Chapter 684
[The Demonic Heavenly Emperor has emerged from closed-door training and returned to the Demon Hall.]
Bu Eun-seol, who was on his way back to the Demon Hall, received unexpected news from So-yo.
The news was that the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had abruptly ended his closed-door training and returned to the Holy Demon Pavilion.
'So he's reading every single one of my thoughts, is he?'
This time, no matter what, he had resolved to track down the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's whereabouts and request a private audience.
But as if anticipating this very intention, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had returned directly to the Holy Demon Pavilion.
'Looking back, it wasn't just him.'
Except for Langya Pavilion.
Every grandmaster Bu Eun-seol had encountered in the martial world—those who stood at the pinnacle of the realm—had sought to manipulate those around them to suit their own tastes.
If the Demonic Heavenly Emperor acted the same way, it wouldn't be anything new.
'But what is his purpose? What does he want from me... That's what I still don't know.'
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor was a figure who embodied chaos.
His reason for trying to control Bu Eun-seol couldn't be something as trivial as the prosperity of the Demon Hall or personal ambition.
'I'll return to the Demon Hall as slowly as possible.'
Upon hearing the news of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's return, Bu Eun-seol deliberately slowed his pace.
To prepare for their private audience.
And to ready himself for survival.
"I've come to see the Demonic Heavenly Emperor."
The moment he returned to the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol immediately headed for the Holy Demon Pavilion.
"His Majesty has been expecting you."
The guard of the Holy Demon Pavilion clasped his hands respectfully the moment Bu Eun-seol arrived.
Creak.
Bu Eun-seol's anger flared at the guard's natural, unaffected demeanor.
It was always like this.
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor treated him as though he were a puppet on strings, as though he had him firmly in his grasp.
He always predicted Bu Eun-seol's movements and countered them in advance.
'But this time will be different.'
Bu Eun-seol smirked bitterly to himself.
Even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor wouldn't be able to predict what he was about to do next.
Thud, thud.
Guided by the guard, Bu Eun-seol emerged through the western gate of the Holy Demon Pavilion, where he saw the Demonic Heavenly Emperor watering the crops planted in the vegetable garden.
"Martial Soul Lord Bu Eun-seol pays his respects to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor didn't even glance at him, continuing to water the plants with detached calm.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol spoke.
"And since you've so graciously emerged from seclusion... I would like to request a lesson in martial arts."
Hesitation.
For the briefest moment, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's hand, tilting the water bucket, froze.
That must have been an unexpected reaction.
Because he would have assumed Bu Eun-seol had come to ask questions.
Bu Eun-seol always thought rationally, logically.
A challenge to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
That wasn't something to be taken lightly.
"Are you serious?"
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor's previously indifferent eyes began to emit a mysterious glow.
Aside from the Three Demons and Three Venerables, every single person who had ever challenged the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had died.
Without even possessing the qualifications of the Three Demons and Three Venerables.
To challenge the Number One of the Demonic Path was no different than denying his authority as the Sky of the Demonic Path.
And that principle...
Applied even to the Heir of the Demon Hall. There were no exceptions.
"Hmm."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor stared intently at Bu Eun-seol, still holding the water bucket.
His gaze was so profound.
It felt as though one could fall endlessly into the depths of an infinitely deep well.
Since achieving the Spiritual Aperture Breakthrough, Bu Eun-seol had never had the defenses of his Spirit and Mind breached by anyone.
There had been a brief moment when Ak Mu-ryeong had pierced through.
But that was only because Bu Eun-seol had completely lowered his guard, treating him as an elder of his own sect.
Bubble, bubble...
But the Demonic Heavenly Emperor was different.
Unbelievably so.
The barriers of his Spirit and Mind were shattered in an instant, and his consciousness began sinking into those unfathomable depths.
'Am I still so far behind?'
Even as his consciousness dimmed, Bu Eun-seol struggled to regain his senses.
If Bu Eun-seol had been at a level where he could withstand the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's Martial Prowess?
He might have been able to convert the attack on his Spirit and Mind into a physical counterattack, like Takma.
But as he was now, it was impossible.
He didn't even have the leeway to attempt such a feat.
'But... it doesn't matter!'
In truth, even before requesting the lesson.
Bu Eun-seol had anticipated this exact scenario.
That he wouldn't even get a single strike in against the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, that his Spirit and Mind would be crushed into despair.
'You may seize control of my Spirit and Mind.'
Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes.
'But you will never seize the Will engraved into my body.'
Ziiing.
