WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 377: Under Heaven
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Step.
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters stopped in place as they surrounded Jeong Yeon-shin.
There were twelve identical figures. Sunlight silently poured over the white armor that symbolized the Myriad Weapons Heavenly Lord and the Myriad Weapons Emperor.
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin held a small axe.
It was the hand axe that had been knocked away by Radiant River earlier. Several hairline cracks ran across its head, but it still looked usable.
Perhaps it was because it had taken a hastily unleashed Radiant River rather than one delivered at full strength.
Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s axe work.
‘There was no form to it.’
A strike that looked like a wild chop, a roughly formed inner-energy barrier, and a move that lightly diverted force waves.
Yet he had blocked Radiant River properly. He had not seemed to cultivate any profound axe art.
‘Come to think of it...’
The first martial art Jeong Yeon-shin had encountered at Desolate Fortress was Demon's Light.
It was renowned for teaching proper use of the body and for its mnemonic formula, which could be applied to any exotic weapon. Yet until now, he had mostly used fists, kicks, and a sword to slay his enemies.
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered the hand axe slightly. If he studied another weapon deeply, could he too set foot in Transcendent Martial Art?
Then.
[Your swordsmanship and footwork are certainly masterful.]
The twelve spoke as they surrounded Jeong Yeon-shin. Rather than eerie, they were simply overwhelming, even with identical smiles on their faces.
[But what do you intend to do with that? Axe work can only gain useful subtleties when practiced on a battlefield.]
“Isn't this a battlefield too?”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly. The hand axe in his left hand spun in place.
He had raised a faint force wave from his palm to turn it, but it obeyed his will better than expected.
Light reflected from the axe blade shone across one Ten Perfect Sect Master's face.
That satisfied smile stood out against the hazy backlight. He did not look like someone who had lost disciples to Jeong Yeon-shin.
[Since there are twelve of me, you are right. It would be difficult to find a battlefield this grand anywhere Under Heaven.]
“The Sect Master is broad-minded. I appreciate the kindness.”
[...Kindness?]
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer.
He had maintained the Heaven-Displaying Eye Technique in both eyes for some time. The light in his gaze had first turned sky blue before deepening into rich azure as it swept over his enemies.
‘Strange.’
From the perspective of inner-energy study, all of them were no different from the Ten Perfect Sect Master he had exchanged blows with moments ago.
The aura radiating from all twelve bodies was identical. Their forms were only slightly blurred, as though made of smoke.
‘Transcendent Martial Art.’
The shape, spacing, and density of the inner power waves washing in every direction were all the same.
It meant their first attacks would always be equal to those of the original Ten Perfect Sect Master.
Jeong Yeon-shin wondered what sort of realization that was.
[Your eyes are unsettling. What are you thinking?]
The Ten Perfect Sect Master who had stepped forward last to seize the axe spoke.
His face looked as though he had witnessed something deeply unpleasant. This body stood closest to Jeong Yeon-shin, and unlike the other Ten Perfect Sect Masters, its outline was clear.
‘I won't know unless I experience it myself.’
Jeong Yeon-shin set aside his thoughts about the principles of Transcendent Martial Art.
Immediately afterward, the Ten Perfect Sect Master's figure suddenly filled his vision. He rushed in barehanded.
The sight of the air burning colorlessly from his two open hands was spectacular.
[Though not a weapon, there is one art counted among the eighteen martial weapons.]
[Barehanded combat.]
The other Ten Perfect Sect Masters moved as well. In a single step, they took positions to Jeong Yeon-shin's left and right.
[I have no interest in your insolence.]
[But if we do not avenge our comrades and disciples here, who would wish to become a disciple of our sect?]
They spoke through intent faster than lip-speech, each aiming a crescent-bladed halberd at Jeong Yeon-shin's side or bringing a crescent-bladed saber down upon his crown.
Front, left, and right.
There were three points of impact. The air rippled translucently.
Jeong Yeon-shin twisted his waist slightly and gripped Lingering Thunder's hilt. The Record of the Dharma Light Wheel began racing through the acupoints across his body like lightning.
He lowered his stance, stepped forward, and spun with his sword.
Shhk!
He passed straight by the Ten Perfect Sect Master who had lunged from the front with a punch. It was Wind Body. For a brief instant, the sensation of blade scraping armor bit into his grip.
Dust swirled beneath his feet.
The recoil of his movement art and sword strike created a rapidly spreading vortex of force waves. It wrapped around his trouser hems, rose upward, and caught the crescent-bladed halberd and crescent-bladed saber that had followed behind him.
He had turned even the aftershock of his strike into an attack.
Whoooosh!
The trajectories of the two weapons twisted.
For an instant, it felt as though the sky behind Jeong Yeon-shin had opened wide. The space occupied by the two Ten Perfect Sect Masters had been filled with force waves so dense and formidable.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned on the spot.
That alone freed him cleanly from the chained three-strike assault. It was a complete counter.
Swish.
Sunlight ran down Lingering Thunder's blade, held low by the Leader of Demon Wings.
His Black Uniform long robe, stained with dirt at the hems, gave off an air of solitude that still made him difficult to approach. His long hair deepened that impression.
The bearing of a martial artist nearing completion.
It was a hardy beauty. Exclamations rose from the crowd, which had been left dazed by the Ten Perfect Sect Master's bizarre shifts of position.
[An astonishing Body Movement Scripture. Lightness skill and movement art combined.]
The barehanded Ten Perfect Sect Master touched his ribs. A straight sword mark remained on his armor. It proved that the Leader of Demon Wings' sword strike had split through his Protective Qi Technique in an instant.
[It has the qualities of the elven race, but it is far cleaner and faster. It must be the martial lineage you created.]
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his eyelids slightly.
He felt the lingering sensation on his sword hilt. Cutting through the Protective Qi Technique had not been the end of it. The Ten Perfect Sect Master's armor was infused with qi.
It would not be easy to leave a fatal wound. The situation did not allow him to focus completely on a single sword strike.
He also replayed the movements of the crescent-bladed halberd and crescent-bladed saber that had entered his aura sense moments ago. Even those brief exchanges contained the mysteries of weapon arts.
Then.
Step. Step.
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters approached.
[They say the current Leader of Demon Wings' martial arts fall into one of two types.]
[A brief, decisive battle. Either you settle the fight quickly and cleanly, or you press your enemy with dazzling force.]
[Yet right now, it is neither.]
[Are you prepared to die?]
They spoke leisurely, one after another, and spread apart. Their condescension toward Jeong Yeon-shin seemed perfectly natural to him.
Whoosh!
The sky rippled faintly.
An enormous pressure began filling the space. As though a combined attack by three would not be enough, they formed a circular encirclement and closed in.
Jeong Yeon-shin shook the axe in his left hand.
Pang!
It felt good in his grip. It was far inferior to the divine sword Lingering Thunder, but its balance from blade to handle was not bad.
‘I need to save my strength.’
He intended to defeat three leaders of the Thirteen Heavens here today.
He could not retreat. Desolate Fortress's blood debt had to be repaid by martial artists of the main fortress, and Ami Sect's leader could not be killed by the Golden-Wing Sect Master.
[We thank you for creating such a grand stage.]
[Our sect shall rise again even without a flood dragon's inner core.]
[You may cross the Sanzu River now.]
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters spoke from within the encirclement. Was it the ease unique to an absolute master? Their rough voices somehow carried a lofty air.
Then.
All the Ten Perfect Sect Masters vanished at once.
It was a leap of lightness skill.
A sharp crutch weapon covered the sky first. It was a long sickle. Behind him, a heavy sound of something cleaving the air boomed.
A Ten Perfect Sect Master bearing a shield charged in with fierce force.
Jeong Yeon-shin clenched his axe-bearing hand into a fist.
A translucent current flowed from his shoulder to his fist. A dense force wave characteristic of a powerful fist. Jeong Yeon-shin spun in place at dazzling speed and struck the shield.
Sihwa Boundless Hand, Second Form, True Barrier.
Kwang!
Layered ripples burst from the point of impact. The Force Projection of peerless masters had collided.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master flew backward with the shield, which was covered in hairline cracks.
The ground caught in the shockwave surged like a tidal wave and crashed over the surroundings. As his hair rose straight upward, he felt the hooked blade cut in.
Shhk!
