Chapter 612
Tsk-tsk-tsch!
He immediately headed back toward the village through the secret passageway.
Since the bell had been struck, it seemed all the key figures of the Azure River Realm had already evacuated.
Those remaining in the village—
They were only those whose bodies were still bound, those who hadn't yet completed the brainwashing process.
'Either they failed the brainwashing, or they weren't worth taking.'
Schwak!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Willful True Binding.
Forcing apart the tightly bound bodies, he created a large gap between them.
Though there was no physical restraint binding their bodies, they clung to each other like magnets.
It was likely a psychological restraint imposed through brainwashing.
Thus, merely widening the space between them was enough—like loosening a tightly knotted rope—to gradually unravel the brainwashing that had dominated them.
"..."
The moment their bodies were forcibly separated, their expressions turned momentarily blank.
In this state, they had spent anywhere from a year to over five years.
But now, with the restraints on their bodies and spirit and mind suddenly released, the time they had endured flashed through their minds like a revolving lantern.
"Go."
Bu Eun-seol spoke as he observed those freed from the brainwashing.
"However, those who have committed evil deeds—or those who harbor the intent to do so—must think carefully once more."
His gaze grew utterly stern.
"If you reveal your wicked nature again, you'll only be abducted once more by the Azure River Realm."
Half of them were villains with vicious dispositions.
Among them, some had already committed crimes, while others had not yet crossed that line.
If they were to commit evil deeds again? He wanted them to understand that this same ordeal could repeat itself.
Rustle—
Trembling in fear, the villains hastily turned and fled the village.
In contrast, the kind-hearted good people either expressed their gratitude to Bu Eun-seol one by one or bowed their heads and departed slowly.
Suddenly, Bu Eun-seol grew curious.
Had this experience led the villains to repent?
Or would they fail to suppress their murderous instincts and commit evil once more?
No one but a god could know the probability of that.
But no one had the right to manipulate or restrain another's life.
Yet the Azure River Realm would never stop such acts... In the end, they were a faction that could never coexist with others.
"I must save her."
Bu Eun-seol turned urgently.
The Azure River Realm was one of the Three Realms, an organization that rarely revealed itself.
No matter how many intelligence networks he mobilized, finding her whereabouts would be difficult.
Even if he scoured every inch of the Central Plains one hundred eighty thousand li wide, the chances of locating her would be vanishingly slim.
"Wait."
A sudden thought flashed through his mind.
Si Gyeong-rim, too, had his martial prowess amplified through brainwashing, becoming a Special Divine Rank of the Azure River Realm.
And the boy who had successfully undergone brainwashing earlier—his appearance had changed.
Not to his own face, but to that of someone he had killed.
'Perhaps—'
Tsk-tsch!
Bu Eun-seol returned to the secret passageway and examined Si Gyeong-rim's lifeless face.
Though he had drawn his last breath, his face remained unchanged.
But Bu Eun-seol was an undertaker who had spent half his life preparing the dead.
Even in death, he noticed something odd—the lack of change in the skin of his face.
Shlik.
Drawing his sword, he lightly sliced along the jawline of the corpse.
With a shlik, a new face hidden beneath was revealed.
As it turned out, he had been wearing an exquisitely crafted human skin mask made from real human skin.
"This makes no sense."
During the battle, Si Gyeong-rim had altered his face once more. How could such a thing happen if he was wearing a mask?
Shlik.
When the human skin mask was fully removed, the face of an utterly ordinary middle-aged man was exposed.
"Sama Gwang?"
Bu Eun-seol recognized him immediately.
The man was one of Jiangnan's wealthiest magnates, a philanthropist known for donating vast sums to the needy.
The master of Small Fortune Manor—Sama Gwang.
"Then—"
Having found a clue, Bu Eun-seol immediately left the village.
Bang!
Returning straight to Chengdu, he issued a covert order through the Death Soul Squad's intelligence network.
―Compile a complete list of every place Sama Gwang had donated to during that time.
After giving the order, Bu Eun-seol rested briefly at a guest inn.
Less than a day later, a covert operative of the Death Soul Squad discreetly delivered a ledger to his lodgings.
Inside, every donation Sama Gwang had ever made was meticulously recorded.
'Hmm.'
Bu Eun-seol's gaze fixed on an entry midway through the ledger.
Zhenjiang Prefecture, Martial Valley Temple.
A small temple located deep in Sichuan, far removed from the Jiangnan region.
Sama Gwang had made inexplicably large donations to this obscure temple—enough to support five or six ordinary temples.
'This is the place.'
Bu Eun-seol could sense it.
That the Azure River Realm's facility was secretly hidden within Martial Valley Temple.
'Underground, most likely.'
Every Three Realms facility so far had followed that pattern.
They didn't establish their facilities in hidden places, but rather—
Beneath locations so ordinary no one would suspect a thing, they carved out secret spaces.
Exiting the guest inn, Bu Eun-seol raced day and night for three days straight, arriving near Martial Valley Temple.
Though he hadn't drunk a single drop of water in that time, his eyes remained clear, and a faint glow emanated from his entire body.
His internal energy had grown so profound that even four days and nights without rest would not fatigue him.
Tap.
Finally arriving at Martial Valley Temple, Bu Eun-seol stealthily infiltrated and surveyed the interior.
The temple grounds were eerily quiet, with barely any monks in sight.
Despite receiving enormous annual donations from Sama Gwang, the temple itself was shabby, and no worshippers could be seen.
'Is it inside?'
He carefully examined every corner of the meditation hall, but he couldn't sense the presence of any monks.
'There must be a secret passage somewhere.'
Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched, he found no trace of a hidden mechanism.
Moreover, the temple was so vast that there were far too many places to check.
'No. They wouldn't have built the mechanism inside the temple itself.'
Unlike the Infinite Realm or the Return to Unity Realm, the Azure River Realm likely had no need for a massive laboratory.
In that case, there was no reason to construct a complex mechanism within the temple.
They would have simply hidden the passage in a secluded place where people rarely ventured.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Bu Eun-seol headed toward the pagoda at the very back of the temple.
It was a stupa housing the relics of past monks—a forbidden area where outsiders were not permitted to enter.
'Strange.'
Even as he circled the stupa, he heard no sound of machinery.
Moreover, the stupa was shorter than an adult's height, making it impossible to conceal any passageway inside.
But then, a sudden thought struck him.
'Shaolin.'
Shaolin, too, had hidden a secret mechanism within their Pagoda Forest.
And the key to activating it had been something utterly ordinary—a pebble lying on the ground.
Tap.
Bu Eun-seol began testing each pebble one by one until he found one that sounded hollow inside.
After examining it for a long moment, he pressed down on it with the Thousand-Catty Drop.
Rumble—
A faint mechanical sound echoed from an unexpected direction.
Had a door just appeared on the side of the building opposite the stupa?
'Ingenious.'
Bu Eun-seol approached the newly revealed door.
But it was incredibly sturdy and heavy—
Just like the secret mechanisms within the Martial Alliance, it couldn't be opened with ordinary strength.
Bu Eun-seol gathered his internal energy as he stared at the door.
A surge of energy rippled outward, and the tightly sealed iron gate began to tremble slightly.
Groooan—
With the sound of machinery, the massive iron door finally swung open.
Inside, a long passage stretched endlessly into the darkness.
Unconcerned about potential traps, Bu Eun-seol activated his movement technique and sprinted forward.
Even after running for over half a quarter-hour, there was still no end in sight.
Judging by the distance, this secret facility must have been built dozens of li away from Martial Valley Temple.
Finally, he reached the end of the passage—only to find another enormous iron gate.
When he cautiously opened it, an unexpected sight greeted him.
"This place—"
Before him lay the very same forest he had passed through long ago—
Back when he was still the Ten Demonic Heir, journeying to the Demon Hall to be recognized by the Demonic Heavenly Emperor as a successor candidate.
Beyond the forest stood a pavilion that bore an uncanny resemblance to the Hidden Demon Pavilion, where Bu Eun-seol currently resided.
'This is no illusion.'
He was immune to all forms of Mind-Ensnaring Art or deception.
Which meant someone had deliberately recreated these places.
Past the pavilion, a path led up a mountain.
The peak was so high that it vanished into the clouds.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol activated his movement technique and ascended in a single leap.
At the summit, the entire world sprawled beneath him.
And at the cliff's edge stood a white-clad woman, gazing at the view.
He recognized her from behind.
It was A-yeon.
"A-yeon Miss."
Bu Eun-seol called her name carefully.
Slowly, A-yeon—who had been staring blankly at the sky—turned around.
Her face was slightly thinner than before, but her beauty remained unchanged.
Yet her eyes seemed distant, as if fixed on some faraway place beyond reality.
"You've come."
Upon seeing Bu Eun-seol, A-yeon smiled—calm yet bright.
"I'm surprised. To think I'd truly meet you here."
"You knew I would come?"
"Yes."
Though puzzled, Bu Eun-seol pressed on.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was watching that."
A-yeon pointed at a faint rainbow in the distance.
"I always thought the rainbow that appears there was beautiful. So I decided to go down and see it."
She laughed softly.
"But when I got there, the rainbow was clearer—yet the beautiful scenery I saw from up here had vanished."
Her words were strange, but Bu Eun-seol answered plainly.
"Isn't it natural for the view to change depending on where you stand?"
"I wanted to see that vivid rainbow while still standing in this beautiful scenery."
"That's like chasing a mirage. If you approach one place, won't you inevitably grow distant from another?"
"Hahaha."
A-yeon smiled playfully—uncharacteristically so.
"Talking with you is always so amusing."
"..."
"Your face still carries the freshness of youth, yet your words and actions hold the insight and profundity of an old man who's lived eighty years."
"Miss."
Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened with concern.
"Are you alright?"
"With what?"
"To be honest, I feared you had been abducted by the Three Realms."
"Abducted? No."
A-yeon shook her head.
"I simply had no choice. It was like fate."
Her voice was clear, but her gaze was unfocused—
As if she were lost in deep contemplation, like someone intoxicated.
"So you joined the Three Realms of your own will?"
"I wanted to grow stronger."
A-yeon turned her head, looking down at the mist-shrouded cliffs below.
"I couldn't forget. I thought... if I became stronger, maybe I could. If my martial prowess improved, perhaps it would fade..."
"What are you talking about?"
"You."
When she turned back, her smile was sorrowful.
"The image of you, lodged in my mind."
"Miss."
"But it didn't work. No matter what I did, I couldn't forget. And I couldn't return as the successor of the Sword Pavilion."
A-yeon was a woman of the Mystic Path.
Yet she could neither forget Bu Eun-seol nor bind herself to him.
In the end, the only path left to her was the same as that of her master, Ok Yu-ha—
To suffer and yearn for a love she could never have.
To realize that nothing remained for her but to become a cripple.
A-yeon wore a self-deprecating smile.
"I wandered the Rivers and Lakes aimlessly, unable to return to the Sword Pavilion. But the agony and pain only grew worse..."
She paused briefly, her gaze lifting to the distant sky.
"In the end, I believed that only death could end my suffering, so I climbed this cliff to take my own life."
Rather than spend her life consumed by longing, A-yeon had chosen to take her own fate into her hands.
'Did she truly care for me that deeply?'
Bu Eun-seol drew a slow, deep breath.
Love could sometimes resemble hatred.
Held onto for too long, it not only brought suffering—it ultimately destroyed the one who clung to it.
"Then, a masked man called out to me. He was a Special Divine Rank of the Three Realms, who had been watching me for a long time."
The rest of the story needed no telling.
The Three Realms had always preyed upon people's deepest desires and ambitions, using them to manipulate and control.
"I see."
Having grasped the full situation, Bu Eun-seol lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
"You need not apologize."
A-yeon spoke flatly.
"People all hold different values as their highest ideal. Some seek success, others crave authority..."
Then she smiled faintly.
"I simply held love as my highest ideal."
She was the successor of the Sword Pavilion.
Naturally, her life's greatest goal should have been to become the Sword Pavilion Master and attain the Sword Dao.
