Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 132

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Deep within a nameless mountain valley.
It was a place so beautiful that one could hardly believe it had been shaped by human hands. A landscape worthy of the Peach Blossom Spring itself—it seemed as though it would captivate the gaze of all who beheld it.
Each building that rose from the surrounding grounds exuded elegance and refinement, possessing in every way a beauty that surpassed even the Imperial Palace.
And through this place, two figures walked.
The Blood Robed One moved along the path with casual indifference.
Behind him followed none other than Man Hu-ryang.
He trailed along with an expression and bearing that suggested even walking beside this man felt presumptuous, his head bowed so low he could barely see the ground. From that alone, one could gauge the depth of his terror.
“Hm? You look as though you have something you wish to say.”
“No, sir. That is not the case.”
The Blood Robed One stopped and turned his gaze.
Though it was merely a glancing look, Man Hu-ryang trembled through his entire body. This man terrified him so. Standing beside him alone was enough to evoke the sensation of having tasted death a dozen times over.
“You’re wondering why I spared Mo Yong Hyuk-mun, aren’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“Haha.”
The Blood Robed One chuckled softly and nodded.
It was understandable, really.
To retrieve a man he’d written off as worthless.
For someone like Man Hu-ryang—who orchestrated each move as a calculated scheme and discarded what no longer served his purposes—such a choice might seem incomprehensible.
But the Blood Robed One was different.
His eyes suddenly gleamed with light as he smiled.
At the corners of his mouth hung a smile that was unmistakably contemptuous—the sneer of one who delighted in toying with others.
Gazing at Man Hu-ryang with that expression, he spoke.
“Do you know what is needed for a person to grow strong?”
“Martial weapons… and the martial arts to wield them… and talent, would it not be so?”
“No. Rage directed at another. Jealousy. And the will to kill.”
……
Man Hu-ryang found himself at a loss for words.
He prided himself on having witnessed many martial masters throughout his life—not only the Sword Emperor, but most of the Five Sovereigns, and even the Seven Stars and Ten Venerables.
Yet none of them had ever spoken in such a manner.
Most said that strength required talent and martial prowess befitting that talent.
But Man Hu-ryang did not refute him.
These were the words of the Blood Robed One, after all.
If he declared the sky to be earth, then it was earth; if he declared earth to be sky, then it was sky. His words carried weight greater than any emperor’s edict, and his actions could be stayed by nothing—not even heaven itself.
“And so I took him in. He will surely lay waste to this entire Martial World.”
“…What meaning does that hold, sir?”
Man Hu-ryang ventured to ask, pushing past his fear.
He could not grasp it.
Was this man’s purpose not to rule the Martial World and claim it for himself? Then why sow discord, incite conflict, and plunge everything into chaos?
With the power he already possessed, he could bend not only the Demonic Sect, but the Orthodox Faction and Independent Sects as well.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, he pressed further.
“Destroying two is far more amusing than destroying one, and seizing a chaotic realm brings more pleasure than grasping a quiet one.”
At last, Man Hu-ryang understood this man’s true purpose.
He had slain the Sword Emperor and corrupted the Sword Sage, fragmenting the Righteous Martial World. In doing so, the Orthodox Faction fractured into two opposing forces, and as a result, the Heterodox Sect began to move, sensing opportunity in the rifts.
With unity no longer possible as it once had been, the Murim Alliance could only stand helpless, and consequently, the entire Martial World of the Central Plains would begin to convulse.
And furthermore…
“The Black Wind Divine Demon… did you send him for the same purpose?”
“Indeed. Hahaha, teach a man one thing and he grasps two.”
Man Hu-ryang swallowed hard.
The Black Wind Divine Demon.
A being created by the Blood Robed One using his Descent Shamanism technique—summoning that spirit into a new body. Though the flesh was not the same as a thousand years past, it was no exaggeration to say it possessed strength nearly equivalent to the Black Wind Divine Demon himself.
“I do hope he manages to draw someone out for us.”
“Someone, you say…?”
“Who knows… who could it be?”
A faint smile played at the corners of the man’s mouth.
Yet from the way his eyes gleamed with an intense, piercing light, Man Hu-ryang understood that this was no stranger to him—but he dared not ask, so he merely lowered his head.
“The piece is placed. I wonder how it will move…”
The Blood Robed One’s laughter grew deeper and richer.

***

“We’ve searched everywhere and found nothing…… Could it be that he’s not even in Honam?”
Somewhere in Ak-yang, with Dongting Lake visible in the distance.
Zhuge Yeon sat down with a dejected expression and heaved a long sigh. How much time had already slipped away? The world was changing rapidly, and there was a path the Zhuge Family needed to follow—yet her father showed no sign of abandoning his search, as if he would never give up on finding this person.
In truth, the face of the person they sought had grown so faint in her memory that she could no longer recall it clearly, which made her think that simply giving up might be the easiest thing to do.
Zhuge Yeon bit into a candy and grumbled.
“No, no, he’s definitely out there. If we just keep searching…… returning the Righteous Martial World to how it was would be child’s play.”
“I think I’ve heard that line a hundred times already.”
As Zhuge Yeon shrugged, Zhuge Yun laughed awkwardly. He supposed to his daughter it must look pathetic—here he was, not even managing the family affairs, carrying on like this. Beyond that, the Righteous Martial World now teetered on the brink of collapse.
More than anything, the Righteous Martial World stood at the precipice of extinction itself.
‘I have to go back. There’s no way around it.’
Zhuge Yun knew this well.
Both the Murim Alliance and the Heavenly Path Society were searching for him. As the Heavenly Path Society was itself one of the Eight Great Families, they naturally assumed he would lend them his strength.
On the other hand, Seon Jin, now the Alliance Master, would not want to let slip someone like Zhuge Yun, who had served at the Sword Emperor’s side so faithfully. The Murim Alliance still desired reconciliation with the Eight Great Families, and they could demonstrate their magnanimity by welcoming them back.
Thus they would surely try to bring Zhuge Yun into the Murim Alliance’s fold.
Caught between these two powers, the situation was transparent to anyone with eyes—and Zhuge Yun had no desire to return at all.
‘Truth be told, I gave up on finding that master long ago.’
Yet he could not bring himself to speak his true heart.
How was he to find someone who had not appeared despite searching all of Honam? Moreover, the person might have already left Honam for elsewhere—was this not like searching for a needle in the desert?
Zhuge Yun glanced sidelong at his daughter.
Even as she slouched, the sight of her chewing candy was endearing.
‘Why not think of it as a rare journey together between father and daughter?’
“Father.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“You…… wouldn’t avoid returning to the family because you’re dreading troublesome matters, would you? Already gave up on finding this person, and now you’re just wandering about with me under the pretense of sightseeing…… you wouldn’t be thinking that way, would you?”
Zhuge Yun suddenly turned away with a caught expression.
The girl might seem simple-minded at times, but she could be remarkably sharp. One might say she carried the blood of the Zhuge Family thick in her veins.
“Ah, no.”
“Then let’s go back…… please! I’m dying of exhaustion.”
Zhuge Yeon whined, her voice plaintive.
They had scarcely any money left. It would take a long while to return to the family estate, and their remaining funds amounted to only about twenty silver coins.
It seemed they could barely make it if they scrimped and saved.
“Ha ha…… are you really that worn out?”
“It would be better to hire someone from the village instead.”
Zhuge Yeon shrugged and sighed, lifting her gaze. Before her lay the vast expanse of Dongting Lake. Since Ak-yang was famous for the lake, she had wanted to commit this view to memory.
But here was the thing.
She had not wanted to see it looking so worn and wretched.
Nor did she wish to be here with her sweat-soaked father. If she had to spend time with someone, wouldn’t it be better to be with the man destined to become her future husband?
Zhuge Yeon, who had harbored such romantic dreams, found nothing but sighs pouring out at the harsh reality before her.
Splash!
Just then, a sound came from somewhere.
‘Hmm?’
Both of them turned their heads.
They had not thought anyone else was nearby.
As they walked cautiously toward the sound, they found a small girl hidden behind a large boulder that had blocked her from view.
She wore a broad hat and held a fishing rod in one hand.
Beside her, a fairly large basket sat partially submerged in the water, and from the way it moved, it seemed she had caught quite a few fish.
Splash!
The girl hauled in another fish.
It was enormous.
Even Zhuge Yun, who enjoyed fishing, widened his eyes in astonishment. In thirty years of angling, he had never seen fish of this size—yet this child had already landed two of them.
And this little girl had won the struggle against them?
The father and daughter watched with bewildered expressions.
“Urrgh!”
Another bite, apparently.
She pulled hard on the rod, and it looked difficult. Had she caught something even larger than before? He wondered if she might have hooked the ground itself.
But looking closer, the fishing line thrashed this way and that. Each time it did, the child’s body swayed dangerously, and soon she lost her footing entirely.
Zhuge Yun hurried toward the girl.
“Careful…… be careful, little one!”
Splash!
In an instant, the child lost his balance and was sucked down into the waters of Dongting Lake. Just as Zhuge Yeon and Zhuge Yun rushed toward the spot, about to plunge in after him—
“Gasp!”
The child’s head suddenly burst through the surface with a loud cry.
Seeing the two approaching figures, he made a confused sound—’Huh?’—and scratched his head sheepishly.
“Hehe, I failed.”
“Are you…… alright?”
“Yes! I’m fine. Dad taught me how to swim. Though he was awfully harsh about it……”
Dan So-mi waded slowly out of the water, her head turning as the memory surfaced. Her face had gone pale, as if reliving the ordeal of those swimming lessons.
She’d been told that anyone who wanted to board a boat absolutely had to learn to swim, so she’d learned, but she never imagined he would make her practice so brutally—practically drowning her to teach her.
Wheee!
Dan So-mi climbed onto the bank and wrung out her clothes, shaking water from her hair. She then dragged out a basket that had been half-submerged in the water, grunting and straining with the effort.
Inside, a considerable number of fish thrashed about.
“My…… you’ve caught quite a lot.”
“Huh? Today I didn’t catch much at all.”
“What do you mean, not much!?”
“I mean it!”
Zhuge Yun stared in astonishment.
The basket held well over twenty fish. Most of them were palm-sized, though several larger specimens glinted here and there among the smaller ones.
And she claimed she hadn’t caught many?
For Zhuge Yun, who spent entire days fishing only to net around ten at best, the very notion seemed impossible.
“My…… for one so young, you’re remarkable.”
“Dad says that too. But everyone says they don’t want to fish with me because it’s no fun. That’s so unfair.”
Well, that made sense.
What grown adult would want to fish alongside a child who caught more than they did?
There was such a thing as pride, after all.
Zhuge Yun watched the child puff out her cheeks in protest, her dissatisfaction written plainly on her face, and gave an awkward laugh. He, too, could not bring himself to tell her the truth.
Then Dan So-mi opened her mouth with a bright smile.
“So you came to visit our home?”
At the word “home,” Zhuge Yun tilted his head in confusion.
He’d never heard that there was a house in this area.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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