Chapter 1239

"So you claimed to be a disciple of Nangyang Pavilion."

Sensing the killing intent and demonic energy erupting from Bu Eunseol's entire body, the old man let out a hollow laugh.

"You inherited Sado Muryeong's teachings."

"..."

"He said he would never do anything so tedious again."

Bu Eunseol's eyes narrowed.

He had once heard directly from the Heavenly Demon Emperor that the man had raised a disciple, only to cast him aside when he ultimately became a useless blade.

Yet this was truly strange.

The higher Bu Eunseol's martial prowess rose without end...

And the more he encountered experts from the abyss...

At some point, people had begun telling him that he resembled the Heavenly Demon Emperor.

If one considered only killing intent and demonic energy, Blood Demon Jeok Bung stood supreme, so Bu Eunseol could understand why someone might call them similar.

His terrifying growth through real combat also fell short of the Human Demon, Ak Muryeong, but was still worthy of comparison.

It would have made sense if the old man had mentioned Jeok Bung or Ak Muryeong.

But the Heavenly Demon Emperor pierced the mind to seize control of the battle.

He shattered the enemy's techniques themselves and drove them into a state where resistance was impossible.

How could Bu Eunseol resemble him?

Flash!

But there was not even time to think at length.

The old man extended his broom once more.

He attacked three major vital points between Bu Eunseol's chest and abdomen.

Whisk, whisk.

Bu Eunseol's body suddenly tilted and swayed.

Then ninety-nine shadows spread in every direction like a colony of bats scattering into flight.

He had unleashed Swift Beyond Shadow to its ultimate level, allowing him to change direction ninety-nine times without leaving his position.

Whirl!

Returning to his original form, Bu Eunseol stabbed the Silent Tiger Soul Sword toward the top of the old man's foot.

There were many martial moves that attacked the lower body, but almost none that stabbed the top of the foot.

That was because it was more difficult to strike than virtually any other part of the body.

Pat, pat, pat, pat, pat!

Yet the sword technique Bu Eunseol unleashed was different.

It continuously released sword aura like living snakes, which relentlessly burrowed toward the old man's foot.

He had applied the Iron Sleeve Art the old man used a moment earlier to unleash Caged Bird Yearning for Clouds.

"He absorbs the profound principles of martial arts. I cannot drag this out."

Pat!

The old man instantly leaped three jang into the air and swung his broom, releasing forty-eight sword strikes.

Paaat!

In response, Bu Eunseol unleashed the Heon Won Bright Sword and poured out more than a hundred and eighty streams of sword aura.

Whenever possible, martial experts did not remain suspended in the air while employing sword techniques with large movements.

The outcome between one person with both feet planted firmly on the ground and another floating in the air...

Was practically decided from the outset.

Paaat!

But something unexpected occurred.

The old man's forty-eight sword strikes...

Suddenly multiplied fivefold and formed a sword net that crushed down upon Bu Eunseol's sword technique.

Surrounded by the sword net, Bu Eunseol had no choice but to receive the attack head-on.

The problem was that within the Realm of Destruction and Extinction, the only strength remaining to him was two sixty-year cycles of internal energy.

Under those conditions, there was no way to counter such a sword move.

Just as the sword net was about to envelop his body and tear it to pieces...

Flap, flap.

The Silent Tiger Soul Sword leaped like a freshly caught fish, then began creating a circular radiance.

The Phantom Sword Form had unfolded.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

With a deafening metallic clamor, the old man's sword net was being pulverized by the Phantom Sword Form.

'Now.'

A flash surged from Bu Eunseol's eyes.

There was a decisive difference in how the two of them attacked and defended.

The old man was unleashing his sword moves with all his strength.

But thanks to the power of the Storm Harmony Secret, the Phantom Sword Form unfolded on its own for Bu Eunseol.

That allowed him to observe the old man's move in its entirety.

Thoom!

With the sound of thunder, a crimson blood dragon shot from Bu Eunseol's left hand like a bolt of lightning.

Having discovered the old man's opening, he unleashed the Heaven Hand Void Break.

Bang!

The old man was hurled dozens of jang away, all the way to the edge of the life-and-death battle formation.

"Hoh."

Blood flowing from his mouth, the old man nodded with an expression of admiration.

"Remarkable."

He slowly straightened his crouching body and nodded again.

"Even the Human Demon would not have reached such a realm at your age."

Then he spoke in a low voice.

"Perhaps it is time I revealed what I have kept in reserve."

