Chapter 355
Chapter 355
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 355
Chapter Title: The Abbess's Resolve
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Bu Eun-seol was making his way out of Great Sword Mountain.
He wasn't using his lightness technique, but moving slowly, one step at a time.
A faint vibration of true energy, drawn to its peak, rose from his body like a mist.
It was as if he were synchronizing his body and spirit, honing his senses to their sharpest edge in anticipation of a fierce battle.
As he descended from the peak and reached a wide area on the mountainside,
Suddenly,
he stopped walking.
He looked at the sharp auras surrounding him and spoke.
"Come out."
"Hoh."
An aged exclamation shook the air.
At the same time, a small shadow emerged from behind a large rock on the opposite side. It was Abbess Neung-in.
"From the look on your face, it seems you didn't just notice me on the roof a moment ago... but knew from the very beginning."
Abbess Neung-in had been hiding on the roof of the Medical Hall where A-yeon and Ok Yu-ha were, eavesdropping on their entire conversation.
Bu Eun-seol had known this but pretended not to.
The one who tied the knot must be the one to untie it.
"That is correct."
"How did you know?"
"You were willing to pass on the secrets of your internal arts to someone you intended to kill, were you not?"
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"Since you are acting as the Sanctum Head... you must also command the Sword Sanctum's forces."
"Oh? And how did you figure that out?"
Abbess Neung-in wore a strange smile.
"I don't believe I did anything particularly suspicious."
"Even if the position of Sanctum Head is vacant, how could an elder unilaterally decide to impart your sacred teachings to an outsider?"
Passing the secrets of one's cultivation method to an outsider was strictly forbidden by any sect.
Yet, under the pretext of saving A-yeon, Abbess Neung-in had casually imparted the final verses of the Secret Source Heart Art to him.
This meant that Abbess Neung-in wielded the authority of the vacant Sanctum Head position.
"It was a decision that had to be made."
Abbess Neung-in nodded in acknowledgement.
"Anyone, not just I, would have made the same choice. If something were to happen to that child as well, our Sanctum would face an irreversible crisis."
"However, there is something I do not understand."
Bu Eun-seol tilted his head.
"Is it the way of the Sword Sanctum to repay kindness with enmity? I treated her with all my heart, so why are you trying to kill me?"
At that, Abbess Neung-in's expression turned pained.
"The previous successor also fell to an inner demon because of a man... I cannot allow the next successor to suffer the same fate, can I?"
"The previous successor..."
Bu Eun-seol had a feeling he knew what she meant.
"In that case, not only the former Sword Empress, Matron Ok, but all of the Sword Sanctum's successors... must possess the Yang Radiance Body."
It was a rather abrupt statement.
But Abbess Neung-in's eyes flashed with considerable surprise.
"How did you know that?"
"The Sword Sanctum's profound arts are remarkable, but they are far too ambitious."
"Ambitious?"
"To master your profound arts, one must open both the lower and upper dantian simultaneously... which means you must find a woman who possesses true yang energy to be your successor, does it not?"
As if impressed by Bu Eun-seol's deduction, Abbess Neung-in nodded.
"That's right. To achieve great mastery in our Sanctum's heart arts, one must possess the Yang Radiance Body."
"So that was the cause."
"The cause?"
"Women with the Yang Radiance Body, who possess such hot yang energy, would naturally be more emotional and passionate than ordinary women."
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol clicked his tongue.
"And you teach them profound dharma that requires a calm mind. Is it any wonder such problems arise?"
"And because of that passionate and fiery nature, our Sanctum nearly lost its successor."
Abbess Neung-in, who looked as if she might have a fit, meekly acknowledged Bu Eun-seol's words.
"Twice, in fact."
"Twice?"
As Bu Eun-seol tilted his head, Abbess Neung-in spoke, her eyes filled with resentment.
"Because of you, it is happening all over again."
"What do you mean?"
"Are you pretending not to know about A-yeon's condition?"
"I am not pretending. I am telling you the truth. I have had no contact with her."
"No contact?"
Abbess Neung-in scoffed.
"If you've had no contact, then why is she lost in longing, unable to come to her senses, muttering your name in her sleep every night?"
"She does?"
Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his bewilderment.
He could understand other women, but A-yeon had never once even glanced his way.
And yet she held such deep affection for him that she called his name in her dreams?
*'Is it something like a first love?'*
The fever of a first love comes to everyone at least once.
