Seol Jungcheon could likely clean it up if he went.
But if an existence of that level appeared, every Chaotic Heaven King and Chaotic Heaven One would go berserk.
They would not all rush at Seol Jungcheon. They would rush at the living beings around him.
When Seol Yangseo cleared the Chaotic Heaven Region in the past, something similar had happened. He had faced three Chaotic Heaven Kings, but two other Chaotic Heaven Kings who had not revealed themselves devastated the surroundings.
At the time, Snow Palace had suffered enormous casualties from those two and hundreds of Chaotic Heaven Ones. This was similar to that.
If a warrior on Seol Jungcheon’s level stepped forward, casualties would occur one way or another. The order of Windwall had been created so the same mistake as the past would not be repeated.
In the end, it was defense.
Protecting was the best strategy.
After a brief silence, Unhwi asked,
“How are the corpses of Chaotic Heaven Ones being handled?”
“Corpses?”
“Yes.”
Seol Muryun’s expression hardened.
“They are a headache.”
“What do you mean?”
“The corpses of Chaotic Heaven Ones are worth a fortune to collectors.”
“.......”
“I do not know why. But certain forces in the Central Plains are buying the corpses of Chaotic Heaven Ones. The price has soared through the heavens.”
“So there are people smuggling them out.”
“You knew?”
“I encountered some on the way here.”
Seol Muryun’s eyes flashed.
“What?”
“It was a place called Northern Wind Trading Company. They were moving a Chaotic Heaven One’s corpse.”
Seol Muryun pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Northern Wind Trading Company...... I have never heard of it.”
“Nor have I.”
Certainly, Unhwi had first heard of Northern Wind Trading Company on the road to Windwall.
There had been no such trading company in his previous life either.
Yet it was supposedly large enough to say it wanted to distribute supplies to Windwall?
This could only be explained by its power having expanded rapidly in recent times.
He had not suspected Yu Cheong for nothing.
Yu Cheong had raised Cheonrim.
There is a high chance that the second Cheonrim is Northern Wind Trading Company, Unhwi thought.
“Fourth elder brother said earlier that the corpses of Chaotic Heaven Ones are flowing toward the Thunderclap Demon Cult.”
“......Thunderclap Demon Cult.......”
“Yes. He said it was information learned through the Cold Ice Sect.”
Seol Muryun let out a sigh.
“If it is the Cold Ice Sect, it must be accurate. More importantly, the Thunderclap Demon Cult...... troublesome.”
“Is there some connection?”
“The Thunderclap Demon Cult is a branch of the Original Blood Sect. The Original Blood Sect, despite its name, does not walk the demonic path and instead leans toward the path of tyranny, but the Thunderclap Demon Cult clearly walks the demonic path.”
It was correct to view them separately.
The nature of the Original Blood Sect and the nature of the Thunderclap Demon Cult were different.
An organization that had merely bowed its head to the Original Blood Sect, while walking the demonic path.
That was the essence of the Thunderclap Demon Cult.
“But if they are collecting Chaotic Heaven One corpses.......”
“They must have some intention.”
Seol Muryun nodded.
“We are also trying to recover the corpses as much as possible. We handle them through designated trading companies, but.......”
“It is not perfect.”
“Chaotic Heaven Ones appear without warning, so it is not easy. Even when we try to recover the corpses after battle ends, there are cases where they have already vanished.”
“.......”
“Someone takes them before we do.”
Unhwi nodded.
“I will add it to the detached unit’s mission.”
“You will do that?”
“Yes. Capturing those who smuggle out corpses, and identifying who is behind them. I will try.”
Seol Muryun looked at Unhwi.
“......Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
“To be honest, there were limits with only our strength.”
“.......”
“It is already overwhelming just to stop the Chaotic Heaven Ones. We had no room to worry about the corpses as well.”
“I understand.”
“I am glad you came.”
Unhwi also smiled.
Seol Muryun spoke again.
“There is one more thing I must tell you.”
“What is it?”
“Chaotic Heaven Kings.”
“.......”
“Recently, reports of sightings have increased.”
Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.
“You mean Chaotic Heaven Kings?”
“Yes. Originally, Chaotic Heaven Kings stay in the deepest part of the Chaotic Heaven Region. They almost never come outside.”
“.......”
“But lately, they have been sighted near Windwall.”
“Have you faced one directly?”
“No. Fortunately.”
Seol Muryun let out a sigh.
“Chaotic Heaven Kings are at the level of Unity of Heaven and Man. If you encounter one, you die.”
“.......”
“Only someone on the level of Manor Lord Man Seokcheong of Seolhwa Mountain Manor, or the First Spirit and Second Spirit of the Twelve Cold Spirits, can face them.”
“Where are they now?”
“They are on the very front line. Manor Lord Man Seokcheong is at Seolhwa Mountain Manor.”
“.......”
“If a Chaotic Heaven King appears, they will move.”
Unhwi nodded.
Seol Muryun finished his tea.
“Rest today. It will not be late to begin moving in earnest tomorrow.”
“I will.”
“I have arranged lodging. Chief Seong and the two women will be in the same place.”
“Thank you.”
Unhwi rose from his seat.
He walked toward °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° the door.
“Unhwi.”
Seol Muryun called him.
Unhwi stopped.
He turned his head.
“Be careful. This place is different from the Central Plains.”
“I understand.”
“And.......”
Seol Muryun paused for a moment.
“I am glad you came here.”
Unhwi gave a faint laugh.
“So am I, brother.”
He opened the door and left.
Only Seol Muryun remained in the private room.
He murmured quietly,
“......The youngest has grown so much.”
He looked out the window.
Snow was falling.
***
The next morning, Unhwi left the lodging.
Chief Seong, Ju Soa, and Namgung Wonyang followed him.
