The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 384

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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 384
Three years of records. Wol Seon-geom accepts the letter brought by Yoo Yul and examines the information with a hardened expression.
Not much time had passed. Three years, after all, was not a considerable span.
After reading through it all, Wol Seon-geom looked at Yoo Yul.
His eyes narrowed into crescents as he smiled. Seeing him like this, Wol Seon-geom asked.
“I wondered why you requested to return, but what do you mean by saying his movements are strange?”
The final line was crucial. The reason Yoo Yul had requested to return to the Cheongwol Sect mattered.
One of the Five Heavenly Kings.
The Fourth King, Hyunhwa.
Years ago, he had secluded himself in the mountains and left no trace, and given the organizations he belonged to and the work he had done, he was someone we kept watch over.
In the final passage, Yoo Yul had written that the Fourth King’s movements seemed strange, which was why he chose to return.
“What happened?”
“…Hmm.”
At Wol Seon-geom’s question, Yoo Yul scratched his cheek.
“I’m not entirely certain myself.”
“What?”
“The Fourth King remained at the mountain’s peak and never appeared. I witnessed him with my own eyes only three times over the three years.”
Once a year, roughly. Only then could I see the Fourth King.
“I’ve noted other peculiarities, but… the most important thing is those three occasions.”
Each time I encountered the Fourth King. That was the problem then.
“The atmosphere was strange each time.”
“The atmosphere?”
“Yes. The mountain’s atmosphere was strange. I already knew the mountain itself was unusual, but… especially on those days, not only was the qi in the air disturbed, but even the animals in the forest would cower.”
As if recalling those memories, Yoo Yul’s face contorted.
“This happened even though the Fourth King didn’t appear to be doing anything particularly unusual.”
“Is there a possibility the Fourth King discovered your movements?”
“It’s not impossible. However….”
Yoo Yul, who had been speaking, held back his smile again.
“That’s unlikely. I’m confident about that.”
“….”
Wol Seon-geom nodded as if he understood the point.
If it were Yoo Yul, he would not have been discovered. If it were that Yoo Yul.
“So I wanted to understand a bit more about why I was getting this feeling….”
Yoo Yul hesitated for a moment before speaking. Wol Seon-geom did not press him and waited for his words.
“In the last year. That’s when the problem arose.”
“A problem?”
“Someone came looking for the Fourth King.”
During the years I had been observing him, no one had ever come to that place. In the first place, without me, no one could have even approached it.
Yet another human had found their way there?
“Did you identify them?”
So who exactly came to visit? Wol Seon-geom asked, his curiosity evident.
“…That would be.”
Yoo Yul answered with his brow furrowed.
“Gungwi.”
“…!”
“The Celestial Demon from the Northern Sea has found the Four Kings.”
It was an unexpected revelation.

* * *
While Yoo Yul and Wol Seon-geom continued their lengthy conversation, I wandered outside, dragging my aching body along.
“…Ugh.”
My body still tingled with soreness. The places where that man Yoo Yul had struck me felt particularly awful.
‘It didn’t even seem like I took that many hits.’
Right, how much damage could a few hits really do? All I managed was to desperately attempt counterattacks, and beyond that, I accomplished nothing.
‘What kind of person is he?’
What could he possibly be? It had been a long time since I felt such a wall. I hadn’t encountered such overwhelming sword mastery in recent memory. And more than that.
‘Though calling us peers would be a stretch.’
The age difference wasn’t even that significant, yet how could he display such formidable sword mastery?
‘…There aren’t many rumors about him either, and since he’s been away on assignments for years, I hadn’t paid him much attention.’
Yet he suddenly appeared and left me in this state.
‘What on earth is he?’
He was a human with a peculiar aura. The world was full of strange people, after all.
‘But something about him feels distinctly odd.’
He wasn’t just strange—he was profoundly strange. And.
‘…There’s an unnaturally abundant amount of spiritual energy around him.’
The traces of spiritual energy surrounding that man were everywhere. The person himself didn’t appear to possess divine energy, yet there was an abnormal abundance of spiritual energy about him?
‘Did he roll around in some Demon’s lair or something?’
The man didn’t seem weak enough to have suffered from it, but with that much spiritual energy.
‘What was he doing to end up like that?’
I thought it far exceeded the level of merely seeming suspicious to me.
‘I don’t want to get entangled with him.’
Both his inherent atmosphere and the spiritual energy flowing around him.
He was someone I preferred to avoid if possible.
I was barely suppressing the creeping unease rising within me when.
“Bang Disciple…!”
I encountered Cheon Euijin, who had been waiting for me.
“Ah, yes. Heavenly Supreme.”
“Did anything happen…?”
“Nothing happened on my end.”
All I did was explain the situation and leave. What else could there be here?
“…That’s a relief.”
Cheon Euijin exhaled in relief, and I asked upon seeing it.
“Who is that person?”
I didn’t need to specify the subject. Everyone would understand who I meant anyway.
“…Ah, you’re referring to Senior Yoo?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know him?”
“No, I’m not entirely unfamiliar—I know his name—but this is my first time seeing him in person.”
“That would make sense. Senior Yoo has been away from the Cheongwol Sect for the past three years on a mission.”
Three years.
Quite a considerable span of time. Long-term assignments vary in their demands, but still.
‘What kind of business keeps someone away for three years?’
I was curious about what sort of mission would require such an extended absence.
Of course, I was merely curious.
“I never expected him to pick a fight the moment he returned.”
“…Ahahaha.”
If he’d come back, he should’ve rested quietly. I couldn’t fathom why he’d start a confrontation with me immediately upon arrival.
“…Well, Senior Yoo has always been somewhat like that.”
“You mean he just picks fights right away?”
“Hmm…to put it charitably, he’s quite curious.”
“To put it less charitably, he’s an eccentric and strange fellow.”
“…Haha.”
Cheon Euijin didn’t deny my assessment. It was clear the man was indeed strange.
And more importantly.
‘He’s strong.’
A master whose reputation was surprisingly sparse for his power. I couldn’t say if he’d reached the absolute pinnacle, but from that single clash of blades, I could sense it.
‘It’s strange that someone of such strength remains so obscure.’
Everything about him was strange. His very existence was peculiar.
“Um, Bang Disciple.”
“Yes.”
As I was forming increasingly negative impressions of Yoo Yul, Cheon Euijin approached me cautiously.
“Senior Yoo is certainly unusual, but…he’s not entirely a bad person.”
“…”
I stared intently at Cheon Euijin at those words.
‘That’s surprising.’
It was quite unexpected for Cheon Euijin to take Yoo Yul’s side in this situation.
He seemed like someone who would always stand by me, no matter what.
“Do you two share a special relationship?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you and Yoo Yul have a special connection. Are you close?”
“Ah… well, we’re not particularly close.”
Cheon Euijin scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I simply received some help from him when I was younger.”
“I see.”
Though he said “some,” his eyes betrayed that he’d received considerable assistance.
‘He’s not entirely a bad person.’
That much was true.
‘Rather than bad, he’s just… strange.’
It wasn’t negative sentiment so much as a sense of aversion. That’s what I felt toward Yoo Yul.
“Don’t worry. I’m only displeased because of the quarrel itself—I’m not viewing him through an overly negative lens.”
That was the extent of it. I was only judging him by the fact that he’d caused me trouble. I couldn’t assess anything beyond that because I still didn’t know him well enough.
‘That’s the most dangerous thing of all.’
Making hasty judgments. I’d never had a good outcome from doing that.
“Anyway. Was that what you were waiting to tell me?”
“Ah…”
It seemed he’d wanted to clarify the misunderstanding about Yoo Yul.
That was amusing.
‘Yoo Yul, huh.’
What kind of person was he that Cheon Euijin would go to such lengths to defend him?
‘I can’t help but be curious.’
If he were simply a villain, I would’ve dismissed it. But because he was peculiar, I found myself intrigued.
Moreover.
‘…Something.’
A feeling that we’d inevitably become entangled again.
It was weighing on me quite heavily.

