WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 127: Samadhi True Fire (7)
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It was a truly mystical sight, visually overwhelming.
A boy in Desolate Fortress's black robe spoke while wrapped in a massive silver whirlwind.
The blood of the Pure Demon Alliance martial artists sprawled around him forced silence upon the crowd.
His commanding words did not sound out of place.
“......”
Jeong Yeon-shin dominated the scene. The presence radiating from his openly displayed Black Uniform robe was tremendous.
The crowd's expressions changed.
Those who had mocked the boy's words, those who had watched with folded arms, even those who had only come out of curiosity.
Thud!
A master who had been clinging to the pavilion railing with the Wall Gecko Skill fell.
No one looked back. There was something bewitching about the martial prowess Yeon-shin had displayed and the Tang Sect's secret art.
Shaaah.
They stared blankly at Full Heaven Flower Rain as it tore through even the bitter wind blowing along Qizhou's main road.
Only the harsh scrape of steel petals colliding filled the air.
He had carved his presence deeply into Sichuan's martial world. The boy took another step into the realm under heaven.
“......A matter of martial prowess.”
Fierce Sword Gal Sa-ryang slowly parted his lips with a low murmur.
“No.”
After uttering that brief word, he closed his mouth again, his eyes half-lidded.
The light of a supreme master gleaming in his pupils revealed his complicated feelings. Anyone would have been unsettled.
Gal Sa-ryang thought to himself.
‘We meant to strike Desolate Fortress while it was surely battered beyond repair.’
Whether for their martial-world prestige or their actual strength.
He had never expected his side to be stopped by one person. Who could have imagined that person would not even be twenty?
Neither the Ten Perfect Sect Master nor the Pure Demon Alliance Leader could have anticipated it.
The Pure Demon Alliance was the immediate problem.
They had lost two martial artists capable of holding off Desolate Fortress's Black Uniform masters. Aside from the Alliance Leader, they likely had no one left.
Desolate Fortress was standing against all of the martial world on its own.
Among major factions such as the Thirteen Heavens and Nine Sects, having even two supreme masters at the Black Uniform level was considered a lot.
Wasn't the leader of Mount Hua Sect's Plum Blossom Swordsmen compared to the Leader of Demon Wings?
Gal Sa-ryang considered his options.
Should they retreat? Or should they do whatever it took to kill the youngest Black Uniform master?
‘If the Tang Sect intervenes, we must consider retreating.’
Yet the latter was a serious problem. Black Uniform at that age, the phrase monstrous prodigy fit him perfectly. There was no telling how much stronger he would become.
Still lost in thought, Gal Sa-ryang slowly spoke.
“What is your name?”
“Jeong Yeon-shin.”
The boy answered briefly.
Fierce Sword of the Ten Perfect Sect was a man who paid close attention to all matters of the martial world.
The name Jeong Yeon-shin was clearly in Gal Sa-ryang's memory. The martial duel between the Namgung Family and Desolate Fortress had drawn immense attention.
If he was the rising talent who had defeated Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin, his name and epithet were worth remembering. Gal Sa-ryang had stored them in his mind, but...
“Seom-ye Jeong Yeon-shin... You possess martial arts worthy of such arrogance. They are incredibly powerful, and mysterious beyond belief. I never expected the Tang Family's flower rain to be unleashed by a master of Desolate Fortress.”
Fierce Sword spoke slowly.
Was he buying time to deal with this unforeseen variable? Yeon-shin watched him for a moment before slightly turning his head.
Then, as if reciting to himself, he said, “Heaven and earth are quiet and still, yet their energy never stops or rests even for a moment. Though night and day change in restless turmoil, their light remains unchanged beneath heaven, like the eternal order of all things. You said it described the virtues of a gentleman.”
Yeon-shin's calm voice rang out.
“You advised me with a passage from Caigentan. Hiding is not always the answer.”
He was speaking to the head of the Tang Family.
Poison Commander Dang Un-hwang, the Tang Family Head who had left home. He had lost his wife to the two major factions of Sichuan's Thirteen Heavens.
He had wanted revenge as her husband and the Family Head, but the Supreme Family Head had opposed him. So he had severed ties with his family and left home.
“Martial arts displayed in haste leave nothing for afterward. When things are calm, prepare for movement within stillness. In urgent times, keep stillness within movement. The same applies to both swords and hidden weapons.”
Dang Un-hwang had told him that in the City of Master Craftsmen. It had been a kindness.
