Chapter 1049
—Everything is my fault.
Though he never showed it outwardly,
deep within Bu Eun-seol's heart, there had always lingered a profound sense of loss and guilt.
No matter how desperately he had struggled to live, there was one truth that remained unchangeable:
The dead...... could never be brought back to life.
—You will be given the chance to correct the regrets and mistakes of the past.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor spoke as though she had become a god.
As one of the Seven Great Demon Ancestors, said to possess the origins of the Demonic Path, could she perhaps even revive the dead?
'That can't be possible.'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes grew endlessly desolate.
—Drink it. You will feel no difference from reality.
Just moments ago, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor had shown him an illusion clearer and more vivid than reality itself.
No—from the very beginning, it was so indistinguishable from reality that he couldn't even sense it was an illusion.
In the end, every offer and temptation she presented existed solely within his mind.
"That's exactly right."
As if reading his innermost thoughts, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor stretched out a hand and spoke.
"As long as I exist, you can live forever."
"......"
"You can become anything you desire, grasping all the wealth and glory a human could ever possess."
Fwoosh.
Suddenly, the scenery shifted once more.
Inside a vast palace, countless officials lay prostrate, not daring to even breathe.
And there sat Bu Eun-seol, draped in golden dragon robes, gazing down at them from the throne with indifference.
Yet the eyes of the emperor leaning against the jade throne were endlessly vacant, even lonely.
"An emperor is too cliché for you, then."
Rumble—
A low vibration echoed, and this time, he became a feudal lord commanding hundreds of thousands of troops, surrounded by countless beauties.
Bu Eun-seol's expression remained unchanged.
"Name the life you desire. You need not spill blood or fight the world—I will grant you an eternal dream of sweetness."
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor spoke again.
"I stake my honor that it will be indistinguishable from reality."
An offer tempting enough for anyone.
Just as she had promised, the illusion before him was more vivid than reality itself.
If he could indulge in pleasures and happiness no different from the real world within this space—
If he could grasp everything he ever wanted—
Wouldn't that make him no different from a god?
"A fleeting dream, then."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes, fixed on the void, grew infinitely bleak.
And with that, he unleashed his Internal Energy at full force.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion shook the very earth as the interior trembled, clouds of dust rising.
Crunch. Crunch.
Through the gray haze, Bu Eun-seol walked forward—and before him loomed a grotesque tower, its form like a tangled mass of nerve fibers surging upward.
Pillars woven from thick neural strands were embedded with tens of thousands of eyeballs.
And in the distance, he could see Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un.
They remained seated in meditation, resisting the waves of happiness and hope that sought to invade their minds.
From the moment he had stepped into the space where this tower stood—
everything had been an illusion.
Gurgle. Groan.
The only difference now was that, unlike before,
the tens of thousands of eyeballs no longer scanned randomly in all directions.
Instead, as if united under a single colossal will, they all focused intently on Bu Eun-seol.
To drag him deeper into the illusion,
the countless eyes were dispersing a bizarre substance with all their might.
"A hallucinogenic material extracted from the brain, no doubt."
"......"
"Since it occurs naturally in the human body, it's impossible to block."
Bu Eun-seol gazed up at the grotesque tower and spoke.
"To create this tower, you lured three types of martial artists and drained them as nourishment."
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor, standing before the tower, laughed and applauded.
"Truly brilliant."
It was exactly as the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor said.
Martial artists all cultivated Internal Energy and practiced meditation and Zen contemplation repeatedly.
In the process of extreme mental focus—during meditation, Zen, and Qi Circulation—a condensed form of mental energy was produced.
"Illusion Substance, they call it."
She shrugged her shoulders.
"It can only be extracted from the brains of martial artists."
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor glanced around before continuing.
"When dispersed as a gaseous form, it stimulates specific regions of the brain... showing illusions indistinguishable from reality."
She licked her lips as if savoring a delicious meal.
Watching this, Bu Eun-seol realized something and let out a sigh.
"The Ten Thousand Li Treasure Ship... was a place to steal the True Demon's power."
"Do you think I am the only one?"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor chuckled darkly.
"Those who are prepared to seize the Chain of Reincarnation have been hunting him relentlessly."
She flicked her crimson tongue.
"In the end, the True Demon is nothing less than the most coveted treasure in this world."
Bu Eun-seol exhaled deeply.
It was said that the True Demon wandered the world, bereft of his memories.
Which meant all the vast knowledge he had accumulated over countless generations had vanished.
