BOOM!
Bu Eunseol immediately unleashed lightning-fast movement technique and raced toward them like a gale.
‘I must hurry!’
If the Poison King intervened, rescuing the mother and daughter would become extremely difficult.
Fortunately, the Poison King was still approaching slowly from afar on his palanquin, but there was no telling when he might deploy his movement technique and charge into the battlefield.
‘Damn it.’
The moment Bu Eunseol arrived at the place where the enemies were gathered, he saw the center surrounded by the foes.
There, a woman lay collapsed and bleeding, while the girl desperately tried to protect her.
It was the woman who had been imprisoned in the water prison of the temple and her daughter, Seong-ah.
When Seong-ah took the form of a mature woman, she could absorb all the power inside Bu Eunseol’s body and possessed terrifying strength capable of shaking the entire underground holy city.
But in her current girl form, she was nothing more than an ordinary child.
Having noticed this weakness, the poison users relentlessly attacked from a distance with their poison arts, stubbornly targeting only the fallen woman instead of the girl.
“Aaah!”
Seong-ah wailed and swung her hands at the martial artists, but they paid no attention and continued pouring out their poison attacks without pause.
Trickle.
In the end, under the poison users’ assault, the woman helplessly collapsed while vomiting black blood.
“Aaaah!”
Seong-ah, not knowing what to do, burst into tears and hugged her fallen mother tightly.
“You devilish bastards!”
BOOM! Rumble!
At that moment, countless purple flashes swirled in the sky and then struck the ground like lightning.
Crackle!
From the points of impact, blade-like purple thunderbolts erupted violently in all directions.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bodies of the nearby poison users instantly exploded into bloody mist.
Bu Eunseol did not stop there.
He mercilessly unleashed hundreds of thunderbolt blades forged from Thunder Spirit Energy in every direction.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Until now, aside from increasing the speed of his movement technique or the release speed of his martial arts, he had avoided using Thunder Spirit Energy to directly perform killing moves whenever possible.
Attacks using Thunder Spirit Energy destroyed the body so brutally that it was difficult to even find a corpse afterward.
Because he believed that the bodies of the dead should be respected just as much as those of the living, he had never deployed killing moves with Thunder Spirit Energy—except against the most heinous villains and the figure from the Three Realms who had tormented his sworn brother, Nae Bihon, for life, as well as the Pang Family’s Supreme Elder who had mastered the Blade Emperor’s supreme learning.
But this time was different.
These people had imprisoned a woman with no martial arts in a water prison, subjected her to cruel torture, and then, after she barely escaped, poisoned her and driven her to such a miserable death.
Unbearable rage surged all the way to the top of his head.
“You are not worth living.”
Crackle! BOOM!
When Bu Eunseol released Thunder Spirit Energy at full power, a vibration that shook the entire world erupted. The martial artists attacking Seong-ah exploded one after another, creating sticky pools of blood.
In the time it took to take a few deep breaths, Bu Eunseol had turned several hundred martial artists into bloody pulp.
Strangely, although the Poison King must have clearly seen this scene, he was still not hurrying. He remained seated on his palanquin, approaching slowly.
But Bu Eunseol had no time to worry about that.
“Madam.”
He immediately approached the fallen woman.
“Ah… ah.”
Seong-ah looked at Bu Eunseol with tears streaming down her face.
It was as if she was desperately begging him to save her mother.
“I understand. I will examine her, so step back.”
Uuuung.
First, Bu Eunseol began absorbing all the vicious poison that had penetrated her body.
Even after completely absorbing the poison, her condition did not improve at all. Blood continued to flow endlessly from her ears, nose, and eyes.
‘The poison caused her wounds to burst open again.’
She had barely recovered her body after taking the life-saving medicine Bu Eunseol had given her.
Yet in that state, the extreme poison had invaded her body, causing the sealed blood vessels to rupture once more.
Uuuung.
Sensing there was no other way, Bu Eunseol continuously infused pure Ban-Geuk Method energy into her so that she would not feel any pain.
Perhaps sensing that warm consideration, the woman slowly opened her eyes.
“I am sorry, benefactor.”
She spoke with a regretful expression.
“Because of my poor judgment, I have caused you to waste your precious elixir.”
“Do not worry about such things.”
“…I am sorry I could not tell you earlier. Even if it is late, I will tell you everything now.”
The woman looked as though she might stop breathing at any moment. Yet she continued speaking firmly while gasping for air.
“About the Great One.”
“The Great One… refers to the being who retains his memories and repeatedly reincarnates without end. Is that correct?”
She nodded.
After nodding, the woman panted heavily.
Uuuung.
