Chapter 509
Baek Ryeon’s brow furrowed.
“The commander would never meet with the likes of—”
“The likes of.”
Unhwi repeated the words.
He gave a faint laugh.
“You like that phrase too.”
“...”
“You said something similar two days ago when you seized Chief Seong’s wrist. That his realm was too low for someone serving as the Blood Heaven Arbiter’s right hand.”
Baek Ryeon’s eyes wavered.
“You called the servant’s realm low, yet you call the Blood Heaven Arbiter above him ‘the likes of.’”
Unhwi took one step closer.
“Then the Heaven-Law Platform must be beneath even ‘the likes of me.’”
“...”
“Three of its outposts were trampled by ‘the likes of me,’ and its Ninth Seat at Manifestation of the Boundless was killed by ‘the likes of me.’”
Baek Ryeon’s face flushed red.
“Shut your mouth!”
Baek Ryeon roared.
His energy erupted. The internal power of Manifestation of the Boundless shook the courtyard.
Unhwi did not move.
He simply stood there.
Facing Baek Ryeon’s energy head-on.
His hair whipped through the air. His robe billowed. But his feet did not move.
Not even an inch.
Baek Ryeon’s eyes widened.
A martial artist at Unity of Heaven and Man had taken the energy of Manifestation of the Boundless head-on without moving an inch.
How could such a thing make any sense?
“...You bastard.”
Baek Ryeon’s hand moved toward his sword.
“Enough.”
The heavy voice descending from above silenced the courtyard.
More than fifty martial artists raised their heads at once.
Heaven-Law Pavilion.
The Heaven-Law Immortal stood at the railing of the second floor.
He was looking down.
Looking at Unhwi.
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s energy flowed outward.
The Supreme Void Realm.
It existed on an entirely different level from Baek Ryeon’s Manifestation of the Boundless.
The entire courtyard was pressed downward. More than fifty martial artists dropped to one knee. Not because they could not endure it.
It was courtesy.
When the commander’s energy descended, kneeling was the law of the Heaven-Law Platform.
The remaining fifty martial artists waiting farther back did the same.
More than a hundred martial artists knelt in total.
Baek Ryeon also knelt.
Only Unhwi remained standing.
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s energy bore down upon him.
The very edge of the Supreme Void Realm.
Pressure beyond comparison with Manifestation of the Boundless.
Unhwi’s shoulders sank slightly.
It was heavy.
Like a mountain descending upon him.
But his knees did not bend.
He remained standing.
The Heaven-Law Immortal looked down at Unhwi.
Unhwi raised his head.
He looked up at Heaven-Law Pavilion.
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s face came into view.
It was grim.
“Come up.”
Unhwi did not bother refusing.
He walked across the courtyard.
He passed between more than fifty martial artists. Between those kneeling on the ground. Their gazes pierced him. Their killing intent struck his back, his side, his head.
Unhwi had looked at none of them.
But his gaze paused briefly on one man.
Baek Ryeon.
As he passed beside him, Unhwi spoke quietly.
“No matter what happens today, one way or another, your life and death will be in my hands.”
Baek Ryeon’s brow twisted sharply.
Arrogant bastard.
“I spared Han Soyeong because she showed the spirit of a martial artist. I killed Seop Gyeong because he showed none at all.”
Unhwi looked down at Baek Ryeon.
“I am curious whether you are a martial artist or nothing more than a common thug.”
That was all.
He resumed walking.
Looking only ahead.
He climbed the stairs of Heaven-Law Pavilion.
The second floor.
The door stood open.
He entered.
It was a broad chamber.
Wide windows overlooked the basin. A table stood within. Fragments of the shattered teacup remained there, along with stains where the tea had spilled.
The Heaven-Law Immortal stood before the window with his back turned.
Unhwi stepped inside.
He stopped.
The Heaven-Law Immortal turned.
Their eyes met.
Fire burned in the Heaven-Law Immortal’s eyes.
Ice lay in Unhwi’s.
Silence flowed between them.
Long and heavy.
The Heaven-Law Immortal spoke first.
“You have considerable nerve.”
“I will take that as praise.”
“It was not praise.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal turned fully toward him.
“After killing more than fifty of my people, you walked in here alone. Is that courage, or madness?”
“It may be both.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s brow furrowed.
“Do you feel no fear?”
“Had I been afraid, I would not have come.”
“...”
“And I did not come because I lack fear.”
Unhwi spoke.
“I came because I had to.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal stared at him.
For a long time.
“You killed fifty of my people because you had to come here.”
“That is correct.”
“Give me your reason.”
“You already know it.”
Unhwi answered calmly.
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s eyes narrowed.
“You speak too freely.”
“I am only stating the truth.”
“The truth.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal took one step closer.
His energy flowed.
The Supreme Void Realm.
The air in the chamber grew heavy. The floor cracked. The table trembled. The fragments rattled.
Unhwi’s robe fluttered.
But he remained standing.
“That insolence you displayed at the meeting of Heaven Beyond Heaven.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal spoke.
“I did not like it.”
“I know.”
“I could not stand seeing the likes of a martial artist at Unity of Heaven and Man seated there, running his mouth.”
“I know that as well.”
“So I sent you a warning.”
“A warning.”
Unhwi repeated the word.
“Did you call it a warning?”
“I did.”
“Do you call placing a finger against the throat of a woman at the Entry-to-Divinity realm a warning?”
“...”
“Do you call seizing the wrist of a martial artist in the Heaven-Human realm and forcing him to his knees a warning?”
“...”
“Do you call catching the sword of a martial artist in the Harmony realm between two fingers and driving her back a warning?”
