Chapter 848
The carriage for long-distance travel kicked up a cloud of dust as it raced swiftly down the highway.
Bu Eun-seol gazed out the window with indifferent eyes.
'Is it about chasing even a single moment of brilliance?'
He recalled the face of Sindo Un-hwi, who had died without regret right before his eyes.
That man had wanted not a long and peaceful life, but one that blazed brilliantly even if only for a single day.
'I was never a martial artist.'
He had never desired a life that shone brightly.
His only goal had been to come and go quietly, like an unnamed wildflower.
But before he knew it... he had come to understand, little by little, the lives of those in the martial world.
And their hearts.
Every day, they walked the razor's edge between life and death.
They survived—no, they lived—amidst endless schemes, betrayals, and duels.
Because they could never guarantee tomorrow's survival...
They chose to live each day without regret—to live radiantly.
'The Extinction Palace showed no reaction.'
Even though Sindo Un-hwi had died horribly...
The Extinction Palace had remained silent.
They had likely abandoned him the moment he fell for Heavenly Mechanism Star's temptation and chose the Beast Power Surpassing Man.
"That man taught my half-brother an extraordinary secret—one that would allow him to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the era's greatest martial experts."
"Within a few years, the palace will likely produce a martial expert surpassing even you."
Which meant the Extinction Palace had already selected another successor candidate and accepted Heavenly Mechanism Star's proposal.
Before long, they would unleash a terrifyingly powerful warrior.
'Heavenly Mechanism Star.'
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
He knew the man was exploiting people's burning desires to turn them into pawns.
After all, he had been manipulating Gongson Dan-gyeong for a long time.
And through this incident, Bu Eun-seol had finally grasped how he controlled people—and what his true intentions were.
'Playing the role of a guide of fate.'
He offered aid to those in crisis, indirectly steering their actions.
He gave advice to those at crossroads, making them trust and follow him.
He infiltrated even major factions like the Extinction Palace, sowing discord between the Death Shadow War Unit and others, watching as they clashed.
Through long-term brainwashing and meticulous planning, he raised them as either his subordinates or spies within enemy factions.
It was no different from what the Three Realms had done in the past. No—it was even more meticulous and vicious.
Because beneath the mask of Heavenly Mechanism Star...
Lay a foundation of thorough psychological domination and long-term strategy.
Moreover, this incident with Sindo Un-hwi...
Had been Heavenly Secret Star Chu-so's way of confirming what kind of person he was.
'And whether I could be used as a pawn.'
This time, Heavenly Mechanism Star's goal...
Had been to assess his usefulness—just as he had once done with Gongson Dan-gyeong.
In other words, he intended to eventually use the Martial Soul Lord—one of the Demonic Path's grandmasters—for his own schemes.
'I'll make sure to deal with him.'
Now, he understood Heavenly Mechanism Star clearly.
A being with intelligence beyond imagination, capable of predicting and perceiving the future...
Yet who had revealed himself in this era...
Was nothing more than a wicked existence sowing chaos to fulfill his selfish desires.
Clack, clack.
Meanwhile, the carriage had already left Chengdu behind, speeding onward.
'Come to think of it, how did I end up in this carriage?'
There had once been an unspoken rule among martial artists.
No matter what kind of fight broke out...
No matter what unavoidable battle unfolded...
They were never to harm ordinary civilians—coachmen, waiters...
Or even the women of pleasure quarters—those who were not part of the martial world.
But at some point, that unspoken rule had vanished from the martial world.
No—it had to vanish.
Because martial arts had advanced too far, their power and range expanding beyond control.
Even unintentionally, those caught within the radius of a martial technique could no longer be guaranteed survival.
After realizing this...
Bu Eun-seol had avoided riding in carriages whenever possible.
Especially when facing opponents like the Three Realms or the Three Clans...
Who wielded cruel and mysterious martial arts, forcing him to resort to techniques of the Extreme Realm.
Yet here he was, riding in a carriage.
First, because his mind was still unsettled by Sindo Un-hwi's death.
Second, because the coachman had spotted Bu Eun-seol walking alone and begged him to ride in his empty carriage.
