Crack.
As the world-destroying wave spread outward, it was as though the boundary of time itself was being torn apart. What appeared was neither past nor future, only an endlessly shimmering vortex of distortion.
Saaaa.
At the same time, mist rose up.
Countless specks of light scattered outward, as though brilliant sunlight were shining down upon a lakeside.
The tenth form of the Supreme Heavenly Flow— the natural qi of the orthodox martial sects—flowed forth in succession.
Ziiing. Ziiing.
The mist and light particles directed toward the fissure in the formation carried the power of Harmony within them.
Paah!
The moment they touched the crack, dazzling light exploded outward.
By stacking Harmony onto the orthodox martial principle of returning all things to their natural state, he surpassed merely generating physical explosions or shockwaves.
A power that collapsed time and space itself and returned everything to nothingness surged forth.
Ziiiiing.
In that instant, the flow of time froze, and the space within the formation began to stretch infinitely before contracting again.
Screeech.
Finally, the very fabric of space itself began to tear with a bizarre, screaming sound.
Tremble tremble.
Bu Eunseol’s body, continuously pouring out power without cease, began to shake like an aspen leaf.
The side effect of simultaneously deploying two supreme ultimate techniques went beyond physical agony—it was melting his mind and soul, collapsing the very existence of his being.
‘I must stay conscious.’
If he lost focus for even a single moment?
His body would instantly shatter into pieces, and his soul would scatter into ten million rays of light and vanish.
Throb throb.
Thick blood vessels bulged across his face.
He wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
It felt as though his spirit was shattering into fragments, his skin burning like flames, his bones stretching endlessly.
Screeech.
At that moment, a vast space began to appear.
The formation was finally starting to collapse.
Crackle crackle crack.
The opening gradually widened dramatically.
Saaaak.
The surrounding light instantly turned into blue flames and vanished.
At last, a gap large enough to escape through had formed.
“Kuuh.”
Staggering, Bu Eunseol dropped to one knee.
The price of forcibly merging two martial arts that were already difficult to perform even once was devastating. The skin across his entire body had torn open, and the searing pain of his internal organs burning continued without end.
‘There’s no time.’
But he didn’t even have the luxury of savoring the pain.
If he delayed even slightly, Han Sangja and the Death Spirit Corps members could be in mortal danger.
BOOM!
With an explosive roar, Bu Eunseol burst through the formation and soared more than a hundred jang into the sky.
He then poured every ounce of power in his body into unleashing Swift Beyond Shadow at full force.
Kwaaaaa!
As he surged forward, a band of white vapor formed in front of his body.
This kind of qinggong consumed both the Three Divine Energy and true qi completely—it was something one should absolutely never use right before facing a powerful enemy. But he could not stand by and watch Han Sangja or the unit members sacrifice themselves because of this plan.
BOOM! Kwaaaa!
Bu Eunseol became a single streak of meteor and shot across the sky.
* * *
Han Sangja stood alone in the dim darkness where faint light barely seeped in.
Around him, the thirty-two Death Spirit Corps members stood like stone statues.
The Ghost Seclusion Infinite Formation, deployed using martial artists with more than one jia of internal energy as materials, not only turned the interior space into a state of perfect naturalness, but also heightened the senses thousands of times over—so that even the movement of an ant dozens of li away could be felt.
If anyone appeared in the vicinity, he would detect them far faster than any martial master could.
‘The Executioner will come first.’
Though his expression remained calm, ecstatic heat spread through Han Sangja’s eyes.
‘But once he realizes he cannot break through the formation… then an existence above the Executioner will appear.’
A scorching fervor blazed in Han Sangja’s gaze.
‘To deal with me, who dares to break and mock their laws.’
There were incomprehensible laws in the martial world, and he had long studied such things within the Sage Forest.
Above all, the Executioner fascinated him.
A mysterious entity that appeared only before supreme masters to impose restrictions.
No one had ever seen its true form, and it possessed transcendent power capable of turning humans into monsters in an instant. Yet almost no complete texts existed that explained this being in detail.
Moreover, most books that mentioned the Executioner were damaged or incomplete, as though someone had deliberately destroyed them.
