Chapter 35 – Blood for a Bloodline
Three days after the Twin Moon Sect raid, the wind howled through the Black Fang Mountains. The air here was sharp, biting—filled with wild qi and the scent of unclaimed land. Hidden beneath the mountains, in a makeshift cave, Mu-won sat cross-legged as the Eye of Divination floated before him.
Its golden iris flickered with ancient memories, arcane formulas, and sealed knowledge long forbidden.
But none of that was what he wanted.
Not yet.
Around him, the others rested—or tried to. Gwak Rin nursed his bruised ribs while muttering curses under his breath. Seo Yura cleaned her blade in silence, but her eyes never left Mu-won.
He hadn't spoken since they'd escaped.
Not a word.
His mind was immersed in the eye's consciousness, in the endless visions of lives long dead—martial ancestors, grand sect wars, and the birth of the very Murim power system. But there was one thing that kept surfacing again and again.
A symbol.
The mark of a dragon swallowing the sun.
He had seen it before—in his past life.
And in the deepest memory fragment of the Eye… he saw it again.
His eyes shot open.
"Seo Yura," he said, voice low.
She blinked. "Yeah?"
"Prepare to move. I know our next target."
"The Eye already gave you something?"
"No. It gave me a clue," Mu-won said, standing. "There's a bloodline hidden in the Forgotten Cliffs. A cursed clan. Wiped out a century ago by the Three Grand Sects because they had 'forbidden blood arts.'"
Seo Yura frowned. "I thought they were myths."
Mu-won's gaze turned cold. "They're real. I used to be one of them in my previous life."
The entire cave went silent.
Even the wind paused.
Gwak Rin sat up. "You're saying… you were from a clan that used blood arts? And you were reincarnated?"
"I was betrayed," Mu-won said softly. "I died holding the head of the sect master who killed my family. I was a monster to them. A threat. But I had power no one could replicate. And now that I'm back… I'm going to reclaim it."
Seo Yura narrowed her eyes. "You plan to revive the blood arts?"
"No," Mu-won said, stepping forward, eyes burning. "I plan to evolve them. Perfect them."
He turned to the rest of the group.
"You're free to leave," he said. "From this point on, the path becomes darker. Bloodier. The Murim world won't forgive what we're about to do."
None of them moved.
Seo Yura smirked. "I didn't follow you to play it safe."
Gwak Rin clicked his tongue. "Tch. You're a bastard, but you're a brilliant one. Let's see where your madness goes."
Mu-won smiled faintly. "Good."
He looked to the Eye, its light flickering in response.
"The legacy of the forgotten bloodline is buried beneath a city swallowed by time. A trial of flesh, will, and sacrifice guards it."
He turned to face the east, where the Forgotten Cliffs lay.
"Let's wake up the demons they buried."
And with that, Mu-won and his shadows vanished into the wilds, toward a forgotten land soaked in ancestral blood.
But far to the south, in a gilded palace above the clouds, an old man opened his eyes and whispered:
"The Cursed Star has returned…"
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