WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 405: Realm Beyond Compare (5)

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* * *

The darkness born from the shadow of the Formless Great Sword was vast.

It was a shade forged through decades of arduous training by Southern Zhili's foremost swordsman. At that moment, Namgung First Sword's life dwelled within the abyss that had taken the form of a blade.

It lingered amid the rough bedding of commoners, a touch that had slipped gently into his embrace before slipping away, and the bleak, bloody wind that had blown upon a young man who had scattered his aura sense so he could feel nothing but his beloved.

"Eldest Young Master, that lowly creature has shown its true colors."

"What?"

"While the Eldest Young Master was trying to sleep, that wretch stole your precious possession and fled. I carefully watched that foolish woman's movements from the shadows, but all she did was haggle with a merchant across the street... This."

"What is this...?"

"I secretly cut off her head and recovered it. The Family Head ordered that the Eldest Young Master's conduct be strictly corrected... And your marriage alliance with Huizhou's leading merchant guild, which possesses one hundred thousand seok of grain, is approaching."

Namgung Mu-jin was the eldest legitimate son of Southern Zhili's foremost clan.

The guard at his side was a trusted subordinate of the Family Head, and as the eldest young master, he could not defy his family.

With a sword in hand, he left his family as though fleeing.

While wandering the martial world without direction, the cowardly eldest young master found the true object of blame.

The World Tree, standing alone upon cracked earth. That supernatural phenomenon which did not resemble a tree at all, its deep blue leaves stretching so far they covered the entire sky...

It was no mere ancient tree.

It was clearly something with a will of its own.

The young swordsman watched the tree from afar for fifteen days.

Avoiding the strict vigilance of supreme masters whose ears stood sharp as sword blades, he honed a conviction that grew keener by the day.

"That's it. That demon is sucking up all the earth qi beneath heaven."

It had to be cut down.

That was Sword Night, Moon-Painting Light. A Transcendent Martial Art was the culmination of the intent honed by a peerless master. Namgung Mu-jin's Formless Great Sword hated the famine that had descended upon the world.

At the same time, it yearned for the manifestation of a Martial God who would never again be swayed by earth qi.

Here and now, upon this land as well.

Kwoooom!

The giant sword shadow flashed repeatedly like lightning over the desolate clearing. Namgung Mu-jin had infused the Formless Great Sword with variations.

Though white streaks from Shooting the Moon in One Path were embedded beneath the Formless Great Sword's blade, the work of Jeong Yeon-shin, the Leader of Demon Wings, Namgung Mu-jin did not care.

This was the principle of the Heavy Sword that would one day crush both the World Tree and the Lord of Desolate Fortress.

Rather than be stopped here by a brat who had not even formally attained Purple Uniform rank, it was better for the sword to break once. That would allow the Transcendent Martial Art to advance another step.

Imperial Sword Art, Azure Thunder, Layered Weight.

It was a sword move that accumulated force waves through repeated curving changes before delivering a crushing blow. It sought not only power, but the precision of an unavoidable strike.

Swaaaak!

Despite being fifteen jang long, the blade changed direction dozens of times in midair as it pressed down. Soil whipped up by the sword wind surged in every direction.

It sounded like hundreds of sheets of paper being torn apart without pause.

At the end of that immense trajectory stood Jeong Yeon-shin, the Leader of Demon Wings.

Namgung Mu-jin intended to crush the young man in purple silk robes from crown to toe.

Then blue radiance rose from Jeong Yeon-shin's raised sword like flame.

It contradicted the intelligence that he did not use inner-energy techniques such as sword qi or projected slashing force.

Azure Flame sword qi burst upward and spread along the dozens of white streaks clinging to the Formless Great Sword.

It happened in an instant.

The fiercely burning Azure Flame raced along the long white streaks like fire along a fuse.

Kwoooom!

The Formless Great Sword faltered under a heavy vibration.

The Azure Flame, which appeared to flicker at a glance, was composed of incredibly sharp fragments of sword qi.

They were enough to burrow into the Formless Great Sword and grind apart its insides.

The shadow cast over the ground turned bluish.

Crackling filled the surroundings like sparks leaping through the air. The sound came from within the visibly slowing Formless Great Sword.

Now Namgung Mu-jin's Sword Night, Moon-Painting Light truly cast only a shadow.

It was nearly motionless. Even a child could have closed their eyes and avoided it.

Beneath it, two swordsmen faced one another thirty paces apart. Namgung Mu-jin had to struggle not to show his stunned expression before the youthful figure.

"How did you do that...?"

"No matter how profound a martial art may be, doesn't it have only two foundations?"

