WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 153: The Rear Waves of the Yangtze Push the Front Waves (27)
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Flutter!
A flag snapped in the wind.
The character Inspector.
A leaping leopard.
General of Martial Achievement.
Senior fifth rank, a grade known as general.
Command of Firm Might.
A commander who had earned great merit in defense.
It was fitting for a unit led by Yuezhou’s highest-ranking and strongest general. Unlike the other units, even its flag was dazzling.
A stern army spirit flowed beneath it.
Every soldier’s eyes gleamed.
The commanders interspersed among them radiated powerful presences.
Like beasts lying in wait amid dense undergrowth.
Everyone could feel it.
This was different.
Different from everything they had faced so far.
Their numbers.
Their momentum.
Everything about them.
“Leader.”
A voice came from behind him.
One of the White-Robed League members.
“Do we have to break through without killing them this time too?”
It was only a question in form.
What they truly meant was that it seemed impossible to break through without killing anyone.
Shing.
Shing.
Before Yeon Sowol could even answer, swords were already being drawn all around him.
He could not respond immediately.
“...”
Still, the answer had already been decided.
‘We can’t kill them.’
They were the nation’s army. No matter the reason, harming them would inevitably bring consequences.
The Guangdong Martial Alliance might even lose the authority Seo Myeongeum had granted it to oversee Heavenly Road Mountain.
‘A sect that includes someone who harmed government troops on a large scale gets to manage a mountain in the government’s place? People would definitely object.’
That would cause trouble not only for his father, Yi Yubaek, but also for Seo Myeongeum, who had always trusted and supported him.
It could also bring harsh consequences upon the White-Robed League, who had believed in him and followed him here.
So he could not kill them.
And more than that,
he did not want to.
Those soldiers had committed no crime.
‘We’re doing this to save people...’
To save innocent people by killing other innocent people felt like a terrible contradiction to Yeon Sowol.
So he made up his mind.
He spoke with grave resolve.
“We will not kill them.”
He felt it.
The White-Robed League’s qi behind him surged violently.
Even they, who had silently followed him until now, clearly felt the burden of this decision.
“But, Leader...!”
“Leader, this is...!”
Just as expected, a commotion broke out.
Yeon Sowol knew what they wanted to say.
‘Yes. It isn’t realistic.’
This was not a fight where the enemy would go easy on them just because they did.
What good was fearing future consequences if they died here and now?
Shouldn’t they survive first?
And yet he was telling them not to kill.
Was he looking at the world too romantically?
But.
Still.
‘I have the power of the Heaven-Killing Star.’
It was something he had realized recently.
The Heaven-Killing Star’s power was not simply an ability that killed people.
It was a power that could perceive and dismantle the fundamental principles of the universe.
Even when he did not directly use the Heaven-Killing Star, Yeon Sowol had benefited from its power.
Through a qi sense more sensitive and extraordinary than anyone else’s.
The ability to sense and sever the most fundamental principles that made up the world meant he could look down on it all at once, as though the world were a flat plane.
The Heaven-Killing Star was, in many ways, an absurdly special power.
That was why Yeon Sowol recalled something Won Huiseung had shouted not long ago.
‘An extraordinary person creates extraordinary deeds.’
In truth, it had originally been a line from a proclamation Yuan Shao issued when he sought to subdue Cao Cao.
Therefore, extraordinary people must exist before extraordinary deeds can be done.
Yeon Sowol twisted those words slightly and came to his own conclusion.
‘If someone with extraordinary power cannot do extraordinary things...’
Would that not make him complacent and lazy?
“Even if you think you’re going to die, do not kill them. Spare the government troops.”
Yeon Sowol made a firm promise to the murmuring White-Robed League.
“Then I will keep you alive.”
He would make sure not one of them was harmed.
He would take responsibility and lead them through this.
With his special power, he would bear all of that burden himself.
Someone asked,
“Why would you go that far?”
“Well...”
Yeon Sowol hesitated before answering.
Yi Yubaek.
Seo Myeongeum.
Shin Gilrip.
The children beyond them who might become human sacrifices.
The thousand soldiers before him, displaying their stern army spirit...
What should he say first?
Too many thoughts crowded into his mind, leaving him unable to speak.
He tried to speak.
Then stopped.
Tried again.
Then reduced it all to one thought.
Once this was all over,
“I want to share a drink with them too.”
Like the day they returned after subduing the water raiders.
All together.
Yeon Sowol turned back calmly.
No, he smiled a little awkwardly.
The White-Robed League fell silent for a moment.
They looked at Yeon Sowol, then nodded one by one.
“Well, if that’s the reason.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad.”
Shing. Clack.
Clack.
Thud!
The White-Robed League members sheathed their swords again. The sound of them tightly binding their swords and scabbards together with cords rang out.
Shin Gilrip watched them and curled his lips.
“You refuse to kill? Against us? Then surrender at once. I will personally submit a petition asking for your crimes to be reduced.”
Yeon Sowol looked at Shin Gilrip.
“...”
The truth was, he wanted to share a drink with Shin Gilrip too.
But,
there was one person he had to kill to save everyone.
That person was Shin Gilrip.
Shing.
Yeon Sowol drew his sword.
“But there is one person I cannot possibly save. General of Martial Achievement Shin Gilrip... I will personally behead you.”
Step.
As he took one step forward, he activated the power of the Heaven-Killing Star.
Until now, he had only used it briefly when killing an opponent.
This time, before the battle had even begun, he drew it out with all his strength. He needed to cover this entire area and read every last detail within it.
Piiing!
A headache sharp enough to make his nose sting stabbed through his temples.
Saaaaa.
The entire world became flat.
Peak-realm master Shin Gilrip.
The thousand government soldiers.
Even the White-Robed League behind him.
Everything flattened.
He could see it all clearly, as if it lay in the palm of his hand.
Threads rose from every direction.
“Hah... Hoo.”
Yeon Sowol fought through the headache with deep breaths and read everything on this battlefield.
* * *
With the power of the Heaven-Killing Star active,
Yeon Sowol could sense it more clearly.
Army spirit raged throughout the area.
It was enough to overwhelm the White-Robed League, made up of Hunan’s young experts.
This had all happened because of one man.
Shin Gilrip.
A general who led soldiers.
An army’s formation became a formation array in itself, and the person at its center, forming its central axis, was the general leading it.
As long as he was there, even government soldiers who had barely reached third-rate could borrow the formation array’s power and withstand first-rate martial artists and peak-realm masters.
‘We need to take down Shin Gilrip. As quickly as possible.’
But generals did not stand at the vanguard.
“Deploy the Scattered Flowers Shatter the Wheel Formation!”
The instant Shin Gilrip gave the order,
Rumble!
The troops formed up on either side of him and surged forward.
Like a colossal dragon coiling around itself, they surrounded Shin Gilrip in an instant, spears and shields swaying together.
Jin Geol’s voice transmission suddenly brushed Yeon Sowol’s ear.
⌜Sowol. That is a military formation, one personally commanded by an exceptional general. If you rush in carelessly, something will definitely go wrong.⌟
“I know.”
Yeon Sowol spoke while looking down on the flattened world.
He considered the countless principles flowing within it, grasping what he could understand.
Then he spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“It is a formation array designed to hunt martial artists. It scatters like flower petals on the outside, drawing enemies deep inside. Within it, encirclement formations shaped like wheels rotate, wearing martial artists down before eventually crushing them.”
He had seen through the formation array’s core in an instant.
⌜How did you...?⌟
Jin Geol was startled. Then he quickly collected himself.
⌜Good... If you can see through even that, take the lead. I’ll support you.⌟
Yeon Sowol nodded.
They could not use the strategy that had guaranteed victory until now. If he asked Won Huiseung and Namgung Ujin to break through the front as before, they would be surrounded and ground down in the heart of the enemy formation.
“Follow behind me. For detailed tactics, follow Jin Geol’s orders.”
Shin Gilrip stood at the center of the Scattered Flowers Shatter the Wheel Formation.
Yeon Sowol intended to destroy the formation, break through it, and take his head.
Boom!
Yeon Sowol crushed the ground beneath his feet and shot forward. He had drawn on so much internal energy that his footsteps were no longer quiet as usual.
Clods of shattered earth scattered behind him, and he was already racing ahead.
Bang!
Boom!
The White-Robed League charged after him at full speed.
At that moment, Shin Gilrip shouted from the center of the enemy formation.
“Scatter!”
The government soldiers at the front began to disperse like flower petals.
Two shield bearers and one long spearman formed groups of three. Rather than receive the charge head-on, they rushed aside while jabbing their spears from afar.
The beauty of the formation lay in steadily draining the martial artists’ momentum that way, then luring them deep into its center.
But Yeon Sowol, who could overlook the entire formation through the Heaven-Killing Star’s senses, chose a completely different route.
“This way!”
Tap!
Yeon Sowol, who had been charging forward, suddenly changed direction.
The White-Robed League members kicked off the ground and followed after him.
Rather than run toward the enemy formation’s center, they circled its outer edge and pursued the enemies scattering like flower petals.