The Abyssal Forces of the martial world—including the Three Realms—were lying in wait, eager to find him and steal his power.
The Chain of Reincarnation.
If one could obtain it, they would become virtually immortal.
They could endlessly pursue the truth, ascending to a realm akin to the gods.
After all, the True Demon himself had repeated the cycle of reincarnation, mastering transcendent ancient Secret Arts and forbidden techniques.
"So all that nonsense you spouted was just to coax me into cooperating."
In the past, his mother's power had been too overwhelming.
The Baekri Clan and the True Demon Family had decided to divide that power between two children.
And just like them, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor—
Had concluded that she alone could not absorb the True Demon's power. So she had sought out a vessel, a mind and body capable of sharing the burden.
"Precisely."
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor clicked her tongue.
"But you're far too dangerous. A shame, but this ends here."
CRACK—
As she unleashed her power, Bu Eun-seol's body was forced through the earth, plummeting endlessly downward.
The deeper he fell, the more the pressure crushing his body increased exponentially.
At last, a lake of seething magma came into view.
Even without getting close, the blistering heat was enough to char his skin in an instant.
SPLASH—
In the end, Bu Eun-seol was swallowed by the sea of lava.
WHOOSH—
Then, with another exertion of power from the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor—
His body, buried thousands of jang deep, was violently hurled back to the surface.
Yet he stood there, completely unharmed.
"How?"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's eyes widened in disbelief.
Illusion Substance, using a substance produced by the brain, created hallucinations indistinguishable from reality.
Though called illusions, they directly stimulated the brain—making the experience no different from reality itself.
So how could his body remain unscathed?
"Are you telling me Illusion Substance has no effect on you?"
A strange light flickered in her violet eyes.
"Impossible."
The stronger one's martial arts, the more resilient their mental fortitude.
Yet paradoxically—
A powerful, profound mind was like fertile soil where Illusion Substance could take deep root.
In other words, the stronger the martial artist, the deeper their suppressed emotions ran—
Making it impossible for them to ever break free from Illusion Substance.
"The stronger the mind, the more susceptible it should be to Illusion Substance's influence."
"So this is why the Demonic Heavenly Emperor sent me."
Bu Eun-seol gazed blankly into the void, his expression calm yet pained.
"My life... has been like a dream."
After his grandfather's death, he had endured each day in agony.
And even within that suffering and adversity—
He had deeply contemplated the essence of existence.
"Life is hollow, fleeting, filled with suffering... and yet—"
The faces of countless comrades he had met in the Martial World flashed through his mind.
"At times, it is beautiful. Suddenly warm... something I could never bring myself to abandon."
Pain and torment. Grief and sorrow.
Joy and elation. Peace and hope.
Even amidst those opposing emotions, life had shone in every moment, and hope had never ceased.
Bu Eun-seol had reached the state of Impermanence—the realization that life was but a fleeting dream.
No matter how intricate the illusion crafted—
It was nothing more than an extension of the "ephemeral dream" he already experienced daily.
That was why Illusion Substance could not affect him.
"You mean to say... you've already endured every form of mental and physical suffering... or that you've lived accepting pain as part of your daily existence?"
At last, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor understood the state of Bu Eun-seol's inner world.
In short, every single day—
He confronted and battled the Inner Demon lurking deep within him.
And the fact that he had not gone mad meant—
He had either acknowledged and accepted it... or transcended it entirely.
"A young disciple of the Demonic Path... possesses a mental state akin to a Buddhist Order's grandmaster?"
FLASH—
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol drew his Ink Soul Sword and unleashed a lightning-fast slash.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor, who had been standing right before him, vanished—and the surroundings warped slightly.
In truth, she had been standing much farther behind him all along.
But it was instantly deceiving the brain, making it undetectable even through extrasensory perception.
Ssskzt—
Sparks flew as a deep line was carved into the ground beneath the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's feet.
Zzzing—
Startled, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor unleashed another wave of Illusion Substance.
But the Illusion Substance could no longer deceive his mind.
Fwshh!
Retreating, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor poured out an even more potent surge of Illusion Substance, attempting to render Bu Eun-seol's attacks futile.
But it was no longer of any use.
Slash—slash!
One by one, wounds began to appear on the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's body.
"Natural Qi?"
Finally, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor realized that the sword energy Bu Eun-seol was unleashing contained the pure power of nature itself.
Unable to contain her disbelief, she shouted:
"You're not a disciple of the Demonic Path—you're a disciple of the Taoist sects?!"
