Chapter 903
Tsu-tsu-chut.
Bu Eun-seol was unfolding his Movement Technique with his hands clasped behind his back.
To avoid revealing his identity, he had not only used the disguise but also wore a mask made of Heavenly Silkworm Silk and altered his physique.
And in his pocket, he carried the Boundary-Prosperity Jade he had obtained some time ago.
Tsuuuuuuu.
With the power of Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, he soared through the sky like a bird, surpassing even the Land-Flying Technique.
After moving swiftly for a long while, a mysterious island emerged faintly through the mist over the sea, not far from land.
Around the island, there was an almost imperceptible presence—like a transparent curtain enveloping it.
Perhaps a part of the Absolute Boundary had collapsed or been improperly deployed, failing to perfectly divide the space.
'A Boundary Formation.'
Bu Eun-seol realized why the Martial Venerable had given him this key.
This unique Boundary Formation, which completely severed the island from the original world—akin to an Absolute Boundary—was so complex and ever-shifting that even Bu Eun-seol, an expert in dismantling formations, couldn't immediately discern a way to unravel it.
'Not even Heavenly Mechanism Star's formation was like this.'
In the past, the Boundary Formation that Heavenly Secret Star Chu-so had used to imprison Gongson Dan-gyeong was intricate, but its structure could still be grasped.
Given enough time, dismantling it wasn't impossible.
But the formation laid out here was impossible to even comprehend.
Click.
When he finally took out the wooden box from his pocket, the orb inside began to shimmer.
Then, near the formation where the light spilled, a thin, transparent membrane gradually revealed itself—as if a door had opened, allowing entry.
The moment he naturally stepped through that transparent veil—
Pat.
A brilliant light burst forth, and an unfamiliar landscape unfolded before him, so surreal it felt like stepping into another world.
'It's far larger than it appears.'
From the outside, it had clearly looked like a small island.
But now that he was inside, it seemed at least ten times wider than Hell Island, where hundreds had once fought.
Tsu-tsut.
As he entered the shoreline, an endless stretch of sand unfolded before him, and where the sea met the shore, the water was unusually clear.
In the shallow waters, colorful fish and unknown seaweeds mingled, while massive, bizarre rock formations stood around the sandy beach.
They seemed highly artificial—
crafted into mysterious shapes, as if they were fragments left behind by some ancient beings.
'Soon, this island will be drenched in blood.'
With a low sigh, he ventured further inland, where a vast forest came into view.
The trees intertwined their branches to form a canopy, and whenever the leaves rustled in the wind, a faint light seemed to ripple through them.
'This is no ordinary forest.'
Within the woods, multicolored flowers bloomed, and when he inhaled their subtle fragrance—
his head spun as if he had inhaled Confusion Incense, and countless thoughts bloomed in his mind.
'Just from this?'
Bu Eun-seol had attained the Poison Saint Body, allowing him to neutralize any poison.
Moreover, after his Spiritual Aperture Breakthrough, breaching the barriers of his Spirit and Mind should have been impossible.
Yet a mere floral scent was inducing hallucinations?
'This isn't good.'
Once again, Bu Eun-seol unfolded the Ultimate Speed Shadowless technique and stealthily headed toward the island's center.
There stood an impossibly tall mountain.
Its summit was obscured by clouds, making its peak unknowable, and the surrounding rocks maintained an oddly alien form.
Some boulders resembled human or animal shapes, while others bore luminous ores.
It was as if he were looking at a mountain sculpted not in reality, but in a dream.
'Is the one called Wooden Buddha on that mountain?'
No matter how far he spread his Extrasensory Perception, he detected nothing.
As he scanned his surroundings, he moved toward the mountainside where a waterfall cascaded down.
The water didn't seem ordinary—it shimmered in five colors under the sunlight, and at the base of the waterfall, a clear lake had formed.
'Does that mean I'm the first one here?'
If he had wandered this far without detecting a single presence, there were only two possibilities.
Either he was the first to arrive—
Or...
As Bu Eun-seol sank deep into thought, his pupils flashed.
'—or there are countless individuals with concealment skills surpassing mine, making it impossible to sense their presence at all.'
Zzzzing.
At that moment, a strange sensation prickled in his mind.
Instantly halting his Movement Technique, Bu Eun-seol drew upon his Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, rendering his body transparent and merging himself with the surrounding scenery.
But no matter how carefully he searched, he saw nothing.
'Was it just my imagination?'
Just as he was about to move again—
He froze.
Once more, an eerie sensation gripped him, halting his motion.
It wasn't a sound or a tangible sensation—it was the flow of air, something only the Wind God, wielder of the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, could perceive.
Or, to be more precise—it was something closer to intuition.
Swish.
At that moment, an extremely faint and minuscule Sound of Breaking Air barely grazed past his ears—
Fwoosh!
Six Yellow-Robed Agents draped in cotton hoods unfurled their Movement Techniques above Bu Eun-seol's head.
'Impressive.'
All six moved as if they were a single entity.
From a distance, they resembled a drifting yellow cloud.
Even their qi flow and movements were so natural that even Bu Eun-seol, who possessed the Three Divine Powers, was taken aback.
'Have they refined the Way of Nature?'
Despite executing their Lightness Skill at blinding speed, only the faintest Sound of Breaking Air could be heard.
In truth, only someone like Bu Eun-seol—who wielded the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi—could perceive even that much...
It was as if they had fully mastered the Way of Nature, making their presence nearly impossible to detect.
'No. Six people couldn't have all reached such a realm at once.'
The Way of Nature was, by definition, a path that aligned with nature itself—utterly seamless.
But if six Masters simultaneously coordinated their movements while using Lightness Skill...
Eventually, that harmony with nature had to break.
Yet they remained perfectly blended into their surroundings, which meant—
They weren't six individual Masters who had each refined the Way of Nature.
Instead, they had combined their six powers to mimic that realm.
'So it's true.'
The Martial Venerable had confidently declared that the strongest warriors of Murim would all be gathered here.
And that was no idle boast.
'Had I not obtained the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, I would've been detected instantly.'
He still hadn't fully mastered the Way of Nature—he had only applied it to his swordplay through the River Waves Spreading Across the Lake style.
But now, in addition to the Two Spirit Energies he already possessed, he had gained Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, a power closely attuned to nature—
He could completely erase his presence... and even detect theirConcealment Art.
'No need to clash with them.'
His sole purpose here was to locate Wooden Buddha and escort him to a certain place.
According to the letter the Martial Venerable had given him—
Wooden Buddha was, quite literally, a figure shaped like a wooden statue.
'Then perhaps he's hiding near trees or a forest?'
Bu Eun-seol shook his head slightly.
Someone capable of deploying such a Boundary Formation—a prophet who could read Heaven's Will—
Would never resort to something as crude as hiding in plain sight just because of his wooden form.
Shhh.
Moving stealthily once more, Bu Eun-seol returned to the spring he had seen earlier.
Was it due to tension?
He felt a slight thirst.
'...'
But something was off.
The spring's water was just as clear as before—yet something felt wrong.
'If anything, the water looks even clearer now?'
It was so transparent he could see straight to the bottom. Anyone who saw it would feel an irresistible urge to scoop up a drink.
But sensing the strangeness, Bu Eun-seol—
Used his Internal Power to lift a single droplet and let it trickle onto a nearby tree.
Sssk—
The tree instantly withered at an alarming rate, its life draining away.
'A Sage Among Poisons?'
No known poison in this world could produce such an effect.
Which meant someone had created a new one. And the only ones capable of that were Poison People who had reached the realm of Sage Among Poisons.
'Moreover—'
The poison in the spring was just bait.
'The real poison was dispersed into the air around it.'
The atmosphere near the spring had grown slightly colder, yet with every breath, a searing heat flooded his lungs.
But by the time one realized that, they would have already stepped into the spring's vicinity...
Even if they avoided drinking the water, they'd still be poisoned just by breathing.
'Masterful.'
Even Bu Eun-seol, who had encountered every conceivable poison during his travels, couldn't help but admire such skill.
Which meant—this place didn't just house Superlative Martial Experts.
A Poison Person who had achieved Sage Among Poisons was also present.
'Perhaps an enemy of the Three Realms.'
The Three Realms had been secretly nurturing the One-Horned Flood Dragon.
Their goal was likely the perfection of Sage Among Poisons.
It was possible that a Sage Among Poisons opposing the Three Realms existed in Murim—and that the Three Realms, in turn, sought to cultivate their own to counter them.
'But is that even possible?'
If someone had reached Sage Among Poisons and unleashed such Poison Techniques even once—the entire Murim would have been thrown into chaos.
Yet no rumors of it existed, meaning...
This Sage Among Poisons who had dispersed such miraculous poison must also belong to a mysterious faction.
'This will truly be a matter of life and death.'
This island was teeming with warriors whose strength was beyond measure.
Worse—their identities and numbers were completely unknown. A single misstep could cost him his life in an instant.
Zzzing—
Then, Bu Eun-seol sensed it again—that peculiar sensation.
A large number of people seemed to be converging on a specific location.
Which meant...
'Some of them must have narrowed down Wooden Buddha's whereabouts.'
'I see.'
Bu Eun-seol began employing the highest esoteric principle among the concealment arts of Swift Shadowless—one he had never once used while executing the technique until now.
The secret of Mystic Swift Return to Concealment, of Light Steps Without Form.
Tsk, tsk, tsk... Ssshh.
