Chapter 1294
Swish!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Fire Rain Thirteen Forms.
Apart from the Formless Heavenly Flow, which he had created himself, this was the first martial art he had ever learned—and consequently, the sword technique he had mastered most thoroughly.
Because he had reached the state of Ultimate Transcendence, he could execute flawless, gap-free sword strokes.
"The Fire Rain Sword?"
The masked man scoffed, as if the idea were absurd.
The martial arts of True Demon Palace were not only the foundation of all martial studies in the murim—they were the origin, the very source that strictly defined the limits of martial prowess itself.
And yet, this fool was daring to confront him with nothing more than the basic sword studies of the Fire Rain Sword Sect?
"With this crude, sloppy swordplay?"
Swish—
The masked man drew the longsword at his waist and casually extended his hand.
Shwaaak!
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's Turning Child Four Seas form split apart like bamboo, and a razor-sharp sword force shot straight toward his forehead.
"......!"
There had been no gaps, no flaws in his sword stroke.
And yet, with nothing more than a flick of his wrist, the masked man had shattered Bu Eun-seol's technique and countered in the same breath.
'Good.'
A fierce light ignited in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
The moment the masked man effortlessly dismantled the Fire Rain Sword, a blazing defiance surged within him.
He had indirectly absorbed the techniques of the Sword Sovereign.
From Jin Gak, he had mastered the perfect Fire Rain Thirteen Forms.
From Wi Ji-mua, he had received direct instruction in the essence of the Fire Rain Sword—making him one of the greatest swordsmen in the current murim.
"If you're at the level where you can infiltrate the torso of a Forbidden Evil God..."
The masked man lowered his sword to the ground and narrowed his eyes.
"...then you must have mastered every last scrap of miscellaneous techniques. Show me."
Slash—slash!
Bu Eun-seol ignored his words and unleashed the Fire Rain Sword Technique once more.
In a life-or-death moment, one should mobilize every skill at their disposal to fight the enemy.
But he was a grandmaster of Central Plains sword studies—and before that, a martial artist who had devoted everything to the Sword Path.
He would dismantle his opponent's swordplay through sword studies alone.
"Tch. I told you—martial arts won't work on me."
With a sneer—
Swish!
The masked man effortlessly dissolved the Fire Rain Sword Technique again and sent a sharp sword force hurtling toward Bu Eun-seol's lower abdomen.
Like an earth dragon suddenly bursting from the ground, there had been no prior trajectory, no discernible form to the attack.
'I can't dodge.'
The moment his life hinged on a single sword stroke, his mind became unnervingly clear.
Every profound martial form he had ever grasped flashed before his eyes in an instant.
'Coil it softly...'
Zzzing!
An incomparably supple soft force emanated from Bu Eun-seol's Ink Soul Sword, gently wrapping around the piercing sword energy and flicking it skyward.
An instinctive realization had struck him—he could not clash with this technique through brute force alone.
The sword energy that shot into the air suddenly—
KWAANG!
—erupted into a violent explosion powerful enough to devastate dozens of yards in every direction.
'To embed such destructive power in a casually executed sword stroke...'
The Domain of World and Realm Annihilation had sealed away his Soul-Demon Magic Energy, leaving him with only about 120 years' worth of internal energy in his body.
And yet, the masked man was displaying power that transcended the very principles of martial arts.
"Did you really think you could win with martial arts?"
The masked man smirked and swung his sword like lightning, this time aiming for Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Anticipating the move, Bu Eun-seol thrust his Ink Soul Sword even faster toward the man's throat.
When two sword strokes were unleashed simultaneously like this, both fighters would be left defenseless—meaning one had to either retreat swiftly or alter their attack mid-motion.
But instead...
Was the masked man waiting for Bu Eun-seol's sword to reach his throat?
'The visible forms aren't everything.'
A primal sense of danger flared in Bu Eun-seol's instincts. He aborted his attack, tilting his body sideways and spinning violently.
Swish!
In that instant, a blade of light—sharp as a razor—grazed past his forehead.
The masked man had neither changed his sword stroke nor altered his stance. He had simply stood there waiting—and yet, an incomprehensible attack had suddenly flashed before Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Tap.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Bu Eun-seol leaped back into the air.
