Chapter 718
"Lord!"
As Yeon So-ha gasped and tried to rush forward in alarm, Namgung Se-a stopped her.
"Young Palace Lord, you mustn't!"
"But he's falling down there—!"
"He will be fine."
Namgung Se-a spoke calmly.
"It seems our Founder arranged for the descent when one wields the Demon-Summoning Banner."
True to her words, Bu Eun-seol's body, enveloped in divine radiance, wasn't plummeting rapidly.
Instead, he was descending slowly into the darkness like an immortal.
"Did our Founder desire him?"
Yeon Ja-mi narrowed her eyes.
The Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace was known to be Yo-hui, the daughter of Sin-nong (Shennong), who had manifested in human form.
In other words, legends spoke of a goddess borrowing a mortal body—her abilities were so mystical that she might have foreseen the distant future... and chosen a successor to inherit her will.
"Come to think of it, if it were for the sake of our disciples, she wouldn't have mentioned 'five hundred years of Internal Power.'"
Yeon Ja-mi sighed.
As the palace lord, she had never understood the existence of the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate.
No matter how diligently one cultivated the Divine Maiden Palace's Internal Energy,
there was simply no way to attain the terrifying depth of five hundred years' worth.
She had assumed the Founder deliberately imposed such restrictions to bar her disciples from entering.
But now, it seemed the Founder hadn't intended it for her own disciples—
but to guide an outsider who met special conditions.
"All of this must be fate."
Yeon Ja-mi.
Even the sect leader of this enigmatic sect had, before she knew it, begun to believe in the existence of destiny.
'Was it never about Internal Energy, but someone who possessed the Four Divine Energies?'
Bu Eun-seol, gripping the Demon-Summoning Banner, felt a flicker of doubt.
The suction force emanating from the banner wasn't drawing upon his Primordial Essence True Qi—it was relentlessly pulling at his Two Spirit Energies.
'If so, then from the very beginning, it wasn't Internal Power she sought, but the Four Divine Energies.'
If that were the case, why had Yo-hui, the Founder of the Divine Maiden Palace,
left behind words stating that only one with five hundred years of Internal Power could wield this sacred relic?
Moreover, the Four Divine Energies were the power of the Four Divine Figures—entities entirely unrelated to the Divine Maiden Palace.
Why would she create a sacred relic that demanded such Internal Energy?
Zzziiing—
As the light pouring from the Demon-Summoning Banner obscured his vision, the surrounding scenery gradually faded away.
Soon, the entire world was filled with pure white light.
"..."
When Bu Eun-seol opened his eyes again, he was momentarily stunned.
He stood in an utterly empty space where nothing existed.
"This isn't an illusion."
He sensed that the scenery before him wasn't the result of the Soul-Seizing Art or a blow to his Spirit and Mind—he had truly been transported somewhere.
"How peculiar."
There was nothing before his eyes, only an endless expanse of space.
It was as though everything had vanished,
and he alone had become the sole existence in the universe.
Swish.
Even as he took a step, there was no flow of air, not even the sound of his own footsteps.
This place was infinitely silent, infinitely desolate—as if it were a projection of his own spiritual world.
But then, strange things began happening in succession.
Thud. Thud.
With each step, his body grew heavier.
It felt as though every stride brought him closer to the endpoint of life itself.
The further he walked, the more his body aged, and an inexplicable melancholy welled up within his heart.
Yet Bu Eun-seol did not stop walking.
Because life had been granted to him.
Because humans, despite experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, despite enduring birth, aging, sickness, and death... had no choice but to move forward.
Kwoong.
At last, he reached the end of the path.
There stood two doors.
The door on the left was wreathed in light.
As he drew closer to it, he glimpsed a world overflowing with boundless dreams and hope.
If he were to step inside,
it seemed a life of all the richness and beauty a human could experience would unfold before him.
'Hmm.'
Bu Eun-seol shifted his gaze to the door on the right.
It was dyed in endless darkness.
It felt as though it were filled with trials, despair... and danger.
'How extreme.'
Neither door represented the true essence of human life.
Human existence isn't solely composed of dreams and hope,
nor is it solely defined by sorrow and despair.
Life is a tangled mix of all these things,
and depending on how one chooses to live,
one can find hope even in despair—or fall into despair even amidst hope.
'So, I must choose which aspect to observe.'
Bu Eun-seol sensed that these two doors weren't mere passageways—they were a test of some kind.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he ultimately walked toward the right door, darkened as if steeped in ink.
If both doors were filled with falsehoods?
Then the place steeped in despair and sorrow at least felt more real.
Swish.
The scenery that greeted him upon entering was... the world slowly announcing its own Final Extinction.
The sun that once bathed the earth no longer wore its golden robes.
Darkness had swallowed the entire world.
With every gust of wind, everything that had ever existed crumbled into dust and scattered.
The traces of humans who had once lived prosperous lives had completely withered away, leaving only endless ruins stretching out like a heavy silence.
'Is this the end of the world?'
Bu Eun-seol walked slowly, calmly observing the vision of a world that had reached its demise.
A world in ruin was not as despairing or brutal as he had imagined.
From his perspective, it was merely somewhat desolate and lonely.
"Everything simply returns to nothingness."
As he walked unhurriedly, observing it all with detachment, a door appeared before him before he even realized it.
When he opened it and stepped through, he found himself in a small village surrounded by towering mountains.
Flowers bloomed in abundance, lush trees stood tall, and a small waterfall of crystal-clear water cascaded down.
It was a landscape straight out of the Peach Blossom Paradise, as if inhabited by immortals.
As if entranced, Bu Eun-seol stepped into the village.
And when he reached the waterfall, he spotted a small cave.
Upon entering, a faint glow illuminated the interior.
At the far end sat a breathtaking beauty, seated solemnly in the lotus position—but upon closer inspection, it was an exquisitely crafted stone statue.
Likely, it was a sculpture of the Divine Maiden Palace's Founder, Yo-hui.
Yet its expression and form were so vivid it seemed almost alive.
"I have entered the Divine Maiden Palace's secret grounds without permission."
Bu Eun-seol bowed respectfully toward the statue.
Even if he had used the Demon-Summoning Banner to try to help...
The fact that he, of all people, had been the first to enter this long-sealed sanctuary and now stood before the Founder's statue felt somewhat discourteous.
Rumble...
As he bowed, a low vibration emanated from the statue, and one of the walls smoothed over.
At the same time, with a shhhk, characters carved themselves into the stone.
"O Savior Star of Murim, guardian against the True Demon, bearer of both the Four Divine Figures and the Great Karmic Thread's power—O Heavenly Might Star..."
"We have awaited you for so long."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened impossibly as he read the words.
Astonishingly, this place was a Secret Cave prepared by the Divine Maiden Palace's Founder, Yo-hui, for the Heavenly Might Star who would appear in the future.
Scritch, scratch...
The words continued to carve themselves into the stone at a deliberate pace.
"Lest someone other than the Heavenly Might Star—perhaps a descendant of the Divine Maiden Palace—should open the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate, we have imposed a restriction: five hundred years of Internal Power."
"In truth, one must also possess both the Divine Energies and the Great Karmic Thread to unlock it."
"...Is this even possible?"
Bu Eun-seol's lips parted in disbelief.
To have foreseen, across hundreds of years, when the one destined to open the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate would appear—and to what level their Internal Power would rise—
And to have prepared such mechanisms and a Secret Cave in anticipation?
Moreover, he only possessed the Two Spirit Energies. He didn't even have the Great Karmic Thread.
So how had the mechanism responded to him?
'Could it be... because of the mingled energies?'
Bu Eun-seol's body housed Internal Energy far exceeding five hundred years, along with not just the Two Spirit Energies but also the combined forces of the Orthodox, Unorthodox, Demonic, and Buddhist Arts.
Perhaps the mechanism had reacted to that chaotic, interwoven power by sheer coincidence.
"She may truly have been a demi-god."
Born in Mount Wu, rooted in Mount Wu—
She was said to have been known as the Divine Maiden of Mount Wu, crafting miraculous medicines and healing the common folk.
And not only did she predict events hundreds of years into the future, constructing the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate—
But she also left inscriptions on the stone walls, activated only when the destined one arrived?
She wasn't just a namesake.
Could she truly have been the Divine Body of Yo-hui, daughter of Shennong?
"By the time you read these words, the calamity will have arrived, and the Final Extinction will have begun."
Scritch, scratch...
The stone wall continued to carve out unbelievable, staggering revelations.
The one who had conceived the Demonic Cult—a being of pure evil, of demonic nature—
That immaculate malice...
Even after death, it was constantly reborn... and had ceaselessly reappeared in Murim, the words declared.
"So the term 'True Demon' was merely symbolic..."
Apart from the first line, the writings on the stone wall referred to that entity as ma (demon) and ak (evil).
As Bu Eun-seol continued reading the inscriptions, his voice trembled.
"What?"
Not only that—it claimed this being retained all memories of its past lives while endlessly cycling through reincarnation.
"It reincarnates endlessly, retaining every memory?"
Bu Eun-seol's lips parted in shock.
If it was truly reborn each time with all its past knowledge intact...
Just how vast would its accumulated wisdom be? How profound would its enlightenment grow?
—But where there is darkness, light must also exist.
At the very moment this demon regains its power and memories from the Heavenly Darkness Star...
A divine being—a god incarnate—is also born to oppose it.
And that is you, the Heavenly Might Star.
Bu Eun-seol's pupils dilated as if they might tear apart.
If the stone wall's words were true...
Then the Heavenly Darkness Star was merely another manifestation of that pure demon, and he was the Heavenly Might Star, born to stand against it.
"So the Heavenly Venerable was mistaken about me?"
The Heavenly Venerable had claimed Bu Eun-seol carried the fate of the Heavenly Darkness Star.
But Takma—whom he suspected to be an imposter—had called him the Heavenly Might Star.
If the stone wall was correct, then he wasn't the Heavenly Darkness Star.
Because that entity—the pure demon who founded the Demonic Cult—was inextricably linked to the Heavenly Darkness Star.
And according to the inscriptions, it had been endlessly reincarnating, amassing power and wisdom.
"...What a relief."
Bu Eun-seol exhaled, a mix of relief and exhaustion in his voice.
The Heavenly Venerable had been wrong.
He wasn't the Heavenly Darkness Star.
—The demon, aware of this truth, sought out the sages who knew of its nature, as well as its great adversary—those bearing the energy of the Heavenly Might Star.
It then manipulated events to frame them as the Heavenly Darkness Star, condemning them to death and bringing about the martial world's Final Extinction.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flew open.
Then that meant—his father, Baekri Mu-ha, had been born as the Heavenly Might Star.
And that demonic entity had framed him as the Heavenly Darkness Star to have him killed.
Which meant...
Even Mo-ryun the Dharma Seeker—the previous generation's prophet—had been played by that demon.
—This Lady realized that the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate would become the martial world's last hope.
However, awakening the Heavenly Might Star's power is no simple task.
Thus, I prepared the Radiant Light Path here—a means to immediately unlock that power.
Yet, fearing others might trespass, I also created the Dark Shadow Layered Path beside it.
Those who are not the Heavenly Might Star will inevitably choose the Dark Shadow Layered Path...
"What?"
More unbelievable words continued carving themselves into the stone.
This hidden estate had been prepared as a means to instantly awaken the power of the one destined to be the Heavenly Might Star.
And for those who weren't the Heavenly Might Star...
Yo-hui had created the Dark Shadow Layered Path as a safeguard.
Those not bearing the Heavenly Might Star's destiny would be unable to choose the Dark Shadow Layered Path.
And the moment they stepped inside, their Spirit and Mind would shatter—
Trapping them forever in an inescapable prison within the Mindscape.
"What in the world does this mean?"
Bu Eun-seol felt dizzy.
According to Yo-hui's prophecy, the Heavenly Might Star would have to choose the Radiant Light Path.
All others would be forced into the Dark Shadow Layered Path—a layered prison within the Mindscape that would obliterate their Spirit and Mind.
And yet...
Bu Eun-seol had not taken the Radiant Light Path.
He had entered the Dark Shadow Layered Path.
"But..."
Despite stepping into what should have been a fatal trap...
He had passed through it effortlessly, as if leisurely observing someone else's dream.
"None of it affected me."
Contrary to the stone wall's warnings...
What he had witnessed in the Dark Shadow Layered Path was nothing more than a silent, desolate landscape of apocalypse.
There had been no damage to his Spirit and Mind.
"Just what—"
His head spun.
One thing was certain—if the estate's design was to be believed...
Then he was neither the Heavenly Might Star nor the Heavenly Darkness Star.
Scritch, scratch.
Then, even more unbelievable words began etching themselves into the stone.
—By walking the Radiant Light Path, you will have already awakened to your destiny and unlocked all the latent power within you.
You are this world's final hope. I pray you—
As Bu Eun-seol read on, his face twisted into an expression of utter bewilderment.
"It's wrong."
Then the one who entered this place should have been the Heavenly Might Star.
And their power should have awakened through the Radiant Light Path.
"Yo-hui's prophecy was entirely mistaken."
