Chapter 553
Moreover, just who the hell were "they" supposed to be?
No, this doesn't add up.
Hyeokryeon Eung had said the reason Bu Eun-seol was being targeted was because he was Baekri Mu-ha's son.
Why would he want to kill the son of someone who had once been the successor of the Three Realms?
Especially when that person had abandoned both power and weapons?
"Is that all?"
When Bu Eun-seol asked weakly, Mu-gyeol nodded.
"So he says."
Bu Eun-seol's heart sank into darkness.
No matter how much Baekri Mu-ha had been called the Murim's First Beauty, he was still a master who had demonstrated martial prowess capable of shaking the entire martial world.
If Bu Eun-seol could uncover his true identity through the Divine Calculator, he had thought it wouldn't be impossible to trace his past.
But if he was the successor of the Three Realms, the story changed entirely.
They had dominated the murim from the shadows, going to extreme lengths to conceal their identities.
If he was the successor, it was only natural that no faction would have been able to track him.
Their security would have been absolute.
Even if Bu Eun-seol mobilized every intelligence network available, whether he could uncover his origins was still an unknown.
"Master asked if that answered your question."
Bu Eun-seol stared emptily at the distant sky.
"It did."
Then, with a lifeless motion, he turned away.
The father in his memories had always been kind and affectionate.
To think that same father had been the successor of the Three Realms—a man who slaughtered and trampled countless lives.
Even if his father hadn't been someone universally respected, Bu Eun-seol had at least believed he was a decent man.
But if Baekri Mu-ha was his father...
If he was the successor of the Three Realms, hiding his true nature under the name "Murim's First Beauty"...
Then Bu Eun-seol was the descendant of an Ancient Sinner.
Staggering.
Without even using his Lightness Skill, Bu Eun-seol weakly left the Heavenly Escape Plain.
Standing alone in the now-empty plain, Mu-gyeol spoke in a low voice.
"Master. Will he be alright?"
His voice was thick, as though something were lodged in his throat.
"It might have been better to say we didn't know."
Then, a deep voice echoed around him.
[He already has a clue anyway. If I had avoided answering, he would have doubted every word I've ever spoken to him.]
The voice was powerful, yet filled with an inexplicable sigh.
It belonged to the Divine Calculator.
[Even if he obsessively digs into nothing but the truth about Baekri Mu-ha... he won't find anything.]
As the Divine Calculator's low voice faded, the fierce winds sweeping across the Heavenly Escape Plain subsided.
[It's better to give him a fragment of the truth.]
A heavy silence settled over the plain, now devoid of wind.
Unable to bear it, Mu-gyeol forcibly shifted the topic with a brighter tone.
"As you said, Master, he must have extraordinary talent in martial arts. I thought for sure he'd come back missing at least one arm after facing the Sword Sovereign."
[He grew up in an environment that left him no choice.]
After a brief silence, the Divine Calculator's gravelly voice resonated softly.
[Because of Elder Mo-ryun's prophecy... who could have imagined things would escalate like this?]
Krrrrumble.
A faint peal of thunder rolled through the sky, and the heavens darkened as a sinister current began to spread.
Kwoong.
At the same time, an unfathomable surge of energy and pressure suddenly swirled violently around Mu-gyeol.
Drip, drip.
Blood immediately began streaming from his nose and ears.
"Ugh—"
With a groan, Mu-gyeol spat out a mouthful of blood and dropped to one knee.
Whoosh!
A masked old man in blue robes materialized near where Mu-gyeol knelt.
This was the Divine Calculator, who had been concealing himself all along.
[Hmph.]
Having abruptly revealed himself, he snorted and glared sharply at the distant sky.
Wooong!
Instantly, the energy and pressure crushing Mu-gyeol vanished.
But Mu-gyeol, still bleeding profusely, ultimately lost consciousness and collapsed.
Kwoong.
Then, a tremor like the world collapsing shook the ground before the Divine Calculator.
At the same time, millions of luminous specks, each glowing with a different hue, rose from the earth opposite where he stood.
The specks scattered in all directions before converging into a single point, then transformed into the silhouette of a person.
Shooo—
When the light finally dissipated, an old man of utterly ordinary appearance stood there.
Except his gaze was unfathomably deep—and sinister.
Merely meeting his eyes felt like falling into an abyss from which there was no return, even after countless lifetimes.
[Sado Mu-myeong.]
A voice like a pained groan escaped the Divine Calculator's lips.
The old man before him...
Was none other than the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, Sado Mu-myeong.
[You've raised your disciple well.]
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor looked down at Mu-gyeol, who lay bleeding on the ground.
Those eyes held not a trace of emotion, as if merely observing a fly writhing in its death throes.
[How fortunate to have clung to life like this.]
His expression and gaze were impossible to decipher—whether praise or mockery.
[What brings you here in person?]
The Divine Calculator's eyes flashed sharply behind his mask.
[It's not as if we have anything pleasant to discuss face-to-face.]
[Why did you speak of Baekri Mu-ha?]
[Your ears remain as sharp as ever.]
[Speak.]
A solemn light rose in the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's gaze.
[Martial Alliance Leader.]
Crack.
At that moment, a bone-chilling sound resonated from the Divine Calculator's body—disguised as the Copyist's elderly form.
Simultaneously, the hunched, masked old man's figure—
—transformed in an instant into a towering middle-aged man, standing over six feet tall with an imposing physique.
Though his face remained obscured, his prominent nose and deep-set eyes brimmed with righteous energy, while an ethereal mist seemed to envelop his entire being, exuding an aura of unfathomable mystery and unapproachable majesty.
Just as Bu Eun-seol had surmised.
The Divine Calculator was none other than the foremost master of the righteous path—Jeong Cheon-je, the Martial Alliance Leader, Shin Do-mu-bi.
Having long ago attained the realm of Returning to the Void and Uniting with the Dao, his lifespan had expanded dramatically, bringing him near the state of agelessness—
At a glance, he could almost pass for a youthful man.
[We had an agreement—to let the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade's vengeance conclude.]
Within the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's pupils, a swirling vortex of gray stormed violently.
[Why did you break that promise?]
[He brought the Gratitude Coin and asked me.]
[Just because he asked, you had to tell him?]
[He would have found out eventually anyway. If I hadn't told him, I would have lost all the trust I'd built up until now.]
Shin Do-mu-bi's voice was low.
[Even so, you won't be able to uncover anything further.]
[Do you truly believe such words can deceive me?]
The energy swirling in the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's eyes deepened.
In stark contrast, Shin Do-mu-bi's gaze grew even more serene.
[If you learn of it, then that too shall be fate.]
[Fate?]
A savage tempest raged within the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's tranquil pupils.
[I decide what fate is.]
Then, from his lips spilled shocking words:
[Even if that boy learns that Baekri Mu-ha died by our hands—could you still say such things?]
For a long moment, a silence as thick as death settled over Heavenly Escape Ridge.
[...It's not that simple.]
A voice as if choked by an invisible grip seeped from Shin Do-mu-bi's lips.
[You slaughtered and burned countless innocents without cause. That karmic retribution must be borne.]
[Baekri Mu-ha was fated to die regardless.]
[But that child is guiltless.]
[Being Baekri Mu-ha's son is crime enough.]
Shin Do-mu-bi let out a derisive snort.
[Then you should have killed that boy the moment you found him. Had you done so, none of this trouble would exist.]
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor exhaled sharply through his nose.
[He staked his life denying it—what choice did I have but to believe him? And with him mastering the Tendon Transformation Sutra... I couldn't disbelieve him.]
[Thanks to that, the Demon Hall has prospered.]
Shin Do-mu-bi's voice was icy.
[Bu Jan-yang died, and that child willingly joined the Demon Hall to seek vengeance.]
[Yes. And so, I gained a fine blade—or so I thought.]
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor's fathomless eyes turned toward the distant sky.
[After all, he was the child Bu Jan-yang raised.]
When his gaze returned to Shin Do-mu-bi, a dark heat haze flickered in his eyes.
[Yet now you seek to ruin everything before I can wield that blade. Before I can plunge it into the Three Realms.]
[I fail to see why you obsess over this, knowing full well that boy cannot topple the Three Realms.]
[You need not understand.]
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor's voice was low.
[Only ensure you no longer get involved with anything concerning Baekri Mu-ha's whereabouts. If you persist in meddling...]
From his pupils spilled a light deeper than chaos itself.
[I'll have no choice but to repeat that tedious performance.]
A radiant light burst forth from Shin Do-mu-bi's eyes in turn.
When their gazes collided—
The world trembled as if facing apocalypse. Heavenly Escape Ridge shook violently, and the sky darkened to pitch.
Rumble—
The earth itself quaked, fissures spiderwebbing across the ground as if it would split apart.
[Hmm.]
After a long moment of assessing Shin Do-mu-bi's energy, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor snorted.
[You've grown stronger. Significantly stronger.]
Twitch.
Shin Do-mu-bi's pupils dilated as an eerie radiance surged from his entire body.
[Let me offer you one piece of advice.]
Simultaneously, beams of blinding light erupted from his eyes.
["If you dare utter such arrogant words again, I will most certainly take one of your eyes."]
["Hohoho."]
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor stared fixedly into Shin Do-mu-bi's eyes.
["If not for today's events, I would have done so at any time."]
Then, the corner of his lips curled upward.
As if he knew everything.
["If you wish to remain as the Alliance Leader for long... heed my words well."]
Whoosh—
With those final words, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor scattered once more like an entity of the cosmos, dissolving into the void.
Shin Do-mu-bi gazed blankly at the spot where he had vanished before gritting his teeth.
["Sado Mu-myeong."]
As his fist clenched—
BOOM! CRACKLE—
A deafening explosion erupted, and the opposite cliff face began collapsing in its entirety.
["Could he have noticed...?"]
A frigid blue energy seeped from Shin Do-mu-bi's pupils as he bit his lip.
That secret absolutely must not be revealed now. If it were, the orthodox Murim would plunge into chaos and crumble.
["No choice, then. Once the Grand Endeavor is complete, I'll have to strike him down immediately."]
Shin Do-mu-bi exhaled through his nose as he stared at the distant sky.
Then, summoning his Internal Power, he lifted the fallen Mu-gyeol into the air and vanished in an instant.
Bu Eun-seol did not return to the Demon Hall, nor did he go back to the Martial Alliance.
Cutting off all contact with So-yo, who had been following him, he wandered the Murim under the alias Seol-so, disguised and untraceable.
'He was a figure of the Three Realms.'
He wished it had been a lie—something Hyeokryeon Eung had uttered in his dying throes.
Or perhaps, if he had known this truth all along and had only sought to sow confusion at the last moment...
But the probability of that was nonexistent.
Hyeokryeon Eung had desperately wanted to recruit him into the Infinite Realm—that much had been genuine.
While performing the Divine Great Art...
He must have glimpsed the image of his father rising from his memories, and that was why he had tried to kill him.
In a way, that was a stroke of fortune.
Because it meant Hyeokryeon Eung had only stumbled upon the truth while channeling the Divine Great Art.
Which meant—
At the very least, the Infinite Realm did not know he was Baekri Mu-ha's son.
If they had, they would have tried to kill him long ago, just as Hyeokryeon Eung had.
'Was Father different from the man I remember?'
Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes.
The father in his memories had always been gentle.
Could that warm, affectionate man truly have been an evil person hiding his true nature?
The Three Realms were the Three Realms.
No matter how lofty their purpose, their evil deeds could not be erased.
'Then there's also the possibility he had a change of heart.'
