Chapter 818
"Huh?"
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened as he let out a startled cry when he spotted a black-clad masked man covered in grievous wounds rushing toward him from afar.
"Eeek!"
Then he deliberately averted his gaze, feigning shock.
Whoosh.
But the masked man halted his Lightness Skill and approached Bu Eun-seol.
Midway, he stopped in his tracks upon noticing Bu Eun-seol still chewing and rolling a piece of tree bark in his mouth.
Flash.
The black-clad masked man stood tall, his eyes locking onto Bu Eun-seol with an intense glare that seemed to erupt with sparks.
Then he began scrutinizing Bu Eun-seol's dull, vacant eyes and filthy attire with keen interest.
Shhh.
Before he knew it, the masked man had closed the distance between them and spoke in a low voice.
"Who are you?"
"I-I... am called Finger."
"Finger?"
"That's right."
Orphans or beggars abandoned without names often went by nicknames rather than proper ones.
The masked man wrinkled his nose at Bu Eun-seol's foul breath but nodded in approval.
'This is actually perfect.'
Martial artists couldn't be trusted.
But this beggar, at the very least, wouldn't be pursued by any pursuers.
"Hold out your hand."
At the masked man's command, Bu Eun-seol blinked in confusion.
Seizing the moment, the masked man swiftly grabbed Bu Eun-seol's left hand, raised his fingernail sharply, and began carving something into his palm.
"Aaahhh!"
Bu Eun-seol screamed.
Every time the masked man's nail touched his palm, it felt as though his flesh was being seared.
Sssss.
With meticulous precision, the masked man inscribed something—then suddenly,
Snap!
He pressed down fiercely on an acupoint near Bu Eun-seol's wrist, causing his fist to clench involuntarily.
"Listen carefully."
The masked man spoke with solemn gravity.
"Follow this path to the Martial Alliance. Show your palm to the guards."
"Uuugh... I-I can't open my hand, sir."
"The acupoint will release on its own in about three days. By then, you'll have reached the Martial Alliance."
The masked man had calculated the time it would take Bu Eun-seol to walk there and sealed the acupoint accordingly.
"Once you arrive, the guards will take you somewhere. Then, relay this message to the person you meet there."
The masked man stared straight into Bu Eun-seol's face as he spoke.
"The Heavenly Mechanism Star has appeared. Everything is under his control."
'The Heavenly Mechanism Star.'
The Heavenly Mechanism Star—wasn't he the very figure the Jungson Clan had desperately sought, even resorting to abducting children to commit atrocities in their pursuit of the One Hundred and Eight Stars?
And now, he was the one controlling everything?
"If it's too hard to remember, just say the name Heavenly Mechanism Star."
"Heavenly Mechanism Star."
"Correct."
True to his role as a member of the Martial Venerable's covert organization,
the masked man hadn't entrusted Bu Eun-seol with a letter or a Command Plaque containing critical information.
Instead, he had secretly carved an emblem into his palm.
"Sir, I-I can't do this..."
As Bu Eun-seol trembled violently, the masked man replied coldly,
"If you don't go within fifteen days, your hand will rot, and you'll die!"
"Wh-what?"
"What's been absorbed into your palm is the Auspicious Shark Blood Poison."
"S-sir..."
"But if you deliver this message, you'll receive the antidote immediately—and a hefty sum on top of it."
The masked man pulled out a silver ingot from his robes.
"Take this. And if you relay the message, you'll receive ten gold ingots."
"G-gold, you say?"
"That's right."
The masked man scanned their surroundings before speaking firmly.
"Never speak of this to anyone. Understood?"
"Y-yes, sir."
The masked man checked their surroundings once more and repeated,
"You must deliver this to the Martial Alliance. If you don't, I will hunt you down and kill you."
"U-understood."
Just as Bu Eun-seol bowed his head deeply—
Twist!
Suddenly, his left wrist contorted on its own, and his palm sprang open.
'Oh no.'
Because he hadn't suppressed the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi,
the acupoint had unwittingly released itself without his control.
'So this... was its hidden function.'
Bu Eun-seol forced a bitter smile.
The Wind & Cloud Divine Qi had a tendency to naturally revert if not perfectly restrained.
In a way, being discovered like this was a stroke of luck.
"You... you..."
Realizing he could no longer deceive the masked man, Bu Eun-seol dropped the act and spoke in his true voice.
"I've been caught, it seems."
"So... you were the Heavenly Mechanism Star."
The masked man stared at Bu Eun-seol, who had undone his own acupoint, then shuddered as if realizing something.
"Earlier too—it wasn't the Bullet King, but you. I was testing you on purpose."
"..."
"If even someone like the Bullet King wasn't told everything, then no matter which martial artist came, I could confirm whether he distrusted any martial artist who came."
As a sect leader who had long commanded a covert organization, the masked man possessed exceptional intuition and cunning.
He realized Bu Eun-seol had fully grasped his psychological state—his wariness toward martial artists—
and realized that Bu Eun-seol had deliberately disguised himself as a beggar to manipulate him into delivering everything into his hands.
"Precisely."
Bu Eun-seol nodded with his original voice.
"You're a man of remarkable wisdom, contrary to appearances."
"Perhaps as much as you, who claims to read Heaven's Will."
"I am not Heavenly Mechanism Star."
Bu Eun-seol spoke with a bitter expression.
"So, you may as well tell me everything you know."
"Don't jest with me."
The Masked Man's eyes flashed.
"At any rate, you too will soon die by the Martial Venerable's hand."
Thud.
He immediately severed his heart meridian and committed suicide.
Bu Eun-seol had known he would take his own life but did not stop him.
No matter what he said, the man would not believe him, nor would he divulge any information.
In that case, the timing of his death was something he should be allowed to choose for himself.
Yet Bu Eun-seol regretted that decision.
—You too will soon die by the Martial Venerable's hand.
Contrary to expectations, the Masked Man had not been one of the Martial Venerable's subordinates.
"That can't be."
The martial arts the black-masked man had used were unmistakably the Martial Venerable's Ultimate Art. So how could he not be one of the Martial Venerable's people?
"Flower Flight Hall?"
The emblem engraved on his palm was none other than the symbol identifying him as a member of the Martial Alliance's Flower Flight Hall.
"Then he should be a direct subordinate of the Martial Venerable, no?"
Through the Absolute Summit, Bu Eun-seol had already uncovered some of the secret organizations covertly operated by the Martial Alliance's inner circle.
And while the Flower Flight Hall was a newly established organization within the last decade, publicly known for researching Mechanism Formations—
In truth, it was the Martial Venerable's personal intelligence network.
Yet one of its members had uttered, in a voice laced with resentment, "You too will soon die by the Martial Venerable's hand"?
Did that mean he believed himself to be an assassin sent by the Martial Venerable?
"I can't make sense of this."
Suddenly, Bu Eun-seol recalled the words of one of the blue-masked men.
—How could mere interlopers appear in the midst of the task assigned by that person...
"Then the blue-masked men are subordinates of Heavenly Mechanism Star."
Taking all the circumstances into account—
A covert unit led by the Martial Venerable had been dispatched into the Martial World on a special mission,
But Heavenly Mechanism Star, who could read Heaven's Will and detect such things, had sent the blue-masked men to attack them.
"Reading Heaven's Will..."
Bu Eun-seol sighed.
The blue-masked men had likely declared that no interlopers could possibly appear precisely because they were acting on Heavenly Mechanism Star's orders—one who could read Heaven's Will.
"So such a thing truly exists."
Though Bu Eun-seol had encountered numerous Eccentric Masters in his time, he had yet to meet anyone who could read Heaven's Will.
"Reading Heaven's Will doesn't mean seeing the future, then?"
If Heavenly Mechanism Star truly could see the future—
There was no way he wouldn't have foreseen Bu Eun-seol's arrival... So reading Heaven's Will must not equate to foreseeing the future.
"But this situation is utterly incomprehensible."
A black-masked man, presumed to be part of the Martial Venerable's covert organization... had spoken as if harboring hostility toward the Martial Venerable?
'A spy or a traitor.'
In that case, the only conclusion was that the black-masked man was either a spy planted within the Martial Venerable's ranks or a traitor recruited by an external force.
