WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 255: Ascent (5)
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Yulha Nangnang glanced at the title Comprehensive Guide to Annihilating Evil Demons and spoke.
“May I ask what it is? That name is terribly arrogant.”
Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head.
“I believe we should discuss the main matter first.”
“Yes, let us.”
“What is the meaning of this?”
Leaving the Surveillance Censor beneath the pavilion, the Mount Hua Sect Leader and the Leader of Demon Wings sat facing each other. After hesitating, Weiji Myo-hwa took a seat between them.
“Not long ago, Cheon Ju suffered grave injuries at the hands of the First Apostle. By great fortune, he escaped immediate death.”
“…That is fortunate, at least.”
Yeon-shin replied as he recalled the resolute face of Cheon Ju-jin, the Mount Hua Sword Absolute.
Cheon Ju-jin was an unparalleled swordsman who had mastered the Plum Blossom Sword’s Hidden Fragrance, Drifting Flower. Yeon-shin had defeated him through sheer luck at the Martial Alliance’s grand founding ceremony.
Cheon Ju-jin had already sustained internal injuries then, yet he had shown scarcely an opening.
Now, Yeon-shin had heard that he was hovering between life and death. The First Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect had struck him while Yeon-shin was recovering.
“I came to examine your recovery myself. The Demonic Sect forces running rampant through Shaanxi are far too powerful, and there are not enough hands to deal with them. Conflicts are fierce among all parties, orthodox and unorthodox alike. There are scarcely any inns or Guandi shrines left intact.”
“My subordinates are already active.”
Yeon-shin answered calmly. More than half of Demon Wings were currently disguised and maintaining order outside.
He had sent them out as their superior. Enduring his colleagues’ embarrassing insistence that they needed to stay at their Squad Leader’s side had been exhausting.
They were only sharp-eyed in the strangest ways, just like proper seniors. They would make a fuss after noticing the slightest growth in Yeon-shin’s limbs.
They even spoon-fed him rice while teasing him that this was how he should coordinate a combined attack. Anyone would have found it hard to endure.
'I told you to stop.'
They had to bear the authority of their Squad Leader. They had no choice but to leave and fulfill their duty as Desolate Fortress martial artists.
“Of course, their contribution to the people’s welfare is immense. Yet every sword has its own use. How many swordsmen can fill Cheon Ju’s absence? This poor Daoist is already hard-pressed merely keeping an eye on the Tyrant Sword Sect Master.”
“The Tyrant Sword Sect Master…”
Quietly, Yeon-shin repeated the name of the figure who loomed like a fortress in his mind. Even the name carried an overwhelming weight.
Yulha Nangnang, who had been studying his face, spoke.
“The blood demons multiplying like insects are another problem. These are truly bleak times. Before long, this poor Daoist will find it difficult to leave the sect’s main mountain. As someone of high standing, you should know what you need to know. Mount Hua cannot abandon Mount Hua.”
“Once I recover, I will act as I see fit.”
“Good. It is not for this poor Daoist to interfere further.”
“Did you come to tell me that? That even Mount Hua has trouble controlling Shaanxi as it is now…”
“I told you, I came to see how you were.”
Yulha Nangnang’s lips curved slightly. Her smile carried an elusive air.
Then she asked, “How old are you this year?”
It was not a new question for Yeon-shin.
“I will turn seventeen in fifteen days.”
Weiji Myo-hwa, who had been sitting silently between them, twitched a finger.
Yulha Nangnang smiled.
“You must have heard every sort of astonished remark. That you are one of the world’s supernatural phenomena, that your martial prowess far surpasses what anyone your age could possess.”
“Yes.”
The Leader of Demon Wings’ reply was matter-of-fact enough to make even the lashes of the humble Nine Sects sect leader rise slightly.
“Yes, I suppose so. In any case, there was no time before. It is a shame that, as your senior, I could not meddle in your affairs.”
“With what…?”
“Your body.”
For an instant, a faint vermilion gleam passed through Yulha Nangnang’s eyes. It resembled the glow of sunset.
“The spirit in your head is tremendously enlarged. Its rank is so high that it is almost divine. It is astonishing enough to make even that wonderfully refined body seem dull by comparison. You seem to have been born having achieved the lifelong wish of Daoist cultivators, yet it does not look wholly good to this poor Daoist. From your expression, it seems you knew this as well.”
Yeon-shin did not ask whether that was why she had come all this way to see someone with whom she had no close ties.
There was an old saying. Among peerless masters, there was no one who was not eccentric.
