The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 92

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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 092
First-rate.
The realm that allows martial artists to be called masters by others.
It was the point when the inner energy of the dantian began to thoroughly permeate the body in earnest.
And it was also the moment when explosive growth became possible as physical strength was added to it.
Being able to channel far greater power into one’s weapon meant cutting what couldn’t be cut before, breaking what couldn’t be broken before.
That was the realm of first-rate, yet.
-First-rate is the grave of martial artists.
Such a paradoxical saying existed as well.
The reason was simple.
‘The limit of talent, they called it.’
The place a mediocre talent could reach after a lifetime of effort.
That place was usually evaluated as first-rate.
It was said that a mediocre talent needed decades of training and spiritual cultivation to reach first-rate.
The reason the Seven Heroes were so highly regarded was ultimately because they surpassed first-rate at such a young age and stood above the pinnacle.
The same applied to me destroying Socheongeom and gaining renown not through reputation.
‘…Achieving victory against a peak-realm martial artist.’
That alone was enough to make a name for oneself.
In this world where realm and honor were everything to martial artists.
‘…I’ve become first-rate.’
That I’d become first-rate stirred various emotions within me.
And it happened in mere months, rising from third-rate to first-rate.
Moreover.
‘…It doesn’t feel like I’ve just entered first-rate either?’
I wasn’t sure, but something felt different to call it merely the beginning of first-rate.
Since I hadn’t experienced such a realm before, I couldn’t be certain, but my instinct told me so.
This wasn’t just first-rate.
“Hmm….”
I moved my body around in various ways.
And I kept realizing things.
“Wow. This is insane. Why is it so light?”
My body felt incredibly light, and the fatigue I usually felt was minimal.
How could I feel this refreshed when I hadn’t slept a wink?
It was truly amazing.
Just as I was continuing to move my body in wonder at this.
[…You’re a vicious one.]
Yoo Cheon-gil was watching me with a strange expression.
[Look at this vicious bastard.]
“Why are you picking a fight so early in the morning?”
[You looked like that in the middle of the night without letting out a single scream? That makes no sense.]
It certainly hurt.
It wasn’t just pain—I thought I was dying.
I couldn’t even scream, couldn’t breathe properly, and spent the entire night like that.
But.
“Wasn’t it you who told me not to open my mouth, Old Man?”
First you tell me to keep my mouth shut and endure, and after I barely manage it, what? You call me stubborn?
Flabbergasted, I stared at him, and Yoo Cheon-gil let out a fake cough before speaking to me.
[Well… I never thought you’d actually do it.]
“…What?”
[Who knew you wouldn’t open your mouth when I said not to? I was just messing around.]
“Are you serious? You said my energy would dissipate if I opened my mouth, so I kept it shut.”
I endured so desperately to preserve that energy, and now this?
When I pressed him on it, Yoo Cheon-gil quickly averted his gaze.
[…Once the energy is all stabilized and settled, opening your mouth a bit won’t cause problems. I have the ability to handle that much.]
“…Old Man.”
[Hmm?]
“Do you hear a dog barking outside right now?”
[A dog? It’s quiet. Why would the Dang Clan keep a dog?]
“Right, of course. There wouldn’t be one, right? Then what’s this sound?”
I spoke to Yoo Cheon-gil with my brow deeply furrowed.
“Ah, was I mistaken because your words are such utter nonsense, Old Man? That must be it.”
[Oh…]
At my words, Yoo Cheon-gil clapped his hands with an impressed expression.
[This brat’s got some bite to him.]
“This damn old fool…”
I sighed and rubbed my face repeatedly.
Ah, I really want to quit.
I grit my teeth and suppress my anger.
I could endure it somehow. The result was good, after all.
Even if I was furious at being played by his pranks, the fact that I’d reached the First Rank allowed me to forgive most of it.
‘…The First Rank.’
A place I never thought I’d reach in my lifetime.
I figured the best I could hope for was the Second Rank, and even that would be fortunate.
‘Yet here I am.’
Before I knew it, I’d reached the First Rank.
There was a strange emotion that came with it.
Having reached a place I thought I’d never touch in my entire life, an inexplicable thrill rose shallow within me.
I thought I wasn’t the type to be swayed by such things.
Yet it seemed I harbored ambition without realizing it.
‘Tsk.’
I rose to my feet, my mind swirling with complex emotions.
‘I don’t think I need sleep.’
My body felt so refreshed and invigorated that I could hardly believe it.
Sleep seemed like a waste of such vitality.
Whether I’d lost my mind or not, I couldn’t say.
‘…I want to cultivate?’
An inexplicable urge to train had seized me.
‘Today’s schedule….’
I still needed to visit Dokuou and Bigo once more, though I had no idea when that would happen.
So until then, I could train, couldn’t I?
The thought made me burst into laughter without meaning to.
‘I really have gone mad.’
Of all things, I actually wanted to cultivate.
What else could this be but madness?
Training had always been something I forced myself to do. I’d never once wanted to do it.
I’d repeated it mechanically, like finishing homework.
‘…How strange.’
Was I just getting cocky because my cultivation level had improved slightly?
Even as that thought crossed my mind, it didn’t feel entirely wrong.
With that feeling in my heart, I began to move.
Now that I’d opened my mouth, I had many questions for the Old Man.
But right now, my desire to train overshadowed everything else.
As I stepped out of my residence and began walking, I was so absorbed in my thoughts.
That I didn’t notice Yoo Cheon-gil watching me with a heavy gaze.

* * *
A small figure, as if entranced, stepped outside the building.
The Old Man watched the departing silhouette with a somewhat grave expression.
His blue eyes gleamed, yet they seemed oddly distant.
While the Old Man continued to gaze upon the Young Man’s departure.
[Yoo Cheon-gil.]
Another Old Man beside him, Dokujon Danggyon, spoke.
Hearing his name called, the Old Man turned his gaze toward Dokujon.
[Explain yourself.]
Danggyon’s eyes were fierce, brimming with hunger.
Observing those eyes, Yoo Cheon-gil spoke.
[Explain what?]
[That business of you entering the child’s body earlier. I want an explanation.]
[Ah, that.]
The Old Man chuckled softly.
He had known all along that Danggyon would ask about this.
[It’s exactly as you see. Releasing the Daehwandan’s energy would be wasteful, wouldn’t it? So I lent him some power.]
Since my original realm was merely second-rate, absorbing it all would have been impossible.
Still, I managed to gather and condense it well in his dantian.
The amount was greater than expected too. I had originally thought half would be lost.
[That boy’s body proved better than anticipated.]
This became possible because Bangseong-yeon had made prior efforts. In truth, even the Old Man was surprised.
[Quite the tenacious one, that’s what he is.]
Bangseong-yeon is tenacious.
The Old Man hadn’t spoken carelessly when he called him relentless.
Though he constantly wore an expression of reluctance and grumbled incessantly, contrary to such words.
[He pushes his body with brutal intensity?]
When training, he continues until his body can no longer move.
No matter how exhausting, he never compromises with himself.
Even staggering, he would rise if he could.
The only moment he stops training is when his body truly ceases to function.
It was relentless. Could anyone be so relentless?
True, I had set the training method myself.
I had expected him to compromise to some degree when I established it.
[…To think he’d simply complete it all.]
Bangseong-yeon proceeded exactly as instructed.
With that frail body, he should never have managed such a feat.
Yet Bangseong-yeon accomplished it. Could it be because he gained me as his opportunity? Yoo Cheon-gil concluded otherwise.
And for good reason.
[He was always like that.]
Bangseong-yeon was the same even before receiving the Azure Moon Heart Technique.
Back when Bangseong-yeon was Third-Rate.
The Old Man had witnessed him training.
At first, he wondered why the boy trained with such desperate intensity.
Had something happened to him? Was that why he was trying to change?
Such questions had crossed his mind, but.
[He was simply that kind of person.]
It wasn’t some extraordinary circumstance.
Bangseong-yeon was simply that kind of person.
A man who lived with such desperate resolve that even the Old Man found it absurd.
Though he spoke of living carelessly, of avoiding troublesome matters.
That was merely self-deprecating repetition.
In the Old Man’s eyes, Bangseong-yeon was incapable of living that way.
That was why.
That was why the Old Man had chosen Bangseong-yeon.
Though there were no other options to select from, the Old Man judged this to be destiny for himself.
So it was all the more strange.
[Why on earth.]line>
Why had such a man remained Third-Rate?
I wonder if that’s why he remained a third-rate.
The question, once raised, grew more unsettling with each passing moment.
Of course, if his martial arts training had begun late, it might be understandable.
[But looking at the state of his inner cultivation, that doesn’t seem to be it.]
At least ten years.
The marks of practice since childhood were evident.
Yet still Third-Rate…? Of course, if Bangseong-yeon were an extreme dullard, it would make sense, but.
[That wasn’t the case either.]
Bangseong-yeon was no dullard.
