Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Chapter 87 – Battle for Possession (6)

“……”

Jeong Yeon-shin wearing the pure blood robe and demon mask slowly stepped forward.

In this moment he had to act as a rising disciple counted among Blood Flame Sect’s best. He heard from the Seventh Apostle.

The pure blood robe was a treasure bestowed upon Apostles.

‘My martial might doesn’t yet reach Apostle level. Should act like Gao Zong-xue.’

Even the Blood Flame Sect had nobles. Families as old as the main hall’s history naturally formed vested rights.

The Third Apostle’s son was like that. Gao Zong-xue. He was one who constantly checked Jeong Yeon-shin at the headquarters.

He died forcing energy absorption on a boy who hadn’t even learned martial arts. He remembered slicing his neck.

Jeong Yeon-shin decided to impersonate that one.

STEP.

His gait was leisurely. He held his upper body straight.

He revealed bearing as if looking down on all under heaven. He put himself under self-suggestion.

Outside the main hall there was none more noble than himself. All were worthless bugs.

He approached Namgung Mi sitting in the seat of honor unhesitatingly. He measured timing while not showing it.

“Hmm…”

“Seems no ordinary status…”

The guests claiming to be orthodox martial artists couldn’t move. Though they must have known it was Blood Flame Sect.

They were overwhelmed by Jeong Yeon-shin’s appearance and energy waves.

It was a bearing that few in the local murim could face. He was operating Demon Roaring Blood Technique at Desolate Fortress blue rank level.

They lowered their eyes one after another. They were ones who had long kept silent before the evil sect Virtuous Teacher Sect.

It wasn’t like their appearance shouting indignantly at Namgung Mi’s words. There were practically no martial artists who could show bearing before Jeong Yeon-shin.

The Namgung family was different.

“A blood demon here?”

“Could it be an Apostle’s bloodline.”

As Namgung family warriors immediately stood to draw swords, Namgung Mi raised her hand slightly with a strange smile.

Her fingers, smooth and white enough to be called jade-like, stopped them.

“I like the fruit’s color.”

Jeong Yeon-shin said. He still had true qi loaded in the Heaven’s Edge blood point at his nape.

Along with deliberately made rupturing sounds, an eerie voice came out with deep resonance.

He arrived close with unhurried steps. It was diagonal to Namgung Mi’s left.

SWISH.

He picked up a peach. Rather than fighting recklessly, it was to distance his current Blood Flame Sect identity from himself.

Though energy waves could be different, he couldn’t change his build. He had to prevent them from recalling Desolate Fortress’s Lightning Genius.

‘Actions far from myself.’

Jeong Yeon-shin tried to provoke another for the first time in his life. He wasn’t confident. Could he do it well?

“This fruit is wasted on these lowly things here.”

He raised his indifferent tone slightly. He meant to speak arrogantly. It suited him.

He felt puzzled that it felt more comfortable than expected.

“……”

None raised their heads except the Namgung family masters. It seemed to work unexpectedly well.

He wasn’t sure how he appeared wearing the precious pure blood robe and demon mask while operating Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

Did he appear as a complete Blood Flame Sect noble in their eyes?

That’s when Namgung Mi moved her lips.

“I was about to take it. Doesn’t that white peach flesh suit me?”

She slowly crossed her legs. Their gazes met as she gave a slight smile.

Her words continued smoothly.

“A blood demon acts like a noble clan before me. Perhaps feeling inferior to the main fortress? Not knowing your place.”

“Your tongue is long.”

“What?”

“A head that will soon fall moves its mouth too much.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke leisurely through the demon mask.

Then he moved his hand.

He casually threw the peach he was holding at Namgung Mi’s nape. He paid no mind to the gasps around him.

She stood without avoiding it. The rolling fruit was gently crushed under her fine leather shoes.

“Seems you came to suck some true qi after hearing rumors.”

She spoke with a smile.

“Kill him.”

As Namgung Mi finished speaking, she raised her whole body’s power. She recalled the energy waves shown by the blood-robed demon before her.

He was one hard to underestimate. She planned to gauge his strength using Flourishing Spirit Flower warriors as limbs.

‘Before that.’

She intended to first dull his body with energy techniques.

The cold of the Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng rose chillingly from her dantian.

As she raised her hand enduring pain like her blood vessels were burning, frost formed around her body. It was a sparkling wave of five-colored light.

Even the appearance befitted her nobility. She thought the effectiveness would be the same.