Could those who raised a microcosm outside their bodies truly still be called human?
Invincible.
Innate talent like a divine sword was secondary. So was endless training. Whether for good or ill, they had endured circumstances so extreme as to be abnormal, all while nursing a madness for martial arts.
They accumulated all of that for decades, or even more than a century, and forged an absolute realm.
“You likely intend to live by consuming the fruit. Yet does not the spirit dwelling in your upper dantian reject the union of essence, qi, and spirit? With your comprehension and rate of achievement, you should already be looking toward Three Flowers Gather at the Crown, but your next step still appears far away.”
She spoke freely in an old-fashioned manner.
She resembled a white plum blossom, noble and clear.
“That is correct. Your words are right.”
Yeon-shin answered somewhat shamelessly. He did not care even when Yulha Nangnang looked taken aback. It was the truth.
“Mm, in any event, there are no shortcuts to Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. Even the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens must cultivate the balance of essence, qi, and spirit evenly. This will likely be the first wall you have faced, but do not lose heart. I hope you will become a good friend to Yu Hyeon. That child had no companions of the same age, yet spoke of you often. It weighed on my mind.”
“You came to tell me that…?”
“I came because I feared that a junior might walk the path of the Demonic Sect. Your present achievements are not lacking in the martial world. If you keep walking forward, you will eventually earn enough merit to claim the fruit. Do not grow impatient.”
Her voice was gentle, and her face bore a smile. She carried the bearing of a prestigious orthodox sect.
A warm tremor ran through Yeon-shin’s mind.
It was not relief. The Starflower Sword God had not even discerned how much time the Leader of Demon Wings had left.
She had simply conveyed her concern as a senior martial artist. It was something soft and vast, like twilight settling over a mountain ridge.
Yeon-shin suddenly raised a clasped-fist salute.
“I have received your grace once again. Thank you, Sect Leader.”
Yulha Nangnang answered with a smile, but her lips stiffened for a moment at the words once again.
Yeon-shin paid it no mind.
His body had suffered damage unlike anything before. Time was his lifeline, yet setting out had been greatly delayed.
Her words about not being impatient struck him deeply. They also gave him martial insight.
“I do not intend to bind myself to Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. There are countless paths to strength. Another method has come to mind.”
Yeon-shin considered turning his recovery period into an opportunity for closed-door cultivation.
“Other martial artists set aside time specifically for training. I’ll try doing the same.”
“Mm…?”
* * *
The sunset flowed along the pavilion’s rafters.
It was shortly after the Mount Hua Sect Leader had departed. Outside the pavilion, Surveillance Censor So Un narrowed his eyes.
Only now did he understand why Yulha Nangnang had left him behind without a word.
That youth was not from the unorthodox sects.
He stroked his thick black beard.
He had not heard every word. At some point, an aura barrier had covered the pavilion.
Still, he could infer the flow of what had been said. So Un had survived as a Surveillance Censor in a world overflowing with martial arts, sorcery arts, and all manner of mysteries.
He might have been somewhat ignorant of news from the martial world, but he had honed his ability to read a situation as sharply as a treasured sword. He was unlike certain officials who relied on rank and authority and dealt with martial artists without fear.
The youth before him was someone the Mount Hua Sect Leader had personally sought out.
He was treated as an honored guest by the Sobaek Sect, the only sect among Xi’an’s Seven Great Unorthodox Sects to escape destruction.
He did not possess martial skill alone. He had already earned great recognition in one corner of the martial world.
The Starflower Sword God, surely one of the world’s most reliable guards, had left him behind.
Considering the Mount Hua Sect’s close ties to the imperial court, it was difficult to believe. The youth she had visited must possess that much power and standing.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly.”
He raised his clasped hands toward the man and woman descending from the pavilion.
“I am the eldest son of the Nanjing So Clan. After passing the civil examinations and entering the capital, I received a token from His Majesty and was appointed to oversee the Shaanxi government offices. Though the Prefects may wield great authority, this land is no different from the ground beneath the Son of Heaven’s feet. I assume the same applies to you as well, whatever your identity may be.”
“…”
Step.
Yeon-shin stepped onto the ground and raised his head. Weiji Myo-hwa, standing beside him, wore a strange expression.
“Surveillance Censor So Un.”
“Speak.”
“I have decided how to make use of you.”
The Leader of Demon Wings moved his lips.
“You have not yet earned the right. If you wish to know my identity, first reflect on how you speak.”
“What?”
“Lock him up.”
Crack!
In an instant, a lightning-like shadow rushed in from the lakeside.
A straight-line burst of lightness skill seized So Un and carried him away. A violent wind swept through the area. It had happened in the blink of an eye.
Weiji Myo-hwa’s eyes widened slightly.
“That just now…?”
“A colleague from the Blood Guard Squad. Na Il-cheon, the Shura Demon Soul.”
“The Blood Guard Squad? Did the Divine Blood Extreme Demon of Desolate Fortress lend you one of his subordinates?”
“Yes. He is the senior Squad Leader I respect most. Not only is his martial prowess outstanding, but so is his character.”
Yeon-shin rarely smiled as he clenched and released his right hand once.
The pain from his minor meridians, reaching even to his wrist, remained. Yet the martial insight bestowed by the Mount Hua Sect Leader was profound.
He had never in his life studied with enough focus to call it closed-door cultivation, and he felt a strange curiosity.
With this, he had effectively sent away all his colleagues…
He would become stronger without passing through Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
For the first time, he set a clear intermediate goal for his training.
He stood beside the lakeside pavilion. Yeon-shin’s reflection appeared upon the sunlit ripples. A blue gleam filled both his eyes.
* * *
The year changed.
Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, truly turned seventeen.
The vast land of Shaanxi was gradually falling into deeper disorder.
While the Leader of Demon Wings recovered, the world continued moving without rest.
The deaths of the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword and the First Demon of Shaanxi had certainly shaken Shaanxi’s martial world.
After what had occurred at Yeoryeong’s Shaanxi branch became known as the work of Radiant Art Stronghold, the Stronghold Lord had gained fame as a rising powerhouse.
Yet the chaos that arrived with the destruction of the Zhongnan Sect was like a storm. Every day brought new topics of discussion.
“They say the First Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect’s Thunderous Blood Accumulation Frenzy Art is now considered the strongest in Shaanxi. The entire, vast Bongyu County turned into a sea of blood in an instant. The Mount Hua Sword Absolute retreated in miserable defeat…”
“Strongest in Shaanxi is a title that suits either the Tyrant Sword Sect Master or the Starflower Sword God. The most pressing concern is when those two Grandmasters will clash. They say people in peaceful places are even placing bets.”
“You are the ones living peacefully. Who knows when those mad blood demons will come charging in, yet you discuss the state of the martial world? Pack your belongings first.”
“What a fuss. Yesterday, the Way-Severing Clan and Geum Family Manor clashed. They pointed fingers at one another and called the other blood demons, but who does not know that the real issue was the boundary between their rice fields?”
In a year of famine, when territorial interests had become more valuable than ever, martial artists did not hesitate to draw swords for food and fertile land.
Countless martial artists clashed everywhere.
The Blood Flame Sect pushed in and expanded its territory amid the chaos, while the Tyrant Sword Sect, having lost the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, was said to be desperately hunting the Lord of Radiant Art Stronghold. It was an age of disorder.
Then a massive rumor spread.
“There is a thousand-year-old he shou wu on Seven Maidens Peak of Mount Taebaek!”
Rumors of spiritual medicine and spiritual herbs always drew blood.
Even if it was the scheme of someone trying to use the troubled times for their own ends, it made no difference. People had to verify it themselves, whether it was true or false.
This time was no exception.
A spiritual herb such as a thousand-year-old he shou wu possessed that much value. It was said to cure every illness and grant immense inner power.
Martial artists too numerous to count flocked in from all directions. Even martial artists from major sects mingled among them.
The timing was strange.
Jeong Yeon-shin had secluded himself in the manor for a month when he faced a new problem.
Jeong Hye did not awaken. Even after the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel erased the qi of the Heavenly Mound Demonic Knot, she could not open her eyes.
The Sobaek Sect Leader, the manor’s owner and a secular disciple of Zhongnan Sect, had summoned a famed physician, yet she only slept as if dead.
It was a Yeoryeong trick. Even in death, the First Demon of Shaanxi would not release Jeong Hye.
Yeon-shin stood at the edge of a brown roof. His upper body was still wrapped in bandages.
“I am setting out.”
Flap!
Yeon-shin draped a pitch-black long robe over his shoulders. Its dark hem cast a shadow below the wall.
A travel pack hung from one shoulder, its lower portion angular in the shape of a book.
“This is a solo mission for the Squad Leader. Demon Wings, continue looking after the people.”
“What nonsense is that…? Did you take my opium poppy again?”
By the time Languid Flame Dragon emerged, picking at his ear, the Leader of Demon Wings was already gone.
Footnotes:
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