Chapter 1290
The Return to Unity Realm Lord, his pupils emitting a blinding white radiance like a madman,
[The Forbidden Evil God...]
surveyed the ruined village.
As if sensing something, he muttered low while scanning his surroundings.
[Here...]
CRASH!
Suddenly, he drove his massive great saber into the ground.
BOOM!CRACK!
A crimson glow spread from the blade like spiderwebs before instantly converging and expanding toward the village center.
With a single stroke, he had located the underground Secret Cave hidden beneath the Baekri Side Family.
RUMBLE!
Transformed into a bolt of scarlet lightning, he shot toward the village center and plunged straight into the well.
KABOOM!
A deafening explosion sent water geysering upward as—
GROWL!RUMBLE!
—the earth began to tremble as if struck by an earthquake.
It seemed he had entered the Secret Cave and begun destroying the pillar of Manifestation Art Energy and the intricately moving bronze figures within.
'Why aren't the village overseers coming?'
Bu Eun-seol, concealed by his stealth technique, watched the scene unfold in utter bewilderment.
No matter how formidable the Return to Unity Realm Lord's martial prowess, this was the Baekri Side Family—a branch that could be considered an outpost of the Baekri Clan, the very creators of the Three Realms.
With an enemy of this magnitude appearing, the Baekri Clan's Masters should have mobilized immediately.
The overseers, who had driven the laborers to the brink of death while managing the village, should have stepped forward to stop him.
Yet, only the powerless laborers remained, with not a single overseer in sight.
And here was the Return to Unity Realm Lord, rampaging through the area alone without a single soldier at his side.
'There are still many living laborers in the village.'
The Return to Unity Realm Lord had torn through the Absolute Boundary stretched across the distant sky to enter.
Currently, all the laborers here had their power sealed—they lacked even the strength to breach the Absolute Boundary.
Nor could they fly up and escape through the torn Boundary.
And if the Return to Unity Realm Lord finished destroying the underground Secret Cave and emerged?
They would inevitably be slaughtered.
CRACK!
Then, crimson clouds surged in the sky.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord reappeared—perhaps having demolished every workshop in the Secret Cave.
THUD.
Landing on the ground, he scanned his surroundings with his eerily inverted white pupils.
He seemed to be detecting the vital signs of the laborers still scattered throughout the village.
SWOOSH.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord raised his great saber, its height far surpassing that of a man.
The blade, as thick as a grown man's torso, was not designed for sharpness—it was a weapon crafted solely for destruction.
CRASH!
With each swing, a dull roar erupted as the hidden laborers were reduced to scattered fragments of flesh and bone.
THUD-THUD.
Where the great saber passed, the earth caved in, and a mist of blood exploded outward like a fog.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord's saber technique—
was less a martial art and more akin to pure, unadulterated destructive force.
'Must they die?'
From the Baekri Clan's perspective, these laborers might be grave criminals.
But in Bu Eun-seol's eyes—
whether they had tampered with the True Demon's Knowledge,
or their parents had been consumed by power and become the Saint—
none of it justified their deaths.
Moreover, they were no different from powerless commoners now, their strength completely sealed.
He couldn't stand by and watch them be massacred unilaterally by the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
HUM!
Drawing upon his Internal Power, Bu Eun-seol stretched his hand toward the sky.
SHIIING!
From the distant heavens, a black meteor-like object began hurtling toward his palm.
Before entering this place,
he had embedded the Ink Soul Sword into the ground—now, he summoned it back with terrifying Internal Power.
Thanks to the Return to Unity Realm Lord tearing the Absolute Boundary, the Ink Soul Sword could enter the village unimpeded.
"Halt!"
FLASH!
With a sharp cry, Bu Eun-seol became a streak of light as he shot toward the Return to Unity Realm Lord's forehead.
He had unleashed the Sword Control by Qi technique.
CRASH!
The Return to Unity Realm Lord struck out with one palm in an instant, and the Ink Soul Sword rebounded as if striking a wall.
SWOOSH!THUD!
Bu Eun-seol retrieved the bouncing sword with Void Object Retrieval, dispelled his stealth, and stepped forward to face the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
"Why are you destroying this place?"
There was no way the Return to Unity Realm Lord wouldn't recognize him.
Yet, within the gaps of his iron mask, the Return to Unity Realm Lord's white pupils were filled with nothing but Killing Intent.
[KAAH!]
With a bizarre battle cry, he swung his great saber.
Disregarding the constraints of distance, the blade shot forward in an instant, aiming straight for Bu Eun-seol's throat.
'I won't dodge.'
In the past, Bu Eun-seol couldn't withstand even a single stroke from the Return to Unity Realm Lord and was sent flying.
Naturally, it had to be so.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord was akin to the Land of the Ultimate Void—
a being who had trained endlessly within a space where time stood still.
