Chapter 638
Where is the most suitable place to avoid the eyes of the masses?
An uninhabited wasteland untouched by human footsteps? An impenetrable fortress layered with countless Mechanism Formations?
The answer is precisely where the most people gather.
Because in places where ordinary people come and go endlessly, no one ever suspects.
The Infinite Realm, which had long taken root in secrecy within the murim, also exploited this blind spot.
They established Cheonhye Yakrim—the largest and most renowned medicinal forest in the world.
In truth, it was the most atrocious human experimentation site in the world, yet simply because countless people came and went...
And because it was known as a medicinal forest that treated patients, they were able to conceal that truth for a very long time.
Moreover, precisely because it bustled with countless visitors, no one ever realized the truth.
But there is an even more concealed method of hiding one's true base than blending into a crowded place.
It is to make the entrance and the exit different locations.
However, to employ such a method, one must master a secret technique that severs a certain space from the world.
And it comes with a drawback.
Because the severed space is still part of the original space, a large area cannot be hidden.
Tap, tap.
An old man dressed in blue robes entered the bustling marketplace of Chengdu.
People hurriedly coming and going. Merchants spreading mats on the streets to sell their wares.
After wandering through the chaotic marketplace, the old man leaned briefly against a large tree slightly removed from the alley.
Glancing around, the old man—perhaps pleased with the tree's shade—laid out a mat.
Then, he opened the bamboo box strapped to his back and took out a low-legged table and a small sign that read: Nothing Is Unknown.
Click.
After setting up the table, the old man sat down and began waiting for customers.
But no one would come to a fortune teller sitting in an alley far removed from the lively marketplace.
The old man, dozing off with repeated nods, eventually rose from his seat, passed through the marketplace, and left Chengdu.
Yet there was a fact unknown to others: every action the old man had taken until now—from setting up the table to unfolding the tent—
Had never been revealed to the world. They were merely preparatory steps to enter a place completely severed from the present space.
Tap, tap.
Having left Chengdu, the old man walked into a secluded forest where few people tread.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves of trees stretching in all directions, and the air was clear.
But as he approached a massive tree—
The chirping of birds and the rustling of branches in the wind gradually faded away.
Perfect silence.
The closer he got to the great tree, the more the entire world seemed to hold its breath.
"Wooden Buddha."
The old man—no, the Martial Venerable—spoke to the tree in an exceedingly friendly tone.
But there was no response.
"I have something I must ask you. I regret disturbing your serene meditation."
When there was still no reaction, the Martial Venerable finally took out a single shimmering orb from his robes.
It was the very same orb hidden in the earlobe of Shin Do-mu-bi's corpse.
"This was concealed within my brother's earlobe."
Yet still, no answer came.
As the silence persisted, he spoke again.
"May I reveal the means of entering this place to the world?"
With a deep sigh, the Martial Venerable took out a wooden box emitting a mysterious glow.
"Just throwing this into the murim would send people scrambling to find you."
He continued.
"Especially if they learned that Dharma Seeker Mo-ryun left behind a disciple—one with abilities far surpassing his own."
But still, no reaction.
Left with no choice, the Martial Venerable opened the box.
Sssss—
Smoke billowed from within, and the surrounding trees began to wither and twist.
Creak.
Then, near the base of the massive tree before him, the bark split open—
Flicker.
—revealing the distinct pupil of a human eye, stark against the white sclera.
Crackle.
Around the eye, the form of a large Buddha statue took shape before emerging fully from the tree.
Wooden Buddha.
True to its name, an entire Buddha statue carved from wood manifested before the Martial Venerable.
[Martial Venerable, you are truly cruel.]
A low voice resonated from the wooden Buddha.
Like Wisdom-Light Mind Speech, the voice did not reach the ears but pierced directly into the mind.
[How much more suffering must this humble monk endure before you are satisfied?]
In truth, the reason the Martial Venerable could assume another identity—that of the Divine Calculator—and become the Foremost Sage of the Murim...
Was entirely due to the Wooden Buddha, the disciple of Dharma Seeker Mo-ryun.
But because of the Martial Venerable's requests, the Wooden Buddha had repeatedly read and divulged Heaven's Will...
In the end, just like his master, he had fallen victim to the Heavenly Punishment—a divine retribution from the heavens—and had become a living wooden statue.
"But this is a matter of great importance."
The Martial Venerable bowed his head earnestly.
"Answer me. I swear I will never seek you out again."
[You have repeated that lie countless times to maintain your identity as the Divine Calculator.]
At the Wooden Buddha's words, the Martial Venerable lowered his head.
Though everything he had done was to protect the martial world, it was also true that he had contributed to worsening the Wooden Buddha's Heavenly Punishment.
"One last request. Truly the last."
The Martial Venerable spoke with desperation.
