T/N: Bu Zhanyang was the Heavenly-Mandate Star not the Heavenly Power Star. It should be fixed now
Flames sparked in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
His mother?
Did that mean this boy knew something about his mother?
“Please don’t ask about it right now.”
Before Bu Eunseol could even pose the question, the boy answered first.
“You will come to know it naturally each time you overcome a trial. If you hear everything in advance, it may instead hinder the great plan…”
The words were remarkably similar to what the Wood Buddha had once said.
The boy began gasping for breath, as if continuing to speak was difficult.
Bu Eunseol reached out again to infuse inner energy into him.
“Do not waste your valuable energy.”
The boy shook his head, then firmly grasped Bu Eunseol’s hand and smiled.
“Your hands are warm, just like hers.”
Realizing that “hers” referred to his mother’s hands, Bu Eunseol spoke earnestly.
“My mother…”
“She was an incomparably wonderful and kind person.”
The boy spoke with deep sincerity.
“Please save the Great Forest Lord.”
Swish.
With those final words, the boy slowly leaned back against the wall. Wearing a peaceful smile, he drew his last breath.
“…”
Bu Eunseol accepted the orb from the boy’s hand with an extremely grave expression.
‘So my mother had a connection with the Ancient Sword Forest.’
Moreover, the Small Forest Lord in the form of this boy had clearly met his mother.
With such a connection, Bu Eunseol could not possibly ignore his request.
“I do not know the full circumstances, but I will do everything in my power to rescue the Ancient Sword Forest Lord.”
As if he had heard those words, a faint smile remained on the boy’s lips.
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully to the boy’s remains, then left the place.
***
Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard walked side by side as they exited the ruined Ancient Sword Forest.
“…So that is what happened.”
While walking back toward the Hyungsan Sect, Bu Eunseol relayed to Black Leopard everything the boy who had been the Small Forest Lord had told him.
“That means your revered mother had a deep connection with the Ancient Sword Forest Lord.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
If that were not the case, even if the boy could see the future, he would not have mentioned his mother.
“Then the strange beings I encountered must also have been the Omnipotent Men created by the Ancient Sword Forest.”
Black Leopard shook his head with a guilty expression.
“Perhaps I intruded upon the Ancient Sword Forest’s territory and fought against the Omnipotent Men who were trying to protect it from external forces.”
“It is not your fault.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“The United Heart Society is indiscriminately attacking the Ancient Sword Forest and seizing their power.”
“…”
“The fact that you were able to enter that place means it, too, had already been attacked and its grand formation had collapsed.”
“Then will the Hyungsan Sect be alright?”
Black Leopard looked toward the Mirror Polishing Platform as he spoke.
“Couldn’t they come again and attack the Hyungsan Sect?”
He had taken a strong liking to the clever and intelligent Myeong Un, and was worried that something terrible might happen to him.
“Even though he is young, he is the rightful sect leader of a faction. If difficulties arise, he must overcome them himself.”
“But…”
“Besides, it will be fine. Now that the Forest Lord has passed away, the Ancient Sword Forest will soon collapse completely.”
Rumble.
As if to prove his words, the ground trembled lowly, and the entire cliff face where the Ancient Sword Forest had stood began to disappear.
This cliff of the Mirror Polishing Platform had existed long before the Hyungsan Sect settled here.
In other words, the Ancient Sword Forest had been researching Black Divine Energy in this location even before the Hyungsan Sect was founded.
Now that the Ancient Sword Forest had completely collapsed… no other force would come to the Hyungsan Sect anymore.
“Still, it is a shame. The Hyungsan Sect’s swordsmanship focuses on extreme speed, yet there is no one to teach him the profound principles of ultra-speed.”
Bu Eunseol sighed as he gazed at the distant Hyungsan Sect.
“If someone could guide him, he would grow rapidly. Unfortunately, there is no suitable talent I can send nearby.”
Black Leopard’s eyes sparkled.
“Then, may I stay in the Hyungsan Sect for a while and teach the sect leader?”
“What about the mercenaries?”
“They manage well even without me. I sometimes go on solo missions for a month or two.”
Bu Eunseol smiled.
‘This will be a chance for both of them to develop rapidly.’
Teaching someone else was an excellent opportunity to review everything one had learned so far, and a way to systematically organize one’s knowledge and experience.
“Then I leave it to you.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Black Leopard answered with a bright smile.
“Yes.”
Now both Myeong Un and Black Leopard would advance to the next level.
In particular, since the sharp swordsmanship of the Hyungsan Sect shared similarities with the dagger techniques Black Leopard used, his sword skills would improve significantly as well.
“Then I will take my leave.”
“Are you going to search for the Ancient Sword Forest Lord right away?”
“I plan to handle some accumulated work at the main headquarters first before beginning.”
Bu Eunseol took out the orb given by the Small Forest Lord and held it up to the moonlight.
“After all, I must first unlock the secrets contained within it.”
At that moment, as the light of the orb reflected by the moonlight touched Bu Eunseol’s forehead—
Whoosh!
A tremendous light shot up into the sky.
It was like a meteor rising from the ground toward the heavens, and for an instant, the dark night sky was covered in brilliant radiance.
“Perhaps reflecting it in moonlight activates some kind of power?”
At Black Leopard’s suggestion, Bu Eunseol nodded and tried reflecting the moonlight onto the orb once more.
But no more light emerged.
Bu Eunseol and Black Leopard tried various methods—stroking the orb in different ways and even infusing it with a little inner energy—but there was no further reaction.
“It seems there must be another method.”
“Yes, I will need to research it back at the main headquarters.”
Bu Eunseol put the orb back into his robe and bid farewell.
“I will go on ahead.”
If he announced his departure, Myeong Un would feel disappointed again and gather all the sect members to see him off.
That was why he chose to leave lightly.
“Yes. Take care, Command Lord.”
Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.
Then, in a single leap, he soared into the distant sky and disappeared.
***
At that same moment, in Majeon’s Solitary Light Pavilion.
Yeop Hyocheon, seated in his office, felt a low vibration coming from the Sacred Heaven Jade in his bosom.
‘Could it be?’
He turned and looked out the window.
In that instant, a single star in the distant sky began to sparkle with brilliant light and slowly revealed itself.
At the same time, he sensed the heavenly energy flow—something only those who possessed the Sacred Heaven Jade could feel—shifting completely.
Flash!
The star that had brightly illuminated the night sky slowly faded back into darkness.
‘It worked!’
Yeop Hyocheon clenched his fist inwardly.
The heavenly energy had finally moved perfectly.
That meant the opportunity to use this half of the Sacred Heaven Jade had arrived.
“Bu Eunseol.”
Yeop Hyocheon took a deep breath.
“You have inherited the power of Bu Zhanyang, which even the Baekri Family and the True Demon’s kin could not touch.”
Bu Zhanyang, the Seven-Finger Demon Blade.
He had not only mastered the greatest Daoist arts under the heavens, but had also been able to reject the power of both the Baekri Family and the True Demon.
Because he possessed the power of the Heavenly-Mandate Star—the ability to annihilate even the will of the heavens and transcend the path of fate.
The formless annihilation of the heavens, the supreme severance of destiny.
And Yeop Hyocheon had longed for that power for a very long time.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the past several decades of his life had been solely a process to obtain that power.
And finally.
The long-awaited moment to absorb Bu Zhanyang’s power had arrived.
Shuuu.
Black mist suddenly rose from his body.
Pop.
At the same time, his figure was instantly sucked down into the floor of the office.
Using the grand formation employed by the Three Families, he had created an extremely mysterious space beneath the office—one that only he could pass through, having mastered the dark arts of the Black Secret to the extreme.
Even if it were not the Demon Emperor but a god, no one else could enter.
Clank.
As he descended, he spread his hands, and the metal doors sealed on all sides began to open one by one.
Whirr. Whirr.
Each time a door opened, the sight of corpses lying inside upright coffins was revealed.
What was grotesque, however, was that they were not intact corpses.
Only the facial skin and body skin were hanging on frames inside the coffins.
“This one should do nicely this time.”
Yeop Hyocheon examined the many human skins set up behind the doors, then smiled as he gazed at the one belonging to a sinister-looking middle-aged man.
“The one who used the Blood Shadow Dark Flute… His title was the Black Shadow Dark Emperor, Hwa Mugi.”
Looking at the middle-aged man’s face, Yeop Hyocheon smiled.
“He truly was a difficult opponent to kill.”
The Black Shadow Dark Emperor, Hwa Mugi.
He was a powerful expert who used the dark and yin-based martial arts of the Perishing Light Sect, along with the sound technique Blood Sound Breaking Darkness played through a flute.
But something was strange.
He had already vanished more than thirty years ago, and there was no record of him ever being defeated by anyone.
So how could his skin be here, peeled off and displayed in such a wretched state?
“Perfect.”
Slither.
At the same time, Yeop Hyocheon’s body from head to toe turned into a wriggling liquid, and then began transforming into Hwa Mugi, who lay inside the metal coffin.
Slither. Slither.
Not only his skin but even his skeletal structure and internal organs softened and changed, until finally,
Shaaak.
He became exactly identical to Hwa Mugi lying in the coffin.
It was not merely an external change; even the position of his bones and organs had been perfectly altered.
“Is it because I haven’t used it for too long?”
Having transformed into Hwa Mugi, Yeop Hyocheon looked down at his body and let out a deep sigh.
“It feels incredibly awkward.”
His gaze deepened as he stared into the coffin where he had been standing.
Inside it lay Yeop Hyocheon’s own skin, completely dismantled while still wearing black robes.
Every wrinkle around the mouth and every vein on the back of the hand remained intact.
Each dry piece of skin still contained nerves, as if it could move at any moment.
The face had the exact same shape, yet the eyes were gone.
Instead, dark empty holes stared back at him with a vacant gaze.
“Soon, all fates will change.”
Yeop Hyocheon—no, Hwa Mugi—looked up at the transparent ceiling as his eyes flickered like stars.
“Hehehe.”
Hwa Mugi laughed.
To think that this grotesque form had, until just recently, been the second-in-command and Chief Inspector of Majeon, overseeing all its warriors.
“It has been far too long.”
He closed his eyes.
Unknowingly, he recalled the days of the past.
***
As thunder roared as if splitting the sky, lightning flashed between the black clouds.
Soon, a torrential downpour hammered the earth, enveloping the fields in thick mist.
Thousands of corpses lay tangled within it.
The stench of blood mixed with rainwater flowed across the ground, dyeing the earth a dark crimson.
The rain fell without pause, yet the bloodstains and horrific scene refused to be washed away.
Rumble.
As the thunder, sounding like agonized screams, gradually subsided and the smell of blood slowly faded within the pouring rain,
Twitch.
One part of the corpse pile wriggled as if alive, and a man slowly rose to his feet.
Slither.
His rain-soaked hair covered his face, making it impossible to see his features clearly.
But every time the world flashed from a lightning strike, a glint of murderous light could be seen flashing between the strands of hair.
The light shining from his eyes in the darkness was not human—it carried killing intent and deep resentment, like the eyes of a demon risen from hell.
Slither.
With each step, blood flowed from between the tears in his clothes.
“…”
The man lifted his head to look at the pouring raindrops, and a profound light flowed from his eyes.
Once, he had been called the greatest talent destined to complete the Absolute Demonic Blade Project.
But he had realized he could not become the final survivor, and certain events had occurred.
After brutally murdering several instructors, he had fled that place… but the price of escape had been harsh.
The instructors of the Absolute Demonic Blade Project were all supreme experts with transcendent status and identity. After killing them and escaping, relentless pursuers with unfathomable martial prowess—assassins specialized in hunting and murder—had chased him endlessly.
In the end, he had been forced to wander the martial world continuously to evade pursuit.
He had joined the righteous faction, the demonic path, the evil faction, the black path… and even worked as a mercenary protecting foreign merchant groups.
He had even become a black gang thug who swindled merchants or lived off the power of red-light districts.
Yet the pursuers never gave up.
No matter how much time it took, they would find his trail and attempt to kill him.
―I cannot die like this.
Even while constantly being chased, he trained his martial arts and increased his inner energy.
Among the three hundred talents who participated in the Absolute Demonic Blade Project, he possessed unparalleled tenacity, stamina, and comprehension.
He also had the supreme talent to perfectly replicate any martial art he saw once.
Thanks to the various martial arts and one hundred and eight secret arts he had learned through the Absolute Demonic Blade Project, he had been able to evade or eliminate his pursuers.
The more his life was threatened and the more dangerous the battles became, the stronger he grew.
While wandering aimlessly to avoid pursuit, he encountered great fortune.
He met a supreme expert from the most mysterious force in the martial world—the Sacred Domain—which maintained balance between the Baekri Family and the True Demon’s kin.
―You have the qualifications to enter our domain.
The expert instantly recognized that the young man constantly shaking off pursuers possessed the aptitude to learn the martial arts of the Sacred Domain.
―It does not matter what your past is. Once you go there, you will forget everything and be reborn as a new person.
Then he handed over an old, dirty piece of cloth.
―Tie this around your waist and stand in front of the Drunken Immortals Pavilion in Jiaxing Prefecture, Zhejiang, on the night of the full moon. Someone will come to take you.
He had stood in front of Drunken Immortals Pavilion wearing the dirty cloth given by the Sacred Domain expert. Finally, he obtained the fortune of entering the Sacred Domain, the most mysterious sect in the martial world that wielded the most profound secret arts.
―To enter our domain, one must purify body and mind.
As soon as he entered, they performed the Furnace Great Method, which extinguished evil intentions and created a good heart.
But it did not work on him.
He was born with resistance to such laws and techniques.
The very first thing he had trained in the Absolute Demonic Blade Project was the Soul Refining Indestructible Secret Art, which prevented any power from damaging the spirit. Thanks to that, he had been able to maintain his original nature even after receiving the Furnace Great Method.
―It is done!
Having learned what the Sacred Domain truly was, he was overjoyed.
He no longer needed to be chased by anyone, and he could now learn the most mysterious martial arts and secret techniques under the heavens.
Once inside the Sacred Domain, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to mastering martial arts and secret techniques.
If things continued this way?
He would obtain the identity of an Executioner and acquire the highest art of the Sacred Domain—Black Secret, the dark art that allowed one to infiltrate others’ spirits and control their bodies.
He had diligently cultivated his skills while pleasing the high experts of the Sacred Domain for a long time… but an unexpected situation occurred.
―You cannot learn the Black Secret art.
When the time came for the test to receive the Black Secret art, the experts of the Sacred Domain realized that, despite having received the Furnace Great Method, he possessed an extremely dangerous and extreme spirit.
―Our domain has the rule of “Entry Without Retreat, Commitment Without Return.” We will not expel you, but you may only continue training the secret arts for cultivating the heart.
It was an exceedingly lenient disposition, yet—
―After making me toil like a slave all this time, now you speak differently?
He could not suppress his anger.
―If you will not teach me, I will learn it myself.
In the end, he secretly sought out and began learning the Black Secret art hidden within the Sacred Domain.
This had been possible because even the high experts of the Sacred Domain did not truly know his real nature and abilities.
Through the Absolute Demonic Blade Project, he had acquired outstanding martial arts, stealth and assassination techniques rivaling professional killers, military strategy and tactics capable of overturning an entire sect single-handedly, survival abilities that allowed him to live through any situation via the one hundred and eight secret arts, tracking techniques, and powerful spirit secret arts.
―I cannot understand.
While secretly learning the Black Secret art, he tilted his head in confusion.
―Why would they use such a mysterious power only on those who reject the covenant?
The Black Secret art could not only control others’ spirits and bodies, but also absorb the martial arts contained within the body through a swapped appearance.
If he continued killing experts using this art?
He would obtain power that could even surpass the Baekri Family and the True Demon.
So why did they hide such ability and power while living like dead rats in their secret territory?
―The Black Secret art is too difficult to learn. Instead, let us deal with the evil figures of the martial world and seize their power.
To properly use the Black Secret art, one had to train diligently for at least thirty years.
In the end, whenever he had the chance to leave the Sacred Domain, he killed evil-doing martial artists and stole their martial arts.
But as the saying goes, a long tail is easily caught.
―A practitioner of our domain, who should possess a clear heart, has secretly learned the Black Secret art and even goes so far as to control martial world figures and steal their martial arts?
He felt wronged.
―I only harmed irredeemable evil people. Is that also a sin?
―Whether they are evil or good, why do you arbitrarily take the lives of others?
Seeing no sign of remorse, the high experts of the Sacred Domain became greatly enraged.
In the end, they punished him by severing his four limbs’ meridians and stripping away his inner energy.
But having anticipated this, he immediately escaped from the Sacred Domain.
Having killed many martial world experts, experienced countless battles, and stolen various martial arts, he somehow managed to shake off the pursuers.
However, the experts of the Sacred Domain were no fools.
They had already predicted his escape route and finally managed to surround him.
In the end, while fighting the pursuers on this plain, he could not overcome the power of the Sacred Domain experts and drew his last breath.
―So this is how it ends.
The Sacred Domain experts completely burned his corpse.
Because he had learned the Black Secret art, there was a risk that his body could be used elsewhere.
But he had survived.
He had used the Black Secret art after anticipating all of the Sacred Domain’s plans in advance.
He had created a puppet to play his role, then transformed into one of the Sacred Domain experts he had killed with his own hands.
And so, he had survived once again.
Flash!
At that moment, a light as if illuminating the entire world flashed from the sky, and instantly pierced through the body of the survivor.
Stab.
“Ugh.”
Blood flowed from his mouth as his body trembled violently, and he collapsed forward, dead.
Thud.
At the same time, around the fallen man, ten shadowy figures wearing unique clothes imbued with white light appeared.
Shuuuk.
They were high experts belonging to the Sacred Domain.
“If only he had been able to suppress the demon in his heart through training… he could have become someone who would lead our domain in the future.”
The Sacred Domain experts clicked their tongues as they looked at the corpse of the man whose heart had been pierced.
“Moreover, he was hiding inside the corpse until the very end. He truly was no different from an assassin.”
Psheee.
At that moment, one of them extended his hand.
Drop.
A single drop of liquid fell onto the man’s body, and with a sizzling sound, the corpse began to melt.
They had used the Hwagolsan.
“This fellow might pretend to be dead again, so we must handle it perfectly.”
“Can’t be helped.”
The Sacred Domain experts turned away with regretful expressions.
“I will go out into the martial world and check if there are any people related to him.”
At the words of the man who had melted the corpse, the remaining Sacred Domain experts nodded.
Shuuuk.
The nine shadows disappeared instantly like light and the Sacred Domain expert left alone stared blankly at the corpse that had become a handful of blood.
Was it because he had killed a promising disciple of the Sacred Domain with his own hands?
Grin.
Suddenly, a pure white smile formed on his lips.
It was the very mastermind who had stolen the Black Secret art and attempted to rebel against the Sacred Domain—Number Seven.
Using the Black Secret art, he had controlled another person’s spirit and created yet another version of himself.
A trap within a trap.
Without such meticulous planning, it would have been impossible to deceive the people of the Sacred Domain.