Even the Various Laws Scripture that circulated in the martial world had been severely damaged from the beginning, and the Sage Forest had simply copied and spread it as it was.
All to confirm whether someone was truly preventing any mention of the Executioner.
‘They must already know we are artificially manipulating soul fragrance to lure the Executioner.’
Han Sangja, who had been surveying the formation, took a deep breath.
‘They will have no choice but to reveal themselves.’
In truth, the formations placed around Bu Eunseol and Geuk Hyebin were not designed to perfectly hide them from the Executioner. They were strange arrays meant to confine the two inside so they could not interfere, while channeling their soul fragrance toward this Ghost Seclusion Infinite Formation.
“Sending puppets is useless, and even sending the Executioner himself won’t work… so what will you do now?”
Han Sangja had deliberately provoked the one who upheld the laws and commanded the Executioners, forcing them to come here.
‘The Lord must not know about this plan.’
It wasn’t only because he valued everyone’s lives.
Even if the Executioner was not truly transcendent, it surely possessed an extraordinary information network.
It had accurately grasped the movements of the Martial Soul Command Lord—who operated secretly in the martial world—and proposed the covenant.
If everything had been revealed in advance, the plan could have leaked.
‘I’ve waited for this for a very long time.’
He had wanted to study the Executioner, but there were no materials, and no way to confront it.
Yet heaven had smiled upon him.
The very person targeted by the Executioner had come to the Sage Forest seeking help.
While listening to the story of Bu Eunseol amid the crowd of senior and junior brothers at the entrance, Han Sangja’s heart pounded.
At last, an opportunity to unravel the secret of the Executioner had arrived.
‘Moreover, he was a good person.’
In the martial world, the Martial Soul Command Lord was evaluated far more favorably than one would expect from someone of the demonic path. But Han Sangja did not believe rumors. Most famous people wore at least one mask in front of others.
Yet when Bu Eunseol transmitted the mind method to Geuk Hyebin, he understood.
This was a man so upright and kind that he could bring tears to the eyes of such a pure woman.
‘This will also be a great gift to my senior brothers and sisters in the Sage Forest.’
Once he realized that Bu Eunseol was a good person and that this could be the chance to solve a long-unrevealed truth, he did not hesitate to stake his own life on the plan.
‘Sacrifice is inevitable when pursuing truth.’
If he encountered the Executioner?
Not only himself, but the martial artists serving as formation materials could be killed.
But that could not be helped.
Since ancient times, dying while chasing truth had been an exceedingly common occurrence.
Ziiing.
At that moment, a bizarre vibration struck Han Sangja’s eardrums.
It was an ominous sound, as though an unknown entity was revealing itself to the world for the first time.
‘It’s here.’
He could feel it instinctively.
The mysterious being that had existed throughout the martial world for generations, the one that restricted supreme masters—the Executioner—had finally appeared.
Giiiiing.
The ominous sound grew increasingly intense.
At that moment, the faces of the Death Spirit Corps martial artists standing at their positions began to contort.
They were experiencing excruciating pain from the strange noise pouring into their ears.
Yet in contrast, Han Sangja’s expression remained serene.
The Death Spirit Corps members were all masters with more than two jia of internal energy.
How could he endure so calmly a horrific sound that even they could not withstand?
‘As expected, it uses sound.’
It was said that the Executioner identified its target by sensing soul fragrance.
But if soul fragrance could be detected yet the hidden target’s location could not be found?
What method would it use to locate the target?
The answer he had predicted was sound.
No matter how advanced the formation or concealment technique, completely blocking sound was nearly impossible.
He had anticipated that it would deploy a sound-based art to draw out the hidden target.
And his prediction was correct.
Strange noises poured incessantly into the Ghost Seclusion Infinite Formation, which was supposed to block everything.
But because he had pre-embedded Harmony capable of nullifying sound waves like sound arts in the central Heaven-Origin position that commanded the formation, he could stand there completely unaffected.
Groooan.
Blood poured endlessly from the eyes, ears, noses, and mouths of the Death Spirit Corps martial artists.
‘Just endure a little longer. It will be over soon.’
In truth, he had not deployed only the Ghost Seclusion Infinite Formation.
