Chapter 187

What that meant was this: in this moment, they would stand as father and son.

And having understood that, Unhwi immediately replied.

“Yes, Father.”

“First of all, congratulations on reaching Five Qi Toward the Origin. Your accomplishments are truly exceptional. In no time, you will ascend to the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth, and even beyond, into the realm of the Martial God’s Five Extremes. However, I...”

Seol Jungcheon paused briefly and exhaled before continuing.

“...What weighs heavily on my mind is that you were the one to discover Lord Seolheon’s hidden cave.”

Seol Jungcheon was honest.

And Unhwi found that honesty deeply comforting.

What had happened inside Shaolin’s secret realm.

What kind of conversation he’d had with Seol Horyeong, how he planned to purge the traitors.

Especially—when exactly he would kill Yang Seoljin.

There was much to talk about, but first, he had to show him what the First Palace Lord had left behind.

What lay within.

What had been passed down.

“I will show you.”

***

In truth, finding it had been the difficult part—getting inside wasn’t all that hard.

The issue lay in that very phrase: not all that hard.

What mattered most was whether one could sense the flow of ice-snow qi upon entry.

And so—what was the essence of ice-snow qi?

Ultimately, it was Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. While the finer mechanisms differed, martial artists at the level of the Martial God’s Five Extremes who could perceive and wield this energy could enter, as long as they knew the method.

Because of this, Unhwi had hesitated for a moment.

Was it right to let Hyunsim enter?

But the hesitation didn’t last long.

Hyunsim’s loyalty was real.

And there was no one who understood that loyalty better than Unhwi.

At the very least, he deserved to witness the moment Seol Jungcheon fulfilled his long-cherished wish and was freed.

This was the martial world.

Grace must be repaid with grace, hatred with hatred—

—and loyalty, with respect.

Naturally, the three men stepped into the hidden cave.

Unhwi, who had already entered once, immediately gathered his inner force to raise his body temperature, but Hyunsim and Seol Jungcheon had not.

Seol Jungcheon’s reaction in particular was overwhelming.

His eyes went wide. How many years had he longed for this place?

Not even the pain of cold seeping into his flesh gave him pause.

“This place...”

He stepped forward toward the space that had been his dream for over a decade.

There was awe in his steps, and also guilt—and that was right.

Truly—

It had been so many long years. He had said he’d let it go. He had even ceased searching. But a piece of Lord Seolheon’s poem had always remained tucked in one corner of his heart.

He had wanted to find the legend. Had to find it.

“This is the place, Father.”

At Unhwi’s calm voice, Seol Jungcheon turned his head.

“This is the hidden cave of Lord Seolheon, spoken of in legends.”

Seol Jungcheon walked slowly forward. The ancient carvings on the walls, the ice walls gleaming in a blue light—everything made his heart race. With each step, the cavern widened, until finally a vast chamber opened before them.

“My god...”

His gasp echoed within the cave. Behind him, Hyunsim’s jaw dropped, speechless.

And rightfully so.

In the center was a massive ice crystal.

Even at a glance, it was clearly not a relic of a thousand or two thousand years—but of ten thousand.

The other ice crystals were the same.

This was a sight that could not be seen anywhere else in the world.

Seol Jungcheon’s expression held a tangled blend of emotions. Awe, relief, and regret.

There was a reason he reacted so strongly.

In Unhwi’s past life, what had happened?

While searching for this place, he had neglected the Palace’s affairs. In the end, he lost his children—and he lost the Palace itself.

Even if it hadn’t happened in this timeline, wasn’t that far too cruel?

That’s why he had given up. Though he believed it existed, he had let it go. He wouldn’t deny that some regret remained, but he had planned never to concern himself with it until the day he died.

And now—he was seeing it, led here by his son.

“How did... how did you find it?”

Unhwi paused in silence.

There was a clear answer to the question of how he’d found it.

“I deduced it based on memories from my previous life.”

“Deduced...”

“Yang Seoljin definitely conquered the Snow Palace. Behind him was Yu Cheong. Those two would have mobilized everything at their disposal to search Mount Seol. Yet neither of them found it.”

“...Indeed.”

“But I—right before my death—I cut down the very heart of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Mountain and proved that a treasure existed.”

Seol Jungcheon simply watched in silence as Unhwi continued to speak calmly.

“Yu Cheong is extraordinary. And Yang Seoljin, while not his equal, is undeniably formidable. So why did they fail to find it? Could it be that the mountain’s summit had changed from the time of the Ice Palace to now? But I couldn’t imagine they hadn’t considered that.”

“...”

“So that left one conclusion. There was an action they would never take. Those two, who valued their own lives above all, would never place themselves in a life-threatening situation. Lord Seolheon mentioned it many times—true meaning, essence, white snow.”

“...Then...”

“Yes. This was prepared for a descendant who could let go of everything and reach the source to find that truth. And...”

Unhwi paused, then handed Seol Jungcheon two books.

