WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 191: Bond (6)

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They said the young Leader of Demon Wings had not had an easy upbringing.

That was the Hao Clan Leader's speculation.

All at once, the sounds around the pavilion's drinking table vanished.

It was as if frost had settled over Baek Seo-gun's upright figure. Her aura compelled silence.

A cold autumn gust swept past, scattering the ends of her gray hair near the nape of her neck before fading away.

Her martial power had merged with her body and mind. Without realizing it, she had fully revealed the presence of the Sword Venerable of Henan.

"What did you say?"

Baek Seo-gun asked quietly. The smile had vanished from her lips.

She recalled the time she had faced Jeong Ban-ak's son at Sevenfold Gorge. What had she said then?

"I said he didn't seem to have grown up easily, for the son of a great landowner. I didn't hear much beyond that, but..."

The Hao Clan Leader casually adjusted his collar and continued.

"If a third-rate martial family owned vast lands and exercised authority, it had to soothe the people alongside the county magistrate. That was necessary for a good harvest too. You've eaten and drunk well, so work harder. You understand, don't you? I heard the Family Head of Jeong Family Manor frequently held feasts. When the Flower Prince, Jeong Dae-myung or Jeong Ban-ak, took the manor head's seat, he must have displayed his influence through banquets as well."

The young master Jeong Dae-myung had possessed a superstition bordering on obsession since childhood.

He said misfortune came from making people work without compensation. Baek Seo-gun had benefited from that as a maidservant. Things beyond the manor could not have been any different.

"So?"

Her lips moved slightly.

The Hao Clan Leader did not seem particularly intimidated. He too led a faction with a temperament unlike any other under heaven.

There was something heroic in the way he spoke so calmly.

"Jeong Ban-ak's first and second sons strutted around as the only great family of Xinye County, but the third was never there. I heard he had not attended even once in his short life. People only occasionally saw him walking through the village alone, looking thoroughly cowed compared to the other direct descendants. At some point, he stopped leaving the house altogether."

"..."

"Jeong Ban-ak searched so desperately for his granddaughter, who could not even walk yet, but he never said a word about his third son. The accounts of the people of Xinye County all agree. When a few commoners at the feasts asked Jeong Ban-ak about his third son, he would drive the guests out, saying they had harmed public morals. After that, no one asked after Jeong Yeon-shin again. That was the story."

"...Could you have been mistaken? Jeong Family Manor may be a third-rate martial family, but it is not without a lineage. It held influence in Xinye County comparable to the county magistrate. How could ordinary commoners know the family's private affairs?"

"Mind if I curse?"

The Hao Clan Leader narrowed his eyes and spoke with the loose manner of a back-alley thug. The Hao Clan was a faction that took in and protected the lower classes of the Central Plains as disciples.

Even when speaking to a friend who was the Sword Venerable, the Hao Clan Leader did not watch his words.

Baek Seo-gun, who had lowered her eyelashes as if lost in thought, raised her head.

"What?"

"Being the Sword Venerable means you can say anything, does it?"

The Hao Clan Leader continued slowly.

"Of course they wouldn't know everything precisely. You aren't wrong. This is the private family business of a household with some influence. But when it comes to gathering and sorting rumors scattered throughout the world, the Hao Clan can look down on even the Beggars’ Sect, so long as it doesn't concern the Nine Sects' territory. Are you questioning our faction's capabilities?"

"..."

Rustle.

Baek Seo-gun's white sleeve brushed the drinking table as it rose.

She stood without a word. The Hao Clan Leader looked up at her.

"You haven't had a single drink. Where are you going?"

"I must find out for myself. You said there were other surviving direct descendants."

She murmured softly.

The Hao Clan Leader nodded readily.

"Jeong Ban-ak's second son and granddaughter entered the Zhongnan Sect. The Chief Steward of Jeong Family Manor established a very large merchant company near Kaifeng. The other workers wouldn't interest you."

"I will go to Mount Zhongnan. It is in Shaanxi, so I can see the young master as well."

At her words, the Hao Clan Leader's lips twitched.

"Did you just call the Leader of Demon Wings a young master? The Sword Venerable of all under heaven..."

Baek Seo-gun did not answer. The skin beneath her neat brows trembled faintly.

