Chapter 872
Bu Eun-seol's pupils flashed sharply in the darkness.
In a place maintaining such a solemn atmosphere, there was no way such bizarre and grotesque sounds could be echoing.
Moreover, the noise seemed to spread from underground—as if emanating from a tightly sealed space somewhere...
Undoubtedly, there was a hidden chamber separately constructed.
'Now that I think about it, something feels off.'
Most of the halls were filled with women solemnly reading books or meditating.
But their eyes seemed strangely devoid of vitality.
They weren't engaged in training.
Rather, it appeared as though they were mechanically repeating these tasks under duress.
'Did someone deliberately force these routines upon them?'
Even if someone had infiltrated this place covertly, just as he had, and observed them...
Upon witnessing this solemn and regimented daily life, they would have found no anomalies and inevitably turned away.
Perhaps Jade Scale Hall had deliberately groomed certain disciples to present a facade to the outside world.
While their true bodies remained elsewhere.
'That must be the place.'
After meticulously surveying the interior, Bu Eun-seol discovered a small well in front of a storage room piled high with supplies.
The inside was parched and withered, so deep that the bottom was invisible.
Without hesitation, he descended into the well and landed at its base, where a passage resembling a cave came into view.
As he ventured further in, the path gradually widened, revealing a corridor enclosed by walls on all sides.
After walking for a considerable time, he finally spotted a massive door made of iron.
'It must be so well concealed that there's no need to even lock it.'
Though the iron door was exceptionally sturdy, it lacked any special locking mechanism.
Carefully pushing it open and stepping inside, he was met with a sight of buildings far larger in scale than even the Jade Scale Hall above.
'As I thought—the true form was here all along.'
—Huuuuuuh.
—Haaaaaah.
As he stepped inside, eerie moans reverberated through the air.
The groans he had sensed earlier were indeed flowing from this place.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Unfolding the Swift Shadowless technique, Bu Eun-seol swiftly surveyed the interior of the building from which the moans originated—and his pupils dilated.
Inside, various torture devices were laid out, and the women were gathered together, inflicting torment upon themselves—was that not what they were doing?
'Why?'
No matter how many times he looked, the scene remained incomprehensible.
'Could it be that this entire place is like this?'
Checking other locations yielded the same result.
Within each building, women were either torturing themselves or collaborating to torture others.
Their expressions were solemn beyond measure, as if performing some sacred rite.
Unfazed even by death, they relentlessly continued their brutal acts of torture.
'A heretical sect, then.'
The murim was no stranger to cult organizations harboring bizarre doctrines, most of which conducted grotesque rituals.
Wasn't the Blood Cult, ever eager to seize the Central Plains, also notorious for wielding eerie sorcery rooted in blood?
—Mutter, mutter.
But from one building, instead of moans, came sounds resembling the recitation of incantations.
Peering inside, he found animal heads and corpses strewn about, while the women repeated strange words in unison.
The sight was so grotesque that even Bu Eun-seol, unshakable as he was, felt a chill crawl down his spine.
'So the Jade Scale Hall, hailed as the Saintess Sect, was ultimately a cult organization after all.'
Their behavior was no different from any other heretical sect in the murim.
However, their peculiar rituals, combined with the fact that they were a women-only sect, made them all the more eerie and sinister.
'There's no other choice.'
Originally, Bu Eun-seol had planned to investigate this place covertly and slip away quietly.
After all, this was a sect rebuilt by women who had endured the pain of their sect's annihilation at his grandfather's hands.
But after witnessing this...
He had no choice but to investigate directly, even if it meant resorting to force.
'I must find the Hall Leader.'
The true form of Jade Scale Hall lay in this hidden space beneath the well.
If so, the Hall Leader must also reside here, commanding her disciples.
Zzziiing.
Drawing upon the Empty Mind Spirit Communion, he began searching for the Hall Leader's whereabouts.
And finally, he discovered a massive hall where she was presumed to reside.
