WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 475: Searching for Evidence (5)
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For some reason, Gwak Susan was in a great hurry.
Like someone being pursued, he wanted to leave the Tanghyeon Sect as quickly as possible.
“And whose fault is all this?!”
Why was he looking at me as if I had wronged him?
No matter how much I thought about it, I had no idea why.
The horses headed toward Henan Province.
Traveling with the Dragon-Phoenix Association was quite a novel experience.
Normally, carrying swords and weapons invited trouble or dragged you into conflict.
Yet whenever we entered a place in the Dragon-Phoenix Association’s uniforms, the entire establishment would fall silent. More than a few people could not bear to stay there and got up to leave.
The Dragon-Phoenix Association’s insignia brought its own annoyances as well.
“I am Ever-Defeated Seo Sangbo of Henan. Since fate has allowed us to meet today, I would like to share a drink with you.”
“I am Mok Cheonhyeon of the Red Flower Sect. I have heard so much of the Dragon-Phoenix Association’s prestige that my ears are ringing. How about we spend tonight discussing martial arts?”
“I’m a peer of Thunderclap Taese! More precisely, I’m your senior. How about we share the deep bonds of the martial world between seniors and juniors today?”
An endless flood of handshakes from people I had never seen or heard of kept us from even eating properly.
“We are a gathering of young people called the Divine Spear Society. Since fate has brought us together, would you be willing to offer us a little guidance?”
“I have come from Lion Fort. Our Fort Lord has formally invited you.”
On top of that, sects with bases in every region and all manner of associations sent invitations.
Turning down the endless invitations was work in itself.
The Dragon-Phoenix Association’s name made it difficult to refuse them all outright, but we had a mission to complete, so attending every invitation was impossible.
Each time we politely declined someone disappointed by our answer, Gwak Susan, the Society Leader and its youngest member, seemed to age another year.
“…Did every Dragon-Phoenix Association throughout history go through this? Why did anyone want to do this?”
It seemed Gwak Susan, who had vaguely idealized the Dragon-Phoenix Association, was finally facing reality and having serious doubts.
“It was probably different for them. The Dragon-Phoenix Association’s job was to wander the martial world, eat, drink, and enjoy themselves.”
It was tradition for the Dragon-Phoenix Association to receive invitations from local notables whenever they visited a region, collect gifts, and then leave.
Some even said that, by the end of their activities, they would have saved enough money to buy a small estate in Wuhan.
Still, this was not something we could simply ignore.
Even if we stopped only three times a day, guests would be lining up outside whatever inn we stayed at by evening.
Gwak Susan was left dumbfounded when he saw the line stretching from the second-floor rooms all the way outside the building.
Especially when it came to this.
“Young Lady Song Joryeong of the Yanghong Song Clan is famed as a beauty throughout this region. She has traveled a long way to meet the heroes of the Dragon-Phoenix Association, so please do not turn her away.”
There was even a woman who came to meet the Dragon-Phoenix Association at their first encounter, accompanied by an attendant.
“I am Cheon Wolhyang of the Snow White Palace. You heroes work day and night for the peace of the martial world, so I wish to treat you. Please do not refuse.”
There were even invitations to expensive restaurants.
Every kind of temptation began closing in on the Dragon-Phoenix Association.
“…Isn’t it rude to invite us when there’s a monk among us? Or has it already become common knowledge that the Shaolin Temple likes alcohol and meat?”
“Benefactor Jin, what kind of nonsense is that?!”
“Honestly, why else would there be this many temptations? Did the previous Dragon-Phoenix Associations receive invitations like this too?”
Beside Ilgak, whose smooth head had turned red with anger, Gwak Susan’s face also reddened. He was unused to dealing with women.
The women of the Dragon-Phoenix Association did not welcome the situation either, and Gwak Susan finally made a decision.
“We’ll sleep outdoors.”
“…What???”
This was not like refusing to make soy paste because you feared maggots, or burning down a thatched house to kill bedbugs.
We were turning down free rooms at good inns and good food.
‘Does that make any sense?’
I fiercely opposed it, but Gwak Susan was resolute.
“I’ve already decided.”
“If turning them down is too much of a burden, I’ll do it. Can’t we just chase them all away?”
“That is precisely why we cannot, Group Leader Jin!”
In the end, a powerless subordinate had no choice but to obey the Society Leader’s command.
At least we had hired escort warriors to travel with us, so we did not need to handle every bit of grunt work ourselves.
‘…We’re still sleeping outdoors!!!’
After reluctantly accepting reality and finishing my meal, I headed for an open area I had marked when we first arrived.
