WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 315: Xuanyuan (10)
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The boys of Willow Family Manor, who had just been scolded by Shin So-bin, frowned.
“Demon Wings? Liar!”
“Why would anyone from a place like Desolate Fortress come here?”
Shin So-bin’s round eyes narrowed.
“You brats really belong to the Assassins’ Sect? If you want to survive, you should know more about intelligence than martial arts. It’s not as though the martial world is some harmless place.”
“Enough.”
After silencing the boys and stepping back, the Willow Family Manor Head’s expression turned grave.
“Demon Wings?”
His pale green silk long robe dragged through the dust. The aura drawing in the hem that hung to his feet burned fiercely.
Blazing yang force was difficult even for capable masters to unleash. Considering how difficult it was for a human body to cultivate inner energy with such distinct characteristics, it was easy to guess the other party’s identity.
“They said the Huangbo Family’s noble wastrel was serving as the current Leader of Demon Wings’ broom... Was that truly not an empty rumor...?”
“That old fool is overstepping.”
Languid Flame Dragon gave a soft snort and lowered his head slightly.
His gaze lingered on the back of the Assassins’ Sect elder sprawled on the ground.
That strike had not been a technique. He had simply been angry and hit the man as hard as he could.
Yet his qi had responded. The blazing yang inner energy leading him toward death had reacted at once to his anger.
As though teaching him that this was how the Sun God Meridian’s inner energy was meant to be used.
Qi follows essence, Languid Flame Dragon muttered inwardly.
Come to think of it, he had not caused much trouble since joining Demon Wings.
Even when he beat that brat called the Mount Hua Hidden Dragon at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, he had circulated his inner energy however he pleased.
‘They said the Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle is younger than me.’
And yet, that person had reached Three Flowers Gather at the Crown.
Few of Jeong Yeon-shin’s subordinates could seriously discuss martial arts with him.
At most, there was Languid Flame Dragon himself. Even if he named a few more, there were only the vaguely chilling Cheong Myeong and the openly cold Baek Mir-yeo.
He had heard the Squad Leader go on about Dull Flowers Gather at the Crown once or twice. At the time, he had struggled not to burst out laughing, but before he knew it, he seemed to have made it a subject of contemplation himself.
Not bad. He was headed for death anyway, and there were only so many ways to tease the little brother he had come to care for.
The young Squad Leader’s standards were far too high.
‘All those hateful Huangbo blood relatives died satisfyingly enough, so Demon Wings is my relay station on the Sanzu River.’
The casual blow he had thrown made him realize it anew.
Right after the Assassins’ Sect elder questioned Demon Wings’ origins, he had felt anger similar to when the Mount Hua Hidden Dragon presumptuously lectured him on the Sun God Meridian’s constitution and conduct.
At this point, Demon Wings could be called his martial school. Languid Flame Dragon accepted that neatly to himself.
‘Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. Perfect.’
According to rumors concerning the Zhuge Family Head and Lotus Nezha, the Squad Leader seemed to have created an incredible technique as well.
The price of being born with talent rare through the ages was finding it difficult to achieve Three Flowers Gather at the Crown. It was unfair beyond measure.
Still, if Languid Flame Dragon himself united essence, qi, and spirit, he would get quite an entertaining reaction from Jeong Yeon-shin.
Spurred on by the young Squad Leader, his training had deepened. He had always lived carelessly, so the change was all the greater.
What if he refined his body a little further here, then steadied his mind with opium poppy...?
Would it work?
The corner of his lips began to rise.
“Please mind your conduct.”
The Willow Family Manor Head stepped forward with an uneasy expression.
“As you have discovered, this family is indeed a branch of the Assassins’ Sect. Elder Geum Hyeong-won has guarded our main sect for more than seventy years. To attack without warning... If you seek something from our sect, that is no way to go about it. We will test the Geum Family’s direct descendant as you wish.”
Shin So-bin, standing to one side, tilted her head skeptically.
“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to get tangled up with the Assassins’ Sect? You’re still trying to save face at a time like this.”
Then.
“Outrageous... These people never stop talking nonsense!”
An aged roar erupted. Dust billowed up from beside Languid Flame Dragon’s feet.
The elder had trained for many years in the Assassins’ Sect that guarded Heavenly Demon’s Tomb. He had not fainted from such a light blow.
“How dare you! How dare you!”
The Assassins’ Sect elder sprang upright like a stiff corpse.
