Chapter 906
The Heavenly Killing Star.
The Heavenly Slaughter Domain. Absolute Killing Intent.
A being whose power is like a calamity sent by the heavens, an absolute force beyond human reckoning.
Even those called Tyrants lose their heads before him.
When he draws his blade, the martial world turns into a nightmare...
Excluding the transcendent existences known as the Heavenly Might Star and the Heavenly Darkness Star, he is effectively the foremost among the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
The disaster known as the unstoppable calamity of the One Hundred and Eight Stars had suddenly appeared.
KWAANG!
A sharp streak of light grazed past Bu Eun-seol's temple.
Thanks to summoning the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi instead of his internal energy, a technique akin to the Floating Shadow Shifting Form unfolded naturally.
'I can't face him head-on.'
The Heavenly Killing Star was unleashing attacks at speeds that surpassed his senses.
If he tried to clumsily counter with ordinary martial arts, his head would be pierced in an instant.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Finger Flick Art as if firing rapid shots, using all ten fingers.
It wasn't to attack the Heavenly Killing Star—but to block the attacks streaking toward him at the speed of light.
To create a barrier of wind.
SHAAK!
But it was futile.
The Heavenly Killing Star, having closed the distance at hyper-speed, pierced through the wind barrier.
At point-blank range, he unleashed another streak of light—so swift and sharp that even the Way of the Beast couldn't detect it.
Just as it seemed inevitable that his body would be skewered no matter how he dodged—
SWIIISH!
Something bizarre happened.
The moment the streak of light shot forth—
Bu Eun-seol's body spun like light itself, retreating backward—
FLASH!
The Heavenly Killing Star pursued relentlessly, firing sharp streaks of light in rapid succession.
SWOOSH, SWOOSH.
Yet each time, Bu Eun-seol floated midair like a phantom, swaying or spinning his body.
Like a leaf scattered by a gale.
When an unseen blade-like attack threatened to split his forehead, he collapsed flat onto the ground—
THUD.
Only to spring back up like a roly-poly doll.
"The Floating Shadow Shifting Form?"
A glint of intrigue flashed in the Heavenly Killing Star's eyes.
The bizarre movements Bu Eun-seol displayed—
He recognized them as the legendary Body-Locomotion Martial Art of the Demonic Path, the Floating Shadow Shifting Form.
'Who cares if it's the Floating Shadow Shifting Form or whatever.'
Whether the Heavenly Killing Star was surprised or not, Bu Eun-seol didn't care.
Against the relentless barrage of streaks—
He relaxed his entire body, continuously circulating the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi within.
THUD. WHOOSH. THUD.
His body was tossed about by the gales created by the ceaseless attacks.
Almost as if he were mimicking the techniques the Wind Person had once used—Wind Dispels Clouds and Scattering Clouds and Mist.
DRIFT, DRIFT.
Before he knew it, Bu Eun-seol's body hovered an inch above the ground.
Like a phantom, he effortlessly evaded the Heavenly Killing Star's unseen attacks.
And this technique had another major advantage.
Since he didn't even need to actively dodge, he could observe his enemy's martial arts with even greater clarity.
'His technique is highly unusual.'
The Heavenly Killing Star's attacks, which seemed to scatter sharp blades at the speed of light—
Were as if he had layered the mysteries of martial arts with the power of a supernatural ability.
THUD.
When Bu Eun-seol effortlessly dodged the unseen slashes, the Heavenly Killing Star abruptly halted.
After glaring at Bu Eun-seol for a long moment—
CRACK-CRACK.
A strange sound of bones echoed, and the armor covering his body began gathering toward his legs.
CREAK.
Then, the ground beneath his feet cracked.
Finally, as all the armor fused together like the muscles of his legs, revealing a massive form—
KWAANG!
With a thunderous roar, the Heavenly Killing Star—now a streak of black lightning—pierced toward Bu Eun-seol.
SWOOSH!
But the tremendous speed generated a gale, sending Bu Eun-seol's body hurtling backward at hyper-speed as well.
