Chapter 1210
"Are humans doomed to fall into corruption?"
Bu Eun-seol let out a deep, involuntary sigh.
Even the Baekri Clan—who claimed to inherit Heaven's mandate and uphold justice—had ultimately succumbed to the allure of power.
Had he not recently witnessed Pa Hon's life firsthand,
his distrust of humanity might have deepened irreparably.
"If only the descendants of the Baekri Clan hadn't been blinded by boundless greed..."
If only they had used the True Demon's knowledge to enrich the world instead—
Even if it was forbidden by Heaven, from a human perspective, it could have been salvation. A means to alleviate suffering and save lives.
"I don't know."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"I haven't seen the Baekri Clan for myself yet."
But one thing was certain:
His father had opposed the clan's monopoly over that knowledge.
Sssssk—
Finally, as the last of the engraved letters and images faded away,
Thud.
A single withered arm dropped to the ground.
"Great Monk..."
Bu Eun-seol's gaze trembled.
To convey this truth to him—
Wooden Buddha had sacrificed an arm, using his blood and divine power to carve those words and images into the stone.
"I will not let your sacrifice be in vain."
Bu Eun-seol knelt before the desiccated arm and bowed deeply.
Until now, Wooden Buddha had continuously offered his own body to aid him—
Not for any reward or hidden purpose, but simply because he believed it was the right path.
Grrrrr—
Suddenly, the cavern trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
With Wooden Buddha's divine power exhausted, the cave began to collapse.
Emerging from the entrance of Jade Dragon Pool, Bu Eun-seol kicked off the ground and soared into the air.
The full moon hanging in the night sky bathed his black robes in silver.
"Hmm..."
His expression darkened as he cut swiftly through the air, and a long, heavy sigh escaped his lips.
Knowing the truth wasn't always a blessing.
Some burdens were better left unshouldered.
The revelations he had just gained weighed on him like an immense load pressing down on his shoulders.
"In the end, they fell to corruption."
He thought he understood now why his father had believed the Baekri Clan had strayed onto the wrong path.
If they had truly intended to benefit the world—
They should have shared the knowledge they possessed with all.
But the Baekri Clan had hoarded those astonishing secrets for themselves.
That alone was a grave sin.
"The martial arts of the martial world are confined to the Martial Extreme Realm."
It was something the Servants of the True Demon had repeated many times.
Back then, he had assumed that limiting martial development was merely a way to suppress the exceptional.
But now, he understood their true meaning.
The Baekri Clan and the True Demon Palace—
They had selectively released fragments of the True Demon's knowledge to manipulate the world's progress.
Like gods controlling the fate of humanity.
"Who should I even tell this truth to?"
He shook his head almost immediately.
For most people, ignorance would be kinder.
Speaking would change nothing, and it wasn't something worth sharing in the first place.
Zzzzzzt—
But then, a chilling sensation crawled up his spine, wrapping around his entire body as his extrasensory perception blared a warning.
Like a massive net slowly tightening—
He detected presences rapidly closing in from all directions.
Turning his head to glance back, he spotted faint shadows moving in the distant darkness.
They moved in a swarm-like formation, chasing him with terrifying speed.
"For masters of this caliber to move in a pack..."
Though he was currently employing Swift Shadowless at only the Three Stars level of internal power,
Even most masters of Lightness Art would struggle to keep up with his speed.
Yet these pursuers were steadily, leisurely closing the gap.
"The Three Realms?"
The only factions capable of mass-producing individuals who could match his Lightness Art—
Aside from colossal alliances such as the Demon Hall, the Martial Alliance, or the Martial Soul Society—
Only the Three Realms, the Same Heart Society, and other abyssal forces remained.
"I'll have to confirm."
A clearing in the forest, illuminated by moonlight, appeared in the distance.
Though open terrain made it easy to be surrounded, it also allowed him to observe his enemies' movements at a glance.
Tap.
Landing softly in the center of the clearing, Bu Eun-seol slowly turned around.
Before his feet had even fully touched the ground, the pursuing group had already fanned out, encircling him.
Amid the desolate wind, over forty masked figures revealed themselves.
A sinister black aura rose from their bodies like heat haze, and their eyes were utterly devoid of emotion.
"Thorough."
After discerning the energy radiating from them, Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
They were none other than martial artists affiliated with the imperial court.
"Of course. Someone like the Empress Dowager wouldn't set just one or two traps in the Secret Vault."
The Empress Dowager must have stationed troops near Jade Dragon Pool—
troops who could instantly detect any disturbance and eliminate intruders.
