Chapter 1295
No matter how powerful a martial artist may be—
Their strength can be explained by their realm, measured by the flow of their qi, and their intentions guessed through their actions.
But in the murim, there exists a being so distant that he cannot be measured or touched.
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor, Sado Mu-myeong.
Merely recalling his existence makes martial artists feel as though they've swallowed poison, trembling in fear.
Because he is a man whose intentions cannot be read, whose limits cannot be seen, and whose actions defy all logic.
No one can guess what he desires, how far he can go, or why he acts the way he does.
An uncontrollable element of danger.
An inexplicable terror.
An unfathomable enigma.
Something that exists beyond the bounds of order.
These words barely suffice to describe him—merely hinting that he is, at the very least, a living being.
And at some point, Bu Eun-seol had begun—
To hear whispers that he resembled the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, or that he was the inheritor of his legacy.
Because he, too, pursued something called "domination."
Domination.
For the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, it was closer to a way of existence.
To him, domination was not about binding limbs—it was about stealing the very criteria of judgment.
Even what one believed to be their own decision was, in truth, merely acting according to his will.
In short, those who entered the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's domain—
Though they believed they moved of their own volition, in reality, everything was being rearranged around his existence.
'At some point, I too began to desire domination.'
If the Demonic Heavenly Emperor could dominate an enemy's spirit and mind with just a single step forward and a single uttered word—
Then Bu Eun-seol had been using the power of the Void-Severing Realm to restrict his enemies' physical strength and dominate the space around them.
Kukukuku. Kurururung.
As the masked man died, the colossal pillar that had been gradually pulling free slowly ceased its movement.
'To think this is the power of a human...'
Looking up at the pillar that stretched endlessly into the heavens—
One could barely fathom just how massive it was, or how deeply it had been embedded.
Kururur.
As Yeo Gong regained her stability, the movement stopped—but strangely, the pillar did not retreat back into the earth.
"Forest Lord."
Bu Eun-seol approached Yeo Gong, who wore a dazed expression, and asked:
"Are you alright?"
The moment the masked man died, the crumbling light in Yeo Gong's eyes returned to normal, and soon her expression settled into calmness.
"I'm fine."
Still wearing a vacant look, she gazed up at the towering pillar that stretched into the distant sky.
"Because of that vile man, the Key embedded in the ley lines has begun to be pulled out. This is truly disastrous."
An ordinary person would have first questioned who Bu Eun-seol was—his identity.
But the moment she regained her clarity, her first concern was the state of the pillar.
Saaak.
Her hair gradually turned white, and her skin withered away.
With the ley lines of the Ancient Sword Forest undergoing changes, the mysterious energy that had maintained her youth was also fading.
"Since those people lack the qualifications to open the Primordial Gate... they must be trying to forcibly destroy the spirit veins, as if yanking out a stake."
Bu Eun-seol spoke.
"Because once that gate opens, the True Demon will regain his true power."
"It's not that simple."
Yeo Gong narrowed her eyes as she stared at the distant pillar.
"The Baekri Clan also sought to seal the Primordial Gate."
Now that he thought about it, it was strange.
The Baekri Clan had deliberately selected those capable of entering the Primordial Gate, and when they failed, they created the Ancient Sword Forest to protect the spirit veins there.
From the perspective of the Baekri Clan—who had made a contract with the Creation-Era Martial Artists known as the Primordial Dragon—
Such actions were unnecessary, even wasteful.
"Are you saying the Baekri Clan rebelled against the Creation-Era Martial Artists?"
It was possible.
The Baekri Clan had been created by the Creation-Era Martial Artists, maintaining their contract to manage the Primordial Gate and deal with the True Demon while gaining power—
But by now, the Baekri Clan must have accumulated their own independent knowledge while slaying the True Demon.
However, the Creation-Era Martial Artists had clearly anticipated the possibility of the Baekri Clan's betrayal—
And even when the Gatekeeper Elder had mentioned being of the Baekri Clan's bloodline, he had not spoken further on the matter.
So then, what was the truth?
"The only certainty is that the Primordial Gate must never be opened—until someone capable of handling the Creation-Era Martial Artists appears."
Yeo Gong spoke calmly.
"And that Key must be sealed away forever."
Zzing, zzing.
