Night had fallen.
At the Blood Spirit Hall, Unhwi’s residence.
A knock sounded at the door.
Knock. Knock.
It was an extremely cautious knock, and Unhwi personally opened the door.
An old man stood outside.
Early sixties.
Thin frame. Gentle features.
But his eyes were sharp.
The moment Unhwi saw him, his gaze flickered.
Because he knew exactly who he was.
The old man offered a fist salute.
“It is my first time meeting you. I am Noe Mugyeong, First Elder of the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment. I pay my respects to the Blood Heaven Arbiter.”
As mentioned before, the Blood Heaven Sect has five great branches.
The Thunder Demon Cult was one of those five great branches, and within it, the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment was its most elite organization.
At present, a major problem existed within the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment. The Great Elder and the Second Elder, both of whom also served as regiment commanders, had formed rival factions and were locked in conflict.
Among them, only two individuals remained neutral: Jeong Docheon, the cult leader of the Thunder Demon Cult, and the First Elder, one of its Eight Elders.
Unhwi knew Noe Mugyeong well.
He was an exceptionally principled man.
Call it conviction.
Call it integrity.
Any description would fit.
He was a man who devoted everything solely to the prosperity and stability of the Thunder Demon Cult.
Which made this unexpected.
At a time like this.
And today of all days.
He had suddenly come here?
Unhwi’s eyes sharpened slightly.
“Please come in.”
“Thank you.”
Noe Mugyeong stepped inside.
The door closed.
Unhwi gestured toward a chair.
“Have a seat.”
“Yes.”
Noe Mugyeong sat down.
His expression was tense.
Unhwi asked,
“What brings you here?”
“...There is something I must tell you.”
Noe Mugyeong pulled out a stack of documents from inside his robes.
It was extremely thick.
Handing it to Unhwi, he said,
“Evidence.”
“...Evidence?”
“Yes. Evidence concerning corruption within the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment.”
Without a word, Unhwi accepted the documents and opened them.
Then he began reading slowly.
His expression gradually hardened.
Some of the material Chief Seong had already uncovered was there.
The power struggle between the Great Elder faction and the Second Elder faction.
Embezzlement.
Private killings.
But there was new information as well.
And this was truly important.
Blood Stones.
Great Elder Cheol Jinseok had been diverting Blood Stones from Peach Blossom Garden.
For five years.
Five hundred of them.
The buyers, amounts, and dates were all recorded in detail.
There was even a witness list.
Unhwi lowered the documents.
His gaze settled on Noe Mugyeong.
“How did you obtain all of this?”
“I gathered it. Over a very long time.”
Noe Mugyeong’s voice lowered.
“Both the Great Elder and the Second Elder had many problems.”
“...”
“But there was nothing I could do.”
He clenched his fist.
“The First Elder is little more than a figurehead. I have no authority to restrain those who have already formed factions.”
“...”
“So I gathered evidence instead. Believing that someday an opportunity would come.”
Unhwi nodded.
“You decided that day is today.”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
At Unhwi’s question, Noe Mugyeong’s eyes gleamed.
Looking directly at him, he slowly opened his mouth.
“I heard what you said in the grand hall, Blood Heaven Arbiter.”
“...”
“It left a deep impression on me. And while standing there, I became convinced.”
“Convinced.”
“Yes. Above all, the very first organization you singled out was the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment. From my perspective, I could not help seeing that as an opportunity.”
“And so you came to me.”
“Yes. Please set the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment right.”
Unhwi looked over the documents again.
They had been meticulously organized.
Even more detailed than Chief Seong’s investigation.
“First Elder.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you remain neutral?”
Noe Mugyeong fell silent for a moment.
Eventually, he answered in a heavy voice.
“...Because I believed in the Blood Heaven Sect.”
“The Blood Heaven Sect?”
“Yes. I believed that one day the sect itself would set things right.”
“...”
“So I gathered evidence and remained neutral.”
“But the Blood Heaven Sect never acted.”
“...Yes. Though you know this better than I do, the cult leader does not involve himself in petty factional struggles like these.”
