Seol Unhwi arrived in Calmheart County and immediately rented out an entire place called Calmheart Tower, making it his quarters.

After leaving the Martial Righteous Unit’s warriors there, he headed for a nearby mountain, and Han Murin, who followed behind him, asked,

“Chief Commander. Are you all right?”

Without turning around, Unhwi replied.

“What are you talking about?”

“I understand you intended to bring thirty warriors from the Mukse Society into the Heavenly Alliance.”

“I did.”

“A new unit formation, and two elders.”

Unhwi paused for a moment.

Then Unhwi continued Han Murin’s words.

“It all fell through.”

“……I feel like things are turning strange. Is that just my imagination?”

“It won’t be imagination.”

At some point, Unhwi had told Flame King Hwa Munyeom, the vice lord of the Mukse Society,

That he intended to bring the Mukse Society’s warriors into the Heavenly Alliance.

There had been some friction, but in the end Hwa Munyeom had been positive, and he had handed Unhwi a roster of the warriors who wished for it.

From that roster, Unhwi selected and selected again, pulling a total of thirty men out, and he showed the names of those thirty to Mae Wuidong, the Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance.

At present, five of the six elder seats have been filled.

Huang Mujung, whom Mae Wuidong brought personally; Dukgo Hyun, whom Unhwi brought; Seo Hyo; Sa Seollan; Ya Mukcheon.

Unhwi had intended to make the six elders into seven elders.

He meant to complete it and firm up the foundation by filling two seats, but here, a somewhat unexpected problem had erupted.

Mae Wuidong accepted, but everyone on that roster suddenly showed an intention to refuse.

“I sent a letter to the Flame King, but only a letter saying ‘I cannot answer’ came back.”

Han Murin was not a fool, either.

The fact that the Flame King gave an answer of “I cannot answer” meant it was not something he could resolve at his own level.

That meant intervention from a higher line than Hwa Munyeom.

In other words.

“In my view, it seems the Master of the Mukse Society has stepped in.”

Unhwi looked at Han Murin without a word.

“……Are you all right?”

Unhwi gave a small laugh.

“In this world, what you can’t see is more complicated than what you can see.”

“…….”

“Watch closely. The one playing a grand game with me, at this very moment, has already made a few fatal mistakes.”

Han Murin trusts Unhwi. That is to the point it does not even need emphasis.

Han Murin took a short deep breath and changed the subject.

“Still, I’m curious why you came here. It seems like you’re trying to find something…… but I can’t quite get a handle on it.”

Unhwi’s answer was concise.

“A divine relic of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect.”

Han Murin blinked.

The place where the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect was based was Jin State.

And here, Calmheart County was Un’guk territory.

Even if Calmheart County was a city that shared a border with Jin State, looking for the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s divine relic in Un’guk?

It did not make sense.

“……As I recall, I believe the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s divine relics are two in number.”

“One is held by Yeon Songbaek, and the other was lost.”

“……I’ve heard that.”

“Have you heard the inside story as well?”

Han Murin scratched his head, thought for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“I understand there are two theories. One is that twenty years ago, when a catastrophe struck the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, it broke during the process of Yeon Songbaek killing ‘Shin Gang,’ who was holding it. And the other is that the great thief Shadowless Divine Thief infiltrated the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect and stole it away.”

“You know it well.”

“……A long time ago, when I was on the run, I picked up gossip drifting around the martial world from here and there.”

After saying that, Han Murin suddenly asked,

“Then—could it be one of those two?”

Unhwi shook his head.

“Han Murin.”

“Yes. Chief Commander.”

“You, too, must be starting to understand how things are turning.”

Han Murin shut his mouth as he was.

“You’re going to lead an organization, and you’ll keep asking questions at that low a level?”

He swallowed hard.

“Think it through and tell me. What all of this means.”

Becoming the owner of an organization is something anyone can do.

But leading it is a problem on another level.

It was so common for fools to take charge of an organization and ruin it all not long after that it was hardly worth digging up examples.

Han Murin could feel Unhwi’s intent.

This, too, was another lesson.

He turned it over and over in his head.

And then the answer came out.

Unhwi’s actions always had a reason, and Han Murin had watched all of it closely as he accompanied him recently.

The clue was there.

“……Right now, is the sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect, Yeon Songbaek—Shin Gang?”

“If he is Shin Gang, then what?”

“……If he is Shin Gang, then the previous sect master, Yeon Hakcheol, did not choose an heir between his son Yeon Songbaek and his disciple Shin Gang, as I understand it. But as with every sect in the martial world, it’s usually the blood child who becomes the heir. If that’s so, then it would be true up to the point that inside the cave, Shin Gang ambushed Yeon Hakcheol, and even fought Yeon Songbaek.”

“Anyone can predict that much. Tell me what comes next.”

“……Yes. I’ll continue. In the martial world, it’s known Yeon Songbaek won and drove a sword into Shin Gang’s chest, but if in truth it was the opposite…… ah.”

“Go on.”

Han Murin nodded and continued at once.

“No matter that Shin Gang was Yeon Hakcheol’s disciple, even if he could act as Yeon Songbaek, he isn’t of Yeon blood. So he couldn’t possibly know every hidden safe house of the Yeon family…… and if among those safe houses, the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s divine relic is hidden…….”

Han Murin swallowed.

