WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 574: Dragon Hunting (2)
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Black Flame Dragon.
I tilted my head.
“I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”
Gan Se-ung paused.
“I’m the Taeul True Sword.”
He bared his yellow teeth.
“Hehehe, so it was true that you hated your epithet...”
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms
First Form
Extreme Swiftness
How many more did I have to kill before that damned epithet stopped spreading through the martial world?
Well, it did not matter how many.
Whenever that epithet came up, the Scarlet Radiance Sword only had to pass judgment.
Screeeech!
Krrrrrk!
The sound of metal grinding pierced my eardrums.
The Green Forest bandits fighting nearby clutched their ears and collapsed to the ground.
But...
“Not bad, Black Flame Dragon. Ah, you said you didn’t like that name, didn’t you?”
Only a few shallow scratches marked the enormous fist guards that covered nearly his entire upper body.
“Then...”
No matter how many there were or how strong they were...
“What about Raging Dragon?”
...Fuck. If Raging Dragon disappeared too, what would come next?
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms
Second Form
Extreme Strength
Bundles of qi force rained down on him like Thunderclap Bombs.
Hummm!
Vicious qi force burst from his fist guards like fireworks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Fragments of qi force scattered in every direction, triggering massive explosions across the battlefield.
Protected by Extreme Strength, I suffered no harm. The Green Forest bandits caught in the blasts, however, were torn apart and rained down in pieces.
‘This bastard...’
He paid no attention to his surroundings.
Even when Northern Forest Alliance bandits died to his own qi force, he did not so much as blink.
As if brushing off ants crushed beneath his feet, he shook it off and attacked again.
Crash!
When his massive fist guard struck the ground, the earth in a straight line began to rise in sequence.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
I kicked off the ground to evade his attack, but his huge body immediately shot toward me like a cannonball.
He was unbelievably fast for someone of that size.
Thud!
He had only rammed into me, yet even the Devouring Gauntlet could not absorb all the impact.
“Not bad, Raging Dragon. Countless people lose consciousness from a single blow like that... but don’t think this is over!”
He kicked off the ground again and launched himself at me like a cannonball.
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw into his body and used its recoil to pull myself toward him. At the same time, I put my weight behind the Scarlet Radiance Sword and swung.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
I had definitely wrapped the sword in qi force before striking him.
Tremble!
The impact was severe enough to make my grip shake.
I had clearly avoided his fist guards and landed solid blows, yet only a few shallow cuts marked his body.
‘Demon King’s Tortoise Shell!’
One of the Demonic Cult’s grotesque external martial arts, the Demon King’s Tortoise Shell hardened the skin like iron plating.
His entire body was as thick and solid as a fortress wall.
“I hear the Taeul Sect’s sword arts use the principles of Change and Illusion. Hm, what a pity. Every fool who tried to deceive me has died.”
Gan Se-ung’s lips curled into a relaxed smile.
“In the end, the Taeul Sect’s disciples will die by my hand as well.”
“...”
Something hot surged up from deep within my chest at his words.
“If that’s the case...”
But my mind settled into an icy calm.
“Then I’ll have to kill you here, Yellow Teeth.”
Gan Se-ung’s smug smile widened.
“Hehehehe. You’re an amusing one. Now I understand why the Little Demon has taken an interest in you.”
“Has that idiot still not grasped reality?”
Gan Se-ung’s face hardened.
“You dare...!”
I could not suppress my smile. I had found his sore spot.
“Oh, right. Was that supposed to be a secret? Sorry.”
“You bastard!”
Mounds of earth rose around him in waves, as though ripples were spreading across water.
#
Hwa Jeongsan’s hands tangled through a series of complicated motions.
He could not properly unleash his forms.
He could use neither the Nine Palaces Overturning Heaven Sword nor the Plum Blossom Sword Art properly.
There were too many enemies. The unpredictable circumstances became countless obstacles that blocked his sword paths, regardless of the strength or weakness of his sword forms.
In the end, he stirred his internal energy and opened a path with a single strike.
Slash!
“Argh!”
“Aaargh!”
He cut down the eight bandits directly in front of him, but another twelve rushed in and blocked his path.
