Chapter 330
Chapter 330
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 330
Chapter Title: The Wall of the Heart's Core
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“My friend's dantian was destroyed, and he has lost all his power.”
Bu Eun-seol gestured to Seo Jin-ha and calmly explained.
“He cultivated a special kind of power, making conventional treatment impossible. Therefore, the only way for him to fully recover his power is to open his upper dantian using the Manhwabeopryun.”
Hwami-gungju, understanding Bu Eun-seol's intention, nodded.
For a martial artist who has cultivated their internal energy centered on the lower dantian to open the upper dantian, they must first dismantle all of their existing power.
But since Seo Jin-ha's dantian was destroyed and his power was gone, there was no loss for him.
Moreover, given the immense power he once possessed… if he mastered the Manhwabeopryun, he could easily recover his former strength.
Not only that, but by newly opening his upper dantian, he could quickly surpass his past level of power and reach even greater heights.
It could be compared to a skilled chef easily learning a new recipe.
“Countless sects beyond the Central Plains open their upper dantian to cultivate internal energy. Why do you seek to learn our palace's secret art?”
Bu Eun-seol replied to Hwami-gungju's question.
“I have heard that the fundamental secret art capable of reaching the state of Three Origins and Three Harmonies, where the Primordial Spirit leaves the body, is the secret of the Byeokhae Palace.”
That was what Hyeol-geum-gang, who had passed on his internal energy, had told him.
“It is the only way for him not only to recover his former power but also to advance to a higher realm.”
“I see.”
Hwami-gungju nodded and said with a sigh.
“It is remarkable that you found our palace, which is cut off from the world, but we cannot pass down our secret internal arts to an outsider.”
But Bu Eun-seol's expression remained unchanged.
She frowned slightly and continued to speak.
“My husband and I allowed you into the palace only because we were curious why you came all this way with the Great Perfection Mirror of Gwangyang Temple.”
Despite Hwami-gungju's firm refusal, Bu Eun-seol stood calmly.
As if waiting for her to say more.
As silence fell, the Grand Palace Lord, Amin, who had been sitting quietly, spoke as if she had remembered something.
“Palace Lord, isn't there a way to pass on our martial arts to them?”
Hwami-gungju furrowed her brows.
“How could they possibly overcome that trial?”
“But it wouldn't be a bad idea to give them a chance.”
At that, Bu Eun-seol cupped his hands together again and spoke.
“Whatever it is, if you give me the chance, I will surely succeed.”
Hwami-gungju then opened her mouth as if she had no other choice.
“Our palace does not reveal itself to the world because of a prohibition that has been passed down for generations.”
“A prohibition, you say…”
“We can only go out into the world if we break the Wall of the Heart's Core, which was erected by our founding ancestor.”
She took a deep breath and said.
“You must endure the trial for four days, then break the Wall of the Heart's Core. But no matter how you look at it… that's an impossible task.”
Hwami-gungju's gaze turned heavy.
“If you can break it, you will become our palace's benefactors, and we can pass on the Manhwabeopryun to you.”
“Ah, breaking things is my specialty.”
So Ok-rim, who had been listening quietly, wore a confident smile.
She turned her head and said to Bu Eun-seol and Seo Jin-ha.
“I'll do it. This thing.”
Flexing her thick forearms, she gave a hearty smile and said.
“I'll smash whatever it is in one go! Hahaha.”
“Let me be frank.”
At that, Hwami-gungju shook her head and sighed.
“The trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core can only be overcome by one who has entered the Martial Zenith Realm.”
In an instant, not only So Ok-rim's face but also Bu Eun-seol's stiffened.
The Martial Zenith Realm.
It signified a state on the very edge of what a human could achieve in martial arts.
Wasn't even Bu Eun-seol, known to have transcended age and generation, only just now stepping into the Heavenly Zenith Realm?
If the Wall of the Heart's Core was a trial that required reaching the Martial Zenith Realm to break, then in the current situation, it was impossible to pass, even if one died and came back to life.
“Furthermore, most who fail to overcome the trial become cripples or idiots. The reason our palace has not continuously challenged it is… because we have repeatedly witnessed such outcomes.”
Hwami-gungju's expression and gaze were by no means a joke.
At that, So Ok-rim's complexion, which had been brightly smiling while flexing her forearms, rapidly darkened.
She immediately took a step back and suddenly coughed.
“*Cough*.”
