Chapter 1130
CRASH!
The man who had charged forward like lightning swung both arms as if to tear Bu Eun-seol apart.
Yet Bu Eun-seol, leaving behind dozens of afterimages, instead closed the distance into the man's attack range and delivered a light palm strike.
Not to kill him.
But to make him keenly aware of the gap in their martial prowess—to crush his pride, temper his madness, and force him into a state where conversation might be possible.
THUD!
The moment the palm energy struck near his chest, the man's body shuddered violently.
Though the strike had been light, an overwhelming shockwave rippled through him, enough to paralyze his entire body in an instant.
SHWIIK!
At the same time, dozens of blade-like projections erupted from behind Bu Eun-seol, piercing the man's vital points.
He had unleashed the Willful True Binding.
"Ugh!"
Upon recognizing the technique, the man let out a furious roar—
CRACK!
—before forcibly breaking free from his frozen state and lunging forward as if to devour Bu Eun-seol whole.
BOOM!
As Bu Eun-seol swung another palm strike, the man swept low to evade, then drove deep and aimed a vicious kick toward his groin.
TAP.
Bu Eun-seol retreated a single step, narrowly avoiding the blow.
The man closed the distance even further, launching a relentless barrage of elbow strikes and knee attacks.
He headbutted, bent his knee to snap upward toward the face, and at times bared his sharp teeth as if to bite and tear.
This was the Demonic Path's Close Combat Technique—a brutal martial art with the sole purpose of killing.
"You dare use Close Combat against me?"
Bu Eun-seol scoffed, leaning his upper body back to evade the headbutt while pivoting on his anchored foot, spinning his body in a fluid motion.
Langya Pavilion's Practical Combat Martial Arts had originated from close-quarters combat, and Bu Eun-seol's specialty was melee fighting.
"Gah!"
As the man thrust two fingers forward as if to gouge out his eyes, Bu Eun-seol's sleeve unfurled like a massive fan, ensnaring his wrist.
In the same motion, he slammed the man face-first into the ground.
KWA-BOOM!
The earth cratered beneath the impact, sending up a colossal dust cloud.
For an ordinary martial artist, the force would have shattered every bone in their body.
Yet before the dust could even settle, limbs twitched within the pit, and the man abruptly stood back up.
Blackish-red blood trickled from his mouth and nose, but his eyes burned not with defeat—but with the fury of an erupting volcano.
'He's not using the Heaven and Earth Divine Artifact.'
It was said that the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's disciple could wield the Heaven and Earth Divine Artifact.
But since he didn't yet feel any significant threat, he hadn't resorted to his trump card.
"Then I'll make you feel more threatened."
CRACK!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Fist Demon Seven Forms.
His fist technique had already reached the Transformation Realm, leaving no trace of its execution behind.
By the time his opponent realized it, the fist's power had already struck his body.
BAM!
Struck by the First Appearance of the Fist Demon infused with Five Stars of internal power, the man was sent flying over a hundred feet, crashing into the wreckage of a pillar.
Even if he survived, his entire skeletal structure should have been reduced to splinters.
RUMBLE.
Yet the man stood up unscathed.
No—his skin now gleamed more intensely, and the energy coursing through his body had grown even stronger.
"Hoh."
Bu Eun-seol let out a low exclamation—
CRACK!
—before this time channeling Seven Stars of internal power.
He executed the Heavenly Hand Empty Wave, the form of the Fist Demon Seven Forms that delivered the single most devastating strike.
FWOOOOSH!
A massive fist energy, shaped like a crimson dragon, swallowed the man's body as it passed through him, splitting his skin open as blood gushed forth.
SSSSS—
But then, something unbelievable happened.
Light seeped from the torn flesh, and his skin transformed—now gleaming with an even more radiant luster.
"Mad Demon Blood Aura?"
What the man was using wasn't the Heaven and Earth Divine Artifact—but the signature art of the Mad Demon, the Number One of the Demonic Path from five hundred years ago.
The Mad Demon Blood Aura was a technique that cycled between destruction and hyper-regeneration with each strike taken, not only restoring damaged tissue but—
—in the process, forging an even more resilient body than before.
"So that's why."
No wonder he had been chained and imprisoned on a remote island.
If one failed to reach the Great Origin stage—
The Mad Demon Blood Aura, an Otherworldly Demonic Art, would gradually drive them to madness under the influence of Demonic Energy.
And ultimately, unable to control that energy, he had been descending into insanity.
