WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 142: Those Who Wear Black Masks

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“It brings back memories.”

Jegal Somyeong nodded at Hyeok Mugang’s words.

“Quite so. I can hardly believe forty years have already passed.”

Whenever the Martial Arts Academy’s first recess began, the two would dismiss their guards and walk around the Academy.

Since it was the first recess, few people remained at the Academy.

After living for decades in a world where even a day of rest could be seen as a political move, one naturally grew tired of people.

Perhaps it was only natural for two people who shared such feelings to visit the Martial Arts Academy, where they could remember their innocent younger days.

“The dormitory buildings have changed.”

Jegal Somyeong nodded.

“The old buildings were terribly inadequate. When I attended, even in Class A, four students had to share one room.”

“That must have felt rather stifling for you, Grand Strategist.”

“Still, I had many enjoyable times with my classmates. We would sneak out at night and run all the way to Yueyang. The man who is now the Mount Hua Sect Leader loved brothels that much back then.”

As Jegal Somyeong spoke with a faint smile, Hyeok Mugang joined in.

“I envy you. I have no memories like that.”

“Did you have no friends even then, Alliance Leader?”

“Hmm?”

Hyeok Mugang’s brow twitched at Jegal Somyeong’s words.

“Ah! I misspoke. I meant to ask whether you devoted yourself to training even then... Hahaha.”

Jegal Somyeong hurriedly tried to smooth things over, but Hyeok Mugang’s eyes had already narrowed.

“That’s not it. I never failed to become top student and Academy Representative, so I never had the chance to live with a group. You know the representative dormitory was somewhat isolated. ...Ah! Grand Strategist, you were never Academy Representative, were you?”

“...”

This time, Jegal Somyeong’s eyes narrowed.

“I deliberately helped that Divine Sword bastard from the Namgung Clan become representative back then because...”

“Were you not friends, but master and servant?”

“Ahem! It was a decision made for the greater good!”

“You two are friends now, aren’t you?”

Jegal Somyeong let out a long sigh as Hyeok Mugang teased them to the very end.

“Enough. What use are such rules now?”

“Could it be... that you’re still in a relationship where you must obey the Divine Sword’s words?”

“You, seriously!”

“Hahahaha!”

Hyeok Mugang burst into laughter first, and Jegal Somyeong, who had been glaring at him, soon smiled as well.

“It’s wonderfully quiet.”

“Everyone must be enjoying themselves back at their sects.”

“Hmm?”

Hyeok Mugang, who had been looking around, stopped walking.

“What is it?”

“It seems someone has remained at the representative residence.”

Jegal Somyeong enhanced their vision and looked in the direction Hyeok Mugang pointed.

“It’s Jin Sowoon and the children from the Taeul Sect.”

“Didn’t they return this time?”

“So it seems. They must have been waiting for them at the Taeul Sect for quite some time... But it looks like they’re sparring.”

“Sparring?”

The two exchanged glances and headed for the representative residence without another word.

Whatever else could be said, both were martial artists who couldn’t pass up a good fight.

#

“For such a bold declaration, four against one is rather underhanded.”

At Jin Sowoon’s words, Eunho, standing at the center of the sword formation, swallowed hard.

Senior Brother spoke like that, yet he was still completely at ease.

He must’ve been confident he wouldn’t lose easily.

‘But it won’t be so easy this time.’

Eunho was confident.

The experience he had gained through the Martial Arts Academy regular examination, the new knowledge he had learned from the Academy’s sword formation instructors, and the core principles of two sects’ sword formations he had received from Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran had all given him confidence.

Having absorbed it all, Eunho had advanced the White Tiger Sword Formation by another level, using the Taeul True Scripture as its foundation.

Before challenging his senior brother, he had tested the newly created sword formation against Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran. Namgung Seonhwa had even drawn upon the Emperor Sword Art, yet she ultimately failed to neutralize the White Tiger Deathblow Sword Formation.

“You should be careful this time.”

