The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 534

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 534: King of the Sword Tomb (4)

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The White Path martial artists did not like the alliance with the Black Path.

More precisely, they did not like the one-sided conditions the White Path had to bear in that alliance.

Why should the White Path have to sacrifice themselves for the Black Path?

“We went along with this without thinking, but these terms are absurd.”

“So those Black Path bastards get through without suffering a scratch until we're all dead?”

The Black Path had placed some of their own masters at the front as well, but that did nothing to quell the resentment.

It soon began to hinder the operation.

When those poisoned by demonic qi fell back to the rear, no one stepped forward to replace them.

“Aren't you going up?”

“Why should I? You want me to die in place of those Black Path bastards?”

“...”

Nothing had been agreed upon, and resentment ran high, so everyone simply stood by in passive silence.

“...”

It probably made a difference that Cheonsim Seonsa was not the one leading this procession.

The words of a youngster who was not even thirty carried as little weight as a feather shaken loose by a wingbeat.

Moyong Seol looked ahead uneasily.

Those racing through the cave were fighting desperately.

A martial artist's battle was normally about displaying one's techniques as perfectly as possible to overwhelm the opponent, yet there was not a trace of perfection to be found in this fight.

“Argh!”

They were cut by swords, lacerated, and rolled across the ground until they were covered in dust.

There was no grace or dignity left.

They looked pitifully desperate and filthy.

Yet none of those fighting at the front cared about that.

They threw punches and thrust out swords, desperately trying to unleash even one more technique.

“Are you all going to keep watching?”

Unable to bear it any longer, Moyong Seol spoke, but the martial artists only turned away with sullen expressions.

The number of people at the front had been cut in half.

Jin Sowoon and the others leading the way must have already realized it.

They knew no one was coming forward.

Some occasionally glared back, but no one said anything.

“Focus! Stop thinking about anything else!”

Whenever that happened, Jin Sowoon only barked at them to concentrate on the battle.

He knew, yet he did not force them.

Even though his own life was at stake.

Unable to watch any longer, Moyong Seol stepped forward.

Her internal injuries had not fully healed, but if this continued, everyone at the front might die.

“Are you planning to go forward?”

“...Deputy Group Leader.”

“Once I see you safely back to the clan, I will gladly accept punishment for all my failings.”

Moyong Seol shook her head.

The Deputy Group Leader had injured a leg.

Someone who should have been in the rear from the beginning was standing here instead.

“We can discuss that again after we get out safely.”

“No. If I suffer any more shame than this, I... I won't be able to endure it.”

After hearing that much, Moyong Seol had nothing more to say.

The air at the front was dreadful.

The fierce combat spirit and killing intent alone made it hard to breathe, while murky energy seeped into their bodies and disrupted the circulation of internal energy.

As that murky energy made their breathing uneven, their internal energy could not circulate smoothly. In turn, the disrupted circulation hindered the execution of their techniques.

Slash!

Awkward movements created wounds and openings for the enemy to exploit.

-You need to stop worrying about your breathing.

The sound transmission that suddenly reached her belonged to Dang Seohui.

Dang Seohui looked back at Moyong Seol, her eyes bloodshot.

-It's not poison, so there is no proper countermeasure. We have no choice but to kill the enemies, fall back, and purify the tainted qi.

At Dang Seohui's words, Moyong Seol stopped trying to regulate her breathing.

Her internal energy began flowing smoothly again, like a river.

Clang, clang, clang!

One demonic being fell to the ground, drenched in blood.

“Haa... Haa...”

The murky energy she fully inhaled made her heart race.

Blood rushed to her head, making it feel ready to burst, and her dantian throbbed every time she used martial arts.

‘They've been fighting like this the whole time?’

Among those at the front, she could see Jin Sowoon and the members of Yuseong Hall.

It was understandable for masters like Cheonsim Seonsa and the Iron Pagoda Divine Fist, but it was hard to believe the others had been fighting at this level as well.

“It's time to go back now.”

Dang Seohui had already come to Moyong Seol's side.

Her eyes looked as if they had gone beyond bloodshot and become entirely red.

“I'm still fine...”

She had only just arrived. How could she already be leaving?

“There's no point if you push yourself too hard and die.”

“...”

The helplessness of having to retreat after barely fighting weighed down her entire body.

