Chapter 516
They had known each other for hundreds of years. The Primordial Sage had never seen the Sage of Original Truth’s smile disappear.
The history of Heaven Gate was long.
Its elite combat force was the Ten Pillars of Heaven Gate.
They stood intact now, but roughly three hundred years ago, the Ten Pillars of Heaven Gate had once been completely annihilated. Even then, the Sage of Original Truth had smiled. When the great cause itself had faced a crisis, he had smiled.
Yet that man’s smile had disappeared.
At the name Seol Unhwi.
The Primordial Sage closed his mouth.
A heavy silence passed.
The Sage of Original Truth’s smile returned.
“In any case.”
The Sage of Original Truth lifted his teacup.
“Do not rush.”
“......”
“When the time comes, I will move as well.”
“You will?”
“That is right.”
The Sage of Original Truth smiled.
A gentle smile.
“When that time comes, could the Primordial Pavilion and Heaven Gate not move together?”
What was the title of Yu Cheong, Vice Leader of the Blood Heaven Sect and one of the pillars of Heaven Beyond Heaven?
The Demonic Master.
The Primordial Sage thought that the Sage of Original Truth before him was a master in the truest sense.
Different from Yu Cheong, but deeper.
“......Very well.”
He nodded.
“I will trust you and wait.”
The Sage of Original Truth lifted his teacup.
The Primordial Sage lifted his as well.
They did not clink them together.
Each drank separately.
Each holding his own thoughts.
***
Three days passed.
Unhwi opened his eyes.
He saw the ceiling.
The ceiling of Blood Spirit Hall.
His body felt light. Completely different from before.
Beyond merely refreshed, it felt as though the very way he sensed the world had changed.
He slowly turned his head.
Chief Seong was sitting beside him.
Dozing.
His back rested against the wall.
He had remained at Unhwi’s side for all three days.
Unhwi opened his mouth.
“Chief Seong.”
At the quiet voice, Chief Seong opened his eyes and sprang to his feet.
“Young Master! You’re awake!”
Unhwi nodded and silently sat up. As though he had been waiting for exactly that, Chief Seong hurriedly brought him water.
Unhwi drank.
One sip. Two. Three.
He set the cup down.
“I thought you might be wondering how long you’ve been unconscious, so I’ll tell you. This is the third day, Young Master.”
“Three days.”
“Ju Soa and Namgung Wonyang took turns treating you. The medicine came from Viper Valley.”
Unhwi’s eyes shifted slightly.
“From Viper Valley?”
“Yes. The master of Viper Valley personally sent an antidote and wound medicine, but......”
Chief Seong trailed off for a moment and gave an awkward smile.
“I’m not sure whether they actually did anything. Almost all your wounds had completely healed within a day of you collapsing.”
The reason he had remained unconscious for three days was that his body needed time to adapt to the realm he had reached through enlightenment.
It was only natural that all his accumulated injuries would recover during that time, and Unhwi’s regenerative ability had already been exceptional to begin with.
Now that he was using Boundless Energy, an evolution beyond Void-Origin Energy, a single day had been more than enough.
The fact that Yang Uiji had sent the medicine personally meant that she had shown sincerity. Her intent had reached him.
Unhwi turned his head.
Chief Seong was hesitating, clearly unsure whether to say something.
Unhwi asked.
“If you have a question, ask.”
“......You reached it, didn’t you? Manifestation of the Boundless.”
When Unhwi nodded, Chief Seong beamed.
“Congrat...... congratulations, Young Master!”
Unhwi shook his head.
It was a realm he had already reached once before. He had always been destined to reach it again eventually.
“You haven’t even been at Unity of Heaven and Man for half a year...... Isn’t this too fast?”
It was fast.
But as he had already said, it was a realm he had reached before. Everything was ultimately only a matter of time.
Whether that time shortened or lengthened depended on Unhwi himself. This time, he had simply reached it a little faster than before. Nothing more.
“......Did you really...... deal with the Heaven-Law Platform by yourself?”
“I did.”
“......I’m sorry.”
Unhwi turned his head.
“What are you sorry for?”
“......Because we were weak, you had to go through all of that.”
“You should think of it the other way around.”
“......What?”
“All this time, you have suffered for my sake, and I have suffered for yours. Even in a relationship between master and subordinate, there are basic things that the one who serves and the one who is served must protect for each other.”
Unhwi rose from the bed and walked toward the window, continuing slowly.
“Chief Seong, Ju Soa, Wonyang—all of you have worked tirelessly for me, and none of you ever hesitated to draw a sword for me.”
He could say it without hesitation.
“All of you are my people. If I act for the sake of my own people, then rather than calling it hardship, would it not be more accurate to call it only natural?”
Chief Seong looked at Unhwi.
Into Unhwi’s eyes.
Truly.
“......You leave me with nothing to say. When you put it like that, what am I supposed to argue?”
Unhwi smiled.
“And you said you were weak. From where I stand, none of you are weak at all.”
“What?”
“When speaking of a martial artist’s realm, weakness is ultimately relative. But even accounting for that, you are not weak. The convictions you hold as martial artists, the spirit that refuses [N O V E L I G H T] to retreat—you are strong martial artists. I have not the slightest doubt about that.”
Chief Seong fell silent again.
Emotion surged through him.
“......If Ju Soa and Wonyang had heard you say that, they might have burst into tears.”
Unhwi gave a faint laugh and changed the subject.
“More importantly, I assume the Heavenly Lord summoned me. Am I right?”
Chief Seong flinched.
“......You really are uncanny. How did you know?”
“Because that is the kind of man he is.”
Three days was not a short time. He had been wounded, and blood had soaked into him, leaving a smell.
After washing himself lightly, Unhwi silently left Blood Spirit Hall.
***
Sun-Moon Pavilion.