* * *
Night fell. During the day, I had spent my time trying to teach Dok-ryong about Manceon Hwau and receiving training from the Sword Emperor.
Sochul Daeju had been unable to attend due to matters arising from Yoo Yul’s return.
Thanks to that, I was able to spend time in personal cultivation.
Thud.
I lowered my sword. My body was drenched in sweat, and ragged breathing coursed through every muscle.
“Haa….”
I sheathed the sword at my waist and wiped away the perspiration.
‘This is difficult.’
Training was proving far from easy.
‘What should I have done differently.’
I continued to replay my fight with Yoo Yul in my mind, but no answers came immediately.
That sensation from then.
That fight.
The action I should have taken.
I still couldn’t grasp what that should have been.
No, that wasn’t it.
‘I know what it was, but I can’t execute it.’
The action might elude me, but the result was simple.
‘I needed to be faster. I needed to be stronger.’
The difference in power and speed. That was the simple cause back then.
‘Even reaching the pinnacle, I cannot wield it properly.’
Both Yoo Cheon-gil and the Sword Emperor tell me the same thing—that even with a higher realm, my body cannot keep pace.
‘Then what am I supposed to do.’
They say I need to achieve harmony. But is it truly as simple as they make it sound.
‘If it were easy, I would have done it already.’
I knew better than anyone that this couldn’t be the case.
“…Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue. Despite reaching the pinnacle, the world still harbored countless monsters beyond my station.
‘When I was third-rate, I never realized this.’
Back when I was a third-rate martial artist, I used to say that becoming second-rate would be all I could ask for.
‘…If I had remained second-rate, I would have simply been trampled like an insect.’
The higher my realm climbed, the more I understood the world—and the more terrifying it became.
Moreover.
‘…Those heretics.’
They were entangled with those who had been troublesome in my past life.
I could no longer afford to sit idle.
‘Regardless of everything else.’
Now that I knew they were connected to the heretics, I could not leave them be.
‘The world would descend into chaos far beyond mere ruin.’
Even if I wished to remain still, those men would not allow it.
Perhaps.
‘If among them there exists someone who knows me.’
More precisely, if there exists someone who knew of my existence in my past life.
‘…They would tear everything apart searching for me.’
It was predictable. It had been the same in my past life.
‘Tsk.’
I slowly brushed my hand across my chest. The seal bound here must not be released any further.
‘I’ve already pushed it too far.’
If I were to undo what I had so carefully bound once more.
‘They would notice.’
Then confronting the Demon would no longer be the issue.
“…There is much to be done.”
My original goal of living peacefully was already lost. If I wished to live peacefully even in the distant future.
‘I must grow stronger.’
I had to cultivate ambition toward strength itself.
As I was contemplating this.
[Ah, my aching bones.]
“…!”
A massive spirit form. Yoo Cheon-gil, who had vanished, appeared.
“…Old Man, where exactly have you been all this time.”
Just as I was about to say something to the man who had disappeared all day.
[I found it. Let’s go.]
“…What?”
He uttered words without warning.
Go where?
“Where are you referring to…?”
[Didn’t I tell you.]
Yoo Cheon-gil spoke to me in a blunt tone.
[Rebirth of bone and shedding of flesh. You must do it.]
“…?”
Now…?

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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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