Corpses and more corpses. The suffocating stench of blood, so thick it pierced deep into your lungs with every breath, filled the gorge. Falling Phoenix Slope.
An ominous gorge, said to be the place where Pang Tong, a confidant and brilliant strategist to Emperor Zhaolie Liu Bei, met his unfortunate end. And in this land, once again, countless people were shedding their blood. All because of a single man guarding the gorge.
“What a monster.”
“He’s not even human.”
“How can a bastard like that be called a Grandmaster? A Killing Demon would suit him better.”
The number of bodies scattered across the ground looked to be over three hundred, at a modest count. Every single one of them was a warrior who would be called a first-rate master wherever they went. And all of them had lost their lives to one man.
A man drenched in blood from head to toe, holding a sword in each hand. The Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, Jin Cheon. He was the one who had created this hellscape.
Of course, he wasn't unscathed either. Most of the blood covering his body belonged to his enemies, but the blood that flowed enough to form a puddle on the ground was his own. With fatal wounds that should have killed him long ago, the corners of his lips curved into a crooked smile.
He then opened his mouth to speak to the masters of the unorthodox faction, who were staring at him as if he were a demon.
“You bastards...”
“What are you doing?”
He raised a hand and beckoned with his fingers.
“Come and get it.”
In that moment, the masters of the unorthodox alliance who had formed the encirclement felt a chill run down their spines. He was so gravely wounded that it was incomprehensible he was still alive and breathing.
He looked so precarious that even a third-rate ruffian from the back alleys, let alone a martial artist, could knock him over with a gentle push.
And yet…
‘…Why?’
‘How come…’
‘I can’t move.’
It was as if someone had driven a stake through their feet; they couldn't budge an inch. We have to attack now. We have to charge forward right now.
But they couldn’t move. For a martial artist of the unorthodox faction, isn't the greatest prize of all to take the head of a major figure from the orthodox martial world? If they could just step forward here and now, they could claim the head of the Radiant Dragon Grandmaster.
An opportunity more precious than a thousand pieces of gold was right before their eyes. Their heads understood that clearly, but…
‘Damn it…’
‘I can’t go.’
Not a single one of them could step forward. Watching the unorthodox faction members, Jin Cheon spoke with a bored tone.
“You’re no fun.”
“If you won’t come…”
As he spoke, Jin Cheon’s knees bent slightly. At the same time, the unorthodox faction members before him flinched in surprise and took a step back without realizing it. Watching them, Jin Cheon licked his lips and then said, “I’ll go.”
With those words, the Mad Dragon’s form, true to his moniker, became a streak of light and plunged into the masters of the unorthodox alliance.
“Ugh… Aaaargh!”
“Kill him!”
Only then did the masters of the unorthodox alliance also swing their weapons in a desperate frenzy. And so, a storm of blood once again swept through the gorge. With every flash of light, the heads of unorthodox masters fell.
Amidst the chaos, the desperately swung weapons left wounds on the body of the Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, Jin Cheon. Large and small wounds continued to pile up, drawing him ever closer to death. But even as the very end approached, his swords never stopped.
Every time his form, flickering like a flash, and his two swords, drawing streaks of light, moved, the heads of unorthodox masters were sure to fall and their bodies be split apart.
“Uuaaargh!”
“Die! Just die, please!”
“Gaaack!”
A massacre of utter pandemonium unfolded, as if hell had been brought to the mortal world. Here, there was neither orthodox nor unorthodox. There were only those struggling to live.
On this day, at Falling Phoenix Slope, the orthodox martial world's master, Radiant Dragon Grandmaster Jin Cheon, met his end. To save his comrades who were trapped in the unorthodox faction's inescapable net and facing death, he charged in alone, broke through the encirclement, and allowed his allies to escape.
Afterward, he single-handedly blocked the gorge's pass and took three thousand elite masters of the unorthodox alliance down with him.
A great figure of the orthodox faction who, from the moment he entered the martial world, wrote a legend of a hundred victories in a hundred duels, and was later spoken of as a future contender for the greatest under heaven. His end was a legendary death that would be forever remembered in the history of the martial world.
In the martial world, that is.
-You brat.
How long are you going to live so recklessly like a beast? A person should know propriety and walk the righteous path.
‘Always nagging… Still, thanks to you, a little demon rotting in the back alleys like me managed to become a decent human being. If it weren't for Master, I'd probably be playing the part of some big shot in the unorthodox faction at best, sucking the lifeblood out of the common people.’ -Doing good is not something you do in expectation of a reward.
You do it simply because it is the right thing to do.
‘A man who is the master of a third-rate sect in some backwater countryside speaks more platitudes than the masters of prestigious orthodox sects. That’s why you never get ahead.’
Honestly, I rushed around here and there, getting into all sorts of trouble, just trying to help this frustrating master of mine get some recognition. Thanks to that, I made a few friends. Though I made a hundred times more enemies. -It is fine.
How is that my merit? It is yours. I am fine, so you should take it.
‘Master… Master… you are the most hopelessly frustrating man under heaven… If someone gives you something, can’t you just take it? If I don’t look after you, who will give you spirit medicines? You talk about helping the poor, but you don’t even have enough money in your own pocket to buy a single ginseng root… Honestly, why is a person like that? Normally, if someone had a disciple like me, they would gleefully use me to secure a position in the Martial Alliance and live a life of boasting and influence. But you…’
When ignored, you just chuckle, "Heh heh." When insulted, you just laugh, "Hahaha." Well, I later beat those bastards to within an inch of their lives, but still…
‘There’s a limit to being a good-natured fool, Master… What are you going to do without me?’
Whenever Jin Cheon worried, his master would smile and say, -Why? Do you plan to die before me? A man must follow the natural order.
It wouldn't do for you to die before I do, would it? No, it wouldn’t. My good-natured master. Without me, he's just a weak, gullible fool.
How can I die before a master like that? I have to live. I have to live so I can let my master live in luxury, make our Twin Dragon Sect the greatest sect under heaven…
And also… well, anyway, I’ll do everything good for you.
“I have to repay the grace of you making me a person.”
Right.
This is no time to be like this. I don’t know where this is, but this situation—dark, suffocating, with some strange, unidentifiable noises—is not good. I have to get out.
I have to get out, go back, be a good son to my master, make my weakling junior brothers strong, and fold all those prestigious orthodox sect bastards who treat our Twin Dragon Sect like a third-rate sect in half. I can do it. I can do it.
Because I am the Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, Jin Cheon.
‘Urggghhhh…’
Jin Cheon struggled with all his might to escape this dark and suffocating place. He did his best, using all his strength, to move toward the faint glimmer of light.
And finally…
‘I’m outttttt!’
Jin Cheon shouted at the top of his lungs.
Well, no… He tried.
“Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!”
The result just didn't follow.
“## ### ###.”
“#### ## #### ##.”
“##...”
The noisy chatter of his surroundings was unintelligible. The loud cries of a baby were coming from his own mouth. Jin Cheon realized.
‘Uh… this isn’t right.’
He realized that the situation was quite serious.
Three years later. The Atronia Kingdom, a small nation in the eastern part of the continent. And within it, the barony of Schneider, a small territory located at its very edge.
This was a pioneer territory, situated right next to a great forest teeming with monsters and infertile land. Most people considered this place a backwater, unfit for human habitation. However, the actual residents of this territory would say that their land was a very livable place.
The reason for this was all thanks to the Baron Schneider family that ruled this territory. Baron Schneider was a rare case among nobles, a fool—no, a benevolent ruler. Although the land was barren and difficult, having a lord who was kind and good was a great advantage.
In a world where life could become a living hell if the lord was tyrannical, no matter how fertile and abundant the land, a good noble like Baron Schneider was certainly a rarity. The only problem for the Schneider baronial family was that they had been without an heir for a long time.
But that, too, was resolved a few years ago when his wife gave birth to a son. The baroness, with her frail constitution, would have found it difficult to give birth multiple times, but fortunately, her first child was a boy.
With this, the future of the Schneider baronial family was secured, and the residents of the territory could also feel at ease. And the being born amidst everyone's blessings was none other than Patrick Schneider. The little boy who was currently sitting in the mansion's garden with the most world-weary expression on his face, staring blankly up at the sky.
“The young master is at it again.”
“Do you think he’s okay?”
The maids and servants working for the baronial family looked at Patrick with expressions of concern. To them, their young master couldn’t help but seem a little, no, to be blunt, extremely strange. Seeing him spend most of his time sitting blankly like that, mumbling incomprehensible words, and then suddenly getting angry and suddenly becoming sad on repeat…
“He’s not crazy, is he?”
“Shush! You’ll get in big trouble for saying that…”
“But come on, he’s clearly not normal, is he?”
“Shut up! How dare you.”
The servant who had spoken shot his superior a sullen look that said, ‘You think so too.’ But no matter how benevolent and kind Baron Schneider was, he would not let a servant who called his only son a madman go unpunished. But there was something they didn't know.
Even though they were speaking in sufficiently quiet voices from a distance, Patrick could hear every word they said.
“I wish I were crazy too, you people.”
Then he sighed again and said, “My life has certainly gotten better.” The words that came from the boy's mouth were in the language of the Central Plains. To the people around him, however, it sounded like nothing more than the slurred mumbling of a three-year-old child.
The Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, Jin Cheon. His newly reborn form was the current Patrick Schneider. Patrick suddenly let out a smirk and said, “A noble is like the gentry, right?
I’ve made it big, really big. In my past life, I was an orphan and a beggar.” In his previous life, Jin Cheon was an orphan who didn't even know who his parents were.
But in this world where he was reborn, he was the only son of a noble family. Although this Baron Schneider was of the lowest rank, a humble noble, it was still something, wasn't it? He had his own territory, albeit a tiny one, and the residents brought him taxes.
It meant that he had no problems eating, sleeping, and shitting, even if he did nothing.
“Life is so easy.”
At this age in his previous life, Jin Cheon already had to find his own food. He was a street urchin who naturally begged and was always on the lookout to snatch and steal from others.
Jin Cheon's life had continued like that until he was over ten years old, when the master of the Twin Dragon Sect took him in. Compared to then, his current life was so comfortable it was absurd. It was so comfortable, and yet…
“Haaaa…”
Sighing as if the ground would collapse, Jin Cheon’s, no, Patrick's face was filled with sorrow.
‘Dammit, to die there of all places.’
To save his clueless allies trapped in an encirclement, he single-handedly broke through the inescapable net and guarded the rear to protect them during the retreat. As a result, he died at Falling Phoenix Slope, single-handedly holding off three thousand elite masters of the unorthodox alliance.
It would surely be a magnificent death, one that would go down in the history of the martial world. The future generations of the martial world would probably praise the righteousness and martial prowess of the Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, Jin Cheon, for ages to come.
But…
“What’s the use if I’m dead? Ah, I’m seriously going crazy. I can just picture what will happen to my pushover master now that I’m gone.”
Patrick lamented, clutching his head. His master, the head of a third-rate sect in a remote countryside, was an object of jealousy for the high-ranking officials of the Martial Alliance. An incompetent figure who just got lucky by picking up a disciple with prodigious talent.
That was what the so-called grandmasters of the orthodox martial world whispered behind his back. Of course, they couldn't say it to his face. If they did…
[Has this bastard lost his mind!]
Who would dare, when there was a mad dog ready to foam at the mouth and go wild? Jin Cheon's title was the Radiant Dragon Grandmaster, but in truth, he was more often called the Mad Dragon. And that was among the orthodox faction, not the unorthodox one.
But now that Jin Cheon was gone, what about the Twin Dragon Sect? What about his master, who was only a good person? And the orthodox martial world?
‘Ah, forget that last one. Those bastards deserve to suffer a bit. Anyway…’
Patrick heaved a deep sigh and lamented.
“Haa… this is driving me crazy, for real.”
Then, Patrick, who had been lamenting, looked up at the sky and yelled furiously.
“Ah! If you were going to reincarnate me, you could have done it in the world I lived in, right? Why reincarnate me in some strange world I know nothing about? Jade Emperor or Buddha, whoever you are, do your job properly! You slackers!”
It was the moment the first human to curse the Jade Emperor and Buddha was born on the Pangemonia Continent. The servants and maids watching this scene whispered amongst themselves that their young master was definitely crazy. It was just another peaceful day in the household of Baron Schneider.