Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 73

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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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“Hey, look over there…….”
“Ahem! Turn your head, turn it!”
Market Street in Ak-yang
A group moved carelessly through the crowded thoroughfare where countless people passed back and forth.
Sabers and swords hung at their waists, and the way they all wore crimson martial robes made it immediately obvious they were martial artists.
If it were simply martial artists passing through, there would be nothing particularly strange about it.
This was Ak-yang, after all.
Since Dongting Lake in the vicinity served as quite a famous tourist destination, seeing martial artists come and go was a common enough sight.
Moreover, given all the turmoil of recent times, you could spot martial artists with just a turn of your head.
Against such a backdrop, a single group was hardly noteworthy.
Nothing to lose sleep over.
But there was another reason people feared them.
They were the Wind Sword Sect, a martial faction that had established itself in Ak-yang.
They had crushed the numerous martial sects and families sprouting up like mushrooms in the Ak-yang region of late, and were now transforming themselves into unmistakably the greatest faction in Ak-yang.
For a minor or mid-tier sect under the Murim Alliance, they were considerably strong, and lately they had been patrolling the Ak-yang area claiming to keep order, showing no hesitation in cutting down criminals and bandits on sight.
Because of this, people had taken to avoiding them.
“Ever since those people showed up, I’ve been too scared to walk Market Street.”
“…….”
Ji Yak watched the departing figures and muttered quietly. Since witnessing them slaughter bandits in an alley during a previous walk, her whole body would flinch whenever she saw a crimson robe.
“I heard Hyun-ryung is having trouble with this too?”
“Yeah, well.”
Ji Yak’s brow furrowed.
Bringing criminals to justice and executing them—that was properly the work of Regional Commander Hong Won-chang, but since they appeared, he’s been unable to handle matters properly.
Most of the dead had indeed committed actual crimes, and because they uprooted the perpetrators so thoroughly that evidence could never even reach the magistrate’s office, Hong Won-chang found his hands were tied.
The two children sighed softly.
As Ak-yang grew grim, their spirits seemed to wither with it.
But there was a child who seemed entirely unaffected by such matters.
Toward the cheerful laughter of Hong Jin-rang and Ji Yak, they turned their gaze. At the end of their sight sat Dan So-mi, crouched down playing with a small puppy.
“Must be nice to have such peace of mind.”
“What’s even funnier is how she doesn’t worry about it at all.”
They regarded Dan So-mi with awkward expressions.
Even when the Wind Sword Sect people passed nearby, even when they fixed them with fierce, piercing stares, Dan So-mi paid them no mind. She carried herself as though convinced that no matter what they did, they would never harm her.
“So-mi, aren’t you scared of those Wind Sword Sect people?”
Finally Ji Yak asked, sighing.
Just moments before, the Wind Sword Sect had passed by, and when Dan So-mi spotted the puppy, she’d darted right between them. Most of the onlookers had been startled half to death.
“Huh? So-mi hasn’t done anything wrong to those people, so……”
“But still…… doesn’t it frighten you? Those people go around killing folks like that…….”
“Hehe, that must be a lie. How could anyone just kill people like that?”
Innocence had to have some limits, surely.
Hong Jin-rang sighed.
He’d sensed it even during his stay at home a few days prior—Dan So-mi seemed to trust everyone, convinced they would never bring her harm.
‘Yet she’s causing quite a bit of trouble at the School on her end…….’
Hong Jin-rang broke out in cold sweat.
This innocent child had been taking money from other students through a simple territory game, and that was far from all. A few days ago, the three of them had been roaming Market Street when they encountered a criminal—a pickpocket who swindled copper coins from unsuspecting children.
Dan So-mi had faced him and won decisively, claiming a considerable sum in the process.
When the angry criminal had later tried to swing his fists, by some miraculous stroke of luck he’d been caught by constables on patrol, and now sat locked in a cell.
‘Frankly, her luck is insane…….’
What’s more, for the past few days she’d been learning Go from the School Master, and now she was emptying his purse with it too.
Hong Jin-rang had witnessed it himself—
The way she smiled sweetly while extending her hand toward the School Master, who bore a ghastly, corpse-like complexion. His expression at that moment had been utterly pitiful.
“You’re not…….”
Putting on an act, are you?
Hong Jin-rang had nearly said as much before catching himself.
Ji Yak’s gaze had turned far too murderous.
In any case, when it came to So-mi, she abandoned all caution and rushed forward. Though Hong Jin-rang counted himself among the best fighters at the School, he had no defense against Ji Yak’s stare.
He wasn’t about to wreck his household over something like that.
“In any case, everyone be careful. Those bastards don’t look like the type to go easy on children.”
Hong Jin-rang shrugged and opened his mouth.
They certainly looked dangerous enough.
Though in truth, he suspected none of them compared to Ji Yak standing right in front of him.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
When Ji Yak tilted her head and asked, Hong Jin-rang quickly looked away. Seeing that smiling face of hers, he felt as though she’d caught him cursing under his breath.
Crafty as a fox, that one.