KWAHAAAH!
As the Heavenly Killing Star accelerated further, Bu Eun-seol's body retreated like a streak of light.
He grinned.
The Heavenly Killing Star curled his lips into a peculiar smile—
KWAANG!
Then instantly reappeared behind Bu Eun-seol, standing tall.
He stood perfectly still, not generating even a wisp of wind.
Thus, the principles of Wind Dispels Clouds and Scattering Clouds and Mist that Bu Eun-seol had been employing—failed to activate.
THUD.
The Heavenly Killing Star stretched out his hand toward Bu Eun-seol, who was hurtling toward him like an arrow.
Then, part of the armor covering his body extended, forming a long spearhead that looked about thirty feet long.
'Tch.'
Bu Eun-seol tried to evade, but it was already too late.
All that remained was for his body to be impaled by that razor-sharp spearhead.
ZZZING.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze—and a bizarre sensation suddenly surged through his mind.
"Why did the Wind Person crave the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi?"
The Wind Person had reached the pinnacle of wind manipulation—even capable of subduing the Wind God himself.
Yet, he had desperately desired the Wind God's Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, claiming that only by obtaining it could he restore his full power.
"Soon, the Lord of Heaven will become an unstoppable projectile—immune to all attacks, impervious to all defenses..."
Realizing he could not defeat Bu Eun-seol, the Wind Person had chosen, as a last resort, to transform himself into a gale of unimaginable speed.
But what if he had obtained the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi? What method would he have employed then?
'Not making himself faster—but slowing his opponent down.'
Sinking Wind Shackles the Feet, Pressing Wind Stagnates the Body.
A sinking wind could bind one's steps; a pressing wind could dull one's movements.
No matter how strong or swift the enemy—
With the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi... he could spread a viscous wind, slowing both himself and his foe to an unbearable crawl.
Zzziiing—
The moment this realization struck, a wind imbued with the principles of sinking, weight, and thickness unfurled from Bu Eun-seol's body.
And in an instant, his own movements became excruciatingly sluggish.
Pah!
As his speed plummeted, Bu Eun-seol effortlessly sidestepped the spear's deadly tip.
The Heavenly Killing Star's expression twisted in bewilderment.
Time hadn't slowed. Bu Eun-seol hadn't moved with blinding speed.
So how had he dodged a fatal strike?
"..."
The Heavenly Killing Star's gaze swept over Bu Eun-seol, who had shifted to the left—
Crrrk—
With an eerie sound, the obsidian armor plates wrapped around his legs lifted into the air.
One hundred and six fragments in total.
Ssshhhk—
They slithered like living creatures, smoothly rearranging themselves into formation—
Fwoosh!
As the Heavenly Killing Star thrust both hands forward, the hundred and six fragments shot toward Bu Eun-seol like a single black arrow.
A speed no human flesh could possibly perceive.
Pah! Pah!
Yet, to his surprise, Bu Eun-seol dodged them with ease.
First, through the principles of sinking, weight, and thickness, he had slowed all of the Heavenly Killing Star's martial techniques.
And thanks to the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi constantly enveloping him, his reflexes had surpassed the limits of the human body.
'This is what destroys the Wind God's body.'
The Wind & Cloud Divine Qi amplified the five senses—but at the cost of overwhelming the nervous system.
Yet Bu Eun-seol's body was impervious to wind energy's corruption. He could wield these heightened reflexes freely.
'Now we can fight properly.'
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Turtle's Delayed Demon Spirit Palm, shattering the incoming fragments one after another.
'The Great Monk forbade me from using any signature martial arts.'
Wooden Buddha had warned him never to employ techniques that could reveal his identity.
So Bu Eun-seol had devised an ingenious method of his own.
The Wind & Cloud Divine Qi was an utterly pure and righteous force.
The Turtle's Delayed Demon Spirit Palm was a wicked technique steeped in murderous intent—a demonic palm art.
By the natural order of martial arts, two fundamentally opposing energies should never coexist.
