Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time - Chapter 97

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 97: Divine Sword Unit (3)

──────

Jeong Yeon-shin was not particularly offended.

Yeon-shin had not backed down because the Divine Sword Squad Leader had promised a reward. He had simply done so without thinking.

What struck him more was the sense of dissonance he felt from the Squad Leader's many facets.

An absolute master who had displayed divine might spoke like a frivolous person. It was deeply strange.

"You deceived us, Squad Leader. That was outright trickery."

Yeon So-ha frowned as he continued.

"I knew it. You're always like this. Granny Ak and you are the ones who disgrace the entire squad. You're ruining our dignity before a junior you've only just met."

"No, it wasn't a lie."

The Divine Sword Squad Leader shook their head.

"Seom-ye, I hope you won't misunderstand. I was speaking of the ties you'd form with our Divine Sword Squad. It was something worth boasting about, in its own way..."

"You're truly shameless. You seem to find it easy to tend to the internal injuries from that fierce battle."

Ak Su-rim stood with one knee bent and snickered. Her manner was like that of a village thug.

With the face of a girl who looked close to Yeon-shin's age, she sneered at the Divine Sword Squad Leader. The boy thought she was strange as well.

"I keep my promises. What do you say? Travel with our squad until we pass Xiangyang."

"We can't go as far as the main fortress. We have another mission after this. It's always like that... There's never time to rest."

Yeon So-ha quickly cut in.

"......"

Yeon-shin did not answer. He merely gazed at the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

When their eyes met, the figure adjusted their Purple Uniform and subtly turned their head away. It was a stark contrast to how they had looked in battle.

That was when it began.

At first, it was faint.

Yeon-shin suddenly felt a vibration beneath his feet. It was different from the aftereffects of True Step.

An odd tremor seemed to be rising from a great distance. It slowly built, faint at first, before seeping into the soles of his feet.

"Ah...?"

Ak Su-rim's expression turned blank with alarm.

The sound coming from above was not normal. It was growing louder.

In less than a breath, everyone present seemed to realize what was happening.

At the same time, the crowd stretched across the ridge began shouting and scattering in all directions.

"The mountain god...! The mountain god is angry!"

"Has heaven sent punishment for Desolate Fortress's tyranny?"

"A landslide! It's a landslide!"

The cries of those living off the Namgung Family of Huizhou mingled together, but no one paid them any attention.

"We should get out of here first, shouldn't we?"

Ak Su-rim's dazed mutter set things in motion. Aura rose from Yeon So-ha, the Divine Sword Squad Leader, and the other Divine Sword Squad masters.

"This is because the Squad Leader made such a spectacle fighting the Namgung Family Head..."

"Fall back! Secure the White Qilin first!"

It truly was a landslide. Dust rose from several enormous peaks lining both sides of Clear Night Valley.

It was a vast, dense cloud of yellow-brown dust. Soil began sweeping down with heaps of stone.

Rumble!

Yeon-shin checked Namgung Hwa-shin first. A broad-shouldered senior from the Divine Sword Squad had slung Namgung Hwa-shin over one shoulder like luggage.

Nature had brought the sparring match to an end. This disaster had been caused by the fierce battle between the Divine Sword Squad Leader and the Namgung Family Head.

'They created a disaster with human bodies.'

Thud!

Yeon-shin ran alongside the senior carrying Namgung Hwa-shin. The senior was a handsome middle-aged man.

The man grinned at Yeon-shin, then jolted when he saw Ma Yeon-jeok keeping pace beside him.

"What are you doing? Did you trade your martial power for a grub's?"

Ak Su-rim, running ahead, snapped at them.

With a spear strapped to her small back, she looked the most at ease among the Divine Sword Squad martial artists.

Even as she ran, she kept twisting this way and that. Only her face was that of a girl. She watched over the masters like everyone's mother.

The real problem was the Divine Sword Squad Leader, who was faintly smiling.

Their movements were slow. Given the level of their martial arts, it was almost impossible to believe, yet they truly seemed to be struggling to keep up.

The aura that had been so flawlessly controlled was unraveling like a tangle of thread.

Yeon-shin's eyes widened slightly.

'The Squad Leader's internal injuries are serious. And the qi they consumed... I can't even guess.'

He recalled the moment right after the Namgung Family Head died. Ak Su-rim had casually told the Divine Sword Squad Leader to regulate their cultivation-method breathing.

It was broad daylight, before countless martial artists. How much weight did the strongest master of the main fortress under the Lord of Desolate Fortress carry?

Yeon-shin once again realized Desolate Fortress's standing.

They could not show weakness to anyone.

To show frailty before the many martial sects? From that moment on, the challenges Desolate Fortress would face...

'I can't even imagine it.'

That was what the boy thought.

Then he became completely certain. The Divine Sword Squad Leader was concealing their internal injuries with endurance as superhuman as their martial prowess.

He considered what might have lain behind a sparring match that had ended with overwhelming speed. Hadn't the Squad Leader fought with everything they had?

They said each of the Eight Family Heads could act as absolute masters in the martial world.

Was there any martial artist who could face the Namgung Family Head and remain unharmed? Other than the transcendent Lord of Desolate Fortress, no one else came to mind.

Even with his limited knowledge, it seemed true across the entire Central Plains. The Divine Sword Squad Leader was an unreal being for having suffered no more than severe internal injuries.

"Squad Leader, want a piggyback ride?"

Yeon So-ha spoke lightly.

Yeon-shin was not the only one who had noticed. The Divine Sword Squad was Desolate Fortress's foremost martial force. Plenty among them possessed discernment equal to his.

Their leader might not show it, but there was no way they could fail to see the Purple Uniform master's unnatural condition.

Many had already discreetly gathered around the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

"Hm. That would draw too much attention."

The Divine Sword Squad Leader did not bother denying it.

"I'm tired, so don't talk to me. Any of you."

They joked as they kicked off the ground. Their thick thighs seemed to move their body through sheer physical strength.

Despite their scholar-like appearance, their body had been honed to an extraordinary degree. Yet their qi no longer seemed able to support it.

Thud!

Yeon-shin moved a little closer.

Now that he was near, it was obvious. Every step the Divine Sword Squad Leader took was incredibly heavy. At this point, stamina was the issue.

Rumble!

"We need to get somewhere out of sight, quickly."

With thunderous noise pursuing them, Yeon So-ha muttered.

He seemed to be one of the Divine Sword Squad's youngest members, but his usual air of lightness had vanished.

Ak Su-rim was the same. She irritably flicked away her falling hair and kept glancing at the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

"Faster! We don't know how far this will spread!"

"Those people, aren't they from Desolate Fortress? They're already here..."

Many martial artists were fleeing along the paths between Clear Night Valley's ridges and gorge.

All of them had learned lightness skills. The looks they cast at the Divine Sword Squad Leader and the other Desolate Fortress masters were far from ordinary.

Huizhou in Southern Zhili was wholly Namgung Family territory. How many people here had been bound to the direct-line members who died today through grudges?

Just as many would be tied to them through favors and shared interests.

"If someone could guide their qi just once, they'd feel a little better..."

Ak Su-rim lightly bit her lip. The Divine Sword Squad's lightness-skill sprint was far too slow for its reputation. They were matching the pace of their leader, who had just fought a fierce battle.

"Only the Squad Leader can do that, though. No one else can guide qi for someone while running with lightness skills."

Yeon So-ha spoke in a whisper and scanned the area.

Among the martial artists fleeing nature's wrath were masters as well.

That meant some in the crowd had enough leisure to look around. That was why it was dangerous.

Their pace was slow enough to make anyone who kept the Divine Sword Squad in sight suspicious.

'At least they're far away. Ordinary voices aren't loud enough for even masters to hear from here.'

It would have been better if they were only before ordinary people. But Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Squad Leader could not appear weak before martial artists.

Crash! Rumble!

Now even the inner walls of the gorge were collapsing. The great fury of nature, caused by martial arts, approached as an unstoppable catastrophe.

Yeon-shin examined the Divine Sword Squad masters' faces. The relaxed air of people who looked as though they might trade jokes even if the sky fell had faded.

This was a crisis. Since this incident had drawn the attention of the entire martial world, there had to be many here who openly opposed Desolate Fortress.

'Assumption and certainty are worlds apart.'

Could two or three of the Eight Family Heads kill the Divine Sword Squad Leader? Anyone could say that.

There would not be many who denied it. The martial world's history said as much.

Even if someone's martial arts reached the heavens, enemies would always appear.

Actually showing weakness was different. The time and place made it worse.

"Squad Leader, breathe properly! We're going to be ruined! Do you know how much trouble we've caused all this time?"

"There's a huge number of people here. I think three or four of the Thirteen Heavens came to watch. If things go wrong, there are plenty of scum who'll join forces and bury us first. Without the Squad Leader, it'll be a bloodbath at once."

"The White Qilin will definitely die."

It was the Divine Sword Squad masters, including Yeon So-ha. Their breathy cries were desperate.

It was almost comical. Yeon-shin calmly thought they should use sound transmission instead.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader gave a brief laugh and put more strength into their body. A long nasal breath escaped above their tightly closed lips.

They looked like an injured fierce tiger fleeing while pretending otherwise.

Wildcats ran alongside them in every direction. Desolate Fortress was, by its nature, the enemy of the entire martial world.

The Nine Sects, including Zhongnan and Shaolin, which had treated Yeon-shin with chivalry, were exceptionally fair.

"Grandfather."

"Speak, Yeon-shin."

Ma Yeon-jeok answered calmly. Running beside him, he looked like an immortal with a tyrannical presence.

"Can't you use lightness skills and circulate qi to calm internal injuries at the same time? You're a Purple Uniform master too, Grandfather."

Yeon-shin asked directly. At the level of Purple Uniform, Ma Yeon-jeok must have cultivated all three dantians to the utmost limit.

Dividing the use of inner energy was a matter of exceptional sensory control. Normally, it was beyond common sense. The upper dantian was heavily involved.

"...It's difficult for me now."

After a brief silence, Ma Yeon-jeok continued.

"The Ma family's martial arts are truly fierce and swift. They build quickly and unravel early. Unlike the orthodox martial arts of the Nine Sects, it is difficult to maintain one's skill. It merely makes it easier to achieve supreme martial prowess while young."

"That's why you held the position of Squad Leader from when you were still a green brat."

Ak Su-rim, who had come closer, snorted. Ma Yeon-jeok's eyes widened.

"A brat? You were still a Blue Uniform snot-nose back then, you Ak brat."

"It must be nice to be old. What kind of nonsense is calling someone a snot-nose? Let's maintain some dignity, former Squad Leader."

She fired back before turning her gaze.

Her eyes met Yeon-shin's through her constantly swaying hair.

She casually swept aside hair darker than the long robe of his Black Uniform.

"Hey. You have a way, don't you? You've been thinking hard with those bright eyes of yours for a while now."

"...I do."

"Come to think of it, you seem quite skilled at using the upper dantian. I could tell from the way you moved. You haven't even entered the realm of higher mastery, yet your sense of time was strange. That's right! Hurry! Do it now!"

The insight of the Black Uniform supreme master who had undergone Rejuvenation was truly exceptional.

Yeon-shin fell silent for a moment. At the same time, Ak Su-rim chattered impatiently.

"Why? What's the problem?"

"For the Squad Leader to entrust their Mingmen acupoint to a martial artist they've just met..."

"What do you mean?"

The one who asked was the Divine Sword Squad Leader. Their increasingly rough breathing had become noticeable.

At the same time, warning voices rang out from both sides of the Divine Sword Squad's formation.

"Those are Martial Dragon Society bastards over there, right? They're coming down through the gorge itself. I think they're determined to check. If the Squad Leader released their aura once, they'd turn right around and leave."

"The Heart Martial Union is above us on the left. I can see Yeoryeong and the Blood Flame Sect too. Those blood demons never seem to get wiped out."

They had named four of the Thirteen Heavens. As they ran, Ak Su-rim moved close beside Yeon-shin.

The aura she gave off carried even her scent to him.

"Seom-ye. Is that blue long robe and the glittering golden character for Desolate just decoration? If we can't trust that, what can we trust? Squad Leader, say something. He seems to possess extraordinary aura sense."

"Seom-ye. I permit you to lay your hands on this fine body."

Even in the middle of a crisis, the Divine Sword Squad Leader was playful.

Ak Su-rim grasped the back of Yeon-shin's hand with her small hand.

She immediately guided it to the Divine Sword Squad Leader's back without the slightest hesitation.

Her palm, having become a girl's again, was quite soft.

'Her calluses are shallow. Rejuvenation isn't entirely a good thing.'

He thought as he raised the qi of the Jeong Family Youth Technique.

If Rejuvenation meant that a body forged through long years of training vanished completely, it was something one might only consider in old age.

Perhaps because Yeon-shin had overcome a major hurdle, his thoughts continued even as he placed his hand on the Divine Sword Squad Leader's back.

'Old age...? Right. First, I want to grow old.'

That was what the boy wished for. The question left by the Clear Qilin was also something he needed to live to ponder.

Footnotes: