Chapter 893
In the depths of unfathomable darkness,
a single faint lantern flickered.
Its dim light barely illuminated the pitch-black space, only to stretch the shadows even longer.
In a silence so profound it seemed to swallow even the sound of breathing, those kneeling kept their heads bowed solemnly, eyes fixed on the floor.
A chilling aura emanated from the black stone table at the center of the room. Across from it sat a man clad in robes as dark as the abyss.
Though half his face was shrouded in shadow, his presence—unyielding and overwhelming—filled the chamber without a single moment of faltering.
It was Baek Mu-seong.
'That bastard.'
He recalled the face of the Martial Soul Lord, Bu Eun-seol, whom he had encountered at Saha Manor.
A beauty so radiant it would shame the moonlight, bearing the overwhelming presence of the Great Demon Ancestor capable of overturning the world.
And yet—
For some reason, his gaze carried something else.
Like a boy holding back sorrow and pain beneath a wandering moonlight, melancholic and inscrutable.
'What the hell is he thinking?!'
Thud.
Baek Mu-seong clenched his fist.
Soon, he would become the leader of the Martial Alliance and rule over the martial world.
And then, he would hunt down those bastards of the Three Realms who had turned him into a puppet—along with the demonic figure tormenting him from the depths of his lost memories—and crush them all.
So why this inexplicable sentiment?
'Anything that stands in my way must be eliminated!'
Having steeled his resolve, Baek Mu-seong spoke in a low voice.
"Ha-baek."
Squelch.
From the darkness, a black liquid rippled across the floor before coalescing into a figure clad in black martial robes, prostrating himself.
His entire body shimmered with an eerie black glow, making him appear more like a specter than a human.
This was Ha-baek—the adjutant of the secret organization Baek Mu-seong had raised in the shadows.
"Prepare the Black Night Corps."
Baek Mu-seong's voice was colder than ice.
"We assassinate the Martial Soul Lord."
"Forgive my impertinence, but his whereabouts are still—"
"He will soon return to the Demon Hall."
The face of Bu Eun-seol he had seen at Saha Manor had been deeply exhausted.
He wouldn't return immediately, no doubt.
But by now, the timing would align. The assassination squad would be deployed along his expected route.
"Killing him will cause significant disruption to our grand endeavor. Moreover, we've been ordered to exercise restraint. If we mobilize the Black Night Corps prepared to kill Baekri Mu-jo—"
"Carry it out."
At Baek Mu-seong's unyielding command, Ha-baek lowered his head.
"As you command."
As Ha-baek withdrew, Baek Mu-seong's gaze shifted to the great blade embedded in the chamber wall.
"The Black Night Corps will fail."
He had already grasped, to some extent, just how high Bu Eun-seol's realm had ascended.
If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have been able to block his Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm with a single fist.
And yet, he was sending the Black Night Corps because—
"It was always just a cumbersome tool handed to me by the Three Realms."
Baek Mu-seong's lips curled.
"Besides, they won't leave a trace. This is the perfect opportunity."
Clank.
He slung the great blade onto his back.
In sync with the annihilation of the Black Night Corps—
he would cut down Bu Eun-seol in a single stroke.
Tsk tsk.
Bu Eun-seol was swiftly making his way back to the Demon Hall.
'It feels empty.'
Normally, he would have sensed So-yo following him from afar.
But So-yo would remain in the Secluded Valley for some time, learning Ja Su-ryeon's Body-Locomotion Martial Art and Hidden Stealth Secret Art.
And that time would be long.
Because So-yo would be tending to Ja Su-ryeon's exhausted and damaged spirit and mind.
Even as she learned martial arts, she would try to heal the woman's heart.
'So-yo doesn't belong in the martial world.'
Born an orphan, raised by the White Rank Assassination Sect, forced into the life of an assassin—
yet she had mastered the Cold Heart Art too young, her expressions and speech now laced with frost.
But in truth, her heart was endlessly pure and gentle.
She possessed a deep sensitivity, capable of empathizing with the pain and suffering of others.
'She should have become a physician in the Medical Community, caring for the sick and wounded.'
Bu Eun-seol sighed.
Rather than wandering the martial world as a member of the Information Warfare Unit,
So-yo belonged in some peaceful corner of the Medical Community,
tending to patients whose bodies and spirits were broken and weary.
'When she returns, I'll try persuading her again.'
The past could not be undone.
The world was harsh, but there was still much beauty in it.
And So-yo deserved to experience it all.
'Then I'll have to resolve everything quickly.'
To grant peace to all those around him, he had to achieve everything he had set out to do.
Because soon—
they would no longer have to walk their paths alone.
'I wonder if Jin Seol will meet me.'
The image of Jin Seol's endlessly cold, piercing eyes flashed in his mind, and Bu Eun-seol gave a bitter smile.