Especially in youth, one can fall in love with someone over a single look or action.
Bu Eun-seol concluded that A-yeon's heart was as pure as snow, and she was belatedly experiencing the naive fever of a first love.
"Well, fine."
Bu Eun-seol shrugged.
"You mean to kill me for such a trivial reason?"
"A trivial reason?"
Abbess Neung-in cried out, her eyes venomous.
"I should have killed that bastard, the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber, when he first came to our Sanctum. If I had, Yu-ha would never have ended up like this!"
It was a shocking revelation.
The Seven-Fingered Demon Saber had actually come to the Sword Sanctum? Why had such a fact never been known?
"He came to the Sword Sanctum?"
As Bu Eun-seol frowned, Abbess Neung-in bit her lip.
"He came to see Yu-ha, saying he feared the child had fallen ill of heart."
Her eyes wavered faintly, as if recalling that time.
"He was covered in blood, gravely wounded."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
The Seven-Fingered Demon Saber had anticipated that Ok Yu-ha would fall ill of heart because of the massacre of the Nine Great Elders... and had secretly come to the Sword Sanctum to ease her pain.
"Then why did he just leave?"
Abbess Neung-in wore a confident expression.
"He had no choice but to leave. He was faced with our Sanctum's greatest power, the ultimate sword formation, the Silent Void Annihilation Formation."
It turned out Abbess Neung-in had intervened to prevent the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber and Ok Yu-ha from meeting, and had hidden the fact until now.
"He said he didn't want to kill our Sanctum's disciples and eventually turned back."
Abbess Neung-in said with a venomous expression.
"But I made a grave mistake."
"What mistake was that?"
"I should not have let him go so easily."
A chilling killing intent radiated from Abbess Neung-in's eyes.
"If I had activated the Silent Void Annihilation Formation, I could have killed the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber in an instant. But I showed him pointless mercy... and in the end, condemned Yu-ha to a lifetime of suffering."
"And you say that is the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber's fault?"
"If I had killed him, Yu-ha would have given up on him completely, and she wouldn't have developed such a deep sickness of the heart, would she?"
Abbess Neung-in gritted her teeth so hard they could have shattered.
"But she waited her entire life... holding onto the hope that he would one day come for her."
*'So that's why she never used a dharma name.'*
Ok Yu-ha, who was the successor of the Sword Sanctum but never used a dharma name, as if she had returned to secular life.
While hating the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber, she had waited for him her entire life.
"Because of that vile man, the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber, our Sanctum lost its successor and was forced into decades of seclusion against our will."
"..."
"And now, another seed of the demonic path is seducing our Sanctum's successor. How can I possibly stand by and watch?"
From Abbess Neung-in's perspective, the successor meant to lead the Sword Sanctum had her life ruined after losing her heart to the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber.
And now that the next successor, A-yeon, had also fallen to an inner demon because of Bu Eun-seol... she absolutely could not let it be.
"So. You are determined to kill me?"
"I am."
Abbess Neung-in said with an unwavering expression.
"The only reason I have endured this long under the guise of an elder is to ensure such a thing never happens again, to secure a flawless successor."
Gazing at the distant sky, she spoke in a voice tinged with a sigh.
"The mistakes of the past are repeating themselves. How can I simply watch?"
"Do you think killing me will solve everything?"
"Hmph. If the object of her affection is gone, at least she won't suffer a lifetime of heartache or lingering regret."
"Abbess."
More than anger, a sigh escaped Bu Eun-seol.
In a way, he understood Abbess Neung-in's anguish and resentment.
For someone who had lived solely for the Sword Sanctum, she could not bear to watch a successor's life be ruined because of a man.
"It is only natural for one person to care for another. How can you try to prevent that by artificial means?"
"Such words only hold true in the secular world. How can one devote oneself to the profound path while harboring feelings of love and desire?"
"The Sword Sanctum's profound arts are too greedy. Is there truly a need to choose a successor with the Yang Radiance Body, someone with an inherently passionate disposition?"
The Sword Sanctum chose successors with the Yang Radiance Body to achieve great mastery of their profound arts.
But was it necessary to choose a successor whose very nature was ill-suited to the profound path?
Such women experienced great emotional swings and had a tendency to express themselves actively and fervently in all matters.
"The Sword Sanctum's sword arts are second to none. Is it really necessary to enthrone a woman with the Yang Radiance Body as successor just to achieve great mastery of your profound arts?"
