Chapter 501

A thousand li.

At full speed with lightness arts, it was a distance he could cover in half a day.

But Unhwi did not hurry.

There was no reason to.

The colder anger became, the deeper it ran. And the deeper it ran, the more precise it became.

Unhwi knew that.

He ran.

Over mountains, through valleys, and across forests.

The scenery changed.

The barren land surrounding the Blood Heaven Sect headquarters gradually gave way to woodland.

The trees grew taller. The forest deepened. All signs of human passage disappeared.

The location Yu Cheong had given him lay deep within the mountain range.

As he ran, Unhwi thought.

Ju Soa’s neck.

The dark blue bruise.

Han Soyeong, she had said.

Twelfth Seat of the Heaven-Law Platform. She had reached Ju Soa’s throat with a single finger.

—If the Heaven-Law Platform wished it, you would already be dead.

Those were the words Ju Soa had relayed.

Unhwi’s eyes grew colder.

Namgung Wonyang’s back.

It must have bruised when she struck the wall.

Seop Gyeong, she had said. Ninth Seat of the Heaven-Law Platform. He had caught her sword between two fingers and pushed it aside as though she were not even worth speaking to.

—Blood Spirit Hall is already within the Heaven-Law Platform’s reach.

Chief Seong’s wrist.

Baek Ryeon, he had said. Seventh Seat of the Heaven-Law Platform. He had seized Chief Seong’s wrist and forced him to his knees.

A man who had not even reached the heavens.

Yet he had pressed down upon a martial artist of the Heaven-Human realm as though a mountain were descending upon him.

—The Heaven-Law Platform can enter Blood Spirit Hall whenever it wishes.

The corner of Unhwi’s mouth rose.

It was a smile.

But not a warm one.

Taken together, all their words led to a single conclusion.

—No matter what you do, everything remains in the palm of our hand.

When the sun reached its zenith, Unhwi stopped.

Deep within the mountain range.

High peaks surrounded him on every side. The forest was dense. There was no road. It was a place untouched by human feet.

But Unhwi’s eyes saw something else.

A tree branch.

It had been broken.

Not naturally. It bore the trace of a human touch. Someone had brushed against it while using footwork. An ordinary person would never have noticed.

But Unhwi did.

He followed the traces.

Deeper into the forest.

He walked for another hour.

A valley appeared.

A narrow valley with cliffs rising on both sides.

A single path ran between them, wide enough for two people to walk abreast.

Unhwi stood at the entrance.

He looked inside.

There it was.

Buildings stood farther within the valley. Wooden. Single-story. Three in total. They were not large, which was only natural for a patrol outpost.

There were presences.

Ten.

No, twelve.

He could sense twelve distinct energies within and around the valley.

Among them—

One was different.

Unhwi’s eyes narrowed.

Unity of Heaven and Man.

One.

The remaining eleven were below the Heaven-Human realm.

The guards stationed at the patrol outpost.

What Unhwi wanted was not here.

Baek Ryeon, Seop Gyeong, and Han Soyeong would not be here.

This was only a patrol outpost.

But it did not matter.

He could begin here.

Unhwi walked into the valley.

He did not hide himself.

He did not conceal his energy.

Instead, he released it.

Ice energy flowed from his body. The cold spread throughout the valley. Frost covered the grass. Ice formed across the rocks. His breath rose white into the air.

The response was immediate.

“Who are you?”

A shout rang out.

People rushed from between the buildings, weapons in hand. Swords, blades, spears. Their weapons differed, but their movements were unified.

They were trained.

Eleven men formed a semicircle around Unhwi.

Then—

The twelfth man slowly emerged from one of the buildings.

He was middle-aged, in his late forties. His hair was short, his forehead broad, and his eyes small. Yet a keen sharpness lay within them. A sword hung at his waist, and power flowed from his body.

An expert at Unity of Heaven and Man.

The man looked at Unhwi.

Unhwi looked back.

The man’s eyes narrowed.

He recognized Unhwi’s face.