"I swear it upon everything I have."
The Wooden Buddha let out a deep sigh.
He knew all too well that the Martial Venerable would not keep his promise.
But the Martial Venerable... held the Divine Key, which allowed him to find the Wooden Buddha no matter where he hid.
There was no escaping his grasp.
"Let me ask once more. What is this? This orb."
At the Martial Venerable's question, the Wooden Buddha sighed and replied:
[It is a Star Fragment. The Three Clans sometimes call it the Boundary-Prosperity Jade.]
The Martial Venerable blinked.
In all his years, he had never heard of something called a Star Fragment.
"You must tell me what it is—and what it is used for."
After a brief silence, the Wooden Buddha spoke again.
[That, I cannot say.]
"Tell me."
[Martial Venerable.]
Crimson blood seeped from the Wooden Buddha's bark-like skin.
[Do I look as though this punishment means nothing to me?]
"It is a necessary sacrifice to save the world. Why can't you understand that?"
The Martial Venerable's pupils burned with an unyielding conviction.
"If I were in your place, I would have endured the pain and told me everything without hesitation."
The Wooden Buddha closed his eyes.
Every person in this world holds their own beliefs, and no one can change another's.
Having abandoned all hope, the Wooden Buddha opened his eyes again and spoke.
[It can alter Heaven's Will.]
"Heaven's Will?"
[Yes.]
As he divulged the secret, fresh blood spilled from the Wooden Buddha's body, and his bark-like skin darkened further.
"You're saying it can alter Heaven's Will."
The Martial Venerable's eyes widened.
"Then... could this orb also conceal or disguise one's innate energy?"
[...]
"Could it be... that my brother is still alive?"
The Wooden Buddha, bleeding profusely, gazed at the Martial Venerable with resentful eyes.
But the Martial Venerable paid no heed and shouted:
"Tell me!"
[I do not know.]
"Why not?"
[Because the Boundary-Prosperity Jade has already been used.]
The Wooden Buddha spoke with difficulty.
[From the moment it was used, Heaven's Will became unreadable. And if one knew how to use the Boundary-Prosperity Jade, they could have also concealed their innate energy.]
The Martial Venerable stared emptily at the distant sky.
"You don't know... is that it?"
It was highly probable that someone had used the Boundary-Prosperity Jade to create Shin Do-mu-bi's corpse and disguise his death.
If so... didn't that mean there was a strong chance his brother was still alive?
Drip... drip...
Meanwhile, blood continued to flow from the Wooden Buddha's body.
Crack... crackle...
His wooden skin hardened further, becoming even more rigid.
Even the area around his mouth stiffened to the point where he could barely speak.
[Are you... satisfied...?]
"I'm sorry."
The Martial Venerable lowered his head as he took in the Wooden Buddha's wretched state.
"But the martial world still needs you—and the Foremost Sage of the Murim. Do not turn your back on a world teetering on the brink of ruin."
The Wooden Buddha did not respond. Instead, he sat back down beside the ancient tree.
Creak...
His body fused once more with the massive tree.
He would have to endure this living death—this Heavenly Punishment—until the end of his days.
'If my brother is still alive...'
The Martial Venerable recalled the face of his sworn brother, Shin Do-mu-bi.
In the past, Shin Do-mu-bi had taken a fatal wound in his stead to save him, even using his Primordial Essence True Qi to help him recover his Internal Power.
But afterward, Shin Do-mu-bi would occasionally suffer from a strange affliction—his Internal Power would inexplicably drop to a quarter of its usual strength without warning.
Because of this, the Martial Venerable had spent his life burdened with guilt, traveling between the Rivers and Lakes and the Martial Alliance to assist Shin Do-mu-bi in any way he could.
—Why did you save me?
The Martial Venerable, forever indebted, had once asked Shin Do-mu-bi this.
—Your safety is the safety of the Orthodox Murim. Why did you do such a thing?
Every time, Shin Do-mu-bi would smile and reply:
—Because if our positions were reversed, you would have done the same for me.
'But...'
Had this been in the past—when he knew nothing—
The moment he heard there was a chance his brother was alive, he would have dropped to his knees and thanked the heavens.
But now, he couldn't simply laugh with unbridled joy.
He had spent long, agonizing years filling the void left by his younger brother, and the time to reap the fruits of that suffering was finally drawing near.
If his brother were alive in such circumstances...
What was he supposed to do?
Could he simply erase all those long, grueling years of endurance as if they had never been?
If he is alive... there are only two possibilities.
If Shin Do-mu-bi were alive, there was no way he wouldn't know that his elder brother was acting as the Martial Alliance Chief.
Even if he had suffered a fatal injury, he would have found some way to contact him.
Yet if he still hadn't revealed himself, there were only two plausible scenarios:
Either he was deliberately feigning death to carry out some clandestine mission in secret—
Or he was being held captive by some unknown faction.
