WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 86: Hell's Entrance Exam: Gate ‘II’ (3)
──────
“This... is impossible.”
A scream escaped Jong Seogang's lips.
Understandably so. Shangjeong Sect must have felt the same way when it witnessed this scene in my previous life.
Mount Makgan had been little more than an unnamed mountain in my previous life. It became famous only after the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent appeared.
Shangjeong Sect, which had held the seventeenth peak among the One Hundred Eight Peaks at the time, was the first to hear the news. It mobilized every martial artist in the sect, but ultimately failed.
That was because Mount Makgan was home not only to the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent, but also to the One-Horned Black Toad, known as the natural enemy of snakes.
Drawn out by the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent's scent, the One-Horned Black Toad appeared. Shangjeong Sect's martial artists should have fled at once, but they could not abandon their greed for the two three-hundred-year-old spiritual creatures before their eyes.
In the end, they suffered nearly four hundred casualties.
Weakened by the incident, Shangjeong Sect could not withstand the attacks of the Cheongdo Fellowship and the Huang Sword Sect, eventually vanishing into history.
Ironically, the Cheongdo Fellowship and Huang Sword Sect from that time now stood here before the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad.
“Th-that horned toad first... No, that snake first...”
Having caught the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent's scent, the One-Horned Black Toad soon changed targets under the killing intent pouring toward it from all sides and began attacking the people.
Its long tongue flashed out and vanished.
Three martial artists disappeared without a trace.
“Argh!”
“Kyaaaaagh!”
“Aaagh!”
Only the swords they had held remained where they had stood. The One-Horned Black Toad raised its head and swallowed what it held in its mouth.
“You damned toad!”
Enraged by the loss of their comrades, several martial artists shot toward the toad like arrows.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Their swords struck its back at the same time, but none could pierce the black toad's flesh.
Then something strange happened.
“Sniff. What is this...?”
“Urgh!”
The martial artists who had climbed onto the toad's back to strike with their swords suddenly dropped their weapons and clutched their throats.
They leaped down as though unable to breathe, but did not even make it three steps.
Their blue faces rapidly turned purple, then black. They froze in place and died.
“Poison!”
“Don't get close!”
The battlefield turned into chaos in an instant.
If they moved away from the One-Horned Black Toad, its lightning-fast tongue flew at them.
If they retreated farther to escape its tongue, the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent opened its jaws and swallowed them whole.
“That bastard! Get the one with the Gate I Token first!”
At Jong Seogang's desperate shout, the martial artists watching the chaos all turned to Gam Cheoljin.
“You damned bastards! I'm the man who will become the Huang Sword Sect Leader! Move at once!”
“...”
Only after Gam Cheoljin nodded did they begin approaching me again.
I drew up all my internal energy and unleashed killing intent.
“Urgh, what kind of killing intent is this...?”
“Damn it...”
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists released killing intent in return, trying not to be overwhelmed by my momentum.
As the distance between us rapidly closed, our swords collided.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Stepping through the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps, I unleashed the Twin Heavens Sword Art.
Only a few martial artists, including Gam Cheoljin, seemed to have reached the peak realm. The Twin Heavens Sword Art alone was enough to deal with the rest.
“He's retreating! Press him harder!”
I glanced at the delighted Jong Seogang.
“Your underlings will suffer with an idiot like you as their leader.”
“...”
Gam Cheoljin and the other peak experts should have been dealing with the two spiritual creatures rather than me.
Naturally, the people below would suffer when someone who did not even understand the basics of battle took command.
Grrrk. Grrrk.
The moment I heard the One-Horned Black Toad croak...
“Uh... Uhh!”
The martial artists frantically fending off the Twin Heavens Sword Art suddenly realized they had reached the One-Horned Black Toad's very nose.
I immediately used the Ghost Breath Movement Art and slipped between the One-Horned Black Toad's legs.
“H-how?”
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists stared blankly as I passed the toad, then went pale.
The One-Horned Black Toad's tongue had begun targeting them.
“Aaagh!”
“R-run!”
“You idiots! Don't run! It's only one toad!”
At Jong Seogang's shrieking command, the Huang Sword Sect martial artists could neither advance nor retreat. They only looked toward Gam Cheoljin.
“Use palm arts!”
“Yes!”
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists unleashed their palm arts together.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick dust spread through the area, hiding the One-Horned Black Toad from view.
