WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 213: Turmoil (7)
──────
“What kind of book is this... Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects...?”
Jin Myeong-jo, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, widened his eyes.
A faint red shadow lay beneath his slender lashes.
Swish.
His pitch-black eyes flashed red for an instant before returning to black.
It was a phenomenon unlike an eye technique, arising with his intent. The sight evidenced both some kind of ability and even the realm of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
Only those who had evenly cultivated their essence, qi, and spirit sat here.
To the Squad Leaders of Desolate Fortress, it was nothing remarkable. The supreme experts from lofty clans deeply disdained Jin Myeong-jo’s lowborn origins.
The Squad Leaders of the elven race, including Cheon So-so, Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit, cast cold glances his way.
Yet they soon had to turn their attention elsewhere.
The Black Uniform experts seated on the stone chairs had other concerns. Grand Chief Steward Im Jin-myeong was not a man who acted without reason.
Every Squad Leader’s gaze settled on the book the Grand Chief Steward had brought out.
“Considering the context of the conversation...”
Xiahou Wi-jin, Thousand Fists, Dragon-Powered Divine Official, stroked his chin with a thick index finger.
“The meaning of those words, ‘Breaking the Orthodox Sects,’ is what I think it is, correct?”
“Squad Leader Xiahou’s guess is correct.”
The Grand Chief Steward slowly ran a hand over the book’s cover, smiling faintly.
The words Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects scraped roughly against his calluses, but his touch could not have been gentler.
He handled it as though it were one of the world’s greatest treasures. There was even a sense of reverence in his manner.
“The world is entering an age of chaos. Martial sects gather and scatter in ways vastly different from before. Alliances of every kind of martial lineage have begun appearing everywhere, and the signs of heroes carving out their own domains are deeply unsettling... Shouldn’t the main fortress prepare as well?” he said.
Desolate Fortress had managed a world where martial sects were scattered far and wide.
It was a vast world. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they had endured it with difficulty.
The elite experts of the Divine Sword Squad’s Seventeen Squads were an absurdly powerful force when gathered together.
Still, they were not enough to look after the people across the entire realm.
The growing number of martial lineages uniting like the Martial Alliance Assembly was a serious problem.
What Jin Myeong-jo had said with self-mocking bitterness earlier was true. It had never been rare for hostile sects to murder people to silence them in the wilderness.
If they grew stronger, more main fortress martial artists would die far from home while carrying out missions.
Jin Myeong-jo twisted his lips slightly. It was less a sneer than a smile filled with disgust toward the state of the world.
“Just look at the former Leader of Demon Wings’ Demon Wings unit. It was helpless against the joint assault of the Ten Perfect Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance, wasn’t it? The Blood Guard Squad would have suffered the same fate. Major factions driven mad while stockpiling scarce food will only multiply further, and there’s no guarantee the same thing won’t happen again. Solo missions and missions undertaken by small groups will become dangerous as well... As the Grand Chief Steward says, we should prepare.”
He continued slowly.
“If it’s something preparation can solve, that is. Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects... Doesn’t that mean it intends to crush all orthodox martial arts? Whoever wrote it is truly arrogant. I’m sure the Grand Chief Steward did not bring it without cause, but the name is so exaggerated that I cannot expect much from it. I don’t see how it differs from those who look down on lowborn people while using the character for brightness in their clan names.”
Having finished, Jin Myeong-jo immediately lowered his gaze.
It was a gesture meant to ignore the terrifying stares from the Lord of the Immortal Wood Spirit, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader, and the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader.
“What?”
He muttered with his head slightly lowered, slowly running his fingers over one another.
His nails extended sharply by the length of a finger joint. They were weapons that symbolized his signature art.
Jin Myeong-jo, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, was renowned as a master of all manner of Hand Arts and the Flash Blood Claw Art.
The Grand Chief Steward grinned.
“Then you can read it later, Blood Guard Squad Leader. I guarantee that the Squad Leaders will one day fight over the right to read this book. Copying it is forbidden, after all. It is an extremely dangerous object.”
“Our blood demon’s discernment leaves much to be desired.”
Xiahou Wi-jin cut in, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
“This is a book I’ve had my eye on. I’ll read it first.”
Xiahou Wi-jin, the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader, had once traveled alongside Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings.
That meant he had personally witnessed the Lord of Desolate Fortress’s reaction upon seeing the Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects. From what he had seen, it had been anything but ordinary.
