The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 161

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

The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 161
When I think about it, it was the natural course of action.
If we were to select personnel for the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, Cheonhye-in’s participation was essential.
Not just anyone, but one of the Seven Prodigies produced by the Cheongwol Sect.
She was a figure who had earned the title of Seven Prodigies without ever participating in the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, given the Cheongwol Sect’s circumstances.
It was true that she possessed such talent, and wasn’t there a famous saying within the Cheongwol Sect itself?
‘The most exceptional talent since the Sword Saint.’
The Heavenly Supreme, Sword Saint Yoo Cheon-gil.
Since his emergence from the Cheongwol Sect, she was the most highly regarded figure.
As such, it was only natural to want to bring her to the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
“…So you’re taking me with you?”
“Yes. Let’s go together.”
“…Haha.”
Upon hearing my words, Cheonhye-in let out a soft laugh.
“Is that really what you have to say to me after disappearing for a month?”
“There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, is there?”
Though I spoke with some audacity, I was subtly gauging her reaction.
It had been exactly one month.
The point where I had beaten her mercilessly while unable to remember her, and then met her right after.
Recalling that, I examined Cheonhye-in. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to bear any scars; she looked perfectly fine.
“Sigh…”
Cheonhye-in lowered the sword she’d been holding and looked at me.
Cold sweat was streaming down her cheeks.
She had been in the middle of training when I appeared.
She wiped the sweat from the back of her hand and looked at me again.
Her blue eyes, reminiscent of Wol Seon-geom, were striking.
“It’s strange that you’d come to say this after our last encounter ended like that.”
“What’s strange about it? I didn’t do anything wrong, and it was simply a sparring match, as I said.”
“You turned a person into a pulp.”
“That’s… well…”
I laughed awkwardly.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t control my strength.”
It wasn’t something I had done, so it was frustrating, but there was no point in debating it anyway.
Besides.
“You don’t seem to mind much, so let’s just move past it, shall we?”
Cheonhye-in didn’t appear particularly bothered by it.
“…”
The moment she heard those words, her expression changed.
Not a slightly sullen, pouting expression, but instantly her face became blank.
“How boring.”
A cold voice.
Hearing that, I laughed.
Now she was starting to look familiar.
“You realize you’ve made my position difficult, don’t you?”
“I do. Because it’s good for me.”
As a result of my match with Cheonhye-in, her standing had wavered slightly.
At a point when she was establishing her position within the sect solely through her reputation as a genius who would shake history itself.
There was no one to replace her immediately.
And she was being discussed as a strong candidate in the process of selecting the future Moonju.
‘But she lost to me.’
Such a Cheonhye-in had been defeated by me.
And quite overwhelmingly at that.
Right after that incident, there must have been much talk within the sect.
‘I wouldn’t know since I’ve been in closed cultivation, but it must have been noisy.’
In such circumstances, I had to go as the representative of the Yongbong Conference, and I came to ask her to go with me.
For her, it must be absurd.
“You know all that, yet you came to speak to me…? What’s your intention?”
“I have no intention. I simply use the most efficient method.”
“Taking me with you?”
“Yes. There’s no better way. Don’t you agree, Heavenly Supreme?”
“Even if I do, coming to speak is a different matter.”
“If you dislike it, refuse. I’ll go find someone else.”
If she truly refused, I had no intention of taking her. I simply wanted a conclusion quickly so I could find another method faster.
“….”
At my words, Cheonhye-in stared at me with an expressionless face.
Every time I see her, I feel it. She’s truly cold.
A chill different from what Muyong Youngsoon emanates.
Her face, which resembled Wol Seon-geom’s, had the power to intimidate people simply by looking at them without a smile.
“I really don’t understand.”
Cheonhye-in approached me, her voice devoid of inflection.
“No matter how I look at it, I shouldn’t have lost.”
Her gaze swept up and down my body.
“Why did I lose?”
“Why did you lose? Because you were weak.”
“….”
Since she seemed unable to understand, I stated it clearly.
Of course, this wasn’t the complete answer, but it didn’t matter.
“You talk too much. You lost because you’re pathetically weak—what’s there not to understand?”
“…Ha….”
I felt a surge of energy from Cheonhye-in as she heard my words.
A chill ran down my spine as a sharp aura suddenly wrapped around my neck.
“How presumptuous.”
I felt a slight tremor, but I didn’t let it show.
“Presumptuous, you say. That’s an interesting choice of words.”
I lifted the corner of my mouth and spoke to Cheonhye-in.
“That’s not language a weakling should use toward the strong, is it?”
A sharp crackling sound.
Whether my words had struck a nerve, Cheonhye-in’s aura grew even more intense.
Watching this, I deliberated.
‘Should I raise my hand?’
Whether to place my hand on the sword hilt or not.
If I even showed the gesture, it would certainly provoke her, but I couldn’t trust what would unfold afterward.
So for now, I held back.
“Mm.”
Cheonhye-in let out a small exclamation.
Shhhhh.
She suppressed the aura that had been rising once more.
“…You’re right.”
She nodded as if convinced. Did she truly accept my words? Perhaps it was false, but I didn’t concern myself with it now.
‘Damn, she’s terrifying.’
I was frightened. I knew from our sparring match back then that Cheonhye-in was formidable. If I hadn’t possessed the Heavenly Supreme, I likely couldn’t have won.
‘Is it truly different now?’
Even now, after emerging from seclusion, I wondered if it was truly different. It had only been a month.
Hadn’t Yoo Cheon-gil already warned me? Not to be arrogant with merely a month’s worth of training.
Even if something had changed, the difference wouldn’t be drastic.
I had to remind myself of this constantly.
“The Gathering of Dragons and Phoenixes.”
Cheonhye-in furrowed her brow as if contemplating.
After such brief deliberation.
“I’ll go.”
Her answer came surprisingly readily.
“You’ll go?”
“Yes. I said I would go.”
“…Mm…”
She had certainly said she would go, but I hadn’t expected such a straightforward answer.
“If we do go, the representative won’t be the Heavenly Supreme, but me. I’ll need to make clear what stance we show to the Alliance. Are you still fine with that?”
“That does concern me, but there’s no helping it.”
As I remained silent, Cheonhye-in murmured something.
“I wanted to go anyway. This time… that ‘monster’ seems like they’ll appear too… Besides you, it’s a bit bothersome to worry about.”
A swift motion.
I twirled the wooden sword I’d been holding and secured it at my waist.
“It looks interesting, so I’ll go. But on one condition.”
“One condition?”
“There are two conditions, actually.”
Conditions? Hearing that word, I frowned.
There was no need to take her along while accepting conditions in return.
Just as I was about to point this out—
“One is that you’ll have a sparring match with me again later.”
Cheonhye-in spoke faster than I could respond.
“I don’t want to let it go like this. And the second condition is.”
I waited to hear it.
“Let me choose the last person you’re taking with you.”
“…Hmm?”
It was quite an unexpected request.

* * *
Four days passed like that.
It was the day we were scheduled to depart for the Dragon Phoenix Gathering that Wol Seon-geom had mentioned.
On that departure day, people gathered in front of the carriage.
“Is everyone here?”
I asked, looking at those who had arrived.
The group responded to my question.
There were five of us in total, including myself.
The members were myself, Do-hyeong whom I’d first approached with the proposal, and Cheonhye-in.
And.
“…I’m not sure if I should even be here.”
It was Cheon Euijin.
He spoke while looking at the group with visibly tense eyes.
Yes, the fourth member was Cheon Euijin.
For the record, he wasn’t my choice.
‘I hadn’t considered Cheon Euijin.’
I had no intention of bringing him along. Cheon Euijin was certainly a talented martial artist of the first rank, but.
‘If I were to nominate him as a representative, well…’
Given that Do-hyeong and Cheonhye-in were members of Sowoldae, it would be difficult to bring along Cheon Euijin, who was merely a second-generation disciple.
Yet I included Cheon Euijin in the group.
‘What was I thinking?’
It was none other than Cheonhye-in who had suggested this.
She had stated it as a condition for accepting my proposal.
That she would choose the last member herself.
And the one she chose was Cheon Euijin.
‘Why on earth?’
I knew their relationship was a complete mess, so why had she made bringing Cheon Euijin a condition?
It was puzzling, but I accepted it nonetheless.
‘Cheon Euijin isn’t a bad choice, all things considered.’
There might be better people available, but Cheon Euijin was still preferable.
He was manageable and a reasonably trustworthy figure.
‘If I’m being honest, that’s the decisive reason.’
Rather than Cheonhye-in, who was troublesome yet formidable.
Cheon Euijin, who was obedient and docile, suited me better.
With that reasoning, I accepted Cheonhye-in’s proposal.
“It’s fine. Moonju has already approved it.”
I told the anxious Cheon Euijin.
“…Moonju has approved it as well?”
“Yes.”
Naturally, I had already obtained Wol Seon-geom’s consent.
The moment I selected the members and went to inform him, he nodded with his characteristic expressionless face.
And so the day of departure arrived.
While waiting for departure, I stood before the carriage with my arms crossed, and I felt gazes from those around me.
It seemed all the martial artists of the Cheongwol Sect were watching me.
It’s my first time attending the Yongbong Branch Meeting of Cheongwol Gate in several years.
It hadn’t happened once since the Meng faction had prohibited it.
Shin Chang had used his authority to make this approval possible.
Thanks to that, participating in the festival naturally drew attention.
I deliberately ignored everyone’s stares and looked at the carriage.
That moment.
“It seems it’s time to board, sir…!”
The coachman, Chudong.
No—the Sword Emperor Eui Yang-yeon had spoken to me.
‘…Do I really have to travel with this man again?’
The one-armed Sword Emperor who was concealing his identity and playing the role of coachman for some reason.
It appeared he was serving as our coachman this time as well.
‘This is going to be uncomfortable again.’
I could already anticipate being tense throughout the entire carriage ride.
What was it like when I came from Sichuan to Henan? I hadn’t been able to sleep properly the entire journey.
‘This time too…’
Just thinking about having to endure internal distress while watching the Sword Emperor’s mood made my breath catch.
“Young master? Are you feeling alright?”
“…Ah, yes. I’m fine, sir. I just felt a bit dizzy for a moment.”
“My goodness…a young person like you…”
“…Please board first.”
At my word, the people boarded one by one. Whether due to the number of passengers or in preparation for the grand festival, they’d arranged quite an exquisite carriage for us.
As another person passed before me—
“…But…”
The young man stopped and spoke to me.
“…Am I going too?”
It was Dang Cheon-il, the son of Dokuou, who had a fierce appearance.
He made a strange expression and spoke to me.
“Why am I…?”
The Cheongwol Sect was attending the Yongbong Gathering, yet a blood relative of the Dang Clan was boarding the carriage heading there.
It was truly an odd situation.
“Well, what? You want to stay here alone? If you’re going to attend lessons, you need to come along.”
“…”
Teaching him Manceon Hwau, and for him to master it, Dang Cheon-il had no choice but to come.
“You couldn’t learn for a month because of circumstances, so we need to pick up the pace this time, don’t we?”
“That was because you were in seclusion—”
“What?”
“…Never mind.”
Dang Cheon-il boarded the carriage with a dissatisfied expression.
Even to my eyes, it was a strange situation, but what could be done about it?
‘Dokuou will understand.’
Probably.
Believing it would be so, I nodded repeatedly, then looked around.
It was in the direction where Wol Seon-geom would be.
‘He’s not showing up?’
Still, even as his children and disciples departed for the Yongbong Gathering, strangely, Wol Seon-geom did not appear.
I had heard the message beforehand—that he had a schedule and to depart on our own.
‘He did seem busy, but still…’
Usually, wouldn’t he at least come out to see us off?
Thinking about that—
‘It’s fine.’
If he doesn’t come out, then he doesn’t.
With that thought, I boarded the carriage as well.
“May we depart?”
“Yes, please do.”
I answered Chudong’s question.
Then Chudong cracked the whip with an encouraging cry.
히이이잉—!!!
The sound of the horses rang out as the carriage began to move.
‘…Here we go again.’
Suppressing a sigh, I gazed out the window.
I’d barely arrived at Sowoldae when I was already heading back out again.
‘And of all places, the Dragon Phoenix Gathering?’
It was something I’d never thought would entangle itself in my life.
Renowned clans and prestigious sects.
I never imagined I’d be chosen as the representative to attend a gathering I’d assumed was reserved only for the truly exceptional.
Life was truly full of surprises.
‘…So please, let this pass without any major incidents.’
I prayed earnestly and repeatedly that nothing would go wrong.

* * *
As always.
“Draw your sword, Protagonist. I need to taste your strength for myself!”
I was a man cursed with the worst luck imaginable.
Damn it all.

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