A hot sensation seared his shoulder. He had been grazed by broadly spreading sword qi.
His own blood flashed red at the edge of his vision, but Jeong Yeon-shin did not activate the Protective Qi Technique he had newly devised.
He had no intention of showing it in advance to the Golden-Wing Sect Master, who would be watching the martial contest.
Without even looking back, he swung Lingering Thunder upward behind him.
A powerful ring traveled from the blade to his elbow. The body of the sickle, blocked by Lingering Thunder, bent elastically in place.
‘This is a divine weapon too.’
Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
The divine dragon that rose in his mind carried a fan in its mouth and coiled around Lingering Thunder.
The moment he opened his hand, Lingering Thunder curved around the sickle, sliced through the neck of the Ten Perfect Sect Master below, and embedded itself in the ground.
The enemy had no chance to launch another spear strike.
Boom!
The ground struck by Lingering Thunder shook violently.
[Are there around ten layers of force waves stacked in that fist strike? I can't take it head-on.]
The Ten Perfect Sect Master who had landed far away with the shield raised his blurred body.
[Your qi storage is one thing, but your control of inner energy is truly monstrous.]
A new head was appearing on the one whose neck had been cut while holding the crescent-bladed halberd, as though he possessed the ability to regenerate.
‘I understand the basics now.’
Jeong Yeon-shin felt qi streaming toward them like water.
They were invisible channels of inner energy. They flowed from the body of the barehanded Ten Perfect Sect Master standing in the distance with his arms folded.
It seemed spirituality had merged with inner power to form clones.
There was a name for such a phenomenon in Daoist study. Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.
“I thought the Nascent Soul Spirit was the ultimate technique used by Wudang Sect's High Sword.”
[You noticed?]
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters smiled.
[That Taoist proved a great inspiration. Though he uses it differently from me.]
“Are you acquainted?”
[The Nine Sects are Buddhist temples and Taoist monasteries. They cannot expand their influence unless the imperial court turns a blind eye, so they often have to follow the Emperor's will.
They hunt and kill spiritual beasts and demon monsters, or they are conscripted to the northern front as a martial army.]
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters did not stop walking.
Step.
The bushes that had raised their green heads as though welcoming spring crushed themselves and returned beneath the soil. The pressure grew heavier with every step that narrowed the distance.
It was not because of inner power. In terms of qi storage, Jeong Yeon-shin held the advantage.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master's intent, laden with immense spirituality, was simply shaping some kind of technique at that moment.
Something that pierced through the mysteries of the eighteen martial weapons and influenced this land with power beyond qi.
Shhhh.
[The fellow martial artists were curious.]
Holding different weapons from the eighteen martial weapons, they surrounded every direction in a circular encirclement close to a rotating formation.
[If one digs many wells, one cannot reach great depths. So how did I become a peerless master by attaining mastery over the eighteen martial weapons?]
They resembled the clone technique of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven in a painting. Each took an opening stance suited to a different weapon.
[Because I handle the principles of weapons.]
The space seemed blocked by an invisible hemispherical barrier. No air moved through it.
It was as though a formation had been deployed. This was a transformation that had begun to exceed the realm of martial arts.
Lords of the Thirteen Heavens. The pinnacle of the Demonic Sect.
Whooom!
It began without warning. The first strike came from a meteor hammer. A cord bearing a massive metal ball ripped through the air as it flew in.
It targeted his shoulder. A direct hit would dislocate it. A roar rang out as though several hundred fist fighters had thrown punches at once.
Overwhelming Force Projection had been fully poured into it. Jeong Yeon-shin concentrated Light Wheel qi from the arm holding the axe to the Jianyu acupoint in his shoulder.
Clang!
The instant he knocked the meteor hammer up with the axe, the ground sank with a boom. In that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin felt qi invade all the way to the bones of his wrist. It was a move carrying the internal heavy-hand technique.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master wielding the meteor hammer retreated. He had faded after expending his strength in that strike.
As he became clear again, Ten Perfect Sect Masters wielding a nine-section whip, a crescent-bladed halberd, a crescent-bladed saber, and a sword flew in, their weapons flashing with cold light.
Shhhhk!
