Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 171
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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 171
“Hmmm….”
A groan-like sound escaped from between Muyong Tae’s teeth as he sat in lotus position in the rear garden of the main residence.
Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!
Crimson blood qi suddenly surged from his entire body, undulating like waves. The energy that rippled across his frame like a serpent soon settled into both his palms.
At that moment, a gentle voice came from behind him.
“You’ve already reached a considerable level of mastery. Truly impressive.”
“….”
Muyong Tae released his lotus position and turned his head.
“It seems your sect doesn’t teach the courtesy of not interrupting others’ cultivation either.”
“Ah, we have no such courtesy. All our teachings are open, and everyone can learn them equally.”
“A dangerous approach.”
“Why is that?”
“Knowledge is power. When worthless and foolish men obtain unnecessary strength, they only create troublesome situations.”
The old man, the Black Bloodfiend, chuckled.
“That is the logic of a ruler. In reality, who knows what might happen.”
“Nonsense.”
“Hehe, in any case, worry not. That is why our sect chose a different path.”
Muyong Tae let out a bitter laugh.
“Trust, then?”
“Indeed. We all gaze toward the same place beneath a unified conviction.”
“Your sect has no factions?”
“Ah… of course we do. Somewhat troublesome ones at that. There are always those who voice dissent from the mainstream, wherever and whenever.”
The Black Bloodfiend approached with heavy footsteps.
Muyong Tae slowly rose from his seat.
“I heard you departed on a journey. Where have you been?”
“I met with the Paedo Sect Leader.”
“What?”
As Muyong Tae’s eyes narrowed, the Black Bloodfiend waved his hand dismissively.
“This too was for our sake. Do not misunderstand. Hehe.”
“Explain yourself.”
“When the Righteous Alliance is formed, the Paedo Sect will declare its support. They even said they would send envoys with proper courtesy.”
Muyong Tae furrowed his brow.
“Why would Tuwang do that?”
“It seems this old man’s earnest persuasion bore fruit.”
“Do not end this as a jest.”
“Hehe, Master. It seems you are misunderstanding something.”
The Black Bloodfiend’s eyelids slowly rose.
His eyes, hidden beneath wrinkles, were revealed, and a sharp blue light flashed within them.
“I am not your subordinate. You seem to forget this point far too often.”
The Black Bloodfiend smiled once more.
“Hehe, are we not trading partners who shook hands and comrades of shared purpose?”
“…You proceed arbitrarily and then call me a comrade?”
The Black Bloodfiend nodded.
“Hmm, that’s also true. Then let me speak only up to this point. The Paedo Sect Leader is not a man of particularly complex thought. He has certain objectives, and there are aspects where they align with our sect’s intentions.”
“The sect’s intentions?”
“Well… to put it in your terms, it would be to carve out a place for our sect in this prosperous martial world.”
Muyong Tae furrowed his brow.
“Is that truly all?”
“Hehe, Household Lord. Have faith.”
The Black Bloodfiend changed the subject.
“But that aside, I hear you’ve been greatly troubled of late?”
“…”
Muyong Tae’s brow deepened with displeasure.
“There’s no need for concern.”
“How could I not be concerned? If there is a problem, speak of it. Our sect will spare no effort to help.”
It was sweet as the whisper of a malevolent spirit.
Muyong Tae suddenly thought: could this sweet whisper itself be the sorcery of the Blood Sect?
Soon after, Muyong Tae shook his head.
“There is no problem. Do not concern yourself.”
“Dokgo Myeong. That young man is quite bothersome, is he not?”
Muyong Tae’s eyes flashed sharp as a drawn blade.
“I told you not to concern yourself. Today you cross the line excessively.”
It was the bearing of a household lord governing the martial world.
Yet perhaps because the same type of energy was mixed into that aura, the Black Bloodfiend maintained his smile calmly and opened his mouth.
“There is a misunderstanding. In truth, I have something to settle with that fellow.”
“What did you say?”
“Dokgo Myeong has been placed on our sect’s list of targets for elimination.”
“Why?”
“He has repeatedly interfered with our sect’s operations. Moreover… hmm, there are rumors that he may join hands with a rather troublesome group.”
The Black Bloodfiend spoke in a leisurely voice.
“So I must kill him quickly in this opportunity. At the very least, I will ensure he has nowhere to stand in this martial world.”
“What exactly are you scheming?”
“Would you like to hear?”
The Black Bloodfiend grinned widely, his smile resembling that of a malevolent spirit in a temple mural.
* * *
“Join hands with you?”
The Cheonryeong General nodded at Dokgo Myeong’s words.
“Indeed. If you join hands with us, you will have nothing to lose.”
