WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 378: Under Heaven (2)
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Jeong Yeon-shin expanded his sharply honed aura sense in every direction.
The trajectories formed by every kind of weapon brushed against his skin with a chilling touch, while the techniques for wielding them in reverse formed radiant images in his mind.
The Ten Perfect Sect Masters’ eyes widened.
Whooom!
Jeong Yeon-shin spun the shaft of the crescent-bladed halberd broadly in one hand, then smoothly twisted at the waist.
The long halberd naturally traced a broad arc as it swept out behind him.
Boom!
The halberd pierced the abdomen of a Ten Perfect Sect Master charging from behind. A powerful shockwave erupted.
A furrow ripped across the ground beneath the Ten Perfect Sect Master, plowing up earth as the charge continued wildly. Translucent wind scattered from the halberd piercing through his back.
It was plainly a spear-strike force wave.
Jeong Yeon-shin narrowed his eyes slightly.
Grandmother Ak had honed it more sharply than this.
[That spear strike is mine...!]
[How is this possible?]
Jeong Yeon-shin released the halberd shaft, caught the falling axe, and immediately hurled it forward.
A propulsive force wave burst from his hand like colorless flame as he released the axe. The shield-bearing Ten Perfect Sect Master’s head exploded at once.
Boom!
The violent shockwave tore through the ground in all directions. Fragments of shattered rock shot high into the air like cannonballs.
[What...?!]
As the remaining enemies’ thoughts converged in shock, Jeong Yeon-shin concentrated Light Wheel qi into the Yongquan acupoint beneath his feet.
Wind wrapped around his entire body as he spun in place.
The encirclement formed by the Ten Perfect Sect Masters was already an ultimate move. It would have qualified as one even for a Lord of the Thirteen Heavens of the Demonic Sect.
Transcendent Martial Art.
It was his final measure. Since undergoing Marrow Cleansing and Bone Reforging, this was the first time Jeong Yeon-shin had been driven back so far.
If he broke this formation here, he would win.
It would mean striking back against the years accumulated by the Ten Perfect Sect Masters.
Kwang!
He struck one enemy’s nine-section whip with Radiant River from his palm. At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin unleashed the internal heavy-hand technique.
The palm force carried by Radiant River was driven into the whip and transmitted into the enemy’s grip.
Dust around him split sharply to either side like waves, and the hand clutching the nine-section whip twitched.
Another joint lock.
He wrapped the metal whip around in reverse, seized it, and hurled it at the sword-wielding Ten Perfect Sect Master, binding the enemy tightly.
With the other hand, he spun the staff in a dazzling reverse grip and drove it into another enemy’s solar plexus.
Clang!
A brief vibration traveled up to his elbow.
It was immensely powerful. He had properly unleashed Force Projection through the staff technique. The struck enemy’s body rippled like water.
[Urgh!]
The barehanded Ten Perfect Sect Master, the one that could be called the true body, staggered and groaned.
The layered blow against the Nascent Soul Spirit seemed to have reached the original body as well. It must have been because they were connected through spirituality.
[How dare a brat...!]
Jeong Yeon-shin faced the enemies rushing in as they regenerated their bodies once more.
Tap!
He caught the spear thrust rushing at him.
It was not difficult.
He created the exact same sword-gripping method and the same ripple of inner power in his grip. There was no resistance.
He deflected the spear shaft to the side. It pierced the neck of the enemy thrusting a hook from behind, and the air immediately erupted.
[This cannot... This cannot be!]
The barehanded Ten Perfect Sect Master unleashed aura.
Streams of inner energy connected to the Transcendent Martial Art clones.
Jeong Yeon-shin saw the enemy’s face, already twisted with bewilderment.
He stepped forward again.
An afterimage of his body remained behind him.
Colorless waves of inner power surged from his body, yet he moved far faster still.
It was Shifting Form, Changing Position.
[...]
Within a space that had become sluggish and slow as though submerged in a swamp, a place moving along a different axis of time within the realm of supreme transcendence.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes flashed blue as he moved swiftly.
