The night passed quietly.
The fire had almost completely died out by the time Adrian opened his eyes.
For a few seconds, he did not move.
His body still hurt.
Every breath reminded him of the injuries he had received the previous day.
He slowly pushed himself up.
William was sitting several meters away.
His back rested against a rock, his eyes closed.
He appeared to be meditating.
Adrian stared at him for a while.
There was something strange about William.
Not his strength.
Adrian had already understood that William was far stronger than him.
It was something else.
William did not look like someone who enjoyed possessing power.
He looked like someone who was afraid of what power could make him become.
Adrian looked toward the sky.
"You really are strange..."
William opened his eyes.
"You've said that before."
Adrian smiled.
"And I still mean it."
William stood.
"Can you walk?"
"I can."
Adrian tried to stand.
His body immediately shook.
William watched him.
Adrian gritted his teeth and forced himself upright.
"I said I can."
William did not help him.
Adrian noticed.
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You really meant what you said yesterday."
"What?"
"You won't help me unless I truly need it."
William looked away.
"If you want to stand beside me, you need to be able to stand."
Adrian laughed.
"Then I'll remember that."
They began walking.
Neither knew that their movements were already being observed.
Several hundred kilometers away...
A woman sat inside a carriage.
The curtains were closed.
No sunlight entered.
Across from her sat a middle-aged man.
He held a thin piece of paper between his fingers.
"There is something I don't understand."
The woman looked at him.
"What?"
"Why are we interested in this William?"
The woman remained silent.
The man continued.
"We have watched him for some time."
"We know he is strong."
"We know he has a strange ability."
"We know he is hiding his identity."
"But why is our master convinced that he is trying to build a force?"
The woman's fingers stopped moving.
"Because he isn't hiding it as well as he thinks."
The man frowned.
"What evidence do we have?"
The woman placed several documents on the table.
"The first clue came from the information network."
"The organization?"
"Yes."
The man looked at the documents.
"The same organization that operates from the nightclub?"
"That's the one."
She continued.
"Someone used the identity ROMAN entered their territory."
"He asked questions about which powers were interested in him."
"He also asked about the intentions those powers held toward him."
The man slowly understood.
"And?"
"He didn't ask those questions like someone preparing to flee."
The woman tapped one of the documents.
"He was mapping the forces around him."
The man remained silent.
"That alone isn't enough."
"No."
She placed another document beside it.
"But then we examined his movements after leaving the organization."
"He began investigating several independent cultivators."
"Not powerful enough to threaten him."
"People with different backgrounds."
The man's eyes narrowed.
"That is strange."
"Exactly."
The woman leaned back.
"Why would someone at his level waste time studying weak cultivators?"
The man looked at the documents again.
"Because he's looking for people."
The woman nodded.
"And that's how we reached the conclusion."
William wasn't searching for an alliance.
He was searching for the foundations of something new.
A force.
His own force.
The man became silent.
"So the information wasn't obtained from William himself."
"No."
"It was reconstructed from his behavior."
"Partially."
The woman smiled faintly.
"The rest came from the people he questioned."
The man looked up.
"Someone talked?"
"People always talk."
She said it without pride.
Almost sadly.
"Especially when they don't realize that what they consider an insignificant conversation is actually a piece of someone else's puzzle."
The man leaned back.
"And the young man?"
"Adrian?"
"Yes."
"He was the most recent piece."
The woman looked through the carriage window.
"William protected him."
"And then allowed him to remain beside him."
The man understood.
"That confirms it."
"Perhaps."
The woman shook her head.
"Don't be too confident."
"Why?"
"Because we still don't know what William actually wants to build."
She gathered the documents.
"We know he wants people around him."
"We know he doesn't want ordinary servants."
"We know he values independent thought."
"But we don't know what his final structure will look like."
The man smiled.
"Then we'll force him to reveal it."
The woman looked at him.
"No."
Her answer was immediate.
"We don't force him."
"Why?"
"Because if we push him too hard..."
She looked toward the road.
"...he may build it faster."
William and Adrian reached the outskirts of another city.
The city was much larger than the previous one.
Thousands of cultivators entered and left its gates every day.
William slowed down.
Adrian noticed.
"What is it?"
"Something is wrong."
Adrian looked around.
"I don't feel anything."
"That's the problem."
Adrian frowned.
William's eyes moved across the city.
Too quiet.
There were people everywhere.
Yet the surrounding atmosphere felt strangely controlled.
Not peaceful.
Controlled.
Someone had arranged something.
William continued walking.
He did not enter the city.
Instead, he turned toward a small road leading around it.
Adrian followed.
"You're avoiding the city?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because someone wants us to enter."
Adrian looked behind them.
"How do you know?"
William stopped.
"I don't."
Adrian blinked.
William continued.
"I suspect."
"There's a difference."
"A big one."
William looked at him.
"That's why I haven't acted."
Adrian nodded slowly.
That answer pleased him.
William did not treat his suspicions as facts.
He tested them.
They continued around the city.
Several hours passed.
Then...
A group appeared ahead.
Five people.
Their clothing was simple.
No visible symbols.
William stopped.
The five stopped as well.
One of them stepped forward.
"We need to speak with you."
William looked at him.
"About?"
"Your companion."
Adrian's expression changed.
William noticed.
The man continued.
"He carries something that belongs to us."
Adrian laughed.
"I don't even know you."
The man's gaze hardened.
"Then perhaps you should remember."
Adrian's hand moved toward his weapon.
William raised one hand.
Adrian stopped.
William looked at the five.
"What does he supposedly carry?"
The man smiled.
"An inheritance."
William's eyes narrowed.
"So that's the story."
The man's expression changed slightly.
"You don't believe us?"
"I believe you were told to say that."
Silence.
Adrian looked at William.
William's voice remained calm.
"If you truly wanted the inheritance, you wouldn't have come with only five people."
The man said nothing.
"You aren't here to take anything."
William's gaze became colder.
"You're here to make me fight."
The five figures immediately attacked.
The battlefield exploded.
William moved first.
His body vanished.
A shockwave tore through the road.
One of the attackers was thrown backward.
Another appeared behind Adrian.
Adrian turned just in time to block the attack.
Their weapons collided.
The impact forced Adrian several steps backward.
"You're improving."
The attacker smiled.
Adrian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"I've had good motivation."
He attacked.
William fought differently.
He was not trying to overwhelm the five.
He was observing.
Their movements.
Their timing.
Their coordination.
They weren't trying to kill him.
Not really.
Every attack forced him slightly toward one direction.
William suddenly realized it.
"They're herding us."
Adrian heard him.
"Toward where?"
William looked ahead.
A valley.
"No."
He changed direction.
The attackers immediately adjusted.
William stopped.
"They're not herding us toward a place."
"Then what?"
"Toward a decision."
Adrian stared at him.
William looked at the five attackers.
"They want me to reveal how far I'm willing to go to protect someone."
The attackers exchanged glances.
That was enough.
William understood.
"You aren't here because of Adrian."
One of them attacked.
William caught his fist.
"You were sent to test me."
The attacker's expression changed.
William threw him aside.
"Who sent you?"
No answer.
William's domain expanded.
The five attackers were immediately suppressed.
One of them fell to his knees.
Another tried to escape.
William stopped him.
"Who?"
The man gritted his teeth.
"You think knowing will change anything?"
William looked at him.
"Maybe."
The man laughed.
"You really don't understand."
"Then explain."
"You think you're building something."
William's eyes sharpened.
The man continued.
"We know."
Silence.
For the first time...
William's expression changed.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Concern.
The man saw it.
He smiled.
"Now you understand."
William's grip tightened.
"How?"
The man laughed.
"You've been asking the wrong questions."
William's eyes became colder.
"What does that mean?"
The man refused to answer.
William released him.
The man immediately disappeared with the others.
Adrian watched them leave.
"You're angry."
William remained silent.
Adrian looked at him.
"They know."
"Yes."
"How?"
William's mind returned to the nightclub.
The information organization.
The people he had questioned.
The questions he had asked.
His movements afterward.
The people he had observed.
The young cultivators he had spoken to.
And then...
Adrian.
William slowly understood.
"They didn't discover my plan today."
Adrian frowned.
"Then when?"
"Before I met you."
William looked toward the city.
"The organization."
Adrian's expression changed.
"The people you questioned?"
"Perhaps."
William shook his head.
"Not necessarily them alone."
He thought carefully.
Someone had been collecting pieces.
His identity as ROMAN.
His questions.
His interest in independent cultivators.
His movements.
His decision to avoid established sects and academies.
Someone had connected those things.
And if they had...
Then they knew more than William had expected.
Adrian looked at him.
"What are you going to do?"
William did not answer immediately.
He looked toward the distant horizon.
He had wanted to build his own force quietly.
He had believed he could choose the people he wanted before anyone realized what he was doing.
That belief...
Was wrong.
Someone had already noticed.
Someone was watching.
And worse...
They had decided not to attack him directly.
They wanted to attack the idea itself.
William finally spoke.
"I'll continue."
Adrian looked surprised.
"Even though they know?"
"Because they know."
William turned toward him.
"If I stop now, then they have already won."
Adrian smiled.
"Good answer."
William began walking again.
Adrian followed.
But this time...
William's steps were different.
More cautious.
More deliberate.
He had finally understood the nature of his opponent.
They weren't trying to defeat his strength.
They were trying to understand his heart.
And William had no intention of making that easy for them.
That same evening...
Inside another hall...
The man who had ordered the test received the report.
"He didn't reveal his limit."
The man smiled.
"Expected."
"He also realized that we know about his plan."
"Good."
The subordinate looked confused.
"Why is that good?"
The man looked at the report.
"Because now he knows he's being watched."
"And?"
"Now he'll become more careful."
The subordinate waited.
The man continued:
"And careful people make mistakes differently."
He folded the report.
"We don't need to destroy William."
"We need to understand him."
"His weakness."
"His principles."
"His attachments."
"And most importantly..."
His eyes became serious.
"...the people he refuses to abandon."
The subordinate lowered his head.
"Understood."
The man looked out through the enormous window.
He did not hate William.
In fact...
A part of him respected him.
That was why he had chosen this method.
Because if William truly intended to build something different...
Then the man wanted to know whether that difference would survive contact with reality.
"If he proves me wrong..."
He whispered.
"I'll accept it."
Then his expression hardened.
"But until then..."
"Every choice he makes will be a test."
Far away...
William continued walking beneath the night sky.
He did not know the man's name.
He did not know the full extent of his organization.
He did not know what they wanted from him.
But now...
He knew one thing.
Someone had noticed his dream.
And they were preparing to make him pay for pursuing it.