While observing my surroundings, I realized the advantageous nature of this location.
It made sense that the previous owner of this body had managed to survive alone.
I'd wondered why they were alone when forming a group was clearly advantageous for survival…
'This is quite livable.'
Perhaps the previous owner of this body had a solitary personality.
Or maybe they were ambitious or the type who found it difficult to be around others.
I became more convinced of this after finding a silver mask while rummaging through the cave.
'This person, rather than hiding out of fear…'
It seemed more like they were concealing their identity.
Later, I noticed that the sword I was wearing was plain, devoid of any ornamentation.
The blade was excessively sharp and gleaming.
It wasn't well-maintained; rather, it showed no signs of use.
It was a brand-new sword.
This person was trying to hide their identity.
Why? For what reason?
Perhaps the Namgung Clan jade pendant didn't belong to them?
…Could they have killed someone and taken it?
'Damn it, this body isn't a wanted criminal, is it…?'
I'd thought it fortunate that the body I possessed belonged to a member of the Namgung Clan, but that might not be the case.
If this person were truly from the clan, they should be part of a group with other righteous late-stage prodigies.
Even if they displayed some selfish tendencies, they would still be far better than the demonic sect groups.
Those groups maintained their own distinct societies.
Especially within clans, the Eight Great Clans would stick together, even unto death.
But this Namgung… person was wearing a silver mask and staying away from others.
'Let's assume… the worst-case scenario.'
My safety was paramount.
After much deliberation, I decided to remain in the cave and continue observing the situation.
***
A week passed. During my time in hiding, I attempted various things, one of which was cultivating inner energy.
The novel described the process, and my body seemed to remember the method, so out of curiosity, I tried to mimic it, only to experience a bitter consequence.
The moment I tried to circulate my inner energy, I felt something hot coursing through my meridians and immediately stopped.
'No! Stop, right now!'
Barely managing to preserve my body, I was drenched in cold sweat.
'…This won't do.'
I knew that if I didn't follow the proper procedures when cultivating qi, I could suffer from qi deviation, yet I'd acted impulsively out of excitement.
This wouldn't work. No matter how much I wanted to learn martial arts, it seemed I needed precise knowledge before attempting it.
Sitting cross-legged, I quietly sighed.
So, was this body truly useless?
It was light and my five senses were overly developed, so it clearly belonged to someone who knew martial arts, but I didn't know the extent of its prowess, and I didn't even know how to use those martial arts.
'How am I supposed to find the Sword Saint's legacy like this?'
It wasn't like I was meant to die as an extra!
Well, in the original story, that might have been the case.
'But still, that won't do.'
I wanted to properly embrace this new life.
I hadn't felt much motivation in my previous world. But in this situation, a strong desire to live well surged within me.
Why? For what reason?
I didn't have a clear answer.
But I wanted to change.
Steeling my resolve, I approached the cave entrance.
It was the time when the light of the night-luminescent pearl would dim.
I usually conducted my reconnaissance at this time.
'Even though it's mentioned in the original work… it's better to be sure.'
The people here were divided into six main groups: three demonic sect groups, two righteous sect groups, and one group of wanderers.
The wanderer group was the largest but the weakest.
The truly powerful factions were the righteous sects, further divided into groups from the Great Clans and Nine Sects, and other righteous sects.
The demonic sect groups were all small but elite, and their aura was palpable even from a distance.
Those were the larger groups, and there were many smaller groups of two or three.
Solo travelers were rare, and those who did travel alone were usually hunted down quickly.
Generally, the experts who seemed 'genuine' remained inactive, while those slightly below them, like the ones I was observing, acted out.
'There he goes again.'
I narrowed my eyes and watched the group chatting by the river.
About eight of them were ambushing someone by the riverbank, stripping them of their clothes.
I clicked my tongue, feeling a slight surge of disgust.
Was their leader called Kang Il-san?
Anyway, this group, one of the demonic sects, was a typical scavenger type.
They were based in a hut near the river, a little distance from the area with buildings.
They usually stayed in the residential area, where combat was implicitly forbidden, and ambushed people who came out to get water.
That's how they eliminated their competitors one by one, stealing manuals and food from them.
At first, they seemed obsessed with manuals, but now they seemed to prioritize food.
'Well, it's been almost a month and a half since they entered, so it's about time they got anxious.'
They had been trapped unexpectedly while searching the Sword Saint's Tomb and hadn't prepared any food.
Fortunately, many of them seemed to have brought fasting pills, but they probably hadn't anticipated being trapped for so long.
They had tried to catch fish and find food inside, but there were almost two hundred people here. The fish would soon be depleted.
'Is it about to start?'
Just then, I heard something that made me frown.
This was truly difficult to bear.
Killing and being killed was something I could accept, having adapted to this world and undergone a shift in values.
'But crossing that line…'
I watched the increasingly brutal scene outside the cave while eating my fasting pills.
Fortunately, the previous owner of this body had brought some, and I was surviving on half a pill a day.
They tasted awful, but I didn't complain.
Because the time would come when these pills would become divine treasures.
Towards the end, about two months after entering the Sword Saint's Tomb, people would abandon all hope of escape and resort to horrific acts.
Some would commit suicide, and the surviving groups would become even more ruthless and desperate.
A bitter taste suddenly filled my mouth.
'Damn… that kind of thing.'
It wasn't because of the fasting pills, but because I'd recalled the horrific setting of the original work.
Some of them would resort to cannibalism.
Well, it wasn't unheard of in disaster situations in reality, so I tried to understand, but their methods were truly depraved.
They would start by consuming the weakest, and later, they would even plan something like a human farm.
It was beyond any justification of survival.
I roughly estimated the time.
Even now, Kang Il-san's group was running rampant, but not everyone was completely out of control.
The true experts still maintained their composure.
They would lose their patience after two months, after completely giving up on escaping the Sword Saint's Tomb.
Until then, the various factions maintained a precarious and tense stalemate, but after that point, they would engage in a truly frenzied bloodbath.
To prevent that, I had to obtain the Great Self Divine Art within two months.
'Kang Il-san's group targeted Muk Cheon-woo while he was fishing by the river.
Then Muk Cheon-woo counterattacked and inflicted heavy casualties on them.
Muk Cheon-woo also suffered serious injuries and fled. It wasn't that time yet.
Still, seeing the increasing frequency of attacks and the escalating bloodshed, it was probably close.'
It was time to get off my backside. I had been postponing it out of fear, wanting to plan my route more thoroughly.
But after calculating the time, I realized I couldn't delay any longer.
I smiled wryly.
I had already figured out their routines, when they appeared by the river and attacked people.
I had already mentally mapped out several escape routes from the cave that avoided Kang Il-san's group.
I was just too afraid to leave.
'Venturing into the martial world empty-handed?'
****
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