Chapter 59: Shadows Converging

Currently, the Lord and the other top ten believed Gaon was responsible for annihilating the 2nd Division.

But if Gaon killed Bestick?

Then he wasn’t the one who destroyed the 2nd Division.

This would render parts of the plan decided at the grand meeting meaningless.

They needed to find out quickly.

Was it Gaon who killed Bestick, or an accomplice?

“Yes, I’ll issue the orders immediately,” Margaret replied.

“One more thing. Tell them to cooperate, not act separately.”

Bestick had been taken down.

The opponent was no ordinary foe.

If they acted individually, they’d meet the same fate as Bestick.

“Yes, understood.”

Margaret responded, and Bao headed to the cultivation chamber.

He’d initially planned to go to his office, but his thoughts had changed.

Bestick’s death had left his mind in disarray.

He wanted to clear his head through training.

Upon arriving at the cultivation chamber, Bao extended his hand.

Whoosh!

A black rod embedded in the chamber’s center flew to him.

Bao infused energy into his cherished weapon, the Black Lotus Rod.

Swish!

The patterns engraved on the rod glowed with a deep red light.

Seeing the glow, Bao began performing the Sikrina family’s hereditary rod techniques.

Whoosh!

Fwoosh!

Flames trailed the rod’s path.

Swish!

At some point, the red glow turned purple.

Whoosh!

Hiss!

The flames became a purple poisonous mist.

It didn’t stop there.

With each color change, the attack’s effects shifted—extreme cold, sharp winds.

“Phew…”

Finishing the techniques, Bao exhaled deeply.

He threw the Black Lotus Rod back to the chamber’s center and headed to his office.

Arriving, he saw a pile of documents on his desk.

“So many.”

Shaking his head, he picked up the topmost document.

“…!”

Reading it, his eyes gleamed.

Then he frowned.

Hmph…

After finishing, Bao let out a low groan.

“That high-and-mighty Syrion.”

The document’s subject was Syrion, head of the Atz family.

Syrion had always acted as if he had no personal ambitions in the human faction.

Yet some of his subordinates were stirring trouble there.

Not openly, of course.

They were operating covertly.

“The Belmar family…”

Bao trailed off, thinking.

What’s there?

***

In the city of Beltin, at Kareem’s butcher shop.

Thud!

Kareem placed a pig on the workbench.

It had been skinned and bled.

All that remained was deboning and trimming.

Swish.

Kareem grabbed a nearby work knife.

At that moment—

Creak! Bang!

The door burst open.

“Kareem! How dare you put this kind of meat at the bottom!” a middle-aged man shouted, voice full of anger.

Kareem looked up at him and scowled.

“Get lost, Belto.”

Ignoring him, Kareem began deboning.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere.”

Belto’s anger vanished as if it had never been, replaced by a sly grin as he tossed a chunk of meat.

The meat flew through the air and landed on the workbench.

Kareem stopped deboning.

He looked at Belto.

“What are you playing at?”

Belto was always playful, but this was odd.

Belto grinned wider, pointing to the sky.

“Orders came down.”

“…!”

Kareem’s eyes gleamed.

“Bestick’s dead, they say.”

“What? Lord Bestick?”

“Yeah, your swordsmanship mentor, Bestick, is gone.”

“Who did it?”

“That’s the mission—find out.”

Kareem’s eyes turned cold.

Belto continued.

“They said it’s fine if our identities are exposed. Just make sure we find out.”

“Wait a moment.”

Kareem set down the knife and went to a back room.

He emerged, completely transformed.

“Let’s head to the palace.”

“Sorry, we can’t go straight there.”

“What? Why?” Kareem frowned.

“We’re not the only ones assigned.”

“Huh? What do you mean… more?”

“Yeah, everyone’s in.”

“Everyone? Isn’t that overkill?”

“It’s that dangerous. Parn’s dead. And Batan.”

“…!”

Kareem had suspected Parn’s death after hearing about Bestick.

But Batan, the Division Leader?

Batan was someone Kareem and Belto couldn’t defeat even together.

“Don’t act separately. We’re to cooperate. We’re meeting at the safehouse in the capital.”

“That’s probably best,” Kareem agreed.

The two left Beltin for the capital, arriving exactly two hours later.

At the safehouse, Kareem and Belto found the other five already there.

“Hey, long time no see.”

“Same old boring faces.”

“Apologies for being late as the leader!” Belto, the mission’s captain, laughed.

Sitting in an empty chair, he continued, “Everyone’s here, so let’s start the meeting.”

“What’s there to discuss?” Germoor, frowning at not being the leader, retorted.

“Just go in and kill everyone. Our identities don’t matter, right?”

“Batan’s dead. We can’t take this lightly.”

“That’s why we’re all here. No need to be careless, but overthinking’s a problem too.”

“Hmph…”

Belto looked at the others, who seemed to agree with Germoor.

They’ve already talked.

Their expressions showed they’d discussed it beforehand.

No helping it.

Belto had planned to strategize thoroughly before entering.

But forcing a plan now might backfire.

“Fine, overplanning’s no good either.”

He spoke after thinking.

“But dangerous is dangerous. We’ll move in three teams: three, two, two.”

He wasn’t going in without a plan.

As the mission’s leader, he’d bear the responsibility for failure.

Minimal precautions were necessary.

“Phew.”

***

Gaon exhaled softly, stopping his cultivation.

He broke into a wide smile.

He’d finally gathered all the Pacheongi needed for the 8th Circle.

Standing, he surveyed the surroundings.

The Bretan Kingdom’s royal cultivation chamber already had many arrays.

But they weren’t enough.

The aftermath of entering the 8th Circle would be immense.

The existing arrays couldn’t handle it.

The chamber would likely be destroyed, as it was during his 7th Circle ascension.

He began setting up additional arrays.

After finishing, he returned to the center, thinking.

This should suffice.

The existing and new arrays’ combined strength should handle the aftermath.

Sitting cross-legged, he checked his body and Pacheongi.

As expected, there were no issues, and he began creating the eighth circle.

The process was the same as the seventh.

After forming the circle, he had to connect it to all others, from the first to the seventh.

That was it.

But with one more circle, the connection difficulty was far greater than before.

Having done it before, Gaon felt no burden.

With a calm expression, he formed the eighth circle.

Perhaps because it wasn’t yet connected, it was unstable.

Without focus, it could collapse instantly.

Concentrating to stabilize it, he connected it to the first circle, then the second, third, and so on, up to the seventh.

The moment all connections were complete, the unstable eighth circle stabilized.

Simultaneously, an aftermath erupted.

Swish!

A Pacheongi storm, like the seventh circle’s.

But incomparably stronger.

Good thing I overdid the arrays.

Had he set up fewer, the storm would’ve destroyed the chamber.

Confirming the chamber’s safety, Gaon observed the furiously spinning eight circles, waiting for the storm to subside.

To reach this so quickly.

In the past, Gaon had attempted the 9th Circle but failed.

He was an 8th Circle mage then.

Now, he’d reclaimed that realm.

Though his total energy was less than before, his output wasn’t.

His physical abilities far surpassed his past self.

With the Pacheon Swordsmanship, he was akin to a Swordmaster.

In terms of raw power, he’d exceeded his past self.

At this rate, I could reach the 9th Circle in a few years.

The Pacheongi needed for the 9th Circle was immense.

He was far from it.

Without elixirs or mana stones, pure cultivation would take 20 years.

But with elixirs and stones, as with the 7th and 8th Circles?

The time would shrink drastically.

Gaon was excited.

What would the 9th Circle be like?

Rumble…

The Pacheongi storm subsided.

But Gaon didn’t stand.

He had things to check.

First, he extended his senses to their maximum.

…Ha.

He let out a wry chuckle.

He’d known the range would expand.

It had when he reached the 8th Circle in the past.

But this was far beyond expectations.

And that wasn’t all.

Before, at long distances, he could only sense the presence of energy.

Now, he could gauge its magnitude.

Not precisely, but still.

At that moment—

“…!”

His eyes gleamed.

Three new auras appeared in his senses.

They were significant.

Though far, making it unclear, they seemed to have faced the wall.

The issue was their speed.

They were moving rapidly—toward the palace.

Soon, the three entered the palace.

Had they used the main gate, he wouldn’t have cared.

But they’d scaled the walls, sneaking in.

They clearly had ill intentions.

In this situation, only the Abyss would have such motives.

As expected, they’ve moved.

Interrogating Lutein had revealed much.

The Sikrina family had several operatives in the Bretan Kingdom besides Lutein.

With Lutein dead, he’d thought they’d act—and they had.

At that moment—

Three’s not all?

Two more auras appeared.

Like the others, they’d at least faced the wall.

Unlike the three from the south, these two were approaching quickly from the north.

Gaon stood.

Perfect timing to test it.

A chance to test his 8th Circle powers right after ascending?

With a satisfied expression, he left the cultivation chamber.

He headed to intercept the three from the south first.