Chapter 977
Martial artists cultivate internal energy by refining true qi, the essence of heaven and earth.
But the bloodline of the Baekri Clan possesses a unique power connected to the world's primordial origins—dating back even before the creation of heaven and earth.
They wield Manifestation Art Energy.
This power allows them to comprehend and materialize the very principles and order governing the birth and movement of all things in the universe.
It can freely alter even the fundamental principles underlying all martial arts in the world.
It possesses a miraculous ability that completely disregards the inherent attributes or compatibility of existing forces.
That is why they can stand against even the absolute destructive power of Soul-Demon Magic Energy.
KWA-UUUNG!
However, the power wielded by this so-called Martial Soul Society Leader...
...happened to be Natural Qi, which barely interacts with Manifestation Art Energy.
Moreover, the fist technique he employed transcended the existing martial arts system's compatibilities, displaying infinite variations unbound by standardized forms or movements.
Because of this, the white-robed man couldn't find a way to counter it in that brief moment.
PAT!
In the end, he leaped into mid-air to evade the torrent of force aimed at his face.
KWA-UUUUNG!
As the force swept past beneath his feet...
...he landed lightly.
Gracefully back on the ground.
But unlike before, the white-robed man's gaze darkened.
Merely to dodge a single fist technique...
...the fact that he had to propel himself into mid-air was humiliating in itself.
"You must have known."
Members of the Baekri Clan who ventured into the Martial World were strictly limited to using Manifestation Art Energy only within their Mindscape.
The white-robed man assumed Bu Eun-seol had anticipated this.
That he had deliberately withdrawn his Mindscape to force a battle using only martial arts.
"But your calculations were wrong."
"..."
"No matter what martial arts you employ, they ultimately trace back to our clan's techniques. You can never oppose them."
Bu Eun-seol smiled.
The smile was so subtle that the white-robed man couldn't help but ask.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Once, a servant of the True Demon told me something. He claimed that all martial arts in this world were devised by the True Demon. That's why he could shatter any martial art in an instant."
Bu Eun-seol chuckled dryly.
"And those words became his last."
The white-robed man's eyes turned icy.
Was he implying that he, too, would meet the same fate?
"Shall we see what kind of martial arts you Baekri Clan servants use?"
Normally, Bu Eun-seol fought with absolute focus, speaking sparingly.
But now, it was as if So Ok-rim had possessed him—his words were relentless, dripping with venom.
"Do I seem like a servant to you?"
"If not a dog, then a bastard."
This wasn't mere provocation or idle mockery.
Though the white-robed man's speech and demeanor were impeccably refined and dignified...
...there was no need for him to hover above the ground or generate shockwaves to keep even a speck of dust from touching him.
Bu Eun-seol instantly saw through it—that excessive behavior wasn't his true nature.
It was a psychological defense mechanism born from a lowly status or unstable position.
"I have no idea what nonsense you're spouting."
"Common enough."
Bu Eun-seol snorted.
"Compensating for the insecurity of not being recognized as legitimate within the family, or being looked down upon as inferior... by meticulously crafting one's speech and actions to appear dignified."
Then he continued, mercilessly.
"As if constantly needing to prove to others—'I am this noble and refined, so I am not lowly at all.'"
"How amusing."
The white-robed man scoffed.
"By your logic, every cultured and elegant person in the world must be lowborn."
"Of course, if that were all, I wouldn't have noticed either."
"..."
"But beyond just being fastidious, you have an abnormal disgust for filth."
Bu Eun-seol grinned, his smile curling like a blade.
"An unconscious inferiority complex and insecurity about your own origins being dirty... leading to obsessive behavior—avoiding even the tiniest speck of dust, desperate to appear clean."
His lips twitched as he flashed a playful smirk.
"If every member of the Baekri Clan had gone to such lengths to control dust with their power like you do now? Three hundred years ago, the Baekri Clan would have been annihilated due to their obsessive-compulsive disorder—"
KABOOM!