"What do you know to say such things?"
Abbess Neung-in shouted, her face full of anger.
"Sects comprised of women have always been swept away by the strongmen of the martial world. The only reason our Sanctum has stood tall for generations is because we possessed power great enough to do so."
Bu Eun-seol sighed as if there was nothing more to be done.
It was true that, for the most part, female-only sects had become stepping stones for more powerful ones.
And to maintain a sect, one needed the martial might to back it up.
As an outsider, Bu Eun-seol could not criticize the Sword Sanctum's ways.
"So."
Bu Eun-seol looked at the sharp auras that had been surrounding him and spoke.
"Are you prepared for an all-out war with my Cult for doing this?"
"Hahaha."
Abbess Neung-in let out a dry, aged laugh.
"If you were traveling the world under your identity as the successor to the Demonic Cult, then of course I could not."
She then scanned Bu Eun-seol with sharp eyes.
"But you came under a different identity, which must mean you are moving stealthily to avoid the tracking of intelligence organizations."
"..."
"If I deal with you quietly here, who would ever know?"
Abbess Neung-in was not simply an old woman consumed by stubbornness.
She was a leader with enough insight to perfectly manage the Sword Sanctum in place of the absent Sanctum Head.
"If only I had killed the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber from the start, none of this would have happened. My greatest regret in life is not killing him and ending Yu-ha's suffering."
Bu Eun-seol fell silent.
He had, to some extent, understood the Abbess's pain.
After all, two of her successors had fallen for men of the demonic path and succumbed to inner demons. As a result, even in her old age, she had to worry anxiously over them.
But to prevent her disciples' inner turmoil by committing murder?
In Bu Eun-seol's eyes, Abbess Neung-in was not a disciple of the profound path, but a murderer with a butcher's knife.
"You dream big."
Realizing she was beyond a change of heart, Bu Eun-seol spoke coldly.
"You didn't kill the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber not out of mercy, but because you lacked the confidence. If you had failed, the Sword Sanctum would have lost its most elite disciples in an instant."
Bu Eun-seol smiled coldly.
"But you feel confident you can kill the still-green successor of the Demonic Cult, so you've made your move."
"Insult me all you want. I have already made up my mind."
Abbess Neung-in said with a resolute expression.
"If I do not go to hell, then who will?"
With a gesture,
Abbess Neung-in raised her hand.
*Shhhhwish.*
In an instant, some sixty disciples swarmed into the clearing, blocking Bu Eun-seol's escape.
"You must know this is not a contest of martial arts. I intend to finish this swiftly with the strength of numbers, so do not resent me for being vicious."
"Haven't you already repaid kindness with enmity?"
Bu Eun-seol smiled calmly.
"There is nothing more vicious than that."
The battle had already begun.
With his words, Bu Eun-seol had struck a blow, pricking the Abbess's conscience once more.
Being human, Abbess Neung-in trembled slightly, as if feeling a pang of shame.
But she quickly hardened her heart and was about to raise her hand to activate the sword formation when,
*Step, step.*
a white figure emerged from behind a large tree about a hundred feet away, the sound of her footsteps echoing.
It was Ok Yu-ha.
She walked past Bu Eun-seol and stood before Abbess Neung-in, her eyes vacant.
"He... came to our Sanctum?"
She had come to find Bu Eun-seol and Abbess Neung-in first, intending to give A-yeon time to think.
Once the fight began, she had planned to stall for time with various excuses.
But after eavesdropping on Bu Eun-seol and Abbess Neung-in's conversation, she heard that Bu Zan-yang had risked his life to come to the Sword Sanctum for her.
"Bu Zan-yang... he... for me."
Ok Yu-ha staggered, looking as if the shock had drained her soul.
"How... How!"
She let out a heart-wrenching cry.
"How could you be so cruel!"
Ok Yu-ha's voice was filled with a sorrow that seemed to pour out all the pain of her past at once.
"You knew how I waited for him! You knew I longed for him my entire life!"
She burst into tears, wailing.
"How could you deceive me like that!"
"Then what was to become of our Sanctum!"
Abbess Neung-in also let out a desperate shout.
"To the disciple who abandoned everything for a man! Should I have told you, 'Actually, he was a man of his word who kept his promises'? Is that what I should have said?"
"Master!"
"Our Sanctum was once a pillar of the Orthodox Faction! But because of you, our status plummeted to the very bottom!"
