Chapter 1173
An unexpected situation unfolded.
Yet Bu Eun-seol's expression remained utterly impassive.
"The Wolf Token is the Pavilion's sole sacred relic and an inheritance passed down by our ancestors."
Meeting Ak Mu-ryeong's gaze directly, Bu Eun-seol spoke with deference, yet in a measured tone.
"I will protect this with my life."
Sssss—
The Wolf Token, which had been radiating heat, was instantly enveloped in a blue aura.
He was lightly channeling the power of nature—the Water Essence Divine Qi—merely pushing back the heat.
"Hmph."
Ak Mu-ryeong snorted.
He knew all too well that Bu Eun-seol had mastered both the Glacier Thousand Streams Art of the North Sea Ice Palace and the Ice Essence Snow Blossom Energy of the Snow Blossom Gate.
Yet the fact that Bu Eun-seol hadn't unleashed them immediately made Ak Mu-ryeong believe he was confident in the superiority of his pure Internal Power alone.
Whoosh—
In an instant, flames reignited in Ak Mu-ryeong's pupils.
Then, as if to devour the blue aura shrouding the Wolf Token, crimson flames blazed violently, and scorching heat radiated outward.
But something was strange.
By all rights, Bu Eun-seol should have countered the heat by unleashing the Extreme Yin Art.
Yet he remained standing there, still enveloping the Wolf Token only in Water Essence Divine Qi, showing no sign of summoning his Internal Power.
His serene gaze was as tranquil as sitting by a lakeside, admiring the rising mist.
Crack. Creak.
Though the Wolf Token was protected by the Water Essence Divine Qi, it couldn't block the Internal Power Ak Mu-ryeong was pouring forth.
Bu Eun-seol's body was crushed under the pressure, the sound of his bones twisting echoing incessantly.
He was merely using the Water Essence Divine Qi to block the heat directed at the Wolf Token.
The torrent of Internal Power, however, he endured silently with his own body.
In that moment, Ak Mu-ryeong's eyes flashed.
With pure Internal Power alone, no one in the world could match Bu Eun-seol.
Even if there was a gap in their martial arts, given Bu Eun-seol's prowess, protecting a single Command Plaque wouldn't have been difficult.
Yet, to avoid undermining the dignity of the Pavilion Lord, Ak Mu-ryeong, Bu Eun-seol refrained from using his Internal Power.
Instead, he silently endured the pain.
—"I will protect this with my life."
Bu Eun-seol was fulfilling those words to the letter.
Only, he cared nothing for his own life, solemnly upholding the duty of a disciple of Langya Pavilion.
Grind.
Ak Mu-ryeong gritted his teeth.
Even in the history of Langya Pavilion, where few remained whole, Bu Eun-seol was undoubtedly the most unyielding stone.
How was one supposed to break that insane madness, that bullheaded stubbornness?
Shooo—
Eventually, the melting Wolf Token gradually began to regain its original form.
Simultaneously, Ak Mu-ryeong's imposing aura also slowly receded.
By the time Bu Eun-seol finished his recollection,
"Shin Do-mu-bi. You've truly gone mad, haven't you?"
Ak Mu-ryeong, baring his fangs, swallowed hard as he glared down at Jeong Cheon-je.
"At this point, it'd be better to just send you straight to hell."
Ak Mu-ryeong, radiating a blinding white light,
looked every bit the Madman of the World, no less deranged than Jeong Cheon-je himself.
"Now I won't call you the Heaven of the Righteous Faction—I'll call you the Righteous Faction's greatest lunatic!"
Boom!
In an instant, Ak Mu-ryeong closed the distance and drove his fist deep into Jeong Cheon-je's abdomen.
Jeong Cheon-je flew like a cannonball, toppling dozens of trees in the distance.
Rumble.
Slowly rising from the cloud of dust, Jeong Cheon-je walked forward, blood trickling from his lips.
Step. Step. Halt.
Standing tall before Ak Mu-ryeong once more, he cracked his neck.