It was an understandable mistake.
The Heavenly Light Endless Art.
The power of Natural Qi, unified with the Three Divine Powers, could sever the connection between mind and body even within the Mindscape in an instant.
Even if she could deceive Bu Eun-seol's brain, the sword energy infused with the Three Divine Powers was precisely targeting the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's physical body.
"......"
Halting the dispersal of Illusion Substance, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's eyes flashed as she sensed the Shockwave emanating from Bu Eun-seol's body.
"Four Divine Powers?!"
Having discerned the essence of the Three Divine Powers within the Heavenly Light Endless Art, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor gritted her teeth before roaring:
"So you're the disciple of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor!"
A glint of light flickered in Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
Though rumors had long circulated, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's disciple had never once revealed themselves in the martial world.
Yet, upon sensing the Shockwave of the Heavenly Light Endless Art, she was suddenly so certain?
"It was you who destroyed my Secret Vault with that Heaven and Earth Divine Qi!"
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol's expression stiffened as if struck on the back of the head.
'The Demonic Heavenly Emperor's disciple used the Heaven and Earth Divine Qi?'
If so, did that mean the one who took the Sacred Artifact of the Yona Tribe from India was the Demonic Heavenly Emperor?
'No, the timing doesn't match.'
Perhaps they had rediscovered the lost lineage of the Heaven and Earth Divine Qi, or maybe they had coincidentally obtained the Yona Tribe's Sacred Artifact.
One thing was certain—if the Demonic Heavenly Emperor possessed the Heaven and Earth Divine Qi... then retrieving it would be nearly impossible.
Snap.
At that moment, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor flicked her finger.
Thud, thud, thud.
Before anyone realized, over fifty figures landed in succession, encircling Bu Eun-seol.
At the forefront stood Spear Ghost Baek Ok-sim, who had once made a name for himself in Shaanxi with a single short spear.
Though he had earned himself a moniker and some reputation, he was hardly a true Master.
But judging by the overwhelming energy radiating from his body now...
It seemed the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor had taken a liking to his physique and forcibly amplified his Internal Power through Great Arts and forbidden techniques.
"Just a tool, then."
But forcibly enhancing Internal Power like this would inevitably consume a tremendous amount of vitality.
Not that the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor would care—to her, they were merely disposable tools.
"I'll acknowledge that your martial arts are formidable."
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor curled her lips.
"But I am the Grandmaster of Great Arts, not the Grandmaster of Martial Arts."
In the end, she had realized she could not defeat Bu Eun-seol through martial arts alone—so she had unleashed warriors empowered by wicked Great Arts.
Ssshh—
Suddenly, white mist began to rise from Bu Eun-seol's sword.
The dozen or so warriors at the front staggered—
Crash.
—before collapsing like logs in an instant.
Formless Heavenly Flow—Ninth Form.
He had executed Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes, the pinnacle of the Nature Sword's profound principles—returning all things to their natural state.
Thud, thud.
The white mist continued to spread, and with each wave, more warriors toppled like felled trees.
Since he had not yet fully mastered the Nature Sword's profound essence...
He had chosen to condense and release an extremely pure and refined form of natural qi using the Three Divine Powers within his body.
That was why Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes always appeared as spreading white mist.
If he ever fully grasped the Nature Sword's principles or unified the Four Divine Powers...
Such visual effects would no longer manifest.
"This bastard—?!"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor was baffled.
Few in the world had ever cultivated the Way of Nature.
And none had ever wielded martial arts that channeled the flow of Natural Qi to dismantle the power of Supernatural Abilities or Great Arts.
Moreover, such techniques consumed an extreme amount of Internal Energy.
But Bu Eun-seol's Internal Energy had long surpassed the limits of conventional martial arts.
Even if he wielded Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes half a day, it would not burden him in the slightest.
Twitch. Twitch.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor, who had been about to unleash another Great Art, shuddered with minute convulsions.
The Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes, endlessly spreading outward, had nearly severed the Illusion Substance connecting to Tang Cheong's body.
Kukukuku.
The earth trembled violently—
The tower of eyeballs remained intact, but the surroundings transformed into the cavern, its ceiling so high it was impossible to see.
And embedded within, transparent Crystal Coffins swirled in a massive vortex.
As it turned out, the tower of eyeballs had been within the same space as the cavern where Bu Eun-seol had first encountered Tang Cheong.
Flash.
