The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 465

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 465: The Anxiety of Goodness (2)

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There is a saying that the Dao begins with following the natural order and severing one’s ties to the secular world.

To focus on the Dao, a person must be free of distractions, and the greatest distraction of all is the secular world.

People are influenced by the secular world.

As long as they cannot escape it, they cannot escape its influence.

In that sense, the Martial Alliance members felt as though they were walking across ice covering a riverbed that thawed a little more each day.

With every step came the sound of ice cracking beneath their feet.

It was not solely because of the Wudang Sect’s blunder.

They had acted like fools, gathered in one place to protest while declaring, “I’m not talking to you people!”

Yet once the situation had settled, they began quietly involving themselves here and there again, offering one excuse after another.

The Wudang Sect certainly held immense influence within the Martial Alliance.

Still, they had not stormed out of the Alliance. Sitting in a corner with their mouths shut in protest was no different from a child turning away and pouting.

This time, though, the atmosphere was entirely different.

As news spread that the Black Officers had been carrying out purge operations, the Alliance members felt chills run down their spines.

What if their own sect had been included?

Though they knew it was impossible, some ran everywhere in search of the death list.

Naturally, the Inspectorate did not overlook their movements.

Then word arrived that the Black Officers’ mission had failed.

Someone had stopped their operation.

“Group Leader Jin... that crazy bastard...”

Jin Sowoon and his junior disciples had stopped the Black Officers at Mount Mao Sect.

The news thundered through the entire Martial Alliance.

“Brother Cheol, what happened?”

“Nam Hwaseong, haven’t you heard anything?”

“No. If even you haven’t heard, how could I?”

“This is serious. If they stopped a Black Officer operation, the consequences will soon reach the Taeul Sect as well.”

A Black Officer operation was an Inspectorate operation. The Inspectorate was the Martial Alliance’s righteous path and code. Opposing it was no different from declaring one’s intent to oppose the Alliance.

Stopping the Black Officers did not end with simply stopping the Black Officers.

“Shouldn’t we inform the Taeul Sect first?”

“...If it becomes known that we sent word, neither you nor we will keep our lives. Can you send a message in secret?”

“He has ties to the Hao Sect.”

“Then we’ll go through them.”

Before long, all the combat pavilions would rise up to complete the Black Officers’ operation.

Not only Mount Mao Sect but even the Taeul Sect, which had stood in the Black Officers’ way, would be unable to avoid destruction.

A day passed, and the combat pavilions fully armed themselves.

Their destination was Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province.

No one failed to recognize which sects were located there.

“Fuck, why is this happening?”

Those proud of having come from the Martial Arts Academy’s Life-or-Death Unit gathered together, clutching their heads.

Things could not continue like this.

But there was nothing they could do right now.

They did not know why Mount Mao Sect had been selected for a purge operation or why that bastard Jin Sowoon had gotten involved again.

But the only punishment for obstructing the Black Officers was the destruction of one’s sect.

They could already smell the stench of blood in the air.

“I’m going to the Taeul Sect first!”

“Me too!”

A few said they would head to the Taeul Sect, but Cheol Sunjik stopped them.

“It’s already too late. We’ve sent word to the Taeul Sect separately, so let’s wait. Group Leader Jin wouldn’t have acted without thinking.”

“No, Brother Cheol! Think about the Jin Sowoon we’ve known all this time! That bastard definitely acted without thinking!”

“Exactly! Look at what happened in Mukrim. He’d even fight alongside an enemy if they listened to him!”

“...”

Opinions on Jin Sowoon were divided.

“Everyone, stop!”

Hyeok Mugang and Jegal Somyeong, who had returned from Anhui Province, halted them with a Lion’s Roar.

A murderous atmosphere filled the Martial Alliance.

The Martial Alliance Leader had overstepped his authority to stop an Inspectorate operation.

That was practically inviting protests from the other sects and factions.

