Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time - Chapter 166

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 166: Embodiment (2)

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"What are you doing?"

It was the first thing he said to the Martial Alliance Leader as the Leader of Demon Wings.

Judging by his reaction, the man seemed to have recognized his short-lived constitution. Yet regardless of that shock, Jeong Yeon-shin had lived his entire life without ever imagining an embrace.

His mother had died in childbirth. Perhaps it would have been different if his master, the Lord of Desolate Fortress, had held him. No, even that would probably have embarrassed him terribly.

'Is the Lord of Desolate Fortress the only peerless master without a strange temperament?'

The Sword Star's status and seniority did not give him any reason to hide his displeasure. Yeon-shin's brow creased slightly.

"Oh dear."

Sword Star Hyeon So-baek's mouth turned down slightly. His feelings showed plainly on his face.

He looked as though he had just realized his mistake, yet there was not a trace of authority in his conduct.

"I have been rude to a proper Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress. Please forgive me. My face may look like this, but I am already an old man. I was rather quick-witted in my youth, but I am not what I once was. I felt a pang of sorrow, as though I had suddenly found a grandchild I never had. Your accumulated effort in martial arts was so astounding that it stirred me all the more."

The way he smiled faintly was quite playful. There was something eccentric about the master.

A world unto himself.

Yeon-shin instinctively understood the Sword Star's nature.

He was someone who lived in a world of his own, a peerless master who had dominated an era.

He did not hesitate to see through Yeon-shin's realm and constitution, then openly pity him.

He was remarkably free. The title Sword Star suited him better than Martial Alliance Leader.

Hyeon So-baek stroked his chin.

"Let's see. When the year changes, I will turn seventy. My years have truly piled up."

"Seventy...?"

Yeon-shin repeated it without thinking. It was a phrase that originated from Du Fu's Qujiang Poem.

It meant that reaching seventy years of age was rare. Since the elven race had descended into the world, it was no longer a commonly used expression.

What mattered was something else. The Sword Star's age was not known to the world.

Even as the Leader of Demon Wings, this was information Yeon-shin had not encountered before. He had learned it only now.

The boy did not hide his doubt.

"Are you of mixed elven blood?"

"I underwent Rejuvenation rather imperfectly."

The dignified old man smiled with the face of a handsome middle-aged man.

"I thought I would lose the physical strength I had trained for decades if I let my power guide my body as it pleased. Once a wanderer lives that long, enemies can be found everywhere. It is a matter of survival, you see. To preserve the skill of one's prime, one must become younger by an appropriate amount. It seems the Desolate Divine Spear on your side did not need to do this. It must be thanks to the sturdy inner energy unique to her distinguished lineage. I envy her."

He spoke of another world in the tone of an old man. His speech and bearing revealed the transcendent maturity of his inner energy.

Beneath his somewhat undignified side was the figure of a swordsman who pursued the utmost limit.

He was a master utterly mad for martial arts.

"There can be no one in the world with talent like yours. Yet how much effort and how many bloody battles must it have taken to reach such a realm? I was deeply pleased and fond of a junior who quietly strove onward despite a heavenly affliction. So I made a fool of myself. Even if I gathered a hundred hot-blooded swordsmen from the Alliance, they would not equal you. Is not the martial attainment you built while putting fear aside truly exceptional?"

The supreme authority of the Martial Alliance Assembly spoke. His expression made it seem as though Yeon-shin, standing there silently, was a grandchild performing for him.

It was strange and gave him chills. A master who sought to surpass the heavens with a sword had no interest in the balance of power between factions.

Only martial arts.

He saw only Yeon-shin's constitution and martial arts. It was as though the relationship between Desolate Fortress and the Martial Alliance did not matter to him at all.

It was the favor only the Sword Star could show. A great hero who had protected the common people by beheading the Lord of the Thirteen Heavens amid the Thirteen Heavens' foremost masters.

In other words, he had transcended the ordinary. Light constantly flickered through the eyes that took Yeon-shin in completely.

"Your balance in motion is highly unusual. Even a superior movement art places its center of gravity forward, but yours is distributed in every direction. It must be due to your innate sense of balance."

"......"

"The movement technique you just displayed was extraordinary as well. I too have only imagined Force Projection through the entire body, but I never dared attempt it. How could one possibly create force waves through minute muscles? From what I can see, it seems to be because of your body. It is beyond being well-constructed. Your body itself is a divine art. I am most curious about your method of training it."

He smacked his lips as though he could not bring himself to ask. Yeon-shin only listened.

"Even with my considerable knowledge, these are martial arts I have never heard of. You created them yourself, of course. If Shaolin had taken you in as a child novice monk, their seventy-two supreme arts would have multiplied two or threefold. If their abbot saw you, he would pound the ground in regret."

The stream of words was frightening. They carried both interest and keen scrutiny.

With insight keener than Desolate Fortress's Law Enforcement Squad, he saw through Jeong Yeon-shin. It was the discerning eye of one of the few masters in the world.

'So the Blood Flame Sect Master was not the only peerless master who was not taciturn.'

As the boy silently thought that, Immortal Dragon Jegal Hyeon saw this side of the Alliance Leader for the first time.

He was not the amiable man who merely nodded with a pleasant expression during leadership meetings.

Jegal Hyeon had never known his eyes could shine so brightly.

'He showed no interest in his duties.'

The young martial artists of the Alliance would have felt a deep sense of loss if they saw this.

Even Jegal Hyeon's own heart felt strangely empty. The person the Alliance Leader had finally chosen to discuss martial arts with was a master from Desolate Fortress.

Having heard about the banquet hall incident earlier, Jegal Hyeon decided to keep the meeting between the Alliance Leader and the Leader of Demon Wings to himself.

'Sister Ak's vitality is not what it once was. Can she resolve her conflict with the Leader of Demon Wings?'

If the Alliance did not wage a sect war against Desolate Fortress, then that boy was likely to become the bridge between the two great powers. At the very least, there was no one else on Desolate Fortress's side.

Jeong Yeon-shin, the Leader of Demon Wings.

The reputation he had built while teaching the Alliance's martial artists, his outstanding martial prowess, and his experience as an envoy all carried great weight.

The Alliance Leader's eyes alone made it clear. He treated the boy as though he were his own grandson.

'If the Alliance chooses to build friendly ties with Desolate Fortress, neither Sister Ak nor I will gain anything by earning the Leader of Demon Wings' ill will. I should persuade her properly.'

Then the Sword Star let out a small sigh.

"Ah."

An embarrassed smile appeared on his lips.

"I became too excited. Desolate Fortress has always been a group that places the people's livelihood above the martial world, has it not? You possess every quality that catches this old man's eye as a knight-errant, so I showed an unbecoming side of myself without meaning to. It must have been difficult for a junior to endure my chatter. Now, let us return to official matters..."

"It's all right."

Yeon-shin answered. The displeasure he had shown at their first meeting had long since vanished.

Light had gathered in the boy's eyes. It was there even though he had not activated the Light Wheel.

While the Sword Star assessed the Leader of Demon Wings, the Leader of Demon Wings had also been quietly watching the Sword Star.

Like the reflection that forms in the eyes of a person looking into a lake.

"Hm?"

The Sword Star's questioning response was slight.

"Just watching you stand still teaches me."

Yeon-shin spoke again.

"My knowledge is limited, so this is a balance I have encountered for the first time. You said my center of gravity is spread in every direction, but I can see that you constantly connect your feet to the earth. The aura extending from your Yongquan acupoints feels firm..."

Sky-blue lightning flashed from the boy's eyes. It was the Sword Star who had first committed the discourtesy of analyzing another's martial arts.

The Sword Star could not fault Yeon-shin for pouring out his insights and observing the reaction.

Even though the Sword Star was a peerless master, he knew that the Leader of Demon Wings before him was an envoy of Desolate Fortress.

"If one considers the stability of sword arts, there can be no better inner-energy opening stance. I envy your qi that never runs dry. You mentioned Senior Ak, the Desolate Divine Spear. Have you not accumulated inner energy no less profound than hers? Apart from your attainment, there is much I can learn from it."