Swiik!
Five streaks of sword energy sliced past the soles of his feet.
Astonishingly, the masked man had woven three undetectable variations into a single sword stroke.
Whoosh!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed his sword technique at full power once more—but this time, rather than targeting vital points, he focused on sealing the masked man's movements.
"Did you really think this world's lord would flee, so you're desperately clinging to me?"
The masked man let out a hollow laugh, seeing through Bu Eun-seol's relentless assault—an attempt to block his retreat.
"Don't worry. I won't step back until I've captured you and extracted every last piece of information from that skull of yours."
'World's lord? Is this how they refer to those who command the White Annihilation Warriors and oversee specific regions?'
The title "World's Lord" sounded grandiose, as if it belonged to someone of immense authority.
And yet, his subordinates were nothing more than the White Annihilation Warriors—puppets of True Demon Palace scattered throughout the martial world.
'If he truly held a high-ranking position, he wouldn't be deploying White Annihilation Warriors—he'd be sending True Demon Palace's masters.'
Most likely, True Demon Palace, much like the Baekri Side Family, had branches in multiple locations—
—and assigned these so-called World's Lords to handle various affairs.
"No matter how formidable the martial arts you've mastered may be, it's useless."
The masked man leisurely unfolded another sword stroke.
"After all, it's nothing more than the current martial world's level of martial studies."
Until now, the masters of the True Demon Palace had merely wielded tremendous Soul-Demon Magic Energy—those who displayed truly exquisite martial arts were rare.
But unlike any True Demon Palace master he had encountered before, this masked man was profoundly skilled in martial techniques, wielding a unique sword style of unfathomable origin, one capable of suppressing all martial arts of the present world.
Swish!
The masked man's sword technique, shifting unpredictably in midair, stabbed once more at Bu Eun-seol's lower abdomen.
In battles between masters, repeating the same opening move was akin to handing your life to your enemy.
Yet the man seemed intent on demonstrating his absolute confidence in subduing Bu Eun-seol, heedlessly executing the same stroke again.
Swish!
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol retaliated with his Ink Soul Sword, piercing the masked man's lower abdomen in the same manner.
It might have appeared as mutual destruction, but in truth, it was a technique refined to the extreme—Striking Later to Control the Opponent.
"......!"
The masked man flinched in shock, immediately retracting his sword and leaping back.
He had discerned that Bu Eun-seol's swordplay, clad in the Forbidden Evil God's armor, concealed exquisite finesse beneath its plain appearance—and held power enough to shake heaven and earth.
"Well, in the end, it's just a matter of whether you die quickly or a little later."
Regaining his composure, he exhaled deeply before—
Slash-slash-slash!
—unleashing seven consecutive sword strikes.
Though the strokes seemed sluggish at first, the moment they neared Bu Eun-seol's body, they erupted like a storm wreathed in lightning.
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
The sword strokes multiplied into a terrifying one hundred and forty-one strikes, each containing unpredictable variations—so much so that there seemed no way to block them all.
'No sword style in the present martial world can unleash countless variations in a single stroke.'
Even a master who can take as much time as needed could not possibly execute such a technique.
In short, the masked man's swordplay defied martial logic—it far surpassed the current era's understanding of Sword Studies.
Yet if he had known that Bu Eun-seol was calmly analyzing even in this crisis—
The masked man might have ripped off his mask in shock.
'Is this sword technique also forged from the True Demon's knowledge?'
The Baekri Clan and the True Demon Palace had deliberately stifled the progress of martial arts in the martial world.
That meant the masked man's martial principles were likely new—something transcending the suppressed martial arts of the present era.
Whirr!
Unable to fully neutralize the sword strokes, Bu Eun-seol twisted his body again.
Sssk!
A razor-sharp sword energy grazed past his eyes, missing by the width of a hair.
An ordinary martial artist would have frozen in terror—but for Bu Eun-seol, who had long fought without regard for life or death, this was merely another mundane moment in battle.
'Interesting.'
A powerful enemy with profound martial arts wasn't something to fear—it was exhilarating.
