Chapter 60
How far is the boundary between life and death?
Bu Eun-seol believed that boundary was as thin as the edge of a sword.
Every time blades crossed, life and death were decided. And that difference was always just the width of a single, razor-sharp edge.
"Haa. Haa."
Gripping his sword with one hand, Bu Eun-seol gasped for breath.
The once tightly packed bookshelves had all toppled over, and torn pages fluttered in every direction.
With each clash, blood spilled from Bu Eun-seol's body, and the threads of life unraveled from the assassins'.
"Haa. Haa."
Having unleashed the Heaven Conquering Blade Ultimate Stance and Practical Sword Art repeatedly and simultaneously, Bu Eun-seol's breathing was ragged.
He had crossed countless death lines before, but never had a battle dragged on this long.
The blood pooling on the floor could have belonged to friend or foe—he no longer knew.
His internal energy was depleted, his dantian aching to the point of numbness, and the hundred-fold refined steel sword in his hand was now chipped beyond recognition.
"What kind of monster...?"
The remaining assassins hesitated.
Drenched in blood, Bu Eun-seol swayed as if about to collapse—yet like a weighted doll, he kept rising, scattering sword strokes like seeds in the wind.
"You..."
Their words were cut short.
Staggering, Bu Eun-seol unleashed another flurry of sword strokes, swift as lightning.
"Keugh—!"
A low scream escaped as the last of the assassins crumpled.
'Is this the end?'
No more enemies rushed at him, though he had cut down wave after wave.
But less than two hours had passed. Closing his eyes, Bu Eun-seol pushed his Way of the Beast to its utmost limit.
'No... something's still here.'
It was closer to intuition than thought.
Though all the assassins had fallen... an eerie presence lingered, like an unseen demon baring its fangs in the dark.
Just as he stood motionless, holding his breath for about a quarter of an hour—
Kuuuung—!
The hidden chamber door burst open, and Dan So-ok rushed out.
Unable to bear the silence any longer, she had thrown open the door, driven by worry and fear.
"Are you alright?!"
The moment she spotted Bu Eun-seol, drenched in blood, and hurried toward him—
"Step back."
His eyes snapped open, and he barred her path, raising his sword upright between them.
"Impressive. You detected my presence."
A low voice echoed as a black shadow gradually emerged from the fluttering papers.
The man wore strange robes that shimmered like polished ink, his long hair split into two loose strands.
Swoosh.
Bu Eun-seol felt an odd pressure just looking at him.
From behind the man's back, it seemed as if some massive creature might burst forth at any moment—an unfamiliar, unsettling weight in the air.
"Hmm."
The man tilted his head, studying Bu Eun-seol with a low hum.
"Unexpected. You weren't here before."
From those words, Bu Eun-seol deduced one fact:
They had planned this for a long time—and back then, he hadn't been in Yueyang.
'I arrived six months ago. This scheme was set in motion long before that.'
As if reading his thoughts, the man grinned.
"Correct. Had someone like you been here, our plans might have shifted slightly."
His voice carried not just confidence, but an effortless ease.
If this man acted, the result would be earth-shaking—enough to startle heaven and quake the earth.
"Even now, if you step aside... you might still have a future."
Smugly curling his lips, the man suddenly raised a fist.
"Mind you, I'm not suggesting this because I have no chance of winning!"
CRACK!
He clenched his fist, and in that instant, a powerful shockwave rippled outward in concentric circles, shoving Bu Eun-seol back slightly.
The man had gathered an immense internal force in his palm and released it in one burst, revealing the profound depths of his internal energy realm.
"Well? Will you move now?"
Still grinning, the man's gaze shifted past Bu Eun-seol to So-ok.
"All you have to do is take one step to the side. Do that, and no harm will come to you."
Bu Eun-seol was already riddled with wounds from fighting over a hundred assassins. His vision blurred from blood loss.
Thud.
Yet he straightened his back further.
"You want me to step aside?"
Slowly, he began drawing up his internal energy once more.
These wounds, this crisis—compared to what he had endured before, they were nothing.
From the haze of his dimming vision, a crimson light bloomed once more.
"Not a single step farther!"
WHOOSH—!
The energy he summoned surged like a gale, scattering the man's hair wildly.
"Oh-ho..."
Realizing Bu Eun-seol's internal energy realm rivaled his own, the man shook his head.
"A pity."
Then, slowly, he drew his sword from his waist.
It was an unusual blade.
Narrower than a standard longsword by half an inch, yet a full foot longer. The steel lacked any metallic sheen, as though all light had been drained from it.
It was an unusual stance.
The man didn't point his longsword directly at Bu Eun-seol. Instead, he raised it horizontally to his forehead as if blocking sunlight pouring from the heavens.
"I'll yield the first move."
This man was no assassin.
An assassin's blade exists solely as an instrument of murder—they don't bother with concepts like first strikes or martial forms.
Whoosh.
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol extended his sword.
A slow, seemingly powerless strike, yet one whose Sword Path and martial forms defied prediction—one of the sword strokes from the Practical Sword Art he'd honed through countless real battles.
