WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 279: Inaction (7)
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“I’ve already learned from the Lord of Desolate Fortress.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly.
‘Carry on my martial lineage.’
That likely did not mean forming a master-disciple relationship. Desolate Fortress law did not permit such ties between martial artists of the main fortress.
The concern was that personal ties might affect missions. Only the Lord of Desolate Fortress was exempt from that law, and Yeon-shin had received her teachings.
“There’s a loophole in the main fortress’s laws.”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader raised the corners of their mouth.
“No matter what one learns, one is no one’s disciple. That means one can learn anything from anyone. No martial affiliations overlap.”
Yeon-shin did not answer. He simply stared at his direct superior with wide eyes.
A peerless Purple Uniform master was discussing a loophole in the law.
“Hm? What is it?”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader ran a hand over their slender jaw, looking faintly uneasy.
There was a carefree elegance to the scholar-style Purple Uniform robes steeped in moonlight. They looked dashing.
He had not felt that way when he first saw them, before his knees began to ache. Now, it felt different.
‘If I lived like that, I wouldn’t have any regrets.’
As expected, the Divine Sword representing Desolate Fortress was unrestrained. Nothing bound them. That was what it meant to be unhindered.
He had learned of such a bearing while studying Buddhist martial arts to cultivate dharma power. Did one need such a disposition to reach the peerless realm?
His niece Jeong Hye and the seniors of the main fortress had taught him much. Humility and freedom from constraint. Yeon-shin clasped his hands in a martial salute.
He did so with a calm thought in mind. As Hye-ah’s uncle, who had accepted the Lord’s wine, he ought to act like an adult.
“I’m grateful for your offer, Squad Leader, but I must refuse. There is little use in reshaping a completed martial art to suit my body. The Lord’s Moon Spirit Harmonization Formula was the same.”
“Huh?”
“Since it must originate from my own hands, this junior is not suited to inheriting a martial lineage. Even if I learned the Squad Leader’s martial arts, they would continue in a different form.”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader and the Squad Leaders of the Divine Sword Squad’s Seventeen Squads had an extremely close relationship.
They would have to see one another until their last breaths, so there was no reason to deliberately make an enemy of a Purple Uniform martial artist.
A martial lineage was both the tradition and identity of its practitioners. No one wished for their martial arts to be inherited after being completely altered.
Yeon-shin had already established his own martial lineage. There was no place for the Dragon Ring Gate in it.
“Hmm.”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader tilted their head slightly.
Despite being Desolate Fortress’s strongest Divine Sword, they had a playful manner, yet it did not feel frivolous.
“You’re starting from a different premise. There are countless bastards who would eagerly gobble it up.”
“My apologies.”
“No one else has caught my eye. If I truly become desperate, I’ll come find you again.”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader lay down with both arms beneath their head and clicked their tongue.
“It’s somewhat regrettable. I may fail to leave behind any successors and die somewhere in the wilderness... Still, I have perhaps a one-percent share in your lightness skill, so that will do. With your talent, you’ll complete it soon enough.”
“Die in the wilderness? Do Purple Uniform masters die like that too?”
“Didn’t the Elder Council Head of the main fortress nearly meet that fate? If one peerless master encounters two others, they can die in vain. The world does not permit any one person to reign alone. It’s damned vast. How many monsters in cities and wild hills proclaim themselves Lords of the Thirteen Heavens or sect leaders of the Nine Sects?”
Still lying on the ground, they crossed their legs and wiggled one foot.
“There’s no need to go as far as the leaders of major factions. A person’s nature is to resist. By whatever means, they seek their own advantage. Even against a peerless master, they won’t easily accept oppression. Formations, combined attack formations, killing arts, combined attacks by multiple Black Uniform martial artists, Force Projection through extreme long-range archery... Leader of Demon Wings, the world is very wide, and you haven’t experienced even half of it yet.”
“Can releasing a bowstring count as Force Projection?”
Yeon-shin asked quietly.
The answer came at once, as though it were nothing worth discussing.
“Of course. Archery martial arts are never to be underestimated. Since ancient times, the bow has been the strongest weapon. Techniques for handling the bow and string with inner energy have existed for an immense span of time. And if you end up at the center of a formation formed by those pointy-eared archery masters...”
They gave an exaggerated shudder.
“I don’t know how I survived long enough to wear Purple Uniform robes. I experienced it once. If the Dragon Ring Sword hadn’t emerged at once, I would’ve been finished. It was back when I was Black Uniform. I nearly died of frustration because I couldn’t get close enough to strike back. Thinking about it now, that was probably the second shot.”
The Dragon Ring Sword.
It seemed to refer to a rainbow-colored blade made from inner energy. It possessed supreme mystery, and the Divine Sword Squad Leader had displayed it during their life-and-death duel with the Namgung Family Head.
Yeon-shin quietly parted his lips.
“I heard the younger brother of a senior in the main squad died to Ten Miles One Kill.”
“The Blue-Eyed Demon Sword’s younger brother? Well, it was quite a famous story. Who would’ve thought a killing art meant to target only great masters would pierce a mere youngster? I heard the entire area was thrown into an uproar. You should be careful too. It contains variations, but it’s so fast and fierce that there’s no knowing where it will go.”
“I’ll remember that.”
The current Leader of Demon Wings replied evenly.
* * *
“The Martial Dragon Society has the Namgung First Sword. He’s White Qilin’s paternal uncle.”
It was a quiet graveyard. Cheong Myeong’s voice spread softly over the grass lying thick across the ground.
The Leader of Demon Wings and Demon Wings’ First Sword stood side by side beneath a night sky so deep that even the full moon had hidden itself.
Only clusters of stars spread wide above them, emitting a faint glow like dew gathered in the night.
“They told me I had to forget my younger brother to bring my swordsmanship to completion. They said I was bound by my own desire to be free. Then they landed a sword strike on my chest.”
“That sounds like empty nonsense. A swordsman only needs to use their hands well.”
Yeon-shin deliberately answered blankly.
The Cheong Myeong he knew was a person with a mysterious past, much like Baek Mir-yeo, and the person in Demon Wings whose thoughts were hardest to read.
They were a senior who had trusted and helped Yeon-shin from their first meeting, seeming cheerful yet inscrutable. Sorrow did not suit them.
Cheong Myeong snickered, and the trailing end of their head covering rose slightly behind them, blue in color.
“You need to use your body well too. A swordsman is a martial artist, after all.”
Yeon-shin fell silent. Was Cheong Myeong speaking of the younger brother who had failed to avoid Ten Miles One Kill?
Cheong Myeong suddenly interlocked their fingers behind their neck. Like Languid Flame Dragon often did, they looked up into the empty sky.
“You know the stars have energy too, right? Sometimes aura descends from them.”
“Yes.”
“Sometimes an aura fades and a star grows dim. My clan calls those dead stars. When the moon doesn’t show its face, we give the names of sleeping clan members to stars without energy. Cheong-su is somewhere over there.”
Cheong Myeong extended an index finger toward the distance.
It was difficult to tell exactly where they were pointing.
Yeon-shin could see deeply and in detail, but his eyesight was not keen enough to gaze upon a star that did not shine.
Only masters of the elven race could do that.
“Well, this is a chaotic age. I think it was a natural end. Can a martial artist hope for a peaceful death? It’s fortunate if they don’t die somewhere far from home. Cheong-su’s body wasn’t in a state that allowed it to be recovered intact.”
“I mean to make them the same.”
“Who knows. He was struck once, so he probably went without pain. The one who truly hurt was me. You should be careful too, Squad Leader. If you die young, I’ll have to lead Demon Wings, and I don’t have the confidence to handle these dependable troublemakers yet.”
Starlight shimmered in Cheong Myeong’s mysterious blue eyes.
Yeon-shin gazed at the swordsman who was both his senior and subordinate, then nodded.
“I won’t die young.”
That was all.
The current Leader of Demon Wings immediately sent word to the leadership of the Heavenly Pillar Gate.
He conveyed his purpose and met fierce opposition.
“It cannot be done.”
“They are on the verge of pinpointing the location of our sect. They must have repeatedly probed the earth vein. Just as it was when he entered, the Leader of Demon Wings cannot freely come and go.”
“Many elders oppose this. Would it not be best to at least hear them out?”
“This is a matter beyond qualifications. The survival of the village is at stake, is it not? How many children have died until now?”
They said the problem was the powder that had burst from the hand of the assassin who had come to the World Tree lake.
Everyone agreed that it was likely Pursuit Incense for Ten Miles One Kill. The moment he stepped outside the formation, a fatal strike might fly at him.
They said discovering the village would be as easy as turning over one’s hand.
“The dead say nothing.”
Muttering to himself, Yeon-shin set out. Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand’s dharma power wrapped around one hand.
A great uproar broke out behind him, but he paid it no mind. He was an adult.
* * *
[You’ve come out.]
A voice laced with laughter boomed as though it had surrounded all eight directions. It pressed the chill of the winter wind directly against his skin.
Six Directions Voice Transmission. It made the speaker’s location difficult to judge. They said it was the exclusive domain of great masters.
[I am Go Hwi-il, Bong Gong of Dark Night Hall.]
“Go Hwi-il. You’re the one who killed Cheong-su.”
Yeon-shin muttered as he emerged through the village’s sorcery formation.
Bong Gong.
Bonggong meant service. It was the shared element in Buddhist expressions such as dedicated service, selfless service, and service in defense of the dharma.
In the martial world, it generally referred to a sect position.
One who placed the sect above private gain held real power beneath the sect leader and above ten thousand others.
[You and I have no grudge, but you are the direct disciple of the woman who betrayed our clan. You deserve to die.]
He spoke carelessly of the Lord of Desolate Fortress.
There seemed to be deep grudges even among the elven race, but that was not what Yeon-shin needed to remember. That bastard had insulted the Lord.
[The present imperial court and Desolate Fortress created this chaotic age.
Even the surrounding ten li have become disorderly, and the moon that symbolizes our clan has grown muddied.]
“A coward sure talks a lot.”
[Ten Miles of Chaotic Echoes, One Arrow Washing the Moon. It is our sect’s secret art. Its essence lies in exterminating bastards like you with a single arrow, so you should know that before you die.]
The proud voice rang out through Six Directions Voice Transmission.
Yeon-shin closed his eyes.
Using the aura sense that began at his skin, he dissected the echoes from all eight directions and began tirelessly calculating the source of the invisible waves.
He was tracing them completely back to their origin. The upper dantian aura sense of the Leader of Demon Wings raced forward.
With his senses, he followed the path of a single voice that had struck walls of countless auras and refracted.
Whoosh!
It was a sound of air splitting beyond hearing, resounding in the realm of energy waves.
His aura sense darted like a ray of light, passing over ridges and forests, stone walls and branches, veering through countless directions.
Then, at last.
‘Found you.’
His senses suddenly opened wide at a rocky peak.
A figure released a bowstring from within a square formation of ten people.
The figure had an exceptionally sturdy upper body. A monstrous aura erupted from the body. Ten Miles One Kill had been fired.
Force swept from long fingers and shattered like a storm.
Cracks raced in every direction, from beneath the ground to the surrounding stone walls. Spiraling force waves tore the rocks of Mount Heavenly Pillar to pieces.
The surroundings exploded from the aftermath alone. It made the bombardment of fire bombs seem insignificant.
‘It’s coming.’
Was even the shaft made of metal? In that brief instant, a cold sensation charged at him with shockwaves in its wake.
Even as his upper dantian burned white, it felt unbelievably fast. That was not something he could block.
The instant it struck him directly, he would die. If he unleashed swordsmanship, his body would shatter along with his sword.
The path formed by an immensely long ray of light was etched into his mind.
His upper dantian had long been shining white. Like his epithet Seom-ye, the current Leader of Demon Wings controlled the speed of his thoughts. Time around his body slowed.
They said Ten Miles One Kill contained the principle of controlling an arrow with qi. He had to move at the moment when it was difficult for it to change its course.
In a moment close to an instant, Yeon-shin divided time into dozens of points. He measured that extremely brief span.
‘Now.’
He bent his upper body slightly. The wheel of light in his heart was already turning.
The Record of the Dharma Light Wheel raced endlessly through his strengthened twelve regular meridians and every acupoint in his body.
It firmly fixed his cervical vertebrae, then gathered like starlight at the Chengfu acupoint, Yinmen acupoint, Weizhong acupoint, and Yongquan acupoint, from his thigh muscles and the calf muscles on either side of his knees to the soles of his feet.
He had already mapped out the route for circulating qi perfectly. He also knew what intent he had to contain within it.
The decisive profundity. The mental image that would bring a supreme martial art into being.
‘A dead star. One that touches every night wind.’
Step.
He moved a leg as he regulated his breathing with a divine art.
The next instant, an earthquake erupted beneath his feet. His view changed in a flash.
A terrifying shockwave distorted beneath him with a faint stream of light. His feet stepped upon the shadow of stars.
Whoooosh!
From deep within the formation, it felt as though he could sense the gazes of the Heavenly Pillar Gate and Demon Wings watching his back far overhead.
He had soared along the mountain’s terrain. A faint cluster of light clung to Yeon-shin’s toes. It was lightness skill imbued with the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.
The ends of its glow, loosened like the hem of thin clothing, dyed the ridgelines, ancient trees, and massive boulders pale.
The mountain slopes in the night were soaked in the faint light of force waves.
The same happened when Yeon-shin’s foot stepped onto the next patch of earth. In an instant, he released another light.
His figure shot upward in a straight line amid the faint glow, like a constellation circling the mountain range.
Boom!
A massive explosion rang out far below. Ten Miles One Kill had failed to turn its trajectory in time.
Yeon-shin did not care. He raced through a night where snow lay piled like bedding, exhilaration rising within him.
His vision narrowed into a blur, as though formed from the strands of a typhoon. The forest scenery changed without end.
He was moving so fast that the wind brushing his face felt soft instead.
Then, just after he took his fifth step.
Step.
He was already atop a huge rocky peak.
He stepped into a cluster of cold auras. At the center of the square formation of ten people stood a man nocking another arrow.
Bong Gong of Dark Night Hall. His skin was pale as though moonlight had seeped into it, and his jawline was fine. The hem of his long robe was gray.
Their eyes met.
“...!”
The surrounding rabble shouted something, but he could not hear them.
It was time to strike back. The enemies could deal a fatal blow at any moment. He could not give them time to breathe.
Yeon-shin took another step. A dry wind flowed from the Northern Light Sword, now in his grip.
The lightness skill itself was swordsmanship. A gust of faint wind wrapped around his body as he passed their leader.
Bong Gong Go Hwi-il’s body twitched. A diagonal trail carved behind him flickered white.
Shing.
The Leader of Demon Wings sheathed his sword without looking back. The hem of his jet-black long robe, which had risen spectacularly, rippled as it fell.
“That lightness skill... How...?”
It was the voice that had come through Six Directions Voice Transmission. The Bong Gong of Dark Night Hall staggered, then collapsed as he muttered emptily.
He had suffered a mortal wound that would soon kill him. Yeon-shin glanced at him, one hand resting on the sword at his waist.
“You called it Ten Miles of Chaotic Echoes, One Arrow Washing the Moon. If chaos rings out across ten li, what are you supposed to do with an arrow?”
“Leader of Demon Wings...! Do not mock our sect’s secret art. This matter was only this body’s...”
“I only told you because you asked about this Squad Leader’s lightness skill.”
As Go Hwi-il met his end as a Bong Gong of Dark Night Hall, he closed his mouth.
The current Leader of Demon Wings moved his lips.
A very quiet voice sounded. It was nearly a whisper, yet the Bong Gong’s long ears twitched.
Then.
“Heh, yes... You truly are one of Desolate Fortress’s Seventeen Treasured Swords...”
Bong Gong Go Hwi-il gave a hollow laugh for a moment, then the focus vanished from his eyes. He met the death slowly creeping over him.
Even in the end, he repeated the words of the enemy who had so sharply mocked him.
Ten Li of Chaos. Deep Light of the Dead Star.
Though ten li are in chaos,
the starlight is deep.
Footnotes:
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