It was a day when, after years of stagnant progress, a welcome piece of news finally arrived.
As Ise received Ryu Seonghan’s communication talisman, a bright smile, rare for him, appeared at the corners of his mouth.
What he needed most right now.
Information from within.
An ally capable of providing it was coming.
***
A few days later, Ise walked toward the inner part of the Welcome Market with considerably lighter steps.
“Hey, Heogi!
Where are you rushing off to?”
A demon beast sitting behind a street stall called out to him as though they knew each other.
Ise gave a hearty laugh and waved.
“Hoho.
I’m going to pay my respects to Senior Mu.”
“Senior Mu?
Going to flatter him again?”
“Oh, come on.
I don’t even expect you to treat me like a Senior, so don’t tease me like that.”
“I’m joking, I’m joking.”
The demon beast waved his hand dismissively.
Around here, Ise was known by the nickname Heogi, short for Heo-Heo-Silsil Eccentric.
It had nothing to do with the military stratagem known as Heo-Heo-Silsil.
The nickname came simply because Ise was always walking around with a hearty “hoho” laugh and an easygoing smile, causing those who found him friendly and harmless to give him the name.
Of course, Ise had no reason to object.
The more harmless he appeared, the less wary people became around him.
In that sense, the nickname perfectly described his current circumstances.
Even the demon beasts who kindly overcharged newly arrived newcomers, along with the ordinary people walking through the streets, now regarded Ise as nothing more than part of the scenery.
Ten years.
He had spent that long simply becoming familiar to people, trading jokes, casually letting slip bits of trivial information, and blending himself into one place.
Three of those years had been devoted to this particular person.
The master of the Welcome Market.
Mu Mujuk, a great demon beast of the Core Formation Realm.
After deciding that he was the perfect person to approach, Ise layered a Foundation Establishment-grade Concealment Talisman over his Concealment magical artifact and slowly wandered around the area, carefully testing whether Mu Mujuk could sense his spiritual qi.
The conclusion was:
‘Unless someone deliberately strips away my magical artifacts, he won’t notice.’
Once he was certain of his safety, Ise had spent considerable effort bribing everyone from the lowest-ranking demon beasts of Mu Mujuk’s clan all the way up to Mu Mujuk himself.
Thanks to that, he had eventually reached the point where he could visit carrying a gift and be granted a private audience.
“This is my token of sincerity for Senior Mu this month.”
“My, you’re quite something.
I told you that you didn’t have to go this far anymore.”
“How could I neglect to show my sincerity to Senior Mu, who works day and night for the sake of the market?
It’s not much, but please use it toward the market’s operating expenses.”
Mu Mujuk looked over Ise with a pleased expression at his polite attitude.
He had grown quite fond of Ise.
At first, he had been suspicious and assumed Ise had some ulterior motive.
But after seeing him continuously offer tribute without ever stopping and live without causing any trouble, his suspicions gradually faded.
He was simply a diligent and reliable demon beast.
He was also an exceptionally desirable talent who had reached the late stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm at such a young age.
“Have you thought about marriage?”
“It would be the greatest honor imaginable.
But as I told you, I wish to carry out missions for Magok and reach the Core Formation Realm before formally marrying.
I couldn’t possibly risk turning Senior Mu’s precious daughter into a widow.”
Mu Mujuk stroked his beard with a satisfied expression.
“All right.
I’ll make sure you get the chance to enter the Scripture Repository you asked about.
It’s an unusually peaceful period, so there isn’t much work available, but the city walls are usually repaired once every twenty years or so.
Don’t miss that opportunity.”
“I’m deeply grateful for your kindness, Senior Mu.”
Ise bowed deeply before slowly backing away.
As he watched Ise leave, Mu Mujuk’s eyes gleamed faintly.
“What a remarkably solid fellow, especially for a demon beast.”
The fellow was certainly talented enough to reach the Core Formation Realm.
If Mu Mujuk took him as his son-in-law, married him to his daughter, and brought him into the clan, their family could rise to one of the most prominent affiliated clans.
Perhaps they could even be recognized as an official branch of Magok, receive an Elder position, and enter Area 1.
The thought of his family soaring to a higher position within his own generation was intoxicatingly sweet.
“Jinpa.”
“Yes, Patriarch.”
“Divide this in half and add it to the tribute we’re sending to Magok’s Third Elder.”
“Yes.”
After throwing the remaining thousand or so spirit stones into the storage chest, Mu Mujuk began thinking that he should probably start coming up with names for his future grandchildren.
***
The smile Ise had been wearing as he wandered through the Welcome Market disappeared the instant he entered his residence, his face becoming expressionless.
The spirit stones he had accumulated over the years were finally beginning to run low.
Even so, he had made considerable progress.
He had become acquainted with most of the influential figures in Area 3 and left a good impression on them.
One of them had even proposed that he marry into his family.
It was hardly an exaggeration to say that he had gathered nearly all the information available to him within Area 3.
‘It would have been convenient if I could disguise myself as a disciple of Magok.’
To become a disciple of the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley, one had to enter into a one-on-one soul-binding contract with a demon beast of a higher realm.
In his case, he would have to come under the command of a Core Formation demon beast and be bound by a contract strong enough that he would have no choice but to die if ordered to do so.
In other words, once he entered, there would be no way out.
Magok was structured around such contracts, with cultivators of higher realms binding and exploiting those beneath them.
As long as he was using an alias, forming such a contract was impossible.
And even if he revealed his true name, the risks were far too great.
Thus, the method he had chosen was to gain permission to enter the Scripture Repository through the external contributor system.
He slowly approached influential figures in Area 3 who had shown an interest in him, built relationships with them, and showered them with bribes.
Eventually, he had even received an offer to marry into one of their families.
He had postponed the marriage under the pretext of preparing for Core Formation and dangled the bait of actively cooperating with him.
Mu Mujuk would somehow secure a method and opportunity for him to enter the Scripture Repository.
‘Normally, taking an original cultivation manual out is impossible, but if I can just get inside and secure it, there might be some way for me to escape.’
As long as he could determine what kind of formation mechanism had been installed inside Area 1, he might be able to get himself out.
Unless the Nascent Soul Realm Master of Magok personally intervened.
Just then, a communication talisman came fluttering in.
It was from Ryu Seonghan.
When he asked Ise where he was, Ise gave him the location of his residence.
A short while later, Ryu Seonghan entered with a delighted expression.
“Senior!
How long has it been?”
“Indeed.
It’s been a while.”
As they briefly exchanged pleasantries, Ise quietly observed the changes in him.
Ryu Seonghan was still in the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
However, both his divine sense and Dharma-Transformation Dantian had matured far beyond what they had been when they first met.
His cultivation realm hadn’t changed, but he had clearly grown considerably, both inside and out.
“Even after disguising yourself as an ordinary person, you somehow managed to make it all the way here.
Truly impressive.”
Ryu Seonghan couldn’t hide his admiration.
“Have you made any progress toward your goal?”
“I’ve secured a connection with one of the influential figures in Area 3.
I’m still looking into various methods as well.”
“Are you planning to infiltrate the Scripture Repository as an internal slave of Magok, secure the Two Principles Return-to-Origin Art, and escape?”
Ise vaguely answered and nodded.
“Hmm… That’s too dangerous.”
The pursuit would begin the moment he secretly entered the Scripture Repository.
There was no way the defenses of a Nascent Soul-level sect would be so lax that he could break through them alone and escape.
“They may have done something sinister to the barriers, and you’ll certainly be surrounded from all sides while crossing five layers of walls.”
“They probably will.”
Ise wasn’t unaware of that either.
Wasn’t that precisely why he had been agonizing over it?
He had carefully planned his escape routes, but he had no way of estimating how far the techniques of a Nascent Soul-level sect could reach.
Evading a single Core Formation demon beast out in the open and escaping the heart of a Nascent Soul demonic sect were completely different matters.
He hadn’t even entertained the thought that one Foundation Establishment-grade Escape Talisman would solve everything.
“What about you?
“I had some things to obtain, and it took time to prepare thoroughly.”
Ryu Seonghan answered calmly.
“I’ll go in first, determine the exact location of the original and the situation inside, and pass the information on to you.
If possible, I’ll also try to find the evidence they’ve been hiding with my own eyes.”
“They’ll be watching you closely.”
“They probably will.”
His answer was completely matter-of-fact.
“If what I’m planning works out, the Heavenly Ice Palace will approve a war between the Tyrant Sword Sect and the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
You can use the resulting chaos to accomplish your goal, Senior.”
There was no longer any change in Ryu Seonghan’s expression whenever he mentioned the Essence-Draining Ghost-Demon Valley.
“Did you find a way?”
Ise’s eyes gleamed as he asked, but Ryu Seonghan merely grinned and brushed the question aside.
“Rather than finding a single method, I’m going to try everything that might work.”
“You need to tell me the details so I can prepare.”
“I have several plans in mind.
I’ll first go inside and assess the situation there.
After that, I’ll tell you through a communication talisman.”
Ryu Seonghan was deliberately holding back.
Ise could vaguely sense that this fellow was plotting something dangerous.
“Senior.
Will you release the soul-binding contract now?”
“All right.”
Without questioning him further, Ise found the contract and burned it away.
Seeing the trust implied by that action, Ryu Seonghan gave a faint smile and added,
“Now, even if something goes wrong because of some dirty scheme and I’m tortured, you won’t be dragged into it.”
“You wouldn’t—”
Ryu Seonghan cut him off.
“Would you hold on to this for me?”
What he held out was a Storage Pouch.
The seal of the Ryu Clan was stamped upon it.
“This is your Storage Pouch.”
“Yes.
It contains most of my belongings, the Wind-God Disc you recovered for me, and the treasures of the Ryu Clan that I’ve gathered over the years.
If something happens to me… I would be grateful if you could find any surviving descendants of my clan and deliver it to them.
If you can’t find anyone, or circumstances make it impossible, then just use it yourself.”
He truly intended to risk his life over this.
He was entrusting the last pride and everything belonging to his exterminated clan into another person’s hands without the slightest hesitation.
Ise was not foolish enough to misunderstand what that meant.
“I don’t know what you’re planning, but don’t do it.”
“Haha.
It’s only in case.
Just in case.
Do you really think I want to die?
I’m a promising young cultivator with a bright future, you know?”
Ryu Seonghan joked around, adding that he would proceed as safely as possible.
But Ise’s eyes remained unwavering.
“Don’t do it.
That’s an order.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have to obey your orders anymore.”
Ryu Seonghan picked up the lone remaining fragment of their soul-binding contract and laughed freely.
“Keep this as a memento.”
He then placed the remaining burnt fragment of the contract inside the Storage Pouch he had placed in Ise’s hands.
There was not the slightest trace of fear of death on Ryu Seonghan’s face.
Either he had steeled his resolve enough to accept death itself, or he truly had no intention of doing anything quite so dangerous.
It was impossible to tell which.
Ten years had deepened his scheming and judgment to the point that the title of a high-level cultivator suited him well.
Just as Ise was about to try stopping him one more time, Ryu Seonghan took a step back.
“Only now do I finally get to call you by this title.”
Then he bowed deeply at the waist.
“It was an honor to serve you.
May you remain in good health, my Lord.”
Ryu Seonghan did not raise his head for a long time.
In the end, Ise could not bring himself to say anything more.