The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 180

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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 180
A massive mountain loomed behind the main sect. I climbed onto a spacious grassland near its summit.
Martial artists gathered densely together. With so many of them assembled, the very air felt heavy.
The breath misting from our mouths revealed the season’s bitter temperature.
Yet everyone present seemed utterly unaffected by the cold.
‘Everyone but me.’
Shiver, shiver, shiver.
I crossed my arms to hide my trembling fingers. These madmen. Doesn’t this freeze them?
Tree branches hung rigid with ice.
And they claim it’s not cold?
Watching them stand there so casually was absolutely absurd.
‘Ah, this is infuriating.’
It exhausts me every time. Right, I forgot again—I should have learned to regulate my body temperature through cultivation.
‘…Damn it.’
I should have learned it long ago. Without that skill, I still had to shiver pathetically in the cold.
‘Where the hell did that old bastard go?’
The very person who should have taught me temperature control was nowhere to be found.
We had a massive argument yesterday.
Well, more accurately, after I said something to him, he disappeared.
‘Is he sulking?’
Surely not.
Would a man of his age, the Heavenly Supreme himself, really pout over something so trivial?
And even if he were, I should be the one upset.
‘Damn. I was so startled.’
That night during training, the moment I encountered Geombong.
I still don’t know how shocked I was then.
‘I clearly told him to warn me if someone came.’
He didn’t do that and got distracted, nearly causing a disaster.
‘Of course… Geombong’s behavior was strange too.’
Yoo Cheon-gil’s failure to notice was odd, but Geombong approaching so close and thrusting her neck right in front of my face was equally ridiculous.
‘What exactly is going on?’
I gazed at Geombong, who stood at the front leading the group.
I could only see the back of her head, but that didn’t matter.
‘What is she?’
I couldn’t understand it.
‘Does she know me?’
Geombong, who had written me a letter asking if I knew myself—that meant she knew who I was.
‘…But I have no idea.’
I didn’t know Geombong. No matter how hard I thought, nothing came to mind.
‘That shouldn’t be possible.’
I may forget many things, but I never forget people. Once I’ve seen someone, I rarely ever forget their face.
With Geombong, it was the same no matter how many times I recalled her.
‘I don’t know her.’
I don’t know Geombong.
Yet Geombong knows me.
‘Could I be mistaken?’
The possibility that she had confused me with someone else—this seemed the most plausible explanation to me.
‘Sigh.’
All I ever hoped for was that nothing troublesome would happen.
Just as I was about to turn my gaze away.
‘Hmm?’
Suddenly my attention caught on something. It was those standing at the far left edge of Geombong’s group.
I felt a gaze directed at me from that direction.
It was Seo-pyeong.
‘That bastard.’
There he goes again. I held back the sigh that threatened to escape.
I hadn’t looked over because of his gaze.
What I was actually looking at was the figure standing beside Seo-pyeong.
At first glance, they didn’t appear to have a particularly large build.
Small for a martial artist. If anything, they seemed about the same size as me.
Their head was about one head shorter than Seo-pyeong’s, so that was likely the case.
I stared quietly at that figure.
‘What is it?’
That familiar back of the head.
What is it? Who is it?
Just as I narrowed my eyes to look more carefully, thinking I’d recognize them if I examined a bit longer.
“Thank you all for gathering.”
“…!”
A member of Bonmeng appeared and spoke.
I immediately turned my gaze toward the voice.
“We shall now explain the second preliminary round once more and distribute the items. We ask that one representative from each pair step forward.”
I felt movement beside me. It was Naelyong.
“I’ll go.”
“Yes.”
When Naelyong returned, he brought back two black stones that resembled go pieces.
Once Maeng-won confirmed that all representatives had received their items, he began his explanation immediately.
“As the strategist explained yesterday, the format of the second preliminary round is simple.”
Tap tap tap.
Stones fell from Maeng-won’s hand—the very ones Naelyong had just brought.
This time they were black and white.
“Currently, I have distributed a total of two stones. One pair. You must possess a total of four stones by the time the preliminaries conclude.”
Upon hearing these words, the atmosphere around us shifted.
A surge of momentum rippled through the crowd.
“Two pairs of different colors. One pair white and one pair black. Possessing all four stones is what matters. All methods of collecting stones are permitted except for taking lives.”
To pass, you must possess two pairs—one white and one black.
What this means is—
‘At minimum, half will be eliminated.’
In the first round, seventy percent were filtered out. Now they intended to eliminate another half.
Moreover—
Why did I say “at minimum” rather than simply “half”?
“Furthermore, there is no limit to how many you may possess.”
“….”
You could possess more than two pairs.
That statement was the problem.
‘It means you can collect as many as you wish.’
If you prefer to fight and seize them, seize as many as you can.
A hollow laugh escaped me.
‘This is truly extreme.’
Ah, I don’t want to do this.
That thought struck me immediately.
“This should prove entertaining. Hahahaha.”
Naelyong, unaware of my sentiments, was laughing with genuine delight.
He’s sincere. I can see this bastard is truly enjoying himself.
‘Sigh.’
I simply nodded along appropriately.
This was precisely why I chose Naelyong over the others. He would be more reliable than most.
‘The most comfortable choice would have been to pair with Do-hyeong.’
But doing so might create problems for Cheon Euijin, so I excluded that option.
‘And pairing with Cheonhye-in was out of the question….’
She wasn’t a woman I could trust, so I judged this choice to be better.
‘…Though it seems I may have chosen poorly.’
It was laughable to even speak of trusting Naelyong.
Still, since Yoo Cheon-gil has proven he’s strong, it should be fine.
‘At least we won’t be eliminated.’
As I steeled my resolve with that thought—
“Now then.”
Maeng-won shouted.
“The second preliminary round shall commence. The time limit is until sunset.”
As he spoke, he raised both hands, positioning his palms to face each other.
짜아아악—!!!
I clapped my hands together, infusing them with energy.
“Begin!”
With that signal, all the disciples scattered in every direction.
The second preliminary round had started.

