Chapter 1018
A silence as if all sound in the world had ceased enveloped Bu Eun-seol's body in tranquility and stillness.
It wasn't that actual silence had descended—rather, a mysterious power hidden within his body had manifested with a quiet yet solemn force.
Ssshhh.
Before he knew it, his hair had turned pure white from the roots, like the first snow, shimmering with a translucent glow like threads of moonlight woven into silver strands.
His skin, too, grew paler.
Not in a sickly way, but as if he had transformed into finely polished white jade or the very essence of cold snowflakes, shifting into a cool and mystical shade of white.
The most striking change occurred in his eyes.
His once-ordinary pupils had become like the unfathomable depths of a winter lake, with faint, swirling light at their centers resembling the nebulae of the night sky.
"What... is this?"
For a moment, Jong Baek hesitated to act.
The transformation of Bu Eun-seol's appearance wasn't the issue.
When their eyes met, he sensed an indescribable power emanating from him—one that transcended the shackles of mortality, something he dared not approach.
It was eerily similar to the divine authority of those who had reached the pinnacle of invincibility, the very power he had once been granted and had yearned for so desperately.
"What the hell are you?!"
With a cry bordering on desperation, Jong Baek lashed out.
An invisible force grazed Bu Eun-seol's body, followed by a bizarre sound of rupture.
Crack!
As if preemptively blocking the counterattack—
With a flash of light, Jong Baek's shadow melted into the space around him, vanishing from Bu Eun-seol's sight.
Sssshhhhk!
Then came the sound of space tearing apart, and unseen blades began slicing relentlessly at Bu Eun-seol.
Yet those sharp, violent strikes—
Like waves crashing against unyielding stone—shattered helplessly the moment they touched his body, scattering into nothingness.
Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions shook the earth as attacks surged forth.
Each time, bursts of pure white energy erupted from Bu Eun-seol's body like explosions.
The more those sacred rays of light enveloped him—
The further his consciousness drifted, his pupils growing hollow and unfocused.
"......."
Bu Eun-seol suddenly looked down at his own hands.
They were no longer the hands of a human made of flesh and blood.
Instead, they gleamed an unreal white, like an artwork sculpted by the touch of a god.
Swish.
Unconsciously, he extended his hand lightly.
Kwoong!
Jong Baek, who had been raining down attacks while concealing his form, abruptly revealed himself—
Kwaang!
—only to be slammed deep into the ground before rebounding back into the air.
Crash!
Landing gracelessly like someone who knew nothing of martial arts, Jong Baek quickly steadied himself.
"What are you?"
Jong Baek couldn't comprehend it.
"Just what the hell are you?!"
No matter how fast he moved, how cunningly he shifted positions, or how fiercely he attacked—
None of it worked.
He was merely... a puppet repeating meaningless motions before a superhuman wielding divine authority.
Zzzzzz.
When Bu Eun-seol didn't even bother to answer, a dark radiance surged in Jong Baek's eyes.
"Grrraaah!"
As if aiming to strike directly at his mind, Jong Baek unleashed a sinister sound-based attack this time.
—Ooooooh!
His roar wasn't just a mere sonic assault—it was a curse forged from Soul-Demon Magic Energy, one that froze the souls of those who heard it.
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol's dazed eyes flickered faintly.
As if carrying the will of the True Demon—
Jong Baek's roar was laden with malice and chaos, gnawing at his mind like a living creature.
But that was as far as it went.
"......."
Bu Eun-seol simply gazed down at Jong Baek with an arrogant expression once more.
"Huff... Huff..."
Jong Baek, having halted his sonic attack, crouched like a beast, breathing heavily.
By now, his skin had turned black, and nearly half of his face had melted away.
"This can't be."
"......."
"This can't be happening!"
With a battle cry, he unleashed Soul-Demon Magic Energy in all directions, and hundreds of shadows poured forth around Bu Eun-seol.
It was as if the black heralds of hell had descended, ready to dye the entire world in darkness.
The countless shadows filling the heavens and earth spread like thousands of black feathers, piercing into Bu Eun-seol's body.
Their speed was such that even a Master with the world's best movement technique couldn't evade them—
And the moment they touched, they carried a terrifying force capable of destroying even a Heavenly Dipper Body.
Ssskrrrt!
Yet, ironically, it was Jong Baek who continued to suffer damage.
Bu Eun-seol remained unharmed, not a single hair out of place.
Every time Jong Baek attacked using Soul-Demon Magic Energy, his own skin split apart—
Within that darkness, a hellish vision flickered amidst crimson light—wasn't this the very landscape of damnation?
