WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 211: Turmoil (5)
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Rumble.
The narrow strip of sunset light was cut off by the stone sliding door.
The heavy door, firmly shut, seemed to tell the new Leader of Demon Wings to steel himself. Jeong Yeon-shin took it that way.
His fingertips brushed the rough door handle.
Step.
He entered the pavilion's inner chambers. Ma Jin, the Desolate Ma family’s Family Head, had prepared the place.
His maternal uncle was busy with both family and official affairs.
That was only natural for a newly appointed Family Head.
They said the stronger a martial family’s members were, the harder it was to maintain discipline among them.
The Desolate Ma family was a prestigious clan that even one-armed Ma Jin would struggle to lead.
The letter Ma Jin had sent Yeon-shin carried a sense of exhaustion. He had written that there were many things he needed to prove.
He had not come to watch the duel between Cheon So-so, the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit, and Yeon-shin.
‘More accurately, he couldn’t.’
Yeon-shin recalled Cheong Myeong’s words when he had made a move earlier.
The mysterious eyes of their clan could see through another person’s heart to some extent. It was a well-known fact.
The man Cheong Myeong had subdued moments ago had clearly been a Ma family martial artist.
There was only one reason for unease.
‘Ju Yeon-jeong.’
Moving a Purple Uniform master was comparable to undertaking a major mission.
At Yeon-shin’s request, Ma Jin had overextended himself.
He had secretly moved Ma Yeon-jeok. It was clearly beyond a Family Head’s authority. If the truth came out, Ma Jin would find it difficult to escape responsibility.
‘It may be what Ju Yeon-jeong wants.’
That would happen if Yeon-shin failed to produce visible results.
Given Desolate Fortress’s laws, ordinary results would not suffice.
It was fine.
Yeon-shin took this matter seriously, but he did not see it as impossibly difficult.
He had the Jeong Family Youth Technique and the Great Revitalization Pill.
He was certain vitality would return to his grandfather’s body. That was why he had not gone so far as to ask the Lord of Desolate Fortress to stand guard.
Quite apart from being his master, she was someone almost impossible to approach. Exalted was the right word for her.
He could not picture himself asking for help with something he and Demon Wings could handle.
It would be a hundred times better to stand against Ju Yeon-jeong.
Such unilateral action was no longer youthful recklessness.
It was discretion exercised as Ma Yeon-jeok’s grandson and a Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress.
With those thoughts in mind, he entered the room closest to the door. The first thing he saw was Ma Yeon-jeok lying on a large bed.
He was gaunt, his eyes closed. Even his pure white beard, which had once gleamed, looked dry and lifeless. It was hard to find any trace of a peerless master in him.
“Grandfather.”
Yeon-shin whispered carefully.
There was no response.
Only when he approached the head of the bed did Ma Yeon-jeok’s wrinkled eyelids tremble. A moment later, unfocused eyes opened.
The old man’s eyes took in his grandson’s handsome face. His softened gaze lodged itself deep in Yeon-shin’s heart.
“You have... returned....”
Ma Yeon-jeok’s lips curved faintly.
It was a tender smile. Yeon-shin felt the warmth of family he had longed for since childhood.
That made it difficult for him to speak.
“I left you a Lesser Revitalization Pill. Why didn’t you take it?”
He had learned through Ma Jin’s letter.
The Shaolin Lesser Revitalization Pill remained untouched. Ma Jin had written that Yeon-shin should visit again someday and take it back.
Once Ma Yeon-jeok learned that the pill was his grandson’s reward for completing a mission, he had stubbornly refused to take it.
“Yeon-shin, I cannot overcome your grandfather’s stubbornness.”
Apparently, Ma Yeon-jeok had even threatened Ma Jin. He said he would sever ties with him the moment Ma Jin tried to force the pill down his throat.
The corners of Yeon-shin’s lips dipped slightly as he recalled the letter.
Ma Yeon-jeok’s smile deepened.
“Was it not... a reward for your mission? How could I accept it?”
“This grandson wanted you to have it.”
“What... did you just call yourself?”
Ma Yeon-jeok’s white brows rose slightly.
He reacted at once to the word grandson. His eyelids trembled as though he had been moved.
It was a word Yeon-shin had used for the first time in his life. The awkwardness tickled at his mind and rose to the top of his head.
Without realizing it, Yeon-shin’s face grew serious, and he quickly changed the subject.
“I came to see you for another reason today.”
“No, I asked what you called yourself.”
“I obtained a Great Revitalization Pill from the Martial Alliance Assembly. I intend to restore your vitality now.”
The new Leader of Demon Wings spoke of a treasure of the martial world as though it were an ordinary tonic.
He deliberately thought of it that way. It had no greater use to him.
Three Flowers Gather at the Crown was a realm he would certainly reach someday. That held true even considering the short time he had been given.
