“Reverse... Heaven-Defying Time-Reversal Great Law...?”

At Sama Cheon’s words, shock spread across the faces of those gathered.

Chief Steward Namgoong Mun unconsciously leaned forward and asked again.

“Then that Blood Demon has repeated his life over and over again? And, you as well...?”

“Not several times. Several hundred. At some point I stopped counting, so I do not know the exact number.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

“Heavens...!”

The Chief Steward let out a groan.

He was not the only one.

In an instant, the murmuring energy of those gathered filled Heavenly Tiger Hall.

Dying and returning to the past was unbelievable enough, but not once, not several times—hundreds of times?

And their memories did not disappear, which made learning martial arts overwhelmingly advantageous.

“I too was once someone who did not even know how to properly hold a sword.”

Sama Cheon looked down at his own hand.

A hand filled with scars and calluses, utterly unlike the one he had before regression—no one could deny it was the hand of a martial artist.

“Fighting the Blood Demon over such a long time, my Realm naturally rose. When you keep your memories, raising your Realm after living again is not difficult.”

“He grows stronger with every clash. Is that related to the Great Law as well?”

Ouyang Do, who had been listening to Sama Cheon, asked in a low voice.

He remembered his fight with the Blood Demon vividly.

The Blood Demon’s martial skill, which had seemed only newly risen to Heaven-Beyond-Heaven, grew sharper with each exchange, as if he were becoming accustomed to his own level in real time.

“It should be so. And now, he is stronger than he was then.”

“....”

Ouyang Do furrowed his brow.

Even when he and Gwoncheon had combined their strength, they had not been able to match the Blood Demon.

If he was stronger now than then—what Realm had he reached?

“Do we... even have the possibility of winning...?”

At Ouyang Do’s low-voiced lament, the atmosphere of Heavenly Tiger Hall sank.

It was the voice of none other than the man considered the strongest under heaven in the Central Plains.

His anxiety carried tremendous weight.

But—

“We can win. And we must.”

A clear voice rang through Heavenly Tiger Hall, quelling the unease.

All gazes turned to Seolhwa.

“Is there a method?”

At Ouyang Do’s question, Seolhwa nodded with confidence.

“The Blood Arts that the Blood Demon uses are relatively powerful compared to orthodox arts, but they consume internal power very quickly. They are closer to demonic-path arts than orthodox arts. If they are in the same Realm, the longer the battle goes on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for Blood Arts.”

Blood Arts were something Seolhwa had trained in her previous life; she knew them well.

Their growth and destructive force were immense, but compared to orthodox masters of the same level, their depth and endurance were shallow. The Blood Demon was no exception.

“If everyone here combines their strength, I believe we can match him.”

No matter how high the Blood Demon’s Realm was, he was still merely a Heaven-Beyond-Heaven expert.

The gap within the same Realm might be vast, but the masters Seolhwa had protected and gathered were no weaklings.

“However, to do that, the remaining Blood Lords of the Great Blood Cult must be dealt with first. If they join him, our strength will be divided.”

With the death of the Fifth Blood Lord, the remaining were the First, Second, and Fourth.

Only three remained, and their identities were now known. All that was left was to fight.

“At the very least, North Sea Ice Palace must not be allowed to step into the Central Plains.”

Seolhwa looked toward Namgoong Mucheon.

In earlier days, Namgoong Mucheon had turned North Sea Ice Palace away with ease.

He had done so precisely because of the Blood Arts the First Blood Lord had learned from the Blood Demon.

He did not know exactly what the Blood Arts entailed, but in Seolhwa’s previous life, every orthodox martial artist who faced the First Blood Lord’s forces had been annihilated.

Every single one had died, leaving no survivors—thus no information about the First Blood Lord had ever spread.

It was not beyond imagination why that was so.

Facing them without preparation would result in catastrophic losses.

That was why he had sent them away.

But the ability to send them away without conflict was a one-time thing. If they descended south again, there would be no way to stop them.

Seolhwa clenched her fist.

“I want to protect this life if at all possible. And I will do everything I can to make that happen.”

It was not because she was unwilling to lose what she had built in this life.

It was not because she feared she could not do all of this again if time reset.

Because—

“It is the right thing to do.”

Fate was something that should flow as it ought to flow.

And for that—

“The destruction of the Heaven-Defying Time-Reversal Great Law.”

Seolhwa lifted her gaze, full of resolve.

“That is the ultimate goal we must achieve. To ensure the Blood Demon can never again shake the world as he pleases.”

“....”

“....”

Heavenly Tiger Hall fell into a deep silence.

No one knew what to say; all wore dark expressions as they sank into thought.

It was already overwhelming to consider defeating the Blood Demon alone.

“To... destroy the Great Law...”

Ouyang Do murmured softly, stroking his chin.

Seolhwa looked at him and spoke.

“The destruction of the Great Law is my responsibility. I am probably the only one who can get close to it.”

“Is there a condition required to destroy the Great Law?”

“A regressor...”

At that moment, Sama Cheon turned to look at Seolhwa.

But Seolhwa showed no reaction and continued speaking.

“Only a regressor can destroy the Great Law. That is the reason the Blood Demon refuses to kill me.”

[Voice Transmission] “You intend to hide it?”

Sama Cheon’s voice entered her ear.

Seolhwa did not show any sign of emotion as she answered him.

[Voice Transmission] “If possible. So please keep the price of destruction secret.”

[...]

The one who destroys the Great Law disappears entirely from existence.

Namgoong Seolhwa likely wished to keep that burden from falling on anyone else.

Which meant she had already resolved to sacrifice herself.

Sama Cheon looked at the gathered people.

He did not know all of them, but even from this brief time he could understand one thing clearly.

If they learned the price, every single person in this room would try to sacrifice themselves instead.

Their sense of chivalry and loyalty ran that deep.

And that altruism could ruin everything at the crucial moment.

For both Namgoong Seolhwa’s sake and for the sake of the greater cause, it was better to keep the price hidden.

Sama Cheon finished his calculation.

He chose silence, exactly as Seolhwa wished.

“And so, for what reason are you telling us all this?”

Namgoong Mucheon’s voice echoed across Heavenly Tiger Hall.

“There must be a reason you have brought up what you have kept hidden until now. Does it concern the people gathered here?”

“Yes.”

Seolhwa turned to him and answered.

“Because there is always the possibility of failure. If every part of the plan collapses and we must return to the past...”

Or if an unavoidable circumstance forced her to activate the Great Law.

“I want to return together with the people gathered here.”

****

“To be honest, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t shocked.”

Seop Mugwang, who had been sprawled across the veranda, suddenly sat up.

Seolhwa, swinging her sword, paused to wipe her sweat and looked back at him.

“No wonder you weren’t like a child even when you were a kid.”

After saying that, Seop Mugwang fell into thought, scratched his cheek, and muttered, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» “Or maybe not?”

“Well, clumsiness has nothing to do with age. You were clumsy, but you had the demeanor of a little old man. I just never imagined there was an actual old person inside that body.”

Seolhwa frowned faintly.

“I was not old. I died at about thirty.”

“Was that so? Then you suffered plenty at a young age too. Not that I feel tricked. I already got tricked by you once when you were little.”

Seop Mugwang chuckled, crossed his legs, and sat comfortably.

Seolhwa made an awkward face.

She knew exactly what he meant.

When she had first returned to Namgoong Clan and needed to deal with Pawol, she had fed Seop Mugwang a sleeping poison.

“I... I’m sorry. I didn’t know any other way back then...”

“Puhahaha!”

Seop Mugwang roared with laughter at her embarrassed expression.

As a child she had stared blankly even when he openly showed he was upset.

But now she grew flustered, showed her emotions, felt guilty.

Seop Mugwang laughed so hard that tears formed, and he wiped them away as he spoke.

“In any case, back then you were just a kid to me. No matter what was inside, I never thought you used me.”

If anything, he had gained far more from her.

The child who became his disciple and learned his martial arts had been earnest—at least in his eyes—and he never once thought that sincerity was fake.

In fact—

He found her... pitiful.

What sort of life had she lived in her previous life?

To be overjoyed by a tanghulu, to stake everything on a small gesture of kindness.

Those were not the actions of someone who used others.

They were the actions of someone who could be used by others.

Like a child who had never known affection, finally feeling warmth for the first time, clinging desperately so it would not be taken away.

And the truth was likely not far from that.

Had they not all heard?

What she had endured in her previous life.

An innocent child raised as an assassin, then manipulated into killing her own family.

“...Bastard...”

Veins bulged on the back of Seop Mugwang’s hand where it rested on the veranda.

He forced down the boiling anger and looked at his disciple, who tilted her head with innocent confusion.