Four days after leaving Yangryeong Province,

Unhwi’s group was resting at an inn at the foot of the snowy mountains.

Ju Soa was still recovering, and Namgung Wonyang was attending to her. For a full recovery, that was the proper course.

Outside the inn, standing alone in the snow-covered courtyard, Unhwi turned his head.

A wagon carrying thirty-five heads.

That wagon was the gift Unhwi was bringing, his will made manifest, and his justification.

Silently, he looked up at the sky.

“Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”

At the sudden low voice, Unhwi turned his head.

A man slowly stepped out of the darkness.

A white robe. White hair.

His gaze was deep and sharp.

Hyeonsim.

The commander of the Baekryeong Guard.

A master of Martial Extremity Manifestation, he wore a complicated expression as he cupped his fists toward Unhwi.

“Have you been well all this time?”

“It is the Commander. I have been well.”

Lowering his salute, Unhwi spoke.

“It feels as though it has been a very long time.”

“Yes... it has indeed been a long time, but...”

Hyeonsim’s gaze shifted toward the wagon.

Though it was covered by a canopy, he knew.

He knew what was inside.

“Mysterious Snow Palace Lord. What exactly are you intending to do?”

“Exactly as you see.”

“......”

Hyeonsim drew in a deep breath. Unhwi continued.

“I believe I have given the Elder Council sufficient warning.”

“Do you intend to kill them all?”

“Yes.”

At that short, unmistakable answer, Hyeonsim’s brow twitched.

“But your granduncle is there as well.”

He was speaking of Seol Cheonhwa, the head of the Elder Council.

“And he is also the Palace Lord’s own uncle.”

“And?”

“...What?”

Hyeonsim’s eyes widened.

Unhwi spoke in an even tone.

“Blood is not that important.”

“...Mysterious Snow Palace Lord...!”

“Even if Seol Cheonhwa’s blood is the blood of the Seol clan, he is still a man who will one day plunge the Snow Palace into chaos.”

“How can that be?”

“Commander Hyeon, do you truly not know?”

“What are you speaking of?”

Unhwi began to walk slowly.

Only the sound of snow crunching beneath his feet broke the silence.

“This year, he is one hundred thirty-one years old.”

“...Yes.”

“And yet even at that age, he has not been able to let go of his ambition.”

Hyeonsim bit his lip.

Unhwi was right.

“He even chose to step back into the rear lines of his own will, and in truth, he has appeared satisfied with that place.”

Hyeonsim’s eyes flashed.

“Mysterious Snow Palace Lord, your meaning is...”

Unhwi nodded.

“Seol Cheonhwa is the sort of man who manipulates circumstances from behind the scenes while making his influence felt.”

“......”

“No matter what problem erupts on the front line, he can easily draw a line and turn away from it.”

Unhwi’s voice turned cold.

“I will speak frankly.”

He looked straight at Hyeonsim.

“If Seol Cheonhwa had come to ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ me directly, stood before me openly, and asked for my help in placing the Elder Council at the forefront, I would have agreed gladly. I would have gone with him to persuade Father, and I would even have proposed that the Elder Council be given a proper opportunity. Yes—I would have been even more proactive in putting the Elder Council further forward.”

Hyeonsim’s eyes widened.

Unhwi continued.

“If he had come to me with such a request, then it would not have been mere ambition or hidden scheming. It would have meant he was prepared, as a martial artist, to take responsibility for his own actions and draw his sword himself.”

“......”

“But instead of doing that, what has he done until now?”

Unhwi gave a short, dry laugh.

“He certainly did not even say such things to Father. Is that not so?”

Hyeonsim silently nodded.

It was true.

From the moment he had stepped back into the rear, Seol Cheonhwa had done nothing.

He had not gone to see Seol Jungcheon, the Palace Lord.

He had not even requested a private audience.

He had not stepped out anywhere.

He had simply shut himself up inside the Elder Council.

And this was Hyeonsim.

Heavenly Mile Divine Eye.

His two eyes looked down upon the entire main palace.

“He used the Thirteen Heavenly Snow Companies to keep me in check.”

Unhwi’s voice became even colder.

“And in that process, he borrowed the name of my eldest brother, and the name of the Heavenly Snow Sect as well.”

Hyeonsim’s expression darkened.

“For more than half a year, he must have been moving in secret.”

“......”

“Not only the Thirteen Heavenly Snow Companies—many martial artists of the main palace must have gone to the Elder Council. Is that not so?”

“...Yes.”

Hyeonsim let out a sigh.

“That is correct.”

He knew it as well.

As the commander of the Baekryeong Guard, as the man who monitored every movement in the main palace, he knew what Seol Cheonhwa had been doing behind the scenes.

But there had been no justification to stop him.

If a Grand Elder of the Elder Council and a master of the Unity of Heaven and Man offered advice, there were countless people who would walk barefoot through a snowstorm to hear it.

Unhwi said,

“His plan is painfully obvious. As my standing in Murim expands, he intends to raise his own worth by setting himself against me.”

“......”

“And when that happens, the value of the Elder Council naturally rises with it.”

Unhwi gave a small laugh.

“As you know well, the relationship between me and the Polar Heirs...”

“Is very good.”

Hyeonsim answered.

“Yes. I am even on good terms with my eldest brother.”

Unhwi nodded.

“In such a situation, there is no one who can keep me in check.”

Hyeonsim agreed.

That was true.

Who could possibly lay a hand on Unhwi?

More than Unhwi simply being extraordinary, the Polar Heirs who ought to be his rivals had no desire whatsoever to compete with him.

Because they knew his heart, because they owed him debts, and because they understood the measure of their own vessels.

Sa Seollin had been something of a problem, but even now he was performing well in the Chaotic Heaven Region.

If he caused trouble, Sa Seollin would die, and his maternal family sect, the Cold Ice Sect, would vanish from the world.

And even if that truly came to pass, there would be no one who could hold Unhwi responsible.

The Elder Council wanted to fill that role.

That must have been the value Seol Cheonhwa envisioned, and that in turn would become the driving force that let him display his influence and act as a hidden hand in the snowy mountains.

“Commander.”

“Yes, Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”

Unhwi spoke slowly.

“I am not unaware that Father was watching the Murim Alliance.”

Hyeonsim’s eyes wavered.

“He must have been watching from a very distant sky.”

Unhwi looked up at the heavens.

“If Gun Mugeol moved, or if he revealed killing intent, Father would have stepped in at once.”

“......”

“I understand well the heart of a father who cherishes me to that extent.”

“Mysterious Snow Palace Lord... this truly is...”

Hyeonsim’s voice trembled.

No matter what, what Unhwi intended to do was too dangerous.

“That is why.”

Unhwi looked directly at Hyeonsim.

“I too will do what I must do, for Father’s sake and for the sake of the Snow Palace.”

“......”

“If Father tells me not to, then I will not do it.”

Unhwi paused for a moment.

“But if he chooses to respect my will,”

his gaze deepened,

“would you tell him to pretend he knows nothing, and enter secluded cultivation for a while?”

Hyeonsim’s eyes widened.

“...Is there a reason?”

“There is. As I have said more than once, I do not mind draping filth over myself.”

“......”

“If that is what it takes to preserve Father’s reputation, my eldest brother’s reputation, all of it, while still securing practical gain...”

Unhwi pressed a hand to his own chest.

“If I must stain my name with a few drops of blood, then I would call that a cheap price.”

“...Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”

“That is why I intend to stain it. As for my eldest brother, it can be settled simply by having him make a circuit through Binghae Province or the forces of the snowy mountains for a short while.”

Hyeonsim could read it clearly.

Unhwi was sincere.

And he had already planned everything.

Hyeonsim thought to himself,

This man...

He is a man beyond prediction.

He goes beyond greatness. He is almost awe-inspiring.

He was willing to stain his own name with blood just to protect his father and his brother.

He was thinking of the Snow Palace as a whole.

Once, Unhwi had described Hyeonsim like this:

the most loyal among the loyal.

But in this moment, Hyeonsim understood with certainty.

The Polar Heir standing before him, Mysterious Snow Palace Lord Seol Unhwi, possessed a loyalty deeper than his own.

Hyeonsim drew in a deep breath.

“...Understood. I will do so.”

“Thank you.”

“But do you intend to touch the Heavenly Snow Sect as well?”

“I intend to give them a warning, at least.”

“As you did once to the Cold Ice Sect?”

“Yes.”

Hyeonsim let out another sigh.

“...Understood. I will convey it to the Palace Lord.”

“Thank you, Commander.”

Unhwi gave him a deep salute.

Hyeonsim returned it with one of his own.

In an instant, Hyeonsim’s body vanished from that spot like smoke.

The next morning,

Unhwi stood outside the inn.

A single white dot descended from the sky.

A top-grade messenger pigeon.

The white dove landed on his hand.

He untied the letter bound to its leg.

He unfolded it.

It read:

—Mysterious Snow Palace Lord. The Palace Lord has entered secluded cultivation.

Unhwi carefully folded the letter.

The board had been set.

***

Five days later.

The main palace of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.

The carriage arrived at the vast palace nestled deep within the snowy mountains.

Inspection was meaningless.

Who, with the Palace Lord in secluded cultivation and the Young Palace Lord away on circuit, would dare inspect a Polar Heir?

Without the slightest interference from anyone, Unhwi headed toward the Elder Council located in one corner of the main palace.

And so he arrived there.

Though it stood in a corner, the size of this building was by no means small.

It was a full five stories tall, and its bearing was strikingly similar to that of the Palace Lord Hall.

Staring at the building with faint displeasure, Unhwi drew his sword.

Chief Seong took his place at his side, while behind him stood Ju Soa and Namgung Wonyang, both fully recovered.

Unhwi spoke.

“I will count to five. If you do not come out before then, I will enter myself.”

Seol Cheonhwa was a master of the Unity of Heaven and Man.

There was no way he could fail to know that Unhwi’s group had arrived before the Elder Council, and no way he could fail to hear a voice spoken this loudly.

Yet no answer came.

That was enough.

Without a hair’s breadth of hesitation, Unhwi brought down his sword.

KRAAACK—!!

The doors of the Elder Council were smashed apart down the middle.

That was not the end.

Unhwi raised his sword horizontally.

Void-Origin Energy surged to its utmost limit.

Unhwi’s ash-gray hair gradually began to turn white.

At this bizarre, inconceivable sight, Chief Seong’s eyes widened, and Ju Soa and Namgung Wonyang were equally stunned.

His energy gathered into the Trueflame Heavenly-Spirit Sword.

Wooooong.

The sword trembled.

Silently, he swung it.

Reverse Heaven Vast Expanse Sword.

Vast Expanse Single Sword.

SHHK—!!

The Elder Council split in half.

***

The highest floor within the Elder Council.

Seol Cheonhwa sat in place.

White hair. A wrinkled face.

And yet his eyes remained sharp.

One hundred thirty-one years old.

A master of the Unity of Heaven and Man, and the head of the Elder Council.

“...That brat. He has some nerve.”

A snort escaped him naturally.

Just as Unhwi had expected, Seol Cheonhwa had seen and heard everything.

Unhwi had said this: he would count to five.

What utter nonsense.

The more Seol Cheonhwa thought about it, the more absurd it became.

“Insolent little bastard. No discipline, no respect, a brat without the slightest foundation.”

Seol Cheonhwa muttered to himself.

The thirty-five heads loaded behind the carriage had been impressive in another sense.

He must have meant to use that to pressure me.

But would it have meant anything?

They were already dead men.

Whether it was Dongbang Jin or anyone else, corpses did not speak.