Chapter 1187
Bu Eun-seol urgently asked,
"How did you know about Namchangbu?"
"Because I was there."
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden dropped a bombshell.
"It was during that very incident that I was ambushed by a True Demon Palace master and poisoned."
Thud.
The revelation hit Bu Eun-seol like a blow to the back of the head.
So, at the time when that tragic mother and child had died, his grandfather had been saving the One-Eyed Immortal Maiden?
"What exactly happened there?"
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden answered in a calm voice.
"Your grandfather had to handle various affairs while traveling between the Central Plains and Beyond the Frontier. So he selected righteous individuals and created shadows to act in his stead."
Though this was something Bu Eun-seol already knew,
he played along to encourage her to continue the story.
"I see."
"And the real Seven Fingers Demonic Blade Bu Jan-yang was eliminating spirit lands across the Central Plains."
During that process, Bu Jan-yang had repeatedly clashed with the One-Eyed Immortal Maiden, the minor lord of Fire Soul Land, which managed the largest spirit land and spirit vein in the Central Plains.
Then, through an extremely coincidental event,
the One-Eyed Immortal Maiden came to know the true nature of the man called the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade Bu Jan-yang and grew to admire him.
Concealing her feelings, she bonded with him like a close friend, sharing mutual trust.
Afterward, Bu Jan-yang received her help in various matters as he carried out his tasks.
"But then, at some point, someone appeared who perfectly mimicked his appearance, demeanor, and even his blade techniques..."
"The Bloody Tears Seven Forms...?"
"Correct. So I scoured every corner to capture that impostor."
Her eyes grew distant, as if recalling those memories.
Fire Soul Land—the domain overseeing the world's rarest herbs and spirit beasts.
Its disciples, following their lord's orders, traveled across the Central Plains,
fulfilling their duty to monitor the safety of spirit lands and spirit beasts imbued with the earth's energy.
Among them, Yang Young, the successor to the lordship, stood out with exceptional skill, having accumulated the most spiritual energy from Fire Soul Land.
Whoosh.
She raced swiftly through the mist-shrouded forest path on the outskirts of Namchangbu.
'I've finally found traces of the impostor that His Lordship has been searching for so desperately.'
Yang Young's eyes gleamed coldly.
Through Fire Soul Land's intelligence network, she had stumbled upon the impostor's trail.
If she could uncover his true identity?
Half the atrocities committed under the name of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade could be explained,
and the misunderstanding that painted him as the Great Killing Star who plunged the Martial World into chaos could be cleared.
Whoosh.
After running for a while, a strangely shaped rocky mountain came into view.
The mountain's interior, pierced by a sinister energy, was dark and deep like the maw of a giant beast.
Sssssss—
Suddenly, dozens of gleaming eyes flashed in the darkness, and a chilling wave of killing intent surged forth like a tide.
At the same time, a bizarre laughter that shook the soul echoed from all directions.
"The White Annihilation Warriors."
The masked men who had abruptly appeared
were assassins of the True Demon Palace, said to roam the Martial World in secret, slaughtering martial artists of the Baekri Side Family.
"You've been obstructing His Lordship's efforts to locate the spirit lands!"
Instead of answering, the White Annihilation Warriors drew their odd-shaped swords.
In the end, the information about the fake Seven Fingers Demonic Blade
had been a trap set by the True Demon Palace to lure and kill her—the one who provided Bu Jan-yang with intelligence on spirit lands.
Piiiiing!
Yang Young immediately pulled a signal flare from her robes and fired it into the sky.
A sharp Sound of Breaking Air accompanied the red flash soaring upward, but the flames soon dissipated uselessly.
The moment the flare burst, one of the White Annihilation Warriors had knocked it away with sword energy swift as lightning.
Zzzzzzzz—
Simultaneously, a transparent barrier formed around them, extending for several dozen zhang.
They had deployed Binding Formation Arts to prevent Yang Young from escaping.
Now, only one path remained—fight to the death.
"Kyaaa!"
With eerie battle cries, the White Annihilation Warriors charged like vengeful spirits.
They wielded unique Art of Spells infused with Soul-Demon Magic Energy, techniques no ordinary martial artist could hope to withstand.