Bu Eun-seol had hesitated briefly...
But ever since a certain point, sudden ambushes from the Abyssal Forces—including the Three Realms—had grown rare.
The next relay station was only about forty li away.
And he had gained enough confidence to protect anyone within a hundred-foot radius.
So he had broken his own rule and boarded the carriage once more.
Thud.
But suddenly, with a dull sound, the coachman tumbled from his seat.
Instantly sensing the situation, Bu Eun-seol channeled his Internal Energy to forcibly halt the carriage.
Then he approached the fallen man.
'Did he have an illness?'
His extrasensory perception had detected nothing beforehand, and there were no signs of an attack on the coachman's body.
As Bu Eun-seol crouched to check the man's condition and reached to take his pulse—
Flicker.
The fallen coachman's eyes suddenly snapped open.
"My apologies."
The man sat up, scratching his head.
"I must've blacked out for a moment—felt dizzy all of a sudden."
Despite having fallen from a speeding carriage...
The coachman was unharmed—not a single hair out of place.
In fact, wasn't he even... smiling?
"That's a relief."
Bu Eun-seol, sensing something amiss, extended his hand.
"Still, let me check if you're injured anywhere."
Whoosh!
But suddenly, a blade of Sword Qi grazed past his ear.
It was sharp and powerful enough to slice through metal like tofu—so swift that he couldn't even detect where it had been unleashed.
Swish!
Bu Eun-seol twisted his body like lightning, narrowly evading the Sword Qi.
Yet even so, he couldn't dodge it completely—several strands of his hair were severed.
Thud.
As he landed, his expression hardened completely.
The coachman's index and middle fingers were now wreathed in terrifying Sword Qi.
'A martial artist?'
His senses were as sharp as any of the world's greatest masters, and his intuition surpassed most.
The coachman had clearly been an ordinary man with no martial training—or so he had thought.
Yet here he was, surpassing even the realm of Tranquil Stillness, reaching a level where his martial prowess couldn't be detected until he unleashed it.
"Hmm."
But something was strange.
The coachman's eyes were bloodshot, his lips dripping with saliva.
He looked like a Killing Ghost consumed by Slaughter Frenzy.
[You... have reached your limit. You must die.]
Then the coachman spoke in a bizarre voice.
[No more... beings like you should exist.]
The voice carried an eerie resonance—as if someone were speaking through the coachman.
"Reveal yourself."
[We are the ones who have guarded the truth since the dawn of time—who uphold the Laws and Order.]
The words were so grandiose they bordered on absurdity.
Yet Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened.
The term Laws—wasn't that what Heavenly Mechanism Star had obsessively repeated to Gongson Dan-gyeong?
"Guarding the truth, upholding Laws and Order..."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed.
"Heavenly Mechanism Star—are you manipulating people again?"
But the coachman gave an unexpected reply.
[Those who reject the Covenant no longer be allowed to emerge as a strong person.]
"The Covenant?"
[Beings like you disrupt the Order of Murim and bring chaos.]
This was beyond anything he had anticipated.
If the one controlling the coachman wasn't Heavenly Mechanism Star, then was it the Old Man in Blue—the one who had once urged him to accept the Covenant?
[Since it is your first offense, I shall grant you mercy.]
"..."
[Disband your Internal Power now. Then it ends here.]
For a martial artist, disbanding one's Internal Power was worse than death.
"That's not difficult."
Yet Bu Eun-seol nodded calmly.
"Once all my tasks are complete, I will disband it myself."
[You refuse.]
Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes, as if unable to comprehend.
"You just spoke of upholding Laws and Order, didn't you?"
[Indeed.]
"Then why demand I disband my power simply for being strong? What kind of Law or Order is that?"
[Those outside the Covenant who wield great power disrupt Order and sow chaos.]
"If you truly believe that, show me proof. What have I destroyed? What chaos have I caused?"
[So you reject us.]
The coachman's voice turned resolute.
[This is your final warning. From now on, even if you survive... you will no longer be living.]
"What?"
[You will weep tears of blood and drown in regret.]
With those words, a sickening crack echoed from the coachman's body—
BOOM!
—before he exploded in an instant.
Splatter—!
This wasn't just an ordinary explosion—it was the technique Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast, turning his flesh and blood into deadly shrapnel.
Even Bu Eun-seol couldn't have predicted it.
The fragments pierced through Protective Aura effortlessly, their killing range spanning dozens of yards.
Unable to evade in time, Bu Eun-seol was swallowed by the blast.
Whoooosh—
As the dust settled, carried away by the wind—
Hiss—
Bu Eun-seol emerged, shrouded in black True Qi.
Realizing he couldn't dodge, he had instantly deployed Willful True Binding, forming a wall of True Qi.
Drip... drip...
Blood trickled from his body and cheek.
Even at full power, Willful True Binding hadn't fully blocked the shrapnel—some had pierced through, grazing him.
"A master of this level... detonated himself."
Naturally, self-destructive techniques like Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast grew deadlier with higher Internal Energy.
To breach his True Qi wall, the coachman must have had at least three centuries of cultivation.
Moreover, the blood had been laced with Extreme Poison—meaning he had also mastered Poison Art.
And yet, he had killed himself just to deliver a warning. Was his life worth so little?
If Bu Eun-seol were an ordinary martial artist, he would have been thrown into utter confusion.
But even now, he remained terrifyingly composed, analyzing the situation.
"He was definitely just a coachman."
If the coachman had truly been a master with immense Internal Energy, Poison Art, and martial skills—
—Bu Eun-seol would have sensed it immediately.
Crouching, he examined the scattered remains.
Though the body had been reduced to hundreds of unrecognizable fragments—
—some traces remained: fragments of femur, spine, and muscle.
"He wasn't a martial artist."
Judging by the size and density of the muscle fibers, the coachman had been an ordinary commoner—not a trained warrior.
But how could an ordinary coachman suddenly wield the overwhelming power of the Dragon-Subduing Soul-Expelling Blast as if he possessed monstrous internal energy?
"Was it some kind of Great Art or sorcery?"
If it had been a ritual or sorcery, there should have been traces left behind.
Bu Eun-seol summoned his Empty Mind Spirit Perception and meticulously examined the remaining fragments once more.
If an ordinary commoner's body had been forcibly imbued with power, there should have been clear evidence of it.
But there was none.
This coachman had possessed the body of a completely ordinary civilian, with no traces of any ritual whatsoever.
It was as if, out of nowhere, he had transformed into a figure with a powerful physique and strength.
"Using commoners again, are they?"
Thump. Thump. Thump.
A sickly yellow light flashed in Bu Eun-seol's eyes, veins of bloodshot fury threading through them.
They had targeted him, preaching about laws and order, yet they exploited innocent civilians and drove them to their deaths.
This meant he now had another target that needed to be crushed as swiftly as the Infinite Realm.
—You have reached your limit. You must die.
The coachman's grandiose words suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
"This investigation must take top priority."
Unfolding his Lightness Skill, Bu Eun-seol returned to the Demon Hall.
Just what kind of faction could instantly transform an ordinary human into a master? What method could possibly make such a thing feasible?
He intended to swiftly uncover who was behind this.
Upon arriving at the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol mobilized all his intelligence networks to investigate those who had approached the coachman.
However, even the Death Soul Squad—possessing the highest-level intelligence network in the martial world—scoured every detail and found nothing.
No suspicious activity in the coachman's movements, no traces of any faction or mysterious figure having made contact.
—We have existed since the dawn of time, guarding the truth and upholding the laws and order.
"Since the dawn of time."
The coachman had clearly stated that they had existed since the beginning.
What if that wasn't mere boasting?
What if they truly had existed since antiquity, carrying out their self-proclaimed mission of protecting their version of truth and law?
If such transcendent beings truly existed within the martial world...
"Someone must have recorded it."
Records.
Humanity had always passed down knowledge and achieved progress by recording things for future generations.
If there truly were extraordinary beings in the martial world—if their lineage had persisted—
Wouldn't there be a sage who had documented it for the descendants who would live on?
