Chapter 1161
Zzzzt.
At that moment, a sensation like sparks leaping from his chest shot through his wrist, sending a sharp, tingling pain through his flesh.
The Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl, obtained from the Beast Palace Lord not long ago, was suddenly resonating with the Dragon-Phoenix Ring on his wrist.
'Why?'
Even as his consciousness blurred, Bu Eun-seol felt the question surge within him.
The Dragon-Phoenix Ring was a royal treasure, while the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl was a Martial World relic.
So why, of all times, were they reacting so violently to each other now?
Clink.
The Dragon-Phoenix Ring not only adjusted its length according to the wearer's body but also responded to internal energy.
As he channeled his energy into it, the ring loosened with a metallic sound, no longer clinging tightly to his wrist.
Huuuuum.
Then, the vibrations from the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl in his chest grew even stronger. With great effort, Bu Eun-seol pulled out the iron case from his robes and opened it.
Shhhhk.
Suddenly, the Dragon-Phoenix Ring transformed, its broad surface hollowing out into a circular space—as if telling him to store the pearl inside.
Click.
The moment he placed the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl into it—
Slurp.
The ring swallowed it whole in an instant, then reverted to a thick, ordinary-looking iron bracelet, tightly winding itself around his wrist.
Now, unless someone cut off his hand, there would be no way to remove it.
And no one would ever know that the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud Pearl was hidden within.
This phenomenon had occurred because—
The power of the Baekri Clan within his body was gradually awakening, and the treasure that would one day react with the True Demon's Corpse had now been completed.
But he did not yet know this.
"It's almost like a living creature."
Muttering lowly, Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes, overcome by a distant, surreal sensation.
Crrackle.
Within his hazy consciousness, he felt his bones shrinking, his muscles melting away.
Suddenly, the world seemed to grow enormous, while he himself felt as though he were shrinking.
The sharp, weathered gaze that had weathered the storms of the Martial World was now filled with pure innocence, and his once-solid muscles vanished in an instant.
Bu Eun-seol's body harbored both the destructive force of Soul-Demon Magic Energy and the creative power of Manifestation Art Energy.
The two forces, usually in perfect balance, had simultaneously gone berserk due to the external shock of the Chain of Reincarnation—
And transformed into the power of Reversal, a force that turned everything back to the past.
Sssssss.
As his consciousness faded, Bu Eun-seol—now reduced to the appearance of a boy barely ten years old—
Collapsed onto the pristine white snowfield.
Zzzziiing.
The mysterious light radiating from his body—Manifestation Art Energy—turned the surrounding snow into a warm blanket, while the glow surging from his flesh shot up into the ashen sky.
How much time had passed?
Whoooosh.
A corner of the sky split faintly, and a single dazzling white point of light fell like a meteor.
The shadow that landed soundlessly on the snow was a woman in white robes, holding a silk umbrella.
Strangely, not a single snowflake swirled around where she stood.
"For one who carries the blood of our clan to reveal themselves so recklessly to the outside world..."
The woman gazed coldly at the light flowing from the unconscious boy—Bu Eun-seol—lying in the snow, then clicked her tongue.
"And this feeble Manifestation Art Energy..."
Her voice carried both reproach and the faintest trace of pity.
"In the end, you slipped through the cracks of the boundary and committed a foolish act."
Tilting her umbrella slightly, she studied his face before making a small gesture with her hand.
Fwoosh.
Bu Eun-seol's small body floated into the air like a feather.
Then, just as she had arrived, she vanished into the distant sky without a trace.
'...Nngh.'
Bu Eun-seol slowly opened his eyes as a clear, cool fragrance brushed against his nose.
"Ugh..."
He tried to sit up, but his limbs refused to obey.
"Nnngh..."
With great effort, he managed to rise, and the interior of a small thatched cottage came into view.
A kettle boiled atop a brazier, and all the furnishings were tinged with an antique elegance.
Creeak.
Stepping outside, he found himself on a dizzying cliff, where a sea of clouds stretched beneath his feet like rolling waves.
If he reached out from the edge, he felt he could almost touch the drifting clouds.
"Where... is this?"
Clutching his head, Bu Eun-seol soon realized his line of sight was far lower than it should be.
"Huh?!"
Looking down at his hands, his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull in shock.
Not only was he wearing a ragged hemp robe, but his body had shrunk to an astonishingly small size.
'Don't tell me—'
Thud!
A sense of foreboding struck him, and he rushed back inside the cottage, scanning his surroundings.
Fortunately, a small bronze mirror lay on the table, allowing him to see his reflection.
'Return to Youth?'
Somehow, he had transformed into the appearance of a boy barely ten years old.