Suddenly, a radiance whiter than the sun, fiercer than lightning, dyed the world.
DRIP... DRIP...
The solid rocks where Bu Eun-seol had stood melted like taffy.
This was no mere light—it was a force that erased and distorted all existence.
"Oh dear."
The white-robed man smiled innocently as he gazed at Bu Eun-seol floating in mid-air.
"I ended up using my clan's power without realizing it."
Then he bared his white teeth in a grin.
"But don't worry. I'll definitely beat you to death with martial arts."
And with a wink, he added.
"You see, I know you're a disciple of the Demonic Heavenly Emperor."
Nature Shattering.
Not only did the white-robed man pierce through the essence of his opponent's technique with just a glance—
Limitless Power could even seize control of the mental world. He believed Bu Eun-seol was the one wielding it.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted around Bu Eun-seol's floating body.
The shockwave surged violently before striking his spirit and mind like a Mind Sword—
An attempt to disrupt him from unleashing Nature Shattering.
"Quit your nonsense."
Naturally, Bu Eun-seol hadn't even activated Nature Shattering, so the shockwave had no effect on him.
"Take this instead."
Whoosh—
A faint glow began to gather around Bu Eun-seol's clenched fists.
Until now, he had primarily used his left hand for fist techniques, reserving his right for the sword.
But to perfect the identity of Seol-so, he had devised the Heavenly Light Seven Forms—a fusion of the Seven Forms of the Fist Demon and Heavenly Light Endless Art.
—The unification of the Three Divine Powers.
Truthfully, unifying different Divine Powers was impossible without obtaining the fourth.
Yet through a fortuitous encounter in India, Bu Eun-seol had achieved the unification of the Three Divine Powers—
And that was why he could reveal his true identity as the Martial Soul Society Leader to the world.
—Because even the Three Realms had desperately craved that power.
Why had the Three Realms, who rebelled against the Baekri Clan, sought to create Human Blossoms and Artificial Inner Cores to forge the fourth Divine Power?
—Because they had to oppose the Baekri Clan.
What the Three Realms feared most was not the True Demon—but the Baekri Clan.
For though they had been born from its embrace, they had betrayed it.
—Then the force capable of opposing Manifestation Art Energy... must be Natural Qi.
Though the Heaven and Earth Divine Artifact was missing—
Bu Eun-seol possessed and unified the very power they had yearned for.
It was with this confidence that—
Through intelligence on the New Bloodline—
He had executed his bold plan to lure not just the True Demon, but even the Baekri Clan's familiars.
And his plan had succeeded.
Even the Baekri Clan's familiars, who could resist the Soul-Demon Magic Energy capable of annihilating all things—
Could not interfere with the Natural Qi radiating from him.
CRACK!
A streak of light pierced through the darkness as a razor-sharp fist energy arced toward the white-robed man's head.
The first form of the Heavenly Light Seven Forms—Single Light Piercing Radiance.
"Hmph."
The white-robed man lazily extended a finger, as if swatting away an insignificant attack.
Instantly, the fist energy veered off course, soaring into the distant sky.
Though he couldn't alter or erase the attributes of Natural Qi, there were plenty of martial arts capable of deflecting it.
BANG!
Yet with another explosion, dust and debris billowed upward.
Before he knew it, a second fist energy had already struck his lower abdomen.
The reason the Heavenly Light Seven Forms required both hands was simple—
Every fist energy embodied the harmony of Yin and Yang.
Even if one was blocked, another would inevitably exploit the opening.
Grit—
The white-robed man, forced to raise his own hand to block the attack, now had the corners of his eyes twitching violently.
His pride had been wounded yet again.
"Your damned martial arts are quite impressive!"
Unfazed, Bu Eun-seol continued needling him, unleashing the second form—
Meteor Descending Upon Clouds.
SWOOSH—
True to its name, like a meteor cleaving through the heavens, relentless and blinding fist energy rained down without pause.
Flick!
With a single sweep of his sleeve, the white-robed man erased hundreds of fist energies as if they were mere firecrackers.
