Chapter 315

Unhwi smiled too.

"Back then, and even now, Alliance Lord, you cannot kill me."

Mae Wuidong, about to speak at once, frowned. He had read something in Unhwi’s words.

"You bastard, there’s a barb in what you’re saying?"

Unhwi slowly rose from his seat.

Then he drew the Heavenshaking Spiritblade from his waist.

"You read it correctly."

"......."

"Today, Heavenly Alliance Alliance Lord Mae Wuidong died of demonic deviation while circulating his art."

"......Are you insane?"

"Keep listening. After living as Vice Alliance Lord for decades and only now becoming Alliance Lord, Mae Wuidong grew impatient. Unity of Heaven and Man is a formidable realm, but it was slightly lacking for ruling not an ordinary group, but a federation."

"Huh......?"

"So he asked for help from the Heavenly Arbiter, who had a record of raising other martial artists’ realms multiple times through go, and the Heavenly Arbiter did not refuse. The match began, and only after the third match ended did Mae Wuidong attain enlightenment. But because he was impatient, a problem occurred, and in the end, less than a month after taking office as Alliance Lord, he died on the spot."

Staring at Unhwi as if it were absurd, Mae Wuidong let out an empty laugh.

"......You really are insane."

"Do you dislike it?"

"......."

"I like it, though."

Mae Wuidong slowly stood.

"You want to try it?"

"With the one who tried to kill me right in front of me, I’m not magnanimous enough to bury that grudge."

"You think it’ll work?"

"I’ll have to wager my life."

"......."

"But we’re martial artists anyway, aren’t we? Wagering our lives is something we’ve always done. If you don’t want to fight me, then kneel here and bow your head."

"......Wow......."

"Then I will let your great mistake and rudeness pass."

Mae Wuidong’s eyes sharpened, and killing intent poured from his entire body.

"Now I get it. You’re not just ill-mannered—you don’t know your place."

"Does it seem that way?"

"Let’s do it like this. Today, Seol Unhwi of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace asked me for a match, and while playing, the Heavenly Arbiter suddenly attained enlightenment, but the small heart demon he’d picked up from meeting Yeon Songbaek surged over him, and he burst and died on the spot. I didn’t even have time to do anything. How’s that?"

"It isn’t even worth hearing. The narrative is thin, and the level is so low that even a dog passing by wouldn’t believe it."

As if he could not endure it any longer, Mae Wuidong kicked off the ground. His arm shot toward Unhwi. In that instant, power gathered into Unhwi’s pupils.

It was not Heaven-Snow Dominion.

Blood-qi, spreading in a fan shape centered on his eyes, burst outward, and Mae Wuidong panicked. Killing intent that dominated space.

An overwhelming power where the purity and ferocity of blood fused together.

Blood-World Encirclement Dominion.

Power exploded.

KWAHHHHHNG-!!

With a blank expression, Mae Wuidong took the situation as unreal.

His discernment had clearly read Blood-World Encirclement Dominion, and he was thinking through how Unhwi could use a technique only a figure on the level of the Heavenly Daoist (the Original) of the Original Blood Cult would use.

He was running through every possibility.

And Unhwi did not miss that opening.

KWA-REU-REU-RUNG-!!

The Heavenshaking Spiritblade shot forward.

It pierced the empty air, and pierced it again. Mae Wuidong moved too late.

PUUK-!

He could not stop the Heavenshaking Spiritblade from boring into his side.

"Khmm......."

Mae Wuidong shifted his body backward, then swept his arm.

Heaven-and-earth spirit-energy coiled, then took the shape of a spear in midair and slammed straight down on Unhwi.

KWAHHHHHNG-!!

A thunderous roar erupted, and Unhwi—holding the Heavenshaking Spiritblade sideways—was shoved, sliding to the side.

"......What are you?"

Unhwi shook off the sword and kicked off the ground.

Every word of the conversation had been for this single moment.

He had to lure carelessness upon carelessness. Realm of Martial Divinity and Heaven-Earth Apex were separated by an enormous gulf, so if he wanted to overturn it, it was only natural to seek multiple ways.

One way or another, if he started by planting a blade even once, even a nonexistent chance could be born.

Now there was no need for talk.

He only had to press in with everything he had, with the resolve to die together.

Because he was a martial artist.

As Unhwi detonated blood-qi from his entire body, his blood-vessels began to open in a brilliant flare.

Today, he was not the Heavenly Arbiter.

He was here as the Blood-Heaven Arbiter.

His sword thrust out.

***

Han Murin, already able to guess what might unfold inside the Heavenly Dragon Hall, wore a face full of worry.

Then someone patted his shoulder.

Han Murin turned his head.

It was Chief Seong.

"Don’t worry."

"......How could I not worry?"

Chief Seong smiled faintly.

"Has the Young Master ever moved without a plan?"

"......Aren’t you worried, Chief Seong?"

"To be honest, I am. But it’s fine."

He didn’t even need to ask why it was fine.

"Because it’s the Young Master. Well...... if it fails, what more is there but to die?"

"That thing where you’re buried alive with someone—honestly, I used to have an aversion to it."

Han Murin gave a small laugh.

"But if it’s being buried together in the Chief Commander’s grave...... it doesn’t sound so bad."

It was when the two men were laughing like lunatics.

Huang Mujung, an elder of the Heavenly Alliance, tilted his head.

What kind of nonsense are these two talking about?

It was the moment he was about to ask.

"Elder Huang."

At Chief Seong’s call, he nodded.

"How much do you trust your Alliance Lord?"

"Mm...... quite a lot."

Beyond having polished the ground beneath him, Huang Mujung had spent quite a long time with Mae Wuidong.

That was the reason he had accepted the elder seat in the first place.

For a long time.

A truly long time, Huang Mujung had already been Mae Wuidong’s man.

"Then I trust you’ll understand."

"Understand......? What are you—"

It was when he was about to say something.

KWAHHHHHNG-!!

With a roar, the Heavenly Dragon Hall collapsed.

And taking advantage of his startled gap, Chief Seong’s throwing dagger flew at him.

Even if late, Huang Mujung reacted. Twisting his body, he knocked the dagger aside with his arm.

KWANG-!

With the impact, natural energy burst in midair.

"What is this—!"

Again, his words did not continue.

A hand had shot in and seized his face.

Through the gaps between the fingers, he could see it. A man with a fairly young-looking face.

Seo Hyo, the new elder.

Without a word, he slammed Huang Mujung into the ground.

And from behind Seo Hyo, two throwing daggers flew. They writhed like snakes through the air—one lodged into Huang Mujung’s solar plexus, the other into his abdomen.

PUUK. PUUK.

"Kuh-luk."

A shadow fell over Huang Mujung’s face as he coughed up blood.

"I bear no personal grudge, so go in peace."

Seo Hyo’s foot came down toward his face.

KWAJIK-!

Without even understanding what was happening, Huang Mujung went straight to the River of Three Crossings. Seo Hyo wiped the blood from his foot on the ground, then asked Chief Seong.

"It’s begun."

"That’s how it is."

Letting out a sigh, Seo Hyo stood beside Chief Seong. Then the Killing Lord Sa Seollan—who had thrown the daggers at Huang Mujung—and the Shadow Lord Ya Mukcheon—who had been watching it—stood behind Seo Hyo.

All of them had heard it from Unhwi.

Today.

That the owner of the Heavenly Alliance would change.

If they were afraid because he might die, he told them to leave.

But not a single one left.

It was not the end.

"Personally, I think the possibility is slim, but do you believe him?"

At the voice that suddenly reached them, everyone drew their weapons and snapped their heads around.

A white-haired old man with a small, withered frame.

Flame King Hwa Munyeom was there.

"......So it’s the Flame King. Why have you come?"

"Because you didn’t even give me a hint, so I felt slighted and came to take a look."

Hwa Munyeom answered Chief Seong’s words as if it were nothing, then dropped into a seat.

Then he looked at Chief Seong and said,

"Move aside. With your bulk, I can’t see anything."

Chief Seong laughed awkwardly and stepped away.

Chief Seong and Seo Hyo’s expressions hardened.

This had not been in their calculations, but there was nothing they could do.

He wasn’t a Unity of Heaven and Man expert like Mae Wuidong, whom Unhwi was fighting right now, but one step higher than that.

Even a monster who could look beyond it.

That monster was Flame King Hwa Munyeom—what could Heaven-Earth Apex martial artists possibly do?

"......Shall I bring you some tea?"

"No. Just don’t block my view. And Han Murin."

"......Yes."

"Come to my side."

Han Murin glanced at Chief Seong, scratched his head, and walked over to the Flame King.

"Sit. And let’s watch together."

"......Yes."

"If everything happening right now is your lord Seol Unhwi’s self-destructive blunder, everyone here will die. But at least you, I will protect."

Han Murin’s brow tightened slightly. Han Murin trusted Unhwi. If he was going to die, then he could simply die together.

He had entrusted everything to him and decided to follow.

As a martial artist, if he had turned the rivers and lakes upside down to this extent, then even if he failed to reach the goal he had held in his heart, it would be fine.

That was how much his heart toward Unhwi amounted to. Then the Flame King continued.

"But if that is truly something he did with confidence—if this is another divine move he is showing."

The Flame King’s eyes flashed.

"I will pass the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art to you."

Han Murin’s eyes went wide.

What was the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art?

It was Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s exclusive martial art, the martial art that made him what he was—and in the past, it had been the martial art of the Flame Emperor Sage-War Emperor, who once aimed for the seat of supreme ruler of the martial world.

Even the Sage-War Emperor’s disciple bore the epithet Flame King, and after his death, that disciple’s disciple also gained the epithet Flame King.

That was Hwa Munyeom.

And he had passed the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art to Dong Yuseong, his direct disciple, certain that he would become the next Flame King—but unfortunately, while performing the Gold-Dust Ablution Rite and wasting time elsewhere, Dong Yuseong died.

"From what I’ve seen, you have more than enough potential to become the next Flame King after me."

"......Aren’t you seeing me too highly?"

"Who knows. I pride myself on having discernment as well, but the discernment of your lord—who is waging a fight to the death with the Master (Mukse Society) inside there—surpasses mine."

"......."

"So sit."

Without a word, Han Murin sat.

Chief Seong and Seo Hyo, and the Shadow Lord and Killing Lord, watched the two with strange expressions—then snapped their heads toward the Heavenly Dragon Hall at the blood-qi and Demonic Miasma surging out.

Everyone panicked.

Even Hwa Munyeom—who had meant to sit and watch leisurely—shot to his feet.

"......What...... is that."

Something incomprehensible was happening.

No.

Something that should not be comprehended was happening.

"......My heavens......."