Chapter 1

The Bukgung Family, the greatest family in the world.

The Bukgung Family, a family acknowledged by all the people as the most powerful in the world, capable of controlling the warriors of all places, Righteous, Evil and Demonic, and wielding immense wealth to influence the Imperial Palace.

That Bukgung Family.

Wheik!

… falling to ruin right beneath my feet.

And this is the 7th time.

I looked down at the family estate engulfed in flames and laughed.

“Kuehehe….”

I simply laughed.

“Euhahahah…”

I laughed like a madman.

“Euhahaha!”

The laughter, which began as a choked sob, turned into a hearty, shoulder-shaking guffaw and the guffaw soon became a wild, body-shaking frenzy of laughter.

Below me, as I laughed until tears streamed down my face, I could see the remnants of the Bukgung Family crumbling into ashes.

Ah, don’t misunderstand. I didn’t do this.

On the contrary, I was the one who wished more than anyone for the Bukgung Family to not end up like this.

So the reason the Bukgung Family is in this state is because…

“… Damn it, I really messed up raising my children. How can there not be a single decent kid among them?”

It was because of the sons of the family, whose sanity and conscience had both gone for a vacation.

And not just one or two of them, but all of them!

All of this happened because of a promise.

“Please.”

“Don’t do this.”

“There is no one else but you.”

“What kind of nonsense is this?”

“I am sorry for burdening you with such a heavy responsibility.”

“Ehh, I said I am not going to do it!”

The dying man grasped my hand and spoke.

A firm, strong hand, yet marked by the passage of time.

This was the hand of the Bukgung Lord, Bukgung Cheon, the man who supposedly controlled the world with his fingertips.

…. Now, that hand looked so pathetic.

A lonely hand, with no one to hold it.

Despite my words, I held the man’s hand tightly.

“Mister, even if you look at me with those pitiful eyes like a stray dog in the rain, I won’t do it, you know that, don’t you? I am not that kind of a loyal person.”

“I know. I know it very well.”

“Yes, you know, right?”

“I know you cannot refuse my request.”

“Damn it!”

I raised my clenched fist to the side of my head, then slowly lowered it again.

The situation was too messed up for me to express my meager anger.

“Did you put something in your ears? I won’t do it! I said I won’t do it! I already said I won’t!”

Even though I yelled and screamed, Bukgung Cheon only smiled.

He was dying.

This old man was going to drive me crazy until the very end.

“No, you have so many people around you! There are so many people who would come running and grovel at your feet with just a word from you. You are that kind of a person, aren’t you? So why me? Why are you grabbing onto an innocent person like me and causing all this trouble when you are dying?”

Bukgung Cheon spoke, his breathing ragged and gasping.

“I cannot trust them. They are loyal to my gold, not to me. What reason do I have to trust them with this task?”

“Do you think I am any different from them?”

“You are different. You at least owe me something, don’t you?”

That is right. I owed this old man a debt.

That is why I, an outsider, am here, watching over his deathbed in this ruined family estate, abandoned by everyone else.

But even so, he should at least make a reasonable request to me!

“You are asking me to revive the Bukgung family? Is that even a reasonable request to put ahead? Do you even know who I am? I am Yeon Mujin, a penniless wandering swordsman!”

The Bukgung family was already ruined.

The righteous warriors turned a blind eye to the family’s downfall, and the demonic Cult clapped and rejoiced.

And the hyenas like Evil Sects tore it apart until it was nothing but rags.

All of this happened because the Bukgung Lord Cheon failed to properly choose a successor among the seven children.

So how could I, with no power, money or influence, possibly help him?

This isn’t just some local martial arts clan, this is the greatest and wealthiest family in the world, the Great Bukgung Family!

Hearing my protest, Bukgung Cheon raised his trembling right hand and pointed to his bedside.

There was a wooden box in there.

I picked up the box and opened it.

With a click, a clear, fragrant scent filled the room.

“What is this?”

Bukgung Cheon coughed and smiled bitterly.

“Do you, a mere wandering swordsman, even know what this is?”

“…. You are dying and you are still so arrogant.”

“This is precious. Incredibly precious. Something so valuable that you cannot buy with money. Just know that much.”

“So, what do you want me to do? Are you asking me to spoon-feed that into you? I don’t like men. I refuse it. If you need something to boost your health, go and get it yourself. I will fetch some water out of the kindness of my heart.”

Bukgung Cheon slowly shook his head.

“It isn’t mine. But yours.”

“Ah, so you are saying you will give me this in exchange for some free service? Is this a bribe then? You want me to eat this and then do you a favour.”

“Exactly.”

“Bullshit. I am not going to eat something that is obviously going to make me sick.”

When I showed signs of throwing it away, Bukgung Cheon gasped and grabbed my arm.

“No! Absolutely not! That spiritual pill is called the Reversion Pill! Don’t do that!”

“Reversion Pill?”

The name itself was incredibly suspicious to my ears.

Bukgung Cheon continued his explanation, gasping for air.

“If you take it, you can turn back time and revert to the past.”

“… Surely, Mister, you didn’t actually believe what some random street vendor told you and bought this one, did you?”

“It is a real Reversion Pill. I spent a fortune over a decade to acquire it.”

Bukgung Cheon spoke nonsense with an incredibly serious expression. At this point, I was starting to have my doubts.

After all, wasn’t he the richest man in the world? Surely, he wouldn’t lack that kind of discernment?

“So, what do you want me to do with this?

“Take that and go back into the past.”

“What happens if nothing happens after I take that?”

“Then forget about my request and leave this place. Go far away, to a place where the name Bukgung is never even heard.”

“Well, if that is the case…”

My calculation was that it wouldn’t be a bad deal, since it was obviously a fake anyway.

If it was a valuable pill, it would be even better if it increases my internal qi.

“Alright, I will listen to this. What do you want me to do after going back into the past? Do you want me to come and warn you before things get to this point?”

Bukgung Cheon slowly shook his head.

“Even if you did that, I wouldn’t listen. I know myself. The great Bukgung Cheon wouldn’t listen to someone like you…”

I stared at Bukgung Cheon with a look that said, ‘try completing that’.

“I wouldn’t listen to the words of a lowly wanderer like you. I know that better than anyone.”

“… Is that something you should be saying to my face? Especially when you are asking me a favor?

“I am just telling the truth.”

“If that is the case, why don’t you eat it yourself and go back in time instead of entrusting it to me?”

“It is too late for me to do that. Even if I ate it, I wouldn’t be able to overcome the effects of the Reversion Pill.”

Indeed, in Bukgung Cheon’s current condition, it would be difficult for him to even swallow a simple qi inducing pill, let alone a powerful one.

“So, what do you want me to do? What is it you want me to do so badly that you are sending me back in time?”

Bukgung Cheon’s gaze was intense as he looked at me.

Even the words that came from his mouth carried an even greater intensity.

“Choose one of my children who has the potential and make them the family lord! So that the Bukgung family, the greatest golden family in the world, doesn’t collapse meaninglessly!”

Bukgung Cheon said this, gripping onto my hand tightly.

It was a grip so strong that it was hard to believe it came from a man who had been so weak just moments ago.

“For that, you can do anything. Don’t hesitate to use any means necessary. If you need a sword, use a sword. If you need money, use money. If the other children get in your way, put a sword to their throats, and if I get in the way, stab a dagger in my back. Absolutely, without thought…! Don’t let the family collapse so meaninglessly…!”

The resentment and the madness in every word surpassed the understanding of an ordinary person.

A request, no, a command, filled with the wickedness and craziness of the lord of the greatest family in the world.

I was speechless, staring at Bukgung Cheon.

There were so many questions I wanted to ask.

You want me to stab a dagger in your back? Seriously?

You are willing to abandon all your kids for this?

If that is the case, who exactly do you want me to make the Lord of the family?

But all those questions were meaningless in the face of the limited time we had.

Bukgung Cheon’s life was slipping away.

“You… go back to the past… and save the Bukgung Family…”

Bukgung Cheon’s last breath escaped his mouth.

The final breath of a giant of this era.

“I trust you…”

I felt the strength slowly draining from his hand as we held hands.

I remained silent for a long time, watching over his deathbed.

All I had left was an unknown pill called the Reversion Pill and the last will of Bukgung Cheon.

“….”

I swallowed the Reversion Pill.

I didn’t know how or why, but…

The Reversion Pill he left behind was real.

But it seemed my judgement was flawed.

I went back to the past and made the eldest one as the family lord. But that was all.

Even after becoming the family lord, the eldest son suspected me until the very end and ultimately failed.

What was the end of that suspicious man like? He was betrayed by his trusted men and ended up with a sword in his stomach, right?

I held the eldest son’s cold, lifeless body in my arms, utterly devastated.

Was I going to fail to keep my promise to Bukgung Cheon?

No.

Bukgung Cheon didn’t lie.

But he didn’t tell me everything either.

Who knew the effects of the pill would be so strong?

After the eldest son’s death, I regressed a second time.

Next, I made the second son the family lord.

This one was different from the suspicious eldest son. He was simply a man obsessed with the martial arts.

The second son squandered the family fortune buying the spiritual pills and martial arts manuals, leading the family to ruin.

Do you know what happened to him in the end? He fell for a trick promising to teach him amazing martial arts and sold the entire Bukgung family to the Demonic Cult.

And so, I experienced my third regression.

Who was next?

After the first and second sons, who else could it be? That’s right, the third son.

Was this one any better than the previous two? Absolutely not!

The third son was obsessed with superstitions.

I understand it to some extent. Someone in the position of the head of the Bukgung family would likely find the pressure unbearable.

But dismissing all the family’s warriors and replacing them with shamans? That was going too far!

Next was the fourth son.

This one was obsessed with money.

Ultimately, his greed led to the downfall of the Bukgung family.

Next was the fifth son.

This one was obsessed with women.

He lived a life of utter debauchery, surrounded by women, and ended his life with a heart attack during intercourse. Ah,

Before he died, he was probably using some kind of aphrodisiac, and his entire body was covered in rashes, wasn’t it?

Then there was the sixth son.

He was my last hope.

But who would have thought that the seemingly quiet sixth son would be such a madman?

He didn’t trust a single member of his household, suspected everyone, killed them all, preserved their bodies, and turned them into zombies.

He was truly an extraordinary individual.

And so, in a multifaceted, diverse, colorful, and ever-changing manner, the Bukgung family was utterly destroyed.

Regardless of my efforts to revive the family through seven regressions…

“Damn it, I can’t take this anymore.”

I felt like collapsing and sobbing in the middle of the burning Bukgung family estate.

Rage and sorrow welled up inside me.

How could I possibly cope with this anger and grief? Unable to bear it any longer, I screamed in the heart of the crumbling Bukgung family estate.

“Hey, you damn bastards! How can there not be a single decent human being among the six brothers?!”

Of course, there was no one to hear my scream.

They were all either dead or had fled, taking the estate’s valuables with them.

“Ah, I desperately want to quit. I want to ignore this so-called greatest family in the world, these greatest scoundrels in the world, and live a peaceful and leisurely life.”

But my wretched life never goes according to my wishes.

I made a promise, and in exchange for that promise, I swallowed the Reversion Pill.

That was the only reason I hadn’t run away during the past seven reincarnations.

Even as the flames raged around me, I lay motionless like a reclining Buddha.

I wished I could just die like this. But if I closed my eyes and opened them again, I would be back.

Back to the past, a past I was sickeningly familiar with.

“…What should I do?”

What can I do?

Even if I think about it, the answer is already decided.

If all six sons of the Bukgung family are irredeemable pieces of trash, then there’s only one option left.

But that last remaining option is a little…

“Aargh! How did the great Yeon Mujin end up in this situation…!”

Crunch!

I gritted my teeth so hard they felt like they would break.

“This time will be different. I will surpass the formidable madmen of the Bukgung family and absolutely! Absolutely, I will make you the family lord! And…!”

To make the Bukgung family great again!

And to free the fate of the wandering swordsman Yeon Mujin!

Whoosh!

The only thing that responded to my resentful lament was the raging fire.

I closed my eyes again, seeing the red light filling my vision.

Like a dying, low-class ruffian, I didn’t forget to grit my teeth in revenge until the very end, and I faded into the flames.

“Absolutely!”

Taiyuan Prefecture, Shanxi Province. The eighth day of the fourth month. The Glory Manor of the Bukgung Family.

Right here,

Yeon Mujin, sleeps for the seventh time.

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