The Former Supreme - Chapter 69

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 69: The Absolute One's Pure Love (1)

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Yeom Hwasin stood before the garden with his hands clasped behind his back.

His back resembled a massive wall that would not collapse no matter how hard it was struck.

'Has he truly attained the Indestructible Vajra Body?'

No matter how much Baek Socheon trained his body, he had never managed to attain the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Perhaps it was a matter of mindset. From the beginning, he had not trained to reach the limits of external martial arts. It had only been part of his effort to regain his internal energy.

What kind of resolve had Yeom Hwasin needed to achieve it?

Was it the fruit of his obsession with swallowing the martial world whole?

"I don't like meddling in another man's family affairs, but I have to say something. Aren't you being too selfish?"

It was a rebuke for neglecting his son's upbringing, and Yeom Hwasin understood it at once.

"If you had been born as my son, I wouldn't have raised you like that."

"What do you mean?"

"It means he was a fool from the start. For a fool to survive in this place, he needs at least a vicious temper."

Baek Socheon understood the sentiment behind those words. This was the Black Heaven Alliance, a place where anyone raised too gently would have a whole jug of poison mixed into their water.

"If what happened earlier upset you, let me put your mind at ease. Do you really think I'd kill all of you here? I'm not that kind of person."

"Didn't you decide you had to kill us earlier?"

"Because you placed the Soul-Seizing Art on my son?"

"No?"

"Do I look like someone who lives with others in mind?"

He referred to his own son as someone else. He meant it.

"I don't believe anyone bound by affection for blood relatives can accomplish the great task of unifying the Central Plains. In that sense, it is something you will never achieve."

"I wasn't interested in it to begin with."

"What are you interested in, then? Other than that ridiculous loyalty of yours. What is it that you care about?"

Had Baek Socheon heard that question a few months ago, he would not have been able to answer. He had no intention of telling Yeom Hwasin even now.

Still, he answered silently in his heart.

'Now I can see my life and my people.'

He had found the will to seek out his own life.

Once he prevented this war, he would live only for his own happiness.

Telling Yeom Hwasin that would only give him a weakness to exploit. It was better for Yeom Hwasin to see him as nothing more than a stubborn orthodox fool obsessed with loyalty.

Then Yeom Hwasin said something unexpected.

"But sometimes, I envy that ridiculous loyalty. It's the one thing I envy your Alliance Leader for."

"I know you have plenty of loyal people beneath you, so stop pretending to be pitiful."

"Hahaha."

Yeom Hwasin burst into laughter. Baek Socheon could not tell whether Yeom Hwasin's laughter meant Baek Socheon's observation was true or whether it was tinged with bitterness.

"Why did you ask to see me?"

"You will have to remain here."

"Why?"

"Consider it the price of letting those two leave alive."

"That isn't a reason, is it? Didn't you just say you weren't that kind of person?"

"If I have to give a reason... I need to make sure my son remains safe until five days have passed."

As though he had nothing more to say, Yeom Hwasin turned and left.

One hour later, a carriage bound for the Murim Alliance had been prepared.

Only after Cheon Geuk and Na Sarin climbed into the carriage did Baek Socheon tell them that he would be staying behind.

"Why are you only telling us now?"

"If I told you earlier, you would've tried to stop me. It would've only made you worry more."

"Even so..."

"Don't worry. Go."

"How can I not worry?"

Just then, Yeom Hwasin walked over.

"The way you look at me is getting fiercer and fiercer."

"No."

Cheon Geuk quickly lowered her head. Without realizing it, she had let her feelings show in her gaze.

Yeom Hwasin drove the point home with a warning.

"If anything happens to my son, Baek Socheon dies."

Yeom Hwasin had noticed that Cheon Geuk liked Baek Socheon.

Na Sarin answered in her place.

"Don't worry. Nothing will happen to your son."

"Then Baek Socheon will return safely."

Baek Socheon said to Yeom Hwasin, "Please let me speak with Alliance Leader Cheon for a moment."

"Fine."

Baek Socheon and Cheon Geuk walked far away from the carriage.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry, and return with Elder Na."

"You really will be all right, won't you? You won't make me regret leaving you behind at this moment for the rest of my life, will you?"

"Don't worry."

"I'll make some good tea and wait for you. See you later."

As she turned away, Cheon Geuk whispered into his ear.

"Just in case, how about telling me your battlefield coded phrase?"

"Hahaha."

With that, he sent the two women back in the carriage.

Once they had left, Yeom Hwasin said to Baek Socheon, "There's somewhere you need to go with me."

He had not made Baek Socheon stay for the sake of his son.

As though it had been waiting for that very moment, another carriage arrived and stopped nearby.

"Get in."

Baek Socheon followed him into the carriage, and it departed at once.

The carriage rattled as though it were traveling over rough terrain, but it did not slow down. The driver was just as temperamental as the carriage's owner.

After they had traveled for a long while, Yeom Hwasin spoke.

"Do you know why I like you?"

Baek Socheon turned toward him.

"Because you don't say pointless things. You don't chatter like a child, asking where we're going and why."

"Where are we going?"

"You're good at defying me too. You're quite adorable. At times like this, I wish you were my son."

"Then don't say you couldn't care less about affection for blood relatives."

"Hahaha."

"Since we're talking about it, let me ask you one thing."

"What is it?"

"I heard that the secret art used to implant gu parasites in us came from Jeok Parap, Myeolsaeng's master."

Yeom Hwasin nodded. He already knew.

"Is Jeok Parap still alive?"

"Alive."

"I heard Jeok Parap is over a hundred years old."

"The Blood Cult has fewer people than we do, but it is full of strange ones. I wouldn't be surprised even if some two-hundred-year-old relic appeared."

Jeok Parap was alive? Jeok Parap's martial arts could not possibly be limited to using gu parasites. If Jeok Parap was truly alive, they had to assume there was another troublesome old monster out there.

That was why the Sage Heaven Pavilion's Martial World Ranking Record was not perfect. Jeok Parap's name had not been on it in the first place.

"Are you really going to start a war?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Next spring."

If that was true, only a little over five months remained. Given Yeom Hwasin's personality, it was already a foregone conclusion.

"As you know, the Blood Cult has wanted to seize the Central Plains for generations. Look at how they implanted gu parasites in us this time. Can you afford to exhaust your strength fighting us? What will you do if they stab you in the back?"

"My head is hard. A blow to the back of it won't kill me."

"Do you know that their Cult Leader has reached full mastery of the Blood Heaven Art?"

"I know."

Baek Socheon could not tell whether it was confidence or bluffing, but at least in that moment, Yeom Hwasin showed no sign of fear.

'Has he truly attained the Indestructible Vajra Body?'

Even his joke about having a hard head sounded meaningful.

The carriage reached its destination, not far from the Black Heaven Alliance headquarters.

When they got out, Baek Socheon saw a small thatched cottage in the distance. Fields surrounded it, but he could sense the presence of hidden masters nearby.

"A woman lives there. Like you, she belongs to the orthodox faction."

Baek Socheon found that unexpected. Not because she was a woman, but because of Yeom Hwasin's attitude as he spoke. Unlike his usual self, he seemed slightly awkward and embarrassed.

Then Yeom Hwasin revealed something astonishing.

"She's the woman I love."

Baek Socheon was startled. It would not have been strange for the Alliance Leader of the unorthodox faction to desire a woman other than his wife, but it was surprising that he would confess it to Baek Socheon.

"I happened to take her hostage during the Orthodox-Demonic War."

After that, Yeom Hwasin had fallen deeply for her. He had never fallen for a woman before. To him, women had only been tools of pleasure, whose role was to bear his children. He believed that if he wanted any woman, he could simply rape her by force.

Yet he had fallen for one woman...

But with her, he did not want to do that. Of course, there was a reason for it.

"Don't tell me you brought me here because of this."

"Did you think I brought you here to get rid of some insignificant bug? A bug that cannot even move because of the Dark Spirit Binding Art?"

"You really are insane."

"Hahahaha."

Yeom Hwasin laughed heartily. He was still enjoying Baek Socheon's reaction. After all, Baek Socheon had said things to Yeom Hwasin that no one else in the world could say so freely. Once Yeom Hwasin lost interest in that amusement, he would try to kill Baek Socheon.

In any case, Yeom Hwasin's feelings for the woman were sincere.

"No matter how I tried to win her over, she would not yield. Now the only thing left is to kill her."

"Are you still hung up on her?"

"No woman I wanted has ever refused me to the end."

Did any of them give in because they wanted to?

Baek Socheon wanted to say that, but held back. When a man had a woman problem, a single slight could make him ten times as angry.

