Blue
Ju Seung-hyeok thought to himself.
In any case, most of the family elders supported this young master, Ju Sang-jin, and he himself had claimed it didn’t matter who became the successor.
Yet he could not shake the single thread of lingering ambition rooted in a corner of his heart.
‘If you simply remain still, do you truly believe the opportunity will come?’
He had shown nothing on his face when Ju Woo-jin spoke those words, but they had struck him like a thunderbolt.
He had already been given so many chances.
After the Anak Blood Incident, when he had crumbled, his father had waited for him all this time.
‘Only Big Brother… Only Big Brother is qualified.’
Was qualification something granted to everyone?
No.
Then was opportunity something that arrived for everyone?
That wasn’t it, either.
‘You will not even obtain a chance like this again.’
His heart wavered.
“Haha… I really was a blessed fool.”
He had feared that the moment he stepped forward, the clan would be thrown into noisy political strife.
But the truth was the opposite.
Because he had stayed silent and hidden, the clamor had only grown louder.
To ensure no further noise arose, he had to move.
Clang!
He gripped his sword.
Now was the time to reveal his will.
So that everyone could see it, clearly and without question.
The instant the Sword Sovereign’s cherished blade, the Tiger White Pointed Sword, left its sheath, heaven and earth were swallowed by darkness.
It felt as though he stood at the edge of nothingness itself; he could not even perceive his own existence.
That was the weight of the sword the Sword Sovereign carried.
The absolute spirit of one who possessed the power to tear the world asunder.
Ju Seung-hyeok intended to stand against that spirit.
Distance? Breathing? Flow?
He could gauge none of them.
Before the giant known as the Sword Sovereign, Ju Seung-hyeok was no more than a speck of dust.
Yet the current eldest young master was different.
The smile had vanished from his face, replaced by a chilling coldness.
One breath. Another.
He focused entirely on the Sword Sovereign’s blade, committing every movement to memory.
Had it been any ordinary martial artist, the moment that sword left its sheath the victory would have belonged completely to the Sword Sovereign.
But the elders and the heads of the various families swallowed their groans.
Because Ju Seung-hyeok was slowly casting off the Sword Sovereign’s overwhelming pressure and beginning to reveal his own sword.
“Huh, as expected of the Ju family. To display his own sword within the momentum of Sword Sovereign brother?”
It was Tang Hwa-pyeong’s honest impression.
True to his straightforward nature, he voiced exactly what he felt.
In that way, everyone became immersed in the duel between the Sword Sovereign and the Sword Dragon.
The Sword Sovereign’s sword carried the qualification to speak of the world itself.
And the Sword Dragon?
His sword painted the future.
It dreamed of a new sky and swallowed vast ambition.
‘You can do anything you desire.’
That was what the Sword Sovereign declared with his blade.
‘As long as you set your mind to it.’
Take it. Take everything I have achieved.
It was provocative. Primal.
It struck directly at the pride tied to human desire.
Ju Seung-hyeok answered in kind.
‘I will find… my place.’
Thus, he spoke with his sword.
His blade shone with dazzling light.
It lacked the arrogance to tear the world apart or force all to submit like the Sword Sovereign’s.
Instead, it carried a brilliant radiance capable of inspiring everyone.
What the Sword Sovereign lacked, the Sword Dragon possessed.
The spectators cheered for it.
A refreshing shock.
This duel was revealing the Ju family’s brilliant future in its entirety.
Politics. Infighting within the family.
One of the reasons I had turned my back on the family in my previous life was exactly this.
Countless intertwined interests existed inside the clan.
From the direct line to the collateral branches of collateral branches.
A place where blood relatives from the twelfth or sixteenth degree—or perhaps even further—lived together.
That was what a great clan, a true family, meant.
When so many people became entangled in interests, political strife within the family followed as naturally as breathing.
I had wanted to escape those exhausting political webs.
But now, a certain degree of involvement had become necessary.
Intelligence network.
The first reason I thought so was precisely because of intelligence capabilities.
Information warfare was among the highest priorities in any conflict.
Having learned that lesson painfully in my past life, I had no intention of repeating the same regrets in this one.
Nominally, the one currently holding that intelligence power was the family head, Ju Tae-sung.
But reality was different.
Judging by the fact that the White Dragon Unit leader had already been recruited by Namgung I-hwa, I suspected a great deal of information was being concealed on Ju Sang-jin’s side.
Possibly even high-level intelligence that could reveal the movements of the Demon Cult.
It’s ruined.
There was no turning back now.
The White Dragon Unit would never lend their strength to me.
In that case, I needed to build a new intelligence force that no one could anticipate.
People who would follow only my orders and employ any means necessary to achieve the objective.
Not bound by the framework of the orthodox path, but within a larger category.
For example… the unorthodox factions.
At any rate, the Zhushan Archipelago Competition concluded with great success.
The people cheered and praised the Ju family’s brilliant future.
Numerous rising talents would once again harbor new dreams, and the secondary effect was that many of those dreams would now point toward the Ju family.
Yet among all the circulating rumors, my name appeared most frequently.
Ju Woo-jin.
The unexpected resurgence of the notorious good-for-nothing.
A display of martial prowess powerful enough to move even those who claimed a man could not be remade.
Public opinion boiled over, and that fervor brought a wind of fresh change to the Ju family.
After the Zhushan Archipelago Competition ended.
Late that night, Tang Hwa-pyeong came to my quarters.
“After hearing your words, I formed the assumption that a traitor exists within the clan.”
“A wise decision.”
I nodded at Tang Hwa-pyeong’s statement.
I had expected him to seek me out about this.
