The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 172

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 172
Maehua Geombong Yoo Yeon.
I furrowed my brow at the sight of her appearing so unexpectedly.
‘What is she doing here?’
I hadn’t anticipated meeting her like this. At this unforeseen encounter, I immediately glanced toward Yoo Cheon-gil.
Was this intentional? That’s how I was looking at him.
[Huh?]
Yoo Cheon-gil’s bewildered expression suggested he knew nothing of this either.
‘Even this old man didn’t know?’
Then why did she come here?
It was a situation I couldn’t comprehend. I stared at Geombong with confused eyes.
Thud.
The moment Geombong took a single step, she appeared right before my nose in an instant.
“Damn!”
I recoiled in shock, stumbling backward.
What was that about?
Was she about to draw her sword?
Panicked, I brought my hand to my waist, ready to draw my blade at any moment.
“….”
Fortunately, Geombong didn’t draw her sword. She simply stared at me in silence.
What is this?
“Is there something you want to tell me… or perhaps something you need to convey?”
Geombong cannot speak.
Remembering this, I adjusted my words slightly.
Yet Geombong merely stared at me intently without making any move.
What on earth is this?
What could her intentions be?
Drawing her sword abruptly upon meeting, and now this.
And why is she wearing the old man’s long spear on her back?
No matter how much I think about it, this person makes no sense to me.
“Geombong. What exactly are you….”
So I tried to ask.
“….”
“Wait. Where are you going….”
Geombong didn’t answer and passed by my side. I turned to grab her, but.
“Where did she go?”
Geombong had already vanished long ago.
How could she be so fast?
I looked around in bewilderment, but there was truly no sign of Geombong anywhere.
“What is this really about.”
Why are all these kids acting like this?
Is there not a single normal person among the seven of them?
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply and spoke to Yoo Cheon-gil.
“So, what did you come here for?”
Setting aside Geombong’s Second Son, if you didn’t come to see Geombong, then what was the purpose of bringing me here?
At my question, Yoo Cheon-gil gazes up at the tree.
[Ah. That’s done. I had something to confirm, and I just did.]
“…What confirmation?”
[There was something I wanted to see. Let’s head back now.]
“….”
What is this? Am I allowed to be angry?
Why bring me here without even explaining what it was? I wanted to press the matter, but I held back that too.
‘…Let me just rest quickly.’
I was too exhausted to even want to ask questions.
I simply turned and headed toward my quarters. The walk had been intended as a stroll, but my energy had been completely drained, and I wanted to stop.
As I turned my back and headed toward my quarters.
Yoo Cheon-gil quietly gazed up at the tree with calm eyes.
Surprisingly, someone was sitting there.
“….”
An old man with a massive frame, wearing an eye patch.
Shin Chang was observing below with his presence completely suppressed.

* * *
The next day arrived.
I had to leave at dawn right after the banquet ended.
Contrary to yesterday’s festival atmosphere, Haenam presented an entirely different mood.
When I emerged, the disciples were already following behind me. Our destination was the same.
A vast space prepared within the main headquarters.
Upon arrival, we all moved together toward the location marked as the martial arts tournament preliminaries.
The day after the banquet.
Today marked the beginning of what was truly called the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering—the reason we had come here.
It was the day the disciples’ martial arts tournament would be held.
“…I’m feeling nervous.”
I nodded at Cheon Euijin’s words.
Upon arrival, after a simple identity verification and presenting our letters of recommendation, we followed the guide to a location.
There were four lines in total, and we simply needed to choose one and stand in it.
I had received guidance on the way here, but I never expected it to start so immediately.
‘I thought there would at least be some kind of speech or something.’
They simply summoned us to an open field to conduct the preliminaries.
‘Was Shin Chang’s appearance at the banquet yesterday for this reason?’
The reason the Alliance Leader, whom I expected to see only on the tournament’s opening day, had come to the banquet.
Perhaps it was because he wouldn’t show his face during the preliminaries.
In any case.
I was now attending the martial arts tournament preliminaries held at the main headquarters, forcing my tired eyes open.
‘I couldn’t even eat breakfast.’
I had at least wanted to eat breakfast before coming, but I couldn’t manage it.
The martial arts tournament preliminaries.
It turned out to be far less impressive than I had anticipated.
Contrary to being called a martial arts tournament, it wasn’t about fighting other disciples. Nor was it a test that took much time.
If anything, it was a test so simple that one might wonder if it could really be this easy.
“Disqualified!”
“Disqualified!”
Despite such a simple difficulty level, the number of those passing was not many.
Even counting only the disciples gathered at the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering, there were well over a hundred.
At the preliminaries venue, nothing but the sound of disqualifications echoed continuously.
“…It seems quite difficult.”
Cheon Euijin frowned at what he was hearing, his nervousness evident.
“Indeed. Many more are failing than I expected.”
The number was greater than my own prediction.
Could it really be this difficult? From the explanation alone, it didn’t seem so hard.
‘It’s really quite simple.’
The test content was straightforward.
“Next!”
The martial artist ahead of me walks forward. At the spot where he walks, there’s something hard and square embedded in the ground, roughly eight feet across.
At first glance, it looked like a rock.
“Begin!”
The martial artist draws his sword in sync with the Martial Arts Alliance member’s call. As the blade is drawn, sword energy permeates it.
“Haaah!!”
He swings the sword with all his might, and the blade immediately strikes the rock.
Clang—!!
Despite the loud sound, the rock doesn’t even show a scratch.
“Disqualified.”
The Martial Arts Alliance member immediately renders judgment. I watch as the disqualified contestant shuffles out, drool dripping from his mouth.
‘…It didn’t even leave a mark.’
I’m amazed watching this. The sword energy from that strike looked quite powerful, yet it couldn’t even scratch the rock.
It means the rock is incredibly hard. Normally, a rock would have been easily cut by that sword energy, if not shattered.
At the very least, it should have left a mark.
There was only one reason why the sword couldn’t penetrate the rock.
‘It’s not just a regular rock.’
That’s right—it wasn’t just a rock.
It was a semi-blackstone, created by mixing in Mukcheol itself.
It was an object born from repeated refinements, designed solely to be unbreakably hard.
Leaving even a scratch on that rock was nearly impossible.
‘And they’re using it as a test.’
The preliminary round’s passing criterion is to leave a scratch on the semi-blackstone.
Not to break it—just to leave a mark—yet countless contestants are failing and getting disqualified.
‘It’s really that hard?’
Just how hard could it be for this to happen?
As worry begins to creep in that I might also get disqualified alongside them.
쿠우웅—!!!
A loud sound I haven’t heard until now rings out from the left.
It came from a different line than mine.
“Do-hyeong of the Cheongwol Sect. Passed!”
Surprisingly, it was Do-hyeong.
Do-hyeong stands facing the semi-blackstone with sword energy still radiating from him. There’s a shallow sword mark etched into it—clearly made by Do-hyeong’s strike.
Do-hyeong turns and walks away after hearing he passed.
His expressionless gaze briefly turns toward our group.
Then he gives a short nod. Is that encouragement?
‘The first passer is a senior.’
I never expected Do-hyeong to claim the first passing spot in the preliminaries.
I watch with curiosity. After that, passers begin appearing more frequently.
“Passed!”
“Gekyeok of Sanseogok Clan! Pass!”
“Pass—!”
“Pa…!”
Among the numerous failures, occasional passers emerged.
“Dang Cheon-il of the Sicheon Dang Clan. Pass.”
Among them came one of the first seven to pass. Dang Cheon-il gazed at his hidden blade embedded in the stone with a dissatisfied expression.
The tip had sunk in slightly. It appeared as though he’d thrown the blade to pierce through.
However, the depth was so shallow that he seemed displeased with it.
And then.
쿠아아아앙—!!!!
A violent sound erupted. Everyone turned in surprise—this time it was Heuk Taedo.
“Somewhat disappointing.”
He had a large saber slung across his shoulder. It wasn’t the weapon he usually carried.
During the test, he couldn’t use his personal weapon, so it must have been a standard saber.
“…Heh.”
I let out a hollow laugh seeing the state of the stone he’d created.
‘He destroyed it?’
The stone was caved in—how he’d swung it, I couldn’t say. It looked less like a cut and more like it had been shattered.
Among all the disciples who’d passed so far, he’d destroyed the most.
‘That man who drank so heavily yesterday.’
I’d witnessed him guzzling alcohol with my own eyes, yet he showed no signs of a hangover.
Was this also thanks to the Heavenly Martial Body? It was absurd, truly.
“Hmm.”
The cracked stone. Yet Heuk Taedo walked away as if disappointed.
“As expected of Heuk Taedo…”
“He destroyed the stone to that degree? Then it’s obvious Heuk Taedo will be first in this test.”
“Well, you never know. There are still seven left to go.”
Kwang.
“Namgung Cheon of the Namgung Clan. Pass.”
“Haha!”
Naelyong laughed cheerfully as he passed. The damage he’d inflicted was also considerable.
And then.
“Namgung Seong of the Namgung Clan. Pass.”
Socheongeom also passed in turn. Though his damage was half that of Naelyong’s, a pass was still a pass.
“….”
He compared the damage he’d made with that of Naelyong’s, then twisted his expression in displeasure and disappeared.
Kwakak!
“Cheonhye-in of the Cheongwol Sect. Pass.”
By this point, it was natural that Cheonhye-in had also passed, though she’d produced only what could barely be called a scratch.
It seemed to convey the meaning that she wouldn’t waste unnecessary effort.
Then.
Crack—crack—crack—!!!
“Cheon Euijin of the Cheongwol Sect. Passed.”
“Whoooosh!!!”
Cheon Euijin, who had created only the faintest of flaws, had also passed. He was right before me in the order, and fortunately, he seemed to have succeeded.
As Cheon Euijin exited through the entrance, he looked at me and waved his fist repeatedly. He appeared quite delighted.
“Hmm.”
I scratched my head. With Cheon Euijin passing as well, what if I was the only one to fail in the preliminaries?
Such grim thoughts crossed my mind.
That would be a disaster.
‘I wonder what Wol Seon-geom would say.’
He had told me to go and bring back proper results, yet if I alone failed in the preliminaries? It wasn’t even funny.
Moving forward with anxious thoughts.
“Seo-pyeong of the Shamans. Passed!”
A passing announcement came from right beside me. Glancing over, I saw a long sword mark on the half-stone. It was comparable in size to Heuk Taedo’s mark, certainly not smaller.
The owner of that sword mark was Seo-pyeong. After Unryong had passed, he was looking at me.
His face was filled with mockery.
‘Look at this bastard.’
How could I deal with that mischievous expression? I wanted to smash it to pieces.
I was glaring at him with disgust.
Screech—!!!
A loud grinding sound came from somewhere.
“Huh!”
“Huh—what!?”
“Impossible—!!”
Exclamations erupted.
What was that? Wondering what the sound was, I looked toward its source.
“Huh… Huh… Uh….”
Even the Martial Arts Alliance official managing the preliminaries couldn’t speak, his eyes trembling.
“…What is that?”
I too had to narrow my eyes as I looked.
The half-stone was split in two.
Truly split apart, the pieces were rolling across the ground.
The official who had witnessed this stammered for a long while before speaking.
“H-Hwasan’s Geombong… H… Passed.”
“….”
It was none other than Geombong who had done this to the half-stone.
What on earth had she done?
‘What did she do to split the half-stone like that?’
“What did he do to get Ban Muk-seok split up like that?”
Until now, I had merely damaged them slightly or created sword marks. But this Geombong had completely shattered it.
I was at a loss for words.
‘So the First Disciple really does live up to all that talk.’
Was their skill truly on a different level?
“Tsk.”
Seo-pyeong beside me also swallowed hard upon seeing Geombong’s half-ink stone.
Even he seemed to judge that he couldn’t accomplish such a feat.
‘Hmm.’
“Draw your sword.”
Watching that, Maeng-won spoke.
Right. It was my turn.
‘A scratch… just a scratch.’
Shing.
I drew my blade. In that instant, all eyes converged upon me.
“The Protagonist has drawn his sword.”
“What will he show us?”
‘…’
I didn’t know where to put myself under the weight of such attention.
The pressure was suffocating.
‘I just want to leave a simple mark.’
What did others’ expectations matter to me? Whether they were disappointed in me or not, I didn’t particularly care.
‘That bastard’s getting on my nerves.’
Seo-pyeong, who had been sneering at me. His eyes were irritating.
‘Hmm.’
I glanced at the half-ink stone before me.
Then I subtly shifted my gaze to Yoo Cheon-gil beside me.
I believed that old man would understand the reason I was looking at him.
[Tsk tsk tsk. This guy has more pride than he looks. Fine.]
As expected, Yoo Cheon-gil clicked his tongue at me, then gave a slight nod.
It was permission.
Permission to use what I had learned in the Sealed Chamber.
The moment I saw this, I gathered my energy.
Would it work?
Would it succeed?
The doubt arose but didn’t linger long.
촤아아아아아—!!
Energy seeped into my blade.
The Radiant Moon Sword Technique completely enveloped the sword.
Embracing the brilliant sword light, I ignited it further.
“Ohhh…”
“Hah.”
Those watching couldn’t help but admire the beautiful sword technique.
I had suppressed the sound. The sword technique itself wasn’t what mattered.
Uuuung.
I focused power into my eyes.
Wol-an transformed.
‘Now.’
In that instant, a flash of light erupted from my hand.
The blade sliced through empty air.
Cheongwol Sword Art, First Form.
Wolrang.
A crescent moon that had risen in broad daylight burrowed directly into the half-black stone.
The moment the blade made contact with the stone’s surface.
Screech—!
A different sound than before echoed out.
Sssssss.
The sword energy remaining on the blade rose like heat.
Not long after that.
쿠우우웅—!!!
The half-black stone fell to the ground.
Cleanly severed in two.
“…Wh…?”
“Eh?”
“…Wha…?”
The disciples watching reacted as if their minds had broken.

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