The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 318

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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 318
“Jang Moonin-!!”
The moment Seongheon suddenly collapsed, everyone around him sprang to their feet.
“What–!”
“Bring Jang Moonin at once…!”
Not only the Elders but also the Plum Blossom Sword Masters positioned around the perimeter rushed to attend to him. Seongheon’s limp body, already unconscious, was hoisted onto someone’s back.
“Find a Physician immediately!”
Maehua Daeju spoke with an enraged expression. Anyone could see genuine shock written across his face.
“What is this…?”
“Poison? Could it be that those from Patcheon Gung have poisoned Jang Moonin….”
“That cannot be…! This is Hwasan, I tell you.”
“Ha…!”
Pride in Hwasan. The moment this was mentioned, Maehua Daeju’s eyes blazed with fury.
“What does Hwasan have to do with anything?”
“Daeju…?”
“There are already two hideouts of heterodox sects in this prefecture, and rumors of internal traitors within the sect are spreading endlessly. Do you truly believe Hwasan is safe?”
Ssssshhh–!! An overwhelming presence radiated from his body.
“Come to your senses! Jang Moonin has collapsed, I tell you!”
The Elders’ expressions twisted at his rebuke. Witnessing this, I couldn’t help but marvel.
‘My, look at that man.’
Has he played politics before? The sharpness with which he manipulated the situation was quite remarkable.
‘How absurd.’
To employ such tactics—by displaying anger instead, suspicion naturally diminished.
‘Was this intentional?’
Seeing that the Elder who raised objections carried the aura of Patcheon Gung, it was safe to assume this was all orchestrated.
‘…Hmm.’
As I furrowed my brow observing this.
“Wol-hyeop. My apologies, but I believe we should adjourn for now.”
Maehua Daeju spoke to me.
“Given Jang Moonin’s condition takes precedence, I hope you understand.”
“Ah, yes. That’s perfectly fine.”
I nodded in agreement. As Maehua Daeju adjourned the gathering.
I shifted my gaze elsewhere, observing something.
Empty air. While all the Elders were in disarray.
[….]
“….”
In that empty space, Seongheon’s Saengryeong watched over everything.
Her expression was considerably troubled.

