“Damn it.”
So Okrim’s eyes were still hazy, and faint traces of blood lingered at the corners of her mouth.
“Even after hitting my face like that, I couldn’t fully break the Great Mind-Control Technique.” She had inflicted pain on herself to regain clarity, but her body was still under the lingering influence of the technique.
As a result, she couldn’t properly channel her energy.
“Ptooey.” So Okrim spat out a clot of blood the size of a pebble.
“Get lost.” Sa Okcheong unleashed the Yin Dew Binding Hand once more.
Boom! Boom!
With explosive sounds, So Okrim’s body was pushed back six steps.
“You get lost!” she shouted, mustering all her remaining strength to execute the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike.
“Ugh.” But her energy faltered.
The Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike collapsed mid-execution, releasing only a fierce gust that pushed Sa Okcheong dozens of yards away.
Swish.
In that moment, Bu Eunseol tapped his Seungeup Point again, restoring his vision.
“Why did you interfere?” he asked, puzzled. “It wasn’t an attack I couldn’t block.”
“You could’ve blocked it, sure,” So Okrim snorted. “But you’d have been injured in the process. If that happened, you’d have had to face that old pervert in a compromised state.”
She had blocked the Yin Dew Binding Hand to ensure Bu Eunseol could fight at full strength.
“No need to get emotional about it,” she said, wiping the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, clenching her teeth. “I just figured you’re better suited to take him down, so I’m stepping aside.”
Thud.
Before finishing her words, So Okrim collapsed to the ground.
“Can you… beat that old pervert?”
“Of course,” Bu Eunseol replied.
“Good.” Her eyes shone with boundless trust toward him.
“I believe in you.”
So Okrim had come to trust him.
No matter how dire the situation or what trials arose, she believed Bu Eunseol could overcome them. With that faith, she could let go and lose consciousness.
“After this, I need to go into seclusion. These guys consistently shatter the mind…” Muttering softly, So Okrim passed out.
Hum.
A faint light emanated from her body, accompanied by a ripple of true energy. Her body had instinctively begun circulating energy to heal her injuries.
The martial arts of the Celestial Emperor.
The technique, created by a mysterious grandmaster who dominated the martial world four hundred years ago, transcended the principles of martial arts. It allowed the body to generate energy and perform internal healing even while unconscious.
“Lucky to be alive,” Sa Okcheong said, smirking at Bu Eunseol. “Now, how shall I kill you?”
He wore a gleeful smile.
Bu Eunseol was already under his mind-control technique.
Whether through an energy duel or close combat, Sa Okcheong was confident he could overpower him. But he chose a safer method, recalling that Bu Eunseol was one of the Seven Demon Kings, undefeated until now.
“Safety first,” he said.
Buzz.
Circular lights rose from both his palms.
He had condensed the force of his Yin Dew Binding Hand into spherical energy orbs.
“These orbs, formed from the Yin Dew Binding Hand, are unlike sword energy. The moment they touch, they don’t pierce—they make the body explode.”
Smirking, Sa Okcheong used cloud-like movement techniques, circling Bu Eunseol rapidly.
He unleashed a barrage of energy orbs at him.
Clang! Clang!
Bu Eunseol used the principles of Shifting Heaven’s Force to deflect the chaotic onslaught of orbs with his black sword.
But he couldn’t fully block the immense force within them.
Trickle.
Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth as he parried the orbs.
Under the influence of Sa Okcheong’s Soul-Seizing Spirit Words, his internal energy was reduced by over eighty percent, leaving him with barely one cycle of true energy.
Boom! Boom!
Each clash of his sword with the orbs produced explosive sounds.
Even if he weren’t under the mind-control technique, and even if his body were at its peak, Sa Okcheong was not an opponent to be taken lightly. In such a disadvantaged state, with orbs raining down and overwhelming him with sheer energy, Bu Eunseol was helpless.
“If I take your head, I won’t need to suck blood anymore!” Sa Okcheong declared.
His words were bizarre.
Where was he planning to take Bu Eunseol’s head that he’d no longer need to feed on blood? But Bu Eunseol, fully focused on wielding his swordsmanship, had no time to ponder or decipher the meaning.
Pop!
An orb grazed near his neck.
Despite his perfect defense, his slowed body caused his sword form to lag by half a beat.
Bang!
The skin near his neck burst as if exploding, blood gushing out.
Fortunately, it missed his carotid artery, but the blood kept flowing.
Pop! Pop!
Bu Eunseol quickly sealed the blood points on his neck. But even that didn’t completely stop the bleeding.
If the fight continued, he would bleed out and die.
