WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 13: The Third-Rate Martial Artist Protecting His Sect's Honor (7)
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At its core, why could the Iron Sword Sect not join the One Hundred Eight Peaks?
They lacked justification.
The One Hundred Eight Peaks was a position that symbolized the Martial Alliance.
Five hundred years ago, when the Demonic Cult appeared, orthodox sects scattered throughout the martial world gathered at the cost of their own sacrifices to create the Martial Alliance.
The Nine Sects One Gang and Five Great Clans had formed its foundation. The title was praise for the allied factions that later joined the Martial Alliance and shed blood alongside them.
A full third of the One Hundred Eight Peaks had retained their positions for five hundred years.
Replacing one of the One Hundred Eight Peaks required equally great justification.
Then what of the Martial Alliance, which decided such matters?
The Nine Sects One Gang and Five Great Clans held absolute influence and controlled the Martial Alliance, but it was not governed solely by the logic of absolute strength.
In the end, the Martial Alliance itself was driven by battles over justification.
In that sense, Jegal Somyeong had lost their footing and found themself in an awkward position.
‘Damn it...’
As they reviewed every detail of the scheme devised by that child, Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect, and considered its intent, they had missed the proper moment to intervene. The flames ignited by the Iron Sword Sect had now spread to them, the Grand Strategist.
“How dare you! Before whom do you think you can spew such nonsense?!”
Seong Cheonwol shouted himself hoarse, but more than anything, Jegal Somyeong wished he would simply shut his mouth.
If he worsened the situation any further, both the Iron Sword Sect and the Martial Alliance would be drenched in filth.
“My father knelt all night to save my life, while the Iron Sword Sect Leader forced the duel through even after his vile scheme was exposed. Then, when the duel turned against him, he interfered.”
Jin Sowoon pointed at Seong Mohyeon.
“When that man said, ‘It is dark arts,’ the Iron Sword Sect Leader immediately branded the Taeul Sect a heterodox sect. And throughout all of this, the Martial Alliance did nothing.”
Jin Sowoon’s voice was filled with rage and resentment.
Jegal Somyeong still keenly regretted not stepping forward then.
“What am I supposed to trust before I sheathe my sword?”
The people gathered there nodded one after another.
Then they looked toward Jegal Somyeong, who was practically the Martial Alliance’s representative.
‘A checkmate.’
No matter how they considered it, the events that had just unfolded did not seem coincidental.
There was only one reason for that.
Jin Sowoon had not been flustered even once.
He had faced the Iron Sword Sect’s apparent plot head-on. Though every circumstance around him had been unfavorable, he had ultimately shaped the situation to his own advantage.
Could a youth not yet twenty remain calm upon hearing the words “forbidden art”?
Jin Sowoon had confidently proven his innocence. At the same time, he had drawn both the Iron Sword Sect and the Martial Alliance into his scheme.
Yet Jegal Somyeong could not remain impressed. One misstep, and the Martial Alliance’s name would be stained alongside the Iron Sword Sect’s.
What should they offer him?
What could quell the conflict between the Iron Sword Sect and the Taeul Sect, while making people recognize once more that the Martial Alliance existed to establish order in the martial world?
Nothing came to mind.
There was no way such a thing could exist.
That did not mean there was no answer.
“...Then what do you want?”
They simply had to make him provide the answer.
If he wanted the truth, an apology, or something else, they could offer him an appropriate concession and soothe him until the matter was settled.
If the situation appeared to conclude well, this incident would fade from people’s minds, just like that incident from twenty years ago.
But then...
“I want the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s head.”
“...!”
Jegal Somyeong nearly laughed upon hearing Jin Sowoon’s answer.
It was a move they had never anticipated.
An extraordinary move that pressured not only the Iron Sword Sect Leader, but them as well.
If this had been a game of chess or baduk, it would have been enough to make them want to overturn the board.
To demand the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s head was to demand a duel between the two.
Even if Jin Sowoon drew upon his innate qi, could he truly take the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s head?
But if Jin Sowoon died in a mutual kill, he would become a martyr who had given his life for his declining sect and family. The Iron Sword Sect and the Martial Alliance, meanwhile, would become Black Path scoundrels who had ignored morality and justification to oppress a weak sect and cause an innocent person’s death.
This matter would become a political weapon for years to come, driving the Martial Alliance into a corner and bringing down the Iron Sword Sect.
It was the moment when one person’s life became equal in weight to the Martial Alliance.
‘Hoho. The Taeul Sect had someone like this?’
Though cornered, Jegal Somyeong felt more curiosity than anger or panic.
They even wondered what Jin Sowoon would be like in the Mantong Office.
‘Then I cannot let him die here. It must not happen, for the Martial Alliance’s sake as well.’
#
“If you feel you have been insulted, you should repay that insult in kind.”
Jegal Somyeong nodded as though in agreement.
“But do you have the skill to do so?”
“I will certainly exact the price of blood.”
“...”
Jegal Somyeong’s gaze lingered on me.
A genius beyond geniuses.
If Yong Soa was a genius beyond all reach in the world of martial arts...
Then Jegal Somyeong was the equivalent of Yong Soa in the world of letters.
Jegal Somyeong had died shortly before the Orthodox-Demonic War began.
Many had said that if Jegal Somyeong had still been alive, the Martial Alliance would not have been torn apart like this.
That was how exceptional they were.
Jegal Somyeong was already deftly avoiding the trap I had laid.
“No, that will not do. If you do that, you will be resolving this matter through an unjust method, just as you suffered.”
As expected, this would not be easy.
“Then there is another way.”
“What is it?”
“Those three shameless men can perform the five-body prostration and apologize for everything that has happened.”
“...Hmm. But then how can we verify whether you have learned a forbidden art?”
“Then do you have a solution, Grand Strategist? Opposition merely for the sake of opposition is the conduct of politicians.”
For some reason, Jegal Somyeong seemed to be enjoying this situation immensely. Their lips twitched as they struggled to suppress a smile.
“How certain are you, Sect Leader?”
Seong Cheonwol stammered at Jegal Somyeong’s question.
“What? Th-that is...”
“Can you stake your sect’s signboard on it?”
“What?!”
Seong Cheonwol raised his voice without dignity, then quickly cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Grand Strategist, is it not only natural for us, people of the White Path, to root out forbidden arts when we discover them, in the spirit of sweeping away demons and eliminating evil? Why should I stake my sect’s signboard over such a matter? If you insist that I take responsibility, then as that child said, I will answer with my sword.”
Iron Sword Sect Leader Seong Cheonwol thrashed about without realizing he had been caught in a web. Watching him, Jegal Somyeong finally shouted in frustration.
“Did you not just say that was the wrong way to handle it?!”
“Th-then...”
“What about your sect’s divine weapon?”
Seong Cheonwol’s eyes widened as he looked at the Ninefold Sword, the Ghost Sword Immortal Elder’s relic hanging in the center of the hall.
“Th-that...”
“Are you not certain, Sect Leader? I do not know what occurred at last night’s banquet, but every situation I have witnessed today has been as that child said, unjust to the extreme. Were you truly doing nothing more than committing vile acts while leaning on the Martial Alliance’s authority?”
At Jegal Somyeong’s words, the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s gaze shifted between Seong Mohyeon, whose face had gone pale, and me.
Then the sound of his teeth grinding echoed from his mouth.
“Very well. Let us do that!”
The Iron Sword Sect Leader stomped toward me as he answered.
I raised a hand to stop him.
“There is a condition.”
“Enough!”
“If we are going to do this, then we should do it properly. What if the Iron Sword Sect Leader examines me himself, finds nothing, and still insists that I learned the Absorbing Star Grand Art?”
“Do I truly look like such a man to you?”
“Judging by everything you have done, I believe you are more than capable of it.”
Jegal Somyeong nodded.
“It would take too long to wait for the Enforcement Hall, and we cannot delay the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s sixtieth birthday banquet further because of this unpleasant matter. I will examine him myself. Surely you can accept that much?”
Jegal Somyeong slowly passed the Iron Sword Sect Leader and approached me.
“Now, lower your qi.”
I withdrew my innate qi and held out my right hand to Jegal Somyeong.
Because the Absorbing Star Grand Art absorbed the qi of others, one’s internal energy contained many different kinds of foreign qi.
For that reason, it was not particularly difficult to determine whether someone had learned the Absorbing Star Grand Art.
“...”
Jegal Somyeong’s qi, which had gently probed my dantian, vanished in an instant.
“...Ahem.”
After remaining silent for a moment, Jegal Somyeong looked at the Iron Sword Sect Leader.