He had manifested the ultimate principle of Emptiness—with nothing but a sleeve.
CRACKLE—
Yet the vanished fist techniques bloomed anew like flowers—
Before merging into a single force of wind and thunder, striking the white-robed man from behind.
Gale and Thunder Shaking the Void.
The third form of the Heavenly Light Seven Forms—generating fist energy directly around the enemy's body.
"Your tricks are quite refined, bastard."
The more Bu Eun-seol taunted him with that word—
The more the white-robed man's eyes, once serene, began to distort.
"You truly love to hear yourself talk!"
Shwaaak—
Twelve circular rings materialized around the white-robed man.
The incoming fist energies scattered like shadows in all directions.
He had executed Hidden Shadows Within the Rings—the pinnacle of Orthodox Martial Arts.
'How desperate he is to prove his superiority in martial arts.'
The white-robed man was effortlessly displaying principles even a grandmaster would struggle to master after a lifetime of training.
All to refute the venomous words and deductions Bu Eun-seol had thrown at him—without even realizing he was struggling.
'The Sword Sovereign was the same.'
Even the Sword Sovereign, who had honed his blade like an ascetic his entire life—
Had been unable to resist his competitive pride when faced with a single word, a single glance from the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
He had reduced the Nature Sword to mere martial forms—and suffered a bitter defeat.
But the white-robed man, who had always been revered as a member of the Baekri Clan—
Had never encountered such high-level psychological warfare before.
Not when his hidden past had been laid bare, his very foundations overturned.
"I should start by ripping that mouth of yours off!"
Whoosh!
In that instant, the white-robed man extended both his index and middle fingers simultaneously, causing Bu Eun-seol's heartbeat to falter and his qi vessels to reverse their flow.
This was the martial art of the former Martial Alliance Leader, Cheol Mu-heun—a technique that required perfect comprehension of the opponent's True Qi Circulation to execute.
Heavenly Reverse Heart-Piercing Palm.
When qi vessels reverse, it becomes impossible to speak aloud.
But Bu Eun-seol was not limited to just Natural Qi.
Ooom—
His body was saturated with an overflowing multitude of different energies, allowing him to immediately repel the pressure of the Heavenly Reverse Heart-Piercing Palm.
"So, a lowly dog of the Baekri Clan even stole the Martial Alliance's martial arts?!"
Bu Eun-seol shouted once more, his voice ringing out clearly.
Swish—
Like a dragon toying with its pearl.
With the Yellow Dragon Playing with Pearl movement technique, he escaped the oppressive domain of the Heavenly Reverse Heart-Piercing Palm.
BOOM!
And then, he unleashed another surge of overwhelming Fist Energy.
The fourth stance of the Heavenly Light Seven Forms—
Azure Radiance Moonlight.
Like moonlight shimmering over a lake.
A serene yet piercing blue-hued Fist Energy spread outward, engulfing the white-robed man's body.
Flash—! Crack!
The white-robed man transformed into a streak of light.
He tore through the Azure Radiance Moonlight and appeared right before Bu Eun-seol's face.
A speed so fast it defied belief—even when seen with one's own eyes.
"How truly tedious."
With a low murmur, the white-robed man stretched out his hand.
BANG!
In that instant, a deafening explosion erupted, and Bu Eun-seol's body, which had been suspended midair, was slammed into the ground.
This was the Supreme-grade Absolute Art of the Palm Emperor, one of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars—
Myriad Phenomena Convergence Palm.
A technique that clashed opposing forces to annihilate the enemy's internal organs.
Rumble—
Bu Eun-seol rose from the collapsed rubble, his eyes flashing.
'He truly is an outlier.'
If this were the martial arts of the Baekri bloodline, it should naturally be on an entirely different level from orthodox murim techniques—or perhaps something completely new, forged from scratch.
Yet, the white-robed man had been using the martial arts of the Three Realms' masters—the very same techniques employed by the Eight Emperors and Three Stars.
