Chapter 947
"Haaahp!"
With a sharp battle cry, Bu Eun-seol extended both hands while suspended midair.
The three iron spheres that had been spinning violently seemed to fly toward Neither-Human-Nor-Beast—only to merge into one midway.
KWA-WOONG.
The fused iron sphere transformed into a massive orange orb, blazing like the sun.
Scorching Heaven Strike.
This technique condensed the essence of secret weapon arts and bullet qi methods passed down through generations in the murim, unleashing it all in a single blow.
Because it strikes the instant the martial form is deployed, it was an Heaven-Shattering Form technique—one that made evasion utterly impossible.
However, its power was so overwhelming that not even a corpse could be recovered upon impact.
Even the Bullet King, notorious for his ruthless methods, had never once employed this technique.
PIIIIII!
The orange orb swallowed Neither-Human-Nor-Beast in an instant, accompanied by the sound of the heavens screaming as they tore apart.
Blazing heat and shockwaves shredded his skin to ribbons, followed by an explosion that exposed bone, before crimson byproducts splattered in all directions.
KURURURU.
The atmosphere evaporated in an instant.
In the space where Neither-Human-Nor-Beast had stood, an immense, scorching heat and destructive energy spread, capable of incinerating everything.
The ground boiled and split like lava, and distant mountain peaks trembled as though on the verge of collapse.
In terms of sheer destructive power alone, it could rival even the Limitless Power.
MUNGUL-MUNGUL.
Yet something began to writhe within the bloody ashes.
His shattered body twitched like tiny insects, gradually reforming—nerves regenerating, torn muscles reconnecting, twisted spine slowly straightening—before his missing limbs began weaving themselves anew.
CHU-EEK.
Finally, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast, having reconstructed his form, slowly rose to his feet.
His skin had not fully regenerated, and within every grotesque fissure, black insect-like creatures squirmed.
"Huuu..."
As he exhaled, his skin and even his clothing were restored to pristine condition in the blink of an eye.
"A Mindscape, was it?"
Bu Eun-seol's expression twisted with frustration as he observed this.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's Mindscape was incomparable to what Yeon-wol had once demonstrated.
The moment Bu Eun-seol locked eyes to unleash the Scorching Heaven Strike, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast had instantly deployed his Mindscape—diverting the strike elsewhere and crafting this illusion.
"Even if you call it a Mindscape, it's merely the Second Layer of Phase Integers."
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast curled the corner of his lips.
"I can manifest Phases up to the Fifth Layer."
Bu Eun-seol's eyes narrowed.
Given that Neither-Human-Nor-Beast was the sect leader who had consistently wielded the Mindscape as his trump card, it wasn't surprising that he could manifest such an advanced one.
'To have fully systematized it... like martial arts...'
But the fact that its concepts and stages had been perfectly established meant...
For the Servants of the True Demon, the Mindscape was no longer an ambiguous power.
It was now a meticulously controlled Law, as structured as any systematic martial art.
'Then...'
A flash crossed his pupils.
In truth, his reason for constructing this Thatched Cottage had never been solely to refine his martial arts.
"Shall we finally unveil the true martial arts?"
At that moment, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's body turned translucent—
SWOOSH!
—and in an instant, passed straight through Bu Eun-seol, still suspended in midair.
KU-WOONG.
Bu Eun-seol dropped like a bird with broken wings, one knee slamming into the ground.
BURURU.
His body trembled violently, as if intoxicated by opium.
His lips turned deathly pale, and with every exhale, white smoke seeped out.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast had truly phased through him like a ghost, inflicting a critical internal injury.
"Can you not grasp this technique?"
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast looked down at Bu Eun-seol, his body trembling faintly from the grievous wound, and smirked.
"Can you not comprehend how I passed through your body?"
As Neither-Human-Nor-Beast smiled and prepared to attack again—
KWA-WOONG!
Bu Eun-seol immediately fired an Inner Energy Bullet Art.
