Chapter 781
"Where am I?"
The space was shrouded in such thick darkness that she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face.
Gongson Dan-gyeong, who had just regained consciousness, pressed a hand to her forehead and slowly sat up.
"For me to lose consciousness..."
Though she hadn't cultivated outstanding martial prowess, she had learned and mastered many of the Murim's profound secret arts.
Among them was the Profound Profound Pacifying Golden Spirit, known to be dozens of times more effective than the assassins' Cold Heart Art—a technique that ensured she would never lose consciousness, no matter the circumstances.
Yet, the moment she unfolded that letter, she had blacked out?
"What in the world happened?"
Gathering her wits, she surveyed her surroundings.
Then, something astonishing occurred.
Though the space had been so dark she couldn't see an inch in front of her, before she knew it, she was standing in an open pavilion with an unobstructed view in all directions.
"Was I dreaming?"
Gongson Dan-gyeong rubbed her eyes.
This was the very pavilion where she had been standing before losing consciousness.
"Are you saying there are others who survived the Jungson Clan besides me and Hwasu?"
Frowning, she sifted through her memories.
The letter secretly delivered to her within the Martial Alliance had contained a single question:
"Would you like to see the others who survived the Jungson Clan?"
—Who the hell...?
Back when she had escaped the Jungson Clan, Gongson Dan-gyeong had checked the burial site where the children had been interred.
Even Chu-so, the Heavenly Secret Star—the most brilliant talent in the world, the one who had risked his life to save her when she was abducted by the Jungson Clan—had not escaped death.
But later, she discovered that Hwasu, who had been abducted alongside her, was still alive—operating in secret within the Murim under the name Yang Seol-rin, a member of the Yang Family.
However, this letter didn't seem to have come from her.
Because it contained these words:
"If you want to know, come to Heavenly Heart Valley."
But there was a warning:
"If you reveal the contents of this letter to anyone, or if you don't come alone... there will be nothing waiting for you there."
Gongson Dan-gyeong's eyes narrowed as she read.
By all accounts, the odds of this being a trap were extremely high.
Yet, she had no choice but to go.
The only people who could know such details were either members of the Jungson Clan or the children they had abducted.
And the reason she continued her quest for revenge was to destroy the Jungson Clan—the ones who had kidnapped and brutally murdered every child suspected of being a Heavenly Mechanism Star, including herself and Chu-so.
What if one of those children was still alive?
What if it was Chu-so?
No matter how many times she thought it over, there was no way she couldn't go.
In the end, she submitted a request for leave.
Then, without a single escort, she arrived at Heavenly Heart Valley.
Inside, she found a small pavilion—and within it, another letter.
The envelope was identical to the one that had been secretly delivered to her in the Martial Alliance.
Gongson Dan-gyeong immediately unfolded it.
The moment she did, the heavens and earth spun violently, and a searing heat surged from her chest.
Then, she lost consciousness completely.
"I need to get out."
Snapping out of her recollection, Gongson Dan-gyeong hastily rose and stepped outside the pavilion.
She hadn't ignored the letter's warning—she hadn't told a soul about its contents.
But she had secretly stationed a covert unit she commanded near Heavenly Heart Valley.
Piiii—!
Using her Internal Power, she blew a sharp, piercing whistle.
The sound should have carried for dozens of li, but strangely, it only echoed around her.
'Something's wrong.'
From her sleeve, she retrieved a small bamboo tube—a signal flare that could alert her troops to her location.
Fwoosh—!
But the flare didn't soar into the sky.
Instead, as if it had struck an enormous, invisible wall, it simply fell back down.
"A boundary formation."
Only then did Gongson Dan-gyeong realize—
Countless boundary formations, layered one atop another, had been deployed around this pavilion.
"Hmph."
A derisive laugh escaped her.
Her father, Gongson Hwa-uk, was the foremost master of Formation Study in the Murim.
And she—she had inherited all of his lifetime's achievements in formation refinement, mastering them perfectly.
In truth, she was the Murim's greatest formation expert, second only to Gongson Hwa-uk himself.
And yet, someone thought they could trap her using formations?
This was like writing characters in front of Confucius—an utter farce.
Sasasak—
Picking up a stick, she began analyzing each formation she detected, one by one.
As she swiftly calculated their sequences, her expression suddenly froze.
Because, astonishingly—
The formations deployed here...
Even with her skills, the formations were so complex and difficult that she couldn't dismantle them at once.
"Impossible."
Disbelief spilled from her lips.
