Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 23

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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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Dan Woo-hyun had not taken a single life from the moment he opened his eyes until very recently.
It was no exaggeration to call this the pride of a Strong One, and of a Martial Artist.
A Strong One must know how to show mercy.
To protect the Weak One, yet also to know how to reprove them.
But the blood scattering now was not of that kind.
These people had abandoned their humanity.
Therefore, he cut them down.
Screams tore from those whose limbs had been severed. They still drew breath, still lived, but none of them would ever live as human beings again.
In that sense, they were already dead.
Crack-crack-crack!
“Gahhhhh!”
“Kack-kack!”
With a light flick of his hand, two or three figures crumpled. It was something that could never be blocked, never dodged—and whoever saw it fell severed before they could even register the strike.
Though he held no blade, his hand-work was itself a knife’s edge.
“P-please… spare me…! I beg you… I beg you!”
Rip!
A sharp cry rang out, and the man’s limbs were torn clean away by the tension released.
Many fell to the ground, shrieking and writhing.
The number of those lying scattered was beyond counting.
There were also those who stood and stared, dazed.
They seemed to be villagers who lived here. Their eyes could not leave this scene of bloodshed.
Instead, as they watched those fall, fire kindled in their gaze.
Was it satisfaction? Or was it sorrow?
What lay in their hearts was none of Dan Woo-hyun’s concern. He had no wish to pay attention, nor any desire to invest his sympathy.
Those who had surrendered to resistance.
Those whose spirit was broken, who accepted reality.
Even these displeased him.
Step by step.
Dan Woo-hyun walked forward.
Watching each figure before him, he advanced through them all.
He bore no particular grudge against them, but a heart already dyed pitch-black cannot be restored, no matter what is done.
Better to leave them crippled beyond ever rising again. Even if they fled this place, they would only repeat such deeds, going on with their lives this way.
“What are you doing, you bastard!”
A loud shout rang out.
In an instant, he turned his head and extended his hand.
Splurt!
Dan Woo-hyun smiled coldly as he watched a gaping hole open in the shouter’s body. Behind him, many figures dressed in black suddenly revealed themselves.
They stared at their fallen comrade with shock in their eyes, yet all fixed Dan Woo-hyun with murderous intent.
“A Master! Do not let your guard slip!”
It was the moment when members of the Black Sword Society, hidden until now, began to emerge one by one.
Dan Woo-hyun let out a small sigh.
So they were only just crawling out now.
Wasn’t it already too late?

***

“L-Lord Leader! S-something terrible has happened!”
“Have you found the location of the children?”
“That’s… that’s not it, sir… an attack!”
“What?”
Sa Ma-chan shot to his feet.
If his ears were not deceiving him, he had just heard the word “attack.” Five years had passed since he took control of the village, yet he had never been attacked. There had been minor incidents here and there, but nothing like this.
Sa Ma-chan laughed softly and dismissed it lightly.
“Another Martial Artist causing trouble in the streets?”
“That’s… that’s not it, sir. They’ve truly come in force.”
“What in the world is happening that you make such a commotion!”
Rumble!
Sa Ma-chan’s Inner Force erupted outward, shaking the air with tremendous force.
His power—a testament to a Master who had reached the Peak—carried a vibration so fierce it seemed to bore straight through his subordinates’ ears.
Several of them clapped their hands over their heads and collapsed to their knees.
“I—I don’t understand, sir. There is only one enemy, yet all of our men are being defeated!”
“Defeated by a single wretch? That makes no sense whatsoever!”
“He is a Master beyond all imagination! We cannot stop him! Over a hundred of our people have already fallen!”
“This is madness! You expect me to believe that?”
The Black Sword Society was locked in conflict with the Murim Alliance. Because of this, the ranks of its subordinates were drawn almost entirely from the first-tier—men of genuine skill, the sort who would not fall easily anywhere else.
Yet such men were being cut down without resistance?
It was impossible to believe.
The reporting subordinate’s frustration boiled over; he beat his own chest as he spoke.
“It is the truth, sir! The entire village is engulfed in screams, and he—he is coming here!”
“Just who in the blazes is this man—!”
Crash!
At that moment, a deafening roar shook heaven and earth.
It was no mere sound.
Sa Ma-chan’s body trembled as the pressure washed over him. Though the distance was considerable, he could feel the intruder’s presence—his killing intent.
‘What—what is this aura…?’
Sa Ma-chan’s composure cracked.
The presence bearing down on him was overwhelming—vast as the heavens themselves, or like some immense mountain towering overhead. In its shadow, his own existence felt infinitesimally small.
Crash!
Another terrible boom reached his ears, and he held his breath.
His hands trembled visibly.
Sensing someone approach, his breathing quickened.
“Who—who is it?”
Sa Ma-chan stared ahead, his gaze taut with tension. The footsteps grew louder, drawing closer with each second until they were nearly upon him.
He fixed his eyes forward, hands shaking.
And then a figure emerged from the darkness.
“Good heavens!”
A gasp of horror escaped him; his entire body began to shake.
The man was drenched head to foot in blood—vivid, crimson blood.
So much of it that no rain could ever wash it clean. And those eyes—that terrible red gaze.
Those were eyes that seemed, at a glance, ready to devour one’s very soul. Feral. Merciless.
Sa Ma-chan found himself collapsing to the ground without conscious thought.
He tried to gather his Inner Force in resistance, but terror made even that impossible.
As he struggled to steady his trembling frame and swallow hard, the figure drew near.
Thud. Thud.
Dan Woo-hyun approached.
It was the footfall of death itself.
“W-who are you…?”
“Ak-yang.”
……
A single word, and Sa Ma-chan understood everything.
‘So it was you.’
So this was the man who had struck at the Black Sword Society.
The moment that realization struck him, rage surged through Sa Ma-chan’s chest. He gritted his teeth, forced down his fear, and drew upon his Inner Force. In an instant, power erupted from his Dan Tian, racing swiftly through his arms.
“You damnable bastard—!”
Sa Ma-chan hurled himself forward at Dan Woo-hyun, his entire being bristling with deadly intent.
Victory or defeat was the lesser concern.
If he did not attack now, he felt certain he would cough blood and die where he stood.
In that moment, Dan Woo-hyun’s low chuckle echoed through the air.

