WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 41: At the Ak Clan Sword Family (1)

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After leaving the martial prison, Baek Socheon returned to the Sage Heaven Corps.

Im Chung and Beon Saeng were practicing the swordsmanship Baek Socheon had taught them on the training grounds.

Since they had yet to receive official duties, they spent their days doing nothing but sword training.

Baek Socheon stood there for a while, watching them practice.

Im Chung's swordsmanship was average, but Beon Saeng's was exceptional. Beon Saeng had a natural talent for martial arts. He usually joked around and spouted nonsense, giving the impression that martial arts were the furthest thing from his mind, but he was unexpectedly gifted.

Baek Socheon corrected their stances. How could anyone fail to benefit from his guidance? With every word, they improved by leaps and bounds.

"At this rate, you'll soon move on to the next stage."

Beon Saeng asked in surprise, "There's another stage?"

"Of course."

"How many stages are there?"

"About a hundred and eight?"

"Hahahaha. It's been a while since I've heard you talking nonsense, Brother. It's good to hear it again. Now, stop joking. How many stages are there?"

"......"

"You're not joking."

"If anything, I lowered the number a little for your morale."

"Ah! You're bringing up the hundred and eight afflictions."

Of course, Baek Socheon had only said it as a joke to keep Beon Saeng from slacking off.

Beon Saeng had an abundance of aptitude and talent for martial arts, as well as the drive to work this hard. At this rate, he would join the ranks of masters before long.

After encouraging Beon Saeng, Baek Socheon turned to Im Chung.

"How is it? Manageable?"

"I'm trying, but my body isn't keeping up."

"Don't rush. Just keep at it."

"Yes, I'll remember that."

Im Chung lacked Beon Saeng's talent, but he had something Beon Saeng did not.

Patience and persistence.

Whenever Im Chung thought of his family, he could endure even the hardest trials.

His son Chan, in particular, had set his sights on the martial world. At the very least, Im Chung wanted to become a father who could serve as a small guidepost for his son.

Whenever things got difficult, Im Chung remembered what Baek Socheon had told him. At Im Chung's age, Baek Socheon had not even been able to walk. Yet Baek Socheon was now soaring before his very eyes.

'I can do it too.'

After all, he had one excuse he could use.

'It's hard because I'm getting old.'

Still, Im Chung intended to save that excuse like a master's final move. He would do everything he could not to fall behind young Beon Saeng.

"It would be good to build up your physical strength as well."

"Yes, understood."

As Baek Socheon headed up to his office, he called back, "Grow stronger quickly! Then I can work you to the bone!"

"Yes!"

With renewed determination, Im Chung and Beon Saeng swung their swords again and immersed themselves in training.

* * *

From that day on, Baek Socheon visited the martial prison every day.

He would place a bottle of liquor in front of it, then train. He worked on his physical strength, and on some days, he threw punches and kicks.

At first, Gwoe Yeo had only glanced at him now and then. These days, Gwoe Yeo watched openly.

"Why are you throwing punches around without a shred of dignity?"

"Isn't this a world full of infuriating things? I'm preparing to beat them all up."

"That doesn't look like ordinary martial arts."

Gwoe Yeo recognized that Baek Socheon's fist techniques were no ordinary art. Apparently interested, they began offering all sorts of unsolicited advice.

Today, too, something caught Gwoe Yeo's eye.

"Shouldn't you lower your stance more for that form?"

Baek Socheon readily followed the advice and tried the move with his stance lowered.

"It's uncomfortable."

"You have to endure it, even if it is."

"Why?"

"That way, you'll be able to launch into the next form faster."

"Hmm."

Baek Socheon fell into thought. Of course, his martial realm far surpassed Gwoe Yeo's.

Still, he did not take Gwoe Yeo's words lightly.

Whom should someone who had reached the very peak learn from?

Baek Socheon believed there were two answers.

First, strive to find something greater.

Whether it was a secret manual, a person, or anything else. That was also why he learned the Greatest Martial Art of All Time. Naturally, it was also meant to grant him the realization needed to recover his internal energy.

Second, listen to the words of advisers.

They said that when three people walked together, one of them would surely be a teacher. Someone with Gwoe Yeo's skill could be an excellent adviser.

There was one important principle in this process.

Never be swayed or confused by another's words.

An inferior martial artist was still an inferior martial artist. If Baek Socheon accepted advice poorly, his own skill could decline. He had to take an adviser's words, raise them to his own level, and recreate them from there.

