“Ah... Father... please save me...”

That was as far as he got.

Unhwi lightly waved his hand.

Slice—!

Seok Cheonhan’s head fell to the ground.

It rolled across the floor and came to a stop at Seok Cheonwoong’s feet.

A monstrous killing intent burst from his body.

“What... exactly do you think you are doing right now!”

“Can you not tell even after seeing it?”

“...What?”

“I may not be in a position to say this, but you should have educated your son properly.”

Seok Cheonwoong’s fist clenched tight. Unhwi continued.

“He failed to understand his place and dared to target my elder sister. He conspired with Zhuge Yeonghyeon, who died today, and tried to violate my elder sister. So I killed him.”

“...”

“You understand well enough just how grave a matter this is, do you not.”

Power gathered in Seok Cheonwoong’s grip.

Then Unhwi’s voice reached his ears.

“A mere sect like the Path of Tyranny Sect dared to lay hands on the Polar Heir of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace. If Zhuge Yeonghyeon’s scheme had succeeded, my elder sister might have collapsed today in utter despair.”

“...A mere sect... like the Path of Tyranny Sect?”

“Yes. A mere sect. Unfortunately, a sect like the Path of Tyranny Sect does not even enter my field of view. And do not interrupt me.”

“And if I do?”

“I will revoke the chance I intended to give Senior, and today I will erase the sect called the Path of Tyranny Sect from this world.”

“...”

“I will kill your blood relatives, and every person in this area who bears the Seok surname. Do you understand?”

Strangely enough, Seok Cheonwoong’s expression was perfectly calm.

It was not that he had attained enlightenment. He had simply made up his mind.

Unhwi did not smile. He did not even let out a scoff.

Everything had its proper course.

“I will continue. I will give you two choices.”

“Let me hear them.”

“The first is this: the moment the sun rises tomorrow, write a letter in your own hand and send it to the Beggars’ Sect.”

“...A letter?”

“An apology for the extreme discourtesy shown toward the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace. Something to the effect that you hope the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace’s anger may subside with the death of Seok Cheonhan, who failed to know his place and failed to understand his station. That much will suffice.”

“...And the second?”

“You die today.”

Both Unhwi and Seok Cheonwoong knew it as he said those words.

Even if Seok Cheonwoong bowed his head and yielded today, his son was dead.

The two men had already become beings who could not live under the same sky, and this was not something that could be settled with a mere apology.

As had been said at the Murim Alliance, Seok Cheonhan’s actions had staked the fate of the Path of Tyranny Sect itself.

Especially for a sect with the word “Tyranny” in its name, it was only proper to act in a way that befitted that name.

Which was why Seok Cheonwoong’s choice was simple.

He leveled his blade.

“I choose the third.”

A faint grin crossed Unhwi’s lips.

“So it runs in the blood between father and son.”

“What?”

“I said there were two choices. Can you not even count?”

Veins bulged on Seok Cheonwoong’s forehead.

This insolent—

That damned wretch.

“Even if the Path of Tyranny Sect falls, you die today!”

Seok Cheonwoong kicked off the ground.

***

Kwaaang—!

The ground exploded.

His massive frame shot toward Unhwi in an instant.

He drew his blade.

An eight-foot blade.

If there were the Ten Great Swords Under Heaven, then there were also the Ten Great Blades Under Heaven.

Among them, the Heavenly Suppression Blade stood among the highest ranks.

It was a weapon too fine for Seok Cheonwoong to possess, but even so, there was no denying that it was an excellent blade.

He swung the Heavenly Suppression Blade.

Blood Tyrant King Blade.

Chapter One: Blood Heaven Slash.

Shiiiiik—!

A blood-red blade aura poured down as it split the air.

Unhwi raised his sword and blocked it.

Clang—!

Kwaaaang—!

From the impact, Unhwi’s body was driven backward in a long slide.

His feet carved deep tracks into the ground.

It was heavier than he had expected.

Seok Cheonwoong swung his blade again.

In succession.

Shwik—! Shwik—! Shwik—!

Three times in all.

Blood Tyrant King Blade.

Chapter Two: Three Blood Heaven Slashes.

Again, Unhwi blocked with his sword.

Clang—! Kaaang—! Clang—!

But he kept being pushed back.

Five steps.

Ten steps.

His hands went numb.