I had finally finished deciphering the manuals I had been working through in my head for the past few days.
The sheer volume was one thing, but comparing them with the materials from the Profound Mystery Pavilion and deciphering every passage one by one had left me unable to do anything but trail after the Dragon-Phoenix Association.
The martial arts that had been Mak Hyowol’s false hope.
What had Mak Hyowol thought when he obtained these manuals?
Had he known that their coded text belonged to the Martial Alliance?
Perhaps the reason he hated the Martial Alliance was not simply because it had handed them over to the Wang Family Estate.
“Still, no matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand. Why were these manuals written in the Martial Alliance’s coded text?”
It was one thing for the legacies of the Iron Pagoda Hermit and the Windless Asura to end up in the Tanghyeon Sect Leader’s hands.
But it made no sense for the manuals to have been converted into coded text.
That meant the two men’s legacies had passed through the Martial Alliance before returning to the world.
“The more I learn, the worse it smells.”
I had always known the Martial Alliance was rotten, but learning the truth made it seem so filthy that no one should ever associate with it.
After all, I had found the clue to the Taeul Sword Emperor’s legacy in the Profound Mystery Pavilion as well.
“Well, whatever. That’s separate from this.”
I carefully examined the martial arts important enough to have been written in the Martial Alliance’s coded text.
[Silent Sound Azure Water Hand] and [Drifting Current Formless Sword] were the best-known ultimate arts of the Windless Asura.
[Iron Dragon Armor] could be called the Iron Pagoda Hermit himself.
I looked at [Iron Dragon Armor] first.
As an external martial art that had once competed with Vajra Possession and Vajra Indestructibility for the title of Vajra, its principles were unbelievably forceful.
[Internal strength cannot ultimately shield the weak exterior from every injury. Yet the strength of the exterior can protect even the weakness within.]
The principle was so bold that it practically told internal-injury techniques to go eat potatoes. I wondered whether the manual had been written incorrectly, but it immediately refuted my concern head-on.
[Instead of worrying about internal-injury techniques, make the exterior stronger. If you are struck by one, examine whether your exterior was truly strong enough.]
“What… Is this person insane?”
Come to think of it, there was someone who had created martial arts based on a similar principle.
That slightly unhinged person…
“The Sword Demon…”
As I read those principles, which felt strangely familiar, I gradually understood what he was arguing.
Then, after understanding every part of his claim, I came to a conclusion.
“He really is insane.”
Good heavens. The purpose of gathering internal energy was to use it as fuel to develop external martial arts.
[Iron Dragon Armor] was an external martial art that turned the body’s outer strength into a single layer.
It was like having qi force protecting the body at all times.
I could understand why it did not fear internal-injury techniques. With protective qi force spread over the body, most such attacks would collapse before the qi barrier.
It poured roughly twenty percent of one’s internal energy into external martial arts, and once [Iron Dragon Armor] was completed, there was no turning back.
Twenty percent of the internal energy that gathered in the dantian for the rest of one’s life would always be taken by Iron Dragon Armor and grow alongside it.
In other words, no one should learn it unless they were crazy about external martial arts.
“Hmm…”
The effects sounded absurd enough that I considered discarding it, but I read every last passage of the formula.
As I did…
Its effects were far better than I had expected.
Now I understood what it meant for the art to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Shaolin Sect’s Vajra Indestructible Divine Art.
“At this level, you could probably fight an Iron Zombie.”
Thinking about the hundreds of jiangshi we would eventually face, it would not be bad to have at least one person who had learned an external martial art of this level.
“I was planning to have Geumpyo learn an external martial art anyway.”
The owner of [Iron Dragon Armor] had been decided.
After that, my attention shifted to the remaining manuals.
A legendary assassin said to leave behind not even a breath of wind. The Windless Asura.
From the beginning, I had been more interested in the Windless Asura than the Iron Pagoda Hermit.
I had already consumed the Vajra Elixir, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Earth Bear’s energy had pushed my recovery ability beyond human limits. There was no need to add more external martial arts on top of that.
It was not as if I were some living jiangshi.
Besides, while fighting Blood Men, the Taeul Sword Emperor’s sword arts had their limits when I had to move within a narrow passage.
Lesser Heaven Sword Art was an excellent sword art, but it had not advanced beyond the level of foundational swordsmanship, so its applications were limited.
Hadn’t there been plenty of gaps in my combat coverage when I fought three or four Blood Men at once?
Hoping it would fill the gap between Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms and Twin Heavens Sword Art, I recalled Drifting Current Formless Sword in my mind.
