Chapter 634
Bu Eun-seol gazed at the distant sky with hollow eyes.
Bastards harboring such convictions.
What exactly do they think they're preserving by standing guard?
"If that's the logic we're following, then I should've spent my whole life quietly cleaning corpses and never needed to set foot in this heartless martial world."
[...]
"So the Infinite Realm was just a gathering of lunatics after all."
Bu Eun-seol muttered with a desolate expression.
"Had I known the Infinite Realm was a den of madmen—what they were trying to do, what purpose they had—I wouldn't have even been curious."
[Bu Eun-seol.]
Then the Heavenly Venerable spoke in a low voice.
[You don't understand.]
"No, I understand well enough."
[Do you even know that the Murim has faced destruction multiple times before?]
An unexpected statement emerged from the Heavenly Venerable's shadow.
[This isn't the first time. The Murim has repeated cycles of destruction until now.]
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed.
The Murim has faced destruction multiple times?
[The descendants who survived those destructions rebuilt the Murim and established factions like our realm.]
Beyond the Three Realms, the Murim had mysterious factions like the Yangseol Family and the Ancient Sword Forest. Without exception, they all guarded against the Murim's destruction.
So if the Heavenly Venerable's words were true—
The Murim had already faced destruction multiple times, and the descendants who survived had established these factions?
[Our realm has been striving to prevent the repetition of that brutal history.]
"What does that matter?"
An intense light surged from Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
"If this world can only survive by sacrificing others, then it deserves to be destroyed hundreds of times over."
[Truly a dangerous mindset.]
The Heavenly Venerable shook his head.
[I thought you'd understand by now.]
He clicked his tongue as if disappointed.
In his eyes, Bu Eun-seol was also one of the chosen—a being capable of rewriting the Murim's history, just like them.
Yet he had chosen the path of destruction out of mere compassion?
The Heavenly Venerable couldn't help but feel genuine regret.
"I don't know where the Supreme Emperor is, but the Infinite Realm ends today."
[Heh. As if.]
The Heavenly Venerable chuckled darkly.
[If external forces could destroy us, our realm would have perished long ago.]
As Bu Eun-seol prepared to attack immediately, the Heavenly Venerable turned to the Spirit-Sensing Venerable, one of the Special Divine Rank standing nearby.
[Kill all the patients connected to the Murim Realm, the commercial world, and the government officials in the main forest. Do it in this bastard's name.]
The Heavenly Venerable's black shadow rippled.
[You must have anticipated this when you decided to oppose our realm—that the patients in the main forest would all become hostages.]
From the Heavenly Venerable's shadow, a crescent-shaped eye formed.
[I'm curious how you'll solve this. After all, we don't accept patients past the age of twenty in the main forest.]
Most patients in the Heavenly Grace Medicine Forest were youths or boys under twenty—adults were not admitted.
Even the few adults inside were only a select handful, like chief stewards or physicians.
Thus, infiltrating elite masters was impossible.
"Heavenly Venerable."
At that moment, the Spirit-Sensing Venerable, who had been bowing his head, spoke in a low voice.
"It seems they've infiltrated exceptionally skilled boys as patients."
When he raised his head, his eyes were clouded white.
He was likely blind.
[They began moving the moment you left—destroying the mechanisms within the main forest and exposing hidden locations.]
Listening to this, Bu Eun-seol felt a strange thought arise.
This place and the Heavenly Grace Medicine Forest were at least thousands of li apart.
Yet how could they instantly know what was happening inside?
"That white-eyed bastard must possess the Thousand-Mile Eye, allowing him to see and hear from great distances."
Bu Eun-seol let out an exclamation as realization struck.
"So that's how the Three Realms' intelligence network surpassed ours."
The Heavenly Venerable ignored Bu Eun-seol's muttering and stared intently at the Spirit-Sensing Venerable.
He was likely issuing orders via telepathic transmission.
[Boy masters, you say...]
