Chapter 89: Rest Well (1)
[The Last Battle of the Sacheondang Family—Morning of That Day in a Past Life]
The day my father died.
I had co, as always, to offer my morning greetings.
Father wore a tense expression.
He had not done his usual dawn training, and that day he simply stared at the sky.
Father had the impression of a well-honed blade.
His fists clenched tight.
The green silk robe, symbol of the Sacheondang Family.
The carapace armor worn beneath it.
The sword at his hip, and the hidden weapons surely stored within his robes.
And the poison vials hanging from his chest.
"……"
I bit my lip.
On Father's chest were only poison vials—no antidotes.
He had resolved himself to die.
The Sacheondang Family tradition: when there is no tomorrow, stake everything on today alone.
‘Please, let it not be so.’
I pressed my palms together and bowed in greeting.
"Good morning, Father."
"Yes, Seon."
Father turned and looked at .
The tension seed to ease, just slightly.
The mont Father loosened his clenched fist and reached out to stroke my head—
"Family Head!"
The Sacheondang Family warriors ca rushing toward Father.
When Father signaled for quiet, the warriors glanced at , then whispered sothing in Father's ear.
It looked like a tactical discussion.
Swish—
Father gestured for to step away.
An inexplicable dread washed over .
I was 11 years old. There was nothing I could do.
I prayed silently to the ancestors.
‘Please protect Father.’
‘As you did last night, let tonight co too.’
‘Let be able to say, ‘Sleep well’’
***
【Break through the ruins of the fallen Sacheondang Family.】
The stage for the 31st through 33rd floor of the Murim Tower was my own family, the Sacheondang Family.
The mission was simple.
Reach a specific destination within the ruins of the Sacheondang Family.
The Sacheondang Family estate was vast.
11 gardens, 29 pavilions, 350 rooms.
Originally it had been several tis larger, but it had shrunk as branches split off.
Even so, the scale was imnse.
31st floor: from the main gate to the midpoint pavilion.
32nd floor: from the midpoint pavilion to the central hall at the two-thirds mark.
33rd floor: from there, down to the underground burial chamber.
The task was to move through each area, defeating the guards.
Though it was the ruins of the Sacheondang Family, guards were still present.
‘Calling them guards is generous—they're nothing but grave robbers and thieves.’
As the saying goes, even a fallen noble household sustains itself for three generations.
These were n rifling through the estate, hoping to find hidden treasure in a grand family like ours.
Dispatched by the Murim Alliance.
After losing the final battle, it was not the burning pavilions that turned the Sacheondang Family into ruins—it was these grave robbers who dismantled and ransacked it.
"Filthy bastards."
According to intelligence bought from the Black Market, 31st floor through 33rd floor were considered easier than expected.
Compared to the Black Bear from just before 29th floor, the guards here had unimpressive martial arts.
So climbers who reached the 30s tended to linger on these floors.
‘Before challenging Poison Valley on 37th floor, they train their martial arts against the grave robbers.’
In the Murim Tower, where punishnt doesn't apply, they freely cut and stabbed relatively weaker opponents with real blades.
At least that much put in a good mood.
Here, climbers only needed to be wary of one thing—one who appeared only on 33rd floor.
"Goryeo Sword Sect Elder Im Jo-yang."
He was one of the few remaining elders of the Goryeo Sword Sect, a sect barely clinging to survival.
In the past, the Goryeo Sword Sect had grown strong enough to rival the Jongnam Sect, but ultimately fell before it.
The Goryeo Sword Sect pledged itself to the Murim Alliance Leader, who used the promise of the sect's revival as bait and wielded them as his whip.
Elder Im Jo-yang had been stationed at the Sacheondang Family estate for years because of this.
Originally, the Goryeo Sword Sect lived up to its na—’keepers of ancient tombs’.
"The tomb of the absolute master of a past era, the Soul Wanderer Baek Mu-sang."
The Soul Wanderer's personal martial art, Thirteen Spectral Arts, was said to cleave even the breath of the dead.
rely a legend, of course.
The Goryeo Sword Sect volunteered to beco tomb guardians as a gesture of reverence for the Soul Wanderer.
But their true intentions were transparent.
The Goryeo Sword Sect had been slowly digging into the Soul Wanderer's tomb.
They suspected that the Thirteen Spectral Arts lay buried within.
At last they managed to plunder part of the Thirteen Spectral Arts—but the 13th and final move was never found.
And with this, they designated themselves an orthodox sect and called themselves the Goryeo Sword Sect.
‘In short, they're just grave robbers.’
For ransacking every corner of the Sacheondang Family estate, no one was better suited than the Goryeo Sword Sect.
The Murim Alliance Leader's talent for using people was precise to a revolting degree.
Im Jo-yang was a diligent man without a shred of guilt.
He divided the estate into sections and systematically destroyed and plundered each one.
He had searched for a long ti but turned up little of note.
The visible hidden weapons, poisons, and valuables had all been swept away after the final battle.
The family's secret manuals had been handed over by Father to secure my escape, and most of the rest I had burned after morizing them.
Im Jo-yang persisted.
He desecrated, destroyed, and excavated the Sacheondang Family estate that had nothing left to offer.
He was searching.
For the underground burial chamber, known only to the direct bloodline.
He was certain treasure lay within.
‘Fitting thoughts for a gravedigger.’
Only direct descendants knew the location of the Sacheondang Family's underground burial chamber, and of those descendants, the only one left alive was alone.
After tireless effort, Im Jo-yang finally found the underground burial chamber.
The mont his pickaxe broke through into the burial chamber was precisely the mont I had descended the mountain.
Though my appearance had grown considerably worn—
There was still a trace of youth left in .
Not yet an adult.
A boy, neither fully grown nor still a child.
Lost in a haze of sentint, I was struck with shock the mont I set foot in the Sacheondang Family estate.
"This can't be!"
Arriving at the Sacheondang Family, I wept.
The manor had nearly completely crumbled.
Shards and fragnts scattered everywhere.
Five hundred years of the Sacheondang Family.
The traces of the family—once a symbol of reverence and strength—now tumbled carelessly across the ground.
The ruins of the Sacheondang Family.
Above all, no matter how I searched, I could not find where my parents had been buried.
"Father and Mother's bodies are definitely supposed to be in the estate—I was told so!"
The Murim Alliance Leader, as a gesture of respect for my deceased father, had reportedly reattached his severed head and buried him in a mound.
The fall of the Sacheondang Family, one of the Five Great Households.
A stratagem to silence the criticism it invited.
As for Mother, they said she resisted to the last.
Even with a body that had never properly trained in martial arts, she fought against the warriors trying to drag her away—and died for it.
She had shattered a poison vial, and even left a sword wound on one warrior's face.
Rumors I had heard in the marketplace.
Yet no matter how much I searched, no burial mound was to be found. Not even a trace.
Instead, because Im Jo-yang had torn through the Sacheondang Family estate, the bones of family mbers who had died in the final battle were scattered everywhere, and there was no way to tell whose remains were whose.
The underground burial chamber was even more wretched.
The treasures stored in the stone coffins had all been looted, and even the black iron door that sealed the entrance was gone.
Black iron is a precious material for forging exceptional blades.
Not celestial iron or cold iron—the legendary supre-grade weapon materials—
But still a tal worth several tis its weight in gold.
A large gate door, cast entirely from black iron, held imnse value in and of itself.
The bones of the ancestors were shattered and strewn about in disorder.
The only thing I could recognize was—
The bones of my dead younger sister Seon-a, discarded carelessly in a corner.
"Aahh……"
It was horrifying.
I ground my teeth.
I imdiately set off in pursuit of Im Jo-yang.
Arriving at the Murim Alliance, I found him.
Im Jo-yang's corpse, dangling from the Murim Alliance's main gate.
