WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Chapter 23: Middle Dantian (3)

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A guide accompanied him. Jang Sam said that he was a local.

There was a certain image that came to mind when one thought of commoners who knew no martial arts and made their living through ordinary work.

The man who introduced himself as Jang Sam fit that image.

"Young Master, is it truly just you? Are you really going to the Mantis Sect?"

Jang Sam's eyes trembled. Jang Sam was even shorter than Yeon-shin.

His shabby hemp clothes and the loosely held pouch at his waist marked him as a family breadwinner.

Yeon-shin understood the reaction.

Unorthodox sects were different from the underworld thugs of the back alleys.

Underworld groups would somehow find those who reported them to the authorities and retaliate, but unorthodox sects were made up of men who had learned martial arts.

It was only natural to be anxious.

"I alone will suffice."

"Y-Your noble spirit is truly admirable. B-But please reconsider. The Mantis Sect is no ordinary group. Dozens of them have learned martial arts, and they say even one of their underlings swept through Lianhu Alley."

"Noble spirit? You seem to have studied."

It was not a world where literacy was common. In the countryside, even expressions that were commonly used elsewhere were often known only by those who had studied.

"I am merely a country bumpkin who failed the civil examination."

It was fortunate that they could communicate. Xi'an was a large city, so they would have to spend a night on the road before reaching Lianhu County.

"Could you tell me more about the Mantis Sect?"

Yeon-shin spoke as he walked ahead. At the same time, Yeon-shin took a small pouch of salt from his clothes and handed it over.

Desolate Fortress paid its monthly stipend in silver coins, but those were too much to give someone. Yeon-shin had no copper coins, either.

Ma Jin was responsible for the travel expenses.

Jang Sam discreetly opened the pouch, eyes widening before speaking.

"They came three years ago and took control of Lianhu Street. There are few places in Xi'an without lay-affiliated sects of the Zhongnan Sect, and Lianhu County was one of them. More than a dozen people have been taken away as maids. Their abuses are severe, but they seem to have won over the county magistrate."

"...Their martial arts? Has anyone seen them use martial arts?"

"I heard they use all kinds of weapons. I have seen them a few times from afar. They had not only swords and spears, but strangely curved blades as well... They were so fast it was hard to follow them with the eyes. With a single swing, they cut off two people's heads."

They were quite strong. Though they did not seem to have an established martial lineage, they had indeed learned martial arts.

That was enough to call them unorthodox martial artists.

"Are there still many people being held? What is the government doing?"

"The county magistrate is in league with the Mantis Sect as well, so there is nowhere to turn..."

A question suddenly came to Yeon-shin's mind. Could a martial artist of Desolate Fortress cut down an official?

* * *

Yeon-shin and Jang Sam spent the night at an inn they encountered on the road before arriving at Lianhu County.

After crossing the hills, a lively town came into view.

They had already passed several merchant caravans loaded with all kinds of goods.

Though it was said to be on the same level as Xinye County, it was far more developed. It seemed to lie somewhere between a city and a village.

"I see where it is."

Under a cloudless blue sky, an especially large and splendid pavilion stood near the end of the road.

The writing on its plaque was visible even from here.

Though it fell short of Demon Wings, it was beyond comparison with Jeong Family Manor.

Even its broad front yard looked large enough to serve as a Training Hall.

"You may leave now. Thank you for guiding me."

After exchanging greetings, Yeon-shin turned and left. As Yeon-shin headed toward the largest street running through the town, someone seemed to be following.

It seemed to be Jang Sam. Yeon-shin could not tell why.

'Did they take someone from Jang Sam's family?'

Perhaps Jang Sam's wife or daughter had been dragged away.

Yeon-shin entered a street that looked like a market.

At the rows of stalls, merchants quietly exchanged meat, grain, and other goods.

The sounds of haggling were not loud.

When Yeon-shin turned toward the place everyone was watching warily, a startling sight came into view.

"......"

People were bound with ropes as though they were traitors. Every one of them was a woman.

Five martial artists wearing swords sat about carelessly as they guarded the captives, while those who appeared to be their families could only weep, unable to approach.

Would their heads fall if they made a sound?

The atmosphere on the two sides was starkly different, as if it were simply a custom of the town.

"No wonder Desolate Fortress was established."

Yeon-shin spoke deliberately as he approached. Because of martial artists, the Great Ming Code had been trampled into the ground.

The Central Plains was said to be a land too vast for the human mind to contain.

If several county magistrates and a powerful sect colluded, it would be exceedingly difficult for the imperial court to learn what was happening in the provinces.

"Are you government soldiers? Are those who are bound truly criminals?"

No answer came.

As soon as Yeon-shin finished speaking, one of them threw a throwing knife that tore through the air.

It did not even carry any force. Yeon-shin caught it, then unleashed the swift sword formula and relaxed the strength in his grip.

Even so, the sword force was properly carried through it. The dagger shot through the air like a flash of lightning.

Thunk!

The man struck in the forehead fell as though nailed to the ground.

The remaining four, who had looked bewildered for a moment, soon rose one by one.

"Quite a capable brat. Which martial academy did you study at?"

"Your throwing-knife stance was odd. Did you truly learn it properly?"

"You were rather fast. You must have honed yourself with grim determination for this day. What was that martial art you just displayed?"

Perhaps because the knife had been thrown carelessly, their reaction was remarkably calm.

When one thought of unorthodox sects, one might picture reckless bandits with violent tempers, but the men before Yeon-shin carried themselves as though they had tasted every pleasure in the world.

It indeed appeared to be true.

"What name would a trivial technique have?"

Yeon-shin murmured calmly as Yeon-shin drew the Desolate Sword.

The snowy blade of the finely maintained famous sword shattered the sunlight beneath Yeon-shin's hand.

Their gazes changed.

"If we present it to the Sect Leader..."

Splash!

Blood spurted at the end of a blue-white arc.

The man who had spoken of the Sect Leader knelt with blood-red lips, then collapsed.

Before anyone realized it, Yeon-shin stood among them.

A sword strike had erupted amid a leap as though treading on the wind and a rotation like a falling leaf.

Before the other three could turn around, a snowy sword path flickered.

Demon's Light, Swift Sword Form. The sensation of cutting three times traveled through the sword hilt to Yeon-shin's hand. It had become a familiar feeling.

"Shi..."

It seemed to be a curse uttered by one of them before dying.

Yeon-shin turned and cut the ropes binding the captives.

The women clasped their hands in thanks, yet could not openly rejoice.

They repeatedly glanced between Yeon-shin and the Mantis Sect's building.

'It does not seem as though they were taking in maids.'

With that doubt in mind, Yeon-shin walked down the road with the sword still drawn and lowered at Yeon-shin's side.

The street had fallen completely silent.

Everyone hurriedly withdrew, keeping well clear.

Old people whispered as they clicked their tongues, believing an innocent chivalrous warrior was about to die.

Only Jang Sam followed quietly behind Yeon-shin.

'A group battle.'

They said peerless masters who had reached invincibility could handle an army alone.

The Purple Uniform of Desolate Fortress would be no different.

Since killing the Blood Master, Yeon-shin had constantly considered taking solo missions.

No matter how Yeon-shin thought about it, there were limits to the merits that could be gained by moving with the masters of Demon Wings.

To walk the martial world alone, Yeon-shin could not avoid preparing to face dozens or even hundreds of blades.

Brief decisive battles with archenemies existed mostly in the romantic fantasies of dilettantes. Martial arts capable of handling a group's swords would be needed as well.

Yeon-shin learned from every battle. Even Yeon-shin did not know what Yeon-shin's mind would create.

Even when not facing a master's martial arts.

'Mantis Sect.'

Yeon-shin casually looked up at the main gate reached without realizing it. Up close, the plaque was even larger.

The calligraphy reading Mantis Sect was extraordinary. It seemed so alive that it resembled a moving dragon.

'A third-rate unorthodox sect must have threatened a scholar who had returned to the countryside.'

Thinking it excessive, Yeon-shin forcefully kicked open one side of the gate.

Did they think Lianhu County was their territory?

Around thirty martial artists stood lined up in the Training Hall to receive the swordsman who had cut down five of their sect's members.

The news had traveled incredibly quickly.

"That little brat?"

A middle-aged man standing alone on the steps leading into the main hall frowned.

Yeon-shin's gaze fell on the man's clothes. They were astonishingly lavish.

A long robe covered in all kinds of spiritual beasts, from the Four Divine Beasts to dragons.

'Madman.'

Was this a traitor? The man had made and worn an imperial dragon robe. Yeon-shin could keenly feel how detached martial artists were from the state.

"Sever the limbs and bring this brat to me. No. It has been a while since I used my blade. I will do it myself."

The man who appeared to be the sect leader descended.

Yeon-shin felt something was amiss. The Mantis Sect was said to be a vicious unorthodox sect. Yeon-shin had expected them to take hostages.

They were men who forcibly dragged women away at will.

If it were truly such a dissolute sect, each of them should have had a woman forced to remain at their side, yet there were only these men.

'Where did the women they took go?'

As Yeon-shin pondered, the Mantis Sect disciples surrounding Yeon-shin were mostly large and burly.

They scarcely exchanged words and only grinned sinisterly. Yeon-shin did not think well of them.

"It is not easy to encounter a chivalrous warrior."