Perhaps his father had belatedly realized the atrocities and wrongdoings of the Three Realms.
And so, he had discarded his Internal Power, abandoned the Sword Path, and left them behind.
There were enough fragments of memory to suggest such a scenario.
But that, too, raised questions.
Only the Three Realms could kill one of their own successors.
Yet, judging by the conversation he had overheard in the dreamworld, his father had been in a position where he needed the Three Realms' protection.
Meaning the one who killed Baekri Mu-ha might not have been the Three Realms—but another faction entirely.
'Could there be a force in the Murim that opposes the Three Realms?'
It was possible.
A hidden faction opposing the Three Realms might exist within the Murim.
Baekri Mu-ha may have left the Three Realms, only to be slain by their hands in the end.
'There's no way to be certain. But—'
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath, steadying his thoughts.
From now on, there were two things he needed to do.
First, confirm whether Baekri Mu-ha truly was his father.
Second, uncover the faction responsible for his death.
'To learn the truth, infiltrating the Three Realms is unavoidable.'
If Baekri Mu-ha—once called the Murim's First Beauty—had been the successor of the Three Realms despite leaving no trace of his origins...
Then the only way to uncover the truth was to enter the Three Realms himself.
'Just what happened between him and the Three Realms?'
Judging by Hyeokryeon Eung's reaction...
The Infinite Realm had deemed Baekri Mu-ha an irreconcilable enemy.
If that were the case, then the Azure River Realm and the remaining realms of the Three Realms would likely regard him as an enemy as well—once they learned he was Baekri Mu-ha's son.
'Then there's only one way.'
Bu Eun-seol exhaled slowly, his gaze falling to the Black Silence Sword sheathed at his waist.
'Defeat the Demon Sword wielders and become a sword of the Three Realms.'
The Messenger of the Three Realms who had killed Wang Cheol had said—
Those who survived the Demon Sword Contest could become a sword of the Three Realms, a position nearly equivalent to being a successor.
If so, the only viable path was to obtain a Demon Sword and force his way into that contest.
Shhhhk—
Bu Eun-seol drew the Black Silence Sword.
Its true nature was that of a Black Divine Weapon.
But before the infusion of the Two Spirit Energies, the Demon Swordsmith had declared it a Demon Sword without hesitation.
That would mean there was no need to seek out another demon sword.
Couldn't he participate in the Demon Sword Contest by utilizing the demonic energy inherent in the Ink Soul Sword?
Hmm...
As Bu Eun-seol channeled the Two Spirit Energies into the sword, a pleasant sword resonance hummed from the Ink Soul Sword.
When the Two Spirit Energies reached their peak infusion, a faint glow spilled from the scabbard, and a mysterious emblem began to take shape.
It's not the Two Spirit Energies, is it?
Looking back, the Two Spirit Energies were a force derived from nature.
There was no way demonic energy would flow just from infusing them.
Demonic energy...
After pondering deeply, Bu Eun-seol drew upon the Willful True Binding—a secret technique unique to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
Then, he wrapped the Ink Soul Sword in the tangible manifestation of his true qi.
Vwoom...!
Immediately, the sword emitted a low vibration and began greedily absorbing the power of the Willful True Binding.
It even consumes this?
The Willful True Binding was orthodox demonic cultivation.
By materializing and wrapping it around the blade, had it literally taken on the properties of a demon sword?
Zzzzzzzz...
But then, an odd sensation crept in.
As he poured the Willful True Binding into the Ink Soul Sword, a strange vibration pulsed through it, and an eerie feeling reverberated in his mind.
It was a peculiar sensation only demon sword users could perceive.
So it's true.
While absorbing the Willful True Binding...
The Ink Soul Sword had genuinely taken on the traits of a demon sword.
Bu Eun-seol doubled his internal power and continuously infused more of the technique.
And in response, the Ink Soul Sword began radiating an overwhelming surge of demonic energy—just like a true demon sword.
Did it sense the energy?
Click.
The moment Bu Eun-seol sheathed the Ink Soul Sword again—
KWA-BOOOM!
Not long after, an ear-splitting Sound of Breaking Air tore through the air as a black shadow crashed violently onto the ground.
A man clad in black robes, his frame rugged and imposing.
He strode straight toward Bu Eun-seol, furrowing his brow as he muttered,
"...It wasn't you."
Bu Eun-seol blinked in surprise at the sight of him.
The man in black was none other than—
Do Cheon-rin, the heir of the Bloodflame Blade Family.
Do Cheon-rin had a face as striking as the moon hanging in the night sky, though his aura carried a somewhat somber undertone.
But now, his appearance and demeanor had drastically changed.
His physique had transformed into solid muscle, his forearms tightly wrapped in leather bracers favored by wandering warriors.
Moreover, scars littered his exposed skin—
The very image of a martial artist who had staked his life on the Martial Way.
...Was it because of me?
Bu Eun-seol felt an odd twinge.
Every person who had clashed with him so far had undergone a change in their life.
Especially those who had been in competition with him—
Or those who had faced him one-on-one—
They had all, as if assimilated by Bu Eun-seol, transformed into martial artists who pursued the utmost limits of the Martial Way.
Had Do Cheon-rin changed in the same way?
"I sensed an unusual surge of demonic energy, so I came," Do Cheon-rin said, his gaze fixed on the Ink Soul Sword's scabbard in Bu Eun-seol's grip.
"Did you forge a new scabbard for the demon sword to suppress its energy?"
He was a man of exceptional talent in all aspects—not just in earthly wisdom—earning him the epithet Perfect Scholar.
Do Cheon-rin had roughly deduced why the seemingly ordinary Ink Soul Sword had briefly radiated demonic energy before stopping.
Everything feels like someone's prank.
Bu Eun-seol silently studied Do Cheon-rin without answering.
He had just resolved to seek out demon sword wielders and participate in the Demon Sword Contest.
Yet the moment he discovered how to pour demonic energy into the Ink Soul Sword and released its aura—Do Cheon-rin appeared?
In the past, the two had been fierce rivals, clashing over the position of the Heir of the Demon Hall.
And now, they had become competitors again—this time, fighting for the title of Sword of the Three Realms.
"...Your eyes aren't unfamiliar."
Do Cheon-rin tilted his head, staring intently at the face of Seol-so—Bu Eun-seol's disguised identity.
Clear, yet shadowed somewhere within.
Sharp, yet indifferent to everything.
Somehow, that aura and gaze didn't feel unfamiliar to him.
"Have we met somewhere before?"
"No."
"...Is that so?"
Do Cheon-rin clicked his tongue and muttered,
"I came because I sensed an intense surge of demonic energy... I thought it might be that slippery bastard who wields the Blood-Lightning Demon Sword. Disappointing."
"Blood-Lightning Demon Sword?"
"There's someone like that."
Do Cheon-rin glared at the distant sky with an irritated expression.
"A demon sword that can lock onto a specific target from hundreds of feet away and fire thunderous energy as precise as an arrow."
Do Cheon-rin had fought countless demon sword users up until now.
And not long ago, he had encountered the wielder of the Blood-Lightning Demon Sword and engaged in battle.
But the moment the opponent realized he couldn't defeat Do Cheon-rin in a direct confrontation, he fled immediately—
And Do Cheon-rin had been chasing him relentlessly ever since, caught in a cycle of fighting and pursuit.
"Well, beggars can't be choosers."
Do Cheon-rin smiled coldly.
"No need for lengthy words."
Slowly, he drew his demon sword—
And a soft, radiant glow bloomed in all directions.
He had wandered the Rivers and Lakes, battling countless demon sword-wielding experts.
And now, seeing Seol-so—Bu Eun-seol in disguise—carrying a demon sword...
He was ready to stake his life on a decisive battle.