Chapter 49 – How Much Did I Tell You?
[What nonsense are you spouting now!?]
I answered silently so no one could hear me. Even if the subordinates were asleep, Do Il-gwang’s ears would be sharp.
“Didn’t you think people’s reactions were strange?”
[What kind of reactions?]
“There must’ve been a lot of people saying you looked strangely like Sado Gwang.”
“Th-they’re brothers? No, they look way too alike. T-twins, maybe?”
Even Baek Ryung had mistaken me for Sado Gwang when he saw me.
In truth, Sado Hwan resembled Sado Gwang so much that one could immediately tell they were family. That was also my first impression.
[Well, of course, they’re brothers!]
“Even so, no siblings look that alike... Do you know your mother’s face?”
[That’s...]
“You don’t, right? You were told she died when you were young, and you lost all your memories before the age of ten.”
[...]
Skybreaker fell silent.
“Your brother, Sado Gwang, was a genius. But he was arrogant...
If he hadn’t been greedy, the Sado Clan might have produced a Heavenly Demon before long. That’s how gifted Sado Gwang was.
He could perfectly imitate any martial move after seeing it once, and understand and absorb any secret technique after hearing it just once.
But Sado Gwang had excessive greed. From an early age, his possessiveness was terrifying. If he wanted something, he had to have it — even if it got broken in the process.
There was so much he wanted to grasp, but back then, the Sado Clan was just another noble family, not one of the Six Demon Families. In the end, he needed to become stronger to grasp more.
So, he wanted to become stronger, faster. He tried to learn forbidden martial arts.
I’m talking about the first half of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is powerful. Too powerful — so much so that it rejects other energies, right?”
Even if it was the Sado Clan’s exclusive art, the Asura Demon Emperor Divine Art, it was no exception. The energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art would destroy its host body just to reject all other energies.
The King of Ten Thousand Demons refused to share his place with any other power.
“If there had been a proper martial form, he could’ve calmed the energy and managed it, like all past Heavenly Demons did...”
But no matter how excellent the Twelve Forms of Asura were, they couldn’t calm the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
In the end, the energy ran rampant within him, he suffered a deviation of his inner energy, and — as a natural consequence —Sado Gwang became a cripple.
He could no longer perform martial arts, and his body was so ruined he couldn’t even manage daily life without help.
“You know your brother well, but he... he’s not someone who’d just give up.”
Sado Gwang tried everything to heal his body. Elixirs, all kinds of treatments, even poison — he tried it all.
He didn’t hesitate to use all sorts of demonic and heretical methods. Brutal prescriptions, forbidden techniques — he used them all.
But nothing worked. No matter what method he tried, his completely ruined body could not be restored.
So, in the end, Sado Gwang turned to an even more extreme method —
“If I can’t fix this body, I’ll create a new one.”
A twisted attempt that compiled all the knowledge Sado Gwang had acquired.
Using mystic treasures and relics that existed in the world, with a method only Sado Gwang could perform — thus, Sado Hwan was born.
A human born without gestation.
A body identical to Sado Gwang’s, with the same talent.
That was Sado Hwan’s true identity.
A normal person couldn’t learn the Heavenly Demon Divine Art as their first martial art. They’d explode from the energy and die. The fact that Sado Hwan survived, even after becoming crippled, meant he wasn’t a normal human.
Maybe that’s why his soul became bound to the sword.
It was a secret that wasn’t revealed in Return of the Murim, where Sado Hwan died immediately after switching bodies with the protagonist Mujin — but not this time.
Now that Skybreaker is with me, he would eventually find out — he had to find out. It just happened a bit sooner.
[...]
“Of course, in the end, the plan failed because he never found a way to switch souls.”
[The Soul Separation Technique…]
Sado Hwan probably already knew about the Soul Separation Technique. Without it, he couldn’t have even conceived of creating a new body. He just never found it — and couldn’t use it.
[...You expect me to believe that?]
Skybreaker continued.
[You’ve deceived everyone with that ‘act.’ Even Do Il-gwang fell for it — why should I believe that you haven’t deceived me?]
“Skybreaker.”
[I’m not Skybreaker! I’m Sado Hwan! That body you’re occupying is mine!]
Skybreaker’s sword spirit trembled.
[I hate you! I hate that I’m trapped in this cursed sword and can’t drive my blade through your heart!]
“You’re not the only one who’s been lying.”
At my words, Skybreaker stopped trembling.
“You’ve also deceived others by living a false life.”
I was resentful too. It’s not like I wanted to be in this situation.
“I was living a relatively decent life — not great, but decent — until I got dragged into your family mess.”
Every day feels like walking through a field of thorns.
It might’ve been a moldy semi-basement room I rented, but at least I had a warm blanket to sleep in. I might’ve gone hungry, but I didn’t fear for my life.
How about now? Every waking moment, I’m afraid of dying.
This cursed Heavenly Demon Divine Art — every time I raise my internal energy, I get heated and start spouting nonsense, but it’s not my true intention.
All I really want — is to survive.
“So please, stop whining like a 32-year-old baby.”
The world of Return of the Murim was not a bright, cheerful world where you could afford to be childish.
[But... how am I supposed to accept that I’m not human?]
“You’re still human, even now.”
[...]
“You are human. Just because you were born differently doesn’t mean you’re not. At least when you were in this body — you felt joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. You bled when you were hurt. You laughed when you were happy. You were a normal human being.”
