For a moment, silence flowed.

The aftershocks of the explosion settled, the flames faded.

While the dust slowly drifted down, Dong Murin stood there and surveyed the surroundings.

The Palace Lord Hall had become ruins in the most literal sense, no longer recognizable in shape.

Walls had collapsed, pillars had snapped, and in places the remnants of flame still refused to die, continuing to burn.

Dong Murin began to walk.

Each footstep thudded heavily. The years he had lived carrying the heavy burden called revenge had seeped into that gait.

He walked up to Shin Jueon, who was no longer a martial artist, and asked in a quiet voice.

“Palace Lord.”

Shin Jueon raised his head. His face was caked with blood and dust, and despair and rage were mixed in his eyes.

“There is something I want to ask you about death.”

Dong Murin’s voice was calm, as if he were sharing a casual conversation with an old friend.

It was truly natural.

“I am curious how you felt, eleven years ago, when you killed my father, Dong Yuseong.”

Shin Jueon glared up at Dong Murin. This crazy bastard.

In a situation like this, he was asking that?

For Dong Murin, it was natural. For Shin Jueon, it was the height of unnatural.

Then, for an instant, his mind went blank.

Because in that young face, he saw the face of Dong Yuseong, the man he had killed long ago.

He had seen it through Facial Preservation Art, but seeing it in reality was clearly different.

The atmosphere, the features.

The way his eyes moved when he spoke, the posture he held when he stood.

All of it resembled that worm of a man.

“…You…”

“Answer the question.”

Blood surged up and burst out of him. Even then, he could see it.

The craving for revenge in Dong Murin’s eyes, and the thirst for killing.

Cough.

A twisted smile rose at the corner of Shin Jueon’s mouth as he spat dark red blood.

This bastard was the same as Dong Yuseong, and yet different. Behind that calm exterior, he could see the figure of a deranged butcher.

He could roughly guess this bastard’s ending, too.

How did it feel?

“It was… utterly… satisfying…!”

His voice was rough and hoarse, but certainty was packed inside it.

“Because by killing that man, I obtained his Absolute Flame Heaven-Mixing Art! Because I seized a peerless martial art!”

Unexpectedly, Dong Murin gave a small smile at those words.

“I see.”

Then he asked slowly.

“Then what do I look like to you?”

“What?”

“Do I look satisfied right now?”

Shin Jueon’s eyes trembled.

This bastard, don’t tell me…

“I will answer for you. Yes, I am very satisfied.”

“You… son… of a… bitch…”

What came out of Shin Jueon’s throat could no longer be called human speech.

It was closer to an animal’s howl, rage and despair tangled together.

Dong Murin squatted down.

At the same height as Shin Jueon’s face, he stared straight into his eyes and spoke.

“Whether I am a dog’s son or a man’s son does not matter.”

His voice was still calm, like a sage explaining a truth.

“What matters is that I, and that it was just now, killed both of your sons.”

“You…!”

Shin Jueon struggled, but with his martial arts gone, he had no strength left.

Dong Murin continued.

“It was pathetic beyond belief.”

Contempt seeped into his voice.

“They were older than me by five or six years, yet they had so little real combat experience. The way they strutted about, drunk on pride because they had obtained a peerless martial art… it was truly pathetic.”

Dong Murin paused, then continued in an even colder voice.

“Yes. Just like you are now.”

Shin Jueon wanted to leap up at once and seize Dong Murin by the collar.

But he could not. He had lost all his martial arts. His life as a martial artist was completely over.

And instinctively, he knew.

His life as a mere human would soon end as well.

Dong Murin rose slowly and said.

“The chain of ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) grudges is truly fascinating.”

He looked up at the sky as he continued.

“You killed my father, and I killed your sons. And now I will kill you. But it will not end with this.”

He looked down at Shin Jueon again.

“Someday, your relatives, or your disciples, or someone who followed you will try to kill me. That is the nature of grudges. An endless chain of hatred.”

Shin Jueon listened.

He raged and raged, but aside from coughing up dark red blood, he could do nothing.

“But that chain will not continue.”

Dong Murin’s voice hardened.

“Those connected to you, those with reason to seek revenge, and your relatives, all of them will die.”

The blood drained from Shin Jueon’s face.

He had seen it right.

This insane butcher.

“It… will not… go that far…”

“Why do you think it will not?”

“…What?”

“That is how the chain can be cut. From the beginning, that is what revenge is supposed to be, is it not?”

Then Shin Jueon jerked his head up.

The sound that came out of his mouth afterward was enough to shock anyone.

“Spare… me.”

He thought he had misheard.

“What did you say?”

“Spare me…”

Shin Jueon’s voice was desperate. Pride and dignity thrown away, leaving only the desire to live.

“I do not want to die like this… I will give you… the palace. Yes, the palace, I will give it to you…”

Shin Jueon panted as he continued.

“If I, the current Palace Lord, repent my past wrongs and yield the Palace Lord seat to you, my descendant, then retire into seclusion… is that not a very fine picture? The Heavenly Alliance has already taken control of Cheonrim, so it will be easy to manage information… If you spare only me, I will give you all the justification… Above all, Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace has more than twenty branch halls… The way to make all those branch hall lords and branch hall members follow you is to keep me alive. Then you will no longer need to spill blood, and the chain of grudges as well…”

“You are leaving me speechless.”

