Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 123

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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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Chapter 123
Boom! Crash!
A deafening sound erupted from the darkness, causing the chamber to reverberate with a ringing echo.
The man’s deep, clear blue eyes gleamed with brightness.
The man muttered matter-of-factly.
“Still far to go.”
Whoosh!
The man planted both battle axes—one in each hand—firmly into the ground and collapsed onto his seat with a heavy thud.
Deep, prolonged breathing followed.
It was the breathing technique taught by his mother and the combat method learned from his tribe. After arriving in Zhongyuan, he discovered this was what they called martial arts.
‘How many years have already passed?’
Whenever he breathed like this, memories of the grasslands where he was born and raised often surfaced.
Many memories flickered past, and what remained at the end was the memory of that final day.
-You shall become a great wolf leading our bloodline.
These were words the Clan Leader had spoken, dragging the man up to the rugged mountainous terrain.
An endless sky stretched above his head, and the ashen grasslands sprawled endlessly beneath his feet.
The man answered the Clan Leader.
-I have no interest.
-The expression was difficult. A great wolf means….
-I don’t care. I’m heading down now.
This was after the man had beaten down all the Zhongyuan people who had attacked his tribe with nothing but a single rusted small axe.
The Clan Leader, bewildered by his indifference, took a different approach.
-Since there are no eyes watching around us, how about you call me father this time?
-….
-Why do you just stare blankly?
-Why should I call the Clan Leader father?
The man was of the Clan Leader’s blood, but they could never be father and son. The reason was that he was born with cursed eyes, and he was a bastard, not a legitimate heir.
The Clan Leader burst into laughter and spoke.
-Your flesh originated from me. You are undoubtedly my child.
The man tilted his head.
-Did the Clan Leader not carelessly abandon me and leave me to fend for myself? It was my mother who held my body, gave birth to me, and raised me?
-You… must learn to be more careful with your words to me, both as the lord of the tribe and privately as your father.
The Clan Leader’s face contorted. His attempt to hide his frown seemed utterly futile.
The man understood the Clan Leader.
The Clan Leader believed that tribal customs and traditions were the entirety of the world. Even though he lived in grasslands that stretched endlessly, this was his conviction.
Therefore, the man felt no particular emotion toward the Clan Leader. He was simply indifferent.
Of course, he had neither the desire nor the eloquence to explain such thoughts to the Clan Leader.
So he answered this way.
-Clan Leader, do you wish to die?
-….
Conveniently, there were no others nearby.
The Clan Leader fell silent in thought for a moment, then his expression shifted as he spoke with urgency.
-Very well, if that suits you better, do as you wish. But young warrior, do not turn a deaf ear to my words.
-….
-Our tribe’s shaman communed with the heavens and discerned the celestial mandate bestowed upon you. Your innate divine strength and that pair of blue eyes are proof of nothing less than the incarnation of a Heavenly Deity.
-A chaotic spirit born of demons, they say?
-The will of heaven is often difficult to comprehend. Do not turn your eyes and ears from us. Your celestial mandate lies in the glory of our tribe.
Indeed, his voice carried the dignity befitting a leader of one of the great grassland tribes.
But that was all it was. The man stared at the Clan Leader with an unmoved expression.
Just as the Clan Leader’s brow began to furrow, the man asked a single question.
-Do you know what my name is?
-What?
-My name.
The Clan Leader could not answer.
In truth, he could not have known.
-My name is Cheolmu-baek.
-…Cheolmu-baek? I never gave you that name.
-Of course not. It is my mother’s surname combined with a name I chose for myself.
-What?
On the grasslands, a name was like a destiny sent from heaven itself.
For Cheolmu-baek, his celestial mandate too had to be something he determined for himself.
-My celestial mandate does not lie here.
-Nonsense! What celestial mandate could be more important than the tribe?
-Combat.
-…?
-Like a festival.
It was the battles with those from Zhongyuan that awakened it.
Neither the tribe, nor the grasslands, nor glory stirred anything within him, but the clash of descending blades and the viscous drops of blood made him feel truly alive.
-What kind of nonsense is that….
-Nonsense? Have you finally resolved to die?
-No, that’s not it, but for such a trivial reason to….
The Clan Leader seemed unable to comprehend his words. He had expected as much.
Of course, Cheolmu-baek understood even that. So instead of continuing the conversation, he decided to strike the Clan Leader down.
-Kugh!
Cheolmu-baek gathered horses, provisions, and money from the Clan Leader’s dwelling and departed the tribe.
The tribe could not stop him. Not because they didn’t try, but because they couldn’t.
Cheolmu-baek pressed onward through plains, mountains, rivers, lakes, and countless battles.
And so he came to Zhongyuan.
Zhongyuan differed from the grasslands in many ways, but not as much as I had hoped.
‘Is it time to move on soon?’
It was not entertaining.
I realized I was withering away just as I had been in the tribe.
And then it happened.
Screech! Crunch!
Without any warning, the sound of metal warping echoed from beyond the door.
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes flashed with alertness.
‘There were no footsteps?’
Even if he had been cultivating his inner energy, he should not have failed to sense someone standing before the door until now.
Creak! Thud….
The door finally opened, and light footsteps echoed within the chamber.
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
‘Those footsteps were deliberate.’
Cheolmu-baek’s hand reached toward the handle of the axe planted in the ground.
“Who are you?”
“Until just now, I was a mysterious and secretive Black-Robed Man, but now I have become a wanderer who happened to pass by and stopped in. That is what you might call me.”
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes widened.
It was the language of the Grasslands. Though admittedly, his Zhongyuan accent was just as clumsy as my own.
‘A Black-Robed Man? A wanderer passing by?’
What is this? Is he insane?
The man’s voice continued.
“They say you are an undefeated warrior, yet your hospitality to guests is meager. Surely you should at least show your face?”
“Are you mad?”
“There is no one in this world as sane as I am, yet you call me mad.”
This man was thoroughly insane.
Cheolmu-baek asked in a calm voice.
“Speak. Why have you come?”
“I came to see the face of one called by the arrogant title of the Invincible, out of curiosity.”
“Leave. Curiosity is like a blade—it pierces the heart of the one who wields it.”
“What a shameful coward. A grown man acting shy. I have no choice then. I suppose I must be on my way.”
“…!”
Cheolmu-baek spun around in shock. The voice that had been coming from the entrance suddenly echoed from behind him.
There stood a young man in night clothes, grinning wickedly.
“It is good to meet you. My name is Dokgo Myeong.”
Crash!
Cheolmu-baek pulled the axes from the ground.
Stone fragments flew upward as two axes were wielded, cutting through the debris.
* * *
Dokgo Myeong recalled the time he had met Cheolmu-baek in the Demon Slaying Unit in his previous life.
-I do not follow anyone weaker than myself.
Cheolmu-baek was the kind of man who said such things with absolute sincerity and without a shred of malice.
So then, how should I entice such a fellow now?
‘Well, I suppose we’ll have to go at it.’
Dokgo Myeong drove his palm strike toward the axe aimed at his neck.
Whoosh!
Both axe blades were pushed back effortlessly.
Cheolmu-baek’s eyes widened.
‘A strong one. Extraordinarily so.’
Screech!
Dokgo Myeong’s hand blade cut across the space like a sword.
Cheolmu-baek brought his axes down with full force.
Clang! Clang!
He blocked it properly, but both his arms went numb.
In the enclosed space, the noise refused to fade. Cheolmu-baek felt his ears ringing.
Clang! Clang!
Hands harder than steel and two axes collided ferociously.
There were no fancy feints or tricks. No deliberate distance-keeping or footwork to create variables.
Evade, block, attack, deflect. A straightforward brawl unfolding head-on.
The corners of Cheolmu-baek’s mouth twitched.
‘Exhilarating.’
Boom! Clang!
The vibrations traveling up the axes made his stilled heart beat again.
This man was different from those Zhongyuan weaklings who only played tricks like rats. As if matching his intensity, he pressed forward without retreating a single step, fists driving relentlessly.
That was quite….
‘Enjoyable.’
Cheolmu-baek’s mouth finally opened wide.
“Hahahaha!”
Cheolmu-baek burst into delighted laughter and raised his twin axes high.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed.
“How dare you.”
There was no reason to let such an obvious opening pass.
Dokgo Myeong’s right foot launched from the ground.
Crack!
My heel drove squarely into Cheolmu-baek’s ribs.
But something felt wrong.
The strike landed cleanly, yet Cheolmu-baek didn’t budge an inch.
‘Could it be that this fellow….’
The moment Dokgo Myeong flinched in surprise and looked up.
A pair of axes descended like lightning.
Clang!
Dokgo Myeong was driven backward, scraping the ground for a considerable distance.
And I let out a hollow laugh, regarding the man before me.
“…Ha, this lunatic. You’re just tanking an axe blow with raw endurance and swinging it back?”
My gaze shifted to the forearm that had blocked the axe.
Throb!
A dull ache was rising up. I’d layered the Dragon Scale Armor beneath my night clothes, and though late, I’d even used the Jecheon Gi to meet the force head-on, yet here I was in this state.
‘I nearly lost an arm from carelessness.’
