Inside the pavilion area of the Elder Hall, invisible eyes were laid out everywhere.
Even if he did not kill Bu Eunseol but merely broke his spirit, it would still be an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the majesty of the Blood Demon.
Flash!
The moment Jeok Bung’s eyes emitted a brilliant light,
Boom!
An invisible, colossal pressure descended from the air and crushed down on Bu Eunseol’s head.
Crack. Crunch.
The ground sank slightly, and the sounds of bones shattering and muscles tearing began to echo.
Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm.
It was Jeok Bung’s exclusive secret art and the most brutal suppression technique in the history of the martial world.
Hummm.
As the terrifying pressure poured down, Bu Eunseol’s internal energy activated on its own. His profound energy, which had surpassed ten jia, was so solid that it could support the heavens themselves.
“I already knew your internal energy was extraordinary.”
Jeok Bung already knew that Bu Eunseol’s profound energy had reached a level that was nearly unrivaled under the heavens.
However, the newly created Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm did not merely destroy the body.
It could pierce straight into the depths of a human’s soul.
Sparkle!
A sharp radiance from the sky struck directly at Bu Eunseol’s Baihui acupoint.
That keen, razor-sharp force seeped into Bu Eunseol’s soul like the primordial chaos devouring all existence.
Crunch.
Jeok Bung clearly heard the sound of Bu Eunseol’s soul being torn apart.
The formless pressure, sharp like a sword, sliced through his mind and twisted the very threads of his soul.
‘Even if he doesn’t die, his soul will suffer a severe blow.’
Until now, Bu Eunseol had never experienced a single setback or failure since becoming the successor of Majeon.
Jeok Bung would soon become the new Sect Leader, and Bu Eunseol was someone who could become a major obstacle to his grand plan. That was why he intended to thoroughly break Bu Eunseol’s spirit on this occasion and once again spread his authority far and wide.
However, if rumors spread that he had personally acted against Bu Eunseol, the one called Sado Muryeong would definitely investigate the traces.
Therefore, he refrained from using the new martial arts that allowed him to step outside the boundaries of the Limitless Realm and only employed the recently improved Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm.
Whoooosh.
To resist the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm, the energies mixed within Bu Eunseol’s body began to whirl violently.
His soul’s resilience and the depth of his profound energy were unmatched, but the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm that Jeok Bung had unleashed now transcended the limits of ordinary martial arts—it was Infinite Reversal Power.
Without deploying Infinite Reversal Power of the same level, it was impossible to block.
“I’ve endured quite a lot.”
All this time, Jeok Bung had treated Bu Eunseol with surprising leniency, contrary to his title as the Blood Demon. It was partly because he highly valued Bu Eunseol’s outstanding talent and boldness… but above all, because he had thoroughly analyzed Bu Eunseol’s bloodline and profound energy. But now, as the forces from the abyss and the subordinates of the True Demon gradually revealed themselves, Bu Eunseol’s profound energy no longer held any particular interest or advantage for him.
“Shall I check your Infinite Reversal Power once?”
Jeok Bung arrogantly looked down at Bu Eunseol, who was crouching while enduring the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm.
Although it was not widely known in the martial world, Jeok Bung had obtained information from various intelligence organizations suggesting that Bu Eunseol had entered the Limitless Realm. Infinite Reversal Power was a force that transcended human limits, and because its nature was unknown, it could not be defended against without understanding it.
Therefore, masters who had reached the Limitless Realm rarely displayed their Infinite Reversal Power and kept its properties extremely hidden.
Jeok Bung intended to use this opportunity not only to break Bu Eunseol’s spirit but also to confirm the nature of his Infinite Reversal Power.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The pressure of the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm grew even fiercer, transforming into a tyrannical force that crushed the entire world endlessly, seemingly merging the sky and earth where Bu Eunseol stood.
Nevertheless, Bu Eunseol merely remained crouched, silently enduring without displaying any Infinite Reversal Power or other martial techniques.
‘In the end, he cannot escape my expectations.’
In Bu Eunseol’s eyes as he endured the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm, a red glow began to rise.