“Hahaha!” Sa Okcheong paused his attack, laughing. “I see your death.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes darkened as he watched the blood drip from his neck.
As Sa Okcheong said, he was one step closer to death.
‘Death.’
The word triggered thoughts of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang’s Seven Blood Tear Forms. A technique born from the despair and sorrow of an absolute being who always survived by a hair’s breadth, yearning for death in the end.
Swish.
Another orb from the Yin Dew Binding Hand grazed Bu Eunseol’s cheek.
As the cold, yin-infused energy brushed his skin, a flash sparked in his mind.
‘I forgot.’
A weapon he had overlooked until now.
The North Sea’s strongest ice technique, the Heavenly Glacial Secret.
Not only could it freeze enemies, but it could also harden his own body—a perfect balance of offense and defense.
‘If I use the Heavenly Glacial Secret, I can execute the second form of the Seven Blood Tear Forms.’
The Second Form, Seeking Life in Death.
Finding a sliver of survival in a situation where death was certain.
The Seven Blood Tear Forms wasn’t just a blade technique; it required mastering the mental resolve suited to the situation to achieve perfect execution.
Facing death and finding a path to surviva.
Bu Eunseol had grasped the key to unleashing the second form.
‘One chance.’
Cold energy surged in his eyes. He charged straight at Sa Okcheong, who was unleashing hundreds of orbs.
“Hahaha! Your grand plan is to die together?” Sa Okcheong sneered coldly as Bu Eunseol recklessly rushed in. “Die now.”
As Bu Eunseol closed in, Sa Okcheong raised both arms.
Whoosh!
A net-like barrage of orbs poured from both sides, enveloping Bu Eunseol. Not single orbs, but elongated energy blades aimed to slice him into hundreds of pieces.
Shiiing!
A fierce cold energy erupted from Bu Eunseol’s left hand.
The Heavenly Glacial Secret.
The North Sea Ice Palace’s supreme technique, capable of freezing the heavens at its peak, surged toward Sa Okcheong.
Freeze.
Though powered by only one cycle of energy, the icy true energy instantly halted Sa Okcheong’s movements.
The sharp orbs encircling Bu Eunseol froze in midair.
The moment was fleeting, but to Bu Eunseol, it felt like an eternity.
Flash!
A black radiance exploded from his black sword, and his body became a streak of light, engulfing Sa Okcheong.
“No way!” Sa Okcheong, startled, roared and dodged the black radiance.
But the radiance had anticipated his retreat, opening a black maw behind him.
The Seven Blood Tear Forms, Second Form, Seeking Life in Death.
This form didn’t aim to cut the enemy with blade techniques but exploited their vulnerabilities in close combat, as if aiming for mutual destruction. The moment the enemy retreated to evade, it unleashed millions of sword energies into the space they fled to, obliterating it.
“Urgh.” With a choked groan, Sa Okcheong’s eyes dimmed.
His body appeared intact, but dozens of sharp sword energies had pierced through him.
“If the enemy doesn’t retreat, the user dies… a self-destructive blade art…” Sa Okcheong muttered, instantly grasping that Bu Eunseol’s sword form was actually a blade technique and its profound essence.
If the enemy didn’t retreat, the user, having poured all forms into the rear, would die—a catastrophic blade art.
“Only one such insane blade art exists in the world,” he said in a hoarse voice. “You’re… a disciple of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade!”
Astonishingly, Sa Okcheong recognized that the form Bu Eunseol executed with his sword was the absolute blade form of the Seven-Finger Demon Blade.
“Raised by him… no wonder you’re this strong.”
“You know the Seven-Finger Demon Blade?” Bu Eunseol asked.
“Know him? Hahaha!” Sa Okcheong laughed, saying something bizarre. “I never believed he was dead. As expected, he was secretly raising a disciple!”
His eyes gleamed with malice as he glared at Bu Eunseol. “But no matter how hard you try, you’ll never find that child.”
“Child?” Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed. “What child?”
“Hahaha!” Sa Okcheong’s shrill voice echoed through the night, blood at his lips. “I handed that child to them myself! Hahaha!”
Had he lost his mind in the face of death?
He laughed maniacally, spouting incomprehensible words.
“You’ll meet the same fate!” he shouted.
“Sa Okcheong!” Bu Eunseol swiftly used his movement technique to seal Sa Okcheong’s blood points.
If he died now, a crucial clue would be lost.
Pop! Pop!
But the blood points wouldn’t seal.
The second form had severed his meridians and organs entirely. From the moment he was exposed to the Seven Blood Tear Forms, his body was irreparably shattered.
