WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 182: Rewriting the Sichuan Bloodbath (2)
──────
Whoosh──
A signal flare suddenly shot up from within the Blood Cult's camp.
As it streaked through the night sky with a shrill whistle, the Blood Cult members erupted into chaos.
“An intruder!”
“Over there!”
“Kill him at all costs!”
Hundreds of people began rushing toward me like madmen.
There was only one reason I had fired a signal flare despite the risk of doing so in the heart of enemy territory.
‘Go, Moyong Jaehwa!’
Boom──
A faint explosion rang out from two hundred zhang away.
Then, with a sound like the wind being torn apart, an arrow fell into the center of the Blood Cult's camp.
Boom!
It was an incomplete Thunderclap Arrow that used an explosive arrowhead rather than the original technique.
Still, the dozens of fragments scattered from the arrow were powerful enough to punch holes through fragile human bodies.
“Argh!”
“Cough!”
“Aaagh!”
The holes were no bigger than millet grains, but their penetrating force was enough to render a body useless.
The bolt from the blue filled the Blood Cult members, who had been hunting for the intruder with murderous intent, with terrible fear.
“Sh-shields! Bring the shields!!!”
“Run! Another one is coming!”
“Get down!”
Boom!
Another Thunderclap Arrow fell, plunging the entire camp into utter confusion.
Blood-robed men collapsed all around, bleeding heavily, while sorcerers who failed to flee in time suffered serious injuries from the iron fragments.
‘Uh... What?’
Then an arrow fell toward me.
Startled out of my wits, I used the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art and leaped away.
Boom!
Iron fragments sprayed into the Blood Cult members who had noticed my presence and were closing in, dropping them one after another.
I had escaped by the narrowest margin.
“...He didn't do that on purpose, right?”
Unease flickered through my mind, but I quickly shook it off.
“Of course Jaehwa wouldn't do that to me. It’s not like he’s Eunho or Geumpyo.”
Jaehwa had been particularly attached to me since we first met.
He was different from those unruly brats, Geumpyo and Eunho.
Right. He had to be.
In any case, Jaehwa had planted his Thunderclap Arrows in the right places, allowing me to move freely after slipping out of the Blood Cult's sight.
Amid the screams filling their camp, I moved from shadow to shadow with the Ghost Breath Movement Art.
Then I approached that unusually shaped tent.
It was made entirely of red cloth.
Golden patterns lined the corners, and most importantly, a golden monstrous bird symbolizing the Blood Cult sat atop it.
“It’s right here...”
My steps quickened with anticipation, but I suddenly stopped at the sound of a commotion.
Dozens of people were rushing this way.
‘Did they notice the Ghost Breath Movement Art?’
I hurriedly used the Ghost Breath Great Method after the Ghost Breath Movement Art, concealing my presence as thoroughly as possible.
#
Byeon H oseong, who had spread his Blood Sea True Energy throughout the camp, snapped his eyes open.
The foreign presence he had sensed until moments ago was gradually disappearing.
“They caught the intruder.”
Something with a presence unlike that of the Blood Cult had definitely entered the camp.
It had fired a signal flare as though to reveal this location, then vanished shortly afterward.
“Foolish. Even if they know this place, no one will be able to pass through the Blood Sea Illusion Formation.”
The Divine Cult's past analysis had concluded that even the arcane formations of the Jegal Clan, known as the cleverest group among the White Path hypocrites, could not compare to the Blood Sea Illusion Formation.
Those who could not even properly pass through the Jegal Clan's formations would never be able to cross the Blood Cult's Blood Sea Illusion Formation.
At that moment, a loud explosion sounded outside the tent.
Boom!
After the blast came the agonized screams of the proud Blood Cult members.
‘Damn them...’
That cursed arrow made him grind his teeth.
Only one arrow fell at a time, yet each one left at least three or four people unable to fight.
Worse, unlike yesterday, when they could at least estimate where the enemy was, today they could not even tell where the arrows were coming from.
Even the bravest blood-robed men were beginning to show fear.
Crunch.
The edge of the desk crumbled into powder and fell to the floor.
The fact that this was the only way he could vent his anger enraged him even more.
Then dozens of people rushed toward the tent.
“Young Cult Leader!”
“Are you all right?!”
The large tent quickly filled as dozens of people entered at once.
Byeon H oseong frowned deeply.
“What is this commotion? Do you think I would fear arrows like that?”
The blood-robed men hesitated at his rebuke.
“N-no, Young Cult Leader.”
“Have you caught that cursed archer?”
“We are currently searching for him...”
Bang!
Before the report could finish, Byeon H oseong slammed his fist onto the desk.
“Useless fools! You cannot even carry out a single order properly!”
“N-no, Young Cult Leader! More importantly, there is an intruder inside the camp right now.”
“What?”
Byeon H oseong's expression twisted at his subordinate's words.
“You have not caught him?”
