Chapter 888
Crrrrrumble—
The sheer destructive force was overwhelming.
Most of the land within the Absolute Boundary's enclosed space had melted like molten taffy, parts of the surrounding mountains crumbled and collapsed, and the shockwaves spawned a whirlwind that raged like a tempest.
Sssssss—
Bu Eun-seol hovered midair, wreathed in a massive surge of Gang Qi that flickered with blue flames.
The moment he sensed the overwhelming power unleashed by Yuk Jang-cheon, he had immediately leapt skyward and deployed his Protective Astral Energy.
'To this extent...'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed sharply as he gazed down at the earth, now melted like syrup.
How could human strength unleash such devastation?
"Impressive," Yuk Jang-cheon remarked, nodding in apparent astonishment as he observed Bu Eun-seol floating in the air. "I knew your martial arts were formidable, but I never imagined your Internal Energy had reached such heights."
Even if one escaped the epicenter of that explosion, the shockwaves and heat would have been impossible to block with any ordinary Protective Astral Energy. Yet Bu Eun-seol had emerged unscathed—without so much as a singed hair—merely by leaping lightly into the air and manifesting his defensive energy.
This could only mean one thing: though it appeared as ordinary Protective Astral Energy on the surface, it was unmistakably a barrier of Gang Qi on par with the legendary Dragon-Form Condensed Body or Spirit Energy Body Protection.
"Your Internal Energy surpasses ten cycles of cultivation..."
Bu Eun-seol was mildly surprised by this statement.
Gang Qi was just Gang Qi—it wasn't a metric for measuring Internal Energy. Yet Yuk Jang-cheon had discerned at a glance that his Internal Energy exceeded ten cycles simply by observing his Gang Qi.
'So it's not just his martial prowess that has advanced.'
Just as Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed, Yuk Jang-cheon boomed in a thunderous voice:
"Have you the courage to face my palm techniques head-on?"
"Gladly."
The two landed simultaneously.
After a brief, piercing stare at Bu Eun-seol, Yuk Jang-cheon immediately unleashed his palm technique.
It was neither his signature technique nor any known palm art scattered across the Murim. In fact, it defied the very principles of martial arts—
And yet, it was utterly devoid of force.
Thwack.
Yet in an instant, it struck Bu Eun-seol squarely in the chest.
'Has he inherited martial arts as well?'
He had assumed Yuk Jang-cheon had merely used some grand ritual or secret method to dramatically enhance his Internal Energy or physical abilities.
But even his palm techniques had transformed into something terrifyingly profound.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Bu Eun-seol was struck repeatedly in the chest.
He had faced countless formidable opponents—none weaker than Yuk Jang-cheon.
Yet now, a palm technique devoid of any finesse was effortlessly piercing his defenses.
"It's too early to be shocked."
Yuk Jang-cheon unleashed another palm strike.
Bu Eun-seol instantly activated the Righteous Faction's movement technique at full power, escaping the range of the attack in a flash.
Thwack.
Yet the palm energy still landed on his chest.
It was as though Yuk Jang-cheon's palm technique had no tangible form—only materializing the moment it touched Bu Eun-seol's body.
'Similar to the Space-Separating Palm, yet distinctly different.'
BOOM.
In that instant, a violent recoil sent tremors surging through his entire body.
Despite the palm energy carrying no discernible force, his frame shook as if struck by an explosion. The sheer might of it automatically triggered his Body Protection True Qi, causing waves of Internal Energy shockwaves and True Qi flames to erupt spontaneously.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
Yuk Jang-cheon executed his palm techniques with fluid grace, as if stirring a gentle breeze.
Each strike sent shockwaves of Internal Energy rippling through Bu Eun-seol's body, shaking him like a massive bell.
BOOM! BOOM!
But something was strange.
Had Bu Eun-seol concluded there was no way to block Yuk Jang-cheon's palm techniques?
He focused solely on defense—showing no intention of counterattacking.
"Show me that vaunted Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan technique of yours!"
Yuk Jang-cheon curled his palm like a budding flower.
Immediately, the power behind his palm energy intensified, and his techniques grew even more enigmatic.
Yet Bu Eun-seol stubbornly maintained his defensive stance, indifferent to the provocation.
'...'
His gaze, fixed on dismantling the palm techniques, darkened.
