Sado Gwang is dead!
The Six Demon Families stirred.
While ordinary cult members may not have known, everyone within the Six Demon Families, the true upper echelon, was well aware: the rise of the Sado Clan—a mere mid-sized family at best—to claim a seat among the Six Demon Families was entirely thanks to Sado Gwang.
Before becoming an invalid, he was a promising talent. After he became crippled, he turned into a strategist, concocting inscrutable schemes.
That Sado Gwang was now dead.
The Sado Clan continued to search for him, but it was most likely futile. It was said he had fallen into the deep valley of Valley of Lost Souls, unable to even walk properly on his own.
People from the Six Demon Families assumed his body had been buried deep beneath the water.
His death set many things in motion.
"The Sado Clan never had true roots… this is our chance to take their seat among the Six Demon Families."
Some spoke, filled with ambition.
"Now this is getting interesting… he was really at the Transcendent Peak?"
Others expressed curiosity.
"The promise…"
And some remembered past promises.
And so, the sky filled with floating lanterns.
***
It had been a week since Sado Gwang fell off the cliff at Valley of Lost Souls.
The Sado Clan spared no effort in searching for him. Aside from those currently dispatched or on missions, nearly all of the martial artists, including members of the Black Shadow Corps, were mobilized in the search.
The atmosphere was so tense that a few clans even wondered if the Sado Clan was preparing for war.
A week passed like that, and still no trace of Sado Gwang could be found. Nothing was discovered other than a torn piece of his outer robe.
What remained was a completely empty ceremonial robe.
"We must hold a funeral."
The patriarch of the Sado Clan, Sado Muyul, looked utterly broken, his face pale and lifeless.
The funeral was held quietly.
I wore black mourning clothes and attended the ceremony.
Only a few high-ranking direct blood relatives and elders of the Sado Clan were present.
An altar had been erected in what used to be a martial arts training ground. It was the type of altar frequently seen in Return of the Murim, though nothing had been placed on top of it. Chairs were arranged in a circle around the altar.
Since the ceremony had not yet begun, people were either seated or standing around. There was a subtle divide forming into two groups.
A stir ran through the people when I arrived.
Sado Muyul, who had been seated, shot up and pointed a finger at me.
His eyes were filled with deep hatred.
"You… how dare you show up here?!"
He seemed ready to draw his sword at any moment. Of course, he wouldn’t. He believed me to be a Transcendent Peak-level master.
"The Supreme One doesn't appear, but you show your face instead?"
But relying on the strength of the clan, Sado Muyul continued to lash out with criticism.
"You killed him, didn’t you?! You! You bastard!"
"Patriarch!"
At that moment, a stern-looking elderly man beside him intervened.
From his appearance and attire, I easily recognized who he was.
First Elder, Sado Gi.
He led the Elder Faction, which held equal power to the Patriarch’s Faction within the Sado Clan.
Officially, aside from me, Sado Hwan, and Saweol, the clan’s highest-ranking martial artist was him. His estimated cultivation was late Peak level. He didn’t resemble a typical cultist, but rather an elegant, Daoist master of the Martial World.
"Mind your dignity. How dare you raise your voice during the funeral of the Eldest Young Master!"
"Let go of me, First Elder!"
"Why such rage?"
"You ask why?"
Sado Muyul’s eyes were bloodshot as he fired back at the elder.
"That bastard killed his own brother! And you ask why?!"
"Is it so strange?"
The First Elder tilted his head, though it was clear he didn’t genuinely find it puzzling.
"Didn't you, as Patriarch, also strike down your own brother?"
"That was—"
"The foremost virtue of the cult is the supremacy of the strong, Patriarch. A strong one merely exercised his right and authority. To blame him for it would be to deny the cult’s founding virtue. Shall we then question your legitimacy?"
"Besides, there are witnesses who say that this young master tried to save the Eldest Young Master from an assassination attempt by that woman Saweol."
Sado Muyul’s face turned beet red, like a boiled radish. Honestly, he looked like he was about to have a stroke.
Eventually, he spun around and returned to his seat.
'What a mess. This family too…'
The Sado Clan, having risen rapidly, had developed in a highly distorted way.
Though originally a mid-tier clan, it had a modest history. Those who were proud of that and diligently trained in the clan’s martial arts belonged to the Elder Faction.
But they alone couldn’t elevate the clan.
So the Sado Clan brought in many up-and-coming masters, using money, blackmail, or other means. These became part of the Patriarch’s Faction.
The two factions frequently clashed, causing friction, and the one who mediated between them had been Sado Gwang.
'Well, that was his intention, after all.'
Sado Gwang didn’t even trust his own father. While outwardly supporting the Patriarch’s Faction, he secretly backed the Elder Faction, forcing the two into confrontation.
