Chapter 473
Jingle jingle.
The Masked Old Man pulled a small bell from his robes and shook it lightly.
Jingle.
As the bell's sound echoed in all directions, the sky darkened, and ghostly wails seemed to rise from somewhere.
It seemed this old man had been the one controlling all the Soulless Ones on Tianshan.
"Either way, you're the Main Realm's primary target. It wouldn't be so bad for this old man to take care of you here."
"Calling this Lord the primary target—you must be a figure from the Infinite Realm."
As Bu Eun-seol made the deduction, the old man smiled faintly.
"What will knowing do for you? Just die."
Jingle jingle.
Then, accompanied by the ringing of bells, a dark wave began to spread across the lakeshore once more.
This was an army of Soulless Ones incomparable to the earlier ones.
Ssshhhk—
They weren't attacking Bu Eun-seol. Instead, they encircled the lake, forming a massive Flesh Wall.
A strange energy flowed, and the air around the lake grew heavy.
It seemed they were deploying a unique formation to prevent Bu Eun-seol from escaping.
Oooom—
Not only that, but a pitch-black radiance had already begun seeping from the old man's body.
"One of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, then."
If he was a figure from the Three Realms, he would surely know of Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess.
Yet, far from retreating, he had trapped the surroundings with the Soulless Ones' formation.
That meant he had absolute confidence in victory.
The only ones who could display such confidence before Bu Eun-seol were the heirs of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
"You're getting carried away, brat."
Whooosh—
Suddenly, an enormous surge of True Qi erupted from the old man's body, and black energy began coiling out from his hand like tendrils.
Oooom—
It soon took the shape of a massive blade.
Even before he unleashed his saber technique, an unstoppable, Heaven-Shattering energy radiated from that black sword.
"Black Blood Demon Saber. So you're the Heir of the Blade Emperor."
A martial art that forged a blade from materialized True Qi.
Among the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, it was the Blade Emperor's exclusive secret art—none other than the Black Blood Demon Saber.
"Since you recognize the Black Blood Demon Saber, I assume you're prepared to die."
The Blade Emperor had displayed the most tyrannical martial prowess among the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, and all his Ultimate Arts transcended the limits of martial achievement.
Moreover, if he had lamented never crossing blades with the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, one could guess just how high his mastery of the saber had reached.
"As you can see, this formation is meant to block escape. No matter how much you attack from inside, you won't break it."
The old man grinned sinisterly.
"Don't even dream of running. The moment you turn your back, your head will roll."
"Is that so?"
Bu Eun-seol crossed his arms and smiled faintly.
BOOM!
A sudden explosion resounded, and the Flesh Wall of Soulless Ones surrounding the lake began collapsing.
At the same time, two shadows appeared, indiscriminately striking down the Soulless Ones.
It was So Ok-rim and So-yo.
"Whoa! There's so many of them!"
Seeing the swarm of Soulless Ones, So Ok-rim seemed exhilarated, unleashing an overwhelming display of fist techniques.
"These lumps of meat are pretty tough!"
With every One Fist he threw, the barrier of Soulless Ones crumbled like loose sand.
Before setting out on this mission, Bu Eun-seol had made two predictions.
First: No matter how many traces he left behind, there was no guarantee the Man in Black would arrive first.
Second: If a figure from the Three Realms found him first, they would block his escape before attacking.
That was why Bu Eun-seol had instructed So Ok-rim and So-yo to leave two sets of traces while roaming Tianshan—
To monitor the movements of the Soulless Ones, and if they ever converged in one place—
To track them down without fail.
Wherever the Soulless Ones gathered, Bu Eun-seol would surely be there, and they would be sealing off his escape routes.
"This formation can't be broken unless attacked from the outside!"
Creating such a formation by controlling the Soulless Ones wasn't something done in a day or two.
The old man, as the Blade Emperor's heir, had likely devised this formation in advance to trap the Man in Black—who had mastered the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade's saber techniques—should he ever arrive here.
But even this formation had a flaw.
Though it excelled at sealing off enemies from within—
It was extremely vulnerable to external attacks.
That was why So Ok-rim's One Fist was effortlessly tearing through the Soulless Ones' formation.
"Hohoho. So you called for backup in advance."
Yet the old man's expression remained relaxed.
He didn't seem to care at all that the Soulless Ones' Flesh Wall was collapsing or that those controlling them were dying.
Piiii—
Suddenly, an eerie flute sound echoed from somewhere.
And then, more Soulless Ones appeared in the distance.
"Aha! There's another bastard controlling them over there!"
So Ok-rim, who had just demolished the entire Flesh Wall around the lake, shouted.
"Let's take that one out first!"
With his extraordinary senses, So Ok-rim had detected the figure controlling the Soulless Ones from hundreds of yards away.
[So-yo, assist him.]
As Bu Eun-seol transmitted his voice across a thousand li, So-yo followed So Ok-rim without hesitation.
"Even without the Soulless Ones, you wouldn't have escaped this old man's grasp."
The old man flicked his fingers leisurely as he watched Bu Eun-seol.
"Shall we see the skills of the Demon Hall's successor, who's been making waves in the murim?"
Shhhhk—
Without a word, Bu Eun-seol drew the Ice Soul Sword. The old man smiled faintly.
"A fine sword."
With a relaxed expression, the old man raised the blade formed in his hand high above his head.
Screeeech—!
Then, an eerie sound spread outward in all directions.
It wasn't the cry of a blade—it resembled the sound of countless ghosts wailing in unison.
The noise was so sinister and grotesque that the sky darkened, and an illusion of specters soaring into the heavens seemed to manifest from every direction.
Whoosh!
As the old man swung the great blade toward Bu Eun-seol's neck, a black mist unfurled.
It looked as though the dark souls trapped within the blade had been liberated, scattering in every direction.
Bu Eun-seol's eyebrow twitched upward.
To think such a bizarre phenomenon could arise from merely executing the Starting Stance?
"In the end, I never got to cross blades with him."
The old man narrowed his eyes as he regarded Bu Eun-seol.
"That saber technique of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, the one said to have shaken the world."
The reason the old man could come to Tianshan alone to pursue the Man in Black, who had mastered the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, wasn't because he relied on the Soulless Ones.
Even if the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade himself had appeared, the old man was confident he could cut him down in a single stroke.
Blade Emperor.
After all, he was the Heir of the Blade Emperor, known among the Eight Emperors and Three Stars for possessing the most tyrannical martial arts.
"Since I've shown you my Starting Stance..."
The old man, gripping the great blade in his right hand, extended his left with a leisurely expression.
He was waiting for Bu Eun-seol to make the first move.
"Hmph."
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol unleashed a Sword Stroke.
Flash!
A streak of sharp light erupted from Ice Soul Sword, splitting into two and driving toward the old man's brow.
Swish!
At the same time, another beam of light transformed into a massive cross-shaped sword energy, crashing down from above.
In a single slash, he had layered the Meteor Chasing Moon and Waning Moon Morning Star techniques.
"This isn't his saber technique."
Squelch!
The moment the old man lightly traced his blade through the air, the sword energy of Formless Heavenly Flow vanished instantly.
Screech!
The black Blade Essence, having erased all sword energy, coiled toward Bu Eun-seol like a living creature.
Slash! Slash! Slash!
Bu Eun-seol didn't evade. Instead, he wildly swung Ice Soul Sword, cutting through the dark energy.
"...!"
His expression shifted, and in an instant, he activated Swift Shadowless, retreating backward.
The sharp Blade Essence the old man had unleashed was astonishing—not only was it impossible to deflect, like an intangible fog,
but it also possessed the ability to annihilate all external force in an instant.
Screeeech!
The wails of ghosts, loud enough to rupture eardrums, spread in all directions as another wave of black Blade Essence surged toward Bu Eun-seol.
Bu Eun-seol continuously unleashed sword techniques to counter it, but it was futile.
Hiss.
The dark energy he faced couldn't be blocked by any martial art, and it dissolved all opposing force.
The saber technique of the Blade Emperor, said to wield the most tyrannical and overwhelming martial arts among the Eight Emperors and Three Stars...
Could sever any martial technique in an instant and pursued its prey like a living entity, unleashing unstoppable Blade Essence.
Ziiing!
As the energy relentlessly pursued him, Bu Eun-seol stopped evading and swung his sword.
'Again!'
Swishhh!
A white flash burst from Ice Soul Sword, and sword energy like a White Dragon spread outward, clashing against the black Blade Essence.
After materializing the Blade Emperor's energy using the Move Heaven Exchange Force principle of Myriad Forms One Style,
he deployed the fourth stance of Formless Heavenly Flow, Caged Bird Longing for Clouds, allowing his sword energy to move freely.
Crash!
As sword energy and Blade Essence collided repeatedly, the sound of tearing silk echoed, and dazzling shockwaves radiated outward.
Whoosh!
Yet, amidst the chaos, another surge of black energy poured toward Bu Eun-seol's face.
There was simply no way Formless Heavenly Flow could withstand the Blade Emperor's technique.
As time passed, the black energy suppressed Bu Eun-seol's white sword energy, growing ever more dominant.
"If you keep holding back the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, your head will roll."
The old man chuckled darkly and swung his great blade wildly.
"I'll make you spit out everything you've got."
Hiss!
The Blade Essence flowing from the great blade grew even denser.
Groooowl!
Not only that, but the number of black energy streams multiplied, writhing like hundreds of massive serpents.
'No choice.'
Retreating from the onslaught, Bu Eun-seol spun Ice Soul Sword once in the air before leveling it parallel to his face.
The old man, as the Heir of the Blade Emperor, had wielded the blade his entire life.
To cut through Blade Essence that annihilated any force, he needed not just overwhelming power—
but a profound Martial Form capable of drying up the endlessly surging flow in a single stroke.
Hummm!
Simultaneously, hundreds of sword energies rose around Bu Eun-seol.
He was preparing to unleash the fourth stance of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—Desire Death, No Place to Die—to sever the old man's head in one strike.
"Good. Very good."
Seeing the sword energy radiating from Bu Eun-seol, the old man laughed heartily, as if pleased.
Hiss! Crack!
The old man dispersed his Blade Essence, erasing the sword energy Bu Eun-seol had created.
But his movements and actions were all being manipulated by Bu Eun-seol's sword energy.
Because the Desire Death, No Place to Die stance Bu Eun-seol had just executed was modeled after the Blade Essence of the Man in Black—
a technique that saturated a fixed space with overwhelming Blade Essence, allowing him to freely control the movements of all enemies within it.
Hiss!
Yet, unaware of this, the old man continued expanding his energy, dissolving Bu Eun-seol's attacks.
And when they finally closed the distance, blades nearly touching—
Bu Eun-seol finally created an opening in the old man's movements, exposing a flaw.
'First, the left hand.'
Regrettably, Bu Eun-seol couldn't create an opening to sever the old man's neck in one stroke.
Instead, he seized the opportunity to cut down the left hand that had been hanging limp all this time.
The old man's saber technique was nearly flawless, but his left arm had remained awkwardly still, as if it were nothing more than a hindrance.
If he could sever that left arm—
Bu Eun-seol could seize the advantage in an instant.
Swish!
Finally, as the Ice Soul Sword cleaved through the waves of sword qi, aiming to slice off the old man's left arm—
Snikt!
A razor-sharp blade energy simultaneously pierced into Bu Eun-seol's throat.
Only now did he realize—the old man had deliberately left his arm hanging to expose a feigned weakness.
Sacrificing his left arm to create the perfect moment to sever Bu Eun-seol's neck.
'Does he not even need his left arm?'
Bu Eun-seol inwardly spat out his bewilderment.
A master of such terrifying caliber, an heir to the Blade Emperor, willingly sacrificing an arm just to set up a killing blow?
This was something even he hadn't anticipated, leaving him with no way to defend against it.
Clang!
But then, a blade energy from somewhere else grazed the Ice Soul Sword and pierced into the old man's throat.
"Hmph."
Thud!
The old man had no choice but to retreat again.
And in that moment, a ghostly shadow had already closed in beside Bu Eun-seol.
A towering, powerfully built middle-aged man in black, his eyes blazing like fire.
Though his face was concealed behind a mask, he appeared to be in his late fifties.
"Scram!"
Whoosh!
As the man in black swung his great blade, the old man's body was flung back roughly twenty to twenty-five meters.
It wasn't raw power that did it—the technique was so profound that the old man had no choice but to let himself be hurled backward.
The same old man who hadn't flinched even under Bu Eun-seol's full-powered Formless Heavenly Flow was now retreating in such haste.
"Lucky you. You got yourself a reinforcement."
The old man chuckled, his gaze flickering between Bu Eun-seol and the middle-aged man before letting out a low, amused hum.
"Left arm, inner side of the buttock, and a slash across the spine—that's what you'll take."
His grin widened, grotesque.
"But this old man will survive, and you two will die."
This heir of the Blade Emperor—now he seemed nothing short of a madman.
He treated the destruction of his own body as trivial, grinning wildly as he fixated solely on severing their life threads.
"You're spouting nonsense."
The man in black drove his great blade into the ground.
Shwaaak!
The moment it struck, faint lines spread chaotically across the vast lake's surface.
At the same time, countless shards of ice and blade rings rose from all directions.
It turned out the middle-aged man hadn't left those marks on the lake out of whimsy.
He had prepared an escape route—using the frozen lake itself as a trap.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
The shattered ice rapidly encased the old man.
"Hmph."
The old man swung his blade wildly, dispersing the blade rings, but the more he did, the more ice clung to his body.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished, replaced by a towering pillar of ice.
The man in black knew he couldn't defeat the Blade Emperor's heir—he had only bought them time to flee.
"Follow me."
With a low mutter toward Bu Eun-seol, the man in black shot into mid-air.
Whoosh!
Bu Eun-seol immediately pursued, unleashing his movement technique.
Creak. Crack.
Then—
A fissure split the massive ice pillar—
BOOM!
With an explosive roar, shards of ice scattered in all directions, revealing the old man once more.
"So that's why there were strange marks on the lake. You prepared this little trick."
He clicked his tongue, then bared his teeth in a bloodthirsty smile as he closed his eyes.
"But you can't run forever."
Bu Eun-seol pushed his Swift Shadowless technique to the limit.
Yet he couldn't catch up to the man in black surging ahead.
It wasn't a matter of internal power or movement technique.
The man moved with an unpredictable trajectory, as if he knew the terrain of Tianshan like the back of his hand.
Bu Eun-seol could only trail behind, always one step too slow.
'Fine.'
As the distance between them widened, Bu Eun-seol channeled every ounce of his internal energy.
Whoosh!
Ignoring all obstacles, he shot straight toward the middle-aged man.
Shwiing!
His body became a blade itself, splitting trees and boulders in his path.
CRASH!
As his speed peaked, a thunderous boom erupted—Bu Eun-seol's form now a streak of white energy.
And just as he finally closed in—
Tap.
The man in black halted atop a sheer cliff.
"..."
After a long silence, staring at the distant sky, the man murmured:
"You're not a spy of the Three Realms."
"You were watching me?"
"Yes."
The man in black had already seen Bu Eun-seol enter the state of selflessness while examining the traces of saber technique he'd left by the lake.
At the time, he had assumed Bu Eun-seol was a spy of the Three Realms and merely observed.
But witnessing him risk his life against the Blade Emperor's heir dispelled all doubt—prompting him to intervene.
'He's the real one.'
They hadn't even exchanged words yet.
But Bu Eun-seol could instinctively tell—this was the same man in black who had taught Jeong Cheon the foundations of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
"I came to find the whereabouts of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade."
"If you've inherited his techniques, that should be enough. Why seek him?"
The man in black seemed to have already discerned that Bu Eun-seol had mastered the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
"Because he might be my grandfather."
"What do you mean by that?"
Bu Eun-seol answered with utter honesty.
"My grandfather was brutally killed by a sword master who had reached the Reaching the Summit realm."
Bu Eun-seol had just recounted everything—his circumstances, his encounter with Jeong Cheon, and the man's gruesome death.
The man in black listened silently to it all before letting out a sigh.
"Did you truly believe I was the shadow of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade?"
"I did."
Bu Eun-seol recalled the illustrated collection Hwa Jung-cheon, the master of the Secret Shadow Pavilion, had once shown him—a portrait of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade who once roamed the martial world.
It depicted a middle-aged man brimming with indomitable spirit.
The Seven Fingers Demonic Blade must have possessed a robust physique in his youth.
And the man before him now—perhaps he had maintained that very appearance.
"Hmm."
The man in black exhaled deeply.
Though Bu Eun-seol's pupils remained still, a desperate intensity flickered within them.
The man could tell he wasn't lying.
"I've spent all this time being chased by that mad old bastard, enduring all sorts of things. Some came to me with limbs torn off, swearing vengeance against the Three Realms. Others begged for my help in avenging their parents."
"..."
"If I told you everything I've been through, no one would believe me."
Bu Eun-seol could somewhat understand the man's words.
He was the Heir of the Blade Emperor—a man who had survived relentless pursuit by the Three Realms, whose figures rule the world.
The schemes and conspiracies he must have endured were beyond description.
"But this time, I'll choose to believe you."
"Why is that?"
"If you were a spy of the Three Realms..."
The man in black sighed before continuing.
"You wouldn't throw away that peerless status just to track down the whereabouts of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade."
Bu Eun-seol was the legitimate successor of Langya Pavilion and the heir who would manage the Demon Hall.
No one in his position would recklessly spill everything to a stranger just to find one man.
"Did you know who I was?"
"How many young men in this world could face that lunatic old man alone?"
"...Hm."
"Besides, to evade the Three Realms' pursuit, one must stay informed about the martial world. Even if I've secluded myself in Tianshan, I've still traveled the murim frequently."
The man in black glanced at Bu Eun-seol's face and sighed again.
"Though that's not the only reason..."
The Bloody Tears Seven Forms varied drastically in power and execution depending on how one interpreted its Blade Essence and the mindset with which it was wielded.
When Bu Eun-seol discovered the traces of Death Without Place carved into the frozen lake, he immediately mimicked the unrestrained Blade Essence left behind by the man in black.
Because he, too, had mastered the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
The moment he saw Bu Eun-seol execute the technique, he recognized exactly who he was.
"First, let me answer your question—I am not the shadow of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, as you assumed."
"Then...?"
"I, too, was saved by a chance encounter with a benefactor, who then imparted a few forms of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms to me."
The man in black exhaled deeply, as if overwhelmed by unspoken emotions.
"In exchange, I agreed to carry out one task for him... and because I fulfilled it, I've spent my life being hunted by that old bastard."
In short, he had been saved by a benefactor, learned the foundations of the technique, and in return, completed a single task—one that condemned him to a lifetime of pursuit by the Three Realms.
"What was the task you completed?"
"I cannot tell you. I swore never to speak of it."
"Then... was this benefactor the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang himself?"
The man in black shook his head.
"No."
Bu Eun-seol's mind reeled in confusion.
That meant...
The Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang, had fragmented his terrifying Beyond-Heaven Saber Studies and imparted them to various figures across the martial world.
"Then who are you, sir?"
The man in black took a deep breath before answering.
"My name is Gwan Hae-geum. Once, I was even known by the hollow title of Southern Heaven Great Hero."
"Southern Heaven... Great Hero?"
Bu Eun-seol blinked.
Gwan Hae-geum, the Southern Heaven Great Hero.
He was a renowned hero of the orthodox factions, celebrated for aiding the downtrodden and performing countless righteous deeds.
That such a man—a paragon of virtue in Liangguang Murim—had learned the techniques of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade?
"Well, dredging up the past serves no purpose now."
Gwan Hae-geum's voice carried deep emotion as he gazed at the distant sky.
"If you're wondering how an orthodox martial artist came to inherit the supreme saber art of the Demonic Path..."
He turned his head, and Bu Eun-seol saw profound pain in his eyes.
"...I can only say that righteousness resides in the heart."
Gwan Hae-geum.
His story seemed too complex and tragic to put into words.
Bu Eun-seol dared not ask further. No—he couldn't ask.
Every person had a past they wished to forget. No one had the right to dig it up.
As Bu Eun-seol fell silent, Gwan Hae-geum snorted.
"How can one truly distinguish between a righteous man and a villain?"
"..."
"Some known as cruel Great Demons turned out to be kind souls, while so-called renowned heroes, praised for a lifetime of good deeds, were in truth wicked men."
Then, gazing solemnly at the heavens, he spoke in a grave voice.
"From the beginning, the martial world has been a place drowning in favors and grudges. Right and wrong have no place here... and good and evil are nothing more than shifting perspectives, aren't they?"
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
It was a philosophy that aligned with his grandfather Bu Jan-yang's teachings—that concepts like good and evil were merely constructs of human convenience.
"A wise observation."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's agreement, Gwan Hae-geum chuckled dryly.
"Those were the very words my benefactor used to say—like a habit."
Thud. Thud.
Bu Eun-seol's heart pounded in that instant.
'Then... does that mean Grandfather wasn't the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade, Bu Jan-yang—but his shadow instead?'
At that moment, Gwan Hae-geum opened his mouth to speak.
"Most likely, the benefactor who saved me had a deep connection with the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade."
Then he revealed an astonishing truth to Bu Eun-seol.
"That person said... they imparted saber techniques to those like me—individuals of profound loyalty and justice—to accomplish certain tasks on behalf of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade."
And he added one crucial remark.
"Perhaps the benefactor who taught me... played the role of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade's shadow, just as you described."