Chapter 1233
CRACK!
Thunderous roars echoed across the clear sky in rapid succession.
Bu Eun-seol, having activated the Land-Flying Technique, arrived near the source of the screams before he knew it.
CLANG! SHING!
The sound of clashing weapons rang out incessantly from deep within the forest.
As he swiftly approached—
"......!"
Bu Eun-seol's gaze sharpened.
In the forest clearing, a woman with torn clothes lay collapsed on the ground.
Before her, three men with sinister eyes were engaged in battle against a blood-soaked old man wielding a dagger.
At a glance—
The old man appeared to be the woman's master, while the three men were unmistakably the Flower-Plucking Lechers.
Though the old man's attire was ragged, his swordplay was surprisingly agile.
Given that he was using the Anxious Swordplay of the Windblade Sect, he must have once been a disciple of the Windblade Sword School.
"You stubborn old bastard!"
One of the three men, his sleeves rolled up, sneered as he flicked his fingers.
Five streaks of Finger Wind shot forth, aiming for the old man's pressure points.
PING!
But before the Finger Wind could even touch the old man, it vanished in an instant.
Bu Eun-seol had intervened.
"More of the Empress Dowager's underlings?"
First, the battles involving the Celestial Gate, the True Dragon Sect, and the Black Killing Sect—and now, the sudden appearance of the Flower-Plucking Lechers?
Statistically, this made no sense.
"So you've finally arrived."
The three Flower-Plucking Lechers curled their lips into sinister smiles as Bu Eun-seol descended to the ground.
"Martial Soul Lord, let's bring this to an end now!"
They surrounded Bu Eun-seol in a triangular formation, their eyes flashing.
At that moment—
A colossal Demon God Statue manifested behind Bu Eun-seol, piercing straight through his back.
These men were Masters of the True Demon Palace, wielders of Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
They had perfectly predicted the timing and location of his arrival before unleashing their vicious technique.
WHOOSH—
But then, something strange happened.
The Demon God Statue abruptly vanished—
"A-AARGH!"
—and in the next instant, the bodies of the Empress Dowager's underlings, who had been impersonating the Flower-Plucking Lechers, burst into flames.
Bu Eun-seol's pupils burned crimson.
Without even lifting a finger, he had instantly activated the Hot River Great Essence True Qi, incinerating them alive.
"H-How...?"
The men, now engulfed in roaring flames, stared down at their own bodies in disbelief.
They were all Masters of the True Demon Palace—martial arts of the orthodox murim should have been completely ineffective against them.
So how had all their power vanished in an instant, leaving them vulnerable to mere Extreme Yang Martial Arts?
"You became intoxicated by that convenient power, so you must have looked down on the murim."
Void-Shattering Realm.
Bu Eun-seol had already discerned that these men impersonating the Flower-Plucking Lechers were Masters of the True Demon Palace.
And so, he had immediately unleashed the power of World and Realm Annihilation.
With 120 Years worth of internal energy, he could wield the Hot River Great Essence True Qi as he pleased.
THUD!
But then—an unexpected turn of events.
A sharp pain shot through his back, paralyzing his body.
The bloodied old man who had been fighting them suddenly drew an ancient dagger and stabbed Bu Eun-seol in the back.
"Zhanlu Sword."
A blade said to render its victim immobile upon piercing their flesh, shattering all their power in an instant.
One of the Ten Great Swords of the Murim—the Zhanlu Sword.
"Truly, you wield a bizarre martial art that erases not just your enemies' strength, but your own as well."
At that moment, one of the Empress Dowager's burning underlings laughed triumphantly.
"That's why we used the Soul-Seizing Art on this old man and his disciple from the Deep Mountain Secluded Valley, luring you into an ambush."
Some time ago, Bu Eun-seol had encountered an assassin from the True Demon Palace in his father's Secret Vault, who had used bats in his attack.
Bu Eun-seol had dealt with him using the Void-Shattering Realm and the power of chains.
But in his dying moments, the assassin had somehow invoked a Harmonization, reporting the power of Bu Eun-seol's Void-Shattering Realm to the Empress Dowager.
"You must have thought you could leisurely block an ambush from some ordinary old man without much concern."
Though his body was burning, the Empress Dowager's underling showed no sign of pain as he continued with a sinister grin.
"But you never expected him to wield the Zhanlu Sword and unleash the Qi-Severing Silence Technique, did you?"
