Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time

Jeong Yeon-shin needed to prepare before setting out.

He ate a lot. Recognizing him immediately with perception rivaling that of the Yullyeong Division Lord, Cheongmyeong, the Azure Serpent Sword, instructed the servants to bring in more cooks.

Thus, the banquet at Ma Gwang-ik’s residence, with Shin Geom Division Vice Lord Ak Su-rim in attendance, began.

The warriors of Ma Gwang-ik, inheritors of Seomye's martial lineage, were well accustomed to the dignified speech and the luminous aura characteristic of the Division Lords.

They were unfamiliar yet welcoming of the matured presence of their lord.

This was home.

And it had to be, for everyone in Ma Gwang-ik.

Upon returning, Jeong Yeon-shin immediately turned his attention to Baek Mi-ryeo. It was inevitable—her older sister had been the fallen Lord of Sunmuryun.

She had lost her kin to the Holy Church’s young sect leader, a figure increasingly regarded as the embodiment of monstrous and divine forces alike.

Just as Baek Mi-ryeo and the warriors of Ma Gwang-ik had filled Jeong Yeon-shin’s solitude, he, too, wished to be her support.

— "Our paths diverged. There is no room for sympathy."

As always, Baek Mi-ryeo remained cold.

As a successor of the Heavenly Demon lineage, a disciple of the One Sword Killing Evil, and a warrior dedicated to the people's welfare, her temperament aligned with that of the warriors of Ipwang Fortress. Each of them was distinct in character, yet they shared a common ethos.

— "Still… if an assignment ever takes you westward, I’d like to go, even if only alone. I must visit the grave at least once."@@novelbin@@

At that time, Jeong Yeon-shin had simply nodded in silence.

While Ak Su-rim poured him an overflowing cup, which he quietly burned away with Threefold Incineration, his mind was already contemplating the team for his next mission.

‘Hyungnim and Hye-a must be well. The commander who went to Shaolin as well…’

The fabric of his sleeve brushed against the marble tabletop, its texture rough under his fingertips.

As he moved towards the door, he paid no attention to Chilsa-do.

His newly tempered body never went against the will of his martial instincts, but it constantly aroused various sensations and impulses, including hunger. Enduring such things was part of adulthood.

He opened the door and spoke.

"The breath regulation technique should have yielded results."