WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 225: Radiant Edge Art (5)
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“Huh...?”
The Languid Flame Dragon, who had been lying atop the roof tiles, reacted at once. After raising his brows, he rose without even bracing himself with a hand.
As though performing an iron bridge in reverse, he lifted his upper body using only his legs and waist. He was on his feet in an instant. It was an exquisite lightness skill.
Tap.
Two Black Uniform figures landed nearby, their Body Movement Scripture leaving phantom-like afterimages.
Their pitch-black robes fluttered, attesting to the status of two supreme masters. They were Ak Su-rim, the Desolate Divine Spear, and Un So-yu, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader.
Ak Su-rim furrowed her brow slightly as she looked into the distance.
With both hands on her waist, she looked down beneath the roof. Jin Myeong-jo, the Divine Blood Extreme Demon, stood blankly near the Grand Training Hall.
As usual, his head was lowered at an angle. He showed no sign of coming up.
“What are you doing? Your junior may have gained martial insight, and you cannot even stand guard for him?”
“I intend to inspect the surroundings, so please do not concern yourself. Three Squad Leaders guarding one direction? We should not use our strength that way. It is inefficient.”
“You are not entirely wrong, but...”
Ak Su-rim trailed off and signaled to the Languid Flame Dragon with her eyes.
“You there, child of the Huangbo Family.”
“...Speak.”
He answered while looking down at strands of white force waves. They were qi fluctuations similar to, yet distinct from, the Radiant Sword Flow.
The rising rays of light were denser now. They pierced through the hall in several places before losing strength like mist, creating an exceedingly mysterious sight.
Ak Su-rim did not point out his rudeness. Wherever the Languid Flame Dragon's gaze rested, she was concerned only for Jeong Yeon-shin inside the hall.
Nothing else mattered. Seom-ye's safety was what mattered.
She spoke.
“How many days has our Seom-ye been like this?”
“About nine days.”
“Just as I thought, it is practically closed-door training. No wonder the acting Squad Leader answered my message. What about his meals?”
“We brought them at every mealtime. He needs to keep growing, does he not?”
“They were not something useless like fasting pills, were they?”
“How could he temper his body on those? He is not a Daoist cultivator, and he is still growing.”
“Different from our children, are they? Demon Wings takes good care of its Squad Leader.”
Swish.
Ak Su-rim extended one hand toward the residual force flowing through the gaps in the roof tiles.
White light scattered from the edge of her black satin sleeve, like mist seeping into the dim light before dawn.
The corner of her lips rose.
“What an unusual force wave. Its character is distinct. It is not simply qi taking form. The residue from releasing the forms remains as dense inner energy, adding further force. This was not circulation training, but practice in launching techniques. There is no need to stand guard.”
After speaking as if to herself, Ak Su-rim raised her head.
“You were not here to stand guard, were you? You did not want to disturb Seom-ye's state of deep absorption. That is not something one would expect from the Young Family Head of the Huangbo Family. Did you not act like royalty in Jinan?”
“What nonsense. This is standing guard too.”
The Languid Flame Dragon replied curtly, displeased by the question.
His formerly polite manner had vanished without a trace. Even the way he stood with one leg casually bent looked as though his true nature had surfaced.
Ak Su-rim placed no importance on that change.
“Then what is that one doing?”
She pointed to one side of the roof, near its gently sloping edge.
There was a presence so faint that even supreme aura sense could barely detect its breathing. Hyeon Won-chang was hanging upside down beneath the rafters.
Ak Su-rim could not see him from where she stood. He clung to the rafters like a cicada. Her head tilted slightly.
“He has properly learned assassin techniques. Is he trying to assassinate his Squad Leader?”
“The opposite. Though he is being absurdly excessive.”
“Standing guard? Why from the rafters?”
“Because of a rumor that spread recently. They say several roofs on the halls of Desolate Fortress did not survive. He says there could be an attack from above, so he will strike back. It will be fortunate if he is not crushed along with the building.”
“...”
With her lips pressed tightly together, Ak Su-rim lightly jumped down.
Rustle.
With a single leap and barely any sound, she landed in the center of the Grand Training Hall. It was the footwork of a supreme master.
Not even dust rose beneath her feet, for she had landed on sparse weeds.
The blades of grass beneath her leather shoes did not stir. She had reached the realm of Flying Over Grass.
Un So-yu, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader, descended naturally beside her. There was not even a trace of sound. She had mastered the elven race's Body Movement Scripture to the utmost level.
Her bearing as a martial artist was fearsome. Her martial uniform, elegant as ever, stood out.
“I will be leaving.”
She spoke calmly.
Ak Su-rim glanced at Un So-yu's profile and smiled teasingly.
“Did you not want to learn how to devise counterforms more easily? That should be quite important to the Law Enforcement Squad Leader.”
“I intend to return at noon tomorrow. I should show sincerity toward the new Squad Leader. If I make three visits while he is not receiving guests, perhaps he will at least listen to me.”
After speaking softly, she turned away.
Tap.
Ak Su-rim watched her retreating figure briefly, then turned her head. Jin Myeong-jo stood upright, the aura surrounding his body aloof as he spoke with the Blue Uniform masters sent away from the Blood Guard Squad. They were Shura Demon Soul and Blood Blade Ghost.
‘He is difficult to read.’
Ak Su-rim thought.
The Divine Blood Extreme Demon was a strange one. His pale face made his thoughts hard to read, but that was only part of it. He never participated in official Desolate Fortress events such as Black Uniform sparring matches.
Though he hid his feelings well, he had earned tremendous achievements specifically against unorthodox sects. Judging by his aura, they were not feats accomplished through his martial level alone.
Beyond the Flash Blood Claw Art, known as his signature technique, he had concealed another dangerous move. He was more like the Demonic Sect than most experts of the dark path.
He was the same now. Coldness seeped into the question he asked his former subordinates.
“He never inspected your martial arts even once?”
Pung-ran and Na Il-cheon's pale faces turned even whiter. The Blood Guard Squad was said to be a combat force closer to an army.
It was hard to find the dignity of Blue Uniform masters in their expressions. They had only been in Demon Wings for a few days.
Their dispositions still resembled those of the Blood Guard Squad.
“The Leader of Demon Wings must have been occupied.”
“It is not something to blame him for. Black Uniform masters have many official duties, do they not?”
“You fools, your aura has grown unstable. The circulation of qi is broken in places. This is what idiots often suffer when trying to deeply cultivate unfamiliar martial arts using only a manual. You are neither here nor there. Pathetic.”
Jin Myeong-jo muttered.
The Squad Leaders under the Divine Sword Squad were like sect heads leading their own schools.
If those they had taken as disciples showed inadequate achievement, their feelings could not help but be especially strong. Even anger would not be excessive.
‘I sent them away in tears of frustration...!’
Jin Myeong-jo recalled the letter he had written to Jeong Yeon-shin. Several times, he had nearly shed tears of indignation.
The new Leader of Demon Wings should not treat Pung-ran and Na Il-cheon this way. It was truly too cruel.
It was not as though he had secluded himself to establish a system for training juniors like scholars of the imperial court.
“Have you seen the new Leader of Demon Wings' face even twice?”
“...”
Pung-ran and Na Il-cheon did not readily answer. Any answer would disgrace both Jin Myeong-jo and Jeong Yeon-shin, but their silence was answer enough.
The Divine Blood Extreme Demon's eyes darkened.
“Show me something. Can you unleash three consecutive attacks in your usual rhythm of breathing? If not, I will ask my outstanding junior what happened.”
Jin Myeong-jo casually glanced at the Leader of Demon Wings' hall. He was considering what excuse he could use to slip away the moment its door opened.
Ask him, my ass. He had only forced out those words because it was what a Squad Leader who had sent subordinates away ought to say.
It had to be something he could say in a single breath.
The experts around him understood it differently.
He was asking whether they could unleash three forms between one exhale and inhale. It was the demand of a Black Uniform supreme master.
It had to mean launching the techniques at full strength. It was not easy for anyone.
Step.
Pung-ran, a woman with a thin, curved saber strapped to her back, stepped forward.
