WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 251: Ascent

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It was something he had said amid the carnage. He had said that killing Demon Wings' masters would make Jeong Yeon-shin's expression worth seeing.

As Yeoryeong's masters, who had ruled the martial world through covert terror, fell or retreated, the Leader of Demon Wings threw the First Demon of Shaanxi's words back at him.

What of Yeoryeong after Myriad Flowers Rain had slaughtered dozens of them?

Wi Geuk-sang laughed, shaking his yellow sleeves broadly.

"That bandage. That wavering aura. The pain from your internal and external injuries appears severe. Have you been drinking? They say the Beggars’ Sect's Divine Beggar uses Drunken Fist. I do not know whether your sword art has reached that level. Seeing Myriad Flowers Rain, you must be Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, and these must be Demon Wings. Did you come for Jeong Hye? A big fish has taken the bait!"

It was an arrogant, disjointed speech. Closer to rambling than conversation, it suited a demonic martial artist whose reason had been muddled by studying demonic arts.

Yet he had struck at the heart of the matter. Yeoryeong's insight was founded on its information network.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer.

Step.

He silently walked toward the First Demon of Shaanxi. His feet struck the hard-packed earth of the manor.

His vision was gradually blurring. The analgesic's effects even conjured faint hallucinations.

It was fortunate that he had already settled the chaotic battle with Myriad Flowers Rain.

'The pain is gone now. I should not take any more, but... this will do.'

The path before him was open. No one stopped him.

"The Squad Leader came after all."

"What's wrong with his eyes?"

"Surely he isn't..."

The Demon Wings masters who had fallen back from Wi Geuk-sang groaned.

Most were Yeon-shin's seniors. Their discerning eyes surpassed those of ordinary martial artists.

They noticed his unstable divine-art breathing, his slightly constricted pupils, and the curve of his mouth, twisted almost bewitchingly.

It was not only Baek Mir-yeo, Hyeon Won-chang, and Cheong Myeong. Everyone noticed.

"We should have buried that Huangbo brat long ago...!"

"Shouldn't we stop him?"

"No. If the Squad Leader is to deal with the First Demon, he has no choice but to draw his sword. There is no retreat from this. He cannot shake off the First Demon of Shaanxi by retreating with lightness skill."

"Have you not seen the Squad Leader's wounds? That monster of demonic arts would be difficult to handle even at full strength. How can he possibly..."

Jeong Yeon-shin deliberately ignored them.

Even as the medicine amplified by the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel intoxicated him, he did not think he could bear to calmly face their worried expressions.

Still, he considered it quietly. Were they not the ones who had made him worry?

'They have no idea how frightening a Black Uniform can be.'

No, they must have known Wi Geuk-sang's martial prowess before coming. They simply placed greater weight on the Squad Leader losing his niece than on their own fate.

He was deeply grateful. Grateful enough that he resolved to teach them the Radiant Art Formation thoroughly after rescuing Jeong Hye.

Swish.

Jeong Yeon-shin stopped ten paces from the First Demon of Shaanxi.

Though Wi Geuk-sang's presence had subsided, an unusual pressure still bore down on him. He was a supreme master who had reached Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, completely uniting his inner energy and intent.

The force of his presence against Yeon-shin's skin was unlike anything else. He was nothing like the Pure Demon Divine Hand of the Pure Demon Alliance, whom Yeon-shin had crushed to death with the remaining power of Bodhidharma's Emanation Body in the City of Master Craftsmen.

Was it because he had inherited a Central Plains martial lineage rather than one from Xinjiang? His demonic arts carried a more combative quality, honed in actual battle.

As Jeong Yeon-shin quietly watched him, Wi Geuk-sang's smile deepened.

"Black Uniform of Desolate Fortress, lackeys of the imperial family who oppress the martial world. How arrogant you are."

The Leader of Demon Wings tilted his head slightly.

"Do you not live off Shaanxi Province, which the state built? You neither till fields, build homes, nor defend against external powers or maintain public order. Far from contributing to society, you consume the resources needed to maintain order among the people. You destroy property whenever you please and undermine the system. It has always been laughable to hear nothing but powerful thugs prattle on about oppression in the martial world... Aren't you ashamed?"

"..."

"Why not go live in the wilderness? You are no different from a parasite."

His tone was calm. The content was exceptionally abusive.

He was saying this to someone who, though a demonic martial artist of the unorthodox and demonic paths, had achieved lofty standing through seniority and martial prowess.

In the distance, Baek Mir-yeo suddenly stepped on Hyeon Won-chang's foot. Wi Geuk-sang, who had been staring at Jeong Yeon-shin, slowly opened his mouth.

"...Once, some officials displeased me, so I cut off their heads. Half a month later, the Squad Leader of the Burning Abyss Squad came looking for me. Alone. He said he was enough by himself, but I could see through him. Like you, he feared that his subordinates would lose their heads."

"The Burning Abyss Squad?"

Jeong Yeon-shin asked, suddenly clear-headed.

Like Demon Wings, it was a branch of Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Squad.

It was a combat unit that specialized in the ultimate Body Movement Scripture, the Unhindered, Endless Body Scripture. Its current Squad Leader was famed as a master of lightness skill.

The smile lines around Wi Geuk-sang's eyes deepened.

"He spoke of the people's welfare, then died by this hand. That makes him the former Squad Leader now. He displayed astonishing movement techniques, yet he was in better condition than you in every regard. I received word from Sichuan that your inner energy was close to dharma power. I hope you did not come here relying on that. Unless you have misjudged Yeoryeong a hundred times over."

The corner of Jeong Yeon-shin's mouth lifted.

"A demonic kidnapper cares about face. All this talk of being at full strength is tiresome."

"...There is not a single false word in what you say. I dislike hearing it very much. Die."

Crack!

The yellow sleeve around Wi Geuk-sang's sword arm stiffened. Powerful demonic inner power filled both his sword and sleeve.

They had spoken apart from the flow of battle like supreme masters close to mountain gods. Yet with a mere change of heart, he honed a sword stance approaching his full strength.

He had no intention of observing a senior martial artist's dignity. Nor would he yield the initiative.

"..."

Tension rose. The tautness seemed to weigh upon the air itself.

An invisible thread trembled between them. It was the path their swords would take as supreme masters on the verge of a life-and-death duel.

Jeong Yeon-shin's vision swayed without pause. It was not easy to time the draw of his sword.

It was the medicine's effect.

Even so, this was right. The pain was gone, allowing him to move properly.

Jeong Yeon-shin watched his opponent and adjusted his grip on the Northern Light Sword.

He placed the Laogong acupoint at the center of his palm against the center of the hilt, then brought his index and middle fingers together and raised them slightly.

It was a sword-gripping method unfamiliar even to him. Yet it did not feel awkward.

'I saw him from afar.'

Before they had even exchanged blades, he had created a countering sword form.

He had heard countless stories of the First Demon of Shaanxi's murderous deeds and glimpsed his earlier clash with Demon Wings. That was enough. He reworked the qi structure of his sword-gripping method.

The flower of qi blooming in his upper dantian did not fade, even as the analgesic dulled his senses.

'His sword strikes are forceful. His qi art moves in the form of an illusion sword. He uses swordsmanship that employs sword strikes and sword qi separately.'

Jeong Yeon-shin's thoughts determined the nature of the mnemonic formula. Wi Geuk-sang lowered his sword and strode toward him.

Whoosh.

Suddenly, a familiar sense of discord arose, one that those who had long known Seom-ye might recognize. It was something deeply unpleasant yet awe-inspiring to a martial artist.

Wi Geuk-sang's mouth twisted.

"Those eyes do vex my spirit!"

Boom!

He shouted in an archaic manner and kicked off the ground. Black ripples spread around him in that instant.

They undulated in the shape of a circle expanding at a frightening speed. Even the demonic aura borne by his True Step had taken form.

Kwarrrr!

It surged forward ahead of his body. A force wave like hellfire made manifest came rushing in. It was black flame.

They said Shaanxi's foremost demon could melt fortress walls with a single True Step. This must be the ultimate move of the Heavenly Mound Demonic Knot's Dominion Rite, a skill Yeon-shin had heard of only through rumor.

Jeong Yeon-shin raised his knee and channeled the qi of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel into the Yongquan acupoint in his sole.

Step.

An auspicious ripple rose from beneath his foot. Colorless waves spreading in every direction forced aside the black flames advancing like an army.

Phantom Wing Second Step. Like his opponent, Yeon-shin broke through the momentum in a single step. The demonic qi could not withstand the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel and unraveled.

Thus began the rare life-and-death duel between a supreme master of Black Uniform caliber and Desolate Fortress's Black Uniform Squad Leader.

Whoosh!

The collision of auras raised a fierce wind. Jeong Yeon-shin's black hair streamed behind him.

As the masters around them began to watch, the Leader of Demon Wings swung the Northern Light Sword, the strands of his hair settling behind him one by one.

In an instant, invisible energy wrapped around the sword along with scattered leaves, then burst forth like a storm. It was the force wave of Judging the Qilin.

Bang!

It was not an attack, but a defensive move. As he extinguished the black flames, the First Demon of Shaanxi was already thrusting his sword before Yeon-shin's eyes.

Terrifying brute strength surged through their clashing blades.

Wi Geuk-sang was different from when he had fought Demon Wings. No manifested qi flowed from him.

Only his sword force was immensely powerful, enough to knock Yeon-shin's blade aside at any moment.

Wi Geuk-sang met Jeong Yeon-shin's gaze over their crossed blades and smirked. It was an old, cunning smile.

'He compressed his inner energy into his sword and body. The instant he saw Dominion Rite clash with Phantom Wing Step, he confirmed the incompatibility of their powers.'

Jeong Yeon-shin saw through it at once. The First Demon of Shaanxi had recognized the opposing nature of their energy and immediately devised a response.

Rather than waste inner energy, he intended to crush Yeon-shin with the Body Movement Scripture and swordsmanship alone.

He truly was mad. Even bathed in dharma-power aura, he smiled.

There was something sadistic in that smile.

Hummm!

Jeong Yeon-shin stopped competing in strength and channeled the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel's power through his blade. It was a move of the internal heavy-hand technique.

The moment it entered his opponent's body, it would tear apart his minor meridians.

Wi Geuk-sang let out a short sound.

"Kh."

The force pressing against the Northern Light Sword scattered at once. He had pulled away his black sword, blackened by demonic qi.

Then his vaguely distorted figure appeared at Jeong Yeon-shin's side.

The footwork of Dominion Rite. Sword resonance hummed from the lowered black sword. He came again with an upward slash.

Clang!

A fierce impact struck Jeong Yeon-shin's hand as he countered with Judging the Qilin. It was Wi Geuk-sang's sword force.

The power concentrated in that strike was immense. It was as if the monstrous force of his inner energy that should have become sword qi had been focused entirely into the blow.

Jeong Yeon-shin's thoughts raced like light.

'His Body Movement Scripture is fast and sharp. His sword strikes exploit openings with a practicality unlike anything I've experienced. He is seasoned. A complete martial artist. He can respond to any situation.'

Unless one belonged to the elven race, reaching old age made one a veteran of the martial world. They said that among practitioners of unorthodox and demonic martial arts, the point at which their strength waned differed from person to person.

His opponent was an experienced supreme master of the demonic path whose power remained intact.

As if he would not meekly offer up his neck to a single dharma-powered martial art, he smiled and struck again.

Clang, clang, clang!

The afterimages of the black sword fluttered wildly. Every strike was a forceful sword attack that shook Jeong Yeon-shin's grip.

It was dazzling. Without releasing inner energy to divide his sword qi, he displayed the skill of an exceptional swordsman.

White and black trails intertwined.

At some point, neither swordsman used True Step. The First Demon of Shaanxi's method of striking at Yeon-shin's flank with Dominion Rite footwork had been cut off at the root.

The Leader of Demon Wings' senses did not permit the same move twice. Whenever Wi Geuk-sang tried to retreat and vanish, Yeon-shin responded in one of two ways.

He either stepped forward or turned the toes of his lead foot first to seize the angle. With overwhelming instinct, he bound the First Demon of Shaanxi in place.

Bang! Clang, clang!

To those watching, the two men blurred as they crossed and faced one another with swords.

Only the withered winter grass, endlessly crumbling around them, scattered clearly through the air.

Jeong Yeon-shin employed the optimal counter in every instant. Such movement was possible because neither side could wield their full strength.

He moved through blurred vision and the dull sensation spreading across his increasingly numb skin. Meanwhile, Wi Geuk-sang could not fully unleash his true ultimate techniques because of the dharma nature of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.

The onlookers gradually fell silent.

With every exchange, the First Demon of Shaanxi's eyes grew more colorless. Dense killing intent gleamed within them.

'He truly deserves to be called a sapling of the World Tree. You must die here.'

Slash!

The moment he decided, blood burst from the Leader of Demon Wings' shoulder. The tip of the warped black sword skimmed through the blood like a moth's fluttering wing and rose.

A bandage was wrapped there as well, but the lingering force of the sword strike's Force Projection dyed the wound red.

With an indifferent expression, Wi Geuk-sang activated the Demon-Exchange Sword of the Heavenly Mound Demonic Knot once more.

Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings. From the beginning, he had been in no condition to move freely, yet he was forcing himself onward through a strange intoxication.

The dharma-powered martial art that Wi Geuk-sang had never seen was shocking even to him. But difficulty using the Demon-Exchange Heavenly Mound Sword Qi did not mean this was a young prodigy beyond his ability to handle.

He moved the right hand gripping the black sword's hilt. A chain of sword strikes writhed outward like a giant serpent.

Clang, clang, clang! Slash!

The Leader of Demon Wings' abdomen and chest split open. The wounds were not deep. Blue light flashed from both his eyes as he retreated half a step.

The Demon-Exchange Sword, considered an absolute sword stance in one corner of the martial world, missed time and again. His opponent was worthy of it.

'With that body, he cannot endure either the explosive force of a short battle or a drawn-out fight lasting hundreds of exchanges. His innate talent is utterly insane. No wonder those Ming Cult bastards speak of overturning Heaven. Heaven is so unfair.'

Irritation gathered in the wrinkles around Wi Geuk-sang's eyes.

"Move aside!"

"Squad Leader! Squad Leader!"

"They're pushing in! Close ranks!"

The area erupted in confusion. Seeing their Squad Leader at a disadvantage, the Demon Wings martial artists surged forward. Yeoryeong's masters surrounded them and blocked their path.

Wi Geuk-sang focused only on exchanging swords with the Leader of Demon Wings.

They called themselves the limbs of Desolate Fortress's Squad Leader. Yeoryeong's Shaanxi branch subordinates alone would have difficulty handling Demon Wings.

Still, buying even a few seconds would be enough. It was right to strike at the head of the Divine Sword Squad's combat unit first.

At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin narrowed his eyes. They were half-open, like the eyes of an eminent monk in meditation.

He unconsciously repeated the motions of thrusting his sword, stepping back, and extending his foot. His body moved on its own.

'Have I ever been this free?'

His body had always been tuned precisely to his will. Every muscle and every strand of minor meridian obeyed him.

He possessed control more precise than any puppet in a Peking opera troupe. He had been born that way.

This was different.

He had completely come undone.

"Yulha Nangnang! The Starflower Sword God of Mount Hua...!"

Even the surrounding clamor faded into the distance.

A single line was being etched into his analgesic-hazed vision. It was a radiance warped as it pleased.

His boundless talent flared in the realm of sensation. Following the powerful nature of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel, he crushed the ground beneath both feet and swung his right arm wide.

The moment the Northern Light Sword's path overlapped with the line before his eyes,

Hummmmmm!

Every acupoint in his body filled with thunderbolts.

Footnotes:

The conflicting existing entries for 환검 are resolved here as the generic “illusion sword,” not a named technique.

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