Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time-Chapter 377: The World (1)

Step—

The Tenfold Gate Masters, who had been surrounding Jeong Yeon-shin, came to a stop.

Twelve identical figures. White armor, symbolizing an army of ten thousand, reflected the silent sunlight pouring down.

"......."

In Jeong Yeon-shin’s grasp was a small axe.

It was the sofu (small axe) that had been knocked away earlier by Hwan-gang’s forceful strike. The axe’s blade was marred with several fine cracks, yet it still seemed serviceable.

Perhaps it was because it had absorbed the shock of Hwan-gang’s sudden technique rather than being struck by an intentional, refined force.

Jeong Yeon-shin recalled the axe strike of the Tenfold Gate Master.

‘There was no formality to it.’

A wild, unrestrained swing. A loosely constructed internal energy barrier. A casual movement that deflected a light attack.

And yet, it had properly blocked Hwan-gang’s force. There were no signs of any profound technique being applied.

‘Now that I think about it...’

The first martial technique Jeong Yeon-shin encountered in Ipwang Fortress was Ma Gwang-ik’s Decision.

It taught the proper way to utilize the body—an art renowned for accommodating any kind of weapon. Yet, the primary means by which he had been cutting down enemies thus far were his fists and sword.

Lowering the sofu slightly, Jeong Yeon-shin pondered—would delving deeper into another weapon bring him closer to the realm of Empty Moon Dance?

At that moment—

[Your swordplay and footwork are undoubtedly precise.]

Twelve voices spoke in unison, encircling Jeong Yeon-shin. It was not eerie—it was simply overwhelming.

Their faces all bore the same smirking expression.

[But what do you intend to do with that? The art of axe-wielding is something one must cultivate on the battlefield.]

"This place is a battlefield, isn't it?"

Jeong Yeon-shin replied calmly. The sofu in his left hand spun in place.

A faint force stirred at his palm’s center as he rolled the axe, and it followed his intent more smoothly than expected.

The reflection from its blade caught the face of one of the Tenfold Gate Masters.

A satisfied smile stood out against the hazy backlight. The man did not appear to be someone who had just lost his disciples to Jeong Yeon-shin.

[I am twelve—so your words are indeed true. Finding a battlefield like this under heaven is rare.]

"You have a generous spirit, Master. I appreciate the goodwill."

[...Goodwill?]

Jeong Yeon-shin did not respond.

It had been some time since he activated Sight of Heaven. His gaze, once reflecting the sky’s light, gradually deepened into a rich blue hue as he scanned his enemies.

‘Fascinating.’

From an internal energy study perspective, all twelve of them were no different from the Tenfold Gate Master he had clashed with earlier.

The energy waves emanating from their bodies were identical. They were like smoke given shape—only slightly blurred in form.

‘Empty Moon Dance.’

A wave of energy sweeping in all directions—the form, spacing, and density were all exactly the same.

The first outgoing strike would always match the original Tenfold Gate Master’s attack.

Jeong Yeon-shin wondered—what kind of enlightenment did this require?

[Your eyes are unsettling. What are you thinking?]

The last of the Tenfold Gate Masters to step forward and grip his axe spoke.

His face bore the look of someone who had just witnessed something profoundly disturbing. Among them, he was the closest to Jeong Yeon-shin, and unlike the others, his body’s outline was clearly defined.

‘I won’t know unless I experience it myself.’

Jeong Yeon-shin set aside his thoughts on the mysteries of Empty Moon Dance.

The next moment—

The figures of the Tenfold Gate Masters suddenly filled his vision.

Empty-handed, they charged forward with bare fists.

The sight of their spread palms igniting the very air was overwhelming.

[Even without weapons, one of the Eighteen Arms stands among them.]

[Barehanded Hundred Strikes.]

Other Tenfold Gate Masters joined in, positioning themselves at Jeong Yeon-shin’s flanks in a single step.

[I have no interest in your arrogance.]

[But if we do not take revenge for our fallen comrades and disciples here, who would dare enter the sect?]

Their words came faster than the flow of their internal energy.

Each of them aimed their Fang-Heaven Halberds at his flanks, while Crescent Blades came crashing down toward his crown.

Front, left, right.

Three simultaneous points of attack. The air itself wavered in a translucent ripple.

Slightly twisting his waist, Jeong Yeon-shin gripped the Sword of Thunder tightly. Radiance-Wheel Technique ignited his meridians like flashing streaks of light.

Lowering his stance slightly, he stepped forward and spun with his sword.

—Swish!