Her epithet was Blood Blade Ghost. She had learned the Flash Blood Chaotic Traces Saber Art from the Flash Blood martial lineage of the Blood Guard Squad Leader.
Its central principle was relentless consecutive attacks. Even among Blue Uniform saber experts, she was often considered a martial artist who was not easy to face.
“I have made progress. It is only that my progress has become slower than before.”
Pung-ran spoke.
Demon Wings' Grand Training Hall fell silent. The Blood Guard Squad Leader had displayed his anger.
Everyone's attention quickly focused on her.
Blood Blade Ghost Pung-ran.
She resembled the Divine Blood Extreme Demon as though they shared blood. Her pale face framed a slender jawline that was blade-like, yet the movement of her hand toward the scabbard on her back was exceedingly graceful.
Irregular fluctuations of inner energy had already begun spreading sharply. Like the Blood Guard Squad Leader, she had something bewitching about her.
Swaang!
The dance of her blade began as she drew her saber.
The martial art she had learned from the Seom-ye Martial Lineage was grounded in the Ultimate Realm. Its principle was to momentarily increase strength by concentrating qi.
That meant she had to prove the force of her saber's force waves.
Hummm!
The path of the Flash Blood Chaotic Traces Saber Art stretched out. Her thin blade cut through the glow of the sunset.
Faint blade trails burst forth with sharp force waves. The humming was loud. The air seemed to tear apart with her second swing.
The third was not the same.
Swoosh!
Even the sound diminished. The force wave visibly weakened. As she made a horizontal cut, the saber point directed toward the ground trembled slightly.
It was the same thing Kang Chang-mu and Wi Ye-ryeong had experienced. She could not continue the breathing of her inner energy. The inner energy held in her minor meridians scattered on the third form.
She had reached a limit in an unfamiliar martial lineage that emphasized sensation. Her training, which was close to self-study, was also a problem.
It could not surpass the martial arts she had practiced for so long.
Continued training would solve it. Yet the martial artists of Desolate Fortress could not easily speak of the future.
By the time one became a Blue Uniform master, one had to act as an elite and an immediate fighting force. In the main fortress, few labels were as shameful as unfinished.
In the Grand Training Hall beneath the setting sun, Pung-ran held her saber lowered and bit her lower lip.
“...”
“You have regressed.”
Jin Myeong-jo spoke with an indifferent expression.
“It would be difficult even to call it stagnant. I can see that even your method of putting force into your attacks has become clumsy...”
“...”
“You would have been better off focusing on your original martial arts. Now that I have seen it myself, there is no reason to reprimand my outstanding junior. It is simply your inadequacy. You coveted martial arts beyond your ability and lost your consecutive attacks. What more is there to say? Yes, Seom-ye is not to blame. He bestowed extraordinary martial arts with his exceptional talent, and the sparrows simply could not follow the dragon.”
His cold words meant one thing. She should abandon the martial arts she had learned later from Seom-ye.
They also meant those were not martial arts she could imitate.
No one could refute him. The higher the martial arts, the more difficult they became to learn when one's perspective had not reached that height.
It was like trying to dig a deep well. It was harder for Blue Uniform masters than for White Uniform ones.
The only person who could properly use Seom-ye's martial arts was Seom-ye himself. It was a flaw that would become apparent over time.
Silence continued for some time.
Those watching the Blood Guard Squad side turned away awkwardly. Ak Su-rim also said nothing and watched only the Squad Leader's hall.
By then, the light that had flowed through the gaps in the door and roof tiles had vanished.
“Is there a way to teach Demon's Light properly?”
“It would be hard to use in coordinated combined attacks if they started learning it now. They will probably begin with small-scale missions like the other combat forces.”
“We have a problem too. If we face an enemy with group-combat strength on the level of the Plum Blossom Swordsman, we have no way to handle them. It would be easier to reinforce our numbers if we had a suitable sword formation like the Swift Heaven Wing Squad...”
The conversation continued without any effort to lower their voices. Blue Uniform masters stood everywhere around them.
They knew that lowering their voices out of shallow consideration would only be more humiliating.
The martial artists of Demon Wings comforted one another in the manner of experts while worrying about themselves as well.
It was a noisy silence.
