Chapter 345

Seol Unhwi quietly examined Yucheong’s body. Wrapped in a black robe, his frame was slimmer than expected, but the power contained within him was enough to bring down a mountain.

In his previous life, Seol Unhwi had not known.

But now that he was looking with awareness, Yucheong held a dangerous depth—like someone who had transcended everything in the world, yet could also swallow everything whole.

And then.

“You look quite unwell. Even so, you came a long way.”

No one in this world knew.

That Yucheong had fought the Heavenly Daoist and suffered a crushing defeat.

That from that day, he had been unconscious for more than half a month, only recently waking.

At Seol Unhwi’s words, Yucheong tilted his head slightly.

“Have I come somewhere I should not?”

“That is not it.”

Watching Seol Unhwi, Yucheong spoke in a quiet voice.

“In the seven-hundred-year history since the Original Blood Cult was founded, we have received invitations exactly twice. Six hundred years ago, when the Seven-Thousand Sword Emperor became the Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance. Five hundred years ago, when the Heaven-Mixing Flame Emperor, who stood at No-Extremes Incarnation, underwent the Gold-Dust Ablution Rite.”

A spark of interest crossed Seol Unhwi’s eyes.

“Congratulations. The Heavenly Alliance’s invitation has now become the third invitation received in the cult’s history.”

“Truly an interesting history.”

From Seol Unhwi’s manner as he said it, Yucheong read something subtle.

It did not sound like the tone of a man hearing it for the first time.

A cold wind from Cheonsu swept across the plaza, fluttering the collars of the two men.

Then Seol Unhwi sent a voice transmission.

-Why are you trying to rebuild the Millennium Demon Cult?

Even at this question, which came out of nowhere like a blade thrust, Yucheong showed no surprise at all. Rather, the smile at his lips deepened.

-Any reason you attach to it will be valid. Here, the “answer” should not come from me. Should it not be you?

-Me?

-I heard you said you would lend your strength to rebuilding the Millennium Demon Cult. Why?

Even at Yucheong’s counterquestion, Seol Unhwi showed little reaction.

A reason...

-Do you wish to hear it?

-Very much.

A smile drew itself across Seol Unhwi’s lips.

-I did not expect someone called a Preceptor to be this curious. The reason I said I would lend my strength to rebuilding the Millennium Demon Cult is very simple. Because I have the ability to do so.

-Ability...

Though it was voice transmission, everyone could feel Yucheong’s mood souring.

-Do I seem lacking?

-You do not.

-Then what more would be needed?

Yucheong released his hands from behind his back and spoke aloud in a quiet voice rather than by voice transmission.

“Would one thing not be needed?”

“And what would that be?”

“Free will.”

Seol Unhwi’s brow twitched faintly.

“Free will, you say.”

“That is correct. I do not think I am free, either. But it seems the Heavenly Arbiter believes he is very free.”

Yucheong’s words had a sharp barb embedded in them.

“Is it not merely a difference in what one intends to achieve?”

“If, in carrying out that intent, one has someone’s protection, is that not proof—not merely of immaturity—but of being unfree?”

A smile appeared on Seol Unhwi’s lips again.

This one was not the smile he had shown until now. It was not a smile meant to conceal what lay within.

It was a clear smile laced with killing intent.

“Like someone who has a person in front of him he cannot kill, even though that person will plainly become a threat?”

It was double-edged in meaning. No—where Yucheong was concerned, it was not double-edged at all. It was bluntly direct.

Seol Unhwi was seeing through it with perfect accuracy: Yucheong wanted to kill him, but could not.

For an instant, killing intent flashed in Yucheong’s eyes as well.

The aura of a martial god who had reached No-Extremes Incarnation erupted in a burst, and fine cracks formed across the stone ground nearby.

A few martial artists standing close staggered back under the pressure, and a few even collapsed, as if they had fainted on the spot.

No one stepped forward.

And Seol Unhwi showed a reaction completely different from theirs.

He stepped forward instead.

Close enough that their noses could nearly touch.

In a quiet voice, Seol Unhwi whispered.

“At this point, let us speak openly.”

“About what?”

“Do you want to kill me?”

In that moment, every sound in the plaza vanished. The wind, the breathing of the crowd, even the chirping of birds—it all seemed to stop.

Yucheong smiled.

“Of course not. I want to take you in.”

“But you cannot.”

“...”

“To want to take me in is also to think it is a waste. You want to take me in, but you cannot. So in the end, you must kill me. Is that not so?”

Yucheong’s expression froze.

This was a truly strange experience. Yucheong’s habitual way of speaking, true to the name Preceptor, was weighty and unhurried.

And the one person who could read the barbs embedded within it—Yucheong’s entire life, without exception—had been only one.

The cult leader of the Blood Cult, the Martial World’s Supreme, the Heavenly Daoist.

And yet the man before him now, a young man bordering on early adulthood, had read it.

He wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill him so badly his blood and flesh itched. But he could not.

“Because you have no free will.”

“...”

“Are you that afraid of Elder Cheon?”

Yucheong let out a hollow laugh. The sound filled the plaza, summoning a chilling cold.

“I had already guessed you know many things, and I also know you are a special person who has met Elder Cheon several times, but seeing you now, it seems you have greatly overlooked one thing.”

“And what is that?”

“That question—whether I fear Elder Cheon—would be the same as asking whether I fear Elder Cheon’s power. Is that correct?”

“Similar.”

“Then from the start, your question was wrong.”

“Was it?”

A near-mad light flared in Yucheong’s eyes.

“Elder Cheon is an existence whose ‘root’ is twisted. Nothing in this world can occur outside Elder Cheon’s sight.”

“...”

“Elder Cheon’s existence itself is fear, terror, and order. What he intends is like a grand cause in the ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) truest sense, and a single gesture of hand or foot itself signifies reverence. If something were to happen outside his prediction, that would mean this world is what is wrong.”

In that moment, Seol Unhwi said nothing.

As Seol Unhwi himself had said, free will mattered greatly.

Even if he felt superiority—as he had when speaking with Shin Gang once—thinking everything in this world lay in his palm, in truth he still needed one person’s permission.

The Heavenly Daoist.

Without his tacit approval, or his permission, rebuilding the Millennium Demon Cult was impossible.

In Seol Unhwi’s previous life, the Millennium Demon Cult had been rebuilt not simply because Yucheong was outstanding.

It was because the Heavenly Daoist had allowed it, and the reason Yucheong could not kill Seol Unhwi now was also because of the Heavenly Daoist.

He was more than the Martial World’s Supreme. He was the mediator of all things.

But what Yucheong had just said was slightly different.

Was he not speaking as if the Heavenly Daoist were not merely a mediator, but an overseer?

The wind blew again.

This time it was colder—like a herald of winter, freezing everything it touched.

“I will ask just one thing.”

“I will listen.”

“At the end of you and me, what do you think will be there?”

“One person will be standing.”

“And the other?”

“They will no longer be of this world.”

A cold light flashed in Yucheong’s eyes.

“Who do you think that will be?”

“The one opposite to what you think, Senior Yoo. And you?”

“I, too, am the one opposite to what the Heavenly Arbiter thinks.”

Seol Unhwi smiled. Yucheong smiled as well.

“Then I will look forward to that day.”

“The same.”

Yucheong turned his head to look at Flame King Hwa Munyeom. Then he offered a formal salute.

“Yucheong, Vice Cult Leader of the Original Blood Cult, offers his greetings first to Sir Hwa, who has become the Heavenly Alliance’s new Alliance Lord.”

Flame King Hwa Munyeom swallowed.

The sight before him now was the complete opposite of the violent figure he had seen back then with Mae Wuidong, and it was strange to the point of being eerie.

There was nothing to be done.

He had received the greeting, so he had no choice but to return it.

Flame King Hwa Munyeom offered a formal salute.

“I gratefully receive Demon-Path Preceptor Sir Yoo’s deep greeting. The very fact you have come from afar is a great honor to the Heavenly Alliance.”

Yucheong smiled.

“Then I will be going.”

After turning without regret and walking away, Yucheong was watched in silence by Seol Unhwi.

Even from his back, that overwhelming aura continued to pour out.

It was enough to create the illusion that Mount Tai itself was walking.

Only after Yucheong’s figure vanished completely did the people in the plaza begin to breathe properly again. Many of them were drenched in cold sweat down their backs, and some nearly sank to the ground as their legs gave out.

Flame King Hwa Munyeom approached Seol Unhwi’s side.

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I am fine, Alliance Lord.”

“Did you predict he would come?”

“Not at all.”

“...”

“I am not perfect, either, Alliance Lord.”

“It certainly seems so.”

Seol Unhwi let out a small laugh. It was as if his usual gentle, quiet demeanor had returned. But to those who had witnessed the conversation he had just had with Yucheong, even that ordinariness looked dangerous.

“The ceremony is not over. Let us go finish the rest, Alliance Lord.”

Flame King Hwa Munyeom nodded.

“When will the Heavenly Alliance depart?”

There was nothing newly striking about it. Seol Unhwi intended to return to the Yang Lord.

“At the latest, two months. At the earliest, in one month.”

“...All right. Then let us go finish the rest.”

Seol Unhwi started walking. Flame King Hwa Munyeom followed behind him.

Seol Horyeong, who had been taking all of this in, sent Seol Unhwi another voice transmission.

-Our youngest, you were truly playing on a huge board, weren’t you?

A small smile formed at Seol Unhwi’s lips.

-One day, eldest brother will enter this board as well.

-Then I should cultivate myself.

-Yes. You must. You will have to become so strong that it cannot even be compared to now.

Seol Horyeong coughed awkwardly.

-The pressure is suddenly hitting me like a wall. Maybe I should not have spoken to you.

Seol Unhwi laughed, and Seol Horyeong laughed too.

***

A little distance from the plaza, behind an old oak tree, a man waited quietly.

It was Seo Hyo.

Complicated emotions crossed his face.

He had risen to the high position of Vice Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance, but in one corner of his heart, an unresolved task still remained.

His relationship with Yucheong, the master who had first discovered him.

The wind blew, and the oak leaves rustled.

Mixed into that sound came footsteps.

Very light, yet steady and regular.

From that alone, Seo Hyo knew who was coming.

Yucheong, walking on, stopped before the oak tree—like he had known from the beginning that Seo Hyo was there.

“Come out.”

It was a single, simple line, but an authority that could not be refused was contained in that voice.

A tone similar to Seol Unhwi’s, yet carrying a different kind of force.

If Seol Unhwi’s carried an overwhelming weight with no tangible shape, then Yucheong’s felt like a force with a clear, physical substance.