At that moment, the colossal pillar continued to grow without end.
Once it had begun to be pulled from the earth, it stretched endlessly into the sky, like Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang.
"That must not be fully extracted."
Startled, Yeo Gong bit her own finger, trying to draw blood.
But her skin had already dried out, her vitality fading—so barely any blood flowed from her hand.
She could no longer use the Ancient Sword Forest's blood-based Art of Spells.
"Just what is that thing?"
"A remnant of the Creation Sun and Moon—and the Key sealing the spirit veins of this land."
Yeo Gong continued to utter shocking revelations.
"It was made from what remained after the True Demon used Seizing Cause and Effect in Advance."
Bu Eun-seol could not hide his astonishment.
Unlike the Nine Heavens Radiant Cloud, the Creation Sun and Moon took the form of a black liquid—and there was so much of it scattered about that one might wonder if its quantity was infinite.
Hadn't the Ancient Sword Forest even used small amounts of the Creation Sun and Moon to forge Black Divine Artifacts?
"Just what is the Creation Sun and Moon?"
"A substance that forms the foundation of the world. That is why Seizing Cause and Effect in Advance is possible... but no one knows the exact truth."
Kukuku.
Even as they spoke, the pillar continued to grow, as if being pulled out without end.
"That thing is the Key?"
Yeo Gong nodded.
"A seal deeply embedded in the core of the spirit veins connected to the Primordial Gate. If it is fully extracted, the spirit veins will lose control and explode."
Yeo Gong gazed at the rising tower with a fearful expression and said:
"Should that happen, every living being in Xi'an Prefecture will vanish."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"The Key is not merely a stake sealing the Spirit Vein. It is more akin to a brace—or an axis—that forcibly compresses and restrains Spiritual Energy on the verge of rampage."
She continued:
"Once it begins to withdraw, there is no stopping it. The qi suppressed for so long will erupt in an instant, causing the Spirit Vein itself to collapse."
In short, once the Key started pulling free, there would be no reversing it.
The moment it fully emerged, the Spirit Vein would shatter, and this entire region would face annihilation.
"Let me try."
Whoosh.
Bu Eun-seol surged into the air, attempting to suppress the ascending Key with his formidable internal energy.
Grrrrumble.
Yet even his heaven-and-earth-overturning cultivation proved insufficient to halt the Key's rise.
Whiiine.
He channeled the Heavenly Light Endless Art, drawing upon all Three Divine Powers—but the Key remained immovable.
If anything, it seemed to shoot upward even faster.
The Creation Sun and Moon were treasures bestowed by the heavens.
Even as mere remnants of their exhausted utility, they remained utterly unaffected by mortal strength.
'How was such a colossal metal construct even forged?'
The exposed portion of the Key already towered over sixty meters.
Its full length likely exceeded three hundred.
No matter how boundless human capability might be, how could anyone craft such massive metalwork and drive it deep into the earth?
"You said its contained power would detonate once extracted."
Flash!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed Harmonization toward the Key.
Yet far from fracturing, it didn't so much as quiver.
Screeeech!
This time, he deployed the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, attempting to sever the gradually rising Key.
Claaang!
Even pouring every drop of his internal energy—even unifying the Three Divine Powers through Heavenly Light Endless Art—
left not a single scratch on the Key. Instead, it climbed ever higher into the sky.
"To be thwarted by a mere hunk of metal."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
A heavenly relic it might be, but it was still just metal.
To stand helpless, forced to watch as the ley lines exploded and innocents perished—
Grrroooowl.
All the while, the massive Key continued its inexorable extraction.
"Am I truly this powerless?"
Even if he had taken the throne as the world's foremost master, humans remained merely human.
Incapable of destroying even a single object descended from the heavens.
"...!"
Then, a peculiar thought struck him.
The Key's gradually exposed surface bore intricate patterns—
resembling ancient script, or perhaps arcane sigils of mystic incantations.
And with each increment of its emergence, they coalesced into a startlingly familiar shape.
'The engravings on the Ink Soul Sword?'
It was unmistakable—the very pattern that materialized along the blade's length
when channeling one's entire reservoir of power.
"A Black Divine Artifact."
Understanding dawned.
Black Divine Artifacts were forged from the Creation Sun and Moon, wielding power transcending mortal limits.
And the Ink Soul Sword was the God-Slaying Weapon capable of destroying them.
"Then—"
Ruuuumble.
The colossal Key was nearly fully extracted now, radiating intense light.
Unstable energy from the Spirit Vein surged through it, flooding outward into Ancient Sword Forest.
Fwooosh!
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol soared skyward again, alighting atop the erupting Key.
'Here.'
Near the summit,
he found the identical engraving from the Ink Soul Sword.
"This sword was forged by Mother,"
Ziiing.
As he channeled all his power into the blade, an ethereal luminescence spilled across his body.
"And wielded by Father."
Azure light erupted from his sword hand, coursing up his arm, across his shoulder, and through his chest.
His body began glowing like a star, while beneath his feet, seed-like motes of light sprouted upward.
One, two—in an instant, tens of thousands of luminous points spread like ripples,
Ruuuumble.
as radiant pillars shot skyward like branches of a colossal tree. Swirling particles of light encircled him, forming a vast ring.
The Ink Soul First Form.
"Haaahp!"
With every ounce of strength, Bu Eun-seol drove the Ink Soul Sword into the Key's core.
Goooooo!
A blinding explosion of light engulfed him as the blade struck—his flesh withering to skeletal desiccation in an instant.
The Key's outflowing energy siphoned his vitality in one voracious gulp.
Zing, zing.
Yet gradually, his body began reconstituting itself.
By leveraging the mysteries of cyclical return, he converted the Key's draining force back into life energy.
"Ghhh."
But the suction was overwhelming—agony like his flesh being shredded apart radiated through him.
"Uuuugh."
Clenching through the pain, he endlessly cycled and recirculated the energy.
Craaack.
Fissures spiderwebbed across the Key's surface, following the engraved patterns,
Thud, thud-thud.
until—amid faint light—it fragmented along the sigils' contours.
Whoooosh.
The Key, having soared hundreds of meters, dissolved into viscous liquid and drained back into the earth.
Sluuuurp.
Every shattered piece melted away, vanishing downward,
Sssss.
leaving only a circular depression filled with dark, Metallic Sound fluid.
"Hah, hah..."
Bu Eun-seol gasped for breath, his chest heaving.
As expected, his prediction had been correct.
The true purpose of the Ink Soul Sword was not as a God-Slaying Weapon.
Instead, it was a tool capable of melting the massive Key—forged from the Creation Sun and Moon—that sealed the Spirit Vein's energy.
A means to completely seal the Spirit Vein connected to the Primordial Gate.
"To melt the Key..."
The Forest Lord, who had been watching, approached Bu Eun-seol in astonishment.
"And then perfectly reseal it..."
Her withered eyes widened to the point of tearing.
"If such a thing is possible, then we could melt all the Keys scattered across the Central Plains and permanently seal the Primordial Gate."
Hearing this, Bu Eun-seol hesitated.
'But I need to enter the Baekri Clan.'
What he wanted was to pass through the Primordial Gate, complete the contract with the Primordial Dragon, and join the Baekri Clan.
But what his parents had desired...
Was undeniably this—to seal the Primordial Gate forever.
'Is there no other way?'
If the Primordial Gate remained unsealed, the True Demon would reclaim his complete Knowledge.
He would twist all the Laws of the world, bending reality itself to his will.
Such a catastrophe had to be prevented.
'Then this, too, is my duty.'
He had no personal interest in whether the True Demon ran rampant or not.
But his father and mother had entrusted him with the Ink Soul Sword, and in the current martial world, he alone could seal the Keys.
So... in the end, he had no choice.
"Ah, so you truly are the one he spoke of."
The Forest Lord smiled faintly as she gazed at Bu Eun-seol, still gripping the faintly glowing Ink Soul Sword.
"The one who can finish what he could not."
"What do you mean?"
"There was once a man who sought to bind the Keys with chains and seal them away."
Her voice was low, heavy with memory.
"When he reappeared... he had gone mad. Yet even in his insanity, he instinctively sought out the Ancient Sword Forest, trying to destroy the Key."
'Jeong Cheon-je!'
At last, Bu Eun-seol understood.
The reason the deranged Jeong Cheon-je had endlessly wandered in search of the Baekri Clan Secret Vault—
It wasn't to retrieve something from within.
It was because the Ancient Sword Forest and the Baekri Clan Secret Vault were both protected by the same type of Absolute Boundary.
Once he could no longer enter the Ancient Sword Forest...
He had been instinctively drawn to the Secret Vault, repeating his destructive rampage there.
"Jeong Cheon-je—you mean Shin Do-mu-bi?"
"Indeed."
'Then is he the man with the great saber?'
No, that couldn't be.
Shin Do-mu-bi was of a different generation from the Demonic Heavenly Emperor and his grandfather, and he had been insane for a long time.
The man with the great saber couldn't possibly be him.
Crack.
Even as they spoke, the Forest Lord's body continued to wither. Her life force was nearly spent, and it seemed she could die at any moment.
"If you seek out the Ancient Sword Forests scattered across the Central Plains, you will learn more of the Primordial Gate."
"Do you know where he is now?"
He was still wandering the martial world, consumed by madness, his derangement uncured.
Bu Eun-seol knew he might not receive an answer, but he had to ask.
"He roams like a hound, tracking the energy of the Keys."
The Forest Lord offered an unexpected revelation.
"Now that the Key at Mount Hua has collapsed, he may come before long to the Ancient Sword Forest at Mount Tai."
"Mount Tai..."
Something finally clicked in Bu Eun-seol's mind.
"Are the Keys hidden within the Ancient Sword Forests embedded in the Five Great Mountains?"
"Yes."
Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Mount Heng, Mount Heng, Mount Song.
The pillars sealing the Spirit Vein leading to the Primordial Gate were all embedded within the Ancient Sword Forests concealed in the Five Great Mountains.
"I see."
Bu Eun-seol recalled the words of the envoy from the Baekri Side Family he had met before.
—The Keys are failing. The Spirit Vein's energy grows unstable, and the Absolute Boundary's power weakens intermittently.
In the end, the Spirit Veins embedded in the Five Great Mountains had destabilized, shaking the Absolute Boundaries and putting the Keys at risk of being pulled free.
The True Demon Palace had been waiting for that moment of imbalance—
To dispatch the True Demon Palace's master, capable of destroying the Forest Lord's spirit and mind—
To shatter the Keys within and release the Spirit Vein's seal.
She staggered.
The Forest Lord's body shuddered violently.
The Ancient Sword Forest had already collapsed, and the Key that had sustained her Spirit and Mind and life force had turned to dust.
All that remained was the end of her long life—
The rest in Death she had so desperately yearned for.
"It has been... far too long."
Rustle.
As her fingertips crumbled away, her gaze held not sorrow, but peace.
"Take this."
From her robes, she withdrew a small, square fragment.
It was a living metal—something she had forged in her quest to surpass the True Demon's Knowledge.
"There will come a time when you need it."
Bu Eun-seol accepted it carefully.
It was proof of the life she had devoted—proof that Yeo Gong had once lived.
"Please... stop this calamity."
Whoosh.
At last, her body dissolved into dust, scattering in the wind.
Once lured by the man with the great saber into becoming the Forest Lord of the Ancient Sword Forest, she had lost all memory, reduced to a wraith forging Black Divine Artifacts.
Though Bu Eun-seol had saved her, her past life had been far too long and arduous.
'Grandfather... it couldn't have been him.'
Even if sealing the Primordial Gate meant protecting the world—
His grandfather would never have sacrificed another's life to achieve it.
'The one who claimed to have perfectly imitated Grandfather...'
The one who had cooperated with the Baekri Clan to establish the Ancient Sword Forests in the Five Great Mountains—
The same one who had brutally murdered the woman who had shown him the Ten Thousand Transformations Sacred Body bastard—
Could very well have been that very man.
"May you find eternal rest."
As the ruins of the Ancient Sword Forest crumbled around them, her remains scattered into the wind.
Bu Eun-seol pressed his palms together and bowed deeply.
Mount Tai.
Soon, its Ancient Sword Forest would collapse, just as Mount Hua's had.
"The duty to shatter that Key with the Ink Soul Sword, of course."
A promise made long ago to Mu-gyeol.
Even if it meant facing the Heavenly Emperor in battle, he had to restrain him and restore his clear mind.