And just like that, he achieved perfect Soundless and Voiceless—vanishing not only the sound of his movement but even his very presence.
'At this level, not even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor would be able to find me.'
Squirm, squirm.
However, because he had elevated his concealment technique to its peak, his Lightness Art could only match the speed of an ordinary martial artist.
'Something's off.'
But as Bu Eun-seol continued his movement technique, his eyes narrowed.
A strange suction force emanated from the ground, and gradually, the internal energy circulating through his body began to fade away.
'It's not that my internal power is disappearing.'
The moment he halted his movement technique and stood firmly on the ground, the suction force grew even stronger.
'Hmm.'
Realizing that a bizarre energy was spread across the earth, he paused briefly before dispersing his Water Essence Divine Qi across the ground.
Rumble...
A faint glow followed, and the suction force seeping from the earth slowly began to dissipate.
'This is... somewhat alarming.'
Bu Eun-seol was dumbfounded.
Despite expending so much Water Essence Divine Qi, he had only managed to erase the strange energy within a radius of about ten feet.
'Then this isn't a Battle Formation.'
When he attempted to spread the Water Essence Divine Qi further, he realized—
The energy flowing from the ground was endless.
It seemed as though the entire island was saturated with this bizarre pressure.
'Is Wooden Buddha wary of martial artists?'
Wooden Buddha was said to be a prophet with mystical powers.
Perhaps, in preparation for the powerful figures coming to capture him, he had cast this spell across the entire island.
'In the end, the only things I can use here are the Three Divine Powers.'
Water Essence Divine Qi was ill-suited for offensive purposes due to its gentle nature.
Thunder Essence Divine Qi was powerful, but its deafening explosions and flashes made it unsuitable for this situation.
Beast Force could compensate for his lack of internal energy, but its association with the Southern Barbarian Beast Palace would instantly expose him.
'Perhaps the only saving grace...'
...was that Wind & Cloud Divine Qi could substitute for anything he could achieve with internal energy—
And unless he unleashed it in the form of a Shockwave, the chances of its origin being detected were nearly nonexistent.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
As Bu Eun-seol reactivated Swift Shadowless using Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, he sensed something and tilted his head in puzzlement.
'Without internal energy, the power of the Three Divine Powers grows stronger?'
Surprisingly, the moment his internal energy was restricted, the strength of the Three Divine Powers intensified.
'Then...'
Zzzziiing.
Bu Eun-seol attempted something he had only dared to try when his life was at stake—experimenting with the unification of the Three Divine Powers.
Zzzziiing, zzzziiing.
As Wind & Cloud Divine Qi enveloped his body, a faint radiance bloomed—
And soon, with the sensation of the Three Divine Powers merging, his hands brimmed with condensed light.
'It works.'
Though it took time and wasn't perfect, it no longer ran wild to the point of tearing his Spirit and Mind apart, as it had before.
'Come to think of it, internal energy is absurdly easy to restrict.'
The Imperial Court Martial Arts, the strange Art of Spells of the Three Realms, the One Hundred and Eight Stars...
Factions that did not rely on internal energy—
Possessed specialized techniques to control their opponents' internal energy and wielded them with terrifying proficiency.
For Bu Eun-seol, who pursued only pure Martial Arts, these restrictions on internal energy were a major obstacle.
'I'll have to find a way to overcome this someday.'
Boom.
Just then, a strange vibration echoed from somewhere.
Following its source, he arrived at a rocky terrain strewn with massive boulders—where two figures stood facing each other.
A gale raged around them as if some mystical force were being unleashed, kicking up clouds of dust.
On the left stood a masked man clad in crimson robes, wearing an iron mask engraved with the shape of a scorpion.
On the right stood a masked figure in black robes, his face concealed behind a strange, gleaming mask.
'The one on the right seems to be from the Three Realms.'
The mask worn by the black-clad figure bore an almost identical luster to those used by the Messengers of the Three Realms.
The only difference?
Unlike the Messengers seen so far, this one was embroidered with golden thread.
'A higher rank than a Messenger, then.'
The Messengers wore masks, but the Special Divine Rank members above them usually went bare-faced.
It was then that Bu Eun-seol realized something.
'Here, no one can afford to reveal their face.'
According to Martial Venerable—
This place was swarming with Superlative Martial Experts sent by every faction in Murim.
And their shared objective? To seize Wooden Buddha, who could read Heaven's Will.
By concealing their identities, even if they captured Wooden Buddha, no one would know which faction had taken him.
Otherwise?
Merely holding Wooden Buddha would spark an endless battle over possession.
'But if they fight, their identities will eventually be exposed anyway.'
The martial artists who dominate the Murim each possess their own unique secret martial arts.
And just like their appearances, these techniques carry distinct characteristics that are extremely difficult to conceal.
Whoosh.
At that moment, the two figures facing each other simultaneously rose into the air.
At the same time, a blinding white lightning and a pitch-black lightning simultaneously struck down from the sky, while a white mist coiled around the surroundings.
A white dragon, its scales shimmering in pure white, opened its maw, unleashing a torrent of millions of ice shards.
In response, a black dragon cloaked in darkness spread its jaws and spewed forth flames.
The forces of ice and fire seemed evenly matched, neither able to land a decisive strike against the other.
—KRRRRUNG!
With a roar that tore through the heavens, the white and black dragons charged at each other.
The white dragon whipped up a blizzard as it lunged to sink its fangs into the black dragon's throat, while the black dragon rained down flames and slashed at the white dragon with its claws.
As the two dragons coiled around each other in battle, the sky trembled with a deafening roar, as if the heavens themselves were cracking like shattered glass.
The earth below erupted in flames of destruction.
It was as though celestial immortals were clashing in a battle of divine arts.
'To conceal their identities, they've suppressed the true essence of their martial arts and instead manifested their techniques in symbolic forms.'
Bu Eun-seol, watching from a distance, gave a slight nod.
These two masters had completely stripped away the distinctive traits of their martial arts, shaping them into draconic forms to mask their true identities.
'After all, spells and supernatural abilities can be unleashed without relying on internal energy.'
As if confirming his prediction, the two combatants were locked in a fierce struggle, wielding bizarre powers.
'But eventually, this will devolve into a physical confrontation.'
The masked man and the man in the mask seemed evenly matched, their battle dragging on without a victor in sight.
Whoosh!
Finally, the draconic forms in the sky dissipated, and the two closed the distance, engaging in direct combat.
Just as Bu Eun-seol had anticipated, they abandoned their aerial constructs and began fighting with pure martial skill.
Bam! Crack-crack-crack!
As if by some unspoken agreement, they formed slender rapiers with their index and middle fingers, engaging in a blistering close-quarters exchange.
True to their status as grandmasters of martial arts, every movement was exquisitely precise—
Their might transcended the limits of finger swords, splitting the heavens and shaking the earth.
'This—'
As the massive boulders scattered around them crumbled into dust,
Bu Eun-seol, his body perfectly concealed by Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, couldn't hide his astonishment.
Only now did he realize that the area around their battle was not just his own hiding place—
Numerous masters had perfectly concealed themselves, spectating the fight in complete stealth.
Though their forms were invisible, they had melded seamlessly with the surroundings, their presence nearly undetectable.
'I must identify who they are.'
Know yourself and know your enemy—in a hundred battles, you will never be in peril.
Back when the Three Gates Trial began on Hell Island,
the first thing he had done was assess the figures around him.
After all, the only information he could gather at the time was what his eyes could see.
But now, wasn't he equipped with far greater martial prowess?
Bu Eun-seol emptied his mind and unleashed the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi at full force.
Measure with the wind, perceive with the wind.
The wind could gauge all things, discern all existence.
As he subtly dispersed the divine energy, he sensed an overwhelming surge of alien energies—so repulsive it nearly made him nauseous.
At times, he could even detect the presence of spells and supernatural abilities.
'The Three Realms, the Three Clans... and most likely, the Servants of the True Demon.'
In short, the greatest factions of the Murim
had gathered on this island to wage a battle for Wooden Buddha.
'Then the Martial Venerable's claim about reading Heaven's Will wasn't entirely a lie.'
If masters of this caliber had assembled, then the claim of divining destiny couldn't possibly be false.
If he could locate this Wooden Buddha... he might uncover the identity of the murderer who had slain his grandfather.
Sssss—
But then, from somewhere, he detected an extremely subtle movement.
Someone was swiftly moving away, completely disregarding the battle unfolding here.
Judging by their stealth and speed, they were not the least bit inferior to the masters present.
'Have they found Wooden Buddha's trail?'
A battle between masters of this caliber was a rare sight—merely observing it could yield profound insights.
Yet this person hadn't even glanced their way, passing by without hesitation.
Tsk.
Bu Eun-seol activated Swift Shadowless and began silently pursuing the swiftly moving figure.
After chasing for some time, the silhouette ahead gradually became faintly visible.
Clad in white garments and wearing a mask, the figure carried a uniquely shaped sword at their waist.
They were exceptionally tall, with a somewhat rotund build—like a massive ball hurtling forward with a movement technique.
Whoosh.
After running for a while, the masked figure abruptly halted in the middle of a dense forest.
The area was an open clearing, leaving no place for anyone to hide.
'Is Wooden Buddha hiding there?'
Just as Bu Eun-seol, watching from afar, tilted his head in confusion—
'That sword—!'
His eyes blazed the moment he recognized the peculiar blade worn by the masked figure in white.
Wasn't that the extremely slender rapier Baekri Mu-jo had once concealed within his greatsword?