WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 368: Peerless Master (3)
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Jeong Yeon-shin walked slowly, pulling the rusted handle of the creaking cart.
The orthodox martial artists following him from afar felt as though they were witnessing something unreal.
Immense pressure spread like a natural disaster from beyond the bronze-polished main gate and white walls.
Whoosh!
Dust rose around the manor and was driven in every direction. Hazy clouds of dirt rippled like smoke.
Aura that could scarcely be encountered anywhere under Heaven. Supreme figures comparable to the heads of major factions were revealing their presence.
“Should we really let him enter like that?”
“Even if he truly is the Leader of Demon Wings, will he not only throw the battle into greater chaos?”
“He will still be far more help than we are.”
Some of the dozen or so younger martial artists exchanged worried remarks.
The Qingcheng Sect and Ami Sect experts looked even graver.
The Golden Staff Divine Maiden and Red Cloud Dragon, who possessed exceptionally keen aura senses even among the younger generation, had long since lost their usual detached expressions. So had Daoist Cheong-eun and Ziwei Divine Nun, their elders.
Daoist Cheong-un slowly opened his mouth as he watched the back of the black-robed youth, who had already crossed the threshold.
“Divine Nun.”
“Mm.”
“There are two Lords of the Thirteen Heavens.”
“I can feel them.”
The middle-aged nun nodded.
Despite her composed bearing, her eyes were heavy. The place the youth claiming to be the Leader of Demon Wings had entered was already akin to the underworld. It was a veritable den of demons.
Tyrannical inner power fit for a battlefield.
Demonic qi that sent chills down one’s spine.
The distinctive fluctuations of the Ten Perfect Sect and the Pure Demon Alliance surged thickly through the air.
It seemed the supreme figures of each great faction had arrived in person, leading their sects’ experts.
Qingcheng and Ami were old sects. They knew well how powerful and ruthless the two great unorthodox factions nearby were. They also knew that the strength now gathered at the Tang Sect was like a landslide no one could resist.
“Unless the sect leaders from our main mountains descend...”
Daoist Cheong-eun trailed off. Winds of unceasing aura pressed his beard against his throat.
What he suggested was not realistically possible.
After Crimson Haze Sword Venerable, Qingcheng’s former sect leader, was killed by the Tyrant Sword Sect Master, Crimson Haze Sword Venerable’s junior martial brother took hold of the sect leader command seal.
He was occupied with restoring order to the unsettled sect, protecting its affiliated lay sects, and raising a talent who could unite the Azure Cloud Sword Art with the Crimson Haze Sword Art.
The sect’s future had been placed before revenge. If misfortune struck after clashing with the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens, Qingcheng would lose two sect leaders in one generation.
Considering the Qingcheng Sect leader’s standing, that could never be allowed to happen.
It would directly affect the balance of power among the orthodox, unorthodox, and demonic factions. It might even provoke further chaos than doing nothing.
“The Buddha Venerable is still in Long’an Prefecture, correct?”
When Daoist Cheong-eun used sound transmission to ask after the Ami Sect leader, Ziwei Divine Nun silently nodded once more.
The Ami Sect leader, known as the Thunderclap Buddha Venerable, had left the main mountain fifteen days earlier.
The Regional Military Commissioner, who held overall responsibility for Sichuan’s military affairs, had invited her.
The invitation was said to have been made in secret, but its purpose was easy enough to guess. Sichuan was a rugged, isolated basin.
News from outside did not arrive promptly, and in troubled times, they could not simply wait for Desolate Fortress to lend aid. It seemed the authorities intended to have the Ami Sect, with its many affiliated lay sects, take the place of Desolate Fortress’s Divine Sword Corps.
It would not help the Sichuan Tang Clan right now.
Crack! Kwoooong!
The continuous collisions of force waves and metallic shrieks of shattered weapons were fierce enough to stand out like thunder in the hollow, silent city.
It was no wonder the common people had hidden themselves. What was happening at the Tang Family would become a battle remembered throughout the martial world for a long time.
That was what Daoist Cheong-eun, a veteran expert of the Nine Sects, believed.
“Martial Uncle, I can feel the aura of our sect brothers.”
A tall young Daoist spoke urgently.
It was Qingcheng Sect’s Red Cloud Dragon. He was Daoist Cheong-eun’s martial nephew and also the disciple of the late former sect leader.
He was a swordsman destined to become a pillar of the sect.
“Wait. If you enter recklessly, you may be caught in the Tang Sect’s mechanism formations. I will go.”
Daoist Cheong-eun had briefly conversed with Ziwei Divine Nun while sweeping the manor’s interior with his aura sense.
That was necessary if he wished to avoid harming allies in the Tang Sect, where poison formations and mechanisms lay everywhere.
The real concern was the black-robed youth who had crossed the threshold first. No matter how high his martial attainment, he should not have done that.
‘If he was ambushed by a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens amid that rain of concealed projectiles, it would not be strange if he had already become a wandering soul...’