Seok Cheonwoong laughed.

“So they called you the Heavenly Righteous Arbiter, and yet this is all you amount to! With nothing more than this pitiful strength, you dared speak of destroying the Path of Tyranny Sect!!”

He swung his blade in a great arc.

Blood Tiger Blade Art.

Blood Tiger Emerges from the Abyss.

A blood-red tiger burst forth from the blade.

Grrrrr—!

Blood force took shape and charged at Unhwi.

Unhwi swung his sword.

Heavenly Snow Flying Decision Sword.

Shiiiiik—!

A white snowstorm collided with the blood-red tiger.

Kwaaaang—!

The aftermath of the explosion was tremendous, but the tiger did not stop.

It broke through the snowstorm.

Unhwi kicked off to the side.

Shadowless Step.

In an instant, his body vanished, and the tiger bit into empty air.

Seok Cheonwoong turned his body at once.

Unhwi, who had shifted to the side, was flying toward him. The force behind him was like a dragon gliding through the heavens.

Unhwi’s shoulder, the one holding the sword, twitched.

He read the direction.

Thinking that, Seok Cheonwoong brought his blade down to the right.

That was when it happened.

Unhwi’s sword stopped dead, and his opposite palm swung out.

Tathagata Palm Wind.

Along with overwhelming wind pressure, the materialized Void-Origin Energy smashed into Seok Cheonwoong’s blade.

Kaaang—!!

With a thunderous crash, Seok Cheonwoong staggered to the side.

In that brief instant, Unhwi’s sword came down.

Slash—!

It sliced long across his flank and passed through.

In that tiny moment, Seok Cheonwoong had twisted his body away. It was an extremely supple movement for such a massive frame.

Immediately after, Unhwi set his sword and took a defensive stance.

Then he blocked Seok Cheonwoong’s descending blade.

Kwaaaang—!!

Next, Seok Cheonwoong drove out his foot.

Kwaang—!!

Struck in the solar plexus, Unhwi slid backward in a long scrape.

A line of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

“You underestimated the Path of Tyranny Sect, Seol Unhwi.”

Seok Cheonwoong lowered his blade.

Blood force exploded.

A blood-red aura surged from his entire body.

“Do you know how many tears of blood our ancestors shed?”

“...”

“Our divine strength was insufficient. We could not fully wield the martial arts of the Hebei Peng Family.”

Seok Cheonwoong raised his blade.

“So we searched for it. The blood force of the Blood Sect, a branch of the Thousand-Year Demonic Cult that had been classified closer to the Unorthodox Path than the Demonic Path.”

“...”

“The force created by boiling the flesh and blood and forging energy from it—what was made by mixing that is the Tyrannical Heavenly Force of the Path of Tyranny Sect.”

Unhwi rolled his neck. Seok Cheonwoong continued.

“In a way, our Path of Tyranny Sect shares the same roots as the Original Blood Sect—”

“That is not the case.”

“...What?”

“You do not know.”

“...What is it that I do not know?”

“The Original Blood Sect is not an organization that inherited the true teachings of the Blood Sect.”

“...”

“The Original Blood Sect is simply the Original Blood Sect. An organization created by a being called the Heavenly Daoist. The name of the power it uses is merely ‘blood force,’ or ‘original blood force.’ But Senior’s power and the energy of the Original Blood Sect exist on entirely different levels.”

“...So you are a fool who can do nothing but wag his tongue. You killed my son.”

Strength entered Unhwi’s hand.

“You will die today, and I will violate your slut of a sister, Seol Yeonhwa.”

Unhwi said nothing. He did not react.

Whatever someone babbled with their mouth, the most important thing was victory.

Victory. One had to win, by whatever means, before anything else could be done.

The first to move was Seok Cheonwoong.

His leg drove against the ground.

Boundless Void Divine Step.

Using the movement art of the Peng Family, Seok Cheonwoong reached Unhwi in an instant.

He brought his blade down at once.

Blood Tiger Blade Art.

Blood Tiger Soul-Severer.

A stronger Tyrannical Heavenly Force.

A larger tiger.

Kwaaaah—!

Unhwi raised his sword and blocked it.

Kwaaaaaang—!

The ground was gouged deep.

Unhwi’s knees bent.

Blood poured from his mouth.

The energy he had expended on the way here, the energy he had expended at the Murim Alliance.

Because none of it had fully recovered, he was a step slower, but—

It was fine.

Because he had seen the path.

Seok Cheonwoong withdrew his blade and swung again.

Horizontally.

Unhwi blocked with his sword.

Clang—!

But the impact sent his body flying sideways.

Kururuk.

He rolled across the ground.

Then he slowly rose.

Blood was flowing from his left shoulder.

He had been cut.

Seok Cheonwoong charged again.

He swung his blade in a rapid succession.

Shwik—! Shwik—! Shwik—! Shwik—!

Unhwi blocked with his sword.

Clang—! Kaaang—! Clang—! Kaaang—!

But the last one—

He could not avoid it.

Slash—!

His thigh was cut, and blood flowed. In that instant, Unhwi’s eyes turned toward Seok Cheonwoong’s shoulder.

To outward appearance, it seemed there was not a single opening.

But to Unhwi, that was an opening.

A perfect opening, at that.

The Blood Tiger Blade Art of the Path of Tyranny Sect had been created by modifying the Peng Family’s Five Tigers Severing the Gate Blade and Yama King Blade.

There had been no need to modify the Blood Tyrant King Blade.

Its very name said it all—it was the blade art used by a tyrant king when carving a path with blood.

What mattered was the cultivation method.

The Path of Tyranny Sect cultivated the orthodox mental art of the Peng Family, the Mixed Origin Thunderclap Divine °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Art.

And that was where the problem arose. When martial arts modified in that manner were mixed with an orthodox mental method, there would inevitably be a point where the flow of energy broke for the briefest instant.

That point was exactly there.

Unhwi thrust his sword.

The orthodox sword art of the Snow Palace, specialized solely in the thrust.

Vast-Empty Profound Ice Sword Art.

Vast-Empty Suspended Heaven.

Seok Cheonwoong was horrified.

Unhwi’s sword shot forward—

Thrust!

—and completely pierced through his shoulder.

Yet, befitting a martial artist of Unity of Heaven and Man, he instantly kicked backward and pulled away.

Unhwi likewise retreated to the rear.

Seok Cheonwoong frowned and looked at his pierced shoulder.

“...How did this happen?”

“Do I need to explain that as well?”

“...”

“What are you doing? Why are you not coming?”

He ground his teeth.

You little brat.

Boundless Void Divine Step.

He drew the Tyrannical Heavenly Force to its absolute limit.

“This is the power of the Path of Tyranny Sect!”

He swung his blade in a great arc.

Blood Tiger Blade Art.

Blood Dragon Contends for Supremacy.

A blood-red dragon and tiger burst forth at the same time.

Grrr—! Kwaaaah—!

The two beasts twisted around one another as they charged at Unhwi.

A white radiance began to flow from Unhwi’s hair.

Faintly.

He swung his sword horizontally.

Absolute Ice Returning to the Void Sword.

Slice—!

A white sword aura cut through the dragon and tiger and continued onward.

Kwaaaaaang—!

With an explosion, the Tyrannical Heavenly Force scattered. But it did not scatter completely.

The remaining energy slammed into Unhwi.

Kwaang—!

Unhwi was driven backward in a long slide.

Blood flowed from his entire body.

Shoulder.

Thigh.

Chest.

Mouth.

But he did not let go of the sword.

Seok Cheonwoong raised his blade.

Even with his shoulder pierced through, his destructive force remained the same. For one to be called the head of one of the Five Great Families, at minimum this much had to be expected.

“This is the end.”

His Tyrannical Heavenly Force surged upward. It was so distinct an aura that it seemed enough to cover the entire Sect Master Hall.

A power he had independently created by combining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth with blood force.

Even if it ranked last among them, the Five Great Families were not grouped together for nothing.

His blade came crashing down.

Blood Tiger Blade Art.

Blood Tiger Heavenly Annihilation.

From the sky, a gigantic blood tiger descended.

A strike into which he had poured all of his blood force.

Slowly.

From Unhwi’s mouth, a sword verse began to flow.

On this road I walk alone.

He raised his sword.

The white radiance shone even more brightly.

I do not ask whether it is the righteous path or the demonic path.

I go only where my heart points.

Seok Cheonwoong’s eyes widened.

“...Something... is wrong...”

An enormous quantity of white radiance was pouring from Unhwi’s body.