Chapter 660
Gongson Dan-gyeong summoned Seon-u Jin, who was out in the martial world.
Upon receiving the news, Bu Eun-seol immediately switched identities with Seo Jin-ha and headed to the Martial Alliance.
Martial Alliance, Hidden Moon Hall. Inside the private chamber of the office.
Gongson Dan-gyeong continued her private meeting with Bu Eun-seol, disguised as Seon-u Jin.
"An unexpected order has been issued."
When Bu Eun-seol heard that it was a mission from the Martial Venerable, he couldn't help but feel somewhat absurd.
"Does he still intend to assign me covert missions?"
Contrary to their agreement, the Martial Venerable had not elevated Seon-u Jin to the position of Heavenly Martial Brigade Leader candidate.
Of course, along with an apology citing sudden circumstances, he conveyed that if Gongson Dan-gyeong's influence could secure him the candidacy, she should proceed.
But in reality, it was clear that the trust between them had been broken.
Had the Fist King, Seok Chi-haeng, not coincidentally become the Killing Ghost, Bu Eun-seol would never have risen as a candidate for the Heavenly Martial Brigade Leader position.
"In the end, you did become a candidate."
Gongson Dan-gyeong spoke with an indifferent expression.
"That's just how things usually go in our alliance."
She accepted this unreasonable situation without much concern.
Because that was simply the way of the Martial Alliance.
To climb higher, one needed such connections—no one dared to defy orders from above.
'There's no room for choice.'
Setting aside whether the Martial Alliance was an incomparable Demon-Subduing Palace compared to the Demon Hall...
As long as he remained within the Martial Alliance,
the hilt of the sword was firmly in the grasp of the Martial Venerable, who acted as the Alliance Chief.
"What's certain is that they don't seem intent on completely sidelining Commander Seon-u. If they were, they wouldn't have even acknowledged you as a brigade leader candidate."
"Understood."
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath and asked,
"What's the mission?"
Gongson Dan-gyeong handed him an envelope with a composed expression.
"An unknown group has appeared on Seo-ryeong Mountain and seems to be scheming something. They're suspicious, so orders have been issued to investigate thoroughly."
"So it's just a simple reconnaissance mission?"
"Yes. It's likely related to that Ghost Child who's been stirring up trouble in the martial world lately."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed.
Given that the Martial Venerable personally ordered the investigation, the forces on Seo-ryeong Mountain were undoubtedly no ordinary group.
'Hmm.'
For some reason, an uneasy feeling lingered.
The Martial Venerable knew his true identity.
That was why the missions assigned to him so far had been near-impossible tasks where even elite unit members lost their lives.
And yet, now he was being given a mere scouting mission?
"I understand your unease."
Misinterpreting Bu Eun-seol's deep contemplation as suppressed resentment toward the Martial Venerable, Gongson Dan-gyeong spoke.
"But I won't defy him. I'll make sure Commander Seon-u rises to the position of Heavenly Martial Brigade Leader."
It was a rather touching sentiment, but it didn't resonate much with Bu Eun-seol.
She, too, was a high-ranking member of the Martial Alliance.
Sweet words were swallowed, bitter ones spat out.
Moreover, since the Martial Venerable knew his true identity,
the position of Heavenly Martial Brigade Leader was nothing more than a temporary post from which he could be expelled at any moment.
'I'll see this through to the end.'
From the moment he entered the Martial Alliance,
he had accounted for the possibility that even the Divine Calculator might betray him.
Besides, since both sides knew each other's true identities, the Martial Venerable wouldn't act recklessly either.
For now, he had no choice but to push forward.
"Understood."
Bu Eun-seol immediately headed for Seo-ryeong Mountain.
If this were truly a mission to detect a hidden faction, they would have mobilized the Peak Realm Members for a wide-ranging investigation.
But the Martial Venerable had assigned the task specifically to Bu Eun-seol.
That meant it wasn't a mission requiring large numbers but something extremely covert—and undoubtedly dangerous.
Which was why he had come here alone.
"Sigh."
Bu Eun-seol took a deep breath upon arriving at Seo-ryeong Mountain after two days.
Had he been operating under Seon-u Jin's original capabilities, he shouldn't have arrived this quickly.
But the current Seon-u Jin had inherited the Martial Emperor's legacy and ascended to the Seat of the Four Gods and Seven Kings.
In short, he had become one of the most prominent grandmasters among the righteous faction's new generation.
Aside from restricting his use of Demonic Path Martial Arts and adjusting his internal power to a 350-year level, there was no need to significantly suppress his martial prowess.
Zing.
Drawing upon his Empty Mind Spirit Perception, Bu Eun-seol began meticulously scanning the surroundings of Seo-ryeong Mountain.
Soon, traces of a large group entering the forest became visible.
Following the traces, Bu Eun-seol stepped into the woods.
But the deeper he went, the thicker the fog grew, and even the sky began to darken.
'It's a boundary formation.'
The formation spread across the forest was the Confounding Principle Formation, designed to disrupt senses and direction.
Though a commonly seen formation, there was something mysteriously profound about it, carrying an almost religious undertone.
'How peculiar.'
Bu Eun-seol heightened his senses as he slowly advanced deeper inside.
Judging by the direction of the broken grass and the traces left behind, they had employed the Supernatural Lightness Skill, and their numbers amounted to roughly forty or so.
At this scale, their martial prowess could rival that of elite forces from any major sect.
From now on, Bu Eun-seol would have to thoroughly investigate why such formidable masters had come to Seo-ryeong Mountain—and which sect they belonged to.
Crunch.
Midway through the dense forest, he abruptly halted his steps.
He had realized that, though it seemed like he was moving inward, he was actually circling the forest in endless loops.
How could a mere Confounding Principle Formation disorient the senses of the Way of the Beast?
'It's not a formation—it's an Art of Spells.'
Taking a deep breath, Bu Eun-seol unleashed his Water Essence Divine Qi, scattering it throughout the forest.
A transparent energy spread outward, only for the mist within the woods to thicken once more.
'The power embedded in this forest is resisting me?'
This was astonishing.
Until now, whenever he employed the Two Spirit Energies, any spell or formation had been effortlessly dismantled.
Yet the power woven into this mountain was resisting the Two Spirit Energies as if it were a living entity.
'This is no ordinary spell.'
Taking another deep breath, Bu Eun-seol dispersed the Water Essence Divine Qi again.
In response, the mist pouring from all directions grew even denser.
It was as though an impenetrable wall had been erected, actively repelling the intrusion of the Water Essence Divine Qi.
No matter how much he pushed with its power, he couldn't break through that barrier.
'It's similar to the Ancient Sword Forest.'
Bu Eun-seol ceased dispersing the Water Essence Divine Qi and immediately summoned his Thunder Essence Divine Qi instead.
Zzzt—zzzzt!
Violet lightning surged violently, coiling around his entire body.
If he couldn't shatter the immense power woven into this forest, then he would turn his own flesh into a blade of crackling thunder—piercing through the solidly barricaded force.
Zzzt—zzzt!
With each step forward, something intensely oppressive pushed against his body.
But the Thunder Essence Divine Qi seemed intent on obliterating even that resistance, continuously scattering violet sparks into the empty air.
Zzzzt—CRACKLE!
The Thunder Essence Divine Qi radiating from Bu Eun-seol's body grew even more concentrated, and before he knew it, his entire form had transformed into a silhouette of crackling violet lightning.
'At this level?'
The Thunder Essence Divine Qi he was now unleashing emitted such extreme heat that it could melt an iron house.
Yet how could a mere spell withstand this kind of power?
Zzzzzt—
Then, the force pushing against him suddenly faltered, and he felt something tear—as though a transparent space had been ripped apart.
The spell had finally collapsed, unable to endure the Thunder Essence Divine Qi.
