The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 417

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 417
How many days had it been?
It hadn’t been long since I entered this spirit dream, but I couldn’t even be certain of that much.
It was difficult to grasp how much time had actually passed within the dream itself.
‘Counting had become meaningless.’
Just as it was during my first spirit dream, nothing had changed now.
Time within a dream flows differently than reality. Even if I spent what felt like days here, barely a single day would have passed outside.
A cursed hell, nothing less. Death after death, an endless cycle. This was the only place where I experienced that nauseating sensation I hadn’t felt in other spirit dreams.
And it was no different now.
Slash—!
My vision twisted along with the sound of the blade cutting through.
I steadied myself by forcing strength into my lower body, and the landscape returned to focus.
“…Haa.”
I was dead. It seemed my face had been split in half just now.
‘I couldn’t endure it.’
I thought I could manage, but this time was no different. I looked straight ahead. Yoo Cheon-gil was watching me.
Yoo Cheon-gil, barely past thirty.
How many times was this now? As I said, counting was pointless. If I tried to express it in numbers, I’d lose my mind first.
“Sigh.”
I exhaled and adjusted my grip on the sword.
Whoosh.
The divine blade gleamed. I didn’t exert my full strength for long, despite the power I could unleash. Rather than pouring out all my might, I maintained a moderate level—just enough.
Normally, I would come at him faster and stronger.
‘But I couldn’t do that.’
Now wasn’t the time to struggle desperately trying to defeat Yoo Cheon-gil. No, truthfully, struggling wouldn’t let me win anyway.
I’d clashed with him countless times already—too many to count. I knew well: he wasn’t an opponent one could simply defeat or lose to.
That’s precisely why I wasn’t pushing my strength to its maximum right now.
Because that wasn’t my purpose.
‘Use the spirit dream more efficiently.’
Not to win, but to train—I had decided to use the spirit dream that way. Honestly, it was proving worthwhile.
‘Because I can use time freely here.’
Training here wouldn’t directly increase my muscle or inner strength in reality.
‘But I do become familiar with it.’
I’d come to understand this: the insights gained from spirit dreams could be applied to my physical body. Even if not completely.
‘Whether it’s one-tenth or one-hundredth, even if it’s remarkably little.’
If I can use it, that changes everything.
Whoosh.
I raised my sword. This wasn’t even ordinary training. After all, I had a perfect opponent right here.
Someone I could absolutely never defeat.
Shiiiiing—!!!
The sky darkened. A colossal blade cascaded down upon me. I had already steadied my breathing. Lowering my legs halfway, I knew that taking the full force of that massive strike would shatter my body, but it didn’t matter.
I had no intention of meeting it head-on.
Screeeech–!!!!
I deflected it using the blade’s edge. The best defense was always deflection. Direct blocking meant death. Failing to evade meant death.
Either evasion or deflection.
Those were my only two options.
Kugugyeong-!!
The massive blade embedded itself into the ground. Now I could deflect without straining my shoulders.
‘Now.’
That was when it began. The way Yoo Cheon-gil looked at me with curiosity. That was the turning point.
‘First.’
I poured strength into my wrist and executed a technique. Geomro.
A sword technique unique to Moonju, obtained from the Bigo of the Cheongwol Sect.
This was the process of inscribing it into my body.
Whoosh-! A thin line extended toward Yoo Cheon-gil. The blade traced a semicircle, scattering sword energy. Its shape resembled a crescent moon.
If Wolrang were a massive crescent moon sweeping horizontally, then this was merely a light preliminary technique.
To put it another way.
‘A small Wolrang, perhaps?’
That understanding seemed to make sense.
Whoosh-! Clang-!!
Despite my blade piercing forward rapidly, Yoo Cheon-gil blocked it effortlessly. What was truly absurd was…
‘He wasn’t even blocking with his sword—he was swatting it away with his bare hand.’
He struck the flat of my blade with his palm and brushed it aside. The fact that this was possible was infuriating.
Twang-! I didn’t bother catching my rebounding body.
Instead, I used the momentum of my flight to my advantage.
Thud-! My feet stamped the ground. As my body rotated, I channeled that into another Geomro technique.
The techniques flowed continuously.
Shriiiik-!!!
“Hmm.”
A glimmer of interest appeared in Yoo Cheon-gil’s eyes. How much time had I spent waiting for that very reaction.
Clang-! Clang-!!
I swung my blade relentlessly, advancing closer and closer. Yoo Cheon-gil began using his sword to deflect my attacks.
I increased my speed.
Now was the moment.
Crackle-crackle-crackle-!!! I executed Wol Cheon in an instant.
“Huh?”
Yoo Cheon-gil froze upon witnessing my transformation. That was the moment I needed to seize. The accelerated speed from executing Wol Cheon. Yoo Cheon-gil’s delayed response. Catching that instant, I brought my blade down in a sweeping arc.
Shhwaaaak-!!!
My blade slashed across Yoo Cheon-gil’s upper body. Blood sprayed. This was it.
‘Now.’
I ceased my assault and withdrew my blade, twisting my upper body slightly to the side.
CRASH-!!!
“Ugh…!!”
In that instant, a tremendous impact erupted against my sword. Yoo Cheon-gil’s attack came crashing down upon me.
‘Too late.’
I had already known. Even knowing, I was still too late.
“Cough.”
Blood spilled from my lips. My body was being driven backward.
Screech. I barely held my ground with my feet, controlling my momentum. Still, it was better than before.
‘If I had merely blocked it at first, my body would have shattered and I’d be dead.’
Not blocking at all was needless to mention. When I first began to block, I often made mistakes and my organs would rupture, killing me.
Only now had I begun to block well enough that my ribs merely cracked slightly.
‘…Why is he so fast.’
