Chapter 295
Chapter 295
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 295
Chapter Title: Unleashed Fury
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‘Something is wrong.’
Dong Yeo-rip's eyes were wide.
He had expected to see Bu Eun-seol consumed by rage at the sight of the dying Seo Jin-ha.
Even if he didn't howl like a beast and charge in mindlessly,
after overcoming so many obstacles only to find his friend's life fading away... at the very least, a crack should have formed in his spirit.
But Bu Eun-seol's eyes were, on the contrary, frozen like the glaciers of the Northern Sea.
And he was channeling his rage and despair into his swordplay, unleashing it with terrifying composure.
Flash!
Violet lightning erupted repeatedly within the stone chamber.
Dong Yeo-rip quickly executed his footwork.
But it was the Soulless Ones standing to his left and right that burst into sprays of blood.
‘This bastard... using the Sword of Slaughter consecutively?’
Bewilderment rose in Dong Yeo-rip's eyes.
The Sword of Slaughter was a sword art that fused the formless energy of killing intent into its techniques.
It awakened the physical body, granting it explosive power and incredible speed.
However, killing intent was not infinite.
Therefore, no matter how vicious a killer, their innate killing intent would diminish if they killed people in succession.
—The Sword of Slaughter may seem to lead to an infinitely high realm, but in reality, it is an obstacle that blocks an endlessly unfolding path. You must abandon your will to kill from now on.
Cheon Un-gwang, who had passed down the Thunderflash Peerless Style, had said these words.
He had created the Thunderflash Peerless Style and enjoyed invincibility, but in the end, he could not reach the pinnacle of the Fire Rain Sword Arts.
There was a limit to human killing intent.
Even Cheon Un-gwang, who had reached the apex of the Sword of Slaughter, could not perform the Thunderflash Peerless Style more than five times.
But for Bu Eun-seol, such a limit did not exist.
Flash!
Violet lightning struck again, and another Soulless One's head fell.
Dong Yeo-rip felt as if a demon, pouring out infinite killing intent, stood before him.
‘Unbelievable!’
Dong Yeo-rip had been confident he could face Bu Eun-seol alone.
Through the trials so far, he had discerned that Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess had just reached the entry level of the Geuk-cheon realm.
Had he not entered the Geuk-cheon realm long ago?
Not only that, but he also possessed the Cheok-ryun-an, which allowed him to predict his opponent's next move just by watching their movements.
‘I thought I could handle this whelp with my eyes closed.’
But Dong Yeo-rip could not dare to counter Bu Eun-seol and was only dodging his sword strikes.
This was because Bu Eun-seol stood rooted to the spot, endlessly unleashing the Sword of Slaughter like bolts of violet lightning.
Moreover, to counter an enemy whose killing intent was at its peak was suicide.
Regardless of their martial level, the enemy could use a technique of mutual destruction.
Step, step.
Having stopped his sword strikes, Bu Eun-seol slowly walked toward Dong Yeo-rip.
His eyes were stained a deeper red than blood.
‘Now!’
Just as Dong Yeo-rip spotted an opening in the approaching Bu Eun-seol's stance and was about to swing his Jeol-myeong-sak-do,
Whoosh!
The lightning-fast Sword of Slaughter once again shot toward his throat.
"Kuh."
In the end, he let out a groan, halted his counterattack, and executed his footwork once more.
Bu Eun-seol's Sword of Slaughter had no preparatory motion, not even a twitch.
And its speed...
It was a level of swiftness that even Dong Yeo-rip, who had roamed the martial world for decades, had never witnessed.
Extreme killing intent.
Bu Eun-seol was born with immense killing intent.
But he had never before poured such killing intent into his martial arts.
Now that he had channeled that powerful killing intent into the Thunderflash Peerless Style, its power had become several times stronger than its original form.
‘I can't just keep dodging like this.’
Dong Yeo-rip swallowed dryly.
Bu Eun-seol's momentum was not waning; it was growing ever stronger.
If he let this continue, he would be defeated without even getting a chance to strike back.
"Die!"
Drawing up his internal energy, Dong Yeo-rip extended not his Jeol-myeong-sak-do, but his five fingers.
An invisible, sharp energy then poured toward Bu Eun-seol's body.
Finger Sword.
Swinging the Jeol-myeong-sak-do would be useless against that lightning-like Sword of Slaughter.