He wasn't "fighting"...... he was being "consumed."
Each time he forced himself to wield power against Bu Eun-seol, chunks of his flesh tore away and splattered onto the ground.
Plop.
These were fragments of a body that could no longer contain the Soul-Demon Magic Energy, now fallen and discarded.
"Huuu. Huuu."
Jong Baek greedily swallowed those pieces back down. After all, traces of that demonic energy still lingered within them.
Only madness and the will to fight remained.
He moved purely on instinct—to kill Bu Eun-seol before death claimed him.
Even if an agonizing end awaited him, so long as he defeated his enemy, he would have no regrets.
"Uuuugh!"
Watching Jong Baek cram the tattered remains of his own flesh into his mouth with a wretched cry,
Bu Eun-seol's eyes gradually regained their clarity.
'This power...'
As Jong Baek's Soul-Demon Magic Energy burrowed into his body, an unfathomable force began corroding his flesh.
And then—he felt it. A vast, surging power unlike anything he had ever known, flooding through his entire being.
Awakened by Jong Baek's demonic energy.
A force akin to the Baekri Clan's True Body and Manifestation Art Energy, yet fundamentally different in nature.
'With this power...'
With this power, he could defeat anyone. Bring everything beneath his feet.
Everything he had planned could be achieved in an instant.
"GGRRAAAAHH!"
But as he watched Jong Baek's tormented howl, Bu Eun-seol realized something profound.
'Mind Mirror Reversal. Soul-Shaking Strike.'
These were the teachings of Phantom Restoration.
To turn the mirror of the mind against the enemy, shaking their spirit and collapsing their soul.
But Ak Mu-ryeong hadn't merely passed down martial doctrine.
'The Pavilion Lord was awakening me.'
Ak Mu-ryeong was the only one who could perceive Bu Eun-seol's body in its entirety.
He had discovered this immense power lying dormant within him—and now, he was guiding him to make the right choice.
'To use the enemy as a mirror. To witness and feel their spirit shatter and their soul collapse.'
Jong Baek had been corrupted by transcendent power.
Abandoning both his sect and martial path, he had submitted to the True Demon.
But now, exposed to something even greater and more overwhelming... he writhed in rage and agony, utterly lost.
Because this power was never his to begin with.
'This is not a force I can wield now.'
Even if an immense power lay dormant within him—
Unless he reached a state where he could control it freely, he must never use it.
A slave to power.
If he pursued strength blindly, like Jong Baek, there would be no growth—only obsession over that overwhelming force.
Drip. Drip. Sluuurp.
Meanwhile, Jong Baek's facial skin was melting like candle wax.
In truth, the moment he altered his body with Soul-Demon Magic Energy, this outcome should have been foreseen.
There was always a price.
If any martial artist could freely reshape their flesh and unlock latent potential through demonic energy—
The True Demon wouldn't have needed to create his own devoted followers.
Any warrior, any commoner—
Given that power, they could become invincible.
"Uuuurgh..."
Jong Baek let out a groan of anguish.
Not from pain or suffering.
He was regretting.
Abandoning his martial path. Betraying his sect. Choosing this road despite knowing it was wrong.
'That is why the Pavilion Lord chose me.'
Jong Baek had succumbed to temptation, making the wrong choice as a disciple of Langya Pavilion.
But even if Ak Mu-ryeong's martial prowess were several times greater, he couldn't have enlightened him.
That was why Bu Eun-seol had been chosen.
For Jong Baek, once his senior martial uncle.
To awaken him—so he could die as a disciple of Langya Pavilion.
Screeeech.
Bu Eun-seol extended his hand.
The mysterious energy flowing through his body surged toward Jong Baek.
Jong Baek's body, fortified by Soul-Demon Magic Energy, should have been impervious to any force—even Manifestation Art Energy.
Yet as Bu Eun-seol channeled that enigmatic power into him, the collapse of his flesh momentarily halted.
"Why...?"
Jong Baek's face twisted in incomprehension.
Thanks to the demonic energy, he instinctively grasped the truth—
Rather than wielding that immense power for himself,
Bu Eun-seol had used it to extend Jong Baek's life.
"It wasn't a power I could wield."
Bu Eun-seol answered plainly.
"I didn't even know what it was."
Had it been Manifestation Art Energy, he might have assumed it was the Baekri Clan's power and used it freely.
But this force, though eerily similar, was fundamentally different in nature.
Moreover, Bu Eun-seol had honed his martial arts to this point, possessing boundless potential for further growth.
If it wasn't a power he could freely control? Then there was no need to be shackled by it—no need to cling to it.
"Doesn't that disappoint you?"
"I have fought not only the Servants of the True Demon but also those who wielded the power of the Baekri Clan."
And then, he continued flatly.
"And their endings were all the same. Without fail, they paid the price for wielding a power that was never theirs to begin with."
Seo-ryeong, who had been Chu-so's puppet, had sacrificed her lifespan as the cost for using Manifestation Art Energy.
Yuk Jang-cheon, too, had met his end after borrowing power from the Old Man of the Baekri Clan.
Which meant that Jong Baek, who wielded the True Demon's Soul-Demon Magic Energy, would inevitably pay the same price.
"What does that matter?"
Jong Baek's pupils had darkened into pitch-black voids.
"Now that that bizarre power of yours is gone, you can no longer block my Soul-Demon Magic Energy, can you?"
By now, his appearance—
Was no longer that of a human with reason, but that of a demonic fiend consumed only by burning hatred and destructive instinct.
Even though Bu Eun-seol had prevented his body from collapsing, Jong Baek was determined to kill him regardless.
"Try using it again."
Having attained enlightenment, Bu Eun-seol extended his hand with an utterly indifferent expression.
"That vaunted power of the True Demon."
At his composed demeanor, Jong Baek's face twisted hideously.
"Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me first!"
BOOM! CRASH!
This time, Jong Baek unleashed a terrifying force comparable to Bu Eun-seol's Fist Demon Seven Forms.
Yet Bu Eun-seol deftly evaded, not counterattacking in the slightest.
Despite the relentless barrage of life-threatening strikes, Bu Eun-seol's gaze remained coldly composed—
Silently enduring, never retaliating.
Zzzing—
Unbeknownst to anyone, a blue haze had begun to rise in Bu Eun-seol's pupils, and faint patterns had etched themselves onto his palm.
From the very beginning, the Ancient Sword Forest had been a place to nurture successors capable of opposing the True Demon.
Exposed to such potent Soul-Demon Magic Energy, the forest's mysterious power was naturally manifesting.
'The more he retaliates, the stronger he becomes.'
Having discerned the nature of Jong Baek's attacks, Bu Eun-seol—
Swoosh—
Began executing the Fire Rain Thirteen Forms with his Ink Soul Sword.
It lacked the ever-shifting unpredictability of the Formless Heavenly Flow and was less destructive than the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—
But among his sword arts, it was the most stable and flawless.
Zzzing—
Before long, a circular sword membrane had enveloped Bu Eun-seol's entire body.
His sword strokes had reached the state of Ultimate Transcendence, leaving not a single gap for Jong Baek's attacks to penetrate.
"You think this ends just because you blocked me?!"
Like a beast consumed by rage, Jong Baek continued his assault, drool dripping from his mouth.
But the light in his eyes was gradually dimming.
Because none of his trump cards worked anymore.
Because he was facing a reality entirely different from the world he had known.
He was slowly breaking apart.
The True Demon's power.
Once, he had believed that obtaining it would allow him to dominate the martial world.
But the true powerhouses of Murim were different.
Even after glimpsing the Abyss of the martial world, they had not succumbed to its power as he had.
Instead, they had bided their time, refining their martial arts to surpass it.
And before long, they had even begun stepping beyond the boundaries of the Martial Extreme Realm.
As if to prove it—
Ak Mu-ryeong had long since transcended him, and even Bu Eun-seol, decades his junior, was someone he could not defeat.
"AARGH!"
It was unbearable.
He felt so utterly insignificant.
The realm he had believed to be an insurmountable peak—Murim's warriors were already surpassing it.
While he alone had cowered in fear, surrendering to their power in cowardice.
"Was I wrong?!"
Jong Baek howled as if screaming in despair.
Bu Eun-seol silently observed him before raising his sword once more.
"Because you were once a disciple of Langya Pavilion, you must still know shame."
Then, with a sigh, he spoke.
"Though your life has already ended, you cannot even bring yourself to take it in the face of such wretchedness..."
A white mist began to rise from Bu Eun-seol's blade.
Jong Baek's body was already beyond repair.
He intended to grant him eternal rest with the Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes.
Ssshh—
As his martial prowess deepened, the Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes no longer carried a sharp, chilling energy—
Instead, it transformed into something natural and gentle.
Whooosh—
Seeing how feeble the technique appeared, Jong Baek sneered.
"All bark and no bite!"
With a Great Roar, he tore through the mist and launched a strike at Bu Eun-seol.
BOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, Bu Eun-seol's body was sent flying backward once more.
Yet unlike before, no new wounds appeared.
Having scoffed at the mist of the Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes, Jong Baek had left his body completely exposed to the Natural Qi Bu Eun-seol had unleashed.
And now, his very flesh was rejecting the power of the Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
"Ghhh—!"
Jong Baek strained to summon his strength again, but the Soul-Demon Magic Energy refused to manifest.
"This can't be happening!"
He thrust out his hand—but instead of the radiance of supernatural power, a surge of scorching True Qi erupted.
Having lost access to the power granted by the True Demon, he had no choice.
In this final moment, he would burn his purest martial essence—his very soul.
Crackle—!
The sight of him forcibly expelling the demonic energy festering within his body and stoking his fighting spirit was both magnificent and tragic.
Crunch—!Ptui!
Jong Baek tore a chunk of flesh from his own left forearm with his teeth and spat it out.
To wield martial arts, one needed a calm and clear mind. He had inflicted pain upon himself to regain his focus.
"Good."
Shink.
Witnessing this desperate act, Bu Eun-seol sheathed his Ink Soul Sword.
The man before him was no longer a servant of the True Demon—just a martial artist burning everything he had.
And so, he deserved an end befitting that.
"Come."
BOOM—!
With that, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the full might of the Fist Demon Seven Forms.
Jong Baek, too, instinctively responded with the Practical Combat Martial Arts of Langya Pavilion, continuing their fierce exchange.
Though this was a clash of power surpassing human limits, it was also Jong Baek's final reckoning with himself.
'Show me more. Wield your martial arts with greater strength.'
Bu Eun-seol did not go for a swift decapitation. Instead, he pressed on with pure fist techniques.
Because Jong Baek—who had sacrificed his soul for the Soul-Demon Magic Energy, a power that could negate all martial arts—was now, in his last moments, desperately resisting with the martial arts of Langya Pavilion.
He, too, had once been a disciple of Langya Pavilion.
Through this duel, Bu Eun-seol wanted to restore even a shred of Jong Baek's pride.
If they could continue this battle for even a little longer, his end would not be a pitiful one.
"Ghhh—!"
Jong Baek groaned in agony.
As his body rejected the Soul-Demon Magic Energy, his flesh began to crumble.
Only the True Demon's servants could possess such power in the first place.
And yet, what had allowed him to endure it until now was none other than... the strength of his martial arts.
"The power you forged through your own training."
At last, realization dawned upon Jong Baek.
He halted his attacks, his expression hollow.
"I was... afraid."
Once, he had possessed the peerless talent to become the next master of Langya Pavilion.
But after learning of the Baekri Clan and the True Demon's power, the path of martial arts had seemed unbearably arduous—a grueling, endless journey.
And worse, foolish.
There were beings born inherently strong, those who were mighty without effort.
The martial artists who stubbornly trained, who meditated day after day—they had seemed pathetic to him.
But he had been wrong.
Those beings were simply born that way. He could never become like them.
The training he had dismissed as foolish and pointless...
That very discipline had been the key to reaching their level.
"I chose wrong."
In the end, the path he had taken in pursuit of strength had led only to ruin—an abyss of eternal despair.
"I owe you."
Only in death had Jong Baek regained his clarity.
And now, he understood Bu Eun-seol's mercy.
Had Bu Eun-seol merely sought to defeat him, he could have beheaded him in an instant.
Even if not, there were swifter, more efficient methods.
But to strike him down as a human being—to ensure his death was not a pitiful one—
Bu Eun-seol had granted him this chance to regain his senses, to realize his mistake.
An act of grace far beyond what he deserved.
"Even so... you treated me as a fellow disciple, as your martial elder."
Even if he won, nothing remained for him.
His soul already belonged to the True Demon.
His body, too, had been sacrificed as the price of power.
Even in death, he would be nothing more than an empty husk, forever bound to the True Demon's will.
Bu Eun-seol had made him recognize his mistake, had allowed him to regain his clarity—
So that he would not die as the True Demon's puppet.
"It wasn't just simple kindness."
Bu Eun-seol spoke calmly.
"I want to know about the True Demon."
Their very existence made coexistence impossible.
Above all, to protect his cherished friends and subordinates—
He could never tolerate a monstrous being that sought to grasp the world in its claws and crush it at will.
"I heard he lost his memories."
"Correct. Because of that, the True Demon's three attendants—the Three Attendants—have already split..."
Had Jong Baek still been enslaved by the Soul-Demon Magic Energy, he could never have answered.
But now, freed from the True Demon's shackles, he spoke freely.
"The attendant who granted me power—the one called 'Fate-Shatterer'—Pa-myeong..."
Jong Baek uttered words more shocking than anything before.
"He has joined hands with Heavenly Mechanism Star... to forge a new Chain of Reincarnation."