But their opponent was Yang Young, the successor of Fire Soul Land, who had accumulated its spiritual energy.
"Haaap!"
As she channeled her Internal Energy, a pure and sacred aura bloomed around her.
Having trained in Side-Learning Sorcery in spirit lands where veins of energy flowed, and consumed Spiritual Herbs like daily meals,
her spiritual energy was as pure and potent as the Manifestation Art Energy of the Baekri Clan.
Kwaaaa!
As white spiritual energy rippled outward like a shockwave, the spells of the White Annihilation Warriors instantly crumbled.
Fwoooosh!
Seizing the opening, Yang Young drew White Purity Silver Threads from her sleeve and swung them in a dazzling flourish.
The silver threads wove into the shapes of various spirit beasts in midair,
and those forms, like living creatures, tore into the White Annihilation Warriors, shredding their limbs apart.
This was Fire Soul Land's Great Primordial Body Art.
[So you've grown stronger in your techniques after clinging to that swordsman.]
Suddenly, a sinister voice echoed,
Sssssss—
A gale swept in from all directions,
and a sinister figure clad entirely in black, wearing a white skull mask, emerged.
Kwoooong.
Behind him, a colossal Demon God Statue with three eyes materialized in the sky.
Grrrrrr.
As the three-eyed Demon God Statue turned its gaze toward Yang Young, a green mist rolled in,
and within moments, every tree, blade of grass, and even the rocks within dozens of yards began melting away.
"Do you really think mere poison can affect me?"
Yang Young scoffed.
Half of the so-called spiritual herbs contained deadly toxicity.
Having grown up consuming the spiritual herbs of the Fire Soul Land since childhood, poison was no different from medicine to her.
But the fiend's poison was different.
It was on an entirely different level from the Poison Arts of the martial world—more akin to a bizarre spell or a curse.
Swoosh.
As the green mist seeped into her body,
an excruciating pain, as if her entire body were freezing over, spread through her, and even her spiritual energy began to scatter.
Thud.
Staggering, Yang Young dropped to one knee.
Her vision blurred as her consciousness slowly faded away.
At the very moment the shadow of death began to encroach upon her soul—
CRACK-BOOM!
With a deafening roar that seemed to tear the heavens apart, a streak of black lightning struck the ground.
Amid the billowing dust, the silhouette of a man carrying a massive blade on his back emerged.
It was the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang.
[You!]
Recognizing Bu Jan-yang, the fiend recoiled in shock and immediately unleashed the Demon God Statue, pouring forth poison.
Sshhhk—
Bu Jan-yang silently drew his great blade.
The mere act of unsheathing it darkened the heavens and earth, and a mournful wail of ghosts echoed through the air.
BOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, a colossal slash spanning hundreds of feet erupted.
Amid the earth-shaking clamor—
Schlick!
Blood sprayed from the Demon God Statue—said to be impervious to physical strikes due to its composition of Soul-Demon Magic Energy—as one of its massive arms fell to the ground.
[How dare you!]
The enraged fiend spread his arms, and poison capable of rotting the earth in an instant surged into Bu Jan-yang's body.
A foul stench spread as his skin instantly turned black.
Whoosh!
Bu Jan-yang lightly swung his great blade.
And just like that, as if he had never been poisoned, his skin returned to its original color in an instant.
"......"
The fiend's eyes bulged.
The evil poison—venom so lethal it could kill even a Poison Supreme in an instant—
had vanished with just a single swing of his blade?
[This isn't over!]
Realizing he stood no chance against Bu Jan-yang, the fiend dissolved into black mist and faded away.
Bu Jan-yang did not pursue him, instead approaching the fallen Yang Young to examine her condition.
"My lord..."
The poison had already spread throughout her body, turning even her veins black.
Without hesitation, Bu Jan-yang placed a hand on her back and channeled his internal energy, drawing the poison into himself.
"It was the Poison Spirit Demon Lord."
The fiend was none other than the Poison Spirit Demon Lord—the master of the Poison Hall in the True Demon Palace.
Even Bu Jan-yang's power could not fully purify the poison he had created.