Then, her shoulders slumped, and with a weak expression, she said to Bu Eun-seol and Seo Jin-ha.
“But I'm too drained from fighting that Vajra of Gwangyang Temple earlier.”
“I will enter.”
As Bu Eun-seol spoke without hesitation, Seo Jin-ha shook his head.
“There's no need for that.”
He then sent a mental message with an utterly serious expression.
「Recovering my power is a small matter. But I cannot let anything happen to you. What would my subordinates at the mansion, who look only to you, do?」
Bu Eun-seol was the head of the Sayeong Estate and the successor to the Demonic Faction.
He was not some lone warrior responsible only for his own life.
「It's fine.」
Bu Eun-seol replied, also with a mental message.
「The Martial Zenith Realm is not something that can be expressed as a level of martial skill in the first place. A trial can't possibly be made from it.」
Bu Eun-seol had personally experienced the martial prowess of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, who was said to have reached the pinnacle of the Martial Zenith Realm.
He had also experienced that of Ak Mu-ryeong and Jeok Bung, who were known to be slightly below him.
The Martial Zenith Realm was simply the individual martial arts displayed in that phenomenon. He knew very well that such a state could not be made into or expressed as a trial.
「Besides, if the founding ancestor of the Unhae Byeokryeong Palace had entered the Martial Zenith Realm, he would have left a great mark on the martial world.」
Bu Eun-seol sent his mental message with a look of conviction.
「They must be calling a different phenomenon the Martial Zenith Realm.」
「Bu Eun-seol.」
「Trust me.」
At Bu Eun-seol's firm message, Seo Jin-ha sighed.
Even if everything he said was true, it was undoubtedly a perilous trial.
Because the presence of Hwami-gungju, who had the appearance of a young girl, was as powerful as Bu Eun-seol's.
If even they did not dare to attempt it, her words about risking one's life were certainly no exaggeration.
“Are you serious.”
“I am.”
At Hwami-gungju's words, Bu Eun-seol cupped his hands with a resolute expression.
“I will challenge it right now.”
***
While Bu Eun-seol was undergoing the trial, the Byeokryeong Palace provided accommodations for Seo Jin-ha and So Ok-rim to rest comfortably.
Seo Jin-ha wanted to help Bu Eun-seol, but having lost his power, he would only be a burden.
So he simply placed his hands on Bu Eun-seol's shoulders and gave him a relaxed smile.
“Hurry up and smash it to pieces.”
Boundless trust.
In this situation, the only thing he could offer was his boundless trust.
Bu Eun-seol nodded and, guided by Hwami-gungju, walked deep into the underground of the Byeokryeong Palace.
After walking endlessly down a long, artificially made passage, a metal door shimmering with a strange luster came into view.
*Vwoom.*
When Hwami-gungju placed something against the wall, the massive metal door slowly opened.
The door opened into a large stone chamber. As they stepped inside, the oil lamps on the walls automatically brightened.
Simultaneously, the wall opposite the entrance began to glow with a transparent light.
The wall was made of a material so clear that one's face was reflected in it.
It wasn't glass, however; it looked more like a slightly opaque, luminous stone.
The Wall of the Heart's Core.
This was the very prohibition, the Wall of the Heart's Core, that had made the Unhae Byeokryeong Palace disappear from the world.
“This is the Wall of the Heart's Core.”
As Bu Eun-seol approached the Wall, light flowed out from it.
Then, a mantra began to appear in transparent letters.
“This is our palace's Clear Spirit Heart Art. Once the trial begins, it would be wise to rely on this art.”
When Bu Eun-seol turned his head, Hwami-gungju's eyes curved into crescents as she spoke.
“That is, if you wish to survive in here for four days without going mad.”
Bu Eun-seol couldn't understand.
The heart art of the Unhae Byeokryeong Palace should be a considerably superior scripture.
But the scripture carved into the Wall of the Heart's Core was by no means something that deserved the name ‘Clear Spirit.’
‘They attached the name Clear Spirit to a heart art like this?’
The scriptures carved on the wall were all things that amplified killing intent, to the point that just reciting them made one feel a strange scent of blood.
And the name of such a secret art was ‘Clear Spirit’?
“There are two kinds of heart arts that clear the mind.”
Hwami-gungju said, as if she had read Bu Eun-seol's doubts.
“The kind that enters the righteous path from the demonic to regain tranquility, and the kind that enters the demonic path from the righteous to find tranquility.”
Tranquility.