They had that kind of bond. After many years apart, Jeong Yeon-shin had helped her understand Jeong Ban-ak's teachings.

What Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, had drawn when facing her qi sword control was a sword that reaped bonds.

The Spirit Sky Sword Ghost had acknowledged Jeong Yeon-shin through both blood and martial arts. The maidservant who had grown proud accepted the forgotten past.

But what if the boy had not received the love he should have received at home?

"I... My words and actions..."

She remembered the things she had proudly said to Jeong Ban-ak's son. Her mind, always clear with a sword in hand, crumpled.

It felt as though something blunt had cut into her thoughts. Baek Seo-gun thought, What madness...

The Hao Clan Leader suddenly widened his eyes.

"More importantly, you said you're going to Zhongnan. You intend to cause a major incident. Do you not know how much the Sword Ghost of the Heart Martial Union's presence will affect the Nine Sects? Please know yourself. Unless you intend to start a war between factions..."

"Taking one or two insignificant underlings away is as easy as turning my hand over. Don't make such a fuss."

Her voice was hoarse.

Baek Seo-gun set out that very day. She dismissed the subordinates who wished to accompany her and wore only a single sword at her waist.

On a quiet official road, supreme lightness skill stirred. The Sword Venerable's form warped out of sight.

* * *

When the First Fist of the Eon Family spoke of the Leader of Demon Wings, Eon Hwa-ryeon did not lower her voice. Her words directed at the young Leader of Demon Wings rang clearly through the area.

She evaluated the boy's martial arts, offered advice as though concerned for the future of Desolate Fortress's newly appointed Squad Leader, and told him to come within reach of her techniques as a senior.

Her words were a roundabout way of belittling Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings.

Perhaps the leaders of the Assembly, already driven to ruin, had ordered her to act that way. Forty-five elite experts had fallen one after another to the young Squad Leader.

The Martial Alliance Assembly's grand founding ceremony had, for all practical purposes, already fallen apart. It would be difficult to salvage its dignity in any way.

They had no choice but to have at least one person decisively defeat the Leader of Demon Wings.

Unlike Seom-ye, who had unfolded the ultimate technique of the Sihwa Boundless Hand, the First Fist of the Eon Family had only received his attacks. Only her move in the fifth exchange had been different.

Among the gathered martial artists, those who had cultivated an eye technique or possessed exceptional eyesight noticed that the Leader of Demon Wings had suffered a loss.

Different emotions appeared on each face.

"See things differently? Your gaze is unusual. Come closer."

The Fist Exemplar, Eon Hwa-ryeon's clear voice made the advantage clear. Yet the Imperial Hero's voice was louder.

"The experts of the Assembly truly are something else. This Hyeon is impressed."

The qi in his voice spread with striking naturalness. It resounded from the spectator seats in every direction, enough that even Eon Hwa-ryeon glanced toward Hyeon Won-chang.

Hyeon Won-chang continued with a deliberately guileless expression. He appeared to be speaking to the person beside him who had said they were in love with Eon Hwa-ryeon.

"Isn't it truly impressive to see someone past forty looking so full of spirit? Before a boy who has only just passed fifteen, no less. As expected of an Assembly formed by fair and upright major orthodox factions, they treat their opponent as a complete equal even with such an enormous difference in age. What a transparent spirit. It may be unconventional, but it seems like conduct worth learning from. The name Martial Alliance Assembly is not wasted on them. Would you not agree?"

"I suppose so..."

The middle-aged person who had answered without thinking shut their mouth. They seemed to have finally understood the implication. Hyeon Won-chang smiled and patted their shoulder.

The middle-aged spectator's cheering for Eon Hwa-ryeon beside him had been intolerable to the Desolate Fortress expert. Only now did Hyeon Won-chang seem to feel the indigestion in his chest ease.

Across from him, the Languid Flame Dragon curled his lips as though dumbfounded.

The martial artists who had been noisily talking in the heat of the moment fell silent.

Hyeon Won-chang had drawn their attention toward the martial stage, even if only slightly. The Leader of Demon Wings' age had grown indistinct after his repeated victories.

On reflection, anyone could see that something rarely seen in the martial world was unfolding.

The Assembly's main experts had suffered consecutive defeats against a boy not yet twenty, and a leading candidate to become the next Eon Family Head had provoked the young Leader of Demon Wings.

It instead restored the dignity of both the boy and Desolate Fortress. There had to be more than a dozen supreme experts in Black Uniform among them.

The Chief Steward's Office of Desolate Fortress had achieved its intention. The thousand martial artists gathered here would spread the rumors across the world.

At this moment, the Imperial Hero had put a full stop to the mission Jeong Yeon-shin had received. He did not care about anyone's gaze.

Even if Jeong Yeon-shin lost here, he had already won.

If he won the martial match as well, the consequences of that victory would not remain within Hanzhong.

Even the Zhuge Family Head seated in the leaders' tent would struggle to stop it.

"The chatter has gone on long enough. Squad Leader, please begin whenever you wish."

Hyeon Won-chang said this while lightly touching the hero’s headband around his forehead. He looked as though he were pretending not to care.

"You have a capable subordinate."

Eon Hwa-ryeon spoke to Jeong Yeon-shin. As though she had seen through the meaning behind Hyeon Won-chang's words, a hint of admiration entered her voice.

She was unlike the many senior figures of the Assembly under the awnings who watched Hyeon Won-chang closely.

She was bound where necessary and free of needless complications elsewhere.

She had the bearing of one from the martial world.

Narrowing her eyes, she parted her lips.

"The remaining five exchanges will be enough. I will yield the first move."

She wore the same expression she had worn while holding a wine cup at the tavern. Her bare right arm extended from her orange sleeveless martial garment and swept in a wide circle.

She appeared to be carelessly loosening up, but a transparent aura rose with that single movement, distorting the air.

It seemed she had thoroughly relaxed her acupoints. It was a sign that she was about to use her full strength.

"Two moves."

The boy spoke slowly.

"You will lose in two techniques."

"What?"

Eon Hwa-ryeon's brow furrowed. His words did not sound like an empty boast.

This was a conversation between supreme experts who had crossed hands directly. They gauged their opponent's thoughts through breathing, heartbeat, minute movements at the fingertips, and the shapes of facial muscles.

At their level, sharpened aura sense revealed many things.

You were far too relaxed. Before this Squad Leader.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not say the words aloud.

Step.

He moved forward. He did not use a movement technique. The Record of the Dharma Light Wheel circulated ceaselessly through the minor meridians in his face.

Whenever energy passed through the Tongziliao acupoints outside the corners of his eyes, radiance reached even his pupils.

A faint white light flowed from the boy's eyes.

It was not an eye technique. It was far from refined enough to be called a complete martial art.

They said the art of seeing was far more complex and delicate than breathing methods. Eye techniques worthy of being called ultimate arts were rare.

Only certain great families and the Nine Sects, whose histories exceeded even the Ming imperial dynasty, possessed such training. The boy himself had gained only a small clue when he faced Jegal Cheong-a.

For now, he was simply sending aura out through his eyes, then drawing it back into his eyeballs.

He applied the dispersal and absorption mnemonic formula of Myriad Flowers Rain to the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel. Jeong Yeon-shin's uniquely precise control of qi reached out with a texture thinner than smoke.

He was analyzing the structure of Eon Hwa-ryeon's martial power.

"The inner energy pattern of her Protective Qi Technique is consistent."

He only examined her solar plexus, abdomen, and shoulders. There was no need to scan her whole body.

Eon Hwa-ryeon might notice, and it was enough to uncover the points of impact.

Whoosh!

Eon Hwa-ryeon's body filled his vision. When the boy took one step, she closed a distance of three. It seemed his words had made her impatient.

As if yielding the first move, she spread her arms wide with the theatrical flair typical of the Central Plains, but martial power surged in both hands.

The moment an attack reached her, it seemed a countering joint lock would fly out. Even the air felt grim.

Tap.

The boy's index and middle fingers touched her solar plexus. Their bodies were nearly pressed together.

He could even feel Eon Hwa-ryeon's breath against the left shoulder of his Black Uniform long robe, its sleeve torn away. It was remarkably deep and faint.

Perhaps because no notable aura had risen, she allowed Jeong Yeon-shin's touch with eyes flashing colorless light.

Eon Hwa-ryeon's gaze, lowered toward Jeong Yeon-shin's collarbone, came at him like a chilling blade.

That was all.

Whoosh!

Flame-like force waves rose from both her hands. In an instant, the air twisted. Was she aiming for an overwhelming victory?

The technique that coiled around Jeong Yeon-shin's arms like a spirit serpent went beyond the bounds of fist techniques.

As his collar was fiercely brushed, the boy sank into the realm of extreme speed.

Everything around him slowed. So did the sensation of Eon Hwa-ryeon's bare forearm sliding strand by strand over the black sleeve on his right arm.

It came with the buoyant sensation unique to the Jinju Eon Family’s Protective Qi Technique. His thoughts raced like a violent gale.

"Ignorance. Carelessness."

He had already completed his insight into her when he took one step. The structure of the qi forming her Protective Qi Technique was profound.

It flowed in the pattern of Eight Trigrams that crossed irregularly. It was an exceptionally sturdy construction.

Fine.

The upper dantian in his head flared white-hot, heating his skull. He divided a single instant into a hundred. It was as if his consciousness had seeped into a pure white flash.

Keeping his fingers on Eon Hwa-ryeon's solar plexus, the boy lowered only his elbow slightly.

He moved strangely, as though gently complying with her bare-handed restraint. With his radiant mind, he calculated the Eight Trigrams principle of her inner energy barrier.

"Later Heaven Eight Trigrams. Qian, Dui, Kun. I must drive it in within one-tenth of my exhalation. Now."

There was no reason to break the qi structure of the Protective Qi Technique. The First Fist of the Eon Family had talked at length.

If he followed the pattern of martial power and sent his inner energy into it in harmony, a single stream of qi would become an internal heavy-hand technique.

The young Leader of Demon Wings drew the martial match into the realm of sensation.

Swish.

Just before his hands were broken inside Eon Hwa-ryeon's arms, the boy rotated the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel toward the northwest, southwest, and west.

Their legs overlapped and their arms tangled for an instant. Jeong Yeon-shin exerted force through the sword gesture touching her solar plexus.

A sharply honed force wave seeped into her Protective Qi Technique.

Huagai acupoint, Xuanji acupoint, Tiantu acupoint. Invisible Force Projection severed the acupoints and minor meridians around her solar plexus one by one.

"What...!"

Eon Hwa-ryeon's sharp intake of breath brushed his ear. The boy clearly sensed the martial power throughout her body falter.

Their bodies remained intertwined at close range. Waves of qi scattered over the Leader of Demon Wings' black robe.

The instant he silently put more force into the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel at his sword gesture, the muscles throughout Eon Hwa-ryeon's body sank heavily. Bundles of tendons repeatedly contracted and relaxed at random.

The internal heavy-hand technique had fully penetrated.

Slowly, Jeong Yeon-shin laid her on the ground. Eon Hwa-ryeon panted as her eyes opened wide.

She seemed to have realized only then what technique had struck her. Her slightly parted lips showed the supreme expert's shock.

The boy looked down at her indifferently, then began walking away.

Step, step.

As he walked toward Hyeon Won-chang's flag, he felt inwardly relieved. He would have lost if they had fought using their own martial arts.

It did not matter whether the Assembly, driven into a corner, had ordered Eon Hwa-ryeon to provoke him, or whether the First Fist of the Eon Family's arrogance had grown after shattering the Sihwa Boundless Hand.

So long as his enemies did not know his lifespan and constitution, the result would repeat itself again and again.

"Desolate Fortress accepted the challenge. That is why this Leader of Demon Wings entered your Assembly's grand founding ceremony."

The boy spoke as he walked.

"Now the outcome has been decided, and the flag has not broken."

He gripped the flagpole planted at one side of the martial stage with one hand. The cold touch of steel ran up his arm.

The refreshing chill seemed to cool even his upper dantian.

Whoosh!

He raised the force wave of Wind Body throughout his body. A fierce wind spread along his pitch-black robes.

"This Squad Leader will take it back."

Crunch!

The boy roughly exerted force and pulled the flag free.

In the heavy silence that had settled around the martial stage, the White Uniform long robe tied to the flagpole fluttered loudly.

Footnotes:

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