At some point, Dong Murin’s manner of speaking had begun to resemble Unhwi’s.

It was Dong Murin’s will to follow in Unhwi’s wake.

He was not simply imitating the surface.

Dong Murin had watched and absorbed Unhwi’s way of thinking at his side. In this moment, there was only one decision to make.

Dong Murin drew his sword.

The blade flashed coldly.

“I will pretend I did not hear that.”

“Wa… wait…”

Shin Jueon reached out desperately, but Dong Murin did not care.

“When you reach the underworld, apologize to my father.”

Dong Murin drove the sword into his throat without mercy.

Puuk.

With that sound, all of Shin Jueon’s bodily functions stopped.

From the eyes of the man collapsed on the ground, a single drop of blood trickled down.

Dong Murin drew his sword back and flicked off the blood.

He had always wanted to accomplish revenge.

But the odds of achieving it had been very low.

How could one kill the sect master of one of the Four Demon Sects who had reached Limitless Manifestation?

No matter how much he trained and trained, it was a task with vanishingly little possibility.

Yet he had achieved it in far less time than he had ever expected.

He had not taken Shin Jueon’s life by crossing blades with him directly, but by killing his two sons and using that shock to render him powerless, he had changed the situation.

He had carried out everything just as Unhwi said, and he had completed it.

By any measure, that was a sizable share. It would not be wrong to say he had accomplished it himself.

Yes.

Now that the highest priority goal of his life was finished, Dong Murin had to walk a new path.

His life’s goal had been reset.

He would seize Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace, become its true Palace Lord, and become Unhwi’s blade.

The sharpest and most dangerous blade.

He turned his head.

His eyes met Unhwi’s, who had been watching all along.

“Are you satisfied?”

At Unhwi’s calm question, Dong Murin nodded and replied.

“I am very satisfied, lord.”

Unhwi smiled and said.

“There will be much to do. Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace will become the core martial force of the Heavenly Alliance, and it must become a situation that is almost one body. Can you do it?”

Dong Murin nodded with resolute eyes.

“Of course, lord.”

“Then that is enough. Seize the palace together with Hwa Muryeong, Seo Hyo, and Alliance Lord Hwa Munyeom.”

Dong Murin offered a formal salute.

“By your command!”

***

After stepping outside, Unhwi lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

Clouds covered the moon as they passed, and the shadows on the ground swayed.

With the sun down, the night air grew cold.

As the heat of the blood battle in the Palace Lord Hall cooled, the unique chill of Flame Demon Mountain settled back into place.

Flame King Hwa Munyeom approached at his side.

His steps were a little slower than usual.

The wounds he had taken in the fierce battle with Shin Jueon were not light, but his eyes were still sharp.

“Are you all right?”

Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s question was simple, but it held many meanings.

It could be asking about Dong Murin’s condition, or it could be asking about the overall result of this affair.

Unhwi turned his head and looked at Flame King Hwa Munyeom.

“Isn’t that question something you should be asking the next Palace Lord of Soul-Dao Demon Flame Palace over there, rather than me?”

Flame King Hwa Munyeom shook his head.

“Do I look like a fool?”

There was a hint of irritation in his voice.

“Not at all.”

“When I fought Shin Jueon, I felt it too.”

“What did you feel?”

Flame King Hwa Munyeom looked toward the summit of Flame Demon Mountain as he spoke.

“The presence of a powerful figure who has reached the Supreme Void of Non-Being.”

In an instant, the air grew heavy.

Supreme Void of Non-Being was a realm that stood a full two stages above the Limitless Manifestation where Flame King Hwa Munyeom stood.

Those who had reached that realm were beings with only one step left to true Martial Divinity in the truest sense, so wherever they went they inspired respect, or fear.

And because their very existence touched the fundamental energy of humanity, anyone who had reached a certain level could not help but sense their approach.

Unhwi looked toward the summit of Flame Demon Mountain for a moment.

He could feel no presence there anymore. As if no one had been there from the start.

Then Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s question reached his ear.

“Was it Gun Mugyeol? Or Kang Cheonwoo?”

Both names were figures who stood at the pinnacle of the martial world.

Gun Mugyeol, Alliance Lord of the Martial Alliance, and Kang Cheonwoo, Alliance Lord of the Sichuan Alliance.

They were not merely powerful figures of Supreme Void of Non-Being, but true powerhouses with only half a step left before No-Extremes Incarnation.

And Unhwi’s voice as he answered Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s question was, unexpectedly, very cold.

“If you understand how things are unfolding, and if you are to become the next Alliance Lord of the Heavenly Alliance, then you should not be asking questions. You should be giving answers.”

At Unhwi’s words, Flame King Hwa Munyeom let out a hollow laugh, but as pain surged from the wound Shin Jueon had inflicted, his expression stiffened.

“Kheum… It would be Gun Mugyeol.”

“Correct.”

Then…

“…In the end, you’ve done something big.”

Admiration was mixed into Flame King Hwa Munyeom’s voice.

Gun Mugyeol would not have come here for a stroll.

He withdrew without doing anything. That was no different from Unhwi driving him off, and that alone was remarkable.

But unexpectedly, Unhwi shook his head.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep