Chapter 1223
Bu Eun-seol let out an empty laugh as he slowly moved forward, though he couldn't quite place why.
"Why does the heavens always open a path to those who have endured their trials?"
Never once had he obtained or resolved anything easily.
Of course, it wasn't just him.
This was likely a trial the heavens imposed upon all humans.
But Bu Eun-seol went beyond mere trials.
Every time, he danced along the razor's edge between life and death, so it was only natural that the trials felt unbearably harsh.
Huuuung...
As he stepped inside, instead of darkness, a dazzling river of stars flowed before him, bright enough to sting his eyes.
The mysterious stones embedded across the ceiling reflected perfectly on the obsidian floor, creating the illusion of walking through the heart of the cosmos.
"This is..."
A glint of realization flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"...the Secret Vault Father created."
It was a mystical space, but that was all.
There were no floating stones like those he had seen in the Baekri Clan's vault, no atmosphere of frozen time, nor any extraordinary phenomena.
It was as though he had simply stepped into an ancient library, with only the faint scent of aged ink brushing past his nose.
The interior was utterly empty.
"Then..."
He summoned the Emotion Severing Secret Art, focusing it into his left arm.
Chalang—
Once again, the chain materialized.
Kuuung...
With a low vibration,
a space that had been invisible until now appeared about ten zhang ahead.
As he drew out the chain, an entrance resembling a cave mouth unfolded before his eyes.
"So the chain was the key after all."
Srrrluk...
Pulling the chain, he stepped inside.
His sense of gravity and time blurred, and beneath his feet, he felt a strange buoyancy—solid yet as though he were standing on water.
It was similar to when he had entered the Baekri Clan's Secret Vault.
"...Hah."
Bu Eun-seol let out a deep sigh as he surveyed his surroundings.
The clusters of floating stones had all been shattered.
"Because of the Chain of Reincarnation."
The shockwave from the collision between the Chain of Reincarnation and Annihilation Without Remnant had reached even this hidden vault.
"It couldn't be helped."
The ripple emanating from the Chain of Reincarnation pierced through all matter indiscriminately.
Even if the vault had been buried dozens of zhang below, the stones wouldn't have remained intact.
Swoosh—
As he withdrew the Emotion Severing Secret Art, the chain in his hand vanished without a trace.
Floooat...
But then—
One of the scattered fragments on the floor began to emit a faint glow, slowly rising into the air.
Huuung...
And that fragment...
was resonating with the metallic shard—the key to the vault—nestled in Bu Eun-seol's embrace.
Among the nearly formless wreckage, this was the only stone that had retained enough integrity to react to the key.
"Just a fragment, then..."
Bu Eun-seol slowly brought the key toward the light.
Ssssarang...
The swirling energies around his left hand clung to the metal shard.
Whoooosh—
In an instant, the world turned blindingly white,
and unfamiliar memories began pouring into Bu Eun-seol's consciousness like a waterfall.
Deep within the Baekri Clan's ancestral estate,
there existed a forbidden zone where none could set foot without the Family Head's permission.
Beyond a door sealed by the Forbidden Lock Secret Art—a technique so absolute even a god couldn't undo it—
lay an endless expanse of archives.
Beside an old man with hair white as snow,
a boy holding a lantern followed closely.
"Is this also one of the clan's Secret Vaults?"
"A Secret Vault?"
The old man's voice was heavy.
"This is a place far more concealed than that."
Every shelf was densely packed with bamboo scrolls and parchment manuscripts, all pristine, as though not a speck of dust had ever touched them.
Proof that they were meticulously maintained.
The boy trailing behind noticed a mysterious stone encased in a glass-like transparent container.
The stone inside radiated an otherworldly glow, as though capable of ensnaring a human soul.
When the boy instinctively reached toward the container, the old man spoke in a low voice.
"Touch it carelessly, and your brain will explode."
"My brain... will explode?"
"Each of these stones contains the lifelong knowledge of True Demons who once dominated entire eras."
The old man narrowed his eyes, gazing at the stone for a long moment before murmuring,
"Let's see... This one holds the Golden Needle Art of Revival—a technique said to jolt even the dying back to life."
"The Golden Needle Art of Revival..."
The boy's eyes widened.
It was a legendary acupuncture technique created by the Medical Saint, a divine physician from a thousand years ago.
Yet it was something crafted from True Demon Knowledge?
"Then why hasn't anyone mastered this needle technique? With this alone, countless lives could be saved."
The old man gave a bitter smile.
"Because no suitable vessel capable of fully mastering this technique has yet appeared."
Then he added in a low voice:
"After all, it's knowledge one could not master even over a lifetime—yet it's forcibly poured into one's mind in an instant."
The boy tilted his head.
"So, will this just remain here forever?"
"Indeed. Until a worthy vessel is born... whether it takes a hundred years, or two hundred, we will wait."
The boy tilted his head again.
"Is there really a need to wait?"
He pointed to a martial manual on the shelf labeled Golden Needle Art of Revival.
"It seems someone from the main family has already mastered it—and even compiled that knowledge into a book."
"Hohoho. You noticed, did you?"
The old man gestured around the shelves.
"Correct. This Book Repository contains knowledge of the True Demon, transcribed into books."
Then he continued calmly:
"This Secret Vault is not merely a library—it is where the knowledge gathered by our ancestors since ancient times lies dormant."
The old man glanced at the bamboo slips beside him.
"Martial arts, astronomy, calendrics, engineering... the life's work of the greatest minds in every field rests here."
"Then,"
the boy said brightly,
"wouldn't sharing this knowledge with the world make it a better place?"
"That cannot be."
"Why not?"
"If this knowledge spreads, can you bear the chaos it would bring?"
The old man's expression turned solemn.
"That knowledge can lead to ruin. The greater the power of the knowledge, the more disastrous it is if it falls into unworthy hands... and humanity will choose the path of self-destruction."
If they lack the ability to properly control such knowledge?
Then it will inevitably be abused, ending in greed, arrogance, and destruction.
"This is not suppression—it is protection. Just as you wouldn't hand a dangerous blade to a child who cannot yet discern its peril."
The old man's gaze turned icy.
"That is why the main family does not release this knowledge to the world, but safeguards it... and only when a vessel capable of bearing it appears among our bloodline do we pass it down."
The boy asked cautiously:
"Then these books in the Book Repository...?"
"They are merely a means for the main family to preserve knowledge."
In other words, they were only to be used for the sake of the Baekri Clan.
The boy couldn't understand.
If they feared the reckless misuse of knowledge?
Then they could simply select those capable of using it beneficially and pass it on to them.
Besides, they had already compiled the knowledge into books.
Even if one couldn't master all of it, learning even a fraction would bring greater peace to the world.
Why did the Baekri Clan hoard this knowledge, using it only for themselves?
"Wouldn't that ultimately mean all this beneficial knowledge belongs solely to the main family?"
The boy carefully continued:
"Geniuses will always emerge. Didn't the Founder of Langya Pavilion perfect Practical Combat Martial Arts—something neither the main family nor the True Demon Palace could fully conceptualize? And the Martial Emperor also—"
"That is also true, but—"
The old man's eyes gleamed coldly.
"If this knowledge leaks, the world's balance will collapse. And in that chaos, the first to fall would be the main family."
Pausing briefly, the old man sighed and spoke again.
"In the past, when such knowledge was leaked... the main family—no, the world itself nearly faced annihilation."
His expression grew increasingly grave as he spoke.
"If greedy humans obtain this knowledge, it will only bring ruin."
After another pause, the old man looked down at the boy.
"How would you solve this problem?"
The boy's eyes sparkled.
"Then why not just destroy it?"
He continued without hesitation:
"Geniuses will always appear, and the world will progress regardless."
The old man looked at him with interest.
"And what of the main family?"
"Isn't the Baekri Clan's preservation of the True Demon's knowledge... fundamentally against the will of heaven?"
Suddenly, the lantern flame flickered, and countless shadows swayed between the endless shelves.
As if the trapped knowledge within the books howled in resentment.
"The main family can detect the periods of the True Demon's decline across his cycles of reincarnation—and possesses the power to erase the knowledge he accumulated in his lifetime."
The boy spoke clearly.
"Whatever becomes of the True Demon, the main family need only do what it must."
A silence as deep as death settled between them.
"Hohoho... Hahahaha!"
The old man burst into laughter and nodded slowly.
"Right you are. Absolutely right."
He kept nodding while slapping his knee repeatedly.
"It was worth showing you this place."
The old man, having stopped laughing, reached out and gently stroked the boy's head.
"You must become the Family Head of the main house. Only then... can you correct this clan, which is turning into a specter of knowledge. Do you understand?"
The boy bared his white teeth and answered confidently.
"Yes."
A boy with features as beautiful as a celestial immortal and deep, fathomless eyes.
That boy's name was Baekri Mu-ha.
Crunch.
With the sound of something shattering, Bu Eun-seol regained his senses.
"So that's how it was."
This was his father's memory.
