Chapter 1165
Bu Eun-seol asked with an expression of utter disbelief.
"What crime could my father have possibly committed?"
"They said he colluded with the True Demon Palace and nearly brought the main family to complete ruin. It took a long time to restore what was lost."
"Collusion."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
"So they pinned some absurd crime on him... just for marrying the True Demon's Saintess."
"That's not it."
The White-clad Woman said something unexpected.
"I heard he committed the crime of treason long before he ever married."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
Then, did that mean his father, Baekri Mu-ha, had been traveling the Martial World since his youth and committed the crime of colluding with the True Demon Palace?
"So my father was exiled from the Baekri Clan, married my mother afterward, and built Saha Manor?"
The White-clad Woman wore an apologetic expression.
"I'm sorry. I don't know the details of that."
"If my father truly committed treason—"
Bu Eun-seol pressed a hand to his forehead and asked again.
"There would be no reason for the clan to bring back the son of a traitor and make him the Young Clan Head, would there?"
"As I said earlier, Baekri Mu-ha's bloodline was so noble that the main family absolutely had to preserve it."
Then, in a low voice, she added:
"Because there was a prophecy from a Divine Being that Baekri Geom-ha must become the Family Head. Otherwise, by this generation... jinmyeol—complete annihilation. Everything would vanish without a trace."
'Venerable Wooden Buddha.'
Bu Eun-seol instinctively knew.
The Divine Being who left that prophecy was none other than Venerable Wooden Buddha.
'The Venerable must have foreseen the distant future and left such a prophecy.'
The Blood Calamity of Saha Manor, his parents' deaths...
A thought flashed through his mind—that all of it might have been part of someone's meticulously designed grand scheme.
After collecting his thoughts, Bu Eun-seol asked the White-clad Woman:
"Then where exactly is the Baekri Clan's main estate?"
If he could hear the answer to that...
Not only would one part of the Grand Design he had been pursuing be completed, but the answer to the mystery he had been chasing all this time would finally unravel.
"It is everywhere."
She raised a slender finger and traced it through the air. A mysterious light swirled at her fingertip.
"Those of the main family can return to it at any time."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened as he grasped the meaning of her words.
"Like the Land of the Ultimate Void or the Tomb of Myriad Phenomena, the entrance and its location shift constantly, and only certain people can enter—is that what you mean?"
"Correct."
The White-clad Woman spoke with certainty.
"The time and place it opens depend on celestial signs, and only those who are permitted may enter."
"Then naturally, I should be able to enter as well, shouldn't I?"
"Impossible."
She shook her head.
"Being permitted doesn't mean one has Baekri Clan blood."
The White-clad Woman continued,
"If merely inheriting the main family's blood was enough to enter... the True Demon Palace would have attacked relentlessly."
"Then—"
"You need acknowledgment."
She explained a concept Bu Eun-seol had never heard before, something he could never have imagined.
"For someone not born in the main estate to enter, they must receive the acknowledgment of the Three Judges—the ones who govern the bloodline."
"So, the gatekeepers must permit it."
"Yes. The idea is that those not born in the main estate are inherently incomplete."
She went on,
"Even if you find one of the Three Judges and gain their acknowledgment, it's meaningless unless the other two also recognize you."
"I see."
Bu Eun-seol nodded, unable to hide his astonishment.
"With a system like that, the clan would indeed be perfectly protected from the True Demon and its minions."
Even if outsiders possessed Manifestation Art Energy...
Unless the Three Judges acknowledged them as kin and compensated for their incompleteness, they could never enter the Baekri Clan's estate.
This concept... was a form of mystical security only possible for the Baekri Clan, with their enigmatic Manifestation Art Energy.
"If you tell me where to find the Three Judges, I will take the trial."
She shook her head.
"After Baekri Geom-ha entered the main estate, the Three Judges' whereabouts became top secret. Now, even if you wished to take the trial, you cannot."
It was only natural.
If an imposter had taken the rightful heir's place...
The first thing they would do is block every possible path for the true heir's return.
'The imposter was likely created by some faction.'
Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh from the depths of his being.
The fake Baekri Geom-ha must have spent years meticulously planning to become the Baekri Clan's Young Clan Head... He undoubtedly had powerful backers.
But with no way to enter the estate, there was absolutely no means to depose the imposter.
"Then there's truly no way for me to reach the Baekri Clan."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, the White-clad Woman hesitated briefly before saying:
"No, there is one way."
From within her robes, she withdrew a single bead—transparent and devoid of any light.
It was the Boundary-Prosperity Jade.
Squeeze.
As she clenched the jade in her hand, countless lights began gathering until a pure white radiance settled inside the bead.
Manifestation Art Energy. This power, said to be involved in creation itself, exhibited mystical abilities akin to divine sorcery.
"Follow where this gem leads you. And if you give them my name, they will surely show you a way into the Baekri Clan."
After a moment of contemplation, she reached into her robes and produced a jewel split cleanly in half, offering it to him.
"If they refuse you to the very end, show them this."
The hemispherical gem, clearly broken in two, looked like an artifact of considerable value at first glance.
"This seems like a precious treasure—how should I return it to you afterward?"
"Just keep it with you."
The White-clad Woman smiled.
"And when you enter the Baekri Clan, return it to me then."
Those words carried not only her trust in Bu Eun-seol but also her certainty that he would, without fail, step into the Baekri Clan one day.
"Thank you."
Bu Eun-seol bowed respectfully.
She was trusting him—someone the Baekri Clan would never believe—as if he were genuine.
Even considering their shared fate at the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave, this could not have been an easy decision.
"Ah."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol recall the black gem still tucked in his robes.
Though he had adamantly refused it earlier, the White-clad Woman had somehow slipped it into his possession using her mysterious power.
"I nearly forgot about this."
The once pitch-black gem had now turned as transparent as the Boundary-Prosperity Jade.
As expected.
The White-clad Woman gazed at the gem with an enigmatic smile.
The Creation Sun and Moon—referred to as Seizing Cause and Effect in Advance—would vanish the moment its power was exhausted.
Meaning that the dazzling five-colored dragon he had summoned was a glimpse of the future—a power he would wield in distant days to come.
Because it had taken the form of a Heavenly Dragon Descent, something never before recorded in history, she had believed him to be Baekri Geom-ha.
"You won't need it."
She shook her head.
"It has served its purpose—it will shatter soon."
No sooner had she spoken than—pfft—the transparent gem crumbled into dust, scattering into the wind.
"My apologies."
Understanding the situation, Bu Eun-seol wore a regretful expression.
"That seemed like an incredible treasure, and I ended up using up its power."
"If you truly are Baekri Geom-ha, there's no need for such courtesy."
"Huh?"
At his puzzled reaction, she let out a small, flustered noise and shook her head again.
"No, no."
Noticing her sudden unease, Bu Eun-seol smoothly shifted the topic.
"Still, I'm concerned for your safety."
He gestured toward the powdered remains of the masked men.
"Wasn't their leader someone with enough influence and authority within the Baekri Clan to turn this sacred ritual ground into a den of malice?"
She offered a faint smile.
The false Baekri Geom-ha in the Baekri Clan had always appeared gentle and composed—yet in truth, he was sinister and ruthless, and had tried to kill her.
But the man before her not only upheld an unshakable integrity but was also worrying about her well-being first.
"It's alright."
Her voice was calm.
"I won't just endure things anymore."
The fake Baekri Geom-ha had deemed her a threat precisely because—
If she ever chose to act—
She commanded a formidable faction strong enough to challenge him at any moment.
Now that she knew the Young Clan Head was an impostor with sinister schemes, she had no intention of sitting idly by.
"I'll be counting the days until you enter the main family."
The White-clad Woman spoke with quiet resolve.
"And I will prepare myself to fight him as an equal when that battle comes."
"Thank you."
The only way Bu Eun-seol could help her—
Was to gain the recognition of the Three Judges and enter the Baekri Clan as soon as possible.
"Ah, I never asked for your name."
The White-clad Woman flushed slightly before answering in a soft voice.
"Ye-ha."
"Baekri Ye-ha..."
A name as lovely as her spirit.
"I may be Baekri Geom-ha, but..."
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands respectfully.
"I am Bu Eun-seol, disciple of the Langya Pavilion. Now, and always."
With those words—
He made it clear that his reason for heading to the Baekri Clan was not to reclaim the rights tied to the name Baekri Geom-ha—
But simply to set right what had gone wrong.
"Bu Eun-seol."
The White-clad Woman murmured the name softly.
"It suits you far better than Baekri Geom-ha."
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol flashed a bright smile, his white teeth gleaming.
"It's the name my grandfather gave me."
That smile was as warm and radiant as a child's.
Watching him, Baekri Ye-ha found herself smiling back without realizing it.
And for some reason—
She felt as though everything would unfold as it should.
***
Bu Eun-seol tore through the night sky like a shooting star, Swift Shadowless unleashed at full strength.
In his palm, the gem given by Baekri Ye-ha pulsed with a faint yet vivid light, throbbing like a living heart.
Truly a mystical object.
Like a spirit beast guiding his path—
The gem shifted directions tirelessly, leading him onward.
The fleeting afterimages of light it left behind—
Were strikingly similar to the small orb that had once revealed the location of the Azure River Realm.
But of course—the Baekri Clan is the root from which the Three Realms sprouted.
The Azure River Realm Great Art—
The orb that had guided him to the experimental grounds where it was performed—
All of it was possible only because the Azure River Realm was a branch of the Baekri Clan, keepers of primordial secrets.
How long had he been running?
The once-fierce glow of the pearl gradually softened, slowing its pace.
The place he finally arrived at was an abandoned rural village, where even the moonlight carried a desolate aura.
'There's nothing here.'
Bu Eun-seol heightened his senses to their utmost, scanning his surroundings.
There was no trace of an Absolute Boundary distorting the flow of qi, nor any remnants of a hidden battle formation.
Only collapsed earthen walls and empty house foundations, swept clean by the wind, stood in silence like a graveyard.
'Strange.'
Not a trace of human warmth—no, not even the faintest sign of living beings remained.
'Was the village itself not the destination?'
The moment this doubt crossed his mind, the pearl in his palm emitted one final beam of light, stretching toward a single direction as if expending its last strength.
The light pointed to a lone thatched cottage, looking as though it might collapse at any moment, just a short distance from the village.
Tsk.
Bu Eun-seol suppressed his breath and activated his Lightness Art, soundlessly closing in on the structure.
Then, he ascended a towering tree overlooking the cottage.
In the courtyard, where parched grass lay scattered, a hunched old man was drying medicinal herbs under the moonlight.
A faint, bittersweet scent of herbs lingered in the air.
Concealed within the tree's shadow, Bu Eun-seol observed the old man intently.
Wrinkled face, rough hands, an expression indifferent to worldly affairs—everything about him screamed an unremarkable herbalist.
'Hmm.'
Just as he was about to turn away, convinced he had followed a false lead—
His gaze locked onto the movement of the old man's fingers as they meticulously brushed the leaves of the herbs.
'So that's it.'
A glint flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes as he slowly descended from the tree and approached the old man.
Sensing his presence, the old man startled and turned.
"Who goes there?"
After a brief pause, Bu Eun-seol answered in a low, resonant voice that echoed through the empty village:
"Baekri Geom-ha sends his regards, elder."
The old man bowed his head, trembling with exaggerated fear.
"I don't know what you mean. This old man has nothing of value in his home."
"You made one mistake, elder."
Bu Eun-seol sighed, unimpressed by the old man's flawless act.
"You perfectly recreated the rough, calloused hands of a lifelong herbalist—but you couldn't mask the habits ingrained in your body."
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"Your finger movements lacked refinement."
Bu Jan-yang, his grandfather had been both an exceptional undertaker and an herbalist.