To her knowledge, there were only two people in the world capable of laying down formations like this:
Her father, Gongson Hwa-uk, the greatest formation master in the world—and herself.
And even then, it would take him a full fortnight to construct something of this level.
But there was no way her father, currently at the Gongson Clan, would have come here to set up such formations.
Just who in the world could have laid down such intricate formations?
Unless...
A single possibility surfaced in her mind.
Someone whose intellect surpassed all imagination.
A divine being who perfectly comprehended and analyzed all the knowledge and information in the world—even capable of predicting the future...
If it was him, the Heavenly Secret Star Chu-so, then perhaps such formations were possible.
Bu Eun-seol, pushing the Ultimate Speed Shadowless to its limit, soon arrived at the Heavenly Heart Valley that Un Hak-bi had mentioned.
But he couldn't enter immediately.
At the entrance of the Secluded Valley, formations of unimaginable complexity were layered upon one another.
"This is..."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
Even with his wisdom, these weren't formations he could unravel in a short time.
Is this even possible?
Formations, by nature, followed certain laws. Given time, their underlying principles could be deduced.
But the formations laid at the entrance of Heavenly Heart Valley...
Were as if a madman had crafted them—utterly devoid of order or logic.
And yet, despite that, these countless formations maintained their function in perfect harmony...
Either they were formations born from a one-in-ten-million coincidence,
Or they were the work of a genius with intellect beyond imagination, who had perfectly harmonized vast, disparate knowledge into this impossible structure.
Hmm.
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed as he studied the formations.
Even if he calculated at full speed, it would take at least four days—perhaps even longer.
For an ordinary person, this would be a level of formation they could never solve, even with a lifetime of effort.
After a long while of contemplating the Formation-Breaking Art, his pupils flashed.
At last, he could guess the intent of the one who had laid them.
They're testing martial prowess.
These formations were impossible to dismantle through conventional means.
But that didn't mean they were designed to bar entry entirely.
Despite their overwhelming complexity, they weren't sturdy enough to withstand the might of a Grandmaster unleashing their full martial power.
If you couldn't untangle the knot, you had no choice but to cut it.
The clear intention was to force intruders to shatter the formations with overwhelming martial force.
"But there's no time."
There were at least a hundred overlapping formations. Even if he broke them by force, it would take a full day.
And in that time, Gongson Dan-gyeong could be in grave danger.
Krrrr—
Bu Eun-seol violently circulated all the power within his body.
When the forces of Orthodox, Unorthodox, Demonic, and Buddhist Arts and the Two Spirit Energies surged simultaneously, his skin began to crack like dried pastry.
The sheer intensity of the conflicting energies was causing his physical body to collapse.
Zzziiing—
Just as it became unbearable, a faint golden light shimmered within him.
The Prajna Great Power unfolded, perfectly aligning all the chaotic forces within his body.
Kukukuku—
At that moment, the entire entrance of Heavenly Heart Valley trembled.
Just as he was about to unleash Harmonization,
Zzziiing—
Something bizarre happened.
Suddenly, light spilled from the entrance—
Chk-chk-chk!
In an instant, the formations unraveled,
And a narrow path began to form, allowing him passage—
As if reacting to the Power of Harmony.
"Terrifying."
Bu Eun-seol withdrew his energy and shook his head.
Only now did he understand the true purpose of these formations.
"They were testing whether I could wield Limitless Power."
In the past, he had discovered that the Martial Alliance's mysterious gate, created by the Martial Venerable, was a mechanism designed to detect Limitless Power—
And he had confirmed that the Power of Harmony bore a resemblance to it.
And now, these formations—
Just like that mechanism, had instantly dissolved in response to Harmonization.
Which meant, ultimately, these formations were a device to verify whether the intruder possessed power comparable to the Martial Extreme Realm.
Dangerous.
Only now did he realize the unimaginable peril lurking within Heavenly Heart Valley.
But he couldn't turn back.
Because Gongson Dan-gyeong was in there.
Step. Step.
As he entered the narrow path that had formed, Bu Eun-seol's eyes gleamed sharply.
"That was close."
Bu Eun-seol realized another hidden function of this formation.
"If I'd used Harmonization, the Chief Strategist would have been in danger."
Now he saw—the formation wasn't just placed at the entrance.
It stretched out like a spider's web, covering the entire Secluded Valley.
What if he had used Harmonization to blast the formation away all at once?
The entire valley could have collapsed.
"Here, it's even possible to alter the formation."
As the formation deactivated, Bu Eun-seol could grasp the Formation-Breaking Art that enveloped the entirety of Heavenly Heart Valley.
"Human capability truly knows no bounds."
He let out an admiring sigh as he observed the formation laid along the narrow path.
Though his expertise in formations wasn't extraordinary, thanks to Gongson Dan-gyeong, he had grasped their essential principles.
The formations laid from the entrance extended seamlessly into the heart of Heavenly Heart Valley.
And if one wished, they could even manipulate the formation from this very passage.
"A mind beyond imagination."
In the end, these formations weren't deployed to block entry—they were meant to distinguish those who had reached Limitless Power.
And this passage at the entrance of Heavenly Heart Valley...
Was a control point capable of altering or commanding the formations installed throughout the entire valley.
To his knowledge, in the entire Martial World, only Gongson Hwa-uk and Gongson Dan-gyeong could set up a formation like this.
But there was no way those two would have placed such a bizarre formation here.
"Thinking can wait."
As he stepped out of the passage and into the valley,
a landscape veiled in an eerie silence, as if cut off from the world, unfolded before his eyes.
The rocks weren't weathered by time—they had been artificially carved with deliberate precision.
Without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol passed through an area where a thin mist lingered.
Then, a dense forest reminiscent of primeval wilderness came into view.
As he ventured deeper into the woods,
a temple that seemed to have been built in ancient times appeared, and beside it stood a somewhat incongruous pavilion.
And next to that pavilion, a figure clad in soft pink stood.
It was Gongson Dan-gyeong.
"Chief Strategist."
Bu Eun-seol immediately rushed toward her.
"Commander Seon-u."
She, too, looked at him in surprise.
"How did you—"
"While traveling the Rivers and Lakes, an assassin presumed to be from the Jungson Clan suddenly attacked me."
Bu Eun-seol fabricated an excuse on the spot.
"After dealing with him, I learned that you had been abducted and brought here. So I—"
"I see."
Gongson Dan-gyeong nodded, though she couldn't hide her astonishment.
"But this place was covered in formidable formations. How did you get in?"
"Those formations weren't meant to block entry—they were gates testing the strength of those who entered."
"Strength?"
"Correct."
Bu Eun-seol explained the mechanism at the entrance.
Though he lied, claiming it wasn't a test for power rivaling Limitless Power,
but rather a gate that assessed one's martial prowess.
"Testing Commander Seon-u's martial arts..."
Gongson Dan-gyeong's eyes widened.
"Then this place is also a trap."
Only now did she realize—
that this Heavenly Heart Valley was a meticulously designed death trap.
"We should leave first."
At Bu Eun-seol's words, Gongson Dan-gyeong weakly shook her head.
"No."
"What do you mean?"
"If this is a trap he set... then there's no way out."
"What are you—"
BOOM.
Then, a tremor that seemed to shake the very world reverberated.
The sky darkened as if stained with blood, and a sinister energy pressed in like a suffocating tide.
Bu Eun-seol turned his head toward the exit.
The trembling earth stilled,
and from the black fog, an enormous shadow slowly emerged.
A towering old man with eyes burning like crimson flames.
BOOM. BOOM.
With each step he took, the earth crumbled, and thunderbolts rained from the heavens.
'This can't be.'
Bu Eun-seol couldn't hide his shock as he sensed the old man's momentum.
A Superlative Martial Expert.
This old man radiated the presence of a martial master who ruled the Martial World.
Like the Twin Celestial Emperors of Righteousness and Demon—or the Three Demons and Three Honored Ones.
"Hmph."
The blazing eyes of the giant old man
fixed not on Bu Eun-seol, but on Gongson Dan-gyeong.
"Not the Heavenly Mechanism Star, but another of the One Hundred and Eight Stars."
The old man's voice was ordinary.
"And what's more, you've sealed your energy with some strange Great Art, making it impossible to discern clearly."
Yet his voice didn't come from his mouth—
It was as if something beneath the earth was dispersing that voice in all directions.
"Given how deliberately you're hiding your energy, you must be one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stars, no?"
Clench.
Bu Eun-seol tightened his fist.
Cold sweat trickled down his back.
Despite having reached unfathomable martial prowess, the old man's aura was utterly ordinary.
If that was the case, then he, too, was likely a Great Demon—someone who deliberately projected an unremarkable appearance and aura while manipulating humans like chess pieces, just like the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
"Are you the Neither-Human-Nor-Beast?"
At that moment, Bu Eun-seol stepped forward.
If someone with such an aura had remained unknown in the martial world until now, he reasoned, they must be connected to the Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
"The Neither-Human-Nor-Beast?"
