The Martial Genius Who Remembers Everything Novel - Chapter 173

Chapter 173
## Chapter 173. The Black Flame Dragon Who Devours a Sea of Blood (3)

“Hey! Can you wake up?!”

Cheol Sun-jik checked the pulse of the Blue Crown Sect disciple he had discovered.

‘He is breathing.’

Thankfully, he was still alive.

However, watching him persistently spew froth from his lips while his gaze rolled back into his head, his state did not appear very promising.

“Someone is over here!”

“Over here too!”

“And right here!”

The majority of the individuals located not far from where the clash had taken place had completely lost their senses.

Their mental centers had been corrupted by dark witchcraft, a concept they had previously only understood through texts.

If they allowed this to drag on any longer, these victims might spend the remainder of their days stripped of their sanity.

He pressed his palm against the man’s Dantian and funneled internal qi inside.

Regrettably, this frantic attempt at first aid only caused the recipient’s state to plunge into greater peril.

“Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.”

The Blue Crown Sect disciple convulsed violently and even spat out crimson froth.

‘This is no commonplace sorcery.’

Since he had plunged this profoundly into a heart demon, this was no longer a crisis they possessed the capacity to handle.

Only specialized Spell Practitioners who had mastered the arts of Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression possessed the means to rescue him.

“Step back for a brief moment.”

Seong Mo-ran abruptly shoved Cheol Sun-jik to the side and inspected the Blue Crown Sect disciple.

“This is far past what we can manage……”

Regardless of whether Cheol Sun-jik continued talking, Seong Mo-ran suddenly pulled a paper charm from inside her garments and pressed it against the Blue Crown Sect disciple’s chest.

Thereupon, she rested her palm against the paper charm and initiated the flow of internal qi into it.

“No, if you thoughtlessly disturb the Middle Qi Center—”

“Please, remain quiet!”

“…….”

The Middle Qi Center was a far more perilous junction than the Lower Qi Center.

If an outsider blundered while manipulating it, the consequences would stretch far beyond merely rendering the individual mute.

Nevertheless, Seong Mo-ran was funneling internal qi as though she completely disregarded such hazards.

Cheol Sun-jik stared directly ahead with an expression riddled with skepticism.

Right then, however.

“Hm?”

Peculiarly, the features of the Blue Crown Sect disciple gradually began to ease.

Vitality returned to his skin, and his respiration turned serene.

After a brief interval, he even started to part his eyelids sluggishly.

“S-Save me……”

“Rest easy. We arrived to rescue you.”

The Blue Crown Sect disciple, having retrieved his awareness, collapsed unconscious once more with a soft thud.

Seong Mo-ran verified the Blue Crown Sect disciple’s pulse, determined that he had settled into a balanced state, and stood up from the ground.

Cheol Sun-jik sheepishly backed away to grant her space.

“H-How did you achieve that? Regarding Dispelling Evil and Spirit Suppression……”

“It was not that. It was due to this.”

Seong Mo-ran displayed the paper talisman to him.

Cheol Sun-jik identified the object instantly.

“Is that the Mount Heng Sect’s Demon-Subduing Talisman?”

“You detected it immediately?”

“While there might not be anyone who purchases this item, there is absolutely no one who lacks knowledge of its purpose.”

“That is quite accurate.”

“Does the Iron Sword Sect routinely carry such things?”

“No.”

Seong Mo-ran shook her head sideways.

“Young Master Jin So-un provided this to me.”

“Representative Jin…… did?”

Once more.

It trace back to Jin So-un yet again.

“Indeed. For some particular reason, he instructed me to keep this with me. I never anticipated I would utilize it in this manner.”

“…….”

Cheol Sun-jik found himself completely unable to comprehend the situation.

Was Jin So-un implying that he had anticipated every single detail, from an adversary that even the Beggars’ Sect had failed to identify accurately to the crisis transpiring at this very second?

It was not as though he had traveled back from the days ahead.

Ultimately, everything had unfolded in this manner.

Every choice that had lacked prediction was in the end unfolding precisely as he intended, and all of this, when it came down to it……

“Young Master Cheol!”

Cheol Sun-jik, who had drifted into deep reflection, suddenly jerked back to reality.

“Y-Yes?”

“Can you not perceive that we are preoccupied at the moment?”

Seong Mo-ran along with the warriors of the Twelve Peak Citadels had each been distributed a single Demon-Subduing Talisman and were currently restoring people’s consciousness.