“…”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression hardened in silence, his thoughts unreadable.
The Cheonryeong General continued speaking.
“How much do you know about our sect?”
“More than you’d think.”
“And our doctrine?”
“Roughly. Something about purifying the martial world through blood and all that nonsense.”
“That is a distorted understanding of our teachings. The true foundation of our sect rests upon a Buddha who exists beyond the cycle of reincarnation—one who is neither born nor destroyed—and he….”
Dokgo Myeong’s brow furrowed.
“Do I look like I care about your sect’s philosophy? Stop wasting my time with this drivel and get to the point.”
The Cheonryeong General’s expression turned stern.
“Listen well. This is something you must understand. If you wish to join hands with us, you need to comprehend the history of our doctrine….”
Dokgo Myeong suddenly let out a soft laugh.
“Sohwa.”
Dokgo Myeong abruptly called out to Namgung Sohwa.
Namgung Sohwa, standing beside him, stepped forward with her hand resting on the hilt of her sword.
“Yes, Commander.”
“Just one strike.”
“Understood.”
Namgung Sohwa immediately kicked off the ground.
A sharp whistling sound tore through the air!
“…!”
The Cheonryeong General’s eyes widened in shock.
As her blade was drawn, a brilliant flash of light surged toward them.
A metallic clang rang out!
The Talmyeong Military Commander and the Yeonggwi Military Commander extended their spears to defend against the sword energy.
In that same instant, both their arms were violently knocked backward. They stared down at their palms in disbelief.
The Cheonryeong General glared at Dokgo Myeong.
“We made it clear we have no intention of fighting. What is the meaning of this?”
“The meaning?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed with intensity.
“You seem to be under a misunderstanding. The only reason I’m even having this conversation with you is because you said you came here after seeing the words I wrote on that door.”
The sound of fabric rustling as he shifted his weight.
Dokgo Myeong slowly rose from his chair.
The distinctive sound of his dragon-scale robe sliding against the seat rang out particularly loudly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Whether you have no intention of fighting or whether you differ from other sect members—I couldn’t care less. The only reason I’m even speaking with you is because of those words I personally wrote. And since the conversation turned out to be somewhat interesting, I let you ramble on. That’s the extent of my interest.”
From Dokgo Myeong’s perspective, these were the very people who had brutally slaughtered those as close to him as family, now appearing with false dignity to claim, “We belong to the same organization as them, but we are different.” It was contemptible.
“I’ve despised both you and the Jeongheol Sect from the start. So what? You want to join hands? You want me to understand you? You should be begging for forgiveness, yet here you stand, you filthy worms….”
A sudden gust of wind swept through the space.
Everyone around Dokgo Myeong felt the air itself grow unnaturally dry.
Resentment, anger, disdain—and beneath them all, some primal emotion emanated from my aura.
If I had to name it, I would call it the intent to kill.
The Cheonryeong General’s facial muscles twitched visibly.
“You’re being petty. I say again, I have no intention of fighting you. Yet you keep sharpening your blade against me.”
“That is not for you to decide. Whether you flee for your life or not, if I resolve to kill you, then that is what shall come to pass.”
“Hear me without misunderstanding. If the two commanders here and I resolve to escape, you will find it impossible to kill us.”
I let out a low, mirthless chuckle.
“Ah, these bastards are far too presumptuous.”
“Wait. There is no need for this. If we were to aid you against the Jeongheol Sect….”
“First, I think you need to be reminded of your proper place.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your head sits far too high.”
The moment I spoke those words.
Whoooosh!
An arrow streaked through the air, leaving a line in its wake.
The Talmyeong Military Commander hastily drew a blunt weapon from his waist and swung it, but the force contained within the arrow far exceeded his expectations.
Crash!
The Talmyeong Military Commander’s weapon was sent flying in the opposite direction of his swing.
In that instant, Namgung Sohwa rushed forward once more.
It was Jeolcho, Bowstring Infinite.
The Talmyeong Military Commander attempted to meet her attack head-on, felt the impact of his wrist breaking, and was sent tumbling backward into the stone wall.
“…!”
The moment the startled Yeonggwi Military Commander moved, Ak-i launched an ambush.
The Yeonggwi Military Commander wielded a sword as well. The two blades clashed repeatedly with thunderous clangs, scattering sparks.
In terms of raw strength, Ak-i was pushed back. Yet he clung to her relentlessly. The Yeonggwi Military Commander, her expression tinged with frustration, found herself at a loss until she finally paid the price for her carelessness with a strike to her thigh.
“This… I did not expect it to come to this.”
The Cheonryeong General clicked his tongue and drove a palm strike toward Ak-i.
