Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Chapter 4 – Destruction of the Family (3)

This time, he did not go to the training hall.

Instead, he entered his room, a place no one else would enter, and sat cross-legged.

It was different from when he trained in dynamic techniques.

The internal energy training required a place free from external influences.

‘If someone disturbs me and my energy flow gets disrupted, I could die.’

He thought of the servants, who were extremely careless when it came to him.

It was a valid concern.

He did not want to die young from tangled energy pathways.

He erased the unpleasant thought that briefly arose with his breath.

Yeon-shin slowly emptied his mind and began to delve inward.

He had already comprehended the principles of circulating internal energy, including the small and large heavenly cycles.

‘Let’s awaken my energy using the Jeong Family Dynamic Training method.’

The first step was to refine the natural energy inhaled using the Breathing Technique.

Not only the Jeong family, but also most martial arts schools, including the Zhongnan Sect, used circulation to assimilate natural energy.

The power that fully adapted to and settled within the practitioner’s body was referred to as inner energy or qi.

Yeon-shin intended to enhance his qi with his own internal energy, just as his body had become stronger by accepting inner energy.

The training that began in the morning continued until the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

“…Huh? This is strange.”

Yeon-shin muttered with a blank face. He lightly unfolded his cross-legged position as if he had just sat down.

‘Why is my Baihui acupoint so wide?’

At first, he intended to explore what kind of power the densified qi could exert. It did not work well.

The qi accumulated in his dantian did not allow any overlap, as if it was already complete in itself.

He thought his understanding might be wrong, but that wouldn’t explain the powerful energy of Elder Ye Yil-sin.

However, all this training was now secondary.

‘I have been polishing my body with Jeong family Dynamic Training for a year.’

He had been so obsessed with one type of training that he had not engaged in self-reflection for a year.

During that time, the amount of energy passing through his head had become enormous.

‘I knew it was growing only within me.’

Yeon-shin mumbled blankly.

“Am I going to die like this?”

The Baihui acupoint, directly connected to the dantian in the head, needed to have its energy controlled adequately.

He was afraid of being found as a brain-dead corpse.

Comparing the differences, it seemed he had less than five years left before losing consciousness.

The sudden awareness of his lifespan felt surreal.

‘Die? Me?’

He stood up and grasped the doorknob with trembling hands.

Maybe breathing fresh air would spark a solution.

Click.

As soon as he opened the door, his body froze.

He could not move for a moment. Along with the fresh air came a strong smell of blood.

He grabbed his sword. He had watched hunters slaughter and dismember animals.

The smell was similar to that, but even after passing through the training hall, he could not see any corpses.

Unless it was the Blood Art of the Demonic Sect, this could not be.

“……”

Silence enveloped the night sky. The household was eerily quiet.

Yeon-shin walked slowly.

He had an intuition that something had already happened.

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It felt like walking into a pitch-black swamp.

‘Ah.’

By the time he reached the main house’s garden.

He saw it. The carnage.

The common phrase in the martial realm about rivers of blood was an exaggeration.

The blood either seeped into the ground or dripped from the doorways of the detached houses.

He saw the limp corpses of the servants all around.

Their chests bore identical sword marks, as if someone had practiced swordsmanship on them.

They all laid still, as if they had never been alive.

Whether it was because they fell into a trance and didn’t notice the commotion, or because the attackers were so overwhelming that resistance was futile, was unknown.

Thud!

A loud noise finally echoed from outside the mansion.

It seemed formidable experts were clashing beyond the gate.

Amid the sound of swords clashing and impacts, Yeon-shin walked toward the main house.

Ten men, who appeared to be fiends, were lounging around carelessly, and it wasn’t until he was three steps away that one of them turned his head.

“Who are you?”

A man with two swords crossed on his back asked. Yeon-shin replied briefly.

“The third son of this house.”

There was no response. The man stood up and walked over, not even thinking of drawing his sword.

The power in the descending hand was immense.

Yeon-shin’s eyes sparked with a sky-blue flash as he read the flow of the force accompanied by the wind.

Pak!

In a smooth, natural flow, he caught the wrist, pressed it down, and twisted it.

It was a flow he had never learned, yet he executed a joint lock.

The energy and physical strength nurtured by Jeong Family Dynamic Training filled his entire body.

No matter how hard the opponent tried, he could not break free from the grip.

He held on firmly.

Kwak!

With a loud crack, a scream echoed.

All the others who had been ignoring him now turned their heads simultaneously. Their eyes widened in unison.

“Let go!”

“You bastard!”

Now, Yeon-shin thought, they finally looked like the rootless scum of the Demonic Sect.

When he released his grip, the dual-sword warrior glared with bulging eyes.

His face showed a mix of pain and fury.

It was natural, having been subdued by a boy half his size.

The warrior clenched his large hand into a fist. His face turned bright red, and he reached out with a roar.

There was no reason to draw his sword, but his momentum was terrifying.

It was no ordinary fist technique. In an instant, his fist seemed to grow as large as a pot lid.

Yeon-shin’s eyes flashed with sky-blue lightning again.

‘Head.’

The trajectory was obvious. The energy from Jeong Family Dynamic Training filled his entire body, activated by the joint lock technique.

At the same time, an enlightenment he had never realized before pierced his mind. It was intention.

When the intention to move inner energy became powerful, the qi inside the body could accomplish anything.

It fully complied with the will of its master.

Wooong!

Yeon-shin’s intention to move the qi became concrete, and the clarity of his mental image naturally formed into a specific phrase and permeated his inner self.

The essence of martial arts, known as a formula, ignited within his body like the sun.

Beginning, then Overcoming, and finally Piercing Through.

The name that emerged without contemplation defined the identity of the martial art.

“Overcoming the Beginning and Piercing Through”. A method of utilizing qi to break through current limits.

The qi that filled his right foot and left hand surged into his right hand and left foot.

The overlapping energy increased in density.

The left foot, now imbued with unprecedented strength, shattered the ground, and the sword, following the principle of the speed sword, flashed with moonlight.

Shaaak-!

The heads of the two approaching with the dual-sword warrior were severed along with his own.

It felt as if the bodies were not his own. Three heads were swept away simultaneously.

Judging by the expressions of shock, it seemed their eyes had followed the sword’s movement.

What did it matter? The heads, suspended in the air, could glare all they wanted.

Swoosh!

In a single spin, like a snowflake caught in the wind, Yeon-shin turned and struck.

The red-haired woman approaching from behind the headless men gasped for breath.

By the time she raised her arm holding the half-moon ring, a sharp sword had already pierced her throat.

The boy who pulled the sword out without hesitation saw the corpse fall in front of him.

There was no difference in his breathing before and after drawing his sword.

This was an extreme situation.

The shock of his first kill naturally detached somewhere in his mind, and his body, tempered by dynamic training, seemed stronger and more stable than anyone here.

“This…”

The skinny warrior who had been watching grimaced.

The burly man who laid a hand on his shoulder stood up.

“You’ve dedicated your life to speed. There’s no other skill. Just a young, well-trained, speed swordsman. They were caught off guard.”

With the physique of a large beast and eyes as shrewd as a fox, the man spoke.

Not everything he said was correct but Yeon-shin instinctively knew he was out of his depth.

“Even so, it’s surprising. Truly surprising. How could someone of that age be so skilled?”

“Blood Flame Sect?”

The boy asked, thinking of the red-haired woman lying at his feet.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the man.

“No. I am from the Sword Sect.”

“The Sword Sect, you say? No, you must be from the Blood Flame Sect.”

“Hm…”

“Why are two of the Thirteen Heavens in a place like Xinye?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Then why are you answering my questions?”

“Because it’s a waste. It’s rare to find someone as refined as you at your age. It’s amusing that a kid from a backwater place talks as if he’s experienced the center of the martial realm.”

The man laughed heartily.

“Waste?”

A sneer appeared on the boy’s lips.

“You must be afraid of my maternal family. You rootless Demonic Sect bastard.”

Yeon-shin challenged with an extremely arrogant expression and a pounding heart.

If the man hesitated, Yeon-shin would certainly win.

He had guessed something when the dual-sword warrior chose to use a hand strike instead of drawing his sword at the start.

“…You crazy brat.”

The man growled. It sounded like the roar of a beast rising from the depths.

His fierce momentum was chilling, but Yeon-shin forced himself to appear nonchalant.

“You can’t kill me. It doesn’t matter what I do.”

Whoever retreated would be devoured.

Bang!

A loud noise echoed from the main gate. With a crash, the gate shattered, and its pieces flew everywhere.

Among the fragments, a familiar man tumbled to the ground.

It was one of the Zhongnan Sect’s masters who had come with Ye Yil-sin.

His once tidy martial robe was now torn, and blood trickled from his mouth.

‘They called him the Cliff Edge Sword. How did a master like him end up like this…?’

Thud! Thud!

The boy turned his head in surprise.

The sounds of tremendous forces clashing grew closer, and soon they broke through the wall and entered the manor.

Boom!

Yil-sin and another master of the Zhongnan Sect were the first to appear.

They looked as defeated as the Cliff Edge Sword. They were no less battered.

The sight of Yil-sin, who had seemed like a divine swordswoman, missing the upper part of her left ear, was shocking.

‘I thought she was a sword fairy playing in the heavens.’

Thud.

A giant shadow walked in with large strides.

It was definitely a human figure.

The heavy wave of qi radiating from him was surreal, as if the center of the world was here.

He held a massive greatsword, and the deadly aura emanating from it evoked death.

Just facing him made Yeon-shin shiver.

It wasn’t just because of his imposing presence. It wasn’t just a matter of martial skill.

He was cloaked in something beyond mere power.

Yeon-shin thought of an unstoppable landslide.

‘Who is this?’

Terrifying qi wriggled around the middle-aged man.

The absolute sword aura.

His gaze fell upon Yeon-shin and the others, infiltrating the space.

Just realizing that his gaze was directed at them made Yeon-shin dizzy.

“Master!”

The man who had been talking with Yeon-shin bowed deeply.

‘Master? The Master of the Sword Sect came personally?’

A figure who could contend with the Nine Great Sects, commanding one of the Thirteen Heavens of the Demonic Sect.

That would explain his overwhelming presence.

It was awe-inspiring to see the Zhongnan Sect masters, who had fought with him for so long, still standing.

As everyone froze in place.

Tap, tap.

Yeon-shin alone moved. He began to run.

He drove his energy to its peak, pushing off the ground repeatedly.

He ran toward the man bowing to the Master of the Sword Sect, the terrifying warrior he had briefly confronted.

“What, what…”

The man was flustered, and all eyes in the yard turned to the boy.

The Master of the Sword Sect did not move.

Was he waiting to see what Yeon-shin would do? The boy didn’t care and threw his body forward with all his might.

Saaa-!

The air rushed past his ears like a waterfall.

His sharp sword drew a straight line in his dash.

Thunk!

The azure blade plunged into the back of the man who was hurriedly rising.

With a dull sound, the blade pierced through his back and abdomen, causing him to collapse once more.

Yeon-shin slowly stood up.

Stepping on the man’s back, he looked straight at the Master of the Sword Sect.

“Even now…”

A pale blue lightning sparked in the boy’s eyes.

“Can you kill me?”