Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time-Chapter 577: Wildfire (1)

“The currents have turned against us.”

“Cult Master, King of Western Darkness. What’s with the sudden declaration?”

“It was a game I accepted with a light heart... but it’s no longer a game. Is the Southern Emperor still blocked by Bukdo? This isn’t the time to go easy on him just because they share the same bloodline. We’ll need to act quickly now.”

“The Southern Emperor... come to think of it, I’ll have to ask the greatest master of the North for his help as well. Cult Master, well said.”

“Shut up and pour more of your vital energy into this spell formation. At this point, it’s one or the other—either I overturn the Gate of the North, or the King of Yaryul flips the entire northern realm on its head.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t care about anything else. Just find my Great Warrior already.”

“Every last one of you is insane. I wash my hands of this.”

***

A snow-covered mountain peak buried under millennia of white.

Sunlight, damp and glistening, streamed beneath the silver mask of the Northern King Yaryul. The light shimmered even more clearly due to the blanket of snow that coated the world in white.

He was crying. Crying silently.

It was the first time this had ever happened in his short life—at least since the creation of Jeongga Donggong. Every subtle twitch around his eyes felt unfamiliar to him.

But the mask that symbolized the status of the King of Yaryul did not melt with tears. It was something worn so it would never interfere with the mobilization of the Divine Sword Corps. Naturally, it was solid as a fortress.

So no one knew what expression Jeong Yeon-shin was making in that moment.

Not even he knew.

Crackle, snap―

Colorless lightning sparked endlessly from the silver hilt of the Divine Sword Yeoroe. A portion of Qi Command Sword had been transformed into the profundity of Ultimate Thunder, and the explosive strength of Softness Overcomes Hardness had lined its long body in succession.

Beneath that lightning, her body overlapping with the snow-covered earth—was Shin Tu.

Yeoroe stood tall, pinning both her lower back and the ground together in one strike, silently greeting the splitting winds that crashed into the long blade.

Grand Tai Chi – Moon Piercing Blade. A direct hit.

Perhaps it was because it had come too suddenly.

Or maybe it was because Jeong Yeon-shin’s temperament had shifted as wildly as a mutated weed. Or perhaps it was because the summit of Mount Haebing was simply too close to Shin Tu.

Whatever the reason, Shin Tu had accepted a proper blow—rendering all the previous back-and-forth exchanges meaningless. Just as one day, Joo Gwang-shin had met the Southern Emperor in a chance encounter like a lie.

Life is a chain of mutations.

And Yeoroe, pinning her to the peak, was no different.

Miss, miss, and then finally one miss too many—led to a successful strike. It had happened regardless of Jeong Yeon-shin’s will.

The sword force of Moon Piercing Blade didn’t flow into the rocky mountain beneath her. Shin Tu had to bear the full brunt of the blow herself.

And yet, the sight of her breathing, shallow though it was, meant two things: 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

The Celestial Radiant Armor that had covered her acupoints and inner organs. And the extraordinary vitality of a peerless master.

Then—

Ssshhh—

The wave of sunlight she had been draped in like a cloak softly slipped away. Moon Piercing Blade had dispelled the Celestial Radiant Armor.

Contrary to the demeanor she had shown thus far, her gaze rose with unmistakable authority. Her sharp and mysterious features stood out—so much like Jeong Yeon-shin’s.

She was, in a word, stunning. The sunlight that flowed down the bridge of her nose was beautiful even without the armor. The contours of her lips, her jawline—dreamlike enough to draw in one’s very soul.

But Jeong Yeon-shin wasn’t looking at her.

He stood silently, head lowered.

That brief pause felt like an eternity.

“......”

But the silence didn’t last.

Suddenly, Shin Tu let out a low cough. It was a sneeze mixed with blood.

For her, for Jeong Yeon-shin, and for Joo Gwang-shin who wasn’t even here—this martial world was still hollow. A world of delusion and ghosts.

Yet Shin Tu smiled calmly. Her breath was broken and weak.

“At last... we’re equal.”

A reference to Jeong Yeon-shin’s right arm, torn halfway by Mun Gok.

With her face now revealed, she looked different again.

No longer the godlike master thief known across the world—now she radiated the temperament of a pure martial artist. She didn’t look like a seductress, but rather something closer to a member of the Yozoku.

At the same time, a shadow fell across her face. Jeong Yeon-shin had wordlessly stepped to her side.

“......”

Even as the recoil of Moon Piercing Blade threatened to tear his insides apart—

He stomped down on Shin Tu’s head.

Though his eyes were blurred by tears, the leg that had to crush what stood before him remained strong. His explosive leg strength tore through the air with a shriek.

Just then, Shin Tu’s voice rang out faintly, like a whisper lost in the wind.

Dream Cycle Reversal Тechnique.

[Cycle of Dream and Return.]

In that moment, the northern winter air rippled as if struck by summer heat.

And Shin Tu’s body, as if time itself had reversed, climbed back up Yeoroe’s blade—just as Jeong Yeon-shin’s leather shoe crushed into the snow where her head had been moments before.

Her voice rang again, clear and bright.

[There are times no lightness technique can reach.]

Just like Jeong Yeon-shin, she had prepared her Life-Saving Absolute Technique in secret. A step back so perfect it revealed nothing.

CRACK!

The sound of her body being pulled off the sword. The wound had widened even further. It was clearly a fatal blow.

And yet, her expression was one of serene bliss, even with her brow twitching in a haze.

Her floating body, suspended in air through a masterful lightness technique, seemed to stitch itself back together like a dream. In a blink, she had returned to her state from several breaths ago.

All that remained were her torn clothes, baring her snow-white abs, and vivid red bloodstains.

She had reconstructed her body from before being impaled by Yeoroe.

How complex must the flow of power and will have been? Her internal energy, innate qi, and spiritual training were among the highest in the world.

A Life-Saving Absolute Technique. A guardian scripture that races backward through time.

This was how transcendental masters fought—with divine strategies.

Shin Tu parted her lips.

“This demon realm is already a rotted land, and yet your heart remains untouched. Then your body may be the first to rot away.”

She floated above, gazing down at Jeong Yeon-shin. Her eyes swept across the droplets of sunlight beading on his jaw.

He slowly looked up at her.

His lips opened.

[Shut up.]

“...!”

His voice, layered with the will of the upper dantian, resounded.

His essence, energy, and spirit were still elevated from invoking Grand Tai Chi. Something hadn’t yet ended.

Shin Tu’s widened eyes shot downward. Her head jerked down sharply—and what she saw struck her like lightning.

At the base of the snow-covered mountain—

A massive, faintly blue Tai Chi spread wide enough to encircle the battlefield where the Northern King's cavalry fought.

And Jeong Yeon-shin stood atop it like a blade. A literal High Sword. Utterly free within the rotating yin-yang pattern.

[Celestial Radiant Armor. Dream Cycle Reversal Тechnique. Innate vitality... You people are too stubborn. There were some who weren’t.]

His voice carried the tremble of tears. But the echo from his dantian rang dry and cold.

Rustle.

Shin Tu twisted her body.

She no longer spoke to him.

Surely you’re out of strength now. Even if you have a bit left, are you really going to end your fight here... All the words she might’ve said swirled in her mouth and vanished.

There wasn’t time.

SPLURT!

Jeong Yeon-shin’s hand pierced through her abdomen.

Sunlight warped around the bloodied fist as, for the first time, a moan escaped her lips.

“Ah...!”

The thunder of an ancient martial art, its origins unknowable, resounded again—delayed, like distant thunder. His forearm curled like a hook, locking her in place.

And then he dove.

Toward the battlefield below, where the two units under the Divine Sword Corps, along with elite forces like Yeom Jeong Army and Chi Geuk Army, were all tangled in chaos.

Downward. Ever downward.

KWAHHHH―!

White shockwaves exploded from his heel, spreading left and right. The pressure wave from his movement scattered snowflakes, scattering sunlight in all directions.

***

Beneath the towering peak of Mount Haebing, where faint clouds mingled with the summit.

Chi Geuk’s deputy stood atop a low ridge, tilting his head slightly.

Perhaps due to his innate Dreamlike Body, the young man’s appearance was so captivating that even the smallest gesture radiated seductive charm.

“What do you think that is, my king?”

“The Source of Blue Flame. It’s the same one King Yaryul used against Namje’s Yeong-shin.”

“Then why is it, the moment that was unleashed, the southern martial artists suddenly got so reactive? If Yeom Jeong’s army had pressed just a little harder, they would’ve been wiped out with ease.”

“Are you asking me to solve your doubts for you?”

Chi Geuk’s voice responded without so much as glancing back at his subordinate. She stood faint and transparent, as if only her veil remained floating in the air.

“No, of course not. I apologize for my reckless words. It’s something I must understand myself.”

A smooth, flowing apology. The deputy turned her gaze again.

And what met her obsidian-like eyes was—

RUMMMMBLE!

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Yellowish-brown clouds of dust rippled endlessly under the pounding of hooves. Hundreds of mounted warriors encircled the enemy, spiraling like a massive vortex.

From within that chaos, faint bursts of pure white air flared like fireworks—shockwaves unleashed by the Shin Geom Dan’s Light Blade Corps and the Cheongmyeong Unit.

CRACK! CRASH!

Facing the immense pressure waves of overwhelming footwork, Chi Geuk’s deputy spoke calmly.

“I can make out figures caught inside that ring... they’re southern martial artists. Somehow, their momentum has returned, and they’re pushing back His Majesty Yeom Jeong’s forces alone. Honestly, I can’t believe it even seeing it... It may be time I step in, or perhaps you, my king. I wonder what the other Northern Kings would think...”

She spoke as if addressing monarchs not present at all.

Despite the ferocious ki waves erupting all around, the dreamlike young man remained tranquil.

Low cries of astonishment erupted behind him. They came from the southern martial artists blocked by Chi Geuk’s cavalry, their great warhorses standing like walls.

In short, Chi Geuk and his deputy stood at the very center of the battlefield, just beneath Mount Haebing.

“It’s the Whirling Wind Hollow! I’ve only heard the legends...!”

