Chapter 1140
"A debt."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes, which had been burning as if they'd swallowed the sun, gradually cooled.
The Return-to-One Realm Lord had revealed the location of the Land of the Ultimate Void, greatly enhancing his martial arts.
Moreover, had he not gone there, he would never have been able to pass on the essence of Ultimate Transcendence to Seo Jin-ha and the others.
He couldn't deny that he owed a debt.
"What if I refuse?"
"You are free to do so. But you won't be able to."
The envoy delivered a shocking statement.
"Because the Righteous Heavenly Emperor is there."
The Righteous Heavenly Emperor.
Still shrouded in countless secrets.
Now a madman wandering the martial world—had the Return-to-One Realm detected the whereabouts of the former foremost master of the Righteous Faction?
"What do you want?"
"You'll understand once you go."
The envoy's eyes narrowed behind the mask.
The intention was clear.
The Return-to-One Realm Lord.
He desired the death of the Righteous Heavenly Emperor.
"Why?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, the envoy turned away without answering.
They were certain.
That the two would inevitably clash.
"Grudges beget grudges... Is there no end to this cycle?"
A shadow of deep anguish fell over Bu Eun-seol's face.
In the martial world, built upon the karma of enmity and obligation, no one could ever be free from the chains of cause and effect.
That was why even the slightest warmth had to be doubted, and every passing kindness had to be guarded against.
For the small favor received today might become the shackles of debt tightening around one's neck tomorrow...
No matter how strong one's will to sever it, enmity was a fate that could never be cut away.
The location revealed by the Return-to-One Realm's envoy was—
A peak in a remote mountain range, untouched by human footsteps, near a summit where the perpetual snow never melted.
It was said that every year, on a certain night in early spring, the Big Dipper would align perfectly above the peak.
Tonight was no exception.
As the seven stars lined up in a straight row pointing toward the summit, a hidden black space opened at the peak.
Zziiing.
As the unfathomably deep space, like a black lake, formed, Bu Eun-seol stepped inside without hesitation.
The undulating interior seemed not to be a physical construct but rather a distortion of space itself.
'They said one must abandon all stray thoughts.'
To pass through this gate, strength in martial arts mattered less than achieving a state of no-thought, no-mind.
Only by emptying all desires and distractions, maintaining pure spirit and mind alone—
Would the swirling vortex of the distorted space calm and accept the one who sought to enter.
Walking with his mind utterly empty,
The warped black space stabilized, and Bu Eun-seol was able to proceed inward.
Then, a mystical landscape unfolded before him.
Beneath his feet stretched an endless abyss, while above him spread an infinite expanse like the cosmos.
Indigo and violet nebulae drifted softly through the space, and in the distance, colossal stars blazed with radiant light.
Occasionally, the sight of golden-tailed meteors silently streaking across the void left him with an indescribable feeling.
"So this is the Baekri Clan's Secret Vault."
The Secret Vault of the Baekri Clan he had seen before had unfolded like an ancient forest, with uniquely styled structures erected within.
But this place felt less like a vault and more akin to a mystical realm like the Land of the Ultimate Void.
"Silent yet deafening."
With no external sounds within,
The beating of his heart, the flow of his blood, even each breath—all roared like thunder in his ears.
Yet in this vast space, floating rocks drifted weightlessly through the air.
The moving stones left behind shimmering trails, as if dusted with silver powder.
"It's been destroyed."
Bu Eun-seol could tell that this beautiful interior was, in truth, incomplete.
The floating stones were not meant to be in this state—they were a result of this place having been partially shattered or broken.
As he took another step forward, faint afterimages rippled ahead.
They were traces of those who had passed through here before, matching his stride and direction exactly.
'Fascinating.'
Focusing on the afterimages, the shadows grew clearer. As he concentrated his mental power further, they began moving vividly, like pages in an animated book.
'These must be remnants of lingering thoughts.'
The afterimages seemed to be condensed traces of the residual thoughts left behind by those who had traversed this vault.
Ruuuumble.
Then, a tremor that shook heaven and earth reverberated from afar.
The moment the sound reached him, he unleashed his movement technique toward where the sound came from—
Whoosh.
His body didn't move forward—instead, the surrounding scenery began rushing backward.
It felt as though the destination was being pulled toward him.
Crrrack! Kkkrrrruuuumble!
For a long while, the scenery streamed past.
Before he knew it, far in the distance, a figure cloaked in pitch-black ink-like currents hovered in the air.
