Gwak Seong momentarily doubted his own ears.
“What did you say?”
“I said I refuse.” Gwak Seong gaped in disbelief.
“You’d antagonize our pavilion over a traitor on the verge of death?” Then, he wore a hollow smile. “You’d better calculate carefully. Don’t make a decision you’ll regret.”
In that instant, contempt flickered in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“Is the position of Majeon’s successor one where you sell out others for gain?”
“So. You’re saying you’ll fight me now?”
“If you wish.”
“Ha ha ha ha.” Gwak Seong laughed, covering his forehead in absurdity. “They called you the Mad Sword, but you’ve truly lost your mind.”
The two hundred assassins he had brought could sweep away not just the Twelve Earths but any sect in an instant—they were the Extreme Slaughter Sect’s supreme elites. Even if another expert from the Seven Demon Kings had come instead of Bu Eunseol, victory would be impossible.
“You’re dreaming vainly.” At that moment, Seok Woohaeng, staggering against the canal wall, smiled faintly.
“I won’t die by anyone’s hand.” Before he knew it, a thin, faint silver thread was clutched in his hand.
And that silver thread connected to the canal’s walls and floor.
“We’re all going together….”
“Childish, Seok Woohaeng. Bluffing?” Watching Seok Woohaeng, Gwak Seong sneered instead. “To collapse a canal of this scale entirely would require an enormous amount of gunpowder. Even for the Twelve Earths, connected to the authorities, it’s impossible.”
“Heh heh heh…. Ha ha ha ha!” Then, Seok Woohaeng pointed at Gwak Seong and burst into hearty laughter, as if delighted.
Drip.
Ceasing his laughter, he gazed at the distant void and muttered lowly.
“From the start, becoming the Twelve Earths’ Chief in such a short time was impossible in itself. Isn’t it?”
In an instant, Gwak Seong’s eyes widened.
Thinking back, it was strange.
No matter how outstanding a Ten Demon Warrior Seok Woohaeng was, for a lone individual to swallow the Twelve Earths’ forces in such a brief period was impossible. That meant some faction had intervened, and the likelihood that the entire canal was rigged as a massive trap wasn’t zero.
“W-Wait!” Finally realizing the gunpowder planted in the canal, Gwak Seong reached out his hand. “Seok Woohaeng. No matter what, weren’t you once our pavilion’s disciple?”
Forcing a smile, he slowly approached and said.
“First, your condition is poor, so let’s treat you and talk.” Gwak Seong’s expression was desperate.
He had brought all the elite assassins to annihilate the Twelve Earths. In this situation, if the underground canal collapsed?
The Extreme Slaughter Sect’s elite forces would evaporate in an instant.
“It’s already too late.”
Pluck.
Seok Woohaeng unhesitatingly pulled the silver thread.
Rumble rumble.
Then, the ground began to shake, and the entire underground canal started collapsing.
“Evade!” With a scream-like shout, Gwak Seong dashed in the opposite direction. But no matter how swiftly he unleashed his qinggong, escaping the wholly collapsing canal was uncertain.
“Argh!” In the end, the assassins trying to flee toward the exit began emitting wretched screams as they were crushed by rocks.
Seok Woohaeng had truly prepared enough gunpowder to demolish this massive underground canal.
Boom!
At that moment, house-sized boulders began falling over Seok Woohaeng’s head as well. But he showed no intent to evade, merely staring blankly at the void.
Sizzle!
But then, Bu Eunseol unleashed his qinggong like lightning.
Thud!
At the same time, he blocked the boulder falling over Seok Woohaeng’s head.
“….?” In an instant, Bu Eunseol’s expression turned peculiar.
The massive boulder, weighing tens of thousands of jin, halted the moment it touched his hand, as if suspended in mid-air.
“I knew it.” Seok Woohaeng looked at him and smiled faintly. “You’re just a guy who seems cold on the outside.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyebrow twitched.
Only then did he realize that where Seok Woohaeng stood was the sole safe zone.
“It was the same at the Janggeom Mountain Manor. You acted utterly disinterested, but in truth, you drew their attention to let Myo Cheonwoo and me escape.” As if recalling Bu Eunseol’s figure from the Janggeom Mountain Manor, a smile lingered on Seok Woohaeng’s lips. “Even staking your life to consecutively face those Great Righteous Masters….”
“Seok Woohaeng.” When Bu Eunseol called in a low voice, Seok Woohaeng sighed deeply and said.
“You want to know where I got Sahyang’s hidden weapon?” Gazing at Bu Eunseol with dim eyes, he shook his head. “Sorry. I don’t know that either.”
“What?”
“They just knew you were pursuing Sahyang’s tail.”
“They?”
“Yes. They said if they sent Sahyang’s hidden weapon, you’d surely come here.” Seok Woohaeng smiled faintly. “They rigged this entire place to collapse. But I secretly created a safe zone without their knowledge.”
It was consideration so Bu Eunseol wouldn’t lose his life in vain.
He just wanted to win even once. He didn’t hate him.
Bu Eunseol, who had listened silently, asked again.
“Who exactly are they?”