He had layered it with the Thousand Tribulation Forging Array, which contained the profound principles of Heaven-Reversing Return and Counter-Attack Return to Origin—a formation that became more perfect and flawless the more its material people were attacked.
This was a technique that transcended the limits of formation studies, usable only by Ghost Exterminator, the Forest Lord, and Red Azure Elder, the highest elder, as it demanded calculations far more complex than tracking the movements of thousands of constellations.
Yet Han Sangja had learned it secondhand and executed it perfectly in actual combat on his very first attempt.
‘Will it break the formation? Or will it fail?’
A strange fervor blazed in Han Sangja’s eyes.
‘If the Executioner itself is a transcendent being, it will break through. If it is merely a master with mysterious power, it won’t even be able to enter.’
Giiiiing.
Meanwhile, the horrific noise grew even louder.
Each time a sound like something being scraped rang out, the martial artists staggered.
Shuuuk.
But then a mysterious light flowed from beneath their feet, and gradually the contorted faces of the Death Spirit Corps members calmed.
The more they were attacked from outside, the stronger and more unbreakable the formation became.
‘No presence… can be felt at all.’
Even with senses expanded to the extreme, he could not detect the appearance of whoever was unleashing the sound art from outside.
‘Then it may just be a puppet sent for confirmation.’
Crack crack.
Meanwhile, the bodies of the Death Spirit Corps members began to harden like solid rock.
They were steadily turning into living formation materials.
Soon, as long as natural laws were not violated, they would become a perfect formation that could never be broken.
‘It was said that one Executioner handles one target.’
Endless questions swirled in Han Sangja’s mind.
If it could not destroy the formation?
Would it call another comrade?
Would it create infinite puppets to destroy the formation?
Or was this one itself a puppet, and eventually a transcendent being would appear?
If it failed to break the formation, would it simply wander around and disappear?
‘Just wait a little longer.’
A smile played on Han Sangja’s lips.
Whether puppet or Executioner, it would never break this formation.
Then inevitably a higher existence would appear, and before long Bu Eunseol would arrive here as well. Even though he was a master capable of using Infinite Reversal Power, Han Sangja had installed an absolute formation that could not be broken within half a shichen (1 hr).
BOOM!
But at that moment, an earth-shaking, colossal sound began to echo from outside.
It was the sonic boom produced when an extremely powerful master unleashed qinggong at full power.
‘Impossible.’
Han Sangja could not hide his shock.
‘He broke through the Infinite Heaven Lock Formation in less than one gak?’
It was utterly impossible.
His calculations and predictions had never once been wrong.
The Infinite Heaven Lock Formation—eighty-one layered arrays—could easily withstand half a shichen even if a master of the Limitless Realm poured out Infinite Reversal Power.
To think that the Sage Forest’s single strongest formation, sturdy enough to resist tens of thousands of geun of gunpowder exploding for a full shichen, had been shattered in less than one gak?
‘Could he have reached the realm of Heaven’s Will?’
Within the Sage Forest, there existed a book that described the so-called Heaven's Will Realm—an imaginary state spoken of by martial artists.
It was said that upon entering the initial stage of the Heaven's Will Realm, signs similar to Infinite Equal Angle would manifest, allowing one to wield the power of Heaven’s Will Total Annihilation—the ability to comprehend the principles of all things under heaven and either control or annihilate any force.
‘No, that can’t be.’
To reach the Heaven's Will Realm, one must inevitably display power that transcends the Infinite Realm. If Bu Eunseol were capable of that, he would already sit upon the throne of the strongest under heaven.
‘There must be something I don’t know.’
BOOM!
Once again, thunderous sound roared from the distant sky.
Judging by how much closer the sound was than before, he would clearly arrive here in less than half a gak.
‘I was wrong.’
Han Sangja squeezed his eyes shut.
The higher existence of the Executioner had still not revealed itself yet contrary to prediction, Bu Eunseol had already appeared… meaning the entire plan had gone awry.
* * *
BOOM.
Faster than the sound itself, Bu Eunseol’s eyes captured a wasteland filled only with bare rock.
His vision had long transcended human limits, several times sharper than a hawk’s, capable of catching even a mouse more than ten li away.
Thus he could clearly observe the state of the plain that would appear as a blur to ordinary people.
He spotted a hemispherical space wrapped in darkness and a black shadow in front of it unleashing bizarre sound arts.
‘A puppet.’
He knew at a glance.
This was not the Executioner itself that controlled people, but a puppet created by the Executioner.
‘Thank goodness.’
Even though no higher existence had appeared, Bu Eunseol felt relief.
The formation had not yet been broken.
That meant Han Sangja and the Death Spirit Corps members inside were still safe.
As long as no one was harmed because of him, that was enough.
‘It wasn’t a supernatural being after all.’
His only real worry had been whether the so-called Executioner was truly an omniscient, omnipotent entity.
If it were?
Then not only would all of Han Sangja’s plans be meaningless—any resistance at all would be futile.
But the puppet visible in the distance seemed to have only belatedly sensed Han Sangja’s presence hidden within the formation and was relentlessly pouring out sound arts.
That meant the Executioner controlling that puppet… was by no means a supernatural being capable of predicting everything.
‘But it’s different from the puppets we’ve seen so far.’
Though it had the shape of a person, it was strangely enveloped in light.
That suggested ordinary martial arts would likely have little effect.
BOOM! Thud.
Finally arriving in front of the formation where Han Sangja was, Bu Eunseol stood before the black shadow.
Ziiing, ziiing.
The shadow dyed in darkness discovered Bu Eunseol and once again unleashed a bizarre sound.
It felt less like a sound art and more like an evil sorcery that scattered the vitality of life in all directions.
“Huu… huu.”
Having poured out all his true qi while rushing here, Bu Eunseol was in a state of extreme exhaustion.
‘In that case.’
Crackle crackle.
Before long, violet energy spread through Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
He instantly released the Thunder Spirit Energy that had been seething inside him the entire time he had been running.
Rumble! BOOM!
With an explosive roar, a violet shockwave spread in all directions.
Kwarrrrr!
A thunderclap several times louder than natural lightning rang out continuously, swallowing the sound the black shadow had been emitting.
Shrrrr.
Unable to withstand the intense energy and waves of the Thunder Spirit Energy, the black-dyed shadow twisted its body and began emitting various colors.
Gulp. Gulp.
Soon the area around its body rippled like water, then reshaped into the form of an ordinary person.
It was none other than his grandfather, Bu Zhanyang.
The puppet had instantly analyzed Bu Eunseol’s spirit and immediately grasped what he was weakest against.
‘Of course.’
It was said that the Executioner identified and dealt with targets by soul fragrance, not appearance.
Moreover, the sixty-odd days of grace period meant it had ample time to analyze the target in depth.
It was only natural that during that time it would thoroughly identify weaknesses and formulate an attack strategy.
Flash!
The black shadow poured forth a jet-black blade light that sliced across heaven and earth toward Bu Eunseol.
Seven Blood Tear Forms.
The black shadow wearing his grandfather’s appearance naturally unfolded his grandfather’s blade art.
Srrrng.
Without panic, Bu Eunseol drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword to meet it.
He had already anticipated that the moment the black shadow changed into his grandfather’s form, Seven Blood Tear Forms would come flying.
Flash!
Black radiance burst from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, dyeing the entire world in jet-black sword energy.
He had unleashed Life Lodges, Death Returns—the technique he was most confident in.
‘Kuh.’
But the sequence did not connect properly.
Having pushed his qinggong to the limit—stars bursting in his eyes—to arrive even a little faster, it was impossible for him to properly execute Seven Blood Tear Forms, which consumed enormous true qi.
‘I’ll finish it anyway!’
Biting his lip, Bu Eunseol forcibly continued the sequence.
Crackle.
Death-like energy spread in all directions, igniting black lightning.
When Seven Blood Tear Forms clashed against Seven Blood Tear Forms, a black mist surged forward as though the god of death had exhaled.
It did not merely obscure vision—it writhed as though alive, devouring the life force around it.
As the blade techniques collided repeatedly, screaming sonic booms rang out, and wails echoed everywhere.
Paah! Saaaa!
Before his eyes, black blade energy spread like mist at times, like flashes at others.
