Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 135

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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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“Zhuge Yun…… What brought him to this place?”
The moment Zhuge Yun departed, Namgung Cheon rushed over and asked urgently. Among those gathered here, he was the most familiar with Dan Woo-hyun, and for that very reason, he wanted to remain unnoticed.
Yet Dan Woo-hyun placed a wine cup silently before Namgung Cheon.
Then he took up the remaining Crimson Red Wine and filled the cup.
“Drink.”
It was an abrupt and cryptic command, but Namgung Cheon harbored no suspicion. He nodded and brought the Crimson Red Wine to his lips—the liquid flowed down his throat as smooth as honey.
His eyes widened in surprise.
“This is quite fine…… No, that’s not what I meant to—”
“It’s good wine. And he’s a good man. I’m rather fond of the air that lingers about him.”
Namgung Cheon’s brow furrowed.
That wasn’t what he’d been asking about at all, was it?
“Ties of fate should always be treasured. What’s the point in casting them aside?”
“Ahem! I’d rather not hear such words from you.”
“Ha, perhaps you’re right. As for why he came here…… he sought me out, it seems.”
“For what purpose?”
“Something about preserving the righteous path of the Martial World together…… or so he claimed.”
Namgung Cheon’s expression darkened.
He understood the implication well enough. Zhuge Yun was surely maneuvering to place Dan Woo-hyun within either the Chendo-hoe or the Murim Alliance. Though he might not fully comprehend this man’s capabilities, he’d clearly recognized that he was a master of considerable power.
“Are you interested?”
“Not in the least.”
Dan Woo-hyun let out a quiet laugh.
He could involve himself in the affairs of the Martial World. But if it meant serving someone else’s gain, there was no point. Dan Woo-hyun had no intention of remaining bound to any faction, much less laboring for their benefit.
He was utterly selfish, profoundly self-centered.
“Still, his eye is keen. For him to recognize your quality at a glance……”
“We crossed paths once before, I believe. Though it doesn’t seem so long ago.”
“If that man has acknowledged you, then you must be exceptional. He’s not the sort to abandon other matters and wander about searching for someone.”
“I see.”
The wine trickled softly as it poured.
Dan Woo-hyun refilled the empty cup.
Sa Do-hak, who had somehow edged himself into their circle, extended his own empty cup.
Dan Woo-hyun filled it without ceremony.
“Zhuge Yun…… that bastard’s said to be in the same league as Dongbang Gu when it comes to scheming. Brilliant, that. Which is why I despise him so.”
Sa Do-hak swallowed roughly and let out a harsh laugh.
Memories of falling into his stratagems on several past occasions surfaced. Had this not been such a place, he should have been the first target for elimination in service to the Demonic Faction.
“Don’t do anything strange.”
With those words tumbling casually from Dan Woo-hyun’s lips, Sa Do-hak’s body jerked. It had been uttered as mere banter over wine, yet thick killing intent threaded through every syllable.
The moment those words pierced Sa Do-hak’s ears, his entire frame trembled.
Sa Do-hak’s fists clenched.
Even as fear seized him, he smiled.
‘This is exactly why I can’t leave this place!’
It was unprecedented.
He had never known fear before another man.
And precisely because of that fear, he could not abandon his place at Dan Woo-hyun’s side. If he could only overcome this dread, it would amount to forging a stepping stone to ascend to the next level.
“In any case, this wine truly is exquisite.”
“Looking at the bottle, this is unmistakably from the Hoyeon Family. They say they no longer brew anything now…… That Zhuge bastard certainly knew how to acquire something rare.”
Sa Do-hak examined the bottle this way and that, then nodded approvingly.
The Hoyeon Family was renowned for their wine-craft. Now, having been eclipsed by the Chusun Family and having fallen into ruin, they no longer produced any spirits, it was said.
Whatever remained of Hoyeon Family wine in circulation commanded considerable prices.
Thus, Zhuge Yun had expended what amounted to tens of gold pieces simply to forge a connection with Dan Woo-hyun.
“He mentioned he’d visit again. Next time, he might well bring something even finer.”
“Ha! Now that’s something to anticipate. Let’s drain him to the bone!”
“The Zhuge Family isn’t so flush with wealth as all that. Abandon such notions!”
Namgung Cheon clutched his brow as a headache began to bloom.
Were these men truly so practiced in fleecing others?
Despite having plenty of their own coin, they seemed to delight in exploiting others rather than spending their own freely.
The sun had begun its descent toward the horizon.
Soon they would take their evening meal and thus conclude the day. Even as Dan Woo-hyun entertained such thoughts with a smile, he suddenly set down his cup and fixed his gaze upon a distant point.
There was no one there.
Nor was anyone arriving.
He simply felt the flowing wind and seized the ill omen dwelling within it. Dan Woo-hyun set down his cup and rose slowly from his seat.
Without a word, he began to move, his footsteps barely disturbing the air.
“Hold on! Where are you going?”
“Don’t follow me. If you can help it, don’t leave this estate.”
“What?”
The cryptic command left both men tilting their heads in confusion. Though questions burned in their minds, Dan Woo-hyun offered no further answer—as if the matter warranted no explanation—and departed the estate, following the path into the deepening night.
Yet the reason gnawed at them.
Sa Do-hak and Namgung Cheon exchanged glances.
“You’re curious, aren’t you?”
“Well, I suppose…?”
“Should we follow?”
Sa Do-hak’s eyes glimmered like those of a child.
He wanted to follow.
If he spoke that way, something was certainly amiss. Perhaps a formidably strong martial master had appeared, or—given that he was descended from a Martial God—perhaps even an Immortal who had once been a Martial God had returned.
Or perhaps some revelation about Dan Woo-hyun’s true identity awaited discovery.
But Namgung Cheon shook his head.
“We’d be caught the moment we tried.”
“True, wouldn’t we?”
“Indeed we would.”
The two men nodded to each other. They themselves were among the strongest in the Central Plains. Yet Dan Woo-hyun stood far above them.
And because of that, they knew.
They knew that his five senses and energy perception far exceeded their own. No matter how they suppressed their presence, they would be detected the instant they moved.
The two men gazed at the table.
Wine still remained.
Would they be content with that for now?

Dan Woo-hyun sat quietly, feeling the wind. Before him stood a solitary mound—the grave where Samcheon’s remains were buried.
Below his gaze lay the view of the estate.
From there came the sounds of many people talking and laughing. Hearing it, he found himself smiling without realizing it. By now, it was a sound he knew far too well.
If that sound were to vanish, he feared loneliness would return once more.
“Is that it? The grave where Samcheon’s remains are buried?”
Then came the voice of another.
Dan Woo-hyun didn’t turn, only nodded.
Footsteps drew nearer until a man stepped before the mound. With long crimson hair streaming in the wind, he poured wine from a bottle hidden in his robes and opened his mouth to speak.
“It’s not quite as fine as the Crimson Red Wine you drank moments ago, but it’s respectable enough. It should suffice to soothe the spirits of these wretches.”
Dan Woo-hyun lifted his head without speaking.
A man with crimson hair.
Though his appearance differed markedly from how he’d looked in the past, the wind that blew from his side was achingly familiar—and infuriatingly so—that of the Red Wind.
“A thousand years have passed, and yet you live. I’m certain I split your skull then—or did I misremember?”
Dan Woo-hyun gazed at him and let out a contemptuous laugh.
His tone was unmistakably provocative. His eyes regarded the man as nothing more than an insect—one he could crush to death whenever he pleased.
“I was supreme, but never the strongest. So before facing you, I crafted various mystical arts. That is how I endured.”
“Yeokcheon Daebeop?”
“Ha, well informed indeed.”
Dan Woo-hyun regarded the man with an expression of disbelief.
That great art of transferring one’s soul to another vessel.
To perform it, one needed the blood of five hundred boys and five hundred girls, all under ten years old.
In the end, to save himself alone, he had murdered a thousand children.
“It took me an eternity to find a body suited to me.”
Which meant that over the ages, using Yeokcheon Daebeop, he had transferred through countless hosts, and only now had he found a form that perfectly matched him—achieving a full resurrection.
Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“I never expected you to surface.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Perhaps it was the will of the Immortals. Perhaps they believed that only you could stand against me—this Blood Demon—since you despise them so.”
“How amusing you are.”
In other words, the seal he thought he’d broken on his own might have been released by the Immortals themselves. That possibility alone was intolerable, and Dan Woo-hyun’s killing intent erupted like a torrent.
The Blood Demon stepped back a single pace.
A thousand years.
A thousand years is a long span of time.
Unlike the Blood Demon, who had lived through such ages again and again, Dan Woo-hyun had not changed a single thing since that day a thousand years ago.
Which is precisely why his blade was so sharp.
He knew it bone-deep.
He was still afraid.
But he mocked it just as much.
“Enough. You cannot touch me now.”
“So the years have made you funny as well?”
“Hahahaha, and why wouldn’t a man change after such a span of time has passed?”
The Blood Demon waved his hand lightly.
In an instant.
A flash of light erupted before Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes.
A Finger Technique.
The Blood Demon had launched it in a heartbeat, and Dan Woo-hyun had blocked it just as quickly—both displayed reflexes that defied belief. Yet what was strange was this:
From nothing more than a Finger Technique, Dan Woo-hyun was driven back half a step in a stumble.
Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes widened.
Shock flooded his gaze.
This had never happened before.
And so his eyes trembled visibly.
“An expression I’ve never seen on your face. Hahahaha.”
The Blood Demon laughed.
He looked down at Dan Woo-hyun from above, his gaze contemptuous. For all these years, Dan Woo-hyun had always been supreme, yet never the strongest—so before him, defeat was inevitable.
But now things were different.
The Blood Demon’s downward gaze brimmed with confidence.
Even if he and Dan Woo-hyun fought here to the death, he would never lose. The thousand years had given him gifts that were no mere dream.
“Rise a little higher. You are not my match now.”
……
“Come. Let us fight once more—staking the supreme and the strongest, this Central Plains and our very lives.”
“What are you thinking?”
The Blood Demon laughed softly.
In that moment, he retreated a half step back.
Bang!
Simultaneously, a tremendous blast filled the air. Fragments scattered in all directions like hidden blades, but the Blood Demon, without even raising a Protective Qi Shield, sidestepped them with ease and wore a sneer.
“You’ve unleashed the Black Wind Divine Demon.”
…!
“Can you stop it? Can you kill me? If you can stop it, then stop it now! If you can kill me, then kill me again! Death and killing—that is the fate of you and me! That is our lives! Hahahaha!”
The Blood Demon retreated.
His form vanished into the darkness. His laughter echoed out, reaching Dan Woo-hyun’s ears and pricking at his pride.
Dan Woo-hyun stood motionless, his fists clenched.
“The Black Wind Divine Demon……”
He knew it was no lie.
The Spirit Possession Art was a technique the Blood Demon favored, and it was also the very reason the Blood Demon Divine Cult had once risen to supremacy in the Central Plains.

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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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