Chapter 1239
"So you're a disciple of Langya Pavilion."
The old man let out a hollow laugh as he sensed the killing intent and demonic energy erupting from Bu Eun-seol's entire body.
"You've inherited Sado Mu-myeong's legacy."
"......"
"You said you'd never do something so dull again."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed.
He had once heard directly from the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's lips the story of how the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had raised a disciple, only to discard them when they became an unusable blade.
Yet it was truly strange.
The higher his martial prowess climbed without limit,
the more he faced the powerhouses of the Abyss,
the more he began hearing that he resembled the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
If one considered only pure killing intent and demonic energy? It made sense to be compared to the Blood Demon Jeok Bung, who stood at the pinnacle of such traits.
Likewise, his terrifying growth in actual combat might not match the Human Demon Ak Mu-ryeong, but it was enough to draw comparisons.
Had they mentioned Jeok Bung or Ak Mu-ryeong, it would have been understandable.
But to say he resembled the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—who pierced through spirit and mind to dominate the battlefield,
who shattered an opponent's techniques themselves, rendering them powerless to resist?
Flash!
Yet there was no time to dwell on it.
The old man extended his broom once more,
striking three major pressure points between Bu Eun-seol's chest and abdomen.
Tsk tsk tsk.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's body swayed unsteadily,
and like a swarm of scattering bats, ninety-nine shadows dispersed in all directions.
He had executed the Swift Shadowless movement technique to its Grand Perfection, shifting positions ninety-nine times in place.
Swish!
Returning to his original form, Bu Eun-seol stabbed at the old man's instep with the Ink Soul Sword.
While there were many techniques in the martial world that targeted the lower body, few aimed specifically for the instep.
The instep was one of the hardest places to strike accurately.
Pa pa pa pa pa!
But the sword technique Bu Eun-seol unleashed
sent forth serpentine sword energy that continuously lashed out, relentlessly probing the old man's foot.
He had adapted the Caged Bird Longing for Clouds stance from the old man's earlier Iron Hand Empty Wave technique.
"Absorbing the subtleties of martial arts, I see. I can't afford to drag this out."
Pat!
The old man instantly leaped three zhang into the air and swung his broom, unleashing forty-eight sword strikes.
Whoosh!
In response, Bu Eun-seol deployed the Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan technique, pouring forth over a hundred and eighty sword energies.
Martial masters avoided executing large, sweeping sword techniques while airborne whenever possible.
The outcome between one who stood firmly grounded and one who floated in the air
was already as good as decided.
Whoooosh!
But the unexpected happened.
The forty-eight sword strikes unleashed by the old man
suddenly multiplied fivefold, forming a crushing sword net that pressed down on Bu Eun-seol's technique.
Trapped within the sword net,
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to take the blow head-on.
The problem was that within the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, he had only two jia's worth of internal energy left.
Under these conditions, there was no way to counter such sword strokes.
Just as his body was about to be shredded by the sword net,
Twitch, twitch.
The Ink Soul Sword jerked like a freshly caught fish before suddenly emitting a circular radiance.
The Fluorescent Sword Control technique had activated.
Clang clang clang clang!
Amidst the deafening metallic clangs, the old man's sword net was shattered into fragments by the Fluorescent Sword Control.
'Now.'
A flash surged in Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
There was a critical difference between their exchange.
While the old man was unleashing his sword strokes with all his strength,
Bu Eun-seol, thanks to the Wind and Cloud Creation Formula, had the Fluorescent Sword Control technique acting autonomously,
allowing him to observe the old man's movements in their entirety.
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, a crimson blood dragon shot from Bu Eun-seol's left hand like lightning.
Having pinpointed the old man's opening, he unleashed the Heavenly Hand Empty Wave technique.
Crash!
The old man was sent flying dozens of zhang away, landing at the very edge of the Life-and-Death Combat Formation.
"Hoh."
Blood trickled from the old man's lips as he nodded with an expression of admiration.
"Impressive."
Slowly rising from his crouched position, he nodded again.
"Even the Human Demon hadn't reached such heights at your age."
Then, in a low voice, he added:
"Shall I bring out my reserves now?"
Click.
Suddenly, the old man dislocated his jaw.
And thrust his hand inside.
Gurgle, gurgle.
With a sound like a croaking toad,
something sloshed within his belly before his hand gradually withdrew a crimson object.
A blood-red sword, as if forged from congealed blood.
"So you've forced me to use this after all."
The moment the old man drew the sword, his aura transformed completely.
The decrepit figure he had been
now radiated explosive demonic energy, like a demon reborn in blood.
Hummm.
At that instant, Bu Eun-seol's pupils burned fiercely before blazing with a pure white light.
'A trick.'
Thanks to the power of the Ancient Sword Forest,
he saw through the old man's deception—the sword hadn't truly been drawn from his mouth but had instead emerged from his palm.
'A qi sword isn't even that remarkable a technique.'
Why was the old man so intent on hiding that the sword had come from his palm?
Shooo.
Then, the old man adjusted his stance, gripping the blood sword.
At that moment, cold sweat ran down Bu Eun-seol's spine, and his body stiffened, unable to move.
Not due to any force or power, but because he instinctively sensed the old man was about to unleash a Demon Sword Form of overwhelming caliber.
Crack.
He strained with all his might to move, but only the sound of his bones grinding echoed—he couldn't even twitch a finger.
'Reverse Polarity Heart Method.'
Kwoong.
In an instant, his body shuddered violently.
Burning Qi to Awaken the Meridians, Shattering the Origin to Move the Body.
Even at the cost of depleting his primordial qi while his acupoints were suppressed, he unleashed a technique that violently shook his meridians and forced his body into motion.
Click.
Just as he finally managed to move—
"You die."
Before the words "you die" could even fully leave the old man's lips, a crimson Blood Sword was already piercing toward Bu Eun-seol's throat.
This was the Absolute Demon Sword Style—a technique never before revealed in the martial world, one that even the strongest warriors could not evade.
A sword strike that cuts down its opponent before they can even begin to move.
Flash!
In that same instant, Bu Eun-seol also became a streak of light. He had achieved Body-Sword Unity, meeting the old man's sword stroke head-on.
When the light finally faded—
"......."
The two men, having passed each other like fleeting shadows, stood with their backs turned, separated by a distance of a little over twenty feet.
Swish.
Almost simultaneously, they turned—
The old man's body was unharmed.
Drip... drip...
But from Bu Eun-seol's neck, red blood trickled down.
Yet it was not a fatal wound—merely a shallow graze from the tip of the blade.
"How?"
For the first time, a flicker of surprise crossed the old man's eyes.
Once this sword form was unleashed,
Within a range of thirty feet, no master—no matter how heightened their extrasensory perception—could evade it.
So how had this boy managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth?
"You moved beforehand."
Finally grasping the situation, the old man snorted.
"That's right."
Bu Eun-seol nodded, watching the blood drip from his own neck.
"All members of the Eighteen Radiant Souls have trained in the same Demon Sword Forms."
He had spent years analyzing the traces of Demonic Sword Arts left on his grandfather's corpse.
And during his travels through the martial world—
The elder he had met at the Namgung Family.
And even the masked man who had left behind memories of the Eighteen Radiant Souls.
He had realized that they all wielded the exact same sword forms as the one who had murdered his grandfather.
Thanks to this, he had deduced that all members of the Eighteen Radiant Souls trained in identical sword techniques—
And that they were proficient in the Indian Yoga Art, Wicked Incense's hidden weapons, and the Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood poison.
But the most shocking revelation was this:
The sword form used against his grandfather had not been fully executed—it was incomplete.
—If this sword form were fully unleashed, what would the follow-up strike be?
When he had prepared his grandfather's body for burial,
He had been unable to properly discern the intricacies of the technique, as he had not yet trained in martial arts.
But after entering the martial world and mastering Advanced Martial Arts, and finally witnessing the masked assassin sent by the Martial Alliance replicate the same Demonic Sword Arts that had killed his grandfather—
He had finally grasped the follow-up technique.
—There's a high probability it transitions into either a Quick Sword Form for an instant kill or a Linked Ring Sword Form that cannot be blocked at close range.
Which was why, the moment the old man drew his Blood Sword—
Bu Eun-seol had not countered with Body-Sword Unity—he had completely evaded the range of the sword's momentum.