He had already been prepared for the possibility that Jeok Bung might act against him. Rather, it was impressive that Jeok Bung had suppressed his cruel and impulsive nature for so long.
‘As expected, only the Blood Demon, that old man, would do this.’
And he could feel it.
To achieve a pure demonic path that ruled the world, someone like Jeok Bung was necessary.
Rumble rumble rumble.
At the same time, a mysterious light emanated from Bu Eunseol’s body along with a shockwave that shook heaven and earth.
From the very beginning, when he came to meet Jeok Bung, he had enveloped his body with Harmony. If Jeok Bung acted against him, he planned to immediately neutralize the attack and resume their conversation.
To have a true dialogue with a figure like the Blood Demon, he first had to prove that he possessed equal strength.
‘But to think he is this strong.’
Bu Eunseol had risen to a level where he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the supreme experts of the previous generation.
However, to be precise, he had not completely caught up with them.
The Three Demons and Three Venerables were also grandmasters of martial arts with peerless talent, and because they had long peered into the abyss of the martial world, they refrained from external activities and continuously strengthened their martial prowess.
It was impossible to close such a gap of several decades in a short time.
‘Still, I had to confirm this.’
What had provoked Jeok Bung was the fact that the martial disparity among each of the Three Demons and Three Venerables was enormous, and the only ones who had properly revealed their true martial prowess so far were the Sword Venerable and the Human Demon.
Since they would all eventually become his opponents in the future, he absolutely had to confirm the true skill of Jeok Bung, who stood at the bottom of the Three Demons and had fought against all the other Demons and Venerables.
Crack crack crack.
Meanwhile, his body was beginning to split apart.
‘It’s getting hard to endure any longer.’
In the end, he tried to unleash Harmony, but the pouring pressure prevented him from even releasing it.
Fortunately, because he had enveloped his body with the power of Harmony, his physical body was not destroyed, but he could not escape the pressure of the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm.
Crunch.
His flesh was tearing, his mind was shattering, and the root of his existence was about to be erased.
Even if one could endure the pressure of the newly improved Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm, it still destroyed the soul.
Bu Eunseol concentrated his mind, exerting all his strength to hold on, and spread the powerful forces flowing through his body, including his internal energy.
However, even that was reaching its limit.
Drip.
At that moment, blood flowed from his palm.
It was the wound that had opened from when he had grabbed the strange bead during the trap set by the masked man who had previously disguised himself as Hwa Mugi.
Drip. Drip.
As the wound split open, a very faint fragment of the bead was embedded there.
Crack.
The small fragment shattered.
Thud!
His heart beat once, like the sound of a drum echoing across heaven and earth.
At the same time, fragments of forgotten childhood memories briefly flashed through his mind.
―Only after meeting Seol-ah did I realize it.
Grandfather Bu Zhanyang stroked the cheek of his sleeping beloved grandson and let out a deep sigh.
―How lonely and desolate this grandfather has lived, how deeply I was taken by the darkness.
When Bu Zhanyang withdrew his hand from the cheek, a brilliant light flowed from his body.
―Life and death, sorrow and parting. Who could understand this pain…
―Heaven above, please do not bestow upon this child a warrior’s life stained with suffering and grief.
And all the light flowing from his body seeped into his grandson, Bu Eunseol.
―Swallow supreme wisdom into your mouth.
―Bury the power to shake heaven and earth in your chest.
―I only wish for you a peaceful day of sweating through honest work, and an ordinary life.
When the fragment of memory ended, the earth shook and the sky split apart.
And from somewhere, a familiar yet strange energy began to rise.
It was a calm energy with a depth like the abyss. An endlessly ordinary and quiet flow.
Hummm.
Along with a low-spreading vibration, a blue radiance began to envelop Bu Eunseol’s entire body.
The light was more dazzling than the sun and more majestic than the stars in the night sky.
Although he had awakened from the short memory, reality had not changed. His body was being destroyed by the pressure of the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm, and his mind was growing hazy.
However, there was one thing that had changed.
The energy flowing through his blood vessels was gently enveloping the area around the pavilion with warmth.
Whoosh.
