“Did you hear, First Elder?”
Sado Gi, the First Elder of the Sado Clan, set down his teacup. Inside his office, six individuals had gathered—all elders of the Sado Clan.
“What are you talking about, Sixth Elder?”
“There are strange rumors going around inside the clan.”
“Strange rumors?”
The relatively middle-aged Sixth Elder lowered his voice.
“It’s about the Second Young Master. That young master…”
“What about him? Out with it already, stop being dramatic.”
Urged on by another elder, the Sixth Elder quickly continued.
“There are rumors that he’s torturing the Black Shadow Corps.”
“What? Torturing?”
“Yes, torture. They say that from the Black Shadow Pavilion, you can hear crying every day. People screaming, ‘Please save me,’ and begging for their lives. It doesn’t sound like training at all.”
“Ridiculous.”
The Third Elder, a thin, sharp-looking man seated to the First Elder’s left, snapped.
“The only force under the Second Young Master is the Black Shadow Corps. And you're saying he’s torturing his own people?”
“No.”
The First Elder shook his head.
“It’s not just the Black Shadow Corps anymore.”
“…What?”
“The Black Shadow Corps, the Black Water Squad, the Asura Hall, the Crimson Lotus Hall, and the Funeral Court—at least four factions that I know of have already aligned themselves with the Second Young Master.”
“Already?!”
“He must take after his brother.”
The First Elder raised his teacup again and took a sip.
“The Sixth Elder may be right. If he’s inherited not just his abilities but his cruelty as well…”
“But what could he possibly gain from torturing his own forces?”
“That’s what we need to find out. Have we ever truly understood Sado Gwang’s intentions?”
“Never.”
“Perhaps… he’s trying to weed out spies within the Black Shadow Corps. We weren’t able to interfere with the Corps ourselves, but there could still be agents planted by the Clan Head.”
At those words, the other elders nodded thoughtfully.
“…It’s frightening.”
“What is?”
The First Elder leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes at the Second Elder’s question.
“That boy may be a wreck in every other sense, but when it came to scheming, he was unmatched. And now we have the Second Young Master—he’s already at Transcendent Peak and he’s clever? That would make him even more dangerous.”
“It could all be a lie.”
The usually silent Fifth Elder spoke, his appearance particularly ominous.
“If he were truly at Transcendent Peak at that age, he would’ve stood out before. He would’ve at least been causing a ruckus in his youth.”
“That’s true. Even the current Supreme One, back in his Late Earth Realm days, caused an uproar by beating down every other participant at a gathering.”
“No way someone reaches Transcendent Peak after being shut in their room all their life.”
The other elders chimed in one by one.
“Which brings us to the question…”
The First Elder opened his eyes.
“…Who’s going to put the bell on the cat’s neck?”
“I already sent people to test him. Individuals who, when joining forces, could rival even Peak-level martial artists. But…”
The First Elder’s eyes narrowed.
“He didn’t even react. Didn’t show a flicker of awareness. It means he didn’t consider them a threat at all.”
The room went completely silent.
“If he becomes Clan Head, he’ll wield power without limits. And a few days ago, someone from the Heavenly Demon Palace visited him. If we leave him be, his influence will only grow.”
“What should we do?”
“We’ll have to change our thinking. Yesterday’s enemy may become today’s ally.”
The First Elder continued.
“Send word to the Clan Head. We’ll need a gathering.”
***
I couldn’t say anything in the face of the scene before me.
“Huwuuung! I was wrong! I’m so sorry!”
“Please spare me, please! I’m begging you, please spare me!”
The Black Shadow Pavilion’s training ground.
Black Shadow Corps members were sprawled all across the ground, half a pace apart, bawling with snot and tears streaming down their faces.
All of them were full-grown men—strong martial artists at that—and seeing them rolling on the ground like this was hard to stomach.
"People usually imagine assassins and trackers to be lean and wiry..."
[To move quietly, you need fine control over powerful strength. The Black Shadow Corps is actually on the bulkier side among our combat forces.]
“Huuuwaaang~!?”
One voice stood out—particularly loud.
Tucked away in the corner, Tak Horak was outright wailing, screaming about how he deserved to die for stealing a single silver coin from his father’s coin pouch. I wasn’t sure whether to feel bad for him or call him pure-hearted for having such a small sin to confess.
They were all suffering the same thing: direct exposure to Saweol’s mental domain.
Saweol sat cross-legged in the center of them all, hands stretched forward. Floating above her palms was a small sphere glowing like the sun.
Everyone struck by that light was breaking down and confessing their sins.
I asked her what her Mental Domain was called.
“It doesn’t have a name yet. It’s not even a completed form. I still have to develop it further.”
In other words, Saweol was causing this much damage with just a basic version of her mental domain.
“I wasn’t sure why we had to train like this at first... but as expected of our Lord. I can feel myself growing more proficient at handling Mental Domain.”
Clearly, she was misunderstanding something again. I didn’t bother correcting her.
While they trained, I joined in too.
I even brought a desk and chair, pretending to leisurely enjoy some tea—like I was doing them a favor by supervising.
Then, when I was hit directly by Saweol’s Mental Domain...
It was terrifying. Not just the sensation itself, but the fact that I didn’t even recognize how terrifying it was.
Everyone has mental defenses—walls built to protect their minds from breaking.
Saweol’s Mental Domain melted those defenses. Like spring melting away winter’s snow, her aura made those walls dissolve without resistance.
Then it pierced straight to the root of a person’s deepest guilt.
That’s why the Black Shadow Corps members were crying and confessing all over the place.
Things they would never normally say, now came pouring out in a flood.
“I almost got hit too.”
The first time I was struck by it, my eyes started to glaze over. If Skybreaker hadn’t screamed directly into my mind to snap me out of it, I might’ve ended up like them.
Of course, if I activated the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, it cut off her Mental Domain instantly. But doing that would defeat the purpose of this training, so I forced myself to endure by deactivating it in intervals.
In conclusion—
I could adapt.
[The Cult members already have some resistance… I didn’t expect the artifact contract to work this way.]
“Right?”
When I was on the verge of being overwhelmed by Saweol’s mental domain, I resisted out of sheer stubbornness—refusing to rely on the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
Naturally, I almost got completely swallowed. But that’s when Skybreaker stepped in.
Skybreaker is a powerful artifact. We’re bound by a soul contract forged through blood. That connection lets us communicate mentally like this.
And it helped.
Every time I was on the verge of succumbing, Skybreaker would shout into my consciousness—and it felt like being dunked in ice water. I snapped right back to reality.
After repeating that process several times, I gradually became resistant. Saweol’s domain stopped affecting me.
Though, like she said, hers wasn’t a complete form yet... just building resistance at all was a huge step.
“But honestly, what do we do about those guys?”
In the corner of the training ground were a group of people bound tightly in ropes—strung together like dried fish.
They weren’t Black Shadow Corps members.
They were assassins or spies who had tried to attack me.
[The First Elder is a cunning one, but to test you like this…]
These guys had been observing me for their assassination attempt and had been caught in Saweol’s Mental Domain.
There was no need for torture or interrogation. Tap them once and they'd confess everything they’d done.
Just from their confessions, they were clearly felons worthy of at least a year in the Discipline Hall.
[Enemies are everywhere now.]
“Exactly what I wanted. The unseen blade is scarier than the visible one.”
[You sound like a martial artist. You sure pick up a lot of things.]
“Yeah, I picked that up from a game.”
[Game? What’s that?]
I gave him a rough explanation. I didn’t expect him to understand, but surprisingly, Skybreaker caught on.
[I’ve heard of something like that.]
"You’ve heard of games?"
[No, but something similar exists. Among the wandering sages of the Martial World, there’s a secret rumor. They say real immortals exist—and they observe and manipulate our lives. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the game you described?]
“Huh… when you put it that way, it kind of does.”
[Not that you are some immortal. It’s just a legend, nothing more.]
“Even your insults are original.”
If it was a legend passed quietly among Taoists, I guess it’s possible I’d never heard of it. Especially since every martial arts incantation here actually exists, too. I only ever knew that they existed, not how to recite them.
[Anyway, what do you think those guys will do next?]
“They’ll probably try to form an alliance.”
[Who? Don’t tell me—First Elder and the Clan Head? Those two are sworn enemies. The Clan Head killed First Elder’s son during the succession process.]
Even so, I think they’ll join hands. Because they now have a greater threat—me. Those people are more like politicians than martial artists.
Politicians will shake hands with even mortal enemies if it benefits them.
[Then isn’t that bad news?]
“What, do you still have attachments to the clan?”
[Well… I might’ve said yes before, but not anymore. Now I just want to get my body back.]
“Exactly. That’s why it’s not bad news. If those two join forces, it actually helps us. We can round up all the potential rebels and weed them out in one go. Even if the clan loses some power, we’ll gain safety.”
And we’ll probably uncover Sado Gwang’s agents along the way too.
Originally, I had a more complex plan—but after confirming Saweol’s abilities, I overhauled it. And honestly, this new plan was safer.
Time passed quickly.
During that time, I made another trip to the Discipline Hall to recharge Skybreaker’s energy. I went fast—fearing something might happen while I was gone—and selectively “hunted” the worst criminals.
But around the fifth one, Skybreaker complained that his “stomach felt bloated” and he couldn’t absorb any more energy.
Even demonic arts weren’t all the same—different energies must have clashed inside him.
If this really were the Absorption Technique Do Il-gwang had suspected, it might’ve worked, but this wasn’t that.
And so, five more days passed.
At last, the day came to enter the Heavenly Demon Palace.