He had stocked Peaceful Burial House with countless medicinal herbs, and thanks to him, Bu Eun-seol had been handling and drying herbs since childhood.
The old man's handiwork was skillful—
But it carried the clumsiness of someone who had only been handling herbs for a few years.
"A true expert applies just enough force to shake off the dirt—no more, no less," Bu Eun-seol explained calmly.
"But a novice grips too hard, tearing the leaves, or holds them too long, letting the herb's scent seep into their hands."
His explanation was razor-sharp.
"And there was hesitation in how you handled them. An experienced herbalist judges moisture and ripeness just by the stem's texture or the root's firmness—then cuts or twists with precision."
In an instant, the old man's eyes changed.
The pupils, once trembling with fear, turned cold and still.
"...Were you an herbalist?"
His hunched posture straightened, his back now rigid as steel, and his once-frail frame swelled with an imposing aura.
Even his voice shed its pitiable old-man tone, shifting into a deep, metallic baritone.
"Not even the old herbalists noticed anything off about me. Yet a young whelp like you saw through it."
"They didn't fail to notice—they pretended not to."
"What?"
"True herbalists—those who've lived as one since childhood—are rare. So it's their unspoken rule not to pry too deeply into others' affairs."
Herbalist is the most common profession for fugitives or criminals hiding their identities.
That's why they turn a blind eye to others' secrets.
"You really must have been an herbalist once."
The old man's sharp gaze pierced through Bu Eun-seol.
"You claim to be Baekri Geom-ha?"
"I do."
The old man bared a sardonic smile.
"If you truly believe that... then bite your blade and kill yourself."
Then he turned back to tending his herbs.
"Elder."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol recall Baekri Ye-ha's warning and spoke carefully.
"I came here under Lady Ye-ha's orders."
"The young lady?"
The old man's expression abruptly stiffened.
That reaction alone was enough to gauge just how high Baekri Ye-ha's standing was within the Baekri Clan.
"Speak clearly. Why did the young lady send you here?"
At the old man's demand, Bu Eun-seol briefly recounted his chance encounter with Baekri Ye-ha and how it led him here.
However, since he still didn't know the old man's true identity, he omitted any mention of the Ten Thousand Dragons Cave.
When the tale concluded, the old man wore a hollow expression.
"Then this old man shall never escape the curse of Baekri Geom-ha."
"A curse, you say?"
"It seems the young mistress did not explain it properly to you."
The old man spoke with an expression of utmost anguish.
"I was once a servant of the Baekri Clan."
His name was Yeom Wi.
Originally, he had no connection to the Baekri Clan—he was merely a master of the Tracking Art, a wandering bounty hunter.
But one day, past the age of forty, he was struck by an inexplicable illness and slowly began dying.
By chance, a figure from the Baekri Clan recognized his talent, completely cured his illness, and even elevated his martial prowess.
Given a new life, Yeom Wi was assigned to the Baekri Side Family, becoming a messenger who handled various affairs of the Martial World.
He served with unwavering loyalty until his hair turned white.
Then, starting about a decade ago, individuals claiming to be Baekri Geom-ha began appearing endlessly.
Eventually, the Baekri Clan formed an organization to track these imposters and verify their authenticity.
Given his deep familiarity with the affairs of the Martial World, he was assigned to carry out their missions.
For over ten years, he traced the footsteps of countless individuals who knocked on the Baekri Clan's gates, uncovering the truth behind each.
But just once—
He made a fatal mistake, failing to recognize the real one.
For that crime, he incurred the wrath of the Young Clan Head, and all his martial abilities were sealed away.
Only his life was spared, out of respect for his years of loyalty to the clan, but he was ordered never to speak of his past deeds again.
And so, he lived out his days as an old herb gatherer in this Deep Mountain Secluded Valley.
The one who had cured his illness and brought him into the Baekri Side Family was none other than Baekri Ye-ha's father.
"I see."
Bu Eun-seol nodded after hearing Yeom Wi's entire story.
