Chapter 569
As dawn broke, Bu Eun-seol and Baek Mu-seong spread out a map and put their heads together to discuss their plans.
According to the messenger pigeon dispatched by the Ten Thousand Reflections Hall, the Killing Ghost's movement path had split between Daeryun Mountain and Ruby Mountain.
It seemed he had realized he was being pursued and had likely hired an intelligence organization or assassins to divide his trail.
"We'll probably have to split into two teams to catch him."
At Baek Mu-seong's words, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
"The main force will head to Daeryun Mountain, so you take Ruby Mountain, Brother Baek. If we circle around widely enough, we'll eventually meet up anyway."
"Hmm."
Baek Mu-seong stroked his chin, then shook his head.
"The main force should take Daeryun Mountain. How about sending the elite unit to Ruby Mountain instead?"
The path to Daeryun Mountain was considerably longer and the terrain far more treacherous.
Just last night, he had declared his intent to compete fairly.
Yet here he was, already breaking that promise to accommodate Bu Eun-seol.
"Brother Baek."
"It's just that the main force's Lightness Skill is faster anyway. If we're setting up an encirclement with two units, it's better if we arrive simultaneously."
'Well, it's not like we could catch him either way.'
In the end, neither Bu Eun-seol nor Baek Mu-seong would be able to claim credit for this mission.
Yang Seol-rin had insisted she would personally capture the target, and with the entire intelligence network of the Death Soul Squad at her disposal...
Whoever arrived first would likely find she had already apprehended the Earthly Killing Star and departed.
"Understood. Let's proceed that way."
Baek Mu-seong led his unit members and immediately deployed his Lightness Skill toward the direction of Daeryun Mountain.
Bu Eun-seol, in no particular hurry, checked his unit's condition and once again verified the route to Ruby Mountain.
Then—
Flutter.
A faint sound, like the beating of distant wings, echoed through the air.
It was the signal from So-yo.
"Prepare to move out. I'll be back shortly after taking care of something."
After briefly distancing himself from the unit members, Bu Eun-seol immediately sent a Thousand-Li Voice Transmission.
[What happened?]
[She suddenly left.]
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
[What do you mean? The Martial Alliance's intelligence network clearly still has her within this area.]
[She said she had divined Heaven's Will. The traces near Sichuan were all decoys, and that the Earthly Killing Star is actually near Lanzhou.]
Though he couldn't comprehend it, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
[Understood.]
'This might actually work out better.'
What worried Bu Eun-seol was the possibility of Yang Seol-rin and Baek Mu-seong clashing if they happened to arrive at the same location.
That was why he had mobilized So-yo and the Death Soul Squad to track Yang Seol-rin's movements.
But if the Killing Ghost wasn't here after all? That might be for the best.
Whoosh.
Bu Eun-seol led the elite unit toward Ruby Mountain.
However, he didn't rush—instead, he maintained a controlled, leisurely pace.
After half a day of travel, the sun gradually began to set.
Spotting a valley ahead, Bu Eun-seol halted and spoke.
"Let's rest here for a while."
"Already, sir?"
Behind him, Tae Mu-ryong blinked in surprise.
"Unit Leader. If we proceed too leisurely, Chief Baek might locate and eliminate the Killing Ghost before we even arrive."
"That's fine."
"Huh?"
"Besides, wouldn't we need our stamina to face the Killing Ghost?"
Bu Eun-seol offered a relaxed smile.
"Whether we go fast or slow, it'll still take about two days to reach Ruby Mountain. Let's recover our strength and search slowly."
Tae Mu-ryong tilted his head in confusion, but assuming Bu Eun-seol had some hidden plan, he nodded.
"Rest here."
At Tae Mu-ryong's command, the unit members began their respite—some practicing Qi Circulation, others lying down to sleep.
"Deputy Unit Leader, you should rest as well. I'll scout the perimeter."
"Understood."
'The Yangseol Family...'
As Bu Eun-seol wandered near the valley, his brow furrowed.