“If your training has been lax, you know you’ll receive intensive training for the rest of the recess.”

“...Isn’t that a little unfair? You said we were going to visit Dongting Lake.”

“We’re not going there to have fun. We’re going to work, then look around for a while.”

“Either way!”

Senior Brother had clearly said he would take them to Yueyang during recess, yet now he was suddenly attaching conditions.

Wasn’t that too cruel?

“As expected, Senior Brother’s temperament is unrivaled under heaven...”

“What was that?!”

“Nothing.”

“If you want to go sightseeing, then come at me prepared to die.”

“!”

When Sowoon drew the Black Dragon Sword, sparks flew in the eyes of all four.

“Are you ready?”

At Namgung Seonhwa’s question from where she stood as an observer, everyone from the Taeul Sect nodded at once.

“Then... begin!”

The instant Namgung Seonhwa gave the signal, Sowoon shot forward like lightning and thrust his sword.

Clang!

Dongryong, standing at the very front of the sword formation, barely blocked Sowoon’s sword. Yet he was forced back several steps, preventing the formation from activating.

Sowoon intended to break it before it could activate.

“Senior Brother, we didn’t come this far so easily either! Flood Shot!”

At Eunho’s shout, the sword formation shifted into the shape of an arrowhead.

While Dongryong faced Sowoon, Saryeon sprang out and fiercely targeted Sowoon’s vital points.

Swish!

The rapid Lesser Heaven Sword Art struck at his acupoints, and Sowoon twisted his body twice before retreating.

“Bronze Ginger!”

The sword formation spread like a folding fan. Saryeon and Geumpyo took positions on either side of Dongryong, and all three attacked Jin Sowoon at once.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

More than ten exchanges passed in the blink of an eye, and Sowoon retreated another two steps.

“Your attacks are quite fierce. Let’s see whether your defense is just as good.”

Sowoon’s Black Dragon Sword began to move rapidly as he unleashed the Twin Heavens Sword Art. Real swords and illusion swords scattered in every direction, closing in on the four.

“Gold-Silver Armor!”

At Eunho’s shout, Dongryong and Saryeon stepped back while Geumpyo and Eunho moved forward to meet the Twin Heavens Sword Art.

Jin Sowoon’s Twin Heavens Sword Art against the Twin Heavens Sword Art of the two.

The difference was that Jin Sowoon spread his technique broadly, whereas the two kept theirs narrow, creating an effect like a curtain of swords.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The dozens of sword images he had unleashed through the Twin Heavens Sword Art were dispelled all at once, and even Sowoon couldn’t hide his surprise.

“Have you always coordinated this well?”

“We’re sparring right now, Senior Brother!”

“That’s true, but you seem to work together even better than I expected.”

Eunho smiled inwardly at Sowoon’s words.

The secret of the Taeul True Scripture that they had discovered through relentless training had made them think they might actually be able to challenge their senior brother.

‘I’ll have to tell him eventually, but not during this spar.’

For now, they were only sparring partners.

At this moment, they were here to compare their skills without holding back.

“Silver Illusion!”

As Eunho stepped forward and shouted, the other three retreated behind him and withdrew their swords at once.

Before Sowoon could even properly grasp the nature of the sword formation, Eunho fully unleashed the Greater Heaven Sword Art and obscured his vision.

“It’s interesting, but I don’t think it’s enough to earn a trip to Yueyang.”

Eunho gritted his teeth at Sowoon’s provocation.

“This is only the beginning, Senior Brother.”

Jin Sowoon moved through the Greater Heaven Sword Art with the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps, dodging the Lesser Heaven Sword Art attacks concealed within as he approached Eunho.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sowoon casually deflected the swords and entered the formation, then suddenly stopped.

Slash!

With a faint cutting sound, Jin Sowoon’s sleeve was severed.

“Huh?”

He had thought he had cleared away all the real swords among the illusion swords, but it seemed one had escaped his notice.