The Languid Flame Dragon lay down on the roof again, while Hyeon Won-chang's presence remained motionless beneath the rafters.
Cheong Myeong and Baek Mir-yeo, seated askew against the wall of the Grand Training Hall, were also focused on observing the White Uniform martial artists.
That continued until the door of the Squad Leader's residence suddenly opened.
Gugugung.
Ak Su-rim leaped onto the wall, her face full of delight.
In an instant, she stepped onto the corner of the wall, her black trouser hems fluttering. Dust rose beneath her feet.
“Our Seom-ye! What have you been doing, shutting yourself away? You are not sulking because I called you an enemy, are you?”
“Just a moment.”
A brief voice rang out. It was slightly hoarse.
Step.
Before all the Demon Wings experts had even crossed the wall, their Squad Leader crossed the air with the wind.
He landed in the center of the Grand Training Hall like a phantom. His balanced, weighty frame remained steady while only his black robes fluttered. It was the movement art Wind Body.
Jeong Yeon-shin revealed himself.
He still wore a black long robe that exposed his bare left arm.
His hair, which had begun to fall below his shoulders, was like ebony. The sunset glow rippled softly over it.
“Squad Leader! Did you achieve something?”
“You have no idea how long we have been waiting! You never came out to the Training Hall, but you look healthier somehow.”
Amid the warmly welcoming crowd, only Jin Myeong-jo elegantly stepped backward, but no one paid attention.
Cheong Myeong, Baek Mir-yeo, Hyeon Won-chang, Ma Gwang-il’s Squad, and the original Demon Wings experts surrounded Jeong Yeon-shin.
There were nearly thirty of them. The clear early-winter air warmed in an instant. Even the seasoned newcomers moved their feet awkwardly.
“He was a beloved Squad Leader. Hey, Seom-ye! We...”
Ak Su-rim smiled and began to call out.
The Demon Wings experts each stepped back a few paces just after Jeong Yeon-shin's lips moved slightly.
The distance between them gradually widened, forming a large circle in a long line.
Swish.
The new Squad Leader's feet naturally planted themselves on the ground.
His first move was a straight punch.
It was not fast. He extended it naturally and with restraint. The force wave rising from around his shoulders scattered like snowflakes.
Part of the qi filling both feet rushed into his hand. Layers of energy increased in density.
The aura around his body was not strong, yet his fist reached its peak and exploded.
Whoosh!
The sensation of air tearing apart came through vividly. It was similar to, yet distinct from, the True Barrier of Sihwa Boundless Hand.
Harmonized with the steps of Phantom Wing Step, it flowed forward like water. A fierce shockwave spread outward.
It was the same with the second form. The air twisted heavily with the gesture that flowed to the side.
It was the force wave of Helix. Light flowed from the rotating fluctuations gathered around his fist.
Boom! Whoosh!
With every repeated use of Force Projection, the force grew closer to taking form. Scattered sunlight struck the force waves and broke into white light.
White radiance flickered here and there over his entire body, wrapped in black robes, with a sharp, almost frightening mystique.
“That...”
The forms continued even as someone let out a low groan. The third punch blossomed with a hazy glow.
Before the aftereffects of Fist Flower from Sihwa Boundless Hand had fully settled, a click sounded from Jeong Yeon-shin's waist.
Shing.
His veined hand drew the Northern Light Sword. The chill of early winter rose in layers from the pure white blade.
A transparent texture spread in every direction, accompanied by a deep silence.
One sword moved.
Hummm.
Jeong Yeon-shin performed a sword dance. Trails of radiance bloomed into countless strands.
The remnants of the sword path, spreading like rays of light, faded slowly, and new trails filled the empty spaces.
It was as though dawn rose beneath the darkening sunset. His black sleeve billowed with the right arm holding the sword.
As the inner-energy waves grew denser, the radiance enveloping his body like heat haze deepened as well.
Power that could not be produced by his initially revealed aura split the air. His movements presupposed the Ultimate Realm.
Sihwa Boundless Fist, Phantom Wing Step, and Radiant Sword Flow had melted into a single dance. There was no one present who was not an expert.
Everyone realized it.
Footnotes:
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