WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 171: The Black Flame Dragon Swallowing the Sea of Blood
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After a brief meeting with the Kongtong Sect elder from the same second-echelon group, So Chunghyeon returned to his tent and received a baffling report.
“What did you say?”
“They say we must gather the Academy students scattered throughout Sichuan and move as one.”
“And who dares say such a thing?”
“...The Academy Representative.”
“Ha!”
He was not merely offended. He was dumbfounded.
Even a pup that knew no fear had its limits.
At this point, the brat practically feared no one.
“So they want us to wait here?”
“They say Tiger Hall is rushing here with an official order from the Mantong Office and have asked us to wait until then.”
“Ridiculous.”
It was so ridiculous that he wondered if the fool had lost his mind.
He had even cut his sightseeing short and followed the Mount Cang Sect and Shaolin Sect groups at the front, worried they might wipe out all the culprits before he arrived. And now they wanted him to wait?
Him, an elder of the Martial Alliance, a position of the highest dignity?
“The Grand Strategist showed him a little favor, and now he’s become unbearably arrogant. He even dares mobilize Tiger Hall?”
He could not let this pass.
No, this was the perfect chance to firmly restore discipline.
“What should we do?”
“If they’re coming, we must move sooner. We leave at Rabbit Hour.[1] Inform everyone.”
“Yes, Elder.”
So Chunghyeon took a deep drink of Jinhua Fenjiu, a specialty of Kangding, and dismissed his disciple. The disciple was just about to leave the tent when...
Thud.
The Mount Hua disciple collapsed to the ground.
“Hmm? What is the matter...?”
At the same time, a piercing sound rang through his head.
Ziiiiing─────
Though he had never heard it before, So Chunghyeon dropped the precious Jinhua Fenjiu from his hand.
Crash.
‘Death-Spirit Demonic Sound?’
His heart began pounding violently, and his head spun.
The space before him warped strangely as wicked music began to play.
He had never experienced this phenomenon before, yet he knew exactly what it was. Since childhood, he had heard countless times how terrifying this sound was.
‘One of the Ten Great Forbidden Arts!’
A martial art that defied heaven, one meant to remain sealed away, had emerged into the world.
So Chunghyeon immediately circulated the Violet Mist Divine Art to protect his mind and shouted.
“What are you doing? Circulate your internal energy and protect your minds! Mount Hua’s martial arts will not fall to such wicked arts!”
“Ugh... Ugh...”
His disciple gave no answer.
“Recite the Demon-Subduing Mantra! Recite it!”
Protecting one’s mind against sonic arts was not something first-year Academy students had learned.
For the first time, So Chunghyeon resented the Academy curriculum he had never cared about.
He gathered all his internal energy and unleashed Lion’s Roar.
“Ha!”
The deafening roar shook the entire area. The Death-Spirit Demonic Sound vanished in an instant, and the disciple lying on the floor, trembling all over, coughed up blood.
The Lion’s Roar had clashed with the mind controlled by the Death-Spirit Demonic Sound, violently shaking the disciple’s insides.
“Th-this...”
The moment So Chunghyeon panicked, the Death-Spirit Demonic Sound rang out again.
Ziiiiing─────
“The Demon-Subduing Mantra... Recite the Demon-Subduing Mantra!”
“Uh... Uh... What... what did you say, Elder...?”
Blood streamed from both of the disciple’s ears.
So Chunghyeon hastily carved the words “Demon-Subduing Mantra” into the ground, but the disciple had already rolled their eyes back, begun foaming at the mouth, and collapsed backward.
‘This is no ordinary Death-Spirit Demonic Sound.’
The Death-Spirit Demonic Sounds sealed among the Ten Great Forbidden Arts did not possess this much destructive power.
Its penetrating power was tremendous, enough to stab at even So Chunghyeon’s mind despite his efforts to protect it.
And although he had unleashed Lion’s Roar with enough force to shake the area, no disciples had rushed out from the tents. That alone proved how grave the situation was.
“Who is it? Who dares show themselves before Mount Hua without an ounce of fear?!”
He shouted at the top of his lungs, intending to wake even the Kongtong Sect elder, but the elder’s tent remained strangely silent.
