Chapter 723: It’s So Vile It Makes My Ears Feel Like They’re Rotting
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 723: It’s So Vile It Makes My Ears Feel Like They’re Rotting
"It feels like it’s been a while."
Lee Jae-won spoke with a gentle smile on his lips. It was a complete departure from his usual cold and indifferent demeanor.
"…It has," Joo So-yang replied, her expression clouded with discomfort.
She found Lee Jae-won’s pathetic attempt at a pleasant attitude far from welcome.
"Judging by your reaction, I take it you didn't miss me much?"
Perhaps noticing her unease, Lee Jae-won asked her directly.
"After what happened… how could I possibly be happy to see the Alliance Leader?"
Joo So-yang spoke, her expression as cold as the bitter cold northern wind.
In the past, Lee Jae-won had a history of assaulting her. He had struck her in the face—something as precious as life itself to a woman—simply because she had stood in his way.
How could she possibly welcome such a man? It was preposterous.
"Hahahaha… I’m sorry. I suppose I was a bit too agitated back then."
Lee Jae-won continued, maintaining his "good-natured" smile.
"It’s been nearly three months… and only now do you offer an apology?"
"I needed some time to think," Lee Jae-won said, his voice sounding like an excuse.
"I didn't realize you were such a deep thinker," Joo So-yang replied with a scoff. Her tone was laced with blatant sarcasm.
‘This bitch.’
Hearing her sarcasm, Lee Jae-won’s face contorted into a scowl. He felt he was being generous by offering an apology, and her attitude in receiving it was nothing short of insolent.
‘Should I use a little domestic violence?’
Lee Jae-won clenched his fists, seriously considering whether a "prescription" of domestic violence was needed to set her straight.
‘…No. Not today. I’ll… let her win today.’
However, he soon pushed that thought aside. He had come today with the intention of a "pure" reconciliation. He hadn't come to beat her. More importantly, if he laid a hand on Joo So-yang, those old farts who supported her would undoubtedly throw a fit. Things were already chaotic enough; he needed to prevent that kind of headache.
"What happened that day was a great shock to me as well… Wife."
Lee Jae-won began to make excuses, his face feigning a look of sorrow.
"My wife, the woman I love most in the world… stood against me on the side of another man. As a husband, how could I not be shocked?"
He spoke as if he’d had no choice.
Joo So-yang snorted at his words. Watching a serial rapist play the victim with such cheap sentimentality was nothing short of pathetic.
"Is that why you slapped me? Until the skin on my face split open?"
Joo So-yang glared at him with accusing eyes. At the time, she had been beaten so severely by Lee Jae-won that the skin on both her cheeks had torn. Her life as a woman could have been over.
"…Aren't you fine now? It’s because I controlled my strength—"
Lee Jae-won began to stammer out a half-baked excuse. He simply couldn't think of a proper rebuttal.
"The reason the scars on my cheeks are gone is thanks to Young Master Jang," Joo So-yang said, her gaze icy as she stared him down.
"…Young Master Jang? You mean Jang Sun-woo?"
"Yes."
Joo So-yang nodded calmly.
Twitch.
At the mention of that name, Lee Jae-won’s face crumpled. He hated even hearing that man’s name.
"Even without him… those wounds would have healed eventually…" Lee Jae-won managed to squeeze out the words, suppressing his rising bile.
"We’ll never know. I was beaten so badly that the raw, red flesh was exposed."
Joo So-yang continued her sarcasm. She was growing increasingly irritated by Lee Jae-won’s pathetic insistence on making excuses.
"Didn't I say I was sorry? Why must you obsess over the past like this!"
Losing his patience with her mocking attitude, Lee Jae-won raised his voice and shouted. He had gone out of his way to be considerate and come here to apologize. He, the great and prideful Alliance Leader, had personally come to bow his head. She should be weeping tears of gratitude, yet here she was, acting with such utter insolence.
"Some pasts are impossible to forget."
"There is nothing more useless than obsessing over the past! A person must live in the present. Why be shackled to a past that cannot be changed!"
"How amusing. Does that mean you, Alliance Leader, can forgive anything from the past without being shackled by it?"
"Of course!"
"Then you can forgive Young Master Jang for cutting off your arm?"
"That’s a different matter entirely!" Lee Jae-won barked, flaring up.
"How exactly is it different?"
"He inflicted a permanent injury upon me! Furthermore, he tarnished the authority of the Cheonmu Alliance Leader! How could I possibly forgive him!"
"You also inflicted an injury upon me. Moreover, you used violence against me in front of everyone, tarnishing my authority as the Mistress of the Cheonmu Alliance. So, how could I possibly forgive you?"
Joo So-yang threw Lee Jae-won’s own logic back at him, simply swapping the subjects.
"Grrr…!"
Lee Jae-won began to gnash his teeth, his face twisted in frustration.
‘This woman… is she mirroring me?!’
His anger and irritation spiked at Joo So-yang’s refusal to back down even an inch.
"You have a very inconsistent and illogical way of thinking, Alliance Leader. Your own faults are easily forgiven because they are in the past, yet the faults of others are unforgivable."
Joo So-yang continued, her face full of mockery.
"…………"
Lee Jae-won fell silent, his mouth shut tight. She had hit the nail on the head. She had accurately called out his double standards—the way he lived solely for his own convenience.
‘How… how dare you… to me…’
Her piercing words were enough to ignite an indescribable, massive rage within Lee Jae-won. Since falling into the Murim, he had always applied a double standard: generous to himself, strict with others. It was forced logic, but no one had ever dared to point it out. Everyone had simply accepted things as he thought and desired.
