The Yin-Yang Great Method.
It was a profound art with various functions, such as stimulating latent potential through union between man and woman, or healing a body on the verge of death.
The problem was that both the man and woman had to be virgins to perform the Yin-Yang Great Method.
“Are you serious?”
“Half-serious?”
When Bu Eunseol frowned, Biyeon smiled as if she had expected it. “I’m joking. How could this old woman dare covet a young hero?”
Giggling, she straightened her expression and spoke solemnly.
“Stay here with me and train. Then you’ll be able to climb the tower.”
“For a hundred days?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of training exactly?”
“First, you must purify your body and mind.” Biyeon took a deep breath. “All the barriers inside the tower are in the realm of enlightenment—they cannot be broken by force.”
“So it’s not a formation, but a defensive art.”
“It’s a bit different from that. Think of it as using the power of nature.”
She added one more thing. “For reference, even creating a mental barrier is useless. It’s not an illusion.”
Surprisingly, Biyeon seemed to guess that Bu Eunseol had reached Spirit Regulation Harmony, rendering any illusion or mind-control arts ineffective against him.
“Your martial arts are strong enough to subdue Seok Chi-haeng, so you only need to study the principles of martial arts a little deeper to gain enlightenment.”
“I have no intention of studying martial arts here. Nor do I have the time.”
“To climb the tower, you need martial prowess and mental strength capable of overcoming the functions of Black Divine Artifacts. Otherwise, even approaching is impossible.” Biyeon said calmly. “I said a hundred days because I know you possess outstanding talent. Ordinary people couldn’t climb that tower even if they tried for a hundred years.”
It was difficult to understand at first glance.
Black Divine Artifacts possessed abilities that transcended the framework of martial arts. Yet one needed martial arts and mental strength to surpass them?
“Is the Forest Lord definitely in the tower?” A momentary doubt arose in Bu Eunseol. “If he’s that great a figure, there’d be no need to layer so many traps, would there?”
“Sounds like a lie?”
“If it were true, the Forest Lord would have to deactivate the mechanisms every time he climbed. Wouldn’t that be inconvenient?”
“There’s an easy way to deactivate them all.”
“Anyway, I refuse.” Bu Eunseol said calmly. “I’m quite knowledgeable about mechanisms and formations. I can deactivate traps without needing to break through them, so let’s skip the training.”
“Well, that won’t work.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
He sensed that Biyeon was hiding something from him.
“Then negotiations are over.” Bu Eunseol turned coldly. “I’ll climb the tower my way. Don’t interfere beyond that.”
“Fine. Do as you wish.” Biyeon wore a playful smile as she watched him turn. “Unless you want to wear the Forgetting Person Artifact for the rest of your life.”
Bu Eunseol turned back.
He guessed that the Forgetting Person Artifact referred to this round iron mask.
“You won’t be able to remove it without my help.”
Bu Eunseol grabbed the iron mask and lifted it.
A tearing pain shot through his head.
It felt as if transparent needles had sprung from the mask, stitching his flesh and veins together.
“Did you think I put the Forgetting Person Artifact on you out of pure kindness?”
“There’s no way to remove it?”
“Don’t worry.” Biyeon said leisurely. “If you train with me for a hundred days, I’ll release it immediately.”
“I don’t have that kind of time.”
“That’s not my concern.”
“I really hate repeating myself.”
“Will you use force, then?”
Biyeon snapped her fingers.
His neck suddenly felt constricted, making breathing difficult.
Like the tightening headband the Tang Monk used on Sun Wukong, the Forgetting Person Artifact responded to her will, squeezing Bu Eunseol’s throat.
“Just because I wish for death doesn’t mean you should assume I’m weaker than you.”
Drip, drip.
Even as an unknown force tightened his neck, Bu Eunseol spoke coldly.
“You’ve made the worst choice.”
Pak.
He immediately struck her pressure points with a finger wind, then injected sharp Ban-Geuk Method energy into her Gate of Life acupoint.
Trickle.
As the energy entered, hot tears poured from Biyeon’s eyes.
The Gate of Life acupoint was the center of the nerves. It governed vital energy so injecting pure true energy there could save a life.
Conversely, injecting sharp energy caused excruciating pain as if the spine were snapping.
A slight miscalculation of force could instantly end a life—it was a fatal point.
“Tell me how to remove the mask.”
Yet her expression showed no change.
Bu Eunseol was injecting Ban-Geuk Method energy finer and sharper than a needle.
The pain was beyond human endurance.
Yet she endured silently without a single scream.
“What’s in that tower? What exactly do you want from me?”
She continued shedding tears in silence, gazing calmly at Bu Eunseol.
‘Has her sense of pain been removed?’
Observing her physical reactions, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed. Far from removed, upon closer inspection, her meridians and organs had lost elasticity like those of an old person.
Outwardly a woman of eighteen, her internal organs were completely aged.
‘It was true.’
Biyeon had called herself an old woman earlier. It wasn’t a joke?
‘And these scars…’
Upon close look, countless scars covered her nape.
Though he didn’t know the exact circumstances, she appeared over a hundred years old, and having endured countless tortures in the past, she could bear such pain calmly.
Shuu.
In the end, Bu Eunseol stopped injecting energy.
Pak.
He immediately released her pressure points.
“Why stop?”
“I lost. So let’s end this.”
“It’s useless. I’ll never release the Forgetting Person Artifact.”
“How can I get it off?”
Biyeon said, “Swear it. Swear you’ll train with me for a hundred days. Then I’ll release it.”
“I don’t have a hundred days to stay here.”
“Then negotiations are broken.”
After a moment of thought, Bu Eunseol tried to cut the Forgetting Person Artifact with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword at his waist.
The artifact, as if alive, read his intent. It pressed hard on the nerves below his neck, preventing movement.
“Even breaking it with a sword is useless.” Biyeon said with a relaxed expression. “It paralyzes the body the moment it senses the will to remove it.”
“…”
“Even if you had the greatest martial arts in the martial world, you couldn’t escape it. So listen to me.”
They researched Black Divine Artifacts, after all.
The Ancient Sword Forest seemed to have created a bizarre object that could restrain a person without touch.
‘A mere artifact dares to bind me.’
Bloodlust surged in Bu Eunseol’s enraged eyes.
Whiiiing.
The anger in his chest turned into purple lightning, spreading through his body.
Ziziz. Zizizik.
The lightning enveloping the Forgetting Person Artifact formed a spherical shape, causing violent reactions.
Zizizizik! Kwazizik!
The Thunder Spirit Energy, hot enough to burn the world, began heating the artifact red.
Fortunately, since Thunder Spirit Energy flowed through Bu Eunseol’s body, the heat did not penetrate his skin.
Chiiii.
Finally, as white smoke rose from the artifact—now glowing not just red but molten—
Swish.
Bu Eunseol immediately removed it.
He had taken off the Forgetting Person Artifact himself, which she had boasted no one with the greatest martial arts could remove.
Chiii.
Staring at the artifact melting the floor, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
A lingering stuffiness remained, as if something was still attached to his head.
Even after discarding it, he couldn’t shake off whatever clung there.
“I told you. No matter what martial arts you practice, you can’t remove the Forgetting Person Artifact.”
At Biyeon’s words, something flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
Most tools created by humans are named after their function or characteristics.
‘Forgetting Person. Forgetting Person.’
The term “Forgetting Person” did not exist in the world.
That meant taking it literally.
The character for “forget” (忘) combined “heart/mind” (心) and “perish/vanish” (亡).
‘It means perfect mindlessness.’
The moment Bu Eunseol decided to discard it, the artifact immediately tightened his throat.
At first he thought Biyeon controlled it, but in retrospect, it had sensed his intent and constricted his neck.
‘Then.’
Bu Eunseol closed his eyes and immediately focused his mind.
But maintaining perfect mindlessness in such a situation was extremely difficult.
“What? Giving up?”
Biyeon asked playfully, but Bu Eunseol kept his eyes closed, concentrating.
Unlike usual, he could not calm his mind leisurely; all sorts of distracting thoughts poured in.
‘Perhaps.’
Suddenly enlightened, Bu Eunseol put the discarded Forgetting Person Artifact back on.
Then, focusing again, faster than concentrating in a quiet meditation hall where nothing could be heard—he entered deep meditative stillness.
Was it due to the artifact’s function?
The world gradually grew silent.
In an instant, Bu Eunseol reached the deepest realm of the unconscious.
―What?
Deep within that realm crouched a boy.
A child who once resembled the young Bu Eunseol had now grown into a boy.
―You’ve grown enough to find me on your own?
The boy smiled brightly at Bu Eunseol.
―You came sooner than I thought.
The boy’s eyes were clear, his expression full of joy.
Bu Eunseol watched silently without resisting as the boy approached.
―Nice to meet you.
Riiiip.
Suddenly, the boy’s mouth tore open to the size of Bu Eunseol’s body.
Inside was blackness deeper than darkness, an abyss deeper than any abyss.
―Don’t be afraid. Accept me.
Bu Eunseol stared blankly at the darkness within the monstrous mouth,
Whoosh!
then forcefully shoved the boy away.
Clang.
With a sound like something shattering, he escaped the unconscious realm.
Regaining his senses, Bu Eunseol hurriedly discarded the mask he was wearing.
“Huu, huu.”
His breathing was ragged, as if he had sprinted with all his might.
Having entered too deep, he had nearly been swallowed by the unknown entity there.
“You.”
Biyeon’s eyes widened at Bu Eunseol, who had removed the Forgetting Person Artifact himself.
“You’re from the Baekri family?”
“What do you mean?”
When Bu Eunseol asked in great surprise,
“This Forgetting Person Artifact belongs to the Baekri family.”
Biyeon tilted her head.
“They say the Baekri created it to manifest or control their abilities.”
She said in astonishment, “Only those born with an open Hundred Meetings acupoint—the Baekri people—can put it on and remove it themselves.”
She picked something up from the floor.
It was a needle so thin and transparent it was nearly invisible.
The lingering stuffiness after removing the mask was because this transparent needle remained lodged in his Hundred Meetings acupoint.
But Bu Eunseol had put the mask back on, reached the mindless realm, and extracted the needle himself.
“So that’s how it was.”
Without Biyeon’s explanation, Bu Eunseol would have thought some mystical sorcery was cast on the artifact.
But it was a hair-thin needle secretly lodged in the Hundred Meetings acupoint.
“Then, contrary to legend, the Baekri family wasn’t exterminated—their lineage continues?”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
Three hundred years ago, the Baekri family was said to have vanished as if evaporated.
According to Yangseol Rin, they were wiped out by martial artists who feared their abilities.
But if the artifacts they used had been passed down?
Perhaps, like the Yangseol family, they continued activities in the martial world.
“I don’t know.”
“There must be people who gave the Baekri artifacts to the Ancient Sword Forest?”
“It was already here when I entered the Ancient Sword Forest.”
Bu Eunseol immediately circulated his Mind’s Eye to examine the Forgetting Person Artifact thoroughly.
But perhaps melted by Thunder Spirit Energy, he could no longer tell its age.
‘The Baekri people wore this to control their abilities.’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes wavered.
If Biyeon’s words were true, there was a chance he was one of the legendary Baekri.
“But my Hundred Meetings acupoint isn’t open.”
Newborn infants have a small opening at the crown.
But it closes with age.
If the Hundred Meetings acupoint remained open?
One could naturally absorb natural energy, activating the brain, gaining high intelligence and exhibiting genius in various fields.
But Bu Eunseol’s was firmly closed like ordinary people’s, with no trace it had ever been open.
“That’s unknowable. Perhaps because you mastered the path of mindlessness, you could release the Forgetting Person Artifact.”
At Biyeon’s words, Bu Eunseol stroked his chin.
Perhaps manifesting Thunder Spirit Energy temporarily opened the Hundred Meetings acupoint.
After all, Thunder Spirit Energy was part of natural energy.
‘In any case, I must meet the Forest Lord.’
Whatever the Ancient Sword Forest’s purpose, he had to meet the Forest Lord, learn their goals, and ask about the Baekri.
“Since you have the ability to remove the Forgetting Person Artifact yourself, the hundred-day training is unnecessary.”
Biyeon nodded as if reading his mind.
“You can climb the tower right away.”
Her eyes had softened.
Like an elder at twilight, nearing the end of a long life’s journey.
“Good.” Bu Eunseol took a deep breath and gazed at the tower visible outside the window. “We’ll talk about the rest after I return.”
Bu Eunseol immediately moved to the black tower at the center of the Ancient Sword Forest.
Thanks to wearing the Forgetting Person Artifact, no one stopped him on the way.
Even entering the first floor of the tower was the same.
‘As expected.’
No matter how elaborate the mechanisms, if the Forest Lord resided here?
At the very least, guards should stand watch at the entrance.
But there were none at the entrance, nor inside.
That meant… there was no Forest Lord here.
‘There must be a reason.’
Bu Eunseol had already anticipated everything.
Yet he came to the tower because Biyeon, who had gauged his martial prowess and ability to some extent, said a hundred days of training were needed to climb it.
‘Perhaps it’s related to the Baekri family.’
The Forgetting Person Artifact belonged to the Baekri family.
Of course, there was a chance the Ancient Sword Forest had coincidentally acquired Baekri artifacts.
But perhaps this Ancient Sword Forest was closely connected to the Baekri family.
It might even be a chance to unlock another secret of the Three Realms.
Clank.
Opening the massive door on the first floor revealed a steeply inclined passage leading to the second floor.
There was no light inside—only pitch-black darkness.
No presence of people. Nor traces of mechanical traps.
Yet Bu Eunseol did not relax as he entered the passage.
Step, step.
Continuing through the darkness-enveloped passage, at the end stood a gigantic iron door over ten yards tall.
A door seemingly for legendary giants to pass through.
Creeeeak.
As Bu Eunseol approached, the massive iron door opened on its own.
Inside was a vast hall, with luminous pearls densely embedded in the ceiling, casting soft light.
Blue pillars stood throughout, and the floor was laid with bluish-green stone.
‘Something’s here.’
The hall was bright, yet it felt as if a colossal monster coiled in the darkness somewhere. After walking for a while, he saw the exit door, engraved with the character for “martial”.
Likely meaning a gate testing martial arts.
‘She said one needs martial arts surpassing Black Divine Artifacts.’
Pondering deeply, Bu Eunseol stroked his chin.
‘Then, whatever emerges from the gate, I’ll pour everything into the first move.’
Fights between masters are usually decided in the first exchange.
Since Black Divine Artifacts possessed power transcending martial arts, he needed to match it with overwhelming force in a single strike.
Shling.
Drawing the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol stepped inside.
From the opposite side, a black shadow slowly revealed itself.
Clad in black robes, its eyes burned red.
At its waist hung a rusted iron sword, very similar in shape to Bu Eunseol’s Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
[Haa.]
The black shadow lowered its stance and grasped the sword hilt at its waist.
The posture closely resembled the starting form of the Meteor Chasing the Moon style.
If Bu Eunseol hadn’t known about Black Divine Artifacts, he might have thought the shadow a mere illusion. But it clearly existed and possessed the ability to cut him down in an instant.
Perfect timing.
Moreover, like the swordsmanship of the Heavenly King Jo Cheonwang, the shadow sought the fleeting moment to kill Bu Eunseol in one strike.
Bu Eunseol stared without blinking.
If he revealed even the slightest flaw?
The shadow would unleash an unavoidable killing move in a flash.
How much time passed?
Drip, drip.
Sweat trickled from Bu Eunseol’s forehead.
Sweating at such a level of martial prowess was nearly impossible.
‘Fast and agile.’
But the truth was different.
The shadow sought Bu Eunseol’s openings.
Bu Eunseol subtly shifted posture, defending against its capture of perfect timing.
Though the movements were not intense, he had already exchanged over a hundred bouts with the shadow.
Tuk.
Then, a drop of sweat from his forehead struck the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Causing his movement to falter ever so slightly.
It was a motion smaller than a hair, but the shadow did not miss the moment.
Shaaak!
A flash burst from the black shadow’s right hand.
Seizing perfect timing instantly, it unleashed a swift sword killing style akin to Meteor Chasing the Moon.
Far more precise and accurate than the Heavenly King’s.
In that instant, a form of death flickered before Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
No matter what movement he made, what sword technique he used—he could not break this swift sword killing style.
‘No chance.’
The reason why Bu Eunseol became a martial artist was to seek revenge.
It was to survive and survive again and to definitely put a sword in the neck of the villain.
Therefore, neither the level of martial arts nor victory or defeat was important.
‘I will survive!’
There was no time to avoid nor stop it.
Ugh.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol’s teeth bit the tip of the rusty iron sword.
He bit the sword that was piercing at high speed with his teeth, his head turned.