The Leader of Demon Wings merely alluded to those two things.

Namgung Mu-jin understood at once.

Spirituality, which produced divine weapons and rare artifacts when it resided in a weapon and Divine Techniques when it permeated martial arts. And qi, refined from nature's qi through qi circulation and breath regulation.

Even the Divine Techniques of the Nine Sects and the Heavenly Demon Divine Formula, which had left deep marks on martial-world history, must have begun with those two things.

Namgung Mu-jin spoke again. He was a martial artist of the Martial Dragon Society.

It was an association of madmen who shared their sect's martial arts with others to advance their attainments. If a martial art stirred their curiosity, they had to ask about it, even with Desolate Fortress Black Uniforms closing in.

"And?"

"I sensed propulsive force waves in the white streaks of Shooting the Moon in One Path, waves that increased an arrow's power and speed. The patterns within those streaks were rather complex... but after enduring them with my own body, I got a sense of what kind of inner-power fluctuations Shooting the Moon in One Path responded to."

Jeong Yeon-shin finished in an oddly calm manner.

Namgung Mu-jin's eyes trembled faintly. A fact shocking enough to stun anyone struck him like a blow to the back of the head.

Jeong Yeon-shin had turned the Dark Night Hall Master's Transcendent Martial Art against him, driving Azure Flame sword qi into the Formless Great Sword.

It was a feat difficult to attempt without both.

A peerless Protective Qi Technique that bought time to analyze an opponent's ultimate move, and senses heaven had bestowed by mistake...

"They say a clumsy combined attack is worse than wielding a sword alone. That's exactly what you are. If you had come at me one at a time, I might have struggled more."

Jeong Yeon-shin's quiet voice seemed to settle upon the sword in his hand. It truly felt that way.

A transparent current shimmered over the silver blade. Was it spirituality? The haze around the sword and the Azure Flame dwelling in the Formless Great Sword seemed connected by a long thread.

Even the sword qi that had already been released remained under Jeong Yeon-shin's control.

There was no denying it. The person before him was a genius unparalleled in ages.

Delight filled Namgung Mu-jin's eyes.

"You... Your talent for martial arts is certainly extraordinary."

He continued, stumbling over his words.

"Your advancement is faster than that of any extraordinary person I've seen or heard of. If someone like you joined the Martial Dragon Society, you could select only the strengths from all martial arts under heaven and create a Divine Technique for the ages...! I, I will stand behind you! Martial arts from every prestigious sect and great faction sleep within our society! You, me, the Society Leader, and Hwa Yeon-bi...!"

"You've lost your mind."

Jeong Yeon-shin's sword traced a curve. Leaving a gentle afterimage like a moon halo, the blade slipped into its scabbard with a click.

It was a picture-perfect sheathing. At the same time, the current transparently linking the sword and Azure Flame broke.

That was the beginning.

Kwoooom!

Thunder boomed above the two swordsmen.

Waves spread from the Formless Great Sword in sky-blue concentric circles.

The ground turned pale beneath the mystical shockwaves.

With a thunderous explosion, fragments of the shattered Formless Great Sword began falling in a blue glow.

They were unlike the debris that had fallen at Jeong Yeon-shin's feet before. Both their power and speed were different.

Hwaaaaah!

The blue-glowing fragments drew thousands of vertical lines like world-shaking swift swords. Sunlight, belatedly streaming down, scattered wildly among them.

It was a rain of force waves deadlier than any hail.

This was how those at the Peerless Realm fought. The harmony within the single sword they had trained their entire lives could rival a natural disaster.

[If it comes to this, even you won't escape unscathed...!]

The voice rang out like a ray of light. Namgung Mu-jin's spirituality overflowed from the sheer urgency of it.

The Formless Great Sword had shattered directly above the two swordsmen. With Azure Flame mixed among the rain of force waves like propulsive force waves, evasion was impossible.

Wooooong!

Colorless energy gleamed around Namgung Mu-jin's entire body.

The Protective Qi Technique of the Heavenly Thunder Imperial Divine Art.

There was no time to slow the fragments with the Imperial Sword Art.

Nor was there room to bring the Protective Qi Technique to its utmost limit. The qi expended on the Formless Great Sword had also been immense.

Southern Zhili's foremost swordsman bitterly blamed himself. This was why a Transcendent Martial Art could not be used carelessly.

'Ghk...!'

Namgung Mu-jin's Imperial Sword Art had long strayed far from the orthodox principle of commanding blade and space.