A detached unit.
Four people in all.
It was by no means a large number, but Unhwi had never fought by relying on numbers in the first place. By Unhwi’s standards, four people was truly many.
They walked toward Windwall’s front line.
Windwall was long.
No end could be seen.
They walked for a long time through a place where a snowstorm raged.
Only after walking for five double-hours did the atmosphere begin to change.
There were fewer ordinary people.
Instead, there were more martial artists.
Those wearing armor.
Those holding spears.
Those carrying swords.
All of their gazes were sharp.
The aura of a battlefield could be felt.
The front line.
A massive gate came into view.
A hole pierced through the ice wall.
Beyond it was the Chaotic Heaven Region.
Martial artists stood before the gate.
As Unhwi’s party approached, they blocked the way.
“Stop.”
Chief Seong took out a plaque and showed it.
After confirming it, the martial artists looked at the carriage and hurriedly offered respect. No, they tried to.
“He is someone who dislikes cumbersome formalities.”
At those words, the martial artists, frozen in awkward postures, swallowed hard.
According to the plaque, the person riding in that carriage was the Polar Heir, Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.
The person currently called a monster in Murim.
The person most likely to sit in the seat of the future greatest under heaven.
The martial artists spoke awkwardly.
“You may...... pass.”
When Chief Seong nodded, Namgung Wonyang started the carriage.
Before long, the scenery changed.
It was desolate.
There was only snow and ice.
The sky was overcast, and the wind was cold.
No aura of life could be felt.
A land of death.
That was how it felt.
Ju Soa stepped down from the carriage and murmured,
“......This is the Chaotic Heaven Region?”
Chief Seong nodded and said,
“From here onward, no one knows when a Chaotic Heaven One may appear. Do not let down your guard.”
“I understand.”
Ju Soa nodded, and so did Namgung Wonyang.
Behind them, Unhwi, who had been observing the scenery with his hands clasped behind his back, turned his head.
“Ready?”
Everyone nodded.
“Then let us go.”
Unhwi took the lead and walked.
The three followed.
How long had they walked?
Unhwi stopped.
“......Do you feel it?”
Chief Seong nodded.
“Yes. Three.”
“Four.”
Unhwi drew the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword.
“Chief Seong will take two. Ju Soa and Wonyang will take one.”
At those words, Chief Seong felt doubt for a moment.
Unhwi will take only one?
Chief Seong soon learned what that meant.
Kwaaaang!
The snowfield exploded, and three shadows sprang out.
Chaotic Heaven Ones.
Human in shape.
But things that were not human.
The first charged.
Toward Unhwi.
Its fingernails were long.
Sharp.
Like blades.
Shiiik!
Unhwi did not respond.
He merely stood still.
Namgung Wonyang and Ju Soa kicked off the ground and swung their swords.
Kwaaaaang!
One Chaotic Heaven One flew far away. Then two more flew in.
Chief Seong’s eyes flashed.
Tung.
The sound of lightly kicking off a mound of snow.
Two Chaotic Heaven Ones swung their swords toward Unhwi.
This time too, Unhwi did not look at those two.
He had no interest in them.
He was looking only beyond them.
The two swords flying toward Unhwi’s head suddenly split in half in midair.
Then.
Seogeok!
With the sound of cutting, the necks of the two Chaotic Heaven Ones shot into the sky.
A slicing sound rang out a moment later.
It was the sound of the neck of the Chaotic Heaven One that Wonyang and Ju Soa had been facing flying off.
Just as Chief Seong was about to raise his head.
A shadow fell over his face.
Unhwi moved.
Unhwi’s sword stretched forward like a dragon, aiming in front of Chief Seong’s face.
Jjeoeoeoeong!
With a thunderous roar, an enormous shockwave swept in every direction.
Chief Seong was blown far away as he was, and the two women, who had made their own preparations, were also sent flying backward.
That was only natural.
Unhwi’s sword was touching someone else’s sword.
Chief Seong corrected his posture and swallowed hard.
Something was wrong.
“......Chaotic Heaven King......?”
Chief Seong could see it clearly.
Unhwi’s hair, turned white.
Looking at that hair from which radiance flowed, Chief Seong forgot the situation and admired him once more.
He had not sensed the Chaotic Heaven King coming.
But Unhwi had sensed it.
He became proud for no reason.
“......Do you know you almost died just now?”
At Ju Soa’s words from beside him, his brow crumpled at once.
It had been a moving moment.
“......I know.”
“You have a nosebleed, so wipe it.”
Tsk.
Clicking his tongue, Chief Seong lightly wiped his nose.
He had suffered a slight wound from the wave of energy that had erupted nearby, but the important thing was that he had survived.
The three of them watched Unhwi while guarding the surroundings.
“......At this point, things are slowly becoming strange.”
Unhwi withdrew his sword and stepped back.
Then the Chaotic Heaven One also stepped back.
Chief Seong, who knew their habits better than anyone, blinked.
What is this?
A Chaotic Heaven One.
No, a Chaotic Heaven King is retreating?
Normally, the term Chaotic Heaven King referred to Chaotic Heaven Ones who had reached the level of the Five Godly Realms, and the reason they were called terror itself was because they did not stop and did not even tire as they carried out massacres.
There had never been a report of a Chaotic Heaven King retreating anywhere.
If encountered, one side would inevitably die; that was the common sense of a battle that began without warning and without any omen.
Now, only a day after arriving at Windwall, that common sense had been broken.
Unhwi, who had been thinking deeply about something, adjusted his grip on his sword.
“Suspicion is becoming certainty.”
No one understood what Unhwi meant, but no one asked.
Because in the end, Unhwi would tell them.
Before long, Unhwi kicked off the ground.
And began clashing with the Chaotic Heaven King.