Perhaps the only reason that woman was still alive was because she had refused him. If she had come easily, he would have discarded her just as easily.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Find out why she hates me."

He likely wanted Baek Socheon to persuade her to change her mind, even though Yeom Hwasin should have known the reason better than anyone.

"A man with a wife and child is asking a bachelor like me for this?"

"You're quite popular with women, aren't you? You understand women well too."

"Even if that's true, do you think she'll tell me something she won't tell you?"

"First, she belongs to the orthodox faction. And because it's you, I have some hope. You... perhaps you can do it."

"I'm grateful you think so highly of me, but will this really work?"

"Who knows? Just as I didn't know you would stab me through the heart three years ago."

"What if I refuse?"

"I'll kill you. Being afflicted by gu parasites isn't shameful at all, but making this request is truly humiliating. After I kill you, I'll find and kill the two bitches who left earlier too."

"Since you're dragging them into this, you must really want me to agree."

"That's why I'm sending you in. Because you're so quick to understand."

"Is there no one around you who can handle something like this?"

"If you tried living as the Black Heaven Alliance Leader, you would understand how I feel. You would understand what sort of creatures surround me."

Of course, there were several people Yeom Hwasin could truly trust. Some were clever, some were calm, and some were quick to read the room. Naturally, there were also people who understood women well.

But all of them were villains, ruthless enough to claw their way up to his side and serve him.

"I don't want to send them. I don't want to tell them something like this. And I don't want them meeting her."

"And I'm fine?"

"Yes."

It was a request unlike Yeom Hwasin, but Baek Socheon understood him. At least in this moment, Yeom Hwasin was nothing more than a man far removed from schemes and machinations.

Did he want to prove that he too was a human being with emotions?

No, perhaps he wanted to show Baek Socheon that he too was capable of pure love.

It was the same thing Baek Socheon had felt in his relationship with Cheon Geuk.

Being understood.

Perhaps Yeom Hwasin wanted someone to understand his pure love.

"Since you've already threatened to kill me, I'd like to set one condition too. Is that all right?"

"You cannot ask me to stop the war. I will not delay it either."

"That's not what I want."

"Then what is it?"

"Give me one martial manual you possess."

"A martial manual? What martial manual?"

"Wind God Traverses the Sky."

Yeom Hwasin's eyes, so full of pure love a moment ago, narrowed in an instant as wariness filled them.

"You don't need it, do you?"

"You don't need it either, do you? I heard that you cannot learn it because it conflicts with the martial arts you have cultivated."

"How did you learn that?"

"How else? Do you know how many years we fought each other? By the end of the war, I even knew what side dishes you ate with breakfast."

"Don't change the subject! Why are you interested in a martial manual?"

Yeom Hwasin roughly grabbed Baek Socheon's wrist. He injected internal energy and carefully examined Baek Socheon's dantian. He confirmed that the dantian he had shattered remained broken, and there was not even a trace of internal energy in Baek Socheon's body.

"It's for her."

"Her? Ah! That assassin wench."

"You always threaten to kill her. If she learns Wind God Traverses the Sky, she'll at least be able to run away."

Baek Socheon used Cheon Geuk as an excuse. At the moment, it was the most plausible reason.

Yeom Hwasin openly sneered.

"Unless she reaches at least eighty percent mastery of Wind God Traverses the Sky, do you think she can escape from me?"

That meant she could not get away from Yeom Hwasin with only seventy percent mastery. Looking at it the other way, she could flee from him once she reached eighty percent. It truly was the ultimate movement art.

"Avoiding you will be difficult. But you're a busy man, aren't you? You're not going to scour the world to catch a single assassin."

"You want to make sure she doesn't get caught by my subordinates?"

"She's a woman who likes this body despite it having no internal energy left. Shouldn't I at least look after her that much?"

Baek Socheon looked toward the thatched cottage in the distance.

"You understand how I feel these days."

In one sense, this was the best opportunity.

Yeom Hwasin did not deliberate for long.

"Fine. I promise."

Baek Socheon did not know whether Yeom Hwasin would keep that promise, but his ready answer told him at least one thing.

At this moment, that woman, or his feelings for her, mattered more to Yeom Hwasin than the greatest movement art of all time.

Baek Socheon walked toward the thatched cottage.

Yeom Hwasin's voice came from behind him.