As he walked through Tiandaogyeong, Ise carefully read through the information Cheongun had given him about the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
The layout of the outer and inner cities of the valley’s main stronghold, Magok City, the location of the Scripture Repository, and a list of the major demonic beasts whose whereabouts were known.
He had even included the strictness of the inspections at the checkpoint leading from the outer city into the inner city, as well as the organizational structure of the valley itself.
The information was more detailed than he had expected, and Ise was grateful as he committed every piece of it to memory without missing anything.
These details would become the key to naturally blending into the den of demonic cultivators.
Rather than immediately heading toward Magok City, the territory of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley, Ise once again visited the artifact shops throughout Tiandaogyeong.
He still had around 30,000 spirit stones in his possession.
He intended to supplement everything he needed for infiltration and stockpile cultivation resources in preparation for the possibility that the mission might last a long time.
The spiritual qi would be taken care of by the Life-Spirit Cave Abode.
As for demonic qi… he had heard that demonic cultivators walked openly throughout the land there, and in some areas, even wandering cultivators killing one another barely attracted any attention.
Ironically, a place overflowing with demonic cultivators was precisely the ideal environment for his cultivation.
But when he thought about the mission itself, a greater sense of hopelessness weighed on him.
Even though he hadn’t shown it to the other two, what method could he possibly use to steal a cultivation manual from a Nascent Soul-level demonic sect?
First, he went to an artifact shop to improve his equipment.
He sold the Qi Condensation Concealment Ring Ryu Seonghan had obtained for him and replaced it with a Foundation Establishment-grade Concealment magical artifact.
With this much, unless someone deliberately used a spirit-detecting artifact on him or a Nascent Soul Realm great cultivator became suspicious of him outright, his Concealment should not be exposed through a simple passing encounter.
Just in case, he also purchased a Foundation Establishment Escape Talisman, a Disguise Talisman, and one Mind-Control Talisman, a talisman containing an Art that could brainwash an opponent and temporarily control them.
The artifact shopkeeper only warned him that improper use could result in him becoming a wanted criminal and showed no particular suspicion toward him.
He also visited artifact shops and Talisman Halls throughout Tiandaogyeong, purchasing talismans that he thought might prove useful.
He referred to the infiltration and covert-operation Arts described in the Dark Chapter of the Demon Hunting and Spirit-Sending Art.
He also made sure to stock up generously on feed and snacks for Bisan, since the little fellow would probably be unable to leave the Spirit Beast Pouch and Life-Spirit Cave Abode for quite some time.
Only after spending four days examining various items in the artifact shops, repeatedly checking his equipment, and making sure he had everything in order did Ise finally step outside Tiandaogyeong.
***
The Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley was located at the far northern end of the continent.
The region containing Bi류 City and Pungryu City, which Ise had visited when he first arrived in the Northern Continent, was apparently composed of cities under the dominion of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
He retraced the route he had taken several years ago.
After traveling far south and settling in Tiandaogyeong, then wandering around in search of the lower volume of the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art, he was now returning to the north where he had first arrived.
Fate was a strange thing when one thought about it.
The vicious cold he had forgotten returned.
Cutting winds, blizzards, and the snowy wilderness emerged once more.
Ise took out the Cold-Resistant Shoulder Guards he had shoved into the corner of his Storage Pouch and put them on.
He also placed Bisan, who was bewildered by the frozen wasteland’s unfamiliar cold, into the Spirit Beast Pouch.
“It’ll be difficult for you to fly around for a while.
If you’re bored, just think of it as hibernating and get plenty of sleep.”
After flying without rest, he eventually reached Magok City.
Even the outer wall made the place feel unfamiliar.
Massive dark gray walls more than two zhang (6.66m) thick surrounded the city on all sides.
Since arriving in the Northern Continent, this was the first time Ise had seen a proper city wall.
It wasn’t a crude earthen wall simply meant to mark a boundary.
It was a sturdy stone wall built as though in preparation for war, much like the fortifications of the Three Kingdoms of the Peninsula, with a Metal-element barrier formation spread across it.
There was no city gate.
Instead, a wooden bridge about five cheok (5 feet) wide, used as a makeshift passageway, ran diagonally from the ground up to the wall.
‘Quite the demonic welcome.’
Ise muttered to himself as he looked at the things hanging throughout the walls.
The severed corpses of demonic cultivators hung from ropes below the walls, their heads and bodies separated.
Their crimes had been written across their torsos in blood.
Ise was about to maneuver the Dream-Saving Cloud over the wall when he suddenly stopped.
Surprisingly, there were sentries stationed atop the wall.
Ise immediately changed his face with the Disguise Talisman.
Two demonic cultivators stood on the wooden bridge as though guarding the entrance, while elsewhere, pairs of demonic cultivators patrolled the walls in groups.
One of the sentries who spotted Ise’s flying cloud waved the flag of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
It was probably a signal for him to dismount from his flying artifact and enter on foot.
As Ise approached on foot, the gazes of the two sentries turned toward him.
A cultivator who practiced orthodox techniques could not enter Magok City at all, while a demonic cultivator who practiced demonic arts could come and go freely.
“State your affiliation.”
A disciple of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley spoke to Ise with an attitude somewhere between courtesy and rudeness.
Ise gave the prepared answer.
“I’m a wandering cultivator.
I came here to put an end to my long life of wandering.”
“Is that so?
Welcome.
Do you practice a Heart-Severing Art?”
Heart-Severing Art.
When one practiced demonic arts or fell into corruption, inner demons came periodically.
Their forms were varied: urges to kill, assault, beat others, drink blood, and so on.
Even a demonic cultivator who normally appeared perfectly sane could suddenly fall into an inner demon and tear off someone’s arm nearby to drink the blood.
Heart-Severing Arts were a type of demonic cultivation technique used to control those inner demons, and they were one of the reasons demonic sects could exist at all.
Ordinarily, the most common kind involved offering other people as sacrifices to eliminate one’s inner demons.
Of course, Ise did not practice one.
His constitution allowed him to practice demonic arts without falling into corruption.
“No.”
At Ise’s answer, one of the sentry demonic cultivators gave an insidious laugh and added mockingly,
“You’re a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator, but you don’t practice a Heart-Severing Art?
Heh.
I can easily imagine how you’ve lived, doing whatever the hell you pleased.”
The two began chuckling and chatting among themselves.
If they weren’t pawns of the demonic sect he had to infiltrate, such insolence would have deserved a beating.
As expected of demonic cultivators, their mouths were foul and their manner of speaking was cheap beyond measure.
Ise looked at the two of them without emotion as they punctuated nearly every sentence with vulgar obscenities and crude expressions.
This was a level of vulgar behavior he had never encountered among orthodox cultivation sects, which maintained their decorum in public even while engaging in filthy acts behind the scenes.
From now on, he decided to mentally filter out their words to a reasonable degree.
“How long are you planning to keep me standing here?”
“Ah.
Well, sorry about that.
It’s just been a while since we’ve had such a refined Senior wandering cultivator come through.”
“How serious a crime would it be if I cut off the hands and feet of Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley sentries?”
With their attitude unchanged, Ise offered a threat that wasn’t quite a threat.
Only then did the two demonic cultivators realize that they had offended their Senior and cautiously began watching his expression.
An ordinary wandering cultivator would never dare lay a hand on an Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley disciple, but they had only now realized that the Senior before them might eventually join the main sect.
“…I apologize if our behavior seemed rude.
Everyone here has lived rough lives, so you can consider this the usual atmosphere inside.
What is your name?”
“Honse.”
The sentry wrote down his alias and appearance on a wooden tablet before gesturing toward the demonic cultivator beside him.
“Hey, give him an entrance token.”
Ise received a bronze-colored token engraved with: “Entrance Token — Areas 4 and 5.”
“Flying techniques and flying artifacts are prohibited within Magok City.
It’s damn inconvenient, but you’ll have to put up with it.”
Ise nodded and glanced into the city.
It stretched farther than he could see.
He had heard it was about half the size of Tiandaogyeong.
What he saw looked less like a demonic cultivator city and more like a meticulously organized military camp.
The sheer power required to enclose such a vast area with walls was impressive.
More astonishingly, there were four additional walls farther inside.
Magok City divided itself into five sections using five layers of walls, with different entry restrictions for demonic cultivators.
Area 1 was restricted to inner disciples of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
Area 2 was open to outer disciples, as well as ordinary people and wandering cultivators conducting business related to the valley.
Area 3 was for wandering cultivators who practiced Heart-Severing Arts, ordinary wandering cultivators, and ordinary people. The source of this chapter is g.com.
Area 4 was for all other demonic cultivators.
Area 5 was an extraterritorial zone where demonic cultivators expelled from the inner areas gathered.
The moment Ise entered Area 5, his divine sense picked up countless demonic cultivators.
There were almost no ordinary people to be seen on the streets.
Only demonic cultivators.
The only ordinary people were those practically imprisoned inside buildings.
The reason was simple.
All unowned ordinary people lived within Area 3.
In other words, Areas 4 and 5 were places inhabited only by wandering cultivators and their slaves.
Ordinary people lived in Area 3, while wandering cultivators lived in Areas 4 and 5.
This was probably the only place where cultivators were treated worse than ordinary people.
As Ise slowly walked down beneath the wooden bridge, demonic cultivators began creeping toward him like starving wild beasts.
But the instant they sensed his demon core, they immediately turned tail and retreated.
His demon core had formed in the shape of a Dharma-Transformation Dantian, just as it did for ordinary cultivators.
No matter how corrupted they were or how much they were consumed by inner demons, demonic cultivators naturally restrained their anger before a Senior of a higher major realm.
Fearing that they might accidentally draw his ire, they hurriedly disappeared, and before long, no one remained around him.
‘It feels like I’ve entered some kind of secret realm.’
That was Ise’s first impression upon entering Magok City.
For now, he decided to find somewhere to stay and figure out a way to infiltrate without attracting as much attention as possible.
But less than a day later, a problem arose.
There were no inns.
Area 5 was the outermost ring, making it an enormous area.
Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched, he couldn’t find a proper inn.
Ise expanded his divine sense to its maximum range.
He discovered a demonic cultivator hunting another demonic cultivator as though slaughtering livestock, and quickly approached before the man could escape.
The demonic cultivator noticed the approach of a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator, abandoned his battered prey, and immediately began fleeing.
Ise infused demonic qi into his voice.
“Don’t run.
Come here.”
The demonic cultivator immediately stopped, turned around, and ran toward him.
His eyes rolled frantically, sweat poured down his face like rain, and he stammered,
“D-did you call for me, Senior…?”
“I need somewhere to stay.
Where should I go?”
“S-stay somewhere?
In Area 5?
Why don’t you go farther inside…?”
“Answer the question.”
“Y-you can just enter any place, kill whoever’s inside, and take it for yourself.
Shut up!
This is a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator!
Do you want to die?!
Know when to keep your mouth shut, you bastard!”
“…”
Watching the demonic cultivator carry on a profanity-filled conversation with himself as though his personality had split in two, Ise held his forehead.
His head throbbed.
How had someone like this survived until now?
He seemed to be in the middle stage of the Qi Condensation Realm, but he looked like someone who could die an absurd death at any moment without even having the right to complain about it.
“So there really aren’t any inns?”
“Yes, yes!”
Then the man suddenly began punching himself in the face.
Ise experienced firsthand the might of a higher major realm, powerful enough to suppress even an inner demon, and waved his hand to send him away.
At least, he had learned one thing: Area 5 was not a place where anyone could live comfortably.
Ise decided to move into Area 4 instead.