Chapter 966
Tsu-tsu-tsu-chut.
After days of continuously deploying his Movement Technique, Bu Eun-seol finally arrived at the Ajanta Caves.
Originally a famous tourist spot in Nashik City, this place would be bustling with countless visitors during the summer.
Inside the caves, glacial formations emitted an immense chill—so much so that even in summer, one had to wear thick winter clothing to endure the frigid temperature.
But now, it was late autumn, and a cold wind blew through the area.
Moreover, ever since the Poison Sovereign had taken control, the caves had become inaccessible to tourists, leaving no trace of human presence behind.
Tsu-tsu-chut.
As he finally neared the Ajanta Caves, he could see martial artists clad in robes embroidered with poisonous insects constantly patrolling the area.
'Perhaps even they can detect Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.'
In the past, he would have recklessly unleashed the divine energy without a second thought, but now was different.
Among the Four Sacred Tribes, the Vayura Tribe—the Wind Tribe—could sense Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.
Furthermore, in India, there were still many tribes that wielded mysterious powers or practiced sorcery.
There was no telling if some of the Poison Sovereign's subordinates might possess the ability to detect it.
Thus, he had to use his Divine Energy with caution.
'First, I should enter the caves and employ the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi discreetly.'
Ever since creating the Heavenly Light Endless Art,
Bu Eun-seol's Movement Technique had grown even more formidable, reaching an unfathomable level.
He no longer needed to actively deploy his Concealment Secret Art—his presence and form could now be concealed effortlessly.
Tsu-tsu-chut!
Unleashing his Movement Technique at an extreme speed, Bu Eun-seol slipped past the heavily guarded entrance of the Ajanta Caves.
Though he moved like a streak of light, not a single Sound of Breaking Air could be heard.
Even the narrowest crevice—barely wide enough for a palm—could not hinder him, as his body passed through in an instant.
Pat!
Before long, in the span of a single breath,
he had completely evaded the watchful eyes of the surrounding martial artists and infiltrated the caves.
Once inside, unlike the heavily guarded exterior, there was not a single martial artist in sight.
'There are this many branching paths?'
However, the interior of the caves was a labyrinth of countless diverging tunnels.
Such a complex network could never have formed naturally.
Undoubtedly, it had been artificially constructed using immense manpower and vast financial resources.
Pururut.
Bu Eun-seol slowly attempted to draw upon the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi.
'Do I really need to spread the divine energy outward like this?'
Suddenly, the image of Hae-yeon, the former Wind God Palace Leader, flashed through his mind.
Back then, she had not needed to outwardly release the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi—yet she had instantly located the maze within the inner fortress of the Wind and Cloud Spiritual Ground.
At the time, he had assumed it was simply because she was deeply versed in the Wind God Palace's martial arts that she could employ such a method.
But upon reflection, he realized it wasn't due to the Wind God Palace's unique martial arts—
but rather because her method of wielding the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi was entirely different from his own.
'Palace Leader Hae must have grasped an aspect of the divine energy's nature that I'm unaware of.'
In that moment, a thought flickered through Bu Eun-seol's mind.
Hae-yeon had not spread the divine energy outward—she must have extended her Extrasensory Perception through it instead.
But how could expanding one's senses alone allow her to instantly detect the sprawling terrain of an endless maze?
'No, that's not it.'
Even if she had expanded her senses,
she would only have been able to observe the internal structure—not instantly solve the maze and find the exit.
Yet Hae-yeon had located the exit without the slightest hesitation, as if she had already traversed the place beforehand.
'Could it be that she became the wind itself to detect the exit?'
It occurred to him that perhaps she hadn't spread the divine energy to map the maze's terrain—
but had instead transformed her very body into wind to sense the exit.
'Whether it's an exit or an entrance, any passage connected to the outside would inevitably have subtle differences in temperature or humidity.'
Warm and cold air would naturally divide, creating minute air currents in their vicinity.
So what if, instead of spreading wind outward, one became the wind itself?
By directly sensing those air currents, one could easily locate the passage leading outside.
Pururut.
Having reached this conclusion, Bu Eun-seol gathered the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi within his body instead of releasing it outward—
as if his entire being was transforming into wind itself.
Zziiing.
At that moment, a new sensation—one he had never experienced before—awakened within him.
