Chapter 223
Chapter 223
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: Inner Demon
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes widened as he spotted the points of light pouring down like rain.
In an instant, the shadow of his Guhwa Seomsu had vanished, and a fierce energy descending from the heavens was driving into his throat.
‘This is…’
He didn’t even know how the technique had changed.
*Flash!*
With a faint glint of light, the fierce energy grazed Gu Hong-cheong’s body and vanished without a trace.
“…”
The two men stood frozen, staring at each other as if nothing had happened.
A long silence flowed between them.
“So you were sealing your true art.”
It was Gu Hong-cheong who finally broke the silence.
“All to prevent this elder from anticipating the change in your technique.”
Until now, Bu Eun-seol had only used the demonic arts of Jeolcheon Myeolji, not Musang Cheonryu.
All so Gu Hong-cheong couldn’t predict his moves. He had been waiting to seize the decisive moment, like a beast that had spotted its prey.
*Psh!*
Blood suddenly burst from Gu Hong-cheong’s shoulder.
The thick, red blood dripped to the floor, creating a flower of gore.
“But what a shame.”
Gu Hong-cheong looked down at the blood flowing from his shoulder and bared his sharp canines.
“That your finishing blow missed.”
The Cheonsang Jitan that Bu Eun-seol had unleashed should have pierced Gu Hong-cheong’s throat.
But the sharp sword aura had only pierced his shoulder. In that brief moment, he had moved with all his might to evade the attack.
“…”
Bu Eun-seol stood as still as a stone statue, as if he had never expected the blow to miss.
*Woooong.*
Just then, Gu Hong-cheong extended his left hand, and a strange vibrato echoed out.
At the same time, his hand slowly began to turn silver.
It no longer looked like a hand of flesh and blood, but one forged from metal.
As he pushed Guhwa Seomsu to its absolute limit, his internal energy had condensed and materialized in his hands.
“Now, die!”
With a thunderous roar, hundreds of silver streaks shot from his hands, aimed at Bu Eun-seol’s entire body.
Had he given up on everything?
Even as the sharp hand-shadows drove toward his vital points, Bu Eun-seol’s head was bowed, his eyes closed.
*Shudder.*
Just then, the Muk-geom began to twitch and flop like a freshly caught fish.
*Papapapapa!*
Simultaneously, a pure white light erupted from Bu Eun-seol’s body and began to precisely strike down the pouring silver glints.
The absolute defense sword style that reacted to killing intent, Neunghyeong Eogeom, had been activated.
*Clang-clang-clang!*
As the Muk-geom and the streaks of energy clashed repeatedly, a deafening, metallic shriek ripped through the air.
“What?”
Seeing his ultimate technique blocked, Gu Hong-cheong was so surprised he nearly jumped.
He had never imagined that the complex and exquisite forms of Guhwa Seomsu could be blocked at such close range.
‘I was waiting for this.’
The moment Bu Eun-seol opened his eyes, a brilliant light poured from them.
He had already predicted that Cheonsang Jitan would fail.
If the technique had failed even against Gwang-yeon, there was no way it would hit Gu Hong-cheong, who was several times stronger.
—To perfectly execute Cheonsang Jitan, you need to be at extremely close range. And you must create an unexpected situation.
Bu Eun-seol, enlightened by Gwang-yeon’s words, had since tried to compensate for Cheonsang Jitan’s flaw through extreme meditation.
The Ultimate Realm.
It was a state that not only transcended the limits of the body but also allowed one to command the domains of time and space in a single instant through the spirit.
In other words, just as the heavens look down upon the earth, he could comprehend his opponent’s martial arts, movements, and even the principles of their techniques.
Therefore, without a momentary lapse in his opponent’s concentration, Bu Eun-seol would never have been able to land a sword in the Geol-wang’s body in the first place.
As he continued his meditation, Bu Eun-seol had suddenly recalled that Gu Hong-cheong was a master who used his hands as weapons.
What if he could seize a moment at point-blank range, a moment when his opponent was certain of victory? And what if his opponent grew complacent in that victory…
He believed he could definitely drive Cheonsang Jitan into his body.
A crack in the spirit.
The Geol-wang was, by anyone’s standards, a master a step above him.
To win against him, something was more important than superiority in martial techniques. He absolutely had to shatter his opponent’s spirit to create a momentary opening.
And such an epiphany was only possible because he had mastered the Macheonje’s Sakjeong Bigyeol.
*Flash!*
After deflecting all of Guhwa Seomsu with Neunghyeong Eogeom, Bu Eun-seol’s Muk-geom flashed with light once more.
