WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 328: Grandfather and Grandson
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Footsteps rang out. A short, solid thud.
A powerfully built man landed atop the mountain peak.
The force of his lightning-like descent had vanished without a trace. He had absorbed the impact of the fall through a deft application of inner energy.
Only the wide pink sleeves of his robe fluttered as he set his feet down with the calm of someone out for a stroll.
Thud.
The silence he created seemed to take shape. Like an invisible swamp, it spread as far as the lower hills.
Below the slope that led up to the peak, the aftermath of his Force Projection swept through like a fierce wind. Blood, flesh, and bone fragments lay scattered among chunks of stone, farther down and farther still.
Few of the Heart Martial Union forces had survived.
The hooves of horses that could not even cry out struck the ground intermittently. Their clattering sounded hollow.
The mounted martial artists, swords in one hand and reins clenched in the other, were silent as well.
The grave expressions had vanished from dozens of faces. They had gone pale with shock. Entirely different expressions had taken their place.
The sword formation had collapsed, and even their charge had halted. It could not have been otherwise.
The corpses of their slaughtered comrades lay beside them. Surviving this moment was close to a gift from heaven.
This was not something the Thirteen Heavens should have suffered. It was an unreal sight.
“...”
The enforced silence ran deep. None of the mounted martial artists could open their mouths.
The absolute master at their head, standing straight, was different.
“Who are you?”
The master of the Heart Martial Union. Gwi Wi-hu, the Martial Emperor of the Prince of Commandery.
The Heart Martial Union Leader’s cloak, woven from pure white fur, whipped violently in the wind. He hovered roughly an inch above the ground through Walking Upon Empty Space.
Even as the earth beneath him caved inward in a circle with a heavy boom, his body floated loftily.
Rumble!
The ground shook. It was not recoil from the intruder’s attack, but an aftershock rising from the deeply sunken earth the moment it received Gwi Wi-hu’s aura.
The shock did not stop at one impact. It was said that the force waves of the Heart Martial Union’s Mujang Radiance Art, perfected to its utmost limit, could even cause landslides.
It was a monstrous display of might. Anger and an explosion of qi had erupted at once, his inner-energy control reaching the stage where it manifested mental imagery.
Even so, he did not blindly launch a counterattack. He valued certain victory enough to be called a prince of the martial world.
The Heart Martial Union Leader remained as he always was despite facing an unexpected presence. Understanding his opponent came first.
Only then did the surviving Heart Martial Union forces behind him let out long breaths.
“I asked your identity.”
The Heart Martial Union Leader pressed further.
His voice was stern. He did not sound as though he recognized the person who had suddenly attacked.
That was not strange.
Though the leaders of major factions counted among the strongest in the world were often spoken of together by gossipmongers, they rarely knew one another personally.
They were too busy with their own cultivation and sect affairs, and the world was vast. That was even more true after decades had passed and the leading figures of sects had changed.
The man in the pink robe opened his mouth.
“The way that young one speaks is amusing.”
He was speaking to none other than the Heart Martial Union Leader.
“Wait there.”
It was outrageous. Both his words and conduct were. He had descended with fury in his eyes, yet after flicking his hand once, he did not even spare Gwi Wi-hu a glance.
His innate temperament showed as he turned his gaze toward the clearing at the peak.
His priorities were clear. His arrogant nature was so stubborn it could be called unyielding.
Then,
“Yeon-shin.”
The man’s voice softened.
“I can see that you have attained something remarkable. Your aura reminds me of hundred-forged refined steel. It must be because you have your own secret art. I am very curious.”
“How...?”
Jeong Yeon-shin briefly closed and opened his eyes. He stood at the top of the slope.
He could not help it, even with Moyong Jung-rak, the Star Radiance Great Sword Lord, holding his lowered sword right beside him.
Had the tension briefly blown away? No. The Moyong Family Head was displaying an unusual interest no less striking than the Heart Martial Union Leader’s.
Like Gwi Wi-hu, the greatest sword talent of the Moyong Family had begun to be called a peerless master in middle age. He silently looked down at the intruder.
The old man who looked young paid him no mind.
“I heard the rumor that you cut off that Zhuge bastard’s head with your sword. I was furious when I read the document recording that bastard’s words and deeds, but the passages where you appeared kept me company like a bamboo wife, day and night. I’m glad you’re safe. This old man has received more fortune than he deserves in his later years.”
He spoke in an old-fashioned manner despite his young voice, looking only at the Leader of Demon Wings.
He was unlike when he faced the Heart Martial Union Leader. His words were exceedingly kind, as though he were telling a long story to his grandson.
‘Ah.’
The Leader of Demon Wings, who had not retreated even before a peerless master like the Star Radiance Great Sword Lord, seemed briefly at a loss for words. His lips moved soundlessly before he adjusted his grip on the Northern Light Sword.
Desolate Fortress sometimes brought his loneliness into focus. It was because it made him realize he was not alone. During the truly lonely days of his childhood, he had not even known what emptiness and loneliness were.
A household connected to the man before him suddenly flashed through his mind. It was neither Jeong Family Manor nor the Ma Family estate, but somewhere else.
There was not much he could say aloud at this moment.
The words that rose with difficulty from his throat emerged in his usual voice the moment they passed his lips.
“...Have you been well?”
“Of course. You are the same as ever. That too is this old man’s failing, but...”
The man’s words carried two meanings. He was speaking of Yeon-shin’s body, now stronger beyond recognition, and his unchanging habit of never showing hardship.
It was embarrassingly sentimental, and the current Leader of Demon Wings found the words difficult to accept. Rather, they only stirred the restless spirit of youth within him.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not want to see the pained expression on his maternal grandfather’s face. Anyone his age would have felt the same.
So he changed the subject. He wanted to focus entirely on the Moyong Family Head and the Heart Martial Union Leader, on this place that had become one of the most dangerous places under heaven.
“I must face the Star Radiance Great Sword Lord. Even if I cannot cut him down...”
“Do as you wish.”
Ma Yeon-jeok, standing with his hands behind his back, nodded. His cold impression was overwhelmed by a smile so affectionate that it seemed out of place.
“You must go out into a wider world one day.”
His maternal grandfather spoke with the Moyong Family Head above them and the Heart Martial Union Leader below them.
At the same time, Yeon-shin’s eyelids lowered slightly.
It was a strange feeling. The wilderness seemed to be turning into the marble Training Hall of Desolate Fortress.
Even without hearing him, his grandfather’s intention reached him. Where else would he find such an opportunity if not now? This old man would watch over him, so he could focus on improving his martial arts... The thoughts seemed to reach him directly.
Was the crown of his head resonating with his grandfather’s upper dantian?
Whoosh!
A gust swept past his feet. The air against his skin felt different than before.
It was somewhat warm. Traces of spring seemed to show through the pale dust, making it truly feel like the end of winter.
The mounted masters below the slope looked up at the peak alongside the Heart Martial Union Leader.
In the clearing stood the white-robed swordsman Moyong Jung-rak, the Foremost Master of Liaodong, alone with his sword.
Ma Yeon-jeok, standing at the center, brought them all to a stop.
Hoo.
The moment the late-winter sandstorm suddenly settled,
a place that had nearly become a battlefield for martial artists transformed into a dueling ground.
An unusual standoff took shape. Gwi Wi-hu kept his mouth shut and watched only the intruder, while the Heart Martial Union’s mounted masters dismounted and stood in a line behind their master.
The sound of them trampling the pieces of their comrades, their bearing suggesting they would walk into death the moment an order came. It was the spirit expected of a major faction among the Thirteen Heavens.
Crunch.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned toward Moyong Jung-rak. The sound of his footsteps scraping stone fragments no longer felt desolate as before.
“Who might you be?”
The peerless swordsman of the Moyong Family, standing with his back straight, asked.
The Star Radiance Great Sword Lord was also a supernatural phenomenon in human form.
The dark blue lightning flashing in his eyes testified to his discernment.
He seemed to have perceived Ma Yeon-jeok’s nature from only a few words, and understood that the strange manner of speech of the man who had suddenly appeared was entirely natural.
Given a little more time, he would likely have guessed Ma Yeon-jeok’s identity. The Heart Martial Union Leader would be the same.
“Was there someone like that in Desolate Fortress? Other than that Dragon family bastard of the Divine Sword Corps.”
The Moyong Family Head casually asked as he twisted his sword this way and that. His composure had not changed.
Was it his ingrained nature? He was plainly at the greatest disadvantage in this three-way conflict, yet he seemed relaxed while standing alone. He was worthy of being one of the foremost absolute masters among the martial nobility.
Yeon-shin did not answer. He only felt the fully heated hilt of the Northern Light Sword in his grip.
‘This feels like the first time.’
The Leader of Demon Wings had never been at ease until now.
He had repeatedly been placed in unfavorable situations.
After becoming a Black Uniform, he had felt responsibility as though he had become the head of a sect. He had always fought senior masters from the position of the weaker side, and had to watch over his companions while thinking ahead.
The fate allotted to him had forced that upon him. It was why the Seom-ye Martial Lineage pursued fights decided in extremely few moves.
Not now. This was entirely different.
It was a real battle, yet he was at ease.
His opponent was not a peerless master who had exhausted his strength and lowered his guard, like the Zhuge Family Head. Yet the air around Jeong Yeon-shin flowed quietly.
He had one of the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens below the slope as a spectator, not an enemy. His heart was at ease, even with one of the Eight Family Heads before him.
“This unexpected windfall pleases me.”
Moyong Jung-rak said.
“I came for the Protective Qi Technique, and I will sharpen my sword technique as well.”
“What?”
“It would be right to cut off your head quickly, then go to him. Come at me.”
He spoke as though Yeon-shin were no more than a stepping stone. It was said that every absolute master in the martial world was mad for martial arts.
Though he knew he was the weaker party, his desire to test swords with a strong opponent was directed at Ma Yeon-jeok.
It was as though he could not possibly die. That was the confidence of exalted transcendents. It showed even in his tone.
“I do not have the leisure to spend long with a half-grown child. Make the martial art that cut down Jegal Cheon-sang your opening move.”
“Are you stronger than the head of the Zhuge Family?”
Jeong Yeon-shin loosened his grip on the sword hilt slightly. Moyong Jung-rak’s lips curved upward.
“What is there to discuss about the martial prowess of a man who lived and died as a crouching dragon? He never ruled Shanxi in the end. He tried to make the Sword Star into Emperor Zhaolie and play Zhuge Liang, but your handiwork prevented him from even uncoiling. Even though he possessed a counter to the Ak Family Spear Art.”
Wooooong.
White light rose from the sword the Moyong Family Head lifted in one hand. It was as though a distant cluster of stars had wrapped itself around the blade like silk. A transcendent presence spread from him.
“Victory and defeat in the martial world are common in war. Do not become arrogant just because you cut down Jegal Cheon-sang through a combined attack and good fortune.”
Then his sword blurred.
At last, he struck.
The Meteor Sword of the Moyong Family became a hazy pillar of light. In that instant, the surrounding air surged violently like a translucent wave.
The sword strike that shot forward in a straight line was monstrously fast.
The time for proof had come.
The moment the world would learn that a martial artist had emerged who was not simply a rising Squad Leader, but someone closest in standing to the Divine Sword Squad Leader.
Wooooong!
Within Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind, a dragon made of radiance rose into the sky with a fan in its mouth.
‘Secret Divine Technique.’
Dragon Fan Treading Flowers.
The formless wave blooming in his upper dantian surged fiercely. The sword light of Moyong Jung-rak, who had subdued the vast land of Liaodong, flickered before his eyes.
The mind of Lotus Nezha paid it no heed and walked through the realm of light.
The Immortal Dragon descended the slope of the adjacent mountain peak like a ray of light.
The mystical energy of the Baihui acupoint raked the air with the mental image of a divine dragon, then formed a passage that resonated with the spirituality of the upper dantian and struck the crown of Tyrant Hero Ma Yeon-jeok like lightning.
Craaaang!
A monstrous wave exploded with a deafening roar.
Footnotes:
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