Chapter 40
Go Gun-pyeong's eyes dilated, and then tens of thousands of points of light began to pour out.
He had drawn up his internal energy at full power.
"Fifth form..."
At the same time as the intense light poured from his eyes, the White Horse Whip he held began to writhe like a living snake.
"White Demon Spirit Snake!"
Flash!
The White Horse Whip squirmed like a living creature as it flew toward Bu Eun-seol.
The ultimate technique of the White Horse Whip—the one said to never stop until it drew blood—had been unleashed.
'This is not something I can dodge!'
Bu Eun-seol knew it instinctively.
That slowly shooting White Horse Whip form could never be dodged, and he had to meet it head-on and block it.
And that if he failed, his neck would be severed in two.
Shing.
At last, the iron sword was drawn from Bu Eun-seol's waist.
The two greatest sword techniques he could currently execute were two.
The practical combat sword art he had learned through his body while spending time with Sa-u, and the Peerless Thunderbolt Style he had learned from Cheon Un-gwang.
Wooong!
A blue radiance surged from Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"Thunderbolt..."
Because Sa-u's practical combat sword art, specialized in defense and counterattack, could never block that killing move.
He intended to unleash Cheon Un-gwang's killing sword—the Peerless Thunderbolt Style.
Fwoosh.
As he drew up his internal energy, Bu Eun-seol's clothes began to flutter.
At the same time, the drawn iron sword also reacted to his true qi, moving as if it were flopping like a freshly caught fish.
"Unrivaled!"
With a thunderous shout, Bu Eun-seol swung with all his might, cutting through the White Demon Spirit Snake that was tearing through the air.
Bang!
A deafening boom resounded,
"Pfft!"
Bu Eun-seol spat out an arrow of blood as he was hurled dozens of jang backward.
He had blocked the White Demon Spirit Snake with everything he had, but the gap in internal power was so immense that he could not withstand the force.
Kung.
Bu Eun-seol's body, which had flown to the edge of the training ground, fell to the floor with a dull thud.
"Urk."
His qi vessels had been thrown into chaos by Go Gun-pyeong's internal force, and his internal organs had all been displaced from their proper positions.
The wrist that had held the sword was dislocated and dangled limply, and blood clots poured endlessly from his mouth.
He staggered.
Even as he spat blood, Bu Eun-seol used the broken iron sword as a staff and raised his body.
His fighting spirit had not diminished in the slightest.
'That bastard...'
Go Gun-pyeong, who had been watching that sight, felt his fine hairs stand on end.
'If I cannot eliminate that bastard today, it will be a regret for all eternity.'
He had sensed that Bu Eun-seol would become a great enemy of White Horse Monastery, and just as he gritted his teeth and was about to execute his form,
"The test is now over!"
Neung Gak, who had been sitting primly before the table the entire time, was suddenly smiling gently as he blocked Go Gun-pyeong's path.
"Is that not so, Great Hero Go?"
Go Gun-pyeong could not say a word.
Because a storm-like killing intent was pouring from Neung Gak's body.
'This bastard...'
"If you do not honor the agreement, then the Main Pavilion will have no need to honor the agreement it has made with the Demon Hall up to now."
At Neung Gak's words, Gok Gyo-bong nodded and said,
"Since the agreement of five forms has all been fulfilled..."
"Wait."
At that moment, Yu Un-seong, who had been silent, interjected.
"That child has once again used our sect's sword technique."
When he pointed at Bu Eun-seol with a deeply dissatisfied expression, Neung Gak smiled gently.
"Was there an agreement that the Peerless Thunderbolt Style could not be used in this test?"
"Heh."
When Neung Gak spoke with a smile, Yu Un-seong, having nothing to say, picked a baseless quarrel.
"Is that child a disciple of Langya Pavilion? Or a disciple of our sect?"
"Naturally, he is a disciple of Langya Pavilion. One who happened to inherit Great Hero Cheon's insight."
Neung Gak, having anticipated Yu Un-seong's protest, responded like a sly fox.
"Look at that. The Peerless Thunderbolt Style that child just executed! If Great Hero Cheon had seen it, he would have slapped his knee in delight."
"Are you mocking our entire sect right now?"
"Mocking? Heavens, no."
Neung Gak grinned and pointed at Go Gun-pyeong.
"Great Master Go has just now executed the White Demon Spirit Snake Form, which can be called the crowning jewel of the White Horse Whip Art. And did that child not block it with Great Hero Cheon's ultimate technique?"
"So?"
"So? Does this not mean that the Fire Rain Sword's branch sword study has overwhelmed the White Horse Monastery's true body supreme technique?"
Neung Gak rolled his tongue smoothly, as befitting a man of talent.
"The Fire Rain Sword overwhelmed the White Horse Monastery's ultimate technique even with a branch sword study. If such rumors spread, would the martial world revere the Fire Rain Sword? Or would they mock it?"
At that moment, Yu Un-seong and Go Gun-pyeong's complexions changed drastically.
The two sects were on very good terms, and they had intended to use this opportunity to deal with Bu Eun-seol, who had been a thorn in their eyes.
But as a result, the ultimate technique of White Horse Monastery and the ultimate technique of the Fire Rain Sword Sect had clashed, and even the outcome had been decided.
This was by no means the result the two sects had wanted.
"This is..."
As Go Gun-pyeong stammered, Yu Un-seong said coldly,
"This occasion was a secret test known only to a very few even within the Main Hall. This fact must not be leaked to the outside."
"Indeed."
Neung Gak slowly approached Bu Eun-seol, who stood tall despite staggering, and supported him.
Then he shouted in a solemn voice,
"Then I shall ask once more. Will the agreement be honored as it stands?"
Gok Gyo-bong glanced at Yu Un-seong and Go Gun-pyeong, then nodded.
"Of course."
"Then let Elder Gok confirm it once more."
"Hmm."
At Neung Gak's request, Gok Gyo-bong let out a low hum, then spoke in a loud voice.
"As of today, the disciple of Langya Pavilion, Bu Eun-seol, has once again been approved as a Ten Demonic Heir. The restriction forbidding the use of the sword has also been lifted."
"Thank you."
Neung Gak pressed his palms together in a gesture of respect, then looked at Bu Eun-seol.
"You have endured much."
Then, in a voice more tender than anything, he said,
"As a disciple of Langya Pavilion, you showed not a single moment of shame."
"..."
Bu Eun-seol could only stare with wide eyes, unable to give any answer.
His Five Viscera and Six Bowels had already shifted out of place, and his qi and blood were bursting and twisting.
Yet until the test had ended, he had stood tall with every ounce of his strength.
Neung Gak, who had been smiling, spoke again with a proud expression.
"Now that everything is over, you may collapse."
The moment those words ended,
thud.
Bu Eun-seol lost consciousness right there in Neung Gak's arms.
Chirp chirp chirp.
At the sound of birdsong, Bu Eun-seol's eyes snapped open.
"...!"
He hurriedly raised his body and found himself lying on a bed laid with a soft blanket.
Looking around, he saw the scenery of a splendid room furnished with luxurious items.
'Where is this?'
Bu Eun-seol slowly rose from the bed and felt a brief dizziness, as if his head were spinning.
"Ugh."
Clutching his temple, Bu Eun-seol let out a low groan.
He felt as weak as if all the blood had drained from his body, and his muscles screamed with every movement. It was as if he had been beaten with clubs for three days and nights.
"I was certainly..."
Bu Eun-seol, huddled on the bed, furrowed his brow.
No matter how much he searched his memory, he could only recall up to the moment he had unleashed the Peerless Thunderbolt against the final technique of Ink Dragon Squad Commander Go Gun-pyeong.
'I suffered a great internal injury then.'
With his body in such poor condition, Bu Eun-seol instinctively began Qi Circulation.
Wooong.
As he began Qi Circulation, Bu Eun-seol felt something strange along with a subtle trembling.
'What is this?'
He was trying to spread the true qi accumulated in his dantian through the Reverse Polarity Heart Method to his limbs and bones, but several strands of true qi were already moving within his body.
'So this is why there was pain.'
The reason his whole body had felt drained and his muscles had throbbed was because a tremendous amount of true qi had been generated within his body while he was unconscious.
—Right now, your dantian holds internal energy that a murim practitioner would need more than ten years of grueling training to obtain.
Suddenly, the words he had heard when he first met Blood Vajra on Iron Staff Peak surfaced in his mind.
—Moreover, since it is in a state of pure true qi, if your Hidden Acupoints were to activate, your internal power would increase in an instant.
'My Hidden Acupoints have activated!'
Bu Eun-seol's qi and blood had been shaken violently multiple times by the White Horse Whip Art.
Then, in the process of the Reverse Polarity Heart Method healing his qi vessels, the Hidden Acupoints had activated.
Hwoooo.
As Qi Circulation neared its end, white smoke rose from Bu Eun-seol's forehead.
Flash!
Bu Eun-seol, having spread the true qi that had been bound from the Celestial Rush Point to the Central Pole Point throughout his limbs and bones, opened his eyes.
As if he had never been injured, a sharp light flashed in his pupils.
Paaaah.
At the same time, millions of red points of light rose within Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Counter-Extreme Fire Light.
The phenomenon that appears when one reaches the Third Layer of the Reverse Polarity Heart Method had manifested.
Creeeak.
At that moment, the door opened, and a woman dressed in green clothes walked in carrying a tray with a teacup.
"Oh?"
Her eyes widened when she saw Bu Eun-seol sitting on the bed.
"You're awake."
The woman approached cautiously and spoke.
"How is your body feeling?"
"Where is this place?"
The woman set the tray down on the table and said,
"This is the Demons-Gathering Pavilion."
"The Demons-Gathering Pavilion?"
"It is where the Elders' Hall Master resides."
'The Elders' Hall Master?'
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
If the purpose had been to treat him, they could have simply left him with the Medicine King Faction. Why had they brought him, unconscious, to the residence of the Elders' Hall Master?
"How long have I been here?"
"Today is the third day."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes wavered like ripples.
He had thought he had only lost consciousness for a moment, but that much time had already passed?
After a long silence, Bu Eun-seol opened his mouth.
"You are..."
"I am called Jin Seol, and I serve the Elders' Hall Master."
For a mere attendant, her bearing and manner of speech were remarkably composed, and there was an air of refinement about her.
Moreover, as if she had cultivated internal energy, a sharp gleam even flowed in her eyes.
'No matter how I look at her, she does not seem like a woman in servitude.'
Those who attend the Demon Hall's High Command are all prodigies trained in martial arts.
Furthermore, someone who attends a figure as great as the Elders' Hall Master would hold a high position that could not be called that of a mere attendant.
But because Bu Eun-seol knew nothing of the ways of the murim, he mistakenly assumed she was an ordinary servant.
"Do you have something you wish to say?"
When she inclined her head slightly, Bu Eun-seol asked,
"Why am I here?"
"I was only told to take good care of you, Young Master."
'Is that so.'
Bu Eun-seol, having faintly grasped the circumstances, narrowed his eyes.
'They said this test was known only to a few people even within the Demon Hall.'
Gok Gyo-bong, who had overseen the test, was a figure of the Elders' Hall.
In other words, this test had clearly been conducted under the leadership of the Elders' Hall. And when Bu Eun-seol had been injured, they had apparently arranged for him to receive treatment here in secret.
"Upper Blossom Jin."
An older woman's voice rang out from beyond the door.
"The Elder requests that you escort the Young Master to the inner hall."
At those words, Jin Seol answered in a low voice.
"Understood."
Then she spoke politely to Bu Eun-seol.
"Please follow me."
"Where are we going?"
When Bu Eun-seol asked, Jin Seol said in a quiet voice,
"To where the Master of the Elders' Hall resides."