"What in the world is the Martial Venerable scheming?"
After a moment of contemplation, Bu Eun-seol searched the black-masked man's body.
But, as expected, nothing of note turned up.
"The Martial Venerable wouldn't let his subordinates carry letters or assignment slips that could be discovered by outsiders."
He shook his head after taking a deep breath.
"But relying solely on word of mouth is also unreliable."
If they transmitted critical information orally for security's sake—
Then in cases like this, where they were ambushed and killed... all that valuable intelligence would be lost forever.
"Heavenly Robe Mind Art."
Until now, the Martial Venerable had primarily used Heavenly Robe Mind Art for matters requiring secrecy.
So perhaps—just perhaps—he had employed a similar method for transmitting information? That was the thought that struck him.
"Let's try."
Hmm.
Drawing upon Heavenly Robe Mind Art, Bu Eun-seol sensed something profoundly unnatural within the Masked Man's body.
It wasn't an Internal Energy Method—rather, it felt as though something was embedded near his groin.
"Hm."
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eun-seol carefully examined the Masked Man's groin. But to the naked eye, nothing was visible.
Zzzing.
Finally, when he activated Empty Mind Spirit Perception—
He could sense an extremely faint, nearly transparent image engraved on the inner thigh—something invisible to ordinary sight.
"Ruthless."
No one inspecting a member of an intelligence organization would scrutinize the inner thigh so meticulously.
The Martial Venerable had devised an exceptionally unique method—
Carving information directly onto the body, ensuring that even if lost, the intelligence could still be retrieved.
"A map."
What was engraved there was none other than a map.
And it pointed to a certain mountain in Wuchang.
"Secret Vault."
Bu Eun-seol immediately grasped its meaning.
The Flower Flight Hall was a gathering place for masters of Mechanism Study. So then—
"Are they in the process of relocating the Martial Venerable's Treasury, which was exposed before?"
The Martial Venerable had constructed a mysterious mechanism in the Dabie Mountains, secretly storing various items there—including the mementos of the True Heavenly Emperor.
At that time, Bu Eun-seol had infiltrated that place with all his internal energy completely depleted.
He hadn't been able to erase all the traces of his entry.
Ultimately, the Martial Venerable must have discovered those traces.
In that case, it would have been absolutely necessary to relocate the entire secret cave.
Perhaps the black-masked men were those tasked with managing—or moving—the Martial Venerable's treasury.
'There's no time.'
The Martial Venerable was no fool.
If his subordinates didn't return by the expected time? He would immediately sense something was wrong.
Before that happened, Bu Eun-seol had to enter the treasury first.
"Forgive me."
Bu Eun-seol raised the Hot River Great Essence True Qi.
Only by erasing all remaining traces here could he buy himself some time.
Whoosh!Crackle—
An intense heat erupted, and the corpses began burning like charcoal.
Bu Eun-seol didn't just burn the masked men—he also gathered the bodies of the blue-masked men he had dealt with earlier and incinerated them all at once.
Crackle—
Using his formidable Internal Energy, he formed an imaginary barrier to contain the scorching heat of the Hot River Great Essence True Qi, preventing it from spreading.
Even the rocks turned red-hot, and soon, all the corpses scattered across the plain had been reduced to drifting ashes.
Snap!
Having erased every trace, Bu Eun-seol immediately took flight.
He had to hurry to Wuchang and inspect the Martial Venerable's Treasury.
The map drawn on the masked man's thigh pointed to a deep ravine in White Cloud Mountain, located in Wuchang.
This was a famous mountain frequented by countless sightseers—hardly a suitable place to hide something or construct a secret vault.
So why had the Martial Venerable chosen this location for his treasury?
'Still nothing.'
From the bustling Yeongpung Gorge to the secluded Secluded Valley, he had searched everywhere.
Yet he found no sign of a hidden vault or secret cave suitable for concealment.
Even after expanding his Empty Mind Spirit Perception to detect traces, the result was the same.
'Then...'
The Martial Venerable was not only a master of Martial Arts but also well-versed in Esoteric Ritual Arts and Great Arts.
Hadn't he once designed the secret cave in Great Bie Mountain to be accessible only through bizarre methods?
Even if he had constructed a secret cave here...
Without knowing the method of entry, it would be nothing more than an impenetrable barrier.
"Hmm."
Gazing at the distant sky, he realized the sun had already begun to set.
By now, the Martial Venerable must have noticed something amiss with the dispatched Information Warfare Unit.
'If I utilize all Three Divine Powers...'
If the mechanisms here were unique Art of Spells or Great Arts...
Perhaps they couldn't be detected through martial energy alone—but what if he used the Three Divine Powers?
'Let's try.'
Whoooosh—
First, he spread out the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.
Unlike Thunder Essence Divine Qi and Water Essence Divine Qi, the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi could expand indefinitely if he willed it to cover a vast area.
His goal was to identify any obstructions—to locate where the secret cave might be hidden.
'If there's a Great Art or Art of Spells in place, I should be able to sense even the slightest trace.'
Since the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi contained Natural Qi, it would inevitably detect any artificial force.
Zzzzt—
Then, a faint sensation brushed against his awareness.
It was as if he had touched an invisible, transparent wall.
'There.'
Moving swiftly, Bu Eun-seol arrived at a dense forest.
But the power of the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi seemed unable to penetrate deeper—as if blocked.
"If some kind of technique has been deployed here..."
This time, he summoned the Water Essence Divine Qi and began spreading it outward.
If the Water Essence Divine Qi, imbued with evil-dispelling energy, could at least disrupt the Great Art concealing this place...
'No good.'
But nothing shattered or gave way.
'Perhaps the Great Art here doesn't contain malevolent energy... which is why the Water Essence Divine Qi isn't reacting.'
After a moment of contemplation, Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes.
'Then what if I simply assume something is there and push through with both the Water Essence Divine Qi and...'
Fzzzt— Crackle!
In one hand, he condensed the Water Essence Divine Qi—in the other, the Thunder Essence Divine Qi.
The Water Essence Divine Qi carried evil-dispelling energy, while the Thunder Essence Divine Qi could tear or shatter.
If something was here, combining these two forces might break it.
Hssss— Crackle!
Yet even after merging the two energies, he felt no impact—nothing breaking.
"I see."
Only then did Bu Eun-seol realize something.
The Wind & Cloud Divine Qi had detected this place.
That meant the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi was also needed to break through.
Whoooosh—
Bu Eun-seol summoned the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi once more.
According to the principles of Martial Arts, it was impossible to combine two or more forces at once.
So Bu Eun-seol attempted something akin to Harmonization—
Aligning all Three Divine Powers simultaneously.
Zzzzzt—
As he raised all three energies at once, a strange vibration coursed through him, and a faint light emanated from his body.
At the same time, an excruciating pain—as if his mind were collapsing—flooded his senses.
If activating Harmonization felt like his flesh was tearing apart...
Then forcibly aligning the Three Divine Powers at once—
Felt like his Spirit and Mind were on the verge of shattering.
"Ugh—"
It felt as though his mind was melting away, and his vision grew increasingly transparent.
If he kept enduring this any longer, he'd surely be reduced to a mindless husk.
'I have to stop.'
Reluctantly, Bu Eun-seol tried to withdraw the Three Divine Powers.
But they wouldn't halt.
Unlike the power of martial arts,
once the Three Divine Powers were simultaneously drawn forth, they refused to cease, spreading uncontrollably.
It was like carving a channel into a dam—once the water found its path, it surged forth without restraint.
Screeeech—
As time passed, the sound of tearing leather echoed through his mind.
It was as if the very sack holding his consciousness had stretched taut, swollen to its limit, and finally ruptured.
Just as his mind was on the verge of dissolving into transparency—
Zzzzzziiing—
Suddenly, an infinitely warm energy surged from the Brain Gate Acupoint.
The rampaging Three Divine Powers, which had been wildly expanding the space of his Spirit and Mind, gradually stabilized—then began to merge into one.
KWAH—!
At the same time, three streams of mysterious radiance erupted from Bu Eun-seol's body, soaring to the heavens.
They swirled violently, engulfing the surrounding roughly four hundred feet in a whirlwind.