“I don’t know. I investigated covertly multiple times…. but couldn’t uncover their identity. But they knew a great deal about me.” Seok Woohaeng shook his head. “They promised to make me able to defeat you. That’s how they let me seize the Twelve Earths and gave me the Heavenly Evil Phantom Demon Art.”
Bu Eunseol clenched his fist tightly.
To exploit Seok Woohaeng’s competitive spirit toward him to that extent…. they must have thoroughly grasped the Ten Demon Warriors’ information long ago.
Moreover, knowing he was pursuing Sahyang and luring him with Sahyang’s hidden weapon as bait meant…. They possessed intelligence surpassing the combined orthodox and demonic martial world, or perhaps a force that could even manipulate Sahyang itself.
‘I still can’t reach them yet.’ As enraged Bu Eunseol bit his lip, Seok Woohaeng wore a faint smile.
“But there was one thing they didn’t know.”
“What’s that.”
“That you wouldn’t kill me.” Bu Eunseol had been willing to fight the Extreme Slaughter Sect’s elite unit to protect him. Recalling that scene, complex emotions indescribable surged in Seok Woohaeng.
In truth, he had liked Bu Eunseol from the beginning.
If only he didn’t have the pride of a martial genius and the ambition to reach the demonic path’s pinnacle….
Perhaps Seok Woohaeng would have been the first to extend a hand to Bu Eunseol.
“You weren’t resentful?”
“….”
“From Hell Island onward, I relentlessly tried to kill you….”
Gush.
Suddenly, Seok Woohaeng vomited dark red blood.
From the moment he activated the mechanism, he had drawn up his inner power to sever his own heart meridians. Yet the vicious Heavenly Evil Phantom Demon Art had clung to his life force with a single thread.
“Seok Woohaeng.”
“No regrets….” The focus faded from Seok Woohaeng’s eyes gazing at Bu Eunseol. “Except that I couldn’t die by your hand….”
And he quietly breathed his last.
Rumble.
At that moment, the vibrations ceased, and the underground canal’s collapse halted.
No more screams echoed.
The Extreme Slaughter Sect had brought all its elite assassins to sweep away the Twelve Earths. And due to the trap in the canal, those elites had all perished in an instant. It would take the Extreme Slaughter Sect a considerable time to recover its vitality henceforth.
“Seok Woohaeng.” Gently closing Seok Woohaeng’s wide-open eyes, Bu Eunseol said in a low voice. “I never once hated you. On the contrary, I always felt a kinship.”
Bu Eunseol, who had fought a long and arduous solitary battle. He had regarded the Ten Demon Warrior sharing his fate as…. one of his own kind.
“Like an old friend I’d known for ages….” Seok Woohaeng, leaning against the stone wall and drawing his last breath, gave no reply.
But upon hearing Bu Eunseol’s words, a smile seemed to form on his lips.
***
Death Shadow Pavilion. Bu Eunseol’s office.
Outwardly, he was spending an ordinary day as usual.
Though he had been at the site of the Extreme Slaughter Sect elites’ annihilation that shook the martial world, no one knew. After concealing his tracks using the Affectionate Blossom Sect’s intelligence network, even Majeon seemed unable to easily trace him.
Thanks to that, despite being embroiled in an earth-shattering incident, no one knew Bu Eunseol had been there.
Halt.
Bu Eunseol’s hand, writing a letter, paused.
Suddenly, that day’s events resurfaced.
The mysterious forces manipulating and using Seok Woohaeng. They were surely not unrelated to the Sahyang he was pursuing.
Crack.
As force gripped the brush, the handle crumbled to powder. Though he seemed to lead a peaceful daily life, a raging inferno blazed in his chest.
“I’ll definitely catch your tail….” Bloodlust flickered in Bu Eunseol’s eyes. Those who toyed with others’ fates like threads on their fingers. He resolved to cleave them all down.
Knock knock knock.
At that moment, a knocking sound came, followed by a low, raspy voice.
“Corps Leader, it’s Wi Cheongyeong.”
“Come in.” As the door opened, the tall Wi Cheongyeong with bangs clasped his hands deferentially.
“This is a letter from the Affectionate Blossom Sect’s intelligence unit for you, Corps Leader.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed upon checking the letter inside the envelope. The letter concisely stated that those who burned the Seongga Ironworks were from the government side.
“Corps Leader. Is something wrong?” Wi Cheongyeong cautiously asked, seeing Bu Eunseol’s grave expression.
Instead of replying, Bu Eunseol handed over the letter.
And asked, “What do you think?”
Wi Cheongyeong had as much Kangho experience as Bu Eunseol, with a calm temperament and keen intellect. After calmly reading the letter, Wi Cheongyeong cautiously opened his mouth.
“The tuberculosis plague spread…. and the government burned an entire village, you say.” Grasping the context, he nodded. “Of course, burning plague victims isn’t entirely uncommon….”
Tuberculosis was treated as a plague.
However, the priority for plague victims was to avoid contact with people. Thus, they didn’t immediately burn the deceased.