Truthfully, he didn't particularly care what mysterious techniques Yuk Jang-cheon wielded or what realm his martial prowess had reached.
No matter how profound the palm arts or how terrifying the martial techniques—
None of it posed a genuine threat to his life.
Unaware of this, Yuk Jang-cheon assumed Bu Eun-seol was helplessly overwhelmed and taunted him in a resonant voice:
"Is this all you're capable of?"
Despite the provocation—
Bu Eun-seol remained on the defensive until the very end, his sharp eyes never ceasing their observation.
Thwack-thwack.
All the while, those unfathomable palm techniques continued to land relentlessly on his body.
'Something feels off.'
Yuk Jang-cheon had deployed the Absolute Boundary to trap and surely kill him.
Given his rage, why was he now executing martial techniques with such leisure, as if engaged in a mere duel, despite holding the upper hand?
'So that's it.'
At last, Bu Eun-seol understood.
Yuk Jang-cheon's scheme.
'This Absolute Boundary isn't completely isolated from the outside.'
When one first encounters something like the Absolute Boundary—
They naturally assume, with ironclad certainty, that they've been severed from the world.
Yuk Jang-cheon's ploy was flawless in this regard.
Yet there was one truth he could never have fathomed—
For Bu Eun-seol had encountered countless Absolute Boundaries before,
And knew full well that they were not all the same.
Depending on the caster or the unique methods of the Three Clans, each possessed different functions.
'So his scheme was to lure out my True Void and expose my true identity to the world.'
Having stepped down from his position as a senior member of the Martial Alliance, Yuk Jang-cheon must have calmly reassessed his actions afterward.
He must have belatedly realized that the man called Seon-u Jin was a spy of the Demonic Path.
That was also why he had fallen into such deep despair.
The realization that Seon-u Jin had been infiltrating the Martial Alliance under a false identity must have struck him.
Yet he had no way to reveal this truth to the world—no power to stop it.
And so, what he most desired was not victory through martial skill,
But to boldly expose Seon-u Jin as a spy and restore his own fallen reputation and honor.
'Some Absolute Boundaries separate space while remaining transparent to the outside.'
In the past, Song Ok, who had infiltrated the Wudang Sect using the Black Divine Artifact, deployed an Absolute Boundary that perfectly isolated space—yet his figure inside remained clearly visible.
Yuk Jang-cheon must have employed a similar technique.
From his perspective, rather than killing his opponent outright with martial arts,
Exposing his true identity and ensuring he could never set foot in the Murim again would be a far more satisfying revenge.
Whoosh! Swish!
Bu Eun-seol deliberately unfolded the Advanced Sword Art of the Flawless Sword.
Boom! Boom-boom!
Yet his body was relentlessly pushed back under the barrage of Palm Energy.
But there was no real damage.
With the profound mysteries of the Transformation Realm and the power of his formidable Internal Energy, he simply redirected the force.
Having fully grasped Yuk Jang-cheon's scheme,
Bu Eun-seol not only refrained from revealing his True Void—which would expose his identity as the Martial Soul Lord—but also avoided using any secret martial techniques like Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan or Thirteenfold Qi Induction.
Tap.
Yuk Jang-cheon's expression stiffened as he observed Bu Eun-seol's composed demeanor.
At last, he realized that his opponent had seen through all his schemes and was deliberately withholding his true martial prowess.
"Fine. You've even abandoned the honor that comes with victory."
Whoosh—
Yuk Jang-cheon abruptly halted his Palm Technique and spoke flatly.
"After all, death is the end of everything."
No matter what, he could never surpass this man in strategic acumen.
Even if he had prepared countless schemes, they would all be seen through.
"Now, I'll get serious."
His expression turned grave.
What remained was a decisive battle with True Void.
He would kill this man, vent his pent-up fury, and leave this world without regrets.
Rumble— Fwoosh!
As he swept his hand outward, the light of the Absolute Boundary surrounding them shifted.
The once-transparent space darkened into an inky void, completely sealing them off from the outside world.
"Now, even if you reveal your true power, no one will know."
Yuk Jang-cheon spoke frankly.
"So go ahead—use your real strength."
Then, he smiled.
"Because I will too."
Zzziiing—
At the same moment, Yuk Jang-cheon's skin, around which crimson qi had been swirling, turned as white as snow.
