After throwing himself into the Clear River Realm, Baek Museong was able to learn a wide variety of martial arts.
However, he could only learn five forms of the Seven Blood Tear Forms—and even those were not the true Seven Blood Tear Forms.
“Your body is not yet mature. To truly master the power of our realm, you must wait a little longer.”
The Clear River Realm had spoken in this way,
“Nonsense.”
Baek Museong did not believe those words.
The Clear River Realm was a far more terrifying and vast organization than what was publicly known—one capable of granting two personalities to a perfectly sound human being.
“If you will not teach me, I will find it myself.”
Thanks to the great technique that divided his personality Baek Museong was able to locate a single mysterious place that was known even within the Three Realms as an absolute forbidden zone.
“This must surely be the place where the concentrated power of the Three Realms, which has ruled the martial world for generations, is gathered.”
A place that even the core members of the Clear River Realm could not enter.
A prohibition that no one in the world could violate.
Baek Museong staked his life to step inside and through an extreme overlap of coincidences—as though the heavens themselves had blessed him—he finally entered that place.
The moment he crossed into the forbidden zone, blinding radiance poured down along with a suffocating pressure that crushed his entire body.
It was a space where the laws and principles of the world no longer applied.
The sky was not separated from the earth; the sun blazed so brilliantly it could blind the eyes, yet the surroundings were sunk in profound darkness.
The air rippled like enormous waves even within perfect silence, and invisible forces endlessly swirled.
It felt as though the universe itself had held its breath and was watching this place.
And at its center stood a massive shadow.
It was the silhouette of a human enveloped in black sword-light, long hair fluttering and emitting a faint radiance like starlight.
Its eyes were deep, dark abysses in which countless wars, slaughters, destructions, and creations were condensed.
“Huuu…”
The moment the black shadow saw Baek Museong,
KIIII!
It swept one hand through empty air—and in that instant the world split apart.
Sword-light tore through the heavens, cleaved the earth, and created a rift that severed space itself.
And at its edge—was a razor-sharp flash that seemed capable of cutting through anything that existed beyond time and space.
Baek Museong’s mouth fell open.
How could a hand made merely of flesh and blood unleash such dao technique?
“He is a piece meant to carry on our realm’s grand design.”
At that moment, accompanied by a low voice, a blue wind rose before Baek Museong, and a figure in azure robes suddenly appeared, blocking the comet-like pouring sword-light.
When power collided with power, shockwaves surged toward the sky.
The ground where the two shadows stood instantly collapsed, and even the void cracked and split.
In that instant, the face of the black shadow that had unleashed the sword-light slowly came into view.
It was a handsome middle-aged man yet immediately afterward it transformed into a beautiful boy, and then into an elderly grandfather.
“I regret interrupting your training.
But if this continues… it seems your true nature will be revealed to this child as well.”
BOOM!
At the words of the figure who had raised the blue wind, the black shadow that had been unleashing sword-light shot out a momentarily fierce yellow glare, and vanished into the sky in an instant.
Baek Museong stood frozen, unable to move his body.
That being with the yellow-tiger eyes.
That absolute dao technique.
Before it, he was nothing more than a single meaningless speck of dust drifting in the cosmos.
“Your rebellious nature cannot be suppressed. To think you actually found the Annihilation Black Sun Ground.”
It turned out this place was a forbidden domain where the boundary between reality and unreality had collapsed—the Annihilation Black Sun Ground, where transcendent beings like realm lords trained their martial arts.
And the blue wind—no, the Clear River Realm Lord—spoke thus:
“Even when you step into the martial world in the future, if you ever encounter one who unfolds the Seven Blood Tear Forms imbued with that darkness, flee immediately.”
“Darkness…?”
“The Seven Blood Tear Forms mixed with demonic spirit energy akin to Sealed Demon Fragments.”
Only then did Baek Museong realize that the absolute sword-light unleashed by the black shadow was the Seven Blood Tear Forms carrying the aura of demonic spirit energy.
The Clear River Realm Lord continued in a grave voice:
“In particular, he is stirring up the martial world with an identity so unimaginable that no one would ever suspect.”
“Just who is he…?”
“Returning to One Realm Lord.”
The Clear River Realm Lord gazed into the distant sky.
“He is the very person who has taken possession of the physical body of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang and is completing the Seven Blood Tear Forms…
His voice was utterly solemn.
“…and he is a madman who will drag this realm—no, the entire martial world—into ruin.”
Even when he had met the Clear River Realm Lord, he had merely thought of him as an incomprehensibly monstrous existence.
He had believed that if he could obtain that “secret art,” surpassing him would be impossible.
But Returning to One Realm Lord was different.
In the past, he had defeated that invincible transcendent being.
He carried the exact same aura and power as the demon who had held destruction and creation in both hands.
Moreover, he could change his appearance at will, leaving no trace of disguise.
In short, until he revealed his identity or used his martial arts, no one could recognize who he truly was.
Tremble tremble.
Finishing the recollection, Baek Museong shuddered.
Fortunately he had been hidden within the formation; had he been together with the Black Night Corps, he would have been reduced to a handful of bloody water.
Until he obtained that ancient secret art, he must never approach anywhere near the Returning to One Realm Lord.
***
Sssss.
Once all the assassins were dead, the pillars that had soared to the edge of the sky melted away, and the formation slowly began to disappear.
Shuuu.
Having withdrawn the sword-light of the Seven Blood Tear Forms, Bu Eunseol could not calm his mind.
Seven Blood Tear Forms, Sixth Form: Death Without Regret.
This dao form could be called a type of hand technique—it unfolded dao arts using the hand-blade rather than a sword.
In other words, it was an extraordinary art that allowed one to execute the Seven Blood Tear Forms even when a sword could not be used, or in urgent situations without a blade.
However, the recoil from unleashing the sixth form was truly beyond imagination.
“Grrrrr…”
Bu Eunseol let out a groan as his body trembled.
Normally, when a dao technique is unleashed, the sword-light should extend outward.
Yet in Death Without Remaining Regret, even after releasing the dao form, the aftermath of that sword-light remained within the body.
Moreover, to completely annihilate the evil energy and liquid that had been absorbed into him, he had poured the enormous power of the Sealed Demon Fragment taken from the Ghost King into his dao-light to the utmost…
Bu Eunseol was currently enduring pain akin to death itself.
Sssss.
It felt as though his flesh was burning and his head was melting.
“Huuu!”
To endure the agony he bared his fangs, gritting his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
The sight resembled a beast enraged with fury—yet in truth he was simply withstanding the excruciating sensation of his entire body melting.
‘Death Without Regret must necessarily be accompanied by a technique to dissipate the returning recoil—or even redirect it toward the enemy.’
Perhaps his grandfather had reached such an exalted martial realm that he no longer needed to dissipate the recoil at all.
But because Bu Eunseol had chosen to walk his own path, he had not deeply mastered the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
He had not even reached the level of fully unfolding it properly until now.
Yet in unleashing—for the first time—the sixth form, and moreover in the hand-blade style, while also channeling the massive power of the fragment absorbed from the Ghost King… its might had been tremendous enough to split the heavens.
However, because his physical body was still insufficient to fully contain that power, he was suffering pain as though his entire body were shattering.
“Arrrgh!”
In the end, as the pain-filled Bu Eunseol explosively released his strength,
KIIII! Crackle crackle.
Once again black sword-light clung to his body, forming pitch-black armor.
As the agony persisted, he had converted the recoil of the Seven Blood Tear Forms into Infinite Reversal Energy.
Sssss.
At that moment the formation shattered, and the original scenery slowly began to reappear.
Whoosh.
In an instant, Bu Eunseol spotted a shadow far in the distance fleeing as though running for its life.
Though he could not make out the appearance, he could guess it was Baek Museong.
‘I must meet him and speak.’
If not now, who knew when he would have another chance to encounter him.
With desperate effort Bu Eunseol drew up his internal energy and unfolded his movement technique.
But at that moment,
Rumble… SHWAAAA!
The Infinite Reversal Energy sword-light enveloping his body suddenly reshaped into a crescent moon form and poured toward the frantically fleeing Baek Museong.
Thud!
Terrified out of his wits, Baek Museong instinctively crouched and evaded the sword-light.
Shuk!
The massive dao crescent cleanly sliced off the upper portion of a distant boulder mountain as though cutting tofu.
Rumble. BOOM!
Watching an entire mountain collapse, Baek Museong trembled once more.
“…!”
As though finally coming to his senses, he no longer simply ran; he unleashed his full movement technique and vanished from the area in an instant.
“Baek Museong!”
Bu Eunseol shouted.
“Pfft.”
Yet in the end, having unleashed the sword-light, he could not withstand the recoil; blood sprayed from his mouth in an arrow as he dropped to one knee.
‘I should have thought more calmly and unfolded it properly.’
For the first time he had made a grave mistake.
