WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 244: Punishment, Bond
──────
One day earlier.
The words left by True Brother, the acting leader of the Radiant Art Stronghold, were exceptionally bold.
It was safe to say that everyone near Xi’an had gathered, regardless of status.
Commoners and martial artists alike had heard the news. The Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect might descend to the ground at any moment.
The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, Yeo So-hyang.
She was famous even among the Thirteen Heavens and was often compared to Baek Seo-gun, called the Sword Venerable in Henan.
The Spirit Sky Sword Ghost was far younger than Yeo So-hyang. Yet their martial prowess and reputations were close enough to remain a matter of constant debate.
“Isn’t she still too much for that child...?”
Baek Seo-gun muttered to herself.
She sat sideways atop the roof of a pavilion, one knee drawn up.
Lately, she had been speaking to herself more often. Perhaps it was because the life of Jeong Family Manor, which she had deliberately turned away from as something fundamental, had seeped into her heart.
Or perhaps the words written by True Brother had cut at her heart.
“Chivalrous people still pity those in need, so they make their lofty ideals bloom everywhere. It is because they keep the teachings of their sects and parents in their hearts.”
What teachings had Jeong Family Manor Head, Pan Yue Jeong Dae-myung, impressed upon Seom-ye? What feelings had Seom-ye held when he threw himself into Desolate Fortress?
How had he grown into a martial artist who placed the stability of people’s lives above all else? How had he become so upright and noble?
Baek Seo-gun was a blade ghost with peerless command of the sword, but she could not find even a trace of an answer to the questions that had recently surfaced within her.
The tens of thousands of sword paths filling her mind were all useless. If only she had spoken and acted with such straightforwardness when she had first met Seom-ye.
‘Jeong Ban-ak, Jeong Ban-ak... If that mad idler had only done his duty as a father...’
“Surely it was because he had no parents.”
She flinched.
Her short gray hair brushed against her shoulder.
Then...
“Sword Venerable, the Alliance Leader urgently requests your presence.”
An exceedingly respectful voice rang out from below the roof. She knew who it was without looking.
The commander of Heart Martial Union’s martial forces. In the martial world, they held a position so esteemed that most would hesitate even to appear before them.
That meant nothing to Baek Seo-gun, the Sword Venerable.
She slowly opened her lips.
“I told the Alliance Leader I would come in winter. There is still a great deal of time left, so tell me why he is calling me so early.”
“...”
Baek Seo-gun gave a short laugh. She swept up the hair at her temple and rubbed the back of her neck, carrying an odd air of both authority and openness.
“So it isn’t the Alliance Leader. That eldest young master must have caused some trouble.”
“My apologies.”
“You interrupted my thoughts. What did you intend to offer in payment?”
“I had considered my left arm.”
“The eldest young master’s left arm. Quite fitting. I will consider it.”
“Sword Venerable...!”
“Get lost. For daring to make someone falsely report before me, I will discipline that bastard severely the moment I return to the Union. Calling him one of the rising generation is too generous. That useless wretch cannot even measure up to the tip of the Leader of Demon Wings’ toe.”
Her voice was cold, as cold as moonlight falling upon her graying hair.
The Heart Martial Union commander could not answer at once. They could only painfully say that they would return the following day.
* * *
The day of the decisive battle.
“This way! Step here!”
“Don’t cut in line. You might be the first to die by my hand.”
Before anyone noticed, Jegal Hyeon and the Languid Flame Dragon had arrived beneath the opposite peak.
Amid the devastating landslide caused by the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, they shattered rocks and scattered dust as they helped the commoners evacuate. They looked like heroes of the orthodox sects.
The Demon Wings masters spread widely around Daewol Gorge did the same. They unleashed force waves throughout the area, opening paths.
Rather than maintaining their disguise as unorthodox martial artists, they focused on saving the crowd.
Rescue and relief. Those were Desolate Fortress’s original banners.
Seeing this, some martial artists began helping them as well.
A flower blooming amid pandemonium.
Despite the heaviness in his heart, Jeong Yeon-shin felt somewhat relieved.
“...”
He looked up.