Yet the bullet qi passed harmlessly through Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
Just as he attempted to unleash a rapid barrage, his movements abruptly froze.
He had suddenly forgotten how to fire the Inner Energy Bullet Art.
'What's happening?'
Meanwhile, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's body turned translucent once more.
And with each caw from the ravens weeping beyond the Boundary Formation, an eerie resonance echoed in his ears.
Caw, caw.
As if taunting him, the flock of ravens cawed incessantly.
PAT!
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast lunged again, attempting to phase through Bu Eun-seol like a specter.
SWISH! WHIRL!
Bu Eun-seol immediately invoked the mysteries of the Transformation Realm, trying to block Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's approach and counterattack.
But it was futile.
HISS.
Like a phantom, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast passed through him in an instant.
ZZIING.
In that moment, not only Bu Eun-seol's lips but even the color of his pupils turned stark white.
Each breath he exhaled now carried thicker plumes of white mist.
"Judging by this, two more direct hits and you'll die."
As Neither-Human-Nor-Beast prepared to charge again—
BOOM!
Bu Eun-seol, who had forgotten how to unleash the Inner Energy Bullet Art, instinctively resorted to the Extreme Yin Art of the Snow Blossom Sect—
Ice Essence Snow Blossom Energy, condensed into an iron sphere, shot forth.
CRACKLE.
For a brief moment, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast froze solid, his movements halted—
SHATTER!
But then, the ice shattered, and once more, his form phased through Bu Eun-seol's body.
SHIIIIING.
This time, white mist seeped from every pore of Bu Eun-seol's body, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
"To think a mere wanderer could manifest the Extreme Yin Art of the Snow Blossom Sect..."
"Snow Blossom Sect..."
Bu Eun-seol's expression went blank.
He had forgotten—again—how he had just unleashed the Ice Essence Snow Blossom Energy, and once more, his martial arts slipped from his grasp.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast watched him with a frigid smile.
For years, he had studied the Physical Bodies and Spirit and Mind of martial artists.
And in that instant of phasing through his opponent, he had brushed against their consciousness—
A fleeting touch, just enough to make them forget the martial techniques they had just wielded.
A bizarre and mysterious art perfected through relentless research.
"Shall we call this... the Essence of Forgetting?"
As if savoring prey already caught, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast approached with leisurely steps, his expression utterly relaxed.
"No need to look so panicked. Every Master who has ever stood before Heaven's Lord has met the same fate."
His black eyes glinted as he spoke calmly.
"They resist, struggle, and in the end—become nothing more than helpless fools, captured by my hand."
"..."
"If I ever desired a test subject, I always went and took them myself."
TWIST.
In that moment, Bu Eun-seol forced his body upright and hurled another iron sphere.
This was not the Inner Energy Bullet Art, but a hidden weapon technique known as Tenfold Heaven-Shattering Strike.
THUD-THUD-THUD!
Yet the moment the sphere passed through Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's body, his flesh began to knit itself back together.
Standing before Bu Eun-seol once more, he let out a hoarse chuckle.
"Those below the Twin Heaven Emperors or the Three Demons and Three Venerables... I no longer need to abduct them. My research has progressed beyond that point."
Spreading his arms wide, he advanced with unhurried confidence.
"Perhaps it's time to begin a new experiment."
Every attack was absorbed and reflected.
Fatal wounds healed in an instant.
Even the martial arts of his foes could be erased in a single breath.
Having studied the Physical Body to such depths, even Extreme Poison would be useless against him.
CAAW! OOOM...
The mocking cries of ravens and a faint, pervasive vibration spread endlessly through the air.
They dragged Bu Eun-seol's mind deeper into an unfathomable Abyss.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
The leader of the Eight Heavenly Servants.
A being who, in preparation for the True Demon's Resurrection, had dissected and studied countless martial artists across generations.
His abilities were grotesque, terrifying—unlike any opponent Bu Eun-seol had faced before.
