Chapter 570
Earthly Killing Star.
This grotesque being, who grew stronger through slaughter, seemed to possess the ability to instantly heal its wounds each time it consumed human blood.
"Disappear!"
Baek Mu-seong unleashed a razor-sharp palm strike with lightning speed toward the blood-drinking old man.
[Heh heh.]
But the old man, as if anticipating the attack, shoved the lifeless unit member into the path of the strike.
'Damn!'
Baek Mu-seong, fearing the corpse would be mutilated, recoiled his palm energy in shock.
"Tch."
Only a master of his caliber could perform such a feat—retracting already-released palm energy mid-strike.
Yet, in doing so, he left a glaring opening.
[Hah!]
The old man immediately seized the moment, pouring a mountain-like force of palm energy into Baek Mu-seong's flank.
It was the very same Lion Muni Seal that had once caved in the old man's ribs.
KWAANG!
A deafening explosion sent plumes of dust billowing in all directions.
Yet Baek Mu-seong stood firm, his body radiating a faint golden light.
Rather than dodging—knowing the unit members behind him would suffer—he had summoned the Vajra Indestructible Body Art and taken the blow head-on.
[Haah!]
Unfazed, the old man rained down a relentless barrage of fist techniques upon Baek Mu-seong's body.
Shaolin's Hundred-Step Divine Fist.
Oong! Oong!
With each strike, the golden glow around Baek Mu-seong resonated like a temple bell, until—
KUOONG!
The old man was hurled backward.
The stronger the enemy's force, the greater the Vajra Indestructible Body Art rebounded it.
No matter what technique the old man employed, he could not kill Baek Mu-seong.
[Khat!]
Frustrated, the old man bared his fangs and began gnashing at Baek Mu-seong.
"Hmph."
Baek Mu-seong scoffed.
At its Grand Perfection, the Vajra Indestructible Body Art could repel even Divine Weapons.
The old man's attacks were nothing more than an itch.
[Kahahaha!]
Yet, after a prolonged bout of biting—saliva flying—the old man suddenly burst into mad laughter, as if victorious.
"Have you lost your mind?"
Baek Mu-seong spread his Dragon Claw Hand once more, ruthlessly targeting the old man's pressure points.
The old man's movements were too swift—he needed to subdue him with the Seizing and Grasping Technique.
Zing! Zing!
But something astonishing happened.
Each time Baek Mu-seong's Dragon Claw Hand grazed the old man's body, a golden light erupted from him.
Vajra Indestructible Body Art.
One of Shaolin's supreme martial arts had manifested in the old man in an instant.
Zing! Zing!
Baek Mu-seong poured all his strength into his Dragon Claw Hand, yet—
As if the old man had mastered the Vajra Indestructible Body Art to Grand Perfection, he effortlessly deflected strikes that carried the might of a peerless divine blade.
'This is impossible.'
No matter how many eccentric masters existed in the world, how could someone perfectly replicate another's martial arts in an instant?
Had Baek Mu-seong been an ordinary warrior, he would have surrendered and fled before this absurdity.
But he was a disciple of the Buddha Honored One, and he knew the greatness of Shaolin's martial arts too well.
"That can't be."
Finally, as if realizing something, he nodded.
"No matter how skilled a master is, they cannot instantly mimic and execute our sect's techniques."
He had noticed the thick saliva smeared over the scratches on his body.
"You're injecting poison into wounds to seize control of the mind—creating hallucinations."
Oong.
The moment he channeled his internal power, wisps of white smoke began rising from his body.
Sssk—sssk—
To confirm whether the old man's saliva had introduced poisonous or malign qi into his system, he pushed his true qi to its limit.
[Hah!]
The old man didn't waste the moment.
With a guttural cry, he closed the distance in a flash—
And drove his razor-sharp nails straight into Baek Mu-seong's heart.
'Shit!'
Though Baek Mu-seong possessed immense martial prowess and battle experience, he had never faced a master with such bizarre abilities.
Tchak!
Reacting to the lightning-fast ambush, he deployed the Tiger-Fang Seizing-Tiger Form of the Dragon Claw Hand, snatching the old man's wrist like a viper.
"Kgh—!"
But the old man's strength defied reason.
[Heh heh heh...]
With a grotesque laugh, the old man exerted force—slowly pushing through the grip of the Tiger-Fang Seizing-Tiger Form, his arm inching forward.
Even though Baek Mu-seong had seized his wrist with a claw technique capable of piercing steel, the old man showed no injury. Instead, his nails dug into Baek Mu-seong's heart.
Skreeek—
Just as the old man's claws tore through fabric, poised to carve out his heart—
SWISH!
A blade darker than night shot through the air with a sharp sound of breaking air, piercing the old man's side.
Thwak!
The old man twisted away instantly—but the sword, as if alive, pursued his movements and launched another attack.
"Sword Control by Qi?"
Just as Baek Mu-seong was making a startled expression at the sight—
Thud.
A white shadow descended from the sky beside him. It was Bu Eun-seol.
"Brother Baek."
"How did you—"
When Baek Mu-seong asked in surprise, Bu Eun-seol, who had been manipulating the sword with his internal energy, replied:
"It's not because of poison or saliva."
"What?"
"This entire village is his Domain."
As Bu Eun-seol pointed to the ground, Baek Mu-seong tilted his head in confusion.
"Domain?"
It was an unfamiliar term.
But a master like Bu Eun-seol wouldn't spout nonsense.
Unable to detect anything unusual no matter how hard he looked, Baek Mu-seong invoked the Dharma Gate Secret Formula of the Buddha-Seeing Method, a secret technique of the Prajna Zen Skill, to sharpen his vision.
Then, he felt something—as if faint black smoke was rising from the ground.
It was seeping out from the corpses of the dead villagers.
'Such an ability...'
Baek Mu-seong couldn't hide his astonishment.
He had assumed the old man had injected poison.
That an unknown power was flowing from the dead corpses, forming a vast Domain, was something he had never even dreamed of.
"Some kind of sorcery, then?"
"I don't know if it's sorcery or not, but it seems he's using the people he killed as Sacrifices... allowing him to exert his power within a certain area."
"Domain, huh..."
The term "Domain" was somewhat unfamiliar to those of the Murim.
Baek Mu-seong stared at the old man with eyes mixed with shock and bewilderment.
"If we don't eliminate this Killing Ghost for good, countless innocents will continue to die."
This Killing Ghost could harness special power from the corpses of his victims—or from the very areas where he committed slaughter—
And the more people he killed, the more uncontrollable that power would grow.
What if they failed to finish him off here and now?
Later, the Martial Alliance might have to mobilize the Seven Great Battle Groups just to exterminate him.
CRACK!
At that moment, the old man violently swiped at the Ink Soul Sword Bu Eun-seol had launched, striking it away with his nails.
Whoosh— Thud!
The deflected sword flew back and settled naturally into Bu Eun-seol's grip.
"Hmm."
Bu Eun-seol glanced at the glow of True Qi enveloping the Ink Soul Sword and nodded.
Unlike Baek Mu-seong's attacks, the sword remained completely unaffected by the energy the old man was unleashing.
It wasn't because the Ink Soul Sword itself was extraordinary—but because he had wrapped it entirely in True Qi to execute the Sword Control by Qi technique.
"Brother Baek. Envelop your entire body in a layer of True Qi. It seems you can break free from the strange power he's displaying that way."
Baek Mu-seong also nodded after seeing the glow around the sword in Bu Eun-seol's hand.
Huuuung...
Immediately, he drew upon the Prajna Zen Skill and spread his True Qi outward.
A circular radiance flowed out, and his body felt lighter—the old man's movements now clear to his eyes.
"Leave him to me."
"I'll assist."
"I'm not trying to monopolize the credit—just stand back for now."
With those brief words, Baek Mu-seong shot forward, unleashing a barrage of Palm Art strikes toward the old man.
BOOOOM!
The sheer force was overwhelming as a master like Baek Mu-seong unleashed a waterfall of Martial Forms in rapid succession.
Ziiing!
The old man attempted to manipulate Baek Mu-seong using the energy rising from the ground, but with True Qi shielding him, it was useless.
Unlike before, the old man could no longer display that mysterious ability to mimic martial techniques.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Struck three times in succession, the old man was sent flying more than thirty meters back.
[Heh heh heh. Impressive.]
Rising again, the old man suddenly spoke—in a low, youthful man's voice.
Crack—
At the same time, the sound of bones shifting echoed from his withered body, and in an instant, his frame transformed into one of solid muscle.
Creaaak.
Finally, even his sagging skin tightened, and before they knew it, he had taken on the appearance of a powerfully built man.
With snow-white hair fluttering and violet pupils gleaming, he looked like a white ghost manifested in human form.
"That must be the Killing Ghost's true form."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Baek Mu-seong joked:
"Frankly, this is better. When he was an old man, I felt a little hesitant to strike."
[Hmph.]
Now in the form of a young man, the Earthly Killing Star spoke in a voice deeper and rougher than before.
[One's a disciple of Shaolin, and the other uses some bizarre mixed martial arts... I see the Martial Alliance sent you.]
"I heard you were locked up for life in Yang Seol's prison."
Bu Eun-seol stroked his chin as if intrigued.
"Did you learn some Taoist Arts in there?"
