The World's Greatest is Dead

The carriage preparations moved forward in complete silence.

Of course they did. From the start, Divine Spear’s condition had been treated as top secret.

Even the fact that we were leaving for Mount Hua had to stay hidden.

It was true that Divine Spear had been wounded and was receiving treatment—but how badly he’d been hurt had to remain confidential.

And no one even knew how long we’d be able to keep it that way.

It wasn’t so much that he was on the verge of dying as—

From what I’d heard in passing—

His meridians had been damaged.

Not just his body.

The dantian—and the meridians that carried energy outward from it.

That was what had been injured, and that was why his condition was so bad.

A body would heal with time.

But if the inside got twisted...

You couldn’t treat that.

Qi distortion.

Or the thing people called an inner demon.

A mental collapse, or a failure in the body’s energy flow—leaving someone a living corpse, or a person who could no longer live as a martial artist.

From what I’d heard, Divine Spear was in that kind of state.

At least he could keep breathing.

But if Divine Spear could no longer function as a martial artist, it would become a massive problem.

It could shake the Martial Alliance itself.

The position of Alliance Leader was the symbol of the Righteous Faction.

The Alliance Leader who rose after the Orthodox-Demonic War ended—and after Yoo Cheongil’s death.

If word got out that Divine Spear, a Heaven-Beyond-Heaven master, had collapsed—

It would happen exactly as expected. People would start pushing to elect a new Alliance Leader.

Absolute masters would rush in and compete for that “honorable” seat.

Even if replacing an Alliance Leader who could no longer do the job was the natural thing...

What Jegal Jin feared was what would happen in the process.

Chaos had already crept into this era.

HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

And the DEMON CULT.

The fact that they attacked Henan—the heart of the Righteous Faction—and even breached the Main Alliance Headquarters had already spread across the entire Central Plains.

The Main Alliance Headquarters had been called an absolute wall.

Now that wall had been pierced, the Martial Alliance’s reputation was bound to fall.

And then—

The dark faction bastards who had finally been staying quiet might start moving again.

It wouldn’t stop at HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE or the DEMON CULT. If the Alliance that guarded the center and displayed strength began to wobble, the dark factions could crawl out and start causing havoc too.

In a situation like that, letting Divine Spear step down and moving to elect a new Alliance Leader—

It was practically advertising that the Martial Alliance was shaking.

Jegal Jin was watching for cracks.

...Which was why he was sending me.

Quietly.

Someone who could handle it while staying wary of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

That was me.

Eyes that could tell HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE apart.

With spies crawling everywhere, I had eyes that could identify who the bastards were.

From Jegal Jin’s perspective, using me was the best option.

And that was how my life got annoying.

SSSS—.

I exhaled and grabbed at my chest.

No. Say it properly.

It was a benefit, too.

Going to Mount Hua was something I needed.

The problem inside my body. Yoo Cheongil calling it a bomb I was living with.

And to fix it—

I needed to meet the Medical Immortal.

And here, the Medical Immortal was the Plum Blossom Single Sword.

The Mount Hua Sect Master being the best doctor in the Central Plains?

It was ridiculous.

But everything pointed to it being true, so I had no choice but to believe it.

He was the key to saving both Divine Spear and me.

While I was turning that over—

FSSSSSH—!!

A sound came with someone’s approach.

“You came?”

“.......”

The woman who appeared at my words nodded.

Yuyeon.

The top junior-generation talent—and the current Plum Blossom Single Sword’s disciple.

So she was a direct disciple.

Not placed among the third generation—straight into the direct line.

What the hell have you been doing with your life?

The sniffling kid I remembered was nowhere to be found.

The day I heard she’d become the Plum Blossom Single Sword’s disciple, I’d been shocked out of my mind.

And more than that—

“You’ve heard everything, right?”

“.......”

For this schedule, Yuyeon’s presence was necessary.

“The pretext is that we’re delivering something to Mount Hua.”

Not for Divine Spear’s treatment—an official delivery between Mount Hua and the Martial Alliance.

And the Small Moon Unit is participating as escort, under that name.

The Small Moon Unit is a direct-line sect under the Alliance, so it tracks.

And aside from Cheon Eujin, everyone we brought was Small Moon Unit personnel anyway.

With the Small Moon Unit Leader here too, the story would hold.

And with Yuyeon added, it wouldn’t look strange.

A disciple traveling along was nothing unusual.

No one would suspect the Medical Immortal is the Plum Blossom Single Sword.

“Preparations are complete.”

A voice carried quietly.

“Get in.”

“.......”

Yuyeon nodded and climbed into the carriage.

Watching her settle in, I tilted my chin slightly.

My eyes narrowed.

There was something I wanted to ask her.

What I’d seen in the last fight.

There was a question I could put to her if I brought that up—

Not now.

It wasn’t the time. Honestly, it was late. If I was going to ask, I should’ve asked long ago.

And it wasn’t important.

Not right now.

Because what I wanted to ask Yuyeon was—

Whether she couldn’t kill people.

She seemed unable to.

In that fight, I clearly saw her trembling, barely defending, unable to strike back.

Yuyeon had been overwhelming in the tournament, but in real combat, it looked like something was wrong.

Not my problem.

It just... showed.

That was all.

*****

Ниже — редакторская вычитка готового к публикации английского текста именно этого куска. Я не «перепридумывал», а подчистил места, где в черновике были: калька, неестественные связки, сбитая логика, лишняя современность, и особенно — ошибки по вашим локам (самое важное).

Что было критично исправлено (по вашим правилам)

Публикационная версия (EN)

The carriage preparations moved forward in complete silence.

Of course they did. From the start, Divine Spear’s condition had been treated as top secret.

Even the fact that we were leaving for Mount Hua had to stay hidden.

It was true that Divine Spear had been wounded and was receiving treatment—but how badly he’d been hurt had to remain confidential.

And no one even knew how long we’d be able to keep it that way.

It wasn’t so much that he was on the verge of dying as—

From what I’d heard in passing—

His meridians had been damaged.

Not just his body.

The dantian—and the meridians that carried energy outward from it.

That was what had been injured, and that was why his condition was so bad.

A body would heal with time.

But if the inside got twisted...

You couldn’t treat that.

Qi distortion.

Or the thing people called an inner demon.

A mental collapse, or a failure in the body’s energy flow—leaving someone a living corpse, or a person who could no longer live as a martial artist.

From what I’d heard, Divine Spear was in that kind of state.

At least he could keep breathing.

But if Divine Spear could no longer function as a martial artist, it would become a massive problem.

It could shake the Martial Alliance itself.

The position of Alliance Leader was the symbol of the Righteous Faction.

The Alliance Leader who rose after the Orthodox-Demonic War ended—and after Yoo Cheongil’s death.

If word got out that Divine Spear, a Heaven-Beyond-Heaven master, had collapsed—

It would happen exactly as expected. People would start pushing to elect a new Alliance Leader.

Absolute masters would rush in and compete for that “honorable” seat.

Even if replacing an Alliance Leader who could no longer do the job was the natural thing...

What Jegal Jin feared was what would happen in the process.

Chaos had already crept into this era.

HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

And the DEMON CULT.

The fact that they attacked Henan—the heart of the Righteous Faction—and even breached the Main Alliance Headquarters had already spread across the entire Central Plains.

The Main Alliance Headquarters had been called an absolute wall.

Now that wall had been pierced, the Martial Alliance’s reputation was bound to fall.

And then—

The dark faction bastards who had finally been staying quiet might start moving again.

It wouldn’t stop at HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE or the DEMON CULT. If the Alliance that guarded the center and displayed strength began to wobble, the dark factions could crawl out and start causing havoc too.

In a situation like that, letting Divine Spear step down and moving to elect a new Alliance Leader—

It was practically advertising that the Martial Alliance was shaking.

Jegal Jin was watching for cracks.

...Which was why he was sending me.

Quietly.

Someone who could handle it while staying wary of HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE.

That was me.

Eyes that could tell HEAVEN-BREAKING PALACE apart.

With spies crawling everywhere, I had eyes that could identify who the bastards were.

From Jegal Jin’s perspective, using me was the best option.

And that was how my life got annoying.

SSSS—.

I exhaled and grabbed at my chest.

No. Say it properly.

It was a benefit, too.

Going to Mount Hua was something I needed.

The problem inside my body. Yoo Cheongil calling it a bomb I was living with.

And to fix it—

I needed to meet the Medical Immortal.

And here, the Medical Immortal was the Plum Blossom Single Sword.

The Mount Hua Sect Master being the best doctor in the Central Plains?

It was ridiculous.

But everything pointed to it being true, so I had no choice but to believe it.

He was the key to saving both Divine Spear and me. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

While I was turning that over—

FSSSSSH—!!

A sound came with someone’s approach.

“You came?”

“.......”

The woman who appeared at my words nodded.

Yuyeon.

The top junior-generation talent—and the current Plum Blossom Single Sword’s disciple.

So she was a direct disciple.

Not placed among the third generation—straight into the direct line.

What the hell have you been doing with your life?

The sniffling # Nоvеlight # kid I remembered was nowhere to be found.

The day I heard she’d become the Plum Blossom Single Sword’s disciple, I’d been shocked out of my mind.

And more than that—

“You’ve heard everything, right?”

“.......”

For this schedule, Yuyeon’s presence was necessary.

“The pretext is that we’re delivering something to Mount Hua.”

Not for Divine Spear’s treatment—an official delivery between Mount Hua and the Martial Alliance.

And the Small Moon Unit is participating as escort, under that name.

The Small Moon Unit is a direct-line sect under the Alliance, so it tracks.

And aside from Cheon Eujin, everyone we brought was Small Moon Unit personnel anyway.

With the Small Moon Unit Leader here too, the story would hold.

And with Yuyeon added, it wouldn’t look strange.

A disciple traveling along was nothing unusual.

No one would suspect the Medical Immortal is the Plum Blossom Single Sword.

“Preparations are complete.”

A voice carried quietly.

“Get in.”

“.......”

Yuyeon nodded and climbed into the carriage.

Watching her settle in, I tilted my chin slightly.

My eyes narrowed.

There was something I wanted to ask her.

What I’d seen in the last fight.

There was a question I could put to her if I brought that up—

Not now.

It wasn’t the time. Honestly, it was late. If I was going to ask, I should’ve asked long ago.

And it wasn’t important.

Not right now.

Because what I wanted to ask Yuyeon was—

Whether she couldn’t kill people.

She seemed unable to.

In that fight, I clearly saw her trembling, barely defending, unable to strike back.

Yuyeon had been overwhelming in the tournament, but in real combat, it looked like something was wrong.

Not my problem.

It just... showed.

That was all.

Once I was inside the carriage, the others boarded like they’d been waiting.

“...Mount Hua...?”

Tang Cheonil sat beside me with a face like he’d been chewing shit.

“Why are we suddenly going all the way to Mount Hua...?”

Thunder Dragon Tang Cheonil had only just heard the plan, and the reluctance was written all over him.

“Then go back to Sichuan. You think you can go home and show your face to your father?”

“.......”

Thunder Dragon shut his mouth.

Nothing to say. If we’re being honest, this was his fault too.

“You think I dragged you along because I wanted to? I want to ditch you and go, you idiot. If you ‘awakened,’ you should at least remember what you did. Why the hell do you not remember and make people’s lives miserable?”

I snapped at him, and his big frame somehow looked like it was shrinking.

Unbelievable.

He used Ten-Thousand Flower Rain openly against the Black-Grand Saber—and then forgot it.

He said he’d entered a trance when he used it, so he’d only learned half.

Damn it.

Because of that, I couldn’t send him back. I had to drag him along.

“...But is it okay for me to come too?”

Cheon Eujin sat beside Thunder Dragon, looking flustered.

“I heard this is a Small Moon Unit schedule... Is it really alright for me to be part of such an important mission...?”

He thought it was just an escort job—the pretext Jegal Jin laid out.

“Yes. I got permission from the Sect Master.”

For Cheon Eujin, I’d gotten permission from the Moon-Thread Sword.

He’d said I didn’t need to change the party, so I intended to bring him as-is—

“Oh, but if you don’t want to go, you can head back. I’m not forcing you.”

If he didn’t want to, he didn’t have to come.

Cheon Eujin’s eyes wavered. He looked like he was weighing it—

“Yeah. Get off, then.”

A quiet voice cut in.

Cheon Hyein.

“...Sister?”

“Even if you come, you won’t help. What are you going to do with an injured body? Just go back with the Sect Master.”

She spat the words at him with an icy stare.

She wasn’t wrong. He was still a patient. His realm had broken through into pinnacle, so his recovery was faster, but—

Injured was injured.

He wasn’t fully healed yet.

“...That’s—”

“Stubbornness only looks good when you’ve got the ability to match it. Like you said, it’s an important mission, and little brother, you’re nowhere near enough for it.”

She smirked as she said it.

I’d always thought it, but she really had a talent for talking like trash.

GRIT.

Cheon Eujin clenched his fist, fire in his eyes.

“...I’ll go. I can do it, Bang Sungyeon.”

“Uh...? Ah—yeah...”

“I will be useful. No matter what.”

“...Yes. Please.”

If he insisted on going, I wasn’t going to stop him.

I flicked my gaze toward Cheon Hyein.

I couldn’t tell if she was acting or being honest.

At his words, she just stared out the window again.

And from what she’d said, I got two things.

She definitely talked like an asshole.

But she sounded worried.

Worried about him forcing himself to come while injured.

And at the same time—

She picked a fight that guaranteed he’d come anyway.

Unbelievable.

If she was going to do that, why were they on such bad terms?

The Moon-Thread Sword was the same, and that whole family was off.

It felt like there was something behind it.

Which meant I needed to care less, not more.

It looked like trouble waiting to happen.

As for the senior... whatever.

Do Hyeong could handle himself.

That left—

Yuyeon, sitting across from Cheon Hyein and looking out the window too.

The Small Moon Unit Leader on top of the carriage.

And the carriage driver—Sword Emperor Ui Yangyeon.

What a ridiculous lineup.

One Heaven-Beyond-Heaven.

One absolute master.

Was there any safer trip than this?

If there was one thing that bothered me—

Yeongsun.

Murong Yeongsun.

I was leaving without telling her.

Was that going to be okay?

I didn’t tell her.

No—I chose not to.

I did ask the White King for something on that side, but still...

Yeah.

It wouldn’t be okay.

I knew that, but—

What could I do.

I decided to ignore it for now and go.

My stomach felt sour.

I knew exactly what that feeling was.

Greed.

Whatever it was, it was greed.

Don’t overdo it.

Right as I was thinking that—

“May we depart?”

The driver—Sword Emperor Ui Yangyeon—spoke.

“...Ah, yes. Please depart.”

The carriage started moving with a rattle.

As I felt it roll forward—

Ah. Right.

Something I’d forgotten hit me.

Come to think of it... where’s my father?

The Bang Clan’s greatest butcher.

My father.

Where the hell did he disappear to?

Did he die? That didn’t seem likely.

That bastard’s luck is unbelievably good.

He was probably alive somewhere, doing something debauched again.

If I had one wish—

Please don’t cause an incident.

Please just sit still.

Praying for that with all my heart, I let the carriage carry us toward Mount Hua.

*****

NEIGH—!

In the cozy quiet of the night, the carriage moved.

And from atop the Martial Alliance’s halls, Jegal Jin watched it go.

Worry was written plain in his eyes.

It wasn’t only because he’d assigned a heavy mission.

“Tch.”

As he clicked his tongue and let bitterness settle in—

“Worried?”

A slick voice spoke at his side.

Jegal Jin didn’t answer.

Because it was someone he didn’t want to answer.

But then—

“Father-in-law?”

CRACK.

At the rotten title, Jegal Jin finally swung the fan in his hand.

SMACK—!

The absurdly handsome man took the fan to the top of his head and let out a pained groan.

Bang Cheonho.

“...Ow.”

“Get out of my sight.”

“What’s wrong with you? You looked lonely, so I came all this way—”

“You being here makes it worse. Disappear.”

“Hahaha. Father-in-law, you really... still can’t be honest—whoa, wait. Don’t draw a blade.”

When Jegal Jin, unable to take it anymore, reached for the small dagger he carried for self-defense, Bang Cheonho hurriedly stopped him.

“Seriously. You’re still full of fight.”

Even while acting playful, Jegal Jin sighed.

“...Your son is leaving on a rough road, and you don’t seem worried at all.”

“A rough road?”

Bang Cheonho stared at him like he’d said something ridiculous.

“Right now, that kid’s side looks safer than anywhere else in the world.”

Jegal Jin didn’t answer.

Because it was true.

“If that party manages to get injured or killed, then he was doomed to die anywhere. And besides—”

Watching the departing carriage, Bang Cheonho continued.

“My second son isn’t that weak. You could throw him off a cliff and he’d come back alive wearing the world’s most annoyed expression.”

“...Your faith is unwavering.”

“Of course.”

He spoke with a grin—

But when he said the last words, the smile vanished.

“Because he’s my son.”

Seeing that expression, Jegal Jin turned his head away.

Like always, it was a face he couldn’t stand to look at.