Yang Wiseong’s head shot up into the air.

Seol Unwi casually flicked the blood off his sword and swept a chilling gaze over the remaining pharmacists.

Those who met his eyes collapsed on the spot. They had no idea his sword would be this ruthless—none of them had even imagined he’d actually kill.

Is that really the bastard son?

They couldn’t understand.

Just then—

“What’s with all this commotion… Huh…?”

A deep, resonant voice echoed through the medicine hall.

A middle-aged man, who had just come down from the upper floor, blinked in disbelief.

He looked like someone who couldn’t grasp what was going on. Seol Unwi spoke curtly.

“Are you the head of the Ice Cold Medicine Hall?”

“…Yes… I am the hall master, Manryang. I didn’t expect our reunion with the final descendant of the Polar Bloodline to turn out like this… after nearly… six years? No, maybe eight.”

Polar Bloodline.

That was the term used to refer to the bloodline of the Everlasting Snow Palace.

All the descendants were collectively called the Polar Bloodline.

The first son was the Great Snow Kirin.

The second son, the Second Snow Kirin.

The third son, the Third Snow Kirin.

The fourth son, the Dark Snow Kirin.

These titles were used for male descendants. For women, the first daughter was called Ice Snow Spirit, and the second Ice Ridge Flower.

There were titles beyond those, but currently, there was only a first daughter.

These were the unique titles used to refer to the Polar Bloodline of the Everlasting Snow Palace.

Dark Snow Kirin, Seol Unwi, said:

“In those eight years, nothing in this medicine hall has changed.”

“…Is that so?”

“Who decided to employ those maggot-like bastards down there who don’t even know who they’re supposed to be loyal to?”

“…If I said it was my decision… would you be angry with me, too?”

Seol Unwi quietly climbed the stairs and stopped in front of the hall master.

“If you’re too slow to understand your situation, I’ll kill you here and now.”

“…I am the head of the Ice Cold Medicine Hall. Even as a descendant of the Polar Bloodline, killing a hall master won’t be easily overlooked—”

“Wanna bet?”

“…A bet?”

“I’ll wager everything that I’ll get away with it. What will you wager?”

“…”

“Oh, that was poorly phrased. You’re a dead man anyway, so wagering anything is meaningless. Just pretend you didn’t hear that.”

Seol Unwi’s eyes gleamed with murderous intent. The hall master, facing that killing intent, made a swift judgment.

He had survived off reading people for twenty years.

He spoke quickly.

“…It was a mistake. First, I apologize for the rudeness committed by my subordinates—and for the rudeness I’m committing right now.”

He stepped back and respectfully performed a martial salute.

Seol Unwi stared down at him silently.

As the hall master slowly relaxed his salute and lifted his head, his eyes widened in shock.

He hadn’t even realized it.

Seol Unwi’s hand had already reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

“Hall master.”

“…Kh-hm… Yes…”

“It’s clear the responsibility for this mess starts with you.”

“…”

“The Palace Lord is already too busy with affairs of the court to discipline every dog beneath him. That responsibility falls to the man in charge—you. So tell me, what exactly have you been doing?”

“…I’m… sorry.”

“Those who disrupt the hierarchy deserve to die. The two lying dead over there paid their price. You must pay yours as well. Am I wrong?”

“…You are not.”

“Then I’d like to ask—how do you intend to take responsibility?”

When Seol Unwi loosened his grip, Manryang swallowed hard and began to speak slowly.

“…I will make sure this never happens again. I’ll personally oversee their training, one by one.”

“Can you stake your neck on that?”

“…Yes. I will.”

Seol Unwi’s grip tightened again. Manryang couldn’t help but panic—he thought the conversation was over.

Then Seol Unwi’s voice pierced his ear, heavy with murderous intent.

“Hierarchy begins from the top.”

“…”

“Remember this. The ones you owe loyalty to are not individual descendants of the Polar Bloodline—certainly not to some maternal clan or affiliated sect. You owe loyalty to the rightful master of the Snow Palace. To him, and him alone.”

“…I’ll remember that.”

“This is your last warning. If something like this happens again, I’ll kill you without hesitation. And I’ll kill everyone connected to you.”

Manryang couldn’t understand what was happening.

His cultivation was in the Manifestation of the Infinite stage.

Yet Seol Unwi was crushing his protective martial energy like paper.

How was that even possible?

Is that bastard son really… him?

“Next time, choose your people carefully. Train them properly. Got it?”

“…Yes.”

“Then bring me the resources I requested.”

As Seol Unwi lowered his hand, the coughing Manryang signaled the pharmacists below.

They scurried off without hesitation, and before long, Seol Unwi had obtained every single resource he needed.

__________________

Chapter 4

For the first time in a long while, I meditated in my residence located at the outskirts of the Main Palace.

The elixirs I obtained from the medicine hall weren’t meant to raise my cultivation level.

They were meant to restore my body to a functional state.

I had forcefully drawn out my Blood Qi, and even used the Blood Demon Vaulting Heaven Technique with it.

I wouldn’t deny it had been somewhat foolish.

But once I finished my meditation, a rare sense of clarity and freshness came over me.

As I stepped outside, I had no choice but to stop at the entrance.

I wasn’t quite sure what to say.

That man walking toward me—it had been so long since I’d last seen him that I couldn’t even remember when it was.

He smiled brightly and spoke.

“It’s been a while, little brother.”