As Sowoon paused in surprise, Eunho’s shout rang through the sparring ground.

“Star Illusion!”

Beside the illusion swords Eunho created, the other three simultaneously produced illusion swords of their own.

Dozens... no, hundreds of illusion swords covered not only Sowoon but the entire area around him.

They were only illusion swords, yet their sheer number was intimidating.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

Sowoon swung his sword dozens of times in the blink of an eye.

Still, his clothes began to tear little by little.

“This...”

At last, a flustered voice escaped Sowoon’s mouth.

“This is only the beginning, Senior Brother!”

Eunho and his fellow disciples raised their momentum further, faces full of triumph.

The dazzling lights of Yueyang were already flickering before their eyes.

“No choice, then.”

With those softly spoken words, four Ten Thousand Swords emerged from Sowoon’s sword.

“That won’t be enough!”

Eunho spoke with confidence.

Sowoon looked at him and smiled faintly.

“You’ll see.”

At that moment, sword qi gathered around the Ten Thousand Swords.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“!”

Not only Eunho, but the other disciples couldn’t hide their shock.

Sword qi shouldn’t have been usable with the Ten Thousand Swords.

“Did you think I’d been idling around too?”

As the Ten Thousand Swords infused with sword qi began to swing, the illusion swords created by the Twin Heavens Sword Art began to vanish.

The illusion swords disappeared in an instant, like flying insects fleeing from their natural predator.

Eunho and the others could only widen their eyes.

“That’s underhanded...”

“Do you intend to call it underhanded after you’re dead as well?”

“It’s not over yet!”

After Eunho met the other three’s eyes, he nodded and shouted at the same time.

“Myriad Illusions!”

One manifestation of Ten Thousand Swords emerged from each of the four swords.

Sowoon frowned as he sensed something strange in his junior disciples’ movements.

Bzzzzzzz-

An eerie vibration rang out from the sword formation.

The four, who had seemed to be merely coordinating their movements until now, began to move as though they had become one person.

An ominous energy enveloped Jin Sowoon’s entire body, and unprecedented pressure began to constrict him.

“What in the...”

Before he could finish speaking, another manifestation of Ten Thousand Swords appeared beside each one his junior disciples had produced.

“Huh?!”

A total of eight manifestations of Ten Thousand Swords, two from each of the four.

The swords moved at once, weaving the Twin Heavens Sword Art through the air.

Their range was so vast that it enveloped the entire small sparring ground at the representative residence.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Crash, crash, crash, crash!

Wherever the Ten Thousand Swords danced, marble was gouged apart and trees were cut down.

It was a massive dance of swords.

A dangerous mist that seemed capable of shredding anything it touched protected the four as it drew closer to Jin Sowoon.

“Hah!”

Standing on the verge of being struck by the dance of swords, Sowoon was more confused than afraid.

It was clearly the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art and the White Tiger Sword Formation he knew, but how could they produce such a strange attack?

‘Still, I can’t retreat while I’m their senior brother.’

It was admirable that his junior disciples had grown stronger, but he still wanted to remain a wall they had to overcome.

“Then take this as well!”

Having endured the Sword Demon’s hundreds of curses, Sowoon had created a sword force unique to the Taeul Sect.

Two Ten Thousand Swords emerged from Sowoon’s Black Dragon Sword.

Sword force soon began to rise from the tips of the Ten Thousand Swords.

It was Ten Thousand Force, which even the Sword Demon had judged “quite useful.”

“Argh!”

A desperate cry rose from within the dance of swords.

Sowoon seemed to enjoy even that as he threw himself into the dance of swords without hesitation.

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

The dance of swords collided with Ten Thousand Force amid a chain of explosions.

Then...

Bang! Bang! Rumble... Bang!

A powerful impact swept innocent marble and trees from the sparring ground in every direction.

“Gasp, gasp, gasp.”

“Pant, pant.”

Eunho and two others lay sprawled on the ground, struggling for breath.

“Not bad.”

Jin Sowoon, on the other hand, sheathed his sword with ease.

The four couldn’t hide their disappointment as they looked at him.

“What was that at the end?”

Judging by the amount of internal energy they possessed and their attainment in the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art, each of them should normally have been limited to one manifestation of Ten Thousand Swords.

Yet in the final stage of the formation, each of them had produced two.

“We simply named it Resonance.”

“Resonance?”

“Yes. Whenever we synchronize the sword formation among ourselves, at a certain point, we can use more qi with less effort.”

It sounded similar to the shared qi phenomenon produced by Shaolin Temple’s One Hundred Eight Arhat Formation or Wudang Sect’s Yin-Yang Taiji Formation.

“Haha! That’s remarkable.”

“Yes, and we still lost even with something so remarkable.”

“It was enough.”

“Enough to go to Yueyang?”

Sowoon snorted at Eunho’s words.

“Yes, enough.”

At Sowoon’s answer, his exhausted junior disciples sprang to their feet and cheered.

“Senior Brother, when did you learn sword force? That was so unfair.”

#

At the same time.

The pair who had come across the children’s spar while walking around the Martial Arts Academy couldn’t leave even after it had ended.

“...What did you think?”

Hyeok Mugang nodded at Jegal Somyeong’s question.

“Jin Sowoon isn’t the Taeul Sect’s only talent.”

“Exactly.”

“The Taeul Sect will rise far higher than I expected.”

“Only rise? I think it will shake the world.”

“You seem quite pleased with this situation, Grand Strategist.”

Jegal Somyeong smiled faintly at Hyeok Mugang’s words and asked,

“Which child caught your interest?”

“I find the child called Dongryong appealing. Incredibly, he seems to have overcome the Heavenly Killing Star.”

“I’m glad our choices didn’t overlap this time. I’m interested in the child named Eunho.”

“Oh... Is he a talent worth using in the Mantong Office?”

“I’ll need to see whether he can compare to Jin Sowoon, but judging by how he handles formations, I think he could adapt well to the Mantong Office.”

“To that extent?”

“Did you see him change the sword formation to suit his opponent in an instant? That would be impossible without an excellent mind.”

Hyeok Mugang nodded at Jegal Somyeong’s excited expression.

The Taeul Sect children’s spar had been that impressive.

“Still, when did Jin Sowoon grow so much in such a short time?”

“Tell me about it. I thought I was going to faint when that bastard produced sword force.”

“He’s truly a child whose potential can’t even be measured. I look forward to seeing what he becomes.”

Their quiet walk had not ended as they had hoped, but both wore deeply satisfied expressions.

#

“Dongting Lake!”

“Vacation!”

Our destination for this recess was Yueyang in Hunan Province, where Dongting Lake was located.

“We’re not going there to have fun.”

“Yes, yes, of course not. Still, that doesn’t mean we have to work the whole time.”

Eun Seollan and Moyong Jaehwa had wanted to come with me, but they had to remain at the Academy due to remedial study and personal training, respectively.

“But what work are we doing in this glittering Yueyang?”

Seong Moran asked. She wore luxurious silk clothes and jewelry, as though she had already blended into Yueyang’s splendid streets.

“There’s someone I need to win over.”

“What?”

“...What?”

Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa turned their heads with a creak, like wooden dolls.

Had I said something that strange?

“Win... win over?”

“...”

“I suppose that sounds strange. To put it more accurately, I need to recruit someone.”

A recent letter from Jegal Cheongi had contained complaints that obtaining the parts needed to complete the Mechanism Formation was becoming increasingly difficult.

There were many good blacksmiths near Hefei, but no one who could truly be called a master craftsman.

The parts supporting a Mechanism Formation that operated through complicated and delicate mechanisms could not be made with ordinary skill.

That was likely why Jegal Cheongi had failed to complete the Mechanism Formation even in my previous life.

So the person I had decided to persuade was none other than Jang Dowon, whom I had encountered before.