Just as expected of Kongtong Sect.
He had not expected much from them to begin with, so So Chunghyeon drew the Red Flower Sword, Mount Hua’s treasured sword.
Catching the culprit would be more effective than trying to wake the children struck by the Death-Spirit Demonic Sound.
So Chunghyeon pushed his energy sense to its limit.
He sensed nothing in the area.
Still, a faint presence eventually entered his energy sense.
“There you are!”
So Chunghyeon shot forward like lightning, using Dark Fragrance Steps.
Whoosh.
Just as he was about to swing his sword without hesitation...
‘A lantern?’
Instead of an enemy, he saw a red lantern floating in midair.
“You think such shoddy dark arts can stop Mount Hua’s advance?!”
So Chunghyeon swung his sword without hesitation.
Crunch.
The red lantern went out, and as though a curtain had been torn away, nearly a hundred blood-robed men appeared throughout the area.
Despite their overwhelming numbers, So Chunghyeon planted his feet firmly and glared at them.
“You call this shoddy trickery? Your arrogance knows no bounds.”
“...”
Clad in red from head to toe, they moved as if they were one body, drawing heavy swords from their backs and assuming attack stances.
So Chunghyeon steadied the Red Flower Sword.
“Come! Today, I will show you how terrifying Mount Hua’s sword truly is!”
Flutter.
A single plum blossom petal appeared.
Then two petals appeared behind it.
Next, four petals began to fill the space around them.
The Plum Blossom Sword Art had attained twelve-star mastery.
Plum blossoms bloomed in riotous splendor across the area, their fragrance filling the air.
Soon, the blossoms swirling everywhere as though scattered by the wind began to fall upon the blood-robed men.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blood-robed men touched by the plum blossoms could not respond properly. Their arms were severed, their chests split open, and their heads cut away.
Blood redder than their robes burst out like fountains in every direction, gathering on the ground until it formed a small stream.
Splash-
Even as his feet became red from stepping in the pool of blood, So Chunghyeon did not retreat from where he stood.
“This is Mount Hua’s plum blossom!”
Yet no matter how much blood flowed, it could not erase the scent of plum blossoms.
The destructive power was overwhelming.
The numbers of the nearly one hundred men dwindled in an instant.
Still, So Chunghyeon’s expression was not at ease.
“Vicious bastards.”
A mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
Bodies piled up like mountains all around him, and blood flowed like a sea.
Yet another hundred figures had appeared at some point to fill that space.
Not one of them screamed, even as their comrades died.
“Yes, an enemy of Mount Hua must at least possess this much confidence.”
The Death-Spirit Demonic Sound had caught him off guard, but after crossing swords with them, he found that they were not especially skilled.
‘Heretical martial artists are always like this.’
When had those who used the arts of unorthodox schools ever surpassed the strength of the White Path?
If he disrupted them and prevented the sorcerers from sustaining the Death-Spirit Demonic Sound, the children would soon regain their senses and come here.
‘Then we can finish them all.’
Once he broke free of this place, he could regroup and wipe them out in a single stroke.
Imagining that optimistic future, So Chunghyeon unleashed Lion’s Roar again.
“Mount Hua disciples, gather here!”
Fearing they might not hear him, he shouted several times, pouring internal energy into his voice.
Then he scattered plum blossoms once more and began cutting down the approaching enemies.
At the same time.
The disciples who had regained their senses were in a panic at the nearby Mount Hua and Kongtong Sect encampments.
“Where is Elder So Chunghyeon? Has anyone seen him?”
“He isn’t in his tent.”
“Where did he suddenly go?”
The Academy students who had come outside after the sudden thunderous roar first looked for Elder So Chunghyeon and the Kongtong Sect elder, but both had left their tents.
“...Could the two elders have gone off to drink together?”
At a disciple of the Mount Hua-affiliated Hwaseong Sect’s words, the Mount Hua members replied with stiff expressions.
“Don’t be foolish! Where would the elders go at a time like this?”
“I-I’m sorry.”
“They must have gone first to investigate that roar. Wake all the other Academy students! Then find the elders.”
