WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 98: Divine Sword Unit (4)

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His earnest wish lasted only a moment. Jeong Yeon-shin soon cast aside the stray thoughts.

Even if there were as many sects hostile to Desolate Fortress as grains of sand in the Southern Sea Archipelago, it would be an honor for any martial artist.

It was not merely rare. It was an opportunity that would be almost impossible to come by.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader had allowed him access to their back.

It was the Mingmen acupoint of one of the greatest masters under heaven. Would he ever have another chance like this?

It was the acupoint where a person’s vital energy circulated most vigorously. That was why the center of the back was exposed when receiving treatment with qi.

Swoosh.

The wound left by the Namgung Family Head’s sword strike felt rough beneath his palm.

Even as Jeong Yeon-shin laid his palm against the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s back, the situation did not feel real. He felt slightly detached.

“From the Mingmen acupoint, head straight toward the Shenzhu acupoint. An ordinary minor heavenly circulation from Daoist nourishing methods will do. Our leader opened both the Ren and Du Meridians long ago, and their upper dantian has been open for ages.”

Ak Su-rim stood beside him and whispered.

“You can think of the leader’s acupoints as a blade. Just imagine you’re oiling its edge. That’ll be enough.”

Her words, carried on breaths that had grown long and deep through mastery of Static Training, held profound meaning.

They contained the essence of inner energy cultivation. Even the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s vague nod made that clear.

Then a small commotion arose among the Divine Sword Squad experts.

“They’re coming! They’re heading this way! They’re truly like snakes and scorpions!”

“The crazy blood demons are first? Figures. Those people have no fear. Next is... Heart Martial Union, judging by their speed.”

“Martial Dragon Society changed direction too. They’re moving in a protective formation.”

“It looks like they have an honored guest over there. Those rabble are protecting someone that carefully? Did their leader’s cherished child come along? And Yeoryeong is continuing on its way through all this. Scheming bastards, as expected.”

Every warning from all directions concerned the Thirteen Heavens of the unorthodox sects.

They were major factions that contested for supremacy over the Central Plains martial world alongside the Nine Sects and Eight Great Families.

The moment they learned that the Divine Sword Squad Leader was not in good condition, it would not be strange for them to draw their blades against Desolate Fortress. That was the nature of their relationship.

If that happened, the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s condition would be exposed. The unconscious Namgung Hwa-shin could not even resist.

Even the strongest martial unit of Desolate Fortress would suffer heavy losses if it had to face multiple factions of the Thirteen Heavens at once.

This was a crisis. Jeong Yeon-shin lowered his eyelids slightly.

Inner energy was inherently difficult to control. Operating different pathways at once was even harder.

That was especially true while using a movement technique, which required fluid control of qi. It was a new challenge even for Jeong Yeon-shin.

“Don’t unsheathe your swords recklessly! That’d really make us look suspicious!”

Leaving Ak Su-rim’s shout behind, he sank his consciousness inward. Along with his qi, he entered the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s body.

Hummm.

He poured every thought into a single stream of inner energy. He had activated the upper dantian ability that he had only recently begun to draw out deliberately.

He could do it even while running with a movement technique.

Ak Su-rim’s incredulous laugh brushed past his ears, then slowly faded from his awareness.

Then, suddenly...

Jeong Yeon-shin felt a universe.

Even the elasticity and breadth of the meridians were different.

The middle dantian closest to the Mingmen acupoint felt like a dragon’s inner core.

It seemed capable of accepting endless amounts of energy. He had not known that a human body could be built with such depth. It was profoundly mysterious.

Perhaps because of the internal injuries, though, the flow of blood was not normal.

Even the power that should have flowed like waves through the twelve regular meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and every acupoint in the body was faint, as though rusted.

Fwoosh!

He directly poured in the qi of the Jeong Family Youth Technique.

He remembered Ak Su-rim’s words. She had told him to guide it through a minor heavenly circulation as if oiling a blade.

She meant that he should use his own qi to clear the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s circulation route, which had been disrupted during the fierce battle with the Namgung Family Head.

So he did.

