Chapter 451
Chapter 451
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 451
Chapter Title: The Face Beneath the Mask
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Wiji Hye-sang said with a cold expression.
“If that happens, Lord Myo won’t escape punishment either, you know?”
“Do you think he fears punishment?”
Bu Eun-seol snorted.
“A man who came here prepared to die?”
Wiji Hye-sang's eyes, always curved like a crescent moon, straightened for the first time.
Myo Cheon-u, whom he had always considered insignificant, had dealt an unexpected blow.
If he hadn't used Myo Cheon-u as a spy, the secretly managed Seven Sages Teahouse would never have been exposed.
But because he had taken him in as a spy.
His source of funds and intelligence network, which had been kept hidden and operated in extreme secrecy, was now laid bare.
“Lord of the Martial Soul.”
Wiji Hye-sang said, his face frosted over.
“Until now, I have treated you amicably.”
A pure white killing intent bloomed in his eyes.
“But you repay kindness with enmity.”
“Kindness?”
Bu Eun-seol looked down at Wiji Hye-sang, his eyes filled with killing intent.
“From the moment the Fiery Rain Sword Sect used my close friend as a spy... you and I became enemies.”
“Hahahaha.”
Wiji Hye-sang laughed sinisterly.
“This 'close friend' you speak of. Are you referring to the one who killed another of your close friends?”
In that instant, Myo Cheon-u's face turned pale.
If Bu Eun-seol found out that he was the one who exposed Yeong Mun-ho's whereabouts to Cheon Geom?
Bu Eun-seol would never forgive him.
*Tremble, tremble.*
But Myo Cheon-u, trembling with his head bowed, opened his mouth.
Because he had to tell the truth.
Even if his sin was unforgivable, Bu Eun-seol had to know the truth.
“It's true. I was the one who... to Cheon Geom, Yeong Mun-ho's whereabouts...”
“Don't say another word.”
Bu Eun-seol hadn't actually heard anything from the Slaughter Ghost.
Because the man had killed himself the moment they met.
But upon hearing that Myo Cheon-u had gone to the Fiery Rain Sword Sect, he was able to grasp the entire situation.
That the Slaughter Ghost belonged to the Fiery Rain Sword Sect.
That Myo Cheon-u hadn't become a spy for personal gain.
That leaking the whereabouts to Cheon Geom wasn't something he wanted to do, but that there must have been unavoidable circumstances.
And that he had tried to break that chain, even at the cost of his own life.
If he didn't have such faith, he wouldn't have bothered coming to the Fiery Rain Sword Sect to save Myo Cheon-u.
“Bu Eun-seol.”
“You were just being used.”
Bu Eun-seol gazed at the distant sky and let out a deep sigh.
“You, and I.”
Wiji Hye-sang had always intentionally given him trials as well.
He didn't know if it had been helpful or not. But for a time, one could say he had lived like Wiji Hye-sang's puppet.
“Let's go now.”
As Bu Eun-seol helped Myo Cheon-u up and turned to leave, Wiji Hye-sang shouted.
“To trample on another's garden, you must have been prepared for the consequences, right?”
His eyes, completely venomous, had turned so black that the whites were no longer visible.
No matter how great his power and influence, losing his secret foundation was a considerable blow.
“Prepared for what?”
Bu Eun-seol smiled coldly.
“If you feel wronged, convene a Demonic Council meeting. Tell them that a teahouse engaged in the treasonous act of leaking information to the Martial Alliance has been annihilated.”
“...”
“You can persuade the Grand Commander, or you can persuade the Heavenly Demon. Asking Sect Leader Wiji to resolve it would also be a good method.”
Those words mocked Wiji Hye-sang's earlier provocation to fight by any means necessary.
*Step, step.*
As Bu Eun-seol turned away with Myo Cheon-u,
“Are you planning to run?”
*Shing.*
Wiji Hye-sang drew his sword.
“It's a rare occasion. Why don't you show me what you've got.”
Bu Eun-seol was not a man who would ever avoid a fight.
And Wiji Hye-sang was confident that if a duel began, he would surely send Bu Eun-seol to the abyss.
“Ah? A pretext? I'll create one for you.”
Wiji Hye-sang said with a smile.
“Lord of the Martial Soul. I challenge you.”
*Halt.*
Bu Eun-seol stopped in his tracks.
Myo Cheon-u looked at him with a worried expression.
But he couldn't stop him any longer. He didn't even have the right.
“I refuse.”
But an unexpected answer came back.
