Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 57

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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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While mysterious figures pressed their assault on the Jungma Alliance, the northwestern sector of Gunja Island remained eerily quiet.
With everyone mobilized to repel the black-clad attackers, only a handful of guards held the entrance—or so it appeared.
Toward that very point, a group of masked figures moved with precision.
They advanced with such secrecy that not even their footfalls disturbed the air, masters of Concealment in every measure.
The sounds of distant conflict barely registered with them.
Their eyes fixed solely on finding the entrance to Bidong.
They moved without hesitation, as though they had known the way from the start.
And when an obstacle appeared before them, they did not falter—they drew their blades.
Slash—!
“Choke!”
A man’s head flew grotesquely skyward.
Whether he served the Murim Alliance or the Demonic Sect mattered not to them. Their eyes remained fixed on the entrance, their feet driven only toward it.
-Move faster. Little time remains.
The black-clad figures nodded in unison.
They crouched lower, driving power into their legs.
Their speed seemed to surge once more, even more ferocious than before.
The wind split before them as they cut down the three guards holding the entrance; before the bodies even struck the ground, they had already plunged inside.
The entire infiltration took less than a moment.
So seamless. So swift.
They moved like those trained for exactly this.
Even as they descended into the long, winding cavern, they spared not a glance at their surroundings.
Though absolute darkness pressed around them—so thick that sight itself seemed impossible—they saw clearly ahead, as if guided by something beyond ordinary sense.
-It runs far longer than expected. This will take time.
-No—listen. Water. We’re drawing close.
One of them was right. Water-sound echoed through the tunnel, and the very character of the air had begun to shift. Their destination, it seemed, was not far now.
The masked figures exchanged glances and quickened their pace to something almost preternatural—a speed that would have made even Jang Sam-tae’s jaw drop.
At last, the endless passage opened before them, and a vast cavern came into view.
Crash—!
Bang-bang-bang—!
One of the black-clad figures went flying, slamming hard against the cavern wall. He slid downward, leaving a dark trail. He was no longer among the living.
Ting-ting-ting—!
Yet the black-clad figures did not panic.
This was not their first taste of such trials.
They drew their blades at once, fixing their attention forward.
“…Who are you?”
A vast cavern.
Three shapes that resembled remains.
Sword marks that scarred the walls, strange characters scrawled across the stone.
All of this matched what they had heard, but one thing differed from expectation.
A man stood before them.
He stood motionless.
His gaze was fixed, unwavering, yet his eyes held no emotion—they were hollow, devoid of anything resembling feeling.
Then the man smiled.
Even that smile was grotesque.
“You’ve saved me the trouble.”
What did he mean?
His words made no sense, yet they did not dwell on it.
Death by deception was part of the Murim’s nature—and these men had been trained to transcend all such temptations, to remain cold-hearted no matter the circumstance.
They leveled their blades at him and released their killing intent.
“I did not expect this. That you would arrive before me… I remained because your footfalls seemed odd, nothing more…”
Dan Woo-hyun spoke these words as he slowly surveyed the masked figures before him. Their stance was remarkable—wholly disciplined.
By their posture alone, he could discern they walked the line between excellence and mastery.
Yet their bodies bore the marks of those specialized in assassination and infiltration—lithe, composed, eerily controlled. They reminded him of the seasoned assassins of old.
And yet they showed no weakness in direct combat either. So different from the rabble he had faced before. This was… interesting.
That such ones still existed.
Was it not fascinating?
“Tell me—what business brings you to this place?”
Death!
There was no point in answering.
Whoever stood before him, this figure had been inside Bidong and might well possess something of value—important enough that he had to die.
The black-robed assassins scattered in all directions, weaving a Formation Technique.
Their opponent was undoubtedly a master.
There could be no carelessness.
This formation was meant for fighting masters stronger than themselves.
Among all who had fallen into it before, not a single one had lived—and so they moved with confidence.
“Interesting. Your formation is quite refined. Perhaps even better than Shaolin’s.”
Dan Woo-hyun surveyed the scattered figures surrounding him.
They appeared merely dispersed, yet they had positioned themselves at a distance that allowed them to close the gap in an instant.
Perfect range for Throwing Blades, and safe even if toxins were deployed. Moreover, they could tighten their circle at any moment to engage at close quarters—once caught, there was no escape.
One of them lunged forward.
The instant the distance closed, dozens of Throwing Blades erupted from another direction.
The advancing assassin surely knew he risked becoming collateral damage to his own side’s projectiles, yet he did not slow.
Dan Woo-hyun watched calmly and moved his hand.
He plucked one of the incoming Throwing Blades from the air and ducked his head—an action that occurred almost simultaneously with the assassin’s own duck.
In the flash of the man’s startled eyes widening, Dan Woo-hyun’s hand moved lightly, drawing the Throwing Blade across his throat.
A choking rattle.
The assassin clutched at his neck, gasping in agony. But Dan Woo-hyun was not finished; he seized the man by the collar and dragged him forward.
Thunk-thunk-thunk!
The incoming Throwing Blades embedded themselves across the corpse.
“Is that all?”
Their formation had not collapsed.
Merely one man had fallen.
Yet the grace of his movements was so remarkable that even seeing it with their own eyes, they could hardly believe it.
The leader among them made a signal with his eyes to the others.
After all, it was only one man.
There might be casualties, but nothing they could not overcome.
Whisper-whisper!
The black-robed assassins moved, tightening their formation, and each movement sent Throwing Blades hurtling toward Dan Woo-hyun.
They were extraordinarily fast and sharp.
Their motions were so dazzling that the eye could barely track them—anyone faced with such brilliance seemed destined to be overwhelmed.
Clang!
Clang-clang!
In rapid succession, the black-robed men burst forward with Lightness Skill, striking with their blades. Each time, the Throwing Blade in Dan Woo-hyun’s hand moved effortlessly to parry.
The sight of him simultaneously deflecting incoming projectiles seemed to transcend what a human should be capable of.
The leader’s jaw tightened.
Time was short. They could not afford to be drawn out here any longer.
“Kill him!”
He raised his voice in a roar and charged forward himself.
He drew his blade with desperate resolve, channeling his Internal Energy into the steel.
The moment that tremendous power surged from his Dantian into the blade, the circling black-robed assassins abruptly closed the distance and rushed toward Dan Woo-hyun in a single coordinated wave.
“This is all you have?”
A faint scoff.
Dan Woo-hyun smiled contemptuously.
This was almost pitiful.
Had they thought more carefully, they might have found some way to escape. Even then, such an approach would not have qualified as even first-rate. But as it stood, they were simply rushing to their deaths.
Yet there was a certain charm to it.
Dan Woo-hyun stepped back with one foot and hurled his Throwing Blade.
It lodged in one man’s throat with a wet thud; simultaneously, he swept his arm in a horizontal arc and sidestepped.
A wet crack.
The head of the man approaching from the right flew free. Before his corpse even hit the ground, Dan Woo-hyun kicked it, and the body hurtled like a projectile into another advancing assassin.
Crash!
What unfolded in a single heartbeat seemed impossible to comprehend. Yet Dan Woo-hyun’s movements were far from finished—and that was what should remain etched in their minds as terror.
A wet slice.
Whether he was channeling Internal Energy or not, one could not tell.
His movements seemed almost casual, mere sweeps of his arm—and yet the necks of the black-robed men were severed, their heads pierced through.
Trapped in a noose from which no amount of struggle could free them, not one of them could retreat, and not one could reach within arm’s length of Dan Woo-hyun.

Screech-screech-screech!
“Having Internal Energy doesn’t make you invincible. This is how you use a blade.”
Dan Woo-hyun hadn’t used his Internal Energy once.
With mere movement alone, he was slaughtering those called masters.
The Throwing Blade gripped in his hand seemed superior even to the finest swords under heaven, and it pursued as if guided by sight itself, stealing its target’s life.
“Impossible, urgh!”
Having pierced the throat of the last leader standing among more than twenty men, Dan Woo-hyun regarded him with a cool gaze as he trembled.
“Keep your mouth shut. You’ll wake the sleeping ones.”
Thud!
The leader’s body crumpled without even managing a final cry.
Dan Woo-hyun, watching this dispassionately, spotted something on the corpse and reached for it.
“A Signal Flare?”
He grasped the situation quickly enough.
Someone had attacked Gunja Island, and these men were using the chaos to seize the remains and something in Bidong.
When the Signal Flare was fired, all those conducting the assault would likely withdraw.
It would be the signal that the objective had been achieved.
Having reasoned this far, Dan Woo-hyun let out a thin smile.
He pocketed the Signal Flare and dragged the bodies one by one to hurl them over the cliff. This way, no one would find them for some time.
He even wiped away the blood splattered across the ground.
It was the work of a criminal dreaming of the perfect crime.
Soon after, he gathered the remains of three people, cradling each in turn and depositing them at the cave’s entrance. Then he found the boat the black-robed assassins had likely come by.
It wasn’t far to find.
The vessel sat in a place hidden from view, with several men standing guard.
The moment Dan Woo-hyun leaped onto the boat, before those guarding it could even react, his Throwing Blade moved.
Slice!
“Nngh……”
The corpses of men who couldn’t even manage a sound sank one by one to the bottom of Dongting Lake. What unfolded in an instant caught no one prepared for it.
Once everything was in order, Dan Woo-hyun carefully brought the three remains onto the boat.
He moved with the utmost care, as if the bone that had decayed for a thousand years might crumble further at the slightest disturbance.
Once that sequence of work was complete, he fired the Signal Flare high into the sky.
Shriek-shriek-shriek!
Dan Woo-hyun watched it climb, then began rowing—and instead of leaving Gunja Island, the boat moved, oddly, in a different direction.
A place where dense undergrowth and rock kept even a moored boat hidden from sight. There could be no better location to conceal something.
Moreover, it lay in the opposite direction from where people gathered.
The likelihood of those with their attention diverted elsewhere finding this place seemed slim.
Anchored there, Dan Woo-hyun murmured.
“Stay here awhile. I’ll be back soon.”
He was speaking to remains that could no longer answer.
Had Jang Sam-tae been there beside him, he might have doubted Dan Woo-hyun’s sanity first of all.

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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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