He tried to use the Seven Stars Step to retreat, but his feet tangled in the piled corpses and the horde of bandits charging from behind. He fell to the ground.
“Huh?”
Before he had time to use the humiliating Lazy Donkey Roll, a huge flail and axe came crashing down on him.
He reached out to fire a palm strike, but...
Grab!
A wounded bandit on the ground stubbornly seized that hand as well.
‘Am I... going to die here?’
He could not believe he was about to meet such an absurd death in a place utterly unbefitting the New Plum Blossom Sword’s epithet.
Boom!
Fortunately, the world did not yet want the New Plum Blossom Sword dead.
“Deputy Stronghold Leader, are you all right?”
Dang Seohui appeared behind the bandits sent flying by her palm force, scattering Feather Needles.
“The Stronghold Leader has arrived. How long are you planning to lie there?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Where are they?”
At Dang Seohui’s question, Hwa Jeongsan quickly regained his senses and looked around.
He had no trouble finding the person she meant.
This was a battlefield filled with bandits.
Those still wearing martial uniforms stood out clearly.
“There. They’re over there.”
“Don’t fall behind.”
“Wait, if you rush in like that...”
“They are an important witness who knows what happened. We can’t let them get away.”
“...”
The moment he arrived, Hwa Jeongsan had recognized the Baeksong Sect martial artist.
He had not said so immediately because, as Jin Sowoon suspected, he feared the Baeksong Sect might truly be connected to the Demonic Cult.
The Baeksong Sect was one of the sects that followed the Orthodox Society.
If such a group was connected to the Demonic Cult, it would also be a serious stain on the Orthodox Society.
Yet when people who appeared to be from the Demonic Cult actually revealed themselves, he grew anxious.
If they let the Baeksong Sect martial artist escape, it felt as though they would make a grave mistake.
That was why Hwa Jeongsan had told Jin Sowoon about the Baeksong Sect.
‘Could the Orthodox Society have known and still gone through with this operation...?’
Hwa Jeongsan shook his head before the thought could continue.
That could not be true. Even if they were connected to the Demonic Cult, why would the Orthodox Society have any reason to go that far?
It was not as though the Orthodox Society had forced them into dealing with the Demonic Cult.
All they had to do was punish the Baeksong Sect this time and prevent something like this from happening again.
“Hwa Jeongsan!”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Where is your head?”
“Huh?”
Dang Seohui had already subdued a bandit who was charging at Hwa Jeongsan from behind.
“How dare... a mere bandit!”
Hummm!
Hwa Jeongsan’s stern fury filled his sword.
Just as sword qi was about to fly forth without even a sword form being used...
Bang!
A Feather Needle flew in and blocked Hwa Jeongsan’s sword.
“What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?!”
To break through this crowd, they could not waste even a scrap of internal energy.
That move had nearly tangled his internal energy and caused internal injuries.
Yet Dang Seohui’s expression remained utterly resolute.
“They are enemies now, but they will become comrades later.”
“???”
Comrades? Bandits...?
Hwa Jeongsan deeply furrowed his brow at the incomprehensible statement.
“When the Southern Forest Alliance and Northern Forest Alliance merge into one, we will all belong to the Green Forest Alliance.”
Hwa Jeongsan could not understand at all.
‘Fuck... what is this?’
It was too absurd to be a joke in such a desperate situation.
“As the Deputy Stronghold Leader of Black Phoenix Stronghold, you cannot act that way.”
But... it did not seem to be a joke.
“I’m not doing it, you idiot!”
She had not been this bad during their time in the Dragon-Phoenix Association.
After traveling with Jin Sowoon, she seemed to have become even stranger.
It was as though someone had kept tossing dry firewood onto a dying flame until madness surged in every direction.
There was no need to ask who had thrown in the dry firewood.
“And it’s dangerous to keep tensing your body in such a chaotic situation.”
Her next words were cool and clear, snapping him back to his senses.
How many times had he felt danger since entering this battlefield?
“Relax. If you neutralize your opponents and secure a route through them, you can move faster.”
“In this mess... is that even possible?”
“Hm...”
Dang Seohui forcibly furrowed her childishly smooth brow.