* * *
After the meeting fell apart with Seongheon’s collapse, the mission naturally entered a state of suspension.
While conducting an investigation was important, with Jang Moonin in such a condition, a freeze was inevitable.
“Are you certain you’re alright with this?”
I directed my question not at Yoo Cheon-gil, but at Seongheon.
His physical body was currently in the medical chamber, being examined.
Yet Seongheon appeared before me in spirit form, his expression stern.
“I wonder if you should not go and see him yourself.”
[It’s fine.]
“If you leave things as they are, there’s no telling what those men might do.”
Patcheon Gung’s faction exists within Hwasan itself. Even Maehua Daeju, called the guardian of Hwasan, is one of their members. I couldn’t fathom what gave them the audacity to act so brazenly.
And furthermore.
“Why not simply ask me for help instead?”
Since I was face to face with Seongheon’s spirit, I could have granted any request he made….
‘Though honestly, I’m not sure I would have.’
How could I possibly shield Seongheon from all the threats closing in on him?
That would truly be impossible.
However.
‘I would have at least tried something.’
Given that it was a request, I would have attempted something, whether it succeeded or not.
But Seongheon did not desire this.
For he had made a clear demand of me.
‘No matter what happens, do not involve yourself in what befalls me.’
It was a bewildering request. He was telling me to disregard whatever Patcheon Gung might do to him.
‘From the start.’
The very thing he desired was problematic.
He had asked me to end his life.
Of course, that request for death was not direct murder.
‘There were other conditions attached, which is why I accepted.’
Yet that doesn’t make it any less bewildering.
“…You truly mean this is acceptable?”
[Yes. This too is my karma.]
“Your karma?”
[The karma of an incompetent and foolish old man who failed to see what transpired around him.]
“….”
[I spent my entire life in Hwasan, seeing only the plum blossoms. Because I saw only the tree, I never saw the forest.]
A shadow falls across Seongheon’s face.
[Why did I cling so desperately to what I deemed sacred…. Now it matters not.]
“So you’re saying it’s acceptable to die by their hands?”
[No matter how different my intentions were, they are still of Hwasan. If that is their choice, I accept it.]
“Isn’t that your choice now that you’ve seen everything?”
Without realizing it, my words came out sharp and blunt.
“Your choices while alive might be different, might they not?”
[No, that’s not it.]
His words were resolute.
[I’m remaining still despite already knowing everything.]
“…What did you say?”
I narrowed my eyes. Seongheon already knew and yet allowed it to happen?
“What do you mean? You drank poison knowing it contained poison?”
[Yes.]
“…What kind of idiotic thing is that?”
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even maintain proper decorum. What kind of nonsense was this?
“Is this all because of some atonement or whatever?”
Drinking poison given by his traitorous disciples and martial siblings, choosing to die? What kind of foolish act was that?
My anger flared up instantly.
Ending one’s own life—I found nothing more repugnant than that.
“If you were going to do that, you should have solved the problems while alive. What changes if you play at atonement like that?”
Hwasan was crumbling. The Hwasan you cherished so dearly.
It was falling apart so miserably, and yet? Atonement?
“There’s no sickness quite like that kind of sickness.”
That’s just running away.
I spat out my frustration at Seongheon.
After venting for quite some time with indignation.
[…That may be true.]
Seongheon’s voice came to me, forlorn.
[However, even without the poison, my body had already reached its limits.]
“…What?”
[Even if I had not consumed the poison, I knew my body would have collapsed before long.]
A body that would collapse regardless of poison. I clicked my tongue at Seongheon’s words.
One could tell from the state of his vital energy. I already understood that much. I knew that even if Seongheon hadn’t drunk the poison, it would have happened regardless.
But still.
“You shouldn’t have given up regardless.”
That wasn’t what angered me.
“No matter how life unfolds, no matter what your disciples become. You shouldn’t have given up.”
Surrendering life so easily.
That’s where my frustration came from.
Even facing death, the choice to drink poison for atonement was something I couldn’t comprehend.
Just as I was about to speak, heated by that anger.
“You should have struggled, should have fought back somehow…”
I stopped mid-sentence.
“….”
Something felt off. My eyes narrowed. So that’s what I meant.
‘He knew it was poison and consumed it anyway. His body was already failing—he was dying regardless.’
Why?
Why would Seongheon do such a thing? A chill ran through me.
“Jang Moonin.”
[That’s right.]
Seongheon answered my words. I spoke to him in a lowered tone.
“There’s more to this, isn’t there?”
[….]
Seongheon fell silent.
“You.”
Courtesy vanished from my voice.
“You haven’t told me everything. Have you?”
[….]
“Don’t think about staying quiet.”
[I understand.]
“The Old Man is excluded from this.”
I cut off Yoo Cheon-gil as he tried to interject.
With a cold gaze, I questioned him.
“There’s something else. He didn’t deliberately consume the poison. This was… he had no choice but to consume it.”
It wasn’t that his body was already failing, so the poison posed no problem.
‘The poison poses no problem because his body was already failing.’
That was the correct interpretation.
One might argue the order doesn’t matter, but it did. The story was different.
“He’s consuming poison by exploiting his failing health. And it’s not some excuse about atonement or anything like that. He’s been placed in a situation where he has no choice but to consume poison.”
Seongheon said he knew it was poison and consumed it anyway.
Those words burrowed into my mind.
“What was wagered?”
[…!]
“To make you consume poison. Who. What did they wager? I’m asking you now.”
Seongheon’s eyes widened.
Followed by a closed gaze. The expression Seongheon wore was.
[Heh heh…. Like this….]
The look of being caught was unmistakable.
That became the indicator that revealed the answer to me.
Someone was making Maehwa Ilgeom consume poison. Not in secret, but openly.
Yet Maehwa Ilgeom knew full well and consumed it anyway? This went beyond atonement or anything of the sort—there was a reason.
A reason he had to consume the poison.
And the figure forcing him to consume it.
I saw the Elders, and I saw the Hwasan Disciples as well.
But.
‘Among them, there was one whose intentions were crystal clear.’
And the being most convenient and suitable for observing Jang Moonin.
“…Maehua Daeju.”
[….]
“He’s been poisoning you, hasn’t he?”
Seongheon’s expression hardened.
This wasn’t the end of it.
I wasn’t curious about the culprit. What mattered more than the culprit was something else entirely.
Setting aside that Maehua Daeju was poisoning Seongheon.
‘Why.’
Why was Seongheon accepting the poison?
There was only one possibility that came to mind.
Everyone and their dog seemed to know what he cherished.
“Yoo Yeon.”
I spoke Geombong’s name.
“Is that child your leash?”
[….]
Seongheon’s spirit form trembled violently.

* * *
“Jang Moonin! Come to your senses!”
The Hwasan Disciples inside moved with perfect coordination.
Jang Moonin lay bleeding on the ground. Though others rushed to him,
“Gal-!”
Maehua Daeju, who served Jang Moonin, let out a sharp cry.
“The Sect Leader must rest. Do not cause further trouble—return to your positions at once!”
He radiated presence with an angry expression. His shock was equally evident.
Those who heard Maehua Daeju’s command hesitated and withdrew,
“What are you doing? Hurry with the treatment…!”
Maehua Daeju urged the Physician and closed the door.
Immediately after.
Whoooosh–!!
A plum blossom-colored aura spread around the chamber.
It was to block sound, surely.
Thanks to that, the sounds from within were cut off.
Only then did silence settle over the room.
The Physician’s expression, which had been covered in cold sweat, changed.
“…Phew.”
The Maehua Daeju’s rough expression turned cold as ice.
“At last, the time has come.”
The Maehua Daeju gazed down at Seongheon, who had lost consciousness.
“Elder Brother.”
A coarse, overwhelming presence emanated from that voice.
“So this moment has finally arrived.”
His eyes gleamed with madness. Within the Maehua Daeju’s gaze lay a thin veil of greed.
“You have remained here for so long. Have you not?”
Upon this straight and lofty peak of Hwasan.
He had remained here far too long.
In a position I myself should have claimed.
“I shall keep my promise.”
The Maehua Daeju spoke with a faint smile playing at his lips.
“I will not lay a hand upon my Elder Brother’s final disciple.”
If that were Seongheon’s dying wish, then as his successor, it was only right to honor it.
However.
“As for myself.”
Whether others touched the disciple was an entirely different matter.
Furthermore.
“…Well then, I suppose I can dispose of this now.”
Another existence that grated against him.
Wol-hyeop of the Cheongwol Sect.
It was time to kill him.
‘I must seek out Gwima.’
Before making my move, I need to ask him something.
With that thought, the Maehua Daeju’s eyes slowly filled with killing intent.

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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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