He was five years older than me.

Twenty-two this year.

Third Snow Kirin, Seol Unhae.

He said:

“…Have you lost your damn mind?”

“You mean me?”

“No one in their right mind would dare spill blood in the medicine hall. You’ve gone insane.”

When the incident broke out earlier, some of the pharmacists had bolted outside. One of them must’ve reported it to this brother of mine.

I smiled and replied.

“Then I guess I’m insane.”

“…What?”

“Fourth Brother. Did you know something?”

“…Know what?”

“When someone takes action, they ought to take responsibility for it.”

“So?”

I walked forward in silence.

Without hesitation, I stepped right up to Seol Unhae. At that moment, the two martial artists standing at his sides drew their swords and blocked the space between us.

I ignored ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ them.

When I kept walking forward, clearly unfazed, even their blades were forced to yield and retreat with me.

Naturally, I ended up standing right in front of Seol Unhae, and the two drawn swords crossed between us.

That’s the situation now.

Honestly…

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

“…”

“Who the hell do those underlings think they are, drawing their swords in front of a descendant of the Polar Bloodline? And in the Main Palace, no less.”

I calmly glanced back and forth between the two men standing beside him.

“I’ll count to three. If your swords aren’t sheathed by then, you both die.”

“They’re my men. Are you seriously saying you’d kill them?”

I scoffed.

“You think I can’t?”

“…You crazy bastard…”

“And clearly, your comprehension skills haven’t improved either.”

“Are you even in your right mind—”

“Even if I don’t kill them, they’ll die anyway. This is the Main Palace. If they had drawn their swords outside, no one would care what some bastard son had to deal with. But drawing a blade in the Main Palace? Do you really think those loyal to the Snow Palace will just let that go?”

“…That’s…”

“The fools in the medicine hall might be your pawns—or lackeys of your mother’s sect—but they are not part of the core of the Snow Palace. And if someone’s that blind to the situation, isn’t it better for them to die than keep living?”

“…”

“If they’re your men, then take proper responsibility for them. Unless you want to die with them.”

Seol Unhae’s eyes began to tremble violently. That look of bewilderment—I’d seen the same thing earlier in the hall master’s face.

I understood it all too well.

Eventually, Seol Unhae spoke.

“…Sheathe your swords. How dare you draw them before a member of the Polar Bloodline!”

“…We’re sorry!”

Once again, it was just the two of us.

I looked at him quietly and said one thing.

“When will you finally grow up?”

“…You arrogant little bastard… How dare you—”

“Fourth Brother. You’re not a child anymore.”

“…Shut your damn—”

Seol Unhae couldn’t finish. I had grabbed him by the shoulder.

His rage instantly turned into confusion.

He hadn’t seen it coming.

He had reached the Samhwa Meditation Hall, and I was just at Yang Radiance Appears. Yet here I was, reaching out—and he hadn’t even been able to react, let alone block it.

Not just Seol Unhae. The men he brought with him were all visibly shaken.

I spoke calmly.

“If you waste my time again with this kind of nonsense, I won’t hold back next time.”

Before I even finished speaking, he slapped my hand away. He then tried to grab my shoulder in return.

I slapped it aside.

A sharp crack rang out as his hand was deflected, and his eyes flew open in disbelief.

“There’s only one warning. I’ll let it slide just this once because we share blood—and because Father wouldn’t want to see kin slaughtering one another.”

“…Who are you…?”

“I am Dark Snow Kirin, Seol Unwi.”

“No. You’re not Seol Unwi. No one could change this much.”

“Maybe I just matured—finally.”

“…”

“Anyway, the meeting’s about to begin. You should get going.”

“…”

“You seem like you’ve got a lot to think about. Then I’ll go on ahead. But I do hope you don’t forget what I said.”

I turned around.

Blood.

Once, maybe twice, I could issue a warning because of that.

As I walked away, Seol Unhae called out behind me.

“You’re mistaken about something.”

I turned my head slightly.

“What would that be?”

“‘Same blood’? Who gave you the right to say we share the same blood?”

Seol Unhae glared at me with cold eyes.

“You’re a bastard. Illegitimate. Not a proper son—just some rootless mongrel.”

“You must not understand something.”

“What?”

“Half the blood in my veins comes from the Snow Palace.”

“…”

“And half the blood in yours does, too. That means half of what flows in us is the same.”

“How the hell can you say that makes us the same?!”

The smile faded from my lips.

Really, ever since my return, I’d had this feeling from time to time—when talking to certain people, it was like dealing with children.

Just like now.

“Yes, I’m a bastard. Some call me illegitimate, but the proper term is ‘bastard son.’ It’s a broad term. I’m different from the legitimate sons and daughters, but how can you deny that the same blood runs through us?”

The Everlasting Snow Palace was a martial sect, but it also functioned like a nation.

It had a unique system.

The Three Consorts System.

In the Snow Palace, there are no concubines.

Everyone holds the rank of formal spouse, though their territories and authority vary. What matters is that they all hold legitimate status.

At present, I am the only bastard son in the Snow Palace.

All of my older brothers and sisters are legitimate children.

There are people on the outside who criticize this system, but it’s one of many institutions that reinforce the Palace’s unity—and no one dares question it.

Because it’s worked this long.

I continued speaking quietly.

“The only reason I’m called a bastard is because of background, right?”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying to judge people not by background, but as people.”

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