Cheonwoong stared at the lone So Okrim, then tilted his head in puzzlement.
“Ahhh.”
A low groan escaped his lips, and the children inside the coffins began to walk out.
Thud. Thud.
Their eyes were unfocused, devoid of any spark.
A crimson haze flowed from Cheonwoong’s body and seeped into them.
They were close to the perfected Bound Asuras that the Infinite Realm had long desired—yet they had become failures, incapable of moving on their own.
In the end, after exhaustive research, the Infinite Realm had used a mysterious great method to turn Cheonwoong into a host that could control the children, allowing him to issue commands.
Shhhhh.
The children, who had been walking slowly, soon began gliding like shadows and surrounded So Okrim.
Their movements were so agile and natural that no one would have guessed they were Bound Asuras.
Whoooosh!
As if on cue, the children unleashed powerful palm force in perfect unison.
The palm force carried an intense crimson glow and was so swift that evasion seemed impossible.
Booooom!
In an instant, So Okrim’s vision was completely engulfed in crimson light.
***
Bu Eunseol, in the form of a young boy, ran relentlessly toward the direction where the figure from the Returning to One Realm had vanished.
Racing down the long passage, he spotted a wide-open door far ahead.
The boy had likely escaped through that door.
Shhhhh!
Unleashing Swift Beyond Shadow, Bu Eunseol instantly entered the open door.
Inside stretched a vast grand hall with a ceiling dozens of jang high.
“That is…”
Beneath a ceiling studded densely with night-luminous pearls stood a massive glass tube, half-filled with blood.
Above the half-filled tube hovered the figure of a huge man with grayish skin.
One of Bu Eunseol’s eyebrows shot upward.
The man inside the tube—was he not the Blood Emperor he had encountered on Seoryeong Mountain not long ago?
Flash!
As Bu Eunseol entered the hall, the Blood Emperor’s eyes snapped open.
Crack! Thud thud.
In that instant, the glass tube shattered,
Splash!
and blood sprayed in all directions.
Thud thud.
The Blood Emperor, emerging from the broken tube, strode toward Bu Eunseol.
Grin.
Staring down at Bu Eunseol with eyes filled only with whites, the Blood Emperor curled his lips.
Having fully recovered through the blood, the wound on his throat—half-severed by the Meteor Chasing the Moon Form—was perfectly healed.
“I was looking for you anyway. This works out well.”
A flash exploded from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Back then, shocked by the resurrection of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, and worried that Manwol might get hurt, he had not displayed his full strength.
This time, even if it meant evaporating all his blood and dying, he intended to settle life and death with the Blood Emperor.
Shiiing.
Drawing the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol released waves of pitch-black sword qi in all directions.
No need for probing.
They already knew each other’s strength to some degree, so he intended to unleash true vacuum from the start.
Shaaa! Shaaaaak!
Lightning-shaped black sword qi scattered everywhere before pouring down like rain.
From his previous battle with the Blood Emperor, Bu Eunseol had realized a weakness: the Seven Blood Tear Forms took some time to deploy.
Thus, he had relentlessly practiced only the first form, Life Lodges, Death Returns.
As a result, not only was the deployment speed of Life Lodges, Death Returns faster, but he could now freely alter its variations.
This move was a fierce, one-sided variant that greatly amplified the power of Life Lodges, Death Returns—a true Life Lodges, Death Returns.
Shaaaaak!
Unleashing a flawless, seamless sword technique, the Blood Emperor could not fully evade it and several strands of sword qi struck his body.
Sssss.
White smoke immediately rose from the Blood Emperor’s flesh.
As the energy of the Seven Blood Tear Forms—which impartially brought death to all living things—invaded his body, even the Blood Emperor’s blood, the source of his life force, began to drain away.
“How does it feel?”
Bu Eunseol asked coldly.
“To spend your life sucking others’ blood, only to have your own blood sucked dry.”
“Hmph.”
The Blood Emperor’s white eyes gleamed.
He seemed both startled and enraged by Bu Eunseol’s strike.
“Heh heh heh.”
Suddenly, the Blood Emperor let out a low chuckle, then thrust both palms forward.
Once again, crimson mist enveloped the surroundings in a dome.
At the same moment, lightning-fast palm force surged toward Bu Eunseol.
It was the palm force infused with Blood Emperor Qi, which evaporated blood on contact.
Flash!
Yet Bu Eunseol chose an unexpected tactic.
Instead of dodging the mist-like Blood Emperor Qi, he met the palm force head-on.
