A Visit to the Sacred Ground
“Y-You… how could you…?!”
Yi Tae-gyeom demanded, his voice trembling with rage.
It wasn’t simply because Sagong Cheon—who had only been a Peak Realm master—had blocked his hand.
After all, he hadn’t put any inner energy or killing intent into that blow.
But the real shock was that the man he had always dismissed as nothing more than a hunting dog had dared defy him.
Until now, Sagong Cheon had never once shown him this side of himself.
“Please stop, Elder Council Head.”
“W-What did you say?”
“I am not some wooden puppet for you to strike whenever you feel like it. And yet you still saw fit to lay hands on me.”
“Y-You bastard…!”
“And to be honest, I already knew about this matter. I even took part in the operation with him. But I see no reason I should have reported that to you.”
“...!”
“Because I am not your guard. I am the Young Lord’s guard. I had already made up my mind to become his man, so I had no reason to report anything to you.”
“You ungrateful wretch! Do you even know whose thanks your daughter is still alive?”
“I am truly grateful for that. But in return, I spent years serving as your hunting dog, did I not? I believe that was payment enough.”
“You insolent dog! Without my support, your daughter dies!”
“That is no longer something you need concern yourself with. So I suggest you stop assuming I will continue to obey your orders.”
“You bastard! Do you have a death wish?!”
Rumble—
The room shook.
Yi Tae-gyeom had unleashed his power, trying to crush Sagong Cheon beneath it.
He had not become the Elder Council Head for nothing. His realm had already reached the Harmony Realm.
Under normal circumstances, a Peak Realm master like Sagong Cheon should not even have been able to breathe properly under that pressure.
Under normal circumstances.
Shing!
Sagong Cheon drew his sword at once, and starlight bloomed along its edge.
Wooooong.
From the brightly lit blade burst forth Sword Gang.
“S-Sword Gang?! How could you possibly—?!”
Shock spread across Yi Tae-gyeom’s face.
He had never imagined that in the meantime Sagong Cheon had become a master of the Transcendent Realm.
With his face slightly pale, Sagong Cheon said,
“Of course, if you truly set your mind to it, someone like me would be easy enough for you to kill. But I will not simply submit. At the very least, I can make enough of a commotion to bring others running.”
“What did you say?!”
“If that happens, your filthy scheme to use me to keep the Young Lord under watch will become known throughout the entire clan. Do you understand what that means?”
“Y-You dare threaten me?!”
“I am not threatening you. I am simply stating what will happen. So I urge you to think wisely.”
Sagong Cheon’s threat worked.
Grinding his teeth, Yi Tae-gyeom had no choice but to rein in his pressure.
Pointing a finger at Sagong Cheon, he shouted,
“Ungrateful cur! Get out at once!”
Even at Yi Tae-gyeom’s accusing finger, Sagong Cheon did not so much as flinch.
“Very well. I’ll be leaving now.”
And when he turned calmly to go, Yi Tae-gyeom spat out a curse in a voice thick with venom.
“You will pay for daring to betray me. You’d do well to keep a close eye on your family!”
“Elder Council Head.”
That was the moment.
“...!”
From Sagong Cheon erupted a fierce killing intent so intense that even Yi Tae-gyeom, a master of the Harmony Realm, could not ignore it.
Startled, Yi Tae-gyeom looked at him.
Sagong Cheon was glaring at him with a face more savage than Yi Tae-gyeom had ever seen before.
“You would be wise not to even think of laying a hand on my family.”
“...!”
“If you so much as try to harm them in the slightest...”
Sagong Cheon warned him, releasing a terrifying force that made it clear these were no empty words.
“I will make you taste hell.”
Tak.
Sagong Cheon sheathed his sword.
“No matter what it takes.”
With that, he left Yi Tae-gyeom’s room.
All that remained behind was a shattered table, a wrecked chamber, and Yi Tae-gyeom—who had, for a brief moment, been overwhelmed by Sagong Cheon.
“Damn it!”
Bang!
He kicked the already broken table aside.
Then he thought of the one responsible for all this.
“Jin Muyeol...!”
That accursed brat who, at some point, had suddenly changed completely and started ruining every one of his plans.
This was all his fault.
If not for him, Yi Tae-gyeom would never have suffered such humiliation.
“I won’t let this stand!”
He bellowed into the empty room.
But there was no one there to hear it.
The next day.
“Hm. So that old man actually said that.”
I listened to Sagong Cheon’s report and sank into thought.
“First of all, well done. Just hearing you say it clears my chest.”
“To be honest, I regret it a little. Perhaps I should have endured a bit longer and continued passing the Elder Council Head’s plans on to you...”
“No, there was no need for that. You already did more than enough. There’s no reason for you to keep enduring humiliation on top of it.”
“Young Lord...”
“Besides, now that things have come this far, that bastard Yi Tae-gyeom wouldn’t have trusted you any longer anyway. Whether you stayed or left would have made little difference.”
So in my eyes, Sagong Cheon had done the right thing by walking out this time.
At least, that was how I saw it.
“The problem is whether that bastard Yi Tae-gyeom might try something against your family.”
Hm.
What should I do about that?
After thinking for a moment, I clapped my hands once.
“How about moving your residence instead?”
