Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 136

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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 136
Within the slowed world.
Dokgo Myeong finally witnessed the palm technique from Muyong Ji that he had been anticipating all this while.
‘I’ve been waiting for this.’
Whoooosh!
The sound of Dokgo Myeong’s strike was starkly different from before.
Urgency flashed across Muyong Ji’s face.
‘This is… dangerous!’
She instinctively withdrew the palm technique she had extended, but it was already too late.
Dokgo Myeong drove his fist forward, pushing the air itself as he exploited the opening.
Boom!
“Cough!”
Muyong Ji was sent flying backward, spewing blood.
The moment she crashed into the ground, she sprang back up, but she staggered, unable to regain her balance.
Without hesitation, Dokgo Myeong flew toward her.
Bang! Crash crash crash!
“Ugh…!”
Before a scream could even escape Muyong Ji’s lips, Dokgo Myeong’s torrential assault rained down upon her.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed.
‘I have it.’
A path to victory opens.
Everyone who knew Dokgo Myeong spoke of one thing in unison.
A gambler who never relinquished an advantage once seized, and who created one when none existed.
This time too, Dokgo Myeong had grasped that advantage.
‘No matter how perfectly she has balanced and merged her martial arts…’
The orthodox techniques of the Muyong clan’s secret arts, the Assassin’s methods, and the blood techniques of the Sama Outer Sect.
Could she truly merge all three flawlessly?
I could say with certainty: it was absolutely impossible.
There would definitely be a flaw somewhere.
Dokgo Myeong, whose realm still lagged behind, simply could not yet perceive exactly when and where that flaw would manifest.
But with blood techniques.
With that martial art whose penetration points and counter-methods I knew, I was confident I could exploit even the slightest misalignment in an instant.
Dokgo Myeong charged at Muyong Ji like a bull.
Crash!
Muyong Ji’s two arms, extended carelessly, flew wide open, exposing her torso completely.
Immediately after, Dokgo Myeong swung his straightened hand edge like a sword blade.
Yet regardless, Muyong Ji was a master of the upper realms.
“Argh! How dare you!”
She recovered in that brief moment and reflexively swung her blade.
The Blood Sword swung horizontally crossed with the Divine Sword swung vertically.
Boom! Crash!
“Ugh!”
“Gahhh!”
Both fighters were hurled backward simultaneously.
Another sword wound blossomed across Dokgo Myeong’s chest.
Muyong Ji tumbled through the air, then vomited a torrent of blood from his mouth.
“Bleeegh!”
The blood mixed with fragments of dead tissue and viscera.
Muyong Ji felt his qi channels twist and the flow of his inner force rupture in stuttering bursts.
It was the power of the Radiant Heaven Technique—a divine art that burned by consuming the opponent’s vital essence.
‘To penetrate my defenses in such a brief opening. Still, the penetration of the Black Bloodfiend Art is more devastating. You’re not unscathed either, but….’
“…That’s the expression of someone who wants to say something.”
“…!”
“This power was built drop by drop, layer upon layer, to suppress that sinister aura. How dare you taint it with such filthy energy.”
Hisss!
The sweat beading on Dokgo Myeong’s temples instantly vaporized from the heat of the Radiant Heaven Technique and dispersed.
Why would I have cultivated my inner force while obsessing over purity otherwise?
It was a clear, concentrated power that permitted no invasion from external forces—the inner strength Dokgo Myeong had built from the very foundation.
“Now let us end this. Slave.”
“Do not call me a slave!”
Muyong Ji’s eyes flashed with fury as she snarled.
Boom!
In this collision, only Muyong Ji was driven back.
The tide had turned. Dokgo Myeong had dragged Muyong Ji down from her position as the superior master to beneath her feet.
Muyong Ji coughed up blood once more.
‘If I had just one moment—one single moment—to stabilize my inner force.’
She still possessed the Explosive Blood Technique, the forbidden secret art of the Black Bloodfiend Art. Using it would leave no future, but at least she could preserve her life.
‘Yes, yes! That’s it!’