Bu Eun-seol. He was a man who would wake from sleep for a fight.
For him to avoid a duel?
“Are you afraid?”
“Not at all.”
Bu Eun-seol said nonchalantly, as if uninterested.
“Because even if I win now, I won't be happy.”
“Even if you win now, you won't be happy. What does that mean?”
“You must be seeing black just thinking about restoring your ruined teahouse...”
Bu Eun-seol wore an uncharacteristically gentle smile.
“With such a bitter stomach, can you even execute your sword techniques properly? Oh, master of the Seven Sages Teahouse.”
Wiji Hye-sang.
He was the disciple of the Profound Demon Wiji Mu-a, the successor to the Fiery Rain Sword Sect, reigning above all.
To treat such a man as a mere teahouse owner? When had he ever suffered such an insult?
Myo Cheon-u, standing beside him, was startled and furtively glanced at Wiji Hye-sang.
And in that moment, Myo Cheon-u had to tense his stomach and puff out his cheeks.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to suppress the laughter bursting out of him.
Wiji Hye-sang.
The man who had always maintained an air of loftiness and detachment... wasn't his face now contorting as if it were melting like taffy at Bu Eun-seol's single remark?
“Well then.”
As Bu Eun-seol led Myo Cheon-u away without a backward glance,
“Ughhh.”
*Crack.*
A white radiance formed around Wiji Hye-sang's body, and veins bulged all over him.
The energy flowing from his body soared to the ends of the sky, and a storm brewed in all directions.
“You two are truly a handful.”
*Whoosh!*
He lightly extended his sword.
Then Myo Cheon-u, who was being supported as he walked, let out a pained scream and collapsed.
An invisible, formless sword energy had shot out and pierced his shoulder.
“Ugh...”
Myo Cheon-u gritted his teeth to endure the pain.
The physical wound was nothing. But the formless sword energy was tearing through his meridians and tangling his qi and blood.
“Stop them. Don't let them escape.”
As Wiji Hye-sang shouted coldly,
*Shhhk.*
Five swordsmen clad in black appeared before Bu Eun-seol and Myo Cheon-u as if rising from the ground.
They were the Five Guests of the Fiery Rain, who guarded Wiji Hye-sang around the clock.
“To think this happened just because I turned my back so carelessly...”
*Bang!*
Suddenly, with a loud explosion, the heads of the Five Guests of the Fiery Rain shot into the sky.
*Swoosh.*
Red blood began to spray from their severed necks like a fountain.
*Thud, thud.*
From between the corpses dripping with red blood, a shadow with glowing red eyes.
Walked toward Wiji Hye-sang, holding a dark iron sword.
It was Bu Eun-seol.
Wiji Hye-sang had made a mistake.
If he wanted to fight, he should have attacked Bu Eun-seol directly.
He should never have attacked the injured Myo Cheon-u.
“You just... the swordsmen of my sect...”
The enraged Wiji Hye-sang was about to shout but suddenly fell silent.
He had clearly seen him walking slowly through the downpour of blood...
But in the blink of an eye, wasn't he now looking down at him from a distance so close their noses could almost touch?
“You wanted to fight.”
Bu Eun-seol, looking down at Wiji Hye-sang with eyes glowing red like charcoal embers, said in a low voice.
“Strike first.”
Wiji Hye-sang couldn't hide his surprise.
The defensive perimeter of an ordinary martial artist is generally about ten feet.
If an opponent gets any closer, it becomes difficult to counter a surprise attack, so they reflexively strike.
And Wiji Hye-sang's defensive perimeter was about two feet.
This was because he too had reached the Transcendent Heaven Realm, allowing him to finely divide time...
He could easily respond to surprise attacks at close range and could execute more than three techniques in a fraction of a second.
Yet, for him to close the distance in the blink of an eye and look down at him from right under his nose?
This single move alone was enough to guess the high level Bu Eun-seol's martial arts had reached.
“Lord of the Martial Soul, I am well aware that your martial arts have reached a formidable level.”
Staring intently into Bu Eun-seol's blazing eyes, Wiji Hye-sang smiled faintly.
“To approach this close and not strike first must mean you are absolutely certain of victory, yes?”
He curved his eyes into crescents and showed a bright smile, like a child.
“It seems it will be difficult to achieve a complete victory without any injuries... so I shall choose an easier method.”
In that instant, a black energy flowed from Wiji Hye-sang's eyes.
At the same time, Bu Eun-seol's eyes lost focus, and an energy like a dark cloud burrowed into his mind.
