WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 441: The Aftermath of the Typhoon
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Setting aside the fact that I had no idea what nonsense he was talking about.
“What did you say?”
He was casually saying something that would offend anyone.
“Don’t be like that-”
The arrogance of saying that inside someone else’s sect grounds made my blood boil.
“We’re doing this now.”
Fwoosh.
Just as I used the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps to rush at him.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!”
Hwa Jeongsan stepped in front of me as if to shield me.
Ilmyeong followed, blocking my path as though protecting me.
“Benefactor Sowoon, please calm yourself.”
“I was just threatened.”
I slipped free of Hwa Jeongsan and Ilmyeong’s grasp and was about to charge at him.
Hummm-
Dragon Claw shot from Ilmyeong’s hand and caught the back of my collar again.
“There was no meaning behind what he said!”
“...”
“He, he... says meaningless things like that sometimes.”
Ilmyeong’s expression was full of lies.
I could not tell whether he was lying about Yong Soa behaving so strangely or about those words being meaningless.
But one thing was certain.
He was lying.
“Is that so?”
I relaxed.
Hwa Jeongsan and Ilmyeong loosened their grips as well.
“Whew... Getting worked up just because you heard one thi-”
Then, while the two of them had let their guard down.
Swish!
I shot toward Yong Soa with the force of Shrinking Earth to an Inch.
“Huh!”
I immediately unleashed the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist.
Bangbangbangbangbang!
Dozens of fist images struck Yong Soa’s entire body in an instant.
But then.
A Taiji-shaped flow of qi formed around him and diverted the force.
I immediately used the Phantom Shadow Kick, aiming for his vital points.
Yong Soa used a long fist to block only the true attack hidden among the Phantom Shadow Kick’s afterimages.
At that moment.
He swiftly turned and used Taiji Fist.
“...!”
My heart dropped.
‘What on earth?’
Bang!
“What is this commotion?!”
At that moment, a stern voice erupted from Taeul Hall.
“Hm?”
Moyong Gang took one look at the scene before him and roared.
“Do you brats have no manners at all? A senior whom the martial world holds as high as the heavens is conducting an important meeting, and you’re brawling right beside him!”
His booming Lion’s Roar battered our eardrums.
No one present lacked confidence in their internal energy, but several people looked unwell after being affected by the attack.
“If you’re so desperate to fight, I’ll prepare a stage for you! Go on, fight until one of you dies!”
Silence fell over the area.
Yong Soa continued to stare at me with that blank gaze.
I kept my guard up as I stared back at him.
Then.
“I apologize.”
Ilmyeong shook his head a few times to clear it, pressed his palms together, and bowed.
“Perhaps we needed time to reminisce after meeting again after so long. We will leave at once.”
“Now?”
“Yes. It seems we’ve become the ones who threw cold water on the Taeul Sect’s celebration.”
“Tch.”
Moyong Gang clicked his tongue, sounding disappointed.
Ilmyeong took Yong Soa by the shoulder while Hwa Jeongsan led the rest of their group out of Taeul Hall’s front courtyard.
“You hot-blooded youngsters... Hm?”
Moyong Gang raised an eyebrow as he was about to enter Taeul Hall.
“Why are you standing there looking so dazed?”
“...Elder.”
My head was still spinning.
I could not take my eyes off the direction Yong Soa had disappeared in.
There was an unease I could not explain.
“About your Void-Destroying Fist, Elder.”
“What about it all of a sudden?”
“Can someone who does not know it prepare for it in advance?”
“Ha! What nonsense. How could someone who doesn’t know it prepare for a superior art that even those familiar with it cannot defend against?”
“That’s right, isn’t it?”
The first time I faced it, I had not been able to respond properly either.
Yes. That was normal... no, it was only natural.
“What? Have you finally decided to become part of the Moyong Clan and learn it?”
But Yong Soa...
‘It definitely looked like he had prepared for the Void-Destroying Fist.’
With those tangled thoughts still unresolved, I left Taeul Hall.
Moyong Gang’s voice, even sharper than before, followed after me.
“Fine, I won’t make you a live-in son-in-law! I’ll pass down the Void-Destroying Fist as long as you become my son-in-law! This is your last chance! Are you really going to let it slip away when you’ll never get another chance?! The Void-Destroying Fist! I’m talking about the Void-Destroying Fist!”
My head was so full of thoughts about Yong Soa that his voice passed through my ears like the wind.
#
A week passed after the Taeul Sect’s reopening ceremony.
No more guests came to visit after hearing the news late, and all the Wang Family Estate personnel dispatched to the Taeul Sect returned home.
Many children still came holding their parents’ hands, saying they wanted to become formal disciples.
But after a large notice was posted on the gate, far fewer people made the trip all the way to the Taeul Sect.
One might have expected Soeum County’s economy to decline after people stopped coming, but it remained surprisingly stable.
Several decent restaurants and inns had opened, and it had begun gaining popularity as a place to recover from the journey before arriving in Hefei.
As a result, many merchants who had come to run street stalls simply settled there.
Compared to Hefei’s murderous rent and prices, Soeum County’s rent was quite reasonable.
With Wang Family Estate shops opening as well, the local economy continued to grow.
Newly arrived merchants began building homes, and Soeum County began taking shape as a mid-sized town instead of the small village it had once been.
“This is just the profit we made before and after the reopening ceremony?”
“Soso...! You’re the best!”
Thanks to that, the Taeul Sect’s finances became even more prosperous.
The best news of all was this.
“It finally came in...!”
As soon as the reopening ceremony ended, the Great Heaven Merchant Group’s difficult situation began to resolve itself at an incredible pace.
“Overdue payments are starting to come in from everywhere.”
“We can finally breathe again, Merchant Leader!”
“Another additional order!”
As if they had been waiting for this moment, those who had delayed their payments again and again sent the money faster than anyone else.
Some even cashed their bills of exchange at money changers, loaded the cash directly onto carts, and visited the Great Heaven Merchant Group in person.
For a time, the Great Heaven Merchant Group was crowded not with customers, but with business partners.
“We are deeply sorry. Our internal finances have not been in good shape...”
“Thank you for waiting through such difficult times.”
“We hope we can continue doing good business together.”
They paid not only the principal they owed, but interest on the overdue payments as well.
Their business partners acted as though the delayed payments had truly been caused by internal troubles.
Jin Taesan could not shake his sense of disillusionment for quite some time.
“Every time they opened their mouths, they spoke with such earnestness... I could no longer tell what was real.”
He knew there had been no special circumstances.
They had delayed payment simply to pressure the Great Heaven Merchant Group and the Taeul Sect, hoping something might happen.
Yet when he saw them pleading with tears streaming down their faces, Jin Taesan could no longer easily tell what sincerity truly was.
Wang Geumsan laughed at Jin Taesan’s worries.
“Hahaha. Do you think the world of commerce is any different from the martial world? No, the world of commerce, where money moves, may be harsher than the martial world. It certainly isn’t any gentler.”
“...”
“That’s how it is. When people are weak, you put a sword through them. When they are strong, you kneel. Isn’t that the way of the world?”
Jin Taesan was the Outer Hall Lord who had kept the Taeul Sect afloat during its hardest years. It was not as though he did not understand such principles.
After looking through the window at the Taeul Sect, he clenched his fist tightly.
“We cannot become weak again.”
“No, no.”
Wang Geumsan firmly shook his head.
“If you think that way, you’ll only protect what you have.”
“Did you not say protecting one’s wealth was most important?”
“That was when the Taeul Sect was in danger.”
Wang Geumsan turned his gaze outside, following Jin Taesan’s line of sight.
“Right now, the Taeul Sect is more powerful and more renowned than ever before.”
What did the Taeul Sect’s reputation have to do with the Great Heaven Merchant Group’s business?
“Tsk tsk. This is why honest people have trouble succeeding in commerce.”
Wang Geumsan was clicking his tongue at Jin Taesan before he knew it.
His eyes grew cold.
“Because of the reopening ceremony, the Taeul Sect is like a tiger with wings. Is this not the time to greatly expand our influence?”
“Isn’t it more like a fox borrowing a tiger’s might?”
“A fox borrowing a tiger’s might or a tiger gaining wings, either way, we are in the tiger’s position.”
There was an enormous difference between those two things, but Jin Taesan swallowed the words and closed his mouth.
When Wang Geumsan’s eyes turned to money, interrupting him carelessly could earn someone a terrible beating.
Instead, he asked carefully.
“How do you intend to expand our influence?”
The eyes behind Wang Geumsan’s deeply lined face gleamed.
“Who tried to shake the Taeul Sect and bring down the Great Heaven Merchant Group?”
“Wudang Sect and Mount Cang Sect.”
“Their attack was blocked. Where do you think that chaos will go now?”
“...It will return to them.”
The criticism and attacks aimed at the Taeul Sect would soon turn back on those who had fired the arrows.
Wang Geumsan’s hand swept through the air like a hawk swooping at prey.
“Exactly! It is their turn now. We will take their livelihoods while they are shaken!”
“...”
“I told you the martial world and the world of commerce are not different, did I not? Business is the same. Unless they learn that they, too, can suffer losses, they will attack whenever they see an opening. How long will you keep living by sacrificing yourself?”
Wang Geumsan’s final words struck Jin Taesan like a blow to the head.
“Sacrificing myself...”
Jin Taesan’s eyes turned fierce.
Hearing the children’s laughter from beyond the window, he clenched his fist again.
“I will never make the children suffer through the same thing again.”
“Are you prepared?”
“They will weep tears of blood and regret ever attacking the Great Heaven Merchant Group.”