Though their power was several times greater than anything Bu Eun-seol had encountered before—
It instantly revealed that the white-robed man had not mastered the true secret arts of the Baekri Clan.
"Let's see you make that expression after taking this."
Noticing the disappointment in Bu Eun-seol's gaze, the white-robed man slowly extended his palm.
Goooooo—
A strange sound resonated as the air compressed at his fingertips, and soon, even the surrounding space began to fold.
Shattering the Void.
Palm That Shakes the Universe.
The ultimate palm technique of the Palm King, condensed into a single strike and unleashed like a storm.
KWAOOOO—!
A force capable of annihilating the entire world surged toward Bu Eun-seol in a straight line.
Grrrrrr—
In response, three-colored energies began swirling violently around Bu Eun-seol's body.
The fifth stance of the Heavenly Light Seven Forms, channeling the explosive power of the Three Divine Powers—
Celestial Star Shatter.
FLASH—!
The moment the two forces collided, a radiance that seemed capable of swallowing the whole world erupted.
At the epicenter of the clash, space itself twisted and tore apart, revealing a massive rift.
Time itself seemed to slow to a crawl.
Ruuuumble—
As the light faded, the two figures reappeared.
Bu Eun-seol's robes were torn in multiple places, while—
The white-robed man remained immaculate, without a single trace of the fierce battle.
But their expressions told a different story.
Bu Eun-seol remained utterly composed, while the white-robed man's gaze flickered unpredictably.
Bu Eun-seol's power was not just pure Natural Qi—it was a chaotic fusion of countless bizarre and foreign energies, impossible to quantify.
Because of this, he had shattered the Palm Emperor's Supreme-grade Absolute Art in an instant—and redirected the violent shockwaves of the collision straight back at the white-robed man.
"Well, I should thank you for this."
Despite failing to gain the upper hand, the white-robed man instead smiled brightly.
"Since you've received the Eight Emperors' Primordial Flow... even without manifesting my Mindscape, one more of my sealed powers has been released."
The moment the word "released" left his lips—
Screeeech—
The white-robed man's eyes abruptly shot upward, as if trying to pierce the heavens.
Though it was merely the slight upturn of his eyes—like someone enraged—it made him seem like an entirely different person.
BOOM!
Sensing the strangeness, Bu Eun-seol immediately attempted to deploy the Heavenly Light Seven Forms to preemptively block the white-robed man's attack.
But the technique never fully manifested.
Because the space around Bu Eun-seol was vibrating incessantly.
'...?'
He tried to unleash his Fist Energy again, but each time, his surroundings trembled violently.
Martial arts, at their core, relied on powerful Internal Energy as a foundation—precisely controlling True Qi and directing it where needed.
Only when combined with perfectly harmonized, efficient bodily movements could their true might be displayed.
But with the surrounding space trembling uncontrollably, he couldn't properly execute his martial forms.
'Interesting.'
KWA-WOONG!
Even though something shocking enough to make an ordinary martial artist faint had occurred, Bu Eun-seol instead wore an expression of exhilaration.
His internal energy had long surpassed the limits of what a human body could contain.
He had mastered the Tendon Transformation Sutra and the Reverse Pole Heart Method—two of the most profound, peerless internal energy techniques in the martial world.
On top of that, he had trained in the martial arts of Langya Pavilion, which pursued the most efficient movements—refined through long experience and research—for transmitting, defending, and attacking with power.
In other words, it was no exaggeration to say he was the most adaptable figure in the martial world.
Zziing, zziing.
Suddenly, a low vibration flowed from Bu Eun-seol's body, and he began unfolding his martial forms in sync with the trembling landscape.
And then—wasn't he precisely bombarding the White-Robed Man, who stood hundreds of feet away?
BOOM! BOOM!
With explosive sounds, the White-Robed Man's surroundings were instantly engulfed in the radiance of the Heavenly Light Seven Forms.
The man intensified his energy, shaking the space around Bu Eun-seol even more violently.
Jjing. Jjing.
