WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 45: Medical Classics Pavilion
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It missed.
The instant I realized that, I poured all my strength into my legs and lunged forward. Black, unnatural energy flowed from Myeong-hyeon’s body as he retreated some distance away.
Demonic qi.
It was not fully formed demonic qi, but it was heavily corrupted. If left alone or allowed to keep growing, it would eventually consume his reason and turn him into a madman who destroyed everything around him.
That was what happened to demonic practitioners devoured by demonic qi.
Heaven-Transcending Thunder Sword Formula.
Properly Aligned Qi gathered at the tip of my sword. Thunder energy crackled around it.
I brought it down.
Myeong-hyeon spun. His foot...
Boooom-!
...knocked my sword aside.
That was fine. I had expected it.
I spun, using the force of Myeong-hyeon’s strike against him. My Cloud Dragon Sword, carrying the force of that rotation, swept toward his neck.
A vivid dragon-shaped aura surged from the blade.
Myeong-hyeon’s eyes widened. He kicked off backward, but...
Slash-!
He could not stop his chest from being cut open.
Blood sprayed in every direction. Myeong-hyeon stumbled back, then raised his head.
“...Are you at Three Flowers Gather at the Crown?”
“That’s what you’re curious about right now?”
“...There are a few other things I’m curious about, but may I ask one thing first?”
I adjusted my grip on the sword.
“Go ahead.”
Myeong-hyeon said something that even I could not understand.
“Um, could you count to three one more time?”
I was dumbfounded.
Myeong-hyeon took another step back and drew in his energy.
“How can someone be so stingy that they only count to three? You should at least count to five.”
Just as I was about to ignore him and charge in, Myeong-hyeon raised both hands.
It was an unmistakable gesture of surrender.
“You know it isn’t easy to flee beyond the frontier, don’t you?”
I watched him for a moment before slowly lowering my sword.
He continued.
“I will not ask about your unexplained information-gathering ability. What matters is that you know too much now, Protector.”
“So?”
“Well... as I said earlier, neither Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, nor I bear any great grudge against you.”
“Continue.”
“We only obey the Sword Emperor’s orders. I do not know about the other two, but I am carrying out another order at the moment. I have things to do in the Asura Sword Sect, so I have no intention of becoming your enemy.”
“In the end, the Sword Emperor will order you to kill me.”
“He might. But there is one way around it.”
“What is it?”
Yaksha let out a breath. His expression grew complicated before he spoke.
“Make it appear as though I died.”
“Then would it not be simpler to kill you here and now?”
“To be honest, I do not think you killed the Golden Heaven Divine Sword. How could a master at Three Flowers Gather at the Crown kill someone in the Creation Realm? Even I, at Five Qis Return to Origin, could not do that. Still, it is true that the Golden Heaven Divine Sword has gone missing. After watching you from yesterday until today, I realized that unless we do something, you and I will have no choice but to draw swords against one another. Regardless of who wins.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Let us make a deal.”
“A deal?”
Myeong-hyeon silently walked away. He sat back down where he had been sitting earlier, his gaze fixed on the campfire.
He was completely defenseless.
If I attacked now, I would definitely hit him. At the very least, I could take one of his arms.
But I did not.
“Please.”
He had gone this far, so I decided to hear him out for now. I sat down across from him again.
“The Sword Emperor’s influence extends throughout the Jeok Martial World. The same is true in the Yan Martial World and Wi Martial World. Because the Emperor Sword Sect is the finest sword sect, martial artists from every nation flock there for advice. Go beyond the frontier? Run away? Do you truly think that is possible?”
“It may be impossible, but it would still be better than staying here.”
“...No. To be honest, living as a second-generation disciple in the Asura Sword Sect is far better than cleaning up after that old man, the Sword Emperor.”
It was not a random statement.
The Emperor Sword Sect’s Shadows.
Yaksha, Azure Dragon, and Black Tortoise.
Of those three, Black Tortoise was a madman so extreme that even I could only click my tongue, but Yaksha and Azure Dragon were different. The two men had grown tired of living as Shadows.
More than anything, the Sword Emperor had leverage over them.
In my previous life, their sole request of me had been this.
Save their lovers.
I saved one, but not the other.
Azure Dragon’s lover survived.
Yaksha’s did not.
Something occurred to me.
“What have you been doing in the Asura Sword Sect?”
“...Investigating.”
“Investigating?”
“The Sword Emperor suspects Dokgo Dan-ya, the Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect.”
Suspects him...
“What does he suspect?”
Myeong-hyeon raised his head and looked directly at me.
“It seems there are a few things you do not know, despite your extraordinary knowledge.”
