Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time-Chapter 541: Register of the Martial World (7)

Ban Mu-il, an outer disciple of Zhongnan Sect.

One of the attackers who ambushed Jeong Hye was slain by the Plum Blossom Sword. The other two were petrified on the spot by a blood seal and dragged off by the Embroidered Guards—without even having their pressure points sealed.

“You're all mistaken! I willingly became an informant for this country’s Jianghu! I swear I never defected!”

“I as well! It was merely unfortunate timing—I'm more than willing to divulge everything I know about the north...!”

Each made their case like flowing spring water. But no one was listening. The seasoned tact of Jianghu veterans meant nothing before the eyes of Beijing’s elite.

A royal martial master, identifiable by her long ears—a trait of imperial blood—muttered coldly.

“Lies.”

Her voice was firm as the night sky looming over everyone’s heads.

The boy who had taken the lead in rescuing Jeong Hye silently sheathed his sword. Clack. The milky-white blade vanished into its scabbard. The sword, also known as the Azure River Divine Blade, belonged to the leader of Mount Hua.

And of course, its wielder was Yu Hyeon, who had become the acting leader of Mount Hua Sect far earlier than expected.

“...I’m glad. Yeon-shin’s life is already full of hardship.”

He gently ruffled Jeong Hye’s hair once before vanishing into the night air without another word.

The boy, now much taller, had changed. He was quieter, more burdened. So much so that he didn’t even return Wеi Ji-myo-hwa’s formal salute.

“Plum Blossom Brother...?”

Jeong Hye softly called out to Yu Hyeon, but Wеi Ji-myo-hwa shook her head.

“Leave him be. Mount Hua has endured strange incidents lately. Rumor has it the Sacred Flame Sword God has vanished, but only the people of Mount Hua know the truth.”

“Oh...”

“Our sect needs to focus on its own matters first. Also... forgive me for not treating you like a child. I know it may sound harsh, but...”

Wеi Ji-myo-hwa’s composed reprimand fell upon Jeong Hye.

“At the very least, you must not forget what happened at the hands of Yeoryeong’s demon. How much blood was spilled that day? How many of our sect’s benefactors were injured?”

Jeong Hye, the most highly ranked child in Zhongnan Sect—the top-ranked junior disciple of the Zhongnan Sect Jeong Hye—was undeniably a girl of reason. Which is precisely why today’s events made even less sense to her.

Already, many nearby martial figures viewed Jeong Hye as a troublemaker.

A reckless girl whom no one could discipline thanks to her status as proxy of the Divine Sword Sect leader. A volatile powder keg too dangerous to touch.

“If you were to be harmed while roaming alone at night like this, you know what would happen—not just to our sect, but to Jeong Sohyeop and the Jianghu at large. You’re smart enough to realize that. And yet... Sa-sook?”

Wеi Ji-myo-hwa suddenly paused.

Jeong Hye, who had been listening to her with a pout, now looked entirely different. She had entered a trance. Her eyes lost all focus.

[Come.]

The voice echoed again, heard only by Jeong Hye. A pull repeated again and again through her upper dantian.

Jeong Hye extended her hand as if bewitched.

Swish.

Her small hand touched a large stone.

Mount Zhongnan’s Hyo-ryeong Hermitage.

At that moment, countless pulses of internal energy swept past the rock. But from Jeong Hye’s tiny palm, a wave of energy surged.

It was the internal flow of Zhongnan’s Tae’eul Mind Technique.

Crack.

A sound from the stone.

The faint fissures engraved in the giant rock suddenly widened. From the gap, several sheets of paper surged upward, carried by the internal energy—as if the Tae’eul Mind Technique was the key.

“...!”

The royal faction reacted first.

Flap!

A towering woman closed the distance. Though not a eunuch, she had been personally enfeoffed by the late Emperor Gunreung as Grand Chamberlain. Her crimson robes fluttered with enough force to shake the air itself.

Without even issuing orders to her subordinates, she snatched the bundle of papers. A blast of wind immediately followed, whipping Jeong Hye’s hair back violently.

But no one in this place was untrained. Many martial artists here were capable of stretching time at the skin’s surface.

The moment the papers hovered in the air was enough for many in the audience to clearly see the first sheet—its densely packed script etched into their minds like a picture.

*Some revelations are like the seeds of golden-crowned dandelions. They rise suddenly and vanish just as quickly, turning fleeting moments into priceless ones.

The insight I received was just like that—too brief to hold onto.

Now, I ascend to the heavens.

But with conviction born of intuition, I declare that a disciple of our sect will uncover this vision within three years.

You, the child who shattered the stone with mighty Tae’eul Mind Technique.

You must safeguard this.

Until the swordsman who can speak to the dead appears.

Until one who cherishes worldly bonds and can engage history in dialogue emerges.

He is the number one sword of this era.

If his intent is righteous, then a single technique shall cleave through this age of chaos.*

“Zhongnan Sword Immortal...?!”

Murmurs rippled from the distance.

