WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Chapter 6: Recognition (2)
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The belated cold froze the dawn air over the mountain behind Jeong Family Manor.
Jeong Yeon-shin thought.
If the wind blowing through the valley had a color, it would be ash gray.
The people of Jeong Family Manor, who had once ruled the county, lay beneath the soil, under seeds that would stir to life next year.
The survivors had spent the entire night carrying and burying the bodies.
Jeong Yeon-shin, the Chief Steward, several surviving workers, Jeong Joong-san, and the Zhongnan Sect experts were all covered in dirt.
His niece, curled up to one side, alternated between crying and falling asleep.
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at Hye-ah and spoke.
“It’s over.”
“Indeed. It will become a sad mountain. It did not even have a name.”
The Chief Steward agreed. Jeong Yeon-shin shook his head.
“No. Jeong Family Manor is finished.”
“……”
“Great Hero Cliff Sword, Great Hero Martial Spirit Fist. Thank you once again for your help.”
Leaving the bitter Chief Steward behind, he offered a salute to the Zhongnan Sect martial artists.
Despite being covered in dirt, their eyes brimmed with spirit.
They returned his gesture with sincere cupped-fist salutes. It was clear that they treated even a mere boy with respect.
“It is our junior martial brother’s family now, so it is no great matter.”
“Moreover... it would be difficult to say that we bear no responsibility for failing to stop it.”
Martial Spirit Fist spoke after Cliff Sword, gravity visible between the thick brows.
Ready to depart with the Zhongnan Sect experts, Jeong Joong-san held Hye-ah and looked gloomily at his third younger brother.
The bloodshed seemed to have changed him somewhat.
“How could I apologize with a single word for what has built up over long years?”
Jeong Joong-san looked weary as he spoke.
“When we meet again, I will try to be a proper older brother. I will make the effort, so you must survive.”
“You are entering Zhongnan martial arts late, and you do not have exceptional talent. At least, that is how I see it.”
For the first time in his life, Jeong Yeon-shin honestly told an elder the truth.
He wondered why he had not spoken honestly sooner. His heart felt refreshingly clear.
“You will have to train yourself to death. Take good care of Hye-ah.”
“...All right.”
The Zhongnan Sect experts, his second older brother, and his young niece departed just like that.
When he turned around, the Chief Steward stood with the workers, a bundle slung over the Chief Steward’s shoulder.
“Where will you go, Chief Steward?”
“I told you that I had established informants. There are small branches of Jeong Family Manor throughout Nanyang. The Jeong bloodline remains, so I should naturally support them with the remaining assets.”
“Jeong Family Manor has fallen.”
The Chief Steward smiled faintly.
“It is a great landowning household. The family’s farmland is not limited to Xinye alone.”
Jeong Yeon-shin had not realized the Chief Steward was such a loyal person. The Chief Steward was an extraordinary figure, almost too good for Jeong Family Manor.
“As you know, I am going to Desolate Fortress. I hope we can meet from time to time.”
“Of course.”
The Chief Steward had also learned martial arts and would be able to look after themself.
“I hope that you, at least, live out your natural lifespan, Chief Steward. Take care of yourself.”
“I pray for Young Master’s continued success.”
It was a farewell to the Chief Steward and Jeong Family Manor. The Chief Steward silently watched the boy’s back as he left without looking back.
‘Live out my natural lifespan...? Since receiving grace from the previous generation, have I ever heard such words from a member of the Jeong bloodline?’
Jeong Yeon-shin sensed that presence but did not deliberately turn his head.
A new air surrounded his strides as he pushed through the grass.
* * *
It was his first time leaving Xinye County.
With the detailed directions he had received from the Chief Steward, he could travel along the official road, but he inevitably drew much attention.
The day had broken, and sunlight began greeting the dirt road.
The official road running between Nanyang and Xiangyang also connected Henan Province and Huguang Province.
A major road leading to Shaanxi lay nearby as well, and the road was crowded enough that he had to keep checking whether the travel pack on his back was still intact.
“Those clothes are unusual for a beggar.”
“Isn’t that silk? Silk for martial attire?”
“Silk? But look at that state...”
Porters from a passing escort agency whispered among themselves.
He had heard that merchant groups and escort agencies encountered on the road sometimes turned into bandits.
Jeong Yeon-shin walked silently, never taking his hand far from his sword hilt.
‘Troublesome.’
He could not use deserted mountain paths, either.
Having only just entered the martial world, he lacked experience. Getting lost would be disastrous.
However, vigilance alone was not enough.
Jackals after clothing and wealth were everywhere. It was a world where robbery and murder were commonplace.
Eventually, he clashed with wandering swordsmen. The drifters paid for underestimating the young swordsman with their lives.
They were so absurdly weak compared with the warriors of the Thirteen Heavens that it left him bewildered.
‘What gave them the confidence to attack me?’
They were called wandering martial artists, but even among the martial artists commonly seen by the roadside, few had properly entered the path of inner energy.
Learning was precious in this world.
From Xinye to Xiangyang.
For experts capable of using lightness skills as though they were flying, it was a short distance.
However, Jeong Yeon-shin, whose lightness skills were still shallow, experienced the inconveniences of the martial world and bloody real combat.
Not one of his opponents could stop even a single move of Swift Sword. As he cut through the wanderers with sword strikes, the Jeong Family Youth Technique blended into his swordsmanship.
It differed from when he had trained his body alone.
As he wielded a sword in real combat and used the Jeong Family Youth Technique, his body changed once again.
The muscles throughout his body adapted to sudden explosive force, and his flexibility increased further.
Swift Sword, Swift Sword, and Swift Sword again.
The Swift Sword Art, already fast to begin with, had become too quick for even his own eyes to see when he used it.
As the body, the foundation of martial arts, actively changed, the efficacy of his qi could only increase.
‘They called it a divine art.’
Perhaps because he had trained in the Jeong Family Youth Technique throughout his brief life and reached great mastery, he could visibly perceive the changes in his transforming body.
One week.
It was the time he endured his first night outdoors, hard bedding, and cold night air.
“Fuu.”
The boy sighed as he entered an inn and untied his travel pack. He had arrived in Xiangyang.
Since Desolate Fortress was built, Xiangyang had risen steadily along the path of prosperity.
Tens of thousands of people came and went every day, and thousands of kinds of goods passed through it.
In terms of trade volume and cultural standards, it was one of the greatest cities in the Central Plains.
“It is even busier now! That Hyeongga fellow struck it rich. They say he has no liquor left to sell!”
It was a conversation between people who appeared to be merchants.
After securing a room and coming downstairs, Jeong Yeon-shin ordered a meal from the waiter and listened closely.
“People are gathering from throughout the Central Plains, all hoping to rise in the world. They say there are even martial artists scattering silver about.”
“These days, taverns have neither day nor night. The martial artists who came to take the entrance exam are drowning themselves in drink!”
“Desolate Fortress truly is remarkable.”
“Of course! Is it not like saving a dying Xiangyang and feeding it until its belly bursts?”
“What an analogy! Hahaha!”
Whatever else might be said, Jeong Yeon-shin agreed with the last statement.
He had felt the exorbitant cost of living from the lodging fees alone. If he stayed another month like this, his money would surely run out.
He thought he had brought plenty without the Tyrant Sword Sect noticing.
Then it happened.
“Did you come to enter Desolate Fortress as well, little brother?”
A young man sat across from him with an easygoing smile.
The sword at the young man’s waist was clearly no ordinary famous blade, even at a glance. More than that, the blue band wrapped around the young man’s head was striking.
It was an item called a hero’s headband.
It was an accessory people rarely wore these days unless they were deliberately dressing up, and it even had a dragon embroidered in gold thread.
“And you are?”
“Ah! I have not introduced myself. I was simply intrigued to see a challenger younger than myself.”
The young man continued with a smile.
“My name is Hyeon Won-chang. I came from distant Shanxi.”
“I am Jeong Yeon-shin of Xinye.”
“Xinye? Where is that?”
“It is a county in Nanyang, Hebei.”
“You came from nearby! Your journey must have been easy. I crossed blades with Green Forest bandits and raced the river pirates in a swimming contest on my way here! Those river pirates had truly fierce skill in the water!”
“Well... I suppose mine was easy.”
Jeong Yeon-shin gave a vague reply.
“Then it seems we are indeed comrades preparing to enter Desolate Fortress.”
“What is your business?”
“I merely wish to make an acquaintance! We can exchange information if we have any. Those who pass the Desolate Fortress exam on their first attempt are nearly nonexistent. Perhaps one in a thousand, and even those are promising young talents from prestigious martial families seeking to make a name for themselves. Usually, people pass on their second, third, or even tenth attempt.”
“There is an exam?”
Hyeon Won-chang’s eyes widened as if asking whether he truly had not known. The exaggerated expression suited him remarkably well.
