WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 94: Instant-Kill Martial Art (6)
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Namgung Mi had once spoken of surrender and conciliation.
This duel was unusual. The disparity in seniority was extreme. Apart from the four of them, everyone involved was an established master.
Each stood in a position to guide the younger generation. It made the bloody duel a strange spectacle.
In other words, it would not have been disgraceful for the younger martial artists present, who had already fought at least one life-and-death duel, to withdraw.
That had been the aim of Namgung Mi, the Changnyeong Flower Lord.
But.
At this moment.
His younger sister, who had resorted to petty tricks, was beheaded.
The whole world slowed to a crawl.
The light sword brushing past Namgung Mi's body, her severed neck without so much as a bead of blood, her footwork losing balance as her body collapsed in an instant... The horrific sight sank into his mind in slow motion.
Those who had entered the fight were Seom-ye and Namgung Se-jin's younger sister.
Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin.
The Young Family Head of the Namgung Family thought this might happen.
He had not stopped it before the duel. It had not been possible. Two of the martial world's foremost factions had agreed to a life-and-death duel.
When the difference in seniority was not too great, honor took precedence over life in a duel.
A battle against Seom-ye or White Qilin.
For Namgung Mi, it had been all or nothing.
She was the one who had proposed a winner-stays-on life-and-death duel, with the youngest participants stepping forward first.
If she failed to cut down Seom-ye and White Qilin, Namgung Mi herself would die. She must have known that, though she likely had not imagined her own defeat.
‘So this is how you go.’
The merciless blade of the martial world had fallen. The Changnyeong Flower Lord could not withstand Seom-ye's sword.
And so, she died.
It was the result of a life-and-death duel. The people packed around the layered mountain ridges must have come knowing they would witness a battle to the death.
Yet Namgung Mi, the Changnyeong Flower Lord, was one of the Nine Phoenixes and a direct descendant of the Namgung Family. No one could have expected her head to fall to a single sword strike.
It was enough to leave countless martial heroes silent.
“...”
The Young Family Head had prepared himself as well.
This was the martial world. The grim reaper arrived without warning. It was not rare for even a blind sword to bring death.
Still, was it because he had been a poor older brother? Or because it was too difficult to watch his younger sister die before his eyes?
The Young Family Head suddenly turned to look at his father beside him.
The master of the Namgung Family.
He was a stern, cold-blooded Family Head whom no one in the family could approach.
When Namgung Hwa-shin had tried to leave the main house, he had ordered Sword Night's assassins to kill Namgung Hwa-shin, his illegitimate son.
His face was the same now as it had been then. Only his expression had stiffened slightly.
“Young Family Head.”
The Namgung Family Head spoke.
“Prepare yourself.”
“...Yes.”
As always, his father's words were concise.
He was a cunning hero who had watched the Blood Flame Sect's conduct after witnessing Seom-ye's ability. He had made even his own conscience and his children's lives into foundation stones for the family.
The Young Family Head's life had been treated no differently. He had never escaped the path defined by his father's will.
Helping Namgung Hwa-shin leave the family was enough for the Young Family Head to count among the accomplishments of his life.
“This unworthy son will be going.”
The Young Family Head spoke.
The Family Head did not answer. He merely inclined his thick neck slightly.
After the Changnyeong Flower Lord came the Young Family Head. He felt the weight of his inhuman father's calm gaze against his back.
The Young Family Head slowly stepped forward, toward Seom-ye, the boy who stood without even the slightest disturbance in his breathing.
Seom-ye, Jeong Yeon-shin, stood calmly with two swords sheathed at his waist.
His blue long robe, similar in color to the Namgung Family's indigo martial uniform, fluttered with a faint scent of blood.
‘He is bold.’
The Young Family Head thought so.
He envied the sight of Jeong Yeon-shin standing with his head slightly bowed. He had once told that boy that he wanted freedom, like the Languid Flame Dragon of the Huangbo Family.
