WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 90: Instant-Kill Martial Art (2)
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The Seventh Apostle had been lying atop a tall tree, watching the window.
She saw and heard it clearly. The insignificant wretch’s moving lips reached her ears as a distinct voice.
It was due to the sensory pathway of Blood Arts. She had activated it to catch even the faintest trace of the young cult leader’s Static Training breathing.
Her sharpened hearing caught everything.
“First, surrender and throw yourself upon my family. I’ll only let you wash my feet. I mean it.”
The voice of that lowly Namgung mongrel fouled her ears.
Step.
She moved, almost absentmindedly. Someone who did not know their place had to be punished.
As always, the Seventh Apostle moved the instant she made up her mind.
Wrapped in the gale of the Body Movement Scripture, she burst through the inn’s entrance in one motion.
Before anyone noticed, she had seized Namgung Mi by the cheek and was slowly lifting her. The feel of face powder beneath her fingers was utterly revolting.
She could not frown.
The boy who would create a Divine Technique unlike any other in the world was watching her.
The Seventh Apostle offered him a smooth smile.
“You.”
She felt the cold gaze of the young Grand Preceptor, which always stirred her.
The Seventh Apostle thought, ‘My small and precious Grand Preceptor, your dignity is my prestige.’
“What did you say?”
She asked the Namgung mongrel whose face she held.
Namgung Mi could not answer. Her eyes were wide as she let out nothing but pained breaths.
Silence spread through the inn.
Only the splintered fragments of the broken door scattered noisily a moment later. The Seventh Apostle’s arrival had been that sudden.
Her unmatched presence made it worse. The explosion of aura that had rushed in with her movement technique was immense.
“......”
Every gaze in the inn turned toward Jeong Yeon-shin’s group. Many of those present had been discussing Desolate Fortress and the Namgung Family.
Quite a few seemed to recognize the Desolate Fortress martial robes at once. A wave of shock spread through the room.
“Is that Desolate Fortress?”
“Blue Uniform at that age...”
“More importantly, th-that...!”
Martial masters who pushed their aura sense to the limit were rare. There were none in this inn.
Yet the Seventh Apostle intimidated people regardless of the sharpness of their aura sense.
She naturally radiated a demonic air that seemed to seep into their bones. It was a trait unique to powerful masters of the unorthodox sects.
‘Even her clothes are bright red.’
Yeon-shin thought.
The red long robe covering the Seventh Apostle was unmistakably a Pure Blood Robe.
It was strange for a supreme master on the level of a Blood Flame Sect Apostle to disguise herself. Concealing her presence with a refined Body Movement Scripture would have suited her status better.
‘There is no other choice.’
He had to drive her away. Even if the Pure Blood Robe bore no Blood Flame Sect insignia, he had to.
On paper, Namgung Hwa-shin and Yeon-shin belonged to Namgung Mi’s group.
‘If we want to preserve the pretext of the martial contest...’
The boy met Namgung Hwa-shin’s eyes. Their exchange was completed in an instant.
Just then, Namgung Mi let out a breathy groan.
“Huuugh...!”
The Seventh Apostle’s fingers pressed harder and harder against her cheek.
It was as though she were torturing her.
An invisible finger technique seemed to have already sealed Namgung Mi’s acupoints.
“You aren’t answering.”
The Seventh Apostle’s expression remained unchanged, just like her flat tone. The faint smile on her face was terrifying.
Even her beauty, with silky black hair and mystical red eyes, made her seem like a seductive demoness.
“......”
The inn fell completely silent.
With the qi-infused grip of an inner-energy master at that level, crushing someone’s face would take an instant.
Yeon-shin changed his mind. If Namgung Mi died here, Desolate Fortress could be blamed.
He had to placate the Seventh Apostle, whose thoughts were impossible to read. He immediately sent a sound transmission.
―What are you doing?
No reply came.
She was no different from Namgung Mi.
Yeon-shin stared at the Seventh Apostle. She did not turn to look at him, showing only her profile.
Still, the hand gripping Namgung Mi’s face no longer seemed to tighten.
That meant she was listening.
‘Disgusting blood demon. I can’t read her at all.’
The boy rested a hand on the hilt of the Desolate Sword and slightly raised the heel of his right foot. It was a common opening stance for drawing a sword.
His inner energy was anything but common.
The instant he activated the Jeong Family Youth Technique, a heavy aura swept through the surroundings.
Aura stirred from Namgung Hwa-shin’s body as well. Namgung Hwa-shin assumed a similar stance with a hardened expression.