Unhwi silently watched him.
“He is the kind of person who believes that if someone wishes to solve a problem, then the one who recognized it and brought it forward should be the one to resolve it. I followed that principle faithfully. But this time, I thought things might be different.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The Thunder Demon Cult occupies one of the five great branches, and more importantly, as you know very well... it possesses that, does it not?”
The corner of Unhwi’s mouth twitched.
“You mean the Blood Stones.”
“...Yes. That is why I believe our importance far exceeds that of the other branches. If internal factionalism continues to grow, the Thunder Demon Cult itself will be shaken. I thought the Blood Heaven Sect would intervene because of that, but...”
“There were no exceptions.”
“Yes. The Blood Heaven Sect wished for us to resolve it ourselves.”
“And so you chose to act. Let me ask you something.”
“I will answer whatever you wish.”
“Are you truly certain this is the right moment?”
“Yes.”
A slow smile spread across Unhwi’s face.
Noe Mugyeong.
An interesting man.
Just as he had been before.
And Unhwi had learned something he had never known.
Beyond interesting, the man was actually quite amusing.
“I will make good use of these materials.”
Noe Mugyeong lowered his head.
“Thank you. And...”
“And?”
“Please make the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment into a true organization of the Blood Heaven Sect.”
“I will.”
“...Thank you.”
Noe Mugyeong rose to his feet.
He offered a fist salute.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
“Travel safely.”
“Yes.”
After watching him leave, Unhwi lowered his gaze to the documents again.
Everything else aside, the theft of Blood Stones was an enormous problem.
What had ultimately driven the Unhwi of his previous life to leave the Blood Heaven Sect?
The answer could be found in the clues Yeongunseong had given him on Snow Mountain.
The Thunder Demon Cult.
That had been the largest factor.
Especially the Blood Stones.
There existed an unknown organization called Heaven Beyond Heaven, and he had gravely provoked it.
Whether the Heavenly Wayfarer had protected him or not, he did not know.
All he knew was that both inside and outside the sect, his position had been shaken severely, and more and more voices had questioned his decision to annihilate the Thunder Demon Cult.
Unhwi knew the truth.
In the end, everything had been because of the Blood Stones.
In his previous life, he had burned Peach Blossom Garden.
And he had destroyed every Blood Stone there.
Tens of thousands.
Perhaps hundreds of thousands.
He had shattered them all in a single stroke.
Before that, he had caused countless incidents, yet none had become truly serious. The Heavenly Wayfarer had never moved openly, and Unhwi had overcome every obstacle through his own strength.
But the moment every Blood Stone was burned—
Heaven Beyond Heaven intervened.
That was when everything began to go wrong.
Yu Cheong left the main headquarters and rebuilt the Thousand-Year Demonic Cult.
Unhwi drank the poisoned liquor given to him by the Heavenly Wayfarer.
Then he fought the master of Heaven Gate, the Undying Maitreya, and countless masters of the pinnacle connected to Heaven Beyond Heaven.
Whether those events were about to repeat themselves, he could not say.
But one thing was certain.
Why had First Elder Noe Mugyeong chosen to move now?
Was it really because he had been impressed by Unhwi’s speech in the grand hall?
That was not enough.
No.
That was not the reason.
Someone was behind this.
A single name crossed his mind.
Yu Cheong.
It could only be him.
Unhwi had made the first move.
Now Yu Cheong was returning the greeting.
“Hm...”
The situation was somewhat confusing.
Was Noe Mugyeong truly one of Yu Cheong’s people?
Or was he merely a Go stone being moved across a board Yu Cheong intended to set up?
In his previous life, Noe Mugyeong had been a man of unwavering integrity.
Had all of that been an act?
For a long time, Unhwi sat in silence, lightly tapping the documents on the table.
Then he chuckled.
Only now did it finally feel as though he had truly entered the main headquarters.
***
The territory administered by the Thunder Demon Cult was a region called Simryeong County, located on the eastern edge of the One-Origin Plateau.
The plateau itself was so vast that despite being designated a county, the area was effectively a city.
