Silence fell.

“The relationship between lord and subject is not a simple relationship of higher and lower. It is a relationship of entrusting each other with their lives. The lord bears responsibility for the subject’s life, and the subject places the lord’s will ahead of his own life. That is the true loyalty of lord and subject.”

“Ah….”

“As your lord, I will take full responsibility for your past, your present, and your future. So that you can lift your head and look upon the world with confidence, I will make it so that no one can treat you carelessly.”

Tears ran down Han Murin’s eyes, but Unhwi continued without minding it.

“And you, as my subject, must receive my will and carry it out, walk the road I walk with me, and if need be, steel yourself to draw your blade before me. That is the duty of a subject.”

Unhwi slowly stepped back and said,

“What will you do.”

Han Murin bowed his head deeply. Then, in a trembling voice, he said,

“I, Han Murin, will receive and uphold my lord’s will.”

The air in the Annex changed, as if heaven and earth themselves were bearing witness to this oath.

Unhwi smiled in satisfaction.

“Now we finally have our positions in order. You are my sword and my shadow. Whether it’s the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, the Martial Alliance, or anyone else in this world—if they block our path, we cut them down together.”

Han Murin lifted his head to look at Unhwi. In his eyes, no fear remained—only unwavering resolve.

“I will uphold your command, my lord.”

At this moment, when a true bond of lord and subject was forged.

Unhwi wanted to make one more thing certain.

“It’s time to change your surname.”

Han Murin clasped his fists.

“I, Han Murin, will cast aside my false name from today and return to my true name.”

Dong Murin.

The blood relative of Dong Yuseong, the previous Vice Lord of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.

If this matter ended well, he would become the Palace Lord of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.

“Do you understand what must be done?”

“Of course.”

Han Murin’s current realm was Three Flowers at the Crown.

With a realm like that, saying he would swallow the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace was nonsense.

Even so, if there was something that had to be done, there was naturally only one thing.

Shin Jueon, the Palace Lord of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, had two sons.

Both of them were at Three Flowers at the Crown as well.

“Shin Ju-yang, Shin Ju-je—I’ll cut off both their heads.”

“I trust you.”

That day, the Heavenly Alliance’s delegation departed for Flame Demon Mountain.

***

Two young men entered the Palace Lord Hall of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.

They were Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je, Shin Jueon’s two sons.

The older brother, Shin Ju-yang, had a sharp impression and cold eyes, while the younger brother, Shin Ju-je, looked gentle, yet carried a keen edge hidden deep within.

Both were in their early twenties and had reached Three Flowers at the Crown, core figures who would lead the next generation of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.

In truth, it was Unhwi who was unusual—by the standards of the martial world, the two of them would inevitably be called geniuses at least once.

It wasn’t for nothing that everyone paid attention to Han Murin, Namgung Wonyang, and Joo Soa around Unhwi.

In any case, the two of them had been summoned by Shin Jueon.

And with astonishing news.

The eldest, Shin Ju-yang, spoke first.

“Is it true… that Dong Yuseong’s son was alive?”

Shin Jueon lifted his head and looked at his two sons. His expression was calm as always, but deep in his eyes something complicated flickered past.

“It is.”

“How could that be….”

As if he couldn’t believe it, Shin Ju-je shook his head.

“I heard that everyone in his entire family was dealt with back then, and yet the youngest son survived.”

“The situation was chaotic at the time.”

Shin Jueon replied evenly.

“It was something we absolutely could not afford to miss, but with one child… it could happen.”

A frown formed between Shin Ju-yang’s brows.

“Then where has he been hiding all this time? More than ten years have passed.”

“He was beyond the frontier. Under the name Han Murin.”

“……Beyond the frontier… and Han Murin means that… the Snow Mountain Army Lord’s…?”

“That’s right.”

Shin Ju-je clenched his fist.

“Then from the beginning, Seol Unhwi hid him deliberately. This is a clear provocation by the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace.”

Shin Jueon started to nod, then shook his head at the last moment.

“It’s not the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace’s provocation. You should see it as Seol Unhwi’s provocation.”

As he had shown in his conversation with Jegal Yeonghyeon, Shin Jueon feared the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace as an organization.

It wasn’t for no reason.

Lately, strange rumors had been spreading.

Rumors that the Snow Palace’s Palace Lord had reached complete No-Extremes Incarnation.

That was truly fatal.

Even by the martial world’s distribution of power, the gap was already vast—and by realm of martial arts, it was even vaster.

Sharing the same Realm of Martial Divinity did not mean being the same class of martial artist.

He was already the sky over Snow Mountain—no, the sky above the sky.

If he stepped in, the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace would be wiped out without fail.

In a single night—no, within a single hour.

Shin Jueon hadn’t joined hands with the Martial Alliance for nothing. He desperately needed their hand.

After taking a brief breath, Shin Jueon slowly opened his mouth.

“And listen. Back then, that bastard was a child. Barely ten years old—almost still a lump of blood. That kind of child makes it all the way beyond the frontier? Doesn’t that strike you as strange.”

Shin Ju-yang answered.

“You mean there was someone helping him.”

“Yes. Now guess who that was.”

“……Red-Flame Lady Hwa Muryeong, or Flame King Hwa Munyeom, who was the previous Vice Lord.”

Shin Jueon nodded without a word.

“Father.”

Shin Ju-yang stepped forward and spoke.

“Shouldn’t we settle this decisively, while we’re at it? The very fact that Dong Yuseong’s blood relative is alive is dangerous for our Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace.”

“Dangerous….”

A strange smile brushed Shin Jueon’s lips.

“Do you know why it’s dangerous.”

At those words, the two brothers blinked.

“Because… he’s the bloodline of a turncoat who sought rebellion… and every other blood relative was executed. In other words, he can become a future trouble—surely that’s the most dangerous reason, isn’t it?”

Shin Jueon took a sip of the tea in front of him ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ and spoke quietly.

“That could be. But listen. Do you two know this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why I killed Dong Yuseong.”

Both sons tilted their heads at the same time.

From their standpoint, Shin Jueon’s question was strange.

He sought rebellion, so he had to die—and this was the result.

So why had he killed him?

Could there have been another reason?

“At your level, you should start understanding, about now.”

After saying that, Shin Jueon rose from his seat and walked toward the window.

“Dong Yuseong was Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s direct disciple. A fact no one can deny.”

“That’s true.”

“And he was taught the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art by Hwa Munyeom.”

Shin Ju-yang and Shin Ju-je nodded.

The Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art was one of the peerless martial arts counted among the greatest in the martial world. Especially since it was the unique martial art of the Flame Emperor Sage-War Emperor, who had made a name for himself in the past—there was no way the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace wouldn’t know it.

“But there is one thing you don’t know.”

Shin Jueon turned and looked at his two sons.

“The true origin of the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art.”

“Origin…?”

“In the past, when the Millennium Demon Cult ruled the martial world, there was a supreme master at No-Extremes Incarnation who personally charged into the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and severed the heads of three elders. He was a monster known by the epithet Heaven-Mixing Flame Emperor.”

Shin Ju-je’s eyes widened.

“Could it be… that person….”

“That’s right. The founder of the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art. And there is a secret legacy he left behind.”

Shin Jueon’s voice sank lower.

“The Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art that Dong Yuseong cultivated was nothing more than an outer shell.”

“……Then you mean the true essence of the Flame Emperor Heavenly Mandate Art exists separately.”

“It does.”

“……And you, Father…?”

Shin Jueon nodded.

“There was a time Dong Yuseong entered a hidden realm near Yangma Mountain and came back out. That time, he brought a martial art with him.”

“…….”

“It was called the Absolute Flame Heaven-Mixing Art. Dong Yuseong asked me whether he could cultivate it, and said he wanted my advice.”

It was a secret that could never be allowed to leak outside.

“That day, I decided. I would take that martial art from him. No—I’d monopolize its essence.”

In the thickening mood, the two brothers looked at each other.

“Fifteen days after that, I killed Dong Yuseong and his entire family. Yes—just as you said, I killed him because he sought rebellion. And the rebellion he raised was one thing: daring to ask, in front of me, the Palace Lord of the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, whether he could learn the Absolute Flame Heaven-Mixing Art.”

“…….”

“That is betrayal toward me. A martial art he should have offered to me, yet a Vice Lord cultivates it himself? It can become a seed of future unrest. He chose to accept that risk. He showed his true thoughts.”

Words could be made to sound one way or another.

The two brothers understood.

This was how you forged a justification.

“Do you understand.”

“……We understand.”

Still looking out the window, Shin Jueon continued.

“I even accepted the risk of provoking the Flame King’s wrath. I thought he would let it pass since he owed me a debt, but I can’t deny it was something I risked my life over. But it was worth it.”

It had taken ten years, but he had risen from Unity of Heaven and Man to No-Extremes Incarnation.

That alone was achievement enough.

Shin Jueon wondered.

Whether these two sons would grasp his deeper intent.

The two brothers did not betray that expectation.

Shin Ju-je spoke.

“It’s the Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace’s disgrace.”

“You could call it that.”

“Then shouldn’t we cover that disgrace completely.”

Shin Jueon let out a small laugh.

This was it.

This was the posture of someone who led an organization.

Shin Ju-yang spoke.

“If we have a disgrace, then the other side will have a disgrace as well. I’ll look into the disgrace of Han Murin and Seol Unhwi.”

As his two sons tried to prepare already, Shin Jueon spoke calmly.

“Don’t rush. Above all, Seol Unhwi is not an easy opponent. And behind him, there’s also that unidentified master at No-Extremes Incarnation.”

Shin Ju-je wore a puzzled expression.

“Is it possible that he is Flame King Hwa Munyeom?”

Shin Jueon’s expression stiffened for a moment.

“……We can’t rule it out. No—if you think about it, it’s the most likely.”

“…….”

“Don’t worry. I know his personality and his habits—everything. Now that we’re in the same realm, if he appears before my eyes, that place will become his grave.”

If the aged Hwa Munyeom fought the vigorous Shin Jueon, then the victor should naturally be Shin Jueon.

That was their common sense.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Shin Jueon spoke slowly.

“Prepare yourselves.”

“What do you mean?”

“The Absolute Flame Heaven-Mixing Art. Today, I will transmit it to the two of you.”

The two brothers smiled brightly.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep