Hyejeongsan was at a loss for words.

In all his eighty years of life, and in fifty years as head of Gaebang, he had never met a person like this.

To wound his own body without hesitation, all for the sake of preserving the other man’s dignity— and that man no older than seventeen.

But what shocked him more than the act was Unhwi’s eyes.

Bleeding heavily, and yet those eyes did not waver in the least.

He handled the injuries as though they were not his own, but someone else’s affair.

This was not mere courage.

This was the cold-bloodedness to use even himself as a tool for his objective.

The wisdom to present a flawless solution, considering even the other side’s position.

And above all, the dignity to never yield, yet still show respect to his opponent.

At this moment, Hyejeongsan truly realized it.

What stood before him was not martial skill or worldly status.

It was a vessel bestowed by Heaven.

A vessel of a man destined to be king—or more than king. The vessel of an emperor.

“…Astonishing.”

Hyejeongsan murmured.

“You already understand, don’t you. That a true strong man is not one who forces others to yield by strength, but one who makes them bow their heads of their own accord.”

A note of reverence slipped into his voice.

“And among such men, to make the other feel gratitude for it—that is yet another matter entirely…”

Unhwi gave no answer. He only smiled faintly in silence.

Yes, Gaebang truly had stood at the brink of collapse.

To make an enemy of such a man meant nothing less.

“…Enough. That will do. I’ll be going.”

Hyejeongsan turned to leave. Yet within him churned emotions he could not begin to put to words.

His steps were heavy. A weight of pride as Lord of Gaebang, and anguish as a man, tangled together.

Heavier still was the shock of what he had just witnessed.

As he neared the main gate—

“Senior.”

Hyejeongsan turned his head.

“The next time you come, I’ll serve you good wine.”

At those words, Hyejeongsan’s heart sank.

For he knew their meaning precisely.

The next time he came, it must be with his decision made. A decision for the future of Gaebang. And when that time came, they would meet not as enemies, but as comrades.

Hyejeongsan looked once more at Unhwi. Despite his bleeding wounds, he stood tall and unbending, like a towering mountain. No—greater than a mountain. Like a pillar holding up the sky.

It was unfair.

So… unfair.

Hyejeongsan, too, had once been called a genius.

But Unhwi was of another dimension altogether.

If only Jin Muhyeok had been half of what Unhwi was…

Gaebang would have risen to the skies on its own.

Thus, Hyejeongsan departed the Celestial Dragon Hall resolved.

Gaebang must be saved.

The worth of a martial sect must be upheld.

If he meant to honor the spirit that child had shown, if he meant to act as a senior of the martial world, he must do what was right.

The leader of a sect must bear that weight.

He would not let himself be seen as shameful.

To save Gaebang, he would cut away what had sickened it. Even if that meant cutting away a piece of his own heart.

***

When Hyejeongsan had left the Celestial Dragon Hall completely, Unhwi laid down the dagger he had been holding. Commander Seong hurried forward to examine his wounds.

“This… no… do you want to drive me insane, is that why you do things like this…?”

Unhwi waved his hand with a smile.

“It’s fine.”

His voice was still calm. That alone felt unsettling.

“…Are you truly fine? These wounds are this severe…”

“I avoided the vital points. Wounds will heal as they always do. The important thing is that I bestowed grace upon the Lord of Gaebang.”

“Will he cut down the Vice Branch Leader?”

“He will.”

That final look in Hyejeongsan’s eyes had been genuine.

In his previous life, Gaebang had truly fallen to ruin.

In Unhwi’s memory, the Lord of Gaebang had been Jin Muhyeok.

From this very moment, some four years from now, the current Vice Branch Leader, Jin Muhyeok, would poison Hyejeongsan and take the lord’s seat.

From then on, Gaebang existed solely for the Original Blood Sect. Outraged by this, Gaebang’s core figures rose up, but every one of them was expelled or eliminated.

Gaebang’s renown plummeted, its strength waned.

Jin Muhyeok, as Lord of Gaebang, would die twenty years later. And then, as if waiting for that moment, Yeong Unseong, Grand Elder of the Original Blood Sect, would place his own men in Gaebang’s leadership and use it as his private organization.

Of course, “waiting for that moment” was just a figure of speech.

Jin Muhyeok was eliminated by Yeong Unseong.

His memory was a bit hazy, but—

His skull was smashed in, wasn’t it.

That was the future.

Ridiculous.

For Gaebang to cower before such a fate—controlled by a mere Grand Elder like Yeong Unseong, obeying his every word—was beyond belief.

And the one who had let it come to that was Jin Muhyeok, too weak-willed to cut out what needed cutting, and so he ruined Gaebang.

That alone was enough reason for Unhwi to dismiss them all. Because he knew exactly who they were. If he laid the board and moved from behind the scenes, he could bring about not the same outcome, but an even better one.

That was why Unhwi’s attitude toward Gaebang had always been the same.

He had always been confident he could swallow it whole.

“What happens now?”

So asked Commander Seong quietly.

Unhwi answered, just as quietly.

“Well, if it flows differently from my past life… then Hyejeongsan will become the hero who saved Gaebang.”

“He seems like a toothless tiger right now. You think he can?”

“He can. If he regains the fire he had when he earned the epithet ‘Savior Beggar,’ Gaebang truly will be reborn.”

In the Central Plains there was a region called the Three Green Lakes.

Centered there, nine provinces and the dozens of sects within them once clashed with Gaebang. At the time, Hyejeongsan was Vice Branch Leader. Leading Gaebang’s elite, he swept through all nine provinces. For that, he gained the epithet Savior Beggar.

On the strength of that accomplishment, he inherited the lord’s seat of Gaebang.

It had been fifty years ago, but back then, at the Harmonization Stage, Hyejeongsan fought and defeated two other masters of the same stage. The very next day, he fought a hundred martial artists at once, and the day after that, he fought five hundred, along with three Harmonization masters, and still won. That tale is told even now.

Even Unhwi, who had no real interest in Gaebang’s history, knew it in detail.

With deeds of that scale, it was impossible not to know.

After staunching the bleeding, Unhwi rose to his feet and asked,

“And that matter we spoke of before—how is it progressing?”

Commander Seong flinched.

No matter how he wished otherwise, only sighs escaped him.

“…Young master, isn’t there another way? At least—at least don’t do that.”

“If I don’t, then in the secret realm half a month from now, the odds of my death are high.”

“……”

“Do you wish for that?”

This is madness… Commander Seong muttered, lowering his voice.

“The preparations are ready. The final medicinal pill, the Bloodline Fixation Pill, will be smuggled into the Celestial Dragon Hall before the day is out. Once it arrives, everything will be complete.”

Unhwi nodded.

“Not bad.”

No matter what tricks he tried—

As he was now, Unhwi could not defeat the Sword Emperor of Myriad Transformations, Jang Icheong.

Jang Icheong was no ordinary master of the Celestial Being Stage.

He was a half-step away from the Union of Man and Heaven. A master among masters.

Against someone who had only just reached the Celestial Being Stage, perhaps there would be a chance. But this? There was no comparison.

Even if Unhwi read his moves and acted ahead, Jang Icheong was quicker still.

The difference in realm was, in the end, the difference in the time one lived.

Unhwi had narrowed that gap by leveraging his past life’s experience.

That was how he had fought those above his level.

But the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) gap of four full stages was immense.

Even if he narrowed it, it was still far from touching Jang Icheong’s time.

So he needed a way.

Because of the Berserk Bloodline, Unhwi had intended to raise his realm slowly if possible. But this time, there was no choice.

“We begin tomorrow.”

“…Understood.”

***

At Kangbuk Province’s Cheonsu Temple, the man known by the epithet Sword Emperor of Myriad Transformations, Jang Icheong, could not hold back a snort of laughter.

“Stupid bastard.”

The report he had just received from his subordinate was absurd.

Lately, Seol Unhwi had been killing every Gaebang disciple in Seongjak Province, including Ham Jangsik.

The confirmed number already exceeded a hundred.

And that was only the reported number.

Including the unreported, it surely surpassed two hundred.

For him to have caused such havoc, and yet for Gaebang’s headquarters to remain silent—anyone who thought that possible was not just complacent, but an utter fool.

Everyone expected the Gaebang members of Seven Knots and above to move.

People thought relations between the Everlasting Snow Palace and Gaebang had soured so badly that war might break out.

Many believed it—Jang Icheong among them.

The promise of settling things in the secret realm had become meaningless. Before that, the boy was bound to be killed by Gaebang.

But then—

Things took an unexpected turn.

The Lord of Gaebang himself, Hyejeongsan, had personally stepped forward.

Now derided as a toothless tiger, but once fearsome beyond measure, he had met with Unhwi in private.

And he had subdued him.

But—

“He was subdued, and yet did not yield?”

“Yes. They say he told him—if the Gaebang disciples deserved death, and if he only sought to avenge Ham Jangsik, then kill him now. And if not, then move that hand away…”

“He… he really said that, in front of Hyejeongsan?”

“Yes.”

It was beyond belief.

“I knew he was insane, but not to that degree.”

Hyejeongsan was a shrewd man.

Judging he could not leave Unhwi unchecked, he had attacked again. Yet even then, Unhwi had not backed down.

They said Hyejeongsan had left those words behind that day:

—“I sought to slay a tiger cub, but its spirit is truly admirable. Had I not known, it would be well, but now if I kill you, I shall only defile myself. Let us each find a path to withdraw.”

These were Hyejeongsan’s own words as he departed Seongjak.

The conclusion was simple.

Unhwi had survived. Gaebang would reestablish its branch in Seongjak. And the man to lead that branch would be Jang Seok of Yangryeong Province, an associate of Unhwi.

It looked as though Hyejeongsan had been pushed back somewhat. But what mattered most was Unhwi’s present state.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep