WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 256: Ascent (6)
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Jet-black leather shoes stepped onto the dirt. Pine needles and frost crumbled beneath them.
A boy wrapped head to toe in a black long robe climbed the slope. With only a travel pack slung over one shoulder, he slowly surveyed his surroundings.
The mountain range remained green even in winter, its scenery exceptionally beautiful. It was only fitting for the tallest mountain in the Qinling Range.
Jeong Yeon-shin drew in the cold air.
Whenever translucent breath slipped between his lips, it turned white in the sunlight.
The rays filtering through the trees along the ridge were warm yet cold, like the life of a seventeen-year-old supreme master whose breath would end at nineteen.
He felt life in the vast wilderness before him. This was a place imbued with extraordinary earth qi.
‘Mount Taebaek.’
It had suddenly become the center of attention in Shaanxi.
The scale was different.
They said every reasonably powerful person from across a land the size of a nation had gathered here.
Unlike Jeong Yeon-shin, those who did not bother suppressing their aura filled the mountain range with fluctuations of inner energy.
It was, quite literally, a crowd. Countless people had gathered.
Regardless of gender, each person was dressed differently.
There were those with broad sabers across their backs, those with daggers tied to their sleeves by the ends, those with lavish tassels tied to the sword hilts at their waists, those wearing gauntlets and giving off a heavy aura, and even dozens of martial artists from famous families who appeared to have come in groups, all dressed in matching uniforms.
There were properly trained swordsmen from prestigious sects, as well as wandering martial artists who sold their martial services for rations such as salt.
Their shabby clothing and murderous auras made that clear.
Some revealed nothing, while others openly displayed hostility as they guarded against one another.
The air they gave off was all the same. The scent of blood clung to the metallic smell of their weapons. Even the drifters who had come after hearing rumors of a spiritual herb had killed before.
It was a scent of blood impossible to conceal because of their inner energy and aura, just as it clung to Yeon-shin’s Northern Light Sword.
He arrived at the mountain entrance. The broad path was packed with martial artists and alive with noise.
“We arrived at the right time. No one’s coming down, are they? I haven’t heard that anyone has picked it, either.”
“Don’t trust the rumors. You can’t trust anyone here.”
“Look at those clothes. Even martial artists from famous families couldn’t keep up appearances and came here.”
With so many people around, every sort of conversation reached his ears.
They exchanged bits of information while looking over one another’s attire and studying each other’s breathing. It was already a battlefield.
“I heard young masters and young ladies from an ice palace have been climbing the mountain one after another.”
“The Ice Palace? Even if you’re joking, say something believable. This is Shaanxi, not the North Sea. How long has it been since the rumor of the thousand-year-old he shou wu began spreading? People from such distant lands could not have known in advance.”
“Jokes can freeze to death! What kind of gathering do you think this is? They say the immortals of the Mount Hua Sect and even the Tyrant Sword Sect Master are coming! What could possibly be impossible here?”
“Don’t casually say someone will freeze to death! You might summon the Ice Soul Divine Palm! It would be a disaster!”
It was not only people from Shaanxi who had come.
Every sort of dialect could be heard. Some were difficult to understand.
It was clearly strange.
The Ming realm was immensely vast. Shaanxi Province alone was comparable in size to an ordinary foreign country.
That meant even traveling to the center of the rumors required an extraordinary amount of time.
Jeong Yeon-shin had learned the rumors of the thousand-year-old he shou wu early and come here as the Leader of Demon Wings. Yet the mountain range, with its many peaks, was already overflowing with people.
His eyes swept over the martial artists around him.
At a glance, they looked far from ordinary, but most seemed to value food over martial arts.
‘Will it be different farther up? It seems experts from major factions have come as well.’
Jeong Yeon-shin stepped into the gaps in the crowd.
He did not blend in easily.
More and more people glanced at the unfamiliar boy as they spoke among themselves.
It was not because they sensed any unusual aura.
His black hair fell to his shoulders, swaying with a natural sheen. Beneath brows upon which sunlight lay thick, his unusually beautiful face drew attention.
His features became more distinct as death drew nearer.
The same was true of his limbs, which changed day by day.
His appearance had changed even from when he first obtained the rank of Black Uniform. Only his eyes still looked lonely.
“Is he of the elven race?”
“No. Look at his ears.”
“He looks quite high-born, and he seems to know how to use a blade. He must be a disciple of a prestigious sect.”
Many people whispered.
It did not last long.
This place was filled with people more remarkable than his rare appearance, people who had cultivated superhuman strength. They were too busy judging one another’s martial ability and studying the terrain.
Above all, the stranger was too young.
“Even swordsmen that young are climbing up... Everyone, young and old, has come.”
“Worry about yourself. How many roots of he shou wu do you think there are?”
“You understand the order of things well enough, brother.”
More and more people stopped chatting and began climbing the mountain, their wariness sharp.
They swept their gazes over those around them as though force waves lay within their eyes. They looked ready to draw their swords at any moment.
‘The ones remaining have given up searching. They intend to seize it from anyone who comes down with he shou wu.’
Jeong Yeon-shin moved on without concern.
“Young hero! No, Young Master!”
He sensed it through his aura sense. The call was directed precisely at him, as was the presence rushing toward him.
When he turned his head, an unfamiliar boy bowed.
His sun-darkened skin and steady breathing stood out, but the brown hemp clothing he wore on a winter mountain made him particularly conspicuous. Was he not cold?
Jeong Yeon-shin stopped and spoke.
“What do you want?”
“My name is Jang Sun-il! Please use me as your guide! You look like this is your first time here!”
He looked up and cupped his hands in greeting. The gesture looked slightly awkward.
He did not seem accustomed to ordinary etiquette. Some people climbing the mountain snickered as they passed.
The current Leader of Demon Wings was not used to speaking with unfamiliar people who held no hostility.
Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly.
“Why?”
“I was born here in Baoji, and I grew up eating the mountain herbs here, so I know the terrain well! I’m a herbalist and pill maker, too! I have the secret eye technique of the ginseng diggers, and I’m very good at reading the lay of the land! I already know every kind of terrain where a spiritual herb like a thousand-year-old he shou wu might grow!”
The words poured out of him. The lively rise and fall of his voice was pleasant to hear.
He certainly knew how to sell medicine, and himself along with it.
Jang Sun-il’s figure was reflected in Jeong Yeon-shin’s clear eyes.
From his deep, fine breathing, it was clear that he had properly learned the Three Talents Heart Method distributed by the imperial court.
He had likely helped make the famine-stricken land even a little more fertile. His lower body also looked sturdy, as if he climbed mountains often.
If he had lived in Xinye County, where Jeong Family Manor was located, he would have been a popular boy because of his unusual gifts.
“What do you want in return?”
“If we find the he shou wu, I want to eat even a handful of the dirt its roots were growing in!”
There was some hidden story behind that spirited answer.
More people passed the two of them after hearing Jang Sun-il introduce himself. They saw them as two boys of the same age, filled with baseless bravado.
The eye technique of the ginseng diggers was like thousand-year snow ginseng. No one could easily believe in it. Its very existence was questionable.
A herbalist’s ability to read the terrain was also something built through years of experience. The two were absurdly young.
Yet Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyesight, enhanced by the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique, saw beyond that.
‘Was he waiting for someone who met his standards?’
That boy had extraordinary talent of his own. He possessed something innate, something similar to Yeon-shin himself.
“I could tell at a glance that you were no ordinary person.”
A trace of earnestness lingered on his grinning face.
Mount Taebaek had become a den of demons, a mountain of blades and forest of swords. No martial artist capable of forcing a path through the blades and spears of the martial world would have spared the boy a glance.
Experts of the martial world would have brought far more reliable guides, whether through martial strength or wealth. They would not possess the upper dantian faculty of the Leader of Demon Wings.
“You can eat as much dirt as you want.”
Jeong Yeon-shin readily nodded.
* * *
Jang Sun-il’s skill at choosing a path was truly extraordinary.
Even the way he stepped on the ground was different. With every step, the front of his foot shifted at least three times.
He said he was tracing the earth veins connected to spiritual herbs that had recently broken through the soil. Within fifteen minutes, they had reached a secluded area.
There was no wasted movement in his footwork. Even to Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes, he looked somewhat like an expert.
‘Should I place a hand on top of his head?’
As he silently followed him uphill, even such trivial thoughts came to mind.
It was the first time since beginning his training that he had such leisure. Jeong Yeon-shin immediately raised his right hand.
When he lightly bent his fingers, the tendons above his wrist stood out. Blue veins extended across his forearm as well.
Step.
His pace slowed slightly.
The minute muscles throughout his body adjusted according to Jeong Yeon-shin’s will. They were woven more tightly together, maximizing the efficacy of the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.
‘This level of durability won’t endure it.’
He lightly swung his right arm as though holding a sword.
Swish.
Again and again, his hand gradually blurred. Jang Sun-il glanced back and watched it with his own eyes, yet still could not make sense of what he was seeing.
“What is that?”
“Training.”
“I mean, do you have to do it here?”
“They say the key to training is repetition without regard for time or place.”
“Did the person who taught you say that? Your master?”
“No... This is how the slow ones all do it.”
“What?”
“I found something worth learning. I didn’t know before.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered every frivolous question. Jang Sun-il was an easygoing boy.
Crunch.
Their peaceful climb continued. Clear air hung around every bend in the mountain path.
He was so focused on training as he followed that he could not spread his aura sense far. Because of that, the winter mountains felt all the more vivid.
Even when an urgent shout rang out in the distance, the ochre pine needles swayed quietly.
“Blood Flame Sect! Blood demons from the Blood Flame Sect!”
“Ahahahaha!”
“Let’s avoid them.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke calmly.
It was just after he heard that smooth laughter. It was terribly familiar, a voice like jade beads rolling across a tray fashioned from madness.
“This way, escape this way! The path is open... No, they’ve blocked it! Those thorough bastards!”
A young man’s pale face appeared above the ridge.
A rising talent stood there, holding a dazzling spear above blue sleeves.
Had he mistaken Jeong Yeon-shin lightly closing his fist for the opening stance of a claw art? His reaction was extremely swift. The hand clutching the spear shaft instantly drew back.
“This side looks loose! I’ll break through here!”
A flash of light burst from his hand. In an instant, the spear vanished.
Screeeech!
It was a proper javelin throw, lightning-fast.
By then, Jeong Yeon-shin had stepped in front of Jang Sun-il and extended his right hand.
Boom! Shraaa!
The spearhead struck the center of his palm with a heavy ring. A fierce shockwave burst outward.
The surrounding brush bent to either side as the spear shaft was ground away from the spearhead onward. Silver metal dust, released from the center of his palm, scattered in all directions.
It happened in an instant.
The entire spear was pulverized and vanished, along with the uproar that had been ringing out above the hill.
‘The intermediate goal is certainly complete. The final goal still remains...’
Jeong Yeon-shin stood with one hand behind his back and raised his head. He felt a small sense of accomplishment.
Sihwa Boundless Hand, Radiant River.
It was in constant operation.
Footnotes:
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