When he opened his eyes again, a pale golden light flowed from his pupils.
Bu Eun-seol knew of someone who had clashed with the Demonic Heavenly Emperor time and again—and emerged unscathed.
The Human Demon, Ak Mu-ryeong.
Not only had he repeatedly confronted the Demonic Heavenly Emperor in battle,
but far from losing his life, he had used those life-or-death duels as a foundation to advance his martial arts by leaps and bounds.
And the sole reason such a feat was possible?
Because he had reached the pinnacle of Langya Pavilion's martial arts, where no technique could remain unbroken,
and where the subtlest intricacies of any martial art could be grasped in an instant.
But Bu Eun-seol had only just crossed the threshold of the Langya Mind's Eye.
At his current level, he could not yet discern the profound depths of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's martial arts.
So he thought differently.
Rather than dissecting the intricacies of martial arts... he would wield a slightly unorthodox version of the Langya Mind's Eye—one that allowed him to unleash the full depth of his own martial arts without reservation, no matter the circumstances.
And to perfect this,
Bu Eun-seol had deliberately taken his time returning to the Demon Hall.
Zzziiing.
A golden radiance now flowed not just from his pupils, but from his entire body.
At the same time, regardless of his blurred spiritual state, his flesh instinctively began pouring forth martial arts without cease.
From his left hand—the Transcendent Fist Demon Seven Forms.
From his right—the Transcendent Formless Heavenly Flow Form.
Fwah! Swish!
Though his consciousness had sunk deep, his pupils unfocused,
even as he drowned endlessly in the abyss, even with no awareness left—
Bu Eun-seol's body relentlessly unleashed a barrage of attacks toward the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
"Hoh."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor let out a sigh and lightly shifted the hand holding the water bucket.
With each casual flick of his fingers, as if keeping rhythm, Bu Eun-seol's martial arts dissolved one by one.
Even standing motionless with the bucket in hand, he completely neutralized every assault.
"You've devised an interesting method."
A peculiar light flickered in the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's eyes.
"No doubt you began with the assumption that I wouldn't kill you."
His gaze, devoid of focus,
stared straight at Bu Eun-seol, who continued unleashing martial arts without pause.
"Because you guessed that you were still a blade I needed."
Had he truly intended to kill Bu Eun-seol?
The boy would have long since become a wandering spirit, drifting through the Nine Heavens, never even reaching the status of the Ten Demonic Heir.
The sole reason he still lived was simple—
Because there was still value in keeping him alive.
Bu Eun-seol, too, knew this—which was why he had boldly challenged him.
Given the time and effort invested, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor wouldn't kill him so easily.
"Hohoh."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor chuckled, slightly raising the pinky finger of his bucket-holding hand.
"But your calculations are mistaken."
Goooooo—
As the very air of the world converged toward his little finger, an overwhelming force surged forth.
"You're still too early to predict my actions."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor was the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
A being who embodied chaos, utterly beyond prediction.
If anyone dared anticipate his moves... he would shatter those expectations without hesitation.
BOOM!
In that instant, a deafening roar shook the world as if it were collapsing.
Simultaneously, blood erupted from Bu Eun-seol's chest.
With nothing more than a light flick of his finger,
a terrifying force pierced through his Body Protection True Qi and struck straight through his heart.
Zzziiing.
Yet his heart remained unbroken.
Chiii—
Before he knew it, a mass of black true qi had materialized around Bu Eun-seol's heart, blocking the attack.
He had deployed the Willful True Binding to withstand the blow.
"So you instinctively unleash the optimal martial arts through the Langya Mind's Eye."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor smiled faintly upon seeing Bu Eun-seol activate his Emotion Severing Secret Art—and sensing the depth of his mastery.
The deeper one refined the Emotion Severing Secret Art, the more it would yield the desired outcome.
"Just as you strain to fathom me, I too have long sought to understand you."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor slowly extended his index finger toward Bu Eun-seol. Once again, a bizarre energy gathered.
This was no simple force like Finger Wind.
It was a new martial principle, conceived on the spot—one capable of shattering in an instant the very utility of Bu Eun-seol's Langya Mind's Eye, which instinctively drew forth the optimal martial arts from the subconscious.
Like Ak Mu-ryeong before him,
he had grasped the essence of his enemy's martial arts mid-battle and devised a method to exploit it.
Sssssss—
As the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's finger extended, a mist-like energy swirled around Bu Eun-seol's body.
This was the principle of martial arts that the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had unleashed to kill Bu Eun-seol.
