WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 23: In the Jianghu, One Cannot Control One's Fate (12)

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Shin Jae-eon, the Leader of the Severing Sword Sect, had seven direct disciples in total. Of them, four were still alive.

He had one firm belief, inherited from his own master.

"The stage of Breathing Smoke into Clouds, and the year that follows it, are the most important!"

It had been a teaching as sharp as frost.

That period of cultivation, his master had said, determined whether one laid the path to becoming first-rate.

Shin Jae-eon himself had become known as a first-rate martial artist through that very training.

Not one of those people from some small or midsized city who called themselves first-rate. The genuine kind, recognized as first-rate by anyone even in a great city.

Shin Jae-eon believed in the method he had learned without a shred of doubt.

So, my disciples, once you reach Breathing Smoke into Clouds, abandon yourselves for one year.

Devote yourself to nothing but training.

Do not stop regulating your breath all day. Circulate your energy every time you sit. Practice sword forms at every opportunity, tempering and settling every part of your body until the entire process becomes as natural as breathing.

Sleep no more than two hours a day. Cultivate without rest, and keep at it for a full year without wavering.

His first disciple, Great Severing Sword Seong Bumyeong, was the first to inherit those teachings.

Shin Jae-eon had carefully taught Seong Bumyeong from the age of eleven and brought him to the stage of maturity at fifteen.

The moment Seong Bumyeong reached it, Shin Jae-eon fed him a spiritual elixir and used qi guidance to lay the foundations of his bodily cultivation. It was dangerous, but doing it immediately after reaching the stage of maturity was relatively safe.

Of course, if luck turned especially bad, both master and disciple could end up crippled. If they were lucky, though, even in such circumstances they might get away with only internal injuries.

It was a risk worth taking.

At last, Seong Bumyeong reached Breathing Smoke into Clouds at seventeen. Shin Jae-eon put him through brutal training for an entire year. Great Severing Sword Seong Bumyeong endured it and built the foundation needed to become first-rate.

He was said to be about half a step below Kang Muhyeok, the eldest of the Windflow Three Young Lords and the Windflow Young Lord, but Shin Jae-eon was satisfied with that alone.

After all, the martial arts of Yi Yubaek, the Windflow Sword, came from an absolute master who had roamed the world. There were even rumors that he had inherited the teachings of a profound orthodox lineage.

Rather than feeling disappointed that Seong Bumyeong lagged behind by half a step, Shin Jae-eon felt proud that his disciple had come so close.

Shin Jae-eon nodded.

As expected, Master's teachings were never wrong.

He taught his second disciple the same way.

His second disciple, Middle Severing Sword Ha Inso, succeeded as well.

Ha Inso was said to lag nearly half a step behind Seon Jehun, the Gale Young Lord and the second of the Windflow Three Young Lords. Ha Inso was even two years older than Seon Jehun, yet Shin Jae-eon was still satisfied.

Now he was certain.

There was no better method.

The teachings of the Severing Sword Sect were magnificent teachings, capable of standing only half a step behind the profound orthodox teachings.

His third disciple died eight months after reaching Breathing Smoke into Clouds. During his dawn energy circulation, he nodded off for a moment. His organs burned, and he died screaming.

His fourth disciple died four months after reaching it. He made a mistake while practicing sword forms and tempered his spine too far. His waist snapped.

This time, too, he had dozed off.

"......"

Shin Jae-eon was confused.

'Was the method wrong? Or had they simply been unlucky?'

After burying his disciples, he could not sleep for a long time.

Whenever he lay down, he heard his third disciple's screams. He saw his fourth disciple staring up at him through tears, his waist folded in half.

The maddening part was that he still could not give up the Severing Sword Sect's method.

'Just one more time......'

It was a method that had worked for him, his first disciple, and his second disciple.

His fifth disciple, Lesser Severing Sword Gi Hyeonseung, succeeded.

He endured the year and built a foundation for becoming first-rate. He was judged to be equal to Mo Cheong, the youngest of the Windflow Three Young Lords and the Pure Breeze Young Lord.

Gi Hyeonseung was three years older than Mo Cheong, but still. He had not fallen behind.

'Of course. They were just unlucky.'

Shin Jae-eon felt relieved.

He taught his sixth disciple.

That disciple was also his only son.

His son did not die right away.

Eleven months after reaching Breathing Smoke into Clouds, something went wrong while he was circulating his energy. He could not suppress the surging heat, and his son's nose and cheeks burned, becoming thick and charred.

Unable to breathe properly, the martial arts he had learned became useless. He could not even swallow porridge properly.

Shin Jae-eon comforted his son, telling him that he had to live. Every day, he carefully cooked porridge and fed it to him.

Two weeks later, his son cut his own throat.

He left no final letter.

"......"

After that, Shin Jae-eon could no longer follow the old method.

Then his seventh disciple reached Breathing Smoke into Clouds.

Jeon Taegwang.

Shin Jae-eon taught him slowly and safely.

Jeon Taegwang became the Weak Severing Sword, the notably weakest of the Four Absolute Swords.

* * *

'Do I look like a fucking joke to you too?'

Weak Severing Sword Resentful Dog, no, Jeon Taegwang, felt his stomach churn.

'The stage of maturity? You're criticizing my stage of maturity? You little bastard, you haven't even studied martial arts for a year!'

The faces of his senior brothers passed through his mind.

'Taegwang. You've got it easy, at least. Back in our day......'

'Taegwang, don't rush. That pace is good.'

'Hm. You're doing well. It's not like you can barely sleep two hours a day like we did. This much is fine.'

His head burned.

He could smell blood in his nose.

'Me too. Fuck! You think I couldn't have done it too?'

His senior brothers disgusted him.

He resented his master, who had even watched him and stopped him whenever he tried to train harder on his own.

And what was this pale-faced bastard in front of him supposed to be?

The stage of maturity?

What was wrong with his stage of maturity?

'You little bastard, you've only cultivated for a little over half a year!'

Jeon Taegwang could tell from the way Yeon Sowol planted his feet.

'A worm that hasn't even learned footwork!'

Jeon Taegwang's anger gathered at his fingertips.

He sprang forward, aiming to seize Yeon Sowol.

Whoosh!

Yeon Sowol leaped away, avoiding Jeon Taegwang. White smoke poured from him, carrying a faint, savory fragrance.

Jeon Taegwang snorted.

'So? You learned a lightness skill? You think that changes anything? You? Against me?'

No matter how much of a genius someone was, the years spent learning martial arts were different.

Jeon Taegwang had entered the martial path at ten. There was at least a ten-year gap between them.

For now, it was only natural for Jeon Taegwang to crush him.

That was how it should be.

'I'll chase him down right now and......!'

Grab him. Slam him into the ground. Step on his head. Step on his head. Again. Again, until......

"......Huh?"

As Jeon Taegwang raised his head, he stopped dead without meaning to.

"......What?"

Flap, flap, flap!

A white robe streamed through the air.

Its trail passed a pillar, crossed the bracket structure above it, and brushed past the eaves.

Tap.

Yeon Sowol lightly landed on the roof ridge.

With his hands behind his back, he looked down.

"......"

That height was beyond what Jeon Taegwang could reach in one leap.

Absolutely beyond it.

"What the hell? Why is that bastard flying?"

At Mad Dog's vacant mutter, Resentful Dog Jeon Taegwang shouted,

"Fuuuck!"

He completely lost his mind.

* * *

"What's really wrong with his stage of maturity?"

Yeon Sowol watched the Shinheung Three Dogs race after him below.

They were fast and nimble.

But...

"Isn't it way too simple?"

He could understand Jeon Taegwang's stage of maturity being rough.

According to what Yi Yubaek had taught him, when warming the Eight Extraordinary Vessels, one had to delicately burn away only the impurities inside to produce a pleasant scent. If even a trace of essence-blood mixed in and burned with them, it gave off an acrid smell instead.

He had heard it was difficult.

Yeon Sowol himself could do it well because his qi sense was unusually developed. Considering the exceptional teachings of the Windflow Martial Academy, he could understand a senior from the Severing Sword Sect giving off spicy-smelling smoke.

But still.

Jeon Taegwang's stage of maturity shocked him.

"Isn't that just fire control at the level of circling through the Twelve Regular Meridians and Fifteen Collaterals? It's not like they're boiling ramen."

Their lightness skill was too simple.

It was powerful and fast, but they could not become light enough. They also seemed unable to make any fine adjustments to their weight.

'Well, it's not like they seem weak.'

They kicked hard off the ground as they ran, making it difficult for Yeon Sowol to shake them off. The only difference was that he was on the rooftops while they were on the streets below.

When it came to nothing but fighting and running, perhaps it was an easier and more efficient method.

Still...

