WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Chapter 25: Footwork

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“The Blood Flame Sect was there?”

Ma Jin muttered. The scar on his face twisted sharply.

“Not just anyone, but a Blood Master...”

“This proves that what happened in Jinpyeong County was not luck.”

Behind Baek Mir-yeo, who had furrowed her brow at the gravity of the matter, Cheong Myeong merely marveled and stroked Yeon-shin’s head.

“There are traces of its regenerative ability beginning to activate, then stopping. It is certainly the Blood Master.”

For some reason, Hyeon Won-chang showed an unexpected reaction.

He neither clicked his tongue nor shook his head as though resigned.

Instead, he examined the Blood Master’s severed head and confirmed traces where a blade had passed.

Ma Jin spoke.

“This is not normal. It is something that should be nearly impossible.”

“Blood Masters are not this common.”

Baek Mir-yeo gave a slight nod.

“We need to search everywhere, whether in the martial world of the unorthodox sects or in places without martial factions. The Blood Flame Sect’s expansion is a serious matter. If they developed their sorcery enough to place one Blood Master in every county, it may mean that the Blood Flame Sect’s Apostles have increased as well. Those whose hair has turned completely black. If even their numbers have grown... it is horrifying.”

“Of course.”

This time, even Cheong Myeong nodded in agreement.

“Seom-ye has rendered no small service. It almost seems incidents follow you. Enduring them and bringing back information and merit will affect the martial world. Desolate Fortress will respond.”

After staring at him for a moment, Ma Jin spoke again.

“Yes. You wish to go to Mount Zhongnan.”

“I’m softhearted. I cannot help but worry about my younger relative’s safety.”

Had it sounded like a roundabout criticism of the Desolate Ma family?

Ma Jin’s face stiffened awkwardly. With an unusually strained expression, he spoke.

“...We have only just received the news as well. But Mount Zhongnan is dangerous now. The Tyrant Sword Sect is unlike the Blood Flame Sect.”

“They cannot simply be classed among the unorthodox sects. They cultivate both orthodox martial arts and sorcery. They are mad with the desire to grow stronger and know no bounds.”

Baek Mir-yeo added. Concern seemed to fill her slightly raised eyes.

“Yes. More importantly, no mission has been assigned. It is enough for us to fulfill the duties we have been given.”

Ma Jin and Baek Mir-yeo appeared unwilling to send Yeon-shin away.

Only Cheong Myeong, standing beside them, tactlessly defended the youngest member of Demon Wings.

“A Squad Leader can assess the matter and assign a mission at their discretion, can’t they?”

“...”

As Baek Mir-yeo shot Cheong Myeong a fierce glare, Ma Jin continued.

“To be honest, how can we send you to Mount Zhongnan when we do not know whether you will return?”

“Pardon?”

It was only natural to ask again.

Yet everyone present except Yeon-shin seemed to agree.

“Anyone in Desolate Fortress who knows your talent would worry.”

“Even if it is needless concern, it is understandable. How could anyone fail to covet you, especially when you have blood relatives there? The Mount Hua Sword Absolute even spoke of taking you on as a guest.”

Baek Mir-yeo and even Cheong Myeong spoke with expressions of agreement.

Yeon-shin knew Ma Jin had another reason that the others did not.

It was likely because Ma Jin worried about Yeon-shin, who had not grown attached to the Desolate Ma family.

“Can the Squad Leader not distinguish between public and private matters? Is the trust I have built within Demon Wings only worth this much?”

He spoke calmly. His words struck to the bone.

“...”

“I have rendered clear merit. Please allow me to go. Record this as my individual merit.”

“He’s got you in checkmate.”

Cheong Myeong was promptly struck in the side by Baek Mir-yeo.

Cheong Myeong groaned, while Ma Jin, who had been lost in thought, slowly opened his mouth.

“You are right. It would be difficult to refuse outright. Let us make a wager.”

“A wager?”

“Receive one of my techniques. One move will suffice. If you neutralize it or evade it, I will let you go. To stand unrivaled in the martial world, you need at least that much skill. In addition, I will promise you another reward.”

“I understand.”

Amid the group’s astonishment, Yeon-shin readily nodded.

* * *

They headed to the guesthouse’s rear courtyard. Neither Yeon-shin nor Ma Jin paid any heed to the gazes of others.

It was a place to exchange one move.

Masters from the Mount Hua Sect approached and asked what was happening.

After hearing the general circumstances, many cautiously requested permission to watch.

Ma Jin granted it without concern.

“Thank you.”

The Mount Hua Sect martial artists surrounded them, blocking the commoners’ view.

“To witness the Leader of Demon Wings make a move. Isn’t a Black Uniform master of Desolate Fortress comparable to you, Martial Uncle?”

Yu Hyeon asked Cheon Ju. The leader of the Plum Blossom Swordsmen replied in the affirmative before adding,

“In chaotic battles, he is likely stronger than I am. His epithet is ‘Hell Slayer.’ It means he completely dominates the battlefield. Quite a few elders from prestigious major sects became wandering souls at his hands after committing sanctimonious atrocities.”

“Even taking one move from him looks frightening.”

“When facing such a master, one cannot take even the slightest gesture lightly. The principle of instant death lies within a single move. It differs from us martial artists of the Nine Sects, who seek the ultimate in the sword. His martial arts have been honed thoroughly for actual combat. Once battlefield martial arts reach the extreme, there is nothing more terrifying.”

“...Even for Yeon-shin, would this not be difficult? Against a master like that, no one among our peers could avoid being defeated in a single move.”

Yu Hyeon’s gaze turned to Yeon-shin, who stood opposite Ma Jin.

Seom-ye of Demon Wings stood with one hand resting lightly on his sword hilt, facing the blowing wind.

His expression still showed little fluctuation in emotion.

Yeon-shin was calm, thinking only of displaying the martial arts he had learned. He slowly opened his mouth.

“Will you give me some time?”

“Take as much as you wish. I intend to show you a strike that even a White Uniform would find difficult to withstand, so sharpen your senses.”

It sounded as though Ma Jin intended to go easy on him. Yet Ma Jin’s standards would surely differ.

The Leader of Demon Wings was a Black Uniform master. It was said that there were fewer than thirty such supreme masters in Desolate Fortress.

Yeon-shin closed his eyes. He examined his body and first awakened his lower dantian.

The energy he had accumulated through the Jeong Family Youth Technique, dormant throughout his body, stirred as well.

As he circulated qi through his entire body, he also sought to draw out the sensation he had realized at the Mantis Sect.

For an ordinary martial artist, that experience might have seemed within reach before slipping away, forcing them to devote themselves to training.

Yeon-shin was different. Once he had properly felt a sensation, it became wholly his from that moment.

There was no need to spend time using coincidence as a starting point for further progress.

‘I can see it.’

Was this like Sun Wukong’s clone technique from the Legend of Xuanzang?

He could perceive Ma Jin’s entire body, as though even Ma Jin’s back were visible to him.

Combined with his unique aura sense, his senses reached their peak.

“I will yield the first move.”

Yeon-shin made a rare joke.

Ma Jin gave a faint laugh and raised his hand. It was a thick, upright knife-hand.

It was said that his martial arts were the essence of Demon's Light. He had truly mastered every kind of weapon.

They said he could skillfully wield every weapon scattered across a battlefield, even a wine bottle lying on a tavern floor.

‘Then his hands must be the most frightening.’

He could tell just by looking at the converging aura. He now understood what Ma Jin meant when he said the strike would be difficult even for a White Uniform to bear.

The difference in density was on another level.

With palm force like that, Ma Jin could likely shatter even a thick fortress wall in one blow.

‘I need to evade it.’

He finished his calculations. If he tried to block it poorly, he would not escape serious injury.

Yeon-shin completely lowered the hand he had rested on his sword hilt.

As the onlookers failed to hide their puzzlement, Ma Jin’s massive frame charged in.

Thud!

His Body Movement Scripture was not ethereal. It was direct and brutally fast.

It felt as though a condensed typhoon were bearing down on him.

This could not even be Ma Jin’s full speed, yet Yeon-shin struggled merely to turn his body aside.

Whoosh!

Ma Jin controlled his movements with astonishing precision.

A slight twist of his toes reversed the flow of force. At the end of the knife-hand’s trajectory as it tore sideways through the air was Yeon-shin’s head.

Even then, Yeon-shin watched Ma Jin’s movements. A faint blue radiance flashed through his eyes.

With the Body Movement Scripture he had learned so far, he could not escape.

The movements of the elven race that Cheong Myeong had taught him were not a formalized method. He needed one step, taken with clear intent, to force open a path of survival.

‘Just one step.’

The route Ma Jin would create and the directions of his force drew complex lines within Yeon-shin’s mind.

The Baihui acupoint at the crown of his head seemed to burn.

What posture should he take? How should he circulate his qi? At what moment should he step?

A single step that would tear open a gap in the gale began to form in his mind.

At the same time, he felt another dantian budding near his heart. It lasted only an instant.

A strand of inner energy from the Jeong Family Youth Technique activated his middle dantian for a fleeting moment before passing through.

His qi, briefly made stronger still, spurred the creation of a new technique.

It was not the realm of certain supreme masters who felt time slow.

Yeon-shin’s thoughts merely moved as fast as lightning.

His innate talent manifested in the realm of martial arts at that moment.

Step.

Woooosh-!

The moment Yeon-shin took one step, a tremendous force wave swept his hair upward.

He then felt the fierce wind caused by the force that exploded behind him.

“...”

Dust billowed, but no one spoke.

Everyone present was a master who lived alongside martial arts.

Anyone could feel that the step Yeon-shin had just taken was extraordinary.

“That footwork.”

Ma Jin’s lips moved while he remained in the posture of his strike.

“What was that? I have never seen it before.”

“I merely walked. I could see a path to survive.”

“...You truly possess incomprehensible talent. Still the same.”

“I will name it Splendid Wings Step.”

Yeon-shin spoke evenly.

The origin of the name Demon Wings was not complicated.

It meant the wings of Desolate Fortress, which destroyed the demons of the Great Ming Empire.

The name Splendid Wings Step was different. By choosing the character meaning splendor, Yeon-shin revealed his affection for belonging to Demon Wings.

Ma Jin, Cheong Myeong, and Baek Mir-yeo could not help but soften as though their faces were melting.

Ma Jin straightened himself and slowly opened his mouth.

“I permit Seom-ye to travel to Zhongnan.”

“Waaah!”

Hyeon Won-chang rushed over with a shout. Brimming with excitement, he lavished praise on the astonishingly wondrous footwork.

As his body swayed from Hyeon Won-chang gripping his shoulders, Yeon-shin thought quietly.

‘Phantom Wing Step.’

For now, it was one step. He did not know how many steps it might eventually become.

If it expanded into something like Splendid Wings Ten Steps, would he reach the realm of the Divine Sword Squad Leader?

“A peerless genius has emerged from Desolate Fortress.”

“It is not entirely welcome. Still, it is the step of a young talent with boundless potential. It will be a pleasure to watch him.”

“I will come find you, so do not turn me away at the door!”

Amid the admiration of the Mount Hua Sect masters and Yu Hyeon’s envious gaze, they returned to the guest room.

Warmth filled the space among the Demon Wings masters gathered around.

“To act alone in the Zhongnan Sect, a White Uniform will indeed not be enough.”

Cheong Myeong spoke with a bright smile.

What was Cheong Myeong talking about now? Yeon-shin’s eyes filled with puzzlement.

Footnotes:

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