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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 185: Swordsman (8)
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Jeong Yeon-shin’s thoughts raced like lightning.
Despite his thick, flowing hair, the crown of his head felt cool.
His fully opened Baihui acupoint allowed countless thoughts to flow through him.
Instinct warned him. If he dragged out the exchange, he would certainly lose. His aura sense in the upper dantian told him so.
The mood of the crowd around the great martial arena was much the same. He had caught sight of them as he stepped onto the stage.
The senior figures of the great families, reputed veterans of the martial world, wore remarkably calm expressions.
It was as though, after watching twenty-three bouts, they had already passed judgment on Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings.
‘I know better.’
His opponent was one of the foremost swordsmen even within the Mount Hua Sect, where sword immortals were said to dwell.
He had not planned for two exchanges because he held the advantage. He had thought of it because he was at a disadvantage.
The forms a fight could take were as numerous as the martial arts scattered throughout the world. Varied was the right word for them.
There were duels decided in a single exchange, yet battles lasting hundreds of exchanges were not rare either. He had heard of fighters with both formidable external training and qi storage battling through the night.
‘The number of sword forms the Mount Hua Sword Absolute has cultivated must be enormous. He must have mastered every one of them as deeply as his years.’
They said he had once stood on equal footing with Ma Jin before Ma Jin lost an arm. He was not someone a newly appointed Black Uniform could contend with for long.
The years he had spent cultivating Mount Hua Sect’s peerless sword arts were simply on another level.
The higher one’s martial attainment rose, the wider the world one inhabited became. Wonpyeong One Sword Hall, where Desolate Fortress Squad Leaders sat at the round table, had made that clear to him.
The realm of Black Uniform was vaster than anything he had ever experienced. Cheon Ju-jin, the Mount Hua Sword Absolute, proved it.
“Hm.”
The middle-aged swordsman raised his eyes, and his presence suddenly loomed larger.
The young Leader of Demon Wings tightened his grip on his sword hilt. With a single leap of Wind Body, he closed the distance.
Whooosh!
A fierce gale lashed across his face. The brief time he spent in the air felt unusually long.
Before his feet even touched the ground, Jeong Yeon-shin swung his sword downward. Light flashed from its blade and trailed after it in a long streak.
It was the first form of his nameless sword art, a swift assault. He had honed it by cutting down more than a hundred Heart Martial Union martial artists.
Wherever he directed it, it heightened his sword force. It could strike first from any angle.
Pressure resembling the Imperial Sword Art pushed forward with the downward blow.
Clang!
Violent sparks burst forth. A fierce tremor ran through his grip, and he nearly lost hold of the sword hilt.
Though his lightning-fast sword strike had been freely unleashed, Cheon Ju-jin raised his sword sideways and blocked it.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art’s attack had fallen a step behind, yet he immediately transformed it into a defensive form.
Colorless flowers given shape scattered between the two touching blades. It was an exceptionally seasoned use of swordsmanship.
Their sword forces began to contend. Landing on the ground, Jeong Yeon-shin tightened his grip on the hilt.
Streams of energy flowed from the light wheel within his heart and, together with the Yongquan acupoints in his soles, drove against the ground.
The floor of the martial arena slowly crumbled beneath his feet.
Then it happened.
Swish.
Cheon Ju-jin lightly turned one foot. It was a minute sideways step. Soil scraped beneath his white silk shoes.
A faint cloud of dust rose like vapor. A subtle pulse of inner energy spread outward.
Heaven-Treading Plum Blossom Step.
Their crossed swords twisted. With a small movement of his feet, he redirected Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword force. As he spun around, he looked as splendid as scattering flower petals.
The Taoist’s and the boy’s swords each drew a circle. Sunlight rippled across the blades as they brushed past each other’s collars.
It was the harmony of master swordsmen.
It looked so natural, as though they had rehearsed the exchange. At the same time, aura stirred beneath Cheon Ju-jin’s feet.
It rose straight upward like the trunk of a plum tree. The aura of his footwork wound around his trouser legs, as though reinforcing his lower body.
It lasted only an instant. Before his opponent could launch the next sword form, Cheon Ju-jin’s sword flickered at tremendous speed.
The blade shot forward at a merciless pace. Cheon Ju-jin’s sword strike swept across with the inner energy rising from beneath his feet.