That was why he took Gwoe Yeo's words seriously today.

"No. Even if it means launching a little later, it's better to remain comfortable here. If I bend lower, it would create an opening on the left and become more dangerous instead."

"Was there an opening on the left?"

"You wouldn't be able to see it."

"If I can't see it, it doesn't exist."

"That's true."

Baek Socheon readily admitted it. An opening visible only to masters of his level. If the opponent before him could not see that opening, was it truly an opening or not?

Standing where he was, Baek Socheon sank into deep thought.

Was a form he considered perfect truly perfect? Was it right to discard the practical elements sacrificed for an ultimate move? If he were to strike a balance between the two, what method should he seek?

Whenever Baek Socheon became lost in such deep thought, Gwoe Yeo never interrupted him and quietly drank. Gwoe Yeo might have been an evildoer, but they had at least that much consideration.

An hour later, Baek Socheon finished reflecting and smiled.

"Tomorrow, I'll bring two bottles."

It meant he had gained something from his contemplation.

"Good, good."

Baek Socheon had not spoken with anyone about martial arts recently, so his conversations with Gwoe Yeo were helping him greatly.

Fifteen days passed like that. Then Baek Socheon said to Gwoe Yeo, "Today's the last day."

Gwoe Yeo flinched at the word last.

"You mean you won't come anymore?"

"That's right. If I could, I'd come for months, even years, to discuss martial arts with you and try to change your mind, but I don't have that kind of leisure."

Gwoe Yeo's expression twisted. It was like a bolt from the blue.

Having drunk liquor every day for fifteen days, Gwoe Yeo found the thought of no longer being able to drink it unbearable.

"You planned this."

"Think what you like. Today will likely be our last meeting. Take care of yourself until then. Neither you nor I will reach paradise, so let's meet in hell later."

Baek Socheon turned and began walking away.

After he had gone some distance, Gwoe Yeo called out from behind him, "If I answer questions about the Alliance Leader, what will you do for me?"

Baek Socheon turned back.

"I'll arrange for one bottle of liquor to be delivered to you every day until you die."

"Really?"

"I promise."

"Fine."

At that moment, Gwoe Yeo asked themself a question.

Was it truly only because of the liquor?

Gwoe Yeo had endured all this time in order not to betray the Black Heaven Alliance Leader. The moment they spoke, all the loyalty they had offered until now would become meaningless.

But Gwoe Yeo was tired now.

Even that loyalty was exhausted.

Still, Gwoe Yeo tried not to think, 'I was the one betrayed.' They tried to remain the traitor to the very end. That was the final loyalty they could offer the Black Heaven Alliance Leader.

By then, Baek Socheon had walked back over to Gwoe Yeo.

"What exactly do you want to know about the Black Heaven Alliance Leader?"

Gwoe Yeo was more curious about what Baek Socheon intended to ask.

Baek Socheon's first question concerned Black Heaven Alliance Leader Yeom Hwasin's body.

"When I fought my final bloody battle with them, my sword cleaved straight through their heart."

"You! Is that true?"

There were only a few people in the world who knew that Baek Socheon had fought a final battle with the Black Heaven Alliance Leader. Gwoe Yeo had been captured before that battle, so they did not know about it.

"Yet they did not die. Do you know why?"

In his battle against the Black Heaven Alliance Leader, Baek Socheon had poured out every last ultimate technique he possessed. Yeom Hwasin had done the same.

At the end of that all-out battle, Baek Socheon found an opening to attack.

He poured every last bit of his internal energy into the strike, shattered the Black Heaven Alliance Leader's body-protecting qi, and drove his sword into Yeom Hwasin's heart. Yet the Black Heaven Alliance Leader did not die. Instead, Yeom Hwasin counterattacked.

That counterattack had destroyed Baek Socheon's dantian.

"Why ask that now?"

Gwoe Yeo had not said they did not know. They asked why Baek Socheon wanted to know, which meant they had the answer.

"In case I have to fight them again."

"You've lost all your internal energy, haven't you? Did you think I wouldn't know that when I've been locked up here?"

"That's right. Which is why I need to know more. That battle is what made me this way. Why didn't your Alliance Leader die?"

Having made up their mind, Gwoe Yeo answered without hesitation.

"The Black Heaven Alliance Leader's heart is naturally located elsewhere."

"As I thought!"

