Seok Cheonhan was flustered.

His hands were trembling.

He demanded an answer from the man standing before him. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“No, is it really true that Vice Leader Zhuge is dead?”

“...That is what I heard as well.”

The expression of the man before him, Im Sangseo, supervisor of the Murim Alliance’s Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, was no different from Seok Cheonhan’s.

He was pale.

He could not believe it.

Zhuge Yeonghyeon was dead.

The original plan had been this:

When the second exam began, Im Sangseo would lure Seol Yeonhwa into the formation Zhuge Yeonghyeon had arranged separately and trap her inside.

That was the first step, and if it succeeded, Seol Yeonhwa would collapse from exhaustion within about half a shichen. The second step was to confine her somewhere else after that.

Then, once Zhuge Yeonghyeon gave the signal, they would bring Seol Yeonhwa to him. That was the third step.

A plan made up of three stages in total.

Then why was Seok Cheonhan, the young sect master of the Path of Tyranny Sect, involved in this?

It was simple.

Im Sangseo had made another deal with Seok Cheonhan.

There was no one who did not know that Seok Cheonhan harbored filthy desires toward Seol Yeonhwa.

He had been blatant about it since the Murim Alliance entrance examination.

Im Sangseo had a past in which he had once been indebted to the Path of Tyranny Sect.

And he wanted to establish a good relationship with Seok Cheonhan, who would become the next sect master of the Path of Tyranny Sect.

So he discreetly told him of Zhuge Yeonghyeon’s plan.

Naturally, Seok Cheonhan showed great interest.

Who was Zhuge Yeonghyeon? The last descendant of the Zhuge Family.

When it came to formations, there were almost none in Murim who could rival him, so if a man like that had calculated it, he would never have made it easy for Seol Yeonhwa to wake quickly.

That was right.

Even if he violated the unconscious Seol Yeonhwa, who would know?

Seok Cheonhan had said it exactly like this.

He wanted to be alone with Seol Yeonhwa for about half a shichen.

Im Sangseo had agreed.

Of course, he had not agreed for nothing.

Two hundred nyang of gold.

That was what Seok Cheonhan had promised him.

Greed.

That was what moved Im Sangseo.

And this was not simply because of those two hundred nyang of gold.

To share a secret with Seok Cheonhan, the future sect master of the Path of Tyranny Sect—there was something irresistibly appealing about that.

Im Sangseo was a martial artist of the Five Qi Origin realm who had realized his own limits early on, and if it was someone like Seok Cheonhan, he would at the very least obtain a position higher than something like an examiner for the Murim Alliance.

But now everything had gone wrong.

“Th-this...”

Seok Cheonhan clawed at his hair.

“What in the world happened?!”

“Be quiet!”

Im Sangseo hurriedly looked around.

Fortunately, there was no one nearby.

Soon, the two men organized their thoughts.

No one knew about this matter.

They just had to bury it as it was.

Im Sangseo looked at Seok Cheonhan.

“Young Master Seok.”

“...What.”

“Let us say that nothing happened.”

“...”

“We did not do anything, did we? This was all Vice Leader Zhuge’s independent action. If we settle it like that, then no one will know that we were trying to do anything to Seol Yeon... no, to her.”

Seok Cheonhan nodded.

“...Then let’s do th—”

Seok Cheonhan could not bring himself to finish speaking.

Sensing something strange, Im Sangseo followed Seok Cheonhan’s gaze.

Then his eyes widened, and he sucked in a breath.

There was a man there.

Since when had he been standing there?

How had he appeared?

They knew nothing.

He was simply standing there.

“Seol... Seol Unhwi...?”

Im Sangseo’s voice trembled.

Unhwi spoke in a quiet voice.

“I was thinking of just burying it.”

“...”

“But I found that I simply could not.”

Had he heard everything?

That was what Im Sangseo and Seok Cheonhan thought, but it no longer mattered.

Unhwi extended his hand.

He seized Im Sangseo by the throat.

It was so natural that Im Sangseo could not even understand what was happening to him right now.

Then he realized.

The monstrous killing intent he felt from Unhwi’s eyes.

“Just as before, and just as now.”

Unhwi’s voice had sunk into icy stillness.

“After keeping people alive for nearly twenty years and torturing them, I can now read their thoughts just by looking at their faces.”

Im Sangseo trembled violently.

He was terrified.

He could do nothing.

Unhwi had once said it.

That in his previous life, he had captured and tortured every person connected to Seol Yeonhwa’s end.

He had not simply tortured them.

He had restored them and even fed them spirit pills while torturing them.

These two had been among them.

Im Sangseo and Seok Cheonhan.

Unhwi tightened his grip.

Crack!

Im Sangseo’s neck was crushed, and he collapsed to the floor.

Without hesitation, Unhwi stamped on his neck.

Crunch!

His neck separated.

Blood splattered in every direction.

When Unhwi’s gaze shifted to Seok Cheonhan, Seok Cheonhan instinctively staggered backward.

The strength left his legs.

“W-wait...”

It was then.

The sound of doors being kicked open rang out.

Bang, bang, baang.

They were the Dharma Protectors of the Path of Tyranny Sect who had been hiding nearby.

There were three of them.

“How dare you lay hands on our young sect master!”

There was no need to hear their names or anything else.

One was at the Harmony realm, and two were at the Transcendent realm, but—

There really was no need.

They flew toward Unhwi.

With swords in hand.

Exposing killing intent.

Unhwi [N O V E L I G H T] looked at them.

The surrounding Void-Origin Energy began to boil.

Srrrr—

White energy.

From Unhwi’s ash-gray hair, a white radiance began to flow forth.

It was only for a moment, but Chief Seong, who stood nearby, saw it clearly.

Then his eyes turned white as well.

Slowly, Unhwi extended his hand.

Heavenly Snow Domain.

Jjeoeoeong—!

That energy spread out in all directions and shot toward the three Dharma Protectors.

Their eyes widened.

They could not move.

Their bodies.

Their energy.

Everything had frozen.

They fell straight to the ground.

Pajijijik—!

With a sound like shattering glass, all three corpses broke apart.

Ice fragments that had been human beings only a moment earlier scattered in every direction.

Seok Cheonhan stared at the sight.

He could not believe it.

Three Dharma Protectors—martial artists of the Harmony and Transcendent realms—and they had been killed by a single move.

No, was that even a move?

He could not even tell whether it was a technique or not.

Unhwi began to walk.

Toward Seok Cheonhan.

Crk. Crk.

At the sound of ice crunching beneath his steps, Seok Cheonhan collapsed where he was.

Looking at those methods, it was obvious that Unhwi knew.

It was Seol Unhwi who had killed Zhuge Yeonghyeon, and Zhuge Yeonghyeon must have told him something.

Thinking that, Seok Cheonhan begged.

“Sp-spare me...”

He trembled violently.

Unhwi stopped before him.

“Every person has a measure they are meant to keep.”

“P-please...”

“You reached for what you should never have coveted, and even the thoughts you harbored were foul beyond measure, so there is nothing more to say.”

He flicked a finger.

Tung.

A streak of light shot out and severed Seok Cheonhan’s right arm cleanly.

Slice!

“Aaaagh!”

Seok Cheonhan screamed.

Unbearable pain crashed over him. Then Unhwi flicked his finger once more.

This time, it was the left arm.

Slice.

The left arm fell to the ground.

“Ah... ahh... please...”

Seok Cheonhan wailed. Tears poured from his eyes, but Unhwi did not care.

“What you did today determined not only your own fate, but the fate of the Path of Tyranny Sect as well.”

“Ah... no... no...”

“Do not think of dying comfortably.”

Tung, tung.

Two flicks of his finger tore off Seok Cheonhan’s two legs.

Having lost all four limbs, Seok Cheonhan collapsed to the ground.

An enormous amount of blood poured out.

“Ugh... ugh... ngh...”

Seok Cheonhan began to weep tears of blood. It was over.

Even if he survived, he would live the rest of his life like this. As a martial artist, he was finished, and as a human being, he was finished.

There were people who had rushed here after hearing the screams.

They were the martial artists of the Murim Alliance and all those who had been celebrating after finishing the examination.