There was no reason to place it above his grandfather, who might stop breathing at any moment.
“I have heard much of your achievements. You have made me proud. Your martial prowess has already reached a level where you can be counted among the greatest under heaven. Sword Fangs Hyeon So-baek is no ordinary old man....”
Ma Yeon-jeok smiled faintly with wide-open eyes. He called the Sword Star a Sword Fool.
It was the character for fool. Only Ma Yeon-jeok could call him such a thing.
“Still, a Great Revitalization Pill.... I may have wished for one once, in my foolish youth. It was a spiritual medicine I could not obtain because none was available. But....”
The old man continued with a smile.
“You should take it. It is yours, is it not? This old man cannot consume it.”
“Did you not save me from the Blood Flame Sect Master? Had treatment come any later, you would have died. Give me the chance to repay you. I am the Squad Leader of Demon Wings now. I do not wish to live with a debt hanging over me.”
Yeon-shin spoke at unusual length. His even tone carried the conviction that this was only right.
The reason he had gone out of his way to distinguish himself within the exclusive Martial Alliance came to fruition today.
He had felt the love that only blood relatives could give through Ma Yeon-jeok’s Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand. Seeing his grandfather restored to health would be the true reward.
“I said I cannot take it. It is a matter of propriety and principle.”
“There is no such principle in this world.”
He did not need to take it himself. The accomplishments he would gain by restoring a Purple Uniform master’s vitality would be enough.
That alone would let him somewhat catch up to the seniors who had gone ahead of him. Even if he considered the future, that was sufficient.
Yet Ma Yeon-jeok turned his gaze slightly away.
It was a stubborn refusal.
“This grandfather of yours... has never properly acted as your grandfather. I cannot shamelessly accept something like that. I should go reprimand that rascal Ma Jin. How dare he have this old body moved over such a matter.”
His words came out in fragments, and his wrinkled face was pale.
Still, there was unmistakable anger between Ma Yeon-jeok’s brows. It was anger directed at his son, Ma Jin.
Yeon-shin decided not to continue arguing.
The look on Ma Yeon-jeok’s face, one that made others give up, gave him a glimpse of his grandfather’s younger days.
He had probably driven his enemies to frustration just as thoroughly in battle. He must have treated his comrades at the main fortress in much the same way.
Yeon-shin thought, ‘I must not become like Grandfather.’
He slowly opened his mouth.
“As you said, Grandfather, the Great Revitalization Pill is mine. Since I intend to use it as I please, I see no room for you to interfere. I will handle it.”
“....”
“I will open it.”
He took a wooden case containing the Great Revitalization Pill from his robes.
It was a small red sandalwood box, no larger than his palm.
A faint fragrance rose from it. Even though it was sealed, its spiritual energy was unmistakable.
They said spiritual medicines containing the secret arts of monks of the elven race possessed truly mysterious effects.
He had known it was true from the moment Miss Ye gave it to him at the Martial Alliance Assembly.
This spiritual medicine was undoubtedly a treasure.
Click.
He opened the lid of the wooden case, warmed against his body.
At the same time, the medicine’s fragrance vanished. The white pellet, clumped together like a pebble, seemed to preserve its own medicinal energy.
As though spirituality resided within it, it contained its own power. It was worthy of being called one of the mysteries of the martial world, just as he had heard since childhood.
Yet Ma Yeon-jeok did not even look at the Great Revitalization Pill.
The old man stared directly up at his grandson.
“I said I would not take it. Surely you do not intend to force it into my mouth...?”
Yeon-shin did not answer.
He had already made Yu Hyeon of the Mount Hua Sect absorb a Purple Cloud Pellet. Even then, he had only been a White Uniform martial artist.
Now, after gaining greater mastery over inner energy through the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel, things were different.
He could use the same method, only better than before.
Swish.
Yeon-shin decisively took out the Shaolin Great Revitalization Pill and swallowed it. It had no scent or taste.
The elixir pill naturally melted down his throat. Its presence was quiet yet extraordinary. It seemed to reach his lower abdomen in an instant.
“Grandfather, forgive my discourtesy for a moment.”
Yeon-shin carefully pushed aside the silk quilt covering his grandfather.
The old man, who had been watching his grandson with wide eyes, hardened his gaze. It was likely because Yeon-shin’s hand immediately pressed against his lower dantian.
“Force transmission through the body...!”
Ma Yeon-jeok murmured as though groaning.
It was a secret art that transferred energy to another person. It came with extreme physical exhaustion.
It was fine. Yeon-shin would suffer no such side effect now.
Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, did not concern himself with it at all. There was something more urgent.
‘Fast.’
He had no time to examine his grandfather’s condition.
This was different from the Purple Cloud Pellet. The Great Revitalization Pill melted into his entire body as soon as he consumed it.
It felt as though a wildfire had erupted from the Shimen acupoint where his lower dantian lay.
