Chapter 434
Martial artists learn various martial arts, but when it comes to internal energy cultivation methods and mind-training formulas, they choose only one to master.
Because even reaching the Great Origin Realm is already an impossibly distant journey.
Of course, depending on individual talent and the type or school of the method, it is technically possible to learn multiple techniques.
However, they cannot be executed simultaneously.
Because all of them are secret arts that govern the human body and mind.
This was no exception for Bu Eun-seol.
Except that, in the midst of excruciating pain while trying to block the surging Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy—
Unconsciously, he conceived a method: dividing the Yin-Yang Dual Qi of the Reverse Extreme Inner Method into two, then rapidly alternating between two mind-training formulas.
Though it lasted only a brief moment, when two martial arts of completely opposing natures were alternately unleashed from each hand—
He was able to block the waves of the Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy.
'I see.'
A realization flashed through Bu Eun-seol's mind.
'While it's impossible to execute orthodox and unorthodox martial arts simultaneously, it is possible to rapidly alternate between them using Yin-Yang Dual Qi.'
If he used the Willful True Binding, shaped from the Glacier Thousand Streams Art, to counter the scorching heat of the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi—
And unleashed the Thirteenfold Qi Induction, formed from Yang-Strength True Qi, against the intense shockwaves hidden within the Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy—
Then he could repel both the cascading heat and the shockwaves.
'I'll try it.'
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
Orthodox and unorthodox martial arts pursue different ideals and cannot be mixed; there is no secret art that allows one to embody both at once.
But rapidly alternating between them—that was entirely possible.
Stacking.
Even the warrior monks of Blood Shaolin had once amplified the might of their martial arts in such a manner.
'But if I fail... this is the end.'
Maintaining Yin-Yang Dual Qi within the body and splitting it into two to alternate between them—these were entirely different matters.
If something went wrong, his qi and blood would become tangled, his spirit and mind would tear in two, and he would fall into an irreversible Inner Demon.
Yet Bu Eun-seol harbored not a shred of hesitation.
Even when learning martial arts, he had never once refrained from staking his life.
Nor had he ever indulged in the complacent thought that things would somehow work out.
He trusted only in his own ability and the time he had spent honing himself until now.
Ziiing—
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol channeled his Internal Power, simultaneously drawing forth the Glacier Thousand Streams Art and manifesting the Willful True Binding.
Oooom—!
A white energy stream spread from his left hand, and in the same instant, a circular barrier formed around his body.
It was the Willful True Binding, created from Extreme Yin Qi.
Since the Glacier Thousand Streams Art and the Willful True Binding belonged to the same Demon Sect Martial Compendium, they could merge without conflict.
'Now!'
Swish! Swish!
After swiftly halting the Glacier Thousand Streams Art and the Willful True Binding, he immediately extended his right arm, forming five razor-sharp streams of energy.
He drew upon Yang-Strength True Qi and unleashed the Thirteenfold Qi Induction through the Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art.
Bu Eun-seol began repeating this absurd process at breakneck speed.
Ooom—! Swish!
As the Willful True Binding infused with the Glacier Thousand Streams Art and the Thirteenfold Qi Induction forged from Yang-Strength True Qi alternately enveloped his entire body—
The shockwaves that had been churning the moisture within him could no longer pass through his flesh and began rebounding.
But Bu Eun-seol's vision blurred, and a sickly sweet energy rose from his lower abdomen.
'I can't hold out for long.'
This method was merely a desperate, stopgap measure in a life-or-death situation.
Dividing the supreme arts of the orthodox and unorthodox paths into Yin-Yang Dual Qi and rapidly alternating between them—this bordered on self-destructive madness.
Because righteousness and demonic energy could neither coexist nor be contained in the same place.
Yet here he was, rapidly switching between them—if he hadn't broken through the Sixth Layer of the Reverse Extreme Inner Method and opened his spiritual apertures—
The moment he attempted this, he would have either lost his mind or gone completely insane.
'Ugh...'
Clenching his teeth against the skull-splitting pain, Bu Eun-seol mustered every ounce of his willpower to stagger forward.
'Just a little more.'
Finally, through his fading vision, he saw a massive iron gate ahead.
Stumbling toward it, he laboriously pulled out the Fire Wheel Crystal from his robes and shoved it with all his remaining strength into the circular indentation.
Clunk. Rumble—
The enormous iron gate swung open, and the tremendous suction force pulling at him from the ground vanished.
"Hah... hah..."
On the verge of losing consciousness, Bu Eun-seol instinctively stepped inside.
Within, he saw a stone chamber—and before a small altar, a crimson staff pulsed with an enigmatic glow.
Thud. Thud.
Dragging his weakened body forward, he reached out toward the staff visible through his blurred vision.
Whoooosh—!