Far from being unable to execute his martial arts—let alone suffering severe internal injuries—
Didn't the power of his fist technique only grow stronger with each increase in vibration?
—How is this possible?
The White-Robed Man's eyes widened in shock.
Even after unleashing a force capable of shattering the very pinnacle of martial arts, this man had improvised a countermeasure that outright ignored it?
Eventually, the White-Robed Man withdrew his power, stepping back as he silently glared at Bu Eun-seol.
Bu Eun-seol, no longer counterattacking, finally spoke.
"So you really are just a dog of the Baekri Clan."
Just as streams gather to form a river,
Martial arts, in the end, must follow the fundamental flow of power.
But the techniques the White-Robed Man wielded—
Were forces and methods that could never be called the original power of the Baekri Clan, the ones who had opposed the True Demon since ancient times.
After a long silence, the White-Robed Man suddenly spoke of something entirely unexpected.
"In the main family, there are foolish humans who became enslaved by power and knelt before the True Demon."
The smile that had lingered on his lips until now had vanished.
His tone, which had been so artificially polite it felt devoid of emotion,
Now seethed with suppressed rage and deep despair.
The anger and despair that burst through his once-refined, noble-like speech revealed his true voice.
"When that happens, those bastards are cast out of the family, forced to take on lowly tasks. Naturally, their power is also restricted."
'The Saint.'
Bu Eun-seol furrowed his brow.
The "foolish humans" the man spoke of were likely the Saint.
If so, did that mean the Saint's children or blood relatives could never become true members of the Baekri Clan?
"And they must wander the martial world, undertaking all sorts of missions to prove their worth. Like those despicable... servants of the True Demon."
The White-Robed Man raised his head, his original voice and expression returning as he smirked.
"You're right. I... am nothing but a dog of the Baekri Clan."
Though he smiled, his eyes seemed to weep tears of blood.
He hated—despised—
The True Demon, the Baekri Clan... even his own circumstances.
"Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
Swoooosh.
The White-Robed Man's body slowly began floating into the sky.
Though his ascent wasn't particularly fast, it was so natural and swift that Bu Eun-seol couldn't stop it.
[Because I've resolved to kill you without fail.]
Before he knew it, the man's voice—
Like when he had used the power of Manifestation Art Energy in the Mindscape, or like the Six Harmonies Voice Transmission—resonated in all directions.
[No matter the cost...!]
Above the White-Robed Man's head, a massive sphere—akin to a blazing sun—was slowly forming.
'That's the power of the Baekri Clan.'
Bu Eun-seol could sense it.
This man was breaking the clan's laws, forcibly unleashing his power.
'They still haven't come.'
Bu Eun-seol clenched his fist.
This battle had been meticulously planned.
Everything had gone as expected so far... except for one thing that hadn't yet come to pass.
The Sacred Realm.
The absolute neutral force that maintained the balance between the Baekri Clan and the True Demon—had yet to appear.
Crack.
Even before any attack was launched,
The space around Bu Eun-seol distorted, fissures spreading like shattered glass.
Drip.
And those fissures carved deep wounds into Bu Eun-seol's body.
'It's like the Veneration Cult's Heart-Truth Illusion Dream Art.'
Bu Eun-seol had already ascended to the rank of a grandmaster, capable of creating and modifying martial arts on his own.
But the power the White-Robed Man wielded—
Transcended martial arts by an unfathomable degree.
It was absolute power itself—something that could neither be defended against nor shattered by any means.
[Now you understand, don't you?]
The White-Robed Man curled his lips as he spoke.
[No matter what martial arts you wield, their origin ultimately lies with the main family. There's no resisting it.]
At those words, Bu Eun-seol's pupils flashed.
Even if the origins of all martial arts in the world belonged to the Baekri Clan,
There was one martial art that did not belong to them.
'Bloody Tears Seven Forms.'
The absolute sword study created by his grandfather—one that delivered death to all things in existence—
Would it be able to oppose Manifestation Art Energy?