His features were as refined as polished jade, yet thick veins bulged across his entire body, and behind him, the specter of a demonic entity rippled like a heat haze.
Jeong Cheon-je.
The man who had once stood at the pinnacle of the orthodox martial world—only to lose his mind and become a madman wandering the murim.
And now, at last, they had met within the Baekri Clan Secret Vault.
KKKRRRUUUMMMBLE!
But surrounding Jeong Cheon-je were dozens of colossal dragons, swirling in a vortex, encircling him.
Their scales shimmered like lustrous pearls, their golden eyes brimming with killing intent and fury.
'An Absolute Boundary.'
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the space where Jeong Cheon-je and the dragons stood was completely separated from where Bu Eun-seol was.
An Absolute Boundary had been deployed.
KKWAAARRRGGHH!
With a thunderous roar, the dragons surged forward to tear Jeong Cheon-je apart.
One at the forefront opened its massive maw—
ZZZIIIIINNNGG!
—and within its gaping jaws, a sacred light, as if meant to purify the world, condensed to the point of explosion.
"KHA-HAHT!"
Jeong Cheon-je, roaring like a beast, seized the dragon's jaw mid-light and ripped it apart in a single motion.
—KKEUHHHGG!
The moment the dragon writhed in agony, he smashed its lower jaw with his left hand.
CRUNCH!
With a sickening sound of shattering bone, the dragon dispersed into divine light, scattering in all directions.
SWIIISH!
As the air split apart, another dragon's tail slammed into Jeong Cheon-je—
KKWAAANG!
—sending his body hurtling like a cannonball before crashing into the ground.
KKRRRUUUMBLE!
Seizing the advantage, the dragons descended upon him in unison.
KKWAAAAAANG!
But in that instant, Jeong Cheon-je erupted from the rubble like a black flash, soaring back into the sky.
Now, his entire body was wreathed in an aura of demonic energy and madness.
Black currents rippled from his hands like a heat haze.
SHAAAKK!
He disregarded all defense, shattering and tearing through the charging dragons.
Dragon heads burst apart, spines snapped under his kicks.
Yet the dragons fought back ferociously, biting and clawing at him, splattering blood in all directions.
While one dragon engaged him, two or three others lunged in, ripping chunks of flesh from his body.
The battle escalated to a frenzied climax, their movements becoming as swift as light itself.
Soon, their forms blurred into a chaotic tangle of radiant hues.
KKUUUUNNGG... KKKUUUUUUNNGG...
Then, a low tremor and eerie noise reverberated—
—before a transparent vortex began swirling violently above Bu Eun-seol's head.
KKWARRRGGHH!
At the same time, a dragon's head slowly descended from within that vortex.
'Danger!'
Bu Eun-seol activated Swift Shadowless, attempting to close the distance in an instant—
KKRRRUUUMBLE!
—but before he knew it, the dragon had coiled around him.
As if recognizing him as an intruder within the Secret Vault.
'No choice.'
SWISH.
Drawing Ink Soul Sword, he slashed at the dragon with all his might—
—but only sparks flew with a dull CHIK-CHIK, leaving not even a scratch on its thick scales.
KKARRRGGHH!
Meanwhile, the dragon opened its massive maw, ready to devour him whole.
TZZZTTT!
Bu Eun-seol retreated continuously, unleashing sword energy.
'It won't cut.'
Was it the thickness of the scales?
Or was it the mystical energy flowing from the dragon's body?
No matter how he attacked, he couldn't deal any damage.
'Fine.'
FLASH!
In an instant, a brilliant light flooded the surroundings—
—and the radiant glow enveloping the dragon vanished in the blink of an eye.
He had deployed Harmonization through Heaven-Shattering Form, erasing the mystical radiance shielding its scales.
'Now!'
FLASH!
Seizing the moment, Bu Eun-seol unleashed Transcendent Meteor Chasing Moon Form.
ZZZIIINNGG!
A crimson line, as if cleaving the world in half, shot forward—
—and in a single motion, severed the dragon's neck.
FWOOOSH!
As its head was severed, the dragon dispersed into countless luminous fragments—
—leaving behind a single shimmering stone floating in midair.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to the stone fragments he had seen before entering.
But unlike those at the entrance—
—this newly formed stone radiated a brilliance akin to the sun itself.
Bu Eun-seol instinctively activated Void Object Retrieval and snatched the floating stone.
Whoosh.
The moment he grasped the stone, something bizarre occurred.
A flash of light erupted from both his hands, and suddenly, he felt as though his body was plummeting endlessly downward.
