“I do not know when that time will come, but there will be a moment when Murim League Leader Gun’s... no, Senior Gun’s strength is needed.”

“......”

“When that time comes, help me without asking questions and without arguing. If you do, I will bury what happened today.”

And I promise you the second outcome rather than the first.

The spoken words and the mind-voice transmission came at the same time.

Gun Mugyeol closed his mouth.

Even Gun Mugyeol’s brilliant mind—

Even the mask he had been wearing—

Meant nothing in this situation.

It was all over.

A complete defeat.

That was why his answer, too, had already been decided.

“...Fine.”

“Thank you, but both you and I know well enough that a promise made only in words does not carry much meaning.”

Seol Unhwi pulled out a sheet of paper from his dusk pouch.

Written on it were the words:

I, Gun Mugyeol, will provide Seol Unhwi unconditional help exactly once, at his request.

Seol Unhwi held out the paper.

“Would you sign it? In blood.”

“...Since when did you plan this situation?”

Seol Unhwi had no intention of hiding it.

“From the Palace of Soul-Devouring Demonic Flames.”

“......”

“I told you back then, did I not? That I had no intention of meeting you immediately, but since we had met, I would act accordingly.”

He had indeed said that.

“That is all, Senior.”

Gun Mugyeol let out a sigh and looked up at the sky.

He did not know how long it had been since he had suffered a defeat this miserable.

Silently, he drew blood from his hand and wrote his name on the paper.

Seol Unhwi silently tucked the paper into his robes, then gave a cupped-fist salute.

Then he added,

“Ah, and the second examination was interrupted midway, was it not?”

“...That is what happened.”

“But strictly speaking, it was interrupted because of a problem within the Murim League. Those who participated in the examination committed no wrongdoing.”

“......”

“Therefore, the rankings must still be determined, and as you know, there was also a problem with the level of the formation.”

Releasing the cupped-fist salute, Seol Unhwi pointed at the corpse of Zhuge Yeonghyeon.

“I believe my older sister, who endured and safely escaped even the formation that man tampered with, should naturally be declared the victor. What do you think?”

“...I agree.”

“Then I would appreciate it if you handled that matter as well.”

“I will.”

Seol Unhwi once more gave a cupped-fist salute.

“Thank you, Murim League Leader.”

Gun Mugyeol had suffered a complete defeat, and Seol Unhwi had fully seized control of the board of the Central Plains.

***

For a while, Seol Unhwi’s group said nothing as they left the Murim League.

Seol Unhwi was silent, and so was Seol Yeonhwa.

Even Kang Cheonwoo.

No one said a word.

At the very front, Seol Unhwi and Kang Cheonwoo slowly came to a stop. Standing in the middle of the field, Kang Cheonwoo spoke.

“So.”

He turned his head and looked at Seol Unhwi.

“What is it that you are plotting?”

After saying that, Kang Cheonwoo immediately shook his head.

“No, the order is wrong.”

His voice dropped low.

“Thank you. Because of you, I was able to rise to Sole Primordial Mastery.”

Slowly, he gave a cupped-fist salute.

He bowed deeply.

This was not the light greeting one offered a junior martial artist.

It was the courtesy shown to a true benefactor—an equal, or perhaps even one who might stand above him.

Receiving the salute, Seol Unhwi said,

“I am grateful for your courtesy, Senior, but I believe there is no goodwill in this world without a price.”

“I agree.”

Kang Cheonwoo lifted his head.

His eyes were serious.

“It does not seem to me that you raised me to Sole Primordial Mastery merely to deal with Gun Mugyeol. You must have a design you are drawing. Am I right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I ought to hear what that design is.”

Seol Unhwi answered briefly.

“I want the martial world to be at peace.”

“...At peace?”

Kang Cheonwoo’s brow twitched.

“Yes. For at least ten years. During that period, I want a great age of peace and prosperity to endure without major trouble. That is what I want.”

Kang Cheonwoo ran a hand over his face.

He could not understand it.

The price for being given the chance to reach Sole Primordial Mastery was peace and prosperity?

It made no sense.

The power Seol Unhwi now held was far beyond something like that.

The three great powers of the Central Plains all owed him a debt.

Gun Mugyeol of the Murim League.

Kang Cheonwoo of the Sacheon League.

Seol Jungcheon of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.

All three had reached Sole Primordial Mastery because of Seol Unhwi.

Which meant—

The direction of the Central Plains could be decided with a single word from him.

Let us destroy the Original-Root Blood Sect.

If Seol Unhwi said that—

Both Gun Mugyeol and Kang Cheonwoo would have no choice but to move.

If the Sacheon League and the Murim League moved, and the Heavenly Alliance moved, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace moved as well—

Then by Seol Unhwi’s will alone, the martial world would be engulfed in the flames of war.

And a man holding such power wanted peace and prosperity?

After thinking it over, Kang Cheonwoo tilted his head.

The starting point of this matter.

The reason Seol Unhwi had been forced to move at all.

“Surely... you are speaking of Gun Mugyeol?”

Seol Unhwi nodded.

“That is correct. If Gun Mugyeol had reached Sole Primordial Mastery before you, Senior Kang, he would have started a war.”

“...And the righteous cause?”

“Even if he does not have one now, he would certainly create one later.”

“...Is it that urgent?”

“Rather than urgent...”

Seol Unhwi paused briefly.

“A better way to put it would be that he would not wish to miss an appropriate opportunity.”

Kang Cheonwoo’s expression turned extremely complicated.

“I had roughly realized that Gun Mugyeol was different on the inside from what he showed on the surface, but to that extent?”

“Yes.”

Seol Unhwi’s voice sank coldly.

“Above all, if Gun Mugyeol had set his mind on moving that way, there would have been nothing you could have done, Senior Kang.”

Kang Cheonwoo frowned.

“Even so, I was at Vast-Empty Transcendence and only half a step away from Sole Primordial Mastery. It seems I still could have responded somehow.”

He studied Seol Unhwi’s face.

“Judging by that expression, there is something else.”

Seol Unhwi looked around.

After confirming there were no prying eyes, he spoke quietly.

“Senior Kang.”

“Speak.”

“Do you know of the Return-of-Life Society?”

“...The Return-of-Life Society?”

Kang Cheonwoo’s eyes changed.

“Of course I do. Is it not one of the noisiest organizations of recent times? One that is also tied to you.”

“To be precise, it is not tied to me so much as entangled with me.”

“Is that different?”

“It is.”

“And so? Why does the Return-of-Life Society suddenly come up now?”

Seol Unhwi answered in a quiet voice.

“It seems you need to do some internal cleaning.”

“...Internal, you say.”

Kang Cheonwoo’s expression hardened.

“Gwak Seunghan, the One-Eyed Dragon Elder.”

“......”

“He is a Return Decree of the Return-of-Life Society.”

“...A Return Decree.”

Kang Cheonwoo’s voice cracked.

“As I have heard it, the Return-of-Life Society has a Society Leader, and below that the Return Decrees, and beneath them the Return-of-Life Envoys, and then the ordinary members.”

“Yes.”

“Elder Gwak is one of the Return Decrees of the Return-of-Life Society?”

When Seol Unhwi nodded, Kang Cheonwoo drew in a deep breath.

“That is hard to believe.”

He looked straight at Seol Unhwi.

“But in a situation like this, you are not the sort of man to lie.”

“......”

“Then what would you have me do?”

Seol Unhwi answered calmly.

“Please take care of someone at Gwak Seunghan’s level yourself.”

“I will do so. And after that?”

Seol Unhwi’s eyes flashed.

“Vice Leader Murong Nantian.”

The moment that name came out, Kang Cheonwoo’s brow twisted sharply.

In the context of this conversation, for Murong Nantian to be mentioned here meant—

“...Surely not.”

“The possibility is high.”

Kang Cheonwoo clenched his teeth.

Murong Nantian.

Vice Leader of the Sacheon League.

He was part of the Return-of-Life Society?

“Send him to me.”

“Murong Nantian?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“There is something I need to discuss with him alone.”

Kang Cheonwoo was silent for a long moment.

Seol Unhwi added,

“I should say this just in case, but this is a request.”

Kang Cheonwoo scratched his head.

“If it is a request, then... I will send him.”

“Thank you.” 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Kang Cheonwoo stepped a little closer to Seol Unhwi.

His voice lowered.

“But listen.”

“Yes.”

“Is there truly nothing else you are planning?”

Seol Unhwi remained silent.

Kang Cheonwoo continued.

“Even if I give you the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword, and give you Vice Leader Murong Nantian, and beat to death one elder who is a remnant of the Return-of-Life Society—”

He paused briefly.

“You still raised me to Sole Primordial Mastery.”

“......”

“That is not something that can be settled with merely this much, is it?”

Even Seol Unhwi could not deny that.

No—not only Seol Unhwi. No martial artist alive could deny it.

Sole Primordial Mastery.

A realm martial artists could not reach even in dreams.

The absolute state in which heaven and earth and all things became one.

Even if Kang Cheonwoo or Gun Mugyeol would have reached that realm in the near future without Seol Unhwi’s help, that meant nothing in the current situation.

Seol Unhwi had personally helped them.

Because of Seol Unhwi.

Because of this man named Seol Unhwi, those two had reached Sole Primordial Mastery.

He now held in his hands the greatest form of control a martial artist could possess.

And such a man said he wanted peace and prosperity? Looked at another way, that meant something could happen that would shatter that peace and prosperity.

Kang Cheonwoo possessed at least that much insight.

Seol Unhwi spoke quietly.

“I am preparing.”

“...Preparing?”

“My people have dreams.”

“......”

“And in the process of making those dreams come true, I will have to stand at the front in one way or another.”

“Dreams...”

Kang Cheonwoo looked at him.

“I want to reduce as much as possible the enemies that will arise when those dreams are fulfilled. That is what I am preparing for.”

“Difficult. Very difficult.”

Kang Cheonwoo scratched his head.

What in the world was he plotting?

But he asked no more.

There was no need to know.

He placed a hand on Seol Unhwi’s shoulder.

“Whatever it is, I will stand on your side.”

“Your words alone are appreciated.”

Kang Cheonwoo let out a faint chuckle.

“I will be going. Murong Nantian will be sent before long, so do with him as you see fit.”

“Understood.”

“And one more thing,”

Kang Cheonwoo added.

“There is more to see in Sacheon than in Gongneung. Would it not be worth stopping by at least once?”

“I will give that serious thought as well.”

Nodding, Kang Cheonwoo turned and walked away, # Nоvеlight # showing his back just as he had once done before.

One step, then two.

Before long, his body scattered like smoke.

As Seol Unhwi stood there silently, Chief Seong approached him.

“Was it not hard?”

At Seol Unhwi’s question, Chief Seong smiled faintly.

“How could it have been hard?”

“This matter, beyond dispute, owes much to your contribution.”

“What contribution? It is fine. I did it for you, Young Master, so just buy me a drink later.”

“I will make sure it is an expensive one.”

After saying that, Seol Unhwi turned his head.

There stood Ha Baekhyun and Seol Yeonhwa.

At that same moment, Ha Baekhyun turned his head as well.

Their eyes met.

You did well.

Ha Baekhyun let out a faint laugh.

Does that mean you trust me now?

So long as your connection to the Heavenly Gate remains unbroken, I cannot give you trust.

I have already parted ways with the Heavenly Gate.

That is only what you believe.

......

Even though you once belonged to the Heavenly Gate, it seems you still do not know how tenacious they are.

......

Even so, you are at least useful enough to be entrusted with work, so get some rest.

Ha Baekhyun scratched his head.

Seol Unhwi.

He truly was not an easy man.