Chapter 255
"Chief, what is that?"
As the two men widened their eyes and asked,
"It's nothing."
Bu Eun-seol waved his hand dismissively with a grave expression.
"Now that you know, you may leave."
Won Se-mun and Jo Nam-cheon, seeing the solemn look on Bu Eun-seol's face, instinctively sensed that something major had occurred.
But the intensity and sharpness in Bu Eun-seol's gaze were so overwhelming that they dared not press further.
"Then, we'll take our leave."
As the two departed, Bu Eun-seol retrieved the envelope once more, his expression still heavy.
Drawing upon the full extent of his Beast Path senses, he pressed his finger against the envelope's surface.
Faintly, he could discern the shapes of characters etched into it.
'They've channeled razor-sharp internal energy like threads to carve these words into the envelope.'
Whoever sent this knew Bu Eun-seol had reached the pinnacle of the Beast Path and chose this method to deliver their secret message.
—Bu Eun-seol. I wish to face you one last time.
"Seok U-haeng...?"
Surprisingly, the envelope had been sent by Seok U-haeng. And what followed was even more startling.
—Since I've already killed Yong Jeok-bi, the Twelve Earthly Branches will soon be wiped out by the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion anyway.
'Seok U-haeng... was he the supreme leader of the Twelve Earthly Branches?'
An astonishing revelation.
No matter how formidable Seok U-haeng's abilities, the Twelve Earthly Branches were an amalgamation of underground sects with generations of history.
To seize control and rise as its leader in such a short time?
'So that's why Yong Jeok-bi died.'
Yong Jeok-bi, who had chosen the annihilation of the Twelve Earthly Branches as his successor mission.
He must have swiftly identified the supreme leader—the head of the organization.
Cut off the head, and the body becomes easy to dismantle.
But he could never have anticipated that the supreme leader would be Seok U-haeng, a master of the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion's deadliest techniques.
In the end, his head was severed by Seok U-haeng, who had seen through every move the Pavilion could make.
Click.
Bu Eun-seol rose from his seat, his expression grave as he gazed at the distant sky.
Not just anyone, but the very successor had been assassinated...
The Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion would undoubtedly deploy their most elite masters to eradicate the Twelve Earthly Branches immediately.
And if he didn't set out now, Bu Eun-seol would never have another chance to meet Seok U-haeng in this lifetime.
"Seok U-haeng..."
From Bu Eun-seol's perspective, there was no need to take on the risk of accepting Seok U-haeng's challenge.
But he had included Wicked Incense's hidden weapon in the envelope.
That meant he knew Bu Eun-seol was pursuing their trail.
"So you're connected to them."
Lost in deep thought, Bu Eun-seol slowly turned and picked up the Ink Sword resting beside him.
Shhk.
With the blade secured on his back, Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
In the end, he had decided to accept Seok U-haeng's proposed duel.
The Twelve Earthly Branches.
A mercenary organization that handled all manner of dirty work for the commercial and upper worlds.
Because of this, they frequently clashed with demonic sects, and the Demon Hall had long regarded them as a thorn in their side.
But as a loosely structured gang without a clear leader or hierarchy, they were difficult to completely eradicate.
Seok U-haeng, however, had developed and systematized the Twelve Earthly Branches like any proper faction.
In doing so, their headquarters' location was exposed, drawing Yong Jeok-bi's pursuit...
Ironically, his efforts to strengthen the organization had tightened the noose around his own neck.
"A clever move."
Bu Eun-seol stood in a massive underground waterway located in Jiangnan.
Seok U-haeng had been operating the Twelve Earthly Branches from hiding within these dark, gloomy tunnels.
"At this scale, even if tens of thousands of troops stormed in, they could hold out for quite a while."
These deep underground waterways were so dark and damp that even beggars avoided them, and their labyrinthine layout made navigation treacherous.
Even if the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion's forces descended, with well-placed traps and hit-and-run tactics, they could endure for a considerable time.
Step. Step.
As he ventured deeper into the maze-like tunnels, a wide clearing finally came into view.
And there, a shadow stood tall, melded with the darkness.
His lean, muscular frame was clad in black garments.
From afar, he resembled an evil spirit fused with the abyss.
It was Seok U-haeng.
"Your presence has changed beyond recognition."
Bu Eun-seol voiced his first impression aloud.
At Longsword Mountain Villa, Seok U-haeng had embodied the typical image of a young assassin—brimming with youthful vigor and confidence.
But now, he exuded the aura of a battle-hardened veteran who had weathered all the storms of the world.
Thud. Thud.
Seok U-haeng slowly emerged from the darkness.
Then, with a series of pop-pop sounds, the surroundings brightened as if under broad daylight.
Mechanisms embedded in the ceiling and walls had activated, revealing countless priceless Night Luminous Pearls densely studded across the surfaces.
"You came."
The face Seok U-haeng revealed was grotesquely transformed.
His gaze had sunk into gloom, and his skin was now covered in reptilian scales—rough, keratinous epidermis that made him resemble some monstrous creature from another world.
The handsome, confident assassin was gone, replaced by something inhuman.
"Hmm."
Bu Eun-seol stared intently at Seok U-haeng's face before nodding slowly.
"You've obtained the legacy of the Heavenly Heresy Sect."
The bizarre symptoms manifesting on Seok U-haeng's face were unmistakable—they were the telltale signs of mastering the Heavenly Evil Ghost Demon Art, a forbidden technique from the Heavenly Heresy Sect that had once wreaked havoc in the murim.
"I found it in the Twelve Branches."
Seok U-haeng spoke flatly.
"The martial art I'd been searching for so desperately."
He hadn't stumbled upon the Heavenly Heresy Sect's techniques by chance.
He had scoured the martial world for a secret art that could push his assassin techniques to their absolute limit—and discovered it was stored within the Twelve Branches.
And to claim it, he had settled here.
"They say mastering it means you can never hold a woman again."
Assassins loved embracing women as much as they loved gripping wine cups.
Even Seok U-haeng, an assassin to the bone, was no exception.
The Heavenly Evil Ghost Demon Art was the pinnacle of demonic arts—a sorcerous technique that weaponized the body through Technique Purification.
But the moment one mastered it, they would become impotent, as if they had mastered a vicious poison art.
"Women?"
Yet Seok U-haeng only smirked in response.
"How could embracing a woman compare to the thrill of facing a worthy rival in a life-or-death battle?"
From his answer, it seemed Seok U-haeng had willingly forsaken his masculinity to master the Heavenly Evil Ghost Demon Art—all for the sake of facing Bu Eun-seol in battle.
"Where did you get Wicked Incense's hidden weapon?"
Bu Eun-seol's voice was tight, as if a suffocating lump had lodged itself in his throat.
"How did you know I was pursuing Wicked Incense?"
"Heh heh heh."
Seok U-haeng shook his head slightly, a faint smile playing on his lips as he replied in a low voice.
"If you defeat me, I'll tell you."
"Was all this really necessary?"
Bu Eun-seol's voice carried a multitude of emotions.
With Seok U-haeng's skills and talent, he didn't need to make an enemy of the Ultimate Assassin Pavilion.
He could have quietly left the martial world—or even established his own small assassin faction and ruled as a local power.
But he hadn't.
Instead, he had infiltrated the Twelve Branches, mastered a vile demonic art, and killed Yong Jeok-bi—becoming a fugitive with no place left in the martial world.
All for the sake of fighting Bu Eun-seol.
All to face a rival who grew stronger by the day.
"Bu Eun-seol."
As if seeing through Bu Eun-seol's thoughts, Seok U-haeng spoke in a hushed tone.
"Until now, I've always prided myself on never being inferior to anyone—whether in martial arts, talent... or anything else."
"But after meeting you, that pride was shattered."
Seok U-haeng bit his lip and shook his head again.
"Still, in Hell Island, I held onto a sliver of hope. But when I saw you at Longsword Mountain Manor, you were an entirely different person."
His pupils burned hotter with every word, his voice growing more fervent.
"From that day on, my life's goal changed. To defeat you—and you alone."
It was a desperate thirst for victory—a vicious, unrelenting pride.
But Bu Eun-seol's gaze remained cold, detached.
As if he were listening to a story that had nothing to do with him.
"Isn't that the way of a martial artist's life?"
After a long silence, Bu Eun-seol finally spoke.
"When a goal takes hold, you run toward it with everything you have."
Truthfully, his own life hadn't been so different from Seok U-haeng's.
Once he had sworn to hunt down and kill the murderer, he had lived for that purpose alone.
Nothing else had mattered.
Nothing else had even registered.
Just like Seok U-haeng now.
"Yong Jeok-bi. To defeat him... your skills must have improved greatly."
The usual Bu Eun-seol would have ended the conversation there.
But this time, he spoke again.
"Yong Jeok-bi lost because he knew me too well."
Seok U-haeng smiled.
"The me from the past, that is."
Yong Jeok-bi was the orthodox successor of the Ultimate Assassin Pavilion.
He must have thoroughly investigated not only Seok U-haeng's martial prowess—which threatened his position—but also his temperament, intellect, and everything else.
"Even knowing I had obtained the martial arts of the Heavenly Evil Sect, he remained confident of victory."
Seok U-haeng spoke impassively.
