The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 417

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 417: The Price of Fate (5)

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Pitch-black darkness. I could not see an inch ahead.

In that darkness, I threw a punch.

Thud!

Uh... I thought that would be enough.

Just how hard had that crazy old bastard blocked the entrance?

'No wonder he's a lunatic.'

I gathered energy into my fist again and struck.

Rumble.

The entire cliff shook violently as the boulder blocking the entrance trembled.

“Ah, come on!”

In the end, I poured all my frustration into my fist.

Craaaaaaaash!

With a sound that seemed to split heaven and earth, warm sunlight flooded my eyes.

“My eyes!”

Having adapted to the darkness, the pain in my eyes was twice as bad.

The shattered rock sent pale smoke and dust flying everywhere, but the fresh air was more welcome than ever.

“Cough! Cough!”

Basking in the sunlight, I shouted from the bottom of my heart.

“Wow! I actually survived!”

I did not know whether that crazy old man had expected me to overcome the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art.

Still, no one was more surprised that I had survived it than I was.

“How did I do that? Seriously!”

Even looking back on it made my head spin.

The pain had been so severe that one mistake could have torn my soul from my body.

On top of that, I had ventured into a realm I had never learned before.

Breaking through to a new stage through nothing but guesswork and prediction.

Even a gambling addict who had wagered their entire fortune and left wrist would have recoiled at the sight of me, calling me insane.

There had even been a moment when I nearly suffered qi deviation.

I had somehow released the acupoints sealed by the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art and pushed forward, yet the old man's energy would not disappear.

I thought I had made a mistake, so I went back to the beginning, but there was only one path.

In the end, the problem was the old man's energy.

The damned thing was so tough and stubborn that even after the acupoints had been released, it had taken root and refused to leave.

Honestly, I was certain I would die there.

The energy clung to me like glue, just like the old man's temper. It showed no sign of coming loose, and I had no strength left to force my way through it.

'You never know what will happen in life.'

Then it happened.

The energy of the Sunfire Monkey I had obtained in Mukrim activated.

The heated energy, which turned my skin white, began burning away the old man's energy clinging stubbornly inside my acupoints.

The heat was so intense that it felt as though my acupoints were burning too, but the energy of the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear followed and cooled them down.

Either way, after all that trouble, I overcame it.

And I survived.

Even after taking the Taiji Pellet, I had lost one gapja of internal energy and a half.

My precious internal energy had clearly diminished, yet I did not feel empty.

Instead, it felt as though useless bulk had been cut away and its density had increased dramatically.

“It really is different.”

I approached the cliff where the cave was located and tested its durability.

It might not have been as hard as Azure Steel Stone, but it was not a rock that would break under ordinary force.

“Let's see...”

The moment I willed my internal energy to rise, my dantian stirred wildly and released the energy of the Taeul True Scripture.

Then I unleashed the Great Yang Fist, a martial art that had originally belonged to the Taeul Sect.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Crack! Crack!

I struck with only a little force, yet the rocky mountain collapsed as if it had been hit by an eighth-level Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist.

“Was this martial art always this powerful?”

The change was clearly due to the difference in my internal energy.

The Great Yang Fist was only a basic fist art that did not even require a special method of breaking form.

Still, that bullshit about a craftsman not blaming their tools and an expert not blaming their forms aside, the Great Yang Fist I used with my newly acquired internal energy did not seem much different from any superior martial art.

“And every bit of internal energy I build from now on will be at this level.”

That was why I did not consider it much of a loss, even though one gapja of internal energy and a half had vanished, leaving me with nearly three gapja of internal energy.

My dantian had grown wider.

When I had possessed around five gapja before, I had always felt cramped.

Like the discomfort of a stomach full from overeating, my dantian would sometimes feel burdened by the energy constantly filling it.

Now, though, my dantian felt empty.

It felt as if I could consume as many spiritual medicines and elixir pellets as I wanted without running out of room.

As I idly brushed my hand over my body, a smile slipped out.

I was looking forward to it.

To seeing how much further I could rise and what direction my path would take.

I shot down the mountain and ran along the main road for a while.

Once I used the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art, I could clearly feel the difference.

Before, my body would often stiffen when I activated the movement art. Now, it unfolded as naturally as walking without effort.

It consumed less internal energy, and each step came more smoothly and easily.

I had not tested it yet, but I had a feeling the Mad Heaven Divine Palm would not consume my internal energy as it had before.

Still, I did not bother testing it.

This was a main road where people traveled.

“I've changed.”

With my energy sense now covering a wider range, I slowed the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.

In the past, I would have sped up just to show off my movement art in front of ordinary people.

But now that I had changed, it all felt meaningless.

That was right. I was not some petty person who acted as if learning martial arts were a government post and showed off in front of civilians.

'I am a master of internal cultivation who overcame the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art and rose another level.'

I politely smiled and greeted the approaching people.

Then...

“Eek?!”

“Don't look at him, sweetheart.”

“Q-Quickly, let's go!”

A family looked horrified and hurried away as if fleeing.

What?

Soon after, I came across a merchant caravan doing escort work.

“Get lost! Now!”

“I've got nothing to give a beggar like you!”

“Scram! If you want to keep those ankles intact!”

...Somehow, I was being treated even worse than before I changed.

What was going on? Why?

I ran to a nearby stream and quickly looked at my reflection in the water.

Then I realized.

Just how much I looked like a beggar.

When I plunged into the stream, black blood and dust washed off my body, turning the water pitch-black with filth.

“I should buy some clothes before going to the Martial Alliance...”

I had roughly washed away the dirt and blood, but my martial robe was still torn all over and looked no different from a rag.

“No matter how I look at it, I don't look like a customer buying clothes. I look like a thief trying to steal them...”

As I walked along the main road with that concern on my mind, a dazzling carriage came racing toward me.

I stepped slightly aside to let it pass, but the carriage gradually slowed before finally stopping in front of me.

A scholar and a man who appeared to be a guard got out of the carriage. They suddenly clasped their fists toward me.

“We've finally found you, Young Hero Jin.”

Oh?

I carefully examined the scholar who had stepped out of the carriage.

Then I gave the natural response any ordinary person would.

“Who are you?”

As I tilted my head, the scholar approached with a smile.

“We are from the Martial Alliance. We've come to escort you, Young Hero Jin.”

“Ah... really?”

Well, well.

“Judging by your appearance, you've suffered greatly. From now on, we will take care of you.”

What a gift falling right into my lap.

I immediately told them what I needed.

“Could you get me some clothes too?”

The scholar smiled.

“You won't need to worry about food, clothing, or lodging during your journey to Wuhan.”

Oh... was that so?

Still, as a reasonable person, I listed only the things I absolutely needed.

“My tastes are refined, so I only stay in good inns and wear high-quality clothes. I also need a bottle of the finest liquor with every meal.”

The scholar hesitated for a moment, then forced the corners of his mouth back up.

“...Of course. We will provide you with more than enough. You needn't worry.”

“Haha! The Martial Alliance is finally doing its job properly.”

I quickly threw myself into the carriage.

It was comfort I had not experienced in a very long time.

Jin Sowoon had escorted Dam Ak to safety alone.

Jang Bogeuk, who had been dispatched to find Jin Sowoon, now faced a rather troubling situation.

“Why haven't you found him yet?!”

“W-Well...”

Jin Sowoon's whereabouts were unknown.

They had been searching for seven days and nights, starting from Eunhyeon, but the trail he had left while heading from Eunhyeon to Wuhan suddenly vanished midway.

In the end, they contacted a nearby branch and summoned an expert in tracking arts to trace Jin Sowoon's trail.

Fortunately, it had not rained during that time, so his trail was discovered before long.

They found traces of Jin Sowoon at a cave on an unnamed, rugged mountain.

But...

“There's blood everywhere...”

The cave was more of a mess than they could have imagined. Blood covered every place they stepped.

“Could it just be animal blood?”

The tracking expert shook their head at Jang Bogeuk's question.

“There is no stench unique to animals. This is blood vomited by a person due to internal injuries or coughing blood.”

“...”

The expert had found traces of Jin Sowoon where even the Red Dragon Pavilion and Beggar Sect had failed to do so. Their confident words made Jang Bogeuk's brow furrow deeply.

“Are you saying he suffered internal injuries while helping Dam Ak escape, then rested here on the way back?”

“I don't believe so.”

“Then what in the world...”

The tracking expert brought their eyes close to the ground and continued in a grave tone.

“It seems Young Master Jin was attacked by someone far from ordinary.”

“What?!”

“There are traces of three people here.”

“Three?”

The expert nodded after surveying the entire cave.

“Yes. It appears that Young Master Jin was attacked by an expert and left here afterward.”

“Didn't you say there were three people?”

“Yes. Then, seven days and nights later, another person appeared. They seem stronger than Young Master Jin but weaker than the expert, and it appears they took Young Master Jin away.”

“...”

As he listened in silence, Jang Bogeuk found it difficult to trust the wandering martial artist's words.

Even if someone had mastered tracking arts, could they truly discern such details from only a few footprints on the ground?

“You look unconvinced.”

As if accustomed to such reactions, the wandering martial artist calmly began to explain.

“Great Hall Master, you may not be able to see it clearly, but traces of internal cultivation remain in these footprints. The expert's footprints are as clean as though carved with a blade, with no smudging at all. Yet these footprints, which are believed to belong to Young Master Jin, are full of smudged traces.”

After hearing that, the footprints did seem somewhat convincing.

The wandering martial artist pointed at another footprint.

“Now, look at this footprint, which appears to be relatively recent. Doesn't the smudging look somewhere between that of the expert and Young Master Jin?”

It was not as clean as the expert's, like something drawn on paper, but it was not as messy as Jin Sowoon's either.

He had no choice but to admit it.

Jang Bogeuk nodded.

“My apologies. I doubted you for no reason. I never imagined traces of internal cultivation could be used this way.”

“It's fine. This is how I make my living.”

Jang Bogeuk lightly patted the tracking expert's shoulder, but a shadow soon fell across his face.

What had begun with the Orthodox Society's atrocities had turned into a conflict between the Wudang Sect and Jin Sowoon.

They had personally stepped in because they worried the Wudang Sect might harm Jin Sowoon.

Had the Wudang Sect moved faster again?

“Can you follow the trail of the person who appeared later and disappeared?”

“Yes. Their traces are fairly clear, so I can track them.”

“Good! I'll pay double the agreed amount. Find them as quickly as possible.”

“Leave it to me!”

With renewed determination, the wandering martial artist resumed tracking.

Worried about the arrogant young man's safety, Jang Bogeuk diligently followed behind.

The carriage carrying Jin Sowoon raced toward Wuhan.

They made sure to rest along the way so the journey did not become too strenuous, and they always spent the night at the finest inns.

Jin Sowoon, the carriage's only passenger, slept continuously even while it was moving.

Even the scholar and guard closest to him were astonished by it.

[Impressive. The first day was understandable, but how can he sleep so well all the way to Wuhan?]

When the scholar sent a sound transmission, the guard gave a small nod.

[Perhaps it's because he came from the streets. He doesn't seem to care where he sleeps.]

No matter how luxurious the carriage was, it still rattled constantly along the uneven main road.

At times, the jolts were severe enough to lift someone from their seat, yet even then, Jin Sowoon would wake briefly before falling asleep again. They could not help but marvel inwardly.

[Is that all? He heard that we came from the Martial Alliance and dropped his guard without the slightest suspicion. Why did the Mighty Tiger Unit lose to such an idiot?]

The guard snorted at the scholar's sound transmission.

[Do you think it was this bastard's own ability? They must have fallen victim to Dam Ak and the Black Alliance's dark arts.]

[Even so, that doesn't erase his crimes.]

[Of course not.]

Everyone in the Martial Alliance was pointing fingers at the Wudang Sect, and even Cheongsu Jin-in, their spiritual pillar, had been taken by the Inspectorate.

As disciples of the Wudang Sect, they could not possibly allow the person responsible for this humiliation to go unpunished.

That was why they had gone so far as to impersonate a scholar and an escort warrior.

[He must be held accountable.]

The scholar and guard met each other's eyes and nodded firmly.

Creak- Click.

“Yawn...”

Jin Sowoon opened the carriage window after stretching wide.

“Ugh, I'm sleepy... No matter how much I sleep, I'm still sleepy.”

Sitting upright with bleary eyes, Jin Sowoon leaned against the window and looked outside.

Then...

“Huh?”

He looked at the scholar and guard with surprise in his eyes.