WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 386: Divine Sword Corps (2)
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A propulsive force wave exploded beneath Jeong Yeon-shin's feet. He had unleashed Radiant River with his leg. His rising knee strike could not have been any faster.
The Golden-Wing Sect Master snapped out of her daze and quickly crossed both hands before her abdomen.
Inner-energy weapons shaped like raptor claws crossed in opposite directions, scattering golden afterimages. Then Yeon-shin's knee, rising as if to split space itself, drove into them.
KWA-A-A-A-ANG!
The ground overturned across a wide area, flinging gray-white stone dust in every direction.
Some of the dust, pulverized into fine powder, briefly gathered in the air and burrowed outward, but it was swallowed by the shockwave from that single exchange.
"Don't you feel it? It should've grown a little denser by now."
Yeon-shin asked suddenly.
The Golden-Wing Sect Master's brows drew together slightly. It was the first reaction he had seen from her. Was it because the life-and-death duel was not going as she wished?
"Your force waves don't build up inside my body. They unravel each time they touch me."
She was referring to the accumulation of Force Projection. Normally, repeatedly enduring strikes imbued with the internal heavy-hand technique would leave the inside of one's body in ruins. The opponent's force waves accumulated in the acupoints.
That did not apply to the Golden-Wing Sect Master. Her Heaven-Governing Dragon-Slaying Art absorbed the flood dragon's nature.
Yeon-shin nodded slightly. The gesture held several meanings.
An old story his father, Jeong Ban-ak, had told him passed through his mind.
"When a thing reaches its extreme, it must reverse. When a person's suffering and adversity reach their utmost, they are bound to see a turn. But your mother... my wife's life ended in pain so great it made that saying meaningless. Entirely, entirely because of you... I wanted to give her happiness."
The principle that extremes reversed.
It would become the decisive key to hunting the Golden-Wing Sect Master today.
"If you keep abusing your body like that, it will become useless."
She had stopped Yeon-shin's knee with her crossed arms. This was different from before, when she had attacked without pause.
Sichuan's Greatest Martial Artist had finally displayed a proper defensive form.
That carried great meaning, even as Yeon-shin's leg bones twisted out of place beneath the knee.
Azure Flame wrapped around the Golden-Wing Sect Master's body, crackling as it scattered feathers of sparks. Her Protective Qi Technique had grown immensely denser.
A cold smile touched Yeon-shin's eyes.
"Isn't it enough for my heart to remain whole?"
"I'm worried your heart will be strained as well."
"Your concern is excessive."
Crack.
The part below his knee, dislocated by the recoil of that blow, twisted back into place. Inner energy bound his muscles tight and set the broken bone.
The image of his mother within his qi remained with Yeon-shin throughout the battle.
"That Youth Technique..."
The Golden-Wing Sect Master's eyes widened slightly. The inner-energy control of those called peerless masters was all close to miraculous, but the Leader of Demon Wings' physical toughness and constant recovery were plainly remarkable.
His inability to regenerate flesh that had been blown away was nothing beside that resilience.
"You created it, didn't you? What kind of mnemonic formula did you devise?"
"Think of your parents who have passed on."
The conversation between peerless masters mad for martial arts remained calm.
Yeon-shin spoke again, addressing the Golden-Wing Sect Master as she seemed to contemplate his answer.
One question and one answer. Since he had shared something precious, there was something he wanted to hear.
"Do you have two Transcendent Martial Arts?"
"...A Transcendent Martial Art is time. There cannot be two. You wouldn't understand."
The Golden-Wing Sect Master spoke with one shoulder exposed where her sleeve had been cut away earlier. Yeon-shin broadened his awareness while keeping her in sight.
An endlessly blue plateau. Mountain ridges and caves formed from the Golden-Wing Sect Master's immense qi and sorcery power. Blue sunlight pouring down, even though it should have been evening outside.
"Why did you use a Transcendent Martial Art to target people instead of the flood dragon?"
"The mortal world is troublesome. There were many times when I had to use power meant for dragons against strong humans."
Perhaps she had recalled something unpleasant.