"Even after reaching the Void-Piercing Realm, I'll test whether I can withstand this!"
Ziiing.
The colors of the surrounding landscape blurred for dozens of yards—
Clang!
The great saber and the obsidian sword collided midair.
Bu Eun-seol had deployed the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation and now stood firm against the Return to Unity Realm Lord's single stroke.
Kwa-wooong!
Even with their internal energy restricted to 120 years, the clash between the two grandmasters' weapons sent a massive shockwave rippling outward in concentric circles.
Bu Eun-seol did not retreat a single step—instead, he pushed back against the great saber with equal force.
At last, having reached the Void-Piercing Realm, he stood on equal footing with the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
Hiss-hiss-hiss.
The two weapons remained locked in midair, sparks flying endlessly between them.
To an onlooker, it might have seemed like a contest of brute strength and internal energy—but in truth, they were engaged in a relentless exchange of martial artistry, pouring forth the profound subtleties of their techniques.
Under the same conditions, with the same power, the victor could only be decided by martial skill.
"As expected... you're not normal."
At this distance, close enough to touch noses, Bu Eun-seol could see that the Return to Unity Realm Lord's eyes were nothing but white—no pupils visible.
And worse, the stench emanating from him was unmistakable—the putrid, rotting reek of decaying flesh, the kind that seeped from an ancient coffin pried open after centuries.
"So it's true. You've been poisoned by Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood."
According to Sim Gyeong-yoseon, the Return to Unity Realm Lord had been afflicted by this poison in his youth.
Unable to detoxify it, he had relied on the Poison Spirit Demon Lord to sustain his life.
But even after hearing this, Bu Eun-seol had been skeptical.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord's martial prowess was beyond comprehension—how could someone like him fail to neutralize something as trivial as Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood?
Hiss-hiss-hiss.
Even as these thoughts raced through his mind, the battle of martial subtleties raged on.
When Bu Eun-seol employed the "Shifting Void and Reality" technique, flipping the framework of attack and defense in an instant—
The Return to Unity Realm Lord countered with "Slow Force Borrowing Strength," channeling his energy in a sluggish flow to absorb the opposing force before detonating it back in a devastating counterattack.
"Reverse Flow to the Origin," "Single Thread Severing Fate," "Something Born from Nothingness," "Splitting Form, Shedding Body"—
Profound techniques that ordinary martial artists could spend a lifetime mastering and still never wield freely—
Now flowed effortlessly between the two supreme grandmasters, as naturally as water.
Drip... drip...
As the battle raged, black blood began trickling from Bu Eun-seol's lips.
He could withstand the martial principles transmitted through their weapons—
But the extreme poison of Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood seeping from the Return to Unity Realm Lord's body was another matter entirely.
Piiii—
His vision blurred further, and a strange ringing filled his ears.
"So that's it."
Only now did he understand.
Why someone like the Return to Unity Realm Lord had never detoxified this poison.
"You've deliberately kept it inside you."
He wasn't slowly dying from poisoning—
He had preserved the Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood within his body, ensuring he could unleash its venom at any moment.
As if to prove this, with every pulse of poison, the air grew heavier, and Bu Eun-seol's movements slowed, as if he were sinking underwater.
"Just what kind of enemy..."
Bu Eun-seol's unfocused gaze locked onto the Return to Unity Realm Lord, who continued pouring poison into the air.
"...are you preparing for, that you would willingly harbor such extreme poison in your body?"
With a realm like Saint Among Poisons at his disposal, why would he deliberately maintain this state of poisoning?
Whoooosh.
White flames flickered in the depths of the Return to Unity Realm Lord's pupil-less eyes.
He was saturating the air with Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood, intent on melting Bu Eun-seol alive.
Grrr... drip... drip...
As the extreme poison spread, the Absolute Boundary enveloping the village began to tremble.
"A body steeped in poison..."
A cold realization flashed through Bu Eun-seol's mind.
This state of poisoning—
Perhaps it was one of the key elements needed to shatter the Baekri Side Family's Absolute Boundary.
Ziiii—
As the Return to Unity Realm Lord intensified the poison's potency, its energy seeped into the earth, forming faint black veins.
"Just as I thought."
The Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood wasn't merely a weapon against enemies—
It also had the ability to corrode the ley lines within the Baekri Side Family's territory.
Thud... thud...
A dull sound echoed as the poison spread.
Workers hidden throughout the village began collapsing, dying where they stood.
"Enough!"
Kwa-woong!
Bu Eun-seol shoved the great saber back with all his strength and immediately thrust out his left hand.
Shooo—
The poison spreading through the air was instantly drawn into the Inner Gate and Outer Gate acupoints of his wrist.
Without the Saint Among Poisons' ability to purify toxins, the only way to save the dying workers was to absorb the poison himself.
Vwoom... vwoom...
But then—something strange happened.
Bu Eun-seol's body trembled violently.
Yet the poison was barely being absorbed—instead, wasn't the Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood he'd previously absorbed now being expelled?
'Reverse Heaven.'
From his martial arts to the way he wielded poison, the Return to Unity Realm Lord had chosen methods that all operated on the principle of Reversal.
'Does he not value his life?'
While the Reversal method remained unaffected by external forces, it consumed Primordial Essence True Qi with every exertion of power.
No matter how profound his martial arts, his lifespan couldn't be infinite. Why would he do such a thing?
'But if it's Reverse Heaven...'
As a peculiar method occurred to him, a strange light flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Whoosh!
Gripping the Ink Soul Sword in a reverse grip, multicolored points of light began erupting from the ground beneath his feet.
Boom!
Simultaneously, he closed the distance in an instant, thrusting toward the Return to Unity Realm Lord's throat.
A sword form that manipulated life itself.
He had unleashed the Ink Soul First Form with the speed of a lightning strike.
Clang!
The black miasma rising from the tip of the great saber collided precisely with the Ink Soul Sword's point in midair.
When ordinary weapons clashed, they would either rebound or engage in an internal energy struggle.
Yet these two weapons clung together as if magnetized.
[Ghk—]
A groan escaped the Return to Unity Realm Lord's lips the moment the Ink Soul Sword adhered to his saber.
His body went numb as the endlessly draining life force began reversing—flowing back into him instead.
Crack.
Despite the replenished vitality, his face grew paler, black veins spreading across his skin like cracks.
Reverse Heaven Cultivation.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord employed the profound mystery of Reverse Heaven, defying all natural laws and principles.
Thus, when power that followed nature's order—intensifying life force—was injected into him,
A death-like energy instead spread through his body, devouring his flesh from within.
Sssss—
Channeling the circulating power, Bu Eun-seol continuously redirected the Ink Soul First Form's energy.
Sssk.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord's inverted white pupils gradually regained their normal hue.
[You bastard.]
Just as Bu Eun-seol had anticipated, the Return to Unity Realm Lord had—
Using the Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood's poison and life force—
Fused the long-lost Poison-Demon Fusion Art and Dark Essence Demon Thorn Technique of the martial world—
To detect the Baekri Side Family's Absolute Boundary and temporarily nullify Manifestation Art Energy, achieving a berserk state.
But when the life-infused Ink Soul First Form—
Transformed his Reverse Heaven power into natural order energy circulating through his body, the fusion shattered.
[I let you destroy the Heavenly Saint Light Pillar—]
Freed from berserk state, the Return to Unity Realm Lord roared in fury.
[Yet you interfere with this lord instead? Do you not wish to enter the Baekri Pavilion?!]
"The pillar of light..."
Bu Eun-seol murmured lowly, recalling—
The radiant pillar that had powered the clay dolls in the underground cavern.
"Are you saying destroying that pillar grants access to the Baekri Pavilion?"
The Return to Unity Realm Lord's silence was answer enough.
A pillar of light composed of all laborers' Manifestation Art Energy within the Baekri Side Family.
Destroying it could open the path to the Baekri Pavilion?
'Ley lines.'
Not only did the Baekri Pavilion's entrance appear randomly like the Land of the Ultimate Void, but it also possessed unique energy signatures.
The reason this might be possible—
Was because the Baekri Side Families scattered throughout the martial world—
Had driven massive light pillars deep into the earth like stakes, he realized.
'Because I know the Baekri Clan's truth.'
The Return to Unity Realm Lord had likely deduced Bu Eun-seol was Baekri-muha's son and would soon learn the Baekri Clan's truth.
Naturally assuming he'd overthrow the Side Families to reach the Baekri Clan.
"You ruined your body long ago with Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood, so you've been hunting Side Families to kill them all this time."
Only those bearing Manifestation Art Energy and the Baekri Clan's scar could bypass the Side Families' Absolute Boundary.
But the Return to Unity Realm Lord had intentionally poisoned himself, disrupting his life force—
To breach their defenses, slaughter them, and destroy these "Heavenly Saint Light Pillars."
"Yet your method of enduring through Land of the Ultimate Void training and the Poison Spirit Demon Lord's toxins to crush the Side Families must be reaching its limit."
The fusion of Poison-Demon Fusion Art and Dark Essence Demon Thorn Technique ultimately destroyed the body like any forbidden method.
This approach couldn't sustain further destruction of the Side Families.
Since Bu Eun-seol—destined to enter the Baekri Clan anyway—knew its truth,
The lord had hoped to elevate his martial arts so he'd seek out and destroy the Side Families in his stead.
"The Baekri Side Family forged the Celestial Light Pillars using the Manifestation Art Energy of condemned criminals."
"Destroy them all, and the Baekri Clan's main stronghold will finally be revealed."
"Perhaps the Gatekeeper Elder guided Bu Eun-seol to the Baekri Side Family, where the criminals were gathered, in order to convey this truth."
[If you understand, then destroy them.]
The Return to Unity Realm Lord had not given Bu Eun-seol any information until now.
But seeing that he seemed to have grasped everything, he must have decided to share this much.
"From the Baekri Clan's perspective, they are criminals."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head.
"But I cannot kill innocent people just to enter the Baekri Clan."
The laborers in the Baekri Side Family—
To the Baekri Clan, they may be criminals, but in the eyes of ordinary people, they are guiltless.
To massacre them all simply to break the Baekri Clan's Absolute Boundary was absurd.
[Then...]
The Return to Unity Realm Lord shook his head.
[There is no longer any reason to spare you.]
It was the King of Hell's final ultimatum, but Bu Eun-seol spoke calmly.
"Tell me your true purpose."
[.......]
"If our paths align, would it not be possible to travel together for a time?"
No matter how much the Return to Unity Realm Lord intended to use him—
Until now, he had erased Bu Eun-seol's tracks, provided clues and locations to enhance his martial arts, and in his own way, bestowed great favors.
Moreover, after realizing that the Return to Unity Realm Lord bore an uncanny resemblance to his grandfather in his youth—
Bu Eun-seol no longer considered him an enemy.
Surely, they must be related by blood.
Otherwise, Bu Eun-seol would have sought him out first, believing he had taken his grandfather's remains.
Even if it meant his body breaking apart, he would have fought to the death.
"Where are my grandfather's remains? What is your relationship to him?"
For the first time, Bu Eun-seol spoke candidly.
"Tell me everything honestly. If our paths align, I will help you."
He was walking the same path as the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
If the Return to Unity Realm Lord was his grandfather's flesh and blood—if he was doing what was right—
There was no reason not to join hands.
[Hahahaha!]
The Return to Unity Realm Lord suddenly burst into mad laughter.
[You are lost in foolish delusions.]
His eyes brimmed with contempt, as if he were watching a mantis trying to stop a charging carriage.
[You are nothing but...]
Black mist swirled in the depths of his pupils as he continued.
[A detonator.]
It was a statement eerily similar to the last words left by Deung Gwang—that destruction would ultimately begin with himself.
"What do you mean?"
The moment Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed with a sharp retort—
Thud. Thud.
Faint sounds of people collapsing echoed from all directions.
The Extreme Poison flowing from the Return to Unity Realm Lord's body had contaminated the entire village, and now all the laborers were dying.
Drip. Drip.
The skin of the fallen began melting like taffy.
Under the vicious Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood poison, their flesh and even bones softened as if doused in Bone-Melting Powder.
"Stop!"
With a roar, Bu Eun-seol summoned immense Internal Energy and unleashed the Qi Gathering Poison technique in the manner of Reverse Heaven Cultivation.
He began drawing all the poison into his own body.
Whoosh.
The Rotting Flesh Decaying Blood poison absorbed by the Return to Unity Realm Lord was something even a Saint Among Poisons could not detoxify.
It was not a chemical poison that corroded flesh and blood—but one that eroded human vitality and True Qi.
Once introduced, its properties endlessly mutated, a state known as "poisoned life circulation."
"Guh—!"
Instantly, Bu Eun-seol's body twisted violently.
The poison source, bearing an anti-life nature, spread through his body, its properties shifting relentlessly.
Crack.
Unable to endure, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Ink Soul First Form once more.
Creak. Creak.
As the mysteries of circulation activated, the poison could no longer melt his body.
But with no way to neutralize it, it did not vanish—merely flowed endlessly through him.
Snap. Squelch.
Bones twisted, flesh melted, and even his soul fractured into pieces.
It was as if being submerged in a vat of Bone-Melting Powder was not enough—as if it were being poured directly into his mouth—
A pain no human should ever endure.
Yet it could not violate Bu Eun-seol's pride and nobility.
Like an ancient tree unyielding even to the fiercest storm, he stood firm, his superhuman willpower anchoring him to the earth.
[.......]
For a moment, the Return to Unity Realm Lord's gaze wavered.
For the sake of the powerless—
The image of a great man, enduring hellish agony for others, surfaced in his mind.
But the price of saving countless lives was... endless guilt and the inescapable remnants of karma.
And yet, he—
Silently endured, burned himself out time and again, sank into despair—yet never truly broke.
Crunch.
The sound of bones grinding came from the Return to Unity Realm Lord's clenched fist.
Whoosh.
Flames like the hellfire of karma erupted from his eyes, scattering in all directions.
[KAAH!]
With a roar that seemed to split heaven and earth, he swung his massive saber toward Bu Eun-seol.