It stood in the deepest part of the Blood Heaven Sect headquarters. It was not tall. A low building. Modest. Far too modest to be called the residence of the Blood Heaven Sect’s leader.
But that was the Heavenly Wayfarer.
Unhwi arrived before Sun-Moon Pavilion.
The door was open.
The sound of Go stones being placed came from inside.
Click.
Click.
He was playing Go by himself.
Unhwi went inside.
The Heavenly Wayfarer sat before the Go board.
When Unhwi entered, he raised his head.
He smiled.
“You’ve come.”
“Yes.”
With that brief answer, Unhwi sat opposite him.
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
His appearance was immaculate.
The Heavenly Wayfarer gave him a strange smile.
“Impressive. Manifestation of the Boundless at your age.”
Looking directly into the Heavenly Wayfarer’s eyes, Unhwi said,
“I still have a very long way to go.”
“Heh heh...... A long way...... So that is how you see it.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer picked up a Go stone.
Click.
He placed it.
Unhwi did not speak.
He waited for the Heavenly Wayfarer to speak first.
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked down at the Go board.
“The Heaven-Law Immortal is dead.”
His voice was calm.
“That is correct.”
“Baek Ryeon, Seventh Seat, as well.”
“Yes.”
“Seop Gyeong, Ninth Seat, too.”
“Yes.”
“Three outposts. Roughly fifty martial artists.”
“Yes.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer placed another Go stone.
Click.
“I hear you even beheaded them and displayed their severed heads.”
“Yes.”
Unhwi’s answers came without hesitation, and he made no attempt to add explanations.
As though he were merely stating facts exactly as they were.
Calm.
“Thorough.”
Unhwi tried to read the Heavenly Wayfarer’s tone.
Was he rebuking him?
Praising him?
Neither.
Just as Unhwi had merely stated the facts, the Heavenly Wayfarer was merely confirming them.
“Heavenly Lord.”
“Hmm.”
“If you intend to rebuke me, then rebuke me.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
“Why would I rebuke you?”
“The Heaven-Law Platform was part of Heaven Beyond Heaven. I destroyed it.”
“Destroyed it......”
The Heavenly Wayfarer repeated the words.
“Yes. You did.”
He toyed with a Go stone.
“Unhwi.”
“Yes.”
“I heard what the Heaven-Law Platform did to your people.”
“......”
“Chief Seong’s wrist. Namgung Wonyang’s sword. Ju Soa’s throat.”
Unhwi’s fist tightened slightly.
The Heavenly Wayfarer saw it.
“Are you still angry?”
“I was angry, but I am fine now.”
“An honest answer.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled.
“Good. Then let me ask you one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“Were you angry because the Heaven-Law Immortal reached for your people, or because he underestimated you?”
Unhwi paused for a moment.
It was not because he hesitated over the answer.
He was trying to discern the Heavenly Wayfarer’s intent.
“Both.”
“Hmm.”
“But the latter angered me more.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer nodded.
“Honest again.”
“......”
“And accurate.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer placed a Go stone.
Click.
“It is true that the Heaven-Law Immortal underestimated you.”
“......”
“But it is also true that you appeared easy to underestimate.”
Unhwi’s eyes shifted slightly.
“Unity of Heaven and Man. There are more than a dozen people within the Blood Heaven Sect who have reached that realm. And a martial artist of that realm was sitting in the position of commanding the Blood Heaven Sect.”
“......”
“Would it not have been natural for him to underestimate you?”
“So I proved it.”
“Proved what?”
“That realm is not everything.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
For a long time.
Then he laughed.
“Heh heh.”
The laughter continued.
“You proved it. Yes, you certainly did.”
“......”
“But you see.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer’s laughter disappeared.
His eyes deepened.
“In the process of proving it, you nearly broke your body in half.”
Unhwi could not answer.
Because it was true.
“You opened the Fourth Gate of the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art.”
“Yes.”
“Did you control it?”
“I did.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled faintly.
“How?”
Unhwi thought for a moment.
The question the Heavenly Wayfarer had posed.
When they discussed Heavenly Snow Force.
Erasing the boundary.
“I did not treat the killing intent as an enemy.”
“Hmm.”
“I did not suppress it.”
“......”
“I accepted it as mine. I merely gave it direction.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
For a long time.
Then he laughed.
“Heh heh......”
This time, it was genuine laughter.
Joyful laughter.
“You erased the boundary.”
“It was thanks to the question you gave me.”
“All I gave you was the question. You were the one who found the answer.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer toyed with a Go stone.
“I never expected you to apply the question of Heavenly Snow Force to the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art.”
“They were connected.”
“Connected?”
“They were both about dominion and boundaries.”
Unhwi spoke.
“When you asked me about Heavenly Snow Force, you asked: if snow covers the world, does the snow rule the world, or does the world become snow?”
“I did.”
“The Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art was the same. Does the killing intent rule me, or do I become the killing intent?”
“......”
“If I fight it, it rules me. If I become one with it, I can control it.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked down at the Go board.
For a long while.
“Impressive.”
Unhwi lowered his head.
“I still have a long way to go.”
“What long way?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer gave a faint laugh.
Then his expression changed.
The laughter vanished.
His face became profound.
“Unhwi.”
“Yes.”
“I will not rebuke you for destroying the Heaven-Law Platform.”
“......”
“It was a fight between martial artists. The Heaven-Law Immortal began it, and you ended it. That is the affair of martial artists.”
Unhwi nodded.
“But.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer’s voice changed.
It grew heavy.
“You need to know why the Heaven-Law Platform existed.”
Unhwi looked at the Heavenly Wayfarer.
Slowly, the Heavenly Wayfarer opened his mouth.
“The Heaven-Law Platform existed for the sake of the great cause.”
“.......”