The Golden-Wing Sect Master suddenly furrowed her brow and spread both arms wide.
Boom!
Yeon-shin was thrown more than a hundred feet through the hazy dust, then drove both feet into the ground. Even if his bones had been properly reset, his knee had broken once.
A dull ache climbed from his feet through his legs, but he first weighed the truth of her words.
Human sacrifices and the plundering of dharma treasures. Those were the Golden-Wing Sect's deeds, acts committed to open the formation created by the flood dragon.
'It is probably true that she only has one Transcendent Martial Art.'
The spirituality nestled beneath his Baihui acupoint whispered the same.
That was enough. He no longer had anything to hesitate over.
Just then, the Golden-Wing Sect Master's small face rapidly grew larger in his sight. Her Dragon-Slaying Scale-Treading Body Art was nearly akin to a Shrinking-Ground Technique over short distances.
The fragrance of liquor, thick as a body scent, struck him. From each hand sprang three long golden claws, sharp as sword blades, warping the air.
Rumble!
The ground rippled beneath them. It was a natural disaster that greatly strengthened the Golden-Wing Sect Master's True Step while overturning Yeon-shin's balance.
As she kneaded space to her will with her Transcendent Martial Art, she carved six golden streaks through the air. In that brief instant, the variations within her Claw Arts curved dozens of times as they targeted Yeon-shin's entire body.
Clangclangclang!
The divine sword Lingering Thunder joined the onslaught.
Dozens of layered shockwaves burst from every direction. His Black Uniform long robe, woven of heavenly silkworm silk, was torn to pieces.
The sensation of cloth brushing over his skin came with pain.
[You call me an evil heretic.]
"...!"
[I am the one protecting you. Do you know how many supernatural phenomena have descended upon this land since the founding of the dynasty? The flood dragon stands at their apex.]
The voice rang from all directions, like Six Directions Voice Transmission. The ground shook, and thickets and boulders released waves of inner power.
The domain formed by the Golden-Wing Sect Master's Transcendent Martial Art was responding to her.
For the first time, emotion entered her voice. It was as though she were delivering last rites to an equal who would soon die.
Yeon-shin felt as if the entire world had turned against him.
Wooooong! KWA-A-A-ANG!
Every one of her attacks began to tear through each instant. The force waves behind them were truly explosive.
Perhaps she had fully realized Yeon-shin's talent and the power of the Jeong Family Youth Technique through their repeated exchanges. She seemed intent on leaving nothing in reserve.
Every attack was an ultimate move. Streaks of golden radiance flashed like the bars of a thunder prison.
They imprisoned Yeon-shin's body and burst his flesh apart with terrifying force. He could not properly knock them away.
It differed from before. The number of exchanges rose in the blink of an eye.
One hundred and twenty moves, one hundred and fifty, two hundred...
Her movements were as fast as a Golden-Winged Bird transformed into light. She gave Yeon-shin no time to counter the counterform.
Thud! Slash!
Blood droplets borne on layers of translucent ripples scattered in every direction.
Until Yeon-shin's voice suddenly rang from all eight directions.
[Are you not one of those supernatural phenomena as well?]
[What...?]
The Golden-Wing Sect Master's eyes widened. Yeon-shin was clearly not moving his lips in the reflection of her golden eyes.
[At the main fortress, you offered the Swift Heaven Wing Squad Leader and the Desolate Fortress martial artists beneath them alive to a sorcery formation. You tore apart commoners' homes to excavate dharma treasures. You committed countless atrocities over many years. And when I entered the formation you opened, the flood dragon had already vanished somewhere else.]
The earth spoke. Grass, rocks, and clumps of soil overturned by the battle all spoke with the same voice.
Even the distant cave hummed with Yeon-shin's words.
It was the same phenomenon as the Golden-Wing Sect Master's voice. Her hands stopped.
"......"
[Even if your excuse is for the greater good, you deserve death.]
Yeon-shin held his sword low as he spoke.
His long robe had been completely torn away. Blood ran down his sharply defined abdomen. The hems of his black martial trousers had turned nearly black with blood.
