Reincarnation of the Martial Emperor

Chapter 5: Because I'm the Martial Emperor, I just smashed it?

The news that the Third Young Master, Jaegal Hwi, had broken through the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation in a new way spread in all directions in an instant.

The training disciples of the Hall of Scholarly Learning, the Formation Masters of the Phoenix Pavilion, and even the elders of the Crouching Dragon Hall were gathering.

Inside the formation, where a storm was intermittently raging.

The Great Young Master of the Jaegal Clan, Jaegal Cheon, urgently asked his younger sister.

“When did the formation enter the stage of Eight Directions of Wind and Rain?”

“Half a quarter-hour ago! It will soon enter the Creation of Myriad Phenomena!”

“What……?”

When the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation reached the stage of Creation of Myriad Phenomena, the life gate for escape itself would disappear.

This was because the entire system inside the formation would be dominated by the subtlety of illusion.

“When it enters the state of Creation of Myriad Phenomena, the formation's Illusion Acceleration doubles! It's too dangerous!”

When the Illusion Acceleration state was reached, the formation would continue to advance to its final form regardless of the deviation of the formation stones.

It would be impossible to stop the final chapter of the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation, the Intercourse of Heaven and Earth.

In that state, it would be impossible to deactivate the formation even from the outside.

“Grandfather! We must forcibly rearrange the formation stones now! Hurry!”

However, Jaegal Yeseong paid no heed to his grandson's cry.

“This grandfather will always believe in Hwi-ya.”

“No, Grandfa—”

“Ahem! Will you not be quiet!”

At Jaegal Yeseong's angry roar, Jaegal Cheon finally clamped his mouth shut.

At that moment, a grotesque and hearty, mad laugh echoed throughout the rear garden.

-Kehahahahahahaha!

Jaegal Cheon was once again staring blankly into the formation.

On the other hand, a smile bloomed on the face of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, Jaegal Yeseong.

“Look! Can't you hear his laughter continuously? He must be greatly encouraged by the enlightenment of sudden awakening! He will surely walk out through the life gate!”

Jaegal Cheon could not understand his grandfather's words.

The fact that all the life gates had vanished meant that the method of breaking the formation itself had disappeared.

The only remaining method was to arbitrarily reprocess the formation's system and forcibly create a life gate.

But a storm so fierce it was hard to even stand was relentlessly raging.

In an extremely adverse environment where one could not even properly secure their vision, finding the minute formation stones and arrangement posts was a feat close to a miracle.

And in the midst of that, to create a life gate by rearranging the formation through precise calculations?

No matter how much of a prodigy Hwi-ya was, this was a physical problem, that is, the limit of the human body and mind.

But at that moment.

Something unbelievable happened before his very eyes.

Sssssssssss—

To the north of the formation, all the illusions of the vast space that had been filled with illusion were disappearing.

“……W-What is that?”

Jaegal Cheon couldn't hide his astonishment.

No matter how much a formation was broken, the attribute of the death formation, that is, the state of illusion, could not be forcibly shattered or dismantled.

One might be able to escape by creating a life gate with an extremely low probability, but one could not destroy the formation itself.

But that was clearly a scene where the formation itself was shattering into pieces.

The fact that all the directions of Heaven Covering had collapsed meant that the core of the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation, the True Spirit of Wind and Cloud, had been broken.

Was it possible to destroy the hardest core of a formation just by rearranging the formation stones and arrangement posts?

And while enduring the illusion of the death formation?

“G-Grandfather! B-Brother's condition!”

In the center of the formation, to the left of the large cedar tree, the man standing unsteadily was no longer the Third Young Master of the Jaegal Clan, but a madman covered in blood.

“Look after the Third Young Master! Hurryyy—!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the command of the Great Young Master, the Formation Masters of the Jaegal Clan hurriedly ran and supported Jaegal Hwi.

Jaegal Yujeong, who had rushed over with them, covered her mouth with her fine hand and immediately burst into tears.

An ear, half cut off and dangling.

A shoulder, terribly broken and twitching.

Not only that, but his entire body was covered with serious lacerations, to the point where bone was exposed.

Thus, the blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan were paralyzed with shock at the sudden, ghastly appearance of the Third Young Master.

“Heuu……”

But.

He was smiling.

As if savoring the lingering pleasure of ecstasy in his whole body, he was trembling continuously with a strange smile on his face.

At that moment, what flowed from the mouth of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who had a serious expression, was not worry but a question.

“Tell me! How did you destroy the formation?”

