“Not a big deal—where are you headed?” Chun-bong asked as she eyed Seo-jun, who was laden with luggage.

“Uh… Just an overnight trip?”
“With some woman?”
“Probably a guy.”
“Hmm… that’s a bit tricky.”

With two weeks left until the Yongbong Gathering finals, Seo-jun judged it enough time for a round-trip to Blood Crow Sect. Better to act now than later.

Letting those nuisances keep pestering him? It would only lead to regrets.

“You’ll be able to sleep well without me, right, Chun-bong?”
“If I said no, would you stay?”
“Of course not.”
“What?”

Caught off guard by his unexpected response, Chun-bong sighed.

“Sleep? I’ll sleep just fine, so hurry back—and try not to cause any trouble.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Did you at least tell my sister?”
“I was just about to.”
“And your supplies? If it’s far, you’ll need food, blankets, spare shoes, silver coins, water—oh, and—”
“Geez, Mom! I’ll be right back!”
“It’s just that every time you leave, I worry about what mess you’ll get into.”
“That’s so unfair…”

In truth, he didn’t have much to argue; he was, after all, setting out to make some trouble.

Or maybe not? Erasing one sect didn’t seem like that big of a deal.

Besides, Blood Crow Sect was from the opposing faction anyway. This wasn’t trouble—it was contribution.

Still, he brushed off her worries lightly.

“It won’t take long, and there won’t be any danger, so take care and make sure you put on some weight.”
“Yeah, right,” Chun-bong scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“So you’re going to Blood Crow Sect, huh?”
“What! How’d you know?”
“You mentioned wiping them out before, didn’t you?”
“Oh, right.”

With a sigh, Chun-bong advised him seriously.

“If you sense anything off, just get out of there. Got it? You’re fast, after all.”
“Of course. I don’t think even a Master at their peak could catch me.”
“Don’t get cocky and mess things up.”
“Hey, I’m all about humility.”
“Honestly, just stay here.”
“Aww.”

Ruffling her hair, Seo-jun quickly dashed away.

“I’ll be back soon…!”

Chun-bong reluctantly waved.

“You better be careful! Before I decide to storm in there myself!”

•  

After bidding farewell to a few friends, Seo-jun left the estate, lightly pushing off the ground.

He leaped a few times, brushing past the clouds. Stopping mid-air, he took out his map.

“Hmm.”

Using a compass, he quickly aligned his direction.

“This should be right, I think?”

There’s no way he was so foolish he’d get lost, he reasoned. Heading north-northwest should be fine.

And if he was wrong… well, it’d be a sightseeing trip.

‘This has got to be right.’

Setting his resolve, the lotus blossom beneath him split into yin and yang, blending in harmony.

Boom—!

With immense pressure weighing down his entire body, the world stretched into lines.

Breaking the sound barrier was long behind him.

After about ten minutes maintaining Honwonbo, Seo-jun was beginning to get a feel for it.

‘Father-in-law used to…’

Like this?

Swish—

He positioned his hand in a knife shape, slicing the air in his path.

As the pressure eased, his speed increased even more, and he soon encountered another wall of air.

Boom—!

Clicking his tongue, Seo-jun thought, ‘Okay, I’ll save this maneuver for when I reach the next stage.’

Clearing a path through the air was still too taxing.

Holding his arm out the entire way would just be exhausting, no matter how strong he was.

So he changed his stance.

Since he was airborne, he flattened himself, reshaping his aura around him.

He wasn’t exactly familiar with aerodynamics, but imagining himself streamlined like a bullet or an airplane was enough.

Forget lift and drag—that was for people who needed to calculate things because their bodies couldn’t handle it.

As long as he could fly fast, that was enough.

Boom—!

Once again, Honwonbo propelled him forward, and he could feel the improvement.

With his posture stable, he had the luxury of checking his compass and map as he flew.

The protective aura shielded him, eliminating the rush of wind inside. Though it was a bit cramped, it kept things manageable.

“Oh, nearly got lost.”

Consulting his compass in mid-flight, Seo-jun realized he’d drifted slightly off course.

Another potential lost wanderer in Zhongyuan.

Correcting his direction, he continued cautiously, flying for quite a while.

When the sun began to set, painting the sky red, Seo-jun landed and looked around.

“Hmm.”

He sensed something was off.

“Where… am I?”

It seemed he had indeed lost his way.

•  

It became clear to Seo-jun what the problem with Honwonbo was.

High internal energy consumption to maintain his protective aura?

That didn’t matter—he could replenish his energy on the fly.

Keeping the aura streamlined was draining both his energy and focus?

That wasn’t an issue either. Fatigue from manipulating energy was nothing for Seo-jun.

No, the problem with Honwonbo wasn’t some trivial drawback like that.

The real issue was… if the user was foolish, it was easy to get lost.

“What the hell, seriously?”

Seo-jun sat down, scrutinizing his map.

‘The Namgung estate was here…’

Tracing the path with his finger, he tried to align it with where he should be.

Headed straight to Blood Crow Sect.

He’d realized he’d veered off a bit.

‘From here, a slight left…’

Not long after realizing his direction was off, he had corrected it.

“Aha.”

So he had drifted a bit too far left.

With a hollow laugh, Seo-jun realized where he’d gone wrong.

To reach Blood Crow Sect, he first needed to figure out his current location.

He knew he’d gone off course but wasn’t sure by how much.

It seemed he might have gone quite a bit off track…

Standing up, Seo-jun started moving again.

A minor misstep, but no big deal.

In fact, it might be a good thing.

Honwonbo was far from a stealthy movement technique.

He might attract attention from high-level martial artists, even those around the Master level.

From here, it’d be better to continue running on the ground.

With his senses sharpened, he ran toward the nearest signs of life.

Before long, he found himself at the edge of a city.

It looked surprisingly well-kept.

Given that it was within Black Lotus territory, he’d expected a shabbier look, like a slum. But it wasn’t much different from the orthodox faction’s regions.

‘Come to think of it, that makes sense.’

Even if their treatment of civilians differed from the orthodox sects, it was still their own home turf.

They wouldn’t leave it looking like a pigsty.

Treating people like livestock?

Even livestock had pens and stables, and their owners took decent care of them to prevent them from dying.

They might butcher them for a purpose, but it’s rare to kill livestock out of pure spite.

Though, seeing how martial artists acted, that didn’t seem as rare as he’d like to think. Nonetheless, there seemed to be a certain order.

Having accepted this, Seo-jun activated his stealth technique, slipping into the city undetected.

Once he reached a crowded area, he dropped his stealth and blended in.

‘Should I just ask someone for directions?’

After a moment’s thought, he headed toward a place that looked like an inn.

Inside, a few people were scattered around.

“…Ah, welcome.”

The innkeeper bowed politely as Seo-jun entered.

Noticing the sword at Seo-jun’s waist, the innkeeper’s gaze flickered.

Reading the man’s reaction, Seo-jun quickly assessed the local customs.

Acting more arrogant than polite would likely attract less attention here.

No problem—it was practically his specialty.

“Innkeeper.”
“Yes, sir.”
“How far is it to Blood Crow Sect?”
“Blood Crow Sect…? I’ve heard the name, but I’m not sure of its location…”

The innkeeper was stammering when a mocking laugh sounded from behind him.

“A worm like him wouldn’t know where a sect’s base is.”

Seo-jun turned to see a group of men. One of them chuckled.

“You there. Why are you looking for Blood Crow Sect?”
“Well, because I need to go there. What other reason would I have?”
“I’m asking why you want to go.”

The man’s companions all fixed their gazes on Seo-jun.

It seemed strange that asking about a sect’s location would make them so jumpy.

“Will you guide me if I tell you?”

“If you want.”

Wait, was he really offering? Was he just a friendly guy after all?

Seo-jun looked at him, bewildered, and the man burst out laughing.

“Haha! Look at that dumb face!”
“A commoner with a sword thinks he’s a martial artist?”
“What a fearless idiot.”

The men laughed among themselves, and one of them stood up, walking over to Seo-jun.

“Well, that was funny, so I’ll just take an arm and a leg as payment.”

He drew his sword and swung it.

Seo-jun realized something.

“Aha.”

These fools probably thought he was a commoner carrying a sword with no martial skills.

It wasn’t entirely unreasonable; a true master would have no reason to sit around here like this.

Unfortunate for them, though.

Crack—

The man’s arm, mid-swing, froze in a solid block of ice.

“W-what…?”

The man looked up at him, stunned. Seo-jun slapped his cheek.

Thwack—!

The man’s body flew across the inn, crashing into a corner.

His companions stared at Seo-jun in shock, their eyes wide.

Seo-jun smirked.

“With eyes that poor, you won’t live long.”

“W-who… are you?”
“Such disrespect.”

With a flick of his wrist, a long ice shard skimmed the speaker’s cheek.

Panicked, the man dropped to the ground in a bow.

“May I ask for the great senior’s name…?”
“Very well. You may ask.”

“Thank you…!”

The man repeatedly bowed, slamming his head into the floor.

Apparently, Black Lotus folks were good at making a show of fear.

“I am Baek Seo-jun of North Sea Ice Palace.”
“N-North Sea Ice Palace…? But I heard all the masters of the palace are women…”
“Talking back?”
“S-sorry!”
“Who do you think knows North Sea Ice Palace better, you or me?”
“…I committed a grave offense, senior!”
“Smart of you. I’ll let you go this time.”

With a grin, the high-level expert Baek Seo-jun of North Sea Ice Palace said, “Now, lead the way.”

Looks like he had a live navigator now.