The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 278

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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 278
Behind Seongpung. Or rather, at a position where his shoulder line was visible.
There, a distinctly black aura was undulating with absolute clarity.
That was what I’d seen in Hanam…
‘The traces of those Patcheon-gung thugs.’
It was the distinctive aura visible among martial artists belonging to Patcheon-gung.
But.
‘Why on earth.’
Why was it appearing on that absolute master called Maehua Daeju? I had to swallow hard and force my mind to work.
‘Could it be that even Maehua Daeju, of all people, has been reached by their hands?’
Considering that the Maeng clan’s daeju and various other conspirators were scattered about everywhere, it wouldn’t be strange if Maehua Daeju were connected to Patcheon-gung.
‘But still.’
The problem was that this was happening at this particular moment.
Precisely when I was heading toward Hwasan.
And at this critical juncture when I needed to meet the sect leader to treat Shin Chang.
‘Calm yourself.’
I had to remain composed.
‘They still don’t know.’
They didn’t know that I could identify them. The Patcheon-gung thugs were unaware.
More precisely, it wasn’t just the Patcheon-gung thugs. Only an extremely small number of people possessed this information.
And since everyone who did know bore no traces of Patcheon-gung’s aura, I judged that they still hadn’t learned of my capabilities.
A flinch.
My hand moved.
It was because I had been holding onto Yoo Yeon’s arm.
I slowly raised my head and looked at Seongpung.
Then I released the arm of Yoo Yeon that I’d been holding.
“…?”
Yoo Yeon looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Ah, I almost stumbled for a moment.”
“…”
“Sorry.”
After offering an apology, Yoo Yeon nodded and walked toward the Hwasan Sect members.
“Yoo Yeon.”
“…”
When Seongpung acknowledged her, Yoo Yeon showed proper respect.
At her gesture, Seongpung gently stroked her hair with a benevolent expression.
“…”
Watching him, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow internally.
To all appearances, he was a kindly old man.
‘A conspirator of Patcheon-gung, you say?’
The aura emanating from him cast his face in an unfavorable light.
‘Damn it.’
It stung.
‘Yes, it’s always like this.’
It always had been.
‘My luck is absolutely abysmal.’
Nothing ever came easily.
I had a premonition that this journey to Hwasan would be no different.
No, it wasn’t a premonition.
It was certainty.

