“It wasn’t truly reversing time—it was a great art that uses light to penetrate the mind and spirit.”
Click.
Bu Eunseol raised the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to middle guard and spoke in a low voice.
“That black form and the light emanating from it must be a power similar to a great art that affects the mind and spirit the longer one gazes upon it.”
The light flowing from the black shadow was not merely intended to intimidate. It possessed such formidable power that it could pierce even through the mental barriers of Bu Eunseol, who had reached the realm of Spirit Regulation Harmony.
It had planted the suggestion that his body had been reversed in time.
Even if one were extremely generous and assumed it had truly reversed the time of his body, only a master who had reached at least the Supreme Heavenly Realm could wield the ability to infinitely divide and utilize time.
Papapap!
In response, the shadow unleashed hundreds of razor-sharp palm forces like flying needles.
‘In the end, the answer is Harmony.’
The great art this pitch-black shadow had deployed was a kind of Infinite Reversal Power.
If he wrapped his body in Harmony, he could easily escape from that power.
But because he had rushed here at full strength, the energy within his body had still not stabilized.
He could not use Harmony right away.
‘I’ll handle it with pure martial technique.’
Without breaking the suggestion, even with the body of a child, he decided to fight the shadow using the profound principles of martial arts that even a child could perform.
‘With four nyang of strength, one can display the power of a thousand geun.’
Whirrr.
As he spun the Silent Tiger Soul Sword in circles, the pouring attacks coiled softly around the blade like taffy.
He blended the principle of Four Ounces to Deflect a Thousand Pounds with the mystery of Grafting Flowers onto Jade, simultaneously blocking the attacks and counterattacking.
Whirr. Whirrrl.
Each time the Silent Tiger Soul Sword drew a circle, the shadow’s fierce attacks were turned back upon it.
‘What happens if I eliminate this one?’
While effortlessly blocking the shadow’s attacks, Bu Eunseol narrowed his eyes.
The Executioner could instantly turn ordinary civilians into puppets. If this black shadow was a puppet—or if it was the Executioner itself—what would happen if he defeated it?
Tilt, tilt.
At that moment, the shadow cocked its head then it suddenly paused its attacks and began looking around.
A subtle energy had begun to leak from the formation where Han Sangja was hiding.
‘Brother Han has noticed that I’ve arrived.’
Once the battle with the shadow began, Han Sangja must have realized the entire plan had gone awry and was now slowly dismantling that formidable formation.
‘Then this one is a puppet after all.’
Tilt, tilt.
The reason the shadow kept cocking its head was surely because it had perfectly copied Bu Eunseol’s soul fragrance and detected Han Sangja hidden within the formation.
Yet it had stopped attacking and was merely repeating strange movements.
‘Could it be that the so-called Executioner has no real physical body?’
The Executioners proudly claimed to protect the laws of the martial world.
If such a method had been exposed, they would at least show some reaction—or bring more Executioners.
But this shadow was simply watching the formation like a hunting dog awaiting its master’s command.
Ziiing.
At that moment, along with a mysterious sound, faint light spread in all directions.
Finally, Han Sangja had released the formation and stepped outside.
“I miscalculated.”
Han Sangja spoke to Bu Eunseol with an embarrassed expression.
“I thought I could at least hold the Lord for about half a shichen.”
“Brother Han.”
Bu Eunseol sighed and said, “After spending all this time together, you still couldn’t figure out my personality?”
“I know. That’s precisely why I thought it was worth doing.”
Han Sangja replied with a bitter smile.
“And I believed this was the only method that could force the higher existence behind the Executioners to reveal itself and allow us to uncover what this covenant truly is.”
Tilt, tilt.
Han Sangja sighed as he looked at the shadow, which was still tilting its head like a beast.
“But all my calculations were off, and in the end I’ve only encountered some minion—or perhaps just an empty shell.”
He let out a lament as he gazed at the pitch-black shadow.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t any help at all.”
“It’s fine.” Bu Eunseol raised his internal energy. “The Executioner may be watching from somewhere. If you stay by my side, you’ll become a puppet—so leave now.”
Han Sangja’s plan to lure out the higher existence behind the Executioners and shatter the covenant had completely failed. From now on, until he found a way to stop those beings, Bu Eunseol would have to wander the martial world alone.
“Take care of yourself, Brother Han.”
“Please wait just a moment.”
Han Sangja quickly continued.
“If it ends like this, how can I show my face?”
He rummaged through his robes.
“Even if it costs my life, I will at least reveal how the Executioner creates puppets.”
