Chapter 200
"What the hell is that now?"
Jeon Il-hon's eyebrows shot up as he watched, poised to deliver the final strike to Bu Eun-seol.
Materializing true qi through his sword and shaping it into a new form?
'This bastard's going to be trouble.'
The only saving grace was that, even as he materialized his true qi, Bu Eun-seol's eyes remained vacant, as if he wasn't even seeing Jeon Il-hon.
'I have to kill him quickly.'
A sense of urgency gripped Jeon Il-hon.
If he didn't cut this bastard's throat soon... he had the distinct feeling that those overwhelming waves of true qi would pierce straight through his body.
Swish!
In an instant, his figure vanished from Bu Eun-seol's line of sight.
The supreme secret technique of the Afterimage Ghost Saber—Final Bloodless Crimson—unfolded.
Shhk!
Before anyone could react, Jeon Il-hon's body, which had disappeared moments ago, surged upward from directly beneath Bu Eun-seol.
Final Bloodless Crimson—a vicious technique that feigned disappearance from the enemy's sight, swept low along the ground, and then pierced the opponent's vital points with a Scattered Sword strike of Extreme Speed.
"Die!"
Just as the Spirit-Haunting Blade, now fractured into dozens of gleaming points, was about to impale Bu Eun-seol's body—
Thud.
Suddenly, the blade halted less than half an inch from Bu Eun-seol's forehead.
The materialized true qi flowing from his body and sword had ensnared the Spirit-Haunting Blade like a spider's web.
"This can't be..."
Jeon Il-hon's eyes bulged.
Masters who reached the Transcendence Realm could materialize their internal energy into tangible forms.
But even then, those forms were limited to weapons or sharp edges—freely shaping true qi into any desired form was supposed to be impossible.
Whooosh.
Yet, with a sound like steam dissipating, the materialized true qi coiled around the Spirit-Haunting Blade vanished into thin air.
Thump.
At the same time, the Ink Sword slid smoothly into Jeon Il-hon's chest like the sweet tongue of a demon.
Tap.
Jeon Il-hon knelt slowly, his expression hollow.
Outwardly, it looked as if only the tip of the sword had lightly pierced his skin.
But the terrifying Reverse Polarity True Qi imbued in the Ink Sword had crushed and ruptured his meridians under overwhelming pressure.
"You've surpassed the Transcendence Realm..."
Jeon Il-hon's face twisted in defeat.
Not only had he freely materialized his true qi, but the sheer force of his internal energy had shattered his meridians in an instant.
This was no technique that could be dismissed as merely the Transcendence Realm's level.
Hssss.
White steam rose from Bu Eun-seol's body as he unleashed the Willful True Binding.
Without the Emotion Severing Secret Art, his qi and blood had boiled violently the moment he activated it.
"I haven't surpassed it."
Bu Eun-seol shook his head indifferently.
"Not yet..."
This was merely a secret he had gleaned from the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's Emotion Severing Secret Art—a fleeting moment of freely materializing his internal energy.
The duration he could maintain the form was brief, and its effectiveness didn't even last half a quarter-hour.
"I can only sustain it for an extremely short time."
But Jeon Il-hon never heard those words.
His breath had already ceased.
Perhaps believing he had been slain by a master of the Extreme Heaven Realm, his closed eyes bore no trace of regret.
"Aaaagh!"
Meanwhile, another agonized scream rang out.
Hyeok So-jin's Blood Thread Steel Wire had severed Go Ryong-pung's head.
With both the sect leader, Jeon Il-hon, and the vice sect leader, Go Ryong-pung, dead, further resistance was meaningless.
Moreover, as Hyeok So-jin finished off Go Ryong-pung, the morale of the Demon Transfer Sect disciples, who had been fighting desperately, plummeted.
Against masters like these, victory was impossible.
Whish! Thwip!
As their movements slowed, the hidden weapons of the Second Squad members, led by Wi Cheon-gyeong, shone even brighter.
Once the Second Squad members had disrupted the Demon Transfer Sect disciples' movements and attack formations, the remaining squad members swiftly began cutting them down.
"We surrender!"
Some of the Demon Transfer Sect disciples dropped their weapons and abandoned resistance, but the Martial Root Squad members did not relent.
Bu Eun-seol had ordered them to wipe them out. And the squad members were carrying out that command meticulously.
Clang.
Finally, the weapon of the last resisting Demon Transfer Sect disciple clattered to the ground.
The fierce battle had come to an end.
"Hah... Hah..."
Even after the fighting ceased, the Martial Root Squad members stood with weapons clenched in their fists, killing intent radiating from their bodies as they gasped for breath.
None were unscathed.
Some bore light flesh wounds, while others had fingers severed or gaping gashes deep enough to expose bone.
But there were no fatalities. Every single one of them had survived.
One hundred against thirty.
In this impossible battle, they had achieved a great victory—not only against their enemies, but against themselves as well.
"It's over."
A low voice snapped them out of their daze.
When they turned their heads, they saw two figures standing shoulder to shoulder, gazing at them. Though drenched in blood, they radiated an unapproachable majesty, like martial gods descended from the heavens.
Bu Eun-seol and Hyeok So-jin.
Shudder.
The unit members trembled.
For the first time in their lives, they had poured out everything they had. Their blood boiled, their souls burned white-hot into ashes.
And then came... the euphoria of victory.
"UOOOOOH!"
The Rootless Squad roared like wild beasts.
The heavens shook, the earth trembled.
It was the battle cry of warriors who had, for the first time, burned both body and soul to their absolute limit.
—Mount Hua and Zhongnan have driven the Demon Rebel Gate out of Shaanxi!
The Demon Rebel Gate, which had recklessly slaughtered disciples and destroyed training halls within Mount Hua and Zhongnan's territories, had finally met a gruesome end—annihilation.
But soon after, strange rumors began to spread.
—Yet it was the masters dispatched by the Demon Hall who eliminated the Demon Rebel Gate's leader and his inner circle!
While Mount Hua and Zhongnan were razing the Demon Rebel Gate's stronghold, its leader, Jeon Il-hon, and his hundred elite followers had fled north.
The masters of Zhongnan and Mount Hua gave chase in haste, only to find them already slaughtered before an unnamed mountain cave.
And every wound bore the marks of exquisite demonic sword techniques and hidden weapon arts.
—When did the Demon Hall even send their masters?
The martial world could hardly contain its shock and disbelief.
To track and perfectly eliminate a hundred elite warriors, including the Demon Rebel Gate's leader, would require at least two to three hundred masters.
Yet no such force had ever set foot in Shaanxi.
—Was this all part of the Demon Hall's scheme?
Impossible.
If the Demon Hall had dispatched a large enough force to wipe out Jeon Il-hon, a master of the Transcendence Realm, and over a hundred first-rate warriors...
Even if other intelligence networks missed it, Mount Hua and Zhongnan would have known.
—Does the Demon Hall possess an armed brigade capable of evading Mount Hua and Zhongnan's intelligence network in Shaanxi?
Countless rumors swirled, but the Demon Hall remained silent, offering no response.
The ones left looking foolish were Mount Hua and Zhongnan.
They had assembled an extermination force to annihilate the Demon Rebel Gate and planned to parade Jeon Il-hon's severed head to proclaim their might to the world...
Yet now, thanks to the sudden appearance of the Demon Hall's masters, they had been reduced to the role of a dog chasing chickens.
But on the surface, there was no proof the Demon Hall's masters had intervened directly. All they had done was eliminate the Demon Rebel Gate's fleeing elite forces—effectively doing Mount Hua and Zhongnan a favor.
There was no grounds for protest.
Dawn was breaking in the eastern sky.
Silver-Copper Tavern.
This small winery was nestled in a remote mountain valley of Deokan Prefecture. Beautiful forests stretched around it, dotted here and there with large stone warehouses.
At its entrance stood an old manor with a faded signboard reading "Hidden Star Manor"—home to the tavern's owners and servants.
But now, every corner of Hidden Star Manor was packed with black-clad martial artists.
Most bore severe injuries, either receiving treatment from physicians or lying in bed to recuperate.
They were the Rootless Squad members, returning from their mission to eliminate the Demon Rebel Gate.
Bu Eun-seol stood silently in the courtyard, watching over the wounded.
"What in the world did you do to end up this badly injured?"
Just then, an old man in embroidered robes approached Bu Eun-seol and spoke.
He was the master of Hidden Star Manor—and the branch leader of the Kill-Seeking Unit's Deokan Branch, Jin Yu-hwa.
Seeing that the unit's injuries were too severe for an immediate return to the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol had brought them to the Silver-Copper Tavern, a secret outpost of the Kill-Seeking Unit.
Jin Yu-hwa, as branch leader, had then summoned the Rootless Squad to his manor to treat their wounds.
"We fought a hundred masters, that's all."
"A hundred?"
Jin Yu-hwa blinked at the distant sky before nearly jumping in shock.
"Don't tell me—these are the Demon Hall's masters who recently wiped out the Demon Rebel Gate's leader and his elites?"
Bu Eun-seol remained expressionless, offering no reply.
But Jin Yu-hwa couldn't contain his curiosity and pressed further.
"Where did you even come from? Are you from the Celestial Slaughter Corps?"
A pause.
The unit members who happened to overhear the conversation all wore identical smiles or expressions of pride.
The Celestial Slaughter Corps—the most brutal and formidable gathering of warriors among the Demon Hall's three great elite units.
For the Rootless Squad, once known as a den of reckless ruffians, to now be mistaken for the Celestial Slaughter Corps...
"The Rootless Squad."
"The Rootless Squad?"
Jin Yu-hwa asked with a look of incomprehension.
"You mean... that Rootless Squad? The one where all those ruffians gather?"
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol merely curled his lips into a faint smile.
'No need to spread the word myself.'
Having relayed this fact to the Kill-Seeking Unit—an intelligence organization—the Rootless Squad's reputation would soon spread beyond Shaanxi and throughout the martial world.
'The name will change soon enough.'
A unit of thirty members that had annihilated the Demon Rebel Gate's leader and his core forces.
They would no longer be known by the name "Rootless Squad."
As Bu Eun-seol lost himself in thought, Jin Yu-hwa blinked rapidly as if suddenly remembering something.
"Wait, then you're not part of the Kill-Seeking Unit—"
"Bu Eun-seol of Langya Pavilion. Now the commander of the Rootless Squad."
"Wha—?!"
Jin Yu-hwa's composure shattered as his eyes bulged.
Seeing the mark only known to branch leaders managing the Kill-Seeking Unit, he had assumed Bu Eun-seol was merely a branch leader from another region...
But this was one of the successor candidates who had sent tremors through the quiet halls of the Demon Hall—the Ten Demonic Heir from Langya Pavilion?!
"I heard the candidates were each given missions to carry out in the martial world... So you took down the Demon Rebel Gate's leader?"
As Jin Yu-hwa rambled on, Bu Eun-seol turned away coldly and spoke.
"Thanks to you, I've rested and recovered well. I'll report on the Deokan Branch's cooperation and ensure you're properly rewarded."
"Th-thank you, sir."
Though Bu Eun-seol was only nominally the Ten Demonic Heir...
He was the legitimate successor of Langya Pavilion—a successor candidate whom even the Demonic Path Ten Gates and the Elders' Hall regarded warily.
A single word from him in the Demon Hall, and Jin Yu-hwa's fortunes would skyrocket.
"Commander. You needn't trouble yourself—you and the deputy commander should return first."
At that moment, Won Se-mun, his shoulder wrapped in bandages, approached and spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
"There's no need for you to return with the rest of us, is there? You only need to report the situation to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor anyway."
The other recovering unit members chimed in one by one, agreeing with his words.
"Hmm."
Bu Eun-seol crossed his arms and pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'll return with you."
"Why, sir?"
Bu Eun-seol swept his gaze over them briefly before answering curtly.
"Because I'm the Rootless Squad's commander."
A heavy silence fell.
The unit members staring at Bu Eun-seol clenched their teeth or twitched the corners of their eyes.
Because I'm the Rootless Squad's commander.
That single sentence filled the last lingering regret in their hearts.
A sense of belonging.
Though he had once called them "lumps of flesh that follow orders," his words now proved otherwise.
Even now, after the mission's end, Bu Eun-seol acknowledged them as his subordinates.
"Damn it."
Won Se-mun, his eyelids trembling, spun around abruptly.
"Y-you really know how to keep it short, sir."
Though his tone was irritable, he kept wiping at his eyes and nose.
Those few words had become the consolation that swept away all their past humiliation in an instant.
The Rootless Squad of strong individualists no longer existed.
From now on, they were all Bu Eun-seol's loyal retainers—unit members under his command.
Splash.
Steam rose in wisps from the large wooden tub filled with warm water.
Swish.
Bu Eun-seol, having stared at the tub, removed his clothes.
His bare frame appeared lean at first glance but was densely packed with muscle, his skin covered in countless scars.
The hundreds of wounds etched into his body—honed to its utmost limit—were far from grotesque. Instead, they resembled intricate patterns carved into a beautiful sculpture.
"Mmm..."
As he lowered himself into the tub of warm water, faint traces of blood seeped out.
Some wounds had yet to heal fully, oozing droplets of blood with every movement.
Knock, knock, knock.
Then came the sound of rapping at the door, followed by a woman's soft voice.
"Pardon me, my lord."
"What is it?"
"I've come to attend to your bath."
The sweet, velvety voice melted into his ears like honey.
Bu Eun-seol, who had closed his eyes, replied quietly.
"Unnecessary. Leave."
"My lord..."
The unexpectedly cold response made the woman outside the door speak in a trembling voice.
"The manor master said... that if I fail to attend to you, Young Master... I am to leave the manor at once."
Jin Yu-hwa, master of Hidden Star Manor and branch leader of the Kill-Seeking Unit, had immediately arranged new lodgings for Bu Eun-seol upon learning his identity.
The Pavilion of Elegance.
Only honored guests were permitted to stay in this pavilion, where attendants resided permanently.
And the name "Pavilion of Elegance" was not given in vain.
The moment Bu Eun-seol went to bathe, a beautiful attendant had been sent without delay—ready to serve him in the bath.