But due to insufficient true qi, Bu Eunseol’s sequence inevitably had less power than the one the shadow unleashed.
Swoosh!
In the end, an unavoidable ray of death grazed Bu Eunseol’s body.
Splash!
Blood sprayed as he staggered backward repeatedly.
But something astonishing happened.
Despite being struck by Seven Blood Tear Forms, his body remained intact, and no shadow of death fell upon him.
Thud.
When the shadow halted its movements, Bu Eunseol raised the corner of his mouth.
“As I thought.”
In the past, at the gateway of the Ancient Sword Forest, he had fought the illusion of Baekri Mujo—the strongest enemy he could possibly imagine.
And that Baekri Mujo had, in fact, been an existence created inside Bu Eunseol’s own mind.
Because he had believed it was an opponent he could never defeat, victory had been impossible.
Yet in the end, Bu Eunseol had seen through the paradoxical weakness of that absolute illusion: the enemy was only as strong as the level Bu Eunseol himself had imagined.
“What you unfolded isn’t Grandfather’s real blade art—it’s only the blade art I imagined in my head.”
Back then, in the Ancient Sword Forest gateway, the Sacred Sword that Baekri Mujo had displayed was merely the Sacred Sword of his imagination. It was not the true, flawless Sacred Sword that the real Baekri Mujo would wield.
Having realized this, Bu Eunseol had instantly shattered the Sacred Sword existing in his own mind.
Just like now.
“You don’t seem like an ordinary puppet.”
Drip drip.
Realizing this method could not handle Bu Eunseol, the shadow that had worn his grandfather’s face returned to a bizarre form enveloped in black light.
Click.
Twisting his grip on the Silent Tiger Soul Sword, Bu Eunseol asked,
“Are you, by any chance, the Executioner itself?”
The shadow before him possessed martial prowess that did not fall short of any powerful enemy he had faced so far.
If so, perhaps it really wasn’t a puppet, but the Executioner itself?
If he eliminated this one, what would happen?
Would more Executioners come endlessly? Or would the being above them finally appear?
Stretch.
At that moment, the shadow extended its hand.
Ziiing.
With a low vibration, something unbelievable occurred.
The energy within his body began to slowly drain away, and suddenly Bu Eunseol reverted to the appearance of a boy of about ten years old.
The shadow had reversed time, turning him back into his childhood self—before he had even learned breathing techniques.
“…”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
No matter how incredible the ability, how could it reverse time?
Was the so-called Executioner truly a divine being?
‘No, that’s impossible.’
If it truly possessed such power, it would not have struggled so much just to break a formation created by Han Sangja.
Flash!
At that moment, the shadow’s attack poured forth once more.
Bu Eunseol tried to dodge quickly, but his physical reaction speed had become far too slow.
‘I can’t avoid it.’
With no other choice, Bu Eunseol spun the Silent Tiger Soul Sword rapidly to deflect the incoming attacks.
‘Kuh.’
But with a child’s body, he could not properly execute sword techniques.
Moreover, his strength was so weak that even swinging the Silent Tiger Soul Sword—which weighed only about four nyang—was exhausting.
Stumble.
As Bu Eunseol retreated,
Thud thud.
The shadow slowly approached as though pronouncing death.
Though he somehow blocked the attacks, if the Executioner unleashed another overwhelming assault?
There was no way a child’s body could perfectly defend against it.
Paah!
Just as the shadow poured out consecutive attacks to deliver a fatal blow,
Ziiing.
Suddenly its movements began to appear slow.
When life hung by a thread, extreme concentration made it feel as though time itself was flowing more slowly.
‘As expected, this isn’t true time reversal.’
If it had truly and completely reversed time, if it could reverse only the body’s time without any warning or preparatory motion?
Then this kind of phenomenon should not have occurred at all.
Moreover, there would be no need for an entity called the Executioner to exist, nor any need to turn the humans around the target into puppets to control them.
It could simply reverse time from afar and impose death.
“So that’s all it was.”
Gripping the Silent Tiger Soul Sword once more with his small, tender hands, a flash burst from Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
“It was a simple method after all.”
Smirk.
Having seen through the technique the shadow had used, Bu Eunseol raised the corner of his mouth.
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