After a long time, the dust slowly settled.

Mae Wuidong was standing.

Seol Unhwi was standing as well.

Blood was pouring from Seol Unhwi’s body like a river, and a deep wound ran across Mae Wuidong’s chest.

Anyone could see it—Seol Unhwi had taken a fatal injury, and Mae Wuidong had taken a grievous one.

It was at that moment.

Seol Unhwi and Mae Wuidong moved at the same time.

Seol Unhwi’s fist shot toward Mae Wuidong’s chest, but Mae Wuidong knocked it aside with his sword. The fist bounced upward, and in that opening Mae Wuidong’s blade changed direction, cutting across Seol Unhwi’s side as it passed.

Slash-!

“Kh—!”

Seol Unhwi groaned, but he did not stop. Ignoring the bleeding wound, he threw another punch.

KWAANG-! KWAANG-! KWAANG-!

A rain of consecutive blows poured down on Mae Wuidong.

Mae Wuidong blocked with his sword, but the destructive force packed into Seol Unhwi’s fists was now enough to reach Unity of Heaven and Man. And so Mae Wuidong was pushed back, and pushed back again.

Even so, his counterattack did not stop.

Slash-! Slash-! THUNK-!

Mae Wuidong’s sword cut past Seol Unhwi’s arm and shoulder, then stabbed once into Seol Unhwi’s thigh before tearing free.

Blood ran from Seol Unhwi’s entire body.

Seol Unhwi faltered for a beat, but his assault did not stop.

No—if anything, it became more ferocious.

As if he could not feel pain at all.

Mae Wuidong was horrified.

“You insane… bastard… this is really insane…”

Trailing off, he slipped past Seol Unhwi’s incoming fist.

An opening showed itself again. He tried to swing his sword—

Seol Unhwi’s eyes flashed, and the arm that had been reaching into empty air folded and whipped.

KRAK-!

Seol Unhwi’s elbow smashed into Mae Wuidong’s shoulder. With the sound of bone breaking, Mae Wuidong was driven back hard.

“Kh… heh…”

A smile spread at the corner of Mae Wuidong’s mouth. He swung immediately. Seol Unhwi swung the Heavenshaking Spiritblade he had been holding.

KWAAAAAANG-!!

When sword met sword, Mae Wuidong’s blade shattered in half.

It was not called one of the world’s ten great famous swords for nothing.

And yet even in this sudden turn, Mae Wuidong reacted.

It was split in two, but it had not lost its function as a sword. He thrust it as it was.

THUNK-!

It pierced deep into Seol Unhwi’s abdomen.

“Kuheok.”

Blood poured from Seol Unhwi’s mouth. It was a fatal wound, but Seol Unhwi lifted his head and was smiling.

He showed not the slightest sign of retreat. No—he stepped forward instead.

Mae Wuidong panicked.

“You… are you planning to die right here!”

“I don’t know. Who will die.”

Spitting blood as he answered, Seol Unhwi released the Heavenshaking Spiritblade and clenched his fist.

Then he drove it forward.

KWAANG-! KWAANG-!

Seol Unhwi’s fist struck Mae Wuidong’s chest and abdomen in succession. Mae Wuidong lurched, but he did not stop counterattacking either.

He left the sword embedded in Seol Unhwi’s abdomen, then reached a hand to the side. The broken blade fragment that had been blasted away earlier flew back into his hand. He swung it at once.

Skak-! Slash-!

Mae Wuidong’s sword fragment skimmed Seol Unhwi’s side, chest, and shoulder. Deep wounds opened, and blood spurted like a fountain.

When Seol Unhwi staggered back, Mae Wuidong immediately seized the gap. Gripping the broken fragment in a reverse grip, he hooked it upward from below.

The tip grazed under Seol Unhwi’s chin, tearing skin.

With a skak, a red line was drawn and blood sprayed.

And in that brief instant, Seol Unhwi’s icy eyes stared straight into Mae Wuidong’s.

Seol Unhwi’s left hand clamped onto Mae Wuidong’s wrist that held the blade fragment. Mae Wuidong’s eyes widened. Seol Unhwi drove his right fist in.

KWAANG-!

“Kuheok.”

Mae Wuidong was shoved back by the impact and spat blood, but he countered immediately. The hand that held the sword fragment was already free.

So.

THUNK-!

It carved a deep wound straight into Seol Unhwi’s side.

Again blood erupted like a fountain, but Seol Unhwi did not stop.

He grabbed Mae Wuidong’s sword arm and smashed his knee into Mae Wuidong’s elbow.

KRRK-!

With the sound of bone snapping, Mae Wuidong’s arm bent at an unnatural angle. As Mae Wuidong’s brow pinched in pain, Seol Unhwi’s fist flew.

KUUNG-!! KUUNG-!! PUK-!!

Fists buried into face, chest, and abdomen. Mae Wuidong’s nasal bone broke, his lips split, and he became a mess of blood.

But Mae Wuidong did not stay still either.

A broken arm did not erase his advantage.

More than that, it did not mean he could not attack with a broken arm.

With that broken arm, he diverted Seol Unhwi’s incoming punch to the side.

Ihwa Grafting.

So natural that Seol Unhwi reeled. Mae Wuidong immediately whipped his foot out and swept Seol Unhwi’s shin.

KWAANG-!

As Seol Unhwi lost his balance, Mae Wuidong drove his head into Seol Unhwi’s chest.

KWAAANG-!

Seol Unhwi toppled backward, rolled once, and used the recoil to haul himself up.

At that moment, Mae Wuidong rushed in and seized Seol Unhwi’s neck with his hand.

Seol Unhwi’s eyes snapped sideways. Mae Wuidong’s blade fragment was already stabbing in.

Seol Unhwi instantly caught Mae Wuidong’s wrist and twisted. Mae Wuidong tried to drive the blade in anyway—

PUK-!

Seol Unhwi’s foot stamped down on Mae Wuidong’s right thigh.

This time Mae Wuidong’s balance collapsed, and the blade that had been aiming for Seol Unhwi also lost its line.

It stabbed into empty air—and as Mae Wuidong’s body pitched, Seol Unhwi spun and kicked Mae Wuidong’s abdomen.

KWAAAAAANG-!!

A thunderous boom burst, and Mae Wuidong’s body slid sideways in a long skid.

There was no dogfight like this dogfight, but this was exactly what Seol Unhwi had been aiming for.

The two men stared straight at each other.

Both were being reduced to wreckage, but neither stopped.

In this place today, only one person would survive.

Once more, they both kicked off the ground toward each other.

PUK-! KWAANG-! PUK-!

Blood sprayed, flesh spattered.

They kept attacking each other.

But as time went on, hesitation began to seep into Mae Wuidong’s attacks.

‘If this keeps going, we’ll really both die…’

Seol Unhwi was fatally injured, and Mae Wuidong was grievously injured.

But that grievous injury was now sliding toward a fatal one.

Unlike Seol Unhwi, Mae Wuidong had no intention of dying here.

He had many things to do.

Things he absolutely had to accomplish.

So he thought.

‘Do I avoid it?’

That could be explained as hesitation.

Seol Unhwi had said it clearly.

That the only things that could overturn realms were an absolute martial art and absolute experience.

Seol Unhwi’s experience was not ordinary in the least.

Would someone like that miss an opening like this?

Seol Unhwi saw Mae Wuidong’s momentary hesitation clearly—and seized it.

A flash.

Power exploded.

KWAAAAAANG-!!

THUNK-!

Seol Unhwi’s Blood-Sky Annihilation Fist pierced Mae Wuidong’s chest perfectly. Mae Wuidong’s blade fragment also pierced Seol Unhwi’s shoulder, but it was hard to call it a fatal wound.

No—it did not reach that point.

“Keo… heok…”

Mae Wuidong let out a huge groan and collapsed to the floor. His chest had been completely punched through, and red blood poured out of it.

Seol Unhwi staggered as well, but he was still standing.

For a while, silence flowed between them.

Mae Wuidong looked up at Seol Unhwi with difficulty.

“Why… why do you… not fear death…?”

Seol Unhwi looked up at the sky for a moment, then answered.

“I keep telling you, I think.”

