Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Chapter 67 – Fame (2)

Originally, accumulating heterogeneous true qi was a dangerous act. They called it cultivation madness.

This was because one couldn’t know what collision different types of internal energy would cause in the meridians.

Jeong Yeon-shin was different. He could immediately recirculate and change the nature of circulated true qi.

It was because he was born with true qi control ability. This was why he could easily absorb spirit medicines like replenishment pills and Great Violet Pill.

He had already removed even the verses of madness. It meant there would be no side effects from using the Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

“You’ve already entered the initiation? Really…?”

TL Note- Initiation here is referring to the early mastery of the blood technique.

Surprise spread across the Seventh Apostle’s face.

Those who learned extreme demonic heterodox martial arts couldn’t help but be sensitive to similar martial arts.

The characteristics were distinct. It meant immediately sensing superior martial arts.

Regular members’ Blood Summoning Technique was meant to be suppressed by Apostles’ Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

Moreover, this was an evil sect group.

“Such pure energy waves…”

“Could he perhaps be pure blood of the Sect Leader’s lineage?”

Blood Flame Sect members began bowing. The sound of knees hitting the ground continued in all directions.

“Grand Teacher! Grand Teacher!”

“Lead our sect to Beijing!”

“Make us unworthy sect members’ hair black, and bestow upon us a more perfect Blood Summoning Technique!”

Earnest words burst forth everywhere. The atmosphere was solemn.

It was because desperate hearts born from fanaticism were contained in the shouts.

It didn’t go as Gao Zong-xue intended. The platform for inciting expectations changed to one of praise and supplication.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood quietly while operating the Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

The momentum of superior blood techniques that created calmness with madness removed.

The sect members widened their eyes as if to engrave even the slightly fluttering blood-colored robes in their minds.

Did he appear noble in their eyes?

At this moment Jeong Yeon-shin was the Blood Flame Sect’s Grand Teacher. From the evil sect crowd’s perspective, he completely seemed so.

“……”

He turned his steps sideways without responding. No regular member dared approach.

He also ignored Gao Zong-xue’s glaring gaze while keeping his mouth shut.

Only the Seventh Apostle immediately followed Jeong Yeon-shin.

“I didn’t know you’d achieve small success overnight. You, indeed you don’t just have talent for creation? The vessel of martial arts itself was broad.”

Spirit light unique to masters flickered in her red eye.

Jeong Yeon-shin just glanced at her before turning his gaze forward.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“I need to look around the main hall. Not just this once. I’ll need to do so periodically.”

“Is there a reason?”

“To extract and organize new verses, inspiration won’t come just from sitting in meditation in a room.”

“Hmm.”

“Wall-facing meditation is what Bodhidharma did. I’m very different. I can’t do that. I need to feel the wind and nature. I also need to take in the martial arts qualities of your sect members. The same goes for the Demon Roaring Blood Technique.”

He suddenly stopped walking and looked at the Seventh Apostle.

She met his gaze with her heat-filled outer eye without flinching.

“I’ve never created someone else’s martial arts. I need to know many things.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said.

“Your normal breathing, steps, gestures, even the thoughts that form the basis of your mental focus. To circulate internal energy through optimal paths, I need to know everything about the practitioner. It’s not something I can fully grasp just sitting in one place.”

“Yes, your words…”

“The same goes for the Blood Summoning Technique. I’ll need to experience the Blood Flame Sect’s spirit to modify it into a versatile martial art.”

Though Jeong Yeon-shin’s words cut off, the Seventh Apostle was even panting. She seemed very excited.

Was she feeling ecstasy? He had only used the excuse of saying he would present properly tailored martial arts.

‘Indeed. She sees me as prey already caught.’

Words he thought wouldn’t be accepted because she was a madwoman had worked.

He gained freedom of movement. It seemed he could go anywhere if accompanied by the Seventh Apostle.

“Starting with the Sect Leader’s hall courtyard.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke while unhesitatingly moving his feet.

‘I believe in the main sect, but I need to take measures.’

Realistically, the forces Desolate Sect could immediately mobilize wouldn’t be large.

The murim never lacked for incidents. They said even having three-tenths of the Divine Sword Squad’s seventeen great forces gathered at the main family was rare.

They were spread across the Central Plains carrying out missions.

He was inside the Blood Flame Sect. He had to do everything he could.

“Wait.”

He said to the Seventh Apostle.

“Okay.”