The Iron Sword Sect Leader swallowed as though he were revealing the final card in a wager that had staked his entire fortune.
Then...
“This person has not learned the Absorbing Star Grand Art.”
“Ah...!”
The Iron Sword Sect Leader and Seong Mohyeon looked unable to believe Jegal Somyeong’s words.
“No! He has certainly learned the Absorbing Star Grand Art.”
“M-May I examine him myself?”
Jegal Somyeong frowned at the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s words.
“Our founder’s sword is at stake.”
“...”
As Jegal Somyeong stepped back, the Iron Sword Sect Leader seized my hand and sent qi into me roughly, beginning to scour through my entire body.
“W-Wait...”
The violent energy clash caused the blood vessels that had already been strained from drawing upon innate qi to rage wildly.
“Stay still!”
The qi scouring through my body finally struck my dantian harshly, and my raging blood vessels began to flow in reverse.
“Urk!”
Before I could defend myself, heavy blood surged up my throat.
The floor was soon covered with the blood I had coughed up.
“What are you doing?!”
“Sowoon!”
“This man, at last!”
Jegal Somyeong recoiled in alarm and attempted to strike my acupoints after knocking away the Iron Sword Sect Leader’s hand, but I continued vomiting blood.
Jin Taesan and Gang Chaeseok looked ready to fight the Iron Sword Sect Leader to the death.
“How could this be...?”
The Iron Sword Sect Leader looked unable to believe it.
Sensing that something was wrong, Seong Mohyeon spoke desperately.
“No! Grandfather! I definitely felt it. Otherwise, how could I have lost to that bastard?”
“Silence!”
I pushed away Father, who was supporting me, and tried to rise.
“You must not get up yet. I have not finished treating you.”
Jegal Somyeong pressed down firmly on my shoulder, but I violently knocked their hand away with my bloodied hand.
“...”
“Sowoon!”
After barely getting to my feet, I pushed away Jin Taesan’s hand as well.
Blood still ran from the corner of my mouth, while Seong Cheonwol and Seong Mohyeon stared at me with horrified eyes.
“Pay the price...”
I held out my hand.
“...”
“Pay the proper price for this vile act that you and your descendants committed. Cough...”
My fingertips trembled.
The Iron Sword Sect Leader could do neither this nor that, merely rolling his eyes in desperation.
“Urgh!”
When I vomited another mouthful of blood, Jegal Somyeong finally took my hand and glared at the Iron Sword Sect Leader.
“Sect Leader, keep your promise.”
“...Grand Strategist, how can you do this to me...?”
“You were the one who made that promise with certainty, and you were the one who injured your opponent with a violent energy clash. Show responsibility and prove that you are an allied faction of the Martial Alliance!”
“...We will compensate him for this matter, and the Iron Sword Sect will bestow three Iron Heart Pellets upon that child.”
“Grandfather!”
The Iron Sword Sect Leader glared at Seong Mohyeon as though he would kill him.
“If you open your mouth once more, I will cut out that tongue.”
The Iron Sword Sect Leader spoke to Jegal Somyeong as though pleading.
“Our sect’s disciple made a grave mistake in this matter. Even so, we cannot casually hand over the sacred relic of our founding ancestor to anyone. Would it not be better for both sects to settle this here?”
Jegal Somyeong looked at me as though seeking my agreement, and I gripped my sword instead of answering.
“Then... I must exact the price of blood.”
As I tried to push away even Jegal Somyeong’s hand, they shouted.
“Iron Sword Sect Leader! Do you intend to stain the Martial Alliance’s name as a member of the Martial Alliance?!”
At that thunderous cry, Seong Cheonwol’s eyes snapped open.
“This was a matter in which I attended as a witness. You framed an innocent person as a criminal, and now you intend to pay no price at all? Do you truly wish to learn how fearsome the Martial Alliance’s Enforcement Hall can be?”
“...”
Unable to bear Jegal Somyeong’s wrath, the Iron Sword Sect Leader finally lowered his head.
“Bring the Ninefold Sword.”
Seong Jutak brought over the Ninefold Sword with trembling hands. Seong Cheonwol accepted it and held it out to Jegal Somyeong.
Then Jegal Somyeong placed the Ninefold Sword atop my hand.
“Is this sufficient now?”
At those words, I closed my eyes.
Footnotes:
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