Still, she knew it. If she pushed herself for no reason, she would become a hindrance rather than a help.

Seeing the worried expressions on the Yuseong Hall members' faces as they looked ahead, she nodded.

With Yuseong Hall and the Eighteen Arhats withdrawn, only a handful of people remained at the very front.

Jin Sowoon, Ilgak, Cheonsim Seonsa, the Iron Pagoda Divine Fist, and three masters from the Black Path.

They continued their precarious battle at the nearly empty front.

They faced jiangshi while evading the demonic beings' swords, rescued the wounded, and fought on desperately.

No, it would be more accurate to call it a desperate struggle than a battle.

At the very front stood Jin Sowoon, his hair already disheveled enough to make him look like a madman.

“F-fuck...”

He slipped through the jiangshi's claws and teeth by a hair's breadth, severing enemies' necks despite his wounds.

He was wielding a sword and executing techniques, but to those watching, it looked like something else.

“Arghhh!”

It looked as though he were clawing at them with his nails and tearing them apart with his teeth.

At that moment, one martial artist muttered to himself and ran forward.

“Damn it... I don't know anymore! I can't just keep watching!”

“I have to hide behind a kid like that? Black Path or whatever, my pride won't allow it.”

Then a second martial artist stepped out.

“Honestly, I don't care. It's probably just a matter of dying sooner or later anyway. I just hope the bastards in the rear survive and tell everyone about the fucked-up things that happened here.”

Another martial artist followed.

“If I hide in the back to save my life, how am I any different from the Martial Group? I'd rather die like a martial artist than live that disgracefully!”

They began rushing forward.

“Argh!”

“Ghk!”

“Kill them!”

More people joined in an instant.

Some of them lost their lives before they could even endure a few exchanges.

“...Fuck.”

At the same time, though, the number of jiangshi and demonic beings visibly began to fall, and the procession started moving faster again.

People instinctively realized something.

If they hesitated, they would die when their turn eventually came.

If they pushed forward, there was a slim chance they might live.

“I'm next!”

“Your eyes are still red, wait!”

The people who had initially hesitated and watched one another no longer held back from racing ahead.

Neither those watching nor those rushing forward understood why they were acting that way.

The slowly moving tidal wave of people, the small change started by only a few, began to stir the cave.

A day after leaving the Central Wing, the Black Path martial artists in the middle of the procession had not faced much difficulty aside from hunger and thirst.

As promised, the White Path martial artists were fighting at the front and clearing a way.

But Gongsun Pung felt uneasy.

‘What is this?’

He did not know why.

His chest felt tight and twisted.

The White Path had kept their promise and opened the way, and there was no sign of ulterior motives.

No, despite fighting with unexpected desperation, they had not looked back even once.

Everything was proceeding exactly as originally decided.

Everything was going smoothly according to their agreement, so why did he feel so uneasy?

“Brother.”

Gongsun Pung turned at the voice calling to him. Bang Muryung, who had entered the Sword Tomb with him, stood there with a deep frown.

“What is it...?”

“I need to go to the front.”

“Hm?”

What was this about all of a sudden?

His confusion deepened at the unexpected declaration.

“I can't keep watching.”

“...”

“Those bastards... they're going to die at this rate.”

Gongsun Pung's eyes widened.

Bang Muryung.

His family had been unjustly killed by a White Path sect in the past, and he had spent his entire life dreaming of revenge.

He was someone who should have welcomed the White Path's downfall and suffering.

Bang Muryung had even been the one most adamantly opposed to this alliance from the start.

“Wouldn't it be better if they all died?”

“...”

Bang Muryung bit down hard on his lip without answering.

“From what I can see, if this continues, the White Path will all be dead within two days. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?”

“...It is.”

“Then stay put. Don't go.”

Bang Muryung pressed his lips shut again.

After a brief silence, a voice as cracked as a dried rice field cut through the air.

“But I can't do that.”

His voice was firm.

Bang Muryung soon raked a hand through his hair.

“I don't know why either. If I stay put, those bastards will all die, and after that we can carry on just fine by ourselves.”

Bang Muryung cursed as though he were a Shaolin Temple monk chanting a sutra.

Then he raised his head as if he had made up his mind.

“...Fuck, I can't keep watching.”

“...”

Gongsun Pung turned his gaze forward.

The dark passage.

Even with his vision enhanced, he could barely make anything out, and there was not a single sight before him that was not desperate.

They were fighting in a brawl so savage that it was hard to believe they were truly martial artists from renowned White Path sects.

Yet not one of them looked back or called for help.

There was only one reason.

They had promised to clear the way.

Because they had said they would stand at the front and face the enemy first.

Like torches burning themselves away to light the darkness, they showed unyielding resolve.

That must have been why Bang Muryung felt uneasy.

Bang Muryung's gaze remained fixed on one man among them.

The same man Gongsun Pung himself had found difficult to look away from.

“That brat Jin Sowoon... he hasn't fallen back even once. Most masters would die if they bled as much as he has.”

There was not a single false word in that.

Who could remain unaffected while watching someone burn away their life so desperately?

A true martial artist was someone who considered keeping faith the highest value, regardless of profit.

No one could object to calling such a person a true martial artist.

Bang Muryung had earned the fearsome epithet Solitary-Walking Ghost Sword through his cruel methods and endless thirst for revenge, but he had never ceased to be a true martial artist.

“If that bastard dies here, I'll look like a fool for standing by and watching.”

He could not remain still.

Gongsun Pung stared at Bang Muryung.

“What if this is just a particularly vicious scheme by those White Path bastards?”

Gongsun Pung tested Bang Muryung once more.

He wanted to confirm his own feelings as well.

But then.

“Say something that makes sense!”

Bang Muryung burst out in anger.

“If that's a scheme, then there isn't a single White Path bastard with any brains! Even if it is a scheme, I can't stand it, so I'll gladly fall for it.”

With that shout, Bang Muryung increased his speed and shot toward the front.

The people in the vanguard tensed when someone suddenly sprang out from the middle, but they quickly understood Bang Muryung's intent and made way for him.

A faint smile appeared on Gongsun Pung's lips as he watched his retreating back.

“Hah... Well, it is hard to just watch.”

The chasm of distrust between the White Path and the Black Path was old and deep, not something that could be easily filled.

But a great and righteous spirit[1] transcended the Black Path and the White Path. It was something every martial artist possessed.

Even the Black Path found it hard to ignore the way Jin Sowoon carried himself, more like a martial artist than anyone else.

“...Should I assume he intended this?”

As Gongsun Pung muttered, another Black Path martial artist suddenly stepped forward.

“Great Hero Gongsun. Did Brother Bang go to help the White Path?”

“He did.”

The Black Path martial artist hesitated for a moment, then gripped the weapon in hand tightly.

“...May I go as well?”

The sight of the man shining with resolve despite being so tense nearly drew a hollow laugh from Gongsun Pung.

He looked toward Jin Sowoon at the front once again.

What about that boy had stirred the Black Path martial artists?

His permission would not mean much, but Gongsun Pung nodded.

“Go ahead.”

“Thank you.”

After that, Black Path martial artists continued making their way forward.

Once more than half of them had gone up, the distinction between the vanguard and the middle ranks lost all meaning.

Before long, Black Path martial artists were running among the White Path martial artists.

“This is golden wound medicine.”

“...?”

“There isn't any poison in it! Want me to show you while I apply it?”

“...Thank you.”

The Black Path martial artists tended to the White Path martial artists returning from battle.

This strange sight...

“Get out quickly if you think you can't handle it! Don't die!”

“Jin Sowoon! I'm ten years older than you!”

“Then stop rushing ahead and fall back first!”

It had been created by someone who spoke so freely with Black Path martial artists.

“Hah... Unbelievable.”

He could not believe it even as he watched it with his own eyes.

There were no written pledges, no threats.

The deep and wide chasm between the White Path and the Black Path had been neatly bridged by a single remark from Jin Sowoon.

Gongsun Pung had never cared much about the state of affairs in the martial world, but he could predict that this Sword Tomb incident would bring about two great changes.

One would come from demonic beings such as the jiangshi.

The other would be...

‘Jin Sowoon.’

Gongsun Pung smiled without realizing it.

“...Another terrifying bastard has emerged among the White Path.”

That was enough reflection.

If he wanted to see the world change, he first had to make it out alive.

And to survive, he could not remain in the rear, hanging back and watching others' reactions.

“Great Hero Gongsun...”

“Don't ask me anymore.”

“Pardon?”

Gongsun Pung no longer answered every question from the Black Path martial artists.