The Mantis Sect leader drew a sword while walking down. A pulse of qi came from the narrow blade.

This was a master Yeon-shin would not have been able to defeat during the Desolate Exam.

The sect leader continued.

"Why did you have to show your face before this sect? It is a pity that your life will be cut short."

"What is your name?"

"Why should a man about to die hear this lord's great name?"

"I need to know who the sect leader is to claim the merit."

Yeon-shin spoke in a low voice as the energy of the Jeong Family Youth Technique rose.

The moment Yeon-shin became one with the Desolate Sword through qi, the man's sword formula became apparent.

As though skewering something insignificant, the sect leader's thrust rode the wind.

The sect leader also used a swift sword. After Yeon-shin had created a fist art capable of properly controlling transmitted force, the path of sword strikes became clear.

Clang!

Yeon-shin struck upward. The motion looked calm, yet it contained the layered qi of the Ultimate Realm.

The sensation of knocking the sword aside was unmistakable.

The sect leader's face filled with dismay at Yeon-shin's sword strike, which surpassed the man's own strength.

"Attack!"

In that instant, the Mantis Sect disciples around them rushed in. A sharp spear first filled Yeon-shin's vision.

The Desolate Sword struck through the thrust that came to stop Yeon-shin from landing a second blow on the sect leader.

Slash!

As the spear shaft was cut, the other disciples' weapons closed in. Throwing knives flew toward Yeon-shin as well.

The sharp energies that tore through the air from every direction stimulated Yeon-shin's entire body.

It was Yeon-shin's first time facing so many weapons at once.

Swish!

The instant Yeon-shin avoided a saber strike aimed at the right arm, a disc-shaped blade grazed Yeon-shin's back. Glancing at it, Yeon-shin sent the Desolate Sword out in a horizontal Swift Sword Form.

The man holding the handled, disc-shaped blade lost his head with the same grin on his face.

The grin that stiffened as though frozen at the end flashed through Yeon-shin's vision.

'It hurts.'

The stinging wound sharpened and expanded Yeon-shin's qi sense.

At that moment, Yeon-shin's talent revealed itself in a way even Yeon-shin found difficult to believe.

Yeon-shin saw the lines formed by all the blades, and the sword path that had to pass between them began to emerge in Yeon-shin's mind.

'Strike, pass through, then strike and shift.'

The overlapping energy of the weapons caused Yeon-shin's swift sword formula to evolve as Yeon-shin became one with the sword.

A sword strike cut down along a trajectory visible only to Yeon-shin's eyes.

The Desolate Sword, faster than anyone else's weapon there, knocked aside the weapons and induced them to collide with one another.

A throwing knife deflected by the Desolate Sword embedded itself in another man's heart.

Yeon-shin deflected one man's spear, making it pierce the neck of the man beside him who was swinging a saber.

"Argh!"

"Ugh..."

Yeon-shin's eyes moved swiftly.

Every weapon approaching as though to cut Yeon-shin's body stirred that strange sensation.

It was as though another self watched from above, and even the movements in Yeon-shin's blind spots entered Yeon-shin's mind.

It completely surpassed the realm of prediction.

With movements that rode the wind, Yeon-shin freely passed through the spaces between the blades. Sand scattered by one disciple covered another.

The sect leader's narrow sword, which thrust through the midst of it all, was certainly on another level. Yeon-shin whirled in like a gale and struck the flat of the narrow blade.

Clang!

The man who nearly dropped the sword disappeared back among the disciples and shouted.

"An astonishing achievement! But your sword path is simple. I have already seen through your swift sword...!"

The voice seemed to hold the experience of countless battles. There was no trace of impatience in it.

It sounded exceedingly relaxed, but the sect leader fell silent the moment the man faced Yeon-shin, who had slipped past every attack like a blade of grass.

'They said to seize the initiative.'

In an instant, qi flared like wildfire and raced through the fine meridians throughout Yeon-shin's body. Yeon-shin regarded the hand holding the sword as a fist.

The transmitted force of the Sihwa Boundless Fist began to travel up Yeon-shin's arm. The second technique, True Barrier, was possible.

The intangible force, still somewhat unfamiliar, gathered in Yeon-shin's grip.

The true formula of Demon's Light also rose naturally, enhancing the Force Projection.

Yeon-shin properly gripped the Desolate Sword's hilt.

Rumble!

In an instant, as though driven forward by a storm, Yeon-shin closed the distance.

The sect leader's startled eyes rapidly filled Yeon-shin's vision. Yeon-shin brought the sword down from directly above the man's head.

"You...!"

The instant the sect leader opened his mouth, pure white sword light flashed.

A merciless sensation coursed downward like a shudder.

Footnotes:

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