Chapter 938
'These things...'
Bu Eun-seol lowered his hand from his right eye and stared at his palm.
There, the strange emblem that had vanished earlier was etched once more.
Yet as he gazed at the blurred pattern on his palm with unfocused eyes, it resembled the shape of an eyeball.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to the pupil engraved on the mysterious orb once possessed by the True Demon's elder.
Swish.
Without realizing it, Bu Eun-seol covered his right eye again with his palm.
Then, the back of his hand grew searing hot—
Zzzzt!
—and suddenly, an eerie light began pouring forth.
As the light took form on his hand, the scene before him sharpened into clarity despite his covered eye.
'Those things...'
As the radiance streaming from the back of his hand intensified, the viscous strands beyond his palm grew even more distinct.
Within the iron-clad armor of the Black Divine warriors—
—invisible, sticky currents of energy pulsed, sustaining their forms.
'These Black Divine beings are an Aggregate, connected by the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's power.'
So this was why they wouldn't die.
No—why they couldn't be killed.
The Black Divine were nothing more than shapes molded from black liquid.
The reason they could wield such overwhelming martial arts and move freely lay in the power contained within those currents.
'How do I know this?'
What his eyes now perceived were the attributes of the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's power.
Not only did he grasp how the web-like vibrations and nerve-like energy streams endlessly resonated to control the Black Divine—
—he instantly understood the very mechanics of how that power functioned.
'Thinking can wait.'
Though his accelerated cognition stretched time infinitely, his consciousness was fading from the loss of Essence Blood.
'Then all I need to do is sever it.'
How to disrupt the ceaselessly vibrating energy threads? By introducing another vibration.
CRACK!
Immediately, Bu Eun-seol summoned his Thunder Essence Divine Qi—
CRACK! KRRRACK!
—and with a tremendous tremor, he began incinerating the black, viscous fluid linking the armored figures.
Zzzzing.
Simultaneously, heat radiated from the light coalescing on the back of his hand, and the stolen Essence Blood began returning to him.
Thud. Plop. Thud-thud.
The Black Divine, who had been draining the blood from his body—
Crash. Clatter.
—instantly turned into lifeless lumps of black metal, scattering in all directions.
[How.]
The stunned voice of the Black Divine Heavenly Lord echoed from the sky.
Even if one defeated the Black Divine, the stolen Essence Blood should have been irrecoverable.
Yet how had this wretch restored his body to its original state?
Flash!
Unconcerned, Bu Eun-seol kept his right eye covered and swept his gaze—now illuminated by the light on his hand—across the remaining ravens.
'So the Black Divine aren't even real ravens.'
Through the flickering light of his vision, he realized:
The Black Divine were not ravens but a kind of blackened Dharma Energy.
Most likely, Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
And as expected, the Black Divine Heavenly Lord wasn't hiding within the Boundary Formation the ravens had deployed.
Then where was his true body concealed?
'He isn't here.'
Merely by continuously observing his surroundings through the light on his hand—
—he discerned that the Black Divine Heavenly Lord was bound by a Restrictive Seal, residing thousands of li away.
And that he was controlling the Black Divine through Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
'Then there's no need to struggle with him directly.'
Bu Eun-seol turned his gaze to the White-clad Woman, collapsed and buried under the Black Divine.
Having suffered a grievous wound from the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's strike, her breathing was faint.
The white energy that had once radiated from her body had nearly vanished.
'So this is the terror of Soul-Demon Magic Energy.'
From the sky, the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's voice boomed, while on the ground, hundreds of ravens forged from Soul-Demon Magic Energy—
—unleashed an intangible force capable of leveling Mount Tai upon their foes.
And since his true form wasn't physically present... No matter what power one wielded, he couldn't be felled.
'Defeating the Black Divine Heavenly Lord is impossible as things stand.'
But then—
Whoooosh.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of Black Divine swarmed from the sky, engulfing him once more.
Unlike before, these weren't linked by transparent, viscous energy currents.
They were pure extensions of the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's Soul-Demon Magic Energy—clones of his very being.
'Neither martial arts nor supernatural abilities can stop this.'
Bu Eun-seol observed the Black Divine, his right eye still covered.