Yet even after two days, then three, the combat pavilions ultimately did not leave the Martial Alliance.

Another rumor spread in its place.

“There was a problem with the death list?”

It came to light that there had been an issue with the Black Officers’ mission, which had to be the strictest and fairest of operations and could not allow even the slightest mistake.

On top of that, word quietly spread that an infiltrator had been hiding among the Black Officers.

A chill swept through the Martial Alliance.

The Inspectorate’s absolute authority had been wounded, and not only the Inspectorate but the factions that had supported it were on the verge of collapse.

“What is all this?”

Cheol Sunjik asked in despair as he stared at the mountain of documents piled before him.

Maeng Juwon casually tapped the papers.

“Reports from the Inspectorate and the Black Officers.”

“...”

Cheol Sunjik’s eyes wavered.

The sheer volume was one thing, but this meant digging into everything the Inspectorate and the Black Officers had done until now.

These papers clearly would not simply expose one person’s wrongdoing.

“Examine every last one. Do not overlook an error as small as a speck of dust. Anything one person verifies must be checked again by the next.”

Maeng Juwon’s words meant that there would be no going home for a while. No, perhaps for a very long time.

Still, none of them frowned or sighed.

This was work that demanded that much responsibility and burden.

“What... will happen to Jin Sowoon?”

Maeng Juwon’s face hardened at Cheol Sunjik’s question.

To Cheol Sunjik, it was an unfamiliar sight. Maeng Juwon was the sort who lay on the floor of the Mantong Office, flailing around while complaining that he did not want to work overtime every day.

“I can’t say for certain. But one thing is clear...”

Gulp.

“Whether he wanted it or not, that boy has taken on a great burden.”

It was likely a metaphor. Yet the burden Cheol Sunjik felt seemed as vast as Mount Tai.

He knew better than anyone that it carried no positive meaning.

“Where is Jin Sowoon?”

“...We received word that he is returning after attending Mount Mao Sect’s funeral.”

“Hoo... Just how great a storm is he about to face?”

At Maeng Juwon’s words, Cheol Sunjik began to worry for Jin Sowoon.

The pressure and burden Jin Sowoon would face at the center of this enormous incident were not weights someone barely past twenty could bear.

Would he really be all right?

Cheol Sunjik could not shake off his concern.

“Doo-goo-doo-goo-doo-goo-doo-goo.”

“Doo-goo-doo... Ah, stop that already!”

At Saryeon’s shriek, the drumroll stopped for a moment.

“Doo-goo-doo-goo-doo-goo-doo-goo-doo.”

Then it started again, and Saryeon finally clutched her head.

Still, I did not miss the small smile at the corner of her lips.

“I told you, open it already.”

We stopped at an inn earlier than usual.

“What? There’s still a full sichen before sunset.”

Even the driver looked at the others in confusion.

The rest of them felt the same way.

“My body feels stiff from the anticipation.”

“I think it’d be good to rest today and leave early tomorrow.”

They were all eager to find out what was inside the boxes Mount Mao Sect had given us.

Dongryong, being the youngest, opened his box first.

Inside were a wooden box containing an elixir pellet and a single inner robe.

“Hup!”

He had no time to be disappointed.

The inner robe itself gave off a faint blue glow that reflected the light.

“...”

None of the four seemed to know what it was. They stared at me with round eyes, silently asking for an explanation.

“It’s called the Jade Treasure Robe. I heard it’s a divine relic made by combining vajra thread with Chwihwa Jade.”

It was not simply a luxurious garment made from expensive materials.

For some reason related to the Chwihwa Jade, the Jade Treasure Robe had a body-preserving effect.

In my previous life, it had even been used on battlefields as a divine relic for emergency treatment.

“C-can I really accept something like this as a gift...?”

The treasure was so enormous that Dongryong felt overwhelmed before greed could even take hold.

To be honest, even I was stunned that the Jade Treasure Robe had been a gift.

It was likely a token of their alliance.