Little brother... wait for me just a while longer.
The Martial Venerable bit his lip as he gazed at the distant sky visible through the branches.
I will play your role a little longer.
He had endured hellish years protecting the Righteous Faction in Jeong Cheon-je's stead.
Now, the fruits of that labor were about to bloom before his very eyes...
And he absolutely could not abandon them.
"We should begin selecting a successor for the Heavenly Martial Brigade Commander soon."
Suddenly, through Deputy Alliance Leader Bukri Seung, Jeong Cheon-je—Shin Do-mu-bi—who had been repeatedly secluding himself in closed-door training, issued an order to appoint a new commander for the Heavenly Martial Brigade.
"When the Alliance Chief acts, he certainly makes his move decisively."
The Martial Alliance had suffered immense humiliation over the incident at the Heavenly Blessed Medicinal Forest and had been forced to pay massive reparations to the Demon Hall.
Because of this, the atmosphere within the Alliance had grown heavy, and reforms were desperately needed.
At such a time, initiating the process to select a new Heavenly Martial Brigade Commander was an exceedingly appropriate decision.
"Under the Deputy Leader's supervision, select candidates and proceed with the examinations."
Once the order was given, the Alliance's high-ranking officers grew tense.
Speeding up the process under the Deputy Leader's direction wasn't merely an attempt to revitalize morale—
It could very well be the first step in selecting the next Alliance Chief.
"Baek Mu-seong—Brigade Leader Baek—has made a triumphant return."
But then, another astonishing rumor began spreading through the Martial Alliance.
Baek Mu-seong, the Golden Upright Divine Dragon—a tragic figure who had left the Alliance after having his right arm crippled while eliminating a Killing Ghost of Qinghai—
Had not only fully recovered his arm but had also returned to the Alliance.
And in his hand...
He carried the severed head of Hyeokryeon Eung, the Great Demon Ancestor—
The Master of the Hall of Protectors in the Demon Hall, a man who had long terrorized the martial world,
And who had vanished without a trace the moment his identity as a spy was exposed.
"This is impossible."
None of the martial artists in the Alliance could believe it.
Though Hyeokryeon Eung had long been inactive in the martial world after becoming the Head of the Hall of Protectors in the Demon Hall,
His strength was said to surpass even that of the Ten Demonic Paragons.
In other words, his current martial prowess would rival even the strongest among the Seven Kings of the Current Era.
No matter how prodigious Baek Mu-seong was reputed to be among the new generation of grandmasters—
How could he possibly have slain such a man alone?
"I encountered a fortuitous opportunity."
Baek Mu-seong explained the circumstances to the high command.
While wandering the martial world to heal his arm, he had discovered the legendary Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle Core—
And upon consuming it, not only had his internal energy surged dramatically, but his right forearm's meridians and nerves had been completely restored in an instant.
"So the Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle truly existed."
The Ten-Thousand-Year Golden Turtle was said to be a golden tortoise raised by immortals, its name passed down only in myths.
A legendary spirit beast that had never once revealed itself in the mortal world.
And yet, Baek Mu-seong had obtained its inner core?
"That place turned out to be a secret cave created by the Divine Sword Sect to seek successors."
Only then did the Alliance's high-ranking officers nod in understanding.
The Divine Sword Sect.
Five hundred years ago, the Divine Sword Sect's sword studies had been unmatched in the martial world, but they had vanished suddenly, as if wiped from existence.
And though, a century later, the Eight Emperors and Three Stars—extraordinary martial artists who elevated the martial world's standards—had emerged,
Even they had been evaluated as falling short of the Divine Sword Sect's martial arts.
The Divine Sword Sect's sword techniques were considered the very origin of orthodox sword studies.
If Baek Mu-seong had inherited the legacy of the Divine Sword Sect... then slaying Hyeokryeon Eung wouldn't have been impossible.
"Truly, the embodiment of indomitability."
Baek Mu-seong, once a disciple of the Buddha Honored One and a rising grandmaster representing the Righteous Faction, had enjoyed boundless glory—
Until misfortune struck, crippling his right arm and forcing him to leave the Alliance in disgrace.
But now, through a fortuitous encounter, he had fully restored himself—
And returned after beheading the Great Demon Ancestor, who had plunged the martial world into terror.
The Indomitable Martial Artist.
Before anyone realized it, the Martial Alliance had begun praising Baek Mu-seong as a warrior with an unyielding martial soul.
During this tumultuous period in the Martial Alliance, Bu Eun-seol also returned to headquarters.
Though the sudden order to select a new Unit Leader candidate played a part, the biggest reason was the news that Baek Mu-seong had returned after beheading Hyeokryeon Eung.
