The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 173

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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 173
The testing ground, once filled with the fervent energy and reactions of martial artists, now fell into profound silence—a space where everyone had been exerting their utmost strength for success, now consumed by an eerie quiet.
No one could respond, and some even seemed to have forgotten how to breathe, their voices faltering.
It was a moment worthy of such astonishment.
“Huh…?”
Beginning with a quiet sigh from someone, all the suppressed reactions erupted at once.
“What is that.”
“The Banmuk Stone… it… the Banmuk Stone split?”
Everyone’s eyes widened as they saw the severed half of the Banmuk Stone scattered across the floor.
A perfectly clean cut surface. It had been sliced with such precision that not a single irregularity remained.
Seeing this, not only the Alliance members standing nearby—
“…what…?”
Seo-pyeong, who had been mocking me moments before, let out a hollow breath.
“하하하하하하하—!!!”
A booming laugh that seemed to belong to Heuk Taedo echoed across the entire venue.
“Insane! Absolutely insane!! Hahahaha–!!!”
The Banmuk Stone had been cut. What that meant was singular.
Even the other Seven Pillars could only shatter or crush fragments—that was their limit.
Even Heuk Taedo, the highest among the Seven Pillars in terms of raw power, had only managed to crush a handful.
Maehua Geombong had crushed half of it, but that was merely crushing—she hadn’t maintained such a clean, precise cut surface like this.
“….”
Because of this, Maehua Geombong gazed at the severed Banmuk Stone with quiet eyes. What kind of look was that?
I couldn’t tell.
I still couldn’t read her expression.
I wondered if she was surprised, or perhaps even flustered.
But there was nothing. Just an expressionless face. She simply stared at the Banmuk Stone, yet her features betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
Then.
“…Damn it.”
Someone whispered quietly beside me.
It was Mudang Unryong Seo-pyeong.
He was staring at the Banmuk Stone I had severed, his eyes twisted with distortion.
That expression was oddly amusing.
And.
‘This actually worked…?’
The one most surprised was me.
I never expected it to turn out like this. I never imagined it would cut so cleanly.
‘…I just hoped it would work.’
Now that it actually did, I was genuinely astonished.
With narrowed eyes, I gazed at the Banmuk Stone—not the severed half that had fallen away, but the half still standing in its original position.
I watched as an aura slowly bloomed across that cut surface.
I quietly watched it, closing and opening my eyes.
The energy was no longer visible. I had released the power that had been contained in my gaze.
“Phew.”
I exhaled a sigh, steadied my breathing, and ignoring the murmurs around me, I spoke while looking at the Martial Arts Alliance member whose eyes seemed ready to burst from their sockets.
“Have I passed?”
“…Ah? Ah…!”
At my words, he reacted as if belatedly coming to his senses.
“Y-you’re Bangseong-yeon of the Cheongwol Sect…. Y-you’ve passed.”
The approval came in a trembling voice. Only after hearing it did I turn away.
‘Hm.’
I continued to steady my breathing internally. The moment I turned around, gazes poured in from all directions.
It had always been that way, but this time the feeling was different.
Shock and vigilance.
Curiosity and questions had vanished, leaving only those emotions.
The intensified feelings were even suffocating to my perception.
‘I’ve drawn all their attention.’
I felt more interest than anticipated, but it was fine.
‘This much is acceptable.’
It was still within my expectations, and even if it weren’t.
‘It’s what I wanted.’
Until now, this was exactly what I had desired.

* * *
The first day of preliminaries had ended. To say it concluded with great success would be absurd.
It would be more accurate to say it simply… ended.
Nearly seventy percent of all participants were eliminated in the preliminaries.
Despite the massive number of competitors, the test lasted less than half a day, yet its results created considerable ripples.
‘I broke a record that even the Seven Pillars couldn’t achieve.’
‘A sword strike even Geombong couldn’t perform. Is the Protagonist truly the strongest among the disciples?’
