Chapter 3: Chapter 3 : Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A formation? What kind of a jackpot is this?

There wasn't much that I knew about the family called the Jaegal Clan.

This mysterious family was almost unknown in Jianghu, except for a few renowned strategists.

But that small number of Jaegals moved the entire Orthodox Murim.

The head of the Murim Alliance's Military Strategy Department was always from the Jaegal Clan, and I and the Great Murim Alliance always had to expend our mental energy fighting against their meticulous and cunning schemes.

What kind of expression would the Ghost Spirit Master, the tactician of the Great Murim Alliance, make if he found out that I had become a next-generation expert of the Jaegal Clan?

Perhaps that ruthless old man would bite his tongue and die from the great shock.

Ah, come to think of it, I don't even know if the Ghost Spirit Master is alive or dead right now.

‘Huu…….’

I stopped circulating my ki and lay down flat.

Living off the sword in the crazy place called Jianghu was like always carrying some shitty business on your back.

Even after winning the alias of Martial Emperor, I had lived with the feeling of performing acrobatics on a knife's edge, that I could die anytime, anywhere.

But I had never imagined that I would start a new life in the body of a complete stranger.

What on earth was the identity of that tremendous human who had killed me?

“Huu…….”

I let out another hot breath and barely calmed my mind.

The technique that the crazy monster named the Dark Spirit Revered One had unleashed, that damn disc of darkness, had no power that could be felt.

If his technique had been a supreme ki art, the unique fighting spirit and momentum of internal energy should have relentlessly surged.

If so, was it a type of sorcery from the Maoshan School, not martial arts?

That didn't make sense either.

If it was a magic art that dealt with spiritual energy, the unpleasant and sticky thoughts of one who handles souls and the traces of incantations should be felt.

But he had no such thing as ki.

It was like something colorless, odorless, and formless.

A mystery that could not be fathomed even with the insight of this Martial Emperor, who had a foot in every study under the heavens.

That was the reason I couldn't consider him human.

What kind of human could erase the Great Murim Alliance, teeming with thousands of martial artists, in a single move?

From one to ten, no answer was derived, only questions remained.

‘Yin Demon Sect…….’

A monstrous group that had such a tremendous monster at its beck and call.

Just the fact that such bastards were operating in the shadows in this Jianghu felt like a lead weight pressing on my chest.

I prided myself on having gone through all sorts of trials and tribulations while living as the Martial Emperor, but with this, I couldn't even get a feel for how to approach it.

What burst out of me was a hollow laugh.

“Kehehehe…….”

The blood in my whole body surged as if flowing in reverse.

Not as the head of the Great Murim Alliance, one of the Seven Revered of Jianghu, but it felt like I had returned to being a Jianghu novice who had just picked up a sword for the first time.

At that moment, nausea welled up in my stomach again.

“Ugh!”

The Six Viscera Strange Disease.

An unprecedentedly incurable disease where the six viscera slowly wither away due to being born with loose ki meridians.

If not properly cured, most die before reaching adulthood.

The most agonizing part was the Maddening Thirst Syndrome that came from the withering of the six viscera.

No matter how much water one drank, there was no solution.

The stomach and large intestine, already weakened as they were, seemed incapable of normal digestion.

So, I would just get nauseous like this at any time.

“Huu…….”

I slowly took a deep breath again and continued to circulate my ki.

The most effective way to treat the Six Viscera Strange Disease was not to rely on pharmacology, but to practice an outstanding divine art.

In the past, when the Hegemon's eldest son was groaning with the disease, I had personally bestowed upon him the Mixed Origin Purple Spirit Art.

Even with the Mixed Origin Purple Spirit Art, which could be called a degraded version of the heart law, he was easily cured.

What's more, for me who had learned the One Ki Divine Origin Art that exerted its full power, there would be no obstacle.

When the barely gathered true ki reached the Jiyang pressure point, it met an unknown resistance and could not proceed further.

Normally, it would have immediately reached the Daechu pressure point and conquered half of the minor heavenly cycle.

As expected, it was urgent to first expand the ki meridians that had weakened and begun to degenerate.

I hurriedly guided the true ki and began to slowly tame the ki meridians near the ki sea.

As I tenaciously attacked the narrow ki meridians, the true ki gradually thickened, and pain filled my dantian.

If I couldn't withstand this vortex of true ki here, it would be the end.

I strengthened my resolve even further and pushed in even more true ki.

Extreme pain washed over me, to the point that sweat formed on my whole body like rain.

“Keeeeuh……”

An ordinary martial artist would have withdrawn their true ki at this point, fearing the impending qi deviation.

But I was the Martial Emperor of the world, who had explored the latent potential and limits of humans more fiercely than anyone.

It was me, the martial fanatic who was pointed at by even that great Sword Saint as a man mad about martial arts.

I had already finished observing the newly obtained body.

A human can endure more here.

One can endure sufficiently more.

“Cough!”

I spat out a bowlful of black blood.

It was a good sign.

Due to the persistent stimulation of the true ki, the flesh of the dying six visceral organs was washed away.

The problem now was that I also had to fight against the relentlessly surging cold qi.

Even as my vision distorted from the rising cold qi, I tenaciously maintained my ki circulation.

Kwwaaaaaang!

A powerful shockwave pierced through my entire body.

Finally, my vision turned completely white, and an indescribably terrible pain tore through my whole body.

I released my cross-legged position and collapsed onto the bed.

“Heok heok…….”

I hadn't managed to complete the first stage of the One Ki Divine Origin Art, the One Origin Jade Flower, but I had still managed to treat the dying six viscera to some extent.

One can't be full on the first bite.

I felt relieved as I sensed the energy of the divine origin that had settled firmly in my dantian.

It was the seed of the reborn me, the Martial Emperor.

‘This time, I will absolutely not rush.’

The Revolving Wheel that overcomes the One Origin, and beyond that, the Entering Transformation, and finally reaching the Limitless that casts off the shackles of humanity…….

In my past life, I was so engrossed in breaking through such realms that I ended up missing out on many things.

My mind at that time was not as solid as my body grew.

Thus, I, who had not achieved mind-ki unity, wandered at the peak of the Transformation Realm for a long time and ultimately had no choice but to remain a martial artist who had not conquered the absolute.

If I at that time had indulged in time a little more and reflected on myself…….

I can say with confidence.

I would have surpassed the Seven Revered of Jianghu.

“……”

However, the unfulfilled desire of a past life was not the current goal.

The realm of No End that Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng were said to have reached.

No, perhaps even beyond that, I would have to reach a place no human has ever reached to be able to compete with those monsters.

What became more urgent than internal energy now was this weak body.

This shabby body, in which not even a handful of muscular strength could be felt, was a more serious problem for me now.

I got down from the bed and immediately took the horse stance.

“Keuu…… Damn it!”

I was sure of it.

The former owner of this damn body had never practiced martial arts, no, had never even exercised.

Just maintaining the horse stance made sweat pour down like rain.

I gritted my teeth and continued into the Leg Form stance.

“Keuaaaaaaah!”

The muscles of my thighs swelled up as if they would burst.

No, this was also just my feeling.

Because there were no muscles to swell up in the first place.

Swallowing the rising congestion, I barely managed another Single Punch.

Shuuuk!

Moving my stride long, I firmly performed Mount Tai Crushing the Summit.

I felt it yesterday as well, but this was a truly insignificant body, though the bones and muscles were not bad.

“Heok heok……!”

I couldn't confirm all the limits of this body with simple movements alone.

Space, I needed a large space.

I immediately opened the door.

‘…….’

Pavilions spreading out as far as the eye could see.

As expected of the family that had moved the Murim Alliance's military strategy department for generations, their prestige was not to be taken lightly.

But was it a damn family of strategy?

I couldn't see a training ground anywhere.

“Where is the training ground?”

The hawk-nosed servant who was guarding me in front of my quarters hurriedly bowed his waist and carefully raised his head.

“Greetings, Third Young Master. But a training ground, you say?”

“Don't tell me there's no place to train the body?”

“If it's such a place, there's only the rear garden……”

My head throbbed.

Still, they were one of the Five Great Clans that dominated Jianghu, but I had never dreamed that they wouldn't even have a single training ground.

No matter how much of a family of wisdom they were, I had heard that they still practiced martial arts to some extent.

“Then guide me to the rear garden.”

“Yes? Ah, I understand!”

Following the hawk-nosed servant around a few corners, a rather spacious rear garden came into view.

At that moment, I felt a vague sense of unease.

Just by looking at the chaotically planted flowers and the bizarre arrangement of the rockeries, it was clear that the subtlety of a formation was hidden there.

The absolute formation of the Jaegal Clan…….

“Hmm.”

A memory I didn't particularly want to recall came to mind.

During that intense Phantom Demon pursuit operation, I had a painful memory of being trapped in the Seven Monsters Illusory Demon Formation he had deployed and not being able to drink a single sip of water for three days.

The ghostly wails let out by all sorts of ghosts and the traps where it was difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion.

Amidst the numerous vicissitudes of fortune that were hard for a human to endure, I literally experienced hell.

The shock was so vivid that even now, thinking about that time sends shivers down my spine.

Until then, I had never imagined that a mere formation could exert such tremendous power.

What's more, it wasn't something like a Phantom Demon, but the formation of the Jaegal Clan, which could be called the true suzerain of formations, that was right before my eyes.

While nervous, I also couldn't control my pounding heart.

Ssssss—

The movement of the light mist that had settled over the entire rear garden was extremely alien.

If the laws of nature were distorted to that extent, it was proof that the subtlety of the illusion contained in the formation was far beyond my imagination.

I took off my shirt without hesitation.

Inside a death formation was a perfectly suitable place to test the limits of a human.

In the old days, after overcoming the Seven Monsters Illusory Demon Formation, I grew into a completely different martial artist.

“Y-Young Master! The center of the rear garden is a forbidden area!”

“So what?”

“Yes……?”

Pang!

As I raised the One Ki Divine Origin Art, albeit weakly, vitality began to circulate throughout my body.

Although it was a pathetic body, it was definitely a sensation that I had forgotten for a long time.

Youth, the vitality that it itself emitted.

I had never dreamed that in my life as the Martial Emperor, I would ever welcome such a refreshing sensation again.

As I entered the formation, the alien energy that distorted the fabric of nature, that is, the momentum of a living formation, began to be clearly felt.

I hurriedly looked around.

As expected, tree branches, stones, fallen leaves, flowers, and the like, which I strangely wanted to touch, were tempting me.

“Heh, nice to meet you.”

That was a vicious trap.

The triggering condition of the formation, where if one touched it recklessly without knowing anything, one would be sucked straight into hell.

This Jaegal Clan's formation, too, must have been designed to activate as soon as those insidious traps deviated from their set arrangement.

I walked over without hesitation and kicked the shiny red stone.

In that moment, the surrounding space distorted.

Tssssssssss—

Even as a hazy mist rose and filled my surroundings, I did not move rashly.

Experiencing this damn space again felt truly special.

Swaaaaaaa—

The mist soon turned into a harsh, biting wind and began to gouge my skin like blades.

The feeling was so realistic it was hair-raising.

At last, I was convinced that this formation was on a sublime level that could not even be compared to what a mere Phantom Demon had deployed.

Soon, the vicissitudes of heaven and earth that a person could not handle would rush in.

Looking at the thunderstorm approaching with dark clouds, I twisted my lips.

My entire body's senses boiled with ecstasy.

This life's growth would begin from this formation.

Compared to the shabby start of my martial arts in my past life, it was an incomparably good beginning.