After roughly one watch of rest, Seol Unhwi stepped out of the Secret Realm.
His face was drawn and pale, but the cold gleam in his eyes remained unchanged.
It couldn’t be otherwise.
Jang Icheong had clearly set sothing in motion before dying—but what, exactly, was impossible to determine.
Until he could be certain that the situation was truly over, vigilance was the only correct choice.
If Jang Icheong had foreseen his own death and arranged sothing in advance, then soone would be waiting.
It might be an assassin—or perhaps a martial artist from the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect. Whoever they were, they would not be of the sa caliber as a Celestial Being Stage cultivator like Jang.
Considering the state of his body, if a fight broke out, it would ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ have to be ended in a single, decisive burst.
Only one thought ca to mind.
Flesh to Sever, Bone to Break.
He would offer up so of his flesh if it ant taking his enemy’s head.
Yet the sight that unfolded before him made him freeze for a heartbeat.
His tension faltered.
Then his mind began to race madly.
What in the world...
Why—
Why was that person here?
He hadn’t seen him in nearly two months, not since their eting at the Bright Spirit Domain headquarters, and he had never imagined they would et again like this.
The white-haired old man.
The martial world’s supre sovereign, Heavenly Seer, known by the epithet Blood Heaven Venerable, sat before a Go board, playing alone—placing black and white stones by himself.
And on the board’s opposite side rested a severed head, as if the old man were playing a match with the dead.
Unhwi approached quietly.
His footsteps were deliberately audible. Approaching the martial world’s supre being in silence would have been discourteous.
The Heavenly Seer did not even glance at him as he continued to place stones—black, white, black again, white.
After several moves, he spoke in a calm voice.
“You must have seen sothing interesting inside that realm.”
“You expected it, then?”
“Expected? Hm... is that really the right word?”
He picked up a black stone, yet did not place it imdiately.
“There are things in this world already set in place. Like this board.”
“Then was my coming here already set as well?”
“Perhaps. Or perhaps not.”
His tone and bearing were not at all like when Unhwi had t him back in the Bright Spirit Domain.
Unhwi knew well—
The Heavenly Seer was a mysterious being.
Whenever he grew completely serious, this was the face he showed.
Unhwi had seen that face exactly twice.
Once had been the day he decided to unify the Central Plains. Was this eting today of the sa weight as that mont?
If so, then both this encounter and Unhwi’s entry into the Secret Realm were events of profound significance.
Unhwi’s expression grew solemn as well.
At last, the Heavenly Seer set the black stone down—precisely in the center of the board, at Heaven’s Origin.
“Co a little closer, will you? For soone so gifted at Go, you stand rather far back to watch.”
Unhwi took a few steps forward. Only then could he see the board clearly.
It was strange—black and white stones entangled in intricate clusters, neither side dominant, locked in a balance that seed endless.
“Can a ga played alone truly beco so complicated?”
The Heavenly Seer chuckled softly.
“There is an opponent. rely one you cannot see.”
Unhwi’s gaze shifted toward the severed head opposite him.
“That... is your opponent?”
“It could be. Or not.”
Another evasive answer.
“I don’t know who that person was,” Unhwi said, “but I can say with certainty they were not soone fit to face you.”
“Heh-heh-heh... true enough.”
The old man picked up a white stone.
“I’m curious—what did the one you t inside that realm say to you?”
Unhwi’s eyes sharpened.
“So you knew. You knew what was sealed within.”
“How could I not? It’s immodest to say it myself, but you do rember who I am, don’t you?”
“The martial world’s supre being.”
“I’ve claid a seat in the heavens. You think I wouldn’t see what happens below?”
“I believe this case is... a little different.”
He placed the white stone as he spoke.
“And what, precisely, do you think is different?”
“Before I answer that, allow to ask first—how far ahead are you looking, Elder Heavenly Seer?”
He made another move in silence.
That was an invitation to continue, and Unhwi did so without hesitation.
“You were the one who guided into the Heavenly Alliance. And you were also the one who slew its leader.”
“Heh-heh-heh...”
“You must have known that Yucheong, Vice Lord of the Original Blood Cult, is preparing the resurrection of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult, and that he commands groups such as the Mukse Society and Cheonrim—and others I probably don’t know of. For soone like you, ignorance would be impossible. You are, after all, the one seated in heaven.”
“...”
“Did you also know that I would one day target Yucheong?”
Only then did the Heavenly Seer laugh softly.
“Yang Seoljin was Yucheong’s planted man. But he died before he could complete his task. What matters most is that he stirred chaos in Snow Mountain.”
“That’s correct.”
“And that was not Yang Seoljin’s will alone—it was Yucheong’s. You realized that... and now you an to point your blade at Yucheong’s throat.”
“Exactly.”
“Yet Yucheong himself has no idea. Remarkable. You used his own networks and the man Seo Hyo to cloud his eyes, tightened your connection with the Mukse Society’s core figure—the Fla King—by linking his daughter with one of your subordinates... Truly beyond expectation. However—”
The Heavenly Seer set another stone and looked up at him.
“Yucheong’s movents are limited. As Vice Lord of the Original Blood Cult, he must remain within its bounds—unless I dispatch him personally. If he leaves on his own, others will sense the anomaly. Have you accounted for that?”
“I have so plans, but they’re uncertain.”
“Then you will die early—or fail early. One or the other.”
“Yucheong as well. He’ll die sooner than he expects—or his grand design to revive the Thousand-Year Demon Cult will fail sooner than planned.”
It was a strange conversation.
The Heavenly Seer did not find Unhwi’s hostility toward Yucheong odd; he seed to regard it as natural—and even certain that Unhwi would beco Yucheong’s equal adversary.
Unhwi could see that clearly.
Which only made him more curious.
“Why are you rely watching as Yucheong and I clash?”
“It’s a fight between n. What business has an old lunatic like ddling in it?”
Unhwi showed no reaction.
Not even a flicker.
Inside the Secret Realm, the Red Demon Grand Duke had referred to the Vice Lord of the Thousand-Year Demon Cult, Baek Dochun, as a ‘mad old man.’
That title belonged to soone carrying a secret far beyond mortal understanding—yet the Heavenly Seer, who had never entered the realm, sohow knew the sa epithet.
And he spoke as if certain that Unhwi had heard it.
Unhwi kept his expression blank.
But the Heavenly Seer had already read sothing in him.
“The Red Demon Grand Duke, was it? A wraith from seven centuries past, still lingering... a man of greater persistence than I thought.”
“You can see what I’m thinking?”
“Heh-heh... not quite. But the energy of heaven and earth itself tells what I cannot ignore.”
He placed another white stone.
“Now, will you answer ? You said this situation was different—why?”
It might seem natural for one who ‘held a seat in heaven’ to know what happened below. Yet this situation didn’t fit.
“Because a distinct purpose can be seen.”
“A purpose...”
“I’ve never lied before you, Elder Heavenly Seer. You foresaw long ago that I would seek to kill Yucheong—or rather, that I must do so. Yet the more I consider the situation, the stranger it becos.”
“Strange? In what way?”
“Even knowing what Yucheong and I intend toward each other, you conceal it and instead encourage the conflict.”
“...”
“You placed a man who dreams of reviving the Thousand-Year Demon Cult in the seat of Vice Lord—and you entrusted with that cult’s secrets. Taken together, it’s impossible to see it as re curiosity or amusent. It ans you planned this for a reason.”
“Then what reason do you think that is?”
Unhwi’s eyes flashed.
“You wish to see the Thousand-Year Demon Cult reborn.”
The hand holding the stone stopped in midair.
“You want to see whether that rebirth will co through Yucheong’s hand—or through mine. Isn’t that so?”
The old man’s hand moved again.
“Heh-heh... not quite.”
“Is that so.”
“Not quite—but very close.”
At last, the Heavenly Seer looked up from the board to et Unhwi’s eyes.
“You truly exceed all expectations.”
“...”
“That you share my bloodline is already strange enough—but that Tri-Profound Unification Doctrine... truly beyond comprehension. What are you, exactly?”
“I am Seol Unhwi.”
“A deflection.”
“It depends on how you take it.”
A gentle smile touched the old man’s lips.
“Heh-heh... speaking with you feels as though I’ve stepped back into a mont from long ago.”
A mont...?
“You resemble him. The one I once knew.”
“I don’t know who that was, but it’s an honor.”
“Spare the courtesies.”
“They’re not courtesies.”
Unhwi’s face was earnest.
The scar across his brow, the exhaustion etched in his features, the long robe stained and discolored by blood—all of it spoke of fatigue and strain, but his expression and gaze were utterly sincere.
Whatever the Heavenly Seer of his previous life might have thought, in this life Unhwi revered him as a father.
Though he did not share the mories of that bond, the trace of it within him was sothing he could never deny.
That was why he always respected him.
Praise from him brought joy; rebuke, discomfort.
It was natural—and he never wished to distort it.
“Whoever that person was, they must have been very important to you. If I remind you of him, then it ans this mont brings you a asure of peace—and that alone is an honor.”
“...Is that so.”
The Heavenly Seer murmured, and Unhwi drew sothing from within his sleeve—a black gem that glead faintly, the final treasure of the Secret Realm, the Demon Core at least five thousand years old.
“Is this what you wanted?”
The old man glanced at it and laughed.
“You think sothing like that could ever move ?”
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