Seol Muryun lost his words.
“And the Chaotic Heaven One I met before also had traces of martial arts. The higher the realm, the more clearly the martial arts remained.”
“...”
“Chaotic Heaven Ones are not monsters. They are beings who were once martial artists. Also, they are not imitating martial arts. Through their opponents, they are projecting the past selves that pursued the martial path.”
Seol Muryun set down his teacup.
His hand trembled.
“Then...”
“Yes. What we are killing are not monsters, but victims of the Thousand-Year Chaos from seven hundred years ago.”
Silence.
A heavy silence flowed.
Seol Muryun pressed his forehead.
“...Heavens.”
“...”
“They were not imitating martial arts... They were projecting their own past selves... In the end, they were walking the path they had lost...?”
“It is my personal conjecture. But it is certain that they are projecting. Not consciously, but unconsciously. As proof, although they lost their reason, the martial arts and talent ingrained in their bodies did not disappear.”
“...”
“That is why their movements surpass those of ordinary martial artists.”
Seol Muryun let out a sigh.
“Then we...”
“We bear no sin.”
Unhwi spoke firmly.
“They already died seven hundred years ago. What they are now are only shells.”
“...”
“What we must do is liberate them. So they no longer live as monsters.”
Seol Muryun looked at Unhwi.
His gaze was deep.
“...You truly are extraordinary.”
“That is too much praise.”
“It is not too much. If not for you, no one would have discovered this truth.”
And that there was an existence capable of controlling Chaotic Heaven Kings and Chaotic Heaven Ones from behind.
Unhwi deliberately did not mention that.
It was a separate matter from trust.
For now, it was right that he did not know. That was his judgment.
Then Seol Muryun rose from his seat.
“Tomorrow, let us go to Seolhwa Mountain Manor. I will let you meet Manor Lord Man Seokcheong.”
“Thank you, Brother.”
Unhwi also stood.
He walked toward the door.
“Youngest.”
Seol Muryun called him.
Unhwi stopped.
He turned his head.
“Be careful. Truth can sometimes become poison.”
“...I understand.”
Unhwi opened the door and left.
Seol Muryun was left alone.
He looked out the window.
Snow was falling.
“Victims of the Thousand-Year Chaos...”
He murmured.
“Then who, and why, created the Chaotic Heaven Gate?”
There was no answer.
But they would know before long.
Unhwi would find out.
Seol Muryun believed so.
***
The next morning.
Unhwi and Seol Muryun headed to Seolhwa Mountain Manor.
Chief Seong and the others left at the lodging felt disappointed, but there was no helping it.
Seolhwa Mountain Manor was located on the outskirts of Windwall.
Even so, its magnificent buildings were almost like those in the central part of Windwall.
In truth, that was correct.
These practical buildings were architecture suited to a battlefield, and with a single building they perfectly revealed the nature of martial artists who were also like soldiers.
The two men arrived before the gate.
When the martial artists standing at the entrance saw Seol Muryun, they gave formal salutes.
“We greet Cha Seollin.”
“Is the Manor Lord inside?”
“Yes. He is inside.”
“I have brought the Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”
The martial artists’ eyes widened.
“The Mysterious Snow Palace Lord...!”
They hurriedly opened the gate.
“Please enter at once!”
The two went inside.
They passed through the corridor and were guided to a large room.
The door opened.
An old man was seated there.
In his seventies.
White hair.
But his gaze was sharp.
Energy could be felt.
Unity of Heaven and Man.
And an extremely mature Unity of Heaven and Man at that.
Man Seokcheong, Manor Lord of Seolhwa Mountain Manor.
Maternal grandfather of Seol Muryun and Seol Yeonhwa.
He raised his head and looked at Unhwi.
A brief silence.
Then he rose.
He gave a formal salute.
“I greet the Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”
“Be at ease.”
“You honor me.”
Man Seokcheong sat down.
Unhwi and Seol Muryun also sat.
A brief silence.
Man Seokcheong opened his mouth first.
“I heard the rumors.”
“What rumors?”
“That you defeated a Chaotic Heaven King alone.”
“I did.”
“You are remarkable.”
“That is too much praise.”
Man Seokcheong poured tea.
For Unhwi.
Then for Seol Muryun.
Then for himself.
“I also heard the story of Heavenly Snow Sect.”
Saying that, Man Seokcheong raised his head and stared directly into Unhwi’s eyes.
Eyes without a single tremor.
He was like a person ruling this space.
And his answer was not ordinary either.
“How did it feel?”
When someone asked like that, what madman would ask how it felt after turning Heavenly Snow Sect into a ruin?
He could dare assert that, in this Murim, there was no one but that bastard Seol Unhwi.
“How it felt... It was remarkable.”
“That, too, is too much praise.”
Unhwi took a sip of tea and continued.
“I merely gave them a warning because they nearly crossed the line.”
“...”
“As a Polar Heir, I naturally did what I had to do, yet you are praising me too much.”
“Ha... haha... Is that so?”
Soon, a gentle smile formed at the corners of Unhwi’s mouth.
“And please speak comfortably. Though I came on official business, even so, are you not the maternal grandfather of my second elder brother, whom I trust?”
“...”
“At least for this seat today, I will set aside the office of Polar Heir for a while and remain merely as one martial artist using the name Seol Unhwi.”
“...Will you?”
“Yes. I wish to. I ask this of you.”