Thud.
With no choice, Bu Eunseol infused extreme true energy into Sa Okcheong’s Life Gate Point.
But his body was too broken to accept any energy.
“If I killed you… I could’ve returned… there,” Sa Okcheong muttered softly.
“Return where?” Bu Eunseol asked.
“Boundless…” Sa Okcheong raised his right hand to the distant sky, his eyes hazy.
“Palace…”
His arm dropped, and he breathed his last.
Born a yin-yang person, a rare anomaly, the Illusion King Sa Okcheong had dominated an era with his peerless mind-control arts and martial prowess.
Yet, this extraordinary master met his end in an obscure forest.
“Boundless Palace?” Bu Eunseol narrowed his eyes.
Boundless—a term meaning endless. Was that the name of the faction he belonged to?
‘No matter how hard you try, you’ll never find that child. I handed that child to them myself!’
More than the name Boundless Palace, Sa Okcheong’s cryptic words echoed relentlessly in his mind.
They implied that the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang, had an heir.
‘Wasn’t Bu Zhanyang my grandfather?’
His grandfather, Bu Zhanyang, was a Shaolin disciple. Even if he had returned to secular life, he wouldn’t be unaware of having a child.
Hadn’t he firmly stated he never married?
If he had an heir, it meant one of two things: either his grandfather was unaware of his own heir, or the Seven-Finger Demon Blade Bu Zhanyang and his grandfather Bu Zhanyang were different people.
Drop.
Something half-melted flowed from Sa Okcheong’s mouth.
Sizzle.
It emitted white smoke and evaporated instantly.
‘He was hiding all sorts of poisons,’ Bu Eunseol thought, assuming it was a poison Sa Okcheong had concealed in his mouth.
Unbeknownst to him, this object would soon shake the martial world and was the reason Sa Okcheong, who had long remained hidden, began killing directly—a realization that would come later.
“Ugh, Master Seol,” Yu Cheongrim groaned, calling out. “Please save me.”
Though Sa Okcheong’s death had broken the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words, Yu Cheongrim couldn’t detoxify the Illusionary Scent, leaving him unable to control his body.
“Endure the pain,” Bu Eunseol said, infusing powerful extreme true energy into Yu Cheongrim’s Great Vertebra Point.
Sizzle.
The Illusionary Scent’s toxicity within him dissipated instantly.
“Argh!” As the poison was cleansed, Yu Cheongrim writhed in agony on the ground.
The pain of extreme true energy coursing through his meridians felt like burning veins and cutting bones. Meanwhile, So Okrim, nearing the end of her energy circulation, had steam rising from her forehead like a boiling pot.
“Phew.” Finally finishing, she let out a sigh and opened her eyes. “Damn, I almost died.”
Standing, she looked down at Sa Okcheong’s corpse, shaking her head.
“To think the Illusion King’s martial arts were this formidable.”
So Okrim had prided herself on escaping any fight unscathed, even if she wasn’t invincible. But facing Sa Okcheong shattered that confidence.
‘I need to master my mental resolve to the extreme.’
To confront the world’s greatest masters, mental fortitude was paramount.
The top masters could destroy both body and mind with invisible forces. She needed to reach a state like Bu Eunseol, where her mind remained unshakable in any situation.
‘I thought raising my martial arts to the highest level was enough,’ she thought, clenching her fists. If her goal had been to perfect the Dual-Severed Galaxy Strike, now she aimed to master the Celestial Emperor’s ultimate mental resolve to prevent such incidents.
“Bu Eunseol,” she said, resolute. “I think I need to leave for a while.”
He nodded.
Her prowess matched his, but her mental resolve lagged behind.
In this state, seeking the heir of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars would lead to certain defeat. She had recognized her shortcomings and intended to enter secluded training.
“Do well,” Bu Eunseol said briefly.
Unlike before, his voice carried a faint trust.
Though driven by victory, So Okrim had risked her life to protect him. That alone made her a comrade. Skilled masters were many, but finding someone trustworthy to watch your back was rare.
Her chaotic personality was a slight drawback, though.
“Alright,” So Okrim said, wiping her nose and approaching Yu Cheongrim, who looked dazed. She patted his shoulder. “You worked hard too. Thanks to you, we managed to catch her, right?”
Yu Cheongrim nearly burst into tears.
Worked hard? How could that one phrase sum up everything he’d endured?
‘All the hardships I’ve faced in life weren’t hardships compared to this.’
Though young, Yu Cheongrim had prided himself on tasting the bitter and sweet of life.