The Baekri Clan, passed down through generations, had preserved the accumulated knowledge obtained while dealing with the True Demon across countless cycles of reincarnation.
That knowledge could have been used to benefit the world—yet it was never shared or passed on to others.
Only the members of the Baekri Clan monopolized it, inheriting it exclusively from one generation to the next.
"As I thought."
He exhaled a deep sigh as he savored the lingering traces of the memory.
"The Baekri Clan was never righteous."
In the end, the Baekri Clan had used the knowledge they had stolen from the True Demon to rule over humanity, manipulating the world as if playing a god's game.
"If only they had remained a righteous clan, even if they were annihilated by the True Demon..."
He couldn't hide his bitterness.
The Baekri Clan, once a noble family that stood against the True Demon, had transformed into a gathering of specters—obsessed with their greed for knowledge, seeking to dominate everything.
"Then... did Father come into the Martial World and create the Secret Vault to reveal this truth about the Baekri Clan?"
Since most of the stones in the vault had been destroyed, the memories he had retrieved were only fragments of what his father had left behind regarding the Baekri Clan.
"It can't be that simple."
Inside the vault, there were many shattered stones.
Surely, there must have been other kinds of knowledge—or memories—stored within them besides this.
The problem was...
Even if these memories were passed on to those in the Martial World who knew nothing about the True Demon, they wouldn't be able to grasp the full truth.
"In the end... he must have wanted a specific person to see them."
Bu Eun-seol's pupils trembled.
"Someone who possesses the Chain of Reincarnation."
Only someone bearing the Chain of Reincarnation could enter the Baekri Clan's Secret Vault.
And wasn't there only one such person?
"Could it be... he intended to convey his will to the current True Demon?"
It made no sense.
To restore the Baekri Clan to its rightful state—
By creating the vault to pass on his message to the True Demon?
"Or... the fake Baekri Geom-ha?"
Suddenly, the face of Baekri Ye-ha surfaced in his mind.
His former betrothed must have returned to the Baekri Clan by now, secretly locked in a power struggle with the false Baekri Geom-ha.
Could it be that he was truly the True Demon?
Had he heard his father's message and sought to become the Family Head in order to erase all the Baekri Clan's knowledge?
"But... hasn't the Chain of Reincarnation already been passed on to someone who isn't the True Demon?"
The Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang.
His grandfather was said to have inherited the complete Chain of the True Demon.
Perhaps his father had sought help from his grandfather, who had vanished without a trace?
If not that...
Then why create a vault that could only be opened by the Chain of Reincarnation?
"I don't know."
Bu Eun-seol pressed a hand to his forehead.
The remaining clues were far too few.
But one thing was certain.
In the end... the Baekri Clan was nothing more than a place that deserved to be destroyed.
Deep in the night, in a hall at the westernmost edge of Cining Palace,
There was a secret chamber where not even palace maids—let alone outsiders—were permitted to enter.
The place was buried deep underground, filled with a chilling cold like a cavern,
And the Night Shining Pearls embedded in the ceiling cast a faint blue glow, dimly illuminating the interior.
Within that chamber,
A woman sat upon a high-backed chair, clad in a resplendent phoenix robe embroidered with golden phoenixes.
The Empress Dowager.
The supreme ruler of this continent, though she had long passed her sixties, still retained an air of majesty and beauty.
Her eyes, as if untouched by time,
Radiated more vitality than any youth's, gleaming with a gaze that seemed to pierce through a person's Five Viscera and Six Bowels.
At her feet, a shadow clad in night-robes lay prostrated.
He did not move a muscle, not even breathing audibly.
Had one not seen him with their own eyes,
They would never have known a person was there at all.
"Martial Soul Lord, Bu Eun-seol. He did not die and has safely returned to the Demon Hall."
The moment the Empress Dowager's brow furrowed deeply, the shadow bowed his head further and spoke again.
"According to the final report from Beopryeong at the moment of his death, his heart was pierced—yet somehow, he returned to the Demon Hall alive. We do not know how this was possible."
As the Empress Dowager maintained her silence, a frigid air swirled violently through the chamber.
The freezing atmosphere spread like ice, and the shadow spoke even more deferentially.
"One thing is certain—ever since he became the Emperor's blade, he has been obstructing our affairs at every turn."
The shadow continued.
"It has been confirmed that he was the one who ransacked the Secret Vault at Jade Dragon Pool. And it is also certain that he killed the Poisonous Hand Demon Sword under the Emperor's orders."
"Hmm."
