Chapter 1240

Thump.

As the meaning of the old man's words sank in, Bu Eunseol's eyes blurred with shock.

'Grandfather... was a new True Demon?'

The Eighteen Souls of Light possessed the ability to recover the True Demon's remains, which had been divided into eighteen parts.

They could also wield their power.

But the old man claimed that an unexpected Nineteenth Soul of Light had been created.

There was no possibility that another piece of the True Demon's remains had suddenly appeared.

Did that not mean his grandfather had ultimately absorbed all of them?

Was that also how he had been able to wield the complete Chains of Samsara?

"Nonsense..."

Barely steadying his shaken mind, Bu Eunseol spoke.

"If Grandfather absorbed all the remains, how can you possess the True Demon's right arm?"

"Heh heh heh. You know nothing."

A sinister smile spread across the old man's face.

"In the end, the Buddha Venerable ruined everything."

"The Buddha Venerable?"

"Enough of this..."

The old man shook his head and spoke coldly.

"Let us finish this."

Srrrk.

The old man raised his blood sword.

Booom!

The tremendous energies behind Bu Eunseol drained away in an instant and disappeared into the crimson sky.

When the old man invoked the Heavenly Demon Emperor and claimed that no one could face him alone, he had not been bluffing.

He could perfectly control the authority contained in the True Demon's remains.

Nothing could stop that power.

Sizzle.

Pale smoke rose from Bu Eunseol's left wrist.

Once all his power had been drained away, a violent reaction began around the wrist where a piece of the True Demon's remains had once been absorbed and lain dormant.

―'Compassion is the strongest and most foolish chain with which one can bind oneself.'

―'Sever your love for others. A merciless heart is the Diamond Indestructible Body that no blade can pierce.'

―'If all sentient beings are connected as one, would their screams not become my hymn? Delight in the law of dependent origination.'

The wisdom of Deep Black entered his mind.

A black enlightenment that should neither be understood nor exist burrowed into his thoughts.

Rumble!

Before he knew it, the form of a Demon Buddha had risen behind him, dyeing the entire world black.

"Haa."

Bu Eunseol's eyes turned black.

If he recited that wicked method and accepted that ashen enlightenment, he could obtain the power to dominate not only the authority in the old man's grasp, but every power in the world.

―'Do not try to escape the wheel of samsara.'

Become the master of that wheel and climb upward by trampling others beneath you.

Will you become a pebble beneath the turning wheel?

Or will you become the driver who makes it turn?

'The wheel of samsara.'

In that instant, Bu Eunseol saw his grandfather in a silent room, respectfully preparing the dead upon an enshrouding table.

Long ago, his grandfather had become the master of that wheel and risen to the summit of all existence.

Yet in the end, he had chosen to prepare the bodies of those who had died alone in foreign lands, unable even to hear the voices of their loved ones.

He had chosen to pray for their repose.

He had spent the rest of his life regretting his past, mired in remorse and pain.

'How could I repeat the same mistake?'

His grandfather had taught Bu Eunseol to choose the proper path.

He had wanted his grandson to avoid following in his footsteps and live an ordinary, happy life.

How, then, could Bu Eunseol allow himself to be ruled by mere power and authority?

Five-colored radiance bloomed in Bu Eunseol's eyes.

Crack.

He began forcibly suppressing the power trying to erupt from his left wrist and the black methods invading his mind.

Rummmmble!

The radiance rising from his entire body assumed the form of a Five-Colored Dragon and began tearing apart the Demon Buddha floating in the sky.

―'The bitter cold of winter freezes the earth not to kill life.'

It is the process by which vitality, to be spread when spring arrives, is compressed and stored deep within the ground.

The words his father had spoken while teaching him martial arts at Saha Manor suddenly brushed past his ears.

―'But to insects and ants with short lives, it must seem as though death has descended upon the entire world.'

When the young Baekri Geomha nodded, his father, Baekri Muha, smiled.

―'Then what if snow fell for the next hundred years? Would humans not also believe that an enraged god had sent divine punishment upon them?'

Baekri Geomha's eyes widened at the wholly unexpected question.

Baekri Muha continued with a smile.

―'What appears to humans, from their brief and narrow perspective, as destruction, extinction, and decline...'

From nature's perspective, it may instead be the moment of conception, a process necessary to bring forth new life.

Nature has no concept of an end.

Forms merely change.

Every extinction leaves space for another birth.

