The Chaotic Heaven One swung its blade wide.

Seol Unhwi knocked it aside with his sword.

Kang—!

The blade was flung to the side.

That instant—

the Chaotic Heaven One’s body rotated.

Naturally.

As if executing martial arts.

Seol Unhwi flinched.

That is...

The Chaotic Heaven One’s foot flew toward him.

Seol Unhwi raised his sword.

Chaeng—!

He blocked it.

He was pushed back one step.

Seol Unhwi looked at the Chaotic Heaven One again.

Was this coincidence?

No—could this possibly be coincidence?

Once more.

He kicked off the ground.

KWA-ANG—!

He arrived right before the Chaotic Heaven One.

He swung his sword.

The Chaotic Heaven One raised its blade and blocked.

Chaeng—!

Seol Unhwi drew back his sword and swung again.

Continuously.

Shwik—! Shwik—! Shwik—!

The Chaotic Heaven One blocked with its blade.

Chaeng—! Kang—! Chaeng—!

And the fourth.

The Chaotic Heaven One swung its blade.

Horizontally.

Seol Unhwi bent his upper body backward.

The blade grazed right before his nose.

That instant—

the Chaotic Heaven One’s body rotated again.

Naturally.

Like water.

Its foot shot out.

Toward Seol Unhwi’s flank.

Seol Unhwi blocked with his arm.

KWA-ANG—!

There was impact, but Seol Unhwi was not pushed back.

At this moment, his eyes were shining.

It was certain.

This movement.

It was extremely violent, but within it flowed traces of martial arts.

And—

it was far too familiar.

Something he had seen in historical records he had once read.

A martial art that should not exist in this world at this point in time.

Seol Unhwi swung his sword diagonally.

The Chaotic Heaven One raised its blade and blocked.

Kang—!

At the same time, Seol Unhwi extended his leg and kicked the Chaotic Heaven One in the solar plexus.

With a heavy thud, the Chaotic Heaven One slid backward.

When it raised its head, Seol Unhwi was already in front of it, swinging his sword.

The Chaotic Heaven One reacted.

As if by instinct.

It tilted its head back.

Whoong—!

Seol Unhwi’s sword swept past right before its nose.

Immediately, Seol Unhwi rotated and brought his foot down.

The Chaotic Heaven One tried to block belatedly, but it was meaningless.

KWA-A-A-A-ANG—!!

Struck in the solar plexus, the Chaotic Heaven One was driven straight into the ground.

Seol Unhwi landed and lightly shook the blood from his sword.

He turned his head and looked toward the cloud of dust.

Soon after, the Chaotic Heaven One burst out through the dust.

“...Strange.”

He was not the sort to speak to himself often, but the words came out naturally.

Because this truly was strange.

It was not because of the traces of martial arts.

It was because of its movements, which had continued from earlier.

The Chaotic Heaven One swung its blade.

Seol Unhwi immediately thrust out his left palm.

Immortal Vajra Palm.

The Chaotic Heaven One’s sword and Seol Unhwi’s palm collided, and with a tremendous roar, force exploded outward.

Fragments of energy burst in all directions, scattering snow through the air.

The old sword in the Chaotic Heaven One’s hand shattered outright.

The Chaotic Heaven One immediately rotated its body and stamped its foot down.

This movement—

resembled what Seol Unhwi had done moments ago.

Seol Unhwi turned his body aside, and the creature’s foot struck the ground.

KWA-ANG.

At the same time the earth caved in, the Chaotic Heaven One turned its head.

A shadow fell across its face.

A foot.

Seol Unhwi’s.

KWA-A-A-ANG—!!

Struck in the face, the Chaotic Heaven One flew sideways and plunged into a snowdrift.

Then it immediately rose and charged toward Seol Unhwi again.

Seol Unhwi’s foot pressed hard into the ground.

Immediately—

he shot forward.

Ppeo-eok—!

The Chaotic Heaven One was struck square in the center of the face and slammed into the ground.

Its nose caved in, and the bones around it shattered, yet it rose again.

It thrust its fist toward Seol Unhwi’s face, and Seol Unhwi avoided it by turning only his head to the side.

At that instant, the Chaotic Heaven One’s leg pressed hard into the ground.

Naturally, its body shot toward Seol Unhwi.

Its energy operation was far too natural, and the speed of its movement was swift as well.

Seol Unhwi lightly kicked off the ground and rotated once in midair.

The Chaotic Heaven One passed beneath him and crashed headfirst into the stone wall across from them.

With a roar, the stone wall shattered.

The Chaotic Heaven One turned its bloodied face.

At this point, it would be strange not to know.

It was imitating the opponent’s movements.

It could be called learning.

The problem was that its ability to learn was better than expected.

And there were traces of martial arts in its movements.

If this Chaotic Heaven One had been human—

it would have been classified as one of those called a genius even in the Central Plains.

This was enough.

There was nothing more to see.

The Chaotic Heaven One picked up the blade lying on the ground.

It was completely shattered, with only about one cun remaining, but it gripped even that and aimed it at Seol Unhwi.

The Chaotic Heaven One kicked off the ground.

Seol Unhwi stood still.

He took no action, merely watched.

The Chaotic Heaven One swung its blade.

Naturally, along the trajectory of that sword, two more swords seemed to swing.

As if using void and reality.

Seol Unhwi moved one step to the side and lightly raised his sword in an upward cut.

Slash—!

The Chaotic Heaven One’s arm and head fell to the ground.

After shaking the blood from his blade, Seol Unhwi silently looked down at the corpse.

Chief Seong approached his side.

“Did you feel it?”

“I did.”

“I was about to explain the rest earlier, but the ambush delayed me.”

Seol Unhwi looked at Chief Seong.

It meant, Go on.

Chief Seong slowly opened his mouth.

“Not all Chaotic Heaven Ones are like that. Among them, a very small number—especially those at the level of the Heaven and Man realm or God-grade—imitate their opponent’s martial arts.”

“Almost perfectly.”

“Yes. There are individual differences, but you may assume that Chaotic Heaven King-level beings imitate proper martial arts almost completely.”

“So that is why Seol Yangseo, who established Windwall, suffered internal injuries.”

“That is correct.”

“But is that all?”

Chief Seong tilted his head.

“What do you mean?”

“I am asking whether imitating martial arts is the whole of it.”

After thinking for a moment, Chief Seong slowly said,

“...Since they learn quickly, perhaps the movements it used when it first fought you were also learned from fighting someone else?”

When it fought Seol Unhwi, the Chaotic Heaven One’s movements had been extremely swift.

Chief Seong thought that was what Seol Unhwi was questioning, and believed this was the model answer.

But it was not.

That was not what Seol Unhwi had asked.

After looking at Chief Seong for a while, Seol Unhwi looked back at the Chaotic Heaven One.

“Chief Seong.”

“Yes, young master.”

After a brief silence, Seol Unhwi turned and said,

“Let us go.”

He wanted to ask whether that was truly everything.

But he did not.

Because it would explain itself in time.

Chief Seong scratched the side of his head and followed after Seol Unhwi.

***

Windwall.

A vast ice wall unfolded before their eyes.

Its scale defied imagination.

Its height alone reached several dozen zhang.

Its width could not even be estimated.

Beyond that ice wall was the Chaotic Heaven Region.

Chief Seong said,

“That building you see there is the Commander Office.”

Seol Unhwi nodded, and his party moved forward.

Inside Windwall was a city.

Buildings lined the streets, and people moved about.

Merchants.

Martial artists.

And families living together.

A fortress of sorts.

No—

beyond a fortress, it was a world of its own.

Seol Unhwi arrived at the Commander Office and entered directly.

Perhaps having heard he was coming, a man was waiting.

Mid-forties.

A powerful impression.

Sharp eyes.

He was Ma Suhyeok, Commander of Windwall.

Ma Suhyeok clasped his hands.

“Ma Suhyeok, Commander of Windwall, greets the Mysterious Snow Palace Lord.”

“There was no need to come out to meet me.”

Ma Suhyeok smiled faintly.

“You are no ordinary guest. You are a Polar Heir—and beyond that, one who has shaken Murim. Of course I had to come personally.”

When Seol Unhwi gave a light nod, Ma Suhyeok gestured with his hand.

“This way.”

Seol Unhwi told his party to wait, then followed Ma Suhyeok into an inner residence.

Seol Unhwi naturally took a seat, and Ma Suhyeok sat opposite him.

A moment of silence.

Ma Suhyeok spoke first.

“I will ask honestly.”

“I will listen.”

“Why did you come to me first?”

For Ma Suhyeok, it was a reasonable question.

“Seolhwa Mountain Manor is here. Though it is on the outskirts of Windwall, it is still within Windwall. Manor Lord Man Seokcheong resides there.”

“I know.”

“He is also the maternal grandfather of Polar Heir Cha Seollin and Snow Spirit Seol Yeonhwa. Should it not be proper order to go to him first?”

Seol Unhwi answered quietly,

“I came here to help Windwall.”

“.......”

“I have a deep interest in the abnormal phenomenon of the Chaotic Heaven Gate. I did not come here to manage connections or show my face.”

Ma Suhyeok’s eyes widened.

As expected of one called a genius in Murim—his way of acting is on an entirely different level from ordinary people.

Many people offered bribes to curry favor with those above them.

In Murim, seniority and rank carried weight, so managing those well made life easier, whether as a martial artist or as a person.

But Seol Unhwi did not do that.

No—

he did not even seem to have considered it.

Seol Unhwi continued,

“I proceed under the basic assumption that everyone who belongs to the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace acts for the sake of the Snow Palace. Manor Lord Man must be the same. If so, I judged that it was right to come to the Commander who manages Windwall’s affairs.” 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

“.......”

“Do you think my judgment was wrong?”

At those words, Ma Suhyeok nearly sprang to his feet.

“No... no, absolutely not. Please do not say something so grave... How could I dare?”

Seol Unhwi looked at him briefly, then said quietly,

“As I understand it, Seolhwa Mountain Manor’s role is to provide support when a major incident occurs at Windwall, or when an unbearable Chaotic Heaven One appears.”

“...That is correct.”

“Then in ordinary times, the Commander manages Windwall.”

“That is so.”

“Then is that answer enough?”

Ma Suhyeok looked at Seol Unhwi for a while.

His gaze was complicated.

At last, he bowed his head.

“...Thank you.”

“For what?”

“You are the first person to say it that way.”

“.......”

“It is said that Windwall has two rulers. Myself, and Manor Lord Man Seokcheong. But to speak honestly, I am only the one in charge of practical affairs.”

“I know.”

“When Polar Heirs come, most go first to Seolhwa Mountain Manor. I merely receive orders afterward.”

Seol Unhwi nodded.

Ma Suhyeok continued,

“I am the Commander of this region, but as someone of the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Palace, I cannot treat the Polar Heirs carelessly.”

“.......”

“Please understand my position.”

“I understand.”

“Thank you.”

Ma Suhyeok steadied his breath, then opened his mouth again.

“Then let me ask: what role do you wish to take?”

“I want a position that allows me to investigate from the front line.”

“.......”

“And I would prefer one that allows me to capture Chaotic Heaven Kings—or Chaotic Heaven Ones.”

Ma Suhyeok’s brow twitched.

“By the front line, you mean...”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”