“……So this is the ‘piece’ you spoke of.”

Unhwi stopped walking. Han Murin stopped as well.

In front of them stood an old tile-roofed house.

It looked like it had once been a fairly large estate, but now it had been completely abandoned.

“Then you know what you have to do now.”

“Of course.”

The two of them approached the hidden safe house.

The main gate had half fallen off, and weeds had grown to waist height in the yard. Everywhere, the marks of time were obvious.

Han Murin muttered,

“It’s old.”

It was when Unhwi pushed the gate.

With a sudden creak, the door tore loose and fell off.

With a heavy thud, dust billowed up.

Han Murin covered his mouth with his sleeve and said,

“……It looks like no one has lived here for at least ten years.”

A building like this, positioned halfway up a mountain, would normally be used by bandits, or by herb gatherers and warriors who lost their way.

This place was the same.

There were traces of multiple people coming and going, but only to that extent.

A secret safe house of an organization wouldn’t truly take the form of an estate, would it?

Unhwi moved forward slowly, and Han Murin followed behind him.

The two men headed for the main quarters. Part of the roof had collapsed, and several pillars had rotted and tilted.

Unhwi opened the door to the main quarters.

Creeeak—

The inside was even more miserable.

All the furniture was blanketed in dust, and the wallpaper had peeled off in places. On the floor, fallen leaves and dust were mixed together in piled drifts.

“Han Murin.”

“Yes. Chief Commander.”

“Do you remember when we searched Cheonrim’s secret storehouse?”

“Of course.”

“Back then, Wonyang was ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) fast.”

“…….”

“I only know the location of the safe house. I don’t know the rest. Will you find the hidden space here faster than I do?”

Han Murin didn’t answer with his mouth.

He moved at once and began to examine the main quarters closely.

He tapped the walls, checked the floor, and even inspected the ceiling.

But there was nothing special. Only old furniture and bowls, and thick dust.

Unhwi began searching as well, and one double-hour passed.

Han Murin was tapping the wall of the last room when it happened.

Knock, knock—unlike the dull sound, only in one section did a very faint resonant echo ring out.

He hadn’t misheard.

“Chief Commander!”

At Han Murin’s shout, Unhwi came over.

When Han Murin tapped that section again, a different sound clearly came out.

“It’s hollow behind it.”

Looking closely, there was a tiny gap in the wall.

When Unhwi put his hand to it and pushed, part of the wall sank inward. Then the wall to the side quietly rotated, revealing a narrow passage.

Han Murin stared at Unhwi with astonished eyes.

It was really there.

Unhwi silently spread his qi, checking whether there were traps inside.

It was clean.

“Han Murin.”

At Unhwi’s call, Han Murin lifted his head.

“Will you go in first?”

“Yes.”

Han Murin went in first, and Unhwi followed behind him.

The passage was short, but at the end was a space that was fairly wide.

When they lit Samadhi True Fire, the interior was revealed.

Several volumes of books were arranged on shelves, and on one wall a few swords were hung.

But nothing looked special.

Han Murin picked up one of the books.

“Ihwa Flowing Water Sword Art…….”

It was one of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect’s representative martial manuals.

Unhwi checked the other books as well. They were all Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect texts. That was all.

They hadn’t come to find manuals like this.

A divine relic.

They had to find the Heaven-Extreme Sword.

“……It isn’t here.”

Han Murin narrowed his eyes as he looked at Unhwi.

You said it was here.

He wanted to ask that, but he didn’t let it out. Unhwi looked deep in thought.

After a moment lost in thought, Unhwi slowly opened his mouth.

“There are three secret safe houses I know.”

“Three……?”

“I thought it would be in one of them, and I thought Calmheart County was that one.”

Holding a martial manual in his hand, Unhwi let out a quiet, self-mocking laugh.

“So it seems this isn’t the place.”

“……This is the first time I’ve seen it.”

“What is?”

“Even you make mistakes, Chief Commander.”

“A mistake…… isn’t that only natural? I don’t think of myself as perfect.”

Unhwi turned his body.

Simply—

“I only strive to come close to perfection.”

Strive.

At that word, lightning struck through Han Murin’s mind.

Come to think of it, recently, Chief Seong and Seo Hyo hadn’t been seen.

There was no way those two would disappear without reason.

“Don’t tell me…… Chief Commander, Chief Seong and Seo Hyo went to the other two places……”

Han Murin couldn’t finish.

A voice suddenly came from the safe house entrance.

“Heavenly Arbiter!!”

Unhwi, gesturing as if to tell him to gather everything up, came out first.

A warrior of the Martial Righteous Unit wiped sweat from his brow and spoke to Unhwi.

Urgency was clear across his face.

That was right.

“In the Calmheart County quarters right now…….”

He took a moment to catch his breath, then shouted,

“The sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect is here!”

***

Wei Tianhu stood guard in the front yard of the quarters with an expression hardened tight.

As one could guess from that expression, his thoughts were extremely tangled.

Yeon Songbaek, the sect master of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect.

In the Central Plains, there was no one who did not know his name—an expert of No-Extremes Incarnation. Usually, when one speaks of the greatest organization in the Central Plains, one thinks of the Original Blood Cult. And if asked what organization might threaten that fortress, one thinks of the Sichuan Alliance and the Martial Alliance.

And immediately below that tier, there are the Five Great Families.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep