WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 71: He’s One of Us
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One Sect, Three Clans.
Cheonggang Sword Gate, the Hong Clan, Un Clan Manor, and the Myeong Clan.
The heads of all four factions had gathered.
Yi Do was the first to speak.
“First, let me thank you.”
The four men immediately responded.
“Not at all! How could you say that to us? We only did what had to be done.”
Every question in the world had a model answer.
What those four had just said was undoubtedly one.
We only did what had to be done. How could you thank us?
Helping Yi Do was only natural. They had even sealed a blood oath to devote themselves to the Asura Sword Sect, so they had merely acted accordingly. There was no need to thank them.
People who knew how to phrase things pleasantly naturally looked better to the listener. Yi Do had already thought well of them, and after that, there was nothing more to say.
“We have met several times, so you know what sort of man I am. I do not like long speeches. I will be direct. Your One Sect, Three Clans will come to rule both Three Phoenix County and Jangam County.”
The corners of the four clan heads’ mouths twitched at once.
They had gambled.
They had wagered their entire fortunes, and they had won.
What reward would come to them?
Now, they had received it.
“I am not accustomed to expanding clans, making money, running merchant caravans, purchasing goods, or such matters. But I know how to assess the overall situation. You have only operated in Three Phoenix County, so you will have no foundation in Jangam County.”
That was not wrong.
Yi Do had no interest in commerce. Even if he had accompanied merchant caravans while he was with the Yi Clan, managing them was another matter altogether.
He did not know which goods sold well, either. At most, his knowledge of the future from his regression allowed him to imitate such things.
What did a clan need to grow?
Only one thing.
A foundation.
“Those thirteen clans exterminated today were the ones that divided Jangam County among themselves. With their disappearance, every business under them collapsed. I will give you ownership of all of them.”
Everyone was astonished. They had not expected it to be so much.
“Your standing in Three Phoenix County will change as well. Even if others have sealed blood oaths, how could they be treated the same as you?”
That was only natural.
“Some may say I am showing favoritism. Other clans in Three Phoenix County and Jangam County may keep you in check. But do not worry.”
Yi Do’s eyes were clear.
“I am showing favoritism, and you will become the rulers of both regions one way or another. There is only one thing that concerns me.”
As Yi Do trailed off, they immediately spoke up.
“Please tell us! We will resolve it somehow.”
“It is simple. You have shed blood together, so are you not comrades? In the Martial World, yesterday’s allies often point swords at one another the next day. There is no guarantee that you will not do the same...”
“Do not worry. We are a Blood Alliance, are we not?”
At Hong Chik-seo’s words, the master of Un Clan Manor nodded. The other clan heads did as well.
“That is fortunate. Then, in these chaotic times, work a little harder. Go absorb those businesses, and report to me if anyone causes trouble.”
“Yes!”
“Go.”
The four clan heads left the room at once.
“It is finally over. You have worked hard.”
It was Un Do-hyeon who spoke, and Myeong-hyeon nodded in agreement.
But Yi Do knew.
Having lived in the Martial World for many years, he had witnessed and felt many things.
When people resolved a matter and realized how sweet its reward was, they unconsciously loosened their vigilance.
People called such moments an opening.
That was why Yi Do did not loosen his vigilance.
And that was why he could react.
A dagger shot toward him at tremendous speed from beside Un Do-hyeon’s face.
Yi Do bent backward and shoved Un Do-hyeon aside. Un Do-hyeon fell backward as the dagger grazed past the tip of Yi Do’s nose.
Yi Do immediately drew the Cloud Dragon Sword.
A man appeared out of the empty air.
His dagger glowed with concentrated force aura, and tremendous killing intent poured from his eyes.
That was right.
The killing intent of a master of the Creation Realm.
The Fortress Master of the Assassin Fortress, who had crawled beneath the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect.
Black Slaughter Ghost King Mun Hu-do.
* * *
It was the first time I had seen him in person, but his face was familiar.
There was no way I would not know who he was.
“You son of a bitch... You dodged?”
“Mun Hu-do.”
A smile formed on my lips as I drew up every bit of Properly Aligned Qi I had left. Three rings spun furiously.
“Is it not truly pathetic?”
“...What?”
“Your underlings are already all dead, yet you only show yourself now. Are you not a shameful leader?”
“You... Let me make this clear. I will tear that mouth of yours apart.”
“Your arrogance reaches the heavens. Someone like you?”
A master of the Creation Realm.
The same realm as the Golden Heaven Divine Sword back then.
I had grown since then, but I had not even set up a formation.
I was clearly lacking.
Even if all my qi channels tore apart and I suffered qi deviation...
If I drew out everything, it was worth trying.
Mun Hu-do kicked off the ground.
He moved at nearly the speed of light.
Then something unexpected happened.
Myeong-hyeon, who had been beside me, stepped in front of me.
Demonic qi at the Five Qis Return to Origin burst from his body. Mun Hu-do was briefly taken aback.
Booom!
Myeong-hyeon’s outstretched palm struck aside Mun Hu-do’s dagger. Myeong-hyeon spun, kicking Mun Hu-do in the solar plexus.
But Mun Hu-do did not budge.
“These bastards have truly gone too far. Demonic arts? Ha... That makes things easier.”
Myeong-hyeon looked serious. He was clearly trying to protect me.
“...Go. I will buy you time.”
Just as I was about to speak, my gaze turned to the side.
Myeong-hyeon turned as well. So did Mun Hu-do.
They had no choice.
There stood a white-haired man.
He reached out and seized Mun Hu-do by the head.
“You dare touch whose disciple?”
It was Myo Man-ri.
Mun Hu-do despaired.
“I heard... you had entered secluded cultivation...”
“I came out today. I came to thank my disciple for doing me a great favor, but this works out well.”
Myo Man-ri slammed Mun Hu-do into the ground.
Boom!
I turned to look at Myeong-hyeon. Myeong-hyeon looked back at him.
Anyone could see that he was feeling deeply conflicted. His trembling eyes gradually steadied. The demonic qi still surrounded him.
He looked back at Yi Do.
He regarded me with pity. Soon, Myeong-hyeon’s voice transmission reached me.
-Please take one hit. Please.
Apparently, my answer did not matter to him. Myeong-hyeon thrust out his palm.
Boom!
It struck me in the solar plexus. I flew into the wall, but strangely, it did not hurt much.
Myeong-hyeon then turned and kicked off the ground. He vanished in an instant.
-Thank you for everything. Live a long life. I mean it.
The final voice transmission he left behind slowly faded from my mind.
I turned my head.
Mun Hu-do shook off Myo Man-ri’s hand and lashed out with a kick. Struck in the solar plexus, Myo Man-ri slid backward.
He smiled faintly.
“It tickles.”
Natural Qi began to suffuse Mun Hu-do’s body.
It took the form of a black shadow. It was both a materialization of killing intent and an ultimate assassination technique that merged with nature.
Mun Hu-do’s body blurred.
Perfect assimilation with nature.
The aura he emitted.
Light flashed in his eyes. He tightly gripped his dagger and thrust it forward.
Myo Man-ri drew his sword. The smile on his lips remained.
Slowly, then in an instant, crackle, sparks of lightning flew from all over Myo Man-ri’s body.
“Disciple. Watch carefully.”
He brought his sword down.
Rrrrrumble!
Five bolts of lightning struck from the sky.
Mun Hu-do’s body was torn into five pieces in an instant.
Mun Hu-do’s technique could not be called true union. At most, he had borrowed Natural Qi. But Myo Man-ri was different.
He had become nature itself and called forth lightning.
No, he had created it.
Torn into five pieces, Mun Hu-do glared at me.
His eyes seemed full of resentment.
If Myo Man-ri had not come.
If he had not been startled by Myeong-hyeon’s demonic qi, even briefly.
If he had not waited quietly and had attacked the moment I entered this branch.
He believed he could have changed the outcome.
He was mistaken.
No matter how skilled he was, an assassin was only an assassin.
If I had been prepared to lose a few fingers and spend several days bedridden, Mun Hu-do would have died by my hand.
Crackle.
Myo Man-ri’s sword smashed Mun Hu-do’s head to pieces.
He smiled faintly.
“Did you see it? This is the Five-Thunder Boundless Sword Formula.”
I could not help laughing.
“Did you not just change the name?”
“Hmph. Do you have to be such a little shit even after I save you? This is a different martial art. It is a new martial art created by combining the Lightning Spirit Boundless Sword Formula you gave me with my Five-Thunder Demon-Slaying Sword Art. Did you not see it just now? The Natural Qi I released was absorbed back into my body. Huhuhuhuhu! I have become an inexhaustible lightning spirit itself. Does that not make you want to learn it already? But.”
Calling down even one bolt of lightning was not easy, so calling down five was certainly remarkable.
Slowly, the smile disappeared from Myo Man-ri’s face.
“That fellow used demonic qi just now.”
I had already understood what Myeong-hyeon was thinking.
He intended to return to the Emperor Sword Sect.
He had no choice.
Myo Man-ri had noticed the demonic arts. The person who had been with Yi Do had used demonic arts. Myeong-hyeon knew how much Myo Man-ri cherished the sword sect.
Myeong-hyeon’s existence could become the perfect justification for branding the sect as part of the Demonic Way.
The entire sect could become the Martial World’s Public Enemy.
That was why he had asked me to take a hit.
To create a pretext.
Myeong-hyeon had not followed me. In a moment of danger, he had attacked me, and the Great Elder had witnessed it.
That was the board he had arranged.