He could now perceive not only the flow of air inside the caves but even the subtlest differences in humidity and temperature.
'So this was the method.'
Bu Eun-seol smiled brightly, like a child who had just discovered something wondrous.
He never overlooked even the slightest discrepancy, and he pursued even the smallest question with relentless curiosity.
Never overconfident in himself, he ceaselessly sought to learn—from others, and from nature itself.
Even at such a young age, the reason he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world's superlative martial experts—
Was precisely this relentless effort and habit of ceaseless inquiry.
Tsk-tsk-tsk!
Having perfected a new method of utilizing the Wind & Cloud Divine Qi, Bu Eun-seol unleashed the Swift Shadowless technique, cutting through the branching paths in a single burst.
At the end lay a massive wall, from which a faint current of air flowed.
A phenomenon caused by a hidden entrance, discreetly installed.
Krrrng.
Activating the concealed mechanism, the wall slid open, revealing a vast passageway.
And when he finally reached the end of the tunnel—
There it was.
A transparent barrier, unmistakably the Absolute Boundary.
'Found it.'
At long last.
After countless trials... he had found the Absolute Boundary the Saint had spoken of, installed deep within Nashik City.
'The Poison Sovereign was the one managing this Absolute Boundary.'
Every breath seared his lungs with unbearable pain.
The area around the Absolute Boundary was littered with Extreme Poisons so lethal that mere proximity meant instant death.
Meaning the Poison Sovereign had not only maintained this place meticulously—he had gone to great lengths to deter intruders.
'Poison Sovereign... What exactly have you hidden here?'
Exhaling slowly, Bu Eun-seol stepped closer to the Absolute Boundary.
As he approached, strange poisons of unknown origin relentlessly invaded his flesh.
But to one who had reached the realm of the Saint Among Poisons, they were meaningless.
Hssss—
With every step, acrid smoke and a vile stench rose around him.
Yet something was odd.
The closer he got to the Absolute Boundary, the Demon-Sealing Fragment within his body—
And the power imbued in his palm by the Ancient Sword Forest's master—
Began to burn fiercely... until the Absolute Boundary deactivated itself.
Not only that—it parted just enough for his body to pass through, as if welcoming him.
Crunch. Crunch.
Stepping inside, he was met with a sight akin to entering one of India's grand cities.
The sky above was an abyss of darkness—
Yet within that darkness, mysterious crystals glowed like stars, shimmering across the night-like expanse.
Vast mountains and plains stretched below, dotted with structures of all kinds.
In the distance, a lake shimmered, while towering platinum-hued trees with sprawling roots grew throughout the city.
Transparent streams flowed through crystalline channels, nurturing life, and the air was unexpectedly crisp and fresh.
An inscrutable melody, carried by the wind, drifted from somewhere unknown.
Interwoven with the chime of a thousand bells, it sounded like a hymn praising the divine.
'Did the True Demon build an underground castle like this?'
Until now, he had seen—
Countless underground fortresses constructed by the Three Realms and other mysterious factions.
But he had always referred to them as "castles" simply because no other word could describe their scale.
To be precise, they weren't castles—they were experimental facilities built for specific purposes.
But this place... was literally—
A true cityscape, one where people could live.
'This could house tens of thousands.'
As if entranced, Bu Eun-seol walked toward the city.
Upon entering—
From narrow alleyways to grand boulevards, it perfectly recreated the layout of a massive metropolis.
Yet nowhere was there a single trace of human presence.
'This was never meant to be inhabited.'
There was no need to even invoke the Empty Mind Spirit Communion.
Though the buildings were flawlessly constructed, not a single sign of human habitation existed.
The structures of this grand city were nothing more than hollow facades—
Not even furnished with basic necessities like beds or tables.
"I don't understand any of this."
Bu Eun-seol activated his Movement Technique and swiftly exited the city.
Beyond it stretched an endless plain, and atop a distant hill stood what appeared to be a temple.
'There are traces of people here.'
Footprints marked the path leading up to the temple.
Once more, he employed his Movement Technique, ascending the hill in an instant.
But something was strange.
While the interior had been cloaked in perpetual night, atop the hill—
The blazing light of midday suddenly poured down.
And as he neared the temple, a mysterious energy surged violently around him.
It felt like an Absolute Boundary, one designed to bar all outsiders.
Screeeech—
Yet the same phenomenon repeated.
