Chapter 1163
The Evil Dragon's form, once shrouded in light, had now fully materialized.
Chichik—
Sparks flew from the Ink Soul Sword as it caught the dragon's claws in place of the White-clad Woman, and the sound of twisting bones echoed from Bu Eun-seol's body.
Even at full strength, this force would have been difficult to withstand.
Let alone with the body of a child, relying only on the faint remnants of Manifestation Art Energy—there was no way to achieve complete victory.
"It was always going to end like this."
At that moment, the White-clad Woman's expression shifted, as if she had realized something.
"If I die, it'll all be over."
Her voice, murmured low, was filled with nothing but emptiness.
"Even if I had known this truth from the beginning... it wouldn't have made any difference."
Her pupils had lost focus, as though her soul had already vanished.
She looked like someone who had been deeply betrayed.
'There must be treachery within the Baekri Clan.'
The sacred ritual of the Baekri Clan, held at every sixty years—for it to proceed like this was unthinkable.
Moreover, for an Evil Dragon forged from Soul-Demon Magic Energy to emerge from the sacred Ten Thousand Dragons Cave?
'This is the work of someone inside the Baekri Clan.'
Unless the True Demon Palace had already seized control of the clan, this entire situation had to be a meticulously laid trap by someone within their ranks.
'I have no intention of sitting still and waiting for death.'
His condition was far from ideal, but it didn't matter. The martial arts he had honed through countless life-or-death struggles wouldn't abandon him now.
Whoosh—
In an instant, he used the subtle principle of Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade to redirect the dragon's claws, then—
"Hahp!"
With a fierce battle cry, he charged toward the Evil Dragon without hesitation.
KOOOOM—!
As the dragon opened its maw, a shockwave powerful enough to collapse the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave rippled outward.
Sssssss—
Simultaneously, the energy of Soul-Demon Magic Energy spread, conjuring eerie illusions, while massive claws tore through the earth like tofu.
Bu Eun-seol, using his small frame to his advantage,
narrowly evaded the attacks and countered with the Ink Soul Sword—but swordplay alone couldn't deal a fatal blow.
KAKANG—!
Every time the Ink Soul Sword clashed against the dragon's scales, sparks erupted in dazzling flashes.
Yet, not a single wound was inflicted—only endless deflections.
The longer the battle raged, the more his small body was sent flying, tumbling across the ground as his injuries multiplied.
"Hahp!"
But Bu Eun-seol paid no heed, unleashing battle cries as he relentlessly wielded his sword.
The White-clad Woman, who had been wearing an expression of utter resignation, blinked as she watched him struggle.
While she had given up everything and prepared to embrace death,
this small child refused to accept fate—instead radiating an intense fighting spirit and will to live, striving to carve his own path.
'Just who is this child...?'
Moreover, the martial arts he wielded weren't those of the Baekri Clan.
They were the perilous, life-risking sword techniques of the Martial World—the kind only those who treated their lives as fleeting as grass would dare use.
'He's not one of our people.'
The White-clad Woman could sense it.
This boy fought like a seasoned veteran who had roamed the Martial World for decades,
who had crossed the boundary between life and death in countless battles.
There was no way he could be of the Baekri bloodline.
"Ptui."
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol spat out the blood filling his mouth and rose again.
"It's not over yet."
As if weary of his tenacious resistance, the Evil Dragon's form—
GRRRROOOOAR—!
—let out a roar incomparable to before, its body surging upward as though to scrape the cavern's ceiling,
then began gathering a dark shockwave beneath its jaws.
Hweeeeeeng—
In an instant, the surrounding air froze,
and a destructive force, as if draining the vitality of all living things, surged forth.
'This...'
Bu Eun-seol could feel it.
This attack was beyond what a child's body could possibly withstand.
But surrender was not an option.
Swishhh—
Like a madman, Bu Eun-seol began tracing a massive circle in the air with the Ink Soul Sword.
At that exact moment, the Evil Dragon opened its maw and unleashed a devastating shockwave.
FWOOOOOM—!
Simultaneously, Bu Eun-seol stopped his motion and held the Ink Soul Sword horizontally.
Then, the ground beneath his feet began to crack like a spider's web.
Myriad Forms One Style.
The grandmaster encompassing all sword arts under heaven.
