WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 413: The Price of Fate

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Recently, it had become difficult to spot anyone from the Wudang Sect within the Martial Alliance.

Together with Shaolin Sect, Wudang claimed to be the strongest force in the Martial Alliance. They usually threw their weight around wherever they went, so it was only natural that people found their sudden absence strange.

“What, did all those Wudang bastards get sick after a group dinner?”

“That’s not it. You heard about the attack on Bongan Hall, right? They say Wudang was behind it.”

“Come on, that doesn’t even make sense.”

“I’m telling you, it’s true! Qingxiu Zhenren was summoned to the Inspectorate over it.”

“Really?”

The rumors they had dismissed as nonsense gradually gained credibility, leaving people shocked.

“No matter what, they invited them as guests and then attacked them... Is that really right?”

“They’re not Black Path trash. They’re supposed to be people of the White Path, people with pride. Don’t they know even basic courtesy?”

“The world’s going to hell.”

There were opposing opinions as well.

“The problem was inviting a Black Alliance official to the Martial Alliance in the first place!”

“Exactly! This proves it. Wudang is the only one truly acting for the martial world! They acted for justice.”

“Are you insane? Inviting someone for a meal, then trying to assassinate them, that’s the righteous path and chivalry to you?”

Of course, few agreed with them.

Still, as public opinion toward Wudang rapidly worsened, Wudang Sect members began to shrink back.

They had been praised all their lives, only to be shunned overnight. It was difficult to adapt to such an abrupt change.

Being part of the Wudang Sect was both a source of pride and a status in itself.

Once that identity was tarnished, they initially fell into despair, loss, and depression. In the end, they denied it all and began to rage.

“How much has Wudang done for the martial world?”

“When has our choice ever been wrong?”

“If Qingxiu Zhenren made that choice, then it must have been right in the greater scheme of things!”

When anger within a group gathered, the arrowhead was bound to turn outward.

Those who dressed up their mistakes as sacrifice and their arrogance as insight began seeking the cause(?) of the current situation elsewhere.

Great Wudang, wrong?

That was no different from the bullshit claim that the sun rose in the west.

“If Dam Ak’s insolence caused this situation, then Jin Sowoon, who helped him, is the one who made it worse.”

“Black Path ideology had been deeply rooted in that man’s mind from the start. How else could he have brought a Black Path sect to the sacred Martial Arts Academy entrance ceremony?”

“They say he even struts around as though the epithet Black Flame Dragon, given to him by the Lord of the Four Emperors Association and current Black Alliance Lord, is something to be proud of.”

If someone near Anhui Province had heard that, they would have performed a sword dance while shouting, “No, you fucking bastards!”

But he was still in Anhui Province.

[The Fierce Tiger Unit has had its hands and feet cut off.]

[The Fierce Tiger Unit Leader fought to the end against Jin Sowoon, who joined forces with Dam Ak as he used dark arts, but ultimately lost his dantian.]

After word spread that the Fierce Tiger Unit members who had set out to capture Dam Ak had been devastated, their anger toward Jin Sowoon blazed like a fire fed with oil.

As those grievances piled up...

“How long must Wudang endure and wait?”

They finally arrived at the fundamental question.

As though they had never been at fault in the first place.

Outside the Martial Alliance, Wudang Sect members began meeting more frequently.

Avoiding people’s eyes and informants’ ears, they gathered one by one in secret places.

“We may have lost Dam Ak, but Jin Sowoon will shamelessly return.”

“We’ll prepare for that day.”

They surrendered themselves to the illusory flames of restoring Wudang’s prestige.

#

They say one hand cannot handle ten hands.

Of course, that wasn’t my problem.

My one hand was as huge as a mountain, so I could handle ten hands easily enough.

Still, if there was one thing Dam Ak’s case had driven home, it was that even one hand as huge as a mountain had trouble dealing with a hundred hands.

‘Of course, it’s strange to even think that should be possible.’

Ever since this life began, I had known exactly how I needed to live.

I couldn’t compromise with anyone, nor could I make mutual concessions with anyone.

To prevent the tragedies and despair I knew were coming, I had to destroy the existing order and stability.

In other words, more people had to see me as tragedy and despair for the entirely different future I wanted to unfold.

That was why I had focused on internal energy as soon as I returned.

I consumed the countless spiritual medicines listed in the Martial World Elixir Compendium and stored in my memories. Some were spiritual medicines I acquired by chance, while others had fallen into my hands through ridiculous means.

“Because of that, many masters who should have emerged never did.”

That was how I attained an enormous five gapja of internal energy, an amount no one in the Taeul Sect had achieved in my previous life.

In a martial world where accumulating even one gapja of internal energy let you throw your weight around, having five gapja at my age meant the world should shake every time I farted.

And yet, what was reality like?

‘Those fucking bastards. What am I, some monster that showed up in a village?’

They were in an uproar, trying to subjugate me like I was some demonic beast disrupting the harmony of all creation.

The Taeul Sect kids were working hard to catch up, but they were still lacking.

Their individual abilities couldn’t remain on par with disciples from other sects.

They had to be overwhelming in a different way.

Until then, I had to protect them.

There were two ways I could improve now.

Either gain new enlightenment or increase my internal energy.

I began thinking about new enlightenment after fighting Yong Soa recently.

‘He really is a fucking bastard.’

I clearly had more internal energy.

What was more, I knew all of his combat habits.

In mental image training, I had constantly fought the Yong Soa of my previous life.

Even so...

‘I couldn’t reach him.’

At Demon Spirit Plateau, at the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, every moment our swords met, I had been serious.

Yet I had never once put him in danger.

If the amount of internal energy represented one’s realm, then my realm was clearly higher, yet I still couldn’t reach him.

‘In the end, it must be the difference in study.’

The Wudang Sect.

For centuries since Zhang Sanfeng, Wudang had carried on its traditions. Deep within it, there had to be the essence of countless people who had broken past their limits.

Those enlightenments were passed down again and again, allowing later disciples to begin their studies from a higher level of understanding.

The records in the Taeul Sect, on the other hand, contained nothing but “I was struck here” and “I died here.”

That difference of several centuries created a fundamental gap.

The quickest way to gain new enlightenment was ultimately to receive the teachings of someone who had reached a higher realm, but what madman would readily share their absolute realm with someone else?

“If quality won’t do, then I’ll have to overwhelm them with quantity.”

In the end, greater internal energy was the only way to protect myself, my junior disciples, and my sect, then the Martial Alliance and the martial world.

“So...”

Click.

The wooden box opened with a clear sound.

“I have no choice but to eat this. First, to keep the secret. Second, to protect you all.”

That was right. I had no choice.

As I reached for the elixir pellet, Geumpyo somehow flickered before my eyes.

I waved a hand to dispel the illusion, but before I knew it, Eunho seemed to be expressionlessly making an obscene fist gesture at me.

“You ungrateful brats... You don’t even understand this eldest senior brother’s profound intentions.”

Still, it wasn’t easy to ignore Saryeon’s cold gaze or Dongryong’s tearful eyes.

I had to steel my heart.

Carefully, I put the elixir pellet back in its place and closed the wooden box.

“No. It’s too dangerous for you to eat.”

I, Jin Sowoon, eldest senior brother of the Taeul Sect.

For my junior disciples’ safety, this was the time to sacrifice myself.

With the resolve of throwing myself into a blazing fire alongside an enemy commander, I boldly strode through the illusions of my junior disciples and entered the remote mountains.

I had no idea how long it would take to absorb the Taiji Pellet.

At the very least, I couldn’t be disturbed by anyone during that time.

It was an elixir pellet with effects stronger than any I had consumed before.

I couldn’t help but be more tense than ever.

Wiping away the saliva gathering in my mouth, I hurried onward.

I left the main road and raced across the treetops with Grass-Skimming Flight, searching for an uninhabited mountain.

Eventually, I found a rugged mountain so remote that even herb gatherers would hardly venture there.

“This should do.”

When I expanded my energy sense and surveyed the area, it was teeming with small wild animals and large predators alike.

“There must be a bear den somewhere!”

Having identified my target, I swooped down like a hawk snatching its prey.

The bear curled up inside the cave immediately bared its claws and charged at the prey that had suddenly fallen from the sky.

Roar!

I raised my internal energy.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

My martial robe swelled as though it would burst, and I unleashed as much killing intent as I could. The charging bear stopped abruptly.

“Why? Aren’t you going to keep coming?”

Grrr.

The bear suddenly lowered its head, spun around, and ran away.

After enough time had passed that the bear was completely out of sight, I picked up a suitable boulder and carried it near the cave.

Thud.

It was a massive boulder, large enough to completely cover the cave entrance.