Suddenly, a radiance like the sun burst forth from the staff—
And in the next instant, flames erupted across Bu Eun-seol's body.
The energy flowing from the staff was hundreds of times more potent than the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi that had filled the passageway until now.
Whooosh.
As that overwhelming power surged forth all at once, Bu Eun-seol's body erupted into a towering inferno.
Shuuuu—
At that very moment, an immense cold energy burst from Bu Eun-seol's body, intertwining with a blue-hued current.
The Glacier Thousand Streams Art had instinctively activated in response to the Extreme Yang Force—heat so intense it could melt iron—pouring into him.
Crackle-crackle! Whoosh!
Bu Eun-seol, now encased in a shell of ice, continuously expelled frigid energy to resist the torrent of flames.
Just as he struggled against the relentless heat—
Crunch! Rumble—
The altar, caught between the opposing forces of fire and ice, suddenly crumbled like brittle pastry.
Then, the entire floor gave way beneath him.
Bu Eun-seol plummeted into an endless abyss.
Rumble—! BOOM!
Outside the passage to the Secret Palace, before the statue of the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable, Hwa-jeong's eyes flashed.
"A mishap has occurred."
Her instincts screamed that something had gone terribly wrong. Without hesitation, she swiftly entered the passage.
Unlike before, the corridor leading to the Secret Palace no longer radiated the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi or the lethal Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy.
When she finally stepped through the open door of the Secret Palace, a vast stone chamber stretched before her.
And on the floor—only the melted remains of the altar and scorched marks remained.
'The Fire Wheel Divine Flute is gone... and only these traces remain?'
Palace Mistress Hwa-jeong furrowed her brow.
She had known every trap within this Secret Palace from the very beginning.
Even if someone with the Sacred Fire Body managed to open the door, they could never lay hands on the Fire Wheel Divine Flute.
Because unless one had mastered the Blazing Flame Sacred Fire Energy left behind by the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable—
They would be unable to withstand the power of the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi contained within the flute, and their body would melt away entirely.
'I intended to frame it as him foolishly grabbing the flute and dying for his recklessness...'
Hwa-jeong had secretly summoned Bu Eun-seol precisely to ensure there were no witnesses.
Even if the Martial Alliance launched an investigation—
She could simply claim that Bu Eun-seol, unable to resist his curiosity, had trespassed into the Secret Palace and met his demise.
But now, both the Fire Wheel Divine Flute and Bu Eun-seol had vanished without a trace... This was the worst possible outcome.
'No matter what, I must recover the Fire Wheel Divine Flute.'
She bit her lip.
As a figure of the Three Realms, she had spent years researching the Artificial Inner Elixir.
She had discovered that by utilizing pure Extreme Yang Force, she could alter the nature of the Demon Seed—the core component of the Artificial Inner Elixir.
Thus, she had recruited the Radiant Yang Adept—a master of the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace's Ultimate Arts and a skilled physician.
—"Find a way to use the Fire Wheel Crystal to counteract the side effects of the Demon Seed."
The Radiant Yang Adept had been stunned.
—"The Artificial Inner Elixir is the work of those strange factions that seek to destabilize Murim, is it not? Where did you even obtain such a thing?"
—"This isn't the Artificial Inner Elixir itself—it's the Demon Seed that can create one. I came across it by chance... But this elixir has too many flaws. If our disciples are to use it, extensive research will be necessary."
At first, the Radiant Yang Adept had refused outright.
But she had persistently persuaded him—explaining how the Artificial Inner Elixir could rapidly elevate the martial prowess of the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace's disciples...
And how it could serve as the foundation for the palace to dominate not just the Southern Barbarian Region, but all of Murim.
The Radiant Yang Adept had been a loyal retainer of the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace for decades, his lifelong ambition to see the palace rise above all others.
Eventually, he had begun researching the Demon Seed—and achieved remarkable results.
Using the Fire Wheel Crystal, he found that he could create an inner core imbued with Extreme Yang properties, akin to the core of a Ten-Thousand-Year Fire Carp.
And if they could reclaim the Fire Wheel Divine Flute—said to contain the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi of the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable—hidden within the palace's Secret Palace...
They could produce an Artificial Inner Elixir completely free of side effects.
—"So you, too, are of the Three Realms?"
But during his research, the Radiant Yang Adept had uncovered Hwa-jeong's affiliation with the Three Realms.
Immediately, he fled the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace, taking with him the thousand Demon Seeds and the Fire Wheel Crystal she had provided.
—"If I can transform these thousand Demon Seeds into Extreme-Yang Inner Cores... I can forge an invincible army—one that no force in the world could challenge."
Even as Hwa-jeong pursued him, he had succeeded in crafting the Extreme-Yang Inner Cores.
His plan had been to contact the Young Palace Lord once they were complete, raise an army of a thousand, overthrow Hwa-jeong, and then retrieve the Fire Wheel Divine Flute from the Secret Palace.
But while burning vagrants to fuel his experiments, he had been caught by Bu Eun-seol—and met his end.
"Jeok-sa... The only reason I endured that stinking old man's presence was to obtain the perfect inner core!"
Hwa-jeong, snapping out of her recollection, bit her lip hard.
"If I fail to retrieve the Fire Wheel Divine Flute, all my efforts until now will have been in vain."
No matter what happens, the Divine Flute must be recovered.
Bu Eun-seol had fallen into the pit, still clutching the Fire Wheel Divine Flute as he collapsed.
From the flute, the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi continued to flow forth—scorching enough to melt meridians—while the Glacier Thousand Streams Art within him ceaselessly resisted.
'Impressive... truly.'
Though called a sacred relic, the Fire Wheel Divine Flute was, after all, merely an object. Yet here it was, rivaling the Glacier Thousand Streams Art, which poured out nearly five centuries' worth of internal power.
Huuung—!
Then, a surge of heat rose from his dantian, and in an instant, his entire body began to shimmer with a silvery glow.
At once, the scorching energy of the Divine Flute transformed into a pleasant warmth.
Simultaneously, exhaustion crashed over Bu Eun-seol, and his eyelids grew heavy. Slowly, without realizing it, he slipped into a deep slumber.
—Ah, you've fallen asleep reading in secret again.
Bu Eun-seol was dreaming.
It was a memory of his childhood self.
—If you keep reading these books, this father of yours will get scolded again.
His father, having carried him to bed, carefully placed the book from the table back onto the shelf.
It was always like this.
Though he was always asleep, his consciousness remained awake—so he could hear every word his parents exchanged.
But as his father stepped outside, his mother's gentle yet sigh-laden voice reached him.
—He must've fallen asleep reading again.
—No, no. Today, I just came to check on him.
At his father's flustered voice, a faint smile tugged at Bu Eun-seol's lips as he feigned sleep.
Then, his mother's worried voice followed.
—Sometimes... I'm afraid.
—Afraid of what?
—That our child... will inherit the same fate as you.
His father's voice turned resolute.
—Don't worry. Didn't the Living Buddha himself declare it? Unless we shave his head and send him to Shaolin, there's absolutely no way—
—Flicker.
Bu Eun-seol awoke from the dream and slowly opened his eyes.
Surveying his surroundings, he found himself in a massive cavern, its ceiling towering at least fifty feet high.
A faint, silvery light seeped from the distant ceiling, illuminating the interior clearly.
'I dreamed of my parents again.'
As he recalled the dream, both joy and anguish welled up within him simultaneously.
Though the voices of his kind father and affectionate mother still seemed to linger in his ears...
Their faces, their appearances—he couldn't remember them at all.
'Living Buddha?'
He turned the term over in his mind.
Living Buddha.
It was an honorific for high monks of profound divine power. Whether a monk of the Central Plains or a Lama Monk of Tibet, the title was used universally—so perhaps it held no deeper meaning.
Yet, his mother's voice from the end of the dream lingered uneasily in his thoughts.
—That our child... will inherit the same fate as you.
'Did Father not live a fortunate life?'
The moment he tried to dig deeper into his memories, a sharp pain throbbed in his head.
"Still, I don't understand why a new memory surfaced so suddenly."
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol pushed himself up and scanned his surroundings.
"To think there was a hidden mechanism in such an unexpected place."
He smirked bitterly as he stared up at the now-sealed ceiling.
In his desperate struggle against the overwhelming Extreme Yang Qi, he had poured all his energy into resistance—completely missing the trap mechanism beneath his feet.
"Still far from perfect."
Even if he had to exhaust every last ounce of his strength, he should have maintained his sharp senses.
Even at death's doorstep—
Bu Eun-seol would identify his mistakes and refine himself.
This was no different from how he had once analyzed the scars of his fallen opponents to improve his martial arts.
The world might praise him as a prodigy of martial talent, but the truth was different.
It was because he never ceased striving—not even for a single breath—
That he progressed far faster than others.
"What a wretched sight."
He exhaled through his nose as he glanced down at his tattered robes.
Though he had poured everything into resisting the Blazing Flame Sacred Qi, his clothes had still been reduced to rags.
"Unbelievable. Did the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable truly intend to annihilate every descendant who sought him out?"
Bu Eun-seol shook his head as he gazed at the iron flute—no larger than a staff—lying on the ground: the Fire Wheel Divine Flute.
Had he not risked alternating between dual martial arts using Yin-Yang Dual Qi—
He would have perished the moment he stepped into the passage leading to the Secret Palace.
