Chapter 724: I Must Exclude Joo So-yang
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 724: I Must Exclude Joo So-yang
What exactly is the Profound Realm?
It is a magnificent stage that can only be reached by Transcendents who have surpassed the peak of the Transcendent Realm—the supposed limit of humanity.
Furthermore, the Profound Realm is also known as the Half-Immortal Stage, as it is said to be the stage where one perfects the physical body before becoming an immortal. One comes to exist on the very boundary between human and immortal.
Because it was such a lofty realm, those who reached it were bound to be extremely rare. It was a level where one might see only one or two individuals achieve it in an entire generation.
‘But... just when did this woman...?!’
Lee Jae-won’s expression was one of pure bewilderment. He simply could not believe that Joo So-yang had stepped into such a grand stage.
Why was it called "grand"? It was praised as such precisely because those who reached it were so few and far between. And yet, the woman before his eyes had set foot into that rare domain.
“...Have you... reached the Half-Immortal Stage?”
Lee Jae-won spoke, his eyes trembling as he stared at Joo So-yang. He intended to confirm it—to see if his worst-case assumption was correct.
“I was merely lucky,” Joo So-yang replied in a calm tone.
Upon hearing those words, Lee Jae-won’s face began to turn even paler. She had affirmed it. She had indeed ascended to the Profound Realm.
‘Just... just when?’
Lee Jae-won looked as if he couldn't comprehend the situation. Clearly, only three months ago, when she had been struck across the face by him, she was merely at the Transcendent Realm. She had been a fragile existence, so weak she almost made him yawn.
But now, she was in the Profound Realm? And in just three months? It made no sense. How could such a thing be possible?
“............”
Lee Jae-won remained silent for a long time. His sense of reality had been paralyzed by this shocking new revelation.
“You seem flustered,” Joo So-yang said slowly, breaking the long silence. “Are you flustered because you intended to suppress me with force, but it doesn't seem like that will work out?”
Her words were pointed and sharp.
Grit.
Hearing that, Lee Jae-won began to grind his teeth. Irritation surged within him at her biting, provocative remark.
“Do you think... someone who has just entered the Profound Realm can defeat me?” Lee Jae-won growled, glaring at Joo So-yang. He was desperate to protect his severely wounded pride.
“At the very least, I won't be as helpless as I was last time.”
Joo So-yang glared back at Lee Jae-won with cold eyes. Her gaze held clear fighting spirit—not fear, but a will to fight.
‘Is this bitch insane?!’
That fighting spirit was more than enough to make Lee Jae-won’s blood boil.
‘A mere upstart who just reached the Profound Realm!’
It had already been twenty years since he himself had ascended to the Profound Realm. Furthermore, through his battles with the Heavenly Demon and the Yin-Yang Demon, he had reached a level where he could masterfully wield the Heart Sword.
For her, who had been in the Profound Realm for a mere three months, to think she could face him... it was absurd.
Woooooom.
Lee Jae-won exerted even more of his indomitable will, pressing down on her. He intended to break her spirit by any means necessary.
However, contrary to his intentions, Joo So-yang did not yield at all. Instead, she began to push back, emitting an even more intense aura.
‘...Shit.’
Lee Jae-won cursed inwardly. He realized that overwhelming her through sheer will alone was impossible.
‘Do I have to fight her?’
Lee Jae-won’s expression grew grim. He felt that, at this rate, they might actually come to blows. He glanced up at her. She was glaring at him, radiating an ominous energy.
Seeing her like that, Lee Jae-won fell into a dilemma once more. To be honest, he didn't think he would lose. There was no way he, who had reached a level of mastery, would lose to a lowly novice who had just stepped into the Profound Realm.
However, if he fought her seriously, he doubted he would come out unscathed. He was already at a disadvantage in many ways, having lost an arm. Moreover, she currently held the absolute support of the Alliance. If he crushed her, the Alliance might end up split in half.
‘There’s no profit in fighting now.’
Lee Jae-won quickly finished his mental calculations. He reached the conclusion that there was nothing to be gained from a fight. Even if he won, he would barely break even. And if he lost, the authority of the Cheonmu Alliance Leader would instantly collapse. What profit was there in such a situation?
‘For now, I withdraw.’
Flash.
Lee Jae-won immediately retracted all the killing intent he had been emitting.
“Hmph, I’m leaving.”
He snorted and turned his body around. Reconciliation was already out of the question. He felt that staying any longer would be a waste of time.
“Weren't you going to fight?”
As he tried to turn tail and leave, Joo So-yang began to needle him, as if asking if he was scared.
“Why would I fight my own wife?”
“But you were fine with assaulting your wife?”
“............”
Lee Jae-won remained silent at her sarcasm. He had no rebuttal for her biting words. When he used to beat her, he had been relentless because he believed he held the upper hand and could do as he pleased.
But now that she had become his equal, her attitude had changed. He found himself avoiding the fight for no reason. It was a truly petty display.
‘Goddamn bitch... to the very end...’
Joo So-yang sharply pierced through Lee Jae-won’s pettiness, highlighting it to make him feel shame. Lee Jae-won’s face began to turn beet red from the unbearable sense of humiliation.
“........I’m going.”
Step, step.
Lee Jae-won began to walk away, suppressing the rage that had risen to the top of his head. And just as he stepped completely out the door—
“I won't see you out.”
He heard Joo So-yang’s mocking voice. Upon hearing it, Lee Jae-won began to walk even faster. He felt that if he stayed a moment longer, he might actually kill her.
*
How much time had passed since Lee Jae-won left? Soon, his presence completely vanished from the pavilion.
Thud.
As soon as his presence was gone, Joo So-yang collapsed where she stood.
