“Moon Shadow Demon Venerable?”
Bu Eunseol, still perfectly disguised as So Jincheon, let genuine shock flood his face.
“That corpse… is the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable?”
“Yes.”
“Hah! Ridiculous.” Bu Eunseol twisted his features into a sneer. “Everyone knows the righteous and demonic factions chased him to Despair Soul Cliff, where he took his own life. And you’re telling me his body is preserved perfectly like that?”
“No one actually saw the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable fall from Despair Soul Cliff.”
Dae Bo gave a thin, knowing smile.
“Rumors in the martial world are rarely trustworthy, my lord.”
Bu Eunseol blinked, momentarily speechless. Dae Bo continued.
“We have been conducting research for a very long time.”
He pointed at the glass cylinder.
“Why do the experts who shook the world become strong? What kind of physical conditions do they possess? What trigger allows them to reach such heights?”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes wavered.
Those words were almost identical to the beliefs of Pang Yeok and Pang Ryun, the wicked twins of the Infinite Realm who had performed countless human experiments in the past.
“So?”
“Look closely. See how the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable was able to execute sword arts that should have been impossible.”
Bu Eunseol studied the corpse Dae Bo indicated.
The muscles were thick and powerful like a tiger’s and the tendons tough as whale sinew.
The blood vessels were several times larger than a normal person’s.
‘With a body like that…’
Recalling the forms in the Moon Shadow Sword Manual, Bu Eunseol nodded slowly.
‘It wouldn’t be impossible to perform them.’
Despite possessing muscle mass far beyond human limits, the body was unimaginably flexible due to the fact that ligaments and tendons are unbelievably resilient. The joints could bend like taffy.
“So in the end, only someone with a body like his can master the Moon Shadow Sword Manual.” Bu Eunseol muttered darkly.
Dae Bo smiled.
“Exactly.”
“I see. So it was a sword art I could never learn anyway.” Bu Eunseol shook his head in feigned despair. “A physique like that is something you’re born with. No amount of training can create it.”
Then Dae Bo’s eyes gleamed.
“There is a way.”
“What did you say?”
“You simply have to transform your flesh into that of the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable.”
Dae Bo lowered his voice.
“For ages we have dissected and studied the corpses of the supreme experts who once dominated the martial world. And we realized something.”
His eyes curved into crescents.
“Only by recreating the exact same muscles, tendons, ligaments… and constitution can one wield the same martial prowess.”
Only then did Bu Eunseol truly feel it.
This boy was no child.
No boy of that age could possibly speak or wear such an expression.
Bu Eunseol stared at the child with open revulsion.
“Who are you people? What exactly are you trying to do?”
“Who we are and what our goal is—these things are unimportant. All that matters is the choice you make, my lord.”
Dae Bo’s voice rang clear and bright.
“Will you become the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable, or will you give up and leave as you are?”
“Moon Shadow Demon Venerable…”
Bu Eunseol’s voice turned ice-cold with realization.
“Even if you remodel the body, I cannot become him. Ascendant martial arts require a matching mental formula—and temperament must align.”
“As expected of one born with a Void Spirit Physique—your judgment is sharp.” Dae Bo smiled. “But you need not worry. You already possess the same innate disposition as the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable.”
“What?”
“Remodeling mere flesh is the crude work fit only for the lowly Infinite Realm. In our Realm, we use a great arcane art to completely transform both body and soul.”
Bu Eunseol felt as though he had been struck on the head.
‘So this is the true purpose of the Three Realms.’
The reason Returning to One scattered demonic swords across the world.
It was to find individuals whose temperament matched the absolute masters of old, then use a great arcane art to remake them.
‘No wonder the other Realms shunned them for this madness.’
“This is insane.”
Swallowing his thoughts, Bu Eunseol shouted with open suspicion.
“You’re telling me I share his disposition? How could you possibly know that?”
“Because if your temperament did not resonate with a demonic sword, you could never have obtained one in the first place.”
“Nonsense. I’ve already acquired and used several demonic swords. What are you talking about?”
“I speak of the very first demonic sword you ever claimed. Once you can wield your own, naturally you can use the abilities of others to some degree.”
In short, Dae Bo was saying that every single person—including Do Cheonlin—who had ever obtained a demonic sword had done so not by chance, but because their innate nature perfectly matched that sword.
“You claim your great art can transform both body and soul? Where does such a technique even exist?”
“That I cannot reveal yet.”
“Then why perform this art on total strangers? You gain nothing from it.”
Bu Eunseol deliberately twisted his face into a vicious snarl.
“If I become the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable, I could kill every last one of you.”
“That would be fine as well.”
Dae Bo smiled faintly, and Bu Eunseol’s eyes sharpened with understanding.
“That great art of yours obviously includes a method to turn the subject into a puppet.”
“Who can say? The decision is yours, my lord.”
His eyes curved into crescents again.
“We will never force you. Become the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable, or leave as you are—either choice is entirely free.”
Dae Bo was utterly confident.
A man like So Jincheon would never abandon the Moon Shadow Sword Manual.
After all the demonic sword battles, after countless clashes with martial artists, he had tasted victory again and again.
He craved more.
He wanted to grow stronger.
Winner takes all.
That was the law of the martial world.
And the intoxicating thrill of defeating supreme experts in bloody combat was incomparable.
The desperate, burning desire to never lose—to live forever as the victor—now stood right before him.
As long as moonlight existed, the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable’s sword was invincible. Even without moonlight, its swordsmanship was exalted beyond any in the martial world.
So Jincheon could never refuse such an opportunity.
“Fine—I’ll do it!” Bu Eunseol gnashed his teeth. “But if you think you can use me, you’d better give up now! No matter how great your power, I will never submit!”
“Of course.”
Dae Bo bowed, his face dripping with condescension.
‘He has no choice but to shout like that.’
To maintain a hidden research facility of this scale on Cold Moon Island for so long.
To scatter demonic swords across the world without hesitation and reel in whoever they wanted.
To hand over authentic manuals of ancient demonic arts without blinking.
A force capable of all that could never be opposed, even if the real Moon Shadow Demon Venerable were revived.
The man was simply clinging to his pride until the very end.
Just like every other fool who had crawled here before him.
‘A child’s body really is the best.’
Dae Bo hid the sinister smile that threatened to surface.
The most crucial element of this great art was the subject’s voluntary consent.
If coercion worked, they would have simply kidnapped people and performed the ritual long ago.
The problem was that martial artists possess the strongest pride of all.
At first, Emissaries with imposing auras had offered the procedure… and the results had been disastrous. No matter how sweetly they spoke, when a stronger party made the offer it always felt like submission.
But when a harmless-looking child did the talking?
Strangely, even when danger and fear were present, pride swelled and made them believe they could win.
“Shall we go, then?”
“Wait.”
As Dae Bo turned to leave, Bu Eunseol asked, “Have there been any successes?”
“Of course.”
“From the way you speak, the success rate doesn’t sound high.”
Dae Bo shrugged, deliberately provoking his competitive spirit.
“Naturally. It is never easy. That is why I warned you from the beginning that you must risk your life.”
“Judging by what you’ve done so far, you must have corpses of many others besides the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable.”
Dae Bo only smiled faintly and gave no answer.
“Then you can make me into someone even stronger, correct?”
“I will not deny it.”
“Then I choose someone stronger than the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable.”
It was obvious.
The Moon Shadow Demon Venerable had been extraordinary, but history was filled with figures who rivaled or surpassed him.
“That is not possible.”
“Why not?”
Dae Bo smiled faintly.
“You were selected through your demonic sword as someone highly compatible with the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable. You do not match the others.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes darkened.
He had kept asking questions because an ominous thought had been gnawing at him.
“If you possess bodies from hundreds of years ago, then surely you also have the supreme experts who shook the martial world in the last century.”
As if suddenly remembering, Bu Eunseol widened his eyes.
“Surely you don’t have the body of someone like the missing Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang…?”
“Heh heh heh.”
Dae Bo let out a soft laugh.
“Who can say?”
“You do have it.”
When Bu Eunseol furrowed his brow, Dae Bo gave a tiny nod.
“Of course.”
Thud.
In that instant the world blurred, and Bu Eunseol’s heart pounded as though it would burst.
He had finally found it.
The corpse of Grandfather, who had vanished without a trace.
The Realm of Returning to One had taken it.
The remains he had so reverently embalmed and buried…
They had carved it up like the Moon Shadow Demon Venerable before him, dissecting it piece by piece.
—Use Hwagolsan. Leave no trace that I ever existed in this world.
Grandfather had known.
He had known that if his body remained, they would use it.
Yet Bu Eunseol, unable to bear desecrating the grandfather he loved, had embalmed and buried him with utmost care.
That choice had been a mistake.
‘Returning… to… One…’
Then the one among the Three Realms who had murdered Grandfather was very likely from Returning to One.
“So that’s how it was.”
Bu Eunseol hung his head and whispered powerlessly.
“That’s what it was.”
Drip… drip…
Tears of blood fell from the eyes of the man whose head remained bowed.
“You took Grandfather’s body.”
“Grandfather?”
“…That’s why he told me to use Hwagolsan.”
Only now did Bu Eunseol understand why Grandfather had prepared an iron coffin in advance.
Whether he died at an assassin’s hand or of old age, he had wanted his remains dissolved in that coffin with Hwagolsan.
‘He knew everything.’
He knew that Returning to One of the Three Realms could use corpses for their great arts.
That as long as a body remained, they would find and exploit it.
“I will never forgive you.”
Crack.
Bu Eunseol slowly raised his head.
His eyes were dyed crimson, and black light rippled across his entire body.
“What—”
The moment he lifted his face, his whole form was cloaked in pitch black.
The murderous aura and demonic energy pouring from him were so thick that his body had turned into formless black mist.
Shaaak!
Blade-like black energy coiled around Dae Bo’s body.
“Hmph. Pointless.”
Knowing it to be materialized qi, Dae Bo instantly unleashed force to shatter it.
But something was wrong.
He executed Severing Vibration Annihilation, a technique that could obliterate any energy in a single burst—yet the black strands would not break.
They flowed endlessly like water, no matter how many times he severed.
It was the Wishful True Binding fused with Crystal Divine Energy.
Only then did Dae Bo realize that the man before him was not So Jincheon.
“Who… are you…?”
“From now on,” White killing intent poured from Bu Eunseol’s slowly opening mouth. “You will answer only what I ask.”
“What—”
Stab.
In that instant Bu Eunseol’s left hand pierced Dae Bo’s back.
Crack!
With a sickening snap he ripped out a rib.
“GRAAAAH! AAAAAAHH!”
Dae Bo screamed in agony.
But a faint astral barrier surrounded them so the sound did not escape.
“Where is the body of Bu Zhanyang, the Seven-Finger Demon Blade?”
“Bu Zhanyang? I—”
“I said answer only what I ask.”
Crack.
Another rib on the opposite side was torn free.
“AAAAAHH!”
Dae Bo’s eyes rolled white from pain.
“I—I don’t know! All Heaven-Rank bodies are managed directly by the Heavenly Lord!”
“Heavenly Lord? Is the Heavenly Lord the leader of Returning to One?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly are you doing here?”
“We only… find those compatible with demonic swords, confirm the matching body… and overlay the preserved expert’s flesh…”
Crack.
“AAAAH! It’s true! We… preserve the bodies of supreme experts… and graft them onto the subjects…”
Yet something strange was happening.
As he spoke, the pain and terror gradually drained from Dae Bo’s face, and his trembling body and eyes grew eerily calm.
It was as though a new being was emerging from the shell of flesh.
“Have you… asked everything you wanted?”
Though his eyes had rolled completely white, his expression was perfectly serene.
How could such a change occur while ribs were being torn out alive?
“Haa.”
With a turbid breath, the rolled eyes snapped back into focus.
Shhk!
At the same instant, Dae Bo—still bound by Wishful True Binding—suddenly thrust a palm strike straight at Bu Eunseol’s heart.
“Hmph.”
Having sensed the anomaly long ago, Bu Eunseol instantly retreated.
Crack-crack-crack.
Bones cracked as Dae Bo’s tiny body rapidly grew until he towered over Bu Eunseol; muscles swelled grotesquely.
He had never been a child—he had used extreme Bone-Shrinking Art to masquerade as one.
“To shrink one’s height by more than three chi…”
Even at the pinnacle of Bone-Shrinking Art, one could reduce height by only about one and a half chi without cutting bone.
Yet Dae Bo had reduced his by more than three chi.
“So you wear the flesh of the Form-Condensing Demon Venerable.”
“You’re quick on the uptake.”
Dae Bo—no, the man who had become the Form-Condensing Demon Venerable—nodded with a low chuckle.
“The Soft-Body Form-Condensing Art of the Form-Condensing Demon Venerable can shrink bones and muscle to the extreme, and no pressure point can be sealed in any situation.”
Now a towering wall of muscle, his eyes and voice had completely changed.
He was no longer Dae Bo—he truly was the Form-Condensing Demon Venerable reborn.
“Who are you? How did you disguise yourself as So Jincheon?”
He spoke with the exact cadence of the ancient master.
“A minnow sent to spy on our Realm?”
Bu Eunseol did not answer, only stared at the grotesque figure.
Then realization dawned.
He nodded.
“So the entire population of Cold Moon Island are experimental subjects.”
He looked up with certainty.
“Every person in that village underwent the procedure.”
“Heh heh heh. Not bad.”
Dae Bo—no, the Form-Condensing Demon Venerable—admitted it freely.
“The early versions of the completed great art damaged the skin regardless of success or failure.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
Then every soul in that village had received the procedure to become supreme experts?
“There cannot be more than a thousand supreme experts who have dominated the martial world throughout history.”
Bu Eunseol gave a cold snort.
“Then most of them failed. That’s why they’re imprisoned on this island?”
“Heh heh. Think whatever you like.”
The Form-Condensing Demon Venerable gazed down at Bu Eunseol with supreme confidence.
Curiously, he showed no intention of calling for help or sounding an alarm.
“Among those who have entered until now, there were always some—like you—who came to investigate our Realm, or who tried to seize everything by brute force.”
The corners of his mouth curled.
“And dealing with those fools—capturing or killing them—has been my job.”
Dae Bo had been the warden who subdued and managed every demonic sword wielder who ever set foot on Cold Moon Island.
Shaaaak!
Deciding he needed no more answers, Bu Eunseol lashed out with Wishful True Binding like a whip, slicing diagonally across the man’s torso.
But something unbelievable happened.
Bulge, bulge.
The flesh around the wound that reached bone bubbled and swelled—then snapped back like rubber.
It was the Form-Condensing Demon Blood Qi of the legendary giant demon from three hundred years ago—the one called immortal and invincible.
The Form-Condensing Demon Venerable.
