Chapter 181

Hyunshim’s reasoning was entirely understandable.

“I’d like to ask the General a question.”

“...I’m listening.”

“Let’s suppose the Lord of the Palace is in a gravely critical condition. There is only one way to save her. But the price for that one method... is your life.”

A slight twitch flickered across Hyunshim’s brow.

“If you were to take your own life, the Lord might live. But you wouldn’t know whether she truly survived or not. What would you do in such a situation?”

There was not even a hint of hesitation.

“I would take my own life.”

“It’s the same.”

“......”

“Seo Hyo’s dream is a man’s dream. A long-cherished desire. I do not dismiss the resolve of someone who refuses to live forever as a servant. Nor do I want to.”

“...Lord Hyun Seolrin...”

“You’re a man who understands loyalty, General. And Seo Hyo is also a man who understands loyalty. The only difference is that your loyalty is directed toward the Lord of the Palace, while Seo Hyo’s is directed toward his own dream. General.”

“Please speak.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I do.”

“Then trust me until the end.”

Hyunshim sighed deeply and asked in a subdued voice.

“...Is it true that the Vice Lord, while being of Cheonrim, also belongs to the Original Blood Sect?”

“Strictly speaking, no. Yang Seoljin is a man of Cheonrim—but he belongs to ‘Yu Cheong.’”

“...He intends to overthrow the Snow Palace, then.”

“Yes.”

“What reason could he possibly have for that?”

Hyunshim must have believed I knew the reason well. That’s likely why he asked.

And he was right.

I did know the reason.

And—

I looked around for a moment.

The summit of the Snow Mountain.

I never expected to come here like this, but if not now, who knows when the next chance might be.

This place was treacherous terrain. If one had not reached the Heaven-Earth Apex, ascending here was nearly impossible.

My father had ceased searching for the treasure here exactly three months ago.

The words of Elder Goseung weighed on his mind, and he was curious about the reason for my “return.”

I wasn’t certain—but since I was here anyway, I figured I might as well take a look.

“Would you care to search with me?”

“Search for what?”

“For the reason.”

“......”

Our eyes turned downward.

From this height, where the boundary between sky and snow blurred, the main palace of the Eternal Snow Palace did not appear small at all.

Roughly... about there.

That’s the spot where I cleaved through the Eternal Snow Mountain.

Unhwi, deep in thought for a while, spoke briefly.

“Withdraw your energy.”

“...Understood.”

I didn’t know what he intended to do, but it was clear that he meant to do something.

So I complied.

As Hyunshim drew back the heavenly energies, a blizzard flared up so fiercely that even the nearest distance was difficult to make out.

It immediately enveloped both Hyunshim’s and Unhwi’s bodies.

Once again, Hyunshim’s eyes filled with concern.

Because no matter how {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} he looked at it, Unhwi’s body didn’t seem normal.

Especially the wound on his right hand—it was severe.

Naturally, he sent energy to protect Unhwi’s arm.

And even in that moment, Unhwi’s eyes scanned his surroundings with piercing clarity.

He tilted his head while looking in one direction, then turned to look elsewhere.

After the time it would take to cycle a single round of internal energy, Hyunshim spoke, seeming unconvinced.

“Lord Hyun Seolrin, I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but this place is dangerous. You can’t stay here long. Why not descend the mountain and continue your discussion?”

Unhwi didn’t answer. Instead, he slowly surveyed the area.

Nothing could be seen—only ice, snowdrifts, and a wind that sliced at the skin.

Could it be he couldn’t hear?

Just as Hyunshim was about to speak again—

“General, isn’t it strange?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Lord of the Palace has searched this mountain for over a decade. The same goes for Yang Seoljin.”

Hyunshim silently nodded.

There was no way he, of all people, didn’t know how Seol Jungcheon had scoured these peaks in pursuit of legend.

“But not only did they never find it—they likely never even guessed.”

“...That’s true. The Lord spent more than three hours here each day. Sometimes ten hours, sometimes the entire day.”

Which meant—

“That it can’t be found by conventional means.”

“...Indeed.”

Unhwi turned his head toward Hyunshim’s voice.

“You think the Lord of the Palace wasted his time, don’t you?”

“...Do you sense that from my voice?”

“Yes. I do. And you likely believe Yang Seoljin and Yu Cheong are also chasing shadows. Am I wrong?”

“...No, you are correct.”

For most people, Hyunshim’s reasoning made sense.

If even a master of Taehwa Musang’s level had searched and failed, then it was natural to assume that nothing was there in the first place.

Frankly, it’s common.

Legends passed down within sects often exist in some form, but the vast majority are moral tales—very few connect to reality.

Even if the Eternal Snow Palace was the predecessor of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, if something didn’t exist, it didn’t exist.

Unhwi didn’t blame Hyunshim for thinking that way. He could understand it.

The important thing was that Unhwi knew the legend was real.

He had split the Eternal Snow Mountain in half—and if the treasure had poured out with the avalanche triggered by that strike...

He touched his chin.

Something was off.

Was the direction wrong?

The mountain had been cleaved according to the trajectory of his blade.

That trajectory was unmistakably diagonal.

Unhwi crouched down and fell deep into thought.

A poem by the first Lord, Seol Heun, surfaced in his mind:

“The Eternal Snow Mountain hides the secrets of Heaven.

The world seeks Heaven, but cannot find its place.

The true meaning lies buried in the white snow.”

He pondered it over and over.

The Eternal Snow Mountain hid the secrets of Heaven. People seek Heaven, but cannot find its location. And then—

“The true meaning lies buried in the white snow...”

“The true meaning lies buried in the white snow...”

Hyunshim echoed softly.

Unhwi paid it no mind. All his attention was on the meaning of the poem.

And then, at that very moment, he noticed something strange.

The mountain held the secret of Heaven—but people were not looking for the secret. They were looking for Heaven.

Why were they searching for Heaven?

The poem clearly distinguished between Heaven and Heaven’s secret.

More importantly, the final line Hyunshim had recited—

The true meaning lies buried in the white snow.

Unhwi slowly rose to his feet and looked straight ahead. From the summit, the view of the Snow Mountain was more than grand—it was overwhelming.

“What if the perspective was wrong?”

Hyunshim tilted his head at the sudden remark.

“Perspective?”

“Yes. The first Lord, Seol Heun, spoke of the ‘secret of Heaven’ in the poem. But what if that meant the literal ‘Heaven’?”

“Then... are you suggesting we must interpret it from a skyward point of view?”

“Exactly.”

Unhwi began circling the area slowly, examining the Snow Mountain from different angles. With every shift in perspective, the shape of the mountain changed.

And then, all of a sudden, he stopped walking.

Hyunshim approached and asked,

“Do you see something?”

Unhwi shook his head.

“I don’t.”

Hyunshim scratched his head, disappointed. There was something strangely captivating about all this. Perhaps because it was the first time he’d seen Unhwi like this.

And then, Unhwi said something that lit up Hyunshim’s eyes.

“I think I’ve grasped the true meaning behind the final line.”

“May I hear it?”

Unhwi answered without pause.

“Do you know what sect Lord Seol Heun belonged to before founding the Eternal Snow Palace?”

“...The Northern Sea... Ice Palace, wasn’t it?”

“Yes. The Northern Sea Ice Palace. The line about the true meaning lying in the white snow—it refers to that sect. And that means the previous two lines must be reinterpreted as well.”

Unhwi gathered his thoughts and continued slowly.

“Why can people not find Heaven? Back when the Ice Palace still existed, the Eternal Snow Mountain was already here. But it was destroyed during the Millennium Calamity.”

“......”

“The Millennium Calamity affected all of Murim—both the Central Plains and the foreign regions. There are countless places that used to be mountains but are now gone. Lands that used to be sea, and vice versa. General.”

“...Yes, Lord Hyun Seolrin.”

“Is this really the true summit of the Eternal Snow Mountain—as it was before the Millennium Calamity?”

“...Ah... what you’re saying is...”

Unhwi nodded.

“What we know as the ‘summit’ of the Snow Mountain may not be the real summit. The reason my father and Yang Seoljin never found it... might simply be that they were searching the wrong place.”

He scanned the area again. As the blizzard briefly settled, his field of view widened.

Something was missing.

Unhwi fell silent, his eyes tracing the snow-covered ridgelines in the distance.

Whether it was before or after the Millennium Calamity—whether the true summit had shifted or not—what mattered had not changed.

Seol Jungcheon had searched for over ten years. But before long, Snow Palace would fall into Yang Seoljin’s hands.

He would dig through the mountain for decades.

Yu Cheong, too, must have done the same.

Yet they still failed to find it.

That Unhwi had unearthed the treasure by cleaving the mountain meant one thing.

The entire frame of reference had to change.

Even those at the apex—those at the level of Taehwa Musang or Sole Origin Realm—had searched for decades and failed. So the conclusion was that it was just a legend.

That, precisely, must be questioned.

What if—

“...They couldn’t find it because they were masters?”

He shook his head.

“...What if they couldn’t find it because they were too powerful...”

Suddenly, Unhwi froze.

His eyes trembled violently.

“...Lord Hyun Seolrin? Are you alright?”

Hyunshim asked in concern, and Unhwi replied with a question of his own.

“General... what do you think is the true nature of the Snow Mountain?”

“Its nature...?”

“Yes.”

Hyunshim pondered briefly.

“Cold... dangerous... a place where living beings cannot remain for long... wouldn’t you say?”

“You’re right. By nature, this place is inhospitable to human life.”

Unhwi’s eyes lit up.

“But then how are we able to exist here?”

“In your case, Lord Hyun Seolrin, you’re protecting yourself with internal energy... For someone like me, a martial artist of the Five Realms of the Martial God, I isolate the surroundings using Heaven and Earth energies. Of course, our physical bodies have also been tempered enough to withstand a blizzard like th—”

As he said that, Hyunshim slowly trailed off.