It was as if he were daring him to strike again.
"Heh heh heh."
Ak Mu-ryeong pointed at Jeong Cheon-je's face and cackled.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
His laughter was so uproarious that his face became a mass of wrinkles.
"Even in madness, your pride remains intact."
In the past, Jeong Cheon-je had fought Ak Mu-ryeong multiple times, each time deploying his Mysterious Gate Strong Qi—impenetrable as iron—to receive bare-handed strikes head-on.
And now.
After tasting Ak Mu-ryeong's terrifying fist, he instinctively displayed that same imposing demeanor.
Boom!
Without another word,
Ak Mu-ryeong drove his fist once more into Jeong Cheon-je's abdomen.
But something astonishing happened.
Only the sound of an explosion echoed—Jeong Cheon-je remained standing tall, staring straight at Ak Mu-ryeong.
Grin.
Jeong Cheon-je, wearing a smile brimming with madness, raised his fist.
Boom!
This time, it was Ak Mu-ryeong who was sent flying dozens of yards away.
Rumble.
As Ak Mu-ryeong rose from the rubble, his pupils flashed like twin torches through the settling dust.
"Even mad, his fists are still serviceable."
Step. Step.
With each of his steps, the surrounding space distorted.
Whoosh.
In that instant, Ak Mu-ryeong's right fist was drawing in all the light of the world.
It was condensing the power of absolute annihilation—the force capable of shattering every martial art under heaven.
As this life-or-death moment approached,
Click, click.
Jeong Cheon-je abruptly began moving his fingers ever so slightly.
He had sensed that Ak Mu-ryeong wasn't merely gathering power into his fist—he was unleashing the culmination of all the martial arts he had mastered throughout his life.
Contrary to Ak Mu-ryeong, who was concentrating his strength, Jeong Cheon-je was employing the subtle principle of dispersing the flow of power.
Click, click-click.
The minute, almost imperceptible movements of Jeong Cheon-je's fingers.
They predicted every single moment of Ak Mu-ryeong's fist technique, which carried the destructive force capable of annihilating the world.
And they were severing it.
'Jeong Cheon-je's body remembers his past life-and-death struggle with the Pavilion Lord.'
From afar, Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
Jeong Cheon-je, who had shown no particular reaction even upon seeing Martial Venerable—his sworn brother.
Yet in this battle against Ak Mu-ryeong, even in his madness, he was employing the profound principles of martial arts.
Rumble.
Ak Mu-ryeong was still gathering his strength.
Jeong Cheon-je, matching his movements, was subtly flexing his fingers, dispersing the force.
As this exchange stretched longer—
"Perish!"
With a thunderous roar, Ak Mu-ryeong unleashed a fist strike capable of shaking mountains and rivers.
Crack.
In an instant, spiderweb-like fissures spread across the ground where Jeong Cheon-je stood.
Yet Jeong Cheon-je remained unmoved, standing with eerie calm.
Like an unyielding boulder that had weathered a thousand years, he stood firm, his fingers making minute adjustments.
He was engaging in a battle of skill—cutting off the force of Ak Mu-ryeong's attack before it could even manifest.
"If you're a madman, then fight like one!"
BOOM!
Ak Mu-ryeong finally shifted his approach.
To prevent Jeong Cheon-je from engaging in this battle of technique, he unleashed an instinctive fist technique—one that erupted from the depths of his unconscious.
His hands, having long ago reached the Martial Extreme Realm, moved faster than light, each stance containing countless profound subtleties.
Swish.
In response, Jeong Cheon-je did not evade. Instead, he swung his own fist to meet it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Every time their fists collided in midair, the ground, unable to withstand the pressure, sank entirely.
With each movement, long trails were left hanging in the air.
CRASH!
Ak Mu-ryeong poured forth a fist force as sharp as a spear's tip.
Jeong Cheon-je unfolded a palm technique with a wide range, forming a circular barrier of energy.
KWA-BOOM!
Every time fist and palm clashed, all sound and color vanished.
