Seol Cheonhwa had many avenues of escape.
What Seol Unhwi was doing down there now was nothing more than a meaningless act.
Seol Cheonhwa was waiting.
Waiting for Unhwi to crawl in of his own accord.
This was a matter of face.
More than anything, as the fifth Polar Heir, he dared to lay hands on the Elder Council?
That was impossible.
Above all, the Palace Lord had entered secluded cultivation.
The Young Palace Lord had also gone out on circuit.
Now was the opportunity.
He intended to use this chance to subdue Seol Unhwi once and for all.
No matter how lofty his name had become in Murim, his position in the snowy mountains had to be different from what it was in Murim.
The Elder Council would keep him in check, and to do that, it needed an achievement. As he had said before, this was truly the chance of all chances.
At that moment—
Craaack—!
He sensed an ominous flow of energy.
...What...?
Seol Cheonhwa’s eyes flew wide open.
Gooseflesh rose all over his body.
From below.
From the entrance of the Elder Council.
An absurd energy was surging upward.
Because Seol Cheonhwa had reached the Unity of Heaven and Man, he could read it with perfect clarity.
This was—
At the very least, energy on the same level.
No, beyond that.
Impossible... impossible.
Seol Cheonhwa shot to his feet and hurriedly looked out the window.
And then he saw it.
The ash-gray hair of Unhwi, who had been holding his sword horizontally, was turning white.
And the sword was trembling.
Then, the white-haired Unhwi swung his blade.
Th-that... what is that...
His thoughts stopped. This was not the time for astonishment.
“Evade it!!”
Seol Cheonhwa’s shout rang through the entire Elder Council, but it was already far too late.
A single streak of light.
Vast Expanse.
The vast blue heavens and the boundless sea.
A bearing in which sky and ocean had become one.
And a cradle stretched to infinity.
An unimaginably exalted martial art could be felt within it.
And it cut across the Elder Council.
Shiiiiik—!
Even the sound came after it.
Sword qi, sword force? It could not be explained by any such thing. That arrived first.
The Elder Council.
The elders within it.
Twenty men felt it.
The thing called death.
“Urk.”
A brief scream. It could only be brief. It had originally been long, but it was severed midway.
Because Unhwi’s strike had cut even the sound itself apart.
Everyone’s bodies.
Their waists.
Were split in two.
The total number of elders in the Elder Council had been thirty.
Of those thirty, twenty died, and the remaining twenty could not even understand what had happened.
That was the end of it.
Kwarrrrung—!!
With a thunderous roar, the enormous five-story building collapsed in its entirety.
Dust billowed skyward and screams erupted everywhere.
Seol Cheonhwa, who had been swept up in it, slowly rose from the heap of ruined stone.
“...”
He was at a loss for words.
He himself had suffered no damage, but the horrific devastation around him filled his vision.
It was dreadful.
The martial artists of the Elder Council.
More than half were dead.
“...Th-this... what kind of goddamned...”
Seol Cheonhwa’s voice trembled.
It was then.
Crunch.
Crunch.
The sound of footsteps pressing into the snow.
Seol Cheonhwa lifted his head.
Beyond the dust.
A man was slowly walking toward him.
A black robe. A long sword in his hand.
His white hair had already returned to ash-gray.
His cold eyes were fixed on Seol Cheonhwa.
Seol Unhwi.
“You...!”
Seol Cheonhwa ground his teeth.
Unhwi stopped.
“Are you going to continue like that?”
“...What?”
“Perhaps because you have spent too long playing the hidden mastermind from behind the scenes, a situation like this feels very unfamiliar to you.”
“...You little...”
“Today, I intend to erase the Elder Council in its entirety.”
Seol Cheonhwa swallowed hard.
“The Palace Lord has entered secluded cultivation, and the Young Palace Lord is away on circuit. Since this is something I have done entirely on my own, even if you kill me here and now, it will not bring great harm upon you, Third Granduncle.”
“...”
“What are you hesitating for? This is your best chance to kill me. Without needing any justification or pretext—if you kill me, Gun Mugeol of the Murim Alliance will be pleased, and Kang Cheonu of the Sacheon Alliance may find it a little regrettable, but he will accept it all the same. Their debts would vanish, after all. The Palace Lord will grieve, but what can be done? His youngest son went mad and ran wild before dying, so perhaps he will do no more than feel a little self-reproach.”
Unhwi adjusted his grip on the sword.
“I have explained this much, and you still cannot grasp the situation?”
“...Let me hear your answer first.”
When Unhwi looked at him, Seol Cheonhwa asked,
“What... is the meaning of this?! Why, exactly why!”
Instead, Unhwi tilted his head.
“Are you truly asking because you do not know?”
“...”
“In this Snow Palace, there must not be vermin who stir up trouble while shirking responsibility for it. That is why I gave you the chance to live without killing you and continue your life from behind the scenes. Yet you kicked away that chance and laid your hand on me for the laughable purpose of keeping me in check.”
“...”
“So now I mean to erase you from the world.”
“...You damned demon...”
Unhwi shook his head.
“You began this, Third Granduncle. Accept what follows.”
“You insolent bastard! Today, you will die here!”
Seol Cheonhwa kicked off the ground.
His body reached Unhwi in an instant.
“You dare—!”
His eyes flashed.
Light exploded from the fist he threw forward.
It was dazzling beyond measure. A spear of light shot toward Unhwi.
It was an extremely close distance, but Unhwi tilted his head.
Swoosh—
The spear of light grazed his cheek.
Seol Cheonhwa’s eyes widened.
He dodged? That easily?
He clenched his fist tightly. One hundred and thirty-one years old.
Not a young age, but he was a master of the Unity of Heaven and Man. His foundation had not gone anywhere.
He threw a succession of punches.
Pak! Pak! Pak!
Three strikes.
Three more spears of light flew out.
But Unhwi dodged all of them.
Tilting his head, leaning his body, stepping back half a pace.
As though he were dancing.
“You little—!”
Seol Cheonhwa ground his teeth.
He raised his internal energy.
Vast-Empty Profound Ice Heart Method.
It fell somewhat short of the Ice Snow Heart Method, the supreme heart method of the Snow Palace recorded in the Chronicle of Ten Thousand Snows, but it was still the greatest heart method learned by the blood relatives of the snowy mountains who were not Polar Heirs.
Its grade was God-grade.
Cold air rose from Seol Cheonhwa’s body.
Profound Ice Energy.
The air began to freeze.
White vapor rose from his fist. Then he swung it.
Snow Mountain White Lotus Fist.
A fist art as pure and aloof as a white lotus blooming upon the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Mountain.
Strength within softness.
A fist art that embodied the principles of circular natural order.
Cold exploded from his fist.
Unhwi raised the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword to block it.
Kwaaang—!
Unhwi’s body slid backward.
His feet carved deep furrows into the ground.
It was heavier than expected.
Seol Cheonhwa charged again.
This time, he drew the sword at his waist.
A silver blade.
Vast-Empty Profound Ice Sword Art.
First Chapter: Void Form Sword.
Seol Cheonhwa’s sword began to dance.
A transformative sword art that made the real through the void.
Ssaeaaak—!
The sword flew toward Unhwi.
No, it seemed to fly toward him.
But it had no substance.
An illusion.
Unhwi swung his sword to block, but Seol Cheonhwa’s blade passed through the illusion.
From another angle.
Unhwi hurriedly twisted his body.
The blade passed by in a graze.
His clothes were torn.
“Void Shadow Heavenly Bloom.”
Seol Cheonhwa muttered.
“A sword art that bewilders the enemy with illusions. You wandered the outside world, yet when it comes to the martial arts of the snowy mountains, you are an utter outsider.”
He swung his sword again.
This time, ten illusions.
Shwik! Shwik! Shwik!
There was no way to tell which one was real.
Unhwi’s eyes swept rapidly over his surroundings.
At once, he stamped his foot into /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the ground.
Thunk.
Shadowless Step.
The footwork left behind by Bodhidharma.
A footwork that left not even a shadow behind.
In an instant, his body vanished.
The ten illusions slashed through empty air.