Every weapon closing in to slash and smash apart his body fanned the sparks of inspiration rising within him.
Crack! Clang! Kwang!
Hundreds of trajectories intertwined.
Jeong Yeon-shin made every weapon held by the Ten Perfect Sect Masters his own.
He looked completely possessed.
There was no interval between one form and the next where there should have been one.
He caught flying spears and slammed them down. He deflected attacks so they pierced other enemies. Then he seized swords, sabers, axes, and long staves, driving them into others along complex trajectories.
Each time, the peak’s foundation sank lower with a boom.
Afterimages of his body threw the surroundings into chaos. Following the paths of dozens of techniques he unleashed, a huge tangle of threads made of light was carved into the air.
Then, at last.
He stood before the physical Ten Perfect Sect Master.
Jeong Yeon-shin’s afterimages, scattered in every direction, gathered into one place. His hand touched the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s abdomen.
Gales from Radiant River overlapped in two layers, swirling in his palm. The earth scraped violently with a grinding roar.
“That’s enough.”
[What...?!]
“There’s nothing to see in your barehanded fighting.”
Kwang!
A thunderous roar, as though lightning had struck the earth.
The ground rose dozens of jang high like a tidal wave and swallowed the surroundings.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master’s body flew away like an arrow. Fragments of Protective Qi Technique scattered from his body and mixed with the dust.
Like starlight faintly filling hazy clouds.
“...”
The crowd, which had been silent as though frozen for some time, fell into an even deeper silence.
No one moved, neither on the distant peaks nor along the nearby mountain paths packed with spectators.
Masters stood frozen on high branches with their arms folded, while those seated in sedan chairs beneath silk canopies as if attending a banquet stopped fanning themselves.
Even if peerless masters moved like rays of light, one could still roughly follow the flow of a martial contest.
That was because the Ten Perfect Sect Master had begun hesitating more and more toward the end of the fight.
Saaah.
Smoke thickly blanketed the hill.
It was as though a cloud had settled over the peak. Voices finally began to rise from all around.
Cries of confusion battered the mountain air as no one could make out the outcome.
Boom!
The massive cloud of dust was shredded apart like a whirlwind. The white divine sword streaked through the sky and embedded itself in the Leader of Demon Wings’ scabbard.
Dust in every direction was pushed away and vanished like ripples spreading over a lake.
The scene was laid bare.
The Leader of Demon Wings stood with one hand resting on the divine sword’s hilt, quietly watching ahead. Blood dripped from various places on his body, yet he did not look wretched.
His long black hair brought to mind a noble of the Blood Flame Sect.
Across from him lay the Ten Perfect Sect Master, limbs sprawled wide.
The armor that had been almost symbolic had fallen away. Fragments scattered around the body flashed beneath the sunlight.
Divine weapons and rare artifacts, still gleaming even under dirt, lay shattered to pieces.
There was only one.
No more clones remained.
Cough!
The Ten Perfect Sect Master, the Myriad Weapons Emperor, coughed up blood while lying on the ground.
It was a sight that silenced those who saw it.
“Has it ended? I thought celestial war gods were fighting...”
“Tell us! What happened?”
“...The Leader of Demon Wings is... standing alone.”
“They say the Dark King Among Flowers won!”
“Surely the Myriad Weapons Heavenly Lord did not...!”
The spectators closer to the front became quiet as mice, while those farther back, unable to properly see the battlefield, gradually grew restless.
The commotion instead brought the high-born figures at the front to their senses.
“Bring a messenger hawk! Do we still have all three?”
“How could the Leader of Demon Wings, a rising talent and not even the Annihilation Squad Leader, possibly...!”
“Prepare to send a matchmaker to the Desolate Fortress main fortress in Xiangyang. The second... No, there must have been many feats like this. The eldest child would be better.”
“Get a grip. You are the heir. Do not lose yourself here. Tell me what currents the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s defeat will bring to Sichuan’s merchant world.”
A massive uproar spread like wildfire.
Even so, few dared to casually take a step forward.
The consequences of the martial contest’s outcome would be enormous, but only one bout of the Grand Contest had just ended.