Upon arriving, Bu Eun-seol heard that all the rumors about Baek Mu-seong were true—including that he would be promoted to Hall Leader for the feat of taking Hyeokryeon Eung's head.
'So that's how it is.'
As Baek Mu-seong's glorious return and promotion proceeded without a hitch, Bu Eun-seol felt a growing unease.
It wasn't jealousy.
Hyeokryeon Eung had been struck by his Harmonization and vanished without a trace. Even the Infinite Realm had been unable to track him down.
Yet Baek Mu-seong had boldly returned to the Martial Alliance with Hyeokryeon Eung's head in hand—which could only mean one thing.
'He's pledged himself to the Three Realms.'
Without the Three Realms' approval, such an act would be impossible.
Even though the Infinite Realm was gone, the Three Realms would never have allowed Baek Mu-seong to return unharmed with a counterfeit head.
The fact that he had done so—openly, without consequence—was irrefutable proof that he belonged to the Three Realms now.
'So it was him in Gangok District.'
The masked man who had freely wielded the Bloody Tears Seven Forms in that trap laid by the Return-to-One Realm... had been Baek Mu-seong all along.
'And the hand injury he recovered from—it wasn't some Spirit Beast Core, but the power of the Three Realms.'
Bu Eun-seol had been the first to examine Baek Mu-seong's wounded hand back then.
Even if Hua Tuo himself had returned, that injury should have been beyond recovery. No legendary Spirit Beast Core could have perfectly healed such damage.
No, it was clear—the Three Realms, with their long history of grotesque and cruel human experimentation, must have restored him.
'I'll ask him directly.'
Bu Eun-seol immediately sought a private audience at Baek Mu-seong's quarters, only to be coldly refused.
With his Hall Leader appointment ceremony approaching, Baek Mu-seong was said to be swamped—constantly meeting with high-ranking officials and discussing urgent matters.
A perfectly reasonable excuse.
Yet Bu Eun-seol could tell—Baek Mu-seong was avoiding him.
'We'll meet soon enough anyway.'
Baek Mu-seong must have obtained advance information about the Heavenly Martial Brigade leader selection and timed his return accordingly.
If so, his goal was undoubtedly to claim that position.
There was no need to force a meeting now—they would cross paths soon.
After organizing his thoughts, Bu Eun-seol headed to the Peak Realm Hall to catch up on piled-up work.
He then put all his unit members—except Tae Mu-ryong—through intensive training.
Though the Peak Squad had gained considerable experience alongside him, their martial prowess still fell short of the Death Shadow War Unit warriors—Tae Mu-ryong being the sole exception.
'Every one of them must reach the level of a Death Shadow War Unit's Unit Leader.'
The Peak Realm Members all knew Bu Eun-seol's true identity and circumstances, staying in the Martial Alliance at the risk of their lives.
That meant he couldn't expand their numbers—he had to lead them as a small, elite force.
To ensure all twenty members could survive any crisis, he tailored their training meticulously to each individual's traits and aptitudes.
"Unit Leader."
Amidst this busy period, Tae Mu-ryong secretly visited Bu Eun-seol's office.
"We've received troubling intelligence."
The Peak Squad now operated its own information network, maintaining flawless coordination with the Death Soul Squad through So-yo.
This allowed Bu Eun-seol to monitor the movements of both the Orthodox and Unorthodox Factions, whether he was at the Demon Hall or the Martial Alliance.
"The Fist King, Seok Chi-haeng, who vanished long ago, has reappeared in the martial world."
The Fist King Seok Chi-haeng.
He had left the martial world to serve as the Gatekeeper of the Ancient Sword Forest. Bu Eun-seol had subdued him and left him in a secure location before departing.
"The problem is—ever since his return, he's been on an unrelenting killing spree."
"A killing spree?"
"Yes. He's been completely consumed by Slaughter Frenzy—surpassing even the Killing Ghosts... He's showing signs of becoming a Great Killing Star like Hyeol Mu-geuk three hundred years ago."
Bu Eun-seol couldn't comprehend it.
Seok Chi-haeng possessed martial arts far surpassing his reputation, and his Azure Heaven Seven Forms were a flawless orthodox fist technique.
'The Ill-Omen Star.'
Suddenly, the Heavenly Venerable's words resurfaced in his mind.
The destroyer who would bring annihilation to the martial world.
The Ill-Omen Star that would drown the world in eternal darkness—the Heavenly Darkness Star.
He had claimed Bu Eun-seol was that very entity.
'Someone like Seok Chi-haeng wouldn't suddenly turn into a Slaughtering Fiend.'
Though blunt and stubborn, he was not someone who could ever be tainted by evil.
Yet now he had abruptly reappeared, not just slaughtering indiscriminately... but showing signs of becoming a Great Killing Star?
Did this mean fate truly existed—and was inescapable?