I Will Become a Phoenix More Noble Than the Emperor - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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52.

“…Then I mustn’t sink.”

If he held on without sinking, the sun would rise.

When the sun rose, things that couldn’t be seen would become visible.

So he had no choice but to endure. In the way he did best.

Having made his decision, Seon-o glanced at Ji-woon.

To think he would hide clues like this.

He didn’t know what Ji-woon’s true identity was or what abilities made such things possible, but one thing was clear.

Ji-woon had firmly believed again. That Seon-o would definitely solve this problem.

“So now you’re telling me to find both a way to protect those Super-Deity guys and whoever is written on this torn paper.”

Seon-o swallowed the breath that was somehow rising overwhelmingly in his chest.

If he had a way to help Cheong-eum achieve Dragon Transformation, that would actually be fortunate.

“I will make him transform.”

When the image of Ga-jin sinking into the lake, swept away by his own power, suddenly came to mind, Seon-o’s gaze became even more resolute.

With the sacrifices he had stepped on to climb up, there was no path back.

He had to help Cheong-eum’s Dragon Transformation and pass the next trial as well.

Seon-o, clutching the prophecy tightly, turned around.

* * *

The morning at the Wi Family Estate was quiet.

Even though today was the day when candidates who passed the second trial would be announced and the third trial would begin, there were no people making a fuss about such things.

They never doubted that a Phoenix would definitely be born from their family clan someday.

A Phoenix was, after all, an existence that saved the entire world.

The people of the Wi Family believed that there was no family clan more suitable than the Wi Family, which saved all people through Medical Arts and purified the world with powerful Yin Power befitting the meaning of that existence.

When I-ryeong, born within that belief, awakened as a Superhuman at just four years old, everyone in the family clan was convinced that I-ryeong was the material to become that Phoenix.

As if responding to their conviction, a Divine Oracle announcing the beginning of the competition descended during I-ryeong’s generation.

I-ryeong, having completed all preparations, naturally conquered the Demon Beast Cave and became a participant in the Phoenix competition.

Even when that happened, the people of the Wi Family didn’t jump with joy.

Because it would be strange to rejoice over something natural.

As if meeting their expectations, I-ryeong easily passed the first trial and was now facing the passage of the second trial.

Everything was as natural as the sky being sky and the ground being ground.

Wi Gong-un thought so too.

That I-ryeong would finally become the Phoenix, and then he would become the Wi Family Head, finally making the Wi Family the most glorious on this land.

“….”

However, Wi Gong-un had recently been experiencing things he had never experienced before.

It was a sensation as if that belief, which had been so solid that he didn’t even know it could break, was subtly vibrating. After returning to Myeonggyeong, Wi Gong-un experienced the phantom of a weight pressing down on him every time he went to bed.

When he panicked and tried to shake it off by turning to his side, auditory hallucinations pierced his ears.

“Gong-un, please.”

Every time Seon-o’s tender voice flowed into his ears, Wi Gong-un had to bolt upright from his spot, sit cross-legged, and enter Energy Circulation Breathing to control his Yin Power in order to eliminate those wicked hallucinations.

But the real problem was something else.

Something that made his heart sink with a thud, incomparably more than those annoying hallucinations.

It was the anxious doubt about whether Seon-o might truly be talent befitting a Phoenix.

Of course, Wi Gong-un hadn’t abandoned his suspicions about Seon-o. Seon-o was still a candidate with many unexplained aspects, and her actions were consistently suspicious.

But if… if his suspicions were unfounded and everything Seon-o had done was real…

Seon-o’s eccentric behavior of infiltrating Maehwagak to reveal the existence of a force suppressing Superhumans, and going to Cheongpa River where none of the other Superhumans dared to venture carelessly, hiding in the demon’s fortress, could only be defined in one way, no matter how much he tried to deny it.

Seon-o was the material that should become the Phoenix.

“….”

Wi Gong-un, who had woken up again today because of the hallucinations whispering in his ears, irritably threw his pillow and immediately went outside.

Though it was early morning when the sky was still blue, there were those at the Wi Family Estate who were awake even at this hour.