An immense crowd remained rooted in place, each person spilling out their own thoughts.
Screee!
Carrier pigeons and birds close to spiritual beasts fluttered into the air all around.
A Lord of the Thirteen Heavens of the Demonic Sect had lost to a Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress.
The martial world would shake.
“A mere Black Uniform has truly come this far.”
The Ten Perfect Sect Master lying on the ground slowly opened his mouth. He was not looking at Jeong Yeon-shin, but at the distant sun.
The Lords of the Thirteen Heavens were transcendent beings.
Even now, black inner power flickered in his eyes, allowing him to stare straight into the sunlight.
“What an absurd affair.”
The peerless master, the Myriad Weapons Emperor, spoke.
The aura throughout his body was steadily fading, yet his inner-energy breathing remained deep.
His voice pushed through a throat that must have been filled with blood, but it scarcely broke.
Jeong Yeon-shin watched him quietly before speaking.
“You should have expected it.”
“...Expected what?”
“Parasites that feed on commoners harmed even martial artists of the main fortress. This is not a martial contest.”
“Then what is it?”
“The nation’s punishment.”
“Ha... I should have expected punishment?”
The Ten Perfect Sect Master burst into laughter.
“Is that not nonsense from the beginning? No matter how powerful the Divine Sword Corps may be, it is divided into seventeen parts.
“If the martial sects joined forces even a little, they could avoid the danger of destruction and instead threaten you. Any sect possessing a peerless master would naturally take the likes of you lightly.”
“A corpse has a long tongue.”
Jeong Yeon-shin dismissed the enemy’s argument with the outcome. His voice was calm.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master could no longer speak.
“...”
“Die now.”
Perhaps those words reached him like a mantra.
Slowly.
The Ten Perfect Sect Master’s breathing stopped. The intangible aura that had densely flowed from his body also faded as if it had been a lie.
Only a corpse remained.
“Sect Master!”
“General! Great General!”
The Ten Perfect Sect disciples below rushed over, their armor clattering. Jeong Yeon-shin paid them no mind.
Killing the remaining Lords of the Thirteen Heavens came first. He needed to conserve his strength.
Then.
“Leader of Demon Wings!”
One of the disciples inspecting the Ten Perfect Sect Master’s corpse shouted. When they raised their head, their face was filled with resentment. Poisonous malice burned in their eyes.
“We are not our sect’s main force!”
“...?”
“Are you not curious? Where have the countless subordinate sects under our sect, the Pure Demon Alliance, and the Golden-Wing Sect gone? Where are the forces of Yeoryeong and the Tyrant Sword Sect that joined hands with our sect? Why has no one shown themselves...?!”
The disciple spilled out the words as though possessed by rage, then was struck across the back of the neck and collapsed.
It was the work of someone beside them, apparently a fellow disciple.
“We apologize to the Leader of Demon Wings. You are the rightful victor of this martial contest.”
The person cupped their hands in salute.
“We will now collect our sect master’s body and depart.”
Jeong Yeon-shin watched them silently, then he turned away.
They were underlings of the Thirteen Heavens. Even if Jeong Yeon-shin interrogated them, they would not reveal anything more.
Still, he counted the time inwardly. If the Pure Demon Alliance Leader or Golden-Wing Sect Master did not appear, he intended to descend the mountain at once.
He spoke after sending Light Wheel qi into his throat.
[Let the next traitor step forward.]
Whoosh!
A gust that had constantly swept up and down the hill rose with leaves in its wake. The hem of his blood-faded black long robe snapped violently.
* * *
The experts of the Qingcheng Sect and Ami Sect had concealed themselves in a cave on a nearby cliff.
The disciples accompanying the Ten Perfect Sect Master were far from elite masters, while the Pure Demon Alliance and Golden-Wing Sect had not shown themselves at all. They could not allow themselves to be caught off guard.
Rumble.
Yet even the masters of the Nine Sects, called immortals and bodhisattvas, could not escape the aftermath of the Grand Contest.
The crowds stomping their feet and raising a commotion above forced them to endure a light shower of stone fragments.
