Chapter 991
Jin Gak passed away as if a weary traveler had finally laid down to rest after a long journey.
A faint smile lingered on his lips as he drew his last breath, appearing to have fallen into a deep, peaceful slumber.
Bu Eun-seol forcibly swallowed the scalding tears welling up in his eyes.
—Why must all those I love leave me behind!
In the past, he would have howled in grief, cursing the heavens.
But now, he understood.
In the cruel and merciless providence of this martial world...
Life and death were not two diverging paths turning their backs on each other—merely a fleeting intersection where they briefly crossed.
Chwak.
Bu Eun-seol fetched clear water and began to reverently cleanse Jin Gak's cooling body.
As if sharing one last warmth, his touch was infinitely gentle and careful.
For a moment, the image of his grandfather surfaced in his mind—the old man who had breathed his last with a benevolent smile, just for him.
Both Jin Gak and his grandfather...
Even in their most agonizing moments, they never lost their warm smiles until the very end.
Perhaps they had wanted to teach him.
That life and death were no different.
Before he knew it, instead of tears, a serene smile bloomed at the corners of Bu Eun-seol's eyes.
Rather than sending off a farewell with sorrow, one should bid it farewell with a smile.
For that was the final lesson his master had left him.
A small grave now stood on Golden Sand Island, holding the remains.
When summer returned and the waters rose again, this grave would vanish.
Jin Gak had chosen this place as his final resting place, where his long journey of life would come to an end.
Perhaps, like the ever-changing face of Golden Sand Island that faded with the seasons... he had wished to quietly disappear from the world.
"Master."
Bu Eun-seol performed the Nine Prostrations before Jin Gak's grave.
"I will ensure the Fire Rain Thirteen Forms are returned to the Fire Rain Sword Sect."
Then, in a low voice, he added:
"Though that Fire Rain Sword Sect... will be slightly different from what it is now."
Even in death, Jin Gak had taken pride in being a disciple of the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
He had not resented the order that led to his demise.
And Bu Eun-seol had promised to preserve the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
But he had not specified how he would preserve it... meaning he intended to handle it in his own way.
'Wi Ji-hye-sang.'
Bu Eun-seol had sensed it from the beginning.
From the moment they met, he knew their connection would not end well.
That they were destined to be enemies who could never share the same sky.
'I won't kill him immediately.'
When the waters rise over Golden Sand Island and his master's grave disappears...
That was when he would sever Wi Ji-hye-sang's head.
Having fully restored his spirit and mind, Bu Eun-seol returned to the Demon Hall and confidently reported to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor.
—Great Wind Gorge was not a spiritual land but a toxic wasteland, and the Martial Alliance had been lying in wait there to secure the fruits of the Silver Spirit Mushrooms.
Bu Eun-seol had deliberately delayed the return of the Death Shadow War Unit after concluding matters at Great Wind Gorge.
Fortunately, since his encounter with Jin Gak on Golden Sand Island had occurred less than a few days earlier, he was able to quickly rejoin the warriors of the Death Shadow War Unit.
—However, they had actually laid out some kind of battle formation within Great Wind Gorge. It seems they were plotting something.
Beyond that, he provided a detailed report on everything else he had uncovered—though he omitted any mention of Wooden Buddha.
The Demonic Heavenly Emperor listened in silence before nodding without further comment.
The publicly issued order—
To retrieve the spiritual herbs from Great Wind Gorge, heavily guarded by the Martial Alliance—had been flawlessly accomplished.
Moreover, he had meticulously reported the Martial Alliance's hidden movements deep within the gorge.
By staking his life, Bu Eun-seol had not only proven his loyalty to the Demonic Heavenly Emperor but also completely avenged his past mission failure.
Furthermore, having upheld his dignity before the Demon Hall's elite, he could now firmly maintain his standing as the Martial Soul Lord, just as before.
'Perhaps... the Demonic Heavenly Emperor had seen through everything from the start.'
There was no way the foremost figure of the Demonic Path could have been unaware of Wooden Buddha's existence or the fractures within the Martial Alliance.
This mission had been the Demonic Heavenly Emperor's scheme—
To have Bu Eun-seol stake his life in proving his loyalty before all, solidifying his authority and command as the Martial Soul Lord.
"You may withdraw."
In the end, those few words were what Bu Eun-seol had risked his life for.
"Understood."
Bowing respectfully, Bu Eun-seol stepped out of the Holy Demon Pavilion, his gaze as cold as a blade's edge.
The title of the Demon Hall's successor was nothing but an empty shell.
He needed to strengthen the Martial Soul Assembly and enhance his martial prowess as quickly as possible—
So that he could one day cut down the Demonic Heavenly Emperor, that monstrous being lurking in the abyss.
After leaving the Demon Hall, Bu Eun-seol headed straight for the Martial Soul Assembly.
'I must investigate the Fire Rain Sword Sect again.'
Starting with the Sword Demon Wi Hyeok-gun, then the deceptively polite yet sinister Wi Ji-hye-sang—
And even the boy with the fake body, who he had initially assumed belonged to the Ghostly Return Faction.
Bu Eun-seol had clashed with the Fire Rain Sword Sect multiple times.
Yet the sole reason he had never pushed things to a life-or-death conclusion was one man—
The Profound Demon, Wi Ji-mua.
A man of unassuming demeanor yet terrifying martial prowess, who reigned as the sect leader.
He was the kind of person who could discern Jin Gak's simple but steadfast nature—
Immediately promoting him from a mere leaf-sword bearer to the Overwhelming Sword and appointing him as a hall leader.
A man who truly knew how to recognize talent.
Moreover, despite Bu Eun-seol's repeated conflicts with the Fire Rain Sword Sect, Wi Ji-mua had treated him as a junior, even showing him goodwill in his own way...
Because of that, Bu Eun-seol had never been able to bring himself to act ruthlessly against the Fire Rain Sword Sect.
'And yet, the Fire Rain Sword Sect's actions have been utterly despicable.'
By framing him for leaking their secret arts—a truly shameless accusation—
Their conduct had been nothing short of disgraceful.
They had conspired with Heavenly Mechanism Star to attempt his execution.
No—knowing full well that Jin Gak's attempt would fail, they had likely pushed forward with the plan regardless.
Even if the extermination failed,
they must have calculated that the process would leave deep scars on his spirit and mind.
But Bu Eun-seol's spirit was already in shambles due to the haphazardly recalled dharma-gate.
Ironically, Jin Gak's extermination order became the trigger that restored the tranquil equilibrium of his spirit and further fortified its barriers.
'Then Wooden Buddha's prophecy is something even Heavenly Mechanism Star cannot defy.'
Wooden Buddha had foreseen even Heavenly Mechanism Star Chu-so's cunning schemes and used them to fully restore Bu Eun-seol's fractured psyche and merged personalities.
In other words, no matter how stratospheric Heavenly Mechanism Star's intellect might be,
it had been proven that Wooden Buddha's divine foresight—capable of peering into the future—could not be defied.
'I had long suspected that someone else was managing the Fire Rain Sword Sect... but to think it would be the personality of the former sect leader.'
In the end, the Fire Rain Sword Sect had joined hands with Chu-so and the Azure River Realm, mastering the secret arts of the Baekri Clan.
Through this, they had been inheriting the power of the sect leader from two generations prior.
What happens when the vigor of a youthful body merges with a century's worth of wisdom and martial arts?
The Fire Rain Sword Sect could maintain its position as the Demonic Path's Greatest Sword Sect indefinitely.
KWAOOO—!
Bu Eun-seol unleashed a movement technique swift as lightning, swiftly departing Chengdu.
And just as he was about to cross into Shaanxi's borders—
—SWISH, FWOOSH!
A faint sound of weapons reached his ears.
In his current state of mind, he had no particular interest in observing the fights of other martial artists.
Yet he couldn't help but prick up his ears—because the sound of that weapon was utterly unique.
'There are still those in the martial world who use a fly whisk as a weapon?'
A fly whisk was originally a symbolic tool for sweeping away the dust and afflictions of the mind, as well as a Buddhist implement used to shoo away pesky insects.
In the past, nuns of the Mystic Path who had renounced the secular world occasionally carried them for self-defense.
But in the ever-changing martial world of today, they had long since vanished.
And for good reason—to wield a fly whisk, made of hemp or tree bark, like a proper weapon,
one needed an extraordinarily profound foundation of internal energy.
Even if one possessed such internal energy,
it was still insufficient to keep up with the bizarre and ever-evolving martial arts of the murim.
Occasionally, there were those who carried on the tradition, but they remained shackled to the outdated techniques passed down through generations, never seeking new transformations.
In the end, like countless odd weapons that had silently disappeared beneath the martial world's turbulent currents,
the fly whisk, too, had been pushed into the lonely back alleys of history, fading into obsolescence.
HWOOM, HWEEENG—
A resonance like wind, yet spreading like rippling water, echoed outward.
It was unmistakably the sound of a fly whisk being swung.
'Let's take a look.'
Driven by curiosity, Bu Eun-seol dashed toward the faint sound.
Scaling steep cliffs, traversing rugged rocky mountains, he finally arrived at a serene valley deep within the mountains.
There, two figures were locked in fierce combat.
One was a man clad in a unique martial uniform adorned with flashing scale-like patterns.
His gaze was cold and sharp, and from the faint shimmer at his fingertips,
it seemed he wielded a finger technique with extremely poisonous energy.
And the one opposing him was—
a sami monk, his head smooth-shaven, not yet having received full monastic ordination.
Beneath his fluttering robes, the elegant curves of a fly whisk could be seen.
The sami stood perfectly balanced in midair, not a single toe out of place,
and with nothing but the subtle movements of his slender wrists, the fly whisk whirled in all directions, stirring the wind.
Each swing of the fly whisk released strange sounds of breaking air from his palm, scattering the man's attacks in an instant.
'Not a Central Plains Buddhist sect.'
His robes resembled neither those of the Central Plains nor Tibet—instead, they bore the unique style of the Miao people. And he wielded a fly whisk typically used by nuns.
'His martial arts are unusual, too.'
The man's claw art was powerful enough to shatter boulders in a single strike,
yet the sami effortlessly deflected his attacks with nothing but the fly whisk, showing no sign of difficulty.
Not only that—each time the fly whisk swayed, a fragrance reminiscent of a meditation hall wafted outward,
tickling Bu Eun-seol's nose even from dozens of yards away.
'Fragrance spreads with every technique...'
For scent to accompany martial techniques—excluding poison arts—there were only a few possibilities:
Either he had mastered a mental cultivation method like the Fragrance Encounter Mind Formula of the Sehwa Sect, which required inhaling specific herbs during training,
or he had refined his internal energy through unique methods like the Jade Clarity Qi Art of the Doga Family, which involved ingesting special medicinal pills.
—Ugh... ugh...
Then, a faint moan drifted from a cave at the edge of the clearing.
In that instant, Bu Eun-seol grasped the entire situation.
'The Flower-Plucking Lecher.'
The sinister-looking man using claw arts had undoubtedly imprisoned a woman in the cave to violate her,
and the sami must have noticed and attacked him.
SWISH—
But then, as the man dodged, he smirked and rubbed two fingers together.
A transparent mist spread out—then was sucked straight into the sami's nostrils.
SSSKK—!
In that moment, a pale mist rose from the sami's body.
'Blood Mask Wolf Lord.'
What the man had released was none other than the Joy-Draining Soul Scattering Powder—renowned as the most potent aphrodisiac poison in the martial world.
And the only one who could wield it with such mastery...
Was the Flower-Plucking Lecher, Blood Mask Wolf Lord—a man who always wore a crimson mask when defiling women.
Crackle!
Yet white flames erupted from the young monk's entire body, and pale smoke billowed in all directions.
He had incinerated the most notorious aphrodisiac poison in the martial world with a shockwave of his internal energy.
'He unraveled the Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy through the Mysterious Yin Secret Art...'
The technique he employed resembled—
A reversal of the Hot River Great Essence True Qi's Ultimate Fire Wheel Energy, which normally pierced an enemy's body with intense vibrations and scorching heat.
Instead, he had dispersed it in the manner of Glacier Thousand Streams Art, an Extreme Yin Art, using waves of frigid energy to annihilate the poison.
'Could this be the original lineage of the Snow Emperor's martial arts?'
Bu Eun-seol's eyes flashed.
The martial art this young monk wielded—
It resembled the Snow Emperor's martial techniques, one of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars, derived from the power of the Baekri Clan.
And not just any variation—it was so potent it seemed to be the original lineage itself.
"Tch."
The Blood Mask Wolf Lord let out a stifled groan.
Only now realizing the monk's martial prowess was beyond imagination, he immediately halted his attack and attempted to retreat.
Sssssk—
But before he could react, his body was already enveloped in pure white flames.
The monk had scattered Extreme Yin energy along his escape route, sealing it off.
"If you must leave, at least leave behind the antidote."
From within the cave, the agonized moans of the woman continued unabated.
She was likely suffering from the effects of the Blood Mask Wolf Lord's poison.
"Fine, fine."
The Blood Mask Wolf Lord raised both hands and carefully retrieved a small medicine bottle from his robes.
"Drinking this will neutralize the poison instantly."
He tossed the bottle to the monk.
"May I go now?"
At his words, the monk sighed and replied,
"Never again stoop to such vile acts as slipping an aphrodisiac into another's food."
