In the Blood Heaven Sect’s cult leader’s palace, Unhwi sat before the Heavenly Wayfarer.
It was after he had finished reporting on the rumors circulating through the martial world.
The Heavenly Wayfarer, who had been looking at the Go board placed before them, slowly picked up a black stone.
“The rumors are amusing.”
Tap.
He placed the stone on the center point.
“You call them amusing?”
Unhwi picked up a white stone.
“They are heavily exaggerated.”
Tap.
He placed it on a star point.
The Heavenly Wayfarer gazed at it for a moment, then quietly continued speaking.
“Exaggeration is always present. And even exaggeration has a direction.”
Tap.
“What direction is that?”
“The direction in which water flows.”
Unhwi looked at the Go board for a moment.
Two of the Heavenly Wayfarer’s black stones.
One of his own white stones.
Tap.
As Unhwi placed his stone, he asked,
“Where do you think the water is flowing?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer gave a faint laugh.
“It will flow where it wishes to flow.”
“But if someone builds a dam?”
“The water will stagnate. Since poison has gathered there.”
Tap.
“Stagnant water.”
“Rots.”
Unhwi nodded.
“Then it would be best not to build a dam.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer shook his head and said,
“Not building one and tearing one down are different things.”
It was a meaningful statement.
“That is difficult.”
“Do not think of it as difficult. Is tearing one down not the same as building a dam?”
Unhwi thought for a moment.
Tap.
“Then what do you think should be done?”
“Become water.”
“Water, you say?”
“Water neither tears down dams nor builds them. It simply flows.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer took a sip of tea.
“And as it flows, a path appears.”
Unhwi looked at the Go board.
Over ten moves had already passed.
A complicated position was unfolding.
“Elder Cheon.”
“Mm.”
“What kinds of martial arts exist in the Blood Heaven Sect?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer tilted his head with a subtle smile.
“Have you suddenly grown curious about martial arts?”
“To be precise, there is one martial art I am curious about.”
“One martial art...... There are many peerless arts. Shall I hear what has caught our Blood Heaven Arbiter’s eye?”
Unhwi’s answer came without hesitation.
No, he looked as though he had come to this very place from the beginning in order to give that answer.
“Blood Realm Dominion.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer’s hand paused for a moment.
It was a minute change, but Unhwi did not miss it.
“Blood Realm Dominion.......”
The Heavenly Wayfarer murmured.
“It is famous.”
“Yes. It is a martial art mentioned together with Elder Cheon whenever you are spoken of.”
“Heh heh.......”
The Heavenly Wayfarer laughed softly.
“That sounds like praise.”
“I would not dare evaluate Elder Cheon, but if I may speak despite my insolence, I can say that it is at least very close to praise.”
Tap.
As he placed a stone, the Heavenly Wayfarer opened his mouth.
“Blood Realm Dominion is a martial art of the eyes.”
“A martial art of the eyes, you say?”
“It changes the eyes through blood energy. To be precise, it changes the way one sees.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer explained.
“If you see the world differently, the world changes.”
Unhwi nodded and asked,
“Has the world changed? Or have the eyes that look upon it changed?”
“Both.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled meaningfully.
“You have already learned it, have you not? ‘From someone other than me.’”
Unhwi smiled as well.
“I learned it, and ‘developed’ it in another way.”
The corner of the Heavenly Wayfarer’s mouth twitched.
“Developed, you say?”
“Was it not a martial art you had all but let go of?”
“Heh heh.......”
“I picked up what you had discarded and made it anew. Then could that not be considered development?”
“Heh heh...... It is difficult to beat you with words. Yes, you are right.”
Having said that, the Heavenly Wayfarer’s eyes gleamed.
He was curious.
“Then what of the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art?”
Even without deliberately mentioning that he had learned it, there were already more things they knew than things they did not.
Both men.
Unhwi said,
“To borrow Elder Cheon’s words, if Blood Realm Dominion was a martial art of the eyes, then I think the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art may be called a martial art of the body.”
“A martial art of the body......? I would like to hear a little more.”
“It is a martial art of the body that opens five gates.”
“Heh heh.”
“Blood Gate Heavenly Energy, Blood Body Imperial Ring, Blood Wind Flying Emperor, Blood Bullet Diamond, Blood Spirit Profound Soul.”
As he watched Unhwi name them one by one, the Heavenly Wayfarer asked,
“How far can you open them?”
Unhwi looked at the Go board.
There was no need to hold back. It was better to follow along in conversation with the Heavenly Wayfarer. If he did, he would reach the destination.
“I have opened up to the fifth before, and this time I opened up to the third.”
“What about the fourth?”
“There was no reason to open it, and I did not want to open it either.”
“Why?”
“I do not know.”
“You do not know?”
The Heavenly Wayfarer gave a faint laugh.
“Do you truly not know?”
Unhwi looked at the Heavenly Wayfarer.
This man’s eyes were always clear.
So clear that one could not tell what he knew.
“From the fourth gate onward, I lose control of my body.”
“Mm.”
“No matter how tightly I hold on to my mind, the martial art leads the body. I do not particularly like that experience.”
“The three people you brought.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled.
“Even though the martial arts of the Heavenly Sun Sword Sect they learned are leading them?”
“I told you, did I not? I do not like it.”
“Mm.”
“I am not saying that it is wrong. A martial art that leads oneself without one even realizing it is certainly a superior martial art, but I think that since I cannot control that martial art, I am being dragged along by it.”
“You dislike being controlled.”
“Yes.”
“Then how valuable do you think the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art is?”
“The highest. Beyond that, even.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer laughed softly, as if he did not find that answer displeasing.
Because Unhwi’s words ultimately meant that the body art called the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art was so outstanding it could lead him on its own.
“You give praise in a strange way.”
“I only stated the truth.”
After quietly looking at Unhwi, the Heavenly Wayfarer tossed out a remark.
“If you open too many gates, you cannot come out.”
“By cannot come out, you mean.......”
“I mean you die.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer spoke calmly.
“You said the martial art leads you. Yes, the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art will lead you. Down the path of a blood-mad killer. But the fourth gate will not be your obstacle.”
“Is that so?”
“When one looks at the body, one sees the vessel. When one looks at the vessel, one sees the amount of water it can contain.”
“.......”
“You can perfectly control the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art up to the fourth.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
“But not the fifth. The moment you enter that gate, you will be unable to come out.”
“Are you certain?”
In his previous life, Unhwi had opened the fifth gate before.
Even so, the Heavenly Wayfarer’s eyes were resolute.
“I am certain. Whether you opened the fourth gate before or opened the fifth gate before, this time will truly be different.”
“.......”
“Keep this in mind. If you do not realize ‘one thing,’ you will never come out of it. But if you do realize that one thing.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer smiled gently.
“You will be able to control even the fifth gate. And.”
Unhwi quietly looked at the Heavenly Wayfarer as he stopped speaking.
For a while, he silently stroked a Go stone.
He was clearly considering something.
And that consideration did not last long.
“Perhaps you may even see the ‘sixth gate.’”
Just as the Heavenly Wayfarer had fallen silent, Unhwi also remained silent.
To be precise, he stayed still.
Because he was thinking.
As far as Unhwi knew, the Blood Demon Heaven-Collapsing Art ended with the opening of all five gates.
That was called the Five Gates of Living Creation, but a sixth gate?
This was the first he had heard of it.
But it was likely not something said as a joke. The Heavenly Wayfarer of his previous life had also cherished Unhwi, but he had not told Unhwi many things, nor had he shown him many things.
Unhwi nodded.
“I understand.”
“......Mm. This suddenly makes me curious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you know of the existence of the sixth gate?”
Unhwi shook his head and said,
“I did not.”
“You did not?”
“Yes.”
“And yet you are calmer than I expected.”
“I believe there must be a reason.”
“A reason.......”
“I do not think you are someone who would do anything without reason.”
“May I take that to mean I do not act rashly?”
“It means more than that.”
“Mm.”
“I believe in you, Elder Cheon, and I trust you, but not to the point that I would offer up my life and everything else.”
“.......”
“That is why I do not swing between joy and sorrow over the questions you throw to me. I merely try to interpret them, and if I cannot interpret them.”
“You will come ask me.”
“Yes.”
“What if I do not give you the answer?”
“I believe you will.”
“Why?”
“If I have come seeking an answer, it means even I have struck a wall, and that I have done everything I can. Elder Cheon likes those who do their utmost. Am I wrong?”
“Heh heh...... You are right. I do.”
“Then there is no need for me to say more. You already know the answer.”
“Then now it is my turn to ask.”
Unhwi raised his head.
“Heavenly Snow Force. You use a martial art of the eyes as a martial art of snow.”
“......Yes.”
“You developed it well. But tell me. Do you truly think that is development?”
The Blood Heaven Sect’s Blood Realm Dominion was a martial art that seized control of the surroundings.
But the Heavenly Snow Force that Unhwi had developed ruled the surroundings.
“Between seizing control and ruling, I think ruling is the more developed side.”
“How are they different?”
“Seizing control is temporary, but ruling is permanent.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer clapped his hands.
“Correct!”
“.......”
“Seizing control is done by force, while ruling is done by law.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer explained.
“Blood energy is force, but ice energy is law. The law of ice.”
Unhwi held his breath and listened.
“It is not right to interfere with law, but it is right to transform it. Through transformation, one creates something new. In that sense, you are correct to say you developed it.”
Unhwi nodded.
“Thank you.”
“However.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer picked up a Go stone.
He did not turn it over. He simply held it.
“Ruling is not the end.”
“.......”
“You have climbed well. But you are trying to stop there.”
Unhwi’s eyes moved faintly.
Trying to stop.
It was not wrong.
After completing Heavenly Snow Force, Unhwi had focused on refining and mastering it. It was not that he had thought there was nothing higher. It was just that, at his current realm, he had considered that the limit.
The Heavenly Wayfarer said,
“What is ruling?”
“It is establishing law.”
“That is right. Establishing law, and trapping the opponent within it.”
“Yes.”
“Then I ask you.”
The Heavenly Wayfarer looked at Unhwi.
“Where is the one who established the law?”
Unhwi thought for a moment.
“Outside.”
“Yes. Outside. Outside the law.”
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