“Pardon?”
“Leave the house you’re living in now and bring your wife and Rin-ah inside the Northern Heavenly Sword Sect itself. That would make you much safer from any possible kidnapping or assassination attempts.”
It wasn’t as though he would be completely unable to act inside the clan grounds, but it was still far safer than outside, where there were fewer witnesses. A crowded estate was better than an isolated home.
“Quite a few of the clan’s martial artists already live inside the sect grounds with their families. You can do the same. Ah, and of course, I’ll also ask the Sayeongdae to keep a closer watch over them.”
“B-But to do that, I’d need money, and we’d have to find a new house...”
“Don’t worry about the money. I’ll cover the full cost. And as for the house, there should be one available. We may not have built something on the scale of the Sichuan Tang Family’s Tang Family Village, but we still have everything we need.”
“Y-Young Lord!”
Sagong Cheon dropped to his knees, visibly overcome.
“I truly don’t know how I could ever repay this kindness...”
“Stand up. Having you serve as my guard is already a great help to me. Besides, lately you’ve even been helping with my training, haven’t you?”
I personally helped Sagong Cheon, who had remained kneeling, back to his feet.
The rims of his eyes had gone red before I knew it.
“Then we’ll settle matters concerning your family that way. Does that sound acceptable?”
“Yes. I will follow your wishes, Young Lord.”
“Good, then.”
I folded my arms and quietly considered what came next.
“For a while, the Elder Council Head’s faction will keep quiet. They’ll shrink back and hide, trying to avoid the current atmosphere.”
“Then are you planning to wipe them all out in one stroke while you have the chance?”
“No, I don’t think that would be wise. Right now they’ll be working desperately to erase the traces of their corruption. It won’t be easy to dig them up.”
And even if I did, that would create another problem.
If I tried to rip everything out by the roots in one blow, there was a real chance those bastards might make some kind of desperate move.
After listening carefully to my explanation, Sagong Cheon said, his face set hard,
“You are concerned the elders may rebel.”
“Yes. Whatever else may be said, the power the elders have built up over the years is formidable. If they unite and resist, the Northern Heavenly Sword Sect could be split in two.”
Of course, such a thing was unlikely under normal circumstances.
The elders knew perfectly well that they needed the Northern Heavenly Sword Sect if they wanted to preserve their power.
Still, one never knew.
It was always better to prepare for the worst.
“So for now, it would be best to strengthen our foundations. Rather than pushing the elders to the brink, I’ll establish the authority of the Family Head and myself as Young Lord, improve our martial strength, and deal with the problems piling up within the clan—as well as the ones we’ll soon have to face.”
“Whatever you choose to do, Young Lord, I will follow you with absolute loyalty.”
Sagong Cheon spoke with a solemn expression.
He was sincere. Of that, I had no doubt.
I gave a faint smile and nodded.
Having an ally like Sagong Cheon at my side was reassuring for me as well.
“Then what should I deal with first...?”
I fell into brief thought.
It wasn’t because there was nothing to do.
It was because there was far too much.
Then one thing came to mind.
“I should go see the Family Head.”
“It seems you’ve thought of something.”
“I have.”
As I calmly sifted through my memories of the past, one possibility resurfaced.
A way to strengthen the clan’s overall power—and greatly advance my own martial arts as well.
“I need to meet my granduncle.”
I immediately went to Father and told him my plan.
That I intended to leave the clan for a short while and visit my granduncle—my great-uncle, in other words.
Naturally, Father was deeply startled.
“Muyeol. How do you know of him? His existence was meant to remain hidden...”
“While you were bedridden, Father, I studied the clan’s secret history. By chance, I came across it then.”
“That is not the sort of information one simply stumbles across by chance...”
Father said it with a hint of bewilderment.
But he did not press me any further.
Whatever path had led me to this knowledge, he chose to trust me.
I’m sorry I can’t tell you the truth, Father.
I apologized to him inwardly.
But I couldn’t exactly tell him I had heard it directly from him in the past, could I?
After all, this was something you told me just before you died.
I called up that distant memory and quietly waited for Father to speak.
After letting out a light sigh, he began to explain.
“Since you seem to know a fair amount already, I’ll speak plainly as well. My uncle... which would make him your granduncle. He is currently guarding the sacred ground of our Northern Heavenly Sword Sect.”
“The sacred ground?”
“The place where the founder of our Northern Heavenly Sword Sect, Pungsin, lies buried.”
Father looked me straight in the eye as he continued.
“When members of our Northern Heavenly Sword Sect—of the Jin family—go there, they may undergo the trials arranged by our ancestor.”
“I believe I’ve heard of that. And of the reward one can obtain by passing those trials.”
“Hah. You really do know a great deal.”
“In any case, Granduncle is guarding that place, then?”
“That’s right. He voluntarily keeps watch there so no outsider may enter the sacred ground. The formations are already in place, so he could have returned to the clan and lived comfortably, yet still...”
“I’m sure he has his reasons. In any event, I’ll pay that place a visit for a short while.”
“You intend to challenge the sacred ground?”
“Yes.”
At Father’s question, I nodded at once.
Looking straight at him, I continued in a serious voice.
“Because if I am to master the lost Wind God Dance, there is no other way.”