Chapter 1229
The man described women as treasures meant to benefit men.
That single phrase laid bare his true nature—not viewing women as beings worthy of respect, but as possessions to be owned.
"Bitter resentment, is it?"
Bu Eun-seol saw straight through the man's life.
"Before obtaining the True Demon's Secret Arts, you were ignored and rejected by women, weren't you?"
"Hmph."
The man snorted before speaking again.
"I heard you never formally learned the Mind Seizing Secret Art from Ak Mu-ryeong."
He nodded his head.
"But judging by the method you used to infiltrate the Young Palace Lord's Spirit and Mind, you were properly taught."
The fact that Bu Eun-seol never officially learned Phantom Restoration from Ak Mu-ryeong was known only to the inner circle of Langya Pavilion.
Yet this man's words alone revealed—
That the eyes and ears of the True Demon Palace had sunk deep into every faction of Murim, including Langya Pavilion.
"Princess Hui-jeong will report to the Emperor and reclaim the Dragon-Phoenix Ring anyway. There's nothing you can do."
The man's gaze fixed on the Dragon-Phoenix Ring fastened around Bu Eun-seol's wrist.
"From now on, not only the Divine Maiden Palace, but every woman connected to you will be conquered. And once that happens, the sects tied to you will turn their backs on you, one by one."
"You talk too much."
Swish!
Bu Eun-seol immediately drew the Ink Soul Sword.
No matter how persuasively the man spoke—
There was no way to undo the Mind Seizing Secret Art cast upon the Young Palace Lord and Princess Hui-jeong.
"Right, of course you came here in a frenzy, desperate to kill me."
The man twisted his lips into a smirk, as if he had expected this.
"But if I die, their Spirit and Mind will collapse along with mine."
The words were shocking.
Did that mean he had bound their Spirit and Mind to his own, fusing them into one?
"I waited for you to see—whether you could kill me and abandon the Young Palace Lord."
He laughed confidently and continued.
"Or if you'd hesitate, tormented by indecision. That's what I wanted to confirm."
The Empress Dowager's schemes run deep.
This single move was a calculation—to measure the weight of the bonds Bu Eun-seol had formed with these women and shackle him with them.
If he killed the man without hesitation?
The man would no longer harm any women, but Yeon So-ha would die.
But if he couldn't bring himself to kill the man?
Then every woman connected to Bu Eun-seol would become his fatal weakness from this moment onward.
"Let me make you an offer."
The man spread his arms wide.
"If you surrender the Dragon-Phoenix Ring willingly and kneel before the Empress Dowager, I'll stop at Princess Hui-jeong and Young Palace Master Yeon."
Then, a sinister smile curled on his lips.
"But if you resist even slightly, I'll conquer every woman tied to you from this day forward."
A dilemma with no way out.
For the first time, Bu Eun-seol had no recourse.
There was no method to surpass the True Demon's Secret Arts, passed down since antiquity. No means to undo the Mind Seizing Secret Art cast upon Princess Hui-jeong and Yeon So-ha.
And yet, he couldn't kill the man either—truly, a dilemma with no escape.
Krrrrumble—
Then, a thunderclap roared from the distant sky, and a pure white figure streaked through the air, descending rapidly.
Swish!
Moving at lightning speed, the figure appeared as a single blurred line—
Thud!
—before landing precisely beside Bu Eun-seol.
A woman of striking height, with eyes as deep and clear as the ocean, and a beauty so pure and transparent it seemed untouched by worldly taint.
It was So Ok-rim.
"Ok-rim."
"Why are you here? Didn't you hear the news?"
So Ok-rim spoke urgently.
"Chaos has broken out at the Death Shadow War Unit. We need to go, now."
The moment he saw her, the man gasped in astonishment.
"What an extraordinary rarity you are."
"Huh? What?"
So Ok-rim blinked her large eyes, glancing between the man and Bu Eun-seol.
"Are you twins?"
"Twins?"
"Your aura and looks are almost identical."
This man cultivated a sinister demonic art—one that projected the deepest desires of those who faced him.