By keeping the two sides at odds, Sado Gwang always came out ahead.
I had to admit it.
When it came to manipulating the board to his advantage, he was unmatched.
That’s why I could be certain—Sado Gwang was not dead.
'He’s definitely still alive.'
Even setting aside the fact that the Return of the Murim universe was a cliché-ridden mess, Sado Gwang’s behavior seemed suspicious in hindsight.
He had clearly been at a disadvantage.
Even though he suspected I wasn’t the real one, I still had Saweol—an awakened human weapon at the Transcendent Peak realm.
In truth, all the warriors he brought were helpless under Saweol’s aura.
Yet he hadn’t shown panic or frustration.
'And the treasures he brought were too weak…'
Even if Skybreaker Sword had used a fusion of “Flow” and “Supreme Reign” to unleash a powerful technique, it was still strange that Sado Gwang would be completely incapacitated in one blow.
Given the nature of his work, Sado Gwang was always laden with artifacts and protection items to guard against assassination.
There was no way someone like that would go down from one prepared strike.
It made sense to assume he was alive.
Just like when he staged a fake disappearance from the Discipline Hall, he was probably hiding again, scheming from the shadows.
Of course, I couldn’t tell Skybreaker about this.
Since that day, it hadn’t spoken a word.
If it had at least a facial expression, I might guess its thoughts, but it hadn’t even emerged from its scabbard. Not that it was unresponsive—it still moved when necessary.
It was likely that even it hadn’t sorted out its own emotions. Time was the only solution.
Thanks to that, I had spent the past week constantly thinking about how to survive—and how to shatter Sado Gwang’s schemes.
– We will prepare a seat next to the Patriarch, Young Master.
A voice reached my ears. No doubt it was the First Elder. His tone was cautious.
As the leader of a faction, he had to be sensitive to the power dynamics.
That he mocked the Patriarch but spoke carefully to me proved just how much my presence in the clan had grown after this incident.
As I stepped forward, the martial artists quickly cleared a seat for me—right beside the Patriarch. I sat slowly.
'I must not appear weak.'
Weakness meant being devoured in the cult.
I stared straight ahead. A burning gaze from beside me—most likely Sado Muyul—was locked on me as if he wanted to kill me.
Just as he seemed ready to speak, the ceremony began.
The doors opened, and pallbearers carried in a coffin filled with Sado Gwang’s favorite clothing and ceremonial dress.
The coffin was placed atop the altar, sealed with talismans inscribed with various scriptures.
If this had been the Martial World, Taoist priests would’ve read the funeral rites. But not here. A cult-like ceremony awaited.
Cremation.
Cult members worship sacred fire. So when a respected figure dies, the cult uses some of the Sacred Flame to perform the funeral, considering it the highest honor.
'Which is no longer possible due to karma.'
Only the direct bloodline of the Radiant Bloodline can wield the Sacred Flame. And Sado Gwang had annihilated that family.
'Even Saweol cannot handle the Sacred Flame.'
Only her older brother, Seong Hwarang, could wield it.
Instead, oil-soaked firewood was used, and the funeral reached its climax as the coffin was set ablaze.
Crackle, crackle!
The heat scorched my face.
That was when Sado Muyul spoke.
"You kill my son, then sit there so shamelessly."
"I tried to save my brother."
"There were traces of destruction at Valley of Lost Souls."
I turned my head. His eyes burned like the fire, but I saw the shadow behind them.
"If not you, then who did it?!"
"So what?"
"What…?"
"So, what can you do, Patriarch?"
I looked forward again.
"The Sado Clan held its seat among the Six Demon Families solely due to my brother’s abilities, despite lacking even two or three Transcendent Peak experts like the other clans. And now, are you planning to cast me out?"
The Sado Clan was often criticized for “having no foundation.” After all, the number of Transcendent Peaks was the benchmark for a clan’s worth.
"Without my brother and without me, a Transcendent Peak, what is left of the Sado Clan?"
There were many Peak-level experts, but most had been recruited by Sado Gwang. They weren’t necessarily loyal.
Now that he was gone, they’d likely want out.
Sado Muyul was rendered speechless, his face turning pale. Reality had struck him.
Then again, Sado Gwang had made all the real decisions until now, so it wasn’t surprising the man lacked any sense of reality.
The only reason an overly emotional and simple man like Sado Muyul could become Patriarch was because Sado Gwang found him easy to manipulate.
"And so…"
Over the past week, I’d constantly thought about how to survive—and how to destroy Sado Gwang’s machinations.
He was a genius. Even with my knowledge of the original story, I had been caught in his meticulously crafted trap.
I admitted it—I couldn’t predict or fully understand his schemes.
Among those gathered here, who was his spy? I had no way to know.
But I couldn’t just let things happen.
So I spoke.
"I will be taking the position of Patriarch."