Swish!
Just as Bu Eun-seol's altered strike in midair was about to sever the man's wrist—
CRACK!
An illusion surged over him, as if a colossal wave were crashing down.
Clang. Clang.
Bu Eun-seol aborted his attack and swung his sword to protect his vital points. Yet even so, he felt an overwhelming pressure, as though his body were being torn apart.
'Heavy Sword Art!'
The blade of the longsword in his grip bent unnaturally, as if about to snap.
The man before him was wielding a slender, elongated sword with the devastating force of the Heavy Sword Technique.
'I can't clash directly.'
The man had clearly trained in heavy swordsmanship for years—even his lightest movements exuded crushing pressure. If their blades collided, his weapon would shatter instantly.
Zzzzing.
Bu Eun-seol retreated a step, whipping his sword behind his back into an unorthodox stance.
A terrifying energy bloomed around him, instantly neutralizing the man's martial forms.
The Heaven Conquering Blade Ultimate Stance.
"Quite an extraordinary technique you've got there!"
Amplifying the destructive force of his heavy sword, the man flicked his blade repeatedly, probing for an opening in Bu Eun-seol's defense.
Slashing, thrusting, cleaving—his forms grazed Bu Eun-seol's skin, but the young man remained unfazed, deflecting each heavy sword strike with the Heaven Conquering Blade.
"You bastard! So you were stalling for time all along!"
The man finally realized—Bu Eun-seol wasn't aiming for victory, but delay. He raised his sword skyward.
"Let's see you block this!"
In an instant, annihilating pressure descended, threatening to split Bu Eun-seol apart.
This was the pinnacle of heavy sword technique—impossible to counter with ordinary means.
'I was waiting for this!'
A brilliant light flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
The truth was, he too could wield the Heavy Sword Art. The reason he'd stayed on the defensive was to provoke the man into committing to a single, overwhelming strike.
Clang! CRASH!
With his right hand, Bu Eun-seol unleashed a devastating heavy sword technique of his own—while his left drew the assassin's blade sheathed at his back.
Divided Mind Utilization Art.
The moment the man unleashed his crushing pressure, Bu Eun-seol countered—heavy sword in his right, Fast Sword in his left.
BOOM!
The explosive impact sent both fighters flying in opposite directions.
"Ugh."
Blood streamed from the man's neck, though fortunately, it hadn't been pierced.
At the instant Bu Eun-seol's Fast Sword sought to stab through his throat, the man had expanded his heavy sword's pressure field—shattering both the longsword and assassin's blade into fragments.
"..."
Though he'd barely defended himself, blood now poured freely from his neck.
But the wound was shallow—not life-threatening.
"You bastard. You deliberately baited me into overcommitting for that strike."
The man nodded in grudging admiration, yet his pupils burned with icy killing intent.
"You're someone who must never be left alive."
Shhhhk.
For the first time, the man raised his sword into middle guard.
Oooooom...
A gale-force wind began swirling around the blade, as though some hidden power of the world were converging into it.
"Let's see you block this too."
Baring his teeth in a vicious grin, the man began his swing—
RUMBLE.
—when the distant sky echoed with a sound like a waterfall crashing down.
The Sound of Breaking Air—the telltale sign of a supreme master employing the Light Body Technique.
'Umun Hwang!'
The man's eyes flashed wide.
Umun Hwang was a peerless master, not an ounce inferior to himself.
A fledgling like Bu Eun-seol could be killed anytime. But facing Umun Hwang now would be disastrous.
Oooooom...
Distracted, his Mental Power wavered—the energy gathered in his blade dimmed. The outcome was decided.
"Lucky bastard."
Slowly sheathing his sword, the man glared down at Bu Eun-seol.
"I'll kill you slowly another day."
Bu Eun-seol met his gaze with frozen, unblinking eyes.
"Those were my words."
"Heh."
The man chuckled darkly, murmuring in a voice like creeping frost:
"Look forward to it."
With those final words, his figure gradually melted into the shadows.
Bu Eun-seol stared unflinchingly until the man vanished—
Thunk.
—then drove the broken assassin's blade into the ground.
Drip. Drip.
Simultaneously, a thin trail of crimson blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
'To unleash such pressure with just the Starting Stance...!'
Before even executing his sword technique, the man had generated tremendous force through his opening stance alone—inflicting internal injuries on Bu Eun-seol.
"Teacher Ho!"
Dan So-ok, who had been standing behind him, rushed to support him as he collapsed.
"Are you alright?"
Of course he was. Internal injuries? These were nothing.
Bu Eun-seol meant to say this.
But his lips wouldn't part. Because in Dan So-ok's eyes, fixed intently on him, tears had welled up, trembling on the brink of falling.
"You're alright, right? You can't die."
Dan So-ok's body was trembling faintly.
As if afraid that Bu Eun-seol, gasping for breath, might stop breathing at any moment—that his eyes might close forever.
'Would she grieve if I died?'
A ridiculous thought.
The Jewel in the Palm of the Demons-Control Department Director, a prodigy marked by the Demon Hall.
Why would someone of the most exalted status in the martial world mourn the death of a mere Slaughter-Seeking Squad operative?
'A pointless thought.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been staring at the tears pooling in Dan So-ok's eyes, shook his head slightly and rose to his feet.
"Bu Eun-seol."
"Huh?"
"That's my name."
"Eun-seol... Bu Eun-seol."
Eun-seol.
A name that suited his pale, almost white skin.
And like his sorrow-laden eyes, it was a name tinged with melancholy—yet beautiful in its own way.
"I see."
Dan So-ok wiped her tears and smiled faintly.
"I'll remember it."
Then she stared straight at Bu Eun-seol.
Her eyes brimmed with emotion, and a flush spread across her cheeks.
Sensing something unusual, Bu Eun-seol averted his gaze, but that pair of eyes stubbornly followed him.
Dan So-ok's eyes, filled with unspoken affection.
CRACK!
With the sound of thunder splitting the air, a gray shadow landed in front of the old bookstore. It was Umun Hwang.
WHOOSH!
And following close behind, martial artists clad in dark gray uniforms landed in succession behind Umun Hwang. Their gleaming eyes in the darkness burned like torches.
Likely martial artists directly under the Demons-Control Department.
"So-ok! Are you alright?"
Umun Hwang, who had been rushing forward, halted abruptly.
Because Dan So-ok, drenched in dust and blood, was pressed tightly against Bu Eun-seol, staring back at him.
"Huh? Y-yes."
Snapping back to her senses, Dan So-ok pulled away from Bu Eun-seol's embrace and stood up calmly.
"It's... thanks to Teacher Ho protecting me that—"
BANG!
Just then, the bookstore door burst open again with a force that nearly shattered it, and a booming voice echoed through the space.
"Eighteen! We've come to help!"
Bu Eun-seol turned his head to see Sang-ryang and Ma-un stumbling in, their clothes in tatters and splattered with blood.
"We held the defense as best we could, but a few managed to slip past! So we chased them down and took care of them all—"
Sang-ryang and Ma-un, who had marched in with bravado, clamped their mouths shut the moment they took in the scene inside the bookstore.
Because piled up like a mountain were the corpses of assassins—several times more than the ones they had killed.
"Not just 'a few,' I see. Hahaha."
"Indeed. We were certain we'd only let a handful escape. Hahaha."
As Sang-ryang and Ma-un exchanged awkward smiles,
"You've truly endured much. Thank you."
Umun Hwang, having shed all pride, gripped Bu Eun-seol's shoulder.
Had he listened to Bu Eun-seol's warning earlier, this danger would never have arisen.
And if Bu Eun-seol hadn't fought with his life on the line just now... Dan So-ok would already be a cold corpse.
"It was my duty."
A stiff reply, devoid of even a sliver of emotion.
Had this been the Umun Hwang of before, he would have flared up in rage at such a response.
'Truly a man's man. Taciturn, too.'
But now, even Bu Eun-seol's blunt tone struck him as steadfast and reliable.
"Have their identities been uncovered?"
"Not at all. We couldn't even tell if they were from the orthodox or unorthodox factions, let alone which sect."
Seeing Bu Eun-seol's surprised expression, Umun Hwang spoke bitterly.
"The headquarters' masters examined their weapons and clothing down to the last thread, but not a single clue could be found. They were prepared from the start to leave no trail."
Gnashing his teeth, he continued.
"We'll return to headquarters and root out those responsible for this. And then..."
Though his final words were nearly inaudible, the implication was clear.
'A storm of blood will sweep through the martial world again.'
The Demons-Control Department Director was a figure as fearsome as the sect leaders of the Demonic Path Ten Gates.
And Dan So-ok, whom the Elders' Hall was pushing as chief strategist, wielded immense influence even within the Demon Hall...
In the end, those who had orchestrated this would pay the price they deserved.
"You two have also endured much."
When Dan So-ok smiled warmly at the Twin Demons, they grinned broadly and bowed their heads.
"You flatter us too much!"
"Indeed. We merely did what was required."
"Uncle, these gentlemen are from the Yueyang Branch—"
"I know."
Umun Hwang cut her off coldly and guided Dan So-ok toward the carriage.
"Let's return now."
Ma-un scowled.
"Damn it, can't that old man at least say something nice? Just walks off like it's nothing."
Sang-ryang chuckled and shook his head.
"Didn't you hear the young lady's answer? She's not one to make empty promises. We can expect good news."
As Dan So-ok boarded the carriage, she kept stealing glances at Bu Eun-seol through the window.
But Umun Hwang misunderstood her demeanor and said,
"The Gong Twin Demons are also affiliated with the Yueyang Branch. There's no need to treat this incident as anything special."
"Yes, Uncle."
Though she answered, Dan So-ok's gaze remained fixed on Bu Eun-seol's face as he stood amidst the ruins of the old bookstore.