WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 181: Rewriting the Sichuan Bloodbath
──────
Thwang! Swoosh──
A sharp arrow tore through the sky.
Yet rather than reaching its intended target, it veered off course, dropped weakly to the ground, and exploded.
Pop!
The arrowhead burst apart, scattering fragments in every direction, but no one was hurt.
“Are you joking right now?”
Jin Sowoon stood beside him with his arms crossed, his voice turning sharp.
Moyong Jaehwa, who had fired the arrow, was drenched in cold sweat.
“It didn't even reach one hundred and fifty zhang, let alone two hundred, you brat!”
Jaehwa felt deeply wronged.
An arrow reaching one hundred zhang was already considered remarkable.
Yet his arrow had flown beyond a hundred zhang, reaching one hundred and twenty.
Even the archery instructor enjoying a break at the Martial Arts Academy would have marveled, but Jin Sowoon clicked his tongue as though it were nowhere near enough.
“Brother... No matter how I look at it, this is unreasonable. No archer could reach one hundred and fifty zhang, let alone...”
“So you're saying I'm lying?”
“No, that's not what I meant...”
“Ah! Then did I take some strange medicine and start seeing things?”
“...No, Brother, that's not it.”
“Or did I take the medicine I was supposed to take and start seeing things?”
“...”
Jin Sowoon frowned, his expression full of displeasure.
Of course, he was someone who always kept his word and had never been wrong, but there were still limits.
‘What kind of person shoots enemies more than two hundred zhang away...?’
Even the Wind-Splitting Sword, one of the greatest martial artists in the world, had never been this unreasonable about the limits of martial arts.
Yet Jin Sowoon spoke as though something not merely unreasonable, but utterly unreal, were perfectly natural. Jaehwa was going mad.
“Th-then please show me yourself, Brother.”
“I can't.”
“What?”
“I said I can't.”
“...”
Then why did he say that so confidently...?
Sometimes, Geumpyo and Eunho talked about how badly they wanted to give Jin Sowoon a good beating.
He had never understood how they could harbor such disrespectful thoughts toward such a wonderful older brother.
...Now he understood.
‘Oh, come on! Seriously!’
Jin Sowoon shook his head as though Jaehwa were pathetic.
“Shoot again...”
“Could I circulate my qi first, then shoot?”
Jin Sowoon stared at him in disbelief.
“You've already used up all that internal energy?”
“...I don't have that much...”
“Didn't you consume the Fire Monkey's inner core? And you're saying you lack internal energy?”
“...”
“Besides, you spent your days idling around the Moyong Clan, taking spiritual medicines like tonics whenever you had the chance, didn't you? And you're saying you lack internal energy?”
“...Brother.”
“On top of that, the Wind-Splitting Sword probably performed Marrow Cleansing on you when you were young. And you're saying you lack internal energy?”
“...”
Ah... If only he could hit him once.
Even when he packed every bit of his internal energy into an arrow, the farthest it flew was one hundred and twenty zhang.
Yet Jin Sowoon was not satisfied with that.
He had no choice but to pour two or three times more internal energy into it than usual.
No matter how abundant one's internal energy was, no one could withstand this manner of martial arts application for long.
“That person never consumed a Fire Monkey's inner core, yet they kept firing Thunderclap Arrow at enemies three hundred zhang away. The enemies couldn't even determine their location, much less dare approach.”
“No... I mean, who was that person?”
“...Are you talking back to me?”
Jin Sowoon glared at Jaehwa, who hurriedly tucked his tail between his legs and lowered his head.
He could not understand why Jin Sowoon was even scarier than his grandfather, the Wind-Splitting Sword.
“If you shoot from one hundred zhang away, they'll eventually discover where you're firing from. Once they do, you'll have to keep changing positions.”
Jin Sowoon continued as though recalling the past.
“Then they won't be afraid to face you anymore. They'll think all they need to do is send a pursuit party and capture you.”
“...”
“Are you confident you can keep fleeing alone through enemy lines like that? Especially when the enemy is made up of Iron Zombies?”
“...No.”
“That's why you need to shoot from far away. Besides, you don't even need to be precise. This isn't any harder than the work of an ordinary archer, so why can't you do it?! Is it because you haven't suffered enough yet?”
At that point, Jaehwa desperately wanted to see Eunho.
‘I’m sorry for misunderstanding you all this time...’
Jin Sowoon kept talking.
“If you could shoot enemies from two hundred, or even three hundred zhang away, do you think those blood-robed men would have dared release the Iron Zombies?”
“...”
“You make it impossible for them to approach. You cause confusion and make them tremble in fear. Isn't that what heavenly punishment is? What could enemies possibly do beneath such heavenly punishment?”
“...Run away.”
“Exactly! You don't need to doggedly deal with one person. Other masters can handle that. Your job is to deal with many enemies. If you stop them from approaching, you've succeeded.”
At last, Jaehwa's competitive spirit began to flare.
When he had been helpless before the Iron Zombies, how desperately had he wished for greater strength?
Moyong Jaehwa sank into deeper thought than he ever had in his life.
‘No matter how much internal energy I pour in, I can't shoot farther than one hundred and twenty zhang. Then how can I reach two hundred or three hundred zhang, like Brother said?’
It meant surpassing a physical limit set by nature.
It was like how humans could not fly through the sky or breathe underwater.
As Jaehwa entered a state of selflessness, Jin Sowoon's calm voice seeped into his ears.
“Don't set limits for yourself. Humans have always overcome their own limits. A human cannot face a tiger using their body alone, run faster than a deer, or become harder than steel. Yet haven't humans overcome all of that already?”
Humans could not fly.
That was why they developed movement arts and flight arts that let them remain in the air for long periods.
Humans could not breathe underwater.
That was why they created water arts that let them endure beneath the surface for long periods.
‘Internal energy alone can't reach it... Then...’
Moyong Jaehwa opened his eyes and drew the string of the Steel Bow.
He did not draw it so hard that it nearly broke, as he had before.
Nor did he lower the bow's angle as he had moments ago.
He simply raised it high, as though aiming at the sky.
Then.
Thwang! Swoosh──
The instant the arrow flew with a light twang.
Boom.
An explosion erupted behind the arrow, and it vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.
“...”
Jaehwa lowered his bow and enhanced his vision, searching for the arrow he had fired.
Fifty zhang...
One hundred zhang...
Even after it passed one hundred and twenty zhang, the arrow showed no sign of slowing.
One hundred and thirty zhang...
One hundred and fifty zhang...
One hundred and eighty zhang...
Then,
Two hundred zhang...
Pop──
The falling arrow exploded with a small burst.
The distance was too great for him to hear their screams clearly, but he could see blood-robed men staggering out of the tents in pain.
He had succeeded.
“Hah...”
“See? It's possible, isn't it?”
Jin Sowoon looked at Moyong Jaehwa with a smug expression.
Jaehwa was even more amazed by the man before him than by the arrow he had fired.
“Brother!”
“You need to choose the blast radius carefully at the moment of release. Otherwise, the arrow's direction will be thrown off.”
As Jaehwa listened, something suddenly struck him as strange.
“...Don't tell me, Brother. Did you know from the beginning?”
If internal energy was not enough, one used martial arts.
He had also concentrated the power of the Heaven-and-Earth Shattering Flash Sword, which had originally been contained in the arrowhead, at the tip of the arrowhead.
Had Jin Sowoon already known about this absurd method of using martial arts?
Jin Sowoon's relaxed voice reached his ears.
“When have I ever lied?”
“...”
It was certainly impressive, but seeing that smiling face made Jaehwa feel a little wronged.
“Then... You could've told me earlier...”
Then he would not have needed to endure all that pointless scolding.
Jin Sowoon replied bluntly, as though he had said something ridiculous.
“If I had, you would not have reached that realization yourself. You need to be able to improve on your own even when I'm not around. These small experiences will gather and become a great foundation for you.”
“...”
He was right...
He was definitely right.
It was certainly the correct thing to say, but...
“I'm even thinking ahead to help you improve on your own. Aren't you incredibly fortunate to have met an older brother like me? Hahaha.”
“...”
Why was the sight of him laughing with his shoulders thrown back so irritating?
Once again, Jaehwa understood how Geumpyo and Eunho, despite greatly respecting Sowoon, had practiced sword formations desperately because they wanted to hit him just once.
He truly understood.
Moyong Jaehwa wondered why his anger would not subside.
‘Eunho... I'm sorry again.’
He decided that when he met Eunho, he would sincerely apologize.
#
After being attacked by Moyong Jaehwa, the Blood Cult bastards hurriedly reorganized their forces and moved their camp farther back.
Jaehwa and I moved in secret, placing their camp back within his range.
Then I descended the peak alone.
I waited until moonlight was obscured by clouds. When the darkness deepened, I quietly activated the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art and slowly approached the camp.
Because they had retreated in a hurry, the Blood Cult's forces remained chaotic even in the middle of the night.
They had not lit any fires, likely because they feared Moyong Jaehwa's arrows.
“Raise the tents, now!”
“Shields! Bring out every shield!”
“Gather the search parties! Find that bastard!”
Because hundreds of people were moving about, I could see them clearly even without any fires.
I intended to enter their camp before they could post sentries.
‘Huh?’
As I approached the camp in secret, something unexpected blocked my path.
‘What is this?’
An illusion formation similar to the one that had unfolded when Nam Hwaseong accidentally broke a lantern now surrounded the camp.
They were damned quick to adapt.
The limitation of arcane formations and Mechanism Formations was that they could not easily be moved once installed.
Yet somehow, it seemed they had turned an illusion formation, which spirit practitioners normally had to painstakingly establish, into a simple arcane formation.
‘I'm a little jealous of this.’
They could deploy an illusion formation like an arcane formation anywhere.
That meant a tremendous advantage in battle or war.
More than that, the most frightening time for escort warriors or martial artists forced to endure long journeys was after they fell asleep. Even if they still posted sentries, the presence of an illusion formation would clearly make a difference in how tense they had to remain.
‘Should I kidnap one of their spirit practitioners?’
I quickly shook away the thought.
I was already busy enough trying to steal the Blood Sea Jade.
If things went wrong, I would have to flee with Moyong Jaehwa. If I wasted even a little more time, everything could fall apart.
“Still, it's a shame. Once the Martial Alliance launches its campaign, every Blood Cult spirit practitioner will be wiped out.”
There was nothing to be done about what could not be helped. I quickly abandoned the thought.
I carefully approached the illusion formation.
Ripple──
A chilling sensation spread through my entire body.
The instant I entered the illusion formation, every voice of the Blood Cult members I had heard moments ago vanished.
Then.
The Blood Cult camp that should have been before me was nowhere to be seen.
No matter how much I heightened my energy sense, I could feel nothing.
If I had not seen the Blood Cult from afar before coming here, I would never have thought they were still present.
Tziiing──.
A strange demonic sound pierced my mind a moment later, and I hurriedly drew up the Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force to protect my upper dantian, middle dantian, and lower dantian.
Awoo──
Grrr──
The cries of wild beasts ringing in my ears vanished, and I could see the inside of the illusion formation clearly.
I moved forward as carefully as possible, avoiding the formation's Death Gate.
After who knew how long...
“Here! There's an injured person here!”
“Save the spirit practitioners first!”
“Have the search parties still not found the culprit?”
“We haven't received a signal yet.”
The busy voices of the Blood Cult members reached me again.
‘Where is it...?’
I hid in the darkness and searched for where the Blood Sea Jade might be among the hundreds of Blood Cult members moving about.
Soon, I spotted a tent identical to the one described in the records I had seen in the archive.
A smile escaped me without my realizing it.
“There you are. My Scarlet Radiance Sword.”
Using the Ghost Breath Movement Art, I hid myself among the people.
Footnotes:
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