The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 415

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 415: The Price of Fate (3)

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The sense of purpose behind cultivating the Way had long since faded, but martial arts had become an indispensable part of people's lives over their long history.

It was the same in every field. The more people experienced it, the more strange and bizarre lunatics were bound to emerge.

That tendency was especially pronounced in martial arts.

Rather than using martial arts to temper their bodies to the limit, they used their bodies to test just how far martial arts could develop.

Pressure-point arts were born from such lunatics.

They were used to restore internal problems through induced movement and circulation, bolster the primordial qi of certain organs, and bring harmony to the entire body.

If pressure-point strikes could save people, couldn't the opposite be possible too? That simple thought gave rise to these arts. They drew intense interest from martial artists of the time because they presented a new perspective.

After all, leaving one's name in history by creating an outstanding martial art was something every martial artist desired.

Countless pressure-point arts emerged amid that sweeping trend.

At first glance, the principle seemed appealing. One could harm an opponent as though they had been poisoned without using poison, then restore them without needing an antidote.

By the time all kinds of pressure-point arts had appeared and begun to see frequent use in real combat, the reason no one had created them over the previous centuries slowly became clear.

First, they took time to use.

To perform a pressure-point art, one had to get close enough to touch the target with a fist. It was not easy to locate the proper acupoints through clothing and undergarments, and a clumsy attempt often ended with one's head being cut off.

On top of that, despite being difficult and time-consuming to use, their effects were not particularly strong.

Pressure-point arts could not inflict damage as reliably as actual poison, and they were easy to counter depending on the user's purity of internal energy and understanding of qi arts.

Put bluntly, the results were far too poor for the effort invested.

As the ancient sages had said, there was a reason something had not existed until then. One by one, people began abandoning or forgetting the pressure-point arts they had created.

Then, at the tail end of that trend, the real thing appeared.

If it was difficult to perform, make it easier to perform.

Strike the paralysis acupoint to immobilize the opponent, then quickly disable them by selecting only the most dangerous fatal acupoints.

If they tried to forcefully undo it through the purity of their internal energy and understanding of qi arts, make it impossible for even the user to undo.

A pressure-point art that appeared while giving the whole world the finger whenever others said it couldn't be done.

Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art.

This pressure-point art had a longer name than most sword arts.

‘Fuck... but why...’

That was the name of the bastard currently eating away at my body.

‘Why is it appearing now?!’

True to its cruel intent, the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art made its victim die in the most horrible agony possible.

The bigger problem was that no method of undoing it was known.

That was why even the Black Path martial world, full of the worst trash under heaven, had designated it a forbidden art and killed anyone who learned or knew of it.

“Fuuuuck! How?!”

A martial art that had vanished two hundred years ago had suddenly appeared right in front of me.

“What kind of rotten luck is this?!”

Worse, I hadn't been in proper condition when I was struck. I had been hit by the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art after forcibly swallowing the Taiji Pellet.

It was like boiling water with every opening of a kettle sealed shut.

‘If this keeps up... the lid might blow off...’

There was no time to speculate about the mad old man's identity.

If the lid blew off, I wouldn't just lose the time to think calmly. I'd lose the head needed to think at all.

As I felt my acupoints gradually stiffening, endless heat surged up from my dantian.

I considered sitting cross-legged, but my body was rigid from the paralysis acupoint and wouldn't move.

Thank goodness I had learned qi circulation.

I hurriedly gathered my energy and began undoing the paralysis acupoint. At the very least, I needed to sit cross-legged.

But then...

“...Aagh!”

The moment I moved my energy through qi circulation, pain constricted my entire body. Startled, I stopped.

“What kind of bullshit is this...”

Everywhere my energy flowed, I felt pain like thorns stabbing into me.

No sane person could endure this.

The Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art was clearly even crueler than the records described.

My qi and blood circulation stiffened, and the sensation in my muscles and nerves began to dull.

Only the pain grew sharper and more intense.

My internal energy churned through my dantian as if it had no idea where to release the explosive force building inside.

The backlash made my stomach twist.

“Urgh, bleegh!”

Though I had done nothing, I vomited a mouthful of blood.

Blood trickled from the corners of my mouth, and its strong metallic smell filled my nose.

‘At this rate... I'll die.’

I would die unless I endured pain so terrible it felt like death.

It was as though the underworld hovered before my eyes while memories from this life flowed through my mind.

Yeah, this life had been tough too... Wait.

“I'm not dying fighting the Demonic Cult... I'm dying here?!”

No matter how cursed my fate was, this was far beyond what the Jade Emperor had any right to do.

“Give me a fucking break!!!!”

I couldn't die.

Even if I died, I couldn't die!!!

I clenched my teeth to keep from biting my tongue.

Then, enduring the maddening pain, I began moving my energy again.

“Uuuuuuuugh!!!!”

The old man's face, grinning amid that severe pain, flashed vividly through my mind.

‘You're dead!’

I swallowed the blood rising in my throat and swore to myself again and again.

“Wasn't that too much?”

At Blood Brawl's words, the old man looking toward the sealed cave shook his head.

“Wasn't that child the one who did our work for us? I should repay him.”

“...Are you displeased that Strategist Dam returned alive?”

“Hm? What are you talking about?”

They looked at one another and tilted their heads, as if neither could understand what the other was saying.

“Of course I'm grateful. That child belongs to the White Path, does he not? He risked his life for Dam Ak, who may become the future of the Black Path. Of course I should repay him. Heh heh.”

“Repay... him?”

Blood Brawl looked between the cave entrance and the old man.

The Black Demonic Spirit God.

A legendary master from two generations ago and a figure like a myth within the Black Path martial world.

He had been erased even from people's memories and become an immortal in their minds, yet he still stood firmly in this mortal world on his own two feet.

Yet perhaps there were limits to one's origins.

Though he had reached a level comparable to an immortal, even Blood Brawl, another member of the Black Path, could not understand his eccentricity.

‘His past exploits were difficult enough to understand.’

Blood Brawl and this figure from two generations ago had left the Black Forest and come to the martial world because of an unexpected, urgent situation.

They had come all the way to Hubei Province, the White Path's front yard, to save Dam Ak. Yet just before they moved to rescue him, the old man had stopped Blood Brawl.

“This is getting interesting. Let's watch.”

He had ignored Cha Seokdu's plea to help just once, as though it was too bothersome to hear. But after coming into the mortal world, he had watched the situation unfold with the delight of a child.

More precisely, that had begun after seeing Jin Sowoon.

Dam Ak, the Black Alliance guards, Jin Sowoon, and the Taeul Sect members had faced death several times, but the old man who had come here to rescue Dam Ak had only watched while chewing jerky and sipping alcohol.

Then, after standing by until everything was over, he suddenly appeared before Jin Sowoon, the greatest contributor to the whole affair, and attacked him.

He inflicted pain severe enough to drive Jin Sowoon to the brink of death.

Anyone looking at it would think he was punishing Jin Sowoon because he was dissatisfied with the outcome.

Yet he was discussing repayment with such a peaceful expression.

“Since he never abandoned Dam Ak even in such a harsh and desperate situation, it is only right to call it a great favor.”

“If... if you must repay that favor, why are you repaying him like an enemy?”

“When did I repay him like an enemy?”

“...”

Was he saying he had repaid a favor after using the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art?

Had he spent so long away from the mortal world that his mind had... No, had he forgotten what words meant?

As Blood Brawl unknowingly entertained such irreverent suspicions, the old man spoke in a grave voice.

“What do you think that child needs most right now?”

After thinking for a moment, Blood Brawl answered.

“Ultimately, an understanding of martial theory. But for now, it would be an understanding of qi arts.”

Deep knowledge not found in martial manuals or secret texts.

That was what Jin Sowoon lacked now.

It was understandable.

He had recovered his sect's martial arts, but he must have learned them alone, only to the extent of creating his own unique martial arts.

He had risen quickly in realm, but he had probably reached a period of stagnation at some point.

Learning from books ultimately meant forging one's own path forward.

“Yes, you saw it well. That is why I taught him.”

Taught him? What kind of teach...

“The teachings of the one and only Black Demonic Spirit God. Since I gave him a fated encounter, isn't it the same as repaying his favor? No, does that mean I have instead burdened him with a debt? Heh heh heh.”

This mad old bastard...

Had he lived so long that he had lost his mind?

“How is the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art a fated encounter?!”

“Tsk, tsk. If one overcomes turbid qi unlike any under heaven, does that not mean being born anew?”

The old man scolded Blood Brawl as though his insight was too shallow.

Blood Brawl cautiously asked, “Has anyone ever overcome the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art?”

The Black Demonic Spirit God answered brightly, as if Blood Brawl had asked something obvious.

“No.”

“...”

“That damned evil art was so vicious that no one could possibly endure it.”

Blood Brawl was so dumbfounded that he could not even laugh.

“...Then it isn't a fated encounter.”

“Tch. Tsk! This is why young people know nothing. A fated encounter is naturally a cliff fated encounter. To gain one, you must first fall off a cliff!”

No, most people died when they fell off cliffs.

If you pushed someone off a cliff so they could gain a fated encounter, that wasn't a fated encounter. It was murder.

A long sigh escaped Blood Brawl's lips.

“So he has to survive the threat of death.”

“That child has no master. He has studied by himself until now, and he will have no choice but to continue doing so. For him, this method is the best possible lesson.”

“...”

“It's entertaining too. Heh heh.”

Suppressing the thought that those final words seemed to be his true reason, Blood Brawl looked toward the cave entrance.

He wanted to move that damned boulder and rush in to help Jin Sowoon immediately, but even if he entered, there was no way he could help.

That was the kind of martial art the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art was.

All he could do was pray for Jin Sowoon's soul.

‘May you be born in your next life as a treasured disciple of a respectable sect. As an elite who will never become entangled with mad Black Path people like that.’

Creak, creak, creak.

At that moment, Blood Brawl turned at the strange sound of bones grinding.

The old man's appearance was changing.

His hunched back straightened, and the wrinkles on his face became taut again.

If not for his white hair, he would have looked young enough to be Blood Brawl's grandson.

The old man, no, the young man who had changed his outer appearance spoke in a pleasant voice.

“I heard that child wanted to come to the Black Forest?”

“Yes. He did.”

Blood Brawl nodded, swallowing the words, ‘Though he died because of you...’

“Tell him to come by sometime. I want to see how he changes.”

“...”

How could a dead man visit the Black Forest?

Blood Brawl held his tongue again and quietly followed behind the Black Demonic Spirit God.

“Whew...”

Jegal Somyeong let out a long breath after swallowing a sip of tea.

Hyeok Mugang offered comfort at that relieved sigh.

“You've worked hard.”

“It hasn't even begun yet.”

They had arrested everyone connected to the Bongan Hall incident and brought them to the Inspectorate, but it did not even feel as though they had reached the starting line.

There was still an exhausting amount of work ahead if they were to identify each person's wrongdoing and hold the trials.

“First, we need to reorganize the personnel.”

It was unavoidable that Martial Alliance personnel acted according to the interests of their respective sects.

The Martial Alliance was not a single unified group to begin with.

Even so, this time they had crossed the line badly.

That was also why the Pavilion Master of Cheonmok Pavilion had been detained and handed over to the Inspectorate after offering to resign.

This was not something that could be forgiven through resignation.

“The Orthodox Society's resistance will be strong.”

“Hm, but we can't fill all those positions with people from the White Path Society either.”

Hyeok Mugang, the Alliance Leader, asked the Chief Strategist, whose expression had grown troubled.

“What if we add people from the Twelve Peak Alliance and unaffiliated figures to the candidates, then consider them as well? Wouldn't that be better?”

“Just when it felt like one storm had passed, more work comes pouring in...”

Hyeok Mugang gave a dry smile at Jegal Somyeong's grumbling.

“Still, isn't it fortunate beyond measure? At least a war did not break out...”

“Well, when you look at it that way, it is fortunate.”

Their conversation paused briefly.

Both their mouths began to twitch at the same time.

“Ahem, I cannot even begin to, ahem, estimate how great a debt we owe that child Jin Sowoon.”

“Chief Strategist, you don't need to force yourself to hold back your laughter. Heh heh, there is no one here but us.”

At Hyeok Mugang's amused words, Jegal Somyeong finally burst out laughing.

“That bastard needs to work at the Mantong Office after all. Where else in the world could we find someone who handles matters this well? He's exceptional even among the exceptional! Mwahahahaha!”

Just days ago, Jegal Somyeong had been furious, calling Jin Sowoon a traitor and an infiltrator for helping Dam Ak escape without reporting it. Now they praised him excessively.

Hyeok Mugang decided to take a step back.

Jin Sowoon was a talent he could not contain in the first place.

Besides, Jegal Somyeong had far too much work ahead. Handing Jin Sowoon over to them in advance as a reward to raise their motivation would not be a bad idea.

Picking up his teacup with satisfaction, Hyeok Mugang asked, “When do you intend to begin the trials?”

“First, that critical witness, Jin Sowoon, needs to arrive.”

Hyeok Mugang's hand stopped as he lifted the teacup, and he tilted his head.

“Hm? Has he still not arrived?”

Had they not sent the Red Dragon Pavilion several days ago to escort Jin Sowoon?

Yet he had still not arrived.

“The personnel who went as far as Eunhyeon have found no trace of Jin Sowoon.”

The tea in Hyeok Mugang's cup rippled, and a single drop spilled over.

“Could something have happened?”

“He was alive until the Black Alliance reached Eunhyeon, so nothing should have happened. The Beggar Sect also resumed its reports around that time.”

Hyeok Mugang unconsciously let out a low groan.

“...I'm worried.”