But meeting Bu Eun-seol had upended her entire existence.
All she had wanted was for their love to be realized.
The Sword Dao, the title of Sword Pavilion Master—none of it held even a sliver of worth to her anymore.
"So you threw yourself into the Azure River Realm?"
"I only wanted the power to erase my suffering. That was all."
A-yeon's voice carried the sorrow of a mournful melody.
But Bu Eun-seol had to remain composed.
If Si Gyeong-rim's words were true, she had already become a Special Divine Rank of the Azure River Realm.
"Then, does another personality lurk within your mind?"
"Correct. You already knew everything before coming here."
"A-yeon. Until now, the Three Realms have manipulated the Murim as they pleased."
Bu Eun-seol spoke earnestly.
"To pledge yourself to them is to condone their evil deeds."
"You're the one who misunderstands."
A-yeon shook her head.
"They are doing good work. They seek out the wicked, enlighten them, then place their personalities within virtuous souls to neutralize their malevolent nature."
"No one has the right to brainwash and kill those who have yet to commit crimes."
"How idealistic."
A-yeon gazed at Bu Eun-seol with distant eyes.
"You were always like this. A figure of the Demonic Path, yet choosing the righteous path. Never tolerating injustice."
Deep emotion welled in her pupils.
"Perhaps that's why I fell for you."
Bu Eun-seol shifted the topic.
"So, have you fully assimilated with the personality of an evil person?"
"Assimilated isn't quite the word. She is also a part of me."
"Then what do you intend to do now?"
"I thought I might confess to you."
Without hesitation, A-yeon made a bold declaration—something she would never have dared in the past.
"Let us leave the Murim and live happily together."
She smiled sweetly.
"Then I won't kill you."
She meant it.
If even someone like Si Gyeong-rim, after undergoing the Great Art, had become a master capable of matching Bu Eun-seol in swordplay—
Then if someone like A-yeon succeeded in the Great Art, her martial prowess would surpass all imagination.
"You know better than anyone that's impossible."
"Why?"
"I have too much left to do."
"Then after all your tasks are complete?"
A-yeon's gaze burned with intensity.
"Once you've finished everything, will you marry me and spend the rest of your life with me?"
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol wore a dazed expression.
Could he truly finish everything?
Would he even live that long?
And if he did—could he really spend his life with A-yeon?
Even he didn't know.
But one thing was certain—
Affection could never be forced.
"That won't be possible."
"Why? You were engaged to both Young Palace Master Yeon and Lord Dan at the same time."
A-yeon's voice rose slightly in agitation.
"Why am I the only one you refuse?"
"Young lady, those were not true betrothals."
"Men are always like that. Can a promise between a man and a woman be broken at any time?"
"I was not the one who made that promise."
His engagements with Yeon So-ha and Dan So-ok—
They had merely been solutions to fend off the relentless romantic misfortunes thrust upon him, methods the women themselves had proposed.
"If you doubt me, ask them yourself."
"Fine."
Surprisingly, A-yeon's expression softened again.
"Not that your opinion matters anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I will subdue you and keep you by my side for the rest of your life."
"Do you really think you can defeat me?"
"Of course."
A-yeon smirked.
"Even if the highest seat of the Four Gods and Seven Kings came running now, I could still win."
Bu Eun-seol sighed deeply.
A-yeon was not the type to make such bold declarations or boasts.
The personality of a great evil, implanted by the Azure River Realm, had already taken root in her mind.
"A-yeon."
Bu Eun-seol pleaded with her once more.
"Please reconsider and return to the Sword Pavilion. Given time, we can find a way to undo the brainwashing."
"Why should I go back to that stifling place and live like a prisoner?"
A-yeon spoke in a low voice.
"I am no longer a disciple of the Mystic Path."
"Miss."
"Choose."
As if drawing upon her Internal Power, a faint fog began to rise around her entire body.
"Will you come with me willingly and spend the rest of your life together? Or will you be subdued by force and become my doll?"
A-yeon's expression remained as pure and composed as ever.
But within her mind, the wicked personality was skillfully manipulating her.