WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 404: Realm Beyond Compare (4)
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“An eclipse?” (The term can also mean “First Form.”)
Namgung Mu-jin’s lips slowly twisted.
“Finding charm in a place like this? I thought your temperament differed from Squad Leader Yong’s, but it seems I was mistaken.”
His voice was chilling. Another heartbeat-like pulse rang out, and the shadow of the greatsword swallowing them both abruptly swelled.
“Leader of Demon Wings... You tore apart this place’s sorcery formation to save the Divine Sword Squad Leader. Thank you. It would have become a nuisance anyway.”
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin stood still and looked up. Invisible waves of inner power swept down as though raking across his eyelids.
Wooooong. Wooooong.
Aura streamed continuously from the colorless sword hanging in the air.
Heavy gusts repeatedly swept over Jeong Yeon-shin’s face, while something unseen pressed down on his shoulders. It seemed to be one of the principles of the Imperial Sword Art.
A truly transcendent harmony.
The formless greatsword stirred dust from the ground simply by existing. Nearly fifteen jang long, it looked like something only a heavenly god could wield.
“No matter how many times I think about it.”
Jeong Yeon-shin continued slowly.
“The word ‘first’ doesn’t suit you. In a literary contest, you would struggle to take even third place, let alone first.”
“Are you saying there are two above me in my family?”
Namgung Mu-jin curled his lips upward.
“Arrogant. I do not know what experience has made you repeatedly judge the Namgung Family’s swordsmanship, but we shall see whether you can say the same after measuring our sword domains again.”
His voice scraped as though scratching his throat. His words carried considerable meaning.
Namgung Mu-jin had previously estimated that Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword strikes reached thirty paces.
That was by no means a short distance against peerless masters. Yet if one walked along the formless sword now suspended in the air, one would have to take even more steps than that.
Suddenly, his thick eyelids lowered at an angle.
At the same time.
Whoooosh!
The enormous formless sword’s tip instantly swung diagonally.
It aimed obliquely at Jeong Yeon-shin. That slight movement alone released an explosive gale that fiercely whipped through his long hair.
It clearly defied common sense.
The formless sword’s response speed did not suit its size. It might as well have been an ordinary blade.
“Sight-Guided Sword...!”
Yeon So-ha’s horrified voice came from behind him.
Jeong Yeon-shin had reached the same conclusion. This was the realm of sword control where one commanded a blade with a glance. He had to reassess Namgung Mu-jin’s sword domain.
‘At least a hundred paces...’
Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes flashed blue.
Why had Namgung Mu-jin not struck immediately? He must have been wary of a counterattack.
He had witnessed the speed of Jeong Yeon-shin’s sword control and lightness skill. The Dark Night Hall Master, who was aiming a bow from behind, would be the same.
They had to carefully arrange the order of their techniques.
Peerless masters on both sides stood facing each other with lethal ultimate moves in hand. It was no different from studying a board before playing a great game of go.
They had to closely observe their opponent’s inner-energy breathing and bodily balance, then drive their techniques in at the right moment.
“What is all that? What kind of formless sword is that... And what’s that creepy line of light? The one connected to Leader of Demon Wings’ back!”
“A life-saving ultimate move. It means those so-called peerless masters have no other methods they can use against a junior so far beneath them.”
The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s voice rang out calmly.
He did not seem to intend to help Jeong Yeon-shin.
Perhaps he was treating his own internal injuries with the same decisive resolve he had shown when issuing the Black Uniform summons. Or perhaps he simply trusted his junior completely.
“They call them life-saving ultimate moves, but those are Transcendent Martial Arts, aren’t they? They’re performing something like sorcery with martial arts!”
“Only when placed in such a situation does a Purple Uniform of the main fortress show their true worth. So-ha, I am proud of that friend. Time is on our side, after all.”
“...Why?”
“Because this ground will soon become Wonpyeong One Sword Hall rather than a battlefield. As long as he holds out, we come out ahead.”
The meeting hall of the Desolate Fortress Divine Sword Corps leadership.
A name renowned throughout the martial world had come from the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s mouth. It was an attempt to draw a rash move from his opponents.
Namgung Mu-jin furrowed his brow. Though he knew the intention, he could not help being drawn in.
Wonpyeong One Sword Hall of Desolate Fortress. The weight borne by those who had faced the entire martial world since the dynasty’s founding was beyond imagination. No combined-attack formation could compare.
