According to the letter you recently sent to our alliance, you said that Han Murin at my side resembles the blood relative of Vice Lord Dong Yuseong who was purged in the past by the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.

I, too, have thought deeply about that possibility, but the truth is that it is difficult to conclude.

As more than ten years have passed, his appearance could have changed, and above all, I understand that Dong Yuseong’s family all lost their lives at the time.

However, if you wish to confirm it in person, I will gladly arrange that opportunity.

Please come to the Heavenly Alliance and judge for yourself.

Heavenly Arbiter Seol Unhwi.

He read the next letter.

I have given deep thought to the suspicion delivered by Han Cheolsu.

In truth, I cannot be certain whether Han Murin at the side of the Heavenly Arbiter is indeed the youngest son of Vice Lord Dong Yuseong.

Because countless sages throughout long history have proven how drastically a person’s appearance can change as the years pass, I cannot give you a firm assertion.

Above all, I do not believe a matter of such gravity can be judged by conjecture alone.

I hope you will come in person and confirm it. That will be the surest way to resolve all doubts.

The contents of the two were almost identical.

They said they could not be sure whether the existence called Han Murin was truly Dong Murin, Dong Yuseong’s youngest son, so he should come and judge in person.

It was absurd.

Seol Unhwi was one thing, but Hwa Muryeong—that arrogant bitch.

“Ha.”

He had told himself maybe, just maybe, but it was clear she had betrayed him.

For more than ten years, he had shoved her into a corner and excluded her from everything.

And yet, because she endured stubbornly, he had given her a chance by sending her as a dispatch to the Heavenly Alliance.

And this creature, worse than garbage, dared.

Crunch, his fist clenched hard.

More than anything, the content of the letters was a spectacle. They had things to hide, stains they didn’t want exposed, yet they were telling him to come in person?

Ha.

A hollow laugh burst out.

He had nothing to say.

‘Do these bastards really think I’m an idiot?’

How was this any different from saying they had dug a pit and wanted him to step into it?

Shin Jueon was not that stupid.

Then, by his ear, he heard a man’s voice.

“Sect Master, it seems the contents of the letters have upset you.”

Shin Jueon raised his head. In front of him was a man placing stones onto a go board.

It was the Vice Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance, Jegal Yeonghyeon.

In middle age, with a beard, he always wore a gentle smile, but his gaze alone was sharp to the extreme.

Worthy of someone who served as the brains of the Martial Alliance, he possessed an observant eye that missed nothing.

“What do you think of Seol Unhwi?”

Shin Jueon asked as he lifted a go stone.

Jegal Yeonghyeon wore an expression as if thinking for a moment.

“I think he’s an insolent, arrogant man without equal. His talent is certainly outstanding, but intoxicated by that talent, he overestimates himself—the typical image of a young prodigy. The sort who mistakes the world for something that turns around him.”

Shin Jueon nodded and handed the two letters he had been holding to Jegal Yeonghyeon.

“I think so as well. Read these.”

Jegal Yeonghyeon read the letters in order, then let out a snort of laughter.

“A trap. No, it’s such an obvious snare that calling it a trap is almost embarrassing. Asking you to come in person and confirm it—this childish provocation is a scheme they couldn’t put forward without an ulterior motive, and it’s nothing but disappointing.”

As if truly regretful, Jegal Yeonghyeon sighed.

Shin Jueon set a go stone down and continued.

“As you know well, the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace has joined hands with the Heavenly Alliance, but that hand is formed from a light promise {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} that can be shaken off at any time. Far too shallow a relationship to call a true alliance.”

Jegal Yeonghyeon smiled.

“I know that very well. The relationship between you and ‘our Alliance Lord.’”

Shin Jueon and the Martial Alliance’s Alliance Lord, Gun Mugyeol, had an old friendship.

On the surface, they were separate beings leading their own forces, but in truth, they were the sort of pair who could see straight through each other’s thoughts.

“Is the Alliance Lord well?”

“He always stands at the pinnacle of the Martial Alliance, looking down upon all. He’s also taken a deep interest in the recent movements of the Heavenly Alliance.”

Jegal Yeonghyeon looked at the go board for a moment, then spoke again.

“Then, Sect Master—how about taking this chance to bring the entire organization called the Heavenly Alliance under the Martial Alliance?”

