WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 245: Punishment, Bond (2)

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"How presumptuous!"

The old master still had enough composure to give voice to her fury.

With Jeong Yeon-shin gripping her wrist, Yeo So-hyang's treasured sword glowed white. His right-hand palm art had yet to reach her abdomen.

Loyal Severing, Wilderness-Breaking Sword Art: Gazing at Flowers.

Clang!

An overwhelming force wave erupted from the sword. Without swinging it, she unleashed a gale of cutting wind.

Yeon-shin released her wrist and evaded, but blood burst from his body.

The blade winds shredded his black cloak, leaving dozens of sword wounds. Pain tore through him as though the entire left side of his body had been sliced away.

It was an injury unlike any he had ever suffered.

Wheeling around, he scattered blood like water flung from a waterwheel.

Yeo So-hyang's hand, poised to follow with a decisive strike, faltered.

He had already used the internal heavy-hand technique on her. The pain must have been tremendous.

Though it was not as utterly incompatible as demonic inner energy, the tyrannical art she had cultivated was not free from the dharma power of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel either.

Shing!

Yeon-shin drew the Northern Light Sword as he turned. His talent transformed even an evasive movement into True Step.

From his right hand to the sword tip, his weight and strength carried through properly. The energy of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel raced through him along the quick-sword mnemonic formula of the Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art, contracting the muscles of his right forearm.

'Judging the Qilin.'

In an instant, the blade became a streak of light. It spun out with his body like a typhoon. The sword strike tore through the air, leaving a shrieking shockwave in its wake.

Yeo So-hyang, a seasoned supreme master who had already closed in and thrust out her sword, widened her eyes slightly.

Clang, clang, clang!

Sword met sword, scattering fragments of force waves in every direction.

The colorless force of the Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art swept past Yeo So-hyang's cheek. Thin blood trickled from the wrinkles on her face.

Neither allowed the other even a clean move. It was a clash between peerless geniuses.

Yeon-shin concealed the pain tearing through his grip behind a calm expression.

It was difficult enough merely to intercept sword strikes capable of cutting a mountain peak before they fully formed, then endure the remaining force.

His focus narrowed sharply. He felt as though he were tightrope-walking over a thread sword without inner energy.

Without the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique, this would have been a certain defeat. That was what Yeon-shin thought. Even the force in her sword was different. He felt utterly outmatched.

The people around them, unaware of his circumstances, did not see it that way.

Boom! Clang!

The force waves from their sword strikes repeatedly swept through the surroundings. Fragments of brush scattered in every direction, and each time their swords clashed or the fierce wind of the Body Movement Scripture tore through the air, the ground split apart.

A battle between supreme masters was a disaster in itself.

Even so, the crowd in Daewol Gorge gradually drew closer, climbing over cliffs and up the hills.

It was a life-and-death duel they might never see again. Something about it seemed to draw in their souls.

"We have to watch that."

"What if they kill us?"

"That demon is flying around on a sword. We'd be better off hiding here."

"Besides, if we leave, we'll only end up on the Guanzhong Plain. We'd stand out even more there."

"We might as well feast our eyes on such magnificent martial arts."

"I can't make sense of it. Are those two really human?"

They had come to witness the Tyrant Sword Sect Elder Council Head make a move. That alone proved they were people crazed over martial arts.

Whatever the outcome, if they survived, they would not be able to help spreading word of what had happened today.

Lovers of spectacle were not some rare breed. Everyone with a place in the martial world was a storyteller.

Still, none dared come too close. Not unless they wanted their flesh pulverized.

Clang! Boom!

The center of the hill that had become their battlefield blurred beneath a twisting vortex.

People who created typhoons with their swords. No one had expected the Radiant Art Stronghold Lord to accomplish this much. Their ages were far too different.

Those who had crossed the gorge were martial artists with broad experience or profound martial skill.

The more they knew, the more differently they viewed the scene before them. Shock was plainly written across most faces.

Some hid among rocks, while others stood straight atop trees. None could take their eyes off the life-and-death duel before them.

A few were briefly left spellbound.

The Radiant Art Stronghold Lord's upper garment had nearly been torn away.

Blood poured from his entire body as he thrust out his sword, and densely formed muscles stood out through the bright red blood.

