WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 29: The Second-Rate Martial Artist Seeking a Legend
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I calmly steadied myself and began drawing up the qi in my dantian.
At once, the distant chirping of birds and the rustle of wind through leaves reached me as clearly as if they were right beside me.
Then I opened my eyes.
A cliff so tall I usually had to crane my neck just to see its summit now looked no larger than a sandcastle.
Rumble, rumble.
All three hundred and sixty-five acupoints resonated at once. Heavy qi burst from both arms like lightning.
Drunk on that exhilaration, I shouted the name of a form I would never normally have called out.
“Mad Heaven Divine Palm!”
KRAAAASH!!
The Mad Heaven Divine Palm that burst from my hand blasted a house-sized hole into the massive cliff.
“Phew.”
My dantian was completely empty, and I collapsed where I stood, filled with a strange sense of release.
“It'll be useless in real combat unless I improve my mastery.”
I had learned an unparalleled palm art, but it consumed an absurd amount of internal energy.
A full gapja.[1]
Its destructive power justified the cost in internal energy, but if I used something like this in a real fight, anyone who dodged it would surely cut off my head in an instant.
Worse, unlike most arts that grew more destructive as mastery rose, Mad Heaven Divine Palm was more destructive at lower mastery.
So, if I wanted to use it while controlling how much internal energy I spent, I had to raise my mastery of Mad Heaven Divine Palm. To raise my mastery, I had to use Mad Heaven Divine Palm...
Damn it.
As my thoughts spiraled, I started to pity my miserable circumstances.
“A sword art as weak as ant piss, and a palm art as vast as the Yangtze. What kind of martial artist am I? I'd be better off calling myself a gambler.”
The road ahead still felt a thousand li long.
Maybe Yi Jagon had awakened the instincts from my previous life.
[Then there's nothing you can do. The martial world has always been that way.]
Yes, I knew.
The martial world was merciless.
Nor was the martial world alone in that.
Life itself was merciless.
The powerless Taeul Sect was dragged into wars it never wanted, while disciples without influence died as expendable fodder for others.
Someone might say they could simply run away, but those mad bastards from the Demonic Cult were a different breed.
They would hold a blade to the throats of people who had believed in the Dao or Buddha until yesterday and demand that they worship the Heavenly Demon. How could anyone escape that?
In the end, the best way to prepare for the coming war was not simply to become stronger. It was to secure a high-ranking position within the Martial Alliance.
If I became strong alone, I could protect myself, but not my junior disciples or the Taeul Sect.
“Before any of that, I need to do something about my martial arts. This isn't some petty gambling game.”
With a self-mocking grumble, I took a wooden box from my robes.
There was a reason I had come all the way to this rocky mountain, far from the Huayun Mountain I usually frequented, to test the palm art.
“When everyone finds out that Heavenly Cat Divine Physician's pellet was the second-place prize for the special admission examination, they'll be stunned.”
The second-place prize for the special admission examination was a pellet called the Heart-Calming Pellet, made by the Martial Alliance Physicians Hall.
Some people might find it strange that the third-place prize was the Righteous Path Sword, made by the Martial Alliance Armory.
That was only because they didn't know the Heart-Calming Pellet's true effect.
This pellet possessed the miraculous ability to prevent qi deviation.
The problem was that neither the person who made it nor those who took it knew of that effect.
Why?
Because one had to suffer qi deviation to discover the medicine's hidden effect.
Only someone like Gye Cheolyeong, who had suffered qi deviation or internal injuries, could learn of it. Very few people currently knew what the Heart-Calming Pellet could truly do.
Even Heavenly Cat Divine Physician, who had prepared the medicine, did not know its secret.
It was so expensive to make without knowing its true effect that it would only be produced for this examination, then discontinued from the next round onward.
“In the end, only the bastards who place second in this special admission examination will strike it rich.”
I put the Heart-Calming Pellet in my mouth and began circulating my qi.
This medicine was particularly effective for people like me, whose dantians had rapidly expanded due to spiritual medicines.
It strengthened and firmly supported a dantian that had become soft and unstable.
As I began circulating my qi, a small trace of energy gradually gathered in my empty dantian.
That handful of qi moved through every corner of my body, steadily gathering more energy. The gathered qi then pounded against my Eight Extraordinary Meridians and raced through them like a living creature.