It was constructed like a grand palace, with sharp-eyed women guarding its entrance.
Tsk, tsk.
Bu Eun-seol's Swift Shadowless had already transcended Go Wol's realm, reaching an unfathomable domain.
Its stealth, in particular, rivaled the legendary concealment arts passed down since ancient times.
Countless disciples guarded the palace, yet not a single one could detect his presence.
'This is it.'
Upon confirming the Hall Leader's quarters, Bu Eun-seol couldn't suppress his astonishment.
The Hall Leader of Jade Scale Hall, Un-jeong—
Was she not intoxicated by opium, relentlessly abusing herself with a sharp blade?
Watching from behind a massive pillar, Bu Eun-seol was utterly dumbfounded.
This was the true face of the so-called Saintess Sect, Jade Scale Hall.
'If they're a cult organization, then all the better.'
What if Jade Scale Hall had been a sect that upheld its reputation cleanly and maintained itself normally?
Of course, the Sect Leader's residence wouldn't be infiltrated lightly, nor would anyone dare interrogate her.
But the fact that the Sect Leader, intoxicated, was engaging in such bizarre acts proved this was already a cult organization conducting grotesque rituals.
In that case, anyone from the martial world could enter here and openly interrogate her.
Shhh.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been hiding his presence, emerged from the shadows.
Even in her drugged state, Un-jeong immediately sensed his presence and shouted,
"Who are you?!"
With that short cry, she swiftly reached under the table, attempting to activate a hidden mechanism.
Ping, clatter!
In that instant, the sound of compressed air rang out, and the mechanical device attached to the table shattered in one swift motion.
Bu Eun-seol had unleashed his Finger Wind.
Thud, thud.
With confident strides, he fully revealed himself and asked in a low voice,
"What kind of absurd act are you engaged in?"
"You—"
Blood trickling down her body, Un-jeong's lips parted as she saw the solemn gaze of Bu Eun-seol, his face concealed beneath a cloth.
"How did you get in here—?"
Drugged and disoriented, her lips trembled violently in shock.
Her bearing slackened, her pupils frozen like ice—
At the sight, she seemed to recall the most terrifying figure in the world.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Un-jeong suddenly dropped to her knees and began pleading.
"I won't do it again."
Her mind was clouded by the drugs, leaving her in a daze.
Because of this, her clothes were disheveled, her pale thighs exposed through the parted chima.
"What exactly are you doing?"
At Bu Eun-seol's stern question, Un-jeong replied,
"We are cleansing the sins we have committed, purifying these bodies defiled by them."
Rambling incoherently, she raised the blade in her hand and laughed.
"See? Even now, we never stop purifying ourselves, don't we?"
As she stood, the strange incense rising from all around grew thicker.
Just a faint whiff was enough to make his vision blur and his head spin—
Undoubtedly, it was a mixture of opium and other hallucinogenic substances.
'She's in no state for rational conversation.'
There was no way a drugged Un-jeong could speak coherently.
After a brief hesitation, Bu Eun-seol focused his Internal Power, staring into her unfocused eyes.
Phantom Restoration.
Mimicking the signature technique of Langya Pavilion's lord, the Human Demon Ak Mu-ryeong, he attempted to peer into the memories buried in her mind.
Zzzziiing!
But in that moment, a strange resonance pulsed in his mind, and suddenly, a searing heat surged into his consciousness.
'This—'
Bu Eun-seol was stunned.
Without realizing it—
He had unwittingly expanded a Mindscape, something he had never learned, and plunged into the depths of her psyche.
A deep night veiled in thick darkness.
In the tranquil mountain sect, flames suddenly erupted.
Crimson-black smoke coiled around the mountain, surging skyward as if screaming, spreading in all directions.
And at its center stood a man unleashing black Sword Qi.
As if he had crawled straight out of hell.
His pupils burned with a sinister yellow glow, his gaze as cold and sunken as the Abyss.
