Chapter 488
"I simply cannot comprehend this."
Bu Eun-seol stared at Gongson Dan-gyeong with a bewildered expression.
"The Chief Strategist possesses the authority to mobilize this alliance's elite masters and formidable troops."
"..."
"No matter how formidable the faction targeting you may be, why take such unnecessary risks? Why go so far as to test a mere Second-grade Commander like myself?"
Bu Eun-seol continued with heightened intensity.
"Moreover, I am not even a member of the Strategy Pavilion, am I?"
—Why test me?
That was the essence of his question.
Her meticulous plan clearly held the intention of testing Bu Eun-seol.
And as Seon-u Jin, he had no choice but to question that very point.
"Commander Seon-u, you seem unfamiliar with the inner workings of the Martial Alliance... no, of organizations in general. Having been born the heir of a merchant conglomerate."
Gongson Dan-gyeong offered a faint smile.
"When you're at the bottom, an organization appears deceptively simple."
As she continued, her gaze deepened.
"But once you climb higher, the view becomes entirely different from what you saw below."
Gongson Dan-gyeong stared directly into Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
"What seemed simple is in fact a tangled web, and the organizational structure you observed from below... was merely the tip of the iceberg."
Her words resonated with the realization Bu Eun-seol had felt upon reaching the Demon Hall's high command.
He'd assumed the Demon Hall revolved around absolute obedience to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, the Number One of the Demonic Path.
Yet upon ascending its ranks, he found each member harboring their own hidden motives, their aspirations diverging.
A colossal monstrosity driven by the primal desires of its constituents—that was the true nature of the Demon Hall.
And the Martial Alliance appeared no different.
"Above all, the higher your position, the greater your need for trustworthy individuals."
Gongson Dan-gyeong's piercing gaze remained fixed on Bu Eun-seol.
"Those with both exceptional ability and unwavering loyalty are especially rare."
Bu Eun-seol couldn't disagree.
The higher one climbed, the greater the scale and importance of matters requiring attention.
Naturally, trust couldn't be carelessly placed in just anyone... and loyal, capable subordinates weren't so easily acquired.
Even Bu Eun-seol refrained from expanding his ranks—not solely due to his personal goal of vengeance.
But because finding individuals both loyal and trustworthy was that difficult.
"Do you intend to recruit me into the Strategy Pavilion?"
At his question, Gongson Dan-gyeong's eyes gleamed as she formed an enigmatic smile.
"Hmm. I haven't quite considered that possibility yet."
Even now, she concealed her true intentions without the slightest slip.
'Demon Hall or Martial Alliance... they're the same.'
Bu Eun-seol exhaled a sigh and shook his head.
"How complicated. The Martial Alliance too."
"'Too,' you say?"
Realizing his slip, Bu Eun-seol steeled himself and replied flatly.
"The merchant world operates much the same way."
"Though the Upper Realm is somewhat less extreme, no?"
Gongson Dan-gyeong smiled.
"At the very least, it's not a matter of life and death like in Murim."
"Far from it. The Upper Realm is a den of filthy schemes and conspiracies."
Bu Eun-seol deliberately sighed as he spoke.
"If martial artists stake their lives on honor, merchants live and die over mere coins. Hence the abundance of sordid, convoluted affairs."
It was the truth.
During his days as an undertaker, Bu Eun-seol had seen more merchants and moneylenders die away from home than any other class.
"Commander Seon-u seems unusually familiar with the lives of commoners. Most scions of wealthy families remain oblivious to such matters."
"Our conglomerate educates its heirs from the ground up. To command people effectively, one must understand both high and low."
"Now that you mention it, your conglomerate—"
Just as Gongson Dan-gyeong was about to continue—
CRRRRASH.
A sudden sound of collapsing weight echoed from above.
The vibration resembled massive slabs of metal grinding against each other. Someone seemed to be forcibly dismantling the Heaven-Defying Cloud-Chaos Confusion Formation with sheer power.
"The formation—"
The fact that the formation was being shattered by brute force suggested the enemy had deduced Gongson Dan-gyeong's underground location.
"How peculiar."
Gongson Dan-gyeong looked startled.
"That there exists a master capable of breaking the Heaven-Defying Cloud-Chaos Confusion Formation through raw strength in such short order."
Until now, her plan had unfolded without the slightest deviation.
Yet in less than four hours, the formation was already crumbling?
This could only mean either a force far exceeding her expectations had arrived—
Or an unforeseen master had appeared.
BOOM.
As the noise grew closer, Gongson Dan-gyeong's complexion changed.
The gears of her flawlessly interlocking plan had begun to slip.
"This shouldn't be possible."
For some reason, she seemed to have calculated the probability of a formation-breaking master's arrival as negligible.
'That means they know exactly who their target is.'
Unlike Gongson Dan-gyeong, Bu Eun-seol didn't even have the luxury of being surprised.
He had to stop the forces breaking through the formation and descending into the underground.
Even if the Star Guard Corps arrived, it would take at least an hour.
And if enemies breached the underground warehouse in that time? Gongson Dan-gyeong would lose her life instantly.
"Chief Strategist. I'll go out and buy us some time."
As if having made up his mind, Bu Eun-seol gestured toward the items in the warehouse.
"While I do that, please deploy the formation. With the things here, we might be able to hold out until the Star Guard Corps arrives."
Gongson Dan-gyeong nodded as though she had no other choice.
"Understood."
She was the Chief Strategist of the Martial Alliance.
Even if it meant sacrificing dozens of Second-grade Commanders, she had to survive.
Watching Bu Eun-seol step forward with unwavering resolve, Gongson Dan-gyeong nodded again.
"I won't forget your sacrifice."
It was an unavoidable necessity.
With an enemy capable of shattering the formation in an instant and forcing their way underground, at least one of them had to survive.
Kwoong—
As Bu Eun-seol pushed open the thick iron gate and stepped outside, his brow furrowed.
Truthfully, even if twice as many troops had stormed in, he wouldn't die here.
The problem was that Seon-u Jin—the identity he was currently wearing—absolutely could not survive this situation.
And if he did survive?
He'd be dragged before the Martial Alliance's Disciplinary Hall and subjected to a thorough investigation.
No matter how exceptional a Transcendent Realm master's potential was, surviving against a thousand troops was impossible.
'First, I'll reduce my internal power.'
Having mastered the Inner Alchemy Secret to face the Nameless Old Man, Bu Eun-seol had perfected the art of compressing and suppressing his internal power.
And now, as a precaution, he began reducing it.
'More than half.'
As he continuously concentrated his immense internal energy into his dantian, a spherical core-like form took shape.
Once he covertly shifted it elsewhere, his true internal power instantly halved.
Not only did this technique allow him to unconsciously suppress his energy,
but even if a Martial Extreme Realm master examined his pulse, they wouldn't be able to discern his true internal energy level.
Tap-tap!
With his power reduced, Bu Eun-seol moved upward through the passageway.
The Heaven-Defying Cloud-Chaos Confusion Formation had already been nearly destroyed, and the surrounding fog had completely dissipated.
With all the disorienting energy gone, it seemed the enemies would soon pour in.
Uruururur—!
Sure enough, the moment Bu Eun-seol stepped outside, dozens of assassins revealed themselves.
'Holding out is the priority!'
Pat! Pat!
He immediately flung flying daggers, dropping the assassins around him.
Sara-ra-rak—
In response, the assassins spread out, swiftly encircling him.
'No way.'
The assassins' black pupils were dilated unnaturally, and a sinister energy radiated from their entire bodies.
'So it is the Three Realms.'
He didn't need to think deeply—the only faction bold enough to target the Martial Alliance's Chief Strategist was the Three Realms.
But why?