“...”
“D-did we get it?”
Before the ominous words had even left his mouth, a massive shadow fell over their heads.
“F-fuck!”
Boom!
Grrrk. Grrrk.
Unharmed, the One-Horned Black Toad began rampaging through the martial artists.
“Are you all right?”
I immediately went to check on Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong.
Fortunately, none appeared seriously injured.
“First Senior Brother, what is that thing?”
“A Gate II Token, what else?”
“Is this really how we're supposed to pass Gate II?”
Eunho looked at me with disbelief. The bastard who endlessly repeated things I had supposedly said when I had never said them did not bother hiding his distrust at a time like this.
“Listen carefully. From now on, we'll strike the pursuers.”
“What?!”
“Now?”
“Yes. If not now, we can't shake them off. Unless the others learn that attacking us will cost them dearly, the pursuit will continue. Do you want to keep eating jerky with blood-soaked hands among corpses?”
“...Where should we start?!”
Geumpyo shook his head, apparently sick of the past few days already. If he was like this now, what would happen later?
“Will this be all right? If we deal with them, won't we become the next prey?”
“Why do you think I taught you the Ghost Breath Movement Art?”
“If we use the Ghost Breath Movement Art, it won't notice us?”
“Even if it has lived long enough to form an inner core, it is still only a beast. Its instincts are sharp because it lacks intelligence, which makes it easier to deceive.”
“Understood.”
With that, we scattered in every direction.
I immediately returned to the Huang Sword Sect martial artists battling the One-Horned Black Toad.
“Attack! Kill it! Why can't you even catch a mere toad? Can you still call yourselves Huang Sword Sect martial artists?”
Jong Seogang had lost all his usual composure and shouted wildly.
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists led by Gam Cheoljin had maintained their distance and calmly continued the hunt, but Jong Seogang thought they were avoiding a direct clash with the One-Horned Black Toad.
“Jin Sowoon! Where is that bastard Jin Sowoon?”
Distracted by the One-Horned Black Toad for a moment, he soon began calling my name while scanning the area.
“Urgh!”
“Cough!”
“T-Taeul Sect! Taeul Sect is attacking!”
Screams began ringing out in the distance.
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists could not see through the thick dust hanging everywhere. They fought the One-Horned Black Toad while fearing an attack at any moment.
That only made dealing with the One-Horned Black Toad harder.
“Young Master. We should withdraw for now.”
“...What?”
“We are not prepared to hunt either the One-Horned Black Toad or the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent right now.”
“What are you saying? The Gate II Token and Gate I Token are right before us!”
“If this continues, every Huang Sword Sect martial artist may die.”
“Gam Cheoljin!”
Jong Seogang's furious voice thundered across the battlefield.
“Do I look laughable because I have not yet received the position of Young Sect Leader?”
“...”
Jong Seogang looked as though his rage had driven all reason from his mind.
“I am Jong Seogang of the Huang Sword Sect!”
“...”
“If we withdraw now, we'll lose not only the Gate I Tokens, but also the spiritual creatures that can earn us a Gate II Token! Can you take responsibility for that? Answer me!”
“...”
Jong Seogang was acting exactly as he had when he ruined his own sect while working in the Enforcement Hall during my previous life.
People truly did not change.
Having decided there was no reason to pay him further attention, I went straight to find Jang Sunwon, the Cheongdo Fellowship's Young Hall Master.
Jang Sunwon stood in the safest spot with his bodyguards, watching the battlefield in every direction.
“Are you planning to stand there and watch while your fellowship members die?”
They flinched when I approached with the Ghost Breath Movement Art.
“Jin Sowoon...”
Jang Sunwon called my name through gritted teeth.
“How touching. To think you'd call my name that way.”
“...Do I know you?”
He looked completely confused.
Of course he did. Our connection belonged to my previous life.
“If you take your martial artists and leave, I won't pursue you.”
“...”
He looked conflicted.
How shallow.
His fellowship members were dying, as were the martial artists from the sects that had agreed to work with him, yet he weighed gains against losses.
A typical trait of people who believed they were in no way inferior to their opponent.
And they usually made similar choices.
Jang Sunwon's brows rose.
“What a petty trick! You're the one who should hand over all the Gate I Tokens at once!”
“I knew you'd choose that.”
