Saweol had lost her entire family.
It was a day shrouded in fog. Her household had gone up in flames overnight, reduced to ash, and the family she loved had all become wandering spirits.
A clan that once stood in brilliant glory had burned to the ground, and the land it occupied became cursed, scorned by pointing fingers.
The innocent girl who once chased butterflies, the child who smiled brightly while watching her older brother’s back—she died that day.
At the age of twelve.
An age when emotions were meant to blossom—Saweol instead began training to erase hers. She learned not to flinch even when someone died gruesomely before her eyes. She became someone who didn’t even blink when committing brutal acts herself.
She had honed her blade from the very bottom of hell.
So that one day, she could drive that blade into the back of the Sado Clan, the ones who had orchestrated it all.
She had planned to pour a drink at the clumsy grave she would one day dig herself, after it was all over.
Fortunately for her, Saweol had talent. She didn’t fully realize it, but she possessed a gift great enough to be compared, however faintly, to the overwhelming talent of the Heavenly Demon herself.
Her thirst for revenge never faded. It blazed on like the Eternal Flame symbolizing the Demonic Cult—only growing larger with time. Especially as she continued to play the dog of the Sado Clan, bearing witness to their crimes.
She believed her own clan had been used and discarded in the same way.
She hated them all. She wanted to wipe out every last one of them.
And standing before her now was the one she hated most.
Sado Gwang.
No guards. She could reach out and crush his throat right now.
But...
“I greet the Young Lord.”
Saweol knelt. She had no choice.
‘Damn it…’
Within her heart, the fragment of Loneliness still slept. While its host was Sado Hwan, Sado Gwang also had a separate vessel capable of controlling it.
‘He must be covered in defensive artifacts.’
Sado Gwang, who treated his own life as sacred, wouldn’t appear before her alone without protection. And her own room had a hidden formation she hadn’t even detected—there was no guarantee there weren’t more.
Defensive treasures, tools, and formations—Saweol wasn’t familiar enough with them. She couldn’t kill him in one blow.
And if she couldn’t do it in one blow—then she would die.
“I was looking for you, Young Lord.”
“I know. It must’ve caused quite a scandal. Other clans are probably eager to drag us down.”
Sado Gwang spoke as if he had already predicted everything.
No, it felt more like he already knew exactly what had happened outside.
“Let me ask you something.”
At his words, Saweol bowed her head.
“What are the odds you could kill Sado Hwan?”
***
Sleep is fair to all.
There’s a saying that no strongman can resist heavy eyelids—no matter how skilled or powerful, sleep is a must.
Not everyone can pull off Napoleon-style sleep schedules. That was Napoleon. And even then, he probably wasn’t very healthy. Four hours of sleep a day? Maybe once or twice, but every day? Impossible, in my opinion.
They say Transcendent Peak masters can function on just one or two hours a night, but that’s because they’re meditating half the time while channeling internal energy.
The point is—people need sleep.
“So please, just let me sleep. I went to the Disciplinary Quarters, met the Heavenly Demon, and fought—all in one day. I’m dead tired.”
[…You’re awake?]
“Hard not to be, with all that clinking.”
[I didn’t mean to wake you.]
“Right. You ‘didn’t mean to’ while rattling in and out of your scabbard like you had the runs.”
“Haah...”
I sat up in bed. As if waiting, Skybreaker Sword floated over and settled in front of me.
“What’s wrong? What’s bothering you?”
[It’s my brother.]
“Yeah. What about him?”
[Is he truly a bad person?]
“You saw it yourself. Didn’t he seem evil to you?”
[Then what defines a bad person?]
Skybreaker continued.
[In the martial world, anyone who carries a sword must accept that their life can be taken just as easily as they take others’. Isn’t that the rule?]
“Did the Clan Head kill sword-wielding warriors—or helpless civilians?”
[…That’s…]
“That doesn’t change just because he’s the clan head. And don’t tell me your ‘brother’ didn’t predict what would happen?”
Sado Gwang probably knew everything from the start—smirking from the shadows, saying, “As expected. Everyone but me is inferior.”
If a Murim therapist existed, they’d call him a classic narcissist.
A man who lived to indulge in his own brilliance—yet suffered for it in that fragile body.
“Anyway. I get that you’re confused, but let me sleep.”
[You’re too carefree. How can you sleep right now? I can’t sleep—I’m stuck here thinking nonstop.]
“If you don’t sleep, you’ll get sick. This isn’t even my body—it’s yours, right?”
[…]
That line always works best when "negotiating" with Skybreaker. He’s just like Sado Gwang when it comes to protecting his own body.
“I’m going to sleep. Don’t talk. Don’t rattle.”
[Tch.]
Honestly, I do feel bad for him. When people are stressed, they should just get drunk and pass out—it helps dull the thoughts a bit. But being trapped in a sword, unable to drink or sleep, just makes things worse.
Still, I have my own reasons.
People in this world throw around Peak-level and First-rate titles like nothing. Even the maid who brings me water is probably a master.
Maintaining my act every moment is physically exhausting.
Maybe this is my own version of escapist sleep.
So I lay down.