May nothing have happened to him.
Daoist Cheong-eun gripped the sword hilt at his waist and stepped toward the main gate where Jeong Yeon-shin had vanished. Red Cloud Dragon followed.
“We cannot remain here and do nothing. We need to do something.”
“Enough. Stop.”
“The youth who entered just now did not seem mad to me. His martial attainment also seemed extraordinary.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“He will create an opening in the battle somehow. I will ensure the safety of my sect brothers and our fellow martial artists. It is possible with Venerable Golden Staff.”
Red Cloud Dragon glanced at Ziwei Divine Nun and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden of the Ami Sect, who were walking beside them.
Unlike the Qingcheng martial uncle and nephew, the two nuns headed naturally toward the Tang Family’s main gate without hesitation or a word.
The folds of their monastic robes fluttered, still beautiful despite being somewhat worn.
Such was the dignity of the Nine Sects.
The Qingcheng and Ami Sects had been associated for a long time.
Red Cloud Dragon and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden, being of the same generation, knew each other’s martial arts inside and out.
The coordinated combined attacks of such brilliant geniuses often made their elders sweat as they taught them.
They had even believed themselves close to the best of their generation, until they met the Peng Family Human Monkey, said to be the strongest young martial artist in Hebei, and were defeated.
“I will avoid combat as much as possible. Martial Uncle, please join forces with the youth who entered first.”
Red Cloud Dragon spoke in a low voice.
For a moment, only the uproar of battle rang through the silence. Daoist Cheong-eun did not try to persuade his martial nephew any further.
Instead, he inwardly lowered his head toward the former sect leader who had gone before.
Senior Martial Brother, has he not grown well enough?
‘Azure Cloud and Crimson Haze. A heart like this is harder to find than martial arts capable of avenging you upon the Tyrant Sword Sect Master.’
Step.
They had finished assessing the Tang Family’s situation. They saw the scattered battle lines, the fragments of mechanism formations, the Pure Demon Alliance Leader, and the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens radiating absolute force amid it all.
Even knowing the odds were desperately low, they walked inside.
The younger martial artists from Sichuan’s martial families, who lingered behind in indecision, were positively welcome to remain there. If they followed clumsily, they would only become a hindrance.
“Avoid using the Crimson Haze Sword.”
“I know. The Azure Cloud Sword is better in a chaotic battle.”
“First, bring out the Tang Family’s collateral relatives who have not learned martial arts. Then we will retrieve the disciples of our sect.”
“Yes.”
Daoist Cheong-eun, Red Cloud Dragon, Ziwei Divine Nun, and the Golden Staff Divine Maiden.
The martial uncle and nephew pair and the martial aunt and niece pair pushed through the dust and soon stepped across the Tang Family’s threshold.
Then they witnessed the sight before them.
“...”
Corpses lay piled across the vast front yard.
It was obvious they had died at different times.
An elder whose lower body had melted away from qi-infused Bone-Dissolving Powder. A man staring wide-eyed with his abdomen turned completely black. A boy convulsing violently where he had fallen facedown.
“Lost-Homeland Demon Elder...?”
Daoist Cheong-eun sharply inhaled at the sight of the boy.
A demonic martial artist of the Pure Demon Alliance who had committed evil deeds while retaining a childlike appearance after mastering the Child’s Yang Technique to its peak. The acupoints inside the body had been utterly destroyed.
A path had been formed by those who had stopped breathing relatively recently, and Lost-Homeland Demon Elder was the first among them.
The people from the Nine Sects looked ahead.
At the end of the path, an old cart stood crookedly. Beyond it, the black-robed youth faced a middle-aged man in white light armor.
It looked extremely dangerous.
Not a trace of aura could be felt from the youth in the black long robe.
Perhaps he had reached perfect Return to Simplicity and concealed his inner power deeply, but his opponent was a supreme figure who could look down even on such martial prowess.
The man studying Jeong Yeon-shin with interested eyes.
His build was enormous. One ear, cut off as though by a sword, did not look grotesque. Instead, it gave him the air of an undefeated commander hardened by a hundred battles.
Fwoooosh!
Terrifying aura covered his entire body, carving dozens of concentric circles into the ground. It was as though he wore an invisible storm as armor.
His eyes, in contrast, looked almost gentle at first glance. Only his bull-like pupils held an especially dark gleam.
The corpses of Tang Sect experts scattered in a great circle around him proved the overwhelming power of his hands.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master.
A peerless master who had returned home after taking more than ten thousand heads of the northern demon race.
A Grandmaster who wielded all eighteen martial weapons like his own limbs. It was said even old masters of orthodox martial arts avoided a protracted fight against him.
Rumor had it that even the sect leaders of Qingcheng and Ami were no different.
“So the one claiming to be the Leader of Demon Wings has led the Daoist ox-noses and shaven-headed nuns of the Nine Sects inside.”
