The road toward the next city was unusually quiet.
William walked ahead while Adrian followed a few steps behind.
Neither of them had spoken much since leaving the Free Territories.
The discovery of the token had changed the direction of their journey.
They were no longer simply searching for information about the powers interested in William.
They were searching for the source of the information those powers possessed.
Someone had been watching him.
Someone had known enough about his intentions to predict his actions.
And that fact bothered William more than any ordinary enemy could have.
A powerful opponent could be confronted.
An invisible one could not.
After several hours, Adrian finally broke the silence.
"There's something I don't understand."
William continued walking.
"What?"
"If the person feeding information to those organizations has been watching you for so long, why haven't they acted directly?"
William thought for a moment.
"Because they don't want to."
"That doesn't answer anything."
"It does."
William stopped.
"If someone has enough information about me to know what I'm planning, but hasn't attacked me directly, then their objective probably isn't my death."
Adrian nodded slowly.
"Then what?"
"Influence."
William resumed walking.
"They want to understand what I'll do before deciding how to deal with me."
Adrian frowned.
"That sounds worse."
"It might be."
By sunset, they reached the outskirts of a large city.
Unlike the Free Territories, this city was controlled by a powerful family.
The streets were crowded.
Cultivators moved between shops and buildings, while guards stood at the main entrances.
William concealed his aura and entered without attracting attention.
Adrian looked around.
"Where first?"
"The information market."
"You already know where it is?"
"I asked around on the road."
Adrian smiled.
"You really don't waste time."
William didn't answer.
They soon reached a narrow street hidden behind the main commercial district.
There were no signs.
No obvious entrances.
Yet several cultivators entered different buildings and disappeared.
William stopped before a small tea house.
"Here."
Adrian looked at it.
"This?"
"Probably."
They entered.
The interior was quiet.
Several tables were occupied, but nobody spoke loudly.
A woman stood behind the counter.
William approached.
"I need information."
She looked at him.
"What kind?"
"Information about people who sell information."
Her expression didn't change.
"That's expensive."
"I didn't ask about the price."
"Then you're not serious."
William placed several resources on the counter.
The woman's eyes briefly moved toward them.
"Second floor."
She pointed toward a staircase.
"Third room."
William nodded.
They went upstairs.
A middle-aged man was sitting alone in the room.
He didn't look powerful.
He didn't need to.
The moment William entered, the man looked at him and smiled.
"You took your time."
William stopped.
"Do I know you?"
"No."
"Then why were you waiting?"
The man poured himself tea.
"Because someone told me you would come."
William's expression hardened.
"Who?"
The man smiled.
"You ask too quickly."
"I don't like wasting time."
"Neither do I."
He pointed toward the chair.
"Sit."
William sat.
Adrian remained standing.
The man looked at him.
"Your friend can stay."
William nodded.
"Good."
The man took a sip of tea.
"What do you want?"
"Information about a person who has been providing information about me."
The man's hand stopped.
Only for a moment.
But William noticed.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"Most people who come here ask who is interested in them."
William waited.
"You are asking who is informing them."
"Yes."
The man leaned back.
"That is much harder."
"Why?"
"Because the person you're looking for doesn't appear to be selling information."
William's eyes narrowed.
"Then how are they distributing it?"
"We don't know."
Adrian spoke.
"Then how can you claim to know anything?"
The man smiled.
"Because we've seen the information."
He looked at William.
"The reports about you are unusually detailed."
"What kind of details?"
"Your movements. Your interests. Your decisions. The people you've spoken to. Some of your plans."
William remained silent.
"Some of it was information that could be gathered from observation," the man continued. "Other parts were not."
"Which parts?"
The man hesitated.
"Your intentions."
William's expression changed slightly.
"That's impossible to know from observation."
"Exactly."
Silence filled the room.
William leaned forward.
"Who receives these reports?"
The man gave him several names.
William immediately recognized some of them.
The same powers he had heard about before.
The same powers that had investigated his history.
