WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 138: The Black Flame Dragon Meets the Monster of Manseogo (2)
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“Good work. Good work. Good work.”
The old hunchback greeted each member of the Ten Thousand Books Repository’s staff three times.
None of them returned his greetings. After leaving the Ten Thousand Books Repository, he slowly made his way to the lodging where he lived.
He was not an official employee of the Martial Arts Academy, so he could not use the dormitories. Instead, he headed for a small shack tucked away somewhere on the Academy grounds.
Limp. Limp.
His back was bent, and one of his legs dragged behind him. He looked as though even walking was difficult, yet he kept moving without rest.
Once he entered a quiet forest path, a young man appeared before him.
“Ah! Good heavens, you startled me!”
The old man always walked with his head lowered due to his hunchback.
He did not notice the young man until he had come close, then recoiled in fright as though he might fall backward.
“W-who are you?”
The young man clasped his hands in a respectful salute and introduced himself.
“I am Jin Sowoon, a disciple of the Taeul Sect and the Martial Arts Academy Representative.”
“Ah... I-I see. But what brings you here? This isn't a place people usually come.”
Jin Sowoon scratched the back of his head.
“Well, recently I've run into a wall, and it's proving difficult to overcome. I was hoping you could help me.”
“M-me? What could a crippled hunchback like me possibly...?”
“I'm not asking you to pass down your martial arts. I was wondering if you could teach me a few pointers on how to use sword force.”
“S-sword force?”
“Yes.”
“Young master, I have never properly beheld the sky even once in my life. How could someone like me know anything about sword force?”
“...Is that so?”
“Of course. Ask anyone passing by, and you would surely receive a better answer than you could from me.”
Jin Sowoon stroked his chin as though deep in thought.
“Could you tell me why you live here? I think we might be able to make a deal if you do.”
“...Why? What reason would an old man with nowhere to go have for doing odd jobs in exchange for a few coins?”
“Still, isn't the Martial Arts Academy’s Ten Thousand Books Repository an unsuitable place for the Sword Demon, said to stand at the pinnacle of the Black Path martial world?”
“...”
The old hunchback's mouth fell open, as though the absurdity of those words had left him speechless.
“...Young master, are you unwell somewhere?”
“Hmm... As expected, you have no intention of revealing your identity so easily, do you?”
“What are you talking about...?”
The instant the old hunchback turned his head to look at Jin Sowoon's face, Jin Sowoon's hands shook violently, and dozens of fist shadows appeared in the air.
Then, as though about to crush the old man at any moment, they began striking every part of his body without missing a single spot.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Caught completely off guard, the old hunchback flew twenty feet before crashing into the ground and vomiting blood.
“Cough!”
Though the old hunchback lay on the ground in a miserable state, Jin Sowoon stared at his own fists and spoke.
“You truly are remarkable. How did you neutralize all those punches just before they struck?”
“Cough, urgh.”
As though answering Jin Sowoon, the old man vomited blood again. His pale complexion made him look as though he might die at any moment.
Even so, Jin Sowoon slowly drew his sword without the slightest reaction.
“Did you know? Blood vomited from internal injuries is dark red. On the other hand, fake blood from biting the inside of your mouth until it bleeds is bright scarlet. I know because I've done it plenty of times.”
“...”
“What I am about to show you is a unique martial art of my sect. I would appreciate it if you would take a look.”
Before he had even finished speaking, Jin Sowoon swung the Black Dragon Sword, and five swords appeared in midair.
As the five swords moved independently and performed sword forms, dozens of illusion swords began filling the area around them.
“It is called Ten Thousand Swords. It can block sword force, but it does not seem powerful enough to overwhelm it. Please evaluate it for me.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Black Dragon Swords filling the air shot toward the old hunchback all at once.
Just as dozens of swords descended with killing intent, about to tear the old hunchback's frail body apart, a sound rang out.
Ping!
The old hunchback's eyes flew open.
A thin branch, no thicker than a chopstick, was already in his hand.
From that branch rose a massive sword force nearly five feet long.
Boom!
Ten Thousand Swords and the sword force collided, producing a thunderous explosion.
The sword force that followed soon overwhelmed all of Ten Thousand Swords and swallowed Jin Sowoon as well.
---------------!
Booming shock waves spread in every direction.
The mountain birds that had rested quietly took flight all at once, dotting the sky.
Trees on the untended hillside toppled in an instant, while the fallen leaves piled thickly on the ground scattered everywhere as though swept along by waves.
Jin Sowoon's clothes had become rags after taking the full force of that wave of sword force.
“Cough!”
Jin Sowoon spat blood as though he had suffered internal injuries.
He grinned at the old hunchback and showed him the bloodstain he had left behind.
“See? True internal injuries produce dark red blood like this.”
With that, Jin Sowoon collapsed.
The old hunchback held the branch in hand and could not hide his bewildered expression as he looked at him.
“Where did this lunatic come from...?”
He had raced through the martial world all his life and encountered every kind of person.
Still, he had never seen anyone as insane as Jin Sowoon.
“Urgh...”
The old hunchback could not even begin to figure out how to deal with this situation.
#
When I opened my eyes, I was inside a shabby shack.
The roof had been thrown together so carelessly that sunlight streamed through it, and not a single household item was in good condition.
‘Even though he's the Sword Demon...’
Seeing how he lived, I had to believe he sincerely intended to remain at the Martial Arts Academy.
My energy sense picked up the Sword Demon.
I did not immediately rise and leave, though.
My insides had been shaken up from the exchange with the Sword Demon, and I had even vomited blood. I needed to recover first.
I sat cross-legged and circulated the Taeul True Scripture.
Once I circulated my true energy and examined my body, I found that the injuries were fortunately not serious.
After treating my internal injuries and leaving the shack, I found the Sword Demon reading a book on the raised wooden platform.
He had apparently given up pretending to be a hunchback. His back was straight, and though I had come outside, he did not even turn his head toward me.
‘The Sword Demon is reading a book.’
He was a man so obsessed with the sword that he had earned the epithet Demon.
Why was someone like that staying at the Martial Arts Academy and reading books?
When I stepped closer for a look, I saw that he was reading theses written by graduates.
“Why are you reading something like that?”
The Sword Demon was reading a thesis written by a Martial Arts Academy graduate, a swordsman once known by the epithet Azure Blossom Swordless.
Azure Blossom Swordless had not been an especially outstanding swordsman, so the thesis submitted was not particularly impressive either.
It was an empty shell of a thesis, one that had merely added a few details to the papers his seniors had written to give it a proper appearance.
It felt strange to see the Sword Demon of all people scrutinizing such a thesis as though it were a secret manual.
“Do you know what it means when they say, ‘The Dao gives birth to One, and One becomes the Supreme Ultimate’?”
“I do.”
“Speak.”
“Why are you curious about that?”
“I have read nearly three thousand theses, and every one of them says the same thing.”
“For a crippled hunchback, you sure sound awfully arrogant when asking for something.”
“...”
Only then did the Sword Demon raise his head and look at me.
“Did you come to meet a crippled hunchback?”
“I came to meet the Sword Demon.”
“Then that is settled.”
“I suppose it is.”
“Speak.”
“What you just asked about is a fundamental teaching of Daoism. It concerns the process by which all things in the universe come into being...”
The Sword Demon threw the book, cutting me off.
I reached out and caught it.
“Goodness. Was my explanation too difficult?”
“Do I still look like a crippled hunchback to you? Do you think I do not know Great Change, Great Beginning, and Great Commencement?”
“Ah, you knew?”
“What I wish to know is why they all wrote the same content, changing only the words.”
“That is because they need to submit it in order to graduate.”
“They submit it merely to graduate, not for the sake of their own enlightenment?”
“That is right.”
“Damn it. It was a good thing I did not enter the Academy.”
“Then may I ask my question now?”
“No. Go back. Do not appear before me again. If you do, I will kill you without fail.”
“Hmm... Wouldn't that be difficult?”
“Hah. Do you think I cannot?”
I shook my head.
“No. That is not it. If I die, you will not be able to stay here any longer.”
“Do you think I would leave behind evidence?”
“No, I will. Every time I come to see you, I will tell people that I am going to meet the old hunchback at the Ten Thousand Books Repository.”
“...”
I looked over the Academy students' theses scattered carelessly across the platform and asked, “Are you not staying at the Martial Arts Academy for some purpose?”
“...”
“I may not be much, but I am still the Martial Arts Academy Representative. If I die, the old hunchback who is in such an awkward position will be driven out of here too. Are you sure that is all right?”
Half a day ago, his eyes had trembled fiercely whenever he looked at me. Now they did not ripple at all, like an enormous lake.
Could someone who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts control even the physical changes caused by emotion?
“How did you learn my identity?”
In truth, it had been entirely due to luck.
Back when I had been memorizing the books in the Ten Thousand Books Repository, I had always seen the Sword Demon nearby in his guise as a hunchback.
Then, during the Orthodox-Demonic War, the Sword Demon gathered the Black Path martial world under his banner and moved exactly as that old hunchback from the Ten Thousand Books Repository had.
People behaved differently according to the environment they had lived in, their habits, and their mannerisms.
Even twins could not erase those subtle differences.
Yet the old hunchback and the Sword Demon acted alike, as though one person had been copied perfectly.
“I realized it when I saw you use a technique on my classmate, So Cheonsu.”
“You saw that?”
“I could see it clearly.”
Of course, I had only noticed because I knew he was the Sword Demon and observed him closely. Even then, I had not seen everything properly.
But I could not tell him how I truly knew the Sword Demon, so I had no choice but to brush it off like this.
Ever since regressing, I really had become better and better at lying.
Hah. I had originally been a gentleman who could not lie at all.
“Why would someone who saw my move ask me to teach him martial arts?”
“Well, could you not just think of it as me being as obsessed with martial arts as you are, Sword Demon?”
The Sword Demon had originally belonged to a White Path sect.
He had become engrossed in the sword, challenged anyone without regard for their identity, and stopped at nothing to advance his martial arts. That was how he came to bear the epithet Demon.
So rather than calmly persuading him, I decided to ask for instruction in the same manner he had once used.
“You insane bastard...”
Yet the Sword Demon only stared at me as though I were absurd, looking ready to kill me.
Being called an insane bastard by someone whose epithet included Demon did not make me feel very good.
On top of that, despite my doing exactly what he had done in the past, he did not seem inclined to accept me.
What a selfish man.
Tch. That must be why he became a Black Path martial artist.
I looked at the theses scattered across the platform where he sat, then looked back at him.
“Then how about we make the deal I mentioned earlier? I will give you what you want, and you will give me what I want.”
The Sword Demon was one of the few masters who could stand against Gwak Gung.
I had to learn something from him, no matter what.
Footnotes:
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