Ascension
“Ow, ow.”
I lay sprawled across the floor of my quarters.
Groans escaped my lips of their own accord.
My entire body ached so badly it was almost unbearable.
Ju Tae-hwi’s training method was nothing short of brutal.
When I asked him to teach me the basics, he looked at me like he had finally caught a worthy prey and pushed me to my absolute limit.
It was so extreme that even a simple downward strike had to be executed with perfect, identical form every single time. I must have swung my sword thousands of times.
Though my body was exhausted, I had gained much from the ordeal.
Repeating the same downward strike made me realize my swordsmanship was far more unstable than I had thought.
My focus held for short bursts, but accuracy dropped sharply as time dragged on.
Ju Tae-hwi’s hawk-like eyes caught the flaw instantly and kept correcting my posture.
‘Of course.’
Thinking back, it made sense.
In my previous life, whenever I crushed demonic practitioners, I always struck fast and hard enough to prevent any resistance.
The only time I fought a prolonged battle was against the injured Cheonma.
Even then, the result had been mutual destruction.
After all, I had spent my days drinking and idling until the Ju family faced annihilation. Picking up a sword only after disaster struck was bound to end that way.
‘Heh. From now on, I’ll train like this every day until I leave the family.’
Ju Tae-hwi left with a satisfied smile.
My body hurt, yet I felt refreshed.
“Hup.”
I sat up at once.
Yeo Mong’s report lay before me.
“Myoak Merchant Group and Eunju Merchant Group.”
The report contained information on both groups.
Neither was particularly large.
They handled the gold mined from the Ju family’s mines on the Zhushan Archipelago, transporting it to workshops where artisans crafted jewelry and luxury goods for sale.
They had maintained contracts with the Ju family for over ten years.
At first glance, nothing in the report seemed suspicious.
Both groups had faithfully sold the Ju family’s gold and generated steady profits without incident.
“A pity.”
Every workshop had its own distinct method of constructing carriages.
If even one carriage had remained relatively intact, I could have identified which group harbored Sa-an Gwi-gun.
Unfortunately, the carriage had been smashed to pieces.
The single fragment I recovered was too damaged to reveal its manufacturing origin.
“I’ll have to go myself.”
Of course, I had no intention of visiting openly.
Since Sa-an Gwi-gun had already seen my face, he would flee the moment he spotted me.
“It’s been a while.”
I retrieved the stealth suit from the corner and smiled.
I had worn this outfit countless times in my previous life.
The memories felt fresh.
I waited for night to fall.
* * *
Night arrived.
Two shadows rose from the Ju estate.
Muyoung and I.
We headed straight for the Eunju Merchant Group.
‘Both groups are based here in Nanchang anyway.’
Because they handled the Ju family’s gold, strict oversight was required.
The moment gold was extracted, it was moved to Nanchang for verification.
The Ju family weighed it precisely and paid the groups a commission.
Transportation, processing, and sales—all handled by the merchant groups—commanded substantial fees.
Before long, we reached the Eunju Merchant Group.
The hour was late, and the compound was silent.
We scaled the wall without hesitation.
Guards patrolled the grounds, but most were merely second-rate, barely clinging to first-rate level.
Evading their notice was easier than eating rice cakes while lying down.
I made for the merchant lord’s office first.
Important ledgers were usually kept by the merchant lord himself—records of personnel and finances.
“Keep watch.”
“……”
Muyoung nodded at my whisper.
Finding the office was simple.
The largest, most prominent central building was almost always the merchant lord’s office or residence.
“Good.”
As expected, we had found the right place.
Guards patrolled inside as well, slightly stronger than those outside, yet still nothing remarkable.
I sharpened my senses.
If Sa-an Gwi-gun were here, my perception would react.
Nothing stirred.
I entered the merchant lord’s office.
The lamps were out, and silence filled the room.
I searched every corner and piled every ledger I could find onto the desk.
“Quite a lot.”
Countless contracts lay before me.
A merchant group could not survive on dealings with the Ju family alone.
I examined the contracts one by one.
I did not need to read them in detail.
I only needed to check whether any trading partners belonged to the Black Corner.
Unlike martial clans or sects, merchant groups made no distinction between orthodox and unorthodox.
Anyone with money became a customer.
They were merchants, not martial artists.
Therefore, trading with the Ju family did not preclude dealings with the unorthodox.
“Nothing.”
The Eunju Merchant Group was clean.
While they had some unorthodox clients, none were connected to the Black Corner.
‘The carriage that entered the Black Corner… That means they must be trading with the Black Corner after all.’
Only one possibility remained.
The Myoak Merchant Group.
If they were not involved, we were back to square one.
I turned to leave the office.
“……”
Something about the contracts caught my eye.
Strange details had appeared while I skimmed them.
I gathered the suspicious documents and slipped them into my robes before departing.
“Did you find what you were looking for?”
Muyoung asked as he followed.
I shook my head.
“No. Not here. They do not trade with the Black Corner.”
Merchant groups never revealed their clients or suppliers.
Credit was life to a merchant, the very proof of trust.
They would rather die than betray that trust.
That was why we had to sneak in.
“Then the next one……”
Muyoung muttered, tension clear in his voice.
“It will be there. The Myoak Merchant Group.”
Whoosh!
I launched myself forward with the words.
Sa-an Gwi-gun. I was drawing closer to him with every step.
* * *
The Myoak Merchant Group was larger than the Eunju Merchant Group.
It was nearly on the scale of a major trading house.
