WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 287: The Right to Have a Chance (3)

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Knowing the future had many advantages, but I couldn't rely on it completely.

The information was often incomplete.

Heavenly Cave was one example.

The Martial World Elixir Compendium only stated where in Heavenly Cave the Five-Spirit Flower Dew had appeared. The Martial Alliance's Xian Branch report only recorded that Mount Zhongnan Sect had ultimately claimed it.

It would be unfair to dismiss the people who recorded such things by saying, "That's what ink-stained scholars do." From an efficiency standpoint, it was better to record only the essential information concisely.

If it had been normal to record every trivial detail, I would've gone mad memorizing Mantong Office records in my previous life before Gwak Gung even got the chance to kill me. I would've become useless.

‘So there's no need to be disappointed or complain.’

That's how the world worked. You had to know when to overlook the smaller details.

Unlike broad-minded me, though, my adorable junior brothers apparently couldn't.

"How is this... huff... supposed to be... strategy?!"

"Feint east... strike west?! Then why... huff... are we the east?!"

"What kind of... hyaah... con artist... gets caught in... their own scam...?!"

"Ugh... this is hard..."

The Taeul Sect disciples had just encountered their third group of Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples.

Yet even while dealing with them, the brats shouted complaints instead of battle cries as they subdued their opponents.

Hm. Judging by their movements, they had definitely grown.

Then why didn't I feel entirely pleased?

"...Were those words meant for me to hear?"

Wasn't there an old saying that those above shouldn't twist the intentions of those below?

Just in case, I checked.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! No!"

"Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Why would they be?! Of course not!"

"Yes, yes! We weren't talking about you, Head Disciple! Really, we weren't!"

"..."

What was this? Why were they so desperately denying it?

Everyone except Dongryong, who smacked his lips and hesitated, shook their heads fiercely and denied it.

"That's a relief."

"..."

"You already have it hard enough. I didn't want to add more iron rings and steel plates."

"..."

"What are you doing? Do you want iron rings?"

Perhaps moved by their Head Disciple's ocean-deep generosity, they tightly shut their mouths and diligently dealt with the Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples after that.

Honestly, I hadn't expected my plan to go this far off course.

‘Did they spread their disciples throughout all of Heavenly Cave?’

I had deliberately timed things so there would be a gap between the third entrance opening and our entry.

If Mount Zhongnan Sect's disciples rushed to the third entrance to stop the sudden influx of people, we could take advantage of the confusion, enter from the other side, and rob the empty house.

But there was something I hadn't expected.

Mount Zhongnan Sect was even more idiotic than I thought.

‘Even if they blocked the entrance, they spread their disciples out this much?’

Did they think the entrance they had sealed would never be breached?

Or did they think no one would have the nerve to break through a path blocked by the great Mount Zhongnan Sect?

Either way, their heads were so full of superiority that it was spilling over.

On top of that, it seemed they had scraped together every disciple from their main mountain. The ones greeting us were children whose bones hadn't even fully matured.

"Huh? Who are you people?!"

"Intruders!"

The disciples who looked to be fourth-generation disciples of Mount Zhongnan Sect screamed in alarm when we met them in the next cave.

But like before, no additional disciples came running.

My junior brothers rushed in together and subdued them.

The four who had initially drawn their swords soon realized they didn't need weapons against these opponents and charged in barehanded.

"You villains! Draw your swords!"

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as calling us villains..."

"Argh! Are you mocking Mount Zhongnan Sect?!"

For children who had yet to properly build their internal energy, their swordsmanship was fierce.

But.

Clang!

"Huh?"

The Taeul Sect disciples raised their iron-ringed arms and blocked the sharp blades, leaving their opponents unable to hide their shock at their toughness, no, their divine might.

"T-they're wearing shackles! Aim for their hearts!"

The quicker-witted ones immediately pulled back their swords and thrust at their torsos again.

Clang!

"Huh?"

...This time, the steel plates stopped them. Their sword points were damaged, leaving only their weapons worse for wear.

"W-what the hell..."

What did they think it was? The result of grueling training.

Seeing the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers, along with Hong Saryeon, move nimbly despite wearing heavy steel plate vests filled me with satisfaction.

"I never thought the day would come when I could handle Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples this easily."

Clack! Rattle!

Eunho casually used seizing arts to take a sword, then struck the youngster's paralysis acupoint and mute acupoint. The youngster crumpled to the ground.

It took less than an eighth of an hour to subdue the five Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples.

Still, our stamina would eventually reach its limit.