“If you have no intention of assisting, at the very least maintain a proper watch! We remain oblivious to when the adversary might initiate an ambush.”

“U-Understood.”

Cheol Sun-jik nodded his head and leaped up into the branches of a tree.

Seong Mo-ran shifted her gaze toward Cheol Sun-jik, shook her head sideways, and then exhaled a sigh.

“I wonder if the rest are managing fine.”

—

“Brother Geum-pyo, what is our next move?”

Eun-ho and Dong-ryong directed their gazes toward Geum-pyo while sprinting, yet Geum-pyo was at a loss for what reply he ought to provide.

“…….”

Back at the Academy, they had been instructed on three specific protocols to remember when delivering a message to a superior.

First, deliver the report as succinctly and clearly as possible.

Second, structure the vital details of when, where, who, what, why, the countermeasure, the timing, and the outcome, and convey them precisely.

Third, banish all sentiment and communicate rationally.

The instructor had claimed that if they reported in accordance with these three guidelines, a superior would without fail pay close attention to his junior’s words and respond accordingly.

‘It is completely useless!!’

The senior figures and disciples of the Kunlun Sect refused to give the three brothers any attention whatsoever.

It was exactly what they had anticipated from the very start.

There was absolutely no chance that those fools who had arrived at the gathering solely to evaluate Eldest Senior Brother’s standing would pay heed to Eldest Senior Brother’s advisory.

Yet no matter how he weighed the matter, he could not disregard the directives of Eldest Senior Brother, who held a status akin to the firmament to them.

Naturally, the three brothers lacked precise knowledge regarding what was taking place within Sichuan at this moment as well.

Nonetheless, at the bare minimum, they were acutely aware that if Eldest Senior Brother deemed an issue “dangerous,” then it truly was “dangerous.”

‘This advice originated from a person whose baseline for normality fails to align with ours in the first place!!!’

If a lunatic who had dismissed the Regular Exam as a trifle and declared he would dive into it unaccompanied was this hyper-vigilant, then the adversary undoubtedly possessed a dread equivalent to those peculiar entities they had encountered on the Puyang Plains.

“Blast it…….”

Regardless, those dimwitted fools were brushing off the advisory, entirely oblivious to the fact that they were insects marching into a predator’s pit of their own volition.

“Eun-ho, Dong-ryong.”

Following a period of profound contemplation, Geum-pyo locked eyes with the two of them.

“What exactly was Eldest Senior Brother’s directive?”

“Should we spot any indicators of the foes, flee immediately, then relay the news. Furthermore, if the Academy students had not crossed paths with the foes yet, obstruct them to the greatest extent possible.”

“Correct. Yet we still have not laid eyes on the foes, and the Academy students have not crossed paths with them either, have they?”

“…….”

“And if we abandon them to their current course, they will encounter the adversary Eldest Senior Brother designated as ‘dangerous.’”

Observing Geum-pyo’s gesture of nodding as though his choice was settled, Eun-ho inquired with apprehension,

“Brother, what exactly do you intend to perform?”

“The concepts we studied at the Academy are completely worthless regardless.”

“……Do not tell me.”

Geum-pyo gazed upon his younger siblings with a grim countenance.

“In that case, we must employ the methods we acquired from Senior Brother.”

“……What methods are those?”

Geum-pyo offered no reply to Eun-ho’s inquiry.

Nonetheless, Eun-ho shortly grasped the implication.

Eun-ho’s features twisted into a heavy frown.

“……This is driving me completely mad.”

Geum-pyo stared back at Eun-ho and Dong-ryong and posed a question,

“If you lack the desire to participate, you are free to step away.”

“…… shreds.”

“…….”

Eun-ho and Dong-ryong glared intensely at Geum-pyo simultaneously and scowled.

“Brother, that behavior does not resemble Eldest Senior Brother in the slightest. Refrain from mimicking him.”

“Eldest Brother, that is bizarre. Quit doing that.”

Geum-pyo’s cheeks flushed crimson.

“I was absolutely not mimicking him!”

CLANG! CLANG!

Whether Geum-pyo bellowed or stayed silent, Eun-ho and Dong-ryong unsheathed their blades at the exact same moment.

“Are you joining me?”

“……If you perish, I am obligated to take over the mill. I made the choice to turn into a martial artist who gallops across the murim. Therefore, it would prove rather problematic if you perished.”

“Mother and Father would be heartbroken if Eldest Brother passed away.”