Then, something astonishing happened.
The Blood Emperor Qi, which could neither be blocked nor deflected, failed to evaporate his blood at all.
Whirl whirl whirl!
The Silent Tiger Soul Sword flashed ceaselessly in the air, yet not even ordinary sword qi or true energy waves emerged.
Now it was clear: Bu Eunseol was swinging the sword using only physical strength, without employing inner energy.
Shaaa shaaa shaaa!
As the Silent Soul Sword sliced the air at extreme speed, dark afterimages completely shrouded Bu Eunseol’s form.
A fierce whirlwind filled the entire hall.
Shaaaa.
In the end, the Blood Emperor Qi dispersed like mist and almost no blood had drained from Bu Eunseol’s body.
“As expected.”
Bu Eunseol clicked his tongue while gazing at the lingering crimson mist.
“It doesn’t make sense for any martial art in the world to be truly unblockable.”
In their previous fight, unable to block the Blood Emperor Qi by any means, Bu Eunseol had endlessly researched the reason.
‘If it truly couldn’t be blocked in any way, the Blood Emperor would have been invincible back then.’
Yet at that time, he was not the greatest under heaven; among the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, he was ranked lowest.
Thus, the Blood Emperor’s martial arts, while able to stand alongside the era’s supreme masters, were not an absolute art that could not be defended against.
While searching ceaselessly for the reason, a subtle thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘What if the Blood Emperor Qi isn’t unblockable but reacts violently precisely because it is being blocked?’
The ultimate martial principle contained within Sword Venerable’s Myriad Phenomena Sword Style: Shifting Heaven’s Force could materialize and block any force.
If even the profound sword principle created by the era’s foremost orthodox sword could not block the Blood Emperor Qi at all?
There was only one reason.
The method of defense itself was wrong.
‘In martial principle, mere exposure to an intangible force cannot evaporate blood.’
After endless contemplation, Bu Eunseol finally reached one conclusion.
The Blood Emperor Qi reacted violently to the defender’s true energy, thereby creating the conditions to evaporate blood.
In other words, the Blood Emperor’s martial arts shared a common thread with the methods used by abyssal forces or the Returning to One Realm to suppress inner energy.
And Bu Eunseol’s hypothesis proved correct.
By executing sword techniques without raising inner energy, he could unexpectedly repel the Blood Emperor Qi with ease.
“Heh heh.”
Even though Bu Eunseol had seen through the method to counter Blood Emperor Qi, the Blood Emperor merely curled his lips higher.
With a shout, he thrust both palms forward again.
Whoooosh.
In an instant, Bu Eunseol’s vision was swallowed by crimson mist.
Boom!
Piercing through the mist, the Blood Emperor’s ferocious palm force surged toward him.
Sssss!
Bu Eunseol twisted his body swiftly to evade, but the cloth near his chest was sharply torn.
Seizing the momentum, the Blood Emperor closed to extreme proximity and began unleashing claw techniques that seemed intent on ripping Bu Eunseol’s flesh apart.
Shaaa! Shuuu!
The Blood Emperor’s nails were as sharp as treasured swords, each strike laden with deadly Blood Emperor Qi.
If Bu Eunseol raised even a little inner energy to respond?
It would react with the Blood Emperor Qi, instantly evaporating his blood.
The situation was thoroughly disadvantageous for Bu Eunseol.
Whoooosh!
As the Blood Emperor rained frenzied attacks at point-blank range, they spread like a single mass of mist, beginning to envelop Bu Eunseol’s body.
Shaaa! Sssss!
Even so, Bu Eunseol calmly and swiftly swung his sword without using inner energy, dismantling the attacks one by one.
Yet fighting a master like the Blood Emperor without inner energy was akin to a child hoping to fell an adult with bare fists.
Ssss. Ssss.
As the exchange continued, Bu Eunseol was gradually pushed back, and sharp energy began piercing his meridians.
Booom!
Spotting an opening, the Blood Emperor poured Blood Emperor Qi in a radius of over ten jang.
At the same time, as if deploying Blood Wall Mirroring Mist, crimson walls formed thirty zhang around Bu Eunseol.
His intent was to restrict Bu Eunseol’s movement within thirty zhang, sealing retreat and forcing a decisive battle.
Sssss.
Driven by the Blood Emperor’s relentless assault, Bu Eunseol was pushed beyond ten jang.
Boom!
The Blood Emperor then struck down with lightning-like triple palms.
The move contained no openings and accurately targeted Bu Eunseol’s vital points.