'No one can unleash one hundred and forty-one strokes with variations in each from a single motion.'
His mind flashed through all the martial principles he had grasped—every insight gained from life-and-death battles against grandmasters.
Slash-slash-slash!
Bu Eun-seol split time into the finest fragments and unleashed seventy sword strokes.
Though far fewer than the masked man's, each stroke complemented the others, merging into a seamless whole.
It allowed him to defend against most of the lethal Killing Moves, but—
Ssss-ssk!
Unable to block every stroke perfectly, his body was eventually engulfed by the relentless sword energy.
Clang-clang-clang!
Yet all that erupted were sparks and a deafening metallic sound—his body remained unharmed.
'So this is how it works.'
Bu Eun-seol nearly laughed.
Clad in the Forbidden Evil God's armor, brimming with Manifestation Art Energy, and standing within the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, he could afford to take some hits while fighting back.
"Were you relying on that bizarre power and your tin-can armor?"
The masked man spat in irritation, convinced Bu Eun-seol had charged in recklessly, trusting his impenetrable shell.
"Answer me, Martial Soul Lord!"
His eyes burned as if trying to pierce through the armor to see Bu Eun-seol's face.
"There's no one else in the martial world mad enough to invent a suicidal technique that restricts both the enemy's and one's own power."
"......."
"More than that—you couldn't even hide Langya Pavilion's signature evasion technique, Sky Wheel Reversal Method."
Still, Bu Eun-seol remained silent.
Even if exposed, there was no need to speak prematurely.
"Has fear stolen your voice?"
"You've talked enough."
Bu Eun-seol taunted him, rapping his knuckles against the Forbidden Evil God's armor with a hollow clang.
"Hurry up and show me another sword technique."
"You lunatic!"
At the very moment the masked man was about to unleash his sword technique again—
"Ugh..."
A pained groan erupted from Yeo Gong, still collapsed far away.
Though they had exchanged over three hundred moves in their fierce battle,
both Bu Eun-seol and the masked man possessed martial prowess far surpassing ordinary practitioners—their movements occurring at several times the speed of a typical warrior.
Thus, the entire exchange had taken less than half a ke (~7.5 minutes).
Yeo Gong, still not fully recovered, had managed to halt the tower's collapse but was now writhing in agony.
Sshhk!
In that instant, a razor-sharp sword aura coiled around Bu Eun-seol's throat.
The masked man had seized the moment of distraction to launch a sneak attack.
'Let me anger you further.'
Bu Eun-seol deliberately thrust his heavily armored head straight into the sword aura.
Clang!
Sparks erupted from his temple.
Once again, he had blocked the masked man's lethal strike with his own body.
"I'll shatter that thing first!"
The enraged man swiftly deployed yet another sword technique.
Thanks to the Forbidden Evil God armor encasing his entire body—save for his eyes—Bu Eun-seol could endure without suffering fatal wounds.
Crack—crrk.
But soon, eerie creaking noises spread across the armor before spiderweb-like fractures began to spread.
Even though the armor was forged from spirit-infused metal, it could no longer withstand the relentless assault and was beginning to break apart.
"Shall I start carving it off now?"
Regaining his composure as the armor shattered, the masked man deliberately swung his longsword—not targeting vital points but slicing away at the remaining plating instead.
Thwak! Thwak! Thwak!
Bu Eun-seol intentionally used the remnants of the armor to block while carefully observing:
—How the masked man deployed his sword techniques.
—What underlying martial principles he employed.
'It transcends perception.'
Finally, he grasped the truth.
The masked man's Sword Strokes—
—were outpacing even Bu Eun-seol's limit-breaking reflexes.
'He can divide time into finer fragments than I can.'
Though the man's slashes appeared singular, they were, in truth, composed of thousands of imperceptibly minute variations.
Meaning: Bu Eun-seol's movements couldn't possibly intercept every split-second shift.
Perhaps this was an innate advantage of the Servants of the True Demon—a fundamental difference in their physical vessels.
Clang!
Then, the man's blade struck Bu Eun-seol's abdomen once more.
In that instant, realization struck.
'No... That can't be.'