It was madness.
“The Leader of Demon Wings truly won. It still does not feel real.”
“It is strange. Achievements like that at such an age... That person can only be Bodhidharma reborn.”
“He is certainly beyond the level we saw at the Martial Alliance in Hanzhong. We must consider another Purple Uniform to have emerged in Desolate Fortress.”
Every word carried shock and helplessness.
The young rising talents were speaking together: the Qingcheng Sect’s Red Cloud Dragon, Ami Sect’s Golden Staff Divine Maiden, and the Jeomchang Sect’s Little Sword Empress.
“...”
The sect leaders of Qingcheng and Ami sat cross-legged at the cave entrance in silence.
Only air brushing quietly along the rock face stirred the hems at their shoulders.
“Abbess.”
The Qingcheng Sect leader, a young man in white Taoist robes with ears as sharp as blades, called to Abbess Baek Yak. She, the sect leader of Ami, turned her head.
“Speak.”
“I will step forward in the next martial contest.”
“The young benefactor will not allow it. That benefactor has a very gentle heart, but when it comes to decisions, is sharp as a blade.”
“A child must follow an adult’s words. Such is the natural order and law under heaven.”
“A child? There is no young man as dignified in appearance as that one.”
The Qingcheng Sect leader did not answer.
The Leader of Demon Wings of Desolate Fortress had sent the Ten Perfect Sect Master to the afterlife. He had done more than his share.
If he defeated the Lords of the Thirteen Heavens one after another, it would bring overwhelming fame. Yet they could not let him risk his life on even the slightest possibility.
Then it happened.
Whoooosh!
An energy that chilled their spines forced its way into the cave. For an instant, it felt as though heaven and earth had darkened in every direction.
It was overwhelming demonic qi.
It had appeared without warning.
“The Pure Demon Alliance Leader! Disciples, begin circulating your energy!”
“Do not open your mouths under any circumstances!”
At the Grand Contest grounds, on the hill of Unhoe Peak in distant Meishan.
An elderly woman clad in a pitch-black long robe was striding up through the mist.
Blackish footprints remained on the earth. Though she was hundreds of jang away, sinister energy spread toward them.
It felt suffocating.
Rumble.
Black ripples of inner power intermittently blotted out the sunlight. The sky flickered dimly.
The former Pure Demon Alliance Leader’s master.
She looked like the incarnation of Yama King of the Netherworld. Her presence alone compelled the crowd into silence.
The Qingcheng Sect leader rose like a painting. Blue and red energy alternated at the hem of his Taoist robe.
“Abbess, I will go now.”
“Mm...”
The Leader of Demon Wings, now facing the Pure Demon Alliance Leader, looked gravely imperiled.
Unlike the elderly woman’s demonic qi that swept around like a natural disaster, the young man simply stood still and looked around.
[You dared to call me a monkey. That is why you stand there so disrespectfully.]
“Old woman, you came at the right time.”
[Your judgment is laughable. Do you think I am on the same level as some fallen Imperial Army lackey?]
Demonic qi contained within the Pure Demon Alliance Leader’s voice surged in all directions.
Majestic was the fitting word.
Nothing could obstruct the overwhelming aura.
“There is something I need to hear from you.”
The moment the Leader of Demon Wings finished speaking.
Whooom!
The Eighteen Weapons scattered across the hill rose into the air all at once.
It was a familiar sight to the crowd. Every weapon spun on its own as it slowly encircled the Leader of Demon Wings and the Pure Demon Alliance Leader.
It was a strange harmony.
No one could tell whether it was Myriad Flowers Rain or the principles of sword-control techniques.
Crackle. Crackle.
Auspicious white light flashed among the blades tracing a great circle. Beams of light repeatedly raced from one place to another before vanishing, like lightning.
As several Ami Sect monastics watching from the cliff invoked Amitabha Buddha, the Pure Demon Alliance Leader’s lips moved.
“...Let us say that I lost.”
Step.
The Qingcheng Sect leader, just about to kick off the ground and leap forward, hesitated.
Footnotes:
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