The pinnacle of the Sword Sovereign's secret technique—
the Move Heaven Exchange Force, the principle of Half Ascent and Half Descent, pushed to its absolute limit.
He had materialized the colossal force of the Evil Dragon's shockwave—
and redirected it toward the earth.
Drip.
A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of Bu Eun-seol's lips.
The torrent of force pouring down from above was intense enough to topple even Mount Tai.
Though he had employed the profound principles of Myriad Forms One Style to divert that power into the ground,
redirecting its course still fell upon Bu Eun-seol's flesh-and-blood body.
Completely neutralizing such an overwhelming force was impossible.
Whoosh.
At that moment, a blinding white radiance began spreading from Bu Eun-seol's body.
The latent Manifestation Art Energy within him activated, starting to shield his form.
Crack, crack, crack, crack.
Yet the earth continued splitting endlessly, and his skin gradually tore apart.
"Ghk."
Just as his flesh was on the verge of being completely flayed from his body—
Zzziiing.
A pure white barrier unfurled before Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
The White-clad Woman had manifested her own Manifestation Art Energy, shielding him.
"Run."
The White-clad Woman shouted.
"Now!"
Merely blocking the cascading energy caused thick crimson blood to spill from her lips.
The phantom of the Evil Dragon that had erupted from Dragon's Tear Pool—
was unleashing an assault upon Bu Eun-seol as though a true dragon had descended,
while against her, a descendant of the Baekri Clan, it wielded a force akin to injecting Extreme Poison.
"No matter what you do, you can't win. So please—"
"It has no true form."
"What?"
"When it attacked me—who had almost no Manifestation Art Energy—it fought like a physical dragon, slashing with claws and swinging its tail."
Bu Eun-seol crouched low, speaking rapidly.
"But the moment you exerted your Manifestation Art Energy, it suddenly stopped moving entirely and inflicted internal injuries, as though releasing poison. Meaning it reacts to the energy of its opponent."
Fwsh!
Then, with all his strength, he launched himself forward.
Channeling Beast Force, he soared into the air in an instant.
"Haaahp!"
Having vaulted above the Evil Dragon's head, Bu Eun-seol poured every last drop of Manifestation Art Energy coursing through his body into Ink Soul Sword.
Zzziiing.
As he did, mysterious patterns spread across the blade, and it began glowing with an eerie light.
Craaack!
The moment Bu Eun-seol drove the sword with all his might into the Evil Dragon's brow—
Zzzzzzzzzzzt!
With a low reverberation, the phantom instantly dispersed into black motes of light.
Just as he had said—the Evil Dragon was not a true entity, but an illusion created by a magical artifact.
Thud.
Landing on the ground, Bu Eun-seol planted Ink Soul Sword into the earth, gasping for breath.
"Haa, huu."
His body, now reverted to that of a child, was barely wrapped in the remnants of Manifestation Art Energy.
Yet he had shattered a spell that even a Baekri descendant had struggled against—with nothing but his bare flesh.
"This can't be..."
The White-clad Woman's pupils lost focus as she stared at the pool.
"Dragon's Tear Pool..."
With the Evil Dragon gone, the true state of the golden pool was revealed.
Dragon's Tear Pool, said to contain the origin of Manifestation Art Energy, had already dried up, its basin now taking the form of a pitch-black Demon God Statue.
"The sacred pool passed down since the time of our Founder..."
Stagger.
As she muttered weakly, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Are you all right?"
Bu Eun-seol rushed to support her.
"You..."
She looked directly at him and spoke.
"...are not one of our people."
"That's correct."
Bu Eun-seol admitted plainly.
Though he had demonstrated Langya Pavilion's Practical Sword Study—
likely due to exhausting all his Manifestation Art Energy to defeat the Evil Dragon, his once snow-white hair had darkened somewhat.
"But I cannot say I am entirely unrelated."
"What do you mean?"
"I, too, carry the blood of the Baekri Clan."
Rumble—
At that moment, the vast interior of Ten Thousand Dragons Cave shook violently, and from the distant passageway, dark shadows approached.
The masked men of the Sacred Realm who had brought the White-clad Woman here.
"Tch."
Their eyes flashed as they saw Dragon's Tear Pool had evaporated into nothingness.
"I suspected as much."
The one who appeared to be their leader glared at the bloodied Bu Eun-seol and let out a resentful cry.