In truth, for the head of a great family to immediately act on another’s words was extremely difficult.
It required setting aside all pride in one’s clan.
“Since the family head moved personally, there must have been suspicious matters, correct?”
“Of course. I began by questioning how you managed to identify the Tang family where you were hiding in such a short time, just as you said.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You must have already harbored some suspicions before that.”
“……”
Tang Hwa-pyeong was rendered speechless.
Just what is this kid? How does he strike the exact center of my thoughts every time…
“Am I wrong?”
At my question, Tang Hwa-pyeong stopped thinking and nodded with a helpless expression.
“You’re right. There were things that felt suspicious but too minor to pursue, so I had buried them… Your words at the time reawakened all those doubts.”
Finally, Tang Hwa-pyeong spoke his true thoughts.
“I am currently investigating in secret. However, I cannot see the proper direction.”
“Hmm. What direction do you mean?”
“Even deciding who to investigate first is the problem. Too many people are connected to the incidents I suspected.”
I nodded.
One might question whether this cast doubt on his qualifications as family head, but I agreed with Tang Hwa-pyeong’s view.
It would not have been one major incident but a continuous stream of small ones.
If the people involved had been high-ranking Tang family executives, one could simply capture and interrogate them. But would the Demon Cult be so foolish?
And if one tried to trace the movements of low-level warriors, nothing of value would surface.
“Rather than discovering what they attempted, you should first predict the enemy’s objective.”
“Objective? Naturally, I have considered it.”
“I would like to hear the family head’s thoughts.”
“Their objective is obvious, is it not? Internal chaos within the Tang family, disruption of our operations…”
“That is exactly where the thinking went wrong.”
I laughed softly and drove the point home.
“They are aiming for the complete destruction of the Tang family.”
“……”
Tang Hwa-pyeong’s face turned deathly pale.
It was something no one would dare imagine.
The Five Great Families were not called that for nothing.
“Right now… someone dares to aim for the Tang family’s annihilation? And they planted spies inside the clan with that goal?”
“You find it hard to believe?”
Of course it would be difficult to accept.
This was not some minor clan but the Tang family of the world.
It was no exaggeration to say that such thinking had led to the ruin of the orthodox murim.
How could they dare?
Someone like you?
That arrogant mindset had invited destruction.
The spies had merely exploited that psychology with cunning.
This was not a matter of the family head being incompetent.
It was the natural mindset of those who held absolute superiority in power.
Moreover, a family head could not personally oversee every low-level warrior.
That was where the corruption took root.
I simply knew their methods all too well.
“I cannot presume to tell you how to identify them. The Tang family has its own ways, and the family head has his. However… from now on, proceed under the assumption that the Tang family could face destruction and begin filtering them out.”
They would hunt the spies with far greater desperation.
Only the most trustworthy and the ambiguously unreliable would remain.
“Hah… Hearing you speak makes me feel as though I have spent my days far too leisurely. It leaves me unsettled.”
“This is not your fault, family head.”
“Haha, how could the Ju family fail to recognize a talent like you?”
Tang Hwa-pyeong gently patted my back.
“It is my fault. It is true that I lived like a madman, just as the rumors claimed.”
“If you have chosen to change, that is enough. Humans are creatures that constantly change and adapt, are we not? A mistake from one’s youth is sufficient with just one.”
With a refreshed expression, Tang Hwa-pyeong rose from his seat.
It seemed my words had helped him.
“Ah, by the way. Do you intend to simply leave that item as it is?”
Tang Hwa-pyeong’s gaze fell on the wooden box sitting in the corner of the room.
It was the box containing the Hundred-refined steel I had received from Uncle Ju Tae-hwi.
“Ah.”
I looked at the box as if only now remembering it.
“The iron’s energy is excellent. If you have no particular use for it, I would like to forge a sword for you.”
“If the Tang family would make one for me, I will accept with gratitude.”
“Hahaha, what gratitude? On the contrary, I am the one who should be thankful. I heard you gave my son advice without holding back?”
It was about Tang Jin.
It seemed the boy had spoken of me.
“I will pass the message along. He will likely pour his heart and soul into forging it.”
“Thank you, family head.”
“Rest well.”
With those words, Tang Hwa-pyeong left my quarters.
His refreshing decisiveness lifted a weight from a corner of my heart.
If the Tang family began preparing now, their destruction would not come so easily.
Not long after Tang Hwa-pyeong departed, another visitor arrived.
“Today is busy indeed.”
After the competition ended, an unusual number of people had begun seeking out my quarters.
When I opened the door, an unexpected figure stood there.
“Uncle!”
A small figure smiled brightly upon seeing me and ran forward.
It was Seol-ah.
“What brings you here…”
I quickly lifted her into my arms.
Only then did I notice the presence behind her. There stood my older brother and sister-in-law.
My sister-in-law offered me a small bow in greeting.
I promptly invited them inside.
“What brings you both here?”
“Does a brother need a special reason to come see his younger brother’s face?”
For some reason, my older brother’s expression was bright.
It seemed he had gained considerable enlightenment after sparring with our father.
“Please get to the point.”
I roughly understood why they had come.
“Haha, as expected, nothing gets past your eyes.”
Saying so, my older brother pointed at Seol-ah, who was now playing in the corner.
“Seol-ah kept asking for you. There was barely any contact, yet after seeing you only once or twice, your impression seems to have remained quite strong.”
“Seol-ah did?”
“And…”
My older brother’s face suddenly hardened.
He looked at me quietly for a moment, then spoke in a low voice.
“Come with me to the Zhushan Archipelago. I want to take you there.”
It was truly… an unexpected proposal.