‘The Yongbong Assembly with all Seven Pillars in attendance. And the Protagonist.’
And so on and so forth.
Rumors spread with remarkable speed.
It was the work of the open observers stationed throughout the testing grounds.
They were individuals who legitimately gathered information for the Martial Arts Alliance, and the tales they spread reached even those who hadn’t witnessed the preliminaries, disseminating rapidly.
Most of those rumors centered on me.
It had been a day completely dominated by talk of the Protagonist.
“…Ah, I’m exhausted….”
I lay on the bed, indulging in my fatigue. Since returning to my quarters after the test, this was all I’d managed to do.
With the preliminaries finished, my remaining schedule consisted of either eating or training—one or the other.
My stomach felt too heavy to eat, and training wasn’t feasible in my current state.
The Alliance had provided a training ground behind the inn for the disciples, it’s true.
‘But it’s absolutely packed.’
The training ground wasn’t particularly large, and with so many disciples, it was overwhelming to use.
Beyond that.
‘I have no idea what would happen if I showed up now.’
If I appeared at the training ground while drawing this much attention,
‘Just imagining it exhausts me.’
It was as predictable as fire, so staying in bed like this was the right call for today.
How long had it been since I indulged in laziness? I lay there, savoring the peace.
[So, you’re just going to stay holed up in bed like this?]
Yoo Cheon-gil voiced his disapproval.
“…Well, surely one day like this is acceptable, isn’t it?”
After how hard I’ve been working until now, honestly, one day like this shouldn’t be a problem.
With that thought, I glanced at the table beside me.
Stacks of documents piled high.
They were brought from the Cheongwol Sect—things I needed to memorize and apply.
I’d already put away half of them. Since I’d already memorized half.
“…It’s been a while since I’ve done this, so it’s somewhat difficult.”
I used to do this often in my past life, but memorizing such a volume quickly after so long felt taxing.
In the past, I should have memorized it all long ago.
Since I hadn’t, half still remained.
Of course, that said.
“Not today….”
I simply couldn’t bring myself to do it right now. Mental exhaustion, perhaps?
“Sigh.”
My stomach was a bit hungry, but my mind had hit its limit—I had no appetite for food or anything else.
On days like this, rest was the only answer.
[Tsk tsk tsk. Wasting such precious time in idleness…. Incomprehensible fellow.]
Meanwhile, Yoo Cheon-gil continued his relentless criticism, but as always, I was the type to let such complaints go in one ear and out the other.
‘Bark all you want or stay silent.’
Today, I simply rest.
Geombong’s affairs, Shin Chang’s affairs, the Seven Trials, the Dragon Phoenix Assembly—
For today alone, I would ignore them all and spend the time in quiet peace.
With that thought, I retrieved the earplugs I’d tossed beside me and inserted them into my ears.
Sleep.
Just sleep without thinking of anything. With that, I closed my eyes.
And so a moment passed.
‘Hmm…?’
I slowly opened my eyes.
Something felt off.
‘What is it?’
Why did this unease persist? I’d intended to rest without thinking of anything, so why this sudden discomfort?
I gently raised my upper body.
“What is it.”
What exactly? Why did I feel this nagging sense of unease?
Had I forgotten something?
‘Since the unease arose when I recalled something, that must be the problem.’
Geombong, Shin Chang, the Seven Trials, the Dragon Phoenix Assembly.
The unease emerged when I recalled these? Then the problem lies among them.
I pondered carefully. What could be the source of this discomfort?
The preliminaries went smoothly. Geombong and the Seven Trials are riddled with issues overall, but nothing to worry about yet.
Shin Chang is the real problem.
‘Yet….’
Since I’m already aware of and cognizant of it, that’s not the source of this current unease.
Then what is it?
‘What have I forgotten?’
Normally I don’t forget. Yet now, despite this unease, I cannot recall it.
