Chapter 1183
Rumble—
A deafening roar swept through the surroundings as if heaven and earth had been overturned.
The scene before his eyes shattered into fragments, and shards of white light exploded outward like a burst of radiance.
The stories that had been digging into his mind had already transformed into pure white butterflies, fluttering away into the distant sky.
Along with the bitter cold trapped within the ice, a sensation as if all the blood in his body had frozen over surged through him.
And then... his memories cut off there.
As everything vanished—
Drip, drip—
The world before his eyes melted away like dissolving ice, collapsing in an instant.
Flash!
In the suffocating pressure of reality, Bu Eun-seol's eyes snapped open.
Then, he saw the masked man driving the Odd-shaped Sword toward his sternum.
The man's eyes, once blazing with madness, had already lost focus, and the fingers gripping the sword were gradually turning cold.
Severely wounded, and having forcibly dredged up memories by tearing open the fractures in his Spirit and Mind through Phantom Restoration...
His brain was slowly melting away as he died.
Thanks to that, the Odd-shaped Sword, which had been about to pierce Bu Eun-seol's heart, stopped just a hair's breadth away.
"Kihihi."
But then, the masked man, who had been on the verge of death, suddenly widened his eyes—
"Kehehehe!"
—and burst into maniacal laughter as he stared at Bu Eun-seol.
His gaze seemed to mock:
—I may die, but you will live in endless torment!
Thud.
Abruptly, the laughter ceased.
Thump.
The masked man's grip on the sword loosened as his head slumped to the ground, and he breathed his last.
Shhk—
Bu Eun-seol yanked the sword embedded in his sternum out in one swift motion.
Blood poured endlessly, forming a small pool, and a searing pain burned at the wound—
Yet he only stared blankly into empty space.
The memories lingering in that masked man's mind... had not been his own.
—Wasn't he also one of the Eighteen Radiant Souls?
Those memories belonged to his youth.
To a comrade who had endured hellish training alongside him to become one of the Eighteen Radiant Souls.
—Right. You couldn't even speak... your Spirit and Mind had completely collapsed...
According to the comrade's words in the masked man's memories,
at that time, the masked man's Spirit and Mind had already been destroyed, and his body left crippled.
In other words, his mind had not been intact.
The stories he had heard from his comrade during training had remained buried somewhere in his consciousness,
only to resurface through Phantom Restoration.
'Is this the limitation of forcibly injecting the power of the Saint Among Poisons to create fractures in the Spirit and Mind, then peering into memories?'
Bu Eun-seol had forcibly infused the masked man with the power of the Saint Among Poisons to amplify his martial arts,
then used Phantom Restoration to peer into his memories through the fractures in his Spirit and Mind.
But it was impossible to see all of a person's memories.
Since the method involved forcibly breaking into the Spirit and Mind by luring them with martial ascension,
he couldn't sift through every memory in their mind.
Only fragments imprinted in their consciousness, or moments that had left a deep impression during their life, could be seen.
'Perhaps this is only natural.'
Even when peering into another's memories within the Mindscape,
the only things visible were memories directly connected to oneself or those most vividly imprinted in the other's mind.
'But that face...'
In the masked man's memories, the faces of the boy, his mother, and all others who appeared were nothing but black silhouettes.
That was to be expected—
the masked man had likely never seen the boy or his mother's faces back then.
Yet, strangely,
only the face of the swordsman with tiger-like golden eyes remained vividly clear.
'The masked man, like the boy, must have seen that swordsman's face directly.'
At some point—whether around the same time as the boy or later—
the masked man had encountered that terrifying swordsman in person, which was why his face alone remained distinct.
And because of that,
Bu Eun-seol could now confirm the truth behind the young man's desperate cry—
that the boy's father was none other than the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade.
Not only had the boy's father abandoned his mother in misery,
but Bu Eun-seol now knew exactly who the ruthless murderer was—
the one who had gouged out her eyes and severed her arms.
Gurgle—
Bu Eun-seol finally spat out a mouthful of blood.
Not because of the wound in his chest, but because of the overwhelming shock crashing over him.
"Grandfather."
That boy's biological father—and his sworn enemy—
the swordsman carrying a massive great saber was none other than his grandfather in his youth:
the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang.
Bu Eun-seol had already seen his grandfather's face from his middle-aged years in a portrait stored in the Demon Hall.
That was why he had recognized the swordsman's face—the only one clearly visible in the masked man's memories—
as his grandfather's in an instant.
"So... the murderer gouged out Grandfather's eyes and severed his arms?"
—Don't look at me.
Unable to bear the woman's gaze filled with deep resentment, he had stabbed out her eyes.
—Don't you dare touch me with those filthy hands!
The hands that had reached out, begging him to at least raise their child...
had felt like an inescapable obsession, so he had cut them off.
And so, the boy had kept his oath—
just as his mother had suffered,
he had gouged out his heartless father's eyes and severed his hands.
"Is that why you gave your life without hesitation?"
His grandfather had lived his life in regret for the past.
Not only for taking countless lives... but also for abandoning his wife and child.
But why?
For the Greater Righteousness? Or because there was something he had to do?
Thud.
Bu Eun-seol dropped to his knees.
His grandfather was the Invincible Saber Master.
Even if he had passed on all his power to someone, he would never be defeated by anyone.
Even if he had been forced into retreat.
His two eyes and arms could not have been damaged so cleanly otherwise.
Meaning—Grandfather had completely abandoned resistance.
The reason he gave up his life without hesitation.
Was it not only to protect him, but also—
Because the son who had been the source of his lifelong regret had finally come to see him?
"Then... is he the Return to Unity Realm Lord?"
It was highly likely that Grandfather's flesh and blood was the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
After all, in his youth, he had strongly resembled Grandfather's face.
If so, was the reason the Return to Unity Realm Lord was so overwhelmingly powerful because he had been born with the Ten Thousand Transformations Sacred Body?
And then, unable to suppress his extreme thirst for vengeance—
Had he brutally killed Grandfather, stolen his corpse, and even desecrated it beyond recognition?
"It's possible. But—"
Bu Eun-seol slowly shook his head.
It was just a gut feeling, but—
He didn't sense that the boy in the Masked Man's memories was the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
Instead, it felt more plausible that Grandfather had briefly been involved with another woman, and another child had been born from that union—
And that he might have only learned of it much later.
"No. Grandfather wasn't the kind of man to turn his back on his own blood."
In the past, when Grandfather had heard that his kidnapped kin were being held in the Saintess Sect, he had annihilated the entire sect without hesitation.
Yet, if a child had been born from a lowly courtesan—would he have truly abandoned and refused to acknowledge them?
The logic didn't add up.
"I don't know."
Bu Eun-seol clutched his head.
Only three things were certain.
First, Grandfather had endlessly regretted the past.
Second, the murderer who killed Grandfather—
Had used the same method as the one who had slain the boy's mother.
Third, Grandfather... had willingly given his life to the killer.
And it was this third fact that tormented Bu Eun-seol.
If it wasn't his own kin—
Then the grandfather who had cherished and loved him so deeply—
Would never have abandoned him alone and surrendered his life to the murderer.
—"Despite having ordinary bones, he surpassed even the Eighteen Radiant Souls—an elite group composed only of the greatest prodigies of the era—and ultimately became the unprecedented Nineteenth."
Suddenly, a crucial fact from the Masked Man's memories resurfaced.
Through the Absolute Demon Saber Project, Grandfather had become a terrifyingly powerful saber wielder who struck fear into the entire martial world.
Thereafter, he washed his hands in blood, carved his path through slaughter, and single-handedly carried out countless dangerous missions.
And after that—
He became part of the Eighteen Radiant Souls, the martial world's most secretive organization—even though there had never been a Nineteenth before.
—"To become like him... to join the Martial Alliance."
"The Martial Alliance!"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed.
In the end, there was only one answer.
The secret society connected to the Eighteen Radiant Souls.
The place where Grandfather—once a saber wielder of the Demonic Path through the Absolute Demon Saber Project—had finally taken his place as the Nineteenth.
All of it led back to the Martial Alliance.
Meaning—if he investigated the Abyss hidden within the Martial Alliance, the answers would be there.
Bu Eun-seol returned to the Demon Hall.
—"Find out exactly what kind of force the Eighteen Radiant Souls are, and what connection they have to the Martial Alliance!"
And this time, the information he had uncovered about the Martial Alliance—everything except Grandfather's personal history—
He shared it not only with the Azure Heaven Alliance and the Martial Soul Society, but also with every sect leader of the orthodox factions he was on good terms with.
Then, he ordered the Death Soul Squad to begin investigating the Eighteen Radiant Souls.
Originally, he had kept matters related to his revenge strictly to himself—aside from Yu Un-ryong—never informing his acquaintances or subordinates.
But destroying the Martial Alliance was no longer just his own fight.
To uproot the Abyssal Forces that had endlessly spread corruption—
All factions had to unite and wage war against the Martial Alliance.
—"We must train even harder."
Upon hearing that the Martial Alliance was connected to the martial world's most secretive organization, the sect leaders silently doubled down on their training.
—"We must grow stronger."
The current state of the martial world was no longer a mere power struggle between the Righteous and Unorthodox Factions.
For ages, forces had manipulated the martial world at will, dictating the fates of countless people.
And to eradicate them—everyone had to combine their strength.
—"We found no trace of any force called the Eighteen Radiant Souls."
Despite the Death Soul Squad's continued investigation, no such organization could be found.
Even Han Sang-ja—who was deeply versed in martial history and ancient knowledge—claimed to have never even heard the term before.
—"It won't be easy to uncover."
Perhaps that was only natural.
It was the last organization Grandfather had been part of.
If it were something so easily discovered, the truth of his past as the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade would have been exposed long ago.
—"Now, after changing my identity once more—"
He would infiltrate the Martial Alliance as a warrior, tear open its underworld, and expose everything.
Destroying the Martial Alliance—
Hadn't been his top priority before, but it had always been part of the Grand Design Bu Eun-seol had been steadily advancing.
Yet now that he knew this truth—
To uncover what the Eighteen Radiant Souls truly were—
To learn the reality behind Grandfather's actions—
He would infiltrate the Martial Alliance once more as a spy, this time with the resolve to thoroughly investigate and annihilate the forces lurking in the Abyss.
With the Darkness Secret Arts at his disposal, shaking the Martial Alliance to its core was no longer a dangerous or difficult task.
—"The Wudang Sect Leader, the Namgung Family Head, and the Sichuan Tang Clan Head have convened."
Moreover, due to this recent assassination attempt,
Daoist Master Yeong-cheong and others had reconfirmed that Buddhist Venerable and Baek Mu-seong were not righteous figures,
and that the Martial Alliance was indeed a den of evil.
Though they were extremely meticulous—leaving no immediate evidence to prove their involvement—
they intended to make it known to the world that the assassination attempt had only been possible due to leaked intelligence from within the Martial Alliance.
—"Now that the Martial Alliance has stabilized and the invasion from Beyond the Frontier has been successfully repelled...
This old monk shall relinquish the position of Phoenix Lord and return to solitude."
But the Martial Alliance had struck first.
Along with shocking news.
The Holy Monk, Buddhist Venerable—who had inherited all authority from the Martial Alliance Leader—had now become the Phoenix Lord.
He had swiftly restored order to the Martial Alliance and established the Righteous Alliance, brilliantly repelling the invasion from Beyond the Frontier.
And now, as if having fulfilled his duty,
he was stepping down from the position of Phoenix Lord without hesitation, departing to roam the martial world once more as a wandering recluse.
—"Truly, this is the Buddhist Venerable we know."
Upon hearing this news, the righteous faction could not conceal their surging admiration and reverence.
The Phoenix Lord.
This supreme position was one even the Martial Alliance Leader had to obey without question—
effectively placing its holder on par with the Supreme Martial Lord of the righteous faction.
And yet, he was relinquishing it without hesitation and leaving the Martial Alliance?
—"Holy Monk, could you not stay and guide the righteous faction?"
Countless righteous martial artists pleaded earnestly, but the Buddhist Venerable only responded with a serene smile before vanishing without a trace.
—"The remnants of the forces from Beyond the Frontier who invaded the Central Plains have attempted to assassinate the leaders of the righteous factions who participated in the Righteous Alliance!"
Shortly after, Baek Mu-seong, the Martial Alliance Leader, delivered another shocking announcement.
The forces from Beyond the Frontier had anticipated their invasion would fail—
their true objective had been
to eliminate the leaders of the righteous factions while they were intoxicated by victory.