“It is called the Desolate Exam! Desolate Fortress itself differs in nature from ordinary sects. Just as one takes a civil or military examination to enter official service, there is a separate exam to enter Desolate Fortress.”
“So that is why there are so many people...”
“Whether they have a foundation or not, the moment they enter, a place of learning and opportunity opens before them. It would be stranger if martial artists from all under heaven did not flock here. There must be thousands who have trained in every sort of martial art in order to pass it.”
Desolate Fortress.
If you wish to command all under heaven with a single weapon, go to Desolate Fortress. Even officials will tread carefully around you.
It was a common saying. It was a cradle of martial arts that could not help but make anyone’s heart race.
Because the imperial court ruling the Central Plains had acted directly to suppress martial sects, it was said that Desolate Fortress was filled with spiritual medicine and advanced martial arts gathered from across the Nine Provinces.
“Some people rate traditional great sects more highly. They truly know nothing. A sect established by mere commoners is stronger than Desolate Fortress? Then those bastards should found an empire and play emperor. How else would the Great Ming Empire still endure? In their own regions, they collect protection fees and donations while being worshipped like kings.”
“I see.”
Jeong Yeon-shin gave a vague response. He wondered whether Hyeon Won-chang bore a grudge against great sects.
“At any rate, coming to take the Desolate Exam was an excellent choice. ...If you can pass, that is.”
Hyeon Won-chang spoke with a suddenly gloomy expression.
Jeong Yeon-shin found the person before him rather strange.
He had never seen such a talkative person whose mood rose and fell so sharply.
“If you pass, you will instantly gain the reputation of a rising talent, the foremost among juniors your age! Would a martial artist of your age in Desolate Fortress not unquestionably be an outstanding new expert?”
The strength drained from Hyeon Won-chang’s voice again as he spoke with a smile.
“...Though Desolate Fortress’s walls are as dizzyingly high as its grandeur.”
“Yes. I see.”
Just as Jeong Yeon-shin was beginning to tire of it, the food arrived: chicken and vegetable dishes, including Kung Pao Chicken.
After several days without a proper meal, even the smell was welcome.
Hyeon Won-chang watched Jeong Yeon-shin eat with a complicated expression before speaking.
“So, how about we go take the exam together tomorrow?”
“Let us do that.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered without much concern.
In truth, he was glad to learn he could enter Desolate Fortress through an exam.
He did not want to hold out his hand to relatives from his maternal side, people whose appearance and place of residence he did not even know.
Even with his life at stake, he would not abase himself or beg. It was both resolve and youthful pride.
* * *
The next day.
“I came to the right place.”
Standing before Desolate Fortress, Jeong Yeon-shin was no longer the third son of Jeong Family Manor.
He was a swordsman who had made it through a week that was especially harsh for a child carrying wealth. The boy had become a martial artist.
‘It is enormous.’
He looked up at the main gate and marveled. Its scale exceeded anything he had heard of.
The fortress stretched beside the deep blue of the clear sky, displaying imposing grandeur.
“Impregnable.”
Hyeon Won-chang murmured beside him with an entranced expression. Jeong Yeon-shin agreed inwardly.
The double-layered walls rising high looked solid.
The walls enclosed an area so vast that their beginning and end seemed impossibly distant.
A moat had even been dug around them, forming a broad belt of water.
The huge main gate, thrown wide open, spoke of the confidence of a place that proclaimed itself the greatest in the martial world.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly stepped forward.
A fenced Training Hall lay ahead. It was likely the location of the first exam Hyeon Won-chang had mentioned.
“Let’s go.”
“Let us.”
The two approached the registration desk at the front and gave their personal details.
The receptionist, dressed as a scholar, wrote them down and asked again.
“Henan Province, Nanyang. Jeong Yeon-shin of Xinye County, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Enter the Training Hall.”
From among the round tokens piled high on one side of the large desk, the receptionist handed one to him. Jeong Yeon-shin received it and turned away.
The number thirteen was engraved on the token.
‘It is noisy.’
There were not only examiners and applicants nearby.
In addition to young martial artists dreaming of crossing the Dragon Gate and ascending, spectators, merchants, and gamblers crowded the area.
Desolate Fortress did not stop them, as though inviting them to watch and enjoy.
“Over here.”
When he and Hyeon Won-chang passed through the fence gate, the martial artist in charge of the exam called them over.
The examiner wore neat martial attire and carried a tightly condensed aura. The examiner felt no less formidable than the experts of the Thirteen Heavens.
“The first test is the Swift Sword Form,” the examiner said.
“Yes?”
Footnotes:
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