The same powers that had shown interest in him.
He memorized every name.
Then he asked:
"Do they all receive the same information?"
"No."
"Explain."
"Some receive fragments. Others receive more detailed reports. The information seems to be distributed according to what each power needs."
William's eyes narrowed.
"So whoever is sending it chooses what each person knows."
"Yes."
"That means they're not simply exposing me."
The man nodded.
"They're controlling the information surrounding you."
William leaned back.
That was worse.
If someone wanted to expose him, he could understand the objective.
But controlling information meant controlling how other people perceived him.
An ally could be made suspicious.
An enemy could be made confident.
A neutral force could be pushed into taking a side.
Without ever appearing.
William finally asked:
"Do you know how long this has been happening?"
The man shook his head.
"Not exactly."
"Estimate."
"At least several years."
Adrian frowned.
"Years?"
The man nodded.
"But the reports became much more detailed recently."
William's expression became thoughtful.
"After the beginning of the golden age."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We don't know."
William stood.
"Then I have one final question."
"Ask."
"Has anyone ever tried to identify the source?"
The man's smile disappeared.
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"They stopped looking."
"Why?"
"Because they received a message."
William stared at him.
"What message?"
The man looked directly into his eyes.
"Stop searching."
The room became completely silent.
William didn't move.
"Did they obey?"
"Eventually."
"Why?"
The man gave a bitter smile.
"Because whoever sent the message knew exactly where they lived, who their families were, and what they had been doing."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"So they were threatened."
"Not directly."
The man shook his head.
"They were reminded."
"Reminded of what?"
"That someone was watching."
William left the tea house without another word.
The city seemed different now.
Every person he passed could potentially be observing him.
Every conversation could be recorded.
Every movement could become another piece of information.
Adrian walked beside him.
"Are you worried?"
"Yes."
"Good."
William looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because you're finally worried about something you can't punch."
William laughed quietly.
"Unfortunately."
They continued walking.
After a while, Adrian asked:
"Do you think we should stop?"
William didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"No."
"Why?"
"Because whoever is doing this has already influenced too many people."
Adrian frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"If I stop now because they want me to stop, then I've already lost."
William looked toward the crowded street.
"They don't need to defeat me. They only need to make me afraid of looking deeper."
Adrian nodded.
"Then what's the plan?"
"Find the people who have received the information."
"And?"
"Compare what each of them knows."
Adrian's eyes widened.
"You want to reconstruct the original information by comparing the fragments."
"Exactly."
"If each power received different pieces..."
"We can determine what information was deliberately given to whom."
Adrian smiled.
"And eventually find a pattern."
William nodded.
"That's the idea."
They spent the next two days moving through the city.
William didn't directly confront anyone.
Instead, he gathered fragments.
A merchant had heard that William was looking for independent cultivators.
A cultivator affiliated with one of the major families knew that William had traveled through the Free Territories.
Another knew about the attack.
Someone else knew about the Northern Alliance's offer.
Each person knew something different.
But there was a pattern.
The information became more precise the closer it got to the present.
And there was another pattern.
Almost every report contained something that was slightly wrong.
Not enough to be obvious.
But enough to change how someone would interpret William's actions.
William noticed it after comparing several reports.
He placed them on a table.
Adrian looked at them.
"What do you see?"
"Look here."
William pointed.
"This report says I entered the Free Territories looking for powerful cultivators."
"That's not completely wrong."
"No."
William moved to another report.
"This one says I was searching for political allies."
"Also plausible."
Another.
"This says I wanted to challenge the Northern Alliance."
Adrian frowned.
"But you didn't."
"Exactly."
William placed the reports beside one another.
"Each report contains something true."
He looked at Adrian.
"But each one emphasizes a different interpretation."
Adrian understood.
"Someone isn't lying."
"They're shaping the truth."
William nodded.
"And that's much more dangerous."
That evening, William sat alone in the room.
He thought about the people who had left powerful families because their lives had been decided for them.
He thought about the people in the Free Territories.
He thought about Mira.
About Adrian.
About the force he wanted to build.
Then something became clear.
The enemy wasn't simply trying to stop his force from being created.
They were trying to influence the people who might join it before it even existed.
If they could make potential members doubt him...
They wouldn't need to fight him.
They could destroy the force before it was born.
William closed his eyes.
"Then that's what you're afraid of."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
"Not my strength."
William opened his eyes.
"Trust."
The following morning, William received an unexpected visitor.
A young woman stood outside the inn.
William recognized her.
She was one of the cultivators who had been present during the negotiation in the Free Territories.
"Mira?"
She looked exhausted.
"Can we talk?"
William immediately opened the door.
"What happened?"
"I left the settlement."
William frowned.
"Why?"
"Because someone came looking for me."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
She entered.
"They knew my name. They knew where I lived. They knew that I had spoken with you."
William's expression became cold.
"What did they want?"
"They asked me whether I intended to follow you."
William remained silent.
"What did you say?"
"I said I hadn't decided."
She looked at him.
"Then they told me something."
"What?"
"They said you were using people like me."
William's expression didn't change.
Mira continued.
"They said you had already attracted the attention of powerful forces and that anyone who joined you would eventually become a target."
Adrian frowned.
"Did they threaten you?"
"No."
Mira shook her head.
"They simply told me that I should think carefully."
William looked at her.
"And did you believe them?"
She hesitated.
"Part of me did."
William nodded.
That was the answer he had expected.
Mira lowered her head.
"That's why I came."
William waited.
"I wanted to hear your answer before deciding."
William looked at her for a long moment.
Then he spoke honestly.
"They aren't entirely wrong."
Mira looked surprised.
William continued.
"If you join me, you will probably become a target."
Adrian looked at him.
William didn't stop.
"I can't promise you safety."
Mira listened carefully.
"I can't promise that no one will manipulate information about you."
He paused.
"I can't even promise that I'll always make the right decision."
Mira's expression softened.
"But I can promise you one thing."
"What?"
"If you ever decide that you don't want to follow me anymore..."
William looked directly into her eyes.
"...you will be free to leave."
Mira remained silent.
Then she smiled.
"That's enough."
William frowned slightly.
"For now."
She smiled again.
"I'll stay."
William nodded.
"Then you're welcome."
It was not a grand ceremony.
No oath.
No contract.
No celebration.
Just two people making a decision.
But William understood what had happened.
Mira had become the first person to choose his path freely.
And that made her more important than if he had recruited a hundred powerful cultivators through promises of strength.
Far away, a report arrived in the hands of an unknown person.
The report contained only a few lines.
Mira has chosen to remain with William.
The reader stared at the words.
Then burned the paper.
Another person entered the room.
"Did she join him?"
"Yes."
"Should we intervene?"
"No."
"Why?"
The figure looked toward the flames.
"Because this is exactly what we wanted."
The other person hesitated.
"I don't understand."
"You will."
A pause.
"Every person who joins William gives us another opportunity."
"To do what?"
The figure smiled.
"To make him choose between them and himself."
William stood by the window that night.
Mira had fallen asleep in another room.
Adrian was preparing for their next journey.
The city was quiet.
Yet William could feel something approaching.
Not an attack.
Not immediately.
Something more subtle.
The enemy had found a way to reach the people around him.
And now William understood their method.
They didn't need to kill anyone.
They only needed to make people question whether following him was worth the price.
William looked at his reflection in the glass.
For years, he had trained his body.
He had trained his abilities.
He had learned how to survive battles that should have killed him.
But this was different.
There was no enemy to strike.
No attack to evade.
No technique to counter.
Only doubt.
And William knew that if he wanted to build something that could survive...
He would have to learn how to fight an enemy that attacked people's beliefs rather than their bodies.
The journey had changed again.
He was no longer searching only for the person behind the information.
Now he needed to understand why that person wanted his future to fail.
And perhaps the answer was much closer to him than he expected.