Shhhhk!
Without a single word, the forty masked men moved as one, charging toward Bu Eun-seol in perfect unison.
Daojian weiyu—when blades and swords become both speech and intent.
Their movements were a declaration: they would kill him without hesitation.
'Unusual.'
Their swords—odd-shaped blades with scale-like protrusions along the edges—were wielded with eerie precision.
Even their movement technique was unlike anything from the orthodox martial world—
a strange, unfamiliar art that moved them as a single entity.
'...And yet, fast.'
Despite forty men moving as one, their speed was unnaturally swift.
KRUNG!
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol's left fist erupted with a spiraling burst of internal power, radiating outward in all directions.
He wasn't trying to kill them outright.
Instead, he deployed the Forgetting Self and Shattering Together stance—
to observe the intricacies of their martial art.
FWOOOSH!
The sheer force sent the masked men flying backward like autumn leaves caught in a gale.
"......"
Against such overwhelming fist technique, any sane fighter would have hesitated.
Yet they showed no fear, charging again as if nothing had happened.
Shhhhk!
They weren't attacking Bu Eun-seol directly.
Instead, they slashed their weapons through the air around him—
each swing carving through empty space.
Though their blades never touched him,
with every strike, his breath grew labored, his bones twisting as if under unseen pressure.
Uuuung.
Bu Eun-seol channeled his internal power, weaving a layer of Protective Astral Energy around himself—
yet with every phantom slash, his body grew heavier.
'This isn't martial arts.'
Sssssaaah.
The black energy seeping from the masked men thickened, saturating the air with suffocating weight.
Despite not landing a single hit, breathing itself became a struggle.
'I see.'
Only now did Bu Eun-seol grasp the true nature of their technique.
'They've fused martial arts with Soul-Demon Magic Energy.'
By blending their unique martial discipline with demonic power,
they could harm the body without even landing a strike—
a bizarre, insidious method.
'They don't belong to the Imperial Palace. They're from the True Demon Palace.'
The moment he recognized the nature of their energy, something strange happened.
The Soul-Demon Magic Energy they unleashed—
began surging into his body like iron drawn to a magnet.
'Hm.'
This phenomenon had occurred before.
Soul-Demon Magic Energy had a fixed total amount and operated on a strict hierarchy—
where the lesser could never resist the greater.
At first, he assumed their energy was simply weaker than his own, causing this reaction—
'But it's because of my new martial realm.'
Now, he understood clearly.
Void Extreme Realm.
Bu Eun-seol had walked a path no others had taken,
finally stepping into the new realm of Void Extreme Realm—
a state that not only allowed him to nullify supernatural powers with World and Realm Annihilation,
but also absorb and neutralize lesser energies.
After all, his body housed both Manifestation Art Energy and Soul-Demon Magic Energy simultaneously.
Shuuuuu.
Like rain soaking into parched desert sand,
the demonic energy pouring from the masked men was rapidly absorbed into Bu Eun-seol's body.
As the influx continued, his skin darkened,
Clink. Clank.
until it hardened into a metallic carapace encasing his entire form.
The sheer volume of demonic energy had materialized into a physical shell.
Zzzzzzzzzziiing.
Then—something shifted.
The forest sky was suddenly veiled by a transparent barrier,
swallowing even the moonlight, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
Someone had activated the Binding Formation Arts—
sealing off the space within dozens of yards.
Thud. Thud.
Footsteps echoed from the distance.
A shadow emerged from the dark, its gait unsettling—
each step uneven, its rhythm unnaturally disjointed.
As it drew closer, its features sharpened.
A skeletal frame, limbs so thin they seemed ready to snap in the wind.
Tattered robes clung to its body, stained with dried blood.
At its waist hung a broken sword—blade shattered halfway down its length.
'A woman?'
Her hair was a wild, tangled mess, obscuring her face—
but the slender silhouette left no doubt.
Sssssssssss.
As she lifted her head, two eyes gleamed through the matted strands.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's heart lurched violently—thud.
Her eyes held nothing within them.
No emotion. No vitality of the living.
Only emptiness, as eerie and hollow as the eyes of a dead fish.
Clank.
The woman gripped the broken sword.
Her fingers, so emaciated they seemed nothing but bone, wrapped around the hilt in a way that looked precarious—
Yet the moment she settled into her stance, an overwhelming presence surged upward as if to prop up the heavens.
