The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 300

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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 300
A covert alliance was formed. Though it was somewhat conspicuous for something called secret. But that hardly mattered.
Led by Maehua Daeju, a search party was assembled consisting of four Plum Blossom Sword Masters including him, and three Hwasan Sect disciples.
On my side, there was only Sochul Daeju and myself.
There was no need to gather more personnel. Any additional members would be superfluous.
‘Numbers beyond this point would serve no purpose.’
I judged this number of people to be adequate. Besides, the true objective was never a genuine search anyway.
Thud.
We all gathered and arrived at the location.
‘…Was it here.’
This was where I had come before. It was the place where I had encountered Gwima last time.
“This location has already been searched.”
As soon as we arrived, Daeju spoke to me. Of course. An investigation must have been conducted shortly after my departure.
“Was anything discovered during the investigation?”
What could possibly be found during an investigation? As if waiting for that question, Maehua Daeju handed me something.
It was a letter.
“Investigation records.”
“Ah, thank you.”
I received it and unfolded it. The contents were well summarized.
The summary was as follows.
-Investigation results confirmed eight corpses of Patcheon Gung agents.
-Two individuals identified as natives of Shaanxi. The rest could not be identified.
-Evidence of human habitation exists within the investigation site, but nothing else of note was found.
“…Hmm.”
That was all there was.
A truly unremarkable investigation record.
Disappointed? I was not.
‘I don’t even know if this is genuine or not anyway.’
The utility of the letter I received was low. It was merely a useless scrap of paper.
“Shall we proceed with further investigation?”
“I should see it for myself regardless.”
“I shall guide you.”
Maehua Daeju led the way. We entered through that same entrance I had used before.
The atmosphere was different from then—the strange quality that had permeated everything had vanished, and an ordinary forest came into view.
As we ventured a bit deeper.
‘That place from before.’
The location where Gwima had emerged came into sight. It appeared utterly ordinary to the eye.
“Have you examined this location as well?”
At my words, Daeju nodded.
“Indeed.”
“Nothing came out of it.”
“Just as written.”
“Mm.”
Creak.
I grasped the door and pulled it open. The moment it swung wide, I had to contort my face in disgust.
‘Rot.’
They saw nothing? I understood. There truly was nothing to see.
From the perspective of an ordinary person, at least.
‘What is this?’
It was unbearable. How could such a repulsive aura exist?
This place.
‘An abandoned dwelling infused with malice.’
An abandoned dwelling is where all vitality has vanished. With no further signs of life and no vital essence remaining, it should simply crumble and fade away.
Yet there were places where problems arose.
‘Where malice takes root.’
When malice itself settles into an abandoned dwelling stripped of life.
In such cases, this nauseating thing is born.
‘A Demon’s lair.’
How had so many Demons gathered in such a small space?
It was unbearable, utterly unbearable.
Merely looking at it made my stomach churn.
I couldn’t fathom what had been done to this small dwelling.
‘People lived in a place like this?’
It’s an environment where humans could never survive. No, if humans had lived here, it wouldn’t have become like this.
Gwima emerged from here, yet how did it come to this state?
‘What were they doing?’
I wanted to pinch my nose shut immediately.
The stench was unbearable.
“What’s wrong?”
Maehua Daeju sensed something amiss and asked.
The moment I felt his presence, I shifted my expression.
“It’s nothing. I just saw some insects.”
“…Mm.”
His expression suggested: mere insects? My pride took a slight blow, but this much was reasonable.
I lowered my gaze.
‘This place. It’s not a simple abandoned dwelling.’
Malice of this magnitude doesn’t form naturally.
‘It’s artificial power.’
Those dog-like bastards from my past life.
They destroyed sanctuaries others had built, or shattered the barriers set by land deities.
Those heretics who had contracted with the Demon God to scatter calamity across the land.
It resembled the cursing techniques they had employed.
The mere thought of my futile attempts to break such a curse ignited a fury within me.
The heat blazed through my veins, unbearable in its intensity.
‘Surely I’m not seeing this here as well.’
This accursed situation existed even in the Central Plains?
‘If this is the case….’
I scanned the surroundings, ignoring the demons that flickered into view, searching for something.
‘Where is it?’
If this truly was artificial, it had to be somewhere.
‘A stake.’
The stake that would serve as the source of the curse.
I had to find it.
‘Where is it?’
My eyes darted about as I searched, needing to discern the traces.
“Wol-hyeop?”
Maehwa Ilgeom looked at me with confusion as I searched for something.
I ignored her questioning gaze and continued searching. After circling about for some time.
‘Ah.’
Found it.
Crunch.
Beyond the fractured floor, I grasped at the earth.
I felt something.
Crunch, crunch—!
I dug forcefully at the ground with my bare hands.
The moment I began excavating the soil, the people around me grew flustered, their expressions betraying confusion at my intentions.
Despite their bewildered stares, I continued digging for a long while.
My cultivation was profound enough that the earth yielded easily beneath my hands.
Then, from the ground.
Tap.
Something caught.
A cold, chilling sensation. Something heavy and solid.
The moment my fingertips touched it.
Zzzt—!
‘…Tsk.’
My heart thrummed with a tingling sensation.
Uuuuuung—!!
Bone-deep resonance cried out. My soul reverberated in harmony, confirming this was the answer I sought.
Crack—!!
I seized the metal and wrenched it free with all my strength.
Scraaaaaape–!!
Something tore through the earth and was wrenched free. It bore a resemblance to a massive wooden post.
“Wol-hyeop… what is that?”
“Ah, there seemed to be something inside. It’s just iron though… tsk.”
He tossed it carelessly onto the ground as if it were nothing.
In that instant.
Waaaaaahhhhh–!!
끼아아아아아아—!!!
The demons confined within shrieked in agony. The energy bound to their dwelling trembled violently.
‘…They’ve done something truly vicious.’
The level of the formation they’d set was extraordinary. Why had they gone to such depths? My irritation was reaching a boiling point.
‘…What are they trying to accomplish?’
Looking at this, it didn’t seem like they were simply searching for Physician Uiseon.
They knew how to use curse techniques like this?
‘Just like back then.’
The collective den of demons those men had used in Hannam.
I recalled the black aura and furrowed my brow.
It seemed they possessed something I was unaware of.
Whoosh.
Seeing the dissipating energy, I simply turned my back.
“There’s nothing here. Let’s search elsewhere for now.”
I forced a smile, pretending all was well.
‘…This tastes bitter.’
Though my thoughts were somewhat tangled within.

* * *
After that, I conducted a deeper search of the surrounding area.
I moved together with the majority of the group. There was nothing particularly suspicious about it. I thought someone would handle the matter, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
While remaining vigilant toward Maehua Daeju and those around him, I continued to observe carefully.
‘This forest.’
Something felt off about what I was seeing.
My senses kept catching on something.
‘There are no traces to speak of.’
I tried to uncover things that couldn’t be seen.
Yet traces that ordinary humans could not perceive were visible in several places.
‘Spirit traces.’
Traces left behind by souls. I had discovered them. And among them.
‘Evil traces.’
What were called the traces of malevolent spirits.
It was a record of a Demon’s anguished cry. This meant that either a Demon had been born in this vicinity, or a Demon had thrashed about here.
It wasn’t strange. Once someone had gone mad and become a Demon, there was nothing strange about what they might do….
‘The surroundings are the problem.’
What I had seen just before kept nagging at me.
That was why.
“Daeju.”
“What is it?”
I called out to the Daeju while conducting the search.
“Shall we check ahead as well?”
“Ahead? You mean….”
A flinch.
Just for an instant.
I could see Maehua Daeju hesitate as he looked in the direction I was pointing. It was a moment I wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been concentrating.
“That place is merely a cliff. There should be nothing there…?”
“Yes. That may be true, but….”
Observing the Daeju’s reaction, I sent a transmission of thought.
-According to my sources of information, there is something over there.
“…!”
The eyes of Maehua Daeju widened upon receiving the transmission.
“…Over there, you say?”
“Yes.”
“…I see. Gather around!”
At his shout, the Plum Blossom Sword Masters gathered at once.
“We will reorganize our search direction. We head to the left.”
“Understood.”
Upon hearing the order, the Martial Artists advanced. We all began to move forward together.
Passing through the forest, the cliff came into view just as Daeju had said. A space where nothing else could be seen.
“As I mentioned before. This place is merely a cliff.”
“Yes. It certainly appears that way.”
To the eye, there truly seemed to be nothing here.
‘…Hmm.’
I examined the traces left on the ground, not the cliff itself.
Footprints.
Footprints left behind by the spirits were there.
I slowly followed them.
“Wol-hyeop? Where are you….”
To the cliff’s edge. That’s where I headed.
And I understood.
‘There’s something here.’
The traces led below the cliff. Not to the ground directly beneath, but rather.
‘A space beneath the cliff.’
A space that lay below. That’s where I needed to go.
“I found it.”
“…What?”
“Indeed, this is the place.”
I spoke as if I knew everything all along. At my words, Daeju reacted once more.
“There must be a space beneath the cliff. We should head there.”
The more I spoke with conviction, the more I could see Daeju’s eyes wavering.
“Yeo Hyeok.”
“Yes.”
“Would you check below this cliff for me?”
“Ah, understood.”
Yeo Hyeok, receiving my request, headed straight toward the cliff.
There was no hesitation. He immediately employed his lightness technique to check below.
“It’s here-! I can see a space!”
He spoke the words I had hoped to hear.
“Let’s go.”
“…Move out.”
At Daeju’s command, everyone descended below. Sochul Daeju stood behind me.
When the number of people had noticeably dwindled, leaving only me, Maehua Daeju, and Sochul Daeju.
“Let’s head down now.”
I was about to follow and descend. At that moment.
-Wol-hyeop.
Maehua Daeju called out to me. Through a secret transmission.
-Yes, Daeju.
-May I ask you one thing?
-Yes. You may ask whatever you wish.
He wore the expression of someone curious about what I intended to inquire. In truth, I already knew precisely what he would ask.
It was only natural.
After all, these were actions I had deliberately taken, hoping he would pose such questions.
-Information that even Hwasan’s elite have failed to discern. Where on earth are you obtaining such intelligence…?
He seemed curious about the current state of my information sources—the origins of what the merchants had been discussing.
-Ah….
At those words, I hesitated, as though deliberating.
-…Information sources, you see.
-Indeed. To procure information of this caliber… could this be the power of the Cheongwol Sect?
-Hmm.
I waited a moment, as though genuinely considering whether to answer or remain silent.
It was the time necessary to make him grow impatient.
After allowing that pause to linger.
I spoke to Daeju as though I had reached a decision in my heart.
-The truth is.
-….
-My information sources are not the Cheongwol Sect.
-Then…?
-To obtain intelligence of such depth, there is truly only one method, is there not?
Now, from this moment forward.
-My information sources are.
From this very instant.
-Being extracted from the double agents embedded within Hwasan.
-…What?
I would become the fracture in your unity.

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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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