[So you've met that wretched girl, Yang Seol.]
The Earthly Killing Star laughed coldly.
[That vicious little wretch. She kept me imprisoned, spouting nonsense about 'protecting the Murim' and whatnot.]
"Not an incorrect statement. A man who brutally slaughters even innocent villagers."
[Don't make me laugh. That brazen wench lied through her teeth.]
The Earthly Killing Star's eyes flashed.
[The Yangseol Clan are spawn of the Demon. They've captured not just this old man but other members of the One Hundred and Eight Stars for their research.]
Despite inhabiting a young man's body, he still referred to himself as "this old man."
He must truly be ancient in reality.
"Research?"
[Indeed. Most likely seeking to steal all their powers.]
As these utterly unexpected words spilled forth, Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
The Yangseol Clan was said to refrain from intervening in Murim affairs to avoid repeating the Baekri Clan's mistakes.
Yet they'd captured not just the Earthly Killing Star but other Stars for research?
[This old man intends to destroy that vile Yangseol Clan. Hence the unavoidable need to grow stronger.]
"What sophistry. 'Unavoidable' slaughter of innocents?"
[Say what you will. Even if I must become a demon myself, I'll slaughter every last one of those Yangseol bastards.]
As the Earthly Killing Star grew agitated, violet radiance erupted from his entire body, shooting skyward.
'So he does have a method to conceal his energy.'
Bu Eun-seol's hawk-like eyes narrowed as he observed the energy soaring to the heavens.
'Did I truly misread Heaven's Will?'
Was it because of the Earthly Killing Star's words?
Bu Eun-seol now found Yang Seol-rin's motives deeply suspect.
"Enough talk."
Just then, Baek Mu-seong glared coldly at the Earthly Killing Star, his voice dripping with frost.
"This fiend slaughtered not just Murim warriors but every villager here. If we entertain his silver tongue, our resolve may waver."
A strange thought struck Bu Eun-seol.
The matters concerning the Yangseol Clan and the One Hundred and Eight Stars were secrets unknown even to the Dragon Coil Hall's lord or Baek Mu-seong.
Having heard such revelations, Baek Mu-seong should have questioned their meaning.
Yet without batting an eye, he simply urged execution.
'Wait—Brother Baek is the Buddhist Venerable's disciple. Perhaps he knows of the Yangseol Clan and the Stars.'
As Bu Eun-seol shook his head slightly—
[Heh. As expected of Shaolin's disciple—quite the glib liar.]
The Earthly Killing Star scoffed through his nose.
[First I'll slaughter you all to vent my pent-up rage!]
When the killer raised his hand, the black energy seeping from corpses scattered across the battlefield began draining into the earth.
The thick, viscous energy burrowed underground until—
Thwip! SHINK!
It suddenly erupted in whip-like tendrils, lashing toward Baek Mu-seong, Bu Eun-seol, and the surrounding unit members.
The Earthly Killing Star could not only use the power from his victims' corpses to hinder movement or mimic martial techniques—
By using the earth as a medium, he could also manifest razor-sharp Sword Qi to directly attack.
"Scatter!"
At Baek Mu-seong's command, the unit members frantically employed movement techniques to evade the fog-like assault.
But the energy pursued them like living creatures.
"Agh!"
"Ghk!"
While Bu Eun-seol and Baek Mu-seong dodged with agile footwork, slower unit members lost limbs.
"Haaap!"
Baek Mu-seong unleashed successive Shaolin Supreme Arts techniques, attempting to disperse the black fog's energy.
[Useless.]
The Earthly Killing Star chuckled darkly.
[Hundred-Spirit Earthly Killing Energy cannot be nullified by any force.]
When struck, the black energy scattered like mist—only to instantly solidify into blade-sharp power.
The killer too wielded strength transcending conventional martial arts.
WHOOSH!
The Hundred-Spirit Energy moved with predatory intelligence, attacking relentlessly.
Though Baek Mu-seong desperately blocked, pure martial arts alone couldn't destroy it.
"Urk!"
"Ghhk!"
Meanwhile, the energy speared through two more unit members' shoulders and arms like skewers.
No matter how powerfully they struck, the Hundred-Spirit Energy phased through all attacks.
"Retreat from this village!"
Baek Mu-seong finally shouted at his men.
"You'll only die pointlessly here. That's an order."
Their skills would hinder rather than help.
Understanding, the unit members nodded and immediately withdrew.
[No escape.]
But the Earthly Killing Star sealed all exits, spreading his lethal energy.
FWOOOSH!
The fleeing warriors found themselves trapped within a massive prison of Hundred-Spirit Energy.
[For Shaolin's disciple, you're disappointingly weak.]
Watching the panicked unit members, the Earthly Killing Star clicked his tongue at Baek Mu-seong.
["Your martial arts contain remarkably weak Buddhist power."]
All Buddhist martial disciplines naturally incorporate Buddhist spiritual energy.
This holds true even for Shaolin's Seventy-Two Supreme Arts.
Yet the martial techniques Baek Mu-seong deployed contained only the faintest traces of this sacred power.
Buddhist martial arts demand extreme emotional restraint and a tranquil spirit-mind.
Though Baek Mu-seong had deeply mastered exceptional Buddhist techniques, he regrettably failed to restrain his feelings toward Gongson Dan-gyeong.
Now he harbored ardent longing for her—essentially lovesick.
With his heart burning fiercely, craving affection...
The intrinsic power of Buddhist martial arts couldn't properly manifest in his techniques.
["Time to wrap this up."]
As the Earthly Killing Star slowly curled his outstretched fingers, the spreading Hundred-Spirit Earthly Killing Energy likewise began contracting.
"Ughh!"
"Aaagh!"
Unit members impaled by the razor-sharp energy shrieked horribly.
"Wait!"
Baek Mu-seong rushed toward them to help.
Sshhk! Thud.
Just then, Bu Eun-seol drew Ink Soul Sword and blocked the cascading black energy.
"Brother Baek. Evacuate the unit members. I'll handle this."
Bu Eun-seol raised his sword, voice low.
"Don't worry. I have means to counter his sorcery."
After a brief hesitation, Baek Mu-seong glanced at the unit members gasping for life and nodded gravely.
"Understood."
He bit his lip.
"Hold on! I'll return!"
Whoosh!
Immediately harnessing Riding the Qi and Ascending the Wind, he carried the injured away.
'The Two Spirit Energies work.'
As Baek Mu-seong departed, Bu Eun-seol observed Ink Soul Sword with newfound composure.
Testing his Water Essence Divine Qi confirmed his expectations—
The Hundred-Spirit Earthly Killing Energy, which dispersed like fog when met with brute force, could be severed as easily as paper.
'So this is why they sought the Four Spirit Energies...'
The Infinite Realm had researched artificial methods to create them, even kidnapping Noe Bi-hon's son for cruel experiments.
Did the Three Realms develop artificial dantians precisely to counter entities like the Earthly Killing Star emerging in Murim?
Were they... trying to protect Murim from the One Hundred and Eight Stars?
["Hoh."]
The Earthly Killing Star exhaled in amusement, studying Bu Eun-seol.
["For a Martial Alliance grunt, you've got some hidden cards."]
Yet he seemed oblivious to the Water Essence Divine Qi imbued in Ink Soul Sword, tilting his head quizzically.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed.
'He mustn't discover I possess the Two Spirit Energies yet.'
His instincts screamed—
The Earthly Killing Star hadn't revealed his full strength either. Concealed techniques remained.
Thus, he must hide the Two Spirit Energies until the perfect opportunity arose.
"Does Yang Seol's faction hold other Stars besides you?"
According to the killer's earlier words—
Yang Seol's faction was capturing Stars to harness their full power through imprisonment and experimentation.
Contrary to legends, they operated covertly within Murim.
Which meant... they might already have confined a significant portion of the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
["Naturally. We've seized every Star worth exploiting."]
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed at the reply.
'Then she lied.'
His mind accelerated to light-speed.
Conventionally, if one of two people lied, the other presumably told the truth—
'No. Both could be lying.'
But Bu Eun-seol's perspective differed.
The Earthly Killing Star's truth didn't automatically make Yang Seol's words false.
Both could be deceiving him.
"Where is Yang Seol's faction located?"
Bu Eun-seol demanded.
"Where are they?"
Understanding the implication, the killer erupted in sinister laughter.
["Heh heh heh. You're amusing."]
"Speak."
Crimson light flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"Then I'll spare your neck and send you to them."
["HAHAHA!"]
The Earthly Killing Star nodded.
["Fine. I'll tell you."]
As he answered, imperceptible qi stirred—
Sshhk!
A black, razor-sharp force cannonballed toward Bu Eun-seol's torso.
BOOM!
The blast hurled Bu Eun-seol about eighteen meters back—
Splurch!
Right into waiting tendrils of inky energy that surged like blade-storms from behind, swallowing him whole.
Within the dust cloud loomed—
Bu Eun-seol's silhouette, impaled by spear-like strands of Hundred-Spirit Earthly Killing Energy.
["HAHA!"]
Baring fangs, the Earthly Killing Star cackled.
Whoosh.
But as the dust cleared with the breeze, his triumphant grin froze into ice.
That energy could pierce foot-thick steel like tofu—
Yet it had only torn through Bu Eun-seol's robe before stopping dead.