Chapter 309

The five heads of the Five Great Families are called the “Martial World Five Venerables” in the martial world. With one of them being a master of No-Extremes Incarnation and the other four being masters of the Peach Blossom Fist Formation, those five clans walk their own path without watching anyone’s mood.

Among the Five Sword Sects and the Four Demon Sects beneath them, the only existence that can threaten the Five Great Families’ fortress even slightly is Yeon Songbaek, the sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect.

And that Yeon Songbaek came alone, without even a personal guard.

Wei Tianhu looked at Calmheart Tower, its doors closed.

‘We never heard he was coming here. He wouldn’t start something, would he.’

Figures of that stature in the martial world value face.

No matter what tremendous things Unhwi had achieved, his age was still not even past his coming-of-age.

Even if he held the seat of Heavenly Arbiter of the Heavenly Alliance, would the sect master of the Five Sword Sects personally step out to deal with him? That was taboo in the martial world.

If you want to uphold face, you should conduct yourself accordingly—and because they take it seriously, they carry out “assassinations.”

To put it bluntly, if Unhwi offended him, then Gun Mugyeol, the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance, could personally come out and kill Unhwi, and it was the same for Yu Cheong. If he offended him, he could simply leave the Original Blood Cult and kill Unhwi.

They did not do that, so would Yeon Songbaek really do such a thing?

He rubbed his face.

‘Even if the Heavenly Arbiter dies, I won’t die. So calm down.’

It was just as he steadied his mind and body with a deep breath.

The main gate of Calmheart Tower opened, and two people entered.

Unhwi and Han Murin.

In that instant.

Wei Tianhu’s entire body stiffened.

He felt something aimed at the side of his face—exactly two finger joints away from the nape of his neck.

He couldn’t see it, but it was definitely there.

Cold killing intent, air trembling faintly, and an instinctive warning that his life was in danger.

‘Sword-controlling art.......’

It was Yeon Songbaek’s specialty, sword-controlling art.

A supreme technique among supreme techniques, subduing an opponent with an invisible sword.

And it wasn’t just any sword-controlling art.

It was the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s unique secret art, condensing the qi in the air to create a sword with tangible substance.

It was clearly Sky-Void Sword-Control Art.

Wei Tianhu did not dare even breathe too loudly. If he moved even a little, it felt like his neck would be cut.

But Unhwi was different.

In an instant, his eyes turned pure white.

Heaven-Snow Dominion.

In that moment, white frost began to settle across the entirety of Calmheart Tower’s yard. The air turned sharply cold, and everything within a radius of ten jang began to freeze. The weeds on the ground turned white, and ice crystals blossomed up from the wooden pillars.

Right in front of Unhwi’s face, a cracking sound rang out, and the sword that had been transparent revealed its substance.

“Ho.......”

At the low exclamation from the eaves of Calmheart Tower, Wei Tianhu hurriedly looked up.

A white-haired middle-aged man was standing there.

Wearing white, a sword in one hand.

It was Yeon Songbaek, the sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect.

He had clearly been inside the quarters—when did he come out?

Wei Tianhu hadn’t even felt it.

“Heaven-Snow Dominion...... so I get to see with my own eyes the technique of the Snow Palace that I’d only heard rumors of.”

Yeon Songbaek’s gaze sharpened.

“As rumored, you are not ordinary, Heavenly Arbiter.”

Unhwi smiled faintly and knocked the sword before him aside.

Then he made a respectful clasped-fist salute.

“I pay my respects to the sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect.”

“......”

“Shall we go inside and speak?”

“......Fine. It seems we have much to say, so come in.”

After saying that, Yeon Songbaek lightly jumped down from the eaves and headed inside, and Unhwi followed behind him into the quarters.

***

In the largest guest room of Calmheart Tower, Unhwi and Yeon Songbaek sat facing each other.

“I received your letter.”

“I see.”

“There was interesting content inside.”

“I did not write it simply to be interesting, senior.”

Unexpectedly, Yeon Songbaek’s voice and expression were gentle.

In the martial world, Seol Unhwi’s position was nearly that of an ancestor-tier figure who had founded a sect. With the path he had taken until now, dismissing him as a mere brat was no different from displaying one’s own inadequacy.

Looked at another way, it also meant the conversation could be shortened.

So he asked.

“How much do you know?”

“As I stated in the letter.”

“So you mean you know everything.”

“That is correct.”

“If I ask how you know, do you intend to answer?”

“I will answer, but I doubt you will find it satisfying.”

Yeon Songbaek gave a quiet snort of laughter.

Then he opened his mouth slowly.

“It was twenty years ago. The previous sect master—my master—said this to me. That the future sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect would be Yeon Songbaek, and that I would sit in the position of Vice Sect Master.”

Unhwi drank tea without a word.

“In the cave, my master attained enlightenment and fell into the intoxication of circulating his art. At that moment, something stirred inside my heart. Desire.”

“I understand.”

“Understand...... it’s a bit different in nature from a genius like you being dispatched from the Snow Palace to the Heavenly Alliance...... but fine, let’s say it is.”

As he said that, Yeon Songbaek tapped his own face lightly with his fingers.

Then his face rippled—his nose lifted a little higher, his slitted eyes drew closer together, and a face that had been slightly broad became leaner.

The finest Disguise Art Unhwi knew was Body-Transforming Disguise Art.

The Disguise Art he had used while acting as No-Name was the unique martial art of Man Maengrip, the Black-Masked Lecher who had once been famous as a lust demon, but in a martial world this vast, it made no sense that there would not be a single Disguise Art comparable to it.

To begin with, the standard for ranking Disguise Arts was not simply how cleverly you could change the face and body.

That had to be built in as a baseline. If it was unclear even at that level, Unhwi would have no reason to use it, and it would not be worth mentioning.

How much of one’s true strength one could use while maintaining the Disguise Art.

That was the most important criterion, and the Disguise Art Yeon Songbaek used—Shadow-Splitting Bone-Shrinking Art—could change both body and flesh while still unfolding most of one’s true strength.

Yeon Songbaek smiled slightly.

“That line in the letter you sent—‘three men go into the mountains, one alone comes out’—yes. Just as you said.”

Yeon Songbaek smiled.

“I am Shin Gang. The one who killed my master Yeon Hakcheol, killed the next sect master Yeon Songbaek, and spent twenty years pretending to be Yeon Songbaek with a Disguise Art.”

“What should I call you?”

“Call me comfortably. It will be meaningless ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ anyway.”

Unhwi gave a small, amused laugh.

Why did Yeon Songbaek—no, Shin Gang—come here?

And alone, at that.

In the end, there was only one answer.

To kill everyone.

“You are hasty.”

“Was I the one who spoke first?”

“Yes.”

“Heh...... shouldn’t it be the other way around? Even if I don’t know how you learned that fact, you should have hidden it as much as possible. That way, this wouldn’t have—”

“I want to move the story forward quickly.”

“......Story?”

“Senior. Do I look like a fool to you?”

“From what you’ve shown until now, I thought absolutely not, but now that I look at you, you look a little like a fool.”

“Then would you like to hear the proposal this fool is offering?”

Shin Gang shrugged.

“Go on.”

“Twenty years ago at Mount Ihwa, Shin Gang did not die.”

“......What?”

“At the time, Yeon Hakcheol said he would give the next sect master position not to Yeon Songbaek, but to ‘Shin Gang,’ and said his own blood son, Yeon Songbaek, would take the position of Grand Elder of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, and—”

“Wait. What are you saying right now?”

Unhwi gave a small laugh.

“Aren’t you making a ‘real story’ right now?”

“.......”

“Will you listen to the end?”

“......Go on.”

“Yes. I will continue. The blood son Yeon Songbaek was enraged. Why could he not sit in the sect master’s seat—no matter how outstanding Shin Gang’s talent was, the sect master’s seat should naturally belong to the Yeon bloodline—this made no sense in the first place. That unbearable rage swallowed Yeon Songbaek whole.”

“.......”

“Yeon Songbaek ambushed Yeon Hakcheol, his blood father and the sect master, the moment he attained enlightenment and fell into the intoxication of circulating his art. Shin Gang tried to stop him in shock, but Yeon Songbaek was a little faster. A flustered Shin Gang lost to Yeon Songbaek and was buried as Mount Ihwa collapsed, but he miraculously survived, hid his body away, and entered secluded training.”

“.......”

“And so twenty years passed. Shin Gang became a master of No-Extremes Incarnation, entered the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect at night, and killed Yeon Songbaek.”

“......And after that?”

“What else would it be. You must become the true sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, senior.”

Shin Gang rubbed his face.

“So you want me to throw off the mask and run the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect under the name Shin Gang now?”

“Yes.”

“Must it be that way? Even now it isn’t so bad—”

“It is bad. Very much so.”

“.......”

“You know that yourself, which is why you were using me to clean things up, wasn’t it?”

“......Interesting. But to complete that story, several procedures will be necessary.”

“That’s right. Procedures are necessary. Witnesses are necessary, and corpses are necessary. Justification is necessary as well.”

Shin Gang let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s more interesting than I expected. But there are too many holes in the story. You know it, too. To fabricate the truth, you need to know more than what the world knows as truth.”

Unhwi listened quietly to Shin Gang’s words.

“The stories you presented are stories anyone in this world can present. If you don’t know the ‘other side,’ fabrication isn’t easy. If what you propose is only that much, I wonder if there’s any reason to continue this conversation.”

“A reason...... of course there is. First—within the existing story, I will find for you the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s divine relic, the Heaven-Extreme Sword, that was said to have been buried together with Shin Gang.”

“......So you really did know everything.”

“I wouldn’t have called you here if I didn’t.”

“But you claim you know the location of that divine relic when even I don’t? That’s hard to believe.”

“I always speak through results. I will find the Heaven-Extreme Sword and give it to you.”

“Then what is the second?”

“I will provide the corpse as well. A level somewhere between Unity of Heaven and Man and No-Extremes Incarnation should be suitable.”

At those words, Shin Gang’s eyes flashed.

“Not the corpse of a fellow No-Extremes Incarnation, but a corpse beneath that?”

“Yes.”

“Disguise won’t be easy. The density of qi the corpse holds, the size of the dantian— I’ve lived as a martial artist and seen a great many corpses myself, and to fabricate at that level requires a more meticulous job than you’d think.”

“You acted for twenty years. Forging specific parts of a corpse will not be so difficult for you, senior, and you should also be able to work the dantian’s size and the qi’s density. An Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect-specific internal method, or demonic deviation arriving in the middle of battle—if you can’t even manage that, there would be no reason to take off the mask.”

Shin Gang, who had been looking at Unhwi quietly, suddenly asked.

“What do you want?”

“Write me a blood oath letter.”

“......A blood oath letter?”

“It’s a kind of oath that you will do nothing to Cheonrim from here on.”

“That sounds like you’re telling me to surrender.”

Unhwi’s smile deepened.