A breeze arose indoors, carrying killing intent.
―We staked our names on that agreement.
Yeon-shin spoke again through sound transmission.
―You have openly broken it. Three hundred jang has become one step.
“......”
―I’m deeply disappointed, Seventh Apostle.
The Seventh Apostle’s shoulders drew in.
It was an unbelievable sight.
For a moment, the delicate frame concealed behind her overwhelming aura came fully into view.
The Pure Blood Robe no longer looked like martial attire woven from heavenly silkworm silk.
‘Is it a feint?’
Yeon-shin calmly looked for an opening. He barely held back the urge to strike with his sword.
If he rushed in carelessly, he would be counterattacked. Was the lofty Apostle of the Blood Flame Sect deceiving him? For a moment, he nearly failed to continue pressing her.
―Are you saying you want to nullify our agreement to exchange martial arts?
“......”
―There are twelve moves left in our agreement concerning the Mara Roaring Blood Art and a single strike. Do you mean to sever everything with your own hands? Your actions say as much.
“No...”
The Seventh Apostle muttered faintly.
Her head even lowered slightly.
Yeon-shin’s brow furrowed.
It felt deeply unfamiliar.
It was as loathsome as Namgung Mi.
He could not count how many had died by this person’s hand. This display was an insult to all of them.
How much blood had been spilled to cultivate such powerful Blood Arts?
The absurd sight angered him. Inner energy awakened by the Jeong Family Youth Technique passed coldly through the Tianzhu acupoint at the back of his neck.
It had to be the Seventh Apostle’s intention.
The scheme of sowing discord was sophisticated enough to befit an Apostle.
‘The opening is too obvious. Can I kill her here?’
Yeon-shin had already activated Demon’s Light.
Translucent pathways rose within him.
Countless invisible streams became sword paths within his mind.
The sharp lines emerged in his mental image and extended forward, only to crumble weakly before the Seventh Apostle’s body.
It meant that none of the Radiant Sword Flow’s sword forms could land an effective hit in a single strike. He felt it instinctively.
‘I need to join forces with Young Hero Namgung.’
White Qilin Namgung Hwa-shin understood Yeon-shin’s senses. They did not need to discuss the order of their forms.
With their current skill, they could coordinate perfectly.
If every sword strike against the Seventh Apostle was blocked, they first had to exchange a move and create an opening.
Just as Yeon-shin was about to draw his sword and attack,
Swish!
“Because of this.”
The smile vanished from the Seventh Apostle’s lips as she muttered those words.
With a single motion, she spun Namgung Mi around and grabbed the back of her neck.
It happened in an instant.
She slammed Namgung Mi’s head into the table.
The motion flowed as naturally as a connected martial form.
Bang!
Forehead and table collided with tremendous force.
It did not end with one blow. She had not even put much power into it.
Malice filled the way she struck Namgung Mi down, as though venting her anger. It was as if she did not care about the eyes watching her.
Bang! Bang!
Sounds like air escaping from Namgung Mi’s lungs leaked repeatedly from her mouth. She was a master who had trained in martial arts as well.
She did not lose consciousness at once.
Each time her head struck the table and rose again, harsh, gasping breaths rang out.
‘She’s daring me to come at her.’
That was how Yeon-shin took the Seventh Apostle’s provocation.
Without further delay, he circulated the mnemonic formula of the Radiant Sword Flow.
The qi of the Jeong Family Youth Technique immediately took on the intent of radiance.
Hummm!
The flow of qi throughout his body responded before even half a breath had passed.
White sword light rose from his right hand.
At the same time, the swift sword form of the Radiant Sword Flow burst from his waist like a beam of light.
Slaash!
He expected this.
There was no sensation of contact. The Seventh Apostle had immediately stepped back with her footwork.
Before retreating, she tossed Namgung Mi onto the table.
No one paid attention to Namgung Mi as she sprawled there.
‘At least that’s done.’
Keeping the Seventh Apostle in sight, Yeon-shin swept his eyes across the table.
Namgung Mi’s forehead was red, and her gaze was unfocused.
“Huh...”
“Was that a sword form? I heard Desolate Fortress had several promising young talents.”
“What a superb display of martial arts!”
The people present exclaimed as if they were watching a fire in someone else’s house.
Even the fact that he had only attacked now did not seem strange to them.
Perhaps they saw only a Blue Uniform master of Desolate Fortress with a hand on his hilt, radiating a stern aura as they tested each other.
It was hard to guess otherwise.
‘That is fortunate, at least.’
Yeon-shin was relieved, yet puzzled.
No one in the inn fled.
Their breaths were uneven and strong.
He sensed both tension and excitement. It felt as though they were determined to watch, thinking they might never again see a battle between masters of this caliber.
The city of Hwangju had three major roads, leading to Huguang, Jiangxi, and Southern Zhili.
Merchants and goods passed through in great numbers, and martial artists traveled through it often as well.
The rumor that only people with nerves of steel went outside seemed true.
They did not flee blindly just because masters were fighting.
‘Even the common people come in remarkable variety.’
Despite the sense that his horizons were widening, Yeon-shin did not relax.
It was hard to take his eyes off the Seventh Apostle, who stood with her head lowered.
He did not know when she might unleash a finishing technique. Even dozens of fire bombs would not be as frightening as her.
“Young Hero Namgung.”
“Do not worry about the gap of half a move. I will support you from behind at once.”
A dependable voice came from behind him at an angle.
Yeon-shin nodded slightly.
It was his first time using a cramped inn as a battlefield. He believed Namgung Hwa-shin’s Unimpeded Pure Current Body would allow Namgung Hwa-shin to respond flexibly.
Then the Seventh Apostle suddenly turned around.
Step.
She still looked dispirited.
The sight of her lightly stepping out of the inn felt unreal.
―You have to come again. I’ll take one move.
It was her sound transmission.
She withdrew, speaking of their wager over a surprise attack.
The moment she left the inn, her presence rose lightly onto the roof and gradually faded.
Yeon-shin stood still, holding the Desolate Sword lowered.
‘If that’s true, I should cut off her right arm first. She will not offer her neck.’
He had no interest in the Seventh Apostle’s unreadable thoughts.
The achievement and merit he would gain from taking the head of a Blood Flame Sect Apostle were secondary.
Like Namgung Mi, she had to die.
“Oh... The young expert of Desolate Fortress drove away a spawn of the unorthodox sects.”
“What was that person’s identity? It looked like the Blood Flame Sect.”
“It could not have been a blood demon. Her hair was black. Surely she was not an Apostle.”
“Weren’t her eyes red...? I don’t know. I’m one-eyed, and I only saw her in profile.”
The onlookers could not bring themselves to approach Yeon-shin’s group. They only spoke among themselves.
Even if they did not value their own lives, facing a master directly was another matter.
The sudden uproar ended too easily.
The situation might have looked fine from the outside, but to Yeon-shin, it had unfolded absurdly.
Had he really controlled the Seventh Apostle in the end?
He could not accept that.
‘I have to stand on my own strength. There is a limit to relying on an enemy’s favor. This is beyond common sense.’
As he made that vow inwardly, Namgung Hwa-shin approached without sheathing their sword, just as Yeon-shin had not.
Namgung Hwa-shin’s expression as they looked at Namgung Mi was complicated.
“We should find a physician. If we leave her like that, she will have trouble taking part in the martial contest.”
“...Yes. We should.”
Yeon-shin slowly nodded.
The once peaceful day passed in a frenzy.
They could not leave Hwangju at once.
The mission had no meaning unless Namgung Mi was capable of moving.
Four days passed.
During that time, they found a physician in the city to treat Namgung Mi, rented an annex of the inn, and stayed there together.
Only Namgung Hwa-shin responded to Namgung Mi’s groans, which sometimes sounded in the middle of the night.
‘Even an enemy is family by blood, is that it?’
Yeon-shin silently immersed himself in creating a new palm technique and Static Training.
He lay down and sank into thought.
It was deeper meditation than ever before.
He remained that way until just before the pale light of dawn quietly swept across the guest room.
When the sun of the fifth day illuminated the world, Jeong Yeon-shin and Namgung Hwa-shin received a visit from a group of martial artists.
They brought a noisy commotion with them even before reaching the inn.
It sounded as though a festival had begun.
Their aura and presence made it inevitable.
Even Namgung Mi’s vitality revived.
Lying on the bed in the guest room, she looked at Yeon-shin with a pale face and a sneer.
Amid the commotion, her expression seemed to say it all.
No matter who you are, you have to heed my words.
“Clear Qilin! It is Young Master Namgung, the Clear Qilin!”
“Namgung Se-jin is in Hwangju...?”
“That inn! Didn’t they say there were martial artists from Desolate Fortress there?”
Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin.
The Young Family Head of the Namgung Family had come in person after hearing rumors of his younger sister.
Footnotes:
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