“It was given to you as a gift, so keep it safe.”

Geumpyo was next, quietly hugging the box.

Geumpyo’s box also contained an elixir pellet.

In the center, though, lay only a single glove.

For the left hand.

“...”

I patted Geumpyo’s shoulder before disappointment could set in.

“It’s called the Ghost Spirit Gauntlet. An ordinary sword can’t cut through it, and when you circulate your internal energy, it releases a peculiar energy called ghost spirit qi that tears open wounds viciously. They probably thought your hand might get injured while using your shield...”

“It fits perfectly!!”

Before I could even finish explaining, the Ghost Spirit Gauntlet was already on Geumpyo’s left hand.

Saryeon’s box contained a concealed weapon called the Golden Star Silver Bracelets.

Eunho’s held a golden judge’s brush called the Soul-Chasing Golden Brush.

“This is... incredible...”

Each was a divine relic that had only emerged after the Orthodox-Demonic War in my previous life.

So their source had been Mount Mao Sect’s treasury.

Every one of them was a treasure worthy of becoming a sect’s inherited divine relic.

The fact that they had prepared one for each of us was enough to make the burden weigh heavily on my shoulders.

What we had received could not be exchanged for gold.

When I came to my senses and looked around, a strange silence had fallen over the room.

Every one of my junior disciples was staring intently at my box.

Gulp.

Honestly, I was a little nervous too.

Everything that came out had approached the level of a divine weapon. Even my heart pounded as I wondered what would be in mine.

I slowly opened the box.

Strangely enough, there was no elixir pellet inside.

I was not disappointed. No, it would be more accurate to say I was even more excited.

Creak.

At the sound of the latch, my heart swelled as if it might burst.

Then, inside the opened box...

“Ah...”

“Eh...”

“Ahem...”

I rubbed my eyes several times just in case.

That couldn’t be it.

There had to be something hidden in the gaps of the box.

Wasn’t that how valuable objects were usually concealed...?

“Senior Brother, I think that’s everything.”

As I tried to force the box open to inspect the inside further, someone spoke.

“You’ll break it. It’s a book and talismans, right?”

“...”

That was right.

Instead of a divine relic, my box contained a newly made book and about a hundred talismans.

I slowly picked up the book.

“Huh! This is...!”

An exclamation escaped me.

“It’s the Spirit-Suppressing Binding Canon, Mount Mao Sect’s ultimate art!!!”

It contained the Binding Spell that had subdued Hu Ilsik at the very end of our stay at Mount Mao Sect.

“I’ve received a gift I can hardly bear.”

The book contained detailed explanations of its incantations, internal energy circulation, and how to make talismans.

For Mount Mao Sect to teach their sect’s martial art to someone like me, who was not even affiliated with the sect, was no different from giving me a piece of their sect.

It certainly was.

Yes, it certainly was, but...

“What should I do about this? I already possess the demon subjugation power of Jade Clarity Celestial Phenomenon Force, so learning this as well might be a waste.”

I turned to offer my junior disciples an opportunity.

After all, I was the senior brother who always thought of his junior disciples first.

“Anyone want to trade?”

“!!!”

The instant I finished speaking, Geumpyo and Saryeon fled like ghosts through the window and door respectively.

I quickly threw the Flying Dragon Claw and a dagger, shutting the window and door.

“!!!”

“Gasp!”

Only Eunho and Dongryong, who had failed to escape in time, remained.

“Anyone want to trade??”

Dongryong looked as if he were about to cry as he tried to take out the Jade Treasure Robe and hold it up.

Then Eunho stepped forward and stopped Dongryong.

“Senior Brother, didn’t Mount Mao Sect give that martial art to you? If someone else learned it carelessly and Mount Mao Sect found out, wouldn’t they be very uncomfortable with that?”

That was true.

Receiving a martial art as a gift was a sign of trust.

Passing it on carelessly meant treating that trust lightly.

“You brats are getting tense over one little joke.”

I laughed and retrieved the Flying Dragon Claw and dagger, but Eunho and Dongryong left the room slowly without lowering their guard around me.

“I was really joking!!!”

No one answered me.

After leaving Mount Mao Sect, we headed straight for the Martial Alliance.

Rather than send word to the Taeul Sect through a human messenger, we moved quickly toward Wuhan.

We had already spent too much time at Mount Mao Sect, so we needed to return quickly.

The Martial Alliance’s orders were one thing, but I was most worried about the treatment of the purge targets.

In my previous life, the temptation of Blood Cult techniques would have been greater.

The Blood Cult of my previous life had nearly taken control of Sichuan.

Yet the Black Officers had dealt with them decisively.

Boom! Boom!

In this life, fewer people had become involved with Blood Cult techniques, but we had failed to properly handle those who had touched forbidden arts.

The Black Officers’ operation had been stopped because of what happened at Mount Mao Sect.

Boom! Boom!

Furthermore, unlikely as it was, if the Black Alliance decided to expand its power by accepting them, the Martial Alliance’s authority would quickly falter.

I needed to return to the Martial Alliance as soon as possible...

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

“You little bastards!”

I turned toward the noise interrupting my thoughts.

Bang! Bang!

Every time Geumpyo swung the left hand, the surface of an intact tree was viciously torn apart.

If that had been an opponent’s skin, the wide wounds would have been difficult to recover from.

“The ghost spirit qi is terrifyingly powerful.”

“Brother, look at this.”

Beside Geumpyo, Eunho swung an empty hand toward a tree, and six small blades embedded themselves in its trunk.

Eunho had used the judge’s brush while concealing it in a palm.

Crack.

The brush tip had sunk so deeply into the tree that it was beginning to lean.

“The finishing touch is a little lacking.”

Saryeon scattered the Golden Star Silver Bracelets, and two bracelets shot forward before creating a massive explosion.

Boom!

The tree finally toppled, and the Golden Star Silver Bracelets displayed their might.

Watching the tree fall with a loud cracking sound, I shouted angrily.

“Stop that, all of you! Have you forgotten the saying that one must always conceal thirty percent of one’s skill in the martial world?”

“...There’s no one else here.”

We had even sent the driver back partway through the journey and traveled by ourselves. There was no one in the surrounding forest.

“Regardless!”

“...Yes.”

They answered obediently enough, but they pouted and began whispering among themselves.

“He really doesn’t like his own gift.”

“Definitely. His eyes gleam every time we take out our divine relics.”

“Keep watch over your things. We don’t know when he’ll make a move.”

I can hear all of that, you bastards!

I was about to explain that I was not jealous but concerned about safety in the martial world.

Then I closed my mouth.

It was better to take even one more step forward.

As we continued toward Wuhan, we encountered someone quite welcome, perhaps, but who should not have been here.

“...Ilgak?”

“Amitabha.”

I met Ilgak far from the Alliance, the monk who had been treated as an outcast by Shaolin after disregarding the elders’ opinions and joining the White Wolf Pavilion.

Ilgak was with the new members of the Dragon-Phoenix Association.

“What... happened?”

“I happened to be entrusted with a heavy duty.”

“A duty?”

“An inspection.”

It was already well known that the Dragon-Phoenix Association evaluated sects under the pretense of visiting them. Still, it was deeply unnatural for Ilgak, who was not even a member of the Dragon-Phoenix Association, to be included.

“May I ask what the inspection is for?”

I asked despite knowing Ilgak would not speak of such a matter.

Words were free, after all.

But then...

“It is an inspection of sects designated by the Martial Alliance.”

Ilgak told me without hesitation.

“Furthermore, Benefactor Jin will be joining us.”

“What?”

“Our meeting was not a coincidence.”

Ilgak spoke with a firm expression.

“I was waiting for you.”

[1] sichen: A traditional Chinese time period of roughly two hours.