Just as Seo Jin-ha had said.
He, too, had found her sudden appearance suspicious.
Why would the Yangseol Family, guardians of the Murim's deepest secrets, just happen to be flagged by the Death Shadow War Unit's intelligence network?
And upon encountering Bu Eun-seol, she divulged every critical piece of information she possessed?
No matter how much the world was a series of coincidences, the probability of that happening was nearly nonexistent, wasn't it?
'Or does fate truly exist?'
Yang Seol-rin had an eccentric personality, but she didn't seem like the type to lie or weave conspiracies.
If so, was meeting her truly fate?
Bu Eun-seol didn't believe in fate.
And yet, sometimes he felt as though some unknowable force was pulling him forward.
Perhaps meeting her really was destiny.
And perhaps it would become the trigger for him to peer into the Abyss of Murim—something he had never glimpsed before.
Before he knew it, night had fallen.
The unit members lit a fire and began roasting dried rations over the flames.
"Unit Leader."
Just then, Tae Mu-ryong approached Bu Eun-seol.
"Aren't you tired?"
Bu Eun-seol had been keeping watch over the area the entire time, ensuring the unit members could rest comfortably—all while lost in thought.
"There's no need to worry. I have confidence in my stamina."
When Bu Eun-seol shook his head, Tae Mu-ryong gave a faint smile.
"If it were the Chief's Light Body Art, the journey to Sichuan would have been nothing more than a leisurely stroll. Yet here you are, suffering needlessly because of us."
"It's fine. And... if you have something to say, speak freely."
Bu Eun-seol offered a reassuring smile, sensing that Tae Mu-ryong had something on his mind.
"Is there something troubling you?"
"No, it's nothing major. It's just..."
Tae Mu-ryong lowered his voice as he spoke.
"From what I can see, the Chief doesn't seem to have any personal desires. So I've been wondering... why you always risk your life carrying out missions for the Sixth Hall Master."
"There's no such thing as a human without desires."
Bu Eun-seol smirked.
From Tae Mu-ryong's perspective, it must have been strange.
Seon-u Jin was a man who showed no greed for status, fame, authority—nothing at all.
And yet, when it came to assigned missions, he threw himself into them without hesitation, staking his very life.
"Desire doesn't necessarily have to be about honor or power... It doesn't always take that form."
"If not honor or power, then...?"
"Well."
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol turned the question back on Tae Mu-ryong.
"Vice Chief, do you have something you want?"
"I..."
After a brief hesitation, Tae Mu-ryong spoke in a low voice.
"I just want to stay like this—with the Chief and the unit members... for as long as possible. To put it simply, I want to keep sharing life and death, joy and sorrow with all of you."
"Life and death, joy and sorrow."
A lonely smile touched Bu Eun-seol's lips.
"To share those things together... is that it?"
That had once been Bu Eun-seol's childhood wish as well.
To share life and death with his grandfather. That had been his one and only desire.
But a cruel murderer had stolen that dream from him—even going so far as to disturb his grandfather's grave and rob him of eternal rest.
His earnest wish had ultimately become nothing more than an impossible dream, forever out of reach.
"It's a humble wish, but a difficult one."
"Is it?"
When Tae Mu-ryong laughed awkwardly, Bu Eun-seol spoke with conviction.
"Then, as Chief, I'll do my best to ensure your wish comes true."
In truth, it was a promise he couldn't keep.
Because Bu Eun-seol was someone who would leave one day. Tae Mu-ryong's wish, too, would remain unfulfilled.
But if he could train the unit members well—if he could make them strong—
Even if he were to leave the Martial Alliance... the Peak Realm Members could still support one another, sharing life and death among themselves.
"To be honest, I've been very curious about what the Chief desires."
"Well."
Bu Eun-seol gazed at the distant sky and shook his head.
"I think I had something once... but I've forgotten it now."
In his eyes, reflected under the moonlight, lay an unspeakable sorrow and grief.
'The Chief isn't lying.'
Tae Mu-ryong could sense it.
That Bu Eun-seol was a man who had lost his dream. That he had lived all this time swallowing down his suffering.
'So this is the kind of person the Chief is.'
Understanding someone doesn't always take as much time as one might think.
Sometimes, just a single word—like now—is enough.
To comprehend their entire life, their thoughts, in an instant.
And this phenomenon... is only possible when you care for that person deeply.
Whoosh.
But then, an extremely faint Sound of Breaking Air reached Bu Eun-seol's ears.
It was the kind of sound that accompanied the release of overwhelming power or the spread of razor-sharp energy.
'This—'
Bu Eun-seol shot to his feet, startling Tae Mu-ryong.
"Chief? What's wrong?"
"I thought I heard something."
"Something?"
Tae Mu-ryong pricked up his ears, but no sound reached him.
Bu Eun-seol waved it off casually.
"I'll go check it out. Don't worry and get some rest."
Without waiting for a response, he immediately activated his Movement Technique.
An inexplicable sense of foreboding gripped Tae Mu-ryong.
Swish!
Before he could even call out to the unit members, Tae Mu-ryong unleashed his own Movement Technique, chasing after Bu Eun-seol's vanished figure.
"Vice Chief!"
Jeong Jong-do also followed, activating his technique.
The resting unit members exchanged glances before shouting in unison.
"Everyone, follow the Chief's direction!"
Bu Eun-seol wasn't using Ultimate Speed Shadowless—instead, he employed Endless Scattering Form, one of the orthodox Movement Techniques.
But his speed surpassed the limits of Endless Scattering Form, making it seem as though he were executing Heavenly Dragon's Great Roaming, one of the supreme orthodox techniques.
This was because Bu Eun-seol's Lightness Art had reached such an extraordinary realm that—
Even when performing ordinary techniques, they ascended to the extreme pinnacle of Lightness Study, transforming into peerless Movement Techniques.
'The sound is gone.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been sprinting at full speed, abruptly halted his Lightness Art and pricked up his ears.
The Sound of Breaking Air he had heard earlier was no longer audible.
No matter how much he heightened his senses, it remained undetectable—likely a sound that had traveled from such an immense distance that he had only caught it by chance.
'Could this be the Lure the Tiger Away from the Mountain Stratagem?'
A strange thought suddenly struck him.
What if Yang Seol-rin heading to Lanzhou was a diversion orchestrated by the Earthly Killing Star? What if, in truth, he was actually in Sichuan? That was the intuition whispering to him.
'There's a possibility.'
If so, then the chances were high that Baek Mu-seong, who had departed toward Daeryun Mountain, had already clashed with him.
'But this direction isn't Daeryun Mountain.'
The direction from which the sound had come was not the path leading to Daeryun Mountain.
Then had Baek Mu-seong, while en route to Daeryun Mountain, heard that eerie sound and pursued the Earthly Killing Star instead?
'I need to find the direction.'
Bu Eun-seol strained his Extrasensory Perception to its limits, yet still, no sound reached him.
'Cheon-gi.'
Suddenly, he recalled the moment Yang Seol-rin had infused him with a blue energy, allowing him to perceive the Child Body White Bones ritual.
In truth, she hadn't granted him any special power—she had merely amplified the Water Essence Divine Qi within him, enabling him to see something otherwise invisible.
Whoosh!
Bu Eun-seol immediately summoned the Water Essence Divine Qi.
Then, instead of circulating it through his body, he concentrated it into his eyes. His vision blurred instantly, and a searing pain erupted as though his eyeballs were about to burst.
'It's not working.'
As the Water Essence Divine Qi flowed into his eyes, his vision distorted further, and the agony intensified to the point where it felt like his eyeballs would explode.
And yet, nothing became visible.
'Virginity... she mentioned virginity.'
Yang Seol-rin had asked if he couldn't see the Child Body White Bones because he was still a virgin.
That meant she had mistakenly assumed he had mastered the Virgin Boy Skill.
'True Qi Circulation.'
Bu Eun-seol had trained in the Life Nourishing Secret from the Tendon Transformation Sutra, accumulating immense Internal Energy before mastering the Reverse Extreme Inner Method.
In other words, unintentionally, he had cultivated the supreme Internal Energy Methods of both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Paths, amassing such overwhelming Internal Power that—
Like one who had mastered the Virgin Boy Skill, his dantian was brimming with pure, untainted True Qi.
'I've been treating this Spirit Energy too much like an Internal Energy Method.'
The Spirit Energies were all forces of the Great Nature.
They weren't meant to be stored in the dantian and deployed at will—they were to be summoned naturally when needed.
'Naturally.'
Fwoosh—
As Bu Eun-seol spread the Water Essence Divine Qi outward while gazing at the distant sky,
a faint red energy, rising like smoke dozens of li away, became visible through his blurred vision.
Could that be the energy of the Earthly Killing Star that Yang Seol-rin had spoken of?
If so, why hadn't Yang Seol-rin seen it and instead gone to Lanzhou?
Unlike her and Jang Dam, was the Earthly Killing Star truly here?
'It's too far.'
CRACK!
Bu Eun-seol summoned the Thunder Essence Divine Qi and unleashed the Ultimate Speed Shadowless.
As the Thunder Essence Divine Qi merged with his Original True Qi, violet lightning erupted from his body.
KWAARRR!
Simultaneously, he transformed into a streak of Lightning Flash, slicing through the air.
Upon arriving where the red energy billowed, he flipped mid-air and immediately activated the Endless Scattering Form.
'This can't be...'
The place he had finally reached was a village nestled at the foot of a mountain.
The village had already been reduced to ruins, and countless people lay as cold corpses.
BOOM!
Then, another explosive sound erupted from the forest at the village outskirts.
Bu Eun-seol instantly raced toward the source.
There, great trees lay shattered, and two figures were locked in fierce combat—
Baek Mu-seong and an elderly man in tattered martial robes.
Surrounding them, Baek Mu-seong's unit members stood in a loose perimeter, watching the battle unfold.
The martial prowess of Baek Mu-seong and the old man was so overwhelming that none dared intervene.
'Is that old man the Earthly Killing Star?'
Perched atop a tree about a hundred and twenty feet away, Bu Eun-seol observed the fight.
The old man's body was emaciated yet densely layered with muscle, his pupils burning crimson.
His skin had darkened unnaturally, and his movements were so swift that he resembled a massive bat darting through the air.
'A technique stolen from the Yang Family?'
Bu Eun-seol could see a strange energy emanating from the old man's body, clinging to Baek Mu-seong like a parasite.
Yet Baek Mu-seong seemed utterly unaware, relentlessly unleashing fist strikes as towering as Mount Tai.
'No... it's slightly different.'
If Yang Seol-rin had manipulated or severed another's True Qi Circulation from afar,
the energy radiating from the old man acted like invisible hands, subtly obstructing Baek Mu-seong's movements.
CRACK! KRRRRACK!
Baek Mu-seong unleashed the Arhat Divine Fist—a technique capable of toppling even Mount Tai in a single blow—repeatedly. Yet—
Due to the old man's invisible energy manipulating him in a bizarre manner, his fist energy kept flying off in erratic directions.
"Hmph. So you're using sorcery."
Baek Mu-seong snorted and closed the distance in an instant with Lotus Steps.
At the same time, sharp fist energy erupted from all ten of his fingers.
It was the Shaolin Dragon Claw Hand—renowned as the strongest close-combat technique.
Crunch! Crack-crack-crack!
Baek Mu-seong's Dragon Claw moved so fast it was nearly invisible, raking down the old man's body.
Yet despite the technique's ability to scrape even iron, not a single scratch appeared on the old man's skin.
The energy pouring from the old man's body still clung stubbornly to Baek Mu-seong.
'Even a master like him can't sense it...'
Only now did Bu Eun-seol understand Yang Seol-rin's confident claim.
If even Baek Mu-seong—undeniably the strongest among the younger generation—couldn't detect that transparent energy... then no matter how powerful one's martial arts were, facing this opponent would be nearly impossible.
[Heh heh heh.]
But then, something bizarre happened.
The emaciated old man, his eyes now bloodshot, began replicating every single martial technique Baek Mu-seong had used thus far.
Boom! Crack-boom!
One moment, the old man unleashed the Arhat Divine Fist; the next, he closed in and unleashed Dragon Claw Hand.
The power and movements were identical—down to the smallest detail—as if he were mirroring Baek Mu-seong's every motion.
"Interesting."
Finally sensing the abnormality, Baek Mu-seong drew upon his full internal power.
"I haven't been using my true strength until now."
Shockingly, he had been suppressing his internal energy this entire time.
If he combined the already devastating Seventy-Two Supreme Arts with his overwhelming internal power...
The result would be a tyrannical force that could no longer even be called Shaolin's supreme techniques.
Zzzing... Zzzing...
A faint golden light shimmered around his body.
The Shaolin Secret Arts—bearing the energy that vanquishes evil, capable of multiplying the might of martial techniques several times over.
The Prajna Great Power had been unleashed.
Shiiik!
As the Prajna Great Power surged, the transparent energy clinging to Baek Mu-seong's body was severed completely.
"Haaap!"
With his full strength, he unleashed the Shaolin Seventy-Two Supreme Arts once more.
Hundred Steps Divine Fist transitioned seamlessly into Finger Flick Divine Art; the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm trapped the old man's escape routes before a single finger strike shot toward his forehead.
'He's strong.'
From a distance, Bu Eun-seol loosened his grip on the hilt of his sheathed sword.
Baek Mu-seong's martial arts were the very essence of Buddhist techniques.
With the clinging energy severed and multiple supreme arts pouring forth, amplified by the Prajna Great Power...
The old man could no longer evade.
Crash! Crash!
Struck by the Lion Muni Seal and the Demon-Subduing Palm Method, the old man plummeted from the air like a falling bird.
Hiss...
After using all his Internal Power, a haze of true qi rose from Baek Mu-seong's body—his internal energy was so immense that he had to expel the excess to regulate it.
He strode toward the fallen old man.
Though victorious, his brow remained deeply furrowed.
"Truly a killing ghost worthy of the Great Killing Star."
At first, he had assumed the old man was just another common specter of the martial world.
When the unit members had first surrounded him, Baek Mu-seong hadn't intervened—he had intended to let them gain real combat experience.
But as the battle progressed, the situation changed entirely.
The old man didn't just absorb their techniques—he pinpointed their weaknesses and instantly inflicted fatal wounds on three of them.
Even after Baek Mu-seong stepped in, the old man grew stronger with each exchange, forcing him to resort to the Seventy-Two Supreme Arts at full power just to bring him down.
"Chief, you've worked hard."
The unit members, who had been watching the entire time, cheered as they approached.
"It seems that old man was concealing his strength all along."
Baek Mu-seong nodded, then gestured toward the fallen figure.
"Cut off his head and let's return."
"Understood."
The unit members moved toward the old man.
His chest had caved inward from the fist and palm energy—likely every rib shattered.
Shing.
One of them drew his sword and coldly declared:
"May you be reborn as a good person in your next life."
Then, in one swift motion, he beheaded the old man.
—Aaaagh!
A bloodcurdling scream tore through the air.
Baek Mu-seong whirled around—only to see the old man, now suddenly upright, leap onto the back of the unit member who had tried to behead him.
His teeth sank into the man's neck.
"You bastard!"
"Die!"
The other unit members, horrified, stabbed at the old man clinging to their comrade—
Gulp... Gulp...
But the old man paid no heed, drinking the blood gushing from the man's neck until the very last drop.
And with each swallow... unbelievably, his caved-in ribs began pushing back out.