Chapter 564
"Come, let us clash without regret!"
Ban Mu-reuk let out a hearty laugh, brimming with confidence as he drew forth his internal power the moment Bu Eun-seol approached.
Crk.
But something was strange.
Bu Eun-seol was merely walking forward with calm indifference, yet... Ban Mu-reuk felt his breath stifle, as though his bones were twisting under unbearable pain.
"What is this?"
Ban Mu-reuk attempted to wield the power he had gained through the Six-Spirit Body Exchange.
Yet, as if his qi vessels had been blocked, no strength surged forth—only the sound of his bones cracking grew louder.
"No."
Ban Mu-reuk's eyes widened.
Without realizing it, had his body shrunk to the size of a dwarf?
Bu Eun-seol had begun exerting an overwhelming surge of internal energy, pressing down upon him.
"Ugh—"
Ban Mu-reuk immediately tried to resist Bu Eun-seol's internal energy by unleashing the power of Six Transformations Subduing Spirits.
Though he could only wield seventy percent of its full strength due to failing to complete the Child Body White Bones ritual, that alone should have been enough to overturn the world.
If he could eliminate the Martial Soul Lord and survive this crisis, he would become a master capable of ruling the world.
That was what he had believed.
Crrk—
But it didn't take long for him to realize that belief was a delusion.
"H-How...?"
Even though Bu Eun-seol hadn't so much as lifted a finger, merely suppressing him with sheer internal energy...
He couldn't even resist it?
"Just how deep is his internal power...?"
The torrent of energy pouring down upon him couldn't even be measured with counterforce.
The martial prowess of the Martial Soul Lord, whose name shook the world, was on a level that even mastering the Six-Exchange Secret Record couldn't hope to oppose.
"Was this the power you sought by slaughtering children?"
In Bu Eun-seol's pupils, a blood light as radiant as the sun blazed fiercely.
Then, an indescribable pressure crashed down, and Ban Mu-reuk felt every bone in his body shatter under the weight.
Only as death approached did clarity return to his mind.
—I was wrong.
Ban Mu-reuk regretted it.
Even without such a Great Art, the martial world held countless ultimate arts.
He had the ability to restore the Profound Heaven Sword Gate's martial arts. Had he persevered, he could have revived its former glory in time.
But in his greed for swift fame, he had reached for the Demon's Great Art.
His impatience had led him to make the wrong choice.
Squelch—SPLAT!
In the end, Ban Mu-reuk's body, crushed beyond endurance by Bu Eun-seol's internal energy, burst apart—
Transforming into nothing more than a lump of gory remnants.
Ban Cheol-seong couldn't even mourn his father's death.
Because of the atrocities he had committed, the Profound Heaven Sword Gate could no longer hold its head high in the martial world.
"Lord. From this moment on, our sect shall enter seclusion for a hundred years."
Ban Cheol-seong bowed his head and spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
"Though this will not absolve our sins, I beg you to at least allow our sect's lineage to endure."
Bu Eun-seol exhaled a deep sigh.
By all rights, the Profound Heaven Sword Gate, having committed such horrors, should have been annihilated root and branch.
But looking at Ban Cheol-seong, he was reminded of Paeng Mun-cheon in the past.
He, too, had been ashamed of his father's actions. Even as he accepted the Paeng Clan's seclusion, he had yearned for the day he could atone and stand tall in the martial world once more.
A father's sins did not necessarily have to be borne by his son.
"I permit it."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Ban Cheol-seong bowed deeply in gratitude.
Meanwhile, the members of the Profound Heaven Sword Gate swiftly cleaned away Ban Mu-reuk's remains.
As Bu Eun-seol, the masked woman, Guyang Cheong-jeong, and the martial artists of the Wind-Shooting Sword Sect stepped outside,
Ban Cheol-seong bowed once more to Bu Eun-seol.
Then, the great gates of the Profound Heaven Sword Gate shut firmly behind them.
Only when Ban Cheol-seong passed and his descendants raised a new generation to adulthood... would they be able to show their faces in the martial world again.
It was then that the masked woman spoke to Bu Eun-seol.
"Now do you understand why I did what I did?"
Bu Eun-seol couldn't lift his head.
The masked woman had known of Ban Mu-reuk's atrocities, yet she had given him a chance—
Three whole days of it.
Moreover, despite the countless wounds, large and small, that Bu Eun-seol's sword techniques had inflicted upon her, she hadn't uttered a single word of resentment.
"I apologize."
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands together with utmost sincerity.
"I failed to recognize that you were acting with impeccable righteousness and that your words were a great mercy bestowed upon my hall and the Profound Heaven Sword Gate."
In truth, part of the blame lay with her for not explaining the full circumstances and acting arrogantly.
Yet Bu Eun-seol did not reproach her for it and instead offered his most respectful apology.
"Will you accept this?"
He retrieved a small medicine bottle from his robes.
It was the Divine Slumber Pill, crafted by the Medicine King Faction's master using the spiritual herbs of the Cloud Sea Azure Spirit Palace.
"A single dose will swiftly heal all wounds, internal and external."
The Divine Slumber Pill was a concentrated refinement of the Cloud Sea Azure Spirit Palace's spiritual herbs through the Medicine King Faction's alchemy.
Consuming it granted sixty years of internal energy cultivation.
A legendary elixir, rivaling even the most miraculous of divine pills—offered as a token of apology.
"Fine."
The woman smiled brightly and tucked the bottle into her robes without hesitation.
"I'll accept it."
Bu Eun-seol clasped his hands together with the utmost courtesy and warmth.
"I am deeply grateful for your magnanimity and generosity."
He had no choice.
Even if the Profound Heaven Sword Gate had entered seclusion, if rumors spread that they had practiced the Child Body White Bones ritual...
Not only the Profound Heaven Sword Gate but the Demon Hall—and even his own reputation—would be tarnished.
In a way, he had bought her silence at a bargain price.
"Madam. May I ask you one thing?"
Recalling Wi Cheon-gyeong's words—that she had revealed herself as a member of the Yang Seol family—he cautiously inquired:
"Are you truly a member of the Yang Seol family?"
"Yes."
"Then... has the Yang Seol family begun making moves in the martial world?"
"No."
She gazed at the distant sky and uttered something strange.
"In the end, because of that bastard, I misread Heaven's Will."
"What do you mean?"
"I sensed the presence of the Earthly Killing Star in this Profound Heaven Sword Gate. But I must have mistaken it because of the Child Body White Bones ritual."
"Earthly Killing Star? Who is that?"
"Not a person. One of the One Hundred and Eight Stars."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol furrow his brow, she crossed her arms and said,
"Then do you know of the Heavenly Killing Star?"
"I do."
"Right. The Earthly Killing Star is the counterpart to the Heavenly Killing Star."
The Heavenly Killing Star referred to those cursed by the heavens with an innate slaughter frenzy—beings born with overwhelming killing intent who grew stronger with each massacre.
But the last time that term had been used was three hundred years ago, with the Great Killing Star, Hyeol Mu-geuk.
Since then, that term had not been used in the murim.
And now, suddenly, she spoke of both the Heavenly and Earthly Killing Stars?
"Are you saying the Earthly Killing Star truly exists?"
"Yes. I came to capture him. He must be somewhere near Qinghai."
"How do you know that?"
"Well, let's just say I divined the will of heaven."
Bu Eun-seol's brow tightened.
Since Mo-ryun the Dharma Seeker, there had been no one in the murim known to truly read the will of heaven.
The only one who came close was the current sage, the Divine Calculator, but whether he truly understood heaven's will remained uncertain.
"So... you're saying you're from the Yang Seol family, and because the Earthly Killing Star has appeared, you've entered the martial world?"
As Bu Eun-seol pieced together the situation, the woman nodded.
"Correct. Though my original target was the Heavenly Dark Star."
She let out a deep sigh.
"But the Heavenly Dark Star only appeared briefly before vanishing. Perhaps the Boundary-Prosperity Jade was broken, causing it."
"Boundary-Prosperity Jade?"
Bu Eun-seol had a sudden realization.
The things this woman spoke of so casually—they were the hidden secrets of the murim.
"I'd like to hear more."
"I don't share secrets with outsiders."
"I'm not asking for free."
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to propose a negotiation.
"Name your price. I'll give you an answer worth your while."
"An answer worth my while, hm?"
The woman studied Bu Eun-seol for a moment before nodding.
"Fine. Then let's move somewhere else."
"Agreed."
As Bu Eun-seol and the woman turned to leave, Guyang Cheong-jeong, who had been standing nearby, quickly interjected.
"Lord. There are no teahouses nearby. If it's acceptable, why not continue your discussion at our Wind-Shooting Sword Gate?"
Then, addressing the woman, she added,
"We of the Seven Sword Gates acted without knowing if you were a righteous figure, so we'd also like to apologize for our mistake."
"Righteous?"
The woman's lips curled into a strange smile.
"You think such a thing exists in this world?"
