Chapter 894
After throwing himself into the Azure River Realm, Baek Mu-seong was able to learn various martial arts.
However, of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, he could only master five stances—and even those were not the true Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
"Your body is not yet ripe. To grasp the true power of our realm, you must wait a little longer."
The Azure River Realm spoke these words, but—
"Nonsense."
Baek Mu-seong did not believe them.
The Azure River Realm was a far more terrifying and vast organization than was known—one capable of bestowing two distinct personalities upon a perfectly normal human.
"If you won't teach me, I'll find it myself."
Due to the Great Art that split his personality—and by sheer luck—
Baek Mu-seong managed to discover a mysterious place even the Three Realms regarded as an Absolute Forbidden Land.
"This must be where the concentrated power of the Three Realms, which have dominated the martial world for generations, lies."
A place even the core members of the Azure River Realm could not enter.
A forbidden ground no one in the world was permitted to violate—yet Baek Mu-seong risked his life to breach it.
And through an improbable convergence of coincidences, as if the heavens themselves willed it, he finally stepped inside.
The moment he entered the forbidden land, a blinding radiance poured over him, and a suffocating pressure crushed his entire body.
This was a space where the natural order and laws of the world no longer applied.
The sky was not separate from the earth. The sun blazed with a brilliance that could blind the eyes, yet its surroundings were swallowed by profound darkness.
The air, though utterly still, undulated like massive waves, and invisible forces swirled endlessly.
It was an eerie sensation, as if the universe itself was holding its breath, watching this place.
And at its center stood a colossal shadow.
It bore the shape of a human clad in black saber qi, its long, flowing hair shimmering faintly like starlight.
Its eyes were deep, dark abysses, within which countless wars, slaughters, destruction, and creation were condensed.
"Huuuuh..."
The black shadow, upon seeing Baek Mu-seong,
Kiiii—!
Slashed a hand through the empty air—and in that instant, the world split apart.
A saber light tore through the heavens, cleaved the earth, and rent space itself with a rift.
And at its end—
A sharp flash of light, as if capable of severing all existence beyond time and space.
Baek Mu-seong's lips parted.
How could a hand of flesh and blood unleash such a saber technique?
"He is the fragment destined to carry out our Grand Design."
At that moment, a low voice murmured.
A blue wind surged before Baek Mu-seong, and a figure clad in azure robes abruptly appeared,
Blocking the torrent of saber light like a falling comet.
When force clashed with force, a shockwave erupted skyward.
The ground beneath the two figures instantly crumbled, and even the void cracked apart.
Then, the face of the black shadow who had unleashed the saber light slowly became visible.
A handsome middle-aged man—
But in the next moment, he transformed into a beautiful youth, then an elderly grandfather.
"I regret interrupting your training."
But if this continues... you might end up revealing your true self to this child as well."
At the words of the figure who had summoned the blue wind,
The black shadow, who had unleashed the saber light, briefly shot out a sickly yellow glow from its eyes.
KWAOOONG!
And in an instant, vanished into the sky above.
Baek Mu-seong stood frozen, unable to move.
That being with its sickly yellow gaze.
That absolute saber technique.
Before it, he was nothing more than a meaningless speck of dust drifting through the cosmos.
"That rebellious streak of yours truly can't be tamed. To think you'd actually find the Silent Extinction Black Sun Land."
As it turned out, this place was a forbidden domain where the boundary between reality and unreality had collapsed.
The Silent Extinction Black Sun Land—where transcendent beings like the Realm Lords honed their martial arts.
And the blue wind—no, the Azure River Realm Lord—spoke again.
"If you ever step into the martial world again, flee the moment you see someone wielding the Bloody Tears Seven Forms tainted by that darkness."
"Darkness...?"
"The Bloody Tears Seven Forms infused with Soul-Demon Magic Energy—like the Demon-Sealing Fragments."
Only then did Baek Mu-seong realize that the absolute saber technique unleashed by that black shadow
Had been the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, imbued with Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
The Azure River Realm Lord continued in a solemn voice.
"Especially since he now roams the martial world under an identity beyond imagination."
"Just who is he...?"
"The Return to Unity Realm Lord."
The Azure River Realm Lord gazed at the distant sky.
"He is the one who possesses the remains of the Seven Fingers Demonic Blade Bu Jan-yang, gradually perfecting the Bloody Tears Seven Forms..."
His voice was infinitely grave.
"...A madman who will drag not just our realm, but the entire martial world, into ruin."
