WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 374: Grand Contest (4)
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A peerless master whom the world also called a Buddha Venerable.
Master Baek Yak was, in every sense, an object of reverence who led one of the Nine Sects.
Her qi storage could only be close to the limits of the human body.
There was no reason to burn food into inner power. At her age, she ought to take proper care of her body.
‘Is she listening?’
Jeong Yeon-shin paused in the middle of a speech that had become unusually impassioned.
The sect leader of the Ami Sect was smiling. The faint upward curve of her lips brought to mind the Buddha’s flower-sermon smile.
Since her mouth had been set in a stern line before, even that slight relaxation stood out all the more.
Was it a rare sight?
The expressions of the monks seated on either side changed. Some parted their lips slightly, while others raised their brows. It was as though their vows of silence had been broken.
They were nothing like before, when they had sat without a word while noisily exchanging sound transmissions.
Amid all that, Master Baek Yak slowly opened her mouth.
“Benefactor, you are a master of Dynamic Training.”
Her voice carried a faint smile. It was exceedingly gentle. Jeong Yeon-shin almost smiled in return, then simply answered in an even tone.
“I have some skill in it.”
“That also means your way of seeing differs from others. There may be many forms of Dynamic Training in this land, but most follow much the same course.”
“What?”
“The way you look upon the outer shells of living beings is special. Like a parent watching over a child, or a grandchild worrying for their grandparents... Your view reveals the mnemonic formula, and the formula contains intent. This old nun’s heart has grown warm.”
With a few words, she had pierced the hidden meaning of the Jeong Family Youth Technique.
It was truly incredible.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes widened slightly. In contrast, gentle wrinkles formed around Master Baek Yak’s eyes as they curved downward.
“Only now do I understand the sacrifice you made, Benefactor.”
“What do you mean?”
“I speak of the public notice you wrote to spread word of the Grand Contest throughout the realm. The dispositions of Demonic Sect rabble are as unruly as a monkey’s fur, so they are not easily gathered in one place. Yet with your challenge letter, you rebuked them so fiercely that they could not retreat.”
Master Baek Yak straightened her narrow shoulders slightly and continued in a low voice.
“When I first saw those words, this old nun was reminded of the Tyrant Hero in his hot-blooded youth. He sought only the peace of the people, following wherever his heart led.”
“My maternal grandfather...?”
“It was a shallow thought. Benefactor had donned an ill-fitting guise to draw attention, yet this old nun failed to consider the Buddha’s saying: If I do not enter hell, who will?”
“Ah.”
“To post a public notice throughout the realm is to take on a very heavy burden. With every letter, you cannot help but worry over the eyes of the world... You must have endured a great deal.”
“I am ashamed.”
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his chin slightly as he answered. Perhaps because he stood before a monk, something weighed on his mind, and he stopped halfway through nodding.
Master Baek Yak smiled faintly.
“I shall tell this sect’s disciples. Once this Grand Contest is over, Ami will receive the Leader of Demon Wings as an honored guest. Please visit the temple when it is rebuilt one day. If relics should emerge from this old nun’s body after death, you may make an offering at the reliquary.”
“I will come to see the sect leader while you are still alive.”
“Judging by your expression, Benefactor has no intention of yielding the Golden-Wing Sect Master to this old nun.”
“She is the enemy of the main fortress’s martial artists.”
“I understand. Then this old nun can only hope that the Body Movement Scripture is swifter than Benefactor’s. Whoever steps onto the contest platform first will face the Golden-Wing Sect Master.”
“My Ten Miles of Deep Light differs from the Ami Sect’s Body Movement Scripture. It is weaker in the principle of movement within stillness and stronger in speed and sudden changes in direction. Please give up and take care of your lower back.”
Low laughter rose from Master Baek Yak and the Ami monks.
For once, Jeong Yeon-shin’s words reached them not as provocation, but as sincere concern. It was a comfortable gathering. The Nine Sects were still the Nine Sects.
“Ami is also a martial sect of the martial world, so it would be troublesome to show Desolate Fortress too much favor... Yet after clearing up my misunderstanding of Benefactor’s conduct, I cannot stop my heart from turning toward you.”
Master Baek Yak looked at the Leader of Demon Wings with clear eyes.
The young man before her would not know how many secular sects and high officials climbed Mount Ami in hopes of gaining worldly profit from a few words by her sect.
Monks who shattered boulders. Taoists who walked upon empty space.
The nine major factions called the Nine Sects held great renown as Buddhist temples and Taoist shrines as well.
Their power to move the hearts of the people sometimes reached as far as the Forbidden City in Beijing.
But none of that concerned the Leader of Demon Wings.
“I have considered several ways to deal with the Golden-Wing Sect Master,” Jeong Yeon-shin said. Master Baek Yak answered while rolling her prayer beads, and several Ami monks occasionally joined the discussion.
The Nine Sects’ distinctive open, easygoing atmosphere faded away.
- The Leader of Demon Wings’ disposition differs greatly from what we heard. All the years I spent reciting the Lotus Sutra have been wasted.
- We thought too highly of that benefactor’s maternal grandfather for nothing. If one seeks to enter the Samadhi of the Immeasurable Abode through martial arts, one must not be swayed by prejudice...
- Did he not bestow the eye technique of a peerless master through the workings of a kind heart? It would be right to call him a bodhisattva.
As the faint incense-like fragrance of the temple thinned, quiet conversation flowed on.
“Benefactor.”
“Yes, Master.”
“If we are both alive after the Grand Contest, come and ask this old nun about the Pact of Mount Hua. It concerns the Tyrant Hero,” Master Baek Yak said.
Confusion appeared in Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes. The Pact of Mount Hua. It was something the Blood Flame Sect Master had mentioned in passing on the day his maternal grandfather’s blue flames burned the Blood Flame Sect Master.
It was said to be an agreement made between the Tyrant Hero and the masters of the Nine Sects in their youth.
Jeong Yeon-shin nodded slightly.
“I will.”
“Then it would be best to leave the young woman in there behind before you come.”
Master Baek Yak glanced past Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder. Her gaze was deep and profound. Within the old nun’s pitch-black eyes lay a night sky without a single star.
At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin’s shadow rippled eerily.
* * *
He heard many things over two days.
- You must be wary of the Dragon-Slaying Scale-Treading Body Art. It is the Golden-Wing Sect Master’s Body Movement Scripture. Her ability to increase her speed in an instant is no less formidable than peerless technical variations. This old nun nearly suffered a great loss as well.
- If Benefactor should face the Golden-Wing Sect Master, I think it would be best to refrain from using Myriad Flowers Rain at that time. Her Heaven-Turning Dragon-Slaying Form had broad trajectories, yet there was no opening to slip through. It is a martial art that fills every route with fierce force waves...
- Do not be deceived by the appearance of the Golden-Wing Sect Master, famous as the Beauty of Sichuan, nor by the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s mild-tempered appearance. The number of common people of every rank they have sent to their deaths in the Sichuan martial world...
It was not only Master Baek Yak and the Ami Sect monks.
The Tang Family Head and the Little Sword Empress of the Jeomchang Sect each came to see Jeong Yeon-shin separately and told him many things. The Little Sword Empress was not particularly helpful.
During that time, Jeong Yeon-shin had to send off Xiahou Wi-jin and Cheon So-so again after briefly reuniting with them at the Tang Sect.
They needed to gather the martial artists of the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad, Immortal Wood Spirit Squad, and Swift Heaven Wing Squad who were scattered everywhere.
Now that the world had fallen into chaos, martial artists bearing the character for Desolation on their shoulders were bound to become targets for all kinds of martial-world people. It was even worse in this year of famine.
“Ha! Those beggars know how generously the main fortress equips its people. Even the Desolate Sword is a precious blade that is hard to obtain in the outside world, so rootless wandering martial artists who don’t know their place are rushing in like moths to a flame. Even a White Uniform of the main fortress will eventually die far from home if they keep exhausting their strength.”
“I’ll be back by the day of the Grand Contest.”
Xiahou Wi-jin and Cheon So-so continued to glance back even after they had gone far enough to become tiny dots.
Their movements were filled with concern. Perhaps it troubled them to leave their junior in the Golden-Wing Sect Master’s grasp. It was unlike when they had faced the Guimyeong Overlord in the Flood Dragon Formation.
After that, even the banquet on the eve of the Grand Contest passed quietly.
The masters of the orthodox sects hardly spoke. Not even the sound of utensils clinking could be heard.
The one who had massacred the northern demon race, the teacher of the previous Pure Demon Alliance Leader, the one who had torn apart and eaten a serpent dragon’s inner core.
They said it was the first time that three Lords of the Thirteen Heavens of Sichuan had gathered in one place.
Having lost all its successors, the Tang Sect showed concern that it might lose even its benefactor.
Qingcheng and Ami secluded themselves that night, seeming to spend their remaining time with their sect leaders.
That was the state of the highest ranks of the Sichuan martial world. It proved just how great an impact this Grand Contest would have.
Step.
After drinking several cups of Shao Xing, Jeong Yeon-shin left the banquet hall alone.
As he slowly walked over the dark earth through the night air, where low voices occasionally echoed, he saw boys and girls playing in a corner.
Children of the Tang Sect’s collateral lines.
At a glance, they were in the same position as Jeong Yeon-shin. They could not bear the atmosphere among the adults.
“Next. I’m next.”
“I want another turn. Push me ten more times.”
“I already did it twenty-five times...!”
“This time, I really mean it.”
They seemed to be arguing over the swing set up for the Dano Festival. The way they whispered, got angry, and argued back was rather cute.
“Are we waiting again? I want Brother Yeo-hwa to hold me and fly through the air.”
“Sister Ryeo-ryeo made me jump higher.”
The names of the Twin Dragons and Phoenixes of Poison siblings came up. Poison Dragon Tang Yeo-hwa and Poison Phoenix Tang Ryeo-ryeo. Even as children, they were blood relatives of the Tang Sect.
Their expressions darkened at once, as if they knew of the two siblings’ deaths. The words Flood Dragon Formation were mentioned as well.
From a distance, Jeong Yeon-shin stood alone until the children left.
Then his waist suddenly felt heavy.
“...”
After getting some air, he placed the plate of food he had brought from the banquet hall over his shadow. It was a dish of dumplings.
Sssss.
Nothing happened. Only time passed quietly.
Before long, dawn began to break in the distance.
Its faint light spread until it reached his feet. The soundless light of daybreak settled on the ropes of the Dano swing.
Then it slowly moved to Jeong Yeon-shin’s waist sash, then to the hilt of his sword, where it flashed white in an instant.
He suddenly gave his divine sword a name.
Lingering Thunder.
The thunderbolt left behind on earth.
* * *
A day that storytellers would speak of for years to come.
That was the view of some among those who had turned Meishan in Sichuan Province into a state of uproar. In certain circles, it was practically accepted as fact.
No qualification was needed to watch peerless masters fight.
People were bound to gather. Something was about to happen that would drastically change not only the Sichuan martial world, but even the situation in nearby regions.
The dozens of peaks that made up Meishan were packed with people who had gathered from morning onward. Countless others had claimed their spots before dawn.
“Move aside! Can’t you tell at a glance that this spot is reserved?”
“Were you talking to me?”
“I’m a martial artist too! Do you think wearing an eyepatch makes you look impressive... Hm? What is that tiger pattern... Don’t tell me?”
“Move. It is only out of regard for the Ten Perfect Sect Master that I do not draw my sword.”
“Lie down! Lie down right here!”
The crowd swelled like gathering clouds.
The mountain paths grew packed tight. Not only martial artists with swords at their waists, but large groups from merchant companies and escort agencies had arrived, and the common people were too numerous to count.
Here and there, even high officials in fine robes sat beneath awnings spread over the cliffs.
Like an army gathered on a battlefield, they all shouted loudly enough to resemble thunder. It was a remarkable sight, as though every kind of person from all walks of life had gathered here beyond the martial world.
Then noon arrived.
Footnotes:
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