* * *
Once the preliminaries began.
When all the disciples moved, naturally I moved with them.
I was exploring various parts of this mountain alongside Naelyong.
‘The location spans the entire mountain, and the time limit is until sunset.’
The area was vast and the time was generous.
Moreover.
‘Even if I lose the stones, it’s not necessarily elimination.’
Even if I lost all my stones in a single fight, that wouldn’t mean elimination.
After all, I just needed to have two pairs of stones when it ended.
‘…Then they’ll fight even more desperately.’
This meant they would fight like madmen until sunset.
There wouldn’t be anyone who would accept defeat and give up.
It truly meant fighting all day long.
‘And it’s not like they’d settle things peacefully through conversation.’
Among the martial artists I’d encountered, there were none like that.
It was easier to simply steel my resolve.
Then.
“Oh, look at this, Socheongeom.”
Naelyong, who was following me, suddenly called out.
What is it?
“What is it?”
When I turned my gaze, Naelyong was crouching down, looking at something.
What’s that?
Is there something there?
I squinted and concentrated.
“It’s a flower! A flower.”
“…Ah, yes, it does look like one.”
“Isn’t it remarkable?”
“…Which part exactly am I supposed to find remarkable?”
It was just a flower—why should I be surprised? No matter how I looked at it, it was merely a flower with a bluish hue.
Naelyong widened his eyes at my indifferent response.
“You see this as just an ordinary flower?”
“Of course?”
“This is the Coldmoon Flower, the Coldmoon Flower!”
What the hell is this madman talking about?
“It’s a flower that blooms for only one month in the depths of winter. Moreover, they’re so rare and few in number that one rarely gets to see them. To encounter one here… Ah! Today must be my lucky day.”
“….”
Naelyong gazed at the flower with genuine admiration, exclaiming endlessly.
I had no idea how to respond to this.
“…Lord Naelyong. Do you enjoy flowers?”
That was all I could manage to ask.
“Of course!”
Naelyong answered my question with obvious delight.
“How could one not appreciate something so beautiful blooming from the earth?”
“…Ah, I see.”
His voice carried genuine sincerity, which was unexpected. A man who looked identical to Socheongeom could smile like that. It was remarkable that he even enjoyed flowers.
Though I found it rather peculiar.
The problem was.
“Look at that! That’s the Yoo Yeon Flower!”
“Oh! That’s…!”
“My, this is also rare to see…!!”
Every time we passed by, Naelyong spotted flowers and eagerly explained them to me.
By the midway point, I was already tired of listening.
“Socheongeom. This flower is….”
“Argh!”
I finally snapped at Naelyong.
“Enough about the flowers! We need to start the preliminaries! Keep it down, will you? Everyone can hear us!”
With a voice that loud, everyone nearby would hear it. This man seemed to have no intention of concealing himself.
Unable to contain myself any longer, I raised my voice.
“But it seems like you’re speaking louder than I am…?”
Naelyong looked at me with an aggrieved expression.
“…Ugh….”
The back of my neck throbbed. Ah, I should have avoided getting involved with this man.
If I’d known he was like this, I would have exercised more patience.
“…Fine, fine. I’ll listen to all your flower stories later. For now, let’s focus.”
Flowers or whatever—first, I needed to find the stones.
“We need to find two white stones, correct?”
“That’s right.”
We’d been given black stones, and now I needed to find ones with white coloring.
‘Where could they be?’
Though the mountain was vast, the gathering of participants wasn’t insignificant, so I judged we could find them quickly.
As I was turning this over in my mind and scanning the area.
Whoooosh.
I infused my eyes with qi and focused my gaze.
Wol-an shone with light as I examined my surroundings.
I could feel my field of vision expanding considerably.
It was an observation I’d made while using Wol-an, but this wasn’t merely granting me clear sight in darkness—there was a distinct sense that my vision itself was being enhanced.
Or perhaps.
‘I simply didn’t know before, but now I can finally use it.’
It was possible that what had once been mere brightness in the night had now evolved into a genuinely expanded field of vision.
It was a realization that came with my advancing cultivation level.
As I stood there observing for some time.
“There. Socheongeom.”
Naelyong called out from behind me. I ignored him. It was obvious he’d bring up flowers again anyway.
“Socheongeom?”
“….”
“Socheongeom. Socheongeom? Can’t you hear me? Socheongeom?”
I continued ignoring him, my concentration fixed on my expanded vision.
“SocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeom?”
“….”
“SocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeomSocheongeom-”
“For heaven’s sake, stop this nonsense…!”
Enough.
The moment I turned around to say so.
“Look there. We have a visitor.”
Naelyong grinned brightly, pointing toward a specific direction.
And there.
“Oh, fortune smiles upon us!”
Heuk Taedo stood grinning at me with crude amusement, and.
Srrk.
Geombong was calmly drawing her blade.
“Damn it.”
A curse escaped my lips unbidden.
From the very start, my opponent was insufferable.

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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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