Chapter 932
Bu Eun-seol's lips curled into a knowing smile.
"I've faced countless members of the One Hundred and Eight Stars before."
"The One Hundred and Eight Stars?"
Hwa Mu-gi's brow furrowed.
"What nonsense are you—"
His words cut off abruptly.
Only now did he sense it—the raging forces within his body weren't a singular power.
They were a chaotic amalgamation of multiple distinct energies intertwined together.
'Is this the power of Infinite Heavens-Annihilation? Of Transcendent Fate Path-Severing? The might of the Heavenly Might Star?'
Confusion swirled within him.
Truthfully, even he had only encountered descriptions of such fate-defying powers in ancient texts.
Having never possessed them himself,
he couldn't precisely define what the Heavenly Might Star's power truly was.
Crack!
A flash erupted.
Bu Eun-seol, who had widened the distance between them, unleashed a razor-sharp blade of Sword Qi.
"Hmph."
Hwa Mu-gi's eyes flickered with disdain.
But the power that had once allowed him to manifest anything with mere thought had now dwindled into clumps.
To wield it now,
he had to extend his hand or stomp his foot—actual physical movements.
Failing that, he had to consciously visualize how to deploy the energy within his mind before it would manifest.
As if the ability to 'unleash power through thought alone' had vanished.
BOOM!
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol shot up to the ceiling of the Grand Hall and unleashed a barrage of massive cruciform Sword Qi strikes.
He had infused the Waning Moon Morning Star technique with countless principles of martial arts.
Sssssk—!
Hwa Mu-gi instantly erected a blue barrier, intercepting and dissipating the Sword Qi mid-flight.
But then—wasn't the ability that had allowed him to create that blue barrier now fading?
"How is this—"
Hwa Mu-gi had no time to process his shock.
Swish! Slash-slash-slash-slash-slash!
In that split second, Bu Eun-seol unleashed thirteen more sword strokes.
Some were blindingly fast, others devastatingly powerful.
Some carried profound martial intricacies, while others moved with agonizing slowness.
RUMBLE—
By the time the thirteen Sword Strokes reached Hwa Mu-gi's body, they coalesced into a single, overwhelming force.
Bu Eun-seol had already discerned the nature of Hwa Mu-gi's power.
'One-time bursts of the One Hundred and Eight Stars' energy.'
The power Yeop Hyo-cheon wielded was none other than an externally infused force from the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
And with each use, that power was gradually depleting.
Having realized this,
Bu Eun-seol was deliberately unleashing relentless sword strikes to exhaust it entirely.
BOOM! CRASH!
As he frantically blocked the endless barrage of sword techniques—
'Damn it.'
Hwa Mu-gi's face paled to an extreme degree.
With every counter against Bu Eun-seol's sword strikes,
the surging power within him was leaking away uncontrollably, as if through punctured holes.
Hwa Mu-gi gritted his teeth as he momentarily halted his attacks.
'But I can't unleash the True Void either.'
That demonic bastard has an extreme grasp of martial principles.
If I carelessly use true martial arts,
he'll instantly uncover not just my martial foundation but my true identity.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
Before he knew it, Bu Eun-seol's sword techniques had accelerated further, now blanketing the entire Grand Hall.
He knew full well that Hwa Mu-gi was wielding the One Hundred and Eight Stars' power—and couldn't unleash it all at once.
So he deliberately flooded the space with sword techniques, leaving no opening for counterattacks.
Crack.
Hwa Mu-gi clenched his fist.
If he stayed passive like this, his head would roll in no time.
'Fine.'
Even if I unleash the Black Shadow Dark Emperor's martial arts at Grand Perfection, I still can't defeat him.
Then I'll have to reveal the power I've kept hidden, suppress him by force, and absorb the Heavenly Might Star's energy once more.
'In this place, the Trackers won't immediately follow.'
Truthfully, no matter what martial arts he had mastered, no matter what level of martial prowess he had achieved,
he possessed a mysterious power capable of subduing any foe in an instant.
The Sacred Domain Secret Arts.
Not only could it read the shifts of Heaven's Will and nature, it could directly interfere with another's physical body and Spirit and Mind.