The first formal strike of his opening technique.
The fog-like energy was viscous and sticky, constricting Bu Eun-seol's throat.
Not only that—it sealed away all the powerful internal energies circulating within his body.
It rendered him incapable of executing any martial technique, stiffening even his joints and muscles.
With just a single motion,
the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had woven a net that suppressed every possible struggle Bu Eun-seol could muster.
Tsk.
Though Bu Eun-seol's body, through the Langya Mind's Eye, had devised the optimal martial response, this time it was useless.
The power the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had unleashed was of an extremely tenacious and supple nature,
designed from the outset to render Bu Eun-seol immobile.
In the end, not only his spirit and mind, but even his physical body was sinking completely into darkness.
'Was my assumption wrong?'
Bu Eun-seol finally awoke from his unconscious state.
Even his newly transformed Langya Mind's Eye had been sealed by the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's technique.
'He intends to kill me without hesitation.'
Given how much effort he had invested thus far,
Bu Eun-seol had thought he wouldn't be struck down in a single blow.
No—he had believed that, at the very least, the man would show some trace of emotion.
But contrary to his expectations, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had resolved to eliminate him without hesitation.
'No, that can't be.'
Bu Eun-seol could swear to it.
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor was not a symbol of chaos—he was chaos itself.
And within that very concept of chaos lay calculations so sharp they were terrifying.
There was no way the Demonic Heavenly Emperor would discard a piece he had spent so long cultivating in such a foolish manner.
'After sealing my body, he'll attempt to seize complete control of my spirit and mind.'
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
What the Demonic Heavenly Emperor wanted from him was absolute submission.
He would likely exploit the moment Bu Eun-seol teetered on the brink of death, seizing control of both his body and soul.
But Bu Eun-seol had no intention of allowing that.
If he had to die, then so be it—he would never kneel before the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, surviving in some wretched state.
—Take my hand.
Just as Bu Eun-seol sank into an abyss from which he could descend no further, another version of himself appeared, as if it had been waiting.
—With me, you can defeat him.
His shadowed self, dyed in darkness,
was even blacker than the abyss itself.
Yet the way only its white lips moved within the black silhouette was no different from the powerful foes who had toyed with him until now.
—Disappear.
Bu Eun-seol spoke coldly.
—Rather than join forces to bring down the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, I'd rather fight alone and die.
—That's fine too.
The shadow laughed brightly.
—Your madness is the very reason I exist.
Surprisingly, the shadow left only those words behind before quietly vanishing.
Meanwhile, Bu Eun-seol's pupils grew transparent, and his breath faded.
Yet, paradoxically, he felt at peace.
Death had always lingered by his side.
Even before he lost his memories and wandered through the snow, death had always crept up behind him.
But from the moment Grandfather Bu Jan-yang
had extended his hand to him as he froze to death, the meaning of death had changed slightly.
Something quiet and peaceful.
And to die meant reuniting with Grandfather in the underworld.
That, in itself, had become a peaceful and even joyous thing.
Zzzing.
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol's spirit recalled something he had forgotten.
The Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art.
The supreme mind-training formula of the orthodox factions, capable of amplifying the might of martial arts through beautiful and joyful thoughts alone.
Until now, his spirit had been assimilating toward the Emotion Severing Secret Art, closer to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's path.
After all, his nature was inherently cold.
But deep within Bu Eun-seol's consciousness, there was an abundance of affection, and he had longed for the same peace as the Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art.
'Even beautiful, happy memories can become strength.'
Looking back, the martial arts the Infinite Realm had considered most fundamental were the ultimate techniques of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
While the Returner's Realm created masters from past generations, and the Azure River Realm implanted split personalities to forge the strong,
the Infinite Realm had clung solely to the Artificial Internal Core and the Four Divine Techniques, striving to perfect the ultimate techniques of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
The radiant martial arts of four hundred years ago.
They had judged that with those, they could easily suppress the current masters of the murim.
And Bu Eun-seol—
had mastered the Thirteenfold Qi Induction, the supreme ultimate technique of the Martial Emperor, ranked among the highest of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Yet he had rarely used it, nor had he refined it through enlightenment.
Because his foundation was Langya Pavilion.
Because the Demonic Path's Mind-Training Formula was more familiar to him.
Even as he frequently used the Willful True Binding, he had unconsciously rejected the Thirteenfold Qi Induction.
'I am not a demonic practitioner.'
From the moment he resolved to reach his own martial realm rather than follow Ak Mu-ryeong's teachings,
the distinction between orthodox and unorthodox had vanished from Bu Eun-seol's mind, and he no longer even thought of himself as a demonic practitioner.