When Bu Eunseol once again infused Ban-Geuk Method energy containing Crystal Divine Energy, her breathing calmed slightly.
“Actually, my daughter Seong-ah is…”
The woman looked at Seong-ah with tender eyes.
“…the very first ‘New Bloodline’ that the Great One so desperately desired.”
“New Bloodline?”
For a moment, the words the Holy One had spoken earlier flashed through Bu Eunseol’s mind.
—His true goal is to make everyone in the world the same as himself. In mind and in body.
“You mean this child is a new generation of human completed by the True Demon?”
“So you already knew.”
The woman answered while catching her breath.
“At first, they were called New Type Humans or Opening Era Humans. But now they are simply called ‘New Bloodline.’”
The True Demon had finally succeeded in creating humans of a new era who resembled his own mind and body—the ‘New Bloodline.’
But the truly shocking story began now.
“And the goal of the ‘Great One’… is to swap himself with the child conceived by the New Bloodline and be reborn.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes widened.
“Swap himself with the conceived child?”
The most fearsome ability of the True Demon was to retain his memories while repeatedly reincarnating without end. For someone like him, there should be no need to steal the body of a fetus.
‘Her consciousness may be fading, so she might have explained it incorrectly.’
With that thought, Bu Eunseol asked,
“Then is he trying to use a secret art like the Innate Reversal Grand Technique to change the constitution and power of the fetus?”
“No. He truly intends to take over the body of the fetus conceived by the New Bloodline.”
At that moment, the woman spoke in a trembling voice.
“Because the chain of reincarnation has been broken.”
“What do you…”
“The Great One’s power has become so overwhelmingly strong… that ordinary humans can no longer conceive him.”
Thud.
Bu Eunseol looked as if he had been struck on the back of the head.
The Holy One had said that the True Demon’s goal was to create a world of humans who resembled himself—more evolved humans.
But his true intention was different.
His power had grown so immense that he could no longer be conceived by ordinary means.
Thus, he created humans with new bodies—the ‘New Bloodline’—and intended to live a new life through them.
‘So there truly is no secret art of immortality in this world.’
Even the ancient True Demon seemed unable to defy the laws of nature. Instead of achieving eternal life without reincarnation, he had been continuously born and reborn in human bodies, accumulating knowledge and power.
“So this is the opportunity to annihilate the True Demon.”
Bu Eunseol finally understood what the shocking secret the Holy One had wanted to convey was.
Now that the chain of reincarnation had been broken, if he killed the True Demon, he could permanently erase the pure demon that had existed since ancient times.
‘Even if the Holy One knew this fact, he could not have told me directly.’
He was originally from the Baekri Clan, but because he had been brainwashed by the True Demon, he could not act against the True Demon’s will. Perhaps that was why he could not speak of it directly and had instead urged Bu Eunseol to travel to Cheonchuk.
“My name is Hye Myo-eum. I was a practitioner at the Martial Flower Temple.”
The woman, Hye Myo-eum, revealed her identity.
“Because I possessed a constitution capable of conceiving the New Bloodline, I was kidnapped by them… After enduring all kinds of experiments, I eventually gave birth to Seong-ah.”
She looked at Seong-ah, who was crying while gazing at her.
“After I failed several escape attempts, they bound chains to my body, locked me in the brain prison, and tortured me to change Seong-ah’s pure heavenly nature. Once Seong-ah finally met the conditions for the New Bloodline they demanded… they sealed the child inside a glass tube with the power of a grand technique and waited for the descent of the Great One.”
She wore a regretful expression.
“I was told that the tube could only be opened with the blood of the Great One. When you opened it, benefactor… at first I could not readily trust you.”
Bu Eunseol wore a dazed expression.
The reason Hye Myo-eum had not trusted him until the end and had not told him the story was because he had said he opened the crystal tube with his own blood.
She had thought he was the True Demon or someone connected to him.
‘Does that mean my blood is the same as the True Demon’s blood?’
He received a great shock, but quickly composed himself.
‘Since I inherited my mother’s blood as well, it is only natural that the True Demon’s blood is mixed in.’
Shaking off the complicated thoughts, Bu Eunseol shook his head.
“If I were the True Demon, why would I go through such complicated trouble?”
At that moment, Hye Myo-eum spoke another shocking truth.
“They say the Great One has lost his memories.”
‘Lost his memories?’
The True Demon’s level of martial arts and mystical arts could be described as the greatest of all time.
Why would such a divine being lose his memories?
“Then it is highly likely he is only pretending to have lost them.”
“That, I do not know. However, because of that, his attendants have scattered in all directions to search for the Great One.”
At Hye Myo-eum’s words, Bu Eunseol’s eyes flashed.
‘So the Three Attendants have scattered to find the True Demon… and that is why his subordinates have been acting arbitrarily and committing reckless acts?’
The abyss person he had seen before not only showed no loyalty to the True Demon but was also plotting something on his own.
Was all of that because of the absence of the True Demon, who had lost his memories?
“Then creating the New Bloodline was something they had been working on for a long time, even before he lost his memories…”
Bu Eunseol clutched his forehead and said,
“They finally succeeded, yet he has not appeared.”
The True Demon’s subordinates had been secretly conducting research on the New Bloodline deep underground in the Ajanta Caves of Cheonchuk for a long time.
To maintain ironclad security during the process, they had the Poison King, who resided in the Poison King Palace, guard the entire Napgi Lake area.
Since it was an order from the True Demon’s subordinates, even the Elephant King could not dare object and had obediently handed over the Napgi Lake region.
“That is correct.”
Hye Myo-eum continued,
“Seong-ah not only became the New Bloodline but was also meant to become the first woman to conceive the True Demon. That is why she received mysterious energy, transformed into a mature woman, and slept in that place.”
She looked at her daughter with loving eyes.
“But when you appeared, benefactor, Seong-ah returned to her original form.”
She added,
“Because the grand technique was broken by your blood… Seong-ah has probably become a New Bloodline that reacts only to your blood.”
“My blood…”
“Yes.”
She turned her head again and looked at Bu Eunseol.
“Only now can I feel it. Not only were you born with the same blood as the Great One… but you also possess the power to oppose him.”
Perhaps because she was facing death, Hye Myo-eum could sense that Bu Eunseol was extremely virtuous and could also detect the potential hidden within his body as well as the True Demon’s blood.
“Perhaps it was also your power that returned my child to her original state.”
After speaking, Hye Myo-eum called out to her beloved daughter.
“Seong-ah.”
The sobbing Seong-ah ran over and hugged her when her mother called.
“Aaah.”
Hye Myo-eum said to Bu Eunseol,
“Please help this child. Make sure she is never used by those evil ones again.”
“…I understand.”
Bu Eunseol spoke in a calm voice, making a vow.
“I swear to the heavens. Even if it costs me my life, I will never allow such a thing to happen.”
He normally did not make such vows.
But he deliberately spoke this way, knowing that only then would Hye Myo-eum feel at ease.
“Thank you.”
Hye Myo-eum smiled faintly, as if she had felt his kind consideration.
“Since you say so, benefactor, I feel relieved. However, I must shamelessly ask one more favor.”
“Speak of anything.”
“Please destroy all the treasures in the temple and the crystal tube where Seong-ah was kept, so they can never do such things again.”
‘Treasures… I see.’
Only now did Bu Eunseol realize that those bizarre treasures belonged to the True Demon and were tools for creating the New Bloodline.
“I will definitely destroy them.”
“Thank you so much.”
Hye Myo-eum struggled to bring her palms together in a prayer gesture.
“I will surely repay this grace in the next life…”
Slump.
She could not finish her sentence and collapsed.
“Madam.”
“I am sorry… but I will rest here for a little while.”
The woman slowly closed her eyes.
She had lost far too much blood, and her life force was exhausted. She could no longer hold on.
“Seong-ah.”
The woman looked at her daughter and spread her arms.
“Will you hug your mother?”
Seong-ah smiled brightly and hugged Hye Myo-eum tightly.
“Please be happy.”
Slump.
While still holding her daughter tightly, she closed her eyes.
She had given birth to Seong-ah amid cruel torture and experiments, endured a harsh life, and in the end, without ever escaping this place, she drew her last breath.
“Aaah?”
Seong-ah looked at her mother, who had stopped breathing, and called out loudly to Bu Eunseol.
It seemed she was asking whether her mother had fully recovered.
“Yes.”
Bu Eunseol looked at Seong-ah with sorrowful eyes and said,
“Your mother has recovered completely and has fallen into a deep sleep.”
Seong-ah smiled brightly, looking truly relieved.
“Bow to your mother.”
“…?”
“Like this.”
Suppressing his grief, Bu Eunseol bowed toward the deceased Hye Myo-eum.
Seong-ah looked puzzled at first, then followed Bu Eunseol and bowed as well.
“Your mother needs to rest here for a while. Can you follow me?”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Seong-ah shook her head.
“Aaah.”
It seemed she was saying she must stay by her mother’s side.
Swallowing his heavy heart, Bu Eunseol let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“All right. For now, let us stay by your mother’s side a little longer.”
Boom.
At that moment, an unpleasant vibration echoed from the distant sky.
