Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Jeong Yeon-shin slowly lifted his upper body. A chilling sensation rose from the hand pressed against the floor. The texture was strikingly clear.

"……."

There were many questions.

Why was he still alive?

The attack he had faced from the Dark Heaven Emperor at that moment had been nothing short of overwhelming. Given his precarious state at the time, a direct hit should have been fatal—even if he had been at full strength, the sheer force of it would have left him critically wounded.

The Dark Heaven Emperor, who had claimed the land of Hangzhou as his domain, was the absolute master of sorcery-infused martial arts.

If so—

Had it truly been an almost miraculous stroke of luck that he was dragged into a cave after being crushed under the ice mountain? Or had So Cheonmujuk, for some unknown reason, concealed him using a technique like Formless Void?

‘Would there even be a reason for that?’

Jeong Yeon-shin’s eyes narrowed.

Why had his body recovered, even if only slightly? The Heaven's Extremity Sect Master’s sword strikes had suppressed even the Jeong Family’s martial arts.

And most of all—

Why had the Heaven's Extremity Sect Master left the finishing blow to the Dark Heaven Emperor?

At the time, an enormous ice mountain composed of pure sorcery-infused martial power had already been descending from above. Even so, the blade of the Supreme Outsider Sword had undeniably been superior to Jeong Yeon-shin.

Even if the internal injuries accumulated from defeating both the Ancient Sword and Jeong Yeon-shin had been severe, the situation remained the same.

No matter what, in that fleeting moment, it shouldn’t have been impossible for him to take Jeong Yeon-shin’s head.

Or had he truly lacked the confidence to cut through Jeong Yeon-shin’s protective energy in the split second before the ice mountain fell? Had the weight of his injuries become too severe?

—"Unlucky bastard."

The Supreme Outsider Sword’s gruff muttering still rang in his ears.

A difficult man to grasp. Why was that? It wasn’t simply because their one-on-one battle to the death had not ended as expected. The man was, in every sense, an outsider.

His thoughts were beginning to grow muddled when—

[Yeon-shin, do you know what the Demonic Path truly is?]

A voice full of empty years echoed in his mind.

[It is defiance. Defiance against fate.]

It was So Cheonmujuk.

At some point, she had taken up a liquor cup in one hand and was absentmindedly running her index finger along its surface.

There was an air of complete leisure around her, as if she were lost in thought, entirely disconnected from Jeong Yeon-shin. Even with her translucent body, such a demeanor was evident.

At some point, she had donned a white robe.

Had she changed clothes using sorcery?

The garment draped over her rounded shoulders, splitting just below the elbow to reveal her toned forearm. Each time she moved her index finger, the veins beneath her skin pulsed faintly.

A body that was inherently built for close combat. A physique that had already reached completion—both in martial prowess and in sorcery.

‘Hangzhou, alcohol, a bed, a space where nonsense is blocked, a place where she can savor liquor without worry, a time that appears to be night…’