Yellow lightning sparked in his eyes. It was the distinctive gaze of the Heavenly Thunder Imperial Divine Art.
“Though your seniority and position both fall below mine, I shall set aside my shame and take the initiative.”
“How ridiculous. You’re joining forces, yet you still care about keeping up appearances.”
Yeon So-ha craned his neck from behind and cut in.
While Yong Hui-myeong gently told him to be quiet, Namgung Mu-jin glanced at the one admonishing him and stirred up an invisible wave of aura.
At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin vanished from where he stood.
CRAAASH!
The formless greatsword struck diagonally into that spot.
Its colorless form burst like lightning, unleashing a massive tremor, while the storm created by its force waves shredded the dust apart.
Above it.
Jeong Yeon-shin was running along the greatsword’s blade. His lightness skill was so swift that his figure blurred.
‘Ten Miles of Deep Light.’
His soles did not directly touch the formless sword. He could not waste Protective Qi Technique on a blade packed with such overwhelmingly tyrannical energy.
Instead, he treated the inner-power waves constantly flowing from the blade like blades of grass, advancing by stepping on the aura with the principles of Flying Over Grass.
Boom! Booom!
It sounded like beating drums.
Circular ripples remained with every step. As he evaded, he had released Myriad Flowers Rain through the Yongquan acupoints in his soles.
The fierce dispersal mnemonic formula of the ultimate art drove down through the formless sword’s blade.
“...!”
Fragments of qi rained like hail toward Namgung Mu-jin. They were shards of the formless greatsword caught in Myriad Flowers Rain.
The sight of them descending, each splitting sunlight into rainbow colors, was terrifying.
Perfect unity of offense and defense.
Even his evasion and approach were equivalent to attacking moves.
Namgung Mu-jin’s eyes darkened. The young man facing him in a life-and-death duel truly was a Purple Uniform of Desolate Fortress.
Namgung Mu-jin swung the Heaven-Reliant Sword, which he had seized from his family, broadly over his head.
CRAAACK!
The air split like waves along the blade. The fragments of the formless sword that crashed down upon it erupted with explosions like thunderclap bombs.
‘Those instincts... He was born to fight.’
Namgung Mu-jin thought of it. Had the Northern War God of old been like this? The thought that countless Thirteen Heavens martial artists had likely had upon seeing the Leader of Demon Wings also took root in his mind.
That man was a sprout of the World Tree that had to be cut down without fail.
Then it happened.
CRAAASH!
The shadow of Jeong Yeon-shin, flickering atop the formless greatsword, was suddenly flung away.
In that spot, a long, soft cluster of light scattered through the air like unraveling thread. It was clearly the Dark Night Hall Master’s arrow.
Shooting the Moon in One Path.
A Transcendent Martial Art that never missed.
True to its name, it did not miss. Even movement masters ranked among the ten greatest in the martial world were said to struggle to evade it more than a few times.
“Follow him. It was not enough.”
The Dark Night Hall Master’s rough voice sounded by Namgung Mu-jin’s ear.
Namgung Mu-jin showed no doubt. The instant Shooting the Moon in One Path struck, he had seen the cluster of light that appeared when the Leader of Demon Wings caught Ten Miles One Kill earlier.
With Protective Qi Technique that strong, Jeong Yeon-shin could endure Shooting the Moon in One Path a few times.
“Are you still connected?”
“It is a martial art meant to eradicate Desolate Fortress. I can fire twenty more times.”
“Then we are alike.”
Namgung Mu-jin replied by sound transmission and widened his eyes.
Rumble.
The formless greatsword immediately responded, raising its enormous body. Streams of dust spilled from its blade like steam.
The Transcendent Martial Art, Sword Night, Moon-Painting Light.
Its name had the same origin as Shooting the Moon in One Path, which meant to pierce the moon.
Under the night cast by the sword, moonlight had nowhere to go. It was another ultimate technique aimed at the Lord of Desolate Fortress.
The formless greatsword rotated along Namgung Mu-jin’s gaze.
Then it stopped at one point.
Jeong Yeon-shin stood five jang away, beneath the shadow near the greatsword’s tip. He had not been flung very far at all.
Only the ground beneath his feet had been gouged into a large crater.
“How could he be so unharmed?”
Namgung Mu-jin breathed out the words like a groan.
Jeong Yeon-shin, the Leader of Demon Wings.
