Chapter 1289
"This bastard's still lazing around!"
At that moment, a booming shout echoed from behind Bu Eun-seol.
Turning his head, he saw a middle-aged man who appeared to be the overseer yelling at a servant in a small inn visible in the distance.
"Are these food scraps just left here? When was the last time you even washed these rags? They're drenched in grime!"
Under the overseer's scolding, the servant kept his head bowed and said nothing. His complexion was terribly pale, devoid of any color.
It was obvious he was unwell.
Yet the overseer acted as though he couldn't see it, relentlessly berating the servant.
'Even if they've committed crimes, why are they forcing masters capable of wielding Manifestation Art Energy to do such menial labor?'
Thud.
Then, the servant, who had been enduring the nagging with his head lowered, finally collapsed unconscious.
"Useless. Get this trash out of my sight!"
The words were so heartless they made one doubt their own ears.
No matter that they were criminals of the Baekri Clan, or that this village existed solely to punish them—
Was it really necessary to treat someone who had fallen ill with such cruelty?
'This doesn't make sense from the start.'
Even if their Manifestation Art Energy was sealed, these were descendants of the Baekri Clan, painstakingly crafted by the Creation-Era Martial Artists.
To think they'd grow so weak from mere servant work that they'd faint and lose consciousness?
It was utterly incomprehensible.
"A usable laborer..."
Just then, the overseer pointed at Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching the scene from under the bridge.
"From now on, that one's the new servant here."
One of the customers seated at a table shook his head.
"That one's energy is so pitiful he might as well be a beggar. He won't last half a month."
"Then we'll use him for that half-month. Bring him here."
A pale-faced servant approached Bu Eun-seol and handed him clean clothes and a rag.
With just a single word from the overseer, his status had risen from beggar to inn servant.
'This is like child's play.'
As he dressed with a wry expression, the faces of the other workers around him were far from pleased.
They looked at him as though he were a corpse with one foot already in the coffin.
'Is working at an inn really that grueling?'
The situation made no sense, but—
Bu Eun-seol asked no questions and simply wiped the tables diligently, as if he had been doing this work for years.
"This one's good at his job."
Satisfied with his silent efficiency, the overseer nodded and went inside.
"Hello."
While carrying dishes and wiping tables, Bu Eun-seol tried to greet the other servants to befriend them.
But they reacted as though they were deaf, ignoring him completely.
If they had treated everyone that way, he might have dismissed it as their nature.
Yet they smiled brightly and guided customers to their seats.
The contrast was bizarre to the point of absurdity, but Bu Eun-seol asked nothing.
Once the chaotic bustle of the inn ended, Bu Eun-seol and the servants headed to their lodgings.
The servants here never spoke unless serving customers and avoided even unnecessary movements.
Even their sleeping times were precisely synchronized—down to the exact moment they lay down and rested their heads.
'Is this the Soul-Stealing Great Law?'
Just as Bu Eun-seol, refusing to lie down, stared at them in disbelief—
Crack.
One of the servants suddenly twisted his neck to look at Bu Eun-seol and spoke in a low voice.
"We're the ones who'll have to clean up the half-dead corpse you'll become in a few days."
"......"
"They don't even waste corpses, so don't dream of resting peacefully in the ground when you die."
Having said that, the servant immediately sank into deep sleep.
'They all know.'
At last, Bu Eun-seol vaguely grasped the hidden truth of this village and their current circumstances.
'The more they move, the more they work, the faster their Manifestation Art Energy drains away.'
Looking down at the servant's peacefully sleeping face, he sighed inwardly.
'They even know where their Manifestation Art Energy is flowing.'
If the servant's words were true—
Not only were they greedily siphoning the Manifestation Art Energy of these laborers, but they were also exploiting their corpses.
'I couldn't sense it because my own Manifestation Art Energy was too weak.'
The Gatekeeper Elder had awoken the deeply latent Manifestation Art Energy within him and infused a portion of it into his scar.
But the amount was so minuscule that it took a long time for him to even notice it draining away.
In other words, these people originally possessed such immense Manifestation Art Energy that—
They could clearly perceive the flow of their power being siphoned.
It was like how one would immediately notice if a full basin of water spilled,
But might easily overlook a slow leak from a barely filled one.
"Then I must awaken the Manifestation Art Energy latent within my body once more."
Until now, he had never intentionally drawn out the Manifestation Art Energy lying dormant within him.
No—he hadn't even known such a method existed.
But now, with nearly five days having passed, there was no more time to hesitate, no alternative left.
He had to succeed, no matter what.
Creak.
Stepping outside, Bu Eun-seol gazed down at the scar.
'I'll use what remains in this scar to draw out the latent Manifestation Art Energy.'
The scar acted like a vessel containing the power of the art, while within his body lay unawakened Manifestation Art Energy...
In simpler terms, it was like reconnecting a severed limb—bridging the two forces to pull forth the hidden art.
Huum.
A low vibration began to hum through his body, his frame trembling faintly.
Until now, he had lived without even being aware of the Manifestation Art Energy's existence.
All he had pursued was martial arts.
Thus, forcibly drawing out the Manifestation Art Energy slumbering in the unfathomable abyss within him...
Was no different from defying the very beliefs he had built.
Crackle.
But there was no choice.
He had to release the Manifestation Art Energy within him—to uncover the secrets of the Baekri Side Family.
'I can't release the energy abruptly.'
There was another challenge.
What if, after summoning the latent Manifestation Art Energy with all his might, the energy exploded?
The ones overseeing this village would detect it immediately. If that happened, the investigation would end here.
Grind—
Meanwhile, the Manifestation Art Energy in the scar and the latent energy within him had begun to connect.
With a sensation like something blocked bursting open, an immense force—as if his bones were twisting—began spreading through his limbs.
Zzzing.
Bu Eun-seol's irises flooded with gold, and soon, his hair began turning white as snow.
'At this rate, I'll be discovered.'
Rumble—
Just as the tremendous energy was about to shake the ground—
Fwip.
The surroundings blurred for an instant, and his hair and eyes darkened back to black.
Right before the Manifestation Art Energy exploded, he had deployed the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation.
Drip.
Bright crimson blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
It was no different from forcibly severing his martial arts at its peak after unleashing it at full power.
The Manifestation Art Energy, attempting to erupt, had reversed—inflicting deep internal injuries.
'It's been a while.'
A pain as if his insides were being twisted and his Five Viscera and Six Bowels were scattering spread through him, yet a faint smile touched his lips.
After reaching the Void Extreme Realm, he had assumed he would never suffer internal injuries from failing to control his own power.
To be wounded by Manifestation Art Energy—unexpectedly—left him with an odd feeling.
'Found it.'
Fortunately, in that brief moment of release, he had instantly detected the hidden space within the village.
Like water flowing from a high bamboo pipe downward, the Manifestation Art Energy had spread along a clear path.
'They were using ley lines.'
In the past, the Empress Dowager had taken an island under the influence of the Eighteen River Forts of the Yangtze as her Secret Vault.
She amplified the martial artists' power using ley lines to guard its interior.
And this village, too, was using ley lines as a medium—continuously channeling Manifestation Art Energy somewhere.
'No time.'
Swish—
Bu Eun-seol immediately activated his Movement Technique, heading toward the path where the Manifestation Art Energy had been drawn.
In an instant, he reached the center of the village—a well.
'Here it was.'
Peering down, he saw a maw of pitch-black darkness gaping below.
Without hesitation, he threw himself in.
Splash!
As he plunged into the frigid water, the heavy pressure and the noise of the world above were severed.
Sinking the last remnants of breath deep into his dantian, his erratic pulse steadied, and his senses grew acutely attuned to the underwater currents.
His vision was murky, as if submerged in ink, but he used the subtle vibrations of the water against his skin as guideposts—descending deeper, ever deeper.
Whoom.
As the pressure intensified, he wrapped himself in Protective Astral Energy.
But after traversing dozens, then hundreds of zhang downward, the spherical barrier of astral energy began to warp slightly.
'——!'
Then, at what felt like the end of an eternity of descent, an odd change occurred.
The bone-chilling cold vanished, and from the depths, a lukewarm heat began to rise.
At the same time, a faint crimson glow flickered in the darkness ahead.
Following the light instinctively, he navigated through a narrow water passage—until an open space appeared above him.
Puh.
Exhaling the breath he had held, he broke the surface—only for the acrid stench of sulfur and the metallic tang of blood to stab at his nostrils.
The space was an enormous underground cavern, far beyond what one could imagine as the bottom of a well.
Bu Eun-seol dragged his soaked body onto dry land and immediately channeled his internal energy to dry his clothes.
Step, step.
As he slowly ventured deeper, a faint light began to appear at the end of the seemingly endless passage.
'This...'
The sight before him was beyond imagination—a grotesque spectacle.
At the center of the vast chamber, carved from natural bedrock, stood a massive furnace blazing with crimson flames.
Surrounding it were things that resembled humans—yet were not.
They evoked the image of Shaolin's Eighteen Bronze Men.
Humanoid figures entirely encased in golden metal.
Moving smoothly, without even the faintest creak of noise.
Clang, clang.
They placed freshly extracted red-hot ingots onto anvils and brought down enormous hammers.
Sparks scattered in all directions, dancing across the smooth surfaces of the bronze figures, yet they did not so much as flinch.
Once hammered flat, the metal was immediately passed to the next figure.
One refined the surface with meticulous movements, while another pressed a sharp chisel into the still-glowing metal, engraving something upon it.
Melting, hammering, cooling, carving.
Every process was perfectly divided and executed with seamless precision.
Their hollow eye sockets held no pupils, yet their gaze remained fixed unerringly on their work.
'This...'
In this underground space, severed from the world, within the Baekri Side Family's domain.
The bronze figures tirelessly forged something, as if they would never stop.
'Was that absorbing the Manifestation Art Energy?'
The reason these figures could endlessly repeat their tasks—hammering, melting, and engraving with such precision—
Was due to the radiant white pillar of light at the very center of the workshop.
A luminous column so intense it seemed capable of swallowing even the furnace's red-hot heat.
The pillar, as if piercing through the ceiling and embedded into the earth, shimmered with countless motes of pure white light.
It was no mere structure—it pulsed like a heartbeat, emitting strange vibrations.
With each pulse, waves of intense energy radiated outward, driving the movements of the bronze figures.
'It's altering the very nature of the metal.'
The white light emanating from the pillar flowed through the bronze figures' joints, transferring directly into the metal they hammered.
With every strike, the radiance seeped into the metal's grain.
Transforming ordinary iron into something else—a metal imbued with spiritual energy, resonating with a keen, sharp aura.
'Prosthetic arms? Are they making artificial limbs?'
What the bronze figures were forging under the power of the white pillar—
Was no mere weapon.
Following the eerie production line, Bu Eun-seol's gaze settled on a neatly stacked pile at one end of the workbench.
They were all meticulously crafted components, mimicking human anatomy.
The fingers attached to the prosthetic arms were designed with joints more flexible than real bone.
The inner side of the hands was woven with steel threads, allowing for delicate manipulation of movement.
The prosthetic legs were no different.
The curves leading from the knees to the ankles were seamless, their interiors packed densely with steel springs and mechanisms—
Built to withstand immense weight and generate explosive leaping force.
"Baekri Ja-ha... The prosthetic arm she wears is nearly identical to these."
The Baekri Side Family was producing these prosthetics using the True Demon's knowledge.
"No—these were never prosthetic arms or legs to begin with."
As Bu Eun-seol stepped forward, he saw the bronze figures pouring molten metal into enormous molds, forming the framework of a ribcage.
They began filling the hollow interior with intricate mechanisms—dozens of interlocking gears turning in unison.
At the spot where a human heart would be, a strange, amorphous lump of metal pulsed.
Like liquid mercury, it writhed—shifting from a perfect sphere to jagged spikes, constantly undulating.
This self-shaping metal, behaving like a living creature, seemed to be the power source driving the internal mechanisms.
"So that's how it was."
A wave of dizziness washed over Bu Eun-seol.
The sophisticated prosthetic arm Baekri Ja-ha wore.
The shape-shifting metal said to hold the key to the Baekri Clan's secret vault.
It was a component for creating self-moving metal.
Clank, clank.
With each rhythmic, chilling metallic sound resonating from the core, the gears meshed together, and the entire ribcage shuddered violently.
Yet the power source remained insufficient to move the massive metallic body naturally.
"That form—"
But Bu Eun-seol's pupils flashed sharply as he observed the nearly completed shape.
At last, he realized where he had seen that form before.
"No way—"
Whoosh.
Bu Eun-seol swiftly dashed to the far end of the workbench.
And the moment he confirmed what lay there, an icy chill shot up his spine.
Scattered in the darkness were dozens of human corpses.
Each one drained of blood, pale as wax dolls—
Yet their bodies still emitted a dark blue haze, as if they hadn't fully perished.
These were the Soulless Ones, unconscious, their very souls seemingly pawned away, exhaling nothing but turbid Demonic Energy.
Clank, clank.
And the bronze figures there, as if dressing them, began embedding the forged metals into their flesh.
Sharp hooks and gears burrowed into the Soulless Ones' flesh, crushing bones as they forcibly fused together.
As prosthetic arms and legs were fitted onto their limbs, metal and flesh merged into one, producing a horrific tearing sound.
The mouths of the Soulless Ones—incapable of feeling pain—stretched open grotesquely, their eyes erupting with crimson light in place of vitality.
Clank.
Once the loose gaps sealed completely—
Their pallid skin was entirely encased in gleaming steel armor. They were no longer human, nor mere tools.
"Metal Monsters."
These were the very same Metal Monsters that Heuk-pyo had first discovered, the ones that had appeared in the Ancient Sword Forest of Hyungsan.
"So they stuffed Soulless Ones into this armor to create Metal Monsters."
Soulless Ones, powered by Demonic Energy, clad in the sturdiness of steel—
That was what the Metal Monsters truly were.
"It wasn't the Three Realms—it was the Baekri Side Family who made them."
The hidden cavity concealed within this Baekri Side Family was, in truth, a forge for crafting Metal Monsters.
'This too must be derived from the True Demon's knowledge.'
At last, the mystery unraveled.
The absurd, living Metal Monsters, which should never have existed in the current martial world—
They were products born from the True Demon's knowledge.
Clank, clank.
The pillar of Manifestation Art Energy flowing from the village scattered countless points of light in all directions.
And the bronze figures, using those light points as their power source, moved ceaselessly, molding more Metal Monsters.
"So that's why they couldn't even be buried."
Those who had become Soulless Ones—
Were all criminals of the Baekri Clan, stripped of their Manifestation Art Energy, their life force exhausted to the point of death.
"This is no different from what the Three Realms does."
Bu Eun-seol couldn't suppress his grief, his head bowing slightly.
The atrocities unfolding in this Secret Cave—
Were no different from the Three Realms' actions—cultivating Human Flowers under the pretense of saving the martial world, repeating cruel experiments.
"Father knew everything."
At last, he understood why his father had sought to correct the Baekri Clan.
In the end, the Baekri Clan was abusing the True Demon's knowledge to manipulate the world.
"If that's the case, the True Demon Palace must be the same."
The True Demon Palace surely possessed the same knowledge.
Undoubtedly, they too were creating something to disrupt the martial world.
"They must be destroyed. But—"
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath as he surveyed the interior.
"I still haven't found a way into the Baekri Clan's main family."
Destroying these things was one thing—
But doing so would leave him with no choice but to raze the entire Baekri Side Family.
And then, any means of entering the main family would be lost.
KRRRUMBLE!
Suddenly, the interior began trembling violently, as if struck by an earthquake.
KABOOM! KRRRUMBLE!
The tremors grew fiercer, cracks forming in the ceiling.
—Aaaagh!
Faint screams began echoing from somewhere.
'Trouble.'
Something major was clearly happening above ground.
Tzzt-tzzt!
Bu Eun-seol swiftly exited the Secret Cave.
Emerging from the well back outside the village, an unbelievable sight unfolded before him.
The entire village was engulfed in flames.
'Who attacked the Baekri Side Family?'
KABOOOM!
Then, in the distance, a terrifying Sound of Breaking Air split the heavens, followed by a Shockwave that shook the earth.
'A terrifying Master.'
Tzzt-tzzt.
Maintaining his stealth, Bu Eun-seol moved toward the source of the sound.
Thud.
There, a giant figure clad in crimson armor stood drenched in blood, gripping the great saber.
'The Return to Unity Realm Lord?'
The one who had breached the Baekri Side Family's Absolute Boundary was none other than the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
'This is a place no one can enter without a Scar.'
The Return to Unity Realm Lord's pupils were rolled back, white.
A foul stench, like that of rotting corpses, emanated from his entire body.
'He's not in his right mind.'
According to Sim Gyeong-yoseon, one of the Ten Great Immortals—
The Return to Unity Realm Lord had been poisoned by Extreme Poison for so long that he spent most of his time in the Land of the Ultimate Void,
His life sustained only by the medicine provided by the Poison Spirit Demon Lord.
'Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood.'
Had he come to the Baekri Side Family to detoxify the poison?