WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 305: The Black Flame Dragon, Sacred One of the Dark Path (3)
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Sangmun Sect.
I looked at the signboard and said,
“Hey, can’t you idiots read? That says ‘Sang,’ not ‘Hang.’”
“Urgh!”
The lackeys stopped the big man from throwing a punch at me.
Then one of them whispered,
“Just hold back a little. We made it this far. Once we get inside and beat the shit out of him together...”
I can hear every word, bastard.
Couldn’t they even judge the difference in our internal energy?
Anyway, it wasn’t as though I hadn’t expected this.
In a situation like this, it was better to make a scene and force my way in.
I boldly kicked the door.
With a satisfying boom, it should have burst open and thrown the place into chaos...
Crack.
“...”
The door was apparently made of such thin plywood that only the spot I kicked split apart, leaving my foot stuck in it.
“Hey, you guys... Never mind.”
I gathered Great Yang Palm in both hands and fired it out. At last, the sound I’d wanted rang out.
Boom!
Wooden fragments broke apart and scattered in every direction.
They must’ve used truly cheap wood, because sawdust flew everywhere.
Then the shouts I’d expected came from inside.
“Who the hell are you?!”
“Do you know where you are?!”
“You dare attack Sangmun Sect?!”
It seemed everyone here was stupid. They couldn’t even read their own sect’s name properly.
The Black Path martial artists gripping their weapons with murderous intent spotted the big man and frowned.
“Huh? Killing Fist? Killing Fist! What the hell happened?”
“C-call the sect... lord!”
“What? What is that idiot saying?”
“C-call... the sect lord!”
“That fucking idiot...”
A lackey finally stepped forward to report.
“Hall Master! We need the Sect Lord! The Sect Lord must come...!”
“What?”
“Jin Sowoon... I mean, the Black Flame Dragon! The Black Flame Dragon!”
“The Black Flame Dragon? The Black Flame Dragon, Sacred One of the Dark Path?”
“Yes!”
The moment my epithet came up, the area fell silent.
My reputation really was something else.
After a brief silence, one of the Black Path bastards exploded in rage.
“You idiots got beaten by some brat and came looking for the Sect Lord?!”
Judging by the long scar around the fighter’s mouth, they must’ve gotten it from mouthing off to the wrong person.
I looked at the Black Path martial artists approaching with weapons in hand and asked the big man,
“Hey, your name is Killing Fist?”
“That’s...”
“Whoever named you did a terrible job.”
“...I’m de-definitely gonna kill you.”
I dodged the saber swinging for my head and drove my fist into the big man’s stomach.
Bang!
With a tremendous crash, the Black Path martial artist flew into the wall like a cannonball.
A spearhead came thrusting for my heart. I grabbed it, used Lotus to draw the spear wielder in, then swept their feet out from under them.
“Urk!”
Next came an axe aimed at my neck.
These bastards didn’t even put enough effort into using matching weapons.
Smack!
“Eek!”
The axe wielder’s eyes widened when I caught the axe blade with my hand.
I took the axe from the axe wielder, caught the handle as it spun through the air, and brought it down on their head.
“N-no!”
They had no hesitation when trying to split someone else’s head open.
What a selfish bastard.
Still, I was a chivalrous hero among chivalrous heroes, so I turned the axe around and only fixed their head a little.
Thud!
Hmm... Was that a little rough?
The Black Path martial artist collapsed unconscious, blood streaming down their face.
Well, once they woke up, they’d probably be able to read their sect’s name properly.
Then another bastard rushed at me with a sword... Huh?
Why the fuck were they carrying a Mount Hua Sect sword?
Were they insane?
“You... need a more serious lesson.”
“Die, bastard!”
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw, binding the sword wielder’s hand. Then I yanked the fighter in and kicked them off their feet.
When I inspected the sword I’d taken, it really was one used by the Mount Hua Sect.
“You’re a complete idiot. Hey, bastard, keep carrying this around and Mount Hua Sect will kill you.”
For the sword wielder’s own good, I gripped the blade and snapped the sword in half.
The sword wielder’s pupils shook wildly.
They still didn’t understand the situation.
“Hey, I saved your life.”
“W-what...”
“You should thank me for sparing you first.”
“T-thank you...”
“Don’t need it, bastard!”
The sword wielder flew away from my punch, smashed through a building’s door, and disappeared inside.
I looked down at my fist again.
‘I’m pretty strong, aren’t I?’
I must’ve spent so much time facing inhuman monsters that my standards for strength had risen too high.
Even the Martial Arts Academy students were like ultimate weapons painstakingly raised by their sects. It was only natural that my standards had gone up.
The Black Path bastards I wouldn’t have even dared make eye contact with in my previous life now felt like children.
After looking at my hand for a moment, I asked the Black Path martial artist with the scar around their mouth,
“Hey, don’t I seem kind of like a chivalrous hero?”
“...What is this crazy bastard saying?!”
A fast saber user? But too slow.
Thud!
The fighter with the scar around their mouth went flying from a single kick.
“Dieee! I’ll kill you!”
None of them used the same martial art or even the same weapon.
If they’d grabbed random martial artists walking down the street, they’d have had more unity than this lot.
What was more, these brats had plenty of nerve. No matter how many times I knocked them down, they kept getting back up.
‘Anyone with proper training would’ve recognized the difference in our martial arts by now.’
Still, no problem.
“Diiie!”
Killing Fist finally moved, throwing a punch at me.
I blocked it, grabbed his collar, and said,
“I was from the Sojeong Unit, you know.”
“Huh?”
Then I slammed his head down.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
They kept getting up no matter how much they were beaten?
The solution was simple.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Beat them until they couldn’t get up.
“Guh...”
Killing Fist spat blood and several more teeth from his mouth.
He’d never be able to tear into meat again. What a shame, tsk.
After taking a breath, I shouted from my diaphragm.
“Come on, you bastards! Come on, come on!”
Those who lived on nerve alone wouldn’t stop until they realized their opponent was crazy.
Which meant...
I had to show them just how politely crazy I was.
I smashed the heads of those rushing at me, broke their legs, and twisted their arm joints until they came apart as I tore through them.
At last, when all the Black Path lackeys had fallen...
“...W-what the hell happened here?!”
The Hangmun Sect Lord appeared.[1]
#
“Jin... Sowoon? Jin Sowoon, the Black Flame Dragon!”
“Yeah.”
The Hangmun Sect Lord couldn’t contain fury at the sight before him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
The killing intent that said he wanted to beat me to death right then made my skin tingle.
“Big Brother, cut off his limbs first, then we can talk.”
“Let’s do that, Big Brother! The moment Black Path bastards get a little famous, they act like the world belongs to them.”
“Someone like that needs to learn how frightening the world is...!”
The men lined up beside him followed their Sect Lord’s lead and released killing intent.
At least compared to the Hangmun Sect members I’d seen so far, their energy was the most refined.
‘Hmm, the Sect Lord is... about Hall Master-level. Those brothers... Unit Leader-level?’
As I judged their level, the Sect Lord ground his teeth.
“Cut off that bastard’s arms and legs one by one, then bring them to me. Leave his tongue. I need to hear his reason!”
“Yes!”
Four people moved at once at the Sect Lord’s command.
They took up the four directions and formed a sword formation with the ease of people who had done this many times.
‘Four-Directions Jade-Shattering Formation.’
It was one of the most basic sword formations, but it was highly effective when many fought against one.
“You... have been causing quite a stir in the Black Alliance, haven’t you?”
“Today, we’ll fix that insolence.”
“Of course, you’ll never be able to hold a sword again.”
“Haaah!”
It didn’t make much difference.
A sword formation had to be built on trust between its members.
It had to be deployed with the resolve to give up one’s own life for the person standing beside them.
But...
‘They’re sloppy.’
Compared to the formation Geum, Eun, and Dong had used, theirs lacked both skill and resolve.
Thud! Pow!
I used Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist to pulp the face of the bastard charging first, then kicked toward the one swinging a sword.
By then, someone should’ve stepped in to trap my leg in place for the swordsman, but these men had no such resolve.
Their formation existed only to beat down an opponent more efficiently.
Thud! Pow! Pow!
I struck the fighter’s solar plexus, broke the hand holding their sword, then headbutted them hard enough to knock out a shower of teeth.
Like Killing Fist, this bastard wouldn’t be eating meat anymore. What a shame.
“Urk!”
I grabbed the collar of the fighter trying to fall, then drove my forehead into them again.
They’d relaxed after losing their teeth, but the pain of their nose breaking made their eyes roll back.
I turned my gaze to the remaining men.
“W-wait!”
“Wait for what?!”
Without hesitation, I rushed the bastard beside me, broke their shin, and planted my fist in their face.
Their nose disappeared.
You’ll have to breathe through your mouth from now on.
I swept their feet out, then kicked their head and knocked them unconscious.
One man remained.
I slowly turned my head.
“Eek! C-crazy bastard!”
At last, I received their certification.
Still, customer, I’d be disappointed if you just ran away.
Whirrr!
The Flying Dragon Claw shot out and caught the fighter’s clothing. With the sound of iron wire winding tight, they flew toward me as though being sucked in.
The moment they reached me...
Thud!
I punched them in the face. The fourth brother spun twice in the air before crashing down.
After quickly destroying the Four-Directions Jade-Shattering Formation, I gave the Hangmun Sect Lord a bright smile.
“Should I come to you? Or will you come to me? Ah, don’t even think about running.”
#
The Sangmun Sect Lord was a seasoned veteran of the Black Path martial world.
He and his four brothers had roamed the martial world for two decades.
Tired of sleeping rough and squeezing pocket change from others, they had joined forces and established a sect.
The Black Alliance had formed at just the right time, becoming a force that opposed the Martial Alliance. Thinking they no longer needed to worry about the Martial Alliance launching one-sided campaigns against the Black Path, he had planned to spend the rest of his days building up Sangmun Sect.
‘This crazy... What the fuck is this...?’
The Sangmun Sect he had worked so hard to establish had been utterly destroyed in one day.
By a brat who had only recently passed twenty.
Gulp.
A blazing fury rose within him, but he forced it down.
The instinct that had kept him alive in the martial world for twenty years was warning him.
‘He’s on another level.’
Not just his martial arts. The real problem was the bastard’s state of mind.
‘He’s a crazy bastard on another level.’
He wasn’t some hypocrite who had come to commit righteous slaughter out of anger at evil deeds.
If he were, he would’ve drawn his sword long ago.
Every Sangmun Sect member would have lost their head to that sword.
The bastard in front of him was tightly suppressing his anger and venting it by playing with his opponents.
After decades in the Black Path martial world, he had seen all sorts of people. That was why he knew.
‘...He’s truly insane.’
He became curious why the man had come all the way here to cause such a scene.
“...Why?”
“What?”
“I’m asking why you’re doing this!”
“Hmm... Wouldn’t it be better to fight first, then talk?”
The Sect Lord’s eye twitched at the sight of him standing crookedly and beckoning with one finger.
Still, he couldn’t provoke a madman further.
He swallowed his frustration again and asked,
“I want to hear the full story.”
“The full story... Fine. I was eating at an inn with the people from our merchant group when...”
After hearing the story, the Sect Lord couldn’t help wrinkling his nose.
“You did all this over a mere ten silver taels?”
“...A mere. Ten. Silver. Taels?”
The madman’s neck creaked.
Unblinking eyes stared directly at him.
Looking into those madness-filled eyes, the Sect Lord became certain.
‘Was that rumor true?’
The rumor that this madman was the Joint Successor of the absolute masters of the Black Path martial world.
He had dismissed it as a joke told over drinks, but now he was certain.
For some reason, Jin Sowoon was officially posing as a disciple of a White Path sect, but he was surely the Joint Successor of Black Path masters.
The madman spoke again.
“A. Mere. Ten. Silver. Taels.”
Once he realized that, all strength drained from his body.
The skills that had seemed so impressive suddenly came back to him with terrifying clarity.
If Jin Sowoon truly was the successor of the Black Path masters he knew...
‘I can never defeat him...!’
As the madman... no, the Joint Successor approached until he was right before him, the Sect Lord unconsciously stepped backward and fell.
“W-wait! Wait! I-it was a mistake!”
“A mistake?! You did that by mistake?”
“A-aren’t we friends from the same Black Path? If the Black Flame Dragon treats us like this, you’re only making the hypocrites happy!”
Jin Sowoon stopped dead.
Had his hurried words worked?
Would Jin Sowoon hide his identity by killing everyone who had discovered it?
Pessimistic thoughts filled his mind.
Then the madness gleaming in Jin Sowoon’s eyes vanished, returning them to normal.
“Hmm... Right, we’re friends?”
D-did it work?
At Jin Sowoon’s question, the Sect Lord nodded quickly.
“R-right. Aren’t we friends?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re friends. Then isn’t extorting a friend’s money bad?”
“I-I’ll return it. I’ll return everything!”
“But I’m still hurt inside.”
Fuck, you crazy bastard! What about the injuries my men suffered...!
The words rose to his throat, but he barely forced them back down.
If the Black Path masters had secretly raised a successor and planted him inside the White Path...
Then touching the Great Heaven Merchant Group of the Taeul Sect...
Meant touching a major operation of the Black Path masters.
Without question, he was in the wrong.
“I-I’ll return three times everything we took.”
“Good. Ah, and about the future.”
“The Great Heaven Merchant Group run by Taeul Sect? I’ll make sure no one ever collects protection money from them again.”
“Hmm, that’s not it.”
Cold sweat trickled down the Sect Lord’s face when Jin Sowoon shook his head.
He couldn’t even imagine what this madman would demand.
“It’s a merchant group run by a friend. Shouldn’t you keep watch in case other bastards mess with it and protect it?”
“P-protect it?”
“Yeah.”
“...Without taking protection money?”
“Of course! Fuck, aren’t we friends?”
The Sect Lord felt the Black Flame Dragon’s hand gripping the back of his neck tighten.
He swallowed the groan rising from the pain and forced a smile.
“O-of course. From now on, whenever the Great Heaven Merchant Group passes through this area, we’ll voluntarily escort them!”
“Good, good. Very good. Then I’ll trust you and go. I’m counting on you from now on.”
As he looked at Jin Sowoon holding out a hand with a bright smile as though nothing had happened, the Sect Lord thought that, as expected of the Joint Successor of the Black Path, he had inherited all their madness too.
Footnotes:
[1] Jin Sowoon deliberately calls Sangmun Sect “Hangmun Sect,” changing “Sang” to “Hang,” a crude Korean word for anus.
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