Buildings piled high from white stone.
Snow flowers blooming here and there.
And countless martial artists.
As Seol Unhwi walked forward, they stepped aside.
But their eyes were cold.
The eyes of enemies.
Killing intent.
Rage.
That was only natural.
The Thirteen Heavenly Snow Companies were the elite of the Heavenly Snow Sect. Whatever the reason, they had been annihilated. For them to show no reaction at all would have been no different from madness.
Looking around, Seol Unhwi thought—
Interesting.
The fact that Sa Cheonuk had ordered them not to stop him meant he was already prepared.
Prepared for what, Seol Unhwi did not know.
And because he did not know, he intended to play along.
The place they arrived at was the training ground.
A wide open space.
A floor laid in stone.
A considerable amount of snow had piled up, perhaps because it had snowed until yesterday.
And at its center stood one man.
Sa Cheonuk, Sect Master of the Heavenly Snow Sect.
An old man who appeared to be in his mid-sixties.
But his body was straight, and his gaze was sharp.
A white beard hung down to his chest.
There was a sword in his hand.
Seol Unhwi stopped.
About ten zhang away.
Sa Cheonuk opened his mouth.
“It has been a long time.”
It certainly had been.
From Seol Unhwi’s perspective, other than briefly greeting him once during the Snow Palace’s general assembly in childhood, he had never seen him even a single time.
They had never once exchanged words.
Only now did Seol Unhwi learn what Sa Cheonuk’s voice sounded like.
Sa Cheonuk raised his sword.
“Do you know this sword?”
“Heavenly Snow Earth Sword. Though its name is not listed among the Ten Great Famous Swords Under Heaven, its performance is comparable to them.”
“Comparable? That sounds to me as if you are saying it still falls short in the end.”
“Then you heard it correctly.”
As the atmosphere turned strange, Chief Seong signaled to Namgung Wonyang and Ju Soa.
To fall back.
The two women agreed. This was not the first or second time they had seen Seol Unhwi. When things began in this sort of mood, one way or another it always ended after at least one sword was swung.
As if it had already been arranged, the martial artists of the Heavenly Snow Sect had already opened a distance of roughly twenty zhang.
The three of them pulled back ten.
Exactly that much.
If—
If Seol Unhwi truly ended up killing Sa Cheonuk, then everyone here would become an enemy.
Whether one protected or killed, in the end, everything began with one’s position.
Everyone held their breath.
Then it happened.
A faint snort of laughter slipped out.
Not from Seol Unhwi.
From Sa Cheonuk.
“You have changed a great deal.”
“There is a saying—when the ruler is dim and the Way is lost. In a world this chaotic, how could one survive without changing?”
The muscles between Sa Cheonuk’s brows twitched.
A dim ruler and a world without order.
It could not be aimed at Seol Jungcheon.
Then there was only one possibility.
The foolish ruler meant Sa Cheonuk, and the world without order meant that so long as Sa Cheonuk remained Sect Master, or so long as he did not change, that world would collapse.
This went beyond audacity.
“...You are insane.”
At the completely unfiltered assessment, Seol Unhwi answered briefly.
“You must have already spread the net.”
“......”
“If you have not, then it would be better to spread it now. Otherwise, the very continuation of the Heavenly Snow Sect will be placed in jeopardy.”
Sa Cheonuk flinched.
He was no fool either.
He knew well enough what sort of actions Seol Unhwi had taken thus far.
He even knew that before coming here, Seol Unhwi had crossed blades with Murong Nantian.
If someone else thought one move ahead, this man looked two—
No, at least three moves beyond that.
Slowly, energy began to pour from Sa Cheonuk’s body.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth laced with cold.
It soon enveloped everything around the two men.
“To place its continuation in jeopardy? Explain yourself. What do you mean by that?”
“I mean exactly what I said.”
At Sa Cheonuk’s expression, which showed he still did not understand, Seol Unhwi spoke briefly.
“Is there not something you ought to say to me?”
“...Something I ought to say?”
“After I began setting both the Snow Palace and the Heavenly Alliance in order, the Heavenly Snow Sect has carried a very different prestige than before.”
“......”
“And who is it that created that prestige?”
“......”
Seol Unhwi brushed back his hair.
Then he let out a deep sigh.
“To say this only now, but I truly do not understand.”
“...What are you talking about?”
“I bury all the debts and grudges of the past, treat each and every one of you as seniors, treat you as elders above me, and even show you respect. But somehow, not a single one of you ever says a word of gratitude to me.”
“......”
“The Elder Council was the same. Sa Seollin was the same. Even Man Seokcheong of the Seolhwa Mountain Manor—I truly cannot understand why there are so many bastards in this world who scarcely even qualify as human.”
Sa Cheonuk was left speechless.
Not because Seol Unhwi’s words were too harsh.
But because they struck where it hurt.
“I considered killing your daughter, but for my father’s sake, I endured it.”
“...Your daughter? And... your side’s daughter...?”
Left dumbfounded, Sa Cheonuk stared blankly as Seol Unhwi slowly drew his sword.
Was this bastard truly intent on seeing it through?
“It seems there is no reason to show respect.”
“...You are mad. Truly, unless you are out of your mind—”
“Were you pleased as your influence spread?”
“......”
“Were you happy that your ‘only grandson’ became Young Palace Lord?”
“......”
“You are a man who did not even know what a vermin like Yang Seoljin was doing inside the Snow Palace, and yet somehow you have not once spoken a word of gratitude to the man who saved your clan, your own life, even the lives of the entire snowy mountains. And on top of that, you failed to control your own subordinates and allowed things to become like this.”