Pop.

The old man abruptly dislocated his jaw.

Then he thrust a hand deep inside his mouth.

Gurgle, gurgle.

Along with a sound like the croaking of a toad, something churned within his stomach.

A vivid crimson object slowly began emerging into his hand.

It was a blood sword so red that it seemed to have been forged from clotted blood.

"You have forced me to use this after all."

The moment the old man drew the sword, his entire bearing changed.

The man who had appeared ancient and withered...

Was now releasing explosive demonic energy like a devil reborn from within a sea of blood.

Vwoom.

At that moment, Bu Eunseol's eyes grew hot and began blooming with pure-white radiance.

'A deception.'

Thanks to the power of the Ancient Sword Forest...

He saw through the old man's act. Although the man had pretended to pull the blood sword from his mouth, the blade had actually emerged from his palm.

'Qi-Sword Studies are hardly such a remarkable technique.'

Why was the old man going to such lengths to conceal the fact that the sword had emerged from his palm?

Clamp.

The old man steadied his posture with the blood sword drawn.

At that moment, cold sweat ran down Bu Eunseol's spine, and his body stiffened until he could no longer move.

This was not because of any power or authority. He had instinctively sensed that the old man was about to unleash a Demon Sword Technique of a level extraordinarily difficult to oppose.

Creak.

Bu Eunseol tried to move with all his strength, but only the sound of his bones echoed. He could not twitch so much as a finger.

'The Ban-Geuk Method.'

Thooom!

His body shook violently.

Burn Qi, Awaken Meridians. Break Origin, Move Body.

He had employed methods that shook the meridians and forced the body to move even when its acupoints were sealed, though doing so came at the expense of his source energy.

Twitch.

At last, just as he regained the ability to move...

"You will die."

Before the word "die" had even finished leaving the old man's lips, the crimson blood sword burrowed toward Bu Eunseol's throat.

It was a technique that had never appeared openly in the martial world, one that even the supreme experts who looked down upon the martial world could not evade.

It was an Absolute Demon Sword Technique that cut down the enemy before they could make the slightest movement.

Flash!

Bu Eunseol likewise became a streak of light. Employing sword-body unity, he confronted the old man's sword move head-on.

At last, the light disappeared.

"..."

The two men had passed one another as though brushing shoulders. They stopped with their backs turned, separated by a little over two jang.

Ssk.

They turned around almost simultaneously. The old man's body was unscathed.

Trickle.

But crimson blood ran down Bu Eunseol's neck.

Even so, it was no fatal wound. The very tip of the sword had merely grazed him, leaving only a light injury.

"How?"

For the first time, shock flashed through the old man's eyes.

Once this sword form was unleashed...

No expert within three jang could evade it, no matter what super senses they possessed.

How had Bu Eunseol avoided the sword by the narrowest possible margin?

"You moved in advance."

At last, the old man understood what had happened and snorted.

"That is right."

Looking down at the blood flowing from his neck, Bu Eunseol nodded.

"Every one of the Eighteen Souls of Light has mastered the same Demon Sword Technique."

He had spent a long time analyzing the traces of demonic swordsmanship left upon his grandfather's corpse.

During his travels through the martial world...

There had been the elder he encountered at the Southern Palace.

And then the masked man who had carried the memories of the Eighteen Souls of Light.

Bu Eunseol had learned that both possessed the same sword form as the killer who murdered his grandfather.

Thanks to that, he had determined that every one of the Eighteen Souls of Light mastered the same sword form.

They also knew how to use the Tianzhu Confucian Fist, Sahyang's hidden weapons, and Rotten and Decaying Poison.

The most shocking fact was this...

The sword form used against his grandfather had not been a complete move brought to its conclusion.

―'What follow-up move would emerge if this sword form were completed?'

When he had prepared his grandfather's body for burial...

He had not yet learned martial arts, so he could not clearly judge the moves contained within the sword technique.

But after entering the martial world, he learned advanced martial arts. Finally, when the masked monster sent by the Martial Alliance unleashed the same demonic swordsmanship that had harmed his grandfather...

Only then had he understood the follow-up form.

―'At extremely close range, it may transform into either a quick sword intended to kill in a single strike or an unblockable chain sword technique.'

Therefore, the moment the old man's blood sword was drawn...

Bu Eunseol had not countered the old man's technique through a method of sword-body unity. Instead, he had escaped the sword's range altogether.

"Do not become conceited merely because you blocked the Shortwave Flash."

The old man regained his composure and smiled grotesquely.

"The fact that you will die remains unchanged."

Clack.

Instead of replying, Bu Eunseol lowered the Silent Tiger Soul Sword into a low guard.

Even if he subdued that old man, he would never obtain any information from him.

That left him no choice but to proceed as planned and obtain Taoist Heo Ju's help.

He would kill the old man in a single blow, then have her read the mind lingering within his soul and uncover the information.

Clack.

The old man held the blood-dripping sword horizontally, then raised it upright into a high guard.

It was an unusual posture, almost as though he intended to block a strike descending upon his head.

The final instant, when the battle would be decided in a single move, had arrived.

Taking such a defensive yet seemingly unnecessary stance at a moment like this...

Displayed the old man's certainty that Bu Eunseol could never overcome him, driving his opponent into despair.

At the same time, it was an archaic technique that forced Bu Eunseol into the sole remaining choice of attacking first.

'This sword art was not created by a martial artist.'

Before reaching the Void Extreme Realm...

Bu Eunseol had believed that the sword technique used by his grandfather's killer was merely sinister demonic swordsmanship of unknown origin.

But now he understood.

The demonic swordsmanship passed down among the Eighteen Souls of Light...

Ran contrary to every sword technique created by the great grandmasters of the martial world throughout history.

It was a sword form of anti-martial arts.

'If I attack first, I die. If I counterattack too late, I also die.'

The old man's posture stood in perfect opposition to the martial principles of the present age.

If Bu Eunseol attacked quickly, the old man would counter at once. Even if Bu Eunseol remained on the defensive, an opening would inevitably appear...

It was truly a sword form of inescapable death.

"Heh heh heh."

A nearly imperceptible smile appeared on the old man's face.

"You have already grasped the profound principles of this sword technique."

It was the smile of one certain of victory.

The mere fact that Bu Eunseol could not attack first meant the battle was already as good as decided.

"In that case..."

Before the old man finished speaking...

With a sharp snap, a keen stream of sword aura sprang from the Silent Tiger Soul Sword into the air.

Bu Eunseol had attacked first.

At the same time, another stream of sword aura erupted behind the old man and spread in every direction.

As though there were two of him, Bu Eunseol poured sword aura not only from the old man's front, but from behind him as well.

Flash!

The old man's blood sword drew a perfectly straight line through the air.

Spurt.

A deep, cross-shaped wound instantly appeared on Bu Eunseol's chest.

Even after employing such an ingenious move, he had failed to block the old man's single sword strike.

Slice.

But then something strange happened.

A crimson line abruptly appeared across the old man's right arm.

With a dull thud, his wrist dropped intact to the ground.

Bu Eunseol had clearly lost the contest of moves.

Yet Bu Eunseol had suffered only a light injury, while the old man had instead been gravely wounded.

"Impossible!"

The old man's eyes shook.

His sword art was perfect.

If the opponent attacked first, he countered. If they failed to attack first, an opening appeared. It was an unfailing sword form.

How had Bu Eunseol escaped a fatal attack from within that dilemma?

"Your anti-martial arts were impressive."

As though answering the old man's question, Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.

"But Sect Leader Weiji discovered the profound principle for countering such swordsmanship long ago."

The person who had greeted Bu Eunseol when he went to destroy the Hwa Wu Sword Sect was Weiji Mu-a.

In an instant, Weiji Mu-a had created a wine cup upon the table where none had existed before.

He had not fetched a cup at extreme speed. He had used a method that transformed space itself.

"The Profound Demon, Weiji Mu-a?"

"That is right. This is Inconstant Form-Breaking, one of the supreme profound principles of the Hwa Wu Sword."

When Bu Eunseol had fought Weiji Mu-a...

The man had relentlessly driven him back with Inconstant Form-Breaking, the supreme profound principle of the Hwa Wu Sword in which a sword move subtly changed midway, beyond all prediction or detection.

And now, Bu Eunseol had unleashed the same technique against the old man.

The old man had blocked the original sword move, but ultimately failed to see through the profound principle of Inconstant Form-Breaking as it changed midway.

In the end, the old man's arm had been severed by a new sword move that transformed within that brief instant.

"Then I lost not to you, but to the Profound Demon."

Bu Eunseol nodded as though he could not deny it.

"That is right."

If he had never received Weiji Mu-a's instruction and inherited the man's magnificent swordsmanship...

He could never have defeated the old man through swordsmanship.