A strange radiance flickered in his eyes.
Ssshh—
His black hair began bleaching white.
His skin grew even more translucent, emitting a pale glow, until even his hair was completely bleached.
It was as if he had transformed from an ordinary man into a snow spirit from a fairy tale.
"Now, I am an invincible being."
His voice carried an eerie resonance.
"From this moment on, you will taste hell."
"Did you sell your soul to a demon?"
"A demon? Perhaps."
Yuk Jang-cheon chuckled faintly.
"The price was all the life I had left."
'He's not lying.'
Though the words were absurd, Bu Eun-seol sensed their truth.
Not only could he feel the overwhelming surge of power radiating from Yuk Jang-cheon,
But he could also detect the gradual drain of vitality from his body.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
The now-luminous Yuk Jang-cheon hovered midair, unleashing torrents of blinding light upon Bu Eun-seol.
He had become an entirely different being.
What he wielded could no longer even be called martial arts—it was something utterly alien, brimming with bizarre and foreign energy.
Zzziiing. Zzziiing.
Floating motionless, Yuk Jang-cheon rained down beams of light without moving a limb.
And each beam was a lethal ray that pierced flesh on contact.
With every pulse of his body, countless beams cascaded like a deadly rain.
Fwaaah!
Bu Eun-seol shot into the air, deflecting the light with his sword, aiming to cleave Yuk Jang-cheon in two.
Swish—
But Yuk Jang-cheon, like an illusion woven from light, remained unharmed.
Worse—as Bu Eun-seol's Sword Qi passed through him,
The radiance surging from his body intensified, until an immeasurable flood of light descended.
'I can't block this.'
Tzzzt-tsch!
Bu Eun-seol activated Ultimate Speed Shadowless, infused with Thunder Essence Divine Qi, and retreated over about two hundred feet in an instant.
Flash!
Yet the colossal radiance illuminated such a vast area that Bu Eun-seol had no room to evade.
Whoosh!
He immediately conjured his Protective Astral Energy, but the light pierced through it effortlessly, searing into his flesh.
Sssk!
Even as he twisted his body midair, the razor-sharp brilliance cleaved halfway through him.
A body capable of dispersing any attack.
A murderous light that could neither be blocked nor dodged.
Just as Yuk Jang-cheon had boasted, he had truly become an invincible existence.
'Even the Move Heaven Exchange Force is ineffective.'
Bu Eun-seol swung Ink Soul Sword repeatedly, attempting to deflect the rays and counterattack.
But none of the martial principles he knew could block that light.
And strangely, the light harmed nothing else—only his flesh.
It was a force meant solely to destroy him.
'No choice.'
If he kept retreating like this, he'd eventually collapse without ever landing a counterblow.
Hwiiing!
A five-colored radiance began to bloom from his body.
He was unleashing Harmonization—pouring every ounce of his strength into annihilating his foe.
Flash!
It was a counterattack beyond all expectations.
In a silence so profound it felt as though the world had vanished, the cascading light of Harmonization instantly enveloped Yuk Jang-cheon.
For a moment, the expression on Yuk Jang-cheon's floating figure twisted grotesquely.
Whoosh!
But the light of Harmonization merely lingered around his body before—
—passing through him harmlessly, failing to erase him entirely.
'Impossible.'
Bu Eun-seol was stunned.
Until now, Harmonization had never failed.
Only the Old Man of the Sanctuary had ever withstood its overwhelming might.
Yet Yuk Jang-cheon had let the power pass through him completely?
Crackle!
No—it wasn't entirely ineffective.
As the Harmonization pierced him, the murderous solar radiance cloaking his body gradually dimmed.
"You... Who the hell are you?"
Yuk Jang-cheon was just as shocked.
The power he wielded now had been taught to him by a sage-like elder—
—who had assured him that not even the strongest in the current Murim could withstand it.
Yet the radiance Bu Eun-seol unleashed had blocked it.
The power to annihilate anything, to unleash beams of destruction—sealed.
This was beyond all expectations.
"I said, WHO ARE YOU?!"
What Seon-u Jin had just unleashed was—
—a bizarre fusion of forces, utterly unlike any martial art known in the Murim.
No matter how much he racked his brain, Yuk Jang-cheon couldn't fathom his true identity.
