orchestrated all this to lure out the scattered members of the Essence Three Realms.
‘You mistook me for a member of the Essence Three Realms.’
Bu Eunseol feigned ignorance and asked, “Then why boil people alive?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“We came here as you wished, didn’t we?” Bu Eunseol asked in a grave voice. “I asked why you did this.”
“A man who will soon die sure has a lot of questions.”
Jjuuruk.
Suddenly, blood began flowing from the fingertips of both her hands.
“I must finish you off quickly before the Valley Lord arrives.”
Dongsil.
Crimson blood poured down like streams from Gakyung’s floating fingertips.
The ground, drenched in her blood, began to emit regular vibrations.
Jeojeojeok.
The earth split open, and dense spiderweb-like red lines began to etch themselves across it. It was as if the heart of a spirit governing the land was beating, forcing thick blood vessels to protrude.
Seueueuk.
At the same time, pitch-black shadows slowly rose from various places across Valley of Immortals. Their skin was dyed red, and their eyes were completely vacant. They looked less like humans and more like ancient corpses long buried in the ground that had begun moving again.
Lone Spirits.
They had created slaughter demons that had lost their intellect but gained power beyond human limits.
“So you completed the Lone Spirits.”
Lone Spirits could display immeasurable power that transcended human limits, yet no one dared create them. The secret method had been lost long ago, and it was far better to use burial techniques to control already-dead corpses.
Creating Lone Spirits from living people was nearly impossible.
Executing demonic arts allowed no margin for error. A dead corpse was like a fixed needle’s eye, while a living person was like a constantly moving one. Even if one miraculously found a complete secret method and refined it perfectly, the success rate for creating Lone Spirits was extremely low.
Yet they had been secretly deployed here in Valley of Immortals?
“Domination,” Bu Eunseol’s eyes sharpened. “You used that power to complete the Lone Spirits.”
All the Heavenly Lords of the Death Gods controlled something.
The Martial God Heavenly Lord dominated space to completely nullify enemy attacks. The Dark God Heavenly Lord used Black Gods to generate waves like a crow’s wing flaps and dominate the enemy’s brain. The current candidate for the Destruction God Heavenly Lord controlled the enemy’s body through the roar and word spirits of a fake demon.
In that case, the Blood God Heavenly Lord could clearly dominate the Lone Spirits freely through blood.
Gakyung’s eyes flashed. “We call them Blood Spirits, not Lone Spirits. Go ahead and try facing them.”
Leaving those words, Gakyung’s entire body turned into red liquid and vanished into the ground.
‘So she was the only direct member of the Blood God Heaven here.’
Bu Eunseol instinctively realized that the bizarre technique Gakyung had used originated from the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
Jeobeok, jeobeok.
In the meantime, the blood-colored shadows had no focus in their eyes and exuded only a sinister aura from their entire bodies.
Blood Spirits.
That was the term for the newly created Lone Spirits made through the secret methods of the Blood God Heaven.
Jjuuruk.
Jeobeok jeobeok, dadadadak!
The Blood Spirits, staggering slowly forward, suddenly charged madly toward Bu Eunseol.
Hwirik!
Bu Eunseol created a focal point with his finger and immediately slashed them apart.
Chwaak!
But something astonishing happened. Their bodies had become like liquid; no matter how much he cut them, they received almost no damage.
Jjuuruk.
In the Blood Spirits’ hands appeared swords formed from clumped blood.
Suiik!
When they swung the swords, bizarre waves spread out. The blood swords were not tools for cutting flesh and bone, but ritual implements that performed a strange technique to disorder the qi within the body.
Parururut!
As the sword winds created by the technique poured down, extremely unpleasant and sinister emotions surged within Bu Eunseol’s mind.
‘A mental attack.’
He had not only achieved spirit-body unity long ago but had also fought against supreme experts capable of striking the soul. To an ordinary martial world practitioner this would have been enough to drive them mad instantly, yet to Bu Eunseol it was merely as annoying as flies buzzing around.
‘If they cannot be cut, I just need to burst them.’
Bu Eunseol immediately used the Fist Demon Manifestation form and unleashed mountain-like fist power. However, the moment the power touched the Blood Spirits’ bodies, it turned into transparent bubbles and scattered.
Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
Because they were created with the power of true demons capable of annihilating the world, they could not be destroyed by ordinary martial techniques.
‘She must hold quite a high position within the Blood God Heaven.’
Judging by the display of such an extraordinary technique, she was clearly not a low-ranking member.
‘In that case.’
Kiiiiii!
With a loud noise, pitch-black blade energy coalesced in both of Bu Eunseol’s hands, reaching toward the sky. It was the sixth form of the Seven Blood Tear Forms: Death Without Regret
Paaa!
The mountain-crushing fist power had turned into bubbles, yet upon contact with the blade energy, the Blood Spirits instantly turned into black liquid and began to scatter.
Before the blade energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms could be unleashed again, they charged toward Bu Eunseol all at once like a massive tidal wave.
“A predictable response.”
Bu Eunseol did not even look at them and instead gazed down at his own hands. The bare-handed Death Without Regret had a unique follow-up move. When the initial blade was executed, the reactionary force would immediately return like the Revolving Secret Technique and attack the enemy once more.
Beonjjeok!
A light that seemed to dye the entire world black shot toward the backs of the Blood Spirits. It was the follow-up form of the Death Without Regret—a massive blade energy created by the reactionary force, returning once again.
Pasasasak.
The charging Blood Spirits turned into liquid once more and vanished instantly.
—It’s no use.
A vengeful voice echoed from underground.
—Blood Spirits cannot be destroyed.
It turned out Gakyung had not fled. She had hidden somewhere underground and was commanding the Blood Spirits.
Euuu.
At that moment, the scattered Blood Spirits began reforming into ghostly shapes once again.
‘This really is like the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.’
Until now, even when facing the minions of true demons, he had only seen them take the form of massive dragons and the like. He had never witnessed any technique that could truly be called a ritual art. Yet this woman named Gakyung, who had been pretending to be the Sohwa Pavilion Leader, was skillfully wielding powers akin to sorcery.
‘Interesting.’
Jiing! Jiim! Jiing!
Bu Eunseol stretched his hand toward the sky and emitted tremendous shockwaves. Using the Endless Heavenly Light Art, which contained near-infinite inner power and the Three Divine Energies, he was pulling the Silent Tiger Soul Sword that he had buried at the entrance of Valley of Immortals.
Kaaaaaaa!
Meanwhile, the Blood Spirits charged madly toward Bu Eunseol once again.
Kureung.
Then, what sounded like thunder rumbled from the distant sky.
Swaaaaaek!
In an instant, black lightning flew like a meteor toward Bu Eunseol’s outstretched hand.
It was the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Suiiiiiik!
Controlling the incoming Silent Tiger Soul Sword with Sword Control, he instantly sliced apart the charging Blood Spirits. Although he had not created blade energy, the Silent Tiger Soul Sword spinning at high speed shattered the Blood Spirits with its movement alone.
Cheok.
Having finally dealt with all the charging Blood Spirits, Bu Eunseol grasped the returning Silent Tiger Soul Sword, scabbard and all.
—What difference does it make if you noticed?
Mockery flowed from Gakyung’s voice echoing from underground.
—Before the Valley Lord arrives, I will turn you into a Blood Spirit under my command.
‘Valley Lord?’
Now that he thought about it, something was strange. If this was the Blood God Heaven, the leader should naturally be called the Heavenly Lord. Why was she referring to a Valley Lord?
‘In any case, I must thoroughly dismantle this.’
Bu Eunseol closed his eyes.
Finding and slaying the hidden Gakyung would not be particularly difficult. However, he would have to face this Mixed Demon Magic Art constantly in the future. Since manageable enemies had appeared, he wanted to carefully examine how to deal with them and what properties the Mixed Demon Magic Art possessed.
‘This is fun.’
The stronger the enemy or the more unique their power, the more his competitive spirit and fighting will burned.
Bu Eunseol, who had been continuously spreading his beastly senses, suddenly felt...
‘Emotion.’
He sensed strange fragments of emotion from the Blood Spirits’ existence. Looking deeper, it was like torment filled with filthy impurities.
‘So the power to control Lone Spirits was emotion.’
The power of the Blood God was not simply controlling Lone Spirits through blood. It injected new emotions into their bodies and used those as the driving force to confront enemies.
‘In that case.’
To completely annihilate the endlessly regenerating Blood Spirits, he had to deal with the impure emotions contained within their bodies.
Jijijijik.
Purple flames began rising from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
‘Combine the Endless Heavenly Light Art centered on Thunder Spirit Energy.’
The Endless Heavenly Light Art was originally a fusion style. Bu Eunseol once again fused a new power to cut them down.
Kiiii!
The moment pitch-black blade energy merged with purple lightning, a pain like his head splitting in two surged through him. In terms of emotion, the Seven Blood Tear Forms were like death itself—boundless desolation and stillness. In contrast, Thunder Spirit Energy was close to pure rage. While the Clear Mind Spirit Energy with its calm composure might have been compatible, Thunder Spirit Energy and the Seven Blood Tear Forms were inherently incompatible by nature. Moreover, although centered on Thunder Spirit Energy, it was effectively a fusion of the Three Divine Energies.
‘But I must do it.’
The power of the Blood God that moved the Blood Spirits had emotion as its source. Only a pure and refined energy like Thunder Spirit Energy could burn away the remnants of those filthy emotions.
Kwaong!
Meanwhile, the Blood Spirits charged into Bu Eunseol’s body. Because the Seven Blood Tear Forms and the Heavenly Light Martial Secret had not yet fully fused, neither blade energy nor lightning energy was released.
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword had taken on the properties of a solid rod.
Kwang! Pung! Chwaak!
Nevertheless, he could still deal with the liquid-like Blood Spirits. Every time the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, whose nature had completely changed, touched them, they too became solid bodies.
But the repelled Blood Spirits rose again. Even if broken or turned to liquid, they were immortal. As long as the Mixed Demon Magic Art was infused in them, they could endlessly regenerate.
Bireum, bideum.
Yet as he watched the staggering Blood Spirits rise once more, something struck him. They were not purely sorcery-created monsters—they had originally been living people. They simply felt no pain and could not think due to the Mixed Demon Magic Art.
Like puppets, they repeatedly rose and attacked on Gakyung’s command. In the end, they could neither live nor die, only be used by them.
‘So that’s why they were filled only with such miserable and impure emotions.’
Bu Eunseol felt sorrow and pity. The reason they kept charging at him was not to kill him, but a desperate struggle hoping he would quickly end their lives so they could enter eternal rest.
At that moment, a purplish sword energy mixing black and violet hues burst from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword. By feeling boundless compassion for enemies who needed to be granted death, the Thunder Spirit Energy of the Endless Heavenly Light Art and the blade energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms had finally fused.
Kiiiiiii!
The howl of the Seven Blood Tear Forms was like the lamentation of a death god. If one word could describe the blade energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms that granted death to all things, it would be ‘deep sorrow.’
Loss, frustration, pain, despair…
Bu Zhanyang had elevated the extremes of sorrow that humans could feel to the level of dao.
Before he knew it, Bu Eunseol—wandering the heartless martial world and walking paths stained with blood—had gradually come to resonate with the depth of those emotions that Bu Zhanyang had felt.
Bu Eunseol’s eyes were dyed amber, like those of an enraged fierce tiger, and a boundless desolate aura spread throughout his body.
Though he himself was not yet aware of it, his current appearance was strikingly similar to that of the young Bu Zhanyang when he had unleashed the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
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