It meant to calm the mind, but in the context of internal secret arts, it referred to the process of suppressing all elements that disturb the spirit.
Therefore, it didn't matter whether one used the demonic or righteous path to achieve that suppression.
But that was only in theory; a heart art that crossed from the demonic to the righteous path was unheard of in the martial world.
“Then this must be a heart art that goes from the demonic to the righteous path.”
“Indeed.”
Hwami-gungju said in a low voice.
“When the door closes, the trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core will begin. Once this door is closed, it will not open for four days… so you must be prepared.”
“I understand.”
“Then I wish you good fortune.”
Hwami-gungju slowly walked outside. Then, the massive iron door began to slowly close.
‘Strange.’
Bu Eun-seol sensed something odd in Hwami-gungju's expression.
Her expression had been consistently dark. It wasn't because she was worried for his life, nor was it because she lacked even a sliver of hope.
Displeasure.
She was clearly displeased that Bu Eun-seol was challenging this trial at all.
‘Does she not want the prohibition to be broken?’
That couldn't be.
There was no way she would be satisfied living a life cut off from the world at the edge of this high mountain.
There was surely some internal affair of the Byeokryeong Palace that Bu Eun-seol was unaware of.
—*Vrooommm.*
Just then, the stone chamber seemed to shake, and an unknown sound began to reach Bu Eun-seol's ears.
It was a very low, gloomy sound coming from within the Wall of the Heart's Core.
It sounded like the curse of a demon trapped in darkness, or perhaps the chanting of a mantra passed down in a secret sect.
Upon hearing it, Bu Eun-seol felt a killing intent a hundred times thicker than when he had read the Clear Spirit Heart Art on the wall well up inside him.
—*The trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core not only requires you to risk your life, but it can only be overcome by one who has entered the Martial Zenith Realm.*
‘So that’s what it was.’
Only then could Bu Eun-seol understand the meaning of Hwami-gungju's words.
The sound echoing in the stone chamber exhibited a function similar to the power of the Illusory Return that Nang-ya-gak's Lord Ak Mu-ryeong unleashed.
A direct blow to the spirit.
The trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core was to endure that direct blow to the spirit for four days.
‘This will be difficult.’
Bu Eun-seol had to admit it.
The trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core was a great ordeal, incomparable to any he had faced so far.
‘Although it’s not as powerful as the Lord of the Nang-ya-gak’s Illusory Return…’
The sound coming from the Wall of the Heart's Core was a hundred times weaker than Ak Mu-ryeong's Illusory Return.
The problem was that he had to endure this sound for four days.
‘I have no choice.’
If he just stood here and tried to endure it, he would either become an idiot or his spirit would be torn to shreds.
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to look at the Clear Spirit Heart Art written on the transparent wall.
To endure for four days, his only option was to recite the Clear Spirit Heart Art.
“Ugh.”
A day had passed.
A groan escaped Bu Eun-seol's lips as he endlessly recited the scripture.
A person cannot endlessly generate killing intent.
Just as everything has an end, a well will run dry if continuously drawn from, and internal energy will be depleted if constantly expended.
While *qi* can always be replenished, its total amount decreases if it is ceaselessly consumed.
But Bu Eun-seol's killing intent had not diminished in the slightest even after a day.
In terms of the total amount of killing intent, it was equivalent to unleashing the Thunderous Peerless Form for two hours straight.
‘Ugh.’
As an extreme killing intent erupted from his body, Bu Eun-seol found it difficult to maintain his reason.
He wanted to draw his sword and kill someone right this instant.
The scent of blood.
In the past, when he annihilated the Sa-hyang, Bu Eun-seol's spirit had entered a demonic state, and he had been captivated by the sweetness of the scent of blood.
But now, he was feeling a killing intent even thicker than back then.
‘Rather… I should use this.’
As the killing intent that was dyeing even his mind red poured out, Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
He didn't want to become a blood-soaked demon.
What if he poured out this killing intent for four days straight?
He came to the thought that it might be an opportunity to reduce the killing intent inherent in his spirit.
‘I’ll pour it all out.’
An ordinary person would have already gone mad in this situation.
But even in this situation, Bu Eun-seol constantly thought and sought enlightenment.
And so, taking this ordeal as an opportunity, he unleashed his killing intent with all his might, without suppressing it.
*Vroooom!*
He began to crave blood to the point where his reason was melting away, but it didn't matter.
*Chiiii!*
The intensely pouring killing intent became a scorching heat that began to burn Bu Eun-seol's clothes.
But he paid it no mind, continuing to pour out his killing intent with his body curled up.
Time passed like that, and soon, the third night was passing.
‘…’
Suddenly, the entire world became silent.
Sensing something was wrong, Bu Eun-seol slowly uncurled his body.
The sound that had been endlessly echoing inside the stone chamber had vanished.
Bu Eun-seol instinctively knew that today was the fourth day.
But the promised four days had not yet passed, so why had the sound stopped?
Feeling that something was amiss, Bu Eun-seol moved his head from side to side, surveying the inside of the stone chamber.
“…!”
When he turned his head, his neck moved sluggishly, as if in a dream.
The sound hadn't stopped; time itself was passing incredibly slowly.
Bu Eun-seol suddenly looked at the faintly glowing Wall of the Heart's Core.
Then, a wondrous sight was reflected on the transparent wall.
‘Are there two of me?’
On the left side of the wall was a figure in black robes, with flashing red eyes, emitting a black energy.
And on the right side was a figure in white robes with the Ice Soul Sword on his back, surrounded by the thirteen streams of the Thirteen Nocturnes.
Both figures were Bu Eun-seol.
One looked like a grandmaster of the Demonic Path, inherently emotionless and cold. The other looked like a grandmaster of the Righteous Path, upright and just.
‘Is that wall projecting my spirit?’
The two shadows stood back to back, exuding a sharp aura.
As if they would turn around and fight to the death at any moment.
‘This is.’
Bu Eun-seol was exhausted from pouring out killing intent for four days. But he was not so weary that his mind was clouded.
‘The Wall of the Heart's Core. The Wall of the Heart's Core… so that's what it was.’
The Wall of the Heart's Core was a trial that destroyed the mind. That was why one truly had to reach the Martial Zenith Realm to overcome it.
To defend against a direct blow to the spirit from an formless power, one had to have reached the Martial Zenith Realm.
But Bu Eun-seol had endured the power of Ak Mu-ryeong's Illusory Return in the past without having reached such a state.
Moreover, when he overthrew the Sa-hyang, he had controlled his own spirit, moving from the demonic to the middle path.
At the time, he had simply thought it was the power of the Sakjeong Secret Art…
But looking back now, he realized it was possible because his spirit was divided into two paths from the very beginning.
‘In the end, do I have to choose?’
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
Right now, he was in a light state of demonic possession due to the trial of the Wall of the Heart's Core.
To overcome this and break that wall, he ultimately had to choose one of the two forms.
What if he didn't choose?
His divided spirit would continue to fight endlessly, and eventually, Bu Eun-seol would become a cripple.
‘Hmm.’
Bu Eun-seol carefully observed his reflection on the Wall of the Heart's Core.
The form of the man in black was truly his own inherent nature.
His cold and emotionless demeanor had been a great source of strength whenever he faced a crisis.
If he hadn't possessed such a disposition, he would have despaired and failed to overcome numerous crises.
But the figure in white was the self that had been formed by his grandfather's teachings.
Through those rich emotions, he was able to observe things deeply, gain enlightenment from everything, and develop his martial prowess.
If he hadn't had this side to him, he would not have achieved his current high level of martial skill.
His harsh, frozen-over innate disposition, and the acquired tenderness gained from Bu Jan-yang's teachings.
These two forms resided within his spirit.
‘But these two cannot coexist.’
It was the same principle as not being able to hold water and fire in the same bowl.
If he chose nothing and remained as he was…
The blazing flames would die down, and the full water would also diminish.
In other words, if he insisted on coexistence, Bu Eun-seol's martial skill would regress, or he would suffer from a split personality.
‘What should I choose?’
Bu Eun-seol's ultimate goal was revenge for his grandfather. In that case, he should choose the path of the Demonic Faction without hesitation.
But if he walked the demonic path, everyone around him would become unhappy.
And there was a high probability that he would become a puppet of those who sought to secretly manipulate him.
‘Is there no right answer in life?’
Life could be said to be a process of constantly choosing something and then regretting it.
No matter what he chose, there would be regrets in the future.
‘Isn't this something I had to clearly decide on at some point anyway?’
Now that he was aware that his heart was divided in two, maintaining a middle path was impossible.
If he didn't firmly decide on a course, this kind of thing would endlessly repeat itself.
‘Alright.’
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol chose one path.