Even when he had met the Azure River Realm Lord, Baek Mu-seong had only thought of him as an inhuman monstrosity.
He had believed that if he could obtain that secret art, he could surpass even him.
But the Return to Unity Realm Lord was different.
He carried the same aura, the same power, as—
That demon who had once felled the absolute, invincible transcendent.
The one who held destruction and creation in both hands.
Moreover, he could change his appearance at will, leaving no trace of disguise.
In short, unless he revealed his identity or used his martial arts, no one could recognize him.
Shudder.
Finishing his recollection, Baek Mu-seong trembled.
Fortunately, he had hidden within the boundary formation—had he been with the Black Night Corps, he would have been reduced to a handful of blood.
Until he found that ancient secret art, he must never dare approach the Return to Unity Realm Lord.
Drip, drip.
With all the assassins dead, the pillars that had soared to the heavens began to melt away, and the boundary formation slowly dissipated.
Whoooosh.
Bu Eun-seol, having sheathed the sword qi of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms, could not calm his mind.
The Blood Tear First Form's sixth stance, the sixth stance—Death Without Remaining Regret.
This blade technique wasn't truly a sword form, but rather a type of hand technique that executed saber principles using bare hands instead of a blade.
In other words, it was an esoteric martial art—one that allowed the Bloody Tears Seven Forms to be unleashed even without a sword, whether in situations where a blade couldn't be used or in emergencies.
But the counterforce generated from executing the Sixth Form was beyond imagination.
"Ghhh—!"
Bu Eun-seol let out a groan, his body trembling violently.
Normally, when saber energy was unleashed, it should radiate outward, dispersing into the surroundings.
Yet, even after releasing the saber energy of Death Without Regret, its lingering force remained within his body.
And to make matters worse—
In order to completely annihilate the malevolent energy and corrupted fluids absorbed into his system,
he had infused his saber energy with the overwhelming power of the Demon-Sealing Fragment taken from the Ghost King's body...
Now, Bu Eun-seol was enduring agony akin to death itself.
Sssss—!
It felt as though his flesh was burning, his skull melting.
"Hngh—!"
He bared his teeth, his canines exposed as he clenched his jaw hard enough to shatter bone.
His expression resembled that of a beast consumed by fury, but in truth, he was barely holding himself together against the torment of his entire body dissolving.
'The Sixth Form, Death Without Regret, must always be accompanied by a method to either disperse the rebounding counterforce—or redirect it back at the enemy.'
Grandfather had likely reached such an unfathomable realm of martial mastery that he didn't even need to mitigate the backlash.
But Bu Eun-seol, having chosen to walk his own path, had never deeply refined the Bloody Tears Seven Forms.
Far from reaching the Great Origin Realm, he still couldn't execute them flawlessly.
And yet—
Not only had he unleashed Death Without Regret for the first time,
he had done so in its bare-handed variation,
while also channeling the immense power of the fragment absorbed from the Ghost King...
The resulting force was so overwhelming it could have split the heavens themselves.
But his body was still too frail to fully withstand such power, leaving him writhing in pain as if his entire being were being shattered.
"GAAAH—!"
Finally, unable to endure any longer, Bu Eun-seol erupted with force—
KRRRIIII—!ZZZZT—!
Once again, black saber energy clung to his body, forming into a suit of dark armor.
As the agony persisted, he forcibly converted the backlash of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms into Limitless Astral Energy.
Drip—drip—
At that moment, the boundary formation shattered completely, and the original scenery slowly began to reemerge.
Whoosh—!
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol spotted a figure sprinting away in the distance.
Though he couldn't make out the details,
he could guess—it was Baek Mu-seong.
'I must catch him. I need to talk to him.'
If not now, he might never get another chance.
Gritting his teeth, Bu Eun-seol summoned every last ounce of his Internal Energy and activated his Movement Technique.
But just then—
RUMBLE—!CRACK—!
The Limitless Astral Energy shrouding his body suddenly morphed into a crescent moon shape—
And before he could react, it surged forward, not toward him, but toward the fleeing Baek Mu-seong!
THWACK—!
Panicked, Baek Mu-seong barely managed to duck, narrowly avoiding the massive blade of energy.
SWOOSH—!
The colossal crescent continued onward, cleanly shearing off the upper half of the distant Stone Mountain as if slicing through paper.
CRUMBLE—!BOOM—!
Staring in shock at the collapsing mountain, Baek Mu-seong trembled for a moment before—
"...!"
—snapping back to his senses.
