“Is it proper to impose manners on a person who is expressing their true feelings? From the beginning, it is the one with courage who claims the beauty. And though Young Lady Gongsun is beautiful as well, she is not to my taste, so would you step aside?”

“...We may have been grouped together as one of the Five Great Clans, but I did not know. That the Tyrant Blade Gate lacked something as basic as manners.”

“Hah....”

“But unfortunately, the Gongsun clan does have such a thing. That thing called manners.”

Gongsun Mingyue placed her hand on the hilt of the sword at her waist.

“So restrain yourself.”

Even after seeing that, Seok Cheonhan let out another scoff and silently looked at Seol Yeonhwa.

There were words he would not bend on—words he had to say.

“Young Lady Seol. How about a drink after the examination? If we take some time to get to know one another—”

Seol Yeonhwa’s voice turned as sharp as a blade.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“Haha, is there a reason to be so cold? Could it be... you already have a man in your heart?”

A faint—but unmistakable—killing intent seeped out from Seol Yeonhwa’s body.

Seok Cheonhan’s expression stiffened.

“...Mm....”

He took a step back. But a strange light lingered in his eyes.

“What a pity, Young Lady Seol.”

As he turned away, Seok Cheonhan muttered,

“Truly a pity.”

Then he shrugged and moved toward a secluded corner.

Gongsun Mingyue looked at Seol Yeonhwa.

“Are you alright?”

“...Yes.”

It was just as Seol Yeonhwa drew in a deep breath—

Ding—!

A bell rang out.

“We will now begin the second examination!”

The examiner’s voice echoed through the waiting chambers.

“All participants, proceed to the plaza!”

The rising stars all stood up at once.

The plaza was vast.

At its center, a massive formation was spread out. Intricate patterns were engraved across the ground, and around it stood eight stone statues.

“The contents of the second examination are simple,”

the examiner said.

“Enter that formation. The formation itself will test you. The criteria for passing are—”

“Wait.”

Gongsun Mingyue raised her hand.

“What is it?”

“Young Lady Seol is not present.”

The examiner frowned.

“Young Lady Seol?”

“I am referring to Young Lady Seol Yeonhwa of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace. She was here just moments ago...”

Gongsun Mingyue’s gaze swept the surroundings.

She was gone.

Seol Yeonhwa had disappeared.

“This is strange. She was clearly—”

“There is nothing strange about it.”

The examiner spoke coldly.

“Is it not possible that she withdrew due to personal reasons?”

“But—”

“Young Lady Gongsun.”

The examiner’s eyes sharpened.

“It is now the time of the examination. No further objections will be accepted. All of you, enter the formation.”

“....”

Gongsun Mingyue bit her lip.

She could not accept it.

But what choice did she have?

Young Lady Seol....

She slowly walked toward the formation.

The other participants also stepped into it one by one.

Seok Cheonhan was among them.

He stared at the formation with a peculiar expression, then met eyes with the examiner.

Slightly—

Seok Cheonhan gave a small nod.

The examiner returned it with a faint nod of his own.

And then Seok Cheonhan disappeared into the formation.

***

This was truly a bizarre phenomenon.

She had done nothing.

She had only taken a few steps toward the plaza.

At exactly the fifth step, she realized there was something on the ground. That was as far as it went.

After that, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant.

Darkness.

Everything around her was darkness.

Her heart began to race. This is the second examination?

No. Absolutely not.

This was not the second examination.

Seol Yeonhwa realized it instantly.

This was a trap.

Her gaze sharpened.

She examined the patterns engraved on the ground. She felt the flow of energy surrounding the space.

Six-Harmony Labyrinth Formation.

A formation of the Zhuge clan.

A formation said to be at the level of the Martial God—once trapped within it, one could not escape.

Seol Yeonhwa’s eyes pierced through the darkness.

Among the polar heirs, Seol Yeonhwa, Seol Muryeon, and the eldest son had all once been called geniuses before Seol Unhwi rose to prominence.

In truth, all three were geniuses.

The eldest stood just before the Divine-Mystery Realm, and the second son had reached the Entry-Divinity Realm.

Seol Yeonhwa herself had not yet reached the Five-Qi Convergence Realm—but that did not mean she had been idle.

As Gongsun Mingyue had said, Seol Yeonhwa possessed deep knowledge.

She knew an enormous amount, and in particular, when it came to formations, she surpassed even her eldest and second brothers.

Her eyes sharpened.

...They’ve woven the Six Harmonies upon the foundation of heaven, earth, and human—the Three Powers.

After grasping the outer structure of the formation, she examined its interior.

The flow of true qi filled the space like a spider’s web.

East, west, south, north, heaven, earth.

The six directions formed a perfect sphere.

The celestial pattern follows the Big Dipper, and the terrestrial layout is supported by the Eight Trigrams.

She clenched her teeth.

Zhuge Yeonghyeon.

He had undoubtedly orchestrated this.

The reason was obvious.

To shackle Seol Unhwi.

She ran a hand across her face.

Her ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ body and mind steadied.

There was only one thing that mattered.

She had to escape.

Seol Yeonhwa began to walk slowly.

Even in the darkness, her senses were sharp.

First, the earthly branches.

She felt along the ground with the tip of her foot.

Tap.

A faint tremor traveled upward.

Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake... they’ve bound the earth’s energy through the twelve earthly branches.

Seol Yeonhwa drew her sword and swung it.

A light that split the darkness.

The Rat direction—true north.

Her sword qi dug into the ground. A part of the formation trembled.

Crack.

A faint fracture.

Good.

Next, the Ox direction.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Three consecutive strikes.

Seol Yeonhwa did not stop.

Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake...

One by one, she severed the bindings of the twelve earthly branches.

The earthly branches are undone. Next, the heavenly stems.

Her gaze lifted upward.

Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, Gui.

The energy of heaven was woven through the ten heavenly stems.

The heavens are more troublesome than the earth.

Seol Yeonhwa drew up her inner power.

Srrr—

A cold chill rose from her body.

Then her eyes turned completely white.

The momentum of heavenly snow.

Crack—!

The energy of Jia froze.

She thrust her sword into it.

Clang—!

Jia shattered.

Then Yi, Bing, Ding.

Her sword did not rest.

One by one, the bindings of the ten heavenly stems unraveled.

Rumble—!

The entire formation shook.

The heavenly stems and earthly branches are undone. Now what remains is the Three Powers.

Heaven, earth, human.

The three fundamentals.

Seol Yeonhwa’s gaze deepened.

She reversed her grip on the sword, spun her body, and cut—

a point precisely three inches before her in empty air.

Slice—!

Something was severed, and the formation trembled once more.

What she had just unraveled were heaven and earth.

Her eyes narrowed. Her thoughts did not stop.

Something was wrong.

What remained was human—but she could not grasp it.

What is this?

Had she made a mistake?

At that moment, Seol Yeonhwa realized.

...The human is myself.

The one trapped within the formation becomes the axis of the human component.

As long as she existed, the formation was complete.

As long as she resisted, the formation grew stronger.

...Incredible.

Even forgetting the situation, admiration rose within her.

As expected of the Zhuge clan—their formations were profound.

It was clearly the Six-Harmony Labyrinth Formation, yet layered with additional meaning.

A modified Six-Harmony Labyrinth Formation.

But—

A faint smile appeared on Seol Yeonhwa’s lips.

Now that she understood it, she could break it.

She sheathed her sword and brought both hands together.

Very slowly, she formed a hand seal.

Redirect the human energy outward.

Her inner power surged in reverse.

No—not reverse.

Circulation.

The energy within flowed outward, and the energy outside flowed inward.

The principle of heaven and human. The principle of unity.

Srrr—

A faint light shimmered from her body.

The formation trembled.

Just a little more...

One final thread.

She only needed to sever the human link.

Just as she drew her sword to strike—

RUMBLE—!!

The formation shook violently, and the energy ran berserk.

No—this was not berserk.

Reversal?

The formation was tightening instead, growing stronger.

Seol Yeonhwa’s eyes widened.

This...

She understood.

This formation could not be dismantled from within.

No—rather, the more it was dismantled, the stronger it became.

Internal dismantling strengthens the formation.

By unraveling the heavenly stems and earthly branches, she had only reinforced the human axis.

The more the captive resisted, the more powerfully the formation confined them.

The principle of inversion.

This had to be broken from the outside.

To break it from within would require at least unity of heaven and man—or something beyond.

The Zhuge clan...

They were not called Zhuge for nothing.

Crack—! Crack—!

Pressure from all directions crushed down on her body.

Seol Yeonhwa dropped to one knee.

She tried to endure with her inner power, but it was useless. The more she resisted, the stronger the pressure became.

Her consciousness began to fade.

If she lost consciousness like this—

She would become a burden.

She had to endure.

She clenched her teeth until her lips split and blood flowed out.

Her vision darkened further—

Then—

Crack—!

The formation fractured.

Boom—! BOOM—!!

Someone was breaking the formation from the outside.

Before long—

BOOOOM—!!

With a massive explosion, the formation shattered completely.

Light poured in.

Seol Yeonhwa lifted her head.

A man stood there.

A black robe, a blade at his waist.

Cold eyes.

Ha Baekhyun.

“Ice-Snow Spirit.”

Ha Baekhyun spoke in a low voice.

“By the order of Hyun Seollin, I have come to rescue you.”

He extended his hand.

Seol Yeonhwa took it.