"Chief Strategist Gongson Dan-gyeong mentioned seeing records about the Baekri Clan and the True Demon in the Jungson Clan's Secret Vault."
Hadn't Gongson Dan-gyeong said that she had obtained information about the Baekri Clan and the True Demon from books stored in the Jungson Clan's secret archives?
"If such books exist..."
If there was a sage who had compiled them—
They would never have carelessly stored them in a place where just anyone could access them.
They would have wanted only those capable of understanding such knowledge to read them.
"The Demon Hall has such a place."
The Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion.
If there was any repository in the Demon Hall that could hold such records, it would be this one—where all the martial arts manuals of the Demonic Path were gathered.
Perhaps it might contain documentation on those who had existed in the martial world since the dawn of time.
"This way."
Guided by the guards, Bu Eun-seol ascended to the third floor of the Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion.
Ever since obtaining his status as the Heir of the Demon Hall, he had been granted unrestricted access to all three floors.
Yet he had never bothered to come here before.
The martial arts he had learned so far—including those from Langya Pavilion, which formed the foundation of his skills—were all pinnacle-level techniques spanning both the righteous and demonic paths.
In his current state, exposing himself to countless additional demonic manuals would only invite confusion.
Swish.
As he stepped onto the third floor, his eyes gleamed as he surveyed the interior.
"There are so many."
The shelves of the Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion's third floor were densely packed with manuals containing Superior Martial Arts capable of shaking the world.
Though not as vast as the Murim Alliance's Pratyekabuddha Hall, the number of books far exceeded his expectations.
"All of them are relics of the past."
After briefly flipping through a few manuals, he let out a quiet scoff.
The Murim Alliance had brilliant talents who constantly refined existing manuals and innovated new techniques.
But the Demon Hall had made no such effort.
In the past, he had assumed this was simply a difference in philosophy—that the Demonic Path didn't bother nurturing low-rank warriors, unlike the orthodox factions.
But now he understood.
The Demonic Path simply didn't care about low-rank martial artists.
"Martial arts are power, after all."
In the Demonic Path, status and treatment shifted drastically based on strength.
Especially in the current era, martial arts had advanced to such a dazzling degree that a single superlative expert could topple an entire sect's combat power.
From the Demonic Path's perspective, there was no need to painstakingly train low-rank warriors who couldn't even contribute meaningfully.
"That's why the third floor has more manuals."
The manuals shelved on the third floor were all rare, advanced Ultimate Arts—the origin-flow techniques that could be considered the foundation of the current Demonic Path's martial arts.
And the reason these manuals were so generously stored here...
Was because the Demonic Path valued those with the potential to become superlative experts—
who could replace tens of thousands of low-rank warriors.
"Nothing but martial arts manuals."
Bu Eun-seol thoroughly combed through the shelves, but aside from martial arts manuals, he found no other texts.
Only after searching the entire repository did he finally discover, tucked in the farthest corner, a section storing books on martial history and miscellaneous records.
But the collection was pitifully small, and even those were haphazardly mixed with origin-flow manuals that could be considered the Demonic Path's foundational techniques.
"So in the end, this Book Repository exists solely for merit-based rewards."
The Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion was nothing more than a library storing martial arts manuals—a reflection of the Demonic Path's values, which placed heavy emphasis on rewards and punishments based on merit.
In the Demonic Path, granting martial arts manuals was akin to bestowing strength and authority.
"A faction like this would never bother preserving records of the past."
Still, having come this far, he had to check what was here.
Chwak.
Familiar with reading manuals, Bu Eun-seol swiftly skimmed through the books on the shelves.
"Nothing."
As expected, there were no records about those who claimed to uphold the laws and order of Murim.
In fact, most of the documents weren't even recent—they contained even less useful information than the archives kept by the old Kill-Seeking Unit branches.
"Did I just waste my time?"
Just as he was about to turn away, a strange thought struck him.
Even if the Demonic Path didn't value the past, would they really leave behind only a single, pitifully sparse shelf?
"No matter how much they prioritize martial arts, this makes no sense."
Then perhaps the records were deliberately stored elsewhere—or...
"Kept directly under the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's control."
The latter was more likely.
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor had even restricted his own successor—Bu Eun-seol—from accessing the Secret Shadow Pavilion's intelligence.
He knew all too well the immense power that information held.
The monopoly of knowledge.
Perhaps, by hoarding all of the Demon Hall's intelligence, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had naturally created a situation where all members of the Demonic Path had no choice but to obey him absolutely.
"Then it wouldn't be here."
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor would never have left anything containing critical information inside the Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion.
"Maybe it's in the Holy Demon Pavilion, where he resides."
If so, there was no point wasting more time here.
Just as he was about to leave—
Click.
A faint sound, quieter than an ant's footsteps, rose from beneath him.
So subtle that even Bu Eun-seol, with his razor-sharp senses, barely registered it—not as a sound, but as an instinctive feeling.
"A mechanism?"
Given that the pavilion housed advanced demonic martial manuals, the presence of hidden mechanisms wasn't surprising.
But Bu Eun-seol had spent a considerable amount of time here, searching for records.
Why would a mechanism activate now, without any apparent trigger?
"...Ah."
After a moment of thought, realization dawned.
"Time."
All non-martial texts in the Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion were gathered in this shelf.
Meaning this mechanism was designed—
"To detect those who linger here too long, searching for books unrelated to martial arts."
Lowering his head, he heightened his Empty Mind Spirit Perception, scanning the surroundings intently.
Yet no matter how closely he looked, he found no traces of the mechanism's installation.
Which meant it was either exquisitely concealed—enough to evade even his eyes—or he simply lacked the necessary conditions to detect it.
"Information."
Bu Eun-seol narrowed his eyes.
Most who entered the Myriad Demon Treasury Pavilion came for martial manuals.
It was unlikely anyone had ever come here seeking records about Murim.
So why install such a device?
Paradoxically, the answer led him back to one name—
"The Demonic Heavenly Emperor."
He understood the value of information better than anyone—and sought to monopolize it.
Naturally, he would have taken measures to ensure that not just anyone could access the intelligence stored here.
Only those he permitted—those who aligned with his will—could enter.
Swoosh.
Bu Eun-seol channeled his Internal Power, unleashing the Wish-Fulfilling Qi Formula.
Rumble.
As the shockwave of his True Qi spread through the repository, a small door materialized on the opposite wall, accompanied by a low vibration.
As expected, the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had deliberately hidden the records containing Murim's secrets—accessible only to those he deemed worthy.
Step. Step.
Inside lay a cramped space—a musty, secret archive where every book was aged and damaged.
"...Tch."
Bu Eun-seol let out a sigh.
The intact records had all been moved elsewhere. Only ruined remnants remained—so brittle they might crumble at a touch.
"One left."
After rifling through the archive, he found a single, relatively intact book.
It was an illustrated text filled with bizarre, unsettling imagery.
"...!"
His fingers froze mid-page.
The drawings depicted ghostly figures roaming Murim, transforming people into monsters.
Turning the page, he saw that the creatures created by these specters ultimately burst apart in grotesque deaths.
"...Similar."
The coachman, too, had been an ordinary civilian before someone turned him into a monster—before his body ruptured.
Which meant...
"For ages, something lurking in Murim has been turning people into abominations."
Everything is connected.
These entities hadn't appeared suddenly. They had been hiding in Murim for generations, biding their time.
This was no anomaly—it was the natural order of things.
Unknowingly, Bu Eun-seol had already dealt with three of the Human Heavens and faced Chu-so, a being of transcendent wisdom.
Their emergence wasn't coincidental. It was deeply intertwined with all he had encountered so far.
"I will uncover them all."
The Infinite Realm, the Abyssal Forces, the Servants of the True Demon—one by one, they were being dismantled.
Provoking Bu Eun-seol had only hastened their downfall.
His strength grew daily.
Their numbers dwindled steadily.
Now, it's merely a matter of time.
He will undoubtedly hunt them all down—and crush them utterly.