Chapter 439
Chapter 439
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 439
Chapter Title: The Mad God of Thunder
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Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
Of course, the Demonic Celestial Emperor could be a descendant of the Black Star.
But the probability was slim.
If the Demonic Celestial Emperor truly was a descendant of the Black Star?
He would never have passed down the Art of True Will to Bu Eun-seol, who had to face countless enemies while roaming the martial world.
Doing so would be like announcing to the entire martial world that he was a descendant of the Black Star.
The Art of True Will was a unique secret art that created a heart-formula for fusing true energy with one's spirit, allowing for the free transformation of its shape.
If it had been based on the martial arts of the Black Star, its origins would have already been uncovered by numerous masters of both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions.
*Perhaps the Demonic Celestial Emperor fought someone who used the Art of Assembled Demonic Energy and was inspired to create a similar technique. Or maybe he stumbled upon a secret manual left behind by the Black Star.*
"I won't ask you to believe me. I have my own circumstances."
Bu Eun-seol sighed and shook his head.
"But I, too, have lost my precious family to the Three Realms. How could I possibly be on their side?"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes were filled with terrible anguish and solitude.
"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. Think what you will."
Seeing that look in his eyes, Noe Bi-hon shouted in confusion.
"Don't be ridiculous. You're saying what you used wasn't the Art of Assembled Demonic Energy?"
*I need to make this clear.*
Bu Eun-seol looked at Noe Bi-hon and raised his internal energy.
"Watch carefully."
*Zhiiing.*
As Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Art of True Will, web-like strands of true energy spread out in all directions behind him.
Then, they transformed into the shape of a blade, a sword, or a massive shield.
For a moment, Noe Bi-hon's expression became uncertain.
He realized that while the martial art Bu Eun-seol displayed was very similar to the Art of Assembled Demonic Energy, it was also slightly different.
"I can perform it hundreds of times if you wish. Is this really the Art of Assembled Demonic Energy?"
Noe Bi-hon couldn't give a definite answer and ended up changing the subject.
"If you're not an envoy of the Three Realms, then what about the Orthodox Faction's martial arts? Why did you learn those as well?"
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"It wasn't my choice. It just happened that way."
"..."
"This is all I can tell you. I'll say it again: believe it or not, as you please."
A strange light flickered in Noe Bi-hon's eyes at Bu Eun-seol's explanation.
Someone trying to deceive would try to explain and convince you at all costs.
But someone who is sincere doesn't even bother with long explanations.
"I... lost my beloved wife and child to the Three Realms."
Noe Bi-hon said, gritting his teeth.
"I won't be fooled by you bastards anymore! I won't fall for your wicked tricks again!"
The Thunder God lost his reason again, charging at Bu Eun-seol with his Divine Thunder Energy.
However, for Bu Eun-seol, who could freely wield the Great Essence of the Scorching River, the power of the Divine Thunder Energy was no longer effective.
*Boom!*
Struck by Bu Eun-seol's fist, Noe Bi-hon was sent sprawling to the ground in a wretched state.
"Die!"
But he screamed again, unleashing his Divine Thunder Energy.
*Hmph.*
Seeing Noe Bi-hon charge at him again like a madman suffering from insanity, Bu Eun-seol felt a moment of conflict.
He was clearly gripped by madness, his mind unsound.
But he wasn't an evil man, just someone who had lost his family to the Three Realms.
He didn't particularly want to kill him.
*I have no choice.*
In the end, he raised the Great Essence of the Scorching River to over the sixth level and executed the Seven Demonic Fists.
*Chiiii! Vwooom!*
Then, the Scorching River's sacred energy, accompanied by the Energy of the Ultimate Fire Wheel, erupted from Bu Eun-seol's right hand.
He intended to inflict intense pain to knock Noe Bi-hon out for a moment.
*Bang! Bang!*
Noe Bi-hon was pummeled by Bu Eun-seol's fists and sent flying back.
But he neither passed out nor gave up.
Even as blood burst from his body and the bones in his arms and legs fractured, he stubbornly attacked again and again.
*Kwaaang!*
Finally, after being repeatedly struck by the Form of Selfless Chain-Shattering, Noe Bi-hon,
"Kugh."
...groaned and dropped to one knee.
Aside from the Great Essence of the Scorching River, he hadn't infused much internal energy, so Noe Bi-hon's injuries weren't life-threatening.
But as his Divine Thunder Energy proved useless and he was beaten so helplessly, Noe Bi-hon seemed to suffer a severe mental shock, his mouth agape.
From the day he was born until now, had he ever been beaten like this?
The Four Gods.
It was a name like an untouchable sanctuary.
To think there was someone completely immune to the Divine Thunder Energy, said to be the most tyrannical of the Four Gods' powers.
"Hwan. My Hwan... your revenge."
He trembled and muttered, his eyes unfocused.
"Those who injected you with all sorts of drugs just because you possessed pure Divine Thunder Energy, who opened your head and extracted your spinal fluid..."
Seeing Noe Bi-hon muttering like a madman, Bu Eun-seol understood why there were rumors of his insanity.
It seemed his son had also been born with exceptional power and, as a result, was abducted by the Three Realms and subjected to cruel experiments.
Unable to bear the shock, he had abandoned everything and was now wandering the martial world alone to hunt down the Three Realms.
"Hoo."
Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh.
His grandfather, too, had his eyes gouged out and his arm severed by a master presumed to be part of the Three Realms.
His back was covered in wounds from hidden weapons laced with vicious poison.
He no longer wanted to strike a man who shared the same pain as him.
"You should leave."
As Bu Eun-seol turned, the Thunder God once again raised his Divine Thunder Energy.
*Bzzzt.*
"How can I just leave when an enemy of the Three Realms is right here!"
"An enemy of the Three Realms, you say."
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol's eyes gleamed.
The Martial Alliance had sent an investigation team to hunt him down, and it was highly likely they were people co-opted by the Three Realms.
And wasn't Noe Bi-hon suffering from madness?
"Do you really want to kill members of the Three Realms?"
"What?"
"Soon, masters from the Three Realms disguised as members of the Martial Alliance will swarm this area. If you want to kill someone, kill them."
*Fwoosh.*
At that moment, a faint sound of something cutting through the air came from the distance.
It was so subtle that only masters of Bu Eun-seol's and the Thunder God's caliber could detect it.
"Hooo. I see."
Madness once again filled Noe Bi-hon's eyes.
"That sound... it's the sound of the Divine Bullet of Flowing Flight, a movement technique those Three Realms bastards often use."
*If he knows the martial arts of the Three Realms... he must have killed quite a few of them.*
Bu Eun-seol finally understood the situation and nodded.
The reason he had pursued So-yo.
It was because So-yo had used a concealment technique so superb that even Bu Eun-seol had difficulty detecting her.
And because it was very similar to the movement techniques used by the envoys of the Three Realms.
Furthermore, the envoy of the Three Realms had actually been repelled by Bu Eun-seol's strategy.
Since he was returning from the Scorching River Sacred Palace towards Yunnan, his path had overlapped with So-yo's.
*Zzzzt.*
Spreading killing intent again, powerful Divine Thunder Energy radiated from Noe Bi-hon's entire body.
*Zzt. Zzzzzzt!*
White lightning coiled around his body, and the fractured bones in his leg and forearm instantly mended.
In less than half a moment, hadn't he completely healed the internal and external injuries inflicted by Bu Eun-seol?
*What a monster.*
Watching this, Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
*Just like the descendants of the Three Stars of the Eight Desolations.*
The Four Gods were truly the Four Gods.
The Divine Thunder Energy, a mystical power passed down through generations in the martial world, was like the martial arts used by the descendants of the Three Stars of the Eight Desolations.
It possessed abilities that far surpassed the boundaries of martial progression.
*How many masters could fight a life-and-death battle to the end with Noe Bi-hon, who can recover his body in an instant?*
If Bu Eun-seol hadn't learned the Great Essence of the Scorching River?
The outcome of that desperate struggle would have been impossible to predict.
*Thank you, Sacred Master.*
Bu Eun-seol felt a renewed sense of gratitude towards the Sacred Master of the Scorching River.
If he hadn't obtained the Great Essence of the Scorching River?
He might have been defeated by the Thunder God or forced to make a humiliating retreat.
*Zzzzt.*
However, the expression on Noe Bi-hon's face, having fully recovered his body by spreading his Divine Thunder Energy, was strange.
Wasn't he blinking and looking around like a newborn baby on its first outing?
"Brother Noe, are you alright?"
"Huh?"
Noe Bi-hon looked at Bu Eun-seol with clear eyes.
"What do you mean?"
*I see.*
Instantly grasping Noe Bi-hon's condition, Bu Eun-seol asked again.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Who are you?"
"I just told you the whereabouts of the Three Realms' masters."
After a moment of thought, Noe Bi-hon muttered with an unfocused gaze.
"So you're... the good guy who told me where the Three Realms are."
Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately.
Noe Bi-hon's madness was even more severe than Bu Eun-seol had anticipated.
It seemed his mind became unstable whenever he used his Divine Thunder Energy to its limit.
"That's right. Brother Noe, don't forget my face even if you see this younger brother later."
"Younger brother?"
"Yes. You and I have a common enemy, don't we?"
"Did we?"
Noe Bi-hon's gaze grew increasingly vacant.
Having no other choice, Bu Eun-seol pointed in the direction of the faint sound and shouted.
"First, hurry up and kill those wicked Three Realms bastards."
"Three Realms... Three Realms!"
Noe Bi-hon's body trembled violently.
"I'll kill them all in one go—!"
Engulfed in madness, he let out a thunderous roar.
He then instantly executed his movement technique, shooting off in the direction of the approaching group.
"Hmm."
Watching him go, Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh.
Seeing Noe Bi-hon, mad with revenge and of unsound mind, made his chest feel heavy.
"His appearance was a stroke of luck for me."
The Three Realms couldn't possibly be unaware that the Thunder God was hunting them, driven mad by revenge.
Also, judging by his familiarity with the martial arts of the Three Realms, the Thunder God had simply remained hidden from the martial world.
He must have been fighting members of the Three Realms all this time.
So, even if he suddenly appeared and killed the Three Realms' people nested within the Martial Alliance...
...it wouldn't be strange at all.
*Why haven't rumors of the Thunder God's actions spread?*
After a moment of thought, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
*It seems the Three Realms intentionally suppressed the rumors.*
The Three Realms must have only spread the story that the Thunder God had gone mad and was wandering the martial world.
After all, he really was gripped by madness, wandering the martial world like a lunatic, seeking out only members of the Three Realms.
*I will bring you down.*
Recalling the desperate anguish in Noe Bi-hon's voice, Bu Eun-seol clenched his fist.
*All of you.*
*Fwoosh.*
Just then, the sound of cutting air was heard again.
"He wasn't a bad person."
A low voice spoke as a small figure descended from the air.
It was So-yo.
She had been pretending to flee but had stayed near Bu Eun-seol the whole time.
"Why didn't you leave?"
"You were going to win."
She said that, but if it had looked like Bu Eun-seol was going to lose, she would have joined the fight.
She was prepared to give her life for Bu Eun-seol at any moment.
"Don't do that. Not anymore."
Bu Eun-seol said sternly.
"When it's dangerous, you must retreat. That's an order."
"Okay."
She said, but her large eyes didn't waver.
Her expression said she would never flee and leave Bu Eun-seol in danger.
"So-yo. In an emergency, one person must survive to report the situation to the Four Souls Unit. That's why a vice-captain is needed. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes."
He warned her again, but her expression remained unchanged.
*This is worrying.*
Bu Eun-seol touched his forehead.
He hadn't chosen So-yo as his vice-captain because he needed a subordinate to sacrifice themselves for him.
But Seo Jin-ha, So-yo, and others...
...many were willing to risk danger to protect him.
For their sake, Bu Eun-seol had to become stronger.
Strong enough to be safe in any situation.
That way, they wouldn't have to risk their lives for him.
"Let's go back."
"Okay."
So-yo vanished into the air again.
Bu Eun-seol watched her go, then slowly turned around.
It was time to return to the Martial Alliance... and climb one step higher.
***
The Martial Alliance was in an uproar.
The Scorching River Sacred Palace.
The reclusive sect, long rooted in the Southern Lands, had suddenly requested a peace treaty with the Martial Alliance.
—State your terms. We intend to form an alliance with the Martial Alliance.
The new palace lord, Jeok Mu-mi.
It was said she had found the Secret Palace, long thought to be a legend, and there discovered the martial arts of the Sacred Master of the Scorching River and a divine artifact containing his power.
And with them, she had completed a combat force of over a thousand warriors capable of using the Scorching River's true energy.
The lord of the Scorching River Sacred Palace, who had built a force capable of dominating not only the Southern Lands but also the lands beyond the borders...
...was suddenly demanding an unconditional peace treaty with the Martial Alliance?
—It is because of Grand Captain Seon-u.
Jeok Mu-mi revealed the reason at the end of her personal letter.
The reason for the treaty with the Martial Alliance was because of the Apex Unit's Grand Captain, Seon-u Jin.
With his help, she had executed the traitors who tried to overthrow the Scorching River Sacred Palace and found the divine artifact.
Now, the Martial Alliance had no choice.
The Apex Unit's Grand Captain, Seon-u Jin.
His rank had to be unconditionally raised by another level.
If, by any chance, the Scorching River Sacred Palace raised objections to the treaty, he would need to be at least a Second-Class Grand Captain to step forward and handle it.
The Martial Alliance, Hall of Ascendant Might. Inside the grand conference room.
A burly, roly-poly middle-aged man and a thin man in white robes sat facing each other, drinking tea.
They were Yuk Jang-cheon and Bu Eun-seol.
"I can't believe it."
Yuk Jang-cheon's mouth fell open, and his eyes widened.
"What on earth happened?"
"What are you referring to?"
"I would have been satisfied if you had just opened the door for a treaty with the Scorching River Sacred Palace. But to actually secure it?"
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
"Fortunately, when I arrived at the Scorching River Sacred Palace, I happened to discover that Palace Lord Hwa-jeong was in contact with an outside force."
Bu Eun-seol calmly explained the story he had prepared in advance.
He said that before entering the Scorching River Sacred Palace, he had stumbled upon people colluding with another power.
And upon investigating, he found Palace Lord Hwa-jeong was behind it.
"She also said they found the divine artifact thanks to you?"
"Having learned that I knew everything, Palace Lord Hwa-jeong secretly summoned me to a hidden cave in the Scorching River Sacred Palace to kill me."
"To a hidden cave? Why?"
"To avoid conflict with our Alliance, she deliberately lured me to a place filled with traps, hoping I would meet my end on my own."
Bu Eun-seol thrillingly explained the circumstances of how he found the Divine Fire Wheel Elixir.
Although he wasn't a great storyteller, his calm description of the tense situation had Yuk Jang-cheon's palms sweating.
"I see."
After hearing the full explanation, Yuk Jang-cheon smiled with satisfaction.
"The Hall Master also confirmed the contents of the personal letter, but... one has to be able to believe it."
And he patted Bu Eun-seol's shoulder.
"You've really worked hard."
"I only did what I had to do."
"Approval has been given for your promotion to Second-Class Grand Captain. After all, you immediately secured a peace treaty with the Scorching River Sacred Palace, of all things."
With a proud smile, he continued.
"The appointment ceremony will be at the Sacred Authority Pavilion tomorrow. Since you belong to a division, it's a formality. However, the Division Head is away, so the Vice Division Head will handle the official procedure."
"Understood."
