‘An extraordinary master.’
Bu Eunseol narrowed his eyes.
To think he hadn’t sensed their presence despite being in a cave dozens of yards away?
“You want to die? Huh?” Another thunderous shout rang out, and more puppets were shot out like arrows.
Swoosh.
A massive figure emerged from the cave.
Clad in thick bear fur, the figure stood over seven feet tall.
Had Bu Eunseol not noticed the long hair flowing behind the fur… he might have thought a giant bear had emerged.
Step step.
The bear-fur-clad figure strode toward Bu Eunseol and Soyo.
Finally, under the sunlight, their appearance became clear.
Large eyes and slightly chubby cheeks—a beautiful woman.
It was So Okrim.
Compared to before, she seemed to have lost some weight, her face more delicate and her robust frame slightly slimmer.
“She’s like a bear lady.”
As Soyo muttered under her breath, “Why’d you shove these brainless meat sacks into my cave? You ruined my meditation!”
So Okrim, still fuming, pointed at the fallen puppets and shouted.
“Huh?” Spotting Bu Eunseol’s face, So Okrim’s eyes widened. “What brings you here?”
Her plump cheeks puffed out as she approached Bu Eunseol with a wide grin. “What’s this? Did you come because you missed me? How’d you know I was here?”
“No, I came for business.”
“Business? Oh, those meat sacks scattered around the Heavenly Mountains?” So Okrim snorted, as if she’d figured it out. “Why bother coming all the way here for that? Just send some lackeys.”
Approaching familiarly, she placed a hand on Bu Eunseol’s shoulder. “They’re just wandering around the Heavenly Mountains, no threat at all. They’re not going to trek thousands of miles to Majeon.”
“I’m not here for the puppets.” Bu Eunseol, brushing off her arm, looked at her with suspicion.
The fact that the outcast, who taught Jeong Cheon the Seven Blood Tear Forms, was hiding in the Heavenly Mountains was top secret.
Yet So Okrim’s timely appearance here raised his suspicions.
“What’s with that look?”
“What were you doing here?”
“Doing? Training, obviously.” So Okrim said with a puzzled expression. “I told you I’d train and come back.”
“You chose this place for training?”
“What, you think I came to this desolate place for a stroll?” Seeing Bu Eunseol’s suspicious expression, So Okrim frowned. “There’s no better place to temper your spirit. It’s freezing, there’s no one around, and despite the harsh scenery, there’s plenty of game to hunt and frozen ponds and lakes.”
Despite her explanation, Bu Eunseol’s suspicions didn’t waver.
“Have you been training here since we parted?”
“Yep.” As Bu Eunseol pressed, So Okrim’s expression soured, as if offended. “What, you suspecting me now?”
“It’s too coincidental.”
“What’s coincidental?”
Pointing at the cave, Bu Eunseol said. “Can I see inside?”
“What?”
“The cave.”
Catching his intent, So Okrim shouted irritably. “Fine, seeing is believing. Look all you want!”
Huffing, she led the way into the cave.
Bu Eunseol followed, inspecting the cave where she had been staying. It seemed she had lived here for a while—there were wooden furnishings carved from trees. A bed and ropes made from spliced wood were also visible.
Buzz.
Still, Bu Eunseol activated his Void Heart Command to thoroughly scan the cave’s interior. He wanted to confirm when these furnishings were made and how long she had been here.
‘It’s definitely old.’ Judging by the wear on the furnishings, she had been here for at least a year. ‘She really was training here.’
Training in such cold conditions honed focus, akin to cultivating Cold Heart Technique.
She likely aimed to accelerate her mastery by tempering her spirit here.
‘That day must have been quite a shock.’
So Okrim hadn’t started training due to weak martial arts. She was stunned by the power of Illusion King Sa Okcheong’s Soul-Seizing Spirit Words.
Moreover, she realized that without strengthening her spirit, she couldn’t face the onslaught of powerful enemies.
Her choice was correct.
Later, Hyeok Ryeon-eung, a master of formidable mind-control techniques, appeared, and Bu Eunseol nearly died failing to break such a technique.
“Satisfied? Anything else to suspect?” So Okrim huffed indignantly, and Bu Eunseol sighed, shaking his head.
“No, nothing.”
“Nothing what?”
“No reason to suspect.” As Bu Eunseol conceded, So Okrim smacked her lips.
“You’re great and all, but you’re too suspicious.” Sniffing, she asked. “So, what’s the deal?”
After a moment of thought, Bu Eunseol looked at her and spoke. “The Seven-Finger Demon Blade.”
“The Seven-Finger Demon Blade? Is that guy alive?” So Okrim seemed clueless about it.
“Not exactly. But it seems someone who learned his technique is here.”
“What do you mean, his technique?”
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eunseol recounted everything Jeong Cheon had told him. Not because he fully trusted her, but because it wasn’t a particularly sensitive matter.
More importantly, he was curious about her reaction.