***

“What are you doing? Seize them all at once!”
Hong Won-chang strode into Cheonja Mountain Village at the head of his officers, his face ashen with fury as he surveyed the bodies scattered about on every side.
His men bore the same expression of shock.
What on earth had happened here?
Martial Artists lay sprawled across the ground alongside common brigands, their chests heaving with labored breath. The mangled limbs scattered about painted an even grimmer picture.
Surely some of them would not survive the night.
The constables knew this well enough, yet they bound the criminals roughly regardless. Thinking of what these wretches had done, death would have been a mercy.
“Magistrate! There’s a sound coming from over there.”
One of the constables pointed and shouted.
From a great manor at the village’s edge came a series of loud crashes.
‘That must be it.’
Hong Won-chang walked toward the manor with barely contained eagerness and called out.
“The rest of you follow me. The others—bind these men!”
Restraining the fallen was more than enough work for the remaining constables. It made sense; their Energy Centers were shattered, their limbs severed.
“But… who are these men, really?”
“Members of the Black Sword Society! This place houses their headquarters, so don’t lower your guard for an instant. Not a single one must escape!”
“What?!”
“B-Black Sword Society? These men?”
The constables could not hide their shock at the magistrate’s words.
The magistrate had vanished, then returned just as suddenly to summon all the constables, and they’d raced to this remote place. And now he said they’d arrived at the Black Sword Society’s headquarters.
Moreover, scattered throughout the grounds lay members of the Black Sword Society—no battle even needed to be fought.
Should they believe this, or not?
The constables stood slack-jawed, bereft of speech.
‘You can’t believe it, can you? Neither can I.’
Hong Won-chang fought down a laugh.
When he’d said he’d go alone, he’d sensed something amiss, but he’d never imagined the man would actually pull off something like this.
‘Master Dan truly transcends all limits….’
What martial artist in all the world could accomplish such a feat?
What was even more astonishing was that no one had been killed. Limbs were severed, yet not a single vital point had been struck fatally.
It meant he had controlled the entire battle perfectly.
Hong Won-chang noticed the great gate was shattered and stepped inside. Within, he saw numerous fallen bodies—many more than before.
Different from those outside.
At a glance, these were masters of considerable skill.
“Isn’t that fellow Chu Hyung? The bandit leader notorious for his crimes?”
“And there—that’s Bang Man-joong!”
It appeared that men the imperial court had been hunting for years were gathered in one place.
Those lying with eyes rolled back, trembling violently, were unquestionably criminals steeped in vice—and many bore substantial bounties.
Hong Won-chang swallowed hard.
Then, the moment he looked forward.
Crash!
A doorframe suddenly flew past, and a figure came tumbling across the ground.
“Gasp!”
The man who had flown out let out a ragged groan, clutching his chest. Yet he could not hold back the blood that rushed up—he spat out a stream of crimson.
And from within that doorway, Dan Woo-hyun appeared.
“Ah…? M-Master…!”
Drenched in blood, he looked hardly human. Yet it was obvious at once that the blood was not his own, but came from those who had fallen.
He bore not a single wound.
Dan Woo-hyun approached the fallen man slowly, then swept his leg in a violent arc at his abdomen.
Crash!
“Gasp! Ahhhhhhh!”
“His Energy Center is broken.”
Watching the man curl up like a shrimp, Dan Woo-hyun extended his leg once more. With a dull thud, Sa Ma-chan’s head drove into the ground.
The man, who had been thrashing violently, went suddenly still.
“His Muscle Meridians remain intact, but movement will be difficult for some time. He can be taken as he is.”
“Who… who is that man?”
“The leader of the Black Sword Society.”
Hong Won-chang stood aghast, the constables utterly bewildered.
They stared at Dan Woo-hyun in silence, like men struck dumb.
The leader of the Black Sword Society was a formidable master, counted among the hundred greatest experts of the Central Plains.
Though only mid-ranking in the Martial World’s hierarchy, his ruthless nature and sinister schemes had earned him widespread infamy—no easy opponent to overcome.
Yet Dan Woo-hyun had subdued him with such ease, and appeared to have sustained not a single wound in the process.
“My work here is done, it seems.”
“Th-thank you! Thank you so much, Master!”
Dan Woo-hyun gave a small nod.
For a man who had just crushed an organization as vast as the Black Sword Society, his expression was remarkably serene, and all eyes followed him with reverence.
And as Dan Woo-hyun turned to leave, walking slowly away, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“I’ll be returning to the Manor.”
“Ah, understood. I’ll call on you once matters are settled.”
“Good. And… don’t forget.”
“Sir?”
A moment later, Hong Won-chang grasped the meaning and lowered his head.
It was surely an instruction not to reveal his involvement in this affair to anyone.
It would complicate matters when reporting to his superiors, but he could manage it discreetly enough.
Just as he was about to bid Dan Woo-hyun farewell with a gentle smile—
“Ah, the bounties on these men are mine.”
“…….”
Hong Won-chang’s brow furrowed.

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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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