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Chapter 01
The entire jianghu was thrown into shock.
The Demonic Martial Emperor.
The strongest under heaven.
The Blood Night Heavenly Demon, Ma Heukpung, was dead.
The cause of death—unknown.
Two years after he had ignited the Great War between the Orthodox and Demonic factions, the war came to an empty, anticlimactic end with the death of the Blood Night Heavenly Demon.
During that time, hundreds of thousands of pyeong of farmland were burned, and thousands of homes were destroyed.
Wherever battles broke out, innocent civilians had no choice but to shed tears of blood.
When the war ended, the first to smile were not the martial artists of the jianghu, but the common people.
They cheered at the end of the war and began reclaiming the burned fields and rebuilding their homes.
The tenth year since Emperor Seonjong of Great Ming ascended the throne.
It was late March, when spring had come and the snow had melted—just before the Martial Alliance and the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult were about to wage a war that would decide their fates.
The Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing Palace) within the Forbidden City—an imperial residence even the Imperial Consort could not enter freely.
The Emperor filled the wine cup of Dan Hyeon-woo, who sat across from him.
Dan Hyeon-woo silently watched as the cup was filled.
Seeing this, the Emperor let out a faint sigh.
For nearly ten years, Dan Hyeon-woo had never shown any expression other than a blank face.
The Emperor spoke.
“Are you truly leaving? Now, when the suffering of the people has lessened thanks to you eliminating the Blood Night Heavenly Demon?”
“Yes.”
A short but resolute reply.
Though the brevity was the same as always, the firmness in his voice was something not heard in ten years.
Eighteen years had passed since the Emperor had saved his life.
For that entire time, Dan Hyeon-woo had led the Emperor’s secret organization, the Myeongdae (Nameless Squad), as its captain.
The Nameless Squad, composed of seventy masters including Dan Hyeon-woo, originally had no name.
But someone began calling it “Nameless Squad,” and the name stuck.
Suppressing his frustration, the Emperor drained his cup.
When he set it down, it made a noticeably loud sound.
“Stay in the palace. I will no longer give you difficult tasks. You are the one who stabilized Great Ming to this extent. This peace would never have come without you. And now that things have finally settled, you say you will leave after enduring all the hardship?”
“Yes.”
“From now on, I will bring you into the light. I will grant you power second only to mine. You deserve that much. Everything people have longed for and dreamed of—it is all before your eyes.”
“I did not do this for such things.”
“Even if you did not wish for them, aren’t they things you ought to enjoy now? Thanks to you, the people of Great Ming now live in a better world. The debt Great Ming owes you is immeasurable.”
“Just as Your Majesty did not govern in expectation of reward, I too have acted with the same heart.”
“Who else in Great Ming has achieved as much as you? Since its founding, no one has accomplished what you have. And yet you say you need no reward?”
“They would only burden me.”
“Are you trying to make me into an emperor who mistreats his meritorious subjects?”
“If Your Majesty were such a man, I would have left your side long ago.”
The Emperor, watching Dan Hyeon-woo’s unchanged expression, realized something.
What he truly wanted.
From the beginning, Dan Hyeon-woo was not someone who could be swayed by money or power.
The Emperor was not trying to keep him with such things either.
He simply wished to share in the prosperity together.
To share what they had built.
And yet, Dan Hyeon-woo’s resolve did not waver.
“I will ask you once more. Are you truly leaving? Will you abandon the peaceful era of Great Ming that you helped create? You should stay and witness the world you built!”
“There is something that must be set right.”
“Ha… To refuse the Emperor’s request so cleanly. You truly have not changed at all.”
The Emperor could not stop sighing.
A man who had endured nothing but hardship.
And the most trustworthy person he had—yet one who had always remained in the shadows, making even a farewell ceremony impossible.
At last, he could no longer bring himself to stop him.
Even in regret, he had to let him go.
The Emperor took out what he had prepared and placed it on the table.
A golden token engraved with six horses.
And a golden identity plaque, unlike the usual wooden ones.
“These at least—take them. I trust you will not show disloyalty by refusing even these.”
“Understood.”
Dan Hyeon-woo calmly tucked the two items into his sleeve.
The Emperor closed his eyes, overcome with emotion.
A man who had been by his side like heavenly fortune from the moment they met, who had helped him lead Great Ming as if it were fate.
Losing him was like losing his own limbs.
But he knew they had to part.
“I can no longer stop you.”
“Thank you for everything.”
Dan Hyeon-woo rose to bow.
But the Emperor spread his arms and stopped him.
Tears had already gathered in his closed eyes.
“Don’t. Please don’t bow.”
Instead, the Emperor raised his cup.
With sorrow in his gaze, he forced a bright tone.
“Before you go, let us part like we did back then.”
Back when the Emperor was still a prince.
No—back when Dan Hyeon-woo did not know he was a prince.
Like the days when they lived as brothers.
For the first time in ten years, Dan Hyeon-woo spoke a name he had never dared utter.
“Zhu Wuntian. This is farewell.”
“Dan Hyeon-woo, don’t forget me even after you leave. Keep in touch from time to time, you heartless friend.”
“You take care as well.”
They raised their cups and clinked them together.
With a clear sound, the wine flowed down their throats.
They set the cups down and clasped hands.
It had been years since their last handshake.
Unlike long ago, the Emperor’s calluses had softened, while Dan Hyeon-woo’s had deepened.
Though Dan Hyeon-woo still looked in his early twenties, fifteen years had passed, and the Emperor now appeared in his mid-thirties.
Yet they remained comrades and friends who had walked the same path.
After the handshake, Dan Hyeon-woo turned and left the Palace of Heavenly Purity.
The man who had been seen off only by the Emperor—the strongest under heaven—erased his traces from the Forbidden City.
It was half a year after the Heavenly Demon’s death.
The ship swayed atop the rolling waves, pushing through the rough sea.
Departing from Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province, it was heading toward Hangzhou.
A week passed.
At last, Hangzhou appeared in the distance.
“Heaven above, paradise below—Suzhou and Hangzhou.”
As the saying went, Hangzhou was a city of wealth and splendor, even more vibrant than the capital, Beijing.
And now, after twenty years, it welcomed Dan Hyeon-woo.
A surge of emotion rose within him, and he bit his lip.
Not because it was prosperous.
But because it was home.
A place filled with longing.
Yet it was also the place he had left behind.
Before leaving as a boy, he had told his parents he would return after becoming a great martial artist.
But his father, who ran a modest silk shop, had fiercely opposed him.
Usually gentle, his father had shown a fury Dan Hyeon-woo had never seen before.
The reason was clear now.
A martial artist’s life was harsh—living day to day, risking death.
But back then, he had refused to accept it.
Their argument escalated.
And in the end, he ran away from home.
He swore he would never return until he achieved his dream.
Thus, driven by stubborn pride, he wandered the Central Plains.
There, he encountered a fortuitous opportunity.
The Manmu Divine Art.
Two months after running away, he had been chased by wolves into a deep mountain cave.
Five wolves stopped at the cave entrance, unwilling to enter.
Inside, he found a skeleton holding a sword—and three books.
Trapped, he survived on moss and dripping water while mastering the technique.
A year later, he buried the skeleton and emerged.
With a single strike, he killed all five wolves.
From then on, he roamed the land.
Not long after, he encountered a demonic sect group.
Gravely wounded, he was saved by a man—
Zhu Wuntian, a wandering prince.
Together, they traveled, fought bandits, and destroyed evil sects.
Only later did Dan Hyeon-woo learn his companion was a prince.
Eventually, he helped him become Emperor.
And for ten years, he wielded his sword to build a peaceful era.
But each achievement meant more bloodshed.
His smiles faded.
His face grew expressionless.
And eventually, he became numb.
Only his longing for his family deepened.
‘I swore I’d return in glory… and even said I wouldn’t so much as urinate facing Hangzhou until then.’
A bitter smile formed.
Now he returned—not in glory, but as a fallen warrior.
Yet he had reached the peak of martial arts.
Even the Heavenly Demon had not been his match.
Still, his achievements could not be revealed.
Not even his name.
He didn’t know if he had fulfilled his dream.
But one thing was certain—
He had come home.
The ship docked.
“Arrived at Hangzhou! Passengers disembarking, prepare yourselves!”
Snapping out of his thoughts, Dan Hyeon-woo stepped onto land with a single small bundle.
Carrying regret and longing, he returned to his hometown after twenty years.
“I wonder how much has changed… Will my family even recognize me?”
With that, Dan Hyeon-woo began walking toward the home he had longed for.
