‘Father….’
Bu Eunseol, who had been wearing a dazed expression, soon realized the truth.
‘He was trying to help me.’
His father, Baekri Muha, was a divine being who had reached the Martial God Realm—a realm where a single sword strike could reverse the flow of a great river.
Yet the fact that the Holy One was still alive and well meant this:
In the end, his father had not tried to kill him, but had most likely been making an effort to somehow restore his mind.
“Even so, he could not break free from the True Demon’s restraint.”
As Bu Eunseol fell into deep thought, the Holy One continued speaking with endlessly lonely eyes.
“I could not take my own life, nor could I find anyone capable of killing me.”
“Are there not countless powerful experts in the martial world?”
Once Bu Eunseol learned that the Holy One’s true identity was a member of the Baekri family who had been eroded by the True Demon after being struck by a Sealed Demon Fragment, he changed his tone and attitude to one of utmost respect.
He himself was a descendant of the Baekri family.
The Holy One before him was therefore an elder of his clan.
At Bu Eunseol’s question, the Holy One slowly shook his head.
“The powerful experts of the martial world cannot kill me. They can never break the Manifestation Divine Technique or the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.”
‘They cannot break that power?’
Bu Eunseol could not agree with those words.
No matter how powerful the Manifestation Divine Technique or Mixed Demonic Magic Energy might be, what about the Demon Emperor or the Heavenly Emperor?
What about the Pavilion Master? What about the Buddha Venerable?
It did not seem impossible to oppose that power.
“Even if such a person existed, I would never be able to meet them.”
“Why is that?”
“Because it is the True Demon’s will.”
It was a puzzling statement, but Bu Eunseol faintly grasped its meaning.
Most supreme experts were bound by oaths and thus could not touch the Holy One.
Even the few who were not bound by such oaths would be prevented from ever encountering the Holy One, all in order to keep the mission’s secrets.
Most crucially of all, the True Demon’s subordinates were beings who could not act against the True Demon’s intentions.
“Somehow, when I regained a portion of my memories, that man the Inbiin Lord found out. He came to me and made a proposal.”
“…”
“He said he would definitely send someone who could kill me, so in exchange, I should inject him with a portion of the power I possess.”
‘So that was the reason.’
Only now did Bu Eunseol understand why the Inbiin Lord had revealed information about the Holy One to him.
Even though it was only a puppet body, the Inbiin Lord must have believed that someone who had destroyed his fake physical form would also be capable of killing the Holy One.
And the Holy One himself must have judged that if Bu Eunseol was someone capable of shattering the Sealed Demon Fragments that had been injected into ordinary people, then he would also be able to break the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy and definitely kill him. That was why he had told him everything.
‘As expected, the Inbiin Lord is not a loyal subordinate who serves the True Demon…’
The Inbiin Lord had referred to the True Demon as “he.”
If he had been a truly loyal being who only followed the True Demon’s will, he would never have exposed the True Demon’s secrets. He would never have told Bu Eunseol the whereabouts of the Holy One who had regained his senses, nor would he have needed to ask for the Holy One’s power.
‘He must have some other purpose, or perhaps another identity.’
Bu Eunseol instinctively realized it.
The Inbiin Lord had another identity.
He was plotting some kind of scheme.
“I still don’t understand what the Inbiin Lord’s true identity is.”
“I don’t know either. However, he…”
The Holy One’s eyes narrowed.
“He said he was merely ‘throwing the dice.’”
It was the same story again.
The fact that he dared to speak of “throwing the dice” meant that the Inbiin Lord, too, knew about the hidden laws or truths of the martial world. Perhaps he had escaped the True Demon’s restraint and, like the Heavenly Mechanism Star or other abyssal forces, was independently plotting something.
“I see.”
“How strange.”
Only then did the Holy One notice something odd and tilt his head.
“Why did you suddenly change your tone and attitude to one of respect?”
Bu Eunseol wanted to confess his entire situation honestly.
But because the Holy One had not yet completely escaped the True Demon’s restraint, he found it difficult to speak openly.
“Didn’t you willingly tell me everything when I asked?”
Feeling embarrassed, Bu Eunseol changed the subject, and the Holy One let out a soft snort.
“Aren’t you the one who will fulfill my long-cherished wish?”
Then he gave a lonely yet calm smile.
“Besides, I have to tell you the truth accurately if you are to kill me.”
“In that case, have you ever seen the True Demon, Elder?”
“Elder?”
“After all, you are much older than me, aren’t you?”
The Holy One frowned several times.
No matter how much he thought about it, he could not understand why Bu Eunseol’s attitude had changed so suddenly.
Regardless, Bu Eunseol spoke carefully.
“I simply cannot imagine what it feels like to have one’s soul eroded by a Sealed Demon Fragment.”
“I don’t know. I have no such memories.”
The Holy One’s gaze, as he looked toward the distant sky, was filled with torment.
“I simply lived for a very long time. Like a puppet.”
“You don’t remember any of your past at all?”
When he had seen the Holy One pouring tea earlier, Bu Eunseol had instinctively sensed that he was far older than even the Buddha Venerable.
“Well… I might be someone from a hundred years ago, or perhaps even two hundred.”
The Holy One gazed at the distant sky and let out a sigh-like monologue.
Suddenly, a strange thought occurred to Bu Eunseol.
Perhaps the Holy One before him was someone very close to his father.
Otherwise, his father would not have fought the Holy One just to help him regain his memories.
“You know Baekri Muha.”
The Holy One, having noticed Bu Eunseol’s expression, asked.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Since you fought him directly, you must know him well, Elder.”
“My partial memories only returned after I fought him.”
“Then how did you learn that the person you fought at that time was Baekri Muha?”
“The Inbiin Lord told me. He said the one who fought me was Baekri Muha, the one called the strongest under heaven, and that was why some of my memories returned.”
Upon hearing the Holy One’s words, Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh.
‘He has lost all memories from when he was part of the Baekri family.’
Because of that, he could not even remember that Baekri Muha was a legendary figure of the Baekri family.
“When you said earlier that you could not escape the True Demon’s restraint, does that mean everything I say is being transmitted to the True Demon?”
“I don’t know that.”
The Holy One spoke calmly.
“However, I could not take my own life, and whenever an order came, I had to save the ordinary people suffering from the plague and inject the seeds into them.”
“So you simply cannot refuse the orders that are transmitted to you.”
Bu Eunseol nodded as if he had finally understood.
“If you truly could not refuse the True Demon’s will itself… then it would be impossible for you to tell me the True Demon’s secrets like this.”
“That is only my guess. I cannot know for certain.”
“I am certain. The conversation we have had so far is not being transmitted to the True Demon.”
“Is that so important?”
“It is important to me.”
After taking a deep breath, Bu Eunseol spoke firmly.
“Because now I can honestly tell you everything, Elder.”
“What is it?”
“The strongest under heaven who once fought you—Baekri Muha—is my late father.”
The Holy One looked somewhat surprised.
“And my father is of the same Baekri family bloodline as you, Elder.”
The Holy One wore a dazed expression.
“Baekri Muha is of the Baekri family bloodline?”
Just as Bu Eunseol had expected, the Holy One had not even known that Baekri Muha was of the Baekri family bloodline.
“So that is why you suddenly started calling me Elder and treating me with respect.”
“Yes.”
“However, the memories I can recall are extremely limited.”
The Holy One’s face twisted in pain.
“For far too long… I lived in a fog, knowing nothing.”
“In truth, I am the same.”
Bu Eunseol pointed to his own Baihui acupoint and said,
“I, too, had a seal placed on me and cannot remember anything.”
“A seal?”
“When I was a child, someone attacked our manor. My father erased my memories as he helped me escape.”
Bu Eunseol asked cautiously,
“Since you are an elder of the family… I was wondering if you might know a way to fully restore my memories.”
“I’m sorry.”
The Holy One shook his head.
“My own situation was only explained to me by the Inbiin Lord. I remember almost nothing.”
Then, with a pained expression, he continued, “I cannot even kill myself. If someone threatens my life, I begin to lose consciousness and the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy activates on its own.”
“I see.”
“However… if you are truly of the Baekri bloodline, the Inbiin Lord would never have told you my location.”
“He does not know my exact identity.”
“Is that so.”
The Holy One spoke indifferently.
“Our conversation has gone on far too long. In any case, there probably wasn’t any useful information.”
“No, it has been very helpful.”
The Holy One gazed at the distant sky with a lonely expression.
“There are probably many others in the martial world who are also called Holy Ones besides me.”
He looked at Bu Eunseol and continued, “You should be able to free them without fail, shouldn’t you?”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
Since he was not greatly affected by the power of the Baekri family or the True Demon, he would definitely be able to free them.
“In any case, if what you said is true…”
The Holy One looked at Bu Eunseol and smiled.
“Then I have become an elder of the family.”
With a gentle expression, he added, “Originally, I intended to fight you with all my strength to obtain rest… but it seems there is no longer any need for that.”
“Elder.”
“From now on, I will suppress the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy with all my might. So please cut off my head in a single strike during that time.”
Although he could not remember, the Holy One, as an elder of the Baekri family, wished to avoid harming Bu Eunseol and simply obtain eternal rest.
“Understood.”
Bu Eunseol nodded with a sorrowful expression.
If the person had been chosen by the True Demon, he must have been an exceptionally talented individual even within the Baekri family.