Then, a light spilled from the transparent glass tubes that had been erected in the cavern.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor, still using Tang Cheong's body, spoke coldly.
"This is the true purpose of the cavern."
Zzzzziiing.
The glass tubes suddenly turned toward Bu Eun-seol and began pouring out a mysterious light.
This cavern was a mechanism that ceaselessly fired Illusion Substance—manipulating brains to create illusions indistinguishable from reality.
"Originally, it was a device meant to suppress the True Demon."
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor spoke leisurely.
"Once exposed to this light, there's no escape."
A sneer curled on her lips.
"You'll suffer eternally in an inescapable illusion."
As she walked away, she turned her body slightly.
"Ah, and—if even one of those tubes is destroyed, they'll all die. Not that you'd hear them anyway."
With a delighted expression, she strode out.
Guh...
Illusion Substance had no effect on Bu Eun-seol.
But the light pouring from the thousands of glass tubes held a power different from that of the eyeball tower.
It flooded his mind with the death-like illusions seen by the martial artists trapped inside the tubes.
Because of it, his body refused to obey—he couldn't take a single step.
CRACK.
Then, the sound of the earth splitting echoed—
"You."
"Lord!"
A low shout accompanied two shadows rushing toward Bu Eun-seol.
It was Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un.
They had been meditating the entire time to endure the waves emanating from the eyeballs.
Having been in the same place as Bu Eun-seol, they had heard everything between him and the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor.
The moment they shattered their Inner Demons with all their might, they immediately ran to him.
"Family Head."
Jegal Seo-un instantly discerned that the light pouring from the glass tubes was targeting Bu Eun-seol—
And that was why he couldn't move.
"We should destroy the tubes first."
At that, Bu Eun-seol, still suffering under the light's torment, weakly raised his hand.
"If you break them... they'll die."
Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un exchanged glances, then nodded in unison.
"Haaah—!"
With a battle cry, the two stood before Bu Eun-seol, shielding him from the cascading light.
Guh...
Instantly, both let out deep groans.
Though called illusions, the Illusion Substance—controlling others' minds through brain residue—
Was practically indistinguishable from reality, and so was the pain.
Twitch.
As they blocked the light, Bu Eun-seol finally broke free from the illusions rising before his eyes and barely managed to move.
"Go now!"
Tang Gon shouted through gritted teeth.
"Hurry!"
Bu Eun-seol hesitated for a moment.
If he destroyed those tubes, he could save Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un.
But as the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor had said, thousands of martial artists would die without even knowing why.
"Even if there are thousands of illusions... there must be an end."
Bu Eun-seol spoke quietly, looking at the two.
"So endure."
But Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un's pupils had already lost focus.
They had fallen too deep into the illusions of the Illusion Substance.
'I have to finish this quickly.'
If he let the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor escape this time, she would disappear into the deepest underground, never to be found again.
Before leaving this place, he had to eliminate her.
BOOM!
The moment he unleashed Swift Shadowless at full power—
He instantly caught up to the fleeing Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor.
Swishhh—!
In the end, she drew a white whip from her waist.
She was the grandmaster of the demonic whip arts.
Though her martial arts couldn't compare to Bu Eun-seol's, the intricacy of her techniques surpassed even the sect leaders of the Seven Demonic Sects.
Shriiik! BANG!
Like a rain of serpents, tens of thousands of whip energies—white and agile—lashed toward Bu Eun-seol.
The number of whip strikes exceeded thirty thousand.
'Illusion Substance.'
Not even an immortal could unleash thirty thousand whip strikes.
Sssss—
The moment he deployed Misty Waves of Rivers and Lakes, the shadows of the whip strikes vanished entirely.
Pyoong!
Yet in that brief moment, a whip strike capable of piercing through steel three jang thick had already burrowed into Bu Eun-seol's central chest acupoint.
Chiik!
Bu Eun-seol split the whip in a single slash with his Ink Soul Sword.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor, witnessing this, revealed a triumphant smile.
"Got you!"
Whoosh!
The whip suddenly arced in a wide circle before dispersing into tens of thousands of thread-like strands, engulfing the Ink Soul Sword.
At the same time, a sharp gleam shot toward Bu Eun-seol's flank.
In truth, her whip was not one, but two—divided in such a way that if one was blocked, the other would inevitably exploit the opening.
Clang!
Yet, with a metallic ring, the whip halted at Bu Eun-seol's side.
He had blocked the hidden whip without even looking.
"Truly obsolete."
Bu Eun-seol scoffed.