Tanking with raw endurance, suppressing with brute strength. He was truly a man born with heavenly martial bones.
“Huff, huff….”
By then, Cheolmu-baek, having steadied his breathing, opened his mouth.
“What did you say? Your name, stranger.”
I let out a scoff in response.
“Don’t pretend your speech is halting. A man whose mind works sharp as a blade is playing dumb so pathetically.”
“…How did you know?”
“I can just tell at a glance.”
“You are a wise one indeed.”
His halting Zhongyuan speech became fluent in an instant.
I let out another hollow laugh.
“You swung that axe without warning, but now your guard seems to have loosened a bit.”
“At that time, you were an unknown.”
“And now?”
“One can understand what kind of person someone is by crossing blades with them.”
I chuckled softly.
Cheolmu-baek asked again.
“So then, what is your name?”
“I already said it, but I am called Dokgo Myeong.”
“Dokgo.”
Cheolmu-baek rolled the surname over in his mind, then nodded slowly.
“I’ve heard there is a clan among Zhongyuan’s families called the foremost—the Black Dragon House. You hail from that lineage.”
“Just a cramped nest crawling with powerful serpents. Let the dragon house freeze to death.”
“I see.”
“But it seems you already knew of my clan?”
“I studied it in preparation for visiting one day.”
“To pick a fight?”
At those words, Cheolmu-baek’s eyes widened for a moment before closing slowly.
“Why so startled?”
“You don’t say ‘martial contest.'”
“Huh?”
“You call it a fight, not a martial contest.”
“The martial contest spoken of in Zhongyuan seems different from the fight you desire.”
Cheolmu-baek regarded me with an enigmatic gaze before nodding.
“Fighting is merely a similar expression. In Zhongyuan, there is no equivalent term. But I came to Zhongyuan to fight. Naadam—a festival of combat is my destiny.”
Dokgo Myeong closed his mouth.
‘I know. I know it very well.’
For this man, fighting was not merely a bloody battle.
It was overcoming his own limits.
Challenging something stronger than himself, fighting it, and overcoming it through victory.
The opponent in that fight mattered not—it could be an enemy, himself, or even a natural disaster.
-I don’t understand. Why do you live so harshly?
When a member of the Demon Slaying Unit once asked this, Cheolmu-baek answered simply.
-I simply like living this way.
A towering tree that stands firm in its place whether bent or broken, facing the heavens even as wind and rain batter it—such was the man called Cheolmu-baek.
That was who Cheolmu-baek was.
“Setting that aside.”
Dokgo Myeong glanced around the dimly lit chamber.
“Is this a beast’s cage or a place where people live? You’re dwelling in such a dreary place?”
“I live here for my training.”
“Training?”
“The one I fought recently could not see, yet fought as though he could. I wished to obtain that.”
“Heart’s Eye training? Not even a Buddhist monk from Shaolin would attempt such a thing. Then what about those thick iron bars outside?”
“That was not my will. They installed it themselves.”
Foolish bastards. Those iron bars were nothing but straw to this man.
Cheolmu-baek asked.
“What is your reason for seeking me out?”
“Did I not say I came to see your face?”
“Is that all?”
At Cheolmu-baek’s words, Dokgo Myeong grinned widely.
“Hmm, since you’re being so insistent, I suppose I’ll ask you something while I’m here.”
Dokgo Myeong gazed at his old comrade, unchanged from his memories.
“Cheolmu-baek. Are you still enjoying your fights?”
Cheolmu-baek regarded Dokgo Myeong quietly.
In the darkening surroundings, his blue eyes gleamed like a tiger flashing its gaze.
Soon he answered.
“For now.”
“….”
“But I am growing weary of it.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded as though he had expected this.
“It cannot be helped. Among the masters under thirty years old that the Black Path could recruit, there are few who could entertain you.”
Of course, there might be some.
There would be those whom the Martial Arts Alliance Leader personally cultivated, or disciples whom masters of the previous generation raised with great care.
Among the orthodox white path schools, there were those called the Four Dragons and Five Phoenixes.
‘In other words, unless they were of that caliber, there would be no fight worth having.’
Because this man had already reached the pinnacle of martial mastery.
Dokgo Myeong asked again.
“If you’re growing bored, why not leave?”
“That was my intention.”
“Are you prepared?”
“If they block my path, I’ll break through. If they seize me, I’ll cast them off. I’ve made no other preparations.”
Dokgo Myeong let out a soft laugh.
It was the kind of laughter that came from genuine satisfaction rather than mockery.
“Then come with me.”
“Hmm?”
“If you’re bored, follow me. I’ll arrange a fight that will never bore you.”

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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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