Things appear to be born, grow, and vanish.

In truth, they repeat endlessly in a circle.

The point thought to be an ending always meets another beginning.

The moment called extinction is already the place where new life draws breath.

Shudder.

Bu Eunseol's body shook violently as the recollection ended.

At last, he understood why the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse had been incomplete until now.

He also understood why it had consumed his vitality every time he deployed it.

'From a human perspective, it was destruction and extinction...'

He could finally complete the method of the true Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse.

'But from nature's perspective, it was only a process for bringing forth new life.'

Whooooosh.

The instant he attained that enlightenment, the light of life bloomed from Bu Eunseol's body like a seed that had endured winter finally breaking through the earth.

"That bastard..."

The old man sucked in a startled breath as he watched Bu Eunseol, who had been dying under the authority of the True Demon.

The wretch had been gasping as his vitality drained away, shriveling on the verge of death.

Yet now he was suddenly radiating the authority of Soul Demon Dharma Energy in all directions, equal to the old man's own.

"But he has no remains."

The True Demon's remains resonated with one another.

Once their power was unleashed, those who possessed them could sense one another.

Yet the old man could not sense the slightest trace of the remains within Bu Eunseol.

"What is that now?"

The strange phenomena did not end there.

A five-colored dragon had suddenly appeared and devoured the authority of the Soul Demon Dharma Energy.

Now it was spreading a light of life so brilliant that it was difficult even to look upon.

Bu Eunseol's emaciated body recovered.

The vitality that had been completely extinguished filled him once more.

The flesh and vitality desiccated by the irresistible authority of the True Demon had both been restored.

Whoosh.

The light gradually faded.

Before long, Bu Eunseol's body had completely recovered.

It was wondrous.

Even after he withdrew the power of the Void Extreme Realm, the Realm of Destruction and Extinction remained in place.

His body felt lighter than before.

"You..."

The old man's expression twisted grotesquely as he stared at Bu Eunseol.

"Do you mean to say you have not a single evil deed to your name?"

"Evil deed?"

It was a strange thing to say.

Could the True Demon's remains steal the evil karma a person had accumulated?

Even if that were true, why would anyone deliberately absorb evil karma that one ought to rejoice at casting away?

"Die!"

At that moment, a blood-red thread swept before Bu Eunseol's eyes.

It appeared to have been swung like a weapon.

In truth, it was the authority of the True Demon made manifest.

Shhing.

With a sword cry like the roar of a dragon, hundreds and thousands of points of light began blooming from Bu Eunseol's Silent Tiger Soul Sword.

The old man had unleashed the utmost authority of the remains.

Bu Eunseol answered by deploying the complete Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse.

Then something strange happened.

Crackle.

The spreading lights took the shape of two slender strands and slowly twisted together.

They formed something remarkably similar to the Chains of Samsara left behind by the True Demon.

Whirl.

The red blood-thread extending from the old man's right hand was instantly entangled in the chain formed from points of light.

"Aaaaaagh!"

The old man screamed without the slightest concern for dignity.

He had transcended bodily pain long ago.

But what assailed him now was the agony of an eternal imprisonment that annihilated existence itself.

It was as though he had been locked away for centuries in a space without sound, light, or sensation, his memories erased and his very identity melting away.

"Ughhh."

This was a man who, as one of the Eighteen Souls of Light, had touched the greatest secrets of the martial world and forced everyone to kneel beneath his feet.

"Uwaaaaaagh!"

Yet he rolled across the ground like a newborn child and wailed like a beast.

"Hnnngh."

But the old man's mental fortitude was extraordinary as well.

"Haaaaagh!"

Though trapped in a spiritual prison that would already have driven an ordinary person mad, he attempted another counterattack.

Clamp.

He closed the distance in an instant.

Then he spread both palms and drew up all his power.

He deployed the Heaven-Stealing Life-Restoration Art, which transcended every essence-absorption secret art scattered throughout the present martial world.

Thoom, thoom, thoom.

The earth shook as Bu Eunseol's vital essence was absorbed into the old man's body.

Ordinarily, essence-absorption secret arts required the target's body and mind to be opened completely through special pills and profound grand methods.

But the Heaven-Stealing Life-Restoration Art could absorb another's essence with ease merely by spreading one's arms.

"It must be a secret art of the True Demon."

Bu Eunseol wore a bitter expression.

"Or perhaps a remnant of the knowledge the Baekri Family stole from the True Demon."

