Chapter 1212
The woman gasped for breath as she gripped her broken sword.
Her gaze remained as desolate and frozen as ever, but her breathing grew increasingly ragged from her severe injuries.
Even before facing Bu Eun-seol, she had already sustained countless wounds and exhausted the last of her stamina.
And now, with no way to counter the Martial Emperor's martial arts... she was cornered, both physically and mentally.
Zzziiing.
At that moment, the youthful appearances of the two figures gradually began to revert to their true forms.
With the collapse of their Spirit and Mind's fortitude, the phenomenon of Twin-Domain Annihilation had completely vanished.
'So the Absolute Boundary was ultimately a structure linked to the caster's body and mind.'
Earlier, the woman had torn her own body apart to dismantle the framework of the Absolute Boundary.
Even then, the energy of Twin-Domain Annihilation had not fully dissipated—because her Spirit and Mind had remained unshaken.
But now that even that had crumbled, the effects of Twin-Domain Annihilation had been completely erased.
'I had wondered how the figures of the Baekri Clan could wield such an extraordinary Absolute Boundary alone.'
It was activated by consuming the caster's body and spirit as nourishment.
Whoooosh.
As the energy of Twin-Domain Annihilation completely faded, a brief, radiant light lingered over the woman's body—as if her Manifestation Art Energy was returning.
Had Bu Eun-seol intended to kill her,
he would have used the power of the Void Extreme Realm to suppress her strength once more.
Kiiiiing.
She began spreading a pure white glow across her entire body, as if attempting to heal herself with Manifestation Art Energy.
But strangely, her wounds refused to mend easily.
'So that's how it is.'
Watching this, Bu Eun-seol realized a crucial truth.
The injuries sustained within the Void Extreme Realm's Domain were bound to the state of one's body and internal energy at that moment.
Thus, even if the Domain was lifted and one regained transcendent power, those wounds remained anchored to the diminished capabilities of that time.
And if the injuries were sustained while one's strength was suppressed to an extreme degree within the Void Extreme Realm's Domain?
Even after leaving the Domain and regaining full power, healing those wounds would require
several times more energy than usual.
Gulp.
Understanding the greatness of the Extreme Heaven Realm, Bu Eun-seol couldn't conceal his excitement.
'Within the Domain of the Void Extreme Realm, no one is exempt.'
Even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—
within the Domain, he would be nothing more than an ordinary old man, forced to rely solely on pure martial techniques.
And if one suffered a fatal wound here?
Even after leaving the Domain, recovery would be far from easy.
'The need for Spirit Medicine has just become far more urgent.'
By the time one reached the Extreme Heaven Realm, their body would already be at its limits, making most Spirit Medicines ineffective.
But injuries sustained within the Void Extreme Realm—
were engraved according to the standards of an ordinary body, making Spirit Medicine an effective means of treatment.
'A new rule and principle of martial arts has been established in the murim.'
—Events that occurred within the space where the Void Extreme Realm's power was exerted were absolutely bound to it.
Even after the Domain was lifted, they remained fixed, impossible to reverse by any transcendent power.
A single law had been created, shattering the existing logic of martial arts.
"Thanks to you, I've gained a valuable realization."
Having sorted through his thoughts, Bu Eun-seol's expression brightened.
Because of this relentless assault from the Baekri Side Family woman,
he had come to understand a principle even he—the one who forged this path—had not yet grasped.
"You won't heal easily, so you should go rest somewhere."
With a show of sympathy, Bu Eun-seol turned away slowly, as if concerned for her plight.
"You won't escape."
Refusing to give up, she blocked his path once more.
"If you want to leave, kill me."
Bu Eun-seol's face twisted with disdain.
"Are your ears blocked? Can you not hear others?"
The truth revealed by Wooden Buddha had left him disillusioned with the Baekri Clan, and that resentment had yet to fade.
But now, with her obstinacy,
he was beginning to feel outright disgust toward its members.
Crack!
Bu Eun-seol struck her Crooked Spring acupoint and Jumping Round acupoint, paralyzing both her legs.
He could have subdued her Demon Blood Point instead,
but if he did, she might be killed by the True Demon Palace's pursuing masters.
Since her arms were still functional, she could free her own pressure points in time.
This was an unspoken warning—don't chase me any further.
"I don't need your half-hearted mercy."
Crack.
True to his expectations, she immediately released her pressure points and gripped her broken sword again.
"You won't escape."
Bu Eun-seol was so furious that a hollow laugh burst from him.
"Why is the Baekri Clan so arrogant, looking down on everyone else?"
"......"
"Do you think I'm the only one who's suffered unjustly because of stubborn fools like you?"
His expression turned solemn.
"If the Baekri Clan is like this, no wonder the Baekri Clan has resorted to seeking the True Demon's Knowledge."
At those words, the woman's eyes widened.
That was one of the Baekri Clan's greatest secrets—unknown even to its core members.
Yet how could this man—
speak of it so casually, as if discussing idle gossip in a teahouse?
"Have you been playing god all this time, killing innocent people at your whim?"
Bu Eun-seol's face twisted as if he was about to vomit.
"If even a single instance of killing an innocent person is revealed—"
A bloody light flickered in his pupils.
"Not only you, but every last Baekri Clan member involved in this crime will have their heads severed."
Had anyone else said such words, it would have been laughable.
But when Bu Eun-seol spoke them, a premonition arose that such a thing might truly come to pass.
Pat.
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol unfolded his movement technique and sped out of the forest.
The woman stood motionless as a statue, her head lowered.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes darkened with thought as he swiftly distanced himself from the area using his movement technique.
'The martial arts of the Baekri Clan are indeed formidable.'
Drip.
A thread of blood had seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Though he had shown no outward signs,
the clash with the woman's Baekri Clan martial arts had left him with internal injuries.
'I'll need to be more cautious from now on.'
Ever since reaching the Void-Severing Realm,
most wounds would heal on their own without even needing to invoke the Prajna Great Power.
But the injuries sustained within the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation were slow to heal, as if he were back in the days before mastering martial arts.
'A double-edged sword, then.'
This was what he had longed for—
a battle decided purely by martial skill, yet one that demanded he stake his life every time.
'But...'
A faint smile touched his lips.
'......It's exhilarating.'
Since stepping into the Martial World, he had walked a path drenched in blood and flesh, repeating battles that burned his very being.
The only time he truly felt alive was when locked in a desperate struggle to the death.
Unbeknownst to him, he had become like Ak Mu-ryeong—
finding genuine joy in combat, realizing the essence of life on the battlefield... pursuing the Extreme Martial Path.
'I should rest for a while.'
Though slow, the Prajna Great Power and the Heavenly Light Endless Art had stabilized his internal injuries to some extent.
But what he needed now was fundamental rest.
The Void-Severing Realm was not merely a convenient supernatural power that stripped away his and his enemy's strength when needed.
The deeper one's mastery of this realm grew,
the more the body would maintain its primordial state, instead of containing immense power.
"But it's not weakening—it's growing stronger."
At this moment, the kind of power that could shake the heavens and split mountains might seem more impressive.
But once the Void-Severing Realm was fully realized... he would become an existence closer to nature itself, untouchable by anyone.
Whoosh.
Cutting through clouds and mist, Bu Eun-seol raced across the void, traversing mountain ranges without pause.
Then, abruptly, a strange sight caught his eye.
Far ahead, on the slope of a distant mountain, a pale mist was rising.
Unlike the dense forests surrounding it, that one spot continuously exhaled vaporous steam,
like a dragon's breath, the white mist soaring into the evening sky as if swimming through the sunset.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol adjusted his movement technique and headed toward it.
As he drew closer, a warm current brushed against his skin.
Unlike the biting mountain wind, this was a humid, gentle heat that began enveloping his entire body.
'A hot spring.'
The scenery beneath him gradually came into focus.
Clear water pooled between the rocks, steam perpetually rising from its surface.
The surrounding stones and grass glistened with moisture, and despite the autumn season, lush green moss thrived.
'There couldn't be a better place to rest.'
Descending to where the hot spring flowed, he found a dense pine forest encircling the area like a screen,
interwoven with maple and bamboo trees.
Moss-covered rocks were naturally arranged around the spring, some bearing weathered marks that spoke of ages past.
The water itself was a clear, translucent blue-green, the steam rising from its surface dreamlike, like the mist of an Immortal Realm.
"Someone must have built this place long ago."
At the center of the spring stood a towering monolith as tall as a man,
its surface faintly inscribed with ancient seal script: Heaven-Blessed Well.
The smaller rocks around it were arranged like natural seats, suggesting deliberate human craftsmanship.
Near the water's edge, a few rotting wooden pillars remained.
Likely the remnants of a pavilion once built there,
now crushed by the weight of time, returning to nature with only its outline left behind.
Bu Eun-seol removed his clothes and carefully stepped into the shallows of the spring.
The warm water embraced his skin,
and his muscles, stiff from the long journey, began to loosen.
The bluestone beneath his feet radiated gentle heat, while the faint scent of sulfur drifted to his nose.
Plop.
Submerging himself completely, he crossed his legs and began circulating his qi.
Having entered the threshold of the Way of Nature, he sank into meditation, sitting in the lotus position.
Like when he employed the Turtle Breath Grand Art, his presence faded entirely, merging with nature itself.
Just as he was about to slip into the State of Selflessness—
Tap.
A sharp Sound of Breaking Air sliced through the silent hot spring area before a small shadow landed on the ground.
Her clothes were torn, revealing skin covered in crimson bloodstains beneath.
It was the woman from the Baekri Side Family who had just been locked in a fierce battle with Bu Eun-seol.
She briefly surveyed her surroundings.
Her sharp gaze swept over the hot spring, but no presence could be detected.
She, too, had been searching for a place to rest.
Upon spotting the rising steam, she had descended here.
Swish.
As she removed her clothes, her body was revealed under the evening glow.
At that moment, a ghastly sight unfolded.
Her entire left arm emitted a cold metallic sheen.
Every finger was articulated—from elbow to fingertip, intricate joints were densely connected.
Fine engravings adorned the surface, shifting patterns with each movement.
When Bu Eun-seol had slashed at her wrist with the Ink Soul Sword, it had remained unharmed.
He had assumed she wore a metal wrist guard like his Dragon-Phoenix Ring.
But in truth, her entire left arm was an exquisitely crafted Prosthetic Arm.
At the boundary where metal met flesh, leather straps and metal rings secured it tightly.
And the scarred amputation line visible in the gaps had long since faded to a pale white.
The Baekri Clan—
Those who had inherited the True Demon's Knowledge—
Had created a transcendent Prosthetic Arm, something the current martial world could never replicate.
Clack.
With an expressionless face, she began loosening the fastenings.
Once detached and set aside, her left arm was revealed to be severed just above the elbow.
The sight of her slender body missing a limb was desolate, yet carried an air of tragic resolve.
But even more shocking were the wounds and scars covering her body.
A deep laceration on her right shoulder exposed bone.
Her white scapula peeked through torn flesh, surrounded by dark, coagulated blood.
Bruises lined her ribs in sickly blue, and a finger-thick puncture scar marked her abdomen.
Patches of skin had split open, revealing mangled muscle beneath.
A deep gash on her right thigh seeped blood with every step.
These were not injuries from her fight with Bu Eun-seol—they were older wounds.
Normally, she could have healed such wounds effortlessly.
But after being struck by Bu Eun-seol while unable to unleash her transcendent power due to the Void Extreme Realm,
She had been left unable to recover swiftly from her wounds, she had become a wreck.
Yet not a flicker of pain crossed her face.
As if this body were not her own—
As if she had lost the very capacity for emotion, her eyes were utterly hollow.
Her lips were tightly sealed, her brow uncreased.
A chilling numbness, more akin to a meticulously crafted machine than a human being.
Stagger.
She swayed unsteadily as she slowly approached the hot spring.
Each step was precarious, yet she advanced without hesitation.
Upon reaching the edge, she carefully lowered herself into the water.
Splash.
The warm spring enveloped her battered body.
Blood seeped into the clear water, tinting it a faint red as steam curled around her pallid face.
Submerged up to her neck, she slowly closed her eyes.
Bubble, bubble.
Only her face floated above the surface, while her wounded body swayed beneath.
As the sunset's glow reflected off the water, dyeing her pale face crimson—
Swish.
A shadow stretched before her.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been meditating underwater in a lotus position.
"......."
The moment their eyes met—
No wind, no birdsong, no sound at all.
Only the bubbling of the hot spring filled the silence.
Splaaash!
The woman lunged out of the water in an instant, grabbing her Prosthetic Arm without bothering to cover herself.
But Bu Eun-seol, eyes still shut, spoke languidly.
"Didn't you come here to rest?"
"......."
"We're both injured and seeking respite. Let's pretend we didn't see each other, just for here."
She ignored him, fastening the Prosthetic Arm.
Unfazed, Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes again.
"Come out."
The woman, now hastily clothed, commanded.
Bu Eun-seol, still with closed eyes, furrowed his brow.
"You want me to fight naked?"
"Put on your clothes."
"No."
Motionless, he kept his eyes shut.
If she attacked now, he'd have to leap out bare—surely she wouldn't dare.
But she was no ordinary woman of the Martial World.
Swiish!
Her half-shattered sword cleaved the water, sending a razor-sharp blade energy shooting forth.
"Now that's just excessive."
Whooosh!
Manipulating the water with his Water Essence Divine Qi,
A solemn light shimmered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes as he was wreathed in the form of a dragon.
'There's no need to show mercy to a reckless woman like her anymore.'
After all, someday, she might capture another innocent person just like him.
Whoosh—!
The Water Essence Divine Qi swirling around his body surged outward, and before anyone realized it, Bu Eun-seol's hand had already snatched up the Ink Soul Sword that had fallen to the ground.
Skreee—!
As his pupils darkened into pitch-black,
Kiiiiii—!
an ear-splitting, demonic shriek erupted from the Ink Soul Sword, tearing through the air.
Swish!
At the same time, razor-sharp sword energy split the atmosphere, radiating outward in all directions.
Having already analyzed the woman's fighting style from their previous clash, Bu Eun-seol wasted no more time.
To end this immediately, he unleashed the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
Shwaaaaak—!
Seven streaks of inky-black sword light pierced through the air in staggered succession, targeting the woman's heart, neck, and limbs.
This was the Third Move of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—Half-Alive, Half-Dead—but with a variation.
Fwip!
The woman realized in an instant that the timing of Bu Eun-seol's sword strikes was not only flawless but also impossible to defend against.
So instead, she disregarded her own life and charged forward recklessly.
Whiiir—!
Her broken sword spun like a whirlwind, deflecting three of the incoming sword energies.
But the remaining four streaks grazed her shoulder and thighs, sending sprays of blood into the air.
Crash!
She tumbled to the ground in a wretched heap.
When she staggered back up, her entire body was drenched in blood.
Thud!
Yet she paid it no mind, lunging forward once more—this time closing the distance to Bu Eun-seol's chin—
Swish!
—and releasing a crescent-shaped sword energy at point-blank range, aimed straight for his heart.
Clang—!
With a deafening metallic clang, the sword energy she had poured her soul into...
...was, unfortunately, swallowed up in an instant by the black miasma swirling around Bu Eun-seol's body.
"You must think I'm fearless in the face of death."
A dark mist spread from Bu Eun-seol's entire body, his pupils now completely black.
"But the body is honest."
Tremble.
The woman shuddered uncontrollably.
The blackened Bu Eun-seol resembled the Death God—
No, he felt like the very Law that governed Death itself.
Sssss—
Meanwhile, thick, ink-like black mist seeped from the Ink Soul Sword, rising like smoke.
Sssss—
At the same time, beneath the woman's feet...
Living, writhing tendrils of black fog coiled around her ankles, obscuring her vision and constricting her entire body.
A prison forged from the sword energy of death had been unleashed.
"Ghk—!"
Her airways tightened as if she were being strangled.
Boom—!
In desperation, she detonated all her internal energy and Manifestation Art Energy, forcing the black mist back.
No—she had to force it back.
Plop.
All her strength vanished without a trace.
At the same time, a suffocating sense of helplessness and despair, as if she had been plunged into the depths of the ocean, flooded her mind.
The moment she tried to muster her strength—
Bu Eun-seol had already deployed the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, erasing all her power in an instant.
Sssss—
Yet the black mist did not dissipate.
It was a sword energy forged from the profound mysteries of martial arts.
The sword energy of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms continued to surge forward like waves, relentlessly encroaching around the woman's body.
"......"
In the end, she was trapped in an abyss of pitch-black sword mist where not even an inch ahead was visible.
An infinite space where all sense of direction and distance had vanished.
For a moment, a loneliness and terror worse than death itself overwhelmed her.
Relying purely on her senses, she slashed wildly at the encroaching sword energy of death from all sides.
"Ugh... Uuugh...!"
But the more she cut, the thicker the mist became—with no end in sight.
Death doesn't frighten me.
Yet tears streamed from her eyes against her will.
She didn't feel fear.
So why couldn't she remain composed?
Flash.
Then, within the suffocating darkness—
A brilliant white light flickered before her eyes.
Seizing this glimpse of hope, she pushed back the choking black mist and rushed forward in desperation.
But it was not salvation.
Kyaaaaaa—!
Instead, it was something sharpened like the claws of a demon, capable of rending everything apart—
The Fifth Move of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—Death Without Closing the Eyes.
Gleam—!
Sensing death, the woman reflexively raised her broken sword to block.
Craaaack—!
With a deafening explosion that could have torn apart the darkness itself, a shockwave erupted with devastating force.
Though she barely withstood the impact that rattled her entire body—
Bzzzzzt—!
—the terrifying vibrations from the collision spread uncontrollably.
The destructive sword energy of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms traveled through the sword into her body, shaking her to the core.
Zing... zing... zing...Clunk.
Finally, unable to endure the relentless vibrations, her left prosthetic arm detached at the joint and clattered to the ground.
As the mist cleared...
The woman stood in a broken stance, her entire body numb, gasping for breath.
Sssshhk—!
In that instant, the blackened Ink Soul Sword sliced through the air—
—aiming to sever her head in one clean stroke.
No, it should have.
Halt.
The blade stopped a hair's breadth from her neck.
Tremble.
Bu Eun-seol's eyelid twitched.
The cross-section of the woman's severed arm was cut as cleanly as glass.
Exactly like the wounds on his grandfather's severed arms.
'Found you.'
The masked figure who had given him the clue about the Eighteen Radiant Souls had also used a similar Sword Form,
but their skill was nowhere near that of the murderer who had killed his grandfather.
Yet the cut on this woman's arm was just as flawless—nearly identical.