The Gathering Storm
"That little monster integrated the Yama Fortress and the Blood Wolf Fortress as well?"
"Yes. The atmosphere among the unorthodox sects in that area is highly unusual right now."
Song Gwang-sik could understand Ilyang swallowing up the Flood Dragon Fortress.
Anyone could see it was self-defense.
Whether the young monster went there to play king of the hill or not, the Namgung Clan had no real ground to find fault with it.
But absorbing the Yama Fortress and the Blood Wolf Fortress too?
"This is incredibly awkward."
He knew well enough that the Yama and Blood Wolf Fortresses had also lent a hand in the recent incident.
But still.
Even so, this scale is too large.
The middle reaches of the Yujanggang River overlapped with the territory of the Namgung Clan.
The only reason the Namgung Clan had left those water bandits alone until now was because they knew to keep their heads down on their own.
They were pests that would keep spawning like cockroaches anyway.
They had simply left them be for the sake of easy management.
But now, a massive, mysterious sect was forming right there?
This was impossible to ignore.
"I must report this to the elders."
"Then what should we do about the elixir we promised as compensation for this matter? The Jinsung Escort Agency is waiting for a definitive answer."
Come to think of it, they had promised an elixir as compensation for the lost cargo.
It was the Great Restoration Pill, which even the Namgung Clan had obtained with considerable difficulty.
Originally, it was an elixir allocated to Namgung Min, the successor to the family head.
But after Namgung Min utterly ruined the escort mission this time,
they had decided to give that elixir to Ilyang instead.
Song Gwang-sik pressed his palm against his throbbing forehead for a moment.
He let out a sigh and said,
"...Hold off on that for now as well. If we tell them we will deliver it personally, the Jinsung Escort Agency will only benefit. It seems I must discuss this with the elders again."
"Understood. I will convey that to the Jinsung Escort Agency."
Signs of a tempest blowing into the tranquil Jianghu were beginning to show.
At times like this, one needed to keep their antennae raised high.
The face of Song Gwang-sik, the Chusal Daeju, was visibly contorted as he ordered his subordinate to gather more detailed intelligence on the surrounding area.
However, there were others who faced a far more immediate and practical crisis than Song Gwang-sik.
On a peaceful, rocky island in the middle-to-lower reaches of the Yujanggang River,
there lay the Five Dragons Fortress, the smallest of the Eighteen Water Bandit Fortresses.
The Five Dragons Fortress had a very small population for a water bandit stronghold.
Including the water bandits and their families, there were barely five hundred people in total.
The leadership of the Five Dragons Fortress consisted of exactly five people.
Currently, they were gathered in a meeting with grim expressions, neglecting their daily duties.
"What did you say happened?"
"Ah, big brother. I don't know how many times I gotta say it for you to understand. Our neighbors—the Flood Dragon, Yama, and Blood Wolf Fortresses—got absolutely smashed overnight!"
"Why them? Those old coots are definitely not the type to fight among themselves."
"Well, they tried to pull off a massive heist together this time, but they ended up biting off way more than they could chew. The rumors are spreading like wildfire."
The chief of the Five Dragons Fortress,
Jo Beom, a man of rather slight build, tilted his head in confusion after hearing the whole story.
"This feels highly ominous. Am I just imagining things?"
"We all think the same, big brother. You're the smartest among us, after all. Hurry up and make a call."
"Wait... Let me think for just a moment longer."
Jo Beom, the chief of the Five Dragons Fortress, was originally a highly intelligent water bandit who had even passed the local civil service exam.
He repeatedly stroked his sparse goatee, facing the growing anxiety in his mind head-on.
In terms of order, we're probably next.
For starters, it was incredibly easy to sail down the river from the Blood Wolf Fortress to the Five Dragons Fortress.
The Five Dragons Fortress was located downstream from the Blood Wolf Fortress.
With a favorable wind, a sailing ship could cover the distance in a mere two days.
"Information... We have far too little information."
"Ah, big brother, I figured you'd say that, so I already sent a few of our sharpest boys over there."
"Good work, Hong Chun. Have you tried contacting the Grand Chief?"
"That old man is probably keeping us in the dark, but he must already know everything even if we don't report it."
While the cross-eyed, middle-aged man named Hong Chun answered in his thick dialect,
a rather neat-looking bald man sitting next to him suddenly spoke up.
"The real problem, Big Brother, is if the Grand Chief knows about this but is simply choosing to watch from the sidelines."
"Are you saying that old coot views this as an internal matter?"
"It is highly likely. It makes no sense for the Grand Chief to be ignorant of what even we have figured out."
"Ugh. That is true, but..."
The Eighteen Water Bandit Fortresses were fundamentally a loose coalition of eighteen individual strongholds.
If government troops or a major orthodox sect attacked from the outside, they would band together tightly to resist or find a way out.
Conversely, if a power struggle or a rebellion occurred internally, they would stand aloof and watch with folded arms.
"If the Grand Chief regards this as an internal matter, our situation becomes extremely grave."
"Indeed. It means we will have to survive solely on our own strength. Ha, this is driving me crazy."
They didn't know the size of the enemy's forces, and their knowledge of what kind of formidable masters were among them was vague at best.
Since nothing was clear, they had no choice but to sit on their hands and wait for the scouts they had sent out to return.
...Normally, that is.
"...Do you think I would do that?"
"Pardon?"
"Prepare our fastest ship immediately."
At Jo Beom's sharp, irritable tone, the leaders of the Five Dragons Fortress cried out in alarm.
"Surely... you don't mean, Big Brother? You're not going there yourself, are you?"
Jo Beom looked at his sworn brothers, slammed his hand on the round table, and stood up.
"I must see it with my own eyes before making a decision. This is not something we can afford to drag our feet on."
The chief of the Five Dragons Fortress, Jo Beom, known as the Grass Carp of the Great River.
He had resolved to move personally.
Fundamentally, the concept of Circle Magic was one entirely established and refined by Ilyang—or rather, the Archmage Fabius Trevalier.
Prior to that, magic was referred to as "primitive magic," utilized by blindly accumulating mana in the heart.
Primitive magic allowed a caster to manipulate only a single element present in nature.
The Circle Magic established by Trevalier overcame this limitation, enabling a single individual to master all elemental attributes.
Thus, the very definition of a mage was completely rewritten before and after the era of Archmage Trevalier.
The 1st Circle granted basic elemental affinity.
That is to say, the common elements found in nature: water, fire, wind, earth, wood, metal, light, darkness, and so forth.
It allowed one to gain a fundamental affinity for these natural elements and manipulate them to a minor degree.
The 2nd Circle was a slightly more advanced stage, maximizing the destructive power of elemental magic.
The 3rd Circle enabled the caster to combine and utilize all the elements they could manipulate.
From the 4th Circle onward, a mage could handle not only elemental magic but also what was known as mental or soul magic.
Consequently, it was precisely from the 4th Circle that one could construct a sort of boundary in the world—commonly referred to as a mental world.
"Because of that, even in our world, one was only called a true mage from the 4th Circle. Anything before that was considered a mere apprentice stage."
After contracting with the spirit, Ilyang had fainted from mana exhaustion.
He had woken up exactly two days later.
And now, he was delivering his first proper lesson to his elderly disciple, Gong Jeol-gang, who had diligently handled all affairs in his stead during his absence.
"Master, it seems that the 4th Circle you speak of corresponds to a Suseonza of the sixth or seventh stage of the Qi Condensation realm in our world."
"That is likely the case. However, it will not align perfectly. This world's system concentrates mana in the dantian, after all."
"Then, would it be wise for this disciple to completely seal my dantian even now and form circles in my heart?"
His elderly disciple, Gong Jeol-gang.
As he asked with a desperate expression, Ilyang shook his head.
"You have already come too far for that. You would have to start over from the very beginning. Can you bear such a burden?"
"This disciple can easily endure it."
Ilyang stared quietly at his disciple's face, which was etched with deep wrinkles yet brimming with passion, and smiled bitterly.
It was the same everywhere.
Whether it was magic or spells.
True seekers of knowledge always possessed a touch of madness, just like this man.
Because of that, he felt a tinge of pity.
This was the elderly disciple to whom he had honestly revealed all his secrets for the first time since arriving in this world.
Granted, their first meeting had not been particularly pleasant.
But regardless, he was the one Ilyang had formally accepted as his first disciple.
Therefore, Ilyang did not beat around the bush and delivered the harsh truth bluntly.
"Regardless of your willpower, is your physical body not far too decrepit?"
Once the vast amount of mana currently residing in Gong Jeol-gang's dantian dispersed,
his body would rapidly revert to its actual age.
Right now, he looked to be in his late forties or fifties at most.
But the moment his mana scattered,
he would return to being a seventy-year-old man.
At that point, there would simply not be enough physical time left for him to accumulate mana in his heart anew.
"...Then, is it impossible for this disciple to ascend to a higher realm?"
Gong Jeol-gang had been stuck at the seventh stage of his realm for a very long time.
In truth, the seventh stage alone was equivalent to what ordinary people called a first-rate or peak master, making it an incredible achievement.
But how could human greed ever be fully satisfied?
If he could ascend just one more stage and reach the eighth stage of Qi Condensation,
he would become an absolute powerhouse, with virtually no rivals in the mortal realm.
Seeing his elderly disciple's deeply disappointed face and hearing his trembling voice, Ilyang fell into thought for a moment.
Then, pinching his soft cheek—a gesture that had now become a habit—he replied,
"Well, it is not as if there are absolutely no methods we could try. However, it is a path no one has ever trodden. Thus, I cannot guarantee success or failure."
"This inadequate disciple places his faith solely in you, Master."
At the sight of Gong Jeol-gang bowing his head deeply, Ilyang chuckled softly.
"You are placing quite a burden on me."
"..."
Gong Jeol-gang merely swallowed hard, silently pleading for his young master's guidance and mercy.
Understanding the man's earnest heart, Ilyang nodded.
"It is too dangerous to attempt right now. Let us try when I have reached at least the 6th Circle."
The 6th Circle was the undeniable realm of an Archmage.
By the standards of this world, it would be beyond Qi Condensation, past Foundation Establishment,
and somewhere around the Core Formation or Nascent Soul realm.
Though I cannot be certain if it aligns perfectly.
Perhaps because their ultimate goals differed,
the realms of Circle Magic and cultivation did not seem to correspond exactly.
He was merely forcing them to fit into the standards of this world.
"Then... around when might you reach that level?"
"You are quite impatient."
At Ilyang's mild scolding, Gong Jeol-gang scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.
Even he realized it was an impatient question.
Yet, he could not help but feel anxious.
Seeing this, Ilyang answered him plainly.
"First of all, I expect to reach the 4th Circle within a few days. I went through all that trouble to contract with that fellow for this very reason."
Ilyang gestured with his chin toward a corner of the room.
Gong Jeol-gang looked cautiously at the red-furred fox lying near the head of the bed and spoke.
"The three-tailed fox... No, she has grown another tail, so are you referring to the four-tailed fox?"
"Indeed. I formed a contract with Geum-ok."
Atop the pillow on the bed,
Geum-ok, who had been lying there with a slightly smug expression, wagged her tails and let out a yawn.
Swallowing hard at the sight, Gong Jeol-gang spoke up.
"This disciple always believed it was incredibly difficult to share a deep communion with a spirit beast. Seeing you command a spirit beast so effortlessly, Master, I cannot help but be deeply curious about your method."
There were indeed specific spells and techniques for commanding spirit beasts or monsters.
However, most of them were closely guarded family secrets, completely unknown to the outside world.
Ilyang tilted his head as he looked at his elderly disciple's covetous eyes.
He gently stroked the back of the red fox, who had begun to look somewhat displeased, as if to soothe her, and then spoke.
"What a strange thing to say. There is no special trick to communing with a spirit. It is simply a matter of having a conversation."
A method to force a spirit into submission?
Of course, such methods existed.
But those were blatant shortcuts.
One could never fully harness a spirit's true power through such means.
It would merely turn them into a puppet.
"I-I see."
Despite Ilyang's explanation, Gong Jeol-gang could not hide his disappointment.
After all, the value of a spirit beast was truly astronomical.
If I could obtain the inner core of that four-tailed fox right now...
I could reach at least the eighth stage. If luck is on my side, perhaps even the ninth...
Honestly, the urge to ask his young master for the spirit beast's inner core rose all the way to his throat, but—
Get a grip on yourself.
Excessive greed always invited disaster.
He must not be fooled by his master's youthful appearance.
Gong Jeol-gang barely managed to suppress his desire. Bowing deeply to show his respect, he spoke cautiously.
"The excavation work you ordered the water bandits to perform is mostly complete, Master. The urgent repairs on the ships have also been finished."
Ilyang stared quietly at Gong Jeol-gang as he attempted a subtle change of subject, then let out a soft chuckle.
Seeing the man, who had been plagued by all sorts of inner turmoil just a moment ago,
somehow manage to compose his emotions gave him a rather peculiar feeling.
At least he isn't foolish. That is a relief.
Ilyang played along with his elderly disciple's shift in topic and said,
"I shall be in the underground training ground for a while. I leave the rest to you."
"Understood, Master."
As Ilyang descended to the underground training ground with the red fox,
Gong Jeol-gang let out a long, held-in sigh.
"Whew... This cursed greed keeps making me want to overstep my bounds."
Was he going senile?
Because his master looked like a mere child, insolent thoughts kept rearing their ugly heads.
Gong Jeol-gang shook his head repeatedly, playing back his uncomfortable first meeting with Master Ilyang in his mind.
He decided he had better go outside and beat some sense into those ignorant water bandits to clear his head.