Thud!
Bu Eunseol blocked everything with the Silent Tiger Soul Sword but was pushed back another five jang.
Excruciating pain, as if his meridians would snap, radiated from where the palm force landed.
Fortunately, though he could not actively use inner energy, his powerful protective body true qi shielded him, preventing instant death.
‘So this method isn’t the perfect solution either.’
This tactic had clear limits.
By not using inner energy, he avoided blood evaporation from Blood Emperor Qi—but conversely, he risked severed meridians or death from the ferocious attacks.
“Heh heh.”
The Blood Emperor grinned, revealing yellowed teeth.
His expression seemed to mock, ‘Let’s see how long you last.’
“You must be happy suppressing true energy usage.”
He had expected an absolute master from four hundred years ago to display overwhelming might yet upon closer examination, the core was merely a petty and highly restricted secret art.
“Now I understand why the Blood Emperor was ranked lowest.”
“Grah!”
The Blood Emperor resumed his assault, unwilling to miss the opportunity.
If this continued, Bu Eunseol would not last long.
But… standing at the crossroads of life and death, Bu Eunseol’s mind grew clearer, as if time itself slowed.
A single question arose in his mind.
‘Then did he use a secret to suppress true energy martial arts even during the Eight Emperors and Three Stars era?’
In the end, the Blood Emperor’s martial arts resembled the techniques used until now by the Three Realms and three families to weaken martial artists’ power and suppress true energy.
A strange thought followed.
‘Is that why the disciple of the Divine Sage, Mu Gyeol, used such a tactic?’
The Divine Mountain Sage’s disciple, Mu Gyeol.
He had used the exclusive Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra of the Heavenly Emperor to nullify the enemy’s powerful inner energy.
At the time, it had been incomprehensible.
As the Heavenly Emperor’s disciple who had mastered various orthodox martial arts, why had he learned such a method?
Why had he used the Heavenly Emperor’s exclusive heart art in such a limited way?
There were two possible reasons.
Either the Heavenly Emperor belonged to the same faction…
Or he had taught Mu Gyeol a counter to their techniques, naturally leading him to employ that method.
To break an enemy’s martial arts, one must understand them.
‘Yes. That could be the key.’
The moment enlightenment struck, Bu Eunseol felt his vision brighten.
He had grasped one profound application of the Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
Whirl! Whoosh!
Meanwhile, the Blood Emperor’s palm force surged with fierce wind toward Bu Eunseol. Each blast echoed with thunderous booms, pushing Bu Eunseol back and sending tearing pain through his meridians.
Ssss! Splash!
Bu Eunseol continued his swordplay undeterred, blood spraying from his body with every clash.
Yet through this desperate struggle, he refused to retreat even a single step.
Hummm.
Then, at some point, a faint misty aura began emanating from Bu Eunseol’s body.
Even while enduring the terrifying attacks of the Blood Emperor without using inner energy, the distance he was pushed back gradually shortened.
Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra.
Using the Heavenly Emperor’s exclusive secret art, he read and synchronized with the flow of true energy the Blood Emperor released, thereby reducing the power of his martial arts.
‘He dispersed true energy throughout the eight extraordinary meridians.’
Rather than gathering inner true energy in the dantian for use when needed, the Blood Emperor kept it distributed across all eight meridians.
Even so, the sheer purity and volume of inner true energy stored in his body allowed tremendous power with every palm strike.
But when Bu Eunseol used the Heavenly Intent Heart Art to mimic the origin flow of that inner true energy…
He became immune to injury from the released energy.
This was an adaptation of the method Mu Gyeol had used against Bu Eunseol in their inner energy contest.
“Huuu!”
Unable to inflict damage despite his vigorous assault, the Blood Emperor’s face gradually twisted.
His mental state was finally showing on his face.
‘It’s not a perfect resurrection after all.’
If the great master known as the Blood Emperor had perfectly revived, no matter how cornered, he would never reveal emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure.
He would instantly devise and deploy new techniques to counter Bu Eunseol’s strategy.
The pinnacle of martial arts, after all, involves considering the opponent, surroundings, and martial compatibility, then timely executing the appropriate art.
Yet the figure before him had perfectly inherited only the Blood Emperor’s martial techniques.
He had not inherited their great enlightenment or improvisational genius.
Flash!
Crimson bloodlight flared from the Blood Emperor’s eyes.
Seeing Bu Eunseol mimic the origin flow to reduce damage infuriated him.
Hummm. Hummm.