"By the way... have you decided on your placement?"
Yuk Jang-cheon cleared his throat and got to the point.
"Now that you're a Second-Class Grand Captain, you can be assigned to either this Hall or the Sacred Authority Division."
As he continued, his expression gradually darkened.
Even among Second-Class Grand Captains, being in the Sacred Authority Division versus the Hall of Ascendant Might was, without exaggeration, the difference between heaven and earth.
Furthermore, Division Heads could independently mobilize their units for just causes and held personnel authority over everyone at and below the Hall Master level.
The bigger problem... was that the Sacred Authority Division Head happened to hold Seon-u Jin in very high regard.
If he were to join the Sacred Authority Division?
Unlike being in the Hall of Ascendant Might, he would be able to rise through the ranks stably and quickly.
"Please don't worry."
Having seen through Yuk Jang-cheon's thoughts, Bu Eun-seol spoke in a calm but firm voice.
"Haven't you, Hall Master, looked after me and given me missions until now? If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been able to achieve such merits."
In truth, all Yuk Jang-cheon had done was call for a fair outcome during the Grand Captain selection.
But Bu Eun-seol had already decided to raise Yuk Jang-cheon above the Martial Heaven Division Head.
In that case, he needed to curry favor with him and gradually instill the perception that he was a trustworthy subordinate.
"Hahaha. I knew I wasn't wrong about you."
In high spirits, Yuk Jang-cheon laughed heartily and wrapped an arm around Bu Eun-seol's shoulder.
From his current position, it wasn't easy to gain a subordinate with outstanding abilities.
This was because talented individuals were already connected to good lines and belonged to the Seven Great Divisions.
Bu Eun-seol was a talent no less brilliant than them.
Moreover, he was the Grand Captain of the Apex Unit, a special force that could take on various missions.
Now that he was being promoted to Second-Class Grand Captain, he would be able to take on various missions where he could achieve great merits.
Just by acquiring a talent like this, Yuk Jang-cheon's chances of rising to the position of Martial Heaven Division Head had sharply increased.
After all, a subordinate's merit becomes one's own.
"I will make sure you never regret this choice."
Yuk Jang-cheon thumped his chest and said in a powerful voice.
"From now on, this Hall Master won't just be cowering either."
"I will serve you with utmost loyalty."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Yuk Jang-cheon smiled contentedly and nodded.
"Do so. Then, I'll see you at the Sacred Authority Pavilion tomorrow."
After Bu Eun-seol left, the door behind the study where Yuk Jang-cheon was sitting opened.
And a beautiful woman in white robes walked out slowly.
It was Yuk Cheong-a, the Hall Mistress of the Refinement Hall and Yuk Jang-cheon's only daughter.
"How truly unexpected."
She walked before Yuk Jang-cheon and spoke in a low voice.
"To think he would abandon a strong connection like the Sacred Authority Division and choose this Hall."
She tilted her head slightly and said.
"Especially when the Sacred Authority Division Head thought unusually well of Young Master Seon-u. He couldn't possibly be unaware of that fact..."
"He is confident."
Yuk Jang-cheon cut her off and smiled faintly.
"Confident that he can make me the Martial Heaven Division Head."
"Him?"
"He has a gentle face, but in reality, he is full of ambition. If he weren't, he would never have chosen me."
Yuk Jang-cheon, also an ambitious man, had seen through Bu Eun-seol's intentions.
That he wanted a higher, more certain position. That he wished to obtain a little more power.
Of course, this was all to gain the authority to investigate the Seven Great Division Heads and the Three Realms in detail.
"From now on, if there are any missions where one can achieve merit, give them to the Apex Grand Captain first."
Yuk Jang-cheon said with a smile.
"So that he can quickly attain a high rank and attend the Council of Hall Masters."
"Yes."
As Yuk Cheong-a bowed her head, Yuk Jang-cheon wore a faint smile he had never shown before.
"I look forward to seeing the expression on Vice Division Head Seo Muk's face tomorrow."