Was that not too strange a statement?

“Do you have anything more to say?”

“...No.”

“Then I shall take my leave.”

Jang Icheong quietly raised his clasped fists toward the departing Hwa Munyeom.

“Go safely.”

After all, he was a man whom he had once served as # Nоvеlight # a fellow member of the Muksehoe.

At the very least, that much courtesy was due.

Thus Hwa Munyeom departed Kangbuk Province.

And in his mind lingered only one question.

Who would emerge alive from the demonic realm?

Strictly speaking, Jang Icheong’s words were not wrong.

It was true that Seol Unhwi was to be used as a blade — but he too must be tested.

The path he had walked until now was sufficient proof, but this was the martial world.

The subject of trial shifted with every moment; that was only natural.

If Seol Unhwi were to defeat Jang Icheong...

His value would pierce the heavens and reach the ninth sky.

That was a reasonable conclusion.

A Celestial Being Stage master was of a different dimension than ordinary warriors.

They were those who aimed at the heavens.

Yet if such a man were slain by a warrior of the Origin-Foundation... he would no longer be called a prodigy.

He would either be a calamity descended from the heavens, or the birth of a true hegemon.

It could only be one of the two.

Even after Hwa Munyeom had vanished, Jang Icheong remained seated for a long time.

In one corner of his heart, a strange unease began to stir.

Only a short while ago, Jang Icheong had thought that Unhwi would surely run. Just as with the Lord of Gaebang, he had judged it all a matter of saving face and raising his renown. But seeing Hwa Munyeom’s attitude, something seemed amiss.

Was this entirely unrelated to the case of the Lord of Gaebang?

Jang Icheong rested his chin on his hand.

He considered himself clever.

And as Unhwi had once said, such people occasionally made mistakes — mistakes often called self-contradiction.

Jang Icheong had fallen into one now.

No matter how he thought of it, he simply could not believe that Unhwi truly intended to fight him to the death.

From the standpoint of common sense, it was impossible.

Tsk.

He clicked his tongue.

It did not matter.

Whatever course things took, the choice of whether or not to kill the man would rest in Jang Icheong’s hands.

No matter what tricks he used, no matter how great a prodigy he was, there were limits.

Already four Harmonization Stage warriors dispatched from Ihwageom Cheonjong, along with Baek Mujin, had died. It could not simply be overlooked.

Seol Unhwi would die inside the secret realm.

Control? A leash? Those had been valid only before the friction began.

No longer.

He would beat him until he begged for his life, and in the end he would tear his limbs apart and rip his head from his shoulders.

***

Jang Seok, who had been head of Gaebang’s Yangryeong Province branch, was newly appointed head of the Seongjak Province branch. It was not exactly unexpected.

A man well known as belonging to Unhwi’s side, he had just arrived in Seongjak Province.

He felt a rush of emotion.

The air was fresh, the sky was clear.

Though he had never set foot here before, simply by following Unhwi’s lead he had now come to oversee such a vast territory.

Yes.

This great province was now under Jang Seok’s authority.

He recalled the time back in Yangryeong Province when he had held a private audience with Kang Gyeoljin, one of Gaebang’s Seven-Knot elders and one of the Eight Grand Elders.

At that time, Kang Gyeoljin had said this:

—Remember this. You are provisional. The Lord of Gaebang may hold Seol Unhwi in high esteem, but proving ability is another matter. The talk of promoting you to Four-Knot had been in the works from before, so you will be promoted. But if you do anything in Seongjak Province that would bring disgrace to Gaebang’s honor, you will be sent back to Yangryeong at once. Understood?

And what of it.

In the end, it was entirely thanks to Unhwi that he had come here.

As a Gaebang man, he followed Gaebang’s path, but he also owed Unhwi a debt.

This was not, strictly speaking, a relationship of master and servant. It was a relationship of mutual debt and favor. In this world, a single syllable could change everything.

“Heeya...”

Back in the backwater of Seolap, he had had no future at all. That he now stood here still felt unreal.

Instead of heading straight to the branch office, he turned his steps toward the Celestial Dragon Hall.

There he found Unhwi seated in a pavilion, with Commander Seong at his side, looking worried.

Jang Seok smiled. It had only been about a month, yet it felt as though decades had passed.

But as he drew closer, his expression hardened.

Unhwi’s condition, holding a spoon in hand, was far worse than he had imagined.

The long scar across his forehead was one thing, but his body was terribly gaunt. Even his eyes, dull and lifeless like those of a dead fish, were chilling to behold.

“You’ve come.”

At the first words Unhwi spoke, lowering his spoon, Jang Seok flinched. He immediately clasped his fists.

“It has been a while, great one!”

“A month, is it?”

“Yes. To be exact, a month and four days.”

“I see. Come, sit.”

Jang Seok cautiously approached and sat, then asked,

“Your complexion... does not look well. Are you unwell anywhere?”

Unhwi shook his head.

“I am alive because I still draw breath. That alone is enough.”

His tone was calm, but the weight in his words made Jang Seok’s chest tighten.