The reopening ceremony was over, and the major issues had been settled for now.
Yet the lights in Jin Taesan and Wang Geumsan’s office did not go out.
#
Since the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers, Saryeon, and I had to return to the Martial Alliance anyway, we decided to travel with Hyeok Mugang’s party.
That gave us some time, and Jang Dowon happened to send word that the third divine weapon had been completed.
I took Saryeon to see him.
“It seems you finished much earlier than the schedule you mentioned?”
“The Taeul Sect was holding a reopening ceremony. Shouldn’t I have prepared something as well? I still failed to finish in time, of course.”
“The effort alone is more than enough.”
With an oddly excited expression, Jang Dowon handed me one large box and one small box.
“You made two?”
“There was only enough cold iron to make one sword. I split it between two weapons, so one of them is only half complete...”
Jang Dowon straightened his shoulders and added.
“Let me be clear. Calling it half complete does not mean I made something mediocre.”
I knew that already. The fourth divine weapon, the Ascending Heaven Saber, had originally been a heavy saber.
I opened the boxes.
My heart raced.
They were exactly the Searing Flower Sword and Ascending Heaven Saber I had seen in my previous life.
I immediately showed the Searing Flower Sword to Saryeon.
“Ah...”
The moment she saw it, Saryeon could not take her eyes off its enchanting beauty.
“Th-this is for me?”
“Yes. It was made with you in mind from the beginning.”
In my previous life, the Searing Flower Sword had been the signature weapon of Emei’s Yeojung Satai.
She had obtained it by chance during the Orthodox-Demonic War and never let it leave her hand until the day she died.
Clink.
When Saryeon lifted the sword, its blade drooped limply as though it had melted.
Startled for a moment, she quickly realized what it was.
Whooom-
She poured internal energy into the blade.
Clang!
The Searing Flower Sword transformed into a sharp, solid blade.
“Even with soft iron mixed into it, it should possess strength comparable to ordinary cold iron.”
Jang Dowon confidently secured a long iron billet.
Saryeon cut through it without hesitation.
Slice!
Despite using little force, the sturdy billet was cut apart as though it were nothing.
Its cutting power was as destructive as its appearance was beautiful.
Saryeon stared blankly at its exceptional sharpness.
Jang Dowon watched her with a faint smile before handing her something else.
“Keep it in this belt, then draw it when you need it.”
As someone who had once made accessories, he had made even the belt’s pattern look subtly luxurious.
Saryeon could not hide her excitement at gaining a hidden weapon, but the sword’s true value lay elsewhere.
‘Demon subjugation.’
I did not know why Yeojung Satai had cherished the Searing Flower Sword so much.
But I had a different reason for giving it to Saryeon.
The Searing Flower Sword possessed powerful demon-subjugating properties.
I then looked at the Ascending Heaven Saber.
It was a heavy saber of an awkward length, neither a short saber nor a long saber.
Because its size was unfamiliar to most people, it was the kind of weapon usually used by assassins.
That was also why its true worth had taken the longest to emerge.
Its secret was this.
“I would like to test it as well.”
“Do as you please.”
I picked up the Ascending Heaven Saber and brought it down on the iron billet Saryeon had cut.
Slice!
The Ascending Heaven Saber cut not only through the billet, but the anvil beneath it as well.
That was the Ascending Heaven Saber’s long-hidden secret.
Once enough internal energy was poured into it, its cutting power increased beyond belief.
After confirming that its form and ability matched my previous life, I tucked the Ascending Heaven Saber horizontally into my waistband.
A master’s touch truly was different.
Filled with gratitude, I bowed to Jang Dowon.
“Thank you-”
Smack!
But the back of my head suddenly burned.
When I raised my head, Jang Dowon was snorting angrily.
“Y-you little bastard!!!”
“Why are you...?”
“You brat! Do you have any idea how much that anvil cost?”
“Well, that...”
“You should have used a reasonable amount of internal energy!”
Even Jang Dowon had not known exactly what he had made.
It made sense. He had been in such a hurry to finish them, and he did not possess internal energy himself.
Smack!
I apologized first. Being hit on the head with his pipe hurt too much.
“Ah! I’m sorry...”
The suffering I endured after acquiring a new weapon did not end there.
“...Senior Brother, you have a new weapon now?”
“...”
“Oh, I’m fine. I can keep using a cheap iron sword, and then when I stupidly break it, I can just die.”
Eunho would not stop putting themself down, staring at me with resentful eyes.
Perhaps because Eunho was clever, their self-deprecation was on another level.
“No, I’m really fine... What does it matter if I don’t have a sword? I can just fight with my fists. Maybe I’ll become the Taeul Sect’s first fist master. Of course, since I’ve used a sword my whole life, there’s a better chance I’ll be killed by one. Hahahahaha.”
“...”
“I’m really fine! I’m completely fine!”
I could really use a fated encounter right now.
Footnotes:
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