It was a timing and speed that Gu Hong-cheong absolutely could not evade.
*Thwack!*
With a dull sound, the tip of the Muk-geom gently pierced Gu Hong-cheong’s chest.
*Tuk, tuk, tuk.*
Gu Hong-cheong grabbed the Muk-geom, but the blade had already penetrated a foot deep.
Cheonsang Jitan had finally hit its mark.
“Hhh….”
But then, something incredible happened.
Despite being pierced through the Jungbu point, a vital spot that should have rendered him immobile, he unleashed a Dragon-Subduing Palm with his right hand, striking Bu Eun-seol in the chest.
It was so sudden, and with the Muk-geom caught in his left hand, Neunghyeong Eogeom did not activate.
‘I can’t dodge it!’
*Ziiiing!*
At that moment, a faint golden light shimmered around Bu Eun-seol’s body.
Faced with an attack he could not block, he had once again forcibly activated Yeoui Jingyeol.
*Booom!*
With a deafening explosion, Bu Eun-seol was thrown back more than a hundred feet.
*Chiiik.*
Dark red blood trickled from the mouth of Bu Eun-seol, who had been sent flying while still clutching his sword.
Fortunately, thanks to the partial activation of Yeoui Jingyeol, he had managed to escape death.
But that was all.
His vision was blurry, and every breath felt like his body was being torn into a thousand pieces.
Moreover, perhaps from forcibly using Yeoui Jingyeol twice in a row, an unpleasant fog felt like it was seeping into his mind.
“Ptui.”
As Bu Eun-seol spat out another thick clot of blood, a satisfied smile appeared on Gu Hong-cheong’s face.
“It seems you didn’t know that this old man mastered the Yeonwi Bigyeol.”
His skin was pale, and a ghastly blue flame burned in his eyes.
“I’ll take you with me as a companion on the road to the underworld.”
He looked as if the soul of a demon that had lived for hundreds of years had possessed a human body.
‘Yeonwi Bigyeol…’
Only then did Bu Eun-seol understand how Gu Hong-cheong could still be fine after being impaled by a sword.
Yeonwi Bigyeol.
It was a secret art of the Beggars' Sect that had long been lost.
The moment one suffers a fatal wound and their breath is about to cease, they sever their own Eight Extraordinary Meridians, turning their body into a semi-corpse.
In that state, for a short time, their life force flares up again in a final, fleeting resurgence of life…
It was a mutual destruction technique that used that power to launch a counterattack.
“I’ll kill you within a quarter of an hour!”
Gu Hong-cheong’s internal energy was so immense that even after using Yeonwi Bigyeol, he could likely maintain his life for more than a quarter of an hour.
*Chwararararak!*
The Guhwa Seomsu, containing all his remaining life force, filled the entire world with hand-shadows.
If all those hand-shadows were to pour down, Bu Eun-seol’s body would be obliterated without a trace.
—Why did you not learn it?
At that moment, time seemed to stand still, and a strange echo resonated in Bu Eun-seol’s mind.
—Why did you turn away from the Sakjeong Bigyeol? If you had learned it, you could have won easily.
Yeoui Jingyeol, the art that could freely transform materialized true energy into any form.
To use this technique freely, one originally had to completely master the Sakjeong Bigyeol.
But Bu Eun-seol had refused. He couldn’t bring himself to erase the emotions that were like a legacy left by Bu Jan-yang.
—Feelings? What use are they?
The voice in his head was desolate, devoid of any emotion.
It was likely the voice of Bu Eun-seol himself, with all his feelings extinguished.
—If you die here, they’re of no use at all.
He was right.
If he died, if this moment was the final stop in his life… what good were feelings?
*Kwakwakwakwakwa!*
At that moment, Gu Hong-cheong’s Guhwa Seomsu, which had embroidered the entire world, fell upon Bu Eun-seol’s body.
“No…”
Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes, which had been smiling confidently, flew wide open.
Guhwa Myeolseong Johwasik.
The moment Bu Eun-seol was enveloped by this technique, which contained all of his true energy, his body should have scattered like dust.
But why was he standing there so calmly, as if caressed by a gentle breeze?
“That’s…”
Looking closely, a round halo of light was wrapped around Bu Eun-seol’s body.
*Zzzzzzt.*
Sparks like lightning crackled from the black light.
He now saw that the black light enveloping his body had instantly annihilated the Guhwa Myeolseong Johwasik.
“I can’t believe it!”
With a desperate cry, Gu Hong-cheong unleashed a Dragon-Subduing Palm, striking at Bu Eun-seol’s head.
