WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 65: Blood Flame Sect (4)
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Whoosh!
The next moment, Jeong Yeon-shin stood before the Blood Flame Sect Master, having used the Body Movement Scripture at blinding speed.
The wind that rose a moment later left the Sect Master’s long white hair disheveled.
Was it faith in their master’s absolute power? No one dared move rashly.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly reached out and took the pellet.
The Blood Flame Sect Master did not stop him. He merely held out his palm and watched Jeong Yeon-shin with interest.
“Narrow the bloodways?”
Jeong Yeon-shin murmured.
The pellet in his hand drew his eye. It was blackish red, as though muddy blood had been hardened into a solid mass.
He said, “How can someone live if their qi and blood are blocked? It truly is poison. It kills people.”
“It will be useful once you reach the realm of an Apostle. Temper the bloodways throughout your body with qi. Then you will be able to endure it.”
“You know the upper dantian plays a major role in creating martial arts. Wouldn’t that make me useless?”
“Even with your exceptional talent, that will take considerable time. By then, perhaps our sect will have overcome one of its weaknesses.”
The Blood Flame Sect Master smiled faintly. It was difficult to read his expression.
‘Trust this man? That’s absurd.’
Jeong Yeon-shin assessed the situation.
The moment he changed the flow of the battlefield, he had been cut down by the Namgung Family’s refusal to act.
It did not suit the main house of Namgung Hwa-shin, the White Qilin, who had shown such astonishingly upright character.
They were beginning to resemble the Huangbo Family.
Now that his distrust of the orthodox martial world had become clear, even the words of the head of an unorthodox sect did not feel sincere.
Nothing was easy to trust. The martial world was not a place that inspired trust.
The Sect Master had even called it poison that could not be taken immediately. There was no telling what use it might have.
‘It’s only worth taking once I become an Apostle? The Blood Flame Sect’s Apostles are not much different from Desolate Fortress’s Black Uniform. He’s telling me to remain a slave to martial arts for a long time.’
Still, he had to comply for now.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly nodded and tucked the pellet into his robes.
The Blood Flame Sect Master looked satisfied and clapped again.
“It is only natural for an ordinary cultist to possess the First Blood Art. Yet it would be far too small a vessel to contain talent unmatched through the ages.”
At his gesture, another attendant approached.
Jeong Yeon-shin looked at the two books presented in the attendant’s hands.
“Mara Roaring Blood Art. I bestow the secret art of an Apostle upon the Grand Preceptor.”
The Blood Flame Sect Master finished with a smile in his voice.
Jeong Yeon-shin silently accepted the Mara Roaring Blood Art mnemonic formula manual.
It appeared to have been copied not long ago. The paper still felt new.
‘The inner-energy method of the Blood Flame Sect’s Apostles...’
A peerless secret manual from an unorthodox sect had just fallen into his hands.
For a moment, Jeong Yeon-shin sensed what this event would bring about.
He recalled the river of blood flowing down the thirty-six steps below the Sect Master’s Hall.
Was it foresight from his upper dantian? Or perhaps it was only his imagination.
Yet none of the supreme masters gathered there showed any concern.
It seemed to be the boldness unique to deeply cultivated cultists, their long experience in the martial world, and the confidence born of sublime martial arts and insight.
In truth, this place was their sanctuary.
‘For now.’
Escaping through his own strength was impossible.
Still, he might be able to inflict some damage, in a way unique to Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress.
How much merit would he earn if he harmed the Blood Flame Sect’s main headquarters?
‘The Lord might even give me a piece of the fruit.’
Jeong Yeon-shin did not worry about his own survival.
‘Blood Flame Sect. By capturing me, they’ve revealed the location of a large force.’
The Lord of Desolate Fortress came to mind, an absolute being who stood at the peak of the elven race that wielded every sort of mysterious power.
Though he distrusted the martial world, her figure remained vivid in his mind.
A clue had been given. Nothing that happened from here on would be strange.
‘They said I was the first person to set foot in this main headquarters. There’s no precedent for this. Clear Night Valley is at most a month away. If she can search the area in a circle...’
As he sank into thought, the Blood Flame Sect Master spoke again.
“There are matters the Grand Preceptor must not touch.”
“Speak.”
“Taking the turbid qi of heretics into our bodies and purifying it... that is the fundamental doctrine of our sect. It is a sacred mnemonic formula that draws forth our mission as instinct.”
“...”
“Do not alter it.”
He was being told not to alter the mnemonic formula that caused qi absorption and madness.
This was the Blood Flame Sect of the Thirteen Heavens. Choosing sacrifices to learn altered martial arts first would be easy enough for them.
Jeong Yeon-shin turned away without a word. Appearing too obedient would only invite greater suspicion.
“Show proper respect!”
A tremendous presence burst from the Third Apostle behind him before subsiding.
It seemed the Blood Flame Sect Master had stopped him.
The Seventh Apostle hurried over and linked arms with Jeong Yeon-shin.
When he glanced sideways, he saw her ecstatic expression. Her crimson lips curled high, giving her the look of a madwoman.
“I can’t wait for the Blood Arts to be reborn. How long will it take? Hmm?”
“...”
From the moment he awoke in the Seventh Apostle’s home to the moment he reached the Sect Master’s Hall, Jeong Yeon-shin had experienced something unlike anything else beneath heaven and begun sharpening the blade in his heart.
* * *
“You may alter the First Blood Art as you please. But...”
The Seventh Apostle reclined sideways on the bed, watching Jeong Yeon-shin, who sat formally on the floor.
“The Mara Roaring Blood Art is different. You have to make it suit me.”
She rose from the bed, her lips moving as possessiveness filled her pale face.
Then she approached with soft steps and gently stroked Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair.
Even Ma Yeon-jeok and Ma Jin had never been given the chance to examine his head.
Had either been able to touch his head and inspect the crown directly, they would have recognized his constitution at once.
Many seniors from the Demon Wings had patted Jeong Yeon-shin’s head.
His maternal relatives, on the other hand, had not dared to do so. He thought it was because they felt guilty.
The Seventh Apostle’s lips drew near his ear.
“I’ll show you everything I have. The circulation of qi, Force Projection, even the movement of every muscle fiber involved in executing the Body Movement Scripture.”
She whispered in a beguiling tone.
Did she think it did not matter because he was going to die anyway? Jeong Yeon-shin spoke with his eyes closed.
“So this is the hierarchy of the Blood Flame Sect. Are you allowed to plot things without the Sect Master knowing?”
“The Sect Master cares about the First Blood Art. It is enough that the cultists live without being hunted down. Even if the mnemonic formula of the Mara Roaring Blood Art changes a little, the Apostles’ martial prowess will not suddenly rise by leaps and bounds. But you...”
The Seventh Apostle suddenly seized his head.
Her single red eye, like a crimson jewel, filled Jeong Yeon-shin’s vision.
“Are you saying you won’t create a martial art for me alone? Really? You dare?”
“Let go. I was unraveling the mnemonic formula of your inferior Blood Arts.”
“Ah.”
The strength vanished from her grip at once. The Seventh Apostle pulled back with a pained expression.
She began smoothing the hair at either side of Jeong Yeon-shin’s head with both hands.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I interrupted sacred work. I’m sorry. I was awful. I’m sorry.”
“...”
He had already grown used to the Seventh Apostle’s constantly shifting emotions.
He had not even been awake for a full night yet.
That was not important.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly rose.
The Seventh Apostle looked up at him with her one red eye widened. Her face no longer looked as though she wanted to kill him.
He looked down at her for a moment before speaking.
“I need a walk. Let me see your Body Movement Scripture.”
“Good!”
The Seventh Apostle brightened immediately, rose, and lightly took hold of his sleeve.
Jeong Yeon-shin considered how he should circulate the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand to shatter that hand.
Creak.
The moment he stepped outside, he sent qi to the Yongquan acupoint beneath his feet.
Blood Arts qi filled his body and was lodged in his minor meridians, but it did not hinder his movement technique.
He had been born with an innate talent for controlling qi.
The Seventh Apostle smiled with her eyes.
Whoosh!
The two masters began racing through the cult’s village.
The main headquarters lay fully exposed before Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes, yet no one stopped him.
It made him wonder whether there was another source behind their absolute confidence.
“Is this place hidden by a formation?”
His words pierced through the wind battering his ears. A strange smile formed on the Seventh Apostle’s lips.
“Yes. It is the Two-Flame Blood Spirit Formation. You wouldn’t have heard of it, would you? It is our sect’s most profound ultimate art. It has grown ever more solid through centuries of history.”
“As expected.”
They said the imperial family carried thick elven blood.
How could one build a city while avoiding their eyes? There was no way unless it was sorcery or a formation that governed the laws of all creation.
The Blood Flame Sect had long been famed for Blood Arts that had entered the realm of sorcery.
It would not have been strange for them to protect their city with bizarre occult arts.
“I’d like to see the outskirts.”
“You want to find a clue to break it?”
The Seventh Apostle smiled.
Sorcery was not an unknown realm to Jeong Yeon-shin. He had already created a dharma-power martial art capable of breaking Blood Arts.
That meant his aura sense had acquired the nature of sorcery.
Even so, the Seventh Apostle cheerfully led him onward.
As if imprinting her Body Movement Scripture upon Seom-ye’s eyes brought her pleasure.
‘She’s looking down on me.’
She had spoken of centuries.
They had lived safely in this main headquarters for all those accumulated years, so it was only natural that they possessed confidence so ingrained it had become habit.
No matter what talent a Blue Uniform master of Desolate Fortress who entered their domain possessed, they did not care.
There was another foundation beneath the gazes of the Blood Flame Sect masters he had seen in the Sect Master’s Hall, as if they were looking upon a spiritual beast in the palm of their hands.
The Two-Flame Blood Spirit Formation.
It was a natural sorcerous formation that even the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand could not break.
Hummm.
At the edge of the village, Jeong Yeon-shin saw space rippling strangely. It was astonishingly mysterious.