Unhwi’s voice did not change.
It remained calm.
That calmness only made it heavier.
“That was not a warning.”
“...”
“It was tormenting the weak to insult the strong.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s face hardened.
“Had you wished to warn me, you should have come to me yourself.”
“...”
“The commander in person. Or someone befitting the commander’s position.”
Unhwi looked at the Heaven-Law Immortal.
“Is that not the proper conduct of a martial artist?”
The Heaven-Law Immortal ground his teeth.
“A martial artist at Unity of Heaven and Man dares lecture one at the Supreme Void Realm about proper conduct?”
“Does proper conduct have a realm?”
The Heaven-Law Immortal went still.
Unhwi continued.
“Does one at the Supreme Void Realm no longer need to uphold it?”
“...”
“Does one at the pinnacle have the right to disregard it?”
“...”
“I was taught that proper conduct must be upheld regardless of realm.”
Light flashed in the Heaven-Law Immortal’s eyes.
“Who taught you that?”
“The one we serve.”
A single answer.
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s expression stiffened.
The one they served.
The Heavenly Wayfarer.
Unhwi had invoked the Heavenly Wayfarer.
He was not using him as a shield. That much was clear from Unhwi’s eyes. He was only stating a fact.
The Heavenly Wayfarer had taught him so.
That proper conduct must be upheld regardless of realm.
The Heaven-Law Immortal had served the Heavenly Wayfarer for centuries.
He knew that was the kind of man the Heavenly Wayfarer was.
And the man he had taught now stood before him.
The Heaven-Law Immortal clenched his teeth.
“You invoke his name?”
“I am not invoking it.”
Unhwi shook his head.
“In the end, do you not also serve the same man?”
“...”
“Is it strange for two men who serve the same person to speak of proper conduct?”
The Heaven-Law Immortal clenched his fist.
It was not strange.
And the fact that it was not strange made it even more unpleasant.
This man had not said a single thing that was wrong.
Not one.
“You.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal spoke.
“Are you lecturing me?”
“This is not a lecture.”
Unhwi answered.
“I am telling you the result of what you began.”
“...”
“You must have thought it over. At the meeting of Heaven Beyond Heaven, the one we serve drew a clear line and issued a severe warning not to interfere in the affairs of the Blood Heaven Sect. You must have continued searching for a method. A way to humiliate me while still delivering a warning.”
“...”
“And in the end, you found one. The one we serve is more tolerant than one might expect when friction arises between martial artists. What happened at the meeting of Heaven Beyond Heaven ended there that day, but if anything remained afterward, his way is to let martial artists settle it among themselves outside the chamber. You sent men to warn me once more. You humiliated those beneath me, thereby humiliating me as well. I do not consider that the way of a martial artist, but judged by his standards, it barely grazes the outer edge of what he might permit.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal could not understand.
What nonsense is this bastard spouting now?
Unhwi continued.
“The beginning may have taken the wrong direction. Even when something begins in the manner of common thugs, if it touches a true martial artist, that martial artist does not respond in the same manner.”
“...And?”
“You are looking at it now. Something that began in the manner of common thugs has become a conflict conducted in the manner of martial artists.”
That was exactly what had happened.
Without ignoring the Heavenly Wayfarer’s warning, it had naturally transformed into a battle between martial artists.
“You seem not to understand, so I will explain further. The one we serve is broad-minded, but he is not soft-handed.”
“...”
“Even if not today, you would eventually have crossed the line.”
“I would have?”
“Yes. Even after receiving his warning, did you not still act? You merely found a way around it.”
“...”
“As I said, he lets the methods of common thugs pass. But only when those methods happen to provoke a true martial artist. Had you targeted someone else in the same manner instead of me...”
“...”
“You would already have ceased to exist, either today or yesterday.”
Unhwi did not need to see it to know.
In his previous life, the Heaven-Law Platform had not existed.
The reason it had vanished stood directly before him.
This man understood the Heavenly Wayfarer’s ways. Because he understood them, he acted accordingly.
It was arrogance.
Knowing the man he served would overlook certain things, he took as much as he could. He acted, circumvented, and pressed the limit.
A few times, the Heavenly Wayfarer might have sighed and let it pass.
Then a third and fourth time.
A fifth and sixth.
If it continued, there would be nothing but death at the end.
That was the kind of man the Heavenly Wayfarer was.
“You reached for my people. I have not yet received the full price for that.”
“The price?”
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s voice rose.
“You killed fifty of my people, and you say that is not enough?”
“Yes. It is not enough.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal stopped.
Unhwi looked at him.
“You must pay it yourself.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal’s eyes changed.
It was not anger.
Shock.
No.
Not even shock.
They were the eyes of a man looking at something he could not comprehend.
A martial artist at Unity of Heaven and Man.
Standing before a martial artist at the Supreme Void Realm.
Demanding that he pay the price.
Was he insane?
“...I will admit that you are bold.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal spoke.
“Thank you.”
“But boldness cannot replace strength.”
“I know.”
“I acknowledge that you destroyed the outposts and killed Seop Gyeong.”
The Heaven-Law Immortal took one step closer.
His energy grew denser.
Unhwi’s shoulders sank.
Slightly.
Then rose again.
He endured it.
The Heaven-Law Immortal spoke.
“But this is Heaven-Law Cliff. I am here.”
Unhwi nodded.
“I came because you are here.”
“...”
“There were things I could not say to the Twenty-Third Seat or Twenty-Fourth Seat at those outposts.”
“...”
“I wanted to come to you myself and say them to you directly.”