Chapter 1251
"Hmm."
Despite the rather deep wound, the Buddhist Venerable paid it no mind and merely nodded.
"Indeed. So you've studied this old monk's martial arts as well."
The Buddhist Venerable had sent his subordinates to tirelessly track down traces of Bu Eun-seol's martial techniques and had ceaselessly researched them.
And Bu Eun-seol, too...
Having faced the Buddhist Venerable multiple times, each time confronting the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm head-on...
Had continuously probed the principles and unfolding of that palm technique.
—The Buddhist Venerable had devised an entirely new method of martial execution.
When they clashed once more at Shaolin, Bu Eun-seol finally pierced through its underlying principle.
The countless shifting hand shadows, which had seemed to embody the essence of different martial arts...
In truth, all stemmed from a single origin.
—It was not that the movements gave rise to the palm technique... Rather, the palm technique existed first, and the movements unfolded to match it.
The reason no one had ever been able to block the Buddhist Venerable's Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm was that...
Instead of channeling internal energy, moving the body to complete an action, and linking martial forms...
He perfected it as a single phenomenon, like Limitless Power, and unleashed it instantaneously.
And unless one grasped this principle...
The Buddhist Venerable's Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm would always remain one step ahead of any martial art—an invincible palm technique.
—If he could do it, so could I.
Bu Eun-seol had also studied to replicate that esoteric method of martial execution and had finally found a clue.
And when the Buddhist Venerable's Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm unfolded...
With nothing more than a single upward and downward slash of his sword, Bu Eun-seol severed the profound mystery of the palm technique that existed before the movements themselves.
"No matter how dazzling or complex the martial forms may be, there is always a single origin that supports them at their foundation."
Bu Eun-seol spoke impassively.
"Thanks to studying your palm technique, I too have gained enlightenment."
"Hohohoho."
Even as his Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm was dismantled, the Buddhist Venerable seemed rather pleased, bursting into laughter as he nodded.
"To shatter the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm, which no one has ever broken before. Truly, this old monk's personal visit was worth it."
Then, he pressed his blood-dripping palm to his own eye.
"Now then, let's see you handle this."
Shak!
The blood flowing from his palm vanished in an instant, and his pupils began to gleam.
Pat!
In that moment, the Buddhist Venerable disappeared, and blood spurted from Bu Eun-seol's forearm.
Swish, swish, swish!
Bu Eun-seol swiftly deployed his sword techniques, slashing through the air, but the Buddhist Venerable's figure remained unseen.
Pat! Pat!
This time, deep gashes suddenly appeared on his back and flank.
Even with the power of the Void Realm activated, the Buddhist Venerable had vanished completely.
The phenomenon of invisible attacks piercing his body continued relentlessly.
Sshhk!
Something sharp grazed Bu Eun-seol's throat.
Instinctively twisting his body to evade, he still felt blood trickling down from the skin beneath his neck.
The vanished Buddhist Venerable. Attacks that defied all detection.
All the Buddhist Venerable had done was stroke his own eye with a bloodied hand... Yet an incomprehensible phenomenon was unfolding.
'The power of World and Realm Annihilation persists.'
Checking once more, the Void Realm's power was still fully active.
Meaning the Buddhist Venerable was neither using a supernatural power nor Limitless Power.
'Is this even possible?'
With a method far more dangerous and unpredictable than any employed by the formidable opponents Bu Eun-seol had faced thus far...
The Buddhist Venerable was relentlessly strangling his lifeline.
'Then...'
Whirr, whirrr—!
Suddenly, Bu Eun-seol moved like a madman, swinging his sword wildly.
At times rolling across the ground, at others performing erratic somersaults in midair.
Pat! Pat! Pat!
Yet the attacks still struck true, wounds continuously blooming across his entire body.
At this rate, even if he avoided fatal injuries, he would bleed out within half a ke (~7.5 minutes).
'As I thought—it's there.'
His frenzied movements weren't to evade the Buddhist Venerable's attacks...
But to maximize Void-Breaking Mind's Eye and Empty Mind Spirit Communion to pinpoint his location.
'In my blind spot.'
Though human eyes can perceive a fairly wide range in front and to the sides...
To be precise, the area one can clearly and distinctly recognize is only the central field of vision.
Moreover, when vision moves rapidly, the human brain temporarily blocks out the blurry images that flash between.
The Buddhist Venerable was exploiting this principle...
Like a ghost existing in the blind spot, deceiving Bu Eun-seol's sight and senses.
Pa-pa-pa-pa!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed sword techniques behind him, but none found their mark.
'A prediction bordering on foresight...?'
Swish. Crash.
This time, he rolled across the ground in such a chaotic, unpredictable manner that even he couldn't anticipate his own movements, all while unleashing his sword techniques.
But it was useless.
As if peering into the future, Buddhist Venerable once again shifted into his blind spot.
'To pull this off, one would need movement speed that transcends human limits.'
Bu Eun-seol's movements were akin to Lightning Flash, and his Extrasensory Perception could detect even the faintest twitch of a passing ant.
To completely deceive that perception and move unseen would require...
A foresight so precise it bordered on precognition, and movement faster than lightning itself.
"Sharp eyes, you have. Or should I say, remarkable insight?"
A low voice murmured—
Shwip.
—and like a phantom, Buddhist Venerable materialized right in front of Bu Eun-seol.
"No matter how fast you move, this old monk's eyes absorb the situation and its variables even faster."
His voice was calm, unhurried.
"Just as a quick somersault would appear as nothing more than flailing to these eyes."
Buddhist Venerable possessed transcendent dynamic visual acuity, allowing him to read Bu Eun-seol's movements as clearly as if they were etched in stone.
"Why bother explaining this to me?"
"Aren't you Bu Jan-yang's grandson?"
Buddhist Venerable offered a serene smile.
"I thought it best you fully understand what happens to those who challenge this old monk."
"......"
"Even if you move erratically, order can still be found within the chaos."
His sharp gaze swept over Bu Eun-seol.
"Like Bu Jan-yang, you account for every variable—reading the battlefield, controlling its flow, calculating the unforeseen."
Then, a faint smirk curled at the corner of his lips.
"But even that is a futile effort. No matter how random your movements, I can account for them all."
In the end, beneath his Dharma Eye, wasn't everything just a predetermined answer?
But Bu Eun-seol, having discerned Buddhist Venerable's intent, inwardly scoffed.
'This is the limit of Buddhist Venerable—not his True Body.'
The real Buddhist Venerable was a monstrous Master who had trodden the martial world underfoot for two centuries.
Even if Bu Eun-seol had reached the Martial Extreme Realm, he couldn't surpass that accumulated experience in an instant... meaning defeat was inevitable.
But if they fought purely through Martial Arts, at the peak of empty-handed mastery—
Buddhist Venerable couldn't secure an easy victory. He had no choice but to engage in an endless back-and-forth.
Thus, he revealed the power of his Dharma Eye, hoping to intimidate Bu Eun-seol and steer the battle toward a more comfortable conclusion.
"An astonishing ability. Truly remarkable."
Shattering Buddhist Venerable's expectations, Bu Eun-seol raised a thumb in mock praise.
"I wonder why you haven't used this power to claim the title of the world's strongest before now."
"......"
"With such an ability, shouldn't the movements and trajectories of any Master be laid bare before your eyes?"
Buddhist Venerable replied coldly.
"Had this old monk desired the title of 'world's strongest,' I would have claimed it a century ago."
"You couldn't even kill me. How can you speak of being the world's strongest?"
"That remains to be seen."
A sinister gleam flickered in Buddhist Venerable's eyes.
"Even if I can't land a fatal blow... draining every last drop of blood from your body would yield the same result, wouldn't it?"
Slash!
This time, Buddhist Venerable didn't even bother vanishing. He simply stood there—yet a long, thin wound split open across Bu Eun-seol's neck.
Slash! Slash-slash-slash!
Unlike Buddhist Venerable, who remained utterly still, wounds continued to multiply across Bu Eun-seol's body.
Crimson lines etched themselves over his skin, yet his gaze never wavered.
"Curious."
Buddhist Venerable muttered under his breath.
No matter how unshakable one's Spirit and Mind was—
Being wounded this overwhelmingly should have decided the match. By all rights, the outcome was already clear.
And yet, Bu Eun-seol's eyes still held composure.
Meaning, he still hadn't revealed his full strength.
"Just what are you—"
Just as Buddhist Venerable began to voice his bewilderment—
Screeeech!
A faint eagle's cry echoed from the distant sky.
Scree. Screeeech.
But unlike an ordinary eagle's call—
This one fluctuated in pitch, alternating between intermittent bursts and prolonged notes.
It was the whistle signal of the Death Soul Squad, transmitting a message across great distances.
'Got it.'
In that instant, a razor-sharp light erupted in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
From the moment the Demonic Path Grand Assembly was abruptly convened, and he was ordered to oversee the Four Gates Battle—
He had already discerned that someone had made contact with Yeop Hyo-cheon, scheming to target him from the shadows.
—I have no intention of stopping at merely repelling the attackers, as in the past.
If someone dared set their sights on him—
Not only would he uncover their identity, but he would hunt them down to their very lair and reduce it to rubble.
—The moment they reveal themselves before me, I will track them down.
The intelligence network of the Death Soul Squad had become incomparably tighter than in the past.
If the assailant revealed themselves before his eyes? He could immediately trace their movement path and pinpoint their stronghold.
"Hahp!"
The moment he received the signal confirming the tracking was complete, Bu Eun-seol released a sharp exhale.
And then—
At an excruciatingly slow speed.
Instead of striking the Buddhist Venerable standing before him, he unfolded a Sword Stroke toward his own back.
Fire Rain Thirteen Forms, Thirteenth Stroke.
Limitless Infinite—an exquisitely refined opening move.
Slow.
Slower.
The Ink Soul Sword cleaving through empty air was—
Truly slower than the crawling pace of a slug—no, even an ant.
And the tip of the blade trembled faintly, vibrating low as it swayed without pause.
Even after enough time had passed for several yawns to escape, the Ink Soul Sword moved at a glacial pace, as if frozen in place.
How much time had slipped by?
Tzzreng.
Finally, at the tip of the extended Ink Soul Sword—a faint shadow abruptly materialized.
It was none other than the Buddhist Venerable, who had vanished moments ago.
Simultaneously, the figure of the Venerable standing before him gradually faded away.
Gguk.
The Ink Soul Sword was blocked once more—this time by the fingers of the now-revealed Buddhist Venerable.
With his index and middle fingers, he had plucked the blade mid-air as it slowly bored toward his left pupil.
"So you embedded the True Demon's eyeball."
At Bu Eun-seol's scoff, the Venerable's eyes widened sharply.
The fact that he had implanted the True Demon's eye was a secret unknown to anyone in the martial world.
Moreover, from the moment one locked gazes with the True Demon's eye, they could conjure illusions so perfect they could deceive even Extrasensory Perception.
How had he seen through it in an instant and unfolded his Sword Stroke with such precision?
'Because it was resonating the whole time.'
In truth, Bu Eun-seol—
From the moment the Buddhist Venerable pressed his bloodied hand to his face, he had sensed a strange pulse.
His left wrist, still steeped in the lingering presence of the True Demon's Corpse, and the Venerable's pupils had been resonating ceaselessly.
—So he embedded the True Demon's eye.
The Buddhist Venerable had concealed himself using the corpse's power—
But Bu Eun-seol had already pinpointed his exact location through the resonating pulse.
Yet he deliberately feigned ignorance, pretending to be cornered—all to buy time.
Because the Death Soul Squad surrounding them needed to complete their encirclement and trap the Venerable's tail.
—So this was the Buddhist Venerable's secret.
And at last, he understood why the Venerable had claimed to be everywhere, declaring that all existence was his True Body.
Its origin lay in the True Demon's Corpse.
Using it as a medium, the Buddhist Venerable had crafted puppets—peerless marionettes that rivaled his own power.
—It burns.
Even after uncovering all his secrets, defeating him would still be no easy task.
The moment the Venerable unleashed the power within the True Demon's eye, Bu Eun-seol's left wrist flared as if set ablaze.
—If I were to wield this power...
If he were to harness the writhing energy in his wrist, he could shatter the Venerable's corpse-derived power in an instant.
—But didn't I choose to walk the path of Martial Arts?
Once again rejecting the corpse's power, Bu Eun-seol—
Compressed the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, which he had expanded earlier, down to an extreme degree—confining it to the immediate vicinity of his body.
And then, faintly, he could perceive it—the truth that the Buddhist Venerable he had been conversing and clashing with was nothing but an illusion.
—From the very first moment our eyes met, the Venerable was never standing before me.
This treacherous Buddhist Venerable had, from the start, been standing far behind him—
Using the corpse's power to feign an exchange of blows—
While lying about being able to perceive his opponent's movements at an agonizingly slow pace.
—To strike the real Venerable hiding in the shadows... I must unfold a Sword Stroke whose final form cannot be predicted until the moment it touches his body.
"Observe the momentum, adapt to the change. Know the shift, respond to the battle."
Just like Bu Jan-yang in the past, Bu Eun-seol—
After precisely grasping his enemy's abilities and methods, adjusted his counterattacks and combat style accordingly.
Brrr.
The Ink Soul Sword trembled faintly.
Now that he had discerned his foe's power—
His unique ability to evolve and leap forward mid-battle, paired with the subtleties of Sword Studies he had honed over time, began to shine.
Condensing all the sword principles he had grasped thus far in a single breath—
Even as he moved slowly, he unfolded the Myriad Swords —a blade weaving hundreds, thousands of variations mid-motion.
In the end, the Buddhist Venerable could not unravel the intricacies of the painstakingly slow Myriad Swords—
And ultimately, he could not even predict which part of his body the sword would pierce.
By the time he realized Bu Eun-seol had targeted not the illusion—but his True Body—
He had no choice but to stretch out his hand and block it.
The flustered Buddhist Venerable splayed all five fingers of his left hand and violently drove them downward toward Bu Eun-seol's chest.
It was the killing stroke of the Formless Multi-Leaf Finger.
'Now!'
The instant the Buddhist Venerable's fingers curled, Bu Eun-seol—having already discerned the unfolding of the Formless Multi-Leaf Finger—moved like lightning.
Alternating between the Hwawu Sword and the Langya Pavilion's Sword Strokes, he disrupted the finger techniques before unleashing a relentless barrage of the Fist Demon Seven Forms' Discard the Old and Spread the New with his left hand.
KOOOONG!
The moment the Buddhist Venerable dodged the sword strokes, the authority of the Fist Demon Seven Forms engulfed his entire body.
With each strike imbued with the unyielding force of the Reverse Polarity Heart Method, the sickening CRACK! CRACK! of fracturing bones erupted in rapid succession.
When the Buddhist Venerable twisted his body to evade the authority, razor-sharp sword energy then coiled around him in a sweeping arc.
THUD, CRACK!
As swordplay and fist techniques intertwined in a relentless assault, the sound of the Buddhist Venerable's bones shattering echoed continuously.
Bu Eun-seol had no intention of forgiving the man who had tormented his grandfather.
He gave no room to breathe, chaining one killing move after another without pause.
The Buddhist Venerable struggled to defend, but—
Bu Eun-seol's attacks scattered like mist, only to coalesce again into sharp, lethal forms.
"Ghh—"
Finally, a stifled groan burst from the Buddhist Venerable's lips.
Yet he was not one to simply endure.
CRASH!
Seizing the briefest gap between sword strokes and fist techniques, he instantly deployed the Twelve Dragon Subduing Hands, slamming a devastating blow into Bu Eun-seol's chest.
The force was so vicious that even before the full impact could settle, Bu Eun-seol's internal energy was already thrown into disarray.
CRASH! BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM!
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol simultaneously unleashed the Shark Fist and Iron Nail Twenty-Four Kicks, pushing it further into the Thirteenfold Qi Induction.
SHWISH-SHWISH!
Planting his lower body firmly, Bu Eun-seol unraveled the incoming attack—
KOOOOM!
—and with a final surge, completely dispersed the Twelve Dragon Subduing Hands, sending its remnants scattering into the void.
"Pfft—!"
As his consecutive assaults failed, the Buddhist Venerable's vision darkened before he spat out a mouthful of black blood.
He had been unable to fully neutralize Bu Eun-seol's onslaught, and now bore deep internal injuries.
'Got him.'
With the success of his attack, Bu Eun-seol felt pride in his own mastery for the first time.
That he had shattered the power of the True Demon's Corpse—something said to be invincible in this world—using pure martial arts alone.
This was a realm beyond all known limits, a peerless zenith that would carve a new chapter in martial history.
A realm that proved it could overwhelm all existing forces.
"Through the corpse..."
Having ceaselessly torn apart the Buddhist Venerable's flesh with sword and fist, Bu Eun-seol muttered under his breath as realization struck.
"...You even shared your life force."
At those words, the Buddhist Venerable's expression faltered for the first time.
Had this brat truly uncovered the secret he had guarded to the very end?
"Amitabha."
Though his tone remained calm, his inner turmoil was unmistakable.
The potential Bu Eun-seol possessed—
The unpredictability of what he might unleash next—
"To make such bold claims without proof, Benefactor—"
Before he could finish, a blinding golden radiance erupted before Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Pretending to engage in calm conversation, the Buddhist Venerable had suppressed his injuries and unleashed the Vajra Annihilation Wave once more.
FWOOOOOSH!
Yet the Limitless Power failed to fully manifest—vanishing in an instant.
Before the might of the peerless zenith—
The Limitless Power, which transcended the principles of martial arts, could not be wielded.
"Hmm."
The Buddhist Venerable let out an awkward grunt, masking his failed ambush.
"So you truly have faced this old monk with nothing but pure martial arts until now."
Bu Eun-seol couldn't help but laugh at the shameless remark.
"Truly, a Demon Monk beyond redemption."
The Buddhist Venerable responded with detached serenity.
"History will judge this old monk in due time."
Then, rolling his left eyeball grotesquely, he smiled faintly.
"Until we meet again."
SHWIP. SQUELCH.
Suddenly pressing a hand to his eye socket, he ripped out his own left eyeball in an instant.
Simultaneously, a dark light spilled from the hollow socket, expanding into a massive circle that swallowed his body whole.
He had vanished—using the power of the True Demon's Corpse.
"You won't escape."
The radiance flowing from Bu Eun-seol's sword intensified, enveloping his entire body.
In that moment—
A crimson surge of life energy,
A blue pulse of creation,
A golden glow of cycle,
A white flash of purification,
A black abyss of annihilation—
All intertwined, forming a majestic vortex.
The radiance, alive and vivid, saturated the surrounding space before surging forth along the vanished black trajectory.
He had deployed the Ink Soul First Form, intercepting the Buddhist Venerable's escape through the corpse's power.
RIIIP, GRIIIND—
Then, the vanished black space tore open once more—revealing the Buddhist Venerable, his face twisted in shock.
Tremble, tremble.
The corner of his eye twitched faintly.
Not only had Bu Eun-seol's martial arts overwhelmed him—
He had never imagined that even the escape route crafted by the corpse's power could be severed.