WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 260: Ascent (10)
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The Seventh Apostle curled their lips.
“Your disposition has changed a little, hasn't it? You're as stormy and turbulent as your signature martial art. Ah, come to think of it, my Grand Preceptor is around the age...?”
“Storm and stress?”
Jeong Yeon-shin repeated it quietly. It was closer to talking to themself than asking a question.
They did not react much. The Seventh Apostle seemed to mean adolescence, the time when one became keenly aware of the passing seasons, but it did not particularly resonate with the current Leader of Demon Wings.
That was likely a period Languid Flame Dragon had gone through before failing to quit opium poppy.
Jeong Yeon-shin was grown enough to share a cup with the Lord of Desolate Fortress. The day they surpassed their Demon Wings seniors in height was not far off either.
“I won't attack you. I'll repay the debt I owe you.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke quietly.
It felt as though the two of them stood alone atop a pure-white mountain peak.
Bukgung Rin, Bukgung Hu, and Jang Sun-il were gradually drawing closer from afar, yet only the Seventh Apostle's presence stood out. They were like an opium poppy blooming in the snowfield.
“What...?”
Yet the Seventh Apostle sounded dazed.
Right after questioning themself, their eyes trembled and lost focus.
Fine, sharp fangs briefly showed at either side of their teeth, then withdrew. It was a strange reaction.
Pain in the teeth could be as severe as a stab wound. If a Finger Wind struck properly, it could shake an enemy's composure.
It was also difficult to shield that area with the Protective Qi Technique, as it was exposed while breathing.
That was why, unless they were newcomers to the martial world, martial artists generally avoided showing their teeth outside their sect. The Seventh Apostle's bearing did not suit a supreme master.
Especially with a Desolate Fortress Squad Leader standing before them.
‘They'd always been like this.’
Jeong Yeon-shin paid it no mind and opened their mouth.
Nothing mattered more to them than the grace of someone who had saved their life.
They raced through the martial world to avoid dying young. How could they overlook the favor of someone who had saved their life? And it was not only their life.
The Seventh Apostle had effectively saved their uncle and all their comrades in Desolate Fortress as well.
When they died, Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to be able to tell their mother without shame that, thanks to her, they had lived well. That she seemed to have chosen her husband a little poorly.
To do that, they could not resemble their father. They had to cherish all that had come into their life.
“The structure of your qi seems somewhat crude. Listen carefully and improve it. And don't appear before me so carelessly. As long as you lead blood demons, you and I cannot coexist. That's only natural.”
“...”
“Let's settle our debts here. Listen. This is what you wanted, your own Mara True Blood Art.”
It happened in an instant.
“Ahhhh!”
The Seventh Apostle covered their ears and screamed.
“In the Governing Vessel, Preserve Blood, Warm Essence. In the Conception Vessel...”
Jeong Yeon-shin had only begun the first line of the mnemonic formula through sound transmission when they parted their lips slightly. What was this?
“Don't do that! Don't repay me!”
The long fingers that had torn enemies apart pressed hard against the outsides of both ears.
They had pressed the Ermen acupoints, where nerves were concentrated. It was not something one should do carelessly in such a state, yet they had temporarily robbed themself of hearing.
Still unsatisfied, they screamed to block out Jeong Yeon-shin's words. They sounded like a shrieking bat.
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin closed their mouth.
For the first time.
Someone had rejected the martial arts of Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings.
Nor was it an ordinary reaction. Jeong Yeon-shin had never imagined such a fierce response, not even in their dreams.
‘Can someone react like that? My mnemonic formula is better.’
It was something Jeong Yeon-shin had never experienced.
Until now, they had not known what pride was.
They thought they understood it a little now. Was this what it meant to feel offended? It was different from when other supreme masters boasted of Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
They could not understand it. To survive in the turbulent martial world, should one not act rationally?
They opened their mouth again.
“The mental image passing through the Conception Vessel must be cool. It follows a different path from the Preserve Blood, Warm Essence formula of the Governing Vessel...”
“Ahhh! Aaaah!”
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly drew their brows together. This was...?
“What are you trying to do? You were the one who said you needed a mnemonic formula.”
They had not forgotten the Seventh Apostle smiling with red eyes as they pressed down on Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulder.
My Grand Preceptor. My young Grand Preceptor. At the main altar, those were words that had been drummed into Jeong Yeon-shin's ears. The Seventh Apostle's nonchalance, madness, and obsession that day had been thick and clinging, befitting a Blood Flame Sect noble.
But now...
Their screams continued without pause. They seemed to have lost their mind.
They repeatedly covered their ears with both hands, turned away from Jeong Yeon-shin, then glanced at them. There was even a chilling madness in the sight. Yet they refused to look at Jeong Yeon-shin's lips.
“Companion! Is something wrong...?”
“The monster before you could match a great warrior of our land! Take your opening stance!”
Bukgung Hu and Bukgung Rin shouted from behind Jeong Yeon-shin. Despite the obvious difference in martial prowess, they rushed in the moment the Seventh Apostle began screaming.
Coldness spread toward them as the siblings came. They appeared to be driving the Body Movement Scripture at full force.
‘All because we shared a campfire.’
Jeong Yeon-shin stepped between the siblings and the Seventh Apostle.
“Don't follow any farther. A Blood Flame Sect noble cannot travel with me.”
“I can't see! I can't hear anything!”
With both hands still over their ears, the Seventh Apostle shook their head hard.
Then, finally.
“Don't say it! I'll kill you! I won't kill you, but I will! Please stop! Stop!”
The hem of the Seventh Apostle's Pure Blood Robe billowed wildly as they babbled.
Qi followed the heart.
Irregular waves of power spread in every direction. Aura flashed faintly blood-red.
A tremendous energy wrapped around both their legs. It was a different kind of inner-energy circulation. Qi that enhanced movement surged wildly within and without.
Boom!
The Seventh Apostle kicked off the ground without lowering their hands.
The instant concentric rings of dust spread across the ground, the red figure vanished with a sharp tearing sound.
It was as if they had used the Shrinking Earth Technique. In a single step, they leaped more than ten jang.
There was none of the Blood Flame Sect's distinctive noble and bewitching bearing in the Body Movement Scripture that carried them away in a massive arc.
Anyone could see that they were fleeing.
An Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect, one of the Thirteen Heavens, was running away. It was hard to believe even while watching it happen.
The Leader of Demon Wings was mildly shocked. Their mnemonic formula had been rejected in the end. Was Three Flowers Gather at the Crown really that good?
“Companion.”
Bukgung Hu had come up beside Jeong Yeon-shin before they knew it and glanced at them with silver-rippling eyes.
Their companion did not pursue the Demonic Sect noble. Jeong Yeon-shin only watched the Seventh Apostle go.
A peculiar sense of reflection showed on Jeong Yeon-shin's expressionless face. It must have been the noble contemplation of a great warrior.
The nature of the North Sea Frozen Lands valued courtesy and reason, yet honored the strong more than anywhere else. That made Bukgung Hu speak.
“Please accept my apology. I suggested escorting a great warrior. How shameful. My eyes are worse than a dead wolf's.”
His manner of speaking was rough. That made it feel sincere.
Bukgung Rin, standing on the other side, placed a hand on Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulder as well.
A faint tremor ran through her callused palm. Even so, she remained proud.
“Will you marry into my family?”
The Ice Palace noblewoman with blue-white hair spoke.
“...”
“Ah, I heard men in this land call it taking a wife. But by your land's customs, my true intention is closer to asking you to marry into my family. In our Frozen Lands, when we honor the strong...”
Bukgung Rin's words, which would ordinarily have sounded shocking, did not reach Jeong Yeon-shin. They did not even register as a trivial joke.
The aptitude for founding martial arts was the only companion Jeong Yeon-shin possessed.
At Jeong Family Manor, where they had been treated as though they did not exist, it had given them a sense of maternal warmth. It meant that much to them.
‘Anyone can see that my mnemonic formula is better.’
Jeong Yeon-shin stood still for a long while, until Bukgung Rin closed her mouth.
* * *
The mountain ridge extending to Seven Maiden Peak was high and long. They had to cross several snow-covered peaks.
The number of martial artists they encountered increased. It was no ordinary gathering.
People of every appearance were there. A handsome man passed by smiling with his eyes while riding in a palanquin borne on the shoulders of four people.
“He's safe. It seems that fellow failed. No, leave him as he is. That person seems concerned about the upper echelons of the Thirteen Heavens, which works out well for me.”
“Is there any reason to wait?”
“They are thoroughly concealing their identity. That gives me more pieces to use. I can keep the damage to a minimum.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I manage the situation properly, I can wield that treasured sword as I wish. Just thinking about it excites me. To exercise my influence over a lofty genius I had only encountered in documents... It feels as though I have met the protagonist of a heroic tale in person. I want to turn this palanquin around and speak with them at once.”
“Hmm...”
The guard swordsman beside the palanquin had an immense presence. Invisible sword qi flashed with frost-like sharpness from the sword hilt at the guard's waist, yet the woman's face remained calm.
She looked quiet even as she cleared a path through displays of force.
Their voices did not carry.
As befitted a gathering ground for extraordinary people, each person traveled with an aura barrier raised. To the crowd, only the faint movements of each other's mouths could be seen.
Even that was difficult to read because their lips moved so subtly through lip-speech. It was harder still unless one faced them directly.
“They must be martial artists from a major faction.”
“They look like a powerful local clan.”
The gathering crowd was as numerous as the branches of trees, packed tightly across the ridge.
Jeong Yeon-shin passed the palanquin group, and there were easily several hundred people within their view alone. Every one of them gave off an uncommon aura and eyed the group askance.
“It must have rejuvenating properties, that thousand-year-old he shou wu.”
“There are plenty of rumors that eating just one root keeps you full for a hundred days. Needless to say, it would also greatly increase one's power.”
“If a child consumes it, they might grow up with a thousand geun of latent strength.”
“Watch your tongue...! There are rumors that all kinds of illustrious people have gathered here! Who knows whether that person is the Leader of Demon Wings who attended the Martial Alliance's grand founding ceremony?”
“It is still the far edge of Shaanxi. Aren't they people who will return once their mission is done? Desolate Fortress would not have come all this way.”
“Would the imperial court's watchdogs stand by and let the martial world gain such a benefit?”
No one picked a fight merely because they looked young.
They were all measuring one another.
The riffraff had been unable to advance beyond the entrance.
Among people for whom boasting and conflict were everyday affairs, reaching halfway toward the destination alone said much.
One had to assume they possessed an exceptional trump card, whether it was insidious hidden weapons or a life-saving ultimate move that killed in a single strike.
Everyone on this ridge was like that.
The moment anyone rashly stirred up trouble, they would inevitably suffer losses.
Taking the initiative only guaranteed victory when there were two clear sides. No one wanted to start a chaotic melee.
Only the unflappable chatted as though it were nothing.
The siblings from the ice palace were among them.
Jeong Yeon-shin adjusted the travel pack slung diagonally across their back.
Bukgung Hu, walking beside them, opened his mouth as he casually brushed frost from his hair.
“What is that? You even had it covered with the Protective Qi Technique while fighting, didn't you?”
“Books.”
“It doesn't look like one or two volumes. Secret manuals?”
“No. Just miscellaneous books with many annotations. They're a little messy.”
“Why carry things like that? Wouldn't they be better used as firewood?”
“I'm about to take them out.”
The face of Xiahou Wi-jin, Squad Leader of the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad, crossed Jeong Yeon-shin's mind.
The squad leaders of Desolate Fortress' Divine Sword Squad might not have needed annotations, but Xiahou Wi-jin had set aside his pride and taught Jeong Yeon-shin to understand things from the perspective of weaker martial artists.
He was a senior worth being grateful to. His boldness was impressive as well.
The Bukgung siblings had shown far more interest in their companion since he killed the Rogue King.
“And this?”
Bukgung Rin pointed toward Jeong Yeon-shin's shoulder.
A wide strip of pitch-black cloth was tied there. It revealed the sleek line of their upper-arm muscles, as though it were little more than another layer of fabric.
“You'll find out.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly, complaining inwardly. Had they really needed to ask for it to be made so large?
That was when a strange movement stirred within the crowd.
Footnotes:
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