The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 273

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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 273
I had to head toward Mount Hua.
Another day had passed since I learned of the sudden schedule change.
I needed to determine whether there were any physical issues, and regardless of the answer.
‘I need time to recover.’
The Martial Arts Alliance itself was far too busy for departure.
“You there! Be careful when stacking!”
“Move aside!”
We had to salvage the Alliance’s collapsed buildings, of course.
“Person coming through!”
“Prepare a room!”
The medical ward was still frantically busy treating the wounded.
It was truly a succession of days where one couldn’t catch a breath.
The memorial hall prepared within the Martial Arts Alliance saw an endless stream of visitors. Those who had fallen in the attack were numerous.
Among them were other disciples as well.
My first task today was to meet with them.
“I offer my respects.”
Led by Jegal Jin at the front, everyone bowed their heads.
Before us, wooden memorial tablets were stacked neatly in abundance.
Many names were inscribed upon them. All of those names belonged to the dead.
“….”
Everyone observed the moment of silence in a hushed atmosphere.
Quiet. Serene and utterly still.
In a silence where even breathing felt forbidden, I closed my eyes and furrowed my brow slightly.
Though everyone else heard nothing.
-I hate this….
-I don’t want to die…!
-Save me… please save me!
In my eyes and ears, things that should not be seen and heard made themselves felt.
‘…Damn it.’
This is why I despise it.
Deaths from tragedy are always followed by lingering resentment.
And that resentment eventually becomes the obsession of spirits, leaving its mark.
‘This is the Central Plains.’
A land of blades and blood.
Their deaths could only be violent. Residual thoughts were bound to linger.
This place was another hell for me.
-Why must I die here! I still have so much left to do…!!
A cry of anguish pierces through.
-I want to live… Father… Father!!
A Spirit clings to the Father who has come to see me, struggling to hold back his tears.
-Please… someone, anyone…!
The piercing cry is utterly tragic.
‘Damn it.’
I swallowed the curse.
There is no death that should have occurred. It is always thus.
There is no life that should have perished. Each of them has their circumstances.
Every resentment carries a reason.
Every life holds purpose.
Before death, all things are equal.
How could I, one still living, bear witness to such contradiction?
At first, it felt unjust, but now such thoughts no longer visit me.
It is my destined karma.
From the moment these eyes were granted to me. From when my Grandmother called it karma from which I could not escape.
All the more so.
‘From the moment I realized I possessed the Heavenly Eye even in this life.’
I saw it as karma inescapable by any means.
Now, I could only accept it.
As I stood there ignoring the cries, head bowed.
Tap, tap.
I felt a touch on my shoulder. My eyes opened immediately.
“You meditate quite deeply. Unexpected.”
It was Jegal Jin.
“…Is it finished?”
“Yes.”
At Jegal Jin’s words, I looked around. Many still remained, but they lingered only because they could not escape their emotions.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled deeply.
“Let us depart.”
I followed Jegal Jin outside.
Outside, unlike those within and the spectral forms, the weather was bright and clear.
Upon seeing the light, the tension dissolved and I could finally breathe.
‘This is exhausting.’
No matter how many times I experience it, it never becomes easier. It will be the same in this life as well.
If there is one thing I can only hope for.
‘That they do not become Demons.’
That their resentment does not deepen to such depths. I could only carefully wish for that.
As I harbored such thoughts.
“You’ve come out… then.”
Someone at the entrance greeted Jegal Jin and me.
Jegal Jin’s brow furrowed slightly as he regarded the man.
“Sochul Daeju?”
“…I greet you, Scholar.”
“How did you… ah.”
Jegal Jin nodded as if remembering something.
“I see. You mentioned guarding the child, didn’t you? You’ve had quite the burden.”
“Not at all.”
Sochul Daeju replied with a faint smile.
“I merely fulfill my duties as commanded.”
“Is that so? Your resolve is indeed admirable.”
Jegal Jin offered his agreement without expression—though the atmosphere suggested he felt none whatsoever.
Then, quite suddenly, Jegal Jin drew closer to me and spoke.
“We depart in the evening. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“I am aware…”
Having heard my response, Jegal Jin nodded and disappeared with the Daejus who served as his escort.
‘Tch.’
Departure in the evening.
This meant, quite literally, our schedule to head toward Mount Hua.
Of all times, not during the day but at night.
The schedule had been set with unseemly haste.
‘At night, then.’
Since I had agreed to it, it was a commitment I had to keep—yet the timeline felt impossibly tight.
The schedule had been set the moment I accepted, after all.
‘How much time remains?’
Perhaps an hour or two? By my reckoning, that was precisely what was left.
“Hmm…”
I had already given the others a rough briefing, so now was the time to attend to some personal matters.
Just as I was about to move toward that end.
“Ahem…”
The Middle-Aged Man beside me—Sochul Daeju—suddenly let out a false cough.
At that sound, I turned my gaze toward him.
“What.”
I spoke in blunt, informal speech.
Upon hearing it, Sochul Daeju’s face stiffened for a moment.
“What’s with that expression? Are you upset?”
I spoke to him without concern.
Under normal circumstances, it would be no surprise if his neck were severed by a blade on the spot.
“…No, sir.”
Sochul Daeju trembled as he replied, unable to do otherwise.
“If you’re upset, shall we return to how things were, Daeju? We can forget this conversation ever happened.”
“…!”
Sochul Daeju’s eyes widened upon hearing this.
“Not at all. It’s no inconvenience whatsoever, sir.”
The word “sir” that followed. Hearing it, I nodded slowly.
“Then that settles it.”
Yesterday in the training grounds, I had spoken with Sochul Daeju.
He had pleaded with me to teach him Wol Cheon.
And Yoo Cheon-gil had asked me to accept him.
At that time, Yoo Cheon-gil had told me that in exchange for teaching Wol Cheon to Sochul Daeju….
‘Correct his attitude toward receiving instruction.’
Make it so he listens when asked for something, he had said.
So that’s what I did.
Though Yoo Cheon-gil had worn an expression suggesting he wasn’t entirely satisfied.
[…I told you to make him listen to requests. When did I tell you to treat him like a slave?]
‘A slave, you say.’
I felt wronged.
‘It’s the relationship between master and disciple. One must simply listen properly to receive instruction.’
[Exactly. If he wants to receive instruction, he must obey your every word—that’s a slave contract.]
‘I never used such crude language.’
It’s true. I didn’t.
Why doesn’t he understand that packaging one’s words is itself a tremendous skill?
I felt somewhat disappointed.
[Disappointed is a disease… Ugh. I should stop talking.]
Yoo Cheon-gil shook his head repeatedly. Well, the results were good, weren’t they?
Yes, the results were good. In the end.
‘Sochul Daeju became my disciple.’
I had him call me “sir” rather than “master” since that felt awkward.
Sochul Daeju accepted this.
He listened to everything I said.
His determination to learn Wol Cheon was such that he cast aside pride and everything else.
‘It’s satisfying.’
The renowned Sochul Daeju addressing me as his sir and heeding my words.
‘In truth, excluding the Celestial Demon, he’s among the highest tier of masters.’
An absolute expert.
Among countless martial artists, fewer than five hundred could be called such monsters.
And among those, when one speaks of Sochul Daeju.
‘…Wouldn’t he easily rank among the hundred greatest masters under heaven?’
A hundred among martial artists who could fill Mount Taishan and still have room to spare.
True martial artists who had ascended through pursuit and achievement alone.
Sochul Daeju was among the highest echelon of such warriors.
‘What a man.’
He crumbles at my words… not bad at all.
“Um…”
“What.”
Sochul Daeju tentatively broached the subject with me.
“Then… when will the instruction begin…?”
“We can’t do it at the Martial Arts Alliance, so we’ll start on the way to Mount Hua. Isn’t that obvious?”
“…”
A crackling sound emanated from Sochul Daeju’s fists.
“What’s with those fists?”
“…Ah, they’re just a bit stiff, sir.”
“That happens. Given your age.”
“…You bastard.”
“What?”
“Nothing, sir.”
I chuckled and walked ahead.
[You’re going to get yourself killed doing that.]
Yoo Cheon-gil sent a subtle warning, but I simply laughed.
‘Honestly, this is too entertaining to stop.’
Even if I died right now, I couldn’t bear to stop.
That was all there was to it.

* * *
I had come to the prefecture. As I mentioned before, there were matters to attend to.
Given my current position, I couldn’t venture out carelessly without an escort.
‘But if that escort is Sochul Daeju, things are different.’
Having an absolute master as my escort made all the difference.
With Sochul Daeju accompanying me as my guard, nothing else mattered.
Thanks to him, I gained the freedom I desired.
So as I walked freely through the prefecture,
“It’s Wol-hyeop…”
“Wol-hyeop, you say?”
“My goodness…!”
People’s gazes turned toward me.
“His hair really is white.”
“…They said he was handsome, and it’s true.”
“They said he looks like a courtesan’s older brother.”
“At that level, it’s beautiful.”
‘This is troublesome.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly. It seemed people recognized me more easily now that my hair had turned white.
At this rate, I’d need to wear a face veil when going out.
I suppressed a sigh and continued walking.
After walking further, an inn came into view.
It was my destination. The moment I reached the entrance, I saw martial artists blocking the way.
They tried to stop me upon seeing my face, but then hesitated after recognizing who I was.
“…Please, come in.”
“I appreciate your courtesy.”
Just as I was about to enter the inn naturally,
“Stop righ-”
A martial artist tried to block Sochul Daeju instead of me, but he suddenly collapsed in a heap.
“Ah, my mistake.”
Sochul Daeju spoke matter-of-factly.
The martial artist had lost consciousness.
“This…!”
Another martial artist immediately tried to draw his sword.
“He is my escort.”
“…”
Upon hearing my words, the martial artist froze in place.
“Daeju, stand down as well.”
“…”
Sochul Daeju had already placed his hand against the martial artist’s jaw.
‘When did that happen?’
I didn’t see his hand move. Sochul Daeju had already acted.
If I hadn’t stopped him, another Martial Artist would have fallen.
‘…Disgustingly strong, that one.’
I was carelessly rolling through without thinking, but I had to acknowledge that the man before me was a monster.
Regardless.
“…Shall we go inside?”
After stopping the Martial Artist, I entered the inn.
The interior of the inn was completely empty.
Truly spotless and vacant.
As expected.
‘He rented the whole place.’
The figure I’d come to see must have rented out the entire inn.
Recalling this, I searched for the person I’d come to meet.
‘There he is.’
I found him immediately. He was just as conspicuous as I was.
“Lord of the Clan.”
I addressed the cold-featured middle-aged man seated in the center.
At my call.
“You’ve arrived.”
The Lord of the Odae Clan and one of the Five Kings of the Realm.
Baekwang responded.

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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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