Their eyes were fixed on Unhwi.

Those absurdly merciless methods.

That was the Snow Mountain Demon Lord of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.

At last, Unhwi flicked his finger one final time.

With a tung sound, the finger force that shot out struck Seok Cheonhan in the forehead.

With a loud crack, Seok Cheonhan’s body collapsed to the ground.

He did not move in the slightest. He had clearly lost consciousness.

Unhwi approached in silence and stopped the bleeding.

He had no intention of killing him right now.

This one still had a use.

Unhwi turned his head.

In the distance, he could see his elder sister.

She too was looking at Unhwi.

He did not speak.

There was no need.

Even without words, each knew what the other would say.

Grabbing Seok Cheonhan by the hair, Unhwi spoke in a quiet voice.

“Chief Seong.”

At Unhwi’s call, Chief Seong hurried over at once.

“There is somewhere I need to stop by for a moment.”

“...Will you go alone?”

Unhwi nodded.

Then he spoke to Wang Muha, the Swift Blade Chivalrous Hero.

“Senior Wang.”

“...Speak.”

Wang Muha looked at Unhwi.

His gaze was complicated.

“There is an empty seat for a Great Elder in the Heavenly Alliance.”

“Mm...”

“Would you be willing to take that position?”

Wang Muha scratched his head.

He was a quick-witted man.

He sent Unhwi a voice transmission.

-That sounds to me like you are asking me not to involve myself in what is about to happen. Am I right?

Unhwi nodded.

Wang Muha let out a sigh.

“Then I shall do so.”

“You have my thanks.”

Wang Muha turned his back and left.

As he departed, he sent one more voice transmission.

-Let us play another game of baduk sometime later.

-Then you will need to train your skill a little more.

“Heh... heheheheh...”

Wang Muha, who had been walking away, suddenly burst into hearty laughter.

The people outside had no idea what had been said in the voice transmissions.

To them, even Wang Muha looked as though he had lost his mind.

Slowly, Unhwi began to walk.

***

Seok Cheonwoong, who had been circulating his qi in his residence, opened his eyes.

Something was wrong.

A bizarre flow of energy was blanketing the entire Path of Tyranny Sect.

Cold, yet hot; silent, yet like a storm.

...What is this?

As a master of Unity of Heaven and Man, he sensed the strangeness clearly.

He rose from the bed and picked up the blade that had been placed in the corner.

Then he opened the door and stepped outside.

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

He could not even hear the footsteps of the sect disciples on patrol.

He walked slowly.

Toward the Sect Master Hall.

That flow of energy was emanating from there.

The closer he came, the stronger it grew.

It was overwhelming.

...Who dares...

This was the Path of Tyranny Sect.

One of the Five Great Families whose name resounded across the Central Plains.

Though it might rank last among them, the fact that it was one of the Five Great Families was what mattered.

He arrived before the Sect Master Hall.

The doors stood open.

He stepped inside in silence. Naturally, his brow furrowed.

A man was seated in the sect master’s chair.

A very young man, sitting with one leg crossed over the other, with a long sword embedded on the right side of the chair.

And ash-gray hair.

Pale skin.

His sharp gaze turned toward Seok Cheonwoong.

In that instant, gooseflesh rose all over Seok Cheonwoong’s body.

...That hair, that appearance, and that presence.

There was no way he could fail to recognize him.

Was he not the monster shaking the whole of Murim?

It was his first time seeing him now, but his eyes were like those of an old man who had lived a thousand years.

Seol Unhwi opened his mouth.

“You are late.”

His voice was calm.

But the weight contained within it was as heavy as a mountain.

Seok Cheonwoong raised his blade.

He drew up the Tyrannical Heavenly Force, the ultimate art of the Path of Tyranny Sect.

The force of his presence exploded from his entire body.

But Unhwi did not move in the slightest.

He merely flicked the fingers of his other hand in silence.

At that, Seok Cheonhan, who was on Unhwi’s left, regained consciousness.

“Huh... huff... ah... aaagh...”

Groaning under the wave of pain crashing over him, Seok Cheonhan looked at Seok Cheonwoong.