The fist of the Tenfold Gate Master who had struck from the front narrowly missed, grazing past Jeong Yeon-shin’s side.

Wind God Steps.

In that brief moment, his blade barely scraped against the opponent’s armor. The sensation of steel brushing against his grip was unmistakable.

Dust swirled beneath his feet.

The backlash from his footwork and swordplay sent a spiraling energy wave upwards, enveloping the Fang-Heaven Halberds and Crescent Blades chasing from behind.

Even the aftermath of his strike became an offensive maneuver.

—Flash!

The trajectory of the two weapons twisted.

For an instant, it felt as though the very sky behind him had opened.

The space occupied by the two Tenfold Gate Masters had been completely overtaken by intense energy waves.

Jeong Yeon-shin turned back in place.

That alone had allowed him to break free from a three-step chained strike. A complete disruption of their formation.

—Swish.

Sunlight cascaded down the blade of Sword of Thunder, gripped tightly in his lowered hand.

His black martial robe, dirtied at the hems, exuded an aura that felt both solitary and untouchable. His long, flowing hair only accentuated his imposing presence.

A near-perfect warrior’s bearing.

It was an austere beauty, one that left the watching crowd momentarily breathless.

[A truly extraordinary sensory technique. You wield both movement and lightness arts.]

The unarmed Tenfold Gate Master rubbed his ribs. A straight cut had been left on his armor. The proof that Ma Gwang-ik’s blade strike had momentarily split his defensive internal energy.

[You carry the air of a noble warrior, yet it’s much more refined and swift. A martial foundation you built yourself, I presume?]

"......."

Jeong Yeon-shin slightly lowered his gaze.

He could still feel the sensation of the strike lingering in his blade. Cutting through defensive energy was not the problem—their armor was infused with true essence.

Landing a lethal blow would not be easy in this scenario.

He replayed in his mind the movements of the Fang-Heaven Halberds and Crescent Blades he had sensed moments ago.

Even in brief exchanges, they carried the essence of profound weapon techniques.

Then—

Step. Step.

The Tenfold Gate Masters approached again.

[They say Ma Gwang-ik’s martial arts always take one of two paths.]

[A swift, decisive duel.]

[Or an overwhelming, relentless assault.]

[Right now, you are neither.]

[Do you intend to die?]

They spoke leisurely as they spread out, their gazes naturally looking down on him.

—Hwoosh!

The sky itself wavered.

A massive, suffocating pressure began to fill the space.

Their combined attack would not end in just a single exchange.

As the encirclement tightened, Jeong Yeon-shin shook the axe in his left hand once.

—Wham!

It settled perfectly in his grip. Nowhere near the Sword of Thunder, but the balance from blade to handle was not bad.

‘I need to conserve strength.’

Tonight, he would bring down the leaders of the Thirteen Heavens.

I cannot retreat here.

The blood debt of Ipwang Fortress must be repaid by its warriors, and the Abbot of the Mount Emei Sect must not fall to the Golden Dawn Sect Master.

[I should thank you for setting the stage for this grand spectacle.]

[Even without the Flood Dragon’s inner core, our sect will now flourish.]

[You may now cross the Threefold River.]

The Tenfold Gate Masters, forming an encirclement, spoke.

Was it the composure of an absolute force?

Their rough, resonant voices somehow carried an air of solemn dignity.

And then—

The bodies of the Tenfold Gate Masters vanished all at once.

Lightness technique— a synchronized leap.

A sharp hook blade was the first to obscure the sky—a long scythe known as the Guai Blade. From behind, a heavy force echoed—a massive impact shook the air.

One of the Tenfold Gate Masters, wielding a shield, was charging forward with unrelenting force.

Jeong Yeon-shin gripped the axe tightly and clenched his fist.

A semi-transparent current of energy flowed from his shoulder to his knuckles—the dense energy of Overpowering Fist.

He spun in place with dazzling speed and struck the shield head-on.

Shihwa Boundless Hand, Second Form—Jinbyeok (True Wall).

—Kwaaaaaang!

Multiple layers of shockwaves erupted from the impact point.

The collision of supreme martial masters’ energy waves.

The Tenfold Gate Master, along with his cracked shield, was sent flying to the opposite side.

The forceful blast sent earth surging like a tidal wave, swallowing the surroundings.

Amidst the upturned dust and wind, Jeong Yeon-shin felt the edge of a scythe blade slicing toward him.

—Swish!

A hot sensation seared his shoulder.

He had been grazed by the widely spread sword energy.

