WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Former Supreme ◈
Chapter 112: The Supreme Ones' Amusement (4)
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"Did you have a bad dream?"
Baek Socheon opened his eyes at Yeom Hwasin's question.
The carriage was still moving, and Yeom Hwasin was lying on the seat across from him. It was a large carriage built for Yeom Hwasin, so there was enough room for his massive body when he bent his knees.
"You looked startled."
Baek Socheon had closed his eyes moments ago, then suddenly flinched and shuddered.
"I remembered the moment you defeated me. The moment my dantian was torn apart."
He said it calmly, but it was a lie.
In truth, Baek Socheon had been thinking about the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Asura Divine Sword. Traveling with Yeom Hwasin had given him many insights and much to consider, but there was one regret.
He could not actually use his swordsmanship.
So whenever he had a spare moment, Baek Socheon trained in his mind.
Necessity breeds ingenuity. At first, the images had been no more than imagination, but they gradually began to feel real and became a form of training.
From the First Form to the Sixth Form, Baek Socheon slowly recalled every movement. Each sword form contained anywhere from several movements to more than twenty.
Yet he had never reviewed them this slowly before.
The Thousand-Hand Tathagata Asura Divine Sword was swordsmanship built on extreme speed from the very beginning.
Not only its individual movements, but even the sword forms containing them were combined as one before being unleashed all at once in a single flash.
This time, he regarded each movement as an independent technique and examined it closely. The moment he realized how exquisite and exceptional every single one was, a shiver ran through his entire body.
'It truly is an incredible martial art.'
The martial art unleashed in an instant was so incredible that he had failed to recognize how remarkable each individual movement was.
Put simply, the finished product had been so excellent that he had forgotten the quality of each component.
Had he not been traveling by carriage with Yeom Hwasin, he would not have easily made this discovery. He would have focused only on completing the Seventh Form and overlooked this for a very long time. Perhaps he might never have considered it at all.
"By the way, where are we?"
Baek Socheon looked at the scenery beyond the carriage, but he had no idea where they were. He could only tell that it was gradually growing colder outside.
"What does that matter? What matters is that we're enjoying this journey together."
Normally, this would have been the moment for Baek Socheon to say, "You're the only one enjoying it." Yet he did not. Honestly, he was enjoying this journey too.
As Baek Socheon closed his eyes again to meditate, Yeom Hwasin quickly asked, "What's in that leather bag?"
Baek Socheon had spent the whole day meditating, so Yeom Hwasin must have been bored.
"Various things."
"May I take a look?"
"No."
"Please, just once. Please! This is an old man's final wish. Please!"
"You're being noisy. Stop."
With an expression that said he could not help it, Baek Socheon handed over the leather bag. Who could stop Yeom Hwasin once he had set his mind on something?
Yeom Hwasin looked through the bag with interest.
"You only have martial uniforms?"
"Isn't that enough?"
"What if you have to attend a banquet?"
"I can wear a martial uniform."
"Hehe. No wonder you drank so much defeat wine. Do you think women would like that?"
"I recall you drinking more defeat wine than I did."
"I'm an old man."
"Only when it suits you."
Yeom Hwasin took out a box full of medicine and began nagging him again.
"Why are you carrying around so much medicine?"
"You may never get hurt again, but I'm so frail that even a glancing blow could break me."
"It must all be medicine for your whining."
Yeom Hwasin took out something else. It was a leather belt with more than twenty daggers stuck into it. He lifted it by the tip of one finger as though he had found something unpleasant.
"What is this tasteless piece of metal?"
"As you can see, daggers."
"Don't tell me you intend to throw these when a fight gets difficult."
"Why not? When you let your guard down, I'll throw one right at the back of your head."
"Let's throw this away."
As Yeom Hwasin tried to toss it out the window, Baek Socheon swiftly snatched it away.
"Then again, how could you understand the plight of someone as frail as me, without internal energy?"
"Who knows what life may bring? I may end up without internal energy one day too."
Baek Socheon silently stared at Yeom Hwasin.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Have you become humble? Or are you pretending to have changed?"
"If I pretended to change, I'd have to pretend I'd grown stronger too. Wouldn't that be bothersome? I really have become humble."
"That isn't funny at all."
Baek Socheon knew it. If Yeom Hwasin ever truly came to believe that a person's martial arts could change only if the person changed first, then he would really change himself. Even if he had to deceive himself and, through that, deceive the entire world.
Yeom Hwasin searched through the leather bag again and took out the guards Baek Socheon used to wear on his wrists and ankles. Though they looked like simple chunks of metal, they were extremely heavy.
"What are these?"
"I used them for physical training."
They were ones he had worn before, carried in the leather bag to maintain its weight while training his body.
"Oh, they're incredibly heavy."
"They're heavier than ordinary metal."
Yeom Hwasin looked at the guards Baek Socheon was wearing on his wrists.
"Don't tell me those are for training too?"
"Yes. They're even heavier than those."
"Let me see."
Baek Socheon removed the ones from his hands and feet and gave them to him. They were certainly heavier than those taken from the leather bag.
"That's a very old-fashioned training method."
"I don't know any other methods..."
"No. Sometimes the old ways are the best choice."
"I feel like I could fly after taking them off for the first time in a while."
Their weight was meaningless when he used internal energy, but without it, he felt light enough to soar through the sky.
Without returning them, Yeom Hwasin put them into the leather bag.
"Leave them off for now. You'll have a chance to stretch your body soon."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
Yeom Hwasin then asked Jong Mujin, who sat on the driver's bench, "How much farther?"
"We're almost there."
"There are some people who need dealing with."
"Who?"
"People who don't know their place."
Who could they be? At least one thing was clear. They were enemies important enough for Yeom Hwasin to deal with personally.
"Don't worry. They aren't from the orthodox faction."
"That's a relief, at least."
"Your love for the orthodox faction is something those orthodox bastards ought to know about."
"They know enough. And it doesn't matter if they don't. More importantly, are you saying you want me to fight too?"
"That's right. Haven't you been itching to move?"
"I'm telling you now, I won't fight."
"Why not?"
"What do you mean, why? Don't drag me into your business."
"Sometimes, there's a certain pleasure in beating unrelated people to death."
"You may feel that way."
A little later, the carriage arrived at its destination.
"We've arrived."
The two got down at the entrance to a gorge. Towering cliffs rose on both sides, and a perilous road stretched between them without end.
"How many are there?"
At Yeom Hwasin's question, Jong Mujin answered, "An estimated two hundred."
Yeom Hwasin spoke to Baek Socheon again.
"You heard him. A hundred for you, a hundred for me. Let's split them fairly."
"Where exactly is this?"
"A den of traitors."
"Traitors?"
"People who intend to betray the Black Heaven Alliance have been secretly building their strength here. I discovered it not long ago."
Baek Socheon looked unconvinced.
"Right? I couldn't believe it either. But things beyond all common sense happen from time to time."
"Who are they?"
"The Flood Dragon Gate."
The Flood Dragon Gate was one of the Seven Unorthodox Families. The Seven Unorthodox Families were the seven powers representing the unorthodox faction, organizations with tremendous influence.
Originally, they had been far stronger than the Black Heaven Alliance. There had even been a time when the Black Heaven Alliance danced in the palm of their hands. The Black Heaven Alliance Leader had been chosen in rotation from among the Seven Unorthodox Families as well.
As the years passed, they grew corrupt and decadent. They proved in every revolting way possible that stagnant water always rotted.
The dissatisfaction of the unorthodox martial artists steadily grew, but the Seven Unorthodox Families justified themselves through fear and oppression.
The era called for a hero, and heaven did not abandon their hopes.
A hundred years ago, Yeom Rarin, a peerless master, killed the Black Heaven Alliance Leader who had served as the Seven Unorthodox Families' hunting dog and became the new Black Heaven Alliance Leader himself. He was Yeom Hwasin's great-grandfather.
All the unorthodox martial artists, weary of the corrupt Seven Unorthodox Families' tyranny, swore loyalty to Yeom Rarin and united as one. In the end, Yeom Rarin defeated the Seven Unorthodox Families one after another and accepted their surrender.
The descendants of the Seven Unorthodox Families, having lost all their leaders, swore absolute obedience and loyalty to the Black Heaven Alliance.
Yeom Rarin did not wipe them out completely. It left the possibility of future trouble, but the Seven Unorthodox Families held immense symbolic importance and power among the unorthodox faction. If they disappeared, the balance with the orthodox martial world would be broken.
"The Seven Unorthodox Families made a covenant with the Black Heaven Alliance. One absolute rule was that they could not raise forces beyond their reported manpower. Yet they have secretly been training elite martial artists here."
The covenant had been created to prevent them from betraying the Black Heaven Alliance.
"At any rate, wicked instincts cannot be changed. Their madness has started to flare up again."
"Will you clean this place up, then attack the Flood Dragon Gate?"
"No. I'll leave them alone. Once this place is dealt with, they'll know. They'll know that I have discovered everything."
"What if they join the orthodox faction?"
"Would the orthodox faction accept them?"
That was impossible. The Seven Unorthodox Families were regarded no differently from the Black Heaven Alliance.
"Not only would you refuse them, they wouldn't even consider going. They hate you more than they hate me, their thorn in the side. They will probably take the lead in war to make up for this mistake. They'll decide to earn merit and avoid the destruction of their sects... that will be enough."
This was the breadth of vision and political skill Yeom Hwasin possessed. It was the same way he had handled the Blood Cult after they implanted the Heaven-Exiled Grudge Gu, simply accepting them.
For his goal, he minimized the emotional cost of the process.
Baek Socheon thought that was at least something worth learning for a person who led an alliance.
"Come on."
"Didn't I say no?"
"It's been a while. Show me what you can do."
"No. They're your traitors, which means they're on our side. Are you telling me to kill them?"
"If you don't kill them, I'll recruit even these bastards and put them at the front. It will benefit your side too if we get rid of them while I have decided to kill them."
That was true. Since Yeom Hwasin had come personally, they would have no way to hold out against him.
"You really do whatever you want. You will never change."
"Hahaha. Sorry, but I am changing. Lead the way."
Baek Socheon walked ahead.
"I intend to fight without using internal energy as well."
"Just sweep them away in one blow."
"I can't let you have it easy."
The two slowly entered the gorge, which brimmed with blade-like killing intent.
Half a siju later, Baek Socheon and Yeom Hwasin walked out of the gorge.
They were covered head to toe in blood.
The fight had begun with a rain of arrows, and later sword energy and sword aura flew everywhere.
The two worked together perfectly. Those who had reached their realm saw the flow of battle differently. He would take that one next, while the other took this one. When he dealt with that one, the other would handle this one. Their thoughts matched.
Still, there had been two hundred opponents, and the masters training the martial artists were no ordinary fighters. Only after fighting like mad did they finally manage to eliminate them all.
"Let's never do anything this insane again."
"Thanks to you, my blood is boiling for the first time in a long while. What about you?"
"It wasn't bad."
In truth, it had been better than that. The stifling feeling from being cooped up in a carriage all this time had vanished.
Had he ever fought with such peace of mind?
With Yeom Hwasin behind him, it felt as though an iron wall guarded his back.
Baek Socheon looked at Yeom Hwasin. What had he felt from today's battle?
"After seeing blood for the first time in ages, I'm hungry and want to see a woman. What should we do first?"
"Let's wash up first."
"Fine, let's go."
Yeom Hwasin strode toward the carriage.
After getting into the carriage first, Yeom Hwasin beckoned Baek Socheon over.
"I'll even buy you a fine outfit! There won't be any defeat wine today! Hahaha."
Baek Socheon gave a faint laugh and walked toward the carriage. It was a journey where they could not see even an inch ahead, but...
"You were right. There is a joy in a journey when you don't know what tomorrow holds. Fine. I don't know how far it will go, but until then, let's enjoy it!"
Footnotes:
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