Originally, the monk had been quietly eating at an inn in Chengdu.
Then a man had approached a lone female martial artist and made advances.
—I'm not interested. Please leave me alone.
When the woman refused, the man retreated as if resigned.
But moments later, her complexion twisted in distress.
Her forehead and cheeks flushed crimson, and in a panic, she staggered out of the inn.
The man followed, stealthily trailing her.
Having witnessed everything, the monk realized the man had covertly sprinkled aphrodisiac into her food while speaking to her.
He slipped out and pursued them in secret.
Sure enough, the woman soon collapsed against a wall, swaying unsteadily.
—Let me take you to a physician!
Seizing the opportunity, the man swept her into his arms and activated Light Body Art.
But instead of heading to a doctor, he carried her to a cave in the Deep Mountain Secluded Valley, intending to violate her.
The monk immediately intervened, demanding the antidote.
"If you commit such evil deeds again, this humble monk will not stand idly by."
"I'll keep that in mind."
As the Blood Mask Wolf Lord shrugged and prepared to activate Lightness Skill—
"There is no antidote to Joy-Draining Soul Scattering Powder."
A low voice resonated through the cave.
With a swish, a man clad in black robes stepped into view—Bu Eun-seol, who had been observing the entire scene.
"In all my years, I have never let a Flower-Plucking Lecher live after forcing himself upon a woman."
His gaze sharpened to an icy edge.
"Blood Mask Wolf Lord. Gwak Byeok-jeong."
Twitch.
The Blood Mask Wolf Lord flinched upon hearing his true name.
"What do you mean, benefactor?"
The monk asked in shock—
Shhhk!
A blade of Willful True Binding's razor-sharp True Qi sliced toward the Blood Mask Wolf Lord's neck.
Crack—thud.
But in that instant, the Extreme Yin energy the monk had unleashed froze the blade solid.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Bu Eun-seol's brow furrowed as he demanded an answer.
"Even a butcher can become a Buddha if he lays down his blade, no?"
The monk pressed his palms together solemnly.
"Though his use of aphrodisiac is a grave sin, he has yet to defile this woman... There is still room for repentance."
Bu Eun-seol's expression twisted in disbelief.
The number of women Gwak Byeok-jeong had violated numbered in the hundreds.
And yet this monk was spouting such naive nonsense?
'Even for a newcomer to the martial world, this is beyond oblivious.'
Studying the monk's clear, guileless eyes, Bu Eun-seol asked with exasperation:
Just which sect had sent an unordained novice into the martial world alone?
"Did the name Blood Mask Wolf Lord mean nothing to you?"
"An epithet is just an epithet. A name does not define a man..."
Whoosh!
Seizing the moment, the Blood Mask Wolf Lord activated his Movement Technique and fled.
The instant Gwak Byeok-jeong saw Bu Eun-seol's face, he recognized him—the infamous Martial Soul Lord of the Demon Hall.
When he thought death was certain, the monk blocked the attack.
Clutching that sliver of hope, he poured every ounce of strength into escaping.
"You think you can run?"
Bu Eun-seol extended his index and middle fingers.
The fleeing Blood Mask Wolf Lord froze mid-air, his body stiffening like stone.
"Guh—!"
As overwhelming internal energy surged through his meridians, his body swelled grotesquely, on the verge of bursting.
"Benefactor, show mercy."
The monk prepared to unleash Extreme Yin energy once more to block Bu Eun-seol's power—
Flash!
A brilliant light streaked through the air, and a crimson blood line appeared across the Blood Mask Wolf Lord's neck.
Anticipating the monk's interference, Bu Eun-seol had restrained his target with internal energy and beheaded him using Sword Control by Qi.
Squelch. Thud.
The severed head of the Blood Mask Wolf Lord, still suspended mid-air, fell to the ground as a pool of blood spread outward.
"How can you employ such cruel methods?"
The novice monk shouted in fury.
"If you recklessly take lives like this, Venerable One, how are you any different from that vile criminal—"
Unfazed by his words, Bu Eun-seol strode toward the cave.
The novice monk swiftly blocked his path.
"Venerable One! Can you not hear me?"
"If we waste any more time," Bu Eun-seol said icily, gesturing toward the cave from which pained moans still echoed,
"that woman will die when her blood vessels burst."
His voice and entire being exuded an imperious authority that brooked no defiance.
The monk instinctively stumbled back, yielding the path—then gasped.
"Then I shall do it."
He extended a hand to stop Bu Eun-seol.
"Men and women must not mingle. Leave this matter to me."
"Are you not a man yourself?"
