Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time - Chapter 258

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 258: Ascent (8)

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The crackling of the campfire stood out sharply. Dry branches and brush shriveled with snaps and pops in the sunset-like glow.

“...”

The siblings who claimed to be from the Ice Palace merely stared at the boy in black robes.

Jang Sun-il, the young guide warming himself by the fire with him, looked anxiously at his companion.

The twins’ faces and clothing both gleamed with a pure white luster. Anyone could tell they were of noble birth, and the Ice Palace was among the foremost martial powers beyond the Ming realm.

It was said to be the greatest of the world’s Ice Arts martial lineages. It would not have been strange if it possessed martial artists whose divine might rivaled that of Jeong Yeon-shin.

If a fight broke out, Jang Sun-il would not come through it unscathed.

To ordinary people, martial artists from major factions were figures of supernatural phenomena. Could the aftermath of their clash alone freeze and shatter his body?

The herbalist boy spoke with great care, trying to arrange the phrases he had learned in order to study martial arts into something coherent.

“Um... It’s not that you misspoke. I just thought that perhaps what you meant and the way you said it were slightly out of step...”

“Hmm?”

Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly. He had said exactly what he meant.

Perhaps she took that reaction a certain way. Bukgung Rin, the elder twin, smiled.

“What an interesting friend. You do look to be at an age when meditation and reflection are important, though...”

Her laughter was hearty. It was immediately clear that it was not a polite expression put on for appearances.

She had the temperament of a fierce north wind. It suited her blue-white hair, as though dyed with frost. Bukgung Hu, standing beside her, was much the same.

“A young warrior with a flair for old-fashioned jokes. One must be fearless to live through an eternal winter, and your bold spirit is not unlike our land’s. I rather like you.”

He spoke with a faint smile.

Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly felt his irritation deflate.

Why argue with people who took his storm-like annoyance in good humor? There were already too many bothersome martial artists in the world who did not know their place.

His first meeting with Hyeon Won-chang came to mind.

“Did you come to enter Desolate Fortress too, young brother?”

Hyeon Won-chang had sat down beside him and said that without warning. He was like them. He approached without reservation, with a direction and stride Jeong Yeon-shin had never experienced before.

As though he would one day walk up to Jeong Yeon-shin’s grave in that same way.

“Sit, then.”

He turned his head back and spoke.

Naturally, they did not refuse. The sound of grass being crushed beneath their boots drew closer. They walked over together and sat without hesitation between Jang Sun-il and Jeong Yeon-shin.

Even the way they drew one knee up and rested an elbow on it was identical. Perhaps that was why their arrogant bearing seemed somewhat amusing to Jeong Yeon-shin.

He spoke first.

“The thousand-year-old he shou wu?”

“Of course. Isn’t that why every martial artist here has come?”

Bukgung Rin answered.

She glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin, then reached into her robes. Jang Sun-il flinched for no reason.

Swish.

What Bukgung Rin drew was not a hidden weapon. A small sphere gave off a soft glow from within her hand, which had turned pale from her mastery of Ice Arts.

Blue light flowed across its tiny surface, as though it held the sky within.

Jeong Yeon-shin’s brow narrowed slightly.

“I heard that staying close to a night pearl shortens one’s life.”

“It is not a night pearl. It is a precious jewel carved from fragments of Ice Essence, and it holds a trace of frost qi. It should help with qi circulation.”

“Frost qi?”

“I caught a cold scent from you.”

Bukgung Hu, seated beside his elder sister, spoke as if tossing out the words.

The twins’ eyes held a faint white glow. They seemed to have sensed traces of the Moon Spirit Harmonization Formula bestowed upon Jeong Yeon-shin by the Lord of Desolate Fortress.

They had detected the qi already assimilated into the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel. They had claimed to come from the Ice Palace, and their ability to recognize similar energy from concealed aura alone was extraordinary.

Even at such close distance, it was no ordinary feat. It suited members of a mysterious major faction.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.

“Why?”

“We are saying we will treat you as a traveling companion. You shared your fire with us.”

Bukgung Rin held out the hand clutching the crystal sphere. Her tone was calm.

“It is a meaningful act where we come from. Judging by how cold-hearted people are here, it seems to be the same.”

Bukgung Hu added to his elder sister’s words. Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the crystal sphere.

“It looks valuable.”

“It may be rare in the markets here... but not to those of our palace. Take it as a small gesture of thanks.”

Bukgung Rin gave the fist holding the sphere a small shake. Even that rough gesture carried the dignity of an equal exchange.

They were difficult people to understand. They carried precious objects, yet did not bother to bring flint.

Their conduct clearly divided the work of inferiors from their own bearing. From the way they spoke of losing servants, they appeared to be members of the Ice Palace’s ruling class.

‘It might help that opium addict.’

Jeong Yeon-shin readily accepted the crystal sphere. Its cool texture settled into his palm.

Jang Sun-il, sitting across from him, looked at it enviously.

“You two truly are from the North Sea Ice Palace, then. To meet masters from the martial world beyond the Pass, which I had only heard about...”

Bukgung Hu snickered.

“Beyond the Pass. That is such a Central Plains way of putting it.”

It meant beyond the Great Wall’s frontier forts. It differed from a place beyond the secular world.

Thus, martial artists beyond the Pass were martial artists living in distant lands where the Ming imperial court’s authority did not reach.

They were people of rough, wilderness-like temperaments who actively involved themselves in worldly affairs.

Cold sweat formed along Jang Sun-il’s nose.

“Ah, I meant no offense...”

“Forget it. Let us talk instead. The priests in our land say that the world after death is made only from what one has seen and heard while alive. That is why the strong of our palace often travel. I am curious why two boys are making their way through such a dangerous battlefield. Aren’t you too young to covet spiritual herbs?”

Bukgung Hu spoke with the noble air of his elder sister.

“My niece is sick.”

Jeong Yeon-shin calmly repeated what he had told Jang Sun-il.

For a moment, only the sound of burning wood remained. Bukgung Rin and Bukgung Hu’s expressions grew strange.

“The opposite of us?”

“At your age, too. You are deeply affectionate. We came here to surpass our rivals in the palace...”

Bukgung Hu trailed off.

The two seemed moved by something they could not name.

The expressions of the noble siblings from the Ice Palace softened. Firelight and shadow flickered dreamily across their pure white cheeks.

As martial nobles who had lived among the ruling class, they possessed the ease appropriate to their station. They differed from the other martial artists beyond the Pass, who were said to be exclusionary.

“You are not so different from us.”

Jeong Yeon-shin answered shortly.

Yet the siblings’ expressions did not change. Until the last edge of sunset hanging on the horizon gave way to complete darkness, they spoke softly with Jeong Yeon-shin and Jang Sun-il.

The rough and guileless martial nobles beyond the Pass were remarkably talkative. The silence of dusk was filled with gentle darkness and pleasant voices.

* * *

“I would like to suggest that we travel together, whatever may happen later.”

“My elder sister makes a fine proposal. I will protect you. You do not intend to descend the mountain until this matter is finished, do you?”

They had grown rather close. A friendship had formed naturally.

Jeong Yeon-shin was a master whose strength the noble siblings did not know. From a position Bukgung Rin and Bukgung Hu could not perceive, he judged their worth.

The Leader of Demon Wings’ upper dantian ability regarded the Ice Palace siblings as harmless. They had no hostility. In an emergency, they could protect Jang Sun-il.

The four climbed the mountain.

The farther they went, the more people they encountered.

Though the rumor had spread long ago, no one had yet claimed to have gathered the thousand-year-old he shou wu.

At this point, even giving up and descending the mountain was a problem. Those gathered below had almost formed a blockade, and they would inevitably become suspicious.

Those carrying blades were usually dangerous bandits.

“You look like you might have something! Do you have the he shou wu?”

“Let us see what you have in your robes!”

The mountainside was worse still. It was close to a blood-soaked arena.

Whenever the group was provoked, the Bukgung siblings stepped forward.

Jeong Yeon-shin saw several times as weapons caught in their hands froze solid and shattered. It was a supreme art that made proper use of frost qi.

Crack!

“Gah!”

Their claim that Hand Arts were their true specialty was correct. The force of their palms was fierce and powerful, while a noble air flowed from them whenever they drew in their opening stances.

“There are many who are weaker than their greed. Up north, they would not even be enough food for wolves.”

“We did not say we would protect you for nothing. You may consider yourselves blessed by heaven.”

Bukgung Rin and Bukgung Hu were not ashamed to praise themselves. They believed it only proper for one to boast of one’s own merits.

Jeong Yeon-shin inwardly nodded and took their words to heart. He counted the Divine Sword Squad Leader, Ak Su-rim, and other brilliant talents as rivals.

As the Leader of Demon Wings, his position in competing for achievements was no different from the Bukgung siblings’.

He had to accept and internalize anything that sounded reasonable. He was not in a position to be selective.

‘I have been gaining much lately.’

He could not look down on others simply because they were clumsy in how they used their bodies.

They said that even a grub had a talent for rolling, though few had actually seen it. Having watched it firsthand, he found it worth learning from.

While turning such knowledge over in his mind, Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly spoke. He had one foot lightly braced against a rock from which the opposite ridge could be seen.

“How did you lose your servants?”

“Ah.”

“They were not weak. Their hair was bright red.”

The Bukgung siblings’ expressions darkened. They seemed to be speaking of blood demons from the Blood Flame Sect.

“You do not seem weak enough to struggle against ordinary cultists. You could probably defeat most Blood Masters as well.”

At Jeong Yeon-shin’s words, their eyes widened slightly. Bukgung Hu, who was standing atop a bandit’s corpse, quickly spoke.

“You know enough to properly judge the Blood Flame Sect? I had thought your knowledge was unusual.”

“So many came?”

“It was not one or two. We were fighting five when their numbers swelled to twenty, then thirty in an instant. There were red-haired and black-haired ones mixed among them, and we could not possibly handle them. We had no choice but to flee. They came rushing at us so disgustingly, as though they meant to make all of Mount Taebaek their territory... You should have seen it.”

“There was one who wielded two huge sabers. I could not even think of testing myself against him.”

Bukgung Rin added.

“Was he called the Rogue King? He seemed like someone only one of the finest warriors in our land could face. He gave off that terrifying momentum in waves. I do not think I could have withstood even one strike from him. That day, I stopped looking down on the Central Plains.”

She finished with a furrowed brow, her body trembling faintly despite her status as Ice Palace nobility.

Jang Sun-il, some distance away, reacted as though struck by lightning.

“Rogue King Geum Si-hu!”

It was a name worth shouting in a hushed voice. Jeong Yeon-shin had heard it before as well.

The king of those who sold their swordsmanship for salt and coin.

He had gained immense renown as a wandering mercenary. He was a saber wielder standing between the orthodox and unorthodox factions, yet few dared provoke him because his martial arts were so profound.

They said he had achieved countless feats while traveling between Henan and Shaanxi. He had inherited a school passed down to a single successor and stood apart in the martial world as an exceptional master.

“He took a contract from the Blood Flame Sect?”

The Leader of Demon Wings murmured quietly. A target for elimination.

“Should we... go down...? It seems the he shou wu might be half a day’s walk beyond here...”

Jang Sun-il spoke in a very cautious voice from afar. Jeong Yeon-shin asked as though he found it strange.

“Did you not come even after hearing the rumor that the Tyrant Sword Sect Master or the Mount Hua Sect’s sect leader would be here? There was also a rumor about the Blood Flame Sect’s First Apostle.”

“The Thirteen Heavens and the leaders of the various factions are immortals in the sky... The Rogue King is different. They say he is unbelievably cruel. When a sect harmed by one of his contracts chased him down, he pulled the sect leader’s head clean off with his bare hands. They say that if profit is involved, he will not hesitate to do anything!”

Jang Sun-il spoke with his Adam’s apple trembling.

‘Is that not what martial artists are like?’

Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head inwardly and shifted his feet.

“What a pity. I have no choice but to kill those who spread such rumors about me.”

The voice came from atop a rocky hill that blocked his view to the left. The power contained in that exceedingly rough voice was immense. The surrounding air warped in places for an instant.

Step.

The man revealed himself.

The hem of his vermilion trousers glittered gaudily.

His clothing was embroidered with lavish gold thread, and he wore two saber scabbards bearing white clouds. He looked more fitting for the title of king than that of a wandering mercenary.

“I am Geum Si-hu.”

His beard was neatly groomed, revealing a sharp jawline.

He gave off an aura that seemed to dominate the mountain like a tiger, while the colorless ripples of inner energy surrounding his body felt like armor.

A top master’s aura sense was extraordinary. They had spoken his name, and he had truly appeared.

“What...!”

“They say one should not speak of a tiger so carelessly...!”

Bukgung Hu and Bukgung Rin lowered their upper bodies as they looked up. They were greatly flustered.

They were not old enough to discuss Jeong Yeon-shin’s age, yet at that moment they seemed to realize once again that nothing was impossible in the martial world.

The Leader of Demon Wings, however, did not look at the Rogue King.

He sensed an eerie aura flickering beyond him. It flowed from afar according to the mnemonic formula of the Mara Roaring Blood Art that he had adjusted before.

He recalled that only a few pages remained before the altered verses, adapted to the Seventh Apostle, were complete. Had she changed the mnemonic formula to suit herself and cultivated it that way?

‘She senses me. Whatever happens to the Rogue King, she does not care.’

He could no longer avoid her. He had to face her.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly turned his gaze. Soon, his eyes met Geum Si-hu’s.

The Rogue King smiled.

“You. Looking at your face, I understand. You are the wretch who caused all this, are you not? Thanks to you, I stocked up on salt.”

He seemed to be speaking as one who knew Jeong Yeon-shin’s identity. Unlike his expression, every muscle in his body repeatedly tensed and relaxed.

He looked ready to draw his sabers and unleash a strike at any moment, yet there was not a trace of underestimation in him.

He was every bit the seasoned wandering mercenary who had survived for a long time.

The Leader of Demon Wings spoke calmly.

“Come down.”

“Should the younger man not move? I will yield the first move to you.”

The corners of the Rogue King’s mouth curled sharply as he lowered his head.

Distance and position were extremely important. That held true even in battles between top masters.

The vertical gap could affect the power of Force Projection and force waves, if only slightly. The difference of a sheet of paper could divide life from death.

Rogue King Geum Si-hu was practical. He valued an advantage in battle over appearances.

“Now that you mention it, you are right.”

Jeong Yeon-shin did not continue the contest of wills.

He drew the Northern Light Sword downward with his right hand and summoned the principle of Radiant River with his left palm.

The Record of the Dharma Light Wheel split into two natures, which collided in his palm like a thunderclap bomb.

At the same time, he tightened and released the Hand Yangming Large Intestine meridian in his left arm. Lightning began to remain within his palm.

‘It is activating.’

Woooooosh!

Overwhelming currents swirled in his hand. They did not cease.

The aura that fiercely lashed and swept through the air gradually grew like a typhoon. His black robes flapped violently.

“That...!”

The Rogue King’s eyes widened. The Seventh Apostle’s presence trembled.