Chapter 601
Those of Hall Leader rank and above possessed the authority to select their most outstanding subordinates.
And once a year, they could grant permission to access the first floor of the Pratyekabuddha Hall.
But Bu Eun-seol could say with certainty.
That a tightfisted miser like Yuk Jang-cheon would never easily bestow such a benefit.
"The first floor of the Pratyekabuddha Hall?"
Seated in his office, Yuk Jang-cheon tilted his head as he listened to Bu Eun-seol's request.
"With your martial arts, even the second floor would leave you wanting. Why on earth would you need to enter the first floor?"
Even as he spoke, he found it strange and pressed further.
"Are you planning to instruct the Unit Members?"
"No."
Bu Eun-seol calmly laid out the words he had prepared.
"After traveling through the Martial World recently, I've come to keenly realize the deficiencies in my foundational martial studies."
"Foundations?"
"Indeed. To progress further, I believe I need to research not advanced martial studies, but the fundamentals."
"Hmm."
"Is it not possible?"
From Yuk Jang-cheon's perspective, sending one subordinate to the first floor of the Pratyekabuddha Hall was no trouble at all.
Moreover, the person known as Seon-u Jin was undeniably a core combat asset within the Hall of Ascending Martial. Granting such a request should have been effortless.
Yet, he withheld an immediate answer, deliberately dragging out the moment.
'He wants me to beg more desperately.'
Bu Eun-seol suppressed the disgust rising within.
Yuk Jang-cheon possessed the worst traits of a superior.
First, he treated his subordinates like consumables. Second, unless absolute loyalty was demonstrated, he would discard them like worn-out shoes.
'First, he wants me to make a desperate plea.'
"I beg of you, Hall Leader."
Bu Eun-seol adopted an earnest expression.
At this, Yuk Jang-cheon stroked his chin as if he couldn't ignore such a sincere request.
"I, too, would like to grant this."
He wore a troubled expression.
"But there's the matter of fairness, you see."
In terms of fairness, Bu Eun-seol had undoubtedly contributed greatly.
He had every qualification to enter the Pratyekabuddha Hall, and the other Hall Leaders would likely raise no objections.
Despite knowing this well, Yuk Jang-cheon was making unnecessary excuses.
'Second, he wants provocation.'
"It's not merely to assess my martial prowess."
Bu Eun-seol spoke in a low voice.
"When I last entered the Pratyekabuddha Hall, the Hidden Forest Pavilion Master questioned me."
"About what?"
"He asked what martial arts I had learned."
"So he was trying to gauge the extent of your martial achievements."
"That's correct."
Bu Eun-seol's voice grew even quieter.
"At the time, I found the Pavilion Master's intentions highly suspicious. It was strange enough that he sought out a mere Second-grade Commander like me to pry into such matters."
Everything he had said so far was true.
But from Yuk Jang-cheon's perspective, he couldn't take it at face value.
Mok Do-in was a figure affiliated with the Elders' Hall and was close to Yuk Cheong-a.
"True, it is unusual for the Pavilion Master to seek out a Second-grade Commander. But... wasn't it because you had accomplished something significant?"
"If the Pavilion Master were to question me again about what I've learned this time... surely it would imply ulterior motives."
"Hmm."
Yuk Jang-cheon swallowed his thoughts.
"Well. It is odd that someone like Mok Do-in would be curious about what you've learned."
He absolutely had to become the leader of the Martial Heaven Unit. If there was even a hint of instability, it needed to be eliminated swiftly.
"Very well."
In the end, Yuk Jang-cheon nodded readily.
"However, with my authority, I can only grant permission for a single day."
"A day is more than enough. Thank you."
"No need for thanks."
A faint smile played on Yuk Jang-cheon's lips.
"Your success is my success."
Having milked the moment for all it was worth, he laughed.
"I'll file the request. You may go at once."
The first floor of the Pratyekabuddha Hall.
A place where not only martial texts but foundational texts of all disciplines were stored, with countless books filling the shelves beyond measure.
And without stringent conditions.
As a floor where leaders of various organizations could send their subordinates to enhance their martial arts, numerous martial artists were diligently reading.
Bu Eun-seol, newly granted permission, moved freely across the first floor.
'Fortunately, Mok Do-in seems to be upstairs.'
Mok Do-in, who managed the Pratyekabuddha Hall, primarily oversaw the third floor.
Unless there was a special reason, he rarely descended to the lower floors.
'If there's a passage leading underground, it wouldn't be openly installed... There must be some hidden mechanism.'
If the words of Yong Myeong, the Dragon Coil Hall's lord, were true, then there had to be a secret passage leading beneath the Pratyekabuddha Hall.
"Then it's most likely either the training room or the tea room."
The first floor of the Pratyekabuddha Hall was designed to accommodate a large number of martial artists at once, so it provided two convenient facilities.
First, the training room, where one could meditate in silence or quietly refine their internal energy.
And second, the tea room, where one could partake of fasting pills, clear water, or tea.
If there was a hidden mechanism leading below, it would most likely be in one of these two areas—separate from the bookshelves.
"The training room, perhaps?"
Passing by the shelves, Bu Eun-seol turned the corner at the very end of the hall.
There, a long, wide corridor stretched before him, lined with multiple rooms on either side. These were the training rooms.
"Good."
All ten of the firmly shut training rooms were empty.
Drawing upon his Empty Mind Spirit Perception, Bu Eun-seol meticulously examined each one.
Yet, no trace of any mechanism could be found.
"Then—"
Stepping back outside, he headed toward the tea room at the opposite end.
There were five in total.
But no matter how carefully he searched, there was still no sign of a hidden passage.
Had the Lord of the Dragon Coil Hall been delirious and spouting nonsense?
"No. Impossible."
Even if the lord's mind had been clouded, he wouldn't have fabricated a story about the Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan manual.
He had definitely been here in the Pratyekabuddha Hall—and had experienced something.
"Wait. Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan... If it's Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan—"
As he recalled the layout of the hall, a strange thought struck him.
Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan.
Even if one had mastered its final principle, this sword technique was said to produce three hundred and ninety-five variations in a single stroke—a feat practically impossible to execute.
If someone did unleash such a technique in a single motion...
Even an arm forged with Vajra Indestructibility would shatter or twist beyond use.
"If someone had secretly infiltrated the Pratyekabuddha Hall to steal the manual..."
Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes, lost in thought.
No matter how skilled the master...
The Pratyekabuddha Hall stood right beside the Heaven and Earth Pavilion, the most heavily guarded location in the Martial Alliance, with the enigmatic Daoist Mok—a master of unfathomable skill—constantly in residence.
How could anyone have infiltrated it undetected?
"Then perhaps they didn't come to steal the manual—but to hide it?"
His mind raced.
Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan was a sword technique as formidable as the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
There was no way such a precious manual would be carelessly stored on the second floor's shelves.
Even if it had been kept on the third floor, its terrifying sword studies would be untouchable to anyone who hadn't reached the Extreme Heaven Realm.
So what if...
What if the Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan technique had never been stored in the Pratyekabuddha Hall to begin with?
What if someone had instead tried to secretly hide it here?
"If that's the case... then the culprit would have entered openly."
In the past, he might have assumed that a master capable of infiltrating the hall undetected existed.
But from Baekri Mu-jo, he had learned that Daoist Mok was a mysterious master who taught demonic sword arts to the Great Righteous Experts.
Meaning Daoist Mok himself was a monstrously powerful expert, comparable to the division leaders.
Few could deceive his senses and slip inside unnoticed.
Therefore, whoever brought the Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan here must have entered officially—boldly and without concealment.
"Then—"
Then the person the Lord of the Dragon Coil Hall had fought over the manual...
Was either someone who had rendered such immense service to the Martial Alliance that they were granted access to the third floor to store it—
Or someone of sufficiently high rank to freely enter the third floor at any time.
"It's possible."
Rubbing his temples, Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath.
He had been thinking so hard that his head throbbed.
As his thoughts tangled, he lifted his gaze to the ceiling—which seemed at least 30 feet high.
"..."
Then, a strange realization struck him.
A typical book repository wouldn't need such an absurdly high ceiling.
Sure, a lofty ceiling gave a sense of openness, but—
This was a three-story building. There was no practical reason to make the first floor's ceiling this tall.
"Besides, the stairway to the upper floors is separate. You can't even look down on the first floor's layout from above."
Suddenly, he wanted to see the first floor's layout from above.
But if he used Lightness Skill to leap up now, he'd immediately draw attention.
"Hmm."
After a moment of contemplation, his eyes gleamed.
There was a way to analyze the structure without jumping.
Walking back to the central bookshelves, Bu Eun-seol—
Thud.
As he pulled a book from the shelf, a martial arts manual tucked away in the corner fell to the floor.
Swish! Thump.
With a nimble motion, he pretended to quickly pick it up while subtly rolling himself across the floor.
Hmmmm.
A faint vibration spread outward in concentric circles from where the book had struck the ground.
Simultaneously, an image of the first-floor bookshelves in the Pratyekabuddha Hall began forming in Bu Eun-seol's mind.
He had activated Resonance Mind Eye.
"This can't be..."
His eyes widened.
Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan was a sword technique that produced three hundred and ninety-five variations.
And the number of bookshelves inside—wasn't it exactly three hundred and ninety-five as well?
"This is no coincidence."
Closing his eyes, Bu Eun-seol meticulously examined the structure he had discerned through Resonance Mind Eye.
The interior of the Pratyekabuddha Hall's first floor was a square-shaped space filled with bookshelves arranged at fixed intervals, interspersed with various furnishings and large pillars.
"If viewed from above..."
He mentally connected the bookshelves, furnishings, and pillars with lines.
The resulting pattern resembled nothing less than a diagram of the Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan technique itself.
"Someone deliberately arranged this to mirror the variations of the sword technique."
With this realization, Bu Eun-seol swiftly moved between the shelves, inspecting them.
"If I follow the variations of Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan..."
Though he didn't know the final form of the technique, having forcibly memorized its variations allowed him to locate the expected endpoint—the presumed conclusion of the sequence.
"A battle formation?"
The spot led him to a bookshelf storing battle formation manuals, a section no martial artist ever visited.
"So that's it."
Martial artists of the Martial Alliance typically learned formations from their affiliated factions.
Thus, there was little reason for anyone to study battle formation manuals here in the Pratyekabuddha Hall.
Moreover, the shelves holding these manuals were unusually large, with exceptionally wide side panels—unlike the compact shelves for martial arts manuals.
It seemed intentional, as if to accommodate the bulk of formation manuals in one place, given how few sought them.
But to Bu Eun-seol's eyes, this was clearly a deliberate arrangement to conceal a hidden passage.
Zzzzzt.
Spreading his Empty Mind Spirit Perception, he scrutinized the side panel of the shelf.
"There it is."
He found a slightly protruding bulge at the very bottom of the shelf.
It appeared to be a natural warp in the wood used for construction, but in reality, it was a hidden button to activate a mechanism.
Click. Ssshh.
Pressing it firmly caused the side panel to slide open, revealing a space just large enough for a person to enter.
The mechanism was so exquisitely crafted that despite the sizable opening, it produced no sound or vibration whatsoever.
Ssshh.
After a moment, the door silently closed on its own.
"I can't just go in blindly now."
Having already wandered around the Pratyekabuddha Hall, Bu Eun-seol was familiar to those inside.
If he disappeared for too long, someone might notice something amiss.
"A quarter of an hour."
This was the duration he had calculated—the time it would take for people to realize his absence and grow suspicious.
About fifteen minutes.
Any longer than that, and a martial artist might report his disappearance to the pavilion's administrator.
Click.
He pressed the hidden button again, reopening the mechanism.
"Wait."
A thought struck him, and he swiftly pulled out the thickest battle formation manual from the shelf—Seven Stars Diagram Explained—tucking it into his robes.
Ssshh.
Stepping into the hidden space, the door closed behind him, and immediately, dizziness washed over him.
The narrow compartment was descending at high speed.
Hmmmm.
A low hum accompanied the reopening of the shelf's side panel.
Before him stretched a narrow passageway, ending at a solid iron gate.
Proceeding cautiously toward it—
Clunk. Hmmmm.
Suddenly, a transparent light burst from the ceiling, followed by crushing pressure.
It was a trap embedded with hundreds of Repelling Field Stones.
"Even stronger than the ones installed in the Martial Emperor Secret Vault."
There were over five hundred stones here.
At this level, anyone with less than three centuries of internal energy would be instantly crushed to death.
"They really don't want intruders getting through."
Hmmmm.
Bu Eun-seol gazed up at the stones, then channeled his internal energy to resist the pressure.
His internal energy surpassed five hundred years in cultivation. Even under the pressure of hundreds of Repelling Field Stones, he could walk forward without the slightest difficulty.
'A keyhole too?'
Upon reaching the iron gate at the end of the passageway, he spotted a distinctly star-shaped keyhole, unlike any ordinary one.
'This is nothing.'
Bu Eun-seol pressed his index finger against the keyhole.
As he channeled the Glacier Thousand Streams Art infused with Water Essence Divine Qi, a solid ice key formed instantly within the lock.
Click.
The door opened, revealing a square stone chamber over fifty feet wide and long.
Above, a Seven-Colored Night Pearl was embedded in the ceiling, casting light downward—yet strangely, the temperature inside was even colder than the harshest midwinter freeze.
