Swish!
The black energy surged fiercely.
It began grinding the assassins to pieces.
“Evade!” The assassins scattered, but the black energy pursued them like a living creature.
Whoosh!
As the black energy enveloped the area, the assassins had no choice but to resist with swords.
But it was futile.
The black energy appeared as living tentacles but was closer to sword aura. It crushed and obliterated anything it touched.
“Argh!”
“Urk!” The assassins’ screams echoed. Those able to scream were fortunate.
Those crushed from the head down by the Wishful True Binding trembled without a sound.
Bu Eunseol’s Wishful True Binding, re-entering the demonic path, unleashed power as if reaching the realm of the Great Origin.
This defied martial principles.
Unless fully immersed in the demonic path, no matter how great one’s internal energy…
Such power was impossible.
But Sahyang was linked to those who killed his grandfather, Bu Zhanyang. Bu Eunseol’s sky-splitting rage and overwhelming killing intent, caused the energy of his attacks to surge…
Creating countless weapons at will.
The Demon Emperor.
Known to have reached the pinnacle of the Infinite Realm, this great master of the demonic path created a transcendental technique that could materialize energy into any form through the fusion of psyche and technique, unleashing the power of thunderous might.
—Aaargh!
Screams echoed endlessly.
Bu Eunseol had entered Sahyang alone to confront Master Mun Dae, not to annihilate it.
But his psyche, entering the demonic path…
Unleashed a terrifying prowess worthy of being called the second Demon Emperor.
Splatter.
As blood sprayed like rain, Bu Eunseol closed his eyes.
“Haa.” He deeply inhaled the scent of blood spreading around.
Was blood so fragrant and sweet? So calming to the mind…
He understood why great demons reveled in bloodshed.
‘…!’
Suddenly, Bu Eunseol sensed his psyche had reached a dangerous precipice. If he continued combining his killing intent and rage with the Extreme Demonic Technique?
He instinctively knew he’d fall into an irreversible abyss.
Crack.
Suppressing his killing intent and rage, his body emitted cracking sounds.
His eyes gradually regained clarity. Sensing mortal danger, his psyche instinctively returned from the demonic path to the middle path.
“…”
Silence and fear filled Sahyang.
Sahyang, hidden for generations with elite assassins like clouds, was a place no faction could breach.
Yet he annihilated it alone?
Step, step.
Opening his eyes, Bu Eunseol approached Master Mun Dae, the sole survivor.
“You… you’re a demon.” Master Mun Dae gritted his teeth.
Bu Eunseol, who massacred hundreds of elite assassins without lifting a finger.
And gleamed at the spreading blood?
‘He didn’t enter the demonic path; he is the demon.’
To Master Mun Dae, Bu Eunseol was less human, more a black demon.
“Demon?” Bu Eunseol looked down at Master Mun Dae with pitch-black eyes. “Taking an innocent boy hostage, severing the tendons of a defenseless person, pulling out sinews.”
“…”
“Cutting off both arms, blinding eyes, letting poison rot their body.”
A red glint rose in his black eyes.
“And ensuring they couldn’t die quickly… doesn’t that earn the title of demon?”
He stepped closer to Master Mun Dae.
“Don’t come near.”
He trembled.
He didn’t fear death.
As an assassin who had controlled countless lives, he knew he’d die miserably one day.
But Bu Eunseol wasn’t here to grant death.
He intended to inflict pain and fear beyond death, the ultimate human suffering…
Master Mun Dae felt it.
“Don’t come closer!” He screamed in terror. “I’m not Master Mun Dae! I’m actually…!”
Shudder.
Suddenly, his body froze.
Tilting his head, he collapsed, smashing his head. It was as if an invisible hand had snapped his neck, killing him instantly.
“Strange.” Bu Eunseol stared ahead with empty eyes. “There’s only one martial art in the world that uses energy with such intensity.”
As he looked up, a faint shadow appeared before the village.
It was Master Mun Dae, who had just collapsed before him.
Shockingly, the Master Mun Dae he had faced was a fake.
“Shaolin.” Bu Eunseol shook his head.
Though cleverly concealed, the newly appeared Master Mun Dae had used Shaolin’s Prajna Great Power.
Having entered the Martial Emperor’s Secret Vault, Bu Eunseol could clearly discern righteous sect techniques. Moreover, he had directly experienced Monk Hong Hyeon’s Prajna Great Power at the Martial Alliance.
He instantly recognized the new Master Mun Dae’s technique as a variation of Prajna Great Power.
“Remarkable.” Master Mun Dae tilted his head. “How does Majeon’s heir see through our temple’s secret technique at a glance?”
Astonishingly, he openly admitted to being a Shaolin disciple.
That a Shaolin monk led Sahyang, a storied assassin sect? Wasn’t this more shocking than a revered monk being a bandit?
“I didn’t expect you to admit it so readily.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Master Mun Dae said calmly. “The dead don’t speak.”
Whirr!
An invisible, sharp force seized Bu Eunseol’s neck.
Boom.
He swiftly retreated three yards.
“…” Bu Eunseol looked at Master Mun Dae with slight surprise.
His internal energy and martial arts, enhanced by entering the demonic state, were beyond his usual level. Yet this man forced him back with one move?
“Your martial arts are impressive!” Master Mun Dae nodded in admiration. “With this skill, no one would object to you ranking among the Seven Kings of Death. Why the strange rumors of being a mad swordsman?”
Whirr!
Master Mun Dae unleashed Prajna Great Power again.
But this time, Bu Eunseol stood firm, intending to counter it in place.
‘Overconfident.’ Master Mun Dae smirked.
Prajna Great Power was an intangible force, impossible to grasp or block. Yet Bu Eunseol stood still, knowing it was coming?
Hum!
Black energy spread from Bu Eunseol, forming a massive barrier.
When Prajna Great Power hit it, it could no longer exert force. He had repelled Prajna Great Power with the Wishful True Binding.
“This is… incredible.” Master Mun Dae exclaimed in awe. “Blocking an intangible force with tangible energy.”
Spreading tangible energy to forcibly materialize the intangible Prajna Great Power? Wasn’t this proof Bu Eunseol’s martial arts had reached the grandmaster level?
“Hah.” Master Mun Dae sighed deeply. “Such a peerless genius, fallen to the demonic path.”
His demeanor suggested he could take Bu Eunseol’s life at any moment.
“A pity.” He extended his hand with a regretful expression.
Bu Eunseol’s black energy from the Wishful True Binding began to dissipate. Shockingly, like Monk Hong Hyeon, he could alter the nature of martial arts.
Flash.
Bu Eunseol, startled, amplified his energy.
But he was unaware of one fact…
The Wishful True Binding, through the Extreme Demonic Technique, was a supreme demonic art that materialized energy.
Conversely, Prajna Great Power maximized Buddhist spiritual power.
Thus, the Extreme Demonic Technique, which drove the psyche into the demonic path, was its antithesis.
Whirr.
As the energy from the Wishful True Binding vanished, Bu Eunseol felt all strength drain from his body.
Thud.
Staggering, he fell to one knee.
Step, step.
Master Mun Dae approached, looking down at Bu Eunseol’s head.
“Farewell.” He raised a sharpened hand to strike Bu Eunseol’s neck.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, sharp energy burst from Bu Eunseol’s right hand.
As Master Mun Dae closed in, Bu Eunseol drew his black sword and unleashed the Meteor Chasing the Moon Technique with full force.
Whirr!
But the sword stopped before Master Mun Dae’s neck.
The sticky, powerful force of Prajna Great Power blocked it.
“You thought such a trick would work?” Master Mun Dae’s expression hardened.
From the blocked sword, blade-like internal energy pierced his meridians.
‘As expected.’ Bu Eunseol had experienced Prajna Great Power with Hong Hyeon.
He knew he couldn’t fully counter its transcendent technique with his own power. So he deliberately showed a weakness, kneeling with a defeated look.
As expected, when Master Mun Dae struck at close range, he unleashed a swift sword technique. He made Master Mun Dae materialize Prajna Great Power to block the sword, allowing Bu Eunseol to induce an internal energy clash.
‘What’s happening?’ Sweat dripped from Master Mun Dae’s forehead. Bu Eunseol’s internal energy was suffocatingly powerful, but…
Wasn’t the ceaseless Prajna Great Power being absorbed into his meridians?
‘Energy absorption technique? No.’ If it were an energy absorption technique, he’d have been drained instantly.
But now, it flowed naturally, like a stream into a river, following its source.
‘It’s happening again.’
As Prajna Great Power entered his meridians, Bu Eunseol frowned. He had experienced Shaolin’s internal energy naturally merging with his meridians when enduring the Eighteen Arhats’ techniques.
‘Because our internal energy sources are the same.’ Bu Eunseol thought this was merely due to shared energy origins.
Hum.
But the Prajna Great Power flowing into him wasn’t just circulating through his meridians. Pure and robust, it was absorbed into his energy sea, surging like a fierce wave…
Rising through his Governing Vessel, wasn’t it?
Boom!
Prajna Great Power surged to the back of his head, then pierced the center of his head, descending through his Conception Vessel.
Roar!
With ferocious momentum, it penetrated both vessels, returning to his dantian…
Then dispersed into his meridians, vanishing without a trace.
“Ugh…” Conversely, Master Mun Dae’s skin turned black, and his hair whitened.
As his lifelong Prajna Great Power was absorbed and stored in Bu Eunseol’s meridians, his vitality drained, aging him rapidly.
‘I can’t die like this!’ As Prajna Great Power vanished, Master Mun Dae desperately grabbed the sword’s blade.
Blood flowed, but his fingers weren’t cut.
He had unleashed Shaolin’s supreme technique, Dragon Claw Hand.
Whoosh!
Dragon Claw Hand tore at Bu Eunseol’s chest.
Thud.
But only a dull sound rang out. It didn’t pierce his clothes. Though aimed at his chest, all internal energy had vanished.
Dragon Claw Hand was reduced to a mere pose.
“Ugh…” Aged and weakened, Master Mun Dae clutched Bu Eunseol’s collar and collapsed.
“Hmm.” Bu Eunseol, as if waking from a dream, scanned his surroundings with hazy eyes. His psyche, ready to erupt with rage and killing intent, calmed suddenly, his gaze becoming serene and indifferent.
Was this heaven’s will?
As pure Prajna Great Power was absorbed, his mind, teetering on the middle path, slightly shifted toward the righteous path.
It returned to his state before Seo Jinha’s injury.
Thus, the overwhelming Wishful True Binding, worthy of a second Demon Emperor, could no longer be unleashed.
But this was a great fortune… a realization he’d understand later.
‘Why this phenomenon?’
His meridians now held Master Mun Dae’s dispersed Prajna Great Power. Though his internal energy remained unchanged, immense power stirred in his meridians.
“Ugh.” As Master Mun Dae groaned, his breath fading, Bu Eunseol looked down at him.
In a calm voice, he said, “Answer.” Lifting the groaning man, Bu Eunseol spoke solemnly.
“Who used Sahyang’s hidden weapons coated with Rotten Flesh and Decaying Blood poison poison?”
“Our temple… protects the martial world…” Was it the loss of internal energy? Master Mun Dae muttered nonsense with empty eyes. “I abandoned my status, returned to the secular world… to save countless beings…”
Bu Eunseol had no choice but to infuse internal energy into his life gate.
“Speak.”
“…”
“Mastered Tianzhu Confucian Fist, fond of Rotten Flesh and Decaying Blood poison poison, versed in demonic swordsmanship. Who is he?”
“Tianzhu Confucian Fist… Rotten Flesh and Decaying Blood poison.” A strange light flickered in Master Mun Dae’s fading eyes.
“You’re seeking the one who took the Blood Essence Poison Needle.”
“Who is he?”
Bu Eunseol asked urgently, but only one word escaped Master Mun Dae’s lips as his breath stopped.
“Star…”
Then he stiffened, dead.
“Star? What does that mean!” Bu Eunseol shouted, but…
Thud.
Master Mun Dae, all vitality drained, died with eyes wide open. Bu Eunseol’s vision darkened.
Star?
Did it mean the fiend who killed his grandfather was a “star”? Or perhaps a diviner reading the stars?
Boom!
In rage, Bu Eunseol slammed his fist into the ground.
He had finally found Sahyang. He thought he had grasped all the masterminds’ tails…
But Sahyang wasn’t the mastermind, just a pawn.
“Ugh.” Bu Eunseol bit his lip, head bowed.
“To come this far and still not find the fiend!”
He was certain Sahyang would yield at least a clue to the culprit. Since the fiend used their hidden weapons, the sect leader would know who he was.
But Master Mun Dae died futilely in an internal energy clash.
He couldn’t find the one who killed his grandfather.
“Master Mun Dae.” Bu Eunseol bit his lip.
A realization struck him.
“Shaolin.”