She was not only proud but also carried immense self-blame for the past.
And seeing him would inevitably bring back those memories—so she wouldn't agree to meet so easily.
But then—
BOOM!
A sudden explosion tore through the air, and Bu Eun-seol, who had been soaring through the sky, plummeted to the ground as if struck down.
An indescribable, monstrous force had blocked the very space he was flying through.
Whoosh—thud.
Landing gracefully with an exquisite movement technique, Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed as he gazed at the distant sky.
'This is...'
The once-clear sky had blurred without warning, and from somewhere, the wailing cries of ghosts echoed.
Rumble—
At the same time, thick pillars began erupting from the earth, shooting straight into the heavens.
'The Three Realms?'
Those colossal pillars—
Weren't they the same ones created when the Heavenly Venerable once deployed an esoteric boundary formation?
'Has my trail been exposed?'
Bu Eun-seol couldn't comprehend it.
Even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor shouldn't have been able to easily track his movements or location at this point.
So how had the Three Realms suddenly discovered his whereabouts?
'...Ah.'
After a moment of contemplation, Bu Eun-seol realized the reason.
Baek Mu-seong.
He had pledged allegiance to the Three Realms long ago, and they had crossed paths not long ago in the ruins of Saha Manor.
That alone would have been enough for them to deduce that he would soon return to the Demon Hall.
With the Three Realms' intelligence network and military strength, predicting his return route and launching an ambush would have been trivial.
Swoooosh—
Meanwhile, black fogs began writhing up from the ground around him.
This was no mere movement technique—it was a profound Body-Locomotion Martial Art, blending mystical spellcraft with martial principles.
Drip—drip—
The fog soon liquefied, then solidified into the forms of assassins clad in black uniforms.
Their numbers? Over a thousand.
A force capable of annihilating even a major sect in an instant.
"The Three Realms, is it?"
At Bu Eun-seol's question, the lead assassin drew a black sword from his back.
A vile stench wafted from it—so potent it could be detected even from dozens of paces away, likely coated in a vicious poison.
"Martial Soul Lord, Bu Eun-seol."
The assassin lowered his stance and spoke coldly.
"Today, you die here."
They showed no intention of even revealing their identities—further conversation was meaningless.
Drip—drip—
The assassins dissolved back into liquid, seeping into the ground.
At the same time, black curtains of darkness formed in all directions—above, below, left, right, everywhere.
'An unusual martial art.'
Bu Eun-seol instinctively recognized that this was not spellcraft—but martial arts.
Though it appeared as liquid and blackened skies, in truth, these were manifestations of an Assassination Mysticism, forged from the highest principles of martial theory.
Sssk—
Before he knew it, razor-sharp Formless Swords and transparent Assassination Fists poured toward him.
Their Ultimate Techniques dragged their targets into darkness, blending illusions and reality within.
A Killing Law of such refinement that it concealed both the subtleties of martial forms and the essence of martial arts itself.
Flash—
Moreover, they wielded phosphorescent powder, weaving endless illusions while deliberately disrupting Bu Eun-seol's senses.
The intangible assaults of a thousand terrifying assassins—
It was like facing the wrath of Great Nature itself, something no martial art could hope to defend against.
But Bu Eun-seol found it absurd.
'They know who I am, yet they dare use such methods?'
He was the successor of Langya Pavilion.
A Grandmaster renowned for dismantling the flaws in the martial arts of all sects under heaven.
Not to mention—after defeating the Spear Master, word had spread among the Abyssal Forces.
Even if he hadn't yet broken through to the Extreme Heaven Realm, they should have guessed he had developed techniques capable of opposing Limitless Power.
Yet here they were, boldly attacking him with the intricate principles of martial arts?
'There's more to this.'
Originally, Bu Eun-seol had planned to unleash his poison in an instant, reducing them to puddles of blood.
He couldn't be bothered to engage them properly.
But their use of such refined killing arts made him reconsider.
The martial arts of Langya Pavilion were the Grand Perfection of assassination techniques under heaven.
For them to wield it against him so brazenly—that was an unbearable provocation.
"You dare use orthodox assassination techniques against this Lord?"
Truthfully, if he employed the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, he could counter these attacks with his eyes closed.
Wind Perception Without Omission. Silent Wind Surveying the World.
The all-encompassing Wind & Cloud Divine Qi could detect even the faintest whisper of wind—
Even perceive mystical forces like the Absolute Boundary.
Capturing Formless Swords and Assassination Fists concealed through martial principles would be effortless.
But instead, Bu Eun-seol summoned the Way of the Beast.
CRACK!
The instant he drew upon the internal energy circulating within him, a tremendous wave of True Qi erupted from his body.
Rumble—
The earth trembled faintly as sharp ripples spread outward in concentric circles, stirring a violent gale.