"Have you given up?"
Seeing Bu Eun-seol standing motionless, no longer resisting, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast curled his lips.
"No need to feel ashamed. Most martial artists lament their helplessness before finally surrendering everything."
And then, without hesitation, he closed the distance.
ZZZING.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast paused mid-step.
The Boundary Formation that had sealed the surroundings had suddenly dissipated.
"Planning to flee? That's fine too."
His smile deepened.
"If you can escape my grasp, I won't pursue you further."
Such overwhelming confidence.
But upon hearing those words, Bu Eun-seol—
"Why would I flee?"
Smirk.
As if the dazed expression from before had never existed, a cold smile curled his lips.
ROOOAR!
In that instant, a sound like a dragon's roar—the Sound of Breaking Air—erupted.
SPLAT-SPLAT-SPLAT!
The ravens waiting beyond the Boundary Formation exploded one after another.
He had broken through the forgetting—reclaiming the Inner Energy Bullet Art to slaughter every last raven.
"Oh? You shattered the energy of oblivion?"
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast tilted his head, unimpressed.
"But what changes by killing them?"
"It does."
Bu Eun-seol's lips curled higher.
"There was never a technique to make one forget martial arts... You were simply using soundwaves and vibrations, spread through the ravens, to interfere with the nervous system."
That faint, grating vibration he had sensed all along.
It wasn't something the ears could clearly detect—
But it emitted a unique shockwave, directly disrupting the brain.
A form of Sound Arts.
"Clever of you to notice..."
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast remained leisurely, even as Bu Eun-seol laid bare his methods.
"So? What changes, exactly?"
If he had seen through the technique, he should have acted sooner.
As long as the Black Divine Heavenly Lord lived, the ravens would replenish endlessly.
And the Nine Nether Soul-Suppressing Art, which used low-frequency waves to shake the brain and erase martial arts—
Could be spread just as effectively through speech, without the ravens.
And above all else...
With an Immortal's Body, no attack Bu Eun-seol could muster would ever frighten him.
"I will never die."
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast spread his arms confidently as he approached.
"Attack me all you want."
"I won't hold back."
Zing.
Bu Eun-seol levitated the remaining ten or so iron spheres into the air, then sent them spinning around Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's body.
Kwaaaa!
Then, something bizarre happened.
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's body—capable of instantly regenerating from any attack—began melting like candle wax.
"What?"
Sensing something amiss, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast immediately attempted to unleash his sword techniques.
Drip, drip.
But before he knew it, even his arms had begun melting away.
"How is this—"
Too stunned to even attack, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast could only stare at Bu Eun-seol.
"How did you break the Phase?"
The truth was, from the moment he opened his eyes,
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast had been projecting a Phase, trapping Bu Eun-seol within a Mindscape.
Which meant that whether Bu Eun-seol shattered the Nine Nether Soul-Suppressing Art or attacked him directly, he should never have been able to inflict real damage.
So how had this happened?
"Just by meeting your gaze, you could continuously unfold the Mindscape."
In the past, when Yeon-wol—who had once been Neither-Human-Nor-Beast—opened his eyes, the first thing he did was cast a Mindscape.
So it was unthinkable that the current leader of Neither-Human-Nor-Beast wouldn't do the same.
From the very beginning, Bu Eun-seol
had recognized that everything since Neither-Human-Nor-Beast opened his eyes was part of a Mindscape.
And he had discerned that the miraculous martial arts and techniques Neither-Human-Nor-Beast displayed were also being layered over the Mindscape,
created anew and reimagined each time their eyes met.
—But the way he restored his body was different.
He could also sense it.
The fact that Neither-Human-Nor-Beast could show himself regenerating his body meant this wasn't just an illusory Mindscape, conjured from nothingness.
And to uncover the principle behind it,
Bu Eun-seol had been pretending to be helplessly overwhelmed within the Mindscape all this time.