The Academy students formed small groups and began spreading in every direction.
Behind them, a red lantern slowly began to follow.
#
“You said we were going to avoid them!”
Nam Hwaseong shouted furiously.
All that talk about the Flash East, Vanish West Operation had been a complete lie.
Jin Sowoon had fought large and small battles with all three Green Forest strongholds they encountered while running.
Strangely enough, every place they ran toward had a Green Forest stronghold sitting right there.
Damn it, they could not have found them this easily even if they had gone looking.
Worse, every stronghold had managed to catch their trail, so the three Green Forest strongholds were now about to cooperate to capture Nam Hwaseong and Jin Sowoon.
It was a miraculous operation.
“You were caught because you were too slow, and now you’re blaming me?”
“Damn it...”
The Deer Horn Wind-Cloud Steps was an exceptional movement art that would never lag behind others in speed throughout the martial world.
Nam Hwaseong had displayed his full ability, intending to teach Jin Sowoon a lesson, but Jin Sowoon had not fallen behind at all.
Instead, while Nam Hwaseong was running himself half to death, Jin Sowoon leisurely chatted beside him about plans and such.
‘What the hell is going on?’
Jin Sowoon’s skill was one thing, but the movement art he displayed was not one Nam Hwaseong knew from the Taeul Sect.
Until now, Nam Hwaseong had not believed the rumors about Taeul Sect, but he now had to revise every piece of information about the sect in his mind.
As Nam Hwaseong frantically organized what he needed to report to Cheol Sunjik, Jin Sowoon pulled out a bundle of talismans and handed him one.
“What is this?”
“You know how to use Samadhi True Fire, right?”
“Huff, huff. Who do you take me for?”
“It’s a Demon-Subduing Talisman from Hyeongsan Sect. If your body stops obeying you or you start seeing illusions, burn it. It should free you from the dark arts.”
This was a talisman from Hyeongsan Sect?
Hyeongsan Sect talismans, said to require a Taoist sorcerer of great spiritual power to pray for a hundred days, were a representative luxury among martial artists.
Good to have, but not especially useful for the price.
The kind of thing people called a luxury good.
He was surprised that Jin Sowoon carried an entire bundle, but the thought that the dark arts Jin Sowoon mentioned might be real made his heart drop.
Yes, this was clearly a life-or-death situation, but...
“Why do I only get one?”
Jin Sowoon answered bluntly, as though Nam Hwaseong had asked something obvious.
“Wouldn’t it be a waste if you took half the talismans and died?”
“Damn it! Do you have to put it like that?”
Whoosh.
At the sound of wind tearing through the air, Nam Hwaseong turned his head.
Then his body froze when he saw an arrow flying toward him.
‘When did they get so close?!’
The Red Flower Stronghold bandits he thought they had shaken off had already chased close enough to shoot arrows.
‘I can’t avoid it.’
His senses had dulled, and he noticed too late to dodge.
The moment he raised his hand, determined to at least protect his head...
Tap.
The pain he expected never came.
“Hmm?”
Nam Hwaseong carefully opened his eyes.
Jin Sowoon stood before him, holding the arrow in his bare hand.
“They’ve gotten close. Let’s pick up the pace.”
“...Y-yeah. Let’s do that.”
Nam Hwaseong was about to scrape together the last traces of internal energy in his dantian and increase his speed when ten men in all manner of clothing dropped down in front of them.
“You dare make light of our Red Flower Stronghold...”
Before the Red Flower Stronghold bandits could finish speaking, Jin Sowoon began wildly swinging the long iron staff strapped to his back.
Strangely, phantoms of the staff formed around it and began to fill the air.
It was the first time the ten bandits had seen such an overwhelming sight, and they desperately swung their swords and axes.
Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!
But the iron staff shattered everything, swords and axes alike, then smashed apart the heads of those holding them.
There was no way bandits could respond to the Taeul Sect’s mysteries of illusion, whose true forms could only barely be perceived once one reached the Peak Realm.
Nam Hwaseong could not tear his eyes away from Jin Sowoon.
‘I’ve seen plenty of illusion swords, but this is my first time seeing an illusion staff.’
After dealing with the ten bandits in an instant, Jin Sowoon put the staff away and continued forward.
“W-won’t this leave traces?”
Those traces were why three Green Forest strongholds were chasing them so relentlessly.
Jin Sowoon spoke as if he could not believe the question.
“As though the traces you left weren’t traces.”
It was true that the Samwon Sect’s domineering fist art could not deal with enemies as cleanly as swordsmanship.
Even so, Nam Hwaseong could not understand why Jin Sowoon, who used a sword, had deliberately taken out an iron staff just to leave people alive.
Nam Hwaseong cursed inwardly.
‘What the hell is he planning?’
Nam Hwaseong chased the unresponsive Jin Sowoon with all his strength, but he was gradually reaching his limit.
All his earlier pride had long vanished. Just as he was about to beg Jin Sowoon to rest, even for a moment, Jin Sowoon gradually slowed down.
“Huff, huff, huff. Y-you’ve finally reached your limit too, right? That’s it, isn’t it?”
Nam Hwaseong looked at Jin Sowoon while gasping for breath.
“...”
But Jin Sowoon’s breathing remained perfectly calm.
‘What kind of monster is he?!’
Whether Nam Hwaseong struggled inwardly or not, Jin Sowoon slowly walked ahead.
Nam Hwaseong stumbled after him, then abruptly stopped.
‘The smell of blood?’
A thick, fishy smell pierced his nose.
When he instinctively looked down, he finally realized that what soaked his feet was not water.
“Gasp! What is this?!”
He quickly turned to Jin Sowoon, but Jin Sowoon was already far ahead.
Jin Sowoon was examining the bodies scattered carelessly across the ground.
“Hwaseong Sect?”
The symbol embroidered on their martial uniforms.
The appearance of their broken swords.
They revealed the dead to be disciples of Hwaseong Sect, a lay sect directly affiliated with Mount Hua Sect.
He had even seen some of their faces in passing at the Academy.
“What in the world...”
That was not all.
Most of the corpses around them belonged to people from the Academy.
Mount Hua Sect and Kongtong Sect.
The disciples of those two sects and their affiliated lay sects were found dead.
“J-Jin Sowoon!”
Forgetting that he had been gasping for breath only moments earlier, Nam Hwaseong rushed toward Jin Sowoon like lightning.
“W-we have to tell the Martial Alliance right away! Th-this is no small matter!”
Jin Sowoon answered in a voice that remained perfectly calm.
“Do not make a fuss.”
The air around him instantly became heavy.
The corpse Jin Sowoon examined looked far older than the other Academy students.
Nam Hwaseong recognized him at once and cried out.
“Red Plum Sword So Chunghyeon?”
A master of the Plum Blossom Sword Art, said to make red plum blossoms bloom across the area with every swing of his sword, had been reduced to a mere corpse.
Tremble.
Nam Hwaseong’s hands began shaking on their own.
“According to the information, the advancing enemy was around the second echelon. Have they already reached this place?”
Concern appeared on Jin Sowoon’s face, though he had not worried once while being pursued by three Green Forest strongholds.
“W-who... Who could do something like this to Mount Hua and Kongtong Sect?”
“Do not act rashly. Fortunately, it does not seem everyone was harmed. Still, it is somewhat unexpected that they were defeated so one-sidedly.”
What was even more surprising was that though the Academy students had clearly suffered losses across the area, there was no sign of the enemy.
“Then where are the others?”
“They must have escaped. They’re disciples of Mount Hua and Kongtong Sect, after all.”
“They escaped? From whom?”
“The enemy?”
That familiar, heavy killing intent flowed from Jin Sowoon’s body.
“Even the most brazen Black Path forces would not dare attack the Martial Arts Academy like this.”
“...Didn’t you say it wasn’t the Black Path?”
At that moment, Jin Sowoon rose and turned his head to one side.
“Perfect timing. There it comes.”
“W-what?!”
Nam Hwaseong followed Jin Sowoon’s gesture with his gaze.
‘What is that...?’
A red lantern floated through the darkness, slowly approaching them through the air.
[1] Rabbit Hour: the traditional Chinese time period from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m.
Footnotes:
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