"I am Seon-u Jin."
Bu Eun-seol answered calmly.
"Are you still clinging to such delusions?"
For a moment, Yuk Jang-cheon's expression went blank—
Zzziiing!
—before his pupils erupted with white brilliance.
"Fine. Whoever you are, I'll just kill you."
Thud!
Descending back to the ground, Yuk Jang-cheon unleashed—
KWA-RUNG!
—a palm strike like lightning.
It was his signature Palm Technique, but its power had multiplied several times over, its range extending over about two hundred feet.
With a body and strength transcending human limits, his martial arts had grown proportionally stronger.
"Good!"
As Yuk Jang-cheon unleashed his overwhelming yet intricate Palm Technique, Bu Eun-seol also deployed Seon-u Jin's True Power Martial Arts in full.
Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan Style, Thirteenfold Qi Induction, and the Bullet King's Inner Energy Bullet Art—
—every martial art Seon-u Jin could wield, he unleashed without reserve.
KWA-RUNG! KWAANG!
With each exchange, the heavens dimmed and the earth shattered.
Their martial techniques were so precise that not a single drop of water could slip through,
so swift that thirty exchanges passed in the blink of an eye.
By the time they had clashed over three hundred times, the tide of battle had begun to turn.
Yuk Jang-cheon was overwhelming Bu Eun-seol.
Because his body was invincible.
The white radiance shrouding him absorbed every attack Bu Eun-seol launched—
—and retaliated with the same force.
When Bu Eun-seol unleashed Thirteenfold Qi Induction, it rebounded.
When he wielded Sword Laughs at Xuanyuan Style, it returned in kind.
He had become a truly invincible existence, wielding power that defied all laws of the world.
"An invincible existence."
Bu Eun-seol muttered under his breath.
'No such thing exists in this world.'
Even if it did—
—Bu Eun-seol possessed the means to kill it.
The Absolute Sword Art that delivered equal death to all things.
"Since you're curious about who I am—I'll satisfy that curiosity now."
SCREEEECH—!
As he slowly raised Ink Soul Sword to mid-stance, a harrowing Demon Cry reverberated in all directions.
He was unleashing the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
"That is—"
Yuk Jang-cheon's eyes bulged mid-attack.
A saber technique that made the heavens weep—
—there was no way he wouldn't recognize it.
"Hahaha!"
Finally realizing everything, Yuk Jang-cheon pointed at Bu Eun-seol.
"You—you're not Seon-u Jin! You're the Heir of the Demon Hall!"
That Bu Jan-yang's grandson was the Martial Soul Lord Bu Eun-seol—
—and that he had mastered Bu Jan-yang's Bloody Tears Seven Forms—
—was already known to the highest echelons of the Martial Alliance.
"So that's what this was."
As all the secrets unraveled, a smile spilled from Yuk Jang-cheon's lips.
Now he understood why Seon-u Jin had been suspected of being a spy for the Demonic Path—and why he had been so formidable.
'I was merely outwitted by a vile demonic spy. My life wasn't wasted after all.'
Yuk Jang-cheon wore a proud smile.
If he killed this wicked bastard now, he could reclaim his honor.
"HAAAP!"
Yuk Jang-cheon unleashed the mysterious power the old man had given him to its fullest extent.
Bu Jan-yang's Bloody Tears Seven Forms was said to be the pinnacle of martial swordsmanship in the Murim, a technique from which no one could escape death.
Could the power the old man had infused into him withstand such an absolute martial art?
Yuk Jang-cheon believed it was entirely possible.
SHWAAK!
At that moment, the Bloody Tears Seven Forms coiled around Yuk Jang-cheon's body. But it only tore his skin—nothing more.
'As expected!'
Yuk Jang-cheon let out a triumphant laugh.
Even the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, said to bring death to all things, couldn't destroy this mysterious body of his.
"HAHAHA!"
He laughed in exhilaration.
Even with the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, Bu Eun-seol couldn't kill him.
That meant he had become the Death God who could deliver death to Bu Eun-seol.
He was so overjoyed he could dance.
"You ruined my life and still rose to glory!"
Yuk Jang-cheon hurled a devastating palm strike at Bu Eun-seol.
BOOM!
With a deafening explosion, Bu Eun-seol was sent flying back about fifty feet.