"Because it was a Fake Body from the start."
Finally unraveling the secret, Bu Eun-seol let out a derisive snort.
"That's how it was possible."
In an instant, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's expression stiffened.
The reason he could blend the Phase with the image of his wounds regenerating was...
because his body was an artificial construct.
"How did you figure it out?"
Neither-Human-Nor-Beast looked down at his melted arms in disbelief.
"No one in the Martial World should know this secret."
"The Three Realms had them too."
Bu Eun-seol scoffed.
"Someone who could create such a body and move around freely as if it were their real flesh."
The boy from the Ghost Realm he had met long ago on Yeongpa Island.
Even when his arm was severed, he could reattach it—his body didn't shed a single drop of blood.
Later, while rescuing So Ok-rim and the orphanage children, Bu Eun-seol encountered that boy again.
And the third time they met, they fought one-on-one.
It was then that Bu Eun-seol realized—
his body, which could unleash power akin to that of the Sage Among Poisons, wasn't his True Body.
It was a Fake Body.
The boy used that Fake Body to create bizarre poisons and launched a decisive strike that enveloped Bu Eun-seol's body—
but because he didn't know Bu Eun-seol had attained the Poison Saint Body, he was instead subdued.
"Impressive. So you've clashed with the Three Realms too."
"Ever since that day, I've had doubts."
Bu Eun-seol sidestepped the question and shifted the topic.
"If they can create Fake Bodies, why haven't they conquered the Martial World?"
At the time, Bu Eun-seol had found it strange.
If there existed a technique that allowed one to manipulate Fake Bodies and wield martial arts through them, why did they operate alone?
Why didn't the Three Realms use those Fake Bodies to dominate the Martial World?
If they could freely create and control Fake Bodies—
If they could unleash martial arts nearly indistinguishable from those of a True Body—
Then without any complicated process,
without lifting a finger, without shouldering any risk...
They could rule not just the Martial World, but the entire world.
"So why haven't they amassed a massive army of those with Fake Bodies?"
Bu Eun-seol muttered lowly, his icy gaze boring into Neither-Human-Nor-Beast.
"Don't you find that strange?"
At Bu Eun-seol's soliloquy, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast curled the corner of his lips.
"Did it never occur to you that creating these bodies might cost a fortune or be extremely difficult?"
"Right. I considered that too. But if they were so precious, if they were so hard to create..."
Bu Eun-seol glanced around and let out a mocking laugh.
"Wouldn't they need to bring martial artists or troops to protect those bodies from being destroyed?"
For a brief moment, Neither-Human-Nor-Beast's eyes hardened slightly.
He could sense that Bu Eun-seol had unraveled everything.
"And the places where those with Fake Bodies always appear... are empty plains or deserted areas."
"..."
"As if they need a specific location to move them—or perhaps something that must be installed beforehand."
The first time Bu Eun-seol encountered the boy with a Fake Body, it was on Yeongpa Island—one of the Gui-il Realm's bases.
The second was the orphanage where the children—former test subjects of the Infinite Realm—had been cruelly modified.
And the last was the deserted plain where they had come to assassinate Bu Eun-seol.
Ever since then, Bu Eun-seol had harbored a question.
Was there some specific condition required to move and control such artificial bodies?
"So? Did you reach a conclusion?"
At In Bi-in's question, Bu Eun-seol nodded.
"I've seen ancient battle formations while working as a rogue."
"..."
"Those ancient formations could transmit energy across vast distances—or even merge the energy flowing within them."
In truth, the so-called ancient formation he referred to was the Sage Forest Formation, which Han Sang-ja had once used to summon the Executioner—a formation capable of influencing other formations even from a distance of six hundred and thirty li.
"That was when I finally realized."
Bu Eun-seol spoke with confidence.
"If there exists a formation that can transmit energy across such vast distances... then naturally, it should also be possible to send energy to move a fake body."