Slowly, he lowered his hand and gripped the hilt of his Silent Tomb Sword.
Shiiing!
With a clear Metallic Sound, azure flames erupted from the blade.
At the same time, he swung his sword toward the descending Black Divine.
This wasn't a sword technique—it was a Sword Dance, as graceful as a performance.
Zzzzing.
Then, something bizarre occurred.
The space where the Black Divine poured forth twisted, and time froze.
And the present, past, and future versions of Bu Eun-seol's swordplay began overlapping before his eyes.
They branched out again like countless forking paths.
Not just sword techniques—visions of him striking with fists, unleashing Finger Wind, or executing Leg Techniques flickered into view.
Hwaaak!
Then, gradually, the past images of the Black Divine beings pouring forth began to fade, the future dissolved,
until finally, even the Black Divine beings that had existed in reality reverted to nothingness.
It was as if he had trespassed into a domain only gods could touch.
[You...]
In that instant, the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's voice shook the heavens.
[Were you this generation's successor?]
'Successor?'
[Heh heh heh... You've gone and done something pointless again.]
The Black Divine Heavenly Lord's voice dripped with mockery.
[A successor of the Ancient Sword Forest is fated to repeat the same destiny—becoming nothing more than that one's plaything.]
Though the words were brief, Bu Eun-seol instinctively understood.
The Ancient Sword Forest's master must have continuously produced successors through careful arrangements, all to stop the True Demon.
But in the end, none of them could withstand the True Demon...
A history of slaughter, repeated over and over.
Chiiii—
But then, a scorching energy began to rise from his Brain Gate Acupoint,
Buddle buddle—
And the pain, as if his brain were collapsing, spread once more.
The emblem on the back of his hand slowly faded, and the energy absorbed into his Brain Gate Acupoint clashed violently again.
[So you're not even a proper successor?]
The Black Divine Heavenly Lord's voice echoed.
[What a pitiful mess of jumbled powers you've got in you.]
'I have to escape.'
No matter what the Black Divine Heavenly Lord said, it didn't register in Bu Eun-seol's ears.
The pain radiating from his Brain Gate Acupoint was beyond what even he could endure.
What if another seizure struck like before? He'd be killed instantly by the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's hand.
Kwa-rung!
Gathering every ounce of his Internal Energy, Bu Eun-seol scooped up the fallen woman in his arms.
With that single motion, he leaped toward the floating woman.
Then, activating Swift Shadowless infused with Thunder Essence Divine Qi, he escaped the area in an instant.
[HALT!]
The Black Divine Heavenly Lord's roar chased after him, but Bu Eun-seol didn't look back as he fled the Ancient Sword Forest.
[Fine! I'll see you off myself!]
As Bu Eun-seol broke free from the Black Pagoda's vicinity, a Great Roar erupted toward him—
Kwa-rung!
A tremendous surge of Palm Energy shot toward his back at blinding speed.
'I can't dodge.'
If he twisted or avoided it, the woman would be hurt.
With no choice, Bu Eun-seol gathered all his Internal Power and concentrated it on his back.
KWANG!
A deafening explosion shook heaven and earth, and Bu Eun-seol felt his spine shatter under the pain.
'Ghk—'
His mind swam, and a scorching heat surged from his chest to his throat, as if he'd swallowed molten liquor.
'I can't lose consciousness.'
Zzziiing—
Then, the back of his hand burned as if set aflame, and another emblem carved itself into his palm.
Swish— Whoosh—
The Ink Soul Sword flew into his right hand as if drawn by a magnet, erupting in dazzling radiance.
It contained a transcendent power—one Bu Eun-seol had never felt before.
Whoosh—
As he raised the sword toward the sky, it seemed as if the strength of the entire world gathered at its tip.
The earth trembled with a deep kukuku, and the heavens, silent until now, rippled with massive waves.
"HAAAP!"
With a thunderous shout, Bu Eun-seol unleashed that power toward the source of the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's voice.
In that moment, a profound silence enveloped the world.
Wind, time, even space itself—everything seemed to freeze.
But it was the calm before the storm.