Abbess Neung-in shouted, filled with rage.
"I have finally raised a successor who can make our Sanctum blossom again! Am I to repeat the same mistakes I made with you!"
"This can't be... this can't be..."
A faint smoke began to rise from the shocked Ok Yu-ha's body.
At the same time, wrinkles slowly started to form on her once-firm skin.
Her rage was causing her Verdant Youth Grand Art to slowly break.
"For me... knowing I would fall ill of heart... he came for me, covered in blood..."
In Ok Yu-ha's eyes, an image formed of a solitary man climbing Great Sword Mountain, covered in blood.
A powerful physique and tightly pressed lips.
Eyes that would not waver even if the heavens and earth collapsed. An air of loneliness, yet tinged with sorrow...
The image of that lonely, peerless saber master.
"How could you..."
Just as her Verdant Youth Grand Art was about to shatter completely and her face began to age,
*Swish.*
a gentle finger strike pierced her acupoints.
Bu Eun-seol, standing behind her, had struck Ok Yu-ha's pressure points.
"Why."
As Ok Yu-ha, slowly losing consciousness, murmured, Bu Eun-seol gently helped her sit down against a rock and whispered.
"Bu Zan-yang would not have wanted you to destroy your life's work in a fit of rage, Matron Ok."
If even the Verdant Youth Grand Art, for which she had sacrificed a lifetime of cultivation, were to break, she would have nothing left.
For Ok Yu-ha's sake, Bu Eun-seol had sealed her vital points.
*Woooong.*
He then infused her with a warm true energy to help her calm down.
"Rest, Matron."
"Bu... Zan-yang."
Before Ok Yu-ha's fading consciousness, the image of the man she had longed for even in her dreams appeared.
The man who, even when the whole world pointed fingers at him, walked his own path in silence with a lonely smile...
The image of the saber master who had given her such bittersweet memories.
"I'm sorry."
*Drip.*
A single, clear teardrop rolled down the sleeping Ok Yu-ha's cheek.
Bu Eun-seol carefully leaned her against a tree stump so as not to wake her, then took off his outer robe and covered her with it.
"Abbess Neung-in."
Turning around, Bu Eun-seol looked down at Abbess Neung-in with solemn, cold eyes.
"Is it not because you tried to revive your sect with such a base mindset that the Sword Sanctum has fallen into this state?"
"What did you say?"
"I said your senile greed has ruined the Sword Sanctum."
Bu Eun-seol slowly drew his Ink Sword.
"From now on, I will show you."
"Hahaha! It seems gaining some fame has made you blind to reality."
Seeing the fearsome aura radiating from Bu Eun-seol, Abbess Neung-in only laughed aloud.
"I know your martial arts are formidable. But when a sect has remained at the top for hundreds of years, you should have realized the depth of its power."
And she immediately shouted.
"Flame Flower and Lotus Flower Divisions, hear me! Unleash the Silent Void Annihilation Formation upon him!"
*Sssshhh.*
At her command, sixty disciples of the Sword Sanctum moved in a dizzying pattern, surrounding Bu Eun-seol.
In that moment, a strange pressure poured in from all directions, beginning to crush Bu Eun-seol.
"Even the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber, who was considered invincible at the time, would have died helplessly if caught in this formation."
The corners of Abbess Neung-in's mouth lifted.
The Silent Void Annihilation Formation was the Sword Sanctum's ultimate sword formation, divided into three stages and composed of the most outstanding disciples from the Flame Flower and Lotus Flower Divisions.
With this, they could defeat any master in an instant.
"The Seven-Fingered Demon Saber..."
Bu Eun-seol muttered with an empty expression.
"To think he would have died helplessly in a formation like this."
A bold spirit rose within him.
The Seven-Fingered Demon Saber, Bu Zan-yang.
He was a grandmaster of peerless martial arts who had dominated the world with a single saber.
And wasn't he the successor who had inherited the essence of those saber arts?
"Unleash the first stage!"
At Abbess Neung-in's shout, the disciples moved chaotically, executing their sword techniques.
The crushing pressure transformed into a massive wave of energy that swirled violently. It continuously sucked in the air, making it seem as if one would be unable to breathe upon entering.
But Bu Eun-seol stepped into that swirling vortex of energy without hesitation.
It was not reckless bravado, but faith in the absolute saber arts created by the Seven-Fingered Demon Saber. Faith in the power of the Seven Styles of Blood and Tears.