It was a meticulously crafted plan.
That old man was nothing more than a Second-Rate disciple of a minor sword sect, someone who had never cultivated internal energy even once in his life.
Thus, his presence posed no threat to Bu Eun-seol—even if he raised his sword, Bu Eun-seol could have easily blocked it with time to spare.
The Empress Dowager had exploited precisely that vulnerability.
She had cast the Soul-Seizing Art upon the old man, seizing control of his will, then placed the ancient divine blade, the Zhanlu Sword, in his hand.
With his presence completely erased, she had him unleash the Qi-Shedding Silence technique—a sword form swift as lightning.
"In a state where even your own power is diminished by the Domain, struck by the Zhanlu Sword... Not only is your body paralyzed, but all your qi must have drained away, no?"
It was said that even the World's Greatest Martial Artist, once struck by the Zhanlu Sword, would find their body immobilized and their internal energy shattered.
And if the blade fully pierced their flesh, death was inevitable.
"Keheheh. Hahahaha!"
The man, his skin nearly burned away, his form now skeletal,
gazed at Bu Eun-seol—who could not so much as twitch—and burst into mad laughter.
"Soon, you too will die."
Whoosh.
The Empress Dowager's subordinates, now little more than charred skeletons engulfed in flames, finally collapsed into piles of ash.
"Huuuuu..."
Then, the old man—his eyes rolled back, whites fully exposed—began twisting the Zhanlu Sword embedded in Bu Eun-seol's back.
Even though they were all dead, the Mind-Seizing Art remained unbroken.
And the old man was intent on tearing apart Bu Eun-seol's body, now unable to move even a finger.
Crrk.
The old man pushed the sword in with all his strength.
If he could just pierce through the Body Protection True Qi and drive the blade deep into an acupoint, Bu Eun-seol would die instantly.
"It's fine."
Then, Bu Eun-seol—who should have been completely paralyzed—slowly raised his hand and lightly shoved the old man, sending him tumbling to the ground.
"I let myself take that strike on purpose, just to see what they'd say."
He had already deduced that this was all the Empress Dowager's trap—and had long since seen through the Qi-Shedding Silence technique.
But he knew full well that even if he captured or tortured them, they wouldn't reveal anything.
So he pretended to fall for the ambush.
Only by making them believe he was dying would they let slip some scrap of information.
"Not much to gain, it seems."
But the Empress Dowager's subordinates had only spewed curses, offering no useful intelligence.
Tzzzt.
Feeling the creeping numbness spreading from where the Zhanlu Sword had struck, he let out a sigh.
"Truly, a famed sword lives up to its name."
Struck by the Zhanlu Sword while his Void-Severing Sutra was active,
his body had gone numb to the point of pain, and even releasing the power of World and Realm Annihilation proved difficult.
'The only gain was uncovering one weakness of the Void-Severing Sutra.'
Still in its early stages, the Void-Severing Sutra had as many restrictions as it did profound applications.
And the process of identifying those limitations itself was a way to elevate his martial arts.
Only by recognizing them clearly
could he naturally break through those constraints as his mastery deepened.
Flash!
A sharp glint ignited in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
With just a wisp of True Qi, he reversed the enemy's force—
unleashing the Intercept and Counter technique to repel the Zhanlu Sword with full strength.
Crack!
Although Bu Eun-seol had only 120 years of internal energy, his Reverse Extremity Heart Method had already reached the Seventh Layer.
Crrrrk—
Cracks spiderwebbed across the Zhanlu Sword embedded in his back before it crumbled into dust.
One of the martial world's legendary divine blades had been permanently destroyed by his hand.
Drip.
As the Zhanlu Sword shattered, blood spilled from the old man's mouth—
"Huh?"
—and his hazy eyes suddenly cleared, regaining lucidity.
"What in the world...?"
The old man looked around, then let out a scream when he saw his disciple lying in a broken heap.
"Do-ha! Do-ha!"
He frantically scooped her up, only to collapse weakly to the ground.
"Great Hero!"
Finally noticing Bu Eun-seol, the old man pleaded.
"Please, save this child!"
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol immediately checked the woman named Do-ha.
Fortunately, aside from torn clothes, she had no visible injuries or abnormalities.
Yet no matter what he tried, she wouldn't wake.
Hmm.
