Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Three former grandmasters were killed in succession.

The long robe Jeong Yeon-shin wore was merely a token deep purple, yet the faded noble clans recognized its significance immediately.

“Purple…!”

“Yes, he had no choice but to intervene!”

“But how…?”

They no longer approached.

Instead, they flickered in the dim air, their blurred figures lurking like tarnished steel gathering dust. Their murky skin blended into the atmosphere.

Before long, silence settled over the battlefield.

“…….”

Five or six figures suppressed their energy entirely, their ashen eyes faintly glinting. They had seamlessly executed an extreme form of stealth concealment.

Their internal energy control was exceptionally advanced, even without having reached the pinnacle of the Three Harmonies Refinement.

The Drunken Beggar King quickly wiped away his momentary surprise.

“They are elders who have lived for countless years. Since they are of the noble clans, their bodies have not deteriorated. On the contrary, their internal energy has only grown deeper over time… Truly, their kind only becomes more troublesome with age.”

Weariness seeped from the wrinkled lips of the old beggar.

The deep furrow of his brow reflected yet another face of the martial world—a man counted among its most renowned figures, embodying both wisdom and the scars of a long, tumultuous life.

Leader of the Beggar’s Sect.

A master who bore the weight of the future with visible concern.

Meanwhile, Jeong Yeon-shin was reexamining the existence of the Dark Heaven Emperor.

‘I don’t understand.’

The vast technique enveloping the area.

He could not comprehend its mechanism. Not even the structure of its energy was perceivable.

Perhaps it was because this was an entirely different class of spell-like martial arts, or perhaps because his upper dantian was no longer what it once was.

One thing was certain.

From the beginning, this domain had not been meant for mere mortals but was crafted with a single target in mind—Sambong Zhenren.

The Dark Heaven Emperor’s intent was clear. This was not a life-saving technique meant for distant successors. It was a martial doctrine forged over centuries, bound by an unrelenting obsession.

‘The mind remains sharp, but…’

Jeong Yeon-shin felt the surging force within him and could not help but marvel. It was not the time for such emotions, yet his heart swelled regardless.

His upper dantian had swelled only to collapse again. The silent roar in his head subsided.

His body, which had barely served as a vessel for the transformation, had finally fused completely with the divine essence of his upper dantian.

Twenty years old.

No, had fate not dictated his death at nineteen, would it have been the same?

Jeong Yeon-shin straightened his back.

Crackle—

A few white lightning bolts flickered around his body.

A power ripple from the Radiant Dharma Wheel Scripture. It reacted not to his thoughts but to the slightest motion of his body. His state of refinement had reached an extreme sensitivity.

“How does it feel?”