“Haah... haah... haah... haah...”
She began to breathe heavily, as if in pain.
‘...He’s strong.’
Having been exposed to his killing intent, Joo So-yang could tell just how powerful Lee Jae-won was. He was strong—so strong that her knees shook just from facing him. She had managed to endure by pretending to be composed, but if the confrontation had lasted even a little longer, she would have collapsed right then and there.
‘Not yet... it’s still too much.’
It seemed that facing him was still a distant goal. Twenty years of experience was not something to be taken lightly.
‘But he is not an insurmountable mountain.’
At least, not "yet."
*
Grit.
‘...Joo So-yang.’
Returning to his office, Lee Jae-won began to grind his teeth. The thought of Joo So-yang glaring at him with her head held high filled him with an unbearable sense of insult.
‘To think... she actually reached the Profound Realm.’
Lee Jae-won’s gaze grew heavy. He had never imagined she would reach such a grand stage.
‘I need a plan.’
His eyes flashed. He realized he could not leave her be like this.
“Strategist! Strategist!”
Lee Jae-won raised his voice and shouted, calling for his strategist, Zhuge Chan.
“Strategist!!!!”
Lee Jae-won’s voice echoed loudly.
Bang!
Before long, the door swung open violently, and Chief Strategist Zhuge Chan appeared.
“Haah... haah... haah... Did you call for me?”
Zhuge Chan spoke while gasping for breath. It seemed he had rushed over at Lee Jae-won’s call.
“I have something urgent to say to you,” Lee Jae-won said in a calm tone, looking at Zhuge Chan.
“......Please, speak.”
Zhuge Chan looked at Lee Jae-won with an uneasy gaze. He felt a sense of dread about what Lee Jae-won might be up to.
“I must exclude Joo So-yang.”
Lee Jae-won spoke, his cold eyes glinting. To him, she was a reactionary—a rebel whose mere existence risked tainting others. Therefore, she had to be excluded from his paradise.
“What?!”
Hearing this, Zhuge Chan asked back with a bewildered expression. Exclude Joo So-yang? What kind of nonsense was this? He had clearly said he was going to reconcile with her. So why the sudden talk of exclusion? What on earth was happening?
“You were right. She intends to be completely hostile toward me and the Cheonmu Alliance.”
“..........Just what happened?”
Zhuge Chan asked again, unable to understand. Lee Jae-won’s sudden change in attitude was incomprehensible. Only a few days ago, Lee Jae-won had cursed him out, telling him not to underestimate his bond with Joo So-yang and asking what a wretch like him could possibly know.
So why was he now saying Zhuge Chan was right and trying to exclude her? It made no sense at all.
“She showed hostility toward this Alliance Leader. She clearly... harbored killing intent.”
Lee Jae-won immediately lied. In truth, it was Lee Jae-won who had first shown hostility. When he lost the verbal argument, he had tried to intimidate her with force. But Lee Jae-won omitted those facts, feeling they weren't important.
“Did the Great Matriarch... truly do such a thing?”
Zhuge Chan asked back, looking as if he couldn't believe it. It was hard to imagine the wise and virtuous Joo So-yang doing such a thing.
“Regrettably, it is the truth. She directed killing intent at me when I went to apologize, and then she even tried to attack me—the Leader of the Cheonmu Alliance.”
Lee Jae-won began to exaggerate, adding lies while cutting out the context to favor himself.
“She has declared war. A declaration that she will be completely hostile toward the Cheonmu Alliance.”
“I don't understand... No matter how bad things are between you and her... to be hostile even toward the Cheonmu Alliance...”
Zhuge Chan questioned Lee Jae-won, still confused. He couldn't grasp her intentions based on Lee Jae-won’s one-sided claims, which lacked any context.
“As I see it, she intends to drive me out and seize the actual power of the Cheonmu Alliance for herself.”
“The power of the Cheonmu Alliance?!”
“She was always a woman filled with a lust for power, to the point of trying to make her daughter the next Alliance Leader. It wouldn't be strange for her to harbor the ambition of seizing total control.”
Lee Jae-won continued in a calm tone.
“That is why she declared war. As if telling me to shove my pathetic apology.”
“.........I still don't understand.”
Zhuge Chan spoke with a look of confusion. Nothing Lee Jae-won said made sense from a logical standpoint. If Joo So-yang truly intended to subvert the Cheonmu Alliance, she would have tried to maintain a good relationship with the Alliance Leader on the surface. Showing open hostility would only give him a chance to prepare his defenses.
Furthermore, the idea that she was thinking of driving out Lee Jae-won was also incomprehensible. The position of Cheonmu Alliance Leader was not something one could attain simply by solidifying a political base. Given the nature of an organization formed by martial artists, it required the overwhelming strength that came with the position.
But Joo So-yang lacked that strength. Although she had reached the lofty Transcendent Realm, it was a stage slightly insufficient to command everyone. For her to think of driving out Lee Jae-won, who was in the Profound Realm... it was illogical.
“The Cheonmu Alliance is an organization of martial artists. It is a place where strength is power. How could the Great Matriarch, who is only in the Transcendent Realm, drive out the Alliance Leader, who has reached the Profound Realm?”
Zhuge Chan looked straight at Lee Jae-won and asked.
“She is not in the Transcendent Realm,” Lee Jae-won said with a grim expression.
“Pardon?” Zhuge Chan asked back, bewildered. Not in the Transcendent Realm? What did that mean?
“She is a Half-Immortal who has reached the Profound Realm.”
Lee Jae-won’s cold eyes flashed as he spoke. Upon hearing those words, Zhuge Chan’s face was overcome with shock. Joo So-yang had reached the Profound Realm? What on earth was he talking about?