"Where is this—?"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
In an instant, he found himself transported into a space filled with thousands of doors, each inscribed with intricate patterns.
The stone he had been holding—
Had now transformed into an orb the size of a human head, floating before him.
The orb pulsed faintly but rhythmically, like a living heart, with light flowing from within.
Its surface was etched with complex vein-like patterns, as if crimson blood had seeped into its core.
Swish.
Without realizing it, Bu Eun-seol reached out and placed his hand upon the floating orb.
Contrary to his expectation of coldness, the orb radiated heat like a living creature.
Then, like parched earth absorbing water, he felt blood being drawn from his palm.
In that moment, the world turned upside down.
Ghk—
A violent pain, as if his blood had reversed its flow, surged through him, followed by a deluge of information flooding his mind.
It wasn't organized knowledge.
Instead, it was a lifetime's worth of sensations, memories, and fragmented realizations experienced by a being known as the Baekri Clan.
So this is the Baekri Clan's Secret Vault...
As the overwhelming influx of information settled, Bu Eun-seol finally understood.
It wasn't a treasure vault—but a place to pass down their knowledge.
He had always assumed the Baekri Clan's Secret Vault was a hidden treasury, concealing martial manuals or treasures.
But in truth, it was a repository designed to transmit their accumulated wisdom.
That explains it.
Though there were multiple locations rumored to be the Baekri Clan's Secret Vaults in Murim,
According to the Lord of the Dead, most were merely devices to maintain dragon veins or Absolute Boundaries.
The true Secret Vault was this—a place where knowledge-transmitting orbs like this one were gathered.
Come to think of it, all members of the Baekri Clan transformed into white dragons in battle.
A strange curiosity arose.
Why did the Baekri Clan's descendants take on draconic forms when wielding their power?
Then, knowledge surged into his mind once more.
―To oppose an existence that sought to devour all Laws and life itself.
To judge a demon that human power could never stop.
They willingly became sacrifices to the Primordial One—a being of causality and the Laws themselves; they were judges in dragon form.
Thus, they forged the Covenant of Offering with the Primordial Dragon.
A dragon...
It sounded absurd, yet—
Many clans and sects in Murim carried legends of being descendants of dragons or gods.
Hadn't the Divine Maiden Palace's Founder, Yo-hui, been said to be Yo-hui, Shennong's daughter?
Since ancient times, dragons symbolized divine beings, so—
Rather than literally contracting with a dragon,
It was more accurate to say they had formed a covenant with an ancient, formidable entity.
But an Offering? Did they truly sacrifice their lives?
Flash!
The space filled with thousands of doors vanished,
And Bu Eun-seol opened his eyes back in the real Secret Vault.
Could it be...?
A sudden realization struck him.
Each time I slay one of those dragons, a stone forms... granting me an answer to a question?
Screeeech—
From the swirling currents of qi, another colossal dragon emerged, thrusting its head forward.
Was this fortune or misfortune?
Unlike Jeong Cheon-je, who was inside the Absolute Boundary, the dragons appeared before Bu Eun-seol one by one.
Whoosh!
Without time to think, Bu Eun-seol unleashed Harmonization once more.
As he severed the dragon's head again,
Whoosh—Drift.
Light scattered, and another mysterious stone began to form.
Whoosh.
The moment he touched the shimmering stone, his consciousness was dragged back into the space of a thousand doors,
Where the same massive orb materialized before him.
What exactly is this Covenant of Offering?
Placing his hand on the orb, he posed the question once more—and another answer came.
―If they sacrificed their lives each time, they could not continue to judge the demon...
Except for the Offerers, who maintained the Primordial Covenant through their consciousness,
All blood descendants of the Baekri Clan paid with their personhood as the price for wielding power.
Personhood.
At last, Bu Eun-seol understood.
This was why members of the Baekri Clan were born with split personalities.
They offered their very souls—their identities—as sacrifices,
And in exchange, they summoned the divine presence of the Primordial One.
Dual personalities were the condition for wielding the Baekri Clan's power.
"Then the people of the Baekri Clan..."
"They must have artificially induced their dual personalities rather than being born with them inherently."
"If they didn't create a sacrificial personality to offer up, they'd become nothing more than monsters stripped entirely of their humanity."
But the power of the Baekri Clan hasn't seemed particularly strong so far.
Though they were known to oppose the True Demon...
Every member of the Baekri Clan I've encountered until now—
admittedly, they were only from the collateral branches—
aside from transforming into white dragons, didn't appear to possess any extraordinary power.