Jaegal Yeseong's voice was trembling.

The Wind and Cloud Creation Formation, losing all its illusion attributes as the formation's core, the True Spirit of Wind and Cloud, shattered.

This was something that was far beyond common sense.

“Grandfather! Oppa is badly hurt! Is that question really necessary right now?”

“Answer me! Now!”

The more wisdom one has accumulated, the more confusion one feels when encountering an unexplainable mystery.

Unfortunately, Jaegal Yeseong was not the ordinary and affectionate old man his granddaughter wished for, but the former military strategist of the Murim Alliance, the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom.

Jaegal Hwi twisted his trembling lips with effort and smiled faintly.

“Keeeuh…… No matter how great the formations of the world are…… they cannot escape the essence of illusions that delude a person's sensory system……”

“What did you say……?”

In the vicissitudes of the wind and clouds caused by a formation, a human feels a power tens, hundreds of times greater than the original.

Once captured by the illusion of the formation, all the senses of the human body are exaggerated and distorted.

A human whose mind was dominated by the subtlety of illusion could never escape from that illusion.

“So you're saying you broke the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation without being deluded by the formation's illusion? And its core, the True Spirit of Wind and Cloud, at that?”

“Keuuuh…… Of course……”

Jaegal Yeseong's mouth hung open blankly.

If there was a human capable of such a thing, it would be the absolute masters of Jianghu.

Those who had sharpened their senses keenly throughout their lives and held the energy of heaven and earth in their bodies.

Such a thing might actually be possible for the Sword Saint of Mount Hua, a master of the world.

Was this rascal claiming to be one of the Seven Revered of Jianghu?

Jaegal Yeseong clicked his tongue.

“Tsk tsk, how pitiful. It seems the strange disease has acted up again. Head Steward! Take this boy to the medicine hall!”

“Yes? Ah, I understand!”

Jaegal Hwi, who had a faint smile on his lips, soon closed his eyes and fainted.

* * *

When the physician left the medicine hall, I was quietly observing the boiling internal qi and blood.

Surprisingly, with that short training inside the formation, I had completed the One Origin Jade Flower stage.

‘I had vaguely expected it, but to this extent.’

In the flesh-slicing storm, I tenaciously trained my body.

To maintain my fading consciousness, I crossed the limits of my willpower several times.

The process of awakening the senses of the new body and reconstructing the concepts of the Martial Emperor.

Of course, I had expected it through the experience of my past life, but this was a result that completely surpassed those expectations.

If I had known the effect was this great, I would have pestered the Ghost Spirit Master and lived my whole life inside a formation.

Grind.

My tightly clenched fist was full of vitality.

The muscular strength and ki meridians that made up my bones and muscles had become unbelievably firm.

At that moment, the blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan appeared in the medicine hall.

At their head, the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, Jaegal Yeseong, spoke to me.

“Have you finally come to your senses?”

As the old man kept trying to paint me as someone not of sound mind, a surge of irritation welled up.

“Do you find some fun in making a perfectly fine person into a fool?”

“What!”

I had heard of the fame of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who had led the Righteous-Demonic War to victory at Hamma Valley, until my ears hurt.

But the old man standing before me was just a stubborn old man.

I pushed forward my broken shoulder and glared at the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom.

“Something like this doesn't even catch your eye, is that it?”

“You rascal!”

Jaegal Yeseong spluttered and glared.

“Looking closely, it's not that your speech has become short because the strange disease has penetrated your marrow! Are you so angry because this grandfather ordered you to respond to the Nine Phoenix Gates! The act of destroying the Wind and Cloud Creation Formation in a strange way was also a protest against me!”

It was now certain that the former owner of my body had some kind of conflict with this stubborn Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom.

Suddenly, it was frustrating that I knew nothing about the story of this guy, Jaegal Hwi.

But now, I was not the Martial Emperor, but had to live as the grandson of that eccentric old man.

Fortunately, I knew very well how a grandson could make his grandfather's heart ache.

Drip, drip, drip, drip—

By simultaneously stimulating the Indang and Sabak pressure points with a moderate amount of internal energy, tears literally poured down like a waterfall.

In the past, I had used this method as a form of torture on guys with strong pride, but who would have thought I'd use it like this?

“B-Brother?”

Just by looking at their extremely flustered expressions, I could tell.

Jaegal Hwi, this proud bastard, had surely never shown tears to his family.

“He's your grandson who almost died! When on earth are you going to let go of that harsh nature!”

“N-No……”

The old man, flustered before me now, was no longer the hero who had defeated two hundred thousand Demonic Cult followers.

Just a powerless old man who didn't know what to do in front of his grandson's sudden tears.

He, who had been standing blankly and trembling his beard for a long time, let out a heavy voice.

“Huu…… Since your body is not whole, I will ask only one thing. By what method did you destroy the True Spirit of Wind and Cloud? And did you really not get deluded by the formation's illusion even once?”

It was said that "unwavering in purpose means unyielding and unbending."

Right now, this old monster of the Jaegal Clan was looking down on the spirit of a martial artist.

Just because he couldn't interpret it with his own common sense and wisdom, he was not looking at me, a human being, as I was.

“Surely you're not doing this because you don't want to share your wisdom with the family like last time?”

Huh?

What was this now?

Did he really believe that I had broken the formation with my intellect?

Looking at his suspicious, squinting eyes, it seemed he really believed so.

Right, damn it.

In this old man's eyes, I was the next-generation expert to succeed Echoing Energy.

But, the way things were going was interesting.

I thought it might be okay to let the misunderstanding continue.

I decided to try immersing myself in playing the genius.

“I'm not that petty…… I just don't want to rashly speak of a theory that is not yet complete……”

“That's it!”

An unbearable joy spread across Jaegal Yeseong's face.

Seeing the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom like that, I inwardly burst out laughing.

Because, unlike his appearance, it was plain to see how much he cared for and loved me, no, Jaegal Hwi.

The consciousness of not rashly judging one's skills and constantly doubting oneself was a quality that energetic children must cultivate.

I, too, in my past life, had always emphasized such a spirit to the young trainees.

Wait?

Come to think of it, I was someone who knew better than anyone what these stubborn old men were most pleased with, wasn't I?

Jaegal Yeseong stroked his long, beautiful beard and smiled with satisfaction.

“Certainly, one should not commit the folly of arrogance by being overly confident in oneself. However, it is also wisdom that must become as hard as a cobblestone through various verifications.”

“That's right! No matter how outstanding brother Hwi is, he's just one person! You can't ignore collective intelligence!”

Jaegal Yeseong brought the Four Treasures of the Study with a neat gesture.

“You have always found it difficult to organize your realizations with words. As you always have, take up the brush and write. Everyone is waiting.”

Receiving the brush, I pondered for a moment.

Actually, there was no need to ponder so grandly.

The fundamental reason I was able to escape the formation was because I was the Martial Emperor.

Emperor.

After writing a part of my alias with a single stroke of the brush, I immediately put it down. Googlᴇ search novｅlfire.net

“Eumm……”

At that moment.

The blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan, including Jaegal Yeseong, simultaneously closed their eyes with serious expressions.

After a while, Jaegal Yeseong opened his closed eyes and expressed great admiration.

“The principle you have realized is indeed not simple. Are you saying that the firm way of the emperor under heaven leads to the providence that penetrates all things?”

“Could it be that one should not overcome the illusion of the formation by confronting it with the heart, but rather see the illusionary formula, no, the formation itself as an object to be governed……?”

“That's right. In truth, the illusion of a formation is not the true manifestation of the vicissitudes of heaven and earth. Now, the words Hwi-ya said resonate in my heart. That was the meaning of his words……”

Looking at Jaegal Yeseong sharing opinions with the young Jaegals, I was so dumbfounded that I laughed.

The interpretation is better than the dream, were they really attaching all sorts of meanings to this simple character?

A young man dressed in a splendid scholar's robe, who had been frozen in shock, opened his mouth as if reciting.

“I-I don't understand. To treat the formation itself as an object to be governed is the same as saying one understands all the laws and subtleties intertwined in the universe. How can a mere human cultivate such a mysterious quality?”

“Hohoho……”

Jaegal Yeseong, looking at me profoundly with eyes that seemed to say, 'Isn't such a person right here?'.

These foolish Jaegal bastards.

This was quite serious.

Could it be that they had become so engrossed in books that they had gone crazy as a group?

“I, too, must organize my thoughts today. Emperor…… The subtlety of governing a formation…… Eumm……”

In that moment, a strong thought came to me that the legend of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who had suppressed the Demonic Cult with his god-like schemes, might all be a lie.

“I shall also take my leave.”

“Me too……”

The blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan were retreating with consistently complicated expressions at the topic I had thrown.

Although the strangely unfolding situation was amusing, it was daunting to think about how I would live in this Jaegal Clan from now on.

It seemed the previous owner of this body was a genius beyond imagination.