When Bu Eun-seol had witnessed Han Sang-ja's formation back then, it had reminded him of the legendary Divine Pulse Transmission Art—a technique said to be used by immortals of myth, harnessing the energy of heaven and earth and the flow of geomancy to send energy across great distances.
And with such a formation, he realized that it was indeed possible to transmit power to a distant fake body—something he had long questioned—and make it move.
"Judging by your expression, I must be right."
Bu Eun-seol nodded again.
"It's always been like this. Things that seem extraordinary at first... turn out to be powers that can all be explained."
The core members of the Three Realms and the Servants of the True Demon—when first encountered, they appeared to possess transcendent power.
But when analyzed calmly, their principles could be understood.
They were merely using ancient secret arts or grand rituals—techniques long lost to the current martial world.
"Still, destroying this body won't be easy."
In Bi-in sighed as he looked at his melting body.
"At this level, you must have used Ink-Scale Blood Viper venom or Ten-Thousand-Year Crane's Crown Red... Or if not, does this mean you've attained the Poison Saint Body?"
"Who knows."
In truth, Bu Eun-seol had already completed the Poison Saint Body. When he had killed the leader of the Jade Scale Hall—once known as the Saintess Sect—he had even absorbed the venom of the Poison Parasite back into his internal energy, ascending to the realm of the Sage Among Poisons.
And he recalled how the figure from the Fire Rain Sword Sect—who had been using the boy's artificial body—had unleashed an extreme poison in an attempt to dissolve both the fake body and Bu Eun-seol at once, unaware that he had already reached the Poison Saint Body.
Bu Eun-seol had simply mimicked that.
Using the poison within his own body, he had melted In Bi-in's imitation of the Uncorrupted's body.
Chiii—
Even now, In Bi-in's body continued to rapidly crumble.
"What a shame."
In Bi-in sighed as he looked down at his body, now unable to regenerate from the poison.
"I was rather fond of this one."
He had not used his main body.
That was why, even in defeat, he remained composed—even instilling a sense of defeat in his opponent.
But this time, he had chosen the wrong adversary.
"Do you think things would be different if you came in person?"
"..."
"Even then, the outcome wouldn't change."
A quiet authority settled in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
"After all, you're the kind of creature who fears staking your life in battle. You wouldn't have been able to exert power beyond that of a fake body."
His gaze, looking down at In Bi-in, was filled with contempt.
"You may think you've prepared for everything... but in the end, you're just a rat trembling in fear."
When In Bi-in didn't respond, Bu Eun-seol spoke coldly.
"If you disagree, I'll give you a chance. Bring your real body here now. I'll wait."
Silence lingered.
In Bi-in, now watching his legs melt away, finally nodded and opened his mouth.
"Ah, I see. A fight where one stakes their life."
As if realizing something only now, he let out an admiring sigh and nodded.
"So that's how those cockroach-like martial artists gradually grew stronger."
To the Eight Heavenly Servants, the martial artists of the primordial era had been nothing more than insignificant insects.
But they trained relentlessly, awakened to truths... and fought with their lives on the line.
As time passed,
before anyone realized, they had risen to stand on equal footing.
"Not that it matters in the end."
Even as his liquefying body sank into the ground, In Bi-in smirked.
"From the this Heavenly Lord's perspective, creatures like you are nothing more than beasts that grew stronger. The only difference is that what could once be caught bare-handed now requires tools."
Then he declared boldly:
"In truth, I never needed to risk my life against the likes of you. All I had to do was dissect the test subjects the other Heavenly Lords brought in."
Chiii—
By now, In Bi-in's entire body had begun to melt away in a sluggish, viscous manner.
"Don't mistake this for your victory. This body feels no pain, after all."
"You think so?"
A faint light flickered in Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
At once, the smile on In Bi-in's face stiffened.
Simultaneously, an agony like being cast into hellfire erupted through him.
Shudder—
In Bi-in trembled.
This was supposed to be nothing more than a puppet body.
So why was pain being transmitted?