His own blood streaked across his vision in a flash of red, but Jeong Yeon-shin did not activate his protective internal energy.

He had no intention of revealing his newly devised defensive technique to the Golden Dawn Sect Master, who was surely watching this battle.

Without looking back, he swung the Sword of Thunder over his shoulder.

A resonant clang rang through his blade and up to his elbow. The scythe’s handle, blocked by the Sword of Thunder, bent sharply in place.

‘A divine weapon, too.’

Jeong Yeon-shin mused.

In his mind, the Divine Dragon coiled around the Sword of Thunder, biting onto its fan.

The moment he released his grip, the Sword of Thunder swept around the scythe like a coiling dragon—and slashed clean through the Tenfold Gate Master’s throat before embedding itself in the ground.

There was no opportunity for the opponent to strike again.

—Boom!

The ground trembled as the Sword of Thunder lodged itself deep into the earth.

[Did you stack ten layers of energy waves into that punch? Unbelievable.]

The Tenfold Gate Master who had been launched away rose to his feet, his body blurred and flickering.

[Your energy reserves aside, the way you handle internal energy is monstrous.]

The decapitated one, still holding a Fang-Heaven Halberd, was regenerating his head—as if he possessed the ability of revival.

‘I see.’

Jeong Yeon-shin sensed the invisible current of energy flooding into them.

An unseen internal energy pathway.

It was flowing from a distant Tenfold Gate Master, who stood with his arms folded, radiating raw power.

As if his spiritual essence had merged with his martial force, creating living clones.

In Daoist studies, there was a term for such a phenomenon.

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly spoke.

"I thought 'Phantom Soul' was a supreme sword technique of the Wudang Sect."

[Ah, so you've noticed?]

The Tenfold Gate Masters laughed.

[That bald old man was quite the inspiration. Though, I use it differently.]

"You have ties to him?"

[The Nine Great Schools are Buddhist temples and Daoist sanctuaries. Without imperial sanction, they cannot thrive. So, we follow the emperor’s will.]

[Hunting spirits and demons, or being conscripted into the northern battlefront as a martial army.]

The Tenfold Gate Masters kept walking forward.

—Step.

The green forest, which had been stretching its buds toward the sky, was crushed underfoot.

With each advancing step, the pressure thickened.

But it wasn’t from raw internal energy.

If measured in energy accumulation, Jeong Yeon-shin had the advantage.

No—this was something else.

A martial intention infused with immense spiritual essence, shaping a technique beyond conventional power.

It pierced through the secrets of the Eighteen Arms, extending beyond mere internal energy—it was something greater, something that could warp reality itself.

—Ssssshhh...

[The martial world has been curious.]

They encircled him, each holding a different weapon from the Eighteen Arms.

Their formation shifted into a circular entrapment—like a rotating wheel formation.

[If one digs too many wells, they cannot reach true depths. So how did I master all Eighteen Arms and become a supreme martial master?]

It looked like a painting of the Monkey King’s clone technique, each one taking a different combat stance suited to their ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) weapon.

[Because I grasp the very principles of weaponry itself.]

The space itself warped, as if he was trapped within an invisible hemisphere.

Even the air refused to flow freely.

It felt like a barrier formation had been activated—a fusion of martial arts and something beyond.

The Thirteen Heavens Lord.

A supreme force among the unorthodox sects.

—Hwooooosh!

Then it began.

The first strike came from a Meteor Hammer.

A massive metal sphere, suspended by chains, tore through the air with a deafening howl.

It aimed straight for his shoulder—a technique meant to dislocate upon impact.

The sheer force rivaled a hundred martial artists punching at once.

A true seismic strike.

Jeong Yeon-shin channeled Radiance-Wheel Energy from his axe arm to his shoulder’s Jianyu acupoint.

—Zzzeeeeeooooooong!

The axe clashed against the Meteor Hammer, sending tremors through the ground.

For an instant, he felt the impact penetrating all the way to his wrist bones.

A technique embedded with Weighed Force Manipulation.

The Tenfold Gate Master with the Meteor Hammer retreated.

He had grown faint after the strike—his energy drained by the attack’s recoil.

As he re-stabilized, others followed—a segmented whip, a Fang-Heaven Halberd, a Crescent Blade, and a longsword all came crashing down with piercing radiance.

—Slaaash!

Two necks were sliced clean through.

The fierce backlash of sword energy tore through the dust, scattering it in a wide circular formation.

As two figures, still clutching their Segmented Whip and Fang-Heaven Halberd, were flung back, Sword of Thunder began spinning wildly in all directions, cutting through the battlefield like an unleashed beast.

The five on the outer perimeter swiftly executed their lightness techniques, latching onto Sword of Thunder in an attempt to restrain it.

Jeong Yeon-shin found himself surrounded by seven opponents.

He had to invoke the mnemonic techniques of Shihwa Boundless Hand—barehanded.

Both of his hands now carried Hwan-gang’s explosive force.

—Zzeeeooooong! Kwaaaaaaang!

He deflected a spear strike with the back of his hand.

He crushed sword energy with his palm, shattering it.

Each impact sent violent tremors through the mountain, as if entire peaks were shaking.

Everywhere he turned, nothing but weapons surrounded him.

It was as if he had been cast into the Blade Mountain Hell of the underworld.

The churning dust clouds twisted into spirals, while shockwaves erupted in layered ripples, growing tenfold, then twentyfold.

And they were getting faster.

These were supreme martial masters.

The time it took them to reach their peak attack speed was terrifyingly short.

The battlefield had become a complete deadlock—all movement blurred.

Only occasionally did the Tenfold Gate Masters become momentarily clear when their internal energy had to be replenished.

Yet, even in that brief time, hundreds of streaks of light relentlessly trapped Jeong Yeon-shin.

The clashes of countless weapons never ceased, roaring with deafening intensity.

Through it all, Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes glowed with shifting blue radiance, following his movements and his slightest tilt of the head.

[Your movements alone could establish an entire school. You surpass even the martial masters of the Eight Grand Sects!]

[If the God of Combat saw you, he would take you as a disciple rather than cut you down. You should never step foot in the north.]

[It is a shame...]

[Had you another ten years, the world would have witnessed its greatest master...]

—Slaaash! Splurt!

A Segmented Whip lashed across his side, while the shockwave of a Tenfold Gate Master’s force split open his shoulder—yet he felt no pain.

Only an exhilaration, rising like a flame in his mind.

Never before had he gained such immense fortune from his enemies.

Hundreds of attack trajectories filled his vision without pause.

Sabers, swords, spears, shields, axes, segmented whips, clubs—

Every weapon carved infinite arcs in the air, each engraving itself into his mind like a searing brand.

Since the Song Dynasty to the present day,

The Eighteen Arms had been perfected over centuries.

It was a history Jeong Yeon-shin could never hope to grasp in a mere nineteen years of life.

How could he possibly challenge something built over generations?

—Boom!

A resounding thunderclap erupted within his mind.

A lightning bolt of exhilaration struck through his consciousness—alongside the inferiority he held toward the passage of time.

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Innate talent only serves as a tool.

From deep within him, an insatiable hunger for time surged like wildfire.

I want to see it.

I must see it.

He let his body move on its own, surrendering himself to the natural flow of evasion, counters, and strikes.

Then, he fully expanded his sensory perception—absorbing every movement of the Tenfold Gate Masters.

He traced the trajectory of their weapons, their grips, their martial energy, as if devouring their very techniques.

Like the gaze of the Seventh Apostle, watching from the shadows.

‘Ah...’

Something flowed into him.

It was the same feeling he had experienced before—in the Empty Moon Dance of the Ghost Tyrant King.

Time itself.

A presence so immense, it wrapped around his upper dantian like a rising stormcloud.

The sensation was intoxicating.

Every weapon technique in this battlefield had now been bound into a single volume in his mind.

A mental tome.

The pages turned rapidly, though many were still blank.

Yet, Jeong Yeon-shin did not care.

There was no need for commentary—there wasn’t enough space.

[You fight without a backup plan. A short decisive battle is your specialty, after all.]

[It ends here.]

A voice boomed above him.

Two Tenfold Gate Masters were bringing down a Fang-Heaven Halberd and an Iron Cudgel.

Their strikes had already been refined multiple times, now manifesting as black-and-white lightning-infused shockwaves.

Jeong Yeon-shin snapped his fingers.

—Wham! Wham!

A white gale surged upwards, slamming into their arms.

Like fabric creasing, their limbs blurred, and the force of their strike rapidly weakened.

At the same time, Jeong Yeon-shin hurled his axe into the air and activated Golden Thread Binding Technique.

His arms spread wide, catching both of their weapons mid-air, ensnaring them like entwined chains.

—Snap!

[......!]

In the next moment, Jeong Yeon-shin was holding the Fang-Heaven Halberd and Iron Cudgel himself.

His black martial sleeves flared violently at his sides.

‘Ten seconds.’

He thought.