Gyeondonwoo, the Ox-Head marked by a black shoulder sash, headed toward the meeting place with his usual frivolous gait.
For once, he had even summoned all of the subordinates he favored.
The thing that had gotten his heavy behind moving was a single communication talisman sent by Jin Yeonhwa.
Apparently dissatisfied with the number of wandering cultivators following him, Gyeondonwoo complained incessantly.
“These useless bastards.
Normally they fawn over me, calling me Senior Brother and whatnot, but the moment I try to gather them, they tuck their tails and run.
I need to take some time to discipline them.”
Still, his twelve beloved subordinates wearing black shoulder sashes were all present, so that was fine.
They were loyal puppies who came running whenever he called, always staying by his side no matter what happened.
With thirteen black-sashed demon beasts gathered together, including Gyeondonwoo himself, the atmosphere was so menacing that no one would dare approach them recklessly.
He rather liked this atmosphere.
His close followers had once numbered sixteen, but three had been caught up in inner demons, leaving only twelve.
That was a trivial matter.
Of course, it never occurred to Gyeondonwoo that the very reason the other wandering cultivators who called themselves his subordinates failed to answer his summons was the danger posed by those black-sashed followers.
Near the meeting place, which he reached in a hurry, Jin Yeonhwa’s lackeys were blocking the entrance.
When Gyeondonwoo tried to ignore them and walk past, one of them hurriedly stopped him in a cautious voice.
“Senior Gyeon.
I’m sorry, but we sent word that your subordinates were to wait here and only the leaders were to enter.
Do you happen to remember?”
“I know!
Do you take me for a dog-brained fool?!”
Gyeondonwoo shouted angrily, then added threateningly,
“Don’t play any tricks on me.
Otherwise, I’ll turn this place into a live fish market.”
He was probably trying to use some grand expression meaning a scene of corpses and blood.
Whenever he heard some impressive-sounding phrase, he had a habit of remembering it incorrectly and using it for a long time afterward.
Of course, no one around him dared correct him.
No one knew the correct expression anyway.
The demon beast guarding the meeting place watched Gyeondonwoo smugly enjoy the belief that his “live fish market” was some profound ancient idiom and shook his head.
Gyeondonwoo kicked the door open and entered the abandoned building.
At the same time, he raised his voice until it reverberated throughout the place.
“Hey!
What do you mean Wang Gyu is dead?!”
He intended to establish dominance from the very beginning, but Jin Yeonhwa wasn’t inside.
His face immediately twisted into a scowl.
“What?
Why isn’t she here?
That wicked Military Strategist Among Flies woman isn’t playing some kind of trick again, is she?
If she lied to me, today I’ll smash her spiritual root and make her my concubine.”
“Here we go again,” the Blood-Drinking Madman muttered with a click of his tongue.
“It’s Military Strategist Among Flowers.
Get the name right.”
“Don’t correct me, you bloody brat!”
“You want to die.”
Sparks immediately flew from the eyes of the two.
Of course, the quarrel did not escalate into bloodshed.
Even with an ox’s intelligence, one could understand that if the two fought, the only one who would enjoy watching would be Cheon Uibaek, who was sitting nearby.
“Tch.
What the hell is that woman scheming?”
Normally, these were not people who gathered simply because someone told them to.
They hardly ever had reason to meet in the first place, and they hated one another so intensely that they didn’t even bother trying.
But Jin Yeonhwa’s message could not be ignored.
Wang Gyu had been killed after falling out of favor with Magok.
A meeting was necessary to discuss the redistribution of his spoils and territory.
Wang Gyu’s death as punishment from Magok.
The spoils.
The territory.
Three words that could never be taken lightly.
“That puppet master bastard really is dead?”
Wang Gyu’s death was extraordinarily sweet news, since he was unquestionably the strongest figure in Area 4, and no one could afford to miss out on the division of his spoils and territory.
“That coward would never dare offend Magok.
Why was he killed?
Don’t tell me Jin Yeonhwa killed him?”
“No way.
If that incompetent woman had the strength to do that, there would’ve been trouble long ago.
Unless she lured him into some trap.”
“I hate people who are always scheming.
You lot, promise me this.
If this turns out to be a trap, agree to help turn that woman into a crippled demonic cultivator today.”
“Fine by me.”
Gyeondonwoo shouted at Cheon Uibaek, who was still ignoring him and simply picking his ear.
“Baek Uicheon!
Why aren’t you answering?!”
“Shut up, you dog-pig.
Stop yapping.”
“What?
Want me to peel your skin off?” Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Gyeondonwoo growled fiercely.
At that moment, a small divine sense slowly approached the meeting place from outside.
“Looks like she’s here.
Crawling around with her divine sense hunched up like a rat.”
Gyeondonwoo strode over and flung the door open.
He intended to intimidate Jin Yeonhwa by force.
As always, she would probably cower and bow her head before him.
But the person who entered through the door was a stranger.
“What are you?
Did Jin Yeonhwa send you?
Go tell her to get here immediately.
How dare some fresh-faced brat barge into a place where the elders are talking—”
The next moment, Gyeondonwoo’s neck flew into the air beneath a lightning-fast swing of a black Small Axe, and a fountain of blood erupted.
***
At the same time, Ise first dealt with the more troublesome Cheon Uibaek among the two demonic cultivators who attacked him simultaneously.
He then immediately turned and brought down the fleeing Blood-Drinking Madman as well.
After performing spirit expulsion on all three corpses and absorbing their demonic qi, Ise saw their subordinates realize what had happened inside and attempt to join the fight.
They were already too late.
Three heads, impaled upon earthen spears, floated in the air as they were slowly dragged outward.
The subordinates of the three rulers, who had just moments ago controlled and divided up Area 4, trembled in terror when they saw Ise covered from head to toe in blood.
The heads of the rulers who had wielded such influence over Area 4 only moments earlier now hung from the ends of earthen spears.
The man standing in the pool of blood beneath them didn’t even have a change in his breathing.
“If anyone here wants revenge for the person they served, I’ll gladly take their head alongside yours.”
No one stepped forward.
Instead, they exchanged glances and slowly backed away.
“If no one does, disperse.”
The moment the words left his mouth, the demonic cultivators hurriedly fled.
Ise then tossed the three heads impaled upon the earthen spears toward Jin Yeonhwa, who had been hiding to one side, staring wide-eyed as though she couldn’t believe what she had witnessed.
“Handle the aftermath and come to the agreed residence.
I’ll go ahead and wait.”
A short while later, Jin Yeonhwa finished dealing with the aftermath and arrived at the agreed residence.
The shock had still not faded from her face.
Ise received the Heart-Severing Art manual from Jin Yeonhwa.
Then he took out one hundred mid-grade spirit stones selected from the three demon beasts’ Storage Pouches and pushed them toward her.
“…I told you I wouldn’t accept payment for the manual.”
“No.
Exchange these for high-grade spirit stones.
None of them had a single high-grade spirit stone.”
Jin Yeonhwa lowered her head awkwardly, then took a high-grade spirit stone from her Storage Pouch and handed it over.
Ise stored it in his Storage Pouch and added,
“Lastly, if there’s someone you want to teach the Heart-Severing Art to, you can use it.
I’ll wait a few days.”
“I’m grateful for the offer, but the moment it is opened, the technique is naturally imprinted into the user’s mind and the manual disappears.
It’s a safeguard against making copies.
Without knowing the insights behind it, making a copy is impossible.”
“A Heart-Severing Art that can be learned without understanding its insights.
Interesting.”
There were certainly many strange techniques in the cultivation world.
The intention was probably to prevent people from recklessly copying and spreading advanced cultivation manuals.
Thinking about it, the advanced cultivation manuals of the Eastern Continent could conceivably be regulated in the same way.
He had only experienced access up to the fifth Scripture Repository section.
‘The Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art might be like that too.’
The thought suddenly crossed his mind.
If that were the case… who should unfold it?
Lord Haeil or himself?
It was a difficult question, but Ise decided to put it aside for now.
Both volumes were currently in his possession, but ownership clearly belonged to Lord Haeil.
It was only right to leave the decision to him.
“I’ll give you my personal marker.”
Jin Yeonhwa handed him a jade hairpin.
“As long as you have this, you can send me a communication talisman at any time.
I doubt there will be much I can help you with… but please contact me whenever you need assistance.”
Although she was merely a ruler who held influence in Area 4, she had information networks spread throughout the entire southern region like a web.
It was a talent that could prove useful.
Ise accepted the hairpin and handed her a key that was used together with the formation array.
It was a formation token that permitted entry through the barrier.
“You may need to use Wang Gyu’s residence from time to time, so manage it for me.”
“…Understood.”
Jin Yeonhwa respectfully stored the key before suddenly raising her head to look at him.
“I won’t forget this favor.
I hope you accomplish what you seek inside.”
“You too.”
After ending their farewell, Ise finally began walking toward Area 3.
***
After having his Heart-Severing Art manual verified at the checkpoint to Area 3, Ise was issued a new identity token and informed of Area 3’s rules before stepping inside.
It also seemed larger than Areas 4 and 5.
The first impression Area 3 gave him was simply that of an ordinary cultivation city.
In fact, the treatment of ordinary people was similar to that of the Eastern Continent.
Ordinary people who had mostly been treated as livestock, slaves, or something beneath human beings were actually smiling here.
Ise had traveled through quite a few cities in the Northern Continent, yet Magok City was the only place where he had seen ordinary people smile.
It was almost absurd.
As he quietly wandered through the lively city, he occasionally sensed the divine sense of Core Formation cultivators.
Since he had displayed somewhat aggressive behavior in Areas 4 and 5, he intended to focus on cultivation for a while, partly to let any eyes watching him lose interest.
He had gained a considerable amount of demonic qi from devouring three late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beasts, so he also needed to replenish some spiritual qi through cultivation.
After making a full circuit of the surrounding area and finishing his preliminary investigation, Ise rented a nearby room on a long-term basis.
He then cultivated for nearly an entire year before finally rising.
At this point, a year felt almost like a day or two to him.
Feeling his perception of time becoming increasingly strange, Ise watered the spiritual herbs in his garden with Water Release Art.
During that time, both the Five-Element Life-Promoting Art and Life-Promoting Art had reached the 10th Star.
Now he finally seemed to have time to cultivate some of his other techniques and Arts.
Seeing the spiritual herbs growing lushly and spilling out spiritual qi put him in a refreshing mood.
The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng and Cold-Ice Jade Grass he had planted in a low-temperature sealed chamber created with a formation were also growing vigorously.
Ise wandered through the Welcome Market near the entrance to Area 3 to gather information.
True to its name, the place was filled with demon beasts eager to kindly overcharge newcomers who had just entered Magok City.
As he wandered wherever his feet took him, he discovered an artifact shop run by demonic cultivators.
Curious about what kind of magical artifacts demonic cultivators traded, he entered.
For the most part, it wasn’t much different from the artifact shops used by orthodox cultivators.
The main differences were that the merchants were considerably more rude to customers and shamelessly inflated their prices.
There were magical artifacts commonly used by cultivators, but there were also items designed specifically for demonic cultivators.
Most were related to demonic qi.
There were all sorts of bizarre objects: talismans whose only purpose was to inflict pain on opponents, items that could imprison a sleeping person’s mind inside a dream and drain their vital essence, and many others.
‘If I took something like this back to the Eastern Continent, I’d almost certainly be treated as a demonic cultivator.’
Ise turned away.
There were no medicinal-pill shops in the demonic cultivator’s city.
Instead, there was something called a Qi-Absorption Market.
It was a place where people absorbed the demonic qi from the Demon Soul Stones he had learned about earlier.
The Qi-Absorption Market was filled with an ominous aura.
All of it flowed from the Demon Soul Stones.
It felt as though only the most yin and sinister aspects of demonic qi had been concentrated there.
“Shopkeeper, what are these made from?”
At Ise’s question, the late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast looked him up and down with an expression that seemed to say he had never heard such a strange question.
“What kind of question is that?”
The suspicion in his gaze gradually deepened.
“I’m a wandering cultivator who hasn’t been in the city very long.”
“Even if you’re a wandering cultivator, that’s no excuse.
A Northern Continent demon beast doesn’t know what a Demon Soul Stone is?
At your cultivation realm?”
“…I spent most of my life holed up in some remote mountain.”
Ise realized his mistake, hastily cobbled together a reasonable excuse, and quickly left the Qi-Absorption Market.
He then acknowledged his own mistake and criticized himself.
He had suspected that the Demon Soul Stones were made using the Essence-Draining Ghost Arts, yet he had carelessly asked a question that could have exposed his suspicions.
Get a grip.
What was the point of gathering information in the same reckless manner one would use in a city of orthodox cultivators?
Unlike Areas 4 and 5, which were practically dumping grounds, this was unquestionably the territory of Magok.
He couldn’t gather information recklessly here.
‘First, I’ll naturally blend into Magok.
Even if it takes a long time.’
It had taken ten years to get this far.
He couldn’t ruin everything now that his goal was finally within reach.
***
The days continued as Ise calmly established himself in Magok City and carefully gathered information.
For one year, he devoted himself to cultivation while occasionally wandering the streets, naturally making his face familiar to the demon beasts and nearby ordinary people who frequented the area.
When the effects of his Disguise Talisman wore off and he needed to use a new one, he didn’t change his appearance anymore.
Once people became accustomed to his face, it would at least stop looking unfamiliar, making it easier to become familiar compared to someone they had never seen before.
Using the same method, he spent three years visiting every market in Area 3.
By then, he had begun to acquire acquaintances with whom he could casually exchange jokes, and he had started adapting to the atmosphere and culture of Magok City.
Over the following five years, he began systematically gathering information.
How to join Magok.
The restrictions imposed upon joining.
Methods of obtaining internal cultivation manuals without joining.
The location and status of the Scripture Repository, Section C.
Information continued to accumulate.
But he still lacked a suitable means of acting on it.
He devised several plans, but the risks were too great, and he abandoned them almost immediately.
‘With my current circumstances, it’s practically impossible.
I need an external variable.’
Around then, a communication talisman arrived from Ryu Seonghan.
It was a long-distance communication talisman specially produced by the Heavenly Ice Palace, capable of being sent anywhere on the continent.
– I’ve succeeded in receiving a mission to inspect Magok City.
I’ll see you soon in Magok City.
Finally the day came, approximately ten years after Ise had entered Magok City.