Im Jo-yang had returned to the Murim Alliance Leader with his plunder.
Not long after, his head was cut off.
While the Sacheondang Family was the common enemy of the martial world, looting even the underground burial chamber had clearly crossed a line.
With eyes watching.
Though the Alliance Leader had at least buried my parents at the Sacheondang Family estate, condemnation from the martial world remained high.
The Alliance Leader needed soone to shoulder the bla, and Im Jo-yang simply happened to catch his eye at that mont.
The Goryeo Sword Sect's head had handed over Im Jo-yang to the Alliance Leader without a word of protest.
The black iron door and the plundered treasures went straight into the Alliance Leader's pocket.
The Goryeo Sword Sect, which had pledged its loyalty, was itself annihilated within a few years.
By the Alliance Leader himself.
The Alliance Leader's talent for using people.
No—his vile scheming far surpassed anything I had anticipated.
Every ti I rembered my parents in my past life, Im Jo-yang's corpse ca to mind.
‘If only I had co down the mountain a little sooner……’
‘I could at least have protected the burial chamber.’
‘Could have wished my sister Seon-a rest in peace.’
‘Could have offered a cup of drink at my parents' graves.’
***
【Bonus Mission Success】
【Reach the destination while avoiding the eyes of the guards protecting the Sacheondang Family.】
① Mission (32nd floor) counted as success (GOLD)
② Happiness Points 1,500,000
【Ti taken to complete mission: 4 minutes 58 seconds】
【Overwhelming achievent (GOLD)!】
【Murim Tower 32nd floor turns gold.】
【The entire world watches the tower of the Republic of Korea.】
I broke through 31st and 32nd floors in one breath.
The bonus mission had been an infiltration mission.
To not be detected by anyone.
The Sacheondang Family was my ho.
Wearing the Dark Moon Mask and moving with Wind God Steps, it posed no difficulty.
One fortunate thing was that Happiness Points had increased to 500,000 per floor starting from 31st floor.
Triple bonus made it 1,500,000 points.
【Entering Murim Tower (Republic of Korea) 33rd floor.】
【First entry.】
【Mission (33rd floor): Reach the underground burial chamber.】
-Ti limit: 1 day
-Success: Happiness Points 500,000 granted
【A bonus mission is given for first entry.】
【Bonus Mission: Execute Goryeo Sword Sect Elder Im Jo-yang.】
-Ti limit: 10 minutes
-Success:
① Mission (33rd floor) counted as success (GOLD)
② Happiness Points triple (×3)
③ 1 intact corpse
-Failure:
① Im Jo-yang and all bonus mission rewards disappear permanently.
② The underground burial chamber door opens and everything inside is destroyed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!—
The mont I stepped onto 33rd floor, far ahead the sound of a pickaxe hamring at the burial chamber's black iron door rang out loudly.
An ear-splitting noise, sparks flying off the door.
33rd floor's objective was to reach the underground burial chamber.
However, Im Jo-yang was a variable.
Climbers had 2 choices.
Fight with all their might to kill Im Jo-yang, or endure 10 minutes.
Im Jo-yang was a master of spear arts approaching peak transcendence.
In the Republic of Korea, the only one who could face him was probably Chief Han alone.
And even then, only with the Blue Dragon Spear and Scarlet Scale Armor fully equipped.
The choice of other climbers was obvious.
They stalled for 10 minutes.
Staying completely still, if lucky, the 10 minutes would simply pass.
Otherwise, they used every trick available to drag out the ti, or even if fighting, they would group together with shields raised.
Then Im Jo-yang would disappear, and the underground burial chamber door would open.
All that remained was mission success.
Among all the world's climbers, almost none had ever properly engaged Im Jo-yang in combat.
Since it was a section that could be bypassed, there was no need to risk one's life.
But I was different.
Filled with the regrets of years gone by, I called out to him.
"Im Jo-yang!"
With internal energy packed into the roar, the walls of the underground burial chamber rumbled.