He started from the Mingmen acupoint at the exact center of the back. Then, without hesitation, he poured qi into the Shenzhu acupoint directly above it.

The inner energy refined through the Jeong Family Youth Technique flowed in with a purity reminiscent of the boy’s childhood.

“What is this? It’s so pure and orthodox, as if it was refined with the Muscle-Tendon Change Scripture.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader muttered to themself.

“Did Shaolin’s abbot secretly break their precepts? Are you their hidden son or something?”

Their voice was full of bewilderment.

Jeong Yeon-shin ignored them and focused. He had no choice. Once the circulation gained momentum, it accelerated like a raging current.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s acupoints were on another level.

They were not merely like a well-maintained official road. They were as smooth as the ice walls of the Northern Sea. It was hard to believe they belonged to a human.

‘With acupoints trained to this extent, they really could complete a qi circulation in the blink of an eye.’

He now understood why the attacks of supreme masters erupted in an instant.

Even Jeong Yeon-shin was fast enough to speak of swiftness compared to most martial artists, but the Divine Sword Squad Leader could speak of instants even among masters.

He had gained martial insight. It might even be called an awakening.

‘It’s right to weave the internal method I’m creating together with the Jeong Family Youth Technique. Perhaps I can...’

It was the first martial insight he had gained amid this crisis.

That was not all. There was another.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader’s body was a storehouse of endless possibilities.

No, it was more accurate to call it a treasury where the principles of lofty martial arts were intertwined like precious treasures.

‘This too...’

The aura sense in the boy’s upper dantian flashed. It was a heaven-given faculty.

As Jeong Yeon-shin observed the inside of his superior’s body, he found an extremely dense trace.

It was the remnant of the inner energy pathway the Divine Sword Squad Leader used as their main method.

Overwhelming power had swept through it like a typhoon. The traces of qi were exceptionally clear.

‘This...’

Instinctively, he reverse-engineered the effects of the circulation pathway. Soon, he realized it with a shudder.

It was a circulation method suited for a martial art that discharged immense power in a single move.

It was a pathway that added stability to explosive martial arts.

It perfectly suited the Divine Sword Squad Leader’s light sword of qi, which they had displayed before.

It was a divine art.

‘If I can properly incorporate this method...’

It would greatly ease his concern over the rebound force of Radiant River, the palm technique named by Clear Qilin Namgung Se-jin.

It was an immensely valuable secret formula. It had likely played a major role in allowing the Divine Sword Squad Leader to end the battle against the Namgung Family Head in a short time.

Then it happened.

“Look at this brat.”

It was a voice he could not help hearing. A strange amusement colored it.

“Now that I look closely, I let quite the brazen thief inside me.”

It was the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

The snort from ahead felt chilling. Their tone was light, yet it still sent a shiver through Jeong Yeon-shin.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader could speak while circulating qi as well.

There was nothing strange about them sensing Jeong Yeon-shin’s aura sense searching through their body.

They were the strongest expert of the Divine Sword Squad. It was only natural.

Jeong Yeon-shin did not apologize. He had no room to do so.

‘They already said they’d teach me a martial art. If I ask for forgiveness later...’

Thinking such a childish thought even to himself, he removed his hand. The minor heavenly circulation had just ended.

Anything further would be dangerous. As the Divine Sword Squad scouts had warned, experts from the Thirteen Heavens were approaching like wildcats.

The person who had killed the Namgung Family Head could not possibly be unharmed. Even someone who was not a master could infer that much.

“Worthy heroes of Desolate Fortress! Would you not spare a moment to speak with us?”

A voice rang out from the third-farthest group. The qi carried in it was so powerful that it felt like someone was shouting directly into their ears.

Yet some of the Divine Sword Squad experts remained strangely cheerful.

“Look how relaxed those Martial Dragon Society bastards are. I can’t read their intentions. They haven’t particularly clashed with the main fortress before, have they?”

“Blood Flame Sect and Heart Martial Union are coming first. Are they really going to try something?”

“Leader, aren’t you done yet?”

Nearby crowds who had recognized the Desolate Fortress Divine Sword Squad had already fled far away.