The sword-light he had kept wrapped around his body until just now was not recoil.
From the beginning, Death Without Regret was a secret revolving technique designed to compensate for the weakness of scattering dao forms with bare hands against an enemy: it unleashed sword-light with the hand-blade, then used the remaining internal power within the body to turn the body itself into a massive blade, and unleashed sword-light once more in a revolving secret art.
But because he had not known this and had continued suppressing it within his body… he had ultimately been unable to endure his own power and suffered internal injury.
‘Because I only learned the forms without properly interpreting the mnemonic verses… it was inevitable.’
Generally, secret manuals of advanced martial arts include practical application verses.
But his grandfather had left behind only pure dao mnemonics, without adding practical explanations or interpretations.
As Bu Eunseol was essentially a clone of Bu Zhanyang, he had been able to unfold the Seven Blood Tear Forms with just that.
Yet he had not fully grasped all the profound subtleties contained within.
‘Is this the limitation of a secret manual?’
Transmitting martial arts is not simply teaching how to study the verses.
It includes unraveling the mysteries contained in the art, demonstrating them personally through action, and allowing enlightenment.
Since a manual alone cannot fully transmit every subtlety of a martial art, masters personally demonstrate or explain verbally to compensate.
If it were possible to perfectly transmit the essence of a martial art through a manual alone, the very concept of sects in the martial world would never have existed.
“Ugh…”
Forcibly drawing up internal energy to execute movement technique, genuine recoil now tore through Bu Eunseol’s body.
Ziiiing.
Light flowed from his body as three rays of radiance extended outward.
The Three Divine Energies had manifested spontaneously, piercing blocked acupoints and stabilizing his overheated body.
‘To think the Three Divine Energies could resolve the recoil of the Seven Blood Tear Forms.’
The Seven Blood Tear Forms is an absolute dao art that brings death to all things.
Conversely, the Three Divine Energies contain natural qi—a portion of the life force of nature itself.
Yet two completely opposing powers were harmonizing with each other?
“Life and death are not in opposition… they are one complete cycle.”
That was not merely a personal reflection—it was the supreme principle of martial arts.
Everything that stands at the boundary of opposites proves instead to be existences that perfectly complete one another.
‘Grandfather truly passed down to me the insights he gained over a lifetime of martial study.’
Bu Zhanyang was a grand master who had realized profound mysteries.
Every single word he spoke carried deep meaning and arcane mechanisms.
Most martial world people dream of unrivaled fame or wealth and glory.
Yet even after reaching boundless realms, grandfather had cast aside selfish desires, explored the question of life and death, and attained transcendence.
And Bu Eunseol had inherited all of Bu Zhanyang’s superhuman insight and wisdom.
‘If I too could unify everything that stands at this boundary into one…’
Grip.
Clenching his fist tightly, Bu Eunseol murmured in a low voice:
“I will become a grand master of martial arts who can stand shoulder to shoulder with grandfather.”
By then Baek Museong’s presence had completely vanished.
While Bu Eunseol was gaining enlightenment, he had already fled far beyond this area.
“Perhaps it is not yet time for our fateful meeting.”
With a soft sigh, Bu Eunseol turned away.
Not everything in the world goes according to human will.
If he could not meet him now, then he must proceed with what he had resolved to do.
***
Jin Seol had resigned from her position of the Flower of Majeon and was spending quiet days in the Sacred Demon Hall. She had completely withdrawn from Majeon’s affairs and had no intention of getting involved no matter what happened.
Yet something strange occurred.
Bu Eunseol had invited her—who was quietly living in the Sacred Demon Hall—and very secretly at that.
“If there is business, he could simply come to the Sacred Demon Hall.”
If he came to the Sacred Demon Hall, he could meet her anytime.
If he disliked that, there were plenty of places in Majeon where they could talk.
Yet Bu Eunseol had not chosen Majeon.
Instead he had specifically invited her to a very secluded teahouse quite far from Majeon.
“I have something urgent to discuss. It is a matter that must be spoken outside, so I beg your understanding.”
Meeting outside Majeon rather than inside meant, in short, that he intended to keep the meeting itself strictly confidential.
‘Why is he looking for me?’
In truth, Jin Seol still liked Bu Eunseol.
No—her feelings had never once changed.
Only after learning that Bu Eunseol held no affection for her had she deliberately tried to meet other people.
Love cannot be forced.
In the end, out of resignation she had met Shim Wol… and that became the greatest wrong choice of her life.
