The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 269

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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 269
“This makes no sense. How could he have known to leave such a message?”
The Sword Emperor’s face contorts as he questions me. Of course he wouldn’t understand—I’d have the same reaction if I heard it from someone else.
But.
“I don’t know. However, that’s what was written.”
In moments like these, playing dumb is the easiest path. As I mentioned before, if there’s one advantage to selling out Yoo Cheon-gil,
….
it’s that the other person struggles to respond easily to such claims.
Reading the reaction, roughly speaking….
‘If it’s Yoo Cheon-gil, it might be possible.’
That’s the kind of thought that surfaces in their minds.
In fact, everyone I met who knew the Celestial Demon or had encountered Yoo Cheon-gil reacted the same way.
If it’s Yoo Cheon-gil.
If it’s that man.
It might be possible.
I don’t know where this strange faith comes from, but everyone I’ve seen reacts exactly like this.
It’s bewildering, but that’s the truth.
I genuinely don’t understand it, yet it happens.
Just look at the Sword Emperor’s reaction right now.
…Ha.
After a long silence, the Sword Emperor lets out a hollow laugh. Then.
“…He anticipated even that? What an absurd man.”
He believed it.
“A monster of a man.”
He actually believes this.
[You believe that? Insane.]
Even Yoo Cheon-gil clicks his tongue at the Sword Emperor’s faith. It seemed absurd even to him.
[Stop selling me out already. At this rate there’ll be nothing left.]
‘What else can I do? If I don’t, what happens immediately?’
I couldn’t see another way. If I didn’t do this, there’s no telling how the Sword Emperor might react.
Moreover.
‘Even Yoo Cheon-gil tensed up.’
The moment I sensed the Sword Emperor approaching, I felt Yoo Cheon-gil’s tension. That meant.
‘The Sword Emperor could kill me.’
It was a reaction suggesting he was someone capable of causing trouble if circumstances aligned.
‘So I need to navigate this carefully.’
I couldn’t just die here, so I had to do something.
This was my best option.
“So, you recognized me from the beginning?”
“…I can’t say for certain, but I acted with some degree of suspicion.”
“I see. So that’s why.”
The Sword Emperor nodded as if he understood something.
“How amusing… If you were going to leave such a message, you shouldn’t have done so in the first place.”
[….]
‘Hmm?’
Yoo Cheon-gil’s reaction to the softly whispered words was peculiar.
He moved as if something bothered him.
While that reaction subtly caught my attention.
“This is the entirety of the reason I was able to discern your identity, sir….”
For now, I needed to focus on the Sword Emperor, so I continued speaking.
The Sword Emperor, upon hearing this, stared directly at me.
“Then I’ll ask you something else.”
Whether he understood the previous matter or simply chose to move past it, I couldn’t tell.
The Sword Emperor proceeded to the main topic.
“Listen well.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you truly distinguish the men of Patcheon Gung with your eyes?”
“….”
My eyes widened upon hearing the question. I hadn’t anticipated him asking this.
‘Patcheon Gung, all of a sudden.’
What could be the reason for asking this? As I pondered.
“…That’s correct.”
I answered first.
“Though I cannot claim absolute certainty. I can perceive them.”
Provided that my demonic essence remains intact, I could do so.
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“I understand.”
“Sir?”
“What is it?”
“…No, it’s just that I’m puzzled you said you understand without asking further questions.”
“Didn’t you say it was true?”
“I could have merely been saying so with words.”
The Sword Emperor tilted his head at my question.
“Then we’ll simply cut them down when the time comes.”
“….”
Ah. I see.
There truly was a simple and straightforward method.
Haha.
Cold sweat trickled down my face.
“But why… why is this…?”
Why had I asked whether the Sword Emperor would spare the people of Patcheon Gung? This time, as I posed my question with genuine confusion.
“I need your eyes.”
The Sword Emperor spoke, and I flinched at his words. My eyes? What did that mean? Was he going to take them out? That would be problematic.
A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind at once.
“There is something you must witness.”