The old man felt something beyond surprise, something bordering on horror.

How could Bu Eunseol speak while being subjected to an essence-absorption secret art? How could he know the Baekri Family's secrets, which even the highest leaders of the martial world did not know?

"Since you have even learned the True Demon's secret arts, no method I use will make you open your mouth."

Bu Eunseol spoke solemnly.

"Let us see this to its conclusion."

"Hup!"

Rather than answer, the old man released a thunderous shout and fully deployed the Heaven-Stealing Life-Restoration Art.

Even if he died, he intended to inflict severe damage by harming Bu Eunseol's primordial energy.

Ziiiing.

Yet when the old man tried to absorb his primordial energy with all his might, Bu Eunseol offered no resistance and instead poured forth a ceaseless stream of vitality.

Having grasped the essence of the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse, he could now circulate every power within his body.

"...!"

The old man's mouth fell open.

The reason the Heaven-Stealing Life-Restoration Art could so easily absorb another's vitality was that it cleverly exploited the opposing force created by the target's resistance.

But when Bu Eunseol pushed all his power into him without hesitation, it became an uncontrollable torrent flooding into his meridians.

"Ugh."

Absorbing such enormous power without resistance was like mercilessly forcing a sharp weapon into one's own body.

Craaack.

His skin split.

His blood vessels swelled and burst.

His meridians and organs ruptured beneath the strain, and his muscles tore.

Snap, snap, snap.

Under the dreadful pressure, fine fractures spread through every bone in his body like a spiderweb.

"Uuuugh."

The old man stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes.

Gush. Flop.

He vomited dark-red blood and fell to his knees.

Ssssh.

His right arm began crumbling into powder.

The hand was destroyed by the profound principle of circulation contained in the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse.

Sssst.

Black mist flowed from the powdered stump and began pouring into Bu Eunseol's body once more.

'The exact same thing is happening again.'

Bu Eunseol deployed the Silent Tiger Soul Eclipse in an attempt to block the mist.

Swoooosh.

But it was absorbed into his right arm in an instant.

'Can this not be stopped?'

As before, he could not feel that anything had changed.

If anything, his body felt even lighter.

"You..."

The dying old man looked up at Bu Eunseol with fading eyes.

"You inherited even Bu Zhanyang's legacy."

His gaze resembled a candle flame on the verge of going out.

Realizing that little time remained, Bu Eunseol asked him a question.

"Who killed Grandfather?"

"In any case..."

The old man spoke with vacant eyes.

"You will meet the same fate as Bu Zhanyang."

Thump.

With those final words, the old man breathed his last.

Rumble.

When he died, the members of the Splendid Cloud Merchant House who had become Half-Spirits collapsed one after another.

Srrrk.

In death, their forms changed until they resembled shriveled, withered branches.

Their bodies had ceased functioning long ago when they became Half-Spirits.

But under the authority of the remains possessed by the old man, their souls had been unable to pass through the Ghost Gate.

"Taoist Heo Ju!"

Bu Eunseol spoke urgently to her.

"Please read his mind at once."

Before the old man died, Bu Eunseol had deliberately made his final question one about the identity of his grandfather's killer.

What if the old man knew the answer? What if he had been thinking of it at that moment?

With Taoist Heo Ju's power, they could learn the answer immediately.

"All right."

Ziiiing.

Taoist Heo Ju stared wide-eyed at the old man's remains.

But she could not readily speak.

Large beads of sweat began forming on her forehead.

"This old man's spiritual defenses are truly formidable."

"To think he could erect such a barrier even before death."

"Please."

Bu Eunseol's expression was more desperate than ever.

He had finally obtained a clue about the Eighteen Souls of Light, a mystery that had troubled him for so long.

But that was not what mattered.

It did not matter who had created the Eighteen Souls of Light.

It did not matter what power and what individuals were entrenched within the Martial Alliance, nurturing people like these.

Only one thing mattered.

He needed to know who had killed his grandfather.

"I will try."

Taoist Heo Ju assumed a horse stance and formed hand seals.

She began endlessly reciting a mantra in a low voice.

Trickle.

The sweat on her forehead began falling like rain.

"Among the Eighteen Souls of Light..."

At last, her lips began to move.

"The one who severed every spirit vein in the Central Plains."

Trickle, trickle.

More and more fresh blood poured from her mouth.

"He became one of the Eighteen Souls of Light later than the others."