And it was where the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment, the Thunder Demon Cult’s elite force, was stationed.
Calling it Blood Heaven Sect territory was almost misleading.
It was, for all practical purposes, the Thunder Demon Cult’s land.
Unhwi arrived there two days after leaving the main headquarters.
At the entrance stood martial artists wearing the characters 雷林—Thunder Forest—embroidered across their chests.
Members of the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment.
The moment they saw him, they hurriedly offered fist salutes.
“We pay our respects to the Blood Heaven Arbiter!”
Jeong Docheon had clearly arrived ahead of him and prepared the way.
Nodding once, Unhwi entered with his companions.
The streets were crowded.
People moved about.
Merchants sold their wares.
Martial artists patrolled the roads.
On the surface, it looked peaceful.
But Unhwi could see it.
The tension.
The patrolling martial artists wore different markings.
Some wore red bands.
Others wore black bands.
The Great Elder faction.
The Second Elder faction.
Each watched the other carefully.
Unhwi headed directly for the Thunder Forest Blood Regiment headquarters.
A massive building.
Black roof tiles.
Red pillars.
The symbols of the Blood Heaven Sect and the Thunder Demon Cult intertwined together.
He pushed open the doors.
Inside, Jeong Docheon was pacing back and forth while nervously biting his nails.
The moment he spotted Unhwi, he hurried over and bowed.
“Ah... You have arrived!”
Unhwi looked at him for a moment before casually asking,
“I heard you got here yesterday.”
“That is correct!”
“Did you finish all the petty tricks you could manage in a single day?”
Jeong Docheon blinked before frantically shaking his head.
“W-What are you saying? How could I possibly resort to petty tricks, Blood Heaven Arbiter?!”
His face turned pale as he shouted again.
“I truly did nothing. I merely...”
“Merely?”
“I informed everyone that the Blood Heaven Arbiter would be visiting, that they should not appear disorganized, that they should present themselves properly and pay their respects...”
“Jeong Docheon.”
“...Yes!”
“Have you met privately with the Vice Leader?”
Jeong Docheon swallowed hard and answered immediately.
“...Once before I met you at the main headquarters. And...”
“And?”
“Once afterward as well. Briefly.”
“What did you discuss?”
“...”
“Is it difficult to answer?”
Jeong Docheon rubbed his face.
This lunatic.
This damned parasite.
Every curse he knew erupted inside his head.
“It is not a good habit to say things in your mind that you cannot say aloud.”
Jeong Docheon nearly jumped.
This bastard was like a ghost.
“Th-The thing is... I can tell you, but if I do, it will affect the Vice Leader’s dignity as well, and... Blood Heaven Arbiter, you understand my position...”
Unhwi watched him quietly before letting out a short laugh.
From that attitude alone, he could roughly guess what had been discussed.
It was obvious.
Yu Cheong had asked what kind of conversation had taken place between Jeong Docheon and Unhwi.
And Jeong Docheon had answered honestly.
At the end of the day, Yu Cheong was still closer to him than Unhwi was.
Yu Cheong was the leash he held.
After hearing everything, Yu Cheong had likely given only one instruction.
Follow the Blood Heaven Arbiter’s orders.
Given Yu Cheong’s personality, he would view Unhwi’s appointment not through the lens of Unhwi’s own character, but as a move placed on the board by the Heavenly Wayfarer.
No matter what happened next, Yu Cheong would probably watch quietly for the time being.
But he would still move in secret.
That was why, even in the previous life, Unhwi had never discovered him.
Cautious opponents were troublesome for exactly that reason.
But the difference between not knowing and knowing was enormous.
A card played with the expectation that it would be discovered.
A card played with the certainty that it would remain hidden.
One had to distinguish carefully between the two.
Just as in Noe Mugyeong’s case.
“Jeong Docheon.”
“...Yes!”
“Let us get straight to the point.”
Jeong Docheon raised his head.
“Summon the leaders of the Great Elder faction and the Second Elder faction.”
Jeong Docheon swallowed hard and nodded frantically.
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