The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 475

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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 475
Unity of Blade and Body (身劍合一).
I’ve heard of it before. It was a realm that every swordmaster dreamed of reaching.
Becoming one with my blade and flesh. Beyond the state of selflessness, it was described as a single aspiration.
For me, it was a realm I thought I might never reach, perhaps eternally.
It couldn’t be any other way.
Unity of Blade and Body isn’t about measuring a martial artist’s level—it’s purely a matter of enlightenment.
Cultivating and training the spirit as a swordmaster.
Even devoting a lifetime to it, one might barely touch that threshold.
That place.
‘…I’ve touched it…?’
I stared at my blade with a dazed expression. Had I truly reached that exalted realm?
With Muyong Tae’s words, my breathing slowly returned.
Time that had stopped seemed to flow again.
It felt as though I stood alone in a different season. What emotion was this I felt now? My breath hung suspended. It seemed I had to forcibly drag it back down.
“Haah.”
A soft sigh escaped. With that as the turning point, my vision returned. I saw Muyong Tae before me. Blood was flowing from a wound on his shoulder.
“Ah, Elder….”
“Hahahahaha.”
Muyong Tae laughed. Whether it was hollow or some other emotion, he burst into rough laughter.
“…Amusing. To think such a fellow would emerge from among those lazy Bang Disciples.”
“…I apologize. Are you alright?”
“This is absurd. So absurdly ridiculous that I’m trembling with disbelief.”
“…What?”
“You worthless Bang Disciple. It seems you don’t even realize what you’ve just done.”
“…I’m not sure? You just said I’ve touched Unity of Blade and Body….”
“You don’t understand what that means.”
“I don’t. Could you explain in more detail?”
“Ha.”
His expression was dumbfounded. Then he spoke.
“It means you’ve now entered the ranks of the top thirty martial artists in all of the Central Plains.”
“…!”
Thirty? That was an extraordinarily narrow number.
“…Top thirty?”
“Of course, this depends on how well you manage the enlightenment you’ve gained, but there’s no doubt you’ve entered that exalted realm.”
The exalted realm. The value contained in those words was different. For a martial artist, the exalted realm wasn’t merely a level of cultivation.
Enlightenment. The value of the life one has lived. It was a comprehensive term for such things.
Unity of Blade and Body was a place swordmasters dreamed of and a radiant position.
‘Just now.’
I struggled to recall that sensation continuously. Selflessness? It was somewhat different from that. The artificial selflessness I felt when using Wol Cheon. That and Unity of Blade and Body were qualitatively different in some way.
‘Not just the Wol Seon-geom, but the Gwangwol Island Sword has changed as well.’
Everything I possessed has transformed. No, it’s not transformation.
‘It has become one.’
What I had condensed into something. What that something is, I find difficult to articulate. Nothing specific came to mind.
That’s the feeling of it.
“I can tell from your expression. You don’t know what it is, do you?”
“…Yes.”
“That’s normal. Gather yourself. That is what you must do now.”
“….”
“Also.”
Muyong Tae examines his shoulder. He staunches the bleeding from his wounded arm.
“Since I won the wager, I suppose I must give it to you.”
“…Ah.”
Right, we did make such a bet, didn’t we? I’d been so absorbed in the Divine Sword Convergence that I’d forgotten what I was even doing.
‘The Precepts.’
That word my grandfather mentioned. My mind clears slightly. How does my grandfather know of it? And what was he trying to give me?
As I was recalling this.
“Come again tomorrow.”
“Pardon?”
Tomorrow? I frowned at Muyong Tae’s words.
“I’ll prepare it in advance. Come back here tomorrow.”
“But….”
“I don’t have it now.”
“Then why did you just…?”
Why did he insist on sparring now and making a wager? It made no sense. I stare at Muyong Tae like this, but.
“Staring won’t change anything. Go down quickly.”
He speaks while picking his nose. This man…? His appearance is full of Baekwang’s essence, yet his actions somehow.
‘He resembles Yoo Cheon-gil.’
It was a gesture that reminded me of that cursed old man.
“…You said tomorrow, correct?”
“Yes. Around noon should work.”
“…I understand.”
There’s nothing I can do about it. He says to come tomorrow, so what more can I say?
‘Fine.’
I can just come again tomorrow. Besides.
‘Right now-‘
I needed to grasp the clues regarding the Divine Sword Convergence.
“I shall see you tomorrow.”
I bow respectfully and turn to leave. Muyong Tae waves his hand as if urging me to go quickly, and Muyong Youngsoon and I begin descending the mountain.

* * *
I descended the mountain in quiet silence.
As the night deepened, I matched my pace with Muyong Youngsoon’s. There was no conversation.
We simply walked down together.
“…You managed to win somehow?”
“….”
Muyong Youngsoon spoke to me then. At her words, I stopped walking.
“Yeah, I did.”
How did I do it? I can barely remember. Just one resolve—to clear my mind. And then I focused on the sword’s resonance emanating from the blade’s edge.
I only saw that one thing. That’s all.
‘The world converged.’
It became a single path, illuminating me. As if telling me to simply walk forward.
‘….’
The moment I thought of it, heat surged through me. A yearning bloomed. I desperately wanted to feel that sensation again.
What is this burning desire?
“As I mentioned before, Grandfather is quite unusual.”
“He certainly is.”
He’s completely different from Baekwang.
How can two people have such different paths?
“A puppy and Youngsoon….”
“…That… let’s just forget about it.”
“I don’t think you’ll be able to forget that easily?”
“…Just shut up. Really.”
I teased her slightly. At that, Muyong Youngsoon’s face turned genuinely angry. It seemed I shouldn’t tease her any further.
“Fine. Anyway…. You won either way.”
“…Right?”
“….”
“….”
Silence swept over us again. What is this atmosphere? It felt strangely uncomfortable. Then.
“…I know you didn’t win because of me.”
“….”
My heart wavered. I never expected her to say something so blunt.
“So don’t worry about it.”
If I lost, I would never see Muyong Youngsoon again. That was the wager at stake.
I focused on the rules and the object, yes….
“I don’t expect that from you anymore. So don’t burden yourself with it.”
Muyong Youngsoon moved forward.
“….”
Watching her small back, I let out a sigh.
Indeed….
‘Was that truly all there was to it?’
I recall my innermost thoughts. Was it truly just that? I couldn’t speak with such certainty.
An unsettling unease lingered, no matter what.

* * *
Tap, tap. The mountain peak had fallen silent. The shirtless Old Man, Muyong Tae, wrapped bandages around his wounds.
“Mm.”
As he wrapped, pain drew a sharp breath from him. At that sensation, he let out a quiet chuckle.
“Amusing.”
That damnable bastard. A Bang Disciple I already despised. And worse, he tormented my precious granddaughter like a jewel, seized her, and refused to let her go—a truly despicable wretch.
“Honestly, I’m envious.”
Muyong Tae whispered quietly. It was a sincere sentiment.
I envied him. Not for anything else, but for the fact that such a monster was born from that cursed bloodline.
‘Divine Sword Unity at such a young age.’
Reaching the pinnacle of transcendence? That’s hardly surprising. The world is full of monsters. By realm alone, he wouldn’t be the youngest to achieve it.
After all, a monster like Yoo Cheon-gil existed in this world. But.
‘Divine Sword Unity is.’
Something even that monster Yoo Cheon-gil failed to reach at his age. No, perhaps no one in all the heavens has ever dared to touch it.
‘It’s impossible.’
A single blade that severs all things.
Whether one has stepped into that supreme realm or not is the most crucial distinction in determining a martial artist’s caliber.
And this blood-spawn had reached Divine Sword Unity.
“Isn’t it extraordinary?”
Even while despising him, I had to acknowledge what deserved acknowledgment. At Muyong Tae’s words, someone responded.
“…Are you certain you’re alright?”
The Muyong Clan Bodyguard. The one called Guard Chu.
He gazed at Muyong Tae’s shoulder with worried eyes.
“I’m fine. Why? Do you think this old man would collapse from merely this?”
“No, sir. It’s just….”
“Yes, you’re simply worried. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Which is precisely what makes it more remarkable.”
Muyong Tae’s eyes gleamed.
“That young pup has created circumstances grave enough for you to worry about me.”
“….”
“I’m not sure whether I should envy the Bang clan or that already-dead monster, Yoo Cheon-gil.”
In such circumstances, I could have provided what needed holding. But I couldn’t.
‘The wounds from the blade.’
They hurt far more than I anticipated. I had to suppress the severe pain through sheer willpower.
So I postponed it for a day.
“…Phew.”
I delayed the time, and if he comes tomorrow.
‘Now I can finally give it.’
The item he left behind when the previous generation head of the Bang Clan disappeared.
The item itself doesn’t seem particularly important, but the word precept is another matter.
‘What’s truly important is.’
Where the previous generation head is currently located.
‘Why on earth did that strange man.’
Go to such a place.
Muyong Tae simply could not comprehend that bizarre man.

* * *
“It’s cold.”
The old man mutters. He must be quite chilled, clutching his fur coat tightly around himself.
He was shivering violently, and his teeth were chattering audibly.
“It’s far too cold.”
Thinking his companion hadn’t heard, he mentions it again. Yet his companion still wasn’t listening.
“Are your ears deaf? I said it’s cold?”
“…Quiet.”
Creak. The blue-eyed man on the prepared throne regarded the old man with a gleaming gaze.
“If you keep babbling, just tear out your own tongue.”
“That’s harsh, truly hurtful.”
His grumbling face shines with a peculiar radiance. For an old man, he was remarkably handsome.
He sniffs, covering his reddened nose from the cold, and snorts. Even that carries a certain presence.
“Well then, how much longer will you keep this up?”
“Until you extinguish.”
“Ah, that won’t do. I have no intention of that.”
“Irritating. Should I extinguish you directly so you come to your senses?”
“Ah, I’m afraid that’s impossible for me. You see, I have a purpose.”
“…I say again. Bang Hyeon. This Gungju has nothing to give you.”
The man referred to as Gungju frowned. Despite that fierce expression, Bang Hyeon, the previous generation head of Yeolyeong Bang Clan, smiled widely without hesitation.
“No, there is something. You know it all, yet here we are, playing this game of wills. I’m so old, I don’t even know what I’m doing anymore.”
“….”
“So, don’t waste energy needlessly and just hand it over, will you?”
“That’s a ridiculous notion.”
The Gungju finally laughed.
“Hand over the Heart of the Glacier to someone like you?”
“You must hand it over. That’s why I’m here doing this.”
Bang Hyeon laughed.
“Give it to me. For my future, not for the martial world of the Central Plains.”
“This Gungju’s condition regarding those words remains the same. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”
The Gungju had not outright refused to hand it over. He had made a demand instead.
“Bring my daughter to me.”
“That’s quite the difficult task.”
Bang Hyeon laughed. The daughter of Gungju and blood of the Northern Sea Ice Palace.
Gungwi. He was being asked to bring her.

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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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