*Kwang!*
The moment he struck Bu Eun-seol, there was a loud explosion, and Gu Hong-cheong’s body was sent flying backward instead.
“Weck.”
Vomiting black blood, Gu Hong-cheong stared at Bu Eun-seol in disbelief.
“What is that?”
He had finally seen it.
The moment his Dragon-Subduing Palm struck Bu Eun-seol’s head, a black and powerful true energy had suddenly wrapped around his arms and thrown them back.
“What in the world is that!”
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol approached Gu Hong-cheong.
*Thud, thud.*
His slow approach was as if death itself had taken form…
And was drawing near to swallow the existence known as Gu Hong-cheong.
*Ssk.*
As he reached Gu Hong-cheong, Bu Eun-seol suddenly extended his arm.
Then, a black-tainted true energy seeped into his meridians.
“Ugh!”
Gu Hong-cheong screamed in agony, all dignity lost.
He felt an excruciating pain, as if an invisible hand was squeezing each of his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, which were already tattered and on the verge of snapping.
“Ughhh.”
The pain was extreme, but paradoxically, he could breathe again.
Bu Eun-seol’s black true energy had forcibly sealed Gu Hong-cheong’s torn meridians.
“What are you doing?”
As Gu Hong-cheong asked, Bu Eun-seol stared down at him.
“You have to stay alive to keep feeling the pain, don’t you?”
He replied in a voice devoid of any emotion.
“Once you’re dead, it’s all over.”
Bu Eun-seol intended to forcibly prolong his fading life to inflict more pain.
A god of death.
Before Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes, it felt as if a god of death, cloaked in black light and stripped of all emotion, was standing there.
“You’ve fallen to the demonic path.”
Gu Hong-cheong instantly grasped Bu Eun-seol’s state.
“Practicing some strange demonic mental cultivation scripture… you’ve been possessed by an inner demon.”
An inner demon.
Two conflicting natures had always coexisted in Bu Eun-seol’s heart.
His original nature, frozen solid like ten-thousand-year-old ice.
And the human nature that Bu Jan-yang had instilled in him.
But in this moment of crisis, by repeatedly circulating the scripture of the Sakjeong Bigyeol, these conflicting emotions had shaken the foundation of his spirit, causing him to fall to an inner demon.
“You’re noisy.”
*Chiiii!*
As Bu Eun-seol amplified the black true energy he had injected into his body, Gu Hong-cheong’s body began to wither like a skeleton.
He was using Yeoui Jingyeol to forcibly expel the true energy contained within Gu Hong-cheong’s body.
“Ugh!”
Gu Hong-cheong screamed in agony.
Forcibly expelling one’s true energy from the body inflicted a pain dozens of times more excruciating than having one’s dantian destroyed and energy scattered.
“Ughhhhhh!”
Watching Gu Hong-cheong writhe in pain, Bu Eun-seol actually smiled.
His eyes were stained black, and a heaven-rending aura swirled around his entire body.
Having fallen to his inner demon, even his originally cold nature had been annihilated, turning him into a cruel fiend.
“Ughhh…”
Just then, Gu Hong-cheong, writhing in pain, tore at his own clothes.
His once muscular body had become gaunt and frail from the loss of his energy.
“Ughh.”
As Gu Hong-cheong curled up in pain, his gaunt spine was exposed.
—Seol, can you not sleep?
*Thump.*
Seeing the withered back, Bu Eun-seol’s eyes wavered violently.
The knee pain that had visited him every dawn in his childhood.
When he couldn’t sleep because of the pain and shot up, he would always see that broad, dry back.
—This old gramps will carry you. Then you’ll sleep well.
On that dry back, he saw the face of Bu Jan-yang, smiling kindly.
*Shudder.*
Bu Eun-seol clutched his forehead and trembled in pain.
Recalling the warm face of his past, he momentarily regained his clarity.
“Ughhh.”
Thick veins bulged on Bu Eun-seol’s face as he groaned.
A thick, black fog still seemed to obscure his vision.
No matter how hard he tried to clear his head, he felt as if he were trapped in a swamp from which he could not escape.
But in his mind, he saw a kind, warm smile. In his nose, he could almost smell that cozy, yet slightly sour scent.
—Become a sword.
The kind grandfather’s voice suddenly changed to the solemn, low voice of Chong-gyo-ryeong Yeop Hyo-cheon.
—If you wish to become the successor to lead this sect, it would be best to erase concepts like comradeship or brotherhood.
Then it changed again into the mysteriously colorless voice of the Macheonje.
—Such things will soon become cumbersome baggage that will block your path…
‘Was it intentional?’
A brief flash of insight shot through his mind.
Obtaining the Sakjeong Bigyeol was no coincidence, but a part of a plan by…
The Macheonje or Yeop Hyo-cheon, who wanted to forge him into a single, sharp sword?
‘Did you think you could control me as you pleased?’
*Crack.*
As Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists, it was not black energy but a crimson, bloody light that rose in his eyes.
‘No more…’
Bu Eun-seol began to fight with all his might against the Sakjeong Bigyeol that had seized his spirit.
‘I will not be manipulated by anyone ever again!’
*Thump! Thump!*
At the same time, a tremendous vibration and waves of true energy emanated from Bu Eun-seol’s body.
As his spirit began to battle the Sakjeong Bigyeol that had taken control, the clash began to affect his physical body.
*Tuk, tuk, tuk.*
Black blood now trickled from the corner of Bu Eun-seol’s mouth.
Simultaneously, his eyes gradually cleared, and the black true energy enveloping his body began to slowly fade.
He had finally escaped the inner demon on his own.
“To escape an inner demon by himself…”
Gu Hong-cheong, watching the scene, gaped in disbelief.
Even the grandmasters of martial arts who had once dominated the world would fall into an irreversible state if they succumbed to a demonic nature…
But to not only sense that he had fallen to an inner demon but to escape it without anyone’s help?
“Truly…”
Gu Hong-cheong, leaning against a rock and gasping for breath, let out a sigh.
“You are a lucky bastard.”
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol, having regained his clear mind, shook his head.
“It wasn’t luck.”
And he straightened his back with dignity.
The supreme martial arts he had learned until now.
The trials he had faced. The insights and enlightenments gained through battles that straddled life and death.
All of it was ingrained in Bu Eun-seol’s body and mind.
And when he fell into crisis, all of it had become a single ray of light, guiding him to the right path.
“Weck.”
Just then, Gu Hong-cheong suddenly vomited black blood.
His body, having used the Yeonwi Bigyeol, was already no different from a corpse.
A moment ago, Bu Eun-seol had forcibly sealed his meridians with black true energy, sustaining his life.
But now that it was gone, he was slowly dying.
“It’s a shame to die at the hands of a brat like you, but…”
As death approached, the light in Gu Hong-cheong’s eyes faded.
But for some reason, a smile crept onto his lips.
“If things turn out this way, that bastard Hae-pung won’t be able to become the Clan Leader either. Hehehehe.”
He chuckled lowly and spoke in a rattling voice.
“He won’t be able to escape the accusation of selling out a Grand Elder by making some deal with a successor of the Ten Demonic Sects.”
His lifelong ambition was to be the Clan Leader of the Beggars' Sect.
But Hae-pung had betrayed him and turned his lifelong dream into dust.
He hated Hae-pung even more than he hated Bu Eun-seol.
“You have no reason to be happy either.”
Gu Hong-cheong said in a low voice.
“Your true skill is only at the level of having just stepped into the Ultimate Realm. To have killed this elder with such skill…”
He gasped for breath before speaking again.
“From now on, you will be hunted by the strong who covet the fame of the Seven Kings of Death, and in the end, you will be killed. Hahaha!”
After spewing his curse, Gu Hong-cheong laughed triumphantly.
“I may die… but that bastard Hae-pung has lost the Clan Leader position, and you will never be able to claim a seat among the Seven Kings of Death…”
With those final words, Gu Hong-cheong’s pupils froze.
*Thud.*
And Gu Hong-cheong’s corpse collapsed to the ground.
That was the end of the Geol-wang, Gu Hong-cheong, who had been called one of the Seven Kings of Death and had once rebuked the martial world.
“…”
Even in death, he was glaring at Bu Eun-seol, a cold smile on his lips.
—You too will die soon. At the hands of the strong who chase the fame of the Seven Kings of Death!
It was as if Gu Hong-cheong’s shout still echoed in his ears.
“That will not happen.”
Bu Eun-seol said coldly, looking at Gu Hong-cheong’s corpse.
“Because I desire nothing.”
Gu Hong-cheong and Bu Eun-seol were different.
Fame, power… he desired none of it, nor did he obsess over obtaining it.
He simply pursued the path of martial arts, quietly and solemnly, like an ascetic who had begun his penance.
In that instant, the confident smile on Gu Hong-cheong’s lips vanished.
As if his soul, before leaving his body, had heard Bu Eun-seol’s confident words.