The remaining venom surged through the Lesser Yang Gallbladder Meridian, rushing terrifyingly toward Yang Young's head.
If left unchecked, her brain would rot, and she would die.
For a moment, anguish flickered across Bu Jan-yang's face.
"Bear with the pain."
Having made his decision, he gathered his internal energy once more.
Pressing the Supreme Yang Acupoint and the Bright Eyes Acupoint to suppress the poison's flow, he concentrated all the remaining venom into her left eye.
As the evil poison gathered in her eyeball—
Gurgle.
Her left pupil turned pitch black.
Plop!
Without hesitation, Bu Jan-yang reached out and plucked out her left eye, now consumed by the poison.
Hiss—
The eyeball had already melted into black liquid, burning a hole hundreds of feet deep into the ground.
The horrific poison that had nearly claimed her life had been completely eradicated.
"Ugh..."
Yang Young regained consciousness amidst unbearable pain.
The ghastly sensation of her left eye socket being hollowed out greeted her, along with the sight of Bu Jan-yang's agonized face looking down at her.
"What... happened?"
Bu Jan-yang spoke with a heavy expression.
"I detected the emergency signal of the Fire Soul Land near Chengdu."
He began explaining the sequence of events.
Bu Jan-yang had come to Nanchang Prefecture to settle some matters and had briefly stopped by the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.
There, a woman approached him with a young boy in tow, tearfully asking if he remembered her.
At that moment, a chill ran down his spine.
Not only was the boy born with the legendary Innate Martial Bone and the Ten Thousand Transformations Sacred Body,
but he had also sensed a hidden gaze watching from over three thousand feet away.
Bu Jan-yang immediately unleashed his killing intent to pinpoint the source.
The presence, which had been clinging like a snake, vanished instantly.
Bu Jan-yang's expression darkened.
If the opponent was a master skilled enough to deceive his senses and close within three thousand feet—they must have already overheard the conversation between the mother and himself.
They could be planning a trap using them.
With a deep sigh, he rose from his seat.
He had deliberately avoided forming any ties in the martial world.
Because whenever someone approached him, they inevitably became targets.
Bu Jan-yang followed the mother and son, discovering their hut, and kept watch over them all night.
But then, he detected the emergency signal flare of the Fire Soul Land exploding from a nearby mountain.
It was the signal flare carried by Yang Young, the young mistress of the Fire Soul Land.
Though he had to protect the unfamiliar woman and boy, he could not ignore the danger facing Yang Young, who had always aided him.
In the end, Bu Jan-yang left the hut
and flew at full speed toward Jade Cloud Mountain, where the signal had been fired.
Having heard everything, Yang Young faintly smiled as she touched her hollowed eye socket.
"I see."
Struggling to conceal her pain and sorrow, she spoke in a firm voice.
"Now that you've plucked out my eye, you must take responsibility for my future."
"Lady Yang."
"You wouldn't possibly ruin an innocent maiden's life and pretend nothing happened, would you?"
It was a bold demand—yet the only request a woman who had lost everything could make.
Bu Jan-yang silently gazed at her remaining eye.
Within that pupil swirled resentment, resignation, and a threadbare strand of hope.
If he refused her?
She would drown in lifelong grief, perhaps even take her own life, unable to bear the agony of her disfigurement.
But if he gave his word to take responsibility?
The sorrow of losing an eye might instead become her greatest joy.
In the end, Bu Jan-yang slowly, heavily, nodded.
"Understood."
"Truly?"
"Indeed."
"You've promised now. You must never break it."
"Of course. However—"
Bu Jan-yang added,
"I still have much work left unfinished. Once all matters are settled, I shall take responsibility for you without fail."
Hearing this answer, Yang Young nearly leapt with joy.
Losing one eye—
She had gained the heart of that stone-faced man instead. This day had become more blessed than cursed.
After recovering from her wounds, Yang Young returned to Fire Soul Land to prepare for their wedding.
For it was a promise made by Bu Jan-yang himself.
Though she couldn't know when his affairs would conclude, the promise would surely be kept.
For the wedding that would one day come—
She wove bridal robes from the most exquisite silks and gathered rare spirit beasts as precious gifts.