Shin Jueon’s eyes flashed.

“An interesting suggestion.”

“Think about it. Mae Wuidong is dead, and Seol Unhwi is severely injured, in no condition to properly command. Some of the martial artists of the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect said he struggled even to stand… Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to pull that enormous power called the Heavenly Alliance over to our side?”

Certainty filled Jegal Yeonghyeon’s voice.

“Besides, it would benefit everyone to maintain order under the proven system of the Martial Alliance, rather than letting an insolent bastard like Seol Unhwi toy with the martial world.”

Shin Jueon slowly nodded.

“Then… even this trap may have its own meaning.”

“What will you do?”

A cold smile formed on Shin Jueon’s lips.

“If Seol Unhwi is so insistent that I come in person, I should go and at least see that bastard’s face once.”

“Are you serious?”

“But I won’t go alone. I have the pretext of going to confirm the existence called Dong Murin, so I should bring appropriate attendants.”

Jegal Yeonghyeon gave a meaningful smile.

“An excellent idea, but may I dare to say one thing?”

“Say it.”

“It would be better not to go.”

A slight frown formed between Shin Jueon’s brows.

“Why?”

“There is someone protecting Seol Unhwi.”

“Someone… are you talking about that ‘unknown master who has reached No-Extremes Incarnation’?”

“Yes. We still haven’t identified who he is. We also don’t know what martial art he uses.”

“Hm… couldn’t he be someone from the Snow Palace?”

“According to what our Martial Alliance has determined, he is not from the Snow Palace. In the Snow Palace, there are a total of two martial artists at No-Extremes Incarnation. One was at Snow Mountain, and the other went some time ago to meet Seol Unhwi, who had been injured, then returned to Snow Mountain. In other words, it means he is another person we do not know.”

In that moment, a name suddenly brushed across Shin Jueon’s mind.

‘…No way… and Hwa Muryeong too… No. It can’t be.’

It had to not be.

‘He’ was someone who had gone into seclusion twenty years ago and had not shown his face even once since then.

Even if Shin Jueon had only recently reached No-Extremes Incarnation, if that man had revealed himself within the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed.

Right then, Jegal Yeonghyeon continued.

“As you said, Sect Master, this trap has meaning, but it’s a trap you don’t need to step into.”

“Then what would be better?”

Jegal Yeonghyeon smiled.

“It’s simple. Make him come in person.”

“Hmm?”

“Listen. In the past, Dong Yuseong, who had been a Vice Lord of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, plotted a rebellion, but it was discovered early and exterminated. However, Dong Yuseong’s youngest son had survived. He changed his name to Han Murin, and from the side of the Heavenly Arbiter, he plotted for the future. This time as well, Palace Lord Shin Jueon discovered his scheme early and politely requested the Heavenly Arbiter. But the arrogant Heavenly Arbiter shielded his man, who could become a seed of future unrest. In the end, as he was about to come to the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace in person and begin his explanation, the wound he had suffered before reopened, and he collapsed on the spot, coughing blood.”

Shin Jueon’s eyes glittered.

“I moved to take action, but it was too late, and in the end the Heavenly Arbiter died right there. What do you think?”

Shin Jueon formed a strange smile.

“If he dies, the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace won’t sit still.”

“Killing him and having him die in an accident are different matters, aren’t they. The Heavenly Alliance after Ye Wonje died, and the Heavenly Alliance now that Mae Wuidong is dead—there’s no problem putting those two on the same line. The Heavenly Arbiter knows that better than anyone, which is why he ‘overreached.’”

“Overreached… because he is smarter than anyone, he prioritizes his achievements over his recovery…?”

“Exactly. What the Heavenly Arbiter has done is something neither I nor anyone in the Central Plains can deny was shocking. That’s why he won’t want to let it go. Martial artists are, in the end, the sort who live and die by honor.”

There was no choice but to see it that way.

Otherwise, he would never have gone all the way to the Ihwa Sword Heaven Sect with an injured body to help Shin Gang take revenge.

Shin Jueon liked Jegal Yeonghyeon’s words far too much.

But.

“He won’t come alone.”

“Then silence them. If you win over even one of them, things become easy, and if that one is ‘Han Murin,’ there’s nothing more to think about.”

Shin Jueon was quick to catch on.