Chapter 1055
Rumble.
By now, the distant horizon was beginning to brighten.
As Bu Eun-seol streaked through the sky like a meteor, the scenery of Phoenix Valley gradually came into view.
Krrrrr.
Another massive shockwave rippled through the air, unmistakable this time.
Just as he had suspected, the epicenter of the tremors he had felt at the inn originated from Phoenix Valley.
Could a human truly perceive such faint vibrations from hundreds of miles away?
Of course, that was impossible.
Perhaps that was why people often slapped the label of "fate" onto such occurrences.
By pinning a simple, understandable word onto the inexplicable, the world suddenly seemed meticulously arranged.
Even phenomena beyond comprehension... could be neatly explained in an instant.
Ssshhhk—
But then, the landscape surrounding Phoenix Valley began to slowly vanish.
It was as though a god were meticulously erasing the secluded valley that had once existed there, piece by piece.
'Absolute Boundary?'
There was no secret art capable of making an entire valley disappear without a trace.
Only an Absolute Boundary—a complete severance of space—could produce such a phenomenon.
'Could an Absolute Boundary be deployed this quickly?'
It had been barely two days since he left Phoenix Valley.
And yet, in that short span, someone had already unfurled a massive Absolute Boundary before its entrance?
'I assumed it required tremendous manpower and time.'
One of the lingering mysteries he had yet to uncover was how an Absolute Boundary was even manifested.
Judging by its astonishing effects, he had assumed it demanded vast amounts of time and labor.
But to think it could be erected this swiftly...
'Who could it be?'
The most likely candidates were the Sacred Realm and the Three Clans.
They were the ones capable of freely deploying Absolute Boundaries.
'But it could be another faction.'
Hadn't Martial Venerable himself once laid an Absolute Boundary over his Secret Vault in the past?
Kkkkiiiiing—
As Bu Eun-seol faced the Absolute Boundary, a mysterious light began flickering across his body.
He was aligning the disparate forces within him.
The only way to shatter an Absolute Boundary was through Harmonization—the perfect unification of the Three Divine Powers.
Flash!
Though Harmonization surged forth, the Absolute Boundary remained unmoved.
'Good.'
Taking a deep breath, a brilliant light exploded from Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Thanks to the Heavenly Light Endless Art, he no longer had to endure excruciating pain or strain himself to forcibly unify the Three Divine Powers—it flowed naturally now.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
After unleashing Harmonization three times in rapid succession—
Crack!
—he finally managed to fracture the boundary.
But even then, the gap was far too narrow for him to slip through.
'This one is far more resilient than any Absolute Boundary I've encountered before.'
Kkkkiiii—!
This time, accompanied by a sky-rending shriek, an inky aura burst forth from Bu Eun-seol's Mourning Soul Sword.
He was executing the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—an absolute martial doctrine that delivered death to all existence.
KWA-KWA-KRACK!
Pouring the Bloody Tears Seven Forms into the fissure, he finally managed to break off a fragment of the boundary.
But even that only widened the crack slightly—still not enough to enter.
'Even if I deploy the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, I'd still need at least a palm's width of space.'
—Aaaagh!
Was it an illusion? A faint scream seemed to echo from somewhere.
His heart pounding, Bu Eun-seol gritted his teeth and summoned the Heavenly Light Endless Art once more.
BOOM!
As a radiant light shot into the sky, he raised the Mourning Soul Sword again.
KIIIIAAAA—!
Combining the Heavenly Light Endless Art with the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, a dazzling storm of sword energy erupted alongside the Witch's piercing wail.
Tremble.
For a moment, the tip of the Mourning Soul Sword in his grip quivered.
The fusion of the Heavenly Light Endless Art and the Bloody Tears Seven Forms was imperfect, draining both his mental power and stamina at an extreme rate.
But now was not the time to hesitate.
Flash!
As the Mourning Soul Sword split the void with a CRACK, the Absolute Boundary finally shattered.
Snap!
Without wasting a second, he stepped inside—
KOOOONG—
—only to be met with violent tremors and deafening noise reverberating in all directions.
Yet nowhere could he see any trace of the Phoenix Valley disciples.
'Has an enemy invaded?'
Activating his Movement Technique, he ventured deeper—and was met with an unbelievable sight.
The interior of Phoenix Valley had been completely transformed.
The scenery of the secluded valley had vanished entirely.
Instead, an endless expanse of vast, sprawling forest stretched before him, as though he had stepped into another world.
'This...'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened in disbelief.
The once-familiar valley, now a forest, showed no trace of its former pavilions. The disciples, too, had seemingly vanished into thin air.
KWA-UUUU—!
Then, from the distant heavens, a luminous radiance erupted.
Brighter than the midday sun, the dazzling brilliance was so vivid and resplendent it threatened to steal the very soul of any who beheld it.
"There's something there."
With an entranced expression, he slowly moved toward the source of the brilliant radiance.
Thud.
But then, he abruptly halted.
"The disciples..."
Bu Eun-seol's face darkened to the extreme.
Because strewn across the path were the corpses of Phoenix Valley's disciples.
Each of the deceased disciples had a single drop of blood congealed between their brows—
As if to flaunt the prowess of a supreme master.
A peerless expert had pierced their foreheads with the One-Point Scarlet technique.
KWAOOO—!
Just then, another overwhelming shockwave erupted from the distant sky, spreading to the very heavens.
CRACK!
Bu Eun-seol immediately activated his movement technique, darting toward the source of the light in an instant.
Upon arriving at a rocky cliffside strewn with boulders—
His eyes landed on a woman clad in resplendent robes and a man draped in garments that seemed entwined with a colossal black dragon.
They stood facing each other, separated by a mere three zhang of distance, while a massive, circular radiance surged around them.
The woman was none other than the Scarlet Flame Immortal.
And the man wrapped in black dragon robes—
Was none other than... Baek Mu-seong.
"Brother Baek?"
The current leader of the Martial Heaven Unit in the Martial Alliance, the Golden Upright Divine Dragon, Baek Mu-seong.
The man who had once carried such a bright smile and radiant aura—
Now looked a decade older, his eyes torn into a vicious slant.
Had Bu Eun-seol not been someone who could recognize people by their physique alone, he would never have identified him.
Huuuuuum...
Between the two, locked in a battle of internal energy, floated a single mystical orb.
The light that had been surging toward the heavens was emanating from it.
"I can't recklessly interfere."
An internal energy clash was not merely a contest of strength—it was a fight to the death, where life force, energy, and even mental fortitude collided at full force.
The current battle between the two had reached its peak, forming a violent storm of True Qi and a spherical energy membrane between them.
If Bu Eun-seol were to aid the Scarlet Flame Immortal by releasing palm energy, the internal forces would explode, potentially killing or critically injuring both.
CRACK—CRACK—CRACK!
As the endless push-and-pull of their energies continued, the Scarlet Flame Immortal's power finally wavered.
"Heh."
With a sinister chuckle, the orb between them was sucked into Baek Mu-seong's grasp.
"Die."
Simultaneously, a terrifying surge of internal energy rushed toward her body.
If exposed to that overwhelming force, the Scarlet Flame Immortal's body would be shattered to pieces.
Oooom...
At that moment, a white stream of energy flowed from Bu Eun-seol's body, seeping into the Scarlet Flame Immortal's Life Gate Acupoint.
He had activated the Heavenly Robe Mind Art, injecting True Qi so indistinguishable from her own that it was nearly seamless.
This was the only way to save her without triggering a catastrophic backlash.
KWAOOOONG—!
The moment Bu Eun-seol's terrifying internal energy merged with the Scarlet Flame Immortal's True Qi, it transformed into a force capable of shattering the heavens.
CRACKLE—!
Baek Mu-seong's skin split like spiderwebs in an instant, blood gushing from his nose and mouth.
"At this rate, Brother Baek will die."
BOOM—!
Bu Eun-seol channeled his overwhelming energy through the Scarlet Flame Immortal's body, firing it like a cannonball.
With a deafening explosion, Baek Mu-seong's body was sent flying, crashing into a boulder ten zhang away.
"Immortal."
Bu Eun-seol hurriedly supported the Scarlet Flame Immortal—
But her body felt strangely light, as if hollow.
"This is..."
She had already suffered fatal wounds before the internal energy clash.
Her meridians were ruptured, her organs melted, and even her muscles had twisted and torn apart.
"For Brother Baek to resort to such vicious methods..."
Bu Eun-seol continuously channeled his profound Reverse Polarity True Qi into her, ensuring she felt no pain.
"Martial Soul Lord..."
Thanks to his efforts, the Scarlet Flame Immortal managed to open her eyes with great difficulty.
"So you've come."
"What in the world happened?"
"This valley once safeguarded one of the nine orbs, a supreme treasure of the martial world—theNine Heavens Radiant Cloud Orb, alongside the Creation Sun and Moon."**
With a pained expression, she gazed toward the forest where her disciples had been slaughtered.
"Countless martial masters dream of possessing it... My disciples, in their desperation to save me, disturbed the orb and exposed its energy."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip, his expression twisting in anguish.
—There is no such thing as a noble death. Struggle, flail—do anything to survive.
—If the Immortal taught you to submit to fate, then it falls upon you, her disciple, to wake her from that delusion.
―Even if you don't achieve the desired outcome, there will be no regrets if you've done your utmost.
Bu Eun-seol had advised the disciples not to submit to fate but to strive with all their might.
Yet there was something he hadn't realized.
That not everyone was as sharp-witted and wise as he was.
That they couldn't devise intricate schemes, accounting for the worst-case scenario after countless failures.
The disciples' choice to save their master had, in the end, brought forth calamity.
In the end, they had, with their own hands, let a bloodthirsty beast into the henhouse.
"This is all my fault."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, the Scarlet Flame Immortal shook her head.
"It was simply the natural course of things."
Splash.
The light in the Scarlet Flame Immortal's eyes grew increasingly dim.
Her body had already been completely destroyed—she was barely holding on by a single wisp of immortal energy.
"Now, it's your turn to act."
The Scarlet Flame Immortal smiled faintly.
"Only then will the martial world catch its breath from the rampage of the Seven Great Demon Ancestors for a time."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
In the end, it had unfolded just as the Scarlet Flame Immortal wished.
But what was the point of stabilizing the martial world like this?
'Rather than this—let's just destroy this damned world entirely.'
Kuh-huh-huh.
Unable to contain his grief and torment,
the heavens and earth began to tremble, and a dark, shadowy energy began to seep from Bu Eun-seol's body.
"I've burdened you with far too much."
Then, the Scarlet Flame Immortal slowly took hold of Bu Eun-seol's hands.
The motion was so natural—and infused with the Art of Coaxing, which she had honed over a lifetime—
that Bu Eun-seol didn't notice anything amiss.
Not even the fact that her hands held a sharp dagger, its hilt carved with phoenix motifs, gripped in reverse—until it was too late.
Thunk.
The dagger pierced the Scarlet Flame Immortal's heart as smoothly as a serpent's tongue.
Using Bu Eun-seol's hands, she had taken her own life.
"Immortal."
"Within your heart, there is only passion, sorrow, and sacrifice for others."
She reached out with a sorrowful expression.
"You save the world, yet you yourself have never once been saved."
The Scarlet Flame Immortal gazed at Bu Eun-seol with pity.
"Trials are not meant to break you—but to forge you... Your grief, your sorrow, your darkness and suffering—soon, they will become a radiant light."
Tap.
Her hand, in the end, never reached Bu Eun-seol's cheek before falling limply.
"Immortal..."
Swallowing his anguish, Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply before the Scarlet Flame Immortal's remains.
"Baek Mu-seong."
The sorrow that threatened to burst forth twisted into a searing rage.
By then, Baek Mu-seong—who had been collapsed against the cliff—was already gone. His true objective had always been the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl.
―So you're Sword River.
In the fragmented memories he had barely recovered,
the image of Baek Mu-seong—still in the form of a boy—flashed with a bright smile.
He was the one Bu Eun-seol had longed to meet more than anyone. The person he thought would be the key to reclaiming his lost childhood.
But now, he had become a puppet ensnared by evil.
"You won't escape!"
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, Bu Eun-seol's figure shot into the sky.
In the same instant, he caught up to Baek Mu-seong, who was swiftly fleeing Phoenix Valley.
CRASH!
At the same time, Baek Mu-seong—who had been cutting through the air—was slammed into the ground in an instant.
Bu Eun-seol had struck his back with the First Appearance of the Fist Demon technique.
Grrr—
As Baek Mu-seong staggered back to his feet, a black storm raged around him.
It bore an eerie resemblance to the Soul-Demon Magic Energy wielded by the Servants of the True Demon—its shape and aura nearly identical.
But the form of the black dragon was indistinct, and no trace of spellcraft could be sensed—so he couldn't definitively call it Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
Whoosh—CRACK!
The black dragon coiled around Baek Mu-seong's body suddenly lashed out, wrapping around Bu Eun-seol in an instant.
SCREECH—!
With a howl that split the heavens, hundreds of black blades erupted from Bu Eun-seol's hands.
He had unleashed the Death Without Closing the Eyes technique—scattering blades of death with his bare hands.
Swish—CRACKLE!
The razor-sharp blades spiraled around the black dragon, then burst into black flames, spinning violently.
Shhk—
Just as the black dragon was torn into dozens of pieces,
SHING—!
The scattered blades reversed course, instantly latching onto Baek Mu-seong's body.
Zzzt—zzzt—
Exposed to the deadly blades, a faint light flickered intermittently across Baek Mu-seong's entire body.
Even Vajra Indestructibility would have been cleaved in two by such a technique—yet the strange power enveloping his body blocked it entirely.
CRACK!
In that split second, a sharp burst of force struck Bu Eun-seol square in the chest.
Baek Mu-seong had seized the moment when the Bloody Tears Seven Forms' blade energy shifted—launching a lightning-fast strike.
RUMBLE. CRACKLE.
Amid the thick dust, a shadow clad in pitch-black armor gradually emerged, wreathed in dark flames.
The moment the fierce force pierced through while the Bloody Tears Seven Forms was still active, the Limitless Astral Energy manifested on its own.
"Why."
Bu Eun-seol, walking forward slowly, was entirely cloaked in killing intent, his pupils gleaming with an eerie metallic sheen.
"You killed an innocent person."
His gaze, dripping with contempt, fell upon the object in Baek Mu-seong's embrace.
"For that worthless treasure?"
BOOM! CRASH!
With a deafening roar that seemed to split the heavens and earth,
Baek Mu-seong's body was flung into the air—only to be smashed back into the ground.
The Seventh Form of the Fist Demon Seven Forms.
"Discard the Old and Spread the New."
A strike so fast it couldn't be seen, so overwhelming it couldn't be blocked—pure, unstoppable power poured forth.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Blow after blow rained down mercilessly onto Baek Mu-seong's face.
With each explosion, his body sank deeper into the earth.
"WHY?!"
CRACK!
Blood spilled from Baek Mu-seong's mouth, his face now a ruined mess.
Bu Eun-seol stared down at him with eyes colder than winter.
At a glance, his expression was anything but normal—even his features seemed altered, as if another person had taken over.
Just like Wi Ji-hye-sang before him, he had either been possessed by another personality or was being controlled by someone else.
"I'll free you from that filthy leash."
"You won't suffer anymore."
SHING—
As Bu Eun-seol drew Ink Soul Sword, preparing to sever his neck—
"...I'm not suffering."
Baek Mu-seong's weak voice cut through the air, his eyes barely open.
"...This was always my duty."
Bu Eun-seol froze.
"It was always something I had to do."
In that instant, a memory flashed before him—
A young Baek Mu-seong, drenched in sweat, baring his teeth in a strained smile.
"I have to become your perfect shadow."
Even through unbearable pain, he had smiled as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"For someone like me, born with an ordinary body... this was the only way."
"Don't worry."
Baek Mu-seong stretched out a trembling hand, grinning brightly.
"I'll... protect you."
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Bu Eun-seol's pupils trembled as fragments of his childhood memories resurfaced.
'So it was him.'
Baek Mu-seong had been the shadow his father created to protect him.
After the Saha Manor Blood Calamity,
while Bu Eun-seol escaped—
Baek Mu-seong had likely endured torture and suffering in his place.
'Baek Elder Brother lost his memories too.'
After escaping Saha Manor with no recollection of his past, he became a disciple of the Buddhist Venerable—
only to be exposed as a shadow, or worse, still being used by someone.
Tremble.
Bu Eun-seol's fingers shook faintly before he clenched them, his expression crumbling.
Baek Mu-seong had also lost everything in the Saha Manor Blood Tragedy.
He was just another victim, trampled under the weight of a cruel fate.
'How could I kill him?'
CLANG.
In the end, he sheathed his sword.
Drip. Drip.
Yet, bright red blood still trickled from Baek Mu-seong's neck.
Even without direct contact, the sheer sharpness of Ink Soul Sword, infused with Bu Eun-seol's internal energy, had left a deep wound.
ZZZING—
Bu Eun-seol stretched out his left hand, activating Void Object Retrieval.
A single orb, hidden within Baek Mu-seong's robes, flew into his grasp.
This was a treasure of Phoenix Valley—something that must never fall into the hands of evil.
No matter who was behind this, he couldn't let it be taken.
"I have to take it..."
Baek Mu-seong muttered, his eyes unfocused.
"If I don't... my personality will shatter again."
He reached out weakly, repeating the words like a mantra.
"Only by unifying my personality... can I strike back at them."
SPLUTTER—
Blood spilled from his lips as he spoke in a low, broken voice.
"Chu-so... never helps anyone without a price."
"What are you talking about?"
Whether from the shock of Discard the Old and Spread the New or sheer delirium, Baek Mu-seong rambled like a man possessed.
"Chu-so is searching for all the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Orbs... He needs a massive force to track them down... To strike back at those who turned me into this... I approached him, obtained the scripture... Just as the prophecy said, I sensed the orb's energy here... So I used the Absolute Boundary he taught me..."
His words were disjointed, but Bu Eun-seol pieced together the truth.
'So he was trying to break free in his own way.'
Baek Mu-seong had unwillingly become someone's puppet—
and to sever those strings, he sought out Chu-so, obtaining a technique in exchange.
What Chu-so wanted was the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Orb.
Following his lead, Baek Mu-seong had stationed the Martial Heaven Unit nearby, waiting for the moment the orb's power would manifest.