“Is this Hubei?”
“Yes, it is.”
Upon entering Hubei, Dan Woo-hyun surveyed his surroundings first.
The landscape was utterly transformed from what he remembered.
Not only the buildings that stood here, but even the clothes people wore were different. Well, a thousand years had passed, and countless things had changed in the interim, so it was only natural that everything felt new and strange.
Every vista he had once walked through had been altered.
“How much further must we go to reach Han Cheon?”
“About ten more days.”
They were following the current of Dongting Lake upstream.
The waterway they traveled now was called the Hong River, and five days’ journey to the east lay Red Cliff, where the legendary Battle of Red Cliff had once taken place.
It was a sufficiently famous location that travelers in Hubei would likely visit it at least once, but Dan Woo-hyun showed little interest.
“However, my lord, you should know that this region falls under the domain of the Wudang Sect, and reckless conduct could well draw their displeasure.”
“The Wudang Sect, I see.”
Dan Woo-hyun gave a small nod.
He had already heard accounts of them. They were one of the forces called the Nine Schools and One House, and had ruled this region of Hubei for ages, or so he’d been told.
It was rather interesting, actually.
“Is there anything else of note?”
“The Zhuge Family.”
Dan Woo-hyun looked at Kwon Mu-jin with evident surprise.
The Zhuge? The Zhuge?
They had certainly been famous even during his own era. They operated in the vicinity of Rong Zhong Mountain in Hubei and were renowned as a family skilled in the Mechanical Array Technique.
Moreover, wasn’t this the very place where Zhuge Kongming—the man who had fashioned the Three Kingdoms decades before Dan Woo-hyun’s time—had once dwelt?
Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes lit with genuine interest.
“The Zhuge—do you mean from Kongming’s line?”
“Precisely so. Their martial prowess may be unremarkable, but their mastery of the Mechanical Array Technique and strategic brilliance are formidable indeed. In truth, though the Demonic Cult’s power exceeds that of the Orthodox Faction, ever since the Murim Alliance was established, not once has the Central Plains fallen to them—and much of that is owed to the Zhuge Family’s strength.”
“Is that so.”
Kwon Mu-jin regarded Dan Woo-hyun with fresh surprise.
Dan Woo-hyun, who showed interest in nothing save Dan So-mi, now seemed to have come alive for the first time.
“You hold the Zhuge Family in high regard, my lord?”
“Ha—the name carries a certain familiarity that pleases me.”
“…?”
Kwon Mu-jin could not hide his bewilderment at this cryptic remark. The Zhuge Family’s name was familiar to anyone who traveled the martial world, so what did he mean by finding it pleasantly familiar?
He had no idea what Dan Woo-hyun meant.
“Do you have some connection to them…?”
He ventured the question on a hunch.
If Dan Woo-hyun had ties to the Zhuge Family, that would be no trivial matter. Should they secure Zhuge Yun—the family’s greatest mind—the Sect would soar to even greater heights.
“No, none.”
“I see.”
The curt dismissal made Kwon Mu-jin laugh awkwardly. Indeed, it seemed improbable that Dan Woo-hyun, who knew so little of the martial world, would know someone from the Zhuge Family, one of the renowned Eight Great Families.
‘Though I supposed it was worth asking.’
Kwon Mu-jin nodded to himself in acceptance.
“But what exactly is this Murim Alliance you speak of?”
It was then that Dan Woo-hyun displayed genuine curiosity about the martial world for the first time. Until now, he had shown little interest beyond dealing with those who came at him, but at last that interest had surfaced.
Kwon Mu-jin suppressed his excitement and began to speak.
“The Murim Alliance was established when the Orthodox Faction united to counter the Heavenly Demon, or so I’ve heard. Though its form today is certainly different from what it once was.”
Dan Woo-hyun frowned.
He seemed to half-remember something like that, though he wasn’t certain. Since he had never carefully considered or pieced together such details in his own mind, they held little interest for him now.
“The Murim Alliance comprises many groups, but the pillars of its power are the Nine Schools and One House, and the Eight Great Families.”
“Hmm?”
Dan Woo-hyun’s expression showed he understood none of it.
Kwon Mu-jin laughed awkwardly and continued.
But he did not explain each of them in detail. Dan Woo-hyun found himself more curious about the Murim Alliance itself than about those other organizations.
“Besides those, there are many smaller sects making up the rest, and beneath the Alliance Master there is a Vice Commander, and under him various units and regional commanders and branch leaders who administer different groups. In the past they gathered to oppose the Martial God, but now they are merely factions united to hold back the Demonic Cult and Heterodox Sects—or simply to protect their own power.”
“So Namgung Cheon was their leader, then.”
“Yes, sir.”
Dan Woo-hyun nodded slowly.
Simple as it was, he could see that these groups stood at the center of Orthodox power. It seemed that in any age, there were always those who hungered for authority.
“In the past, the Nine Schools and One House dominated and guided the righteous path, but now the Eight Great Families have become the core. At the center stand the Namgung Clan, who gave birth to the Sword Emperor, and the Moyong Family, second only in the Orthodox Faction. The rest are the Sachuan Dang Family, the Habuk Peng Family, and the Zhuge Family.”
“I see.”
“These five are called the Five Great Families among the World-Renowned Families, and the remaining three are known as the Three Emerging Families. These consist of the Hwangbo Family, the Jinju Eon Family, and the Shinchang Yang Family.”
“They guide the current Orthodox Faction?”
“Yes. And on the Heterodox side, as you know, the Demonic Emperor Castle exists, while the Demonic Cult has the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, founded by the Heavenly Demon in ages past and present. These three factions are the absolute powers that grip and shake the Central Plains.”
Dan Woo-hyun nodded, and now he could grasp the current state of the Martial World to some degree. In truth, his lack of interest until now stemmed largely from his wish not to become entangled with them any further.
Of course, that sentiment remained unchanged, yet understanding the political landscape of the Martial World would allow him to contemplate many things in days to come.
“Then this region is Orthodox territory, governed by the Zhuge Family and Wudang Sect.”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Learning these details one by one held its own fascination, yet this feeling—so vastly different from a thousand years past—was both strange and oddly engaging.
Dan Woo-hyun glanced down at the map.
Ten more days of travel ahead.
Yet his heartbeat would not settle.
He had left his nest after a thousand years—how could his heart not race? A faint smile crossed his lips as he closed his eyes once more. A crisp wind drifted through the window.

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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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