—"The Azure Heaven Alliance Leader, the Wudang Sect Leader, the Namgung and Tang Family Heads, and even the Martial Soul Society Leader were all targets!"
The forces from Beyond the Frontier had secretly dispatched a long-trained assassination squad to ambush the returning leaders,
but contrary to expectations, the martial prowess of these leaders far surpassed what had been known, rendering the assassination attempt futile.
—"This is entirely this Alliance Leader's responsibility!"
With a cry of anguish, Baek Mu-seong made a startling declaration.
—"This Alliance Leader, drunk on victory, neglected the safety of the righteous faction leaders who trusted and followed us!
Deeply remorseful, to ensure such an incident never occurs again—
to prevent intelligence leaks and unauthorized infiltration—
this Alliance Leader will restructure our security system and temporarily step down to enter seclusion."
Baek Mu-seong, who had just become the sun of the righteous faction,
despite the assassination attempt not being his fault,
chose to take full responsibility—
just as his master, the Buddhist Venerable, had relinquished the position of Phoenix Lord without hesitation.
With the pillars of the righteous faction ambushed while returning from the Martial Alliance,
he fortified the Alliance's security like an impregnable fortress,
transferred all authority to Deputy Leader Bukri Seung, and temporarily stepped down from his position.
—"Master and disciple are truly of one mind!"
The righteous faction endlessly praised these two just and noble figures.
Moreover, because of this incident,
veteran masters who had long been dissatisfied with the Martial Alliance,
and even recluses who had settled Beyond the Frontier,
were now rushing to join the Martial Alliance in droves.
Demon Hall, Hidden Demon Pavilion.
Due to the Martial Alliance's sudden and shocking announcements,
Bu Eun-seol's plan to infiltrate the Alliance once more to investigate its inner workings—
and to uncover the identities of the so-called Eighteen Radiant Souls—
was instantly thwarted.
"Because of this assassination attempt, the Martial Alliance has become an impregnable fortress."
These were the words of No Trace, leader of the Death Soul Squad.
As if he had been preparing for this moment for a long time,
Baek Mu-seong had established a flawless security system that made infiltration or identity-swapping impossible.
Even accounting for the Darkness Secret Arts,
Mok Do-in, the Forest Pavilion Chief—now replaced by another figure from the Sacred Realm—had been put in charge of the Alliance's security,
and unique spell formations had been deployed to ensure no outsider could breach its defenses.
Clench.
Bu Eun-seol tightened his fist.
In the end, the Buddhist Venerable and Baek Mu-seong had prepared perfect countermeasures in anticipation of their plans failing.
To ensure no further intelligence could be extracted from the Martial Alliance.
"No, it doesn't matter."
Bu Eun-seol spoke as if resolved.
"If we can't investigate from within, we'll just tear it all down."
There was no need for impatience.
If covert investigation was impossible? Then they would simply destroy it.
And when that happened, everything hidden in the abyss would inevitably be exposed.
After the meeting concluded, Bu Eun-seol threw himself back into his work. Or at least, he tried to.
But his mind was lost in a sea of anguish and torment.
Though he showed no outward signs,
the shocking revelations about his grandfather's past had left him in extreme turmoil.
Knock knock knock.
Then came the sound of knocking, followed by Wi Cheon-gyeong's voice.
"My Lord. It's Wi Cheon-gyeong."
When the door opened, his expression was troubled.
"A guest has arrived."
"A guest?"
"Chief Strategist Gongson's younger sister has come to see you in secret at the Main Pavilion."
"Lady Gongson?"
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
Gongson Dan-a.
Gongson Dan-gyeong's younger sister, herself one of the Three Beauties of the World known as the Flower of Eloquence—had suddenly visited the Hidden Demon Pavilion.
"Hmm."
As Bu Eun-seol frowned, Wi Cheon-gyeong cautiously asked,
"Shall I send her away?"
"No, that won't be necessary."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
In any case, he couldn't focus on his work right now.
Moreover, considering her relationship with Gongson Dan-gyeong, they absolutely couldn't turn her away at the gate.
"I'll go meet her myself."
At that moment, he still didn't know.
That the visit of this goddess-like, breathtaking woman would not only reveal traces of his grandfather's previously unknown movements—
But also bring about the moment when he would finally come face-to-face with his true nature.