WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 50: The Internal Energy of a Single Tear (1)

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"How are you feeling? Is your body any better?"

Ak Sogun came to visit ten days later.

By then, Baek Socheon could barely sit up. Even then, he had to lean against the wall.

"Alliance Leader, please forgive my discourtesy."

"What are you talking about? Just lie down and rest."

"No, I'm all right."

"I stayed away on purpose because I didn't want to interfere with your treatment."

With that calm voice and gentle gaze, the Alliance Leader was someone who put others at ease. Ever since Baek Socheon had first greeted Ak Sogun after becoming a Unit Commander of the Iron Sword Corps, the Alliance Leader had always been a source of strength to him.

"Socheon."

"Yes."

Ak Sogun took Baek Socheon's hand.

"Thanks to you, the war is over. The Black Heaven Alliance has proposed a truce."

Joy filled Ak Sogun's voice, but Baek Socheon gave an unexpected reply.

"We must not accept a truce."

"What do you mean?"

"The Black Heaven Alliance Leader was seriously wounded in the fight with me. We must finish them off now."

"Are you saying we should continue the war?"

"Are all the sacrifices made so far not enough?"

"No. Please don't misunderstand me. What I mean is that the Black Heaven Alliance Leader will start another war anyway. If that happens, we'll pay a far greater price than if we end it now."

"How do you know that? Did that bastard say they would start another war?"

"No."

"Then?"

"It's a feeling I have."

Ak Sogun released his hand, expression hardening.

"We cannot restart a war that has ended based on nothing but a feeling."

The reaction was so forceful that Baek Socheon did not bring up the matter again.

"I understand, Alliance Leader."

"You must be tired. Get some rest. I'll come again."

Ak Sogun rose and left the room.

Baek Socheon wanted to say that was not what he had meant, but seeing the anger in Ak Sogun's retreating back, he said nothing.

Had the Alliance Leader ever become that angry before? Was saying they needed to end the war while they had the chance truly enough to provoke such anger?

Then he recalled the red dot he had seen in Ak Sogun's eye that day.

Ten days later, Baek Socheon was able to leave his room for the first time.

Of course, he still could not walk. He had to sit in a cart pushed from behind.

As the physicians passed through the courtyard, they politely bowed to him.

"We're relieved to see you're safe."

"It's thanks to all of you."

This was the Murim Alliance infirmary overseen by the Divine Physician.

When he went out into the infirmary's rear courtyard and looked up at the sky, the tightness in his chest seemed to ease a little.

As he gazed at the clear, cloudless sky, that long war felt like a dream. Yet it had not been a dream. Like someone who had lost a leg and still felt phantom pain, he would instinctively try to draw on his internal energy and cry out in agony.

At that moment, Ak Sogun entered with an escort.

The Alliance Leader dismissed the person pushing the cart, then pushed it personally.

"You are far too exalted for this. I feel uneasy burdening you."

"It's fine. You're not just anyone."

"Alliance Leader."

"I'm sorry for losing my temper last time."

"No. I spoke out of turn."

"No, I was at fault. It was only natural for you to say that. I was too sensitive."

"No."

On the day Ak Sogun had left in anger, Baek Socheon had felt deeply resentful. But after giving it some thought, he could understand the Alliance Leader's difficulties as well. As the person leading the orthodox faction's martial artists, Ak Sogun must have wanted to end the war as soon as possible for everyone's sake.

"I heard about your condition from the Divine Physician. Don't worry. Even if I have to search the entire Central Plains, I'll find a way to heal you."

"Your words alone mean a great deal to me."

The sincerity in those words came through clearly.

"Socheon."

Whenever they were alone, Ak Sogun would sometimes call him by name like this.

"Yes, Alliance Leader."

"Thank you. You saved all of us."

Yet after that day, Ak Sogun did not visit Baek Socheon for quite some time.

That did not mean the Alliance Leader had abandoned him entirely. Baek Socheon received a great reward and remained in his position as Secret Pavilion Master.

Baek Socheon considered two possibilities behind the Alliance Leader's ambiguous behavior.

First, Ak Sogun might have fallen victim to the Soul-Seizing Art.

If the Alliance Leader had been struck by an evil art like the Soul-Seizing Art, Baek Socheon had to help free Ak Sogun.

Still, that seemed unlikely.

Apart from dealings with Baek Socheon, Ak Sogun handled everything as capably as before.

The timing did not fit either. After the Black Heaven Alliance Leader tore out Baek Socheon's dantian and departed, the Alliance Leader had rushed over.

So when could Ak Sogun have been affected? Had it happened after Baek Socheon lost consciousness? Had someone else done it? Or was it something else entirely?

That was why the second possibility tormented Baek Socheon.

The Alliance Leader might have discarded him because he was no longer useful.

If that was the case, then keeping him in the position of Secret Pavilion Master was likely only for appearances.

The thought that he had been cast aside wounded his pride so deeply that rage surged within him, unbearable in its intensity. It was truly miserable. After everything he had done. After fighting so hard for the Murim Alliance and the martial world...

A pessimistic thought came to him. Perhaps he was simply refusing to accept that he had been abandoned, letting his unconscious imagination run wild with talk of the Soul-Seizing Art.

One more thing was added to the confusion caused by those two possibilities.

The pain of losing his internal energy.

This was not just anyone. Baek Socheon had once been the greatest martial artist under heaven, yet all his internal energy had vanished.

That was why Baek Socheon's wandering in his first year had been true wandering. It was pure wandering, without any ulterior purpose.

Through that wandering, Baek Socheon realized something.

He had only been called a hero because he was good at fighting... In truth, he was nothing more than an ordinary person.

His wandering afterward, though, carried some intent.

'What if, even by the slightest chance...!'

If it was true that the Alliance Leader had fallen victim to the Soul-Seizing Art, then only Baek Socheon could save Ak Sogun. He could not let the Alliance Leader remain in danger simply because of his own foolish pride.

If that was the case, he needed to step down from his high position. If it was someone's scheme, they would try to eliminate him while he occupied an important post. That was why his later misconduct and demotion had been intentional as well.

Even while unconscious and submerged in deep sleep, Baek Socheon continued thinking only of that day.

Whoosh.

After being immersed in six different medicinal liquids, Baek Socheon was removed from the last one.

Ban Yunsaeng thoroughly washed his body before laying him on a bed. Then Ban Yunsaeng covered him with medicinal clay.

A small tube was placed in his mouth to let him breathe before he was completely covered.

All that remained was to wait.

Ban Yunsaeng had done everything possible. This single grand method was one Ban Yunsaeng had staked everything on, and it was also a test of whether a lifetime had been spent on the right path or the wrong one. Baek Socheon's fate was at stake, as was Ban Yunsaeng's own.

'Heavens, pity this old man and let the grand method succeed!'

* * *

"The operation has failed!"

The Iron Sword Corps' painstaking operation had failed, and the Iron Sword Corps' First Unit was trapped within the Black Heaven Alliance's Heaven's Net. Like furious ants pouring from a dug-up anthill, Black Heaven Alliance forces flooded in from every direction.

The moment eighteen masters of the Black Heaven Alliance appeared before them, they realized it was a perfect trap.

"At least you should escape, Corps Commander!"

Yet Baek Socheon, who had broken through Heaven's Net to save his subordinates, did not abandon them.

He fought with every bit of strength he had.

Stab!

After piercing an opponent's heart, Baek Socheon pulled free his blood-red sword and shouted.

"Who's next? Come out!"

Thirteen masters stood before Baek Socheon.

Five corpses already lay cold at his feet.

It was the sort of situation often found in the martial world. The kind of boast people made over drinks. A fight of eighteen against one.

But no braggart would dismiss these eighteen masters as merely eighteen opponents.

They were the Black Heaven Alliance's most notorious sword demons.

The Eighteen Ghost Swords.

That was the moment the Eighteen Ghost Swords became the Thirteen Ghost Swords.

"Come on! Get in here, you bastards!"

Blood ran from Baek Socheon's mouth as he swung his sword and roared. He had suffered severe injuries while killing the five Ghost Swords. His pale face showed that his internal energy was nearly exhausted. This was not from his days as the greatest martial artist under heaven, but from the time when he had been Corps Commander of the Iron Sword Corps. He had not been the greatest under heaven then, but those were days when he had truly been thriving.

Though his face was pale, Baek Socheon's spirit remained fierce.

"Who wants to go first? You? Or you?"

None of the thirteen masters moved. They could feel that whoever stepped forward now would die. They believed that after another three or four deaths, they would finally be able to kill Baek Socheon.

Even if they attacked together, Baek Socheon had just proven that two or three of them would certainly die.

The surviving Ghost Swords watched one another carefully. This was a golden opportunity to kill the Murim Alliance's Iron Sword Corps Commander.

"I can take at least five more with me."

"That body of yours won't be able to manage it."

"Then why don't you test it first?"

Still, none of them dared step forward. Before their very eyes, Baek Socheon had killed five comrades equal to them in skill.

Baek Socheon stepped forward.

"Either get lost or come at me."

That was when it happened.

Bang! Bang!

Fireworks burst nearby.

It was a signal that the Iron Sword Corps martial artists had broken through Heaven's Net and were coming this way.

In the end, the thirteen surviving Ghost Swords retreated.

The instant they vanished from sight, Baek Socheon coughed up blood.

His subordinates were about to cry out in alarm when Baek Socheon quietly stopped them.

"Shh."

If the enemy learned that his internal injuries were this severe, they would return.

He swallowed the blood in his mouth and began walking.

"Let's go."

But after only a few steps, he staggered and nearly collapsed. Two subordinates supported him from either side. One of them was Hwang Ilbi. When Hwang Ilbi had been a new recruit in the Iron Sword Corps, Baek Socheon had been its Corps Commander.

"...I need to sleep for a while."

Baek Socheon's eyes slowly closed.

"Corps Commander!"

"I'm fine. I'm fine. I won't die..."

He fell asleep.

"Please, don't die!"

"You must not die!"

The retreating group's steps quickened. This battle would become the decisive victory that later led to Baek Socheon's promotion as Secret Pavilion Master.

Hwang Ilbi cried out desperately.

"Please open your eyes!"

* * *

Baek Socheon snapped his eyes open.

It was a dream he did not usually have. A dream from the days when everything had been going so well.

Why had he dreamed of that day of all days?

For some time now, his dreams had only been of the day he fought the Black Heaven Alliance Leader and the days that followed. He had dreamed only of the Murim Alliance Leader and the Black Heaven Alliance Leader...

When he sat up, his entire body hurt as though he had been beaten senseless. It felt just like the day he regained consciousness in the Murim Alliance infirmary after the war ended. Clumps of clay littered his body, the bed, and the floor.

When he raised himself, he saw Ban Yunsaeng sitting blankly before him.

Ban Yunsaeng looked at the awakened Baek Socheon and spoke through tears.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

Ban Yunsaeng had poured everything into it, but achieved nothing. Every bit of knowledge, research, and learning from an entire lifetime had been used, yet Baek Socheon remained unchanged. Even having him regain consciousness was more than Ban Yunsaeng could have hoped for.

"I'm glad you're alive."

Yet it was the moment Ban Yunsaeng's entire life was denied. The grand method had been performed on the most suitable person possible, and it had still failed. The grand method had been flawed from the beginning.

'What have I been doing with my life?'

There was only one thought: that a life had been wasted. It felt as though Ban Yunsaeng had awakened, looked around, and found themself standing naked in the middle of a marketplace. That was why everyone had called it madness. That was why everyone had kept their distance. Everyone but Ban Yunsaeng had known.

They had all known this would be the result.

Baek Socheon stared silently down at his body for a long time before slowly opening his mouth.

"Please don't cry."

His low voice echoed through the cave.

Ban Yunsaeng, who had been hanging their head, looked up.

Seeing Ban Yunsaeng's tear-filled eyes, Baek Socheon spoke in a trembling voice.

"Your complete transformation failed... but the complete transformation I wanted has succeeded."

"...?"

It was not a complete transformation that changed his bones, skeletal frame, and even his meridians.

Yet a change had occurred within Baek Socheon. Behind where his torn-out dantian had been, there was something new. As though it had understood Baek Socheon's desperate wish, a new dantian had miraculously formed.

And as if to tell him that he could now build internal energy there, he could feel a faint trace of internal energy within it, no more than a single tear gathered at the corner of Ban Yunsaeng's eye.

Now he understood why he had dreamed of his days when he had been thriving. It was a dream created by a single drop of internal energy. His unconscious had called back the glory days it had struggled to bury.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Baek Socheon said, "Elder, I can feel internal energy in my body."

It was an incredibly faint amount, but it was the first internal energy he had felt in three years.

Footnotes:

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