His skin was like snow, and his lips glowed red as if petals had been pressed against them.
'No, this isn't right.'
If this were the phenomenon of Return to Youth, his hair wouldn't have turned white.
Moreover, both his Internal Energy and the Three Divine Powers had vanished from his body, leaving only a faint, viscous force behind.
It wasn't circulating through his meridians.
Rather, it felt as if some immense power had adhered itself to his very skin.
"The Ink Soul Sword?"
Frantically scanning his surroundings, Bu Eun-seol spotted the protective clothing Yu Un-ryong had given him hanging on one wall.
Beneath it, the Ink Soul Sword lay quietly placed.
"It's shrunk."
The protective garment had adjusted itself to fit Bu Eun-seol's diminished frame.
"Then again, it is protective clothing capable of repairing its own damage."
It seemed to have transformed to match his current childlike physique.
On a nearby table, the spirit medicines he'd been carrying lay perfectly preserved.
"What in the world has happened?"
As he donned the protective clothing and began gathering the spirit medicines and the Ink Soul Sword—
Tap.
A faint sound came from outside.
Bu Eun-seol immediately threw open the door and stepped out.
There, walking toward the thatched cottage, was a breathtaking beauty clad in snow-white robes.
Time itself seemed to freeze as an absolute silence enveloped the space.
If a single bloom of white winter plum could take human form after blossoming in the snow, would it look like this?
Her silver hair—as if she'd scooped up flowing moonlight itself—was tied in a single cascade.
Her porcelain-white nape and flawlessly straight nose bridge carved a line as cold and perfect as ice sculpture.
Against her translucent, bloodless skin, only her lips—like petals of red silk—held any color.
She was the kind of beauty all men in this world might dream of at least once, a vision of absolute perfection.
"You're awake."
The White-clad Woman sighed as she observed Bu Eun-seol standing wide-eyed before the cottage.
"Don't worry. I haven't informed the main family yet."
Then, in a voice soft as a bedtime story, she continued:
"Truthfully, when we're young, many of us discover cracks in the boundaries and sneak outside out of curiosity."
Her gaze was gentle yet solemn, like an aunt admonishing a wayward nephew.
"But breaking through those boundaries comes at a harsh price. As you've learned."
"......"
"You end up losing most of your power."
Bu Eun-seol was bewildered.
Main family? Cracks in boundaries?
He couldn't comprehend half of what she was saying.
It felt as though she spoke of laws entirely separate from the world he knew.
"Perhaps the young miss is—"
Just as Bu Eun-seol began to speak—
Goooooo.
A sharp, eerie Sound of Breaking Air suddenly rippled from the distant sky.
Unlike any qinggong technique, it sounded as though space itself were folding.
"Oh dear."
The White-clad Woman's expression stiffened slightly.
"There's still so much time left—why now?"
After a moment of deep contemplation, she turned to Bu Eun-seol with a terse command.
"From this moment, you are my attendant. Ask no questions, and stand behind me with proper decorum."
Her voice carried an undeniable authority.
Before Bu Eun-seol could respond—
Kurung!
A white bolt of lightning struck from the heavens as three figures descended soundlessly from the sky.
Clad in ritual robes embroidered with strange patterns, their faces entirely concealed by masks.
Eerie beings who emitted no trace of human presence.
"The time has come."
The apparent leader among the masked figures spoke in a tone both exceedingly polite yet dry and hollow.
"Prepare yourself."
"I was under the impression we still had three months remaining."
At the White-clad Woman's words, the masked figure shook his head.
"The celestial signs have shifted."
Then, with utmost solemnity, he declared:
"We shall escort you."
"Now, you say?"
As the woman's eyes flashed, the masked figure bowed respectfully.
"Indeed. The Hour of Zi approaches... There is no time."
"How abrupt."
"Our apologies."
The White-clad Woman nodded calmly.
"Very well. I understand."
Then, the masked figures' gaze fell upon the small boy standing behind her—Bu Eun-seol.
"But who is this child?"
Their eyes—cold as glacial ice and unnervingly persistent—scanned his body repeatedly.
"Who might he be?"
"My attendant."
"Attendant?"
As the masked figures' attention fixed on the Ink Soul Sword at Bu Eun-seol's waist, the woman remained composed.
"A child who's been by my side since the main family. I've taught him martial arts and celestial geography whenever time allowed."
At her nonchalant reply, the masked figures' eyes momentarily gleamed.
"Understood. As time is short, you may bring him along."
"You mean to take this child as well?"
"You know as well as we—when celestial signs manifest, those present together become bound by shared fate."
"But—"
"Young Mistress. There can be no exceptions in this matter. To deviate would unravel everything."
Faced with their insistence, the woman nodded resignedly.