[...What am I supposed to do about my brother?]
“What else?”
I clenched my fist.
“You smack him upside the head and tell him to get a grip. That’s what family does — isn’t it?”
I didn’t bother adding, “and if that doesn’t work, we deal with it.” The truth was already shocking enough to paralyze his thinking.
At least he wasn’t rejecting my presence anymore, unlike earlier when he was in panic.
Just as things settled—
“You little punk!”
Do Il-gwang’s shout broke in again.
***
Do Il-gwang, in fact, had been speaking nonstop this entire time.
It’s just that Sado Hwan had been ignoring him to talk with Skybreaker.
“This bastard... chewing him up wouldn’t be enough...”
Do Il-gwang stared at Sado Hwan like he was completely fed up.
He stood, eyes closed, resting on his sword — as if he were peacefully napping.
Back when he was the Heavenly Demon, the Sado Clan was just a rising noble family. Now that family held a seat among the Six Demon Families — and that brat dared to look down on him.
In the old days, he would’ve smashed his head open without hesitation.
Clench.
Even now, if he could, he would kill him on the spot. But the aroma wafting through his nose was so sweet it dulled his senses.
Do Il-gwang had once stood at the pinnacle of the cult. There was nothing but delicacies and fine liquor in his past.
Now, he survived on food scraps.
If he hadn’t smelled it, he might’ve endured — but now that he had, there was no resisting.
“Fine. I’ll tell you.”
Do Il-gwang shouted louder than before.
“You damn brat!”
Only then did Sado Hwan look his way.
“That gaze...?”
Arrogant, unreadable eyes. But one thing was clear — Sado Hwan was looking down on him.
“Qi circulation, huh?”
“You dare do that in front of me?”
“I already told you. The word ‘dare’ isn’t something you’re entitled to use.”
Do Il-gwang ground his teeth. But bound by the seal, he couldn’t do anything.
Eventually, with a resigned, even pitiful expression, he spoke.
“Must you really steal away the Supreme Reign?”
“Isn’t that what you called the law of the strong?”
Do Il-gwang shook his head. He was caught in his own web.
“Fine. I doubt you can comprehend my grand ideals anyway. Give me the wine, then I’ll tell you.”
Of course, he was lying. He’d just drink it and shut his mouth.
But Sado Hwan didn’t fall for it easily.
“Tell me about the Supreme Reign first. Then I’ll give you the wine.”
“You’re petty.”
“Only a fool falls for cheap tricks.”
Tsk.
Do Il-gwang clicked his tongue.
“Fine. But you’d better give me the wine.”
“I swear on the honor of the Sado Clan.”
He thought to himself, What honor?, but he wasn’t in a position to pick and choose.
Do Il-gwang began to recite the mnemonic.
“The essence of Gunrim is pressure. What is pressure? Pressure is...”
Sado Hwan lightly tapped the sword and began focusing.
“...thus, direct your qi upward through the Heavenly Channel, and downward through the Dragon Spring...”
Do Il-gwang’s explanation continued.
“...then divine might becomes worldly might, and worldly might branches into twenty-four directions...”
You won’t understand this, Do Il-gwang thought. To comprehend ‘Gunrim,’ one had to understand the concept of weight. Not crushing — but attraction.
If you didn’t grasp that—
“You’d be crushed by your own weight and explode. You brat!”
This wasn’t about martial talent. It was about the truth of the world.
And that brat couldn’t possibly understand.
To top it off, Do Il-gwang had even reversed part of the mnemonic. If you followed his qi flow instructions, you’d inevitably hit a fatal pressure point and suffer deviation.
It was a trap, hidden discreetly among the proper flows.
“You dared insult me — this is your due punishment.”
Do Il-gwang spoke for nearly fifteen minutes.
“...and that’s how it’s done.”
“I see.”
Sado Hwan nodded like he truly understood.
Heh heh heh...
“Now, give me the wine.”
Sado Hwan poured the liquor into Do Il-gwang’s mouth.
Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!
Like a man finding an oasis after wandering a desert, Do Il-gwang drank greedily.
It was sweet.
After years of choking down foul, vomit-worthy scraps, this finely brewed, aged liquor tasted like nectar.
If not for his pride, he might’ve shed a tear.
He even licked his lips to not waste a single drop caught in his scraggly beard. There was not a hint of former Heavenly Demon dignity.
After drinking every drop and licking the last one, Do Il-gwang’s eyes met Sado Hwan’s calm gaze.
Flustered, he grumbled.
“Keh keh... If you’re done, scram.”
That’s when Sado Hwan spoke in a cold voice.
“You’ll regret this.”
“What?”
“You who consoled yourself by surviving in filth, swearing you’d endure... Now that you’ve tasted something this exquisite — think you can keep enduring?”
It struck home.
“So now, speak.”
“Speak what?”
“The real mnemonic for the Supreme Reign.”
“What?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t notice your fake instructions?”
“So you’ve got some brains.”
But the wine was already drunk. His business was done.
“Go ponder it all you want, brat. Even if you had a sword to your throat, you’d never know the true mnemonic. This is the price for coveting my martial arts over a single bottle of wine!”
“Is that so? That’s unfortunate.”
Sado Hwan opened his bag.
Inside—
“You’d really throw all this away?”
It was all wine.
“Now... how far did I say I’d tell you?”
Do Il-gwang trembled.