Skree— Skreeee—
Then, a sound like sharp metal scraping against metal reverberated endlessly.
Skreeee— Crack.
Finally, the noise of something shattering rang out—
Thud.
The unified energy of the Three Divine Powers stretched outward, and Bu Eun-seol dropped to one knee.
The agony he had just endured was on an entirely different level from any physical pain he had suffered before.
Had he not reached a realm close to the Spiritual Aperture Breakthrough—or lacked his unyielding patience and indomitable will—
he would have gone mad or turned into a mindless fool.
"I really almost lost myself just now."
Still gripping his throbbing consciousness, he shook his head.
"Aligning Divine Energy is impossible without obtaining the complete Four Divine Energies."
The Four Divine Energies were the power of nature.
Without fully obtaining them,
harmonizing beyond the Two Spirit Energies was impossible—and forcing it would have shattered his Spirit and Mind to pieces.
Zzzzzziiing—
But then, a transparent radiance spread before Bu Eun-seol, forming a small space.
The power of the Three Divine Powers had finally
shattered the Great Art embedded here, revealing the hidden chamber.
Shhhh—
Stepping into the transparent space, Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
"This is—"
The sight before him.
Wasn't it nearly identical in structure to the Martial Venerable's Treasury he had once seen in the Dabie Mountains?
"So they really moved it here."
As expected, the black-masked men
had secretly relocated the Secret Cave from the Dabie Mountains under the Martial Venerable's orders.
The incomplete traces of the Battle Formations and mechanisms inside seemed to confirm this.
"Though it's slightly different."
Entering the Secret Cave, he saw a large office filled with stacks of letters and encrypted documents in Secret Language.
"They kept these instead of burning them?"
A figure of the Martial Venerable's stature would know better than anyone how crucial security was.
So why had these documents been preserved intact rather than destroyed?
"Don't tell me—"
After staring at the piles of letters and encrypted texts for a long moment, Bu Eun-seol let out a hollow laugh.
"So that's it."
Exhaling sharply, he shook his head as he looked down at the letters.
"These aren't the Martial Venerable's—they're wiretapped communications from the Martial Alliance's factions."
These letters contained orders issued by various Martial Alliance factions or covert transmissions to secret organizations.
Given that they weren't written in Secret Language, they weren't originals—likely intercepted copies gathered separately.
"To think he knew the truth about the Martial Alliance... The Martial Venerable was struggling too."
Despite acting as the Alliance Chief, he had been digging into the Alliance's secret factions, investigating them.
Which meant even he hadn't fully grasped the Martial Alliance's true nature—and was still probing even now.
"But then why would the Martial Venerable's subordinate try to relay this location to the Flower Flight Hall?"
If they were truly his subordinate, they'd already know of this Secret Cave's location—there'd be no need for covert delivery.
"No—they wouldn't know."
The Martial Venerable was meticulous.
Even if it took time, he'd handle things himself.
No matter how trusted a subordinate was, he wouldn't order them to relocate a Secret Cave containing his secrets.
—You too will soon die by the Martial Venerable's hand.
Suddenly, the black-masked man's final shout flashed through his mind.
He had clearly been the Martial Venerable's subordinate—yet his words had carried hostility toward him.
"Then, as I suspected, the black-masked man betrayed the Martial Venerable..."
As Bu Eun-seol's gaze fixed on empty space, a radiant light exploded in his eyes.
Only now did he fully grasp the Secret Cave's secret.
"...And he was trying to risk his life to deliver this location to someone."
The black-masked man, though ostensibly the Martial Venerable's subordinate, had either betrayed him or been subverted by an opposing faction.
And the blue-masked man was likely a pursuer sent to seize whatever the black-masked men carried.
"Which means there's someone in the Martial Alliance cooperating with a faction opposing the Martial Venerable..."
Staring at the Secret Cave, Bu Eun-seol muttered under his breath.
"Mu-gyeol."
The true disciple of Jeong Cheon-je,
who had even shattered his own Internal Power to become the Martial Venerable's disciple—all to uncover the truth behind his master's death.
Only he could sway the Martial Venerable's subordinates and lead a faction hostile to him.