A technique that wielded two weapons in a single strike, exploiting the moment the enemy blocked—this was one of the oldest tricks in the murim.
Yet the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor had brandished it as if it were some secret masterpiece, brimming with arrogance.
"You think blocking that means you've won?"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor began whirling both whips with her arms.
But what made her methods terrifying was her ability to wield Illusion Substance—illusions indistinguishable from reality.
Even the White Horse Whip Technique, inherited from the true essence of her whip arts, employed methods that specialized in inducing hallucinations to land decisive strikes.
Yet Illusion Substance had no effect on Bu Eun-seol...
The greatest advantage and function of the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's whips—renowned as the pinnacle of whip arts in the world—had vanished.
Now, she had no choice but to fight like an ordinary martial artist, locked in a battle of basic forms.
Whoosh! Shwaaak!
Even so, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's whip techniques were no laughing matter.
The demonic whip arts passed down through generations were exquisitely refined, their forms nearly flawless.
Bu Eun-seol countered by instantly dismantling each form as it came.
At times, the subtleties of Langya Pavilion Sword Art poured forth, only to be followed by techniques from Wudang or the Mount Heng Sect's swordplay.
From his days as the Ten Demonic Heir, he had clashed endlessly with the prodigies of the orthodox factions.
Later, he mastered the Martial Emperor's martial arts.
He had collided with the Sword Sovereign, a Grandmaster of the Orthodox Path, and gained profound insight from that battle.
Afterward, through Myeong-un's secret manual, he even grasped the Essence of Sword Study from the Mount Heng Sect, deeply internalizing the mysteries of both orthodox and unorthodox sword arts.
Moreover, his continuous battles against superlative martial experts had pushed his growth without end.
In short, with every trial, with every fight against his enemies, his martial mastery advanced without cease...
No matter how exquisitely the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor wielded her whip arts—arts that had once dominated the murim through the power of Illusion Substance alone—she could no longer match Bu Eun-seol in martial prowess.
Pyu pyu pyu pyu!
Before long, the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's body was riddled with razor-sharp wounds.
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor—a being who had plunged the world into chaos with her innate, absolute power.
Bu Eun-seol—a man of limitless potential who had shattered his own limits through relentless bloodshed.
The battle between the two had finally reached its conclusion.
Chiiii—
Bu Eun-seol's Ink Soul Sword now pointed at the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's brow, white smoke rising from his body.
The combined force of Reverse Polarity True Qi and Heavenly Light Endless Art surged through the Ink Soul Sword, piercing the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's forehead—
Utterly annihilating her essence, qi, and spirit, and bringing calamity upon the primordial spirit connected to Tang Cheong's body.
"Ggrruuuh—"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor sensed death.
The body she now controlled—Tang Cheong's—was the Heavenly Yin Physique she had sought for so long.
She had been on the verge of achieving the goal sought for generations... only for everything to crumble because of this damned brat?
"Martial Soul Lord! This girl is the daughter of the Tang Clan!"
The Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor's voice cracked with desperation.
"If I die, she dies too. And then—you'll spend the rest of your life hunted by the orthodox factions and the Tang Clan!"
Bu Eun-seol's gaze wavered as he continued pouring his strength into the blade.
Tang Cheong. She was the last remaining kin of his dear friend, Tang Gon.
Though Tang Gon had become a Grandmaster of the Central Plains and now led the Tang Clan, he was, by nature, a man who suffered deeply from loneliness.
If Tang Cheong were to die screaming in agony—what despair would seize him?
Tap.
Just then, two figures descended from the sky.
Tang Gon and Jegal Seo-un—who had been trapped in the vortex of Illusion Substance in Bu Eun-seol's stead.
"It's fine."
Tang Gon spoke in a clear voice.
"If she was born a daughter of a Martial Clan, she must have lived prepared for this."
Then, with a faint smile, he looked at Bu Eun-seol.
"Isn't that right?"
"But—"
"Cheong-i would understand."
For Tang Gon, this was more painful than tearing off his own arm.
Yet he smiled—for Bu Eun-seol's sake, lest he be burdened with guilt.
Grip.
Bu Eun-seol clenched the Ink Soul Sword tightly.
If he did not kill the Golden Vajra Demon Ancestor here, countless more would die.
Even if it meant cutting down the bloodline of his closest friend—a pure-hearted woman who had once adored him—with his own hands.
[Lord!]
At that moment, Jegal Seo-un urgently sent a Voice Transmission.