Sssss—
At the same time, the Soul-Demon Magic Energy that had mostly been drained from the masked men by Bu Eun-seol—
Began to fade away once more.
Snap!
The woman's shadow flickered, moving with startling speed—
Thwip!
And before anyone could react, the broken sword slid smoothly into the throat of one masked man.
Thwip!
Scalding blood gushed forth like a fountain.
But the woman was already darting toward her next target, swift as lightning.
Sshhk! Thwip!
Each time the broken sword cleaved through the air—
A masked man's head or limbs went flying.
As if using the Shrinking-Earth Art, she folded the shortest distance between herself and her foes—
Employing sword strokes that were neither flashy nor complex, just lethally efficient.
Whish-whish-whish-whish!
Deprived of their Soul-Demon Magic Energy, the masked men scrambled to unleash hidden weapons from their sleeves—
Genuine mechanisms crafted by Wicked Incense.
Even though their stronghold had been eradicated,
The Martial World still circulated these exquisitely made assassination tools.
Swish-swish-swish-swish-swish!
The woman did not retreat, relentlessly swinging her broken blade.
Snap-snap-snap!
Daggers lodged into her shoulders, back, and thighs, blood streaming—yet her movements never faltered.
As if she felt no pain at all.
Schlick!
Then, one masked man exploited an opening in her stance and slashed through her forearm.
Thwip!
The wound was deep enough to expose bone—yet she turned it into an opportunity to counter.
Thwip!
The broken sword carved vertically through the air, splitting the mask—and the face beneath—clean in two.
A swordsmanship so brutal even the overlords of the Unorthodox Faction would click their tongues in awe.
Swish! Snap-snap-snap!
She closed the distance relentlessly—
Using her own body as a shield in a desperate battle tactic.
To evade fatal blows,
She took hits on her shoulders, back—or when even that failed, her hips.
In close quarters, she tore with her hands, kicked with her feet, bit with her teeth.
Sometimes, she snatched fallen weapon fragments from the ground and slashed throats.
Though her entire body bore grievous wounds,
The woman showed no pain, no expression—just methodically cut down the masked men.
Thwip! Splat!
The masked men, too—
Even as flesh was torn and bones shattered in the brutal melee—not a single one let out a groan.
They fought like emotionless puppets entangled in slaughter.
The grotesque, chilling nature of this battle sent a shiver down Bu Eun-seol's spine—
And he had seen all manner of horrors in the Martial World.
Thud. Crunch.
The forty-some masked men now lay strewn across the ground, cold corpses.
But the woman was not unscathed.
Slash wounds, stab wounds, scrapes and burns from rolling and scraping against the ground—
Hardly an inch of her remained unharmed, her black robes dyed crimson-black with blood.
"......"
Bu Eun-seol watched the entire ordeal in stunned silence.
This fierce battle had lasted less than half a ke (~7.5 minutes).
In other words, forty-some masked men—
Had been slaughtered, bleeding out, in the span of a few deep breaths.
Swoosh.
Then, the battered woman lifted her head and looked at Bu Eun-seol.
An expressionless face.
Eyes of utter emptiness.
Yet within those eyes—faintly—something flickered.
It was killing intent.
Whoosh.
The woman tightened her grip on the broken sword and pointed it at Bu Eun-seol.
"I have no connection to them."
When Bu Eun-seol shook his head, the woman extended a finger.
"Soul-Demon Magic Energy."
The energy the masked men had poured into Bu Eun-seol still raged within him.
"You must die."
Those three words conveyed her intent—a fight to the death.
"This is not my power."
"If you can absorb Soul-Demon Magic Energy, you must be of the True Demon's bloodline."
A pale miasma rose from the woman's broken sword.
No words, no dialogue, held meaning now.
No matter what Bu Eun-seol said, she would not waver—this was an ultimatum.
"The Martial World..."
Divided over the distinction between Orthodox and Unorthodox Paths—
Martial artists hate and oppose one another.
How much worse must it be between the Baekri Clan and the True Demon, two forces locked in endless conflict since antiquity?
"Simply possessing that power is reason enough for a life-or-death duel."
In the end,
this might have been the inherent tragedy of those in the martial world—forever trapped in the cycle of grudges and vengeance.
"...It's always like this."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head and turned away.
There were many things he wanted to ask her, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer.
More than anything, he didn't want to hurt this frail woman, already battered and covered in wounds from a desperate struggle.
"Turning your back to a drawn blade—have you no pride as a martial artist?"
Bu Eun-seol replied flatly,
"None."
