After reading the newspaper, Ang decided to enter the warrior realm as soon as possible. His current true age is 20, while he has lived for 25 years. Like everyone else, he naturally entered the Apprentice warrior level at the age of 15, but he was unable to cultivate properly due to his lack of motivation and circumstances. The progress he has made in the past five years can be considered negligible.
This time, unlike last, he decided to take the proper approach to cultivation and become strong. This way, he could avoid being banished from the capital and losing the noble title. But the problem was he had already wasted ten years. They would have already broken through to the Warrior realm if it were a genius. In the past, this was also one of the reasons why people looked down on Ang, pushing him towards dark arts.
"The average time taken to break through to the Warrior realm from the apprentice warrior realm in noble families was 15 years. Anything above that would looked down upon. This means I have a maximum of five years to break through to the warrior realm. And even though I know I'm in the wrong, I no longer want to lose to that self-proclaimed hero who defeated me in the young noble gathering, which ultimately resulted in me getting banished and my title getting revoked", thought Ang to himself.
He closed his eyes and tried to recall something, then smiled and said, "I guess I have no choice but to sell them."
In his past life, Ang sold his dark arts in underground auction halls. These works used to fetch a lot of money. They also spread and created internal struggles among the righteous, which greatly helped him during the war.
"Since I have decided to live my fullest, why not first get some gold this way? Yes, this is a bad thing to do, but I'm no hero. Let the hero deal with the repercussions. If a war helps me, I will ensure that a war happens. But, unlike last time, I shall not take the limelight. This time, it will be different." Thought Ang with a dark smile. If one were to look at him now, they would think that a demon had possessed him.
System Notification:
System: are you sure you want to do this? If caught, the repercussions will be severe.
Ang: What choice do I have?
System: You could cultivate slowly in your manor and grow stronger. Considering your above-average talent, it might take time, but you will eventually get stronger and transcend.
Ang: Hey, System. I think you have sentience since you are warning me, so let me ask you something. What is the point of living if one can't satisfy one's desires? If satisfying my desires makes me a villain, then I shall be one.
System: ...
Ang: Are you disappointed, system?
In a distinct place separated by time and space, an Old man was laughing happily. After laughing for some time, he said, "Following the heart and going against the heavens is the true path of a cultivator."
System: Following the heart and going against the heavens is the true path of a cultivator.
Ang: Wow! It looks like we're in sync, then. For a moment, I thought you would disappear.
System: Would you stop what you are doing if I disappear?
Ang: Nope!
System: ...
Ang then informed Rue that he would be going on a stroll outside and that he didn't want anyone following him. He knew that either Freya or Rue would be following him in secret. Now that he had mentioned it himself, they would make sure no one else followed him back. Rue then gave him a couple of gold coins for him to shop with. Ang knew how precious a single gold coin was to their house under the current circumstances. Ang then changed his clothes to that of a commoner and left the mansion through the back gate.
Apprentice warriors are common everywhere, as five out of ten breakthrough from the Mortal realm upon reaching the age of 15 by the world's will. But after that, it is a different story. One needs resources to cultivate, and unlike master and grandmaster-level warriors who can sustain themselves for a long time without food or water, apprentice-level warriors cannot sustain themselves for a long time without food or water. Due to this, most commoners take a long time to break into the warrior realm. So, Ang, who was dressed as a commoner, was able to get mixed up with commoners on the street without any issues.
Streets filled with people going on about their daily activities, Shops that fit the needs of anyone and everyone. He was familiar with the capital's streets, and the shady alleyways were more familiar due to his time in the dark clans.
He slowly made his way to an alleyway, searching for an unnamed shop. In his previous life, this was the place where he bought the dark art, using the password he got after offering hundreds of gold coins to a shady vendor in a similar alleyway. As he moved from alleyway to alleyway, he finally found the shop he was looking for.
Knock Knock.. Knock Knock. Knock.. Knock. he knocked on a door.
unknown voice: Whose that?
Ang: The warrior of righteousness.
Unknown voice: ....
The door opened, and an old woman could be seen on the other side of the door.
Old woman: Welcome, warrior of justice.
Ang: I'm no warrior.
Old women: hmmm... get inside.
"This sequence is the password for this hideout. Every dark clan hideout had a separate password, but they were fixed. This eventually led to many hideouts being found out and wiped out. So, when I was there, lord, I changed the fixed password system to a more dynamic password system, which changes based on the day of the week and week of the month. This led to the hideouts becoming more secure and stable.", thought Ang.
Once Ang went inside the shady store, the old women went behide the desk and asked,"So.., who refered you?"
"Does it matter?" Ang replied, looking around the store. It's the same as he remembered. That was the first time he came in contact with the dark clan, so he remembered it vividly.
"I guess not", the old woman replied, a bit surprised.
She observed the young man before her, the way he sat, the way he blinked, and the way he observed the hideout. Based on these, she concluded that he must be either a high-ranking official from the dark clans or his representative. She did not know that Ang was so used to his life in dark clans that, for a moment, he became comfortable sitting in a clan's hideout.
Old lady: So, which clan do you come from?
Ang: It matters not.
There is no need to reveal one's identity to request something from the dark clans. Everyone associated with the clans knows this. They do not care about the requester as long as payments are made.
Old lady: May I at least know the purpose of your visit?
Ang: Yes, of course. I need your help selling something.
Old lady: What!?
"Am I mistaken? Is he not from the clans?" thought the old woman.
Ang: I have a dark arts technique that needs to be sold in the auction house.
"Oh, may I see the book, if you don't mind?" the old lady asked, her interest picking up.
"It's in here," said Ang, his finger pointing towards his head.
"Is it to maintain secrecy? And to be able to memorize an entire technique, he is definitely hiding his real identity." thought the Old lady.
"A2, bring a book and pen", she called out to her attendant.
These hideouts usually hide their identities, so they do not use their actual names. They also use face-changing arts whenever they are involved in clan-related work. They do follow a pattern: a letter followed by a number. The lower their number, the higher their position in that region. The letter indicates the code they gave for that particular region.
"Since she called for A2 directly, she must be the head representative for this region. Maybe making a good impression would help me in the future." thought Ang.
A2 then brought a book and pen. The old lady received them and handed them to Ang with care. Ang then started writing while the old lady and A2 were peeping to catch a glimpse of what he was writing. After around two hours, the book was complete. Ang then handed it to the old lady.
The old lady then went through the book for an hour to validate it and was genuinely surprised by its contents.