“So, he was quite close to the Seven-Finger Demon Blade.” So Okrim rubbed her chin with a serious expression. “That’s why these meat sacks are wandering the Heavenly Mountains?”
She didn’t seem to take the Seven-Finger Demon Blade story too seriously.
Staring into her eyes, Bu Eunseol asked.
“When did the puppets start appearing?”
“Before I got here.” So Okrim smacked her lips. “I thought the descendants of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars made a ton of puppets and dumped them here because they couldn’t deal with them.”
Bu Eunseol narrowed his eyes.
So Okrim still believed, based on the Divine Mountain Sage’s words, that the descendants of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars were manipulating the righteous and demonic factions.
“If you’re right, that outcast is probably nearly impossible to track. He chose the Heavenly Mountains because he’s confident his hiding won’t be detected.”
“Probably.” Nodding calmly, Bu Eunseol turned. “Then continue your training.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes.” He added. “Since there are puppets, there might be Three Realms’ masters somewhere in the Heavenly Mountains. Be careful.”
“The Three Realms?”
Having dealt with the Illusion King, So Okrim seemed unaware of the Three Realms, as if she’d been secluded here. Bu Eunseol had no choice but to share all he’d learned about the Three Realms.
“Hmm, the Three Realms, huh.” She wore an enigmatic expression, as if faintly recalling a distant memory.
“They don’t act openly, but their envoys are different. They give direct orders and are highly skilled, so you must be cautious.”
So Okrim’s background wasn’t fully clear. But having faced various challenges together, Bu Eunseol considered her a comrade, at least.
“Why worry about that? If they cross my path, they’re done for.” Flexing her robust arm, So Okrim said.
“So, you two are looking for that outcast?”
“Yes. The masked old man is likely a Three Realms figure too. We need to find him first.”
“Hmm.” Rubbing her chin, So Okrim nodded.
“Alright, I’m in.”
“Focus on your training.” Bu Eunseol refused firmly.
It was for her sake.
Stopping her spiritual training midway would waste all her efforts.
“Heh heh heh. What are you talking about? I finished that training long ago. I’m working on something else now.”
“Finished?”
“Yeah, look.” So Okrim pointed deep into the cave.
The walls were covered in chaotic lines and shapes. Elsewhere, constellation-like patterns were etched within circular designs.
“Ugh.” Soyo, looking at them, frowned and turned away.
Just gazing at them made her dizzy and nauseous.
‘Impressive.’ Bu Eunseol nodded.
He was reminded anew that So Okrim was a descendant of the Celestial Emperor.
To think that mere chaotic lines and shapes could affect one’s spirit?
The martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars consistently possessed transcendent power and effects…
And So Okrim wielded such martial arts.
“I’ll help. It’ll be faster that way, right?”
“Hmm.” Bu Eunseol rubbed his chin.
So Okrim’s personality was wild, but her intellect and tracking skills were exceptional. Hadn’t they resolved the Black-and-White Witch incident together, finishing much faster than expected?
“Alright, let’s go together.”
“But.” So Okrim finally turned to Soyo, standing beside Bu Eunseol, and stared. “Who’s this little one?”
Her eyes widened as she asked again.
“Your sister?”
With pale skin and silver-tinted eyes that took up half her face, Soyo had a mystical, beautiful appearance. Moreover, she somehow resembled Bu Eunseol’s calm yet melancholic aura.
“Deputy Leader Soyo.”
“Deputy Leader? So there’s a Senior Leader too?”
“No, she’s my aide when I roam the martial world.”
The name Soyo (Little Demon) was an assassin’s title given by the Hundred-Split Assassin Sect, not her real name.
But upon joining Bu Eunseol’s ranks, the less-educated leaders of the Death Shadow Corps heard her name and assumed it was her real name, derived from the surname So and the given name Yo. Thus, her assassin title became her real name.
Unaware of this, So Okrim took it to mean “Little Deputy Leader” rather than a surname.
“Even if you’re short on people, sending a kid like this into the martial world?” Clicking her tongue, she looked at Soyo with a warm smile.
“Little miss, what’s your name? Which sect are you from?”
“I’m older than you.” Soyo replied coldly.
“Hahaha! This cute little miss has a sense of humor.”
Finding even Soyo’s cold demeanor adorable, So Okrim laughed heartily and placed her massive hand on Soyo’s cheek.
Soyo tilted her head to avoid it.
Shiver.
But the hand wavered, and before she knew it, So Okrim’s hand was on her pale, small cheek.
“So cute. When I marry my destined one… I hope I have a daughter as adorable as this little miss. Ho ho ho.”
Given So Okrim’s build and appearance, the odds of having a child like Soyo were slim.
But thinking of Seo Jinha’s slender frame, she nodded firmly.
“Hmm, there’s definitely potential.”
Soyo brushed off So Okrim’s hand from her cheek and said coldly.
“How old are you?”
“Me? Hmm… twenty-one or twenty-two, I think.”
Bu Eunseol was dumbfounded, his mouth agape. He’d thought she was around his age or older.