But Bu Eun-seol's body had always been a chaotic vessel of mixed energies—allowing him to perform this very trick.
By blending these irreconcilable forces, he had created a palm art so bizarre, so untraceable—
That even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor himself would fail to discern its origins.
'No matter how versed he is in martial arts, he won't be able to decipher my techniques.'
Just as he predicted, the Heavenly Killing Star's eyes wavered.
His body had been dulled by the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, his martial techniques slowed several times over.
An enemy he should have crushed instantly was now exchanging over a hundred blows with him.
Thud.
The shattered armor fragments clattered to the ground—
Only to coalesce like mud, reforming into their original shapes.
Whooosh!
A sharp Qi Wave erupted from the Heavenly Killing Star's body, and the fragments vanished before Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Realizing Bu Eun-seol was using an anomalous power to slow his own body, the Heavenly Killing Star had countered by multiplying the speed of his armor's attacks.
Pah! Pah!
Gradually failing to keep up, crimson scratches bloomed across Bu Eun-seol's skin.
Yet his eyes remained frigid, his mind spinning like lightning.
'There's no need to fight on the enemy's terms.'
If the Heavenly Killing Star's weapon was speed, then Bu Eun-seol had no obligation to match it.
Moreover, as time passed, the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi within him grew more intense—his reflexes ascending further.
'If I obtain all four Divine Energies and unify them... I'll be able to wield the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi like this whenever I wish.'
Now, with all other energies in his body gone, only the Three Divine Powers remained.
This meant he could now wield the profound aspects of the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi—parts he had never dared to unleash before—without reservation.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Bu Eun-seol continuously deployed the Nine Demon Spirit Palms, engaging the Heavenly Killing Star in a relentless exchange.
Even though he had slowed his movements several times over, the Heavenly Killing Star's actions were still swift as lightning.
The True Qi that enveloped the star's body in armor-like form could be reshaped into any form, just like the Willful True Binding, or even shattered into fragments to be used like hidden weapons.
BOOM!
With every onslaught of attacks,
Bu Eun-seol spread razor-sharp Palm Energy like spiderwebs, employing a strategy that blocked counterattacks outright.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Yet, the Heavenly Killing Star relentlessly pierced through the Palm Energy, landing blow after blow on Bu Eun-seol.
Sssk—
Pausing for a moment, the Heavenly Killing Star
coldly observed Bu Eun-seol's body, now marred with wounds, before his eyes flashed.
"I can't trace your origins, and the Wooden Buddha's location won't be revealed either..."
The Heavenly Killing Star spoke in a low voice.
"I suppose I'll just have to end this."
FLASH!
In an instant, the armor clinging to the Heavenly Killing Star's body transformed into pitch-black lightning, coursing through his entire form.
Only now did it become clear—
he had been sealing his true speed all along, holding back to confirm Bu Eun-seol's identity.
But something astonishing happened.
As if predicting his opening move,
Bu Eun-seol had already begun evading before the lightning even manifested.
'This is the true power of the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.'
The divine energy coiled around the Heavenly Killing Star had, without notice, threaded itself like silk, connecting to Bu Eun-seol's body.
Through this, he could foresee the Heavenly Killing Star's first strike in advance.
Crrk—
The Heavenly Killing Star's expression twisted slightly as a strange, bone-chilling sound escaped his throat.
He seemed unable to comprehend how Bu Eun-seol had dodged his attack.
FLASH!
The Heavenly Killing Star resumed his assault, his movements even faster than before.
But now, none of his attacks reached Bu Eun-seol.
Because he already knew where they would land—and evaded them in advance.
—Halt.
Stopping once more, the Heavenly Killing Star finally nodded in realization.
"You used the wind scattered around my body to predict my trajectory."
Then, the corner of his lips curled up.
"You must be from the Wind God Palace... or perhaps the Wind Human Heaven."
Most of the One Hundred and Eight Stars were woefully ignorant of the Natural Order of martial arts.
But the Heavenly Killing Star, having deeply honed his skills, instantly grasped Bu Eun-seol's techniques and attributes.