And within that gale and those ripples—
Lay the Extrasensory Perception Bu Eun-seol had honed through countless trials: the Way of the Beast.
Shing! Thud-thud-thud!
Having captured every invisible killing technique of the assassins through the Way of the Beast, Bu Eun-seol unraveled them one by one in the manner of No Form Overcomes Form.
This was possible because his sword techniques were of an exceedingly high level—
But more than anything, it was to show them just how pitiful their clumsy provocations were to him.
Drip. Drip-drip.
And indeed, as if mocking their efforts,
their signature assassination art—the Black Night Illusion Lamp Killing Art, a secret technique of the Three Realms' assassins that rivaled the Thousand Abyss Ghost Gate Art of the Extreme Killing Secret Pavilion—
was effortlessly blocked by Bu Eun-seol with a bored expression.
Realizing this, they halted their dark techniques and revealed themselves once more.
"As expected, you are remarkable."
The lead assassin nodded slowly.
"You may truly have stepped into the Martial Extreme Realm."
The reason they had employed such an assassination art was not to kill Bu Eun-seol outright—
but to gauge the extent of the martial prowess he had attained.
"However, you will die now."
And yet, despite their acknowledgment, they boldly declared they could still kill him.
Sluuuurp.
Once again, they dissolved into black liquid—then vanished completely.
At the same time—
Sssssssssssss...
The darkened sky itself began to flow downward.
This was no poison or energy attack—
but the liquefied remains of over a thousand martial artists, melted down into a grotesque, living weapon.
Drip-drip-drip...
The countless drops of life-infused liquid, still retaining consciousness, spread like a neural network, surging toward Bu Eun-seol to drown him.
Swish! Shaaa—crack!
Bu Eun-seol immediately unleashed the Formless Heavenly Flow, slashing through the cascading liquid in a single motion.
But it was futile.
Like the Gluttony of Nothingness, though formless, it was slowly devouring his Spirit and Mind, his very flesh.
'Sacrificing lives... to turn martial arts into nothingness.'
They had sacrificed a thousand assassins to reduce Bu Eun-seol's martial arts to nothing.
'Was I too careless?'
Had he underestimated the Three Realms' resolve? Had he been so confident in his martial arts that he failed to properly wield the power he possessed?
Flash!
In a single breath, he activated Harmonization.
But because his energy was not perfectly aligned, the power dissipated uselessly into the black liquid.
Sluuuurp.
Finally, the dark liquid pouring from the sky swallowed Bu Eun-seol whole.
His breath ceased. His internal qi and blood vanished. Even gravity disappeared.
Bobbing... bobbing...
Submerged in the black liquid, Bu Eun-seol floated as if underwater.
This was despair that made one abandon all hope—the ultimate void.
Sssk! Shhk! Shhk!
Every time he attempted to counterattack, a thousand hands surged from the liquid, clawing at his meridians.
And where they tore, darkness seeped out instead of blood, blooming into pitch-black flower buds.
Perfect death.
Bu Eun-seol had fallen into perfect death.
"Grandfather... aren't you afraid of death?"
As a child, Bu Eun-seol had once asked his grandfather, who silently cleaned corpses in the dark.
For children, darkness and death were the greatest fears.
He had wondered how his grandfather could endure them so quietly.
"Of course I'm afraid. But fortunately... I managed to overcome it."
"How?"
Bu Jan-yang looked at him and answered:
"This old man has faced countless deaths... and wiped away their traces."
"And in doing so, I realized one truth hidden within them."
"What is it?"
"The Boundary."
Bu Jan-yang smiled faintly.
"The line between life and death... is nothing more than a concept created by humans."
"And the moment I realized that... nothing frightened me anymore."
"The Boundary?"
Bu Jan-yang nodded quietly.
"Life and death complete each other."
"Death gives life meaning, and because there is life, death too has meaning."
When Bu Eun-seol scratched his head and blinked in confusion, Bu Jan-yang chuckled.
"By the time your hair turns white like mine, you'll understand."
"Life and death are not opposites... but a single, unbroken cycle."
Back then, Bu Eun-seol had found those words too difficult, too abstract to grasp.
But now—
Dissolving into death under the assassins' grotesque killing art—
He faintly understood.
And as that realization pierced his mind, a single Blade Essence surfaced.
"The sixth form of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms—Death Without Remaining Regret."
"Even in death... no lingering resentment remains..."
But had his grandfather truly felt no regret? Was that why he had created this technique?
No.
'Rather... he must have clung fiercely to life.'
The more one overcomes death, the more one grows attached to life.
And as he touched that death directly, as he cut it away with his own hands... he must have finally realized it.
That life and death are not opposing forces, but a single cycle.
That life and death are but perfect fragments completing each other across the boundary.
Zzzzt—
From Bu Eun-seol's body, sinking endlessly into death, black sword qi began to rise.