‘She immediately praised Seom-ye.’
She had not even opened the book. She had smiled after reading only the title on its cover. The smile itself was unprecedented.
Was it the insight possessed by the noblest being among the elven race, or trust in a promising Black Uniform expert? Perhaps it was both.
What could it possibly be?
Xiahou Wi-jin was deeply curious. He simply had not shown it out of the duty of a loyal subject.
“Bring it here.”
He gestured toward Grand Chief Steward Im Jin-myeong. Xiahou Wi-jin’s years were considerable even among all the Squad Leaders.
No one would have objected even if he treated the Grand Chief Steward like a subordinate.
That remained true as the Grand Chief Steward readily picked up the book and approached him.
“It is a treasure of great symbolic importance, one that must not be torn even a little. Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader, please handle it with care.”
“The Grand Chief Steward worries too much.”
It was just as the Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects entered Xiahou Wi-jin’s grasp.
Swish.
Five fingers carrying formidable aura suddenly slipped in. Refined waves of martial power rolled off a hand so fair it seemed never to have practiced martial arts.
The hand bent Xiahou Wi-jin’s middle finger aside, then flowed past it from the side as naturally as water.
It slipped in without a sound and snatched away the book with an exquisite move. It was an ultimate joint lock.
Ak Su-rim, who had somehow appeared beside him, had taken the Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects.
“Let’s see. Shall I enjoy Seom-ye’s handwriting a little more?”
Smiling, she turned to the first page.
Xiahou Wi-jin blinked his large eyes.
“Desolate Divine Spear. This shameless woman is...”
“Don’t act as though your size makes you the victim. The main fortress ranks people by martial skill, don’t they? Even ultimate techniques have an order in which they are unleashed, so I’ll look through it first.”
Ak Su-rim did not even look at him. She opened the book without hesitation, though carefully, and began reading.
It was unconventional. Like her short black hair brushed back behind her ears as though it were a nuisance, her conduct had always been unconventional.
It was nothing new.
Xiahou Wi-jin did not bother getting angry.
With his lips twitching, he rose from his stone chair and looked over the Comprehensive Guide to Breaking the Orthodox Sects above Ak Su-rim’s head.
“As expected, they’re counterforms. Cheongil Sect? What sort of insignificant sect is that...?”
“Would you stop chattering? If your breath messes up my hair one more time, I’ll trim both your ears down bluntly. You admit it wouldn’t be difficult at this distance, right?”
Ak Su-rim spoke without raising her eyes.
It was a casual question, yet her fighting spirit was astonishing.
Even with the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad Leader, proficient in both internal and external arts, standing so close, she spoke of having the advantage in close combat. No answer came.
After a moment, though, Xiahou Wi-jin showed unmistakable disappointment as he drew his head slightly back.
“I understand that Seom-ye’s intuition is frightening. The mnemonic formula for the counterform’s inner energy circulation and its connection to the sword moves are certainly impressive. It’s highly refined. I’d believe it if you told me it was a set of moves refined over many years by someone on the Cheongil Sect Master’s teacher’s level. But... If it goes into such detail over the counterform to a worthless martial lineage we encountered at the assembly, it’s hard to expect much from the rest.”
He had thought it was a secret manual containing methods to counter superior martial arts.
The ultimate techniques of famous families were generally complex and full of variations. One had to account for the movement of every muscle and hundreds of trajectories before analyzing them.
That was why proper counterforms to prestigious martial lineages rarely appeared. Their martial arts remained firm even after hundreds of years.
That was why the phrase “Breaking the Orthodox Sects” had been so shocking.
Yet before he could rein in his disappointment, he had to look at the next page.
Xiahou Wi-jin’s mouth slowly closed. It happened just after Ak Su-rim’s index finger turned another page.
[Jegal Family. Boundless Whirling Wind Fan Art.]
“...”
Silence lingered for a moment.
“...Boundless Whirling Wind Fan Art. I have been struck by the Crouching Dragon Rebirth technique before.”
“Is it genuine?”
By then, Cheon So-so and Un So-yu had come closer as well. It did not look strange for them to gather around Ak Su-rim, their foreheads nearly touching as they formed a circle.
They got along fairly well. The Squad Leaders of the Divine Sword Squad’s Seventeen Squads each had different people with whom they were close.
Their personalities stood out as much as their unrivaled martial arts. Some Squad Leaders suited one another well, while others were nearly bitter enemies.
Jin Myeong-jo, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, who had been left out, rose with his arms crossed in a dignified manner. He, too, sensed that this was no ordinary matter.
“So...”
Un So-yu, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader, spoke again.
She was the head of the armed force that enforced Desolate Fortress’s laws.
At the main fortress, she was both feared and revered, and she was a master of countering martial arts. She had mainly broken down the martial arts practiced by main fortress martial artists.
“Where is the Leader of Demon Wings?”
She asked the Grand Chief Steward.
* * *
An unnamed garden within Desolate Fortress’s inner castle.
The experts of Demon Wings did not even use True Step.
They had placed their Squad Leader in a hall behind them.
They fought in utmost silence, excluding every move capable of producing powerful shockwaves.
They feared that their Squad Leader might be adversely affected.
Hummm! Swish!
Dozens of trajectories cut through the air amid the resonance of qi.
They chose a lighter fighting style that excluded True Step. Every fist they threw and sword they swung concealed its trace in the wind.
An exquisite group battle unfolded. It could rightly be called a fierce fight.
Their enemies were different.
They let sword resonance ring out without restraint. Some even stamped the ground with feet carrying heavy inner energy.
They did not hesitate to use True Step and launch weighty blows. The clashes were violent.
Crack! Boom!
Their justification was clear.
“Leader of Demon Wings, cease this reckless act at once!”
“We fear that unskilled medical treatment may harm the Supreme Family Head!”
The martial artists of the Desolate Ma family and Demon Wings’ Blue Uniform experts tangled together.
Hundreds of sword paths and fist paths rose from the hands of dozens of people. Dust swirled throughout the garden.
Force Projection from swords and fists collided and scattered without color, while whirlwinds of force waves stirred faint gusts.
Ju Yeon-jeong and Baek Mir-yeo stood at the center. The two experts’ hands crossed one after another.
Ju Yeon-jeong filled the minor meridians in her right arm with martial power. It was a Hand Art of the Golden Immortal Eight Methods.
Among the body’s twelve regular meridians, the Hand Yangming Large Intestine meridian, which ran directly from the shoulder to the index finger, filled with golden light.
It was faintly visible along the forearm cutting through the air before her.
It collided powerfully with Baek Mir-yeo’s palm.
Boom!
Golden and ink-black currents twisted together. The shockwave of Force Projection shook both their hands, raced down to their feet, and sent dust flying.
They had already exchanged more than several dozen moves. Anxiety had reached its limit on both sides.
Ju Yeon-jeong and Baek Mir-yeo felt the same way. Had things gone well? Or had something gone wrong?
And so the battle continued.
The sunset faded completely, and twilight deepened beneath the eaves of the hall.
They fought and fought again.
The hands exchanging moves did not lose strength with the passing hours. Each had a desperate reason.
Their martial arts unfolded in fierce trajectories for the sake of what they wished to achieve.
At one point, two people who had not been there suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
Step.
They appeared between Ju Yeon-jeong and Baek Mir-yeo as the two caught their breath. The hem of a black robe and soft pink nightclothes blended together like an illusion.
The Leader of Demon Wings and an unknown young man had suddenly descended.
Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, stomped with an expressionless face.
Booom!
The ground shook with a roar. Cracks born from True Step crushed the garden shrubs and raced outward in several directions.
An enormous aura exploded and thundered through the surroundings. That single stomp praised all of Demon Wings’ efforts to keep quiet until then.
“Stop this now.”
Jeong Yeon-shin said, standing with his hands behind his back.
His voice was clear as moonlight gathering on his handsome jawline.
Ju Yeon-jeong’s expression twisted.
“Being a Squad Leader does not give you the right to order me around. You should be bringing the Supreme Family Head out at once. How dare you...!”
Her words suddenly stopped.
It was because she saw the man standing beside Seom-ye.
He looked to be around thirty.
His black hair fell roughly in a short cut. His body and face were gaunt and unimpressive, yet strange strength overflowed from him as though he wore a fortress around his entire body.
There was a transcendence about him that could not be explained by martial power.
It was as though his fighting spirit had taken form. A transparent haze surged from his entire body. Aura poured from him like raging waves.
“I am Ma Yeon-jeok.”
The man spoke.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
