WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ Damned Transmigration ◈

Chapter 114: Uicheon Sword Sect 2

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Gongsun Myeong had stepped forward because the openly clenched fist frightened him, but seeing Yuri's utterly miserable state made him wonder if this was really acceptable.

As far as Gongsun Myeong knew, the young Three Heroes had been captured by Calamity Star and brought to Uicheon Mountain only yesterday.

They had spent the afternoon touring Yonghwa Lake, eating lunch at Yonghwa Inn, and enjoying themselves as young people should. Then Calamity Star suddenly crashed down onto Yonghwa Lake and swept them away.

In just one day, the three young heroes had become miserable enough to call the Beggars' Sect beggars brothers.

"Must we really do this right now?"

Gongsun Myeong asked with concern.

Cloud Dragon, standing before him, was smeared with dirt and blood from head to toe, even across his face. His awkward stance suggested that he had not only bruises, but internal injuries as well.

"I don't know either."

Yuri answered through blood-crusted lips. He wanted to see the Uicheon Sword Gate's Sword Control, but this was not the time. How was he supposed to fight when he could barely move properly?

"You said you would remain here for at least a month, so after you have recovered sufficiently..."

"You needn't worry about that!"

Everyone flinched and raised their heads at the cheerful voice, so different from all their attempts to dissuade her. At least on the surface, Lorelia wore the compassionate expression of a saintess.

"You have all forgotten something very important. I, Lorelia, am one of the highest-ranking priests in the Sect of Order!"

She was certainly the Sect of Order's most famous priest. Yet her name was renowned for martial prowess.

"Don't tell me... you can use divine magic?"

Estor, whose face was swollen like a balloon, looked unconvinced.

Divine magic, especially healing miracles, could only be bestowed by a select few priests even within large sects, those filled with compassion for others and possessing profound faith.

Haryeong's expression soured. After suffering so much indiscriminate violence, it was difficult for her to maintain her usual blank expression.

'Compassion for others? Does that demon of a priest truly possess such a thing?'

She could not possibly say it aloud. At the center of everyone's questioning stares, Lorelia put on a regretful expression.

"Sadly, now that the Goddess of Order has fallen into a sleep with no promised end, the priests of our sect can barely use divine magic."

They had already heard that in the waiting room.

"But! That does not mean I, Lorelia, have lost even my means of healing! Do you know what this is?"

Lorelia pulled a vial filled with shimmering golden liquid from inside the cape of her clerical robes.

"...A potion?"

"No! This is holy water!"

It was in a different class from potions made by alchemists using monster blood and various materials.

Its effectiveness varied depending on which priest had bestowed the blessing, but even low-grade holy water was more effective than most potions.

"Yuri! Come here!"

When he approached as instructed, Lorelia handed him the holy water.

Most of her miracles might be gone now, but things must have been different in the past. This was likely holy water the Sect of Order had stockpiled.

"..."

Yuri's eyes trembled slightly as he examined the holy water in his hand.

Two crossed swords were engraved on the bottle containing the golden liquid... There was only one sect that used this symbol.

"That's the symbol of the Sect of War."

Estor, who had leaned in to look, muttered as he blinked. Naturally, everyone's gaze shifted to Lorelia.

"What are you all looking at? I obtained it as legitimate spoils of war by giving those bastards the war they love so much!"

Several decades ago, when the Sect of War led the decision to expel the Sect of Order from Union, Calamity Star went berserk, half-destroyed the Sect of War's temple, and nearly beat Battle Saint to death. It was a famous tale that had made Calamity Star's name known.

'Did she loot it then...?'

Yuri looked back and forth between the holy water and Lorelia with a conflicted expression.

"Will stolen holy water still work?"

"Holy water is a miracle itself given physical form, so there is no problem! Three or four drops will be enough for Yuri's injuries!"

No bones were cracked or broken, and none of his organs had been crushed. They were not injuries severe enough to call grave wounds, but three or four drops being enough still meant this was rather high-grade holy water.

"Th-thank you."

Was it right to thank Lorelia for this? Why had she emphasized that she was a Sect of Order priest when she was giving him holy water from another sect? Yuri put those complicated thoughts aside and opened the vial.

He had drunk holy water while unconscious before, but this was his first time taking it while fully aware.

As Lorelia said, he let three or four drops fall into his mouth. Heat immediately spread through his entire body, and the pain vanished.

"Is there really a reason to use such expensive holy water just to spar right away...?"

Gongsun Myeong still did not like the idea. To begin with, it was rare for the leader of a great sect to instruct an outsider who was not even a disciple. Nor did Gongsun Myeong particularly want to spar with Yuri, who was so much younger than him.

"Yuri reached the sixth tier only yesterday. At this important time, when his perspective is rapidly broadening, experiencing a martial art of Intent that differs from mine will help him greatly!"

Lorelia then looked at Haryeong and Estor, who had been hoping they might receive some holy water too.

"The same goes for you two, standing before your own walls! Open your eyes wide and watch!"

Even if it differed completely from the Orsia Family's sword techniques, the Uicheon Sword Gate's swordsmanship lacked nothing as a supreme art.

Sword Control also involved manipulating swords through Intent without holding them directly. It would help Haryeong's concealed-weapon arts, which were rooted in Merciless Killing Flow.

"It seems you have taken quite a liking to the Three Heroes."

Cloud Dragon being sixth tier was shocking enough, but Sword Dragon and Dark Blossom were also standing before their walls.

Gongsun Myeong composed himself. A true senior should open the way for juniors, so it seemed he would have to step forward himself. It was absolutely not because he feared Calamity Star's clenched fist...

"Use Soaring Body Through the Sky as well."

"Is that really necessary...?"

"I said to show him martial arts of Intent properly!"

The clenched fist rose slightly.

"You mean I should show the realm beyond the ordinary. Must I use a real sword too?"

"If you use Infinite Swords Filling the Sky, wooden swords will be fine."

"You want me to use even the sect leader's secret martial art? Isn't that too much?"

"I, Lorelia, will hold back when sparring with you, but I will still use my martial arts properly. You must do the same!"

"Fine. I will hold back as well and use only the minimum six swords for Infinite Swords Filling the Sky."

Gongsun Myeong let out a deep sigh and nodded.

"...?"

Before everyone's eyes, Gongsun Myeong's body slowly rose into the air. It differed from levitation magic. It resembled movement techniques such as Celestial Emperor Steps and Walking the Void, yet was different from them as well.

Yuri stared wide-eyed at Gongsun Myeong standing in the sky. Moonlit Reveller had also run freely through the air, but Yuri could see things now that he had not been able to see then.

It was the result of Intent merging with the highest level of movement technique. Gongsun Myeong's Intent acted upon the area around him, defying the natural law that humans had to walk upon the ground.

"Warriors of the seventh tier make what is impossible for humans possible."

Gongsun Myeong spoke with an indifferent expression and turned his head. A tree standing some distance away was cut several times on its own, and six wooden swords were instantly made.

"The Uicheon Sword Gate's Infinite Swords Filling the Sky is a sword art wielded with a minimum of six swords. I hold two in my hands, while I use Sword Control on the remaining four. Have you ever experienced Sword Control before?"

"No, I haven't."

"Let me offer some advice in advance. Do not think of the four swords controlled through Intent as two swordsmen wielding twin swords."

The wooden swords, crafted too finely to believe they had been made on the spot, drifted around Gongsun Myeong. He took two of them, one in each hand, and continued.

"Normally, when sparring with a junior of a lower tier, it is proper to yield the first move. But I do not think that will be necessary here. What do you think?"

He did not put it delicately. The gap was so great that yielding the first move would be meaningless. Lorelia did not object, and Yuri nodded.

"I'll learn a thing or two."

"Prepare yourself."

Yuri spread his feet wide and raised his fists. Could he use the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil, though? He hesitated for a moment at that thought, and Lorelia sent him a Voice Transmission.

[Yuri's Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil has come to follow a different path from mine, so it will be difficult for Gongsun Myeong to sense any similarity just by watching and experiencing it.]

If he got hit with Sacred Flame Release and his organs and inner power burned, he might sense a similarity.

That could not happen right now, though. No matter how hard Yuri struggled or how much luck favored him, Sacred Flame Release would never land on Gongsun Myeong.

Whoosh.

Flames from the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil surged up. Yuri took the opening stance of Cloud-Scattering Heaven-Rending Fist and spread the lightning energy of Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death.

He could now make the web spread farther and more densely, but he held it back. He could do it, but he was not yet used to expanding his senses that far.

Though restrained, it was no weaker than when he was fifth tier. His perception was much more precise, and his reactions faster. Yuri steadied his breathing and spoke.

"I'm ready."

Gongsun Myeong still floated about one meter above the ground. The four wooden swords stood upright a short distance away from him.

"Then I will begin. I will control them enough for you to see, so try responding."

Naturally, the four wooden swords moved first. A master of Sword Control had no reason to move personally.

The swords controlled through Intent rushed in so quickly that Yuri could barely follow them with his eyes. Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death detected the closest one first, and Yuri moved immediately.

"?"

The trajectory of the sword as it swung completely escaped Yuri's prediction. It moved in a way that no human hand could swing a sword.

That was only natural. It was not a hand moving that sword, but Intent.

'What is this?'

Yuri hastily twisted his body.

Crack!

The sword controlled through Intent barely grazed his protective force aura. Its trajectory immediately reversed.

'I can't read it...!'

To read the trajectory of a sword, one had to look not just at the sword but also at the swordsman. Their gaze, muscles, joints, and feet. One predicted the trajectory from all that information.

Yet he could obtain none of that information against Sword Control. Was it really this difficult to read the movement of swords flying freely through the air?

Gongsun Myeong was slowing them down, and Yuri had Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death, so he could barely react, but...

'They're already tangling together...!'

There was not just one sword. Before he knew it, four swords controlled through Intent had surrounded him.

Only one sword attacked him, but the other three circled him. Their slightest movements tangled the signals from Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death with his actual senses.

Gongsun Myeong moved in personally, hovering a little above Yuri.

Yuri sharply raised his bloodshot eyes. Gongsun Myeong, who was not standing on the ground, brought down a wooden sword.

Simply not touching the ground gave his physical movements far more freedom. He was fast, but not light. Intent added weight to even that simple downward strike, making it as heavy as Mount Tai.

Boom!

The instant Yuri blocked the wooden sword with both arms, his knees buckled.

Gongsun Myeong flew higher and swung his swords along with the ones controlled through Intent. Yuri leaped backward at the sword that reached him before he could even read it.

'My consciousness can't keep up.'

It was hard to see through the movements. How could Gongsun Myeong handle four swords controlled through Intent at once? Had he imbued each one with separate Intent?

He had said six was the minimum for Infinite Swords Filling the Sky.

Gongsun Myeong's title was Hundred Swords. If that title reflected his martial arts directly, did that mean he controlled a hundred swords through Intent at full strength?

'Does that even make sense?'

No.

He had said warriors of the seventh tier made the impossible possible. The realm beyond the ordinary transcended common sense. From the moment one opened the Upper Dantian, one left the realm of humanity.

'What about me?'

Whoosh!

A sword controlled through Intent grazed his protective force aura once more.

Gongsun Myeong himself had not even come close yet. He remained where he was, manipulating only the swords controlled through Intent, and his expression did not suggest he was concentrating especially hard.

'It is impossible for humans. It is impossible for me. I cannot even handle the expanded senses of Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death right now.'

The self that ended up like that was his past self. The self at the edge of fifth tier, unable to fully open the Upper Dantian.

'My senses and consciousness are still stuck in yesterday.'

That could not be.

His Upper Dantian had already opened wide past the threshold. He had risen from fifth tier to sixth.

If seventh-tier warriors entered the realm beyond the ordinary and made the impossible possible, then sixth-tier warriors had to be those on their way there.

If he decided something was absurd and impossible, how would he be any different from when he was fifth tier?

'Expand your consciousness.'

Red veins stood out in Yuri's eyes.

Thump, thump, thump!

Inner power surged up from his lower dantian as a pillar of flame, pierced through the middle dantian at his heart, and raced toward the Upper Dantian in his head.

'Don't divide your senses. The lightning energy is something I created. The web is only the result of imagining and manifesting it. In the end, it is mine, connected to me.'

He connected his expanded consciousness to Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death as a whole.

'Don't read only the sword's trajectory. It is not moving alone. Intent moves it. Look at the Intent. Read the Intent.'

He focused on his vision and honed his senses further. He could faintly feel the Intent dwelling within the swords.

Naturally, reading Intent did not mean he could now see through the swords' trajectories. Still, it let him grasp their changes, if only a little.

He also came to fully understand what Gongsun Myeong meant when he said not to think of the four swords controlled through Intent as two twin-sword wielders.

The four swords moving freely through the sky could become not two twin-sword wielders, but one person or dozens.

'Did he divide his Intent and pour it into them? No, that isn't it. He placed his entire self into every single sword. That very awareness has been sublimated into Intent.'

The more Yuri continued thinking, the more light flashed through his mind. His field of vision kept widening, and his consciousness expanded. As it did, Yuri's body gradually began avoiding the swords controlled through Intent.

'Excellent.'

Letting him spar with Gongsun Myeong had been the right choice after all.

Sword Control, a representative martial art of Intent, felt only absurd when one was struck by it without knowing anything. Yet once one could see even a little, it quickly taught them what Intent was.

'Though it brings despair as well.'

Gongsun Myeong was a warrior of a higher caliber than Tide of Carnage, who occupied the lowest seat in the Death Realm and had been selected under suspicion of being a Transmigrator. Had there been an opening on the Righteous Sect side, he was skilled enough to be named Martial Apex Venerable.

'You must not despair. Watch, feel, and learn. That is what Yuri must do.'

Crack!

Yuri's hand brushed against two swords controlled through Intent as they stabbed toward him.

At that moment, Yuri quickly tried to snatch them, but they flexibly changed course and shot over his head.

The distance changed at will. He could not even release force aura and sweep them all away at once.

'How should I respond?'

Cloud-Scattering Heaven-Rending Fist, Whirlwind Cloud Steps, Art of the Violet Lightning Flash, Heinderga Magic Formula, Crimson Stream Kick, Sealing Thunder at the Gate of Death. He tried everything he had, but none of it worked against Sword Control. Barely dodging was all he could manage.

Sacred Flame Release? He could not use it. This was not a life-or-death battle. Even if he tried, he could not get close enough.

'What else should I do?'

What else could he do?

'Ah, you fucking idiot.'

He was thinking of himself as the present Yuri instead of yesterday's Yuri, yet the martial arts at his foundation had remained the same.

'All my martial arts are founded upon the Heavenly Art of Annihilating Evil.'

The inner power that had first settled in his dantian. The tiny spark had already become a roaring flame.

'I am the fire that carries out heavenly punishment, the asura who destroys evil, and the apostle who sets heaven's principles right. My hands uphold sacred flame, and my feet trample demons.'

Go further.

'I swallow sacred flame and kindle it within myself.'

The flames that had raced toward his Upper Dantian joined Yuri's protective force aura.

'My advancing steps kindle the sacred flame.'

Boom!

Yuri, who had been surrounded by the swords controlled through Intent, took a step forward. His blazing protective force aura surged wildly, dyeing the surroundings red.

"Hm...?!"

The four swords controlled through Intent trembled lightly. Intent had collided with Intent.

Gongsun Myeong could not help but be greatly shocked. Yuri had supposedly risen to sixth tier just yesterday, yet he had imbued his force aura with Intent and clashed against his? Even though Gongsun Myeong had held back, Yuri had shaken the swords controlled through Intent?

'Remarkable.'

He was truly beginning to enjoy himself. Gongsun Myeong smiled and was about to continue, but then stopped abruptly and froze the swords controlled through Intent.

"It would be best to stop here."

At first, he had intended to end this quickly, but his words now held no small amount of regret.

"You have pushed yourself too far. You may suffer lasting effects in your head if this continues."

Blood streamed from Yuri's nose, leaving half his face covered in blood. Yuri had not even noticed. He blinked, then startled and rubbed his face with a hand.

"Uh... Urgh..."

His thoughts, which had expanded and accelerated, slowed, and his vision spun. Then Lorelia's voice reached his ears.

"The Upper Dantian in the head is the most delicate and mysterious of all the dantians. Qi Deviation caused by overloading such an Upper Dantian is extremely dangerous."

"And yet... why...?"

"I, Lorelia, have failed you! I never imagined Yuri would use his Upper Dantian so well in this battle! But using it too well has become poison instead!"

"Ugh..."

"Faint!"

He had been planning to do that without being told.

Yuri rolled back his eyes and lost consciousness.

Footnotes:

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