As Bu Eun-seol approached, the barrier partially dissolved—
As if crafting a doorway just for him.
"I truly don't understand what's happening."
Despite his unease, he had no choice but to step inside.
The temple's ceiling stretched endlessly, bathed in an unfathomable golden light—
Countless shimmering strands of light flowed languidly above like the Milky Way.
The white marble floor rippled faintly with each step, as though walking across a sea dyed pure white—an illusion that made one feel as though they were treading upon pale waters.
The pillars stretched upward like colossal sacred trees, alive and towering, while the walls bore murals untouched by time.
Scenes of celestial beings and humans intermingled were depicted upon them.
Between the murals, crystals embedded in the walls spilled forth a blue light, faintly dispelling the darkness of the temple.
"That is—"
Bu Eun-seol froze.
At the center of the temple lay a glass coffin, brimming with a mysterious radiance.
Resting atop a marble altar carved with a massive lotus, the coffin emitted a faint glow, like the shimmer of cold rippling water.
Surrounding it, countless treasures were displayed as though a Great Art had been laid out.
Among them, Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened when he spotted a treasure engraved with a mysterious eyeball.
'That—'
Wasn't that the very same mystical treasure once displayed by an old man believed to be a servant of the True Demon?
'Then—'
But that old man had died, and his secret vault had been buried underground.
Yet here, in this distant land of India, an identical treasure existed? That could only mean someone was using it for some purpose.
"A woman?"
His breath hitched as he peered inside the glass coffin.
Within it lay a woman, her face veiled by fine silk, deep in slumber.
Though the coffin itself was worn, as if it had endured centuries, the woman inside seemed untouched by time—youthful, as though she had slipped past its flow.
Her hair, bright as sunlight, cascaded in waves over her body.
Upon her jade-like forehead rested an ornament engraved with a mysterious emblem.
Her robes, a harmony of crimson and white, bore not a speck of dust, and she wore intricate ornaments of strange designs all over her body.
At a glance, she was clearly no ordinary woman.
"Why is she here...?"
Without realizing it, Bu Eun-seol reached out and touched the aged glass.
Its surface was engraved with patterns of sheep and serpents—shapes that shifted depending on the angle.
"Could she be the True Demon?"
The forms of the sheep and serpents carved into the coffin were not only bizarre but also carried a sinister energy.
the Poison Sovereign wouldn't idly guard an underground castle within an Absolute Boundary.
Perhaps the "secret of the True Demon" that the Saint had spoken of—
Was this woman in the coffin.
Or something she knew.
Tchik.
But as his fingers brushed the glass, a sharp sting bit into his skin.
From the serpent pattern, a forked tongue lashed out, piercing his fingertip.
"A mechanism that deceives even my senses?"
He hadn't even sensed the presence of a mechanism inside the coffin, let alone expected a tongue to strike out.
"The True Demon's mechanisms truly are on another level."
As Bu Eun-seol smirked ruefully and examined his bleeding finger—
Sssskkk—
Suddenly, a pale mist began seeping from the base of the coffin, followed by a heavy clank.
The moment his blood dripped, the hidden mechanism activated, and—
Creeeak—
The coffin slowly opened.
Whoosh.
A white figure abruptly rose from within the mist.
The woman who had been lying inside.
Her hair drifting slowly as though suspended in water, she—
Fwip.
Moved with the speed of light, vanishing outside the temple.
'Fast.'
Her movement transcended the limits of human perception.
Had he not gained the insight to triple his extrasensory perception—
He wouldn't even have realized she had left.
Tssst!
Following the trajectory of her movement, he spotted her standing beneath a massive tree near the temple.
She stood there, blankly gazing up at the pouring light.
Her pale, delicate feet brushed against the damp grass, her hair swaying softly in the breeze.
Silver strands like threads of moonlight draped over her shoulders, catching the sunlight in fragile glimmers, while her eyes were clear and transparent as the dawn sky.
Though she must have sensed Bu Eun-seol's approach—
She paid him no mind, gently reaching out to caress a drooping leaf.
Her fingertips, glinting under the sun, shimmered like golden waves, and the corners of her eyes seemed to ripple with laughter.
Whoosh.
A gust of wind swept between them, carrying away the woman's veil to some unknown destination.
And there, revealed beneath, was a face as innocent and pure as a young girl's.
