An old man with graying hair was seated in front of a small table.

"Is it you? The guy stirring up trouble in the martial world lately?"

"I didn’t intend to, but that’s how it turned out."

With those words, I offered a respectful clasped-fist salute.

"It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Seol Unwi. It’s a privilege to be in the presence of Senior No Cheonmyeong, known as He Who Stood Against Heaven (Paetcheonilju)."

"Heh heh... well now. How very polite. Yeah, I’m that Paetcheonilju. A washed-up has-been among has-beens."

He wore a self-deprecating smile—but I cut straight to the point.

"As a lowly junior, I have a question for you. May I ask it, Senior?"

"Go ahead."

"Are you a man who understands gratitude?"

At that, No Cheonmyeong’s brows scrunched tightly. His expression turned baffled.

"Hey, Paewoon."

"Yes, Master."

"What the hell do you think this brat is trying to pull?"

"...I don’t know."

No Cheonmyeong didn’t take his eyes off me as he spoke again.

"This guy—you said earlier, he’s that one, right?"

"Yes."

"What’d you call him again?"

"...A once-in-a-millennium talent."

"Right. So this once-in-a-millennium genius is now asking me whether I understand gratitude. That’s something even I couldn’t predict, which means he really is beyond comprehension. So what the hell does it mean?"

"......"

"Not answering?"

"How can I answer something I don’t know, Master?"

I quietly observed their exchange, then spoke up.

"You don’t need to overthink it. It’s exactly what it sounds like. I’m simply asking—are you someone who knows how to repay a debt of gratitude?"

"Tch. Yeah, I know it. I know it, and I know how to repay it too."

"To repay it, huh..."

"What? You don’t believe me? I practically throw Shinsam Flowers around like candy."

"It’s not that. I heard what I needed to hear. But I’m still not convinced."

"You damn brat—this genius of the millennium, or whatever—just spit it out already. I don’t have time to be playing games here."

He did look the part.

"It’s simple. I’ll help you decode the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula (Cheonin Hwasingyeol) you’ve been struggling with."

It happened in a flash.

No Cheonmyeong said nothing—but suddenly, a blade was at my neck.

It was Paewoon, his disciple.

Just a moment ago, he’d been beside No Cheonmyeong. I didn’t even see him move.

But that’s as far as he got.

Paewoon’s gaze dropped.

A sword was pressed against his neck.

It was Chief Seong’s blade.

"If you so much as tense a single muscle in your arm, you die instantly."

Chief Seong’s voice was ice-cold—and his gaze was lethal.

"Chief Seong."

"Yes, Young Lord. Don’t worry. The moment he puts any force into that grip, I’ll slice through his neck before a scratch touches—"

"Lower your sword."

"—your neck... Pardon?"

"I said, lower it."

Then I turned to look at No Cheonmyeong.

No Cheonmyeong had no interest in this commotion.

Why did his disciple draw a blade on my neck?

Why were his eyes trembling like that?

And why were No Cheonmyeong’s eyes so still, so calm?

There was only one person here who could explain all of that—me.

No Cheonmyeong asked,

"What are you?"

"Seol Unwi. Of Everlasting Snow Palace. Holder of the title Hyunseolrin among the Frozen Extremes—"

"Not that crap. I’m asking how you know about the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula. No one knows about it but me and my disciple. You ever seen me before?"

"No, I haven’t."

"Neither have I. So how do you know about it?"

I smiled and answered easily.

"It was your disciple, the one holding a sword to my neck, who told me."

No Cheonmyeong let out a dry chuckle. Paewoon’s face went pale.

"Y-you’re lying. I never said any such—"

"A joke."

"...What?"

"You looked way too tense. I was just teasing you a bit."

He tossed the words out casually as he looked at Paewoon, who blinked dumbly.

"That’s enough. Sheathe it. You’re not going to strike anyway."

Paewoon, trembling, slowly lowered his sword and looked at No Cheonmyeong.

"Master, it wasn’t me."

"I know. It wasn’t."

As Paewoon sighed in relief, I turned back.

"Senior No."

"Enough with the formalities, brat. Stop calling me that. From here on, I’m the one asking questions."

I nodded.

"I’ll listen carefully."

No Cheonmyeong studied my face closely, stroking his beard.

"How do you know?"

"I can’t tell you that."

"...If you don’t, I’ll kill you right—"

"The most important thing here is your fifty-year obsession, isn’t it?"

Though I’d interrupted him, No Cheonmyeong didn’t seem offended.

His expression was just... extremely complicated.