At that moment, the pressure crushing Bu Eunseol vanished in an instant.
Surprisingly, Jeok Bung had withdrawn his energy on his own.
“Why?”
The one most shocked was Jeok Bung himself.
Forgetting all dignity, he widened his eyes and stared down at his own hand.
He could not understand why he had withdrawn it.
Why was such emptiness surging over him?
Why was only a desolate loneliness filling his chest?
‘It was assimilated.’
Only after thinking for a long time did he realize it.
The power of the Heaven-Breaking Rift Palm, which he had used to destroy Bu Eunseol’s soul, had somehow gone wrong.
Instead, it had been assimilated into Bu Eunseol’s soul.
In that brief moment, Jeok Bung had glimpsed the life of a man who had roamed the world freely for a lifetime and dominated an entire era.
‘Was everything just a dream?’
Right now, Jeok Bung was in his second prime, aiming to swallow Majeon and conquer the demonic path. Yet, upon receiving a portion of the sorrow and enlightenment from the peerless supreme expert with a broad heart within Bu Eunseol’s soul, he realized that life was nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Even if he became the overlord who subjugated all under heaven, that life would still be nothing but illusion and delusion.
Swish.
When he turned his head, he saw Bu Eunseol standing tall and dignified.
“I see.” Jeok Bung’s eyes narrowed.
Bu Eunseol.
He was the incarnation of the greatest martial arts warrior, whom no one had ever been able to touch and whom Jeok Bung had desperately wanted to catch up to even in his dreams.
Even a divine being who could see through everything could not predict his actions.
The moment one became his enemy, one would have to live with an indescribable sense of unease.
“Heh heh heh…”
Jeok Bung could not hold back his laughter.
He had wondered why he had remained stuck at the bottom of the Three Demons for so long… It was because even at this age, he had failed to realize such a simple truth.
“Hahahahahaha!”
His laughter shook heaven and earth before gradually fading into an empty echo.
“I should have just eaten my fill every day, taken a wife, had children, and lived an ordinary life.”
Those were words that could never have come from the Blood Demon, Jeok Bung.
At that moment, Bu Eunseol opened his mouth.
“Ruling the demonic path and bringing peace to the world is also…”
He continued calmly.
“…not an insignificant achievement, is it?”
A silence like death fell over the pavilion area.
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Afterward, I will hand over the position of Sect Leader to the Elder Lord.”
Jeok Bung wore a dazed expression.
And only after a long while did he realize that Bu Eunseol had continued speaking afterward.
―After hearing the Elder Lord’s words, I think I must ascend to the position of Sect Leader.
“Heh heh heh.”
Jeok Bung let out a laugh whose meaning was unclear and shook his head.
“You may go now.”
And he was the first to turn his body.
“There is nothing more to say.”
His gaze was fixed on the distant sky.
Perhaps he was not looking at the sky, but at something that existed beyond it.
“Then.”
Bu Eunseol respectfully bowed.
Step. Step.
He turned and slowly walked out of the Elder Hall.
‘He is more straightforward than I thought. Jeok Bung.’
Having read Jeok Bung’s thoughts, Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.
A moment ago, thanks to the bead embedded in his palm, he had recovered one of his lost memories.
‘Grandfather truly gave me strength.’
Not a power to rule the world… but the strength to live an ordinary life.
‘Jeok Bung. You will definitely become my ally.’
Jeok Bung had been assimilated by the energy of his grandfather that resided within him, and in that moment, he had withdrawn his hostility.
If so, then just as Bu Eunseol had expected, there was a high chance that Jeok Bung would not become a great demon who would shatter the world, but rather a man capable of managing a proper demonic path.
‘Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.’
Completely setting aside all preconceptions and emotions until now, he had decided to make Jeok Bung his person in the future.
***
Upon returning to the Suppressed Demon Pavilion, Bu Eunseol gazed at the bead that had turned transparent.
If Jeok Bung was truly planning to do something major in Majeon?
There might not be time later for him to travel the martial world.
Therefore, he intended to unravel the secret of this bead as quickly as possible and meet the Lord of the Ancient Sword Forest.
