WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 320: Xuanyuan (15)
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Taiyuan was a vast city of endless buildings, like a forest of tiled roofs.
The Slayer Hero and the leaders of the Assassins' Sect main branch were scattered throughout Taiyuan.
They had mastered a martial art that let them sense the size and distribution of the surrounding crowds, as well as every passerby's field of vision.
It was called the Forbidden-Safeguarding Sensory Path. A supreme art under heaven.
"Do you think those freaks have all gone away? It was utter chaos until the day before yesterday."
"Who knows... Whatever happens, don't go out in the evenings if you can help it. They say every one of Mr. Jang's children from the cloth shop near the well has vanished. Let's carry this in and get inside quickly."
"Right, right. If we endure, a martial artist will come from either the military or Desolate Fortress... before we've seen the full moon three times, at least. Father always said that's how it had been."
"Honestly, even if they come, it's worrying. I caught sight of a freak jumping over three roofs at once the other day. Desolate Fortress people aren't invincible either. They say people are dying all over the place these days... One treasured sword can't stand against a hundred iron swords."
"Who knows? Maybe Desolate Fortress's Prince Nezha will honor us with a visit. They say things are in an uproar down in Pingyang Prefecture. Crouching Dragon Rebirth, Jegal Cheon-sang, is dead."
"Ha! Lotus Nezha? Don't wish for what you can't have. You're the sort who'd bow the instant you met even a White Uniform martial artist..."
"Don't talk as if you wouldn't."
It was the conversation of passersby pulling a cart piled high with straw.
Dozens of assassins were watching the assassination test, yet no one noticed them.
The Assassins' Sect art that practically harmonized every nearby presence was combined with an exceptionally refined Concealment Art.
They stood atop shaded walls, roof peaks, right beside soldiers standing watch in towers, even on flagpoles raised high over government offices.
They existed, yet did not.
The group gathered atop the spacious residence of a wealthy merchant was no different.
Three Elders wrapped head to toe in black cloaks stood there alongside the Slayer Hero, who wore a black bamboo hat.
The hemispherical aura barrier spread above them was an Assassins' Sect secret art. Completely transparent, it allowed no sound to escape.
One old man with a sword scar across the bridge of his nose suddenly spoke.
"Young Sect Leader, the more I reflect on it, the more impressed I become."
"Please speak freely, Elder Orchid Sword."
The Slayer Hero, Geum Jon-hwi, spoke while looking toward the roof where Hyeon Won-chang was expected to be.
Satisfaction filled the old man's eyes.
"It won't be long before the Young Sect Leader rises to the position of Sect Master. To think you gathered the secret arts of every lost branch... I always believed you would become a hero who erased the distinction between the collateral and direct lines. It seems this old man's judgment was correct."
"Seon-hwi gathered them, not me."
"Was it not the Young Sect Leader who led him? Every Elder was moved. Is that not so?"
At his glance, the other two Elders silently nodded. Each added a word.
"After the Heavenly Demon's Tomb Uprising, without the Young Sect Leader, the main sect would have fallen apart and scattered without a trace. The old people of the Elder Council have been impressed for a long time."
"You surpassed the direct line despite being of the collateral line. Since there is no lowborn blood in your lineage, everyone has no choice but to recognize you."
"Exactly. That is precisely right."
The Elder called Orchid Sword nodded repeatedly.
Without even looking in Hyeon Won-chang's direction, he continued to gaze at the Slayer Hero with satisfaction.
"Once we combine the secret mnemonic formulas Geum Seon-hwi collected with those of the main branch, Dark Flower Severing Line, the art that will formally raise the Young Sect Leader to the position of Sect Master, will be complete. The moment you obtain that formula, we will treat you as the Assassins' Sect Master."
Dark Flower Severing Line was the Assassins' Sect Master's signature ultimate art. It was the martial art personally created and bestowed by the Heavenly Demon when the Heavenly Demon's Tomb was established.
It was also the mnemonic formula that released the restrictions placed on members of the direct line once they completed their training.
It was the symbol of the Sect Master within the Assassins' Sect main branch, yet an old code dictated that only a successor recognized by all could learn it. Thus, its formulas had been scattered among the branch houses.
For generations, every Assassins' Sect Master had been obligated to keep only the final line within the main branch.
The Slayer Hero listened quietly to the Elders' admiring voices, then smiled.
"Seon-hwi obtained every one of those formulas by right of the direct line. Surely the Elders don't intend to force him to hand them over?"
No answer came for a moment. Orchid Sword and the other Elders each looked away or kept their mouths shut.
Each clearly had something in mind beneath their wrinkled brows, but none wished to voice it.
The Slayer Hero's lips curved like a blade. It was a razor-edged smile.
"I would prefer Seon-hwi not to violate the code. The sect may have been shattered since the previous Sect Master, but haven't we restored a respectable form at last?"
The roof fell silent. None of the three Elders nodded.
"Young Sect Leader. The old people of the main branch learned something after suffering a great calamity. The blood of the direct line is like the martial arts of a bygone age. More so when lowborn blood has been mixed in."
"Orchid Sword is right. Young Sect Leader, we have no need to beg Geum Seon-hwi. Whether we use torture methods like tendon-rending and bone-dislocating, activate every mechanism formation in the main branch to capture that Huangbo brat, or seize the throat of the Desolate Shin Family's child... an old, prestigious sect will never bow its head."
"The Leader of Demon Wings will have gone to Tomb Mountain after seeing the false letter. In that time, Geum Seon-hwi will offer the formula to us of his own accord. If you intend to defy the will of the Elder Council, do so after you have risen to the position of Sect Master."
"......"
The Slayer Hero was accustomed to the pressure of the sect's elders. He was accustomed to forcibly swallowing the killing intent that rose within him as well.
'Old fossils.'
They thought very highly of Geum Jon-hwi, yet they never yielded on their own views. In his eyes, they were the very embodiments of obstinacy.
They were the gatekeepers' sect of the Heavenly Demon's Tomb, one that had remained closed off for more than a hundred years.
People whose arts and laws specialized in killing tomb intruders could hardly be expected to think with common sense.
He slowly opened his mouth.
"We can discuss that later. We are facing a more dangerous situation."
"The Moyong Family?"
Orchid Sword spoke as though looking at a praiseworthy grandson. The Slayer Hero did not meet his eyes.
"Yes. You have heard the rumors that the Moyong Family's eye technique has become incomparably refined, have you not? As well as the power of the Ten Thousand Stars Sword Formation. Young Family Head Moyong Myeong-jun has personally come with his uncle, the Great Ritual Sword. I requested Seon-hwi's test, but we cannot let it drag on this long. What exactly is Bamboo Sword thinking, taking half a day..."
That was when it happened.
The Slayer Hero's eyes suddenly widened. He had carelessly turned toward the Elders at their talk of torture, then looked straight ahead again.
An unbelievable sight unfolded in the distance near the city gate.
Whoosh!
An old woman shot down toward a boy.
The Slayer Hero's eye technique operated at superhuman speed. That applied both to the movement of his eyes and the speed at which what his retinas saw was transmitted to his mind.
Only an instant passed before he recognized the face of Bamboo Sword Geum Yeon-sang's target and was horrified out of his wits.
'Is she insane?!'
The assassin's perception of time slowed to an extreme.
A dagger emerged from the old woman's robes as she plunged downward. At the same time, Lotus Nezha, who had passed through the city gate with two companions, turned his head.
For an instant, the sunlight lining his jaw looked like sword qi.
Swish.
Lotus Nezha's black sleeve rose.
It was a gesture that entered the realm of an instant with shocking ease. It was as though he had suddenly entered a different current of time.
Without seeming to raise his inner energy, and without even the faintest ripple of power, he clad his entire body in reflexes that flashed like lightning. The Slayer Hero could feel it.
"......?"
The wrinkles around Bamboo Sword Geum Yeon-sang's eyes twitched as she closed in from above.
Yet the old woman was given no chance to turn her body.
Lotus Nezha's response had been uncannily swift from the start.
The flow of his movement, reaching out the instant he turned and wrapping his hand around the attacker's wrist, was chillingly natural. As if he had already calculated it all.
It was like a master of joint locks displaying a form refined over a lifetime during a prearranged sparring match.
Hum.
Aura spread from Lotus Nezha's grip, only at the final moment when he applied strength.
It was not overwhelmingly powerful. It was simply extremely dense, with an auspicious quality to it.
Had the demonic qi not been purged from the Assassins' Sect martial arts, one would have been finished the moment he was caught.
In that brief instant, the Slayer Hero guessed Geum Yeon-sang's thoughts.
'There is still a chance.'
The old woman's knee moved forward as her wrist was seized in midair.
The Assassins' Sect secret art, Heaven-Protecting Body Art. It was a method that produced great force with a short motion and delivered Force Projection power straight to the grip.
It could be called the beginning of the whole-body Force Projection that all martial artists regarded as ideal. A master like Bamboo Sword could release an invisible sword-strike force wave with a single move or half-form.
The old woman's eyes crinkled at lightning speed.
Then hazy dust suddenly surged up and scattered her hair.
Lotus Nezha pulled her wrist.
The Force Projection contained in that small movement raised a blurred wind around the old woman. It was as if she had been trapped within a small tornado.
At the same time, the flow of the opaque force wave Geum Yeon-sang had generated was severed thread by thread with brutal ease.
They were on entirely different levels.
In that brief moment, the old woman remembered a maxim she had repeatedly taught her juniors.
- Discernment is the thread that keeps you alive.
"Urrgh...!"
A long gasp, like a dying groan, escaped Geum Yeon-sang.
Her body drew a great arc through the air before plunging down violently.
Boom!
The ground shook.
Blood splashed into the thick cloud of dust. Even the assassin's slowed perception of time was brutally crushed apart.
A woman with a saber strapped across her back, one of Lotus Nezha's companions, spoke softly.
"Do you know her? Someone in your position must have piled up all kinds of grudges."
"No."