'This—'
As Bu Eun-seol stepped inside, he couldn't conceal his shock.
Upon entering the forest, it was as though he had stepped into an entirely different world.
The sky was dyed crimson, and the air itself seemed to have turned into a thin, viscous liquid.
Every breath he took carried an unpleasant energy that stabbed into his lungs.
Zzzt—zzzt—
Moreover, the moment he stepped inside, luminous specks of light—like fireflies—clung to his body.
'Ah—'
Bu Eun-seol realized that the glowing dots adhering to him were a means of detecting intruders and immediately attempted to leap away.
But it was already too late.
Hiss—hiss—
Suddenly, tendrils of Black Fog began rising around him.
The fog soon coalesced into dozens of martial artists.
Their eerie appearance—with only their eyes exposed—made them resemble jiangshi, but fortunately, they were all living people.
However, their entire bodies emitted a strange heat haze, as though they were visual manifestations of something ominous and dangerous.
Shhk!
Without a single word—without even questioning right or wrong—they immediately drew their swords and attacked Bu Eun-seol.
Their movements were ghostly, and their sword strokes were intricate, but to Bu Eun-seol, their techniques posed no threat.
Swish—swish—swish!
Bu Eun-seol deployed the Iron Sword Thirteen Forms, simultaneously deflecting their strikes and aiming for their vital points.
'Hm.'
But something was off.
His internal energy had abruptly diminished to more than a tenth of its usual capacity, and his movements felt sluggish, as though he were submerged in water.
Whoooosh—
In that brief moment, the Black Shadows dispersed like mist, evading his sword strokes before they could land.
'A common tactic.'
This was hardly surprising.
Whether it was the Three Realms, the Imperial Palace, or any other faction—
Those who did not belong to the ordinary murim always employed techniques to suppress martial prowess.
Yet, even as he dodged their attacks, a single question relentlessly echoed in his mind:
Why?
Why had they developed methods to restrict the martial arts of murim practitioners instead of advancing their own?
Why do those who don't belong to martial sects obsess over such techniques?
'Not like they'd reveal their identities even if I asked.'
Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching the martial artists swinging their swords with murderous glints in their eyes, began spinning the Ink Soul Sword in slow circles.
Having faced enemies who employed techniques that restricted internal energy before,
Bu Eun-seol had once visited Langya Pavilion
to seek guidance from Dan Cheong and So-jeon on the matter.
Even if his internal energy were diminished,
even if his movements were restricted—
was there a technique that would allow him to fight as usual?
When the three greatest masters of the era put their heads together, they eventually devised one method.
—What if we utilize the Principle of Delayed Response?
The Principle of Delayed Response was a technique that allowed one to defend against an opponent's swift sword strokes even with a slower counter.
To put it simply—
if the opponent's strike was ultimately aimed at the throat,
there was no need to shatter the strike itself—only the throat needed to be guarded.
However, this principle was rarely used in actual combat, reserved only for opponents slightly below one's own level.
What if one failed to perfectly anticipate the opponent's shifting sword strokes mid-motion?
Rather than defending effectively, one might instead lose their life due to a sloppy guard.
Yet Bu Eun-seol deployed the Principle of Delayed Response without hesitation.
His martial arts not only rivaled those of the era's grandmasters—
but in truth, those who employed such restrictive techniques had always been inferior to him.
Swish. Swish.
With movements so sluggish they could make one yawn, Bu Eun-seol effortlessly deflected the sword strokes unleashed by the thirty martial artists.
He wielded the Ink Soul Sword as if it were a dagger, moving it only within the immediate space around his body.
Hmm.
Moreover, his internal energy surpassed five hundred years.
Even if his energy were reduced to a tenth of its usual level, the remaining amount would still approach sixty years' worth.
Unless the battle shifted to a contest of internal energy or the manifestation of hardened energy,
there was no hindrance to his swordsmanship.
Swish. Swish.