'And I am not of the Righteous Path either.'
The endlessly sinking darkness was like death itself—nothing was visible.
Given the nature of martial arts, descending into an abyss this deep would normally cast shadows over one's heart.
But for Bu Eun-seol, the opposite was true.
The darker, the lonelier, the more silent it became, the more at ease he felt.
Because the years spent with his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, had always been like that.
He had always lived in the dark.
When his grandfather went to the constabulary, Bu Eun-seol would sometimes prepare corpses alone.
And those moments were, in fact, joyful and happy.
At the end of this death-like silence,
his grandfather would return with a weary face, meet his gaze, and pat his head.
The boundless darkness, the loneliness, the silence—
they had always been on his side.
Zzziiing.
A faint light began to flow from Bu Eun-seol's body as he felt an infinite sense of ease.
The secret of the Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art—that it grew stronger the happier one was—did not suit his personality.
But when the Demonic Heavenly Emperor forcibly thrust his consciousness into this death-like abyss,
he instead reached the ultimate principle of the Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art—
'Be as deep as the abyss, and become the origin of all things.'
The profound truth of Deep Indeed Like the Source of All Things.
Flash!
The moment light returned to Bu Eun-seol's unfocused pupils,
Swish! Swish!
Nine razor-sharp streams of energy began swirling violently around his body.
The Thirteenfold Qi Induction, which even five hundred years of internal energy could only produce four strands of, had instantly multiplied to nine.
Thud! Thump!
And those sharp streams of energy began cleanly severing the sticky, tenacious force—
the principle of the martial arts the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had unleashed—that coiled around Bu Eun-seol's body.
'The Martial Emperor's martial arts are Seon-u Jin's martial arts.'
Just as Bu Eun-seol prepared to fully unleash the Thirteenfold Qi Induction, a realization flashed through his mind.
The Martial Emperor's arts were Seon-u Jin's.
If he didn't alter the form of the Thirteenfold Qi Induction, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor would immediately recognize Seon-u Jin as him in the future.
Boom! Boom!
Bu Eun-seol began forcibly weaving the essence of Demonic Path martial arts into the Thirteenfold Qi Induction. Yet even so, their power was so overwhelming that—
Crunch.
They completely shattered the sticky, intricate force of the martial arts.
Goooooo.
A brilliant radiance bloomed from Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
'Now it's my turn.'
If he had been satisfied with just breaking free, he wouldn't have acted.
He wouldn't have even considered challenging the Demonic Heavenly Emperor in the first place.
Whoooosh.
The nine streams of energy coiled around Bu Eun-seol's body became a whirlwind, soaring to the heavens.
It was eerily similar to how the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had used the Willful True Binding to create a massive blade hundreds of feet high.
Crackle.
As the overwhelming energy raged, blood vessels stood out across Bu Eun-seol's body, and his eyes turned white.
It felt like his body would explode.
'Unity.'
At last, Bu Eun-seol understood.
The true ultimate principle of the Martial Emperor's Enlightenment Art—the Thirteenfold Qi Induction—required merging and aligning the orthodox martial arts of all sects into one,
then unleashing them like the power of Harmonization.
Thud-thump.
But because he hadn't fully integrated orthodox martial arts, the nine streams of energy raged like a ferocious Evil Dragon,
whirling around him, tearing his body apart.
'It doesn't matter.'
Even if his entire body was shredded. Even if he was reduced to dust.
He had to drive this raging force into the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's body.
"Ugh. Haaa!"
Drawing his right arm back, Bu Eun-seol slowly extended it forward—
as if condensing a storm of true qi capable of swallowing the whole world into a single strike.
But the violent energy, as if determined to shatter his will, escaped his grasp and spread out once more.
"How noisy."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor flicked his finger as if bored.
And in that instant, it shot toward Bu Eun-seol's throat several times faster than the Transcendent Meteor Chasing Moon Form.
Thud.
The world seemed to freeze. A deep, resonant sound echoed in his mind.
The moment the Demonic Heavenly Emperor fired the line of death,
the chaotic, whirlwind-like force of the Thirteenfold Qi Induction—
snapped into perfect alignment.
"Haaap!"
Bu Eun-seol stretched both hands toward the line speeding toward his throat.
Fwoosh.
The force the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had unleashed vanished in an instant.
And at the same time, an energy capable of annihilating the world poured from Bu Eun-seol's outstretched hands—
straight toward the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.