WeTried Translations

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 317: Xuanyuan (12)

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Phantom Wing Fifth Step.

A footwork technique that moved the feet five times with mystical agility.

Jeong Yeon-shin had drawn inspiration from the footwork of the Vajra Immovable Body Method.

He had envisioned completing Phantom Wing Step through its fifth step, and the goal he had abruptly set for himself had already been achieved by the time he regained consciousness.

He had created this footwork while he was still a White Uniform.

When he created the First Step, he had thought that reaching Phantom Wing Tenth Step would let him carry himself as the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

Phantom Wing Step, which had stagnated at the Second Step, advanced three more steps in an instant. Hence the name Phantom Wing Fifth Step.

It was a martial art that seized control of the distance between combatants. By the seventh step, he might even be able to toy with an opponent's breathing at will.

It was a major accomplishment, one worth savoring as he looked up at the sky, now darkening into dusk.

"How dare you, how dare you...!"

Winged Blood Venerable had been subdued by Master Won Jeok.

Jeong Yeon-shin's landing had unleashed an enormous shockwave. He had stepped down by following the Vajra Immovable Body Method exactly.

Force Projection bearing monstrous leg strength traveled through the Glazed Spirit Sword and severed the ligaments in Winged Blood Venerable's arms. By the time Jeong Yeon-shin recovered his senses, even the cuff of the bastard's martial robe had been torn away.

That was why Jeong Yeon-shin and Master Won Jeok had found the leisure to exchange a few words in that brief moment.

The saying that whoever struck first won had proven perfectly true.

Winged Blood Venerable had allowed two supreme masters to strike first. A swordsman who had lost his sword strength was in no position to contend with one of Shaolin's Four Vajra.

He could not even pursue Jeong Yeon-shin as he staggered down from the Glazed Spirit Sword.

"You! What was that technique just now...?!"

"Perhaps you were right. It isn't difficult."

That offhand reply robbed Winged Blood Venerable's sword forms of their precision. Even as he deflected Master Won Jeok's staff techniques, his hands swiftly became unsteady.

Jeong Yeon-shin lost interest in him then. It seemed he had trained his endurance too carelessly.

The subjugation had involved a tremendous battle, but after seeing several peerless masters who had reached Purple Uniform, it did not leave much of an impression on Jeong Yeon-shin.

Only Master Won Jeok's exquisite movements occasionally made his toes twitch.

Beside the fragments of shattered rock.

Saaaa...

Dense dust swirled through the area. It was the aftermath of the brief battle.

Using Winged Blood Venerable's life as leverage to gather in one place the village commoners from beyond the distant hill took far longer.

No one had been injured. After seeing the Heart Martial Union's martial artists, they had responded obediently.

The villagers had good sense. They knew how to survive.

Even so, fortune had been on their side. If Jeong Yeon-shin's group had arrived even a little later, there was no telling what might have happened to them.

"To think you'd look after ignorant folk like us... Thank you. Truly, thank you."

"Thank you, handsome immortal monk. Amitabha...!"

"You fool! Temples aren't Daoist! That young Daoist from Mount Hua over there is the immortal!"

"I'd at least like to hold that young nobleman's hand. How can anyone look like that?"

“They say Shanxi people are bold by nature... Step back! The Heart Martial Union's martial army is still here! Lock your doors and don't come out until the sun rises tomorrow!”

Yu Hyeon sent the villagers away, glancing back at Jeong Yeon-shin as he told them that his friend and the monk had handled everything.

Though he looked troubled, the gestures he used to wave them away were firm.

Whispers of the Four Vajra and Lotus Nezha drifted from the commoners peeking from afar.

Gwi Yun-rin and Jeon Baek had done nothing.

They followed the wicked and unorthodox path. Gwi Yun-rin's reason for pretending to surrender to Winged Blood Venerable could not have had anything to do with righteousness.

She was someone who placed immense importance on dignity, pride, and reputation. Her attitude toward Winged Blood Venerable had been the same. It had been closer to the anger of an affronted heir from a prestigious family.

She thanked only Jeong Yeon-shin, her astonished gaze repeatedly flicking toward him.

Gwi Yun-rin had gone to inspect the martial army.

The Heart Martial Union's martial artists.

They had arrived immediately after Winged Blood Venerable was taken hostage.

They stood beyond the thick brush.

They had witnessed their leader being defeated and taken alive.

They did not dare approach rashly.

It demonstrated the standing the Three Martial Venerables held within the Heart Martial Union, but there were simply too many of them for even Master Won Jeok to act carelessly.

It was only natural. Strength sufficient to fight a thousand alone was said to belong only to the Shaolin Abbot.

When large-scale battles broke out, one had to accept the consequences for the common people.

Even now, the distinctive presence of the Heart Martial Union continued to pour through the mountain terrain like a swarm of ants.

"Amitabha... What should be done with these sentient beings?"

Master Won Jeok's imposing presence alone kept the martial army at a standstill.

Whenever he had the chance, he glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin from the corner of his eye. He clearly had much he wished to discuss about martial arts.