“Ah.”
Fortunately, that wasn’t it. Right, if he needed my eyes, he needed them. He wouldn’t just pluck them out.
Unlike someone like Shin Chang, who had turned his own eyeballs into mush.
[What’s with that expression? That’s the look you get when I’m cursing someone out.]
The old man was indeed perceptive as always.
Ignoring him, I turned to the Sword Emperor with a question.
“What exactly should I be observing, sir…?”
“There is something. Normally, I would drag you along immediately to see it, but…”
Swooooosh—!
All the sensations that had been suffocating my body returned. The sharp aura and killing intent completely vanished.
“I have a prior arrangement with Wol Seon-geom, so I shall grant you time.”
“…Wol Seon-geom, you say?”
I wondered why Cheonseongwha was suddenly being brought up here.
‘Well, of course.’
I already knew that the Sword Emperor had spoken with Wol Seon-geom. Without that conversation, the Sword Emperor wouldn’t have appeared as a carriage driver in the first place.
The problem was.
“From now on, I shall teach you.”
“Pardon?”
[Huh?]
Those were the Sword Emperor’s words. At his statement, even Yoo Cheon-gil, who had been quietly picking his nose, let out a dumbfounded response.
“The contract period shall extend from after our business at Hwasan until I achieve my objective.”
“Sir? What do you mean by…?”
“We shall begin as we head toward Shaanxi. Prepare yourself mentally.”
“Yes…?”
What kind of turn was this taking? I could only stand there with my mouth agape, frozen in place.
“…You mean to teach me, sir? What exactly would you be teaching me?”
“The sword. That is all I have to teach you.”
“…No, of course that would be it. But why so suddenly?”
The Sword Emperor was going to teach me the sword? What did this even mean?
“It is an arrangement with Wol Seon-geom.”
“…?”
Wol Seon-geom?
He had made such an arrangement with Moonju?
“…You mean the arrangement was for you to teach me the sword?”
“Yes. I needed your eyes. When I asked your Moonju about this, he said he couldn’t simply lend them—that I should teach you something in return.”
“….”
“So you will learn from me. Understand?”
It was absolute madness.
The Sword Emperor of all creation had been assigned the role of a tutor.
‘…Is this even possible?’
Could such a thing actually happen? I was a member of the Cheongwol Sect, and my martial arts were already ingrained in my body.
Yet I couldn’t comprehend what it meant to learn swordsmanship from the Sword Emperor. My thoughts were muddled, and I could only roll my eyes.
“Do not worry.”
The Sword Emperor spoke to me with an expressionless face.
“I will teach only the sword itself. I have no intention of touching your inner cultivation. Yoo Cheon-gil—I have no desire to meddle with that pathetic fool’s martial arts.”
[Pathetic? Listen to this bastard talk.]
Yoo Cheon-gil growled at the Sword Emperor’s words.
But what mattered to me was that he would refine only my swordsmanship without touching my inner cultivation.
‘…The Sword Emperor will teach me the sword.’
The greatest swordsman in all history teaching me swordsmanship. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
‘…But.’
I already had the greatest ghost of all time attached to me.
So when I wondered if I truly needed instruction in swordsmanship.
[It’s not entirely unpleasant, though I’m not thrilled.]
Yoo Cheon-gil chuckled and spoke.
[Martial arts aside, my saber technique doesn’t suit you anyway. Learning the fundamentals differently from him is a good thing.]
“….”
Yoo Cheon-gil showed no objection.
Indeed, that was the case.
‘Yoo Cheon-gil’s saber technique is an application of Manwol.’
Though I didn’t know why he was called the Sword Saint while wielding a saber.
What he used was unmistakably saber technique.
Meanwhile, what I wielded was.
‘Swordsmanship.’
Specifically, a lighter style of swordsmanship suited to my rather slender frame.
It seemed Yoo Cheon-gil had judged that I was better matched with the Sword Emperor.
‘Yes, it’s all good.’
Everything is fine. But.
“…Why would you go so far, sir?”
Why was the Sword Emperor doing this? For the Celestial Demon’s Sword Emperor to personally refine another’s swordsmanship was, in a sense, a matter of pride.
So why go to such lengths? When I asked this question.
“Because it must be done.”
The Sword Emperor ended with a simple answer.
“….”
Am I truly needed to such an extent?
Or is there another reason behind this?
I cannot fathom even this. So…
“Would it be possible to speak with Wol Seon-geom first…?”
Let me first speak with Wol Seon-geom, the one who made the deal.
Perhaps then I’ll understand what needs to be understood.
“You won’t be able to see him. He’s quite busy at the moment.”
“You mean Wol Seon-geom…?”
“That’s right.”
A faint smile crossed the Sword Emperor’s expressionless face.
“He must be terribly occupied. The Alliance’s secret vault has been breached.”
“…Pardon?”
The vault breached? My eyes widened at those words.

* * *
“…”
A man with gleaming azure eyes. Cheonseongwha surveyed his surroundings in the darkness.
Normally, this was a space one could not easily enter within the Martial Arts Alliance.
He now stood within the secret vault located beneath the Alliance’s underground levels.
In the darkness, his blue eyes scanned in all directions.
Objects filled the space densely, packed tightly together.
The secret vault of the Martial Arts Alliance—called the heart and source of the orthodox sects.
It was hardly surprising that it contained precious and secretive items.
“What exactly has gone missing, if I may ask?”
Wol Seon-geom, who had been examining the objects, turned to the old man behind him with a puzzled expression.
He posed the question to Jegal Jin.
He had rushed here upon hearing the news, yet nothing appeared to have changed.
“At first glance, there seems to be no significant difference.”
A problem had arisen in the vault. Upon hearing this, he had come here with Jegal Jin.
Yet nothing appeared to be actually missing.
However.
“…”
Rather than answering, Jegal Jin moved forward.
“How meticulous they were—the positions of the objects have barely shifted.”
Jegal Jin advanced without hesitation through the darkness, as if he could see perfectly.
Yet remarkably, his eyes were closed.
“It means they touched nothing, disturbed nothing if possible. But you see…”
Tap.
Jegal Jin came to a halt at one particular spot.
A strand suspended in empty space appeared to have come loose.
“It has definitely changed.”
Only then did Jegal Jin open his eyes.
“A box that should have been here has disappeared.”
“….”
Wol Seon-geom frowned at those words.
“…A box, you say?”
“Indeed. There was a box here. A box slightly larger than two spans.”
A space I had visited countless times.
And the locations of items I had already committed to memory.
With so many objects present, one might assume I was mistaken.
“But I do not err.”
Jegal Jin’s eyes were filled with certainty.
He does not make mistakes.
Cheon Rijin-an Jegal Jin.
He never forgot anything he had seen even once.
Much like someone else.
That is why Wol Seon-geom responded in silent acknowledgment when Jegal Jin spoke of the change.
“On the day of the assault, their actions seemed incomplete.”
An assault with numerous masters deployed in overwhelming numbers.
Enough to deceive the nobles and strike at a complete opening.
They even neutralized Shin Chang, yet the assault ultimately failed due to the unexpected variable known as Wol-hyeop.
And so word spread that Hanan had been saved.
“…But it seems they have achieved their true objective.”
Jegal Jin examined the repository and his face twisted.
From the beginning, the purpose of Patcheon Gung and the Demonic Cult was not the assault itself.
Taking something from the repository.
How they reached this place remained a mystery, but their true purpose was certainly this.
“What did they take?”
Wol Seon-geom asked.
Jegal Jin answered his question.
“Letters the Celestial Demon once sent to the Alliance. They were written in cipher, so I could not decipher all of them.”
“…!”
“Within them….”
Jegal Jin fell silent for a moment before continuing.
“There was written the reason the Celestial Demon incited the Righteous-Demonic War… the method to summon a Deity.”
Wol Seon-geom’s eyes widened upon hearing those words.

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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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