The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 194

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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 194
The Central Plains harbored countless masters.
With martial artists numbering in the thousands, it was only natural that the strong were equally abundant.
Among them, those who transcended the peak were called Absolute Masters by the world.
Beings who had surpassed humanity itself.
They were those who had grown endlessly stronger through countless enlightenments and grueling cultivation.
And among even these Absolute Masters, those who touched the heavens were called Celestial Demons.
The greatest of all ages, Sword Saint Yoo Cheon-gil, of course.
As were Shin Chang Jeok Ho-myeong and Sword Emperor Eui Yang-yeon.
Monsters already said to have touched the heavens even before the Great Demon War.
And among these, there were women called heroines who stood out even among such monstrous beings.
It was hardly surprising—once one became a martial artist, gender became meaningless, and whether woman or man, realm ultimately decided everything in this world.
Among such figures, there was one.
Whose reputation stood particularly high.
The Sword Empress, Yeo Ryeong-seon.
She was called the greatest heroine of all.
A bloodline of the Sanseo Yeon clan and a war hero who had distinguished herself in the Great Demon War just as the Sword Saint had.
Like the Sword Emperor, she had vanished from sight shortly after the war ended.
An Absolute Master renowned for her brilliant and enchanting swordplay, her blade dance moving like an actual dance.
‘…This person is the Sword Empress?’
My expression hardened as I looked at the young woman before me.
Unless I had misheard, Yoo Cheon-gil had certainly called this woman Yeo Ryeong-seon.
The Sword Empress Yeo Ryeong-seon was famous enough that even I knew of her.
Despite having vanished from sight long ago, she was still spoken of by people.
Had she continued her activities as a heroine, she might have competed with Shin Chang for the title of Heavenly Supreme.
Or perhaps she might even have been considered a candidate for League Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance.
‘She was a figure with particularly deep support.’
A woman of gentle and kind nature who had devoted all her strength to saving people during the war.
Jegal Jin was the god of war, and Yoo Cheon-gil the greatest martial artist.
But it was the Sword Empress who had earned the people’s trust within the chaos of war.
So when such a person suddenly vanished, many had only felt regret.
‘This person is really the Sword Empress…?’
Even as I looked at the woman before me, I could not easily believe it.
‘It doesn’t make sense.’
It couldn’t—the woman appeared to be at most only a few years older than me.
The Sword Empress I knew of should have been at least sixty years old.
It made no sense for her to look this young.
Of course, those who had transcended the peak sometimes aged slowly and appeared far younger than their years.
But this exceeded all reason.
Thus, as I stood before the woman unable to utter a single word.
[Did you finally attain enlightenment in your twilight years?]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke while observing the Sword Empress before him.
[So you underwent Returning Youth to Prime.]
“…!”
Returning Youth to Prime.
Even among masters, it was an extraordinarily rare occurrence.
After countless epiphanies and cultivation, one’s body would regress to youth.
It was considered a dream-like achievement among some martial artists.
‘So the Sword Empress underwent Returning Youth to Prime.’
If the woman before me was indeed the Sword Empress who had experienced this transformation, then the current situation made sense.
‘Then, her disappearance these past years was also…?’
If it was for such a reason, different from the Sword Emperor’s, then it was possible.
‘Heh.’
So it was truly possible to regress in age?
Well, considering cases like my own reincarnation exist, there’s nothing particularly strange about it….
‘At this rate, there might even be people who regressed through time, who knows.’
At this point, anything was possible.
Anyway.
While I was marveling at the woman with curiosity, Yoo Cheon-gil spoke in a puzzled tone.
[That’s strange. Why would she make such a choice?]
His reaction was odd. He seemed unable to comprehend why the Sword Empress would undergo Returning Youth to Prime.
What was this? Why such a reaction, I wondered.
Yoo Cheon-gil continued with his explanation.
[Returning Youth to Prime may appear to grant time as desired, but it is hardly an optimal choice.]
Gaining time through regression of the body—yet it wasn’t a good option?
[One expends all their accumulated inner strength into the body’s regression and loses it entirely, and the regressed body doesn’t even end up in a particularly good state. It simply amounts to gaining time, nothing more.]
‘Ah….’
This was something I hadn’t known. It wasn’t merely about regressing in age; all the accumulated inner strength was consumed in the body’s regression, and even that regressed body wasn’t in a good condition.
True to Yoo Cheon-gil’s words, it seemed to be merely a power that granted time.
[Thus, even with enlightenment, neither I nor the other old fools would willingly regress. It’s an unnecessary affair.]
‘Yet the Sword Empress chose it….’
I gazed at the beautiful woman with an elegant aura—the regressed Sword Empress.
“…Hmm….”
The woman exhaled softly.
Ah. Hearing that somewhat cold breath, I grasped the situation.
‘That’s right.’
Just now, the Sword Empress was clearly trying to hide her identity, but I carelessly let slip her name.
‘I’ve ruined it.’
I had momentarily forgotten in my fascination with her Returning Youth to Prime.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t a favorable situation.
“…How could this have happened….”
A chill crystallized in the woman’s eyes.
“How did you find out?”
Uuuung.
As the Sword Empress spoke, the energy surrounding us churned violently. A thin veil-like barrier descended.
[Remarkable.]
A barrier to block sound, perhaps.
This was not good.
“It’s strange. Even if it were that child, she wouldn’t have told you…. How on earth did you know?”
Chills ran down my spine at her approaching voice.
I couldn’t even hear her footsteps. The Sword Empress simply drew near and met my gaze.
Murderous intent? No. I felt nothing of the sort.
I felt no such aura whatsoever.
Yet I understood instinctively. One wrong move here would be dangerous.
So then, how could I escape this crisis.
My mind was racing rapidly.
[The mole at the corner of her mouth.]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke quietly.
The moment I heard it, the answer came to me.
“…The mole at the corner of your mouth.”
“Hm?”
The Sword Empress’s eyes widened slightly at my words.
“You have a mole at the corner of your mouth.”
I spoke urgently, my gaze fixed on the mole embedded at the corner of her mouth.
“My Mentor left written records that contained a description of you, Sword Empress. She was truly beautiful, and had a single mole at the corner of her mouth, or so it was written.”
[…He didn’t say beautiful, though?]
Yoo Cheon-gil protested inwardly, but I paid him no mind.
“…Haha.”
The Sword Empress laughed at my words.
“Is that so? That person wrote such things about me? Perhaps. But such details alone would be difficult to prove your claims.”
She was right. Such a thing might not be sufficient.
But.
“That’s true. However.”
I had one more card to play.
“…Senior, if I’m not mistaken, there was no one named Gwang Dong-mi among those who participated in the Yongbong Conference.”
“….”
At my next words, the Sword Empress’s brow trembled.
“Of course, it’s possible you attended without being listed as a participant.”
As I always say, you can add details to your story as you speak.
Justification? That worked the same way.
“If you’ve shown such a reaction to the conclusions I drew from those assumptions, isn’t that sufficient in itself?”
“….”
Whatever assumptions I had conjured.
Even if they didn’t provide sufficient justification, the result was what mattered.
I had mentioned the Sword Empress.
And since your reaction was as it is now, it seems I was correct after all.
“Heh.”
At those words, the Sword Empress fell silent, exhaling a short breath.
Whoooosh.
She dispersed the qi barrier that had surrounded us.
Had I gotten through to her?
“I heard it from that child, but she’s certainly no ordinary person….”
“That child you speak of….”
“She’s my disciple.”
“….”
A disciple?
The moment I heard those words, I contorted my face as I spoke.
“…Could she be my sister?”
“My. How did you know?”
The Sword Empress widened her eyes.
Damn it.
How would I know?
‘The situation makes it obvious, so what.’
Bang Seo-jin appeared and said her mentor was curious about me, and then suddenly the Sword Empress appears calling her “that child”—what else could it be?
‘There’s only one answer.’
It was such an obvious pattern that I simply blurted it out, but it seemed I was right.
‘…Good heavens.’
Bang Seo-jin is the Sword Empress’s disciple?
What has that woman been doing all this time after running away?
How could she possibly become the disciple of someone as formidable as the Sword Empress? What kind of tumultuous life has she lived?
‘…I’m hardly one to talk.’
I had become Geomseong’s Predecessor and such, so I wasn’t in a position to judge Bang Seo-jin.
“…So… what business do you have with me, senior…?”
I asked the Sword Empress while concealing my bewilderment.
“Hmm….”
At my question, the Sword Empress gently stroked her cheek.
“…Originally, I hadn’t planned to reveal my identity and approach you like this….”
Of course not.
If she hadn’t intended to be discovered, she would have approached using an alias.
“I never imagined that person would leave behind such a letter….”
Recalling Yoo Cheon-gil, my lips curved into a low chuckle.
What’s with that smile? That subtly nostalgic expression. There’s something peculiar about it.
I glanced sideways at Yoo Cheon-gil.
The old man, mid-nose-picking, noticed my gaze.
[What, what is it.]
“….”
Enough.
I shouldn’t pry into this annoying matter.
I left him to his business and turned my attention back to the Sword Empress.
“I apologize first. I couldn’t reveal my name properly given the circumstances.”
“…I understand. I will also remain silent regarding your identity, Senior.”
“Thank you. Otherwise, I would have had to erase you….”
“…Pardon?”
Erase? What? …Me?
I froze, but the Sword Empress continued speaking.
“Anyway.”
Anyway? What do you mean anyway? I was almost erased, wasn’t I?
“The reason I sought you out is because I have a request.”
“A request?”
The Sword Empress has something to ask of me? Is such a thing even possible?
I hadn’t anticipated this. So I waited for her next words.
“First of all.”
The Sword Empress spoke to me.
“Would you be willing to become engaged to me?”
“…No?”
I refused immediately.

* * *
At the entrance to Hanan Province.
Among the stream of carriages and crowds passing through, the Gatekeeper performed his duties.
Within the repetitive routine, one might expect fatigue.
Yet the Gatekeeper remained unmoved. Regardless of who approached, his demeanor and response would not waver.
Having received rigorous training from the Martial Arts Alliance, his reactions were as immovable as stone unless something truly extraordinary occurred.
Even when beholding the most beautiful women or encountering great masters, it was so.
Or rather, it should have been.
“…Ah.”
The Gatekeeper gazed upon the figure before him and inadvertently let out an exclamation of admiration.
Realizing this, he hastily composed his expression, but his reaction did not easily subside.
Though he struggled to maintain his composure outwardly, his mind was a cascade of wonder.
‘What manner of human is this….’
How could a person be so strikingly handsome? His form was as if a sculpture had been given human life.
It defied all reason.
In all his years, he had never witnessed a human so extraordinarily beautiful.
Having observed countless handsome men boasted of while guarding this entrance, this figure overwhelmed them all.
Even as a man himself, he could not tear his gaze away.
The Gatekeeper, his trembling eyes fixed upon the man before him, spoke.
“…What is your purpose…?”
At the Gatekeeper’s words, the man smiled.
“I’ve come to meet someone. I hear my son is here inside.”
Even his voice was beautiful.
The moment he smiled, it felt as though light itself radiated forth.
At that smile, one could hear the women who had been subtly observing the man swallow audibly.
The Gatekeeper, struggling to maintain even the pretense of his already shattered composure, asked.
“I shall verify your credentials. What is your name?”
The man responded to the question.
“Ah. I am….”
Drawing forth a document for identity verification from his garment, the man spoke.
“Bang Cheon-ho of the Yeolyeong Bang clan.”
Bang Cheon-ho, the Lustful Blade.
He had arrived in Hanan.

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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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