A martial artist like Gam Cheoljin was not someone just anyone could keep at their side.
The Cheongdo Fellowship had never raised hidden experts on Gam Cheoljin's level.
The Black Dragon Sword, still wet with blood, swept through the air and created dozens of illusion swords.
The Cheongdo Fellowship bodyguards stepped forward and swung their heavy sabers, but the essence of the heavy saber was weight.
They could not overcome the Twin Heavens Sword Art, which contained the principle of transforming swordplay.
“Urgh.”
“Ghk.”
Four bodyguards fell in an instant, and Jang Sunwon's eyes trembled violently.
“A-all right. I-I'll return...”
“Only deciding after your own life is in danger?”
“Didn't I say I would return? I will return!”
“Die as befits the Young Hall Master of the Cheongdo Fellowship.”
“Urgh! You bastard! How dare you do this to our Cheongdo Fellowship...”
Jang Sunwon could not finish speaking. His chest split open, and he collapsed.
I filled my voice with internal energy and shouted.
“The Cheongdo Fellowship's Young Hall Master is dead. Those who wish to live, fend for yourselves!”
...
...?!
...!!
The martial artists who witnessed Jang Sunwon's death with disbelieving eyes began to hesitate.
The Cheongdo Fellowship martial artists were busy fighting the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and could not even think of approaching me.
“Kill him! If we kill that bastard, we win! We can enter the Martial Arts Academy!”
Jong Seogang pointed at me and shouted, but no one dared move rashly.
I used the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art and appeared before Jong Seogang in an instant.
“Gasp! What kind of movement art is... Urgh!”
Then I drove the Black Dragon Sword into him.
“What is this...?”
Jong Seogang's eyes could not believe the Black Dragon Sword buried in his chest.
Sliiide.
His body tilted, and the sword slid free.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The Huang Sword Sect martial artists who had been fighting the One-Horned Black Toad stared blankly.
“There is no one left in the Huang Sword Sect who can enter the Martial Arts Academy. Will you continue?”
I spoke to Gam Cheoljin, the true power within the Huang Sword Sect.
“...”
“If you continue, every Huang Sword Sect martial artist will have to leave their bones here. As you saw earlier, our Taeul Sect is unaffected by those spiritual creatures.”
“...”
Gam Cheoljin looked around.
Nearly fifty martial artists were dead.
Even so, only around thirty remained. The other twenty had not even left corpses behind and had become wandering ghosts.
Even if everyone united, hunting those creatures would be difficult. If they kept suffering Taeul Sect attacks as well, they would all have no choice but to leave their bones here.
“Let us return.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
No one objected to Gam Cheoljin's decision. Instead, they looked relieved to be leaving.
“You made the right choice.”
“...Thank you for preserving the martial artists' lives.”
“You are the one who saved those lives.”
“Everyone, withdraw! We are returning!”
As soon as Gam Cheoljin finished speaking, the Huang Sword Sect martial artists poured out palm force and began retreating.
When the Huang Sword Sect withdrew, the One-Horned Black Toad moved toward the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent again. The Cheongdo Fellowship martial artists could no longer hold on either and had no choice but to retreat.
“I will give you one quarter-hour! Anyone who remains here after that will be considered to have chosen to fight to the end!”
“What are we supposed to do about the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad?”
“I will stop them.”
“?”
I leaped high above the heads of the two spiritual creatures and unleashed the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The creatures, which had not budged despite their enormous bodies, could not move as though crushed beneath a mountain of boulders.
“This is... impossible.”
“What kind of martial art does a Taeul Sect martial artist possess?”
The martial artists forgot to flee and could only stare blankly.
Once again, I filled my voice with internal energy and roared.
“I said one quarter-hour!”
As though struck by lightning, the martial artists' eyes flew open. Regardless of sect, they shouldered every corpse they saw and raced down the mountain.
* * *
Eunho did not know whether to be happy or not.
Enemies who had surrounded them like a tight net, squeezing the breath from them, were now fleeing like mice before a cat.
No, if they left like that, how were they supposed to catch those monsters?
A two-hundred-year-old or three-hundred-year-old spiritual creature might be something martial artists wished to encounter once in their lives, but it was only treasure to those with enough ability to claim it. To Eunho, who had not even reached twenty, they were nothing more than man-eating monsters.
“They must have retreated because First Senior Brother can handle them himself.”