When instinct pierced that fleeting instant, what bloomed from his sword was not a sword stance that spread chivalry far and wide, but only four streaks of sword light, enough to barely bind a single person.

The moment bluish despair filled his eyes, fragments of blue flame poured from the sky like a torrential downpour.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

Blue sparks burst across Namgung Mu-jin's entire body.

Multiple shockwaves from the explosions overlapped endlessly, distorting the air, while cracks rising from the earth raced across the ground.

The ultimate art he had trained for his entire life had turned against him. What had gone wrong?

Namgung Mu-jin lost his balance and staggered amid the ceaseless rain of light. Once a peerless swordsman had been thrown into such disarray, the battle could already be considered over.

Only then did Namgung Mu-jin realize that the Dark Night Hall Master had almost completely withdrawn from this matter. That cunning archer would never appear here.

Hwaaaaaah!

Soon after, his Protective Qi Technique shattered with a scream.

* * *

Jeong Yeon-shin walked through the rain falling in blue streams.

Step.

The scattered fragments of force waves could not harm him at all.

They could barely swallow the sound of his footsteps. Every fragment that struck him bounced away in white sparks.

The ground was split in every direction as if a drought had arrived.

Jeong Yeon-shin stepped over the dust that had settled heavily, then stopped at one point. His eyelids lowered slightly.

Jeong Yeon-shin was reflected in the eyes of the bloodied Namgung Mu-jin lying on the ground. Long black hair trailed down his back, and a faint cluster of stars rested over his purple silk robes.

Namgung Mu-jin let out a laugh mixed with coughing.

"You... You aren't someone who should be called a genius. You're simply a powerful peerless master... one more who has emerged from Desolate Fortress. For the World Tree, that supernatural phenomenon... it is an excessively great blessing."

"That is my master."

Jeong Yeon-shin answered quietly. It was a rebuke for Namgung Mu-jin's disrespect.

Anyone properly taught within a martial lineage could not insult another's master to their face.

Yet Namgung Mu-jin's smile did not fade. Instead, it grew more like a hollow laugh.

"After using a sword art I've never seen or heard of... you still deceive me."

"Why would I need to deceive you...?"

"Have you ever heard the rumor that Zhang Sanfeng and Bodhidharma had masters? How could someone like you deeply learn anything from anyone? You would be too busy adapting everything to suit yourself."

Namgung Mu-jin's voice gradually became clearer.

Had a final surge of vitality risen to his throat before it scattered? It was clearly final resurgence.

"Regardless, it is a pity. Look there, at those fading white streaks. The Dark Night Hall Master is fleeing."

Namgung Mu-jin gestured with his eyes toward the air.

"No matter how extraordinary your lightness skill is, you can't catch them from this distance. Yes... That would only be possible for the Beggars' Sect Leader, the Wine-Mad Divine Beggar, when he is sober."

Step.

Jeong Yeon-shin moved without answering.

The dying man at his feet was not someone with whom he could share reflections about Clear Qilin. Namgung Mu-jin stirred only unfamiliar contempt. Having seen White Qilin, Clear Qilin's younger brother, today was enough.

"I was not wrong. I am right. In a starving world, there can be no proper emperor... This is an age when only martial arts capable of cutting down the plunderers before one's eyes have value."

Muttering as though he had lost his mind, Namgung Mu-jin's voice followed Jeong Yeon-shin's heels.

Without a word, Jeong Yeon-shin kicked off the ground and rose into the air, toward the white streaks of Shooting the Moon in One Path that fluttered about after losing their target.

Fwoooong!

The white streaks surged like waves the moment Jeong Yeon-shin stepped onto them. They were peerless streams of light that transformed every arrow into a swift sword and ensured that every arrow struck.

They did not appear to be returning at the Dark Night Hall Master's will, but neither did they seem to welcome Jeong Yeon-shin.

That was until he suddenly drew his sword and snapped it out like a whip.

The white streaks tore through the air with a roar and shot straight ahead. It was Judging the Qilin of the Thunderclap Flash-Ridge Sword Art.

One sword commanded the wind.

Namgung Mu-jin's fading eyes widened in shock.

That was the last thing he saw. Jeong Yeon-shin's figure, leaning slightly forward atop the white streaks, blurred and distorted. The blade wind that burst from beneath his feet cut through Namgung Mu-jin's neck and buried itself in the dirt.

Crunch!

With the sound of flesh tearing, the severed head tilted toward Jeong Yeon-shin's retreating back.

Namgung Mu-jin's stunned eyes were filled with the purple robes billowing like a cape, until the rapidly receding purple silk robes finally became a dot and vanished.

Footnotes:

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