Her face did not crease, nor did even a tiny fold of flesh form as she spoke.
“The Tang Clan can do it. Is Mount Hua Sect unable to?”
“...Y-you, you... fuuuuck!”
Hwa Jeongsan’s face flushed red.
“I swear. No matter what happens, I will never let Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect and Dang Seohui of the Tang Clan get away with this!”
“Then improve your skills first.”
Hwa Jeongsan gritted his teeth and began following Dang Seohui.
It was truly frustrating.
So incredibly frustrating.
As if proving her words, Dang Seohui easily subdued the bandits as she moved farther and farther ahead.
Hwa Jeongsan also gritted his teeth and pushed forward while neutralizing his opponents as much as possible. Strangely enough, his speed increased.
Of course, the wounds on his body were also steadily multiplying.
‘Damn it.’
He had worked himself to death over and over again, yet the distance between him and the geniuses remained vast.
Boom!
Then a massive explosion rang out in the distance.
A huge man, at least twice the size of an ordinary person, was locked in a fierce duel with another man.
They said size was meaningless in the martial world, but the giant’s presence alone made it clear that he was no ordinary opponent.
Yet the man facing him...
Jin Sowoon did not shrink back in the slightest.
If anything, he was attacking the giant so aggressively that it looked dangerous.
‘Damn it...’
When Jin Sowoon had first encountered him at the Taeul Sect, he had not yielded an inch even before the New Plum Blossom Sword.
That man still had the most meager innate aptitude, yet he refused to retreat even before an opponent several times stronger than himself.
He had thrown his entire body against the absolute belief that innate aptitude and background could never be overcome.
He had done it during the regular examination, and he had done it in Mukrim.
That was why Hwa Jeongsan could not stop.
“I...”
He could not fall any farther behind the man he had once despised more than anyone, the man who now kept running ahead.
“I am the New Plum Blossom Sword of Mount Hua Sect!”
Crack!
The Plum Blossom Fist and Tiger-Subduing Fist unfolded from his hands, knocking down bandits in every direction.
Crack!
“Aaargh!”
When the graceful hand movements of the Plum Blossom Scatter-Hand unfolded, bandits whose arms bent in directions they never should have screamed and fled.
At last, he caught up with Dang Seohui.
“Huff, huff, huff... If the Taeul Sect and Tang Clan can do it... Mount Hua Sect can too...”
“Hwa Jeongsan. Is this the time to be playing around?”
“...You little, after I worked so hard...”
Hwa Jeongsan could not finish.
A revolting sensation that stirred his instincts made him turn his head.
“What is that?”
There stood the people with whom he had exchanged a few words in the past.
“Baeksong Sect, what the hell are you doing right now?”
They were openly giving off unmistakable demonic qi.
#
Powerful external martial arts.
A fist art that charged straight ahead without variation.
Even an absurd movement art that did not suit his massive body.
Just as Gan Se-ung said, he was an opponent almost tailor-made to counter the Taeul Sect, which used the principles of Change and Illusion.
Smack!
Thud!
Every time we collided, I clenched my teeth hard enough to feel as though my jaw would break.
I knew my bones would not break easily because I had consumed the Vajra Elixir, but every collision still made it feel like my body was falling apart.
“Why have you stopped running your mouth? Have you finally understood reality?”
“It’s not that. What could I possibly have to say about a defective idiot like the Little Demon?”
“...I’ll rip out that tongue of yours!”
Bang!
He was cunning, too, and did not easily reveal an opening.
No, he attacked after cutting off even my chance to counterattack.
‘It feels like fighting a damned wall.’
I knew the Seven Demon Wisdom Lords were not chosen based solely on martial prowess, but even so, the difference between him and Je Geumhak, the Fiend Lord, was far too great.
And the more infuriating problem was this.
Hummm!
Whenever I tried to widen the distance, he flew at me like a cannonball with maddening speed.
Boom!
I could not even evade perfectly, because doing so would cause the Southern Forest Alliance to suffer even greater damage.
“R-retreat!”
“F-fall back farther! The Black Dragon Stronghold Leader is fighting for us!”
No matter how much the Green Forest bandits retreated, it was not easy in the chaos of battle.
Crash!
Wherever he landed, a huge crater formed, as though a boulder had fallen from the sky.
His martial arts were the simplest kind, an unchanging charge straight ahead, but their destructive power was so absurd that it overwhelmed and crushed any clever principle.
‘Damn it, I should have switched opponents with Brother Bang.’
I did not know who Bang Duchil was fighting, but it would surely have been more productive than facing Gan Se-ung, the Fist Lord.
Still, I could not stand here and complain.
Besides, it was time to make use of memories from my previous life for the first time in a while.
I used the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps against the man rushing at me like a siege engine.
Four afterimages appeared, clouding his vision.
Hummm!
I narrowly avoided his fist guard by less than an inch and slashed into his side.
Slash!
It was only a shallow cut, but that did not matter.
There was a reason I had not yet drawn the Ascending Heaven Dagger.
Pop!
Silent Sound Azure Water Hand slipped into his wound.
Scrape!
I rose behind him after skidding across the ground, but Gan Se-ung was already charging at me.
“Do you think you’re faster than me?”
“Idiot. Who said it was only speed?”
I gathered a vast amount of internal energy and packed it into my fist.
Then I met his fist guard head-on.
My fist looked pitifully small compared to his fist guard, but that did not matter.
This fist contained the Tyrant King Divine Fist of the Black King, once the master of the martial world.
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted where my fist met his fist guard.
The blast, however, was clearly concentrated on Gan Se-ung.
Boom!
Dust gradually settled amid the flood of a massive energy clash.
Gan Se-ung appeared through it.
“...”
He had taken three steps back.
His face was more twisted than ever.
I sneered at him.
“What’s this? Isn’t your specialty giving up everything and forcing your way through with brute strength?”
Gan Se-ung’s face turned even redder than when I had mocked the Little Demon.
“Even that isn’t much.”
“Aaargh! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you here!”
Bang! Bang!
Gan Se-ung struck the ground like an enraged ape as he prepared to charge, then suddenly froze.
He looked down at his side with disbelief.
“What is this...?”
It seemed the effects of Silent Sound Azure Water Hand had begun to take hold.
Swoooosh!
Dozens of sword images embroidered the air.
Gan Se-ung could not move a single inch.
Slash!
Slash!
Slaaash!
He took the Scarlet Radiance Sword’s attacks with his body.
“Ugh... ngh.”
So what if I could not kill him in one go?
He was not a rock. If I kept hitting him, he would die eventually.
Blood soon burst from his entire body like fountains.
It seemed he had plenty of blood, befitting that huge frame.
Slash!
Slash!
Within the storm of sword images, all he could do was raise his hands to block.
Then, at that moment...
“Hm?”
He removed one of his fist guards and placed his hand on the wound in his side.
Then...
Riiip!
He tore off his own side.
“Aaaaargh!”
His roar sounded like the howl of a beast.
A chunk of flesh as large as an adult man’s back ripped free.
Thud!
The piece of flesh that fell to the ground gradually froze, then hardened.
‘Crazy bastard...’
He had gathered the energy of Silent Sound Azure Water Hand in one place and torn away that part of his own body.
“That... stings.”
“Idiot, did you think I would use the same method again?”
“...”
“Maybe because the Little Demon is an idiot...”
I looked at him and tapped my temple.
“His subordinates can’t think either.”
Crunch!
“...Try your little tricks one more time. This time, I will smash your head...”
“Are you really an idiot? I’m not going to do the exact same thing.”
I felt a vast amount of internal energy leave my dantian.
Gan Se-ung sensed that something was wrong and hurried to move.
Flare!
The Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand, unleashed through the Void-Destroying Fist, set fire to his torn side.
“Aaargh!”
“See, idiot? I told you...”
“Hup! Aaargh!”
That idiot tried to tear off another chunk from his side.
‘Did he think I would just let him?’
I was about to unleash the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art and press him down.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A huge explosion erupted from the middle of the battlefield.
At the same time...
‘Fuck...’
An unbelievable sight entered my view.
Bang Duchil had been caught in the explosion and was lying on the ground, injured.
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