As long as it wasn't something that would shame him as a disciple of Langya Pavilion, he would do anything without hesitation.
"My mission is to eradicate the White Annihilation Warriors."
The woman's voice was devoid of emotion.
"Turning your back won't stop me from cutting you down."
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol discerned her identity.
The True Demon Palace said the White Annihilation Warriors existed—figures who roamed the martial world, slaughtering members of the Baekri Side Family.
Naturally, if the White Annihilation existed, the Baekri Clan must have trained specialists to counter them.
This woman was likely from the Baekri Clan—or perhaps a Side Family assassin tasked with eliminating those tainted by Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
"I am not one of the White Annihilation."
With those final words, Bu Eun-seol unleashed his movement technique, soaring into the sky in an instant.
Ever since witnessing the Wooden Buddha's murals,
his emotions had been in turmoil, and his reverence and admiration for the Baekri Clan had greatly diminished.
He had no desire to clash with them—nor did he want any part in her affairs.
KWA-RUNG!
Using Qi-Piercing Ascent, he burst out of the forest in a single leap.
ZZZIIZIZIK—
A transparent barrier had silently unfurled around him.
The woman had already deployed the Absolute Boundary.
'Baekri Clan members can deploy the Absolute Boundary alone.'
The realization struck him anew.
FLASH!
He immediately unleashed Harmonization, attempting to tear through the boundary.
But the nature of this Absolute Boundary was unusually tenacious and peculiar—it wouldn't be breached so easily with a single Harmonization.
SWISH!
In that moment, a massive crescent-shaped sword aura appeared behind Bu Eun-seol, slicing horizontally toward his body.
CLANG!
At the last second, Bu Eun-seol drew the Ink Soul Sword, raising it vertically to block the strike.
"Do not act recklessly."
His voice was solemn.
"Does the Baekri Clan not teach caution when taking another's life?"
Only someone who carried the Baekri bloodline—and understood their circumstances—could say such a thing.
But to the woman,
it sounded like nothing less than an insult—a sweeping condemnation of the entire Baekri Clan.
FWOOSH!
The woman launched herself into the air, unleashing forty-eight sword strikes in an instant.
"Tch."
Fury flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
He had shown restraint, unwilling to fight this pitiful woman who wandered the martial world embroiled in brutal battles.
But her actions had crossed the line.
She fought as if he were a sworn enemy—recklessly, disregarding her own life.
KWA-RUNG!
A massive Blood Dragon formed in Bu Eun-seol's left hand.
He activated the Heavenly Hand Empty Wave, intending to shatter her sword and incapacitate her in a single strike.
FWAAAAH!
As the technique unfolded, a crimson dragon capable of splitting the world itself pierced into her body.
But then—something unbelievable happened.
SHIIING!
The woman swung her broken sword—
—and cleaved the Heavenly Hand Empty Wave's power in two before launching another killing move at Bu Eun-seol.
'Impossible.'
The Heavenly Hand Empty Wave had minimal variations, but its single fist strike carried maximum destructive force.
Infused with Seven Stars of internal power,
its range spanned dozens of yards—enough to level a mountain in one blow.
Yet she had cut through it with a broken sword?
PAK!
Then came another bizarre phenomenon.
With every sword technique she unleashed,
chunks of Bu Eun-seol's internal energy were vanishing.
'Is this the martial arts of the Baekri Clan?'
Given that they had to fight the terrifying masters of the True Demon Palace—wielders of Soul-Demon Magic Energy—
the Baekri Clan's martial arts must have included
unique techniques, eerily similar to Bu Eun-seol's Reverse Pole True Qi.
'If I don't take her down, I won't escape.'
The Absolute Boundary was already in place, and due to the woman's strange power, he could no longer deploy Harmonization.
The only way out now was to subdue—or kill—her.
"Fine."
THUD.
Bu Eun-seol landed, drawing the Ink Soul Sword and conjuring dozens of sword auras.
At the same time, the surrounding landscape began to lose its color, fading into obscurity.
He was activating the power of World and Realm Annihilation—
a force that stripped both the enemy and me of our powers, leaving only about 120 years' worth of internal energy.
SSSSHHH...
Like mercury rolling across a plate, the space within dozens of yards gradually dimmed.
KU-WOONG.
Then—the woman's eyes widened in shock before—
THUD.
—she clutched her chest and dropped to one knee.
This place was already under her Absolute Boundary.
Now, with the Reverse Pole True Qi's domain overlapping,
an unforeseen phenomenon had erupted—
Twin-Domain Annihilation.