"GRAAAAAH!"
A roar erupted from the man's mouth.
Without any preparatory motion, he exploded forward like a cannonball, hurtling toward Bu Eun-seol.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! KWAANG!"
Each of the man's attacks was like a massive battering ram.
Even blocking would shatter bones—taking a direct hit meant certain dismemberment.
Bu Eun-seol didn't evade. Instead, he shifted minutely, redirecting each strike with fluid precision.
Moving like flowing water, he drove an elbow into the man's flank, then followed with a knifehand strike to the nape.
THUD, CRACK.
The sounds of tearing muscle and snapping bone echoed, but—
Zzziiing.
The man endured the impact, his body erupting with an even deeper crimson glow.
The Mad Demon Blood Aura was a martial art only a complete madman could wield.
By overcoming relentless attacks, it enhanced the body's capabilities beyond limits.
Now, he radiated a blazing aura like a crimson sun.
Zzziiing.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's pupils turned pure white.
He unleashed the Saint Among Poisons' power—venomous qi.
Hssss.
Yet the Mad Demon Blood Aura surrounding the man rendered the poison utterly ineffective.
Flash!
This time, a sickly yellow light spilled from Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"Ghk—!"
The man coughed up blood with a pained groan.
Using the profound principles of Phantom Restoration, Bu Eun-seol had mimicked Pa-myeong's technique—
A mental strike, the Formless Heart Sword, targeting the spirit and mind.
Zzziiing.
The man's gaze wavered briefly upon impact, but soon steadied as he resumed his assault.
'Impressive.'
The Mad Demon's martial arts were inherently the techniques of a madman.
Drenched in frenzy, they rendered attacks on the spirit and mind meaningless.
Ssshhh.
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Saint Among Poisons' power once more, but again, the Blood Aura repelled it entirely.
THWACK! BAM-BAM-BAM!
Seizing the opening, the man closed the distance, unleashing a frenzied assault without regard for defense.
A single gesture of his hand split solid earth like tofu, collapsing walls effortlessly.
Wreathed in Blood Aura, his spirit and flesh were nigh indestructible—capable of tearing through anything.
This man—
Even Bu Eun-seol, who had faced countless masters, had never encountered such a fighting style.
'Externally, he's practically invincible.'
A question arose.
If even the Heavenly Hand Empty Wave and Formless Heart Sword couldn't harm him—
Could he withstand the Power of Harmony, comparable to the Limitless Power?
'No, he wouldn't.'
If he killed the man outright, this entire endeavor would be for nothing.
Suddenly, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's unassuming yet unfathomable presence flashed through Bu Eun-seol's mind.
'The fact remains—even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor couldn't control him, hence his imprisonment here.'
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor kept anyone, whatever their thoughts under his wing if they proved useful.
Yet he had confined such a master to Ghost Capture Island—proof that even he couldn't suppress the man's Demonic Energy.
'Then—'
Against one even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor couldn't restrain—
There was only one way to subdue without killing.
The Ink Soul First Form—a sword art transcending martial principles, manipulating life itself.
The problem? Without reaching perfect natural harmony, each use drained his vitality.
'No choice.'
The sole consolation—
The life force Cloud-Dream Hermit had once imparted would delay immediate repercussions.
Huuung.
Gripping the Ink Soul Sword in reverse, intricate patterns etched themselves along the blade and scabbard.
'There's no other way to sever the Mad Demon's energy.'
A radiant glow—like the first light of dawn—spread from Bu Eun-seol's body.
His father's legacy—the sword art of life.
He prepared to unleash the Ink Soul First Form.
"UOOOH!"
Sensing instinctive danger, the man roared like a beast and charged.
Shhhhlang.
In that moment, mystical patterns unfurled across the ground, causing the surrounding rocks to shimmer.
FWOOOSH!
A blinding tide of light erupted, swallowing the man whole—
Thud.
He froze mid-motion—no, he had to freeze.
An overwhelming surge of life force flooded his body.
CRRREAK!
The sound of twisting bone reverberated.
Tilting his head in confusion, the man wore an expression of utter bewilderment.
The demonic martial art he wielded, the Mad Demon Blood Aura, was originally designed to absorb all destructive energies and convert them into his own power.
But what poured into him now was not destruction—it was a pure surge of life energy, unlike anything he had ever experienced before...
Which meant he had no way to cope with it.
Thud.
The man finally dropped to one knee.
"Ugh... Uuugh!"