Seom-ye already possessed it. The bearing of a martial artist flourishing so brilliantly at such a young age was dazzling. It appeared brighter than anything in the world.
The Young Family Head took another step, to measure his martial arts against the boy's.
Step.
Only then did people on the Namgung Family's side begin to speak. Comments about the duel began to rise.
Some remained silent with grave expressions, but many were always watching for opportunities within the separate martial world that was the family.
“The Changnyeong Flower Lord...”
“How could that happen? She stepped through the Unimpeded Pure Current Divine Step exactly.”
“What strange footwork. That sword technique was quite destructive as well.”
Some family members whispered with stunned expressions. They were mostly youths from the collateral branches.
The collateral branches vastly outnumbered the direct line, which was limited to the current Family Head's descendants.
The Namgung Family was enormous. Many more people remained emotionally unmoved by Namgung Mi's death.
Would they restrain their words because the direct line was present? They did not.
The shock delivered by Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress was simply too great. To the Namgung Family's members, Namgung Mi had been like royalty.
“I never expected her to die so futilely.”
“Futilely? Your attainment in ocular arts seems lacking. It was a sequence of techniques honed over her lifetime. Seom-ye's accumulated effort was more intense than the young lady's.”
“He truly is strong. He deserves to represent Desolate Fortress.”
“But can he match the Young Family Head's sword? How many at his age could have cultivated the Imperial Sword Art to such a degree?”
Their words reached Jeong Yeon-shin's ears as well. He had pushed the Jeong Family Youth Technique to its limit.
His heightened senses did not fade easily. It felt good. This was how it should be.
‘He is strong.’
It was because of the Young Family Head. He walked straight toward Yeon-shin with flawless posture.
The aura that had spread like mist seemed to gather into a blade and stretch toward him. It was tangible. Goosebumps rose as though his skin were being sliced apart.
It was difficult to think of him as someone who had briefly traveled the martial world with Yeon-shin. Nor was he merely the predetermined master of a family.
He was a swordsman who had honed his skill to the peak. At this moment, it was more fitting to call him a swordsman far too formidable to face as an opponent.
They stood facing one another ten paces apart.
“About my younger sister, Ami.”
The Young Family Head spoke first.
“I will not speak of her unnecessarily. As a martial artist, that foolish child met a fairly admirable end. That is enough.”
“...”
“One or both of us may die. This is a place where the end of life hangs in the balance. I do not consider this fight a conflict between Namgung and Desolate Fortress. It is a life-and-death duel. If I am to pass on, I do not wish to close my eyes as a chess piece.”
Then a hearty smile appeared on his handsome, kindly face.
“I have lived comfortably beneath the Namgung Family's shadow all my life. It may sound like the complaint of a well-fed man, but it was a shackle.”
“It truly was.”
At Yeon-shin's brief reply, his smile deepened.
“Even so, I wanted to escape it at least once. They say one may find freedom in the gap between life and death, though I still wonder whether that is true. I want to experience it now. Can Seom-ye of Desolate Fortress make that possible?”
It was a provocative question.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not answer. He had to draw his sword again. As before, he gripped the hilt of the Desolate Sword.
He was always like this before an important battle. The Northern Light Sword was a famous blade, but it was not as familiar in his hand as the Desolate Sword.
“...”
Perhaps Namgung Mi's death had made the weight of this clash between Desolate Fortress and Namgung, this life-and-death duel between major factions, all too real.
The crowd surrounding Clear Night Valley still held their tongues. Only the wind through the gorge blew fiercely from time to time.
Amid it all, the two men's aura grew dense.
The Young Family Head wiped the smile from his lips.
“Let's begin.”
“Yes.”
There was no referee. This was the world of masters.
Shing.
They drew their swords at the same time.
The dry wind teased their hair once as it passed. Jeong Yeon-shin suddenly realized something.
‘He has widened the gap between us, extending his sword's domain.’
It felt like a breeze brushing over his skin. It happened the instant the Young Family Head drew his splendid treasured sword.
Its presence was incredibly sharp. It was chilling, as though a forest of invisible blades had risen.
The Imperial Sword Art. He had used his supreme art from the start.
The intuition of Yeon-shin's upper dantian seemed to sound an alarm in his mind. He understood at once. If the Young Family Head attacked now, there was no way to evade it.
His body grew heavy in an instant. It was difficult even to stand. The air around his body felt as though it had become the weight of a thousand catties.
‘Will it work again?’
He thought of the second Phantom Wing Step, Phantom Wing Second Step. It was a footwork technique that drove away energy released beyond the body. It had perfectly sealed Namgung Mi's Body Movement Scripture.
Could it unravel the Imperial Sword Art as well? It was a question he had considered before the duel. Other than Phantom Wing Step, he had found no other method.
Even as he considered it, the Young Family Head drew closer, step by step. It seemed he could not use movement arts while deploying the Imperial Sword Art.
‘Let's clash head-on.’
Jeong Yeon-shin changed his mind. Schemes did not suit the nature of his unique martial arts. Seom-ye was a martial artist led by his senses.
He had survived every fight through insight that came faster than thought. He decided to face him directly.
Swish.
He had to use the muscles of his entire body just to take a small step. If not for the body he had tempered through the Jeong Family Youth Technique, he would not have been able to move at all.
Thud!
Dust rose with his step. At the same time, the burden on his body eased considerably.
It meant every movement in this fight had to follow the footwork of Phantom Wing Second Step.
Slash!
How keen was his aura sense?
The Young Family Head was not surprised. Wearing an indifferent expression as though he had expected it, he brought his sword down.
Did he control the Imperial Sword Art as freely as breathing? As Yeon-shin accelerated, the Young Family Head's sword strike became faster as well.
Clang!
Jeong Yeon-shin nearly frowned. He immediately deployed a True Qi overlap in his right arm.
The sword force that had driven down and nearly split him in two stopped. The enormous vibration seemed to shake even the blood vessels in his hand. It was sword force unlike anything he had ever experienced.
‘So this is how strong it is.’
Jeong Yeon-shin calculated within the realm of his senses.
If one sword strike was this heavy, how should he apply the True Qi overlap? In which direction should he step with Phantom Wing Second Step? How should he counterattack?
From then on, he entered a state of selflessness.
It began abruptly.
Two sword paths tangled like a knot of chaos. Every movement that sent forth a blade was heavy.
Heavy Sword.
This battle took place in a weighty realm.
Boom! Clang! Clang!
The force waves that scattered in every direction and soared upward were like sparks. Jeong Yeon-shin's Radiant Sword Flow was brilliant.
It was a sword technique that repeatedly scattered hazy streams of light, disrupting even the opponent's vision.
He made the Zhishi acupoint that supported his spine the foundation of the Ultimate Realm. He endured his relatively lacking inner energy with fluid True Qi overlaps.
Boom!
He made up for the insufficient weight by stepping with True Step on the spot.
As the Young Family Head's sword brushed his cheek, Jeong Yeon-shin stepped in once more.
With his arms raised, he held the Desolate Sword down beside his face and charged in without hesitation. Their swords collided and scraped against one another.
A fierce grinding sound rang out close enough to his right cheek to throw sparks.
‘Here.’
The moment Yeon-shin released his left hand, force was added to the Young Family Head's treasured sword.
It pushed Jeong Yeon-shin away with his sword, while its wielder spun half a turn.
The advanced Body Movement Scripture was fully contained within that movement. The martial principle embedded in it was profound.
‘Again.’
That was the kind of fight it was.
The Young Family Head maintained his distance thoroughly. He did not come closer than necessary.
Whenever it seemed the boy was gathering energy, he immediately thrust out a restraining sword strike.