Oooong—
Before he knew it, the force erupting from the sword's edge
became a single streak of light that tore through the heavens like a blade—
KWAAAAAA!
A brilliant beam of light shot upward like a flash, splitting the clouds as if to cleave through the abyss of the universe itself.
Then, that light descended back to earth, blanketing the sky, as if a new sun had risen—its radiance illuminating the entire world.
[G-GAAAH—!]
A deathly scream tore from the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's throat.
It was a cry of agony—one he had never uttered in his two hundred years of existence.
[I swear... I will find you again and END you!]
That desperate howl faded into a distant echo, vanishing bit by bit.
At the same time, the Black Divine beings surrounding them all disappeared.
'Kh—'
Clenching his teeth against the pain of his shattered spine, Bu Eun-seol doubled his Movement Technique—
Kwa-rung!
And in an instant, he escaped the Gomotapgyeok area.
Bu Eun-seol, pushing Swift Shadowless to its limits, continued racing south without pause.
'Have I become the Ancient Sword Forest's successor of this era?'
His sharpened gaze narrowed as he sprinted at full speed.
According to the Ancient Sword Forest's master, she and the True Demon had been born as twins.
To make him repent, she must have raised successors—to obstruct his plans, capture him, or kill him.
But with each cycle of reincarnation...
The True Demon must have grown stronger, and now, the successors born from her arrangements...
Rather, they had become his prey—no, mere playthings for his amusement.
'Is this what they call fate?'
To find the bloodline of his grandfather, he would need to fully understand the inner workings of the Baekri Clan and the True Demon alike.
Moreover, now that he had become the successor of the Ancient Sword Forest, which regarded both the True Demon and his servants as prey—
Ultimately, coexistence with them was impossible.
'This power is complete, but I am incomplete.'
From the very beginning, Bu Eun-seol's energy had been blocked by the Brain Gate Acupoint, and there was no way to resolve it.
Yet even the flawless power infused by the Ancient Sword Forest's master had been absorbed by the Brain Gate Acupoint, leaving his energy in a chaotic, intermixed state.
Because of this, he didn't even know how to properly wield his abilities and had to constantly worry about internal energy clashes.
'No... that can't be.'
The Ancient Sword Forest's master, who could see the future, couldn't possibly be unaware of his successor's condition.
The reason this situation had befallen him wasn't mere misfortune—it had to be some intricate, deliberate arrangement.
Whoooosh—!
Bu Eun-seol pushed his Lightness Art to its absolute limit without rest.
The pain radiating from his back was so intense that
at some point, he lost all sense of direction and simply ran blindly forward.
Drip, drip.
Meanwhile, a thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
The Internal Power unleashed by the Black Divine Heavenly Lord
was overwhelming—enough to overturn oceans, devastating and lethal in its sheer might.
'Had it not been for the multiple forces clashing within me, including the surge from the Brain Gate Acupoint... I would have died instantly from that single strike.'
The reason Bu Eun-seol had endured the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's attack wasn't due to his own deep Internal Energy,
but rather the chaotic mix of different energies within his body.
The Palm Energy unleashed by the Black Divine Heavenly Lord possessed enough force to pierce through mountains,
but the jumbled combination of his Internal Energy—accumulated over ten sixty-year cycles—along with the Three Divine Powers and the sudden eruption from the Brain Gate Acupoint
prevented that razor-sharp force from fully penetrating his body.
'Because my power is a tangled mess, I've become a body that refuses to die no matter the circumstances... So the hidden arrangement is that it activates in moments of crisis?'
Of course, the Ancient Sword Forest's master wouldn't have made such a haphazard arrangement.
But given the reality of the situation, it was almost laughable.
Moreover, his body wasn't entirely unscathed.
After reaching the pinnacle of what a human body could achieve in Internal Energy, he had suffered countless injuries—
but aside from when his power had vanished, he had never sustained such severe internal damage while in peak condition.
That was because his Body Protection True Qi was nearly as durable as the Vajra Indestructible Body,
and most injuries could be healed instantly with just a single circulation of his Internal Energy.
Yet the Black Divine Heavenly Lord, without even revealing himself from thousands of miles away,
had shattered Bu Eun-seol's Body Protection True Qi—unmatched in the world—with nothing but a single, formless strike of Palm Energy.