Perhaps because his breathing was ragged, Seol Unhwi’s words broke and broke again.

He dragged in breath with effort.

Kuheok—blood spilled out.

Then he continued slowly.

“Because I’m a martial artist.”

“Martial… artist….”

“A martial artist dies by the sword and lives by the sword. A martial artist who doesn’t stake his life isn’t a martial artist. Isn’t that so?”

Mae Wuidong’s eyes began to blur.

“It sounds like you’re saying… I’m not a martial artist….”

“Yes. You weren’t.”

Seol Unhwi’s words were cold.

“Alliance Lord, you were a man of power. Not a martial artist.”

“A man of power….”

“If you’re a martial artist, you must be prepared to offer your life for your own conviction. But Alliance Lord, you cherished your own life to the very end.”

“……”

“That was the difference between you and me.”

Seol Unhwi stepped forward and picked up the Heavenshaking Spiritblade that had fallen to the floor.

“In that story from earlier—do you have anything you want to add?”

“…You filthy bastard… take out one thing.”

“What is it?”

“That I was impatient. Take that out.”

“Understood.”

He swung the sword.

Slash-!

Mae Wuidong’s head fell to the ground.

Seol Unhwi slowly withdrew the Blood Demon Soaring-Heaven Art. The Fourth Gate closed, then the Third Gate closed, and the Second Gate and First Gate closed in turn. The redness that had stained his gaze also slowly returned to normal.

Then Seol Unhwi’s legs lurched violently.

The backlash of the Blood Demon Soaring-Heaven Art, opened all the way to the Fourth Gate, was finally crashing in in earnest.

Seol Unhwi collapsed. Blood ran in streams from the corner of his mouth, and the muscles throughout his body convulsed.

Leaning his back against a heap of collapsed stone, he dragged in ragged breath.

The wounds he had forcibly sealed with blood-qi tore open again, and blood began to gush out like madness.

As Seol Unhwi saw it, this was the best way to kill a Unity of Heaven and Man master.

No.

It was the only way.

Power that could touch Unity of Heaven and Man, if only for a moment.

He needed that.

He had resolved himself for death, and if it was like this, then he had done well enough.

Seol Unhwi closed his eyes.

He could not feel Chief Seong and Seo Hyo approaching—stanching his wounds, sending power into him, all of it.

He only thought, the pain has lessened a little.

That was all.

He slowly opened his eyes.

He looked at Chief Seong, looked at Seo Hyo, looked at the Killing Lord and the Shadow Lord behind them, and looked at Han Murin.

Then his eyes met Flame King Hwa Munyeom beyond them.

Seol Unhwi spoke to Hwa Munyeom, who was staring with eyes wide as if he could not believe it.

“Come… here….”

Quick-witted, Hwa Munyeom understood at once what that small sentence meant.

He immediately brought his ear to Seol Unhwi’s mouth.

“…Become the Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance.”

Hwa Munyeom lifted his head, eyes widening.

“…What?”

“You must become the Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance.”

“…Me… are you serious.”

“The Alliance Lord’s seat has to be filled. Only if you come, Senior Hwa, will the Heavenly Alliance be complete.”

“You….”

“Do you not want to?”

“…I need to think. There’s much I want to ask about you—”

“Isn’t there only one thing that matters, whatever it is?”

Even in this moment, Seol Unhwi’s eyes were alive.

So much so that Hwa Munyeom almost thought this was a return of clarity before death—Seol Unhwi’s voice was growing clearer by the second.

As the Flame King, he had to decide quickly.

And at Seol Unhwi’s next words, he decided.

“If you want to create a new order, then stand proudly. Like a martial artist.”

What in the world was this man?

He swore he had never seen a being this astonishing in his life.

There was so much to learn from him, and Mae Wuidong’s head lying over there proved Seol Unhwi’s words.

Enough.

It was more than enough.

“Fine. Alliance Lord.”

Hearing that, Seol Unhwi looked briefly at Chief Seong, then let his head drop.

Just before he lost consciousness—

He squeezed out every last bit of strength and opened his mouth.

“Mae Wuidong’s corpse… there’s a use for it…”

That was as far as he got.

Seol Unhwi lost consciousness.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep