WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 63: Blood Flame Sect (2)
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Jeong Yeon-shin put on a bold front.
Even he thought he had put on a fairly impressive display, but that was all.
He had performed far beyond the level of his martial arts. He was already at his limit.
‘This is hard.’
It felt as though his body had been stuffed with waterlogged cloth.
His once-light body sagged so heavily that it felt completely out of sorts.
Sword Song was a martial art that demanded a heavy price.
It brought intense fatigue to the upper dantian. He had felt the same way at the Huangbo Family branch house in Pingyin County.
Could he properly execute the sword forms he had prepared? He was not sure.
When he charged into the battlefield, he had not given much thought to what would come after Sword Song.
He had done more than enough.
He had assumed the Namgung Family’s masters would do something if they were not mere scarecrows. It was only natural.
They were a family recognized by orthodox sects throughout the realm, one that had even hosted the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering.
He had thought they would be different from the Huangbo Family. White Qilin Namgung Hwa-shin’s upright character, which he had witnessed during the Desolate Exam, had also left a deep impression on him.
Yet they did not step forward.
‘Are they planning to watch?’
Were they wary of the Blood Flame Sect’s leadership? He could not guess why.
This was a difficult situation. Even if martial artists rarely faced enemies in peak condition, this was still bad.
One Blood Master spoke.
“Insignificant. Die.”
The other did not say a word. The arms of both Blood Masters moved.
For an instant, their right hands seemed to vanish and reappear with thunderclap bombs. It was a proper throwing technique.
Whoosh!
The thunderclap bombs, elevated into the realm of martial arts by masters’ hands, rushed toward him.
They tore through the air like lightning.
Yeon-shin had just tightened his grip on the hilt of the Desolate Sword.
Shhk!
Black hair fluttered before his eyes. For an instant, Yeon-shin thought it was Weiji Myo-hwa.
It was not.
The newcomer emitted energy utterly opposed to the clear aura of the Zhongnan Sect.
Red sleeves fluttered with strange elegance.
He did not even hear a sound. Amid a gentle breeze, an exquisite technique for redirecting force revealed itself.
The two thunderclap bombs brushed past a pale white hand and abruptly shot upward. Their force had been perfectly diverted.
Though they changed direction sharply, the movement looked natural.
The woman who had entered the fray faced away from him and raised her palm.
At the same time, overwhelming energy rose from the center of her palm and surged explosively upward.
Boom!
The thunderclap bombs exploded in midair. It all happened in an instant.
“Apostle.”
The Blood Masters stepped back from the middle of the battlefield. Though their attack had been stopped, they showed no sign of confusion.
The woman turned without answering.
“As expected.”
She smiled.
Her hair, scattered by the aftermath of the explosion, was jet-black.
Her beautiful, pale face, fair enough to seem bewitching, was not what mattered.
She wore a black eyepatch over one eye, while the other was as red as a pomegranate.
An Apostle. They were said to reach a realm where lofty attainment in Blood Arts manifested in their eyes.
“I felt it when I was struck by your martial art imbued with dharma power last time.”
Her black hair flowed down like the night sky, and her single red eye shone with qi. The Blood Flame Sect’s Seventh Apostle spoke.
“My aura sense reached it. I felt the raw quality of something that had been born right there, but I thought it made no sense. Then I received reports of what you had done and saw that strange Sound Arts technique.”
Her blood-red lips curled upward.
“You were born with the talent of an extraordinary Grandmaster, were you not? Talent so absurd it makes no sense.”
Her informal manner of speaking had not changed. Her words were far from light.
An Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect.
She was a supreme master who had faced a Desolate Fortress Squad Leader.
She undoubtedly possessed inner-energy attainment such as Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and Five Qi Return to Origin throughout her entire body.
He could not even imagine how sensitive her aura sense was.
The smile on her lips felt chilling.
At last.
An enemy had noticed. She had fully inferred Yeon-shin’s talent.
Someone among the Thirteen Heavens had finally realized just how exceptional Seom-ye was.
‘Dangerous.’
A chill ran down the back of his neck. For the first time since entering the martial world, Jeong Yeon-shin broke into a cold sweat.
The martial world was built on martial arts.
They said no treasure in the world was worth anything before the mnemonic formulas of supreme martial arts.
There was a reason the graves of peerless masters who had dominated their eras were dug up whenever chaos swept the land. That was the world of those mad for martial knowledge.
Tap.
The Seventh Apostle approached with graceful steps. Layers of immense aura spread with each light footfall.
The aura encircling her entire body was terrifyingly sinister.
Her single crimson eye, as though blood had been condensed into jade, stared directly at Jeong Yeon-shin.
He could vividly feel the madness within her aura.
He could not fight her.
Even Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand would only work if the gap in their martial arts was not too great.
Unless he took advantage of a chaotic battle, he could not hope for another miracle like last time.
Jeong Yeon-shin realized it instinctively.
The wind brushing across his body, caught in her aura, felt like a sharpened blade. His inborn senses whispered to him.