He appeared wary of the incomplete palm technique Yeon-shin had deliberately displayed before. The boy suddenly spoke.
“Isn't that why you talk about freedom?”
“Hmm?”
“Your way of fighting is like that. You are bound by a certain way, and it seems stifling.”
“That is a decent provocation.”
The Young Family Head gave a faint laugh. He did not look as though he had suddenly realized something.
But his sword force changed.
Whoooosh!
The domain of the Imperial Sword Art, which had spread wide, narrowed into a storm.
The aura compressed around the Young Family Head's treasured sword was immensely heavy. It felt as though the martial art had changed from a wide-area technique into a method for killing a single opponent.
It commanded the surrounding force.
It issued orders to the sword.
Though he was not of the Zhu imperial clan of the Forbidden City, his sword force displayed the authority of an emperor. The sword techniques extended without restraint.
Boom!
Even the impact was different. It violently jarred Yeon-shin's right hand gripping the sword hilt.
The Desolate Sword's blade shook as though it would break, and Jeong Yeon-shin was helplessly pushed back. Then he realized it.
At last, the time had come to shift the battle.
He readied his left hand. He raised the Demon-Slaying Azure River Hand and Mara Roaring Blood Art at the same time.
Jeong Yeon-shin felt aura surging indiscriminately from his body. There was no way the Young Family Head could fail to sense it.
Thud!
As expected, the Young Family Head shot forward in a straight line with a heavy True Step. He rapidly loomed larger before Yeon-shin's eyes, along with the Namgung Family's treasured sword, always wrapped in fierce aura winds.
Jeong Yeon-shin forcefully stepped with Phantom Wing Second Step toward the incoming sword. The Young Family Head knew the utility of that footwork as well.
He seemed intent on preserving his sword force. The treasured sword's path twisted.
That was the instant.
Jeong Yeon-shin slipped into the opening. He passed to the outside.
It was the first Phantom Wing Step, Phantom Wing First Step.
A step that opened the interval between them.
He raised his left hand. The energy of Blood Arts and dharma power surged within it.
Even gathering them into a sorcery-arts formation posed a problem. It took time to draw them out as one complete palm technique.
‘It doesn't matter.’
He thrust it out anyway. His hand made a small motion over the Young Family Head's blade as it passed by. It looked as though he were toying with the Imperial Sword Art.
The truth was different. The upper dantian in Jeong Yeon-shin's head was burning. He constantly adjusted the angle of his left hand.
The energies of Blood Arts and dharma power were refined by the Young Family Head's sovereign inner force. In an instant, he tuned his palm technique with the Young Family Head's overwhelming aura.
Whoooosh!
The moment he rode the force of the Imperial Sword Art in reverse, palm force whirled from the center of Jeong Yeon-shin's palm.
It converged with astonishing speed toward its focal peak. He skipped an entire stage in deploying the palm technique.
“Hup!”
The Young Family Head immediately turned. His astonishingly swift movement hastened the collision.
The sword strike that followed his rotation knocked the Desolate Sword from Jeong Yeon-shin's hand. The vibration that rang through his grip was immense.
Jeong Yeon-shin did not care and pressed in. He reached toward the Young Family Head's side.
Then he deployed the palm technique.
Boooom!
It exploded from two paces away. For an instant, Clear Night Valley seemed to shake.
The tremendous blast gave rise to a long, rolling echo.
His ears rang. Jeong Yeon-shin stepped back from the violent recoil.
Would this be what it felt like if a thunderclap bomb exploded in his left hand? He had consumed high-grade spiritual medicine and practiced it with the Seventh Apostle.
Its power was completely different from when he had contended with Namgung Hwa-shin.
Then.
“Aaah!”
Cries of anguish rang out from the Namgung Family's side behind Jeong Yeon-shin, who had retrieved his sword.
Many people were crying out. They appeared to be established masters whose ocular arts surpassed the boy's.
Soon, Jeong Yeon-shin could see it as well.
“...”
He closed his mouth.
He had to.
The side of the Young Family Head's waist was gone. Not even blood fell from the wound.
It was an instantly fatal wound. It was strange that he remained standing.
Was the divine energy of the Imperial Divine Art protecting his body? For a moment, Jeong Yeon-shin forgot his own martial arts.
The Young Family Head's divine bearing and will were awe-inspiring. It could not be possible unless he had reached another realm at that very moment.
Then.
“Stop!”
The Young Family Head shouted. Light shone in his utterly clear eyes.
He took in at a glance the Namgung Family masters rushing toward Jeong Yeon-shin.
His virtue differed from Namgung Mi's. Many wanted to kill Yeon-shin, disregarding even the duel's agreement.
Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin spoke again.
“Though my actions may have been restricted by the empty title of Young Family Head.”
A long breath followed.
“The end of Namgung Se-jin, the martial artist... will be decided by me.”
“...”
Namgung Se-jin gave off a truly inspired presence. As everyone present fell silent, he slowly continued.
“Do not defile my death.”
Only his eyes slowly shifted. His eyes radiated a brilliant glow as they fixed on the final opponent of his life.
“What is the name of that move?”
Jeong Yeon-shin understood his question. He immediately parted his lips.
“It has none.”
“That is fortunate. A name for the move came to me.”
“Please tell me.”
“Will you call it Radiant River? It is as though the waters of the Sanzu River lie before my eyes, yet they are blazing with light. Is it because my heart is glad? I think the character hwan, meaning to shine brilliantly, would suit it.”
“...”
“It is a martial art that will one day contend for the greatest in the martial world. That is how it feels. Will you use the name I gave it?”
“Sihwa Boundless Hand, Radiant River. If anyone asks, I will say so.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered calmly.
“Good...”
“It seems you wish for it to be widely known, and I too must roam the entire martial world. It is my innate nature. I have no choice but to do so.”
The boy's words grew longer.
Did the clumsy comfort reach him? Namgung Se-jin smiled faintly.
“Yes... Do that. Very freely...”
Jeong Yeon-shin thought he could not know what twists and turns had filled the heart of Clear Qilin, who had lived as the Young Family Head.
At the end of his life.
As he reached its final edge, he did not look toward his family.
He died as one who walked the martial path. He kept his gaze wholly fixed on Seom-ye, the warrior who had defeated him.
His threadlike breath gradually grew fainter, then scattered without a trace.
Slowly.
He stopped breathing with his eyes open. Only his eyes still gleamed with the formidable inner energy that remained.
“...”
Namgung Se-jin's death deeply moved Jeong Yeon-shin as well.
What should he pursue besides a longer lifespan? As a martial artist, was life the only banner he possessed?
Clear Qilin, who had stood firmly with both feet on the earth, slowly fell.
Thud!
“He's dead...?”
“The Young Family Head, the Young Family Head is...”
“Quickly... Quickly!”
“Move! Urgent! This is urgent!”
The scene became chaotic in an instant.
Thunderous noise erupted. An enormous crowd began to leave Clear Night Valley.
Messenger pigeons everywhere flapped their wings and took flight. The Changnyeong Flower Lord and the Namgung Young Family Head carried vastly different weight. This was an event that would overturn the martial world's balance.
The eyes of the entire martial world had been focused here.
Jeong Yeon-shin, who regretted being unable to catch Namgung Se-jin in time, remained standing as the victor.
As winds howled amid the spectacle of force waves erupting from every direction, the boy silently endured the gale with his sword lowered.
The golden character for desolate at his shoulder shimmered in the sunlight.
The rushing wind of the gorge repeatedly lifted the hem of his blue long robe.
It was the moment the epithet Seom-ye was etched across the Nine Provinces.
Fame.
The first signs of it were close at hand. The instant Jeong Yeon-shin turned his head, he was made to feel it at once.
Footnotes:
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