The Heavenly Venerable murmured as he turned his gaze back to Bu Eun-seol.
[They couldn't have already trained the boys from Langya Pavilion into usable masters... Most likely, they deployed those children brought in by Wicked Incense.]
Shockingly, he could also see through Langya Pavilion's affairs with perfect clarity.
Which meant that even Langya Pavilion... ultimately had the ears and eyes of the Three Realms.
[But the countless patients admitted to the main forest have long been consuming Human Blossoms.]
A white mouth formed within the Heavenly Venerable's shadow as he stared at Bu Eun-seol.
[They are descendants of key figures from the Murim, the commercial world, and the government office. They're not at a level where they can simply be rescued and left alone.]
His voice was icy.
[If you surrender now, I'll spare them. But if you continue opposing our realm, they will soon die of poisoning.]
The second bargaining chip of the Infinite Realm.
It was the lives of the countless patients they had treated.
Even if they were rescued from Cheonhye Yakrim, without the Human Blossoms, they could not survive.
Especially if they were the children of high-ranking officials—they absolutely could not be touched recklessly.
"Surely you didn't think I was unaware of that."
As Bu Eun-seol spoke leisurely, the Heavenly Venerable turned his head.
At that, the white light flowing from the Spirit-Sensing Venerable's eyes grew even more intense.
"They all appear to have been freed from their Human Blossom addiction."
[What did you say?]
For the first time, the Heavenly Venerable reacted strongly.
[Are you saying the Demon Hall has developed an antidote to cure Human Blossom addiction? Impossible.]
Because he had kept his ears open even within the Martial Alliance,
he knew that the Jongri Family had managed to create some form of antidote for the Human Blossoms.
But the Jongri Family despised the Demonic Path to the extreme.
And Jongri Sa-hyeon was absolutely not the kind of person who would hand over his life's work to the Heir of the Demon Hall.
Just how had this bastard managed to create an antidote for the Human Blossoms in the meantime?
"You should really break that habit of speaking so confidently."
Bu Eun-seol's gaze, fixed on the Heavenly Venerable, turned icy.
"You'll suffer for it even in hell."
[Heh heh heh.]
The Heavenly Venerable let out a low laugh before nodding to the Special Divine Rank members around him.
[Preserve this venerable's Dharma Body carefully in the secret place. I will deal with this one myself.]
The Special Divine Rank members bowed their heads and attempted to carry the glass tube into the secret passage.
Swoosh!
But before them, a whip-like surge of black True Qi lashed out.
Before they knew it, Bu Eun-seol had unleashed the Willful True Binding, blocking their path.
[So you truly came alone.]
From within the Heavenly Venerable's shadow, a pair of sharp eyes formed.
[Otherwise, you wouldn't have been able to slip past our surveillance and arrive here unnoticed.]
"One is more than enough to sever your head."
Bu Eun-seol flicked his fingers toward the Heavenly Venerable's shadow.
"Come at me. No regrets."
What made Cheonhye Yakrim—no, the Infinite Realm—terrifying was not just their overwhelming martial force and influence.
It was the fact that they were fundamentally untouchable.
But Bu Eun-seol had shattered all their bargaining chips.
All that remained was the Heavenly Venerable and Bu Eun-seol.
A one-on-one battle was inevitable.
[Well, killing you will settle everything anyway.]
Even if all the Infinite Realm's bargaining chips were destroyed, everything would end if Bu Eun-seol died.
The Heavenly Venerable intended to resolve it all in the simplest way possible.
[Let's take it slow.]
The Heavenly Venerable smiled faintly.
[There's still plenty of time to kill you.]
Shing—
Bu Eun-seol immediately drew Ink Soul Sword.
Back in the Plains of Chaoyang, when he had first encountered the Heavenly Venerable,
he had nearly been defeated without even lifting a finger.
Had the Buddhist Venerable not appeared at that moment, he would have been swallowed by death instantly.
Since that day, Bu Eun-seol had mentally fought the Heavenly Venerable hundreds of times in preparation.
And every single time, those battles ended in his defeat.
Because he hadn't known the full extent of the Heavenly Venerable's abilities.
But after meeting Bi-yeon and fighting Baekri Mu-jo, who remained embedded in his mind,
Bu Eun-seol realized one thing:
He had already experienced the Heavenly Venerable's terrifying techniques once, and they were deeply engraved in his Spirit and Mind.
If he calmly reflected, he could surely find a way to dismantle them.
Entering meditation once more, Bu Eun-seol calmly recalled the events of the Plains of Chaoyang.
At the time, the Heavenly Venerable had resolved to kill him, unleashing the True Void to drag Bu Eun-seol into the Realm of Death—a mysterious technique.
But back then, that technique had been easily shattered by the Buddhist Venerable's Divine Power and Buddha's Radiance.
Later, Bu Eun-seol belatedly realized that it had not been true death.
[How confident. You must have found a way to break this venerable's techniques.]
Noticing Bu Eun-seol's composed physiological response, the Heavenly Venerable let out an impressed remark.
[Let's see how you fare.]
Swoosh—
At the same moment, Bu Eun-seol's vision darkened.
Once again, the Realm of Death—something he could neither evade nor defend against—engulfed his body.
'It's the same as before.'
Just like when he had been struck by this attack in the Plains of Chaoyang.
An overwhelming force seized him, dragging him into the Realm of Death.
His vision was pitch black, his Spirit and Mind filled with despair, and only the sound of rushing wind filled his ears.
At first, he had believed the destination was death itself.
But after relentlessly studying the Heavenly Venerable's techniques, he realized it was not true death.
'Just like the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.'
Now, facing the Heavenly Venerable's technique once more, Bu Eun-seol grasped its secret perfectly.
Unless one was a Death God who governed death itself,
to bestow death upon another, one must first enter the Realm of Death themselves.
But the Heavenly Venerable had not entered death.
Because, in his own way, he had created a new concept of death.
'He converts the despair he has endured into death and pours it upon his enemies.'
In the past, when the Heavenly Venerable had fallen into Qi Deviation, most of his bodily functions had entered stasis.
Using life force injected from the outside, he controlled shadows, barely sustaining his wretched existence.
In other words, he had already tasted a form of bodily death through Qi Deviation.
He had transformed the pain and despair he endured into a domain-like manifestation of death, pulling his opponents into it.
Sssss—
As Bu Eun-seol entered the Realm of Death created by the Heavenly Venerable, he felt a suffocating agony, as though his breath had been cut off.
The death crafted by the Heavenly Venerable was the complete stasis of the flesh.
His body felt as though it were sinking endlessly into black waters, unable to draw breath.
Not a single finger could twitch, yet his mind remained unnervingly clear.
In such a state, anyone would go mad.
As he descended into the abyss while suffocating, Bu Eun-seol's spirit and mind began preparing to embrace death.
No matter how hard he struggled, his body refused to move. There was no terror greater than this for a living being.
Even his spirit could no longer endure—it was preparing for death.
Shudder.
Gradually, his breath choked off.
Though his eyes were not closed, absolute darkness veiled his vision.
These were not hallucinations—they were real.
In this perfect darkness, he could not breathe, nor move a single finger or toe.
It felt as though he were trapped inside a narrow coffin.
Anyone in such a situation would think of death.
Thump. Thump.
But just as his mind was about to succumb to death,
his body—his heart—instead began beating fiercely.
Even as his spirit prepared for absolute death,
even when he couldn't move a single finger,
even as his breath grew ragged and the terror of darkness seized his mind,
even as he felt pain so intense it threatened to stop his breath—
Bu Eun-seol did not sink into despair and death. Instead, familiar memories began flooding his mind.
—"Eun-seol, I knew you'd do this!"
At the end of this suffocating darkness, where not a finger could move—
'The Corpse Game.'
It was the Corpse Game he had played since childhood with Bu Jan-yang.
A ten-year-old child could survive inside a sealed coffin for roughly eight hours.
Theoretically, half a day was possible.
But with no airflow, breath would gradually choke off, and the crushing blackness would press directly against the body.
Being trapped in a narrow, immobile space inflicted unbearable pain and terror—no matter how courageous the person.
Bu Eun-seol had been no exception.
But after learning breathing techniques from his grandfather,
he had mastered how to control the negative emotion of fear.
And so, the Corpse Game became natural to him.
Creak.
Endless terror, suffocating confinement, and despair assaulted his body—
yet Bu Eun-seol calmly endured it all.
How much time had passed?
The breath that had seemed on the verge of stopping gradually eased, and the despair and fear that had seized his spirit faded away.
Death.
At last, he had overcome the "death" the Heavenly Venerable had poured upon him.
Flash!
A bloody light erupted from Bu Eun-seol as he opened his eyes.
Sssshing—
A sword resonance like the roar of a dragon reverberated, spreading the sensation that time itself had frozen.
The moment he escaped death, he had pinpointed the Heavenly Venerable's weakness and instantly unleashed the Transcendent Meteor Chasing Moon Form.
Whoosh!
The Heavenly Venerable's shadow, struck by the technique, scattered in all directions.
After all, his shadow was merely an existence formed of condensed life force.
It couldn't truly be cut down.
Yet the Heavenly Venerable's shadow staggered as if mortally wounded.
The martial technique he had been so confident was inescapable had been shattered—instead, a fine crack had formed in his spirit and mind.
Moreover, the Heavenly Venerable was but a shadow without a physical body—he had no further means of attack.
[Huh.]
A strange sigh spilled from the flickering shadow of the Heavenly Venerable.
[So you truly are the one destined to oppose me in this world.]
His shadow trembled ceaselessly, as though revealing his unsettled spirit.
"Are you done with your ghostly theatrics now?"
The Heavenly Venerable stared at Bu Eun-seol's composed expression for a long moment.
[...Very well.]
The Heavenly Venerable raised his hand.
At once, the numerous Special Divine Rank members and envoys who had retreated into the walls began emerging once more.
Rumble—
Their numbers were easily over a hundred.
The envoys alone possessed skills that dominated the murim, and the Special Divine Rank members wielded martial arts that transcended the limits of conventional techniques.
Facing them all at once would be no easy feat.
["Bu Eun-seol. I will most certainly kill you."]
Swish!
At the same moment, the Heavenly Venerable's shadows spread outward like a spider's web in all directions.
Thud. Thud.
Simultaneously, the hundred or so Special Divine Rank members and envoys collapsed as if they had made a pact.
Drip, drip, drip.
Suddenly, the black liquid began filling the hemispherical metal section inside the glass tube,
Gush, gush, gush.
until it flooded the entire tube in an instant.
"You thought I'd just stand by and watch?"
Bu Eun-seol immediately swung his Ink Soul Sword toward the glass tube.
Clang!
The tube shattered into fragments.
Yet the black liquid that had filled it remained rigidly fixed in the shape of the tube.
Hiss—
Before long, the black liquid vanished completely, and within its fading remnants, the seated body of the Dreaming One abruptly stood upright.
Using an arcane Great Art, he had absorbed the life force of a hundred individuals in an instant—and with it, began moving his physical form.
[The method to move this body is nearly perfected.]
The Heavenly Venerable's skin was completely desiccated, like dried bark. As he moved and spoke, the sight was indescribably grotesque.
[Though without the life force of those at least at the Special Divine Rank... I wouldn't have been able to move at all.]
His voice was no longer the ghostly echo that reverberated from all directions.
It had transformed into a human voice, emerging from vocal cords of flesh.
"You could've just used your subordinates to attack. That would've given you better odds of survival."
Bu Eun-seol's lips curled in a cold sneer.