“Hmm…”
My impression as I read [Drifting Current Formless Sword] was that it was an excellent sword art.
As expected of a sword art specialized for assassination, there was not a single unnecessary movement.
It covered the shortest distance with the least strength, then used precisely the required amount of force to kill its target.
It was a sword art for murder, yet even its killing intent was not strong.
The creator seemed to regard even leaking killing intent as wasteful and removed everything unnecessary except swinging the sword.
It felt less like a Formless Sword and more like a sword without thought.
I could use it with the Scarlet Radiance Sword, but it seemed better suited to the Ascending Heaven Dagger.
It was exactly the sword art I had wanted.
On top of that, it possessed the principles of a superior sword art whose depth grew as one’s realm rose.
“Tsk…”
Once I finished reading Drifting Current Formless Sword, my curiosity turned toward the Windless Asura.
“A legendary assassin…”
Honestly, it was not a martial art worthy of being called a peerless divine art.
Learning it would not make someone into the Windless Asura of legend.
No, it was more surprising that someone had earned the title of legendary assassin with martial arts of this level.
I did not think the Windless Asura had possessed deep mastery of the sword.
It was so ordinary that placing it on the same level as the unique Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms felt almost embarrassing.
A lack of deep sword mastery ultimately meant he was lacking in aptitude.
“His aptitude was not extraordinary, and neither were his martial arts… so how did he become a legendary assassin?”
It felt disappointing.
The “hope” Mak Hyowol had desperately tried to pass on at the end had turned out to be false hope.
“Well, it’s still better than nothing.”
My greatest problem right now was the lack of varied martial arts capable of handling different situations.
From that perspective, the Windless Asura’s martial arts were not bad as temporary substitutes.
I picked up the last remaining manual, [Silent Sound Azure Water Hand].
[Silent Sound Azure Water Hand] required an internal cultivation method that incorporated the principles of ice arts.
The only reason I had not discarded it was because I happened to possess yin energy through the Yin-Yang Twin Demon.
I had been alternating between Great Yang Palm and Mad Heaven Divine Palm, but Great Yang Palm lacked destructive power, while Mad Heaven Divine Palm had too much of it. [Silent Sound Azure Water Hand] was the perfect martial art to fill the gap between them.
Palm arts were among the most important martial arts for controlling distance, yet I had been fighting with that option closed off. It had been miserable.
When I judged the destructive power of [Silent Sound Azure Water Hand], it fell exactly between Great Yang Palm and Mad Heaven Divine Palm.
I slowly drew up my internal energy.
Because it used the principles of ice arts, a cool energy passed through my energy channels.
Then I gathered about fifty percent of my energy and launched Silent Sound Azure Water Hand.
──.
But…
I had clearly felt the energy pass through my energy channels, travel through my palm, and shoot out, yet nothing happened.
“Huh?”
I drew up my internal energy again, this time filling it with seventy percent of my energy.
Just in case.
“Silent Sound Azure Water Hand!”
I even shouted the name of the martial art.
──.
It remained just as quiet.
“What is this?”
The martial art would not manifest.
I had definitely used internal energy, but nothing changed.
‘What kind of bullshit is this?’
A martial art that used internal energy and produced no effect.
This time, I drew up internal energy and fired Silent Sound Azure Water Hand repeatedly with both hands.
I launched one strike after another, and just when it seemed nothing had changed…
Thud!
“Hm?”
A sound of impact came from a tree about two jang away.
When I approached the tree where the sound had come from…
Sssssk.
There was only a faint layer of frost, no larger than my thumb.
“This is… Silent Sound Azure Water Hand?”
I was so dumbfounded that I irritably tapped the tree.
Crack.
The tree suddenly groaned and slowly began to lean…
Craaaack!
Then, the part covered in frost split open as though it had been torn apart, and the tree toppled over.
Boom!
When I approached the base of the fallen tree, bone-chilling cold rose from the broken section.
“…So.”
It had frozen the tree’s base without leaving a visible mark, then caused it to fall. That had been Silent Sound Azure Water Hand.
I drew up Silent Sound Azure Water Hand once more and launched palm force.
The palm force flew without a sound or trace, producing only a faint impact.
Thud!
I cut through the tree with the Scarlet Radiance Sword. The cross-section of the tree struck by Silent Sound Azure Water Hand was frozen solid.
“Heh…”
It was the moment that proved why the Windless Asura had been called a legendary assassin.
“This is insane.”
And it was also the moment Mak Hyowol’s “false hope” became hope.
Footnotes:
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