The Elder Council Head of one of the Thirteen Heavens.
One of the martial world’s highest figures. Anyone would consider her someone to watch closely.
Even the wind blowing from the thicket on the hill seemed to say so. The sound of leaves rolling at his feet was desolate.
Heh heh...
A strange laugh escaped the old woman standing atop her sword, the Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect. She cackled for a moment, then abruptly stopped as though nothing had happened.
“You see everything...”
An empty amusement tinged her voice.
“What arrogance, to dare speak of the Demonic Sect. Compared to our Sect Master, who remains humble even after reaching the supreme realm, calling you arrogant would still not be enough. You do not know your place.”
Her wrinkled face appeared indifferent.
The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, Yeo So-hyang, was a strange person.
She seemed easily provoked, yet carefully examined her opponent. Even after seeing Yeon-shin’s gaze, she did not guard against him more than necessary.
She was an old master capable of recognizing the usefulness of an eye technique, yet she still acted that way. She knew the difference in their sword power was clear.
“You are insufficiently cultivated.”
Yeo So-hyang’s eyes flashed. Her mad, perceptive gaze carried a terrifyingly powerful bearing.
At a glance, it was impossible to imagine her losing. Perhaps that was only fitting for someone who had served as the wet nurse of a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens.
“Your discernment is lacking. As befits one who raised the Tyrant Sword Sect Master so poorly.”
Yeon-shin’s answer was calm. The logic he had learned from Hyeon Won-chang sat surprisingly well on his tongue.
He felt as though he could even take True Brother as an epithet. Hyeon Won-chang was far more worthy of being called a true elder brother than his second brother, Jeong Joong-san.
“...”
As the old woman closed her mouth, Yeon-shin gauged the distance between them in advance.
The distance from the Northern Light Sword at his waist to Yeo So-hyang was vast. It weighed on his senses as a swordsman, enough to call it a disparity.
She was powerful. Now that he had created the eye technique, he understood that even more clearly.
The Leader of Demon Wings did not care.
Desolate Fortress Black Uniform was a rank that knew no fear.
There was one virtue above all others: to clash with the spirit worthy of a Squad Leader’s position. They were people who raced through the martial world with the temperament of soldiers.
Even when at a disadvantage, that did not change. The issue was not the superiority or inferiority of martial arts, but maximizing one’s strengths. That was why he had created the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique.
He slowly opened his lips. There was something he needed to hear before beginning.
“Do you remember Jeong Family Manor? It was in Xinye County, Henan.”
Yeon-shin asked evenly.
“You speak of the family that produced the Divine Archer and the Fastest Under Heaven? No, if it was Henan...”
Yeo So-hyang’s eyes narrowed, though only for a moment.
Soon, they curved with the wrinkles running to her temples. It was a silent smile.
“Yes, so that was it. You were that child. No wonder you were absurdly powerful for your age. The Sect Master’s discerning eyes are truly remarkable.”
“Was it your doing that sent the murderers?”
“I was on my way out into the world. I looked down and saw land beyond its station. Fertile soil has always been food for the World Tree, so your family should have been laid to waste.”
“For no more reason than that? There were commoners in the household my mother chose.”
Jeong Family Manor was a family of great landowners in Xinye County. Besides the family members, servants and guests regularly came and went through the inner residence.
There was a servant who always called Yeon-shin Young Master and urged him to eat.
That servant was dead now. Murdered.
Faint veins rose on the back of Yeon-shin’s hand as he gripped the sword hilt at his waist. The old woman standing atop her sword cackled.
“How pitiful. You should be grateful that you contributed to the Sect Master’s lofty cause.”
That old monster from the unorthodox sects had truly stained Jeong Family Manor with blood.
Yeon-shin decided he would show his enemy no courtesy. A deep shade passed through his blue eyes.
‘The distance is one jang. Her aura is distorting toward the southeast. Her first move will come straight down.
She will lower her hand from sword-riding flight and retrieve the blade. Her altitude will not change. It will be a long-range sword strike.’
That was the vision of the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique. A tremendous amount of information poured into his mind. It immediately translated his innate senses into thought.