He had mastered an ancient Secret Technique.
The only reason he had restrained himself from using it was that
the Sacred Realm's Masters would sense its activation and send Trackers in immediate pursuit.
But here, deep within the hidden mechanisms of a ravine in Beyond the Frontier, he could buy himself some time.
'The energy flow of Heaven, Earth, and nature is interconnected with the energy within the human body.'
Zzzzing—
A transparent energy radiated from Hwa Mu-gi's entire body.
And before long, that energy had covertly linked itself to Bu Eun-seol's form.
A power that allowed perfect prediction of an enemy's movements, enabling preemptive strikes with near-clairvoyant precision.
The Sacred Domain Secret Arts—Heavenly Extreme Pulse Seal.
Flash!
In that same moment, Bu Eun-seol unleashed a flurry of razor-sharp Sword Strokes.
Thwak!
Hwa Mu-gi, as if waiting for this, lunged directly into the range of the sword's trajectory.
Zzzzing—
Simultaneously, he manipulated the energy within Bu Eun-seol's body using Heavenly Extreme Pulse Seal, instantly reversing the unleashed Sword Qi.
It was an unavoidable counter.
Fwoosh-fwoosh-fwoosh!
Yet something unexpected occurred.
The sword qi seemed to rebound—
Then suddenly, it transformed into needle-thin strands of razor-sharp energy, pouring back not toward its original target, but instead lashing directly at him.
Swish—!
Hwa Mu-gi twisted his body with all his might, barely managing to evade.
Yet because he had been so confident in his counterattack at point-blank range, he couldn't fully dodge.
The razor-edged sword qi grazed across his entire body.
'How?'
His eyes widened.
'Is my internal energy too overwhelming, making my physical control unstable?'
Thud.
Creating distance once more, he summoned another secret art.
A transparent energy rose from the ground, coiling around Bu Eun-seol's body like a serpent.
'Then I'll shatter your spirit and mind instead.'
A blinding white light spilled from Hwa Mu-gi's pupils.
The Dharma Art of Soul Stamp—a technique that shook the psyche and emotions to dominate the spirit.
Zzzing.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol, who had been unleashing terrifying sword strokes, suddenly had his eyes turn pure white.
Once the Soul Stamp seeped in, no matter how fortified one's spiritual defenses were, even if they had achieved Spiritual Aperture Breakthrough...
It granted immediate domination over the soul.
Because all martial artists inevitably mastered mental cultivation methods to nurture their internal energy.
'If you've trained in an Internal Energy Method, there's no escape.'
Hwa Mu-gi smirked inwardly.
An Internal Energy Method, in essence, was a way to temper the mind, cultivate True Qi, and unify body and spirit into one.
But this very training process inevitably created gaps in the spirit.
And the Soul Stamp was a secret art designed to exploit those gaps.
In other words—no martial artist who cultivated internal energy could resist it.
"Now, I'll dismantle your body piece by piece and reclaim that power—"
Just as he murmured leisurely—
FWOOOOOSH—!
A torrent of azure cross-shaped sword qi surged toward his face.
Bu Eun-seol, who should have been frozen by the Soul Stamp's power, was now—
As if nothing had happened—unleashing sword techniques again.
'I can't dodge this.'
Hwa Mu-gi had been so certain of his spiritual domination that he had completely let his guard down.
There was no time to block the sword qi crashing toward him.
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK—!
A series of hideous tearing sounds erupted as his body was hurled hundreds of feet away, smashing into a stone wall.
Unable to deflect the sword qi, he resorted to the pinnacle of Absolute Cloud Palm—
"Emerging Serpent from the Forest!"
He repelled the cross-shaped sword qi with his bare hands.
But the gap in their internal energy was too vast, and his palm technique had been deployed too hastily.
The backlash was severe—sending him crashing into the Great Hall's wall.
Ptui.
Kneeling on the ground, Hwa Mu-gi spat out a glob of blood the size of a pebble.
The flesh wounds were nothing.
But Bu Eun-seol's monstrous internal energy had shattered his Body Protection True Qi, violently shaking his meridians.
"How curious."
Bu Eun-seol tilted his head, gazing down at him.