"That is—"
Bu Eun-seol's gaze locked onto the transparent coffin placed at the center of the stone chamber.
"The Myriad-Year Ice Jade Coffin?"
It was none other than the priceless treasure of the Corpse Handling Sect—the Myriad-Year Ice Jade Coffin.
The reason the chamber was so bitterly cold was due to the coffin itself, radiating an overwhelming frigid energy.
"Why is the Ice Jade Coffin here?"
The Myriad-Year Ice Jade Coffin had only one purpose—to preserve corpses from decay by harnessing the Extreme Yin Qi generated within.
So why was it installed in a hidden mechanism beneath the Pratyekabuddha Hall?
"Don't tell me—"
A foreboding sensation crept over Bu Eun-seol as he carefully examined the transparent surface of the coffin.
Thud.
For a moment, his vision darkened, and a shock like a blow to the back of his skull struck him.
"This can't be."
The corpse enshrined within the Myriad-Year Ice Jade Coffin—
It was none other than the man who had attended the Hero Stele inauguration ceremony for the Bullet King, Bukgung Ryeong, just days prior.
The Number One of the Righteous Path—Jeong Cheon-je, Shin Do-mu-bi.
Bu Eun-seol doubted his own eyes.
"How in the world—"
The shock was so immense that the corners of his eyes trembled uncontrollably.
He immediately suppressed the trembling in his body with his internal energy and steadied his mind using the counter-extreme heart-calming technique.
"Huuu—"
Once his mind had settled, Bu Eun-seol scrutinized the face of the corpse within the coffin.
No matter how many times he checked, that face undeniably belonged to the Martial Alliance Leader—Jeong Cheon-je, Shin Do-mu-bi.
"Then... the current Martial Alliance Leader is a fake?"
His empty gaze fixed on the void before him.
If the corpse enshrined here was truly Jeong Cheon-je... then who was the Martial Alliance Leader who had appeared before?
Did that mean the Divine Calculator wasn't the Martial Alliance Leader after all?
"His martial prowess had truly reached the Martial Extreme Realm."
The Divine Calculator he had encountered in Shaolin's secret passageway—
He had deliberately suppressed his martial presence, but there was no doubt he had attained the Martial Extreme Realm.
Moreover, the Martial Alliance Leader who had appeared at Bukgung Ryeong's Hero Stele ceremony had also displayed overwhelming martial prowess and aura.
Who in this world could perfectly mimic the Martial Alliance Leader's aura?
"Then... the one the Pavilion Lord fought wasn't Jeong Cheon-je?"
If that was the case—someone who wasn't Jeong Cheon-je, yet possessed strength equal to, if not surpassing, his... had fought Ak Mu-ryeong?
'No, the timing might be different.'
Shin Do-mu-bi was called Jeong Cheon-je because he was hailed as the "Heaven of the Righteous Path"—
A being of unrivaled, transcendent martial prowess, with no equal in the world.
There was no way two such figures could exist simultaneously.
Even if the corpse in this coffin was the Martial Alliance Leader, the time of death was unknown... so it was possible he had been the real one when he fought the Langya Pavilion Lord, Ak Mu-ryeong.
"Could it be an exquisitely crafted fake corpse?"
Bu Eun-seol approached the coffin again, examining the corpse in detail.
It bore the exact likeness of Jeong Cheon-je from the Hero Stele ceremony—and it was no fake.
"I'll open it to confirm."
Even if he opened the lid, the corpse wouldn't decay immediately.
Bu Eun-seol intended to lift the lid of the Myriad-Year Ice Jade Coffin to determine Jeong Cheon-je's cause of death.
"There's no opening."
Yet no matter where he looked, there was no visible seam to pry open.
The coffin itself was like transparent ice, without the slightest gap.
But since the corpse had been placed inside—
There must be some mechanism to open it.
"...Nothing."
No matter how thoroughly he searched, he found no trace of a mechanism.
Puzzled, Bu Eun-seol began running his hands over the coffin's surface.
Then, on its side, he detected the faintest unevenness—almost imperceptible.
"Eternal First..."
It was an inscription so fine it was nearly invisible, carved as thinly as a strand of hair.
Unconsciously, his fingers brushed over the character for "Eternal" engraved on the coffin.
Rumble—
A low mechanical sound echoed as a small door materialized on the left wall.
"A hidden chamber?"
With a perplexed expression, Bu Eun-seol stepped inside.
It was a storage space filled with various items—among them, an assortment of clothing.
Even garments that a Copyist might wear.