"Very well."
Whoosh.
As if they had become immortals,
they rose into the air, their bodies held perfectly upright.
"There's no other way."
The White-clad Woman stretched out her hand toward Bu Eun-seol. At once, he too began floating upward.
Sssshhh—
With her posture still rigidly straight, the White-clad Woman took flight into the sky, pulling Bu Eun-seol along.
Now reduced to a powerless young boy, Bu Eun-seol was drawn by her unseen force, floating behind them like a puppet, bobbing weightlessly in their wake.
As he watched the White-clad Woman traverse the endless sea of clouds, he became certain.
'So she really is from the Baekri Clan.'
The divine energy flowing from her body was none other than Manifestation Art Energy.
The White-clad Woman was indeed a member of the Baekri Clan—
and she had clearly mistaken him, collapsed in the snowy plains, for one of their own and brought him along.
'Then the faint power within me must also be Manifestation Art Energy.'
[Just where are we going?]
Though he had no internal energy, strangely, when he attempted to use Voice Transmission, it came effortlessly.
[We are heading to the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave.]
The woman glanced at him briefly before replying via Voice Transmission.
[The reason our clan's members can use Dragon Transformation Manifestation is because of the contract with the Primordial Dragon.]
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
A contract with the Primordial Dragon?
Wasn't that the very information he had obtained about the Primordial Dragon through the Baekri Clan Secret Vault?
'So the Primordial Dragon isn't just a symbolic concept—it's an actual dragon?'
[Is the Primordial Dragon a person... or a dragon?]
At his question, the White-clad Woman fell silent.
Then, after watching the masked figures flying ahead, she shook her head.
[You'll find out when you come of age.]
Her expression was calm, but her gaze was profoundly subdued—heavy with something unspoken.
'There must be a deeper story here.'
The darkness in the White-clad Woman's expression was so pronounced that Bu Eun-seol couldn't bring himself to press further.
Before long, the White-clad Woman and the masked figures arrived at a remote, hidden place deep within the mountain range, far beyond where any human foot had tread.
Even amidst the biting winds of the high peaks, the woman's dignified aura remained utterly undisturbed.
She glanced back at the three masked figures shadowing her, then sent another Voice Transmission to Bu Eun-seol standing beside her.
[They will leave soon. Once they do, don't hesitate—escape this place immediately.]
Before he could respond, she slowly stepped forward.
After walking for some time, a waterfall came into view—so colossal it seemed as though the Milky Way itself had been ripped from the heavens and plunged into the earth.
The torrent, cascading from thousands of feet above, roared against the earth, sending up thick veils of mist.
Behind that immense curtain of water lay the hidden entrance to a cave—
guarded by an Absolute Boundary so impervious that even the greatest master in the world could not pass through it, not even by the width of a single hair.
This boundary opened only once every sixty years—
on the night of the full moon, when lunar energy was at its peak, during the hour of the Rat.
And only the direct bloodline of the Baekri Clan could enter.
"Now, unleash the Manifestation Art Energy."
At the masked man's words, the White-clad Woman nodded, turning to face the waterfall with the rising moon at her back.
Hwoooong!
As she extended her jade-like hand forward, a faint, moon-white energy blossomed from her fingertips.
Shooo—
The deafening roar of the waterfall, which had shaken heaven and earth, abruptly stilled as if by magic.
Crrrrrack—
The massive torrent began to part like a living Spirit Beast obeying its master's command, slowly cleaving to either side.
Drip... drip...
Sweat beaded on the woman's forehead, her face instantly paling.
Opening this gate was akin to pouring out a decade's worth of accumulated Manifestation Art Energy in a single burst.
Yet she did not stop, relentlessly channeling her power.
Finally, as the waters fully receded—
Sssshhh—
The entrance to a cavern, dark and fathomless as if swallowing all light and sound, was revealed.
"Proceed inside."
The masked man's voice was impeccably polite, yet devoid of any warmth—cold and unyielding.
Nodding, the White-clad Woman lightly tugged Bu Eun-seol's sleeve and stepped into the cave.
The moment they crossed into the pitch-black darkness, she whispered once more.
[Once the gate to the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave appears, they will leave. That's when you must escape.]
But that hope was shattered in an instant.
After walking for some time, they finally reached a massive entrance carved with strange sigils—
yet the masked figures remained, watching them intently.
"I say this just in case."
One of the masked men, who had silently closed in behind them, spoke in a chilling voice.
"Once you set foot here, no one leaves. Not even this young boy."
"But this child—"
The masked man cut her off firmly.
"Once you enter the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave, no exceptions are made."
"But—"
"If the young lady insists on being stubborn, we will have no choice but to take the child's life ourselves."