Bu Eun-seol neither confirmed nor denied, remaining silent.
Only now did he suddenly realize something inexplicable.
The Heavenly Killing Star—
a being so legendary he was called a calamity, effectively the leader of the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
Yet, this supposedly awe-inspiring existence, this figure whose power should match his status as the foremost of the stars,
was fighting merely clad in an unusual armor of True Qi?
That made no sense from the start.
'There's no way the Heavenly Killing Star isn't stronger than the rest of the One Hundred and Eight Stars.'
"You've realized it, haven't you?"
As the Heavenly Killing Star smirked,
—Pop!
One of the True Qi armors clinging to his body vanished in a shimmering light.
He had willingly shattered a piece of his own, nearly indestructible armor.
RUMBLE—
Immediately, the ground for hundreds of feet around trembled left and right before violently shaking up and down.
—Pop!
Another piece of armor fell away,
and the sky burned crimson as dozens of white, meteor-like radiances hovered in the air, poised.
"This—"
Only now did Bu Eun-seol understand the truth.
The True Qi armor the Heavenly Killing Star wore wasn't for protection.
It was to suppress the terrifying power of the One Hundred and Eight Stars—his own power.
"Why... would you do that?"
"It's entertaining."
The Heavenly Killing Star replied indifferently.
"Watching bugs struggle and struggle, clinging to the hope that they might catch me."
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Three more pieces of armor disappeared in that instant.
Bu Eun-seol's instincts screamed a warning.
If all the Heavenly Killing Star's armor shattered, he might not be able to protect the Wooden Buddha.
[Focus all the energy in your body and pour the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi into the stone beneath his feet.]
Suddenly, the Wooden Buddha's Telepathic Transmission reached him.
[Hurry.]
In that moment, Bu Eun-seol's gaze snapped to the ground beneath the Heavenly Killing Star.
There, he saw a single, five-colored pebble—something the Wooden Buddha had been shaping earlier when he touched the earth.
"HAAAP!"
Without a second thought, Bu Eun-seol roared and poured the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi into the stone.
FLASH!
A five-colored Radiance erupted from the pebble, illuminating the entire world.
KWAOOOOO—!
The light, dyeing the heavens and earth, began absorbing into the Heavenly Killing Star's body with vibrations that seemed to shake the very fabric of creation.
Crrk— Crrk—
The Heavenly Killing Star's body shrank to the size of a three-foot child, then returned to normal—repeating the cycle over and over—before—
Crrrk.
Unable to withstand the invasive surge of radiant energy, fissures like spiderwebs spread across his entire body.
"So you were there."
Zzzt—
The forehead of Heavenly Killing Star, engulfed in light, split open.
With a wet, squelching sound, a fist-sized eyeball rolled within the gaping wound, its massive pupil darting wildly.
Human-Yokai Hybrid.
Heavenly Killing Star, said to bring annihilation to the world, was not human—his flesh was that of a monstrous yokai.
Thud-thud-thud!
At that moment, the five-colored pebbles hidden on the ground instantly latched onto the enormous eyeball.
Paaah!
The stones shattered once more, dispersing into hundreds of radiant beams.
"Grrrgh— KAAAH!"
Heavenly Killing Star, who had been screaming in agony, suddenly—
Fwip!
—unleashed a movement technique swift as light itself, fleeing beyond the formation's boundary in an instant.
Bu Eun-seol, who had been watching the scene unfold, took a deep breath.
'The Great Monk knew Heavenly Killing Star would appear.'
Wooden Buddha had deployed another formation within the already completed one—proof that he had anticipated Heavenly Killing Star's arrival and prepared countermeasures.
'It was almost like Harmonization.'
The light radiating from the formation Wooden Buddha had laid upon the ground bore an uncanny resemblance to the Harmonization Bu Eun-seol achieved by aligning all his energies.
'If he can manifest such power through formations alone... is the Great Monk truly invincible?'
He could foresee the future, and with just a brief activation of his formation, he had unleashed a force akin to Harmonization.
If that were the case, then even if hundreds—no, thousands—of masters surrounded him, could anyone truly defeat him?
"This old monk alone could never produce such power."
Rustle.
Wooden Buddha reappeared from the great tree, his voice calm as he explained.
"Just moments ago, I merely borrowed your strength to activate the Li Immortal's Thunder-Annihilation Formation."
"That formation just now... was created by the Li Immortal?"
Li Immortal was a peerless genius who had appeared six hundred years ago, a figure who, alongside the South Pole Sage, left an indelible mark on the development of formation studies in Murim.
The name "Li Immortal" itself was not his birth name—it stemmed from rumors that he was the divine manifestation of an immortal.
And yet, Wooden Buddha had replicated such a formation in mere moments?
"It is no great feat. This humble monk merely followed the records in the texts."
Wooden Buddha brushed off the topic dismissively.
"In any case, Heavenly Killing Star had to be expelled. If he remained here, this monk would never have been able to leave this island."
Then he added,
"Heavenly Killing Star possesses the greatest combat strength among the One Hundred and Eight Stars. In truth, aside from the legendary Heavenly Darkness Star and Heavenly Might Star, none can oppose him."
Bu Eun-seol nodded.
Heavenly Killing Star, who appeared as a youth, had fought him using only the profound mysteries of his martial arts—not once tapping into his true power as one of the Stars.
Had he unleashed his full strength as Heavenly Killing Star...
Even if Bu Eun-seol had fought with everything he had, victory would have been far from certain.
"And yet, even such a being has become a mere pawn of the Heavenly Mechanism Star."
That the strongest among the One Hundred and Eight Stars was being manipulated by the Heavenly Mechanism Star—wasn't that akin to a tiger growing wings?
Wooden Buddha sighed.
"Heavenly Killing Star was, from the beginning, closer to a bloodthirsty demonic creature. If anything, it is a mercy that such a being is under the command of another."
"Indeed. To tame a wolf that refuses to be broken, one would need intelligence beyond human limits."
"What concerns me is not the present, but the future."
"What do you mean?"
"The only reason the Li Immortal's Thunder-Annihilation Formation was able to temporarily seal Heavenly Killing Star's power was because he had not yet fully awakened to his strength."
"I see."
Bu Eun-seol understood.
Heavenly Killing Star was described as a calamity that would bring ruin to the world.
If a single mystical formation could suppress him so easily... he would never have earned the name Heavenly Slaughter in the first place.
"Gradually, enemies far beyond your ability to handle will emerge..."
Though his tone was indifferent, his eyes were filled with deep concern for Bu Eun-seol.
'Truly, the Great Monk is worthy of being called a Holy Monk of the Buddhist Order.'
The Divine Monk, once revered as the Buddha Honored One, had fallen—no longer a monk rooted in compassion.
But Wooden Buddha carried an air of noble grace in every word, his mercy so profound he would not even tread upon a blade of grass.
"I appreciate your concern."
Swish.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Someone abruptly stepped into the formation, appearing directly behind Wooden Buddha.
Shwaaak!
In the same instant, a net of golden threads cascaded over the monk's body.
Before anyone could react, the net transformed into a massive, translucent sack—and the shadowy figure swiftly slung it over their back.
Fwip!
With lightning-like speed, they attempted to dart back through the Life Gate.
But they couldn't leave.
Because Heavenly Killing Star had already passed through the Life Gate once, its location had shifted.
And the new location was known only to Bu Eun-seol.
Tap.
The shadow, still carrying Wooden Buddha, had no choice but to reappear before Bu Eun-seol.
Sssk.
In that moment, the transparent figure solidified into a woman clad in an assassin's outfit—a garment designed to absorb light.
Her face was concealed behind a mask, but her curvaceous figure and unnaturally large pupils left no doubt—this was a woman.
The Same Heart Society.
Bu Eun-seol clenched his fists.
The masked woman before him—
From her body seeped a vile, unmistakable energy.
The same kind that only those who bore the Demon-Sealing Fragments emitted.