He suddenly let out a roar, then—
In an effort to resist the life energy seeping into his body, he pushed the Mad Demon Blood Aura to its absolute limit.
Crack!
As the Mad Demon Blood Aura reached its peak,
Every hair, every blood vessel in his body hardened like steel.
Ssssshh—
Meanwhile, the energy of the Ink Soul First Form continued to flow endlessly into his body.
The Mad Demon Blood Aura could only unleash its true power by absorbing the strikes and force unleashed by an enemy.
This act, however, was ultimately self-destruction.
Creak—
Once his body reached its limit of reinforcement, his skin began to split.
Given time, even his bones would shatter into fragments.
"Uuuuugh!"
Finally, the man let out a howl and began rolling across the ground.
Whoosh—
With each desperate tumble, his strangely gleaming skin returned to normal,
And the ferocious energy that had enveloped his entire body scattered as if it had never existed.
Thud.
After rolling for a long while, the man collapsed limply onto his back.
Thud-thud-thud.
Then, an almost unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
His steel-corded muscles began to melt away like wax, and his lion-like mane of hair settled calmly against his skin.
It was as if a great beast had used transformation arts to disguise itself as a frail scholar.
"Hngh..."
The man groaned, then—
His eyes abruptly cleared, and he slowly pushed himself up.
"This can't be..."
Staring down at his own body in shock, he let out an exclamation.
"The demonic energy of the Mad Demon—which should have taken a decade of grueling training to purge—how?"
Thanks to Bu Eun-seol's Ink Soul First Form,
The Mad Demon's energy, which had corroded not only his spirit and mind but even the marrow of his bones, had been brought under control in an instant.
"Haa..."
Bu Eun-seol exhaled in relief as he observed the man, now restored to his original form.
"Now we can finally have a proper conversation."
"Who are you?"
Bu Eun-seol answered immediately.
"The Martial Soul Lord."
Then, he produced the Martial Soul Order Token.
"I heard you were imprisoned here by the Demonic Heavenly Emperor."
Studying the man's expression and gaze carefully, Bu Eun-seol asked:
"Are you his disciple?"
No member of the Demonic Path would ever refer to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor as merely "him."
With that single word,
Bu Eun-seol subtly revealed that he did not walk the same path as the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—and that he stood in opposition to him.
"Disciple?"
The man, who had been wearing a dazed expression, shook his head.
"How could this one ever dare to be his disciple?"
Surprisingly, the man also referred to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor as "him."
This was extremely unusual—
Because no matter how high-ranking a member of the Demon Hall might be, they would always hold at least some measure of reverence and awe for the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
'Just as I thought.'
Not only had the man regarded the Martial Soul Order Token with indifference, but the moment the name "Demonic Heavenly Emperor" was mentioned, his face twisted with agony and fury.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol discerned that this man harbored deep hostility toward the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
"Then who are you?"
"I am a pawn."
The man spoke with a tormented expression.
"Under his orders, I slaughtered countless people."
"Slaughtered?"
"I was the Blood Lord of the Night Soul Blood Faction."
The man stared emptily at the distant sky.
"In the martial world, I was known as the Soul-Chasing Asura."
"Soul-Chasing Asura..."
Bu Eun-seol's expression shifted in shock.
Im Mu-jeong, the Soul-Chasing Asura.
Like the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade of the past, he was a legendary figure who had roamed the martial world alone, felling countless powerful warriors with a single blade.
But in truth, he had been the leader of a secret organization under the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's command?
"Then why were you imprisoned here?"
"As you can see, I was being consumed by the Mad Demon's martial arts. Left unchecked, I would have either gone mad or died a miserable death as my meridians twisted beyond repair."
"So the Demonic Heavenly Emperor locked you away?"
Im Mu-jeong nodded.
"He must have planned to recall me once I gained control over the Mad Demon's energy."
He let out a deep sigh.
"Because I was the only one who mastered the lost martial arts of the Mad Demon."
Bu Eun-seol grasped the situation.
Im Mu-jeong had mastered the Mad Demon Blood Aura—a technique of the Mad Demon that no one had succeeded in learning for the past five hundred years.
But he couldn't control its madness and was on the verge of losing his mind.
In the end, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had imprisoned him here, waiting until he could tame that frenzy.
Because if he waited long enough, Im Mu-jeong would eventually become a blade he could wield again.
That was why he had arranged for people on Ghost Capture Island to periodically deliver food and water.
And it was almost certainly this very arrangement that had been detected by the imperial intelligence network.
"I see."
Though Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his disappointment, he asked anyway, clinging to a sliver of hope.
"Do you happen to know anything about the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's disciple?"
"Disciple?"
Im Mu-jeong, who had been staring absently at the distant sky, shook his head.
"A man like him might forge tools, but he would never raise a disciple to inherit his legacy."
Bu Eun-seol found himself nodding unconsciously.
A man as supremely selfish and exclusive as the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—
There was no way he would painstakingly nurture a successor to inherit his martial arts.
Hadn't the Demonic Heavenly Emperor himself, when referring to his disciple, described him as nothing more than a "blade"—a tool?
Perhaps the disciple the Saint spoke of isn't a true successor who inherited his legacy...
But rather, one of the 'tools' the Demonic Heavenly Emperor trained for a specific purpose.
And among them, the likelihood that one mastered the Heaven and Earth Divine Artifact is actually higher.
"In any case, I should thank you."
Im Mu-jeong spoke while gazing at the shattered pillar.
"Under normal circumstances, I would've been bound by these Heavenly Spirit Golden Locks, unable to move a muscle for another ten years."
"Surely you don't intend to return to your former master?"
Bu Eun-seol could sense it—
That Im Mu-jeong planned to go back to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
"I do."
Even knowing full well that he was nothing more than a tool, he still intended to return.
"Why?"
After a brief hesitation, Im Mu-jeong answered.
"A blade exists not for its sheath, but for the things it must cut."
Having lived his entire life as the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's sword, he couldn't even imagine any other existence.
Is that really living?
Im Mu-jeong had merely suppressed his madness—
He hadn't found a new purpose in life.
To him, an ordinary life would be nothing but emptiness.
He had been a blade forged for slaughter, and without that purpose, he believed he would be nothing more than an empty husk.
In the end, returning to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—
Was akin to going back to confirm the reason for his existence.
Even if it meant his destruction.
Even if it meant becoming the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's blade once more.
In the end, I've gained nothing, have I?
Watching Im Mu-jeong depart, Bu Eun-seol wore a bitter smile.
He had hoped that by coming to Ghost Capture Island—
Even if he didn't find the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's disciple, he might uncover at least one of his secrets.
Instead, all he had done was rescue one of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's loyal subordinates.
And yet...
Perhaps it was because he found himself drawn to Im Mu-jeong's stubborn nature and lonely aura—
He didn't feel like his efforts had been wasted.
And the truth that helping him had not been in vain... would soon be revealed.
Inside the windowless chamber, books were packed densely from floor to ceiling.
On the large desk lay a bronze celestial plate—a tool for astronomical observation and calculation—embedded with tens of thousands of stars like scattered silver dust.
The air inside was thick with the scent of aged paper, ink, and the cold fragrance of white sandalwood.
Seated primly in this space was a refined middle-aged man.
A man said to know all under heaven.
The wisest strategist of the Demonic Path—Baek Jeon-cheon, leader of the Myriad Learning Society.
"Hmm."
For days, he had stopped eating and drinking and shut himself in this chamber, refusing even a single step outside.
His sole focus was tracing the ever-shifting trajectories of the stars on the celestial plate—and the hundreds of millions of possibilities they wove.
"The Purple Star dims, the Greed Wolf Star burns crimson, and by the Emperor's Star rises a demonic star defying heaven..."
The once-hazy currents of fate, which had seemed like faint mist until now, finally coalesced into a vast river before his eyes.
A land drenched in blood, screams torn asunder, a sky scorched black.
The flowers of despair blooming upon the graves of heroes—
Held within them an absolute chaos that rendered meaningless all notions of Greater Righteousness, the Orthodox Path, even the Demonic Path itself...
Now, the fate of all-consuming ruin drew near.
And entangled within that ruin were the greatest treasures of the martial world.
"Troublesome."
Lifting his gaze from the celestial plate, he shook his head and muttered in a low voice.
"Even with a ninety percent chance it's a trap... I have no choice but to confirm it."
After staring blankly into the air for a moment, he shook his head again.
"Then I must call upon him."
There were few in this world who could defy the flow of heavenly fate.
Fortunately, he knew one such person well—and they were already in a cooperative relationship.
Martial Soul Lord Bu Eun-seol.
Not only could he resist the will of heaven—
He was also the only person capable of retrieving the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl, the martial world's greatest treasure.