The Dragon's Trace
Lim Dojun felt Wang Chen’s faint gaze upon him inside the Myeongho Pavilion.
However, Wang Chen had been watching with extreme caution, so Dojun couldn’t quite catch his tail.
All he had confirmed was that the man wasn’t here—he was somewhere else.
That was why he returned to Shenyang City to gather more clues.
Destroying the Myeongho Pavilion hadn’t been entirely fruitless. He had uncovered several organizations that took direct orders from Wang Chen.
It seemed the man had left in such a hurry that he hadn’t been able to erase all his traces. Using those leads, they moved immediately.
Leading the charge was Go Wonjin.
-KWAANG!
“(Who the hell are you?! Do you even know where this is?)”
“Do you know Wang Chen?”
“(…What the fuck is this guy saying?)”
“Tsk. I can’t understand a word. Is there anyone here who speaks Korean?”
Since they couldn’t communicate, there was no point in asking questions.
But Go Wonjin didn’t waste time worrying about it.
“If I keep beating them, someone will call for him eventually.”
Since he couldn’t understand Chinese, his conclusion was refreshingly simple.
It was only natural—hit the little brother hard enough and the big brother shows up.
If these guys had any way to contact Wang Chen, they would use it.
After that, the Cheongryong Clan went around smashing several of Shenyang’s organizations.
Yet even though they operated openly in broad daylight and caused a massive commotion, Wang Chen never appeared. Not a single one of his subordinates tried to contact him either.
“These are all just empty shells. No flavor at all.”
Go Wonjin sheathed his sword with a disappointed grunt.
Five, maybe six organizations.
They had dismantled quite large groups, but none of them had anyone worth calling a real powerhouse.
At best, they were just awakeners or low-ranking returnees.
The excitement Go Wonjin had felt about finally testing his strength properly cooled off in an instant.
It looked like Wang Chen had taken all his direct subordinates and gone into hiding with them.
“Clan Leader. What now?”
“It’s unfortunate, but we should head back for now.”
“You sure that’s okay?”
“He’s hiding himself too well. It doesn’t look like we’ll find him anytime soon. Next time, we’ll need to come up with a proper search method.”
They couldn’t stay in a foreign country indefinitely with nothing to show for it.
Especially after causing such a scene.
Of course, the Cheongryong Clan was confident they could slip away even if the Chinese government moved against them, but there was no telling what might happen.
If they found out the group had come from Korea, it could easily escalate into an international incident.
That was the last thing he wanted, so for now, returning home seemed best.
And I’ve used too much Dragon Soul magic.
He had destroyed every single sorcery circle in the Myeongho Pavilion using the Dragon’s Eye, but the price had been an imbalance in his body.
It wasn’t as severe as before, but he would still need to return and stabilize himself.
“Tsk. Can’t be helped. I really wanted to see one of the Ten Venerables’ faces. What a shame.”
Both Go Wonjin and Lee Sehan clicked their tongues in disappointment.
This had been the Cheongryong Clan’s official first operation, yet they were returning without any significant results.
While the Cheongryong Clan lamented their lack of achievements, the situation after they disappeared unfolded quite differently.
After the Cheongryong Clan returned to Korea…
The various Chinese organizations that caught wind of the disturbance in Shenyang offered silent prayers for the poor souls who had provoked Wang Chen.
If you crossed Wang Chen, death wasn’t the end.
Your soul would be enslaved to him for all eternity.
But no matter how long they waited, Wang Chen’s revenge never came.
Instead, Shenyang remained strangely quiet.
A few organizations, growing suspicious, sent investigators to Shenyang. Only then did they realize that Wang Chen was not in his usual state.
The sorcery circles near the torn-apart Myeongho Pavilion. The fact that Wang Laoshi had not shown himself despite being attacked multiple times…
The tyrant of Shenyang had vanished!
Even if Wang Chen had gone into hiding, no one would have dared to target Shenyang.
The fear he had instilled over the years was simply too great.
But after the Cheongryong Clan stirred things up, the hyenas began to appear.
At first they only poked around cautiously. When Wang Chen still showed no reaction, they finally bared their fangs in earnest.
Shock quickly turned into opportunity. Various factions began tearing into Shenyang like starving beasts.
They seized the legitimate and underground goods Wang Chen had been distributing. They openly stole treasures he had left behind as if daring anyone to stop them.
Some of the bolder ones even targeted his legitimate business holdings.
Among those eyeing Shenyang were even other members of the Ten Venerables.
Of course, the Ten Venerable directly neighboring the region—Bukcheonan (Northern Thousand Eyes)—strangely declared he would not intervene. The others paid him no mind and continued ravaging Wang Chen’s territory.