'She clearly seemed like a mature woman before.'
Inside the glass coffin, she had exuded the aura of a grown woman.
But now, with her veil gone, her face was unmistakably that of a girl barely in her early teens.
'She doesn't seem like an evil person.'
Given the glass coffin's sinister appearance, he had assumed she was connected to the True Demon.
Yet, from the woman caressing the leaves,
unlike when she was inside the coffin, only an utterly pure and clean energy radiated outward.
'Hmm.'
After a moment of hesitation, Bu Eun-seol finally revealed himself cautiously.
Even if she were a malevolent figure, he was confident he could subdue her.
And there were no other presences detected nearby.
"Young lady."
When Bu Eun-seol called out, the girl slowly turned her head.
And then, an odd sensation struck him.
From afar, her eyes had seemed pure and kind, but now, up close—
a sharp, piercing gaze faintly overlapped with them.
It was as if a wicked soul had seeped through a layer of her face, leaving behind an eerie afterimage.
'This feels ominous.'
Lost in thought, he greeted her as she stared at him intently.
"Greetings."
And with the utmost courtesy, he continued.
"I am Seol-so, a wanderer from the Central Plains. By any chance—"
Pad, pad.
Suddenly, the girl approached him. Then, she reached out and grasped both of his hands.
"Young lady—"
Bu Eun-seol tried to pull away, but a strange glimmer flashed in her eyes.
It was an expression of boundless innocence, yet tinged with confusion.
In the end, he didn't resist her touch.
If words failed, perhaps gestures or actions would convey his intent.
Tap.
As their hands met, the blood still trickling from Bu Eun-seol's fingers smeared onto hers.
"..."
The girl stared down at the faint traces of his blood on her fingertips.
It was as if she were beholding a newfound treasure she had never seen before.
Kiiing.
Suddenly, an eerie ripple surged through her body—and the innocent visage vanished without a trace.
Her hair, once bathed in sunlight, darkened to pitch-black, cascading down past her calves.
In an instant, her face transformed into that of a mature woman with sharp, piercing eyes—
as though a celestial maiden had twisted into the form of a wicked witch.
Fwoosh.
As her body floated into the air, an indescribable energy overflowed from her.
It was something beyond words—
a force that defied the laws of heaven and earth, shaking the very foundations of existence, brimming with destruction and majesty.
Simultaneously, the surrounding plants turned to gray ash and vanished, as if the world itself had reached the brink of Final Extinction.
Formless wraiths swarmed like a black gale,
and countless skeletal hands burst from the ground, grasping as if to drag the living into the abyss.
'The True Demon?!'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes widened.
The energy emanating from her was unlike any calamity he had ever sensed before.
Could it be—was she the True Demon herself? The pure demon who endlessly retained memories and reincarnated?
Crk.
At that moment, the ground around Bu Eun-seol sank half an inch.
An overwhelming pressure suddenly bore down on him, crushing his body.
Whoosh.
A dazzling radiance of five colors erupted from his entire being.
Faced with an unknown adversary unlike any he had ever encountered, Harmonization instinctively activated.
Sssk.
A cold smile curled at the lips of the woman floating in the air.
At the same time, a shadow darker than night and deeper than ink writhed behind her—
KWA-AAAAH!
Then, colossal black dragons surged upward, blotting out the sky.
KWAANG!
With a deafening roar, Bu Eun-seol was sent flying and slammed into a massive boulder about three hundred feet away.
One of the black dragons, jaws gaping wide, had struck him midair.
Crash.
As he rose from the shattered rocks, a trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
A single strike had pierced his Body-Protecting Profound Energy and inflicted internal injuries.
"Good."
Whoosh.
A brilliant light erupted from Bu Eun-seol's pupils.
Clink, clink.
A sound like shattering crystal echoed through the sky as red and white motes of light gathered in his palms.
If she struck with her hands, he would repay her in kind.
Simultaneously channeling the forces of Extreme Yin and Extreme Yang, he unleashed his full internal energy.
"Let's see how you handle this."
Kukukuku.
The earth trembled violently as hundreds of luminous points materialized around him.
Surpassing even the limits of ten sixty-year cycle's worth of internal energy, he released everything—even the power stored within his Internal Core.
From scattered pebbles to massive boulders—everything in the vicinity began defying gravity, rising into the air.