Where the scar of her lost eye should have been, her face now bloomed with fluttering hope and smiles.
Though Bu Jan-yang's travels showed no sign of ending, Yang Young waited joyfully.
He was a man who would keep his promise even if the heavens collapsed.
Yet as years piled upon years, he vanished without word or trace.
Ultimately, the dazzling bridal garments and rare betrothal gifts she'd so tenderly prepared—
Were moved to Fire Soul Land's deepest, darkest storeroom.
There, time's dust settled thick upon them. A wait as cold and hollow as her empty eyesocket had begun.
"So that's how it was."
Bu Eun-seol's face brightened upon hearing the full story.
'So that's why Grandfather released killing intent at Drunken Immortal Tower.'
His grandfather hadn't directed murderous intent toward the woman and boy at all.
Rather, he'd spread killing intent to flush out the person in hiding, while protecting them.
And had gone to the cottage just in case, to guard them himself.
"And there was an impostor too."
Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
He'd long known his grandfather had created decoys.
But someone who could replicate his appearance, aura, and techniques well enough to fool even him?
Unless there were two Greatest Saber Masters of All Time, such a thing should be impossible.
'Still... what a relief.'
Even if his grandfather had been a wolf in sheep's clothing, he'd resolved to shoulder that legacy as his grandson.
But no.
His grandfather had been more righteous than anyone—
A true great man who protected the weak and considered others' feelings and safety above all.
"Yet he broke his promise."
Tears streamed from the One-Eyed Immortal Maiden's remaining eye.
She had trusted Bu Jan-yang's promise, waiting without a shred of doubt.
Yet ultimately, he never returned.
The suffering and loneliness she must have endured through those long years was beyond words.
'So that's why all the wedding garments were aged.'
Bu Eun-seol's heart ached.
The items used in his wedding with Gongson Dan-a—
They were all things the One-Eyed Immortal Maiden had prepared for her own marriage.
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden Yang Young.
Through her grandson Bu Eun-seol—
In her own eccentric yet undeniable way—
She had finally held the wedding ceremony fate denied her.
"Grandfather must have intended to keep his promise."
Bu Eun-seol spoke gently to the weeping woman.
"But he stayed away... because coming to you would have put you in danger."
"How can you be certain?"
"Because he didn't sever the spirit vein."
Bu Eun-seol pointed to traces of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms left in Fire Soul Land.
"Those saber techniques were meant to bring forth new life through delivering death."
The decades-old saber marks showed Bu Jan-yang hadn't completely severed Fire Soul Land's spirit vein.
He'd left time for spiritual energy to accumulate, so Fire Soul Land could one day revive in splendor.
"I knew. I always knew."
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden shed hot tears.
For she understood Bu Jan-yang's true nature better than anyone.
Had loved him more deeply than anyone.
"He said Fire Soul Land would one day become the cradle to revive all the sacred lands."
Just as Bu Eun-seol suspected—
His grandfather had severed Fire Soul Land's spirit veins to prepare for the revival of the sacred lands.
"Yet one thing still puzzles me."
Bu Eun-seol cautiously asked.
"The Demonic Sword Arts used to brutally murder Grandfather were extraordinarily powerful. That implies the killer possessed equally exceptional insight and peerless talent."
Recalling the horrific scars on his grandfather's body—a thought he loathed—he continued:
"Could a master of that caliber truly fail to distinguish between the fake and real Seven Fingers Demonic Blade?"
Bu Eun-seol grabbed his hair and muttered.
"And even if they couldn't tell that difference... would they really fail to recognize their own father?"
"They wouldn't have killed him unknowingly."
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden calmly continued.
"The Ten Thousand Transformations Sacred Body grants formidable intellect as the physique matures. By adulthood, they would have possessed extraordinary wisdom and insight."
She sighed deeply.
"A scion of the Baekri Clan couldn't possibly make such a mistake."
"The Baekri Clan? Why bring them up suddenly—"
The One-Eyed Immortal Maiden spoke shocking words.
"The Ten Thousand Transformations Sacred Body only manifests among blood descendants of the Baekri Clan."