WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 343: Ranking Battle (4)
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Before setting out, preparations came first.
Jeong Yeon-shin ate a great deal. Cheong Myeong, the Blue-Eyed Demon Sword, recognized him at once with an eye technique no less keen than the Law Enforcement Squad Leader’s and ordered the servants to bring in more cooks.
That was how the Demon Wings banquet began, with Ak Su-rim, the Divine Sword Squad Deputy Leader, in attendance.
The Demon Wings martial artists who had inherited the Seom-ye Martial Lineage were more familiar than anyone with their Squad Leader’s refined speech and Light Wheel qi.
His more mature appearance felt unfamiliar to them, but they welcomed him warmly.
It was home.
It had to be that way for everyone in Demon Wings.
As soon as he returned, Jeong Yeon-shin paid close attention to Baek Mir-yeo. He had no choice. The late Pure Demon Alliance Leader had been her older sister, someone like an eldest sister to Jeong Yeon-shin.
She had lost family to the Young Sect Master of the Ming Cult, who had recently come to be regarded as a symbol of supernatural phenomena.
Just as Baek Mir-yeo and Ma Gwang-il’s Squad had filled Jeong Yeon-shin’s loneliness, he wanted to be a source of strength for her.
“We walked different paths. There’s no room for sympathy.”
Baek Mir-yeo was as detached as ever.
One Lotus Sword Plum, inheritor of the Heavenly Demon martial lineage and a woman concerned with the people’s livelihoods. Desolate Fortress martial artists all had different dispositions, but they shared a common spirit.
“It’s only... if a mission to the west ever comes along, I hope you’ll send me, even if I must go alone. I should visit her grave once.”
At the time, Jeong Yeon-shin had merely nodded without a word.
As Ak Su-rim poured freely enough for the liquor to spill over, he burned away the overflow with Samadhi True Fire and had thought of the members of his next mission the night before.
‘My brother and Hye-ah must be well. The Chief Steward who went to Shaolin, too...’
The hem of his robe rasped against the marble table.
As he headed for the door, he did not spare the Seventh Apostle a glance.
The body that had grown through transformation never defied his will in martial matters, yet it often stirred all manner of sensations and urges, hunger included. It was simply something he had to endure as an adult.
He threw open the door and spoke.
“The energy-circulating meditation mnemonic formula should have shown results.”
Rustle.
A slow response came. Someone shifted in bed at an unhurried pace. Was it deliberate? The Seventh Apostle’s manner kept Jeong Yeon-shin in the office a little longer.
“Our Grand Preceptor taught me through the second line, didn’t he? I memorized it perfectly up to there.”
“There were fifteen.”
“I must’ve forgotten again. Aren’t those Heart Martial Union bastards awful?”
Hundreds of them had done nothing but swarm together like ants in a combined attack.
The voice was soft and unruffled. Yet Jeong Yeon-shin had become skilled at distinguishing truth from lies in the Seventh Apostle’s words and actions.
Even if the Apostle possessed every kind of deception, including concealment and disguise, it made no difference. That was a lie.
“You’re not a monkey.”
“Hm?”
“Don’t move about carelessly. Ju Yeon-jeong, the imperial kin whose arm you tore off, may have built up considerable influence. You can’t judge someone like that by martial arts alone.”
That much was true. They said she had remained active outside despite being confined by her maternal grandfather.
None of the imperial figures Jeong Yeon-shin had encountered seemed lacking in political skill. Even if Ju Yeon-jeong had lost her martial arts, he could not regard her as a mere puppet.
He had said it because the Seventh Apostle might draw Ju Yeon-jeong’s attention.
“So I just need to avoid being noticed, right?”
The question came back with a smile in the voice.
Jeong Yeon-shin gave no reply and left the room.
Absurdly, the Seventh Apostle was both untrustworthy and dependable. The Apostle was a supreme master who had cultivated the Blood Flame Sect’s Graceful Body Method to the realm of Great Completion.
Having mastered one of the four finest movement arts under heaven to its utmost limit, only a few Black Uniform martial artists with exceptional Sensory Training could find the Seventh Apostle if the Apostle truly decided to hide.
‘Even if something happens...’
Even if it did, Jeong Yeon-shin’s current achievements, martial strength, and legitimate grounds would let him handle it.
He had not forgotten his grandfather speaking of uniqueness before imperial kin. Even the way his grandfather had said he owed his grandson a debt had an air worthy of the Divine Blood Extreme Demon.
“See you later.”
Leaving the Seventh Apostle’s farewell behind, Jeong Yeon-shin stepped out of the hall, sorting through how he should treat the Apostle apart from repaying that kindness.
* * *
Chief Steward’s Office Grand Assembly Hall.
“Information has arrived that Namgung First Sword of the Martial Dragon Society is moving with the Lord of Yeoryeong. There are also rumors that the Dark Night Hall Lord, having finished energy-circulating meditation, met with them in Southern Zhili. The timing coincides with the Peng Family requesting aid from the Divine Sword Squad Leader.”
A distinguished scholar spoke.
Grand Chief Steward Im Jin-myeong stood before a cracked round table.