The shockwaves, taking tangible form, reshaped the surrounding terrain.
Even Bu Eun-seol, watching from afar with his Protective Astral Energy deployed, couldn't withstand the aftermath.
In the end, he had to erect an additional barrier using the Willful True Binding.
Swish.
At some point, Jeong Cheon-je had seized both of Ak Mu-ryeong's fists in his grip.
In this battle of instinct, it had been proven—Jeong Cheon-je's hands were faster than Ak Mu-ryeong's.
CRACK.
Jeong Cheon-je clenched Ak Mu-ryeong's fists and, without hesitation, lifted him bodily before slamming him into the ground.
KWAANG!
A deep crater formed as Ak Mu-ryeong was buried deep within.
ZIP!
Like lightning, Ak Mu-ryeong shot out from the pit and instantly struck Jeong Cheon-je's jaw.
BOOM!
But Jeong Cheon-je paid it no mind, standing tall as he glared at Ak Mu-ryeong.
Around him, dozens of layers of an extremely faint, translucent golden barrier had formed.
Mysterious Gate Strong Qi.
Based on the Golden Cicada True Qi, renowned as the most resilient force in the world.
He had created an indestructible barrier, blocking Ak Mu-ryeong's attack.
"Even mad, his martial arts are truly engraved into his body."
Ak Mu-ryeong bared his teeth in a grin.
This situation was an exact recreation of his past battle with Jeong Cheon-je.
Back then, Ak Mu-ryeong had ultimately failed to break through the Mysterious Gate Strong Qi, swallowing his bitter rage as he retreated.
But now was different.
Now, he possessed the power to shatter anything in this world.
KWA-BOOM!
As Ak Mu-ryeong swung his fist once more—
With the illusion of hundreds of walls breaking, the golden barrier shattered in all directions.
He had finally broken the Mysterious Gate Strong Qi.
WHOOSH!
Seizing the opening, Ak Mu-ryeong unleashed another fist strike.
His fist, tracing a crimson arc through the air, was about to strike Jeong Cheon-je's face when—
Kwoong.
Jeong Cheon-je blocked the punch with a fluid motion.
Though the movement appeared agonizingly slow, in reality, it was faster than Lightning Flash, intercepting the attack effortlessly.
From afar, Bu Eun-seol's chest tightened as he watched.
They were clearly moving faster than light, yet their motions seemed unbearably sluggish—as if time itself had thickened around them.
Every single exchange between them carried force comparable to Limitless Power.
Even in close combat, they warped time itself, creating impossible paradoxes.
Just witnessing it was enough to make one's chest constrict, as if blood might surge up their throat from sheer pressure.
Kwawoong! Kwawoong!
Hundreds of jang in every direction were reduced to ruins, massive craters forming where grand halls could have stood.
"Shin Do-mu-bi!"
Ak Mu-ryeong roared, thrusting his hand skyward.
"Try blocking this!"
Hwudududuk—
In an instant, black True Qi rained down from the heavens.
Ak Mu-ryeong's Heart-Severing Rain of Sorrow, a technique that once shook the world.
He unleashed Phantom Restoration, striking simultaneously at both mind and body.
Sssshwaaaa—
Each drop of that dark rain carried the distilled essence of Ak Mu-ryeong's pure destructive power.
Hwudududuk—
Jeong Cheon-je, seemingly with no means to defend himself, stood exposed to a force that could melt flesh and Spirit and Mind on contact.
"Without your Golden Thread Sword, you're helpless?"
Zzzing—
Suddenly, a mysterious power surged from Jeong Cheon-je's hand.
The absolute might of the foremost master of the Righteous Path, combined with the techniques and wills of every foe he had ever faced—
Ten Thousand Foes Return to One, Heavenly Martial Return.
A supreme art that fused all martial techniques he had ever encountered, then amplified them with his own celestial prowess.
Jeong Cheon-je's Limitless Power—Heavenly Martial Return—was now unleashed.