Then he took out a mysteriously gleaming orb.
It was the supreme treasure of the Sage Forest, the Immeasurable Light Secret—the artifact capable of measuring anything that exists in the world.
“If they try to turn me into a puppet, the Immeasurable Light Secret will react.”
“Brother Han.”
“Before I become a puppet, I will tell you what kind of power they are using—what school of sorcery or great art it belongs to.”
To help Bu Eunseol, and to uncover the Executioner’s power, Han Sangja was determined to remain by his side holding the Immeasurable Light Secret—even if it meant exploding into pieces.
“You can determine the type of power with that?”
“Of course. Interpreting that power will depend on my judgment… but I am confident I can see through it.”
True to his nature as a sage of the Sage Forest, being well-versed in all kinds of sorcery and great arts, he would be able to interpret whatever power flowed through the Immeasurable Light Secret.
“If that’s possible…”
Blinking, Bu Eunseol pointed at the black shadow, which was still tilting its head.
“Wouldn’t it be simpler to just measure that one’s power right now?”
“Ah.”
Han Sangja slapped his forehead with an embarrassed expression.
“I’m always like this. My master used to scold me for letting excessive enthusiasm cause me to miss the essence.”
He immediately used the Immeasurable Light Secret to measure the shadow’s power.
After gazing at the flowing light for a long while, Han Sangja’s eyes sparkled.
“The secret method by which the Executioner creates puppets seems to be similar to Body-Transferring Skill—transferring one’s own power to another.”
“Body-Transferring Skill?”
“Exactly. It doesn’t feel like original power; it feels like power injected from outside.”
After observing the light flowing from the Immeasurable Light Secret once more, he continued.
“It doesn’t seem to be directly seizing another’s mind and body to create a puppet… Rather, it injects a supernatural power akin to sorcery to issue commands.”
The Immeasurable Light Secret was a divine artifact capable of measuring everything in existence.
It had even measured the essence of the power the shadow possessed.
“It resembles a secret art like Mysterious Extreme Return to Origin, similar to the domain of the One Hundred and Eight Stars. The fact that it emits black light from its body is also due to that power.”
Han Sangja spoke calmly.
“Such techniques are rare in the martial world, but from the perspective of ancient secret arts, they aren’t particularly strange.”
“Then… it would be impossible to create puppets in large quantities.”
“Precisely.”
“No wonder they only send one at a time…”
This was extremely important information.
The Executioner did not create infinite puppets.
Instead, it selected one individual and transferred its own power to them.
“And judging by the use of such a method…”
Han Sangja spoke with conviction in his eyes.
“Whether it’s the Executioner or the higher existence that dispatches them—they are not transcendent beings, but humans who have mastered sorcery or great arts.”
Flinch.
At that moment, the black shadow’s eyes shook violently, and it dropped to its knees.
Once its domain and the source of its power were exposed by the Immeasurable Light Secret… had the mysterious force within its body lost its effect?
Gurgle.
The black shadow soon transformed into the face of a pale man.
He did not appear very old, yet his face was deeply wrinkled as though he had endured countless hardships, and his body trembled continuously as though he had just emerged from ice water.
“It seems the power has been withdrawn.”
At Bu Eunseol’s murmur, Han Sangja wore a grave expression.
“That means the Executioner was watching this entire situation.”
“It would seem so.”
Bu Eunseol looked worried.
“It may have withdrawn the power to prevent Brother Han from becoming a puppet.”
“No, it’s fine.”
Gripping the Immeasurable Light Secret tightly, Han Sangja spoke in a loud voice.
“If the Executioner is using great arts or sorcery, then I too have ways to respond.”
‘He deliberately provoked the Executioner to force it to reveal its presence.’
Having grasped Han Sangja’s intention, Bu Eunseol raised his Wind-Cloud Divine Qi to the limit.
Woooong.
With a vibration that shook the ground, a mysterious wind blew from his entire body. He immediately spread Wind-Cloud Divine Qi to check whether the Executioner was present nearby.
‘Nothing.’
Yet there was no presence whatsoever in the surroundings.
However, thanks to spreading Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, he discovered one unexpected fact.
The trembling man before him was not an ordinary civilian. He sensed that the man possessed extremely profound sorcery—or perhaps supernatural power—like that of a sorcerer or law master.
“He wasn’t turned into a puppet—he was already a subordinate under the Executioner.”
“What do you mean?”
When Han Sangja asked in surprise, Bu Eunseol looked at the man.