Jeong Yeon-shin listened silently to the explanation. His absence had lasted a long time, and the state of the martial world had changed just as drastically.
There was much he needed to know for the safety of Desolate Fortress, his martial home.
Slowly, he parted his lips.
“...Weren’t those two Lords of the Thirteen Heavens struck by the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s Dragon Ring Sword? If the Dark Night Hall Lord has risen, shouldn’t we also consider that the Martial Dragon Society Leader may have recovered?”
“Namgung First Sword and the Martial Dragon Society Leader taking the vanguard together... it is difficult to imagine anything more dreadful. Yet rumors say the Dark Night Hall Lord possesses secret arts as a fading member of the elven race. The Martial Dragon Society Leader, on the other hand, is a madman with nothing but martial arts. The Dark Night Hall Lord would have no reason to share secret arts with that insolent bastard.”
The Grand Chief Steward shook his head and added,
“Since ancient times, demonic and unorthodox factions have never mingled with one another.”
“Aren’t they doing so now, exploiting the famine?”
“...There is no other way. It has been a long time since not only minor sects but even some major factions began rising up in groups. The times are drawing ever closer to chaos. Squad Leader, you returned from Shanxi, near Beijing, so you may not have felt it, but the south is different. For now, we can only trust Squad Leader Yong’s judgment and martial strength...”
“...”
“Common people are starving to death or dying to plunder in every region, and someone has arrived from the prince’s estate as well. We do not know where to turn first.”
The Grand Chief Steward’s words sounded almost like a lament. Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the man whose sword hilt he had stepped on. Gungmyeong Prince’s eldest legitimate son, a distant relative of the current Emperor. He was called Ju Cheol, the Sword Authority Duke.
“What business does the Gungmyeong Prince’s estate have with us?”
“They ask us to handle the northern front, the lands ruled by the demon race and the Northern War God.”
“Didn’t the Imperial Family’s Three Great Masters receive martial arts from the Emperor and set out?”
“They did. Still, this is not idle meddling. One of the few lands to remain fertile lately is under their control... and the north has many regions, does it not?”
They lacked manpower, and the situation surrounding the main fortress was poor.
The Desolate Fortress Jeong Yeon-shin had seen upon returning carried a festive atmosphere, as though Phantom Wing Step had become the height of fashion. Yet it was largely the effort of Desolate Fortress masters to raise morale through divine arts and supreme techniques.
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the sunlight breaking through the open ceiling, then spoke.
“Have enough Black Uniform martial artists not gathered by now? Mission assignments need to be made quickly.”
He had no intention of staying in the main fortress for long.
This was different from usual. Every Squad Leader who had gone silent during the mission to kill the Young Sect Master of the Ming Cult had shared martial arts with Jeong Yeon-shin.
They were fellow disciples. Even the uncanny resonance of the name Yalu Jin, Laughing Heaven Unrivaled, made him more anxious.
“As you have heard, once we exclude the forces needed to defend the main fortress, we must choose one of two major missions: the north or the Ming Cult. Among the other troublemakers of the Black Uniform hierarchy, no one wishes to take the northern mission. Everyone is like Squad Leader Jeong. Companions naturally matter more than the granaries of a prince’s estate.”
“I heard there would be a competition when Squad Leaders want the same mission.”
“Yes. We have already reached a rough agreement, though the Sword Authority Duke will not be pleased.”
“A martial duel is out of the question.”
“Of course. Not everyone possesses martial arts suited to swift, decisive battles as you do, Squad Leader Jeong. We cannot stake mission assignments on a fight that could take an unknown number of exchanges. It will end quickly. After you left with Deputy Leader Ak, they discussed a few methods among themselves...”
It meant disputes between Squad Leaders over missions would not be settled through fighting alone.
Jeong Yeon-shin recalled Xiahou Wi-jin being beaten by his grandfather and found himself curious. What method would they use?
Just then.
“This letter must be the mission report?”
The Grand Chief Steward suddenly unrolled the scroll on the round table. They had discussed only practical matters, so there had not been enough praise for the Leader of Demon Wings.
A martial artist who had earned great merit deserved treatment to match.
“Even the reports from the Divine Spear and the Extreme Demon were fascinating. I wonder what Squad Leader Jeong’s perspective will be like. Let us see... Hm?”
Scholars who handled documents for martial factions tended to share a similar habit. They first surveyed a document’s entire contents.
An urgent letter could decide the lives and deaths of several people.
The Grand Chief Steward’s eyes quickly reached the end of the message, and they widened.
At the same time, someone knocked on the door.
Judging by the presence, it was a scholar from the Chief Steward’s Office. When Jeong Yeon-shin asked, the scholar said someone had come from the cloth shop.
Cloth merchants normally only bought and sold fabric, but the owner of the cloth shop near Desolate Fortress was also a tailor who had learned martial arts and spun thread using hand techniques. There was even a rumor that the tailor was a master of exceptionally swift joint locks.
“It seems my fitted clothes have arrived. I’ll go down first.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.
He had to leave the Grand Chief Steward, who looked frozen, alone. The youth went straight down to the first floor and received a new Black Uniform long robe.
The moment he put it on, he knew it suited his greater height. Even the strokes of the golden character for desolation embroidered on his shoulder seemed as long as his hair had become.
As he stroked the rough golden character once, the cloth shop owner, whose face was as fierce as that of a battle-hardened martial artist, watched him cautiously.
“When you were promoted, you asked for large lettering... Does it not suit your reputation as a Squad Leader?”
Jeong Yeon-shin had been about to say something, but only gave a small nod.
He now possessed movement skills enough to evade Hyeon Won-chang’s hands, but he could not ask for another robe to be made just before setting out.
He only hoped this would be his last black robe.
* * *
Desolate Fortress Central Training Hall.
Green-tinged pine needles drifted down beneath the vividly blue sky. A spring breeze blew lightly, brushing softly against the skin.
The process leading up to the Squad Leader Competition proceeded without delay.
The Black Uniform rank stood above most official posts, so the proceedings might have dragged on, yet everything was completed within a day.
Though the main fortress was vast, word spread quickly, and the people who gathered soon packed the area. It was one of the few events held in such tense times.
More than a hundred people surrounded the enormous martial stage, murmuring among themselves. No one who was not an official martial artist of the main fortress had been allowed inside, yet there were still that many.
“Is that really the Leader of Demon Wings?”
“I heard it clearly.”
“How can that be?”
“He must have undergone body transformation and bone reforging.”
Eyes gathered in one place.
A young man wore a sword with a strangely crushed hilt.
His body was built of sleek muscle, but his face remained gaunt.
It was difficult to find traces of the boy he had been within that strange imbalance, apart from his eyes, which gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.
“He’s lost a lot of weight. I wonder how he’ll look once he regains his original features.”
“How much stronger has he become?”
“That person is really the adorable...”
“Keep your voice down, idiot.”
Even among the martial artists of Desolate Fortress, reactions varied.
Some showed disbelief. Others let out exclamations. Marrow Cleansing and Bone Reforging in one so young could only seem miraculous.
Then came an informed observation.
“The Divine Sword Squad Deputy Leader, Yeo-ui Cheon Ju, the Blood Guard Squad Leader, the Law Enforcement Squad Leader, the Nethercurrent Squad Leader, the Leader of Demon Wings... quite a splendid lineup.”
“There is also the acting leader of the Swift Heaven Wing Squad.”
“I hear the competition will use the Body Movement Scripture.”
“The collapse of Wonpyeong One Sword Hall has turned into a stroke of fortune. We should thank Yeo-ui Cheon Ju.”
“If it is a Body Movement Scripture competition, would that not favor the Nethercurrent Squad Leader among the Squad Leaders present? How many Squad Leaders are going together?”
“The Blood Guard Squad Leader’s Body Movement Scripture does not fall that far behind the Nethercurrent Squad Leader’s.”
“Their specialties differ. Very few martial-world riffraff have survived after witnessing the movements of the Divine Blood Extreme Demon. This time, they say he even fought the Tyrant Sword Sect Master. He survived nineteen moves, that is, nineteen exchanges...”
“Five hundred and nineteen moves.”
The voice was calm.
The White Uniform martial artists speaking turned to glance behind them, then were startled out of their wits.
Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, who had been at the entrance of the Training Hall, was already passing behind them.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly climbed onto the martial stage.
Two people were waiting for him. Together, they stood at three points of a triangle.
There was a reason high-ranking Black Uniform figures stood there like an acrobatic troupe performing for laughs in the street.
The martial world had entered chaotic times. It was to raise the morale of Desolate Fortress martial artists, who were likely to become targets of all under heaven, by showing once again just how strong the Squad Leaders were.
‘They said Phantom Wing Step became popular.’
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced toward the tall woman in black robes shaking out her feet at one side. Bukgung A, Yeo-ui Cheon Ju. Having heard the details of the competition, her limbs felt somewhat threatening.
“Hm?”
Their gazes met. A bluish gleam flashed in Bukgung A’s eyes.
“You nearly gouged out my eyes earlier. You spoke of Phantom Wing Step without even recognizing its origin.”
“Senior Bukgung’s Phantom Wing Step is not something that should be disparaged.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly. At the same time, the corner of Bukgung A’s mouth rose sharply.
“A branch is a branch. The original lineage is not so pathetic that my Phantom Wing Fourth Step could swallow your martial arts. Ah, though I am a few steps ahead of you for now.”
Grrr.
She pulled both elbows back where she stood. At the same time, a heavy wave of inner power spread from the muscles of her back, which looked plainly stitched together. It was almost a shockwave.
“You said fourth step?”
“There was a great deal of room to develop it further. Your second step is profound.”
“Fourth step.”
Jeong Yeon-shin repeated quietly. Bukgung A glanced at him and took a step forward.
“Your child has grown up. Let’s exchange steps. One of us has to set out before midnight today.”
“Good.”
A distinct curve, rare for him, formed at Jeong Yeon-shin’s lips.
Step.
It was a contest to change one another’s appearance through the Body Movement Scripture. Beneath the bright, breaking sunlight, he took a step forward, feeling Bukgung A’s gaze fixed on the Meteor Sword at his waist.
Footnotes:
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