Instead of running, he instantly pushed his Movement Technique to its limits, vanishing from the area in a flash.
"Baek Mu-seong!"
Bu Eun-seol shouted after him, but—
"Pfft—!"
Unable to withstand the backlash even after expelling the saber energy, he coughed up a blood arrow and dropped to one knee.
'I should have been more careful. I should have thought before acting.'
This was his first major mistake.
The saber energy he had been suppressing within his body wasn't backlash.
From the very beginning, Death Without Regret was designed—
To compensate for the weakness of unleashing saber energy bare-handed by first projecting it through the hands,
then using the remaining force within the body to transform oneself into a massive blade,
before releasing a secondary wave of energy—the Spiraling Secret Art.
But because he hadn't known this, he had kept suppressing the energy inside himself...
And now, he had ended up injuring himself with his own power.
'I only learned the superficial techniques without properly interpreting the Blade Essence's principles... No wonder I didn't know.'
Normally, Superior Martial Arts manuals included practical instructions.
But Grandfather had left behind only the pure Blade Essence, without any explanatory notes or application methods.
As a manifestation of Bu Jan-yang, Bu Eun-seol could execute the Bloody Tears Seven Forms based on that alone—
But he hadn't fully grasped all the subtleties hidden within.
'Is this the limitation of martial manuals?'
Transmitting martial arts wasn't just about teaching how to study the principles.
It involved unraveling the mysteries within the art, demonstrating them through movement, and guiding comprehension.
Manuals alone couldn't fully convey every nuance, which was why masters supplemented them with live demonstrations or verbal explanations.
If manuals alone could perfectly transmit the essence of martial arts—
The very concept of sects in Murim wouldn't exist.
"Ghh—!"
Forcing his Internal Energy to circulate, Bu Eun-seol activated his Movement Technique again, but the true backlash tore through his body.
ZZZIIINNGG—!
Then, light began to spill from his body—three radiant streams stretching outward.
The Three Divine Powers had activated on their own, unclogging his blocked acupoints and stabilizing his feverish body.
'The Three Divine Powers can neutralize the backlash of the Bloody Tears Seven Forms?'
The Bloody Tears Seven Forms were the absolute saber doctrine that delivered death to all things.
Conversely, the Three Divine Powers embodied Natural Qi, a force intrinsically tied to the vitality of nature itself.
And yet, these diametrically opposed energies were harmonizing?
—Life and death are not in opposition... but part of a single, complete cycle.
This wasn't just a passing realization—it was the profound Natural Order of martial arts.
All things standing at the boundary of duality—
Were proof of a Law that they existed not to oppose, but to complete one another.
'Grandfather... has passed down to me the culmination of his lifelong martial insights.'
Bu Jan-yang was a martial grandmaster who had grasped profound mysteries of the martial path.
Every word he spoke carried deep meaning and hidden wisdom.
Most martial artists yearned for unrivaled fame or worldly riches.
Yet despite reaching unfathomable heights, Grandfather had cast aside selfish desires, devoted himself to the study of life and death, and attained transcendence.
And Bu Eun-seol had inherited all of that superhuman insight and wisdom.
'If I, too, can unify all things within this boundary...'
Clench.
Bu Eun-seol tightened his fist and muttered in a low voice:
"I will become a martial grandmaster standing shoulder to shoulder with Grandfather."
By then, Baek Mu-seong's presence had completely vanished.
While Bu Eun-seol had been lost in realization, the man had already slipped far beyond this area.
"It seems fate is not on our side."
With a sigh, Bu Eun-seol turned away.
Few things in this world went as one wished.
If he couldn't meet him now, then he had other matters to attend to.
Jin Seol had been spending quiet days in the Holy Demon Pavilion after stepping away from her duties as an Upper Blossom.
She had completely withdrawn from the Demon Hall's affairs, and even if some incident were to occur, she had no intention of involving herself.
But then, something strange happened.
Bu Eun-seol had requested her presence—despite her secluded life in the Holy Demon Pavilion.
And he had done so in absolute secrecy.
"If he had business, he could have simply come to the Holy Demon Pavilion."
Had he visited, she would have met him anytime.
If he disliked that, there were plenty of places within the Demon Hall where they could have spoken.
Yet Bu Eun-seol had not chosen the Demon Hall.
Instead, he had summoned her to a secluded teahouse, far removed from its grounds.
—I have urgent words to share. Matters that must be spoken of outside. I beg your understanding.
Meeting outside the Demon Hall meant, in essence, that the encounter itself was to be kept strictly confidential.
'Why is he seeking me out?'
Truthfully, Jin Seol still harbored feelings for Bu Eun-seol.
No—her heart had never changed, not even once.
It was only after realizing he held no affection for her that she had forced herself to seek companionship elsewhere.
Love could not be compelled, after all.
In the end, she had resigned herself to meeting Sim Wol... and that had become the gravest mistake of her life.
The man she had believed gentle and devoted had, in truth, approached her with ambition in mind.
Having secretly ingested an Artificial Internal Core from Hyeokryeon Eung—who was colluding with external forces—he had gone on an endless spree of slaughter.
And of all people, it was Bu Eun-seol who had uncovered this. He had even advised her to resolve the matter peacefully.
But her pride had deafened her to his words... and because of that wrong choice, countless lives had been lost.
After that day—
Jin Seol had given up on her feelings for Bu Eun-seol. No, she had to give up.
A woman as petty and dishonest as herself had no place by his side.
A man who endured trials in silence, walking steadfastly toward his goal, was not one to spare glances at women.
Yet seeing him again recently had rekindled long-buried emotions—that once-scorching spark.
'I don't belong with him.'
Even as she forcibly suppressed her heart—
His secretive summons made it impossible not to feel restless.
'He must only need me for something again.'
If he was pleading so desperately despite having no feelings, he clearly sought some great favor from her.
'I don't want to be used by him.'
Jin Seol steeled herself and avoided the meeting.
But Bu Eun-seol did not give up. He continued to request her presence until the very end.
—I will wait at that teahouse, at that hour, every day. If you change your mind, come to me there.
Every day.
No woman could remain unmoved by such sweet words.
'Has something happened in the Demon Hall that he needs me for?'
Bu Eun-seol was a man who never stopped charging toward his ambitions.
Moreover, he was surrounded by countless peerless beauties.
There was no reason for him to spare her a glance, nor any regret in doing so. Yet if he was pleading so earnestly—
'There must be something he absolutely needs to discuss.'
Though she had renounced her position as Upper Blossom, she remained the adopted daughter of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
That alone made her valuable.
Surely, that was why he was summoning her.
—The Martial Soul Lord truly waits at that teahouse every day before leaving.
When she sent a trusted subordinate to investigate—
It turned out Bu Eun-seol was indeed there, drinking tea at the same hour, waiting for her.
After several days of this, Jin Seol's resolve finally wavered.
Jeongsim Daru.
This small teahouse was located far from Chengdu.
The surrounding area was tightly secured by warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit, while the Death Soul Squad's intelligence network ensured all traces of their meeting would be erased.
When Jin Seol entered, the teahouse was empty—save for a lone man in black robes sitting inside.
Bu Eun-seol.
"Young Lady Jin."
As he bowed in greeting, Jin Seol returned the courtesy.
"Lord."
"Thank you for accepting my invitation."
He gestured for her to sit. As she did, she cut straight to the point.
"What matter could be so urgent that you summoned me to this remote place so many times?"
Rather than deflecting, Bu Eun-seol went straight to the heart of the matter.
"I wish to hear about your past."
"My past?"
"I recently encountered a martial eccentric who bears an uncanny resemblance to you. And she was searching for a lost daughter."
"...What?"
Jin Seol was dumbfounded.
"You must have thoroughly investigated my background by now, Lord."
Bu Eun-seol replied calmly.
"To be frank, I don't put much stock in intelligence reports regarding personal histories. They're the easiest things to fabricate."
It was true.
If intelligence networks could perfectly uncover someone's past—
Bu Eun-seol himself would not have wandered aimlessly, unable to uncover his own origins.
"So what you're saying, Lord, is that you think I might be that eccentric's lost daughter?"
"I merely thought it necessary to investigate."
Jin Seol was dumbfounded.
She had assumed—given how fervently and secretly he'd summoned her—that this would at least concern Demon Hall affairs.
But to think he'd called her here on some wild speculation that she might be a wandering martial artist's missing child?
"The Lord's meddling knows no bounds," Jin Seol said coldly.
"I had perfectly living parents. Are you suggesting I had some other birth mother?"
Had it been for the Great Cause—for some grand endeavor—she might have understood.
But to summon her so desperately over some stranger's sob story?
Wasn't this nothing short of belittling her?
'She thinks I called her here over some trivial matter.'
Bu Eun-seol observed the shifting light in Jin Seol's eyes and read her inner thoughts.