Watching the exchange, Bu Eun-seol cautiously sent a voice transmission.
[What are they saying?]
[It doesn't matter.]
[If you tell me, at least I won't die with regrets in their hands.]
The White-clad Woman let out a deep sigh as she observed Bu Eun-seol's composed expression.
Then, with a look of resignation and sorrow intertwined, she sent her own transmission.
[The Primordial Dragon's blessing and authority upon the main family... To maintain that contract, a price must be paid. Every sixty-year cycle, on the night of the fullest moon, one of the main family's bloodline must offer themselves in sacrifice.]
[Human sacrifice?]
His eyes widened as he sent another transmission.
[Are you saying the young lady is to be the offering?]
A nod.
The White-clad Woman inclined her head.
[After today, you must never speak of this if you return to the main family.]
Bu Eun-seol's expression turned hollow.
The mythical power and prestige of the Baekri Clan were, in the end, maintained by offering the blood and souls of the purest descendants of each generation.
And to uphold that contract, they had chosen the sacrifice for this era.
This frail woman before him.
[I'll go with you.]
Bu Eun-seol spoke with a voice as cold and resolute as his gaze.
[What?]
[It's fine.]
The White-clad Woman's pupils trembled violently at his indifferent stare.
[You're speaking nonsense without understanding the situation.]
Bu Eun-seol replied calmly.
[What else is there to do but die?]
The White-clad Woman did not answer further.
Though he appeared as an unyielding warrior unafraid of death, to her, he must have seemed like a child throwing a tantrum.
Unaware of this, Bu Eun-seol scrutinized the masked men's movements and presence as if assessing an enemy.
Inside his chest, a seething rage boiled like molten lava.
A cruel human sacrifice disguised under the noble name of sacrifice.
He had not the slightest intention of accepting this absurd fate without resistance.
"Proceed inside at once."
The masked men, blocking the path back like an impenetrable fortress, glared at Bu Eun-seol.
"We cannot afford any further delay."
The White-clad Woman finally exhaled a long sigh, as if surrendering to the inevitable.
"Very well. Let's proceed."
Then, she cast a mournful glance at Bu Eun-seol.
[I'm sorry, regardless. The sudden disturbance in the heavenly qi... I ended up dragging you into this.]
[No.]
As Bu Eun-seol's eyes gleamed, the White-clad Woman sighed again.
She seemed to think he was still too young and naive to grasp the gravity of the situation.
[Don't worry. Once they leave, I'll open the entrance to the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave again for you.]
With that final transmission, she took slow, deliberate steps toward the cave's entrance.
Then, with a gentle flick of her fingers—
Krrrr...
The massive cave door, inscribed with mysterious patterns, began to creak open.
Zzziiing...
Beyond the entrance, a translucent barrier shimmered with an arcane light—likely an Absolute Boundary that only those of the Baekri bloodline could pass.
'I can enter too.'
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol stepped forward.
As expected, the thin barrier yielded easily to him.
Krrrr...
The moment the two passed through, the cave entrance sealed shut behind them.
Inside, unlike the pitch-black darkness outside, an eerie blue glow suffused the cavern.
Embedded along the walls were massive blue stones, resembling dragon scales, emitting their own light and casting a dreamlike haze.
How long had they walked?
The seemingly ordinary cave walls began to ripple like a heat mirage.
Suddenly, strange visions flickered past Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
The Primordial Dragon, tearing apart heaven and earth from chaos, shaping mountain ranges in primordial times.
And then... countless ancestors of the Baekri Clan, walking this same path with eyes full of sorrow and resignation.
All of them wore the same white robes as the woman before him, bearing the same fate as they marched silently toward the altar.
Hundreds, thousands of years of grief condensed into these illusions, swirling like silent screams, disorienting his vision.
"Do not be afraid."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's stiffened expression, the White-clad Woman smiled gently, assuming he was frozen in fear from the overwhelming visions.
"This is merely to imprint once more upon the chosen sacrifice the weight and sanctity of the contract."
'A kind-hearted young lady.'
Just from her expression and tone, it was clear—her heart was as soft as silk.
'I can never allow something like human sacrifice.'
No matter how great the Baekri Clan was, he could not condone an act sustained by the lives of others.
That had always been his unwavering belief.
'This is also the perfect chance to learn what the Primordial Dragon truly is—and where the Baekri Clan's main estate lies.'
The term "Primordial Dragon" was vague and grandiose—he still couldn't grasp what it truly signified.
Moreover, this White-clad Woman was undoubtedly a figure of high standing within the Baekri Clan.
Since she believed him to be one of their own...
This was his opportunity to uncover the truth of the Primordial Dragon and the location of the Baekri Clan's main estate.