WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 291: Lotus (10)
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The current Leader of Demon Wings had never known brotherly affection.
His two elder brothers had encouraged the children of Xinye County to bully him.
They had convinced them that, as long as word did not spread through the village that Jeong Family Manor had lost face, the Manor Lord would turn a blind eye.
They had been right. That was exactly what happened.
Whenever peers who had not learned martial arts secretly picked fights with him or excluded him, Jeong Yeon-shin avoided them.
Even if it was a third-rate martial family, it was still a martial faction. He had heard enough rumors to know that great heroes of the martial world did not use martial arts to torment ordinary people.
His mother had also belonged to the martial world, so he could not use the Jeong Family Youth Technique to brawl with villagers. He could not even protect them from the Demonic Sect.
His brothers laughed at him. They called him weak and said he lacked spirit for someone who had devoured his mother on the way into the world.
It was a distant memory now.
At the same time, it was a fact that could never be erased.
The Dano Festival swing he had been unable to ride with the others because he was ostracized had remained in his heart even after he rose to the Black Uniform rank of Desolate Fortress.
Riding Immortal Dragon Jegal Hyeon's fan made him realize it anew.
"Even if you must discard a stone, you have to seize the initiative. Here, initiative can also mean what matters most. It teaches you to distinguish clearly between what has little value and what has great value. Clear Qilin cast aside the shell of Namgung's Young Family Head and chose to become the martial artist Namgung Se-jin. In the end, he became a noble swordsman."
He had learned Go from him and laid the groundwork for the Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art.
Standing upon his crane-wing fan, he had torn apart the bones and flesh of Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, the culprit behind the destruction of Jeong Family Manor.
It was kindness he had never received even from his own blood relatives.
While most of the Martial Alliance Assembly feared the Leader of Demon Wings, Jegal Hyeon had taught Yeon-shin the principles of Go and life, even though Yeon-shin had defeated and killed his friend, Clear Qilin.
He was a great hero, just like Namgung Se-jin.
Of all the heroes he had befriended outside Desolate Fortress, Yeon-shin had thought that if he had ever had a proper older brother, he would have been someone like Immortal Dragon.
Naturally, he had grown fond of him.
That was why he felt such loss now.
The feeling he had experienced upon seeing the servants' corpses when Jeong Family Manor was destroyed returned to him. He had not intended it, but it happened all the same.
To Yeon-shin, Immortal Dragon had been a symbol of selfless chivalry.
'May you rest in peace.'
The rope holding the swing suspended in his heart snapped the moment he recognized Jegal Hyeon's sudden death.
The Leader of Demon Wings decided to depart from the assigned mission route, using the discretion granted to him as a Black Uniform under the Divine Sword Corps.
"...If disciples of Wolsung Sect appear, stop them. You may reveal your identities whenever necessary. One more thing, other than that Huangbo scoundrel, do not contend with First Fist of the Eon Family."
Yeon-shin lowered the hand he had extended into the air and gave the order. His tone was flat.
Shaaaah.
It came just after he filled the sky with a force wave from the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel. He had used the principles of Flame River, created by Languid Flame Dragon.
Fragments of dim light vanished into the moonlight as though buried within it. They shimmered white and blue like crane feathers.
"You use it well. I thought you said it was crude."
The opium fiend tried to ease the mood with a teasing remark, but Yeon-shin did not smile. He saw Languid Flame Dragon compose his expression.
He was a man who, because of his scoundrel-like conduct, had made very few friends and lost one of them. A Squad Leader could not be comforted by a subordinate.
"Go to the safehouse. Do not exchange ten moves or more with First Fist of the Eon Family. Her Protective Qi Technique was sturdy. Aim for a single-point strike with blazing yang qi, but your best option is to feint an attack, shift to defense, then flee."
"Even if I encounter her, would I be able to escape?"
"I know your inner energy has grown deeper. Didn't you refine it at Heavenly Pillar Gate?"
"Your eyes are as sharp as ever, but I do not know why the Squad Leader's gaze feels so chilling, as if he has snapped."
Languid Flame Dragon spoke as if it were nothing. At this moment, he was not chewing opium poppy.
The Sun God Meridian.
It referred to the fierce yang power that surged explosively as death drew near.
The Huangbo scoundrel had also been born with a body that struggled to unite essence, qi, and spirit, but his qi storage surpassed even Cheong Myeong of the elven race. Within Demon Wings, he was unmatched.
As the eldest son of the Huangbo Family, his martial arts had no particular bias.
He was also highly proficient in qi-powered dashes, where inner energy mattered most. If he accepted internal injuries, he could boast of his lightness skill even before supreme masters.
When Cheong Myeong was absent, he was essentially the field commander.
"Death away from home is common in the martial world."