In other words, Weiji Mu-a, who had reached the pinnacle of the Hwa Wu Sword, had shattered the demonic swordsmanship passed down among the Eighteen Souls of Light.

This proved that the martial arts of the present age's supreme experts were surpassing the martial arts created in the past.

And Bu Eunseol, who had evenly mastered the martial essence of those supreme experts, was advancing toward a new realm no one could predict.

"What exactly are the Eighteen Souls of Light?"

"Do you believe you have won?"

When Bu Eunseol questioned him as though victory were already his, a venomous smile spread across the old man's lips.

"Ask such questions after you have completely brought this old man down."

Rumble!

With a sound like the atmosphere tearing apart, the old man's body swelled. The surrounding space began to distort, and the ground cracked like a spiderweb.

Bu Eunseol's gaze shook violently.

Not only was no blood flowing from the severed right arm, but its flesh was gleaming like a jewel.

'The remains of the True Demon.'

Just like the True Demon's left wrist Bu Eunseol had once obtained, the old man had possessed the right wrist.

Craaack.

The right wrist lying on the ground was suddenly stained with blood. It took the shape of a sword and reattached itself to the old man's hand.

'So that was why he pretended to pull it from his mouth.'

The true body of the blood sword he had pretended to draw from his mouth had been created from the remains of the True Demon.

Rumble, rumble.

As the slender blood sword appeared, seemingly imbued with the True Demon's authority, the entire manor began to shake.

"I cannot hold them!"

Taoist Heo Ju shouted.

As though empowered, the Half-Spirits restrained by her Taoist arts began slowly moving and breaking free of her control.

"You must kill him quickly!"

Rumble, rumble.

The earth shook, and sparks began flying through the sky.

Transparent figures repeatedly appeared and vanished in the air, screaming all the while.

They looked like the souls of the Splendid Cloud Merchant House's household, once trapped at the Ghost Gate and now imprisoned by the power of the True Demon's remains.

"Now this old man..."

Holding the sword, the old man murmured with an ecstatic expression.

"Will draw close to him once more."

Whirl!

The power pouring from the blood sword grew ever stronger. It writhed like an enormous serpent and began dyeing the entire world crimson.

At the same time, red veins rose across Bu Eunseol's body, and a chill spread through him.

Simply by turning the sky red...

The phenomenon felt as though the cold hand of the grim reaper were draining every last drop of blood from his body.

Crack.

The protruding blood vessels soon became slender, transparent threads, while Bu Eunseol shivered as though immersed in ice water.

'That blood sword is not a weapon. It is a tool for absorption.'

If any more time passed...

It felt as though even his soul would be absorbed.

Was the Realm of Destruction and Extinction ineffective against it?

The old man clearly possessed only two sixty-year cycles of internal energy within his body.

Yet the deeper the crimson hue of the sky became...

Bu Eunseol's life force, internal energy, and the power of the Heaven-Dark Star...

Along with every other power within him that could not be contained by the Realm of Destruction and Extinction...

And even fragments of his memories seemed to drain away one by one.

"With the two great treasures, Genesis Sun and Moon and Nine Heavens Cloud Splendor... one may experience death endlessly and obtain transcendent enlightenment without undergoing reincarnation."

The old man watched as all the power drained from Bu Eunseol's body.

Looking down at him with the leisure of one regarding a fish caught in a net, the old man spoke.

"Did you ask what the Eighteen Souls of Light were?"

He continued with an expression filled with pride.

"The Eighteen Souls of Light are beings created to recover the True Demon's remains, torn into eighteen pieces, and to wield their power!"

The Eighteen Souls of Light.

It was not the name of an organization or force.

It referred to tools possessing the ability to recover the True Demon's remains, which had been torn into eighteen pieces.

'Was that why they were called souls?'

Each piece of the remains held power. In that sense, the True Demon's soul had been torn into eighteen pieces as well.

'They intend to create a new True Demon...'

Even as his consciousness faded, Bu Eunseol murmured under his breath.

Those who had created the Eighteen Souls of Light, the forces crouching within the Martial Alliance...

Had finally discovered a method for creating the absolute being who had ruled the world and inflicted harm upon it since primordial times.

They had discovered how to create a True Demon.

"Because of his unique ability, the Seven-Finger Demon Blade, Bu Zhanyang, ultimately became something that had never existed before..."

As Bu Eunseol's consciousness and gaze blurred, the old man revealed an even more shocking truth.

"He became the Nineteenth Soul of Light."