Even the United States and Russia noticed the situation and joined in, hoping to snatch up whatever they could.
By the time Wang Chen recovered enough from his injuries to try and stop them, the damage was already catastrophic.
The moment Lim Dojun returned home, he lay down in the capsule and traveled to Astelgard.
In truth, there was plenty to do even after returning to Korea.
The Cheongryong Clan had officially launched, and with Happy Service now controlling the Gangnam area, they could receive financial support from the clan’s operations.
There were also reports that needed to be filed with the Returnee Association and many other tasks, but he left them all to Lee Sehan.
I need to stabilize my body before the imbalance gets any worse.
Since the imbalance wasn’t too severe yet, it would be relatively easy to correct.
That was one of the reasons he had returned so quickly.
Lim Dojun woke up inside his personal training room.
Wondering if any urgent messages had arrived, he stepped outside for a moment and happened to make eye contact with a mage who had been pacing nervously in front of the door.
“Ah, Elder Jun! You’ve come out?”
“Were you waiting for me?”
Lim Dojun asked naturally.
Even though he had become an elder, he never looked down on ordinary mages.
After all, his career within the tower was still quite short.
Unlike other geniuses, Dojun wasn’t arrogant and treated everyone well. As a result, the regular mages liked him immensely.
“Yes, I was.”
“What is it?”
“A large number of sponsorships have arrived. Most of them have been placed in your personal office for now.”
It was only natural that many people would want to get on the good side of a Blue Magic Tower elder.
His strength and background were both impeccable.
Moreover, unlike the other elders who were advanced in age, the much younger Lim Dojun was already being called the future Tower Master.
It was only expected that gifts and sponsorships without any strings attached would pour in.
“Hasn’t my official appointment as elder been announced yet?”
Lim Dojun had delayed the official announcement because he had matters to attend to on Earth.
There would be a proper opportunity for the Blue Magic Tower to announce it later.
“Even so, it was quite a big event. All the mages at the main tower and anyone above branch manager rank already know. There’s no stopping the rumors from spreading.”
He was right.
Unless they kept it completely secret, anyone with even a decent information network would have already figured it out.
“However, there is one package that doesn’t have a sender listed. I came to ask what we should do with it.”
The mage showed him a wooden box.
Most sponsors pretended to be pure while making sure to clearly state their origin.
Since that was their goal, it was practically mandatory.
Yet this was the only gift that had no sender.
“I was worried it might be dangerous, so I apologize, but I did check the contents.”
“That’s fine. Was it safe?”
“Yes. It’s just some ordinary-looking accessory.”
An accessory…?
“Ah, and there was a note enclosed with it. No sender on that either.”
The mage handed over the note.
“Isn’t it ridiculous? Asking you to come find them without even saying who they are. And how dare they treat our Blue Magic Tower so lightly, ordering an elder to come and go as they please? If I knew who it was, I would have sent a strongly worded complaint immediately. What a shame.”
The mage let out a scoffing laugh, clearly finding it absurd.
But Lim Dojun couldn’t laugh.
“……!?”
Just from reading the note, he froze.
Could it be…?
There was only one accessory he was looking for.
With great care, Lim Dojun opened the package.
Inside was a single old, worn-out ring.
The mage who had been watching furrowed his brow.
“Should I take it and dispose of it? It looks disgusting to even touch.”
“No, that won’t be necessary.”
Lim Dojun smoothly sent the mage away, accepted the package, and examined it more closely.
“Since it was given as a gift, we can’t just throw it away carelessly.”
“Oh…”
The mage was inwardly impressed by Dojun’s meticulous kindness.
One would expect a young genius elder to carry a certain aura, but Dojun gave off a completely different impression, which made him even more likable.
Of course, Lim Dojun’s entire mind was focused on the ring, so he barely registered what the mage was saying.
-Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded violently.
Lim Dojun lightly gripped the ring. At the same time, a message appeared before his eyes.
Skill ‘Dragon's Body’ has increased by 0.51%.
Current Dragon's Body ratio: 5.47%
A euphoric sensation as if his soul was expanding.
It was only a tiny increase, but the vitality he felt in his body was substantial.
Lim Dojun took several deep breaths to calm the rush of euphoria before reading the note again.
There are two more of these?
He reread the note carefully.
If there were two more, he was willing to go all the way to Monster Land if necessary.
He had originally planned to focus on his duties as an elder for a while, but that would have to be postponed.
“I need to go out for a bit.”
It was time to visit Vex and Olivia of the Rodonos House.