The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 420

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 420: The Price of Fate (8)

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As if raising a fundamental question about survival at the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect was not enough, he was now calling for Jin Sowoon’s elimination.

And not just anyone.

Yong Soa himself.

Compared to my previous life, when he had not even known I existed, it drove home just how much my standing had changed in this life.

‘Not that it’s a good thing.’

Some might be pleased, saying infamy was a kind of fame, but I didn’t want even the slightest stain on my name.

If someone was sharpening their blade to take my head, I wouldn’t be satisfied until I snuck up on them first and drove a knife through their heart.

I took another step toward Yong Soa, who was still watching me quietly.

“In that regard, we think alike.”

Then I said the words I had thought countless times in my previous life, without holding anything back.

“I also think the Martial Alliance will survive only if Yong Soa dies.”

The Martial Alliance from my previous life, the one he had abandoned, rose vividly in my mind.

That past, when meat shields like me, who had trusted and followed him, were miserably cast aside.

“...”

Still, why wasn’t the man being told he had to die reacting at all?

Had he heard so many threats that he’d become numb to them?

Either way, perhaps my words had shocked him enough to leave him silent for so...

“That is illogical. No matter how I consider it, there is no correlation between my death and the Martial Alliance.”

“...”

That was what he’d been thinking about?

As I stood there dumbfounded, Yong Soa let out a small sigh, as though he had expected this.

“As expected, it was nothing more than a threat made in anger.”

“No, it’s not nonsense. The Martial Alliance will survive only if you die, Yong Soa.”

The martial world and Martial Alliance I had known in my previous life had vanished that way.

“There is nothing but despair ahead for the Martial Alliance you lead.”

“Groundless nonsense.”

Well, he couldn’t possibly imagine that he would dissolve the Martial Alliance himself, flee to the Northern Sea, and establish the Orthodox Society.

“You’ll find out in time.”

I stepped closer, sheathed the Scarlet Radiance Sword, and assumed a draw-sword stance.

“Anyway, that’s not why we’re here today, is it?”

Yong Soa tilted his head and asked me.

“What are you doing?”

“...?”

This bastard wasn’t even taking up a Draw-Sword Posture. He didn’t even seem to intend to bring the sword behind his back forward.

It made me want to ask him instead.

“What the hell are you doing? Didn’t you come here to kill me?”

For the first time, emotion appeared in Yong Soa’s eyes.

His voice reached me, filled with pure, unalloyed puzzlement.

“Why would I kill you?”

“...?”

What?

“You are an uncertainty. And uncertainty contains countless dangers.”

Right, so wasn’t that another way of saying he wanted to kill me?

“...”

Hm. Wasn’t it?

Well, what did it matter?

Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms.

First Form.

Extreme Swiftness.

No matter what nonsense he was saying, I moved.

The Scarlet Radiance Sword came free, and a streak of light cut across the air.

Screeeech!

As the delayed sound of it tearing through the air followed, I looked toward the space the Scarlet Radiance Sword had swept through.

‘How...?’

Once again, Yong Soa was not harmed in the slightest.

No, there was one small change.

Only the front hem of his white martial robe had been cut away.

This made no sense at all.

My experience at the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, all the training I had done since then, the deeper and more decisive strike than usual, even my energy arts advancing another step.

Everything had come together, yet all I had managed was the front hem of his robe.

“To have improved this much in such a short time.”

Yong Soa’s voice remained flat as he looked down at the severed hem.

By now, his complete lack of reaction went beyond feeling like a wall. It was simply baffling.

‘What on earth...?’

Even Hyeonyeong, who had imitated sword control through innate qi, had not felt this impossibly distant.

No, I could no longer even grasp the nature of that distance.

It wasn’t a difference in skill.

I could say with confidence that I was now capable of making Yong Soa feel threatened.

Then where did this unfathomable distance come from?

“What are you...?”

The sensation had become even stronger because I had changed after overcoming the Asura Locking Metal, Breaking Jade Art.

A vast, unreachable distance.

“What are you hiding?”

I knew he wouldn’t answer, but I couldn’t stop myself from asking.

“Jin Sowoon, you are an existence that creates discrepancies.”

Yong Soa continued spouting incomprehensible nonsense.

I had reached a far higher realm than in my previous life, yet the higher I climbed, the farther away Yong Soa seemed to become.

This uncomfortable feeling that I had missed something.

But...

‘So what?!’

I steadied my wavering resolve.

My enemy was the Demonic Cult, more terrifying than Yong Soa, stronger than the entire Martial Alliance, and capable of setting the whole martial world ablaze.

I couldn’t break here because of some sinister, unprecedented genius from Wudang Sect.

Greater Heaven Sword Art.

Breaking Strike Form.

The sword blades spread like the ribs of a fan and enclosed Yong Soa.

Dozens of illusion swords had made the Wudang Sect disciples despair. Blood had sprayed everywhere as the wounded disciples lost even the will to resist.

Illusion swords so vivid they were difficult to distinguish from the real thing swarmed Yong Soa, sowing confusion.

‘Let’s see if he’s really that capable.’

I didn’t know what he was hiding, but in an actual fight, a chaotic melee like this, I didn’t believe I would lose one-sidedly.

‘At least one arm!’

Whoosh.

A flow of qi in the shape of a Taiji symbol formed around Yong Soa, dissolving the storm of countless illusion swords in one motion.

Clang, clang, clang, clangclangclang!

He did it so casually that it could have served as teaching material titled How to Counter Taeul Sect Sword Arts.

I didn’t lower my guard, preparing for the counterattack that should follow.

“I did not come here to fight you.”

Yong Soa still kept his sword behind his back.

“If not, why did you come here? No, these are people from your sect.”

“I am not shameless enough to defend and conceal wrongdoing.”

A faint trace of contempt appeared in Yong Soa’s eyes as he looked down at the fallen Wudang Sect members around us.

“And I did not come alone.”

“...”

At that moment, the tightly shut estate gates thundered as though they were about to break apart.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Open the gate, you bastards!”

“If you don’t open it, we’ll smash it down! And once this breaks, so will your skulls!”

“I’ll kill you all... I’ll kill every last one of you!!”

What was with those crude curses?

Had a Black Path sect suddenly launched a surprise attack?

I couldn’t help thinking that. White Path disciples would never use such low, brutish language.

One Wudang Sect disciple who had been hiding in a corner looked up at Yong Soa in terror.

“W-what do we do?”

At Yong Soa’s signal, the disciple went to the gate and cautiously opened it.

“You bastards...!!!”

The owners of those curses kicked at the gate hard enough to break it as they charged inside.

Then...

‘Ah...’

Once I saw who they were, I could only lower my sword quietly.

They were none other than my precious... no, simply my younger martial brothers, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers.

“Where are you, Wudang?! You bastards! You dared kidnap our Senior Brother Jin?!”

“Fuck! I swear, from today onward, Wudang is the Mantong Office’s sworn enemy!”

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!!!”

The three swept their swords around with such fierce intent that it seemed they would cut down anything caught on their blades.

Then they stopped at the miserable sight before them.

“W-what is this...?”

“What... did a war break out?”

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother!!!”

Dongryong cried out my name in anguish, tears welling in his eyes as if I had died.

Then his eyes met mine as I stood there perfectly fine, and they went round.

“Those curses were quite impressive. Where did you learn them?”

Had they been hanging around with street thugs while I was gone?

Geumpyo cleared his throat and answered.

“Of course, from Senior Brother... Ahem.”

What?

Had Gye Cheolyeong returned from the dead?

I was their only senior brother now.

“...”

An awkward silence settled over us, utterly unfitting for the horrific scene around us.

Eunho was the one who finally spoke.

“...Did Senior Brother do all this alone?”

I didn’t know exactly what “this” referred to, but whatever it was, everything that had happened here was my doing.

I gave a casual nod.

“Don’t worry. I wasn’t hurt at all.”

I answered calmly to reassure my younger martial brothers, but Eunho’s face only turned more aghast.

“Why... weren’t you hurt at all?”

“What did you just say?”

Before I could scold him for saying that, Eunho turned his head this way and that as if counting something, his face filled with disbelief.

“My god... If you want it recognized as self-defense, you should at least have a few injuries. Are you even human?”

Why was that bastard getting stranger by the day?

Ignoring Eunho, who had gone strange before even joining the Mantong Office, I looked at Geumpyo.

“How did you know to come here?”

“We were contacted by the Hao Sect.”

“Oh, the Hao Sect?”

My trail should have gone cold halfway through. Yet they had somehow continued tracking my location.

Choosing the Hao Sect over the Beggar Sect had definitely been the right choice...

“You lot!”

A booming Lion’s Roar suddenly shook the entire estate.

The one shouting in that irritatingly loud voice was the Hall Master whose dantian had nearly been destroyed moments ago.

“What are you doing?! Subdue those brats at once!”

The bastard who had been trembling like they were about to piss themselves... Had Yong Soa’s arrival suddenly filled the Hall Master with courage?

“Yong Soa! You too! Subdue Jin Sowoon at once!”

Yes. Yong Soa had given the Hall Master courage.

“...”

Yet Yong Soa only stared steadily at the Hall Master without moving.

“What are you...?”

“I don’t think that will be possible.”

Eunho stepped forward instead.

With a calm expression, he blocked the Hall Master’s path.

“We deliberately brought him here.”

“What nonsense...?”

“You probably won’t be able to let this slide either.”

“...?”

Eunho pointed toward the gate.

“The situation is already over.”

Then I felt the energy senses of martial artists surrounding the entire estate.

“So, Jin Sowoon. You did all this by yourself?”

Jegal Somyeong, wearing a stern scowl, stepped confidently through the gate.

Leading countless Martial Alliance warriors.

After Dam Ak’s escape operation ended, the Taeul Sect group headed straight for Hefei, where the Death Gate was located.

They had fought Mount Cang Sect, and several people had been injured, so they had no choice but to spend seven days and nights focused solely on recuperation.

During that time, Jin Sowoon vanished. Then they received word that he had dramatically reappeared in Wuhan after half a month.

Gang Chaeseok sulked terribly because he had been unable to take part in an incident that even involved a fight with Mount Cang Sect.

Still, it was Gang Chaeseok’s own fault for failing Baek Haegwang’s test, not anyone else’s, so nobody paid him any attention.

Fifteen days after returning to Taeul Sect.

“...This is strange.”

Something unusual began to happen.

“Hmm. Why have they come here?”

A martial artist with a saber at their hip stood firmly before Taeul Sect, staring at its closed gates.

Taeul Sect was officially closing its gates.

The martial artist could not be unaware that visitors were not permitted, yet they did not leave the sect’s entrance.

Gang Chaeseok, who had sulked for a few days before finally getting over it on his own, told Baek Haegwang about what had happened during the day while receiving training from him.

“It has already been two days. What could they want?”

Hong Mungi, who had become a completely different person, replied as though it did not concern him.

“Well, perhaps they have their reasons.”

“What if they are a disciple Taeul Sect expelled long ago, or something like that?”

“Not a single disciple has been expelled from the time I was young until now.”

“Well... that is true.”

Until now, Taeul Sect had been run much like a martial arts school, so there had been few restrictions on disciples coming and going.

Even if someone studied at Taeul Sect, then decided to study at another martial arts school, nobody blamed them much.

They would even praise them if that school could help them find work as escort warriors.

“Then what could it be? Why do they keep lingering right in front of us? It is distracting.”

At Gang Chaeseok’s words, Sect Leader Hong kept training as he replied.

“Perhaps it is because you are not focusing on your training. If you trained with everything you had, you would be too exhausted to pay attention to anything else. Hyaaap!”

“...”

It felt as if he was offering warm words less and less often.

No, perhaps he had simply started speaking more harshly.

“Now that you mention it, I have heard more people have begun questioning your recent actions.”

Baek Haegwang spoke from beside them.

As though ripples had spread across a lake, the eyes of Hong Mungi and the Hall Masters lit up.

“Have they finally started paying attention to us?”

How excited had Gang Chaeseok been after hearing they had broken through Mount Cang Sect and reached Anhui? He had expected Taeul Sect’s name to soon resound throughout the world.

Baek Haegwang looked at him as though he were pathetic.

“That is not the point. People are asking why you are carrying out so many external activities while closing your gates.”

“...”

“Many suspect that closing your gates is simply a way to avoid your responsibilities.”

It was true that this incident had been quite large despite Taeul Sect supposedly closing its gates.

“Then why is that person lingering in front of Taeul Sect?”

“I do not know that, but I do know one thing.”

“What is it?”

Baek Haegwang grinned and tilted his head to the side.

“Your rest period is over.”

“...”

Gang Chaeseok, who had tried to use the conversation to rest a little longer, sprang to his feet as though his backside were on fire.

“...They are still there.”

On the fourth day, the martial artist was still staring fixedly at Taeul Sect’s entrance without moving.

This time, two more people had joined them, and all three stared at Taeul Sect together.

Just as Baek Haegwang had said, there did not seem to be any goodwill in their bearing.

“Is something going to happen?”

On the sixth day, the number of people staring at Taeul Sect increased again.

“T-ten?”

It was not an overwhelming number, but people in differing attire all staring at Taeul Sect with the same hostility made everyone uneasy.

In the end, Hong Mungi stepped forward.

Creeeak.

The gates of Taeul Sect opened.

Hong Mungi took his place at the entrance with confident strides.

If they had come to harm Taeul Sect, he had resolved to stand at the very front no matter who the enemy was.

“I am Hong Mungi, Sect Leader of Taeul Sect.”

At the sect leader’s appearance, the gathered people watched him with grave expressions.

As Hong Mungi was about to speak again, they all clasped their fists and saluted him.

“...!”

The people of Taeul Sect watching from behind trembled slightly at the sight.

It was the first time in their lives, as members of Taeul Sect, that they had received a greeting from others who bowed first.

Unlike the others, who could not hide their surprise, Hong Mungi spoke calmly.

“I do not know what brings you to our sect, but Taeul Sect is currently closing its gates. Forgive us for being unable to properly receive guests, and please return home. The children are becoming anxious as they come and go.”

At those words, the person at the front, who had first stood before Taeul Sect, took a step forward and bowed again.

“My surname is Jang, and I come from Shandong. May I ask Sect Leader Hong a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“There is a flaw in what you said. Though Taeul Sect is closing its gates, did you not fight Mount Cang Sect in Hubei Province several weeks ago? One could say your gates have already reopened.”

The people standing behind them all nodded as though they agreed.

“That happened by chance while we were returning to Anhui. You cannot say we have resumed activities in the martial world because of it.”

“Even setting that aside, has Taeul Sect not engaged in many outside activities through the Great Heaven Merchant Group and other means? If you use closing your gates as an excuse to avoid responsibility while pursuing profit, people of the martial world will point at you and call you petty.”

“...!!!”

“...!”

As the atmosphere grew increasingly strange, the Taeul Sect members started to step forward in anger, but Hong Mungi raised a hand to stop them.

“I appreciate your concern for Taeul Sect’s reputation. But that is also Taeul Sect’s own affair. It is not something you need to concern yourselves with.”

“It has become something that concerns us.”

“What do you mean?”

The man who introduced himself as Jang took an envelope from his robes and threw it toward Hong Mungi.

The Taeul Sect disciples frowned at that action, then their eyes widened in an instant.

The envelope should have been blown away and fallen to the ground, yet it flew against the wind directly toward Hong Mungi.

Tap.

“...”

Hong Mungi’s expression became complicated as he caught the letter.

The fact that this man could control qi so precisely proved he was not simply a thug looking for trouble.

Whatever the case, the letter would contain the reason he had come here.

Hong Mungi immediately opened the envelope and checked its contents. His brow twisted.

“A... challenge letter?”