WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Chapter 34: Master (3)
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“You’re a funny one. To say that to my face.”
The Thieving Ghost’s lips curled up.
Jeong Yeon-shin continued walking without a care. They did not stop advancing.
They had heard of the Thieving Ghost before. The Thieving Ghost was said to be a master of joint locks.
The nickname did not mean the Thieving Ghost fought as though possessed. It meant that the Thieving Ghost stole like a ghost.
“Do you know the meaning of my nickname?”
The Thieving Ghost asked with a smile.
They like to talk, Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
The distance between them narrowed without Jeong Yeon-shin answering, but the Thieving Ghost’s chatter did not stop.
“I’m called the Thieving Ghost because I take anything. I took even your senior brother’s vacant eye.”
“Senior brother?”
The Thieving Ghost laughed loudly at Jeong Yeon-shin’s question.
“Not your senior brother, I suppose. Isn’t Desolate Fortress a sect without roots? You cannot even call your master, Master. The Leader of Demon Wings who taught you must be the same. That foolish one must be wandering aimlessly through the wilderness.”
“What is your purpose? Didn’t you take the Purple Cloud Pellet?”
Jeong Yeon-shin stopped briefly and asked. They were now only a short distance apart.
Perhaps five paces. They could even see the calluses on the Thieving Ghost’s hand as it repeatedly curled and opened.
One leap would be enough to cleave the Thieving Ghost apart, with strength left over.
“The head of the one you cannot call senior brother. The Blue-Eyed Demon Sword.”
Aura flowed from the Thieving Ghost’s empty left sleeve. Jeong Yeon-shin could not understand the reasoning behind it.
“You are willing to risk the Mount Hua Sword Absolute and the Squad Leader returning early?”
“You do not understand what a martial artist’s hand means. Enough. I humored you because I heard you had promise, but you are no different from the other fools.”
This time, the Thieving Ghost took a step forward.
It was as though the Thieving Ghost was saying that Cheong Myeong’s head could not be yielded to anyone else.
The energy emanating from the Thieving Ghost was far from ordinary. The Thieving Ghost could likely exchange several moves with a Blue Uniform master.
Buzz!
Jeong Yeon-shin poured their focus into the Jeong Family Youth Technique they had already activated.
The mnemonic formula of the Radiant Sword Flow unraveled in their mind. At the same time, qi blossomed in their palm like a rising sun.
There was no need to wait. Jeong Yeon-shin immediately struck upward with the Desolate Sword. A faint streak of light rose after the blade.
Swoosh!
The sword strike missed. It was the first time that had happened since Jeong Yeon-shin had created the sword art.
The Thieving Ghost’s footwork was truly ghostlike, as the nickname suggested. The Thieving Ghost twisted their body and charged in at the same time with tremendous speed.
The hand that followed bent like a snake amid the sinister aura flowing from it.
It looked ready to wind around Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword-wielding hand.
‘Joint lock. Very refined.’
Jeong Yeon-shin took in the Thieving Ghost’s technique.
The history of joint locks that carried inner energy was long. They were said to have originally been created by a general from an ancient fallen kingdom.
A method once used to display martial prowess in military camps had passed to constables, then to the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and finally into the martial world.
All its study was devoted to subduing an opponent’s arm and leaving them defenseless.
Even now, when qi circulation methods had advanced, that essence had not changed.
Thunk!
Jeong Yeon-shin twisted and lowered their body, then drove forward.
It was a common body technique seen even in back alleys. A strike delivered with the torso.
A brief wind swirled around their entire body.
The force wave of Helix carried by their movement shattered any chance of being caught from behind.
The Helix of the Sihwa Boundless Fist, combined with Cheong Myeong’s teachings. The Thieving Ghost, who had retreated a great distance, narrowed their eyes.
“Footwork of the elven race? No. Since it is a martial art the Han Chinese cannot imitate in the first place, it only shares the same form. It is a new martial art.”
“You talk too much.”
“I looked into you.”
The Thieving Ghost continued at once.
“The Blood Flame Sect is a terrifying force. It responds appropriately to sprouts that could become great enemies. It sends assassins and investigates their pasts as well. They dug into every detail. Even that you came from Jeong Family Manor, which was annihilated in Xinye County, Henan. The Hao Clan suffered hardship and gave up the information.”
“...”
“Child of Jeong Family Manor. You buried your household members in the back hills, did you not? What do you think has become of that place by now? You have made such a great enemy of the Blood Flame Sect.”
“What?”
“You took Cult Sword’s head? Did you think they would leave your hometown alone? They tore up the mountain. In the end, they burned it down.”
Jeong Yeon-shin adjusted their grip on the sword hilt. They recalled the servant who called them to breakfast every morning.
Their father, who had acknowledged Jeong Yeon-shin near the end of their life, came to mind as well. The household members who had kept their distance now came to them with mingled affection and resentment.
“You. You have black hair, but you do not look like one of their cultists. Are you an Apostle?”
“You think every martial artist of the Blood Flame Sect practices Blood Arts. You truly are new to the martial world.”