But today, the essence of his character, hidden deep within his heart, had been accurately pierced. He couldn't help but be enraged.
"Why are you silent? If I’m wrong, then refute me, Alliance Leader."
Seeing his silence, Joo So-yang provoked him further with even more sarcasm. She was relentless in exposing his ugly side.
"…Joo So-yang."
Finally, Lee Jae-won called her name in a low, heavy voice.
"Do not provoke me."
Vroooooom.
He began to let his energy leak out, intending to pressure her.
"I am merely stating facts. If I have said anything incorrect, I would like you to refute it."
Despite his warning, Joo So-yang continued to speak her mind, as if his threat meant nothing to her.
‘This… this fucking bitch…!’
Her attitude was the final straw for Lee Jae-won.
VROOOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, a massive, overwhelming force erupted from Lee Jae-won’s body, flooding the room and beginning to press down on everything.
*
Rattle, rattle.
Shake, shake.
The numerous pieces of furniture in the room began to tremble, unable to withstand the Great Strength Lee Jae-won was emitting.
"I believe I told you… not to provoke me."
Lee Jae-won spoke, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Joo So-yang.
"You are my wife. You are supposed to be unconditionally on my side, having promised to spend your life with me. How can you treat me with such utter contempt?"
Lee Jae-won revealed his true feelings, stripped of all pretense. Others might betray him, but she couldn't. His wives, at the very least, had to take his side no matter what he did. So how could she treat him with such hostility?
"It is a woman’s duty to follow her husband… Why can you not fulfill that duty?"
Lee Jae-won glared at her, his eyes filled with rage. Joo So-yang met his gaze calmly, without saying a word.
‘She’s scared.’
Seeing her silence, Lee Jae-won assumed she was frozen in fear. It was only natural. Unlike her, who was merely in the Transcendent Realm, he was a Half-Immortal who had reached the Profound Realm, transcending human limits.
‘Know your place! You bitch!’
Lee Jae-won intensified his glare, looking as if he might devour her, trying to completely break her spirit.
After a long moment of this silent confrontation…
"How vile," Joo So-yang finally spoke, her voice dripping with contempt.
"…What?"
Lee Jae-won looked bewildered. Those were the last words he expected to come out of her mouth.
"It’s so vile it makes my ears feel like they’re rotting."
Joo So-yang’s expression grew even colder.
‘Vile? …Me?’
Lee Jae-won stared blankly. No matter how he had treated her in the past, Joo So-yang had never insulted him. She had expressed dissatisfaction before, but she had never once uttered words of condemnation or belittlement.
And yet, she had just condemned him. She called him vile. So vile her ears felt like they were rotting. He couldn't help but look stunned; it felt utterly surreal.
"What I wanted was a logical rebuttal. But you, Alliance Leader, are merely throwing a tantrum based purely on personal emotion."
Joo So-yang began to criticize the stunned Lee Jae-won with a sharp voice.
"Furthermore, to resort to martial force just because I won't accept your nonsense? For the head of the Cheonmu Alliance to act like a common thug from the Evil and Heretical Sects… how can you be so vile?"
Joo So-yang continued, her brow furrowed. Her repulsion toward Lee Jae-won had reached its peak.
"…Are you… saying I am no different from a common thug?"
Tremble, tremble.
Lee Jae-won’s entire body shook as he barely managed to speak.
"How are you any different? I certainly can't tell."
Joo So-yang replied with a cold smile—a smile of blatant disregard.
Snap.
That disregard was the final snap of the thread of reason Lee Jae-won had been holding onto.
WHOOOOOOSH!
A massive killing intent erupted from Lee Jae-won’s body, sweeping over Joo So-yang. It was a colossal wave of murderous intent, fueled by the single-minded desire to kill her.
‘This fucking bitch!’
Lee Jae-won glared at Joo So-yang with bloodshot eyes. The thing he hated most in the world was being ignored.
Decades ago, before he fell into the Murim, Lee Jae-won had been treated like an invisible man, subjected to all kinds of disregard. When he went to school, no one walked with him. When he greeted people, no one responded. No one acknowledged his presence all day long, and no one walked home with him.
He had been ignored by the entire world. His very existence had been denied.
That was why, when he first fell into the Murim, he had been overjoyed. Unlike the modern world where he was pathetic, insignificant, and ignored, in the Murim, countless people recognized him, praised him, and loved him. His denied existence had been affirmed. He was happy; he felt joy. He thought he would never have to experience that horrific feeling of being ignored ever again.
But now, Joo So-yang was ignoring him. Not only that, she was looking at him with contempt. She, who was supposed to recognize, praise, and love him.
He felt betrayed. And that betrayal quickly turned into murderous intent. He couldn't leave her like this—she who had become a renegade in this world where everyone loved him. If he left her be, more renegades like her would appear. He could end up back in that horrific past.
Therefore, he had to return Joo So-yang to the way she was. Before he was dragged back to the days when his very existence was denied.
Vroooooom.
Lee Jae-won began to crush her with even greater killing intent, intending to completely shatter her spirit.
Vroooooom!
Then, something strange happened. A massive fighting spirit began to erupt from Joo So-yang’s body—a fighting spirit so immense it rivaled his own killing intent.
‘Wha—what?!’
Lee Jae-won looked on in shock. He was bewildered to see her emitting a fighting spirit that could stand against his own will-driven killing intent.
‘Could it be…?!’
Suddenly, Lee Jae-won’s face turned pale as the worst-case scenario flashed through his mind. Only willpower could rival willpower. Which meant…
She, too, had become capable of wielding her will.
‘The Profound Realm?!’
She had reached the Profound Realm.
Lee Jae-won’s face drained of all color.