‘Just how am I supposed to find the Lord of the Ancient Sword Forest with this?’
He had researched it together with the captains, including Yoo Unryong, but they could not find the answer.
“It seemed to contain some kind of power.”
Click.
Bu Eunseol placed the bead on the table and fell into thought.
The Ancient Sword Forest was spread across the entire Central Plains and was a place that endlessly repeated experiments to artificially create the Black Divine Energy. However, why they were creating the Black Divine Energy and what their true purpose was had never been clearly revealed.
The only reason they had been able to hide their activities so secretly until now was one thing.
They had used the Absolute Boundary employed by the Three Families.
“Then, could this bead also be the key to finding that Absolute Boundary?”
In the past, So Okrim had used a mysterious bead to locate and open the secret vault of the Baekri Family.
If so, this bead might possess the same ability.
“Instructer So has not returned yet.”
Currently, So Okrim was training in the origin of martial arts created based on the power of the Baekri Family.
She was traveling around the secret vaults of the purified three realms within the Central Plains to temper her martial skills. Not only had she roamed the martial world alone for a long time, but she also left absolutely no traces, like a seasoned assassin.
Even if he mobilized the intelligence network of the Death Spirit Corps at full force, finding her whereabouts would not be easy.
“Normally, such a bead would either be a key to open the door of a specific place or a tool to locate a certain location.”
However, no matter how much he investigated, such functions were not visible.
‘Perhaps…’
Suddenly, the face of a beautiful woman came to mind.
Gongsun Dankyung.
She had entered the library pavilion of the Jungson Family together with Chu So and had seen secret books related to the abyss forces of the martial world.
She might know something about the Ancient Sword Forest.
Without hesitation, Bu Eunseol immediately headed to the Azure Heaven Alliance in one stretch and sought out Gongsun Dankyung.
He told her all the information he currently knew about the Ancient Sword Forest.
“The Ancient Sword Forest?”
Gongsun Dankyung, who had been listening silently, shook her head.
“I’ve never heard of a faction by that name.”
“That’s strange. It is a mysterious group passed down through generations.”
“Passed down through generations…”
After blinking her large eyes for a long time, she let out a soft “Ah.”
“I have seen a book that mentioned a faction with a similar purpose.”
She continued to explain.
“It is called the Nameless Swamp. It is said to be an ancient faction that created mysterious weapons with power beyond imagination.”
“Ancient…”
“Yes. And it is said that there is a spring there that stops aging. That is why the people of that place do not grow old.”
“A spring that stops aging.”
The place called the Nameless Swamp that she described matched the Ancient Sword Forest’s situation in many ways.
The mention of the spring that stops aging especially caught his attention.
After all, the people of the Ancient Sword Forest were also said to live there without aging.
“But the name is too different.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Gongsun Dankyung’s eyes sparkled as she replied.
“If it is a mysterious sect that does not engage in external activities, changing its name would not be that difficult.”
The Ancient Sword Forest was closer to a secretly organized group than a regular martial world faction. If they decided to change their name, it would not be particularly hard.
“However, for a faction that has taken root in the martial world, changing its name is also not an easy matter.”
It was extremely rare for a faction passed down through generations to suddenly change its name.
The name of a sect could be considered its very identity.
No matter how secretive the organization, they would not change their name without a very special reason.
“Still, I am worried.”
Gongsun Dankyung spoke with a slightly dark expression.
“Because in this world, if you gain something, you must lose something else.”
“Because they stopped aging?”
“That’s right.”
A subtle light that seemed about to vanish flickered in her eyes.
“From the beginning of time until now, people have constantly sought the secret to maintaining youth. But the price was always the sacrifice of important elements such as memory or humanity.”
Bu Eunseol quietly nodded.
Excluding the divine elixir called Divine Jewel Confection bestowed by heaven, maintaining youth always came with a price and sacrifice.
If one consumed the herbs grown in the Azure Cloud Sea Palace, one would never age, but would have to live forever in the form of a young boy.
The people Bu Eunseol had met in the Ancient Sword Forest had lived for such an extremely long time that their minds had become worn out and desolate.
