SDG 75

Chapter 75

Of course, more research would be necessary to truly achieve what I wanted.
Still, just the fact that such a possibility had opened up made me feel that my efforts had been rewarded, at least a little.

Now that the basic observations were done—

“Gilnang.”
‘Yes!’
“I’ll need your help with this too.”

I took out Gilnang and extended a feather toward it.
Although I’d been suppressing it with divine power, if I left it out in the open, it would keep trying to transmit information about this place somewhere else.
So, it wasn’t just about storing it—putting it inside Gilnang was necessary for sealing it off entirely.

“As expected, once it’s inside Gilnang, there’s no reaction at all.”

After confirming that the feather could no longer do anything inside the pouch, I moved on to the next step—
thinking about what kind of action the other side would take now that I’d been discovered.
The answer came to me faster than expected.
After all, I had no fixed destination anyway.

“As the saying goes, the darkest place is right under the lamp.”

What would my enemies do if I went back the way I came?

“I guess I’ll find out soon enough.”

I turned back.
Since the clamor had ceased after I escaped, it seemed that even Jeokdu had stopped moving.
With no hesitation, I retraced my steps toward the cliff.

“Lucky from the start.”

When I reached the cliff, I saw that the original path had collapsed completely—but a new one had formed from fallen rocks.
It was even safer than before, so I crossed it easily.
After that, there wasn’t much trouble.

“So it was all a trap from the beginning.”

The people scattered about weren’t the problem.
The real issue was the feathers installed along every detour I took to avoid them.

“I expected it, but still, there’s more than one.”

I collected every single one I found.
By the time I picked up the last one, I had thirty feathers in total.
Just that alone made me think it had been worth coming back.

“With this many, I might not even need to make my own.”

If I just knew how to use them, I could probably turn them to my advantage.
A bit of a shame, but I decided not to get greedy.

“Now they’ll know I’ve come back this way.”

By taking the feathers, I’d left a trace, but I didn’t bother overthinking it.
Like the saying goes—what’s right under the lamp is darkest.
Simple movements would only confuse them more.
I just needed to keep a few things in mind.

“Especially to avoid bodies of water whenever possible.”

Through Myeongan I had seen that the young swordsman would one day meet the Overlord of the Waves—a spirit beast that could only act within water.
There was no reason to go anywhere near that creature’s domain.
Not only was the Overlord among the hardest spirit beasts to deal with, but avoiding it would also mean that the future I saw through Myeongan would no longer hold true.
Ensuring the future didn’t follow its destined path—
that alone would increase the young swordsman’s odds of survival.

By that logic, it was best to also avoid unstable ground or high elevations, where he might encounter another spirit beast—the Red Mole.
Although that one hadn’t directly attacked me before, who knew what would happen in another meeting?
Even if it didn’t attack, if it struck from underground, it’d be a tricky opponent to handle.

“Crowded places might help me hide, but… better not risk it.”

The surest way to hide wasn’t to hole up somewhere, but to blend in with a crowd.
However, I couldn’t risk it—if things got dire, those bastards might attack the crowd.
Or worse, take hostages.

“Of course, if that happened, it’d give the underworld a reason to intervene. The reapers would move.”

But that wasn’t something my enemies would want either.
They had the power to simply kill the young swordsman, yet they chose this complicated method of twisting fate instead.
That alone said enough.
Still, one could never be sure.

“No one trying to awaken the Heavenly Chaos Star could possibly be sane.”

Those who commit madness are, inevitably, madmen.
Better to stay cautious—
a single misstep could put innocent lives at risk.

“Too bad I don’t have more time. Otherwise, I’d just head straight to Gujunghoe.”

Use barbarians to control barbarians.
It would’ve been perfect to make my enemies fight each other—Gujunghoe and the faction targeting the young swordsman.
Who would win between them? Hard to say.
Judging by what I’d seen so far, Gujunghoe might hold the advantage.
But since I hadn’t seen the full strength of the faction hunting the young swordsman, nothing was certain.

“They’d struggle if the other side had even two spirit beasts on the Overlord’s level.”

Not all spirit beasts were strong.
A first-rate martial artist could handle most of them alone.
But some—like the Overlord—were true monsters.
If I were to compare the Overlord’s strength to martial ranks—

“At least a peak transcendent master.”

Minimum Gongjin-class, easily.
At the very least.

“Or maybe they’ve got something even worse—like a dragon.”

But it’d be wrong to compare dragons with creatures like the Imoogi.
A dragon was an entirely different being.

“At minimum, Hwagyeong-class.”

Such a rating would be more than fair.
Who could possibly face a creature that could split mountains, cross oceans, and soar freely through the sky?
I didn’t know whether such a being was involved, but I was sure of one thing—
what I’d seen was not the end of it.

“After all, there’s still the one who turned the young swordsman and three top-tier masters into puppets.”

The higher one’s cultivation, the firmer one’s will and the more stable their mental world becomes.
That’s why even an expert of the first rank can’t easily be caught by sorcery.
But a master at the peak realm losing control of their mind?

Two possibilities came to mind.
First—those enemies possessed a spirit beast or divine artifact capable of such mental domination.
Second—someone with that level of power was working with them.

Though, the latter was… unlikely.

“Anyone capable of that died long ago in the Demonic War.”

The Great War between the Orthodox and the Demonic Sects a hundred years ago made that clear.
Back then, Heavenly Demon Cult was the most powerful group in spiritual arts, having absorbed remnants of the legendary Cult of the Sacred Flame.
Yet even they achieved little through sorcery during that war.
It could influence lower-level fighters, sure—but above that? It was useless.
From what I knew, studies into sorcery had only declined since then.
Only fools or desperate men sought power that way now.
In truth, it required far more learning than orthodox martial arts, and even then, the payoff was small.
Even if one achieved mastery, a peak master could crush them without effort.
That was the limit—and the reality—of sorcery for centuries.
So I confidently ruled out the second possibility.

At least until I left the dense woods and entered the plains—where I met a woman.

“Would you mind talking with me for a moment?”

She was beautiful—stunning, even.
Her smile was cool and refreshing, her eyes carried an almost dreamlike allure, and her very presence exuded a charm that could make any man’s heart flutter.
But none of that mattered.
The moment I saw her, I frowned.

A heavy musk filled the air—fine, tolerable.
But beneath it was the stench of blood—strong, metallic.
And behind her stood over twenty people…
all with broken eyes.

The same blank, lifeless eyes I’d seen on the young swordsman in Myeongan’s vision, and on those three masters earlier.

“So it was you… the one who played with people’s minds.”

I’d been wrong.
I hadn’t imagined the culprit would be human.
My scan confirmed everything.
She held a divine-grade talisman—but that alone couldn’t explain this.
No, the scene before me was clearly the result of her own ability.

“I’d heard you single-handedly defeated the Blood Demon Trio,” she said, admiration lacing her tone. “But to think you’d make it this far alive… I’m impressed, young master.”

Her compliment even sounded sincere.
Her eyes curved into crescents.
Praise from a woman like that—
part of me almost wanted to show off.
Maybe boast a little?
Yeah, why not—

“Don’t push your luck.”

My brows furrowed again.
An irritating pressure pricked at my temples.
Flirting, is it? She picked the wrong opponent.

“What…?”

For the first time, her smile faltered.
A woman who could enchant even peak masters—
yet now, she couldn’t hide her confusion.

I smirked.

“So you’re just a novice after all.”

She flinched, ready to retort—
but I was already moving.

Fine, I’ll admit—her sorcery was impressive.
But how about her martial arts?

The moment I caught her wrist and twisted it back—

“Kyah!”

A sharp scream tore from her lips.
Her body froze, only her mouth reacting to my movement.
As expected.
To refine sorcery to that degree, she must have sacrificed everything else—
including her body’s natural strength.
She’d probably spent decades immersed only in sorcery.
Despite looking not yet thirty, I could tell from experience—

“Up close, you’re at least seventy.”

She forgot her pain for a second and shrieked,
“What—where do I look seventy to you!?”
“Getting angry only proves I’m right.”
“T-that’s not—!”
“Enough. Since we can talk, let me ask one question.”

I tightened my grip on her wrist.

“Ugh!”

She groaned in pain, glaring at me resentfully.

“You said you wanted to ask something—this isn’t how you do it!”

I chuckled.
Instead of answering, I twisted her wrist harder.
She spun, trying to slip free—
I didn’t stop her.
I let our positions shift naturally.

Now she stood face-to-face with me—
and right behind her stood one of her puppets, closing in silently.

“You take me for a fool?”

If you treat someone like an idiot, you should be ready for punishment.

“W-wait—!”

Too late.

Crunch!

Her wrist snapped audibly.
She screamed—