The massive Great Blade in his hand flashed relentlessly, cutting through the darkness.
—Aaaagh!
Every time the blade split the air—
Women collapsed like bundles of straw, their screams echoing in agony.
Amid the burning buildings, the inky-black Sword Qi flickered endlessly.
Occasionally, explosions erupted with a boom, scattering destruction.
The might of the Sword Qi was so overwhelming that even a glancing blow would obliterate the women's bodies as if detonating them from within.
Squelch.
Blood and flesh scattered in all directions.
The agonized screams of the people reverberated like echoes.
'Grandfather.'
Bu Eun-seol's fingertips trembled as he observed the Mindscape.
Though his face was concealed beneath a black hood, his eyes gleamed sharply, like a tiger's—amber and piercing.
That was unmistakably his grandfather, Bu Jan-yang, in his prime.
—Stop that demon!
The women fought back with all their strength, but Bu Jan-yang's Martial Prowess had long surpassed human limits.
With every swing of his blade, Sword Qi as dark as pitch black swirled violently.
Even those untouched by the blade were torn apart by the Shockwaves ripping through their organs.
'Why?'
Bu Eun-seol was shaken.
'Even if these women were the vilest of sinners... was there a need to slaughter them so brutally?'
By pure Martial Prowess alone, his grandfather could have easily ended their lives with a mere flick of his wrist.
A slash to the throat or a stab to the heart would have sufficed—yet he repeatedly employed cruel techniques,
mercilessly butchering the disciples of the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect, once revered as a Sacred Land of the martial world.
—Gahk!
By the time more than half of the sect's disciples had fallen—
Flash!
A radiant light suddenly burst forth from the void, cascading down upon Bu Jan-yang.
The Sect Leader of the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect and its thirty-two Elders had arrived.
Ziiiiing—
Every one of them held a treasure radiating an intense, blinding light.
And the moment that light touched Bu Jan-yang's body, his flesh began to burn.
It seemed the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect had brought out their most sacred Dharma Treasures—artifacts capable of unleashing power on par with a Black Divine Artifact—to annihilate him.
Tssss—
In an instant, white smoke curled from Bu Jan-yang's body, and a thin streak of blood spilled from his lips.
No matter how formidable his martial arts, he was still human—flesh and blood.
The combined might of thirty-two Dharma Treasures was a force no mortal could withstand.
"Now!"
At the Sect Leader's command, the elders began manipulating their treasures at bizarre angles.
Kreeee—
A piercing, ear-splitting shriek tore through the air as the earth split apart beneath Bu Jan-yang's feet.
RUMBLE—
In a flash of crimson, his body was swallowed whole by the fissure, dragged deep into the earth.
The ceaseless groooan of shifting rock suggested he had been pulled down at least hundreds of feet—an unfathomable depth.
"We've succeeded."
The Sect Leader wiped cold sweat from her brow as she exhaled in relief, staring into the gaping chasm.
The thirty-two Dharma Treasures she had unleashed were relics of primordial evil—artifacts said to rival even the sacred relics capable of sealing away the True Demon.
If even the True Demon could be subdued by their power, then the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade—no, even an immortal sage—stood no chance of survival.
THUD.
Descending from the sky, they gripped their treasures once more, preparing to seal the fissure shut.
WHOOSH—
But then, something strange happened.
From the abyss where no bottom could be seen, black smoke began to rise.
GRRRRUMBLE—
The earth trembled as if struck by an earthquake—
BOOOOM!
—before an earth-shattering explosion tore through the air, and a streak of black light slashed across the distant sky.
WHOOSH—
That light coalesced into a black shadow, descending slowly back to the ground.
It was Bu Jan-yang—the man who had just been buried alive by the Dharma Treasures.
THUD.
As his form reappeared, an amber glow flickered violently in his irises, spreading like wildfire.
"Bury him again!"
At the Sect Leader's scream, the thirty-two elders summoned their treasures once more, rising into the air.
FLASH!
Their bodies shimmered like golden Buddhas before unleashing a torrent of radiant light upon Bu Jan-yang.
BOOOOM!
In response, the black energy swirling around him detonated, erupting into a storm that threatened to swallow heaven and earth.
WHOOSH—
The black tempest annihilated the golden radiance in an instant before soaring into the distant sky.
SHIIING!
At the same time, Bu Jan-yang raised his great saber.
A tidal wave of sword qi unfurled, blanketing the entire mountain.
SWOOOOOOSH—
The expanding surge of sword qi—
—erased the energy pouring from the thirty-two Dharma Treasures in an instant—
—and then consumed the thirty-two disciples surrounding him.
Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
With that terrifying saber technique,
he had obliterated not just the thirty-two Dharma Treasures—but also their wielders—without leaving a single trace.
THUD.
Only the Sect Leader remained, collapsing to her knees.
Thanks to her profound internal energy and the protective power of her treasure, her body remained intact—though drenched in blood.
But her entire form was shredded like a rag, writhing in agony.
"Sp-spare me..."
Unable to endure the pain, she stretched out a trembling hand, begging.
"You can't kill me."
THUD. THUD.
As Bu Jan-yang approached step by step, she screamed in desperation.
"If you kill me—you'll never find your son!"
SHWING!
A flash of light—sharp as a guillotine's edge—split the air.
Her head tumbled grotesquely to the ground.
With a single stroke—swift as lightning—he had severed her neck.
CRACK.
Then, a bone-chilling sound reverberated from Bu Jan-yang's body as a crimson-black light began to seep from his flesh.
Zzzzt— Zzzzt—
His body flickered like a dying star in the night sky.
Silently, he gazed down at himself, gathering every last drop of his combat power—
—until it coalesced like starlight, converging at the tip of his thumb.
Without hesitation, he pressed that glowing thumb against the razor-sharp edge of his blade.
CRUNCH. CRUNCH.
His entire body trembled as bone-deep cracks echoed through the air.
His eyes burned with conflict—sweat beaded on his forehead, his pupils shaking as if consumed by agony.
Then, the black light gathered at his fingertip erupted violently, spreading outward in all directions.
At the same time, that darkness took shape—forming jagged teeth and sinister crimson eyes.
A body woven from chains of black smoke writhed endlessly before splitting open into a gaping maw—
—ready to devour Bu Jan-yang whole.
"Grandfather!"
Bu Eun-seol found himself crying out in his heart without realizing it.
As his spirit and mind shook violently—
Whoosh.
With a sensation like fog dispersing in all directions, the mindscape that had unfolded before his eyes vanished completely.
'I need to see it again.'
Bu Eun-seol poured forth another surge of power akin to Phantom Restoration.
But no matter how hard he strained, he couldn't re-enter the mindscape.
'What in the world is happening?'
"I was wrong. I was wrong."
Meanwhile, Un-jeong remained prostrate, still pleading.
Her appearance overlapped in his vision with that of the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect's Sect Leader, who had once begged before his grandfather.
Bu Eun-seol pressed a hand to his forehead, overwhelmed by confusion.
'Grandfather had a child.'
The Illusion King, once known as the Black-White Witch, had indeed uttered such words to Bu Eun-seol just before his death.
But no trace of such a person had ever been found afterward, and Bu Eun-seol had long since forgotten about it.
Yet now, to think that Grandfather truly had a blood relative?
If so, why had Grandfather never spoken of it?
Why had the murim never heard even a whisper about the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade having offspring?
And why would a sacred land like the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect... make statements that sounded as if they had abducted Grandfather's child?
"Speak," Bu Eun-seol demanded, turning to the still-pleading Un-jeong.
"What connection does the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect have with the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade?"
"I was wrong. I was wrong."
Un-jeong continued her litany before suddenly shouting again—
"Where is the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade's blood relative?!"
Huuung.
He channeled his internal energy, forcibly lifting Un-jeong's body into the air.
Yet she still dared not meet his gaze, keeping her head bowed as she kept pleading.
"Spare me. Spare me."
Bu Eun-seol bit his lip.
Un-jeong, intoxicated by drugs, seemed incapable of coherent thought—her eyes completely unfocused.
'I must hear the truth.'
If Grandfather's blood relative was still alive—
He had to find out who they were, what had become of them. No matter what.
Huuung!
Bu Eun-seol began expelling the drug-laden energy from her body using Reverse Polarity True Qi.
Tzzzt.
As the pure true qi coursed through her meridians, her gaze gradually sharpened.
Crack. Crack-crack.
But as the true qi surged in—
Bone-cracking sounds erupted from her face, and her features twisted grotesquely.
It turned out she had been wearing a disguise.
"Ughhh..."
Even when the pure true qi had pierced through her earlier, she had shown no reaction.
But now, as her disguise unraveled and her hideous true form returned, she suddenly regained her senses—and frantically touched her own face.
"You... who are you?"
She looked down at her own floating body before speaking venomously.
"How did you infiltrate this Hall Leader's chambers?"
"I ask the questions here."
Bu Eun-seol swept a gaze over her, his eyes lethally cold.
"Explain the connection between the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade and the Heavenly Moon Water Palm Sect."
"..."
"And where his bloodline is."
"His bloodline?"
Un-jeong smirked leisurely when she heard Bu Eun-seol refer to the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade with such reverence.
"If you want to know that, you shouldn't have restrained me like this."
Crack.
Instead of answering, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Heaven-Defying Punishment, forcibly reversing the flow of energy within her body.
The Heaven-Defying Punishment wasn't just a technique that amplified pain several times over—
It was a torture art that simultaneously inflicted the agony of being torn into a thousand pieces and the torment of one's entire body burning alive.
Even hardened assassins, accustomed to torture, were said to weep and spill all their secrets the moment they endured it—
"Good, very good. This is wonderful!"
Yet Un-jeong cried out with an expression of pure ecstasy.
"More! Do it more!"
Un-jeong and all the women of the Jade Scale Hall subjected themselves to self-inflicted bodily torture daily.
Moreover, perpetually intoxicated on opium, their bodies were already ruined—rendering them nearly numb to pain.
"This Hall's Dharma Treasures only respond to blood and suffering. And we've mastered the art of turning pain into pleasure."
She licked her lips as she spoke.
"Try another method if you like. Torment me all you want."
Un-jeong regarded Bu Eun-seol with a composed smile.
"Even if you use the Spirit-Sealing Heart-Seal Method, it's useless. The moment the Soul-Seizing Art takes effect, my head will explode."
'There's someone behind this.'
The Jade Scale Hall had a mastermind pulling the strings.
And all its disciples were clearly bound by a Restrictive Seal that would kill them if they divulged secrets.
Meaning—there was no way to forcibly pry open her mouth.
'Entering the mindscape must have been a fluke.'
Bu Eun-seol felt a pang of frustration.
'If only I could manifest that power again...'
Un-jeong had been drugged, and for a fleeting moment, she had mistaken him completely for his grandfather.
Perhaps those overlapping factors had triggered the mindscape's accidental activation.
"You want to know where Bu Jan-yang's child is?"
Just then, Un-jeong—still suspended in midair—smiled at Bu Eun-seol.
"If you entertain me, I might not have a reason to stay silent."
Deliberately, she let her robes slip further, her lips curling into an alluring smirk.
"Well?"
"Are you bargaining after your head bursts?"
Bu Eun-seol scoffed, but Un-jeong countered—
"I alone in the entire murim know his whereabouts. Surely that's not a losing trade?"
Instantly, Bu Eun-seol's pupils trembled.
If Grandfather's blood relative was alive—
He would crawl through hellfire to find them.
Pleasing Un-jeong was nothing in comparison.