And then—

“Are you unhurt?”

At that question from Unhwi, Jang Seok swallowed hard.

Though he claimed to be fine, anyone could see Unhwi’s body was in tatters. Yet instead of his own health, he asked after another’s. It seemed truly remarkable.

So this was what was meant by dignity.

“I am well, great one.”

“Good. And how are the people of Yangryeong Province?”

Jang Seok felt a surge in his chest.

Even in such a state, the first thing he thought of was his own people. It moved him beyond words.

Jang Seok spoke firmly.

“There has been a shock as though heaven and earth themselves were shaken.”

“Heaven and earth shaken?”

“Yes. Ju Soa, the head of the Yangun Unit, has advanced from Origin-Foundation to Harmonization Stage, while Namgung Wonyang, the unit’s first vice-head, has entered Samhwa Chwijeong. Han Murin also reached Samhwa Chwijeong.”

Perhaps not quite an upheaval of heaven and earth, but it hardly mattered.

Unhwi smiled faintly.

“That is fortunate.”

“You are not surprised?”

“I believed it would be so.”

He spoke as though it were only natural.

From the beginning, Unhwi had known exactly why their advancement was so swift.

Before coming to the Heavenly Alliance, he had given them secret manuals tailored to their qualities.

These manuals contained every insight needed to ascend from their present stage to the next, and with No Cheonmyeong, a Celestial Being Stage master of Union of Man and Heaven, instructing them separately, their realization had been forcibly guided. Advancement was inevitable.

Above all, Unhwi never doubted their talent.

Ju Soa would rise at least to the peak of the Heaven-Earth Apex, and Wonyang and Han Murin would follow close behind.

Beyond that depended on their own ability, but that too he trusted.

And then—

“Soon there will be reason to summon them here, to Seongjak Province.”

“Here, great one?”

The Heavenly Bureau was of high level, but what Unhwi was planning required more still.

He needed greater numbers.

“So write them a letter in advance.”

“I will do so, great one.”

When Jang Seok nodded, Unhwi poured himself a drink and spoke.

“You now bear responsibility for the great province of Seongjak. Gaebang may call you provisional, but do not worry. You are not provisional, but permanent.”

Jang Seok’s eyes gleamed.

From outside, the rumors were that Unhwi had been subdued by Hyejeongsan, and though he had not bent his spirit, at least he had saved a shred of face.

But who was Unhwi?

The man who had turned the backwater of Seolap into Yangryeong Province single-handed, who had slaughtered traitors within the Snow Palace. A man hailed as the genius young lord of the Palace — and such a man had lost utterly to the Lord of Gaebang?

Jang Seok respected Hyejeongsan and did not doubt his ability, but he did not think it exceeded Unhwi’s.

Put plainly, if Hyejeongsan were Unhwi, then by now Gaebang would already have reshaped the martial world.

The man before him was not one who could be measured in martial realms alone.

It was likely even Hyejeongsan’s personal visit here had been within his calculations.

Perhaps the famous confrontation had been nothing like what the world believed.

In this moment, Jang Seok’s response could only be one.

“I will serve you faithfully.”

Unhwi did not bother to answer, but spoke anew.

“I have given the order that no one is to lay hands on any beggar wearing Gaebang’s sash here in Seongjak. So do not worry, and rebuild the branch first.”

“I will obey.”

At that, Unhwi shook his head.

“Not an order. A request.”

“...What?”

“You are my man, but not my subordinate.”

“...Great one...”

“Your registration lies with Gaebang, mine with the Snow Palace. If I, of the Snow Palace, command you, and you accept my orders, Gaebang’s eyes upon you will not be kind.”

He was not wrong.

As mentioned, nuance was everything. However it was phrased, the people of Gaebang would already see Jang Seok as Unhwi’s pawn.

“Are you disheartened?”

“...A little.”

“There is no need. I am giving you my trust.”

Jang Seok’s eyes widened.

“What does it matter where we each belong? You and I have been in constant contact since Seolap. At this point, it is only natural that we trust each other. Am I wrong?”

“Not at all.”

“Then nothing will change going forward. I will pay you fair value and purchase information, and you may sell my information to outsiders for money as well.”

“...That is...”

“Only, if the weight of what you sell is heavy, you must tell me. Of course, I will pay its price in full.”

Jang Seok nodded.

“I understand perfectly. Great one, you will forever be my great one until the day I die.”

Rising, Jang Seok offered a deep salute and departed the Celestial Dragon Hall.

Unhwi, watching his back, lifted his cup again and drank.

Commander Seong cautiously spoke.

“Young master, perhaps you should rest today.”

Unhwi shook his head.

“Do I look weary?”

“...Yes. And I am greatly worried.”

Such words were only natural.

The repairs to the Celestial Dragon Hall were already complete.

The entire Heavenly Bureau could move in, but Unhwi forbade it.

For the time being, he had given strict orders that no one enter the hall. There was reason for that.

Unhwi was making preparations.

Twenty days remained.

In that time, he had to complete the Three Profound Frostfire Art.