It had played a major part in creating the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.
Had Yeon-shin not held to the passage from Caigentan and that advice, the radiant wheel could not have contained the power of the Dharma.
He knew Dang Un-hwang was hiding nearby.
The radiant wheel dwelling in his heart never forgot the aura of someone it had seen once.
The Tang Family Head had fallen from the prowess of a Purple Uniform to merely Black Uniform. He could not evade the radiant wheel's perception.
“Family Head.”
“......”
“Have you prepared for movement within stillness?”
He asked quietly, but no answer came.
The Tang Sect, led by the Supreme Family Head, stood here. Did Dang Un-hwang lack the courage to return to the main house?
That was when it happened.
Tap.
Golden robes fluttered proudly as a gaunt old man stepped into the clearing.
He had suddenly appeared after leaping over the crowd.
“Do not speak with that scum. You should discuss supreme arts with this old man.”
He had not appeared out of nowhere. It was obvious he had been watching for an opportunity.
Shock and delight filled his wrinkled face. It was hard to understand why he had delayed for so long.
‘That man...’
Yeon-shin fixed his eyes on the old man.
His body resembled a withered old tree, but the dazzling golden robe draped over it did not look out of place at all. His natural bearing was simply too overbearing.
“Tang Tae-dok.”
Gal Sa-ryang, who had been standing still, muttered the name.
The Supreme Sect Master of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
An old master also called the Supreme Family Head. He was not the person Yeon-shin had hoped for.
“I'll burn down both the Ten Perfect Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance. I'll forge ties of friendship with Desolate Fortress and treat you as a benefactor.”
His speech was venomous, like a snake and scorpion.
The situation had changed. Was this truly the man who had opposed the revenge of Poison Commander Dang Un-hwang, his son and the Family Head?
Even with his young eyes, Yeon-shin could guess the old man's intentions.
The two major factions of the Thirteen Heavens had been severely weakened by the events in the City of Master Craftsmen and what had just happened. Now he intended to seize control of Sichuan's martial world.
He would acquire Full Heaven Flower Rain while eliminating potential enemies. Even killing two birds with one stone was not enough to describe it.
A wide smile bloomed on the old man's face. His mouth was pulled upward to its limit, giving him the look of a mask.
It was the obsession of an old master with a lifelong desire within reach.
“Bring it.”
Tang Tae-dok gave the order with a slight turn of his head.
He looked arrogant, but his body trembled faintly as he clasped his hands behind his back.
A martial artist in green robes, apparently one of his subordinates, approached.
They knelt before the old man and raised something with both hands.
It was a rolled sheet of paper, a document decorated with blue silk along its back.
Tang Tae-dok took the document and approached Yeon-shin.
Looking into the old man's eyes, Yeon-shin thought that he was filled with an ambition unsuited to his age.
“I had my doubts after hearing my grandchildren's message.”
Tang Tae-dok spoke with a smile.
“Someone of my standing cannot personally enter Desolate Fortress, so I waited for you to come out. No matter how urgent the matter, I could not cast aside all decency. Wouldn't it have looked strange to send a letter and summon you? Seom-ye Jeong Yeon-shin, I know you. I know you very well.”
“......”
“I have been listening closely for news of you for a long time. Now I know everything. Tyrant Sword Sect, the Huangbo Family, Blood Flame Sect, the Namgung Family... You have fought through many blood-soaked battles in such a short time. You must need a place to rest, so make Sichuan your home. If you wish, I will marry you to Ryeo-ah.”
He meant Poison Phoenix Tang Ryeo-ryeo.
A startled rustle came from the wall behind them.
Perhaps because the Supreme Family Head's words carried absolute authority, Tang Yeo-hwa and Tang Ryeo-ryeo did not offer any objection.
Yeon-shin silently watched Tang Tae-dok's aged face.
‘The Tang Sect's power and martial strength must be as formidable as the rumors say.’
The Ten Perfect Sect martial artists, including Fierce Sword Gal Sa-ryang and Extreme Moon Sword, stood motionless in the distance.
Gal Sa-ryang's expression seemed especially complicated. The battle had become one in which he could not act rashly.
The Pure Demon Alliance seemed to have stopped for another reason. Four of its ten martial artists had fallen to Yeon-shin's technique.
The remaining six stood silently, sharpening their fighting spirit as they stared at the Full Heaven Flower Rain still embroidered across the air.
“Read it, outstanding young talent.”