‘Which means I was trying to forget it?’
A memory I myself wanted to forget.
What could be the problem now that we’ve reached the Dragon Phoenix Assembly? What did I want to forget?
“Ah, this is frustrating.”
I should have just slept. Now that I’ve started recalling, I’m stuck. It felt inevitable that I would have to remember it no matter what.
And even if that weren’t the case.
‘I feel like I need to remember something.’
There’s a memory I must recall, no matter what. I knew this instinctively.
So I pressed my fingers to my temples and closed my eyes.
Remember.
Recall what you’ve forgotten.
As I thought this, gripping my throbbing head.
A flash.
“Huh?”
It came back to me.
An important fact I’d overlooked.
My face twisted as the memory surfaced.
“Damn it. I wish I’d stayed ignorant.”
Now I understood why I’d tried to forget. It was the kind of memory that would become troublesome if I actually remembered it.
“…Should I just go back to sleep?”
Now that I’d recalled it, forget it again. I tried to dismiss it as an unimportant memory and return to sleep.
So I lay back down on the bed.
What I’d remembered was nothing else.
“…Besides, even if we were to meet, it wouldn’t be now anyway.”
A letter I’d received in Sacheon days ago.
There was someone from the Dragon Phoenix Gathering who’d asked to meet me.
That someone was.
‘My sister.’
The eldest daughter of the Bang family, called their hope and miracle.
The one who fled that cursed household one day to find her own life.
I’d forgotten that she’d asked me to meet her at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
I could have remembered when I arrived at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering.
‘…But I never even caught a glimpse of her.’
I’d never seen her there.
She didn’t seem to have participated in the Dragon Phoenix Gathering. If she had attended, I would have seen her at the banquet.
But I hadn’t.
So.
“…My sister isn’t suddenly going to appear.”
For now, I should stop worrying and sleep.
With that thought, I closed my eyes again and tried to drift off.
“Where am I supposed to appear?”
“In my room or at an inn or something like that…?”
My eyes snapped open at the voice.
I bolted upright and looked to the side.
There stood a woman bathed in moonlight, her long hair flowing.
“Hello?”
The woman smiled at me.
An unfamiliar smile on a mature face. In a way, it was a face I didn’t recognize, yet the moment I saw her, I knew.
Time had passed and changed her.
But the paternal genes visible in that proud face proved her identity.
“…Sister…?”
At my words, the woman laughed.
“It’s been a while.”
She was my sister.
Bang Seo-jin.

* * *
Around the time Bangseong-yeon was locking eyes with his sister.
Someone sat atop a nearby inn. Directly beneath the moonlight, a woman wearing a veil perched on the roof, gazing toward something.
Beyond a window of one building, she observed her disciple with keen attention.
The moment he arrived, he ignored his master’s words and rushed off to see his sister.
She had tried to stop him, telling him not to move recklessly, but the woman couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Her disciple moved with such joy that it was pitiful to restrain.
Beyond that.
“…It’s been a while.”
There was also a guest waiting for her.
Whoosh.
A blade was felt beside the woman’s neck.
At the sensation, the woman’s eyes shifted beneath her veil. A sword blade had flown toward her throat.
Yet the blade hovered independently as if possessed by its own will, floating toward the woman’s neck.
It was not a single blade.
At least five swords floated in the surrounding space.
One aimed at her throat.
The remaining blades circled around her, as if monitoring her every movement.
Even witnessing this, the woman remained perfectly still.
The force contained in the blades was extraordinary. Not only was there killing intent, but if even one of them acted up, this entire area would become a battlefield.
“Your greeting is rather aggressive, isn’t it?”
Knowing this, the woman spoke with a smile to the master of the blades.
“Sword Emperor.”
“….”
At that greeting, the one-armed old man behind her.
The Sword Emperor Eui Yang-yeon stared at the Sword Empress Yeo Ryeong-seon with murderous eyes.

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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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