* * *
Following the guidance of the Maehua swordsmen, we began moving, and more time passed.
With the Maehua swordsmen accompanying us and guiding us westward, the journey became remarkably convenient.
The fact that we no longer needed to keep night watch was significant.
Since they knew the terrain better, our movements became far more efficient in route planning.
Thanks to this, everyone in the party felt at ease.
“Sigh.”
For me, however, I had to live in constant tension.
‘This is killing me, absolutely.’
Every single day was a day of worry.
It had been that way since I learned that Seongpung was a figure from Patcheon-gung.
I had to be cautious with every action and keep my full attention on him.
The one saving grace was.
‘He doesn’t seem to be doing anything in particular.’
Seongpung showed no unusual movements.
He simply observed the party from behind, or spread his spiritual perception through the forest to detect dangers and warn us of any problems.
He merely performed his role as a Daeju, displaying nothing that seemed suspicious.
‘…And besides, if he had done something.’
Wouldn’t Sochul Daeju or the Sword Emperor, both absolute masters, have noticed something?
‘What’s strange is that Seongpung doesn’t recognize the Sword Emperor.’
From what I knew, they were both active in the same era. I’m not sure about the connection between them, but I thought they would at least know each other’s faces.
‘Yet Seongpung doesn’t recognize the Sword Emperor.’
Or perhaps he didn’t know his face.
‘Hmm.’
There must be some reason for this, but for now, it was beyond my knowledge.
‘The real problem is.’
Whether I should convey this information to the Sword Emperor or Sochul Daeju.
Should I tell them that Seongpung is a figure from Patcheon-gung or not?
If there was one thing that troubled me most, it was this.
‘The reason the Sword Emperor stayed by my side.’
It wasn’t solely because of the request I’d received from Wol Seon-geom.
He wanted something from me.
‘He needs my eyes.’
Eyes capable of distinguishing Patcheon-gung.
That’s what he needed, and for that reason, he’d tried to keep me alive.
This was information I’d learned from Yoo Cheon-gil….
‘But even so.’
Could the Sword Emperor be trusted? For me, it remained ambiguous.
The same applied to Sochul Daeju.
‘The Cheongwol Sect itself still raises questions.’
Yoo Cheon-gil’s death. Regarding this, Yoo Cheon-gil himself didn’t seem to think deeply about it.
‘Well.’
Now it was I who found myself concerned.
The fact that I’d become too deeply entangled was a major reason.
‘Once I finish the journey to Hwasan and return.’
I’ll resolve the matter regarding the Cheongwol Sect.
Until then, I couldn’t trust anyone.
‘At least I can preserve my life.’
Even if I couldn’t trust the Sword Emperor, if he needed me, I wouldn’t die.
Just as I was finding some solace in that much.
“…Huff.”
A sound of exertion came from ahead.
The source was none other than Sochul Daeju.
“Haah… Haah….”
Sochul Daeju exhaled repeatedly, his body drenched in sweat. He stood motionless, gripping a single sword.
Even just standing there, perspiration streamed down his skin in rivulets.
The reason the renowned Sochul Daeju was in such a state was for the sake of training.
“Your strength is wavering.”
“…!”
At my observation, Sochul Daeju immediately tightened his grip on the sword.
“Don’t let your energy dissipate.”
“…Understood… sir.”
His eyes blazing, he raised the sword with renewed tension, and nearly an hour had already passed in this manner.
The reason for engaging in such seemingly pointless effort was….
‘All of this is training for the Moonlight Penetrating Scripture.’
This was the training method to extract the Moonlight Penetrating Scripture from Sochul Daeju.
The method was simple.
‘Concentrate all internal energy solely into the sword.’
Channel all the internal energy flowing through the body into the blade without allowing even a trace to remain in the flesh.
While simultaneously exercising extreme restraint to prevent the blade’s size from expanding.
The inner energy reserves of Sochul Daeju, who stood at the pinnacle of absolute mastery, would be astronomical, yet he was pouring all of that energy solely into the sword….
‘Naturally, the sword’s energy body should expand in size.’
Yet he was preventing that expansion from occurring.
The pressure and mental fortitude required for this would generate tremendous fatigue.
This was precisely why Sochul Daeju was drenched in sweat.
From that alone, one could gauge the intensity of the training.
‘…But will this actually help?’
Even from my perspective as the student, and from his as the instructor, it remained questionable.
‘He’s just wasting his inner energy endlessly.’
Sochul Daeju was certainly struggling.
But I doubted whether this would truly help him manifest the Moonlight Transcendent Sword.
‘The fundamental problem isn’t being solved.’
Yoo Cheon-gil had said that the Moonlight Transcendent Sword couldn’t be achieved without completely reconstructing the foundation of his cultivation.
‘Why is he making him do this?’
I couldn’t fathom why Yoo Cheon-gil was assigning such training to Sochul Daeju.
But then again.
‘What choice do I have?’
I could only relay what I was told.
It was an agreement I’d made with Sochul Daeju.
To teach him the Wol Cheon technique.
For that, he’d promised to obey my words and follow unconditionally.
This training was for that purpose.
I glanced sideways.
I looked toward Yoo Cheon-gil.
The one who’d taught the training method was floating in mid-air, casually picking his nose.
[What are you looking at?]
“….”
[Don’t look at me. Focus on that guy instead. His arm’s about to fall off again.]
At Yoo Cheon-gil’s point, I looked toward Sochul Daeju and saw his strength indeed waning by the moment.
“Can’t do it?”
“N-no…I can.”
“If you can’t, then quit.”
“I can do this…!”
He gritted his teeth and raised the sword again.
His words claimed he could continue, but his eyes reflected the same doubt I felt.
Of course he’d find this strange too.
There was no telling what benefit would come from this.
I was simply relaying what Yoo Cheon-gil instructed.
“That’s enough for now.”
After some time had passed, I sat on a rock and spoke to Sochul Daeju.
“Phew…. Hah….”
The moment the words left my mouth, Sochul Daeju was gasping for breath.
He looked completely exhausted.
“…That’s enough for today.”
“…Thank… you… for the instruction.”
I moved away, leaving Sochul Daeju gasping behind me.
The lesson had lasted roughly an hour and a half.
That’s what we’d decided on, and today’s schedule ended there.
Once the presence of others had faded, I asked Yoo Cheon-gil.
“Old Man.”
[Yes.]
From his response, it seemed there were no eyes around us.
“…Is that really helping him?”
I finally asked the question that had been nagging me for days.
[Why? Does it seem useless to you?]
“Yes. It just looks like he’s only suffering pointlessly.”
Does merely exhausting him count as training?
At this point, I was starting to wonder if Yoo Cheon-gil was just toying with Sochul Daeju.
‘…What if he gets angry?’
If he couldn’t take it anymore and lashed out at me in frustration.
‘Wouldn’t I be dead?’
It was a point where being killed wouldn’t even be surprising.
Sensing my concern, Yoo Cheon-gil’s face broke into a knowing smile.
[You worry about unnecessary things.]
“But….”
[Don’t you think you’re missing something significant?]
“What do you mean?”
[He’s struggling, isn’t he?]
“Yes…?”
Just as I was about to say that training is supposed to be difficult.
[A martial artist of his caliber is already exhausted after just an hour or two. Don’t you understand what that means?]
“…!”
Hearing Yoo Cheon-gil’s words, I stopped in my tracks.
That’s right.
‘Now that I think about it, he was struggling far more than the time should warrant.’
Even for training that only uses basic strength, it was strange for him to be suffering this much.
[His fundamentals need to be rebuilt from the ground up. This is for that purpose. And perhaps….]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke with a smile.
[He’s already starting to realize it himself.]