In that instant, a gleam of light flashed across her eyes.
“Wait!”
Boom!
Muyong Ji barely evaded the strike, then spoke in a measured voice.
“Would you still do this? If I die, all the villagers of this town you’ve sheltered, and your subordinate’s sister—they will all perish.”
Dokgo Myeong faltered.
“What did you say?”
* * *
Cheolmu-baek, Dokgo Ak, Namgung Sohwa.
The three of them moved in perfect harmony.
They had not trained in any formal formation technique, and they barely knew each other, yet it was so.
“We cannot yield.”
Whoosh! Crash!
Cheolmu-baek was a beast.
With eyes blazing, he stood his ground, swinging his axe to cut down the assassins trying to interfere with Dokgo Myeong and Muyong Ji’s duel.
Screech!
Of course, the enemy’s numbers were overwhelming, and after they opened their blood gates, Cheolmu-baek’s wounds multiplied steadily.
Yet there was someone who balanced his movements perfectly.
“Watch out!”
Clang!
It was none other than Namgung Sohwa.
She was an iron wall.
Her balance had already reached its pinnacle. At least, no enemy who entered the range of her blade dared to touch her.
She held her center with unwavering weight and matched Cheolmu-baek’s charges, filling in his gaps.
“Grraaaah!”
One assassin shrieked and wildly swung a massive pair of sickles.
Clang!
The impact felt through the blade doubled in force.
Namgung Sohwa’s eyes flashed.
‘I’ve reduced their numbers significantly, but the blood gate’s power is overwhelming.’
With their blood gates opened, the enemies’ protective techniques were too solid for her blade to pierce cleanly.
Therefore, reducing their numbers fell to someone else’s responsibility.
“Move aside! Let me through!”
Dokgo Ak kicked off the ground and swung his sword.
Screeeech!
Natural martial talent, internal strength cultivated through abundant spirit pills, and the supreme techniques of the greatest clan under heaven.
Dokgo Ak drew sharper lines than any of the three.
“Do you know how many are left?”
Cheolmu-baek spoke while staunching the bleeding from a wound on his forearm.
“About ten or so.”
“That seems right.”
The three stood back-to-back and caught their breath for a moment.
Namgung Sohwa glanced toward somewhere and spoke.
“Dangerous or not, we need to hurry a little.”
“Why?”
“Over there.”
Where Namgung Sohwa’s gaze was directed.
In that place, scarred with pits and furrows as if a landslide had struck, Dokgo Myeong stood looking down at Muyong Ji.
Cheolmu-baek tilted his head.
“He’s won, so why the concern?”
Namgung Sohwa looked toward him with worried eyes.
Dokgo Myeong’s energy was unstable.
She had experienced it once before, so she knew better than anyone.
Demons bloom within the human heart.
There was no exception to this—not for anyone, not even for Dokgo Myeong.
* * *
“A few assassins have hidden themselves in the village as a contingency. If I fail, they will release poison upon the people.”
“….”
“Moreover, recently while pursuing your movements from Amseong, we discovered that Geum Seok-du, your subordinate, has blood relatives living in Zhejiang.”
Dokgo Myeong merely breathed heavily, offering no response.
Blood streaming from his entire body, his eyes blazing with a sickly blue light—such was Dokgo Myeong.
Muyong Ji felt her spine tingle at the sight of him.
‘What eyes are those….’
Still, she continued speaking.
“Cheon-i Pavilion has laid down a smokescreen, so we haven’t found them yet. Using Cheon-i Pavilion for the family of a mere subordinate shows admirable dedication, but it won’t take long.”
Muyong Ji laughed, blood trickling from her lips.
“Don’t mistake this for bluffing. I am a meticulous person. I studied you extensively while preparing this assassination. You are someone bound by human sentiment. So how could I not exploit that? Can you abandon the lives of your subordinate’s family and the common people? You cannot.”
Muyong Ji spoke with a voice full of laughter, trembling with fear yet boasting.
“But I can. We can.”
“I have.”
