Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time - Chapter 135

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 135: Azure Flame (8)

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“This ought to be called the Jeong Family Youth Technique.”

That night was overcast.

An elderly man of high standing secretly shed tears.

Clutched to his chest was the manual of the Jeong Family Youth Technique, which he had kept hidden from his son, Ma Jin.

The old man treasured the secret manual left by his grandson as though it were a priceless artifact.

Jeong Yeon-shin had said it was a martial art that would help preserve his health, but Ma Yeon-jeok’s long experience in the martial world told him otherwise.

It invigorated the muscles and blood flow while tempering every minor meridian and regular meridian throughout the body.

It transformed the flesh into a body bestowed by the heavens. It was a martial art that refined the bones and sinews.

A mysterious cultivation method, a Divine Technique.

Ma Yeon-jeok had been an unmatched martial artist.

Even the realm where one held complete dominion over all the inner energy in one’s body had been no more than a foundation to him.

That remained true even after the unity of his essence, qi, and spirit had been broken.

Only his body had deteriorated.

His age-ravaged body simply could not endure the tyrannical martial arts he practiced.

His sharp mind and supreme inner energy had not declined.

They were as keen and profound as they had been in his youth, when he had served as the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

“Your father, you see.”

At the Qizhou Branch of Desolate Fortress, Ma Yeon-jeok suddenly sensed the Blood Flame Sect Master’s presence and summoned Ma Jin.

“I do not regret sending my daughter away as I did.

“To protect Sang-ah’s happiness and the family’s honor, there was no other choice, even looking back on it now.”

“...”

“It would have been better if I could have killed him beforehand. Before that bastard Jeong Ban-ak ever met my daughter.”

“It is a regret that will last an eternity.”

“Yeon-shin is a blessing. We must protect that child. It bothers me that a vicious blood demon keeps lurking nearby. It seems to be after Yeon-shin.”

“Are you certain it is the Blood Flame Sect Master? Then the Elder Council Head truly is...”

“It seems heaven has finally given me a mandate. This time, I will accomplish what I could not, even while leading the Divine Sword Squad.”

“Can you bear it?”

“Bear it? There is something you must remember. Few masters in the world remain stagnant. Unless the natural order of heaven obstructs their bodies, as it has mine, even the lords of the Thirteen Heavens and the sect leaders of the Nine Sects continue to grow. They are all madmen obsessed with martial arts. None settle for what they have. And...”

“...?”

“I am no different.”

He was a Purple Uniform of Desolate Fortress.

Ma Yeon-jeok understood the profound meaning of the Jeong Family Youth Technique at once.

He was an unmatched master whose command over inner energy had reached the domain of the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

Having grasped the essence of the mnemonic formula, he circulated his qi through a major circulation without pause. It was as swift as a flash of light.

His body gradually began to recover. It was truly a miraculous effect.

The mnemonic formula that had accompanied his grandson through childhood caressed his limbs, sinews, and meridians with a mother’s touch.

His inner energy flowed warmly.

Essence was the body, while spirit was the mind dwelling within one’s head. Together, they formed one’s mental faculties.

Qi, to a martial artist, was inner energy created by drawing in the power of nature. Having rapidly cultivated the Jeong Family Youth Technique, Ma Yeon-jeok once more achieved the unity of essence, qi, and spirit.

All while pursuing the Blood Flame Sect Master.

At that moment, amid the joy blooming throughout his body, a realization blossomed like a lotus.

Extinction, liberation, shedding one’s mortal shell... Terms borrowed from Buddhist scriptures to grandly describe a martial artist’s martial insight passed through Ma Yeon-jeok’s mind.

At the same time.

A manual he had treasured separately from the Jeong Family Youth Technique unfurled within his mind.

It was as if its pages were fluttering and turning on their own. The words within entered him as complete understanding.

The instant his entire body was elevated by the restored unity of essence, qi, and spirit, a certain discipline rushed toward complete mastery.

It all happened in an instant.

A fortuitous encounter. That was what it was.

Perhaps it was because he had honed his heart while watching over his grandson ever since the boy entered the main fortress.

All Ma Yeon-jeok needed was time to gather his realization.

It did not matter if the Blood Flame Sect Master, having foreseen the clash between the Tang Sect and the Thirteen Heavens, had stationed subordinates in hiding beforehand.

The former Divine Sword Squad Leader wagered everything.

‘The Divine Sword of Desolate Fortress will fade alongside chivalry.’

The old man resolved to burn away the troubles threatening his grandson and the common people with his own hands.

He did not mind even if his body burned.