“...Blood Heaven Arbiter?”

Unhwi did not stop walking.

He continued.

Slowly.

Toward the encirclement of eleven men.

“Stop!”

One of them shouted, but Unhwi did not stop.

The ice energy thickened.

Wherever his feet touched, the ground froze. The grass froze. The stones froze. Frost spread outward from him in a circle.

It reached beneath the feet of all eleven men.

Cold.

The chill rose through the soles of their shoes and burrowed into their bones. Their faces stiffened.

Anyone could see that this was the bearing of a man who had come to fight.

Unhwi spoke.

“Is this a patrol outpost of the Heaven-Law Platform?”

The man stared at him.

“...How did you find this place?”

“Answer what I asked.”

The man did not reply.

His silence was answer enough.

Unhwi nodded.

“That will do.”

He stopped walking.

In the center of the courtyard.

Surrounded by twelve men.

He looked at the man.

“Name.”

“...Gwak Hyeongjin, Twenty-Third Seat of the Heaven-Law Platform.”

“Gwak Hyeongjin.”

Unhwi repeated the name.

“Two days ago.”

His voice echoed through the valley.

“The Seventh, Ninth, and Twelfth Seats of the Heaven-Law Platform visited Blood Spirit Hall.”

Gwak Hyeongjin’s expression changed faintly.

He knew.

“Martial artists of the Five Realms of Martial Divinity put on quite a display before attendants of the Heaven-Human and Entry-to-Divinity realms.”

Unhwi took one step closer.

“Truly impressive martial prowess.”

The words were mocking.

“Placing a finger against a child’s throat. Catching the sword a child swung between two fingers and pushing it aside. Seizing a child’s wrist and forcing him to his knees.”

Another step.

“A truly majestic display of the Heaven-Law Platform’s authority.”

Gwak Hyeongjin’s face hardened.

Unhwi stopped.

Thirty feet separated him from Gwak Hyeongjin.

Unhwi’s gaze pierced through him.

“There is something I wish to know.”

“...”

“That weight you displayed before martial artists of lower realms.”

The corner of Unhwi’s mouth rose.

“Can you show it to me as well?”

Sweat ran down Gwak Hyeongjin’s back.

Unity of Heaven and Man.

Unhwi was at Unity of Heaven and Man.

The same realm as himself.

And yet—

What is this pressure?

This was not something that could come from a martial artist of the same realm. Ice energy covered the entire valley. The cold rose from beneath his feet. Each breath made his lungs feel as though they were freezing.

This was absolutely not Unity of Heaven and Man.

Gwak Hyeongjin did not even consider offering some tired excuse about the rumors being exaggerated.

It was simply obvious.

This man was a monster.

Gritting his teeth, Gwak Hyeongjin grasped his sword.

“Blood Heaven Arbiter.”

He forced the words out.

“Why have you come here?”

“My reason?”

Unhwi smiled.

“I have something to deliver to the commander of the Heaven-Law Platform.”

“...I will deliver it to him. Speak.”

Unhwi shook his head.

“It is not words.”

“...What?”

“I will show him directly.”

Unhwi’s hand moved to his sword.

Shing.

The True Fire Heavenly Spirit Sword slid free.

Its clear note echoed through the valley.

Ice energy erupted from Unhwi’s sword.

It was no longer frost.

It was ice.

The entire blade turned white with frozen radiance, and that light washed across the valley.

The temperature plummeted.

The eleven martial artists gritted their teeth. Their bodies were stiffening. Movement became difficult. Their joints locked. Their muscles seized.

From the ice energy alone.

Merely because he had drawn his sword.

All eleven were already being subdued.

Gwak Hyeongjin drew his sword.

“Everyone, fall back!”

The eleven men retreated.

No.

They had no choice but to retreat.

Their instincts told them that remaining there meant death.

But it was too late.

Unhwi’s eyes flashed.

Heavenly Snow Force.

His eyes turned white, and their light spread in every direction.

Crack-crack-crack.

With a horrifying sound, all eleven martial artists froze solid at once.

Gwak Hyeongjin recoiled in shock.

“Y-You madman... What have you done...?”

“Can you not understand even after seeing it?”

The smile on Unhwi’s lips deepened.

“Did I not tell you? What I came to deliver was not words.”

The eleven men died standing.

Gwak Hyeongjin now understood Unhwi’s intent with perfect clarity.

He tightened his grip on his sword and faced him.

Sword against sword.

The same realm of Unity of Heaven and Man.

And yet—

Unhwi stepped forward.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s body reflexively stepped back.

Only after retreating did he realize it.

He had stepped back.

He had.

Before an opponent of the same realm.

Without even exchanging a single move.

He clenched his teeth.

“Blood Heaven Arbiter!”

Gwak Hyeongjin thrust his sword at Unhwi.

Fast.

The full strength of late Unity of Heaven and Man. Internal energy gathered at the tip of the blade. A thrust. Simple, but the fastest of sword forms.

It was the sword of a man hardened by real combat.

Unhwi turned his body.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s sword grazed his side. It sliced through his clothes, but never touched flesh.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s eyes widened.

Half a step.

Unhwi had evaded it with no more than half a step.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s sword immediately changed course. From a thrust into a horizontal slash aimed at Unhwi’s waist.

A rapid transition.

The sword of an expert.

An ordinary person could not even have followed it with his eyes, yet Unhwi slowly raised his sword.

Clack.

A sound that should never have been heard rang out.

He had blocked it.

Far too easily.

Gwak Hyeongjin frowned.

His arm had gone numb.

...What?

Unhwi had merely blocked.

He had simply raised his sword and received the strike.

Yet Gwak Hyeongjin’s arm had gone numb.

It was not force transmitted through the blades.

It was cold.

The instant their swords collided, Unhwi’s ice energy had traveled up Gwak Hyeongjin’s sword.

The blade grew cold.

Frost formed over the hilt.

Gwak Hyeongjin gritted his teeth and drew up his internal energy.

He forced back the frost.

He could do it.

They were both at Unity of Heaven and Man.

But it took him one breath.

Within that single breath, Unhwi vanished.

Gwak Hyeongjin hurriedly turned his head.

Unhwi stood to his left.

He had no idea when Unhwi had moved.

Gwak Hyeongjin turned.

Unhwi’s sword was already in motion.

Horizontally.

Toward Gwak Hyeongjin’s waist.

Gwak Hyeongjin twisted his body. He retreated and blocked with his sword.

Clack.

He blocked again.

But this time, his arm did not merely go numb.

He was driven back.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s body slid backward.

Two steps.

Three.

His feet scraped across the ground, gouging the earth.

He stopped.

He breathed heavily.

Unhwi remained where he stood.

Motionless.

Waiting.

Gwak Hyeongjin clenched his teeth.

Unhwi asked,

“Will you come again?”

His voice was calm.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s fist tightened until the knuckles turned white.

His pride screamed at him to go.

To raise his sword and attack.

But his body knew.

They had crossed swords three times.

All three times, he had been driven back.

All three times, everything had unfolded exactly as Unhwi intended.

But he was a martial artist.

The Twenty-Third Seat of the Heaven-Law Platform.

Retreat was impossible.

Gwak Hyeongjin lowered his stance.

He drew up his internal energy.

All of it.

Without holding anything back.

Power gathered in his sword. The blade heated until it glowed red.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s internal energy.

Fire energy.

The exact opposite of ice.

The frost melted.

The frost over his sword evaporated, and steam rose into the air.

Gwak Hyeongjin charged.

With everything he had.

The sword, filled with fire energy, came crashing down toward Unhwi.

Boooom—

The ground split apart.

Dust surged into the air.

Gwak Hyeongjin’s sword was buried in the earth.

Unhwi was not where the blade had struck.

Gwak Hyeongjin raised his head.

He was above.

In the sky.

No.

Not the sky.

Directly over Gwak Hyeongjin’s head.

Ten feet above him.

His sword pointed downward.