"Hwa Mu-gi, the Black Shadow Dark Emperor, using the Absolute Cloud Palm of Sa Gun-ak, the Iron Hegemon King, who vanished twenty years ago?"
"Just why are you—?"
Hwa Mu-gi clamped his mouth shut before the words escaped.
Why aren't the Sacred Realm's secret arts working?!
These techniques were designed to control martial artists—no one could resist them.
So was this bastard a ghost or something?!
'Even those bound by the Covenant—even familiars serving the Baekri Clan or the True Demon—should still be vulnerable to the Sacred Realm's arts.'
Yet nothing worked on him.
"Seems you're definitely wearing someone else's skin."
Bu Eun-seol chuckled coldly.
"Reveal your true form. I might let you live."
Hwa Mu-gi trembled.
The taunt about wearing another's skin was a mocking reference to his disguise, but—
To him, it wasn't something he could laugh off.
He had trampled over countless martial artists, absorbing their strength to stand at the pinnacle of the world.
And now—this brat was humiliating him like this?
"Fine."
Hwa Mu-gi lowered his stance, gathering every ounce of power in his body.
RUMBLE—
The earth quaked as if the heavens themselves would split apart from the force radiating outward.
BOOM—!
In that instant, he unleashed a full-power One Fist strike into the ground.
A bizarre glow spread across the floor—
Crack. RUMBLE—
Then, not the ground, but the Great Hall's ceiling began to fracture, massive boulders crashing down.
Tap.
Bu Eun-seol weaved through the falling debris with swift movement techniques, closing the distance again—
Slash—!
But Hwa Mu-gi had already dissolved into thousands of light particles, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Abandoning all face and pride, he no longer attempted to face Bu Eun-seol and immediately chose to flee.
CRASH. RUMBLE—
Meanwhile, the underground hall was collapsing.
THUD, PAT. THUD.
Bu Eun-seol used the falling boulders as stepping stones, leaping high into the air.
Finally, when the open sky came into view—
WHOOSH! KWA-BOOM!
Deploying the Qi-Piercing Ascent at full power, he shot out of the underground space in an instant and landed on the surface.
RUMBLE—
At the same time, the entire Red Serpent Ravine began to collapse.
ZZING, ZZING.
Light began to spill from his body once more.
As soon as he escaped the ravine, a scorching heat surged through his body—
Struck by the radiance pouring from the treasure pouch containing the orb.
All his strength, including the Three Divine Powers that had been suppressed until now, was gradually returning.
KWA-BOOM!
Feeling his full power restored, Bu Eun-seol leaped skyward once more.
'I must uncover his true identity.'
Soaring thousands of feet into the air, he began unleashing the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi without restraint.
He intended to pursue the fleeing Hwa Mu-gi.
This man not only knew of the Absolute Demon Saber Project—he was also deeply familiar with his grandfather. He absolutely could not be allowed to escape.
KWA-OOOOM—
The Wind & Cloud Divine Qi spread thousands of feet outward, yet no trace of Hwa Mu-gi could be found.
It seemed that when he fled the ravine, he hadn't used Lightness Skill—but rather some unique Art of Spells or Supernatural Ability.
"Haa..."
Landing back on the ground, Bu Eun-seol inspected his body once more.
The Three Divine Powers had returned to him in an instant, and his Internal Energy had also fully recovered.
None of his lost strength remained missing.
But Hwa Mu-gi had clearly stated that he had stolen power from Bu Eun-seol's body through the orb.
And those powers were ones Bu Eun-seol could never have used in the first place.
Because—
"At that time... it was the power of countless Boundary-Prosperity Jades I had absorbed in the Martial Venerable's Treasury."
In the past, Bu Eun-seol had suffered a near-fatal injury. With Wooden Buddha's help, he learned that he could recover in a secret vault created by the Martial Venerable.
After countless hardships, he finally reached a mysterious stone chamber that seemed to mirror the cosmos itself.
There, he regained his lost strength—
But in the process, the light from countless orbs embedded in the chamber had flowed into his body.
At the time, he hadn't understood what those orbs signified.
But now, he knew all too well.
They were none other than Boundary-Prosperity Jades, vessels containing the power of the One Hundred and Eight Stars.