For what possible reason would they want her dead?
No matter how cleanly they covered their tracks, killing someone of her supreme, irreplaceable status wasn't something they could easily sweep under the rug.
'Which means...'
Just as Bu Eun-seol sank into deep thought—
Rustle—!
The assassins unleashed a barrage of bizarre sword techniques all at once.
Though their movements weren't sharp, their techniques were intricate enough to seal off his retreat in an instant.
"Haaap!"
Bu Eun-seol deliberately let out a clear shout as he cut through the assassins.
And he made sure to use only the martial arts of Master Unhindered against them.
Swish!
Restraining himself from relying too much on flying daggers, he wielded the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms, weaving between the warehouses.
No matter how many enemies there were, only a limited number could attack him at once.
Using that to his advantage, he blocked their strikes by maneuvering around the terrain.
Shiik! Tat-tat-tat!
Mixing the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms with Flying Dagger Art, he disrupted their ranks.
Swishaaak!
For unavoidable hidden weapons or overwhelming assaults, he used Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade to redirect or return the force, stubbornly evading fatal blows.
This strategy proved highly effective.
Their target was Gongson Dan-gyeong, after all.
But as Bu Eun-seol darted between the warehouses like a squirrel, tenaciously guarding the path underground while harassing them with relentless attacks,
they kept getting tripped up, unable to advance.
Uruururur—!
As the battle dragged on, the assassins changed tactics.
They encircled the warehouse completely, intending to eliminate Bu Eun-seol first.
With assassins clad in Killing Outfits surrounding him, the world seemed to drown in darkness.
"Too late for that."
Bu Eun-seol smirked.
The reason he had fought while moving around the warehouses wasn't just to obstruct their path—
He had also been using scattered objects around the warehouse to redeploy the Heaven-Defying Cloud-Chaos Confusion Formation he had learned from Gongson Dan-gyeong.
Swish!
Though the scattered objects had disrupted the formation and its directional alignment was far from precise, the Battle Formation had still been haphazardly deployed.
Yet even the faintest mist of it was enough to make the assassins hesitate once more.
Koo-woong.
Then, a massive vibration echoed from inside the warehouse.
Koo-woong!
Another powerful tremor shook the air, followed by a shockwave that rippled outward in all directions.
At the same time, the Battle Formation Bu Eun-seol had laid out shattered in an instant.
Thud. Thud.
From among the assassins, a shadowy figure clad in black stepped forward.
A mask with an eerie sheen covered its face, and waves of Internal Energy pulsed from its entire body. Its sheer presence alone was overwhelming—as if the very air inside the warehouse had been sucked into a vacuum the moment it appeared.
'A Messenger.'
This was none other than the Messenger of the Three Realms—a conduit for their will, a being wielding martial arts of terrifying power.
Thump.
The Messenger halted right in front of Bu Eun-seol.
Its gaze alone felt like it could flay the skin from his bones.
A mere pause in its steps made the heavens tremble and the earth crack.
'This is different.'
Bu Eun-seol's pupils dilated sharply.
The Messenger standing before him now... radiated an aura entirely unlike any other Messenger of the Three Realms he had encountered before.
"What are you?"
Bu Eun-seol tightened his grip on his iron sword, his expression tense.
"What do you want?"
Had he been in his true identity, he would have clashed with it immediately, subdued it, and interrogated it without hesitation.
But as Seon-u Jin, he couldn't even think of suppression—this might be a fight where he'd have to stake his life.
In that case, he needed to extract as much information as possible first.
"..."
The Messenger's gleaming eyes swept over the surroundings, not even sparing Bu Eun-seol a glance.
It seemed to be spreading its senses wide, likely searching for Gongson Dan-gyeong's whereabouts.
"Do you really think you can survive in the Murim after making an enemy of the Alliance?"
Even after Bu Eun-seol's shout, the Messenger's gaze remained unchanged.