"Don't get cocky just because you blocked Short Wave Flash."
The old man regained his composure and grinned eerily.
"You're still going to die either way."
Clank.
Instead of responding, Bu Eun-seol lowered Ink Soul Sword into a low stance.
Even if he subdued this old man, he would never extract any information from him.
In that case, he had no choice but to follow the plan—
Kill him in one strike, then rely on Taoist Heo Ju's help to read the remnants of his soul for answers.
Clank.
The old man tilted his Blood Sword horizontally, letting the dripping blood slide, before abruptly raising it vertically.
A bizarre stance—as if preparing to block a strike aimed at his head.
In the final moment where victory would be decided in an instant—
Taking such a defensive, seemingly unnecessary stance was a psychological tactic.
It conveyed absolute confidence that Bu Eun-seol could never surpass him, instilling despair—
While simultaneously forcing him into the only remaining option: striking first.
'This sword study was not created by a martial artist.'
Before reaching the Void Extremity Realm,
He had assumed the sword technique used by his grandfather's killer was merely some sinister, unknown Demonic Sword Art.
But now he knew.
The Demon Sword Studies passed down to the Eighteen Radiant Souls—
Were the polar opposite of all sword forms ever devised by the great masters of the martial world.
A sword form that was anti-martial arts itself.
'Strike first, and you die. Counter too late, and you still die.'
The old man's stance was in perfect opposition to all known martial arts principles.
If he attacked swiftly, he would be instantly countered. If he played defensively, his openings would inevitably be exposed—
It was an inescapable sword form of death.
"Hohoho."
The old man smirked, his smile barely visible.
"You've already grasped the essence of this sword technique."
It was the smile of absolute victory.
The fact that Bu Eun-seol couldn't strike first meant the outcome was already decided.
"Then—"
Before the old man could finish—
Pak!
A sharp sword energy burst from Ink Soul Sword, shooting into the air.
Bu Eun-seol had taken the initiative.
At the same time, another sword energy erupted behind the old man, spreading in all directions.
As if there were two of him—attacking not just from the front, but from behind as well.
Flash!
The old man's Blood Sword cut cleanly through the air.
Splurt.
Instantly, a deep X-shaped wound split open across Bu Eun-seol's chest.
Despite his ingenious maneuver, he had still failed to block the old man's single stroke.
Schlick.
But then something strange happened.
Suddenly, a crimson Blood Line slashed across the old man's right arm—
Thud.
And his wrist fell cleanly to the ground.
By all rights, Bu Eun-seol should have lost in the first exchange.
Yet while he had suffered a minor wound, the old man had been dealt a grievous injury.
"This is impossible!"
The old man's pupils trembled.
His Sword Studies were flawless.
It was an unbeatable Sword Form—one that countered if the opponent struck first, and exploited openings if they hesitated.
How, in this damned situation, had Bu Eun-seol evaded his killing blow?
"Your counter-martial arts were impressive," Bu Eun-seol said in a low voice, as if answering the unspoken question.
"But Sect Leader Wi Ji-mua had long since devised a way to counter such Sword Studies."
When Bu Eun-seol had gone to annihilate the Fire Rain Sword Sect, it was Wi Ji-mua who had greeted him.
In an instant, the man had conjured a wine cup on the table—not by moving at blinding speed, but by altering space itself.
"Profound Demon Wi Ji-mua?"
"Indeed. One of the highest mysteries of the Fire Rain Sword—the Formless Destruction."
During their battle, Wi Ji-mua had relentlessly pressured Bu Eun-seol with the Fire Rain Sword's supreme technique, where the Sword Strokes unpredictably shifted mid-execution—impossible to predict or even perceive.
And now, Bu Eun-seol had unleashed the same Sword Stroke against the old man.
Though the initial strike had been blocked, the old man had failed to see through the Formless Destruction's hidden shift—and in that fleeting moment, the altered Sword Stroke had severed his arm.
"So I didn't lose to you. I lost to the Profound Demon."
Bu Eun-seol nodded as if acknowledging the truth.
"That's right."
Had he not received Wi Ji-mua's teachings? Had he not inherited that man's supreme Sword Studies?
He would never have defeated the old man through swordsmanship alone.
In other words, Wi Ji-mua—who had reached the pinnacle of the Fire Rain Sword—had shattered the demonic sword arts passed down by the Eighteen Radiant Souls.
It was proof that the martial arts of this era's strongest had surpassed those of the past.
And Bu Eun-seol, who had absorbed the refined martial truths of those very strongest... was advancing toward a realm no one could foresee.
"What exactly are the Eighteen Radiant Souls?"
"You think you've won?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, spoken as if victory were assured, the old man's lips twisted into a bloodstained grin.
"Ask that after you've truly brought me down."
KUGONG!
The air tore apart as the old man's body swelled, distorting the surrounding space. The ground beneath them cracked like a spider's web.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flickered in shock.
Not only was no blood flowing from the old man's severed arm—it was glowing, like a jewel.
'The True Demon's Corpse.'
Just like the left wrist of the True Demon that Bu Eun-seol had once obtained, this man had the right wrist attached to him.
ZZZREEEEEK—
Then, the severed wrist on the ground suddenly darkened with blood—before reshaping into a sword and reattaching itself to the old man's arm.
'So that's why he pretended to draw it from his mouth.'
The Blood Sword he had pretended to pull from his lips had been formed from the True Demon's Corpse all along.
KUKUKUKU—
As if imbued with the True Demon's power, the slender Blood Sword trembled, shaking the entire courtyard.
"I can't hold them back!"
Taoist Heo Ju screamed.
The Half-Spirit Beings she had restrained with her Taoist arts were now breaking free, their bodies twitching as they regained movement.
"You have to kill him quickly!"
KUKUKUKU—
The earth itself quaked as flames erupted in the sky.
Transparent figures shrieked in the air, flickering in and out of existence—as if the souls of the Flower Cloud Trading House's victims, trapped in the Ghost Gate, were now screaming under the True Demon's power.
"Now..."
The old man, gripping his sword, whispered with a face full of rapture.
"I am one step closer to him again."
WHOOSH!
The energy surging from the Blood Sword intensified, coiling like a massive serpent, dyeing the world crimson.
At the same time, red veins rose across Bu Eun-seol's skin as a bone-deep chill spread through him.
Just from the sky turning red—
It felt as if the cold fingers of Death itself were draining every drop of blood from his body.
Drip.
The raised veins had already thinned into translucent threads. Bu Eun-seol shivered as if plunged into icy water.
'That Blood Sword isn't a weapon—it's a tool for absorption.'
If this continued—
Even his soul would be devoured.
Was the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation ineffective?
Though his body only contained 120 Years of Internal Energy, with every passing second—
His vitality, his internal energy, even the power of the Heavenly Darkness Star—
Everything within him that the Domain couldn't contain was being siphoned away.
Even fragments of his memories were slipping loose, one by one.
"With the Creation Sun and Moon and the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud... one can attain transcendent enlightenment without reincarnation—through endless deaths."
The old man gazed at Bu Eun-seol, whose strength was rapidly draining.
His eyes were leisurely, like a fisherman admiring his catch, as he spoke.
"You asked what the Eighteen Radiant Souls are?"
His voice brimmed with pride.
"They are the vessels created to reclaim the True Demon's Corpse—shattered into eighteen fragments—and wield its power!"
Eighteen Radiant Souls.
It wasn't an organization or faction.
It referred to the tools—each possessing the ability to retrieve one of the eighteen fragments of the True Demon's Corpse.
'That's why they're called Souls.'
Each fragment contained power—meaning the True Demon's soul had been split into eighteen pieces.
'To create... a new True Demon.'
Even as his consciousness dimmed, Bu Eun-seol repeated it quietly.
The ones who had created the Eighteen Radiant Souls—the forces lurking within the Martial Alliance—
At last, the absolute being who had dominated the world since ancient times, spreading calamity—
They had discovered the method to create a True Demon.
"Because of his unique abilities, the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade Bu Jan-yang ultimately became... something that never even existed in the first place..."
Just as Bu Eun-seol's consciousness and gaze were fading, the Old Man delivered an even more shocking revelation.
"He became the Nineteenth Light Soul."