Paaaaaa—
When the two Absolute Grandmasters, both said to have reached the pinnacle of martial arts, clashed—
Without shockwaves or sound, the clash transformed into pure light, radiating silently in all directions.
Uruurung—
A colossal crater formed beneath them, molten lava spewing from fissures in the shattered earth.
Drip—drip—
Then, transparent ripples began descending from the sky.
Bu Eun-seol's Life-and-Death Combat Formation, woven from six overlapping ancient formations, had finally shattered.
As the tremors ceased and the dust settled, the two figures gradually became visible.
Ak Mu-ryeong stood tall and unbroken.
Jeong Cheon-je was slightly hunched.
Crack—
The ground beneath Ak Mu-ryeong's feet began fracturing like spiderwebs.
Though Jeong Cheon-je's stance had faltered—
Ak Mu-ryeong had allowed the force to pass through his body.
In other words, while Ak Mu-ryeong's martial depth remained superior in clarity, Jeong Cheon-je held the edge in raw power.
"Huuu."
Seeing Ak Mu-ryeong unharmed, Jeong Cheon-je's face twisted with rage as he unleashed another surge of energy.
"Kaaat!"
The shockwaves radiating from his body grew even fiercer than before.
Jeong Cheon-je, the madman.
Unbelievably, the more he fought—
The more he was struck—
The stronger he became.
"You sly bastard. How is he a madman?"
Ak Mu-ryeong's eyes burned with fury as he shouted.
"No wonder Phantom Restoration had no effect... You imposed a Restrictive Seal on yourself."
Ak Mu-ryeong hadn't been blindly trying to kill Jeong Cheon-je.
Had that been the case, the battle wouldn't have remained so peaceful—limbs would have been torn off by now.
At Bu Eun-seol's request, he had been probing relentlessly, striking at Jeong Cheon-je's Spirit and Mind,
Using Phantom Restoration to examine the depths of his psyche.
And at last, he had uncovered the truth behind Jeong Cheon-je's descent into madness.
"You didn't fall to madness from external influence... You deliberately shattered your own Spirit and Mind with an unfathomable Great Art."
Having once cast Phantom Restoration on Jeong Cheon-je in the past,
Ak Mu-ryeong knew well the unyielding strength of his will.
If Jeong Cheon-je had been driven mad by an outside force—
Or by someone else's hand—
It would have left cracks in his mental barriers. Even if Phantom Restoration couldn't fully restore his mind, it should have found some weakness to exploit.
But Jeong Cheon-je's Spirit and Mind was completely sealed.
Meaning—he had willingly, meticulously, destroyed it himself.
"For limitless power?"
Jeong Cheon-je grew stronger with every blow he took.
A man who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts.
Having entered the realm of the unconscious, existing solely as a pure form of power...
He could infinitely amplify his strength, as though he had truly become a Martial God.
"No, that can't be."
Jeong Cheon-je was a man of unwavering integrity, one who had never been obsessed with power.
There was no way he would willingly choose the path of madness to become a stronger being.
"In that case, I have no choice but to kill him."
For the first time, a genuine killing intent radiated from Ak Mu-ryeong's body.
Until now, he had been waiting for the perfect moment to cast Phantom Restoration, so while his killing momentum was visible, there had been no true intent to kill.
But now that he had confirmed Phantom Restoration would not work, he had resolved in earnest to end Jeong Cheon-je's life.
Jeong Cheon-je had become a madman.
His very existence was like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.
'This is the worst possible scenario.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching the battle, bit his lip.
Ak Mu-ryeong had long honed his martial arts to surpass the Twin Heavenly Emperors of Righteous and Demonic.
Even if Jeong Cheon-je had willingly descended into madness, he was not the kind of man to hold back out of sentimentality.
Creak... crackle...
As the killing intent flowing from Ak Mu-ryeong intensified, his back split open—
And from within, another shadow began to take form.
Ak Mu-ryeong had been born with unparalleled talent, yet even so, he had never been able to overcome the wall that was the Twin Heavenly Emperors of Righteous and Demonic.