“Stop wasting words and get to the point.”
“It concerns Dokgo Dan-ya’s martial realm.”
“His realm?”
“Yes. The world believes Dokgo Dan-ya has reached the peak of the Divine Entrance Realm. The Sword Emperor does not. He judges Dokgo Dan-ya to be at least in the Divine Transformation Realm. The Sword Emperor once exchanged a single strike with Dokgo Dan-ya under the pretext of a friendly spar, and he says he sensed demonic qi at that time.”
That was somewhat interesting.
“So he placed you in the Asura Sword Sect to confirm it?”
“Yes.”
“If it becomes certain that Dokgo Dan-ya learned demonic arts?”
“The entire martial world will rush to destroy the Asura Sword Sect. Recently, demonic practitioners have begun appearing one after another near Yeonseong, where the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, the Asura Sword Sect, and the Godslayer Sect are located. Strange, is it not? Demonic practitioners who do not so much as show their faces in the Yan Martial World or Wi Martial World only appear in the Jeok Martial World.”
The Asura Sword Sect had definitely not been part of the Demonic Way in my memories.
It had simply been one of the sects that was destroyed.
And what had Myo Man-ri, the sole survivor of that destroyed sect, done?
He had repeatedly attacked the Emperor Sword Sect and the Martial Alliance.
Other than the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, which had already been destroyed, he had continued attacking those two factions. There had to be something linking them.
If so, the rough picture looked like this.
The Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, the Emperor Sword Sect, and the Martial Alliance had destroyed the Asura Sword Sect. Then, once the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect had outlived its usefulness, the Emperor Sword Sect and the Martial Alliance branded it part of the Demonic Way and destroyed it as well.
This picture could be wrong, but my instincts told me it was the most likely explanation.
Because I knew that the Emperor Sword Sect’s Sword Emperor had learned [Heavenly Demon Divine Technique].
“So you closed the qi channels within your body?”
“...Yes. Without going this far, I might fool others, but I could never deceive Dokgo Dan-ya.”
In other words, Myeong-hyeon was undoubtedly a master at Five Qis Return to Origin. Whether he had learned demonic arts or something else, his realm would not simply vanish.
He had to hide it as thoroughly as possible.
There was a reason he had lived as one of the Emperor Sword Sect’s Shadows. After forcibly closing his own qi channels, blocking every path through which demonic qi could flow, leaving behind only a minimal amount of demonic qi, then completely covering it with ordinary energy...
He could easily fool masters of the Divine Entrance Realm.
He could even deceive Divine Transformation Realm masters, but only those who had just entered that realm. Those above that level would see through him immediately.
Dokgo Dan-ya had definitely seen through Myeong-hyeon’s concealment.
Then why had he left him alone?
Was he preparing something?
“Do you know why I am telling you all this, Protector?”
“Do I need to?”
“Would it not be better to know?”
I remained silent. Myeong-hyeon gave an awkward smile.
“It may or may not work, but you are bound to the Emperor Sword Sect by debts and grudges. Jang Un-yeon, the Golden Heaven Divine Sword, and, if we look at it more broadly, even the Sword Emperor.”
“So?”
“I do not know who will win in the end, but the more time passes, the more I want to support you.”
I let out a laugh.
“Why did you come to that conclusion?”
“Potential.”
“Potential?”
“You reached Three Flowers Gather at the Crown at seventeen. You have also earned the trust of Myo Man-ri, who is certain to reach the Divine Entrance Realm soon, so you will likely hold a high position in the Asura Sword Sect in the future. On top of that, Dokgo Dan-ya still lives, and he can face the Sword Emperor one-on-one. Looking at the bigger picture, this will become a fight between the Asura Sword Sect and the Emperor Sword Sect. I have made every effort to escape the Sword Emperor’s grasp, but every attempt failed. I want to try one more time.”
I stared at him.
“Of course, it might fail. But no one knows, do they?”
From yesterday until today.
There was no way I had failed to notice Myeong-hyeon’s eyes following me. That was one reason I had beaten him up.
He had been figuring out what kind of man I was.
This was the conclusion he had reached after considering everything.
“Your existence is dangerous. If I am to hide it, there should be an equivalent benefit for me.”
Myeong-hyeon smiled.
“Use me as your sword.”
“A sword?”
“No one knows what may happen in the future. The Asura Sword Sect... to be honest, it has serious internal problems. The elders are divided, and the Asura Pavilion has split along with them. It is a complete mess. Judging from the path you have taken so far, Yi Do, you will clearly need someone at your side to assist you.”
“And that is you?”
“Yes. I must keep my qi channels closed and my energy sealed, so I cannot draw out my full strength. Still, I can comfortably display strength on the level of Five Dragons Honoring the Sage.”
“How can I trust you?”
“...My lover and child are in Geongon City, in the Yan Kingdom. Just as the Sword Emperor knows my weakness, you know it as well, Yi Do. Is that not enough?”
Now that I heard it, it was not bad.
Being alone was comfortable, but having one or two people I could use was not a bad thing either.
Then he asked me a question.
“...How much do you know about the Sword Emperor?”
“More than you do.”
“...Do you also know what martial art he has learned?”
“If you mean the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, I do.”
Myeong-hyeon was greatly startled.
His mouth opened and closed soundlessly before he finally managed to speak.
“...From your position, I am certainly a highly dangerous existence. If the world learns that I have learned demonic arts, the Asura Sword Sect may collapse. But the reverse is also possible.”
That was right.
The reverse was possible too.
“We can brand the Emperor Sword Sect part of the Demonic Way. My existence alone is fatal to the Emperor Sword Sect.”
Whether I liked it or not, it would be better to keep Myeong-hyeon with me.
“Fine. I accept the deal.”
“Thank you.”
* * *
I returned to the Asura Sword Sect with Myeong-hyeon.
A man stepped in front of us. The moment Myeong-hyeon saw him, he bowed respectfully.
“Greetings to the Asura Pavilion Master!”
I glanced at Myeong-hyeon. For now, I intended to watch and see.
I silently cupped my fist in greeting.
“That will do.”
I raised my head.
The Asura Pavilion Master, Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi, the Thousand-Sword Elegant Scholar.
It was my first time seeing him in person, but the many rumors I had heard about him remained vivid in my mind.
Before the Asura Sword Sect collapsed, exactly eight years from now, this man would die in the war against the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect.
The feat he achieved in his final moments was still famous enough to reach my ears more than a decade later.
The Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect had six elders. One was a master of the Divine Entrance Realm, while the other five were masters of the Creation Realm.
Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi, the Asura Pavilion Master, slew two Creation Realm masters and even the Divine Entrance Realm elder.
Three in total.
All by himself.
It was something like mutual destruction.
A Creation Realm master had faced two experts of the same level and an expert one realm above him, then died alongside them. People even said that if Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi had survived until the Righteous-Demonic War, the Asura Sword Sect would not have fallen so easily.
It interested me.
He had not learned the Hwandap Art like I had, nor did he use Properly Aligned Qi, yet he killed someone a full realm above him in the Four Realms of Heaven and Earth, where even a single stage made the difference between heaven and earth?
It would have been stranger if I had not been interested.
“I heard your epithet is Cruel Demonic Way. You have quite an amusing alias.”
“You flatter me.”
“At first, I thought the Great Elder had caused trouble again, but it seems he brought back a proper martial artist this time.”
Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi smiled faintly.
“Valuables arrived from Seok Manor yesterday. The amount was enormous.”
“Is that so?”
“...You are a difficult man to understand.”
I silently watched Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi.
“You are composed. Most martial artists are frightened the moment they see me.”
I understood exactly what he meant.
Setting aside his realm and position, his appearance alone was overwhelming.
He stood nearly seven feet tall. The three swords on his back were all different lengths, but a rough estimate put them at approximately two, four, and six feet.
A short sword, a medium-length sword, and a longsword.
It was unusual.
I wondered whether it was a characteristic of the [Asura Sovereign Dragon Sword] he used, or simply a personal preference.
Then there was his face.
Honestly, he was not particularly handsome. His eyes were fierce, his jaw was square, and his thick brows and broad nose made him look more like a bandit.
“You arrived and cleanly completed a red-level mission right away... I do not particularly like that you took a branch member without requesting permission, but the result was good, so I will let it pass.”
I remained silent.
“They say you are as quiet as the rumors claim. I also heard that you will be appointed the Branch Leader of the [Three Phoenix Branch]. It is somewhat disrespectful that you did not come to greet me immediately, but since you are a man the Great Elder personally brought in, I will not say more about it.”
“If I offended you, I apologize.”
“No. Have you heard anything about the Three Phoenix Branch?”
I shook my head.
“Let me explain briefly. The Three Phoenix Branch was nearly wiped out by the incident last time. Of the twenty-one branch members, including the Branch Leader, all but two died. You will need to replenish its members, and there are two ways to do that.”
“I am listening.”
“You can accept second-generation disciples recommended by the Asura Pavilion, or you can bring in people yourself.”
There was no need to think about it.
“I will choose the latter.”
“You will bring them in yourself?”
