Jingak passed away as if he were a traveler falling into a comfortable sleep at the end of a long journey, a faint smile lingering on his lips. Bu Eunseol forcibly swallowed the hot tears welling up inside him.
‘Why does everyone I love leave me!’
In the past, he would have wailed and cursed the heavens. But now he knew.
Within the cold and harsh providence of this martial world, life and death are not two paths turned away from each other, but merely a crossing point passed in a fleeting moment.
Splash.
Bu Eunseol brought clear water and began to reverently wash Jingak’s cooling body. His touch was infinitely gentle and careful, as if sharing a final warmth. In that moment, the image of his grandfather—who had passed away with a benevolent smile for him—flashed through his mind.
Both Jingak and his grandfather had never lost their warm smiles, even in their most painful final moments.
Perhaps they wanted to teach him that life and death are no different.
Before he knew it, a gentle smile bloomed around Bu Eunseol’s eyes instead of tears. A parting should be sent off with a smile rather than sorrow; that was the final lesson his master had imparted.
A small grave containing the remains was created on Geumsado Island. When summer returned and the water levels rose, this grave would disappear. Jingak had chosen this place as his final resting spot to conclude the long journey of his life. Perhaps, like the appearance of Geumsado which is forgotten as seasons pass, he wished to be quietly erased from the world.
“Master.”
Bu Eunseol performed the Nine Prostrations before Jingak’s grave.
“I will surely return your Thirteen Hwa Wu Forms to the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.”
Then, he spoke in a low voice.
“However, that Hwa Wu Sword Sect will be a bit different from the one that exists now.”
Even while dying, Jingak was proud to be a disciple of the Hwa Wu Sword Sect and did not resent them even for issuing such an order. Bu Eunseol had promised to preserve the sect, but since he did not specify how he would preserve it, he intended to deal with it in his own way.
‘Weiji Hyesang.’
Bu Eunseol had sensed it from the start—from the moment they met, it would not end as a good connection. They were destined to be in a relationship where they could not live under the same sky.
‘I will not kill him immediately.’
When the water flooded Geumsado and his master’s grave vanished… that is when he would sever Weiji Hyesang’s neck.
***
Having perfectly organized his spirit and recovered his personalities, Bu Eunseol returned to Majeon and reported confidently to the Demon Emperor.
“Daephunghyeop was not a spirit land but a poisonous land; the Martial Alliance was merely waiting there to secure the fruit of the Silver Essence Reishi.”
Bu Eunseol intentionally delayed the return of the Death Shadow Corps after finishing the business at Daephunghyeop. Fortunately, it had only been a few days since he met Jingak on Geumsado, so he was able to rejoin the warriors of the Death Shadow Corps quickly.
“However, they had actually laid out a certain formation within Daephunghyeop. It seems they are plotting various schemes.”
He reported other details he had discovered in depth, but he did not mention the Wood Buddha. The Demon Emperor nodded silently without saying much.
The publicly assigned mission—to bring the spirit herbs from Daephunghyeop guarded strictly by the Martial Alliance—had been perfectly executed. Furthermore, since he reported the secret movements of the Martial Alliance hidden deep within the valley, he had proven his loyalty to the Demon Emperor at the risk of his life while simultaneously redeeming himself for his past mission failure.
Beyond that, he had saved face before the leaders of Majeon, allowing him to firmly maintain his prestige as the Martial Soul Command Lord, just as he had until now.
‘Perhaps… the Demon Emperor saw through everything.’
It was highly unlikely that the man called the number one of the Demonic Path failed to grasp the existence of the Wood Buddha or the internal cracks of the Martial Alliance.
This mission was likely the Demon Emperor’s calculation to have Bu Eunseol prove his life-risking loyalty to the whole world, thereby consolidating his status and command as the Martial Soul Command Lord.
“You may withdraw.”
Ultimately, Bu Eunseol had risked his life to hear that single sentence.
“Then.”
As Bu Eunseol paid his respects and left the Sacred Demon Hall, his gaze was as cold as a blade.
The position of successor to Majeon was, in the end, nothing but a shell.
He had to grow the Martial Soul Society and increase his martial prowess as quickly as possible to strike down that monster in the abyss, the Demon Emperor.
***
Leaving Majeon, Bu Eunseol headed toward the Martial Soul Society.
‘I must restart the investigation into the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.’