Dokgo Myeong opened his mouth heavily, as if gritting his teeth.
“With Gaebang at my side, do you truly think I made no preparations?”
“Gaebang lacks the capacity for such measures.”
“Of course they do. They have no justification for it, and Gaebang has their own battles to fight. But surely they can handle a simple request to protect the common people?”
“Are you truly at ease, thinking Gaebang-do is guarding the village?”
Muyong Ji scoffed.
“Can they really stop all of us? The disguise techniques of the Dark Secret Blade are unparalleled under heaven. If they fail to stop us, those victims will die because of you. Tsk, tsk, tsk!”
“….”
“I do not ask for much. Simply withdraw as things are. Spare me. Then you live, your comrades live, those relatives live, we live, and the common people live. Besides, many of the Dark Secret Blade have already died, so isn’t this a gain for you anyway?”
Muyong Ji spoke as if coaxing him gently.
Looking at her like this, Dokgo Myeong could not suppress his laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
As he suddenly burst into laughter, Muyong Ji flinched and looked toward him.
Dokgo Myeong slowly closed his eyes.
“…Haaa.”
He exhaled a long sigh and lifted his gaze toward the sky.
Then he slowly opened the eyes he had closed.
Ah, a full moon.
The moon shines brightly.
The stars were bright too.
Originally, Dokgo Myeong did not particularly favor night skies adorned with stars. For whenever he beheld starlight and moonlight, the faces of those who had faded away came to mind.
Shall I speak honestly?
Dokgo Myeong found this entire situation absurd.
So instead of killing intent or rage, I felt madness coursing through me.
‘Am I the one who’s wrong?’
Dokgo Myeong tilted my head in confusion.
‘Just what is this Gangho… Why are there so many of these bastards?’
From Dengyongji to the Merchant Alliance, and now here.
It seemed I had walked down a dark and cold path far longer than usual.
The rage and killing intent I’d been swallowing, the patience and frustration all mixed together, then surged up to the crown of my head in one overwhelming wave.
A sudden thought flashed through my mind.
‘Just kill them all. That would be easier.’
If I killed them all, this maddening frustration would vanish and my chest would feel completely clear.
Why am I suffering like this, refusing to become like the Sect Leader, the Martial Arts Alliance Leader, the Paedo Sect Leader, and the Twin Horse Alliance’s leaders?
Dokgo Myeong, get a grip. No matter what, you are ultimately Dokgo Hyeon.
How many lives have you taken, and now you’re acting like a sage?
The Saheon Sect Leader, Dokgo Wi-hak, the man who is now a father.
He just spouted nonsense without knowing anything.
What the hell is this cursed thing called righteousness?
The current Gangho is a complete mess where there’s no place to draw such lines anyway.
‘What?’
Dokgo Myeong suddenly snapped back to awareness.
‘Am I going insane? Am I blaming the Sect Leader right now?’
Only then did Dokgo Myeong realize it.
‘Heart Demon. The Heart Demon has come to me as well.’
I had shattered so many others’ Heart Demons, yet now Dokgo Myeong was stepping into the dark path of the Heart Demon myself.
Somewhere along the way, the yellow light of the moon and stars had turned blood red.
That color was the color of the battlefield.
The color of fire demons, the color of corpses, and the color of the Sword Demon’s stage.
My consciousness was clearly in this new life and new body, yet my eyes and heart were seeing the sights of a past life that could never unfold again.
“Damn it.”
Dokgo Myeong let out a hollow laugh.
I’m laughing, but I feel like crying.
“This is really bad. Damn old bastard. Your sickness has infected me too.”
“W-what?”
Dokgo Myeong slowly lowered my head.
In Dokgo Myeong’s darkened gaze, Muyong Ji felt every hair on his body stand on end.
Dokgo Myeong spoke.
“Now I don’t know either. I’ll kill you, then rush over and kill the ones hiding in the village, and if I just keep killing and killing and killing… it’ll all be resolved, won’t it?”
“…!”
Terror bloomed in Muyong Ji’s eyes.

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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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