His life was already in that supreme master’s hands.
“Rigid fools.”
The Seventh Apostle suddenly sneered. It seemed to be mockery aimed at the Namgung Family’s masters, who had only now begun to act.
Yeon-shin sensed it without looking back.
Blood Flame Sect masters who had leaped down from the peak blocked the path behind him. They appeared to be facing off against the Namgung Family.
“You’re mine.”
The Seventh Apostle’s smiling lips moved.
They said calamities in the martial world came in all forms.
Death and defeat were the most common things in the jianghu.
They could suddenly come upon someone who had been advancing triumphantly and seize them by the throat, and anyone would understand.
Poor condition, a supreme master he could not handle, and too few allies.
He had learned well from the seniors of Demon Wings. Calamity came in many forms, and every one of them had arrived at this moment.
This was not some sudden accident.
Yeon-shin had entered the battle knowing an Apostle could be there.
He had done so despite sensing the presence of someone overwhelmingly powerful.
He had trusted his own exceptionally sharp talent. He had trusted the Namgung Family, renowned for its swordsmanship and righteousness.
It was something a martial artist should never do, all the more so if he wished to live long.
‘This is karmic retribution.’
Only now, with the situation upon him, did the sixteen-year-old martial master reflect on it.
Camaraderie was good. His faith had been excessive.
“Come along.”
The moment the Seventh Apostle’s hand blurred, his vision was instantly swallowed by darkness.
Her strike was incomparably fast. He thought he heard Weiji Myo-hwa and some young man shouting, but their voices rapidly faded from his consciousness.
* * *
His senses slowly returned, dull throughout his body. Even the warmth against his skin felt muted.
How long had he been lying down?
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately grasped the situation.
He had been captured by the Seventh Apostle. He had been dragged somewhere while unconscious.
There was something else. Hunger gnawed at his stomach as if it were being scorched, but he had not starved to death.
If one searched within roughly fifteen days’ travel of Huizhou, this place would likely be found.
‘She struck my paralysis acupoint.’
It seemed only his mouth could move.
“I was just about to wake you.”
His vision was blurry, but beneath an unfamiliar ceiling, he saw the demoness’s face.
The Seventh Apostle wore a faint smile. Her long hair lightly brushed Yeon-shin’s cheek.
“You’re the first Desolate Fortress brat to set foot in this sect’s main headquarters. I should welcome you, should I not?”
“Water.”
“What?”
“I’m thirsty.”
The voice he forced out was hoarse. Yeon-shin tried to remain calm.
They wanted something from him.
They would not kill him here, so he recalled what he had learned from the Demon Wings seniors and Hyeon Won-chang.
‘They’re from the unorthodox sects. My life is in their hands anyway. If I lower my head, there will be no end to it.’
The Seventh Apostle looked blank for a moment, then burst into shrill laughter.
The black hair that had gently brushed Yeon-shin’s face swept upward. He thought it was good to have the irritating thing out of the way.
“Ahaha...”
She stopped laughing with a strange sigh.
Then she stared at him. Her red eye, seeming to tickle his gaze, traced over Yeon-shin’s face.
“You.”
The Seventh Apostle’s lips curved upward.
“You think I cannot do anything to you?”
“...”
“You need inspiration and must devise mnemonic formulas. Torture would poison your ability to create martial arts.”
Her upper body lowered from where she sat on the edge of the bed.
Her ebony hair fell with her. This time, it brushed the nape of his neck.
Her hair was horrifyingly smooth.
She whispered.
“You did not know this, but...”
Her red eye drew near. The Seventh Apostle lightly placed her elbow beside Yeon-shin’s face.
The fingertips of her other pale hand touched his cheek.
The Seventh Apostle’s slender fingers slowly moved up his face and eventually rested on one eyelid. His eye naturally closed.
“I can make your eyeball look like mine. I can cut off your limbs without killing you. I’ll give you this sect’s regenerative ability. Your hand technique prevented my eye from recovering, but unlike you, I do not possess an opposing martial art. You will recover again and again in no time.”
Her breath, tinged with madness, lightly brushed the bridge of Yeon-shin’s nose.
The person who had taken her eye, talent unlike anything she had seen, an unbelievably young age, and the bewitching nature of a fanatic.
At this moment, a terrible possessiveness was taking root within her. Yeon-shin could feel it completely through her gaze and breath.
“I’ll wait as long as it takes while pulling out your fingers.”
“...”
“Until you create martial arts for me.”
Her madness felt horribly real. Her red smile looked pale white.
The Seventh Apostle straightened and pulled back before rising from the bed.
No longer whispering, she said, “I’ll teach you Blood Arts. You’ll gain regenerative power.”
Her red robes stirred slightly, as though she were excited.
“Something learned by ordinary cultists or Blood Masters would not suit your stature, would it? What sort of martial art would be born if I gave you an Apostle’s secret teachings? I’m so excited I could go mad!”