It was cut off from the outside. The space within twisted strangely, and only the wind moving in and out passed through with odd freedom.
Using his innate aura sense, he put his entire body on alert. He dismantled the aura released by the formation piece by piece and felt it completely.
‘They planted energy into it?’
Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes suddenly widened.
Rocks, grass, and trees had all been filled with qi and bound together through some method. Their strange arrangement produced a concealment effect close to complete separation.
The entire village was hidden within a formation of inner energy. It was the wonder called sorcery.
He had found a clue to compensate for the power he lacked, thanks to the arrogance and complacency of people like the Seventh Apostle.
Boom!
Blue lightning struck.
A brilliant blue flash of inspiration flickered through Jeong Yeon-shin’s mind.
Thread after thread of lightning twisted together, beginning to form a framework of light. It was a mnemonic formula for qi manipulation.
It connected directly to three methods: the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand, the Sword Song, and formations. It expanded and spun without pause.
“Isn’t it wonderful? It is a wall built across countless ages. Do you understand now that you are in no position to pick and choose between poison and medicine?”
Jeong Yeon-shin could not let the Seventh Apostle, chattering beside him, notice his martial insight.
He worked to contain the blue light trying to leak from his eyes, then closed them slightly.
He wanted to appear hopeless at a glance.
* * *
“This is why great sects cannot be trusted...!”
Hyeon Won-chang muttered.
He was gaunt. He seemed unaware that Weiji Myo-hwa of the Zhongnan Sect stood before him.
Her expression was equally heavy.
“The Namgung Family did at least save face. They recognized young hero Seom-ye’s merit and gave you an elixir pill, young hero Hyeon.”
“If you had not been there, young lady, I would never have received it! Isn’t that clear? Those contemptible bastards!”
“...”
The two sought two things: punishment for the Namgung Family, and the whereabouts of Seom-ye of the Demon Wings.
Weiji Myo-hwa had needed to remain at a distance because of the range of Jeong Yeon-shin’s unique martial art, the Sword Song. She had seen it clearly.
When Jeong Yeon-shin crossed the battlefield in a straight line and reached the leaders of the Namgung Family, no one aided him.
They stood by and refused to help the rising talent of Desolate Fortress, even after he displayed astonishing martial arts, until the young swordsman collapsed in an Apostle’s embrace and was carried away.
Were they trying to cut down a sprout destined to become an imperial divine sword?
‘They tried to kill a heroic warrior clearly walking the righteous path.’
Weiji Myo-hwa thought so.
They had even trusted the enemy’s blade to do it. It was a truly vile act.
But rescuing Jeong Yeon-shin was more urgent.
“I sent a spiritual beast to the main sect. Support will be coming. The Zhongnan Sect does not forget a debt. I also sent word to Shaolin and Mount Hua after hearing he had deep ties to them, so there should be a response somehow.”
“...I am deeply grateful.”
Hyeon Won-chang answered with reddened eyes. He had repeatedly vented his fury over the past days.
Even now, twenty days after the battle at Clear Night Valley, he was the same.
The two had practically combed Chizhou and Ningguo near Clear Night Valley before returning to Huizhou.
Hyeon Won-chang had remained at the government office as a warrior of Desolate Fortress because he had received word from senior martial artists.
“So you were here.”
Cheong Myeong found them first. His expression had grown cold, as though frost clung to his face.
“I heard what happened. Wait here. The martial world will come pouring in.”
Even his tone was extremely stiff.
Weiji Myo-hwa returned his fist salute, then asked, “What do you mean, the martial world will come pouring in?”
“I gathered Shaolin martial monks, including the Young Divine Monk Gak Jeong, the Mount Hua Sect’s sect leader’s disciple and the Plum Blossom Swordsmen, and martial academies scraping a living through official licenses in Southern Zhili. Martial clans from Southern Zhili, Huguang, Jiangxi, and Henan have also been mobilized in force. A cult’s rise is a matter for the nation as well. They have no grounds to refuse.”
Cheong Myeong’s blue eyes stared steadily at Weiji Myo-hwa.
“You said you were the successor of the Zhongnan Sect. If you wish to build your reputation, there will be no better opportunity than this. Make sure you distinguish yourself.”
“Even so, isn’t this a force assembled in haste?”
Hyeon Won-chang spoke with a grave expression.
“Even if fortune allows us to find them, there is still the problem of fighting them. The Blood Flame Sect’s strength is immense. It does not seem like enough power to strike them.”
No one wanted to save Jeong Yeon-shin more than he did, which was why he assessed the situation calmly.
Even if three of the Nine Sects joined them, they would only be a portion of their respective sects’ full strength. The same was true for the martial clans and martial academies.
No matter how great their numbers, Apostle-level strength was a different matter entirely.
Cheong Myeong slowly shook his head.
“That difference does not matter.”
“Why...?”
Hyeon Won-chang asked with a confused expression.
Cheong Myeong was silent for a moment. His beautiful face looked different from usual. It had gone completely rigid.
Slowly, he opened his mouth.
“The Lord of Desolate Fortress is coming.”
Footnotes:
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