I then cut enough grass to spread across the cave floor and filled my waterskin, preparing for any emergency.

When I finished preparing and returned to the cave...

“...”

A small old man was examining it.

What? Where did he suddenly come from...

‘Huh?’

I stopped and placed a hand on my sword hilt.

My senses were warning me that the old man was dangerous.

The old man asked in a low voice, “Are you a martial artist?”

He only came up to my chest. His skin was wrinkled, his back was bent, and his hair was tied carelessly behind him.

He looked like an ordinary old man one might encounter in the mountains, but I didn’t relax.

Not once had I sensed the elder as he approached this cave.

‘He never registered in my energy sense!’

I had not felt his presence.

The stream wasn’t that far away, yet I had sensed nothing until then.

Now, though, I could feel faint internal energy from his body.

He was clearly someone who had learned martial arts.

How had someone with internal energy reached this place without registering in my energy sense?

Hiding my complicated thoughts, I calmly asked, “Yes. What brings an elder to such a rugged mountain?”

“What would an herb gatherer come here for, if not to gather herbs?”

“...You’re an herb gatherer.”

What kind of herb gatherer stayed so calm upon seeing an armed martial artist?

“I followed a strange fragrance, and it led me here.”

The old man swept his cloudy yet sharp eyes over my entire body.

For a moment, I stopped myself from reaching toward my chest.

“Yet it seems that fragrance already has an owner.”

At that moment, I became certain.

This old man.

He knew something.

“I said I wouldn’t show it off, but I suppose it was obvious.”

“They say an orchid’s fragrance travels a thousand li, while a person’s virtue travels ten thousand. Fine things can’t easily hide their fragrance.”

He was pretending to be an herb gatherer while casually quoting old sayings.

I hurriedly searched through the library in my mind, looking for anyone who resembled the old man.

I needed to know who he was and where he belonged to deal with him properly.

Yet I had no records of anyone resembling him.

‘Who the hell is he?’

Judging only by the internal energy he showed on the surface, I could easily crush him. Yet my instincts were warning me.

Be careful.

Whenever this feeling sharpened on the battlefield in my previous life, something had always happened that day.

“I’ve certainly heard people call me virtuous often enough. Still, isn’t this place a little too remote to come just to smell that fragrance?”

“At my age, one comes to desire the intangible more than the tangible.”

“For something intangible, your eyes are filled with greed.”

“...Are they? I thought I had let go of much, but apparently I still haven’t... Heh, perhaps that is what they call the ugliness of old age.”

My patience was slowly reaching its limit.

Fuck, why did I have to walk on eggshells over something that was mine?

So what if he was a master?

Was I supposed to obediently say, “Yes, I understand,” and let him take it?

How much had I lost in my previous life by obediently saying, “Yes, I understand”?

Since gaining this new life, I had made one decision.

I would no longer live a life where things were only taken from me.

So now I could say it openly.

Fuck off!

“What do you want?”

I prepared the Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms and openly revealed my hostility.

“Oh? Your attitude changed quickly. It seems you’ve made up your mind.”

“You won’t get what you want.”

“How do you know what I want?”

“If you can’t say it openly, whatever it is probably isn’t honorable.”

At my reply, the old man let out a scraping laugh.

“Heh heh, interesting. So you intend to face this old man?”

“Even if you get what you want, you’ll have to leave at least one arm behind.”

“Without even hearing what I want?”

They said whoever struck first would win.

That if you threw the first punch, victory was assured.

Etching the teachings of the ancient sages deep into my bones, I swung the Scarlet Radiance Sword.

Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms

First Form

Extreme Swiftness

A streak of light shot forward, cutting down trees and grass.

Screeech!

The sound of wind splitting followed afterward, showing just how fast my sword had moved.

At the same time, I sensed an unfortunate future.

‘There’s no feeling of contact.’

Sure enough, no spray of blood emerged from the space I had cut through.

No, there wasn’t even a trace of the old man ahead, to the left, or to the right.

Then...

“Heh heh heh. I heard you were a bastard with unusually good instincts, but to think you were this crazy.”

A voice suddenly came from behind me.

Goosebumps rose on my neck as I turned.

Toss. Catch.

The old man was tossing a familiar wooden box into the air with one hand and catching it.

No way...

I quickly patted my chest.

‘It’s gone.’

The old man smiled smugly and asked, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

What? Give it back.

Footnotes:

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