She nodded and stood still. She was strangely obedient. Her single eye held Jeong Yeon-shin in red.

“Grand Teacher.”

It was the thirty-six steps leading up to the Sect Leader’s hall. Blood Swordmasters who seemed to be on guard briefly paid respect.

He just nodded in acknowledgment.

Jeong Yeon-shin raised his true qi while placing his hand on the railing.

He couldn’t hide the spreading energy waves. But he had explained.

The reason he was captured by the Blood Flame Sect became justification for moments like this.

The great master talent for creating martial arts could rationalize all actions as inspiration.

‘Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding apalm.’

Just as dharma power was about to rise, Jeong Yeon-shin changed the energy circulation path to the Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

WOONG.

The true qi changed strangely. Deep within the blood technique energy, the qualities of the Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm were embedded.

It was power control reaching the realm of divine skill. At this moment he took a step forward.

It was a realm of adjusting the intimate structure of true qi with thousand-year senses.

‘Though it doesn’t affect the magnitude of power.’

In short, it was a deception. The Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm power wrapped a shell of blood techniques.

So that even supreme masters couldn’t imagine the essence.

He leaned slightly on the railing and raised his hand. Jeong Yeon-shin asked casually:

“It’s marble. Where was it brought from?”

“I believe it was brought from the Dali Kingdom in Yunnan before its destruction, Grand Teacher.”

A Blood Swordmaster standing to the side respectfully answered.

He nodded vaguely while stroking the railing. Simultaneously, he planted the power of the Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm disguised as blood technique true qi.

It wasn’t the end. He drew out inspiration gained from the Two Flame Blood Spirit Formation enveloping the Blood Flame Sect headquarters.

It was a formation technique. He locked it so the infused energy wouldn’t scatter.

The power immediately melded in. It sank deep without emitting even minute energy waves anymore.

“It’s sturdy.”

He said while caressing the smoothly carved wall surface.

He couldn’t contain as much as spirit medicine.

But if his plan succeeded, he might truly be granted even a piece of the World Tree fruit.

“I’ll come again.”

The Blood Swordmasters paid respects at Jeong Yeon-shin’s farewell.

The Seventh Apostle followed with a smile.

“You, you have some discerning eye. All structures in our sect have contained at least decades of history. If you look carefully, there may even be objects with spiritual nature? I’ll show you noble and divine scenery that can only be seen in our sect.”

“All of that is inspiration. It’s certainly impressive.”

Jeong Yeon-shin answered with an indifferent expression. The Seventh Apostle smiled brightly.

* * *

Time passed.

Two fortnights went by. Sunset and dawn crossed more than thirty times. The Blood Flame Sect members had grown quite accustomed to the young Grand Teacher.

Jeong Yeon-shin repeated the same actions for a month.

Railings, stairs, rafters, dirt ground, roofs… He roamed throughout the Blood Flame Sect planting the Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm.

He mainly kept his movements centered around the Sect Leader’s hall.

He also contemplated various formations including the Two Flame Blood Spirit Formation.

‘Unless activated, formation mediums are just still objects. Even martial artists can’t sense them. The same goes for the Sect Leader.’

It might be different for the elf clans.

However, there were no elf clan members in the Blood Flame Sect. It seemed to be because they were clans closely tied to the imperial court from birth.

Meanwhile, the Seventh Apostle had to go on an expedition.

She came to him with a very excited face. The killing intent flowing through her entire body was quite fierce.

“It’s obvious. Bringing you was a decision that took quite a risk for both me and our sect. They must have swept all areas within about a month’s distance from Clear Night Valley. Whether to recover you or to eliminate our sect, I don’t know.”

“Probably both.”

Jeong Yeon-shin replied nonchalantly while sitting cross-legged.

‘It’s beginning.’

He felt it when he went outside today. The Blood Flame Sect main hall was stirring.

They said martial artists were searching the surroundings. Quite a large scale.

“Just from what’s been reported, there’s Shaolin, Zhongnan, Mount Hua. Even nearby branch sects have gathered. They say it’s easily over five hundred, with Desolate Sect white and blue ranks among them.”

The Seventh Apostle’s eyes narrowed as she spoke.

She stretched out her white hand.

Her long fingers stroked Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair, with truly mighty power breathing in every joint.

The heavily emanating energy waves were tremendous.

“I won’t give you to anyone. Don’t harbor any fleeting hopes. You’re already mine.”

“Here. You said no one has discovered this place for hundreds of years.”

“That’s right.”