The price of maintaining youth was indeed cruel.
“After hearing the Chief Inspector’s words, I roughly understand the purpose of this bead.”
A sharp light flashed in Bu Eunseol’s previously calm eyes.
“If the Ancient Sword Forest possesses a spring that stops human aging… then that place alone would be an incredible treasure, wouldn’t it?”
“It would be.”
“And since it was said that this bead can be used to find the Great Forest Lord of the Ancient Sword Forest.” He looked at the bead placed on the table and continued. “In other words, this bead is an enormous treasure containing a place where one can maintain youth for a very long time.”
Staring intently at the mysterious light contained within the bead, Bu Eunseol went on.
“Then they must have prepared an essential device. For those who might harm the Ancient Sword Forest… even if one possesses the bead, they would not be able to know its location.”
“Since it is a faction capable of artificially creating the mysterious weapon called the Black Divine Artifact, that is certainly possible.” Gongsun Dankyung nodded. “They would have had to distinguish whether the owner of the bead was someone who would harm them or not.”
“Then the method of distinction would naturally be…”
Bu Eunseol and Gongsun Dankyung spoke at the same time.
“Heart Energy Flow.”
In the martial world, countless internal energy cultivation methods existed, divided into various branches such as the demonic path and the righteous path. The true energy generated by the cultivation method was called Inner Heart Spirit Energy by the Daoists.
Heart Energy Flow. It was because they believed that a person’s heart was contained within their true energy.
If the Ancient Sword Forest had created a device capable of distinguishing the good and evil of the bead’s owner, they would certainly have prepared something that could detect Heart Energy Flow.
Whirrr.
Bu Eunseol sent his breathing into his soul through the Origin Heart Breath technique of the Ban-Geuk Method, and began injecting the true energy that passed through it back into the bead.
Rumble rumble rumble.
Then the ground began to shake, and pure white mist started spreading from the bead placed on the table.
“What is this?”
Somewhat startled, Bu Eunseol looked at Gongsun Dankyung.
However, she seemed unable to see anything and was simply staring at him with a calm gaze.
“Chief Inspector, can you not see this mist?”
The moment Bu Eunseol spoke,
Saaaaaaa.
The mist blooming in all directions covered the entire world, and suddenly a new scenery began to form.
At the same time, a beautiful woman with mysterious eyes, like shattered jewels, appeared.
It was the woman he had seen endlessly in the memories of Saha Manor.
His mother, the Holy Maiden Saya, who had been tied to a pillar by the subordinates of the True Demon, forced to share her power with Manwol and another woman, and died.
However, unlike then, she was wearing gorgeous clothes.
Her face also appeared to be in her twenties, making her look very similar to Manwol.
‘It was a message.’
In the end, this bead was a tool created to directly transmit memories into the mind, just like the pool that a person from the Baekri Family had left for the purified three realms in the past.
Step. Step.
The woman was walking through a vast desert, constantly looking up at the sky and muttering something.
It was as if she could foresee the future or read the heavenly signs.
Moreover, an unreachable energy flowed from her entire body, reaching all the way to the ends of the sky.
Her ability seemed incomparably higher than that of Manwol.
―To stop him…
The beautiful woman murmured in a low voice.
―A hero who can defy even fate and a Black Divine Artifact capable of accepting that power are needed.
Finally, she reached her destination and stopped walking.
Before her eyes unfolded a vast and mysterious desert landscape.
It was a canyon located in the eastern region of the Taklamakan Desert in the Xinjiang area, known as the Sea of Death and the moving sand mountains—Gumo Canyon.
Hidden in a place repeatedly covered and revealed by desert winds and countless sand dunes, was a mysterious location. Upon entering inside, a spring filled with mysterious light could be seen, and from the rocks everywhere, lumps of iron that seemed to move as if alive were visible.
“With the Nameless Swamp and the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Gold… I will create a single Ancient Sword here that can stop him.”
Surprisingly, the woman in the illusion was not the mother from Saha Manor… but the founder of the Ancient Sword Forest.
Thank you for the chapters !! 😺