One in Five Origins Unified, one in Three Flowers Gathering Purity, five in Five Dragon Blooming Star and Dual Light Manifestation respectively, and the rest were all in the Realm of Revolving Heavens.

From Seol Unwi’s body, the Hollow Profound Qi surged up.

Until now, he had circulated his internal energy with minimal movement for maximum efficiency—but today, he had no such intentions.

He could feel the air.

No, it went beyond feeling—he could see it. In Unwi’s eyes, the flow of energy drifting through the void appeared as fine threads.

He stopped breathing.

Blood from U Maenggyeok, which had soaked his sleeve, flowed down along the blade of his sword.

The instant that liquid touched the ground, the martial artists of Sacheon Alliance charged at him all at once.

Slowly, from Unwi’s lips, a sword chant flowed forth.

“The weak are but dust in the mud.”

As he raised his sword, the surrounding air quivered.

It was as if this single, small sword had become the axis of the world—the air around it began to breathe like a living thing.

“One thought of hegemony shatters my former self.”

At the end of the second verse, Hollow Profound Qi began to rise from the sword.

It rose like mist, wrapping around Unwi’s body and causing the blade to gleam.

In that brief moment, a martial artist in the Five Origins Unified realm—Yang Idong, Captain of Sacheon Alliance’s Iron Name Division’s Third Company—reached him first. As befitted his nickname, “Swift Sword,” his strike came fast, but Unwi did not move.

“The bloodstained road brims with slaughter.”

As the third verse was spoken, Unwi’s sword moved.

It was not a human motion. The sword merely appeared where it was supposed to be. The very nature of its presence had changed.

Ssshk—!

A blue line drew itself between Yang Idong’s upper and lower halves.

Before he could even register pain, a splitting sound echoed—and his body was severed. Blood gushed like a fountain, and even then, his eyes remained alive. He could feel the image of his own lower half falling to the ground in slow motion.

He couldn’t understand.

What... was this?

“With a single sword in hand, even Heaven and Earth tremble.”

The moment the fourth verse ended, Unwi swung his sword.

Its destructive power exploded. Hollow Profound Qi surged along the blade. It wasn’t mere energy. The red-and-blue swirling qi churned like a living beast.

Five streaks of sword energy burst outward like a declaration of judgment.

Though each took a different path, they all had the same goal:

Death.

The first streak pierced the throat of a martial artist in the Three Flowers Gathering Purity realm.

His head soared into the air, painting the sky with blood.

The second and third streaks simultaneously pierced two Five Dragon Blooming Star martial artists.

One had his heart skewered. The other, between the brows.

The one whose heart was pierced collapsed while staring at the hole in his chest. The one struck between the brows spun in place, blood pouring from his eyes.

Their blood drenched one another.

The fourth sword energy slashed through the waist of a Dual Light Manifestation martial artist, and the fifth pierced through two of them at once.

Pools of blood formed on the ground.

From the far corner, Cheonpung halted, having just split a Revolving Heavens martial artist’s head in two and crushed the spine of another. He muttered,

“...Whoa...”

Unwi walked forward.

But the sword chant had not yet ended.

“Repenting the foolishness of days gone by.”

A martial artist from Sacheon Alliance, who had tried to swing his sword at Unwi, froze like ice.

He was paralyzed by the overwhelming aura that Unwi exuded. His body refused to move.

“Abandoning the path of the weak.”

The hem of Unwi’s long robe fluttered.

Cutting through the wind, Unwi moved toward the martial artist who stood frozen in place.

The man belatedly swung his sword, but it was meaningless.

The Hollow Profound Qi condensed in Unwi’s blade became a streak of sword energy that sliced the man clean in half, sword and all. As he then swung toward the two men behind him, their waists were split apart with a wet cracking sound.

They fell without understanding what had just happened.

No—they died without knowing.

Unwi’s eyes gleamed.

Once cold and calculating, they now harbored a bloodlust fierce enough to drown all of Yangryeong in gore.

He kicked off the ground and pierced another man’s skull.

Even before the squelching sound rang out, he yanked the blade free and severed the head of the man beside him.

Then, stretching out his hand, he grabbed the face of another stunned martial artist. With a crushing sound, his head caved in.

Three corpses hit the ground nearly simultaneously.

It was red, it was brutal, and it was beautiful.

The sword chant did not stop.

“I have resolved to walk the path of hegemony.”

Squelch—!

Unwi’s sword stabbed through a man’s chest.

“Guh...! Hrk...”

As he pulled it free and swung, the man’s head soared into the sky with a slicing sound.

“This sword shall bear witness to me.”

At the final verse, a blinding light burst from Unwi’s sword, carrying with it a searing heat that seemed capable of burning everything to ash.

Unwi’s gaze locked on the last remaining martial artist.

It was Gwi Jinwon of the Iron Name Division’s Third Company—one of the Five Dragon Blooming Star martial artists. He charged with a do-or-die attack.

But Unwi’s sword swung just the same.

Gwi Jinwon’s blade was the first to be cut in half. Then the right arm holding it was split into five segments. Lastly, his neck and torso were divided into twenty pieces.

It was speed invisible to the naked eye.

Only the aftermath could be seen.

What had once been Gwi Jinwon fell behind Unwi in fragments.

Heaven-Rebelling Vast Azure Sword.

First Song: Blood Sword of Hegemony.

Unwi’s sword chant ended.

Only one man survived.

He was the one struck in the abdomen by a ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) shard of sword energy earlier. Now he was barely breathing, crawling along the ground.

Clutching at the organs spilling from his belly, he dragged himself forward—until he trembled and froze.

A foot was planted before him.

He looked up with difficulty—and saw Unwi.

Emotionless eyes.

Terror gripped him.

“P... please... spare me...”

Unwi wordlessly stomped on his head.

Crunch.

***

Silence fell.

Three division members who had reached for their swords, the blood-drenched Cheonpung...

And the dozens of onlookers as well.

None of them spoke a word.

As it should be.

Because he had not given permission.

He suppressed the bloodlust that enveloped his body, and settled the Hollow Profound Qi as well.

Had he used this sword chant back when he was in the Revolving Heavens or early Three Flowers Gathering Purity realm, he would have become a bloodthirsty ghost, swinging at everything in sight.

Now that he had reached the middle of Three Flowers Gathering Purity, he could barely restrain it.

“Ju Soa.”

“...Y-yes?”

“Hang these scum’s heads at the front gate.”

“...All of them?”

He said nothing—just looked at her.

Ju Soa flinched, swallowed hard, then replied,

“...Yes. I will do as you command.”

Wonyang stood and approached him.

“My lord... I’ll explain everything...”

He stared at her in silence. To be honest, there had to be a reason.

No matter how thoughtless one might be, no matter how broken their head was, no matter how utterly brain-dead—they wouldn’t allow an outside faction to act as king in their own territory like this.

There had to be a reason.

A valid reason.

An explainable reason.

But—

“I have no desire to hear it from you. So don’t speak.”

Tearing his gaze away from Wonyang, he looked at Han Murin.

Han Murin was sharp.

Sharp enough to know exactly what she had done wrong—and why he was angry.

There was only one thing she needed to say.

“...I’m sorry.”

An apology.

“To me?”

“...To both of you.”

“That’s some relief. At least you’re not so stupid as to be beyond saving.”

Of course, she owed him an apology—but more than that, she owed herself.

Han Murin, Wonyang, and Ju Soa... all three needed to apologize to themselves in this moment.

He turned his head.

“You go hang the heads too. And Cheonpung.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“You’re returning to division duty.”

“As you command.”

***

After returning to the branch division, Unwi headed straight for Commander Seong’s residence.

And the moment he faced Commander Seong—who was drenched in cold sweat, grinning awkwardly—

Unwi had to fight to suppress his emotions.

He let out a sigh.

“...What kind of mess is this.”

Commander Seong, bowing his head in shame, chuckled dryly at Unwi’s next words.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“...Do I look it?”

“Cold sweat, uncontrollable tremors, sluggish eye movements, and Qi control that seems clearly impaired... Yes. To my eyes, you look quite unwell.”

“...My body’s fine. It’s my heart that hurts.”

“Your heart, huh...”

Unwi silently took Commander Seong’s hand and looked at him.

How could he not understand his heart?

When the master of Yangryeong was away, the only one who could fill that role was Commander Seong.

An expert in the Realm of Ascension was never common in a rural region like Yangryeong.

Moreover, Unwi trusted Commander Seong.

If he had to name only three people in the world he truly trusted, without hesitation, they would be: Seol Jungcheon, Seong Yangho, and Seol Yeonhwa.

Commander Seong knew that—so it hurt. Because he hadn’t lived up to that trust.

“I could have asked the division members what happened—but I didn’t.”

“...”

“I thought I should hear it from your mouth. Can you tell me?”

“...Of course.”

With difficulty, Commander Seong began to explain what had happened.

There were three cities near Yangryeong:

Jeogan, Bongnae, and Saryang.

Bongnae was Martial Alliance territory. Jeogan was Sacheon Alliance’s. And Saryang was a contested region between the two.

Ten days ago, after Unwi killed two Sacheon Alliance martial artists, it wasn’t the main Sacheon Alliance that officially protested—but rather the sects of Jeogan.

To be exact, it was the One Gate, Three Clans, Two Manors of Jeogan under Sacheon Alliance.

There’s a crucial difference between the main Sacheon Alliance taking action and affiliated martial artists doing so. They must not be viewed as the same.

The Sacheon Alliance headquarters did send a protest letter, but it was only a formality. Even before it arrived, the martial artists of Jeogan’s One Gate, Three Clans, Two Manors had already entered Yangryeong.

Their number easily exceeded several hundred, including eight masters in Five Origins Unified, two in Harmonization, and one in the Realm of Ascension.

Commander Seong approached Lee Jagyeom, master of Hwayeong Sword Sect and de facto leader of the group, and said:

It doesn’t matter what you do—because Seol Unwi, the lord of Yangryeong, isn’t here. You should go back now.

Lee Jagyeom refused.

So Commander Seong proposed a wager.