Boom!
Ak-i was sent skidding backward, his sword still in motion, leaving deep gouges in the earth.
Just as the Cheonryeong General seized the Yeonggwi Military Commander by the nape of her neck, his form suddenly appeared before the Talmyeong Military Commander who had been sent flying into the wall.
“Let us postpone our conversation for another time. I shall visit you again.”
The Cheonryeong General grasped the Talmyeong Military Commander’s belt and kicked off the ground, launching himself upward onto the stone wall.
The moment he landed atop the wall, something came hurtling toward his back.
Boom!
A sound like a leather drum bursting echoed out.
The Cheonryeong General glanced back and doubted his eyes.
“…!”
A massive iron axe, so heavy that it would take two ordinary men to lift it, came flying mere inches from his face.
Crash!
Remarkably, the Cheonryeong General raised his foot and struck the side of the iron axe with exquisite precision, deflecting it away.
However, unable to fully dissipate the impact, my body staggered backward.
The moment I bent my knees to retreat while balancing on a single foot.
Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!
Multiple arrows came in rapid succession, targeting my back.
The Cheonryeong General bounded several times on a single leg, running along the wall. On the fourth leap upward, the Cheonryeong General looked down with startled eyes.
Crash!
Cheolmu-baek rammed his body into the wall where the Cheonryeong General was about to land, collapsing it entirely.
As my form plummeted to the ground, I tried to leap up again, but an iron net fell down upon my head.
It was Geum Seok-du.
“What is this.”
The Cheonryeong General was flustered.
Beyond martial arts, their coordination and fighting style were far too brutal. It was completely different from the formal martial techniques of the Central Plains.
‘This is no time to admire them.’
The Cheonryeong General stamped the ground with my throbbing foot, then swung my body in a wide arc, giving the net a spin to shake it off.
And I turned my head sharply in sudden alarm.
From the front, something was coming.
The Cheonryeong General gasped and drew upon my blood energy.
Crash!
With an explosion in mid-air, a sense of defeat settled across the Cheonryeong General’s face.
It was Dokgo Myeong.
‘Without both hands, defeat is certain. There’s no choice.’
I could not afford the luxury of fighting while tucking Talmyeong and Yeonggwi under my arms.
The Cheonryeong General threw the two of them outside the wall and hastily extended my palm strike.
Boom!
The energy of the Cheonryeong Divine Art and Hongcheon Gi clashed in mid-air.
Hongcheon Gi was pushed back.
The Cheonryeong General was a superior military commander of the Jeongheol Sect. In terms of seniority, he was twice Dokgo Myeong’s age. Even at the same realm, one cannot lose in an internal energy contest.
If one only considered internal power, that was the case.
And actual combat is not decided by internal power alone.
Thud! Whoosh!
“…!”
Suddenly, dust and rocks flew into the Cheonryeong General’s eyes.
Dokgo Myeong’s foot swept the earth from the ground like a shovel.
“Hah!”
Hastily shielding my eyes and spreading a palm technique to push it away, something flew at my face again.
‘A net?’
In Dokgo Myeong’s hand was the net that the Cheonryeong General had shaken off, which had rolled across the ground.
The net, infused with Hongcheon Gi, spread wide and tangled around the Cheonryeong General’s limbs.
“Why is this even….”
The more I struggled to shake it off, the more tightly the net constricted my limbs.
I only later understood what inner power could truly accomplish. The energy woven into the net had burrowed into the Cheonryeong General’s protective technique, clinging to it like a parasite.
The moment his left side became ensnared.
Dokgo Myeong materialized before the Cheonryeong General’s eyes.
“…!”
Crash!
The Cheonryeong General felt the positions of heaven and earth invert.
A leg technique. Dokgo Myeong swept at his hamstrings to shatter his balance, then yanked the net again, sending him crashing completely to the ground.
Boom! Crash!
As his left side collapsed, the Cheonryeong General had no choice but to tumble across the earth—a sight indistinguishable from a fish caught in a net.
“This pathetic net…!”
The Cheonryeong General desperately summoned his Cheonryeong Divine Technique.
Or rather, he attempted to—but could not.
“Now, now, stop right there. Don’t you see what’s happening?”
Dokgo Myeong crouched before him, pointing backward with his thumb.
“Gack!”
“Ugh!”
The Yeonggwi Military Commander, her neck seized in Cheolmu-baek’s brutish grip.
The Talmyeong Military Commander being dragged forward, blades pressed to his throat by Namgung Sohwa and Dokgo Ak.
Dokgo Myeong laughed like a villain.
“Now we’re finally on the same level for conversation.”
“…!”
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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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