Purple Uniform robes draped over both shoulders, while black sleeves hung beside his sword.
The sight of his long black hair and fluttering robes was magnificent. It seemed as if sunlight broke down upon him alone.
“...”
Namgung Mu-jin felt a wall that was impossible to breach. That was the presence of the junior before him. He was not much different from the Purple Uniforms of Desolate Fortress’s past that Namgung Mu-jin had seen and heard about.
Then.
“You say you seek Martial Extreme.”
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.
“Yet you cover the weakness of your martial arts with another’s archery.”
His eyes followed the line extending from the air to his chest. A white thread that gave off a faint glow. It was a path formed from dense spirituality and a trace of inner energy.
It did not break, as if it had truly been drawn from moonlight. The Dark Night Hall Master had sent arrows along that white line to deliver an unavoidable strike against Jeong Yeon-shin. It was even faster than Ten Miles One Kill.
‘The distance has narrowed to within ten li. The arrow’s force wave is not dissipating.’
Jeong Yeon-shin thought as he felt a fairly sharp pain at his side.
This was the first time he had faced the combined attack of two peerless masters. It was just as difficult as he had expected.
They said being able to kill even one leader-class figure from a major sect qualified someone to be a Purple Uniform.
Jeong Yeon-shin knew it himself. His skill had yet to reach that of Yong Hui-myeong, the Divine Sword Squad Leader.
Perhaps it would have been different if he still possessed the advanced attainment in dharma power that he had briefly achieved within the Golden-Wing Sect Master’s Transcendent Martial Art.
Thud.
Suddenly, a heavy True Step struck the ground. It was Namgung Mu-jin.
“The weakness of my martial arts?”
“You have not properly taken any direction. That Imperial Sword Art cannot keep up with my unique swordsmanship.”
He spoke those words to a man counted among the finest blade wielders in the vast martial world. His tone remained calm.
There were not many people left who could surpass Jeong Yeon-shin in swordsmanship.
He intended to prove it here. Not for the Namgung Third-Place Sword before him, but for the late Clear Qilin.
Then it happened.
His vision suddenly turned white. The single white thread connected to his chest split into dozens in an instant and covered his entire body.
CRAAACK!
The shock ran from his head through his chest and down to his abdomen. The ground supporting his feet shook violently.
Arrows accompanied by a droning roar continued to crash down. The explosive bursts rose like clouds and deafened his ears.
Bang! Boom! KRAAASH!
White fragments repeatedly scattered and dispersed before Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes. They were fragments of the Protective Qi Technique that now surrounded his entire body.
Sparks constantly flew amid the relentless thunderous blasts.
“How long can you endure?”
Namgung Mu-jin’s voice.
The formless greatsword came crashing down. It bore the force to cut him in two, and the shadow darkening the surroundings grew deeper.
Rumble!
The air shook violently.
A Transcendent Martial Art born from the Imperial Sword Art could only be the pinnacle of the Heavy Sword. If he took a proper strike, his body might be crushed regardless of Protective Qi Technique’s rebound force.
While enduring the barrage of light, Jeong Yeon-shin raised Lingering Thunder over his head. An opening stance that pointed the sword’s tip at the sky.
His lips, covered by a thin layer of Protective Qi Technique, moved. The exchange had not even ended yet.
“My turn.”
In that instant, wind pressure erupted from his entire body. The lines of light covering him all tilted and warped at once, soaring into the air.
Whoooosh!
The redirected white threads pierced the formless greatsword descending from above.
The Dark Night Hall Master’s arrows stopped at once. Yet the lines of light from Shooting the Moon in One Path, already activated, remained.
At that moment, Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the mnemonic formulas of two sword techniques.
Judging the Qilin. Azure Flame, First Form.
They said a Transcendent Martial Art was an art that ran through the martial arts one had trained over long years in a single stroke. He had created a Sacred Body by unifying Protective Qi Technique and Myriad Flowers Rain. What would happen with sword techniques?
‘They’re coming.’
At the same time, he sensed flags fluttering in all eight directions in the distance. Their rushing speed was unbelievably fast, and for once, his heart felt at ease.
This battle had always been, though somewhat dangerous, a place of training.
Jeong Yeon-shin thought, They should be able to see this.
Wooooong.
Lingering Thunder rang.
A bluish wind gathered around the blade, then pierced the dark sword shadow in all eight directions. The radiance of a clear sky settled upon the earth.
Footnotes:
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