WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 148: Black Uniform (6)
──────
“Tang Sect’s secret art?! I heard he went to Sichuan...!”
“Is that really Myriad Flowers Rain?!”
Murmurs spread throughout the vast promotion ceremony grounds. Anyone would have reacted that way. A peerless secret art from Sichuan’s martial world had appeared out of nowhere.
It had come from the hands of Seom-ye, whose growth they had watched, if only through rumor, since his days as a White Uniform. It would have been stranger not to be shocked.
“That looks real.”
“So the rumors from Qizhou were true...!”
The Jeomchang Sect disciples were even more astonished. Heavenly One Sword and Jeomchang Dancing Sword’s eyes had widened.
Sichuan’s martial world was not far from Mount Cang in Yunnan, where the Jeomchang Sect stood.
They had heard more tales of Sichuan’s oldest peerless secret art than people from Xiangyang ever had.
The oral accounts were naturally more detailed as well.
“Ah...”
A small exclamation escaped Little Sword Empress Chwi So-ok.
It lasted only an instant. Masters watching a spar between experts of the upper realms could exchange several sentences in the time it took to blink.
Qi naturally heightened their senses, giving each of them a different sense of time.
Heavenly One Sword Sa Do-ryeong, who was watching the spar, was no exception.
He glanced at the senior sister beside him. She paid no attention to the sight of Myriad Flowers Rain striking the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s body and spraying blood.
He knew why his senior sister, who had never cared much for martial arts beyond swordsmanship, was staring blankly in awe.
Seom-ye, Jeong Yeon-shin. A supreme master who was a swordsman yet had cultivated Hand Arts to an astonishing level.
And now, he was flawlessly handling the mnemonic formula of a divine hidden-weapon art. It meant his natural dexterity and qi control were extraordinary.
It was up to Sa Do-ryeong and Jeomchang Dancing Sword to infer how he had become connected to the Sichuan Tang Clan and how deep that connection ran.
The senior sister known as the Little Sword Empress simply seemed desperate to discuss martial arts with Seom-ye and exchange sword strikes with him.
‘At least it doesn’t seem romantic.’
Still, her interest was plainly deep. It seemed to be admiration for talent that came once in a thousand years.
Sa Do-ryeong could not tell how that might affect the Martial Alliance Gathering, but he hoped there would be no trouble when all the orthodox sects gathered.
His head seemed to ache. Enduring the phantom pain, he turned his gaze back to the platform.
On the sparring platform, they faced each other.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader moved swiftly before the boy, who had one arm extended.
She seemed to be trying to shake off the steel petals surrounding her.
Amid the swirling silver fragments, she moved with the Body Movement Scripture and lashed out with her sword, preventing fatal wounds.
The lingering traces of her pure-white sword paths created an almost illusory spectacle.
She was a sublime swordmaster, worthy of her reputation. Even against Myriad Flowers Rain, she revealed no opening at all.
Jeong Yeon-shin remained still with one arm raised. Only the hem of his blue robe swayed slightly around his unmoving feet.
He could not move recklessly.
Myriad Flowers Rain was a divine ultimate art. While operating its peerless mnemonic formula, he had no room to close in on the Law Enforcement Squad Leader.
His opponent was a supreme master who had fully attained Black Uniform.
Even binding her with Myriad Flowers Rain was no ordinary feat. He had to cast aside the impatience urging him to close in carelessly.
‘Unless I cultivated Wudang Sect’s Two Principles Mind Art.’
Unless he could truly divide his mind in two, limiting the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s movements was the most he could manage.
Within that opening, Jeong Yeon-shin needed to find a way to win the spar.
This consumed less stamina than operating multiple mnemonic formulas at once. His palm followed the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s movements as he sank into thought.
She seemed to have realized that Myriad Flowers Rain intensified the closer she came to him.
As an accomplished Black Uniform master, she might find a way through it, but he had bought himself some time.
‘The Law Enforcement Squad Leader probably hasn’t reached Five Qi Return to Origin. That’s a realm I know nothing about... But she has definitely reached Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. At the very least, she has attained the unity of essence, qi, and spirit.’
She was unlike Jeong Yeon-shin, whose spirit in the upper dantian was exceptionally immense.
The Squad Leaders of Desolate Fortress were supreme masters who had cultivated body, qi, and spirituality evenly before binding them into one.
Her ability to summon and direct power was faster than his.
For Jeong Yeon-shin, whose upper dantian was more powerful than that of most peerless masters, it was still a distant realm.
For now.
‘A drawn-out speed battle is impossible.’
Even an instant was precious. He quickly accepted the gap between them.
He had already realized it after one exchange. The sword strike that had shattered the Desolate Sword had cut precisely through the weakness of Radiant Sword Flow.
It had broken the force wave of the straight sword path from the side, shattering it before he could pour in more qi.
In a single move, it showed him what a counterform could achieve in the hands of a supreme master.
‘Still.’
He did not think the difference between them was overwhelming. The boy took it as proof that their strengths and weaknesses were distinct.
As someone fated to die young, he possessed an advantage. In one regard, at least, he would be superior to the Law Enforcement Squad Leader.
‘I have to control the flow. I’ll set up the framework so I can use the right form at once.’
The dharma power of the Light Wheel would not work on the Law Enforcement Squad Leader. Yet there was another opening.
Her study of counterforms. Jeong Yeon-shin saw his chance there.
Whoooosh!
A powerful wind burst from the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s body. It was a truly violent force wave.
The martial principle unique to the elven race, which Cheong Myeong had demonstrated long ago, erupted as a fierce gale.
Had all her movements until now been an opening stance for Force Projection, gathering force waves?
The metal fragments of Myriad Flowers Rain escaped Jeong Yeon-shin’s control and shot upward.
The boy immediately withdrew his arm. The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s advancing footwork was unbelievably fast.
As he watched her grow rapidly larger in his vision after a single step, he placed his hand on the hilt of the divine sword Northern Light.
‘Myriad Flowers Rain isn’t an art I can use for long against an elven master.’
The realization came with a small insight. The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s straight blade reached before his eyes.
She had pierced through the distance in an instant with a storm-like sword formula. It seemed to be her signature technique.
Jeong Yeon-shin spun with leaf-like footwork and passed by her.
At the same time, his vision turned white for a moment. A chilling flash of sword light had swept through his rapidly turning view.
Step.
Ignoring it, he switched positions with her and immediately stepped forward.
Colorless ripples spread beneath his feet. It was the aura of the Light Wheel. Phantom Wing Second Step.
The invisible wave pushed back the wind force waves surrounding the Law Enforcement Squad Leader. It was a step that created the opening for Force Projection.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader had already nearly completed her turn.
Whoosh!
Her blade turned with her body, drawing a half-moon sword path.
White light rippled along the blade rushing toward Jeong Yeon-shin. It was not solidified qi, but seemed to be compressed gale winds wrapped around it.
The approaching sword path was truly refined and exquisite. With a single stroke, it cut through the airflow created by Phantom Wing Second Step.
‘Deep Valley Profound Wind Sword Art...!’
They said its sword paths flowed long and unbroken. It was true.
It preserved the force carried in her own sword strike as it countered Jeong Yeon-shin’s martial arts.
Phantom Wing Step could not fulfill its role. Before he could gather Force Projection, her sword was already before his eyes.
Another crisis. The humming resonance of metal was chilling.
Hup!
The boy drew in a short breath. With that single inhalation, he firmly settled the qi within his body.
Radiant Sword Flow had been countered from the start. The same went for Myriad Flowers Rain.
There was no other choice.
‘Sihwa Boundless Hand.’
Jeong Yeon-shin loaded qi into both hands. The sword strike was about to cut straight across his shoulder.
Clang!
He struck the flat of the blade with the back of his right hand. The shock wave of True Barrier, the second form, shot straight ahead along its path.
As wind swept across his face, Jeong Yeon-shin briefly furrowed his brow. The back of his hand throbbed.
The current of power surrounding her sword had torn apart the Light Wheel’s protective qi.
He had struck the flat rather than the edge, yet it was still like this. Her swordsmanship was truly profound.
‘I need to create a Protective Qi Technique that suits my body too.’
The thought arose, but he immediately pushed it aside. The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s jet-black hair was already brushing through his vision.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s form had not worked. Struck by True Barrier, she turned with her sword as it rose diagonally upward.
Her movement technique was incredibly fast, yet even exposing her back without hesitation did not seem like an opening.
The wind fused with the Body Movement Scripture continuously whipped her black robe.
Deep Valley Profound Wind Sword Art. It was an art of fierce wind wielded with the entire body. She was effectively shrouded in sword qi that could become sharp force waves at any moment.
This was the world of a consummate supreme master. Martial arts had entered the realm of extraordinary efficacy.
Without time even to use True Step, Jeong Yeon-shin threw a punch. He loaded the Force Projection of Helix into that single fist.
Brief force waves swirled around his entire body. Once again, the boy’s senses caught the flat of her blade exactly.
The touch of the blade striking his fist was cold. The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s sword strike was pushed back after colliding with the vortex of force waves.
But that was all.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s swordsmanship was truly seasoned. She seemed like a master at controlling distance.
She continued to strike with her sword, yet Jeong Yeon-shin had no time to draw Northern Light.
She could freely swing her sword at him, while he had to fight her blade at close range.
That was the flow. Her movement and sword paths forced that kind of battle upon him.
It was the complete opposite of Seom-ye’s Lineage, where the point of impact lay only on the opponent’s body.
Clang! Thud!
Jeong Yeon-shin’s flesh-colored paths and the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s silver sword paths continued to cross.
Short and long trajectories tangled in the silence.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader controlled the flow through counterforms. Her sword paths were strange.
They resembled an endlessly unraveling skein of thread. Not a single sharp strike, but wind ceaselessly wearing away at a cliff.
Deep Valley Profound Wind Sword Art. Its force never broke.
‘It’s a martial art that supports the study of counterforms.’
Jeong Yeon-shin thought so. She accepted every form of Sihwa Boundless Hand without difficulty.
Meanwhile, his blue robe was gradually becoming rags.
The force waves of sword strikes grazing the floor tore his trouser hems, while two slashes that cut through Fist Flower, the third form, reached his chest.
Slash!
A cold sensation brushed past the pit of his stomach.
After sword light flashed in the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s pitch-black eyes, burning pain spread through Jeong Yeon-shin’s chest.
He was being completely overwhelmed.
With senses superior to hers, he anticipated her movements and barely kept up with her brilliant speed in summoning and directing power.
‘It makes sense.’
Much of Seom-ye’s Lineage had spread through Desolate Fortress. In the main fortress, it was openly called martial arts of the senses.
Openings in movement, the starting point of Force Projection, weaknesses in a flow.
Her sword strikes came after piercing through all of it, alongside the rapid qi control of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
Anyone here could see the shape of the spar. It had already tilted heavily in her favor.
Even so, the boy’s face remained indifferent. The longer the exchange continued, the more expressionless he became.
‘...This is unexpected. Was there not enough time? For the Law Enforcement Squad, I mean.’
Just as Jeong Yeon-shin thought that,
Swish!
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader suddenly stopped and flicked her sword once.
With a sharp sound, bloodstains marked the floor of the sparring platform. Jeong Yeon-shin’s blood left a straight trail.
“My Lord.”
She slowly parted her lips.
“Seom-ye’s martial arts are sufficiently profound, but I believe it is too early to entrust him with a combat unit containing many Blue Uniform martial artists. He should devote himself to training until his inner energy reaches Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. Rather, how would it be to place him in a separate unit selectively deployed only against the Demonic Sect?”
“...”
Silence settled over the promotion ceremony grounds. The Squad Leader who had been matching martial arts against her opponent had stopped the spar.
At the same time, she offered her counsel to the Lord of Desolate Fortress.
This promotion was impossible.
An unusual silence passed through the grounds. The mood was generally one of agreement.
It seemed that most of the hundreds seated at the promotion ceremony felt the same way.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s only effective strike had been Myriad Flowers Rain.
The Desolate Sword had shattered as soon as he drew it, and he had not even been able to draw his other sword afterward.
“No. Something feels strange.”
Few seemed to pay attention to the Languid Flame Dragon’s murmur.
On the tiered marble platform, the Lord of Desolate Fortress sat with legs gracefully crossed upon the stone seat, offering no reply. The Lord simply gazed down at Jeong Yeon-shin.
The boy, however, did not meet the Lord’s eyes. He blankly stared at the Law Enforcement Squad Leader standing before him.
‘What is she talking about?’
Jeong Yeon-shin muttered inwardly. Though he was in the throes of adolescence, he could still distinguish right from wrong.
He cared about his reputation. Since his goal was the position of Divine Sword Squad Leader, he did not say it aloud.
The Law Enforcement Squad.
It was the combat unit that enforced Desolate Fortress law and arrested main fortress martial artists who violated its rules.
He had heard it was famous for thoroughly analyzing the martial arts of the main fortress. Naturally, Jeong Yeon-shin had assumed it knew how to counter martial arts themselves.
That was what every counterform he had created until now had done.
But that was not the case.
It focused on responding to the opponent, centered on the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s own martial arts.
As he exchanged moves with her, his interest faded.
If Seom-ye Martial Lineage had been thoroughly dismantled, he had intended to create new martial arts based on that.
He had wondered whether Radiant Sword Flow and Sihwa Boundless Hand could take different forms.
Just as he had raised his own qi into a new realm through the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.
But after experiencing and observing it firsthand, he knew it was no good. His thoughts slipped out between his lips.
“If it had at least been one of the lower ranks.”
Would a lower-ranking Law Enforcement Squad martial artist not have focused solely on the weaknesses in his martial arts? The boy forced himself to swallow the rest.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader did not even look back. Had she already finished judging Jeong Yeon-shin? She only looked up at the Lord of Desolate Fortress.
“His martial arts and senses are exceptional, but his speed in summoning and directing power is slower than that of the other Squad Leaders. His improvisation in the face of counterforms is also lacking.”
Her expression was the same as when the spar began. Only her lips moved.