"But he was born with the Myriad Transformations Holy Physique and is the strongest of all eighteen..."

Flop.

Taoist Heo Ju collapsed while still holding her hand seals.

She had pushed herself beyond her limits and lost consciousness.

"Myriad Transformations Holy Physique."

The shock left Bu Eunseol standing as rigid as a stone statue.

Then the boy he had once seen in the memories of the masked monster belonging to the Eighteen Souls of Light, the boy he had mistaken for his grandfather's son, was the killer.

"Something is wrong."

Once a bearer of the Myriad Transformations Holy Physique passed the age of twenty, their intelligence and insight developed tremendously.

There was no possibility that someone like that could fail to distinguish his true father from a false one.

"Did he blame Grandfather for the appearance of the false Seven-Finger Demon Blade?"

The killer had blamed even the appearance of the false Seven-Finger Demon Blade on his grandfather.

Unable to suppress his rage, he had blinded Grandfather and severed both his arms, inflicting upon him the same fate as his mother's...

For now, that was the most plausible deduction Bu Eunseol could make.

"Mmm."

At that moment, Taoist Heo Ju groaned and regained consciousness.

Apparently, she had not overexerted herself too severely.

Her complexion was not poor, and her gaze was clear.

"Are you all right?"

When Bu Eunseol approached with an apologetic expression, Taoist Heo Ju nodded.

"Yes."

"I only pushed myself a little."

She looked at him and sighed.

"That old man's spiritual barrier was formidable. That was all I could hear. I am sorry."

"There is no need to apologize."

Bu Eunseol waved his hand.

"You have given me more help than anyone since I entered the martial world."

Thanks to Taoist Heo Ju, he had learned that the boy who lost his mother to the false Seven-Finger Demon Blade became one of the Eighteen Souls of Light, then used the power gained there to kill his grandfather.

It was the first direct information he had obtained about his grandfather's killer since entering the martial world.

'There must be circumstances of which I know nothing.'

It was difficult to believe that someone with the Myriad Transformations Holy Physique could be so narrow-minded.

It was equally hard to accept that he had brutally murdered Grandfather merely out of resentment toward a false Seven-Finger Demon Blade.

If the man were so twisted and filled with murderous intent, he would surely have caused some great upheaval in the martial world long ago or become widely known as a Great Murder Star.

There was no way he could have lived so quietly.

'In the end, I must uncover the true nature of the Martial Alliance.'

If the Martial Alliance was an organization capable of nurturing masters such as these, then the beings seated in its depths had to be a mighty force or individual who surpassed the Three Realms and could even threaten the supremacy of the Baekri Family and the True Demon Palace.

He had to investigate the Martial Alliance from within.

"Are you all right?"

Taoist Heo Ju's voice brought Bu Eunseol back to his senses.

He bowed deeply and offered her a respectful salute.

"I was lost in thought for a moment. Thank you for your help."

"There is no need to thank me so formally."

She smiled in embarrassment.

"The truth is, I sought you out because I have a request of my own."

"Whatever it is, you need only command me."

Those were not empty words.

Without Taoist Heo Ju, it would easily have taken years to follow the clue from the dumpling shop to the Splendid Cloud Merchant House.

Nor would he have heard about the bearer of the Myriad Transformations Holy Physique from the old man who possessed the True Demon's remains.

"You will find my request difficult to grant."

As though he had expected such an answer, Bu Eunseol nodded.

"Naturally."

Then a dry smile crossed his face.

"Immortal."

"Yes?"

"Are you not the Farseeing Mind-Mirror Immortal?"

Bu Eunseol had already known.

She was not merely a Taoist who had mastered exceptional Taoist arts, but one of the Ten Great Immortals.

"How did you know?"

When she asked in surprise, Bu Eunseol smiled faintly.

"If you can read only the memories immediately after a person's breath ceases... put another way, does that not mean you wield the power of Mind-to-Mind Perception?"

The more powerful a martial artist was, the stronger their spiritual defenses became.

Those defenses would never collapse while they lived, or even in the final moments as they died.

But Taoist Heo Ju had said that at the instant of death, when a person's breath ceased, she could pierce through their spirit and read their memories.

More importantly, she had said she could see evil.

Only one person in the martial world possessed such power.

It could only be the Farseeing Mind-Mirror Immortal, one of the Ten Great Immortals born with the innate authority of Mind-to-Mind Perception.