Yeon-shin accepted the document from Tang Tae-dok. A red string bound the scroll.
He cut the string with a force wave from one hand and opened the letter.
The lower part of the paper unfurled smoothly along the rod at its end. Long passages of writing appeared at once.
“......”
The boy silently read through the lines. The contents were astounding.
Passages setting out guarantees and obligations continued without end.
It specified the privileges the Tang Sect would grant, the attitude it cautiously hoped for from Yeon-shin, and even a promise to give Desolate Fortress their full support in the future. It was a kind of oath.
“I apologize, but,” Yeon-shin said after reading every line.
“I owe a debt to Poison Commander, Tang Family Head. I believe repaying it must come first. I have heard that the Tang Sect also clearly distinguishes between debts of gratitude and debts of enmity.”
The wrinkles around Tang Tae-dok's mouth twisted.
“What did you say? This is not a Divine Technique to be handed to some wretch who turned his back on the family. This martial art carries the same authority as an order from the main house's Family Head. I am begging you now!”
“While destroying the elites of the Ten Perfect Sect and Pure Demon Alliance,” Yeon-shin spoke calmly, “I received kindness from Poison Commander in the City of Master Craftsmen.”
“You child!”
“Full Heaven Flower Rain, together with the Twin Dragons and Phoenixes of Poison, is rightfully Poison Commander's achievement. Poison Commander also created this opportunity to suppress two factions of the Thirteen Heavens in Sichuan's martial world.”
It was the moment the boy's chivalry began to stir.
Yeon-shin considered himself a small-minded person.
His life was limited, so he had no time to spread chivalry far and wide.
Nor did he pursue something noble like Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin.
Then he would conduct himself as a man of the martial world. That was what he had decided.
He would clearly distinguish gratitude from enmity and repay both with level judgment.
Whoosh.
Fire rose from the hand holding the document. The translucent crimson flame of Samadhi True Fire began to burn the oath.
Whoosh!
The Tang Family Head suddenly arrived beside him, dressed as an unnaturally ordinary merchant.
Poison Commander Dang Un-hwang.
Without looking at his father, the Supreme Family Head, he gazed at the young master who shared his grudge against the Thirteen Heavens.
Just as Tang Tae-dok was about to roar in fury, Yeon-shin silently held out his hand to Dang Un-hwang.
At the same time, the fragments of Full Heaven Flower Rain swirling around them lost their force and fell.
Yeon-shin paid them no mind.
Swish.
The palm of the short member of the Eight Family Heads met that of the young supreme master. Their Shaofu and Laogong acupoints touched.
At that moment, the art of absorption and release was fully transmitted. It happened incredibly fast, but Yeon-shin passed it on clearly.
“This intent. I wonder about your formula. Is it the passage I have in mind?”
Dang Un-hwang asked quietly. Yeon-shin nodded. It was from Caigentan.
Emotion filled Dang Un-hwang's stone-like face.
He had lived his entire life as an avenger struggling to fulfill his deepest wish.
The passage that had sustained him in place of his wife lingered on his tongue, then reached the boy once more.
“Heaven and earth are still and do not move on their own...”
“Yet their energy never stops or rests.”
Yeon-shin answered calmly. Dang Un-hwang's lips curved upward.
He spoke again, taking in the boy, a fated encounter, with his aged eyes.
“Though night and day change in restless turmoil...”
“Those petals shall never change through all eternity.”
Yeon-shin altered the final line as he answered. It was now a passage describing a Divine Technique and supreme art.
The Tang Sect's secret art, Full Heaven Flower Rain.
Everyone watched while holding their breath. It was a communion between the Tang Family Head who had left home and the young master.
The moment they withdrew their hands, the fallen shards of iron rose again at the Tang Family Head's gesture.
A legend of the martial world had returned.
The Tang siblings had already leaped down from the wall. With stunned expressions, they looked back and forth between their father and Yeon-shin.
The Tang Family Head swept his gaze over the despairing Supreme Family Head and the crowd, his eyes calm.
“As the head of the Tang Sect, having received the transmission of Full Heaven Flower Rain, I declare.”
Poison Commander Dang Un-hwang, a small giant standing beside the boy, opened his mouth.
“From this moment on, the family shall follow my command and serve Seom-ye as its master.”
The three-way conflict had ended.
Surrender, or destruction.
The Ten Perfect Sect and Pure Demon Alliance now had to choose.
Footnotes:
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