Its expression was as indifferent as if it had heard a stray dog barking.
'No use.'
The Messenger was utterly ignoring him.
No matter how many questions he threw, no answer would come.
Swish!
Assessing the situation instantly, Bu Eun-seol swiftly hurled a hidden blade.
From Seon-u Jin's standpoint, the Messenger was a Master he couldn't afford to underestimate.
In that case—strike first to seize victory. The one who attacked first held the higher chance of gaining the upper hand.
But the Messenger didn't dodge.
Sssk.
The blade embedded itself between the Messenger's brows—then vanished as if evaporated.
It wasn't deflected by any force. It was more like it had disappeared into some unknown void.
Swoosh.
The Messenger stepped toward Bu Eun-seol, its eyes as lifeless as a dead fish's, devoid of any emotion.
Its appearance was terrifying, but Bu Eun-seol didn't retreat.
With no more hidden blades left, he had no choice but to clash head-on with the True Void.
Realistically, without abandoning Seon-u Jin's identity and unleashing his true martial arts, a direct confrontation with the Messenger was impossible.
Yet he lowered his stance, bracing himself without fear.
Because he still had one last trump card up his sleeve.
'If he handled things properly, he should be arriving here any moment now.'
Clank.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes burned with fighting spirit as he twisted his sword in hand.
'I just have to hold out until then.'
Goooooo—
Suddenly, a massive vortex of power erupted from the Messenger's torso.
Kwa-woong!
An invisible, crushing force slammed into Bu Eun-seol's body.
Sssssk—
In that instant, he was flung fifty feet back, white smoke rising from his chest.
As the violently rotating force bore into him, he activated Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade, dispersing the impact.
Even so, he suffered minor internal injuries, and the fabric over his chest had melted away as if scorched.
'This is...'
Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his shock.
The Messenger's technique was something bizarre and grotesque—far beyond the scope of conventional martial arts.
It was almost reminiscent of the martial arts of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Swoosh.
But when Bu Eun-seol steadied his stance, his gaze unshaken, a flicker of surprise passed through the Messenger's eyes.
Kwa-woong!
Another shockwave blasted Bu Eun-seol more than one hundred feet back this time.
Even after halving his Internal Energy, he still possessed two hundred and fifty years' worth—a level befitting a Grandmaster of the younger generation, one who had reached the Transcendent Realm.
Yet against the Messenger's mysterious and overwhelming martial arts, he was like a mantis before a carriage.
Sssssk—
White smoke curled from Bu Eun-seol's entire body, but he remained standing tall.
[Hm.]
The Messenger's eyes shifted slightly upon seeing Bu Eun-seol withstand his attacks twice.
His complete indifference had now turned into mild annoyance—as if swatting at a bothersome fly.
Koo-woong!
The Messenger spread his hand, and Bu Eun-seol's body should have been sent flying.
Whirr—
But Bu Eun-seol had anticipated its move.
He deflected the attack with Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade—then thrust his iron sword forward.
Shhk.
The steel sword came to rest against the Messenger's throat.
Yet it advanced no further.
Oooom!
An invisible, overwhelming force poured from the Messenger's hand.
No matter how Bu Eun-seol strained, his blade refused to move forward another inch.
Chik-chik!
Bu Eun-seol drew a semicircle with his sword, attempting once more to disperse the intangible force.
Tzzzt-tzzzt.
Yet the cascading energy only grew more violent. Spiderweb cracks began spreading across the White Lotus True Steel blade.
Bang!
Simultaneously, Bu Eun-seol was flung back fifty feet.
Thud.
He immediately tried to rise—only to collapse onto one knee.
The impact had been too devastating. His body refused to obey.
'The disparity in Internal Power is too vast.'
The Messenger wasn't subduing him through martial profundity, but sheer superiority of cultivated energy.
Crack.
Bu Eun-seol clenched his fist.
