The Former Supreme - Chapter 91

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 91: Roses and Onions (2)

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Baek Socheon walked out of the Continental Bank.

He had just deposited the three hundred thousand nyang he had received from Myeol Jiryun.

Added to the hundred thousand nyang he already had, his balance had returned to four hundred thousand nyang.

He had spent all but a hundred thousand nyang of everything he had earned in his life on spiritual medicine. Now he had amassed enough money that he would never need to worry about it again.

A vast fortune had appeared, vanished, then appeared again. It still did not quite feel real. Still, having more money was better than having none. Especially if he wanted to live freely someday.

As Baek Socheon entered the Murim Alliance, he paused. Construction was in full swing at the central training ground, where a duel platform was being built.

The platform was so large it would fill the enormous training ground. The workers said it was the largest duel platform they had ever built.

Since sword energy and sword aura might be unleashed, they had made the duel platform as large as possible and kept the spectators far away.

In a little over ten days, the duel would take place there.

No one knew what Yeom Sawon might do after being thoroughly provoked by Yeom Hwasin, nor what other variables might arise.

Baek Socheon headed for the Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon. Increasing his wealth was all well and good, but improving his martial arts was more important now.

It was good to return to the Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon after so long.

The best thing about this place was Dragon Spring, of course.

Baek Socheon quickly stripped and lowered himself into Dragon Spring.

"Ah, this is nice."

The happiness of soaking in a warm hot spring in the middle of winter was primal enough to make one wonder what else anyone could possibly need.

Even more so when it was a mystical hot spring that gathered more internal energy during energy circulation.

Cheon Geuk was good. The Alliance Leader was good. Protecting peace was good as well. Still, a man sometimes needed a place where he could be alone.

After circulating his true qi through a full circuit, all the fatigue that had built up in him melted away.

He had come here instead of the secret training ground because he wanted to practice fighting without internal energy. He could not freely use internal energy within the Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon.

While soaking in Dragon Spring, Baek Socheon thought of Myeol Jiryun.

Pressuring her had clearly produced results. He had confirmed that she truly was Myeolsaeng's daughter and discovered that she had other intentions. As a bonus, he had gained the enormous sum of three hundred thousand nyang.

Yeom Hwasin and Myeolsaeng.

Yeom Sawon and Myeol Jiryun.

They were four people, yet two. Two people, yet one.

They were using every method at their disposal to destroy the Murim Alliance and extinguish the spirit of the orthodox faction.

Baek Socheon had this thought during the previous war.

Good was always at a disadvantage against evil.

The orthodox faction was bound by chivalry and justice, and those principles sometimes held it back. What was considered a stratagem in the unorthodox faction became hypocrisy when used by the orthodox faction.

Baek Socheon believed the orthodox faction needed to change as well, but that was when it became important to draw a line. If they failed to keep that line, they would become no different from the unorthodox faction.

That was why the orthodox faction was slow and frustrating.

Still, Baek Socheon had never once regretted choosing it.

Yeom Hwasin had once said to him,

"You buttoned the first button wrong."

Yes, perhaps he had. But that did not mean he wanted to wear the clothes of the unorthodox faction. He only regretted the life he had lived while being swept along by others. He felt no regret about not choosing the unorthodox faction.

No, he despised them instead. They mocked the hypocrisy of the orthodox faction while disguising every evil deed as freedom.

Splash.

Baek Socheon submerged himself in Dragon Spring, then emerged.

Only one thing never changed.

He had to cultivate the strength to defeat Yeom Hwasin. If he could break through Yeom Hwasin's Indestructible Vajra Body, all these worries would end.

After leaving Dragon Spring, Baek Socheon trained in martial arts without using internal energy.

It felt different from training while constantly relying on internal energy.

It was completely different from when he had trained without internal energy in the past.

'Ah!'

In the process, he realized something.

His martial arts had already advanced by another level.

This was not growth in any one specific martial art. It was a broader advancement in martial knowledge itself, a gift he had naturally gained while learning the four Greatest Martial Arts of All Time.

'I hadn't even noticed.'

That had never happened before. Whenever he achieved something in martial arts, he noticed it immediately. Yet this time, he had missed it. His realm had surpassed the stage where he could instantly recognize every improvement and reached a new one.

