WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 51: Dragon-Phoenix Gathering (3)
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Hyeon Won-chang, standing beside him, lightly brushed the back of his hand across his eyes.
For an instant, Jeong Yeon-shin understood why.
Identical thunderclap bombs emerged from the packs carried by all twenty Blood Masters.
It hardly felt real. This was how an evil cult dealt with an enemy who had mastered a martial art that was an extreme counter to them.
They intended to kill him by any means necessary. As though every one of them had incorporated palm techniques into their throws, afterimages flickered from their hands.
KWAANG!
There was no time to shout a warning. Yeon-shin drove Ultimate Realm qi through the minor meridians of his lower body and the acupoints in his waist and neck, then kicked off the ground.
Even though he avoided the direct hit, his body was flung through the air against his will. His ears rang as though they had been struck by Force Projection.
It felt as if his marrow had been shaken.
Thud!
Pain surged through his entire body. He could not move for a moment.
“Cough! Cough!”
As he lay there vomiting blood, he felt it. His insides had been injured. A sharp, burning sensation rose from his stomach.
Boom! Kwang! Crack!
The ground all around them heaved like waves. Lotus Pavilion’s pristine atmosphere was swept away by clouds of dirt and dust.
Groans rang out everywhere, making the scene even more dreadful.
‘Insane.’
The Blood Flame Sect’s method of countering the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand was not a martial art. It was extremely thorough.
They had come knowing they stood no chance in a direct clash.
‘Thunderclap bombs. Since they’ve been declared an evil cult, they no longer care about the Imperial Court’s scrutiny.’
It had been the same last time. He recalled the explosions that had crushed the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Mechanized Formation.
Though its influence was said to be vast, it concealed the location of its main headquarters and moved as unpredictably as ghosts.
These people had immediately tracked down Yeon-shin’s movements and followed him. The Blood Flame Sect’s tracking arts were said to fall within the realm of sorcery. Since they knew Gu Gwa was Seom-ye, they could not possibly have been careless.
‘Senior Cheong Myeong mentioned it several times.’
He recalled Cheong Myeong speaking of the Sichuan Tang Clan. They were said to be a prestigious family of poisons and hidden weapons.
There was no other fire bomb in the world that detonated quickly enough to be effective against martial artists.
These were top-grade thunderclap bombs triggered with inner energy. Were they even holding members of the dwarven race captive somewhere?
‘It’s too early to be certain they received help from the Tang Sect.’
No matter who stood behind them, these could not be common items. Some martial arts were valued more highly than a group’s overall power.
That was especially true of martial arts that served as deadly counters. Those people must have overextended themselves as well.
Should he be relieved that an Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect had not come in person?
‘Where are Hyeon Won-chang, the young hero, and Shin So-bin?’
Jeong Yeon-shin forced himself upright and swept his gaze around. He could sense a familiar aura nearby.
Through the thick dust, he saw a figure keeping watch over their surroundings. It was Hyeon Won-chang.
His unusual eye technique appeared to have helped.
-Where is Shin So-bin?
-She said she would scout Huangbo Myeong-rin’s side before they arrived. She must have headed toward the pavilion.
Hyeon Won-chang immediately turned toward him and replied through sound transmission. His manner of speaking had changed.
The way he conveyed only the essentials showed how grave the situation was.
The Blood Masters, who had now closed the distance, were using swords and thunderclap bombs together.
Their purpose was clear. To slaughter Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress and the younger rising talents of the orthodox sects.
Privately using fire bombs was an act of rebellion. The Imperial Court might mobilize its army on a massive scale.
Those people were always taking risks. They truly deserved to be called fanatics.
Hyeon Won-chang approached and flinched at the sight of Jeong Yeon-shin’s battered state.
-Can you move?
-To the pavilion.
Jeong Yeon-shin answered briefly. At the same time, he and Hyeon Won-chang concealed their presence as much as possible and ran.
It felt as if his entire body were being torn apart. The distance was not far, yet time stretched unbearably long.
They avoided the fiercest fighting and drew near. Higher up, the dust was thinner, allowing them to see.
Huangbo Myeong-rin, fleeing from the pavilion with the scions of prominent families, quietly dropped to the very rear.
Shin So-bin was directly in front of her.
The instant Shin So-bin, who had been watching for the Blood Flame Sect, was caught off guard from behind, Huangbo Myeong-rin swiftly struck her across the back. They were practically touching.
Huangbo Myeong-rin appeared to have been circulating an enormous amount of qi before launching the strike. The youngest White Uniform of Desolate Fortress could not react in time and took the blow.
It was a surprise attack from directly behind at point-blank range. Huangbo Myeong-rin’s palm technique, heedless of front or back, sent Shin So-bin’s body springing upward like a bowstring.
She had been at the rear of the procession. It seemed no one had seen it.
“Th-There!”
Beside the enraged Hyeon Won-chang, Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes darkened.
‘She’ll hit the lake before I can count to five. The distance is seven zhang. If she falls like that, she’ll draw attention.’
In an instant, he analyzed the situation and calculated the distance for his lightness art. The qi already spread throughout his body surged.
First came the Chengfu acupoint beneath his buttocks, the Yinmen acupoint on the back of his thigh directly below it, and the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his foot.
He forgot the pain from those acupoints, which had begun to break down little by little.
Kwak!
He kicked off the ground with Desolate Fortress’s lightness art. He was fast. Like a raging gale, he ran low against the earth.
In three steps, he reached the edge of the clearing. On the fourth, he stepped off the lake’s edge and leaped.
Whoosh!
Shin So-bin of the Shin Family. Her youthful face, eyes tightly shut, rushed closer and closer.
No matter how much she acted as if she knew everything, she was still the cherished daughter of a prestigious family.
She appeared never to have experienced a sudden surprise attack like Huangbo Myeong-rin’s.
She was conscious. Yeon-shin immediately sensed her breathing. Her internal injuries did not appear severe either.
‘That’s enough.’
The qi of the Jeong Family Youth Technique surged painfully. It ran across the latissimus muscles of his back, passed through his shoulders, and descended to his forearms.
His inner energy took on the gentleness of the Moon Spirit Harmonization Formula.
He reached out with his left hand and drew Shin So-bin around the waist. With his right, he caught the pavilion’s outer railing and spun around it like a leaf.
It was an elven race movement technique that dispersed impact.
Tap.
The small landing felt like a shock. This was the first time he had been this badly injured since entering the martial world.
“Shin So-bin. Leg Arts.”
He muttered quietly the moment they landed inside the pavilion.
Regardless of her attitude, she was said to obey orders at once. Aura immediately spread from Shin So-bin’s legs as her round eyes widened.
Her waist was slender, making her easy to use as a weapon. Jeong Yeon-shin swung his junior, hooked over his forearm.
Crack!
A Blood Flame Sect member approaching from the side was struck by her foot and sent tumbling away.
As expected, the Blood Masters could not have come alone. This was a pursuit encirclement.
It seemed the fabled Heavenly Net was being formed from the Namgung Family’s territory.
Perhaps it was only natural when they did not even fear the Imperial Court’s scrutiny.
“Thank you... Senior! Are you all right?”
Her thin, long eyebrows rose high. Shin So-bin studied him with a deeply shocked expression.
Jeong Yeon-shin silently shook his head.
“Let’s go.”
He refused her attempt to support him. They needed to leave Lotus Pavilion quickly.
The two leaped down together and landed in the middle of the chaotic battlefield. Hyeon Won-chang hurried over and whispered.
“They’re coming up from the south.”
“To the northwest. We’ll go up along the water.”
“It could be a trap?”
Shin So-bin replied. Even now, she was openly rubbing the waist Jeong Yeon-shin’s arm had touched.
Was she trying to lighten the mood amid the urgency? She stared directly into his eyes as if deliberately refusing to look away.
She did not usually approach him with such boldness. Despite the pain splitting through his body, he almost laughed.
“There’s no helping it. Because of the lake, we have to choose one of two paths.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke calmly. Those words would determine their next move.
“Let’s go.”
Seom-ye, the Blue Uniform warrior, gave the order. The three immediately began running along the lakeshore.
They were not fleeing blindly. It was the direction Huangbo Myeong-rin had gone after gathering her older brothers and the scions of the prominent families.
‘The Blood Flame Sect is merely an obstacle.’
He thought as he forced himself onward. The mission came first.
His present condition did not matter. He could not miss the Huangbo Family.
The explosions that had thundered in the distance gradually died down. No more thunderclap bombs exploded.
He did not know whether they were conserving them or had run out. He could not afford to lower his guard, so he sharpened his senses.
“They must be busy killing the other rising talents. I feel guilty.”
“Why should we? The Blood Flame Sect is the one piling up sins.”