They missed.
“What...?”
Seol Cheonhwa looked startled. He had an eye for such things. It was not a movement art of the snowy mountains, but he instantly perceived that it was a supreme technique—or rather, something difficult to describe in such simple terms—a top-tier God-grade movement art.
By his experience, in cases like this, it was best to defend the most certain point.
By experience, and by instinct.
This was right.
He immediately raised his sword and guarded the left side of his torso, where the heart should be.
Kwaaaang—!!
Just as he predicted, Unhwi’s sword slammed into that spot. Seol Cheonhwa had been about to counterattack at once, but—
He could not.
The force contained within that sword was beyond imagination.
Jureureuk—he was shoved sideways.
What kind of monstrous strength does this brat have...
He lifted his head.
What Three Profound Realms or whatever else—whether Unhwi was using power equal to the Unity of Heaven and Man or not, none of that mattered. This was pure energy and the strength of the flesh itself.
And this from someone who has not even properly undergone a full bodily rebirth...
Then Unhwi kicked off his position and rushed at him. Seol Cheonhwa adjusted his grip on the sword and met him head-on.
Kang—! Kang—!! Kang—!!
Three clashes of steel.
Seol Cheonhwa, who had been about to counterattack, flinched.
Sak—!
The tip of Unhwi’s sword thrust out again and grazed Seol Cheonhwa’s shoulder.
It was shallow, but blood flowed.
“You little—!”
Seol Cheonhwa retreated and drew up even more internal energy.
The cold rising from his body intensified further.
The air around them froze, and frost began to spread over the ground.
Profound Ice Immortal Body Art.
His body glimmered faintly.
It became light as ice and snow.
No, it was not that it had become lighter.
Its form had become blurred.
Form Turning Void and Real.
A technique that freely shifted between substance and illusion.
Seol Cheonhwa lunged.
This time, the speed was different.
As though using ground-shrinking, his body arrived before Unhwi in an instant.
He brought his sword down.
Chaeng—!
Unhwi raised his sword and blocked it.
But at that moment, Seol Cheonhwa’s body blurred.
An illusion.
The real one was behind him.
Unhwi hurriedly turned.
Seol Cheonhwa’s sword was aiming for his back.
Kang—!
He barely blocked it.
But the impact was tremendous.
Kwadjik—!
Unhwi’s body was flung forward.
He rolled across the ground.
“Haa...”
Unhwi slowly rose.
Blood was flowing from his mouth.
Seol Cheonhwa grinned crookedly.
“You made a bit of a name for yourself in the Central Plains and grew arrogant from it. Insolent bastard—did you truly think you could stand against me?”
“Yes.”
“...Today, you will die here!”
Seol Cheonhwa raised his sword.
Cold exploded from the blade.
Profound Ice Sword.
Heavenly Ice Flower.
Ice and snow began to form in the air.
No—it was sword force taking the shape of ice and snow.
Hundreds.
No, thousands.
They filled the sky.
“Die—!”
As Seol Cheonhwa swept his hand, thousands of ice flowers poured toward Unhwi.
A range that could not be evaded.
A number that could not be blocked.
But Unhwi did not retreat.
In this world, there was no sword art that could not be blocked, and there was no sword art that could not be evaded.
Everything was determined by the difference between the one who wielded it and the one who faced it.
Unhwi’s hair began to turn white once more.
His Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword began to ring like mad.
The true chapter of the Primordial Innate Heart Method.
When Unhwi had gone toward Geon’gon Fortress, when he had traveled to Gongneung where the Murim Alliance was, and even on his return, he had always trained it.
The Void-Origin Energy he had used before was not energy born from the Primordial Innate Heart Method.
It was energy he had created by mixing the Blood Sect’s heart method with the Primordial Innate Heart Method.
That energy had to be fused with the true chapter of the Primordial Innate Heart Method.
He tore apart the subtle principles he had previously understood and rebuilt them, and in accordance with the true chapter, his Void-Origin Energy also grew.
When he had been in Gongneung, it had still been incomplete, but when he returned to Yangryeong Province—
Unhwi completed it.
