The Cactus of the Great Wasteland
A martial artist's body was like a cactus blooming in the Great Wasteland.
Spears, swords, sabers, arrows, and hidden weapons.
Dozens of terrifying weapons were embedded all over his body like thorns.
Yet, not a shred of fear or dread could be found in the warrior's single remaining eye.
Instead, he merely gazed at his surroundings with an arrogant, disdainful look.
A mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
A chilling silence hung over this place, where the literal idiom of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had truly become reality.
"Gurgle...!"
The silence, which felt as though it would last forever, was shattered by the sound of bubbling blood beneath the man's feet.
An enemy, suffocating to death in a pool of blood, was—
Crack!
—granted eternal peace by a light step of the man's foot.
Along with the sickening sound of crushing bone, silence descended upon the battlefield once more.
The blood-drenched warrior swept his gaze over the area with his remaining eye.
To his right, a great battle standard boldly embroidered with the character for "Evil" lay snapped in half.
"...I swore an oath with you all."
He looked to his left.
Though its pole was unbroken, a battle standard bearing the character for "Hegemony" fluttered desolately, stained with blood and torn to shreds beyond recognition.
The only thing they had in common was that the corpses scattered around both flags wore martial robes bearing those very same characters.
"Though we were born on different days, we swore to die on the same day, at the same hour."
The ruler of the greatest unorthodox power, the Evil Hegemony Alliance.
The Black Heaven Overlord, Jeok-un, let out a self-deprecating laugh as he looked up at the sky, as if the entire situation filled him with sorrow.
"How could you bastards who swore such an oath leave your foolish elder brother behind and depart so heartlessly?"
His bitter murmur drifted on the wind like a hollow echo.
Driven from his family by the persecution and schemes of his enemies, he had endured the harsh trials of the Jianghu entirely on his own, forging bonds and building his own power.
But now, they were all dead, and he was the only one left.
Yes, all because of that bastard.
Grrr!
A low growl, like that of a beast rather than a human, reverberated through the air.
Beneath the battle standard bearing the character for "Demonic" that stood firmly on the opposite side, the mountain of corpses began to squirm and move grotesquely.
The hideous corpses of the demonic practitioners were transforming into jiangshi.
It was proof that 'he' was drawing near.
"I would love to go and join you all right this instant, but..."
I need to bring our enemy's head as a gift to the underworld for you bastards to welcome me with a smile.
Swallowing the remaining words, Jeok-un's single eye flashed crimson with murderous intent.
Schwing!
Squelch!
He yanked out the two broken swords embedded in his body.
Blood gushed from the gaping wounds, but Jeok-un paid it no mind.
"Come," he muttered, staring into the empty air.
There, in the empty void, the world began to turn upside down.
Whoosh!
A spine-chilling black tempest swept across the battlefield, while a colossal demonic energy that threatened to crush the world blanketed the area.
Grrr!
At the same time, the mindless jiangshi surprisingly subdued their ferocity and stood waiting for orders, as if they had met their true master.
"What a wretched sight."
It was the voice of a horrific demon, one that crushed a warrior's fighting spirit just by listening to it, making them long to end their own life.
If the legendary Telepathic Voice of Wisdom were to manifest in its most hideous form, would it sound like this?
Yet, considering the owner of the voice, it was only natural.
The strongest being in the world.
The Lord of Ten Thousand Demons.
The master of the 100,000 Great Mountains.
The Heavenly Demon descended, strolling leisurely through the air.
Two attendants followed closely by his side.
Pui!
Jeok-un spat out blood-flecked phlegm.
The overwhelming demonic energy drained his strength and ruptured his internal organs.
He felt as if he could vomit a bucket of blood at any moment, but he forced it down.
Instead, maintaining his arrogant posture, Jeok-un spoke mockingly.
"How convenient. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down to kill you."
Perhaps irritated by Jeok-un's insolence, one of the attendants by the Heavenly Demon's side shrieked.
"Silence!"
Jeok-un's single remaining eye finally turned toward the attendant standing there like a eunuch.
"How dare you utter such insolence to the master of the Murim and all of the Central Plains...!"
The attendant, realizing he was being ignored, shouted until the veins in his neck bulged.
"Heh, look at this eunuch."
Jeok-un merely let out a cold sneer at the Heavenly Demon's castrated servant.
"One of the Ten Eunuchs by the Heavenly Demon's side. What a fitting role for you, little brother."
"Shut up! You bastard! I am no brother of yours!"
Surprisingly, Jeok-un had referred to the man as his own flesh and blood.
Jeok-un continued his mockery.
"Fine, I shall call you something else then. The traitor of the Orthodox faction who begged for his life by offering up his entire clan—the esteemed Strategist Ma-noe."
"..."
Ma-noe ground his teeth.
If he had his way, he would have ripped out that tongue and thrown it to the dogs.
The only reason he held back was one thing.
"Since my advent in the Jianghu..."
It was the interest that his master and the absolute ruler of the Murim, the Heavenly Demon, showed in Jeok-un.
"You have been my sole source of amusement."
"Sorry, but you're not my type. Just hand over your head and get lost."
Ma-noe fumed at Jeok-un's mocking retort, but the Heavenly Demon continued speaking without the slightest reaction.
Before the Heavenly Demon's descent, the Four Emperors and Six Sovereigns who ruled the Jianghu had all met gruesome deaths at his hands.
None of them had been able to put up a proper fight, and Jeok-un was the only one in the entire world who had engaged the Heavenly Demon in a true battle.
Though Jeok-un suffered severe external and internal injuries every time they clashed, he never gave up and kept charging back.
Because of this, the Heavenly Demon recognized Jeok-un as his sole 'rival' in the martial arts world.
Thus, for the first and last time during his conquest of the Murim, the Heavenly Demon extended an offer to Jeok-un.
"Serve me. Do so, and boundless power and glory shall be yours."
"L-Lord Leader?!"
He was asking Jeok-un to become his subordinate.
But naturally, Jeok-un snorted and refused.
"As always, you've got your ears plugged and only hear what you want to say."
"Silence!"
At that, Ma-noe roared, his veins bulging as if the insult to the Heavenly Demon were a personal affront to himself.
"How dare you show such insolence to the great master who has established the Reign of the Demonic Path!"
"Tsk, tsk. He's a master whose feet you lick, but to me, he's just a mortal enemy. You pathetic excuse for a brother."
"You... you...! A mere outcast of the clan...!"
Now that all the Orthodox sects of the Central Plains had knelt before the Demonic Cult, the only force that had resisted the Cult to the end while protecting the common people was the Evil Hegemony Alliance led by Jeok-un.
The relationship between Jeok-un and Ma-noe—who had once been the brain of the Orthodox Murim Alliance before defecting to the Demonic Cult to become their lackey—could only be described as a horrific, ill-fated tie. They had been mortal enemies fighting each other their entire lives.
As Ma-noe flew into a rage, Jeok-un suddenly called out to the Heavenly Demon.
"Hey, Heavenly Demon."
"...?"
"If I serve you, will you kill this retard for me?"
At the completely unexpected question, Ma-noe's face turned pale.
And when the Heavenly Demon's chilling gaze fell upon him—
"...?!"
Ma-noe trembled in sheer terror, like a frog before a snake.
"If that is what you wish."
The Heavenly Demon's answer was clear.
If he wanted it, it would be granted.
He even added:
"I hear Ma-noe has an ill-fated connection with the Jegal family. I shall slaughter their entire clan and raze their ancestral home to the ground for you."
"Oh?"
Since the Heavenly Demon had offered a proposal he hadn't even asked for, the one who grew desperate was Ma-noe, Jegal Wi-yeon.
"L-Lord Leader...!"
Lacking the courage to defy the Heavenly Demon, Jegal Wi-yeon shrieked at Jeok-un instead.
"You...! What kind of dog-like trick is this, *Jegal* Jeok-un?!"
"Well, look at that. You said we weren't brothers, yet you're quick to attach the surname I discarded long ago."
"Shut up!"
At his fit, Jeok-un's lips curled into a smirk.
"Alright, Cult Leader. Kill him first. Then I'll seriously consider it."
"Do you think the Cult Leader would fall for your pathetic tri—*cough, argh!*"
Raising his voice, Jegal Wi-yeon suddenly began to groan in agony.
L-Lord Leader!
The excruciating pain prevented any words from escaping his throat.
Swell! Bulge!
Soon, Jegal Wi-yeon's head swelled up like a soggy steamed bun before—
Pop!
—exploding like a bomb.
Brain matter and flesh splattered in all directions.
Monster.
To display such power with a mere glance.
Was that bastard even human?
But in truth, whether he was human or monster didn't matter in the slightest.
Because I'm going to kill him anyway.
The moment Jeok-un gripped his sword hilts, the Heavenly Demon asked:
"So, what is your answer?"
"Now, then..."
Jeok-un did not answer.
Instead, he lunged forward, cutting through the scattering bone and brain matter.
Flash!
The Overlord of the Evil Hegemony Alliance.
Better known to the world as the Black Heaven Overlord.
The abandoned direct descendant of the Jegal family.
Shring!
Jegal Jeok-un charged at the Heavenly Demon, dual swords raised.
"I will kill you!"
Whoosh!
A vivid sword sphere blazed atop the broken blades, burning as fiercely as his desire for vengeance.
The slash, which carried every last drop of his energy including his innate true qi—
Slash!
Rip!
—severed one of the Heavenly Demon's arms, sending it flying through the air, and carved a massive X-shaped wound across his chest.
Crack!
It was time for the beating heart to spill from the split flesh.
...Yet.
...No heart?
Was he truly a demon and not a man?
There was neither blood nor organs inside his body.
Whoosh!
In that instant, the Heavenly Demon's horrific wounds miraculously closed, returning to their original state.
Damn it!
He tried to launch another attack, but having poured all his strength into the previous strike, his body refused to move.
"A pity, as expected."
Along with the Heavenly Demon's final words echoing in his ears—
Slice!
—Jeok-un's vision slowly began to fade into darkness.
Throughout my life, I fought against the heavens.
You might think this is nonsense coming from someone who just got killed by the Heavenly Demon, but it is the absolute truth.
Fate relentlessly clawed at me.
First, it cursed me with a crippled dantian that made it impossible to properly learn martial arts.
Next, it took away my mother, framed me through schemes, and branded me a traitor to my family.
In the end, it gouged out one of my eyes and cast me out of the clan.
Yet, I survived by desperately crawling through battlefields, awakened the power hidden in my blood, and eventually became the strongest of the unorthodox faction.
Just when I thought I could live in peace after unifying the unorthodox faction, the entire Orthodox faction banded together to kill me.
Joining forces with the brothers I bonded with in that living hell, I crushed them all, one by one.
Just when I thought I was about to achieve the Rule of the Unorthodox for the first time in history—
—the Demonic Cult rose, and the descended Heavenly Demon began to dye the world in blood.
I chose the path of protecting my people over conquering the world.
But instead, they protected me, and I lost everyone.
Damn heavens.
The fate that had so relentlessly tormented him.
Would he finally be able to rest now?
The moment he truly realized death had come—
Why did the sole creed of the family that had abandoned him—the one engraved deep into his bones, the one that had forced him to stand back up no matter where he fell or what hardships he faced—come to mind at the very end?
"B-Brother. What do we do?"
...What is this?
It didn't stop even after he closed his eyes.
As if a god were playing a trick on him, the world suddenly regained its light, and standing before him was Jegal Wi-yeon, wearing a pitiful expression.
Wait, but...
"Your head is intact?"
"...Pardon?"
The head that the Heavenly Demon had blown to pieces was perfectly fine.
Moreover, that wasn't the only thing that had changed.
This bastard, he's younger.
His face and body were those of a youth who hadn't even reached twenty.
The bastard looked utterly terrified—no, he was pretending to be terrified.
Ignoring Jegal Wi-yeon, Jeok-un slowly scanned his surroundings.
Rumble!
Grind!
He heard a spine-chilling noise and felt a vibration that threatened to turn his legs to jelly.
The labyrinth walls that blocked all directions and restricted his vision were shifting.
It was an otherworldly space that didn't seem like reality.
Yet, one thing was certain: this space was incredibly familiar to Jeok-un.
...This is definitely...
The inside of an active formation.
It was undeniably familiar.
The Minor Eight Trigrams Formation.
A slightly modified version of the Eight Trigrams Formation created by their ancestor, Zhuge Liang.
Yes, this was definitely the formation he had been trapped in during the Jegal family's trial more than a decade ago—in his past.
But why?
Didn't I die?
Why am I here?
For a moment, he wondered if he had fallen into the Eight Great Hells.
But looking down, his hands were clean, and when he touched his face, it was smooth and free of scars.
Most of all, the eye he had lost was perfectly intact.
...Could it be?
Staring at the incredibly young face of Jegal Wi-yeon before him, Jeok-un arrived at the single, impossible explanation for this reality.
"J-Jeok... Brother...!"
Jegal Wi-yeon stammered, his face pale as he trembled.
He looked so terrified he might wet himself at any moment, but Jeok-un's eyes remained cold and indifferent.
He felt no pity for the boy.
Knowing the bastard's true nature, he only felt disgust and loathing.
Please help me get out of here.
"Please help me get out of here."
I'm so scared.
"I'm so scared."
As the words repeated exactly as he remembered them, the memories of what followed rushed back to Jeok-un.
Right. Not long after this, I found the Gate of Life.
But instead of leaving first, he had let Jegal Wi-yeon go.
He had done it out of consideration for his brother, believing in the mask of the good sibling the boy wore.
Because of that, he had to search for another exit, and by the time he finally found the Gate of Life, he was the last to escape.
Naturally, his evaluation had plummeted to the bottom.
Yet, he learned the truth later.
The bastard had possessed the means to escape the formation from the very beginning. He had merely deceived and manipulated Jeok-un to prevent him from escaping quickly.
It was an undeniable fact, heard directly from the bastard's own mouth on the day he drove Jeok-un and his mother out of the family manor in a wretched state.
"Now that I look at you, it's clear as day."
"...Pardon?"
But this time, nothing of the sort would happen.
Without warning, he channeled his strength and slammed his fist into the back of the boy's head.
Thud!
Collapse...
Jegal Wi-yeon collapsed, not even realizing he had been attacked.
Having returned to the past, Jegal Jeok-un looked down at the splayed, unconscious bastard and spat coldly:
"You son of a bitch. I can tell just by looking at you—you've got the face of a rebel."