The Overlord's Awakening
A wise man once said:
"If you eliminate the impossible and face reality..."
"...whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
A dream, an illusion, a hallucination.
His current reality was none of those.
After all, one could not cast illusions on a dead man.
He had met his end at the hands of the Heavenly Demon, feeling the cold grasp of death.
Yet, the fist he had just used to pummel Jegal Wi-yeon still throbbed with a vivid ache.
He forced himself to look at reality once more.
His youthful body, his restored eyes.
And the traitor who had played the Heavenly Demon's sycophant was alive and well.
Shrunk down to the same youthful state as himself.
Putting it all together, there was only one possible conclusion.
Regression.
It seemed he had returned to the past.
Though he had no idea what had transpired between his death and this moment, the reality before him could not be explained by any word other than regression.
"Whew."
He cut off his thoughts with a single, deep breath.
He simply accepted the fact of his regression.
I can figure out the 'why' later.
Besides, returning to the past to get my revenge isn't a bad deal at all.
Without a doubt, the Heavenly Demon would descend once more.
It was that monster's sole purpose to drown the world in a deluge of blood.
He could not allow the precious people who had died protecting him to perish again.
This time, he would be the one to protect them.
I will crush the Heavenly Demon and the Demonic Cult. And then...
The dream that he and his subordinates had failed to achieve in his past life.
Together with them, he would unite the Jianghu, bridging the eternal divide between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions for the first time in history.
I will establish the Rule of the Unorthodox with you all, and I will become the strongest under the heavens.
He would fulfill the only dream he had ever harbored—the one snatched away right before his eyes by the Heavenly Demon.
"The first step is getting out of here."
Jeok-un looked down at his feet.
"Ugh... Ah..."
There lay Jegal Wi-yeon, sprawled out on the ground, his face contorted in an ugly grimace as he squirmed like a worm.
Honestly, Jeok-un wanted to rip his throat out right then and there, but he held back.
This bastard did not deserve a quick, quiet death in an isolated place like this.
He would execute him miserably alongside his mother, the root of all this evil.
This is fifteen years ago. The Waryong Trial, when I was nineteen.
The Waryong Trial.
Held at the end of every year, the Waryong Trial was an exam for all rising stars of the family under the age of twenty-five.
As the criteria suggested, there was no distinction between direct and collateral descendants when it came to participation.
A good performance here allowed even collateral members to rise rapidly within the clan, forcing the direct line to do their utmost to defend their positions.
This meritocracy stood in stark contrast to the strict bloodline purity of other great families, serving as both a tradition and a point of pride for the Jegal Family.
However, this particular Waryong Trial had garnered far more attention than usual.
It was because the examiners included not only Jegal Tan, the leader of the Heavenly River Squad, but also the head of the Jegal Family himself, the Divine Strategist Jegal Mun.
Father hadn't overseen the trial in over a decade.
Aside from his duties as clan leader, Jegal Mun was frequently away from the manor due to his busy role as the Chief Military Advisor and a high-ranking official of the Orthodox Martial Alliance.
Consequently, even members of the Jegal Family rarely saw him, and his direct bloodline was no exception.
The atmosphere was completely different from previous years.
Showing a good performance here meant catching the clan leader's eye directly.
Which is why the exam topic was changed to this godforsaken formation.
Normally, the Waryong Trial only tested an advanced version of the Five Elements Formation, a mid-tier array.
But perhaps because the clan leader himself was observing?
The Eight Trigrams Formation, the pinnacle of the Jegal Family's arrays, had been selected.
Of course, if they had deployed the original formation, not a single person would have passed.
Thus, it had been modified into the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation, scaled down in both power and size.
Did they really think kids who barely have hair on their heads could tell the difference between the scaled-down version and the original?
Ending his musings, Jeok-un scanned his surroundings once more.
As he reached his hand toward the source of a strange energy, his vision wavered like a heat haze.
Even if it's scaled down, the Eight Trigrams Formation is still the Eight Trigrams Formation.
The longer one remained inside, the more their perception of time and space degraded.
The formation's passive effect, which slowly drained one's energy until they fainted, was subtly wrapping around him.
Sssss!
Because the internal energy in Jeok-un's dantian was currently no larger than a soybean, his energy was dispersing rapidly.