The old man furrowed his brow for a moment before tilting his head quizzically.
"Don't tell me you've come from the Ancient Sword Forest?"
It was a somewhat abrupt response.
But Bu Eun-seol felt a flicker of hope.
'He's someone I can converse with.'
Seeing the old man answer without hesitation, Bu Eun-seol spoke again.
"I'm from the Martial Alliance."
"The Martial Alliance?"
The old man let out a surprised exclamation.
"Heh heh heh. Then you must be from the Three Realms."
'It's not unreasonable for him to think that.'
Ordinary martial artists wouldn't even recognize the term "Neither-Human-Nor-Beast."
But since Bu Eun-seol had uttered it without hesitation, it wasn't far-fetched for the old man to mistake him for a member of the Three Realms.
"I have no connection to the Three Realms."
"You're not from the Three Realms?"
"That's right."
The old man stroked his chin, looking unconvinced.
"Judging by your expression, you seem to know about the Ancient Sword Forest too—yet you claim you're not from the Three Realms?"
The old man studied Bu Eun-seol's unwavering gaze before nodding slowly.
"Well, I suppose that's not what matters."
Then, flicking his tongue, he turned his attention to Gongson Dan-gyeong.
"You're not the Heavenly Mechanism Star, but since things have come to this... you'll have to die here."
Gongson Dan-gyeong's heart pounded—not because the old man had declared his intent to kill her, but because of what he had said:
"You're not the Heavenly Mechanism Star."
Which meant—
From the very beginning, this old man had come to capture the Heavenly Mechanism Star.
In other words, the probability that Chu-so was still alive was high.
'Did he really set me up?'
Gongson Dan-gyeong felt dizzy.
Was Chu-so alive?
If so, why hadn't he sought her out?
Why had he lured her into this trap?
'I sought revenge for your sake.'
She could never forget the gratitude she owed Chu-so, who had died an untimely death in her place.
That was why she had clung so desperately to vengeance—why she had sought out the Jungson Clan at all costs, determined to bring them down.
But if all of this had been Chu-so's plan from the start...
What does he want? Why would he do this?
"Farewell."
As the old man began to raise his hand—
Swish!
Bu Eun-seol moved like lightning, instantly shielding Gongson Dan-gyeong.
The old man's martial arts surpassed imagination—even the slightest gesture could sever Gongson Dan-gyeong's head in an instant, and Bu Eun-seol knew it.
"What do you think you can do, you insignificant brat?"
Boom.
A massive tremor reverberated, and Bu Eun-seol was pushed back nearly ten feet.
Given the level of his internal energy, this was utterly impossible.
'This much power?'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
The old man had forced him back ten steps without even moving a finger.
It wasn't due to the use of internal energy—
Rather, it was because the old man's martial prowess had transcended the principles of martial arts, allowing him to wield such power as naturally as breathing.
'He's a master beyond my reach.'
Without any movement, without any surge of energy—
Just this single, effortless display of transcendent power was enough to prove...
That the old man's martial prowess might even rival that of the Three Demons and Three Venerables.
'How could a master like this remain unknown to the world?'
"Oh? You were pushed back while completely unharmed?"
The old man studied Bu Eun-seol before tilting his head again, his expression perplexed.
"You're not even one of the One Hundred and Eight Stars, yet you possess martial prowess of this caliber... Could it be that you're an old man wearing the skin of a youth?"
As if unable to comprehend it—
After staring in bewilderment for a long moment, the old man nodded, his interest piqued.
"Well then, let's see your true form."
CRACK!
In an instant, an overwhelming force like a collapsing mountain surged toward Bu Eun-seol.
The old man's martial prowess had reached such a realm that he could unleash techniques without even moving—without needing to assume a stance.
'I'm dead.'
Bu Eun-seol didn't even have time to draw his sword.
Against the crushing force, he immediately threw a punch.
But since he was currently posing as Seon-u Jin—
Instead of the Seven Forms of the Fist Demon, he employed the Righteous Fist Art, a variation of Seok Chi-haeng's Azure Heaven Seven Forms.
BOOM!
With a tremor that shook heaven and earth—
Bu Eun-seol was sent flying back another ten feet.
'This is...'
The reason he had been forced back again wasn't due to a difference in martial skill or internal power.
It was because the old man's fist technique had instantly absorbed and enveloped Bu Eun-seol's Azure Heaven Seven Forms as if embracing it.
"Heh hah hah!"
Suddenly, the old man pointed at Bu Eun-seol and burst into mad laughter.
"So the Fist of Heaven has finally reached the martial world as well!"