WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 308: Xuanyuan (3)

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A deafening roar rang out.

It was like successive thunderclaps crashing together. Violent tremors shook the earth.

Explosive force raced across the vast plain with such fury that the Gongya Family martial artists fleeing ahead forgot their duties and turned back.

They had only just received the Associate Director's instructions to lure the martial nobility out.

"Young Family Head, over there...!"

"I see it!"

Whoosh!

The seven Gongya martial artists came to an abrupt halt with their lightness skills, kicking up a fierce headwind. Thick dust burst from beneath their feet.

Yet it was pitiful compared to the towering cloud of dust before them.

"The martial nobility's auras... They've all vanished."

"...They've been wiped out."

Words of disbelief slipped out. Gongya Jeong and the family retainers stared wide-eyed.

They had lured the martial nobility away, but they could not cast aside their worries.

Anyone who had watched the Zhuge Family Head die could have guessed that Desolate Fortress's Black Uniforms were in terrible condition.

"Check whether they've been paying their tribute properly... and prepare relief rice for the common people. No one in the family will be able to oppose me this time."

Gongya Jeong spoke as if murmuring to herself.

It was something she had faced opposition over many times.

The Gongya Family did not engage in such lowly acts as plunder. Still, it was not a family known for taking pity on the common people.

Their limit had been to host banquets when other members of the martial nobility organized martial arts tournaments, hoping to prevent the extortion caused by the expense of supplying them.

They had not opened their granaries whenever a prolonged famine struck. A day would come when food was more precious than gold.

Now, no one questioned her orders.

The Gongya Family leadership fell silent. They had no choice after seeing the Leader of Demon Wings walk through the dust.

Step.

Translucent streams of force waves vanished from his lowered hand, having briefly wound around the hazy dust like tangled thread. He looked like King Yama.

Even the blood dripping from beneath his sleeves was threatening. The wounds he had suffered from the Zhuge Family Head seemed to have burst open from the backlash of his secret arts.

Whoosh.

As the dry wind pushed the dust away, the scene behind him slowly emerged.

The enormous crater beyond his shoulders was as chilling as a piece of hell.

He had sent the masters who led the extortion to the underworld, giving those who had dominated Shanxi for so long no time even to leave last words.

Steam rose from all over the small basin. It was a bleak sight.

"They said he was the prince who descended riding flowers, Nezha incarnate..."

An elder of the Gongya Family murmured as though groaning.

Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been approaching with measured steps, suddenly swayed.

"Sect Leader Geom!"

Startled, Gongya Jeong kicked off the ground.

Horrified by the acting Family Head's movement, the Gongya leadership leaped after her.

They too belonged to the martial nobility. They reached the battlefield, where everything had ended in an instant.

By then, Jeong Yeon-shin had glanced at them and straightened his back. He recalled his senior Jin Myeong-jo's bearing.

If he could maintain the Divine Blood Extreme Demon's lofty dignity in any situation, enemies would not dare act rashly even after time-limited secret arts such as Ultimate Thunder and Dragon Fan Treading Flowers had ended.

‘His neck curved slightly backward rather than remaining perfectly straight. He tensed the psoas muscles on both sides of his waist.’

They said bluffing was also a skill. He could not let anyone look down on him.

Swish.

Ignoring the lightning-like pain coursing through his body, he adjusted his posture. The internal and external injuries the Zhuge Family Head had inflicted would not heal after one or two days of rest.

Seeing the Gongya Family leadership twitch from afar, it seemed to be working to some extent.

Pleased, Jeong Yeon-shin also felt the need for a shield.

More than Protective Qi Technique, he wanted people at his side. Perhaps it was because his body was exhausted.

The road he had to make his way through would be harsh. Throughout the vast martial world, there were many who stood united.

After barely defeating a peerless master, he would have to endure the fury of those who had lost their leader. He had been unusually fortunate when facing the Zhuge Family Head.

The world was not made up solely of people who accepted the results of one-on-one duels.

That was why martial artists formed sects.