“......”
“That I was a child of low birth—perhaps others did not know, but you and Man Seokcheong must have known that my father cherished me. If you did not know, then you are not even fit to be called human. Am I wrong?”
“Watch... your tongue.”
Seol Unhwi let out a small laugh.
Holding the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword, he walked forward slowly.
Then he stopped right in front of Sa Cheonuk.
“Do you wish to cut off this head?”
“......”
“You nurture dreams far too large for someone of your station.”
“...You wretch...!”
“You knew that on my way here, I killed Murong Nantian, who had reached the Unity of Heaven and Man.”
“......”
“You must have judged that my body was not in a proper state. So you summoned me to the training ground, called in spectators as well, and yes—you intended to subdue me by force once, then step back slightly and play the magnanimous elder.”
Once again, Sa Cheonuk said nothing.
It felt as though his innermost thoughts had been read through completely.
“It is obvious. Too obvious.”
It was then.
With lightning speed, Seol Unhwi shot out his hand.
Sa Cheonuk reacted. His own hand blocked Seol Unhwi’s arm. At once, Seol Unhwi brought his sword down. Startled, Sa Cheonuk raised his sword to meet it.
KWAAAAANG—!!!
With an immense roar, fragments of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth scattered in every direction, and Sa Cheonuk slid backward.
Exactly two steps.
Seol Unhwi remained fixed in place as if nailed there.
Lifting his head, Sa Cheonuk glared at Seol Unhwi with eyes thick with killing intent.
“...Have you truly gone mad with the desire to die—”
Again, the words could not continue.
Because Seol Unhwi drove the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword into the ground.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I am showing you the difference between you and me.”
“...Difference?”
“From this moment, I am going to speak to you. And the moment my words end, I will count to exactly ten.”
“......”
“If you do not kneel within that time, you will die today, and the Heavenly Snow Sect will be erased from this world as well.”
“You insane bastard!!”
Sa Cheonuk charged.
He swung his sword.
And—
That was as far as it went.
His sword stopped before Seol Unhwi’s throat.
His teeth clenched.
“You are not quite as absurdly foolish as I expected.”
“......”
“It seems you found what you thought was a way out, but you are wrong. There is only one way for you to live. Kneel.”
Seol Unhwi stepped forward one pace. As blood lightly beaded where the sword touched his neck, Sa Cheonuk hastily withdrew the blade.
“If you kill me today, the Heavenly Snow Sect will be exterminated. Not by any other hand, but by the supreme ruler of the snowy mountains.”
“......”
“But if you do not kill me, then you will die by my hand.”
He clenched his fist.
“That is the difference between you and me. So long as we both belong to this place called the snowy mountains, I can kill you in one way or another, while you cannot kill me in any way at all.”
In Sa Cheonuk’s eyes, Seol Unhwi looked different now.
In childhood—
Cowardly.
Withdrawn.
That child of low birth whom he had thought would never even become a rival to the Great Snow Palace Heir.
And yet, because his daughter Sa Okryeong had said that Seol Jungcheon cherished even such a child of low birth, he should be put aside first, Sa Cheonuk had agreed.
From the very beginning, none of the things Sa Okryeong had done in the past could have been carried out without Sa Cheonuk’s tacit approval.
And it was not only her.
The Second Lady had been the same. If anything, she had been somewhat better. Whether because of Seol Yeonhwa’s restraint or not, the worst she had done was secretly instruct martial instructors to erode his confidence.
And yet Seol Unhwi had never once received an apology from any of the true culprits behind all of it.
He had created a stage worthy of the man named Seol Horyeong, who would later lead the Snow Palace, and had even completed the succession perfectly.
The balance of power, too, had been flawless.
“Do you know what matters most in Murim?”
“...You ask that of me, who have lived more than twice as long as you?”
“Yes.”
“It would be justification.”
Seol Unhwi shook his head.
“What matters most is not justification, but debts and grudges.”
“......”
“It is justification that determines those debts and grudges.”
The color drained from Sa Cheonuk’s face.
“I did not wish to drag the debts and grudges of the past into this, but it seems I expected too much from a man without any sense of shame.”
“......”
“Even if I add your head and the heads of the Heavenly Snow Sect martial artists to the wagon behind me, you would not have much cause to call it unfair.”
Seol Unhwi walked again.
And the more he did, the more Sa Cheonuk took one step backward at a time.
“Did it begin to feel as though the Snow Palace belonged to you?”
Step. Step.
“Your Heavenly Snow Sect is merely a small organization tasked with guarding the greater organization called the Snow Palace.”
“......”
“A mere hunting dog meant to guard—why are you trying to break your leash and behave as the master?”
Seol Unhwi reached out his hand.
Sa Cheonuk slapped it aside.
In that instant, Seol Unhwi’s eyes flashed.
His hair blazed with white radiance.
His hand thrust forward as if piercing through space.
Immortal Vajra Palm.
Sa Cheonuk tried hurriedly to block, but he was a little too late.
KWAAAAAAANG—!!
With the sound of shattering glass, Sa Cheonuk was blown away and embedded into one side of the training ground.
Dust billowed upward.
Seol Unhwi began walking again.
“You are insolent.”
Rising slowly from within the dust, Sa Cheonuk could see it.
Once again, Seol Unhwi had already come right before him.
The moment he saw Seol Unhwi’s hair turned white, even radiating light, he felt that something had gone terribly wrong.
And then came the final words.
“...Insolent...?”