Even the guardian dragon of the Secret Vault was easily subdued by the Power of Harmony, wasn't it?
Whoosh.
As he returned to reality once more, another guardian dragon fortunately appeared before him.
And just like before, he relentlessly asked questions.
—The collateral branch members merely mimic the Dragon Transformation Manifestation technique, a method for eliminating enemies, without ever sacrificing a personality.
They lack anger, sorrow, or joy.
'Then, is the main family's power different from the collateral branches'?'
With each stone he obtained, answers to his questions began flooding his mind.
—Manifestation Art Energy is the authority to execute the principles of the world.
If one wields the Dragon Transformation Manifestation in the form of the Primordial Dragon, that power far surpasses human limits.
A dragon's eyes can perceive causality, and its fangs can sever the connection between cause and effect.
Bu Eun-seol was inwardly stunned.
For example, even if an enemy spent decades honing their strength to oppose the main family's power...
If Manifestation Art Energy were to sever the very cause of those decades of training—wouldn't that render all their defenses meaningless?
Moreover, the moment Dragon Transformation Manifestation is activated...
Each scale covering the body contains an independent spacetime—an Absolute Boundary—making it impossible for any attack to land.
But there was a price.
The more they used this power...
The more their separated personality would gradually fade, until even their original self grew indistinct.
'I see.'
Having absorbed this knowledge, Bu Eun-seol finally grasped the essence of the Baekri Clan.
The bloodline once hailed as the foremost family in the world had sacrificed themselves to oppose the True Demon.
Each time they wielded that power, they lost more of themselves—piece by piece.
Creak.
Returning to reality once more, Bu Eun-seol's eyes gleamed.
Now that he understood the Baekri Clan's nature...
It was time to ask the one question he had longed to voice most of all.
Where is the Baekri Clan's main stronghold?
If he could find it...
Not only would he uncover the truth about his father's past, but he could also learn the current state of the family opposing the True Demon.
But the swirling white currents had vanished, and no more guardian dragons appeared.
'...Are their numbers limited?'
If so...
Then questions like where the Baekri Clan's members were or what they had been doing all this time—
He wouldn't get the answers he sought about the clan as a whole.
Still, there was no need for regret...
For soon, through the connection of the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave, Bu Eun-seol would learn how to enter the Baekri Clan.
'Of all things, it had to be like this.'
Of course, since the Secret Vault had collapsed and been ruined...
He had anticipated that the remaining information might be severely limited, or that the vault's functions might have ceased entirely.
But the reason he remained unshaken was...
Because the guardian dragons were still relentlessly attacking Jeong Cheon-je within the Absolute Boundary.
As if to prove it, even now, the dragons continued to assail him—
Yet none appeared before Bu Eun-seol anymore?
Rumble.
Meanwhile, Jeong Cheon-je had just annihilated several more guardian dragons.
Each time, the madness radiating from his pupils visibly diminished.
'Besides, these seem like a different kind of dragon.'
Unlike the ones that had attacked Bu Eun-seol...
The dragons Jeong Cheon-je destroyed didn't leave behind gleaming stones.
Instead, as they vanished into motes of light, some of that radiance seemed to be absorbed into Jeong Cheon-je's body.
'...Why doesn't he see me?'
The distance between them was roughly thirty jang.
Moreover, this place was wide open—to masters with extrasensory perception, it would be like standing right in front of each other.
Even accounting for the Absolute Boundary...
The space might be separated, but their vision wasn't.
Yet Jeong Cheon-je still hadn't noticed him, continuing to fight the dragons as if unaware.
'If he can't see me—'
Click.
Planting the Ink Soul Sword upright before him, a ripple of sword-blue energy spread outward in concentric circles from its tip.
'—then I'll break it.'
However, the Absolute Boundary within this Secret Vault was on an entirely different level from any he had encountered before.
The borders of this separated space were far more distorted and twisted than any previous boundary.
'With power surpassing triple-layered harmonization—'
Zing, zing.
Before he knew it, the number of ripples blooming from the Ink Soul Sword had surpassed one—two, three... until finally, four had formed.
Thud, thud, thud.
A vibration, as though the sword's blade itself were twisting, traveled up the Ink Soul Sword into his grip.
Until now, the maximum Harmonization his body could endure was triple-layered, triple-stacked.
But now, with his martial prowess elevated further...
He would shatter that limit, pouring forth a Harmonization that surpassed even triple-layered convergence.