From a woman's perspective, it meant he could recreate, with near-perfect accuracy, the idealized image she had long harbored in her heart.
In other words, So Ok-rim had always dreamed of a partner who looked exactly like Bu Eun-seol.
And even now, she found his aura and face incomparably ideal—
Which was why the man's face overlapped seamlessly with Bu Eun-seol's in her eyes.
"To think I'd find such a peerless beauty here—one I couldn't locate even after wandering the world in iron shoes."
"Your face is similar, but your tone is unbearably creepy."
So Ok-rim scowled, raising a small, delicate fist.
"Daring to treat This Lady like an object? Do you have a death wish?"
"'This Lady'?"
"Fufufu, can't you tell at a glance?"
Crossing her arms and tossing her long hair, So Ok-rim declared—
"I am the Silver River Goddess."
"The Silver River Goddess?"
The man furrowed his brow deeply.
As the True Law Transmitter of the True Demon Palace, he was well-versed in Murim's affairs—yet he had never once heard the name "Silver River Goddess."
But that was only natural.
After all, the epithet "Divine Maiden of the Silver River" was one that So Ok-rim had made up herself.
"Whatever. What does it matter?"
The man flicked his tongue as he sensed the vibrant energy coursing through So Ok-rim's body.
"You seem to like the Martial Soul Lord, don't you?"
"What's it to you?"
"Oh, it matters."
The corners of the man's lips curled up, his eyes glinting strangely.
"I've been ordered to make all of the Martial Soul Lord's women mine."
"What did you just say?"
So Ok-rim flared up in anger, but the moment her gaze clashed directly with the man's, she suddenly felt dizzy.
A primal fear, like a rabbit facing a lion, had seized her—her body stiffening on instinct.
'My body froze from just a single glance?'
She bit her lip.
'Me, who fears nothing in this world?'
The man had mastered the True Demon's Secret Arts—techniques capable of ensnaring a woman's heart in an instant.
Because of this, not only his words and actions, but even the very aura radiating from his body naturally subdued women.
"Something feels... strange."
Before she knew it, the focus in So Ok-rim's pupils had vanished.
"I hate the way he's looking at me."
Bu Eun-seol immediately stepped in front of her, his voice icy.
"Do you really think I'd let you do that again?"
The moment he moved to strike like lightning—
"You'd do well not to interfere."
The man spoke leisurely.
"If you touch me now, her mind will collapse completely."
"What?"
"From the moment our eyes met, a spiritual bridge formed between her and me."
The True Demon's Secret Arts were truly sinister—and terrifying.
Like a mystical pupil technique, merely locking eyes was enough to bind a woman's spirit to his own.
If he died, her spirit would shatter along with his.
"If you don't believe me, go ahead and strike."
Bu Eun-seol couldn't move.
He could sense the energy flowing from the man's pupils—
Stretching like transparent tentacles, pressing against So Ok-rim's temples.
"Get out of my head!"
As So Ok-rim shouted with a trembling voice, the man opened his mouth with infinite leisure.
"Don't resist. If you keep struggling, I'll erase every last memory of the one you loved."
What if she resisted his power to the very end?
In the end, So Ok-rim would be just like Yeon So-ha—
Losing every memory of Bu Eun-seol forever.
"Once a memory is gone, it never returns. It's lost for eternity."
Conflict began to frost over her unfocused eyes.
If her memories of Bu Eun-seol disappeared—
Wouldn't it be the same as losing the very existence of the one she had always loved?
"I don't have to kill you to take a limb or two."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, the man only chuckled darkly.
"Go ahead."
Then, with deliberate ease, he tilted his head.
"If you do, she'll suffer pain hundreds of times worse than losing a limb—and go completely mad."
Clang.
In the end, Bu Eun-seol let his sword drop to the ground. The man smiled in satisfaction and called out to So Ok-rim.
"Come here."
By now, all focus had completely vanished from So Ok-rim's eyes.
And like an obedient child, she walked toward the man without the slightest hesitation.
"No deception here. It worked perfectly."
The Mind Seizing Secret Art the man had mastered—
Not only far surpassed the current realm of the martial world, but it also had the ability to transmit even the subtlest physical reactions in detail.
Had So Ok-rim tried to deceive him? He would have seen through it instantly.
"Truly magnificent."
His gaze greedily traced the delicate, fair skin of So Ok-rim.
She was as beautiful as a celestial maiden, radiating an explosive vitality and an elusive charm.
Though the Central Plains were said to be full of beauties—
A woman with such a unique allure was nearly impossible to find.
"A supreme talent like this comes once in ten thousand years."
The man reached out, placing his hand on So Ok-rim's head.
"I'll make you mine completely."
Then, to fully seize her spirit, he reached for the Hundred Meetings acupoint.
Zzzing.
But something bizarre happened.
Far from submitting to him, So Ok-rim's spirit—
Suddenly, the colors of the surrounding scenery shifted, and a desolate reed field appeared before them.
"This is—"
The man realized this was the phenomenon of a Mindscape unfolding and let out a hollow laugh.
"Pathetic. You dare use the Mind Seizing Secret Art against me?"
He immediately exerted force to collapse the Mindscape.
But something was wrong.
No matter how much he unleashed his secret arts, the scenery didn't change—instead, it felt as though his own spirit was being dragged somewhere.
Whoooosh.
Then, before his eyes, light slowly gathered—
And a tall, imposing figure gradually took shape.
It was Bu Eun-seol, reconstructed in the form of the Mindscape.
"How is this possible?"
The man swept his venomous gaze across his surroundings.
Despite having mastered a Secret Art that surpassed the current era's level of Mind Seizing techniques, how could he be trapped inside a mere Mindscape conjured by this brat?
He couldn't comprehend this situation at all.
"I knew you could easily seize a woman's Spirit and Mind, but I also knew you could bind them together."
Thanks to the Love Without Extremes Technique, he had meticulously examined Yeon So-ha's Spirit and Mind.
He had realized that the Empress Dowager's subordinate wielded an extremely advanced form of the Mind Seizing Secret Art—one that completely dominated the very essence of Spirit and Mind.
And that this art was far beyond the current martial world's Mind Seizing arts.
That it bound Spirit and Mind so tightly, no intervention was possible in any way.
—Had the Young Palace Lord fortified her Spirit and Mind like Brother Bu, this wouldn't have happened.
But at Namgung Un's muttering, Bu Eun-seol had found an ingenious way to overcome this obstacle.
The Sacred Flower Secret Manual.
A Secret Art of the Three Pure Realms that intertwined the bodies and minds of fated men and women, allowing them to perceive the flow and principles of power while minimizing its loss—what if he used that?
The very moment the man tried to seize So Ok-rim's Spirit and Mind with his Mind Seizing Secret Art—
Bu Eun-seol could also plunge straight into the depths of the man's own Mind Spirit Secret Arts.
Using the pre-constructed Mindscape within the Mind's Eye Mirror as a medium, he had instead dragged the man into his Mindscape.
"The moment you cast your Secret Art on her,"
Bu Eun-seol said flatly,
"was the same as opening the door of your Spirit and Mind to me."
"You merged your minds into one?"
Finally grasping the situation, the man shouted in disbelief.
"Nonsense!"
Even twins born from the same womb couldn't perfectly fuse their bodies and minds.
How could two people of different genders, who had lived in different worlds, possibly unite their minds as one?
"Believe it or not, it makes no difference."
"So then,"
Suppressing his bewilderment, the man twisted his lips.
"You mean to decide life and death within this Mindscape?"
"Why not?"
Bu Eun-seol replied calmly.
"Only one of us will leave here alive."
"This is inside the Spirit and Mind of a woman who loves you. If we fight here—"
"She will endure it."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes brimmed with certainty.
"If it's her, no matter what kind of battle unfolds here, she will absolutely endure it."
So Ok-rim was stronger than anyone.
And since her heart was united with his, it would never break.
"Good. Very good."
As if regaining his composure, the man nodded slowly and stretched out his hand.
Then, in the endlessly vast and dark Mindscape—
Crack.
A sudden, jagged, emaciated, and grotesque black shadow took shape.
Its skeletal joints protruded unnaturally, its limbs twisted at impossible angles.
Its torso stretched abnormally long, its hollowed-out ribcage grotesquely heaving with each breath.
Its neck bent at an unnatural curve, its head so distorted it was barely recognizable as human.
Though its outline vaguely mimicked a human form, its proportions were so warped that it instinctively evoked revulsion and disgust in anyone who saw it.
"Try blocking the Beauty-Stealing Soul Snatch just once!"
Born from the True Demon's Knowledge—
The demon that stole women's hearts revealed its true form within the Mindscape of So Ok-rim's Spirit and Mind.
"How repulsive."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, the man snorted.
"Acting so composed."
Then, slowly, he raised both arms.
"Try enduring this!"
As his hands stretched out—
Black tendrils of light erupted from the shadow, spreading in all directions.
They were condensed magic energies, saturated with malice and wicked resentment.
'So that's how it was.'
At first, Bu Eun-seol had thought the man's own vile nature had shaped the True Demon's Secret Arts into such a hideous form.
But the moment the technique unfolded, he understood the truth clearly.
Because he, too, wielded Soul-Demon Magic Energy, he could discern the essence embedded within the man's magic.
'Born with an ugly appearance, he suffered many wounds because of it.'
Humans could not choose their own faces or births.
With bad luck, one might be born into a body destined for a painful life for no reason at all.
With worse luck, one might be born with intelligence so lacking they couldn't even recognize that pain.
Though this man had been born with enough intellect and insight to comprehend the True Demon's Knowledge—
For no reason other than being born ugly, he had become an object of hatred and revulsion.
"You suffer it too!"
As the man's ten fingers slashed ceaselessly through the air—
Whoosh.
The black-condensed magic energies wove through the void, gradually transforming the Mindscape.
The Beauty-Stealing Soul Snatch burrowed into Bu Eun-seol's Spirit and Mind, showing him illusions.
Swish.
Suddenly, the scenery of Tibet appeared, revealing the moment when Bu Eun-seol first met So Ok-rim.
At that time, So Ok-rim had not fallen for Bu Eun-seol—but for Seo Jin-ha at first sight.
Because Seo Jin-ha was in his original appearance.
Bu Eun-seol, meanwhile, was disguised with an ordinary face.
—Ugh, I hate this.
And now, in this illusion, So Ok-rim was glaring at Bu Eun-seol standing beside Seo Jin-ha with a look of disgust.
Because Bu Eun-seol's face had grotesquely transformed.
—You'd better not look at me if you can help it.
It was a natural reaction.
Humans are born loving beauty.
Even children, without needing to be taught, instinctively prefer what is lovely and despise what is ugly.
—Is that half-formed creature your attendant?
In the end, the illusionary So Ok-rim avoided Bu Eun-seol and began favoring Seo Jin-ha instead.
After that, though they repeated the same adventures and travels through the martial world as in reality, Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim never became a pair.
They merely remained good friends—devoid of any deeper feelings.
Swish.
The scenery shifted again, this time showing the moment he first met Yeon So-ha.
She was no different.
Because of his ugly appearance, Yeon So-ha did not fall for Bu Eun-seol, nor did she ever resolve to marry him.
It was inevitable.
Because his face was hideous.
Who could ever love someone with an ugly face?
Zzzing—
Bu Eun-seol's pupils, fixed on the illusion, gradually grew transparent.
The man, seeing this, curled his lips into a sinister smile.
What he had implanted was no mere illusion—it was the Mind Seizing Secret Art, refined to an extreme degree.
If Bu Eun-seol sympathized even for a single moment, or conceded even slightly to its logic?
His heart would be stolen away instantly.
"Exactly the kind of impoverished imagination one would expect from a child."
But then, something entirely unexpected happened.
Despite witnessing scenes that any human would naturally empathize with—
Bu Eun-seol had already regained his clear gaze, his mind sharp once more.
Not a shred of sympathy had been spared for the illusions the man showed him.
"Impoverished imagination, you say?"
"Yes."
Bu Eun-seol calmly extended his hand.
"Watch closely."
This time, a different story unfolded before the man's eyes.
Bu Eun-seol still had an ugly face—but he was not ashamed of it.
And as he journeyed through the martial world, he never ceased doing what was right.
When common folk were in danger, he risked his life to save them. When villains appeared, he crushed them with overwhelming martial prowess.
Though he always stood before others with a bloodstained, hideous face—
His eyes blazed with a presence that could command the world.
So Ok-rim, too, had initially paid no attention to Bu Eun-seol's ghastly appearance.
But gradually, she found herself overwhelmed by the towering aura radiating from him—until her heart began to race.
Not because he was handsome, but because he was extraordinary, righteous, and undeniably a man worth admiring.
Yeon So-ha was the same.
At first, their paths did not intertwine.
But when the Divine Maiden Palace faced crisis, Bu Eun-seol rushed to their aid without hesitation.
And before she knew it—
Yeon So-ha had begun to feel affection for Bu Eun-seol, whose unyielding will never faltered no matter the trial.
In the end, every woman who fell for Bu Eun-seol—
Did so not merely because of his beauty, but because they knew the nature of his character, the path he had walked.
Because he walked a lonely, desolate road that no one else could understand... they revered him, admired him, and loved him.
"Enough!"
CRASH!
The man shattered Bu Eun-seol's Mindscape with a roar.
"This is nothing but your own imagination! Your face isn't actually ugly, is it?!"
"It's the same thing."
Bu Eun-seol scoffed.
"What you showed me was also just an imagination—of what would happen if my face were ugly."
"What?"
"Only a difference in timing."
Then, with absolute conviction, he declared:
"Even if my face were ugly, I would have ended up with them in the end."
The women who loved Bu Eun-seol all had discerning eyes.
Even if his face had been hideous—
They would have recognized the jewel-like truth hidden within him and loved him all the same.
Hadn't the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade Bu Jan-yang, too, never been a man of dreamlike beauty—
Yet still been loved absolutely, with women pining for him their entire lives?
"Spouting nonsense soaked in dreams, are we?"
The man sneered.
"In the end, you're just—"
But when he saw the unshaken resolve in Bu Eun-seol's eyes, his words died.
This man was certain.
That appearances truly didn't matter.
"If you had shown me the suffering you endured because of your own ugliness, I wouldn't have been able to refute you."
Bu Eun-seol stared straight at him.
"But you overplayed your hand, too eager to see me despair."
The man could say nothing.
Because it was true.
Had he instead transmitted the memories of his own suffering—borne from his hideous appearance—to Bu Eun-seol...
Any human being would have sympathized deeply. In the end, it would have brought him to his knees.
But in his desperation to shatter Bu Eun-seol's beautiful face, to crush that dazzling confidence...
He had recklessly attacked his pride, and in the end, lost in the most absurd way.
Drip.
Blood trickled from the man's lips.
The Mind Seizing Secret Art was a convenient ability—one that allowed him to dominate an opponent's spirit and mind without even laying a finger on them.
But its fatal flaw was that if it failed, the counterforce would inevitably rebound onto him.
Sssss—
As Bu Eun-seol withdrew his mindscape, the scenery of reality gradually returned.
When the man opened his eyes, he found himself standing dumbfounded.
The lovely beauty, So Ok-rim, who should have been by his side, was now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Bu Eun-seol.
"Ugh, you really are a vile bastard."
So Ok-rim shot him a look of utter contempt.
Though she had lost consciousness under the man's Mind Seizing Secret Art, she had quickly regained clarity thanks to Bu Eun-seol—
And had witnessed everything that had transpired.
"Your problem isn't that you were born ugly. It's that your soul is rotten to the core."
"Shut your mouth!" the man roared.
"Don't look at me with those eyes when you know nothing!"
The disdainful gaze of a beautiful woman—
Wasn't this the very look he had endured until he could no longer stand it, before mastering the Secret Arts passed down by the True Demon Sect?
"Don't flatter yourself, you ugly wretch."
So Ok-rim sneered, her words cutting deep.
"Just because you were born with a hideous face, do you think everyone in the world is as twisted as you?"
"Enough!"
The man stretched out his hand with a furious shout.
Behind him, a grotesque, skeletal shadow slowly materialized—
The Soul-Stealing Specter, given physical form in reality.
"Die with me!"
The Soul-Stealing Specter swelled into a colossal giant, lunging at Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim in an instant.
Tap.
At that moment, So Ok-rim leaned naturally into Bu Eun-seol's embrace.
The man's expression twisted in bewilderment.
At the brink of death, they were doing this?
Did she want to feel her lover's embrace one last time before dying?
Just as his eyes bulged in disbelief, Bu Eun-seol casually extended his hand.
A massive palm-shaped surge of palm energy formed—
Whoooosh!
—and in a single strike, shattered the Soul-Stealing Specter, a form that no ordinary martial arts could ever hope to break.
Sacred Flower Secret Manual.
The two hadn't been engaging in some romantic display.
They had unleashed the supreme Secret Manual of the Three Pure Realms, a technique that allowed two individuals to merge their power without loss.
Crack— crackle—
Suddenly, spiderweb-like fissures began spreading across the man's skin.
Unable to withstand the force of the Sacred Flower Secret Manual unleashed by Bu Eun-seol and So Ok-rim, his body was collapsing.
Crrrk— CRACK!
The fractures spread across his entire body in an instant.
Like an ancient ceramic vessel on the verge of shattering, his skin split apart, faint light seeping through the cracks.
"Ugh—!"
A groan tore from the man's lips.
He desperately gathered his magic energy, trying to hold his crumbling body together—but against the overwhelming might of the Sacred Flower Secret Manual, it was like building a sandcastle against the tide.
BANG!
His right arm exploded like a firework. Then his left shoulder, his legs—one after another, they burst apart into fragments.
Thud.
Finally, only his torso remained, collapsing gracelessly to the ground.
Shudder— shudder—
The man trembled as if plunged into icy winter waters.
The True Law Transmitter of the True Demon Sect, who had mastered the True Demon's Secret Arts—
The once-mighty master who could seize a woman's heart in an instant—
Had now been reduced to a pitiful, fear-stricken wreck, unable to even control his own flesh.
Hssss—
But then—something strange happened.
As the man's spirit and mind crumbled and his Secret Arts shattered, a sudden, scorching heat pulsed from Bu Eun-seol's left wrist.
—Do not extinguish the flames of desire.
In dead ashes, no life can bloom. Let your greed be the kindling that sets the world ablaze—for that is true enlightenment.
'He's right.'
Bu Eun-seol's pupils turned transparent.
'To speak of emptying one's heart—isn't that just the deceit of those who already possess too much?'
An empty vessel exists to be filled.
To seize what belongs to others and fill the emptiness—that is the true order of the universe.
—Do not give water to the thirsty.
Let their thirst grow until they worship you as a god.
'Countless hypocrites feign compassion only to dominate others.'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes darkened steadily.
'There's no need to fear karma. Crush the consequences with overwhelming power—and the cause itself will vanish, won't it?'
Sssss—
In that moment, the Soul-Demon Magic Energy dwelling within the man's body was sucked into Bu Eun-seol's left hand.
Black light spread like ink from his wrist, staining his skin as if absorbing darkness itself.
At the same time, concepts like emptiness, karma, compassion, and liberation twisted in his mind—
And the teachings of the Demon Buddha began flooding in, warping them into justifications for human desire, selfishness, and corruption.
With the True Demon's Secret Arts broken and the man's Soul-Demon Magic Energy absorbed...
The dormant power within Bu Eun-seol's wrist had begun to awaken.