He had grown stronger, and his martial arts had become more profound. Once he grew accustomed to this stage, he would again be able to notice every change at once.

"Hahahaha!"

Baek Socheon laughed loudly. As a martial artist by nature, nothing brought him greater joy than advancing in martial arts.

'Will I be able to achieve full mastery in all four Greatest Martial Arts of All Time? Just how far can my martial arts rise?'

Setting aside his goal of killing Yeom Hwasin, he was simply curious as a martial artist.

His training continued, and Baek Socheon focused on refining the Heaven-Turning Nine Fists.

He had to subdue Yeom Sawon while concealing his internal energy. It had to look, to anyone watching, as though he had not used internal energy at all. There was another concern as well. That bastard would come at him desperately. He had to knock him unconscious in one blow and end the duel.

For that, it seemed better to use fist techniques than swordsmanship. The early forms of the Heaven-Turning Nine Fists were especially suited to using an opponent's strength against them.

He repeatedly practiced energy circulation and the Heaven-Turning Nine Fists at Dragon Spring. The training continued for several days.

When Baek Socheon emerged from the Hidden Land of the Heavenly Dragon, Zhuge Hyeon contacted him.

When Baek Socheon went to see Zhuge Hyeon, the strategist delivered the news he had been waiting for.

"A report has come in regarding what you asked me to investigate."

Baek Socheon had previously asked Zhuge Hyeon to look into the internal division within the Blood Cult.

"What did you find?"

"Myeol Jiryun was right. There are reports that a dispute has broken out between Myeolsaeng and Jeok Parap."

"What is the relationship between them now?"

"They had a major argument in front of everyone, and they are now said to be at odds."

"Hm."

"Why? Is something wrong?"

"I think even their division may have been staged."

"Do you have a reason for thinking that?"

"No. It's just a feeling. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said something so baseless."

"No. I trust it more because it's a feeling."

"What?"

"Once your hunches start proving right, don't they just keep proving right?"

"I've been wrong plenty of times."

"What if you're right this time?"

"Then sending Myeol Jiryun was the will of the entire Blood Cult."

Zhuge Hyeon's expression turned grave. It was a threat just as serious as Yeom Hwasin sending Yeom Sawon to kill him.

"For now, act as though you know nothing. I'll handle Yeom Sawon and Myeol Jiryun. Also, discreetly strengthen the protection around the Alliance Leader and the strategist."

"Understood. What are you planning to do?"

Baek Socheon gave a faint smile and left behind a cryptic remark.

"After being steeped in the scent of onions, I'm starting to miss the scent of roses."

* * *

"Why did you bring me here again? You sly thing."

Baek Socheon had brought Cheon Geuk back to the secret training ground.

"Sly? What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I mean. You're doing this again."

Her face reddened.

Of course, Baek Socheon knew. That was why he could tease her like this.

"Come here."

"Why?"

Baek Socheon stepped closer. Cheon Geuk gently closed her eyes.

It looked as though he was about to kiss her, but Baek Socheon whispered into her ear instead.

"I have a favor to ask."

Cheon Geuk opened her eyes, pouting.

"What favor?"

"Teach me your concealment technique."

"What?"

Cheon Geuk was startled by Baek Socheon's request.

"Among concealment techniques, yours is the best, isn't it?"

As Baek Socheon said, Cheon Geuk's Shadow-Diving Divine Steps was among the three greatest concealment techniques in the martial world.

"Not really. You find me so easily, like a ghost."

"That's because I'm a ghost. There can't be another ghost like me, can there?"

"That confidence tells me this really is our Baek Socheon."

"Teach me."

Cheon Geuk blinked.

"What is this confidence? Is my secret art something I teach anyone who lines up for it?"

"I taught you Wind God Traverses the Sky."

"I never asked you to teach me."

"Either way, the result was the same."

"Why do you need a concealment technique badly enough to force such a ridiculous argument?"

"Because I need it."

"You won't be able to learn it quickly."

"The student is excellent, and the teacher is even better, so I'll learn it quickly."

"Your respect for your teacher passes!"

"Haha."

"Fine, I'll teach you. But you have to pay the tuition."

