William did not change his plan immediately.
He changed the way he thought about it.
There was a difference.
For years, he had built his strength according to what he believed was the most suitable path for him. He had accepted that the path would be difficult, that it would take time, and that many people would never understand why he had chosen it.
Now, however, there was another factor.
Someone else knew about it.
Not merely the existence of his training.
Not merely his abilities.
They knew enough about his method to speak about it to others.
That meant his movements were being observed.
William stood alone in his room, staring at the small flame in front of him.
He didn't try to extinguish it.
He simply watched it.
"If someone is watching me..."
His eyes narrowed.
"...then what have they seen?"
That was the question that mattered.
Not who they were.
Not yet.
What did they know?
And, more importantly—
What did they think they knew?
The following morning, William gathered Mira, Adrian, Leon, and Elias.
He explained what the man at the hidden observation point had told them.
Nobody interrupted.
When he finished, Adrian was the first to speak.
"So someone knows how you're building your strength."
"Yes."
"How much do they know?"
"That's what I want to find out."
Leon frowned.
"Could it be one of the powers that has been asking about you?"
William nodded.
"It could."
"The organizations you investigated before?"
"Possibly."
Elias looked at him.
"Then why haven't they attacked you directly?"
William remained silent.
Mira answered before he could.
"Because knowing something isn't the same as understanding it."
William looked at her.
She continued.
"They may know what you're doing without knowing why you're doing it."
William nodded.
"Exactly."
Adrian leaned against the wall.
"Then maybe that's the advantage we have."
William looked at him.
"Explain."
"If they're watching you, give them something to watch."
William's eyes narrowed slightly.
Adrian smiled.
"Not the real plan."
Silence followed.
Then William smiled.
"That's not a bad idea."
They spent the next several hours discussing what could be revealed and what should remain hidden.
William didn't want to create a false identity.
He didn't want to spread completely fabricated information.
That would make the situation more complicated than necessary.
Instead, he wanted to create uncertainty.
If someone was watching him, they would continue receiving information.
But they wouldn't know which parts were important.
The first step was simple.
William would continue behaving normally.
He would continue traveling.
Continue training.
Continue visiting places.
Continue speaking to people.
But he would stop allowing anyone to see the complete picture.
No single person would know everything.
No single place would contain all the information.
And no single action would reveal the direction of his next step.
Mira looked at him.
"You're dividing the information."
"Yes."
"That means even if someone gets information from one person, they won't understand the entire plan."
"Exactly."
Adrian nodded.
"Then we finally have a way to fight someone we can't see."
William looked at him.
"Not fight."
Adrian raised an eyebrow.
"What then?"
"Force them to reveal themselves."
That afternoon, William left the valley.
He traveled alone.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
He deliberately chose a route that was easy to follow.
He passed through several populated areas.
He visited a training ground.
He spoke with a few cultivators.
He even stopped in a city where information about him had already begun circulating.
None of it was accidental.
He wanted to see whether anyone followed him.
For several days, nothing happened.
No attack.
No messenger.
No suspicious figure.
Nothing.
Eventually, William entered a small town.
He walked through the main street without hiding his appearance.
Several people recognized him.
Some whispered.
Others simply watched.
William ignored them.
He entered an ordinary restaurant and sat near the window.
A few minutes later, a man entered.
He looked around.
Then sat several tables away.
William didn't look at him.
The man ordered food.
Nothing unusual.
But William could feel a faint connection.
Not to the man himself.
To the information surrounding him.
Someone had sent him.
William remained calm.
He continued eating.
The man stayed for twenty minutes.
Then left.
William waited another ten minutes before leaving as well.
He followed the man's trail.
Not physically.
Through the connections between people.
The man had spoken to three people before entering the restaurant.
Two of them had spoken to someone else.
The chain continued.
William followed it.
Then suddenly—
It stopped.
He stood in the middle of the street.
The connection had been deliberately cut.
William smiled.
"So you're careful."
He returned to the valley that evening.
Mira immediately noticed his expression.
"You found something."
"Someone."
"Who?"
"Not the person behind everything."
"Then who?"
"A messenger."
She waited.
"Someone was sent to watch me."
"Did you follow him?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"His trail was cut."
Mira frowned.
"Can you identify who cut it?"
"No."
"Then we're back where we started."
William shook his head.
"No."
He sat down.
"We learned something."
"What?"
"They know how I perceive connections."
Mira's expression changed.
"Because they deliberately cut the trail."
"Exactly."
William looked toward the window.
"That means the person behind this isn't simply gathering information."
"They're studying you."
"Yes."
The next day, William received an unexpected visitor.
A woman arrived at the valley alone.
She was dressed simply, without any insignia identifying her affiliation.
The guards stopped her.
She gave them a message.
"I have information for William."
William was informed.
He asked that she be brought to him.
When she entered, she didn't bow.
She simply looked at him.
"You've become difficult to approach."
William smiled faintly.
"That's usually a good thing."
She ignored the comment.
"I know you're looking for the person distributing information about you."
William's expression didn't change.
"Who told you that?"
"Someone who doesn't want to be named."
"That's convenient."
She smiled.
"I expected you to say that."
William gestured toward a chair.
"Sit."
She did.
"I don't know who is behind it."
"Then why are you here?"
"Because I know where the information is going."
William became more attentive.
"Where?"
"Several powers."
"Names."
She hesitated.
"Some are the same powers you already investigated."
William's eyes narrowed.
"And the others?"
"Some are unknown."
"Unknown to me?"
"Unknown to everyone."
William leaned forward slightly.
"Explain."
The woman lowered her voice.
"There are groups that don't belong to the major powers you know."
"Hidden organizations?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what?"
She looked toward the door.
"People who operate between them."
William remained silent.
"Sometimes they sell information."
"Sometimes they exchange it."
"Sometimes they create conflicts simply to see what happens."
William asked:
"And they know about me?"
"Some of them."
"How?"
"Because someone has been feeding them information."
William's eyes became colder.
"From where?"
The woman shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Then what do you know?"
She reached into her clothing and placed a small piece of material on the table.
It carried a symbol.
William stared at it.
He had never seen it before.
"What is this?"
"A mark."
"Whose?"
"I don't know."
William looked at her.
"You came all this way to tell me you don't know a lot."
She smiled.
"I came because I know something else."
"What?"
"The people who use this symbol have recently become interested in your movements."
William looked at the symbol again.
"Recently?"
"Yes."
"After the disturbance?"
She hesitated.
"Before."
That answer caught William's attention.
"How long before?"
"Not long."
William stared at her.
"How long?"
"Several months."
Silence.
Several months.
That meant the interest in him had begun before the recent disturbances.
Before the network.
Before the gate.
Before he knew that anything was happening.
William's thoughts immediately began connecting the pieces.
Someone had been watching him before he noticed them.
Perhaps the network and the people watching him were connected.
Or perhaps they were two separate problems that had simply begun converging.
He couldn't assume either.
The woman stood.
"I've told you what I came to tell you."
William looked at her.
"Why?"
She stopped.
"Why what?"
"Why warn me?"
She remained silent for a moment.
Then answered honestly.
"Because I don't like people who hide behind other people."
William smiled.
"That's all?"
"No."
She looked directly at him.
"Because I think you're being watched by people who don't understand what they're watching."
William's smile disappeared.
"What makes you think that?"
"Because I've seen this before."
She turned toward the door.
"People become interested in someone powerful."
"They gather information."
"They think they understand the person."
"And then they make a decision based on incomplete information."
She paused.
"That's when people die."
Then she left.
William remained seated.
The symbol was still on the table.
Mira entered a few minutes later.
"Who was she?"
"Someone carrying a warning."
"Do you trust her?"
"No."
"Do you think she was lying?"
"Not entirely."
Mira picked up the symbol.
"Have you seen this before?"
"No."
She examined it.
"It doesn't belong to any major power I recognize."
William nodded.
"That's what worries me."
That night, William returned to his training.
He didn't change his objective.
He didn't abandon the path he had chosen.
Instead, he began examining it from another perspective.
If someone had studied his method for months, there was a possibility they had already predicted some of his future actions.
That meant his next step couldn't simply be stronger.
It had to be less predictable.
William closed his eyes.
He remembered the ancient network.
The seven connections.
The hidden gate.
The people moving the observation points.
The man who believed he was protecting the world.
And the unknown group gathering information about him.
Too many separate pieces.
Not enough answers.
He opened his eyes.
"Then I'll stop looking for the whole picture."
He stood.
"I'll look for the next piece."
Far away, several figures gathered around a table.
A map lay before them.
William's movements were marked across it.
One of the figures pointed at a location.
"He went there."
Another asked:
"Why?"
"We don't know."
"Then why is it marked?"
"Because he went there."
Silence.
A third figure spoke.
"You're still treating his movements as if they're random."
The first figure looked at him.
"Do you think they're not?"
"No."
He pointed toward the map.
"William doesn't travel without a reason."
"Then what is his reason?"
"I don't know."
The first figure smiled.
"Then we're still learning."
Another figure asked:
"Should we approach him?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because he knows someone is watching."
"Then what do we do?"
The man looked at the map.
"We give him what he expects."
"And what does he expect?"
The man smiled.
"An enemy."
Back in the valley, William stood on the highest mountain.
The wind passed around him.
He looked toward the stars.
For a long time, he said nothing.
Then he felt it.
A connection.
Faint.
Almost impossible to notice.
Someone was watching again.
William didn't turn.
He didn't follow it.
He didn't cut it.
Instead, he smiled.
"I know you're there."
The connection disappeared immediately.
William laughed quietly.
"Too fast."
He looked toward the darkness.
"You still don't understand."
His eyes became serious.
"If you're watching me..."
He paused.
"...then I'm watching you too."
Far away, the unknown observer froze.
For the first time, William had not merely sensed them.
He had spoken directly through the connection.
And for the first time, the people watching him understood something they had not expected.
William wasn't simply trying to hide his plans.
He had begun hunting the people who knew them.