Episode 3

The dantian that was clearly felt has become separated, and the power that was once used to become one with heaven and earth and use the energy of the spirit has disappeared like dust, but it is still alive.

And then you can start again.

Before that, we need to understand the phenomenon.

Why did this happen?

Going back in time meant rejecting the flow of the universe, not to mention the weather, and I just couldn’t understand it.

The destiny of a reversed stream is not something that just anyone is born with, and in the first place, not everyone can reverse the stream.

Even the heavy ass guys up in the sky can’t do that.

I looked in the mirror and scrubbed my face.

The last moment.

I was caught in an avalanche.

The self-defense weapons and such that had wrapped around his body were meaningless, since he had already poured them all out.

I clearly felt the pain of my limbs being torn off, my neck being ripped apart, and my head being crushed.

No.

no.

I focused a little more.

There was something more.

The realm I am in is the realm of the one and only.

When you reach that level, you can no longer be called human.

You can survive even if your head is crushed.

No matter how weak and exhausted you are, there is a process that must be completed before you can completely kill the mighty One of Honwon Dokjon.

The first is to explode the head and then the heart.

The second is to explode the head after exploding the heart.

If not that, then it’s a case of your heart and head exploding at the same time.

Eventually, the two functions of the heart and the head must be completely lost.

Then you can kill and die.

Let’s think again.

I definitely felt my limbs being torn apart. I also felt my head being crushed.

then.

At that moment my heart… … .

Did it explode?

It exploded. But before it exploded, something struck my heart.

He rested his chin on his hand.

Then what is stuck?

It was an avalanche that occurred on the huge snow-capped mountain that I had split in half.

There really couldn’t have been only snow and dirt in there.

There might have been byproducts too.

Then, what if one of those byproducts was a natural treasure that could reverse the flow of water?

If that were the case, this phenomenon could be explained now.

I raised my head and looked out the window. An enormous snow-covered mountain of eternal size was clearly visible from the window, and it caught my eye.

That mountain, which has been there for over ten thousand years, must have had many secrets that had not been revealed.

A smile appears on the lips.

Every word he said before he died was sincere.

The life of an illegitimate child.

When I was young, I felt like that life was like that of a pig in chains, and that I had to escape from there to live like a human being.

All I could think about was that this place I was in was not where I belonged, and everything I did was a mess.

To be honest, it’s true that my life changed after I left Seolgung.

He entered a secret realm, learned martial arts there, became famous for his martial arts, and entered the Bonwonhyeolgyo sect, which was famous for being the most vicious in the Central Plains.

40 years.

This is the time when I lived as a blood person in the blood sect.

And just 19 years, that’s how long I lived in Seolgung.

I lived 40 years of my life like a madman without any regrets, but those 19 years of my life were full of so many regrets.

It was always holding my ankle, and it was even in my dreams when I was sleeping.

Since I was in a state where I could no longer return to the palace, I wished from afar that the palace would last forever.

But as time went by, Seolgung began to become a group of rascals that was more than just the original bloodline, and I had no choice but to make a decision.

I destroyed it with my own hands.

I don’t regret that either, but now I have a new opportunity.

I plan to live without regrets.

“I… Your Majesty?”

I turned my head. There was a middle-aged man with bushy hair.

There is only one general manager who is in charge of all the various tasks of this Seol-ap branch.

His name is Seong Yang-ho. He is usually called General Seong.

“All the members of the division have gathered.”

He nodded and walked away.

Then, I stopped next to him for a moment and touched his shoulder.

“Chief of the Castle.”

“Yes, Master… no, Your Majesty.”

“Is the work worth doing?”

“……Yes, of course.”

There was something a little strange about this situation that made me laugh without realizing it.

“I know that the job of the Sung General is difficult.”

“……That……is okay.”

“I’m doing a job that I’m not even supposed to do, so how can it be okay?”

For a moment, the General Seong’s eyes flashed.

But it was only for a moment. It was such a moment that I wouldn’t have noticed it if I hadn’t regressed.

“Chief of the Castle.”

“……Yes……Your Majesty.”

“There will be a lot of wind and rain today, so make sure to console your subordinates so they don’t waver.”

No answer came.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“……Are you……okay?”

“Do I look sick?”

“That’s not true, but I just think you’ve changed a lot.”

I ended up laughing.

“This is a world where change is necessary to survive, so shouldn’t it be natural for things to change?”

“…….”

“If you need anything, come to me anytime. And don’t forget to call me by the same title. Whether you’re my lord or my lord.”

“……I would like to call you Master.”

“Then let’s do that.”

It just came out.

* * *

A total of 18 people.

It was the number of people gathered at the Seol-ap Bunta training ground.

Regardless of gender or age, they all had the same question.

Seol Woon-hwi has changed.

He was an illegitimate child, a man who was always crouching, and today he killed a person.

That person is not an ordinary person, but a Yaun Sang, a subordinate of Seol-ap Bunta.

Who is Yaunsang?

He is a person who was officially dispatched to Seol-ap Bunta as a disciple of Ju-ryeong-geom-mun.

He was a promising disciple of Bingseolgeomheun (氷雪劍痕) Lee Ji-chang (利支彰), one of the four elders of the Juryung Sword Martial Arts Association, but now, only his head was visible.

Crazy guy.

This bastard is clearly crazy.

This is something that no one in their right mind could possibly do.

Then suddenly this question occurred to me.

The realm of the night watchman is Yanggwangihyeon, the beginning of the Yeonkisa-gyeong, so how could Seol Woon-hwi, who was only a Jucheon-gyeong, kill him?

And why have they called us here?

The other questions were secondary, but the last one was quickly resolved.

“Is everyone here?”

Everyone turned their heads at the still young voice.

I’m seventeen this year.

His face looked as young as his voice, but strangely, he seemed to have a ‘heaviness’ to him.

Seol Woon-hwi quietly looked around at the members of Seol-ap Bunta’s Bunta with eyes that had difficulty reading their emotions.

“You may be wondering why I have called you here.”

“…….”

“That dead Yaun Sang over there dared to overstep the authority of another lord by using his position as a subordinate lord. He extorted money and authority, and he did something worth dying for.”

Seol Woon-hwi paused for a moment, then put his hands behind his back and smiled.

“I am the leader of the Seol-ap Bunta. And you, without exception, are all members of the Seol-ap Bunta. From this moment on, there is one absolute rule established in the Seol-ap Bunta. You must absolutely obey the words of the Bunta leader.”

“…….”

“If you break this, you will be executed on the spot. Your head will be torn off, and your limbs will be ground up and fed to the dogs. If you do not wish to abide by this, raise your hand or turn away and leave the bunta now.”

Why did Seol Woon-hwi call them together?

First of all, there were two reasons.

The first reason is the one I mentioned earlier.

From this moment on, the pressure of the snow will change.

The position of Buntaju is by no means a low position.

Especially in the northern part where the Mannyeonseolgung Palace is located, the Buntaju is located at a very high position.

As everyone knows, there is no ‘nation’ in this northern part of the country.

Although Mannyeonseolgung was not a country, it took the form of a country.

Most of the surrounding lands, including Seolsan Mountain, were under the control of the Mannyeonseol Palace, and the position of Buntaju was a sort of military governor or county magistrate who ruled over the entire region.

Anyway, surprisingly, no one rejected Seol Woon-hwi’s words.

Everyone just stayed in their seats and looked at Seol Woon-hwi with stern eyes.

Seol Woon-hwi, who had been meeting their gazes, now brought up the second reason why he had called them here.

“The second guy from the left with long hair, come forward.”

The man, whose eyes seemed to be displeased by those words, took two steps forward.

“The bald guy on the far right, you come forward too.”

As Seol Woon-hwi said, the owner of the shiny hair on the far right walked forward.

Seol Woon-hwi looked at the two and asked.

“It seems like you have a complaint, so tell me.”

“……Your Majesty. I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t it.”

“Isn’t this it?”

“……Yes. Yaun Sang is a great disciple of Ju Ryeong Geum Moon. His teacher is a person with the nickname of Bing Seol Geom Heun, and is the strongest among the strong who have ascended to Sam Hwa Chwi Jeong.”

She looked at the man with strange eyes.

“The strongest of the strong… It’s not a phrase that’s used very often, but what’s your name?”

The man who had been looking at Seol Woon-hwi as if asking how he didn’t know the name of the branch office revealed his own name.

“This is Kang Sang.”

“Then what about you, the bald guy over there?”

“……This is Woo Sang-hyun.”

“I see. Since you’ve made your statement, Kang-sang, please finish speaking.”

“……The artist of the Ice and Snow Sword Traces will descend upon the Seol-ap Bunta.”

“so?”

“His wrath will not only fall on you, Lord, but on our fellow soldiers as well, and there is a high probability that we will all die.”

Besides that, Kang Sang’s story continued.

How angry would the Juryung Inspection, which ruled over the neighboring city of Yangryung, be, and how much the Juryung Inspection elders cherished Yaunsang? Even before Seol Woon-hwi came to Seol-ap, Yaunsang was already a partial lord here, and his influence was this and that.

Seol Woon-hwi listened to the story very quietly.

Soon, Kang Sang shut his mouth as if he had said everything he wanted to say.

“Are you done?”

“Yes. It’s finished.”

“I see. But as I kept listening, a question arose.”

“What is your question?”

“You belong to the Mannyeonseol Palace, so why do you represent the position of the Juryung Inspection?”

Kang Sang flinched.

“If someone called Bingseol or something comes here, this will be his grave.”

“……yes……?”

“If he brings people, they will die with him.”

Seol Woon-hwi walked towards Kang Sang’s nose.

“Where do you think this is?”

“……that…….”

“This is Seol-ap. The master of Seol-ap is me, standing before you.”

Seol Woon-hwi looked at Kang Sang with unwavering eyes.

“The meaning of being the owner is that one holds the life and death of all beings here in one’s hands. As I talk, my blurred memories are becoming clear again.”

“……What do you mean…… becomes clearer?”

Because it was such a memory from the past, I was a bit confused.

However, it is clear that the Yaun Sang has swallowed up the Cheongun Sang.

In Seol Woon-hwi’s past memories, that was definitely something that happened. And because of that, Yaun-sang began to exert enormous influence in Seol-ap, and Seol Woon-hwi gradually became a puppet.

Of course, there was no intervention from the Mannyeonseol Palace.

In the past, Seol Woon-hwi felt frustrated, thinking that Seol Gung didn’t even care because he was an illegitimate child, but thinking back on it later, it wasn’t like that.

The princess of Seolgung Palace kept giving opportunities.