The First Apprentice entered the underground prison with a small number of people, including the Sword of Heaven and the branch manager. The remaining personnel were set up outside in case of any unexpected circumstances. It was unlikely for anything, but the people inside could try to escape by risking their lives. 

The chances are quite low though.

Walking down the stairs that led to the cells, the First Apprentice confidently smiled. “Let’s see what kind of dogs they sent from the Cult.”

As he stepped inside, the damp smell unique to the underground wafted over. Due to poor ventilation, it was extremely unpleasant. Despite the odor, the First Apprentice continued inside after simply putting a sensory seal on his nose. 

Behind the bars were prisoners. Whether they were asleep or not, all of them kept their heads down and did not move. 

Hmm. 

The First Apprentice touched the iron bars. 

The prisoners were too quiet. 

Even if they were sleeping, the atmosphere would be disturbed if people came inside, so it didn’t make sense that no one had woken up in such a loud situation. 

There are no coincidences in Murim. 

He headed at a fast pace towards the deepest part of the basement. The one who had been imprisoned here was the head of the Sichuan branch of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon. 

Or, at least, he should have been. 

The cell was empty.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Staring at the now empty prison cell, the First Apprentice shouted in fury. Then something seemed to come to mind and he pulled his sword out. 

“No way!”

The sword easily sliced the prison bars. He had not cut the empty cell, but the one next to it. The grate fell to the floor with a loud clatter. 

The Sword of Heaven was surprised, “Master!”

The branch manager was no exception either. “What are you doing now?!”

The First Apprentice was the head of the Qingcheng Sect, but there were things that even the Master of the Alliance should not do. His current actions were improper. These prison cells held dangerous criminals!

However, the First Apprentice had no interest in these cries. 

Even now, the prisoners were asleep without knowledge of the commotion. 

He grabbed one by the shoulders and sent his qi through. The energy sent passed through the skin but was blocked by something in the meridians. 

He shouted in anger, “His pressure points have been compromised! It should be the same for the other prisoners who seem to be asleep!”

“Key, I need to get the keys!” The branch manager fumbled about in confusion and embarrassment, but soon took out the keys and opened all the other cells. 

The First Apprentice, the Sword of Heaven, the branch manager, and the others moved about the prison cells to confirm. 

“Compromised pressure points!”

“Here too…”

Their conclusions were all the same: the man from the Cult of the Heavenly Demon they had imprisoned had disappeared while  the other prisoners were knocked unconscious. 

“Well, we seem to be one step late.”

“But how could they have compromised the pressure points of the prisoners still in their cells?” 

In general, pressure points became compromised when external qi was forcefully transferred into the meridian pathway. Due to the precision needed, most people had to physically press the victim’s acupoints with their fingertips.

However, some could do it without touching the other person. 

“It seems that there’s someone who can use ‘sword aura point pressing’ or ‘finger wind point pressing’.”

As the First Apprentice spoke, his anger boiled. If this hadn’t been a branch of the Martial Alliance, he would have let out a string of expletives. But I can’t fucking do that here.

Instead, he spoke with forced calm, “It looks like we need to assemble a pursuit team…”

The branch manager immediately perked up. “I thought ahead and applied some ‘thousand mile tracking scent’ on him.” 

As soon as he finished speaking, the branch manager took out a small bottle and uncorked it. A faint scent that could only be sensed by him began to flow, continuing into the distance like a road. 

The appearance of the bottle caused the First Apprentice’s eyes to glow brightly and he gripped his sword. 

“Let’s follow it then.”

The crowd that went into the prison came out in a rush. 

The situation was urgent. 

But the scene when they reached the top was just as surprising… 

The bodies of the martial artists they had been stationed outside littered the entrance. 

“Hut, what the hell?!” Seeing the scene, the First Apprentice could not stand the rising anger and almost vomited blood. “The Demonic Cult released some pretty capable pups.”

Then the branch manager exclaimed, “The warriors that were guarding the entrance are not there!”

The First Apprentice rounded on him in annoyance. “What?”

In a panic, the branch manager double-checked the numbers. Again, he came to the same conclusion. 

“The ones who were guarding the entrance, I mean, the ones who were knocked out cold, are not here.”

“How dare those fucking bastards use a trap against me!” The First Apprentice ground his teeth. He understood the situation at once. 

At first, the “guards” outside had been the dogs of the Demonic Cult, who had stolen the clothes of the real guards. It was a grave mistake that the First Apprentice had not confirmed their identities before entering. While this had been a risky move, the rats had prevented a large number of people from tracking them. 

The Sword of Heaven also quietly assessed the situation. He concluded that this was not a maneuver you could do just by being bold. No matter how powerful a person was, he would not take such a risk for no reason.

No, the opponent had been convinced. They had been confident that the First Apprentice, intoxicated with a false sense of victory, would enter the prison without properly checking the faces of the prison guards on the floor. 

Who was it? This was a plan by someone who knows him well.

Which person from the Demonic Cult understood the character of the First Apprentice so accurately? 

As the Sword of Heaven was still racking his brain for an answer, the First Apprentice had moved on. 

“They couldn’t have run far. Take us to them, Branch Manager!”

“But we don’t have enough warriors. It might be a trap. We should be cautious and —”

The First Apprentice exploded with anger. “Do you dare think I will just let those Cult scums go after insulting me?”

Faced with the wrath of the First Apprentice, the branch manager could only agree. 

“Okay…”

Shh, shh, shh.

A group of shadows was moving through the night. Their numbers were a little over twenty, and the general manager was on the back of Gwan Tae-ryang. 

Woon-seong had discovered that the man’s pressure points had been compromised in order to incapacitate him, but he couldn’t do anything about it for now. 

It can be solved but it will take time.

If the problem could have been easily solved, the general manager would have been on his own feet and not carried on someone’s back. 

What they lacked most was time. 

Woon-seong moved to his lieutenant’s side, “General Manager, is your body okay?”

At that, the man smiled faintly and nodded. “Thank you. It seems I’ve caused you trouble. Can you tell me which unit of the Cult you are?”

Woon-seong replied briefly. “The Charred Dragon Unit.”

The words of the youth shook the man. The Twelve Supporting Units were elite units composed mostly of Demonic Generals. That meant the young man who was carrying him was as powerful as he was! More importantly, the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit was a Great Demon! [1] 

“W-where is the Captain?” the man asked in a panic. If his pressure points weren’t compromised, he would have been looking around in a frenzy. 

It was Gwan Tae-ryang who answered, “He is talking to you now.”

At that, the man was frightened and tried to raise his upper body to bow. 

“Stay still, your pressure points are still compromised.”

“I, Un-Un, present myself in front of the Captain of the Charred Dragon Unit.”

Woon-seong nodded his head. 

Un-Un examined the youth in detail. As a Great Demon, the force held within his body would be unimaginably powerful. He did not dare judge the youth by age alone. 

Ah, the Cave of Latent Demons was held some time ago.

Un-Un suddenly recalled some rumors about the most recent Cave of Latent Demons. And now looking at how young the members of the Charred Dragon Unit seemed, he speculated that they must be the rumored trainees. 

At this moment, the youth called out to the lieutenant. 

“Give the branch manager to another member.”

Gwan Tae-ryang did not question the orders and called over another person. Another member approached them and carried the man away. 

“What is it?”

Instead of answering, Woon-seong turned towards the rest of the unit, “The Charred Dragon Unit will continue to move in this direction. Baek Woon-ji, from now on you are in charge. After two hours, if I do not join up with you at the rendezvous point, go straight back to the Cult. “

Baek Woon-ji’s eyes shook for a moment, but she could only agree. “Understood.”

“Gwan Tae-ryang, you follow me.” Upon hearing Baek Woon-ji’s answer, Woon-seong turned and talked to his lieutenant. “We have pursuers.”

Woon-seong had sensed them around fifteen minutes ago. Thanks to his strength, his senses were sharp. 

The problem is that it looks like they know our route.

He would have understood if the guards had been chasing them from the get go. But to prevent that, Woon-seong had schemed the set-up of disguising themselves as guards. 

After all, the Orthodox branch had already noticed their scouts. Especially when dealing with people like the First Apprentice, it was easiest to use their own plans against them. 

Woon-seong had also made the judgement that in case they got caught, it would be better to fight inside the branch than out in the open. 

The First Apprentice had obviously also come to this conclusion, since he had gathered the troops to trap the Charred Dragon Unit inside the branch. 

As far as Woon-seong had noticed, no one had followed them out. 

In addition, the Charred Dragon Unit had changed their path several times in order to shake off potential pursuers. 

Yet, they’re still tracking us accurately.Since we never made direct contact with them, they must have done something to the branch manager.

Woon-seong could guess what the tail was.

Scent tracking.

[1] As a reminder, the Demonic General class is not fixed, so the number and abilities vary. At this point, Gwan Tae-ryang is confirmed as Demonic General class, but we don’t know where in the rankings he stands. Based on the fact that barely any time has passed since they graduated the Cave, everyone else is still only a Demonic Captain.