Rather, he had shattered the very arrangements of the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate.
"This place was a mindscape meant to awaken the slumbering power of the Heavenly Might Star, part of her grand design... yet in the end, every prophecy was wrong."
Yo-hui was no deity after all.
She had merely been a seer who misread Heaven's Will.
Sssssk—
Upon the stone wall, a final message was inscribed—
A plea to the Heavenly Might Star, the destined one:
"With the memories of reincarnation, eradicate the immortal demon that has persisted through generations... and save this world."
Sssssss—
The moment Bu Eun-seol finished reading the final words,
the engraved letters began to glow like stars suspended in the heavens—
Fwoooosh!
—before dissolving into a radiant light that ascended into the distant sky.
When he lowered his gaze, the stone wall had returned to its original, smooth surface.
Krrrrr—
Simultaneously, two gates materialized before him.
One resembled a library stacked with martial arts manuals, the other—an exit.
It seemed to imply that since the Heavenly Might Star's power had awakened, it was time to leave.
"Did I ruin everything?"
Yo-hui's prophecy had gone astray,
and without realizing it, Bu Eun-seol had become the one who disrupted her grand design.
After a moment of contemplation, he bowed deeply to Yo-hui's statue and spoke.
"I apologize for unintentionally breaking your arrangements. I will relay this matter to the Divine Maiden Palace and the other factions of Murim."
Unlike before, the statue's expression now seemed solemn—almost as if it bore dissatisfaction.
As though silently demanding that this truth not be revealed.
Gulp.
Bu Eun-seol swallowed dryly and clasped his hands together once more.
"...Then only the Divine Maiden Palace and I shall know."
At this, the statue's gaze softened slightly.
Yet it still seemed unsatisfied, its brow slightly furrowed—
As if asking, "Is there nothing more you wish to say?"
"If I survive after fulfilling all my vengeance..."
Bu Eun-seol had no choice but to continue.
"I will do everything in my power to stop that existence."
Only then did the statue's rigid expression ease, a faint smile gracing its lips—
As though it had been waiting for those very words.
Krrrrrr—
With the sound of mechanisms activating, the statue slowly sank into the ground.
Bu Eun-seol watched until it vanished completely before stepping through the newly opened exit.
The passage sloped upward, likely leading back to the surface.
"So they created a paradise like that underground..."
As he ascended, he realized the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate had been built deep beneath the earth, dozens of feet below.
At the end of the passage stood another gate.
Krrrr—
When he pushed it open, he found himself facing the bridge for planting the Demon-Summoning Banner.
It turned out the massive gate he had entered earlier had been sealed on the other side of this bridge.
Now, Yeon Ja-mi was nowhere in sight—only Yeon So-ha and Namgung Se-a stood waiting at the far end.
"Lord!"
The moment she saw him, Yeon So-ha burst into tears and sprinted toward him.
Her face was gaunt, her eyes brimming with tears as she cried out in a trembling voice.
"Are you alright?! What in the world happened?!"
Bu Eun-seol frowned in confusion.
At most, he had only been gone for an hour—barely an hour.
So why was she so distraught?
And why did she look so haggard?
"Below this place lies a realm akin to the Peach Blossom Paradise. That is the true form of the Immortal Crane Hidden Estate. The gate was merely a passageway."
"So... you were trapped there?"
"Trapped?"
He blinked.
"It was barely an hour. Hardly enough to call it being trapped."
"an hour?"
Yeon So-ha's voice shook.
"My Lord, you vanished into that mechanism two days ago."
"Two days?!"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
Then, abruptly, he recalled the time he had spent traversing the Dark Shadow Layered Path.
What had felt like mere moments crossing that gate had, in reality, been an expanse of time beyond comprehension.
'So that's how it was.'
To him, it had been a path that took no longer than a quarter of an hour.
But in truth, for two full days, his spirit and mind had endured relentless invasions and strikes within that realm.
Yo-hui's warning—that she had prepared a prison within the mindscape for intruders—
had been no lie.
'What is happening?'
Bu Eun-seol was bewildered.
Just what had the Divine Maiden Palace's Founder, Yo-hui, foreseen?
Why had she opened the Hidden Estate to him—someone who was not the Heavenly Might Star?
'Unless...'
Suddenly, the words carved into the stone wall resurfaced in his mind.
—"When that demon regains its power and memories from the Heavenly Darkness Star..."
—"Your own memories will serve as the seal."
Could it be... that the "demon" referred to him?