The Sword Star gave a hollow laugh.

"Huh...? You can sense this? Is that the extent of your constitution's usefulness? I knew your senses were exceptional, but..."

"I understand the meaning of the natural stance you have taken. The qi pathways throughout your body let the surrounding air flow freely and without obstruction. I said that I could see rugged Mount Song in you, the bare-handed Sword Star. By strengthening the inner energy in the Yongquan acupoints beneath your feet and distributing qi equally to the Tongziliao acupoints near your eyes, it is not difficult for you to see through your opponent and move accordingly, even without a sword."

Yeon-shin continued slowly.

"The gently relaxed muscles throughout your body, as they are now, also seem to aid your ability to strike at once. You have allowed me to understand the usefulness of an eye technique that has reached the heights of a divine art. And how to use the body."

The Sword Star's smile faded.

The boy thought that his journey to the Martial Alliance had turned out to be a fortunate encounter.

He had reached a crucial moment. The Sword Star was an inexhaustible waterfall of inspiration.

It had been foretold from the moment Ak Su-rim named Yeon-shin as the right person for the mission. The union of essence, qi, and spirit was still far away.

He had to fill the domain of Black Uniform through martial skill and the creation of new martial arts.

The new Leader of Demon Wings did not stop speaking.

"Now that I have seen the Sword Star bare-handed, I can somewhat imagine you holding a sword. You said you were once a wanderer. I understand why the sacred mountains of the Nine Sects are included when people speak of you, Senior. You also wield sword arts inspired by masters of the Nine Sects, do you not? Through your peerless eye technique, based on the stance you are taking now."

He did not care whether Sword Star Hyeon So-baek's mouth fell slightly open.

If the Sword Star possessed a passion for pursuing Martial Extreme, Jeong Yeon-shin had been born captivated by martial arts he could never have imagined.

Was it the forthright arrogance characteristic of White Path orthodox sects? Sword Star Hyeon So-baek hid nothing.

The boy's eyes were filled with fascinating things. It was like an inn calling out that it could cook every delicacy under heaven.

Like Hangzhou's Great River Restaurant, famed for the excellence of its food.

"Your hands appear light. There are parts where the fluctuations of your inner energy are exceptionally weak. The Jugu acupoint below the shoulder, the Quchi acupoint at the arm joint... Yet the Hegu acupoint between the thumb and forefinger seems stronger. It is not a distribution suited to a swift sword. But when thrusting, there can be no more ideal use of power."

The closer death came, the more the upper dantian's abilities revealed themselves.

Inspiration surged through his mind like storm waves. It was likely stronger because he had heard of the Sword Star's background from his subordinates, who were like elder brothers.

Guesses and knowledge collided with his senses and exploded like fire bombs. Everything was inspiration.

He could not bear to keep it inside. Once he refined it through speech, it returned as a polished realization.

"The force waves of Wind Body beneath my feet. When extending a swift sword, keep the sword-gripping method light while making the Yongquan acupoints heavy. I can't imitate the natural stance exactly. I don't have a useful eye technique. It's fine. For now... I can make up for it with my body. I should focus the Jeong Family Youth Technique on training the minute acupoints... A sword art capable of covering every direction will need a mnemonic formula of wind..."

He murmured in complete absorption. He was no longer speaking to anyone.

They were the first clues of a sword art yet to be born.

At that moment, the framework for transforming his sword art was being formed.

From the Sword Star's reputation and the sight of him standing idly before him, Yeon-shin grasped the essence of wielding a blade.

All that remained was to add flesh to it and refine it through actual combat.

He saw through a master several levels above him without moving from where he stood, crossing that insight with reflection upon himself.

He was completely lost in selfless absorption. He no longer seemed human.

With the Light Wheel stopped, he continued thinking alone. Pale Azure Flame flickered again and again in the boy's eyes.

"That is why Namgung Se-jin..."

Jegal Hyeon moved his lips blankly. Sword Star Hyeon So-baek also openly revealed his stunned expression.

The two were martial artists of the White Path orthodox sects. They did not interrupt the boy as he comprehended the sword.

They could only watch with vacant, astonished faces.