Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 64

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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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Namgung Cheon jerked the reins sharply.
An-hyang was not far from here. Once he set his horse to a gallop, it would be only moments away.
After riding hard for some time, the last of the townspeople had vanished from sight, and nothing remained around him but narrow ravines. If he urged his horse deeper into them, An-hyang—their destination—would come into view.
But something felt wrong.
If the Murim Alliance was truly pursuing them, there should have been some trace of it. Yet he saw nothing—not a single sign.
He frowned deeper and drove the horse faster, and in that very instant—
Snap!
A rope suddenly whipped up from the ground.
As the horse lurched and fell, Namgung Cheon launched himself into the air, regained his balance, and landed cleanly on his feet.
The moment his boots touched earth, as if on cue, a white powder began to billow from all directions.
He held his breath at once, but the toxin that had already slipped past his nostrils and lips would not fade.
His hands trembled as he felt his Internal Energy scatter in an instant.
“San-gong Poison?”
San-gong Poison was extraordinarily rare, prized for its singular and devastating effect—it scattered a martial artist’s Internal Energy. Even the Dang Clan, renowned for poison across the land, acquired perhaps one batch every few decades.
What more needed to be said?
Even the greatest masters under heaven could not resist San-gong Poison’s effects.
It was that lethal, that terrifying to any warrior.
And yet, that was not all.
Whistle!
‘An arrow?’
He caught the sharp whistle of air being torn and threw himself to the side.
Even with his Internal Energy scattering, his movements were no worse than a young man’s.
But that defense could carry him only so far.
Behind him as he stumbled, a cold, bright force descended.
He twisted to defend himself, but the San-gong Poison was spreading through his body at a ferocious pace—even turning his frame felt sluggish and heavy.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
A groan tore from Namgung Cheon’s throat.
He felt the blade graze his ribs by the thinnest margin and thrust out with his palm.
Boom!
With a tremendous crash, the swordsman was hurled backward.
“So even with your Internal Energy scattered, the Sword Emperor remains the Sword Emperor.”
A voice called out from a distance.
It was a voice he seemed to have heard before.
But with his vision growing dim in this state, he could not make out who spoke.
The man’s confident voice continued.
“Yet today, this place shall become your grave.”
“You bastards—!”
Namgung Cheon ignited a fierce light in his dimming eyes.
If they had prepared this thoroughly, they had been hunting him from the start. And his death would mean the collapse of the Murim Alliance.
“I, Namgung Cheon, will not die so easily.”
“Of course… I expected nothing less.”
He felt the man’s soft laugh.
It was unmistakably a sneer.
Even poisoned by San-gong, even with the man before him knowing him to be the Sword Emperor—why did he carry such ease, such confidence?
But soon, the basis for that confidence became starkly clear.
The man raised his hand, and a group of archers stepped forward, arrows nocked.
Just as they prepared to loose their Fire Arrows, Namgung Cheon sensed something amiss and bolted forward.
“Hahaha!”
Whistle-whistle-whistle!
The air shrieked again with violent fury, and the instant the burning arrows struck the ground, the acrid stench of smoke and sulfur filled the air.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Byeokryok Bombs detonated in sequence.

***

Outside the Estate, Dan Woo-hyun stood and reflected.
Fields surrounded the great wall of the compound.
Gwon Mu-jin, Jang Sam-tae, and Dan So-mi had spent considerable time crafting this place.
With crops already planted, it would only be a matter of time before they ripened into something worth savoring.
The house itself stood perfect.
Not a single stone cracked, not a beam out of place.
It had been built sturdy to begin with, and Jang Sam-tae’s careful maintenance had kept it that way.
But something was missing.
Dan Woo-hyun gazed out across Dongjeong Lake.
Vast.
Enormously vast.
The horizon stretched so far that the eye could not reach its end—a natural expanse that made abundantly clear how utterly beyond human grasp such immensity truly was.
On that water floated a single small boat, where a man and woman sat laughing and passing a wine cup between them.
Though he felt no particular desire to share such a boat with a woman, there was something rather charming about the idea of placing a lantern on the deck in the late evening and sipping wine at leisure, was there not?
‘That does look interesting.’
The thought had surfaced unbidden in Dan Woo-hyun’s mind.
Come to think of it, he’d done nearly everything in his past, but he’d never actually taken to a boat.
There had always been that one fellow who’d capsize any vessel that dared come near him.
“I need a boat.”
Fishing from the shore had its own charm, certainly, but the prospect of going out deeper and catching fish from the greater depths held its own allure.
“I need a boat.”
“Yes, sir. Shall I buy one?”
Jang Sam-tae, who stood nearby, broke into a cold sweat. He’d been fishing when Dan Woo-hyun started staring intently at that small boat, and now—out of nowhere—he needed one?
‘Does he want it simply because it looks interesting?’
He was hardly a three-year-old child, yet his desires seemed endless.
Then again, having a boat would certainly be convenient.
There were many uses for one.
If he went into Ak-yang, there would surely be merchants selling boats.
‘How much could a small boat possibly cost?’
“Sam-tae.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Bring me an axe, a saw, a hammer, and nails.”
“You mean to build one!?”
Jang Sam-tae cried out in astonishment.
There was unmistakable resolve in what he’d just heard—the determination to build a boat himself.
Building a mere small boat shouldn’t take long, but Dan Woo-hyun’s sudden earnestness made him uneasy without quite knowing why.
“There’s nothing but timber around here. Why spend money when we don’t need to?”
“But wouldn’t it be simpler to buy one, sir?”
“If So-mi’s the one sailing it, it could sink. Can you trust the work of strangers?”
“……I’ll fetch the tools at once.”
Jang Sam-tae hurried off, though even as he ran, doubt gnawed at him.
Surely it would be easier to find a skilled craftsman and commission the work?
Where in the world did he spend all that money?
Aside from occasional purchases of necessities at Market Street, he rarely saw Dan Woo-hyun spend anything at all.