From the Sword Demon Wi Hyeok-gun to the polite yet sinister Weiji Hyesang—and even the boy with the fake body whom he thought belonged to the Returning to One Realm—Bu Eunseol had clashed with the Hwa Wu Sword Sect several times.
Despite that, the reason he had not fought to the death was solely because of one person: the Profound Demon, Weiji Mu-a.
A man who had reached a terrifying level of martial prowess despite his easygoing nature reigned as the Sect Leader.
He was a man who could truly judge character, seeing Jingak’s honest talent and immediately promoting him from a ‘leaf sword’ to a ‘pendant sword’ and making him a hall master. Furthermore, because Weiji Mu-a had treated Bu Eunseol—who was constantly clashing with the sect—as a junior and shown him a degree of goodwill, Bu Eunseol could not bring himself to act heartlessly against the Hwa Wu Sword Sect.
‘Nevertheless, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect’s actions were petty beyond belief.’
Under the truly pathetic charge of leaking secret techniques, they had conspired with Heavenly Mechanism Star to try and slay him.
No, they likely pushed the plan forward knowing full well that Jingak’s attempt would end in failure. Even if the assassination failed, they calculated that it would leave a deep scar on his spirit.
However, Bu Eunseol’s spirit was already a mess due to the clumsily recalled formulas.
Ironically, the order to slay Jingak became the catalyst for him to regain his calm equilibrium and strengthen his mental barriers even further.
‘Then it means even the world’s Heavenly Mechanism Star cannot go against the prophecy of Great Master Wood Buddha.’
The Wood Buddha had predicted even the cunning schemes of Heavenly Mechanism Star Chu So and used them to fully recover Bu Eunseol’s mixed personalities and broken spirit.
In other words, it was proven that no matter how sky-piercing Heavenly Mechanism Star’s strategy was, he could not defy the miraculous foresight of the Wood Buddha.
‘I had guessed for a long time that someone else was managing the Hwa Wu Sword Sect… but to think it was the personality of the previous Sect Leader.’
In the end, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect had teamed up with Chu So and the Clear River Realm to master the secret arts of the Baekri Family, and through them, they were inheriting the power of the predecessor from two generations ago.
If wisdom and martial arts honed for a hundred years were combined with a young and vibrant body, the Hwa Wu Sword Sect could maintain its position as the number one demonic sword sect indefinitely.
Whoosh!
Bu Eunseol unfolded a movement technique like a lightning bolt, quickly leaving the provincial capital. And finally, around the time he entered the border of Shaanxi—
Whir, snort!
The very faint sound of weapons reached him.
With his current state of mind, he had no particular intention of watching other martial artists fight. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but listen because the sound of the weapons was so unique.
‘Are there still those left in the martial world who use a fly-whisk as a weapon?’
A fly-whisk was originally a symbolic tool for brushing away the dust and anxieties of the mind, and a Buddhist instrument used to chase away bothersome insects. In the past, Taoist nuns who had turned their backs on the secular world sometimes carried them for self-defense. However, in today’s ever-changing martial world, they had long since almost vanished.
This was because to swing a fly-whisk made of hemp or tree bark like a proper weapon, one required extremely profound internal energy.
Even with such energy, it was insufficient to keep up with the bizarre and evolving martial arts of the martial world. Occasionally there were those who maintained the lineage, but they were bound by old methods passed down through generations and did not seek new changes.
Ultimately, like countless eccentric weapons that disappeared silently in the rough waves of the martial world, the fly-whisk had also been pushed into the background of history and became obsolete.
Whir, whish.
A resonance spread out that felt like the wind, yet also like spreading ripples. It was definitely the sound made when swinging a fly-whisk.
‘Let’s take a look.’
Feeling curious, Bu Eunseol ran toward the source of the faint sound. Scaling steep cliffs and passing through rugged rocky mountains, he finally arrived at a quiet valley deep in the mountains. There, he saw two shadows fighting fiercely.
One was a man wearing a unique martial uniform with flickering scale-like patterns. His gaze was cold and sharp, and seeing the faint light shimmering at his fingertips, he seemed to use a finger technique with an extremely poisonous energy.
And the person opposing that man was a novice monk with a smooth, shaven head who had not yet received the Full Precepts. Beneath his monk’s robes fluttering in the wind, he held a fly-whisk that drew elegant curves.
The novice monk stood on thin air without a single lapse in his stance, and with just the movement of his small wrists, the fly-whisk fluttered in all directions, creating wind. Every time he swung it, a strange sound of breaking air spread from his hand, instantly scattering the man’s attacks.