Grrrk.

Winged Blood Venerable lay on the ground with one leg bent sideways. He lay at the feet of Master Won Jeok, who stood with his long staff planted in the earth. Both arm bones had been completely shattered, leaving him unable to support himself.

Jeong Yeon-shin sat where there were fewer stone fragments. He had just returned from finding and bringing back the commoners with Yu Hyeon.

Winged Blood Venerable's eyes followed him rather than Master Won Jeok, but Jeong Yeon-shin did not spare the man a glance. He focused solely on examining his own body.

'My bones and tendons nearly burst.'

Slowly, he pulled his right leg toward his chest.

Swish.

The pain came only after he rested his elbow on his knee. A dull ache spread from his ankle ligaments through the gastrocnemius in his right calf, his thigh, and his waist.

It was a warning sign. The price of entering the pathways of the Vajra Immovable Body Method with an injured body.

'And yet.'

He felt good.

Refreshing was the right word for it. He felt a deep kinship with Master Won Jeok's martial arts.

The master's techniques bore scattered traces of history, and Jeong Yeon-shin's senses alone traced their origins back to the source.

It felt as though he had found a companion.

Even if Bodhidharma was no longer in this world, it brought him great comfort.

Like a single lantern lit in a cold, dark room.

‘Shaolin's Seventy-Two Arts.’

How many of them were Bodhidharma's legacy?

Jeong Yeon-shin regulated his body through the gentle flow of the Jeong Family Youth Technique and thought that he wanted to experience them all.

Just then.

Whoosh.

A light breeze swept across his face, accompanied by soft footsteps. The tranquil, unrestrained aura was familiar. It was the aura of Mount Hua Sect's Hidden Fragrance Drift.

"What was that Body Movement Scripture earlier? You disappeared for a moment."

Yu Hyeon had returned from the village.

Jeong Yeon-shin replied with little interest.

"Your eyes simply couldn't follow. You should train your eye technique without ceasing."

"That's not what I meant. And you little bastard, if you keep stating nothing but facts, the higher-ups in your sect are going to resent you..."

Yu Hyeon's lips, moving as he frowned, gradually fell silent. If he was the Leader of Demon Wings, he was already one of the higher-ups.

"Do you still have the Purple Cloud Pellet? Don't keep it in your clothes. It might get crushed."

"I put it in my travel pack."

"Don't say things like that carelessly outside. A Purple Cloud Pellet could cause a bloodbath in the martial world. Countless people would covet it, and if you travel carelessly, you'll be torn apart in no time."

"A Desolate Fortress travel pack is sturdy. It can hold all sorts of things."

"Sure, sure. As if I have no one else to worry about but Lotus Nezha..."

Yu Hyeon brushed the plum blossom embroidery on his cuff. He carried a differently shaped travel pack from Jeong Yeon-shin's over one shoulder.

Jeong Yeon-shin knew that the large bag held nothing but fasting pills. Despite his somewhat flighty behavior, his friend was a true Daoist.

"You're leaving?"

"Yes. I delivered the elixir pill safely, so I'm heading back. I thought I might wander the martial world with you for a while, but I still can't handle a martial world where Desolate Fortress Squad Leaders are involved. If I'm only going to be a burden, it would be better to undergo closed-door training at Jade Maiden Peak."

"A burden?"

"I'm just some insignificant young talent. This is the sort of affair that old geezers like the Peng Family Blade Marquis and the Huangbo Family's opium-poppy addict can barely get involved in. Let's catch up when we have time. We have plenty of it."

"...All right. Let's do that."

"Come visit Mount Hua sometime. My master has wanted to see you."

"Give Starflower Sword God my regards."

"You shouldn't push yourself too hard either. Healing your internal injuries comes first if you want to absorb the elixir pill. Though without the Purple Haze Divine Technique, it'll be difficult to draw out all the Purple Cloud Pellet's power."

Jeong Yeon-shin silently nodded.

Had seeing Winged Blood Venerable take commoners hostage made Yu Hyeon call himself a burden?

The difference in their martial strength was enormous. It would have been the same even if Yu Hyeon had made progress.

He seemed to believe he would only cause trouble if he entered the battleground of major factions, where the Assassins' Sect, the Moyong Family, and the Heart Martial Union were entangled.

Yet his friend's face showed no particular despair.

Was it because Yu Hyeon was certain that he would one day look down contemptuously on those who followed the wicked and unorthodox path?

If he took the long view, it would surely happen. Just as Yulha Nangnang had made the sunset her sword.

Yu Hyeon grinned.

"Take care of yourself."

"Travel safely."

The hem of his white Daoist robe fluttered carelessly.

Jeong Yeon-shin's friend departed just like that.

Before leaving the village entrance, Yu Hyeon also exchanged farewells with Master Won Jeok. The eminent monk of the elven race merely raised one palm in a distant greeting. It was different from how he treated Jeong Yeon-shin.

Gwi Yun-rin returned only after a quarter of an hour had passed. Even though the one-armed Jeon Baek carefully followed behind her in attendance, she paid him no attention.

She only kept examining Jeong Yeon-shin and Won Jeok with a cautious look.

Her steps carried her toward Jeong Yeon-shin.

Crunch.

The snow sank deeply beneath her feet. The strength in her leg movements differed from before. It was as though her body itself declared that she had taken control of the martial army.

In truth, the massive presences behind Gwi Yun-rin were retreating.

Whether she had invoked the Heart Martial Union Leader's bloodline or used some political maneuver that was difficult to imagine, there was no way to know.

She opened her mouth.

"Where's that young Daoist brat?"

"Daoist brat?"

"My apologies. The young Daoist?"

"He left."

"So the person you had to look after is gone?"

"I just feel a little empty."

Gwi Yun-rin tilted her head slightly at his calm reply.

"You have a knack for jokes too? As expected of the current Leader of Demon Wings, you're talented in every way."

“What about the martial army?”

"As you can see, I made them retreat. The Heart Martial Union can't commit acts like plunder where the imperial sword holds sway. I intend to take only my subordinates and strike the Assassins' Sect. You'll come with me, won't you?"

"Are you certain you know its location?"

"Of course. I've prepared for this for years. I caught several leads in the Heavenly Net. I gathered and interrogated a few of the people who just withdrew, and they said the Assassins' Sect has a safehouse in Taiyuan as well."

"Taiyuan?"

"Yes. It was right under our noses. That must be the main sect."

The corners of her lips had already risen.

"Let's take the direct route. Once Taiyuan is our destination, it won't take long."

Her voice held delight. Were the credit for eradicating the Assassins' Sect and the legacy of the Heavenly Demon's Tomb truly that great?

Jeong Yeon-shin watched Gwi Yun-rin quietly before parting his lips. They had traveled together for quite some time. There was something he needed to settle.

"The sect you belong to is trash."

"...That is rather blunt. Calling it an unorthodox faction would be better."

"I know your conduct is far removed from cruelty. But your goal is to sit on the throne of that trash after removing the eldest young master."

"That's true. I have to do it to live. Even if I give up my succession rights, it will still be a problem. My brother will gladly come to eliminate future trouble. He won't be able to rest until he takes my head."

"If your words aren't hypocrisy."

Snow crunched beneath Jeong Yeon-shin's feet as he slowly rose.

"Then you wouldn't mind even if the Heart Martial Union suffered damage bordering on destruction."

"..."

After a brief silence, Gwi Yun-rin wet her lips with her tongue.

“...The imperial court won't like that. My damned sect is still a major pillar of the northern front. There is nothing that can readily replace it, which is why the military tolerates its martial army. Its strength is far from something that could be destroyed in the first place.”

"I asked whether you're willing to lose that trash."

Jeong Yeon-shin quietly interrupted her.

"..."

Silence drifted through the faint snowfall. Gwi Yun-rin could not answer.

* * *

Far from Shanxi stood a vast, white fortress.

It was a place where even timber was hard to find.

The walls of its enormous inner fortress had been built from carved stone, and only the trees lining the lakes scattered throughout remained alive and vibrant.

They said that even passing servants possessed at least one extraordinary quality. The bearing of the people coming and going was so exceptional that the claim did not seem wholly exaggerated.

"Did you hear? A maid is going to learn martial arts."

"A maid who didn't know martial arts entered here? How strange."

"I heard a Black Uniform promotion ceremony will be held... It's unusually early."

"Really? Did that come from the Chief Steward's Office?"

"Stop there. That's still beyond you. There's no use craving fruit you can't eat just because the Leader of Demon Wings rose to Black Uniform."

"There was a blast in Wonpyeong One Sword Hall! Let's go watch!"

Desolate Fortress's main fortress was like this. It was always packed with countless people.

Even as a stately middle-aged man crossed the path with more than ten subordinates in tow, the place remained noisy.

Grand Chief Steward Im Jin-myeong gently furrowed his brow.

"The Squad Leaders currently in attendance are..."

"Squad Leader So-yeon, the Annihilation Squad Leader, and Yeo-ui Cheon Ju."

A martial artist dressed like a scholar quickly moved to his side and answered. It was Kang Un-chan, who had once sparred with the Imperial Hero over promotion to Blue Uniform.

"It seems Yeo-ui Cheon Ju is throwing a fit again."

"That appears to be the case. Yeo-ui Cheon Ju does not get along with Squad Leader So-yeon."

"Call the masons. Move in extra tables as well."

"I have already given the order."

"I don't wish to go. Hard-to-believe good news has arrived after so long, yet bringing it up in Wonpyeong One Sword Hall..."

The Grand Chief Steward trailed off.

Elegant script covered the scroll in his hand.

[Mission Report, Shanxi Situation]

"No, that's not right. Isn't this a weapon to keep those dependable nuisances in check?"

Veins slowly rose on the hand clutching the document. The Grand Chief Steward muttered leisurely.

"This should be announced at once. A hundred times better that way."

Footnotes:

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