“You will not have time to torture me.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke slowly. She sharply turned her head, and her single eye flashed scarlet.
“Your insolence will last only until you learn Blood Arts. I’ll make you lick my feet.”
“...Come back here. Examine my Baihui acupoint.”
At his calm reply, dozens of fine breezes swept in.
It was the Seventh Apostle’s movement technique. Once again suppressing Yeon-shin, she placed her fingertips atop his head.
The Seventh Apostle was an immensely powerful inner-energy master. If she touched his head directly, she could not help but notice at once.
It was ironic. The enemy was touching the crown of his head when neither his maternal uncle nor maternal grandfather had been able to touch it.
Her one eye widened.
“You...!”
“With your level of inner energy, you can feel it through your hand, can’t you? It’s growing even now.”
“There is a constitution like this in the world...”
The Seventh Apostle murmured blankly.
“Torture me and restore me? How long would that take?”
Yeon-shin asked as though unconcerned. This was the Blood Flame Sect’s main headquarters. It was hopeless.
The chance of escape might be vanishingly small, but he needed an intact body to develop his martial arts and attempt an escape.
Improving even a single martial art required dozens of different qi circulations.
They would not destroy his dantian. He only needed to avoid torture.
Then it happened.
“You are truly radiant...”
The distance between them closed. The Seventh Apostle’s eye filled his vision like a ruby.
He saw strange heat stirring in her pale face and the intense gaze unique to supreme masters.
Was this what it felt like to witness a monster from the Classic of Mountains and Seas being born?
This was not affection between a man and a woman. It was the obsession of a fanatical master who breathed through a cultivation method and moved through martial arts.
The demoness exhaled smoothly and whispered.
“You are mine. You’re my possession. Create martial arts for me and exist only in my sight. Until you burn away all your talent and fade.”
“You crazy bitch.”
The curse slipped out before he knew it. The hand stroking the crown of his head no longer felt gentle.
A chill ran through Jeong Yeon-shin as he thought. How could he break through this situation?
He did not know how long he would have to ponder it.
* * *
For two days, he had to eat thin porridge made from finely chopped meat.
During that time, Jeong Yeon-shin became sick of the Blood Flame Sect’s main headquarters, which he had not even been able to look around.
‘She’s insane.’
The Seventh Apostle personally held the bowl and fed him. She never entrusted the task to a servant.
After confirming Yeon-shin’s lifespan, she had completely lost her mind.
It was as though she regarded him as a comet that could only be seen for an instant.
‘Or else...’
He had heard that the imperial family in Beijing kept animals they adored. Was this what it felt like to become a pet spiritual beast?
Only after recovering from prolonged hunger, acupoint sealing, and Sword Song’s backlash was he granted freedom.
It was not complete freedom.
He had suffered a technique similar to the Annihilation Squad Leader’s Seven-Step Death Acupoint Strike.
The Seventh Apostle’s Blood Arts qi had filled his vital acupoints. She said that unless it was periodically removed, it would inflict fatal internal injuries.
“Let’s go greet the Sect Master.”
The Seventh Apostle said with a sweet smile. Yeon-shin silently rose from his seat. This was his first time outside.
‘The Blood Flame Sect Master.’
The enemy of Venerable Won Jong, who had helped create Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand.
The master of the Blood Flame Sect, said to possess the broadest influence among the Thirteen Heavens.
He was a master counted among the martial world’s absolute powers, alongside the Shaolin abbot and the Desolate Fortress Divine Sword Squad Leader.
He had likely been involved in the destruction of Jeong Family Manor along with the Tyrant Sword Sect Master.
Yeon-shin needed to see him.
He stepped through the door. It felt strange to see himself walking beside the Seventh Apostle.
This was different from when he had been fed meat porridge like a cherished animal.
His view opened wide.
A developed village stretched before him. Ancient halls stood in orderly rows.
There seemed to be hundreds of people moving about in every direction, and most had red hair.
“What...”
A groan escaped him. Where in the world were they? Could they truly hide a village nearly the size of a city in the Central Plains?
“Little one. The Sect Master’s Hall is quite far. Follow me closely.”
The Seventh Apostle’s careful hand, as though handling a jewel, tugged him by the sleeve.
As he walked, Yeon-shin took in the city’s structure and the composition of its masters one by one.
Blood Masters passed with their eyes lowered. Ordinary cultists did not dare look at him.
“Great Master!”
A passing Blood Master was startled and dropped to one knee. It was one of the two who had thrown thunderclap bombs in Huizhou.
Something was strange.
The Blood Master did not appear to be showing respect to the Seventh Apostle. Instead, the Seventh Apostle gestured toward Yeon-shin.
The visible corner of her right eye curved slightly. As he had thought, the Blood Master had lowered their head toward him.
The Blood Master spoke again.
“This unworthy Blood Master respectfully greets the Grand Preceptor.”
Jeong Yeon-shin fell silent for a moment.
This was not how a captive was treated.
Footnotes:
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