And had he not mastered the Glacier Thousand Streams Art—
No matter how formidable a martial artist one might be, the Extreme Yang Force and Blazing Flame Sacred Qi contained within the Divine Flute would have melted their body instantly.
"The grandmasters of the past certainly created mechanisms beyond imagination."
Even the Martial Emperor's Secret Vault, despite being built by extraordinary martial artists, contained traps that left one completely helpless.
And the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable—rather than permitting access only to those with a Saintly Body—had constructed a mechanism that was virtually impenetrable unless a martial artist of Bu Eun-seol's caliber risked their life in bizarre trials.
"In the end, what the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable sought wasn't a Saintly Body, but an outsider with exceptional martial prowess."
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol suddenly—
"..."
—felt a strange energy in his right arm and swiftly waved both hands.
As his right arm moved, a peculiar current of energy spread outward.
Whoosh!
Wasn't this the very same Blazing Flame Sacred Qi and Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy that had persistently sought to ravage his body?
"Has this taken root within me?"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
He had clearly blocked that energy perfectly with the Willful True Binding and Thirteenfold Qi Induction—how had it seeped into his body?
'Unless...'
His gaze fell upon the Fire Wheel Divine Flute lying on the ground.
Unlike when he first saw it, all traces of its eerie glow had vanished, leaving it looking like an ordinary flute.
Snap.
Bu Eun-seol picked it up again.
But the solar-like energies that had once filled it were now entirely gone.
Crunch.
When he applied pressure, the flute crumbled into dust.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue in frustration.
He had just reduced the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace's hidden treasure to powder with his own hands.
"What am I supposed to do about this?"
Extending his right arm, he thought of the Fire Wheel Divine Flute again—
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a surge of flame-like energy erupted, spreading scorching heat in all directions.
As it turned out, all the power contained within the flute had been absorbed into Bu Eun-seol's meridians, and once its function was exhausted, it shattered.
At that moment, the voice of his father—heard once in Mumu's dreamworld—flickered past his ears.
"If you ever learn martial arts... this Great Art will inevitably break. I pray you never involve yourself with the murim..."
"So that's what it meant."
Only now did he understand those words.
"Either when my martial prowess reaches a certain level... or when I suffer a severe shock... my memories return."
When he had regained his memories as Mumu, his internal energy had surged abruptly due to a mysterious force, and his Brain Meridian had suffered a tremendous impact.
And now, the power of the Fire Wheel Divine Flute had violently shaken his Brain Meridian once more... restoring another fragment of his memories.
"I need to grow stronger quickly. Or get beaten unconscious badly enough."
Though he said it like a joke, a faint urgency stirred in his heart.
Yet another reason to grow stronger had emerged.
He had to reclaim his memories as soon as possible—not just for his grandfather, but to uncover the whereabouts of his parents... and the enemy who had killed them.
Sssk— Sssssk—
As his Mental Power wavered, the Fire Wheel Divine Flute he had manifested in the air gradually faded away.
"Unintentionally, I've ended up absorbing someone else's treasure."
Bu Eun-seol's sharp gaze lowered to his right hand.
Had the Blazing Flame Palace Lord been an honest person?
He might have sought a way to return the flute's power to her.
But she had tried to use him as bait to open the Secret Palace's gate. Most likely, she had already reported his "accidental death" to the Martial Alliance.
Because of that, he had no intention of returning this power to her.
Crunch. Crunch.
After surveying his surroundings, Bu Eun-seol stepped deeper into the cavern.
Then, a warm breeze brushed past him—proof that there was an exit ahead.
"Good."
The cool wind soothed his exhaustion, gently caressing his body as it passed.
"That's..."
At the far end of the cavern stood a massive stone chamber, with an exit visible at its rear.
And in one corner, a skeletal mummy sat cross-legged in meditation.
Though its features were indistinguishable beneath its bark-like desiccation, the dignity and solemn aura it exuded were palpable even in death.
This was likely the remains of the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace's Founder—the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable himself, who built this Secret Palace.
'Why would the Founder's remains be concealed in the depths of this trap-laden chamber?'
It was said that the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable had lived a long life before passing away peacefully within the palace.
Did that mean this mummy wasn't him?
"I apologize for disturbing your eternal rest."
Bu Eun-seol bowed deeply, clasping his hands together.
"Though I am no disciple of the Blazing Flame Sacred Palace, I have unintentionally entered this Secret Palace. I shall leave and inform others of your remains here—"
Rumble.
Before he could finish, the stone chamber trembled faintly—
Scritch-scratch.
As if carved by ants, the walls gradually eroded, revealing inscribed characters.
Hot River Great Essence True Qi.
Astonishingly, the chamber's walls now bore the Blazing Flame Holy Venerable's true secret art—the cultivation method of the Hot River Great Essence True Qi.