“It’s unlikely the bureaucracy, full of incompetents, would proceed so swiftly.” Wi Cheongyeong shook his head. “If the letter’s contents are true, it seems some faction colluded with the government.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“That matches my thinking.” In truth, staging a virulent poison to mimic a plague in that area wasn’t novel.
But the curious point was that those forces had deliberately moved the ‘government.’ No sect, orthodox or demonic, would mobilize officials to burn a single village.
‘Then, was the government behind this from the start?’
It wasn’t an entirely baseless deduction.
From a martial artist’s perspective, officials were leeches obsessed with squeezing the people’s lifeblood under the pretext of inheriting heavenly virtue…. Moreover, attempts by the court to create secret organizations to manipulate the martial world weren’t rare in history.
“Understood. You may go.” Wi Cheongyeong bowed and departed.
A few days later.
A sudden rumor spread within Majeon.
Shin Do-unhwi of Extinction Palace, in the midst of successor candidate missions, had stepped down from successor candidacy.
—I renounce my position as successor candidate.
Bu Eunseol and Do Cheonlin had completed their secret document missions long ago.
Moreover, the prominent candidate Weiji Hyesang had withdrawn, and Yong Jeokbi had met his end at Seok Woohaeng’s hand. In this situation, even if he brilliantly rebuilt ostracized sects, Shin Do-unhwi’s chances of becoming successor were nil.
—In the end, the Demon Emperor must step in.
By tradition, Majeon’s successor needed support from over half the Ten Great Demonic Sects, with unparalleled prowess and qualities.
The majority support belonged to Do Cheonlin.
The overwhelming martial might belonged to Bu Eunseol.
Thus, Majeon still hadn’t decided on a successor, and the selection dragged longer than expected….
In the end, only the Demon Emperor could resolve it all.
—I shall issue a mission to decide our palace’s successor.
The Demon Emperor finally decreed.
—Under the Blood Martial Corps’s command, annihilate the Black Alliance. To the one who achieves the greater merit between the two, I shall grant the successor position.
Upon this decree, reactions within Majeon were somewhat puzzled.
—Suddenly the Black Alliance?
The Black Alliance was originally a coalition of small bandit groups in a minor Qinghai locality.
Yet in a dozen years, it grew rapidly, absorbing Qinghai’s bandits and waterborne thugs. And it even transmitted martial arts to lowly minions, establishing ties with intelligence organizations. The disorganized bandit hordes gradually formed a faction-like structure.
Now, it was a proper force dominating Qinghai to some extent.
What puzzled Majeon’s personnel was one thing.
Though the Black Alliance was large, as a martial faction, its influence was negligible. Of course, judging by their growth, displaying martial faction prestige was only a matter of time. But to decide the successor through a large-scale troop deployment and battle?
From that day on.
Subtle rumors circulated among Majeon’s leadership.
—It’s Blood Flame Blade Sect’s scheme.
Do Cheonlin, unable to match Bu Eunseol’s prowess, had colluded with supporting Ten Great Demonic Sect leaders to plan this.
As if proving the rumor, the Demon Emperor issued only the mobilization order, and thereafter held no meetings, not even mentioning the matter.
—It won’t be an easy fight.
The Blood Martial Corps was a small-scale unit in Majeon, with three thousand troops. The Black Alliance’s forces numbered thirty thousand.
Though they transmitted martial arts, the minions’ skills barely escaped third-rate. In other words, the Blood Martial Corps of regularly trained martial artists was practically on par with the Black Alliance’s forces.
—Implement immediately upon the Blood Martial Corps Lord’s return.
Blood Martial Corps Lord Jwa Dae-baek was returning from beyond the borders, arriving in about a month.
Thus, in a month, Bu Eunseol and Do Cheonlin, the two successor candidates would annihilate the Black Alliance with the Blood Martial Corps and simultaneously decide the successor position.
***
Step step.
Under the scorching sun, a middle-aged man walked toward Majeon’s entrance.
A sturdy build with a kindly smile on his lips. The sword at his waist seemed no ordinary blade, emitting iridescent light.
“How may I help you.” At the gate guard Mo Gwang’s question, the middle-aged man smiled, revealing white teeth.
“I’ve come to see Bu Eunseol, the Ten Demon Warrior of Nangyang Pavilion.”
“Nangyang Pavilion’s Ten Demon Warrior….” Mo Gwang blinked, then made an “ah” sound. “You mean Corps Leader Bu Eunseol of the Death Shadow Corps?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.” Then, the long-robed subordinate beside Mo Gwang signaled with his eyes.
A Majeon Corps Leader wasn’t a position one could see just because they wished. Moreover, Death Shadow Corps Corps Leader Bu Eunseol was a successor candidate and first-class Corps Leader—a high-ranking figure. Even if a Ten Great Demonic Sect general-level person came, they couldn’t casually escort them.
“No need to worry.” Seeing the two’s gazes, the middle-aged man slowly picked up the brush on the table and said. “Just deliver my visitor’s register.”
Scribble scribble.
And without hesitation, the middle-aged man wrote his name in the register.
—Thousand Swords Society, Yoo Hwaryeong.