***

Jang Sam-tae gathered the tools, muttering complaints, and approached Dan Woo-hyun.
Gwon Mu-jin was already there beside him.
The fellow had been training not long ago—who knew when he’d arrived here? Truly, tales of ghosts must have been coined with men like this in mind.
“A boat, sir……?”
Gwon Mu-jin stood carefully at Dan Woo-hyun’s side, cold sweat beading on his brow. He’d come out to catch his breath during training, but he was beginning to think it would have been better to stay away.
‘A boat, out of nowhere?’
“Look there.”
Dan Woo-hyun pointed to the distant small boat.
From that direction came laughter tinged with coquetry, and the sight of people drinking wine at their leisure.
Gwon Mu-jin clenched his fists.
‘So those are the culprits.’
He wanted nothing more than to sink the whole thing in one blow.
“Don’t you want one? A boat?”
“I…… see. A most excellent idea, sir.”
At first, he’d wondered if Jang Sam-tae had been spinning tales, but seeing him shake his head with a disappointed expression, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Then Jang Sam-tae set down his tools with a soft thud.
“Well then, let’s go gather wood first.”
“Ah… yes….”
“Understood, sir.”
Neither of them was pleased, but neither dared to resist.
One way or another, the three of them gathered their tools and headed toward a place far removed from the Estate.
Felling trees near the Estate would spoil its beauty, so they’d sought a location where no one passed and where the missing timber wouldn’t be noticed.
It wasn’t easy, but after roughly half an hour, they found a suitable spot and stopped.
Jang Sam-tae was reaching for the axe to begin felling trees when Dan Woo-hyun’s hand shot out faster, gripping it first.
“I’ll show you the easy way to split wood.”
In that instant, both men’s eyes widened.
Though Dan Woo-hyun was ordinarily no better than a wastrel, whenever he set his mind to something and moved with intent, he often displayed feats of martial prowess beyond what ordinary human strength could fathom.
The two of them watched Dan Woo-hyun intently and swallowed hard.
What would he show them this time?
“Listen well. Whether it’s an axe or anything else you grip in your hand to split or fell something, there’s a technique to it. And depending on how naturally you channel your Inner Power together with that technique, even difficult tasks become simple.”
Dan Woo-hyun stood before a massive tree.
Its trunk was so thick that even a skilled woodcutter would need several hours to fell it.
Dan Woo-hyun’s axe rose slightly, then came down with gentle force.
Thwack!
The moment the sound echoed out, both men’s eyes bulged wide.
Crack-crackle!
It wasn’t a matter of chopping multiple times.
Just once.
Yet with that single blow, the massive tree toppled over.
When something so unbelievable happened before their very eyes, both men stared with mouths agape.
Even if a bug crawled inside, they wouldn’t have closed them.
Thud-boom!
As the tree fell completely, Dan Woo-hyun tossed the axe aside.
“That’s how you use Internal Energy.”
The two swallowed hard and turned their vacant stares toward Dan Woo-hyun.
Their gazes were identical, but their thoughts were entirely different.
‘How on earth does he manage to do something like that?’
‘If he can do it, why doesn’t he just do it himself instead of ordering us around like this?’
Dan Woo-hyun watched them and let out a soft chuckle.
They likely hadn’t grasped it easily.
“Practice teaches better than words. Give it a try.”
“It seems impossible, no matter how much we try….”
At Jang Sam-tae’s complaint, Dan Woo-hyun pressed the axe into his hands and spoke briefly.
“Haven’t I told you this before?”
“Sir?”
“Everything comes down to a difference in mindset. If you believe something is impossible, no effort will make it possible. How have you managed to stay alive this long?”
Jang Sam-tae let out a low groan.
As memories of the past flashed through his mind, goosebumps rose unbidden.
He touched his throat and swallowed a sigh.
‘I’m lucky to be alive at all.’
The journey had been that difficult.
“Now then, begin. The later you finish, the later you’ll get back home.”
“But So-mi’s meal….”
“I’ll go and take care of it.”
Dan Woo-hyun had cut off every possible excuse.
With no more excuses to offer, they had no choice but to work.
And so, once again, the two men were sacrificed for Dan Woo-hyun’s amusement.

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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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