"We should have killed that suspicious bastard long ago!"
"Just to kill one person..."
The White-clad Woman spoke with a devastated expression.
"You defiled our ancestral Sacred Land and destroyed even Ten Thousand Dragons Cave?"
"We had no choice."
The masked man snorted.
"Only this place could ensure your honorable death—"
And with an utterly murderous gaze, he stared at her.
"Because He won't be suspected."
The White-clad Woman slowly closed her eyes.
In truth, she had already guessed everything.
The fact that the ritual in the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave was suddenly deemed necessary despite not even one sixty-year cycle having passed,
and the abrupt reason she had been designated as the sacrifice—
All of it was a meticulously crafted scheme to eliminate her quietly, without leaving any loose ends.
That all of this... was the doing of her own betrothed.
"You are not the lawkeepers or enforcers of the Sungra Family—you are his subordinates."
The Masked Man snorted in response.
"You knew all along, didn't you?"
"I merely accepted it, thinking it was fate."
The White-clad Woman straightened her posture and spoke with dignity.
"But not anymore."
As she watched Bu Eun-seol fighting the form of the Evil Dragon with nothing but a single sword, she felt something profound stir within her.
The fear of death? She had long overcome that the moment she was chosen as the sacrifice for the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave.
Nor was this some desperate struggle before the end.
—If something is wrong, even if it is called fate, one must not submit to it.
Through Bu Eun-seol, she had realized a fundamental truth.
One must clash against it with all their might—and change it.
That small boy had taught her this truth.
"Well, being devoured by the Dragon's Tear Pool was the best option."
The Masked Man shrugged.
"But just entering the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave is already half the victory. Once you step inside, everything can be buried here."
Crackle—
A faint radiance began seeping from the skin of the three Masked Men.
Their pupils burned gold, and a sacred energy rose from their entire bodies.
Just as the White-clad Woman had said—they were not beings of the Sacred Realm, but of the Baekri Clan.
Crackle—
In an instant, their human forms vanished without a trace.
And in their place, three dragons surged upward as if to pierce through the cavern ceiling.
Yet all of them were hornless—chilong, lesser dragons.
The three chilong, their savage eyes fixed on the woman, opened their massive maws to swallow her whole in a single gulp.
Fwoosh!
At that moment—with a clear, piercing Sound of Breaking Air—
A blinding white light exploded from the White-clad Woman's body.
Her white robes transformed into countless shimmering scales, and her slender figure morphed into the graceful curves of a white dragon.
Though her size was less than half that of the chilong, her majesty was in no way inferior.
Like a streak of lightning, the white dragon darted between the three chilong.
Her razor-sharp claws scraped against their steel-like scales, sending sparks flying and ringing out metallic screeches.
Before the chilong could even swing their tails, she kicked off the air, soaring upward to sink her fangs into their napes.
She exhaled an endless stream of icy breath, nullifying the chilong's relentless assaults.
Though far smaller in stature—
her blinding speed and lethal claws allowed her to overwhelm all three chilong.
So this is how it is.
Bu Eun-seol, watching the battle unfold, widened his eyes in astonishment.
He had seen members of the Baekri Clan transform into dragons and fight many times before.
And he had assumed they were truly becoming dragons, wielding their power as such.
But now, like the bloodline of the Baekri Clan—
only when his body was filled with Manifestation Art Energy could he finally see the truth in its entirety.
This isn't a battle of dragons.
Though it appeared as if the dragons were breathing fire and slashing with claws and tails—
in reality, they were wielding Manifestation Art Energy, unleashing mystical forces amidst dazzling light.
When the chilong roared and opened their massive jaws, a scorching radiance like flames erupted—
but it was actually hundreds of spears of light, bursting forth like a waterfall, forged by the power of Manifestation Art Energy.
When they swung their forelegs, their sharp claws tore through the air—
but in truth, it was five streams of spell energy sharpening into blades, exploding like lightning.
And when the chilong lashed their tails—
hundreds of illusions unfolded, blurring the line between reality and falsehood.
Each time, the White-clad Woman retaliated with a single streak of light.
Like a brush rewriting the very Laws of the world, that light erased the Masked Men's attacks and illusions one by one.
But they definitely wielded draconic power before.
The white dragons he had clashed with in the past had truly used the force of claws and tails—that was no spellcraft.
"Truly worthy of his bloodline—such remarkable potential."
The floating dragons muttered low in the air.
"But..."
Crrrreeeak—
Suddenly, the dragons merged into one, transforming into a colossal serpent that filled the cavern.
Scales like dried scabs of blood, a grotesquely writhing neck as if multiple heads had been forcibly fused together.
Six eyes spewing burning hatred.
Though its form was that of a dragon, it was nothing less than pure chaos and malice incarnate.
KWAANG!
The giant dragon's claw tore through the air.
This was no mere physical attack.
It was a strike infused with destructive sorcery capable of rending space itself, carrying within it the power of eleven mysterious forces.
When the white dragon grazed against that power, it plummeted to the ground like a withered leaf in autumn, unable to even scream.
Bbrrrrr—
Meanwhile, the fallen white dragon was slowly reverting to the frail form of a woman.
Of course, this was all an illusion.
In truth, the masked men had executed an eerie joint attack, and the White-clad Woman had failed to block it.
"Haa, haa..."
She gasped for breath.
Her strength had been nearly exhausted ever since she opened the gates of the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave.
After fighting relentlessly like this,
she no longer had the energy left to even lift her body.
Crrrrk—
The colossal dragon opened its massive maw,
Giiiiing—
and from beneath its jaw, a swirling black energy began to gather.
It devoured every shred of light around it, forming a blue sphere that froze souls by its mere existence.
An attack identical to the one unleashed by the Evil Dragon's form moments ago.
KWAUUUUUU!
Then, hundreds of feet away, the stones on the ground crumbled into dust, scattering in the wind.
A force of destruction capable of annihilating the entire world.
But the White-clad Woman, drained of strength, couldn't even twitch a finger.
All she could do was resign herself and await the approaching end.
Fwaaaaaa—
Just as the pitch-black sphere, radiating a dark whirlwind, was about to crash down upon her—
ZZZANG!
With a piercing sound that tore through eardrums,
the massive sphere, which seemed capable of erasing all existence, unbelievably veered off course and slammed into the cavern wall.
KWAGWANG!
A tremendous explosion followed, collapsing the wall.
At its center stood a boy, barely holding his ground.
Bu Eun-seol, panting heavily, his ink-stained sword slanted at an angle.
'No...'
The White-clad Woman desperately tried to scream.
'Run away. You can't stop them with your strength.'
But her injuries were too severe.
Only a faint, wind-like whisper escaped—no voice came forth.
Grrrrrr—
The dragon grew even more enraged that its attack had been blocked.
All six eyes locked onto Bu Eun-seol, and from its maw, an even vaster, denser darkness began to seethe.
And in that moment—
KWAAAAAAAAANG!
With a deafening roar that drowned the world in darkness, a sphere large enough to swallow the entire cavern came crashing down.
KWAUUUUUU!
Bu Eun-seol's small body was swept away without resistance by the black torrent.
His form melted into the darkness as if consumed, and then—
an explosion beyond imagination shook the entire cavern.
"......"
The White-clad Woman stared blankly at the remnants of blood, dust, and darkness.
'No...'
The child who had willingly thrown himself into danger to save her.
Their brief encounter flashed through her mind like a fleeting dream.
Emptiness and guilt froze her heart solid.
"NO—!"
Finally, her choked voice burst forth in a scream—
Flicker.
At the heart of the all-consuming darkness, a tiny spark of light began to pulse.
At first, she thought it was just an afterimage.
But the light didn't fade.
Instead, it grew fiercer, brighter, blazing with increasing intensity.
A sacred, pure radiance pushed back the violent dark energy, spreading outward in all directions.
'What is this?'
That mysterious energy—
was it not the very treasure she had entrusted to the boy to open the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave?
The principle known as Seizing Cause and Effect in Advance—
the resonance of the Creation Sun and Moon?
KWAUUUUU!
Within the pillar of light that expelled the darkness, a new form gradually began to emerge.
Grrrrr—
Rising from the shattered rubble was neither a white dragon, nor a hornless dragon, nor a black dragon.
The scales covering his body shimmered with five hues—crimson dusk, azure abyss, radiant gold, deep emerald, and pristine snow—
blending into a mystical iridescence.
The birth of a Five-Colored Dragon, a being never before seen in this world.