* * *
“…Cough.”
Sochul Daeju, who had been catching his breath, exhaled sharply.
He wiped away the sweat pouring from exhaustion and barely managed to rise to his feet.
“Phew….”
As the wind blew, the sweat on his body cooled, bringing a refreshing sensation.
Then.
Sochul Daeju’s expression was clearly worn with fatigue, yet within it burned a faint spark of something.
“…Remarkable.”
It was an expression of genuine admiration.
“This was actually possible.”
Sochul Daeju widened his eyes as he gazed at his empty palms, the ones not holding a sword.
Profuse sweat had gathered there.
Barely more than an hour had passed.
During that time, without any physical movement, I had only channeled my inner energy, yet it was this exhausting.
‘…A method I never knew existed.’
This shouldn’t have been possible.
Drawing the inner energy from within one’s body and infusing it into the sword.
Maintaining it through pressure without expanding its volume.
And simultaneously having to continuously expend that inner energy?
I had to grasp a flow that was both delicate and intense.
The aftermath of training I had never attempted came crashing down like a storm.
My meridian channels grew exhausted rapidly, of course.
My body bore the burden of maintaining that pressure.
This was the result.
All the inner energy in my dantian had been drained, and I couldn’t even muster strength in my hands.
‘This is….’
I wondered if there was any method where energy drained this quickly.
If that were the goal, it would be an incredible form of torture.
‘…There’s something at the end of this.’
It wasn’t mere torment.
When I drained and drained my inner energy until reaching the very end.
‘Something.’
It felt like I could grasp something. Though I still didn’t know what that something was.
‘Is this what he’s aiming for?’
Could Bangseong-yeon have designed this training for me with this very goal in mind?
Sochul Daeju couldn’t reach a conclusion.
Only.
‘…That man definitely has something.’
Though I treated him with the courtesy due a teacher, my perception of Bangseong-yeon—whom I had subtly dismissed until now—began to shift ever so slightly.

* * *
The days passed in a rhythm that seemed hurried yet unhurried as we journeyed toward Shaanxi.
Each day consisted of tormenting Sochul Daeju under the guise of training.
Teaching Dok-ryong the secrets of Manceon Hwau.
And receiving instruction from the Sword Emperor at night.
Juggling these three pursuits throughout our travels.
While simultaneously maintaining vigilance against Seongpung, the days felt far too short by the time evening arrived.
“Ah…”
I gasped in admiration at the sight visible beyond the carriage window.
“We’ve finally arrived.”
A place where the subtle fragrance of grass and flowers could be distinctly perceived.
A space where signs of human presence, scarcely felt until now, rose unmistakably into awareness.
“We’re approaching our destination.”
The carriage slowed as the Sword Emperor spoke in the coachman’s voice.
“Hwain County.”
Hwain County in Shaanxi Province, where the Hwasan Sect dwelled.
We had finally arrived at that place.

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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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