"It seems the Emperor did not appoint him as Commander of the Dragon Scale Guard for nothing. After all, he survived an attack from the Law Deity in the Secret Vault."
A brief silence fell.
The glow of the Night Shining Pearls made the Empress Dowager's face appear even colder.
Slowly, she began tapping the armrest of her chair with her fingers.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The rhythmic sound echoed through the chamber. The shadow bowed even deeper.
This was a habit of hers when lost in thought—and the more she did it, the more dangerous the situation became.
"He will become a lingering problem."
She rose slowly.
The hem of her robe whispered against the floor as she moved.
Approaching the window, the Empress Dowager gazed at the palace shrouded in darkness—at the distant roof of the Qianqing Palace, where the Emperor resided.
"Bu Eun-seol."
As she uttered the name, an unreadable light flickered in the corners of her eyes.
"He is not merely skilled in martial arts. His cunning is exceptional, and above all—he does not follow the flow of heavenly providence."
The prostrated shadow trembled slightly.
Because by then, a frigid smirk had already curled upon the Empress Dowager's lips.
"Those who defy the will of heaven are not easily killed. If one attempts to strike them down in a single blow, the attacker will only be counterattacked instead."
Muttering to herself, she turned slowly.
Bathed in the light of the Night Shining Pearls, her face twisted into a sinister smile.
"This time, perhaps we shall make use of the princess."
"You mean Princess Hui-jeong?"
The Empress Dowager spoke in a low voice.
"A man like him is difficult to kill outright. But if his relationship with the princess sours, and if we reclaim the Dragon-Phoenix Ring... the Emperor will find it difficult to rely on him any longer."
Bu Eun-seol had only been appointed Commander of the Dragon Scale Guard because he was a candidate for Imperial Consort, one who bore the Dragon-Phoenix Ring—a man destined to become part of the imperial family.
But what if Princess Hui-jeong's heart changed?
Even if the Emperor entrusted him with important missions, he could not be dragged into the imperial power struggles indefinitely.
"But the princess possesses Dragon Qi no less formidable than the Emperor's. Moreover, she has never shown the slightest interest in men, has she?"
"That was not because her Dragon Qi was extraordinary, but because she was utterly indifferent to matters of love between men and women."
The Empress Dowager's gaze deepened.
"But Bu Eun-seol—he made her aware of tender feelings between the sexes. In other words, the gates of affection are no longer completely closed to her as they once were."
A cold smile played on her lips.
"A child who has never tasted sweetness does not crave it. But once the tip of their tongue touches honey, they can think of nothing else all day. That is precisely the state she is in now."
Even a stream frozen solid all winter—
Once melted by the spring breeze and set flowing, it can never return to the time when it stood still.
On a warm afternoon, bathed in gentle spring sunlight, the gardens of Jingyang Palace were in full bloom, peonies and tree peonies flaunting their dazzling beauty.
Butterflies flitted among the flowers, dancing in the air, while birdsong drifted from somewhere unseen.
"Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has arrived."
At the eunuch's announcement, Princess Hui-jeong closed her book and rose from her seat.
Though she had already come of age, traces of girlish innocence still lingered in her demeanor. She wore a soft pink palace gown, her black hair pinned high with a jade-adorned hairpin that swayed lightly with each step.
As the Empress Dowager entered, the princess bowed respectfully.
"Rise."
The Empress Dowager smiled warmly and took the princess's hand.
Her smile bore no trace of the ruthlessness she had shown in the secret chamber—only the gentle affection of a doting grandmother.
"How have you been spending your days lately?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. I practice poetry, calligraphy, and painting—and sometimes stroll through the gardens."
Though she knew it was a lie, the Empress Dowager nodded approvingly.
"Good."
Then she guided the princess to sit.
As the palace maids served tea and withdrew, the delicate fragrance of tea leaves filled the air.
"Is it not time for you to meet a suitable match?"
The princess paused, her hand still holding the teacup.
Why speak of this now, when I've already met Bu Eun-seol?
"Have I not already have a beloved acknowledged by both His Majesty and Your Majesty?"
"Still clinging to childish notions, I see."
The Empress Dowager laughed softly, but her eyes remained cold.
"How could a mere martial artist from the Martial World become a royal consort?"
"What do you—"
"The Emperor merely fashioned a useful blade to handle matters in the Martial World. Nothing more."
Royal marriages were almost always political.
Especially for someone of the princess's standing—choosing a spouse of her own will was nearly impossible.
"Then what must I do?"
The princess's once-gentle eyes flashed sharply.
The Empress Dowager smiled.
"I shall introduce you to a fine match."