The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 104

Chapter 104. Great Journey of Avici Screams (3)

Back in the days of the Sojeong Squad, we were desperate.

The missions the Murim Alliance originally assigned to the Sojeong Squad mostly involved standing at the very front of the battlefield or serving as bait to draw the Demonic Cult’s attention.

However, we selected ‘survival’ as our highest priority, and we stopped at nothing to escape from the grasp of opponents we could not match strategically.

The water surge at Mount Jindan was one of those methods.

The terraced reservoirs formed along Mount Jindan’s ridges.

Even if a single reservoir was not large, if all of those reservoirs were burst at once, they were enough to fill the valley in an instant.

And in my previous life, while I was being chased by the Blood Demon Ghost Sword Unit, I had used this operation to drive them away.

“This makes no sense!”

I used the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and flew toward Hyeon Su in an instant.

“You bastard!”

Hyeon Su, who found me even amid his shock, ground his teeth and swung his sword, but there was no way a sword swung in a moment of distraction would be properly filled with force.

CLANG.

The bastard’s sword was knocked away weakly, and I pressed the Numbing Acupoint of the defenseless bastard.

“I am Hyeon Su of the Wudang Sect…….”

It seemed as though the bastard was trying to say something, but without listening to the end, I filled my fist with internal qi and struck his qi center.

THUD.

“Keu-heuk!”

The bastard’s body slammed into the water surge even faster than the speed at which he had flown toward me.

SPLASH.

The other Daoist priests of the Wudang Sect were just as disoriented as Hyeon Su.

“What is that?!”

“Is it a formation? What kind of water deluge appears in a place like this?!”

“D-Dodge!”

“No! If it is a formation, you must not dodge!”

The Daoist priests of Wudang, wavering between whether to dodge or not, ultimately decided not to dodge.

“Keu-heuk!”

“Gurgle.”

“Fuck! It is real!”

The stones and trees piled above the valley were swept up in the water surge and came crashing down madly beneath the cliff.

The Daoist priests of the Wudang Sect were struck by stones and trees and could not collect their wits.

Once the first water surge passed, our attack began against the Wudang Daoist priests, who were too disoriented while desperately gasping for the breath they had been holding.

“Throw!”

Our squad members and warriors, who had taken refuge in the trees above the valley, lifted the nearby rocks and threw them mercilessly at the Daoist priests.

“Keu-heuk.”

“Damn it! Someone look up there!”

“Run!”

Together with the falling boulders, I threw myself toward Hyeon Myeong, Hyeon Hyang, and Hyeon Jin in succession.

CLANG.

“Even after doing something like this, you…….”

THUD.

I struck away the sword, pressed the Numbing Acupoint, and drove a Straight Punch straight into the qi center.

If the qi center received an impact of this degree, they would have to recuperate for at least a month.

By then, the Murim Regular Exam would be completely over.

After turning all the examinees into pulp, I immediately used the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art and shot straight back above the valley in one leap.

“What kind of Movement Art is so elusive and ghostly?”

Seong Mo-ran, who had been throwing boulders the size of human heads, opened her eyes wide like a rabbit.

“It is time to go now.”

“You mean it is time to run away, right?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps because we had spent a long time matching our hands and feet with the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect, everything worked together smoothly even without lengthy words.

“Will the Wudang Sect not keep chasing us?”

Seong Mo-ran showed regret that she had not been able to throw the last boulder she had been holding.

“The operation worked better than expected.”

Half of them had been injured by the reservoir water, stones, and so on.

Moreover, the people in the rear ranks were still wondering whether the water that had poured into the valley might have been a formation.

For people who had never studied formations separately, being trapped in a formation was more frightening than one might think.

Even the Blood Demon Ghost Sword Unit had not been able to set foot easily, so there was no way those Daoist priests could recklessly enter.

“But why did you suddenly go down into the valley?”

At Namgung Seon-hwa’s question as she followed beside me, Seong Mo-ran also nodded as though she was curious.

“Should we not collect the spoils?”

“Spoils?”

I handed Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran two Entry Tokens each.

The two, who received the First Trial and Second Trial Tokens I had taken from the Daoist priests of the Wudang Sect, looked at me with absurd expressions.

“Would the two of you not feel wronged if you were chased for no reason as well?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa said nothing.

“Insane. Truly…….”

Seong Mo-ran clicked her tongue.

“Young Master, what are you practicing?”

Baek Won-gak could not hide his bewilderment.

“They say it is a sword formation Brother So-un personally revised.”

Baek Won-gak felt as though it was ‘as expected.’

If it was related to Jin So-un, the Young Master probably wanted to do anything.

Otherwise, why would the Young Master, who normally neglected even his family’s sword arts, be practicing a sword formation at a time when he did not even have enough time to sleep?

‘Should I call this a good thing…….’

Murong Jae-hwa seemed as though he would blindly follow anything Jin So-un did.

Even while watching him show enthusiasm for martial arts, Baek Won-gak could not decide whether he should be pleased or not.

Murong Jae-hwa had not liked sword arts very much since he was young.

Even though he was the eldest son who had to lead the Murong Clan in the next generation, he had spent more time learning miscellaneous arts than the sword.

One might have thought it fortunate that he had at least not fallen into wine, women, and gambling like the twisted children of prestigious clans, but that could not be the case because his older sister was none other than Murong Seol.

She had formed her own qi center through the Breathing Method taught to her early on for the sake of her health, and after watching the family’s warriors train, she had learned sword arts on her own.

Because Murong Jae-hwa was compared to her, he had always seemed far too frivolous.

When he said he would not take the Murim Regular Exam, Jincheon Pavilion had fallen into an uproar, and Lord Sword-Breaker, the Clan Head himself, had even taken up a club and gone looking for Murong Jae-hwa.

The family’s open opinion was that it would have been better if Murong Seol and Murong Jae-hwa had been born with their genders reversed.

Then, was it after he had been dragged along by the Clan Head’s eccentric journey and returned after it ended?

From then on, Murong Jae-hwa began to change little by little.

He made time on his own to learn the sword, and he even came to the Murong Clan warriors of his own accord and did not hesitate to spar with them.

He still practiced miscellaneous arts alone as before, but when the family’s people saw him seriously thinking about the sword and training, they had no choice but to feel proud.

However, because he talked about Jin So-un and Taeul Sect every day, and occasionally said that he wanted to enter Taeul Sect as a Lay Disciple, he also chilled the hearts of the family members.

‘He is the hero in his heart.’

Did everyone not live with one hero in their heart in childhood?

For Murong Jae-hwa, that hero was Jin So-un.

When he first said that he wanted to give up his own exam and join Jin So-un’s group, Baek Won-gak could not hide his disappointment. However, Murong Jae-hwa admitted that he did not have the skill to seize a Third Trial Token, and further said that if he could not even do this much for the person who had saved his father’s life, he would feel too ashamed as the eldest son of the Murong Clan. In the end, Baek Won-gak had no choice but to approve.

“Learning martial arts is so enjoyable these days.”

When Baek Won-gak saw the Young Master’s face smiling brightly, he thought he would be fine even if he was scolded later by the Clan Head or the Young Clan Head.

Was life not long?

Even if Murong Jae-hwa did not enter Murim Academy, that did not mean he would cease being the eldest son of the Murong Clan. If he could grow further through this, then that too would be a good thing.

But no matter how much enthusiasm he had, was the White Tiger Sword Formation not a bit much?

“Young Master, Young Master, have you not already learned our family’s excellent sword formation known as the Heavy-Wave Raging Fire Sword Formation? So please sleep even a little right now.”

“They say the warriors of the Namgung Clan and the Iron Sword Sect all learned it too.”

“That? Why would those people?”

“They said if we learned this, we could eat warm food.”

“Who said that?”

“The captain of the Namgung Clan’s Firmament Unit.”

Kang Seo-pyo of the Namgung Clan was someone Baek Won-gak had interacted with during their mandatory service in the Murim Alliance.

Baek Won-gak had thought him a dignified man with a solemn and cautious bearing, but it turned out he had made a useless joke to the innocent Young Master.

“I did not take that man for someone like that, but he said something utterly pointless.”

Baek Won-gak clicked his tongue like that, but it did not take long to confirm that those words had not been a joke.

After five days, the carriages finally stopped.

Jin So-un gave them a full hour to eat, and just when people were rejoicing at the reality that they could boil at least some warm porridge instead of eating sickening dry rations and jerky,

“Ambush!”

At the very moment Baek Won-gak was about to soak jerky in the bubbling porridge and put a spoonful of the roughly meat-flavored porridge into his mouth,

The damned pursuers rushed in from all directions.

The Murong Clan warriors, driven by spite, fought with all their strength and repelled the enemies. Fortunately, they pushed them back without suffering any damage.

However, those who returned to the meal site could not hide their despair.

“My food……!”

“Damn it!”

Amid the chaotic battle, the cauldron had overturned, and the white porridge had become mixed with dirt.

“See? They said you could eat warm food if you learned it.”

When Baek Won-gak turned his head, Murong Jae-hwa was eating hot porridge with Geum-pyo’s group.

“…….”

No, it was not only Murong Jae-hwa.

The porridge of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect warriors was all intact.

Only the Murong Clan’s porridge had been mixed with dirt.

“…….”

“Are you all right?”

Kang Seo-pyo and Cho Mu-bin each approached while carrying a half-full cauldron.

“Why were only our clan’s cauldrons overturned?”

“That…… is how it usually goes. We protected the food as the top priority with the White Tiger Sword Formation’s guard formation.”

“…….”

The words, ‘You learned a guard formation for mere food?’ almost burst out of his mouth, but when he saw the steam rising from the porridge, he swallowed them down.

From that day on, the warriors of the Murong Clan gave up even their short rests to learn the White Tiger Sword Formation.

“We, we arrived!”

“I actually arrived! Buddha! Jade Emperor! Grand Supreme Elder Lord, thank you!”

As soon as Jin So-un’s group arrived at the Azure Sky Merchant Guild in Zhengzhou, they collapsed in the Main Courtyard.

The people of the merchant guild, who had expected the proud and dignified appearance of warriors after hearing that the Namgung Clan, the Murong Clan, and the Iron Sword Sect were coming, were dumbfounded at the sight of people who looked like defeated soldiers.

“…….”

“Branch Chief, it has been a while, has it not?”

“Lady Seon-hwa…… it seems you have suffered greatly….”

“You can say that again. I heard Brother San was not like this.”

“Yes, yes. There is truly a veeeeery big difference.”

“Haha.”

“We prepared a feast table because we heard you were coming, my lady…….”

The Branch Chief glanced at the warriors lying spread-eagled in the Main Courtyard as if they could not move even an inch.

“If it is all right, could you prepare it here? Everyone ran here for an entire week without sleeping a wink.”

“Huh…… No wonder you arrived somewhat quickly. You did not sleep for even one day?”

“Yes.”

The greatly shocked Branch Chief immediately ordered the household staff to prepare food in the Main Courtyard.

When cauldrons were set up in the Main Courtyard and food began sizzling on pot lids, the people who had collapsed began getting up one by one and eating the food ravenously.

“Are they Beggars’ Sect disciples or warriors of the Five Great Clans……?”

“Shh, can you not be quiet?”

The people who had expected to see elite warriors of the Five Great Clans under Heaven were horrified by the sight of primitive warriors who would put Beggars’ Sect disciples to shame.

“What in the world happened?”

“It is a long story to explain…….”

Even Namgung Seon-hwa’s eyes seemed to be drooping as she spoke.

“Ah! I kept you talking for too long. Please rest for now.”

“Yes…… and…….”

“Please say it.”

“Could you bring some food to our rooms as well?”

“……Ah, of course. I will do that.”

After entering their room, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran, like the other warriors, repeated the cycle of eating and passing out, waking up to perform Qi Circulation and Breathing, then eating again and passing out again.

“Now, I am coming back to my senses a little.”

“You can say that again. On the last day, I think I thought about ten thousand times that it would be better to just give up on the exam.”

“……I did too.”

Just because they had been born as daughters of prestigious families did not mean they had never gone through difficult things.

No, rather, because they were daughters of martial families, they had grown up receiving harsh training that ordinary girls their age could not experience from childhood.

However, they had tasted the very limits of their limits, enough for all of that pride to be shattered.

Even so, the reason they could avoid feeling ashamed of themselves was that even the male warriors nearing thirty had all struggled as well.

“……Can we continue?”

After finishing their maintenance, they had to depart again.

And they would have to experience what they had gone through for the past seven days over the course of a month.

“I wonder if we are only becoming an unnecessary burden…….”

At Namgung Seon-hwa’s hesitant words, Seong Mo-ran nodded without realizing it.

For some reason, Jin So-un looked no different from when he had left Nanyue.

He had even stood watch in place of others, conducted searches, and during mealtimes, gone far out by himself to keep guard.

The Great Journey generally chose one of two methods: moving stealthily with elites or moving as a group.

However, because Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran had joined, Jin So-un seemed to have ended up in an awkward state.

They had joined to help Jin So-un and Taeul Sect, but now, they were clearly getting in Jin So-un’s way.

“Should we tell him to move separately even now?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa opened her mouth, but Seong Mo-ran did not answer.

If they moved separately from Jin So-un now, there was a high possibility that they would not complete the Great Journey.

Because Namgung Seon-hwa knew that, she could not urge Seong Mo-ran to answer either.

While the two kept their heads lowered and remained silent, a maidservant knocked on the door from outside.

“My lady, guests have come to see you.”

“Guests?”

Twenty warriors of the Murong Clan had collapsed.

None of them had major external wounds, but because they had been moving frantically, they had not even realized they were wounded. They had left the wounds unattended, and the condition had worsened.

“What should we do, Brother?”

Murong Jae-hwa lowered his head deeply as if he had committed a crime.

“Of course they have to rest. If they were to die while helping us, how would I face Elder Sword-Breaker?”

“……I am sorry.”

“This is not something you need to apologize for. More importantly, go carefully check whether the other warriors are injured anywhere.”

“Yes.”

Murong Jae-hwa ran off to check on the warriors of the Murong Clan, and with that, Namgung Seon-hwa and Seong Mo-ran approached.

The sight of them washed clean and dressed in new clothes was completely different from yesterday.

However, Namgung Seon-hwa stared at me intently.

“What is it?”

“Young Master Jin, did you sleep?”

“Yes. I did sleep.”

I had also slept for about four hours last night before waking.

I could not sleep more than that because I had to check the newly arrived information from Hao Gate in the morning.

“You did not sleep properly because you were checking information again, did you?”

A pursuit was a battle of information.

Rather than running away well, grasping the opponent’s movements was more important.

After eating and sleeping together for the past week, she seemed to have begun seeing straight through my daily routine.

Seong Mo-ran let out a long sigh.

“So, how is it?”

“It is not very good.”

I spoke honestly.

Even though it was only crossing a single province, the difficulty could not even be compared to an ordinary Escort Run.

The only method we could use was to keep moving without rest exactly as we had done on the way to Zhengzhou, but I was not sure whether the people could endure it.

“…….”

Perhaps my words had become an unnecessary burden, so I smiled and said,

“Don’t worry. There are several methods.”

Even though I said that, the two women’s faces did not brighten much.

After hesitating for a long while with an expression that made it seem as though she had something to say, Namgung Seon-hwa finally spoke.

“There are people who want to meet Young Master Jin.”

“Me?”

At this point in time, I had no idea what kind of people would want to meet me. There was no way they had found allies in Zhengzhou that they had not been able to secure in Nanyue anyway.

“You know about the Twelve Peak Citadels, right?”

“……?”

The Twelve Peak Citadels were the strongest sect alliance of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.

“They want to meet Young Master Jin.”