The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 520

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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 520
The path toward Shenjiang was nothing particularly remarkable.
Two carriages climbed the mountain road, nothing more. Amid the continuous silence and monotonous scenery, the occasional waterfall cascading down or the distant calls of birds would pierce through the quietude.
We would occasionally stop to make camp. We would occasionally stop to cultivate individually.
We took night watches, though they held little significance.
It was merely a quiet mountain journey, yet there were no complaints. Such was the atmosphere.
Whoooosh—!!! Swish—!
On nights when we camped, I would swing my blade in the forest again and again.
There were times when I would continue until drenched in sweat and unable to move, but as my realm advanced, such exhaustion became impossible to achieve.
Whether my stamina had increased or I had habitually discovered more efficient movements, intense training now required layering chains upon chains before fatigue would settle in.
Should I call this good? When I think of cultivation, it’s difficult to simply call it good.
‘I cannot even tell if I’m making progress in cultivation.’
I attempt the Blade-Spirit Unity. I send the sword’s edge into the void and concentrate.
In that moment, the flow of time that had been visible slows once more. The wind blows gently, and the falling leaves seem to freeze in mid-air.
Entering a state of selflessness, I grow accustomed to the sensation of becoming one with the blade. Several months have passed since entering Blade-Spirit Unity.
I have reached this point without realizing it.
A level where I can enter whenever I wish. The problem is.
Thud—!
“…Tsk.”
It breaks not long after. I cannot sustain it for long. Though with time’s flow slowed, what I perceive would feel longer.
Yet that changes nothing—the duration remains brief. Is the short duration a matter of my foundation? No, it cannot be a matter of my foundation.
‘My energy remains.’
Blade-Spirit Unity is a matter of the spirit. Applying it through energy alone is something different entirely.
Clink.
I sheathed my blade at my waist. I steadied my breathing. Though I wasn’t particularly exhausted, it was a habit I fell into each time.
“Is it finished.”
A voice reaches me. Before me stands the Sword Emperor.
He sat perched upon a rock, observing me.
“Yes. How was it.”
I was currently receiving instruction from the Sword Emperor. I was fulfilling the commission I had received from Wol Seon-geom. I had rarely accepted such commissions recently, but since beginning the journey to Shenjiang, I had been receiving them quite frequently.
Nearly every night watch or when night fell, I would receive them.
Thanks to this, I was receiving considerable benefit.
“Your posture and the manner of entry are not poor, yet maintaining it remains the issue.”
“…Maintaining it, you say.”
Sustaining Blade-Spirit Unity. The Sword Emperor points out that this is impossible in my current state. It was something I already knew.
“Blade-Spirit Unity is not like a killing strike in a single blow. You should know this as well. Am I correct.”
“…Yes. I understand.”
Rather than a single killing strike, it is a continuous state. Maintaining selflessness and erasing hesitation and unnecessary things that should not exist in the blade.
In the midst of this, the five senses, developed to an extreme degree, cause even the flow of time itself to appear slowed.
Transcending one’s realm and taking one step further as a human being.
The process and result of entering the realm of the Transcendent. If I had to put it into words, I suppose that’s about right.
To view it as merely something for a single sword strike would be absurd. If that were the case, there would be no need to employ Divine Sword Unity.
“You’re saying I must maintain this state, then.”
“Maintain is not quite the right word either. From the beginning, it’s about surrendering your body to the flow. However, your direction is already different from that.”
“Different, you say…?”
The Sword Emperor pondered upon hearing my question.
“Those who have already reached that place all employ their own methods. My teachings would hold little significance here. Simply consider one thing.”
“So in the end, I must think for myself.”
“Isn’t that the level you’ve reached?”
“…Yes. That’s true.”
The Pinnacle of Transcendence. Wherever I go, I’m called a master, and if I express interest in joining a prestigious clan, I could enter with tremendous wealth and treasures. Perhaps even stronger than the Lords or Elders of those clans.
It’s just that there are too many monsters around me.
My current level too.
‘Even now.’
I’m absurdly strong.
Whether I can reach even higher from here is uncertain, but it meant I was no longer at a stage where I should receive instruction from anyone.
‘Come to think of it.’
To have received this much from someone who isn’t even my true master—that’s already considerable.
As for my actual master.
‘I have no idea what he’s up to or why he disappeared.’
Higher still from here. Can I truly reach a realm beyond the Pinnacle of Transcendence?
Squeeze. I touched the hilt of the Celestial Demon Divine Sword and contemplated. That realm belongs to the Celestial Demon.
The position of the Sword Emperor before me and those Celestial Demons active in that era.
A place that transcends human form, almost approaching divinity itself.
Can I reach a position I cannot even imagine?
And.
‘Must I go?’
Should I go? Such thoughts crossed my mind.
Then.
Tickle—.
‘Here we go again.’
My chest itches once more. It felt like a feather tickling my heart. This had been happening since before I left Hannam. What in the world was causing this?
It was quite irritating. Tsk. I clicked my tongue and scratched at my chest.
‘What is this, really?’
There’s nothing visibly wrong with my body. It’s just persistently uncomfortable. Not even intensely itchy, mind you—just aggravating enough to be bothersome. Why does it feel so damned annoying?
‘What is it.’
It’s merely an irritating sensation, so I wouldn’t normally pay it much mind.
But days of this made it impossible to ignore.
“…Should I seek out a Physician?”
I even found myself considering that. At this point, it would be faster to just go ask directly.
‘I have no idea.’
It’s not like anything hurts, so I was inclined to just leave it be.
[Tsk tsk.]
Every time he laughs like that, it catches my attention.
‘Why do you keep laughing?’
When the Celestial Demon laughs, it usually means something’s afoot.
What irritated me was that asking like this never yielded an answer.
Cursed demons, the lot of them.

* * *
“You’re back.”
“Yes.”
When I returned, Paeng Dojin was preparing for the night watch rotation. Normally we didn’t keep watch, but in places surrounded by darkness and vulnerable to attack, we did.
This location happened to be exactly that—terrain, humidity, and concentration all made it susceptible to assault.
In such cases, we took turns among our people.
After sending Paeng Dojin off, I stretched my body slightly. It was the time when everyone else had fallen asleep.
While confirming that, I glanced toward a certain direction. The Sword Emperor was at a considerable distance.
I had somewhere to go before sleeping, so I moved. I slipped quietly into the forest.
After suppressing my presence as much as possible.
“Come out.”
“….”
As I spoke, someone walked toward me with their back against a tree. They wore a dark gray wind cloak.
Jeolma, they called her. The Young Master referred to her that way, but since I already knew her name, it was unnecessary.
“Are you going to keep doing that? Your face is already exposed anyway.”
At my words, Jeolma reveals her face. It was Mee Yeon-hwa. She looks at me with an irritated expression and speaks.
“What exactly are you planning?”
“What do you mean?”
I chuckle and ask, and Mee Yeon-hwa immediately furrows her brow.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“I’m not a mind reader. How would I know that? You need to speak clearly if you want me to understand.”
I shrugged as I spoke. That seems to displease her even more. Mee Yeon-hwa’s expression deteriorates further.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
“Of what?”
“That the Young Master will learn everything about you and expose it all.”
“Aha.”
Ah, so that was the issue? I laugh, and Mee Yeon-hwa looks at me and asks.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Well, it’s amusing.”
“What’s so funny about that?”
“If I were afraid of something like that, I wouldn’t have told you. And besides.”
I approach Mee Yeon-hwa. As I draw closer, I can see her wariness deepen, but that’s where it ends. She shows no further reaction beyond that.
“You didn’t say anything either.”
“….”
“If you were going to reveal it, you should have done so long ago. Why didn’t you?”
“…I intended to observe what petty scheme you were attempting and report it to the Heavenly.”
“Ah, is that so?”
What kind of excuse is that? I scratched my cheek and wiped away my smile.
“Then tell me right now. I’m fully intent on making your Young Master suffer.”
“…What are you…?”
“An unqualified wretch reigning over the Heavenly of the Demonic Sect. A fake acting so confidently. I dislike it all. So I’ll destroy it thoroughly.”
“Are you asking me to believe such nonsense right now?”
“Why can’t you believe it?”
Clang. I draw my blade.
‘Help me a bit, will you?’
I spoke to the Celestial Demon. No answer comes, but it doesn’t matter.
Ssshhhhh—!!!
The Magi surges, and my eyes burn hot. My pupils must be stained crimson now.
I draw the Divine Blade and point it at her.
“A fool who can’t even properly wield the Divine Blade. Do you truly believe that possessing just one eye grants you the right to claim such qualification?”
“….”
Mee Yeon-hwa falters. Seeing my form, she falters even more.
“It matters not whether you belong to the Orthodox or the Demonic Sect. If you’ve chosen to submit to the Demonic, then see the world properly, you ignorant thing.”
The Magi floods forth. The sensation of shadows coiling around my body never felt good, no matter how many times I experienced it.
“You must understand who you should serve. Who you should revere. Even with that meager mind and eyes, you must think about it properly at least once.”
I sheathed the blade I had drawn and pointed, then spoke.
“I do not grant opportunities so freely.”
“…I don’t… I don’t understand.”
Mee Yeon-hwa speaks with trembling eyes.
“Who are you exactly?”
“How shameful to ask after having witnessed it.”
I still haven’t gotten used to this manner of speech. Yet I must continue. There’s no helping it.
“I am the Heavenly. The true one, not the fake you harbor. Why do you think I’m heading toward the Demonic Sect?”
“You are a figure of the Orthodox. You’re asking me to believe such nonsense…!”
“What else can’t you believe?”
“What?”
“Were you originally a person of the Demonic Sect? You weren’t, were you?”
“…That is…!”
“If you’re only going to look with foolish eyes, there’s no need to say more. See only what you wish to see.”
Instead.
“The time you have to choose won’t be very long.”
I spoke my piece and turned away without waiting to see Mee Yeon-hwa’s reaction.
It hardly mattered.
‘Almost there.’
I was nearly across the threshold. Just a bit longer and it would be done.
Just a little more effort.
‘I could acquire a useful servant this way.’
I wasn’t particularly fond of shaking someone down and taking them like this.
‘But it’s not something I can’t do.’
I was rather skilled at it, if I’m being honest. Not that I’m boasting.

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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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