WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 520: The Monster That Feeds on Despair (5)
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Crack.
A fissure spread along the grain of the rock, and sunlight gradually began to stream into the cave.
Crack.
He put in a little more strength. The fissure widened faster until the stone finally lost its shape and collapsed.
Rumble.
The bright sun warmed his entire body.
The warmth of sunlight, which he had never felt through that small opening over the past thousand days, seemed to seep into every corner of his body.
‘I did it...’
People had thought Ilgak foolish for entering closed-door training to master the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
No one knew when his training would end, and one misstep could have caused him to miss his chance to enter the Martial Arts Academy.
Yet Ilgak had done it. He had completed his training in time.
Eager to share the good news with his master, he raced out like an arrow.
The moment he entered Shaolin Temple, people’s eyes turned toward him.
Their gazes were strangely cold and distant.
It was probably because of his thick hair, which had gone uncut for a thousand days.
A monk in robes with long hair.
Even he had to admit he looked odd.
Still, he wanted to tell his master this joyous news first.
He had become a disciple worthy of the master who would one day become abbot.
He had succeeded.
At his will, the Single-Reed River Crossing movement art unfolded on its own. He sped toward his master’s quarters.
“What are you doing here?”
Yet the person who emerged from his master’s residence was someone unexpected.
Then he heard even more unexpected news.
“Ah, I suppose you wouldn’t know. It was moved after you entered closed-door training.”
His master’s residence had been moved elsewhere.
‘What... happened?’
Residences at Shaolin Temple were not changed easily. Yet his master, known as Venerable Cheonsim, had moved.
The location was even more absurd.
‘There must be some mistake.’
It was near the shared quarters used by ordinary disciples, not where the Four Vajras or the Eighteen Arhats resided.
Many avoided that place because monks trained there day and night.
When he arrived at the quarters with an uneasy heart, Ilgak saw Venerable Cheonsim opening the door and stepping outside.
His legs gave out.
“M-Master...”
In that instant, he understood everything.
The dark expression on his master’s face when Ilgak had asked to learn the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic.
The cold looks from those who had seen him emerge from closed-door training.
Even the humble treatment given to his master, who had been likely to become abbot.
“Hmm? Gak...!”
To fulfill the desire of an unworthy disciple, his master had given up everything without reservation.
“Master...”
“You’re already out? Hahaha! You truly are exceptional. To comprehend the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic in only a thousand days.”
“Master...”
“No, why are you making such a sad face on this happy day?”
Venerable Cheonsim smiled as though he knew nothing. Ilgak could only shed tears without end.
#
“I-Isn’t there... another way?”
Ilgak was shaken.
He had never been so shaken before.
“Benefactor Dang... Isn’t the Sichuan Tang Clan the finest medical clan under heaven? Surely you know a treatment no one else does?”
Ilgak, who had comprehended the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic and attained an unmoving mind, was shaken.
“...”
His eyes trembled. His lips trembled as he spoke. His heart trembled. His entire body shook.
He looked so fragile that even the slightest touch might make him collapse.
Dang Seohui spoke to him.
“It can be treated. But...”
To Ilgak, those words sounded cruel.
“It requires a safe situation.”
“...”
Dang Seohui pointed toward the Eighteen Arhats.
Bang!
Another Arhat spat blood and flew across the cave.
The unbelievable scene continued.
Even if they were called fledgling Eighteen Arhats, most of them were middle-aged. They had trained in martial arts and accumulated internal energy for decades, yet they were being thrown about like toys.
“When... how long must this continue?!”
The Mushim Illusion Powder had worn down the monks’ patience and stoked their fury.
If time passed like this and their numbers continued to shrink, killing Venerable Cheonsim would become impossible.
And if Venerable Cheonsim began wandering through the Sword Tomb...
Everyone within the Sword Tomb would face an enemy more terrifying than jiangshi, while Shaolin Temple would become the sect that had unleashed one of history’s great archfiends.
Their despairing sorrow was deep but brief. The terror that lay ahead was shallow but long.
Baekjong made his decision.
“Prepare... the venerable’s passing...”
To Ilgak, it was a verdict worse than a bolt from the blue.
“Venerable! How can...!”
“Is there any other way?”
Ilgak’s lips shut tight.
The expression on Baekjong’s face.
Seeing it, Ilgak lowered his head.
But... did they truly have to send him off like this?
The man who had been like a father to him, no, more than a father...
Ilgak had made him suffer losses again and again because of his own mistakes, and now he would even take his life.
No beast could be crueler than him. No archfiend could be more terrible.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pressure of the Five-Buddha Formation intensified. Then, with a massive crash, three monks were thrown away.
One of them died before they could even try to treat him.
“Damn it... Ilgak, join us.”
“...”
Ilgak had no right to refuse Baekjong’s cruel words.
The empty places among the monks would have to be filled by Yuseong’s group or the Moyong Clan, but no one would leave Venerable Cheonsim’s passing to someone else.
Boom!
When Ilgak met Venerable Cheonsim’s fist, it felt as though his insides had been violently shaken.
Only now did he realize how merciless his master’s fists could be.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A massive energy clash swept over him, burrowing into his body as though it would churn his dantian to pieces.
Instinctively, Ilgak raised his Vajra qi.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Five-Buddha Formation shifted to the offensive, and immense pressure bore down on Venerable Cheonsim.
Pressure strong enough to warp space itself squeezed him from every direction, causing his body to swell as though it would burst.
Then Ilgak’s sorrowful fist force came crashing down at the center of it all.
The moment qi force powerful enough to shatter ribs and crush a heart drove toward him, Venerable Cheonsim ignored all defense and thrust both hands toward Ilgak’s fist force.
Blue qi force blocked Ilgak’s attack.
Rumble...
Fist force against fist force.
As Venerable Cheonsim endured every attack with his body, his eyes suddenly returned to normal.
“...!”
His black pupils darted around, taking in the situation. When he looked at Ilgak, his eyes widened in surprise.
Then he seemed to realize something and smiled.
“...You’ve suffered greatly because of me.”
“M-Master!”
“I’m sorry. I remained a worthless master to the end.”
Something heavy surged up from Ilgak’s chest.
His kind master’s voice fell into his ears as though breaking apart.
“...Still, how fortunate that I could see your face at the end.”
“Master! Master!!!”
“It is all thanks to the Buddha’s grace. Baekjong... I’m sorry...”
Yet despite Ilgak’s cries, Venerable Cheonsim’s eyes rolled back again.
Baekjong and the Eighteen Arhats became certain.
Venerable Cheonsim himself knew that he could no longer return to normal.
As proof, the energy flowing from his hands grew even stronger.
Bang!
Even after losing his mind, the Shaolin Sect’s supreme arts that he unleashed from his hands did not waver in the slightest.
Three more Arhats fell beneath his attacks.
With fewer than ten people left, the members of the Shaolin Sect could no longer restrain Venerable Cheonsim on their own.
The Five-Buddha Formation began to collapse rapidly.
Just as Baekjong prepared to perish together with him...
Boom!
Along with a storm of powerful qi force, Jin Sowoon’s sword met Venerable Cheonsim’s fist.
“Benefactor Jin...!”
“Fall back.”
“What are you doing? This is a matter for the Shaolin Sect!”
“You want to save this bald monk or not?”
For the first time, Venerable Cheonsim retreated from Jin Sowoon’s attack.
“Y-You can save him, Benefactor Jin?”
Ilgak cried out as though he would offer his own life.
“I don’t know. It’s not like I’m a physician.”
Jin Sowoon frowned as though he did not want to see Ilgak’s despairing expression.
“But I have to try.”
“...”
“Nothing’s more unpleasant than seeing a bald man frown.”
Ilgak bit down hard on his lip.
#
Venerable Cheonsim, who had stepped back, rose again like a jiangshi.
Then he glided forward like a ghost.
The Vajra Immovable Body Art, pushed to its limit.
At the same time, he unleashed the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.
Enormous pressure bore down on Jin Sowoon, trying to force him to his knees.
“This old bald man is strong as hell!”
Most of Jin Sowoon’s martial arts centered on Illusion and Change.
Against opponents of a similar level, he could confuse them and overwhelm them with the sheer amount of his internal energy. But against an opponent who had reached an unfathomable realm and unleashed overwhelming fist force, he had no proper response.
“I was prepared for that much from the start.”
Jin Sowoon had clearly seen it.
The instant the pressure intensified and Venerable Cheonsim released an enormous amount of internal energy, he had regained his senses.
Otherwise, Jin Sowoon would never have taken such a risk.
Shrrrrk.
The Twin Heavens Sword Art at the tenth stage unfolded.
Hundreds of sword forms filled the air and swept toward Venerable Cheonsim.
Rather than evade or block them, Venerable Cheonsim wrapped himself in internal energy and raised a protective qi barrier.
Hum.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Using that opening, he immediately unleashed the Dragon King Wandering Fist and charged Jin Sowoon.
Jin Sowoon raised the Devouring Gauntlet and blocked Venerable Cheonsim’s fist.
Bang! Bang!
Even with the Devouring Gauntlet, Jin Sowoon felt his body being pushed back.
‘This could be seriously fucked.’
No, he was almost certainly fucked.
Trying to restrain and treat a master at Venerable Cheonsim’s level was no different from trusting a tiger while pulling out a rotten tooth.
Even so, he had no intention of giving up.
Saving Venerable Cheonsim was better than watching the bald man sob miserably.
Besides, he was tired of being frustrated by the schemes of those Demonic Cult bastards.
“Senior Dang!”
At Jin Sowoon’s shout, Dang Seohui moved swiftly and sent needles flying.
Taking advantage of the gap after the protective qi barrier vanished, the needles embedded in Venerable Cheonsim’s body gradually slowed his movements.
Jin Sowoon quickly grabbed Venerable Cheonsim’s wrist.
Then, just as he was about to activate the Azure Dragon Bangle...
‘But how am I supposed to explain this?’
He could say that the lost internal energy had vanished as Venerable Cheonsim escaped qi deviation, but if the treatment worked too well and he regained his senses midway through, Jin Sowoon would become the martial world’s public enemy.
‘Screw it. I’ll think about it later!’
Once he cleared his thoughts and activated the Azure Dragon Bangle, Venerable Cheonsim’s body began to tremble.
At the same time, Jin Sowoon felt an immense energy, vast as the sea, flow into his own body.
The energy he had absorbed until now had carried a somewhat sinister sensation after passing through the Azure Dragon Bangle. The energy flowing in now was incomparably warm.
It was as though the Azure Dragon Bangle did not need to do any work itself. Even the quantity it took in was incomparably greater than any energy it had absorbed before.
Jin Sowoon controlled the speed as he absorbed the energy, ensuring no outward change appeared in Venerable Cheonsim.
“Could he be performing a great method?”
Baekjong stared in shock.
Jin Sowoon had fixed his hand around Venerable Cheonsim’s arm as though taking his pulse and had not moved at all.
“What great method could he possibly know? Performing some unknown method on Venerable Cheonsim of the Shaolin Sect...”
“Monk Baekjong!”
“...?”
“Is the great method important right now?”
Ilgak’s face had hardened.
Only then did Baekjong come to his senses.
It seemed the poison of the Mushim Illusion Powder had not fully left his system yet.
“M-More importantly, isn’t this dangerous?”
Attempting a great method in such a situation placed a tremendous burden and danger upon its user.
“Benefactor Jin’s life could be in danger too!”
If Venerable Cheonsim moved after losing his reason, both Venerable Cheonsim and Jin Sowoon would lose their lives.
“...”
Ilgak did not know what great method Jin Sowoon was performing, but he knew Jin Sowoon was risking his life.
He also knew how calculating Jin Sowoon usually was.
‘Why...’
Jin Sowoon was not someone who tried to ingratiate himself with Ilgak because of Ilgak’s status or background. Ilgak even knew that Jin Sowoon held immense hatred for the Nine Sects One Gang.
But...
‘Why?’
Why would someone like him risk his life to save Venerable Cheonsim?
Ilgak could not understand it at all...
‘Could it be because of me...?’
No, it had to be because of him.
Because Venerable Cheonsim was Ilgak’s master, Jin Sowoon was performing a great method more dangerous than walking barefoot along a blade’s edge.
That was it. It was because of him.
‘...Why do I only bring harm to those around me?’
Ilgak did not realize tears were streaming down his face.
Around the time his tears began to wet the ground, Jin Sowoon was flung away from Venerable Cheonsim’s body.
“Benefactor Jin...!!”
Like lightning, Ilgak caught Jin Sowoon.
At that critical moment, he unconsciously gripped the strange yet precious person who had not hesitated to throw himself into danger.
“Did... did the great method succeed?”
Jin Sowoon flinched in surprise for a moment, then his eyes softened.
“I don’t know. I took a gamble.”
“...”
Should Ilgak be angry that he had attempted an uncertain treatment?
Or should he thank him for risking his life?
He did not know the result, but there was only one thing Ilgak could say.
“Thank you, Benefactor Jin...”
“Save your thanks until we know the result.”
Freed from Jin Sowoon’s hand, Venerable Cheonsim’s body twitched.
Then he slowly opened his eyes.
Within those opened eyes...
“G-Gak...”
His black pupils were properly focused.
“Master!”
Ilgak immediately ran to Venerable Cheonsim and embraced him. The others let out long sighs of relief.
Only one person.
‘...Did he regain his senses a little too quickly?’
The martial world’s public enemy... no, Jin Sowoon alone watched their touching reunion with uneasy eyes.
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