"I have severed worldly ties. I am no man—only a monk who has taken refuge in the Buddha."
With that, he hurried inside, lifting the collapsed woman into his arms.
"Ugh..."
The moment his hands touched her, she let out a tormented moan.
The aphrodisiac poison was so potent that even the barest contact with a man's skin sent waves of pleasure through her.
"Forgive my intrusion."
The monk pressed his fingers to her Life Gate Acupoint and began channeling his internal energy.
Huuuum.
As his energy flowed into her, an ethereal fragrance filled the cave—
Like stepping into the serene meditation hall of an ancient temple, carrying centuries of quietude.
A subtle, tranquil scent that soothed the mind and spirit.
"Uhhhn..."
Yet despite the infusion of energy, the poisoned woman only writhed in greater agony.
Throb. Throb.
Purple veins bulged across her skin; her lips darkened to a sickly black-red.
The internal energy had worsened her condition.
"Th-this makes no sense..."
The monk was baffled.
Pure Extreme Yin Qi should have suppressed the aphrodisiac's heat in an instant.
So why did her suffering intensify the more he poured in his True Qi?
"Ghhhk—!"
Her eyes rolled back, white foam bubbling at her lips as the Extreme Yin Qi flooded her system.
At this rate, she would perish within moments.
"H-how...?"
The monk floundered helplessly—
Whoosh.
A figure blazing like the sun emerged in the cave.
Bu Eun-seol, having heard the screams, had unleashed the Great Stillness Heat River True Qi at full power.
"Venerable One, you—"
"Move."
The commanding voice sent the monk scrambling aside before he could think.
Bu Eun-seol's right hand shot out, seizing the woman's Pulse Gate.
There was no antidote for the Joy-Draining Soul Scattering Powder.
Just as he had once treated Xiao Yao, poisoned by a similar aphrodisiac—
He would incinerate the toxin's effects with Extreme Yang Qi.
Fwoom! FWOOOOSH!
The pure flames of the Great Stillness Heat River True Qi surged through her meridians, annihilating the aphrodisiac's energy in an instant.
'I interfered needlessly.'
Watching Bu Eun-seol purify the woman amidst sacred flames, the monk scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
Hiss.
The veins on her skin vanished; pale steam rose from her body as Hot River Great Essence True Qi completely neutralized the aphrodisiac.
'She carries the scent too...'
But within that steam, a faint fragrance lingered.
'So it truly stems from his internal energy.'
Having absorbed the monk's True Qi, the woman's body now emitted the same elusive scent.
Bu Eun-seol frowned.
'This martial art is problematic.'
Fragrance was a kind of trace—a vulnerability.
Martial artists possessed keener senses than hunting hounds.
A technique that left a scent was, by nature, fatally flawed.
'Not my concern.'
Shaking his head, Bu Eun-seol draped his outer robe over the woman and exited the cave.
Mutter, mutter.
An unexpected sight greeted him.
The monk had already buried the decapitated Blood Mask Wolf Lord and was now reciting sutras over the grave.
'Do monks like him still exist these days?'
In the past, the Buddhist sects believed mercy extended even to the wicked.
But as the Martial World's order crumbled and evil factions grew bolder,
maintaining peace through such ideals became impossible.
Now, even the Buddhist sects no longer offered boundless compassion to evildoers—
instead adopting a firmer stance to uphold justice.
Yet this novice monk resembled a disciple from the Mystic Path of more peaceful times—
bestowing infinite tolerance as if the world had never changed.
'The Kṣitigarbha Sutra...'
As he chanted, the solemn aura of Jijang Bodhisattva saving souls from hell permeated the air.
Despite a lifetime of atrocities—adultery and unspeakable cruelty—
the Blood Mask Wolf Lord now received the devout prayers of a Mystic Path disciple in his final moments.
What hidden good deeds had he done to deserve such fortune?
'Which sect does this monk belong to?'
His voice was clear as rolling jade, so pure that merely listening brought tranquility.
As the solemn, heartfelt sutras washed over him—
Plink.
A tear slipped unbidden from Bu Eun-seol's eye.
"Please, transfer Seol's suffering onto me. I would gladly fall into hell, become a beast—anything."
Hearing that desperate prayer—
Suddenly, he remembered.
A grandfather's voice, whispering fervently as he carried a feverish child through sleepless nights.
"—From the moment you came to me while I was alone guarding the martial arts hall on Hell Island... you were already my disciple."
And even with his meridian channels severed...
It was because I heard the voice of Master Jin Gak—who, while wearing a tender smile, had placed his hand upon my head with all his strength.