His soles seemed glued to the earth as he rose straight up, an eerie movement that revealed the depth of his assassin arts.
Just as the old man convulsively reached for his sword, Slayer Hero draped an arm around his shoulders, his robes slicing through the wind.
“Elder Smiling Sword. I fully understand your concern over my legitimacy, but...”
His lightly amused voice carried a strangely chilling air.
“Isn’t ignoring this Geum Jon-hwi’s opinion also putting a blade to the dignity of this main sect’s Young Sect Leader? The Sect Leader’s seat has been empty for over a decade.”
“Young Sect Leader...!”
The elder could not act rashly. His wrinkled face froze as he shut his mouth.
Slayer Hero smiled.
“Branch Head Yu, give them a test. Our Seon-hwi will get anything right. No matter what anyone pulls, he is the only direct descendant left in the main sect. He is the pillar of the Assassins’ Sect.”
The Willow Family Manor Head could not respond.
He had witnessed the martial power of Languid Flame Dragon, a Huangbo Family member who acted as a full-fledged member of Demon Wings.
Slayer Hero Geum Jon-hwi was another serious problem. There was nothing else he could do. All he could do was guide them to the family’s Training Hall.
The Willow Family Manor Head requested a spar as the test. After enduring fifty moves from Hyeon Won-chang, he admitted defeat and declared that Hyeon Won-chang was qualified to safeguard the Gatekeepers’ Secret Arts.
“If you hand over the mnemonic formula incorrectly, and Great Tongue Sword’s tongue is harmed by qi deviation...”
Languid Flame Dragon smiled as he made the threat.
“Lotus Nezha will come here.”
“...We have not fallen that far. Please leave now.”
The journey of Demon Wings, Slayer Hero, and the Assassins’ Sect elder who had joined them under unpleasant circumstances continued.
Willow Family Manor.
Mist-Selecting Sect.
Gubo Mountain Manor.
Hyeon Won-chang’s group overcame them one by one. Their route drew a broad circle around Taiyuan.
In the end, they had to return to Taiyuan and gain the elders’ recognition in order to obtain the final mnemonic formula kept by the main sect there.
The moment they entered Taiyuan after completing their circuit...
“Hm? This isn’t a street I recognize.”
Languid Flame Dragon’s usual nonchalance held a grave edge.
Every man and woman filling the street was an exceptionally skilled swordsman. There were well over a hundred of them.
They all turned to look at the group that had just arrived, each dressed differently, and hints of sword qi shone in their gazes.
The Moyong Family’s Heavenly Net.
The group faced a forest made of swords.
* * *
Three martial artists, a young Daoist, and an elven monk.
The group of five drew attention wherever they went. All of them had striking appearances, and the aura surrounding them was far from ordinary.
Some martial artists saw the plum blossom embroidery on Daoist Yu Hyeon’s robes and hurriedly avoided him.
Each time, Yu Hyeon clicked his tongue. Those bastards were certainly from the Demonic Sect.
Swoooosh.
It was the same even amid a rainy season like this, when rain fell in strings like glass beads. Eye technique martial arts had developed in the lawless martial world because one needed to recognize an opponent.
“It’s pouring relentlessly.”
Frustration and irritation mixed in Gwi Yun-rin’s voice.
She had seemed extremely pleased to have Lotus Nezha join their party, but she had spent the entire journey wary of Shaolin’s Four Vajra, wearing down her nerves day after day.
She openly displayed her distrust of her subordinate, Jeon Baek, and had stayed awake for days.
Jeon Baek, dressed like a one-armed scholar, could not help growing restless.
He looked pitiable as he held an oil-paper bamboo umbrella over his lady’s head while getting soaked alone.
“My lady, please... If the Alliance Leader finds out, I’ll lose my head. I, Jeon Baek, will find you fine meat, so please calm yourself now...”
“Shut it. Why would I accept food from some petty beef thief who disgraces his master? I’d rather fill myself with the wine my lovely guest offers. His face is a delicacy, so even poison would taste good.”
“Men are out of the question! It will hinder the great undertaking...!”
“Then go find me a pretty young lady somewhere!”
Fine rain fell across the entire region surrounding Taiyuan.
The white expanse of the snow-covered plains gradually faded. It was neither winter rain nor spring rain.
The winter that had begun last year was drawing to a close amid the lonely sound of rainfall. A fairly large village came into view nearby.
“Why are the streets so empty? It feels like we’ve entered a village that needs an exorcism.”
Yu Hyeon, walking beside Jeong Yeon-shin, muttered to himself.
Jeong Yeon-shin, who had been walking blankly with his eyes half-open, slightly raised his head. He had been meditating on sword control and the Protective Qi Technique.
“Does Mount Hua Sect have martial arts based on sorcery arts?”
“It’s a Daoist martial sect, so of course it does. There are several Daoist temples built on Mount Hua alone. Sorcery arts are less known because they aren’t as mainstream as sword-wielding martial lineages.”
“What level of attainment?”
“Enough to earn your keep by scribbling a few characters on pagoda-tree yellow paper, perhaps? I’m especially good at writing, ‘Urgent, urgent, as the law decrees.’ If you just write that much, it looks like a talisman.”
“What?”
“I said my calligraphy is superb. Ever heard the phrase, ‘dragons soaring and snakes writhing’?”
“Don’t go around scamming people.”
“I’m telling you, it really works. If I say I’m the Mount Hua Hidden Dragon, no one will mistake me for some charlatan horse-nosed Daoist.”
Then.
“Amitabha.”
Thud.
The Shaolin monk’s footsteps were heavy. The long-eared monk stepped between the two.
As a Shaolin master called the incarnation of martial arts, perhaps the Vajra Immovable Body Method had become ingrained in him. He pushed Yu Hyeon aside with his back as naturally as breathing.
“Mount Hua Sect’s immortal aura martial arts are rare and exceptional arts. Yet if the Young Master rubs the paper himself with the dharma power he possesses... we will see a talisman that dispels evil. Its effects will also be remarkably great for the time invested.”
“I am receiving advice from a venerable monk. Are you saying that I can create a dharma treasure?”
As Yu Hyeon recoiled in shock, Jeong Yeon-shin raised one hand in a polite single-palm salute and asked. As someone from Henan, he was well acquainted with Shaolin etiquette.
Heh heh.
At the sight of the Leader of Demon Wings’ single-palm salute, Won Jeok’s lips curled into a broad grin.
“Of course. The evil spirits that flocked here in the age of the founding, and those who practice wicked demonic arts, will fear it. They say the wisdom of the common people spans all lands. It seems they were right to say Prince Nezha has manifested in Shanxi.”
Won Jeok’s attitude toward one who possessed dharma power was exceptionally distinctive.
Even Yu Hyeon, a Mount Hua disciple, had drifted away for a moment while grumbling to himself. Has he learned the Bone-Shrinking Skill or something?
Even if the hierarchy among the Nine Sects was strict, a disciple of Mount Hua’s sect leader and one of Shaolin’s Four Vajra did not need to be bound by etiquette even in private.
They acted as they pleased. That was why Won Jeok, a monk of vastly greater age and seniority, spoke respectfully to Jeong Yeon-shin.
“The spirituality within the Young Master’s Divine Technique...”
As the group entered the silent village, Won Jeok continued slowly.
“Among the mystical effects possessed by the world’s Divine Techniques and ultimate arts, it is particularly exceptional. Most only raise the quality of one’s inner energy, but dharma power can do a few more things. The Young Master, who received the epithet Nezha, must have gained great benefits in martial power, but... if this humble monk may venture a guess, other things should be possible as well. One of them may be creating the rare dharma treasures found in the martial world.”
“How...?”
“Obtain a sheet of pagoda-tree yellow paper and keep it against your chest day and night. If you stroke it with your hand from time to time, spirituality will seep into it. You may find a use for it someday. A rare ability might emerge.”
“Is it really that simple?”
“It is difficult to call anything involving dharma power simple. Even now, this humble monk cannot begin to guess what kind of insight led to its creation.”
The lines around Won Jeok’s smiling mouth showed the passage of time.
Though he looked like no more than a young monk with a shaved head, there was something weary and worldly about him.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned his head.
Then he stopped walking, following Gwi Yun-rin, who had already halted. A huge boulder stood by the roadside.
It seemed to have shared a quiet history with the now-silent village.
A man sat carelessly atop it, one knee pulled toward his chest.
He wore a dirt-stained white cloak. Rainwater dripped from beneath his long, loose hair.
A sword hilt rested in one of the hands supporting his upper body.
“This village is dead,” the man said.
Footnotes:
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