After running for some time, they seemed to have gained a little breathing room. Both Hyeon Won-chang and Shin So-bin had a point.
The situation left him no choice but to realize it anew. This was the price the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand had to pay.
From now on, Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress would live with the Blood Flame Sect on his heels. Anger and guilt mingled within him.
‘Blood Flame Sect. Every time I see you, I’ll split open your skulls.’
Jeong Yeon-shin thought calmly.
“There they are!”
Hyeon Won-chang pointed ahead. Jeong Yeon-shin had already noticed them.
They were the younger rising talents of several martial families, including the Huangbo Family. None appeared to be injured.
With nimble lightness arts, they were already racing along the path that reached the mountain range.
Under the circumstances, fleeing was only natural.
They said the most outstanding Blood Masters possessed martial strength equal to Desolate Fortress’s Blue Uniforms.
That made it understandable that the Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle had been able to contend with Ma Jin in martial strength.
They were that meticulous and powerful. They were bound to have mid-level experts as well.
“Ah? Over there!”
A young man climbing the road that led into the mountains kept glancing behind him.
He pointed at Jeong Yeon-shin’s group, disguised as Chusil Sect disciples.
The younger talents of the prominent families turned around and stopped. They waited until the three Demon Wings drew near.
For an instant, something like frost passed through Huangbo Myeong-rin’s eyes as she stood among them.
“What happened to you? You look seriously injured. Still, as long as your arms and legs are intact, it’s fine.”
The Languid Flame Dragon spread both arms wide. He looked genuinely delighted to see Jeong Yeon-shin.
It was somewhat burdensome that he was chewing on opium poppies as though he carried armfuls of them in his pockets.
“With this much chaos, the main family will be coming down from above, while the Namgung Family comes up from below. It won’t take long. You’re someone I need to discuss martial arts with. I’ll use my authority to obtain some miraculous medicine for you. I have that much authority, even if plenty of people keep prattling on about me being illegitimate.”
“Brother!”
Huangbo Myeong-rin shoved the Languid Flame Dragon.
Were they half-siblings? There was no respect in her manner. She immediately walked toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
‘What should I do?’
Jeong Yeon-shin considered it as he watched Huangbo Myeong-rin. If this had been a mission where he did not need to hide his affiliation with Desolate Fortress, his current internal injuries would not have been a problem.
He could solve it by swallowing the Myeongjeong Pill he had received from Young Divine Monk Gak Jeong.
But he had not brought it. He had entrusted it to Cheong Myeong along with the Desolate Sword.
Shaolin’s internal-injury medicine, containing an elven race secret art, had an exceptionally strong and clear fragrance.
Any master who had trained their senses to a reasonable degree would notice it.
He had heard it through Desolate Fortress’s information network. Young Divine Monk Gak Jeong enjoyed praise as much as his outward personality suggested.
They said Gak Jeong went around the martial world talking about Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress.
The whereabouts of the rare Myeongjeong Pill would inevitably become known as well.
“You little bastard.”
Huangbo Myeong-rin glared at Jeong Yeon-shin. Perhaps because of the thunderclap bombs’ aftermath, dirt streaked her face.
Yet it could not erase her innate nobility. Her features were finely formed and pleasing to look at.
She would have been even more so without that arrogant expression.
“You. Who are you really? Those Blood Master bastards clearly came for you. You said you were from Chusil Sect, right? What kind of grudge did you bring here?”
“...”
“Answer me. Do I look like a fool to you?”
Jeong Yeon-shin briefly looked over the others around them, then slowly opened his mouth.
“Are all of you scions of prominent families? It seems the rising talents of smaller and mid-sized sects were killed or scattered.”
“Don’t change the subject. Don’t put on airs either. I can tell just by looking at that wretched state you’re in. Your internal injuries are obvious. Do you think you can still flaunt that pathetic martial strength of yours?”
Huangbo Myeong-rin scoffed. Her dulled hair swayed.
Hyeon Won-chang and Shin So-bin, angered by her words, tried to step forward. Jeong Yeon-shin extended an arm and shook his head.
He stepped forward on his throbbing foot. Then he slowly came face-to-face with Huangbo Myeong-rin.
Their eyes met at very close range. Her beauty, filled with venom, looked especially ugly to him.
“At Lotus Pavilion, you tried to use my junior sister as bait,” he said.
The quiet mountain path began to fill with tension.
Footnotes:
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