No matter how Baek Socheon considered it, that seemed to be the only explanation. Still, he had wanted to confirm it in case Yeom Hwasin had survived through some other hidden trump card.

"Where is it?"

"If it isn't on the left, then it must be on the right. If it isn't higher up, then it must be lower down."

"Exactly where?"

"I don't know. Do you think the Alliance Leader would tell someone else something that important?"

Baek Socheon could tell Gwoe Yeo was speaking the truth.

He recalled Yeom Hwasin's appearance.

Somewhere in that enormous, solid body was a heart. If it was not on the left, it would be on the right. But what if it was not there either?

No one would understand how difficult it was to drive a sword into Yeom Hwasin's body.

'Right, let's think positively. At least I know it isn't in their left chest.'

Baek Socheon asked his second question.

"Did the Black Heaven Alliance Leader know any Soul-Seizing Art techniques?"

"Soul-Seizing Art? Why are you asking that?"

"You don't need to know why. Did they learn one or not?"

"They did. The Dark Spirit Binding Art. It is among the greatest Soul-Seizing Arts. But as I understand it, the Alliance Leader learned the Dark Spirit Binding Art not to beguile others, but to prevent others from attempting Soul-Seizing Arts on them. Even without using something like a Soul-Seizing Art, the Alliance Leader was strong enough."

Baek Socheon silently nodded.

"I have one final question."

"What is it?"

"Where is Ban Yunsaeng now?"

Gwoe Yeo was startled by the unexpected name.

"Why are you looking for that person?"

"You don't need to know."

"Don't tell me..."

Gwoe Yeo wore an incredulous expression.

"Don't tell me you believe the nonsense that man used to spout. He's insane."

"Unless I do something insane, I don't think I can resolve my situation."

Gwoe Yeo stared at Baek Socheon for a moment, then spoke. Having already opened their mouth, there was no reason to stop now.

"I heard he secluded himself in the Qilian Mountains. I don't know whether he's still alive."

The Qilian Mountains in Gansu lay within Black Heaven Alliance territory, not far from Yumen Pass, which led beyond the frontier.

"I understand. That's all I wanted to ask. Thank you for answering. I'll make arrangements for you to receive one bottle of liquor every day from now on."

As Baek Socheon turned to leave, Gwoe Yeo said, "Our Alliance Leader will achieve the unification of the unorthodox path."

"You still call them 'our Alliance Leader.'"

"You might want to call me a traitor, but the Alliance Leader will understand me."

"I don't think so. If you want to have as few regrets as possible, drink plenty of liquor while you can."

Baek Socheon meant that, having revealed so much information, Gwoe Yeo would not be spared by the Black Heaven Alliance Leader. Gwoe Yeo could not deny it.

Annoyed for no reason, Gwoe Yeo shouted at Baek Socheon's back, "Make sure you keep your promise!"

As Baek Socheon left the martial prison and walked toward the Sage Heaven Corps, an emergency bell rang. It was a bell that sounded during real emergencies, not training.

Soon after, a group of Iron Sword Corps martial artists rode out at full speed.

Baek Socheon stepped aside and watched them.

At the front of the group was Iron Sword Corps Commander Choong Yang. Hwang Ilbi was among the martial artists following behind. For the Iron Sword Corps Commander to personally lead the First Unit Commander on such an urgent deployment meant that a serious incident had occurred.

Baek Socheon learned what it was upon returning to the Sage Heaven Corps.

Sima Iljung was waiting there.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sima Iljung, a strategist of the Sage Heaven Pavilion."

"I'm Baek Socheon."

"I have been assigned to handle communications between the Strategic Command Center and Unit Commander Baek from now on. It is an honor to meet you."

It was not an empty courtesy, but a sincere statement. That was why Sima Iljung had volunteered to Zhuge Hyeon to take on this task. This was the man whose name had stood at the very top of the Strategic Command Center's Martial World Ranking Record. Sima Iljung was deeply moved simply to have the chance to speak with him.

"I look forward to working with you."

"The feeling is mutual."

Zhuge Hyeon had promised to share the information gathered by the Strategic Command Center.

"On my way here, I saw the Iron Sword Corps moving out in a hurry. Did something happen at the Alliance?"

"An incident has occurred at the Ak Clan Sword Family."

Only then did Baek Socheon understand the Iron Sword Corps' emergency deployment. The Ak Clan Sword Family was the family of Murim Alliance Leader Ak Sogun.

Footnotes:

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