But she was barely past twenty when she first met Seo Jinha?
“Young.”
“Huh?”
“I’m thirty.”
So Okrim’s eyes wavered.
It was the same reaction Bu Eunseol had when he first met Soyo.
“Hahaha!” But So Okrim wasn’t ordinary.
Blinking her large eyes, she puckered her lips and pinched Soyo’s cheek again.
“So our little miss wants to be a thirty-year-old grown-up?”
“Don’t pinch my cheek.”
“Alright, alright.” Laughing, So Okrim patted her head. “You shouldn’t tease adults.”
“Don’t pat my head either.”
“Alright, alright.”
Thereafter, Soyo’s protests—‘Don’t braid my hair.’ ‘Don’t touch my earlobe.’ ‘Don’t pat my butt.’—continued endlessly.
But So Okrim, despite the scolding, kept petting her for a while before stopping, seemingly delighted.
‘They get along better than I thought.’
Bu Eunseol had expected chaos when Soyo and So Okrim clashed.
If Soyo was a chilling northern wind, So Okrim was a blazing summer sun. But contrary to expectations, Soyo didn’t get angry, and So Okrim didn’t lose her temper.
Their extreme differences somehow made them oddly compatible.
“Let’s go.” At Bu Eunseol’s words, So Okrim flashed her white teeth in a grin.
“Alright.”
Adding one more person didn’t make searching the vast Heavenly Mountains any easier.
The search party consisted of just three, including Bu Eunseol. Finding a hidden master here was practically impossible. But Bu Eunseol searched the Heavenly Mountains with a unique approach.
The Three Realms had likely already deployed numerous forces to scour the area. Thus, any terrain suitable for long-term hiding would have been thoroughly checked.
So Bu Eunseol quickly passed over searched areas, focusing on unchecked ones.
“It’s a good method, but it won’t work.” After searching under Bu Eunseol’s direction until sunset, So Okrim shook her head. “Even with this approach, it’d take months to cover the Heavenly Mountains. He could change hiding spots in that time.”
She continued quickly.
“If he’s evaded such a powerful force’s pursuit, he might have a special hiding method. He could even be hiding in a place already searched.”
Bu Eunseol nodded.
“Accurate analysis. Finding someone who’s evaded the Three Realms for so long with just three people is practically impossible.”
“What, you already had a plan?”
“Yes. I just wanted to try finding him myself first.”
“Now what?”
Scanning the surroundings, Bu Eunseol said calmly.
“If we can’t find him, we’ll make him come out.”
“Oh?”
“Luckily, I have bait that would interest the outcast and make the Three Realms’ people salivate.”
Bu Eunseol possessed the complete essence of the Seven Blood Tear Forms.
The outcast had taught Jeong Cheon only the first and fourth forms.
Not the first and second, but the first and fourth. Thus, the outcast likely hadn’t mastered all the forms either.
“What’s the bait?” At So Okrim’s question, Bu Eunseol paused.
He trusted her to an extent but not completely.
“It’s the Seven Blood Tear Forms he passed to me.” Bu Eunseol mixed in a lie. “Jeong Cheon left me the essence as he died. Since the outcast taught him the technique… if I leave traces of it around, he’ll surely come to me.”
In other words, he’d pose as Jeong Cheon, using the technique to lure the outcast.
“Hmm, that makes sense.” So Okrim quickly grasped his plan. “Then, to ensure he finds you directly, we need to distract the Three Realms’ pursuit.”
If Bu Eunseol left traces of the technique while moving alone, not only the outcast but also the Three Realms’ forces in the Heavenly Mountains would pursue him.
Thus, So Okrim and Soyo needed to divert their attention.
“Exactly.” Bu Eunseol nodded.
So Okrim’s intellect was sharp, requiring no further explanation.
“Well, it’s not as fun as fighting head-on, but I said I’d help, so no choice.” Smacking her lips, So Okrim looked at Soyo.
“She’s going separately too?”
“Yes. The more scattered the traces, the better.”
“Hmm.” Worried about the petite, frail-looking Soyo, So Okrim said gently, unlike her usual self.
“Be careful. Don’t get hurt.”
“You too.”
“Haha, still so curt, you cheeky thing.”
As So Okrim reached for her cheek,
Pop!
Soyo vanished instantly using her movement technique.
“Oh, her movement skills are impressive. No need to worry.” Nodding in the direction Soyo vanished, So Okrim asked.
“Shall we get started?”
“No need to make a big scene. Just enough disruption will do.”
“Just enough? Pfft.” So Okrim bared her fangs at Bu Eunseol.
“If we’re doing it, we’ll crush them completely.”
Boom!
Leaping into the air, she sped off in the opposite direction of Soyo.
Whoosh!
Unlike usual, So Okrim made a loud sonic boom as she moved.
This would surely draw the attention of the puppets scattered across the Heavenly Mountains.
While So Okrim and Soyo distracted them, Bu Eunseol would leave traces of the Seven Blood Tear Forms…
Hoping the outcast would come to him.