One obvious person among them was always I-ryeong.

“Wi I-ryeong.”

Gong-un, who had reached the garden where I-ryeong practiced every morning, called out to I-ryeong who was training as expected.

I-ryeong, who had been sitting cross-legged in meditation with her eyes closed, slowly opened her eyes at his call and looked at Gong-un.

Gong-un crossed his arms and leaned against a pillar in the garden, looking down at I-ryeong.

“The seed has germinated, hasn’t it?”

There was a faint anxiety beneath his quietly questioning voice. I-ryeong looked at him for a moment before parting her lips.

“We’ll find out soon enough.”

Gong-un frowned at her ambiguous answer, as always.

I-ryeong was a quiet woman, somehow cold, who never lost her composure.

From childhood until now, she rarely revealed her inner thoughts.

Even to him, the only person in the family of the same age who had carried the same weight of adult expectations—truly in the same boat—she never openly shared anything or gave clear answers.

Until now, Gong-un had understood such behavior from I-ryeong.

No, in truth, he had thought I-ryeong’s behavior was wise, and he hadn’t even wanted to know her thoughts, but somehow this moment wasn’t as easy as he’d like.

“Why don’t you ever ask for help?”

I-ryeong’s eyes, which had closed again as she tried to center herself, quietly opened at the unexpected question.

Gong-un looked at her and let out a cold sigh. Bu So-yoon, Yang Chae-gyo, and all the other candidates had received help from their families. Their clans were devoted to solving the Phoenix Competition’s challenges. It was that important.

But I-ryeong never sought anyone’s help. She always moved secretively and solved everything alone. Gong-un was frustrated that I-ryeong wouldn’t even share whether she had completed the challenges. Even after Seon-o’s appearance, I-ryeong continued to act calmly as if she would naturally claim the Phoenix position.

She didn’t know what kind of woman Seon-o was at all.

“…I didn’t want to say this, but if you don’t become the Phoenix…”

Having said that much, Gong-un was startled by his own words and closed his mouth.

I-ryeong not becoming the Phoenix.

It was something he had never thought about.

He had never been anxious about such a possibility either. But… Gong-un thought of Seon-o. He couldn’t admit that woman kept making him uneasy.

Seon-o’s ignorant and reckless behavior remained vividly etched somewhere in his heart, refusing to be erased.

Annoyed, Gong-un spoke again.

“I suppose you still have no intention of telling me why Kang Seon-o came looking for you the other day?”

When I-ryeong returned shortly after Seon-o’s visit to the Wi Family Estate, Gong-un had sought her out. He told her about Seon-o’s visit and asked why Seon-o had come looking for I-ryeong, but I-ryeong had only avoided answering by saying she was tired.

He expected I-ryeong to avoid answering this time too, but an unexpectedly sharp response came back.

“Why do you want to know that?”

Gong-un’s eyebrows rose at the unexpectedly cold counter-question. To an outsider, I-ryeong’s reaction might seem natural, but Gong-un, who had observed I-ryeong for a long time, knew the true nature of this sensitivity. I-ryeong was also concerned about Seon-o.

After a brief staring contest, Gong-un answered.

“Because Kang Seon-o is suspicious.”

At that firm answer, I-ryeong’s eyes darkened.

I-ryeong also knew what Gong-un suspected. Not just Gong-un, but all the perceptive ones among those interested in the competition would be suspicious of Seon-o.

I-ryeong recalled Seon-o she had seen near Bujin Pavilion. The face that had looked out the window with complex eyes while boarding her ghost carriage.

“…Don’t worry. Whatever Master Kang is thinking, I have no intention of getting involved.”

Even those firm words didn’t bring the reassurance Gong-un hoped for. Gong-un bit his lip and looked at I-ryeong.

Since I-ryeong hadn’t rashly asked for help, Gong-un had taken it upon himself to sabotage Seon-o. Since he had absorbed that giant Golden Salamander demon’s Yin Power, Seon-o’s seed wouldn’t have germinated.

But what if it wasn’t the case?

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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