He was the greatest craftsman I knew.

“I expect he’ll be quite difficult to recruit. It would be fortunate if I can persuade him before we complete our studies at the Academy.”

“What kind of person is he, for Young Master Jin to put in this much effort?”

“He may not look particularly impressive.”

No, with his rough temperament, he might even make them frown.

Yet weren’t the brightest gems hidden in the deepest part of a mine?

Not only would the Mechanism Formation Jegal Cheongi created be in the Taeul Sect, but all Fifteen Divine Artifacts that the Nine Sects One Gang and Five Great Clans had divided between them in my previous life would be gathered there as well.

Just imagining it made my heart swell.

“Brother, you said that was mine.”

“Yours is mine, and mine is mine.”

“...”

Seong Moran had gone out of her way to bring us to a high-class restaurant, yet why were these three brothers eating like beggars?

“Eat slowly. No one’s taking it from you.”

At my words, Geumpyo casually wiped the grease from around his mouth.

“We know, but whenever we eat something delicious, we somehow feel anxious that we’ll be attacked or interrupted.”

The Taeul Sect always provided them with meals, and I had never let them miss a meal while traveling with me.

Why did they act so starved?

I truly couldn’t understand... No, I could. Ahem.

“...By the way, there are quite a lot of martial artists who appear to belong to the Mount Cang Sect.”

As Seong Moran said, men and women dressed in martial uniforms that marked them as Mount Cang Sect members sat at every other table in the restaurant.

“Yueyang is a place where the Mount Cang Sect has considerable influence.”

“But isn’t Hunan Province full of powerful sects, including the Hyeongsan Sect?”

“That’s true. But Yueyang has the Yuwol Sect, a lay faction of the Mount Cang Sect, and the Changseong Sect, which has long maintained a close relationship with the Mount Cang Sect.”

Both the Yuwol Sect and the Changseong Sect ranked within the top fifty among the One Hundred Eight Peaks.

Thanks to those two sects, the Mount Cang Sect had been able to hold Yueyang, Hunan Province’s foremost tourist destination, firmly in its grasp.

“Wow, Young Master Jin knows all sorts of things.”

Still, the three brothers sat beside the brilliantly dressed Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa, and compared to the Mount Cang Sect’s martial uniforms, their black robes looked terribly shabby.

I wore black because I had always liked the color, and thanks to the Head Attendant at my residence, I wore fine martial robes embroidered with patterns. In contrast, their clothes looked a little pitiful.

It would have been fine if they had at least possessed martial uniforms that represented their sect.

But the Taeul Sect had only recently stopped wearing patched clothes. It made no sense to expect them to have prepared martial uniforms bearing the sect’s symbol already.

Feeling needlessly sorry for them, I wondered whether I should have clothes tailored for them before meeting Jang Dowon.

“Where did these little beggars come from?”

The restaurant was certainly noisy, but the insult was clearly audible.

I looked around, wondering if it might not have been directed at us. Yet as befitted a high-class restaurant, all the other customers wore colorful silk clothes and gold ornaments.

As expected, we were the only ones who could be mistaken for beggars.

The faces of the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers, as well as Seong Moran, hardened.

As though she had no intention of waiting, Namgung Seonhwa pulled the hairpin from her head and gripped it like a dagger. Killing intent poured from her as she rose from her seat and strode toward the source of the voice.

“Who was it? Who called our cute younger brothers beggars?”

“...”

What was this? Namgung Seonhwa had clearly said that to defend us...

Why did it still hurt?

In any case, the person who had called us beggars did not end up being crushed by Namgung Seonhwa.

Her body froze at the person’s next words.

“What?! Isn’t that Miss Namgung Seonhwa?”

“...”

The voice rose as though its owner had met a welcome friend.

The man seated amid extravagantly dressed people smiled as he greeted her, then turned his eyes toward our side.

“I wondered who it was... So it was you bastards?”

His voice was thick with contempt.

Footnotes:

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