Martial artists had gathered all around. Every one of them had appeared like ghosts, elite figures of the Jianghu distinguished enough to be assigned quarters within Celestial Martial Pavilion.

They had all tracked this sudden commotion with uncanny speed. Naturally, their movement techniques were exceptional.

In a starving Jianghu—

In an age where the value of high-level martial arts had skyrocketed to heaven—

Martial artists had no choice but to take grain by force.

And into their cold, colorless eyes, one scene was etched.

“The dead Zhongnan Sword Immortal...”

Had spoken of the blueprint for the greatest sword technique under heaven.

A fragment of swordsmanship capable of bringing peace to an age of chaos. Left by an Immortal who had passed away after slaying the monstrous beings of Mount Zhongnan.

Who wouldn’t covet it?

“......”

The murmuring crowd fell silent.

All eyes were drawn to the Grand Chamberlain’s grasp.

The mountain breeze was no longer gentle. It twisted and swirled in strange directions. An ominous current hung in the air.

Naturally, the most resolute figure present was the leader of Zhongnan Sect.

Wеi Ji-myo-hwa parted her lips, her gaze unwavering.

“Grand Chamberlain, this document was discovered by a disciple of Zhongnan. Hand it to me.”

The Grand Chamberlain did not answer.

She simply curled her lips into a crescent. Her smile was sharp—like her ears. But as Wеi Ji-myo-hwa calmly held her gaze, she eventually responded slowly.

“The reason the new Emperor wishes to revive Zhongnan lies in my hand. You, Leader of Zhongnan, should know your place.”

The words of the most powerful figure in Beijing weren’t domineering. They were delivered plainly, as if stating a fact—which made them feel all the more authoritative. Enough to freeze the martial artists nearby.

“......”

Jeong Hye gently tugged on Wеi Ji-myo-hwa’s sleeve. Then she whispered innocently,

“Sect Master... I want to go back to that village school. Maybe ‘shame’ means something else too.”

For a moment, the Grand Chamberlain paused—but in the end, she did not release the documents to Wеi Ji-myo-hwa. The eyes of the Jianghu remained locked onto them, motionless. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Silence stretched on.

No one dared to move.

Even maps marking the graves of famed warriors—so-called “treasure maps”—had led to bloodshed in the Jianghu.

But what if it wasn’t a grave, but the treasure itself sitting in front of them?

Anyone confident in their inner strength might attempt to seize the pages and flee to a remote mountain.

The martial artists of the Celestial Martial Pavilion—

Their emotionless faces said it all. At this very moment, they were all feeling the same urge.

‘If a fight breaks out, the aftermath won’t be pretty.’

Just as Wеi Ji-myo-hwa moved to shield Jeong Hye—

The moon disappeared from the night sky.

The clouds, which had held a pale glow, turned dark.

A shroud blanketed the heavens—and beneath it stood a lone figure with both feet together. Perched on one shoulder of the Grand Chamberlain.

“...!”

It was a woman.

Her long hair flowed down to her back—gray as ash, yet glistening.

It was as if she emitted her own dark radiance. Moonlight, moments ago bathing the land, now softly gathered in her hand.

As if stolen from the sky.

As if she found moonlight too bothersome for concealment.

They say the Five Heavenly Swords can bend the laws of nature. At this moment, her pale hand seemed to distort the order of all things.

If she had approached from the front, there might’ve been time to react. But appearing silently from behind, the Grand Chamberlain was paralyzed like an ancient tree. The energy in the woman’s sole had struck a death point.

“Shin... Tu...!”

A royal martial master muttered under her breath like a curse.

“Shin Tu.”

A shadow agent of the northern Jianghu. Her true name was unknown.

She was a peerless master who had smuggled countless treasures from the Ming Empire beyond the Great Wall—someone who had even evaded the eyes of Emperor Gunreung.

“So many. What a nuisance.”

Her voice caressed the skin like silk woven from the night sky. In that instant, several people in the crowd staggered in place. Just hearing her voice had shaken the inner energy at their upper dantian.

But her gaze lingered somewhere else for a moment, until she lazily swung her long leg as if on a stroll.

Thwack!

The Grand Chamberlain’s head burst open.

The blood that sprayed in the darkness illuminated nothing. It merely brushed against her white ankle before settling.

She stepped lightly over the headless body and vanished into the night like mist—now holding the bundle of papers that had been in the Grand Chamberlain’s hand.

A supreme thief.

The queen of a clan born with the Dreamlike Body.

She never strikes twice.

That was Shin Tu’s only known rule. No one knew why she followed such a code. Like many supreme martial artists, she was simply seen as a monster.

Thud.

The Grand Chamberlain’s body collapsed.

The blood-soaked earth was no longer Ming territory. Its texture was closer to the parched and desolate soil of the north.

Huff!

“I only came because they asked me to lend my presence... looks like I was late.”

An old woman appeared at the scene, from the same direction Shin Tu had been watching. It was none other than Sword Empress Geum Seon-seon, the sect leader of Jeomchang Sect.

Her eyes swept over the Grand Chamberlain’s ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) corpse, and the wrinkles on her face began to vanish.

It was the Reverse Flow of Youth—a temporary but rapid return to youth. In moments, she became a young woman with a sharp, authoritarian aura.

A secret art known only to the leader of Jeomchang.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

“If I let that fiend escape like this... what face will I have when I meet that disgraceful dog of the Ma Clan...”

Muttering in a youthful voice, she kicked off the ground. The earth sank beneath her feet.

Boom!

Her figure shot out like a white streak into the night. Winds howled from all directions, tearing at the ground in her wake.

That was the beginning.

“Follow her! That was the Sect Leader of Jeomchang!”

“Jeomchang...? If the Sword Empress is moving, we might have a chance!”

“Even Lord Ma Gwang-ik struggled with the warriors from the Dae-ri Kingdom! I don’t know if it’s true, but—!”

Transparent propulsion currents erupted everywhere. Martial artists vanished into the dark, chasing after Shin Tu and the Sword Empress.

Such was the ripple effect of the Sword Manual left behind by the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan—a treasure containing sword techniques capable of reshaping the world.

“The Grand Chamberlain...!”

“Send word to His Majesty! Begin the pursuit!”

Rumble—

Dust billowed over the newly restored full moon. The frigid winter air was pushed back by the searing heat of the martial artists.

In an age of chaos, warriors chase supremacy.

Their direction was north.

***

Since being elevated to the Violet Rank, Jeong Yeon-shin hadn’t needed a horse. Without even relying on sword flight, his mastery of Ten-League Lightstep made him faster than any steed.

The lightwheel revolving in his heart gave him endless stamina.

Now was no different.

Boom—Boom—

A thunderous boom rang out beneath his feet at long intervals. Faint light trails from Ten-League Lightstep scattered left and right with each step.

Jeong Yeon-shin tilted his head slightly.

“Can you handle it?”

“Of course. Where else would I ever get a chance like this?”

Shin So-bin, clinging to his back, answered brightly. She had her knees locked tightly around his waist and kept fidgeting her feet, even at this breakneck speed.

Subtle movements.

She was absorbing the propulsion force surging through her body, converting it into experience. Her mastery of Ten-League Lightstep was steadily improving with every second.

It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

For a martial artist, this was beyond priceless.

Still, Shin So-bin asked with a teasing grin,

“You said you didn’t pick me as a core member of the Divine Sword Corps. Are you bringing me along out of guilt?”

“No, just because.”

Jeong Yeon-shin dodged the question.

Shin So-bin had been one of the core forces supporting Ma Gwang-ik during the team battles. Pulling her out completely would’ve been impossible.

This journey, however, was entirely because of Wudang Sect. Every disciple there bore the same face as Master Jade Sword. The sight had left a quiet but lasting impact.

Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to teach Shin So-bin more. Especially since she had already learned so much from her seniors behind the Wudang gates.

So, he brought her along for now.

Cheongmyeong and the other masters of Ma Gwang-ik had passed on a few requests before departing. Master Jade Veil herself would be accompanying them all the way to Mount Zhongnan.

As for Shin So-bin, when Jeong Yeon-shin said he wanted to train her, the expressions on the Ma Gwang-ik elders had turned... strange. But he didn’t care. He wanted to break away from relying on Cheongmyeong. After all, he was an adult now.

Even Baek Yeon had long since tied a letter to a bird’s leg and sent it to the main base of Ipwang Fortress. It wasn’t an urgent matter for now.

Suddenly, Shin So-bin turned her head.

“Hey.”

She gently peeled a few strands of Jeong Yeon-shin’s hair from her face.

“That roster you mentioned earlier—how important is it?”

[More important than anything in the world.]

A deep voice responded without delay. It came from one of the two figures trailing behind them on horseback.

“It’s that serious? I mean, there were some unexpected names...”

[It’s a kill-list ranking. The God of Combat owns a copy of that same book. The bloodbath that’s coming for your Jianghu... it’ll be built around that roster.]

“So it’s a strategic treasure. Funny, though—the Beggars’ Guild Master wasn’t listed at all.”

[A beggar is no grand warrior. He lacks the bare minimum of honor, and so he isn’t in the roster. He’s just a nuisance acknowledged separately.]

“Ah...”

[You may ask more.]

Bukdo was usually a man of few words.

But when it came to the roster, he always grew oddly talkative. And his speech became... strangely refined.

It was unsettling at times. He was a monster who never even revealed his face.

Jeong Yeon-shin didn’t mind.

Right now, all that mattered were his black-robed seniors.

Yeouicheon Lord and the Celestial Dragon Lord—framed as traitors and imprisoned.

There it is.

An enormous barracks compound appeared up ahead. The energy surrounding it was fiercely fortified—less like a military base, more like a gathering of Jianghu elites.

He sensed countless familiar flows of internal energy.

It didn’t matter right now.

BOOOOM—

Jeong Yeon-shin landed, splitting the ground open beneath his feet.