Chapter 583

## Chapter 583. The Lazy One Gets Scared (3)

The enemies were endless.

Pushing, hitting, kicking. And still, they kept coming endlessly.

Supreme Sovereign wasn’t alarmed.

He had lived too long to be disturbed by something like this. Twenty years ago, he had already grown tired of these kinds of situations. He still vividly remembered the demons charging without changing their expression, even when their arms were cut off or their stomachs were pierced.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t feel pressure.

“What left such a deep mark on them?”

Hatred.

He could see the hatred in their eyes.

But Supreme Sovereign couldn’t understand that hatred.

They could complain. They could insult and curse him. They had every right.

But this was different.

It was a matter that had ended three hundred years ago. No matter how much resentment they held, what reason did they have to risk their lives to take revenge?

It was useless.

The dead wouldn’t return. It would have been different if they were their parents or children. But he couldn’t understand why they would start a war to avenge ancestors they hadn’t even seen.

Would the dead be happy about that?

Death is death. The dead are just dead.

Supreme Sovereign had also lost many acquaintances.

Countless comrades and friends had died in the war. Despite his pain, Supreme Sovereign mourned them, but he didn’t seek to offer anything in their memory.

The dead are just dead.

The living must continue with their lives.

Many couldn’t accept that the war had ended without completing their revenge. Many protested furiously and tried to invade the Demon Cult on their own.

And where were they now?

If they had chosen to continue the war then, they would be in the same place as those they lost. It was because they didn’t make that decision that they were able to continue living.

It wasn’t a matter of forgetting the past. Nor of acting as if it hadn’t happened and laughing happily. They could honor them, apologize to them. They could proclaim their mistakes to the world and accept the stones and insults.

Wasn’t that the right thing to do?

“I don’t understand.”

Despite living so many years, the human heart remained a mystery.

Wuooooooong—

The power emanating from Supreme Sovereign pushed people away.

Even in the midst of this chaotic conflict, Supreme Sovereign didn’t infuse his fist with the intention to kill. If he had wished, he could have reduced everyone who opposed him to a bloody mess.

And that would have been easier.

But he deliberately used the Heavy Fist (重拳) instead of the Tyrannical Fist (覇拳). He pushed instead of hitting. Sweeping with his feet instead of kicking.

“Perhaps I’m no longer fit for the battlefield.”

He felt it.

He had only been able to stand out thanks to Jo Hyeon’s ingenious strategies, but Supreme Sovereign had never really enjoyed fighting with others.

He liked training in martial arts, but he didn’t want to hurt others with them. He preferred negotiation and dialogue over conflict and dispute. In times of peace, he might have been a wise ruler, but he wasn’t made to lead in turbulent times.

But he couldn’t help it.

There was no one else who could replace him.

If he retired, another would suffer in his place. What kept Supreme Sovereign standing wasn’t ambition or fame, but a deep sense of responsibility.

“I must end this in my generation.”

This endless war.

This endless chain of hatred.

He couldn’t pass this heavy burden on to future generations. Whether it was Baekgeom Fortress or the Demon Cult, it didn’t matter who the enemy was.

He took another step forward.

Stubbornly.

That had always been Supreme Sovereign’s path.

It had never been easy to take a step. He had fought against the Demon Cult, endured the opposition of the Nine Sects, and resisted the suspicious gazes of those who accused him of seeking personal gain.

Without excuses, without resisting, he walked stubbornly in the rain, step by step. That was how this man had lived.

“It’s lonely.”

Many followed him.

They chased after his back.

But Supreme Sovereign felt an unbearable loneliness in the middle of the battlefield.

He couldn’t lean on anyone.

Everyone leaned on him. So, like a pillar of steel, he had to support them.

“A man like me.”

It wasn’t what he had wanted.

The Demon Cult had invaded, so he fought. He couldn’t close his eyes while so many died. He had fought with the determination that, if anyone had to die, it would be him first.

But, miraculously, he didn’t die, and when the war ended, his name became a symbol of the martial world. He only accepted the position of leader of the Righteous Martial Alliance at the insistence of Jo Hyeon, who argued that a strong symbol was needed to prevent division.

That lonely position.

And now it was time to pay the price of that honor.

Kuuuooong!

He stepped down hard.

The ground couldn’t bear it and cracked. The earth trembled as if there had been an earthquake, throwing those who were clinging to the ground into the air.

And then, a blow.

A fist charged with such immense power that it seemed monumental flew. Almost a hundred people were swept away without even being able to resist.

It was as if a god had descended.

“Is it possible to be so strong?”

Grand Master Gong Mu of Shaolin trembled with emotion.

The fist.

Something humans are born with.

Unlike other martial arts that rely on external weapons, the fist and palm only use the human body to exert force.

Gong Mu prided himself on that. Although the Shaolin Temple dominated the Eighteen Martial Arts of the World, no one could deny that the fist was its core.

Therefore, it was always a Shaolin master who held the title of Best Pugilist in the World.

The Arhat Fist of Shaolin had always been considered the ultimate reference in the art of the fist.

Those who dared to challenge their reputation.

Those whose power was overestimated due to their achievements.

The fist that Supreme Sovereign showed shook even the conviction of Grand Master Gong Mu, who had always believed that the Shaolin Fist was the best.

“How did he reach that level…?”

He was strong.

There was no other word to describe him. Each fist, each blow, contained a force capable of shaking the earth and overturning the heavens.

Could he compare?

“Impossible.”

Before that fist, even Gong Mu felt powerless. Only a Divine Buddha from the depths of Shaolin could face him.

His pride crumbled.

But what filled the void left by his pride wasn’t envy or competitiveness.

It was reverence.

For someone who also used the fist.

For someone who, without being from Shaolin, had reached the highest position in the world.

That reverence and admiration filled Gong Mu.

“What are you doing?!”

With a rude voice, uncharacteristic of a monk, Gong Mu shouted.

“Don’t give the Alliance Leader any more burden! Let’s break through the right flank!”

“Yes!”

The concise responses of the Shaolin monks resonated. With war cries, the monks dressed in yellow turned to the right, facing the warriors of Baekgeom Fortress.

“The Wudang won’t be left behind! Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

When Song Hyeon turned to the left, the swordsmen of the Wudang raised their swords with Tai Chi tassels and followed him.

The formation that was advancing in a single direction split into three, piercing the defenses of Baekgeom Fortress.

And then…

Kuuuuuooong!

Desolate earth.

The center, where Supreme Sovereign stepped, was devastated.

They couldn’t stop him. It was a force too great for humans to resist.

Even those who burned with determination, even those who were filled with competitive spirit, understood the moment they faced the power of Supreme Sovereign: the one before them was not someone they could challenge with will alone.

A brutal pressure, as if it were going to burst their bodies.

An absurd weight, as if Mount Tai was crushing them.

Determination turned into frustration, frustration into despair.

Supreme Sovereign, Sima Cheonse.

His impassive face, walking without emotion, was engraved in everyone’s eyes.

They broke.

Their spirits broke.

Those who lost limbs could continue fighting. Those who were cut in half could still wield their swords before dying. But those whose spirits broke could no longer fight.

They retreated.

Those who only looked ahead and never gave in, unknowingly, took a step back.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Supreme Sovereign’s calm but firm voice spread.

“It’s not wrong to follow the orders of your leaders. But giving your life for a worthless cause is not right either. Retreat, descendants of the Infinity Sword. I respect you. Retreating before me does not mean the defeat of the Infinity Sword.”

His voice, his soul, resonated.

“You must correct what is wrong. Only then will the name of the Infinity Sword resonate in the martial world again. You must learn to take a true step, not seek empty revenge. So retreat!”

Gulp.

Sounds of saliva being swallowed were heard.

Silence reigned before Supreme Sovereign, overshadowing even the heat of the battle between Shaolin and Wudang. In that tense calm, a person flew towards Supreme Sovereign.

“…Empty Sword?”

“It’s been a long time, Alliance Leader. Twenty years, I think.”

Supreme Sovereign observed the man in front of him. An old man dressed in the characteristic white of Baekgeom Fortress smiled gleefully at the sight of him.

“When I asked you to come, you didn’t show even the tip of your nose, and now we meet here.”

“It’s just that I’m always busy.”

Supreme Sovereign narrowed his eyes at Empty Sword’s joking.

“Retreat. It’s not time for us to catch up.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. I only follow orders. Although, even without them, I wouldn’t retreat.”

“I see.”

Supreme Sovereign clenched his fist.

A man who was once his comrade.

They had fought together against the Demon Cult, sometimes trusting their backs to each other. Now he stood before him as an enemy.

“It seems we have been rude. The young ones are no match for the Alliance Leader. I will be the one to face him.”

“You won’t be enough.”

“It won’t be easy, but…”

Click, clack.

Empty Sword’s sword grazed the ground.

“It would be a mistake to think that the power you know is all I have. I always wanted to face the Alliance Leader.”

“I don’t understand.”

Supreme Sovereign spoke firmly.

“If you want to face me, bring at least Cheonryu (天流). You alone are no match.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Seeing Empty Sword approach with his sword lowered, Supreme Sovereign moved his neck.

“There were always people like this…”

Creak.

A creak sounded in his fist.

“People who only learn by suffering. There’s nothing left but to teach them.”

Empty Sword jumped and launched dozens of sword cuts towards Supreme Sovereign, which rushed in like a storm.

Supreme Sovereign responded by releasing a powerful fist that collided with that energy.

The battlefield was getting hotter and hotter.