Though they had exchanged moves quite fiercely, she seemed to have completely lost interest.
Step.
Jeong Yeon-shin took one step forward. Only then did the Law Enforcement Squad Leader turn her gaze toward him.
“You did not seem to have the temperament to act rashly.”
“...”
The boy did not answer. He only revealed the disappointment he had failed to hide.
The corners of his lips lowered slightly, and his handsome brow narrowed faintly.
Just as a trace of confusion appeared on the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s face,
Thud!
Jeong Yeon-shin’s figure blurred with True Step. It was as though he had embodied a swift sword with his body.
His blue robe, covered in bloodstains and sword marks, streamed out behind him.
Whoosh!
He openly used True Step. The Law Enforcement Squad Leader had more than enough time to respond.
Her black eyes took in the entire body of the young Blue Uniform master.
White wind from the Deep Valley Profound Wind Sword Art gathered around the long blade in her grip.
At that moment, the boy had closed inside her guard, releasing the force waves of Sihwa Boundless Hand in every direction.
Wooooong!
A storm rose beneath the foot planted against the earth.
He felt the muscles along both thighs tense sharply. Colorless force rippled through his right fist.
True Barrier came first.
It struck beneath the sword attack extended by the Law Enforcement Squad Leader. Once again, he caught the flat of the blade and smashed it with his fist.
With a cold, ringing recoil, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s sword rose like a water pillar shooting backward.
Her swordsmanship carried a flow that did not end after a single strike. Once again, she followed the sword path created through analysis of its mnemonic formula.
‘If it returns like that, it starts again. It’s so fast I can’t break it through movement alone.’
The boy thought.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s mouth was reflected in her pitch-black eyes. It curved in a small smile.
The boy extended his left hand. The force wave of Helix, the first form, immediately formed a vortex. He had condensed it together with True Step.
The airflow detonated by the Force Projection of his fist churned violently.
At the same time, it was delicate.
It shattered, strand by strand, the flow of force waves created by the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s sword path.
“...!”
For the first time, her eyes shook.
The result might have been different if the Law Enforcement Squad Leader had displayed her true martial arts from the beginning.
Because she had tried to compete with Jeong Yeon-shin in the principles of martial arts, she found herself shaken within her collapsing sword path.
Unraveling an underlying principle was called breaking down, while crushing and destroying through force was called destruction.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader possessed neither.
Her overwhelming strength had previously allowed her to get by without either method, but it had now become a liability.
It allowed Jeong Yeon-shin to specialize the force wave of Sihwa Boundless Hand’s Helix against her sword path.
“This is...!”
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s white hand, raised with her sword in a high stance, trembled. The long, unbroken flow of her swordsmanship became tangled in an instant.
It was as though obstacles had been placed across a predetermined road. A brief gap appeared as she changed forms.
That was enough for Jeong Yeon-shin.
His destruction had always been accompanied by breaking down. The boy said calmly,
“It’s a counterform.”
Behind the force wave of his left hand was his right, which had released True Barrier and returned.
At last, he drew his sword.
In the realm of ultimate speed, where the trembling movement of the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s eyelids looked slow, Jeong Yeon-shin grasped the hilt at his waist and drew the divine sword Northern Light.
Flash!
A blue sword light shot straight into the sky. The sword that rose like lightning shattered the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s sword to pieces.
Even as the powerful shock wave traveled into the hilt, the boy’s grip on the divine sword remained firm.
Clang! Whoooosh!
A storm rose from the tip of the sword that had risen in place of the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s blade. It was a powerful lingering force wave.
Jeong Yeon-shin was in a high stance.
Blue light flickered from the Northern Light Sword raised above his head as the blue and black robes of the two supreme masters whipped fiercely.
It was the wind that declared the end of the promotion spar.
“...”
Silence fell over the promotion ceremony grounds. The masters, who had ceaselessly discussed martial arts, shut their mouths.
The Law Enforcement Squad Leader stood blankly with her broken sword in hand, staring intently at Jeong Yeon-shin.
The boy paid no attention to anyone’s gaze. He only felt his own heart. Disappointment and relief crossed within him.
His body was heavy, but the sword raised in a high stance felt weightless. Was it the joy of taking another step forward?
He was Black Uniform now. Whatever the case, he had won.
Jeong Yeon-shin silently lowered his arm. The blue blade brushed past the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s ebony side locks.
As she flinched, the pale divine sword drew an elegant arc and returned.
The boy brought Northern Light’s tip to its scabbard. The deep blue blade slowly regained its pure-white glow as it disappeared.
There was a strange dignity in the bearing of the boy wearing a robe torn to shreds.
Some among the crowd stared at him blankly, as if bewitched.
Click.
The sound of the young supreme master sheathing his sword rang out clearly.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