Slaaash!
The form of Plum Blossom Butterfly Dance raised a bitter wind. Jeong Yeon-shin dropped backward as though collapsing.
Iron Bridge.
His field of vision filled with the blade. It passed over the tip of his nose, blackening the sun for an instant.
Part of the boy’s black hair, which had not fallen far enough, was cleanly severed and scattered. The invisible qi surrounding the blade was as sharp as a divine sword.
‘His side is open.’
Cheon Ju-jin’s flank was close. The boy’s eyes flashed as he bent backward. He poured the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel into the Yishe acupoint near his spine.
The erector muscles along his back tightened with fierce inner energy. It was the movement of a supreme master. He immediately raised his upper body.
At the same time, he circulated the mnemonic formula through his left fist. With the wind brushing past his ear, the third form of the Sihwa Boundless Hand stirred.
Fist Flower.
Whoosh!
An invisible wave of qi bloomed from his fist. It rose in clusters like flowers blooming one after another.
Force struck force, creating another wave of aura as it surged forward. It was a close-range blow.
Rumble!
It met Cheon Ju-jin’s left hand. His open palm twisted as it descended in a flower-shaped pattern.
The shockwave lifted his sleeve, and the vibration rang through his bones. It was the Mount Hua Sect’s Falling Petal Palm Art. It struck down every force wave from Fist Flower.
The inner-energy control that came from the unification of essence, qi, and spirit allowed him to move half a step faster than the boy. The lingering images of Jeong Yeon-shin’s fists crumpled all at once.
Pain ran through his extended wrist. It was on a completely different level from the Falling Petal Palm Art he had seen in Yu Hyeon’s hands when he wore White Uniform.
Orthodox martial arts accumulated alongside the years of a supreme master were this solid.
“I remember that fist form. It resembles this sect’s martial lineage.”
Cheon Ju-jin spoke while adding force to his palm strike.
Boom!
The final blow thundered. Along with his fist, which had repeatedly clashed with the palm, the boy’s body slid backward.
His jet-black hair and robes fluttered from the recoil.
Distance opened between the two supreme masters. The faint dust rising at their feet seemed to soften the silence.
Then the people reacted. They filled the watchtowers and spectator stands.
“…The force waves have reached all the way here and are cutting across my face. I couldn’t even see what happened.”
“Are they truly human?”
“They’re supreme masters from the Nine Sects and Desolate Fortress. They’ve already shed their human shells…!”
The crowd could not hide its shock at the clash in the higher realm.
It was a fight one would struggle to witness even once in a lifetime of traveling the Central Plains. Yet the young Leader of Demon Wings’ eyes cooled.
That made four exchanges.
For the first time, the boy had failed to end the battle quickly. The Mount Hua Sword Absolute was a completed martial artist.
The wall of the Nine Sects, faced properly, was as high as their chivalrous spirit. They said martial arts and the Way combined were called the martial way.
Their martial arts had a depth and texture unlike those of the great families.
Jeong Yeon-shin had felt it the moment he stepped onto the martial arena. He saw Cheon Ju-jin’s stance with his sword drawn and sensed the dense, unbroken waves of inner energy.
His overall martial strength could not compare to a swordsman counted among the best in the Nine Sects. Not yet.
There was nothing strange about that. The leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen held such standing. He had been acknowledged as such through countless generations over hundreds of years.
As the face of the Mount Hua Sect, he had stood before the martial world as a revered swordsman. In the present martial world, he was the rival of Ma Jin, the Abyssal Killer.
An exceptional swordsman at Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
Their ages differed greatly. Unlike the boy, he had achieved the unification of essence, qi, and spirit.
He had harmonized his body, inner energy, and the spirituality of his upper dantian into one. It was a realm where qi moved with one’s thoughts.
Most of Desolate Fortress’s Black Uniforms had reached it. Jeong Yeon-shin, whose upper dantian was unusually immense, was different.
The boy who had donned a black robe through the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel alone was the exception.
It was only natural for their martial arts to differ when his opponent was the Mount Hua Sword Absolute.
The leadership of the Martial Alliance was clearly wary of the Nine Sects. Still, they seemed to fully acknowledge their martial strength.
That was evident from placing him at the rear to stop the Leader of Demon Wings during the grand founding ceremony.
Even ordinary gamblers gathered in Hanzhong knew it. The power of orthodox martial lineages built up over centuries was terrifyingly firm.
If anything, Jeong Yeon-shin was puzzled. He should have been pushed back even further.
If Cheon Ju-jin possessed the martial strength he appeared to have, he was still an opponent too difficult for him to handle.
Yet the Falling Petal Palm Art had failed to break through the Sihwa Boundless Hand of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel. Cheon Ju-jin showed no sign of holding back, but their strength had briefly felt equal.
‘He had internal injuries from the beginning.’
That was all the boy could think. He had learned something no one else had noticed.
A question naturally arose. When had he met such an enemy?
Perhaps Cheon Ju-jin noticed the change in his expression. He opened his mouth.
“We are equals. Our conditions are the same. Only a contest of skill remains.”
“…”
Only the Leader of Demon Wings, who had directly exchanged blows with him as a supreme master, could understand those words.
In the realm of Black Uniform.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s years were shallow, while Cheon Ju-jin was internally injured.
That was why they were equals, Cheon Ju-jin said.
He held his sword hilt firmly, looking as though he truly believed it. The temperament of the Nine Great Sects was this upright.
The people around the martial arena watched the two supreme masters face each other in breathless silence.
Those with broad knowledge and those without, martial artists who had cultivated their arts to the level of masters, and common folk who did not know even one move or half a form.
For all of them, it was a sight they would struggle to see again in their lives. Only the senior figures of the great families let their dark eyes gleam.
The Zhuge Family Head, who had been watching the arena with shining eyes, spoke.
“The Leader of Demon Wings’ inner energy was stronger than expected. I did not think he could stand evenly against Cheon Ju-jin’s inner energy. Cheon Ju-jin is a master with extraordinary sword force, even without cultivating the Purple Haze Divine Technique of the sect leader’s direct line.”
“It is fine. The Mount Hua Sword Absolute’s swordsmanship lives up to its name. The Leader of Demon Wings will not last long.”
The Moyong Family Head replied, light gathering in his eyes as well. Neither looked at the other.
The Zhuge Family Head, who was using a secret eye technique alongside the Moyong Family Head, continued.
“The Leader of Demon Wings’ first sword form was so exceptional that even I was surprised. He swiftly gathered the intervals of sword intent. It was a form beyond my knowledge. But the fact that he did not continue the flow and used a palm art for his second form means…”
“It means he does not possess many sword forms of that quality. That boy’s sword art is very thin. It cannot match the depth of renowned sword forms. A supreme sword art that responds to every variable and embraces even close combat is built up with time. If that child does not avoid the contest and clashes with him, he will lose within five exchanges. If he avoids it, he will lose his honor.”
Certainty filled the Moyong Family Head’s deep voice. The Zhuge Family Head nodded.
“It is time for him to fall. The First Fist of the Eon Family will not get a turn. Still, Desolate Fortress has achieved its intended result by displaying that level of martial strength at his age to everyone. It is already a loss for our alliance.”
“At least the Great Revitalization Pill will not fall into the hands of the imperial family’s watchdogs.”
“Cheong-a may stop working now.”
The Zhuge Family Head spoke, and Jegal Cheong-a, seated behind him, stopped breathing.
So did the fingers that had been anxiously stroking her long black hair.
The ends of her neatly combed hair trembled.
“My disappointment has not faded. To discover nothing with such attainment in eye techniques. If the nature of this match had been any different, you would have received severe punishment. Foolish child.”
“…I apologize.”
The girl replied softly.
Miss Ye, seated off to one side, did not even look toward them. Her crimson eyes, concealed behind her white blindfold, held only the martial arena.
She ran white fingers over her cheek as she sent a sound transmission to the Ye Family Head beside her.
―How much will it cost to put a stop to that?
―I believe it is not a matter of money.
―My Grand Preceptor was creating a new sword form. A dull occasion like this is nothing. What good is that when I’m this excited? Did you buy that Eon wretch?
―We have sent word discreetly. Yet there has been almost no response, so we may need a budget beyond the limit. We should refrain from it. If we draw on any more funds, the relationship between this sect and the Ye Clan…
―Enough. Prepare thick cloth. I will be beside the Grand Preceptor now.
As people traded all sorts of remarks, the conversation between Jeong Yeon-shin and Cheon Ju-jin continued.
They spoke while holding their swords low and gauging the distance. The two traced a wide circle with quiet steps.
“You said Ma Jin would be well. Now that I have crossed swords with you, I understand. You harbor resentment. You have hidden it deep in your grip. Yet it is regrettable that I cannot yield.”
“…”
“It would not do for all the Nine Sects to withdraw from the Martial Alliance Assembly. Matters carried out under the name of the martial world’s orthodox sects must not proceed without restraint. That is why the sect leader sent me here.”
To keep the great families in check.
Cheon Ju-jin had a righteous cause he bore.
If the formation of the Martial Alliance was inevitable, he wished to guide the direction of its strength correctly.
For that to happen, the Nine Sects had to win before everyone’s eyes.
“I will honor you by not lowering my guard.”
His clear voice rang out. It did not suit a middle-aged man, which showed how incomparably pure his inner energy was.
Swish.
Cheon Ju-jin reversed his longsword and raised it upright. His steps stopped.
Invisible waves of aura gathered like flower buds along the long blade. It seemed as though sharply honed inner energy was pouring out without end.
The signs of the sword art were beautiful. They were lofty enough to feel like sorcery arts.
“Hidden Fragrance, Drifting Flower!”
A cry of clear admiration slipped out. It came from the leadership of the Martial Alliance. Someone seemed to have unconsciously spoken the form’s name.
It meant the sword was well known. Jeong Yeon-shin remembered hearing that there was one sword strike that ran through every mystery of the Plum Blossom Sword Art as a single thread.
They said that after frequently discussing the sword with the nearby Zhongnan Sect, each sect had developed its own peerless sword form.
The boy silently watched Cheon Ju-jin take his opening stance. The Mount Hua Sword Absolute circulated his inner energy at a terrifying speed.
His chance to interrupt the activation vanished in an instant. The sword form had been completed the moment its momentum rose.
“Come. This is a martial contest of the orthodox sects.”
Cheon Ju-jin spoke quietly.
The world was not easy. The youngest Black Uniform master felt that deeply.
Everyone had a clear position to uphold. This was a place where just causes collided.
Unlike Shaolin and Wudang, the Mount Hua Sect actively involved itself in worldly affairs. It did not pursue material desire and only aided the stability of the people’s lives.
It acted so despite possessing strength counted among the greatest of the Nine Sects. Such people deserved respect. No one could deny it.
Yet the same was true for the boy who wished to save his maternal grandfather.
The heart of a grandson who had never known familial affection was no less pure than theirs.
‘I want to live happily.’
Facing the Mount Hua Sword Absolute, Jeong Yeon-shin sensed the world. The upper dantian in his mind communed with nature.
A single thread of indifferent providence struck down upon the crown of his head, making him look anew upon the dusty martial world.
That sky.
It had taken his lifespan, then thrown him talent as though giving alms.
When he sought to regain his allotted years, it had taken his uncle’s arm. It had tried to take his grandfather’s life as well. That was the world and its martial realm.
Even a figure from the Nine Sects, who wielded a sword for chivalry, stood in his way. The interests of the martial world were entangled.
The boy in the turmoil of youth hated his uneven life. There were times when the world he had fought to survive felt unbearably heavy.
That was why he had given his Static Training the name Dharma. To live a little more easily, a little longer.
Hum.
The intent gathering in both his hands now was no different. It was a thought honed into a single line.
That pure intent became a mnemonic formula and rang through every minor meridian in his body.
Even if the inescapable laws of all creation bind this head, I will someday transcend their order.
The boy murmured inwardly to the sky, with the arrogance of one who had never felt a limit in creating martial arts.
―Do not stop me.
He muttered to himself, recalling his maternal grandfather wrapped in Azure Flame.
That whisper.
It blossomed with radiance inside his mind. It was a flower bud formed from light.
Just as the Mount Hua Sword Absolute seemed to grasp Jeong Yeon-shin’s state of mind, the boy too sensed the harsh winds of the world within the Mount Hua Sword Absolute’s plum blossom sword.
Beyond it flickered the Azure Flame his maternal grandfather had burned with his life.
Swish.
He gripped the Northern Light Sword with both hands and held it before him. A long exhale formed white trails that ran up and down the blade.
A faint glow from the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel seeped from his breath.
The boy moved his lips. May my steps in the martial world never stop.
It was the moment when the young Grandmaster placed his wish upon a single sword.
Hum!
A flower of light bloomed in his mind. A trail of radiance appeared in his upper dantian.
The utmost intent took on a spiritual nature. It was called spirituality.
Something that could transform a soft lump of iron into an unbreakable divine sword flowed from his mind, through the meridians in both arms, and into the Laogong acupoints in his palms.
Auspicious spirituality overlaid the flow of qi.
“Hm…!”
Cheon Ju-jin, who had waited for the boy, let out a low sound. The sword’s momentum alone was dazzling.
The wave touching his aura sense announced the birth of a sword form that had not existed before.
The mystery of the martial world. The exclusive domain of a Grandmaster who opened the heavens.
The opening stance containing a divine art stirred. Feeling the momentum reach its peak, Cheon Ju-jin moved.
He struck horizontally, carrying the Body Movement Scripture of Hidden Fragrance Drift.
A shockwave of qi silently exploded from the Yongquan acupoints in his soles, and the Mount Hua Sect’s white Taoist robes scattered forward like a subtle fragrance.
Hummm!
Cheon Ju-jin’s blade trail tore through the wind. Translucent sword-force waves rose like clouds.
Colorless flowers of qi, gathered on the blade, bloomed. The Mount Hua Sect’s Hidden Fragrance, Drifting Flower.
The essence of the Plum Blossom Sword Art unfolded with dozens of cold streaks of sword light. A sword strike clearly within the realm of mastery charged toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
Crash!
The aftermath of the force engulfed his upper body in an instant. Gasping breaths burst from the spectator stands.
Miss Ye shook off the Ye Family Head’s hand and rose to her feet facing the martial arena.
At that moment, the boy transferred the sword path that had appeared in his mind into both hands. He wielded the sword with both hands.
The Northern Light Sword, already dyed deep blue, moved.
An illusion rose as though his black sleeves were layered over one another. Transparent inner energy swirled around the arm extending with the sword.
It was the third form of his nameless sword art. A streak of radiance engraved itself upon Hidden Fragrance, Drifting Flower. It cut completely through it.
Clang, clang, claaang!
The vibration reaching his hands was tremendous. It felt as though his grip would split apart. The sword resonance thundering in his ears was equally immense.
The boy paid it no mind and thrust out his sword hilt. He swung it neatly, yet with strength.
He deflected the sword force, shattered the flower buds of force waves, and crushed the successive sword paths rushing toward him.
The trail of the Northern Light Sword distorted into a single line and drove forward. It lasted an instant. Finally, the Mount Hua Sword Absolute’s sigh reached the tip of his sword.
A dull sensation traveled along the blade. Jeong Yeon-shin immediately released the strength in his hands.
The force waves of the sword form surrounding both arms scattered upward like leaves.
Then.
The plum blossom clouds of Hidden Fragrance, Drifting Flower slowly settled.
“Hah!”
From outside the martial arena, someone let out a restrained cry.
The fight had stopped.
The front of Jeong Yeon-shin’s clothing had been deeply cut, hanging down to his waist. His black long robe and the garment beneath had nearly been stripped away entirely.
Two sword wounds marked his firm chest muscles.
They had been cut extremely thinly and seemed likely to heal quickly, but blood ran down his sharply defined abdominal muscles.
The hem of his black martial trousers darkened further.
Cheon Ju-jin’s Taoist robe, as he held his sword lowered, was immaculate. Only its white collar had split and hung in tatters.
Yet Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword rested at the nape of his neck. He looked as though he had been subdued by a master’s sword strike. It meant the sword form had been precise.
Cheon Ju-jin silently watched the boy for a moment before speaking. His eyes were as deep as an abyss.
“There was an unfamiliar quality in that exceptional movement. I know you created that sword form here, in this place. With one sword strike, you have made me understand Ma Jin’s resolve.”
“…”
“What is the name of that form? Or, if it has none yet…”
“Azure Flame, First Form.”
The young Leader of Demon Wings sheathed his sword and spoke.
“There is nothing beyond that.”
“…”
Wind blew through the stillness of the arena. The boy Squad Leader closed his eyes, his upper body bare.
Hair brushing over his exposed shoulders fluttered wildly.
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