One good thing about this wuxia world—not a single LED light or buzzing phone to keep me awake.
Sleep crept in, and I was just about to fall—
[Monster!]
“…Ugh. What now.”
[Suspicious presence!]
At Skybreaker’s warning, I shot up.
My body instantly slipped back into Transcendent Peak Mode from the fear of danger.
Feigning composure, I lit the candle.
And then I saw—
“Captain.”
It was Saweol.
She stepped out from the shadows of my room, as if she’d been there all along.
Her presence alone made the air feel sharp.
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
As always, her face was expressionless.
“Squad Leader.”
Honestly, I flinched. I felt a chill creep down my spine.
Saweol was a Peak-level master. Just one step from Transcendent Peak, capable of using force manifestation at any moment if she found her resolve.
If she overcame her inner demon, she would instantly ascend.
I wasn’t an expert in martial arts, but I knew the lore of Return of the Murim.
Transcendent Peak meant a level where you could impose your will upon the world. It required absolute conviction, free from self-doubt.
Saweol’s inner demon must be what still held her back.
Still, she was a terrifying assassin-type master, armed with specialized stealth techniques.
So seeing her suddenly appear at night like this?
Chilling.
‘If she meant to kill me, I’d already be dead… right?’
That meant she had a different purpose.
“I found the Young Lord.”
“My brother?”
“Yes.”
Saweol was always expressionless, but I sensed something off.
I prided myself on reading her like a TOEIC score above 800. She usually answers promptly—but when she dislikes something, her replies are delayed by a beat.
And right now—that beat was there.
Even as she spoke, it felt like she needed time to gather herself.
“Where is he?”
“…This letter.”
She handed me a sealed message.
It had just three words:
Valley of Lost Souls.
[I’ve been there before as a child. It’s on the outskirts of the Third Demon Realm. The entire valley is filled with mist year-round—it’s like one massive formation.]
Clear as day—A trap.
Sado Gwang had likely hidden during my time in the Disciplinary Quarters.
Knowing I would want to find him for the sake of appearances, he predicted I’d take action.
And I did.
“The only force I could move was the Black Shadow Corps.”
And now they were all gone, scattered to search for him.
In other words—
The only people left in the Sado Clan were those under Sado Gwang, who could point their swords at me at any time.
Except for Saweol.
‘But even she would be helpless in Valley of Lost Souls.’
Saweol had yet to overcome her phobia of mist, tied to her inner demon. Did Sado Gwang not know that?
He absolutely knew.
Which meant—I had no pieces left to play.
This was a trap offering two bad choices.
If I go to Valley of Lost Souls:
Sado Gwang will test if I’m truly Transcendent Peak. He’ll see right through me.
If I don’t go:
He’ll be sure I’m not the real Sado Hwan—that the body’s been taken over.
Either way, it ends in disaster.
‘And here I thought I was prepared... I was arrogant.’
I should’ve realized when he so easily agreed to let me go to the Disciplinary Quarters.
Like a creature too small to comprehend how large the world truly is—he was operating on a level far beyond mine.
If I weren’t a hardcore Return of the Murim reader, I’d already have walked straight into the trap, clueless.
Which meant—
“There’s still a way.”
And that way—
Depended on Saweol.
If I wanted to live, I’d have to gamble.
“By when did he want me there?”
“Before the hour of the Ox ends.”
That meant by 3 a.m. I had about four hours.
“Come with me.”
I changed into my martial robes, grabbed Skybreaker Sword, and stepped outside.
But I wasn’t heading to Valley of Lost Souls.
I was heading to Sado Gwang’s residence.
The place was eerily empty—not even a rat in sight.
No guards. Nothing.
It seemed he had taken his entire faction with him to Valley of Lost Souls.
‘Normally, other clans would be in uproar, thinking we’re preparing for war…’
But word must’ve spread that the Clan Head was dragging even civilians around, searching for his missing son.
So even if warriors were moving in bulk, no one would think much of it.
‘The more I think about it, the more terrifying he becomes.’
To turn himself into the core of a trap.
Thanks to that, I slipped into his quarters without resistance.
His room was spartan—low tables, low cabinets, a low bookshelf. Other than that, it was barren.
I walked over to the bookshelf.
Found one book.
Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon.
A record of past Heavenly Demons—a common book found anywhere in the cult.
I pulled it out.
Rumble—
The shelves shifted, revealing a hidden entrance.
[This is—]
“What do you think? A secret room, obviously.”
Return of the Murim was a wuxia story dictated by cliché. Any villain worth their salt needed a secret chamber. Sado Gwang was no exception.
Something must’ve detected a presence—candles automatically lit up the room.
Roughly the size of a mid-sized apartment, the hidden chamber was filled with bookshelves and a single desk in the center.
[How do you even know this place exists?]
“Don’t try to understand. I’m a monster, remember?”
I couldn’t exactly explain that the protagonist finds this place later in the original story.
Even Saweol looked genuinely surprised—this was clearly her first time seeing it.
“Saweol.”
Then, I said something that truly shocked her—for the first time, I saw the expression of pure disbelief on her face.
“Before the hour of the Ox ends... I will make you a Transcendent Peak master.”
“?!”