His true Internal Energy neared the pinnacle of this era. Had he wished, he could have crushed that arrogant Messenger beneath its weight.
'So you thought me laughable enough to handle with mere energy superiority.'
But the moment the word "Internal Energy" surfaced in his mind, Blood Vajra's solemn face flashed before him.
That face then transformed into Blood Vajra's exquisite palm techniques—the very ones he'd used to annihilate the Three Realms assassins.
'Martial profundity can bridge the gap in energy.'
As memories of that battle resurfaced, a gleam ignited in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Though Blood Vajra hadn't unleashed massive Internal Energy, his Great Luo Heavenly Dragon Seal had demonstrated the might of Thunderous Weight of Ten Thousand Jun.
Its power hadn't stemmed from overwhelming energy, but from elevating force through sublime technique.
'Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade must also require precise application of strength.'
In that epiphany, Bu Eun-seol unleashed his sword arts anew.
Shiiiing! Slash-slash-slash!
This time, he didn't rely solely on Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade to disperse the Messenger's energy.
He countered with swordplay first, then—the instant the crushing force surged—he channeled the technique's essence.
One hand pushed while the other pulled. When the opponent retreated, he disrupted their balance. When they attacked fiercely, he redirected their momentum with spiraling force.
The more Bu Eun-seol emulated Blood Vajra's Heavenly Dragon Great Seal, the deeper his comprehension of Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade grew.
Conversely, the Messenger's eyes flickered with unease as his relentless assaults failed to even graze Bu Eun-seol's robes.
Thud.
Finally, the Messenger withdrew, ceasing his attacks.
He clearly hadn't anticipated Bu Eun-seol refining Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade to this level—enough to nullify his onslaught.
[Hmph.]
The Messenger snorted through his nose and extended both hands.
Oooom.
Instantly, Bu Eun-seol felt as though submerged in a vat of viscous glue, his body utterly immobilized.
It was as if gravity within his immediate space had multiplied dozens of times.
'Tch.'
No matter how profound Deflect Flowers and Receive Jade might be, dispersing pressure engulfing an entire area proved impossible.
The Messenger had abandoned energy superiority, instead employing martial profundity to shatter the technique's principles.
Thud. Thud.
As Bu Eun-seol stood paralyzed, the messenger approached leisurely and raised a finger.
A single strike to crush his skull.
'As expected. Is Seon-u Jin not enough here?'
Even as death loomed, Bu Eun-seol's lips curled into a faint smile.
He was a strategist surpassing even Gongson Dan-gyeong.
And when he embarked on any endeavor, he always accounted for every possible contingency.
From the moment Gongson Dan-gyeong proposed handling the Ten Thousand Blossoms Store matter alone with him,
Bu Eun-seol had discerned her intricate planning—and that those plans included him.
—What if a crisis arises that Seon-u Jin's abilities can't overcome?
When targeting the Martial Alliance's Chief Strategist position, encountering factions like the Three Realms could not be ruled out.
Thus, Bu Eun-seol required a safeguard.
One that wouldn't arouse suspicion. That could repel powerful enemies like the Three Realms without revealing his full strength.
A perfect safeguard.
'He's here.'
As Bu Eun-seol detected faint reverberations in his ears and smiled—
KABOOOM!
Thunder detonated across distant skies.
Simultaneously, an ear-splitting screech tore through the world beyond the warehouse.
SKREEEEE—!
The sound sharpened as it neared, piercing enough to flay souls. Even the emotionless assassins clutched their ears in agony.
CRACKLE-BOOM!
With another earth-shaking tremor, a bolt of white lightning struck the ground before Bu Eun-seol.
Zzzzt-zzzzt!
The light expanded, coalescing into a humanoid form.
"Heh-heh-heh."
Maddened laughter echoed as the figure solidified—a Death God wielding the purest, most tyrannical energy in the realm.
Thunder Essence Divine Qi.
The Thunder God had arrived.
Noe Bi-hon stood revealed.