WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 246: Punishment, Bond (3)
──────
Yeo So-hyang’s eyes flew wide open.
It lasted only an instant.
Perhaps because she was the sworn enemy who had destroyed his mother’s home, something sinister stirred within Jeong Yeon-shin.
Had they not once exchanged words like these, her face calm and indifferent?
―“I was setting out on a journey when I happened to look down upon land far too good for you. Fertile soil has always been food for the World Tree, so your family had to be laid waste.”
―“For that reason alone? There were common folk in the family my mother chose.”
―“How pitiful. You should have been grateful for contributing to the Sect Master’s grand purpose.”
The fierce battle against a core supreme master of the Thirteen Heavens had reached its end.
Jeong Yeon-shin cut off her only remaining arm with an upward slash. The Tyrant Sword Sect’s Elder Council Head had always been far more renowned for her sword power than her Protective Qi Technique.
She was in no condition to withstand the Leader of Demon Wings’ final ultimate move with her bare body.
Clear winter sunlight streamed down from the sky and shimmered around Yeo So-hyang’s right arm. Shadows rose and faded over it as though announcing the battle’s end.
Finally.
“Keugh...!”
A groan burst from the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword as her lips twitched.
Her former lofty expression shattered. Pain raced through her like a burn, seeming to tear through the old woman’s mind.
The flying sword beneath her feet lost its strength. She began to fall.
“You wretch...!”
Yeo So-hyang twisted her body. Only her torso and legs remained.
Her inner power, left with nowhere to go, burst transparently amid the blood scattering through the air. Even the remaining qi in her minor meridians was enormously powerful.
Without lowering his guard, Jeong Yeon-shin clenched his left hand into a fist. This was someone who might once have rivaled even a Purple Uniform.
Though she had declined from her Tyrant Art and age, she was bound to possess dozens of life-saving ultimate moves. She might even control her flying sword with her toes, so he had to crush her completely.
‘Keugh.’
He swallowed a groan.
Azure Flame, First Form was a sword form that perfectly aligned the inner energy of every minor meridian in his body with the sword path. It pushed every muscle in his body to its limit. As befitted the final ultimate move of an explosive sword form, its backlash was tremendous.
His entire body was growing heavy and soft as soaked cotton, but he could not afford to let his body be carried away by the technique’s recoil now.
‘One move. Just one final move...!’
Even the slash wounds raking his entire body had to be used. Blood from the blade wind brushed across his skin, chilling his flesh.
Jeong Yeon-shin treated his bleeding like ice water. He gathered the sharp pains like blades, trying to sharpen his mind.
Fwoosh!
He fell alongside Yeo So-hyang.
Even such a brief time in the air gave supreme masters enough time for over ten exchanges. With his clenched left hand, Jeong Yeon-shin struck her abdomen.
Boom!
It landed squarely. A heavy force wave hammered Yeo So-hyang’s Protective Qi Technique. His fist met an exceedingly hard resistance. She was an old and seasoned supreme master.
Though the loss of a major meridian had disrupted the flow of her inner energy, she had erected an unwavering shield of invisible qi. It was no flimsy inner-energy barrier that would break under a weakened strike.
Boom! Boom!
Jeong Yeon-shin did not stop punching. From his shoulder blade to his fist, he circulated the qi flow of Sihwa Boundless Hand with brutal force.
It felt as though his acupoints were being torn apart. Without the Jeong Family Youth Technique, he would have suffered permanent damage, but such harm meant nothing to a Grandmaster of the body. Only the pain grew worse.
Waves of inner power from the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel bloomed from his fist. It was Fist Flower, the third form.
Colorless force warped and flowered like a bouquet. Power struck power, generating repeated Force Projections.
‘I will cripple your martial arts.’
He drove blow after blow into the area of Yeo So-hyang’s lower dantian. Her inner-energy barrier began to shatter alongside fragments of force waves.
The qi of her Tyrant Art, which had always clashed poorly with the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel, unraveled beneath it. Soon, Jeong Yeon-shin’s left fist pierced through to her lower dantian.
Crack-crack-crack!
The moment his fist touched her, twenty-four strikes landed. Translucent petals seemed to scatter from the old monster’s abdomen. Each was a fragment of a force wave.
He shattered her Protective Qi Technique, then pulverized the hard shell of inner energy around her lower dantian. Blood surged from Yeo So-hyang’s mouth.
The ground rushed closer.
‘I will not let my guard down.’
Jeong Yeon-shin drew back his blood-soaked left shoulder. He lacked the strength to use Radiant River, but True Barrier would suffice.
He launched his final fist strike at Yeo So-hyang’s middle dantian, her wrinkled face twisted like an evil spirit’s.
It was the second form of Sihwa Boundless Hand. The remaining flow of power converged entirely in his fist.
The surface of his fist lightly touched her solar plexus.
The final inner power of the Light Wheel, which had spun for so long, burst forth.
Boom!
A heavy force wave erupted. It pierced deep inside and shattered her middle dantian. He clearly felt the brittle impact.
“Hah...!”
The old monster released a pained gasp. At that moment, the two supreme masters fell into the undergrowth together.
A dull impact rang briefly through the grass, accompanied by droplets of blood scattering in every direction.
Yeo So-hyang’s right arm landed farther behind them.
The arm of a swordsman who had dominated an era began to stain the earth black, as though the violent explosions had never occurred.
It was a deeply desolate sight.
Hoo.
As Jeong Yeon-shin slowly rose with one hand on his knee, the watching crowd displayed its shock in different ways.
Some stood with their mouths hanging open. Others twisted their lips, revealing strange emotions. Not one person could speak.
The legend of the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword’s flying sword had been broken.
“...”
Only a few breaths had passed, yet everyone’s expressions had changed strangely.
It was true of the common folk watching from all over the gorge, as well as the martial artists who had approached the hill.
The Tyrant Sword Sect’s Elder Council Head had been defeated by a young rising talent. Everyone had seen her right arm fly off before she was mercilessly struck down.
She had lived a long life as one of Shaanxi’s foremost supreme masters, even in a region where three major factions had taken root. She had come to punish a young talent today, only to be broken instead.
Horrifically so.
Bewilderment, disbelief, and shock lingered in the broad, slow wind blowing through Daewol Gorge.
Only one person remained free from the silence, the Leader of Demon Wings of Desolate Fortress disguised as the Master of the Radiant Art Stronghold.
Jeong Yeon-shin removed his hand from his knee and straightened his bare upper body. Then he slowly and painfully parted his lips.
“An excellent... fan technique.”
“I am glad it was of help. It was hardly a pleasant memory, yet the affairs of this world are truly strange.”
Jegal Hyeon spoke as he approached from the side, suppressing his shock with the deep composure of the Zhuge Family’s eldest young master.
He thought the balance of power in the martial world might change within three years.
Immortal Dragon Jegal Hyeon recalled the Leader of Demon Wings stepping onto his fan at the front gate of the Martial Alliance Assembly.
‘To think he would reduce the Tyrant Sword Sect’s Elder Council Head to that state... Squad Leader Jeong’s achievement is immense. This is no ordinary matter. The Martial Alliance Assembly will be turned upside down. Its impact will differ from that of the grand founding ceremony. It will be difficult to predict how every faction will move.’
His eyes darkened.
“He actually caught her. What uncanny instincts, as always.”
Languid Flame Dragon approached from the opposite side. He looked utterly different from when he had rushed forward in desperation to block the Chaneum Twin Demons’ strike.
His dragging footsteps splayed outward in a figure-eight. Yet his carefree bearing did not last long. He suddenly stopped.
A sword that had been lying off to one side floated into the air.
qi sword control.
The treasured sword that had brought down the Yeoryeong Chaneum Twin Demons and placed immense pressure on the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword moved on its own.
It headed toward the cliff below. As Jeong Yeon-shin watched it silently, he heard a strange voice.
―“I am too ashamed to face you, so I cannot approach you. I will come to see you soon. Please... do not turn me away at the door. I am sorry.”
The voice was slightly hoarse, yet beautiful. He had heard it once before.
‘Spirit Sky Sword Ghost Baek Seo-gun. The Sword Venerable of Henan...’
Question filled Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes. She had helped him without explanation, then left behind words he could not understand. What was that supposed to mean?
She had been said to have a connection to Jeong Family Manor. Could it be no ordinary connection? Judging by today alone, it seemed so.
She had saved his life. Even the leaders of ordinary great sects would not have taken the combined attack of the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword and the Chaneum Twin Demons lightly.
Soon, he gave a small nod. He wanted to offer a fist salute, but could not do so while pretending to be the leader of an unorthodox sect.
Perhaps that was enough.
Baek Seo-gun’s treasured sword trembled slightly. Then, as though nothing had happened, it vanished beneath the cliff like a ray of light, leaving behind only the distant sound of air being split.
Jegal Hyeon and Languid Flame Dragon, standing nearby, did not speak.
Connections in the highest levels of the martial world were treated as equal to a respectable secret martial arts manual. It was not something they could casually pry into.
“Haaah...”
It sounded as though air were leaking from her lungs.
The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, Yeo So-hyang, drew thin breaths as she lay at Jeong Yeon-shin’s feet. Retribution had taken both her arms.
Her left arm had been taken by the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan, and her right by the Leader of Demon Wings. Just before falling, her paralysis acupoint had been struck, leaving her unable to move.
She could not even kill herself. At most, she could manage faint words.
Jeong Yeon-shin looked down at the old monster and spoke.
“I will interrogate you.”
“Heh, heh... Ridiculous...”
Yeo So-hyang curled the corners of her mouth. It was as though she were saying he would not get a single word from her. Her resolve was remarkable.
She had lost an arm, and both her lower and middle dantians had been shattered, yet she still displayed the spirit of a martial artist. The inner power that had not yet dispersed from her body was still immense.
Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly.
“You boasted before we fought. Aren’t you ashamed? What is more ridiculous than the bravado of a defeated person...”
He trailed off because he was genuinely puzzled, and Yeo So-hyang closed her mouth.
Jeong Yeon-shin no longer spared the old monster a glance. As one of the Thirteen Heavens’ leaders, she would not speak under an ordinary interrogation.
‘I have no talent for torture, but...’
That was fine.
When he turned his head, a wave of jet-black hair filled his vision. It was One Lotus Sword Plum, Baek Mir-yeo.
She was running toward him with concern on her pale face. Though the white clothes she wore for her disguise were made of rough fabric, they fluttered gracefully.
She possessed pure demonic qi.
Even so, like Senior Jin, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, Baek Mir-yeo had never let her demonic qi show outwardly. Along with Cheong Myeong, she was the most dependable senior in Demon Wings.
She would be able to find out Jeong Hye’s whereabouts. Injecting Baek Mir-yeo’s demonic qi alone would be terrifying torture.
Elsewhere.
“The Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword lost!”
“She cannot recover... No, is she dead?”
“Another supernova has risen in the martial world. This is close to supernatural phenomena.”
“Spread the word! We have to spread the word!”
A belated uproar broke out throughout the gorge. It seemed as if the martial world itself had been compressed into one place.
Carrier pigeons flapped their wings in every direction, and several onlookers studied Jeong Yeon-shin and his group closely.
Step.
Jeong Yeon-shin moved without a word. He glanced at the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, then gave Languid Flame Dragon a short nod of his chin.
Ignoring the unspoken retort, ‘You want me to carry her?’, he walked on. Sunlight reflecting from the few remaining shrubs flickered noisily.
* * *
The Ming Dynasty was an empire.
It did not neglect the people’s livelihood, the source of its national strength.
If martial artists who wielded their blades in defiance of the Great Ming Code were left alone, the people would suffer. If public sentiment grew unstable or tribute failed to arrive on time, problems would arise in governance.
That was why the government and the martial world were inseparable.
They could not be divided. The martial world was a realm spread across the lives of the people.
Even black-path factions that lived by collecting fees from inns and shops paid kickbacks to the local county magistrate.
They had to if they did not wish to receive a visit from Desolate Fortress White Uniform martial artists. They possessed the martial strength of ten-odd ordinary wandering martial artists and would come to destroy even a small sect on a solo mission.
The moment an official reported them to Desolate Fortress, the signboards of several sects would come down. Their kickbacks were meant to prevent that.
A famine.
A time when collusion between corrupt officials and martial-world sects had reached an unprecedented height.
Rumble!
A luxurious carriage raced down the official road. Two fine horses pulled it, leaving a long trail of dust behind.
The broad street held its breath. The windows of stores and shops lining both sides quietly opened or closed.
Anyone wishing to keep their head attached had to remain deathly quiet.
The Prefect, who had watched from the sidelines until then, had arrived in person.
The sect war in Xi’an Prefecture, Shaanxi, which had nearly become a civil uprising, had ended. It was time to settle the new order governing the great city’s lucrative interests.
Voices from within the carriage mixed with the clatter of its wheels.
“The Master of the Radiant Art Stronghold. I still cannot believe it. I poured out silver by the sackful, yet those madmen all vanished. Into the ground, no less.”
“Is that not the way of the unorthodox martial world? They exterminate each other and are exterminated in turn. What loyalty could one expect from people who repeatedly gather and scatter?”
“Are you saying this official’s judgment was insufficient?”
“No, I only...”
“I was only joking. What a fellow.”
“You should be careful, in any case. They say that person is a leader of the unorthodox sects who even defeated the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword. They must be a heinous rogue.”
“Do you not know where I come from? I know lowborn martial artists better than anyone. Inner energy is a discipline that requires deep knowledge of letters. If that person’s martial prowess is so high, they cannot be an uneducated fool. Noninterference between government and martial world is something only people ignorant of the world would speak of.”
“Of course. I know that.”
“That person cannot do anything to a Ming Prefect visiting in broad daylight. I only need to take some care in handling matters. You keep your mouth shut, too. Do not provoke their temper needlessly. Are they not the sort who will bring in double tribute for us?”
“Yes, Prefect.”
At that moment, the carriage slowly came to a halt.
It had reached its destination, an inn with an annex.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