He did not care.
They had exchanged enough moves. It was time to bring this to an end.
Swish.
Though a great enemy stood before him, Yeon-shin half-closed his eyes.
He had examined the Golden-Wing Sect Master at close range after she activated the Flood Dragon Formation.
She manipulated nature's qi differently from the Zhuge Family Head. It was far more direct and swift. The numinous energy moved at her command.
It was only natural to realize it would blend with her martial arts.
Since their clash had been inevitable, he had needed to think of a way to counter it.
That was why he had behaved himself for days after entering the Flood Dragon Formation. Even while pondering the mnemonic formula for his Protective Qi Technique, he had thought about the Golden-Wing Sect Master.
'A counterform alone was not enough.'
Her martial prowess came infinitely close to Purple Uniform. As a martial artist, she was nearly flawless.
A few countermeasures could not topple the vast, thick wall of martial arts she had built.
He needed to rise higher.
This was not a short battle. It was time to deepen the martial arts he possessed.
That was why he had taken control of the Golden-Wing Sect Master's Transcendent Martial Art, which had pressed down upon him without pause.
[I have one question.]
[How did you...?]
[You said your inner energy suppresses every auspicious thing in the world.]
[......]
[Could you say the same before Bodhidharma and Zhang Sanfeng?]
[What?]
[Fashioning the nature of a dragon and planting it within me was a mistake.]
Wooooong.
Yeon-shin spun the Light Wheel.
Something immediately responded. Spirituality, the sacred quality that perfected his Divine Technique and divine weapon qi.
The flood dragon's nature, which the Golden-Wing Sect Master had personally fashioned and planted within him, let out a cry from within his Light Wheel qi.
Once it entered his body, everything became his. Even spirituality that would only remain for a short time.
After the Transcendent Martial Art had unfolded earlier, Yeon-shin had suddenly recalled his father Jeong Ban-ak's drunken rambling about extremes reversing.
What would happen if the flood dragon's spirituality joined the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel? Auspicious qi and auspicious spirituality. Their properties would reach their extreme.
He also knew Jin Myeong-jo, the Divine Blood Extreme Demon, whose inner-energy refinement had reached such an extreme that he appeared ordinary.
A state where one did not extend aura. In the martial world, it was called Return to Simplicity.
Extremes reverse. Return to Simplicity.
They meant one thing.
At the height of spirituality, there was no trace.
When he began exchanging blows with the Golden-Wing Sect Master, he had drawn the flood dragon's spirituality into the Light Wheel and united with it briefly. She had seemed to feel nothing.
Each time he launched a move, he secretly planted qi into the ground, yet she showed no reaction.
Just as the Blood Flame Sect had failed to realize that their formation was being steeped in dharma power.
At last, Yeon-shin completely unleashed the Record of the Dharma Light Wheel.
[This must be what Bodhidharma's dharma power was like.]
Woooooooong!
Faintly white ripples began spreading in layers from beneath his feet. It was as though pure white waves had appeared on the earth.
The ripples of inner power drew enormous concentric circles and reached the ground before the Golden-Wing Sect Master's feet without weakening.
They were transparent like the Buddha's breath. Nothing bound them.
"...!"
As her eyes widened, Yeon-shin ignited the qi he had planted throughout the sorcery barrier in every direction.
Rumble!
Violent tremors rushed toward their feet.
He did not know by what mystery the Golden-Wing Sect Master's Transcendent Martial Art had been created. It held a mental image and a span of time beyond comparison with the Guimyeong Overlord, the former Peng Family Head.
That was fine.
All he needed to do was read the foundation of the sorcery formation with his aura sense and destroy every point that formed the formation's axis.
Then the Golden-Wing Sect Master, who had poured immense energy into her Transcendent Martial Art, would be unable to reclaim her strength.
Boom! Rumble! KWA-A-ANG!
The false landscape was breaking apart. The distant cave that had gaped like a giant mouth collapsed as it shed fragments of stone. A tree that had towered into the sky snapped and fell.
Step.
The two began walking toward one another through the rolling dust.
[Our strength has become equal.]
Yeon-shin spoke while holding the flood dragon's wavering spirituality within his heart.
Each time he stepped forward, pure white ripples spread from his heels in a trailing chain.
Having spent enormous inner energy on the Transcendent Martial Art, the Golden-Wing Sect Master no longer held the absolute advantage of being his natural counter. Now they would have to decide the battle through skill.
Whoooooosh.
Wind gathered around her body. Nature's qi swirled in a hazy gold as she prepared an ultimate move she had not shown during the fight.
The Protective Qi Technique that covered her like flame began to turn golden.
If the Golden-Winged Bird of legend took human form, perhaps it would look like this. Even at a glance, the force of her inner power defied reason.
'If even one move lands, I die instantly.'
The time had come. One strike remained.
After exchanging unusually long sequences of moves since beginning his journey through the martial world, Yeon-shin had prepared to hunt its Golden-Winged Bird.
'No matter what sorcery she uses.'
Crack.
The Light Wheel in his heart shattered.
Fragments of light flowed from his body like the Milky Way. Every acupoint and muscle in his body breathed according to the mnemonic formula of Myriad Flowers Rain, and a garment of gathered light covered his entire body.
Whoosh.
By then, the Golden-Wing Sect Master was already striking down with both hands from within arm's reach of Yeon-shin.
The golden radiance around her arms no longer resembled claws, but immense wings. Space stretched and warped along the paths of her hands.
Their eyes met.
There was no warmth in the Golden-Wing Sect Master's golden gaze. It seemed to say this was not a move a human's Protective Qi Technique could withstand.
The time of peerless masters stretched each instant without end.
Yeon-shin suddenly glanced upward.
He saw the sky.
It was clear. A false blue sky.
The sun should have set long ago. The night sky should have spread above them.
Wooooong!
A dragon rose within his heart. With a fan in its mouth, it climbed the starlight that wrapped Yeon-shin like silk and coiled around him.
Dragon Fan Treading Flowers overlaid the True Radiant Starry Heaven Protective Qi Technique he had already deployed. It took an instant. Shimmering lights, shaped like a dragon's body, scattered in every direction.
"...!"
The Golden-Wing Sect Master's body, which had been rushing toward him at extreme speed, was lifted into the air. She was wrapped in starlight.
His martial talent flashed with the activation of the technique. He saw another's sense of balance as if it were his own and shattered it in an instant.
[You said my Myriad Flowers Rain lacked time.]
At that moment, Yeon-shin's intent resounded far faster than lip-speech.
"You...?!"
The Golden-Wing Sect Master's mouth twisted. Her voice had been reduced to spoken words. Around them, the world began to shatter like shards of porcelain.
Saaaaaah!
The currents of starlight surrounding them shone pale white. It was as though constellations hidden in the blue sky had been drawn down to the earth.
At the same time, Yeon-shin's mental image flowed out through the spirituality of the Transcendent Martial Art he had taken control of.
[You likened my children to stars, Benefactor, and that inspiration reached you and became a long robe... How does Bright Dawn sound?]
[It does not sound especially good.]
It was Yeon-shin's voice and the Tang Family Head's voice. A conversation they had shared once.
The mental image forming the framework of martial arts could only arise from human memories in the end.
The ultimate move of the offensive True Radiant Starry Heaven was named that way. No matter how much he considered it, there was only one conclusion.
There was too much riffraff in the martial world. The best Protective Qi Technique was one that left no enemy capable of harming the body.
[Bright Dawn.]
Yeon-shin uttered it briefly. It was a muttered word that drew sorcery he had never learned into the realm of martial arts.
KWA-A-A-A-A-ANG!
Fragments of the Protective Qi Technique swirled high into the sky. They seemed ready to reach even the low heavens of the Transcendent Martial Art. The Golden-Wing Sect Master's eyes widened in shock from within them.
"No...! No!"
The cluster of stars surrounding them glittered in the shape of a flood dragon ascending to the heavens.
Kiyooooong!
A whirlwind of starlight connected sky and earth in a single line.
Footnotes:
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