Her smile was so full of scorn and derision that Guyang Cheong-jeong's face stiffened.
"Then why did you hunt down the sect leader who committed evil deeds?"
"I told you. I mistook him for something else."
"But you gave him three days."
"Actually... that was intentional. I had something to confirm."
The woman grinned.
"Otherwise, I would've slit his throat in secret."
Guyang Cheong-jeong's mouth fell open.
Now she understood—this woman wasn't righteous. She was someone whose emotions were impossible to predict, something tainted with malice.
"You seem like a good kid, so here's some advice."
The woman bared her teeth in a smile.
"If you want to survive, you'd better abandon the idea that justice exists in this world."
Only then did Guyang Cheong-jeong realize—
The reason the woman had given Ban Mu-reuk three days despite knowing his crimes wasn't out of kindness or righteousness.
It was because she had deliberately stalled to confirm something.
"The mood's ruined."
The woman, now visibly bored, turned to Bu Eun-seol.
"Talk to someone else. I'm leaving."
"Miss. Just a brief conversation."
Bu Eun-seol pleaded once more.
"I won't take much of your time."
Suddenly, the woman's lips curled into a mischievous smirk.
"Fine. Catch me, and I'll tell you."
Pat.
Like a Taoist art, her figure vanished in an instant.
But Bu Eun-seol's acute senses detected that she had used an extraordinary movement technique to disappear.
Tsu-chut!
Bu Eun-seol immediately activated Swift Shadowless.
Yet, it was still insufficient to catch up to the fleeing woman.
Kwa-ooooo!
Drawing upon his Thunder Essence Divine Qi, he discarded the stealth of Swift Shadowless and shot forward like a violet flash, accompanied by a deafening sonic boom.
In an instant, he closed the distance to the woman, whose body was wreathed in a blue glow.
"Hmph."
Annoyed that he had actually caught up, she abruptly changed direction.
Unlike ordinary martial artists who relied on repeated leaps and landings, her movement technique was different—
It was as if she were an immortal freely soaring through the sky, gliding endlessly without pause.
'Good.'
Though his Thunder Essence Divine Qi-enhanced movement was swift, it was difficult to change direction as fluidly as she could.
Bu Eun-seol summoned his Water Essence Divine Qi and, at the moment of redirection, unleashed a burst of solidified cold energy in the opposite direction.
Crack. Chwa-ra-rak!
As he deployed his Glacier Thousand Streams Art-infused Water Essence Divine Qi, the forest and trees in his wake instantly froze over.
But thanks to that, he could now pivot freely.
Kwa-aaaa!
Unable to shake Bu Eun-seol's pursuit, the woman finally halted her movement technique and descended into a deep forest where a small waterfall cascaded.
Chal-bang.
Approaching the water's edge, she suddenly removed her shoes and began washing her legs.
As the cold water touched her skin, crimson blood seeped from the wounds left by the sword qi—
The cuts from the Waning Moon Morning Star's blade were deeper than expected.
Gguk.
Wincing in pain, she frowned, and Bu Eun-seol looked at her apologetically.
"I'll treat your back for you."
Her pupils shimmered in the darkness.
"Why?"
Her eyes, reflecting the moonlight, held a deep blue glow like the ocean.
"Well, since it was my mistake."
Bu Eun-seol scratched his head awkwardly, and she nodded in satisfaction.
"Fine."
Then she perched on a rock and lifted the hem of her skirt.
In an instant, the smooth, luminous white of her thighs was revealed.
And on the inner side, blood had clotted where the sword qi had grazed her.
"Treat me."
Though Bu Eun-seol had specified that he would only treat the wounds on her back—where her hands couldn't reach—
She deliberately exposed her snow-white legs, a faint smile playing on her lips.
As if daring him to try something if he could.
"Understood."
An ordinary martial artist would have either given up on treating her or resorted to touching her directly to heal the wounds.
But fortunately, Bu Eun-seol possessed the Water Essence Divine Qi.
As he took a deep breath—
Swoosh.
From the flowing water, transparent droplets surged upward, forming two translucent hands.
Just as the Divine Beast Palace Lord Neung-gyeong had once done.
He had created phantom hands using the Water Essence Divine Qi.
Swish—
Bu Eun-seol carefully wiped away the blood from the wounds on her legs with the translucent hands.
Then, using his internal energy, he tore a strip of fabric and tightly bound her injuries.
"Liar."
She gazed at him with a faint smile.
"That's the Divine Beast Palace's Water Essence Divine Qi, isn't it?"
Her long lashes lifted slightly, her eyes tilting upward.
There was something provocatively alluring about her expression.
"Why did you lie?"
"Would you reveal all your cards at once?"
Bu Eun-seol replied calmly.
"To survive in the martial world, you must always keep three-tenths of yourself hidden."
"How did you obtain it?"
Her voice was soft.
"The Water Essence Divine Qi contains the essence of True Yin. I've always heard that only women can wield it."
After a moment of thought, she let out a small ah.
"You've mastered an Ice Art at the Extreme Realm, haven't you? If you use Extreme Yin Qi, you can contain it within your body."
Bu Eun-seol was impressed by her insight but avoided answering directly.
"I merely obtained it by chance."
"Hmph, the Divine Beast Palace treasures the Water Essence Divine Qi like a priceless jewel, and you just happened to get it? Without the martial world even knowing?"
As she deliberately wore a sly expression and continued teasing him, Bu Eun-seol let out a sigh.
Normally, he wasn't the type to engage in such conversations.
But since he had many questions of his own, he had no choice but to respond.
"I could swear an oath if you wish. I simply didn't mention it because I didn't want to tarnish the Divine Beast Palace Lord's reputation."
"She's just an old woman past seventy. What reputation?"
When she pouted, Bu Eun-seol gave a bitter smile.
He, too, had imagined the Divine Beast Palace Lord as a white-haired crone.
But in reality, she maintained a youthful appearance, much like Gongson Dan-a.
"May I hear your story now?"
At his words, the woman sighed and shook her head.
"You're incredibly persistent. And stubborn."
"I've heard that often."
"Hmph."
She spoke as if resigned.
"You are the Heir of the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol, aren't you?"
"I am."
She nodded knowingly, as if well-versed in the affairs of the martial world.
"Good. You seem like someone who could be quite useful. Then let's make a deal. Promise me one favor, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
"I promise."
"Aren't you going to ask what it is?"
"What could possibly be difficult?"
"I heard you were a cautious man. But now you seem rather hasty."
"What you want is an information network, isn't it?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
When she looked startled, Bu Eun-seol allowed a faint smile.
"Earlier, you mentioned searching for the Earthly Killing Star and the Heavenly Darkness Star. Your objective is obvious."
"Hahaha, good. I like you."
She laughed and nodded.
"My name is Yang Seol-rin. Just call me Rin."
"How could I casually address the name of a woman I've only just met?"
"Ugh, fine. If you won't even let simple words into your ears, what kind of conversation is this?"
Her way of speaking was as unique as her striking appearance.
"Wait."
As she turned to leave, Bu Eun-seol swiftly blocked her path.
"Fine. Yang Seol-rin Miss."
"Drop the surname."
"Rin Miss."
"Mmm."
Yang Seol-rin let out a hum, nodding as if making a great concession.
"I don't love the term Miss... but I'll let it slide for now."
"Thank you."
"So? What do you want to know?"
Countless questions swirled in Bu Eun-seol's mind.
But considering she might not answer all of them, he chose the one that intrigued him most.
"Earlier, I heard you say you were searching for the Heavenly Darkness Star and the Earthly Killing Star."
"That's right."
"How do you find them?"
"Look at the night sky."
Yang Seol-rin stretched out her hand.
As if waiting for her cue, a breeze swept in from somewhere, gently caressing her hair like a tender touch.
"Those born into my family have the Heaven-Earth Interchange opened from birth. And from childhood, we train in the art of reading Heaven's Will."
"So every member of the Yang Seol family can read Heaven's Will?"
"Of course not. Only those with a special aptitude can."
To be honest, he had been skeptical.
Though her martial arts were unique, that alone wasn't enough to prove she was from the Yang Seol family.
But hearing her explanation, it seemed plausible enough.
"So, Rin Miss, you ventured into the martial world to find the Heavenly Darkness Star and the Earthly Killing Star?"
"Among other things. Originally, I only intended to deal with the Earthly Killing Star, but then I sensed its presence again."
"Again?"
"Yes. Just like when the Baekri Clan appeared."
Bu Eun-seol's heart pounded.
"The Baekri Clan? You mean the legendary Baekri Clan?"
"That's right."
Yang Seol-rin replied calmly.
"I've heard the Baekri Clan's people can reverse the flow of time or manifest their mental world into reality... They wield mysterious powers like that."
"And what does that have to do with this Heavenly Darkness Star business?"
"It has everything to do with it."
Then with the gravest expression, she said:
"Because those very abilities are the hallmark of those who can manifest as the Heavenly Darkness Star."