Dong Yeo-rip had instantly unleashed the Finger Sword, a technique that only a master with three sixty-year cycles of internal energy could perform, and whose trajectory was impossible to detect at close range.
Pshk.
But the five Finger Swords only pierced his skin. They could not penetrate his body.
They were blocked by the killing intent enveloping Bu Eun-seol's body.
"He materialized killing intent like true qi?"
Dong Yeo-rip's eyes widened as if they would tear.
Only then did he realize that he had provoked a being he should never have touched.
Flash!
Once again, a violet radiance erupted from Bu Eun-seol's Muk-geom.
It was like the invisible claws of a death god.
"Kkht."
Dong Yeo-rip dodged swiftly, but the Soulless Ones beside him could not.
Thud, thud.
In an instant, the remaining Soulless Ones' heads were rolling on the floor.
‘This bastard... he's this strong?’
Fear rose in Dong Yeo-rip's eyes as he watched.
Where did his calculations go wrong? Where did it all fall apart?
Even a master of the Geuk-cheon realm would see their martial arts regress if consumed by rage and despair.
How did that man sublimate his anger and killing intent into his swordplay?
‘Could it be that he has been intentionally suppressing his power all this time?’
But that was Dong Yeo-rip's misunderstanding.
Until now, Bu Eun-seol's spirit had been caught between the Demonic Path and the Righteous Path.
Therefore, neither the demonic arts like Ma Cheon-je's Sak-jeong-bi-gyeol, nor the righteous arts like Mu-hwang-jeong-gak and Sip-sam-ya-gi.
None of them could display their true power.
And they had used Seo Jin-ha to plunge Bu Eun-seol into grief and despair, intending to shatter his spirit...
But contrary to their expectations, Bu Eun-seol's heart froze even harder, and only his powerful, innate killing intent burst forth.
As a result, Bu Eun-seol's spirit entered the Demonic Path, and the demonic arts he wielded regained their original power.
However, to Dong Yeo-rip, who was oblivious to this truth, it simply looked as if Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess had suddenly surged.
"Don't move!"
Dong Yeo-rip finally formed a Finger Sword and pointed it at Seo Jin-ha's heart.
This was an utterly vulgar and pathetic tactic for a master who had risen to the ranks of the Ten Greats of the Demonic Path.
But he was terrified.
‘That bastard will never grant me an easy death.’
What kind of pain Bu Eun-seol would inflict, what methods he would use to kill him. It was all terrifyingly dreadful.
"This man is still breathing! But if you take even one step..."
Tuk.
Before he could finish his sentence, the Finger Sword formed on Dong Yeo-rip's hand vanished in an instant.
His right wrist had been cleanly severed by the Muk-geom.
"Aaargh!"
Greatly startled, Dong Yeo-rip lost all composure, clutching his wrist and letting out a groan.
In that moment, Bu Eun-seol grabbed him by the collar, brought his face close, and spoke in a whisper.
"Is it fun."
"..."
"Flaying flesh, severing ligaments and muscles."
"Ugh... Aaargh!"
Dong Yeo-rip, dangling in the air, let out a desperate scream.
Bu Eun-seol had unleashed a sharp true qi, gouging out a chunk of skin from his chest.
"Smile."
Bu Eun-seol said, looking at Dong Yeo-rip with cold eyes.
"I won't kill you as long as you're smiling."
"Ugh. Hnghhh."
Every time Bu Eun-seol's sharp true qi raked over his body, Dong Yeo-rip screamed in agony.
The true qi flowing from his hand was slowly melting his meridians wherever it touched his skin.
Sssss.
Before long, Dong Yeo-rip's hair had turned white, and his skin had become dark and mottled.
This was because Bu Eun-seol had used his internal energy to completely expel all of Dong Yeo-rip's from his body.
"Kill... kill me..."
Instantly aged, Dong Yeo-rip gaped with unfocused eyes.
"Please, kill me."
"Who orchestrated this."
At Bu Eun-seol's question, Dong Yeo-rip stammered.
"I... I don't know. I was just... from the Sa-hwa-ryeon..."
The Sa-hwa-ryeon, much like the Sib-i-ji of the past, was a coalition of unorthodox factions that handled all sorts of dirty work for the world of merchants and finance.
An organization like that kidnapped Seo Jin-ha and orchestrated this?
"A mere pawn. Both you and the Sa-hwa-ryeon."
Instantly grasping the situation, Bu Eun-seol, as if he had no further business, lightly slit Dong Yeo-rip's throat.
Thump.
His head, which had been leaning against the wall, rolled limply to the floor.
That was the end of Dong Yeo-rip, a man who had tortured and withered people to death for decades.
Clank.
Bu Eun-seol shattered the iron chains attached to the wall and carefully laid Seo Jin-ha's body on the floor.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
After quickly sealing his acupoints, he took out a transparent bottle from his robes.
It was the Jam-ma-sin-dan, a miraculous elixir of resurrection that he had brought from the elixir repository before coming to the Demonic Palace.
"Eat this, Seo Jin-ha."
But the unconscious Seo Jin-ha could not swallow the pill.
With trembling hands, Bu Eun-seol opened his mouth and placed the pill inside.
Then he infused his internal energy to help the medicine's effects be absorbed quickly.
Seo Jin-ha's pulse was gone, and there was no reaction. But Bu Eun-seol did not stop, ceaselessly injecting his Ban-geuk-jin-gi.
Wooooong!
He infused the pure Ban-geuk-jin-gi for a full quarter of an hour, but Seo Jin-ha's pulse did not return.
"Why..."
As Bu Eun-seol lowered his head, a red haze of mingled rage and killing intent rose from his entire body.
His spirit was sinking into uncontrollable grief.
A fine crack had already formed in his spirit the moment he saw Seo Jin-ha's tragic state.
He had merely been hiding it with terrifying self-control and killing intent.
"Why do the people I care for always leave me!"
Kra-koom!
The true qi that erupted from Bu Eun-seol's body shook the stone chamber.
His grandfather, Bu Jan-yang.
The Gong Twin Demons of the Akyang branch.
Seok U-haeng, with whom he felt a kinship... they all left Bu Eun-seol's side.
Those he gave his heart to always left him behind.
"Why."
As Bu Eun-seol muttered lowly, a black haze began to rise from his body as well.
Rage, despair, grief. And killing intent.
All these negative emotions filled his spirit.
Crack.
The sound of bones cracking echoed throughout his body, and the red glow rising from him was being dyed with the color of endless darkness.
Rumble...
The stone chamber began to shake as if it were collapsing, and the black radiance soaring from his body intensified.
As time passed, Bu Eun-seol's spirit was being sucked into an endlessly dark and deep abyss.
Crack.
Simultaneously, Bu Eun-seol's skin flushed red, and a faint radiance emanated from it.
He looked just like the Great Demon Person, Ak Mu-ryeong, who had poured out the power of Chwi-jeong-hwa-sin and Hwan-sang-bu-hwan at Cheoljang Peak.
He resembled Ak Mu-ryeong.
Demonic martial arts, unlike the righteous faction which emphasizes qi, are rooted in the heart (心).
Bu Eun-seol had mastered the Sak-jeong-bi-gyeol and the Mu-hwang-jeong-gak, the ultimate heart arts of both the righteous and demonic paths.
Therefore, while his martial arts had reached the Geuk-cheon realm, his spirit remained caught between the Demonic and Righteous Paths.
But as deep despair and grief consumed his spirit, he chose the complete Demonic Path (魔道).
—If you sharply carve away the affections in your heart, what is there to stand in your way?
Yes.
Let's get rid of affection, get rid of the heart itself.
Then there would be no more pain, would there?
"Uuuugh. Aaaaaargh!"
Ruuuumble.
As a powerful energy poured from Bu Eun-seol's body, the walls of the stone chamber crumbled, and the ground shot up like awls.
Once his spirit's course was set on the Demonic Path,
the principles of the Sak-jeong-bi-gyeol, which he had suppressed until now, instantly seized control of his spirit and body.
Billow, billow.
A black mist spread from Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
At this rate, all his affections would vanish... and he would become a Great Demon Person who destroys everything that defies him.
"Ugh."
Just then, a groan escaped from the lips of Seo Jin-ha, who was lying on the floor.
The Jam-ma-sin-dan, the greatest elixir of the Demonic Path.
The Ban-geuk-jin-gi, which contained the energy of yin and yang.
And the powerful shockwave of true qi that spread from Bu Eun-seol's body... had restarted Seo Jin-ha's stopped heart.
"Seo Jin-ha!"
Regaining his senses, Bu Eun-seol shouted like a thunderclap and supported his body.
"So... loud..."
Seo Jin-ha, opening his eyes, gave a faint smile.
"It's not like you to shout so much."
Was it the will of the heavens?
The moment Seo Jin-ha opened his eyes, a clear light returned to Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which had been spewing demonic energy.
Bu Eun-seol's spirit, which had been fully entering the Demonic Path, had once again returned to the Middle Way.
"Are you all right?"
"Do I look all right to you?"
Seo Jin-ha smiled faintly.
"I really came back from the dead."
Thanks to the effects of the Jam-ma-sin-dan, he had regained consciousness, but his pulse was weak and felt as if it could stop at any moment.
Bu Eun-seol once again poured pure Ban-geuk-jin-gi into his Myeongmun acupoint without rest.
His breathing then stabilized to some extent, and his eyes began to grow dim.
"I really was dying..."
As the warm true qi spread through his limbs and body, he slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Don't worry."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes turned red as he looked down at the sleeping Seo Jin-ha.
"This will never happen again."
A killing intent capable of melting iron flowed from his eyes.
Secretly tracking the culprits was no longer important. It didn't matter why they did this.
"From now on, I will... destroy everything."
There was no need to investigate the circumstances, no need to find out why.
From this moment on, Bu Eun-seol would mobilize all his power to crush and crush again those involved in this incident...
and in one fell swoop, destroy even those at the very end of the chain.
* * *
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
The sound of birds chirping reached his ears, and Seo Jin-ha opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed upon regaining his senses was the strong smell of medicine.
Looking around, he found himself lying on a bed, dressed in clean clothes.
"Where am I..."
As he surveyed his surroundings, he saw a neat room with several beds.
"You're awake."
Just then, the door opened, and an old man in a physician's attire slowly entered the room.
It was Gyo Jung-hak, the Hall Lord of the Medicine King Hall of the Demonic Palace.
"Hall Lord."
Recognizing him, Seo Jin-ha started to sit up and cup his hands, but Gyo Jung-hak reached out a hand.
"Stay lying down. Your wounds might reopen otherwise."
Then he asked in a low voice.
"How is your body? Are you feeling any discomfort?"
Bewildered, Seo Jin-ha looked down at his own body.
Chunks of his skin and muscle had been carved out by Dong Yeo-rip.
One of his ears had even been cut off before the torture began.
But now, he was healed so completely that he could barely remember being injured, and even his severed ear was neatly stitched back on.
"I'm fully recovered. How is this possible?"
"It's thanks to the effects of the Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu and the Jam-ma-sin-dan."
"The Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu and the Jam-ma-sin-dan, you say?"
Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu was an elixir formed from tens of thousands of years of the earth's spiritual energy, a single drop of which could bring about a complete metamorphosis of one's body.
And the Jam-ma-sin-dan was the highest-grade elixir, with only one pill granted to the successor of the Demonic Palace, capable of increasing one's internal energy by a full sixty-year cycle.
And both of those treasures had ended up inside him?
"The Martial Soul Command Lord used them to restore your body."
"I see."
To save him, Bu Eun-seol had poured out everything he had.
Seo Jin-ha swallowed his overwhelming emotions and spoke.
"Then the Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu must have been given by my Brigade Lord."
The three great Brigade Lords of the Demonic Palace—Cheon-sal, Myeol-hon, and Am-cheon—had each been bestowed a life-saving elixir by the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
And the Cheon-sal Brigade Lord, Wi Mu-yeom, had been the one bestowed with the Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu, which could instantly heal even the most severe external injuries.
But an unexpected answer came from Gyo Jung-hak's lips.
"No, the Martial Soul Command Lord brought it."
"The Martial Soul Command Lord, you say?"
Seo Jin-ha tilted his head in confusion.
Had Bu Eun-seol been granted not only the Jam-ma-sin-dan but also the Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu?
"The Cheon-sal Brigade Lord said that a cripple is no longer a member of the Cheon-sal Brigade."
Gyo Jung-hak said with a bitter expression.
"So he refused to give you the Cheong-ryeong-seok-yu."
The Cheon-sal Brigade Lord was not a man who went back on his decisions.
So how did Bu Eun-seol manage to persuade him?
"I can't imagine how he convinced our Brigade Lord."
"Hahaha. Persuaded?"
Gyo Jung-hak gave a faint smile.
"That caused quite the uproar."
And as he recalled the incident that had turned the Demonic Palace upside down not long ago, Gyo Jung-hak's eyes narrowed.