It was what had to be done.

* * *

The outer court of Tang Family Fort.

Ma Yeon-jeok said he would show his grandson the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

“...”

It was a statement that silenced everyone nearby.

The renown borne by the Divine Sword Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress reached even the farthest edges of the Central Plains.

It was not something one expected to hear from an aged master whose strength had waned after spilling blood in youth, one who had not cultivated the orthodox path of the Nine Sects.

“How interesting.”

A smooth voice rang out from above. The Blood Flame Sect Master stood elegantly on the edge of a roof.

His crimson lips curved into a smile.

“Yeon-jeok, Yeon-jeok. I remember when you were a Black Uniform brat. I can still see that youthful recklessness of yours. You joined those Nine Sects brats to block this Sect Master’s path, saying you would capture me and the Heart Martial Union Leader. Didn’t you even make that noisy Pact of Mount Hua?”

He was speaking at length.

Ma Yeon-jeok knew why. He could infer it from the man’s appearance and aura alone.

Ssssss.

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s white hair swayed like a heat haze.

The space around his body rippled like air beneath the scorching sun.

The red veins bulging across the backs of his pale hands were grotesque as well.

He smiled with a faint crease in his brow, looking seductive and strange. To Ma Yeon-jeok, though, it was an empty display.

He could not control the energy within him. He was trying to buy even a little time.

There was a limit to the power the human body could endure.

‘Blood Flame Sect Master. Even if he is not of the human race...’

Heaven did not grant infinite power to a single individual.

The time required to assimilate that power was no different. A martial artist’s qi could not be refined easily.

Energy drawn from nature had to be stored and refined through a cultivation method over a long period.

Blood Arts would be no exception. Such was the order of the world.

‘He cannot fully bear the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s qi.’

Ma Yeon-jeok saw a chance of victory there.

To completely absorb the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s profound power, one would need to spend more than a decade in secluded cultivation, stabilizing the qi.

The power the Blood Flame Sect Master now held within his body was terribly unstable.

Since it was not his own qi, he could not wield it with precision.

That meant his forms had lost their refinement.

The Ten Perfect Sect Master’s resistance was also fierce.

Using the ocular technique he possessed, Ma Yeon-jeok had witnessed the exchange between the Ten Perfect Sect Master and the Blood Flame Sect Master.

He had seen it while rushing over from afar, catching sight of it through the world of Purple Uniform.

The Blood Flame Sect Master had concealed himself by creating night around his own body. He was certainly terrifying.

Taking advantage of the moment when the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s aura sense was focused on Jeong Yeon-shin and the Tang Family Head, he had used the supreme Blood Arts technique Concealment Art to take position behind the master before unleashing essence absorption.

A Grandmaster of Blood Arts had sunk his fangs in personally. That should have been the end of it.

But it was not.

A battle had erupted within an instant.

A contest of moves at a distance so close it could barely be called close quarters.

Without moving from where he stood, the Ten Perfect Sect Master deployed inner-energy armor, then shaped his qi into spikes and drove them into the Blood Flame Sect Master’s entire front.

It was a level of inner-energy control that astonished even Ma Yeon-jeok.

Though the situation had seemed hopelessly decided, the Ten Perfect Sect Master had dealt the Blood Flame Sect Master a grave blow.

Had the Blood Flame Sect Master not possessed the power of regeneration, they would have perished together.

The chilling aura had vaporized even the bloodstains in an instant, but the shock within the Blood Flame Sect Master’s body undoubtedly remained.

Yet he endured.

He coveted two things.

The Ten Perfect Sect Master’s deep inner energy, and the opportunity to cut down the great trees and young shoots of the heretical sects.

Judging solely by the energy surging around him like tidal waves, he seemed capable of anything.

Ma Yeon-jeok examined his opponent with the eyes of a fighter entering a life-and-death duel.

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s bloodstained lips moved slowly.

“Your Pact of Mount Hua was an irritating promise. I have wondered whether I should have shed a few more drops of blood that day and killed you all. Seven brats escaped... Yet three of them became sect leaders, and our Yeon-jeok wears Purple Uniform. If that promise passes down to the next generation, will it not stir another new wind?”

“...”

“I know your martial prowess has recovered to a surprising degree. But can you compare yourself to that one from the Dragon family? Thinking of the current Divine Sword Squad Leader, such words are arrogant. Is it because your grandson stands behind you? A grandfather’s spirit is admirable to see.”

The current Divine Sword Squad Leader belonged to the Dragon family.

Those at the highest level of the martial world naturally either knew one another or actively gathered facial-feature portraits and information about each other.

It was a light provocation from the Blood Flame Sect Master, who sensed a fierce battle approaching.

Ma Yeon-jeok did not answer.

Step.

Holding the famed sword Bowol, he silently took one step forward.

He had observed the man enough. There was no reason to give him more time.

The old man hoped this life-and-death duel would be fully engraved in his grandson’s peerless senses.

That it would become the first step guiding his grandson into a supreme realm.

Boom!

The ground split apart with a single True Step. An earthquake-like tremor spread from Ma Yeon-jeok’s footwork.

By the time those who had staggered regained their footing, the old man was already suspended before the Blood Flame Sect Master’s face.

They stood at the roof’s edge. Two unmatched masters met each other’s eyes.

Both seemed wrapped in an air beyond the mortal world.

Beneath Ma Yeon-jeok’s Purple Uniform sleeve, the pure white Bowol Sword gleamed like a dragon’s fang.

An invisible, colossal force coiled around its long blade.

It could only be sensed through the waves violently striking the air. The resonance sounded as though it would tear space apart.

The old man in purple robes swung his sword diagonally while standing in midair.

The Blood Flame Sect Master extended a palm with a crimson smile.

It was a palm technique that subdued the violent aura surging from Ma Yeon-jeok’s Bowol Sword. It was exceptionally soft and subtle.

Claaaaang!

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s single palm strike contained the will of an ancient monster that had lived for centuries.

It was as if he had forced the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s power into that palm technique with monstrous control.

His palm met the blade of the famed Bowol Sword, yet only mist-like blood scattered.

Ma Yeon-jeok’s expression did not change. A wave-like force wave rose from the hand gripping his sword hilt.

In that instant, he unleashed the profound principle of Harmonizing Force.

It was a method of channeling the tremendous force pressing against his wrist into empty space.

Craaaash!

The roof beneath the Blood Flame Sect Master shattered with a tremendous crack.

A storm erupted as though dozens of thunderclap bombs had detonated.

The shockwave collapsed a six-story pavilion and drove it into the ground.

Surging waves of force clawed in every direction.

Deep trenches raced across the earth, throwing up clouds of yellow dust.

At the center of the catastrophic explosion.

The wrinkles around Ma Yeon-jeok’s eyes settled.

The essence-draining monster was displaying elegant Body Movement Scripture.

With his hands clasped behind his back, the Blood Flame Sect Master stepped across fragments of the pavilion flung into the sky, trying to confuse Ma Yeon-jeok’s eyes.

His silk-like white hair fluttered gently. There was even a hint of dignity in those peerless movements.

He had suffered no loss at all in that exchange.

It was unlike Ma Yeon-jeok, whose minor meridians in his right arm had been strained despite his strength rushing toward its prime.

‘It hurts.’

The old man thought of his throbbing wrist as the troublesome ache of an ordinary elderly man’s chronic illness.

It felt as though tiny fire bombs had exploded inside him. The vortex of force waves was truly terrifying.

The Blood Flame Sect Master.

He even possessed the power of regeneration. He was nearing true perfection.

Enough that Ma Yeon-jeok suspected the man might be trying to challenge the Lord of Desolate Fortress.

Ma Yeon-jeok stepped through empty space once more.

His black eyes followed every one of the Blood Flame Sect Master’s chaotic movements.

When his eyes moving up, down, left, and right precisely caught the white-haired, handsome man, the old man’s step distorted space.

It was Void-Stepping with an uncanny feeling to it.

In an instant, he blocked the Blood Flame Sect Master’s Body Movement Scripture route and arrived before him.

His purple robes fluttered with solemn dignity.

Bowol Sword once again contained a fearsome force wave, and the Blood Flame Sect Master’s pale fingers moved playfully.

The white arc Ma Yeon-jeok released descended, short and fierce.

The force waves scattered by the sword path alone seemed ready to shatter the air.

The Force Projection gathered on the back of the Blood Flame Sect Master’s hand, which had deflected the sword strike aside, exploded with terrifying strength.

Craaaaaash!

A thunderous roar filled the air.

Both the swordsmanship and Force Projection were on an entirely different plane from ordinary martial arts.

They contained profound principles taken to the limit of cutting and bursting.

It was the peerless realm where a sliver of power produced a thousand jin of force.

From that moment, the absolute masters exchanged moves in the air.

Blurred, overlapping trails covered the dusk, and even the wind raised by their evasive Body Movement Scripture grew into powerful storms.

The aftermath of their battle began to devastate Tang Family Fort.

Rumble!

The ground they had not even stepped on sank. It was an earthquake that spread across the entire outer court of Tang Family Fort.

Ancient trees toppled as their leaves fell, while fragments of violent force carved deep trails across the earth.

Gasp!

Agh!

Over a dozen experts from the Ten Perfect Sect, Tang Sect, and Blood Flame Sect who had been near their feet fell, shredded by blades of force.

Each time Ma Yeon-jeok released a Harmonizing Force wave, the ground overturned.

Tremendous power, more like a tsunami than a wave, crushed masters from every faction.

The old man could not spare them any attention.

Having originally cultivated tyrannical martial arts, he was poorly matched against the current Blood Flame Sect Master.

The profound meaning of Ma Yeon-jeok’s swordsmanship lay in wielding tremendous strength, while the Blood Flame Sect Master was clumsily wielding the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s power as well.

Every time they exchanged a move, he had to use Harmonizing Force to redirect the force.

He had to act twice within a single exchange. Even so, he matched the man evenly.

He tore through the openings in the Blood Flame Sect Master’s imprecise forms, cutting across his entire body.

Each time, the power of regeneration sealed the man’s flesh.

Ma Yeon-jeok was not unscathed either.

He could not easily endure the savage force waves of Blood Arts qi.

Bloodstains began to appear across his hardened body.

‘What is this bastard after?’

The old man considered it.

Did the man have enough room in the midst of battle to stabilize the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s power?

If not, would he bring out a supreme technique to decide the battle quickly?

The answer was not far away. They had exchanged roughly fifty moves when the Blood Flame Sect Master’s toes suddenly pointed downward.

“Form your ranks!”

“Fall back! They scattered poison caltrops!”

“Do not approach the Grand Preceptor! Do not meet their sword forms head-on!”

A chaotic battle was unfolding on the ground. The killing intent of the Ten Perfect Sect experts, who had lost their sect master, was fierce.

They seemed to believe it was a scheme by the Blood Flame Sect and Tang Sect.

The Blood Flame Sect experts hidden throughout the area also scattered Blood Arts force waves without distinguishing friend from foe.

The Tang Sect, which had made its last stand at Tang Family Fort, did not retreat either.

Myriad Flowers Rain swept through the air alongside countless hidden weapons, causing blood to bloom like flowers.

Everyone had become hopelessly entangled.

Within that chaos was Jeong Yeon-shin, single-handedly slaughtering over ten Blood Masters.

The fluttering hem of his black robes seemed to proclaim invincibility.

No one could withstand even two exchanges against him. They merely managed to delay him for a moment.

He was creating space all by himself.

“There he is.”

At the end of the Blood Flame Sect Master’s steps through the air stood the young Grand Preceptor.

Just by looking at that Body Movement Scripture footwork, Yeon-shin could tell the man meant to shake Ma Yeon-jeok by any means necessary.

‘Blood Flame Sect Master.’

Yeon-shin had already taken in the battle between his grandfather and the Blood Flame Sect Master.

It was not because he had reached a level where he could destroy numerous Blood Masters without even sparing them a glance.

It was because he was worried about his grandfather, who seemed to be speaking his final words.

Among the Blood Masters were some especially powerful ones.

They were comparable to ordinary Blue Uniform martial artists of Desolate Fortress.

They directly carried out the sect master’s orders in a heretical major faction whose influence was so vast.

It would have made less sense if they had been weak.

Yeon-shin could only be thankful that the Apostles scattered across branches throughout the vast Central Plains had not overcome the limits of distance.

“Your left rear is open!”

“Attack!”

Their coordinated assault was intricate. They had deployed a sword formation woven with the principles of a formation.

Five or six swords held the front, pressing in with perfect coordination.

It was a movement that admitted they were clearly inferior.

‘Languid Flame Dragon.’

The youth briefly sharpened his aura sense toward the rear.

He could feel the hot aura of Languid Flame Dragon’s blazing yang qi.

Languid Flame Dragon was struggling desperately to break through the Tang Sect experts and reach this side.

“Temporary Squad Leader! If you die before I do, I’ll kill you myself! I’ll be bored!”

The Ten Perfect Sect martial artists had the bearing of evil spirits.

While many Blood Masters held Yeon-shin back, the remaining Thirteen Heavens experts were clashing with the Tang Sect.

A few even drove swords into the backs of the Blood Masters fighting Yeon-shin.

It was a chaotic melee.

The youth turned his aura sense forward again.

Having lost three people in the first clash, they seemed to have become extremely wary.

The particularly strong ones kept Yeon-shin occupied, while the rest dashed around in every direction with lightness arts and hurled thunderclap bombs.

There were many of them.

Boom, boom, boom!

They did not distinguish friend from foe.

Yeon-shin gritted his teeth. His back stung.

In an instant, he scattered the force waves of Myriad Flowers Rain, but there had not been enough time to fully execute it.

The impacts piled up, and his internal injuries worsened.

Even so, the youth was a Black Uniform of Desolate Fortress.

Though he repeatedly dropped to one knee before force waves and exploding thunderclap bombs, he carved fear into his enemies’ faces.

With a straight sword strike from Radiant Sword Flow, he severed their necks. With Sihwa Boundless Hand in his left hand, he blasted apart the bodies of enemies on the other side along with the air around them.

Pure white sword arcs and hand shadows erupted with overwhelming force.

It was martial prowess capable of facing an elite group from a major faction alone.

Slice!

The youth swung upward, cutting the neck of one Blood Master, then prepared for another attack.

He calmly ignored the heavy sensation catching in the hand gripping his sword hilt.

‘It’s coming.’

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s figure, wearing a smooth smile, plunged diagonally downward.

The speed was astonishing.

Was the old Kunlun Sect’s Cloud Dragon Eight Steps, which freely moved through the air, like that? There was something chilling about the man’s smile.

Then it happened.

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s red robes fluttered violently.

It was not a gale raised by him.

The old man in purple robes appeared behind his shoulder, his face terrifying as he leaned forward.

It was Walking Upon Empty Space following Void-Stepping.

It seemed he had moved his body by completely detonating his qi.

Crack!

Ma Yeon-jeok’s wrinkled hand seized the white hair.

At the same time, having noticed Ma Yeon-jeok’s approach, the Blood Flame Sect Master drove a hand blade through the old man’s abdomen.

The sound of Protective Qi Technique being torn apart and flesh splitting rang out.

The Blood Flame Sect Master smiled broadly.

“I caught a young old man. Though the martial world feared you, this Sect Master did not. The Ma line of Desolate Fortress is weak.”

The two unmatched masters fell in that position and landed upon the ground at the same time with a heavy impact.

“Blood demon, that stings a little.”

Ma Yeon-jeok’s lips twisted upward.

The old man did not release the Blood Flame Sect Master’s head.

Taller than the noble blood demon, he gripped the man’s crown and kindled a spark resembling Samadhi True Fire.

It was a blue so deep it seemed cold.

“What...?”

In an instant, the Blood Flame Sect Master’s entire body lost strength. He nearly went limp.

His ruby-like eyes suddenly wavered. The sect master felt it completely. The flame that would slay demons and eradicate heresy, a blue flame that destroyed evil.

There was no heat.

It was simply an intensely deep blue.

It was the form of a martial art that had reached complete mastery.

Ma Yeon-jeok.

Through the mnemonic formula of the Jeong Family Youth Technique, he had cast aside all earthly afflictions and returned after bringing his grandson’s martial arts to great completion.

The sacred dharma power of Destroy Evil, Reveal Righteousness sent blue sparks flying as it toyed with the Blood Flame Sect Master’s vision.

For the first time, the white-haired, peerlessly handsome man’s expression twisted.

Whoosh!

Blue flames rose in an instant.

They were enormous. Large enough to trap both absolute masters while burning without end.

Every movement on the battlefield stopped.

It was a sight that forcibly drew every eye.

It was far beyond the realm of humans. It was not a product of the sorcery arts.

It was a divine feat.

“Leader of the heretical sect.”

“Right now, this is...!”

“Are you not curious about the next world? Reincarnation, that is. You must have studied the Buddha’s teachings as well. Did you not preach your heretical sect with the Buddha’s teachings to make it sound convincing?”

“No. No! Do not do this!”

“As the Divine Sword of Desolate Fortress, I ascend to heaven.”

Ma Yeon-jeok’s voice rang out calmly. The old man continued slowly.

“I will shed this burdensome shell and engrave an immortal name upon the world alongside you.”

It was as though he had seized and drawn forth the realm of his prime. Terrifying power surged through his voice.

The Blood Flame Sect Master’s voice was the same. Only shock filled it.

“A dharma-powered hand technique... The grand preceptor's chair...!”

“Grand Preceptor? You are wrong.”

Whoooosh!

The blue flames swallowing the two unmatched masters grew deeper. It was the form of great completion.

The martial arts of the young Grandmaster manifested through his grandfather’s hand.

Before the experts of major factions who stood at the upper levels of the martial world.