It was equally absurd. Knowing his movements yet being unable to block them was what infuriated me.
‘I still can’t land a hit.’
My blade, swung to exploit openings, had never once severed his neck. I clearly aimed for vital points, yet never connected.
Not that I was trying to win.
‘I just need to endure longer.’
I had to find a way to hold out without falling behind.
Throb. Controlling the sharp pain in my ribs, I deployed my technique. I could not stop.
‘…Ankles. Calves.’
I analyzed the mechanics of the technique. What mattered most here was how efficiently I could distribute force throughout my body.
Of course, to apply this, I needed the inner cultivation of the Cheonwol Sect.
‘But my inner cultivation is ambiguous.’
My inner cultivation was modified by Yoo Cheon-gil, so whether it aligned perfectly was questionable. That’s why I had doubts.
‘I’m using the technique, but my inner cultivation is different—will it be alright?’
The essence was the same, but ultimately it was a modification.
I harbored doubts about whether I could deploy this technique through Yoo Cheon-gil’s inner cultivation.
‘But it works anyway.’
Since I could deploy the technique, it didn’t matter—that was my conclusion.
Perhaps it was possible because the original roots were the same.
As I was thinking such thoughts.
Crack.
“Ack.”
Something flew in and struck my head directly. Damn it, a mistake. I couldn’t dodge because I was lost in thought.
“Ugh….”
I grabbed my head. My body had already returned to its original position.
‘My head’s spinning.’
Should I stop here for today? My mental endurance was reaching its limit.
‘I need to adjust now.’
I’ve always had a fairly strong mental fortitude, but now I’ve truly reached my limit. If I pushed any further, I’d collapse without question.
‘…Exhale.’
I steadied my breathing. And then it occurred to me.
‘The training itself is fine, but…’
The more I practiced, the more something strange became apparent.
‘Why didn’t he tell me?’
My doubts about Yoo Cheon-gil grew larger.
‘If this is a technique only Moonju can use…’
I could understand why Wol Seon-geom couldn’t—he lacked the Wol-an.
‘But that old man should have been able to read it.’
Yoo Cheon-gil had been Moonju once, and he was someone who had opened the Wol-an by consuming the Divine Altar. He surely would have known.
Yet the fact that he hadn’t told me was strange.
Clink.
I picked up my sword. Should I try once more, one final time? That thought crossed my mind.
‘I’ve grasped it reasonably well.’
Six forms of the sword. There were six types of techniques, and this sword seemed to apply and utilize all of them.
‘That’s right.’
Like.
‘Daewol…’
Like Daewol.
I started to say it that way, then stopped short.
“Huh.”
Now that I thought about it.
‘It does seem somewhat similar to Daewol.’
The first technique begins with something resembling Wolrang. There was a similarity in that aspect. The techniques that followed were somewhat different from Daewol, but…
‘Strange.’
Why had I never thought of this before? I had always considered Daewol as individual martial techniques rather than a technique itself. Yet it bore a striking resemblance to what I was using now.
“….”
Clang.
I picked up my sword again.
Yoo Cheon-gil tried to respond, but.
Whoosh—!
“Huh?”
I ignored Yoo Cheon-gil and began swinging my sword through the air. It should be fine. I’d already tried it before, and since he’d be wondering what I was doing, he’d let it slide once more.
‘Controlling the recoil.’
I adjusted the strength in my wrists and ankles. I anticipated unnecessary dispersal of power.
‘Right here.’
The first technique. My sword carved through the empty air. Something resembling Wolrang. It had no name written down. There was only instruction to embody a crescent moon.
Swish——!!
The second technique. I swung my sword in succession. Third, fourth. As I continued swinging,
“….”
I became certain.
‘This.’
It resembles something.
‘It’s similar to Daewol.’
Why?
‘It wasn’t like this at first.’
When I first manifested the initial technique, it wasn’t like this. There was no sensation like this.
‘What could be the difference.’
Filled with questions, I slashed once more and reached the fifth strike.
Uuuung-!
“….”
The sword sang.
우우우우우웅—!!!
The sound that resonates when my blade meets the sword—the true sword cry that only absolute masters of the blade can hear.
It wasn’t the first time I felt this. I had heard sword cries before when reaching the pinnacle.
Each time, Yoo Cheon-gil said the sword cry was activated due to my deepened blade energy, but that it wasn’t the real thing.
‘This one.’
Is this the real thing? A completely different sensation reached my fingertips.
‘If there’s a difference from before.’
I merely used it while thinking of Daewol.
Did that comparison trigger this sword cry? If there’s a real difference, that’s all it is.
‘Then….’
Crackle crackle. With a dazed mind, I cast Wol Cheon.
‘If I apply this….’
The current technique and.
What if I resolved the discomfort I felt from Yoo Cheon-gil’s Daewol.
‘The reason I didn’t think of it as a technique was because it wasn’t connected.’
If I connect it using this technique.
Wouldn’t something change? As I thought this and was about to apply pressure to my hands.
“You’re slow to realize things.”
“…!”
I turned around at the sound.
Yoo Cheon-gil stood there watching me.
“What do you….”
“I grew tired of spoon-feeding you, so I chose an amusing method instead. Ah, who would have known you’d be duller than you look.”
“What?”
This is the tone of Yoo Cheon-gil I know. Surely.
“Old Man…. Right now.”
“Now that you understand, get up and try it immediately. Tsk tsk tsk…. Probably.”
Shwik—!
Thud—!
“Gasp…!?”
A blade pierced through my chest.
This insane old man…! Through the haze of consciousness.
“This time, you’ll be more than pleased with it.”
I contorted my face as I looked at Yoo Cheon-gil.
And so.
“Gasp.”
I awoke from the dream.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————