Chapter 2: Chapter 2 : Chapter 2

Chapter 2: What do you mean, Sin-gi Jaegal?

The shimmering, blurry lights gradually began to dye themselves in full color.

My distant senses returned, and I could move my limbs.

‘What is this?’

My breath had been cut.

The Dark Spirit Revered One, who had been enraged enough to swallow the world while clutching the broken bamboo scroll, had definitely crushed my head by stomping on it.

The horrifying pain of all my nerves dying at once still made my chest clench, so how was I alive?

I hurriedly inspected my body.

And I had no choice but to freeze.

‘What is this……?’

This was clearly not my body.

There was no way I, who had cultivated myself with martial arts my entire life, would not know my own body.

A scrawny body.

Weak muscular strength.

Arms that were three inches shorter.

Above all, I couldn't feel any internal energy in my ki sea.

What was more baffling was that it was the body of a child whose bones and muscles had not yet properly matured.

I looked around.

A small, unfamiliar room.

Everywhere my eyes landed, there were bookshelves packed with books.

Neatly placed on the desk were the Four Treasures of the Study, and near it, a pile of papers with clear traces of writing was also stacked like a mountain.

‘……A scholar?’

Anyone could see these were the traces of an ink-slinger.

I slowly examined the pile of papers stacked on the desk one by one.

Comprehending the Mechanism in One Go.

This was undoubtedly a study of mechanics, densely written with geometric figures and unknown calculation formulas.

Traces that were close to obsession, just looking at them made my head spin and my chest feel stuffy.

Furthermore, there were explanatory diagrams of formations filled with unknown structural formulas, as well as the ‘Six Dao General Stratagems’ and ‘Ghost Soul Stratagems’ which dealt with strategy and cunning schemes.

Even at a glance, the level was not ordinary.

“Hmm……”

At that moment, a small phoenix fan placed on the desk caught my eye.

Divine Skill (Sin-gi).

The characters were exquisitely embossed with gold leaf in the center of the phoenix fan.

At that moment, I immediately realized where I was.

Because there was only one family that could put forward the grand characters of "Divine Skill."

‘Jaegal Clan……?’

The sacred ground of strategists, descended from the Chancellor of Shu Han, Zhuge Liang.

The military sovereigns of the Orthodox Faction who had protected the Central Plains for a long time with their heaven-reaching cunning schemes and strategies.

The Absolute Phoenix Family, whose martial power was insignificant, but had never once lost the honor of being one of the Five Great Clans with their wisdom alone.

The problem was why I had woken up in the family of these damned ink-slingers.

At that time.

“What are you doing?”

I stared blankly at the old man who had opened the door and entered without permission.

A beautiful beard reaching three feet, a pure white scholar's robe, and a splendid phoenix crown.

A stubbornly closed mouth and a characteristically sharp glint in his eyes.

Finally, that long sword scar running from his brow to his jawline.

‘Jaegal Yeseong!’

There was no doubt.

He was the famous Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, the former military strategist of the Murim Alliance who had rendered distinguished service in the Righteous-Demonic War of the past.

I had never dreamed that I would see this cunning old monster again.

“Are you really planning not to respond to the Nine Phoenix Gates?”

Huh?

Nine Phoenix Gates?

I had heard of it.

The gateway where the talents raised by the Jaegal Clan were evaluated for their qualities.

It was a kind of test where rank and position were decided based on performance.

Moreover, these ruthless Jaegal bastards were known to even strip away the qualification as a blood relative if the performance did not meet a certain standard.

In other words, they couldn't even go out into the world with the surname Jaegal.

Ugh, bloodless and tearless things.

That aside, what was this whole situation about?

“What happened to the Great Murim Alliance?”

At my question, Jaegal Yeseong tilted his head with a peculiar expression.

I nonchalantly met his gaze.

He soon looked at the piles of paper stacked on the desk and clicked his tongue as if he found it absurd.

“Tsk tsk, I told you so many times to just rest for a while, yet you foolishly overworked that weak body again?”

“I asked what happened to the Great Murim Alliance.”

“You rascal! Why is your tone like that again! Has that dreadful madness acted up again!”

“Madness?”

Thwack!

I tried to catch Jaegal Yeseong's folding fan with a grappling art, but before I could even extend my hand, a pain was already spreading across my forehead.

A sense of self-loathing that was hard to put into words welled up from my stomach.

“No, this damn old man!”

“Huh……?”

Jaegal Yeseong, who had frozen blankly at my sudden cursing.

He suddenly let out a sigh with a pitying look in his eyes.

“Huu…… I will go to the medicine hall.”

I hurriedly grabbed the shoulder of him who was walking away unsteadily as if he had received a great shock.

“The Great Murim Alliance! I asked what happened to it!”

Just as Jaegal Yeseong turned back to me, his face contorting.

In that moment, an unknown intense pain surged and pressed on my chest.

My head spun with a volcano-like burning anger and all sorts of distorted emotions.

An indescribably nauseating energy welled up from my stomach.

“Ugh!”

“Y-You rascal! Hwi-ya!”

What was staining my chest was dark red blood.

My consciousness quickly faded.

* * *

“Isn't this the first time Hwi-ya has vomited blood?”

“That's not all. The boy cursed at me like a demon today.”

“……He cursed?”

Although I had already regained consciousness, I deliberately did not open my eyes.

It was a priority to first grasp this dog-like situation that had suddenly befallen me.

“Vomiting dead blood is proof that the Six Viscera Strange Disease is improving. It seems the efforts so far have not been in vain, Grandmaster.”

“If he can't even recognize his own grandfather and spews curses, it means the foul energy of the strange disease has reached his brain.”

“No, sir! His mind was muddled by the strange disease, and a temporary state of delirium manifested!”

“We have to save him. We must save this boy, no matter what it takes.”

“Of course, we will definitely save him! I, too, want to see the Eight Trigrams Formation of Creation that Hwi-ya will recreate! It has been a long-cherished wish of the Divine Skill Jaegal to welcome the reincarnation of Echoing Energy!”

The reincarnation of Echoing Energy?

I doubted my own ears.

There had been countless genius strategists produced by the Jaegal Clan so far.

But none of them could be compared to Echoing Energy.

Even for the arrogant Jaegal Clan bastards, Echoing Energy was an extremely sacred word.

And yet they called me the reincarnation of Echoing Energy?

“Have you by any chance given Hwi-ya any books on the knowledge of Jianghu?”

“By knowledge, you mean……”

“The Jianghu Knowledge Records that deal with the power dynamics and interests of the Murim factions.”

“No, sir. The boy is solely focused on formations, mathematics, and the art of mechanics. Such miscellaneous books are not of interest to this boy.”

“Then why is he suddenly rambling on about the Great Murim Alliance, which was ruined to its roots years ago?”

“The Great Murim Alliance?”

Hearing the destruction of the Great Murim Alliance confirmed by another's lips, I felt the blood in my entire body turn cold.

This reality I was in was not a delusion or an unrealistic dream.

That day.

I, Jin Gang-cheon, had certainly met my death at the hands of a bastard named the Dark Spirit Revered One.

And for reasons unknown, I was now inhabiting the body of an unknown next-generation expert of the Jaegal Clan.

‘Reincarnation?’

The kalpa of reincarnation spoken of in Buddhism.

This unrealistic situation I was currently experiencing was clearly pointing to that one thing.

“The Guhye Pavilion Master has been tracking the traces of the Martial Emperor for a long time now. Perhaps, Hwi-ya might have heard his concerns?”

“You mean that worthless fellow has disturbed the mind of the boy who is about to face the Nine Phoenix Gates?”

“N-No, sir. I have not confirmed it directly. It is merely my speculation.”

“Hmm……”

“First of all, for Hwi-ya to participate in the Nine Phoenix Gates, he needs to rest, doesn't he? I have given him a decoction, so he will not have another fit. Let us leave together now.”

I felt a hand stroking my head.

After a while, all human presence disappeared.

I quietly opened my eyes and sat cross-legged.

“……”

The Great Murim Alliance, which had divided Jianghu along with the Demonic Cult of Xinjiang and the Murim Alliance of Luoyang, had fallen.

Everything that proved my life as the Martial Emperor had vanished.

Grind.

I ground my teeth.

On a peaceful day, my life was thoroughly destroyed by a monstrous old man who appeared like a disaster.

The clue was the Yin Demon Sect.

And only the alias, Dark Spirit Revered One.

‘……’

The blood in my whole body boiled.

The intense past days, starting from scratch and seizing the alias of Martial Emperor, flashed by like a revolving lantern.

I did not know the reason for my reincarnation.

In any case, my life continued, and I would just move again.

Grind!

The fist that broke the bed was trembling pitifully.

A terrible pain dug into my arm and shoulder.

I did not like it very much.

“Huu……”

I rose and spread my limbs in the stance of the Great Power Form.

The muscles all over my body screamed and tensed.

Just as the sweat falling like rain tickled my vision, I stomped my foot hard.

Thud!

Motionless Without Change.

I exhaled deeply and split the upper section with the One Ki First Slash.

Whoooosh!

I extended my uncontrollably trembling right leg and again performed a great Motionless Without Change.

Thuuud!

“Keuk!”

A pain so intense it distorted my vision rushed over me, but I held the Great Roc of the Full Vortex posture to the end, keeping my cervical spine straight.

Then, with tightly clenched fists, the Flying Dragon Flash, and then a shoulder charge, the Soul-Returning Hammer.

“Heok… Heok……”

Thus, using pain as nourishment, I examined my new body.

It was a frail body that seemed on the verge of collapse, but the bones and muscles themselves were not bad.

However, it was a body not suited for using the body itself as a weapon like in my past life.

The Martial Emperor of the Red Hand and Empty Fist would be no more.

‘I can't repeat the same mistake.’

During my time as the Martial Emperor, I was a martial fanatic who had learned too many martial arts.

Blade, sword, staff, axe, spear, cudgel, scythe, bow…….

I wielded them as my heart desired, as they came to hand.

Perhaps if one were to count only the types of martial arts engraved in one's body, there would be no martial artist in history more so than me.

In the end, that fanatical omnivorous nature of mine hindered my attainment of a higher realm.

I ultimately failed to see the end of any weapon and returned to the primal art of fist and palm.

That was the reason I could not surpass the Heavenly Demon and the Sword Saint.

I examine my body again.

Two and a half feet.

If I were to choose a sword, it was a short arm more suited for a fast sword than a phantom sword.

I then extended my sword fingers and drew the initial moves of the fast sword.

Swish, swish.

It wasn't bad, but something was definitely not quite right.

‘Is it the stride?’

A fast sword requires swift footwork that compresses distance in an instant, but unfortunately, my stride was not very wide.

Then a short spear?

No, would the art of throwing daggers be better?

In that moment, I shook my head violently.

The disease of my past life was about to relapse.

‘The first must begin with the sword.’

If I thought about what was lacking, there would be no end to it.

This time, I could not end up flailing in that infinite sea called martial studies.

Suddenly, my gaze returned to the pile of papers on the desk.

“……The Nine Phoenix Gates, you say.”

Jaegal Yeseong had definitely urged me to participate in the Nine Phoenix Gates.

Although I had learned a lot from being among the tacticians after becoming the leader of the Great Murim Alliance, I was a man who was a martial artist by birth.

For now, I would have to resolve the situations as they came, but I could not for the life of me imagine a scene where I, of all people, would be wrestling with the ink-slingers of the Jaegal Clan with a brush.

I felt like the difficulty of life had suddenly risen sharply.

“Ugh!”

I vomited the blood that had welled up again.

The Six Viscera Strange Disease, was it?

It was a strange disease with quite a notorious reputation, but whether by a twist of fate or the arrangement of heaven, it happened to be a condition I knew well.

I immediately sat cross-legged and recalled the incantation of the One Ki Divine Origin Art.