“Just like the old man we encountered before, I can sense a strange dharma energy.”
Then he stated firmly, “If they can turn an ordinary civilian into a martial master, then naturally they can turn an actual martial master into an even stronger individual, can’t they?”
Having grasped the situation, Han Sangja’s eyes widened.
“Then, to handle this matter, the Executioner… turned one of its own subordinates into a puppet in advance and sent him here.”
“Most likely.”
Bu Eunseol approached the man and asked with a solemn expression.
“Where do you belong?”
The man opened his mouth wide.
A half-severed purple tongue was visible inside.
“Since you have fingers and toes, wouldn’t writing be fine?”
At Bu Eunseol’s cold shout, large characters were engraved on the ground beneath.
Revelation.
It implied that a god-like transcendent being imparts truth.
It seemed to mean they regarded the Executioner as an agent of the divine.
“Nonsense.”
Upon seeing the word, Han Sangja spoke coldly.
“If it is divine revelation, why change innocent civilians? Isn’t that the work of evildoers?”
The man squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
It seemed to mean that was none of his concern.
“What’s certain is that the Executioner… meticulously observes the target, then prepares in various ways before attacking.”
Pointing at the man, Han Sangja continued.
“The moment it sensed soul fragrance being divided… instead of changing someone close to the target, it sent one of its own subordinates.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
In the end, the Executioner was merely a human capable of using mysterious great arts or secret techniques and since it had subordinates, it clearly belonged to some organization.
“And the legends passed down through the martial world for generations were fabricated by them.”
If the Executioner was human and belonged to some faction?
There was no way their identity could have remained so perfectly concealed until now.
“Correct. They must have invested enormous manpower and wealth to erase all traces—just like how they damaged the Various Laws Scripture.”
Han Sangja wore a hollow expression.
The Executioners, who acted as though they were transcendent beings and imposed laws even upon the supreme masters of the martial world, turned out to be nothing more than minions of yet another faction lurking in the abyss.
“Tell me where your main base is.”
Mysterious light flowed from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
When the Executioner had not revealed its identity, it had been regarded as an unknown being with transcendent power, so interrogation had never crossed his mind.
But now that he knew it was merely a secret society using sorcery, it felt almost laughably pathetic.
Moreover, if he could locate the Executioner’s headquarters?
And make that information known to the entire martial world?
Then the Executioners—who had tormented the strong of the martial world for generations—would vanish completely.
“If you won’t answer, fine.”
Woooong.
Bu Eunseol raised his internal energy to the limit.
He intended to use a power similar to Heavenly Mirror Heart Sutra to pierce the Executioner’s mind.
Tremble tremble.
As his eyes, flashing with yellowish radiance, met the man’s, the man’s body shook like an aspen leaf.
“It’s useless.”
Having seen through the attempt to invade the mind, Han Sangja shook his head.
“They have already cast a great art that prevents interrogation from the beginning.”
As though proving Han Sangja’s words, black liquid began to flow from the man’s eyes.
Sssss.
It seemed they had imposed a vicious prohibition that caused the body to melt when the mind was attacked.
He was dying, black liquid streaming from him.
Thud.
In the end, without even uttering a single scream, the man expired—black liquid pouring from all seven orifices.
Drip drip.
So vicious was the curse placed upon him that even after death, his entire skin turned pitch black.
“I don’t understand.”
Gazing at the blackened corpse, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“If they are not transcendent beings, how were they able to threaten the supreme masters of the martial world?”
“It’s simple.”
Han Sangja spoke nonchalantly.
“They possess an intelligence network capable of perfectly tracking the movements of supreme masters.”
He shrugged.
“They have enough wealth and manpower to hunt down and destroy any books that mention them…”
Then, eyes sparkling, he continued.
“And if they possess the power to instantly transform ordinary civilians into formidable masters… wouldn’t such things become possible?”
Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“This time, I mobilized my own intelligence network to completely conceal both your movements and mine—so perfectly that even the Three Families would not notice.”
Ever the sage, Han Sangja immediately grasped the situation.
“But in the end, didn’t the Lord still appear at our Forest?”
“Hmm.”
“They probably already knew that our Forest is located on Diecai Mountain.”
“So they had watchers stationed in advance.”
“Our Forest has long sought to uncover transcendent beings like the Executioners… so they must have laid a surveillance network there.”
In the end, the faction behind the Executioners not only had informants scattered throughout the martial world, but also possessed perfect knowledge of the personnel in every sect.