All three hundred and sixty-five acupoints resonated at once as it traveled through the Twelve Regular Meridians and passed through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
After completing a full circuit of my body, the qi returned to my dantian, filling it by about twenty percent.
I would have needed to circulate my qi several more times to fill it completely, but I stopped when my energy sense picked up someone nearby.
“If you're here, you could at least say so.”
When I opened my eyes, Saryeon stood there with a sword at her waist, glaring sharply at me.
“Heh heh. Seeing that rebellious look in your eyes when you look at your senior brother, it seems you need a spanking to come to your senses.”
“Then why did you run all the way out here instead of spanking me?”
“Hm? Who says I ran away?”
With her arms folded, Saryeon looked around.
“Why did you come to Seokju Mountain instead of Huayun Mountain, where you usually spend every day?”
“Ahem. Watch your words. I am still your senior brother...”
“Forget that. Why did you do it?”
“What are you talking about?”
At my question, Saryeon bit down hard on her lip.
“...Why did you give up during the spar?”
Saryeon had ultimately taken first place in the third examination. I had made it to the final but came in second, falling slightly short on points.
Dongryong, who had been lucky with the bracket, took third.
Dongryong had received the Righteous Path Sword despite it not suiting him at all, and he looked completely bewildered. Saryeon, who had taken first place, looked no different.
I shook my head as I looked at her.
“Give up? I clearly lost.”
“You call that losing? You dropped your sword after just a few exchanges without putting any strength into it!”
“Didn't you see it yourself? I exhausted all my internal energy fighting a decisive battle against Senior Brother Gye with everything I had.”
“Do you seriously expect me to believe that?”
I closed my eyes again.
“Luck with the bracket is also a skill. In the end, Saryeon, you...”
“Aaah! Stop! Stop it! Fine! I'll go tell them I'm not going to the Martial Arts Academy. Whether you go or not is your problem!”
That temper of hers, honestly...
Even considering what happened in my previous life, my role was only to stop Gye Cheolyeong.
I had simply returned what Saryeon should have had in the first place. Nothing more, nothing less.
Besides, if I wanted to protect the Taeul Sect's disciples in the Orthodox-Demonic War as planned, at least three to five people needed to enter the Martial Arts Academy and become Martial Alliance officers.
The second-best way to survive the Orthodox-Demonic War was to meet a good commander.
And the best way?
Wouldn't it be for me to become the commander?
Right now, it was more important than anything to send as many people as possible to the Martial Arts Academy.
“Hong Saryeon. Stop right there.”
Saryeon's shoulders twitched at my low voice.
“The examination results have already been decided. Not even the Sect Leader can change them as he pleases. If you choose not to go, no one from the Taeul Sect will be able to go.”
“But...”
“Stop acting like a child!”
I understood how Saryeon felt, but since I knew the future, this was the only way I could make her understand.
She flinched at my shout, then lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers.
“What happens after the disciples who complete Busaeng Hall complete Gwaehwa Hall?”
“...?”
“Don't they all go serve mandatory terms in the Martial Alliance a few years later?”
“...Yes.”
Saryeon suddenly began using formal speech, something she normally never did.
“What do you think the disciples who go to the Martial Alliance will do there?”
“...”
There was no way Saryeon could know about a future she had yet to experience.
The hall lords occasionally spoke about their days there, but they only ever shared fragments of their hardships.
They didn't have many good memories of the Martial Alliance either, so they didn't like talking about it.
“I know the junior disciples are excited about life in the Martial Alliance. But their dreams and reality will be completely different.”
“What do you mean...?”
Staring at Saryeon, I spoke in a firm voice.
“The Taeul Sect will be worked like slaves in the Martial Alliance.”
“What?”
I would have liked to tell her about the Orthodox-Demonic War, but I couldn't. All I could do was explain the reality facing the Taeul Sect.
“The Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans. No, we don't even need to go that far. The higher-ranked sects among the One Hundred Eight Peaks treat lower-ranked sects as less than human. What do you think we can do in front of people like that?”
The Sect Leader and hall lords all knew this.
That was why, in my previous life, the elders of the sect had named Gye Cheolyeong the eldest senior brother. He had money and the weapon called the Martial Arts Academy.
And now, I had erased that previous life entirely.
“No one will help us. We have to help ourselves.”
“...”
“To do that, we need diplomas from the Martial Arts Academy. And only if we enter the Martial Alliance as officers can we hold positions like unit leader, with authority over ten people. Can you endure those who look down on the Taeul Sect when you're nothing but a low-ranking martial artist?”
The Martial Alliance also operated on a strict hierarchy. Without someone above pulling you up, you would inevitably become the weakest link.
“Then...! That means Senior Brother should've gone even more!”
Saryeon was afraid of the situation, yet she clenched her fists and said what she had to say.
I looked at her.
“I'll go too.”
“What?”
I told her clearly.
“Through the regular examination. I'll go to the Martial Arts Academy.”
“Senior Brother...”
“So go first and wait for me.”
Saryeon looked at me as though I had claimed to have seen a dragon.
“...Are you in your right mind?”
That was a little harsh.
* * *
“But that's exactly it. The person who took first place says it's fine. Can't you accept that?”
Saryeon was persistent. She tried persuading me.
“Hey, are you going to keep doing this? Then I'm not going to the Martial Arts Academy! I really won't go! When I say I'm not going, I mean it!”
She tried threatening me too.
“Senior Brother, actually, I have an incurable disease...”
“So please grant the dying junior sister's wish...”
She even pleaded.
“No! I won't change it. Go back! I'm not changing it!”
I refused her firmly.
Just as we were bickering and about to enter the Taeul Sect, Gye Yeonseok came out.
His hollow eyes were bloodshot.
His hair was matted, as though he hadn't washed it for days.
He apparently hadn't bathed either, because the smell of alcohol wafted from his entire body, and his once-fine silk clothes were badly wrinkled.
When Gye Yeonseok spotted me on his way out, his eyes widened like lanterns. Then he glared at me, his gaze brimming with venom.
“This is because of you. It's all because of you.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
“You used a forbidden drug, and now you're blaming someone else? Did I hold a sword to your throat and force you to use it?”
“...Kuhk.”
“Didn't you say you wouldn't let this matter slide?”
Yi Jagon had reportedly stopped by Gye Cheolyeong's home on his way back to assess his condition.
The Gyerong Merchant Group desperately tried to prevent the discovery that a forbidden drug had been used, but they were no match for the Martial Alliance's Gyeonseong Envoys and Gyeonseong martial artists.
Once it was confirmed that Gye Cheolyeong had taken the forbidden drug known as the Bloodburst Pellet, the Gyerong Merchant Group suffered both material losses and disgrace.
“Do you think I'll just take this lying down?”
“Why do you keep blaming someone else for your own mistakes? Do you really want to properly settle who was right and who was wrong?”
Then Saryeon tugged at my sleeve.
“Let's just go inside, Senior Brother.”
Saryeon had also heard that Gye Cheolyeong's dantian had ultimately been destroyed.
His only son's dantian was now damaged beyond use. Saryeon understood well enough that Gye Yeonseok had reached the point where he no longer cared what happened.
“You should've cultivated a better character from the beginning. Then you wouldn't have ended up here.”
Leaving him with those words, I went inside.
Gye Yeonseok remained where he stood like a stone statue, staring at me with eyes full of resentment.
The Taeul Sect grounds were bustling.
Having completed Busaeng Hall and all the Gyeonseong Envoys' examinations, the children were laughing and chatting in groups as though they had been set free.
“Still, isn't this a little too much? Why can't I see any of the hall lords?”
Strangely, there wasn't a single adult on the grounds.
Then Dongryong approached me.
“Eldest Senior Brother. They told me to have you enter Daehyeon Hall.”
“What is it about?”
“I don't know. It seems an emergency hall lord meeting has been called.”
A hall lord meeting was a solemn gathering attended by the Sect Leader, hall lords, and several elders who managed the sect.
It was strange enough that a regularly scheduled meeting had been called on an emergency basis. Why was I being asked to attend it?
Putting aside my doubts, I headed to Daehyeon Hall.
“Disciple Jin Sowoon has entered.”
When I offered a fist-and-palm salute, Hong Mungi simply flicked a hand, skipping the formalities.
I quietly took the empty seat at the far end of the long table and looked around.
It was supposed to be a meeting, yet only heavy silence filled the hall. No one seemed willing to speak first. Strange papers were piled high in front of Hong Mungi as well.
“This makes no sense at all. They're demanding the return of every contribution they've made so far?”
“Exactly. What sect in the world returns sponsorship funds it has already received?”
“They're doing this because they think our Taeul Sect is easy to push around. Wasn't Gye Cheolyeong's qi deviation something they brought upon themselves in the first place?”
Listening to the hall lords and elders spit as they spoke, it seemed Gye Yeonseok was using what had happened to his son as an excuse to demand the return of all the support funds he had contributed.
What a piece of work.
As I cursed inwardly, I realized this might become a serious problem.
Buddhist sects received alms, while Daoist sects received donations, temple maintenance fees, funds for ancestral rites, and the like.
The Taeul Sect could technically be considered a Daoist sect, but it merely honored Daoist principles and had never held rites or anything similar.
Depending on how one viewed it, the money Gye Yeonseok had paid as support funds could be considered a loan.
“Perhaps the Gyerong Merchant Group had been preparing for something like this from the start.”
As expected of the Outer Hall Lord, Father grasped the heart of the problem immediately.
Yet identifying the problem did not mean there was a solution.
“How could we repay this entire amount?”
“Sect Leader!”
“You can't, Sect Leader!”
“This has never happened before. What sect returns money that came in as sponsorship?”
No one had the nerve to donate money to one of the Nine Sects One Gang or Five Great Clans, then demand it back later.
If they had never given the money, that would have been one thing. But giving it and then taking it back could be seen as an insult to the recipient, worsening the situation.
People also looked poorly on those who deceived others, so the rumors would not be favorable either.
The head of the Gyerong Merchant Group had been backed into a corner.
The merchant group would inevitably suffer a heavy blow to its credibility because of the Bloodburst Pellet.
Yet he was still pushing forward. The resentment he held must have been immense.
“The merchant group leader says he'll report us to the authorities. Does anyone have a plan for that?”
Dragging the authorities into this meant Gye Yeonseok no longer cared about his own position.
The matter would be made public in every direction, so the merchant group's credibility would fall even further.
It was no different from Gye Yeonseok resorting to the kind of mutual destruction martial artists used.
“Sigh.”
“Ahem.”
“Honestly...”
At the mention of the authorities, everyone fell silent.
Unlike the Gyerong Merchant Group, the Taeul Sect had no connections with the government. Simply arguing its case would already cause significant losses.
If the outcome also required the sect to return the support funds, the consequences would be irreversible.
“Outer Hall Lord. How much wealth do we possess?”
“...If we sell all our assets, we can barely cover it.”
He was probably talking about the inns and guesthouses, the sect's few sources of income.
After pausing for a moment, Father continued.
“I hesitate to say this in such circumstances, but what if we seek help from the Wang Family Estate?”
“The Wang Family Estate?”
“Yes. The Wang Family Estate Lord seemed to have anticipated something like this. He said that if the Taeul Sect ever had trouble, we should come to him at any time. He even said that if circumstances were difficult, we would not need to repay the money.”
“He said that?”
“Huh.”
The hall lords' faces brightened at Father's words.
But the Sect Leader tilted his head.
“Even if he favors our Taeul Sect, it makes no sense for him to give us such a large sum without compensation. I find it even harder to understand that a merchant would do so.”
“Yes... Well...”
Father hesitated for a moment, then looked at me.
Why was he looking at me all of a sudden?
“He asked for Head Disciple Jin Sowoon.”
What the hell?
“Excuse me?”
All the hall lords looked at me, and I let out a startled cry.
“What does that mean?”
“He said that if Sowoon has talent for business, he would like to teach him the merchant trade...”
I had suddenly become someone who might be sold off to pay my sect's debt.
“What are you talking about? Absolutely not. The Taeul Sect's Head Disciple cannot become a merchant!”
Sect Leader Hong rejected it firmly.
The hall lords knew it was wrong, yet they still let out regretful sighs. Gang Chaeseok, the Gwaehwa Hall Lord, was especially blatant as he stared at me.
That bastard's eyes were practically glowing.
Hong Mungi eventually brought the discussion back under control.
“We cannot do that, even if it means selling every asset the sect owns.”
“...Yes. Of course.”
Father also looked at me with an oddly regretful expression before turning away.
“Even so, borrowing money from the Wang Family Estate is worth considering. We do not have the means to repay all the support funds at once, so we could ask on the condition that we repay it over several years.”
“Hmm.”
In the end, that too was only a temporary measure.
The hall lords and everyone else could only swallow cold tea.
Silence settled over the room.
Gang Chaeseok, who had been fiddling with his teacup, cleared his throat.
“Ahem. How about we hear our Head Disciple's opinion?”
What was that bastard up to? Usually, all he did was tell me to shut up.
Naturally, I had no right to speak at a hall lord meeting unless someone granted me permission.
“Sowoon's opinion?”
“Yes. He is our Head Disciple, after all. He might come up with some clever idea none of us hall lords have considered, and... perhaps he has always had an interest in business.”
Of course. That was it...
Was he trying to sell me off to cover the sponsorship money?
When I glared at Gang Chaeseok, he coughed and looked away.
“Besides, wouldn't it be good for everyone if Sowoon inherited the Wang Family Estate?”
Everyone, including me, stared at Gang Chaeseok in disbelief at his shamelessly optimistic words.
“What is this reaction? If Soso and Sowoon get together, wouldn't the Wang Family Estate and Taeul Sect become family?”
Wang Geumsan would marry off his only daughter, whom he treasured more than his own life, to a second-rate martial artist from the third-rate Taeul Sect?
What exactly was going through that man's head?
The ridiculous part was that some of the other hall lords began nodding one by one.
“Enough. We won't discuss that any further. I have no intention of turning Sowoon into a merchant.”
Hong Mungi immediately put an end to the matter.
“If you have something you want to say, you may speak.”
Hong Mungi looked at me with eyes full of expectation.
“What could this disciple possibly know enough to say?”
The Sect Leader and hall lords appeared somewhat disappointed at my answer.
“But if it doesn't matter what I say, then I'll offer a thought.”
“Go ahead.”
“As you know, I've traveled in all directions. While doing so, I once met a miner on a mountain.”
“A miner?”
“Yes. That miner wondered why no mine had been established in a certain place.”
The Sect Leader and hall lords all looked confused.
“The miner said that Seokju Mountain, located behind Huayun Mountain, contains a great deal of high-quality iron ore.”
“Iron ore?”
Iron was the most common and widely used of all minerals.
For martial sects in particular, iron was directly tied to weapons and armaments, which was why large sects always included mines among their assets.
Father asked the question instead of the Sect Leader.
“Isn't Seokju Mountain nothing more than a rocky mountain where even trees cannot grow?”
Seokju Mountain was an ownerless rocky mountain.
The soil was barren, and it was a useless mountain full of weeds where trees could not grow. No one had ever considered doing anything with it.
Its price was absurdly low.
There was nothing one could do with a useless mountain, so no one wanted to buy it.
“The miner said that if you dig only a little into Seokju Mountain, you can quickly find iron. So, what if the Taeul Sect purchases Seokju Mountain, borrows money from the Wang Family Estate, and develops an iron mine? Then we could gradually pay off our debt to the Gyerong Merchant Group.”
Though I had said it, no one seemed particularly convinced.
If such a fine mine existed, someone would have claimed it long ago. And if a miner could recognize it, the authorities might have gotten involved as well.
But I had no intention of letting this opportunity pass.
In two years, a tremendous downpour would strike this region, causing a landslide on Seokju Mountain.
The soil would wash away, revealing a massive iron ore deposit beneath it.
The authorities, who owned Seokju Mountain, would become suddenly wealthy from the mine. Father would drunkenly complain for three whole years that he should have bought that mountain.
“The miner you met probably wasn't lying. But trusting only his word and investing now would be too risky.”
The Sect Leader also seemed to think my proposal was far-fetched, though he did not openly criticize it.
I nodded.
“I thought you might say that, so I dug into Seokju Mountain over the past few weeks.”
Actually, I had dug there only that morning while practicing Mad Heaven Divine Palm.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“What did you say?”
I placed a stone the size of a Korean melon on the table.
It was iron ore, deep black with a pale silver sheen.
I had picked it up at the very end of the huge cave created by Mad Heaven Divine Palm.
“I found this some time ago, but please understand that I needed to have a blacksmith verify it before mentioning it.”
Perhaps they anticipated what I would say next, because the hall lords' mouths and eyes opened wide.
“The blacksmith said it is iron ore of exceptional quality.”
Even dignified Hong Mungi's mouth and eyes opened as wide as a basin.
[1] Gapja, a sixty-year calendrical cycle used in murim to indicate roughly sixty years' worth of cultivated internal energy.
Footnotes:
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