"I am not one of the One Hundred and Eight Stars, so I couldn't fully assimilate their power. It must have lain dormant within me."
Bu Eun-seol let out a hollow laugh.
Hwa Mu-gi had likely spent a long time scheming to steal his power, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
And when he finally acted—
All he had taken were the remnants of the One Hundred and Eight Stars' power, which Bu Eun-seol had never truly absorbed.
Hwa Mu-gi, unaware of this, must have believed he had seized all the powerful forces in the world.
As he drew on the countless powers, one by one, of the Hundred-and-Eight Stars held within the Boundary-Prosperity Jade, he must have reveled in the delusion of godhood.
But the moment he realized that the power was one-time use, dwindling with each activation—
He had tried to flee without hesitation.
"If he's just a petty thief who leeches off others' strength, he can't be anyone significant in the Demon Hall."
Yet questions remained.
Whether Hwa Mu-gi was his true self or someone in disguise, Bu Eun-seol had never encountered him before in his life.
His aura, his prayer-like energy, his gaze, even the lines of his body—all were unfamiliar.
And yet, he knew Bu Eun-seol frighteningly well.
Well enough to leave a letter in the Hidden Demon Pavilion's office in such a short time.
He must have held considerable authority or factional influence within the Demon Hall.
"But he wasn't the Chief Doctrine Commander."
Originally, Bu Eun-seol had assumed only Yeop Hyo-cheon, the Chief Doctrine Commander, could orchestrate something like this.
Of course, it was possible Hwa Mu-gi had acted under orders from the Chief Doctrine Commander—or even the Demonic Heavenly Emperor himself.
'But Hwa Mu-gi tried to steal power from me.'
If he had truly been sent by the Demonic Heavenly Emperor or the Chief Doctrine Commander—
Would he have dared to covet that power for himself?
More importantly, his words lingered in Bu Eun-seol's mind:
"So this is his power?"
If it had truly been his power—
He wouldn't have phrased it that way.
A Demonic Path figure who had experienced the Absolute Demon Saber Project alongside his grandfather, who knew Bu Eun-seol so well—
Would he have spoken like that?
In the end, what Hwa Mu-gi sought wasn't Bu Eun-seol's power—
But his grandfather's.
'But what Grandfather left me wasn't any kind of power.'
What his grandfather had passed down to him were martial arts like the Sinew Reforging Classic and the Heavenly Robe Mind Art—
Peak-tier techniques that stood at the summit of the Murim world.
And the wisdom and knowledge he had imparted since Bu Eun-seol's childhood.
Yet Hwa Mu-gi had schemed as if some tremendous power lay dormant within Bu Eun-seol's body.
"Unless... this is the work of the Abyssal Forces lurking within the Demon Hall?"
Ever since forming the Blood Heavenly Order, Bu Eun-seol had sensed terrifying factions coiled within the Demon Hall.
Perhaps this matter might not be entirely unrelated to them either.
"Soon, it will be revealed."
If he were a figure from the Demon Hall—
Whether he wanted to know or not, he would eventually find out who it was.
"But for some reason, my body feels even lighter now."
The power of the Boundary-Prosperity Jade he had absorbed in the Martial Venerable's Treasury had, in truth, been of no help to him whatsoever.
Yet now that it had completely vanished—
It was as if he had shed cumbersome clothing, leaving his body feeling strangely weightless.
"Moreover."
Bu Eun-seol looked down at his palm.
A peculiar wound had formed in the center—likely from gripping the scorching, hemispherical orb as he walked, searing his flesh with pain.
But what was strange—
Was the inexplicable sensation that some mysterious power had embedded itself deep within his palm.
"Could it be remnants of the power absorbed by the Boundary-Prosperity Jade?"
Hwa Mu-gi had siphoned away the latent power of the One Hundred and Eight Stars from Bu Eun-seol's body—a force even he himself had been unaware of.
If that were the case, then this energy now embedded in his palm—
Could it be that, in the process of absorption, a fragment of the One Hundred and Eight Stars' power had remained within him? The thought flickered through his mind.
"Hmm."
Staring intently at his palm, Bu Eun-seol closed his eyes briefly and activated the Heavenly Robe Mind Art.