The first character in “sect” meant house; the second meant branch.

They cultivated the same spirit and shared martial arts more important than blood. They were no different from family.

Like the retainers standing behind Gongya Jeong as she approached him now. Like the Demon Wings of Desolate Fortress.

"Are you all right? We should return to the main estate at once so you can receive treatment..."

"Young Family Head, I'm sorry."

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.

"For using your family for the mission."

Gongya Jeong's red collar twitched.

There was strange power in the words of Seom-ye, the Lotus Nezha.

His voice carried the intention to leave, changing the atmosphere. Had he intended this from the start? It naturally became a moment to see off a guest.

She slowly opened her mouth.

"In the end, only Wolsung Sect, left behind by the Zhuge Family Head, and our Gongya clan remain in Shanxi. The humiliation we suffered at the hands of the martial nobility is nothing. So long as Wolsung Sect remains unable to make a move, as at present, this land should be peaceful for a while. So long as people do not starve..."

"The burden on you will be great, Young Family Head. I hope the Family Head recovers soon."

Jeong Yeon-shin was right.

Gongya Jeong, the eldest daughter, would have to bear Shanxi's martial world alone. A martial world emptied of the martial nobility could not remain peaceful.

Green Forest bandits, unorthodox martial artists of the demonic and heretical paths, and wandering martial artists roaming the wilderness without law would target the vacancy.

Languid Flame Dragon's group had gone with the Slayer Hero to attack Wolsung Sect's headquarters, but even leaving Wolsung Sect aside, this was no ordinary matter.

Shanxi was vast. It was too much for someone of the younger generation to bear. The eyes of countless gossipmongers across the martial world would inevitably focus on it as well.

"...Mm."

Gongya Jeong's expression did not change. Neither did her fine, dark brows or her taciturn-looking lips.

"My father was pleased, if anything. He said this was a chance for me to stand alone, calling it a lesson in succession. He was right."

"...A rock."

Jeong Yeon-shin abruptly muttered, looking at the Gongya Young Family Head with faint fear, or perhaps unease.

Someone who lived with the steadiness of a boulder. She could have been the incarnation of a mind as clear and still as a mirror.

Looking like a stone with nothing left to be worn away stirred Jeong Yeon-shin's inferiority complex again.

It had been that way ever since she casually spoke of ten years of training for a sword strike that lasted a single breath.

What overwhelming composure. He had not experienced such a thing even from the Zhuge Family Head.

‘Life...’

Jeong Yeon-shin engraved life's unfairness into his bones. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.

"Pardon?"

"It's nothing."

Shaking his head at Gongya Jeong's question, he continued.

"You have a good father."

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke in a tone no different from usual.

The corners of Gongya Jeong's lips rose slightly.

"Su wishes to join Desolate Fortress. If he takes the Desolate Exam someday, will you accept him into the Demon Wings?"

She was speaking of Gongya Su, the cheerful Second Young Master of the Gongya Family.

Jeong Yeon-shin recalled Gongya Su and nodded. The Black Uniforms sometimes fought matches to compete for recruits, but now he had little to fear apart from the Three Black Uniform Masters.

Unless it was Senior Jin, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, whose aura could not even be read, he should be able to take any ordinary recruit.

"I should go now."

Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly said.

He had entrusted a letter to a Gongya Family attendant before coming out.

It bid his seniors a temporary farewell. Ak Su-rim and Jin Myeong-jo, who would be in pain even from moving, should return to the main fortress after recuperating.

If he explained the situation, his broad-minded and warm-hearted seniors would gladly come with him, but Jeong Yeon-shin did not want that.

The Desolate Divine Spear and the Divine Blood Extreme Demon needed to look after the Divine Sword Squad and the Blood Guard Squad.

As their parents.

‘The two of them must not be hurt any further. They must not suffer any unexpected misfortune, either.’

The Zhuge Family Head's defeat and death.

The Squad Leaders' mission had ended.

From here on, it was the Demon Wings' work. Jeong Yeon-shin had long suspected that the Owol Grand Slaughter Sect and Hyeon Won-chang were tied together in some way.

He also knew that the Desolate Fortress Divine Hero came from Shanxi.

Hyeon Won-chang's debts and grudges were the Demon Wings' debts and grudges. It was right for the current Leader of Demon Wings to look into them.

That remained true even if Blue Uniform martial artists of Desolate Fortress had the authority to undertake solo missions.

Rustle.

The sound of clothing overlapped as Jeong Yeon-shin turned away and Gongya Jeong belatedly raised her clasped hands.

"May you achieve great victories."

"The same to Gongya Young Family Head."

Seom-ye, the Lotus Nezha, turned fully and began walking.

At that moment, fluttering came from his robes, and a tiny white swallow rose high into the air.

White Swallow.

A spiritual beast handled by Desolate Fortress Squad Leaders.

Screech!

The bird spread its wings against the bluish sky and cut across the horizon.

It flew endlessly along the edge of the wilderness, free and unrestrained. Its wings beat without hesitation, as if it knew its master's destination.

Below it, the current Leader of Demon Wings walked slowly, leaving his footprints one by one in the yellow earth.

Whoosh.

A cool, dry wind blew. The late-winter breeze was transparent as ice.

The Gongya Family's martial nobility silently watched for a long time as the boy who had entered as a stranger and pacified Shanxi's martial world walked away.

* * *

"Look at that enormous crater. What a magnificent sight. You could call it the essence of cooperation between officials and martial artists. Who would have thought a barrage of thunderclap bombs could become so beautiful?"

"..."

"I chose my side well, didn't I? Isn't that so?"

"Associate Director, your discerning eye has never been wrong."

"Heh heh, this fellow, flattering me..."

"It is the truth."

"He broke through every principle of Harmonizing Force raised by the leaders of the martial nobility. All those fire bombs exploded only after reaching their precise targets? That art would work even along the vast and dangerous northern border. It could not be otherwise. Officer Do."

"Yes."

"Let us go to Beijing. We must prepare a memorial."

* * *

The surface against his back was hard.

"..."

Geum Seon-hwi opened his eyes.

He immediately saw a dark space. It was beneath the bed.

He had unconsciously crawled down there while sleeping beneath the blanket, to keep the places from which blades might emerge etched into his senses.

Familiar air crawled coldly over his skin. Killing intent, the smell of metal, the scent of dried wood...

Swish.

Before he knew it, he was already on his feet.

Like a soul, his body had moved on its own the moment his awareness awakened, following an evasive instinct carved into his entire body since childhood.

That was the only way to avoid the damned River-Cleaving Sword Form of the Moyong Family and the sorcery blades of the terrifying Taimao Mountain Fortress. It had been an endlessly long pursuit.

...Wait. The Eight Families and the Thirteen Heavens. What time was this?

‘Ah.’

Suddenly, he recited his own names in his mind.

Hyeon Won-chang. Imperial Hero. Great Tongue Sword of the Demon Wings...

Geum Seon-hwi, the promising young talent of the Assassins' Sect, was gone. The youngest child whom the Assassins' Sect Leader had gained late in life was dead.

He had discarded the Geum name while escaping by heavenly fortune from two major sects seeking the Heavenly Demon's legacy.

Because his family had discarded him first.

Hyeon Won-chang's lips stiffened slightly.

"Is this a sorcery formation? My mind is so muddled, it feels as though I smoked dozens of pipes of opium poppy."

"If your memories are sorcery, then they are sorcery."

A clear, ringing voice echoed.

A man in a black bamboo hat was crouched at the corner of the bed, looking up at Hyeon Won-chang. His free-spirited yet relaxed posture suited him perfectly.

Hyeon Won-chang was not startled by the bizarre intruder. The Geum Family had always been that sort of place, regardless of martial skill.

This hall, too, stood beneath a cliff and closely resembled the grounds of the ruined main estate.

"Is it morning?"

"You know the answer, yet you ask."

Geum Jon-hwi, the Slayer Hero, smiled.

"You're quite the talent, aren't you? I never expected the killing arts to still cling to your body."

"Don't talk nonsense."

"What a shame. Where did that sweet little Seon-a go, the one who adorably recited Du Fu's poems to comfort this foolish elder brother? A direct-line child embracing the sorrows of an elder brother from the collateral line."

"Even then, I was treated as an illegitimate child because of my mother's status. Geum Seon-hwi no longer exists, and you became the Young Sect Leader as you had long wished. You destroyed Wolsung Sect, so haven't we both achieved our goals? Let us each go our separate way."

"That is somewhat different from what you said last night. Does this mean you have no lingering attachment to lifting the seal?"

"..."

"I read your superior's physiognomy. His life does not seem long... Unfortunately. Shouldn't you, his subordinate, grow a little stronger?"

Hyeon Won-chang's mouth hardened into a line.

"When has your reading of physiognomy ever been right? All you have ever done is say, 'That one's life is terribly short,' about an assassination target before cutting them down. It was fortunate that every last one of them was human garbage."

"Now you sound like my little brother."

Geum Jon-hwi, the Slayer Hero, laughed brightly.

Keeping rhythm with a small nod, he drew something from his robes.

It was a short green scroll.

"This is both a clue to lifting your seal and a document containing our sect's long-held wish. I had some trouble getting it from those stubborn elders. None of them are even direct-line descendants, yet they hate half your bloodline terribly. Ridiculous old men."

"..."

"It is sealed with sorcery, though... The mnemonic formula that serves as its key was lost during the Heavenly Demon’s Tomb Uprising. You and I were both too busy fleeing for our lives."

"...We were."

"There are reports that a thousand-man martial force from the Heart Martial Union is targeting us. The Moyong Family's movements are also suspicious. Those strange people at Taimao Mountain Fortress are buying enormous amounts of pagoda-tree yellow paper. They say there is still more to squeeze from some nameless Heavenly Demon's grave, or something like that."

Pagoda-tree yellow paper was talisman paper made from the pagoda tree.

It was also the primary weapon of Taimao Mountain Fortress, one of the Thirteen Heavens that practiced martial arts through sorcery.

"Something is happening, but I feel our sect's strength is far too lacking. If we can greatly improve your martial arts while resolving our long-held wish, would that not kill two birds with one stone?"

"I am not a member of the Assassins' Sect."

"Not yet, no. Well, you can do whatever your heart desires."

Tap, tap.

The Slayer Hero tossed the scroll into the air and caught it in one hand as he replied.

There was strange confidence in his voice, a quality that always lingered around him.

Hyeon Won-chang glared at him for a moment, then reached out his hand.

"Let me see it."

"Go ahead. There is probably nothing to see."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you, it is sealed with sorcery. You cannot unfold it. It is tightly bound up, hard as a club."

The Slayer Hero spoke calmly.

"In truth, this is your first test as well. The energy of the spiritual medicine the previous Family Head drove into your body just before the sect was destroyed... The old men of the Council of Elders, worried that it would blemish my legitimacy, do not want your seal lifted. So I persuaded them. We have not been able to touch our sect's long-held wish all this time anyway, so if you travel around with me and somehow undo this..."

Tap.

Handing the scroll to Hyeon Won-chang, he continued.

"Would that not be fate as well? Keep it safe and prepare to leave. Your friends from the Huangbo Family and Desolate Shin Family are already awake. They did not seem to have slept."

It was then.

A pale current flowed like mist from Hyeon Won-chang's hand.

Srrrk.

The scroll's letter unfurled like a skein of thread.

It happened beneath the force waves of the Radiant Art Formation, infused with exceedingly faint dharma power.

The Slayer Hero's smooth jawline beneath his black bamboo hat stiffened. The presence he had been using to dominate the room wavered, creating silence.

Hyeon Won-chang raised his chin slightly.

"Mm, they say a supreme divine art does not distinguish between sorcery and martial arts."

His mutter came out like a boast.

Footnotes:

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