Even if the man's physiology granted him strength several times beyond that of an ordinary human—
—they were still fighting within the Domain of World and Realm Annihilation, which equalized their internal energy and physical prowess.
Unless...
Unless he had surpassed the Extreme Heaven Realm and reached a martial state beyond the Martial Extreme Realm—
—such an outcome should have been impossible.
Sshhk.
Another Sword Stroke cascaded before Bu Eun-seol's eyes in slow motion.
A strike he should have been able to evade effortlessly—
Slash!
Yet, just as before,
the razor-sharp sword aura inevitably grazed his shoulder, completely disregarding his evasive maneuver.
'So that's it.'
His pupils flashed as he finally deciphered the man's method.
'He forcibly multiplies the variables one must consider.'
A master, in the briefest instant, must assess countless factors—analyzing, judging, reacting.
But what if the choices before them multiplied exponentially? The sheer cognitive load would—
—naturally delay their movements.
'To weaponize the very concept of choice into such a profound martial principle...'
"Exploiting Gaps to Induce Delay, Hollowing Gates to Slow Motion."
The masked man was employing a martial principle unknown in the current Murim—
—one that revealed openings deliberately to slow the opponent's reactions and judgment.
'Magnificent.'
Even Bu Eun-seol—who had mastered the essence of both Orthodox and Unorthodox Paths—was witnessing this for the first time.
A martial truth so novel, it felt like beholding an entirely new horizon—
—not with fear, but with the electrifying thrill of discovery.
'How could the Baekri Clan and the True Demon's forces suppress Murim's martial development?'
Over time, all disciplines—martial or scholarly—naturally progress.
Yet they had stifled martial evolution?
Had they... preemptively killed the geniuses who could have propelled Murim's martial arts to greater heights?
'No. Impossible.'
The answer came swiftly.
'Guidance.'
They must have craftily steered martial artists—
—teaching them flawed principles disguised as orthodoxy, limiting their potential from the outset.
Just as, during Limitless Equal Enlightenment,
one need not choose only one manifestation of Limitless Power—
—yet the belief that one must had been ingrained as common sense.
'That's why Murim's martial realm remained stagnant at the Martial Extreme Realm.'
Fortunately, in this era,
grandmasters of peerless martial arts had emerged—
—ones who rejected those shackled principles, breaking past the limits of the Martial Extreme Realm.
But the foundations of all martial theory until now...
—undoubtedly originated from the Baekri Clan or the True Demon's forces.
Thwak! Thwak! Thwak!
While lost in thought, Bu Eun-seol's Forbidden Evil God armor was being shredded to tatters.
'Wearing this was the right choice.'
Had he not donned it—
—he wouldn't have been able to observe the masked man's techniques so leisurely.
'If... that's the principle behind his martial arts—'
A heat intense enough to melt iron blazed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes as their battle raged on.
'—then I can break it.'
Before he knew it, Bu Eun-seol had already exchanged over a thousand strikes with the masked man.
By now, most of his golden armored shroud had been destroyed.
All that remained were fragments covering his face and some joints on his arms and legs.
"That was quite drawn out."
Until now, Bu Eun-seol had deliberately taken the masked man's sword techniques head-on, never once landing a counterattack.
Perhaps because of this, the masked man, confident in his victory, clicked his tongue in disdain.
"Still, all you've done is buy time."
"......"
"Even if you understand it, that doesn't mean you can break it."
The masked man let out a sinister chuckle.
Even if one comprehended the principles of martial arts in their mind, it meant nothing if the body couldn't execute them.
Crack.
Then, suddenly, Bu Eun-seol reached up with his left hand and began peeling away the metal shroud covering his head.
Gradually, his face—hidden beneath the steel—was revealed.
"As I thought... It was you, Martial Soul Lord."
The masked man nodded in recognition.
"Did the mask become stifling as death approached? Or did you wish to show your face before dying?"
Clank.
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol sheathed the Mourning Soul Sword and lowered his stance.
"Still clinging to futile dreams, I see."
The masked man sneered, realizing Bu Eun-seol was preparing to unleash a rapid sword technique.
"Merely knowing my sect's martial arts won't allow you to block it."
