With My Own Hands, the Man Who Made Me
Hundreds of martial artists were shedding tears nonstop, confessing their sins without even catching their breath.
Some had actually passed out from holding their breath too long, their faces turned purple.
A few among them sat cross-legged instead of confessing, seemingly hastily circulating their qi to resist this bizarre phenomenon.
Exposed directly to Sa Wol's simsang, I suppose.
This is a simsang?
When I emerged from the Punishment Cave and met the Heavenly Demon, I'd felt my mind slipping away against my will. If Pa Cheon hadn't intervened, my spirit might have collapsed entirely.
A phenomenon where one's mental barriers crumble because they haven't braced their will against a Super Peak master!
That's why you're supposed to always fortify your will when facing experts of Super Peak or higher.
A simsang isn't like stabbing with a sharp blade—it's like swinging a massive mallet. But even a mallet can deliver a lethal blow depending on who wields it. Or if the mallet itself is enormous, the destructive power would be unmatched.
They never imagined Sa Wol had reached Super Peak in the meantime.
Even a small mallet would land a critical hit if it struck by surprise.
What terrifying talent.
Sa Wol had ascended to Super Peak not in a day, not in hours, but in mere dozens of minutes. And she'd reached a realm overwhelming enough to impose her simsang on others.
The 'settings' crafted by the author who created this world were that powerful.
What on earth was in Sa Wol's mental world that these people couldn't even resist properly?
Still, Sa Wol seemed to be concentrating at maximum capacity too. She was probably immersed deep within, projecting her mental world, oblivious even to my arrival. Otherwise, she would've projected it toward me.
I started feeling a faint itch in the corner of my chest. If I let this go on, I might end up like those martial artists.
Circulate your inner energy.
Wooong—!
As Pa Cheon instructed, I circulated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art's energy, and the itching sensation in my chest vanished clean away. In its place, a solid confidence welled up.
I flung my gaze past Sa Wol, far into the distance.
At the cliff's edge.
There, leaning against the Wheel Cart, was Sado Gwang with his pale face.
A translucent hemispherical barrier enveloped him—it seemed to be shielding him from Sa Wol's simsang. Probably some treasure artifact or ritual tool.
I approached him.
Brother.
"Brother."
Sado Gwang let out a smirk.
"Drop the act, Mu Jin."
Mu Jin.
The protagonist of the original Murim Return, the one whose body swapped with Sado Hwan's. He seemed to think I was Mu Jin.
Well, soul-swapping was already beyond imagination, but three-way swaps? Utterly inconceivable.
I couldn't very well spill the whole truth myself, so I played along.
"You've figured it out, then."
"The Murim Alliance tried desperately to hide it... but there was a survivor from the theater troupe they massacred."
The original Mu Jin had been a member of a traveling theater troupe. Impressive intel, as expected from Sado Gwang.
"Who'd have thought the Soul Swap Great Law from the ancient texts was real."
"I have a question."
I relayed Pa Cheon's question verbatim.
"To you, what is Sado Hwan?"
"Hm?"
"The original owner of this body. What is Sado Hwan to you?"
Sado Gwang tilted his head.
"Why are you curious? The soul that occupied that body has already returned to your original one and scattered upon death."
"……."
"Well, if I must answer... a pity, I suppose. I cherished him quite a bit."
Pa Cheon shuddered at Sado Gwang's response.
As expected, Brother is…
But the trembling stopped at his next words.
"He was a useful pawn. You wouldn't know, but that body... I used Reverse Heaven's forbidden arts to mold it in the image of my own. In a sense, I'm its father."
Sado Gwang added with a twisted smile.
"If I'd known the Soul Swap Great Law was real, I wouldn't have forced the Heavenly Demon Divine Art on him so hastily. I could've raised him slowly before swapping. How could I not regret losing such potential?"
[……!]
Pa Cheon trembled violently, speechless.
"Anyway, how'd you pull it off? Even with a soul swap, that body has blocked meridians—yet Super Peak? Is it an act? Did you fool even the Heavenly Demon with mere pretense?"
I couldn't control my expression in front of Sado Gwang, who tilted his head with genuine curiosity.
The tremors from Pa Cheon in my hand felt like sobs.
"……What?"
Sado Gwang's eyes twitched.
"Why the face? Feeling pity for that body's owner? Did you snoop through his diary? He always kept one under his bed. Thought I wouldn't know, did he?"
"You toy with people's hearts to the bitter end."
"Hearts?"
Sado Gwang smirked.
"A delusion invented by the weak. Look at these pathetic fools."
He gestured at the confessing martial artists.
"They commit sins without hesitation, then make a fuss over repentance. If hearts truly exist, they should be immutable—like the sun or moon in the sky."
"Hearts change. That's what makes them hearts."
"Exactly why they're flawed—and a concept for the weak."
A sophistry blending cult logic with his own twisted reasoning. How many had he tormented with that silver tongue?
