The World’s Greatest is Dead

The World’s Greatest is Dead – Chapter 161

Upon reflection, it was a natural course of action.

When selecting members to attend the ‘Dragon-Phoenix Tournament’, it was inevitable that Chun Hye-In would be included.

Not for any other reason but because she was one of the Seven Geniuses produced by the Blue Moon Sect.

Despite never having participated in the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, her skills had earned her the title of one of the Seven Geniuses within Blue Moon Sect.

It was true she possessed such talent, and it was well-known within the Blue Moon Sect.

“‘The greatest talent since the Sword Saint.'”

The World’s Greatest, Sword Saint Yu Chun-gil.

He was the most highly regarded figure since his emergence from the Blue Moon Sect.

Therefore, it was natural to want to include her in the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

“… So, you want to take me with you?”

“Yes. Please come with us.”

“… Haha.”

Chun Hye-In chuckled at my words.

“Is that really something you say to me after a month of disappearing?”

“It’s not something I can’t say.”

Though I was being somewhat cheeky, I was discreetly observing her.

It had been just a month.

It was the point at which I met Chun Hye-In after beating her senseless while not remembering her.

Recalling that, I looked at Chun Hye-In. Fortunately, it seemed that she bore no scars, looking fine as ever.

“Phew…”

Chun Hye-In put down her sword and looked at me.

Her cheeks were glistening with cold sweat.

I had appeared while she was training.

Wiping the sweat with the back of her hand, Chun Hye-In glanced at me again.

Her blue eyes resembled the Virtuous Moon Sword, leaving a strong impression.

“It’s surprising, after how things ended the last time, that you came to say this to me.”

“What’s so surprising? There was nothing wrong; it was merely a spar.”

“Turning someone into a bloodied mess?”

“Well, that…”

I chuckled awkwardly.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t quite control myself.”

Though I wasn’t the one at fault, it seemed futile to argue about it.

Anyway,

“You don’t seem to care much, so could you just let it go?”

Chun Hye-In didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“….”

As soon as I said that, Chun Hye-In’s expression changed.

It wasn’t the slightly pouty face of someone sulking, but it turned expressionless in an instant.

“Boring.”

Her voice was icy.

I laughed upon hearing it.

Finally, it felt familiar.

“Do you know that you’ve put me in a difficult position?”

“I know. That’s a good thing for me.”

As a result of my sparring match, Chun Hye-In’s position had slightly wavered.

At that point, she had established her position within the sect solely based on her reputation as a prodigy who could overturn history.

There was no immediate replacement for her.

At the time, she was also being mentioned as one of the strong candidates to be chosen as the future sect leader.

‘But she lost to me.’

Chun Hye-In had lost to me.

And quite overwhelmingly at that.

There must have been a lot of talk within the sect following the event.

“Though I was in closed cultivation, it must have been quite noisy.”

In such a situation, I was supposed to go as a representative for the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, and I came to ask her to join me.

For her, it must have been quite a perplexing matter.

“Despite knowing all that, you came to talk to me…? What’s your intention?”

“I have no ulterior motive. I’m just using the most efficient method.”

“Taking me with you?”

“Yes. There’s no better way. Isn’t that right, lady Chun?”

“Even if that’s true, coming here to say it is another matter.”

“If you don’t want to, then don’t. I’ll look for someone else.”

I didn’t insist on taking her if she truly detested it. I just wanted to reach a conclusion quickly so I could find another method.

“….”

Chun Hye-In looked at me with her expressionless face.

I felt this each time. She was truly cold.

A different kind of chill from Yungsun.

Her face, resembling the Virtuous Moon Sword, had the power to make people feel intimidated merely by removing her smile.

“I really don’t understand.”

Chun Hye-In approached me, her voice flat and devoid of inflection.

“No matter how I look at it, I can’t understand why I lost.”

Her gaze scrutinized my body from top to bottom.

“Why did I lose?”

“Why else? You lost because you were weak.”

“…”

She seemed not to understand, so I spoke clearly.

Of course, this wasn’t the exact truth, but it didn’t matter.

“You sure talk a lot. You lost because you’re pathetically weak; what’s not to understand?”

“… Ha…”

Chun Hye-In’s energy flared up the moment she heard my words.

It was chilling. The electrifying aura momentarily wrapped around my neck.

“You’re quite arrogant, aren’t you?”

Though I was a bit startled, I didn’t let it bother me.

“Arrogant? Your words are peculiar.”

With a slight smile, Bang Sung-Yun spoke to Chun Hye-In.

“Isn’t that something the weak shouldn’t say to the strong?”

Creak, creak.

Whether his words had hit a nerve, Chun Hye-In’s aura grew stronger.

I pondered while watching this.

‘Should I raise my hand?’

I contemplated whether to put my hand on the hilt or not. Even just showing the motion of gripping it might provoke her, but I wasn’t entirely confident in what would follow.

So I decided to hold back for now.

“Hmm.”

Chun Hye-In let out a small sound of agreement.

Sssss…

The aura she was raising began to dissipate.

“… You’re right.”

She nodded as if she agreed with me. Had she really accepted my words? It might have been a façade, but I didn’t pay it much mind at the moment.

‘Damn, she’s scary.’

I felt intimidated. Having sparred with Chun Hye-In once before, I knew she was strong. Were it not for me being in a possessed state, victory would have been unlikely.

‘Will it be any different now?’

Even after training in seclusion, I doubted things would be much different. It had only been a month.

Yu Chun-gil had warned me not to get overly confident just because it had been a month, saying the changes would not be as substantial as I might hope.

It was something I had to constantly remind himself of.

“The Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.”

Chun Hye-In furrowed her brows, as if deep in thought.

After a brief consideration, she spoke decisively.

“I’ll go.”

Her answer was unexpectedly straightforward.

“You’re going?”

“Yes. You did say we should go.”

“Hmm…”

I had indeed suggested it, but I hadn’t expected such a firm response.

“If we do go, I will be the representative, not you. And you’ll need to be very clear about how you present yourself on behalf of the alliance. Are you okay with that?”

“Well, those parts are concerning, but it can’t be helped.”

I stayed silent, observing as Chun Hye-In murmured to herself.

“To be honest, I wanted to check it out. This time… that ‘monster’ seems likely to appear too… Though, the thought of dealing with you is a bit bothersome.”

Whirl.

She spun the wooden sword she had been holding and placed it at her waist.

“It seems fun, so I’ll go. But.”

“But?”

“I have two conditions.”

Conditions? I frowned at her words. There was no need to accept conditions just to have her accompany me.

Nonetheless, as I was about to point this out—

“One condition is that you’ll spar with me again later.”

Chun Hye-In spoke before I could express my thoughts.

“I simply can’t just move on like that. And the second is.”

She paused before continuing.

“The last person to bring along, you’ll let me choose.”

“… Huh?”

This was quite an unexpected turn of events.

* * *

Three days had passed since then.

The day to depart for the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, as Virtuous Moon Sword had mentioned, had arrived.

On the appointed day, a group gathered in front of the carriage.

“Is everyone here?”

Bang Sung-Yun asked, looking over at those who had gathered.

Hearing my question, they responded.

The group consisted of five people, including me.

The group included Do Hyung, whom I had first approached with the proposal, and Chun Hye-In.

And—

“… I’m not sure if I should be here.”

It was Chun Uijin.

my eyes filled with anxiety, I looked at the group and spoke.

Indeed, the fourth member was Chun Uijin.

Notably, he wasn’t Bang Sung-Yun’s choice.

‘I wasn’t considering Chun Uijin.’

I hadn’t intended to bring him along. Chun Uijin was undeniably a 1st-rate talented martial artist, but—

‘As a representative, though?’

Given that Do Hyung and Chun Hye-In were members of the Small Moon Division, bringing Chun Uijin, merely a second-generation disciple, seemed like a stretch.

Yet, Bang Sung-Yun included Chun Uijin in the group.

‘What is she thinking?’

It was none other than Chun Hye-In who had proposed this.

She had stated it as a condition for accepting my proposal.

The last member, she would choose herself.

And her choice was Chun Uijin.

‘Why, though?’

Knowing the two didn’t get along, I was puzzled why she stipulated bringing Chun Uijin as a condition.

Though I found it odd, I accepted it.

‘Chun Uijin isn’t a bad choice, after all.’

There might have been a better candidate, but still, Chun Uijin was preferable.

He was relatively easy to handle and was somewhat trustworthy.

‘That’s certainly a logical reason.’

Compared to the troublesome but strong Chun Hye-In, the obedient and fragile Chun Uijin was better suited for my needs.

Thinking of that, it was why he accepted Chun Hye-In’s words.

“It’s fine. The Sect Leader has allowed it.”

He spoke to the anxious Chun Uijin.

“Did the Sect Leader say that…?”

“Yes.”

Naturally, I had already obtained permission from the Virtuous Moon Sword.

As soon as I assembled my group, I went directly to me and explained. With my usual expressionless face, I nodded.

Thus, the day of departure arrived.

I stood, arms crossed, watching the carriage as they waited to leave, sensing gazes from all around.

The warriors of the Blue Moon Sect appeared to be looking in my direction.

This marked the first attendance by the Blue Moon Sect at the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament in many years.

An event that hadn’t occurred since it was forbidden by the Murim Alliance.

Thanks to the Divine Spear using my influence to grant permission, they were participation in the festival, naturally drawing attention.

I tried to ignore everyone’s stares and focused on the carriage.

At that moment.

“It seems you should board now!”

The coachman, Chu Dong.

No, rather, it was the Sword Emperor Ouyang Yun, speaking to me.

‘… Must I go with this man again?’

For some reason, the one-armed Sword Emperor was disguising himself as a coachman.

As it turned out, he was acting as our coachman again.

‘This journey will surely be uncomfortable.’

I anticipated feeling tense the entire ride.

How had it been coming from Sichuan to Henan? I hadn’t been able to sleep properly then.

‘And this time…’

Just imagining enduring the Sword Emperor’s scrutiny again made my breath catch.

“Young master? Are you alright?”

“… Ah, yes. I’m fine, elder. Just felt a bit dizzy for a moment.”

“Oh dear… Young people these days…”

“… Please, board ahead.”

At my words, the group began boarding one by one. The carriage was quite luxurious, likely due to the size of the entourage or because it was for a grand festival.

As another person passed by me…

“… Well then…”

A young man paused and said to me.

“… Am I going as well?”

The young man, who had a fierce expression, was Tang Chun-il, the son of the Poison King Tang Gyung-ak.

With a peculiar expression, the youth spoke to me.

“Why am I going…?”

The situation, where a family member of the Tang family headed to the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament in a Blue Moon Sect carriage, was indeed strange.

“Well, what else would you do? If you’re going to attend classes, you have to come along.”

“…”

Teaching him ‘Sky Filling Flower Rain’ required Tang Chun-il’s attendance.

“You couldn’t learn for the past month, so we need to speed things up.”

“That was because you were in seclusion—

“What?”

“… Never mind.”

With a look filled with dissatisfaction, Tang Chun-il entered the carriage.

Though it seemed peculiar even to me, there wasn’t much choice.

‘I hope the Poison King understands.’

Probably.

Believing so, I nodded my head repeatedly, then glanced around.

It was toward where the Virtuous Moon Sword should have been.

‘Is he not going to show?’

Even though my children and sect members were setting off for the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament, strangely, the Virtuous Moon Sword hadn’t appeared.

He had communicated earlier: there was a schedule, so we should just proceed on our own.

‘He seemed busy, but still…’

Normally, shouldn’t he at least come out to see us off?

Considering this, I thought.

‘Forget it.’

If he wasn’t coming, so be it.

With that thought, I boarded the carriage.

“Shall we depart?”

“Yes. Please.”

I answered Chu Dong’s question.

With a shout and a whip, Chu Dong urged the horses forward.

Neigh—!!!

The sound of horses filled the air as the carriage started to move.

‘… Here we go again.’

Holding back a sigh, I looked out the window.

Having just arrived from Sichuan, to leave again so soon.

‘And of all places, the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament?’

I had thought such an event was one I would never get involved in.

A place only prestigious families and renowned individuals attended, it was surprising to find himself representing them.

Life was indeed unpredictable.

‘… So, hopefully, it ends without major incidents.’

I fervently prayed and prayed again for a peaceful outcome.

* * *

As always.

“Draw your sword, Little Sword Saint. Let’s see how great you are!”

I was a man of incredibly unfortunate luck.

Damn it.