“Since the Lord and I went to the Affectionate Blossom Sect, they likely already knew what would happen.” Han Sangja continued. “And having sensed my plan, they sent this powerful subordinate turned puppet to kill me.”
“Hmm.”
“The Lord can be harassed by puppets at any time, but a sage capable of uncovering them must be eliminated as quickly as possible.”
Bu Eunseol felt a strange sensation.
Han Sangja had grasped the entire situation far too clearly and logically.
“Brother Han, you roughly anticipated a situation like this, yet you deliberately carried out this plan anyway.”
“That’s not quite right. However…”
Han Sangja rubbed the tip of his nose with an apologetic expression.
“If they truly were transcendent beings, no plan could stop them anyway… but if they were ordinary humans, I thought they would act exactly like this.”
If the Executioner had truly been a transcendent existence?
No matter how meticulous the plan, it would have failed.
But if they were merely ordinary martial artists with special abilities?
Then they would recognize Han Sangja—who was plotting such things—as a dangerous individual and prioritize eliminating him.
And although the goal had not been achieved, a partial success had been gained.
In the end, they had proven that the Executioner was not a transcendent being, but merely a puppet of some group that wielded sorcery.
Drip drip.
At that moment, the blackened corpse of the man completely liquefied and flowed into the ground.
Seeing this, Han Sangja took a deep breath.
“It seems they’ve decided to abandon this attempt and wait for the next opportunity.”
“It would appear so.”
“The Lord possesses powerful martial arts and outstanding wisdom… Even wandering alone, you will surely seize their tail eventually.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
Through this incident, he had learned that the Executioner was not a transcendent being but another faction lurking in the abyss.
That meant if he continuously operated his intelligence network and kept investigating, sooner or later he would succeed in tracking them down. No matter how great their power, he could eventually uproot them completely.
Giiiiing.
But at that moment, a bizarre sound echoed from the distant sky.
At the same time, a figure wrapped in mysterious light slowly began to descend.
It was a small child clad in snow-white robes as pure as snowflakes, with eyes distinctly black and white.
The child, who seemed to have descended straight from the heavens, looked at the liquefied man and at Han Sangja before speaking in a low voice.
“Outsiders, step aside.”
In that instant, Han Sangja’s eyes turned pure white, and he collapsed like a log.
Srrrr.
At the same time, the thirty-two Death Spirit Corps members who had just emerged from the formation instantly lost consciousness as well.
“Who are you?”
Raising his energy, Bu Eunseol wore a grave expression.
Though outwardly a child of about ten years, he had instantly perceived that this being possessed power akin to a demon that had lived for hundreds of years.
“You might call me what you refer to as an Executioner.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
The true Executioner—the one Han Sangja had so desperately sought, the one capable of explaining the laws—had finally revealed itself.
“You seem prepared.”
The child looked at Bu Eunseol and smiled.
“Indeed. I have come to execute you, who have not joined the covenant.”
“I don’t understand.”
Without moving a single finger, without manifesting any power, without giving off any presence at all, the child had instantly erased the consciousness of Han Sangja and even the rigorously trained Death Spirit Corps members.
Why would an absolute master possessing such ability force covenants upon the strong of the martial world?
“With power like yours, what could you possibly fear that makes you want to control the strong of the martial world?”
“Huhuhu. Yes, that part must have been utterly incomprehensible to you.”
The child gave a faint smile.
“That’s why you orchestrated this incident to avoid being killed.”
“Indeed.”
Gazing at Bu Eunseol’s calm eyes, the child shook its head.
“You truly are dangerous. You handle matters no one can predict, and your martial prowess has reached an unpredictable level.”
“…”
“That is why, unusually, I have come to tell you the truth before carrying out your execution.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
At last, he would reach the truth regarding the Executioners.
“I must tell you the entire truth so that you will never again attempt such absurd nonsense.”
Looking at Bu Eunseol as though regarding a wayward grandchild, the child continued.
“What I am about to say from now on is something that can only be heard by those who join the covenant—so listen carefully.”
The child extended its hand.
The surroundings immediately darkened, and the space where Bu Eunseol and the child stood began to separate from the rest of the world as though seen through glass.
It was a power similar to an Absolute Boundary.
The child had created it with a mere wave of its hand.
“The place to which this old one belongs is called the Sacred Domain.”
‘Sacred Domain?’
—Divine Qi Exhaustion, Heavenly God Mortalization? A being of the Sacred Domain?
In that instant, Bu Eunseol suddenly recalled the words of the old man in the cave who had insisted he was a descendant of the True Demon.