Baek Socheon gave her the kiss he had not given before. Their tongues entwined, drawing out a deep pleasure from within them.

"You! You think that alone will cover it?"

"Of course not."

Holding Cheon Geuk in his arms, Baek Socheon rose into the air. As on that day, a soft energy wrapped around them like a cushion.

The gentle energy not only supported their bodies, it formed an invisible wall around them that even kept out the wind.

Within that cozy space, the two made love.

It felt different from the first time.

The pleasure they had been too excited and nervous to fully feel before led them into an even deeper ecstasy.

After their breathless lovemaking, they swam in a nearby lake and washed themselves beneath a waterfall.

They caught and roasted a rabbit to satisfy their hunger, then walked around hand in hand. It was the sort of time that made them feel they could live like this for the rest of their lives.

Only after receiving her tuition in full did Cheon Geuk pass on the Shadow-Diving Divine Steps.

Baek Socheon memorized the martial formula after hearing it only once, startling her again. Of course, he had already surprised her once by memorizing the entire Heaven-Turning Nine Fists while they traveled by carriage.

Baek Socheon did not merely have an exceptional memory. Having advanced another stage in martial knowledge, he began learning the concealment technique at an astonishing speed. It was enough to make Cheon Geuk say this.

"You knew my Shadow-Diving Divine Steps from before, didn't you?"

"It's because I have a good teacher."

A certain expression came to Cheon Geuk's mind.

'He's swallowing the whole martial art.'

Of course, Cheon Geuk deserved much of the credit too.

There was a clear difference between simply teaching a martial art and teaching it without holding anything back. Cheon Geuk did the latter, even sharing tricks she would never teach anyone else. They were the culmination of what she had learned through years of using the Shadow-Diving Divine Steps.

The results appeared three days later.

Three days later.

Cheon Geuk stood there alone. She slowly looked around as she moved. Baek Socheon was concealed somewhere in this place.

'Over there? Or there?'

Several places seemed suspicious, as though someone could be hiding there. Yet she could not identify his exact position.

She concentrated with all her mind, searching for Baek Socheon's presence, but only faint impressions drifted around her. She could not locate him.

Swish!

Cheon Geuk chose one spot and thrust out her dagger.

But there was only empty space.

Baek Socheon revealed himself from the opposite side.

"You missed on purpose, didn't you? So I wouldn't feel awkward."

Of course she had not. Cheon Geuk knew he was teasing her even though he knew that too.

"Of course. You might fool other masters, but you can't escape my eyes."

"And here I thought I'd hidden properly."

"Stop it!"

Cheon Geuk shouted at him.

"I'm seriously starting to hate myself here!"

In only three days, Baek Socheon was using concealment techniques like her. It was truly absurd.

"When that happens, don't blame yourself. Put the blame on the other person."

Cheon Geuk looked at Baek Socheon and shouted.

"You're insane!"

It was not an insult. It was the highest praise she could give Baek Socheon.

Normally, no matter how talented Baek Socheon was, he could not have learned it that quickly.

"My martial arts improved by another stage recently."

"Good heavens. You had another stage left to improve?"

"I did."

"That explains it. I thought the floating bed had become softer. I'm jealous. Really, truly jealous."

"You don't need to be. You can improve again too."

"What?"

"You're younger than me, and your martial arts are below mine, right? So why do you think you can't improve? I'm improving, aren't I?"

"Good heavens! I can improve again?"

Baek Socheon understood why she reacted this way. She had begun as an assassin, not a martial artist. From the start, she had approached it as an art of killing, not martial arts. Rather than seeking the ultimate heights of martial arts, perfect assassination had likely been her goal.

"Don't define your own limits."

"Okay."

She was willing to do anything if it meant becoming stronger. And if the goal was this sweet?

"How about this? I'm first in the Martial World Ranking Record, and you're second."

"Just thinking about it gives me chills."

They smiled at each other.

"But why did you learn a concealment technique?"

"There are several reasons. It would be good to learn the finest concealment technique when I have the chance."

"Not a reason that makes it sound like I'm the one who got the raw deal. What's the other reason?"

"I need to peel an onion."

"What?"

Cheon Geuk's eyes widened, and Baek Socheon smiled.