Though he acknowledged that Bu Eun-seol had grasped the essence of his techniques, he remained certain they couldn't be broken.
And why wouldn't he be?
How could someone shatter the principles of a martial art that didn't even exist in the current martial world—and in such a short time?
"Now, let's end this!"
The masked man unleashed his final, decisive strike.
To the eye, it appeared laughably slow—yet its trajectory was impossible to predict.
If Bu Eun-seol ignored the sluggish technique and poured his own attacks forward?
The masked man's blade would reach him first.
The moment he perceived the sword stroke—
His brain would begin its relentless analysis, and his body's reaction would naturally slow.
Snap.
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol's gaze blurred.
The masked man's technique—Restraining the Gap, Delaying the Response—exploited the mind's processing overload to slow the body's reflexes.
To counter it, Bu Eun-seol did something unthinkable.
He severed his own consciousness.
Millions of sword strokes he had executed before.
Countless near-death battles engraved into his flesh.
He placed absolute trust in the combat instincts accumulated through them all—
And relinquished control of his rationality.
Twitch.
The masked man's eyes widened as if struck by revelation.
The realm of the unconscious.
Bu Eun-seol's method of countering was something he had never even considered—an ingenious solution.
'This is impossible.'
The human mind was as fickle as the weather—
Clear skies could darken in an instant, unleashing storms without warning.
To perfectly control such an untamable spirit and mind required a level of mental mastery beyond imagination.
'No—wasn't this bastard the disciple of that Human Demon?'
In desperation, the masked man poured strength into his fingertips, accelerating his sword stroke to blinding speed.
If Bu Eun-seol truly had entered the unconscious realm, he wouldn't be able to react in time.
By outpacing even his reflexes, the masked man could still kill him.
Fwoosh!
Then—
The two blades passed through each other's bodies.
Splurt!
Blood sprayed into the air, rising a full foot high.
Drip... drip...
At the same time, blood began trickling from the masked man's lips.
"You... tricked me!"
His eyes filled with disbelief and absurdity.
Bu Eun-seol had never entered the unconscious realm.
No—entering it mid-battle, in such a brief moment, was impossible to begin with.
"So that's why you revealed your face."
Bu Eun-seol was known to have inherited the legacy of Langya Pavilion's lord—the Human Demon Ak Mu-ryeong.
As the successor of the era's greatest master of psychological manipulation—
It was only natural to assume he could forcibly enter the unconscious realm by controlling his own mind.
Bu Eun-seol had exploited that assumption.
By deliberately unmasking, he pretended to enter the unconscious state.
The masked man, fooled, abandoned Restraining the Gap, Delaying the Response—
And switched to rapid strikes, believing Bu Eun-seol's unconscious mind couldn't react.
But Bu Eun-seol had anticipated everything.
The moment the masked man discarded his technique—
He unleashed Meteor Chasing Moon.
"So you've inherited Sado Mu-myeong's legacy as well..."
The masked man muttered weakly.
"Only he could dominate an opponent's mind with mere words and gestures..."
Thud.
His severed head hit the ground.
Bu Eun-seol hadn't triumphed through martial superiority—
But by exploiting his enemy's psychology, striking at the gaps in his conviction.
And thus, he felled the masked lord of the Demon Palace—
A man who wielded martial principles that should not exist in this era.
"So that's how it is."
Hearing the masked man's dying words—
Bu Eun-seol finally understood why he had been mistaken for someone who resembled the Demonic Heavenly Emperor—
Or worse, his successor.
"Domination."
Long ago, Bu Eun-seol had witnessed the duel between the Demonic Heavenly Emperor and the Sword Sovereign.
Even before the battle began, the Emperor had peered into the Sword Sovereign's psyche—
And secured victory by inducing the slightest fracture in his spirit.
At the time, Bu Eun-seol had assumed it was simply due to the Emperor's superior martial prowess.
But now, looking back—
Just as Bu Eun-seol dominated his surroundings through World and Realm Annihilation,
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor had dominated everything within his reach through sheer presence and psychological warfare.
In other words—
Though their methods seemed entirely different—
They were, in truth, pursuing the same pinnacle of martial arts.