"Let me speak plainly."
Reluctantly, he laid out the full context.
"I believe that eccentric's husband belongs to one of the most enigmatic factions in the martial world."
"What do you mean by that?"
Bu Eun-seol hesitated briefly.
'I cannot speak of what I know about the Sacred Realm, but conveying her own words should be permissible.'
After all, Ja Su-ryeon had spread her husband's tales far and wide in her search for the child.
The fact that no sanctions had come from the Sacred Realm meant one thing:
They knew people would dismiss such claims as baseless fantasy without concrete evidence.
"They guard the Laws of the martial world?"
Jin Seol listened intently before finally making a baffled expression.
"Does such a place truly exist?"
"It may sound absurd. But I have personally clashed with figures from such a mysterious faction."
"Even so..." Jin Seol's voice turned icy. "Was it truly necessary for the Lord to personally intervene in that old woman's plight?"
Her gaze sharpened.
"Or did I appear so idle a woman to you?"
"Do not misunderstand. That old woman became the master of a subordinate who is like family to me. For that reason alone... I wished to offer at least minimal aid."
Bu Eun-seol spoke calmly.
"To be even more candid, I also saw this as an opportunity to unravel that faction's secrets."
Only then did Jin Seol's expression soften slightly.
So it wasn't mere meddling.
A subordinate—family in all but blood—had become the old woman's disciple, and he sought to honor that bond.
At the same time, he hoped to grasp at the shadows of the martial world's most enigmatic force.
"Very well."
Jin Seol gave a slight nod.
"Then what, precisely, do you wish to know?"
"Could you briefly explain how you became the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's adopted daughter... the circumstances of it?"
Jin Seol pondered briefly before answering.
"I was born in a small village. My parents were simple farmers."
She bit her lip.
"But they were slaughtered by horse bandits, leaving me an orphan. I wandered the streets until age seven... when the hall master from the martial world found me and brought me to Demon Hall."
It was no different from the known account of her origins.
But his question served another purpose—to confirm whether her memories remained intact.
"Do you remember everything before age seven?"
"Not vividly, but the broad strokes, yes."
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
'This conversation alone can't determine if they were implanted.'
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor could dominate another's spirit and mind with a single word.
If he had deliberately altered Jin Seol's memories? There was no way to verify it yet.
"I see. My apologies."
He offered regret for dredging up unnecessary pain.
Jin Seol responded with a graceful smile.
"It's fine. As a street urchin, I endured all manner of hardships... This is nothing."
For an instant, a flash passed through Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
Jin Seol was elegant, refined, dignified.
Yet this wasn't the result of education or upbringing—
It was the bearing of someone who had never known true hardship in their life.
"Could you share a little about your time as a street urchin?"
"I'd rather not dwell on those days. Forgive me."
"This is important. Since you've already begun, might you indulge me just a little further?"
Jin Seol frowned briefly.
But Bu Eun-seol's expression was utterly solemn, his eyes alight with an intensity she'd never seen before.
'This is about me... yet not for me.'
She understood.
His interest now—
Was not out of affection, but to confirm some piece of information.
Yet even knowing this, she spoke.
Because she still loved him. Because she still craved his attention.
"In beggar gangs, girl children are quite useful. Easier to evoke pity, so we got more food. That's why I..."
She recounted her days as a street urchin in measured tones.
Bu Eun-seol listened in silence.
'Something is definitely amiss.'
Having lived as a genuine beggar himself, Bu Eun-seol knew well the sorrow unique to vagrants.
But Jin Seol was different.
She spoke of that life as if retelling a story she'd heard.
Her eyes and expression were dark, yes—
Yet she failed to convey the true pain and grief of that time.
Her words were detached, as if narrating another's tale.
"I see."
But Bu Eun-seol betrayed nothing. Instead, he drew upon his internal energy.
With a slight tap of his foot against the ground, he unleashed the Void-Breaking Mind's Eye.
In that instant, the entire structure and interior layout of the Daru Tea House flooded into his mind all at once.
'Just as I thought—there it is.'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed sharply as he detected something, yet the corners of his mouth still bore that same composed smile.
"You must have suffered greatly. Truth be told, I, too, lived as a vagrant for many years."
"Well, yes."
"Then, Upper Flower, you must have tasted all manner of things."
"Of course. In those days, there wasn't a single dish I hadn't—AAAH!"
Jin Seol's words were abruptly severed as she let out a scream that seemed to tear through the air.
For before her, a situation she had never anticipated was unfolding.