Before he could even conduct a major circulation through the acupoints of his upper body, overwhelming energy surged upward first.
Wooooong.
A low resonance arose from within his body. His muscles felt hollow, as though they had turned into caverns.
Unprecedented energy filled his meridians, minor meridians, and acupoints.
The Great Revitalization Pill’s medicinal effect was enormous.
Now he understood why Shaolin of Mount Song was called the foremost sect of the Central Plains. The Great Revitalization Pill was Shaolin’s secret spiritual medicine.
It was said that monks of all clans spent decades making a single pill.
The power spreading through the minor meridians of his entire body was difficult to call medicinal energy. It felt clean, as though it had already been refined.
It was unbelievably pure. Only a few circulations of the Jeong Family Youth Technique were needed.
Several heavy pulses throbbed beneath Yeon-shin’s navel.
“You must use the Jeong Family Youth Technique, not the Harmonizing Splendor Divine Art.”
Even as he spoke while circulating qi, his energy did not waver.
It was the capability of the Jeong Family Youth Technique, which trained inner energy through movement, along with his innate command of inner energy.
He drew the energy toward him. Transparent ripples spread from the fingertips pressed against his grandfather’s lower abdomen.
Hummm.
If Ma Yeon-jeok rejected it here, both of them would face the danger of qi deviation.
“Huh....”
Ma Yeon-jeok closed his eyes with a faint sigh.
A slight smile formed on Yeon-shin’s lips.
This was the second time he had examined the body of a Purple Uniform master. After the Divine Sword Squad Leader, he was now examining the former Divine Sword Squad Leader.
Yeon-shin’s awareness settled into the body of a Purple Uniform master, a body as vast as the cosmos.
Insights flowed into him simply from observing it.
How the muscles and minor meridians must have been arranged when they were strong, where the acupoints and muscle groups his grandfather used most often were located, what sort of system he had used to move his body based on those traces, and how the three dantians had been formed....
He gathered all that knowledge and began guiding the Great Revitalization Pill’s energy into his grandfather’s acupoints, circulating it through them as he recited the essential formula of the martial art he needed most at this moment.
‘Mother....’
The intent of the Jeong Family Youth Technique imbued the power entering Ma Yeon-jeok’s body.
A daughter embraced her father.
Suddenly, Ma Yeon-jeok’s eyebrows briefly darkened. Even the wrinkles around his eyes tightened for an instant.
It was a sign of change.
* * *
“I heard the Azure Sky Squad requested support. It seems they’re having quite a difficult time.”
“I heard as well. They said the Golden-Wing Sect’s momentum was unusual, but there’s no telling what those madmen are plotting. At least the Tang Sect is joining forces with the Azure Sky Squad.... There are rumors that the Azure Sky Squad Leader lost to the Golden-Wing Sect Master. I don’t know whether the Azure Sky Squad Leader survived.”
“Is Swift Heaven Wing Squad still out of contact? They say the carrier pigeons haven’t returned.”
“There isn’t even a branch in Xinjiang in the first place, so....”
“Isn’t that a demonic territory from the start? It’s also where the former Squad Leader lost their manhood.”
“There was no need to bring that up....”
It was a conversation among Demon Wings Blue Uniform martial artists.
They stood around the pavilion with their aura sense sharpened like blades, yet they were relaxed.
Most of them had more experience in the martial world and broader knowledge than their Squad Leader, Jeong Yeon-shin.
It meant they were accustomed to easing their tension without neglecting their duties.
“What’s more frightening are the leaders of the major factions among the Demonic Sect. There are rumors that the Lord of Yeoryeong and the Heavenly Nemesis Sect Master are touring the Thirteen Heavens. The family clans must have made quite an impression by creating an assembly.”
“The Thirteen Heavens forming an assembly? What a dreadful thought....”
“If that truly happens, even the main fortress won’t be able to handle it.”
“Enough. The Demonic Sect scum can’t pull something like that off.”
“Still, it’s an unprecedented age of chaos. It must be because of the famine. They say food is scarcer than silver, so even the leaders of major factions can’t help but act boldly....”
That was when it happened.
From far beyond the main gate, a voice rang out clearly without being raised.
“That is correct. An age of chaos is coming.”
The Blue Uniform martial artists had already sensed the presence. None looked surprised as they turned their heads.
A middle-aged woman dressed in pitch-black court robes stood there.
The silk draped about her had been dyed as black as lacquer. Grace flowed from her slender face.
She carried an overwhelming aura through the imperial martial art, Golden Immortal Eight Methods, and the quality in her eyes made it seem as though she looked down upon the world.
Ju Yeon-jeong of the Desolate Ma family.
“But you are sowing discord. How dare you interfere in the affairs of a family without knowing your place? Do you feel no shame?”
Her red lips moved.
Footnotes:
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