“Yes.”
It did not matter what martial art someone about to die practiced. Jeong Yeon-shin muttered inwardly.
Jeong Yeon-shin roused their energy once more. Qi filled and circulated through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians within their body.
Along with the Ultimate Realm, which operated through the principle of overlapping layers, the aura’s intensity began to fluctuate.
The senses of martial artists facing a life-and-death duel exceeded ordinary bounds.
It was said they could feel an opponent’s heart more closely than a lover’s. The Thieving Ghost’s lips twisted upward.
“A brat intends to kill me? I will bury you alongside the Blue-Eyed Demon Sword’s remaining eye.”
The moment the Thieving Ghost spoke of Cheong Myeong’s eye, Jeong Yeon-shin’s thoughts stepped into another realm.
‘When do martial artists, people of the martial world, despair?’
The first would be when one’s master, martial siblings, or oneself met death.
The second would be when one became unable to learn martial arts.
Then what came next? When would martial artists obsessed with martial arts suffer a shock comparable to the first two?
Severing limbs would not be enough. Revenge was second only to the desire to survive.
“Hup!”
The Thieving Ghost gave a short exhalation. At the same time, elusive footwork unfolded once more.
The hand said to steal everything beneath heaven displayed the profound principles of joint locks.
Jeong Yeon-shin stepped forward and moved their right hand holding the sword hilt.
Like extinguished lightning, the Desolate Sword hid itself in its sheath. At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin faced the enemy completely barehanded.
Jeong Yeon-shin extended their right hand. It was a joint lock that looked identical to the Thieving Ghost’s.
The Thieving Ghost gave a faint smirk, as though interpreting it as arrogance.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand shadow obscured their face, creating a strange afterimage.
It was a small movement. With one gesture, Jeong Yeon-shin diverted the Thieving Ghost’s joint lock.
“...!”
The trajectory was clearly within the realm of superior martial arts. The path of the technique itself was on another level.
Acting after and striking first. Jeong Yeon-shin’s slower hand seized the opponent’s wrist first instead.
At the same time, the monstrous strength of the Jeong Family Youth Technique was unleashed. It had been a long time.
The crushing grip completely sealed the opponent’s movements on its own. There was no need to seal the acupoints.
“You, how could you...!”
Cold sweat formed on the Thieving Ghost’s face.
The Thieving Ghost seemed unable to even think of kicking. It was hard to believe they had ever been so composed.
“This seems better. Your technique was not so refined.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke indifferently.
The Thieving Ghost’s face was nearly panic-stricken. It even seemed dyed with fear.
The Thieving Ghost had seen their unique martial art, stolen in an instant, bloom in an enemy’s hands.
“Shall I tell you the mnemonic formula?”
When Jeong Yeon-shin asked quietly, the Thieving Ghost’s head twitched. This time, Jeong Yeon-shin smiled.
There was no way Jeong Yeon-shin would tell them. The Thieving Ghost seemed to realize it soon enough, and their face gradually changed from longing to despair.
Jeong Yeon-shin stole and shattered the Thieving Ghost’s life.
‘So this is it.’
They had found their own way to cast martial artists of the Demonic Sect into the abyss.
The martial arts of people in the martial world were also called accumulated effort. It meant the very life they had painstakingly built over a long time.
It was enough to deny that.
All Jeong Yeon-shin had to do was display their martial art in a better form. Right before their eyes as they exchanged moves.
The Thieving Ghost’s wrist, caught in Jeong Yeon-shin’s right hand, was crushed.
Srrk.
Listening to the Thieving Ghost scream, Jeong Yeon-shin drew the Desolate Sword upward from their waist with their left hand in a reverse grip.
* * *
Holding the Thieving Ghost’s head, Jeong Yeon-shin returned to the inn.
There had been Blood Flame Sect masters who attacked the inn alongside the Thieving Ghost. However, they had already been dealt with.
Ma Jin had returned and, together with the Mount Hua Sect masters, defeated the Blood Flame Sect group.
All of Demon Wings except Jeong Yeon-shin had responded. Ma Jin said that they had watched Jeong Yeon-shin’s fight while sitting on the windowsill.
“You...”
The scar crossing Ma Jin’s face twitched repeatedly.
Ma Jin opened their mouth several times as though they had seen something they should not have, then sighed.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not care about the complicated expression on their maternal uncle’s face.
“I have accumulated many merits. Please record them properly.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke while presenting the Thieving Ghost’s head. In their other hand, they held the wooden box taken from the Thieving Ghost’s robes.
Inside the small box was spiritual medicine with energy Jeong Yeon-shin had never encountered before.
The Purple Cloud Pellet. If one spoke of its rank, it would be a top-tier merit.
Ma Jin spoke with an even more dazed expression.
“...You will become Blue Uniform soon. You will be able to request a promotion examination in the near future. You will set the record for the shortest time, and naturally, you will be the youngest ever to do so.”
“The promotion examination... I have heard of it. I would like you to explain it in detail next time. It seems there is a more urgent matter now.”
“Yes. The Mount Hua Sect has been attacked.”
Jeong Yeon-shin followed Ma Jin to another room in the inn. The inn was nearly half destroyed.
However, the innkeeper’s expression was rather bright. Compensation had been promised in the names of Desolate Fortress and the Mount Hua Sect.
“Mm.”
Jeong Yeon-shin let out a low sound. The face of the boy lying as though dead on the bed was familiar.
Yu Hyeon, the Mount Hua Sect’s chief disciple.
The bold friend who had said they would come to Desolate Fortress after crossing swords with Jeong Yeon-shin.
“Yu Hyeon drew out every bit of qi to protect their senior brother.”
Cheon Ju, standing at one side of the bed, glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin as they spoke.
The sharp features of the person called the Mount Hua Sword Absolute were crumpled.
Jeong Yeon-shin knew why. The dantian was not like a porcelain bowl.
It was an organ that contained a small amount of energy from birth. If completely emptied, it would be damaged.
Some called that minimum amount of energy innate true qi.
Jeong Yeon-shin recalled hearing that, since its nature was no different from inner energy, it could be drawn out and put back.
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke carefully.
“If it is qi depletion, can it not simply be restored? I understood it to be common.”
“You are right. The disciples who showed the same symptoms have already risen from their beds.”
“Then Yu Hyeon’s inner energy...”
“Yu Hyeon is beyond our ability. Yu Hyeon learned the Violet Dawn Divine Art as the sect leader’s disciple.
“Not every martial art of Mount Hua is the same. Their methods of cultivating inner energy are entirely different.”
Cheon Ju spoke solemnly. Cheon Ju’s expression did not change even upon seeing the Purple Cloud Pellet from Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand.
A master was needed to dissolve the elixir pill’s energy and pass it to the unconscious Yu Hyeon.
“What you recovered is indeed a kindness. The Purple Cloud Pellet’s energy may even replace the Violet Dawn Divine Art. However, dissolving an elixir pill’s energy must be done with great care. The half shichen Yu Hyeon has left is nowhere near enough...”
Cheon Ju’s words cut off. Ma Jin, standing nearby, was moving their lips.
It seemed Ma Jin was using sound transmission. Cheon Ju’s eyes widened as they looked at Jeong Yeon-shin.
“Did you get permission for me to do it?”
At Jeong Yeon-shin’s question, Ma Jin nodded.
“Yes. Swallow it now. This too will become your merit.”
Jeong Yeon-shin did not ask about the details. They already had an idea.
It was when Jeong Yeon-shin had defeated a warrior of the Azure Sky Squad. They had absorbed Desolate Fortress’s supply elixir pill at a remarkable speed.
It had ended before Ma Jin, intending to help Jeong Yeon-shin, could even place a hand on the Mingmen acupoint at the center of Jeong Yeon-shin’s waist.
The Leader of Demon Wings was said to be the Mount Hua Sword Absolute’s worthy rival. Perhaps there was trust between them like that of close friends.
Cheon Ju, who had immediately given permission, also seemed to possess remarkable breadth of heart.
“Then.”
Jeong Yeon-shin turned Yu Hyeon onto their stomach. After arranging Yu Hyeon’s hands neatly, Jeong Yeon-shin sat cross-legged beside the bed.
With Cheon Ju’s tacit approval, Jeong Yeon-shin took out the snow-white elixir pill and swallowed it.
The Purple Cloud Pellet fell into Jeong Yeon-shin’s body amid a fragrant scent.
‘Are there truly spiritual medicines that dissolve as soon as they are swallowed?’
The stray thought lasted only a moment. Jeong Yeon-shin moved the qi from the Stone Gate acupoint, where the lower dantian was located.
As the Purple Cloud Pellet crumbled within the major circulation running through the energy pathways of Jeong Yeon-shin’s upper body, an equal amount of energy began to rise.
The moment Jeong Yeon-shin increased the power, they realized it. The Purple Cloud Pellet was spiritual medicine specialized for a certain qi circulation method.
They had heard that elixir pill-making methods, like martial arts, grew through history.
Jeong Yeon-shin realized that it would take one year for someone who had not studied Mount Hua’s inner energy art to settle the Purple Cloud Pellet’s qi within their body.
Extracting energy and refining it into qi were separate tasks. The higher the grade of the spiritual medicine, the greater the gap between them.
‘Without one year of closed-door training... it would be no different from another person’s qi after applying the internal-energy transmission method.’
That was likely why the Blood Flame Sect group and the Thieving Ghost had not taken it immediately.
‘It would be better to spend that time learning my own martial arts. Still, I can use it while sending energy to Yu Hyeon.’
It was a fortuitous encounter.
It seemed time to fully open the middle dantian, which had only been slightly opened. Jeong Yeon-shin recalled Baek Mir-yeo’s words.
Baek Mir-yeo had said Jeong Yeon-shin’s body needed to contain immense energy. The Purple Cloud Pellet would be more than enough.
Footnotes:
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