"Yes."
Yeon-shin answered shortly, his eyelids slightly lowered.
"Do not let the deaths of acquaintances toss you about. Half or more of Demon Wings could be wiped out at any moment. The martial world you belong to can only become more dangerous as you grow stronger."
"I've already experienced that. In Sichuan."
"I know, but I say it because you can never get used to it. Unless someone's character is truly twisted, everyone feels that way. Still, seeing what happened to that Jegal fellow makes me worry about what will happen after I die. I worry you might live a dull life with such entertaining talent. You have a soft heart, too."
"Shut up and hide. Come out when I signal you."
Yeon-shin slowly turned. The hem of his plain long robe, tailored to his body, lightly brushed his calves.
The auras of martial clansmen approaching beyond the threshold were grim.
They appeared to have taken the Radiant Art Formation's Flame River as a display of force by a powerful intruder. They looked ready to deploy a sword formation at any moment.
He did not care.
Footsteps.
Leaving Jegal Hyeon's corpse and the sobbing Jegal Cheong-a behind him, he stepped forward.
Hyeon Won-chang, who had silently watched Yeon-shin, spoke. The grave event seemed to have temporarily wiped away his gloomy expression.
"I do not know what he intends to do. The Squad Leader is becoming an adult. I have never seen him like that."
"Neither have I. Not the Squad Leader, nor this bastard."
Languid Flame Dragon's dry breath drifted from the Leader of Demon Wings' back toward Jegal Hyeon's corpse.
The fan Immortal Dragon held remained rigid and unmoving.
* * *
The chamber was artistically splendid.
The faint scent of ink and paper did not fade easily. The room was wide enough to serve as a Training Hall for dozens, yet the fragrance lingered.
A lustrous black zither, its strings gleaming as well, and a Go board sculpted from marble stood within. Calligraphy and paintings rendered in vivid pigments and fine ink decorated the walls. Anyone would have felt its elegance.
"Zhuge Family Head, you do not seem like an expelled disciple."
The angular-faced middle-aged man spoke. He had been seated in an antique ebony chair, surveying his surroundings.
Soon, he turned his gaze forward.
Someone sat across from him.
A lustrous black hat sat atop the figure's head. A translucent veil flowed beneath its broad, round brim, creating an air of mystery.
So did the smooth line of his lifted chin.
He suited the seat of honor in such an antique chamber. He was nearly its finishing touch.
"An expelled disciple."
The lips of the man whose lower face was exposed curved into a smile.
"This head of the Jegal martial lineage expelled a few worthless retainers from my school. I am the Jegal Family itself, and my every gesture opens a new horizon for the Gathering Wind, Boundless Flow. Where exactly did I expel whom? If you are going to say something so worthless, leave."
"That is impossible. Our family must recover the Eon Family Fist Manual."
"That again. I have told you it is impossible."
"Strictly speaking, this is not a matter you may permit or deny. It concerns our family. Where is Eon Hwa-ryeon?"
"It concerns my spouse and the Wolsung Sect that will soon be founded. You must understand this. Unless the Eon Family enters under our sect, every proposal is useless. Do not even dream of Hwa-ryeon's annotated copy."
His voice flowed as smoothly as water.
Crunch.
The middle-aged man of the Eon Family clenched his large fist. Rough, transparent aura flickered over the contours of the muscles running from the back of his hand up his forearm.
Mountain-Crushing Fist Inferior Eon Tae-gwang. Even within the Eon Family, counted among the Eight Great Families, he was one of its foremost fist masters.
He was a master fit to serve as an envoy meeting a peerless master.
"...We have yielded enough. The vast lands of Hebei, as well as the escort contracts of the Hyeha Merchant Group. Have we not sent word repeatedly?"
"It is insufficient. How can you measure the value of a supreme martial art by such things? You must have heard the rumor that the elven elder monks of Shaolin, who had faced the wall in meditation for centuries, finally lifted their heavy backsides. With chaotic times approaching, they covet the dharma power of the Leader of Demon Wings."
"To lowball our family, you even belittle the deeply cultivated monks of Shaolin...! It is utter nonsense!"
His voice gradually rose. Their secret discussions had already continued for a long time.
The Zhuge Family Head's smile deepened. It was as if he were deliberately provoking anger.
"You should consider it an honor to be compared with Shaolin. Is not every one of you foolish and insignificant in comprehension? I knew it from the moment you entrusted the hollow rank of future Family Head and the revival of your family to my spouse. The Eon Family bloodline is generally impatient and incapable of looking inward."
"You truly dare!"
Eon Tae-gwang, a great clansman of one of the noble Eight Families, sprang to his feet.
Kraaaaack!
That alone shredded the long, thick table between them as though an earthquake had raced through it.
The hem of his yellow sleeveless martial robe whipped violently. Colorless force waves and a Protective Qi Technique rose from Eon Tae-gwang's body at once.
The chamber shook hard as though a storm had entered it.
"You killed your own son with your own hands, you bastard! You sold even your blood relatives for martial arts and dignity! It is absurd for you to speak of family before me..."
"You lack the attitude to listen. You are unfit to hear of the greater cause."
The Zhuge Family Head muttered.
Rustle.
His sleeves brushed slowly together. He had folded his arms while holding the White Crane Fan. It was a posture difficult to view as the opening stance of a martial art.
At the same time.
Hummm!
The force waves erupting from Eon Tae-gwang's entire body were drawn upward and sucked away.
It was as if the Jade Emperor in heaven had inhaled. It took only an instant.
The moment Eon Tae-gwang's thick eyebrows rose in shock, the faintly rising energy condensed into a sphere in midair, then transformed into a thick pillar and crashed down.
Woooooosh!
It carved a straight line like heavenly punishment.
Everything from Eon Tae-gwang's crown to below his groin disappeared without a trace. Soft thuds sounded afterward.
His limbs, having lost both head and torso, sprawled across the floor without even spraying blood. The severed surfaces looked as if they had come into contact with an entirely different space.
Then, belatedly.
The air within the chamber was pulled toward the enormous cylindrical column of transparent air.
The zither, Go board, calligraphy, and paintings that adorned the room scattered chaotically in its wake.
Flutter.
The Zhuge Family Head covered his mouth with the fully opened fan. Even the motion of lifting his elbow was graceful.
For a moment, the pure white long robe draped around him became strangely vivid.
"I have breathed the same air as a man like that. Disgusting."
His manner of speech changed.
Footsteps.
From the crack of a hidden door on one side of the room, a muscular woman emerged in a sleeveless gray martial robe.
Fist Exemplar Eon Hwa-ryeon. She glanced at Eon Tae-gwang's limbs with an expressionless face, carrying the bearing of an established supreme master.
"My husband has finally caused trouble. He was my father's cousin."
"Do not reproach me so."
The Zhuge Family Head smiled.
"He was not someone who should hear of the greater cause. The Eon Family will have no choice but to send another. Lady Eon was the only one capable of replacing the Eon Family Head whose neck was broken by the Heart Martial Union Leader."
"..."
"If you worry about the Martial Alliance, I will tell you that it is needless concern. The Tyrant Sword Sect Master faced the Sword Star alone. The Nine Sects had only dipped their toes in from the start, and many of the Eight Families that had declared an alliance withdrew. The current Martial Alliance Assembly is no more than a minor alliance on the outskirts of Shaanxi. Without the Sword Star, they are rootless rabble who can hardly be called a major faction."
His long index finger slid up the side of his fan, and golden characters glowed softly in its wake.
The habitual-looking motion contained the principles of a wondrous sorcerous martial art.
"Naturally. I am not there."
The Zhuge Family Head murmured softly as his absolute aura subsided.
Eon Hwa-ryeon stared at him for a while before speaking.
"Since you annihilated the Zhuge Family's Pursuit Squad, you have established your foothold in Shanxi as intended."
"Only Desolate Fortress remains. But they are busy patching the shattered vessel that is the Central Plains in every direction. At most, a handful of strong warriors will come to celebrate Wolsung Sect's founding ceremony, at the Shanxi Martial Arts Tournament."
"Will you be able to avoid injury, my husband?"
"How could I lose to those who come to the place I have prepared?"
He said it.
* * *
The dharma power of the Light Wheel, which should have been warm, had changed from before.
It enveloped the black robes covering his whole body with a strength closer to law than Buddhist dharma.
Though he had not deliberately formed a Protective Qi Technique, it felt as if he wore the iron armor of a heavenly divine general.
That was its nature. It formed an odd contrast with the massive frame of the Shanxi Gwi Family Head, who wore actual iron armor.
Behind him stood all manner of martial clansmen staying at the Gongya Family estate, but even before that great crowd, Yeon-shin's presence did not pale.
"Hm."
His gaze met that of a fierce-eyed middle-aged man. He was the father of Gwi Il-tae, who had clashed with Yeon-shin several times.
They said he had been a great general who fought northern nomadic peoples in his youth. A rough dignity seemed to flow from both his bearing and martial power.
On a night when the dim air mingled with moonlight, the Gwi Family Head opened his thick lips.
"You said you are Geom Un-bi, Sect Leader of Huangcheon Sect. Your age is astonishing, but your martial prowess is even more remarkable. I have a proposal..."
"Dust is obstructing my view."
The Leader of Demon Wings said, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.
Footnotes:
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