Its security was far tighter as well.
Something felt wrong.
My instincts were usually sharp.
Right now, this place felt distinctly ominous.
Still, ominous or not, I scaled the wall without hesitation.
Inside, the guards were even more numerous and vigilant.
‘Why are there so many? At this level, I would believe it was a martial clan.’
Well-trained guards.
Sharp-eyed experts whose solar plexus points bulged with power patrolled the grounds.
Many of them were far stronger than any ordinary merchant group should possess.
The situation grew more suspicious by the moment.
I located the merchant lord’s office and paused to steady my breathing before entering.
‘What is this?’
The presences inside were anything but ordinary.
‘Don’t tell me there’s……’
A master.
A rather powerful one.
Muyoung sensed it too and quietly gripped his sword hilt.
I glanced around, then pointed upward.
The window above the office was slightly ajar.
Muyoung and I climbed a pillar, reached the beam, and slipped inside without difficulty.
‘Reminds me of the old days. I used to raid Demonic Cult hideouts just like this.’
The memory brought a strange sense of nostalgia.
I suppressed my presence completely and crawled along the beam toward the office.
A powerful aura leaked from within.
“……”
Two voices drifted up from below.
‘The merchant lord? Who is the other one?’
One voice clearly belonged to the Myoak Merchant Group’s lord. The other was unfamiliar.
I had never heard it before.
I held my breath and listened.
* * *
Myoak Merchant Group, merchant lord’s office.
Merchant Lord Beom Jin was receiving a late-night guest.
“Hahaha, welcome.”
The visitor came once a month, yet he was one of Beom Jin’s most important clients.
“This month’s collection?”
At the man’s question, Beom Jin produced a promissory note from his robes and handed it over.
A note worth ten thousand nyang, stamped with the seal of the Heavenly Battlefield.
The man accepted it with a satisfied expression and tucked it away.
“How are things? I heard the Sword Sovereign himself moved on the Zhushan Archipelago……”
“What could possibly go wrong? I already silenced everyone as usual.”
A gloomy aura emanated from the man as he spoke.
“Whew. I cannot keep doing this much longer. The Great Hero will soon return to his family, will he not?”
“I still have one last exchange to make before the handover. I have been at this for a long time.”
The man nodded at Beom Jin’s words and lifted the teacup before him to wet his lips.
Then it happened.
His expression hardened.
He set the cup down carefully and smiled at Beom Jin.
“Eh? What is it?”
“I felt something strange.”
The moment he finished speaking, he drew the sword at his waist and thrust it straight into the ceiling.
A large hole appeared in the center of the beam.
“Good heavens!”
Beom Jin yelped and tumbled from his chair, landing hard on his backside.
Clang!
Sparks flew from the tip of the man’s sword.
“Who are you?”
At his question, Muyoung descended to the floor, sword in hand.
“What kind of rat sneaks around eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?”
The man tilted his head.
Muyoung wore night-travel clothes.
His eyes, visible beneath the mask, wavered.
He had heard every word of the conversation along with me.
“You are the rat.”
I descended slowly from the ceiling after Muyoung.
Then I removed my mask.
“J-Ju…… Young Master?”
The man seemed to recognize me.
I recognized him as well.
Or rather, I recognized his affiliation.
“Red Dragon Unit, vice commander.”
He was a Ju family guard.
Both Beom Jin and the man turned deathly pale upon realizing my identity.
The insignia on the man’s shoulder marked him as a vice commander.
He had likely been stationed on the Zhushan Archipelago.
“So you have been skimming money behind our backs.”
Ten thousand nyang changed hands in a single transaction.
If this had been going on for years, the total would reach tens or even hundreds of thousands of nyang—enough to build several grand estates.
“Are the two of you the only ones involved?”
He released his killing intent, glaring at us as though ready to strike, sword raised.
“What if we are?”
“Then you must die.”
“Me?”
The man nodded at my question.
“A dead man tells no tales, as they say.”
“If I die here, you will have even more problems.”
“I cannot let you live. At the very least, killing you will give me time to flee.”
“I see.”
I nodded as though in agreement.
I had never believed the Ju family was entirely clean.
Moreover, the man was a vice commander of the Red Dragon Unit.
The interesting part was what lay behind him.
‘A mere vice commander could not have orchestrated something like this.’
Absurd.
Wherever wealth existed, people gathered.
Where people gathered, greed inevitably followed.
It was only natural.
One could only hope for personal integrity.
And I was not the sort to place my trust in something as unreliable as a person’s conscience.
“Block him, Muyoung.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
I stepped back.
A Red Dragon Unit vice commander.
At minimum, an early Peak realm expert.
Muyoung, on the other hand, was at the extreme of first-rate.
Yet Muyoung stood at the threshold, ready to break through at any moment.
Clang!
Muyoung took the initiative.
I turned my gaze to Beom Jin.
He sat pale and trembling violently.
I approached him slowly.
“Merchant Lord.”
“Eek! Y-Yes!”
Beom Jin scrambled to his feet.
“Do you know who I am?”
“I only know you are a young master of the Ju family……”
He did not know my exact identity.
“I do not particularly care how much money you have stolen.”
I tossed the stack of ledgers I had taken from the Eunju Merchant Group onto the desk.
The Eunju group had also been skimming, though on a far smaller scale than Myoak.
“But I heard something earlier that bothered me.”
I gripped Beom Jin’s shoulder tightly and asked in a cold voice.
“What did you mean when you said you silenced everyone?”