WHOOSH!

It was an instant. The moment white mist burst from Namgung Mi’s whole body, the demon’s body suddenly stopped.

The internal energy’s cold was faster than any sword strike. She stepped back with mincing steps while smirking.

Flourishing Spirit Flower warriors rushed in from all directions. Chaos broke out in an instant.

Sword clash sounds rang loudly amid food and alcohol scattering everywhere.

CLANG!

Jeong Yeon-shin felt the vibration climbing up to his right hand gripping the sword.

One’s attack was fast, but he blocked with the blade of the iron sword not yet fully drawn. His movements had clearly slowed.

What penetrated his body wasn’t ordinary cold energy. It seemed it should be understood as having internal breaking hand technique properties.

Even so, his muscle strength remained unchanged.

“Your sword force is pathetic.”

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke calmly from within the demon mask.

His defense didn’t waver. When the Namgung man flinched, without delay he struck his face with the back of his left hand.

The THUD sound was loud. With the feeling of catching his jaw, he bounced him away just like that.

“HEOK!”

It was a death rattle. He flew back, losing consciousness with eyes rolling back.

Jeong Yeon-shin knew right after delivering the strike. He could manage even without using unique martial art techniques.

He had become quite strong. He had well surpassed the level of entry-level blue rank at least.

He advanced without stopping. He could clear away potentially flying blind sword strikes first.

He was grateful for Namgung Mi’s decision to use her underlings as expendables.

‘Must fight like this.’

It was the moment he greatly raised the flow of Demon Roaring Blood Technique.

“Sword Formation!”

Another Namgung man shouted. It was an urgent voice.

Sword Formation. A tactic where multiple swordsmen gather to add connectivity to techniques.

Seeing Jeong Yeon-shin’s strikes, they seemed to decide on joint attack. A separate world unfolded with the crowd suddenly far away.

It was a confrontation between five Flourishing Spirit Flower warriors and the demon mask.

Jeong Yeon-shin narrowed his eyes. The Namgung men swung their swords while occupying all directions before him.

He immediately responded with swift sword verses, and the iron sword provided by Namgung Hwa-sin moved at similar speed to them.

Gradually his whole body’s meridians began to ache. It was a remarkable cold energy erosion.

‘I became quite dull.’

It didn’t matter.

He combined evasion and counterattack while moving slowly. His sense of measuring timing reached the realm of instinct.

He was extremely sharp despite the dulling skin sensation. He inserted sword strikes while avoiding five sword movements by a hair’s breadth.

Once each, once each. Five times was enough.

Jeong Yeon-shin raised the iron sword pulled from a fallen warrior’s abdomen. This one was the last.

Very slowly, blood flowing down the blade created silence.

The pure red robe seemed wrapped in noble killing intent.

The Namgung family Flourishing Spirit Flower warriors’ blood looked like dirty stains in comparison.

“……”

While everyone held their breath, Namgung Mi still hadn’t moved until then.

It was a fight between masters. Hasty intervention could rather mess up the sequence of moves.

She was Flourishing Spirit Flower master. What did it matter how she used her underlings?

It was enough to watch how long the enemy’s shown martial might would continue.

Only then did Namgung Mi take a step.

“Your eye technique training doesn’t seem deep.”

She opened her mouth while slowly approaching.

“Your sense of distance is quite excellent. You measure timing well. Is it innate?”

Her tone was relaxed. It was because she confirmed the demon mask’s increasingly slowing movements.

The Human-Shaped Snow Ginseng energy melted through pain was that powerful. It was power that reached another realm.

Jeong Yeon-shin stood still while staring at her.

A sensation like frostbite swept his entire body. The aftermath was great despite being exposed to just one strike.

Though expected, if he hadn’t mastered Jeong family dynamic technique, he couldn’t have even thought of wagering a match.

‘I can’t use unique martial arts.’

He couldn’t deploy the new palm technique here. It was a martial art with distinct characteristics.

It could only be used at moments when revealing his identity didn’t matter.

RUSTLE. RUSTLE.

Namgung Mi approached with a smiling face.

Though not appearing careless, she crushed the timing gap unhesitatingly.

Her confidence in cold energy power seemed truly tremendous. It was martial arts worthy of that.

She completely grasped his internal energy. She had precisely observed Jeong Yeon-shin’s state, gradually making it hard to control his body.

“Let’s see?”