Lines of light marked the necks of two of them. The backwind from the sword-control techniques tore the dust apart in a circle.
As two figures flew away, still clutching the nine-section whip and crescent-bladed halberd, the divine sword Lingering Thunder began spinning broadly in every direction.
Five figures on the outer edge of the encirclement rushed toward Lingering Thunder with swift lightness skill.
Jeong Yeon-shin was trapped by seven opponents. He had to invoke the mnemonic formula of Sihwa Boundless Hand with his bare hands. Both hands held the explosive force of Radiant River.
Clang! Kwang!
He knocked aside a spear strike with the back of his hand and crushed sword qi in his grip. Each time, the broad peak shook as a whole.
There were blades everywhere. It felt as though he had been surrounded by Blade Mountain Hell.
Clouds of dust twisted violently into spirals again and again, while shockwaves erupted at intervals, bursting out in ten or twenty layers of ripples.
They gradually became faster.
They were peerless masters. Their attack speeds reached their limits with frightening speed. Once the clash took shape, every figure blurred in an instant.
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters only became distinct at times because their bodies had to receive qi with a delay. Even then, hundreds of rays of light continued to imprison Jeong Yeon-shin.
While the trajectories of countless weapons roared without pause, the radiance gathered in Jeong Yeon-shin's eyes flowed here and there like streams of blue water, following his movements and the turns of his head.
[That movement is enough to found a school. Your attainments surpass those of any of the Eight Family Heads Under Heaven!]
[If the Fighting God had seen you, he would have taken you as a disciple rather than cut you down. You must never go north.]
[What a pity you lack the years!]
[Given at least ten years, the martial world might have seen the Number One Under Heaven...]
Shhk! Splurt!
The nine-section whip struck his side, and force waves from the Ten Perfect Sect Master's palm split one shoulder, yet he felt no pain. Only the exhilaration flooding his mind grew stronger.
He had never received such abundant fortune from an enemy. Hundreds of trajectories filled his vision without pause.
Sabers, swords, spears, shields, great axes, nine-section whips, staves... Rays of light bent through countless changes in the air and carved themselves into his mind like burning brands.
From the ancient Song era to the present day.
The eighteen martial weapons were a group of weapons established across generations. They contained centuries.
How could a life that might not even last nineteen years dare approach that depth?
Boom!
The sound rang inside the crown of his head. A lightning bolt of joy exploded in his mind alongside the inferiority he felt over his painfully short lifespan.
Inborn talent only helped. From the depths of his heart, greed and resentment over time rose like wildfire.
He wanted to see it. He had to.
He let his body move as it wished. He could entrust himself to the flow of dodging, turning, and striking without thought.
He raised his aura sense to its fullest. Every Ten Perfect Sect Master entered his awareness.
Jeong Yeon-shin traced the trajectories they produced, their sword-gripping methods, and the mysteries of their force waves with keen focus. It was like the gaze of the Seventh Apostle he had once encountered.
‘Ah.’
Something like a wave flowed in.
It was the same sensation he had experienced in the Gwi-myeong Tyrant King's Transcendent Martial Art.
Time.
Overwhelming time wrapped around his upper dantian like clouds. The soft, swelling sensation was satisfying. Images containing every weapon here were bound into one volume inside his mind.
A book of mental images. Its roughly written pages fluttered past. There was much blank space, but Jeong Yeon-shin did not care. There was plenty of room for annotations.
[You do not account for your follow-up moves. They said a brief, decisive battle was your strength.]
[It is over.]
Their voices rang above his head. Two Ten Perfect Sect Masters were bringing down a crescent-bladed halberd and a staff.
As though they had already changed their moves several times, the force waves that had turned into white and black lightning unleashed violent ripples.
Jeong Yeon-shin flicked his fingers.
White Finger Wind struck up their arms with a pair of bangs. As the two arms blurred like creasing sleeves, the force waves of their attacks rapidly weakened.
At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin threw the axe over his head and activated a joint lock. He spread both hands wide and wrapped around the weapons of the two enemies.
Snap!
[...!]
The next moment, Jeong Yeon-shin held the Heaven-Piercing Halberd and staff in his hands. His black sleeves billowed sharply to either side.
‘Ten seconds.’
He thought.
Footnotes:
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