WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 34: Position Test (3)

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The SoDam Sword's seemingly unlikely scheme had hooked a trophy catch.

I had thought Song JwaBaek would refuse to teach me the Golden Blood Body's energy circulation method out of fear of Evil Heaven, but the moment I called us fellow disciples, he completely fell for it.

He must have truly hated treating me like his senior martial brother.

Perhaps the SoDam Sword had understood the kid's feelings better than I thought.

- A kid is still a kid.

Then again, he had not even reached manhood yet.

He was only sixteen or seventeen, so it would be difficult for him to understand the weight of things.

And since we were fellow disciples, he must have wavered even more.

But what was he going to do?

Evil Heaven would not care about that at all.

For now, he was happy not to call me senior martial brother, but before long, he would be clinging to my trouser leg and begging to call me that again.

- How is it, Un Hwi?

The Southern Heavenly Steel Sword asked as I circulated the Golden Blood Body's energy method.

If I had to describe how I felt, it was as though the blood throughout my body was surging.

It was almost like when I had hung upside down from that cliff.

- You're incredibly red. Your face looks like it might burst.

The SoDam Sword spoke as though clicking its tongue.

I understood why it said that.

I, too, understood what it meant for blood to circulate so quickly.

'Hot.'

Heat surged through my entire body.

I could understand why they said it would be difficult to endure without a special physique.

Evil Heaven apparently used this energy circulation method in battle, but someone with an ordinary physique like mine should never attempt such a thing.

- Does it seem effective?

'It does. Definitely.'

The Yang ki and cold ki that had not budged even when I circulated the SoHyeon Cultivation Technique began to move.

Chilling yet hot energies slowly flowed into my dantian.

Maintaining their balance was the key.

Less than half a two-hour period had passed.

“Pant... pant... I can't continue.”

When one normally circulated a cultivation technique, the entire body settled into balance and became calm.

However, the longer I used the Golden Blood Body's energy circulation method, the faster my blood flowed. My entire body grew hot, and my heart raced as though I had been running at full speed.

It was impossible to circulate my energy for long.

- For the time being, it would be best to use it alongside the SoHyeon Cultivation Technique.

- Yeah. You're completely drenched in sweat.

Sweating while circulating my energy.

Even I had never experienced that before.

Still, there had been results.

The energy that had only gathered little by little after three days of circulating the SoHyeon Cultivation Technique now gathered in my dantian in an amount nearly several times greater.

I did not know how much Yang ki and cold ki remained in my meridians, but if I continued using the Golden Blood Body's energy circulation method little by little, I would likely be able to accumulate internal energy much faster.

'Six months.'

Could my internal energy reach Advanced within that time as well?

Just then, I sensed someone's presence outside the cave.

Only Evil Heaven and the twins knew about this place. Who could it be?

Tap!

Someone entered the cave with light footwork.

It was a woman whose face was covered by a white veil.

I had seen those exposed eyes before.

She seemed to be one of the four women who attended the Blood-Hand Witch.

Swish!

She gave me a fist-and-palm salute and spoke.

“Young Master, could you spare some time? The Sixth Blood Star wishes to see you.”

The Sixth Blood Star wanted to see me?

* * *

I followed her near the Blood-Nurturing Valley's Main Hall.

When I asked how she had found me, she said Song JwaBaek, who was at the summit, had told her.

There was a small clearing to the right of the Main Hall's outer perimeter. The Sixth Blood Star was not there. Instead, two other women were.

- Isn't that her?

The SoDam Sword recognized one of them, or rather, one of the girls.

The girl with the pale white face and delicate features was Dam YeHwa, who had entered as a training cadet with me.

She was receiving what looked like Martial Arts instruction from one of the women in white veils.

'Ah!'

This must have been when it happened.

I remembered Dam YeHwa being selected as the Blood-Hand Witch's disciple while she was still a training cadet. She must have caught her eye then.

When I arrived, they stopped training.

The woman who had brought me told me to wait there, then ran to the Main Hall.

They could have met me in the Main Hall. Why had they called me out to the edge of the grounds?

“Excuse me, aren't you the person from back then?”

I was going to wait quietly, but Dam YeHwa spoke to me.

She seemed to remember me from then.

Well, I had been the first to swallow the Blood Worm and the last to receive a cadet rank. It would have been stranger if she did not remember me.

“It has been a while.”

I answered with a slight bow.