“Yes. And I would like to take Myeong-hyeon here to the Three Phoenix Branch.”
Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi glanced at Myeong-hyeon, then nodded.
“Do so. I have already spoken to the Medical Classics Pavilion. Go there, receive the resources, then head to the Three Phoenix Branch and begin your duties.”
“Yes. I will do so.”
I cupped my fist. The Asura Pavilion Master acknowledged my greeting, then turned and left.
Only after he disappeared completely from view did Myeong-hyeon rise.
I shifted my gaze. Several trees stood densely packed together nearby.
“Myeong-hyeon.”
“Yes, Branch Leader.”
“Go to the Medical Classics Pavilion and collect the reward for this mission, as well as the cultivation resources for the entire branch.”
“...Me?”
“Yes. You go.”
“...”
“I will circulate my qi, so take your time. And.”
I looked straight into Myeong-hyeon’s eyes.
“Do not argue. Do as you are told. Understood?”
“...Yes.”
After sending Myeong-hyeon to the Medical Classics Pavilion, I approached the trees and sat down cross-legged.
* * *
Myeong-hyeon’s thoughts were complicated.
Yi Do.
To be honest, he was far too strange. Leaving aside his temperament and methods, his martial strength was the hardest thing to understand.
He was seventeen.
He was still young, yet listening to him speak made Myeong-hyeon feel as though he were facing an old master of the martial world.
Yi Do had clearly only just entered the martial world, yet he possessed insight and judgment that made no sense.
And he had the ability to back them up.
It went beyond being impressive. It was becoming frightening.
No.
Thinking about it reasonably, if someone was at Three Flowers Gather at the Crown at seventeen, what realm would he reach at eighteen?
At nineteen? At twenty?
Myeong-hyeon could not imagine it.
Even demonic practitioners, who suffered the side effect of discarding their humanity after learning demonic arts and constantly fought their impulses, were not like that.
Yi Do had not learned demonic arts.
That much was certain.
That was why Myeong-hyeon had proposed the deal.
The Imperial Guard, which would relentlessly hunt down anyone who touched an official, had fallen silent. The Assassin Fortress, which had formed a grudge with Yi Do, was silent as well.
The Emperor Sword Sect? There was no need to say more.
It was because Yi Do had gained the backing of the Asura Sword Sect.
Myeong-hyeon’s choice was right.
It was worth the gamble.
He wanted to escape the Sword Emperor’s grasp.
He clenched his fist.
Honestly, he wanted to grab the Sword Emperor by the throat and tear it out, but that was impossible.
The Sword Emperor was already a master of the Divine Transformation Realm. He was a monster who used the Heart Sword. If he decided to kill Myeong-hyeon, Myeong-hyeon would leave the world without even realizing he had died.
“The Three Phoenix Branch... I heard its new Branch Leader is Cruel Demonic Way. Is that right?”
Myeong-hyeon looked up.
One of the Medical Classics Pavilion members was looking at him.
Myeong-hyeon’s serious expression immediately turned foolish.
“Hehe, that’s right.”
“Tsk, tsk. You are going to have a hard time. He may not be bad at his work, but his methods are far too excessive.”
“Are they?”
“I heard he destroyed the Kang Clan. What is he thinking, doing something that insane when a war with the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect could break out?”
Myeong-hyeon simply smiled. Nothing he said seemed likely to get through, and he did not particularly want to continue the conversation.
“You cleared a red mission, so I put in five ten-year Asura Pills and cultivation resources for ‘four branch members.’ Hurry up and take them.”
There was a ‘pouch’ beside the pavilion member.
That was right.
A ‘pouch,’ not a ‘bundle.’
“Isn’t this a little too little?”
“Too little? There are no branch members anyway. What would you do with more?”
“...I think our Branch Leader might be somewhat unhappy when he finds out about this.”
“Hey, I heard you are the youngest person to rise from a Novice Disciple to a second-generation disciple. Why are you so talkative?”
“...”
“I heard your Branch Leader said something amusing at the Sect Leader’s Hall. Do you know whose side the Pavilion Lord of the Medical Classics Pavilion is on?”
Myeong-hyeon knew.
The Asura Sword Sect had eight elders in total.
The Great Elder was among them. Then who held the greatest influence after the Great Elder?
Elder Chodong.
The Medical Classics Pavilion’s Pavilion Lord had risen to the position through Elder Chodong’s recommendation. Though not a divine physician, the Pavilion Lord possessed considerable medical skill.
Myeong-hyeon sighed inwardly.
Still, after spending a few days with Yi Do, Myeong-hyeon had a rough grasp of his personality.
“Um, I did warn you.”
“About what?”
“I told you this was too little.”
The Medical Classics Pavilion member snorted.
“That is enough. Go.”
“Yes.”
Myeong-hyeon did not think about it any further. Yi Do would handle it himself.
Whether bloodshed broke out or not.
It was none of Myeong-hyeon’s concern.
With that thought, Myeong-hyeon headed back the way he had come.
Returning to the matter he had left unfinished, he wanted to escape the Sword Emperor’s grasp by any means necessary.
He wanted to remove the restriction inside his body and eliminate the weakness the Sword Emperor held over him.
The restriction would not activate as long as Myeong-hyeon never caught the Sword Emperor’s attention again, but Myeong-hyeon had family. The martial world was vast, yet in some ways it was also small. Even if Myeong-hyeon ran for an entire lifetime, there would be limits.
There was only one way to solve all of it at once.
Kill the Sword Emperor, Gun Mu-gyeol.
Yi Do was still far too lacking now, but the future was impossible to know.
Myeong-hyeon wanted to believe in his talent.
He saw a large tree.
Yi Do was there. Myeong-hyeon approached Yi Do, who was circulating his qi, and stood quietly at his side.
Without meaning to, he had ended up standing guard as a Protector.
Time passed.
Only after roughly four hours had passed did Yi Do open his eyes.
“Did you bring it?”
Myeong-hyeon handed him the pouch he had been holding.
Yi Do checked its contents and frowned.
“How many cultivation resources does a branch normally receive?”
“...If a branch completes a mission assigned by the Asura Pavilion, it receives five pills for red and black missions, while white missions receive three. The difficulty of the mission and how it was resolved are then considered, and additional Asura Pills are awarded, but...”
Myeong-hyeon trailed off and cautiously studied Yi Do’s expression.
What should he call it?
Was it blank? Yi Do did not seem angry, but he did not seem pleased either.
Yi Do asked, “In your opinion, was the difficulty of the red mission you and I completed properly compensated by five Asura Pills?”
“...Not even close.”
The reason was simple.
“The valuables from Seok Manor were worth around 3,000 Gold Taels. I heard everyone was shocked because Seok Manor brought enough money to nearly shake its foundations. You have traded at places that supply goods to the black market, so you know this as well. With that much, you could buy a good Five-Hundred-Year Ginseng and still have plenty left over. But five ten-year Asura Pills are just...”
“So they gave them to us as if to say, ‘We do not care about the mission’s difficulty. Take this and get lost.’”
“Something like that.”
“Then what about the cultivation resources for the branch members?”
“You probably do not know this either, so I will explain everything at once. Normally, after completing a mission, the Branch Leader submits a written report to the Asura Pavilion. The Asura Pavilion makes its final judgment and decides whether to award additional Asura Pills. However, twice a month, on the first day and the fifteenth day, either the Branch Leader or a branch member must come to the main sect to receive cultivation resources sufficient for ‘twenty people’ to consume for fifteen days, whether there is a report or not. Mission reward Asura Pills are distributed all at once then as well.”
“I understand roughly. But enough for twenty people to consume for fifteen days? With only this much?”
“...Well, the Medical Classics Pavilion member said they gave us enough for four people.”
Only then did Yi Do’s expression change.
He smiled.
The killing intent carved into that smile was incredibly vicious.
It seemed he was not going to let this pass.
“Um, Branch Leader. I think I understand what you are thinking, but would it not be better to let this go just this once?”
Yi Do asked him, “What is my position?”
“Branch Leader... and...”
“Protector.”
Myeong-hyeon swallowed.
“What does a Protector do? Explain it yourself.”
“...Two things. One is protecting important figures within the Sword Sect. The other is protecting the Sword Sect’s laws.”
“You know well.”
Of course Myeong-hyeon knew. He himself had already explained it to Yi Do.
No, protecting the law was not as simple as it sounded. At the very least, someone needed to have spent years in the Sword Sect to claim that justification. Yi Do had only been in the sect for a few days. What could he possibly...
“Where is the Medical Classics Pavilion?”
Myeong-hyeon sighed inwardly.
If Yi Do were the kind of person who could be stopped, his epithet would not be Cruel Demonic Way.
Whatever.
Let it happen.
“...I will lead the way.”
Myeong-hyeon led him.
The Asura Sword Sect was vast. Only after walking slowly for about fifteen minutes did Yi Do reach the Medical Classics Pavilion, where he did something that even Myeong-hyeon could not understand.
Boooom-!!
He smashed through the Medical Classics Pavilion’s door.
Myeong-hyeon grabbed his head.
Footnotes:
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