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly released the old woman he had swung down into the ground. The attacker's wrinkled wrist had brushed against the tip of his index finger for an instant, but he had felt no pulse.
He had added only a tenth of the force he received to his counterattack, yet she had died instantly.
Jeong Yeon-shin paused.
'Ngh.'
His entire body tingled. The unconscious whole-body Force Projection had tightened his already injured acupoints and muscles.
It had been necessary to counter an attack thick with killing intent. The strike carried killing arts accumulated over many years.
"Where did she come from? Wasn't that an incredibly long distance?"
"Yes, ma'am. It was no ordinary Body Movement Scripture."
Gwi Yun-rin and Jeon Baek looked around.
The street had become unnaturally quiet.
For some reason, not even the soldiers came running.
Only passersby remained. They gave the group frightened glances and moved out of the way. Their reactions made it seem as though they were accustomed to such fights.
Gwi Yun-rin stood with a crooked tilt to her body.
"I heard there was trouble in Taiyuan. They said masked lunatics had been running around swinging swords."
"Isn't that common?"
Jeon Baek asked blankly.
"Maybe. Still, Taiyuan used to be a place where things were kept under control. Not that I should be the one saying that."
The Heart Martial Union Leader's daughter gave an awkward smile to herself.
Then, beyond a large wall, a meteor-like light suddenly tore through the air toward the side of Jeong Yeon-shin's head.
As though it had always been suspended along a single line, the cold ray etched itself across the air.
It was sword light.
Bang!
Perhaps she wanted to make sure he saw her. Gwi Yun-rin, who had stepped between them in an instant, was thrown far away.
A translucent shock wave formed concentric circles at the same time, and a precious sword rolled to a stop at Jeong Yeon-shin's feet.
"Miss!"
Jeon Baek started running toward her in alarm. Then a voice feigning nobility rang calmly from behind the wall.
"Just now, he clearly failed to react, did he not? The Leader of Demon Wings."
"That was how it appeared to this subordinate as well. I can only admire the attainment of his eye technique."
"It is still far from Father's."
Two figures stepped down from the wall.
Tap.
Their footwork was light. Anyone could tell that they had learned a Body Movement Scripture from a prestigious family.
Their clothing was the same.
Their spotless silk martial robes were a costly pale pink. They were so neat that it seemed as though they pressed their clothes every day.
The youth who seemed to hold the higher position wore a gold-rimmed monkey mask of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, while the man who appeared to be his subordinate wore a grimacing demon mask. To those with little martial ability, they might have looked like monsters.
They were likely among those responsible for disrupting Taiyuan's peace.
The rumors had spread far and wide, yet the military had not acted. People only said the times had become dangerous.
They must have wielded tremendous influence. They were people forced to conceal their identities.
People whose true identities could never be revealed.
'Now it is a three-sided battle for me as well? Because of the Heavenly Demon's Tomb?'
Had the appearance of the Leader of Demon Wings drawn the bowstring?
Countless presences were rising around them. The sound of blades colliding could be heard from every direction.
The presence of the enemy's subordinates closing in within a vast encirclement tickled Jeong Yeon-shin's skin.
Thud! Thud!
Auras on par with the elites of prominent martial families came streaming in from all directions.
An overwhelming Heavenly Net pressed in on them.
"Now that I see you from here, I understand. Leader of Demon Wings, I see no Protective Qi Technique around you."
The one in the Great Sage Equaling Heaven mask spoke.
"They say you achieved the great feat of killing Crouching Dragon Rebirth. The price of such an achievement could not have been light. I can see it all. You are not concealing your aura. You simply lack the strength to unleash your inner energy."
A dark blue gleam flickered from the mask's eyeholes.
Jeong Yeon-shin sensed an exceedingly sinister quality from him.
It was close to the demonic qi he had felt from Baek Mir-yeo and the Pure Demon Alliance Leader in Sichuan.
"I would have bitterly regretted it if you had moved while I went to fetch Father."
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven mask continued slowly.
"You will die without knowing who I am. Once I extract the core of the dharma power you possess and have those short-legged artisans refine it, I will hold a dharma treasure rare under heaven. With the Heavenly Demon Armor and a Dharma Power Jade, I will break through the north and Xinjiang alike."
A cold smile colored his voice. He sounded somewhat pleased with himself.
He possessed not only the courage to approach Lotus Nezha while taking such enormous risks, but also the information-gathering capability and eye technique to see through Jeong Yeon-shin's circumstances and condition.
The speed with which he had appeared after sensing the brief clash was extraordinary as well.
Jeong Yeon-shin stared at the one wearing the Great Sage Equaling Heaven mask, then tilted his head slightly. Flecks of white light passed through his eyes.
"Your way of speaking is strange."
"What?"
"When I saw you at the Martial Alliance Assembly in Hanzhong, you seemed somewhat like a refined young nobleman. Looking at you now, you seem destined to practice Leg Arts from a sickbed before long. You have no shame at your age."
"What?"
"You were the Young Family Head of the Moyong Family, weren't you? Act your age, Moyong Myeong-jun."
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.
At that moment, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven mask fell silent.
Stillness settled over the street.
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