Yet even then, he could not discern the origin of the power lodged in his palm.
"Then ultimately, either the power of the Boundary-Prosperity Jade that man absorbed has returned to me with its attributes altered..."
His eyes glinting, he muttered under his breath in a low voice.
"Or, conversely, I absorbed something from his body."
It had to be one of the two.
During the orb's absorption process—
Either one of the latent powers of the Boundary-Prosperity Jade within his body had its attributes altered and remained within him,
Or, when Hwa Mu-gi absorbed the power of the One Hundred and Eight Stars that had been dormant in his body—
Thanks to not losing his Internal Energy, the Reverse Extreme Inner Method instinctively exerted an overwhelming suction force in resistance,
And as a result, something had entered his body instead.
"It seems to be gradually reabsorbing into my body."
That foreign energy was slowly merging with his Original True Qi, seeping in from his palm.
"I have no desire for external power."
To expel the energy permeating from his palm, Bu Eun-seol raised his Internal Power.
But the more he tried to force it out, the faster it was absorbed into his body.
'Could this be another one of Hwa Mu-gi's traps?'
For a moment, Bu Eun-seol recalled the dark, sinister face hidden beneath the masked man's hood—his shadowed eyes cold and inscrutable.
Then—
A strange sensation prickled at him.
His eyes burned hot, and suddenly, a black ripple spread outward, tingling between his temples and the center of his forehead.
"What is this?"
Frowning, Bu Eun-seol drew the Ink Soul Sword and angled the blade to reflect his own face.
"Impossible."
Though he was not one to react easily to most things, this time, he was so startled he nearly leapt back.
He had not activated the Face-Changing and Bone-Shifting Art.
He had merely recalled Hwa Mu-gi's face while sensing the foreign energy in his body.
And yet—his own face had transformed into an exact replica of that man's.
"How is this possible?"
Bu Eun-seol touched his own face.
For a moment, he could not help but wear an expression of utter disbelief.
"This isn't just a disguise—it's a complete transformation."
The Bone-Shifting Technique was a fusion of Internal Energy and bodily control.
It required adjusting minute facial muscles,
Stretching skin, creating wrinkles, and manipulating blood circulation to alter complexion.
But to change one's appearance in an instant like this—without even using Internal Energy—should have been outright impossible.
"Then—"
This time, Bu Eun-seol pictured Won Se-mun's face.
Immediately, the black ripple spread again, and in an instant, his features morphed into those of a rugged, rough-looking man.
Won Se-mun had a sharply angular jaw, a broad face, and thick bone structure—
A facial structure so different from Bu Eun-seol's own that perfectly mimicking it should have been extremely difficult.
Yet without using Internal Energy or altering his skeletal structure—
It was as if he had molded his face like clay, reshaping it in an instant.
"And it's not a one-time effect."
In other words, this power was not the remnants of the Boundary-Prosperity Jade's energy reabsorbed into his body—
But rather, a fragment of the power Hwa Mu-gi had possessed, now residing within him.
"Then that means... he wasn't the real Hwa Mu-gi, but someone with a disguise technique so flawless it was impossible to detect."
To use the Face-Changing and Bone-Shifting Art—
One had to expend Internal Energy and physically shift muscles and bones.
But if one could alter their appearance instantly using this energy embedded in their body—
Then it wasn't a disguise at all.
It was becoming an entirely different person—so flawlessly that no one, no matter how sharp-eyed, could detect anything amiss.
In short, unless the user revealed their true identity—
Even the parents who bore and raised them would never recognize them.
"Who the hell is he?"
If someone in the Demon Hall possessed such a terrifying disguise technique—
Statistically, the most likely candidates were the Demonic Heavenly Emperor or the Chief Doctrine Commander.
But the masked man's speech, gaze, actions, and aura—
They were, without a doubt, those of someone he had never encountered in his life.
In an instant, Bu Eun-seol's face reverted to its original form.
He took a deep breath.
"Regardless, this is a fortuitous encounter."
Because of this incident—
He had gained a power that allowed him to perfectly alter his outward appearance without relying on Internal Energy or bodily control techniques.
A mysterious power that had never before existed in the Murim world.