His perception seemed somewhat lacking, but he was certainly no fool.
If anything, he should have at least reached Second-Rate by now.
[Hmm.]
A mystery. Something was wrong.
It was while Yoo Cheon-gil was pondering this.
[…Then, you’re saying I can borrow that child’s body?]
Danggyen’s voice reached him, and Yoo Cheon-gil’s gaze shifted.
[Haha.]
Yoo Cheon-gil laughed. In that instant, a chill swept through the room.
[Just to be clear.]
The smile was no smile at all.
A split grin and eyes gleaming with ferocity.
Danggyen flinched at the sight.
It was an expression Yoo Cheon-gil had worn countless times in life.
[Don’t even think about touching him.]
When he was truly enraged. Or.
When he encountered someone who absolutely had to be killed.
That was the expression he’d worn then.
[That one belongs to me.]
[….]
[Whatever attachment you harbor, if you dare lay a hand on him, I myself will erase the Dang Clan from this land.]
Erase the Dang Clan. At that chilling declaration, Danggyen’s brow furrowed.
What could a soul already dead possibly do?
Though he knew the answer was nothing, Danggyen could not speak easily.
If it were Yoo Cheon-gil.
If it were that mad dog, he might actually do it.
By any means necessary.
[Tsk….]
Danggyen clicked his tongue briefly.
[Who said anything about touching him? I was merely asking.]
Hearing those words, Yoo Cheon-gil’s expression shifted again. Confirming this change, Danggyen continued.
[Then let me ask something else.]
[Speak.]
[Why did you insist on feeding the child the Daehwandan?]
[Hmm?]
Upon hearing the question, Yoo Cheon-gil looked back at Danggyen. His expression asked what he meant.
[Because it was there, so I gave it to him.]
[You know that’s not what I mean. What I’m asking is.]
Danggyen met Yoo Cheon-gil’s gaze as he spoke.
[The reason you forced him to consume it so urgently. That’s what I’m asking about.]
[…Hmm.]
[You seemed to have some intention, so I gave it a push, but was there truly a reason it had to be done that way?]
[Ah, so that’s why you went along with it so readily.]
The Old Man chuckled softly, recalling the events of that night.
Rarely did Danggyen help make it possible for him to feed the Daehwandan to Bangseong-yeon.
This one had his own calculations too.
And.
[Yes, there’s something I need to put to use.]
The Old Man answered Danggyen’s question honestly.
[Originally, I intended to feed it to him more gradually.]
In terms of efficiency, at least first-rate.
It would have been right to nurture and feed him to that degree.
But circumstances left me no choice.
I had to force Bangseong-yeon to accept the opportunity, after all.
[It’s a bit regrettable, but the result wasn’t bad.]
Even I think I handled it well.
[This much should work.]
Just this much—it’s usable.
While Yoo Cheon-gil nodded at that thought.
[You’re admitting there was merit on my part, aren’t you?]
Danggyon spoke to Yoo Cheon-gil in an odd tone.
[Merit? What merit?]
[You’re saying the child consumed the Daehwandan thanks to my help, aren’t you?]
[Hmm….]
It wasn’t exactly wrong. The problem was why he was speaking in that tone now.
[So?]
He wants something. Recognizing this, Yoo Cheon-gil spoke, and Danggyon opened his mouth as if he’d been waiting.
[If so, I have a request.]
The moment he heard those words, Yoo Cheon-gil’s brow furrowed.
[If you’re about to mention what happened earlier, don’t forget I’ve already given my answer.]
He delivered a short warning.
It seemed like Danggyon was about to bring up the possession I’d performed on Bangseong-yeon, so I said it preemptively.
Even after hearing that, Danggyon didn’t stop.
[Just hear me out. It might not be a bad thing for you—no, it could actually be something you’d enjoy.]
[Hm?]
Upon hearing those words, interest sparked in Yoo Cheon-gil’s eyes.
[Something I wouldn’t dislike…?]
I’ll listen. With that look on my face, Danggyon began explaining to Yoo Cheon-gil.
After hearing it all.
[Ha.]
Yoo Cheon-gil laughed aloud.
[Hahahahahaha-!!!]
A rough sound echoed through the room.
After laughing for a while, Yoo Cheon-gil stopped and.
[…You really are insane too. For someone claiming to be righteous, look at what you’re thinking.]
I liked it.
No—I more than liked it. I loved it.
[Fine. I can do that much.]
I was curious.
What reaction Bangseong-yeon would show when the situation unfolded.
And what would happen in the future because of this.

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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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