Just as masters of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown wielded their power the instant they willed it, he had instead raised his body’s reaction speed to its limit.
He drew his talent inward. Insight was unfolding in the realm of instinct.
“Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword.”
The Leader of Demon Wings moved his lips.
“Come down.”
He stood atop a thread sword encircling the trees.
The clear winter wind brushed against his ordinary black robes, while lovely sunlight settled upon his proudly raised jawline.
His bearing was exceptional. In terms of outward mystery, he did not lose to the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword.
“There, there!”
“Don’t push! Calm down!”
“No! The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword is there!”
“The leader of the Radiant Art Stronghold has met the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword!”
Those descending the hill formed by the landslide stopped in their tracks. They were curious enough to walk over just to witness a match between supreme unorthodox masters.
Even with countless deaths before their eyes, they could not turn away from such a rare spectacle.
Some even turned back. Several martial artists climbed the cliff like spiders using Wall Gecko Skill.
It was a confrontation between a rising talent and an old master.
As they faced each other, suffocating pressure spread in every direction.
The crowds looking up or watching from afar fixed their eyes on the two and swallowed dryly.
Few had personally witnessed the Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect make a move. People only broadly acknowledged that she possessed sword arts capable of contending for supremacy under heaven.
The leader of the Radiant Art Stronghold, who had appeared after defeating the seven sect masters of Xi’an, was also the object of everyone’s attention.
At last, they clashed.
The tension created by supreme masters seemed to scrape against their skin as it slowly spread.
Then, even the sound of falling stones and the signs of commoners fleeing in panic seemed to fade away.
Kwwaaaak!
A colorless sword wind tore through the air as it descended. Yeo So-hyang had already swung her sword down from midair. A force wave from her sword strike surged from its tip.
The crowd had not even seen her treasured sword rise from beneath her feet. Her movements appeared to continue in disjointed fragments. This was the world of supreme masters.
‘Loyal Severing, Wilderness-Breaking Sword Art, Shattered Wall.’
Yeon-shin saw everything. It was a secret art that had severed a mountain peak.
The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, Yeo So-hyang. Though she was rapidly declining after mastering a domineering art, fragments of her sword power remained at a level capable of contending with the peerless masters of Purple Uniform.
He could not withstand it head-on. Yeon-shin swept his gaze across the grain of the sword wind.
The trajectory entering his vision matched the information he had predicted. He could now uncover even the signs preceding the techniques unleashed by martial artists of a higher level.
A vivid blue radiance shone from the Leader of Demon Wings’ eyes.
Step.
He took a step sideways, still standing atop the thread sword. In that brief moment, he dismantled the entire net surrounding him.
The recoil from the bundle of thread swords being drawn into his sleeve pulled his body to the left.
Kwakwakwang!
The sword strike swept past his side. It grazed his hair, missing by a hair’s breadth.
The instant it struck the ground, a roar like an earthquake erupted. The earth seemed to twist like a dragon.
“For an old body that will soon fall into hell, that is remarkable sword power. Show me more.”
Yeon-shin’s voice pierced through the wind. The sword strike had been focused on cutting him down, not the peak.
Its angle showed as much. It was not enough to cleave through the largest hill in Daewol Gorge. This place had been chosen with that in mind from the start.
“You insolent whelp!”
Bang!
At last, Yeo So-hyang landed directly before Yeon-shin. Cracks spread in every direction from beneath her feet.
The landing itself was like True Step. Her sword suddenly shot forward.
Slash!
White light flashed. It was an incomparably fast sword strike. Though it lasted only an instant, the formless energy gathered on the blade distorted the air as if she had prepared it in advance.
At that moment, Yeon-shin was already slipping into the old woman’s embrace. This was a preemptive move.
He knew he could not yet match the Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect in sword speed. So he saw it first and moved in, seizing the wrist of the arm holding her sword.
Wrinkled skin pressed against his grip. It was a properly executed joint lock.
“You...?”
Their eyes met at close range. A faint curve formed on Yeon-shin’s lips.
Even without words, the meaning clearly reached Yeo So-hyang.
So this would work.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