The Goryeo Sword Sect warriors striking the black iron door were shocked into dropping their pickaxes.
One faint-hearted man simply fainted from the sound alone.
"Who's there?!"
Im Jo-yang imdiately raised his spear and snapped his eyes toward .
Into his pupils entered my image—radiating green light fiercely through the darkness.
"How did you get in? What business do you have here?"
I opened trembling lips to answer.
"……I am one of the dead who belong here."
"What?"
"What manner of conduct is this in a place where the departed should rest in peace!"
Poison energy surged of its own accord and filled the underground burial chamber.
Seeing it, Im Jo-yang nodded as if he understood.
"A remnant of the Sacheondang Family!"
Im Jo-yang commanded his subordinates to fight.
"Attack!"
The Goryeo Sword Sect warriors leveled their spears and ca toward .
But their hands were trembling visibly.
"……"
Just as a trace of pity tried to surface—
My eyes fell on the silk robes they were wearing.
They were the Sacheondang Family's robes.
Their hands were laden with gold ornants.
Things obtained by desecrating the Sacheondang Family's tombs.
Crunch!
I slamd the lead man's skull into the wall and crushed it.
Imdiately following, I used kick arts to split the waists of 2 n behind him.
Thud—
Blood and viscera clung thick and dripping to the burial chamber walls.
"Expect no rcy."
I drew my blade.
Malevolently gathered sword energy instantly butchered over a dozen warriors.
I surged toward Im Jo-yang, and he raised his spear to block.
Ziiiing— His spear scread and vibrated.
"Kgh!"
He imdiately unleashed the Thirteen Spectral Arts.
The 1st move, Soul Return Opening, scrambled my vision and drove into my blind spot.
A chill brushed past the back of my neck.
It was an attack like a dead soul returning to the underworld.
But it was Im Jo-yang who gushed blood, not I.
Pfff—!
Fresh blood sprayed from his mouth.
The blade I had deflected Soul Return Opening with had driven into his side.
"You—!"
Im Jo-yang swept his spear horizontally.
The move was called Shattered Brilliance Flash.
True to the Thirteen Spectral Arts—an attack with no discernible current or killing intent. It was a spear art that functioned as a slash.
A flash blazed before my eyes.
I used Wind God Steps to get behind him, drove my blade into his spine, and raked upward.
Warm blood erupted outward from Im Jo-yang's lungs.
With just this exchange, the master who had rivaled peak transcendence fell to his knees.
Gurgle—
He vomited blood.
Crimson flooded out, drenching his robe.
Crunch! I seized him by the jaw and lifted him.
There was sothing I absolutely had to ask him.
I shoved a recovery elixir into his mouth and asked,
"Where is the Sacheondang Family Head and his wife buried?"
I did not ask where my parents were.
He wouldn't understand it either way—it would only waste ti.
Im Jo-yang did not answer.
"A re……remnant……dares—"
Crack! I shattered his shoulder blade.
I channeled energy into him to make his nerves more sensitive.
A groan of agonizing pain followed.
"Hrrrgh—!"
"Answer. I can make your death clean."
"Hgh……Kill ."
I inflicted torture.
10 minutes pass, and he disappears.
Within that ti, I had to open his mouth without fail.
Horrifying screams rang out alongside treatnt in equal asure.
I grabbed the nerve fibers governing his pain and wrenched, gouged.
At last he broke.
"I—I don't know!"
He raised blood-soaked eyes.
"I truly don't know! There were corpses lying about everywhere. By the ti I arrived, everything of value had already been stripped—even the clothes!"
Im Jo-yang's words bore no trace of deception.
I drove my blade into his gut and slowly drew it upward.
Crack—crack—crack! His ribs snapped one by one, and his organs split apart.
"Kraaaaagh—!"
Im Jo-yang grabbed my hand and stared up with wide eyes.
I spoke to him.
"This is the fullest extent of my rcy."
The grave robber who had tried to dig his way out of a grave ultimately died in a grave.
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