And... his body slowly began to bend.
Could it be that he had reached the Limitless Realm, enabling him to directly attack another's spirit?
‘The Secret Art of Mind Seizure.’
The bloody light flowing from Bu Eun-seol's eyes deepened.
Wiji Hye-sang hadn't reached the Limitless Realm... but he possessed a power that could directly strike the spirit of even a master who had reached the Transcendent Heaven Realm.
He had mastered an astonishing Secret Art of Mind Seizure.
Just like Hyuk-ryeon Eung.
‘So you were one of the Three Realms' people after all.’
Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened.
The greatest sword sect of the Demonic Path, the Fiery Rain Sword Sect. For even its successor to be a person of the Three Realms?
Just how far did their reach extend?
‘No, hadn't I expected this anyway?’
The Three Realms had extended their hands throughout the entire martial world, and its leaders either knew of their existence or were directly or indirectly connected.
Wasn't that why he had resolved to either build the power to shatter the Three Realms in one fell swoop or to defeat them one by one?
“In a duel between masters, victory is decided in a fleeting gap.”
At that moment, Wiji Hye-sang slowly walked over.
*Stab.*
And with his sharp precious sword, he unhesitatingly pierced Bu Eun-seol's heart in a single thrust.
“I really didn't want to kill you, you know.”
He wore a genuinely regretful expression.
He looked like a child of six or seven, upset after breaking a cherished toy.
“Huh.”
But something strange happened.
Despite his heart being pierced, wasn't Bu Eun-seol glaring at him with wide-open eyes?
*Flash!*
Wiji Hye-sang once again swung his sword like lightning, instantly severing his arms, legs, and even his neck.
But it was useless.
Bu Eun-seol stood tall, as if nothing had happened.
“What is this? Have you become an indestructible demon of purgatory?”
*Flash!*
With a short cry, a sharp sword energy shot up to the sky from the precious sword Wiji Hye-sang held.
*Shwaaak!*
That immense sword energy split Bu Eun-seol in two and cleaved the earth... then split even Lake Yunmeng, visible in the distance, in two.
*Whoosh!*
The sword energy returned, dicing Bu Eun-seol's bisected body once more.
It was an exquisite display of the Fiery Rain Sword, Fifth Form, Mind Light's Protection.
*Whoooosh.*
But something strange happened.
A light breeze seemed to blow from Bu Eun-seol's fragmented body... which soon transformed into a gale fierce enough to blow away the entire world.
*Rumble. Kra-koom!*
At the same time, the sky darkened, and pitch-black clouds billowed up.
Simultaneously, the wails of ghosts that made the fine hairs on one's body stand on end could be heard from all directions.
“Hmph, has the Lord of the Martial Soul of the Demonic Sanctum learned even sorcery!”
Wiji Hye-sang shouted coldly and once again unleashed his sword technique, mincing Bu Eun-seol's corpse.
*Wooooong.*
But the more he did, the larger Bu Eun-seol's corpse grew... until it finally became a colossal shadow that reached the sky.
*Kooong.*
The massive shadow changed its form again.
Now, a pair of glowing red eyes floated in the sky.
It only had the shape of eyes. But merely meeting its gaze unleashed an immense pressure that felt as if it could crush his entire body.
“Ugh.”
For the first time in his life, Wiji Hye-sang let out a groan.
He had been inherently invincible and believed that no one was stronger than him.
The only ones he considered rivals were the superhumans who looked down upon the martial world.
Even them, he had no doubt, would eventually bow their heads at his feet with time.
But suddenly, an unknown entity had appeared from an unexpected place.
“Why won't you die!”
Wiji Hye-sang gathered his internal energy with all his might.
Waves of true energy began to spread out in all directions.
He too had long ago surpassed the limits of internal energy a grandmaster could achieve at a young age.
His swordsmanship had also transcended the limits of the Fiery Rain Sword, reaching a state where he could freely alter its techniques.
But now, his situation was like that of a small candle before a typhoon.
*Rumble.*
Just then, a thunderclap that shook heaven and earth was heard.
He lifted his head to see a black storm blowing from the red eyes floating in the sky.
It instantly swallowed Wiji Hye-sang's body and began to spin chaotically.
At the same time, unfamiliar, inexplicable questions began to relentlessly bore into his mind.
—Why? What, and how much does he know? How is he looking into my mind? Could it be that all of this was intentional?
He felt dizzy and nauseous.
He wanted to vomit, but nothing came out.
No matter how much he shook his head, that black storm ceaselessly burrowed into his mind, creating chaos.
