The Martial God with Psychic Powers

Ma Ryong had come all the way to the Great Desert in search of subordinates who could become part of Yeon Woo Jin’s forces.
He wandered through the vagabond market, scanning for anyone useful.

But he immediately noticed that there were far fewer people than usual.
Not only the vagabond market, but even the slave market was empty.
Normally, slaves would be lined up in rows, and people would be haggling to purchase them.

Finding it strange, Ma Ryong asked a nearby merchant.
“Business doesn’t seem like it used to be. Has something happened while I was away?”
“Seems like you haven’t heard the news. These days, getting your hands on a slave is like plucking a star from the sky. Same goes for vagabonds.”

“What do you mean by that? Has the state issued a ban or something?”
“No, it’s because there’s a group that’s sweeping up every last one of them, paying extra on top. So there’s no need to even bring them here. They’re just handing them over to those guys as soon as they’re acquired.”
“Hmph. And what about the vagabonds?”
“Same thing. All swept away. The ones still left here are just waiting to be picked up. I doubt any of them would take a commission job even if you offered one.”

“How long’s this been going on?”
“It’s been two months.”
“Two months?”

“Haven’t seen them recently. Guess they’ve recruited all they needed. Even so, these poor folks are clinging to hope, waiting around like that.”
“What the hell kind of commission pays that much?”
“I hear they’re offering four times the average rate.”

“Must be drowning in money.”
“Seems that way. And us merchants, who make a living off visitors to this place, are the ones starving to death. No idea how long we have to endure before the good days come back. It’s frustrating.”
“Hah…”

He’d come all the way here, enduring hardship, because there were often slaves with decent physiques worth picking out.
But it was all for nothing.
Even the vagabonds who were left didn’t seem worth a look.

“Other places are in the same state. Don’t waste your time,” the merchant offered as a final piece of advice.
Ma Ryong sensed something was off.
This feels wrong. I should look into what’s going on here.

To get to the bottom of the situation at the vagabond market, Ma Ryong decided to pose as a vagabond himself.
Wearing tattered clothes, holding a shabby sword, and donning a straw-woven hat, he sat on the street looking like just another drifter.
He’d heard no one was picking up vagabonds anymore, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to wait just in case.

A day passed. Then two. Then a week. Still, no one came.
Just as it seemed like the waiting would never end—
A group of people appeared.
“Heh heh heh. Quite a few decent ones this time.”

With those words, they began aggressively buying up every vagabond in sight.
“You’re all taking this job. We’re paying four times the commission.”
At the mention of four times the commission, Ma Ryong’s eyes gleamed.

It’s them.
They had been gone for a while because there weren’t many vagabonds left.
But now that enough had returned from jobs and their numbers swelled again, they’d come back.

They stood in front of Ma Ryong.
One of them studied him carefully, then seemed about to pass him over.
Damn. Did I make myself look too worthless?

Just as he thought he’d have to follow them secretly—
“We could use even one more. Take him too.”
“Yes, sir. Hey, you. Get up.”

Lifting his head, Ma Ryong asked, “Are you really paying four times the rate?”
The man who had pointed at him smirked.
“Heh, yeah. You’ll get the same. Now get up and come with us.”

Nodding, Ma Ryong stood and followed.
They gathered up all the vagabonds there and began moving.
The money they must have spent just here alone was staggering.

Vagabonds whispered as they walked behind the group.
“They’re paying four times the rate… What the hell kind of job is this?”
“Heard they’re preparing for war.”

“War?”
“Yeah. We’ll probably be the ones getting slaughtered at the front.”
“When haven’t we been? Still, four times the rate—it’s not a bad deal.”

“Rumor says they’re sweeping up nearly all the vagabonds. Seems like it’s going to be a pretty big war.”
“Who the hell are they going to war with to need this many vagabonds?”

“Ha! You’ve lost your mind.”
“Even thousands of us vagabonds couldn’t step over Mushincheon’s threshold.”
“Threshold? We'd be annihilated before we even reached the gates.”

At the mention of Mushincheon, Ma Ryong’s ears perked up.
“Do you have any idea how many monsters are crawling around in there? Especially the Heavenly Martial Unit and the Hellshade Unit, both directly under the Lord of Mushincheon—they’re infamous.”
“I’ve heard of the Hellshade Unit. Isn’t their leader that guy, Hellshade Overlord?”

“Yeah. Even if he showed up alone, everyone here would be wiped out.”
“Forget the Overlord. Even regular Hellshade members could wipe us out.”
Hearing them talk about himself, Ma Ryong couldn’t help but chuckle.

Adorable little things. If anything goes wrong, I’ll save you.
With that in mind, he kept walking.
 

****
The gathering place for the vagabonds was quite a distance away.
After several days of travel, they arrived at a place called the Ten Thousand Peaks.

Named because it supposedly had ten thousand mountain peaks, it was a haven for criminals and fugitives.
If you hid here, no one could ever find you.
And they built a sect in a remote place like this?

That made it even more suspicious.
And they’re filling it with vagabonds?
That could only mean the sect was up to no good.

Now he was even more curious.
Just what kind of group is this?
It reminded him of the days when he hunted down groups like this. His heart even raced a little, like he’d gone back in time.

When they arrived at the gathering point, the number of vagabonds already there seemed to number in the thousands.
It was chaotic.
Then, an old man lightly leapt onto a tall rock at the center and spoke.

“Silence, all of you.”
Wummmm.
Though he hadn’t raised his voice, it rang out in every direction.

All eyes turned to the man on the rock.
“Thank you all for coming this far.”
“What kind of work are we being hired for?” someone asked.

Smiling, the old man replied.
“You are no longer vagabonds.”
“No longer vagabonds?”

“We are taking you in.”
“Then what about our payment?”
“Don’t worry. You’ll be paid. But instead of a single commission fee, you’ll now receive a monthly salary. And yes, it will match the promised rate.”

A monthly salary—not a one-time job?
“If you’re not interested, you may leave. But once you cross that gorge, there’s no turning back. Choose wisely.”
As the vagabonds fell into silence, lost in thought—

Someone suddenly shouted.
“I’ll do it! I’m sick of wandering!”
That voice seemed to stir the crowd. One after another, they shouted their agreement.

The old man smiled, clearly having expected this reaction.
“Heh heh. Just as I thought. Good. Then pass through that gorge. Once you do, you’ll understand what kind of force you’ll be joining.”
The vagabonds all headed toward the gorge with expectant expressions.

The gorge itself was a natural fortress.
You couldn’t climb over it, and the only way through was the narrow passage. If enemies attacked, there’d be heavy casualties—possibly total annihilation.
Only birds flying through the sky could pass through here easily.

Of course, with Ma Ryong’s level, he could fly right over the gorge and enter that way.
It would be faster, but it would limit what he could learn inside.
This kind of infiltration was better for gathering intel.

Once he passed through the narrow gorge, a vast plain stretched before him.
So wide that it was unbelievable something like this existed inside a mountain gorge.
In the middle of the plain, a massive building was under construction.

The missing slaves from the slave market—every last one of them was here.
Just estimating the number of workers showed at least ten thousand people on-site.
How much money do they have to mobilize this many?

Even more shocking, despite so many people working here, not a single rumor had reached the Central Plains.
Which meant everyone had been thoroughly silenced.
And once someone began working here, they weren’t allowed to leave.

The very existence of this wide-open plain was unknown from the outside. That too explained the complete lack of leaked information.
Besides, this was the Ten Thousand Peaks—endless and treacherous. Even if rumors leaked that something was being built here, it would take ages to find the exact location.
You’d have to search every single mountain.

Ma Ryong was glad he’d disguised himself as a vagabond.
The thought of trying to find this place based on rumors alone was dizzying.
But why gather so many vagabonds?

Were they also being used as labor for the construction?
Yet he didn’t see any vagabonds working here.
His question was soon answered.

The old man who had led them here climbed to a high platform and addressed them.
“Thank you all for coming this far. Now, look at me.”
All the vagabonds turned their eyes to him.

Then the old man stretched out his hand toward them and began murmuring.
Ma Ryong suddenly felt dizzy and quickly averted his gaze.
Hypnosis.

The old man was casting hypnosis over all the vagabonds present.
Ma Ryong pretended to look, but secretly scanned the area.
Many of the vagabonds, those with lower cultivation, were already caught in the spell.

Their mouths hung open, eyes vacant, all staring at the old man.
Ma Ryong mimicked them at once.
“Heh heh heh. The ones we brought this time are responding nicely.”

The old man grinned, pleased with the results.
“You are now warriors of the Heavenly Demon Cult.”
At that, Ma Ryong nearly recoiled in shock.

Only by superhuman restraint did he keep his blank expression.
What the hell?!
His face was slack, but inside, he was /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ in utter turmoil.

The Heavenly Demon Cult? Why the hell is that name showing up here?
“We are warriors of the Heavenly Demon Cult,” the hypnotized vagabonds began to chant.
Ma Ryong quickly echoed them.

The old man continued.
“You will be loyal to the Heavenly Demon.”
“We are loyal to the Heavenly Demon.”

“You will give your lives for the Heavenly Demon.”
“We give our lives for the Heavenly Demon.”
So this was the reason they’d gathered up all those vagabonds and slaves.

They were assembling warriors for the Heavenly Demon Cult.
They couldn’t recruit openly, so they’d resorted to this.
Is it really the Heavenly Demon Cult? Or just a group using the name?

For now, Ma Ryong decided to keep playing along and investigate further.
 
****

Ma Ryong’s crisis was far from over.
After the hypnosis, they were taken to a training ground.
There, more vagabonds—already hypnotized—were engaged in martial training.

Even a rough count showed more than ten thousand trainees.
And rumor had it there were several such facilities, meaning the total number of gathered vagabonds likely reached the tens of thousands.
Ma Ryong could clearly sense the dense presence of demonic energy in this place.

It was real.
This was the Demonic Cult.
No other force would dare exude this much demonic aura so openly.

The martial arts being practiced were clearly magong—demonic techniques.
Unlike orthodox martial arts, magong could be learned much faster.
Though it came at the cost of one’s humanity.

But these men were hunting dogs.
As long as a hunting dog obeyed its master, its humanity didn’t matter.
Seeing how they were training so many and building such massive structures, it was clear they weren’t staying hidden anymore.

They were preparing to act—openly.
Ma Ryong began to worry.
Then his thoughts turned to the Lord of Mushincheon and to Yeon Woo Jin.

Do they know?
Do they know that the Central Plains is now home to two Martial Gods?