For such a person to have endured those endless years while losing both his memories and his sense of self…
Bu Eunseol could not even begin to imagine the weight of that terrible pain and regret.
“I will do my best.”
Ziiing.
Mysterious patterns began to appear on the sheath of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
He had drawn out the full power of Harmony within his body.
Whoooosh.
He poured the condensed light energy from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword with full force.
Flash!
A brilliant and overwhelming light, as if billions of stars had exploded at once, enveloped the Holy One’s body.
At that moment, the sky was dyed golden and the earth trembled and split apart.
The flood of light surged forward like a tidal wave, threatening to sweep away everything.
Yet…
“…”
The Holy One standing at the center of the light remained completely motionless.
Even while receiving that enormous power with his entire body, not a single speck of dust rose at his feet.
The Harmony had no effect.
“Ugh…”
Instead, the Harmony seemed to have stimulated the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy.
Suddenly his pupils turned pure white, and black energy began pouring out in thick streams.
Flash!
Bu Eunseol layered Harmony upon Harmony and unleashed his maximum power once more.
Chiiiiii.
But the result was the same.
The body of the Holy One, who possessed both the Baekri bloodline and the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy, could not be destroyed even by the power of Harmony.
“Ughhhhh.”
Even in the midst of it all, the Holy One was still suppressing his power.
He still believed Bu Eunseol would kill him and was desperately holding back the Mixed Demonic Magic Energy with all his strength.
‘I need to find another way.’
Harmony was not some profound martial mystery; it was merely a method to bring out the maximum power within the body.
Even the old man from the sanctuary in the past had withstood his Harmony.
“Ughhhhh.”
In the meantime, black smoke spread from the Holy One’s body, and the ground began to crack apart.
When he exerted his power, it was as if the world itself was ending. The sky turned pitch black and violent gales howled.
An overwhelming power capable of destroying the entire world was gathering in his hands, yet…
Tremble.
The Holy One was still enduring.
‘This will be my final attack.’
Bu Eunseol’s mind began spinning at lightning speed.
If this attack also failed, it would not be the Holy One’s wish that was fulfilled—his own life would be the one to end.
‘In that case, what if I infused martial arts into Harmony?’
In the past, through the Seven Blood Tear Forms, Bu Eunseol had converted the Sealed Demon Fragment that his enemy possessed into true energy and stored it in his arm. With that, he had been able to defeat Yuk Jangcheon, who had obtained the power of the Baekri family.
What if he infused the Harmony into the Seven Blood Tear Forms?
‘That would be the strongest power I can currently display.’
Ziiiiiing.
Having made up his mind, Bu Eunseol raised the Harmony while operating the principles of the Seven Blood Tear Forms. A pitch-black armor-like energy instantly covered his entire body, and the form of the Infinite Reversal Energy began to unfold.
Ziiing.
Soon, it began transforming into a white armor glowing with five-colored light.
The Seven Blood Tear Forms and the power of Harmony were merging into one.
Crack.
Was it because he was attempting something reckless that could not be used in actual combat?
The skin beneath the Infinite Reversal Energy armor began to tear horribly.
The moment he tried to mix the Harmony into the Seven Blood Tear Forms, his meridians reversed and his true energy began flowing backward.
‘I have to endure.’
Compared to the suffering the Holy One had endured until now, the pain he was feeling was not even one-tenth as bad.
After having his soul eroded by the True Demon for such a long time and living as a puppet, the pain that person must have felt was beyond imagination.
Crack… crackle.
Finally, after overcoming that death-like agony, a mysterious light began to gather on the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
‘Now!’
―Even if one wishes to die, there is no place to die.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol unleashed the fourth form of the Seven Blood Tear Forms—Desiring Death, No Place Found.
Originally, it was a technique that scattered illusory flowers to control the enemy’s movements and actions.
But now, it had become a tiny point of light meant solely to destroy the Holy One’s body, shooting forward like a meteor.
Ooooong.
That point of light soon turned into an infinite wave of true energy that spread along the blade of the Silent Tiger Soul Sword.
Shaaaaak!
It tore through time and space, and finally passed through the Holy One’s body.
Clang!
At that moment, accompanied by the sound of something shattering, an intense shockwave capable of destroying the entire world spread in all directions.
Boom!
Soon, the Holy One’s body transformed into a form of swirling tens of millions of light particles.
The Holy One, now in the form of light, showed a faint smile.
[As I approach death, one helpful memory has surfaced.]
The Holy One left a single message in Bu Eunseol’s mind using intent transmission.
[Go to the secluded realm located in the city of Napsageukseong in the Cheonchuk region. There, you will be able to find one of the True Demon’s secrets.]
“The True Demon’s secret…”
[Once my death becomes known, everything will change… If you do not hurry, the secret of that place will be buried forever.]
Hwaaaaak!
At the same time, the Holy One turned to dust and vanished into the distant sky.
He had finally escaped the True Demon’s grasp and found eternal rest.
“Elder.”
Bu Eunseol bowed respectfully toward the spot where the Holy One had stood.
Although he never even learned his name…
As a member of the Baekri family, he had maintained a demeanor without a single point of shame and faced his end with calm dignity.
That alone was worthy of respect.
“Napsageukseong.”
Bu Eunseol murmured quietly.
The remaining time set by the Demon Emperor was now only six days.
No matter how desperately he used his qinggong, it would be extremely difficult to reach Napsageukseong in Cheonchuk within six days and find the secluded realm there.
“If I return now, I can avoid the punishment of the Life-and-Death Single Palm Decree.”
Since he had perfectly uncovered the Holy One’s identity within one month… he could proudly avoid the Demon Emperor’s punishment.
―Unfortunately, you will receive the Life-and-Death Single Palm Decree.
Suddenly, the Demon Emperor’s confident declaration came to mind.
―I stake everything I have on it.
Could it be that he had known such a thing would happen and made that declaration anyway?
‘That can’t be.’
Even if the Demon Emperor knew the Holy One’s identity, he was not a god.
He could not have predicted that the Holy One, upon reaching death, would give him such a message.
“What if the Demon Emperor does not know the Holy One’s true identity?”
If the Demon Emperor truly did not know…
Then for the first time, he would have the upper hand in information over the Demon Emperor.
Crack.
Bu Eunseol clenched his fist tightly.
Now he had to make a decision.
The Holy One had said that if he did not go “right now,” the secret would be buried forever.
That meant he had to either head to Cheonchuk immediately, or quickly return to Majeon and avoid the Life-and-Death Single Palm Decree.
Originally, Bu Eunseol would have returned to Majeon, completed the Demon Emperor’s order, and then gone to Cheonchuk.
But the Holy One’s final words weighed on him.
He had a strong feeling that if he did not go now, he really would never be able to find that one secret of the True Demon.
“In that case.”
Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
“I will go to Cheonchuk.”
Even if it meant receiving the Life-and-Death Single Palm Decree, he would head to Cheonchuk first.
***
The northern region of Napsageukseong, Mahasuma Area, was a vast grassland, and at its center stood the ruins of an ancient royal palace visited by countless tourists.
A large market had formed around the area where ancient buildings remained, and various shops lined the streets.
On the wide streets, numerous stalls were laid out among the bustling crowds, and the loud, unintelligible language of Cheonchuk could be heard endlessly.
‘A secluded realm in a place like this?’
Bu Eunseol, who had rushed straight to the center of Napsageukseong—the Mahasuma area—wore a dazed expression.
No matter how much a secluded realm could cut off space from space… there was no way it would be located in such an openly crowded place.
‘It would be best to gather clues here.’
Looking at the lively surroundings, Bu Eunseol took a deep breath.
‘Napsageukseong was within the sphere of influence of the Elephant King.’
In the past, Cheonchuk had been ruled by four great sacred clans known as the Four Holy Clans.
However, starting two hundred years ago, the Four Holy Clans declined and disappeared, and before long, the eight supreme experts known as the Cheonchuk Eight Tyrants each came to rule one of the eight divided cities.
And this Napsageukseong was a place ruled by the one called the Elephant King—Sangdo Gangcheon.
‘First, I should disguise myself.’
Using the power within his body, Bu Eunseol instantly transformed into the appearance of Seolso and began walking around the city.
The sky was clear and wildflowers bloomed everywhere.
Although the weather was somewhat humid and hot, the people moving busily were all full of vitality. Moreover, the unique architecture unique to Cheonchuk created a spectacular sight.
As he strolled here and there, he almost felt like a tourist himself.
‘Should I spread the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi?’
So far, the method he had used to find secluded realms was always the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, and it had succeeded most of the time.
Whoosh.
When he spread the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi, a pleasant breeze spread out in all directions with his body at the center.
Although there were many people in the city, the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi had the attribute of wind, so there should be no major problem.
But something was strange.
The moment Bu Eunseol released the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi,
Sluuuuurp.
Several people who had been moving busily in the city suddenly turned their heads and stared directly at him.
It was not just a casual glance.
It was as if they could clearly see the shape of the power spreading from the Wind-Cloud Divine Qi.
They alternated their gaze between Bu Eunseol and the flow of the wind spreading in all directions.
Without even blinking their large eyes, they rolled their eyeballs back and forth, chasing the invisible airflow.
That twisted, entranced sight was not only eerie to watch… but also made one feel an ominous madness.