I did not agree.
I turned my head.
“It seems one of my men had urgent business to attend to.”
“You... You know perfectly well that this is no trivial matter.”
Myo Man-ri’s expression was serious. But so was mine.
“Did I not say so? One of my men had urgent business and appears to have gone somewhere.”
Myo Man-ri sighed.
“Disciple.”
“I am not your disciple.”
“Whatever it may be, will you truly not regret this?”
I raised my head.
“Great Elder.”
“Yes. Speak.”
“People live by making choices in every moment. The same is true for you, Great Elder, and for me. At every crossroads, I choose the option I will not regret.”
“And?”
“It is the same now. I have made my choice. Myeong-hyeon is one of mine. Whether he learned demonic arts or did anything else, he is one of mine.”
“...Because of that, you may become the Martial World’s Public Enemy. The sword sect may become the enemy of the entire Martial World.”
I smiled faintly.
“I once had a similar conversation with the Sect Leader. I will repeat what I said then.”
Myo Man-ri folded his arms. Seeing his expression as though telling me to continue, I spoke calmly.
“I act according to debts and grudges. I do not care how this appears to others. Myeong-hyeon has been a great help to me and has carried out many tasks under me. He did not save my life, but he nearly did. No matter what the people of this world say, even if everyone calls him a demonic practitioner, to me, he is only Myeong-hyeon.”
“....”
“If the Martial World turns against me because I keep one of my own, I will destroy the Martial World. If heaven turns against me, I will destroy heaven. And if I die because of it.”
“If you die?”
“I will die smiling, without regret, because I lived proudly. And I will not die alone. I will kill everyone who made me that way before I go.”
I stepped forward.
“Great Elder.”
“...Yes.”
“You have two choices now. The first is to cut me off here and now. If I no longer belong to the Asura Sword Sect, the sword sect will be exempt from everything that happens from this moment onward.”
“And the second choice?”
“Simply accept things as they are. I do not care which choice you make. There are debts and grudges between you and me, so even if war breaks out between the sword sect and me, my sword will avoid you, Myo Man-ri.”
Huh.
Myo Man-ri let out a sigh and lowered his head. Soon, his shoulders shook.
“Huhu... Hahahahahahaha!”
He laughed until his throat nearly burst with his distinctive laughter.
After laughing for a long while, Myo Man-ri looked at me with a wide smile.
“You are absolutely no ordinary martial artist. You are prepared to turn the whole world against you to protect one person of your own? Huh... Huhuhuhu... Truly... It has been a long time since I have felt chills. Fine. I respect your choice. There is no need to think further. A man who has made up his mind like that should naturally be respected. I will accept it as it is. And...”
Myo Man-ri trailed off, then spoke firmly.
“Let us have a drink. There is something serious I need to discuss with you.”
I nodded.
But then.
“Did you go somewhere to get beaten up? You have quite a few wounds.”
To be clear, those were not injuries Mun Hu-do had inflicted.
As befitted a master of the Divine Entrance Realm, Myo Man-ri had toyed with a master of the Creation Realm.
“Ah, these...? Uh... Well... There was a reason for it.”
I watched Myo Man-ri scratch his chin.
He had certainly changed.
Having reached the Divine Entrance Realm, Myo Man-ri had maintained a serious expression throughout. Even his distinctive laughter carried a certain gravity.
It was as though the man himself had become heavier.
What could he possibly wish to discuss?
For now, I helped Un Do-hyeon, who was still sitting on the floor, to his feet.
“Send someone to Baekmun Town. Use the Heavenly Intelligence Gate.”
“Baekmun Town... You mean the Baekmun Town of the Full Moon Blade Sect?”
“Yes. Have them report on everything happening there in real time.”
Un Do-hyeon nodded and went outside.
Where had Myeong-hyeon gone?
He could not truly have gone to the Emperor Sword Sect.
If so, he would be heading for the Emperor Sword Sect’s territory.
But what mattered was where he currently was.
Yaksha, Azure Dragon, Black Tortoise.
Only the Sword Sovereign, the four elders under him, and a few clan heads scattered across the Martial World knew of their existence. In Baekmun Town, ruled by the Full Moon Blade Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects, there was the Bright Moon Sword Clan. The Clan Head of the Bright Moon Sword Clan was the Sword Sovereign’s trusted subordinate.
That Bright Moon Sword Clan was also the safe house used by those three.
Myeong-hyeon must have headed there.
Who said he could run away?
Myeong-hyeon still had something he absolutely needed to hear from me.
If he did not hear it, he would regret it until the moment he died.
I turned my head.
More importantly, what did Myo Man-ri intend to discuss?
“Huhuhuhu, why? Now that I am a master of the Divine Entrance Realm, do you want to become my disciple?”
I answered clearly.
“No.”
“Huhuhuhuhu... What a brat...”
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