The corners of the Seventh Apostle’s mouth rose.

“The Two Flame Blood Spirit Formation isn’t human realm esoteric learning. Even a million-strong army passing by wouldn’t perceive it.”

“……”

Even to Jeong Yeon-shin, their sorcery formation wasn’t in the human realm.

Just by gaining insight into part of its structure he could use formation key points, so it must be highly accomplished for even the Blood Flame Sect to absolutely trust it.

These were people with a thousand-year supreme formation as backing. He needed to know their schemes.

He stared at the Seventh Apostle and parted his lips.

“Yet you’re going on an expedition? Wouldn’t it be enough to stay quiet and wait for the storm to pass? If you deliberately reveal yourselves, you’ll only give certainty to your location.”

“Are you worried about me? My possession! I’m so happy!”

There was madness of treating an object in her hands reaching out to embrace him.

WOONG!

Jeong Yeon-shin raised the Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm in his cultivation path.

Supreme masters’ movements are highly accomplished and hard to hit, but if it lands it can inflict fatal wounds.

Just like when he took her eye.

“When will you soften towards me.”

He stood up, feeling disgusted by the Seventh Apostle who seemed to be whining. Though he had been here quite a while, he had only grown his loathing for the Blood Flame Sect.

These people’s staple food wasn’t food but people.

Every day they captured martial artists and commoners, sucked their blood and true qi, then discarded them.

Since they even had medical arts to prevent plagues, they frequently burned the corpses.

Inwardly shaking his head, he organized what needed to be done.

‘I requested a meeting with the Blood Flame Sect Leader.’

It was time to load today’s Demon-Destroying Azure Unyielding Palm into the Sect Leader’s hall.

“Don’t we need to grasp the orthodox sects’ mongrels’ locations for our sect’s activities to continue? I’ll be going on a brief outing, so you stay put quietly.”

The Seventh Apostle belatedly answered. Jeong Yeon-shin left the room without replying.

The end was approaching. His intuition said so.

He felt no particular emotion even at facing unwelcome faces.

“At this point, I have this thought.”

The Third Apostle’s son, Gao Zong-xue, stroked his thick chin while blocking the way.

He was one who had tried hard to narrow Jeong Yeon-shin’s position over the past month. He couldn’t be taken lightly.

His accumulated cultivation was powerful enough to subdue even ordinary Blood Swordmasters in ten moves.

“I heard the Grand Teacher has talent worthy of discussing world’s finest.”

The corners of his mouth slightly rose.

“I don’t know how you bewitched the Sect Leader’s divine eye. Though I’ve paid respects until now, as a sect member I’m greatly concerned about the lack of proper merit.”

Perhaps because he had endured all provocations indifferently. Recently his words and actions had become blatant.

“Say what you want to say.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said. The reply came as sound transmission.

-Kill yourself. You broken string lowborn.

His words were strange. Everyone knew the Seventh Apostle kept the Grand Teacher close.

Did he intend to ambush while she was briefly away?

That’s when it happened.

‘Hm?’

A suddenly blowing stream of wind seemed alive as it fixed his collar and passed by.

The breeze brushing his ear seemed to whisper some words.

It was a sensation he had felt before. During his first mission. Cheong Myeong’s demonstration of body technique had approached as a mysterious wind carrying elf power.

“Think as you wish.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke in a flat tone and turned his body.

He didn’t care whether the fellow raged with an angered look or followed without turning back.

He headed for the outskirts. There was no hesitation in his steps.

He arrived immediately.

WOONG-

It was where he first encountered the Two Flame Blood Spirit Formation with the Seventh Apostle. A place with a mystical atmosphere as if space was rippling.

She was beyond that barrier.

“Ah.”

He unconsciously swallowed hard.

He saw her immediately. The moment she entered his vision, she was engraved in his mind.

His lifeline. His salvation.

It was a woman wearing long light green martial clothes that looked like palace attire at a glance.

Her head was slightly raised in profile.

Her milky white skin emitted a smooth radiance.

Other scenery seemed to lose color. Sunlight formed a halo around her beautiful nose bridge.

The swaying vegetation around settled as if one body.

Her light green hair, as if spring breeze had seeped in, flowed down long enough to cover her back, spreading mysteriousness.

It wasn’t a human presence. Though completely containing her inner power, she revealed terrifying spirit.

Finally.

She turned her head.

Green eyes brilliantly containing the sun in the sky were revealed. They were eyes holding an overwhelming abyss.