“What?”
“Uh...”
The soldiers were thrown into confusion.
Yeon Sowol had refused the open path they had deliberately given him and was circling the outer edge as though peeling an apple.
Clang, clang, clang!
Spearheads poured in from all directions.
Yet Yeon Sowol knocked each one aside, caught up to the government soldiers, and struck their collarbones with his scabbard.
Crack!
Crunch!
“Argh!”
“Aaagh!”
The soldiers collapsed under the terrible pain.
The flower petals that had scattered in every direction to envelop the White-Robed League were crushed apart.
Shin Gilrip frowned as he watched.
“So you are well versed in military strategy too.”
He shouted in a booming voice.
“Swallow!”
Thud, thud, thud, thud!
The moment the order fell, soldiers ran forward in a cloud of dust.
The troops forming the inner gears had rushed out to rescue the flower petals being crushed.
“They’re coming!”
Yeon Sowol warned them.
In an instant, the soldiers formed a rotating wheel and tried to swallow the White-Robed League from three sides.
Swoosh!
Arrows rained down.
Boom!
Thrown spears tore through the air.
The White-Robed League nearly fell into danger beneath the sudden barrage of long-range attacks, like a dragon exhaling its breath.
“Ha Jeop, stop the long-range attacks! The rest of you, ignore them and follow Sowol!”
Jin Geol, who had already prepared after hearing Yeon Sowol’s warning, gave his orders in time.
Clang, clang, clang!
Sea of Fragrant Snow.
Like a sea of fragrant snow, white plum blossoms filled the sky and swept aside the incoming arrows and throwing spears.
Yeon Sowol ran.
Through the flattened world.
Thick veins stood out at his temples from the vicious headache as heat haze rose and sweat poured from him.
“Here!”
He stabbed into the center of the perfectly interlocking gears.
Craaaack!
The Scattered Flowers Shatter the Wheel Formation shook.
“How...!”
“No, how did he...!”
The point Yeon Sowol had entered was exquisite.
The formation array, which had moved with organic precision, suddenly stopped. The momentum that had flowed as grandly as the Yangtze was blocked, and the government soldiers’ momentum faltered for a moment.
They could no longer withstand attacks they had endured moments before and fell like autumn leaves.
“Argh!”
“Gah!”
Soldiers with shattered collarbones rolled across the ground.
Yeon Sowol realized it instinctively.
This was the moment to decide the battle.
“Huiseung! Ujin!”
The instant he called their names, both men leaped forward without hesitation.
The power of the Heavenly Spirit Star split apart the ranks of shield bearers blocking their path.
The vast blue sword qi of the Great Expansion Sword Technique swept aside the government soldiers trying to reform their lines.
A path opened.
“Ha ha.”
It led straight to Shin Gilrip, who bared his teeth as he laughed.
“Hold out until I return!”
Yeon Sowol immediately charged.
Toward Shin Gilrip.
It was one against one.
The White-Robed League surrounded them, forming a wall to prevent the government soldiers from interfering in Yeon Sowol and Shin Gilrip’s fight.
“Come!”
Wooooong!
Shin Gilrip thrust his spear straight out.
Enormous Vast Righteous Qi bore down on Yeon Sowol like Mount Tai.
The spearpoint shot forward, precisely targeting an opening.
It was a supreme-grade spear technique that did not fall short in the slightest of Jin Hyeogo’s final move.
Yet Yeon Sowol met that spear with Clear Mirror without hesitation.
The instant their energies touched,
he severed every thread he could cut at once.
Chriiiing!
Shin Gilrip’s spear was knocked back.
It screamed as if it would break apart at any moment.
“This...!”
Shin Gilrip’s eyes widened in shock.
Yeon Sowol was just as surprised.
‘The overwhelming spear qi neutralized the Heaven-Killing Star’s power?’
Originally, Yeon Sowol had intended to break Shin Gilrip’s spear in one blow and rush in.
But he had only shattered the overflowing spear qi. He had not reached the spear itself.
“What an extraordinary technique!”
Shin Gilrip spun the screaming spear like a windmill, wrapped it in even denser spear qi than before, and thrust it out.
After only one exchange, he had found a way to deal with Yeon Sowol.
Kiiiiing!
In the span of a single breath, Yeon Sowol’s Clear Mirror and Shin Gilrip’s spear clashed more than ten times.
Each time, Shin Gilrip’s spear qi shattered and scattered. The recoil twisted his iron spear, producing a dreadful sound like glass being scraped.
To anyone watching, Yeon Sowol clearly held the advantage.
Yet Yeon Sowol himself felt trapped.
‘At this rate, I can’t break through at once...!’
No matter how powerful the Heaven-Killing Star was, it only mattered if it could cut through the enemy’s energy and touch them, even slightly.
But Shin Gilrip’s energy was like Mount Tai. No matter how much Yeon Sowol cut away, it did not seem as though he could reach beyond it.
If they continued fighting, he would win eventually, but...
‘People will be hurt.’
In truth, he was already close to his limit.
He was continuously drawing on the Heaven-Killing Star’s power and reading more information than his brain could handle.
His head felt heavy, his eyes burned, and droplets of blood began to form beneath his nose.
Yeon Sowol gritted his teeth.
A drawn-out battle was impossible.
He had to break through now, no matter what.
‘Even if I have to push myself...’
Even if he had to give flesh to take bone.
Flutter!
Heat haze rose from Yeon Sowol’s entire body as though he were on fire.
True Flame surged through him, causing the veins across his body to bulge.
His clothes billowed as raging true qi swirled around him.
“Hoo. Come.”
Shin Gilrip sensed that Yeon Sowol intended to decide the battle.
Just as he raised his Mount Tai-like momentum once again and twisted his grip around his spear,
Piiing!
An arrow flew.
Without a sound.
Containing the lifelong internal energy of a first-rate master, it did not tear through the wind. It slipped through it.
Within the wondrous workings of qi, it accelerated again and again, concentrating its sharp force at its tip.
Even Shin Gilrip did not notice.
He was focused entirely on Yeon Sowol before him.
Only Yeon Sowol sensed it.
With his qi sense, which viewed the entire world as flat, he felt the arrow flying toward the back of his head.
And the person who had fired it.
‘Jin Geol!’
⌜I’ll support you!⌟
The moment he heard the voice transmission, Yeon Sowol lowered his stance and extended his sword.
Naturally, as if it were part of a martial arts move.
Immense qi writhed at the tip of his blade.
Shin Gilrip’s gaze fixed on it.
“You are pushing yourself too far!”
What was that thing?
How could it shatter qi refined through decades of bitter training like glass?
Now, that force was concentrated at the sword’s tip.
Radiating a brilliant auspicious aura.
To be honest, Shin Gilrip was afraid.
But because he was afraid,
“If I block this, it will be my turn!”
Shin Gilrip thrust out his spear, preparing his counterattack.
Then,
“Hup!”
Only then did he belatedly notice the arrow flying toward the spot where Yeon Sowol’s head had been.
!!!
Shin Gilrip made his decision in an instant.
‘It is already too late to dodge.’
He could evade it.
But if he did, his posture would collapse, and he would be unable to receive Yeon Sowol’s decisive strike.
If that was the case,
then he might as well...
Whoosh!
Protective qi rose around Shin Gilrip’s entire body and weakened the arrow’s force.
But it could only weaken it. It could not stop it completely or deflect it.
Thud!
Jin Geol’s arrow pierced Shin Gilrip’s left eye.
But Shin Gilrip did not flinch.
As though he had not been struck by an arrow.
As though both his eyes were still intact.
He completed the spear thrust he had begun, maintaining flawless posture without the slightest tremble.
Kiiiiing!
He blocked Yeon Sowol’s sword.
He poured out true qi in a quantity as vast as Mount Tai, enduring the Heaven-Killing Star’s power as it broke his energy apart in real time.
“Heh.”
Shin Gilrip laughed.
As though he were enjoying himself.
Perhaps he was satisfied that he had faced danger and still managed to block it.
Perhaps he was pleased because Yeon Sowol had overextended himself with that strike, giving Shin Gilrip an opening to counterattack.
“Now it is my turn...!”
But at that moment,
Ting!
A corner of Shin Gilrip’s iron spear broke off.
The faintest tremor.
A tiny crack caused when he lost an eye to the arrow.
The Heaven-Killing Star’s power had finally struck there.
Crack!
As if that broken corner had been a signal, Shin Gilrip’s spear shattered completely and scattered in every direction.
It had happened because a tiny fragment of sword qi touched it.
“What... A spear made of Cold Iron...”
At the utterly surreal sight, Shin Gilrip’s mouth fell open.
Spurt!
One of the faint fragments of sword qi scattered along with the broken spear finally grazed Shin Gilrip’s cheek.
His pupils rolled back beneath his eyelids.
Stagger.
His head fell backward.
The true qi held within his body came loose and swelled for an instant.
Then Yeon Sowol stepped forward.
Thud!
His sword pierced Shin Gilrip’s heart.
Footnotes:
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