Dam YeHwa looked young, but perhaps because she was a girl, I could not treat her roughly as I did Song JwaBaek.

When I first saw her, her face had been filled with fear. Now, she looked rather bright and confident.

She had likely changed after being chosen as the Sixth Blood Star's disciple.

“You are training as a mid-rank training cadet, aren't you?”

Hm?

It seemed she did not know I had become the Venerable One's disciple.

Her triumphant expression made that clear. She looked desperate to boast about becoming the Sixth Blood Star's disciple.

It was understandable, but she was still young.

“I am...”

“Enough, junior martial sister.”

The woman in the white veil stopped Dam YeHwa from continuing.

Dam YeHwa lowered her head in disappointment.

“I'm sorry, senior martial sister.”

Discipline between martial sisters was strict.

Perhaps embarrassed that she had been scolded while trying to boast, Dam YeHwa moved far away.

Before long, the Blood-Hand Witch, Han BaekHa, appeared.

I did not know how many sets of those black clothes she owned, but she always gave off the gloomy aura of a grim reaper.

However, Young Lady Ha Yeon was nowhere to be seen.

The two veiled women who appeared to be her disciples trailed after her as though attending her, but Ha Yeon was absent.

Swish!

As I gave her a fist-and-palm salute and prepared to greet her loudly,

“That will do.”

Han BaekHa raised a hand to stop me.

Then she walked straight up to me and took something from her robes.

It was a plaque.

Holding it up with her usual expressionless face, she said,

“Our Venerable One's disciple is quite impressive.”

She seemed to be addressing me formally out of respect for Evil Heaven.

Thanks to that, Dam YeHwa's eyes widened behind her after learning that I was the Venerable One's disciple.

Yes, my backing was a little higher than yours.

But why was Han BaekHa saying that while holding a plaque?

“Sixth Blood Star, what do you mean?”

“You made a wager, did you not?”

'Hm...'

It seemed she had heard from Young Lady Ha Yeon.

I did not know how much Ha Yeon had told her, but if Han BaekHa knew of the wager, that plaque undoubtedly belonged to Ha Yeon.

Of all people, she had entrusted the plaque to the Blood-Hand Witch. This was awkward.

“Young Lady Ha Yeon is...”

“You cannot see that child right now.”

I wanted to ask why, but this woman was as frightening as that red-eyed woman.

She would cut off one of her own fingers without blinking an eye... Hm?

There was a bandage around her hand.

- Did she really cut off a finger?

Judging from the bandage, the place where her finger had been cut off was intact.

How strange.

Could someone have reattached it?

- Maybe that Omnipotent Godly Doctor did it?

As the SoDam Sword said, that finger seemed to be the Omnipotent Godly Doctor's work.

They said there was no illness he could not cure except death itself, but I had not expected him to be able to reattach a severed finger.

- Incredible. Could he reattach a severed head too?

If your head is cut off, you die, SoDam Sword.

In any case, considering his miraculous medical skill, it had been wise to obtain that plaque.

Han BaekHa clicked her tongue.

“To demand my lady's plaque in a wager. I do not know where you found such nerve.”

Her voice and eyes seemed displeased.

She was likely angry because I had demanded the plaque of the person she served.

Why had Ha Yeon entrusted it to the Blood-Hand Witch instead of handing it over herself? Sigh.

“Bring it.”

At Han BaekHa's words, one of the female disciples behind her brought me a small bundle.

Seeing my confusion, Han BaekHa said,

“Medicinal herbs that should help restore your vitality.”

Ah...

Young Lady Ha Yeon must have prepared them.

Had she remembered that I had used movement skill while consuming innate life energy?

If so, she was thoughtful.

Han BaekHa placed the plaque on her palm and held out her hand as though telling me to take it.

[Baek Ryeon Ha.]

Baek Ryeon Ha?

That must be Young Lady Ha Yeon's real name.

I had expected Ha Yeon to be an alias, but I had not expected her to reverse her name like that.

Han BaekHa slightly raised her chin as though telling me to take it. After hesitating, I reached for the plaque in her palm.

At that very moment,

Whoosh!

She let the plaque fall.

As I urgently reached down to catch it,

Snap!

Han BaekHa seized my wrist with a grappling hold as swift as lightning.

Her grappling hold was so profound that even though I saw it happen, I could not avoid it.

What should I do?

Her internal energy was so deep that I could not gauge it, so I could not shake her off.

'Ah!'

Then cold energy entered through the meridians in my wrist.

It seemed to be Han BaekHa's internal energy.

As her internal energy entered, the tiny amount of internal energy in my dantian instinctively moved.

But the difference between us was too great. My internal energy moved slightly, as though cowering, then stopped.

“Sixth Blood...”

“You would do well to keep quiet.”

Her internal energy traveled through every corner of my body as though examining it, then vanished.

Still gripping my wrist, Han BaekHa spoke.

“It does not appear that you have consumed as much vitality as I feared.”

'Ah...'

She had been checking my condition.

Did she have to frighten me like this just to examine me?

Or did she have another purpose as well?

Still, I learned something useful because of it.

She had examined my body with internal energy, yet she had not noticed my innate life energy at all.

'Good.'

Even my Venerable One had not noticed, and neither had the Blood-Hand Witch, one of the Seven Blood Stars.

The Central Dantian was certainly an effective trump card for me.

Then the corner of her mouth curled up slightly.

“The Venerable One must have been in a hurry. To think he even had you take an Elixir.”

“What?”

“I heard you are in the process of recovering your dantian, so you should not overexert yourself. If you hastily accumulate internal energy, you may damage it again.”

I had never taken an Elixir in the first place.

But since she said this, she seemed to have mistaken my absorption of Yang ki and cold ki for that.

The Omnipotent Godly Doctor had been right when he said it would have an effect similar to taking an Elixir.

'Ah...'

Wait. Would Evil Heaven misunderstand as well later?

If he examined my body with internal energy, he might.

It seemed I would have to find a suitable excuse.

If not, would I have to use the Omnipotent Godly Doctor as an excuse again?

Swish!

She released my wrist.

How much would I need to train before I could counter her grappling hold?

I bowed slightly, then put Young Lady Ha Yeon, no, Baek Ryeon Ha's plaque into my robes.

Han BaekHa said,

“I hope you will not use that plaque for anything foolish.”

Anything foolish.

It was a warning.

As Baek Ryeon Ha's attendant, it was a warning she had every right to give.

I could leave now, right?

Swish!

“Then I will take my leave, Sixth Blood Star.”

I greeted her and was about to leave when she suddenly said,

“Would you like to make a wager with me as well, Young Master?”

“What?”

What was this now?

Surely she was not trying to scheme her way into taking back the plaque she had just given me?

As though she had read my thoughts, she said,

“Are you worried I might take away what my lady gave you? Do not worry. I heard you are quite skilled at wagers, so as that child's master, I merely wish to repay you a little.”

If she was not taking the plaque, then what did she want?

When something seemed wrong, it was best not to do it.

I respectfully clasped both hands and bowed my head.

“How could I possibly make a wager with the Sixth Blood Star? Please withdraw your words...”

“If you win, I will teach you one of my special arts, though it will not compare to the Venerable One's.”

'...An art?'

What did this woman take me for?

Did she really think I would fall for words like that?

Even if it smelled sweet, it was poison.

And poison ought to be spat out.

“Forgive me, but how could I covet the Sixth Blood Star's art and make a wager...”

She interrupted me again.

“If I win, you only need to ask your Venerable One, your master, to consider the Sixth Blood Star's proposal one more time. Is that not simple? You would not lose much from such a condition, Young Master.”

So that was her goal.

It seemed she wanted to persuade Evil Heaven somehow.

Even I still did not know toward whom Evil Heaven's heart leaned.

- Still, it would not harm you.

It was certainly not a bad condition.

I could at least pass along the words.

However, whether I could win or lose depended on what the wager was.

“YeHwa.”

Then she called Dam YeHwa.

When Dam YeHwa shyly stepped forward, Han BaekHa said,

“This child was a low-rank training cadet I took in three days ago.”

Dam YeHwa had not learned Martial Arts at all, so she was a low-rank training cadet.

That was why I had known she had entered the Blood-Hand Witch's school.

“I will remain in the Blood-Nurturing Valley for a while to treat and care for my lady, while teaching this child.”

“...”

“There will be a Position Test in six months. I intend to raise this child into a high-rank warrior by then.”

She said it casually, but it was an arrogant statement.

She was saying she would make an Advanced master in only half a year.

Still, she was better than Evil Heaven.

That man had ordered me not merely to become a high-rank warrior, but to seize the position of Squad leader.

Seeing this made it clear why those who learned Martial Arts went to every length to serve an outstanding master.

“The wager is simple. We will see which of the two becomes a high-rank warrior.”

Confidence shone in the Blood-Hand Witch Han BaekHa's eyes.

It was understandable.

She had taken in Dam YeHwa because she had discovered the girl's hidden talent.

She must have proposed this wager because she believed she could raise her to Advanced within six months.

“...What if we both become high-rank warriors?”

“Then the two of you will fight to decide the victor.”

It was an idea befitting a martial artist.

There would be no ambiguous draw.

* * *

- You said poison ought to be spat out, but you accepted the wager in the end.

'I have to aim higher than that anyway. It works out nicely.'

My goal was not to become a high-rank warrior.

It was to become a Squad leader.

It might be a risk, but this could motivate me as well.

If I won, I would have the chance to learn one of the arts of the Sixth Blood Star, one of the Blood Cult's greatest masters.

- Even if you lose, it is not bad. You only have to tell him to consider it once, right?

'No.'

- Hm? Why?

'If I pass along those words, I might give that old man the impression that I have been recruited by Baek Ryeon Ha's side, whether or not there is a wager.'

That was probably her hidden aim.

It would be poison to me right now.

There was something I had learned while living as a Spy.

- What is it?

'Do not bet on anything unless you are certain.'

- You learned that as a Spy? It sounds more like a rule from a gambling den.

'The principle is similar.'

- How?

'When this kind of struggle for power breaks out, you cannot lean toward either side.'

- Why? Isn't that chubby girl better than that thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox? At least she seems to show you plenty of goodwill.

If we were only considering personal ties, that was true.

But her goodwill might have been calculated because I was the Venerable One's disciple.

She could use me as a card to move Evil Heaven if she handled me properly.

- That could be true. Still, I dislike that one more.

You did not understand.

Perhaps the red-eyed woman currently held the established power within the Blood Cult.

- Why? How can you know that without even seeing her?

'If that were not the case, she would have tried to persuade Evil Heaven like Young Lady Ha Yeon, no, Baek Ryeon Ha, did.'

- Oh. That makes sense.

The red-eyed woman had merely asked me to convey her regards to Evil Heaven.

Even her manner of speaking had been relaxed and unhurried.

From that alone, there was a high chance she held the upper hand in terms of influence.

More importantly, she did not hide herself.

'Therefore, it is dangerous to hastily attach myself to either side.'

If Baek Ryeon Ha failed to become lord, those who joined her side would certainly fall from power.

They would be used up in one way or another, then die miserable deaths.

The force of justice was the same, but the force of evil was even worse.

- I think I understand.

'What?'

- Why you managed to survive as a Spy for so long without a dantian.

Yes.

In this world, lacking awareness got you killed.

And lacking strength got you killed too.

That was why, in this life, I craved strength even more.

* * *

A plump woman in a white veil appeared in the clearing after So WoonHwi had left.

At her arrival, everyone, including the Blood-Hand Witch Han BaekHa, bowed in respect.

The plump woman was Baek Ryeon Ha.

She had originally possessed nearly the same build as one of the women in white veils, but over the past few days, she had lost some weight, though not much.

“Did he accept?”

Baek Ryeon Ha asked the Blood-Hand Witch Han BaekHa.

Han BaekHa nodded in reply.

“He did. As you said, my lady, he does not seem to be that clever.”

The Blood-Hand Witch Han BaekHa was confident she would win the wager.

This girl, Dam YeHwa, whom she had discovered, possessed the ideal body for learning the Blood-Hand Jade better than any disciple Han BaekHa had ever taken in.

If she taught Dam YeHwa intensively for half a year, she could surely make her an Advanced master.

“If we win the wager, it will become easier to persuade Bizarre Oddity through So WoonHwi.”

Han BaekHa was certain of it.

“I wonder.”

“Do you not trust my eye?”

“I do. But...”

“But?”

“That person does not seem to make wagers they can lose.”

Baek Ryeon Ha, too, had been certain she would win when she made a wager with So WoonHwi.

Yet she had lost instead.

At her words, Han BaekHa smiled.

“Hehe. Do not worry, my lady. With this child's talent, there is no chance she will lose.”

“Please leave it to me!”

Dam YeHwa spoke with a voice full of fighting spirit.

She vowed that she would win no matter what, if only for the master who had chosen her.

.

.

.

And so, six months passed.

Footnotes:

Ha Yeon is a syllable-reversal alias derived from Baek Ryeon Ha's Korean name.

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