The Ten Perfect Sect Master spoke in a refined tone that matched his gentle eyes.
He did not appear careless. His abyss-deep pupils carefully examined Jeong Yeon-shin from head to toe.
‘He was once a grand general in the military. That is an eye technique forged on the battlefield.’
Jeong Yeon-shin silently let out a long breath.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master’s gaze was like a sharpened arrowhead. It felt as though iron were scraping over his skin.
He had killed fifteen people while pulling the cart from the Tang Sect’s entrance to this place.
He had casually struck out with one hand, using the Sihwa Boundless Hand and internal heavy-hand technique, then walked straight toward the Ten Perfect Sect Master.
Bones and flesh had shattered along the path, while blood sprayed into the air.
No matter what grand labels unorthodox or demonic factions gave themselves, they were bandits at heart, busy exploiting common people. It was right to deal with their leaders first.
This was a battlefield crowded with renowned masters.
It did not take long for the experts who had looked at him as though he were some madman to change their minds.
The black-robed youth standing before the Ten Perfect Sect Master with a shabby cart was a strange figure from one of the martial world’s bizarre tales, and the battlefield had already fallen into a lull.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips, meeting the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s gaze.
“Leave.”
“Hmm?”
“The Tang Sect will hold funerals for the next ten days.”
“What an interesting fellow. You came here to die.”
The corner of the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s mouth lifted slightly. The gradual hollow beneath his cheekbones gave him the noble air of a military commander versed in both letters and arms.
“The Golden-Wing Sect Master is greatly angered by your betrayal. It would be better for you to meet your end at my hands here.”
“Interesting?”
Jeong Yeon-shin ignored the latter remark and asked in return. The Ten Perfect Sect Master lowered his chin slightly, a faint smile on his lips.
“Yes. Are your words and actions not ridiculous?”
“You came from the military, did you not? To call funerals interesting... What refinement. How did you ever recite Confucius and Mencius, and the Four Books and Five Classics?”
“...”
It was not a rebuke. It was a question the educated Desolate Fortress Divine Hero might genuinely have held.
“Your late parents could not have taught you that way.”
Jeong Yeon-shin asked because he truly wanted to know.
He had created the Jeong Family Youth Technique to honor the mother he had never met and to ensure the blood inherited from her would not go to waste. Why, then, did people of the martial world disgrace their own parents?
The area fell quiet.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master fell silent for a moment.
“A mere wretch impersonating the Dark King Among Flowers dares to speak so arrogantly!”
A furious shout erupted with the clatter of metal.
It came from Jeong Yeon-shin’s side.
A middle-aged martial artist in thick iron armor crushed the ground beneath his feet and charged forward.
“That is the Inscribed Vermilion Radiant Star!”
Red Cloud Dragon of the Qingcheng Sect shouted loudly from the distant main gate.
He was identifying the opponent. He meant that Jeong Yeon-shin had to avoid the first strike at all costs.
Inscribed Vermilion Radiant Star Jeong Chu-gon. The Ten Perfect Sect had lost several transcendent experts to Seom-ye, the Dark King Among Flowers, but Jeong Chu-gon was a new powerhouse who had taken the vanguard under the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s guidance.
Jeong Chu-gon had killed several Tang Sect and Nine Sects disciples without leaving even corpses behind.
Boom!
The ground split apart at tremendous speed. It was a lightness skill that carried immense weight, showing the nature of the Ten Perfect Sect martial lineage, said to have brought military divine arts to tyrannical completion.
The inner power gleaming white from the silver armor, together with the sunlight, made Jeong Chu-gon look like a comet.
Loyal Heart Piercing Heaven Art.
The moment it struck, it turned an opponent into chunks of flesh. It was said to be terrifyingly effective in group battles such as sect wars.
Its practitioners charged in long ranks with lightness skill, and no sect could receive them head-on due to power comparable to ordinary fire bombs.
‘Radiant Star?’
Repeating the final part of Jeong Chu-gon’s epithet inwardly, Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at the Ten Perfect Sect Master.
The flow of qi around the man’s forearm muscles twitched faintly, as though he would strike the instant Jeong Yeon-shin made the slightest movement.
He intended to preserve his sect’s fighting strength rather than concern himself with honor in the martial world.
Jeong Yeon-shin remained still.
He did not move as the sound of the ground breaking under heavy steps rapidly approached, nor when the man called the Inscribed Vermilion Radiant Star rammed into him with a face twisted like a fiend.
Puuuuuck!
It was the sound of flesh bursting.
A great quantity of blood shot into the air between shattered iron armor and ruptured muscles.
The recoil collapsed even the ground into a circular crater with a boom. Amid the remnants of the Inscribed Vermilion Radiant Star, who had exploded without leaving a recognizable form, Jeong Yeon-shin stood motionless, now cloaked in pale starlight.
He stood in front of the cart, shielding it.
The droplets of blood that poured down and scattered through the air could not soak into his pitch-black long robe. They fell away.
Footnotes:
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