Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 140

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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 140
Assassins exist within the Dokgo Household as well.
They simply don’t hide them.
They handle dirty, sordid, and filthy work openly. They care not whether public sentiment sours or rival factions find fault. Rather, they operated these groups with the household emblem attached, as if there were no need to conceal anything.
Assassins in name yet not in nature—the Black Dragon Sect had come to a halt.
“Is it already finished?”
Lee Seong-cheon, the Black Dragon Sect Leader, turned to regard the member dressed in black.
“The young master survives, and we have successfully captured the Moyong Family’s hidden assassin as well.”
“Did Gaebang assist?”
“No. It appears only the young master and four personnel he directly recruited participated in the battle.”
Lee Seong-cheon’s eyes gleamed.
“What is the source of this information?”
“The young master personally submitted the report to the household head through Cheonji Pavilion. There was a postscript emphasizing strict confidentiality.”
So five people had captured the Moyong Family’s hidden assassin, who was infamous in the shadows.
‘A wasted journey.’
It was a step taken at the Inner Hall Master’s suggestion.
Somehow, I had spent time unnecessarily, yet unexpectedly, my mood was not poor.
“Is there any information regarding the young master’s future whereabouts?”
“There is none.”
Lee Seong-cheon, who had been contemplating briefly, turned his body.
“We return.”
A mysterious smile crossed Lee Seong-cheon’s lips as he pushed off the ground.
‘He surely knows well that his standing within the household has been deteriorating ever since the Muwan incident and his refusal of the summons.’
Yet he did not choose to return. Despite achieving the great feat of capturing the Moyong Family’s assassins.
It means he still finds it insufficient. He has captured the assassins and sufficiently fulfilled the Outer Hall Master’s provocation, yet it suggests he is preparing something more.
‘Act with caution.’
Lee Seong-cheon moved his body with a brief thought.
* * *
Two days had passed since that fierce battle.
In the estate, which should have been quiet, cries of anguish were somehow erupting.
“Aaahhh… P-please save me….”
“I’m trying to save you. I’m just going to change the bandages, so lift your arm a bit.”
“Hngh!”
Dokgo Myeong, who had subdued the struggling Namgung Sohwa, turned his gaze toward Cheolmu-baek.
Cheolmu-baek shook his head vigorously.
“I will not drink that black water again.”
“You bastard. A man built like a mountain avoiding medicinal broth? After drinking poison so carelessly?”
“I am a Saeoe outsider, so the medicinal broths of Zhongyuan don’t agree with my body… Ugh! I clearly said I wouldn’t drink it… Ungh!”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes now turned toward Dokgo Ak.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes turned toward Dokgo Ak this time.
Dokgo Ak spoke in a respectfully calm voice.
“Brother, my treatment is complete, so there’s nothing particular I need to do.”
“What are you talking about, little brother? Your mouth still needs more treatment.”
“I’m the patient! Stop it! Ow!”
Dokgo Myeong, having subdued his unruly companions who refused to sit still for treatment, let out a deep sigh and turned away.
“Is this right? Aren’t I the leader? Should I really be helping treat my subordinates? Ugh, these guys never settle down no matter how many days pass.”
Thanks to Dokgo Myeong’s assistance, the female physicians and the Old Physician finally finished treatment and passed by him with peculiar expressions on their faces.
Following them out of the room, Geum Seok-du, who had sustained relatively minor injuries among the group, opened his mouth.
“Is the treatment finished?”
“They’re receiving acupuncture now. Come back in a bit. How are you doing?”
“Yes, I’m fine. I only fought against ordinary archers without martial arts training, after all.”
Yet Geum Seok-du’s entire body was wrapped tightly in bandages.
“Everyone else is suffering, and you’re proud of getting off easy?”
“Are you saying I should have been more injured then?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“…Then what are you saying?”
“What did you just say?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Dokgo Myeong snorted and turned away.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to do some training.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to sleep first? You haven’t been sleeping well lately…”
“Once you reach my level of mastery, you can go without sleep for several days without issue.”
“Please sleep for my sake. Your eyes are so bloodshot it’s frightening to look at.”
“Bloodshot?”
“Yes.”
Dokgo Myeong closed his mouth.
“I do seem tired. You’re right, I should get some sleep.”
“Let’s go. I’ll attend to you.”
“Don’t be creepy about it. Never mind. You get some rest too.”
“Actually, I was hoping you’d say that.”
Dokgo Myeong chuckled softly and entered his room.
Despite being exhausted from staying up late recently, sleep wouldn’t come easily. It had been like this for the past several days.
Whether it was because he had reached a higher realm and undergone a complete transformation, or because he feared seeing unpleasant visions whenever he closed his eyes, he couldn’t say.
Thump, thump!
Then, he heard footsteps approaching from outside the door.
The light gait was unmistakably Geum Seok-du’s.
For some reason, drowsiness suddenly began to creep over him.
Dokgo Myeong took a long deep breath and fell fast asleep.
* * *
In that hazy, half-dreaming state, I saw something—whether dream or imagination, I couldn’t say.
It was Dokgo Hyeon.
Dokgo Hyeon stared at me with piercing intensity.
There was something odd about his expression.
Though in fairness, few people had the experience of being stared at so intently by their own face, so it wasn’t entirely strange.
What was strange, however, were the countless shadows standing behind him like people.
Each shadow had a different form, yet even in my drowsy state, I sensed I knew their identities.
They were the dead.
Shadows of those I had killed directly, caused to die, or who appeared to have perished by my hand.
I furrowed my brow.
“Isn’t this getting tedious? Truly exhausting… seeing dead men and feeling regret, repentance? I’m not that kind of person, am I?”
Absolutely not.
Of course, severing a man’s neck was never an easy matter.
I held the blade, and I was human; what lay at the blade’s edge was also human.
Each one of them was etched into my memory. That’s why they appeared so often in my dreams.
I pondered it again. Could this be regret?
No, it didn’t seem like regret at all.
I killed them because they deserved killing. There was no one I killed without cause.
Remembering them was simply a matter of responsibility.
“If anything, it would be a nightmare and demonic obsession if I saw the faces of those I didn’t kill or couldn’t kill. But what does it matter? Even in death, these bastards won’t leave me be.”
It was my first real sleep since the demonic obsession, and this chaos erupted—my anger rose steadily.
My eyes flashed with killing intent.
“Fine then. So now I’ve beaten my past self to a pulp. Exactly right, you bastard. Keep beating and the answer will come…”
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
Focus suddenly sharpened in Dokgo Hyeon’s pitch-black eyes.
The shadows’ heads all turned toward me in unison.
“What… what is this?”
Crash!
All of them suddenly rushed toward me.
Before I could even dodge, Dokgo Hyeon’s body plunged into mine.
In the moment I thrashed about in shock—
“Gasp!”
I jolted awake.
* * *
What kind of absurd dream was that?
Bewildered, I stared blankly at the ceiling, then turned my head toward the door.
The surroundings were silent. It seemed Seok-du had gone to sleep as well.
I tried to fall back asleep for a while with my eyes closed, but eventually threw off the blanket and rose, heading toward the rear garden.
After spreading my qi outward to sweep the surroundings, I settled down on the ground.
‘Now that I think about it, I’ve undergone a complete transformation, yet this is the first time I’m properly cultivating my qi through breathing exercises?’
Having slept deeply and with my mind now clear, it seemed I should properly review everything once more.
“Huuuuh….”
I exhaled a long breath.
Uuuoong!
The beginning was Xiao Tian.
The essence of dawn dwelling within my bones and muscles.
Whoosh!
Next came Hui Tian.
A brilliant white radiance resembling the midday sun blazed intensely.
Swaaah!
Hong Tian was subtle.
A mysterious light blending crimson and violet spread across the blue and white radiance.
Tss tss tss!
Then came Sheng Tian.
Gold and silver light wrapped thinly around my body.
Hui Tian for advance and offense.
Hong Tian for evasion and suppression.
Sheng Tian for protection and defense.
Three legs stretched firmly upon the foundation of Xiao Tian.
‘Sheng Tian cultivation still lags slightly behind.’
Compared to Hui Tian and Hong Tian, Sheng Tian still showed some gaps.
But that was acceptable. It was merely a matter of continued training.
Uuuuoong!
Sheng Tian qi enveloped my entire body without the slightest tremor.
Thus Sheng Tian is a static and passive martial art.
The Silver Cold Wall containing only protective and defensive techniques, down to the Immovable Standing—nothing more than “standing upright” in its truest form.
Yet that was sufficient.
For the power arising from that extremity was the very essence of the Heavenly Realm.
‘Once completed, I truly won’t have to worry about getting injured anymore.’
Of course, I couldn’t avoid all injuries entirely, but recovery would be swift.
If Hui Tian increased vitality and Hong Tian aided qi accumulation, then Sheng Tian greatly enhanced my body’s resistance and regenerative capacity.
‘With this, is the path I must walk now complete?’
It didn’t mean the Heavenly Realm was perfected. There remained secret realms I had yet to attain.
But my weaknesses had vanished. The three legs had found their balance.
What remained was only to fill and cultivate further.
‘Fortunately, I’ve only gained without losing anything.’
I had obtained the first bait to lure Moyong, and my companions seemed to have shed another layer as well.
Reaching a higher realm alongside my complete transformation was a great joy.
‘Ah, though the Dragon Scale Robe did get torn.’
Yet perhaps this misfortune carried a silver lining. Thanks to it, I discovered something I had never known about the Dragon Scale Robe.
Crackle! Crackle-crack!
The Dragon Scale Robe was capable of self-repair. Should I call it restoration or mending?
When I pressed the severed edges together and channeled my inner energy into them, they slowly fused back as one.
‘Hah, this is what a divine artifact truly is. Those without one must feel so cheated using ordinary weapons!’
Not only did it amplify the nature of my inner power, but it possessed such remarkable functions as well.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled softly and began to rise slowly from his seat.
He paused.
Instead of standing, he closed his eyes once more.
There remained one final thing he had not yet examined.
‘That energy.’
The mysterious inner force that had permeated my entire body during my brush with demonic possession came to mind.
‘Should I… try it?’
It should be fine, right? If something goes wrong, I can simply stop immediately.
There was no logical basis for it, but I possessed a strange certainty that it would work.
“Well, if anything goes wrong, those people will stop me again anyway.”
Whoosh!
Dokgo Myeong exhaled deeply.
First, I gathered all my inner energy inward.
‘This is definitely how it started.’
I awakened my sensory meridians and controlled my upper dantian, then carefully began to reverse the flow of my inner power cultivation.
Throb! Uuuuuung!
‘It works.’
It moves. It’s actually happening.
Though extremely subtle, my inner energy began to flow in the opposite direction.
‘The demonic possession hasn’t returned, right? I’m still in my right mind, aren’t I?’
Tinnitus? None.
My vision hadn’t darkened.
Memories from a past life? They didn’t surface. I seemed perfectly lucid.
‘Is this… actually possible?’
Dokgo Myeong calmly traced the reversed flow of his inner energy.
Normally, inner power cultivation follows a specific sequence.
Beginning from the dantian, it travels along the Governing Vessel—the rear meridian—passes through the middle dantian, strikes the Hundred Convergences point at the upper dantian, returns via the Conception Vessel, and completes one circuit. This is called the Microcosmic Orbit.
Once the Conception and Governing Vessels are fully opened, one can bypass the circuit and utilize all meridians throughout the body, achieving the Macrocosmic Orbit.
‘But this is the opposite.’
It begins from the upper dantian. The meridian flow is completely reversed.
I wondered if this were even possible without being born with a unique constitution. Even heterodox sects that cultivate martial arts through bizarre methods don’t employ such a technique.
‘…Should I try increasing the amount of inner energy slightly?’
Dokgo Myeong carefully continued the reversed cultivation.
‘What if this is yet another method of cultivation?’
It seemed I would need to research this further. It could potentially become the starting point for developing a new martial technique.
That was when it happened.
Thump!
Suddenly my head felt heavy, and it seemed as though external energy was about to pour into my dantian.
Shudder!
My body trembled involuntarily.
Something was about to occur.
I couldn’t discern what it was, but I felt certain that I couldn’t control it yet.
I held my breath.
“Ugh!”
I forcibly reversed the flow of my inner energy as if abruptly changing course.
Afterward, I inspected my internal state for quite some time.
Only after confirming there was no problem did I cease my cultivation.
“Phoooooo….”
Misty breath flowed from my mouth. So much poured out that my vision turned white.
When I slowly opened my eyes.
“You’re alright, aren’t you?”
“Goodness, you startled me!”
A pair of large eyes appeared before me, peering down at me.
* * *
The owner of those eyes was Namgung Sohwa.
She stood with her arms crossed, looking down at me with a critical gaze.
“What is it? When did you arrive?”
“Partway through.”
“Partway? When exactly?”
“When you started using that strange inner energy?”
“Hmm….”
I must have been too focused. My senses didn’t react at all, which was rather embarrassing.
Then Namgung Sohwa opened her mouth with a cautious tone.
“So, you’re really alright? You won’t suddenly destroy everything….”
“Ah, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
“If you’re going to cause trouble again, tell me. I’ll bring some iron chains and tie you up beforehand.”
“A martial artist can lose focus sometimes. That’s rather harsh.”
“You know that separate building over there? You destroyed it completely with wild eyes, smashing the entire structure….”
“How petty of you to pressure me with facts. Let’s start training again tomorrow.”
“Is threatening me with training the only thing you can do? You’re really stingy.”
“….”
No matter what I said, it sounded inadequate, so I decided to simply close my mouth.
It seemed I had cultivated for quite a long time, yet the surroundings were still dim.
After gazing at the sky for a while, Namgung Sohwa opened her mouth.
“The moon is beautiful. The stars are bright too. When I can’t sleep, I look at the stars and… well. Why are you training again at this ungodly hour?”
“I just don’t care much for the stars.”
“Why not?”
“They say people become stars when they die. The starlit sky looks like a graveyard to me.”
Namgung Sohwa let out a soft laugh.
“That’s exactly why I look at them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I recall the faces I can no longer see, wonder where they might be up there among the stars. Why rush to forget what doesn’t suit you anyway?”
Namgung Sohwa turned sharply on her heel.
“Well, you seem fine, so I’ll head back to bed.”
Crash! Thud! Clang!
“Good heavens. What, what is that?”
“It’s nothing, just…”
“You’re sure you’re fine?”
“So it appears.”
The moment Namgung Sohwa turned around, a commotion erupted from inside.
It seemed all four of them had woken up after all.
Dokgo Myeong blinked for a moment, then glanced up at the sky.
Now that I thought about it, a starlit night sky didn’t seem so bad.

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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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