The Men in Black intensified their assault, their sword strokes growing even faster—but Bu Eun-seol blocked them with ease, his movements as slow as a turtle's.
Thwack! Thud!
Before long, Bu Eun-seol's sluggish sword strokes not only parried their attacks but began carving deep wounds into their limbs.
Though the martial prowess of the Men in Black was formidable,
it was incomparable to Bu Eun-seol, who had inherited Langya Pavilion's martial techniques, traveled the martial world, and mastered the methods of countless sects.
Like an egg smashing against solid stone—
the moment Bu Eun-seol unleashed his swordplay, the Men in Black's strokes became nothing but hollow shells.
Thwack! Stab.
Every time Bu Eun-seol's blade grazed them, the Men in Black collapsed like felled logs.
Though it seemed as if the sword had merely brushed past them, in truth, each stroke had precisely struck their vital acupoints with ruthless precision.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Before long, all thirty martial artists lay scattered across the ground.
Click.
Sheathing the Ink Soul Sword, Bu Eun-seol studied the Men in Black intently.
Since it was obvious they wouldn't answer even if questioned, he resolved to uncover their identities himself.
'This won't be easy.'
But no matter where he looked—their clothing, footwear, weapons, or martial techniques—he found no trace of sect or regional characteristics.
"Who are you?"
Just as Bu Eun-seol opened his mouth to interrogate them—
Gurgle.
They immediately coughed up blood and died.
"A ruthless method."
Upon closer inspection, it seemed the Men in Black had embedded a Restrictive Seal within themselves—one that severed their Heart Meridians the moment their acupoints were subdued.
"I always assumed it was only the Three Realms..."
Until now, the Three Realms had gone to great lengths to conceal their identities—disfiguring their subordinates' appearances,
and even manufacturing not just weapons but clothing and footwear from scratch.
Yet these men were clearly not from the Three Realms—and still, they had taken the same measures.
"If there are others besides the Three Realms who do such things..."
Bu Eun-seol's gaze darkened.
If they possessed power and influence on par with the Three Realms yet remained hidden—
then the only possibilities were the Abyssal Forces lurking beneath the surface...
or Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
"If so, then the Martial Venerable must have also glimpsed the murim's abyss—and deliberately sent me here."
Within the murim, there existed forces yet to reveal themselves—
like the Three Clans, the Ancient Sword Forest, or Neither-Human-Nor-Beast, the legitimate heir of the Demonic Cult.
Could these men belong to a previously unseen faction? Or were they one of the known ones?
"I'll find out once I go inside."
Just as Bu Eun-seol turned to re-enter the forest, his steps faltered.
Years of conducting funerals had honed his senses.
He realized something was amiss—
the corpses of the masked men emitted no trace of the unique energy typical of lifeless bodies.
Swish.
Bu Eun-seol began scrutinizing the dead once more.
'They appear to have been dead for at least a month.'
Though the masked men had clearly severed their own heart meridians to commit suicide.
Yet their corpses showed no signs of decay—as if they had been preserved in a cold place for about a month.
Bu Eun-seol recalled the face of the boy he had encountered on Cold Moon Island, the one who had summoned the demonic sword wielders. That boy had seemed like a high-ranking figure of the Return-to-One Realm.
His body had been like an empty shell—even when slashed with a sword, no blood flowed.
The masked men lying dead before him now had bled, but he realized their bodies were fundamentally no different from that boy's.
'So it was the Return-to-One Realm.'
The Return-to-One Realm employed a great art that used the corpses of past masters to create superlative martial experts.
If that was the case, then repurposing dying bodies as weapons would be no difficult feat.
Ziiing.
At that moment, a pure white light spilled from Bu Eun-seol's pupils as he studied the corpses.
For some inexplicable reason, he sensed an intangible energy coiled around them.
'Then...'
He began dispersing his Water Essence Divine Qi like mist.
And then he saw it—transparent threads, finer than strands of hair, binding the corpses' joints.
'They were controlling already-dead bodies.'
The transparent threads, touched by his Water Essence Divine Qi, shimmered faintly, carrying an eerie, mystical aura.
These peculiar threads had been used to breathe false vitality into the corpses, manipulating them as if they were alive.
'A disciple of the Corpse Handling Sect?'
The Corpse Handling Sect was known for their burial arts—techniques that could animate the dead like living beings or refine jiangshi indistinguishable from humans.
Oooom.
As Bu Eun-seol raised his internal energy—
Flash!
With a violet radiance, the Ink Soul Sword shot through the air, striking a great tree over a hundred yards away.
He had pinpointed the source of the transparent threads and instantly unleashed his Sword Control by Qi, infused with Thunder Essence Divine Qi.
Swish!
The Ink Soul Sword returned to his grasp in an instant.
Sssss—
At the same time, the sound of flowing water reached his ears, and suddenly, a transparent shadow materialized before him.
Drip, drip.
The translucent figure soon morphed into the form of a black-clad man with a grotesque face.
His visage was covered in hideous scars, save for his eyes, and the stench of rotting corpses assaulted Bu Eun-seol's nostrils.
"Impressive. There should have been no trace of my presence."
Bu Eun-seol frowned at the man's words.
"The stench of your rotting corpses was palpable from hundreds of feet away. What good would hiding your presence do?"
"Who are you?"
"Seon-u Jin."
"Seon-u Jin?"
The black-clad man paused briefly before nodding in recognition.
"Ah. So you're the one who slew the Fist King."
The disdain in his eyes vanished completely.
The Four Gods and Seven Kings—such a title was not something one could obtain through mere luck.
"How did you enter this place?"
"I should be the one asking that question," Bu Eun-seol retorted.
Bu Eun-seol stared directly at the man.
"A disciple of the Corpse Handling Sect? Why did you manipulate these corpses to attack me?"
"Hmm."
The man closed his eyes, sensing the surrounding presences, then gave an unexpected reply.
"You came alone, I see."
It seemed the black-clad man possessed extrasensory perception—or some other esoteric method—capable of detecting everything within the forest.
"But there's no trace of you having mastered esoteric ritual arts or spell techniques. That means... you possess a power that transcends the limits of martial arts."
Bu Eun-seol found this strange.
The man was certain that no martial art could break the spell currently woven over this place.
And in truth, Bu Eun-seol had entered using his Two Spirit Energies.
'Then he isn't a disciple of the Corpse Handling Sect.'
The Corpse Handling Sect, which specialized in manipulating corpses, would never be capable of such a spell.
Just who was this black-clad man, if he could deploy a spell that no martial art could shatter?
'If not the Return-to-One Realm...'
A thought flickered through Bu Eun-seol's mind.
"Could you be from the Yangseol Clan?"
"A leader of the Martial Alliance knows of the Yangseol Clan...?"
The black-clad man's eyes widened in surprise.
"Ah, I see."
He nodded as if finally recalling something.
"Peak Leader Seon-u Jin. You're the one who, alongside the Golden Upright Divine Dragon, slew the Earthly Killing Star."
A glint flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
This black-clad man—wherever he had crawled out from—possessed information known only to the Martial Alliance's highest-ranking members.
"I asked if you came from the Yangseol Clan."
"The Yangseol Clan? As if they would dare."
The black-clad man smirked, and a sharp light flickered in Bu Eun-seol's gaze.
The Yangseol Clan was one of the legendary Three Clans passed down through murim history. For him to dismiss them so casually...
"Then... are you from the Jungson Clan?"
The black-clad man's sharp eyes widened further.
"What makes you say that?"
His tone and demeanor all but confirmed it.
'So it was them.'
Bu Eun-seol swallowed his surprise.
The Jungson Clan.
One of the mythical clans spoken of in legends—one that had never once revealed itself in the martial world.
And now, a figure from the Jungson Clan had finally appeared.