Enraged, the Blood Emperor seemed to raise his inner energy to full power.
His entire body flickered red, pulsing repeatedly.
It was as if he were warning that he would soon unleash a supreme transcendent art of immense power.
‘That’s the martial art from back then.’
Bu Eunseol sensed it instinctively.
The Blood Emperor’s ultimate secret art: capable of solidifying like a hard object or, if desired, shooting out like sharp hidden weapons.
Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi was about to be unleashed.
When the Blood Emperor first appeared, he had fired murderous rays in all directions. Anything exposed to them would be instantly bisected.
‘I’ve been waiting for that!’
A flash exploded from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
He had waited precisely for this technique.
That supremely powerful ultimate art, while immensely destructive, did not contain the blood-evaporating Blood Emperor Qi.
Splaaash!
The sound of pouring water rang out as crimson radiance soared skyward from the Blood Emperor’s body.
Preparation to unleash Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi was complete yet at the same moment, strange light flowed from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Hummm.
Suddenly, yellowish light flickered in his pupils.
Nangyang Heart Eye.
The highest realm of the Nangyang Pavilion’s supreme martial art—capable of instantly dismantling enemy techniques or comprehending martial principles—manifested in Bu Eunseol’s body.
‘So that’s it.’
With Nangyang Heart Eye active, gazing at the Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi soaring to the heavens, Bu Eunseol felt simultaneous joy and fear.
He was joyful because, the moment Nangyang Heart Eye activated, the nature of the rays the Blood Emperor fired, their martial category, and the secrets to dismantling or breaking them all flooded into his body and mind in an instant.
Yet he was afraid because…
Under the Nangyang Heart Eye’s power, he felt an eerie sensation as if he might completely lose his sense of self.
If he was engulfed by Nangyang Heart Eye’s power and lost his ego?
He could become utterly obsessed with martial arts, unable to maintain a sane mind, turning into a great demon who craved only slaughter.
Booom! Boooom!
The Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi that had soared skyward finally shot straight toward Bu Eunseol’s brow.
Shhhh!
Bu Eunseol swiftly dodged the flash of Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi, but the murderous rays pursued him relentlessly.
Splash! Splash!
The single jang-long murderous ray transformed, splitting into hundreds of crimson lines.
At times it became a giant net, attempting to swallow Bu Eunseol’s body.
But to Bu Eunseol’s eyes, which now dominated time and space within this battle zone, the trajectory of Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi was predictable, and its martial weaknesses stood out clearly.
The method to break this supreme art of Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi, capable of slicing everything, was evident.
‘It only appears as beams of light. In reality, it combines internal power with Blood Emperor Qi, manifesting as tangible true energy like Wishful True Binding.’
A brilliant idea flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind, and a smile touched his lips.
What if he forced the full-power technique to stop midway?
The sudden reversal of energy and blood would cause severe internal injury from backlash.
Shiiing.
Having grasped the dismantling method, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword once more.
Black sword qi spread everywhere, transforming into hundreds, thousands of air currents that clung to Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi.
This was a variation of the Seven Blood Tear Forms, second form: Death Entanglement Revival Form—not to cut the enemy, but to instantly halt the Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi the opponent was about to release.
Hummm.
As Blood Emperor Dense Soul Qi abruptly stopped, the Blood Emperor grimaced as if his meridians were painfully blocked.
Bu Eunseol seized the opening and poured out sword techniques.
These were neither the Supreme Heavenly Flow Forms nor the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
They were instinctive, efficient killing strikes tailored to the enemy’s weaknesses, unleashed through the Nangyang Heart Eye.
Clang! Clang!
The Blood Emperor frantically waved both hands to block Bu Eunseol’s sword strikes.
Each time sword met palm in the air, sharp sword vigor and storm-like currents exploded outward.
Booooom!
Concentric shockwaves spread, covering both figures in dust.
Whoooosh.
As the wind blew, their forms gradually emerged.
Bu Eunseol stood firm.
The Blood Emperor had been pushed back two steps, white vapor flowing from his body.
He had suffered no light internal injury in this clash.
“Huuu.”
Rage poured from the Blood Emperor’s eyes.
The invincible Blood Emperor Qi had become useless.
That proved Bu Eunseol was superior in employing martial principles.
“Heh heh heh. Aaaah.”
After groaning, the Blood Emperor let out a thunderous roar.
“Haaaah!”
From his perspective, this situation was an unbearable humiliation.
He intended to pour everything—not only raw power but also martial principles—to kill Bu Eunseol in one stroke.