She reached out her snow-white hand after approaching close like a lover. She lightly touched the demon mask covering Jeong Yeon-shin’s face.

“Your ugly face first.”

Her lips drew a thin arc. It was truly a defenseless-looking gesture.

Her wicked personality showed through directly.

It was behavior bestowing ultimate humiliation on a martial arts opponent.

‘Good.’

Jeong Yeon-shin thought. Speaking of ten seconds was for formal martial matches.

He had no intention of facing her with a righteous attitude. He meant to reveal openings to draw her in, but didn’t expect her to actually come this close.

His murim was different from hers. It was a struggle for life.

He wanted to easily defeat an opponent he hadn’t experienced before.

‘I can do it. Lazy Flame Dragon was stronger.’

The internal energy density of the Hwangbo young master who trained the Scorching Divine Meridian’s innate heat was even higher.

Jeong Yeon-shin recalled a technique he gained inspiration from after seeing him.

He learned that many called masters in the murim could use this martial art.

‘Three Samadhi True Fire.’

He had been using it since she took a step. It was a technique causing vibrations from the smallest units of true qi.

Movement itself raises fire energy. Unlike Lazy Flame Dragon’s immediate heat emission born with Scorching Divine Meridian.

It was an internal master’s delicate true qi operation.

WOONG.

It was a resonance inside his body.

He felt it clearly. The cold energy throughout his meridians crackled and burned.

His entire body hardened like steel by Jeong family dynamic technique fully handled the heat and vibrations, and Demon Roaring Blood Technique’s operation path whirled through his whole body in destructive flow.

A crackling sensation came from all blood points including the twelve regular meridians and eight extraordinary vessels.

He could do this all day. The enemy hadn’t detected his body’s thawing.

Jeong Yeon-shin immediately raised the Radiant Demon Technique.

When the upper dantian in his mind flashed intensely, Radiant Demon Wing’s unique martial art absorbed all information.

The two people’s postures, Namgung Mi’s breath mixed with laughter, and even her gaze fixed on the mask.

Within that.

An invisible trajectory arose. It was a mind’s light net only visible to Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes.

It was Radiant Demon Technique’s path. The boy followed it exactly. It was a move starting from the right elbow, barely moving the shoulder at the end.

SWISH.

Just before Namgung Mi removed Jeong Yeon-shin’s mask, he grabbed her neck.

It was a very natural movement.

He created a scene of instantaneous superiority combining Namgung Mi’s solid confidence, Radiant Demon Technique’s path advancing from blind spots, timing converging to nothingness, and strikes suddenly accelerated by cold energy destruction.

Radiant Demon Wing’s Lighning Genius was a fighter.

“…!”

The smooth nape came into his firm grip. Namgung Mi’s eyes grew wider than ever.

Had she ever experienced being subdued so absurdly in her life? She would have neither heard nor seen such a thing.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.

“The noble of the world’s blood lineage commands.”

“Heuk…!”

“You lowly Namgung seed.”

Along with his words, the blood technique responded. There came a feeling like throwing open his body tempered by Jeong family dynamic technique.

The mental image of this moment added to the thought forming the verse.

‘He said she gave all sorts of humiliation. To Young Hero Namgung’s mother.’

They said one lacking nothing committed all kinds of evil acts. Jeong Yeon-shin thought.

Wouldn’t he be more dignified than this Namgung Mi? It was thinking he’d never done before.

Arrogant thoughts sprouted in his mind.

He said:

“Kneel.”

It was before many attendees. When he put sincerity into his spoken words, he felt a strange sensation.

The energy drawn into Demon Roaring Blood Technique’s flow was slightly amplified. It meant the amount of energy accumulation increased.

The torrent-like true qi flow seemed to laugh ominously. As if saying this was how blood art should be operated.

‘This too is enlightenment.’

Jeong Yeon-shin opened his mouth once more. This time he filled it completely with contempt.

“What are you doing, trash?”

“This… this…”

Namgung Mi couldn’t continue speaking. She showed no signs of movement.

It was because he had sealed her blood points the moment he grabbed her neck. It meant he paralyzed her body with point sealing.

Even if she wanted to kneel, she couldn’t. Control of her body came into Jeong Yeon-shin’s grasp.

“You are still not moving. You are quite stubborn.”

“Kuh… kek…”

The boy holding Namgung Mi’s neck laughed slowly while wearing the demon mask.

The pure blood robe’s hem reaching his feet fluttered like scattered blood. It was an eerie and mysterious sight.