In the past, he could not fathom why.
But only after witnessing Bu Eun-seol—Langya Pavilion's greatest prodigy and a peerless masterpiece shaped by the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, the greatest saber master of all time—inherit Langya Pavilion's martial essence in an instant—
Did he finally understand why he could only ever come close to the Twin Heavenly Emperors, yet never defeat them.
—Those bastards... they are all men who act upon the will of Heaven itself.
The Twin Heavenly Emperors, Bu Jan-yang, and now Bu Eun-seol.
To Ak Mu-ryeong's eyes, they were not beings born to live ordinary lives.
They were existences tied to the Heavenly Dao or Heavenly Mandate.
That was why, no matter how much he refined his martial arts or devised secret techniques to defeat them—
In the end, he was fated to lose.
But Ak Mu-ryeong had been given one more chance.
Witnessing Bu Eun-seol's growth—breaking the very framework of martial arts—and personally guiding his transcendent evolution...
—Then the answer is not martial arts, but a technique that defies reason itself.
Paradoxically, this realization granted him an unprecedented insight and inspiration, allowing him to achieve another breakthrough.
—If this body becomes two... wouldn't that be enough to crush those bastards?
Compensating for qualitative disparity with numerical superiority was a fundamental principle of martial arts.
The only problem was that, no matter what method one used,
A single person could not become two.
But Ak Mu-ryeong had long since reached the Martial Extreme Realm and had mastered the most mysterious of Mind Seizing Secret Arts.
And finally, through Phantom Restoration,
He created a technique that allowed a projection of his soul to act not as a mere illusion, but as a true entity capable of wielding power and skill.
Illusory Self Combat Body.
A perfect replica of his mind and martial arts, capable of acting in reality—
While simultaneously surpassing the limits of the Martial Extreme Realm, adding a new Limitless Power to his arsenal.
Kuuung...
As he tore a fragment of his soul and embedded it into the illusion, granting it substance through the laws of Phantom Restoration—
Before him stood the Illusory Self Combat Body,
A being identical to Ak Mu-ryeong in martial arts and will—
No, another Ak Mu-ryeong had been born.
Wooong...
At the same time, a golden radiance began to shine from Jeong Cheon-je's body.
Realizing that Ak Mu-ryeong had unleashed a Limitless Power that transcended conventional martial principles,
Jeong Cheon-je instinctively activated his own Golden Cicada True Qi, preparing to unleash his Limitless Power—Heavenly Martial Return.
But then, something astonishing happened.
Ziiing...
Suddenly, golden chains—like ropes of light—manifested around Jeong Cheon-je's entire body, and his power began to gradually fade.
Ak Mu-ryeong turned his head—
And saw Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching from afar, now standing close, pouring forth a strange energy.
"What are you doing?!"
"Pavilion Lord."
Bu Eun-seol, who had woven the massive chains of True Qi, spoke in a solemn voice.
"Allow this disciple to use the final secret method I prepared. Please grant me permission."
A flicker of golden light flashed in Ak Mu-ryeong's pupils.
"You truly intend to do this? To bring that madman back?"
"I made a promise to him while receiving his help."
In order to defeat Martial Venerable,
Bu Eun-seol had made one promise in exchange for Mu-gyeol's assistance.
Even if he failed to subdue Martial Venerable, he would ensure Jeong Cheon-je's sanity was restored.
And if that proved impossible, he would completely suppress Jeong Cheon-je and find another way to bring him back.
Afterward, Bu Eun-seol had sought out Ak Mu-ryeong to discuss Jeong Cheon-je's condition.
Then, he had gone to Han Sang-ja—a sage whose wisdom and insight rivaled even Heavenly Mechanism Star—
And reviewed everything from the beginning.
There, he had obtained something he had never anticipated, and he had relayed this discovery to Ak Mu-ryeong as well.
And now—
Bu Eun-seol was prepared to stake his life
To carry out that plan.