A strange smile formed on Man Seokcheong’s lips.
To be clear, the nature of that smile was absolutely not positive.
Considering the way this audacious bastard spoke, that was correct.
Right now, this bastard had issued a warning.
And a fatal warning at that.
He did what he naturally had to do as a Polar Heir, so it was not something deserving praise? Seen another way, it could be interpreted to mean that if you, Man Seokcheong, also committed a sin, you would become the same, and that too would not be anything worthy of praise. And asking to be allowed to sit here as the man Seol Unhwi meant he was ready to swing his blade at any time as a stranger.
The blades exchanged in this short conversation were not one or two.
Man Seokcheong, the direct target, clearly felt them, and Seol Muryun, who was also no ordinary person, felt them as well.
He let out a sigh.
Seol Muryun knew how the person called Unhwi had changed.
Truly, many things had changed. He was not the Unhwi of the past.
He was a martial artist shaking Murim.
Soon, Seol Muryun made his decision.
He rose from his seat.
“I will give you space.”
“...Mm.”
Having said that, Seol Muryun looked at Unhwi.
Just then, Unhwi also looked at Seol Muryun. Unhwi nodded.
It meant not to worry, and Seol Muryun nodded as if he understood.
When Seol Muryun left, the space belonged only to the two of them.
Man Seokcheong sat down.
Looking at Unhwi, he spoke as if tossing the words out.
“You are audacious.”
“Am I?”
“You hide so many blades in your words. Not only I, but anyone would find that hard to accept kindly.”
Man Seokcheong, immediately speaking comfortably, spoke exactly as things were, and Unhwi also spoke exactly as things were.
“I agree.”
“...”
“Who would like words mixed with blades? But I thought it had to be done.”
“Why?”
“I trust my second °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° elder brother, but I do not trust you, Manor Lord Man.”
“...”
“What I trust is human desire.”
“Desire?”
“You grew Seolhwa Mountain Manor. You sent your daughter to the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace and expanded your influence. Speaking frankly, judging only by the circumstances, you are not very different from Heavenly Snow Sect.”
“...”
“If there is a difference, it would be that the fool of Heavenly Snow Sect did not know his place, whereas you, Manor Lord Man, do know yours.”
“...You speak very aggressively.”
“I understand that you dislike indirect speech.”
“I do dislike it.”
“I also know myself. I too dislike indirect speech, and in the current Murim, my seniority and rank are higher than one might expect.”
“...”
“I believe I am sufficiently entitled to speak this way. Do you still dislike it?”
If Man Seokcheong were a fool.
If he were truly stupid and had nothing in his head but thoughts of fighting, he would have taken Unhwi’s words as a request to fight.
But he was not.
He was a man of skill, and a man of extraordinary intellect.
He immediately noticed the hidden meaning in Unhwi’s words.
“Of course I do not like it, but I think I understand.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your heart toward Snow Palace.”
A smile formed on Unhwi’s lips. He was certainly not bad.
“You also act for Snow Palace, and I also act for Snow Palace. That is a common point between you and me, and until now, I have not crossed the line even once.”
Man Seokcheong’s eyes sharpened.
“Let us speak only of the main point and then go about our respective business.”
They did not necessarily have to join hands.
They did not have to form a friendship.
They could keep each other in check.
If they had a common goal, and if they had a heart willing to protect it with their own lives beyond blind devotion,
then that was enough.
Because the achievement of that value would become the greatest objective.
“Good. I will go straight to the main point. First. I wish to ask about the Chaotic Heaven Gate.”
“The Chaotic Heaven Gate?”
“Yes. I heard that you, Manor Lord, keep all materials concerning the Chaotic Heaven Region.”
Man Seokcheong looked at Unhwi.
His gaze was deep.
“...What do you wish to know?”
“The records from when the Chaotic Heaven Gate first opened. And the research materials regarding it.”
“Why?”
“Must I explain the reason as well?”
Man Seokcheong’s eyes twitched.
“...Now that I look at it, your purpose is to build hostility.”
Unhwi shook his head.
“I did have such a thought, but it is not my main purpose.”
“Why?”
“You keep making me say the same thing. I do not think there is any reason I must explain the reason to you.”
“...”
“Second, have you been to the Chaotic Heaven Gate?”
“...I have.”
“What did you feel?”
Man Seokcheong’s brow furrowed. What did he feel?
“What are you talking about?”
“When I entered inside, there was a distortion of energy.”
“...Do you mean that it became difficult to breathe?”
Unhwi looked at Man Seokcheong silently.
It was the same as Chief Seong’s case.
This man also did not know.
This responded only to Unhwi’s Void-Origin Energy.
This was not merely strange. It was bizarre.
The spiritual energy of heaven and earth was clearly twisted, so why could martial artists who used it not feel anything strange?
Was it possible to manipulate it in that way?
He could not understand it.
What kind of supreme martial learning did one have to possess, what realm did one have to reach, and what method did one have to use for that to be possible?
Unhwi could not even begin to guess.
Man Seokcheong looked at Unhwi and asked,
“Is there a third as well?”
“There is more.”
“...Then say it all at once.”
“A great incident occurred in the Murim Alliance.”
“...I heard.”
“My elder sister nearly suffered calamity, and I resolved the matter.”
“For that, I intended to say thank—”
“Please send a letter to the Murim Alliance.”