Geumpyo spoke calmly, as though Eunho was worrying over nothing.
“...Whew.”
Dongryong flicked the blood from his sword and looked refreshed.
Then Jin Sowoon stopped fighting the two monsters, kicked off the air, and landed beside Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong.
“Huh?”
“Ah!”
“...!”
The three brothers' eyes widened.
“Why have you suddenly come over here?”
Eunho asked that without thinking, overcome by unease.
“...”
Jin Sowoon looked at him with narrowed eyes. Realizing his mistake, Eunho hurriedly continued.
“First Senior Brother, you sent everyone away because you have a way to catch them, right?”
Jin Sowoon raised an eyebrow as he shook the viscous blood from the Black Dragon Sword, as though asking what he meant.
That expression made Eunho and Geumpyo even more uneasy.
“I am not one of the Ten Great Masters Under Heaven. How am I supposed to catch those things?”
That was right. It made sense.
Eunho did not know where First Senior Brother's martial arts ended, but catching spiritual creatures that had lived for centuries was another matter entirely.
But was this really the time to say that?
“You sent everyone away even though you cannot catch them?”
“Must we catch them in the first place?”
“What?”
Eunho looked at Geumpyo, wondering if he had misunderstood something, but Geumpyo was trying to clean the bloodstains from his clothes while Dongryong stood there with his mouth hanging open, watching the spiritual creatures.
Eunho clearly was not the only one who did not understand.
The other two had simply stopped thinking.
“There is no need to catch them. Use the Ghost Breath Movement Art again.”
“...”
Once Jin Sowoon used the Ghost Breath Movement Art, his presence could not be felt even though he stood right in front of them.
Geumpyo and Dongryong's Ghost Breath Movement Art still gave off a faint trace of presence.
“This is a fight between a snake that is the toad's natural enemy and a horned toad that lives by eating such snakes. There is no reason for us to interfere.”
“What does that...”
“Watch carefully.”
Once Jin Sowoon's group erased their presence, the two monsters that had been viciously searching for people looked around in confusion.
They soon realized that everyone had disappeared and turned their fighting spirits toward one another.
Kyaaaaah!
Grrrk!
The two spiritual creatures began fighting in an instant.
The Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent tried to coil around the One-Horned Black Toad. The One-Horned Black Toad leaped with its massive body and charged the serpent with the horn on its head.
Kyaaaaah!
The Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent's flesh, which ordinary swords could not even scratch, caved in. It screamed in pain.
Its high-pitched cry pierced Eunho's eardrums.
“Are we supposed to deal with only the winner after they fight? That does not look easy either.”
Even if one of them died, what method could they use to deal with the survivor?
“There is no need for that either.”
The battle intensified.
The Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent sprayed venom everywhere. The One-Horned Black Toad was struck by it and trembled as though paralyzed.
The Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent then opened its massive jaws and swallowed the One-Horned Black Toad whole.
“Ah! Then the inner core...”
“It is not over yet.”
Having swallowed the One-Horned Black Toad whole, the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent's throat bulged as it tried to absorb the creature.
Crack. Stab.
A horn suddenly emerged from the top of the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent's head.
Could it be? Was it becoming a One-Horned Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent after eating the One-Horned Black Toad?
The absurd thought had barely crossed Eunho's mind when blood burst like a fountain from around the horn. The Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent collapsed with its massive body.
Boom.
Grrrk. Grrrk.
The One-Horned Black Toad pulled its horn from the serpent's head and barely dragged itself free, its skin melted in places.
“See? I told you there was no need to fight.”
First Senior Brother had somehow climbed onto the One-Horned Black Toad's head. He drove the Black Dragon Sword deeply into its eye.
Ghk.
The One-Horned Black Toad died without even being able to resist properly.
Eunho asked in shock, “First Senior Brother, did you enter Mount Makgan knowing pursuers would follow us?”
“We had to pass Gate II anyway, did we not? We have no money, so I accepted a little help from others.”
“...Help?”
As Eunho stood dumbfounded, Jin Sowoon spoke to Geumpyo and Dongryong.
“Can you trust this senior brother now?”
“First Senior Brother! I, Geumpyo, have never once doubted you since the day I was born!”
“First Senior Brother! Even if you said you made fermented soybean paste from red beans, I would believe you!”
“...”
Geumpyo and Dongryong cheered wildly, drunk on the joy of victory.
Eunho could not join them properly, burdened by an inexplicable unease.
Was this really right?
No matter how he thought about it, he could not easily accept it.
This did not seem to be the purpose behind the examination the Martial Arts Academy had set.
According to First Senior Brother, the Martial Arts Academy was still an educational institution. It could not openly write, “We want rich people to enter,” so it must have created this examination instead.
How flustered would the academy be if someone solved a problem that had been designed not to be solved in the first place?
Would this truly be all right?
Geumpyo and Dongryong were now looking at Eunho, apparently lacking the strength to toss First Senior Brother into the air by themselves. Eunho sighed softly and stopped thinking.
* * *
“To be honest, I do not know what I should do.”
Yang Gunbaek looked at the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad with a devastated expression.
The courier hawk that should have arrived could not approach because of the killing intent from the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web, so Yang Gunbaek had come personally out of concern.
I happened to have something to handle, so I was glad he had come, but his expression did not look pleasant.
“Why is that?”
“If I submit this as a report, they will certainly suspect me of lying.”
“...Haha. Is that so?”
Yang Gunbaek let out a long sigh, then quickly regained his composure.
“This is truly fortunate. I was worried, but you have achieved such excellent results.”
“It is thanks to your concern.”
“Did you receive the Gate II Token?”
After we killed the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad, opened their abdomens, and took out their inner cores, Martial Alliance examiners and martial artists appeared from somewhere.
“They recognized each of them as worth three sixty-year cycles.”
“That is truly remarkable.”
Yang Gunbaek stared blankly at the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad, then suddenly widened his eyes.
“Then... what have you decided to do with their corpses? Will you hand them over to the Martial Alliance?”
The Martial Alliance normally dealt in spiritual creature corpses and inner cores, so the examiner had asked the same question.
“I have a better friend. Why would I need to use them?”
When I said that with a meaningful smile, Yang Gunbaek's mouth spread wide.
“I will... I will handle them in a way you will never regret.”
“Then please take care of this as well.”
I handed the inner cores of the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad to Yang Gunbaek.
His eyes went round.
“Sell those two and obtain three suitable medicinal pellets.”
“...Sowoon, that is possible, but would it not be better to consume these directly rather than sell them and buy something else?”
“That is true, but the three of them only have around ten years of internal energy.”
“Ah...”
I looked at Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong, who were teasing one another.
The inner cores of the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and the One-Horned Black Toad contained poison.
Someone with sufficient internal energy could convert even that poison into internal energy, but Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong would be poisoned before they could refine the inner cores.
“Dispose of the Golden-Scaled Azure Thread Serpent and One-Horned Black Toad corpses as well. Put all of it toward purchasing medicinal pellets.”
“Yes. I will obtain the medicinal pellets first before disposing of the spiritual creatures.”
I tilted my head at Yang Gunbaek's words.
“That would be good for me, but you do not need to go that far...”
Obtaining the medicinal pellets before selling the goods meant using his own money or the Hao Sect's money first.
In that case, the additional expenses, such as the cost of handling and storing the spiritual creature corpses, could not be passed on.
If the goods could not be sold on the market, the money might remain tied up for a long time.
I could not understand why Yang Gunbaek would willingly accept losses he did not need to bear.
“...”
Yang Gunbaek moved his lips several times as though trying to say something, then finally spoke.
“I do not know how to tell you this. I may spoil the good mood.”
“Has something happened?”
“You do not have time, Sowoon.”
“What do you mean? Even if we were late at Gate I, we are rather early at Gate II.”
“Wudang Sect, Mount Hua Sect, and Mount Cang Sect have begun moving.”
“...?”
“Toward you, Sowoon.”
=======
Hello, this is Jeokseolmok.
I hope you are keeping well in this scorching summer.
Yes. The story of that pathetic Jin Sowoon, along with the author, has now begun in earnest.
Thank you for staying with us, and I hope you will continue to do so.
Whether he will truly become the legend he dreams of becoming... I still do not know.
But I ask for the support of all you great heroes, so that Sowoon, and the author, may grow and one day see the world he desires.
This summer is expected to be unusually hot.
May you use Carrier's great ice-wind machine, the one supreme enlightened sage among those foolish barbarian foreigners, and spend a summer undefeated by the heat.
Thank you.
=======
Footnotes:
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