"Planning to confess your sins now?"
"I have no sins. How do I confess what doesn't exist?"
It wasn't about having or not having sins. Sado Gwang genuinely believed himself sinless.
We were on parallel lines that would never meet.
Pa Cheon.
[…….]
We have to end this. He's not your kind brother—he's a monster. If he lives, we die.
[…….]
Look around. The Peak experts are starting to regain their senses.
Even Sa Wol couldn't hold them all forever.
Some Peak masters shuddered, signs their qi circulation was nearing completion. Once they woke, it would be dangerous.
If they snap out of it—
With my own hand.
Pa Cheon slid from its sheath.
I shall cleave.
The despair in that voice was too profound and dark for me to even respond.
Sado Gwang's face lit with interest upon seeing the sword floating in the air.
"Super Peak imitation? It won't pierce this treasure artifact. Reinforced by a formation, it can block even gang qi several times over."
But when sword qi surged from Pa Cheon's blade, Sado Gwang's brow twitched. He'd sensed something off.
And it didn't end there.
Kiiing—!
The rotational sword qi technique, Whirlflow.
Goohhh—!
Do Il Gwang's intent, Domination.
Both techniques manifested on Pa Cheon's blade simultaneously—
Shaaak!
Pa Cheon shot forward at tremendous speed, shredding Sado Gwang's barrier.
Kwaduduk—!
It wasn't just the barrier. The ground sank in a hemispherical crater behind it—a strike of immense power.
"Cough—!"
Blood mixed into Sado Gwang's cough from the shock.
Pa Cheon's blade halted precisely one inch from his heart.
Brother…….
Pa Cheon sobbed.
As I watched silently, Sado Gwang sneered even then.
"Want last words?"
His words reached Pa Cheon.
I trusted you. I followed you. I yearned for your approval.
But Pa Cheon's words didn't reach Sado Gwang.
"No last words needed. The sun seems to set, yet rises again after night—that's unchanging providence."
I am Pa Cheon! Born to shatter heaven's providence! Therefore!
Pa Cheon howled—not like human speech, but a wounded beast's roar.
"Thus, I too remain unchanged. I am the providence that will remake this irrational world."
With my own hands, the one who made me!!
That instant.
Kwaduk……!
The weakened ground from the shockwave suddenly collapsed. Sado Gwang began plummeting with the Wheel Cart.
"?!"
[?!]
Pa Cheon flew toward the falling Sado Gwang. It stabbed into the Wheel Cart he clung to, embedding itself in the cliff wall. A reflexive act, it seemed.
Sado Gwang now dangled precariously from the cliff.
Below stretched an impossibly sheer drop. Torrential rapids churned far down—swollen from recent rains. Unless Peak realm or higher, death was certain.
[…….]
Pa Cheon fell silent, as if in shock.
I couldn't say a word to it either. Slaying with one's own hand the one you'd believed was your brother—no ordinary mind could bear it. Even if it had faltered and saved him on impulse, what right did I have to judge?
"Eager to kill before, now playing savior?"
Sado Gwang sneered again.
Then.
"……My lord."
Sa Wol had appeared. The massive destruction from Pa Cheon must've snapped her from the simsang.
"Thank you for letting me finish it with my own hands."
With that, Sa Wol leaped off the cliff. She walked straight down the vertical face toward Sado Gwang.
"Don't delude yourself!"
Sado Gwang gnashed his teeth.
"Think I'll fall to your clown show? I am Sado Gwang! The Sado Gwang who will utterly remake this flawed world!"
Sado Gwang flicked his fingers. Sa Wol urgently kicked off—but
Clunk!
The Wheel Cart's fixings released. His body was sucked into the Forgotten Soul Valley gorge.
"?!"
[…….]
Pa Cheon, embedded in the cliff, went utterly still, shocked.
"Sado Gwangggg!"
Sa Wol dove into the Forgotten Soul Valley. After several dives, she climbed back up.
In her hand, a fragment of Sado Gwang's outer robe.
"I will find you."
Blue flames of hatred blazed in Sa Wol's eyes.
"Even if it's the corpse of a dead man, I will find you."
Sa Wol leaped down again.
I ground my teeth alone, watching her go.
Sado Gwang… isn't dead. He's alive.
This Murim Return world was ruled by clichés.
Those who hurl themselves off cliffs always gain fortune and return. By my experience, we'd never broken a cliché yet.
I need to prepare. No telling when he'll resurface.
Of course, we'd dealt him a real blow this time—he wouldn't show easily.
If I prepared swiftly in the interim, we could handle it.
But right now, I couldn't move busily.
Pa Cheon remained embedded in the cliff, unmoving.
I didn't speak rashly. Instead, I stood at the cliff's edge.
Thus, I stood silently for a long while.
Dawn broke in the distance.
Pretending to Be the Heavenly Demon