The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 559

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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 559
“How is Geomseong’s Predecessor cultivating the Celestial Demon Divine Art?”
The wind that had been blowing ceased at those words. My body froze in place. What was Gyemun saying right now?
‘Think. Think fast.’
One second.
The silence couldn’t stretch on.
My panic couldn’t stretch on either.
I had to say something—anything. What should I say? Think.
Two seconds.
I couldn’t let it go past three seconds. I had to speak within this window. How did he find out? That statement carried absolute certainty.
He wasn’t probing. If he knew, then where had he obtained that information?
‘I’ve only used the Celestial Demon Divine Art once in Singang.’
Just once last night. If he saw it then, how could that be?
‘Ah.’
It came back to me—information from the Celestial Demon’s words.
When I’d asked if someone was watching, the Celestial Demon had replied.
‘Pay it no mind.’
That didn’t mean no one was watching.
‘Someone is watching, but—’
Did that mean it was someone it didn’t matter if they saw? Had Gyemun been watching me? Why?
Moreover, the fact that the Celestial Demon judged it acceptable even if he was watching meant—
‘What does it mean?’
I tried to read the Celestial Demon’s thoughts. That cunning bastard was on par with Yoo Cheon-gil, yet he’d deliberately acquired such a method.
‘For me.’
It meant I should use this to my advantage.
But how was I supposed to use it?
My thoughts couldn’t continue further.
Three seconds.
I had to make a decision.
“No answer, then….”
Gyemun moved to draw his sword. A subtle killing intent flickered across his eyes. I made my judgment. This old man intended to kill me.
Before I could even feel it, my body moved.
“That’s an interesting thing to say….”
“…Hmm?”
At my words, Gyemun’s brow furrowed. I lowered my voice slightly and shifted my stance, releasing the tension from the sword I’d been gripping.
“What did you just say?”
Gyemun asked.
“Depending on your answer, I’ll change how I kill you. Brat, who do you see standing before your eyes right now?”
It was sharp.
The killing intent Gyemun radiated was biting and keen, his posture suggesting he could sever my neck at any moment.
The aura’s form was exceptionally fierce. The killing intent emanating from an absolute master carried a fundamentally different weight.
I should have broken into a cold sweat feeling it, yet I concealed even that.
“Marin. Marin stands before me.”
“…This bastard….”
“Gyemun, the First Elder of Singyeo, the Black Iron Demon Swordsman. You think I wouldn’t notice your presence? I’m not blind, after all.”
I clasped my hands behind my back to hide my trembling fingertips. It was an attempt to avert my gaze.
“Abominable creature of Jeongpa. Do you truly believe that the false reputation of being Yoo Cheon-gil’s successor and a figure of the Sect will protect your life?”
“Ha. How amusing. You think the mere name of that Sect will shield me? What do you think, Elder? Does it seem likely?”
My insides were completely unraveling. I struggled desperately to keep my breathing from collapsing.
“This won’t do.”
I poured strength into my heart and into my dantian.
Would it work? The Celestial Demon said to change my perception. I didn’t know if it would succeed. If it failed, I’d die.
This was the moment I had to pull it off.
‘That wretched Celestial Demon.’
The shameless Demon who had been waiting for this very moment flashed through my mind. Truly, none of those entangled with Yoo Cheon-gil were normal.
I was an idiot for even briefly thinking that the Celestial Demons as a race might be sane.
“I’ve given you every chance. Now die.”
Gyemun moved.
Crack.
But my dantian’s energy moved first.
‘Merge with my soul.’
I intertwined my demonic energy with my spiritual energy. I recalled the precise ratio and timing. Blending them together as if they were grinding against each other, slowly merging.
My demonic energy was the foundation the Celestial Demon had established. I was intertwining spiritual energy into that foundation.
The ratio needed to unleash the Celestial Demon Divine Art. I had gotten it right. The sword would come flying. It was obvious that even Wol Seon-geom couldn’t perceive it properly. I didn’t bother with pointless attempts to see it.
‘Focus.’
Right now, I had to concentrate on one thing alone.
Whoooosh. The demonic energy and spiritual energy intertwined.
‘Focus.’
There was no room to feel displeasure. I thought of only one thing.
As I did, I felt the energies gradually merging.
‘Ah.’
Something brushed past my consciousness. This sensation—where had I felt it before?
‘Divine Sword Unity…?’
Divine Sword Unity. Those moments when I focused on the sword, thinking only of becoming one with it.
The anomaly that resulted. The process of synchronizing demonic energy with spiritual energy resembled that very thing.
Focusing on a single thing.
Disregarding everything else, advancing forward while gazing at only one thing.
Moving toward the Realm of Emptiness, the most fundamental perspective of viewing the Formless Way.
‘…The Demon Path.’
This was the Demon Path.
The Celestial Demon’s words wrapped around my body in subtle ways.
[Haha.]
Laughter echoed.
[I hadn’t prepared for enlightenment to come from something like this.]
[But it’s not bad.]
The voice was satisfied. Was this approval? Likely so.
[Take it.]
[From now on, it is yours.]
Whoooosh—!!!
Magi and spiritual energy intertwined. Spreading from my dantian like heat through my meridians.
It felt as though flames were coiling around my body. If Wol Cheon was warmth, this was violent heat.
Crackle—!!!!
As if a wildfire was raging, magi engulfed my entire body.
Snap—! Crack!
The sound of embers bursting. My vision, which had been distant, returned. Something appeared before me.
‘Gyemun.’
Elder Gyemun. He stood right before my face, his expression nearly one of shock as he thrust his blade forward.
But then, where was that sword?
‘…My throat.’
My throat. The blade, wrapped in his force, was pressed against my neck. It was just before the edge would cut in.
Had I been even slightly slower, it would have severed me.
“…Is this…truly…the Celestial Demon Divine Art….”
His words stuttered. I watched Gyemun trembling as he stared at me.
‘Regain your senses.’
I grasped at my wavering consciousness. Something surged forth—an epiphany. The Celestial Demon Divine Art. Obtaining it felt like a shell that had been lodged within me had cracked somewhere, but there was no time to savor or enjoy this realization.
I still stood at the threshold of death.
“Elder Gyemun.”
“…!”
I called to him.
“Do you intend to remain this close?”
“What are you…?”
“Show respect.”
I swept back my hair. In that same moment, I recalled it again.
‘What the Celestial Demon was doing.’
What she did while borrowing my body. The form of energy she poured forth for that purpose.
Just as my hair had turned white when I cast Wol Cheon.
‘By channeling magi inward.’
I transformed it to black. Gradually, my long hair darkened. And simultaneously.
‘I take on the form of the Cheonsal Sect.’
The texture of the soul. The Cheonsal Sect is karma etched upon the soul. I conceptualized the form as if mimicking that karma.
I drew upon that sensation the Celestial Demon possessed. It wasn’t long before I felt it awakening within me.
My eyes burned with searing heat.
Though I couldn’t see them, my eyes had surely taken on a crimson glow.
“Ha… hah….”
Gyemun faltered at my transformation.
“How… that appearance… how is it possible….”
“What is so surprising about it?”
I mimicked as best I could—the very mannerisms the Celestial Demon had displayed. Simultaneously, I took a step forward.
This time, I imitated Yoo Cheon-gil’s gait.
Thud.
The footstep of an absolute master.
“Is this not the very sight you have long awaited?”
“…What are you saying?”
“Am I wrong? You grew weary of Singyeo’s crumbling symbolism and legitimacy. Thus, when the very being you yearned for appeared, why do you emanate such hostility?”
“…A being I yearned for? What could you possibly know? And to suggest that being is you?”
“How do I appear to you?”
“….”
Gyemun fell silent at my words.
‘A direct hit.’
His reaction confirmed my suspicion. The crumbling symbolism and legitimacy.
Why Gyemun did not trust Yeon Socheon and refused to support him. Why he took no disciples.
Why he rejected every faction.
‘Because he is loyal to the Celestial Demon.’
The closest confidant of the previous Celestial Demon and guardian of Singyeo who followed him.
Because he was the one who trusted and followed the Celestial Demon above all others, he could not support anyone else.
The reason was what I had kept saying all along.
‘The absence of the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art.’
The symbol of Singyeo that vanished with the Celestial Demon’s death. Only with it could one ascend to the pinnacle of Singyeo.
Yet in the current Singyeo, there existed no one bearing such a symbol.
At best, only the Young Master—one who claimed to be of the Celestial Demon’s bloodline and possessed the Cheonsal Sect.
He rose to the position of Young Master through his talent and existence, earning recognition.
‘Yet even that fails to satisfy him.’
Gyemun ultimately valued only the existence or absence of the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art.
He desired the revival and continuity of Singyeo above all else, yet could not achieve it.
And.
‘The Celestial Demon knew this.’
Had he deliberately revealed the Celestial Demon’s Divine Art then, intending to exploit the current situation?
‘Damn old man.’
I should have at least reached some mutual agreement before doing something like this. Yet he just went ahead and pulled it off anyway?
‘I nearly died because of it.’
If I’d been careless in my thinking, I would have truly died.
It was a close call. I swallowed hard and regarded him carefully.
“Elder Gyemun.”
“….”
“What do I appear to be in your eyes?”
Black hair and crimson eyes. And the possession of the Celestial Demon’s divine technique.
What must I look like to him now?
‘A symbol.’
I had appeared bearing all the symbols of the Celestial Demon. This was the very existence Gyemun had been so desperately awaiting.
That must be why the old man’s eyes were widening like that.
But.
“…nonsense.”
I knew Gyemun was not someone so easily swayed.
“A whelp of Jeongpa. What action do you expect from me now? Do you think this old man will bow his head simply because you’ve prepared such an appearance?”
The implication was clear—the Celestial Demon has appeared, so bow before me. That was the intent behind his words.
Hearing that, I let out a small laugh.
“Why? Is it something you cannot do? I am….”
A sharp pain shot through my throat.
‘Damn it.’
Mid-sentence, blood vessels bulged in my neck. It was dangerous. I was overusing the Celestial Demon’s divine technique, or whatever it was, along with the Magi and my own power.
I was also drawing on my vital essence, and I could feel my blood gradually drying up.
Still, I couldn’t let it show.
“I am the one destined to become the heaven of the Main School.”
“You dare…!!”
Crack-crack-crack-!!!
“How does a creature of Jeongpa speak of heaven!”
Repulsive force erupted from Gyemun’s body. At that sight, I faltered.
‘It’s working.’
Absurdly, seeing that confirmed my plan was taking effect.
‘There is force, but no killing intent.’
The aura that had seemed ready to annihilate me was nowhere to be found. He was bluffing.
“Is it strange for one destined to become heaven to speak of heaven?”
In other words.
‘Help me out already.’
I demanded the Celestial Demon unleash one final strike.
‘You know better than anyone that if you don’t help, I’m in trouble.’
I grew irritated with the cursed old man who merely watched from the sidelines.
Only then did a voice reach me.
[Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a shame. I was enjoying this more.]
‘Enjoy? My remaining strength is being drained away.’
Cursed Demon—of course she knew and kept her mouth shut.
As I suppressed my irritation, the Celestial Demon spoke.
[Repeat after me.]
“I’m holding back the urge to tear your mouth open. Shut it. You’d do well to answer the questions you’re asked properly.”
A low growl. Veins bulged at Gyemun’s temples. Visibly.
“How do you possess the Celestial Demon Divine Art?”
At that moment, I recited the Celestial Demon’s words exactly.
[If that is….]
“If that is what you wish to know—.”
[Then….]
“Then right now.”
At my words.
“Take me to my father’s tomb that you know of.”
“…What?”
Gyemun’s final composure crumbled.

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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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