Because of the fake Baekri Geom-has, the life Yeom Wi had devoted to the Baekri Clan had been utterly destroyed.
"The imposters disguised themselves as coincidences, approaching the bloodline of the Baekri Clan—just as you have now."
The old man, Yeom Wi, continued with a desolate expression.
"After countless trials and errors over a decade, the Baekri Clan finally found the real Baekri Geom-ha and enshrined him as the Young Clan Head. And now, you come forward claiming to be Baekri Geom-ha?"
"You don't have to believe me."
"What?"
"If I'm a fake, I'll surely face severe punishment from the Baekri Clan, won't I?"
Bu Eun-seol bowed his head respectfully.
"But if we don't correct this matter, even Baekri Ye-ha may fall into danger because of that imposter's schemes."
"Danger, you say?"
Bu Eun-seol finally explained everything—how the ritual at Ten Thousand Dragons Cave had been a sinister plot.
As he listened, Yeom Wi's complexion shifted repeatedly.
"So he tried to kill the young mistress..."
Whether the Baekri Geom-ha in the Baekri Clan was real or fake, one thing was certain: he intended to harm Baekri Ye-ha.
Bu Eun-seol studied Yeom Wi's hardened expression before cautiously asking:
"Why would someone create a fake Baekri Geom-ha in the first place?"
"If you were the real one, wouldn't you know the reason better than anyone?"
"I've lost my memories. My father—"
"Ah. Most of the fake Baekri Geom-has said the same."
When Bu Eun-seol's face stiffened, Yeom Wi waved both hands dismissively.
"I'm not blaming you. Literally, most of the Baekri Geom-has who came to the main family had lost their memories."
Yeom Wi wore a gloomy expression.
"You asked why fake Baekri Geom-has appeared? After the Saha Manor incident, the Young Clan Head Baekri Mu-ha died, and his son Baekri Geom-ha went missing. With their whereabouts unknown... anyone could easily claim to be Baekri Geom-ha. Isn't that obvious?"
"Who attacked Saha Manor?"
"This old man doesn't know that far. However..."
He paused briefly before continuing in a low voice.
"After that incident, countless fake Baekri Geom-has approached the clan's members under the guise of coincidence. The Baekri Clan sifted through them, filtering again and again, until they finally found the real one."
At the time, Yeom Wi had judged him a fake, but the Baekri Clan ultimately declared the current Young Clan Head—the one they now had—to be the real Baekri Geom-ha.
"How did they determine he was real? By borrowing the power of the two great families?"
In this era, there existed a being known as the Saint, who wielded a fusion of the Baekri Clan's and the True Demon's powers.
No mere influence from the two great families could possibly determine the truth.
"Infinite Personas."
Yeom Wi uttered something shocking.
"That man was capable of creating Infinite Personas—something only possible for the bloodline of Baekri Mu-ha and the Saintess Sa Ah."
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol's mind went blank, as if struck by a hammer to the back of his skull.
Father clearly said only I could do it.
The father from his lost memories had told him:
While those of the Baekri Clan were born with dual personas, only he—only Baekri Geom-ha—could create infinite personas.
Hadn't Baekri Geom-ha's very persona, born from the trauma of Saha Manor and all his suffering, been forged through that very scripture of personas?
—Think about it.
If one could create countless personas, dividing the mind into multiple domains, each housing a persona with distinct traits and abilities—
If each persona processed information separately, merging the results in real-time through the channels of consciousness—
Couldn't one become a being capable of influencing all phenomena in existence, the entirety of creation itself...?
Back then, the young Baekri Geom-ha had mused:
—So the Baekri Clan has been evolving, mimicking the abilities of the True Demon, all to defeat that transcendent foe...?
But for there to be another who could do the same—?
This makes no sense. That would mean someone like me...
Standing there in a daze, he felt as though his heart had frozen over.
A single, horrifying possibility surfaced in his mind.
The True Demon!
There was only one other being who could create infinite personas.
The very one who had cast off his chains, lost even his memories, and now wandered the world—
None other than the True Demon.