Those approaching instead were all prominent figures from the unorthodox sects: a branch of the Blood Flame Sect, Heart Martial Union, and Martial Dragon Society.

Among them, the blood demons with vivid red hair and the Heart Martial Union swordsmen carrying military standards had particularly fierce presences.

It looked as though a battle could break out at any moment.

“Your contribution was great.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader spoke softly. Then, with a smile, they ruffled Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair.

They stepped into the lead. Their movements had become remarkably light.

A few Divine Sword Squad experts, who had been watching in disbelief, glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin. Their faces were as shocked as when he had returned after defeating Clear Qilin.

“Oh... It seems the temporary treatment went better than expected. There isn’t even an internal injury medicine that works without qi circulation, unless it’s Shaolin’s Myeongjeong Pill.”

Ak Su-rim approached with a bright smile.

“Good work, our Seom-ye. You said it was Demon Wings, right? Ma Jin, that dull eunuch, raised you well.”

With a hand smaller than Jeong Yeon-shin’s, she reached out as if to pat his rear.

The boy leaped away in alarm. He had never encountered such behavior in his life. For a moment, he nearly unleashed the Radiant Sword Flow.

Ak Su-rim tucked her short black hair behind her ear and giggled with the face of a young girl. She had completely regained her composure.

“So-ha. You said all it takes is one burst of aura, right?”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader spoke in a casual tone. Yeon So-ha only shrugged.

“I only meant it as a figure of speech.”

“Let’s see.”

The Divine Sword Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress strode forward without hesitation.

That appearance, that bearing alone, exerted tremendous influence. Its effects became visible at once among those ahead.

The blood-robed blood demons and the Heart Martial Union martial artists slowed down.

They could not help it.

Everyone had witnessed the terrifying divine might the Divine Sword Squad Leader displayed against the Namgung Family Head.

Fwaaaaaash!

Energy stirred.

It was an aura that had reached the realm of the divine.

It was fundamentally different, to the point that the amount of inner energy no longer seemed important.

With every step the Divine Sword Squad Leader took, it billowed up, its very nature evoking an overwhelming disaster.

It felt as if a landslide descending from a distant mountain had been brought directly here.

‘I have to surpass that person...’

Jeong Yeon-shin felt dazed for a moment.

The Thirteen Heavens’ camp seemed to feel something similar.

The Blood Flame Sect and Heart Martial Union abruptly changed the paths of their charge. Their approach had apparently been nothing more than a probe.

Even so, those retreating were members of the Thirteen Heavens. It was a sight rarely seen under heaven.

Who else here could create such a scene? This was the majesty that the martial arts of a supreme master carved into the world.

“Hey! Come here! Where are you going?!”

They were not the ones who heard Yeon So-ha’s taunting shout of delight.

Though the two factions had changed direction, there were still experts approaching them directly.

There were around thirty of them. Jeong Yeon-shin narrowed his eyes. He remembered hearing that they were from Martial Dragon Society.

They were another of the Thirteen Heavens, but each person’s attire and energy differed. They felt like a group of experts gathered from different sects.

Yet something was strange.

He could not sense hostility from them.

Then, from among them...

“Greetings to the divine swords of Desolate Fortress.”

A slender young woman stepped forward lightly with a clear voice.

She wore a pure white padded garment over a pale green silk court dress. Was she not hot? In a place where even the blazing sunlight felt disorienting, she alone seemed clear and pristine.

Her ebony hair, which reached down to her waist, rippled gently from side to side with each step.

Her pitch-black hair formed a strange harmony with her pale skin. Her exceptionally distinct features left a strong impression.

She was a young woman of extraordinary beauty.

Perhaps she was three years older than Jeong Yeon-shin. She looked close to twenty.

“...”

The boy drew his brows together slightly. The Martial Dragon Society girl’s eyes had swept over him.

It was not only her gaze. Her aura had accompanied it.

Was it foresight from the upper dantian? Even while standing with the Divine Sword Squad, the feeling made him uncomfortable. That remained true even after he had gained a direction for the Jeong Family Youth Technique and learned some of the profound principles of a divine art.

‘Would it be all right to cut her?’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought reflexively.

Footnotes:

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