"And because of that, his name was recorded in the Underworld."
But there was one thing Yong Jeok-bi could never have foreseen, even in his wildest dreams.
That from the moment Seok U-haeng met Bu Eun-seol, he had completely changed.
That he had sacrificed everything he had—solely for the sake of growing stronger.
"Why are the figures of the Twelve Earthly Branches nowhere to be seen?"
"Even if they were gathered, how could they stand against the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion? The moment Yong Jeok-bi died, I disbanded them immediately."
Seok U-haeng smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Though even if they hid somewhere, I would have hunted them down without fail."
As Bu Eun-seol nodded, Seok U-haeng's lips curled into a faint smile.
"I've spoken too much."
Then he lowered his gaze to his own two hands.
They bore the marks of days long past, when he had risked his life honing his martial arts.
"Soon, the great forces of the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion will descend upon this place."
Then, locking eyes with Bu Eun-seol, he said:
"Shall we begin now?"
Kwoong.
A low mechanical hum echoed, and the night-pearl illuminating the waterway vanished.
As darkness swallowed their surroundings once more, Bu Eun-seol gripped the hilt of his Ink Sword.
In response, Seok U-haeng drew a short assassin's blade from behind his back.
Shing.
A low sword resonance reverberated through the underground waterway—and in that instant, the two martial geniuses moved simultaneously.
Pat!
A flash of emerald light streaked through the air, and Bu Eun-seol felt a chill crawl up the back of his neck.
It was an attack that left no trace, no telltale signs—nothing at all.
Why were the killing techniques of assassins referred to as Secret Arts?
Because most of them were so covert that one couldn't even discern how they were executed.
In that regard, Seok U-haeng's Assassin Secret Arts had reached the pinnacle of mastery.
So silent, so swift—even Bu Eun-seol couldn't detect them.
Pahat!
Another flash of emerald light, and the fabric over Bu Eun-seol's shoulders split open.
Tschut!
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol's figure blurred.
Using the darkness of the waterway as cover, he pursued Seok U-haeng's rapidly shifting form.
Flash!
Finally catching sight of his opponent's trail, Bu Eun-seol unleashed his sword technique.
Though the form itself wasn't particularly refined, its speed was so overwhelming that it left no room for thought.
Tak!
Seok U-haeng barely evaded Bu Eun-seol's lightning-fast slash—then retaliated with three consecutive sword strikes.
Pat-pat-pat!
His blade moved soundlessly, leaving no gaps in his technique.
Kurung!
The moment their swords were about to clash, it was as if thunder and lightning had struck simultaneously—and Bu Eun-seol's sword stroke abruptly shifted.
At the same time, a violet light shot toward Seok U-haeng's throat.
The Peerless Thunderbolt Form—a killing sword of extreme speed—had been unleashed.
Pshuk.
But with a sound like air being expelled, Seok U-haeng had already escaped the sword's momentum.
Simultaneously, eight sword energies rained down upon Bu Eun-seol from above.
Some strokes were heavy, others swift and ferocious.
'He's grown tremendously.'
Bu Eun-seol couldn't help but marvel.
Until now, all the formidable opponents he had faced had relied on the superiority of their martial techniques and experience to challenge him.
But Seok U-haeng, an assassin, was instead overwhelming him with precision and profound swordplay.
Even going so far as to abandon his own strengths to do so.
—Even among the Ten Demonic Heirs, there exists your equal.
That was what Seok U-haeng wanted to say.
Though his talent had bloomed later than Bu Eun-seol's, he too was a martial prodigy.
After witnessing Bu Eun-seol's overwhelming prowess at Longsword Mountain Manor, he had advanced his martial arts at a terrifying pace.
To the point where he could now fight Bu Eun-seol on equal footing—not with Assassin Secret Arts, but with True Void.
CLANG!
When the Ink Sword and the assassin's blade collided, sparks erupted in the darkness.
Chiik.
But Seok U-haeng, unable to match Bu Eun-seol's internal energy, was instantly forced back.
"Gh—!"
Blood spilled from his lips.
Though it had been only a single clash, the tremendous Counterforce True Energy had already invaded his meridians.
"Good."
Crouching low, Seok U-haeng's body began to emit a faint emerald glow.
At the same time, an ominous aura seeped from him, saturating the waterway as if filling it completely.
"..."
Sensing something, Bu Eun-seol instantly twisted his body midair.
Swish!
A moment later, the Sound of Breaking Air roared—and the ground where he had stood was cleanly split apart.
It was as if another Seok U-haeng had appeared, attacking from behind.
'The Heavenly Evil Ghost Demon Art...!'
Swallowing his shock, Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes.
'He's fused that martial art with the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion's Art of Killing.'