“You two might as well just insult me directly.”

Geum-pyo began accelerating his pace.

Eun-ho and Dong-ryong matched their speed to stay perfectly in stride with him, and shortly after, the disciples and secular-affiliated martial sect Academy students under the guidance of the elder of the Kunlun Sect materialized within the three men’s line of sight.

WHIRRR. THUD.

The trio traversed the woodland and dropped down directly ahead of the Kunlun Sect.

“Ahem.”

Elder Sangwon of the Kunlun Sect, who knit his brows at the spectacle, barked out sharply.

“Did you fail to comprehend even after I spoke to you with civility?”

“I extend my regrets. Nonetheless, I cannot simply stand idly by and witness you march straight into the maw of demise yourselves.”

Geum-pyo respectfully clasped his hands together in salutation and inclined his head, yet Elder Sangwon’s irritation displayed zero indications of dissipating.

“It appears you labor under the fantasy that the Taeul Sect has evolved into something magnificent simply because it narrowly grabbed the Academy Representative title……. What are you all waiting for? Do the disciples of Kunlun purpose to halt their march merely on account of the Taeul Sect?”

“““Yes, elder!”””

Accompanied by a booming cry, close to twenty Kunlun disciples encircled the three brothers simultaneously.

“Haa…… I presumed we would avoid clashing with our compatriots following the Regular Exam.”

At Geum-pyo’s lament, Eun-ho hoisted his blade and murmured softly,

“At this juncture, perhaps the rumors were correct, and we truly were the Black Path the entire time?”

The instant Eun-ho finished uttering his words, the Kunlun disciples commenced brandishing their weapons.

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

Dong-ryong executed the White Tiger Sure-Kill Sword Formation, which he could now wield as naturally as his own limbs, and neutralized seven of the Kunlun Sect disciples’ blades.

The brows of the Kunlun Sect disciples, who were thoroughly acquainted with Jin So-un’s prowess but remained largely ignorant of the three brothers’ capabilities, twitched upward sharply.

“Hm?”

Despite the fact that the weapons were distinctly charged with internal qi, Dong-ryong neutralized seven of them entirely on his own, flashed his teeth, and snarled.

“We…… are absolutely not the Black Path!”

“What in the world is this!!”

CLANG CLANG CLANG!

The seven blades scattered toward every direction like unfurling petals, and through the resulting opening, the Ten Thousand Transformations Invincible Fist burst forth.

THUD THUD THUD THUD THWACK!

The Kunlun Sect disciples who sustained the unpredicted impact had no alternative but to choke back the exclamations that were on the verge of erupting, alongside the agony that caused their lungs to seize.

Who in the world labeled you as the Black Path?!

—

Nam Hwa-seong took a sharp, nervous breath.

The blood-garbed figures arrayed before him projected a completely different aura from the entities he had observed inside the Illusion Formation.

The entities he had witnessed within the Illusion Formation had moved in an eerie, synchronized lockstep with actions that were altogether too identical.

Conversely, while these current figures were similarly organized, they unmistakably carried the presence of living breathing individuals.

‘These ones are the real thing…….’

Jin So-un, who had managed his adversaries utilizing solely an iron staff up until this point, unsheathed his blade.

SHIIING.

The pristine vibration of the steel caused Nam Hwa-seong to grow even more rigid with tension.

“Nam Hwa-seong.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Refrain from entering the fray. Conserve your internal energy to the absolute maximum.”

“U-Uh? What is the reasoning behind that?”

“Hold your tongue and follow my directions!”

“U-Underst…….”

Prior to Nam Hwa-seong even concluding his sentence, Jin So-un launched his body toward the blood-garbed figures.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG.

Simultaneously, the blood-garbed figures, who had pulled massive blades from their shoulders, likewise propelled themselves forward and applied pressure upon Jin So-un from every angle.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

Jin So-un deflected dozens of blades thrusting in from every perimeter using nothing but a solitary Black Dragon Sword.

WHIP-WHIP-WHIP-WHIP. WHIP-WHIP-WHIP-WHIP.

Every instance Jin So-un’s Black Dragon Sword executed a single sweep, upwards of ten Illusion Swords materialized and vanished in rapid succession.

Guh.

Kgh.

Aaaagh.

The blood-garbed figures who had sprung into the air after Jin So-un plummeted downward like shedding leaves.

THUD.

The blood-garbed figures swarmed toward Jin So-un, who had dropped onto the terrain, from all eight cardinal directions like a pack of ravenous hounds.

Far from stepping back, Jin So-un advanced instead, slashing a blade with one arm and delivering punches with the other.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG.

Each time the Illusion Sword and the Real Sword tore through the right flank, blood sprayed across the vicinity, and remnants of flesh and torsos went sailing in every direction.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM.

When the Fist Form tore through the left flank, the blood-garbed figures’ upper and lower limbs snapped in directions nature never intended, as though a tempest had torn through them, sending them flying back even faster than they had initially charged.

It was truly an unyielding drive reminiscent of Xiang Yu tearing across a battlefield unaccompanied.

‘What manner of martial discipline is this…….’

If an opponent dismissed it as an Illusion Sword and paid it no mind, the Real Sword materialized there.

If an opponent assumed it was the Real Sword and attempted to block it, it transformed into an Illusion Sword.

The blood-garbed figures were entirely incapable of discerning which of the dozens of blades and punches aimed at their lifelines were solid and which were mere fabrications.

The technique had evolved into something far more precise than what he had observed in the past, and even Nam Hwa-seong himself was no longer capable of separating the Illusion Swords from the Real Sword.

No, fundamentally speaking, could this even be classified as an Illusion Sword?

How foolish had he been to look down upon Jin So-un all this time simply because he utilized an Illusion Sword?

He had never even conceived that such a height existed within the realm of Illusion Swords.

Furthermore, what of that particular punch technique?

At a glance, it appeared as though its force was concentrated solely within fabrications, yet each and every blood-garbed figure impacted by it proved completely incapable of managing his own physical frame.

That indicated its inherent destructive capacity had already broken past a martial artist’s innate defenses.

Even though it was not a martial style centered on pure fist strength, the destructive capability of each strike was already on par with the Deer-Horn Radiance Fist.

With fabrications overlaid across that, the adversaries were unable to neutralize it even if they anticipated it, and even if they managed to block it, they did not emerge unscathed.

CRACK, CRACK, CRACK.

Accompanied by the snapping of skeletal frames, three blood-garbed figures collapsed onto the dirt.

Nonetheless, they immediately attempted to pull themselves up once more on their shattered limbs.

“Heavens…….”

He found himself paralyzed by that savage determination, and his brow furrowed tightly.

The agony of shattered bones was unmistakably a sensation a regular human could not tolerate.

That unnatural determination was so bone-chilling it induced a wave of nausea within him.

‘That is the adversary we are forced to confront…….’

He could already feel his fighting spirit withering away.

“Huh?”

Yet at that exact instant, Jin So-un paid the display no attention and rapidly dashed toward them.

Then, without a single moment of hesitation, he swung the Black Dragon Sword and severed the three men’s heads.

“Pest-like degenerates…… crumbled away like a sandcastle.”

Following that utterance, he plunged his body back into the thick of the blood-garbed figures once more.

Nam Hwa-seong could only track that spectacle with his jaw hanging completely loose.

The blood-garbed figures who attempted to stand upon shattered limbs to execute their target.

And Jin So-un, who lopped off the heads of such individuals without a shred of delay.

He was entirely unable to distinguish who possessed the more cutthroat resolve.

‘But one matter is indisputable…….’

The entity he absolutely wished to avoid confronting as an adversary was not the blood-garbed figures, but rather…….

‘Jin So-un.’

While he was caught in that train of thought, additional blood-garbed figures surged forward and commenced clustering around Jin So-un.

An immense volume of bodies converged upon Jin So-un to the point where it was impossible to even calculate how many had amassed around his position.

Like insects gathering to overwhelm a lone spider, endless blood-garbed figures hemmed in Jin So-un, who clad himself in midnight garments.

Even though he was the peerless Jin So-un under Heaven, the circumstance appeared monumentally perilous.

“J-Jin So-un! Do you require assistance?!”

Nam Hwa-seong coerced himself to summon his remaining bravery and yelled out, yet Jin So-un’s reply arrived freezing cold.

“Hold your tongue and conserve your internal energy, you fool!”

“Th-That fool simply must hurl his insults no matter the circumstance…….”

The positive sentiment that had briefly materialized disintegrated like a structure of sand.

Observing Jin So-un drag in even the blood-garbed figures who had reached Nam Hwa-seong’s vicinity using a peculiar golden cord to eliminate them, he could not even begin to decipher what Jin So-un was orchestrating.

The moment he drifted into those speculations, a roar erupted from Jin So-un.

“Nam Hwa-seong! Are you prepared?”

While Nam Hwa-seong remained utterly perplexed by Jin So-un’s sudden exclamation.

“I demanded to know if you are prepared to sprint, you fool!”

Prepared to sprint?

At that precise second, he sensed the atmosphere vibrate minutely.

The oscillating atmosphere commenced rushing rapidly toward a single point.

It was an impression entirely distinct from standard wind, as though a gargantuan entity were inhaling the surrounding air.

And the focal point where the atmosphere was being reeled in was none other than Jin So-un’s palm.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE BOOM.

Accompanied by a colossal tremor as though the sky were fracturing and the terrain were collapsing inward, a monumental Palm Force erupted from Jin So-un’s hand.

The blood-garbed figures who had clustered together like a carpet of insects were scattered by the blast like dried leaves, and even the solid surface of the ground was uprooted and propelled along alongside them.

‘What manner of Palm Force is this……!’

The destructive output was akin to a tempest compressed down into a miniature zone, and the instant his awareness nearly drifted from the spectacle, Jin So-un’s shout blasted against his eardrums with immense force.

“Sprint! Nam Hwa-seong!”

“Eeek!”

Rallying every ounce of strength he had possessed since infancy, he executed the Deer-Horn Wind-Cloud Step.

The trail he traversed behind Jin So-un was choked with the remains of the blood-garbed figures.

In one light, it was completely identical to charging directly into the absolute core of the hostile formation, yet Jin So-un never wavered for a second.

The blood-garbed figures who had been propelled outward by the shockwave peripheral to Jin So-un’s Palm Force commenced picking themselves up one after another.

Thereupon, they attempted to hem in Jin So-un and Nam Hwa-seong as though establishing a tight cordon.

“J-Jin So-un, is this truly manageable?”

Regardless of whether he directed his gaze ahead, behind, to the left, or to the right, nothing but blood-garbed figures occupied the entire space.

Even if they cleaved through the blood-garbed figures in this fashion, it was glaringly obvious they would fail to shake off their trackers.

Jin So-un remained utterly serene.

Reflecting upon it, he had consistently maintained this level of serenity.

“It is fine. Back up is arriving.”

“Back up?”

The Victory Tiger Hall was still far too distant from arriving at this coordinate.

When had he separately summoned back up?

At that exact moment, boisterous bellowing began to echo from a great distance away.

“They are right there! Apprehend those degenerates!”

“How dare you look down upon our Red Flower Stronghold! We shall slice you into ribbons!”

“Our Flower Garland Stronghold arrived first! Clear the path!”

Behind their position, hundreds of Green Forest outlaws were sprinting frantically with massive falchions and hatchets gripped tightly in their palms.

“……Do not tell me the back up is…… shreds.”

Jin So-un, whose features were smudged across various points with gore from the intense violent skirmish he had just executed against the blood-garbed figures, flashed a sinister smirk.

“Otherwise, what purpose would I have had for trailing the Green Forest strongholds all the way to this location?”

Only at that moment did Nam Hwa-seong recall the period they had spent being pursued by the trio of Green Forest strongholds.

“……You calculated this entire sequence from the very beginning?”

Jin So-un smirked widely.

“This is what one defines as the strategy of utilizing outcasts to manage outcasts.”

“Fucking hell…….”

Nam Hwa-seong spat out an oath without even consciously realizing it.

Just how profound were his calculations for him to map out a scenario to this extent?

No, putting aside whether his calculations were profound or otherwise, Nam Hwa-seong could not even begin to calculate the sheer volume of audacity an individual required to personally execute this type of maneuver.

Nam Hwa-seong once more transitioned past merely viewing Jin So-un as spectacular and began to find him downright terrifying.

Gulp.

He swallowed forcefully.

Looking back, how many occasions had he navigated the boundary between existence and demise in front of Jin So-un since the Regular Exam?

‘I performed a dance directly before Death’s envoy.’

As things stood now, performing a dance directly before Death’s envoy appeared significantly less hazardous than the actions he had engaged in during the past.

“Nam Hwa-seong! I am escalating our velocity from this point forward. Therefore, trace my steps as though your very survival relies upon it! Should you turn into an encumbrance, I shall abandon you without a second thought.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Nam Hwa-seong answered with extreme courtesy without even recognizing it and frantically mobilized his lower limbs.