Shim Wol, who had seemed gentle and as though he would look only at her forever, had deliberately approached her out of ambition.
Because he had secretly received an artificial inner core from Hyeok Ryeon-eung—who was colluding with external forces—he had continued committing endless slaughter.
By chance Bu Eunseol had seen through it and gently advised her to resolve the matter peacefully.
But because of her pride she had refused to listen… and because of that wrong choice, countless people had been massacred.
After that day, Jin Seol had buried her feelings for Bu Eunseol. No—she had been forced to bury them.
A narrow-minded and dishonest woman like her could not stand by his side.
He was a man who silently endured all trials and walked toward his goal; he was not the type to turn his eyes toward women.
Yet recently, upon seeing him again, the feelings she had forgotten—the blazing embers—were reviving.
‘I am not worthy of him.’
Even as she forcibly suppressed her heart, when he so secretly requested a meeting, her emotions could not help but waver.
‘This meeting too is surely because he needs something from me.’
Even though he held no feelings at all, the fact that he earnestly requested it meant he clearly hoped for great help from her.
‘I do not want to be used by him.’
Jin Seol tried hard to suppress her heart and avoided the meeting.
But Bu Eunseol did not give up and continued to invite her persistently.
“I will wait at that teahouse every day at that time. If your heart ever changes, please come there.”
He would wait every day.
Those were sweet words that would shake any woman’s heart.
‘Has something happened in Majeon that he is seeking me?’
Bu Eunseol was a man who ran ceaselessly toward his goal.
Moreover, countless peerless beauties surrounded him.
There was no need for him to turn his gaze toward her, nor any reason to feel regret. Yet the fact that he earnestly sought her meant…
‘There is definitely something for which he absolutely must see me.’
Although she had refused the position of the Majeon Flower, because she was the adopted daughter of the Demon Emperor, she still had considerable use.
Most likely that was why he was calling for her.
“The Martial Soul Command Lord truly waits at that teahouse every single day.”
When she had a trustworthy subordinate investigate, it turned out Bu Eunseol really was sitting there drinking tea at the same time every day, waiting for her.
After several days passed like that, Jin Seol’s heart finally wavered.
Pure Heart Teahouse.
This was a small teahouse located quite far from the holy capital.
Around it, warriors of the Death Shadow Corps were strictly deployed, and the intelligence network of the Death Spirit Corps blocked all traces of movement.
When Jin Seol entered the teahouse, there were no customers inside—only a single man dressed in black sitting alone.
It was Bu Eunseol.
“Lady Jin.”
When Bu Eunseol gave a courteous greeting, Jin Seol returned it.
“Command Lord.”
“I thank you for accepting my invitation.”
As Bu Eunseol offered her a seat, she sat and immediately asked, “Just what is the matter that you have repeatedly invited me to such a remote place?”
At her question, Bu Eunseol did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
“I wish to hear about Lady Jin’s past.”
“My past?”
“In truth, I encountered a martial artist in the martial world who resembles you extremely closely. And she was searching for her lost daughter.”
“What?”
Jin Seol was dumbfounded.
“Surely the Command Lord has already thoroughly investigated how I have lived?”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“To be honest, when it comes to one’s background and origins, investigating through intelligence organizations holds little meaning. Those are the easiest things to fabricate.”
That was indeed the case.
If intelligence organizations could accurately uncover someone’s true background, then Bu Eunseol himself would not have wandered so long unable to clarify his own origins.
“So you think I am that martial artist’s lost daughter?”
“I felt it was necessary to confirm.”
Jin Seol was at a loss for words.
She had thought that since he had invited her so earnestly and secretly, it would at least be related to Majeon’s affairs.
But to think he had come looking because he wondered whether she might be the lost daughter of some martial artist?
“The Command Lord’s meddling knows no bounds.”
Jin Seol spoke with clear displeasure.
“My parents are perfectly alive and well. Are you now saying I have a separate birth mother?”
If it had been for the greater cause, for the grand undertaking, she could have understood to some extent why he sought her.
But merely hearing someone else’s pitiful story and earnestly calling for her?
Wasn’t this attitude simply looking down on her too much?
‘She thinks I called her out over something extremely trivial.’
Seeing the constantly shifting light in Jin Seol’s eyes, Bu Eunseol read her inner thoughts.
“I will speak frankly.”
In the end he had no choice but to explain the full circumstances.
“I believe the husband of that martial artist is one of the figures belonging to the most mysterious faction in the martial world.”
“What do you mean?”
Bu Eunseol hesitated for a moment before answering.
‘I cannot speak about what I know of the Sacred Domain, but conveying what she spoke of should be fine.’
In any case, the Snowflower Enchanting Swallow had spread word everywhere while searching for the child, including the stories her husband had told.
Yet no restraint had come from the Sacred Domain, most likely because they knew that without clear evidence such claims would simply be dismissed as absurd nonsense.
“A place that upholds the laws of the martial world?”
After listening quietly to Bu Eunseol’s story for a while, Jin Seol wore a bewildered expression.
“Does such a place really exist in the world?”
“It may sound absurd. But I have truly clashed with figures from that mysterious faction who spoke such words.”
“Even if that is so… is there any need for the Command Lord to personally step forward and resolve that old woman’s grievance?”
Jin Seol spoke coldly.
“Or did I appear to you as such an idle woman?”
“Misunderstand me not. That old woman became the master of a subordinate who is like family to me. For that reason alone… I wished to offer at least minimal help.”
Bu Eunseol explained calmly.
“To speak even more frankly, I also thought that through this matter I might be able to uncover the secrets of that faction.”
Only then did Jin Seol’s expression soften slightly.
In the end it was not mere meddling.
Because a subordinate who was like family had become the old woman’s disciple, he wished to fulfill that courtesy and at the same time, he wanted to seize the tail of that mysterious martial world faction.
“Very well.”
Jin Seol nodded.
“So, exactly what do you want to know?”
“Could you briefly explain… the process by which Lady Jin became the adopted daughter of the Demon Emperor?”
Jin Seol pondered for a moment before opening her mouth.
“I was born in a small village. My parents were ordinary farmers.”
She bit her lip lightly.
“But they were killed by bandits, and I became an orphan. I wandered the streets until I was seven… when by chance the former pavilion lord saw me in the martial world and brought me to Majeon.”
The story was no different from her publicly known background.
But he had asked again to confirm whether she possessed intact memories.
“Do you remember everything before the age of seven?”
“Not clearly, but roughly, yes.”
Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow.
‘From this conversation alone I cannot tell whether they were implanted.’
The Demon Emperor could dominate another’s mind with a single word.
If he had intentionally tampered with Jin Seol’s memories, there was still no way to discern the truth.
“I see. I apologize.”
Bu Eunseol apologized for bringing up unnecessary pain.
Jin Seol showed a graceful, refined smile.
“It is fine. Having lived as a vagrant and experienced all sorts of things… this much is nothing.”
For an instant a flash passed through Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
Jin Seol was elegant, noble, and possessed an innate dignity.
That dignity was not something acquired through later education or environment…
It was the air possessed only by those who had truly never experienced hardship since birth.
“Could you tell me a little about your days as a vagrant?”
“I do not particularly wish to recall that time. I am sorry.”
“It is important. Since you have already begun, could you tell me just a little?”
Jin Seol frowned slightly.
But Bu Eunseol’s expression was utterly serious, and his eyes shone with an interest she had never seen before.
‘He is asking about me, but it is not interest in me.’
She knew.
The attention he was giving her now was not because he liked her, but because he was trying to confirm some information.
Even knowing that, she could not help but speak.
Because she still liked him. Because she still craved his attention.
“In the beggars’ organizations, girl children were quite useful. Because it was easy to arouse sympathy, we could get more food. So there I…”
She calmly recounted her days among the vagrants.
Bu Eunseol listened silently.
‘As expected, something is off.’
Having lived as a real beggar for a long time, Bu Eunseol was well acquainted with the unique sorrow only vagrants felt.
But Jin Seol was different.
She spoke of beggar life as though it were a story she had merely heard.
Though her eyes and expression were extremely dark, she could not properly express the pain and sorrow of that time.
She spoke indifferently, as though relaying someone else’s tale.
“I see.”
Yet without showing it, Bu Eunseol drew up his internal energy.
Then he lightly tapped his foot on the ground, spreading the Mind’s Eye.
In an instant, the entire structure of the teahouse and its interior form flowed into his mind.
‘As I thought, it is here.’
Having caught something, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed. Yet a calm smile still hung on his lips.
“You must have suffered greatly. In truth, I too lived as a vagrant for a long time.”
“Well, yes.”
“Then the Flower of Majeon must have tasted all sorts of things.”
“Of course. Back then there was no food I had not tried… Aaaah!”
Mid-sentence, Jin Seol let out a tearing scream.
Because an entirely unexpected situation had unfolded.