Even as he moved with refined sword forms too exquisite to associate with Demonic Sect blade-work, he exuded a captivating savagery.

The Tyrant Sword Sect Elder Council Head, Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword Yeo So-hyang, was not unscathed either.

Blood stained her shoulders, nape, and face as she thrust out her sword with a face twisted like an evil ghost. The small wounds were left by Yeon-shin's skill.

Had they been even slightly deeper, they would have become fatal injuries at once. They had not landed properly, so they meant little, but to the crowd, the fight appeared evenly matched.

The Yeoryeong masters watching from beneath the long shadows thought the same.

"That one seems like someone Headquarters would have ranked."

"A supreme master not yet twenty, one worthy of discussion across the entire martial world. There aren't many. Shall we list them?"

"The Blood Flame Sect's Seventh Apostle."

"That insane monster is said to be twenty-one this year. And do you think that one's a woman?"

They were male and female twins with long bangs hanging down.

The Chaneum Twin Demons of Yeoryeong, one of the Thirteen Heavens. They had once pursued Weiji Myo-hwa and Jeong Hye of the Zhongnan Sect, only to encounter the Heart Martial Union's Sword Venerable. They had survived by fleeing swiftly.

"It can't be the Ming Cult's Young Sect Master... We should exclude sects of the elven race too, like Dark Night Hall."

The woman shook her head at the man's words.

"That one uses a sword to begin with. What about Desolate Fortress?"

"Then... Could it be the current Leader of Demon Wings? That would explain why he came here to give us such a beating. His martial prowess too."

"Let's capture him and see."

"What about that demon hag? She'll fly into a rage if we interfere."

"She'll obviously win if we leave her alone, but what if something happens to her one remaining arm in the process? That one doesn't look easy to deal with. Headquarters is currently joining forces with the Tyrant Sword Sect in a combined attack. And why would she fly into a rage? That old hag is a founding master of the unorthodox sects. She'll be glad to bleed less."

The Chaneum Twin Demons turned their eyes back to the battle between the two supreme masters.

Boom!

On the increasingly ruined hill, Yeon-shin swung the Northern Light Sword downward. Shattered brush was dragged down with the force wave of his sword strike.

Ignoring the wounds cutting across his entire body, he formed the sword path.

Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art: Nine Verdants Form a River.

Invisible Force Projection, gathered into a single stream, erupted with a tremendous roar.

Clang!

The recoil in his grip was immense. Cracks like those of an earthquake spread to either side beneath his feet.

Yeo So-hyang received the ultimate move with a fearsome expression, without retreating even a single step. Yeon-shin immediately channeled inner energy into the Yongquan acupoint beneath his feet.

If he did not move at once, the unique power of the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword would surge forth at full force. He needed to use the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique to find an opening and prevent her from unleashing her sword force.

That was when it happened.

Aaaaah!

The lion's roars of a man and a woman suddenly bursting from the shadows to his right exploded outward. The Sound Arts aura was incredibly dense.

It flew toward him like a translucent cannonball, its force aimed directly at Yeon-shin.

The green leaves of the surrounding evergreens trembled violently in succession.

"Damn it!"

"Tch!"

Jegal Hyeon and Languid Flame Dragon rushed in from either side to strike the attackers, their expressions twisting. They were a step too late.

They had feared rashly interfering in a battle between supreme masters and disrupting Yeon-shin's movements. The attackers' martial prowess was absurdly exceptional as well.

Before him was the Tyrant Sword Sect Elder Council Head's sword. To his right came the Sound Arts strike of the Yeoryeong Chaneum Twin Demons.

Yeon-shin understood that he would struggle even to parry the colorless force wave of Yeo So-hyang's sword strike distorting the air directly before him.

If he evaded here, the flow of battle he had seized with the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique would collapse. He was already at a disadvantage.

Once they began building exchanges again, there was no telling what would happen.

'Even so, I need to avoid a fatal wound first...'

Just as he made his decision.

Swaaaang!

A long white gleam suddenly shot out beside Yeon-shin's neck.

A third party had intervened.

A circular shockwave exploded from the back of a sword hilt that rushed in without warning, accompanied by a thunderous roar.

The tail of its force wave lingered like a comet. In an instant, the sword under qi sword control shattered the Sound Arts aura, then veered and collided with Yeo So-hyang's sword.

Behind him, the Chaneum Twin Demons coughed up blood, their cries lingering like an echo.

Kwang!

It was a direct hit. The controlled sword's tip nearly embedded itself in the flat of her blade. The hill shook in that instant.

The monstrous impact of the colliding force waves rang in every direction. Yeo So-hyang's lips had been curling upward only moments ago, but now her face filled with bewilderment.

"Eight-Ring Divine Sword? Spirit Sky Sword Ghost...!"

At that moment, Yeon-shin's sword scraped across her solar plexus. The sound of it grinding against her Protective Qi Technique was chilling.

Had the force wave gone a little deeper, it would have shattered her ribs at once. For the first time, Yeo So-hyang's face turned pale.

The Tyrant Sword Sect Elder Council Head attempted to flee.

Tap!

Through the opening created by the Leader of Demon Wings' strike, she leaped upward and stepped onto her sword.

The Heart Martial Union's Sword Venerable, whose intentions were impossible to read, had not reached the realm of the Heart-Guided Sword.

Her qi sword control followed her eyes rather than her mind. Since she had not shown herself and had sent only her sword flying, she could not continue her attacks for a brief moment.

Yeo So-hyang left a warning through lip-speech.

"You child who is nothing more than an offering for the Sect Master, you will surely be beheaded one day."

The sword tip beneath Yeo So-hyang's feet turned backward.

Screee!

Sword flight activated at once. In the blink of an eye, she cut through the sky and fled into the distance.

'I expected this. Through the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique.'

Yeon-shin ran without even looking up at her. He had already activated Wind Body at full force.

He drove forward, turning his whole body into a quick sword.

The scenery before him continued to swell in his vision. As wind twisted his clothes like a storm and filled his entire body, he saw Jegal Hyeon standing directly ahead.

Their eyes met.

It lasted only an instant. Understanding passed between peerless geniuses.

The next moment.

Tap.

Yeon-shin stepped on the Crane-Wing Fan that Jegal Hyeon spread out.

Faintly.

The leather shoes of the Leader of Demon Wings at Desolate Fortress overlapped with the cloth-socked feet of the boy from Jeong Family Manor.

In that moment, the finest grasping fan in the martial world became a Dano Festival swing that the boy from Jeong Family Manor had never ridden. A foothold he might have stepped on one day, had his mother been there.

He stepped on it and leaped.

Fwoosh!

Qi circulated violently through his entire body.

It felt as though lightning were striking from the Yinmen acupoint behind his thigh and the Yongquan acupoint in the sole of his foot. Even the pain throughout his body gradually dulled.

The old woman's face, turned back toward him, rapidly drew closer. Yeon-shin gripped the Northern Light Sword's hilt with both hands. The wind whipping past his ears was fierce.

'Will I fail to reach her?'

No. That would have been the case a month ago. Now, the length of his limbs was subtly different. These had been days of growth.

His limbs had lengthened alongside the pain in his knees. Every day, he needed to learn that growth and apply it to his own martial arts.

"...!"

Until the wrinkles on Yeo So-hyang's face, beginning to form an expression of shock, filled his vision.

The Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique took in countless pieces of information.

The residual force of qi sword control that the Elder Council Head of those scum had failed to disperse, the Protective Qi Technique beginning to recover around her solar plexus, even her inner-energy circulation fully focused on sword flight. In an instant, the sword path in his mind was formed.

Countless blade trajectories struck his mind like shafts of light. Yeon-shin overlaid his sword upon one of them.

He poured strength into both hands gripping the hilt and thrust upward. The auspicious waves of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel spread in every direction.

'Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art, Third Form.'

Azure Flame, First Form.

The sword flashed like lightning and leapt past even the sunlight. Blue sword light blazed as though it would swallow even the sound of the force wave exploding in his grip, then shot forward in a straight line.

It flew toward Yeo So-hyang as she urgently raised her treasured sword to defend herself. The blue trail tore through the air and passed the stunned old woman's shoulder.

Fwoosh!

Blood erupted, and an arm flew into the air.

Footnotes:

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