"Head Disciple, is this really all right? We can't keep fighting our way through forever."

Eunho had a point.

They were only fourth-generation disciples now, so there wasn't much of a problem. Other areas wouldn't be staffed entirely by fourth-generation disciples.

We could somehow get past third-generation disciples, but if we encountered a group with second-generation disciples mixed in, or even first-generation disciples, it wouldn't end with simply subduing them.

Yet if we tried to find empty caves, Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples were scattered in every direction.

‘In the worst-case scenario, if we run into a North Dipper Swordsman...’

No. Stop thinking bad thoughts.

Back in my days with the Sojeong Unit, every time someone said something unlucky, it came true.

‘Did they die?’, ‘Did we win?’, ‘Did they survive?’ Every time we said things like that, trouble broke out.

Eventually, we had even made those phrases taboo.

Just then.

Twitch.

Dongryong, standing at the very back, flicked his ears and looked toward the caves we had passed through.

"What's wrong?"

"...I have a bad feeling."

The sense granted by the Heavenly Killing Star manifested in superhuman ways.

Especially when it came to life and death, it was probably sharper than that of most masters.

I quickly sent my energy sense out in a single focused line.

It traced back through the caves we had passed, all the way to the entrance we had used.

Prickle!

The hairs all over my body stood on end.

‘They noticed my energy sense?’

Since my days in the Sojeong Unit, I had honed my senses in fine internal-energy control more than anyone else to make use of my internal energy, which was barely better than nothing.

And yet they had noticed the energy sense I had spread so secretly.

"...!"

They even sent killing intent back along the energy sense I had released, as though making their presence known.

They were no ordinary master.

"Ha..."

We're fucked.

A first-generation disciple? Or someone at hall master level?

I didn't know.

All I knew for certain was that this dangerous person had discovered we were inside the cave.

Tremble, tremble.

Dongryong's face turned pale beside me.

"H-Head Disciple... c-can't we stop?"

Dongryong would fearlessly step forward whenever he felt the urge to kill, no matter who the opponent was. But cold reason now overpowered the killing intent that rose after suppressing the Heavenly Killing Star.

If Dongryong was uncomfortable, I had to assume the person was that dangerous.

"All right. Let's move."

I stopped my junior brothers, who were about to instinctively use Ghost Breath Movement Art as they always had.

"From now on, don't use Ghost Breath Movement Art or Dynamic Practice. We'll move as quickly as possible."

"..."

It was an incredibly dangerous decision, considering the traces we would leave and the chance that more pursuers would gather.

But right now, all we could think about was shaking that pursuer.

[Mount Zhongnan Sect will try to secure the Five-Spirit Flower Dew at any cost.]

Cheol Sunjik's words kept coming back to me.

#

"Argh!"

"Urgh!"

"Ugh!"

Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples fell.

The group we had encountered had third-generation disciples mixed in.

More than half a quarter-hour had passed since we started moving.

Spreading my energy sense to check would only directly reveal our position to the opponent, so I looked at Dongryong.

"Dongryong!"

"...I think they're still coming!"

Damn it.

Dongryong's face was still pale.

I immediately gave the others an order.

"We're passing through!"

"Senior Brother! Then there'll be even more of them."

Two groups had already joined forces and begun pursuing us.

Every passage was now packed with Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples.

There wasn't even time to despair.

"Then pick up the pace!"

I drew upon half my internal energy and immediately unleashed the Greater Heaven Sword Art.

Clangclangclangclangclangclang!

Countless sword afterimages filled the cramped space, making the Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples recoil in shock.

Those relying on torchlight couldn't distinguish the illusion swords from the real ones that had appeared in an instant.

Besides, they were third and fourth-generation disciples.

At the sight of swords rushing at them, they flinched and stepped back. My junior brothers used that opening to escape the cave.

From the rear, I sent sword qi at the rocks above the Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples' heads.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Part of the cave ceiling was cut away. Rocks rained down and blocked half the entrance.

The moment I fired sword qi again to block the remaining half.

Boomboomboom!

Mount Zhongnan Sect palm strikes flew toward the falling rocks at the same time.

Those lunatics. If they used palm strikes carelessly inside a cave, there would be nowhere to avoid the fragments...

Whoosh!

Sure enough, rocks as large as human heads shot outward like cannonballs.

‘Damn it...’

I didn't know how sturdy the cave was, but if I carelessly counterattacked here, this entire area might collapse.

In the end, if I wanted to keep my junior brothers from getting hurt, I had no choice but to stop the rocks.

"Everyone, get behind me!"

Just as I was about to strike down the incoming rocks with the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist.

"Hup!"

A figure stepped in front of me.

Thud! Thud! Bam! Bam!

It was Geumpyo.

"Senior Brother, are you all right?"

Geumpyo used the Vajra Shield to block the rocks, then asked if I was safe.

I nodded instead of answering.

He showed me his back and stared ahead.

"I'll hold the rear."

His back looked fairly solid.

I snorted and replied.

"All right. I'm counting on you."

Thanks to Geumpyo, we had a moment to catch our breath.

Rumble!

Then, with an ominous sound, the ceiling collapsed.

The shock of Mount Zhongnan Sect's palm force had spread through the cave, and the entire area was beginning to cave in.

I shouted at my junior brothers.

"Run!"

Crash!

Rocks and dirt poured down in quantities incomparable to when I had cut the ceiling earlier.

I extended my energy sense ahead and led my junior brothers toward a direction without Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples.

"Left!"

"Right! Right again!"

After passing through five forks in an instant, the cave's trembling gradually died down.

"Gasp! Gasp! Gasp! Wow! We almost really died that time."

"Those crazy bastards... Who throws palm strikes around like that inside a cave?"

"Head Disciple, are we all right now?"

All right? I didn't know either.

We had fled only to avoid the collapsing cave, so we were now slightly off course from our destination.

The biggest problem was the master my energy sense had detected earlier.

It would be best if that person had been caught in the collapse and could no longer pursue us.

"Dongryong."

"...Yes."

At my call, Dongryong shook his head as if he wasn't sure.

It was obvious he thought this had happened because he had said we should leave.

I looked into his eyes.

"It doesn't matter whether you're right or wrong. Just tell me what you feel."

For now, we had no choice but to rely on the instincts of the Heavenly Killing Star.

Dongryong clenched his fist at my gaze.

"...I still feel uneasy."

Damn it.

The cave we had come through was blocked, so the master would find another route.

Now we couldn't even predict where they would emerge.

"Let's move."

For now, we had no choice but to keep moving.

If we ran into that master here, I couldn't even imagine how things would turn out.

"Left."

"Left."

"Left."

"Right."

To get outside the master's range of influence, I led my junior brothers toward the least populated areas I could find.

Fortunately, no one's senses were as sharp as that master's. No one noticed the energy sense I spread.

And with every move we made, color gradually returned to Dongryong's face.

That was the most welcome sign of all.

Just as we were starting to run out of breath.

"We'll rest here for a moment."

While my junior brothers collapsed where they stood and began qi-regulating breathing and qi circulation, I unfolded the map in my mind.

The map of Heavenly Cave I had newly obtained from the Hao Sect.

It had even filled in the remaining three-tenths that the Beggar Sect had not marked.

‘We've come too far from the original route.’

If Mount Zhongnan Sect didn't possess a complete map, there would be reason to hope for the rest of our journey.

But Cheol Sunjik had said the Beggar Sect handed Mount Zhongnan Sect a complete map.

All we could do was pray that damned master knew nothing about maps.

Just then.

Dongryong, who had finished his qi-regulating breathing, abruptly stood up.

He looked at me with eyes as wide as a rabbit's.

"..."

"..."

There was no need to say anything.

That person was coming this way again.

The other junior brothers seemed to catch on as well and quickly prepared to move.

"Let's go."

Once again, we ran through the caves in search of the least populated paths possible.

But no matter how much we moved, Dongryong's expression didn't improve.

‘How close are they?’

As my thoughts drifted for a moment.

"Ha."

I had no choice but to stop before the three paths ahead of us.

"Head Disciple?"

Damn it...

I could sense people in all three caves.

And there were quite a few of them.

Where should we go?

There was no answer.

But.

‘At least I know we can't go back.’

I gripped the Black Dragon Sword.

"Prepare for battle."

"..."

My junior brothers followed my lead and were about to draw their swords with hardened expressions.

Rumble.

People poured out of all three caves at once.

"Huh? What? Someone got here first?"

"Are they Mount Zhongnan Sect disciples?"

"No. They're not wearing Mount Zhongnan Sect uniforms."

They all wore different martial uniforms.

Their weapons were varied as well, from swords to sabers, staffs, and spears.

The people carrying those different weapons were...

The martial artists who had been protesting at Heavenly Cave's entrance.

"Head Disciple..."

"Don't tell me..."

In the midst of our frantic run.

We had somehow made it all the way back near the third entrance.

Fuck.

Footnotes:

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