* * *

"Damn gnat. You're really getting on my nerves..."

The harsh words slipped out before Yise knew it. Someone had ambushed him again while he was taking a brief rest.

What infuriated him was that this wasn't the bastard's first ambush. It was the same man who had attacked him without warning immediately after he entered the secret realm. Whenever Yise cut off his attacker's head, it turned out to be a double. By the time he located the real body, it was already far away.

He had let him escape twice that way.

As long as he noticed the ambush, the man posed little threat. The problem was what a nuisance he was. An attack might actually hurt him if he happened to look away or be absorbed in something else.

'Just show yourself one more time.'

Next time, he would catch him for certain. Yise gritted his teeth. He had struggled against powerful enemies often enough, but he had never experienced being toyed with by someone so plainly weaker.

Yise stopped and caught his breath with his back against the rock wall. Even here in front of the wall, huge trees, fallen rocks, and debris provided ample cover for an ambush. That was why the man had doggedly pursued him and shown himself here.

If Yise waited, he would come again.

Yise closed his eyes, both to present an opening to his enemy and to sense the flow of spiritual energy more clearly without relying on sight. If he became fixated on the attack in front of him, he would miss the real body.

After he had spent some time sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, a set of spiritual meridians approached at lightning speed. Yise looked beyond it, toward the predator's real body, suppressing its internal reserves as it waited for its prey to collapse from exhaustion.

He kicked off the ground, slipping past the sharp metal blade flying toward him. He headed straight for the real body. His enemy hastily tried to flee.

A Flying Body Talisman tore inside Yise's robes. Its wind-attribute spell augmented his Dokkaebi Steps, and the distance between them shrank rapidly. Once the Cultivator entered spell range, Yise activated Ground-Shadow Snare.

No matter how fast someone was, they could never outrun their own shadow. A shadow sprang up beneath the man's feet and seized his ankles. His own speed made the backlash all the stronger, sending him tumbling across the ground.

Dokkaebi Shadow-Gathering Demonic Art.

Shadow-Net Formation.

A net of shadows bound the attacker. Closing the distance in an instant, Yise swung his hand axe at the man's neck.

"Aaaah! Spare me, Senior!"

Yise swung without so much as acknowledging the plea.

But the next instant, the Cultivator sank into the ground. He had used the Earth-Travel Art.

"Seriously? You had another trick up your sleeve?"

Looking utterly sick of this, Yise planted the Twin-Banner Spirit-Domain Sealing Standard. A barrier spread, beginning to seal the spiritual energy in the vicinity. He didn't know whether it would work underground, but if it did, the man would soon be trapped beneath the earth.

A moment later, a hand abruptly dug its way out of the ground, followed by the frantic Cultivator. Yise stamped his foot firmly onto the top of the man's head. With his spiritual energy sealed and only his head aboveground, the immobilized Cultivator pleaded again.

"Please spare me, Senior. I'll be your slave if you want."

"I made myself one rule when I came in here."

"W-what is it...?"

"Never spare anyone who attacks first."

"Please, don't—"

The Cultivator broke off with a scream as Yise's hand axe came toward him, its edge flashing.

"A SOUL-BINDING CONTRACT!!"

His shout made Yise's axe pause.

"Shall we... sign a contract? I have a soul-binding contract..."

Yise bound him securely with Shadow-Net Formation, then accepted the soul-binding contract. After checking its authenticity, he questioned the Cultivator.

"Name."

"Ryu Seonghan..."

「Ryu Seonghan shall obey Yise's commands without exception and shall not attack other Cultivators within the Dark Heaven Secret Realm. This contract shall remain in effect until either party dies. Should Ryu Seonghan violate the contract, his head shall explode, resulting in his death.」

"Hand over your storage pouch. Put everything you own inside."

"What? But then I won't survive in here— Aaagh!"

Ryu Seonghan immediately clutched his head. He hurriedly stuffed all his resources into his storage pouch and handed it to Yise.

"The contract certainly works."

"Sob... Please, at least let me keep a defensive ritual implement."

"Shouldn't you take off your shoes too?"

"..."

Those shoes were definitely a ritual implement. He had tried to leave them out casually, but they hadn't escaped Yise's notice.

"Off you go."

"Aren't you going to protect me?"

"Why would I?"

Yise had concluded that traveling alone was far easier here. Dragging the man around would only get in his way.

"...?"

"If we meet again outside the secret realm, I'll take you in. Try to stay alive."

"Senior...!"

Another Cultivator's head had nearly ended up mounted on an Earthen Spear. Instead, he survived, and Yise gained another storage pouch.

* * *

'Should I have just killed him?'

In all honesty, the man's talent deserved recognition. It had been a long time since Yise had faced such a troublesome opponent. Had they been outside the secret realm, he might have captured him and tried to win him over. If they met again, he would surely be useful for something.

Regardless, the spoils were sweet. There weren't many spirit stones or talismans, but he had acquired several seemingly precious spiritual herbs and a ritual implement in the form of shoes.

'Honestly. You need to dig up the soil with the herbs. How am I supposed to transplant them when you've pulled them out like this?'

Yise grinned as he put the herbs into his spiritual-herb pouch. He had no choice but to keep these for himself.

'There's even a quality guarantee.'

Yise gave a disbelieving chuckle. He had noticed a wooden slip in the storage pouch and examined it, only to find the words "Quality Guarantee" written on it.

[Ghoststep Boots.]

[Ritual-Implement Artisan: Sira]

[Grade: Qi Refining supernatural treasure.]

[Effect: Conceals energy in the wearer's footsteps and increases walking speed, granting a ghostlike gait.]

[Repair Warranty: 10 years]

A supernatural treasure called Ghoststep Boots. The name meant shoes that gave their wearer a ghost's gait. Apparently, this treasure was what had allowed the man to plague him so relentlessly. The artisan's name was unusual, and there was even a repair warranty.

Curious which continent the man came from, Yise briefly regretted not keeping him around long enough to get some information.

Combining his body-refining training with Dokkaebi Steps, Ghoststep Boots, and a Flying Body Talisman brought his movement close to flight. He glided as though slicing through the air, leaving almost no friction against the ground or trace of energy behind. He smiled in satisfaction at the exhilarating ease of his movements.

As Yise sped along, several Cultivators were startled by his approach and readied themselves for battle. But he passed by everyone who didn't attack first. He had no wish to murder indiscriminately like a Demonic Path Cultivator, and rather than waste time in the outer region, he wanted to reach the inner depths as soon as possible.

Perhaps sensing something extraordinary in the way he moved, the Cultivators were reluctant to attack. Yise ran toward his destination with considerably greater ease.

Of course, he still encountered danger. At a point where the rock wall curved inward like a coastline and obstructed his view, nine demonic practitioners in red robes attacked him at once. He hastily blocked the ambush with the Yellow Grand Parasol and tried to counterattack with every spell and talisman at his disposal, but he could not withstand the barrage of spells backed by such overwhelming numbers.

In the end, Yise retreated.

During his retreat, one tenth-star Qi Refining demonic practitioner doggedly pursued him alone. Too intent on the chase to mind his defenses, he had his head smashed by Yise's hand axe. Underestimating an opponent and neglecting one's defenses could end only in death.

Yise drove that lesson home to the demonic practitioners.

He mounted the man's head on an Earthen Spear, then placed the corpse in the Demon-Sealing Album after finishing the exorcism and devouring. A fear of the unknown spread among the demonic practitioners who arrived in pursuit. Only then did the chase stop.

'I'd better watch out for groups.'

There was nothing cowardly or shameful about attacking together. Yise resolved to steer clear of any group of three or more well in advance.

When it felt as though roughly five days had passed since he began exploring the secret realm, his long, long journey finally brought him to the starting line. A split in the natural rock barrier revealed an arched entrance roughly five jang high and two jang wide.

The entrance to the inner depths.

Spiritual energy poured from it.

"Hey, you. Stop."

Three men stood before the opening. All had reached Great Attainment of Qi Refining and were lined up as though guarding the entrance. Yise's eyes tightened slightly when he recognized their attire.

'The Iron Sun Thunder Sect?'

Their robes were pitch-black. Black robes were common enough, but robes embroidered with azaleas, the symbol of the Cheoryang region, unmistakably belonged to the Iron Sun Thunder Sect.

A demonic-path sect using azaleas as its emblem. What a joke.

"You can't pass. Entry's closed."

Yise stared at the demonic practitioners spouting lines fit for mountain bandits, then glanced around. They looked more like common street thugs than demonic practitioners. Though he couldn't see anyone, he sensed spiritual energy some distance away. Apparently, he wasn't the only one they had barred.

As Yise gripped his hand axe and took a step forward, the gatekeepers snickered and roused their Demonic Energy. He didn't ask anything so foolish as what right they had to block the way. They weren't doing this because they had the right. They were doing it simply because they wanted to.

"If you don't move, I'll take that as permission to attack."

"Oh? Then if you attack, I'll take that as you asking to die."

To gauge their proficiency with spells, Yise enlarged a Firebolt and launched it toward the entrance to the inner depths. One demonic practitioner raised a Water Wall to block it, while another behind him took a large iron cylinder from his storage pouch.

It was an enormous ritual implement shaped like a black cannon barrel, closely resembling the cannons ordinary people used in war. But it couldn't be a cannon. Against Cultivators, ordinary cannons were effectively no better than thrown stones.

A dazzling bolt of lightning shot from the barrel. Yise reflexively erected two earthen walls, brought the Yellow Grand Parasol forward, and wrapped himself in another layer of spiritual energy behind it. His instincts told him an inadequate defense would mean death.

But even that judgment was wrong.

The lightning blasted through the earthen walls, punched a hole through even the Yellow Grand Parasol, shattered his spiritual-energy shield, and pierced him squarely in the solar plexus. Yise was hurled backward, vomiting blood. Even then, he never stopped assessing the situation.

'That's the power of a Foundation Establishment ritual implement.'

They were certainly Qi Refining Cultivators. Yet that ritual implement undeniably held Foundation Establishment power. He had no idea how Qi Refining Cultivators could use a Foundation Establishment implement, but this was dangerous.

The moment he reached that conclusion, Yise rapidly withdrew.