"How I know the name of the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula, whether I spied on it—none of that matters. What matters is that I can help decode it. Something you haven’t been able to crack for fifty years."

"......"

"Can I safely assume that you’re a man who understands what it means to be repaid?"

"You keep going on about gratitude. What, you want something from me?"

"Not nothing."

No Cheonmyeong’s smile turned cold.

"Of course you do. Fine. Whatever it is—if you help resolve my fifty-year obsession, I’ll swear here and now, on the name No Cheonmyeong, that I’ll consider you my benefactor for the rest of my life. Whatever you ask of me—if it’s within my power, I’ll give it, even if it costs my life. Good enough?"

"Yes. That’s enough."

I silently stepped forward. The moment Paewoon moved again, I calmly reached out.

Naturally—effortlessly—his neck landed in the palm of my hand.

No Cheonmyeong’s eyes glinted.

Paewoon panicked.

"I let it go once because of the respect you show your master."

I paused, locking eyes with him.

"There won’t be a second time."

Then I let go and walked forward again.

Paewoon and No Cheonmyeong.

I’d only heard of their names as stories.

In my past life, No Cheonmyeong died exactly eight years from now.

There was one disciple who stayed by his side until the very end.

When No Cheonmyeong died, that disciple took his own life.

Said he had no reason to live anymore.

His name... was Paewoon.

Their story became a legend, sung as song and tale across the world. Any time the subject of stagnant martial artists arose, their tale was always mentioned as a prime example.

And with good reason.

Fifty years.

Even twenty or thirty is enough to become famous. But fifty?

To find a similar example, you’d have to dig into the ancient records of the Pre-Primordial era, lost in the chaos of a millennium ago.

Because it wasn’t just that he stagnated.

He never stopped training. Not once.

Fifty years—day after day, without rest—poured into trying to decode the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula.

No one else in the world had ever done that.

I spoke quietly.

"I’d like to take a look at the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula first."

"...And what exactly do you think you’ll see?"

"Just let me see it first, Senior."

No Cheonmyeong hesitated for a moment—then reached into his robes and handed me a sheet of paper.

I read it immediately.

混元歸一體, 天地爲虛空.

The chaos returns to one body; heaven and earth become emptiness.

無形生有象, 有象復歸無.

Form arises from the formless, and form returns to the void.

心印氣氣住, 氣化心心通.

The heart perceives the qi and the qi settles; the ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) qi becomes the heart and the heart flows.

窮極——

Ultimately—

The first parts of the incantation were intact, but the rest was cut off.

Only three full lines?

No.

Absolutely not.

Judging by the size of the tear, there were at least fifteen more characters.

I read through the incantation again.

There was a strange familiarity.

In my past life, after leaving the Snow Palace, I entered a hidden realm.

There, I acquired a cultivation method.

Taecho Seoncheon Simbeop — The Primordial Pre-Heaven Method.

No name, no author, no lineage—but I instantly knew it was no ordinary technique.

I trained in it like a madman, and later combined it with the Blood Demon Thousand Hands Method I obtained from the Demonic Blood Sect.

The result is the technique I still use now: the Taeheseonhyeol Simbeop.

Using it, I refine and wield Hollow Manifested Qi.

Why all this backstory?

Because the incantation from the Taecho Seoncheon Simbeop is eerily similar to this Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula.

太初混沌前, 先天無形時.

Before the primordial chaos, in the time of pre-heaven’s formlessness.

一點靈氣動, 萬象始生起.

A single point of spiritual qi stirs, and the myriad forms are born.

有無交換處, 眞假何在則.

At the meeting point of being and non-being—where does truth end and illusion begin?

That’s part of the incantation from the Taecho Seoncheon Simbeop.

It definitely resembles the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula.

“Do you see anything?”

I turned my head.

No Cheonmyeong didn’t look pleased. He looked angry—and understandably so.

Though I hadn’t said it out loud, in my past life I had decoded the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula.

Whether it was correct, I wasn’t sure.

But it had been completed with the enlightenment of someone who had reached the pinnacle of martial insight.

Now that I was holding a relatively intact version of the formula—I was certain.

I hadn’t been wrong.

"Brat."

"Yes, Senior."

"I get what you’re thinking. And just because people praise you as some prodigy doesn’t mean you can spout nonsense."

"Is that so?"

"I won’t ask how you know about the Heaven-Man Incarnation Formula. But you owe me an apology."

"Why would I apologize?"

"My fifty-year obsession—that’s a deep wound. I was going to let it go because of your guts and nerve, but if you keep running your mouth like this, I’ll break your arms and legs—"

"You should be thanking me instead."