"Do you really think this creaking body can handle me?"
The Heavenly Venerable's withered lips moved as he stared fixedly at Bu Eun-seol.
[A quarter of an hour is enough. Enough to kill you.]
"So you can move for at least the time it takes to eat a meal, then."
[Heh heh heh. Think what you will.]
Click.
The Heavenly Venerable stepped forward, his body stiff like beef jerky, exuding a dignified presence.
The martial prowess of the Heavenly Venerable, who had returned to his physical form through the Great Art—
Far surpassed that of his shadow state, where he had led Bu Eun-seol to death without lifting a finger.
Slash!
Blades of sharp True Qi erupted from Bu Eun-seol's body, raining down upon the Heavenly Venerable.
It was the Willful True Binding.
[The martial arts of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, I see.]
The Heavenly Venerable waved his left hand as if gripping a massive sphere, and the manifested True Qi scattered like mist in an instant.
Whoosh!
As if anticipating such a technique, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Glacier Thousand Streams Art.
"What a hodgepodge of martial arts."
The icy energy of the Glacier Thousand Streams Art shifted course before it could touch the Heavenly Venerable, pouring instead toward his left flank.
The secret technique of the Daoist tradition—Reversed Heaven and Earth Art—allowed him to freely redirect the flow of all force.
Swoosh!
But Bu Eun-seol, spotting an opening in the stance required to alter the force, closed the distance in an instant and thrust his Ink Soul Sword toward the Heavenly Venerable's throat.
Zing!
Yet before the blade could reach its target, it halted as if blocked by an invisible wall.
[Did you expect an easy victory just because this body is rotting?]
The corners of the Heavenly Venerable's parched lips lifted.
[You're weaker than I thought. Below expectations.]
Flick!
In that instant, the Ink Soul Sword's blade condensed abruptly, releasing dozens of Sword Qi slashes.
Though the Reversed Heaven and Earth Art seemed omnipotent in redirecting force—
In truth, it could only redirect force in one direction at a time.
Recognizing this, Bu Eun-seol employed the principles of Chaotic Sword within the Caged Bird Longing for Clouds technique.
Swish! Swish-swish-swish!
As Bu Eun-seol unleashed Sword Qi in all directions, the Heavenly Venerable thrust out both palms.
At first, only a light gale poured forth, unable to affect the Sword Qi.
Whoosh. Shu-shu-shu. Whooosh!
But gradually, the Palm Energy began accelerating—
Until, in an instant, it transformed into a storm-like force, not just deflecting Bu Eun-seol's Sword Qi but scattering it entirely.
'An unusual martial art.'
Bu Eun-seol unleashed Chaotic Sword once more, baiting the Heavenly Venerable's Palm Technique.
[You're a laughable one.]
The Heavenly Venerable sneered, realizing Bu Eun-seol was studying his martial arts.
[With your life hanging by a thread, you dare to spectate my techniques?]
Crossing his palms erratically into a bud-like shape, the Heavenly Venerable unleashed over thirty palm strikes in an instant.
Some were slow, others heavy.
And whenever Bu Eun-seol countered with Sword Strokes, the Palm Energy abruptly accelerated, piercing his pressure points in a flash.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After taking three direct hits, Bu Eun-seol staggered back.
"Tch."
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes.
'Acceleration?'
Martial arts prioritized stability—every movement's beginning and end should remain consistent.
But the Heavenly Venerable's Palm Technique not only altered its strokes with each moment—
It also accelerated, increasing in speed with every stage.
"The Demon-Subduing Coiling Dragon Palm?"
At Bu Eun-seol's mutter, the Heavenly Venerable smiled faintly.
"You're well-informed for a youngster."
Unbelievably, the martial art the Heavenly Venerable wielded—
Was the supreme technique of the Palm Emperor, one of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars from four hundred years ago, long thought lost: the Demon-Subduing Coiling Dragon Palm.