He channeled Reverse Polarity True Qi into her, but there was still no response.
'Strange.'
If this were the Mind Seizing Secret Art, he should have recognized it immediately.
Yet despite her unharmed body, the woman remained unconscious.
'If I stay, I'll only bring them harm.'
The Empress Dowager was testing him, expending vast resources and manpower.
If he lingered under the pretense of helping, he would only endanger them further.
"I'll take you to a physician in the village. Let's go there."
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol lifted the old man and the woman into the air and unleashed his Land-Flying Technique.
Drip, drip.
Blood trickled from the unhealed wound left by the Damblo Sword, but he paid it no mind as he activated his Movement Technique.
Having reached the Void Extremity Realm, most wounds would naturally mend on their own—
But the qi imbued in the Damblo Sword had been too potent, making recovery difficult.
Thud.
Arriving at a nearby physician's clinic, Bu Eun-seol laid the woman down inside before pulling out a banknote and pressing it into the old man's hand.
"This should be more than enough to cover her treatment."
The old man and the woman had suffered needlessly because of him.
With an apologetic expression, he spoke.
"Once you've recovered, don't return to the Deep Mountain Secluded Valley. Live peacefully in Chengdu."
Then, he activated his Land-Flying Technique once more and departed. Yet, before even eight minutes had passed—
"Kyaaaaah—!"
A bloodcurdling scream echoed from somewhere in the distance.
From the very village he had just left.
'No...'
A foreboding premonition struck him, and Bu Eun-seol immediately turned back.
What awaited him was carnage.
The first thing he saw upon returning was the old man's corpse collapsed in front of the physician's clinic.
A deep gash split his throat, his eyes frozen wide in disbelief.
The clinic's door had been shattered to pieces, and from within, screams and the sound of destruction roared chaotically.
BANG! CRASH!
Villagers were attacking each other everywhere.
Neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend—even parents were swinging blades at their own children.
Crimson blood streamed from their mouths, their eyes bloodshot and frenzied.
"GGRRAAAGH!"
A middle-aged man swung a sickle at a woman who appeared to be his wife, while an elderly woman raised a rock to smash a child's skull.
THUD! SLASH!
In the marketplace, half a dozen people were tangled together, biting, clawing, tearing at each other.
Their faces and bodies were already drenched in blood—yet they only grew more violent, more rabid.
CRACK!
The entire village had descended into madness.
Screams, howls, and the sounds of slaughter had turned the once-peaceful village into hell.
And at the center of it all stood the woman who had been unconscious earlier—now wide-eyed and towering over the chaos.
"So you deliberately lured me into bringing her to the village."
Only now did Bu Eun-seol understand.
She hadn't been unconscious—she was a vessel for spreading the Mind Seizing Secret Art.
The moment he brought her to the village, she unleashed a malevolent energy, driving the villagers into a frenzy, making them fight one another like mad.
This way, all the blame would fall on him—and even if it didn't, the guilt would consume him.
Heh.
The woman's lips curled into a bloodstained smile as her eyes locked onto Bu Eun-seol.
Her pale skin and hollow black pupils made her look like a ghost haunting the daylight.
Zzzzt—
As the crisis deepened, heat surged in Bu Eun-seol's right eye.
The power of the Ancient Sword Forest was awakening.
"That's—"
Then, something bizarre came into view.
Countless translucent strands of energy extended from the woman's body—
Each one connected to the heads of the villagers.
"So that's how it is."
To stop this madness, he would have to kill her.
But if he did, the villagers' Spirit and Mind would be destroyed.
"They've grasped my weakness perfectly."
Before, the Empress Dowager had exploited his compassion by targeting the women around him with the True Demon Palace's forbidden arts.
She had learned not only that he was weak to emotional attachments—but also that he walked an unyieldingly righteous path.
And now, she was using innocent civilians as pawns to corner him once more.
—Well? What will you do?
He could almost see the Empress Dowager's sinister grin.
If he left now, the chaos would spread from this village to Chengdu.
Countless would be injured or die.
"Even after ascending to the position of Empress Dowager, you still see the people as mere chess pieces?"
Conflict flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"If I kill her, no matter what I do, I'll never escape the accusation of harming civilians."
To save more lives—
Would he stain his hands with the blood of this woman and these villagers, bearing the infamy forever?
"If I were to leave now, she wouldn't keep slaughtering innocent civilians endlessly."
If he simply walked away?
Many would be injured or lose their lives... but from then on, she would never harm the innocent again.
Even if it meant enduring some sacrifice.
Would he become a hero who protected his honor for the sake of the Greater Righteousness?
Or would he become a villain who bore a filthy stigma to save as many lives as possible?
Tak.
Bu Eun-seol activated his movement technique and appeared before the woman named Dohwa in an instant.
"I refuse both choices."
Muttering lowly, he unleashed his full power.
Drip, drip.
His hair, pupils, and even the fabric of his clothes began fading into monochrome, like an ink painting washed in water.
At the same time, the civilians who had been fighting like mad under the influence of the Mind Seizing Secret Art—
Rumble—
—suddenly turned and rushed toward Bu Eun-seol instead.
Stab! Thud!
They began stabbing and striking him with whatever blades or stones they had.
The power of the Ancient Sword Forest, the Void Transcendence Realm, and Phantom Restoration.
Using the Ancient Sword Forest's power to assess the situation, he deployed the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation—
—restricting the influence of the woman's Mind Seizing Secret Art to his immediate surroundings.
Then, through the secret art of Phantom Restoration—
—he redirected the torrent of rage in the woman and the villagers' minds toward himself.
It was an inescapable trap.
Yet by combining the mystical power passed down through murim history, the supreme Mind Seizing Secret Art devised by the Human Demon, a peerless grandmaster—
—and the unprecedented martial realm he had achieved, he accomplished this miracle.
Stab! Thud!
The villagers, as if possessed, swung their blades at Bu Eun-seol like madmen.
Controlling the minds of so many people was no easy feat, even for the Human Demon of the Demonic Path.
But after studying and mastering the principles of the Heart Seizing Secret Art in the Secret Vault to win back Yeon So-ha's heart—
—his Phantom Restoration had advanced exponentially, its depth now boundless.
Squelch. Drip, drip.
Wrapped in the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, even ordinary attacks inflicted severe wounds.
Though the Void Transcendence Realm's power allowed his injuries to regenerate, it couldn't nullify the agony of flesh tearing or bones shuddering.
Yet Bu Eun-seol stood firm, eyes closed—
—deflecting only fatal blows.
Now, with Phantom Restoration at full strength—
—any major movement or attempt to employ martial subtleties might disrupt the delicate control over their minds.
How much time had passed?
"......"
Finally, severing the last threads of the Mind Seizing Secret Art, the villagers gradually regained their senses, freed from their rage.
"Ugh... ugh..."
They recoiled in horror at the sight before them—
—Bu Eun-seol, now little more than a mass of blood.
Drip, drip.
Dizzy from blood loss, he exhaled in relief seeing them unharmed.
'Hah...'
The Empress Dowager must have used the True Demon Palace's secret arts and innocent civilians like this—
—to corrupt those with righteous hearts.
But Bu Eun-seol, who had not only pioneered a new martial realm but also cultivated multiple supreme secret arts—
—was impervious to such methods.
"Something like this can't be planned in a short time."
From the Red Blade Sect's atrocities to the full-scale war between Cheonseongmun and Jeongryonggak, the Black Kill Sect's ambush, and now this trap using civilians—
—none of these could be orchestrated overnight.
"She's done this before."
Meaning the Empress Dowager had laid this same trap—
—not for a demonic practitioner, but for someone with righteous convictions, and was now repeating it.
"Then—"
A flash of realization crossed his eyes.
But then—
Rumble—
Another disturbance erupted.
—Gahk!
—Ugh!
Three hundred assassins slaughtered villagers as they surged toward him.
"Hahahaha."
Bu Eun-seol laughed in sheer disbelief.
The Empress Dowager, anticipating this plan's failure—
—had erased traces of the Mind Seizing Secret Art from the villagers and stationed troops to attack him.
"To corner me alone, she'd sacrifice even her own people?!"
Black mist seethed from his entire body.
"Fine. I'll play along."
He couldn't—no, wouldn't—overlook this atrocity.
Crack.
Killing intent, madness, demonic energy—
Unrestrained emotions surged through his veins.
Shhk.
Bu Eun-seol lowered his stance, the Mournful Soul Sword pressed against his back.
It was the same Starting Stance once used by the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade—
—though he didn't realize it yet.