‘This is not a Buddhist sect from the Central Plains.’
The robes looked like a unique style worn by the Miao people rather than the Central Plains or Tibet, and he was using a fly-whisk typically used by nuns.
‘The martial arts are also unique.’
The man’s claw strikes were powerful enough to shatter rocks in an instant, but the novice monk was easily deflecting the attacks with just a fly-whisk, without much difficulty. Furthermore, every time the whisk was shaken, a fragrance like that found in a meditation hall spread out, enough to tickle the tip of Bu Eunseol’s nose dozens of yards away.
‘The fragrance spreads every time a technique is unleashed…’
Cases where fragrance spreads while performing martial arts—excluding poison arts—only occurred when one inhaled specific herbs during the process of mastering a heart law, like the Scent-Encounter Heart Secret of the Sehwa Sect, or when one refined internal energy while making and consuming specific elixirs, like the Jade Purity Qi Art of the Taoists.
—Mmph, mmph.
However, a faint moaning sound leaked from a cave in front of the clearing. In that moment, Bu Eunseol was able to grasp the entire situation.
‘Was he a flower-plucking thief?’
The sinister-looking man performing the claw strikes had clearly imprisoned a woman in the cave to violate her, and the novice monk had clearly attacked him after realizing this.
Whish.
But then, the man dodging the attack smiled and rubbed two fingers together. A transparent mist spread out and was inhaled into the novice monk’s nose.
Hiss.
In that moment, white mist rose from the novice monk’s body.
‘Blood-Faced Wolf Lord.’
What the man had scattered was the Joyous-Drink Soul-Dissolving Powder, known as the most vicious aphrodisiac in the world. And the one who used it skillfully was none other than the flower-plucking thief, the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord, who always wore a red mask when violating women.
Sizzle!
However, white flames erupted from the novice monk’s entire body, and white smoke rose from all sides. He had burned away the world’s most vicious aphrodisiac with the vibrations of his internal energy.
‘It seems he has resolved the Ultimate Fire Wheel Qi into the Hidden Yin Secret Art.’
The method he used was as if he had reversed the Ultimate Fire Wheel Qi of the Yeolha Great True Energy—which penetrates the enemy’s interior with intense vibration and heat—and resolved it into a form of extreme yin art like the Heavenly Glacial Secret, annihilating the scattered poison with waves of cold energy.
‘Is this the source of the Glacial Great Emperor’s martial arts?’
Bu Eunseol’s eyes flickered.
Was the martial art used by that novice monk not powerful enough to be considered the very source of the Glacial Great Emperor’s martial arts—one of the Eight Emperors and Three Stars—which resolved the power of the Baekri Family into techniques?
“Ugh.”
The Blood-Faced Wolf Lord groaned.
Only then realizing that the novice monk’s prowess was unimaginably high, the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord stopped his attack and tried to retreat immediately.
Sizzle.
But before he knew it, white flames were covering the area around his body. The novice monk had scattered extreme yin energy on the retreat path to prevent his escape.
“Even if you leave, give me the antidote before you go.”
Painful groans from a woman leaked continuously from the cave. She was likely suffering due to the aphrodisiac used by the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord.
“I will, I will.”
The Blood-Faced Wolf Lord raised both hands and carefully took a medicine bottle from his breast.
“Drinking this will detoxify it instantly.”
He then threw the bottle to the novice monk.
“Can I go now?”
At the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord’s words, the novice monk sighed and said, “I hope you never again do something like putting aphrodisiacs in someone else’s food.”
Originally, the novice monk had been quietly eating at an inn in the provincial capital. Then, some man had made a pass at a woman of the martial world who was eating alone.
—I’m not interested. Please go away.
When the woman refused, the man withdrew as if he had no choice. However, the woman eating her food suddenly showed a severely distorted complexion. Her forehead and both cheeks flushed red, and she left the inn in a panic.
The man also went outside and followed her secretly. Having watched this from the start, the novice monk realized the man had subtly sprinkled aphrodisiac on her food while talking to her and secretly pursued him.
Sure enough, when the woman couldn’t go far and collapsed while leaning against a wall, the man didn’t miss the chance.
—I will take you to a physician!
He hugged her and unfolded qinggong. And just when it seemed he was going to a physician, he took her to a cave in a deep valley to violate her. The novice monk had immediately stepped forward to stop him and demand the antidote.
“If you commit such an evil act one more time, this humble monk will absolutely not stay still.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
The moment the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord shrugged and tried to unfold his movement technique—
“Where would an antidote for the Joyous-Drink Soul-Dissolving Powder even exist?”
A low voice echoed, and with a whish, a man in black clothes revealed himself.
It was Bu Eunseol, who had been watching the entire situation.
“In my entire life, I have never let a flower-plucking thief live who forcibly violates a woman.”
Bu Eunseol’s gaze became infinitely fierce.
“Blood-Faced Wolf Lord. Gwa Byeokjeong.”
Flinch.
The Blood-Faced Wolf Lord flinched as Bu Eunseol recognized him.
“What do you mean by that, benefactor?”
The moment the novice monk asked back in surprise, slash! The sharp blade of the Wishful True Binding’s energy cut toward the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord’s neck.
Crack. Thud.
However, the extreme yin energy unleashed by the novice monk instantly froze the blade of the Wishful True Binding.
“What are you doing now?” Bu Eunseol asked with a frown.
“Can even a butcher not become a Buddha if he puts down his knife?” The novice monk said, pressing his palms together politely. “Using aphrodisiac is a great sin, but since he has not yet violated the woman… there is room for a change of heart.”
Bu Eunseol knit his brows in disbelief. The number of women that bastard Gwa Byeokjeong had violated until now well exceeded a hundred. And yet he was saying such pathetic things?
‘Even for a newcomer to the martial world, isn’t he too oblivious?’
Looking into the novice monk’s clear and transparent eyes, Bu Eunseol asked with an absurd expression. Which sect on earth had sent a novice monk who hadn’t even received the Full Precepts out into the martial world alone?
“Did you feel nothing upon hearing the name Blood-Faced Wolf Lord in the first place?”
“A nickname is just a nickname. A name does not represent the person…”
Whoosh!
In the meantime, the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord immediately unfolded a movement technique and began to flee.
The moment Gwa Byeokjeong saw Bu Eunseol’s face, he knew he was the terrifying Martial Soul Command Lord of Majeon. The moment he thought he was dead, the novice monk blocked the attack. Holding onto a sliver of hope, he exerted every ounce of strength he had left to attempt a full-speed escape.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Bu Eunseol extended his index and middle fingers. Suddenly, the running Blood-Faced Wolf Lord froze stiff in mid-air.
“Uuugh.”
As massive internal energy penetrated his meridians, the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord’s body swelled enough to burst.
“Benefactor. Please show mercy.”
The moment the novice monk exerted extreme yin power again to try and block Bu Eunseol’s internal energy—
Flash!
With a brilliant radiance, a red bloodline was created on the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord’s neck. Knowing the novice monk would interfere, Bu Eunseol had held him with internal energy and then performed the ‘Sword Control Technique’ to decapitate him.
Spurt. Thud.
The head of the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord, which had been floating in the air, fell, and blood spread out.
“How can you use such a cruel method?” the novice monk shouted in great anger. “If you harm life so recklessly, you are no different from that thief…”
Regardless of what he said, Bu Eunseol walked toward the cave. The novice monk quickly blocked his path.
“Benefactor! Can you not hear me?”
“If we delay any more time,” Bu Eunseol said coldly, pointing toward the cave where the moans were coming from, “that woman’s blood vessels will burst and she will die.”
A majesty that none dared approach flowed from his voice and his entire body. The novice monk stepped back involuntarily, trying to open the way, and then let out an “Ah!”
“Then this humble monk will do it.” He held out his hand to stop Bu Eunseol. “Men and women should be separate, so please leave this matter to me.”
“Are you saying you are not a man?”
“I am one who has severed worldly ties. I am not a man, but merely a monk who has taken refuge in the Buddha.”
He then quickly went inside and supported the fallen woman in his arms.
“Mmm…”
As the novice monk’s hand touched her, the woman let out a painful moan. Due to the extremely vicious aphrodisiac components, she was feeling pleasure simply by the touch of a hand on her skin.
“Excuse me.”
The novice monk placed his hand on the woman’s Life Gate point and began to inject internal energy.
Woooong.
As he breathed in internal energy, a mysterious fragrance spread throughout the cave. It was a deep and simple fragrance that stabilized the mind and body, tickling the tip of the nose as if entering the quiet meditation hall of an ancient temple that had preserved hundreds of years of history.
“Uuuugh.”
However, it seemed injecting internal energy was of no use; the poisoned woman instead groaned with a painful expression.
Throb, throb.
Purple veins popped out over her entire body, and her lips turned dark red. By injecting internal energy, the symptoms of poisoning had actually worsened.
“Th-This is strange.”
The novice monk let out a sound of bewilderment. Pure extreme yin energy should be able to instantly suppress the energy of an aphrodisiac that heats up the body. How could she be in more pain the more true qi he injected?
“Kggghhh.”
The eyes of the woman who had received a large amount of extreme yin energy rolled back until they were white, and foam flowed from her mouth. At this rate, it seemed her breath would be cut short immediately.
“H-How…”
While the novice monk was flustered and didn’t know what to do—
Whoosh.
A figure burning red like the sun appeared inside the cave. Having heard the scream, Bu Eunseol entered while pulling up the Yeolha Great True Energy to its full power.
“Benefactor, you—”
“Move.”
At the commanding voice, the novice monk hurriedly moved aside without realizing it. Approaching quickly, Bu Eunseol extended his right hand and grabbed the woman’s pulse.
There was no antidote for the Joyous-Drink Soul-Dissolving Powder. Therefore, just as he had treated Soyo when she was poisoned by an aphrodisiac in the past, he intended to use extreme yang energy to burn away the medicinal energy in an instant.
Flare! Whoosh!
The Yeolha Great True Energy, containing the pure energy of fire, penetrated the meridians and instantly annihilated the medicinal energy of the Joyous-Drink Soul-Dissolving Powder.
‘I stepped forward for nothing.’
Watching Bu Eunseol detoxifying the woman within the majestic flames, the novice monk scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression.
Sizzle.
Before long, all the veins that had popped out on the woman’s skin vanished, and white smoke rose from her body. The aphrodisiac energy had been completely detoxified by the Yeolha Great True Energy.
‘A fragrance from this woman too.’
Within that smoke, a faint fragrance spread out.
‘As expected, the internal energy itself has a scent.’
Because she had received the novice monk’s internal energy, a faint fragrance was flowing from the woman’s body as well. Bu Eunseol knit his brows.
‘This kind of martial art is not good.’
Fragrance is essentially a type of trail. Since martial artists have a sense of smell better than hunting dogs, a martial art that leaves a scent is practically a fatal flaw in itself.
‘It’s not a matter for me to get involved in.’
Shaking his head, Bu Eunseol took off his outer garment, covered her with it, and stepped out of the cave.
Mumble, mumble.
However, an unexpected sight met his eyes. Before he knew it, the novice monk had buried the decapitated Blood-Faced Wolf Lord in the ground and was reciting scriptures in front of it.
‘Are there still monks like that these days?’
In the past, Buddhist sects considered it a duty to show mercy even to evil-doers.
However, as the order of the martial world collapsed and forces committing evil deeds gained more and more power, it became difficult to maintain peace with traditional methods.
Accordingly, even in Buddhism, they no longer showed infinite mercy to those who committed evil acts and took a hardline stance to protect justice.
Yet, this novice monk was showing infinitely generous tolerance, like a disciple of a Taoist sect from a time when the martial world was peaceful.
‘Is it the Ksitigarbha Sutra?’
As he recited the scriptures, a solemn yet reverent atmosphere spread out, as if Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha were delivering sentient beings and saving souls suffering in hell. Though he was the Blood-Faced Wolf Lord who had committed villainous acts by raping women his whole life, in the end, he was receiving a sincere prayer from a disciple of a Taoist sect; one wonders what kind of good deed he might have done secretly in his life to enjoy such a blessing.
‘I have no idea which sect he is a disciple of.’
The novice monk’s voice was as clear and elegant as rolling jade beads; just listening to it seemed to calm and stabilize the mind. Hearing the solemn and desperate recitation of the prayer—
Drop.
A teardrop fell from Bu Eunseol’s eye without him realizing it.
—Please transfer Seol-ah’s pain to my own body. I don’t mind falling into hell or becoming a beast.
Hearing the heart-wrenching recitation. Suddenly, he heard the voice of his grandfather, who had carried him on his back and muttered desperately while he was suffering from a fever day and night as a child.
—From the time you came to me while I was guarding the martial arts hall alone on Hell Island… you were my disciple.
And he heard the voice of his master, Jingak, who had placed his hand on his head with all his might while wearing a kind smile, even though his meridians were severed.