“They’re untitled.”

“The title doesn’t matter. What’s important is what’s inside.”

Seol Jungcheon opened one and quietly began to read.

The first was a draft of the Ice-Snow Heart Sutra of the Northern Sea Ice Palace, left behind by Seolheon.

As he read, Seol Jungcheon could not take his eyes off the page—letter by letter. When new lines appeared naturally at the end, he let out a quiet gasp.

It was astounding.

“This is... the scripture of the Northern Sea Ice Palace...”

“What do you think, Father?”

“It’s unmistakably authentic. And the content is profound beyond words. Even reading it is overwhelming—understanding and mastering it will be even harder. However...”

What came next mattered most.

“With this, not only can the Ten Thousand Snow Compendium be elevated, but all the martial arts of Mount Seol can be refined further. I believe it will also allow for the creation of entirely new techniques. Most importantly, this scripture will complete the legitimacy of Everlasting Snow Palace and tighten Mount Seol’s unity.”

“I see.”

From Unhwi’s expression, Seol Jungcheon read something else.

“You’re clearly expecting me to read the other one too.”

“I believe it’s the most important.”

Silently, Seol Jungcheon opened the second book.

As soon as he saw the words Thousand-Year Demon Cult, his brow furrowed—and his eyes widened at the content.

Without a moment’s pause, he flipped page after page.

When he reached the end, he slowly raised his head and looked at Unhwi.

Unhwi’s calm voice rang in his ears.

“In my past life, you found this place, Father.”

Seol Jungcheon looked at his son, as if struck speechless.

“I believed you must have made a deal with Yang Seoljin or Yu Cheong. Especially Yu Cheong—he was the first Lord of the Celestial Forest and remains its spiritual anchor. Regardless of who the current Lord is, no one can defy Yu Cheong’s command. Since the Celestial Forest possessed an artifact capable of revealing the location of this place, I considered it a logical deduction.”

Seol Jungcheon’s eyes began to tremble.

“I don’t know for certain why you didn’t use the Heaven-Origin Shadow Technique back then. I can only speculate. But one thing is certain.”

A gentle smile formed on Unhwi’s lips.

“It was you, Father. You guided me.”

“...I... guided you...?”

“I don’t believe in fate. But I don’t deny its existence either. If destiny is something that falls into the hands of the prepared, then I understand it. That’s why—right now—I intend to do what I should have done immediately.”

With that, Unhwi suddenly knelt and bowed to Seol Jungcheon. His forehead touched the cold, icy floor.

“I offer my deepest gratitude for your infinite grace—and for granting me another chance, however late ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) it may be.”

Seol Jungcheon rushed to raise his son.

“What nonsense are you saying? Even if I had found this place, the one who truly achieved it and brought it to light was you. All of this is your merit. Now, stand up!”

Unhwi slowly rose. His eyes were clear, as if every inner conflict and torment had been washed away.

He gently brushed the frost off his father’s shoulder.

“I don’t know what my father of the past life truly felt. As I said, I can only speculate. But I do know what he desired.”

“...”

“A second chance. And if that chance were to fall into anyone’s hands, he must have hoped it would be mine. Father—I realized it when I discovered this place. To find it, one must possess a pure heart. You cast off the greed and attachments of the world atop Mount Seol. You reflected upon your errors and sought a way forward. That wish is what led to the discovery of this cave. And...”

Unhwi looked up at Seol Jungcheon with warm eyes.

“It reached me.”

A red tinge crept to the corners of Seol Jungcheon’s eyes. His son’s words pierced deep into his heart.

“This place isn’t simply a chamber where treasures were hidden. This is a place where the bond between father and son continues.”

Unhwi went on.

“The Way of Ice and Snow. The Way of Natural Order. And the true meaning of guidance. Father...”

Seol Jungcheon’s body began to tremble slightly. Something was stirring within him.

A strange light began to swirl around him. His inner energy was changing. The ice crystals throughout the cave glowed even brighter, as if responding to him.

And to that Seol Jungcheon, Unhwi smiled and said,

“You weren’t wrong, Father. You were right.”

A single tear fell from Seol Jungcheon’s eye.

A tear of joy, and of enlightenment.

In that moment, something within him awoke. The wall he had built over decades began to crumble. Everything he had sought, and everything he had missed, suddenly became clear.

Unhwi silently stepped back.

Hyunsim, who had been listening to the entire conversation from behind, was desperately trying to follow the flow between Unhwi and Seol Jungcheon.

Past lives, guidance, whatnot—

His head was spinning.

And to him, Unhwi said,

“Step back.”

That was right.

“My son...”

Seol Jungcheon’s voice trembled.

“You are... the greatest teacher of my life.”

As he spoke, a blinding radiance burst from Seol Jungcheon’s body.

And Unhwi knew.

This was the moment he would transcend—the final leap into the ultimate realm of the Martial God’s Five Extremes: Unity of Chaos and Origin.