WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 115: When Young, I Knew Not Sorrow's Taste (20)
──────
The place was quiet.
The sunset had deepened without anyone noticing.
The faces cast in shadow no longer looked the same as before.
Their cheeks were paler, their eyes hotter.
Yeon Sowol calmly recited the rules of the martial arts tournament.
“After a win, you may accept another challenge, or decline it. However, if you refuse a challenge, your turn ends there. You may not issue any further challenges. You will submit your name plaque, and your number of victories will be inscribed on it. Of course...”
With his sword hanging at his side, he surveyed them all haughtily.
Though he stood at the very bottom of the basin, it somehow created the illusion that he was looking down on everyone.
“I have no intention of stopping here. Next. If anyone wishes to challenge me, come forward.”
The moment he finished speaking,
Flutterrrr!
A young man in his mid-twenties descended onto the platform in a gust of wind, a long spear slung across his back.
He cupped his fist toward Yeon Sowol.
“Ryu Cheon of Yuezhou.”
The basin, quiet until then, immediately began buzzing again.
“Storm Thrust Ryu Cheon!”
“A clash between Yuezhou’s genius and Guangdong’s genius!”
Who was Yuezhou’s greatest rising young talent?
Everyone had a different answer to that question.
Those who liked visiting Yuezhou to drink naturally named the twenty-three-year-old Namgung Ujin. Before Yeon Sowol appeared, he had displayed invincible might, and the Namgung name itself carried enormous weight.
But Yuezhou natives felt differently.
Rather than naming outsiders, they put martial artists born and raised in Yuezhou first.
That was when the twenty-four-year-old Storm Thrust Ryu Cheon came up.
A genius among geniuses, he had reached late first-rate at nineteen and now stood on the verge of the peak realm at twenty-four. Even among the rising young talents of the Nine Great Sects and One Gang, his achievements would have marked him as a genius. In Yuezhou, he was a true prodigy who appeared only once every few decades.
‘So he’s the rising young talent Yuezhou takes such pride in.’
Yeon Sowol asked him, “It’s good to meet you like this. I’ve heard plenty about your reputation, that your spear thrusts can raise a storm.”
Ryu Cheon smiled.
“I’ve heard your name plenty too. Sole Crimson of the Guangdong Martial Alliance. Hidden Sun Sword. Leader of the White-Robed League. Featherless Arrow. You’ve got quite a collection of epithets. In any case, thank you for setting up an opportunity like this.”
At Featherless Arrow, Yeon Sowol’s eyebrow twitched.
Unbothered, Ryu Cheon drew the long spear from his back and slowly unwound the cloth around its blade.
“To be honest, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I’m already twenty-four, and I stand on the verge of the peak realm... The peak realm means exactly what it says, does it not? That one’s skill has reached its pinnacle. That one has become a master in a field. It also means one has earned the right to create martial arts of one’s own.”
He tipped his spear.
“But am I truly walking the right path? Are the concerns I’ve accumulated as a martial artist enough to contribute to this Jianghu? As a peak-realm martial artist, do I have what it takes to lead a part of the martial world? Part of me feels confident, yet another part is anxious enough to keep me awake at night.”
Whooom!
Storm Thrust Ryu Cheon spun his spear and aimed it at Yeon Sowol.
“That is why I’m grateful you arranged this. I can’t think of a better chance to test myself and find certainty.”
“I see...”
Yeon Sowol raised his sword and took his opening stance.
‘This should be interesting.’
The concerns held by Yuezhou’s representative genius. The martial arts those concerns had shaped.
‘What will I learn this time?’
Whooooom!
A fierce wind, like a storm, rose from beneath Ryu Cheon’s feet.
‘Wind qi...?’
The energy of wind.
It did not belong to the pure qi of the Five Elements, but its free and forceful nature made it beloved by many masters.
Yeon Sowol’s eyes gleamed.
‘How did he interpret wind?’
He had learned from Ho Gwangil moments ago that not all water qi was the same.
Then wind qi could not all be the same either.
Soothing the eager ache in his chest, Yeon Sowol set his stage of maturity in motion. True Flame rushed through his Twelve Regular Meridians, while the innate true qi within his Eight Extraordinary Vessels stirred and raised true qi throughout his body. Soon, strength and harmony beyond human limits settled into him.
Whoosh!
The two young masters rushed at each other like the wind.
Then,
Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang!
The match ended after five exchanges.
“Uh... Uhh...?”
Thud!
Ryu Cheon dropped his spear. He staggered back with empty hands raised, then fell onto his backside.
“Uh...?”
Only foolish sounds spilled from his mouth, as though his mind had gone blank.
Yeon Sowol gave him a brief fist salute.
“That was a good match.”
Yet everyone could sense it. Unlike when he had faced Ho Gwangil, Yeon Sowol did not look particularly pleased.
‘It was shallow.’
How had Yuezhou’s genius interpreted wind?
Yeon Sowol had been curious about the answer, but the result disappointed him.
A painfully predictable wind that merely drove forward in one direction.
The spear was light and bold, carrying destructive force.
But that was all.
‘It sorely lacked subtlety.’
Yeon Sowol had simply ridden the wind with Willow Leaf Steps, evaded Ryu Cheon’s attacks, stepped ahead through the gap in his intent, and swung his sword.
That was the end of it.
It could not compare to Ho Gwangil’s swordsmanship.
Unable to hold back his disappointment, Yeon Sowol said one thing.
“I think you need to give it more thought.”
“...”
Ryu Cheon’s face reddened, and he hurried down from the platform.
The unexpected, lackluster ending made the crowd murmur.
Yeon Sowol looked at them and asked again.
“Next. Come forward.”
* * *
Yeon Sowol won four matches in a row.
The third and fourth challengers had likely assumed his internal energy would be depleted and challenged him strategically. Yet Yeon Sowol defeated them one after another with the same momentum he had shown at the start.
“What...”
“How can his internal energy be that deep...?”
“He’s young, and he isn’t even from some famous great sect...”
Even the spectators were stunned, not just those who had challenged him.
Without knowing Yeon Sowol had fully absorbed the Greater Rejuvenation Pill, a legendary elixir of the martial world, all they could feel was the shock of watching common sense collapse before them.
After the fourth challenge ended,
“Next, come forward.”
At Yeon Sowol’s calm call,
“...”
“...”
“...”
Everyone fell silent.
Even after Yeon Sowol had fought four times, no one felt confident they could defeat him.
“If no challenger comes forth by the count of three, I will conclude my challenge. Though I intended to receive challenges, no further challengers have appeared. Therefore, regardless of my number of victories, my name will be entered as the First Earthly Fiend among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.”
The first among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
It was a title many desperately wanted.
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
No challenger emerged.
“It is confirmed! The First Earthly Fiend among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, Yeon Sowol!”
A clear voice, like jade beads rolling together, rang out.
Flap!
Moyong Ha flew in with her robes fluttering.
As she brushed past Yeon Sowol, she muttered, “You did well. I’ll show you something too. Watch closely, okay?”
Before Yeon Sowol could respond, she had already passed him.
She lightly leaped like a bird, snatched Yeon Sowol’s name plaque from the cord, and hung it at the very top of the wooden board marked Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
A lone name hung on the otherwise empty board.
The First Earthly Fiend among the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
Yeon Sowol.
The martial artists staring up at it had burning eyes. Along with envy, determination flared within them to claim at least the Second Earthly Fiend position.
Before them, Moyong Ha slowly drew her sword.
“This time, Moyong Ha of Liaoning will challenge for the Second Earthly Fiend. If you wish to witness the sword of the Five Great Families, come up at once.”
The moment she finished speaking, several people climbed onto the platform.
The fight was for the Second Earthly Fiend.
Their opponent was from the renowned Five Great Families.
And she was a woman?
Compared to the prestige at stake, they thought the opponent would be easy. That was why seven people had rushed onto the platform in an instant.
Moyong Ha smiled brightly.
Her cloudlike hair swayed softly in the wind, and her red lips fluttered like a butterfly.
“There are quite a few of you. Still, don’t worry. I’ll face every one of you, one at a time.”
* * *
Flying Swallow Art.
One of the Moyong Family’s unique martial arts.
Its name meant to fly like a swallow.
Honestly, it did not sound particularly powerful...
‘As expected of a prestigious family.’
Yeon Sowol could not hide his admiration for Moyong Ha’s swordsmanship.
‘That is wind...’
She was different from Ryu Cheon.
Moyong Ha’s sword was not simply blowing wind.
No, it was never wind alone.
Wings slipping through the wind.
At times, those wings were metal; at times, wood; and at times, they scattered earth and fire as they rose. Under the concept of flight, they wove together every harmony in the world.
‘Flying Swallow Art is a martial art that contemplates the harmony of flight... No. That isn’t it.’
Yeon Sowol shook his head and thought again.
Kaaang! Clang!
Moyong Ha moved faster than expected, stepped closer than predicted, and stretched her sword a handspan farther than calculated, until its tip finally rested at her opponent’s Adam’s apple.
“Beyond flight... This is a martial art that contemplates freedom...”
How could one move exactly as one wished?
No. How could one move even more freely than one intended?
Flying like a swallow was only a metaphor for an elevated realm.
‘Could I break that sword?’
He thought he could.
But until he tried it, he could not be sure.
Either way, he had learned a great deal merely by watching.
A smile formed on Yeon Sowol’s face.
Moyong Ha had just defeated her fourth challenger.
“Next. Please come up.”
No one stepped forward again.
There had clearly been seven challengers at first.
When the martial artists turned to look at the remaining three who had not challenged her, they all pretended not to notice.
“Ahem! It feels wrong to attack a tired woman.”
“What are you looking at? I’m not going up.”
“...Ahem. Hmph.”
The sight made Yeon Sowol smile even more.
“That was amazing.”
As Yeon Sowol smiled, his eyes met Moyong Ha’s. She smiled back.
Behind Yeon Sowol, Hwangbo Hwi was teasing Namgung Ujin.
“Hey, Namgung. Your ears are red. Are you confessing today?”
“Cut that shit out.”
“You’re the one talking shit. You like her. Hurry up and confess.”
“Not that much. Anhui and Liaoning are so far apart...”
“You bastard, you’ve thought about it after all, haven’t you?”
“I haven’t.”
“You haven’t? Then I’ll win her over.”
“What the hell are you talking about? Do you really think Lady Moyong would so much as look at a bastard like you?”
“She is looking at me. She’s even smiling at me right now.”
“She isn’t looking at you, she’s...”
Namgung Ujin followed Moyong Ha’s gaze, then closed his mouth.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, he shoved Hwangbo Hwi’s head aside.
* * *
The martial arts tournament, which continued until deep into the night, paused for the night around the start of the Hour of the Ox, about 1 a.m.
There were too many people to select all Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
It was scheduled to continue over several days in the same manner.
Yuezhou’s martial artists were wildly excited.
The moment the martial arts tournament paused for the night, everyone flocked toward Yueyang Tower as if they had arranged it beforehand.
Taverns, inns, and brothels stretched along the shore of Dongting Lake.
Jianghu people took every table with a good view of the lake and began ordering whole jars of liquor.
By the Hour of the Ox, liquor sellers should have been preparing to close, yet every establishment was packed to overflowing tonight.
The lanterns hastily hung by the owners stretched along the lakeshore, their yellow and red light forming a road across the night waves.
Martial officials, urgently called out to deal with the unexpected commotion, stood with irritated faces and clutched spears and bows. Even they relaxed a little as they watched the bright reflection of the street on Dongting Lake.
A cool autumn breeze came from the depths of the lake, and the martial artists drummed their tables with flushed faces.
“Did you see that martial art earlier?”
“Did you see how surprised everyone was?”
“I never thought that person would be that strong.”
As the drinking grew livelier, the entire shore of Dongting Lake began to turn into one enormous feast.
It was rare for so many martial artists to gather in one place and feel this good.
Someone drinking here would suddenly move to another table. Tables were pushed together, then separated again. People changed seats and exchanged greetings.
Some even shared the insights they had gained from what they had witnessed earlier.
Still, invisible walls existed even in that seemingly free movement.
No one dared join a table filled with masters too great for them. It was hard to insert oneself somewhere one did not belong.
Even people of equal standing often refused to share a table. The Jianghu was tangled with countless debts of gratitude and grudges, large and small.
Within those invisible rules and boundaries, Jianghu people drank as they carefully sought out people of similar standing, shared views, and no conflicts with them.
Then, whenever the mood reached a high point, one name always came up.
The First Earthly Fiend.
Yeon Sowol.
The moment that name emerged, even an awkward table became loud.
The talk would start with Yeon Sowol, drift to Moyong Ha, then return to Yeon Sowol again.
Yeon Sowol arrived at the shore of Dongting Lake with his friends after finishing the cleanup. The atmosphere had just reached its peak.
“Young Hero Yeon!”
“What young hero? It’s Great Hero Yeon!”
“First Earthly Fiend!”
“Leader!”
The instant Yeon Sowol entered the street, martial artists shouted from every direction.
Their excitement had not settled, and the liquor had gone straight to their heads. In their hearts, Yeon Sowol was already as close as an old friend.
“Come have a drink with us! Please?”
“You were incredible earlier! I don’t think my heart has pounded like that in twenty years!”
“Come on, just one drink! I’ll only offer you one, all right?”
“Everyone! What are you doing? He must be exhausted after handling such an important matter!”
“That’s right! Read the room!”
The Jianghu people chattered noisily.
Yeon Sowol calmly returned their fist salutes as he passed between them.
Yet he did not forget to examine the people seated at the tables.
Among the ordinary Jianghu people moving about, famous masters sat here and there, forming islands with clear boundaries around them.
They were all looking at Yeon Sowol as well.
Their faces said they wanted to invite him for a drink.
In truth, they were Yeon Sowol’s goal. That was why he had pushed aside his fatigue and come to this noisy street so late at night.
‘This is a fortunate encounter.’
Regardless of friendship.
Regardless of the level of one’s martial arts.
Regardless of friendships or the diplomatic positions of their factions.
At this moment, Yeon Sowol could sit with every master present and discuss their insights. For someone who had to contain all creation within his sword, every person was as valuable as a precious secret manual.
Connections and friends were an added bonus.
Though there were too many of them to call a bonus.
‘There’s no need to hurry. There’ll be opportunities every night. I’ll be thorough and diligent.’
Answering countless fist salutes, Yeon Sowol slowly headed toward a group of masters seated nearby.
The people at that table brightened at once.
Footnotes:
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