Beaten mercilessly as a child, imprisoned, and tortured countless times, his life as an orphan turned thief was a chain of tribulations.
Yet, compared to his time with So Okrim, those hardships felt like a pleasant outing.
“It was… really, really tough,” he said.
“I know, I know, you worked hard,” So Okrim said, patting his shoulder. “If you’re ever in trouble, come find me. I’ll help you out.”
“Then I have one request,” Yu Cheongrim said.
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“Speak.”
Clasping his hands, he pleaded earnestly, “I hope I never see Lady So again.”
“Hahaha!” So Okrim grabbed his shoulders, shaking him as she laughed. “You’re quite the joker.”
“No, I mean it sincerely…”
“Sure, sure. See you next time.” Ignoring his words, she turned and vanished into the distant sky.
Yu Cheongrim watched her go, his face filled with despair.
He had a sinking feeling he’d see her again.
‘I really need to quit thieving…’
A single misstep in his thievery had led him to cross paths with a calamity like So Okrim, causing him endless suffering.
He resolved never to steal again to avoid such disasters.
“You worked hard,” Bu Eunseol said, handing Yu Cheongrim a small token. “If you’re in trouble, show this at the nearest relay station. It’ll help.”
Bu Eunseol was meticulous in settling debts.
Though So Okrim had dragged Yu Cheongrim into this, his contribution to capturing the Black-and-White Witch was undeniable.
“What’s this?” Yu Cheongrim stared at the token, engraved with a red spider.
It was the Blood Spider Token, allowing instant contact with Nine Deaths Squad branch leaders across the Central Plains.
Unaware of this, Yu Cheongrim merely blinked.
‘Master Seol must run some private organization,’ he thought.
Many top mercenaries operated personal intelligence or assassination groups. Assuming Bu Eunseol led a useful organization, Yu Cheongrim accepted the token.
“Thank you. Oh, wait!” he said, suddenly pointing at A-Yeon, collapsed in the distance. “We need to save her.”
Without A-Yeon, he would’ve been drained by the Black-and-White Witch, wandering the afterlife by now. Bu Eunseol, caught up in the intense battle, had forgotten about her collapsed state.
‘Something’s off,’ he thought, puzzled.
A-Yeon was not only skilled in swordsmanship but had mastered profound techniques. She bore no internal injuries, and the Soul-Seizing Spirit Words were broken, yet she hadn’t woken after all this time?
“Wake up…” Examining her condition, Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
Her cheeks were flushed, her forehead burning like a furnace. Cold sweat poured from her brow, and her lips were cracked like a dry desert.
Checking her pulse, his gaze deepened.
‘A scorching energy is melting her meridians.’
A-Yeon was unconscious, as if in a deep sleep, with an untraceable heat raising her body temperature endlessly.
If left untreated, her organs would cook, and she’d die.
‘There’s no way,’ Bu Eunseol thought.
No method could cure or stop this strange phenomenon immediately.
After much deliberation, he gathered his energy and unleashed the Heavenly Glacial Secret. His extreme true energy transformed into icy true energy, colder than ice.
Sssss.
As he infused it, a thin layer of frost formed around her body.
The Heavenly Glacial Secret had lightly frozen her to halt the worsening of her condition. Raising his extreme heart technique again, he infused energy into her Great Vertebra Point.
But her condition didn’t improve.
“Is she badly hurt?” Yu Cheongrim asked, worried.
Bu Eunseol shook his head. “An unknown heat is spreading through her body. It’s likely… she misused her energy while caught in a hallucination.”
“Then we need to treat her quickly!” Yu Cheongrim urged.
“It’s an internal energy issue. No matter how skilled a physician, they can’t treat it.”
“Is there no way then?”
Bu Eunseol stroked his chin. “If someone knows her energy circulation, they might mitigate the symptoms.”
He sighed deeply. “Since she’s from the Sword Pavilion, we should take her there.”
“Sword Pavilion,” Yu Cheongrim paled, trembling. “I’d rather die than go there.”
Thud.
Panicking, he dropped to his knees, bowing. “Master Seol, if a thief like me enters the Sword Pavilion, they’ll cut off my hands on the spot.”
Since meeting So Okrim, his knees had bent more often than a beggar’s.
“Don’t worry. I’ll go myself,” Bu Eunseol said.
“What?”
“I need to keep infusing icy energy anyway.” His eyes, gazing at the distant sky, were filled with deep, profound light.
To save A-Yeon, he had to take her to the Sword Pavilion himself.
The thousands-of-li journey would be arduous, but it could be a chance to gather information on the mysterious Sword Pavilion, which rarely revealed itself.
