Baek Yoon pushed off the ground with all his strength, glancing at his left arm.
"Damn it."
To protect both himself and Neungwol from that insane technique, he had no choice but to sacrifice an arm.
He had managed to dispel the black flames, but the damage was already done.
The arm that had once ruptured in red was now blackened with necrosis.
Despite reaching Blood Human Realm, his True Blood was useless—regenerating would take time.
"Baek Yoon."
"...What?"
"What the hell is he?"
At Neungwol’s vague question, Baek Yoon frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
"I’ve never heard of someone like him being in Ice Palace."
Neungwol was equally baffled.
A secret weapon hidden by Ice Palace? Impossible.
If that were the case, Baek Yoon would have known. There was no way a monster like that could have appeared in just three hundred years.
Maybe if he had talent on the level of Namgung Jincheon, but for someone like him to suddenly emerge the moment Baek Yoon left Ice Palace? That was hard to believe.
"And earlier... that was definitely demonic energy."
Iceblood Divine Art, Northern Darkness Divine Art, and demonic energy? None of it made sense.
"You sure you don’t know anything?"
"I don’t. Never heard of him before."
Baek Yoon gritted his teeth.
It stung his pride, but he had to admit the truth.
Seo-jun’s control over qi completely surpassed his own.
And his techniques...
Reversing the Blood Ice Orb and making it his own?
He had never even imagined such a thing was possible—
"Wait...?"
Reversing the Blood Ice Orb?
Baek Yoon’s expression stiffened.
It made sense that he could wield Iceblood Qi, but Blood Qi?
Could he really control that as well?
"Hold on."
Baek Yoon stopped in his tracks, his face twisting in uncertainty.
"Neungwol, was there anyone else from Ice Palace in Myeolshinhwe besides me?"
"Not that I know of. We barely know most of our own members as it is."
"That’s true, but..."
If Seo-jun wasn’t part of Myeolshinhwe, then none of this made sense.
What made Blood Arts unique was their universality.
Anyone born with blood could learn them, and they didn’t conflict with existing martial arts.
Unlike most techniques, which relied on meridians, Blood Arts were cultivated through blood vessels.
Baek Yoon himself had realized that mastering Iceblood Divine Art as a man was impossible, which was why he turned to Blood Arts to reach Blood Human Realm.
So then... could it be—?
"Baek Yoon."
"What?"
"I don’t think this is the time for that."
Neungwol’s expression soured as he scanned their surroundings.
The endless snowy plains stretched out before them.
Yet among the ice-covered landscape, strange frozen pillars stood like trees.
His gaze swept over them.
"This looks... like a place we’ve already passed."
"Stop talking nonsense."
Were they really saying that two Transcendent Realm warriors had gotten lost?
It sounded like a joke.
But Baek Yoon’s expression darkened. His eyes darted around rapidly, and sure enough—
"This is..."
It was definitely a place they had already passed before.
"Shit..."
An illusion? A formation?
Neungwol turned to him.
"Looks like we won’t be getting out of this unless we kill him."
"Think we can?"
"We’ll have to take some risks."
Baek Yoon and Neungwol exchanged glances.
How would they handle this?
On their side, they had two Transcendent Realm warriors.
Seo-jun was alone.
They had the numerical advantage—that was certain.
But the biggest problem was Baek Yoon himself.
His internal energy was useless against Seo-jun.
Usually, when one warrior’s qi surpassed another’s by a significant margin, the weaker qi became irrelevant in battle.
But...
"I’ll find a way to endure."
Baek Yoon’s eyes glowed blue.
Was Seo-jun stronger than him?
He could accept that.
But that didn’t mean he would submit.
"Just watch out for his flames. If they touch you in the middle of the fight, there’s no dealing with them."
"Yeah."
Neungwol smirked, gripping his spear tightly.
"While you hold him off, I’ll cut his throat."
It wasn’t impossible.
No matter how powerful Seo-jun was, Baek Yoon wasn’t weak.
If anyone could find a breakthrough, it was him.
A grin spread across Neungwol’s lips as Seo-jun’s figure came into view.
"He’s coming."
Baek Yoon and Neungwol took their stances.
Seo-jun approached them casually, as if he were simply taking a stroll.
"Finished your little strategy meeting?"
FWOOOOOSH—!!
As if on cue, the black flames surged, engulfing the surroundings.
The temperature plummeted, and a layer of frost settled onto Baek Yoon and Neungwol’s hair.
"There’s no way he can sustain a domain like that for long."
Not all domains were created equal.
A high-output domain like this would drain the user’s strength rapidly.
Baek Yoon studied Seo-jun with a calm, focused gaze, then wrapped his hands in Iceblood Divine Qi.
CRACKLE—!
Between his fingers, red ice flowed like liquid.
He poured everything into perfecting his control over Iceblood Qi.
"Throwing power together doesn’t make it stronger?"
Fine.
Then he would refine it until it was something Seo-jun couldn’t counter.
"Hmph...!"
Baek Yoon’s ten fingers snapped together.
Between his palms, a raging, red mass of frozen qi twisted violently—then exploded outward in multiple directions.
WHOOSH—!
The frozen tendrils extended like whips, hurtling toward Seo-jun.
But with a mere gesture, black flames rose up to meet them.
CRACK—!
Instantly, the tendrils froze solid.
It was unnatural—ice freezing even further?
A complete reversal of natural law.
FWOOOSH—!
Yet the black flames continued advancing, creeping toward Baek Yoon at an alarming speed.
"Tch."
Clicking his tongue, Baek Yoon scattered the frozen tendrils and pushed off the ground.
CRACK—!
In an instant, the distance between them vanished.
"If I can’t match him in qi, I’ll make up for it in hand-to-hand combat."
Of course—he couldn’t touch Seo-jun for long.
The moment he made contact, Northern Darkness Divine Art would begin stealing his internal energy.
Baek Yoon stepped onto thin air and thrust his right hand forward.
Pa-pa-pa—!
A dozen afterimages followed, sending a torrential wave of palm strikes toward Seo-jun.
Seo-jun extended his hand in response.
Fwoosh—!
With a light wave of his hand, Baek Yoon’s palm strikes scattered completely.
The energy dispersed into the air.
Thoom—!
Seo-jun pressed against the void, freezing the scattered energy and reshaping it into ice spikes that rained down like a barrage of spears.
"Hmph...!"
Crash—!
Baek Yoon deflected the frozen spikes with a sweep of his long sleeves as he advanced.
"When it comes to hand-to-hand combat..."
He would not lose.
He was certain of that.
The fact that a man had once held the position of Elder in Ice Palace was no mere coincidence.
Thud—!
Baek Yoon’s palm struck Seo-jun’s wrist, deflecting it.
His chest was open—a perfect opportunity.
He lunged in, thrusting his opposite hand forward.
Thud—!
His palm hit nothing but air.
Seo-jun had twisted his shoulder, dodging the strike, and was already reaching out.
Bent fingers.
Golden Palm Lock (Geumnasu).
"If he grabs me, it’s over!"
Baek Yoon immediately struck Seo-jun’s wrist, forcing it away.
At the same time, he stepped forward, pressing his foot down.
Even though Transcendent Realm warriors could treat air like solid ground, their balance still relied on their footing.
The moment Seo-jun’s center of gravity shifted—
Tuk—!
Baek Yoon kicked Seo-jun’s pivot foot, throwing his posture off-balance.
"I did it...!"
It may not have seemed like much, but this moment meant everything.
Not only had Baek Yoon proven that he could go toe-to-toe with Seo-jun, but he had also seized control of the battle’s flow.
No matter how overwhelming Seo-jun was, weaknesses always existed.
By reinforcing his own weak points and exploiting his superiority in close combat, victory was his.
"Ah...!"
That moment of realization sparked a flashing epiphany.
Baek Yoon shuddered in pure exhilaration.
He finally understood.
Ice Arts and Blood Arts—
They could be perfectly unified.
"I can see it."
A small crack in the giant wall that had blocked him before.
Baek Yoon glimpsed the world beyond it.
"I can win."
A radiant smile spread across his face as he stepped back.
"You finally did it."
Neungwol grinned, stepping forward.
As if switching places, he lunged ahead, unleashing his full strength.
Moonlight Radiance Realm (Wolgwang Huigye).
His domain, Moonlight-Dyed World, expanded.
Silver moonlight flooded the space, engulfing Seo-jun from all sides.
Each beam of light was like a spear strike.
If it could cut through mountains, it could split dozens.
If it could cleave the sea, it could divide the entire ocean.
Seo-jun, with his posture broken, wouldn’t be able to react in time.
Or so they thought.
"For a strategy, this is pretty sloppy."
Still off-balance, Seo-jun extended his hand.
A radiant glow enveloped his fingertips.
Starlight.
And within it—
Moonlight.
The moment Neungwol’s eyes widened in shock, Seo-jun swung his hand horizontally.
Screeeech—!!
The frozen moonlight swept away Neungwol’s attack.
Seo-jun had neutralized thousands of spear strikes with a single swing.
"No... wait."
"That was qi manipulation."
He had only moved his hand once, yet his afterimage traced an infinitely complex sequence of thousands of slashes.
This was qi mastery at its peak.
But even more than that—
Neungwol’s face twisted in horror.
"You... How the hell do you know Moonlight Divine Qi (Wolgwang Shingi)?"
Impossible.
Seo-jun had already demonstrated control over Iceblood Qi, Blood Qi, and Demonic Qi—
And now he had stolen Moonlight Divine Qi too?
At this point, he had no choice but to believe it.
Seo-jun could steal an opponent’s martial arts after just a few encounters.
"I happened to need another moon."
Seo-jun stepped onto the air as if walking on solid ground.
It was as if he were standing on the side of a building, yet gravity twisted unnaturally—his hair and clothes hung downward toward his feet.
He glanced at Baek Yoon and Neungwol, who had stepped back.
"Have you adjusted yet?"
"...What?"
"Then let’s move on to the next stage."
FWOOOOOOOSH—!!
The world flared with blinding light.
Baek Yoon instinctively looked up.
A white sky—
And within it, a sun and a moon.
The world began to rotate around Seo-jun.
Standing ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) in midair, Baek Yoon watched as the very axis of existence tilted.
Rumble—!
Thud—!
When the rotation stopped, Seo-jun stood on solid ground.
It was an act of absolute arrogance.
Rather than conforming to the world, he had forced the world to conform to him.
"What...?"
Baek Yoon’s lips trembled.
Seo-jun gazed indifferently at the world beneath his feet.
At the center of the reversed heavens, the sun and moon orbited a single point—him.
It was as if he were gazing down upon creation itself.
"The Namgung lineage shall become a mighty tree that pierces the sky."
A sudden proclamation.
Baek Yoon furrowed his brows.
"A single trunk shall bind the Namgung as one, forming a towering tree that reaches the heavens?"
He didn’t understand.
Then—
BOOOOOM—!!
An overwhelming presence crushed the space around them.
"Urgh...!"
The pressure was unfathomable.
Baek Yoon and Neungwol, previously standing in midair, were forced to land.
Above them, a shadowed figure, backlit by the sun and moon, gazed down at the world.
"After all, everything is but a branch from a single tree."
Seo-jun stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at Baek Yoon and Neungwol.
From within the backlight, only his crimson eyes gleamed menacingly.
The horns on his temples vanished in an instant—
And suddenly, his form appeared right in front of Baek Yoon.
"Huh...!?"
There was no time to react.
Baek Yoon’s eyes bulged—
Seo-jun grabbed his head with one hand.
"Stop hesitating and fight with everything you’ve got."
CRACK—!
With a sickening rip, Baek Yoon’s head and spine were torn clean from his body.
Seo-jun’s eyes met his—
"You wouldn’t want to waste your last opportunity, now would you?"