“An acoustic realm made by the God of War? It actually exists?!”

“Wait, if the Northern Kings are gathering, those monsters might show up too...?”

Masters wielding techniques like Five Tigers Severing Blade, Endless Fan Art of Gathering Wind, Boundless Swordplay of the Vast Sky, and the One Hundred Eight Moves of the Eon Clan’s Divine Fist—all suddenly froze mid-technique.

These weren’t nobodies. They ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) were warriors of prestigious sects—easily capable of contending with a military-style martial force.

But the Northern Kings were something else entirely.

To step into a realm where the fabled Whirling Wind Hollow had been cast—a space where natural disasters could manifest at any moment—was enough to chill even the most famed of martial heroes.

“...We need a leader of our own. But no one is fit right now, so I shall act as the center.”

The old swordmaster in blue silk garments muttered grimly.

It was Namgung Mu-hak of the Changgeom Corps.

Once a martial aristocrat who ruled South Jikrye, now wandering in search of a new cause after his clan was crushed by the Green Forest Cavalry.

He was now the last living inheritor of the Empire Blade Form. Naturally, his every word carried enormous weight.

Of course, Namgung Mu-hak’s true goal was to claim the title of Martial Alliance Leader, even after surviving this nightmare. Everyone understood his ambition.

Acting head of the Zhuge Clan and Jegal Cheong-ah gave a reluctant nod.

“There’s no other way. With Elder Namgung’s knowledge, at least he can properly deploy the remaining swordsmen from various sects...”

At that moment, Chi Geuk’s deputy interrupted with a soft smile, not even sparing the southern martial artists a glance.

“Chi Geuk’s army must not kill them recklessly. They come from the most fertile lands—their dreams are rich and ripe. If I dwell within their upper dantian, I will gain great enlightenment.”

His gaze never wavered from the front.

Ssssh—

His slender torso began to sway slowly. In its wake, a faint afterimage fluttered like a moth’s wingbeat.

It was the prelude to activating the Dream Cycle Reversal Technique.

He had left the southern martial artists behind, fully entrusting them to Chi Geuk’s forces. Now he was preparing to join the encroaching tide near Yeom Jeong’s army.

Then—

[Move.]

Suddenly, the earth in front of the deputy caved in, forming a sunken dome with a thunderous boom.

A deep hum accompanied the collapse.

Someone had landed from a terrifying height.

FWOOOOSH!

The shockwave exploded outward.

From the sunken pit, a figure slowly rose.

Chi Geuk’s deputy had already lowered her arms, watching blankly from above as her eyes locked with the figure’s.

“...Ah.”

A strange sigh slipped from her lips, and her eyes curved softly.

“Your Majesty Yaryul. We meet again.”

[Who are you.]

“...Hmm?”

The deputy’s smile vanished like smooth porcelain cracking. She addressed the figure standing in the dusty crater—King Yaryul.

“I am the ruler of Chi Geuk’s army. This is my king, Chi Geuk himself...”

[Enough with the horse-hoof babble. Pull back your mounted men.]

Chi Geuk, standing nearby, did not respond to the absurd remark. It was his deputy who continued the conversation.

“I do apologize, but I have a question before I offer my greetings. By what right do you interfere with our deployment?”

The words were calm and pleasant, but carried a clear accusation.

[Chi Geuk’s army and Yaryul’s army... weren’t they bound by non-aggression?]

King Yaryul spoke from within the pit he had created, spewing out a remark disconnected from the flow of conversation. But the deputy’s answer was already prepared.

“We are facing foreign forces. Is there a problem?”

A chilling silence descended.

The flurries of snow thickened, and the northern wind howled darker than before. Beneath many feet, the snowy ground shifted with a soft rustle.

“Choose your words carefully. Our King Chi Geuk has opened the Whirling Wind Hollow. Every sound made here will echo across the entire realm of the Demon World. The previous Northern Kings who cast the Whirling Wind Hollow are listening.”

The deputy spread her arms dramatically, then raised an eyebrow.

“Hm...? What are you standing on, exactly? It looks like a corpse. Whose remains...?”

Ssshhh—

The dust surrounding King Yaryul gradually cleared, growing transparent.

Droplets gathered beneath his silver mask and dripped, while his lips finally began to move.

The deputy reacted instantly.

“Listen closely! The most suspicious of the Northern Kings is about to offer an explanation!”

Her cheerful voice descended into the crater.

FWHEEEEE—

Right on cue, a crude whistle rang out from somewhere distant.

A sound technique meant only to draw attention. It was once rumored to be used by Yeon So-ha of the Shin Geom Squad, learned directly from the Divine Sword Sect Leader, Yong Hui-myeong.

Sssss—

Yaryul’s tears, streaming down his cheek, flared and vanished before they hit the ground. Then his silver mask cracked and crumbled away with a soft wet snap.

[I am...]

He spoke slowly.

[...the Leader of the Shin Geom Dan.]

It was late winter.

The early dusk bled down from the sky like crimson paint, cloaking his body in a violet long robe. Just beyond the pit, a pristine white divine sword struck the ground with a thunderous thud, standing like a battle flag.