The unpleasant vibration that shook the ground from the far end of the sky felt like the solemn and sinister resonance of King Yama opening the register of sinners in the deepest part of hell and delivering judgment on their fate.
For a brief moment, Bu Eunseol felt as if his vision had gone black. It lasted only an instant, yet the unpleasant aftertaste lingered like a nightmare.
‘This is bad.’
When he opened his eyes again, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
Hye Myo-eum and Seong-ah, who had been talking right in front of him, had disappeared.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of troops had gathered across the plain.
And a middle-aged man with six layers of chins and a body made entirely of fat, a ten-chi-tall giant, was reclining lazily on a massive palanquin, looking down at him.
He wore a kasaya robe, making him look like the manifestation of the Maitreya Bodhisattva, yet overwhelming energy emanated from his entire body and his eyes were slit sharply like blades.
“Poison King.”
Poison King, Garama.
One of the Eight Tyrants of Cheonchuk and the Poison Saint of Cheonchuk who ruled Nagara City.
He had scattered a strange poison to paralyze Bu Eunseol’s senses and instantly stolen the mother and daughter away.
‘He wasn’t approaching slowly—he was scattering poison.’
Bu Eunseol gritted his teeth.
The reason the Poison King had come here leisurely on his palanquin was to take Hye Myo-eum and Seong-ah without lifting a finger.
He had deployed one of the Four Poisons—Demon Flower— a combination of deadly poison and Cheonchuk’s sound arts that could make even the greatest master in the world lose consciousness in an instant.
[Oh my.]
When Bu Eunseol called out his title in the Han language, the Poison King also used fluent Han language and spread Six Directions Voice Transmission containing a bizarre resonance.
[Seeing that your body has not melted from my poison… you must be quite famous in the Central Plains.]
His voice rang like a temple bell and was extremely majestic, as if the Maitreya Buddha himself were speaking.
Resting his chin on his hand, the Poison King muttered with an intrigued expression.
[How dare you come all the way to my territory and cause such a ruckus.]
However, Bu Eunseol’s gaze was not on the Poison King. Instead, he was scanning every corner of the plain.
Finally, far away, he spotted a group escorting two large tubes.
They had probably subdued Hye Myo-eum and Seong-ah and placed them inside tubes engraved with mysterious power.
“Return Madam Hye and Seong-ah.”
[Madam Hye?]
The Poison King tilted his head.
[Are you referring to the female used to give birth to the New Bloodline?]
He clicked his tongue.
[Her corpse is extremely valuable. After all, she was the first to successfully produce the New Bloodline.]
The Poison King showed a cruel smile.
[She is worth studying for a long time, so…]
But he could not finish his sentence.
Bu Eunseol, who had approached like lightning in an instant, drew the Silent Tiger Soul Sword and struck at his neck.
Clang!
With a clear ring, the Silent Tiger Soul Sword was blocked by a massive finger.
The Poison King had stopped the Silent Tiger Soul Sword with his finger.
Crackle.
A massive vortex spread out where the sword and finger met.
[Ho.]
With this single exchange, the Poison King realized that Bu Eunseol was by no means his inferior and looked surprised.
[To reach such a realm at such a young age… Just who are you?]
“The person who will drag you to hell!”
Shaaak!
Bu Eunseol drew a purple sword light in a zigzag pattern.
Since his true martial arts were not known in Cheonchuk anyway, he unleashed the swift killing sword—the Unmatched Thunderbolt Form—which displayed absolute power at close range.
‘No, it doesn’t matter even if it is exposed.’
Blood light rose in Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
‘Because I will kill them all.’
[Your sword technique is impressive.]
Still seated on his palanquin, the Poison King lightly moved his fingers and began neutralizing the Unmatched Thunderbolt Form one by one.
[This is truly remarkable. You have not merely reached the Poisonous Body realm—you have entered the initial stage of the Poisonous Extreme Essence.]
Even though the Poison King continuously scattered poison, there were no signs of poisoning on Bu Eunseol, so he had seen through the fact that Bu Eunseol had reached the Poisonous Extreme Essence realm.
Shaaashaaashaaa!
Regardless of the Poison King’s surprise, Bu Eunseol’s sword technique grew increasingly fast and swift to the point where it was almost impossible to handle.
[Heh.]
In the end, both shock and a groan escaped the Poison King’s mouth at the same time.
[How is this possible?]
His fingers concentrated the essence of poison arts. Even most divine weapons would have their blades shattered upon collision.
Moreover, the poison qi residing in his fingers could destroy martial arts themselves.
Yet even while frantically moving his ten log-like fingers, he was struggling to block the sword technique?