But Bu Eun-seol had no time to worry about his own injuries.
Shudder, shudder.
The woman in his arms trembled lightly, and black blood trickled from her lips.
The Black Divine Heavenly Lord hadn't simply suspended her in midair—he had undoubtedly placed a powerful Restrictive Seal upon her.
'So she was a threat.'
Her power had been called a mere imitation of the Baekri Clan's.
Yet despite subduing her, he had still placed such a formidable Restrictive Seal to lock away her strength.
That alone was enough to tell how deeply the Black Divine Heavenly Lord feared the Baekri Clan's power.
Drip, drip.
Now, blood mixed with fragments of her internal organs spilled from her mouth.
If left unattended, she would likely die within moments.
'I need to act immediately.'
BOOM—!
Bu Eun-seol doubled the speed of his Movement Technique.
In an instant, he crossed several mountain ranges and, by chance, discovered a thatched cottage hidden deep within a secluded valley.
Judging by the remnants of dried medicinal herbs at the entrance, it seemed to have been the temporary dwelling of a herb gatherer.
'This place won't be easily found.'
The cottage was so well-hidden that it was nearly invisible at a glance,
and a clear spring flowed nearby, making it the perfect place for a brief respite.
Rustle—
Landing swiftly, Bu Eun-seol carried the woman inside.
The interior had a makeshift bed, a table, and other simple furnishings.
After laying her down, he fetched clear water and helped her drink.
Then, he quickly assessed her condition.
'Her meridians are severely damaged.'
As Bu Eun-seol had suspected, despite his confident demeanor,
the Black Divine Heavenly Lord had been deeply afraid of her unleashing her power.
Using the corrosive force of the black liquid he controlled, he had melted and ravaged her meridians as if dissolving them.
'First, I need to pull her through this crisis.'
Her life hung by a thread—if he didn't act immediately, she would stop breathing at any moment.
Bu Eun-seol began treating her using the Circulation Healing Session from the Reverse Extreme Inner Method.
Huuuum...
Because the Reverse Extreme Inner Method contained both Yin and Yang energies,
it not only allowed for faster accumulation of Internal Energy compared to other mental cultivation methods but also excelled at healing internal injuries.
'Difficult.'
Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened.
Though he had managed to reposition her displaced organs,
the damage to her nerves, muscles, and blood vessels was so severe that ordinary healing methods would be insufficient for recovery.
Pop.
Bu Eun-seol retrieved the Demon-Subduing Divine Pill from the porcelain vial and placed it between her lips.
Crack.
Yet her lips had dried like desert sand in the interim, and her forehead burned like a blazing ember. The vile energy unleashed by the Black Divine Heavenly Lord was gnawing at her body from within.
'First, I must replenish the water energy in her system.'
After a moment of deliberation, Bu Eun-seol drew upon the Water Essence Divine Qi.
'Divine energies cannot be recklessly infused.'
The only time he had ever used divine energy to heal someone was when he had saved Namgung Jeong, the Family Head of the Namgung Clan, who had been stabbed and left for dead by Namgung Poong's dagger.
Back then, driven by Namgung Un's desperate pleas and sobs, he had instinctively channeled the energy without thought—but divine energy was never meant to be administered so carelessly.
All martial artists cultivated their own Internal Energy Methods, and within those methods inevitably lay energies of Extreme Yin, Extreme Yang, storm and thunder, or primordial chaos.
If one ignorantly forced in a power like Water Spirit Energy without understanding this?
It could collapse their Internal Power entirely.
—Beautiful flowers must be given to beauties, treasured swords to peerless warriors.
Suddenly, the words of Hwa Mu-gi, who had lured him into the Crimson Gorge, surfaced in his mind.
—But you, you're nothing more than a fool who can't even tell if what's in your hand is dung or bean paste, aren't you?
'What I hold in my hand...'
Muttering lowly, Bu Eun-seol suddenly struck his forehead with a thud.
"So that's it."
His voice was firm.
"Just as he said, I've been carrying treasures without knowing how to wield them."
The Heavenly Robe Mind Art.
Not only could it synchronize with the flow of another's Internal Energy—
At Grand Perfection, it could analyze every ounce of power within an opponent's body without even touching them. A Heaven-Transcending Art.
With this, discerning the origin of her Internal Energy and the flow of her True Qi would be effortless.
He had once used this ancient secret art to treat A-yeon, the Sword Pavilion's successor, when she had suffered grievous injuries—yet time and again, he forgot the treasure-like power he held in his hands.
Ziiing.
As he activated the Heavenly Robe Mind Art, Bu Eun-seol's pupils turned pure white.
A translucent, mist-like haze spread forth, meticulously examining every inch of the White-clad Woman's body.
'This...'
Instantly, his face hardened.
Her internal organs had lost all elasticity, withered like those of a centenarian, and her meridians had narrowed to an extreme degree.
'This isn't just the effect of the Black Divine Heavenly Lord's Restrictive Seal.'
Bu Eun-seol's expression darkened.
Like the figures of the Same Heart Society,
she had been sacrificing her life force to elevate her Martial Arts True Scripture.
'Come to think of it, the power of the Baekri Clan can only be wielded by those of the Baekri Clan.'
No matter how much of it was counterfeit,
to mimic such power demanded an equivalent price.
Just like Hyogam and Wonpung of the Same Heart Society, whom he had encountered before,
this woman, too, seemed to have been trading her life force for strength.
"For what?"
A bitter expression crossed his face.
For what?
Why did they pursue power so relentlessly, heedless of their own lives?
What goal could they possibly desire so fiercely?
"Cough."
Meanwhile, the woman's forehead and cheeks flushed crimson—a high fever from her severe injuries.
'Thoughts can wait.'
His grandfather had shown kindness even to the corpses of those who died away from home.
And Bu Eun-seol had learned that warmth and mercy.
He could not simply watch this woman wither away.
'And there's too much I need to ask her.'
The information he needed from the White-clad Woman was far too vast. She could not die like this.
Zzziiing.
Having fully synchronized with and sensed the flow within her body, Bu Eun-seol began channeling the Water Essence Divine Qi.
Though he had to be cautious—opposing energies could destabilize her Internal Energy Method—
divine energies were, in truth, natural forces, inherently harmonious with the human body.
Using the Heavenly Robe Mind Art, he had perfectly discerned the flow of her True Qi and the attributes of her Internal Energy Method.
Assured that infusing Water Essence Divine Qi would pose no issue, he poured it in without restraint.
Shooo—
A watery radiance bloomed around the woman, her skin regaining vitality as her fever subsided.
'Still far from enough.'
Cooling her fever alone wouldn't restore her consciousness or heal her wounds.
He needed to replenish her lost moisture with Water Essence Divine Qi and restore proper blood circulation.
Drip.
Suddenly, a thin trail of bright blood trickled from the corner of Bu Eun-seol's lips, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
Divine energies, being forces of nature, maintained their own equilibrium—an endless cycle of life force.
'It's not the source energy—I've reached my limit.'
Shudder.
Gradually, his vision blurred.
Unlike the Thunder Essence Divine Qi he had drawn from natural lightning or the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi obtained from the Wind and Cloud Trial Path,
the Water Essence Divine Qi had been transferred to him by Sa Cheong-ha, the Deputy Palace Master of the Divine Water Palace.
In other words, it wasn't drawn directly from the source but filtered through her as a medium—diluted in purity.
Thus, unlike Thunderbolt and Wind and Cloud energies, it couldn't regenerate infinitely.
Crack.
Before he knew it, his own lips had dried.
Expelling such vast quantities of Water Essence Divine Qi had drained the moisture from his body as well.
'How could I stop now?'
His grandfather had always prioritized those in greater need over himself.
If he hadn't extended his hand, that would be one thing—but once he had...
Even if his own body shattered, Bu Eun-seol would save another.
That was the Path of Chivalry—forged deep in his heart, planted there by his grandfather.
Huuuum.
Before he realized it, a solemn Buddhist radiance began emanating from his entire body.
In that moment,
he resembled none other than Guanyin Bodhisattva—delivering sentient beings from suffering and affliction.