"That means it falls far short of the true subtlety of a lightness skill."

They could run quickly, but they could not leap high as if flying, glide on the wind, or surrender their bodies to the breeze and drift.

Only then did Yeon Sowol understand what Kang Muhyeok had meant that morning.

'I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding. Well, you'll understand once you see it yourself.'

"I see. The teachings of our Windflow School really were profound. And I think I learned things in an especially difficult way, too."

Once he thought that far, his interest faded.

Resentful Dog.

'For now, I'd lose.'

If he fought one-on-one without the power of the Heaven-Killing Star.

But with a stage of maturity like that, the gap would not last long.

'Once I start learning fist techniques and sword techniques too......'

Yeon Sowol glanced at the Shinheung Three Dogs as they ran after him, shouting loudly.

The sight of them racing about roughly and harming people on the streets made him frown.

"Let's pick up the pace."

Whooosh!

Through the Twelve Regular Meridians, the Twelve Divergent Meridians, the Fifteen Collaterals, and even the netlike collateral vessels.

Flames raced through each of them as he drove Windborne Drift to its limit.

The bones and flesh throughout his body were tempered so clearly that they seemed on the verge of becoming essence qi.

Tap!

Yeon Sowol flew upward.

From one roof, he cleared another rooftop and reached the next.

Flap, flap, flap!

At third-stage mastery, one could wait for the wind and fly.

At fifth-stage mastery, it was no longer dangerous.

Yeon Sowol felt the wind flowing around his body.

The sky was a place with nothing to lean on.

One could not stand with one leg braced.

One could not lie flat.

There was only the wind that blew in, and its fickle changes from moment to moment. One had to answer with one's body alone.

Heavy here.

Light there.

Just as he had practiced blocking Kang Muhyeok's hands in midair, the longer he could exchange blows without losing to the wind, the longer he could remain in the sky.

Suddenly, snow began to fall.

It was the third month.

Snowflakes speckled the tiled roofs. Yeon Sowol's toes lightly stepped on them before he sprang up again.

"Nice."

A smile pushed its way across his lips.

Tap!

He no longer looked back.

He did not care who chased after him on the road below.

All he saw was Shinheung County spread beneath him, black tiled roofs rolling into the distance, while white snowflakes began to fall over them.

He became absorbed in that moment.

His heart seemed ready to reach another extreme.

He drifted upward.

The wind changed its scent.

It became bland and sparse, then sour and taut.

Snowflakes fluttered upward into the sky and vanished from sight.

The world grew larger and smaller, while the white sky remained unchanged.

"......"

Words failed him.

Within his heart, the world was simply defined anew.

For those who walked the earth, the world was every street, building, and face in the crowd.

For those who flew through the sky, there were only footholds and the heavens.

Once one had flown,

the world reflected in one's heart could never be the same again.

"......"

As Yeon Sowol drifted farther away, Resentful Dog chased after him with bloodshot eyes.

"Uh. I don't think we can do this."

Laughing Dog quietly gave up.

"Hey, it's hopeless. We can't handle this ourselves. I'll spend some silver and call the boys."

Mad Dog ground his teeth and vanished into a back alley.

Resentful Dog did not care that they had left. He kept running, his eyes fixed only on Yeon Sowol's back as it grew farther away.

Whenever Yeon Sowol leaped over a building, Resentful Dog ran around it. He stomped up walls and desperately clung to the chase.

"......Don't laugh. Stop laughing. Me. Do you think I'm that funny? Huh? What did I fail at so badly? Huh?!"

His eyes grew glossy. His face twisted as he ran after Yeon Sowol to the very end.

* * *

'He's persistent.'

After running in a daze for quite some time, Yeon Sowol gradually began to tire.

The flames were cooling.

The stirring in his Eight Extraordinary Vessels weakened, and the stage of maturity that had been tempering his entire body grew shallower.

Tap! Tap!

Yet Resentful Dog was still chasing Yeon Sowol.

Considering the internal energy Resentful Dog had accumulated, it was natural for him to overwhelm Yeon Sowol in endurance. Still, Yeon Sowol had clearly shaken him off, and yet Resentful Dog somehow found his direction and resumed the pursuit.

'......That's.'

Then Yeon Sowol noticed something.

Thugs ran through the streets, causing trouble.

If they thought someone blocked their path, they violently shoved them aside. They knocked over stacked goods and stomped across merchants' stalls as they leaped forward.

When they spotted Yeon Sowol, they pointed at him and whistled.

It was ridiculous.

'Even Black Path martial artists from the back alleys are chasing me?'

Did this really have to go this far?

'Resentful Dog is using them to track me? It might be hard to shake all of them off......'

It did not seem impossible, but the thought of how much more havoc those nuisances would cause in the streets while he did so made him feel sick.

'I'll avoid them for now, then sneak back once things quiet down.'

Just then, he spotted a four-story pavilion.

It was quite ornate.

'Is it a high-class inn? The food looks like it might be good too.'

Yeon Sowol leaped high to escape the Black Path martial artists' gaze and landed on a third-floor railing.

'......I'm tired. Really tired. Let's eat something and rest.'

He opened the sliding door.

Then, after sighing, he took a few steps inside.

"Who are you?"

He froze in surprise.

"Ah."

Five beauties stared at Yeon Sowol with wide eyes, wary of him.

A wave of powdery fragrance struck him.

Their clothing was colorful, but somehow lacked propriety.

From beyond the room came noisy chatter, along with soft, flirtatious voices.

Yeon Sowol understood the situation.

'This isn't an inn. It's a pleasure house!'

A place where courtesans sold men alcohol, along with other things.

'Then these ladies are courtesans too......!'

His face flushed bright red.

"S-sorry for intruding!"

Yeon Sowol hurriedly reached for the door he had entered through.

Swish.

A blade rested beneath his Adam's apple.

"......Huh?"

He could not see whoever held the sword.

He could not even see the hand holding it.

Every time he tried to shift his eyes, the cold blade pressed deeper into his skin. A warm drop of blood slid down his throat to his chest.

Yeon Sowol reflexively activated the power of the Heaven-Killing Star.

Yet he could not sever even a strand of thread.

The invisible enemy was not touching him.

If he could not touch them, he could not sever them.

It was the clear limitation of the Heaven-Killing Star's power.

They were not merely out of reach.

He could feel nothing.

Nothing at all.

Could it be that a sword was simply floating in the air, aimed at his neck?

Cold sweat soaked his back.

"Eun-yeong! Stop it! It's Young Master Yeon, the foster son of the Great Hero Yi Yubaek!"

A voice called out behind him.

"Okay, Sister Choran."

Shhk.

The blade that had been cutting into his neck withdrew like a dream.

Only then did he sense someone's presence.

A moment earlier, he had heard no footsteps, no rustle of clothing, nothing.

There had not even been a scent.

A sixth beauty, seeming to appear out of nowhere, walked lightly over and sat down in a chair with a blank expression.

The courtesan called Choran offered an apology to the rigid Yeon Sowol.

"You were startled, weren't you, Young Master? I'm sorry. I'm Choran, and this is Eun-yeong. I've taken her in, and she's lived with me for a few years. She has a complicated past, so she can be sensitive sometimes. She didn't mean any harm, so please forgive her."

Forgive her or not, Yeon Sowol was so relieved to be alive that his legs were about to give out.

"Here, have some tea."

Choran led Yeon Sowol to a chair, and the other courtesans made a fuss as they prepared drinks.

They chattered about how handsome he was and how he was truly the Elegant Young Lord, but Yeon Sowol could not hear a word.

All his attention was focused on judging the woman named Eun-yeong.

"Hoo......"

She had clearly used internal energy earlier, yet only now did she exhale white smoke.

The faint scent of charcoal spread through the room.

'What kind of stage of maturity is that......?'

He could not tell the details, but Eun-yeong's stage of maturity was clearly deeper than Resentful Dog's.

Yeon Sowol felt an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity.

She seemed unlike any martial artist he had encountered so far, as though her very foundations were different.

As Yeon Sowol continued to nervously turn the teacup in his hands, Choran asked,

"So, Young Master Yeon. What brings you to Cheongun Pavilion?"

'Cheongun Pavilion?'

Why did that name sound familiar?

As he thought about it, goosebumps suddenly spread over his entire body.

'Cheongun Pavilion!'

* * *

Three.

Never cause a disturbance at Cheongun Pavilion. If you accidentally earn the resentment of a server or courtesan, you must apologize and provide suitable compensation.

If you cannot, never be alone from the moment you leave the pleasure house.

You must stay in a group. Do not sleep. Remain awake all night with friends or family.

At daybreak, return to Cheongun Pavilion, apologize, compensate them, and settle the grievance.

* * *

Footnotes:

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