*Rumble.*
Then, thunder rumbled once more.
At the same time, instead of the black storm, a pitch-black shadow approached Wiji Hye-sang.
“Ugh.”
Upon seeing the black shadow, Wiji Hye-sang began to retch.
It was an unbearable despair, an irresistible tyranny.
Merely looking at it felt like his spirit was being torn apart, and he couldn't possibly stand on his own two feet.
“Ughhh.”
In the end, Wiji Hye-sang dropped to one knee.
If he didn't, it felt as though his body and spirit would be instantly devoured by that shadow mixed with despair and tyranny.
As he knelt, as he averted his gaze, as he began to succumb to that power...
The suffocating chaos and despair gradually began to disappear.
‘An illusion within an illusion?’
Only then did Wiji Hye-sang realize one thing.
It was not Bu Eun-seol who had been caught in the Secret Art of Mind Seizure, but himself.
And that Bu Eun-seol had used a power similar to Ak Mu-ryeong's Phantasm of Illusion to wreak havoc in his mind.
As he realized it was all an illusion, his vision gradually brightened... and his surroundings started to come into clear view.
At the same time, Wiji Hye-sang's body froze like a statue.
He had discovered himself kneeling before Bu Eun-seol with his head bowed.
“How.”
Wiji Hye-sang lowered his head, his eyes unfocused.
How on earth did this happen?
The Secret Art of Mind Seizure he had unleashed should have been able to instantly subdue the body of even a master in the Transcendent Heaven Realm.
Could it be that Bu Eun-seol had reached the Limitless Realm, defended against it, and then used the power of Phantasm of Illusion in return?
“I did nothing.”
Bu Eun-seol, having seen through Wiji Hye-sang's thoughts, said calmly.
“I merely showed you what I have experienced.”
Bu Eun-seol had achieved Spiritual Enlightenment, so he could not be harmed by any form of spiritual attack.
But when Wiji Hye-sang suddenly used the Secret Art of Mind Seizure.
He was suddenly reminded of the technique Ak Mu-ryeong had used to show him his own mindscape.
Although he hadn't learned any mind arts, his Spiritual Enlightenment made the Secret Art of Mind Seizure ineffective, and the roles of caster and subject were reversed.
Furthermore, Bu Eun-seol had learned the Heavenly Will Heart Art of the Heavenly Emperor Jeong, the very foundation of the secret art Ak Mu-ryeong had used.
And he had immediately imitated Ak Mu-ryeong, showing his own mindscape to Wiji Hye-sang.
The Heavenly Demon.
And the spiritual shock and pain he had experienced when he first encountered Ak Mu-ryeong, the Lord of Wolf Fang Pavilion...
“You couldn't endure it.”
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“The chaos and despair I experienced.”
Looking down at the kneeling Wiji Hye-sang, Bu Eun-seol said coldly.
“Since you've knelt... I'll let it go this time.”
Bu Eun-seol, looking down at him with contempt, helped Myo Cheon-u up again and slowly vanished into the mist.
Wiji Hye-sang remained motionless, staring at the ground with unfocused eyes.
Without revealing any of the divine arts or internal energy he had mastered so far.
He had defeated him... merely by sharing the pain he had experienced in the past.
“Hehehe.”
Wiji Hye-sang, who had been frozen like a statue, suddenly looked up at the sky and burst into laughter.
“Hehehe... Hahahaha!”
His laughter was so low and dark, it sounded like the mad cackle of a demon god descending upon the mortal world to destroy it.
“Hahahahaha!”
As he laughed madly at the sky, he abruptly stopped.
*Hoo.*
When Wiji Hye-sang lowered his head back to the ground, his face had completely changed.
His delicate, almost beautiful features had transformed into a face brimming with wildness.
His eyes were more slanted, his eyebrows thicker, and even his fair skin seemed to have turned brown.
“Kekekeke! Hahahaha!”
Wiji Hye-sang let out a strange laugh, then stopped and shook his head.
“See, I told you... you couldn't do it.”
Even his voice, always clear and resonant, now boomed low and thick.
“Since it's come to this. It would have been better to let him ride his wave of success, and when he was perfectly ripe...”
He licked his lips, and a black radiance spread out from his eyes.
“I'll... devour him in one bite.”
Wiji Hye-sang's eyes, always deep and clear, had turned a crystal-clear color, and a strange, wicked energy surged from his entire body.
His appearance changed from that of a pure young man.
To that of a demon god, descended to bring a nightmare upon the martial world.