“Yes! Th-that is correct. He escaped the encirclement amid the confusion, but... we have no way of knowing where he disappeared to...”
“...”
Byeon H oseong drew up his Blood Sea True Energy again.
Having reached two gapja of internal energy, he could detect even an ant within a camp of this size.
After concentrating for a moment, his brows furrowed.
‘There’s nothing...?’
No matter how thoroughly he searched the camp, he could no longer sense that foreign presence.
Boom!
Aaargh!
Cough!
“S-save me!”
More screams from blood-robed men rang out beyond the tent.
Veins bulged across Byeon H oseong's forehead.
“Catch the bastard firing those damned arrows first!!!”
“B-but, Young Cult Leader!”
“Do I look like someone who would fall to an assassin?”
“...”
The Young Cult Leader had reached a realm far beyond others his age, not only within the Blood Cult but throughout Tibet.
Rumors even said that only someone like Yong Soa from the distant martial world could compare to him.
The blood-robed man finally nodded.
“Understood. We will leave only the minimum number of guards behind and send everyone else to hunt down the archer at once.”
“Do not kill him in one stroke. Slice him apart piece by piece and make him watch every scrap of flesh vanish from his own body before you kill him.”
“Yes, Young Cult Leader!”
Even after the blood-robed men left the tent, Byeon H oseong's anger did not subside.
“How... How did it come to this?!”
What kind of furious reprimand would his father at the main headquarters give if he saw this?
“Aaargh!”
The trembling table finally failed to withstand Byeon H oseong's energy clash and turned to dust.
“Damn it... Damn it...”
They had lost one of the Iron Zombies his grandfather had brought back when he left the Divine Cult long ago.
Only two Iron Zombies remained at the main headquarters now.
What angered him most was that, contrary to their expectation that they would struggle only after facing the Martial Alliance's main force, an Iron Zombie had been neutralized by Martial Arts Academy students.
“Just what was that bastard?”
They knew Ilgak used Vajra Force.
Yet no one in the Blood Cult had expected that the man who appeared afterward would wield superior internal force as well.
“Wudang Sect is not participating in this event, so it cannot be Taiji Force... Then was it the Three Purities Sect?”
He had never heard that the Three Purities Sect had a successor...
It felt as though every plan had gone wrong from beginning to end.
At this rate, their grand plan to conquer the martial world could collapse entirely.
Calming himself, Byeon H oseong quietly called for his subordinate.
“Chuhyeol...”
The black-clad man standing guard stepped forward and knelt.
“Yes!”
“Tell them to reorganize the troops.”
“...”
Byeon H oseong issued the order in a firm voice.
“While the pursuit team captures the archer, we will strike Shaolin Sect and Mount Cang Sect from behind.”
The man called Chuhyeol still did not answer.
As though he understood the silence, Byeon H oseong continued.
“There is still the Blood Sea Jade and the Illusion Token. Once we capture that unknown bastard, we can kill all of them here.”
Chuhyeol looked up at Byeon H oseong for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes!”
The moment he answered, Chuhyeol vanished without a trace.
Yet no one in the tent found the sight strange.
Byeon H oseong looked at the red monstrous bird ring on his finger and muttered.
“Even a successor of the Three Purities Sect will not be able to withstand the Blood Sea Illusion Formation and the Blood-Seeing Death-Spirit Soul-Chaos Formation.”
He intended to kill the bastard who had ruined the Blood Cult's grand plan far more painfully than that cursed archer.
No, he would go further and slice apart that bastard's family and friends one by one as well.
He would watch them writhe in agony with his own eyes...
“Really?”
The instant Byeon H oseong looked up in shock at the unfamiliar voice, he saw it.
A long black sword that had appeared in midair pierced through the backs of the guards.
“Urk...”
“Ugh...”
“Cough...”
Their lungs had likely been pierced in an instant. The guards died without even managing a proper scream.
Then a cold blade pressed against his neck.
A voice colder still slipped into his ear.
“Mm-hm... Don't move. If you move even a little, I'll stab you to death.”
“...”
Struggling to maintain his composure, Byeon H oseong asked the stranger pressed close to his ear, “Who are you?”
“I’m not completely sure, but I think I’m the person you were just calling a successor of the Three Purities Sect.”
At the calm answer, Byeon H oseong swallowed.
Was this the bastard who killed the Iron Zombie?
“I have a question, too. That Blood Sea Illusion Formation you mentioned, is that what’s spread around this camp?”
“That is correct.”
“Oh, really? You were looking at that strange ring when you mentioned the Blood Sea Illusion Formation. Is it related to that?”
“Sharp eyes. This is the Illusion Token, a divine artifact of our Cult.”
“How do you use it?”
“Why are you asking that?”
“If I become its owner, I need to know how to use it, don't I?”
At the brazen answer, Byeon H oseong gave a faint laugh.
“You need only imbue any arcane formation with the Illusion Token's energy.”
“Really?! What an incredible divine artifact.”
“It has been with our Cult throughout its history.”
The bastard who had killed the Iron Zombie asked as though puzzled.
“But is it all right to tell me so easily?”
“Heh. Do you think you can take this from me?”
“Huh?”
Byeon H oseong drew up his Blood Sea True Energy as he spoke.
The owner of the unfamiliar voice immediately drove his blade into Byeon H oseong's artery.
But.
“Huh?”
The blade, which should have easily cut through skin and wounded his artery, would not sink any deeper.
No, the wound was healing rapidly and pushing the blade away.
“Did you undergo the Frenzied Blood Man procedure?”
Byeon H oseong exclaimed at the intruder's words.
“How do you know about the Frenzied Blood Man?”
It was not information an ordinary White Path martial artist could know.
Yet the intruder calmly replied, “Isn’t it obvious from your red skin and hair?”
“...No, I am asking how you know that...”
Byeon H oseong could not finish.
True energy began to be sucked away through the hand pressed against his neck.
“Cough... Th-this is...”
“A little surprising, right? This is our secret.”
“The Blood-Drinking Sect? Did the Demonic Cult send you?”
“No, I’m not from the Demonic Cult. To be precise, I’m from the side that hates the Demonic Cult.”
When one became a Frenzied Blood Man, their latent potential erupted and their internal energy tripled.
Yet this intruder before him was endlessly absorbing his internal energy, vast as the Yangtze River.
Even his reddened skin was returning to its original color.
“Anyway, thanks for explaining. There was no such thing in my past life. Looks like it’ll be a huge help in this life.”
Through his darkening vision, Byeon H oseong saw the bastard wave a hand as though he were annoyed.
“Goodbye. Go ahead and save me a spot in hell. The rest of you Blood Cult bastards, and the Demonic Cult bastards too, will be joining you soon.”
“Ugh... Ugh...”
#
After severing the head of the bastard transforming into a Frenzied Blood Man in one stroke, I activated the Azure Dragon Bangle until he became a desiccated corpse.
‘Blood Sea True Energy is still easier to absorb than demonic qi.’
Since his internal energy had apparently been passed down through Dual-Origin True Energy for generations, I even felt my total reserves growing as though I had consumed a spiritual medicine while absorbing his energy.
“If I’d known he would give me this much, I would have listened to his last words.”
It seemed like he had wanted to say something at the end...
“Anyway, I hit the jackpot.”
I had obtained not only the Blood Sea Jade but also the absurd divine artifact called the Illusion Token.
Thinking about what happened during the regular examination, I could not even estimate how much help this would be in future battles and wars.
“This is why people should live good lives.”
I used the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand on the headless corpse, then once on each of the guards.
Fueled by the malevolent qi within their bodies, the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand burned more fiercely than usual and began spreading in every direction.
“F-fire!”
“Fire!”
“The Young Cult Leader’s tent is on fire!”
People began gathering in alarm, one after another.
I used the Ghost Breath Movement Art again and slipped out of their camp.
“Hehe...”
Only after I was far away from them did I finally burst into the laughter I had been holding back.
“Muahahahaha! This is only the beginning for the damned Blood Demon Sect! Just wait, Demon God!”
I roared until my voice rang through the night sky.
#
Far beyond the reach of Jin Sowoon's booming voice, a man standing atop a cliff gave a faint laugh as he gazed at something so distant it could not be seen.
“Funny fellow. Does he think the Blood Demon Sect is all the Divine Cult has?”
The haughty man gave a faint laugh.
A voice drifted from empty air.
“He dared insult the Demon God. Shall we capture him?”
No one stood there besides the man, yet the voice was clear.
The man shook his head as though it did not matter.
“Forget it. It was originally my task, but he did it for me.”
“But the Illusion Token is a divine artifact of the Divine Cult.”
“If it were a true divine artifact, the main cult would already have it. You know that a half-finished thing like that cannot compare to the Divine Cult's true divine artifacts.”
“...”
The man smiled as though he could see someone in the empty air.
“Still, it’s interesting. He uses the power of the Three Purities Sect, and when he infiltrates, he suppresses his presence like a dead man. Have you ever seen anything like that?”
A reply came again from the empty air.
“The Cult’s Shadows...”
“Come on, those leave behind a demonic scent. Can they erase every trace like he does?”
“...”
When silence fell, the man tilted his head as though he were genuinely curious.
“Who is he?”
“I will investigate.”
“Huh? Come on, what is this? Am I the kind of person who makes the Heavenly Demon Black Sword Unit do work like that?”
“If it is what the Young Cult Leader desires, then it is our duty.”
The man called the Young Cult Leader waved a hand toward the empty air and smiled leisurely.
“Haha, forget it. If he’s someone of that caliber, information will reach us even if we do nothing. Let’s find out slowly.”
“Yes!”
As he spoke, the man looked into the empty air again and smiled.
“I hope he stays alive until we meet again.”
Footnotes:
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