The defensive form of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, Limitless Astral Energy, had activated on its own.
At the same time, the sword qi enveloping his body was not that of the Ink Soul Sword—but rather, it coalesced in his bare hands.
The sixth form of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, Death Without Regret... was a saber art performed with his hands like blades.
Haaaaaa—
The sword qi in his hands grew, expanding until it became vast enough to cleave the heavens.
Shhhhh—
But before he could fully unleash the technique—
The liquid coiled around his body suddenly surged into his mouth, ears, and nostrils.
'So this is what they were waiting for.'
From the very beginning, the assassins had anticipated it.
Even as he lost all his strength within this mysterious liquid, even as he withered in despair—
They had waited for the moment when, despite everything, he would still cling to consciousness, unleash his Limitless Power, or some equivalent force to annihilate them.
And in that instant of exertion—
They would invade his body from within and detonate their power inside him.
This was a perfect death trap, one no master could foresee.
Zzzzzt— Zzzzzt—
As the last of the liquid seeped into Bu Eun-seol's body, all the power within him vanished. His flesh flickered like a dying star.
Only the final explosion remained.
Twitch.
But then—
From the depths of his dantian, an eerie force pulsed.
'This is—'
It was the Demon-Sealing Fragment he had absorbed from the Ghost King.
At the time, he had not processed it with the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, so it had remained dormant within him, exerting no influence.
Yet now, as the liquid invaded his body, the fragment began reacting—as if it were true qi.
'Then—'
A violent surge of energy erupted from Bu Eun-seol's corrupted body.
All his power was gone, but the Demon-Sealing Fragment remained, pulsing like true qi.
And with this power—
He would unleash a terrifying variation of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, one even capable of severing the power of the Baekri Clan.
'So he's fallen for the Body-Invasion Grinding Formation after all.'
Hidden within the Dead Soul Strangling Formation conjured by the Black Night Corps, Baek Mu-seong allowed himself a faint smile.
The Black Night Corps was an assassination force raised by the Three Realms to kill the Absolute Masters of Murim.
From the beginning, it had been designed to sacrifice a thousand lives.
All to make Baek Mu-seong the supreme leader.
And to eliminate Baekri Mu-jo, the one obstacle in his path.
Yet Baek Mu-seong had instead activated the Black Night Order against an entirely different target.
The result? The Martial Soul Lord, said to rival the strongest of this era, now stood at death's door.
'He was worth it.'
He could have killed Baekri Mu-jo at any time with his own strength.
But this Martial Soul Lord, who for some reason had been disturbing his spirit and mind—
He had sensed, inexplicably, that this was someone he could not kill. And so, without hesitation, he had unleashed the Black Night Order.
Ever since merging his personalities, his intuition had never been wrong.
'He was a problem anyway.'
Not only was he opposing the Three Realms, but as the future master of the Demon Hall—
He would have become a major obstacle, both to the Martial Alliance and to Baek Mu-seong's own ambitions.
Using the Black Night Order on him wouldn't invite much scrutiny.
'Once he's dead, I'll reclaim her.'
The Three Realms were not to be trusted.
With this activation of the Black Night Order, he would now begin executing his own plans, one by one.
Whoosh—
Just then, Bu Eun-seol's body, trapped in the Body-Invasion Grinding Formation, began swelling like a grotesque balloon.
And in the instant before it burst—
—KIIIIIIIIII!
A Demon Cry tore through the world.
A streak of black light erupted from Bu Eun-seol's Hundred Meetings Acupoint.
Flash!
The radiance shot into the heavens—
Hiss!
—and the black liquid absorbed into his body instantly evaporated.
The Absolute Devouring Force, said to be indestructible even by Limitless Power, had been annihilated in an instant.
Zzzzt—
At the same time, a shadow wreathed in black light emerged.
Dark energy rippled across its form, and its eyes burned like a tiger's, gleaming with savage light.
"GRRRRR—"
Bu Eun-seol roared.
Baring his fangs, trembling as if to destroy the world, he unleashed a sinister laugh.
'That form—that Bloody Tears Seven Forms—!'
Clack. Clack. Clack.
Baek Mu-seong's teeth chattered uncontrollably.
An absolute being that should never have been revealed to the world had reappeared.
'Bu Eun-seol—he was him all along?!'
Thud!
Baek Mu-seong turned and fled at full speed.
Too terrified to even use a Movement Technique, he simply ran.
If he faced that thing now, everything would be ruined.
'I must not confront him.'
He hadn't even become the Martial Alliance Leader yet.
He hadn't secured Gongson Dan-gyeong.
He hadn't completed his Grand Endeavor, hadn't stolen their power for himself.
Until then—
He could never face the Martial Soul Lord.
No—not the Martial Soul Lord, but the shell he wore.
The Return to Unity Realm Lord.