Because of the Heavenly Punishment, I can only use basic arts right now.
Due to his dantian being cursed with the Heavenly Punishment, which severely hindered the accumulation of qi, he had only managed to learn the Socheonseong Art, a basic cultivation technique, at this point in his life.
While the Socheonseong Art boasted a solid foundation as the Jegal Family's basic technique, it was not strong enough to resist the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation.
At this rate, I'll be lucky to last two quarters of an hour.
Having spent a significant amount of energy bashing Jegal Wi-yeon's skull, his situation was even more precarious than it had been in his past life.
But he had no regrets. Smashing that bastard's skull was always the right choice.
The way out of here is to find the Gate of Life, just like I did in the past.
The method to escape the Eight Trigrams Formation was simple.
One had to calculate the coordinates of the constantly shifting formation based on the movements of the sun, moon, and stars to locate the Gate of Life.
The other young martial artists were likely racking their brains, desperately calculating those celestial movements right now.
But Jeok-un had absolutely no intention of looking for the Gate of Life.
Even though he shared the Jegal bloodline...
...his talents and gifts had never lain in scholarly pursuits or complex formations.
Well, I didn't know that back then.
Clench.
Suddenly, Jeok-un's eyes flashed as he clenched his fists.
Fwoosh!
The energy that was being drained by the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation was instantly brought under perfect control.
Along with it, Jeok-un's aura shifted entirely.
Though the internal energy he had accumulated over a lifetime and his thoroughly tempered meridians were gone...
...the grand achievements of the Grandmaster who had established the Evil Hegemony Alliance, the greatest power of the Unorthodox faction, blazed fiercely in his eyes.
"Whew..."
Resisting the power of the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation through sheer willpower, aura, and experience, Jeok-un quietly recited a verse in his mind.
My strength can pluck mountains from the earth,
and my spirit covers the world.
Whoosh!
The core mnemonic that had allowed Jeok-un to stand against the Heavenly Demon until the very end in his past life spread through his limbs and bones.
Though the energy was currently weak and his meridians recoiled at the unfamiliar internal force...
It was fine. It was perfectly fine.
Even if his accumulated internal energy had vanished...
I can do this.
Crack! Crackle!
The Heavenly Punishment on his dantian still tormented him like an indelible brand.
But even that did not matter.
The insights and enlightenment engraved in my blood remain.
Hummm!
With a resonant hum, a powerful, domineering aura of the Tyrant's Path infused his internal energy.
Suddenly, an unknown energy surging from his blood instantly suppressed the resistance of the Heavenly Punishment.
Strength to pluck mountains, spirit to cover the world.
It was, quite literally, a domineering energy capable of uprooting mountains and blanketing the earth.
This was none other than the power passed down through the blood of his ancestors.
Not the power of his father's Jegal clan, but the strength originating from his mother's family, the Hang clan.
The very power that had allowed him to shed the broken body Jegal Wi-yeon had left him with and rise to become known as the Dark Heaven Tyrant.
The moment the Overlord's Qi engraved in his blood acted as a catalyst and burst forth into the world—
Rumble...!
Would falling rocks from an earthquake feel like this?
Or perhaps a colossal tidal wave that engulfed the earth back when myths walked the land?
A wild, violent energy that overwhelmed the senses just by looking at it.
A force so ferocious it struck one speechless.
Yet, unlike demonic energy, a pure, domineering aura raged wildly in Jeok-un's hands.
There's no need to look for the Gate of Life.
While finding the Gate of Life was the most efficient way to break a formation, there was another method.
I can just make my own exit.
Whoosh!
Jeok-un's fist, like a meteor hammer,
struck the empty air.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the empty space began to crack and shatter.
The Grand Training Ground of the Jegal Family Manor.
True to its name, it boasted a massive scale, but today it was packed with an unprecedented crowd.
Naturally, it was because of the Waryong Trial.
The Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation had been erected in the center of the training ground, drawing spectators whose disciples and children were participating in the trial.
"I heard the topic of this exam is the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation?"
"So I have heard."
"My word, the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation... Isn't it usually the Five Elements Formation? Even for the Waryong Trial, the Eight Trigrams Formation seems a bit much..."
"It may be the Eight Trigrams Formation, but since it's scaled down, there shouldn't be any major issues."
"Since the clan leader himself is overseeing it, it will surely end without incident. What I worry about, however, is..."
While masters and parents murmured anxiously about the safety of their children and disciples, two elegant ladies seated in the VIP area, slightly removed from the crowd, were having a similar conversation.
"I only hope he comes out unharmed..."
"Lady Hang, you worry too much. I am sure Jeok-un will emerge without a scratch."
"Thank you for saying so, Lady Oh, but my boy is..."
Lady Hang was about to speak, but Lady Oh cut her off mid-sentence.
"Indeed, it is my Wi-yeon I am truly worried about. Will such a delicate child be able to endure the Eight Trigrams Formation?"
"Wi-yeon is a strong child. He will surely pull through."
"But my boy is not as robust as Jeok-un. He is far more accustomed to using his head than his body..."
Lady Hang flinched slightly.
Taken another way, Lady Oh's words implied that Jeok-un was merely a brainless brute who only knew how to use his body.
However, Lady Hang shook her head slightly.
She was probably just being overly sensitive.
The Lady Oh she knew was not that kind of person.
"It is a relief that his body is strong. Even if something happens, he should be able to endure inside the formation."
"That is why I am all the more worried. My Wi-yeon has a weak constitution, so he might not be able to bear it..."
Once again, she feigned worry for Jegal Wi-yeon while subtly throwing shade at Jegal Jeok-un.
Lady Hang brushed it off with a bitter smile and focused all her attention on her son.
I don't care if you don't place at the top, my son. Just please come out safe.
Lady Hang prayed from the bottom of her heart, refusing to fall for Lady Oh's subtle provocations.
And it was soon proven that her choice was correct.
"Who do you think will take first place this time? Young Master Jegal Jun, perhaps?"
"Most likely. He takes after the clan leader's intellect the most..."
As the crowd murmured their predictions for the top scorer, the main gates swung open, and Jegal Tan, the leader of the Heavenly River Squad, entered, escorting Jegal Mun.
"Ah...!"
"The... the clan leader...!"
Upon the clan leader's arrival, a heavy silence fell over the Grand Training Ground, as if cold water had been poured over the crowd.
Jegal Mun headed straight toward the VIP seats where the two wives were seated.
"Ah, you are both here."
"This wife greets my lord."
"Have you been well, husband?"
After exchanging brief greetings with his wives, Jegal Mun turned to Jegal Tan.
"Shouldn't the first successful candidate be emerging by now?"
"...It has only been about half a double-hour since the children entered."
"It is only the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation. It shouldn't be that difficult."
Jegal Mun muttered, "To take this long is unacceptable," with eyes weary from fatigue. Overhearing this, Jegal Tan could only feel dumbfounded.
Only you, Brother, would consider the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation simple.
However, he could not say that aloud in front of everyone, so he chose his words carefully.
"In the history of our clan, you are the only one who has ever cleared the Soseong Eight Trigrams Formation in half a double-hour..."
Rumble!
Just as Jegal Tan was speaking, a thunderous roar echoed through the air.
"!?"
"What—what is that?"
The energy of the active formation was warping in a way that looked visibly dangerous.
Something had clearly gone terribly wrong.
"Did an accident happen?"
"No, what kind of accident could...?!"
The sudden change threw the spectators into a frenzy.
Whispers spread about whether they should dismantle the formation immediately or rescue the children.
"Silence, everyone!"
Only the clan leader, Jegal Mun, maintained his composure in the midst of the chaos.
How?
The fatigue vanished from Jegal Mun's eyes, replaced by a strange, sharp gleam. At that exact moment—
BOOM!
With a massive explosion and a flash of light, something burst out of the empty air.
Clang!
Sensing an unknown danger, Jegal Tan immediately drew his sword and stepped in front of the clan leader.
Tap, tap!
However, the figure who had torn through the formation simply twisted his body mid-air with practiced ease, landing firmly on both feet.
...!
"W-what?"
While the onlookers gaped in sheer astonishment at the identity of the person,
"Whew."
the young man paid no heed to the staring eyes. He looked up at the clan leader seated in the VIP section.
"Jegal Jeok-un greets the clan leader."
He bowed calmly, offering a formal greeting.