But it wasn't a fatal blow—he immediately sprang back up.
By now, the sword qi of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms had encased his body like armor.
This was the Limitless Astral Energy form of the technique, something he had grasped while fighting the three who wielded the Demon-Sealing Fragments.
"Good. Keep resisting. I'll keep killing you until my life force runs out."
Yuk Jang-cheon's palm techniques had grown dozens of times stronger than before.
And no matter what martial arts Bu Eun-seol unleashed, his body remained unharmed.
This was the perfect body martial artists dreamed of in their wildest fantasies.
Though he couldn't emit the murderous rays due to the bizarre light Bu Eun-seol had unleashed... even now, he was an invincible existence.
"I'll kill you and expose your vile true nature to the world."
His lips stretched wide in a grin.
"Then my name will be immortalized—as the righteous martial artist who shattered himself to capture the Demon Hall's wicked spy!"
BOOM!
Another explosion resounded as Bu Eun-seol was blasted back about thirty feet.
The force behind that palm energy was monstrous.
Even with the Limitless Astral Energy form shielding him, his organs trembled, and he suffered internal injuries.
'A monster that no attack can touch.'
No matter how many times he repeated it, such a thing shouldn't exist.
He must have overlooked something—or simply hadn't found the method yet.
"DIE!"
As Yuk Jang-cheon's palm energy surged forth, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Bloody Tears Seven Forms once more.
SKREEE—BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The collision of black sword qi and palm energy tore through the air with an ear-splitting roar.
But even when struck by the sword qi, Yuk Jang-cheon didn't die—he just kept charging relentlessly.
'Tch.'
But something was strange.
The deeper the internal energy embedded in Yuk Jang-cheon's palm force seeped into his meridians, the more his forearm near the Outer Pass acupoint burned as if splitting apart.
That was where the Demon-Sealing Fragment he had absorbed earlier—the one that hadn't dissolved into his dantian—still lingered.
'Don't tell me...'
A thought flashed through his mind.
ZIIING.
Instinctively, Bu Eun-seol channeled that foreign energy flowing from his forearm—
—into the Ink Soul Sword, already imbued with the sword qi of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
Then, the energy from the Demon-Sealing Fragment, which had stubbornly refused to leave no matter how hard he tried, seeped into the blade.
WOOONG!
A black radiance bloomed about thirty feet high.
At the same time, an inexplicable surge of power and exhilaration erupted within him.
"HAAAP!"
With a shout, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, pouring that energy outward.
SHAAAA—
Suddenly, the world fell into utter silence, broken only by the faint sound of distant waves.
Circular lights, reminiscent of celestial bodies in motion, spread out hundreds of feet in all directions.
At the center, the dazzling Ink Soul Sword hung suspended in stillness.
Yuk Jang-cheon stood motionless as a statue, his expression one of enlightenment—as if gazing upon something radiant and profound.
SHUUUU—
Simultaneously, the white hue that had stained Yuk Jang-cheon's appearance began fading, returning to its original color.
It was as though the mysterious energy condensed within his body was evaporating away.
"What kind of power is this...?"
"I don't know either."
Bu Eun-seol answered honestly.
"I merely combined what I obtained from external sources."
All he had done was utilize the Demon-Sealing Fragment—lingering in his body in the form of true qi, stubbornly refusing expulsion—to execute the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
And with that, the technique destroyed Yuk Jang-cheon's body, which had been dyed in an indestructible white radiance.
As if the power within the Demon-Sealing Fragment—
—had transformed through the Bloody Tears Seven Forms into a force capable of cutting down the True Demon's adversaries.
SHUUUU—
By now, the Absolute Boundary that had enveloped the area was gradually dissipating.
With Yuk Jang-cheon's life force exhausted, the boundary, too, was fading.
"Hall Master. Who was that old man who gave you power?"
"Didn't I say the Three Clans?"
"The Three Clans..."
Yuk Jang-cheon had displayed a body and power so formidable they could truly be called invincible—unlike anything Bu Eun-seol had ever seen.
Yet that terrifying might—
—had been shattered so effortlessly by the sword qi of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, fused with the Demon-Sealing Fragment.
'The Baekri Clan...'
The old man from the Three Clans who had approached Yuk Jang-cheon...
"He must undoubtedly be a personage of the Baekri Clan—there can be no mistake."